Bad mommy of the year award goes to...ME

So, I came downstairs from starting a load of laundry to find McKenna had made her way up to the tabletop and was sucking on a plastic bag. Send CPS soon. Better yet, call the psych ward and have them pick me up. It has been another one of those days. McKenna is becoming very independent and extremely strong-willed. She is starting to want things and NOW!!! Caleb has been this way for a few months and Trevor just outgrew it. Lets just hope these phases are just phases and the sweet children I once knew will return sooner than later.

I guess I will keep the ones I have until the other ones return. They are just as cute, just a little more demanding.

Going on from yesterday's thread...another reason you should space your children out...

My new tangles shirt

We had a fund day yesterday. The kids were very excited to wear their new "tangles" shirts, as Caleb called them. We cut out items that began with the letter C and pictures that reminded us of fall.



We also found things to do together. We recently bought tinkertoys. The kids love these. This is one good thing about having the kids so close together. At least they are interested in the same things.


And finally, we went for a bike ride and walk. Here is a picture of Trevor and his new bike...

This is McKenna in her natural state. She is a real tomboy who prefers trucks and trains. She played all day with this truck. Well, when she wasn't laying down. She was quite sick today. Fever, chills and vomiting.




The rest of the pics are of McKenna holding her own with the boys. As much as they didn't want to play with her, she wanted to play with them Guess who won? McKenna is one strong cookie. It cracks me up. She really holds her own with the boys. For those of you who know Trevor, you know what a feat this is.




Lets just hope the night goes more smoothly than last night. I know I have 2 pukers on my hands and Trevor is not looking so hot. I could be in for a few rough days.

Happy Birthday Trevor

Hard to believe that Trevor turned 4 years old today. He had a great day. He had a party at school, got to eat dinner with daddy, played at Chuck E Cheese (can I say yuck and hand sanitizer all the way!!) ride his new bike (thanks Oma and Pepere) and is now playing Wii Fit (thanks to Mimi). Unfortunately, McKenna has come down with the stomach flu. So much fun trying to clean up puke in a car seat. That fresh, clean smell I had yesterday from cleaning it out...GONE. He seat expires the end of this month. I think I will just pick her up a new one tomorrow. Here are a few pics of our day with daddy.

These were actually taken outside the restaurant before we knew just exactly how sick McKenna really was. Isn't she cute???





And here are the pics and video of the kids and the Wii Fit. McKenna is already asleep in her crib and Caleb is now running a fever. Should be a great weekend full of puke and sick kids. Yippee!!!

Cupcakes galore

We made cupcakes for Trevor's classmates today. The kids really enjoyed making them and they really enjoyed eating them. They are supposed to be apples. Get it...the whole fall theme. It was fun doing this with the kids. McKenna had her 15 month appointment. Hard to believe she is growing so fast. She is 24 pounds and 30 inches. This was a huge jump from her year visit. She only weighed 18 pounds then. So, she is really putting on the pounds. Anyway, the kids spent the afternoon at Oma and Peperes today. This was great for me. I got to clean out the van, mop the floors using my new steam mop, and sweep. Yahoo!! I guess I could have taken a hot bubble bath. I am beginning to think those really are for the birds. The house smells and feels clean. I will shower later and so will I. And so it goes...

McKenna and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Hair Day

Another day without Aaron. We woke up, played, and Caleb had speech. His speech pathologist discharged him. Although we knew the day was coming, we were still sad to see her go. She has become a nice friend to the family. He is still going to be tracked by the Early Intervention Specialist. So, they aren't completely off the hook. They are going to keep an eye on McKenna. She isn't quite on track for language development, but I do not think she is nearly as severe as Caleb once was. He is typical for speech now. He is definitely typical for behavior too. His two year old antics are getting on my nerves, quite frankly.
Everyone napped today. Yeah!!!! We went to the grocery, got gas and spent an hour at the library. McKenna loves books. We got her lots of picture books. She loves to carry them around. Books and babies...and, of course, trucks and trains. She is a real tomboy.
I also had one of those "proud parent" moments. I spoke with Trevor's preschool teacher on the phone this morning. Trevor told me that he got into a shoving match with a kid, "Jerry" in his class. I wanted to make sure we did not need to nip something in the bud with Trevor, so I called the school. His teacher said, absoultely not. She said that Trevor is trying harder than anyone in the class to sit and learn. She said that he and "Jerry" got into it because the other boy was poking Trevor during circle time. She said that Trevor really likes to try to sit quietly in circle time and that Trevor was afraid that "Jerry" was going to get him into trouble. After about 5 minutes of the kid poking Trevor, he asked him to quit. He didn't quit, so Trevor pushed him out of the way. She was not at all mad at Trevor. I was just so proud at how much he is trying. I actually teared up when she was telling me these things. I never, in my wildest dreams, thought he would be this successful in a structured setting. Way to go Trevor. And, way to go Caleb for talking so well!!!
Overall, it was a good day. We are getting ready to give baths, bible stories and have a popcorn party. I think we all deserve it after the long week we have had without Aaron.

Bye Bye Daddy

Well, Aaron got to come home for 20 minutes to take a shower today. He slept at work after working over 50 hours the past 2 workdays. At least the kids got to see him. They were extremely disappointed when he left, but are beginning to understand that the people without power need him. We spent most of the day playing outside. Caleb went with Mimi to the doctor to get his pathology reports. Good news there. Everything is wonderful. Nothing cancerous. The trip was a success...unless you consider two changes from pee accidents and one from another. So Caleb spent the morning soiling his pants. Oh well. Could have been worse. We could have forgot to pack extras. Trevor had a great day at preschool and is working on things that begin with the letter c. We are going to make cupcakes for his birthday this week. He is going to take them into school to share. He is so grown up. McKenna is really starting to try to talk. She is really enjoying the sign language. She picked up 3 more signs today. Yes, no and potty. She is reluctant to speak them, but at least she is trying the signs. The talking will come soon enough.


And Caleb decided he wanted to dress himself for going outside to ride bikes. Mind you , he was naked otherwise. (No, Aaron, I did not let him go outside like this) I convinced him that our neighbor, David, would think he is a girl. David is the not so nicely behaved six year old from next door. The kids really look up to him and I am really looking into having a privacy fence in the near future.

We are getting a little lonely this week. I have a ton of doctor appointments so at least I can have adult conversations with the professionals I will be coming in contact with. I am supposed to have a few drinks with a girlfriend on Friday. Very much looking forward to that. Also starting my church group next week. That should help too. Although, we are hoping Aaron will be around to see everyone soon. Grass needs cut and it is kind of hard to do with the three babies in tow. At least Uncle Mike and Pepere got our fence in working order. I may have mentioned before that the kids escaped the first day after the storm when I ran inside for a brief second. I came outside and all three of them were walking down the bike path like three ducks in a row. A few months from now, none of this will matter and life should be back to normal. Whatever that is...

In the name of the father, the son and the holy goat

The kids' Mimi came over today. We ate indian food (yeah, curry), took a bike ride (with Uncle Mike too), took baths and watched Tom and Jerry. Which, by the way, not too sure why our parents let us watch it. It is a violent cartoon. I am feeling so much like a prude, but I really hate the boys watching violent shows. No Spongebob or anything like that. My philosophy is as long as I can keep it from them, the better off they are. Anyway, every parent I know (parents my parent's age or older) has the philosophy of, "well, we let you do it and you turned out ok?" Not sure how true that is either. Regardless, I let them watch it simply because it held their interest and I haven't seen Aaron in so long that I need as many peaceful moments as I can get. (By the way, he worked over 30 hours yesterday, slept for 4 and went back in for at least 20 more. He's worked well over 100 hours this week alone).
So anyway, as Mimi and the kids were saying prayers, Trevor blurts out, "In the name of the father, the son and the holy goat." This was so cute and so funny. I can only imagine what is going on in his little head. I mean, I know he gets the concept of God, Jesus and other people of the bible. But, I think he thought, well there must be a special goat in there somewhere too. Too funny.

Overall it was a nice day. I actually got to read the Sunday paper on Sunday. That happens once in a blue moon. I talked to Aaron a couple of times and the kids were great. McKenna is starting to sign a lot more. She does milk, shoes, cheese, down, up and more. She has also learned to point when she is mad. She was taking a bath and kept drinking the bath water. I would tell her, "no" and point my finger at her. Mimi came in and did the same thing. She pointed and gave her a stern look. McKenna looked very serious for about 1 minute and pointed back at us. We laughed.
The kids change everyday and I am so thankful to be home with them. I am not perfect, and I yell (especially at Captain Negative=Caleb). The terrible twos are the worst. But, I love my kids dearly and I love being with them. I hope I can do this until they don't need me at home anymore. Thank you Aaron for making this life possible. Have a great day and I hope to see someone other than my kids tomorrow.

Trevor then and now

Just thinking about how far Trevor has come. He has his moments, believe me. It is no walk in the park. Especially around 5:00 in the afternoon on a day when he hasn't taken a nap or rested. He is really growing up. Sometimes I am filled with joy, and other times I am crying. It really is cruel how fast they grow up. Anyway, he is a big boy who goes to school, goes to the gym daycare, goes to Sunday school and is such an independent little soul. He is filled to the brim with knowledge. I can only imagine how much smarter he is going to be than me. He can get online, find games and play them on the Internet. Scary, I know. He would rather watch Mr Wizard's World, or Bill Nye the Science Guy rather than Diego, Dora or any other cartoon. He could take apart a radio and sort of figure out how to put it together. He is a loving and wonderful brother to both McKenna and Caleb. He is starting to show empathy towards others in his class at school. He is a good listener. He wants to please adults. He tries really hard at everything he does. I am so proud of my little man. He has come a long, long way. I never thought I would be able to say these things about him. Considering 3 months ago, we were considering contacting the Supernanny. He is just growing up. I wish I could bottle up the innocence and the sense of playfulness forever. Unfortunately I can't. All I can do is store a little place in my brain and try to remember. One day I will forget. I hope not. This is such a special time in life. To be a child, to know a child, to love a child...there is nothing greater.

Duke: The root of all things evil

Ok. So I have spent the day defending my husband's honor. The community is just outraged at Dukes effort or lack of efforts to restore the communities electric. Considering, I have not seen him since Sunday and he is working 20+ hours and sleeping for 5-6 hours and then returning to work, I am so frustrated at those who are complaining that the workers aren't doing enough. I guess it is not enough that his three children haven't seen him since Sunday morning. I guess it is not enough that his body aches, he is feeling sick with a sinus infection and miss his family immensly. I know people who's loved ones are fighting for our country overseas have it much, much worse. But the people of Cincinnati are being spoiled, degrating brats. I have attached a link to the article in which I am quoted. Rest assure, we are counting our blessings. Our kids are safe, we have a roof over our heads, we are healthy. We are blessed, but we miss our daddy. I will be glad when this is over. I don't care if Aaron is the root of all evil to the rest of the world, he is our hero and he is doing a great job. He is a wonderful provider, a hard worker, and a committed father. Thank you for the hard work you do for us.

http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080919/NEWS01/309190034/1055/NEWS

Mommy... when you get younger, will you marry me?

Well, we finally have internet service. I was just getting over the withdrawals when, lo and behold, the my browser came up. I have been without internet since the horrible wind storm on Sunday. We were so lucky that we only were without electricity for 12+ hours. We are even more lucky that Aaron works for Duke. All and all, the electrical outage was good for our family. In fact, Trevor asked me if we could do that once a week. I about died. I think he loved the fact that we were all together without any distractions. Believe me, once he figured that he would be without the Wii or any other video, he would be rethinking this. We had fun, though. It was actually a nice bonding experience for everyone. We danced, exercised, read, colored, cut, ate spaghettios from a can and slept.

Anyway, about halfway through our personal blackout, Trevor starts asking about married couples. Not sure where this came from. We were telling the story of Ruth and Naomi (the Bible). I think he was a little confused about why Ruth married someone when she was already married to her husband who died. Anyway, he turns to me in the middle of the story and says, "Hey mommy...when you get younger, will you marry me?" I tried to explain to him that mommies don't marry their babies, but he just didn't get it. It was so cute.
Also, we haven't seen Aaron for more than 5 minutes since the storm hit Sunday. I have added a picture of us (sorry Aaron). You can see how tired he must be. And to think that there are people who are threatening Duke workers...as if their jobs aren't dangerous enough. We now have to threaten them physically. C'mon. I just want to scream at them. Believe me, they are working as fast as they can. The workers don't relish the thought of being away from their families for days on end. He is working 16 hour shifts. This means 20+ hour shifts in Duke terms. We will be so glad to have him home again. The kids are really missing him.

If you have gotten this far reading the blog, you are a real trooper. I just wanted to add some pictures of the kids from the last few days. I also wanted to add how lucky we all really are. I cannot imagine what it is like for those who have not had electricity for several days in a row. We are truly blessed. We lost our fence and gazebo. We became a little richer for the undivided time we spent together in the dark. Please keep praying for those who are way, way worse off than we are. Till next time...