Tonight's post will be very short because I am beat. Larry and I watched Jenna an Isabelle tonight and we are worn out. Four kids are a lot to manage when you are used to two. But the kids had a great time playing outside. We got them in and gave everyone a bath and now they are in pajamas watching Finding Nemo.
The little Olive is fast asleep, she had fun playing too and enjoyed getting so much attention from the kids and loves watching them play. I made her some homemade sweet potatoes and she ate those today without making a yucky face. Next week onto peas..
6/30/2007
6/29/2007
Memories of Strawberry Shortcake
We went to the St. Matthews library today to return some books and enjoy the preschool story time hour. Spencer was already having a rough morning and then we walked in the door to the library and saw a boy carrying a Backyardigan’s Tower of Power book. (In case you didn’t know, that is Spencer’s very favorite Backyardigan’s episode and he wants to have a Tower of Power themed birthday party this year). At that point, Spence had a meltdown. I guess he figured that the boy had gotten the only copy of that book and, unfortunately, he was right. I managed to mend the situation by finding another Backyardigan’s book, and we put the Tower of Power on request to get the next copy available sent to our branch. Story time was filled with books about the ocean and the kids made a fish out of a paper plate.
Larry had to work all day today basically. He is at work tonight, which meant that I had to do dinner, baths and bed all by myself. Ugh. I managed to coordinate it all somehow. After Spence got out of the bath, I put his eczema lotion on and then put leave-in conditioner in his hair. I got him situated in front of the TV, and then went to rock Olive to sleep. Luckily, baths really relax the little Olive and she went right to sleep after her last feeding. But while I was rocking her, I noticed that my hands smelled just like my old Strawberry Shortcake doll. It must be the combination of the eczema lotion and the hair conditioner. They say that the olfactory sense triggers memories more than any other sense and because of this I was transported to my friend Carina’s bedroom floor, playing with our Strawberry Shortcake dolls. I remembered one night I was spending the night at her house and we put on a show for her parents, singing a duet between Strawberry Shortcake and Orange Marmalade…I can still remember most of the lyrics…gosh I must’ve only been 8 or 9 years old. Those were such fun and free days and I know Carina feels the same way (now a mother of two, herself)….I wonder if she remembers the lyrics.
Tonight when I got out of the shower Spencer was standing on my bed, dancing and singing songs, watching himself in the mirror. He is such a character. He used the word predicament today…ugh, he’s growing up way too fast.
Larry had to work all day today basically. He is at work tonight, which meant that I had to do dinner, baths and bed all by myself. Ugh. I managed to coordinate it all somehow. After Spence got out of the bath, I put his eczema lotion on and then put leave-in conditioner in his hair. I got him situated in front of the TV, and then went to rock Olive to sleep. Luckily, baths really relax the little Olive and she went right to sleep after her last feeding. But while I was rocking her, I noticed that my hands smelled just like my old Strawberry Shortcake doll. It must be the combination of the eczema lotion and the hair conditioner. They say that the olfactory sense triggers memories more than any other sense and because of this I was transported to my friend Carina’s bedroom floor, playing with our Strawberry Shortcake dolls. I remembered one night I was spending the night at her house and we put on a show for her parents, singing a duet between Strawberry Shortcake and Orange Marmalade…I can still remember most of the lyrics…gosh I must’ve only been 8 or 9 years old. Those were such fun and free days and I know Carina feels the same way (now a mother of two, herself)….I wonder if she remembers the lyrics.
Tonight when I got out of the shower Spencer was standing on my bed, dancing and singing songs, watching himself in the mirror. He is such a character. He used the word predicament today…ugh, he’s growing up way too fast.
6/28/2007
Planning for Fripp
Today was rather uneventful thankfully. I dropped Spence off to camp and spent the morning with Olive who slept most of the time while I worked on planning for our vacation. Only 9 more days to go!!! The anticipation for vacation is wonderful, like Christmas when your a kid. When I was little, I would go through a mild depression on the evening of Christmas once all of the presents were opened and the magic was over...but my Mom was very clever and would hold back a gift for me to open that night, one more last hurrah. I wish we had those last hurrah's for when vacation is over....but instead we have to come home, do laundry, go through unopened mail and then go to work the next day...hurrah! Oh well, no sense in focusing on the negative yet.
Bev and I went to Costco's today to get some things for the vacation. We came away with large boxes of cereal, bags of chex mix, juice boxes and bottled water. Looks like we will have to do some shopping at Kroger as well. The great part of staying in a beach house is that we don't ever go out to eat. Most people would look at that as kind of a bummer, but not me. I don't like eating out with small children...it is more of a chore than a treat. When I arrived home from Costco, I talked on the phone with Vera who will be joining us with her family. We will have a total of 8 adults and 6 children. I know Spencer will have so much fun with the other kids.
Not much else to say today. Kids are both asleep and I'm getting ready for bed myself. Oh, for those interested, I found the link to the peach-blueberry cobbler, but I didn't copy it and am too tired to search it again. I will post it on tomorrow's blog.
Bev and I went to Costco's today to get some things for the vacation. We came away with large boxes of cereal, bags of chex mix, juice boxes and bottled water. Looks like we will have to do some shopping at Kroger as well. The great part of staying in a beach house is that we don't ever go out to eat. Most people would look at that as kind of a bummer, but not me. I don't like eating out with small children...it is more of a chore than a treat. When I arrived home from Costco, I talked on the phone with Vera who will be joining us with her family. We will have a total of 8 adults and 6 children. I know Spencer will have so much fun with the other kids.
Not much else to say today. Kids are both asleep and I'm getting ready for bed myself. Oh, for those interested, I found the link to the peach-blueberry cobbler, but I didn't copy it and am too tired to search it again. I will post it on tomorrow's blog.
6/27/2007
Temporary Hearing Loss
What a day! I woke up this morning with a noticeable hearing loss in my left ear. Seems to be my karma though....my career choice continually coming back to bite me in the ..... I say this because I must get laryngitis 5-6 times a year easy, Spence needed speech therapy for speech-language delay, they recommended speech therapy for Olive's problem taking bottles, and now this, the hearing loss....thank God I didn't become a mortician. Luckily, they had an opening at my Dr.'s office for an afternoon appointment. I was pretty sure this was due to a recent sinus infection I had and most likely fluid in my ear.
Well, it wasn't fluid. As embarassing as it sounds, turns out I have a real ear wax problem....enough to impair my hearing. I had to undergo bilateral ear irrigation. The only way I can describe this (for those who haven't had the pleasure of this experience) is that it must be what it's like to get your ear flushed down the toilet. But, low and behold, I can hear again!
Spence had a fun day at camp, said he learned to do the chicken dance. Tomorrow they have pony rides. Olive is still refusing pears, makes a horrible grimace and then spits them out at you. I'm hoping to make her some homemade pureed carrots tomorrow...but I'm not expecting her to like them. Spencer loved baby food, ate it up, his favorite was sweet potatoes.
I talked briefly with Bev this afternoon and she thinks she is having another girl, we will see in a few months. From what I hear, they are easy in the beginning, not so easy during those teen years. At least that's what Jim says. By the way, Jim, if your reading, hope your feeling better and I hate to say I told you so about the antibiotic ;)
That's all for today, the kids are both asleep and I am grateful to be enjoying the sweet sound of silence in the house with optimal bilateral hearing acuity.
Well, it wasn't fluid. As embarassing as it sounds, turns out I have a real ear wax problem....enough to impair my hearing. I had to undergo bilateral ear irrigation. The only way I can describe this (for those who haven't had the pleasure of this experience) is that it must be what it's like to get your ear flushed down the toilet. But, low and behold, I can hear again!
Spence had a fun day at camp, said he learned to do the chicken dance. Tomorrow they have pony rides. Olive is still refusing pears, makes a horrible grimace and then spits them out at you. I'm hoping to make her some homemade pureed carrots tomorrow...but I'm not expecting her to like them. Spencer loved baby food, ate it up, his favorite was sweet potatoes.
I talked briefly with Bev this afternoon and she thinks she is having another girl, we will see in a few months. From what I hear, they are easy in the beginning, not so easy during those teen years. At least that's what Jim says. By the way, Jim, if your reading, hope your feeling better and I hate to say I told you so about the antibiotic ;)
That's all for today, the kids are both asleep and I am grateful to be enjoying the sweet sound of silence in the house with optimal bilateral hearing acuity.
6/26/2007
Sew much better
Good News...I found my phone. It was in Olive's stroller. Had I not found it, I would've had to purchase 3 new phones within the last 6 months. The other phone casualties were due to drowning in a washing machine and geting run over by a car. I'm kind of the same way with sunglasses, which is why I never buy expensive shades.
I paid a visit to the fabric store again today in preparation for my second quest to sew Olive a dress. My first attempt wasn't too successful. The dress was actually nearly finished and then a mishap with the button-holer ruined the whole project. Out of frustration, I ripped the dress up with a seam ripper and threw it away. I come by this behavior honestly though, my mom said when I was a baby she tried to sew me a dress and when it didn't fit, she got mad and threw it away too. She never tried to sew again. But, I'm gonna break that vicious cycle and make it right. So, I purchased "sewing for dummies" and am looking forward to happy stitching from here on out.
We had dinner at the Raible's this evening. Their neighbors also dined with us and brought the most scrumptuous homemade blueberry-peach cobbler I think I've ever had. They said it was from this month's Cooking Light Magazine recipe. That is worth purchasing the magazine. Spencer fell asleep on the way home and is down for the night, as is the little Olive, who by the way, is moving all over the place commando style, just dying to crawl. I will have to look into how you can attach video links to this blog and record her little antics.
I paid a visit to the fabric store again today in preparation for my second quest to sew Olive a dress. My first attempt wasn't too successful. The dress was actually nearly finished and then a mishap with the button-holer ruined the whole project. Out of frustration, I ripped the dress up with a seam ripper and threw it away. I come by this behavior honestly though, my mom said when I was a baby she tried to sew me a dress and when it didn't fit, she got mad and threw it away too. She never tried to sew again. But, I'm gonna break that vicious cycle and make it right. So, I purchased "sewing for dummies" and am looking forward to happy stitching from here on out.
We had dinner at the Raible's this evening. Their neighbors also dined with us and brought the most scrumptuous homemade blueberry-peach cobbler I think I've ever had. They said it was from this month's Cooking Light Magazine recipe. That is worth purchasing the magazine. Spencer fell asleep on the way home and is down for the night, as is the little Olive, who by the way, is moving all over the place commando style, just dying to crawl. I will have to look into how you can attach video links to this blog and record her little antics.
6/25/2007
I'm a Superstar
Somehow I have managed to misplace my cell phone again. This time I'm not sure where it could be. I took Spence to gymnastics this morning and that is where I believe the "losing" took place. I know I had it in the car, but when I went back to my car, it was no longer there. Not in my purse or on my person. Looks like I will be calling All About Kids in the morning to see if an honest person turned it in.
While at work today someone told me that I looked like Molly Shannon of Saturday Night Live, for those who can't remember, she played Mary Catherine Gallagher. That's all I needed to hear. Definitely not good for my mental self-image. I actually know someone who looks just like Molly Shannon, but she probably doesn't think she looks like her either.
Larry is on his way home tonight, decided to catch a ride with someone and I called and got his ticket refunded. Not much happening today. Spence and I made cupcakes which is always fun. He's good for the first half of the preparation, then he loses interest and I finish them. He perks up again once the icing is put on. Olive was way off on her sleeping schedule today and didn't get her naps in. So, she was asleep for the night at 6:30pm. She woke up for a quick snack around 9:00 and is now down again.
While at work today someone told me that I looked like Molly Shannon of Saturday Night Live, for those who can't remember, she played Mary Catherine Gallagher. That's all I needed to hear. Definitely not good for my mental self-image. I actually know someone who looks just like Molly Shannon, but she probably doesn't think she looks like her either.
Larry is on his way home tonight, decided to catch a ride with someone and I called and got his ticket refunded. Not much happening today. Spence and I made cupcakes which is always fun. He's good for the first half of the preparation, then he loses interest and I finish them. He perks up again once the icing is put on. Olive was way off on her sleeping schedule today and didn't get her naps in. So, she was asleep for the night at 6:30pm. She woke up for a quick snack around 9:00 and is now down again.
6/24/2007
Christmas in June
As I write this post, I'm over halfway through my 4 days of being Larry-less. After speaking with him today, it doesn't look like his team will be moving on in the regional tournament, so he will definitely be coming home on Tuesday.
This morning Spencer found his Christmas Santa hat that he manages to stretch out and fit into every year (quite a feat because the kid's got one giant melon of a head). He asked if Olive had a hat that she could wear too, and I managed to find the one he wore for his first Christmas. It was the cutest thing seeing her in the little elf-like hat (as depicted in above photo). Too bad it won't fit her once Christmas actually gets here.
We visited with Adam, Jenna and Isabelle today which was a nice break out of the house for myself and Spence. Olive enjoyed watching the kids run around and laugh. I wonder what she thinks about them. When we came home, the neighborhood kids were playing outside and we spent a good hour and a half out in the court. Spence rode his bike around while Olive fell asleep in her stroller. After a quick dinner and bath, Olive was off to sleep, and after just a few books, so was Spence. Being a full-time parent is absolutely exhausting. I can't wait to go back to work tomorrow.
This morning Spencer found his Christmas Santa hat that he manages to stretch out and fit into every year (quite a feat because the kid's got one giant melon of a head). He asked if Olive had a hat that she could wear too, and I managed to find the one he wore for his first Christmas. It was the cutest thing seeing her in the little elf-like hat (as depicted in above photo). Too bad it won't fit her once Christmas actually gets here.
We visited with Adam, Jenna and Isabelle today which was a nice break out of the house for myself and Spence. Olive enjoyed watching the kids run around and laugh. I wonder what she thinks about them. When we came home, the neighborhood kids were playing outside and we spent a good hour and a half out in the court. Spence rode his bike around while Olive fell asleep in her stroller. After a quick dinner and bath, Olive was off to sleep, and after just a few books, so was Spence. Being a full-time parent is absolutely exhausting. I can't wait to go back to work tomorrow.
6/23/2007
Rain and Snow Cones
Today started out kind of rainy. Mom came by this morning and we took Spencer to get his hair cut. Then we went to Target to pick up some much needed items to get me through the next few days. They had their Speedo swim vests on sale, so I picked one up for Spence for vacation. I think it will work better than the arm floaties. After our shopping we had a nice lunch at Olive Garden and our Olive was an angel through lunch, not one crying spell!! Anyone who has small children know the fear/dread/torture of going out to eat with those under the age of 3. Once home I did some cleaning and then we went to the St. Aloysius picnic. Spencer enjoyed himself, went down some slides, played some games, won some prizes, got his hand painted (a new option for those who don't want their face painted) and best of all, we had snow cones!!! Anyone that knows me well knows how much I love snow cones. I've often contemplated buying an ice shaver or some other "snow cone maker", but to me the snow cone is the whole experience. It's the paper cone that holds the ice. It's eating it in 90 degree weather at a fair or picnic or cookout. I once opted to skip going on a tour of the Alamo in San Antonio just so I could eat a snow cone.
Our Direct TV is on the blink due to a nasty storm outside, therefore Spencer has resorted to watching a Blues Clues video. Little Miss Olive is fast asleep. On a side note, I'm really worried that my dog's may have killed/eaten/seriously maimed our neighbor's pet turtle that lives in their back yard. The gate that connects our yards was left open when I let them out tonight and when I didn't hear them scratching after, oh.... about a half hr. or so, I took a peek and saw them in the yard. So, keep your fingers crossed that the little guy (it's a girl actually) is OK.
Our Direct TV is on the blink due to a nasty storm outside, therefore Spencer has resorted to watching a Blues Clues video. Little Miss Olive is fast asleep. On a side note, I'm really worried that my dog's may have killed/eaten/seriously maimed our neighbor's pet turtle that lives in their back yard. The gate that connects our yards was left open when I let them out tonight and when I didn't hear them scratching after, oh.... about a half hr. or so, I took a peek and saw them in the yard. So, keep your fingers crossed that the little guy (it's a girl actually) is OK.
6/22/2007
What a Headache!
Today I woke up with the worst headache I can ever remember having. It only worsened as the morning went on, despite 3 extra strength tylenol. Unfortunately for me, Spence has little understanding or mercy for those who are feeling ill. Olive took a nice long nap this am, which gave some respite. Tonight I am better thankfully. Larry is in Des Moines for the next 4 days and it's just me and the kids. Mom stopped by after work to check on me since she knew I was feeling bad, and she brought me some OPI nail polish, which was such a nice treat!! Olive is working on eating little bites of bananas by herself, she is starting to like them, I think. Spencer is sitting next to me, singing funny lullabies that he makes up. He thinks they are hilarious and can hardly sing them without laughing. The look in his eyes when he laughs is priceless, like he is on a happy drug....one that evidently wears off as we grow older. Olive has been on this kick at night where she gets "wild" right before bedtime. It's really funny, she starts waving her arms and kicking and screaming/laughing. And she gets that same look in her eye that Spencer gets when he is laughing...pure joy. The little ones are asleep now, and soon I will be too....
6/21/2007
My First Post
I decided today that since I am on the computer several times daily, why not create a blog? My friend Angela recently created one for her son, and I thought it was such a good idea that I am starting one also. I'm hoping that creating this online journal will help capture the experiences that happen daily while raising my two beautiful children, whom I lovingly refer to as Spence and Olive. It will also serve as a live greeting card to update family/friends we don't get to see often!
So, if you would like to follow us on this journey, welcome aboard and please post in the comments section at any time !!! I will try to post pictures often, I'm always looking for excuses to show off the kids.
So, if you would like to follow us on this journey, welcome aboard and please post in the comments section at any time !!! I will try to post pictures often, I'm always looking for excuses to show off the kids.
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