Finally posted, the annual bluebonnet photo.
Friday, April 27, 2012
Kid Quote of the Day
Amanda: LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA.
Andy: That's great singing, Amanda.
Amanda: I'm not singing! I'm being annoying so I'm saying la la la la.
If she didn't love Sarah so much, she would totally be his evil prodigy.
Andy: That's great singing, Amanda.
Amanda: I'm not singing! I'm being annoying so I'm saying la la la la.
If she didn't love Sarah so much, she would totally be his evil prodigy.
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Picture of the Day
Amanda brought some beans home from school in a cup with some cotton balls and it turned into this. Pretty impressive!
Kid Quote of the Day
Me: Ethan (a boy in Sarah's class) is such a nice boy.
Sarah: Yeah, but I don't think he takes baths, because he is really dirty and he smells.
Sarah: Yeah, but I don't think he takes baths, because he is really dirty and he smells.
The Whine Factor
There's a whole lot of whining going on at my house lately. So much so that I can barely stand it, and I'm not holding up well. Which means there's also a lot of yelling going on as I try to grasp onto my sanity.
Sarah has always whined. A lot. I think that's just who she is. I honestly can't remember a time when she didn't whine. We keep thinking she's going to grow out of it. When she's four she won't whine this much, when she's five she won't whine this much...well she's going to be six in a couple of weeks and I don't see her slowing down anytime soon.
Amanda is relatively new to the whining game. Maybe she's seen how effective it is for Sarah (sometimes, but mostly not) or all the changes in the household have dragged it out of her, or maybe the few victories that she has had (when someone repeatedly asked for you something every five seconds for 5-10 minutes every once in a while you lose your resolve and give it to them just to shut them up) have made her think it's a good thing to continue. Whatever it is, she had stepped up her game. Up until now you could negotiate or compromise with her, or just tell her this is how it's going to be. Not anymore. Now she's the most stubborn little girl around and she does not give in. It's maddening. Please don't tell me I'll miss this someday, because I'm pretty sure I will not.
Wednesdays are our worst day of the week. We have to get up super early because Sarah has therapy before school and the therapist is 45 minutes away. Normally we would never go to someone that far away, but she has been with this therapist since she was five months old and we're not about to switch. I scheduled it this way so that we could have one day a week where the kids didn't have something after school, but it's a painful trade off. I have to wake the girls by 6:30 a.m. and they are not happy at all to get up that early.
This morning we dropped Andy off at school and started on our way. Not five minutes into the drive Amanda asked for some water. I didn't have any. She spend about the next 20 minutes telling me over and over again that she wanted water. She easily said it over 100 times. I tried every possible way to tell her that I was sorry and sympathetic to her plight, but that I did not have any and there was nothing I could do for her. Didn't matter, kept whining. Halfway through the drive she switched over to whining about how she wanted to go to school today and participate in the bike parade. Sounds easy enough, except that she doesn't go to school on Wednesdays. She goes on Thursdays and gets to be in the bike parade tomorrow, but she wanted to be in the bike parade TODAY. With emphasis on today.
Of course when we dropped Sarah off at school Amanda did not want to stay. We ran a few errands and then went back to see Sarah ride her bike in the parade. That went well until it was time to go home. Amanda wanted to stay and have popcorn. With Sarah. Except that Sarah already ate her popcorn and I needed to get home. She fought me the entire time I strapped her in the car and then repeated over and over again, "I want to eat popcorn with Sarah at the show (I think she thought the parade was a show), TODAY. NOT TOMORROW, TODAY!". Needless to say, I was done with her by lunch time.
The day went on like this. In fact, the last three days have been like this. I love my daughter, especially because when she is not yelling at me she is nicely telling me she loves me, but I am completely out of patience. Even Sarah goes on forever if she asks for water and I don't have any, I can't imagine doing this with Amanda for another 3-4 years.
I know she's just testing, because that's what two-year-olds do, but I hope the test is over soon. And I better pass.
Sarah has always whined. A lot. I think that's just who she is. I honestly can't remember a time when she didn't whine. We keep thinking she's going to grow out of it. When she's four she won't whine this much, when she's five she won't whine this much...well she's going to be six in a couple of weeks and I don't see her slowing down anytime soon.
Amanda is relatively new to the whining game. Maybe she's seen how effective it is for Sarah (sometimes, but mostly not) or all the changes in the household have dragged it out of her, or maybe the few victories that she has had (when someone repeatedly asked for you something every five seconds for 5-10 minutes every once in a while you lose your resolve and give it to them just to shut them up) have made her think it's a good thing to continue. Whatever it is, she had stepped up her game. Up until now you could negotiate or compromise with her, or just tell her this is how it's going to be. Not anymore. Now she's the most stubborn little girl around and she does not give in. It's maddening. Please don't tell me I'll miss this someday, because I'm pretty sure I will not.
Wednesdays are our worst day of the week. We have to get up super early because Sarah has therapy before school and the therapist is 45 minutes away. Normally we would never go to someone that far away, but she has been with this therapist since she was five months old and we're not about to switch. I scheduled it this way so that we could have one day a week where the kids didn't have something after school, but it's a painful trade off. I have to wake the girls by 6:30 a.m. and they are not happy at all to get up that early.
This morning we dropped Andy off at school and started on our way. Not five minutes into the drive Amanda asked for some water. I didn't have any. She spend about the next 20 minutes telling me over and over again that she wanted water. She easily said it over 100 times. I tried every possible way to tell her that I was sorry and sympathetic to her plight, but that I did not have any and there was nothing I could do for her. Didn't matter, kept whining. Halfway through the drive she switched over to whining about how she wanted to go to school today and participate in the bike parade. Sounds easy enough, except that she doesn't go to school on Wednesdays. She goes on Thursdays and gets to be in the bike parade tomorrow, but she wanted to be in the bike parade TODAY. With emphasis on today.
Of course when we dropped Sarah off at school Amanda did not want to stay. We ran a few errands and then went back to see Sarah ride her bike in the parade. That went well until it was time to go home. Amanda wanted to stay and have popcorn. With Sarah. Except that Sarah already ate her popcorn and I needed to get home. She fought me the entire time I strapped her in the car and then repeated over and over again, "I want to eat popcorn with Sarah at the show (I think she thought the parade was a show), TODAY. NOT TOMORROW, TODAY!". Needless to say, I was done with her by lunch time.
The day went on like this. In fact, the last three days have been like this. I love my daughter, especially because when she is not yelling at me she is nicely telling me she loves me, but I am completely out of patience. Even Sarah goes on forever if she asks for water and I don't have any, I can't imagine doing this with Amanda for another 3-4 years.
I know she's just testing, because that's what two-year-olds do, but I hope the test is over soon. And I better pass.
Monday, April 23, 2012
Start Your Engines
First of all, thanks to everyone for asking about Sarah. She's doing great. Thursday was a tough day but her fever broke on Friday and by Saturday she was almost back to normal. She's on an antibiotic now and is her old, cranky self.
As for the house, we're pretty much there. The last of the fixes were done today and the house is officially clean (or as clean as it's going to get). The realtor put a "Coming Soon" sign in the front yard on Saturday and is coming over to take pictures tomorrow. Looks like this is really happening.
The kids have been pretty good so far, but I think the stress that Charlie and I are feeling is starting to trickle on to them. That or the fact that the entire house is so clean makes them a little batty. Amanda and Sarah have both been really off the last couple of days as all of this is becoming more of a reality. As for us, it's a little bit exciting to be moving forward, but also scary because there are so many unknowns.
It will all work out in the end, it's just getting there that's hard.
As for the house, we're pretty much there. The last of the fixes were done today and the house is officially clean (or as clean as it's going to get). The realtor put a "Coming Soon" sign in the front yard on Saturday and is coming over to take pictures tomorrow. Looks like this is really happening.
The kids have been pretty good so far, but I think the stress that Charlie and I are feeling is starting to trickle on to them. That or the fact that the entire house is so clean makes them a little batty. Amanda and Sarah have both been really off the last couple of days as all of this is becoming more of a reality. As for us, it's a little bit exciting to be moving forward, but also scary because there are so many unknowns.
It will all work out in the end, it's just getting there that's hard.
Friday, April 20, 2012
Picture of the Day
Hiccup
People keep asking how close we are to putting the house on the market. We're close, but not quite there. 90% done is my standard answer, but I really shouldn't be giving that answer day after day, we're supposed to get closer to 100% every day. We were doing really well until Wednesday night. That was when Sarah woke up around 10p and said her stomach hurt. She felt really hot so I took her temperature. 104.6. Holy cow! I'd never had a kid have a temperature that high.
I gave her some ibuprofen and put her back to bed, but that wasn't the last time she got up that night. She threw up a couple of times and ended up sleeping on a palate next to our bed. The next day I was planning on being super productive and I was before we went to the pediatrician for two hours.
Poor little girl was poked and prodded and poked some more. First they pricked her finger and took just a little blood to do an in-office culture. Then we had to try twice to give them a urine sample. After they got the results from her blood culture they needed to really take blood with a needle and syringe. Then to top it all off, they gave her two antibiotics shots, one in each leg. I felt so bad for her I told her I would take her to Target to get a toy after such a traumatic ordeal, but all she wanted to do was go home (don't worry, she took me up on the toy this afternoon and boy did she get a good one!).
The rest of the afternoon we hung out and didn't do much and then Charlie has a business dinner so by the time I got the kids to bed and scraped myself off the floor I got about an hour's worth of organizing done, but not much. Today was supposed to be my second super productive day, but instead I stayed in bed with Sarah, who just wanted to be with Mommy, and watched t.v. (and I dozed a little bit but she didn't). Then it was back to the doctor to verify that her fever had broke and her white blood cell count was headed back in the right direction, to Target for her I'm-so-sorry-this-crap-always-happens-to-you toy, pick up Amanda and drop of prescriptions and then home once again.
So, yeah, we're now maybe 95% done. It looks better than it ever has before, maybe even better than when we first moved in, but we still have a tiny bit to go. A few more things need to go to storage, donation truck comes on Tuesday to pick up the last of our donatables (for now anyway) and cross your fingers that our house will be on the market and ready to show early next week.
No more illness, no more unexpected events, smooth sailing from here on out. Please?!?
I gave her some ibuprofen and put her back to bed, but that wasn't the last time she got up that night. She threw up a couple of times and ended up sleeping on a palate next to our bed. The next day I was planning on being super productive and I was before we went to the pediatrician for two hours.
Poor little girl was poked and prodded and poked some more. First they pricked her finger and took just a little blood to do an in-office culture. Then we had to try twice to give them a urine sample. After they got the results from her blood culture they needed to really take blood with a needle and syringe. Then to top it all off, they gave her two antibiotics shots, one in each leg. I felt so bad for her I told her I would take her to Target to get a toy after such a traumatic ordeal, but all she wanted to do was go home (don't worry, she took me up on the toy this afternoon and boy did she get a good one!).
The rest of the afternoon we hung out and didn't do much and then Charlie has a business dinner so by the time I got the kids to bed and scraped myself off the floor I got about an hour's worth of organizing done, but not much. Today was supposed to be my second super productive day, but instead I stayed in bed with Sarah, who just wanted to be with Mommy, and watched t.v. (and I dozed a little bit but she didn't). Then it was back to the doctor to verify that her fever had broke and her white blood cell count was headed back in the right direction, to Target for her I'm-so-sorry-this-crap-always-happens-to-you toy, pick up Amanda and drop of prescriptions and then home once again.
So, yeah, we're now maybe 95% done. It looks better than it ever has before, maybe even better than when we first moved in, but we still have a tiny bit to go. A few more things need to go to storage, donation truck comes on Tuesday to pick up the last of our donatables (for now anyway) and cross your fingers that our house will be on the market and ready to show early next week.
No more illness, no more unexpected events, smooth sailing from here on out. Please?!?
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Picture of the Day
The kids at the first egg hunt with the Easter bunny. Smart Riza wanted nothing to do with this guy!
Kid Quote of the Day
"No Andy, we do not share in this family!"
-Amanda, with a death grip on the cereal box.
-Amanda, with a death grip on the cereal box.
Dead Air
So, I guess you've been wondering where I've been the last two weeks. Oh, I hope you've been wondering where I've been, because if not you probably aren't even reading. Well, there's big changes in our household. No, I'm not pregnant, we aren't planning on going down that road again. We're barely surviving the three we have. We're moving!
That's right, moving. It's not a little move either, we're leaving Texas and heading to the sunny state of Colorado. I know that's not usually how people describe Colorado, as the sunny state, but it is sunny something like 300 days a year. This has been in the works for awhile, but Charlie didn't want me to say anything until it was a sure thing. He resigned from the airline at the beginning of the month and starts at his new company in Denver at the beginning of May.
Needless to say the last two weeks have been kind of crazy. We've had a revolving door of home improvement people coming through replacing carpet, tiling bathrooms, prettying up the counters, planting grass, staining the fence, doing all the things we've wanted to do over the past few years but never had the time or money. Now we have no choice but to make our house beautiful for the next people that live in it. We've also been packing boxes and throwing lots of crap, yes crap, away. When the big day comes we'll still have packers and movers, but right now we're just packing up all the extra stuff to remove clutter and make the house look pristine.
So, every free minute I have is either doing something for the kids, or when they are asleep getting the house ready to put on the market. At first it was easy. As Charlie said it was taking care of all the low hanging fruit. However, all the low hanging fruit is now gone and we are having to think about what stays and goes. There are two schools of thought and depending on the hour and my brain switches back and forth between the two. First, carefully select what you want and don't want so as not to be throwing away enough to make your own landfill. Second, fill that baby up and toss everything. Yes, there are some things we can't make a decision on and are just going to move and deal with it later. There are also hidden baskets throughout the house that blend in nicely that are filled with things that we have to make a decision on whether we are keeping or not. But overall we have decreased the amount of junk in this house by quite a bit.
In the middle of all of this we had a wonderful visit from April from New Jersey and her darling son, Riza. Riza is two days shy of two months younger than Amanda and got along pretty well with the girls. We even got a day with Renee and her husband and kids in from Indianapolis to visit her family, so it was like old times with my crazy college roommates. We just talked about way different things than we did then. One evening we got to leave the kids and have an adult evening where we could focus on each other instead of the kids, amazing.
April and Riza came over Easter weekend so we got to do lots of fun stuff with them - Easter egg hunt, decorating eggs, big Easter brunch with another egg hunt and lots of toys in the kids' baskets. We even took them with us to take pictures in the bluebonnets. My one regret with the bluebonnets is that the kids are finally getting big enough to sit still and smile for me and this will be our last year to take pictures with them. Oh well, we'll have to find a new tradition in Denver.
Since April and Riza left it's been non-stop on the go, therefore no time to write and tell you all the crazy things the kids have been up to. Mostly, they've been trying, in their own mostly unhelpful way, to help us get ready for the move.
To answer your questions, because I know you have them, the house will most likely go up on the market next week. Houses have been selling pretty well here so we are hopeful that we will price it competitively and it will sell quickly. We haven't really started looking for houses in Denver yet. We did a little online, but they were selling so quickly we decided to wait until we actually have a chance to buy them. We need the money from our house to buy the new one, so Charlie will look a little bit before I get there but we probably won't buy anything until June of July. There is also the chance that we may rent, but nothing is set in stone yet. We don't know exactly where we want to live, but have targeted a few of the suburbs and are starting to look into the neighborhoods. Charlie is going to go early and work Monday through Thursday then come home and work from home on Fridays until school is out and the we will join him at some point after that. That's all I know.
I will try to write and update as the process goes along and I'm hoping that once the house is on the market the craziness will settle down, but only time will tell. The next few weeks are going to be quite an adventure!
That's right, moving. It's not a little move either, we're leaving Texas and heading to the sunny state of Colorado. I know that's not usually how people describe Colorado, as the sunny state, but it is sunny something like 300 days a year. This has been in the works for awhile, but Charlie didn't want me to say anything until it was a sure thing. He resigned from the airline at the beginning of the month and starts at his new company in Denver at the beginning of May.
Needless to say the last two weeks have been kind of crazy. We've had a revolving door of home improvement people coming through replacing carpet, tiling bathrooms, prettying up the counters, planting grass, staining the fence, doing all the things we've wanted to do over the past few years but never had the time or money. Now we have no choice but to make our house beautiful for the next people that live in it. We've also been packing boxes and throwing lots of crap, yes crap, away. When the big day comes we'll still have packers and movers, but right now we're just packing up all the extra stuff to remove clutter and make the house look pristine.
So, every free minute I have is either doing something for the kids, or when they are asleep getting the house ready to put on the market. At first it was easy. As Charlie said it was taking care of all the low hanging fruit. However, all the low hanging fruit is now gone and we are having to think about what stays and goes. There are two schools of thought and depending on the hour and my brain switches back and forth between the two. First, carefully select what you want and don't want so as not to be throwing away enough to make your own landfill. Second, fill that baby up and toss everything. Yes, there are some things we can't make a decision on and are just going to move and deal with it later. There are also hidden baskets throughout the house that blend in nicely that are filled with things that we have to make a decision on whether we are keeping or not. But overall we have decreased the amount of junk in this house by quite a bit.
In the middle of all of this we had a wonderful visit from April from New Jersey and her darling son, Riza. Riza is two days shy of two months younger than Amanda and got along pretty well with the girls. We even got a day with Renee and her husband and kids in from Indianapolis to visit her family, so it was like old times with my crazy college roommates. We just talked about way different things than we did then. One evening we got to leave the kids and have an adult evening where we could focus on each other instead of the kids, amazing.
April and Riza came over Easter weekend so we got to do lots of fun stuff with them - Easter egg hunt, decorating eggs, big Easter brunch with another egg hunt and lots of toys in the kids' baskets. We even took them with us to take pictures in the bluebonnets. My one regret with the bluebonnets is that the kids are finally getting big enough to sit still and smile for me and this will be our last year to take pictures with them. Oh well, we'll have to find a new tradition in Denver.
Since April and Riza left it's been non-stop on the go, therefore no time to write and tell you all the crazy things the kids have been up to. Mostly, they've been trying, in their own mostly unhelpful way, to help us get ready for the move.
To answer your questions, because I know you have them, the house will most likely go up on the market next week. Houses have been selling pretty well here so we are hopeful that we will price it competitively and it will sell quickly. We haven't really started looking for houses in Denver yet. We did a little online, but they were selling so quickly we decided to wait until we actually have a chance to buy them. We need the money from our house to buy the new one, so Charlie will look a little bit before I get there but we probably won't buy anything until June of July. There is also the chance that we may rent, but nothing is set in stone yet. We don't know exactly where we want to live, but have targeted a few of the suburbs and are starting to look into the neighborhoods. Charlie is going to go early and work Monday through Thursday then come home and work from home on Fridays until school is out and the we will join him at some point after that. That's all I know.
I will try to write and update as the process goes along and I'm hoping that once the house is on the market the craziness will settle down, but only time will tell. The next few weeks are going to be quite an adventure!
Monday, April 9, 2012
Bok Bok Easter Bunny!
There's a lot to tell about our fun weekend with friends, but for now I'll just leave you with this picture of Amanda. I found this chicken costume that we bought for Andy for Halloween when he was 18 months old, but since it's 18-24 months it still fits here. She tried it on today and then wouldn't take it off. I showed her the picture of Andy in it, and she refused to believe it was anybody but her. Such a silly girl!
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Kid Quote of the Day
"Sarah, you are being mean. You need to go sit in the "Thinking Chair".
-Amanda. The funny thing is, we don't have a thinking chair. I'm not even sure where she learned about it.
-Amanda. The funny thing is, we don't have a thinking chair. I'm not even sure where she learned about it.
I Love You!
Amanda is going through this stage right now where she is so, well, lovable. We'll ignore the fact that she yells when she gets mad or thinks you don't hear her and she hits Sarah and Andy a little too often. Otherwise, lovable.
Whenever we go somewhere in the car, no less than ten times does she tell me she loves me. "I love you Mama!", "I love you again!", "Mommy, I love you!". I always respond that I love her as well, and if Sarah is in the car she dejectedly says, "Don't you love me?"
Of course she loves Sarah, and tells her quite a bit as well, but she really likes to tell me, and similarly Charlie, that she loves me. She will stop playing and come up to me and hug me or kiss me or just make sure I know. When I take her to the bathroom and am sitting next to her she does the same thing.
She gives the best hugs I have ever received from a two-year-old. She wraps both arms around you and just squeezes, and doesn't let go right away. She holds on and let's you know she cares.
I know this won't last long and someday (in the far off distance) it will be replaced with "I hate you", so I'm milking it for all it's worth.
Whenever we go somewhere in the car, no less than ten times does she tell me she loves me. "I love you Mama!", "I love you again!", "Mommy, I love you!". I always respond that I love her as well, and if Sarah is in the car she dejectedly says, "Don't you love me?"
Of course she loves Sarah, and tells her quite a bit as well, but she really likes to tell me, and similarly Charlie, that she loves me. She will stop playing and come up to me and hug me or kiss me or just make sure I know. When I take her to the bathroom and am sitting next to her she does the same thing.
She gives the best hugs I have ever received from a two-year-old. She wraps both arms around you and just squeezes, and doesn't let go right away. She holds on and let's you know she cares.
I know this won't last long and someday (in the far off distance) it will be replaced with "I hate you", so I'm milking it for all it's worth.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)