On the Mend

I was able to stay home on Sunday night to help out with the kids. Mike had a rough weekend with them. But I'm happy to report that they are finally feeling better. I'm hoping to send Ethan and Mia to preschool tomorrow. They've missed a couple of days in the past week.

Mike is leaving for a business trip tomorrow. He goes to Phoenix a couple of times per year. He'll be gone until Saturday. I can't say I'm too excited about him being gone! It'll be interesting, that's for sure. I can't leave because of preschool, otherwise I'd go stay with my parents. Wish me luck!

Follow-Up

Riley was wheezing this morning, so I was able to get her squeezed in to see the doctor when I took Mia. Mia sounds much better but is still really sick. The breathing treatments are doing their job, thankfully. She still hasn't eaten anything but the doctor isn't concerned. His main concern is whether or not she's drinking. He told us to push liquids. It's easier said than done!

He didn't test Riley for RSV because he was 100% positive she had it (along with Ethan.) He listened to her and basically said her lungs sounded like crap. They did a chest x-ray on her and thankfully, it showed no obvious signs of pneumonia. We are to start breathing treatments on her as well. And since we have enough xopenex, we will start Ethan too.

I called in to get work off tonight. Three crabby kids all on breathing treatments every 4 hours is too much for one person. Plus, the girls have been throwing up. It's been miserable around here!

Acute Care

Mia continued to get worse and just looked awful, so I took her to acute care on Thursday. They did a chest x-ray, cbc, and a breathing treatment because she was wheezing. It turns out she has RSV and pneumonia. Apparently, the RSV caused the pneumonia, so it's different than bacterial pneumonia. Since Ethan and Riley both have fevers, cough, runny noses, it's safe to assume that they have it too.

We picked up a nebulizer, xopenex, and augmentin (an antibiotic) for her. She's beyond crabby. I feel so bad for her. She hasn't eaten anything in a couple of days. She is drinking some, so I guess that's the important thing.

It took about three hours to go through acute care and wait for our stuff in the pharmacy. Mia was pretty good the entire time. Though, she kept saying, "let's go, let's go" the entire time we were there.

I need to bring her back on Friday for a follow-up appointment to make sure she is still doing okay.

Just Plugging Along

I can't wait for spring! The kids are all sick again with fevers, runny noses, and coughs. I knew that they would get sick more because of preschool and daycare, but this is getting ridiculous! I think we've been sick almost the entire winter. I hope they get better soon. The only good thing about them being sick is that they are extremely cuddly.

Riley was awake almost the entire night on Tuesday night. She was running a fever and was so restless. Mia also crawled in bed with us at 5am. I got Mia some tylenol (because she felt warm) and a drink of milk. She then puked all over the place while in bed with us. I caught most of it with her blanket. There's nothing like being puked on when half-asleep! It was not a good night! Last night was a little better. Riley woke up and Mia crawled in bed with us again at 5am. Poor kids! And now Ethan is running a fever.

I'm almost done with my cabinet project. I'm debating whether or not I want to put the glaze on the frames of the cabinets and I have some holes to fill in. I'll probably finish it after I work this weekend and will post some pictures. I'm ready to be done with it. I'm very motivated the first few days, and then I start getting really sick of it. My inspiration is Paula Deen's kitchen. It didn't turn out as well as I wanted it to, but I'm liking it more each day. I've figured out that I'm quite a perfectionist when doing these types of things. I've also noticed that I get really crabby when things don't go the way I want them to. :)

Ethan is currently obsessed with spiderman. It's funny how most little boys go through that stage. He really hadn't seen any cartoons of spiderman, but one day, he wanted everything spiderman. He even does the little wrist thing and pretends to shoot webs out. It's really cute. We run around the house doing that. Even Mia and Riley get in on it. He also really likes superman right now. He pretends that he can fly. Ethan jumped on me a few times "pretending" to fly. Ouch.

Mia is currently obsessed with a frog game on my Ipad. She is constantly wanting to play it. You make the frogs jump around the lily pond and you can make little baby frogs. Riley also likes to play it, and Riley is always saying, "my turn, my turn, my turn." A fight usually follows because Mia doesn't want to give it up. Mia also really likes a horse movie. It's called something like "Spirit Horse of the Cimarron Tribe" or something confusing like that. She and Ethan fight over what to watch. Mia will say, "horse movie" and Ethan screams, "mimerman." I usually put the horse movie on for Mia and let Ethan watch spiderman on my Ipad.

Riley is still obsessed with her baby dolls. She notices if we forget one when she takes a nap and will throw a huge fit if we don't get it for her. She has recently learned how to open doors so that has been loads of fun. :) I still can't believe she'll be 2 in a month! She seems so much older than that to me. I guess it's because she copies everything the twins do, so she seems more like a 3 year old. Riley is talking a lot more so it's fun hearing all the things she comes up with.

Preschool is still going well. Both kids are flourishing. I've seen such a big improvement in their speech. Ethan has started counting better. He'll say, "one, two, three, ake, nine, ten, eweven." He is so proud of himself! Mia still says, "two, two, two" and so on until she's done. It's a work in progress.

These are the two girls Riley was bullying at the SuperBowl Party. Lillian is on the left and London is on the right.

He was chucking snowballs at me. I'm pretty sure Mike taught him that.

The girls stay pretty close to each other when they're outside.

I tell her about 15 times a day to leave my dishwasher alone. She also likes to turn my garbage disposal on and off too.

I was trying to get one of those cute pictures of our toe nails painted. Ethan wanted his done as well. I didn't think anyone would see it, but he takes his socks off as soon as he gets to daycare. Elizabeth asked me about his painted toe nails. Haha

Bucky, Potty Training, Really?

Mike decided to put Riley on the potty chair this last weekend. She actually peed. I honestly thought it was a fluke. I thought she was too young to start potty training, considering she isn't two yet.

I was letting her run around naked yesterday and put her on the potty chair. She went! We clapped, sang, and did the potty dance. She was so proud of herself. She peed 6 times in the potty chair yesterday. She's gone a few times today all ready. She doesn't really tell me she has to go. I have to ask her if she needs to go, and she always says, "yets."

I would be amazed if she were potty trained this early. I wasn't planning on starting her until she was closer to 2 1/2. I just figured she wouldn't be ready until then. I suppose she sees Ethan and Mia going and she wants to join in.

What to do this weekend...We have a spare bedroom downstairs that I've wanted painted since we've moved in. The previous owners painted it a metallic gold color and it's hideous. I think we might start that this weekend. (And we means Mike.) Of course, I am still deciding on paint colors.

I also want to finish the rest of my kitchen project. I painted my island and two hutches a green color and then antiqued over it. I'm planning on keeping my cabinets white and then antiquing over them. I have new knobs, pulls, and hinges to put on. It's such a big project that I'm dragging my feet a little bit.

Tonight, we're going over to my sister's house for pizza. Yum! I'm saving up some Weight Watchers points for that! Sarah and I are hoping to sneak out and run to the mall. The guys want to run to the fish store. Those are our plans for the night!

Desperate Times Call for Desperate Measures

So, I'm getting pretty selfish about quiet time. I say it's for the kids, but lets be honest here, it's quiet time for me. It's my "sanity time." I want at least an hour in the afternoon to do what I want to do, watch what I want to watch, and drink pop without the kids harassing me for drinks.

The little boogers have figured out how to open both types of childproof door handle locks. I've put duct tape and clear tape on them. I've tried wrapping cardboard around the door handle. I went to Target to get a baby gate only to realize that the twins know how to unlatch the one they carry. I've thought about putting a lock on the outside of their door, but I don't know if that'd look very good.

This has been happening for over a week now. My "sanity time" consists of me telling them to go back to their room and them laughing their little butts off. What's funny is when they come out of their room (and I can hear everything, by the way), they think they're being really quiet and they tell each other to "shhhhh" and then peek around the corner. I am staring at them, of course, and they both start giggling.

I got really desperate today. I decided to move my console table in front of their door.

Ethan thinks it's a big game.

Look at that smile. I was thinking that it might actually work. It's really heavy, so I didn't think they'd be able to move it.

Huh. I didn't realize that they'd be able to climb over the top of it. Even little Mia could climb over it. I then put suit cases on top of the console table. They just pushed the suit cases off and climbed over the top and came into the living room.

Then I came up with a marvelous idea. What if I took the door handle off? I got my screwdriver out and had it off in less than a minute.

Hahahahahahahaha. You two can't outsmart your mom! (This SO sounds like something my dad would say.)

Ethan's little eye peeking through the door. I'm still laughing by the way!

Riley's Babies

These are just a few of the babies Riley sleeps with every night. There are even a couple of missing in the picture. It's a big process trying to round everything up. She notices if you forget one of them too. I've tried that a few times when I couldn't find one of her babies and she threw a complete fit!

I'm surprised she can sleep with all of that stuff in there!

Mia's Homework

Mia had to do some homework this past week. The teacher sent home a book with shapes. We needed to glue the shapes on the right page and then work with Mia on her shapes and colors. It turned out really well except we didn't have any glue. The glue stick was rock hard, so we used tape. It still turned out cute! Ethan and Riley were helping as well.

The book copied a well-known book which I can't remember the name. Her shape book goes like this, "purple diamond, purple diamond, what do you see? I see an orange oval looking at me." Very cute idea!

I wonder if she's going to be a leftie?

Up to no good! :)

School Conferences

We had Ethan and Mia's parent-teacher conferences on Monday. It seems weird to me that we're all ready going to conferences. It makes me feel really old! I'm happy to report that they are doing well.

The teacher said that Ethan is very quiet in class. She said he hasn't hardly said one word. He is starting to come out of his shell, and she is very impressed with his toilet using skills. When he first started going to preschool, he would disappear and they would go look for him and he would be in using the bathroom. Now, he'll walk up to them and just look at the teacher. She asks him if he has to go to the bathroom, and he'll nod.

She said he has never cried once. She mentioned that he really likes doing art projects. In fact, when we went to his classroom, we saw 3 paintings that he had done. The teacher said he kept painting and painting and painting. He has made some friends in class. He is in a class with all boys. I feel SO sorry for those teachers! :) Could you imagine having only boys in your class? :) And all the patience you'd need for all of those boys!!

Ethan has a pair of black dress shoes that he absolutely loves. He will only wear these shoes when he runs around in the gym. The teacher mentioned his black dress shoes and how they are always coming untied. Mike and I just laughed. I explained to her how particular he is about things and I promised we'd find him some better shoes that he'd wear. We went that night and bought him some spiderman shoes that light up. Problem solved!

Mia has also been very quiet in class. Her teacher said that if you listen very close, you can hear her whisper the words. She is starting to come out of her shell as well. She said that it has taken Mia a little while to transition into their routines. I asked if Mia cries at school. She said that she hasn't cried for the last 1 1/2 weeks. When she first started, Mia would cry whenever they finished an activity. The teacher thought she was crying because she didn't know what was coming next and it scared her. They made a picture board for Mia so they could point and show her what they are going to do next. The teacher said this has helped tremendously.

She also cries whenever she has to use the bathroom. She'll go up to the teacher and start crying. The teacher will ask if she needs to go to the bathroom, and she'll nod. The teacher is also impressed with her toilet using skills!

Mia has made a little friend in school named Marilyn. I'd like to meet her one day! When the twins first started school, the teachers would let them see each other every day. If Ethan walks by Mia's class, Mia will point and say, "brother!" They get to see each other in gym class each day. When they first started, Ethan and Mia would run off together and play. Now, Mia will run up to Ethan and try to play with him, but he's too busy with all the boys, so Mia will then go play with Marilyn.

It sounds like they're progressing well! I've got to buy some Valentine's for their party on Monday. It's so funny doing this all ready. My babies are growing up so fast.

Super Bowl Weekend

Our weekend went well. We drove to DeSmet on Sunday for the game. There were seven kids aged 3 and younger. It was rather interesting! I found out that Riley is quite the bully, or at least she was on Sunday.

There were two girls that she picked on that day. They are both a year older than her (and bigger, I might add), so they were 2 1/2. One was named London and the other was Lillian (my good friend's daughter.) Shortly after we got there, London came up to me and said, "Riley bit me." She had tears streaming down her face. London's mom was very nice about it and said that London probably did something to her first. After London settled down, Rhea came up to me and said, "Riley is on top of her and won't get off." At that time, I heard Lillian just screaming. I go in the bedroom and Riley has Lillian face down on the carpet and Riley is laying on top of her and won't let her up. Poor Lillian was crying so hard. I picked Riley up and let Lillian free and got after Riley.

About 10 minutes after the first incident, I heard Lillian crying again. Sure enough, Riley has her pinned to the ground and won't let her up. I just couldn't believe how naughty she was being. She's usually pretty sweet, so it just shocked me!

About 20 minutes later, Riley and Lillian were in the back bedroom again, and we could all see in there. Riley put Lillian in a headlock and forced her onto the air mattress. Poor Lillian is just screaming, and my friend, Melissa, says, "Riley is man-handling Lillian again." I felt awful and a little embarrassed. She went to time-out and got into trouble again.

About an hour later, Riley and London disappeared upstairs. Mandy comes down carrying Riley and told me that London was up there crying and they were wrestling on the floor. I'm sure she was trying to pin London down too. Mandy looked at Riley and said, "you sure are a scrappy little thing."

I asked Elizabeth (their daycare lady) how Riley treats the kids at daycare and she said that she is very sweet and nice to all of them. I don't know why she was being such a stinker at Melissa's! We probably aren't going to get invited back! ;)

Ethan and Mia got along pretty well with everyone. They liked playing with all of the new toys and getting into Melissa's things. ;) Overall, it was a fun weekend. I was going for the Packers, so that made it even more fun.

Busy Week

We've had a busy week here, even though we haven't seemed to do much. Preschool was cancelled twice this week much to my dismay. Okay, I know that sounds bad. I can handle one day of cancelled preschool, but two in a row? I've gotten spoiled with this preschool thing, even though they haven't had a full 4-day week yet (thanks to all the snow days.)

I think we're all close to going crazy. It has been a long cold winter. We actually went outside today for about 20 minutes. The sun was shining and it felt kind of warm despite it being only 30 degrees. The kids had fun running outside. The girls were pretty careful with the snow but not Ethan. He was jumping in snowbanks and running everywhere. He was covered from head to toe with snow.

The kids have been SO naughty lately. I know it's because they're bored and sick of being in the house. They have so much energy and nothing to use it on. I've even considered taking them to the germ infested play area at the mall or the one in McDonald's. The only problem is that I don't think I can take all 3 by myself. That could be a recipe for disaster! I can not wait until spring!

I cleaned the bathrooms the other day. Now, don't get me wrong because I'm not complaining, I absolutely love having two potty-trained toddlers. What I can't understand, is how they get pee and poop in the places they get pee and poop? It dumbfounds me. There was pee behind the toilet on the floor. There's pee all around the sides of the toilet. There's pee on the toilet seat and under the toilet seat. And today I walked in, the toilet lid was down, and Ethan had peed on top of the toilet lid. I was trying to figure out if he did that on purpose. I'm about 99% sure he did because he pointed it out to me and seemed proud. I've found turds on the floor by the toilet. And yesterday, I was in the bathroom when Mia was peeing, and the angle of which she was peeing allowed the pee to squirt out underneath the toilet seat and it sprayed everywhere on the floor. I just smiled at her because she didn't know what in the heck was going on. Okay, enough on that. It's either changing diapers or cleaning bathrooms. I'm not sure which one is worse! :)

We are going to my good friend Melissa's house for the Superbowl and are planning on spending the night. I can't wait! There will be 6 kids all three and under. Melissa is a big neat freak, so it should be interesting! I'm saving up some Weight Watcher's points so I can pig out. Speaking of Weight Watcher's, I signed up for the online program. They waived the sign-up fee, so I only have to pay the monthly fee. I've been really good about keeping track of things. Their new Points Plus program is neat. Most fruits and vegetables have 0 points because they want you to choose those over something that's not good for you. The cookies and cakes have a lot more points, so you naturally can't eat as many.

I've been doing Weight Watcher's for awhile on my own. Some weeks I'd be really good and then some weeks really bad. My older sister's wedding is in 2 1/2 months and I ordered my bridesmaid's dress in a size smaller than they suggested. Yeah, I know, probably not the best idea. But that should motivate me to be really good!

Well, I hope you all have a good weekend!

The girls wanted to show Mike their hair. They'll stand at the gate and yell, "DAD" until he comes up.

Cute piggies.

Pretending that she's innocent.

The new thing that the girls do. Sometimes Ethan joins them. They've all ready been in time out twice for doing it today.

Little Miss Mia. She always has a dirty face.

Ethan's lego thing he built. He was SO proud of it. The tall brown tower kept falling off and he'd scream and kick. It was all pretty amusing to watch. Do you see his tongue hanging out on the side of the picture? And the pink purse couldn't have been more perfectly placed! :)

Isn't this a creepy baby? It seriously reminds me of the baby on "Toy Story 3". It has the weird eye and everything. Ethan won't keep clothes on it, so it's almost always naked. It's her favorite baby.

Another Bathroom Before and After

Here are some pictures of the kids' bathroom. We didn't do a whole lot in here. We painted the walls and the vanity. I also added new knobs to the vanity.

Before:

After:

Ethan has broken off the knobs on their vanity about five times. One is broken off the door again and I haven't glued it back yet. (He likes to use them to climb up on.) Thank goodness for super glue!

Brrrrrr

Wow! Is it ever cold here. Ethan and Mia didn't have preschool yesterday or today due to the snow and cold weather. We have all been cooped up in the house and I think it's fair to say that we're close to going crazy!

The kids went to daycare on Monday and it went pretty well. I guess Riley cried when Mike dropped her off, but she calmed down quickly. I think the kids like going there. I'm so happy that it's working out!

Ethan and Mia are also still loving preschool. I have seen a huge difference in their speech since they've started. Ethan will not stop talking! We still have a hard time understanding some of the stuff he says, but he's getting so much better. Mia has also been talking a lot more. It has made a world of difference. Ethan knows all of his colors and Mia is almost there. We're still working with them on counting and picking out shapes, but they've improved a lot in the last month. We go to parent-teacher conferences on Monday. That should be interesting. I'm dying to hear how they're doing!