That's Some Powerful Juice!

Did you know that one of the amazing yet lesser known benefits of drinking Sunny Delight is that it helps you swim and surf? No? Neither did I! That is, until tonight. Zachary brought this to my attention. Wow!

"What I Meant to Say..."

Last night, during Family Home Evening, Chris read the kids a story about a little boy who was going off to school for the first time and was so excited about learning. Just as the boy in the story was asked to do by his teacher, Chris asked Zachary to say his name and something about himself. Zachary said, "My name's Zachary, and I like blocks and shapes. I like circles, I like triangles, and I EVEN LOVE SQUIRRELS!" Ooops, I think that came out a little wrong! And I think Zachary knew it, because he was laughing as hard as the rest of us.

Bad Karma Strikes and I Claim My Place in the Family Infirmary

I exposed my sick child to other people and their children today, so I guess I deserve to claim my spot in the family infirmary now. After all, what goes around comes around, right? I have had quite the headache for the past several hours now and am feeling pretty sick at my stomach, too. After watching Zachary throw up all day, though, is it any wonder why???

Poor Zachary has not been able to keep anything down all day. After cancelling our lunch plans, Zachary was very sad when I told him we'd be staying home instead of riding the Zilker Park train as planned. After each episode he had of throwing up, I'd say it again, "I promise we'll go next week when you're feeling better!" But that did not ease his troubled little heart. At one point, while sitting on the floor next to the toilet, he offered this impassioned plea: "Mommy, I have tried EVERYTHING I can think of, but the sickness is just not going away!" Who likes to see a kid have to work so hard, and despite all his efforts, feel like he has failed? Not me. I know there will definitely be times where I have to put my foot down and keep him home when he is sick, but I didn't feel like this HAD to be one of those times. He wanted to go so badly, and he was even wearing his little train conductor's hat and bandana and looked so cute, I figured we could give it a shot. I packed up an extra shirt and towels just in case and we headed down to the park, but not before Zachary eagerly offered a prayer that he would not throw up and have to miss the train.

After arriving at the park, we bought our train tickets but had a little time to play at the park before its departure. Zachary was all over that park and seemed to be happy despite not feeling well. We played so much that we almost MISSED our train. We boarded right as the conductor yelled, "All aboard!" and took off in a matter of seconds. We were lucky that we made it. That was close! It was a beautiful day outside, but the wind was blowing pretty hard, so I spent half the time shielding my eyes and mouth from the flying dirt and grit, but the kids enjoyed themselves. Zachary was sad, though, that we didn't see Woody this time (a man who hangs out along the route playing his guitar and harmonica.) Apparently, Woody was a significant part of what made the train so fun the first time and the reason why Ashley insisted on bringing their harmonica (though I made her leave it in the car.) We played a little more in the park before Zachary found a spot atop one of the slides and laid down. I told him, at that point, that we needed to go home so he could rest. We managed to get through our outing just before Zachary's stomach began acting up again. On the way home, I tried to supervise his next episode while driving along the toll road. I came prepared, though, and he was covered in a towel and the car was spared. He looked pretty bad at that point, so I asked him, "Do I need to take you to the doctor?" He replied (weakly), "Don't be so rude!"

We made it home and Zachary rested all afternoon while I worried about what more serious ailment he could possibly have than the innocuous 24-hour stomach bug that Ashley had over the weekend. I was looking up appendicitis when a friend suggested that a way to tell if a kid has that is to straighten out his leg and push firmly on his heel as though I'm trying to push his leg into his pelvis. Does that not sound HORRIBLE?! At the time, Zachary was sleeping, so I waited until he woke up to inflict more pain on him. First, I asked him if he felt better (he said "yes") and asked him if his stomach hurt, while I pressed lightly on it (he said "no") and then I straightened his leg and inflicted the torture, which only resulted in Zachary throwing up all the water he had drunk over the 2 hours prior. He was holding NOTHING down. I hate to see anyone so sick.

Chris got home around 5:30 and after a few minutes, I went and lied down to see if I could shake the headache that had crept in over the course of the afternoon. He was so good to watch the kids while I ended up sleeping all evening. I didn't feel much better when I got up a few hours later, but maybe this will pass by the morning. Worse than taking care of sick kids (or husbands) is caring for them when you are also feeling yucky. So, with that, I'm going to sign off and get myself ready for bed and pray that this is gone when I wake up.

Meet My Kids: "Crash and Burn" and "Sick and Twisted"

We had quite an eventful weekend at our house, and since I have been neglecting my blog again, I figured you all (all 2 of you?) would want to read about it. I don't have any pictures this time, but maybe that's why I'm not putting it off like I usually do. So here goes!

Chris spent all of Saturday at school putting in his hours for Law Review after discovering, Friday night, that his project deadline was this weekend and not next weekend. Fortunately (fortunately?) the kids and I were all suffering from colds last week, so we didn't have any plans we were intent on keeping. Though Zachary and Ashley didn't seem to be lacking in energy, I certainly was, so spending the day at home and recuperating was fine by me. I really don't know what I did all day other than try to keep up with them, do a little cleaning around the house, and, in general, move at a snail's pace.

I had no idea when Chris was planning on getting home, but as the day grew longer, I was feeling a little better and was itching to get out of the house. I decided to make a trip to Target to pick up a couple of things. I just needed to summon my inner Executive Director in charge of Ever Accomplishing Anything to get my body moving...and I needed to feed the kids dinner. So, I put a pot of water on the stove with plans for something quick, easy, and gourmet: good ol' mac & cheese. Well, I disappeared for a few minutes to check some email or do something else equally necessary, and in those few short minutes I was neglecting my children, Ashley decides to advance her education in the field of What Happens When I Touch the Hot Stove? This was the first time either of my kids had ever had a burn (Zachary was more of a scholar in the field of Testing the Effects of Gravity on Various Parts of the Body as you might recall.)

Having been inexperienced in childhood burns up to this point, I went in search of my trusty little book full of helpful advice and written by our very own pediatrician, Toddler 411. That might as well be the doctor's name, since all of her expert medical advice is contained therein. It sure comes in handy when I don't really want to pay for an after-hours call or actually have to make an unnecessary appointment. During this time, Zachary was being a great big brother and announced, "Hold on, Ashley, I'm going to go find out about burns! Zachary to the rescue!!!" He was in the computer room, so I half expected him to google it. After leafing through the book, I still wasn't sure what I needed to do. She had burned just her fingertip (perhaps 4 fingertips, but only one was obvious.) The skin was red with a layer on top that appeared a powdery white. (Toddler 411, p. 346: [Third degree] burns may look white.) Was this a third degree burn?!? I was almost convinced it was...but only because it was my kid and I had to be a little paranoid because of that.

Remembering that the doctor's office had recently extended its hours, I made the call. It was closed after all, and I was instructed to either call 911 (if it were a real emergency) or call the nurses at the hospital and pay a $12 surcharge. No way I'm going to pay $12 bucks to talk to a nurse! Those people should be happy to have someone like me to entertain them with my (OCCASIONAL) motherly cluelessness! That is why it's great to have a nurse in the family. I called my sister in Boston to find out if Ashley was going to need a skin graft, or if perhaps she was going to succumb to this macaroni & cheese burn. It took awhile to get a response after being put on hold for what seemed like forever. It was so exciting--like talking to a real nurse! (Insert big smiley face here just for you, Wendy!) My sister had to first consult the internet and then my cousin who works in radiology (both experts in the field of stove-top stuff, I'm sure.) It was nice just to have the moral support on their end, but my sister finally recommended that I just pay the $12 to be told that, no, Ashley did not need to be rushed to the ER where the charges for talking to triage nurses skyrockets from $12 to about $112.

I can see the ridiculousness of my plight now, but it seemed serious at the time. I watched Ashley practically begging me to amputate the burned appendage to ease the pain. Oddly, she was slapping the effected hand with the other. She wanted the pain to go away that badly. I did run the finger under some cool water for about 5 seconds until I decided she didn't like that. My sister convinced me to get a backbone and get that finger back under the cold water. I was glad I took her advice, because it seemed like some relief came the second time around. While she might not be as experienced in critical pediatric finger burns, she is a great cardiac nurse and, over the phone, mind you, single-handedly saved me from having my very own little heart attack. How can I ever repay her? (Feel free to humor me by sending suggestions to my comment box.)

After Ashley had had enough of the cold water, she was still pretty upset. Somewhere between touching the stove and this point in the story, she had also managed to trip over my leg and fall on her face...on the wood floor. Hence the name: Crash and Burn. Blood was coming from some inconspicuous part of her mouth, as I learned only after cleaning up a previously unidentified spot in the bathroom. She'd had a hard night. I held her in my arms and rocked her until she fell asleep and I could no longer leave to go to Target.

Around 8:30, Chris finally got home. Ashley was so fast asleep, I noticed, that she had rolled off of the bed and onto the floor and went right back to sleep. I took the opportunity to take Zachary out for some special one-on-one time with me at Target. What is so special about that, you ask? For one, it occurred when he normally should have been in bed. For two, I made up my mind that I was going to let him walk instead of ride in the basket, and for three, I wasn't going to yell at him for touching things. I was going to let him just enjoy being a kid with a fun mom instead of a grouchy one this time. (In my defense, I think I AM a fun mom usually, but shopping with kids?... Need I say more?) For, like, the ONE thing I really needed to get (which, by the way, I didn't end up buying), we stayed until closing time. He got to peruse the toy aisles almost to his little heart's content. When I was ready to move on and he didn't follow, I didn't have a cow. I stayed fairly nearby so I could hear him when he called out for me, "Mommmmmmy, I'm lost!" This happened quite a few times, so I figured as long as I was within earshot, it was time for him to learn how it feels to be separated from me in a store. All kids need to experience that once or twice before they can genuinely appreciate not being lost.

After our shopping adventure was over, we made a late-night run to Sonic on the way home. That was at Zachary's request, and I knew that, to him, it would mean the difference between a fun time with mom and a truly special time with mom. There are so many things that make this special for him: 1) getting to push the call button, 2) getting to sit in the front seat with me, 3) getting to order just what he wanted (a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Blast this time), and 4) getting to throw our trash away all by himself like a big boy. Seriously, he jumped at the chance to do that for me. That aside, Zachary really is a special boy, and I enjoyed every moment I got to spend with him that night.

Fast forward to Sunday. Except for oversleeping by about 45 minutes, everything seemed completely normal. Thanks to Chris who always gets the kids ready for church, we actually still made it there on time. The kids were even a little better-behaved in Sacrament Meeting than they most often are. They didn't really fight over snacks or get upset about who had which book. (The key, I learned, is just to forget to pack any at all.) Afterward, they went to their classes and I went to Sunday School. Halfway through, Zachary's Primary teacher came and told me that Zachary was not acting like himself. He wanted her to hold him during Sharing Time, and he was crying a little and saying his ear hurt. He didn't want to leave Primary, so I sat with his class and held him on my lap. Otherwise, he really didn't want to participate. When it was time to go to his class, I gave him the option of coming with me to Young Womens or going by himself to class. He ended up choosing his own class, but there was a period of musical classes where Zachary went to Chris, who brought him to me, and back to Sunbeams when he got sick of YW after about 2 minutes.

As we were driving home, it occurred to me that I could take Zachary in to see the doctor that same day instead of waiting until Monday morning. He was really looking miserable, and after having been out late the night before, he was also sleepy. I called and we got an appointment for 2:00. I had to wake him when it was time to leave, and he was not happy about me taking him to the doctor. I packed him into his carseat along with a blanket and his favorite stuffed bunny for comfort. About halfway there, he started throwing up in the backseat. I might have been pulled over for wreckless driving, but I had a pretty good explanation ready just in case. Luckily, it wasn't "bad"...well, not nearly as bad as it could have been anyway. We made it to the doctor's office and I got one of my "green" grocery bags out of the trunk and put his blanket in it. So handy! I left the bag there so he could use it if he needed to on the way back. (He did.)

Zachary was so upset about having to go to the doctor. He isn't always that resistant, but this time he was especially so. While we waited to go back, he was crying and pleading with me to take him home. "But, Mommy, I want to go home. I'm scaaaaaared!" On and on with that one for a minute. Seeing that it wasn't working, he changed his tactics. "I want to go hoooooooome. This place is BORING!!!!" On and on that went for another minute. I couldn't keep myself from laughing. When that didn't work, either, he tried to tell me that the office was closed so we had to leave. (I'm afraid my boy is getting pretty good at manipulation.) Alternating between tears and wails about being scared or bored, Zachary reluctantly followed when the nurse took us back to a room. We waited and waited. We waited until we BOTH fell asleep. After almost an hour, Zachary was finally seen by the PNP. Sure enough, he has a bad ear infection. Luckily, this is only his second ear infection (and Ashley hasn't yet had one.) So, yes, I really AM lucky and so are they.

I took Zachary home so he could sleep while I went back out to fill his prescription. When I returned, Chris woke him to give him his first dose. That's always torture...for parents and kid alike. It took forever to get the medicine in him, and no more than a few minutes later, he threw it up all over his bed. Ugh. Time to start a load of laundry. Time for Chris to take a shower because a little barf touched his foot. :) While all this was going on, Zachary burst into laughter and repeatedly announced, "Barfing on my bed is FUNNY! Barfing on my bed is FUNNY!" Hence the name: Sick and Twisted. Delirium, you think?

After soaking in a warm bath for awhile and put in fresh pajamas, he slept the entire rest of the day. He slept until 4 a.m. and then woke me just for a drink of water. He seemed to be feeling better and is happier today. After a huge struggle, I got him to take his medicine. The next 10 days of this will be so fun! :)

Happy Monday! (If you aren't happy it's Monday, just be happy for me, because I'm glad this weekend is over!!!)

Happy Birthday, Christopher!

Saturday was Chris' birthday. Lucky for him, he also had a lot of studying to do AND it was the weekend of Stake Conference. Not a terribly fun way to spend one's birthday, I would say, so the least I could do was to *let him* stay home with the kids while I attended the adult session of Conference on Saturday night by myself. Happy birthday to you, Chris! Next year will undoubtedly be better. :)

I tried to make his birthday a little special anyway by making him a yummy breakfast on Saturday morning. Breakfast burritos are, according to Chris, a "Texas thing" that he really likes but I never make. (The sausage, potato, egg, and cheese filling turned out great and there was enough leftover that he also ate some for his birthday dinner ALONE.) In the afternoon, we took the kids out to a local pumpkin patch to enjoy some pre-Halloween festivities and we let them choose their very first pumpkins for carving.











We had our actual celebration with Chris last night, and my mom and dad joined us for that. He requested that I make a roast for his birthday dinner. I hadn't made a roast in years probably. To my surprise, his birthday dinner was probably the best meal I have made all year! So, I told him that, once a year, for his birthday, I will make him a roast. :) More likely: How many times can I make roast without burning him out on that, too? For dessert, I made Chris' favorite double-layer triple chocolate cake which we ate with vanilla ice cream. That's EXACTLY how he likes it, so I was happy to oblige. While I was making the cake earlier in the afternoon, Zachary exclaimed, "Thank you, Mommy, for making the best chocolate cake EVER!" Isn't he the best KID ever?!

After Chris opened his presents, we ate that yummy cake and ice cream and enjoyed some fine entertainment that was the highlight of the evening. Enjoy!

"Happy Birthday to Daddy!"


The encore:

Counting Down to Candy

Zachary (tonight, and completely out of nowhere): "Maybe next time it will be Halloween behind the church!?" (hope, hope, hope)

Ahh, the Trunk or Treat. It's the most wonderful time of the year...for some, apparently.

Golden Boy

I love watching the Olympics! I look forward to the next Games before the current ones are even over...and that, I'm afraid, is going to be happening too soon for my liking. I really get bitten by the Olympic bug. Like so many others whose blog posts I have read recently, I feel so proud to be an American during this time, but I also appreciate the national pride that ALL of the participants (the athletes, their families, the coaches, the spectators, the vendors who sell roasted scorpions on a stick...everyone, really) must feel when representing their countries during the Olympic Games.

I've been letting Zachary sneak out of his room after bedtime to watch some of my favorite Olympic competitions with me. The swimming, diving and gymnastics are at the top of my list during the Summer Games. Just now, as I went and found Zachary already perched in position and ready to watch, he motioned to the TV screen (as if to excuse himself for not officially having permission to be out of bed) and, with excitement, he announced, "Look, it's Michael Phillips [sic] ...and he is winning 600 golden medals!" Yeah, it sort of seems that way, doesn't it?

Oh, I love that Zachary, too, loves the Olympics already!

You Think I'm Fruity, Don't You?

Today, the kids and I went Kawaii's to get some Hawaiian shaved ice to celebrate my birthday. It was a REALLY hot day out, so this was the perfect way for us to cool down. We just recently discovered how much we love Kawaii's! (Have any of my local friends ever been there, and if so, why did nobody tell me about this before? It is becoming one of my favorite summer hangouts!) Anyway, as were enjoying our mix of cherry and grape, Zachary looked down and said, "It's turning your toenails red!" I couldn't tell if he was serious, but I got a good laugh out of it. :)

Re-Naming the Rubik's Cube

Did you know that the Rubik's Cube is being re-named? Zachary was just looking at the picture of WALL-E that I posted on my blog a couple of days ago, and this is the name he is giving it: The Color Roller Upside-Down Upside-Up Ball Dice. Catchy, isn't it?

More Than Just Your Friendly Neighborhood Bunny

Yesterday morning, while I was getting into the car to take Zachary to an early dentist appointment, I spotted a cottontail bunny sitting near the overgrown cactus that covers the power box between our yard and our neighbors' yard. I tried to show Zachary, but the bunny was easily hidden in its surroundings. That is, until it began to vigorously scratch behind its ear. Zachary watched it closely until I started the car and then announced that the bunny was hopping away. As I pulled further down the driveway and into the street, I saw the bunny again on the other side of the box and pointed it out again. Suddenly, Zachary exclaimed, "Hey, Mommy! That bunny's not scratching his ears or eyes! He's HIDING EGGS!!!"

It's not just the cute things that 4 year-olds say that make me smile--it's that they actually BELIEVE what they are saying. Thanks, Zachary, for brightening my day.

Showtime!

Last Friday was Zachary's final day of gymnastics. His class performed their "show" so we could see the skills they have been working on over the past few months. Zachary has enjoyed making some new friends and has looked forward to Little Gym every week! I am glad that he has had the opportunity to try something new, and I have really seen him grow more confident in himself.

Zachary was too scared to go on the "big" balance beam in the fall, but he has gained courage and rose to the occasion last Friday. He also mastered the "table top" part of his floor exercise. And I don't think I even KNEW that he could hang upside down on the bars the way he did, but I think this is my favorite picture! After the show, each of the kids in the class received a gold medal. Zachary is our little champion, and we are so proud of him!

It was hard for Ashley to not be able to participate in gymnastics with her brother, as she got to see him having so much fun and all she could do was watch. The class for her age group requires parents to participate, and Zachary cannot be left to his own devices, that's for sure. :) I tried to make the time go by much easier for Ashley by taking her to the pet store nearby to look at the animals, and she did love that! Next year will be a fun year for Ashley, because she'll get to start participating in activities that she sees Zachary enjoying now. She seems very determined to have her day. Based on her agility and strength and the competitive spirit I have seen in her from such a young age, I look forward to watching Ashley have these opportunities, too. She's really going to show her big brother how it's done. Watch out, here she comes!

Four *Wonderful* Years

What Part of "NO"...?

Zachary: "Mommy, can we play the shadow game?" (Shadows Over Camelot = fairly complicated adult game with an excess of small pieces.)
Me: "No, Zachary."
Zachary: (jubilantly) "Okay!!!"
Me: "Um, that was a no."
Zachary: "But THAT was a YES!"

Double Trouble

I love the way little children (particularly 3 year-olds) pick up expressions from adults and then turn around and try to use them to express their own emotions. They often come out sounding more comical than anything else. For example, last year Zachary picked up the phrase "Give me a break!" Only when something happened that made him just a little mad, he'd exclaim, "Gimme anudder break!" Well, yesterday, he and Ashley were in the kitchen eating at the table and I was in the other room working on something for a moment. I could tell that something Ashley was doing was bothering her brother immensely. Suddenly, in a heated tone of voice, Zachary tried to stop her behavior and yelled out, "ASHLEY! GIVE ME ANUDDER SISTER!" I'm not quite sure what he meant by that, but somehow I don't believe that having TWO sisters would have made the situation any easier to deal with. Not for me anyway!

Ohhhhh, Fudddddge!

Is it selfish or neglectful of me to disappear for, say, an hour to go take a shower and do my hair while my kids watch cartoons? (I mean, they've been properly fed, bathed--with fruity-scented bubbles and everything, plenty of playtime included--and dressed before this point, so it's not like I don't at least TRY to put their needs ahead of my own. Oh, and trust me, they're not crying when I make them watch cartoons or play with their toys, either.) Just wondering if I am the only person for whom it takes THAT LONG to get ready for the day. I'm really not one of those people who can chop it all off or just wash-n-go. Believe me, I wish I was!

That being said, I admit that occasionally (like pretty often) things happen while I'm in the bathroom blowdrying my hair. If I wasn't keen enough to expect it now, I'd be unaware of my children's escapades until the blowdryer was turned off and I could hear again. Most of the time, these things happen in the kitchen, very often with Zachary and Ashley sandwiched between the refrigerator and the refrigerator door. Those little rascals! You would think I never feed them! (Of course, I think they do it as much to satisfy their curiosity about things I don't normally let them have--like lime juice, for example--as they do it to get into the good stuff.)

Today, I detected such a silence that made me suspicious. Before I could even get up to go check on them, Ashley wandered into the bathroom to find me, being followed by her whimpering big brother. I was prepared with kisses for any "owies" but then I heard him say that he was "stuck." That can be kind of a scary thought, right? Well, as it turned out, Zachary had raided the fridge and was helping himself to a treat when his finger got stuck...in the bottle of hot fudge. Very distressing indeed!







Stuck?






Stuck?!






STUCCCK!!!






Ahhhhhhhh! Sweet release.

Future Spelling Bee Champ

This weekend, Zachary successfully learned how to spell his full name! That's pretty amazing, if you ask me, since people have always reassured me that he would probably figure it out by the time he hit the 5th grade. What should we work on next? Algebra?

Reflections

The other day, as I was browsing through my picture files, I came across some photos of Zachary as an infant. Enter Zachary:

Me: "Look, Zachary! That's you when you were a little baby!"
Zachary: (sadly) "Oh, I miss him!"