Hung by the Chimney with Care

The week before Kennedy was born my mom and I made this cute Christmas stocking for her.

Last year (just after we found out we were expecting Jack but before we had told anyone) my mom and I made this stocking for Tristan. I tried to convince her to make another one, "just in case." But she just kind of chuckled.

This year I thought I better make a stocking for Jack and I thought that since the other two kids have a snowman on their stocking I should do one for Jack with a snowman. However, I didn't have a pattern or an idea to work from. Then I saw an ad from Pottery Barn with a stocking decorated with a snowman. I decided to copy the pattern. I thought it turned out pretty nice. What do you think?

This was the one I saw at Pottery Barn.

Getting older. . .

Yesterday was my birthday. We had a busy weekend. As any December-born knows, birthdays are more likely forgotten that remembered during the holiday rush. I'm used to it and it doesn't really bother me anymore. I did get to speak to some family members and that was wonderful. However, I did get to celebrate a little this weekend. Friday night Chris took me to a really nice restaurant which is something we rarely do. Neither one of us can justify spending a week's-worth of groceries on one meal--very often. The menu was pretty exotic. Chris ordered the wild boar but I stayed close to home and ordered a steak. It was really good too. Saturday we hosted a dinner party at our home. We have a group that we get together with every month or two. We all bring part of the meal and have a nice time chatting. There is always one story that brings a good laugh. My friend who brought the dessert knew it was my birthday and her husband's birthday was Friday so she wrote, "Happy Birthday" on the cake and the rest of them sang to us. Sunday was just Sunday. What more can I say? Jack tends to be a little fussy at church because he won't sleep. I rarely get to sit through any of the lessons. One highlight though was that Kennedy sang for the Christmas program. She and one other little girl sang, "Picture a Christmas". She was asked just a week ago to sing this song and she had never heard it before so we had to practice really hard all week. She did really well though. Today I had a pretty strange day. About half way through the day I started feeling really dizzy and nauseous. It was so bad that I had to call a friend to come help me with my kids. I spend the rest of the day lying in bed. I think I'm a little better now so maybe I will go have some cake. . .

Thanksgiving Weekend

We had a nice meal with friends on Thursday. I sure miss family around the holidays but I am so thankful to have good friends here. After the meal all the gals hit the movies--Twilight.

On Friday Chris and a friend went fishing. I spent a whole day taking care of the kids and doing the usual thing--yes, I'm bitter. Not really, Chris deserves a day like that every once in a while. I was just hoping to do some fun, festive activities with the kids. I find it overwhelming taking three kids out by myself right now, with one being a baby and the other a two-year-old.

Chris came home with a hurt back and a head cold so we didn't get our Christmas tree this weekend like we had planned. We did, however, put out our Christmas decorations. Bring on the holidays. . .

Annie

I was just a little girl when the movie "Annie" hit the big screen. I loved it and remember singing with verve, "The sun'll come out tomorrow! Bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow there'll be sun." There was a whole generation that looked at red hair with admiration and fascination for some time. It's been a long time since I thought about little Annie.
A few weeks ago Chris and I were discussing possible birthday ideas for Kennedy's 5th birthday. We decided that instead of buying her another toy that we wanted to "buy" her an experience. We started searching and saw that the musical "Annie" was playing in Raleigh on Kennedy's birthday. I pulled up some clips of various Annie musicals on youtube. Kennedy seemed to really enjoy it so we bought the tickets and wrapped them in pretty paper when they came in the mail.
Tuesday was the big day (birthday and the musical). When she unwrapped the gift we told her that our gift to her was that she and mom were going to get dressed, stay up late and go see Annie.
Kennedy was a fun date to this musical. She went in singing "The sun'll come out tomorrow. . .". She was excited from the very first note. There were a few times that she got a little bored but all in all I was impressed with how well she did. The musical was good too. The woman who played Ms. Hannigan was so good, hilarious.
At the end of the musical Kennedy asked me if she could give Annie two thumbs up. During the curtain call she kept asking me if it was time. Soon Annie came out and I held Kennedy up so she could see (everyone else was standing by then) and she held both her thumbs up high so Annie could see. She's such a cute girl (Kennedy, I mean).

He Likes It. . . .HE Doesn't

Jack turned five months old today. Last week he had his first cold and was miserable. We gave him rice cereal for the first time yesterday and guess what? He likes it!

Whenever Tristan doesn't like something or he is scared he puts his hands overr his ears. He spent a little time on the potty this weekend and guess what? He DOESN'T like it!

Windows

We've had some fun making changes to our home. We've painted Kennedy and Tristan's rooms. Tristan finally got his "big boy bed", bunk beds. We also took down the privacy blinds that we put up when we moved in a year and a half ago and put up real window treatments in their rooms. It's coming along.

We've just about got our dining room finished. We got this rug a few weeks ago and our window treatments were hung yesterday. Just in time for me to host a luncheon with some friends today.

Blessing

Today Jack is two months old. It was also his blessing day. He did well. When I got to church he was fussy so I worried he would cry during the blessing but he was a champ and didn't make a sound. He looked so cute in his little white outfit. He is two months old now and changing daily. His face gets more and more animated every day.

We still have some construction going on in our neighborhood. Tristan--the little BOY that he is--just loves driving past the digger every day. Chris took him and Kennedy down to see it the other day and let them take a turn "driving".
We have been enjoying having Nana and Poppa Kelsey here the past few days. We took a picnic to Duke Gardens yesterday and we couldn't have asked for better weather. The kids enjoyed running around while the adults sat in the shade to relax. This is the last fun thing for summer for us. Kennedy starts preschool in September. She is excited to be going every day.

A few words, pictures and a recipe

I know, I haven't posted in a while. What can I say? I'm busy. I love my job though. Last week Kennedy had a camp at her new preschool. I got a taste of what it will be like driving her to preschool every day. I burned through at least half a tank of gas. Not only that but in five days' time Jack got used to falling asleep in his car seat and sleeping there. Now I'm not sure if he remembers how to sleep. The last two days, especially, have been trying. I literally held him all day yesterday, except for two 45 minute breaks. I can't say I enjoy this stage of infancy. I know I should enjoy these times of holding him, but the truth is, I don't. I want to just be able to lay him down awake in his bed and walk out of the room. Four months is when the "experts" say you can train them to do that--seems so far away.

Yesterday I was really glad that I planned ahead a little bit and had a meal in the freezer I could pop in the oven. I did make some muffins to go with it though. They turned out really good. This is the recipe I used:

Carrot Zucchini Muffins

INGREDIENTS:
2/3 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light or dark brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 cups finely shredded unpeeled zucchini
1/2 cup finely shredded carrot
PREPARATION:
Grease and flour 12 muffin cups. Heat oven to 375°.
In a mixing bowl, beat the oil with eggs, sugars, and vanilla extract.
Combine the flour, soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon; add to the wet ingredients; stirring until blended. Fold in the shredded zucchini and carrots.
Fill muffin cups about 3/4 full; sprinkle with cinnamon sugar or granulated sugar, if desired. Bake for 20 minutes.
Makes 12.

I had to take a picture of Jack's feet. With all of my kids I have been amused by their feet when they are nursing. Maybe it's because it's the only think I can see but they are just so relaxed. I never took pictures of the other two but I had to capture Jack's feet before it's too late. Soon he will be moving around too much.

Five Weeks and Smiling

Sunday was a depressing day for me. After five weeks, my mom left. Help! To make matters worse Chris left for a business trip in Rhode Island. Talk about being drop-kicked into reality. I was determined to take my kids to church even though I would be doing it alone. Happy to say I made it with only a few outbursts in sacrament meeting. It was a little stressful at times but we survived.

When I got home I called Chris on his cell phone. We talked for a while then he instructed me to go out to the mailbox where I would find a surprise. I took the phone with me and we kept talking. The mailbox was empty. I was then instructed to look east. Oh yeah, a treasure hunt! Just then our little tan Corolla came up over the hill and Chris was driving! Turns out his flight was cancelled and the next flight would not get him to the meeting in time for it to be worth it so he decided to stay home.

This week has been extremely busy with the three kids. However, I have been ok. I have just been pretending that having three kids is no big deal. Fake it 'til you make it, right?

Jack turned 5 weeks on Tuesday and he greeted me that morning with his first smile (this is not a picture of his smile). He smiled at me about half a dozen times. So cute. It's nice to get some feedback.

Juggling Act

Jack is a week old. It makes me laugh to think of myself as a new mom with one child. One seems so easy now. When I had Kennedy I stressed over everything. I called the nurse advice line at least once a week for several months. I remember calling one time about her sucking her thumb and she had a sore on her thumb from the sucking. Who calls about things like that? A crazy, stressed-out first time mom, that's who.

Two was ok to manage and it got pretty easy as Tristan got older. It was nice for them to start playing together. It would have been easier these past few months had I not been pregnant. How funny I must have looked at 8 months pregnant running down the street after my toddler who could outrun me by a mile.

So far having three is like a juggling act. One is always up in the air. . .at all times at least one of my kids needs something right now. I wonder how I will manage when my mom leaves. . .

So far though, Jack has been a heavy sleeper. I have to force him awake sometimes just to eat. He was gaining weight really well at first but the past few days he has slept almost the whole day. And, in spite of a rough first night home from the hospital, he has done really well at night. I feed him before I go to bed and he wakes up half-way through the night and then again in the morning when it's time to get up. I take him for a weight check tomorrow to find out how he's growing.

Jack

It's kind of a strange experience having a c-section. We checked in at 8:30 and several things had to happen before Jack was actually delivered. Labs were drawn, consent forms signed, monitors placed, etc. We waited around for several hours then all of a sudden I was wheeled down the hall, prepped and draped and they started cutting away. Even though I was numb I could feel them cutting at my innards. It was so strange to feel that but not feel the pain. All at once here came Jack up over the curtain so we could be (almost) the first ones to know his gender.
I think we were a highlight of the morning for the staff. They were all so excited when I told them we didn't know the baby's gender. Bets were placed left and right.
Jack is a beautiful baby. He surprised us with his blonde hair. He looks more like the Lowe side of the family right now. We'll have to see if he keeps the blonde hair. I think he will. He's been sleeping almost constantly since he was born 24 hours ago. I'm sure that will change soon.
Welcome to the world, little Jack.

The Day Before I Have A Baby

I can't remember what I did the day before I had Tristan but the day before I had Kennedy we watched "Finding Nemo". I remember because we had a similar experience bringing Kennedy into the world as Marlin did bringing Nemo into the world. Kennedy even had a lucky fin.

Today, the day before I have baby #3, I ran last-minute errands all morning and took my kids to the mall to have their pictures taken. My mom flew in last night and the kids have been hanging all over her today. Tristan has fallen in love with Grandma Mary and has nicknamed her "Grammy". I am glad she is here too. I was able to leave my kids with my mom this afternoon and pick up my minivan from the body shop--glad to have that fixed!

Whew! It is still really hard for me to believe that I will be giving birth tomorrow. Life is busy and I think things aren't going to slow down. I am a little nervous about having three kids but I have always felt that way about the unknown. I'm sure in time we will adjust and it will all become comfortable. One thing is for sure. . .the day before I have this baby I feel ready to have this baby out!

Harvest

We've been eating peas for several weeks now. I say we but I really mean the kids. Tristan just helps himself to any pea on the vine, ripe or not. He loves them so much he puts the whole pod in his mouth. I was getting upset with him at first but then I figured that he would be eating the peas when they were ripe anyway so I might as well let him enjoy it. I will give the ripe ones to Kennedy.

Today after church the kids and I went to check on the garden to see if it needs watering tomorrow. I pulled some carrots out of the ground, picked some beans and a small crown of broccoli. This is what I came up with. . .

Enough for one person. Since the kids have eaten most of the peas I helped myself. They were delicious!

Dance Recital

Practicing before dress rehearsal. . .That Sam I AM

Today was Kennedy's dance recital. Her class performed two dances, both numbers were to songs from the Dr. Seuss musical. She has been going to dance once a week since September. She had a really cute teacher and met lots of fun friends in her class. She really enjoyed it and wants to do it again next year.

Dancing on stage. . .

We had a dress rehearsal two days ago. As she performed her first dance I noticed Kennedy was looking at her friend to remember the steps. After I changed her costume I had her sit with me for a few minutes so I could show her what some of the other dancers look like. I pointed out how the "good" dancers were smiling and looking out toward the audience. I didn't want to put any pressure on her by telling her she needed to do that, but she picked up on it and for the next dance she did much better. She really did a good job.
Oh the thinks you can think! The class receiving trophies at the end of the recital.
At home showing mom her trophy and flower (from mom).

"It was an accident!"

That is a direct quote from one of our kids' favorite books, "David Gets in Trouble."
Tuesday nights Chris takes Kennedy to her soccer practice. I usually stay home with Tristan. This week, however, we decided to go as a family. Tristan had a late nap and needed to get some running in before bedtime. That being the case we all loaded up in the van as opposed to the Corolla. We headed down the main road. Suddenly a vehicle in front of us slowed down. Chris quickly pressed on the brakes and we stopped just in time. The vehicle behind us, however, didn't . . . .
The good news is that none of us were hurt. The bad news is that the van was.
We pulled over and used a phone from the business across the street to call the police. We waited for an hour before a state trooper came to inspect the accident. Luckily I had a few pieces of candy in the van and a few camp songs in my head to entertain the kids. They were pretty good waiting that long strapped in their car seats alongside a busy road. We were so glad to be done with the exchange that we went to McDonald's for an ice cream sundae.
I've had so many "what ifs" floating in my mind: what if we had left earlier, what if I had not decided to go, etc. But the fact is, we are all ok and I need to get the van fixed quickly. Like I need one more thing to do in the next week and a half!

Last Hurrah!

This weekend is our official "last hurrah" before the baby comes. Next weekend Chris will be in Tennessee taking his final board exams and the weekend after that is when Mom comes to town.
So what did we do? We took the kids camping. This was Tristan's first time camping and with his latest sleep issues (waking up at 5:30 AM) I wasn't sure how fun it would be.
We picked up Chris from work early Friday afternoon and headed to Falls Lake where we hoped there would be a camping spot left for us on this holiday weekend. Fortunately, there was. As soon as we opened the van doors the kids were ready to start exploring. Tristan, especially, was excited, jumping up and down and shouting "hurray!" I was glad to hear such shouts of jubilee because all week long I had been trying to prep him for the trip by telling him we were going camping and we were going to sleep in a tent. The reply was always, "NO camp!, NO tent!"
One problem we encountered was buying some wood for our campfire. Our grocery store had bundles all winter long but now, when I needed it most, it was gone. I tried a woodcutting business down the road but they didn't have any split wood and the person who owned the business wasn't there. His mother was nice enough to give me some rotten wood for free but we couldn't get it to burn. When we got to our campsite there was a list of local vendors who sell firewood so I went to the closest one and not only had the name of the company changed but they no longer had firewood either. Bad luck. Chris ended up going to Food Lion for charcoal briquettes. Finally at about 8:30 we were ready to eat. Tinfoil dinners. Yum!
We kept the kids up way to late--until almost 10 p.m. but we all went to bed together and all fell asleep pretty quickly--even Tristan. As campgrounds go, though, I was awakened shortly after midnight by another camp's crying child, talking children, barking dog, you name it. It was a pretty happening place for midnight. I meant to take some earplugs because I knew things like that would keep me awake. Between campground noises, the noises in our tent (Tristan woke up a few times and I had to comfort him), getting up to go to the bathroom and the rain I got a grand total of three hours. Tristan woke up with the birds at 5:30 AGAIN. The rest of my family, however, slept pretty much all night. We were pretty tired today though.
After breakfast we had a little rest in the tent while it sprinkled outside (what's camping without a little rain?). Then we went to the beach and let the kids play on the playground. We decided we had better pack up so we could get home in time for naps. It was a short camping trip and I'm sure I/we put in more hours preparing and cleaning up than we actually camped but it was so much fun and I'm glad we did it.
(This is the position he usually assumes at home while playing with cars. Notice he is using a pine cone, driving it back and forth.)

A Day in the Life. . .

A few weeks ago my sweet neighbor asked me if she could send her 11-year-old daughter over once a week to be a "mother's helper" for a few hours. Um, yes. I wasn't going to turn that one down. Her excuse was that her daughter needs to learn responsibilities and that she might learn better if she is helping someone else out rather than doing her assigned chores at home. I think she could see my edemic ankles and knew with my ever-growing stomach that I probably can't bend over very well right now. Either way, I love the help.

Katherine has been over twice now and she is a super helper. She washes windows, cleans out my cupboards, mops my floors, whatever I ask her to do. I should have thought of this before!

Here she is doing my least-favorite chore. Ok, so they are all my least favorite. I live the life of a maid. Clean, clean, clean.

Today I had a day that no "mother's helper" could help with. I hate to complain about being a mom because I looked forward to it and hoped for it for so long. However, some days are just really difficult.

My day started at 5:21 a.m. with Tristan pounding on his door and crying for "mama". Oh, that's me. I thought I better go in and get him back to sleep so he didn't wake up the rest of the sleepers. Fat chance. He was ready for the day. That's ok, I thought. I will just get up and get my chores done and take a nap while he takes a nap.

As chance would have it, Kennedy was ill today. I encouraged her to rest on her bed while I put Tristan down for a nap. She actually fell asleep. That rarely happens anymore. Just as I finished my lunch and headed upstairs to take my nap while all was quiet, I heard a lurching sound coming from Kennedy's room, followed by some cries. I went in and there was her lunch all over the floor. That's ok, I thought, I will give her a bath, clean up the mess and turn on the t.v. for her. Then I will take a little nap.

As chance would have it, Tristan took a one-hour nap and was up and ready to go again by the time I got Kennedy settled in front of the t.v. So I bagged the nap and powered through a bunch more chores. I made four meals to put in the freezer for future use (after the baby comes) and also made a meal to feed the missionaries tonight. I also cleaned up the mess, read some books to my kids and sat down for 5 minutes.

Tomorrow I will prop my feet up and coast the rest of the weekend. . . .

Toddler-Induced Insomnia

So little did I know what I had in store for me this week. The second night after Tristan learned his new trick of climbing out of the crib, I was visited at 3 a.m. by the little guy. From that point on I received a visit about every 20 minutes until I finally gave up at 6 a.m. and just let him stay in our room. I was so tired and upset and the tears just flowed down my cheeks. "I can't be up all night with a newborn AND a toddler". The day continued and I had to go to a dentist appointment which meant that we would be away from the house and his bed, in case he wanted to sleep. I had to leave my kids with a friend and luckily he did ok. I was surprised.
Chris and I discussed the problem and decided that the mattress needed to be on the floor and that Tristan would no longer sleep in the crib. We would leave his door open a crack if he stayed in bed but close it if he got out and came out of his room. Luckily he hasn't learned how to open the door yet or I would be toast because so far the system seems to be working. Tristan doesn't always like going down for a nap but he is getting used to his new sleeping arrangements. He does still try to rebel a little though.
The other day he had a few 5-minute cat naps in the car but was tired enough for a nap. He cried for a few minutes after I closed his door but settled down, played for about a half hour and then fell asleep. What does one play in a room with a crib and a dresser? Just take a look at the picture below.
I guess he prefers sleeping on the floor because he moved his mattress himself. You can't really tell but that is a whole container of wipes on the floor that have been pulled out one by one.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Last night something happened. Our life, as we have known it, changed. Tristan took a leap and the crib has been rendered useless! He climbed out for the first time ever. I was hoping he would not figure this out and we would be able to keep him in longer. But, our little boy is growing and I cannot stop him.
Why is this such a problem, you might ask. . .let me explain what happened when Kennedy figured out how to climb out of the crib. At first it was kind of cute but then she started coming into our room very early in the morning. Instead of getting up with her or taking her back to bed, like I should have, I tucked her safely into our covers and sometimes she would fall back to sleep. I didn't really mind this until she started coming into our room in the middle of the night, sometimes we would have multiple visits before morning. Then we moved her to her big girl bed and I couldn't keep her in that either. It was a constant battle trying to get her to sleep there. She would come out of her room, I would take her back, come out, take back, over and over until one of us would give in. Her sleeping patterns completely changed and sometimes I would resort to resting beside her until she finally fell asleep. Then Tristan came. . . .that just complicated the situation even more, but luckily the battle didn't last much longer.
Now I have Tristan who is all of a sudden terrified of the dark room that is his at night. He cries for "Mama" and climbs out at will. His usual bedtime is 7:30 and last night it was 9:30 until he finally let himself fall asleep. He greeted us at our bedside at 6 a.m. carrying his blankie. Too tired to take him back to bed and start a battle, I let him in ours. I am hoping that we can work out some sort of "routine" or figure out what works for him before this baby comes in five weeks. I don't want to be getting up with two babies again! One is enough for me, thanks.

A List

It turns out Chris finished up his residency just in the nick of time. We were always really careful with our money during our student years but somehow managed to get the things that were absolutely necessary. I always had a mental list of things I was going to do or buy when Chris finished his schooling. However, that list has kind of faded to the back of my mind as the replacement of necessities have taken its place. There are so many things we have had to replace the last few months and there is no way we could have done all that on our previous income. Here is a list of a few things that we have had to replace in the past few months:

• computer--our "old" computer was purchased during medical school. We bought one that fit our budget which turned out to be already outdated and not a good computer in the first place.
• filling--I was so bad with my teeth when I was younger, even in high school when I should have known better. I used to buy 100-count boxes of Blow Pops and eat at least one a day. Needless to say, my teeth are pretty silver! I had my last dentist appointment in November and the dentist told me I would need to have a particular filling replaced soon. I never made the appointment, that is, until it started giving me trouble.
• bed--we bought a bed shortly after we moved to NC. The house we purchased was new and we received incentives along with it, one of them being a gift certificate at a local furniture store. Again, we purchased a bed that was in our budget. Lately with my pregnant body and Chris's bad back, we are not getting much sleep. Off to the store this weekend to buy a new bed--this time a better quality that will hopefully last more than 4 1/2 years.
• van--this is not necessarily a replacement but a required upgrade. With #3 on the way there was no way we could fit three car seats in our Corolla.
• vacuum--we received a vacuum for our wedding (12 years ago this Sunday), a Eureka that we used from the time we had our first apartment until we moved into this house. It recently died but I thought 12 years was pretty good for a vacuum cleaner. I started doing some research and found that most vacuums in that category don't last nearly that long. It was difficult to find a vacuum that didn't cost $500 that sounded like it would be a good quality machine. I only have carpet in the upstairs and didn't need the fanciest model. I finally settled on another Eureka. Hopefully it will last another 12 years or so.

I feel incredibly blessed that all these things lasted as long as they did and that we have had the means to replace them all. We have so many other blessings to be thankful for too. This is by no means a brag list but an acknowledgement that we are blessed and I know He is watching out for us. It's good to make a list sometimes. . . .

Southern Hospitality

I have often been asked of the "southern hospitality" here in North Carolina. "Don't you just LOVE southern hospitality?" I've heard people say. Well, let me just tell you, I haven't really noticed that people here are any nicer than anywhere else I have lived. Here is an example of the "hospitality" that I often encounter.
The other day I was grocery shopping with my two children, not my favorite activity. I had a cart full of groceries and proceeded to the checkout. There was only one line open as the store was almost empty of customers (I could hear crickets in the background). The light above the counter read, "EXPRESS LANE 15-item limit". I knew I had more than 15 items but since it was the only open line and there were no other customers, I pulled my cart forward and started unloading. This is the conversation that followed between me and the checker:

Checker: "Good morning, Ma'am. Uh, how many items do you have in your cart? Oh, you have more than 15-items. You can't come through this line."
(crickets)
Me: "Well, this is the only open line, where am I SUPPOSED to go?????"
Checker (to another employee): "Hey, David, are you open?"
David: "I will be in a minute, I am just opening my register."
Checker: "You can go to the other line. Sorry for the inconvenience."

So, I put my items back in my cart and wheeled it over to another counter and waited for the register to to be put in working order. After a few of my items were rung in the checker from the Express Lane came over and started bagging my groceries!
So much for hospitality. . . .

How Did That Dinosaur Get Under My Lip. . . .And Other Random Thoughts

Here are some thoughts I wanted to write down this week but have been "consumed" by life and haven't made my self sit down to write a full blog about each.

• I found out this week that the preschool I took Kennedy out of is closing the end of May and will not open next fall. I know some parents are upset because all the other preschools are full now but all the same, I think it's for the best. I think there is one original teacher who will finish out the school year. Some of the teachers have turned over twice. There is obviously something going on with that place. I know that this is not solely a consequence of our situation but I am sure it was one more thing to add to the list. From what I have learned, the pastor has not been happy with the director this year, neither have I.
• My garden is doing really well. Strawberries have blossoms, peas are over a foot tall, ferns finally poked up and the raspberry bushes are really starting to get some good leaves.
• I took Tristan to his 2-year check up last week and there is only a 5 pound difference between him and Kennedy. Last year she could still wear size 3T and he is now in size 3T. He was 97th percentile for weight and about 95 for height. It is funny to watch him tackle Kennedy and wrestle her down. She won't be bigger than him much longer if he keeps it up.
• Saturday we had a nice little gathering to celebrate Tristan's birthday. He was a little intimidated by being the center of attention (something Kennedy never shies away from).
• Kennedy is turning out to be quite the orator. A few weeks ago we got a book on CD from the library, "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs", my favorite when I was a kid. We had only had it for about a week when Kennedy started reciting it back to me word for word. I was amazed and she has told the whole story several times. It's not a short book either. Her mind amazes me.
• You are probably wondering where my title came from. Chris has been having trouble with his back again and took some pain medicine one night before going to bed. He dozed off while saying his prayers and I had to wake him up and help him into bed before he fainted. In the process he looked up and asked, "How did that dinosaur get under my lip?" I don't know sweetie, maybe the tooth fairy put it there.

I'm Two

Happy birthday Tristan! Tristan's birthday started out with a typical two-year-old's tantrum. He was upset because I wouldn't give him a piece of candy for breakfast. Then he didn't like the shirt I put on him. He was running around the house, throwing himself at me and the floor and screaming. I couldn't do anything to calm him.

Things didn't get any better when I took him to get a haircut. He was throwing such a tantrum that the lady didn't even get to finish the haircut. And I had to still pay for a haircut.

The situation got even worse when the next stop was the dentist. He was fine until he had to sit in the chair. This was his first visit and he already hates having his teeth brushed. It took me and the hygienist to hold him down so the dentist could look at his teeth. Poor thing. I wonder what he will think when I take him to the doctor tomorrow for his shots.

I felt so bad that I took him and Kennedy to Chick Fil-a for lunch and let them play on the playground. That made everything better according to Tristan. He was happy until we left and saw a little girl with a balloon. He decided he wanted one too and threw another tantrum until I managed to find one for him.

What's that "terrible twos?" I never experienced this with Kennedy but I have also heard that for boys it's two and for girls it's three. So far, that's what it seems in my family.

I will say that after Tristan's nap he was very pleasant for the rest of the day. He really is a sweet boy and I'm glad he is my son.

Happy birthday, sweet boy!

Conference Weekend

Saturday Tristan slept much later than usual. So late that I checked on him twice before we finally woke him up. We all came downstairs and he was clearly not himself. He was very lethargic and just wanted to be held. He asked for a "gulk" so I gave him a sippy cup of milk. Chris made French toast for breakfast and shortly after starting our meal Tristan started gagging and the milk and toast were all over the table. Poor thing has never had a vomiting illness and was very confused by the whole incident.

We cleaned up the mess, gave Tristan a bath and set him in front of the t.v. watching "Cars". He was content for the moment. After conference started he fell asleep in my lap. I took him up to bed and hoped for the best.

By the afternoon Tristan had perked up and wanted to eat. I begrudgingly gave him some yogurt and a bit of water. He kept that down and by the time dinner came he was back to his old self again.

Sunday we continued our tradition of visiting Duke Gardens between sessions. It was the first time we have worn coats on our Conference outing.

The grounds were very wet. I didn't think we would be going to the gardens because of Tristan's recent illness and the wet weather we had been having. I thought I could safely dress Kennedy in white pants. She saw the hill that she typically likes to barrel roll down and made a dash for it. Chris and I were trying to keep Tristan from going into a little stream near by when we turned around and saw Kennedy rolling down the muddy hill. She stood up and then slid down on her bum. Her white pants were and are no longer white. It was one of those "oh well" moments.

The kids really enjoy the gardens and we ended up going with the neighbors kids the next day too.

Garden Update

My garden is coming along. I thought that since there is actually some green now I would take a few pictures.

Square-Foot Garden. Peas are growing really fast. The carrots, green onions and cilantro are just an experiment. They didn't do well last year. I was hoping it was because I planted too late and it was too hot. The lettuces are from seedlings so I cheated a little bit there but they seem to be doing well.

My strawberries are growing fast too. I was surprised at how quickly they came up from their bare roots.

My landscaping plants are taking a little longer. Although the "Forget Me Nots" have a few flowers, the snowdrops are taking their time and I haven't seen any growth on the ferns. I'm hoping its just to early for them.

Here is what I'm most excited for: Rhubarb. Especially since my mom will be here in June and can make me one of her special straberry rhubarb pies!

Our New Boat

A week ago Saturday I went out, by myself, to test drive minivans. I stopped at the Toyota dealership first and tried a 2007 Toyota Sienna. It was nice but didn't have all the options I wanted. I visited the Honda dealership next and drove a 2005 and 2006 Honda Odyssey. Very nice, right price but didn't feel right. After driving the two types of vans I decided I would rather have a Honda. I know a lot of people with Honda Odysseys and they all love their vans. I took home some information to my dear husband and we thought about it for a few days. I have been wanting a minivan for a long time but when it came down to it none of the three vans I tried on Saturday felt right. I started looking online for used Odysseys and found one I really liked. I got really excited and called the dealership first thing Monday morning. I scheduled an appointment to see the van on Tuesday when Chris could come with me. However, when I checked back with them that afternoon the van had been sold. DARN! Back to square one. After rolling it around in his head for a bit, Chris decided that a new 2008 van would be an option. He did some homework and found some tips online for buying a new car. He calculated approximately how much the dealership paid for the vehicle, added about $500 and said he would not take a higher price. We scheduled a babysitter and headed out to the Honda dealership. Chris drove the '06 and liked it. Imagine our surprise when we went in to discuss prices and the sales manager offered a new van to us at $25 below the price we previously agreed would be a "good price". Before we could commit to anything, he came back and offered an even lower price. The only haggling that took place was with the price on our trade-in, a 1993 Honda Civic hatchback. All in all we got a great deal, stayed within our budget and got a brand new van for only a bit more than the "06 would have been. We are happy.