D-Man's 1st Party

Darren's first birthday party was wonderful. Though it was planed to be outside at the park we awoke to rain. Boo. So we texted people and let them all know that the party would be at our house. Turns out it stopped raining and though it threatened to rain the entire rest of the day it stayed dry, so we played outside and the kids had a blast and it probably was easier then lugging everything back and forth. Darren liked his Carrot-shaped carrot cake... didn't loved it, but liked it. I, on the other hand LOVED watching him like it. He was a mess. An adorable sticky naked kissable mess. Then he was asleep before we could open gifts. Seems like he had a great time, I know I did. It was low key and wonderful. He is such a happy boy and I think that he loved the attention! Go figure!

 

Home Ownership

Oh the joys of owning a home! When we bought this house we knew that the roof was bad... and we still brought it. Knowing that in a few years we would have to replace it. Turns out that we needed to replace it now. A few weeks back during the last big rain it started leaking and our ceiling started to bubble in the living room. So we got a few quotes for roof and gutters (since they were rusted through) and this week we got a new roof! Oy! The people were great. The roof looks great. It only took 3 days. But man oh man roofs aren't cheap!

Tooth Fairy and Doctors Visit

I know that I've said it before.... but these kids are growing up way too quickly. The nigh before last Mallory lost her first tooth... at age 4 1/2! It's crazy to me! Now with a little window in her smile she looks more like a 7 or 8 year old than a 4 year old! She was very excited to put her tooth in the little pouch that we sewed together and place it under her pillow. Sure enough the tooth fairy came while she slept and left a trail of tiny flowers, a tiny envelope that had a tiny note and was covered with fairy dust, a tiny sign that said 'Believe' and a dollar! Way to go tooth fairy!

 

 

All three kids had a doctors appointments today. That was an adventure. But everyone is doing great. Mallory just needed a health certificate to start Kindergarten (and is FINALLY over her pneumonia), Wesley needed his 3 year old checkup (and he needed a ward frozen off) and Darren needed his 1 year old shots. They did great though. Here are their stats before I forget them/lose the paperwork.
Mallory at 4 1/2: Height: 3feet 9.25 inches (98%)  Weight: 45lbs (88%)
Wesley at 3: Height: 3 feet 2 inches (58%)  Weight: 34.6 pounds (74%)
Darren at 1: Height: 2 feet 6 inches (54%)  Weight:  24 pounds (82%) Head: 45cm (19%)

Thanks for being such happy, healthy brave kids!

One!

How is it possible that my baby, my littlest man, my last (probably) is one today?!?!?! Where did the time go?
Oh sweet little D-Man, you are a treasure! A sweet and kind soul that loves to laugh, smile, growl and babble. You will quietly look at books but will also readily climb on top of your brother to wrestle! You love to eat! Man, do you pack it away. (Just like your daddy). When I think of you and picture your sweet face I want to cry and it gets heard to breath. I love you so much. You are an incredibly smart and clever little me. Always watching your older siblings and leaning all sorts of tricks (both good and bad). You have been a perfect addition to our family bringing joy and laughter to countless moments in each day.
I love you sweet man! Happy, happy, happy birthday!

 

Mom Guilt #2

Well, despite the removal of the moldy pillows, Mallory has continued you cough...Sad. And though I was annoyed by it, the guilt that I felt for letting her pillows grow mold kept me calm and compassionate. So last night I brought my stethoscope home and took a listen to her little chest. Her right side sounded clear but her left lung field was full of crackles all throughout it. I immediately got online and booked her a doctors appointment for the next morning (which my wonderful mom had to take her to, since I of course had to work).  Any way, after the doctor listened to her lungs she ordered a radiograph and poor Mallory Rose was diagnosed with pneumonia.
She is now on a course of antibiotics. Sigh. Hoping that she will be feeling better and be cough free in a few days!

Mom Guilt

I'm not sure if ANYTHING is as strong as mom guilt. You know the guilt trip that we lay on ourselves. When everyone else has long forgotten, we beat ourselves up over it....again....and again...and again!
So I know that SOME of this is just mom guilt... but on the other hand, I might just be a horrible mother.
Here's the back story. I hate coughing. It's like nails on a chalk board to me. I know that everyone has to cough but I HATE that continuous, forced, non-productive cough. For the past week and a half that's what Mallory has been doing. I was sympathetic for a day (or two)... then she started it up at night and Matthew and I were getting up with her 3 time a night to give her water, honey, cough meds, or just try to calm her down because she was FREAKING out. Needless to say my patents was wearing thin. I was tired and man was I sick of that 'fake' sounding cough.
So that's what Matthew and I figured it was. Fake. So we just kept telling her to stop coughing. Stop faking it. Stop forcing it. STOP! I started really feeling like I was losing it when she started 'fake' coughing so hard that she vomited...twice.
See! Doesn't this sounds soooooo bad. Bot honestly, she  wasn't always coughing. It was random. She was acting fine, no fever, good appetite, just a stupid cough...and now coughing induced vomiting.
It was driving me bonkers! I even had a talk with her about if she couldn't settle down and stop these freak-out coughing attacks I would start taking something from her (a toy or something like that). She IMMEDIATLY stopped coughing (so I was sure that it was fake and that she was doing it all for attention). But the coughing picked up again. This time only at night/bedtime/wakeup time.
Now is when the bad mom part comes in...
Last night Matthew and I were downstairs (kids already asleep in bed) when I heard Mallory yell out for me. "Mommaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" I ran up the stairs and opened her bedroom door. There is my sweet little girl squatting in her bed, hands cupped in front of her and overflowing with vomit. Through her tears she said "Momma, I tried to stop coughing. I really did!" Poor girl!!!! I started cleaning her up while Matthew got a bath going. As I was stripping her bedding I found a pillow of hers (one that my mom made when I was pregnant with her). It was really damp and COVERED with a layer of mold!!!!!! YES!!!! MOLD!!!!! In her bed. Right next o her face. Her sweet little nose and tender lungs getting filled with mold spores with every sleepy breath. There were also about 100 small little mold colonies on her regular pillow too (under the pillow case). I promptly threw both of those away and soaked her bedding, blankets and stuffed animals in hot water and bleach.
24 hours later the coughing has all but stopped! Praise God! And she's running around like nothing ever happened. But I feel so bad! How could I have not checked her bed? How could I have let her sleep in that? How could have been mad at her for MOLD?!?!?!?! Darn me! Darn Mom guilt!

Gag!

Wesley has a wart on his finger. A little one that the doctor said we should just apply a little 'wart remover' to every night. So we do. Every night. It's the slow way to remove a wart...apparently less traumatic then freezing it off. Any way. We've been doing this for 6 months now and it has waxed and waned in size. Last night though I noticed it had a hard tan/brown cover on it, tonight that little cover was gone. ..and the wart was pink and considerably smaller in size and height.
'Wesley! Your wart is almost gone!' I said to him as I was applying the wart-be-gone liquid.
Wes looked up at me and with a look of pride said 'Yeah. Me ate me wart.' And walked away.
I guess that's one way to get ride of it! Gag!

Wesley's Three!

Holy cow! Wesley is THREE! I can't believe how time has flown by! Moments ago it felt like I was rocking him to sleep, now he's running around the house reeking havoc on everyone and everything in his path. There is a reason that his nickname is Dump-trunk!
Wesley is a blessing... a high-energy, constant motion, stubborn, tender, loud, funny, sweet blessing. He keeps us on our toes! He is in the stage of ignoring what we say or pretending not to hear us when we tell him what to do. It's frustrating, (but normal for his age). Sigh. He is also so sweet. He loves playing with his sister (and has finally learned to stand up for himself... and BOY oh BOY has he figured out how to push her buttons)! He LOVES his little brother. I feel like I'm always either saying 'ahhhhhhhhh how sweet, Wesley's hugging Darren' or  yelling 'WESLEY! stop hugging Darren you're chocking him!!!!!' He makes us laugh and pull or hair out all at once! He is 98% potty trained which is SOOOOOO lovely! And man, can that boy melt his mommas heart with those baby-blues!
I love you my sweet, wonderful, crazy little man!!!!!!

Wesley's Lego party 

Mothers

I got an email from my mother-in-law tonight regarding 'Why God Made Moms...'. It was answered by 2nd graders with cute little non-logical but endearing answers. I thought that I would ask Mallory (to see the difference between her 4 year old and the 7 year olds brains)... not a shock, her answers were more logical for the (most part).

1) Why did God make mothers? Because they are one of his creations.
2) What ingredients are mothers made of? Skin, blood, bones, eyes, nose, mouth, muscles. And hair... I almost forgot about that one.
3)Why did God give you your mother and not some other mom? Cuz he thought that I loved you most.
4) What kind of little girl was your mom? A mother. Like her skin right now, just little.
5) What did your mom need to know about your dad before she married him? If he played rugby.
6) Why did your mom marry your dad? Cuz she loved him.
7) Who's the boss in your house? Daddy and Momma.
8) What's the difference between mom's and dad's? Daddy's skin is different. It has hair on it and mommas doesn't. Daddy doesn't wear glasses. (after re-wording it to what is the difference between boys and girls? Mallory said 'Boys have a penis, girls like us have a Fagina).
9) What does your mom do in her spare time? She goes to work (sigh... how sad is this truthful answer)
10) What would it take to make your mom perfect? Love her more.
11) If you could change on thing about your mom, what would it be? To put her back into a little girl, like me!

How cute (and logical) are those answers!!!!!

Beautiful Day

Happy Winter!? Fall? Heck, California's weather is just a little confused. And I'm ok with that. Look at how beautiful it is outside!!!!

With a BANG!

Runners, on your mark.... Get set.... BANG!
Julie and I started the new years with a little 5K race. It went great. Aside from the cold. It was 36 degrees... which for us sissy California folk that is REALLY, REALLY cold!  I made decent time (8:22 per mile, but was slower then I had intended... but I hadn't taken into account the COLD). My joints (knees especially) were yelling at me and so stiff post run that I we used my parents hot tub to warm up/cool down all at once.