Scenes from a Mall

Today I decided Ansley, Ian, and I needed to get out of the house. Ansley and I decided we should go to the outlet mall about 20 minutes away to play on the huge playground and share a pretzel--which happens to be Ansley's favorite part about any mall.

Well, we had done just a teensy bit of shopping; I had gotten my favorite italian cream soda at Joe Muggs; and we had played on the playground. All that was left was our cinnamon sugar pretzel, which Ansley had waited so patiently for. We sat down to "share" our pretzel, which generally means I get a few bites (remember the pretzel is the reason Ansley goes to the mall with me, in her opinion!) Ian had been sleeping the entire time but was starting to wake up, and I had a small bottle with me, so I decided to go ahead and feed him so we would all have a happy ride home. In the meantime, I would let Ansley enjoy her pretzel. She was getting covered in cinnamon and sugar and although I only had a few wet wipes left, I was letting her use them because I didn't plan on changing Ian's diaper until we got home.

While he was eating, I snapped this picture of Ansley.

I was just starting to update my facebook status with this picture, when I felt something warm and wet all over my lap. I put my phone down, lifted Ian up, and sure enough, pee was pouring down his legs all over me. I held him out off of me and the pee continued to pour out onto the floor. I just stood there thinking what in the world am I going to do???

When I finally snapped out of my shock, I called Jeremy to tell him what just happened (he laughed), did the best I could to clean things up, and gathered all my stuff and kids and we made our way to the nearest restroom. When I got there I snapped this picture of my pants:

Of course I texted it to Jeremy, whose response was "I don't think it could look more like you pee'd your own pants, even if you had!" Nice. I then proceeded to clean Ian up with my 2 wipes that I had left. Did I mention he was covered in poop too? No, I think I left that part out. At least I wasn't covered in it! During this time, Ansley continued enjoying her pretzel--

--in the mall bathroom.

I finally got Ian cleaned up, tried to dry my pants with the hand dryer, and snapped this picture of my happy baby boy finally getting to enjoy his bottle. What a morning!

By the way, as I was typing this, it just hit me that I had put some wet wipe packages from a restaurant in a side pocket of my diaper bag a few weeks ago. I'm so glad I remembered that now!

Out of the Mouths...

When my kids say something funny, everyone always says "you need to write that down." Well, this is the easiest way to do it, so here you go!

(disclaimer) *I'm nursing Ian and many of these revolve around that.

Consider yourself warned.

One day Ansley and Kennedy were playing "mommy and baby." Jeremy and I overheard Kennedy say "Baby, it's time to come eat your dinner!" Ansley crawled over to Kennedy, Kennedy lifted up her shirt, pointed to her right you know what and said "This one has white milk in it", and then pointed to her left side and said "and this one has chocolate milk in it." Ansley then PRETENDED to take a drink from the chocolate side (it's the only type of milk she likes :)

This morning Ansley asked if she could watch "necklace" aka Netflix. Jeremy asked her what she wanted to watch on Netflix and her reply was "Michael Jackson's This is It!" The scary part is that she actually sat and watched it...for the second time! Of course we do fast forward through some parts like Thriller!

The other night I made a super easy dinner using leftover spaghetti sauce. I cooked some rigatoni noodles, poured the sauce on top and topped it all with cheese to bake in the oven. I'm just a regular gourmet chef, I know! Kennedy RAVED about this meal and ate three helpings of it. She then proceeded to tell me that I needed to give the recipe to everyone I know. At one point she even said "Man, Ian is going to love your milk tonight!" I think Jeremy and my jaw both hit the table with that one.

Friday night when Jeremy was taking the girls to their Daddy Daughter Dance, Kennedy brought me her teddy bear and asked if I would babysit it. She then proceeded to tell me that she had some of her milk for him and it was in the fridge and he was to have it at 6:21. Of course when I told Jeremy that, she got quite red in the face and denied it!

So what can I say? My girls are obsessed with nursing and Michael Jackson...who would've ever thought???

Daddy Daughter Dance and More

Right now as I type, Jeremy is at a Daddy/Daughter dance with our two girls. Excited would be an understatement for those two! They both picked out their fanciest dresses, accessorized with the jewelry of their choice, and begged Jeremy to wear a bow tie, which he did. Kennedy really wanted to wear makeup (hello, you're 5!?!) but I compromised by letting her put some glittery stuff on her cheeks. They were going to eat at O'Charley's first (2 kids can eat free for every one adult!) and then off to the dance. They should be home in about an hour and I can't wait to hear how it went. Here's a picture of them right before they left.

In other news, Jeremy seemed to have caught the nasty germs that have been lingering in this house the other day. He's battling a cold and feeling pretty crummy. I was just bragging yesterday how I somehow missed all the germs when I woke up this morning feeling as if I had hit a freight train in my sleep. I visited the Take Care Clinic at Walgreens only to find I that I have strep throat. I shouldn't really be surprised I guess, but it came out of nowhere! Now I'm praying our girls don't get it again. So all day I've been under blankets shivering and feeling pretty awful. Luckily Ian is peacefully sleeping next to me and has been since Jeremy and the girls left.

As for the kids, they finally all seem to be doing better! Ian had a check-up today and his lungs sound clear again, Praise the Lord! He has lost some weight because he hasn't been eating very well, but the doctor wasn't too concerned about it. I'm ready for everyone to be feeling better so things can get back to normal. I've been living in either sweatpants or pajamas for about a month now. The ponytail has been my hairstyle of choice...every day. In fact, the other night after my shower, my hair was down, and Kennedy exclaimed "Mom, your hair is so pretty down!" Guess she forgot what it looked like. Then yesterday I was getting ready and Ansley said "Mom I will help you get dressed." She then went to my dresser drawer and pulled out a pair of sweat pants! And I'm normally not the type of person to live in sweats and not fix my hair, but lately I just haven't seen a reason to take time getting ready!

Sick, sick sick!

These last three weeks have been brutal! Between snow days and sick days, Kennedy has been at school a total of five days! The first week, she had a sore throat and fever. The next week her and Ansley both had Strep Throat. This past week, Kennedy improved, but Ansley still had a fever. The poor girl was sick on her birthday. In fact, she has yet to eat a piece of birthday cake proving she's really not feeling well!!! Early Thursday morning, I had to take Ian to the ER because he was having a hard time breathing. Turns out he has RSV, which is really no fun at all. We have to give him breathing treatments every four hours, and pump Motrin and Tylenol into him for fevers. He has been miserable, which in turn is making Jeremy and me miserable. It's hard seeing your baby like that! Tonight, just as I thought Ansley was finally getting better, she wouldn't stop crying and I took her temperature only to discover she has a fever again. The doctor says it's most likely RSV too. Between the snow and sickness, I have left the house to go to the doctor (at least once every week), go to the ER, run to the grocery store (mainly for prescriptions) and I got to volunteer at Kennedy's school for a few hours the other day while Jeremy's mom was in town. Saying I have cabin fever would be a HUGE understatement. Luckily this past week with all the ice and snow, Jeremy worked from home and helped me out. Unfortunately, this week is not looking up at all. I am very ready for spring and the end of all these nasty germs!!!

One of the few smiles we've gotten from Ian since he's been sick

This doesn't happen unless she's sick!

What we do every four hours...

Stats

Ian had his 2 month appointment on Friday and is still a big boy! He is 14 lbs. 3.8 ounces and 23.5 inches long. That puts him in the 90-97% for weight (that hasn't changed) and 75% for height (he was in the 90-97th at his one month appointment). The doctor put him on some medicine for acid reflux, so hopefully that will help with his spitting up/choking/coughing/arching of the back/screaming during feedings. Although acid reflux certainly hasn't affected him enough to cause him to slow down on his feedings! He is a great baby, very easygoing and usually calm and happy. He still wakes up every three hours on the dot in the middle of the night to eat, and Mommy is really hoping he starts sleeping longer stretches soon! He started smiling a week or two ago, and is getting really smiley now. That's fun!

Ansley had her 3 year appointment on Friday as well. She is 27 lbs. and 35 inches tall. That puts her in the 25% for weight and 10-15% for height. She's just a little squirt. She better watch out or her little brother may pass her up soon! She is goofy, ornery, and lovable. She has the sense of humor like that of an adult at times, and she really makes us laugh, A LOT!

Kennedy didn't go to the doctor, but I'll say something about her anyways! She still loves school and comes home saying things like "Hannah is my BFF," and other phrases that she is learning from kids at school (luckily nothing bad so far!) Although she can still be shy, she has REALLY come out of her shell, for which we are very thankful. She is enjoying Girl Scouts and Math Fact Scholars at school. She is learning to read more and more words and I felt pure joy yesterday afternoon as I heard her reading an entire book to her little sister!

The new picture at the top was taken this morning before church. I thought they all looked cute in their stripes!

On Being a Mother of Three

Just this weekend I was being asked how it was going being a mother of three. I gave an honest answer that it hadn't really been too bad so far, and that I think it will be pretty easy until Ian becomes mobile.

Ha!

That was before Sunday night! I'm taking back those words and will never say such things again because those words have come back to haunt me. Sunday night between Ansley throwing up, Kennedy coughing, and Ian just plain wanting to hang out instead of sleep, I was exhausted! I was trying to do it all myself because we just bought a health club membership this weekend, and Jeremy had decided to go work out at 5:30 in the morning on Monday for his very first workout. I certainly did not want to make him miss that. However, he did, because around 3:30 am I realized I couldn't do it all by myself.

To add to the misery, I had a horrible headache, sore throat and was feeling a bit nauseous myself. Fortunately, Jeremy was able to stay home yesterday to help take care of everyone. Last night Kennedy began complaining about a sore throat, for which she had already missed school last week when she had one with a fever. This morning she had no fever, and although she told me she thought she should stay home, I sent her to school. I get the bad mom award though, and at 10:00 I received a phone call that she had a fever and I needed to come get her. Luckily, I had just showered and changed Ansley out of her pajamas. Unfortunately, Ian was ready to eat. So I took a screaming baby, feverish toddler whose hair hasn't been combed in two days, and myself up to the school and to pick up Kennedy.

In a few minutes, we will be leaving for the doctor. Is anyone else ready for spring???

Ian

Here are some new pictures of our little man!