Another Overdue Update

Well, the kids are still taking swim lessons and still freaked out by the water. Ella did o.k. when I took her on Monday night to go swimming with me. She let me put her on her belly and on her back to swim as long as she was holding a long pink spaghetti noodle. I'm hoping this means she will get in the pool with the teacher tomorrow, but I'm not holding out any luck on that.

Benjamin also refused to go into the pool during class last week and didn't let go of Jon when they went on Wednesday night...though he did well the prior week in class and in pool time with papa.

Nicholas has had his first ear infection. He got a 103 temperature the other day. I took him to the doctor the next day and he has ear infections, so he started on antibiotics on Monday. He was throwing up last night - something that he and at least one of the teachers at school have.

Cute Stories:

the other day, I'm driving the kids home and I hear them say the following:

Ella: Benjamin, do you want to wear the pink things? (I think she is talking about the pink wannabe crocs).
Ben: ...
Ella: BENJAMIN! Do you want to wear the pink things? Yeah or no?
Benjamin: ELLA! Boys like to wear pink sometimes too!


Last night, I was cleaning up their room trying to find where Nicholas put his boots (turns out he put them in Jon's boots). Ella & Benjamin were out in the livingroom pretending to be mommy and baby. I hear one of them say "do you like your soda? I like my soda" and I was thinking they were pretending because they see Jon and I drink soda. Well, no, they found a coke bottle I had left in my lunch bag (I had forgotten about it) and they were pouring the coke into their sippy cups and their other cup and drinking it. I only came out when I heard Benjamin scream out "it's too full! I got it too full!" He put too much in his cup and it was spilling out. Ugh! Luckily, they did go to sleep in a somewhat peaceful manner (in comparison to other days).

Speaking of swimming, last week when I took Ella to swim, she was staring at the womean and little girls walking around - some of them in the nude. I told her it wasn't nice to stare. Later, after "swimming", we went back to the locker room to change and she apparently thought I was staring as she said "mommy, it isn't nice to stare".

Nicholas is sick again today so Jon is home with him. Benjamin also stayed home since his nose kept running and he needed a tissue constantly. He was going to keep Ella home, but she said she really wanted to go to school. I'm not sure right now if she went or not.

That's all for now. Hope everyone feels better soon and that Ben & Ella do very well in their swim class tomorrow!

Hello again

It's been a while...I've been not so much a blogger these days. So many things have happened since my last post.

VACATION

I took a week off at the end of July since the daycare was closed and so we did various fun things about the town (and out of town). We went to Point Defiance Zoo with Jon's mom. We went to the Greenlake wading pool (and seriously tired my kids out that day with the walking back and forth we did) with our friend Aki and her son James. We went to a petting zoo up north with our friend Steph and her son Grayson. We spent a couple hours searching in vain for a plastic pool for the kids to play in. We went to the church playgroup time and met up with Aki, Jen, and their sons and of course, Leena. It was a good week and I really enjoyed spending so much time with my children. However, it was definitely exhausting too.

Also, we did visit a friend of mine who is battling colon cancer. We brought them some dinner and went on a little playdate with her 3 year old son. We really enjoyed seeing them and I hope and pray that Amy gets better soon as well as our friend Kedra who is battling breast cancer.


ELLA HAD A SEIZURE

Then another thing that happened is that Ella had a seizure brought on by a fever (called a febrile seizure) which was brought on by an ear infection. I didn't actually see the seizure - Jon did. I'm glad I didn't see it or I would have freaked out more than I did. However, when Jon told me, I had a good idea that is what happened so I wasn't extremely concerned but still we took her to the ER (for some reason, I completely forgot about Children's and we went to Northwest since it was closer - our pediatrician told us to go to Children's should it happen again - I hope not). The time at the ER was not fun for any of us, especially Ella has she was given medicine via her butt since she had just thrown up and they wanted to make sure she got the tylenol to reduce her fever. Then they checked her temp in her butt. And they had to take her blood which meant holding her down. She cried out for papa then (as Jon went home to get a change of clothing for Ella and himself since she throw up all over them). I felt so bad and wondered if my little girl would ever like me again. Thankfully, she is all better now and hopefully, that doesn't happen again any time soon. That was on August 1.

AUNT PASSING AWAY

At the beginning of July, my eldest aunt went into the hospital. Her cancer had made a return in the last year and so she was fighting that. It was breast, then they found some in her uterine area, then they found cancer in her colon and eventually found it had spread everywhere. She came home with Hospice care on August 9 and she passed away on August 13. I had visited with her in the hospital in mid-July when we went over to Spokane for a family reunion (another topic below) and she didn't look great, but I thought she was getting better so it came as a bit of a shock to me to hear that she was going home to die. I had planned to go over on that Friday (August 13) to visit when my mom called me to tell me she passed away. I went over to Spokane anyway to be with my mom and family. This is my 2nd relative this year that has passed away. I pray to God that there will be no more anytime soon.

We are planning a celebration of life for my aunt on September 11, so I'll be back to Spokane then.


FAMILY REUNION

I can't say that this was a really big family reunion when some of the people don't even come, but I am glad that I went as that gave me the opportunity to visit with my aunt in the hospital. This family reunion was from the other side of my family - my dad's side. It seemed that each of my dad's siblings families stuck to each other and when I went over to say to the others, they got up and left. Such a heartwarming family reunion, huh? Hopefully, next year, when my aunt plans that one, it will be a better time.

NIECE VISITS

This past week, my niece Kendall came back with me from Spokane to hang out with us. Unfortunately, I could not take the time off to do much stuff with her but it was nice having her there. We did go to Richmond Beach with her one day and to Carkeek the next. Maybe next year, she can come back while I have some time off so we can actually do some things!!

Birthday Party & More

This past Saturday, we had a birthday party for Ben & Ella for friends and family who live on this side of the state. We had it at the same park as last year (the "birthday park"). The weather turned out perfectly for us. It was nice and sunny and warm.

We started off the day by letting the kids play in the playground, then we had some dinner, then cupcakes and then presents. We spent about a little over 4 hours at the park. We had so many people come and join us for the birthday party - people who knew from church, from daycare, from college and our the grandparents and an uncle and an aunt. It was great! The kids enjoyed playing with all the other kids that came.

The next day, we went and played at the beach while my parents and brother were still in town. Benjamin seemed to really enjoye that it was low tide and went pretty far out there while Ella enjoyed looking at the rocks. Nicholas also had a good time wandering all around and playing with kids his own age and the bigger kids.



You can see some pics of both days at www.flickr.com/photos/heathercim

In other info:

Benjamin says as we are heading to the beach that "You need to do this (he had his hands covering his ears") so you won't get scared." He was referring to the loud noise the train makes as he goes underneath the overpass to the beach.

Ella got this cute little play dress and play shoes from a friend of ours and Benjamin wanted them too. Last night, he was walking around with them on and came up to us and said "look at my BEAUTIFUL shoes". It was so cute!

At the party, Ella saw one of the little kids (he's about to turn a year old) from the daycare and went up to him and said "Hi R. How are you, sweetie?" in her baby talk voice.

Nicholas was really into the dog that came to visit and excitedly followed him around for a bit. He also seemed to like riding in a little push car that a friend brought their 1 year old in. Nicholas now knows where his belly is and will lift up his shirt to show you his belly. He had his checkup yesterday (stats to come as soon as I can get them from Jon) and the doctor says he needs to be saying 24 words by 18 months. I remembered being worried about one of the twins but both of them are just fine talkers now, so I'm not too worried about Nicholas.

Nicholas is attempting to climb up on the couch these days. He thinks it is so fun to sit up on the couch and last night, I kept telling him he was a big boy and he kept cracking up over that. :-D

Ben & Ella got a train set for their birthday and they are really liking that and will fight over the trains. Surprisingly, they are also fighting over the play shoes that they got as well. Nicholas really likes the bubble lawnmower they got.

More to come when I remember to blog about it. Sorry to my kids as I was hoping to have this blog as a way to fill in your baby book later and I haven't done either of them too well lately.

Another Long Overdue Update

I can't seem to get myself motivated to blog anymore, but I should so I have some record of the cuteness my kids do and say... as well as the trials and tribulations in being a parent.

In order of birth...

First, Ella -

I guess this isn't so much cute as it is hooray! Ella is doing very well with potty training. I trust her not to pee in her underwear when we go out. However, she REFUSES to go poo in the potty and will just dance around when she needs to go until we give her a pull-up for nighttime. I don't know what to do to encourage her that going #2 in the potty is a good thing. Any suggestions are very much welcome on what we can do to encourage her.

Anyway, onto the cute things. One morning she told me that I shouldn't go to work. She wanted me to stay at home. She cried about it. I really didn't want to go to work after that - more so than I normally do. Then another night I was off to my book club meeting and she insisted that she go with me, so she did. She was extra shy girl (as I expected) but she was very good. And she came on a good night as one of the ladies brought cookies and cupcakes to celebrate another person's birthday! I wanted to have some one on one time with my kids as we haven't done that in a while, so I'm glad Ella and I got this opportunity to hang out together.

Ella is so cute with all her babies and her animals. She has to have about a million things on her bed before she can go to sleep. O.K. maybe I'm exaggerating but not by much. She has about 4 babies (one of which is a Bart Simpson doll that she says is the daddy), 2 cats, a couple dogs, a bull and a few other things. I really should take a picture. After she has all this stuff on her bed just so, I ask her where she plans to sleep and she look around her bed where there is no room and says "right here" as she moves stuff away.


Next, Benjamin

Last night, as I was getting ready for bed, I heard Benjamin and Ella laughing so I listened in on their conversation as I brushed my teeth. Benjamin was saying things like "Benjamin and Ella, go to bed!" Laughter. Then "Benjamin & Ella, lay down in your bed!" Squeals of laughter. So, our children are making fun of us...

Benjamin is doing o.k. with potty training. He isn't to the point of me trusting him to stay dry, but we're getting there. He will do both in the potty - just not on a consistent basis. I hope to have him fully trained by 3 1/2 (which is in 7 months).

About a week ago, I was coming out of the bedroom or something, and Benjamin says to me "mommy, I had chocolate." I asked him, "did you ask me if you could have some?" He says "no." Then I tell him "next time, you need to ask me if you can have some." He looked so saddened because he didn't think he was doing anything wrong. I moved the chocolates to a different place...though I wonder if I should keep it in the same place and see if he asks me next time or just does it quietly.


And last, but not least - Nicholas

He is 14 months now and says momma, waves hi, and says no (says that last one quite clearly). He says a bunch of things as if he talking one big long sentence, but it doesn't make any sense. He understands a lot more than what he can say and can understand simple instructions. We have started to wean him from his pacifier and well, it hurts me to hear him scream like that. However, last night, he had the entertainment of his siblings (they were making fun of us after all), so he didn't scream so much last night.

Before leaving the room last night, Jon put Nicholas into Benjamin's bed and He. Was. In. Heaven. He just kicked his legs all around and squealed with delight. It was so cute. He did seem more happy in Benjamin's bed than in Ella's bed. He definitely is so happy when his siblings include him in things and play with him.

A few nights ago, Nicholas came up to me from behind and hugged me and said something so softly - I choose to believe that he was saying "I Love You!" :-D


Ben & Ella will be 3 in just over a month. How did the time go by so quickly?!?! I'm trying to figure out what to do for their birthday. We will probably have a party at our house, but I'll need to pick a theme. Most likely Dora as that is all they want to watch these days - especially the Little Lamb episode. We are also going on a Thomas the Train ride in July that is part of their birthday present. I'm looking forward to that as they talk about going on the train or the bus all the time.

I am also in the middle of transitioning to a new pediatrician. Our old one is just fine, except sometimes I feel like she doesn't really listen to my concerns; their parking garage sucks for big vehicles like ours; and their billing practices are extremely annoying. Oh, and our favorite NP left to go to another state. So after some asking around, we found a new place. I just need to get everything sent over to the new place so I can make an appointment for N's 15 month checkup and B & E's 3 year checkup. I also finally got around to making a doctor appointment for myself. I haven't had a full physical in years. I was prompted to do so by 2 of my friends learning they have cancer (one breast and the other colon). However, I still need to make an appointment with my OB/GYN for that exam and to schedule my first mammogram. She said to wait until 6 months after breastfeeding ended and that's coming up.

Well, that's all. This has been long enough and I don't even know if anyone reads this anymore.

Nicholas & his 2 month checkup

Nicholas smiling at the cow - they have a good relationship. He likes to talk to the cow, pig and lamb hanging down from the bar on this bouncy seat.

I took Nicholas in this morning for his 2 month checkup - here are his stats:

13 pounds exactly (75th percentile)
23 inches long (50%)
16 inches for head circumferance (75%)

He got a couple shots today and his little face got all red. :-( Poor little guy. He looked up at me after the first one and had this look like help me mommy! :-( But the good news is is that he is a healthy little boy! Since he's growing, they still aren't concerned about his tongue tie.

They asked me about my mood and I said I was fine, but apparently, I had this look like they couldn't believe me so they gave me information on a peps group and asked if I felt I needed medication. It's true that I have my moments, but I didn't feel like it rose to the level of medication. I'm sure that having two pregnancies within 2 years isn't the best hormonally though. They also think I look tired as they told me to take naps and stop worrying about things that need to be done before I go back to work. I'm just not a good napper.

Anyway, Nicholas is looking good! I'll be posting more pics on flickr soon if you'd like to see!

Dr. Visits & other news

I took Benjamin to the doctor yesterday a.m. and I was told to just continue giving him a bunch of fruits and veggies like we've been doing and that doesn't seem to be working, then we can try some mineral oil prescription. If that doesn't work, then we need to bring him in. At first, I thought he was doing better by limiting the amount of milk he's had (though the doctor didn't seem to think this was the issue), but now I'm not so sure. I'd rather not have to give him the prescription.

Later on in the afternoon, Jon and I took Nicholas in to see the pediatric urologist who said that we need to wait until Nicholas is 9 months old before they'll (maybe) do the circumcision. They'll have to put him under general anesthesia to do it too, which the doctor says freaks out parents (and it does freak me out to have my 9 month old put under). It's not a big deal - the doctor just wants to wait until he's older.

In other news, this morning, I heard Ella say "bye, see you" when Jon left for work and then again when I took them to preschool/daycare and she said that to my mom. So cute. And Benjamin said "cow" though it sounds like "dow".

Today, we visited Jon's work thinking that we were crashing one of his coworker's birthday lunch, but she ended up being sick so it was just us. It was nice though because we got to have lunch with Jon and Aqua Verde is yummy.