Tuesday, December 29, 2015

Conversing

Today was mostly a good day. I'd say the only not good part about it was my parent's left to go back to California. Sad face :( Though they were terribly missed the second they left, we actually had an amazing day together. Well, I guess there is another not good part and that is Brad wasn't feeling very well. Sore throat, tired, and a headache... sounds like a cold might be joining us. Even with that, he was able to go outside with the boys and take them on a small bike ride and watch them 'practice' after. These kids are true Oregonians- it was raining and it didn't deter them at all! When they came in I made James some apple cider and Gav some hot cocoa (they love to call it hot cocoa, not hot chocolate... sheesh...). They also got to play with Legos for hours today. We also did a floor puzzle from my brother's family and Gav and I did his new puzzle together. Since I was cleaning a lot today, they got out their new Marble Works and played for a few hours on that as well. Score! Gotta love getting toys they enjoy! Gavin busted open the new art tub they got for Christmas and drew some cool things for us. A few shows were watched as well. All in all, a great day for us.

Though we had lots of fun together, the best part of the day came at dinnertime. Ok, so we just had Christmas and guests over... there are lots of leftovers in our fridge! And after cleaning and organizing all day, I did not quite feel like making more food when we had plenty in our fridge. James immediately wanted a meatball sandwich with gravy (we had Swedish meatballs for Christmas dinner). Gavin and Jack couldn't really decide so I made them a quesadilla. Yes, not really leftovers but those two are the more difficult ones to make happy with this type of dinner. So, here I am in the kitchen making these random dinners (as well as figuring out what I want), and I am having this full blown conversation with my kids. Mainly Gavin and James, but Jack was definitely listening and inputting when he so desired. The boys talked about and asked all sorts of things. Some that I can remmeber- 
Why does daddy call you babe?
because it is a way for him to show me he loves me
When you reach 100, you are like a giant!
well, actually, you don't keep growing. you guys will probably stop growing around 20. i stopped when i was 16
Wait, you are thirty and now you are sixty??
no, sixTEEN. i was a teenager in high school. *James eyes light up- he loves hearing about high school. poor kid is in for some future disappointment...* 
Gav- no, thirTEEN is a teenager
thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen are all teenagers. I was 19 when i dated daddy so I was a teenager *holy cow, felt a little crazy saying that...* I was in my college years when we got married. You'll probably be in college when YOU get married. Do you guys want to get married someday?
Gav- Well... I don't know yet. I think I do. I probably will because I want to have children!
Jack- Yes, I will!!
James- *kind of starry eyed thinking about being married*
Just be sure your future wife likes me and I like her! *just being real and honest! mom to all boys here!!*
James- You were in college when you had me? 
Yeah, you started it all. We prayed and fasted and cried for you to come. We really wanted to have a baby.
Yeah, before I came to earth, I was an angel baby. And I lead the way. I chose you to be our mom.
You did?! Why did you choose me?
Because you really wanted a baby. And you're the best mom.
And did you choose daddy? What made you choose him?
Because he's strong. And he never gives up. He works so hard for us. And he's smart. 

*there was more to this conversation, but apparently i had stopped writing it and now forgot what was said (01-18-16). and this is why i need to record more of our day to day. to not forget the great things... and even the not so great at times*

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

My Date With Gavin

Tonight was my first date with Mister Gavin. I love doing things with the boys and seeing their different personalities come through. When I have taken James on a date (the two times...), he likes to look good and dress up. Gavin, on the other hand, could care less. And I was pretty grateful for that tonight- I was rather tired and not really feeling the "dressy" part. Next time ;) We had yummy grilled cheese sandwiches and veggies for dinner before Brad came home from work. Once we were able to go out, we headed for Red Wagon Creamery, my favorite place to go for dessert/ice cream. It is THE BEST ice cream. Gav got the cracked candy cane ice cream and I got one of my favorites, Oregon Mint Chip. Mmmm... we each took a lick of each other's and approved the choice. When you hang out with Gavin, you realize he is chatty. You just can't miss it. But being one-on-one with him... c-h-a-t-t-y. I loved it. He said he wanted to be an ice cream maker when he grows up. And he wants to make chocolate ice cream. I was almost done with mine and he just couldn't have me finish first. I nibbled at mine while he rushed to finish his- he won :) Next stop- Target and the pet store (our cat needs flea meds, lucky us). On the way, we pointed out all the Christmas lights and even drove by Fifth Street Market because they have really pretty ones. On the way to Target, Gav informed me that what makes him feel special is getting a hot lunch and being the first person. Gee, I'm so glad this awesome date doesn't make you feel special, Middle Child (totally kidding). Gav loved being at Target and chose a new Level 1 Star Wars book. He couldn't wait to tell his brothers. We then walked over to the pet store to pick up the flea meds and also check out the adorable cats they have there. Man... they are my weakness. I could seriously take each and every cat home. Gavin agreed :) His favorite one was already adopted (yay for her!). His next favorite was a calico cat. Not going to lie... those cats are calling me back! If only Brad was easily swayed by his wife or kids... Onto home after purchasing the flea meds. It was a really great night and I am so grateful I got to spend it with him. We have been wanting to make a habit of so many things, dates with our boys being one of them, and we just haven't been following through. I'm pretty sure the boys won't let us forget these anymore and I really hope they do get on our case to consistently spend special time with them. 

Sunday, December 6, 2015

The Day a Dog Bit Jack

It was this past Saturday, December 5, 2015. We were on the hunt for the perfect Christmas trees. We had been to one tree farm and one tree lot before we went to the place where we had gotten our first Oregon Christmas tree. The boys were being super troopers and loved walking the small rows of Christmas trees. When we arrived, an older couple had picked out their tree and the tree salesman was trimming it and getting it ready. They had a dog on a leash who seemed interested in the boys... he got up excitedly, perked his ears and wagged his tail. Most dogs do when they see three little boys... I don't know why, it's like they know these kids would love and play with them. The woman saw the dog getting distracted and moved down a different aisle. I chalked it up to she wanted to make sure the boys didn't try to touch her dog. No big deal.

It's a small place and their tree was now on the last step before they could take it home. We had to pass between the machine and the woman and her dog. The dog sat up again when Jack was about two feet away from him. He went up to, what I thought, sniff him only instead he bit his boot and started yanking on his boot. I was shocked and was thankfully holding Jack's hand. Before I could fully react, the dog let go of his boot only to quickly grab a little higher to Jack's leg and pants and yanked on him even harder- Jack was literally in the air with me holding his hand and arm now and the dog pulling his leg in his mouth. The woman got her dog to let go (this maybe took 10-15 seconds,... happened really quick, but felt like longer) and her husband quickly took his leash and took the dog to the car. Jack was hysterical... as he should be, the poor kid. The woman was so apologetic and was sincerely distraught over what her dog had done. She said he has never acted like that before and kept asking if Jack was ok. I'll be honest... me being me... I also apologized. I felt bad that we had gotten too close (which really wasn't that close...) and the dog had the opportunity to do that. I always try to teach the boys to  not go near a dog unless the owner says it is ok- well, here is our proof of why we teach that! It took a few minutes to calm poor Jack down, but in the end he was fine. He now has two small holes in his jeans and a bite on the back of his leg.

All I am hoping is he doesn't develop a fear of dogs. I could tell the dog was a good dog. Who knows what factored into his small attack. Maybe the machine was too much for him and he acted out. I am just grateful it wasn't worse. So very very grateful

Sunday, May 31, 2015

Fever Dreams

James has been semi-slammed with a flu. He has had slight pink eye but was handling it fine. He had a baseball game Friday night and then again Saturday morning. When we got home, he complained of a headache. I had him drink some water and try to lie down. I went outside and worked on the yard with Gav and Jack and I heard James cheerily say from my bedroom window, "Hi Mommy!". He had decided to read a book on my bed, I'm guessing so he could be closer to us without actually being outside. After a while I had to come inside and realized I hadn't heard James in a while. He was passed out on my bed. He stayed there for three hours. Definitely sick! He was also burning up. Once James woke up, I took his temp- 102. Poor kid! I had him rest in his own bed for a while. When his brothers were getting ready for bed, he finally seemed to get some energy back. Of course that meant he had to stay up with us till 10:30... but he finally went to sleep.

In the morning, Gav and Jack always get in our bed. James usually saunters in later due to his late nights (that's changing in the fall with full day school!). James came in basically on schedule, to inform us that he had gotten sick in the potty. A little while later, he got sick again in the tub I had put next to his bed. But he seemed to be feeling better after that. He got to watch movies or draw all day to make sure he got his rest. He even ate a little and drank some. Yes! He didn't nap at all during the day (which I was kind of surprised but grateful for so he could get back on a nightly schedule) so he was ready for bed at a normal time. Well...

It is now 11:07. About ten minutes ago, he came out frantic. He said, "Mommy, I love you! I just love you!". I did not understand where that was coming from. I mean, yes, he says that a lot to me. But it was in such a desperate way, I was so confused. I had him go back to his room (sometimes he sort of sleep walks when he goes potty or wakes up from a bad dream) and get back in bed. I thought maybe he had gotten sick again, but he hadn't. We had the window open to let fresh air in and the blinds up a little because our crazy indoor cat loves open windows and blinds or no blinds, he is going to sit next to that open window. So blinds up for him to sit. Anyways, James started telling Brad and I that a man had come (freaky much??) and then he couldn't get anything else out, he was so freaked out. I got him to calm down a bit more and he said an elf man had come to the window and told James to eat all the elf food. We closed the windows, closed the blinds, and told him not elf or bad guy will come to the window again. Was I freaked out? A little. I knew it was a dream, but some guy at the boys' open windows is one of my worst nightmares, so it hit "home" a little for me. This was obviously a dream and we could tell he was so close to going back to sleep. He was kind of upset with me for not being in the room with him. He really hates that we don't sleep in the same room (attached much??). We sang some songs for him and put on a calm movie. I also said a prayer for him, to know that Heavenly Father will help him. It was just the strangest thing! Our kids don't usually have nightmares so it always catches us off guard. And he was feverish again, so pretty sure this was the evil doing of the fever. Hoping and praying he gets better and happier rest from now on tonight.

Monday, May 18, 2015

My Assistant

Gavin is the best helper. That is not an understatement. He is the best helper. He hates it when I do busy work without him. Most of the time... when I clean bathrooms, vacuum, and clean kitchen he doesn't care. Mostly because I make them watch a show so I can get those things done real quick. Anyways, Gav loves to help. Today he surprised me when he insisted on helping me with dinner. Gavin has always enjoyed helping me bake, but dinner is different. It's faster paced, knives involved, hot liquids, oven, stove top, etc. Instead of doing my normal, "Not now. You can't" because I'm too in the mode to slow down for a four-year old, I let him help. And I'm now thinking maybe he should help me every night. Or most nights. I mean, I have this kid... this four-year old kid who WANTS to help me. All I made tonight was gnocchi, pasta, rosemary cream sauce, and broccoli. And lemonade. Nothing too big. But he set the table, helped me make the cream sauce, and helped me make the lemonade. It wasn't much, but it meant something to him. He actually started stressing me out a bit (because I'm me and can't think very well when someone is talking about things out of order) and I had to tell him that when he's in my kitchen, I'm the chef. He's the sous chef- his job is to listen to me, follow my direction, and follow what I need to do next. He loved it. He had a title! So he stopped insisting on making the lemonade and instead helped me make the cream sauce. I loved it. It was a great experience together that I really hope I remember to cultivate. Saturday we didn't get home till 4pm from James's baseball game, but Brad and I still wanted to get some yardwork done. While his brothers played in the back with their toys, Gavin was diligently with me. He has to help me plant flowers. We had gotten a few new ones for the front to help it not look so sparse. I had to weed to get it all ready and he (mostly) patiently waited and helped. He loves to pull the flowers out of their plastic containers, loosen the soil and put them in their hole. He even dug his own holes. You could tell he was so proud of himself. I told him he was like a real gardener. He laughed at that. He then said I was like a gardener too... which told me that it meant a lot that I said that to him. 

I can't wait for our garden to grow in the back so the boys can help me harvest. Jack and James will actually help with that part... especially the raspberries, which never make it inside our house. Wonder why that is ;) It's things like this I know are important to instill in these boys now. Teach them to work hard and earn rewards, especially if you have someone like Gav in the family. 

Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Baseball and Bad Nights

James had another baseball game tonight. Of course he did well :) He tried his best. They only had time for two innings. First at bat, no hit but great swings. Second at bat (and last one to bat for the game), got a hit! First out in field... ugh... so distracted. So James. Totally missed a ball sail right past him because he was jumping and spinning in the dirt. Second out in field, he asked to be catcher. He usually is pretty good at stopping the balls, but tonight I think they were a little too fast for him to do much. He did try harder as the game progressed. He did get tagged in the helmet, and there was an audible gasp from everyone. He turns around to the crowd, taps his helmet like, "No worries, this stopped it" and turned back to the game. That made everyone laugh and cheer for him. So awesome. I love seeing him try and progress at a sport. I'm still not sure baseball is the sport for him, but I definitely think it's great for him to learn focus and working as a team. And baseball does a good job at that. 

Onto a different boy... Jack had quite the night tonight. At the game, he fell and cut his hand on the concrete. Of course, right after I had told them to stay on the grass so they don't fall and hurt themselves. I'd say 'live and learn' but I know there still lots to live and lots of learning for this three-year old. We get home and the boys get in a bath. Brad was taking care of them while I made our dinner. I was at the door saying bye to some friends when Jack starts wailing. I rush into the bathroom and Brad's got him. He said that he had been bouncing around and slipped and fell on his face. He had a bit of a bloody mouth. Poor kid! I take him to go get some undies on so I can cuddle him better. After I get his undies on I stand up and hoist him up to carry him. Yeah... I overshot... and I was in their closet... and I "made" him bonk his forehead on the closet rod. Gah! Bad mom! Bring on more wailing and crying (with reason, gol i felt bad). He kept saying, "Mommy made me hit my head!". Blah. We finally got him to calm down and put on some Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives to keep everyone happy. I then had to try to wash his cut out more... apparently when he fell, dirt got pushed into his cut. I got a little bit out, but it was all he could handle tonight. He was in near hysterics again by the end. Now he is in bed and hopefully asleep and tomorrow better be a better day for that guy. Good thing he becomes happy so easily :)

Dirt

Well, true to nature I missed the second day of my every-day-this-week thing. Of course :) So two for today!

Today (... as in yesterday...) the boys were finally able to bust out their new "bakeware" in their dirt pile. Last year I saw that instead of having a sand box (because those are evil), you could do a dirt box/pile instead. Yes! Will it be messy? for sure. Will it be filthy dirty? yuppers. BUT these boys will be able to use their imagination more and get in their element. They have some holey jeans and worn out t-shirts that we are saving for our "dirt days". This isn't something we are doing every day. Not now, at least. We have places to go and I can't handle the stress of multiple outfit changes when we are on a schedule. But for the days where our nights are free (i love those days), this is what they'll be doing.

Today (as in for reals today) just so happens to be a day where we have somewhere to go therefore, no dirt day. Instead of using the dirt, they still enjoyed playing with their new outdoor toys on the patio. I was impressed. Hopefully the novelty of this won't wear off. I'm thinking it won't. What boy doesn't want a dirt pile they are allowed to play in in their backyard? Exactly. And yes, you may call me the best mom ever. In this regard, it might be true ;)

Monday, May 11, 2015

Everyday...

I am hoping to blog every day for a week. The boys say/do such silly, sweet, and irritating (mind you, not all at once) literally every single day that I feel I really need to capture it better. Where to begin on today...

James is super attached to me. The other day he informed me that, "when Daddy dies, I get to sleep in the same bed as you." Brad and I let him know that 1- Brad isn't going to die anytime soon (he better not...) 2- when he does, James will hopefully be married with his own family (which was followed with a very happy "Oh!" and a giggle) and 3- we're pretty sure he'd rather have his dad around than gone, even if that meant he had to be in his own room. This kid... attached. But so sweet. Well, usually. He is like 85% sweet to me and 15% I'm ruining his life and screaming at me. Better than 50/50, right??

The other day on the phone my mom said, "Hi, Gavinator!" when he got the phone. "No, I don't want to be called that today. Today I want 'Gav'... *mom, what day is it today? (Me- Friday)* Oh. On this day, Friday, I want to be called 'Gav'." And Gavin has such a way of saying things so matter-of-factly it was just hilarious.

Jack is singing... all. the. time. Either the Little Einsteins song or the Rescue Bots song. It is freaking adorable. And yet... can get a little old at times. I try to last as long as possible before needing a break. Which is generally dinner time. Doesn't last long... but oh well. It's dang cute and it makes him happy. He is sooo obsessed with Little Einsteins right now. I'm just grateful it's a show I have absolutely not guilt having them watch a bunch because they learn from it. And they hum the classical music now and love it. Ha! Win!

I actually might start teaching them basic piano stuff. I think for sure Gav and James. Jack might need to wait or at least wait till I see if he's interested in what his brothers are doing. I feel like the boys can pick whatever instrument they want to learn, but they need to know the basics of piano. Hello, free teacher and piano at home! Take advantage :)

Day 1, done! Let's see if I can do this tomorrow as well...

Thursday, April 23, 2015

First Suture

Ok, honestly, it's not a suture. But for lack of a better/cooler word, I'm sticking with "suture". Today was the first day one of our boys had to get put back together!

I got a call around 2pm today from James' school informing me that he was fine, but he had slipped on the play ground stairs and had a cut on his chin. The nurse said he needed to get it sutured or super-glued back together and to see a dr. I went and picked James up from the office, and I tell you what... what a trooper that kid is! He didn't cry at all (... yet) and was being so brave. Once I told him we needed to go to the dr's and get stitches, then the waterworks and hyperventilating came. Oops. I finally got him to calm down when I remembered Tangled was in our DVD player and put it on. 

I called my dr's office what felt like a billion times, left a message for the nurse, talked to the appointment makers, and got zilch on if he could come in on or not. I love my kid's doctor office, but today they basically failed in my book. All I wanted to freaking know was if they could see him REAL quick to just put his chin back together. His school is pretty close to his dr's office, so I just stalked the phone line while in their parking lot. Since I couldn't get through, I decided to try our health insurance's nurse help line to see what I should do. I also called Urgent Care to see how long their wait was. The nurse was super helpful and said a 45-minute wait at Urgent Care is pretty good (didn't seem like it to me...) and said some other stuff about taking care of the cut. 

In the end, I decided to try a walk-in clinic to see if they were less busy (aka less sick-hurt people!). There was NO wait there and were able to see James right away. The poor kid was trying so hard to keep it together, even though he knew he might get stitches. The doctor was super awesome with the boys and explained things great to James. James was super mellow (totally unlike him) but he listened really well and promised to not touch his super band-aids later. The doctor said that he wasn't going to need to do stitches (phew) but he was going to put some super-tape on and then glue the cut closed so it could heal. James cried a bit when they cleaned the wound up and when the doctor had to push the cut closed. But, really, he did amazing. The doctor than let him choose a red or blue camoflauge band-aid to cover the cut and tape. Red won :) Once James knew he was all put back together and we were leaving, he was back to his chatty self. We then got him a Happy Meal for lunch and we all got a sundae too. Heck, when you cut yourself and have to see the doctor, you better believe you are getting a special treat after. 

Now James says it was his lucky day (he got a Happy Meal, it's a good day!) and he gets a cool scar out of it. He is super proud to be in my league of getting "cracked open". I've told him before the story of when I fell down a man-hole in the third grade and got stitches in the back of my head. He said, "Mom, you and me are the same now. Yours was a bit worse, but we've both been cracked open now. What the heck... this is so weird." It's pretty funny and dang cute. 

There we have it- our first trip to the doctor for a cut or break. I cannot even say how grateful I am it wasn't worse. He hardly bled and it was a super clean cut. He could have cut himself worse or broken a bone... so grateful this was our first incident. Let's ease into the world of blood and broken bones. I am super surprised this is our first incident with three little boys. I for sure know there will be lots more in our future :) Just bound to happen!