10 on 10: December 2012

Aaaaand I am late. Again. (Shrug) At least it is getting done. I have been having my rear handed to me lately in the motherhood game and have little left for blogging and family documentation. Slowly I am pulling myself together...

One photo, every hour, for 10 hours, on the 10th day of the month.

My mom got me a juicer last Christmas and I am finally putting it to good use. This beautiful green drink contains 1 cucumber, 1 broccoli stalk, 4 romaine leaves, 1 large handful of spinach, 2 pears, 1 apple and 2 pieces of celery. I drank 2 glassfuls. All my vegetables and fruits first thing in the morning. Woot! And it is actually tasty. This is my first breakfast and roughly 2 hours later I have a snack. I am trying to change my eating habits for the better.

Max and Kate are fed, dressed and distracted. And Rhett is down for his morning nap which means I can get myself ready for the day. It proved to be too warm for a sweater so I changed.

I drop off Max and Kate at preschool and chat with Julie for a few minutes. Those few minutes are very stressful for Rhett who I left in the truck and when I return he is a sad, sad baby. I hand him a snack in the back seat and we run into the dollar store for a few items. He charms the snowbirds with his good looks and happy disposition.



We hurry home since someone is dropping by to buy a baby toy off us and we meet her at the door. Good timing. Then I bust out the dollar store goods and make Kate's Christmas present; play make-up. Let's hope the fumes air out by the big day.

Back in the truck to pick up the kids and they proudly show off the gingerbread houses they made. This is what I get when I asked them to smile. Turds.




Lunch and then the babes are in bed. I am left with a disaster of a house and take the time to tidy up. This doesn't show the four loads of laundry on my bed, the dirty bathrooms and so on.



The floors are screaming for attention and the steamer and I get busy. I love clean floors. They last less than an hour around here. Or in this case, a mere 20 minutes since the kids woke up right after I finished.

Play-time, aka how fast can we undo everything mom has done? The culprit there is waving his hands and bucket of blocks. He likes to walk by and just dump them and move on.

Dinner at 5 and soon Phil strolls in. He is everyone's favorite guy.

Phil takes the kids out on a walk to see neighborhood Christmas lights and I freshen up for a Christmas party, a much needed girls' night! Having a good hair day, I like my curls. Picked up the house a bit, left for the party as Phil and the kids walked in the door.

Good friends and an amazingly good time was had. I laughed so hard my face hurt. 

Max and Kate visit the Dentist

Max and Kate had their first dental visit this week. I have been meaning to call and schedule appointments for ages and every day it kept slipping my mind. I went to brush my teeth and that triggered my memory, so I stopped and called the dentist instead. I was surprised when they asked if we could come down the same day I called, woohoo! for new office locations that aren't busy! Then I went and brushed my teeth.

I fed the kids a snack and then did a thorough brushing and flossing prior to leaving the house. I dry brushed, brushed with paste and flossed. As children of a dental hygienist I have high standards. I made sure to hit all the trouble spots I see when I am working. I dropped Rhett off at our neighbor's and we drove around the corner to the office.

Max and Kate made themselves right at home and got busy coloring. I specifically chose a pediatric dentist so it would be tailored towards little people. This office was cute and had a jungle theme.



First stop was x-rays. Kate protested immediately so I told her I would hold her and we would do it together. The dental assistants were nice but probably thought I was annoying. I don't think they knew I was a hygienist but I kept taking charge of the situation, albeit nicely. Kate would bite down on the film and keep chewing on it instead of holding still. It took 4 tries before we got a decent film and that was with my explicit instruction and finally demonstrating to her what I wanted done.

Max watched us and was excited but apprehensive when it was his turn. He did well and also chewed on the film. And this was only for occlusals! There was no way we were going to get bitewings out of these kids!

The hygienist took Kate back while I was doing x-rays with Max and I heard her crying. Sad mom! I hoped the lady was being happy with her because she seemed really grumpy. She didn't really interact with the kids at all, explain what she was doing, nothing. I guess I am just comparing her to what I normally do and that is show the kid all of the tools, talk about sugar bugs, tickling their teeth, etc. Heck, she didn't even talk to me!

Kate did fine after I came and sat by her and she was happy when it was over and immediately wanted to show her daddy her clean teeth.



Max again was pretty apprehensive and kept saying that he was falling off the chair. He didn't want to scoot up to the top where the head rest is but with the help of a kind assistant holding his hand and me sitting on the chair with him and holding his other hand he did okay. He didn't like the crunchy prophy paste and didn't understand how to use the suction.

They got a token to get a prize and a sticker with their toothbrush and were pretty excited about that.
While the hygienist didn't impress me I am happy with the doctor and we will continue to see this office. I was worried about a possible lesion on one of Max's front teeth that I have noticed and as it stands right now both kids are cavity free.



I am proud of these big kids!

Thanksgiving Week 2012

I forgot to include a few more things about our holiday.

My sister-in-law Stephanie invited all the sisters to run the Turkey Trot with her, a 10k. I said yes but wasn't training for it since I had been getting up to do boot camp in the mornings and didn't want to stop boot camp and also didn't want to throw in an extra workout by running. So whatever happened on the day of the 10k was fine with me!

Pre-Race

On the day of the race only Wendy, Kyle, Steph and I participated. It was fun! I love the race atmosphere, it always gets me jazzed up about running and I am not a runner. But I want to be. I really admire those that run long distances, their dedication and the amazing things our bodies are capable of. I love that but apparently not enough to become a dedicated runner myself. And I can't say that I actually love to run, but I am sure with proper nutrition and training I could catch the running bug.

Stephanie and I stuck together and I told her that she was the boss since she is pregnant and feeling crummy. We started off jogging and then would briskly walk until she felt up to it again. I didn't mind one bit since I don't have the endurance to run six miles. We finished in 1:30+ and it was a nice morning walking and talking. I still got a good workout and my knees were achy.

Post Race


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The Wednesday before Thanksgiving Wendy organized a trip out to the Children's Museum of Phoenix. Thanks to library passes that Stephanie got us and an extra pass from Wendy we were able to affordably attend. Admission went from $44 to $11. And thank goodness for Phil's sisters! I would not have been able to manage all three of my children on my own. Phil had a shelf exam that day and we thought it was going to work out that I could go with Max and Kate and leave Rhett home to nap when Phil returned. But his exam ended up being at 1pm not 9am. Going without Rhett would have made things easier.



We left at 11:30 and while this is not an ideal time for us I hoped that the kids would fall asleep in the truck as we drove to Phoenix. I knew I could count on Max and he didn't disappoint and was able to catch roughly 15-20 minutes of shut eye. Kate and Rhett were droopy eyed but didn't fall asleep.



We ate lunch outside and then headed inside for hours of play and fun. It was so busy with it being a holiday but we managed. Well, I only managed because I had 3 extra bodies to help with my kids. Bless them! It was crazy. Max was grumpy and kept complaining that his tummy hurt. He usually does this when he needs to go potty. We made several trips to the bathroom and he finally went #2. I was happy and relieved thinking that I didn't have to worry about that anymore and we went off to play. Welp, the kid had some potty problems and had three nasty poop accidents over the course of our day there. Allison went above and beyond in her helping duties and assisted Max during one of his accidents. I was off walking with Rhett in the stroller to get him to sleep and had the diaper bag with me. Allison had to clean out his nasty undies. Bleh! I had packed extra clothes and undies and we certainly needed them. By the end of the day I had to borrow a diaper from Wendy.

The kids painted, played with play-doh, made turkey drumstick hats and had the best time.



Kate thinks that painting includes her body, she can't resist. You can see Allison in the background entertaining an overtired and needy Rhett. He only wanted me and she was pulling out all the stops to distract him so I could help Max and Kate.

The kids had fun though and Max and Kate especially enjoyed their time there now that they are older and able to more fully participate in most of the exhibits. We left after 4 hours there and the kids crashed hard.

Quirks & Quotes

Max has been obsessed with his "goo goo" goggles of late. He wears them all day around his neck, even when he bathes and naps.

Max has taken to collecting "tweasuhs" (treasures) aka rocks. He has a knack for finding big smooth rocks or whatever meets his criteria. He stuffs them into every available pocket on his person and carts them around all day. I usually don't find all his treasures until the wash or they are in his bed. We were playing with our friends the Tidwell's and Julie said that I should get him a treasure box to keep his stuff in. She is awesome like that and why didn't I think of it?

Both kids were moping around the kitchen and I asked Max what he needed.

"Um, chocolate mom."

Me: "You need chocolate Max?"

Max: "Yeah!" *Big grin*

Max got a touch of the stomach flu this past month and he vomited all over the kitchen floor, I cleaned things up and grabbed a big metal bowl and put it under his chin where he lost it again. Max looked up from the bowl pitifully and said "I threw up. I need to go to hospital!". Phil and I died over his cuteness and reassured him that he didn't need to go to the hospital. The last time he threw up was when he fell and hit his head, thus leading to a trip to the ER.

Max always says "I can't like it..." or "I can't like go to bed/take a nap/be nice/be quiet..." insert whatever he doesn't want to do. Kate also takes to saying that she can't do things. As in "I can't walk!". Um, right.

Max will ask me if I am happy. "You happy Mom?". He is astute and always watching me.

We have decorated our Christmas tree and Kate is in heaven. She will say " I wuuuuv (love) my Christmas tree!". Neither of them can say their "L's" very well and a "W" is the usual replacement. I pretty much love it and will be sad when they can enunciate properly. I can be chopping vegetables for dinner and Kate will be right by my side jabbering away in her squeaky voice asking "What you doing mom?" I tell her and she will say "Oh! I wuuuv onions!". Whatever she wants she "wuuuv's" it. And it isn't just "wuv" it is "wuuuuv", elongated and emotive.

 

 Kate is always saying "Where dis come for?" (Where does this come from?). Her way of asking what something is.

Kate thinks batteries are the answer to every problem. If something is broken "haf get batteries". If we are out of anything or I tell them no more then we "haf go store get xyz". If only life were that simple. Today she informed me that she lost her bouncy ball and needed help. "Mo-oom, can't find my ball! I've looked everywhere! You find it?".

Rhett is talking more and more and we remark all the time what a cute and happy boy he is. He can say apple, daddy, go!, thank you, he signs "more", he has said Caillou, he knows the songs in Blues Clues and will hum and sing along. He also calls anything round a "baboon" (balloon). He meows like a cat and says uh-oh, and dog. Phil was making a smoothie yesterday and stuck out his tongue at Rhett. Rhett immediately stuck his tongue right back at him and does it all the time now. Especially since he knows it makes us laugh. It isn't a bratty stick out your tongue face, more like a full on, here is my tongue and now you can see my tonsils. He smacks his lips when something is yummy and makes dramatic eating sounds and bites, like he is chomping into a big apple. He gives love bumps and kisses and has started teasing Max and Kate. Love him.

Costco Cuties

Generally speaking I do not take my kids out grocery shopping, clothes shopping, pretty much any kind of shopping unless it is super short and swift. We don't go out to eat with the kids either. Why punish ourselves and pay for a meal that we can't leisurely enjoy in peace? Thus our outings are short and sweet.

Today we were invited to meet friends at Costco for lunch. Sounds fun right? Instantly I had visions of seas of snow birds, 3 hungry children who were perilously close to nap time, tantrums, craziness, mayhem. Yes, I always see the worst case scenario, why do you ask? :) I told my friend Julie that she was brave and I would be brave with her. Eeeep! I can be brave, right? Right?!

We pulled up to Costco and it was slammed. The parking lot was totally maxed out and I was feeling trepidation. Costco, at lunch time, in December... I found a close parking space (woohoo!), unloaded three kids and linked hands so no one got ran over. The kids were excited to eat pizza with Owen and we found our friends and boxed the kids in with the mammoth carts. I bought us slices of cheese pizza and we shared a very berry smoothie. We ate, talked and survived. Whew! No grand scenes of embarrassment. I told Julie it either goes wonderfully or horribly wrong. And I am grateful that today my parenting skills weren't put on display for all the onlooking blue hairs.

Our 30 minute outing was a success and as the seven of us walked out an older gentleman remarked that there must have been a sale on kids. Haha! I said, "Yes! Buy one get one! Where are yours?". He laughed right back and said, no thank you!

Thank you Julie for the invite and through this gentle reminder that all is not doom and gloom. I don't know why I tend to think of the worst and shy away from such challenges. Well, actually I do know why, because that isn't really my idea of a good time, but with practice we can get there.

Thanksgiving 2012

Our Thanksgiving meal is usually with the Gunnell family and this year was no exception. We had a great crowd and all of Phil's siblings were in town. Gramps Gunnell hosted the event at his community center, Phil's mom, Susan, worked really hard on the meal and everyone pitched in with sides, desserts, etc. Sad thing was that Susan got sick and missed the entire day! We enjoyed visiting with family but I always long for more interaction and tradition. Here is a bit of our day in pictures.

Kate loves Great Grandma Standage and I know that Grandma loves her right back.

My food assignment was mixed veggies and all the girls brought a pie. Wendy requested I bring my lemon meringue and I threw in pecan pie bars since pecan is my favorite. Both were delicious though my crust on the lemon was tough. Boooo! Lesson learned: don't try a new recipe the day of Thanksgiving. I borrowed the picture of the bars from my pinterest board since I didn't take a picture but they turned out precisely like the picture. They were tasty and I ate twelve too many.

The nicely laid out tables complete with edible acorns and turkeys for the kids. Again, so much work from Susan. Stephanie and Allison were in charge of crafts for the kids and it was a hit.



They made turkeys and there was a thankful tree where the kids could trace their hand, write what they were thankful for and those were the tree's leaves. I am thankful for Max, Kate, Rhett and Phil.

Rhett was happy to roam and eat rolls and chocolate acorns. I didn't care what he ate as long as I could eat my meal in peace. Little turkey kept sneaking outside and I "lost" him for a few minutes when I was changing Kate's diaper and Phil was helping Max. The back door was open and I just knew that he slipped outside undetected. Visions of Rhett getting creamed by some senior citizen driving a boat of a Buick kept running through my mind. Thankfully a family member (whom I don't know very well) was outside trying to get his baby girl to nap and he kept an eye on Rhett until someone claimed him.



The best family shot of the day. Max looks like a teenager here.



The dinner was at 12:30 and we left at 3:30. Rhett was a good 3 hours past his nap and he crashed as soon as we headed home in the truck. We let him rest in the truck and Max and Kate played in the front yard with our neighbor Dylan.



Sleeping babies are one of my favorite things, especially my sleeping babies. Mwah! Before I know it they aren't going to be babies anymore.

Goldfield Ghost Town

Early October we went out as a family for an outing to the local ghost town at the base of the Superstition Spring Mountains. The kids were excited to go somewhere and especially with their dad. Heck, I was excited too! Two cool kids kicking it in the back seat.

As we passed the Superstition Mountains and Flat Iron I told Max that Phil and I have climbed to the top. He thought we were awesome and now every time he sees the mountains he says "you climbed the "Super Duper stition" mountains?" Haha.

We unloaded and started our little tour around the dusty town. Rhett was adorable.

Ha! I love this. Max was posing like this on his own, though I did encourage them to get in the mine shaft elevator, or whatever it was.

Kate being her temperamental self and refusing to stand by her brother.

We stopped in the reptile exhibit. The kids have not been conditioned to be leery of such creatures but I had the heebie jeebies the entire time. I kept having visions of the kids knocking off the top of a snake cage and the vile thing getting out and biting one of them.

Um, especially this mondo rattler.



After the reptiles we headed to an overpriced bakery shop. Seeing the prices for one cookie or treat was over $3 we had them all share the dry, dusty confectionery. If you are going to charge $3 it better be tasty!



The outing was maybe an hour long and that seems to be more than enough for Phil and I when we are toting three children, two of which are ornery strong-willed toddlers and one who thinks he can walk every where he darn well pleases.