Spring Cleaning Catch Up

I have had a list of "to do's" growing by what seems the hour since Labor Day. Those plans were obviously thrown out the window. So, this month seems to be the month that we are getting caught up with those to do's. I painted Caroline's room. Adam painted Caroline's dresser, washed the windows and screens, while the rest of the month is flying by faster and faster. There is still so much that needs to be done, like replacing the pool filter, fixing the cars, getting my flower beds together and planted and, oh yeah, did I mention that we had to replace our water heater in the middle of all of this too. It was spewing water by the gallon one night, fortunately while we were home.So on the rare occasion that we weren't doing much outside other than pulling weeds and goofing around with the kiddos, I took Howie out and put him on the grass. Figuring he would scream, just like the other 2 did when they first touched grass, I went back in to get a blanket. But, instead of screaming, he liked it. Instead of blanket, I grabbed the camera and started snapping away.
As I loaded these pictures on to the laptop, I couldn't believe, once again, how big the kids have gotten in such a short amount of time. Honestly, where has the time gone? Owen is now 4, Cari is staring 3 in the face in a matter of about 10 days and Howie is going to be one in just 6 1/2 more weeks! Really!!? Can we slow this whole time machine down some, please? Even though I'm excited to see my babies grow up, it's tearing me apart knowing that they are growing up. I want my babies to be babies and not have the cares, the worries, or the stresses of this world. It's almost too much for me to bear some days. But alas, I guess the world won't stop for just me or my wishes/desires. I'll have to do my part in making these memories last a little longer by snapping a few more pictures. Really, who cares if the house isn't perfect or toys are strewn from one end of it to the other. As long as I have the chance to capture more memories like these, I won't care, I promise.

On Top of Spaghetti.....

If there's one thing that my kids have never been called as babies it's "little." They start out, what I would call average, 8lbs. and a few ounces, but from there seem to be given miracle grow. They grow, grow, and grow so quickly.

In every direction. Head. Length. Weight - especially weight.

They're probably slower than most babies to roll over, crawl, or even walk because they are big. Really big. Huge. Enormous even. I get it. It's okay with me though.

So, I guess it should come as no surprise as I tell you this little story of how Howie has earned a new nickname.

I was at the gym Wednesday morning. I dropped the kids off in the kid area and went to do my weights and swim workout. When I was done regaining my sanity, I walked myself over to the kids' area to gather my insanity. As I was signing my herd out, one of the male gym employees came in and, while staring right at Howie, said, "Wow! Look at that meatball!"

Yes, he is a meatball, but he's is my meatball. I tried to explain to the employee that all of my kids look like "meatballs" when they are that young but, quickly turn into the spaghetti noodles and no longer look like meatballs. It was fruitless. I would've gotten more attention paid to me if I talked to a brick wall.

He just kept calling Howie a meatball. I didn't mind and probably even laughed, because it's true! He is a meatball. A great big, round, wanna take a bite out of him, scrumptious meatball. He just makes you wanna keep coming back for more and more.

I'm kinda sad to know that his meatball-ness will not last forever and it's only a matter of time before he grows into a plate of spaghetti, just like the other 2 did.

Niagara Falls

I hate it when I hear funny noises in the house. They're never good. They almost always mean trouble. They are almost always expensive. So goes this latest adventure. Last night after Owen had a shower, I hear a "noise" coming from the garage. Not knowing if Adam left a fan on or what it could be, I decided to investigate. It was to my horror that I discovered the "noise". It was our own personal version of Niagara Falls. Our water heater decided to give up the ghost, so to speak, and retired, for good. With the falls on full bore, I screamed for Adam to come quick and that the water heater had blown. It wasn't something we wanted, needed, or could use at this moment in time, but obviously the ghost had different plans.

Shutting off the water supply and moving everything out of the garage revealed that all-in-all we were pretty lucky. Only about 15 gallons of the 40 gallons in the tank were released at full speed into our garage. We were home when it happened and could act pretty quickly. The water was dumping into the garage, rather than towards the drywall of the common wall of the garage and Caroline's room. No one was hurt and nothing caught on fire. A few air filters and some other inexpensive things ruined and now in the trash and the "damage" done was relatively minor. Thank heavens.

With a busy schedule the next day, Adam did what he could work-wise from home and took the rest of the day off to replace our water heater - saving us about $300. Once again, I'm grateful for Adam's abilities, desires, and know-how to replace what needs to be done around the house in order to save us money. I am also grateful for little bit of savings we do have to replace what is broken when it decides to give up the ghost, whenever it may be - because it's never good timing when it does happen.

The Stash

If there's one thing that works to get my kiddos to behave, it's bribery. Probably not the greatest of parental ideas, but I find that the behavior does improve, however slightly, if they know there is a reward at the end.

Typically, when the kids are piling back into their seats in the car, getting their buckles together, I will quite often hear one or both of the kids ask, "Mom, can I have a pink candy?" A pink candy is just a peppermint round candy that has been obtained from the stash in the glove compartment. These pink candies come from the best of all places, Sonic. When cheerfully handed my drink, there is a pink candy on the drink. I throw it into the stash and be on my merry little way. Often times, I have asked for an entire handful or a small cup full of pink candies to continue to have the necessary stash for bribery purposes.

Owen sits in the back of our van. When he has earned his pink candy, I toss it to him. I've thought this whole time he was doing as I asked and putting the wrapper in the cupholder of his carseat. Boy, was I ever wrong. It just so happens that Adam cleaned out the van this past weekend and found the stash of wrappers. He said they just kept coming and coming and coming. He decided to count them. All in total - 51 wrappers of pink candies!!!!!

I told Adam I don't know what is funnier - the fact that he sat there and counted each and every wrapper or that Owen was stashing them not in his cupholder, but rather in the seat back pocket of the seat in front of him. There were enough wrappers that it filled an entire sandwich ziploc bag full. I'll have to remember the next time that the kids are acting up in the store and not listening to me, running off onto the next thing that has caught their eye, or just having a meltdown, that although they weren't the best behaved in the store on that particular trip, there were 51 other occasions that they were well behaved and earned their pink candy. Maybe the next trip will result in the start of another stash.

The Shotgun Approach

Howie has been sick off and on for the last 4 weeks. Frankly, I'm getting tired of dumping medicine, antibiotics, and whatever else he requires down his throat in the hopes that he gets better. Oh, he does get better, but sure enough, a few days later, he's got that nasty, juicy, raspy cough again and I'm thinking, "What the &*%?! He just got over this! Seriously?!"

Well, this past Saturday when he woke up, again, with yet another 102+ degree fever I couldn't believe it. I debated and debated taking that widdo widdo boy into the doctors office. Oh, but wait. By the time he got up from his nap, they were closed for the day and the weekend. That meant that I'd have to take him to the ER. Did I really want to spend the $150 co-pay for them to tell me it's viral, run the humidifier, he'll get better? Not really, but I did it anyway.

Off to take Howie in to the ER. This time I'm secretly hoping and praying that someone, anyone will say, "let's get a chest x-ray and see if there's really anything going on." Well, that silent little prayer was indeed answered. The single most tortuous event to watch for any of my kids was to see poor little Howie be strapped into what looked like a medieval torture device to have a chest x-ray done. He seriously didn't even bat an eye at the RSV swab they did, but he absolutely HATED the chest x-ray. Me, who can take just about anything, was getting teary eyed just listening to him scream. I knew it wasn't hurting him, but holy crap that killed me. I trusted the results that came back from the lab since my sister, Jenny, was working and she did the tests, when the RSV was negative. I was not expecting the diagnosis of pneumonia - but at least I knew I wasn't crazy that my widdo widdo boy was indeed sick, or so I thought.

Nurses cooing and loving on Howie - and really not able to get enough of that absolutely adorable little face, feeling terrible for taking the rectal temperature twice and waking him up who knows how many times, prescriptions written, discharge papers handed to me, 3 hours and $150 dollars later, we were out of there. I got the antibiotics late Saturday night and got home around 11:45. In total disbelief, I fell asleep, half asleep that is, just listening to Howie on the baby monitor to make sure he was still breathing. I followed up with the pediatrician's office yesterday.

The pediatrician I saw wasn't Howie's regular doctor - he was BETTER! He saw Howie in the hospital just after he was born and then entire time we were in there. I liked him then and am now contemplating whether or not to switch to this pediatrician permanently - same practice, different office though.

The pediatrician asked if I had the films with me - which like an idiot I did not (I since have obtained a copy and will be taking them to his office). He listened to Howie breathe and then said, "I don't hear pneumonia, Mom. I hear a lot of wheezing, but no pneumonia." What the &*%$?! Seriously?! So, the doctor asked me if anyone in the family wheezes and/or has asthma. I confessed and told him I did. A breathing treatment was done on Howie in the office. The doctor came back in and listened once again to Howie breathe. The wheeziness got better - in some areas. Others, not so much. Not any worse, but not any better either.

He decided to take what I affectionately call "the shotgun approach" and gave me 3 different diagnoses. The first one, it could be bronchiolitis. This is an infection of the small air sacs within the upper respiratory system, which causes the wheezing. In which case, the steroids and breathing treatments I have to give him should fix it in the next couple of days. Second diagnosis is Human Metapneumovirus (I love saying that - it just sounds cool - but isn't really). hMPV is a similar virus to RSV. It will not show up on an RSV swab even though they are very similar. If this is it, the steroids and breathing treatments won't help at all. Great - now what?! Third and final diagnosis is.....well we're still waiting for that one. He wanted to see what would happen with Howie in the next several days before we move on.

I'm hoping it's bronchiolitis - been there done that and still do that! Not a big deal and could, quite possibly grow out of it. hMPV really not thinking it's this so we won't even go there. But what about the pneumonia diagnosis. I guess that one is gone by the wayside and won't get a chance to return. The best news about that is I could stop that antibiotic that just is terrible for him and all of my kids for that matter.

So, after a few breathing treatments and 1 1/2 days on the steroids, he is slowly returning to his usual cute self. I mean really, does this look like a sick kid to you?

This was taken barely 24 hours previous to Saturday night's events. Yes, we are at Target -- nighttime Pull Ups for Caroline.

Ethan's Run

I signed up for my very first 10k this year. It was Ethan's Run. I was honored to do this run. It was a very challenging course, which was good. I finished the race and, I'm proud to say, I didn't have to stop to walk one time. There were times when I was climbing the hills that someone could have probably walked faster than I was running, but I was bound and determined to run the whole thing, and I did. I finished the race in 1 hour 11 minutes 13 seconds. It wasn't a great race time, but I didn't come in last in the entire race, nor in my age group. I'm hoping next year ('cause I will do it again) I can shave off at least 10 minutes from my time. I'd like to get it under 1 hour, even if it's only by a few second, or a few minutes. Either way, I'm proud of myself and I'm so glad to have been a part of this cause.

My New Love

I have been running a lot lately. I have forgotten how much I love to run; I mean really LOVE to run. There's something about it that allows me to escape and "get out of my head". I finally understand what it means when someone says, "it's not about running (or fishing, or biking, or whatever is your stress reliever)." It's so not about that. It's about getting out and being able to lose yourself in whatever you are doing.

Because I have been running a lot lately, I'm always curious to know how far I have ran during a particular outing. There are websites that will map a run and tell me how far it is, but that didn't seem to satisfy my instant curiosity. My friend has a nifty little GPS watch that tells her how far she has gone while she's running! I've coveted this watch (I know, I know, thou shall not covet) and have wanted one for a while. I asked Adam for a watch like this for Valentine's Day, Birthday, Anniversary, Easter, or just because. Since money is tight and figuring they are out of our price range, I just resigned myself to not getting one, for a long, really long time.

This same friend called me about 10 days ago and told me that Target (another love of mine) had one on clearance (another love) for under $100. I told Adam (my ultimate love) about it and we both decided that since we had just spent a bazillion dollars on Bax, that right now we would have to pass on this opportunity.

I went the next day to Target to see if it was still there. It certainly was. The only reason why it was on clearance was because someone bought it online and returned it to the store. If Target doesn't carry the item in the store, they clearance it out to get rid of the item. Thanks to my friend, I was the lucky purchaser of this watch; and the lucky purchaser of buyer's remorse - almost instantly.


I had every intention of returning the watch after confessing to Adam about my purchase. He told me to try it out and see what I thought. I did, the very next day and loved it. Adam told me we could keep it if I liked it as much as I thought I would. It seems to have found a home.....our home. Now, when I go running and I am completely out of my head, I have something to ground me back to reality and interrupt the nothingness that is me getting out of my head.

Good Morning Sunshine

I have never, ever, ever been a morning person and probably never will. I loathe getting up early and, for that matter, being woken up (great for being a mom, huh?) by anything other than letting myself naturally wake up. I strongly dislike alarms, loud noises, or bright lights that awaken me from my slumber. Fortunately, Adam has been a very quick study over the years and has made it a point to try to be quiet when I'm still sleeping as he's getting ready for work in the morning.

Several years ago, while Caroline was still in the crib and Owen was much, much younger (wink, wink) Owen would crawl into my bed and allow me to sleep for precious minutes more before waking me up with his little whisper of, "Mommy, can I have some cereal? I'm hungry." Little did I realize that he had been in my bed for about and hour - sometimes longer- before waking me up.

Now, I have the privilege of having 2 little monkeys in my bed watching a show on the telly before waking me up. Somethings I really dread but, really, how could I get upset or have my day start so horribly when I wake to this:

They were so careful crawling up into bed this morning so as to avoid crawling all over me or even disturbing the slumbering cat. They crawled into bed after eating their cereal and breakfast that Adam had gotten for them. This morning was a glorious extra 20 minutes before the third little monkey started to squawk and beckon me to his every command. I love mornings like this and relish them knowing that I don't have too many more of these before they no longer want to lay in bed with their mom and watch some shows before starting our day. To this I say, "Good morning, Sunshine."

A Visit With "Grandma Grape"

"Grandma Grape", also known as Grandma Great or my Grandma, was visited today. I had the impression that I should go visit her. I tried to push it away and explain it away that I was too busy today and that I'd go see her another day. I walked into the kitchen and, again, the impression hit me that I should go visit her. I thought, "I'll call her instead to see how she's doing. I'm really busy today." Try as I might to pooh-pooh this impression it came back to me. I finally listened to the impression and rounded up the kids, hurried to get their shoes and socks on and out the door we flew to Grandma Grape's house.

I love my dear Grandma. My Grandma is a remarkable woman. She is one of 9 children (6 of her siblings have passed away). She is a strong woman, physically (once upon a time), mentally, and especially spiritually. Her faith in the Gospel is steadfast, even when she has had every reason to doubt it. She and her husband raised 2 families (her own children and then had a HUGE part in raising some of her grandchildren, through no fault of their own). She never questions why, but only asks, "why not". She is THE GREATEST example to me in so many ways and one that I am proud to be related to. At family get-togethers, I am told quite often how much I remind others of Grandma Grape and her mother, Grandma Grape-Grape.

Grandma Grape is 93 years young. She may be slow physically (she calls it "turtlizing") and hard of hearing, but she is right there with it mentally. I can bring up any number of topics and she and I can sit and talk for hours, literally. Anything from sports (she's a HUGE sports fan, but especially basketball, baseball, and college football), politics, the Gospel, kid advice, etc. She has impacted so many people's lives that she really doesn't comprehend it. Much like her mother, she has touched many more people's lives than she understands. When in a quandary of what to do, I quite often think "what would Grandma do (or say)?"

I have let many situations go where I've wanted to fight back and give someone a piece of my mind. But, after thinking it completely through and usually sitting on it for a few days, I find myself drawn towards my Grandma and hearing her words of "let it go. Don't give them that power over you. You" Without fail, she's right. She is one of the biggest reasons why I absolutely love living here in Arizona. Growing up, I usually saw her for a week in the summertime; or, on the rare trip to Mexico with my sister, Mindy, we got that extra special time with her. I am so incredibly grateful that my kids (Owen & hopefully Caroline) will be able to remember "Grandma Grape".

There isn't much that has changed at her house in the last 65+ years that she's been there, and I love it. When I take the kids to see her, it floods me with familiar smells, tastes (a can of Coke out of her fridge I swear tastes different than out of mine), tons of memories and good feelings. I hope that one day when my kids look back at pictures of being at Grandma Grape's house they, too will have those fond feelings and great memories.

As per the usual, I forgot my camera, but was able to snap this one picture of Grandma Grape and Howie with my phone. Sorry for the quality, it'll have to do. For me, it is beyond precious and a treasure for sure.

Tiny Tike T-Ball

We registered Owen for t-ball this year. There are so many kids in the 3 subdivisions that make up our ward boundaries that some very creative moms have started a t-ball league for the little kids. It's very informal, but the kiddI was not about to pass this opportunity up for Owen to play. He loves it and can hardly wait to practice every Wednesday and play a game every Saturday. Not too shabby for $12 for 3 months worth of practice and games.

The first game was this past Saturday. It has taken the coaches a couple of rounds of Owen hitting to realize that he really does hit left-handed even though he throws right-handed (goofy kid)! Even when he would stand on the right-handed hitter side of the plate to hit the ball, he would still hold the bat like a left-handed hitter.


It's great that he can learn to play and we don't have to pay a fortune in order to allow him to learn to play baseball.

Mommy Instincts

Last Thursday, Howie woke up with a terrible sounding barking croupy cough. No fever, not pulling or tugging at his ears, eating fairly well, but just wanting to be held. Not his usual self by any stretch of the imagination. I took him in to the doctor just knowing that something was wrong. The pediatrician listened to him breathe and found a "pocket of something sounding 'crackly'" in his lungs. She gave him a breathing treatment in the office and then came back to check him. Since the "crackly" sound was gone, she figured it was mucous and that whatever he had was viral.

I got the usual song and dance of run the humidifier and he'll be fine. I knew I was going to be in trouble with that answer from the pediatrician. Humidifiers just don't work for my kids. I understand the concept of them and what they are suppose to do, but it just doesn't work - for my kids any way. Taking Howie home and feeling like there was still something just not right, I called my dad to ask his opinion. He said to watch him carefully and, if needs be, call him back if something changes. Mommy instincts!

Well, something changed - in a big way. When I put Howie down for his nap, he woke up with a raging fever of about 102.5 in one ear and 101.8 in the other ear. Great! I called my dad immediately and he called in a prescription for him to start that night. On the third day of the dose, Howie was coming around and acting more like his usual self. Mommy instincts!

Flash forward a week where I take him in for his 9 month appointment. The doctor checks him out and then asks me if Howie has been pulling or tugging on his left ear. I responded no and she then said it looked like it was "infected". She checked the right ear and it too was "infected". I knew that wasn't right because he was sleeping pretty well, eating back to his normal amount, and was smiling, giggling, and happy.

Before I even left the parking lot, I was calling my dad to describe to him what the pediatrician had just described to me regarding Howie's ears. He said that since he no longer had a fever, was eating well, sleeping pretty well, and was acting like his usual cuteness, it probably wasn't infected but, rather, it was residual fluid behind the eardrum leftover from this cold that he had. I knew there was something more going on. Mommy instincts!

So, here's my theory, because ear infections can manifest themselves in a matter of hours even when they are checked by a pediatrician earlier in the same day, Howie's ears were not so fine when he woke up from his nap. In fact, I believe that it was during this nap that the ear infections developed. It was a good thing I had called my dad the first time and apprised him of the situation. The second call placed to my dad informing him of Howie's fever got him started on the antibiotic. If I had waited any longer, I would've been behind the proverbial 8 ball. Mommy instincts!

This isn't my first rodeo so to speak. Why won't pediatricians trust mommy instincts?! I know my children. I know what they are like when they are not feeling like themselves. I know what it's like to have a horrible barking cough and then have it get worse from there. I just wish I could yell from the top of my lungs "I KNEW IT!" and have someone know exactly what I mean. MOMMY INSTINCTS!

Blink of an Eye

Why does 9 months of pregnancy seem to drag on forever (at least in my case) yet, the first 9 month of the little one's life goes by in the blink of an eye?

Howie went in for his 9 month appointment a couple of weeks ahead of schedule. At the big weigh in and length check he came out to be 22 lbs 1.5 oz and 29.25" long, respectively. This is EXACTLY what Owen was at his 9 month appointment.

This appoint was filled with the usual "checks and balances". Everything checked out a-okay. We are working with Howie and standing him up. It seems he is a big texture boy when it comes to his feet. He doesn't like his feet being touch and because of that they are over-sensitized to touch and different textures. Each day I work with him in rubbing, touching, tickling, and introducing new textures to his feet so he will stand up. He's getting there....slowly. Caroline didn't crawl 'til she was 10 months and walk until she was 14 months. Owen did the army crawl for a long time and then only crawled for about 2 months before he figured out how to walk at 12 months. Howie, he's content with everyone waiting on him hand and foot. He gets where he wants by rolling around on the floor and, for him for now, that's good enough.

I'm sure before I know it and in the blink of an eye, he'll be walking and running trying to keep up with his siblings.