Words I Never Thought I'd Have To Say

Nathan found one of his old binkies under the couch. He was very excited and I let him play with it for a little while before "accidentally" throwing it in the trash. I was on the computer, updating our Netflix queue, when a sopping wet child came running in saying:

"Tenny, don't throw it in potty binky!!!"

Oh no. I could tell by Nathan's curled upper lip and tensed eyebrows he was seriously mad.

"Kenny, get down here now! What did you do, and don't lie to me because Nathan already told me."

He thought for a few moments, probably trying to decided the most delicate way to get himself out of this situation.

"I threw Nathan's binky in the toilet. I wanted to see if he could catch it before it went all the way in."

I asked him if he planned on throwing the new baby's binkies in the toilet. He said probably not. I then found myself saying these words,

"Please don't throw binkies in the toilet ever again. It's gross."

You know, at one time in my life I was an intelligent person who said intelligent things. Guess those days are long gone!

Mischief

I know this is hard to believe, but my boys can be a bit naughty at times. I don't think they mean to be that way, they just come by it naturally.

For example, they usually wake me up when they wake up each morning. This summer, they have stopped doing that. When they wake up, they sneak out of their rooms so I don't hear them. I actually have no idea when they wake up. Most mornings, Kenny turns on a movie and gets them both a granola bar until I get up.

Then he decided to make soup.
Using orange juice, fruit snacks, water, baby carrots, and crushed crackers.
Of course, by the time I got downstairs, the soup was no longer in bowls.
It was all over the floor, chairs, and table.
When I asked what happened I got, "Um, we had an little accident."
Lovely.

Later that same day, after a relentless string of squabbles and little misbehaviors, I corralled them into the toy room to clean up. I sat down in the room to keep them on task with an occasional, I mean constant, reminder to keep working.

Apparently, I feel asleep.
One of the hazards of the first trimester.
And I woke up to see this.

You see, they were under the train table, "cleaning", and decided it was boring.
So they flipped the top over.
And got out their paints.
Luckily, only a little bit hit the floor and it was washable.

I guess the good thing about today is that my floors got cleaned.

Of All The Things

...to happen when you feel bad. This just isn't fair! Our air conditioning went out. Heat and nausea DO NOT go hand in hand kindly.

Luckily, we know a guy from our ward who works for a cooling company and he was able to get us a good discount on the service call. But it still sang to the tune of $400. So, there goes any chance of a little family vacation/long weekend to San Antonio-Sea World. Oh well. I'd probably just throw up in the dolphin tank anyway.



**Actually, I am taking some anti-nausea medication and I have finally stopped throwing up. Now I just sit at that point when you want to throw up to get some relief, but can't. I am hoping that I only have another week or two of this. My first trimester symptoms usually disappear around 9-10 weeks. So, keep your finger crossed.**

Little Blessings

I had to go to an all day workshop today. I would have skipped it, but I was one of the presenters. I was a little nervous. I am WAY more comfortable in front of kids than adults. My workshop was on teaching Phonics and Guided Reading in an Early Childhood classroom using an ACTIVboard. Most you will have no idea what that means, but I know a few of will know about interactive white boards and what guided reading means. Click here if you are curious. Anyway, things went very well.

Now, the real reason for this post. I want to write this down so I don't forget it. I had a few experiences today that have really brought home to me the power of prayer.

The least of the two happened during my presentation. Half my presentation involved a certain website. When I logged onto it part way through my thing, I got a "This Page Can't Load" error message. I tried about 5 times and it wouldn't load. I could feel the panic welling up inside me and I said a silent prayer, pleading for this page to load. When I tried again, the page popped up within half a second and I was able to go on.

Now, my real story. I was VERY worried about today. I had to go- there was no way out of it. I had no idea how I was going to drive to the location, sit through presentations all day, eat the catered lunch, and then present myself. After all, I can hardly get off the couch moat of the day because if I move too much I get very sick and start to throw up. On top of all that, I am still having hearing problems. I have been racked with worry about what I was going to do for days. Last night during my prayers, I asked Heavenly Father to please give me the strength to do what I had to do.

This morning I woke up feeling okay. Not wonderful, but okay. I ate a little breakfast, and I was okay. I sucked on tic tacs all morning, and stayed okay. I ate- I can't tell you have exciting this was- I ATE THE LUNCH, and I was okay. I even did my presentation feeling okay.

The moment I stepped out of that building into the parking lot, I felt this wave of nausea and exhaustion overcome me. My right ear started throbbing. I know it sounds crazy considering how bad I am now feeling, but I said another little prayer when I got in the car thanking Heavenly Father for helping me today. There is no way I can deny that I have a loving Heavenly Father who cares enough for me and my trivial little problems to help me at a time when I felt I really needed it. I know with all my heart I was being carefully watched over and protected today. And I am so grateful for that blessing.

Big Man Kenny

Most of you know I have a tough time with pregnancy. For those who don't know, here's a brief recap. I have problems with pre-term labor. I started contractions at 13 weeks with Nathan and was in the hospital at 23 weeks. I then got the privilege of spending the remainder of my pregnancy in bed. I had issue with Kenny as well, but not as early or as severe. Anyway, my doctor considers me a high-risk pregnancy and I have to slow down dramatically now in an effort to maybe, hopefully, avoid months in bed again. (I know it sound great to lounge in bed and be waited on hand and foot, but after a few days, you begin to feel like the worst burden to everyone. Not fun.)

Now, the point of this little story. We have been planning for another baby for awhile and we have been grooming Kenny to pick up some of the load when I am alone with the kids. If things go bad again, I am going to need him to be a "big boy". He now does all the Windexing in the house, dusts, cleans counters and the table, vacuums everything but stairs, sweeps, puts away laundry, and he takes Nathan upstairs to put him down for a nap.

And he loves the extra responsibility!

He is so eager to learn to do more things. He never complains when asked to do something or get something for me. I am so proud of him and the boy he is becoming. My baby boy is growing up! Sniff, sniff.

Ultrasound

We had our first ultrasound today. Everything looks perfect! And the baby has a good, strong heartbeat. Given our previous losses and experience with seeing an ultrasound without a heartbeat, I can't even begin to describe the ultimate joy we felt to see that little flutter. It makes being so sick totally worth it!


The baby is the fuzzy white lines between the two plus signs. The actual picture is better than the scan, but given that it is the size of a pea, it basically looks like a blob. Yeah for our new little blob!!

What Have The Boys Been Up To

...since they are stuck in a house with a deaf mother trying desperately to keep food down, sleep. and build up strength enough to get better and grow a human?

Let's see. They have been playing with the animals.


Kenny has become very good at using tape. The project he is making in this picture is a newspaper. He also uses tape to build houses, cars, books, and anything else he can think of.

They have been napping with me in the afternoons.


And building together with the ultimate little boy-toy: legos.


I admit, they have spent a fair amount of time watching movies. Not the norm, but it's the best I can do right now.


But I'm not a total loser-mom. This is what they did today.


All in all, they have been wonderful. I know this is hard on them. Any loud sounds make me feel like my head will explode and the sound of my own voice is like screaming. I've had a weak immune system my entire life. Fighting off an illness is hard on me. Add all the other factors to it and the lack of nutrition and sleep and my poor body has really suffered. But I have managed to stay out of the hospital (we were worried about dehydration for a bit) and I feel myself getting stronger everyday. I've had a ton of support from my family and friends, which I am going to have to continue to rely on for a little while longer. But at least things are looking up and the illness side is wearing off. Soon, all I will have to deal with is run-of-the-mill morning sickness and repairing the holes in my ear drums. That much, I can handle.

The Boys Would Like To Announce...

We've actually known for awhile, but given my history, I wanted to see the doctor first. Everything looks great!

My single ear infection has turned into two ear drum ruptures. Lovely. And I spend most of my day throwing up or trying not to throw up. You'd think I'd catch a break from that while attempting to sleep, but no...I wake up in a couple of times a night to throw up. Life is truly grand 'round here.

What's Up With Us?

Nothing. I have literally done nothing for three days. I have an ear infection along with sinus and lung trouble and an upset stomach that makes eating nearly impossible. So I have spent this week on the couch. I can't sleep, which is not helping matters.

Luckily, Nathan and Kenny have been great. Kenny has been taking care of me and caring for his brother. He gets food and water for everyone, gets things from around the house, and makes sure I have everything I could possible want. He pats my head and looks at me so sweet and loving and says, "Poor Mama. I'll take good care of you." It's very cute!

So that's it. My husband works and studies and I'm dying. Not really, but at times I think it would be a welcome alternative.

Goodbye Cruel World

Life is so hard when you are three. It is such an injustice that you have someone dress you and feed you. It's awful that all you have to worry about all day is playing and napping. So unjust! Well, yesterday Nathan decided he had had enough of the horrible life we have offered him. So...

"Mama, I run away."

But not without my ever important empty backpack.

And I can't forget my little red shovel. You simply can't properly run away without a sand shovel.
Of course, Kenny was very helpful. Just as Nathan was reaching for the door handle he yells, "Nathan, don't go!" Oh, good, saved by his brother. Kenny will convince him to stay. "Nathan, you need your shoes before you can go." Maybe not. Kenny must secretly want to be an only child.

In The Mind of Nathan: "Finally, ready to go. But Mommy made Kenny promise not to open the door for me. And then Mommy takes my backpack away and says I can't run away because she will cry. Maybe I'll start to cry. I'm good at it. Okay, here come the tears...get the wailing going...oh look! Mommy turned on a Little Einsteins movie. Hmm. Maybe I'll stay after all."

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

So, my kids fancy themselves to be Oompa Loompas. They are working very hard to get the dances down perfect. They also pretended the enitre world is make of chocolate and can recite many parts of the movie by memory.

Not bad. After all, they are the right size.

School's Out For Summer!

Today was my last day for this school year. I have officially survived kindergarten and I still love that age group. We had a staff breakfast and awards this morning. I received my 5 year service award (a letter from that district saying good job-yipee) and the "Patience of a Saint" award. I now get to spend my summer doing what I love the most...chasing after these two little monkeys!

Why?

Twice today I was sitting in stand still traffic when the person behind me started honking. I hate honking. I've honked at someone about 3 times in my life and each time it was light tap because the person in front of me was distracted and didn't realize the light had turned green. Other than that, I feel that honking at other cars is stupid other than to avoid serious accidents (which is the actually purpose of your horn).

When someone honks due to traffic, I would love to have a little button in my car to push that makes a sign come down in the rear window that says, "Do you really think laying on your horn for 5 seconds is going to make the traffic in front of you disappear? Seriously, moron. Just cowboyt up and wait like everyone else. What good does honking your horn do? Nothing!"

And if someone does something stupid on the road, why honk at them? If someone makes a mistake- as we all do from time to time- all you've done by honking at them is point out their folly and make them feel bad about themselves. And if they did it on purpose because they are rude and jerky drivers, do you really think your honking at them is going to encourage them to change their mean habits? No, it won't. Much the same as getting a speeding tickets doesn't stop a perpetual speeder. All honking does is makes everyone around you stop focusing on driving because they are trying to figure out who is honking! What a safe idea!

Okay, off my soap box now. I have to go get mean with two little boys who are supposed to be going to sleep but are in fact jumping off the bed.

Little Fish

These boys sure love to swim!