Where did all the room go?

Before kids I had the cleanest car you have ever seen! I kept a pair of sunglasses and a couple of cd's in my car and that was it. You could have eaten off of the floor mats or any of the seats. Fast forward a few years and I traded in my sporty Alero for a mini van so that we would have plenty of room for kids and the stuff that comes along with them. I actually keep my back seats folded up in the floor to make plenty of room, and I use all of it. I keep a double stroller and a single stroller in the car because you never know which one might be more convenient to use. I would keep an umbrella stroller in there as well, but I don't own one because there is not any room for one! Randy throws his carseat in the back of my van whenever he will be having co-workers ride along with him. There are toys and extra blankets. I have a dvd player and dvd's to keep Reese entertained on the long trips back and forth to grandpa and grandma's house. I took cans back last night, but there were several garbage bags full of cans. I keep baggies on hand for garbage and dirty diapers or clothes. I threw a phone book in, which came in handy the other day when I had to find a dentisit while running errands in town! I always have things that I need to drop off to a family member, right now I have a box of duplicate kitchen appliances that I need to give to one of my younger brothers. My purse and diaper bag occupy any room left on the floor! The floor and seats are so dirty with food crumbs and dirt and leaves. I don't even remember the last time that I washed the van. It is totally unlike me to be so disorganized, but I think that it will be a long time until my car can be the relaxing, clutter free haven I remember!

It won't be like this for long....

There is a beautiful song by Darius Rucker called "It won't be like this for long" that has become my mantra. When things are going really well or just the opposite when things are difficult, I just remind myself that it won't be long and the kids will be all grown up and I will long for the simpler times. The moments where Reese gets in Aidan's face saying, "hi buddy!" and kissing him all over will fade into moments where they have a sibling rivalry. The moments where I have to fight Reese to take a bath will fade into moments where she will spend hours on end primping in her own bathroom for a dance or date. I really wish that I could have a videocamera in my head so that I could remember and playback all of these moments at any time.

First Haircut

Aidan's hair was getting a little curly around his ears and the back of his neck, so I finally decided that it was time for a trim. Set him up in the bumbo seat with a few toys and he was perfect! I was actually quite impressed with myself for doing such a good job because I am so horrible at doing anything with Reeses' hair (and mine, in fact I have only blow dried my hair and done anything with it probably 5 times since Aidan was born). She screams bloody murder whenever I wash it or comb it. I have to chase her around the house and pin her down to put it in a ponytail out of her face. I really want to cut it in a cute little bob that would be easier for me to take care of and cooler for the summer, but every time that I mention it Randy and his family practically hit the ceiling. They have excuses that it is so cute long and blah, blah, blah, but none of them has to deal with her kicking and screaming to do anything with it everyday! If I could get her to sit still to cut it I definitely would. Maybe her aunt Steffane would want to try it out, she seems to have the touch when it comes to that stuff!

Beauty Parlor

Recently for Reeses' birthday she got a beauty salon from her uncle Derek. Lets just say that some assembly required was a major understatement. There were at least 56,000 pieces (that may be a bit of an exaggeration) and it took me 2 hours to put it all together. It didn't help that Reese was taking the pieces that I hadn't put together yet and playing with them, or moving them all over the house! I should have done this while she was napping! She was also so excited that she kept coming up and clapping and playing with it as I was trying to put it together. When I finished putting the whole thing together (including all of the little accessories) she immediately busied herself putting all of the accessories away. Unfortunately by this time it was time for a nap, so off to bed she went. But since she got up from her nap, she has been playing with her beauty salon! She loves it!

I love you!

To all of my family and friends, I want to say that I love you! I want to make sure that everyone in my life knows just how much I really appreciate them. On our way home from Randy's parents house tonight we came upon a really horrible accident. A friend of mine was in front of us a few miles so I looked closely to make sure hers was not one of the cars involved. Though my friend was fortunately not involved in the accident, I still felt sick to my stomach. I immediately said a prayer for the people involved in the accident and their families. Soon after that Randy and I were both on the phone calling our families just to tell them that we loved them! We have lived away from our families and spent a lot of time travelling over the past 9 years. We have been very fortunate thus far though there have been a few close calls. Seeing this accident really put things into perspective to not take any day for granted, and I am going to try to be more appreciative from now on.

World's worst mommy!

Today I had the house all cleaned up for the showing and was working on getting the kids out of the house and into the car. Reese jumped up into the car while I strapped Aidan in. When I went around to put her in her seat she was up front pretending to drive. I told her to hop in back so that we could go and she wouldn't budge. I counted to ten and asked her again to move to the back, but she was having too much fun. I opened the drivers door and pulled her towards me. I totall miscalculated how much room there was for her head and totally bumped her head on the car door. I kissed her forhead where I thought she had hit, held her until she calmed down and buckled her into her seat. I went to HyVee where I planned to get a few groceries and got the kids out of the car. When I got Reese out I noticed that her blanket had blood on it, so I checked her forhead again where I thought she had bumped, but there was nothing there. Her finger had blood on it so it dawned on me that her mouth was bleeding. I was completely taken aback when I found blood around her front tooth and noticed a chip in the corner. I took the kids in to get the few groceries that we needed while I decided what to do. Of course Randy had my dental insurance card because he couldn't find his, so I had to call him to get the information. Then I called the insurance company to see whether or not a visit would be covered or not and what dentist I should go to. I had been planning on finding a dentist to start her with regular cleanings and checkups, but hadn't gotten around to it yet! I got the information and called the dentist. They could get me in right away for we went straight there. Reese enjoyed all the toys at the office while I filled out all of the paperwork. Afterward they called us back. The dentist came in and asked me a few questions about her eating & brushing habits. Then she had me sit Reese in my lap and lay her head back onto the dentists' lap. She put some flouride on a toothbrush and quickly brushed Reeses' teeth. She then rinsed them and dried them. Somehow she had a chance to check out the tooth while she did this and Reese kicked and screamed the whole time. Reese sat back up and I held her to calm her down while the dentist explained to me that the tooth may change color because the tooth had actually moved and may have damaged the nerve underneath! At that time I really felt like the worst mother in the world! They said to call with any major changes and to come back in 3 months to recheck. By this time Aidan was crying hysterically for his lunch, so they rushed through the rest of the things I needed to do to care for the tooth, gave Reese a prize and we rushed out the door. Not exactly how I had forseen our first visit to the dentist going!

Reeseisms

Here are a few more of the funny things that Reese is saying:

Cubbers: Translation covers. It is so cute when she lays down in bed for the night and asks for her cubbers!

Big cock: Translation big truck. I don't know why she can't pronounce the tr sound. I have been trying to switch her to semi.

Move car: Driving to Target the other day a car was moving kind of slowly in front of me. Before I could say anything Reese yelled, "move car!" I guess she has been riding with daddy, the world's most aggressive driver, a little too much lately.

I want pizza, I want french fries, I want ice cream! Reese has always been a good eater, but lately she is requesting certain things that are not so good for her. The smarty pants even recognizes signs as we are driving and requests the appropriate food: Pizza Hut- pizza, McDonald's- french fries! I just have to make sure that she continues to eat the good stuff at home and make these foods treats for special occasions!

Awesome! I think that it is so funny when she proclaims anything as awesome, especially my cooking!

Happy Birthday Reese!

I can't believe that it has been 2 years since Reese was born. It really seems like I was just pregnant with her! She has changed so much, especially in the last couple of months! I can't believe how much she is talking, how her looks have changes and how mature she seems at times. We had a perfect day for her party on Sunday. Though it gets crazier every year as more kids are added to our families, it is crazy in a good way!

We went in for her 2 year check up today and got proof of just how much she has grown. Though I knew she was pretty much wearing a size 3T and lots of people have mistaken her for being older than she really is, I was not expecting her to be off the charts. She was 36 inches tall and weighed 33.6 pounds! This is towards to top of the 90th percentile, where she has been since she was born. There is an old wives tale that says to double a child's height at 2 to see how tall they will be as an adult. If that is true, Reese should expect to grow to be 6 feet tall! I guess she may one day be supporting her father and I with her WNBA salary, that is as long as she got her fathers' athleticism instead of my klutziness! The doctor actually lectured me on making sure that I feed her something from all of the food groups, don't force her to finish her plate and don't reward or punish her with food, none of which I really do! She actually prefers fruits and vegetables to anything else, usually eats more than what I put on her plate without being asked and eats snacks twice daily, which I sometimes use as a reward. Though the doctor made me feel like I am making her fat, I think that she just comes by her size through genetics. I will be more vigilant about giving her healthy options because I do not want her to suffer through the childhood that I had!

Dads are oblivious!

This afternoon I packed a bag for the kids and I to go and meet Randy in Davenport so that I could go with him to the nutrionist tomorrow to find out more about his diabetic diet. I had fed Aidan and laid him down while I fed Reese and myself, packed the car (so much stuff for 1 night it looks like we could stay a week!), and cleaned the house (in case there was a showing since the house is still for sale) all in about 30 minutes. We were about halfway there when Randy called and told me to call him when we got close because he was out on the boat with some co-workers and wanted us to join them. I agreed and continued on my way. When we were about 30 minutes from our destination Aidan woke up very hungry and began crying. Soon after Reese woke up and joined in. There was really nowhere to stop and do anything with them, so I decided to drive to his parents and skip out on boating. Well Randy called and begged me to drive there and feed Aidan on the boat. As I pulled up to the dock, Randy was taking off in the boat with his co-workers family, leaving me to carry both Aidan and Reese (both of whom were still crying) and a huge bag overflowing with stuff for the kids. His other friends were there on the houseboat and helped to get me settled in with the kids. Randy returned and apologized, I'm sure he still didn't even know what he had done wrong! His friends wife got me some motrin for Reese which I had forgotten in the car. I asked Randy to give it to her and he proceeded to push the whole syringe into her mouth so that she spit it out all over herself. The whole night pretty much went like this. It ended with me starting out carrying everything back to the car, including both kids and having to ask Randy to help. Why is it that men have to be told what needs to be done. How can he not see me carrying everything while he makes his way to the car with absolutely nothing. How can he sit and eat while I feed Aidan and cut up all of Reese's food, wash her hands and clean up the floor while I try to eat before my food is completely cold. I don't know how someone so smart could be so oblivious about everything that I do!

Scary fever

I have been very lucky in that both of my children have been pretty healthy for the most part. We have not had to deal with anything much more than fevers for cutting teeth in the past two years. Tonight I finally got a real scare. Reese woke up from her nap and felt really warm, thinking that it was just from being wrapped up in the covers on her bed and the house being a little warm from having the windows open, I just took her clothes off. She has been snuggling with me for about half an hour until she wakes up and then she runs around like crazy until she goes to bed. After about a half an hour today she still felt warm and showed no signs of moving out of my lap. Then I noticed that she was breathing kind of funny, short and quick. I started to get all worked up that maybe it was related to her fall this past weekend, which we never took her to a doctor for. I called the doctors office and they had to have the nurse call me back, so I called Randy who was not available to calm me down. So I called my mom and asked her to come over and watch Aidan while I took Reese to the doctor. By this time I was starting to get hysterical because I had all kinds of crazy ideas running through my head! Before mom got here Aidan woke up and I started to feed him. The doctors office called back and said that if the fever or her breathing got worse to bring her in to be seen. Soon after I hung up Reese started kind of shaking and her eyes were rolling all over the place and closing. I kept asking her to look at me or say something and she just acted like she was going to go to sleep. I immediately set Aidan down and grabbed a cold washcloth and put it to her forehead. She wouldn't take it so I started a cool bath and gave her tylenol. Mom showed up just as I was putting her in the tub. Reese was fighting me, so I ended up stripping and getting in with her. She calmed down and we saw a difference almost immediately. She started playing with the toys and was wide awake. After half an hour we took her out of the tub and she was back to her normal self! I couldn't believe how quickly we saw a difference. We made some dinner and she ate a decent amount. Besides going to bed at 9pm, you would not have known the rest of the night that she had been sick at all. Thank god I haven't had to deal with that kind of thing very often because I did not handle the situation very well.