Kyra's B-day party at the Parsonage

party in february

Sunday afternoon, another race day in the Strawn’s house. Both children are asleep at the same time (the first time since last Sunday) and Al & I are relaxing on the couch, eating popcorn and wasting the day away.

I really would like to get out of the house and do something, but watching the race usually takes priority. It is a beautiful, sunny day and I’m looking forward to making mud pies with Eden after her nap.

Nothing significant happened all week, really, but I’d really like some motherly advice on how to get my now 17 month old son to take an afternoon nap somewhat regularly. Every day this week, he slept for about an hour in the late morning, and then was up all day and ready for bed at 6:00 p.m. Which is, of course, the time Al gets home from work, supper happens and bath follows. It’s too hectic to fit in bedtime, so I either keep him up and listen to him crab, which is what he does all afternoon, b/c he’s tired from a too-short nap, OR put him to bed before supper, which has issues of it’s own.

On the flip side, I could just let him sleep when he’s tired, crab when he’s crabby and eat when he’s hungry, but WHEN do you stop accommodating their schedule and try to work them into your schedule?

I realize this is my second child and I should already know the answers, but this is my first boy and it’s a whole new ball game now!

No late night meetings this week, which was a nice change. However, Al had jury duty Thursday afternoon, so that threw off the regular work week a bit.

Friday was a fun surprise. I wanted to go out and take the kids somewhere and do something out of the house, but it was the 1^st day Al was home on his day off and nobody was sick, so we stayed here.

Well, a couple of weeks ago was Kyra’s 8^th birthday, but the day of her big sleep-over party, she got strep throat. Laura (her mom) re-scheduled for this past Friday, and ended up with strep throat herself. So, being the good friend that I am, and bored to death will all this cold weather and sick & crabby children, I said, “Have it here!” Laura had to think about it long and hard (about 30-45 seconds) before she said, “Ok”.

About 30 minutes before their arrival, I went down to the computer and said to my hubbie, “honey? You know how you didn’t want to go do anything today? Well, I offered Kyra to have her B-day party here. Don’t worry, I’ll make them stay upstairs”

Uh huh...

School gets out at 3:25 and Mark showed up 5 minutes later with cake & ice cream, and nine 8-year-olds.

Two hours, 9 make overs, 90 painted fingernails, cake & confetti ice cream and 9 presents later, I was ushering everbody down to the landing to get their coats and shoes on to go home. It was great fun, and Eden & Lars loved the company.

Enjoy the photos of somebody elses’ kid’s birthday party at my house!

Making Scones

Sneezing, coughing, wheezing, puking, RSV, laundry....

If I could have anything temporary in the world right now, it would be a free babysitter and a night out to Chili’s with my husband. Alone. And it has absolutely nothing to do with Valentine’s Day, which didn’t occur to me that it even was until I got on Facebook and EVERYTHING was about Valentine’s Day yesterday.


It has been a long week and I’m mentally exhausted. I know what you’re thinking. How does a stay-at-home-mom of two get that worn out? C’mon, grow up. Well, that’s what I thought, too, so I wrote down why I was tired. And this is what it said.


A week and a half ago I was sick and just as I was getting over it, spent two full days in Scottsbluff finishing my EMS Instructor course. Each evening, I came home to a baby who was getting sicker by the hour. He cried all the time and clung to me constantly.


Monday, I couldn’t him into the doctor, so I called back and begged. They said, “bring him right now” and I walked across the street and down the block in a light misty rain. I asked that they test him for RSV, even though he is a little too old to have it. It was positive. Since Lars is so tiny for his age (19 pounds), he still kind of fits in the category of “illnesses that little babies get”. Round that off with an ear infection and a horrible cough, and they gave him a shot and said, basically, “If you promise to keep him hydrated and bring him back first thing in the morning for another shot, you can go home. Otherwise, go over and check into the hospital.” I wrapped him in his blanket and ran out the back door, across the yard, down the alley and crossed the street into my driveway. Whew, that was close. The rest of the day, while Eden was at daycare, he cried and we rocked. Al had an early-in-the-evening elders meeting, which sounded good to me, thinking he’d be back for the bedtime routine, but alas, he came home at his usual 1030p and I was ready for bed, irritated but not surprised.


Lars was up much of the night. The next morning, we went back to the doctor, got another shot and came back home to cry and rock and sleep sitting up. Al was gone all day to his monthly pastor’s winkle (don’t ask me why they call it that) and I continued to rock Lars, who continued to cry and cling. Eden watched TV and fell asleep for two hours, claiming she didn’t feel good.


That night, Lars slept peacefully.


Eden threw up 7 times in 7 hours and I didn’t sleep at all until morning, when Al got up with the kids and I crashed for an hour or so. He had to be at work by 0900 for Bible Study, so I got up and acted like I was among the living. Al came home for a quick lunch, but had to be in court by 1p, so I was back to rocking two sick and clingy kids and wishing I had my mom. Eden crawled up on her bed about 1030 in the morning and slept for 3 hours. At least something good came out of last night. Al didn’t get home until after 9p, and I was in bed, now more than a week into being tired and/or sick.


Thursday had promises of being better. I had planned to do a bunch of long forgotten errands in the morning while Al stayed home with the kids. Unfortunately, I was the only one who was planning on that, so instead, I stayed home and Al went to work. Lars did go to the chiro and get straightened out, however. He was terrible and Dr. Mike said to bring him back Monday morning to get his ‘coughers’ put back in place. After his adjustment, he acted a lot healthier. All morning, he refrained from any major crying and spent some time even playing by him self. By the afternoon, the bliss had worn off and he was crabby again. I decided to take him to choir practice for a break from the house, but there were no babysitters there, so he clung to me while I tried to sing. Eden cut up a Christmas Banner in one of the Sunday School rooms and we came back home. At least she left her Mohawk alone…


Friday, I was up early with the kids (yes, 0600 is early for me) Al had to pack his bags for an overnight trip to Casper, Wy. He stayed home with the kids in the morning while I ran up town for groceries and ‘stuff’. The piano tuner came and gave our upright a check up, as well. Al left after lunch and Eden napped a bit. Lars was happy for the first time in over a week, and I was unsure what that meant. Should I do something fun or call the doctor?


I planned to watch the Red Wings on Friday evening and put the kids to bed. Everything was going smoothly and both kids were asleep by 8:30. Until Lars started crying. Then he got mad and chucked everything out of his crib. Then I came in to rock him and he hauled off and hit me, throwing my glasses across the room. We continued in this fashion until shortly after 12:30a.m. when I fell into bed, exhausted, falling asleep amid the sound of tears flowing through the monitor.


This is where I believe exhaustion really set in. Too many days and nights of nothing but sickness and Lars crying and no help.


Saturday, (Valentine’s Day apparently), Eden was jumping on my bed at 0700, “Mommy, the sun is out. It’s time for Breakfast! Where’s Daddy? I want pancakes!”


Ugh.

I called and talked to my sister over lunch, cleaned up the pit of a house, even sewed a new panel for Lars’ curtains, making the room dark as night during the day. Lars and Eden played quietly much of the day and, despite the finger painting snafu and the mess on my clean kitchen floor, it was an all around decent day.


I realize the majority of this sounds like a plea for pity, but it’s really not. (That was what I wanted all last week). We’re moving on to bigger and better things…like the Daytona 500 AND a hockey game this afternoon!


I can only hope that this coming week is a bit better.

Cold & Flu Season is upon us...

Well, as you recently read, last week for the Strawn’s was blissful.

Lars had begun sleeping through the night on a regular basis (4-5 nights in a row).

Our trip to and from Casper, Wy was painless and relatively quiet. No blown tires, no flat tires, no tires needing replaced at all, in fact.

Lars had begun walking well.

Eden was stepping out of her defiance and starting to become a nice little girl in society.

You know, blissful.

Then came February and all that was blown to somewhere. Ok, that’s a huge over exaggeration, but I’m lacking drama at the moment and need to make it sound exciting.

On Monday, Eden had a field trip to the dentist with her day care group. Since Al had an early meeting in Scottsbluff, I had to drag Lars along, as well. He was Ok, sitting the car while I ran errands all up and down Main St.

Don’t worry, I left the car running with the heat on.

In the afternoon, I got the house picked up and the laundry done, while Lars took an unusually long nap. I even got some sewing done, which made me think it was going to be such a great week.

Tuesday, I missed the Schwans’ Truck and had to come up with my own supper. While I was muttering about what to make for supper, I decided to make a menu for the rest of the month. What a good idea that turned out to be! I headed to the grocery for this week’s items and called it good. Eden helped me pick out the best dozen of eggs and several flavors of yogurt. All which are Key Lime Pie for her.

We were having Mexican that night so I felt obligated to invite our Mexican friends, Mark and Laura. Ok, so they’re not Mexican and I didn’t feel the least bit obligated, but we all enjoy the food and company so much. The girls played together and the adults actually had a bit of time to chat without interruption.

That night, I was really tired and went to bed early. At 0300 on Wednesday morning, I work up with that awful dread feeling that says, “Woman, you’ve got a cold”. Trying to pretend it away, I rolled over and tried to go back to sleep. Three hours later, when that didn’t work, I fished out a new box of Kleenex and took some drugs. I was sound asleep when my kids got up and my husband said, “Are you sick?”

Yeah.

This question from your husband really has a double meaning. Not only does it mean, “Oh no, I’m sorry you’re not feeling well”. It also means, “Crap. This is gonna be awful. I’m going to have to get the kids up and breakfast and diapers and dressed and all that stuff and I still need a shower!”

Thankfully, my husband’s job allows him to be late on occasion. Not so thankfully, he had bible class first thing in the morning, a meeting over lunch, and confirmation class in the afternoon. Meaning he wouldn’t be coming back home until nearly 7:00 p.m.

I lay on the couch all day, letting the kids do pretty much whatever they wanted.

I think Lars had pears for all three meals. I’m pretty sure Eden found something to eat in the snack drawer and the yogurt compartment of the fridge.

Thursday wasn’t much better. Daddy came home over lunch, but didn’t get home until after choir, 7:00 p.m. By now, Lars was getting a runny nose.

Eden was still doing her own thing, which is how she lost scissor privileges. (See Mohawk, several angles, below).

Friday, I felt much better. Lars, not so much.

The only thing worse than being a sick mommy, is having a sick baby.

Al had to work all day Friday.

Friday night, Lars was moaning and crying in his sleep, rolling around, banging the side of the crib and coughing himself into fits. It was awful to listen to and useless to try and sleep through.

Saturday and Sunday, I had my final days of training for my EMS instructor course. My written exam was Saturday afternoon and my final oral presentation, Sunday afternoon. Both went well and I passed with an “A”. Now I have more work ahead of me so that I can use my new found skills and get a teaching job!

Lars was sick all weekend. Laura stayed at our house on Sunday morning while Mark took Eden and his girls to church. It is now Sunday evening and I’m hoping Lars’ll make it till tomorrow morning, when I can take him to the clinic. We need a wet diaper pretty soon or I’m going to have to do something different...

Tell the Good News

Greetings and Salutations my anxious viewers!

Western Nebraska started out the week with blowing & drifting snow, wind, and cold air. Sarah's weekend instructor course was postponed two weeks, Jury Duty was postponed three weeks, school was cancelled, so Eden didn't go to Stacey's house and the Conference scheduled for the end of the week was in question, as the interstate was closed on and off all week because of the wind and snow.

Lars had his 16 month check up (yes, it's supposed to be a 15 month check, but I'm not as 'on the ball' with child #2). He is 19# and some odd ounces, and is still not legal to be front facing in his car seat. He is very tall, at 37", which is why he's in 18 month clothes with the waist darted in each pair of pants so that they stay up over his little butt. Thank God for bulky diapers.

His head is a bit of a concern, as it has not grown at all in 6 months, and was small 6 months ago. He will get re-checked in 6 weeks and if it's not grown then, they will probably do some scans to make sure his brain is developing as it should. My cousin had this same issue almost 25 years ago, and she turned out Ok.

Personally, I think he just looks like his daddy. Even Al's baby pictures are exact replicas.


On Wednesday, school was cancelled again because the country kids couldn't get out. The roads had mostly drifted shut and cattle needed water and feed. Confirmation class was cancelled, so Pastor came home early and we all ate supper together.

Thursday morning, we loaded up the Blazer and headed out of town to Casper, WY. The District was hosting it's 8th annual "Tell the Good News About Jesus" conference and the Strawns and the Douthits were planning to attend. The weather seemed nicer and the roads were much better. All highways and interstates wasre open. Wyoming is blessed to have TWO interstates, one going east/west and one going north/south, so it shorted our trip a bit to be able to travel at 80mph. However, in 200 miles, we only pass one rest area, so Eden had to hold it a lot.

The hotel had a mini water park indoors, so Friday morning, we got up, ate breakfast and got dressed in swimsuits. Everybody crammed in the elevator and went down to spend an hour swimming and splashing around. Eden loved having somebody to swim with , and the girls took her in the 3 foot deep end with her cube on. They all had a great time, though, we forgot the camera, so I can't prove it to you.

After some shopping and lunch, the conference began. During the banquet (on the main level), Lexi & Kyra took care of Eden & Lars (on the 6th floor). In a matter of not quite two hours, Lexi phoned 4 or 5 times, and Laura and I each ascended once to take care of some dilemma up there. We did manage to eat in peace, however, so it was worth it. I just don't think Lexi will be volunteering that again anytime soon!

We travelled back on Saturday evening. The kids slept almost all the way home. Unfortunatley, we forgot to fill up the gas tank before we left Casper and there are only 4 towns with gas stations open between Casper and Bridgeport. As blessings would have it, our low fuel light didn't come on until Lingle, a tiny town with a great Mexican Restaurant, 17 miles from the NE border. They had a rinky dink station with an "OPEN" sign in the window. We pulled in and filled up!

Arriving home, Eden was thrilled to climb into her 'new big girl bed', which is a twin bed that takes up almost half her bedroom, with pink/white/lime green bed sheets. This might just be the trick to Mom and Dad getting a full night's sleep, as so far, after two nights in the new bed, Eden has not come down to our room. Yes!

Now it is Monday and I'm behind in everything. The snow is mostly melted, thanks to several 50 degree days and the mositure is very welcome. It is the first we've had since August. Eden is at daycare, Al is at a meeting in Scottsbluff, and Lars is asleep. It's almost heavenly.