Mommy's Little Helper vs. Mommy's Little Helps-Himself

This morning, I awoke to hear the following conversation between my kids, who were cheerfully discussing the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches they wanted for breakfast:

Zachary: "Ashley, bring me a chair so I can get the bread from on top of the refrigerator."
Ashley: "I don't think so. Mommy can help."
Zachary: "Then I'm going to climb on the treadmill and then on the counter so I can get it."
Ashley: "No. Mommy can help."

And that's about the point when I got up, walked into the kitchen and calmly suggested, "Yes, Mommy can help."

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.

Mindbender

If it looks like barf and it smells like barf, I have no trouble identifying it as barf. But if it doesn't LOOK like barf, and it doesn't smell like ANYTHING, but your kids says it IS barf...do you believe your kid and treat him like he's sick? I'm having a hard time wrapping my brain around that one.

This morning, Zachary seemed to be feeling fine, but a short while later, I found him hugging the toilet and saying that he already barfed 3 times: once in the bathroom, once in the living room and once on himself. First of all, I had to go LOOKING for it, and when I did, it just looked like water and I cleaned it up. Despite myself, I went ahead and sniffed at the clear wet spot on his shirt and was puzzled that it smelled just like water.

We had plans today to meet a friend downtown for lunch. We were just going to meet at McDonald's since that's what is most kid-friendly and she works nearby. I figured I'd take advantage of an opportunity and take the kids to ride on the train at Zilker Park, which is just down the road from where we were meeting, afterward. As long as the "barf" episode was an isolated one, I figured we could let it slide (no pun intended) and continue on our way. I bathed the kids, asking Zachary every few minutes if he felt alright and if he still wanted to go on our outing. He seemed fine and said he did. I dressed Ashley first and then went back and got him. His face looked a little pale, but I dressed him and told him to go put on his shoes. That's when Episode 2 occurred. I witnessed it with my own eyes, so I called my friend, cancelled our lunch plans and told the kids we had to stay home today. Of course, by THAT point, Zachary seems like himself again and is sorely disappointed about having to miss the train.

So there's my dilemma: If I hadn't already called my friend to cancel, I might have kept those plans, too, but I guess it's better that we not get our friend sick or risk Episode 3 occurring in a public eating establishment. On the other hand, I'm going against my better judgment and am taking the kids to ride the train anyway. I'll pack an extra shirt and a towel in the diaper bag, and what's the worst that could happen? Guess we'll find out...or, hopefully, we WON'T. Am I terrible?

Welcome to the Family!

This morning, at 9 a.m. to be exact, some unfamiliar music started playing from my cell phone/alarm clock on the nightstand beside my bed. I received a text message from my brother, Steven, with the news that "It's a girl!" He and his wife, Amanda, had their ultrasound today and found out that they, too, are having a girl this summer...due approx. 3 weeks after ours. I am very excited for them (this is their first--not that I wouldn't be excited if they *hint* had a second or a third...) and I had a hunch it would be a girl. After all, their 2 cats and 1 dog are all "boys" and there needed to be a little balance in their family, in my opinion. I can just see her now, with her wrapped around her daddy's (and mommy's) little finger. She will make a beautiful addition to their family, and they will be great parents, I'm sure.

I sent a message back immediately to brag at just how intuitive I am that I KNEW it would be a girl...with an added note that it is a good thing, because Steven and Amanda's favorite colors are purple and more purple. It is tough to find cute clothes for a baby boy in purple...or ANY baby boy clothes in purple for that matter. They'd have to shop at the TCU store, and every piece of attire would have the wrong "monogram" on it or else a picture of a horny toad. Not a pretty picture, but I digress... It will be so much easier to shop for their little girl, so I sure hope that this news is 100% accurate. :) On the other hand, I guess I should feel bad that they will have a hard time dressing her in a Batman costume for Halloween... Maybe she will be the only little girl out there who insists on wearing a Batman costume with her mother to the grocery store. I shouldn't limit my new niece already by needless gender stereotyping. I'll have to get right on it and start thinking of some ideas for incorporating Batman into her early childhood. Perhaps Grandma can make her a quilt comprised of blocks of purple pansies amid a field in blocks in the dark hues of Gotham City. (Sidenote to Grandma: Please leave out the Joker, because if he gives ME the creeps, imagine traumatizing your poor granddaughter from the time she is born...or by the time she turns 5 and actually receives this quilt. I'm just teasing, Mom! You know I love you and appreciate the hard work you are doing on Zachary's quilt even as I type this. heh heh)

Anyway, so you can see that I am already finding joy in my new niece. I tried to explain to Zachary and Ashley today that they are going to have a new cousin and that her name will be Leah. Ashley seemed excited too: "A new cousin for me-a!?"

Welcome to the family, Baby Leah, and congratulations to Steven and Amanda!

Does My Blog Need an Extreme Makeover?

I'm looking at this blog and am reminded that I am not a designer. I originally chose the colors because they were bright and the design because it worked. My blog does look different than most others I have seen, but is this a good thing or a bad thing? Does it make you want to throw up? Be honest. I can take some constructive criticism and would welcome any design talent you may have to offer.

I Can See How She Might Be a Little Confused...

My dad has developed an interest in woodworking and also likes whimsical characters, so I think that's why my mom bought this statuette for him last Christmas. Right now, it sits on a small table in their living room for all to see. Ashley (age 2 1/2) saw it one day and asked, "Whistle?" My mom corrected her and said, "That's a flute!" And with all the innocence of a little child, Ashley asked, "Heavenly Father plays the flute?!"

*Not that it changes the point of the story, but I found out today that this is NOT an exact replica of the statue on display in my parents' home. The one they have is definitely more stylish...as stylish as a gnome statue can be, anyway.*

Sugar and Spice

A lot has happened in the past couple of months that is certainly worthy of a blog-posting or two...or maybe even a dozen...or two, but as anyone who has been checking my blog can tell, I have been AWOL for some time now. So, if you miss reading my blog (Mom, I know you do), I'm going to see if I can get back into the swing of things. Having posted three whole times in all of 2009, I can easily match that pretty effortlessly. I'll start with the most important of all.

I am now 23 weeks into this pregnancy and all is going very well, and the official word is that we are having another girl! I am excited and happy that Ashley will have a sister somewhat close to her in age. I'm not sure if Zachary is still insisting that it's a boy, but he was for awhile. I think he's finally starting to understand a little better. Today he said, "Mommy's going to have a baby in FOUR MONTHS! But first, it's Ashley's birthday. Then it's going to be MY birthday, and then vacation." And he's right. I told him that after he didn't quite understand how long four months was going to be. He said, "I can count to 4! One...two...three...four!" And maybe he wondered why the baby didn't just magically appear? I think he knows better, but delayed gratification is not the gift of most 4 year-olds, now is it?

Aside from the fact that I'm in no hurry for this baby to show up before her time, I think I have just about everything ready so she can come home. On New Year's Day, Chris disassembled the crib in the kids' room and set it up again in our bedroom, alongside the rocking chair and other stuff I set up to make the sleepless nights to come as comfortable as possible. As I polished the crib, I couldn't help but feel so excited to be welcoming another baby. That's when it occurred to me that I hadn't even wondered if I would be able to love a third as much as my first or second. This baby was very much hoped for, as much as the others and I am thrilled that all is going so well.

As far as a name goes, I have told this story many times already, but I once promised Chris that he could name our second daughter. I came up with Ashley's name (Ashley Rebecca) sometime before I was even pregnant with her. I asked Chris how he liked that name, and my recollection was that he agreed that he also liked it. By the time that we found out that we were expecting our first little girl, he claimed he never said he liked the name I had my heart completely set upon at that point. Reluctantly, I tried to come up with other names, but his ideas and mine were about as different as night and day. There was one name that he really liked, but I just couldn't take my mind off of Ashley Rebecca. It wasn't until the day Ashley was born that Chris finally relented and said that we could give her the name that I loved. And in that moment, I promised him that if we ever had another daughter, we could give her the name that he loved. So, I am keeping my promise to him and we will name our baby Katherine Elizabeth. I know Chris plans to call her Katherine. I'm a little undecided, as I think it's a little too formal for our family, but at the same time, I can't really think of a nickname that I'd prefer. For the sake of family unity, I might just have to call her Katherine, too...

So, that's a little update on our baby girl! We are still due around July 26, but due to the fact that Chris is registered to start the Bar Exam on July 28, we're hoping to have her up to a week before. July 20th would probably be the earliest, but that sounds pretty good to me!