Mother's Day

Here is the first shot from the pregnancy, taken today at almost 21 weeks. I have failed big time at documenting this pregnancy, which makes me sad because I'm pretty sure it will be my last. We were thrilled to find out that Ava will be getting a sister. I had a hunch (I get SO much sicker with girls), but thought having another girl would be too good to be true. I don't know how we got so lucky to get two of each. I couldn't have planned it more perfectly.

This sweet little thing has sucked everything out of me. I decided not to take zofran this time around, just in case it contributed to Ava's fussiness/reflux. Aside from severe dehydration and some weight loss, we both survived. I remember sobbing to J-P many nights, telling him to take care of the kids and tell them I loved them because I was sure that I would die at any moment. I sobbed when I saw the scale drop below 100 lbs, and I sobbed when my ribs became visible. On the days that I thought survival was a possibility, I sobbed because I was sure the baby would come out bright red or deformed because of all the Sonic slushies I had to sip to stay hydrated, or from not being able to take prenatal vitamins. I became quite skilled at throwing up while driving, and remember one particular day where I threw up the entire way to Ian's preschool. It's a small miracle I never crashed. Luckily I am feeling much better, and am almost back up to my pre-pregnancy weight.



I am feeling especially blessed this mother's day. My kids are happy, healthy, and bring so much joy to my life. Max hid the mother's day presents he made for me at school, and has been taking everyone up to his room to show them when I'm not looking.  I thought he would explode out of his skin with excitement when he gave them to me today. It melted my heart to read the things he wrote and see the pictures he drew. I wish I could make these days of being home with little ones last forever.

Almost 2 1/2...

 

Ava loves having her picture taken. Even if she can't stay still enough to take a not-blurry shot. Anytime she does something that she thinks is pretty cool, she says "hey mom, will you take my picture?" Most of the time (especially in the last couple of months), I just pretend to take one with my phone while she poses away. Yesterday I actually grabbed the camera because she was still in church clothes, and her face was mostly clean.

Ava loves to talk (she and Ian both got the talking genes). I always know when she is awake because I can hear her blabbering away to a half-asleep Max (no more than three inches from his face) about whatever happens to be on her mind when she wakes up. And she loves to make up stories. She always requests bedtime stories, but always takes over and prompts the entire thing. They are usually about her, riding to the magic pink forest on her magic pink horse with her friends Lena and Sydney. When they get to to the forest they eat lots of candy and pick lots of strawberries. Then they make a pie with the strawberries, eat it, and ride home on their magic pink horses. She also loves to sing songs and has several memorized. She thinks the part about Yankee Doodle sticking a feather in his hat and calling it "macaroni" is the funniest thing ever and can't ever finish the song because she is laughing so hard. She also likes to change lyrics to songs. I often hear random things like "Twinkle, twinkle, little star...how I wonder what you ate for breakfast!!!" And she always starts laughing uncontrollably at her clever twist.

The other day she fell asleep in the car and took a late afternoon nap (we quit naps at two, otherwise she can't fall asleep before 10 p.m.). I knew it was going to be a long night, so after I put the boys to bed, we came downstairs, cut up a bunch of mangoes, and turned on my favorite Zee Avi pandora station. As we were eating mangoes at the kitchen table in our pajamas, she looked at me and said "Mom, this is a nice day. I love you mom. Jesus said love everyone. I'm Ava, and you're the mom. We are both people. And we are superheroes. We can disappear everyone with our magic powers...like this! (Proceeds to lift both fists in the air and make zapping, explosion-type noises)."

In a surprise turn of events last week, she jumped up after I took off her soggy diaper, ran to the bathroom, pulled her little toilet out from the cupboard under the sink, and produced a nice bowel movement. I haven't even thought about potty training, partly because I have been so sick, and partly because potty training Max traumatized me for life. I told myself I would never torture myself by starting the process before 2 1/2. Despite the fact that Ava has been begging to take off her diaper and wear her Dora underwear for months. She is apparently more ready than I am, and I am hoping this last bit of nausea will go away (shouldn't it be gone by 17 wks?) so that we can be a diaper-free household for at least a few months before the baby comes.

the accident

Ian gets his cast off tomorrow. I realized today that I took nary a photo, and didn't document the experience at all. Probably because I've been focusing on staying alive and keeping food down instead. Everything seems to fall apart around here when I have morning sickness.

Anyway, one particularly dreadful day last month (when J-P was out of town), the kids broke a glass jar full of epsom salt in the bathroom. I quickly swept it up and put it in the little bathroom garbage can. I put it in the (jack and jill) bathroom that separates the children's two bedrooms and shut the door. I put Max and Ian into bed, and then proceeded to put Ava to bed. While rocking her, I could hear Ian giggling and saying "Max, do you dare me to pee in the garbage?" I immediately threw Ava into her crib and ran into their room. He had gone into the bathroom, grabbed the glass-filled garbage can, and brought it into his room. I got there right before he started to pee. He knew he was in trouble, and in the process of pulling his pants up and getting back into bed, he tripped and his hand landed in the garbage can. It was dark and I didn't notice what had happened. I yelled at him to climb into bed. He was crying in bed, and I impatiently told him to stop crying so he wouldn't wake his siblings. He wouldn't stop so I climbed up (top bunk) to talk to him and that's when I saw the blood. Everywhere. I immediately started dry heaving and panicking. I was so sick and so tired I could barely stand up, much less deal with a crisis.

I knew I had to stop the bleeding, so I managed to do that. Then I looked at his finger to assess the damage of the cut, and it was bad. Like you could see the bone bad. That's when I lost it. I suppose the pregnancy hormones took over. I didn't know what to do so I called my mom. I was crying so hard that I couldn't talk for the first minute or so. I never call my mom crying, so I'm pretty sure she thought someone had died. I gained my composure and said "Mom, Ian cut his finger. I think I can see his bone, but I stopped the bleeding. Can I just put a band-aid on it and take him to the doctor in the morning?" Obviously she told me I needed to take him in, and I cried about how I was too sick and too tired...not to mention that I had no clue what to do with my other sleeping babes. "You call your neighbor, or your visiting teacher. If they can't help you call a babysitter." After a few calls I found a babysitter that could drive herself over so I didn't have to wake the other two. I whisked Ian (covered in blood--didn't have the strength to clean him off or change his PJ's) to urgent care.

I'm still not sure how I survived that night. After they prepped him they had to wait like 15 minutes to sew him up while I ran to the bathroom to empty the rest of the contents of my stomach. When I got back, the doc said "Come here mom, I want to show you where the tendon has been transacted before I sew him up..." Upon seeing it I literally blacked out and collapsed into a chair. The nurses scrambled to get me water and make sure that I would stay conscious, rather than paying attention to poor Ian.

Someone was definitely watching out for him that night. He did great. Content the whole time and didn't shed a single tear with any of the shots or papoosing. Such a tough kid. I still don't know how I made it through the subsequent visits to the hand surgeon in Denver, or the full day I had to spend in the hospital when he had his surgery. Here's to hoping his finger will still work when he gets the cast off tomorrow!

the everyday

Things are finally starting to calm down around these parts. The kids have all been doing a great job of entertaining themselves. They play their little hearts out all day long. I can't believe they are getting so big. It should be noted that both Max and Ian are OBSESSED with the Broncos. Which is crazy because neither of them have ever seen a football game. Max wants to wear his jersey every single day. Even Ava points out broncos paraphernalia everywhere we go. "MOM!!! Look! that's a bronco horse!!! And Ava loves to "do the dishes". She pulls the chair up to the sink and cleans away any time I let her. Here is a glimpse into the funny things they say...

Ian: "Dad, is mom allergic to mouses?"
J-P: "Uh, yeah. Probably."
Ian: "Oh, is that why she screams?"

Max: "Mom, did you know that a lot of boys like sports?"
Me: "yeah..."
Max: "Like Jason, he looooves sports. Mom, do you know what sports are? It's like the Broncos. And games...like basketball and baseball. Those are sports mom. Have you heard of them?"

Ava: "Mom, first I have to do this (picks up toy), and then I have to do this (picks up game), and then I have to do this (picks up something else), and then I can become a true princess.
Me: "Oh...really?"
Ava: "Yeah. Dora taught me that."

super heroes + new couch

We piled our Christmas money together and finally bought a couch for our living room. My mom has been asking to see it for like a week now. Sorry mom. Here it is complete with our very own superheroes. They spend most of the day in costume. Pretending to get the "bad guys", wrestling, giggling, building, destroying, running, climbing, and ordering each other around. They have such a great time together that they rarely even ask to watch TV anymore. Which I am thrilled about.

Merry Christmas!

This has been "the best Christmas ever" according to Max and Ian. They have been discussing Santa Claus and the logistics about how he gets around all month. They argue about how he has time to get to all the houses, which one of them is going to get coal for being naughty, if Santa has magic powers like superheroes, etc. They are starting to understand the true meaning of Christmas as well, which makes me happy. Some things I want to remember about this season...

-Ava dancing around the house singing snippets of Christmas songs over and over. "Jingle all the way, jingle all the way, jingle all the way!" and "Ho, ho, the mistletoe...Ho, ho the mistletoe..."

-Ian (in true Christmas spirit) telling Max that me has to share his toys with him because "Jesus said we have to share with everyone". And Max responding with, "No Ian, that's not true. He just said we have to love everyone."

-Ava waking up one morning after the tree had been up for a couple of weeks and randomly saying "Hey dad, did you see the Christmas tree? It's just beautiful."

-Max wearing his Santa hat everywhere we go.

-Explaining on every snow day that "No, today is not Christmas. Just because it snows does not mean that it's Christmas." And without fail, the next time (and every time) it snowed they all asked, "Is today Christmas?" Only to be sorely disappointed each time. It didn't actually snow on Christmas, but we are still covered in a thick blanket of white. Much prettier than dead grass I suppose.

White Christmas

We had our first white Christmas this year. It snowed last week and the kids have been out playing in it every day. It's too dry to build a snowman, but they could spend hours digging around with their little snow shovels. Notice Max dodging the snowball his Dad chucked at him in picture #2. He is not a fan of snowball throwing. He inherited that from me. I am no fun in the snow. In fact, I took most of these pictures from inside, nice and warm in my layers of thermals.

Outtakes

I realized today that we are not going to get family pictures taken in time for Christmas Cards this year. So after school I dragged everyone outside in attempt get a "kid" picture. Total fail. Ava didn't stop dancing around, and I couldn't get them to look at the camera at the same time. We'll try again another day.

I have been meaning to write down a few funny things the kids have said lately...

The other day Max was sitting at the table doing his homework. Ian was sitting next to him working on "homework". Ava walked by the garbage can and after seeing an old worksheet in it, she pulled it out and said "oh yeah, I forgot, this is my homework" and sat down and started scribbling on it.

One night after Ava turned two I asked her how old she was. She blurted out "twenty!" without pausing to think. When I said "no you're not!" she started laughing so hard she couldn't catch her breath. Like she had just told the best joke ever. Then I said "Ava, you're two!" She immediately countered with "no I'm not, I'm three!!!"

After seeing "transformer" on Max's Christmas list, I asked him which one he wanted. He immediatey responded with "Octopus Crime!"

Today at Home Depot, they gave us a flyer to come see/take a picture with the Grinch on Saturday night. When I told Ian and asked him if he wanted to go, he turned white and with obvious panic in his voice said "but mom, I hope it's not a real one!"

This morning Max set his breakfast down right next to Ian and said "I'm going to sit by Ian, because he's my best friend. And I love him." I wish I had that one on video.

Two!

Ava turned two a couple of weeks ago. Life has been so busy and crazy that I haven't even been able to wrap a present or bake cupcakes until today. She didn't get an elaborate tea party this year, as all of our attention has been dedicated to making our house liveable, and dealing with all the curve balls life has been throwing us.

I haven't even scheduled her two year check-up (stats to come), but I do know that she is a big girl. Tall and skinny. Already growing out of her 2T clothes. She is too smart for her own good, and talks like a grown-up much of the time. She has also developed a penchant for expressing an extreme range of emotions within a small time frame. When she is mad she will pinch, bite, hit, and yell " I don't like you...you're dumb!" Two minutes later she will wrap her arms around you in a tight-as-possible bear hug and say "I love you! You're so pretty!", as she plants a fat kiss on your cheek. I don't know where she learned the word "dumb" (nobody else in this house uses it), but we can't get her to stop saying it. "Mmm...don't like that shirt mommy, it's dumb!" Or, "I don't like this store, it's dumb!!!! Want a go home!"

Despite the occasional undesireable vocabulary, she is such a delight to have in our home. She gives the sweetest hugs and kisses. Her enthusiasm is contagious. Her creative play is genious. I love to listen to the conversations between her dolls, or the way she "reads" her books. I love the way she plays with my hair and whispers secrets in my ear. I love the way she screams, squeals, and hyperventilates with excitement when her daddy walks through the door. I love her encouraging motherly words... The other day we were searching high and low for her snow boots, then I finally remembered that they were in the car. When I told her, she said (with all the demeanor of a 20-year-old) "Hey! Good thinking mom!" Another day after helping frustrated children get their gloves on, I quickly put mine on and was immediately applauded with a "Great job mom!!!! You did it!!!"

Happy Belated Birthday to our sweet little sugar plum! We are elated to have you in our family!

halloween

Halloween crept up on us this year. I normally like to come up with homemade costumes ahead of time, but this year we were lucky to have costumes at all! Things have been super crazy around here, and I had to run to the supermarket (yes, the supermarket) a couple hours before trick or treating to buy Ian a costume. Luckily they still had a few left. The boys are obsessed with Marvel Comics these days, so that influenced their costume choices. Aunt Marlene sent Ava a pretty princess dress for her birthday (thank you!), and that took care of her costume. It's hard to believe that we have been here a little over three months and still aren't settled. Hopefully soon...

And these were the best shots I could get...the boys are fighting/wrestling in most of the pictures and Ava was casting spells with her magic wand.