Why do kids have to grow up?

I set up Luke's new bed two days ago. At first he was a little confused about who was actually going to sleep in it. I finished putting it together just in time for his nap and I asked him if he wanted to sleep in it.

"Yes!"

But when it came right down to it, he pointed to the bed saying, "Dis Ava's bed" and "Where's Ava?" I think he was really hoping that he and Ava would share a room. I clarified that it was his bed and then he started pointing to his crib and asking "Dis Ava's bed?"

I told him soon that could be Max's bed. "Where's Max?", he wondered.

Max was asleep in his actual bed and probably won't be making the move over to Luke's room for a few more weeks. But after our game of 20 questions was finished, he settled into his new little bed for a good nap.

That night, about 30 minutes before his usual bedtime he started asking to go to sleep. He was really excited about his new bed. We compromised and put him down about 15 minutes early at about 7:15 pm.

What a smooth transition this bed switching ordeal was turning out to be! And at about 8:30 pm we heard him calling,

"Want to wake up now! Want to wake up now!" Dan held him for a few minutes and Luke explained, "I'm scary!" (I'm scared) But he went back down without a fuss and has been sleeping happily in it for the past 2 days.

He has also peed in the potty on his own accord one more time.

Lot's of growing up happening right now. But with the 23rd quickly approaching one thing remains on my mind.

Kindergarten.

I think I am more nervous than she is. Only because she has no idea what to expect. I have been gearing up for this terrible, awful, ugly monster. I have been getting ready for her to hate it and cry to never have to go. Then it hit me yesterday. Maybe it won't be awful. Maybe she won't hate it. Maybe it might even be good.

I'm not sure if I am a dramatic pessimist or if I'm more of a prepare for the worst, hope for the best kind of girl.

All I know is that I better leave room for the notion that this could be good. Or an actual good experience will be hard pressed to happen because my bad attitude would not be in the position to enjoy it.

But please, all of you who have sent off your baby to kindergarten and lived to tell about it, do me a favor, will ya? Will you just pat my cheek and tell me that everything is gonna be okay?

Where one paragraph doesn't necessarily relate to the previous one

Max got his two little bottom teeth while we were in Utah.

He continues to laugh and laugh.

There are days when I feel like the soundtrack of my life would consist of 24 tracks of whining and crying. And then there are other days where every other track would be baby laughing. Those are my favorites.

Luke peed in the potty this afternoon. That is so HUGE for him. I basically held the potty under him when he started to pee in the tub. He didn't protest. That's all I can ask for at this point.

I'm not holding my breath that he'll be doing it again anytime soon. I'm just glad to have one success under his bum.

We were home from Utah for 2 days before Max and I ran up to Dallas for a quick weekend to see my sister Leah and her kids. Turns out they are staying longer than expected, so this weekend they made the trip down to Houston.

It was great! I love my family!

I feel like we have been really busy these past few weeks and I am a little worried that as they slow down I will remember how lonely I am.

For the first time, Luke sat through his haircut without a whine or a whimper. Only an occasional "Don't cut me!" or "You cut me!" I thought we would never see this day!

Last night we booked our cruise. The same one. We don't care that we've seen it or done it before. We loved it! And we will love it again!

Last night as I was putting Ava to bed, she was asking me questions about when we die. I was trying to reassure her that we won't die for a long time. Thinking this would be a comfort, I told her, "We will be really, really old when we die."

She was not comforted. She was bugged.

"Really old?! That doesn't sound good! Really old is when you get rashes and you don't feel good! I don't want to be really old!"

Utah 2010

So along with the weather and the grass, our trip to Utah was pretty darn great. Better than many trips we've taken in the past. Mostly because this time only 33% of our kids were out of sorts.

Three guesses as to which one.

This one?




This one?




Or this one?

How did you know?

It's sad, because Luke is usually such an easy keeper. He charms with his eyes and his hugs, but this trip, like most others, he left his charm at home.

However, there were a few things that he loved and made him very happy.

Awesome Uncle Troy let Luke have the run of his semi for a few minutes. As long as he didn't have to share the driver seat with Ava, he was thrilled!



It was like a little boy's dream come true! Thanks again, Troy!



Some of Luke's other highlights:


Water balloons


And the double squirt.



Sliding down the HUGE water slide.




Ava's highlights:



Splashing in Bridal Veil Falls




Lots of little girl cousin time.










Max's highlights:


Lots of smiling faces.



Hanging out with Cousin Greta







My highlights:

All of the above.

Houston, we have a problem

You stink, that's what!

Between the gorgeous weather and soft grass of Utah, I was beginning to feel a little down about Texas. It's so hot. It's so ugly. The grass is crabby. The wildlife consists of cockroaches and fire ants and the scenery is mostly strip malls.

But home is where the heart is, I reminded myself. It's where our little family lives out our days together making memories and all that squishy jazz. Texas is great!

After a fairly uneventful flight home, I brought in our suitcase and discovered that about 1,000 fire ants decided to take up residence in our bedroom, with the main hub being a box full of fabric sitting under my sewing machine. There were so many ants milling around that it looked as if the light yellow knit had taken on a life of its own and I had no other choice than to pick up the entire box and chuck it in the back yard.

Welcome home.

Texas is great!


The only other item more noteworthy, is the passing of Murphy.


Dubbed "Burphy" by a little Ava, my kids will be so sad to realize he's not here anymore.


It's the end of an era over at my parent's house which has been home to at least one dog for the last 25 years.

Rest in Peace, Gentle Giant.

Murphy

May, 2000-July 12, 2010

Sometimes I am Mean

Would it be bad to send someone a letter letting them know they are an idiot?

Probably, huh. If not, I'd likely be receiving a lot more mail. And I do like to get mail, just not that kind.

I just spent three hours at the pediatrician's office. And that was our third visit in the past week and a half. Not including one really lame trip to the Urgent Care.

The same Urgent Care that I would like to send some disagreeable mail.

Over the past week, Luke had an ear infection and Ava had some poop problems. If that was too much information, sorry. This is a mommy blog.

Last Friday I was convinced that Max had an ear infection. I've come to recognize his signs pretty well and knowing that this week holds an airplane trip I was anxious to get the antibiotic show on the road if, in fact, he did have an ear infection. And having sat at the pedi's office enough for one week, I opted for the Urgent Care, knowing the diagnosis would be simple and short.

Unfortunately, I left the office with no diagnosis and feeling very patronized. The nurse practictioner clearly thought I was an overly anxious mom (Oh but I am!), told me he was fine and that sick babies did not smile. He told me that because Max had smiled at him when he walked into the exam room, he knew he wasn't sick.



"What your child is doing is called a social smile."


"He doesn't know me but he has learned to smile and that is what babies do."


"Sick babies do not smile socially, therefore we can know that this baby is not sick."


I wanted to tell him that I was The Mama. I wanted to tell him that I have had children smile at me on numerous occasions when they were sick, especially this one. I wanted to tell him that I knew something was wrong. But when he looked in both ears and pronounced them fine, symbolically patting me on the head, I could not argue. He looked in his ears after all, and if they were fine, they were fine.

But over the weekend Max developed a bad cough. And by last night he was audibly wheezing. And it felt a little like de ja vu. I knew I had to take him to the real doctor especially before our trip.

It was the craziest, busiest I have ever seen the pediatrician's office. More than once I questioned our being there, especially with all three hooligans. Thank goodness Dan came to take them for a while.

He got them strapped into the van only to discover that it would not start.

He took the kids to Sonic in his car, where they ate and waited for AAA. After a little testing and installing one new battery, the van was ready to go just as Max and I were finishing the marathon appointment.

Inside I had learned that yes, indeed, Max was wheezing. He'll be the lucky recipient of some breathing treatments. It was good I brought him in, she told me.

She wanted to look in his ears. I hadn't mentioned anything about the urgent care or his ears. I had been told they were fine, after all.

But she attempted to look in his ears and found there was too much wax to get a good view so she got our her little digger tool and went to work. Once it was clear, she could easily see that his ears were badly infected.

And that is why I want to write a letter.

Deciding before examining, that a smiling baby couldn't possibly be sick and that a young mother couldn't know what she's talking about is stupid. It's as if he already made up his mind, thought I was silly, and only looked in Max's ears to satisfy me. It didn't matter if he didn't have a clear view because he already knew Max wasn't sick.


And if that's all it takes to be a nurse practitioner, sign me up!

So from now on, I will continue to pack my bag and stroller like a day trip for the zoo and endure our marathon appointments. Or maybe I could just buy my own otoscope and set up shop.

I bet I'd even get less hate mail than that guy.

Weekend wrap-up and why I love my camera

As we unpacked our stuff from the van when we arrived in Dallas last weekend, I found that somewhere along the way my camera's power got turned on. I had no way of knowing how long it had been that way.

But the next day when we went to the marina to take Luke's three year birthday photos and I took this,



and this,


and then the camera died completely and I was able to deduce that it had probably been on for the majority of our drive the day before.

I was so bummed. What terrible timing. My mom had her cute little camera in her purse and was kind enough to let me use it.

I realized how very spoiled I am. Mom's camera is very nice and actually takes really good pictures. But I am so used to the quick firing shutter and the easy zooming. It was a struggle to get anything.

I have learned by experience that I need to take A LOT of pictures just to even get a few that are really good. And it's easy to take A LOT of pictures at 3.5 per second. It is not easy to take A LOT of pictures of a boy that moves like lightening with a camera that clicks a pic when he's already out of the frame.

The pictures are still on Mom's camera so I don't even know what I got. I don't know if the opportunity will present itself to re-do the photo shoot. I guess the pictures will tell. Or at least help me decide whether to make an opportunity.

We made Luke a dump truck cake. It reminded me of the movie Clueless when they refer to a girl as a "Monet". From far away it's ok, but up close it's a big old mess.

Same as our cake.




He liked it though. And I nearly caught his "hide-a-smile" with my newly charged camera.


Whenever he's embarrassed or wants to stay unattached for whatever reason, but he really is feeling happy, he opens his mouth wide and covers his teeth with his lips to hide his smile.

The presence of the missionaries as dinner guests and Happy Birthday singers was making him a little shy.

For his birthday Luke got a zhu zhu pet, book, and shirt from Grandma Linda and Grandpa Don, a watch from Ava, a race track from Dan and I, and a T-ball set from Grandma Leslie and Grandpa Max. He was pleased with everything!

Of course we ended our weekend with fireworks.



The boys stayed home and watched from the balcony, while us girls took to the road so we could get a closer view.


We didn't make it quite as close as last year but we enjoyed them just the same!

A Walk to Remember

We recently returned from a fun filled 4th of July weekend in Dallas. The remnants of the tropical storm brought us some rain but we didn't let it spoil our time.




It started out like this,

Grandpa and Ava on the balcony watching the rain fall.



I'm not sure what was said but before we knew it Grandpa had a kid on each arm and was leading them through the rain to the flooded golf course.




First there was caution.




Then there was running.



Which quickly led to jumping, chasing, and laughing,





splashing, sliding and rolling.




Once they were soaked, they played with abandon.






Meanwhile, Dan and Max were happy to be dry,



Murphy thought they were crazy,



And Luke and Ava had an adventure they will never forget.