Thursday, August 26, 2010

Mad Mama Kind of Day...

To all of the parents out there:
Have you ever had a day where you feel like you are constantly nagging, correcting and yelling at your kids? We had one of those days on Tuesday. I hate those days! I feel like such a mean mama...

Tuesday was a jam-packed slightly stressful day. I woke up at 6 to shower and get all 3 kids dressed, fed and out the door by 8...or in this case, 8:15!!! We dropped Hannah off at school (late, of course) and then the boys and I ran to the grocery store. We left the store, stopped by the house just long enough to drop off groceries and put away cold stuff and then it was time to go to music class. We had music class (which William missed half of b/c he wanted to go with me to feed Tucker instead of staying in class) and then we left to go pick up Hannah. From the school we went home. Everyone stayed in the car while I went inside and made some sandwiches for lunch and then we ate a picnic on the way to the pediatrician's office. We got to the parking lot in time for me to feed Tucker and then it was inside for Hannah's 4 year appt and Tucker's 2 month appt....except Mom-of-the-Year neglected to add Tucker to the insurance policy so it turned out to just be Hannah's 4 year appt. 5 shots and 1 finger prick later Hannah is crying and our pediatrician is telling me that Tucker has torticollis. (She wanted to examine him even though he is currently not covered by insurance so he couldn't get his vaccines) Torticollis is basically when one side of their neck muscles are tighter than the other which causes them to either look left or right instead of a neutral position. Tucker tends to hold his head a little bit cockeyed. I noticed it but I thought he was just looking at something interesting. It is a mild case and should be able to be corrected with physical therapy.
Its not a huge deal but its one more thing we have to worry about and that many more appointments we have to schedule so it was a little stressful... Not to mention the fact that William is being fussy and trying to leave the doctor's office the whole time our Doctor is trying to talk to me...

After the appointment its now 4:00 and we have to go get ice cream for Hannah since she endured so many pinches and pokes.

Needless to say I was a little frazzeled by the end of this long busy day. On the way home (FINALLY) Hannah asks me to look at the picture she drew. She says, "Mommy, I drew us! You are Mad Mommy! You are yelling at us. William is crying because you are so mad at us."

Wow... What a way to make a bad day WORSE! Granted, they warranted some of the yelling. It was one of those days where nobody was listening and they were picking at each other constantly AND we were in a hurry ALL day! It made me feel horrible but it also made me lose some of the irritation and the impatience. I was reminded just how important these little people are and how my actions can make them feel. The picture... It's hysterical to me now but at the time it hit me like ton of bricks. I'm keeping it as a reminder to not lose my cool even when they are about to drive me crazy. :)

In case you can't tell, thats me in the middle with the disheveled hair and the yelling face. Hannah is to the right with the ronald mcdonald hair and
William is on the Left, crying, with no arms!
UPDATE: Tucker is now added to our insurance policy (So don't worry Mom...) :)

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Saturday, August 21, 2010

How many themes are too many themes?

Hannah and I have been talking about and pre-planning this 4th Birthday party for some time. She changed her mind quite a few times before asking if we could combine some of her ideas...which is how this party came to be. Take a look! :) (click to enlarge)

That's right! We had the first ever "Princess, Rainbow, Butterfly, and Boiled Peanuts party"! Hannah was thrilled to celebrate with some of our closest family and friends. Thank you to everyone who joined us! Hannah truly had a blast!

Hannah enjoying some of her "bowled" peanuts. (How did she get to be so Southern?!)Her guests got to take home a pot of gold from the end of the rainbow!
on the slip-n-slide
Hannah and her friend, Olivia :)
WOW!
Her response to the Belle dress, "Oh! Its what I've always dreamed about!"
Trying on the rain get-ups from Grandma. And no...it wasn't raining!

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Turning 4 is a BIG deal!!

My Hannah is 4... When did this happen?! How does time fly by so fast?! I intended to post this on her actual Birthday but last week turned crazy really fast!! Hannah had a stomach bug and missed school on Tuesday (her actual Birthday) and Thursday. Luckily she was able to go on Wednesday and celebrate her Birthday with her class.
She had us in stitches all day on Tuesday, the BIG day! We were talking to her in the morning while Jason fixed her her breakfast of choice, chocolate chip pancakes!! We said something to the effect of, "Hannah, you are FOUR now!". She looked at us and said, "Wait, what?! Are my rainbow shoes still going to fit me?"
Bless her heart... She thought that turning 4 had caused her to grow overnight. Other comments from the day included...
Hannah: "Wow! Look how long my legs are!!!"

(while washing her hands at the sink after going potty)
Me: Hannah, are you OK?
Hannah: Yes, but look at my hands!!! I think they grew!

(Getting ready for bed that night. I was downstairs cleaning the kitchen while Jason worked on getting PJs on and brushing teeth. I hear lots of pounding feet...)
Hannah: (yelling excitedly) Dad!!! I can run SO fast now! And look! I can jump almost to the ceiling!!!

She is such a blessing... I hated that she was sick. This is only the second time she has had a stomach bug and its so sad because she is such a trooper through it all. She threw up constantly Monday from about 3pm-midnight. Luckily she felt fine Tuesday but still had to miss school. That night we celebrated her Birthday at her favorite restaurant (which is cracker barrell...) with one of her best friends, Ellie, who was also born on August 17th, 2006! Here are a few pictures of Hannah's Birthday breakfast, dinner at the CB and Hannah celebrating at school!
Surprise Present from Grandma! Her very own copy of a library favorite!
Trying to tell Grandma she loves her. Note: the tongue out signifies heavy duty concentration!

Hannah and Ellie
At school
Not very happy...
Just plain silly!

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Friday, August 6, 2010

Hello!

I haven't had a lot of time for updates lately but life is so good! There are a few posts in the works that will hopefully be postable soon...William's Birthday, Hannah's first day of school and countless pictures of our 3 children!
For now I can only update on whats been happening and post the bathtub comparison pics!

Hannah started pre-k last Monday... Its bittersweet. She really loves her new teacher and has made some new friends. She gets to learn some Spanish this year which is really exciting for her! She loves Spanish, not sure why. She only goes 4 days a week from 8:30-11:45 but its still pre-k and that makes me kind of sad... Mornings have been interesting getting all 3 kids up and ready to go by 8:00! Luckily Jason was around and able to help me 2 of the days!

Tucker is a champ! He is 7 weeks old now... CRAZY! He still eats well and is sleeping 10 hours every night! He is such a sweet baby and pretty much only cries when hes hungry, tired, or gassy. He gets pretty bad gas bubbles but (cross your fingers) it has been much better lately!

Hannah and William are still enamored by him! William always asks for Kuh-uh (Tucker) whenever Tuck is sleeping or out of William's sight. They still fight over who gets to hold him and race to grab whatever he might need...like his paci, blankie, or burp cloth. It is very nice to have such good helpers and its fun to see how much they love this little guy already!

All-in-all, things are going very well in our house right now!

Here are the bathtub pictures... You can't really see how much Tucker resembles Hannah from these photos but it is uncanny! His smile is 100% Hannah! I still have to capture one of those on camera... See what you think from these!
William:
Hannah:

Tucker: (Too busy looking at William to pay attention to the camera!)



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William's Party!

William's gigantic love for Nemo and everything else "fishy" related made this years Birthday party theme a no-brainer! Finding Nemo!!!

The Birthday Boy! Excited for the party!!!

He's not the only one though... Best bud Pollard is feeling the excitement too!

Having fun in the swimming pools!

Excited for cake!

Then getting shy...

Oops... This is what happens when a 2 year old is left unsupervised with baby pools of water just waiting to be jumped in... Oh well! It's his Birthday!!!

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