So far behind...let's catch up a little

I’ve been very neglectful in my blogging obviously.

You didn’t get to hear about Easter when I asked Ethan what he thought the Easter bunny would bring him and reminded him last year, he got “Baby Pete” his pet bunny rabbit as a gift. His response was that he thought the Easter Bunny would bring him a gorilla. Thinking he meant a REAL gorilla (since we were in fact talking about a REAL bunny from last year), I told him I thought a gorilla may be too big to bring. Ethan replied in a “well duh” tone – “not a REAL gorilla, dust a toy one.” Oh ok – that the Easter Bunny could probably do and a race car, too, Ethan thought. But what about Alex? “He’s going to bwing Owix a race car, too.” Smart bunny – bringing them the same thing. The Easter Bunny did in fact bring Ethan a gorilla & a race car and a race car for Alex as well and a stuffed animal for Alex as well though I can’t quite remember which one. The Easter Bunny also came INSIDE our house and took the eggs that Ethan & I had colored (and sadly, Ethan’s were all way better than mine) and hid them in the YARD where Ethan & Alex were surprised to find a new tire swing from the Easter Bunny as well.

You also missed hearing about our visit with Nana in Cincinnati. Nana came on the train – super cool. She came in at like 1 in the morning or later and Ethan & I went to pick her up. That was super exciting for Ethan – especially the part where Mama missed the exit and so we went to the next exit, ran into a very sketchy looking gas station so Ethan could pee and then made it back to the train station in plenty of time to wait for Nana – the train whistle had him giddy. He pretended to be shy at first with Nana at the train station but soon perked right up to start talking her ear off. Alex wasn't shy at all - went right to Nana when we got back to the "ho-ta-el" (3 syllables as spoken by Ethan) and woke him up.  Nana was then shocked when we put him back in the pack & play and told him "lay down and go to sleep" and he did it.  She continued to be shocked when we did this for naps, etc and he really did it.  I agree, that's not normal behavior for a child but what can I say, he likes sleep and as long as you don't make him sleep WITH someone, he'll go down when you tell him, too.  We had a great time with Nana & the cousins, going to the “Quah-wee-um” (you know, where they have fish and stuff), bowling & to the park. Nana read stories in our room and we went swimming with the cousins. The one downside was Alex's nightterror as that had to be what it was.  I thought he'd wake everyone in the hotel - couldn't get him to calm down and go back to sleep which freaked Nana a little just because I said I didn't know what to do.  But honestly, anyone who has had a child with a nighttterror will tell you, there's nothing you CAN do.  I ended up walking with him and singing softly to him and took him in the hall where it was well lit and did this for about 30 minutes or so and he finally calmed down enough that I could lay him down without starting it back up again.  Other than that, a good time was had by all the kiddos, that’s for sure - especially swinging & kite flying at the park and drawing with sidewalk chalk.  Fun times but not long enough with Nana.

You missed hearing about Mother’s Day and how we spent a good 30 minutes recording 10 seconds of “Happy Mother’s Day, Nana! I wuv you and Owix does, too” and then “Happy Mother’s Day, Amma! We wuv you”…..in cards with sound to send for the grand occasion. You’ve never REALLY tried your patience until you’ve attempted this process. Mama got more wonder charms for my Pandora bracelet from the munchkins and we went to Red Lobster for dinner. THAT was a really yummy present right there.  You also missed how Mother's Day weekend started with Ethan & Mama going on another date to see the Musical "Beauty & the Beast" Friday night - we had a GREAT time there as well.  To make sure we didn't forget, we got up Saturday morning and watched the Disney movie of Beauty & the Beast as well.  I swear I love that kid - especially when he says "sing it wiff me, Mom" or "kill da beast, right Mom?" ... good times.

You’ve missed hearing about how much Alex is progressing on talking. Most words are just 1 syllabel or the first letter or 2 of a word – Horse comes out more like “ha” and bat as in baseball bat is “ball”….if he has a ball already and is still asking for “ball”, he’s really asking for the bat. If he wants something and you don’t know what it is from the grunt or syllable he murmurs, just give him a second, he’ll either bring it to you or gesture to you to come to it.

You’ve missed hearing about the new pet(s) Ethan & Alex have. A fish tank with originally 6 fish, 3 died, we bought 1 more and now still have the 4. The tank is on Ethan’s dresser and they both love to talk to and feed the fish. Alex doesn’t feel right going to bed at night if he doesn’t say goodnight to the fish. One night I put him to bed shortly after we got the tank and was unaware of this requirement. Alex immediately screamed his head off – not something he usually does – and Daddy yelled from downstairs “he wants to see the fish first.” He was totally right. I got Alex out of the crib, took him over to the tank, he dropped 1 flake of food in, took his paci out and said “ni-ni” (night night) and then happily got back in his bed. Seriously, if that’s all it takes, we can totally do that. Ethan wants to feed them all the time but the rule we’ve quickly established is twice a day and Mama & Daddy say how much food. Ethan pinches some out, shows us and we tell him if it’s ok or too much – he’s good to put some back if it’s too much – and then after getting approval will drop it in. I usually pinch out 1 or 2 flakes for Alex and he’ll take them from me to drop them in as I’d hate to see how many fish flakes “one small pinch” would be from Alex.

You’ve also missed hearing how accident prone Alex is – just like his Mama. The night before we left to see Nana in Cinci, Alex tripped in the backyard and landed face first on the concrete patio so Nana got to see him all bloodied with a big scratched up forehead and nose. Then the same night we got the fish tank, Ethan had the “tall stool” by his dresser so they could both check out the fish. Alex had on jeans in which he can’t really bend his knees anyway. I was moving a toy away from the crib so I could turn around to get Alex and put him in the crib. As I turned around, I saw Alex fall – not sure if he was getting on the stool and missed or if he was getting off the stool but either way, he hit his forehead on the bottom corner of Ethan’s dresser. I immediately yelled for Steve to get ice not yet knowing the extend of the damage as I picked up Alex to run to our room with him where we have better lighting. Mid-run, I realized Alex was bleeding profusely and yelled for Steve just to “come now” as I couldn’t leave Alex but couldn’t see where he was bleeding yet either and he was SCREAMING bloody murder. Steve finally got there and got me a wet cloth and a dry one so I could staunch the flow and clean him up at the same time. Turns out he gashed his forehead pretty good and covered both of us in blood. Steve got the first aid kit and I put a guaze pressure bandage on his head. The proceeded to check on him every couple of hours through the night. The next morning it appeared to have clotted off as the bandage wasn’t soaked through at all so we replaced it with a bandaid and went to church – bad idea. We stayed in the cry room so I could watch Alex – the first time he & Ethan accidentally bumped heads while playing, the gusher started gushing again. Immediately replaced the bandaid and staunched the flow again and texted Katie for instructions which included not going to the ER (by then it was too late for that anyway) but getting liquid band aid and keep a pressure bandage on for a few days. That did work and the gash that I thought was right between his eyes is actually a little higher up so may 1 day be more in his hair line than in the middle of his forehead. No sooner did that one heal than he bashed his head on the AC intake in the living room and scraped up the side of his head. That one has healed now so I’m sure he’s plotting his next “accident” as I type.

You’ve missed hearing about our new “big car” – the minivan. We had 2 cars – a Camry that was finally paid for 2 years ago and a Corolla that my dad had graciously given us when we needed another car. The camry when packed with stroller was pretty limited on other luggage space when traveling and the Corolla had no space inside for anything other than the 4 of us so putting the stroller in that trunk meant not having anything else (even groceries) in the car unless it was on someone’s lap. So the Corolla was great for driving me or Steve to work or for taking the family around town if the Camry was being worked on but not good for travel and with the limit on luggage in the Camry we always rented cars for long trips. We decided it was time to have a reliable vehicle of our own (both Toyota’s have 200K+ miles) and went in search of a “Soccer Mom” vehicle. We test drove a few vans and then someone loaned us 1 for the weekend to see if we liked it because it was too late on a Saturday to try for financing. The van was a total lemon – several warning lights came on each time you turned it on; the “automatically” sliding door was malfunctioning and would close 3 times before it stayed shut; the built in DVD player starting clicking and making noise after 90 minutes of use; the smoke smell was REALLY bad from a previous owner; the passenger side mirror was broken in half – it was awful. Then the guy KEPT trying to sell it to me – they’d drop the price and fix the problems, etc. Sorry not interested…end of story. We then went to Car Town Kia and test drove a Sedona – we loved it. I knew what we could pay, what the vehicle was worth and what my trade in (Steve’s Harley) was worth before we went in. Steve left all financial discussions to me. The sales guy, Robert Harris (who really was pretty good), came with a number and I told him no deal – this is all I can do. He went back and forth with the finance guys and never pressured me really but definitely worked with me and we walked out that day with the keys & signed papers in hand. It was awesome. Anyone in this area looking for a car – after 1 month, Steve and I really like our Sedona so I’d recommend a Kia for that reason. Car Town Kia does have several non-Kia used cars as well and Robert really was great so give him a call if you are in the market – make sure you tell him I sent you of course. Funny Ethan story related to the Van: We had the “test” van for roughly 24 hours and then took it back Sunday evening. Monday evening we bought the Sedona. Tuesday morning, I took the Sedona to work. Ethan came down stairs and quickly asked Steve, almost in a panic “Daddy, where’s our big car?” S: “The van.” E: “Yeah, the van.” S: “Mommy took it to work today.” E: “Well she wasn’t posed to. That’s our car.” …. 2 days later I was again planning to take the van to work but this time Ethan & Alex woke up so I was taking them downstairs with me and Ethan looks up the stairs at me (having seen the van behind the Camry in the driveway – yes, he’s that bright) and said, “don’t take the big car today, Mama.” I told him I was going to take the van. He said “No. Don’t. I don’t want you to. I dust need it.” I told him we could take a ride when I got home from work. He was still worried about it when Steve got downstairs so Steve laid his worries to rest telling him this van was ours and no one was going to take it from us. We were going to keep it and some days they’d have it and some days I’d have it but it would still be ours. Turns out he likes being in the van so much cause he can see out better and he was afraid we’d take it back like we had with the “test” van. He’s been fine ever since the reassurance from Daddy.

You missed stories about our visit to Illinois and Amma’s return to Kentucky with us. A couple bits that are prevalent in my mind are when we arrived around midnight our time, 11:00pm Illinois time at Amma’s house and Ethan’s first question when seeing her was “where’s Richard & Jewel.” Sorry kid, they don’t live WITH Amma, we’ll have to see them tomorrow. At the Bethel family picnic on Memorial Day there was a swing in a sandy area and the boys were covered in sand which was unacceptable for our van so Steve did what any normal parent would do (ok, maybe not normal but it’s what I would have done as well)….he took the boys over to the water pump and proceeded to strip and rinse them off thoroughly.

Not realizing how much fun they’d have in the water, he got their discarded clothes soaked as well so I had to dig out clean stuff from the packed van while I dug out the camera to get a couple of good pictures. Then when Amma came to the house Ethan was going to sleep on his air mattress downstairs with her but somehow decided it would be better to sleep in his room on the air mattress and have Amma sleep in his bed…sorry Amma, it’s hotter upstairs but that’s what he wants and she caved (honestly, it doesn’t take much prodding from him for her to say yes to something). The first night she went downstairs in the morning before Ethan woke up and he came down and asked why she didn’t sleep with him. She had to explain that she did, she’d just come down. The last morning, she got up after I took a shower and so that the boys could have additional time with her, I got them up….oops, she was planning to go back to sleep. I kind of messed that up but hey, they got more quality time that way . The best was when Amma finally got it – she told Steve she now understands why we constantly say how rotten Alex is…because he IS. He is SUCH an imp – if you tell him not to do something and then turn away from him, he’ll wait till you turn back towards him so you can see him and THEN he’ll do it and then grin at you like – see, did you see? I did it anyway. Rotten I tell you, just rotten.

I’ve fallen WAY behind on blogging as you can see and this is only a smidgen of what you’ve missed as I can’t possibly remember it all (that’s the point of the blog and then I got behind, an endless cycle). Anyway, I promise I will try to get back to reporting at least every couple of days. I definitely have plenty of material from the constant antics of our house. I hope you’ve enjoyed this flash of a catch up and I’ll see you again soon.