Lucky #7

So we had the neighbors over today for a play date and lunch.  The play date part went fine . . . the babies rotated sleeping for the majority of the morning while the older kids played together.  It was all pretty easy until lunch time.  These are the times when I sit back and think to myself, "thank God we stopped at 3!"

Poor Colton got stuck in the baby papasan even though his little legs pretty much touch the floor - that is the price you pay when you are the youngest in the group! 

One more interesting thing you'll notice about these picture, there are no adults sitting at the table.  Why, you ask?  Well, there are only four chairs and because we are nice, we opted to stand so the kids could be comfortable.  The simple answer to this problem . . . a brand new kitchen table with the bench seating I want - perfect!  Yet another reason to get me (or should I say Travis) that new table for his birthday!

More "special news"

Ryan is really on a roll with this "special news" thing.  He is also on a roll with his ability to tell stories that aren't completely factual.

Up first . . . since Ann has been bringing Colton to our house, Ryan sees her quick drop in as an opportunity to show her everything and talk about anything.  Unfortunately for Ann (and more so for Ryan), she doesn't really have the time to listen to his stories, or see all of his projects from school (or more importantly,watch his play Nintendo)  because she has a long drive (filled with lots of traffic) and has a job - what a bum deal!  Anyway, after the first day of seeing him pounce on her the minute she walked in the door, I had a little conversation with him about trying to limit his stories when Ann is here.  This is pretty much word for word what I said to him . . . "Ryan, Ann is really busy in the morning and has to get going because she has to work just like Dad.  And when she comes to pick Colton up in the afternoon, she has a long drive ahead of her so we have to try to be quick with things."  He nodded his head and seemed to be okay with things.  Well, yesterday, he really wanted Ann to watch him play 6 rounds of Duck Hunt (which is probably every one's dream come true ).  He asked when Ann was coming and I said pretty soon.  After I said that, he got really excited and said, "Good, maybe I'll show her my game today."  Then, as if he remembered our conversation, he said, "oh wait, I remember now that I can't talk to her anymore" and went into his room (I assume to pout).  Yeah Ryan, that is exactly what I said - don't talk to  anymore Ann or else . . .

Then there was today.  The kids and I were all sitting at the table eating dinner when Trav walked in from work.  And like every other day when he walks in, the kids got up from the seats and ran to the door to meet him.  Well tonight, Lauren didn't quite make it off her chair.  Somehow she managed to tip backwards, land flat on her back, and bit her lip (it was very bloody, even I got a bit worked up about it).  As I'm trying to clean her up in the sink, Ryan is hovering by my side just waiting to get a look at Lauren's mouth.  When I finally get things under control and Ryan takes a peek he says, "looks bad, maybe I'll share this for 'special news' tomorrow."  Super Ryan, I hope you do.  And while you're at it, maybe you could make it sound like I pushed Lauren down and then for good measure, throw in fact that I don't let you speak to your aunt anymore too - that will really raise some red flags!

"Special news"

Ryan's class has "special news" every morning.  "Special news" is the time when the kids all sit in a circle and each kid has the opportunity to share any "special news" they have.  Ryan's news usually consists of having a friend over, seeing a movie, getting a new toy - the usual kid stuff.  But today was different. I have to back up a little to give the whole story.

It all started this morning while I was busy upstairs with the girls and Trav and Ryan were busy downstairs getting dressed and ready for school.  Apparently they had a little extra time so they decided to have a little sword fight.  Just seconds into the battle (although I didn't know this at the time), I hear Ryan start crying and saying, "that hurt Dad!"  After that, the loud footsteps on the stairs came, then Ryan appeared with a face full of tears.  I asked him what happened and he said, "Dad hit me in my private area."  Digging a little deeper, he went on to tell me that they were having a sword fight and Trav hit him.  I asked if it was an accident and of course he said, "no" (apparently anytime he gets hurt by someone, it is on purpose).  I gave him a hug, told him it would be okay and reassured him that Trav did not hit him in his privates on purpose.  After that, he turned and walked away saying, "I'll probably just tell everyone about this during special news" - um, what?  Did I hear that correctly?  He wants to share this particular story (out of his millions of stories) during special news.  I had to think fast so I told him it was probably not a good idea to talk about this situation during special news because talking about your privates at school was not okay.  He thought about it, then gave me the, "okay, got it Mom" before he put on his boots and walked out the door.

When he got home that day, I was curious to see if he had listened to me so the first free minute I had, I asked what he shared during special news.  His response, "I told everyone that Dad hit me."  Super.  He must of seen the look of shock on my face because it followed it up with, "don't worry Mom, I didn't tell them he hit me in my privates."  Oh, well that makes everything just fine then doesn't it!  I then asked if he told everyone that Dad accidentally hit him while they were playing swords - his response, "Nope, just that Dad hit me." 

So here I sit just waiting for a call from his teacher or even better yet, a visit from child protective officer!  Why does my kid feel the need to tell everyone everything?!?!?  My only hope is that kindergarten teachers have heard it all before - they know how kids tend to embellish or omit certain parts of stories.

Lots of babes!

So we have a new daily visitor at our house and his name is Colton!  I (or should I say, we - the kids are lots of help with the little guy) are watching him while his daycare provider is enjoying some time with her newborn son.  It has only been two days, but already the questions are starting.  First up, Ryan.  When he saw Colt the first day he had to think about the whole situation and then had a couple of questions for me.  First question, "Mom, do we get to keep him?"  Unfortunately for Ryan (he would love to have a brother), the answer to that one is, "no."  His follow up question was of course, "Why?"  Well, "because Colton already has a Mom and Dad and they would be sad if he didn't live with them."  He seemed to accept that answer after thinking about it a while (apparently he forgot that his very own uncle and aunt were Colton's parents), and then went onto his next question.  "Mom, is that what you call daycare?"  Answer, "yes it is."  This subject was on his mind the other day when we drove past a New Horizon daycare center and he asked if he could ever go there to play.  I had to explain that it was a daycare, and not just a place to play and that the kids who went there had to because their parents were working.  I further went onto to explain that he used to go to daycare when he was younger, but he doesn't have to know because just Dad goes to work while I get to stay home and play with him all day - what a good deal!  With all of his questions answered, he was off to school.  That left just the girls, myself, and Colt.  While the four of us were downstairs playing, Lauren kept telling me what a good big sister (or should I say, "sista") she was to Ellie.  Then she went onto to explain that she was also Colt's big sista.  I told her that she wasn't his sister, just his cousin.  In typical 3 year old fashion she asked, "why" (I'm pretty sure I just had this very same conversation with Ryan 10 minutes earlier - where was she)?  Instead of giving her the whole story, I kept it short and simple . . . "he is your cousin, not your brother" - end of story.  With all the big issues behind us, we are now just focusing on getting Ellie and Colton on the same schedule.  This will accomplish two things . . .1) it will keep me sane, and 2) it gives me some free time with the two older kids every once in a while.  Two days in and the babes are doing pretty good!  Other fun facts I've learned during over the past two days . . . Ellie wants everything Colt has - his bottle (even if she just polished off one of her own), his nuk (even though she never liked them when I tried to give her one), his toys (it's her house, she thinks apparently thinks she is the boss), and most importantly, any attention he is receiving (she cries and grabs at my legs the minute I pick him up, and crawls towards him immediately if the kids are on the floor playing with him) - she has a little work to do in this area.  Apparently being "the baby" of the family has had more of an affect on her than I thought - spoiled and not even 1 yet - fun!

A couple of quick pictures of Ellie and Colt. The first one is taken the first day Colton came to our house. He was sound asleep in his car seat until a nosy little baby decided to wake him up - apparently he didn't seem to mind though. The next two are of Ellie showing off all of her 10-month old skills while Colton takes it all in - the kid has a lot of work ahead of him in the upcoming months!

Onto other exciting news . . . Lauren had an open house at her preschool tonight.  She was very excited to get there and see her new classroom and meet (actually, reacquaint herself) with the teachers (they are the same teachers Ryan had in the past).  She would have stayed and played all night if I let her.  Lucky for her, in just a few short months, she'll be going there twice a week and I'll officially have two kids in school -crazy! 

Drama Queen

So over the last 48 hours, I've heard the phrase, "you ruined my whole day" out of Lauren's mouth more times than I can count.  I have no idea where she picked it up, or when, but her use of it is increasing each day.  And with each use, it gets funnier and funnier (I'm sure this is not her intended outcome, but unfortunately for her, that is the way it comes off).

A couple of examples from the past two days . . . On Wednesday morning, I had to run to Target to get more formula for Ellie.  We only had a one hour window from the time Ellie woke up from her nap to the time Lauren's bus would be here to get her so when it was time to go, it was time to go.  Upon informing Lauren that we would be making the trip to Target, she became upset and said she didn't want to go.  I told her she had to, and that was the first time I heard the dreaded phrase . . . "you ruined my whole day."  Who knew a trip to Target could cause such pain in a little girl's life.  After I heard her say that, I laughed, she repeated it again, and we headed out.  Later that night while I was upstairs giving Ellie a bath, I heard some screaming and crying coming from downstairs (Trav and the two big kids were down there) and knew if was Lauren.  The screaming and crying lasted a couple of minutes before it was quiet.  Not a minute later, Lauren was poking her head into the bathroom and telling me through tears that, "Daddy spanked me hard three times - he ruined my whole day."  The minute she ended her story, Trav poked his head in the bathroom and gave his far less dramatic version of the incident - "she didn't listen so I spanked her twice but it wasn't hard."  Whatever really happened I may never know, but I'm pretty sure it didn't involve a brutal beating as Lauren would have you believe.  To bring the day to an end, Lauren and I were cuddling together on her bed after we read our nighttime story.  So there we are holding hands (she wanted to to make sure I wouldn't fall off the bed) and laying together while she is singing a song and running her fingers through my hair.  It was such a sweet moment (bedtime is the best time with Lauren - all of her rage and anger is out of her system by then), and then to top it off, she said, "I love you Mommy."  I in turn responded with, "I love you too Sweetie" and then got up to leave the room.  As I was pulling the door shut behind me I hear Lauren say, "Daddy spanked me three times and you made me go to the store so you ruined my whole day" - and the moment of sweetness is gone just like that!

And then there was today.  I was picking the kids up from the daycare at the Y when Lauren comes out of the playzone crying.  I asked her what was wrong and she says, "somebody ran into me - it ruined my whole day."  It was about 5:45pm at the time so the place was packed with people dropping off and picking up kids and because Lauren only has one volume (which is loud), pretty much every parent within earshot heard this is busted out laughing.  There is my child, standing all red -faced, clenching her check and sobbing while saying at the top of her lungs that her day was ruined because some kid accidentally (although Lauren's version of the story has the boy doing it on purpose) ran into her - talk about a pathetic scene.  All I could do was smile and tell her it would be okay all the while I'm trying to hold in my laughter because all of the other adults in the place were laughing at her - that's our Lauren.  To make the story even better, on the ride home Lauren was recounting the incident when she all of a sudden comes to the conclusion that the naughty boy who hit her was probably Jacob Niemi (for all of the non-regular readers, Jacob Niemi is the naughty boy in Ryan's class whom is already on Lauren's shit list for picking on her brother) because apparently all naughty boys must be Jacob Niemi.  When Ryan heard this, he asked what the boy looked like.  Lauren told him he had, "yellow hair just like me."  Ryan said, "Jacob has brown hair so it wasn't him."  Lauren responded with, "he had brown hair with a little yellow just like me."  This of course made Ryan mad because he knew Lauren was lying.  So the rest of the ride home I spent listening Ryan defend Jacob while Lauren kept saying over and over that Jacob was indeed the boy who hit her - talk about fun!

Other fun facts about Lauren . . . she is stubborn, and not just a little.  The other day she held her pee for 18 hours - 18 HOURS!  Who does that?  I of course brought her into the doctor because not urinating for 18 hours is a problem for normal people, but not Lauren.  No, there was nothing wrong with her, she apparently just didn't want to pee just because she didn't want to.  I finally made her pee by laying her down and aggressively tickling her stomach until she basically started peeing her pants (that was not a good day - I had a beer at 2pm which was just after we returned from the doctor's office where I'm sure everyone thought I was exaggerating on the length of time since her last urination - too bad I wasn't).

Lauren also likes to "test the waters."  If you tell Lauren not to do something, she'll do it again.  Then, if you say, "if you do that again, I'll (fill in the blank with some sort of threat)", she'll for sure do it again just to see if you make good on your threat.  I'm good for about 50-75% of my threats, it just depends on how much she has worn me down on any given day - this is something I'm working on.

Time seems to be of no issue to Lauren.  When I say, "we're leaving now" or "it's time to eat", her response, "in 5 minutes."  I'm pretty sure she came up with that number simply based on the fact that that's the number of fingers she has on one hand and she always holds up the hand when saying this.

In addition to time not being an issue for Lauren, neither is money.  When she doesn't get something she wants from Ryan or Ellie, or pretty much anyone, she'll say, "I'll give you $20."  Apparently she doesn't realize she is 3 and has no money, but you'd be surprised how many times this actually works.  At this point, I think she probably owes Ryan about $240 - too bad it could be a lifetime before he sees any of it.

At this point, if I'm not an alcoholic or a drug addict by the time Lauren is 13, I'll consider this a victory.  Now I know why God gave us Ryan (Mr. Manners) first . . . he wanted to give us a little bit of nice and easy before the storm (we like to call her Lauren) came into town - thanks, I hope you're happy!

The 3 little pigs

It's official, we have 3 little pigs in this family!  Today for lunch I decided to take the easy road and throw in a frozen pizza.  In addition to the pizza, we had a variety of fruits (blueberries, strawberries, and bananas) to fill up the crew.  To my surprise (and amazement) the kids (all 3 of them - this was Ellie's first try at pizza) not only ate an insane amount of fruit, but they also finished off the entire pizza by themselves (good thing I wasn't all that hungry anyway).  I always feed the kids first and then sit down and eat whatever is leftover, but today, there never seemed to be a stopping point for any of them.  The minute I would get one piece of pizza cut up, a different kid would want more.  Ryan and Lauren both ate over a third of the pizza, and little, bitty Ellie put back a good sized piece of her own (pretty sure she had a bottomless stomach today).  Here are some pictures of Ellie in all of her glory (too bad she had a white shirt on underneath - by the time lunch was done, the sleeves were red, blue, and gross).

A fun side note about the pictures . . . if you look closely (actually, you don't have to look closely because anyone with decent vision could see it) at the last three pictures, you'll notice Ellie has her top two teeth now.  You may (again, if you have any sort of decent vision) also notice, the rather large distance between the two teeth (I think there is enough room in there for another whole tooth).  Trav likes to call her our little "gopher" (or beaver, I can't remember which one it is for sure) and wonder how such a cute little girl could have such nasty teeth.  I, on the other hand, choose to see all the wonderful benefits of having such a large gap in her teeth . . . she'll never have to floss between those teeth because nothing will ever get stuck, if her hands are ever full, she can use the "gap" as another place to hold things.  And finally, maybe she'll be a really good whistler.  I always wanted to be able to whistle using my two fingers the way really cool people do it, but because I can't, I'd be honored if my daughter could finally be the one to do it for me!

Do they have braces for 10-month old kids?

NEVA!!!

Sometimes I feeling like I'm living in the ghetto with Lauren - why you ask?  Well, we all know she has her speech issues, but lately, I think things have really started to improve.  Uncle Mike is no longer "Uncle Dike."  And "milk" is no longer "dilk" - so we are making progress in some areas, but apparently not with the "er" sound.  And boy does it drive Trav crazy!!  He thinks she just talks too fast and doesn't take the time to make the proper sounds.  Maybe he is right, but until she gets it figured out, I'm enjoying her saying things such as, "neva brotha" when she is mad at Ryan, or "she is my sista" when referring to Ellie.  She sounds like she is straight from the hood and I thoroughly enjoy listening to it - you go girl!