Monday Mumblings: Injuries and whatnot

1. My tooth is "less loose" today.

2. I grind my teeth at night so I'm kind of surprised it didn't fall out over night!

3. I had to take Brandon to the eye doctor this morning.

4. He had a "cornea abrasion"... the culprit? Riley.
After my post yesterday, are you really very surprised?

5. This is his 2nd cornea abrasion in 5 years!
The first one was courtesy of Chandler at 7 months old... babies have SHARP fingernails!

6. Currently he's laying in the bed attempting to sleep.

7. I asked him if I could lay in the bed all day if I had a cornea abrasion. :)

8. He threatened to give me one! :)

9. I had a leftover cupcake (from Chandler's party) for breakfast this morning... that's been the highpoint of the day so far!

10. I finally printed my pictures from Australia. They are going into a fun photo album today... I bought it at Target back in October.

*sigh* Here's to hoping that this day gets better from here!

Free kid to a good home!

Yeah, that's right... I thought about advertising a low asking price, but now she's just free.
Only serious inquiries please.

This was one of THOSE days!

Yeah, this picture is from this past January when Riley tried to bake me a birthday cake, but you get the idea!

The first time I attempted to make dinner was at 3:00...
I rounded the corner in the kitchen to find Riley ankle deep in grits... yes, grits!
I tried to sweep them, but that just wasn't working.... so I pulled out my vacuum cleaner.

The second time was about 3:30...
I went to pull the chicken out of the microwave and hear, "MOM! Riley's pouring milk out!"
I round the corner into the living room to find Riley had managed to unscrew the lid on her sippy cup and has poured her milk on their coloring table.
I soaked up the milk and disinfected the table.

The third time was about 4:00...
I again tried to get the chicken out of the microwave when I heard the toilet lid in our back bathroom...
I RAN to the bathroom to find that Riley had dumped an entire box of feminine products all over the floor.
I started towards her and FELL! Why did I fall? BECAUSE THE FLOOR WAS WET!
Apparently she was using Chandler's brand new knit beanie hat (with silver tinsel on it) to soak up all of the water in the toilet and transport it to my bedside table!!!
It was only 20 minutes later when I discovered the hat laying on my bed... still soaked!

From 4:30 till Brandon got home just after 5:00 I sat on my bed and then on the floor in my room using a hair dryer to dry the mattress and the carpet... not because I was overly worried about our old crappy carpet, but because if I didn't do something I was afraid my head would explode!!!

In 2 hours, Riley managed to destroy my house!!!

However, over dinner we had a lovely chat with Chandler about the current happenings in the love life of kindergarteners.

C: "I have another boyfriend now."
B: "Oh yeah? What's his name?"
C: "I don't know."
J: "Is he in your class?"
C: "Yes."
B: "Then you should know his name!"
C: "Ethan."
J: "Ethan C. or Ethan M.?"
C: "The one with the yellow hair that sticks up like this." (As she pulls her bangs straight out from her forehead)
J: "C or M?"
C: "C."
B: "Is he the one that eats breakfast with you in the mornings?"
C: "Yes."
B: "Does he go to church?"
C: "Not to my church."
B: "Does he go to another church?"
C: "Yes, but he didn't tell me which one."
B: "Chandler. I forbid you to see him again!"
C: With big round eyes "I always see him at school!"

We just died laughing...

As she was saying all of these things I grabbed a coloring book (don't you have coloring books laying on your table at dinner time?) and started writing down everything she said.

C: "Um. Are you writing down everything I'm saying?"
J: "Yes."
C: "Why?"
B: "Because you are funny."

A few minutes later...
C: "I want to marry Ethan C."
J: "Chandler don't ever get married."
C: "Look at my eyes! I'm so mad at you that you won't let me marry him!"

Looks at me...
C: "Are you gonna write that down mom?"

5 Days without Daddy: Day 2

2 days down. 3 to go!

I slept pretty good last night. Unfortunately I didn't fall asleep until 1:00am. Once I got to sleep I think I only stirred a few times... Even when Brandon is here I don't sleep through the night, but at least I don't have to wake up every few hours devising an escape plan should someone break into our house or the kitchen spontaneously com bust in the middle of the night. :)

I woke this morning with a KILLER headache. The kind that you just know won't be affected by a few Tylenol. I slept as late as I possibly could then had to DRAG myself to the shower in order to get Chandler to her 10:00 swim lesson on time.

We made it to the Y with a few minutes to spare.

Riley isn't very good at sitting through the swim lesson so after she ate her banana I took her to the nursery.

Swim Lesson Recap:
She did AMAZING!
She's still having trouble "laxing" enough to float on her back. I noticed today that she will FIGHT to keep her ears out of the water. If you know how to float on your back you know you have to get your ears below the water to successfully float. I think she's fighting because of SO MANY ear infections her first year of life and the swimmer's ear she developed during swim lessons last year. NOTE TO SELF: Talk to her swim teacher before the lesson starts tomorrow.

Biggest accomplishment of the session:
She jumped off of the diver's block 3 times! Last year the distance between the diver's block and the water's surface made her really nervous... this year, no problem! I did notice that she hesitated slightly before her 1st jump. She said something to her teacher (I couldn't hear because I was sitting behind the observation glass at the shallow end of the pool). The teacher responded and then she jumped. Of course there was a guy in the water to help catch the kids who were nervous about jumping into the deep end of the pool!

Conversation at the end of the lesson:
C: "Mom! Did you see me jump in the deep water?"
J: "Yeah Chan! You did GREAT! I was so proud of you."
C: "It was a little scary, but my teacher said the boy would catch me."
J: "Yep and he did catch you."
C: "Well, not really. I went under water a little, but he touched my arms."
J: "Well, that just means that you didn't really need him to catch you. You did it all by yourself."
C: "Yeah, but I still want him to try to catch me. I'm going to tell my teacher that at the next swim lesson."

When Chandler's lesson was over, she and I head to the outdoor pool. I left Riley in the nursery. I still had my headache and I wasn't up for chasing both of them!

She found a friend with a "surfboard".

And some friends who wanted to play "Tag! You're it!"

After about 30 minutes, one of our friends showed up with her 2 little girls. One is Chandler's age and the other is Riley's age.
I had planned to leave after about an hour outside, but they were playing so well together (and it was nice to talk to another mommy of 2 girls the same age as my girls) that I hated to drag Chandler away. Instead I went inside and brought Riley out for a swim.
She did really well. She didn't wander quite as much as on Saturday, but I didn't get to sit very much!

Riley trying to figure out a CapriSun. :) She just kept squeezing it all over herself.

"I may be juice soaked, but I'm still cute!"

Notice her red arm band? All kids 14 years old and under MUST wear an arm band to be allowed in the pool.
My friend with the 2 girls and I thought it was silly for Riley and her baby to wear arm bands considering the arm bands are to notify the lifeguards of each child's swimming ability.
Do you know any 13 month olds or 15 month olds who can swim?

We had lunch at home and then we all crashed for a good nap. I don't think Chandler actually slept, but she did lay down on the sofa with me while I dozed in and out.

Other than my headache which I still had at dinner time, the day was pretty uneventful UNTIL just before 7:00...

Chandler has a HORRIBLE habit of NOT FLUSHING THE TOILET! I don't understand why it's so hard, but she can't do it! I've reminded her time and time again that she MUST flush the toilet especially now that Riley can walk (I bet you can see where I'm going with this...).

Just before 7:00 Chandler was having a snack and watching a movie (I know, surprise, surprise!). Riley was wandering back and forth from her room to the living room. I could hear her little feet slapping across the hardwood and then the kitchen and then the sound of her hand dragging along the wall in the hallway on her way to her room.
A few minutes go by and I hear her laughing... no big deal.
I go check on her and she is in the bathroom with 2 HANDFULS OF PEE PEE SOAKED TOILET PAPER! I would like to tell you that I caught her just as she committed this horrendous act, but NO. She had already smeared pee pee soaked toilet paper all over the floor, the toilet and the tile walls. UGH! **Did I mention that I STILL have my headache?

So, my kids went to bed PROMPTLY at 8:00 with a stern warning to not even THINK about getting out of bed or calling me for anything other than vomit! :)
Ok, not really, but they did go to bed at 8 and I did tell Chandler that I didn't want her getting up.

I soaked up the water on the floor with the towels from their baths (yes, I washed all of the nasty pee pee toilet paper off of her!) and tossed everything that could be machine washed in the washer.

As soon as I wrap up this blog I'm off to scrub the bathroom floor. I planned to do it on Friday, but apparently Riley had other plans for me! :)

I know, at least it wasn't poopy toilet paper!

Mother's Day 2008

Happy Mother's Day from our family to your's!

Here's a little bit of what happened at our house this weekend....

Riley was feeling generous and decided to make me a nice mug of hot chocolate... she knows it's my favorite!

"Hey Mom!"

"Oops! We're all out!"

I only have myself to blame... remember the birthday cake she tried to make for me?

Well, I STILL don't have my cabinet doors back on my cabinets!
I have a goal: My mother-in-law (Debbie), my sister-in-law (Lainey), and my nephew (Colten), are coming to visit in a few weekends so I MUST have them back on before they get here... Well, before Colten gets here. There's no telling what kind on concoctions he and Riley might cook up!

This morning the Cherub Choir sang at church. The Cherub Choir is made up of kiddos ages 2-5. I am their fearless leader (Actually I'm quite scared of them. I just try not to let it show. Some of them can smell fear!!).
The kids did AMAZING! I was so proud of them... No photos, but I'll try to get a video posted... eventually!
It was a little bitter-sweet. This was Chandler's last performance with the Cherub Choir. Once the kids start Kindergarten they move up to the Children's Choir. :(

Lunch at O' Charley's and then home to RELAX! :)

I received some great cards, some much desired items for my kitchen, and a new watch. :)

I realized as it was nearing bedtime that I didn't have a single photo of me and my girls so we had a QUICK photo shoot.

Me and Chan. Please ignore the spots all over the mirror!! GROSS!

Me and a VERY HAPPY Riley just before bedtime!

All in all a GREAT DAY!
Hope your Mother's Day was just as great (if not better!). :)

"Honey! Add Baking Soda to the Grocery List!"

So, here's how my 28th birthday played out...

Chandler woke up around 8:45 and stumbled into the living room where Riley and I were watching cartoons. She walks up to me and says, "Mom. Today is your birthday!" That was a GREAT way to start my day! She had informed Brandon, the night before, that she would NOT be singing Happy Birthday to me so I asked her, "Are you going to sing to me?" Her reply, "Sure mom!" She sang. It made me happy. It made Riley laugh. It made Chandler feel good. We are off to a pretty good start.

Around 10:30 Riley goes down for a nap so Chandler and I sit down to discuss some important issues like, "What's for lunch mom?"

While we were sitting there and talking I decided that it was a good time to explain Riley's surgery. I told her all about it and her first question was, "I don't have a bump like that do I???" I told her no and that she would not be having surgery. She was relieved. HOWEVER, I did tell her that tomorrow (today the 15th) is her Kindergarten physical. I told her about checking her eyes and ears. Seeing how much she weighs and how tall she is now. Then (we all know how much Chandler LOVES shots *note the sarcasm!*) I told her that she would have to get shots. At that moment she completely fell apart. She fell over onto the bed wailing, "No mom! No! I can't get shots. They hurt... I ALREADY GOT A SHOT!!!! Do I get to pick a toy at the store?"

We talked about why we have to get shots and about how she cannot go to school until she gets them. Her response, "Then I don't want to go to school!" My reply, "Chandler, I know that's not true! You talk about going to school EVERYDAY!" **In fact pretty much everyday since her 4th birthday. She finally got over her melt down. We talked about all of the other things we would need to do to get ready for school in the fall: buy a backpack ("Can it have princesses on it?"), buy a lunch box ("Can it be a princess lunch box?") buy school clothes ("Can they be princess clothes?"), buy school shoes ("Princess shoes?"), buy school supplies ("what are school supplies?"): paper ("Princess paper?"), pencils ("princess pencils?"), crayons ("How about markers?), glue, scissors, Kleenex ("why? we have Kleenex here.")
If you can't tell... Chandler is mildly obsessed with Disney Princesses and she is the QUEEN of questions!

After she was finished discussing school preparation she had lunch and seemed ok with getting shots, but I dared not bring it up again.

Later while she was talking to my dad (who called to sing Happy Birthday to me) she said to him, "Squire, I have to get shots tomorrow so I can go to school, but it's ok. I'm brave because I am 5 years old." I was REALLY glad to hear that!

So, other than the "shot drama" we are still having a pretty good day. UNTIL.... after Riley's nap.

I was checking e-mail. I heard Riley crawling towards the kitchen, but it sounded like she stopped near the table (probably looking for a cheerio dropped at lunch time!). After a minute (maybe even less than a minute) I popped my head around the corner to check on her. This is what I found:She had NOT stopped at the table. She had discovered the kitchen cabinets and all of the wonderful things normally hidden behind cabinet doors. I say normally because this is what my cabinets look like:Back before Thanksgiving I started a kitchen remodel plan. I took the cabinet doors off (only on 1 side of the kitchen), sanded everything, painted everything, but only put up a few doors. Why did I put up the doors at the ceiling and not at the floor level?? Riley wasn't crawling then and I KNEW I would get them back up before she learned how. Oops!

Baking soda and marshmallows. Chandler decided that Riley must have been trying to bake me a cake for my birthday. :)

"What else can I pull out of there??"

I took a little time to take a few pictures... I knew the story wouldn't be as funny without them. :)

We cleaned up Riley's creation and both girls got a bath (Chandler was sneaking in "play time" with the baking soda while I was cleaning the baking soda off of Riley).

When Brandon came home he had a pizza and a chocolate cake. Yay! I had requested pizza and Chandler was disgusted when I told her that we would not be having a birthday cake so she requested that Brandon pick up a cake on his way home... worked out good for me too! :)

I thought about just doing 1 candle, but Chandler said I couldn't have just one because I am old. Thanks Chan. We started counting out 28 candles (I had to open 2 packages! You know you are old when one package of candles isn't enough!). I think Chandler got bored counting. She normally stops at 20 so this was a challenge!

Here's the cake with 28 candles.

I got 27 in one try. Chandler blew out number 28.

Riley enjoying cake

Chandler gives it a thumbs up!

It was good!

Here's what 28 candles look like!