Tea Parties

No, I'm not talking the political kind. ;-)

So the other night I was home alone with the kids when I suddenly got a severe migraine. I thought my head was going to explode like a bottle of champagne that's been shook up. It hurt SO bad, and came out of the blue. Anyway, while I was in misery on the couch Kate came up and asked if she could make a tea party. She interpreted my "UNGH" as a "yes, my dear, go right ahead with that project..."

The boys seemed to love it.

Kate took great pains with the centerpiece.  Watch out, Martha Stewart!

 

We've got a "Woodland Cup" complete with a pencil, cuz it's made out of wood ya know? A purse that hold multiple lip gloss flavors, a brush and....

A mug with a spoon and floating rubberbands. So cutting edge! So fierce! So creative!

And no centerpiece is complete without a gratuitous picture of the younger brother proudly displayed:

However, you know you're in a recession when High Tea consists of:

 

One pepperoni and a glass of water.  Eeeek!  Not exactly a full meal, is it?

Not to worry, we remedied that with a full on feast.  Cereal, toast and juice.  Oh yeah, baby. We're living the high life, now!

Even the dog was upgraded from her normal bed to more plush bedding.

 

And if you're wondering where you can get that stunning heart table cloth, it can be found in the children's linen section at Ikea; it's a duna cover. :-D 

All in all, it was a smashing success and the kids were so happy that I had answered "UNGH".

Now, he may not LOOK so thrilled, but he is.  Trust me.

And although this kid looks a bit dazed and confused, there were no children harmed in the making of this tea party. Also, that really was water in the cup and not Vodka.

 

The best part, though? They cleaned up after themselves. :-D

Clean Sweep and Forgetful Tooth Fairies

WOW.

On Friday I kicked my own booty. :-D I got the Spring Cleaning Bug and went to town.

I thoroughly cleaned both bathrooms, including sweeping and mopping. I changed the sheets and duna covers on the boy's beds, cleaned and vacuumed all 3 bedrooms, did multiple loads of laundry, swept and mopped the kitchen floor, organized the toys and vacuumed the whole living room, moving all the furniture.

And then I crashed. ;-) I went to bed and slept until 6:45 in the morning, and guess what!? My boys were still asleep.

Cue the Hallelujah chorus. :-D I feel so much better after a good night's sleep and with my house in order. Of course, now that it's a day later there are messes again and it's not so bright and shiny and sparkly. But that's ok. We do live here, after all.

In other news, the Tooth Fairy sorta sucks at her job. She remembered to bring money (a $2 bill, which, according to Kate is "dumb"--she'd rather have 4 quarters???) (and we usually only give .50 cents, but just happened to have an extra $2 bill at home and we thought she'd think it was cool.) (We learned our lesson.) ANYWAY... So the tooth fairy totally gave the money... but forgot to take the tooth.

And then she forgot the next night. And the next. Until finally Kate asked Josh to make a note for the Fairy reminding her to PLEASE TAKE THE TOOTH.


Apparently that was all she needed, because the tooth hasn't been seen since. ;-)

No Rest For The Weary

Oh. My. Word.

I think my boys have made a pact, a vendetta of sorts, and I'm the victim. Their goal is to push me closer and closer to insanity. And they are succeeding.

According to Wikipedia, the definition of sleep deprivation is as follows:

Sleep deprivation is the condition of not having enough sleep; it can be either chronic or acute. A chronic sleep-restricted state can cause fatigue, daytime sleepiness, clumsiness and weight loss or weight gain.^[1] It adversely affects the brain and cognitive function.^[2] Few studies have compared the effects of acute total sleep deprivation and chronic partial sleep restriction.^[2] Complete absence of sleep over long periods is impossible for humans to achieve (unless they suffer from fatal familial insomnia); brief microsleeps cannot be avoided.^[3] Long-term total sleep deprivation has caused death in lab animals.^[4]

I fear that I may die from lack of sleep. Or at least be thrown in the loony bin. The sad thing is that the loony bin sounds pretty appealing right now! I mean, it would be uninterrupted sleep!!!!!!! And people would probably bring me food and medicine. And I could read in peace.

You see, the last few weeks have been a doozy. My boys are not sleeping. It's not all their fault. Christian is sick. He has a cough. So this is a sample of what happens at night:

*cough cough cough* (pause for 5 seconds) *cough cough cough) (pause for 5 seconds) *COUGH COUGH COUGH WRETCH AND DRY HEAVE* (begin crying) And this goes on All. Night. Long. Since Josh is gone Christian inevitably comes into bed with me shortly after I get in bed, so I listen to him coughing all night. And I just don't know what to do about it because I give him both his inhalers and cough medicine. But it doesn't stop the coughing. It's driving me insane.

Then, we have Owen. Owen who has perhaps been having nightmares. Because I'll tuck him into bed, pray with him, and 30 seconds later he's coming out of his room crying that he had a bad dream. Except, he clearly hasn't even fallen asleep yet. So then HE joins me in the bed. And let me tell you, a queen size bed is not big enough for me and 2 restless, coughing sleeping boys who are all elbows, knees and fingers poking and smacking and pushing me.

Then, at 5:30a.m. it's like an internal alarm goes off (no matter that I've been up since 3a.m. and don't fall back asleep. No matter that the boys have had maybe 7 hours of interrupted sleep.) and the boys are raring to go, bouncing on the bed, screaming and laughing. And it's sheer torture.

Sleep is beckoning to me, calling me. I feel like I'm in quicksand, sinking into the depths of slumber and then every 2 minutes the boys are jarring me awake. My brain feels like it's in a pinball game. My head is going to downright explode. The clutches of nausea have a firm grip on my throat. I'm fighting off sleep while at the same time all I want to do is succumb to it and sleep for 12 years straight.

SHEER TORTURE. So I start my day by wading through the quicksand of sleep, my brain is all cobwebby, my head is pounding, I can't even think straight, my stomach is threatening upheaval and I'm supposed to be getting my kids breakfast, dressed, Kate off to school, keep the house in some kind of order, keep the laundry moving, etc...

Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.

I think I'd rather take the loony bin. :-D

Things I've Seen and Heard This Week

:: A motorcycle with two occupants coming out of Costco parking lot. The girl on back was clutching a cheesecake to her chest.

:: A car with the vanity license plate "I NAIL U"... Carpenter? Lawyer? Something worse?

:: A sign advertising you can declare bankruptcy for $275. Um, if I'm declaring bankruptcy I probably don't have money. So it's just ridiculous to CHARGE for me to file the papers letting people know I don't have money.

:: A mailbox shaped like a John Deere tractor.

:: A princess in a Cozy Coupe Car accidentally running over Batman and then proceeding to follow him around saying "Sorry" every 3 seconds. Except Batman doesn't notice Princess trying to apologize and carries on with his saving the world duties. And Princess gets very frustrated and then Teacher Chad has to come over and break up the fight between Princess and Batman.

:: A couple of young girls exclaiming how cool God is for "decorating" (read: creating) the world.

:: The maniacal laughter of two very, very tired boys who are so tired they've turned into giggling blobs of nonsense.

:: A 3 year old beat a 4 year old and 5 year old at the game Memory.

:: The screams and cries and total meltdown of frustration that a 3 year old can beat a 4 year old and 5 year old at the game Memory.

:: The sheer joy and satisfaction radiating from Christian's face that he managed to make his bed all by himself.

:: All my laundry go from huge piles around the hamper to washed, folded and neatly put away in the drawers.

:: My sister explaining that from now on she is pronouncing the word "pianist" like pee-an-ist because a DJ on a classical station says it that way and it sounds SO much better than the alternative.

:: The dust slowly losing the war in my house. HUZZAH! (Confused? See HERE.)

:: A lady cramming books and toddler totes into the skinny book return slots because she didn't want to take all the kids into the library. (This may or may not have been me.)

:: My boys running around the house wildly exclaiming in joy that "WILD CRAPS" is coming on. In reality, it's a new show on OPB called Wild Kratts.

:: Various combinations and complete overuse of the words/actions: poop, fart, poopy head, butthead, burp, poopy diaper stinky head, etc...

:: The sweet, sweet, glorious sight of my children sleeping peacefully in their beds.

My Kiddos, Part One: Kate Elizabeth

I've been pretty brain dead lately, so I've come up with a series to help me keep posting regularly that doesn't require me to come up with witty sayings or have a fun life to draw from for writing material. :-D

I'm gonna write about my kids. Shocking, I know. But it's gonna be fun, so you should stick around.

First, we start with a boy and girl who fell in love and got married.  They honeymooned in Hawaii.

Three months later, the girl was pregnant, with a little girl of her own.

Kate Elizabeth is my oldest child, a girl (obviously) and half tomboy half drama queen.

She was born on St. Patrick's Day! All the doctors and nurses (weird, I just spelled it nerses. Somebody help me.) said I should name her Erin or Ireland or something else Irish. But we'd had her name picked out for 20+ weeks, and Kate Elizabeth she was.

I was overdue, except I didn't know it because every time I went in the nurses told me a different due date.  So I never was quite certain when this child was supposed to be born.  I don't remember being uncomfortable at the end, just very sick.  I went out with two of my friends for Thai food to celebrate a birthday, and later that night contractions started.  I knew what they were right away.  They were low, cramping, sharp pains.  I timed them for a long while, took a bath and tried to get some rest.  In the morning, as the contractions continued, Josh and I decided to go walk around Target to see if they would get closer together.  But just walking outside to the car had me doubled over in pain so we decided to just head to the hospital.

When we got there I was checked in and found to be at 3cm.  I don't remember how effaced I was.  They admitted me and I started walking the halls.  During the contractions I would do deep knee bends/squats, in hopes of helping the baby descend.  It was excruciating, but I wanted to get my baby out!  I labored all day and by that evening I was exhausted.  I no longer walked the halls and did squats. I just laid in bed and tried to get through the contractions without crying.  My friend and sister were there with me, (and so was Josh, duh) but I just zoned out.  Around 11pm the doc came to check me and I was STILL only 3cm. :-O  I couldn't believe it.  I think I must have been effacing, but the doctor had a horrible bedside manner and basically just ripped his gloves off, curtly told me I was 3cm and left the room.

Up to this point I'd wanted to give birth without an epidural, but hearing that after 22 hours I was still only 3 was just too much.  I was tired, very tired.  So I got an epidural.  Not long after I felt tremendous pressure and the nurse came to check me and I was 8!  She said she thought that might happen; that I was too tense and stressed so my body wasn't working very efficiently.  Anyway, after just a bit longer it was time to push!

I required an episiotomy and without going into too much detail, let's just say it was quite substantial.  I will never forget hearing the scissors cut and cut and cut. Bleh. ::shudder::  In any case, after pushing for I don't know how long (I really can't remember) Miss Kate was born!!

She was a wee lass at only 6 pounds 15 ounces.  And it was love at first sight.

 

 (Look! Josh has hair!!)

She was so sweet and precious, the love of our life.  I was very sick with her when I was pregnant, had morning sickness the whole 9 months, only gained 12 pounds and had to quit working.  But she was worth it.  =)

I remember when she would wake up at night to nurse being SO EXCITED just to see her tiny face again.  

 

I had so much fun with her, dressing her up in all the cute baby girl clothes.  It took a while for us (as in, me and her) to realize she had her days and nights mixed up, but once we figured it out we were great.

 

When Kate was just 3 months old, I found out I was pregnant again.  I had a miscarriage, and then my body wanted to show off so I got pregnant AGAIN.  So quickly after the miscarriage that the doctor was convinced I just had leftover hormones.  Until she saw my HCG numbers.  Yup, I was pregnant.  Kate and Christian are only 14 months apart.

 

Look how young we are! Except, we aren't THAT young. I was 26 and Josh was 25. And I was about 6 months pregnant.

  

 

 

This beautiful girl with Kate is her cousin, Alexandria. 

 

 
 

Look how healthy she is, chowing down on that bag of carrots! :-P

 

Her first bike! Look at the sheer excitement on her face.

 

And this is about 20 seconds later.  Bikes can be dangerous. And scary.  Good thing she was wearing her helmet!

 

 

She lost her very first tooth! And the tooth fairy did remember to come.  For the record.

 

 

 

That's our beautiful Kate.  She's spunky, sassy, 5 going on 16 and we love her.  I just pray I get wisdom and grace to know how to raise her without crushing her spirit, but at the same time instilling SOME respect in the girl. ;-)

Part 2 to come soon... Christian Michael

 

Apparently, I let the pictures do the talking.  When I have more of a brain I'll elaborate on the kids' personalities and who they are as individuals.  For now, just enjoy the cute factor. :-D