Friday, September 26, 2008

Our family

It was eight years ago today that Matt asked for my hand in marriage. That was the start of a wonderful family. Who knew we would have 4 kids by now!

James is really sick. He started with a fever late Wednesday evening. Yesterday he was ok - just a low grade fever. Last night he woke up twice - once with a fever and the second time because he was cold and complained of pain in his back - it was his car he took to bed. When he woke up this morning at 6am he was breathing heavy and was shaking. I immediately took him to the Pediatric ER. They gave him motrin and a throat culture as he complained about his throat hurting. As we were waiting for doctors you could tell he was feeling better as he started to perk up. He didn't have a bowel movement yesterday so they thought he might be constipated. An x-ray confirmed that was the case and he had to have an enema. They said he is probably fighting something viral - the culture came back negative for strept to keep treating his fever with motrin and tylenol. He was fine until a little after lunch - which he didn't eat much of - he had a fever again. James, Patrick and Tommy are all napping now. Patrick has continued to get up before the crack of dawn so he was out just around 12:30. I'm hoping for a restful night but I'm sure not going to count on it. I hate that its the weekend because I'm going to have to decide before noon if he needs to see a doctor again - either that or its back to the ER or wait until Monday. I hope he starts to pull through this and that the other boys do not get it.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

You win some, you lose some

So the bad news on Sunday night was that I got outbid on the Darth Vader costume at the final minute. I figured that would happen but I wasn't willing to pay a dime more than I had bid on. The good news is John still hasn't asked me about it. The bad news, our friend who's kid wore the costume last year never made it back up to the attic so they can't find all the pieces. The good news I went back to ebay found an ad for the same costume for a very reasonable price and bought it. So I will be super mom once again.

As of yesterday, I had still not heard back from the transportation department regarding my request to change John's bus stop. So last night I composed and sent an email to the principal of John's school seeking some assistance getting this pushed through. In the email I put the information down on his current bus stop. I was typing this as I was watching DWTS and screwed up the house number of his current bus stop. So this morning before I got dressed I recalled the message and ended up deleting it and whipped up a new email with the correct information. I think today's email was a little better and I was a little less emotional when writing it. I finished up and sent it just before 6am. The principal had emailed me back a few minutes after 6 saying she would look into it. I received a phone call from the principal around 9:30 am letting me know she spoke with the transportation supervisor. Basically she told me this process could take 4-6 weeks (they should tell their operator that who told me 2-3 weeks) and I should probably hear something by the end of the week. Well low and behold I received a phone call this afternoon that starting tomorrow I need to be watching for that bus a little before 3pm! Yea! The only bummer part of the deal is that I may have to go through this again next year because bus stops may change based on need.

So far today James has had no accidents! The poor kid was playing outside yesterday - we had the whole neighborhood over again - I was talking to one of the mom's and I heard a big thump - it was James' head hitting the pavement. John accidentally barrelled him over I guess. I think James was behind John and John fell backwards on James. James ended up with a pretty nice goose bump and a little road rash from hitting the sidewalk.

I think John is coming around too on tying a shoe - actually my shoe. I worked with him on it today and I think he is starting to get it. Next pair of tennis shoes for him will definitely have laces.

Sometimes I feel like I have these uphill battles with the kids - shoelaces, potty training, eating with a fork, riding a bicycle and slowly but surely they get it and it is such a relief and a bit rewarding.

I was checking my bosses calendar with Pfizer and found out that his special assignment ends on at the end of January and not February like I had thought. That is a bit of a bummer. I'm wondering if my boss gets used to not having someone there if he would continue to have me on board or what am I thinking - it is so much easier to pop out of your office and say hey Joyce schedule this meeting with so and so and me for this date. We shall wait and see. I did find out I am entitled to vacation time that I would have accrued had I worked while I was on leave and I can still earn some at a different rate. I'm waiting to hear what that is. Cool beans for me!

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Why don't we just have the whole neighborhood over?

John is now in school and he is making new friends. I'm proud of him. I guess I'm being overprotective but I really don't like when kids just show up and want to play. I think I have gotten used to the wild brothers down the street although I prefer just the boy that is in John's class. I definitely don't mind the one boy across the street who comes to our house to catch the bus. Today my biggest fear had come true. I know this sounds un-neighborly of me but the boy across the street (he is a year older than John) that just moved in had his older brother bring him over to play with John. The parents have rented the house across the street for the last two or three years unsuccessfully. They decided now that they would live in this house. Every time this boy and his 3 brothers were over they were bored and would be up to no good. I didn't know really how to react because John probably could have used some company but I said it was fine but we were eating in a half an hour so John would likely be coming in soon. I overheard the boy telling John he could come over to his house later. That is fine but I don't think the parents would have a clue that John was invited over and again - I really don't want John around this kid because I don't trust him. When dinner was ready I told him he needed to go home and that I would watch him cross the street. I told him to go when the traffic was clear and then headed to the house. I didn't realize he didn't go - not sure why - but his older brother who "dropped him off" made sure he got across. It almost appeared that older brother was hanging out in the driveway until I told John to come in - that was good because I was listening but not watching them closely. When I was telling this boy to go home - he kept calling John "dude" and I did not like the snot-ass look he was giving me. I just can not believe that other parents would let their kids go over to someone else's house (especially at John's age) without talking to the parent first. I've decided I'd rather have John where I can see him so I know what is going on and the first kid that doesn't follow the house rules is going to be tossed (just like from a baseball game). If there was a good thing in this whole thing this afternoon was James and Patrick were napping and when they were up they were fine with staying inside and watching the boys play out the window. Tommy was entertaining himself well enough too that I could get dinner ready for me and the boys. This is something new that I hope I can accept and let John grow socially.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Oh boy Oh boy Oh boy!

So here is the latest drama in my life. John is dying to be Darth Vader for Halloween. That is fine however I am not paying $50 for the costume he sees in the catalog that came in the mail last week. I'm going the ebay route in hopes to spend less on the costume. We have a bid on one that the auction ends on Saturday - so far we are in the lead but you never know someone might want to spend more than I'm offering. Yesterday as I was looking for a good costume for a low price, John says to me - if we don't get this costume I'm going to cry. Great. No pressure on mom at all. I did post an update on my Facebook page saying I was looking for Darth Vader costumes on ebay and our friend might still have one from last year in their attic. Good for me that there is a Plan B.

In the meantime James then says he wants to be Lighting McQueen from Cars - another costume that was in this catalog that I now have to remember never to show the kids again. Found the "racing" outfit online for $20 - much cheaper than this catalog. There is an actual foam car that you can wear too - tried that on ebay but not much luck there. People are spending $50 for this puppy. No thank you. I think James would be happy enough with the outfit that comes with a headphone. I think that is the whole point of being Lightning.

The kids are in a funky mood today that is annoying. I guess I should call it "they are acting like spoiled brats". It was very hard for them to do the things they need to do to get out of the house this morning (like go the bathroom, put on shoes and coats). Maybe they don't like the fact I'm making them do it for themselves because they need to learn. After 100 times of asking James to go to the bathroom Patrick tells me he has to go so I get him on and he goes. That is wonderful however I'm not sure if I want to worry about 2 kids having wet pants until James gets a little more consistent with having a BM in the bathroom and not his pants.

In the at least they are cute and patriotic category - my boys make me sing the national anthem before we play any baseball in the front yard or driveway. This includes them making fake fireworks noise and James yelling "Play Ball". It looks like the Captains playoff game left quite the impression even though they claimed to be miserable when the fireworks went off.

In the good news section - I have John doing the breakfast dishes. He takes a while but I'm fine with that. Today I think the novelty was wearing off as he was complaining a bit too much. Can't wait for him to do them again tomorrow!

And lastly, today we are at BJ's. They have their blow up Halloween decoration up. I point it out to the kids who think its cool until one thing pops up that looks a little scary and then James goes through the store with his hands over his ears. Not too wierd. Did I mention he was wearing the hood on his jacket too? Don't ask me why. John and him must think its cool to have a hood on a jacket.

Friday, September 12, 2008

Virtual Job #2 is now underway

I picked up my computer yesterday to continue working with Pfizer. It was a little frustrating as the person who filled in for me during my leave told me - which I'm sure he was told - that I needed to activate a special card that connects me to the Pfizer world would have to be done at the Regional Office. Turns out it did not. The kids were good. I was in my "do what ever you want within reason" mode as I was on the phone with the help desk trying to get it to work. I came home with a lot more equipment that I had thought I was getting. I didn't grab things from my desk I did need - however I have someone at the office sending them to me. The kids were good. The only thing that was difficult was Patrick used the highlighter on himself instead of the paper, Tommy wanted Mommy only and was a grabby little Gus and James had an accident - which wasn't too big of a deal as I had anticipated that happening. We made it home - grabbed some Wendy's and got John on the bus in time. It was a nice treat for me and the kids to have Wendy's. As soon as it gets a bit colder I'm going to suggest soup for lunch as I am tired of making PB&J sandwiches.

Yesterday evening Patrick was giving Matt and I a little devil smirk. Very very cute. He actually did this yesterday before nap too and I tried to capture it on camera but didn't have much luck. That kid has the bluest eyes. He was up at the crazy hour (for a one year old) of 5:30am. Matt had him hang out on our bed as I dried my hair. He was just staring at me and I swear he didn't blink and his eyes looked just like baby-doll eyes. Too weird!

Tommy is actually have a good nap now. He has been in this routine of taking about an hour's nap in the am and then maybe 2 hours in the afternoon. As long as I can get some work done and maybe have time to blog or surf the net before John gets home I would be one happy mama.

John is totally loving school. He waited for the bus at the end of the walk way before he had to today and it was drizzling out! I said John - do you like going to school and his face lit up and said yes. I now feel like I missed out on something by never taking a bus because we lived so close to school. Bummer for me.

We are going out tomorrow night. I'm super excited. As much as I would love to hang out at Mick's for a few hours and watch football and baseball - I want to make sure we get to Target. There are toys I want to show Matt and possibly purchase and throw in our storage unit before we hit maybe another bar. Hopefully the kids will sleep into at least 6 am on Sunday so I can sleep in a little bit (maybe 5:45?)

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Ugh I have the back to school cold!

The kids fought it off pretty well but I guess staying up later than I should for the past two weeks has taken its toll on me. The last two days I've felt like "sure kids do what ever you want". Which has turned out good and bad for me. The good - the kids have behaved pretty well because they are doing whatever the hell they want. The bad - I forgot that Patrick likes to sometimes follow James. James was told to go in the bathroom to use it but Patrick made it in there first and put James' pajama top in the toilet. Lucky for me he didn't flush and it was just clear water! The other bad - the mess of blocks and toys. I'm starting to not let Patrick get away with messing things up. It's time he faced the music!

This morning I found a recipe online for pumpkin gobbs. Matt's company is holding a car wash to raise money for the Leukemia Society and thought about having a bake sale to go along with the car wash. Matt didn't volunteer me to make anything but once I thought about the idea it sounded good so off to the store we went. We only needed a few ingredients. James and Patrick enjoyed the car part of the cart. Tommy enjoyed looking around and John had no choice but to enjoy either pushing the cart or putting the items we needed into the cart. BTW I was told I was brave by another shopper when entering the store. The kids enjoyed the outing and to top it off we got to watch some guy being confronted when he was trying to steal cigarettes. Anyway, we got home and I decided to make the gobbs. I misread some of the instructions on what needed mixed together - I ended up mixing the wet ingredients and then adding it to the dry ingredients. I don't think that harmed anything. My scene was harshed when a tray of about 6 or 7 gobbs waiting to go into the oven got bumped from the counter and on the floor which went right into the garbage. I think the rest ended up turning out ok. I had to cook them longer then the directions but I also think I made them larger than maybe I was supposed to. The directions really didn't say how big to "drop them on the cookie sheet". I used an ice cream scooper. Maybe if I make it next time I will use a small spoon. It was easy enough that I will definitely do it again. After lunch and John was off to school I made the icing part. As I am gobbing up the cakes I look over and there is Patrick on the floor with his leftover breakfast and lunch (toast sticks) trying to feed Tommy. Very cute. It didn't work so well and they both ended up back in the living room at some point where Patrick would make a noise and Tommy would laugh very hard. Pretty soon it will be Tommy stuffing my toilet with God knows what while he follows Patrick. Oh the things I have to look forward too!

I have been fortunate enough this week that everyone in the 3 and under column have been cooperating enough at naptime that I have been able to catch a nap myself. That has definitely helped me feel a little better.

James has been doing awesome with potty training. I'm really proud of him. He somehow doesn't make it to the bathroom in time when he has a bowel movement but he does go every time I tell him too - which is about every hour. I thought about giving him a matchbox car last night because he only had one accident with the big boy underwear however I did tell him he has to have no accidents to get one - so the M&M's have been working as a reward in the meantime.

John has a soccer game tonight. The rain has moved through so that will be good as we will not be confined to the car to watch the game. Ok I must move on - only 45 more minutes of peace to myself!

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

I'm liking this Kindergarten thing

John had a great 2nd day of school and was all smiles after getting off the bus. He definitely had one thing on his mind which was to play Wii. He went to the library and the teacher explained you can take out a book but be careful if you have pets or other siblings so they do not hurt the book. Apparently this scared John and he did not take a book out.

John began his soccer career last night and did very well. He scored a goal and saved a goal - he also let the other team score a goal :-( I'm guessing because it was our snack night John received the good game award which is a certificate to a free meal at Beef O'Brady's. I know some people think T-ball is hard to watch but to me Soccer is hard to watch because the kids kick it the wrong way or are so close to getting a goal and then they miss it.

In the potty training news - James thinks wearing big boy underwear makes him a big boy. However we have had our share of accidents. I'm guessing that is ok as long as we start to minimize them sooner rather than later. Hopefully he will continue tol wear a pull up for me at nap as he has been. In the mean time - he is damn lucky I stay at home and can do laundry everyday - not that I want too!

Monday, September 1, 2008

John's 1st Day of School

was really good. I think he enjoyed riding the bus however he wasn't sure when he was to get off. The bus driver asked me if I was waiting for someone and I said yes. John was sitting in his seat being very quiet. I have requested that his bus stop in the afternoon be changed to the stop that is across the street on the Willowick Drive side. I think this will be easy for John to remember when to get off the bus as it is the first stop. It will also be easier for me to meet him at the stop and not worry about the other boys who should be sleeping.

We had a great weekend. The weather was gorgeous and we enjoyed each others company. Some of the kids that John rides the bus with invited themselves over to play ball in our yard. It wasn't that hard to get rid of them which was a bit of a relief.

James had a really good day of potty training yesterday. He wants to wear the big boy underwear and I let him until I'm out of clothes for him to wear. He has been doing pretty good - rather I have been doing pretty good at making him and getting him to go about every hour. Hopefully this will be the start of him going on his own.

Tomorrow it's back to school and John's first soccer game. I'm sure he will enjoy it. I hope the kids like the chocolate chip muffins I made for snack.