The Benefits of Getting Older?

I was getting Jocelyn ready for her nap today and this is what I heard her say:

"When I get older, I get to drive. AND eat sweettarts!"

I know all about the driving part. Everyday she asks me if she can drive and I reply "when you get older." But the sweettarts? I have no clue! I just think it's funny.

Not Music To My Ears

{Jocelyn today - not feeling well}

Friday I took Jocelyn to go see the doctor because she was complaining of it hurting when she had to pee. Because she's not potty trained yet and can't give a normal pee sample, they decided to do a catheter on her to get it instead. Hearing that tore me to pieces. I hate seeing her in distress and pain. The first try didn't go too well so they had to try another time. Unfortunately, they weren't able to get much from it to run a test so they told me to take her over to the E.R. Great! More words that break my heart! I don't know anyone that particularly LIKES going to the doctors or to the E.R. so I know I can speak for many on this. I rushed to pick up Aubrey from school and then meet John at home. We discussed who was going to take who (Jocelyn to the E.R. & Aubrey to soccer practice). As much as I didn't want to go through it again that day, I knew that I had to take her in and be with her. It was a hard decision to make as I knew this choice would lead me to not having Andrew with me as well. (I refuse to take my babies into the E.R. atmosphere unless they need to be there!) The E.R.'s motto seems to stem from the military's motto: hurry up and wait! (It really isn't their motto; I just like to say it is!) We did a lot of that. Waiting! Fill out paper work, go back and sit and wait for name to be called, go to triage, go back and sit and wait for name to be called again, go to a room, after test - go back and sit and wait for name to be called AGAIN, and then go to a room AGAIN. It got old real fast and 5 hours later they gave us the results: negative for a UTI. I was confused why that was but was thankful at least. The doctor said they were going to let the culture grow over the next few days in case there was something they didn't catch while we were there. And low and behold, he called us yesterday to report that the results changed. That she did indeed have an infection and called in an antibiotic. And it's a good thing too because she spiked a fever in the night and wasn't feeling well at all. It's so hard to see your children sick and in pain. I can still vividly remember her screaming in the E.R. and in the room they put us in. At one point, I had done everything I could do to calm her and at another attempt of distraction, I asked her what her Ritz cracker looked like. "A moon? A sun?" I had asked her. "No mama, it looks like a cracker!" Wow. She sure does point out the obvious doesn't she? :) Today is day one on antibiotics. Let's hope we get this infection to go away soon so I can get my little girl's cute personality back! :/

Saturday Drive

Our first stop on our Saturday afternoon drive: Costco to pick up pictures. We were just a few minutes away from pulling in to the crazy parking lot when Jocelyn got a bit antsy in the backseat.

Jocelyn: My blankie fall down and go BOOM! (sad)
Aubrey: (picked up her blankie and gave it to her)
All of us: (LAUGHING that she said her blankie went BOOM!)
Jocelyn: It's NOT funny kids! NOT. FUNNY!!!

{Andrew all ready to go for our afternoon car ride}

Our next stop was Lowes. Our refrigerator light burnt out a few weeks ago but that wasn't the only reason why I wanted to go! Me go to Lowes? Yes, you heard that correctly! Here's the story. Some time ago, way before I was even pregnant with Andrew, I came across a Weight Watchers scale they had on display to try out before buying. It seemed like we lived there while we were remodeling our kitchen so it wasn't hard for me to find on one of our trips to the store. Since Andrew was born, I've been doing pretty good about keeping up on his baby book. With there not being a 3 month well baby visit and us not owning a scale, I knew that we HAD to go to Lowes so I could check his weight and document it in his book. Go ahead and laugh. But I still consider myself a genius for even thinking of doing this! Even despite the strange looks from the passersby down the isle. While John was locating the light bulbs for the fridge, I was scoping out isle #32 for the scales. Lo and behold I found them. Just 2 isles over since the last time I was there. (Let me reassure you that I don't go that often. I'm not a crazy loon that goes everyday. I'm not that OCD!) Once John and the girls caught up with me, I handed over Andrew to John, took down the display scale off the wall and placed it on the floor. I took a deep breath and hopped on begging them not to laugh as I did so. I'm still trying to loose some baby weight so I'm not confident with my weight yet. The numbers 126 popped up on the screen. Great. No weight loss since he was born 3 months ago. But then again, I haven't been consistent with my exercise routine yet so I have no one else to blame but me and the carrot cake I made last week. :) And no, I didn't eat it all on my own! Once the numbers settled into my brain and I wasn't hyperventilating (not really, just trying to add humor to the already humorous story) John placed Andrew back into my arms and we waited again for the numbers to reappear on the screen. Drum roll please..........142.2! Holy cow! That's a 16.2 pound difference. With him fully clothed and a diaper on, I'm going to assume that he weighs around 15 pounds. He turned 3 months on the 19th of March and at his last well baby on the 20th of February, he weighed in at 13 pounds 3 ounces so he's gained almost 2 pounds in a month. It's looking like he's still climbing the charts well and growing like a weed. Just the previous day at the doctor's office, Jocelyn weighed a whopping 23.7 pounds. So it looks like "baby brother" is going to outweigh his "big sister" (who is now 2 1/2 years old mind you) within his first year of life. I find this to be quite amusing. No wonder Jocelyn calls him a "Big Boy!" Thankfully not TOO big! :)

{Getting Andrew ready for a bath}

All That Hard Work Is Finally Paying Off

{"Mama...look at me! I'm finally getting the hang of this!"}

I was lying on the floor this morning next to Andrew getting some tummy time in on his play mat when I caught him using his arms to push his head up. This is the highest he's held his head thus far and for a long period of time. Well okay, for only 5-10 seconds at a time, but that's still a big accomplishment for him. Just to review his previous work to get to this point, I'm including a few pictures to help demonstrate:

{"Again, why are you doing this to me?"}

{"See...I can rest my head on my hands!"}

{"And suck on them when that gets tiring!"}

{"And of course there's ALWAYS time to sleep when I don't want to lift my head up anymore."}

Before I know it, he'll be rolling over in no time. He still very much dislikes "tummy time" so I'm sure it'll come with a price. Like LOTS and LOTS of crying and whinning. That's the way it goes I'm afraid!

More Reasons Why I Love Spring

Things start to grow and come alive again. Flowers and children alike!! :)

All Aboard!

A train excibit was in town at the Expo Center for a few weeks and we knew how much Jocelyn LOVED trains and how much fun the kids would have. Andrew is only 3 months old but I know he would have enjoyed it too if he wasn't sleeping away in his stroller. :)

We made it a complete surprise - they had NO idea where we were going for the afternoon. The train whistle was a big hit, as well as the peanut butter fudge they had available to buy. YUM! :) It's too bad there was a long line for the train rides though...naps were a bigger priority than enduring a $3 ride and the lines that came with. But the wooden whistle they got as a souvineer will surely keep them entertained. I say that now...it may accidentally get lost. LOL

Three Months

Some new discoveries in the past month are:

* has found his hands and loves to suck on them

* babbling a lot more. seems to already be a "talker"

* has made his blue blanket with cars & trains his most favorite and loves to snuggle with it. he'll even ditch his beloved pacifier for his blankie

* lifts his legs up in the air and holds his knees while he's laying down

* bats at his toys on the play mat when he's on his back or in the carseat

* starting to lift his head really well when on tummy

* started sleeping through the night

* watches his sisters more intently now and adores them when they're nearby
* tries to sneak in some basketball watching with his daddy

* can pull one of the saddest pouts

* enjoys us reading stories

* LOVES to smile and laugh

* our big cuddlebug - loves to snuggle with us

Green Day

{Some goodies my awesome Visiting Teacher brought over for us to enjoy. YUM!}

It's St. Patrick's Day and I've got all of my kids dressed in green. It first started with my green clover socks, then HAD to make sure Aubrey was wearing green to school so she wouldn't get pinched and then naturally I HAD to have Jocelyn and Andrew sporting the color as well. Wouldn't want to leave them out of the festivities, right? (With John's work uniform, I wasn't worried about him wearing green!)

Hope you had a great one! :)

Spring Soccer Has Begun

SPRING soccer has begun! We'll be in full swing now with tons of practices and games but it seems that with every new season, she gets better and better and enjoys it more and more. Jocelyn even loves going and BEGS to go if I happen to stay home with Andrew to get dinner done or whatnot on occasion. I believe most of the begging stems from the fact that most of the practices/games are held with a playground nearby. Motives people! And lots of priorities this little girl has. :)

Our family was driving to Aubrey's soccer practice tonight and when we pulled up to the school, Jocelyn belted out, "where are we going kids?" She was so calm about it too - not even realizing she had said something funny. :) We all started laughing. We replied back to her ever so gently, "well KIDS...we're going to soccer." That seemed like a good enough reason to her. She was all smiles: PLAYTIME!!!

Aubrey hopped out practically before the truck was put into park (not really - but she was VERY eager to get to play some soccer with her other teammates). About 20 steps later (unfastening seat belts, getting stroller out and unfolded, etc.) we were finally on our way to the field to watch her kick the ball and mingle with the other parents. After 3 months, it's safe to say that I'm still adjusting. LOTS to do at times. For instance, going to story time at the library with Jocelyn has been our thing even before Andrew was conceived. I was even taking her until the very week Andrew was born. About a month ago, we finally ventured out to story time again. WOW! I know our family grew in numbers but the number of arms I have did not. I'm still trying to figure out how in the world am I supposed to hold Andrew in one arm (with him inside his car seat), the diaper bag flung over my right shoulder, holding Jocelyn's hand in my left (until I need to stop and adjust holding the car seat every 10 feet - the thing gets quite heavy!), and the books you say? Well, I'm trying to answer that very question myself. I clearly need to find a system that works. I do know that once the weather gets a bit nicer out, I can put Andrew in the Baby Bjorn. At the end of a 20 minute story time at the library, I'm exhausted! Well...I carried off the original topic but now you can see a better picture (hopefully) of my library nightmare at the moment! :) Somehow, it'll all work out someway or another. It always does.

My Brother, My Pet?

Jocelyn: mama? can I pet him (Andrew)?
me: no honey. we don't pet people.
Jocelyn: but why not?!
me: because we only pet animals. you can give him a kiss instead if you'd like.
Jocelyn: (excited) OKAY! :)

Then she proceeded to bend down and kiss him on the forehead and mutter under her breath: "oh-such a BIG boy!"

Signs of SPRING

I L.O.V.E. the spring time! Especially when I can look out the front window of my house and see the flowers on our tree start to bloom. I was sitting down with Jocelyn having lunch and looked up to see these beauties and couldn't resist capturing them with the camera:

Aren't they pretty?

Table Talk

Jocelyn: daddy? can I have some honey on my biscuit?
daddy: okay (then pored honey on her biscuit)
Jocelyn: thanks babe!

So are you catching on yet that this little girl of ours is pretty funny with her words? :) Well, if mommy can say it, she must be able to also, right? And calling her daddy "babe" must be no exception! Correcting her to only say "daddy" is in the works but right now, she finds it more humorous than anything. And frankly, so do we!

Wish She Meant A Kit Kat Bar

Last night, Jocelyn wanted to play a game before dinner but I told her no - that we would all play TROUBLE as a family AFTER dinner. This is our conversation that followed after I told her no:

Jocelyn: but why mama?
Me: because we're all going to go eat at the table right now.
Jocelyn: (muttering under her breath)...oh give me a break!
Me: speechless & trying desperately to hold in the laughter.

Hmm...I don't think she's meaning 'break me off a piece of that kit kat bar' nor do I think I've ever used those words for her to copy me before either. This little sweet child of mine sure has lots to say!! LOL :) And the things she says often catch me off guard and I have to literally bite my lip not to laugh. (Wouldn't want to encourage these cute words of hers now would I?) I might as well face the truth now...the apple doesn't fall far from the tree I see: I've got some smart alec children on my hands. It's a good thing I find them cute!

Monkeying Around

This morning at 1am, I heard a LOUD noise followed by screaming and crying. At first I thought I was hearing things but then I heard her cry again. I startled John out of his sleep, jumped out of bed and we both darted across the hall to Jocelyn's room. She had managed to stand herself back up in the middle of her room during the time it took us to get to her and she complained of a headache. Poor girl fell out of her bed for the first time. We don't have rails to keep her in her big girl bed yet and I felt terrible that she got hurt because of it. A little cuddling and singing put her right back to sleep.

Around 11 this morning before I started on her lunch, she was running in circles around the coffee table in the living room singing the "no more monkeys jumping on the bed" song. Then she ran over to me and with all seriousness in her voice and on her face said (or should I say yelled), "I'm a monkey and I fell off my bed and went KABOOOOOM!" That has got to be one of her funniest sayings yet. I'm glad I'm writing these things down so I don't forget them. Priceless!

Another surprise I found this morning was Andrew laying at almost the bottom of his crib. I layed him down last night right smack in the middle and by morning, he had wiggled himself OUT of his covers and was laying sideways a good foot or two down from his original spot. So there we have it: it's official! He's starting to be mobile!! :)

Tonight, I caught the cutest video of Jocelyn singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star to Andrew in his swing. She's so sweet to him and I love watching all three of them interact with one another with great love and care. I love being a mom. It's the best job and reward in the whole wide world!


Such A Big Boy! 3/11/09

This Week In Pictures - RETIRED

This Week in Pictures is now coming to a close. I originally came up with this weekly idea while pregnant with Andrew while I was naturally tired and felt that I didn't have time to blog. Now, I'm getting back into the swing of things and feel confident that I don't need this feature anymore.

A Bed Fit for a King

Or for Andrew anyways! :)

{As you can see, Jocelyn left a few small details for us to fix: her earlier times of teething on the siderail of the bed. A little sanding and restaining and it'll look like new again! I hope!! LOL}

For Andrew's first two months of life, we had him sleeping next to us in his bassinet. Not only was he approaching the 15 lbs limit but Jocelyn was showing signs of needing a big girl bed. We also didn't want to buy another crib so everyone benefited from this decision. Perfect timing, too. Until we move, Andrew is rooming with Mom and Dad. The crib was transported from Jocelyn's room to a corner nook in our room and surprisingly fits perfectly. We then finally broke down and bought him his crib bedding set that we picked out before he was born. Isn't it cute? I love it so much that I'm going to make my own wall art to match the bedding. I'm no expert by any means but it's an inexpensive way to decorate the space and give him something to look at from his thrown! Once I get that project done, I'll repost the results.

I have to say: he does look pretty darn happy (and cute) with his new bed. Wouldn't you agree?

Our Trip To Gettysburg

WARNING: Long post & lots of pictures!

We all piled into the truck at 7:30am and made our way up to Pennsylvania to see Gettysburg for the day. It's been on our list of "things to see" since we moved here and we can now finally cross it off our list! I love when that happens. :) The day turned out great, the weather was better than expected (low 70's, overcast with a little wind), and the kids had a lot of fun.

{Gettysburg Visitor's Center}

We pulled into the parking lot around 10am not really knowing what to expect. Apparently they built a new visitors center, shop and museum in 2008 so it was a rather nice building! With the two girls racing ahead of us through the museum, we don't have much of a chance to stop and read a lot of the history like we were hoping. It was more like: skim-and-read-as-fast-as-you-can-so-you-can-keep-up-with-the-children. Too bad we didn't think to nail their shoes to the floor until AFTER we left! Haha. That seriously wouldn't have stopped them. Something tells me they'd outsmart us!

From what I remember though, they showed a lot of exhibits behind glass of what they wore during the battles depending on which side of the battle they were on and what field of duty they were in. One thing I did learn that I hadn't known before is that the space in between the buttons on their blouses/coats determined their rank. They also displayed furniture with bullet hole wounds that made it through the walls of homes. Other artifacts from their era were shown along with lots and lots of photographs. Since I unfortunately left Gettysburg not retaining as much information as I had planned, I'm providing their website here if you wish to learn more about it.

{The Gettysburg Address. I overheard John rehearsing the first paragraph to Aubrey by heart.}

After touring the museum, we had lunch in the restaurant. I'm so glad we packed our lunches and only bought drinks from there. The 4 drinks came to a whopping $10! (I'm not discouraging others from buying their products. We just try to save any way we can. Especially with the economy nowadays!) So after we downed our drinks and scarfed up our sandwiches, chips, apples and string cheese - we made our way back to the truck for the self-guided auto tour. Of course we had to walk through their shop first and thankfully came out empty handed. It's so hard to keep the girls from touching everything in their sight. The breakable things within their reach scare me!

{Our family outside of the visitor's center/ museum}

{I just love these two!}

{Changing Andrew's diaper before leaving for the tour}

We honestly wanted to go on a guided tour (from what I've heard - highly recommended!) but we just had a hard time spending $60+ doing it. We didn't really budget enough for that so we went on our own this time. The map said it would be a 3 hour 20 mile self-guided auto tour. That just sounded crazy but we drove the 20 miles anyways and it didn't even come CLOSE to 3 hours so I'm glad we went ahead and did it. Again, didn't really learn much since we stayed in the truck most of the time but we did come out of the tour with a TON of photos that we managed to stop (or not!) to get shots of. And that now leads me to you getting to view all of these tons of photos. :) Sorry but I couldn't just pick out a few pictures so go ahead and enjoy them anyways. Hey! Maybe you'll feel like you've taken the tour yourself when you're done. You never know. On your marks, get set, GO!

{Not a historical site that I'm aware of. Just loved the red barn and snapped it's picture!}

{And he's out for the count. Or the tour anyways!}

I'm pausing now for just a moment to share with you a funny story. We were driving along on the tour and passing huge fields. On the right was a large mound of cow manuer. The smell came on strong and there was no mistaking what it was. We had the wind to thank for that unfortunately! Everyone instantly voiced their disgust and wishes to vomit. Then it was Jocelyn's turn to make her thoughts known: "That's gross! Pee you Daddy! You stink!" We all had a good laugh as John was defending himself. What a silly girl she is. We were all glad to be out of that area a few miles down the way.

{Jocelyn right after telling us her funny comment}

{My wonderful husband looking at me like I was crazy taking his picture.}

{And then there's me trying to hold my breath until we got away from the stinch!}

{John loved the style of this home}

{When I saw this out my window I thought, "MOUNTAINS!" I obviously haven't been back to the Northwest in awhile! :)}

{And look who finally joined us!}

And now that the tour part is over, it's time to go get some ICE CREAM! I don't hear any complaints to that!

I'm now thinking that I myself may need to get on their website and learn more than what I did while I was there. It may be safer that way than it was at the museum. When the kids are at home and running around, they can't get too far ahead! :)

On our way home, we stopped off at my cousin and her family's house for dinner and to visit with them. The kids LOVE playing with my cousin's son. I shouldn't have told them the night before because that's all we heard all day long during our trip at Gettysburg: "can we see Aidan yet? are we going to Aidan's yet? when do we get to play with Aidan?" :) Before we left to get back on the road for home, we enjoyed some yummy right-out-of-the-oven brownies. Mmm. Can't pass up brownies! :)

{My cousin Holli with Andrew}

We all felt the same way Andrew does here by the end of our adventurous day:

Yes. Exhausted is definitely it!! But we all had a really good day. :)