Tuesday, May 26, 2009

sick sick sick

We're all sick.  Except Brent, of course.  But maybe he'll be next.  It started on May 6th, and we haven't had a day without sickness yet.  First the stomach flu... Cooper, me and Mercedes.  Then a nasty snotty head cold... Me, Cooper, Lincoln and Mercedes.  And now a high fever, and in my case, swollen tonsils... Cooper, Mercedes, me, and Lincoln.  

How do we get rid of this?  I stopped taking the boys to the gym with me because I didn't want them to get sick, but we're all sick anyway.  I'm super-careful about wiping shopping carts, and we wash our hands constantly.  I'm so very sick of being sick.  

Thank goodness Brent had a four-day weekend.  Yesterday I only got out of bed to nurse Lincoln.  I really hope that I'm feeling better tomorrow, and that Lincoln gets better soon.  It always scares me when the kids have fevers.  I'm just a little bit of a worry-wart.  I wake up in the middle of the night to check their foreheads when they're sleeping, in case they're burning up once the medicine wears off.  

Now it's back to bed for me.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

I did it all by myself!

That's a phrase that Cooper repeats often.  But today, I'm saying it.  I made it through church all by myself!  It's something that I've been scared of trying since Lincoln was born, mostly because Cooper isn't the most well behaved little boy in Sacrament meeting.

Usually when Brent's on call, he stays home from church.  He's supposed to stay within 30 minutes of the base, and our church is more like 45 minutes away (twenty minutes from our house).  Today I talked him into going.  He really didn't expect to get called this afternoon.  As we were getting into the car I told him that we should probably take two cars, just in case he got a call.  Brent really didn't think we needed to, and I digressed.

Cut to the opening hymn of sacrament meeting... and Brent's phone rings.  We all tracked back out into the rain and drove Brent home.  Then I turned back toward the church.  We made it back just in time for a downpour, and of course since we were late the parking lot was full.  I tried to have Mercedes and Cooper get out near the door before I parked the car, but Cooper refused to get out of the car.  (Two year olds are just so cooperative, aren't they?)  Mercedes hopped out and was the only one of us not soaked by the time we snuck back into the chapel.  

After extracting two molars, Brent made it home just a few minutes before we did.  The kids were all WONDERFUL during church, much to my amazement.  After being sick for two sundays, it felt so good to be at church.  All in all, it was a great day.  

upside down


I know that I don't post many pictures of Mercedes - sorry.  She's just never home!  Also, she's at that awkward stage where not many of her pictures turn out well.  She always has a weird look on her face, like she's drugged or drunk or something.  I'll try to get some more on soon.  

blue eyes

first ice cream cone




When we lived in South Pasadena, Mercedes loved to get soft -serve ice cream cones from the Mc D's down the street.  I don't remember the first time that I let her handle an ice cream cone.  I finally gave Cooper a chance to experience the wonder of our favorite treat recently.  He did surprisingly well, and really enjoyed himself.  He did a great job of multi-tasking too; handling the ice cream cone while digging in the sand/dirt.  

Cooper's latest fixation is wiping his face.  Unfortunately, he chooses to wipe it with his shirt CONSTANTLY.  Think it'd help to put a handkerchief in his pocket every day?  

By the way, don't you just love our backyard weed garden?  No grass.  Just weeds growing in the sand.

new toy


Lincoln's been anxious to see everything that's going on, but can't sit up just yet.  I found this new toy a few weeks ago, and it's wonderful.  It's a combination of an exer-saucer and a jumper, but the best part is that it folds flat to store under a bed or in a closet!

pretty powerful sucker


This is the hickey that Lincoln gave himself.  Yes, a hickey.

lincoln pictures




Saturday, May 16, 2009

That's crap.

Oooooo how I detest that word.  It's just gross and crass, I think.  Yes, I admit, that every once in a while when I'm really mad it comes out of my mouth.

Just now I shared with Brent an experience that he'd missed while he was getting combat training in Texas.  

The other day, Cooper and I were sitting on the floor and he pointed out a piece of thread balled up on the carpet.  

"That's crap," he said.

"WHAT?  What did you say Cooper?"

"That's crap."

"Cooper, we don't say that word."

And Brent's reaction to the news about our little potty mouth?  

"Good job Cooper!" and a high five.  Yes, a high five.

Mercedes said, as she was pointing to Brent, "That's what Daddy says!"

He just loves to drive me nuts.

At least Cooper's also picked up the adjective "awesome," so he's not learning all bad words.


Surfing in the backyard with our neighbors, Olivia and Kaylee.

Our little hamster.


Cooper is hilarious on the tramp. It cracks me up how he likes to 
run in circles, like a hamster on a wheel.

Spitting.




We usually have the kids take separate baths, but while Brent was out 
of town I just didn't have time to do three baths. They entertained 
themselves well, and then Mercedes helped by drying Cooper off 
and getting him into his PJs.

Loves water, loves the bath.

All in a day's work.


Lincoln has gotten to the point of wanting to see everything
that's going on. I found this great toy that actually folds flat 
and can be stored under a bed! He's pretty wobbly in it, 
but seems to enjoy himself. It's fun to see him working 
hard and learning to use his hands.

Thursday, May 7, 2009

sick-o

Brent is convinced that Cooper gets sick more than Mercedes because he refuses to eat produce.  Cooper has ALWAYS been a terrible eater.  Mercedes hardly ever gets sick, and she eats lots of fruits and vegetables.  Cooper, though, is MUCH more stubborn than Mercedes. 

 He likes bread.  And cereal.  Oatmeal.  Yogurt.  Loves milk.  And granola bars.  Some days he will eat a sandwich.  McDonald's Cheeseburgers are a favorite.  And ice cream.  And... that's about it.  We hardly ever get him to eat any dinner.  We don't give him other stuff; he just doesn't eat at night.  He used to like apples; then he started just taking one tiny bite out of each piece.  Now he doesn't touch them.  

What am I to do?  Dairy and grains aren't bad... but he isn't getting any of the vitamins that he needs.  I've tried giving him dressing to dip carrots in, but he's gotten too smart for me.  He just uses the carrot like a spoon until his small amount of dressing is gone, and he's done.  

He's also a moody eater.  Sometimes he'll eat a banana, or a pear, or strawberries, or grapes.  If he doesn't like what's offered, he literally just goes without food and it doesn't seem to faze him.  Maybe that's why his little legs are like toothpicks?

Last night after screaming through a blessing and barfing two more times (including the Pepto brent forced down him), he finally slept in peace.  So far today he's asked for cereal, oatmeal, a granola bar, and a pear.  He's eaten nothing, but insists that his tummy doesn't hurt.  His four snacks are all sitting on the table, waiting for him to feel well enough to eat them.  Fortunately, he finally drank a cup of milk and two boxes of juice.  

Any suggestions?

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

what a day

Lincoln rolled over for the first time; yay!  With both Mercedes and Cooper, I was anxious for progression.  I'm enjoying this baby-time with Lincoln because I'm just experiencing it.  No expectations.  But it sure was exciting for me to see that he is, in fact, growing up.  It's just amazing to watch him change and grow.  He's a chubby little guy, quick to smile and laugh.  He loves watching his brother and sister.  

Brent is leaving for Texas in the morning.  He'll be gone for a week.  I'm scared.  I don't have this three kid/baby thing down very well yet.  I guess that this is just a trial run for what's coming in August.  

Lincoln has hardly slept today.  For the first time in my life, I did the "put the kid in the car and go for a drive so that he will go to sleep thing."  My other kids never fell asleep in the car.  They were too busy screaming and crying.  Unfortunately, he woke up when I tried to move him from the car-seat to his bed.  He sleeps in his seat as long as the car is moving.  He won't sleep in it if I put it in his room.

I remember that when Cooper was a baby, there were days when he would just not nap.  I was always worried that when night came, he would still not sleep.  He always slept great at night.  Hopefully Lincoln will follow his brother's example.  I can handle not napping.  Night-time waking, however, turns me into a psychopath.  Really.  I do not function without sleep.

So far, Cooper has thrown up twice tonight.  We're out of clean sheets for his bed.  My kids rarely get sick and barfing is even more rare.  Hopefully, it was just something he ate.  There's no fever.  After the second barfing episode, I put him on a blanket downstairs, just in case he barfs again.  Mercedes (with whom he shares a room) is trying so hard to sleep. 

And there it went again.  The barfing.  He managed to miss the blanket and get it ALL on the living room carpet.  Nice.  Poor guy.  It's got to be what we had for dinner.  Yesterday on Oprah, (which I managed to catch 10 minutes of while I was feeding the baby), KFC advertised their new "grilled" chicken by posting coupons for free meals on Oprah.com.  She said that a drumstick or wing is only 80 calories and that she'd had it for dinner the night before.  Great, right?  Nope.  

We're not a fried chicken family.  We had it once when we first moved here in July because it was the closest fast food to our house, our power wasn't yet turned on, and we were starving.I thought, "well, grilled chicken sounds good and it's FREEEE!  

This new "grilled" stuff is GREASIER than the fried stuff!  I've never seen so much grease in a piece of chicken before.  It was really gross.  I choked down a drumstick, and Brent had a wing.  All that Cooper ate was a few bites of "baked potato fries" or something like that.  And each time the barf has not smelled like traditional barf.  It has smelled like grease.  Yes, it smelled EXACTLY like our dinner.  

And... again.  Boy.


i wish

I am not a creative writer.  I wish that I were.  I'm pretty darn good at analytical writing, and I've always wished that I could write stories.  Whenever I try, I come up completely blank.

I wish that I could write as well as I dream.

This morning I was in the middle of a very interesting dream.  It had a strong plot, along with about three sub-plots.  It even had a crazy lady who was willing to do anything to protect her only friend.  When I say crazy, I mean mentally deranged, blind and half of her teeth missing.  Weird, I know.  I was about to find out how the dream would end when I was abruptly awoken by screams.

"Daaaddddd-eeeee!"  

"Daaaaaddddd-eeeee!"

Awww, Cooper.  I looked next to me and realized that Brent was gone.  

"Good," I thought, "he's taking care of it."  

But as I tried to sink back into my blissful dream state, the screaming did not stop.  I looked at the clock: 5:10 am.  

I couldn't figure out why Cooper wouldn't stop screaming, and was worried about him waking everyone else.  Surely Brent was handling it, wasn't he?

Oh.  That's right.  Brent had to be at work at 5:45 this morning for a PT (physical training) test.  Darn.  That meant that I had to get out of bed a whole hour early.

I went downstairs to find Cooper in the dark, screaming at the front door.  He must have woken just as Brent left the house.  

I took him back upstairs, "ow, ow, ow, ow."  And tried to get him to go to sleep in my bed.  You see, sleep is pretty much the most important thing in the world to me, so I work hard to get as much as possible.  But after wiggling around next to me for fifteen minutes, Cooper tried to sneak out of bed.  When I stopped him, he told me that he wanted to go back to his bed.  

"Oh, great!"  I thought.  That meant that I could have at least 30 minutes more to myself.  

Unfortunately as I walked Cooper back to his bed, Mercedes' head popped up.  Once she's awake, there's no getting her back to sleep.  

I'm still wishing that I could go back to my dream.  My sub-conscious is so creative and fun.  

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

It has begun...


The very looooonnng trek back to a healthy body and mind.  After being inactive for a good long year, I finally made it to the gym yesterday.  Wow.  I knew that I'd gotten weak and out of shape, but man, I've never been this weak before.

I did a bodypump class, which I LOVE and have missed.  According to the website, bodypump is:

A rapid fat-burning class that uses barbells to give you the 
fastest way to tone and condition muscles! 
After an exhaustive study, BODYPUMP was verified by 
The University of Auckland as providing the
 fastest body fat loss of any fitness class.

I just hope that I survive long enough to see the body fat loss.  I felt great yesterday.  Today, however, I'm wondering how long it will take my muscles to get stronger.  I purposely did not put on as much weight as I normally would.  And yet, my quads hurt.  My hamstrings hurt.  My glutes hurt.  My chest hurts.  My triceps hurt.  My biceps hurt.  I must not have pushed myself enough during the shoulder and back routines, because they don't hurt so much.  When I walk up and down the stairs, it's "ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow" with each step.  (Cooper has started saying it with me).  It hurts to sit down.  It hurts to stand up.  And getting down on the floor to change Cooper's diaper?  AAARRRRGGGGHHHH!  Standing up is even harder than getting down there.  I'm being reminded of my pregnancy days.  At least I can bend over.  I mean, it hurts... but I can do it!  

The up side of all of this pain is that I still have muscles!  They haven't been used in a very long time, and they're weak; but they're still there, thank goodness!  AND, the boys did very well in the day care.  No crying from Cooper!  This is the first time that I've been able to leave my kids at a gym daycare.  Mercedes learned very quickly that if she cried for 15 minutes, they'd come to get me and I'd take her home.  Until Christmastime, Cooper simply screamed if I tried to leave him. And he's LOUD.  Now he just runs off to play with the toys and make friends.  What a blessing.

I just wish that I'd bought some Motrin when I was at Target on Saturday.  Maybe I can persuade Brent to pick some up on his way home from work.  

An update: so yesterday was hard, and it's gotten worse.  Sometime during the night I began to feel intense pain when I straightened my arm.  It literally feels like my biceps muscles are tearing every time I extend my arm.  I took 800 mg of Ibuprofen this morning.  Didn't even make a dent.  Oh well... guess I'll take a day off and read that book I bought a few weeks ago!

young love

After riding quietly in the car for a good five minutes yesterday, Cooper suddenly blurted out, "Lincolns luff mee."

I thought, "What?"

Of course, if I don't repeat what he says to show that I understand, Cooper will repeat the same phrase over and over and over again.

"Lincolns luff mee."  (Seeing it spelled out, I wonder why I didn't understand it.)

"Lincoln's laughing?"

"No, Lincolns luff mee."

After trying a few phrases, I finally I got it: "Lincoln loves you?"

"Yes!  Lincolns luff mee!"

"Yes, Lincoln does love you Cooper.  He's very lucky to have a brother like you."

What a sweet kid.