Thursday, February 19, 2009

Happy Together














Ninety Nine percent of the time....there is screaming at our house... of some sort. Often it involves someone being unhappy after a toy gets taken away. Generally once Joseph is finally content with a toy....his toy gets taken away by ....can you guess who? In fairness... I must admit, though, that it does at times happen the other way around, too. Sometimes Joseph finds something Sophia is playing with to be more entertaining, and often instigates a huge brawl when he grabs for her toys! Right now, for example....there is some of this screaming going on as Joseph just found Sophia's bottle for wet doll and began drinking from it like it was his own! Oh my!

However....one percent of the time....there are giggles and smiles and peaceful quiet. For a brief time yesterday we had one of those moments. Sophia and Joseph were both playing together so nicely and even hugging! I had to get some pictures of this rare event!!! Hope you enjoy them as much as I did!

PS
Of course even on this occasion there were some sour faces followed by some silly ones!

Monday, February 16, 2009

Happy Valentine's Day




















Our valentine's day started off with a scavenger hunt. The final clue led to a "surprise party" in the basement with a sweetheart breakfast! Sophia often likes to throw surprise parties in her kitchen and decorate the table with party hats and centerpieces....so I thought it would be fun if I threw one for her! She loved it and thought it was pretty cool that she got to eat donuts in her playroom for breakfast! She opened up a new set for her doll house: the bathroom, equipped with a potty seat and all! She also was pretty excited about her diamond ring (only $2.98 at Learning Tree); but wrapped in a Tiffany's box made it seem much more glamorous! Joseph was thrilled with his Flip and Tip Fred trash/recycling truck....a rather apropos gift, since our next surprise for the day involved going to see the "Bob the Builder" show at the music hall. The theme for the show was all about how Bob and Wendy were going to build a new recycling center for Sunflower Valley! Sophia is really into Bob the Builder these days and often will only answer to "Wendy" which is the name of Bob's partner.

It was an extra special day for Sophia because she got mommy and daddy all to herself. Omi and Papa stayed with Joseph. Sophia chose Chic-Fil-A for lunch before heading to the show. She had a great time (even though she was pretty upset that Wendy did not wear pink). It was funny to watch how intent she was throughout the entire 90 minute show. Too bad Brett's attention span was not even close....he was too focused on checking the score to the KU/ KSU game. Sophia was pretty excited that she also got her own Bob the Builder hard hat and tool belt. And after finding mommy and daddy's hard hats (given to us at a couple's shower before our wedding) in the basement....you can imagine the fun we have had playing Bob the Builder these last few days! She looks hilarious in her tool belt and hat. Today she added a cell phone and tape measure to her belt, and she informed me that Bob lives in a mobile home!

And whew....last but not least....I did end up getting my Russell Stover heart full of chocolates from my valentine.....even though I had to drop about 50,000 hints that it was what I really wanted! But even more exciting....Sophia decided she wanted to try one of the chocolates....This was a HUGE breakthrough! This little girl has NEVER liked any sort of candy besides lollipops! I know I probably shouldn't be TRYING to get her to eat sweets....but once in a while a little candy can be a good bribe. Anyhow....she LOVED her first piece of chocolate...and has had at least two from my box every day since!!! Is she turning into a chocoholic like me????
Happy Valentine's Day!

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Just Breathe










Whew! The last few weeks have been... well, EXHAUSTING! I get it now. My mother always told me that being a mother was the hardest job of all. Sure, I "heard" what she had told me, but I guess it took me becoming a parent to truly understand what she had meant. We have been incredibly fortunate to have two extremely healthy children. Of course, occasionally everyone is bound to get sick...and these last few weeks were just one of those times. Poor Joseph got the nasty bug first..and ended up at Children's Mercy in the middle of the night. Next came Sophia ( who never likes to admit when she is sick). She came down with cold-like symptoms beginning with her rosy red cheeks (always a cue to me that she is getting sick). After I determined she would not be able to fight it on her own, we took her to After Hours Pediatrics about a week ago. They diagnosed her with an ear infection (which I thought was odd, as she never complained of ear pain) and prescribed her with a heavy duty yucky antibiotic. In the mean time I got the stomach bug just for a day...and thankfully my mother was able to come to my rescue and help with the kids so I could rest. Sophia's cold then turned to tummy troubles. She spent 4 days laying on the sofa watching tv all day (a rarity in our house) without eating or drinking a thing. She had us all very worried.....such a headstrong little girl....she only drinks water, milk and apple juice even when she feels well. So yes...to all those doctors out there... I am aware that she needs to have plenty of fluids when sick....but what do you give a child who will not drink any other juice, sprite, 7-up, gatorade, etc. And, no, she will not touch popsicles either!! Anyway....slowly but surely, her appetite is coming back.... her first request was home-made sugar cookies. I was glad to make them and thrilled when she ate two in a matter of minutes. In the mean time, poor yiayia.....got the nasty nasty stomach bug even worse than we had it. I still feel terrible that she got it because she was here helping me. Okay... still more.... Even though Sophia was regaining her appetite, I felt like she was not fully recovering, so we took her to the doctor again only to find out she had pneumonia....and Joseph ( who cried for 2 days and 2 nights straight) had an ear infection. Oh my! So...2 separate antibiotics for the kiddos. I thought Brett might just escape the yuckiness... but not quite....he is now on steroids for a sinus infection or possible pneumonia that won't go away. I walked away with the best....just a sinus infection and only your run of the mill antibiotic!
Whew... I should take a picture of our breakfast and dinner table so you can see everyone's meds in front of their plates! We are quite the pharmacy.

Everyone who knows me knows how awful I am around sickness! I guess I will have lots of practice in the years to come. But for now... thank you thank you thank you thank you to Brett who is so good with the kids when they throw up....to Yiayia who is never afraid to catch the nasty bugs, to Pappou for telling me what doctors to call in the middle of the night, to Thea for coming over with supplies like disinfectant and Hello Kitty toothbrushes....and for helping me take care of the kids, to Omi who always has great home remedies, and Auntie E who always offers her nursing skills. I don't know how I could do it without all of you.

So...it was a nasty few weeks....hopefully the worst is behind us..... But there were some good memories.... we had lots of time to read books, watch Olivia on tv, make valentine's boxes and valentine's trees. Sophia had a great idea to make a Valentine Tree like one we had seen in one of her books. So, on a walk to the mailbox (b/c that is about the farthest we have been besides the doctor's office) we picked up a few branches, planted them in a pot, and added hearts. Sophia wrote all of the things she loves on the hearts...... This is what she chose to write:
Itty and Cheer Bear
Lipgloss
Mashed Potatoes (she had a lot of these this week) and Ice Cream
Bob the Builder
Olivia
Halloween
Christmas
Mama, Daddy
Joseph and Willie

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

A not so "Super" Sunday







What started off as Super....didn't end up as so. The weather this winter has been unbelievable....we have had more than a few days in January where the temps reached above 60. This past Saturday was one of those days. We took advantage of the fabulous weather and took the kids to the bike trail so Sophia could ride her new 2 wheel. We ended up walking (while Sophia rode) at least 3 miles on the trail, and finished the afternoon with some play time at the park. A beautiful day on Saturday....but not so beautiful on Sunday. Joseph got hit like a ton of bricks with a nasty bug and was sick all afternoon. Poor guy couldn't keep anything down...I think he might be trying to help me overcome my vomiting phobia (Sorry Joe....I'm still not over it, yet)! Anyway....we tried to make the best of our Super Bowl Sunday by watching a bit of the game and commercials with our "cool" 3-D glasses!

Unfortunately our night ended at Children's Mercy Urgent Care at 2:30 AM. We were worried that all the throwing up was causing Joseph to get too dehydrated. After many unsuccessful pedialyte trials, they finally gave him some zofran and we were finally able to start pumping fluids through him. Thank you sooooo much yiayia and pappou for coming over in the middle of the night to stay with Sophia, who is also under the weather with her stuffy little nose, cough and rosy red cheeks. Poor little girl!

PS Can you believe we can still get smiles from Joseph even when he is sooo sick????