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The Doctor Adventure     Wed, 1 Jul 2009 03:51 pm
When we're trying to convince Josiah that something is going to be fun (even if it's lame and we know it probably won't be much fun) we tell him we're going on an adventure...and it works. So yesterday we had to go to 2 doctor's visits for Grace and I told him it was our 'Doctor Adventure' day. Not even he bought that one. We spent the morning trying to get a blood sample. After a meltdown in the waiting room and 45 minutes of positioning and poking both arms the nurse finally found one of her veins and we got enough blood to get out of there. Grace was fairly traumatized, as were Josiah and I, so we headed back to the coffee shop for our cookie fix. After naptime we headed over to a pediatrician who thought she looked just fine, but really wanted that urinalysis that we just can't seem to get done. I was feeling dumb for not being able to get enough of a sample from her...until it took them 3 hours to do it...sort of. They cathed her and, you got to love when the doctor says this...'well, this never happens, but...' She was completely dry and they couldn't get anything either. After filling her with so much Pedisure that her belly looked like it would pop we had to wait 3 hours in that little examining room staring at her, praying she would urinate. Every 15 minutes a nurse would stick her head in and stare in disbelief at our little camel...and Grace would scream because she'd long ago learned anyone in scrubs was going to hurt her. So after reading every book in the room multiple times, 2 poopy diapers, 1 throw up and thinking my own bladder would explode we finally got a teaspoon from her. And then came the call this afternoon that we get to do it all again because the sample was contaminated. Sometimes it feels like God is just picking on you to see how much you can take.
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Since It's Unacceptable to Punch People...     Sun, 28 Jun 2009 03:47 pm
...we've tried to be a little creative in our scheduling since the grocery store incident. The weather is beautiful and we can get outside (thank you, Lord!), but we seem to be in one of those friend vacuums lately. Between schedules not meeting up and having very few kids Josiah's age around we have more interaction with the Walmart greeter than any friends these days. I know it's getting me down and I think the kids were feeling it too. We've adjusted nap times so we can make afternoon library runs and we've been trying to fit in some random 'adventure days,' just to shake things up a bit. On a complete whim I shoved the kids in the car Friday and drove over an hour away to the strawberry farm. I set the expectations pretty low and figured even if we didn't pick anything, at least we'd be out of the house. Josiah and Grace totally surprised me by doing awesome! We had 4 hours without ANY whining, complaining, screaming or crying (this might be a record). The farmers are obviously not used to people showing up with a kid in a stroller, but they let me hang on to it and Josiah for dear life as they drove us out to our spot in the field. Grace happily munched on Cheerios and played with the fuzz ball while I picked and Josiah 'tested.' He refused to put his beautiful berries in the box and insisted that each one needed to be tested. An hour later I had 12.5 pounds of berries and he had a juice-smeared face. After a really quick lunch we headed home and completely ruined their naps. The rest of the day was actually really rough because of this and proved to me that I'm right in being so strict with their nap times.


Yesterday Philip took us all to the Coralville mall for the morning on a 'family adventure.' The kids had a great time at the play area, the carousel and the sporting goods store (that has really neat stuffed animals all over the place). We even got to go out to lunch and made it out with only chocolate cake in Josiah's hair and cantaloupe juice on Grace...not bad. I suppose it's time to start scheming about what we'll do this week. It's fun to have our adventures, but I'm wondering when the days of 'go outside and play by yourself' start.
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Word To The Wise...     Thu, 25 Jun 2009 11:25 am
...when you see a woman at the grocery store pushing one of those monster kid carts (you know, the ones with a car or some other enormous piece of plastic added to a regular cart), fully loaded, with a toddler in it who is begging for snack and carrying a screaming baby on her hip, it does NOT help to smile and chuckle as you pass by. We do not find this amusing nor do we appreciate you finding amusement at our expense. If I'd had a free hand I might have tried out one of my Tae Bo punches on her.
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Check Ups     Tue, 23 Jun 2009 06:44 pm
BG and Grace both had check ups this week and both are doing great. We had a second ultrasound just to be safe after all the complications in Grace's pregnancy and so far everything looks normal. We got some amazingly clear 3D pictures, especially for how young he is and Josiah got his own copy that he has hung on his closet door.

Grace went in today for her 1 year appointment and didn't really enjoy it. I can't say I blame her...one shot, one blood test and one strep swab and she'd had enough and so had Josiah and I. She's had morning fevers for over a month now and we're running a few tests to see if anything shows up. She's otherwise very healthy so we're not really concerned, but it's still a little weird. We never did get enough blood drawn for a full test, but I thought she'd had enough and stopped it for today. We also get to go through the whole urine sample collection process again...I know, you're all jealous you don't get to do this. Not everyone's life can be this cool. After all that I decided we needed a break and headed over to the coffee shop to get a cookie for the kids and a steamer for me.

So, for a 1st year update, here are some favorites and stats:

Food: spicy beans, cottage cheese, cantaloupe, any sweet baked good (especially if it has icing)
Game: pulling things out of cabinets, getting muddy, wrestling, singing to her books, tearing paper
Book: The Farm Book
Words: 'Ah Duh' (all done), Hi Ya!, Dada
Toys: a fuzz ball that giggles, anything that Josiah's playing with
Height: 28 inches
Weight: 18bs 2oz
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Just Lick It!     Sun, 21 Jun 2009 04:11 pm
Yesterday was just one of those rare, perfect days. Summer is here (yeah for sun and hot weather!), we spent the morning at the city-wide garage sales and got some great stuff (I'm excited about my new J Crew sweater), had Subways and ice cream cones to celebrate Josiah filling up his 'manners' jar, did some yard work and ended it all with a date. It doesn't get much better. One of the highlights was definitely watching Philip try to teach Josiah how to eat an ice cream cone. It was melting fast and Josiah is truly his father's son...he's thorough, but not speedy. While he contemplated if it was better to lick, bite or slurp his desert, both of them got covered in sugar. But Josiah loved it and thought it was worth all his hard work. Grace, by the way, wasted no time in attacking my cone and did some serious damage.
Since we start 2nd trimester this week we figured it was about time for a bump picture, so here goes. It doesn't look so big in the picture, but it feels huge to me.
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Wow     Wed, 17 Jun 2009 09:03 pm
A few months ago I asked (OK, practically demanded) that Philip and I find a way to get away for at least one night without kids before the baby came. I honestly was only expecting one night and I had even said I didn't mind if we came back to our own house...just as long as we got a break before #3 came. Due to some scheduling conflicts and the awesomeness of my husband and in-laws we just got word that we have a deluxe suite booked for 4 DAYS AND 3 NIGHTS in downtown Chicago. I almost cried when Philip told me. I can't even imagine having that much time off. I'm excited to go to Chicago, but I'm really tempted to just sit in our hotel room and do nothing...except during nap time...just because I can. I'm already dreaming of staying up past 9pm and sleeping in WAY past dawn and eating multiple meals without anyone flinging milk across the room. Actually, I won't care if someone flings milk because I won't have to clean it up. I know I should probably be dreaming a little bigger than this, but sometimes it's the small weird things that make me happy. Thank You!
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Big Boy Time     Mon, 15 Jun 2009 03:31 pm
As one of our friends puts it, 'Our kids may beat him at sports, but Josiah will be tutoring all of them.' He definitely has verbal and academic strengths and he's incredibly interested in learning to read and learning...well, pretty much anything. We've run into a snag though lately. Grace has the ability to bulldoze or eat pretty much anything that involves books and I just don't seem to have the energy to figure out how to keep him challenged and her still. The resulting frustration and power struggles were getting pretty ugly so Philip suggested we try something new this week. We've hired a neighborhood girl to come play with Grace for a couple hours a week while Josiah and I hide in another room and bring out all the books, markers, construction paper, glue and random art supplies we can fit into the 'Big Boy' hour. We had our first session this morning and it seemed to go pretty well. We restarted our Hook on Phonics book and worked through part of our 'How to Make Monsters' book. It was great to get to spend one on one time with the little guy and be totally focused on just him and I've been amazed how much smoother the rest of the day has gone. Maybe we're on to something here.
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