Happy 55th Anniversary, Grandma & Grandpa! Love, Calla, Kelsey & Jay

TODAY my grandparents have been married 55 years.

They fell in love when he was serving in the marines during the Korean conflict and Grandma was back home,

writing him letters. She didn't know him before they started their correspondence

(back in those days you often wrote friends of friends who were serving overseas).

But they met at Thanksgiving when he came home and fell in love

and kept writing, and eventually got married on March 31st.

They have such a special love story and it is especially inspiring to me because

they are family! I hope my hubby and I have 55 years to celebrate some day.

(Only 48 more to go, Jonathan! ha)

TODAY I am playing catch-up. Speaking of catching up, here are some pics I have had on my camera from the past few days.

below: a pancake breakfast. Kelsey was apparently still waking up. (Aunt Rin, I love to use that basket you got me from Africa to store fruit. Makes me feel African.)

 below: siblings hanging out. Prior to getting our hair combed and clothes on apparently.

 below: Calla picking my flowers on one of those hot summer-ish days we had this March. I have tulips in it least five different colors growing in my frontyard. Jonathan and I want to get a picture of the girls standing in front of them after church tomorrow!

 below: Kelsey after church last Sunday

 The girls not cooperating for a nice pic in their skirts that aunt Kim made...

 HAHA....here are the girls after setting up camp on the floor during our hands-off sleep training. (-: As you can see, they had papers and books out.

Back on THURSDAY it was cold! It felt like March! It worked out that I had invited my girlfriend Suzi over and her kiddos, so we could be social without leaving the house. They didn't come until 11, so Thursday morning the girls helped me make a lunch and dessert for them. We made Sunday Crunch for dessert. Its a good dessert for the girls to help with. (-:

For lunch we served grilled cheese sandwiches with a side of corn dog casserole. Corn dog casserole is perfect for kids; my girls love it. My mom made it for them one time and they ask me to make it on a pretty regular basis! (It's a good one for when Daddy is not home; he's not a big bean fan!) Here's the recipe in case anyone is interested ha...

Corn Dog Casserole

Casserole:

1- 28 oz. Can baked beans, undrained.

1- 16 oz. pkg. cocktail-sized hot dogs
½ cup barbecue sauce
¼ cup finely chopped onion

 Topping:

1- 6.5 oz. pkg. golden corn muffin and bread mix
1/3 cup milk
2 T. melted margarine
1 egg.

 1. Heat oven to 375 degrees. In large saucepan, combine all casserole ingredients; mix well. Cook over medium-high heat until bubbly, stirring frequently. Pour into ungreased 2-quart casserole.

2. Prepare corn muffin mix as directed on package, using milk, margarine and egg. Spoon batter evenly around edges of hot bean mixture.
3. Bake at 375 for 20 to 25 minutes. Or until topping is golden brown.
6 servings

Jay was still sleeping when our company arrived. Suzi's son, Eli (3), played with the girls while Suzi and I chatted and watched her daughter Hannah (who is Jay's age) explore. Hannah is such a cutie, and is quite the mover! She doesn't crawl yet but she can make her way across a room with no problem...she is an expert roller. It was so funny to watch her roll around; she got stuck under furniture a couple times but that girl was going places. haha (-:

Jay woke up while we were eating lunch. Calla kept chatting to Suzi, so I finally got her to stop interrupting by setting up a Candyland game for her and Eli and Kelsey. Every time company comes on over and Calla starts getting chatty I think to myself that I need to have a conversation BEFORE company arrives about keeping quiet. There is something to be said about that whole "children should be seen and not heard" concept. (Unless around grandparents and great-grandparents! ha)

Our company left at around naptime. Kelsey Mae and Jay went down for their naps. I had a phone date with my sister, Kelly, so I set Calla up with a craft and then let her watch a show. Once the show was done and I was off the phone, Calla helped me start to make dinner. Kelsey was right beside us as soon as she woke up. She's not a real long napper.

We didn't have any plans Thursday night, so Jonathan came home and we ate dinner. (Chicken marsala; aunt Katelyn was just telling me she and David had it the other night and it gave me a taste for it!) Okay never mind we did have plans Thursday night. Jonathan wanted to take the minivan to get the oil changed. He decided to take Kelsey Mae with him. Oh my goodness, you would have thought he was taking her to a toy store. She was soo excited. She quickly used the bathroom and grabbed her shoes. She was smiling so big. Her big sister was sitting by, feeling glum. We pointed out to Calla tha she ran errands with Daddy last time.

While Jonathan and Kelsey were gone, Calla and I did her reading lesson (Jay dutifully listened in) and then we played two games of Memory. Calla beat me both games. I have to work on my memory.

We heard the minivan pull in the driveway, and Calla stood at the door anxiously waiting for little Sis. I think she missed her! But when Jonathan came back inside, Kelsey was sleeping in his arms! Calla's mouth dropped open and she whispered, "Was she sleeping the whole time?" haha.

Jonathan tucked Calla in bed with sister while I put Jay to sleep. He said Kelsey had the best time sitting and waiting the hour for the minivan to get serviced. She always has the best time when she gets to be with Daddy! ha

FRIDAY morning we didn't have any plans. That changed mid-morning as I was putting Jay down for his morning nap, and I recieved a text from my girlfriend Ali. She asked if I wanted to join her and a friend, Kate, at a nearby indoor play place called Monkey Bizness. It was the perfect day for it...overcast, damp and cold!

The girls were very excited about our spontaneous plans to go to Monkey Bizness. Jay ended up taking a terrible nap, and so I had Calla sit and play with him in the front room while I quickly showered and got ready to go out the door. Calla was more than happy to entertain him, because she felt bad...a few moments before, I had been trying to put Jay back to sleep. She and Kelsey decided to get in  dust-up in the halfway about a goldfish container. Kelsey had stolen it from Calla's desk and Calla was mad. So she decided to take it from Kelsey, resulting in shrieks from Kelsey. It is ironic that this all happened right outside Jay's bedroom door. There are several other doors in our house they could have fought near. ha.

Jay was feeling slap-happy after his short nap. He had a big laughing fit right before we headed out the door. Calla always makes him laugh.

We brought our lunch to Monkey Bizness, which gave us it least two and a half hours to stay there and play until Kelsey's nap. Normally I have to factor in Jay's naptime too, but he actually fell asleep in the bjorn while we were there. That is such a nice concept in theory, but in reality he is getting so big to sleep in the bjorn! My back is always pretty sore afterwards. (-:

The girls had such a fabulous time at Monkey Bizness, and I really enjoyed catching up with my friends. Everybody wins! (-: Ali asked if Calla could come over to her house afterwards to play with her girls, Brooke and Anna. Calla could hardly wait. She kept asking me if it was time to leave Monkey Bizness because she was anxious for her playdate.

Calla left with Ali and her kiddos. Kelsey was a little dismayed, but I told her she and I could have a playdate. haha. She somehow found comfort in this concept. Actually, we didn't get any playing done! I put Kelsey down for her nap once we got home at 2, and by the time 4:15 rolled around (when I wanted to leave to pick up Calla), she was still sleeping! I ended up waking her up.

Jay and I had rested too. I was coming down with some sort of cold. A cold is no big deal, but often when I get a cold I get an ear ache too. And yesterday's ear ache was amazingly horrible. I couldn't believe how much my ear hurt. Thank goodness some Motrin from Jonathan when he got home from work did the trick! phew!

Kelsey and Jay and I picked up Calla. She didn't want to go but somehow I drug her out of there. haha. It was neat to see she had such a fabulous time.

Once we got home, Jay was being so clingy. Unfortunately, I think he is starting to feel under the weather again. He didn't want to sit and play with his toys. So i just held him until Jonathan got home from work, and then Jonathan sat in his room and put him to sleep while I got dinner ready and fed the girls.

Kelsey had a slight fever all the sudden (they were dropping like flies), so I ended up putting the girls to bed shortly after dinner. Then I took a turn holding Jay while Jonathan got dinner and some downtime. It was definitely a very uneventful Friday night, but we're hoping a lot of sleep this weekend gets everybody feeling back to normal!

The good news was...Jonathan had taped "The Blind Side." So I sat in bed with Jay snoozing on my chest and watched that movie. I haven't seen it in a long time. It's a good one.

Speaking of Jay snoozing on my chest, he is doing that again tonight so I am going to go try to lay him in his crib. Sick Jay = clingy Jay. Wish me luck!

A Wednesday that didn't feel like a Wednesday

YESTERDAY I began teaching yoga to Jay. Got to start them early. 

He actually does this "pose" all the time. He normally sticks his bottom way up in the air (higher than his head) but I never whip my phone out in time to get a picture of it. I will have to try. It gets my funny bone every time.

YESTERDAY didn't feel like a Wednesday at all since we didn't have Bible Study in the morning, or Awana in the evening. I made Calla and Kelsey pancakes for breakfast, since they had gone to bed "without mom refereeing" them. Calla likes her pancakes really, really thin. I finally got them down. I gave Jay a pancake to hold but he wasn't interested in taking any bites in it. ha

Jay also wasn't very interested in a good morning nap. It didn't matter though because we were heading out the door anyway to my friend Emily's house. Emily is in my Wed. morning Bible study and so since we weren't having it she invited me and four other girls from Bible study to her house.

It was on the mild side weather-wise, so the kids played outside. Em has a trampoline and the kids LOVE it. Calla and Kelsey wore their Jordan sneakers which ended up being a big mistake because they kept needing help putting them on and off each time they went on the trampoline (which were several times).

My girls must have noticed I was juggling Jay (well, sitting next to him in the grass) and so they would just ask whichever mom was nearby to help them with their shoes. I spotted it least three different moms helping the girls tie their shoelaces at different points in the morning. Fortunately Jay doesn't seem to mind when I suddenly stand up and run away from him, because I kept having to sprint across the yard to tell my friend to let me help my own children. hahaha. Calla and Kelsey must be of the mindset that all moms, worldwide, are eager to help them.

We had packed lunches, so we ate outside on a picnic blanket. Calla unpacked our lunch and proceeded to eat both her and my sandwiches (a sandwich and a half!). She must have been hungry. I didn't realize she had eaten them, so i asked her where mine was and she looked surprised. Oops! She said she was so sorry she ate it. I told her not to worry (and filled up on a rice crispy treat. by the way, they fill you up for like two minutes).

Emily has a calf injury from playing tennis and needed to head out to physical therapy, so we all left her house at 12:30 or so. It was just as well, because Kelsey was tired after going to bed late the night before and getting up early. (She just can't sleep in like Calla can!)

Kelsey Mae and Jay took long afternoon naps. Calla helped me clean the house a bit, and then we played two games of Memory. It is fun to have some one-on-one time with her. She is a lot of fun. (-:

Calla and I also packed a bag for the pool. Jonathan had suggested going to the pool once he got home from work. The girls were so excited. (Although Calla groaned when I specified he meant "the indoor pool!" She is so anxious to go swimming at the outdoor park district pool! "End of May" seems very, very far away to her.)

It worked out that Jonathan got home from work early, at 5pm. The girls and I ate an early dinner and then all of us headed out to the pool. Jay had recently woken up from his nap, so he was fresh and ready to splash!

I wish I could have taken some pics but it was all-hands-on-deck. Jonathan and I took turns...one of us would hold Jay, and the other would play around with the girls. Daddy also gave Calla a little swim lesson. Jonathan is an awesome swimmer so he is definitely the parent for the job! I gave her my two cents too. I put her swimmies on and we practiced her swim stroke...she is slow but pretty competitive. She always wanted to "beat" me to the other side of the pool.

Kelsey Mae used to be pretty fearless, but I can tell she is getting older (I think it's at age 2 that kids started getting a healthy sense of fear...you know, like "if i jump in ten feet deep water, I will drown"). She had her swimmies on but would screech if I let her drift too far in the deep end.

We stayed in the pool for over an hour, and then went through the painful process of getting out of the warm water and into the cold locker rooms. And then giving the kids showers (lots of whinning and tears; my girls are not fans of showers). I got Jay washed off first and then Jonathan put on his pajamas and took Jay for a walk around the sports center so the girls and I could shower. I put them in their pajamas, and then walked them from the family locker room to the women's locker room to comb and dry their hair.

Calla loves the women's locker room. She knows I shower there sometimes so she has tons of questions. She always requests to use the Q-tips and deodorant and all the freebie stuff. She also wanted a tour of the shower room. Hahaha. She even asked one of the employees how to use the mouthwash dispenser.

Finally, at 7, we were all home. Jonathan ate a late dinner, I played another game of Memory with the girls (they wanted a game in lieu of books), and then we put all the kiddos to bed. Calla and Kelsey took awhile to fall asleep...Kelsey cried some and kept walking to the back room where Jonathan and I was to express her dismay that she couldn't see me from her bed. Eventually, I found the girls on the floor of their room again. Calla's head was at Kelsey's feet. I moved them to their beds where they stayed until early this morning, when Kelsey woke up and crawled into Jonathan and my bed. She is such a sneak about it. I never realize she is in there until it's morning and her (noisy) voice wakes me up.

Callaism~

~ After the little ones were down for their naps yesterday, Calla asked me if we could play a game. I told her I could after I did some cleaning. Her response: "Clean ! All you do is clean! Talk and clean, talk and clean!" HAHA. 

Daddy got some video of Jay laughing...

In this one, he is laying down because he was laughing so hard he fell over. I wish we could have gotten that on tape. (-:

A New Approach to Bedtime

Happy Tuesday to you!

 YESTERDAY (well, every day) we were pretty smitten with this young man...

 Oh and she's not so bad either. (She looks particularly adorable in red. It really is her color.)

 And this girl is a love, too!

TUESDAY morning we woke up, I warmed up the car, and then we went to Dunkin Donuts in our pajamas. Through the drive-thru of course. I haven't gone through the Dunkin Donuts drive-thru since before Jay was born. This is because back a few short months ago, Jay would have been screaming his eyes out the whole time. ha. Donuts just aren't THAT important to me!

But Monday night Jonathan and I started a new approach to bedtime around here. And I had told the girls if all went well, I'd take them to Dunkin Donuts in the morning. (Bribery you say? Well, we like to think of it as Dr. Dobson's "good rewards for good behavior"...sounds better! ha)

The old approach to bedtime was this...read the girls their books, say their prayers, kiss their heads, and then referee them in there until one of them fell asleep. Referee for me meant either do the dishes in the kitchen (conveniently adjacent to their bedroom) or start the blog at the table; both of those activities allowed for me to stick my head into their bedroom and tell them to "shush!" if need be. Jonathan's idea for refereeing was a little more hands-on...he puts them to bed by sitting in there on his phone and hissing "good night!" anytime a peep is heard. He prefers to have all his children sound asleep before he can let out a long sigh and relax! haha

Well my new approach is: let them be! I don't mind the old approach that much, but I think they are old enough that we shouldn't have to referee them at all. So Monday night we put them into their beds and told them not to get out of bed. Then Jonathan and I sat in the back room and shortly thereafter they fell asleep.

Thus, we headed to Dunkin Donuts. Jay missed out on the donuts, but it was a peach about the drive. When I got him home I put him on the floor with his toys; he was ready to move after being stuffed into his carseat the second he woke up! haha.

He loves to clang around with his toys, although I can't leave him as easily as I could when he sat still. Now I often find him in this state of mind:

 Look how annoyed he is! He is grunting because he is saying, "I WANT TO CRAWL. NOW." I just have to pop him back up on his bottom and he recovers nicely. Or I hand him whatever it is he is trying to get to but can't.

Tuesday morning, I put on a show for the girls (fortunately they have the same exact show choice and always settle on the same opinion about what they want on...Kelsey is very amiable that way) and put Jay down for his nap. Then I got ready for the day. But I was still just drying my hair when Jay woke up from a 40-minute morning nap. Boo. I must have put him down too soon.

Jay was happy though, so really I can't complain. I put him with some toys and let the girls play nearby while I finished getting ready. Then I packed a picnic lunch for us. We were meeting some friends at Cosley Zoo.

I didn't take any pictures at Cosley Zoo, but the girls sure were happy to be there. The weather wasn't perfect; it was chilly and windy, but three of my friends and all their kids met up there and somehow friends helps keep our minds off of not-so-great weather. I bundled Jay up in the stroller and he lasted a while. When he fussed, I moved him in the baby bjorn. He prefers the bjorn anyway.

I don't think Kelsey is going to be head of an animal shelter or going to vet school in the future. She fell in love with my friend Ali's double-jogging stroller (Kelsey falls in love with any stroller that is new to her!) and stayed put in there the entire visit. I think she ate half of Ali's goldfish stash as well. All the other kids would be clamoring around to see the goats or pigs or what not and Kelsey would be way back in the stroller, just staring at the back of their heads. I think she gets a little tense around the animals (she yelled "no!" when she caught sight of the llama. I agree though; they are kind of weird looking).

Calla enjoyed the animals, but not near as much as she enjoyed her friend Brooke's two loose teeth. Brooke is her first little friend to have loose teeth, and Calla and Norah and Ashlyn were gathered around Brooke's mouth like she was putting on a magic show in there. Brooke happily let them each take a turn wiggling her loose teeth.

Honestly loose teeth makes me cringe. I am not looking forward to that phase. Jonathan didn't seem to think why I would dread it. What's there not to dread? Teeth falling out into food? Bloody gums? Teeth wiggling as I brush them? (I guess they brush their own teeth at that age.) That awkward mouth-half-full-of-teeth stage?

Calla asked me on the drive home when her teeth will be loose. I said maybe when she is 5 like Brooke. I hope it's not until she's seven!

Tuesday afternoon Kelsey Mae and Jay took long naps. Calla did a reading lesson with me. We also made dinner. I tried to make sweet potatoes like Grandma makes them. I think they were pretty close. They sure were sweet. (-:

The weather had warmed up as the day went on, so Calla and Kelsey waited for Jonathan to get home on the front step. They love to sit out on that front step. The road out front gets pretty busy at rush hour so there's lots of cars to watch. They are very obedient about staying right on the step. Fortunately, Calla is a tattle-tale and would hollar into me if Kelsey placed so much as a toe off the step.

Jay was in the high chair watching me make dinner when Jonathan got home. He gets soo excited to see his Daddy! It is so cute to watch. He saves his biggest smile of the day for him, and he reaches for him. I don't think Jay reaches for me much. Except when I am sitting on the ground and he is trying to use me to reach for a toy. haha.

Tuesday night after dinner I cleared the dinner dishes and Jonathan helped the girls organize their Memory game. They even set the game all up. Then Jonathan had to leave because he was helping Luke with the "feed my starving children" program tonight (it is a program that uses volunteers to pack food to send to Haiti).

I put Jay to bed and then Calla, Kelsey and I played a couple games of Memory. Kelsey Mae doesn't find as many matches as Calla and I but she's pretty good at it! Sometimes she gets tired of playing it halfway through (Calla is a very slow, meticulous player so it can take a while). She will wander off, come back with a toy, play it for a while, then sit down beside us and demand to know why it isn't her turn. haha

At 8 or so, I got the girls tucked into their beds and...in the continuation of my hands-off approach...let them be. Then I went to the back room and continued reading my good book ("the Help" in case anyone was wondering...I can't put it down...in fact, I am trying to get through this in a rush so I can get back to my chapter! ha). I could hear the girls talking and giggling in there. After awhile, I got to into my book that I couldn't really hear them anymore. At quarter to 10, I realized they were still awake. So I got up to investigate and saw they were coloring on the floor of their bedroom. Not allowed! I confiscated the crafts.

At 10:15, I couldn't hear anything. I peeked into their bedroom again and they had fallen asleep, on the floor, on their Mickey Mouse pillow pets. They each had an arm around their baby dolls, and Kelsey had her cup nearby (you know, in case she wakes up in the middle of the night parched). They looked so cute that I let them stay there until Jonathan got home. Then I moved them into their beds.

I am hoping my hands-off approach doesn't mean a 10:15pm bedtime anymore though! Oh well, it's not like they have jobs or school or really anything in life! ha. It's a pretty low-key schedule when you are ages two and four.

Callaism~

~ "Mom, when is it going to be my birthday? I can't wait to be 5." - This gets asked it least twice a day, every day. Every single day.

Spring Break(ish)

MONDAY was the start of Spring Break week around here. Not that it should affect us too much, since I don't have school-age kids! But Jonathan does not have youth group this week, and the kids and I don't have Awana, and I don't have Bible Study, and Calla does not have tap...so, it does free the week up a bit.

So Monday we started the "spring break" off with a big breakfast and some playing. It's such a relief to have Jay back to himself these days.

And, since he's back to himself, we didn't waste anytime starting crawling practice...

 (haha! He's always blurry in pics because he is always moving.)

Jay does not crawl yet, but he is definitely in that not-sitting-always-moving stage. He doesn't sit with his toys anymore, which kind of stinks! I am always rescuing him from some sort of uncomfortable position...

And, then of course, we have this strange bird...

 She is modeling my glasses. She loves glasses. She is often wearing my sunglasses. Or Calla's.

below: Here we were set to get a pic of her sitting next to her baby doll. But her doll fell right as the camera clicked. I thought her expression was funny.

 So she sat on the dolly chair instead. ha

Monday morning Jay took a long morning nap, which gave the girls a chance to play and me a chance to scrub the bathrooms. (Kelsey kept coming into investigate and I had to keep shooing her out with all that bleach wafting in the air.)

Once Jay woke up, we headed out to the door to the sports center. It turns out, we weren't the only ones with that idea. It was already 11:30am, so typically the gym is pretty sparse at lunchtime. But today everybody who wasn't in Florida or Arizona on spring break must have headed over there for some exercise! Sheesh!

I ran a couple miles and then showered and was back to pick up the kids in exactly an hour, but it wasn't short enough for Jay! He was crying really hard when I got there. The childcare workers told me they had just started paging my name to come get him. Oops. (I was chatting with a friend in the lounge and hadn't heard them!) The lady who was holding him said that she had two criers, so she kept alternating holding one and putting the other in the swing and I was thinking, "swing?! He's 7 months old! He hasn't liked the swing in four months!" hahaha. But of course how would she know? Perhaps next time I will leave a note on his back with some of his hobbies (I like to sit and play with toys).

Well poor fellow I think the real reason he got sad was he was hungry. We got home and he nursed so much that it was no wonder he spit out all the pears I tried forcing down at lunch. haha.

We ate lunch and since the agenda for the rest of our day was pretty empty, I decided to let Kelsey stay up so Calla would have a playmate. When I told the girls the good news, they both let out a cheer. haha. They played house while I caught up on the phone with Aunt Katelyn. I could hear little Haley in the background; next time we will have to Skype. Haley likes to skype (she does it all the time with her daddy when he travels for work).

Monday afternoon the girls also helped me make dinner.

below: hard at work...

Jay woke up, and Kelsey played with him while Calla and I did her reading lesson. Actually, we did three lessons yesterday. I actually got a little bored of it myself (!) and offered to play Candyland instead, but she wanted to read! haha. She is pretty impressive (of course I am saying that, I am her mother). She read 9 sentences. They are all dumb sentences because they are made up of random words she knows like cows and rams and kisses and teeth. ha

Daddy got home...poor Jonathan has not been feeling well! Maybe he has come down with the virus Jay had...nonetheless, it has him feeling pretty misreable. He came home from work, hugged the girls, gave Jay kisses, and - after eating dinner - headed straight to the couch.

He resurrected himself long enough to help me read books to the girls and get them tucked into bed. It worked out so nicely that they were going to sleep on the early side, so Jonathan could have a quiet night to work on feeling better!

All three kids were tucked in and zonked out by 7:30. As I sat down with a good book, I thought to myself that it was too good to be true that Jonathan and I could have three peaceful hours to ourselves. ha! Turns out it was!...

Calla woke up at 9:30 wailing on and on that her teeth hurt. I did what most mothers would do - I googled "my four year old says her teeth hurt" and it turns out it could be a sinus infection (which affect children's top teeth) or perhaps her molars. She complained about her bottom teeth, but after awhile she was saying her ear hurt so perhaps things were just hurting because it was late at night. Things always "seem bad" late at night. Jonathan gave her some medicine and I held her hand while she fell back to sleep.

Then, just to make sure our night wasn't peaceful, Jay woke up. (-: Ahhh...

Two things to share...

This is a link for anyone who needs ideas for their young family as far as family devotions goes. Friends of ours, Brian and Emily, spoke in our Sunday school class the other week about how they do family devotions at their house and I thought it was a neat idea. I do it each day with my girls and they are big fans. (of course they are; kids their age think any type of daily theme is fabulous!) I update the blog on behalf of my Sunday school class (and you thought this was my only blog! jk) so I typed it out here:

http://covenantclasswbc.blogspot.com/2012/03/family-altar.html

And here is a comic my brother drew at my request. I developed the concept for my mom to use for her church's Moms Together event...(obviously it gets my funny bone).

Kelseyism~

~ The other day I was nursing Jay in his room (the only place I ever nurse him; that little stinker is pretty picky about his "feeding" environment) and Kelsey came hobbling in. She was hobbling because her panties were all the way down at her ankles. She was holding a piece of paper and she hissed, "Wipe me, mommy!" LOL it got my funny bone. (Of course you wonder what I did. I hissed back, "Did you go boo boo?" and she whispered, "No!" and I said, "go back to the potty and wipe yourself!" She seemed to think that was fair. And she hobbled back out.)

Our Sunday

YESTERDAY we had to leave the house at 8AM because Jonathan and I were helping in Kelsey's class. (We were filling in for friends of ours.) We didn't tell Kelsey we were going to be in the class before we arrived at church because we thought it'd be a fun surprise. She was so excited!

In fact, she wasn't quite sure who to spend time with...she'd bring a book over for me to read to her then I'd get halfway through and she'd leave me (and the other kids who had gathered) to go sit with Jonathan. haha. Jonathan facilitated the craft, which involved spreading green paint on a Bible verse-laden catepillar. I thought that was ironic, because Jonathan is not a big fan of messes. haha. There was green paint everywhere. haha.

Unfortunately, all the fun came to a halt when the first service was over and Jonathan took her to her next class. She got soo sad! She really wanted us to help in that class too! haha. I didn't really have time to deal with it because the nursery was calling me over to help with a wailing Jay. So Jonathan and I told Kelsey "sorry!" and handed her over. It was sad to see her so upset.

I didn't have time to dwell on it because Jay was screaming out a lung in the nursery. That boy goes to 0-10 pretty fast in there. I fed him and then brought him in the worship service for some singing, and then took him back to the nursery for the sermon. When I went to pick him up, he had been kicked out again. Melanie had him on her hip. She always gets stuck with him when he's sad! He always gets happy when she brings him out in the hall. Jaybird is so spoiled! ha

Well, since Jay was exhausted by this point, we hurried home and I put him right to bed. The girls and I ate lunch and then they watched Daddy do some yardwork. All the rain from Saturday was gone and it turned out to be a beautiful, sunny, 70-degree day.

I invited the Moo's over for dinner since Jenny and the kiddos leave for a three-week vacation to Scottsdale on Wednesday (her folks have a vacation home there). So Sunday afternoon the girls helped me make lasagna and an ice cream cake. They really love to help in the kitchen, and they are pretty helpful! It makes it more fun.

Jonathan put Kelsey down for a nap, just as Jay was waking up. And so Jay and Calla helped me straighten up her room for the company. Her version of cleaning her room is hilarious...she stuff things under the bed, stacks things on piles and scoots them to the edge of the room, and hides things in "her desk" (nightstand). In other words, she just shifts the mess around so nothing is on the floor.

Once her room was straightened and Kelsey was up from her nap, I took the girls for a walk.

below: before our walk. They are modeling their shirts (and skirts!) made by Aunt Kim. Kimberly gave the girls these t-shirts in a Valentine's Day package to announce she is expecting! She is due September 8. (Which reminds me...Calla's birthday is September 10th. And Aunt Katelyn is due with baby #2 on September 12th. Could there be three cousins with birthdays within a week of each other?!)

 below: Kelsey started in the red wagon with Jay but she didn't last long. This girl wanted to walk!

 below: Calla likes to lead the pack.

 below: Jaybird must have a tooth in his future. He will gnaw at anything in sight. He spent our half-hour walk chewing the daylights out of this top-of-a-cup. haha.

below: a boy and his red wagon.

Jay took another nap right before our company came, which was perfect timing because he was refreshed and ready to be social! haha.

From the minute Norah and Erik arrived until they left (except when we ate), they holed themselves in the girls' room with Calla and Kelsey. I think they were coloring. Erik surfaced a couple times to work on a puzzle and check in with the menfolk, but otherwise the kids were very busy coloring with Calla's new gel pens.

So in the meantime, the adults got to talk and keep after Dane. He is at that unpredictable age when you can't leave him alone. He was very entertaining for Jay to watch! ha.

We had a pretty simple meal...lasagna and salad and garlic bread. I made mom's ice cream cake recipe for Jenny. Norah and Calla helped me put candles on it and then we all sang happy birthday to Jenny. Her birthday is not until April but she will be in AZ so we celebrated it early. ha

Well Dane's bedtime rolled around, so the Moo's rolled out at 7pm. Calla told me she had just the best time! ha. It was cute to hear how much fun she had; I guess coloring and a gel pen is what constitutes a good time for her!

After our guests left, Jonathan did the dishes (yes, what a guy!) and I got the kiddos ready for bed. We have a routine going now that I put Jay to sleep and Jonathan gets the girls tucked in. It is nice that their bedtime usually aligns because then Jonathan and I have some time to ourselves when everybody is asleep.

If only Jay would stay sleeping...my goal for this week is to crack the whip and get him sleep-trained again. He is offically better so it's now time for him to get back into the program! *yikes*

Callaism~

~ Before our guests arrived, Calla said pointedly, "I have some rules for our house. I am going to tell Norah 'no being bossy' and tell Erik 'no biting.' " (Erik hasn't bit in a long time, but I guess it is a lasting memory for CalCal.)

Jay Turns a Corner

FRIDAY I resolved to stay at home and help Jay feel better. We woke up to a rough night; Thursday evening Jay woke up multiple times, and a had a big throwing up episode in the middle of the night. Gross. Friday morning he was fussy and clingy. But I couldn't blame him; I felt fussy and clingy too! Sometimes rough nights with babies remind me of college studying all-nighters. You wake up all glazed over. haha

Calla and Kelsey were content to stay at home. It was rainy and yucky outside, and after Calla heard we would be staying at home she asked if we could have a "pajamas day!" Haha. The girls played house and did crafts. At one point, Jay was taking his morning nap and I was cleaning up the breakfast dishes and I ventured into the back room to see what the girls were up to, and they both yelled "Go away, Mom! We're playing house!" (Calla was perched on the couch with a baby in her belly and Kelsey had all the doctor's equipment, so it wasn't hard to figure out what "house" meant!)

Friday afternoon Jay took a bad nap and had another throwing up episode, which was disheartening because I had been dutifully feeding him next to nothing. So I called the nurse I spoke to yesterday at my pedi's office because I wanted to check in with her before the weekend. We talked over his symptoms again and she was positive he had a stomach bug (not anything more alarming) and told me worst-case scenario would be that he would get dehydrated and I'd have to take him to the E.R. She told me some of the signs to look for as far as dehydration goes and he had some (dry lips, dark yellow pee) but it was pretty mild (he still had wet diapers every 6-8 hours and was not lethargic). In fact, after a long nap on Friday afternoon he seemed to brighten up.

Opa called Jonathan and asked if we wanted to meet him for dinner nearby on Friday evening. He was back from Boston (Mema stayed through the weekend) and since Uncle Kurt was at work, Aunt Courtney joined us as well. At first it was up in the air if Jay and I were going to go, but he woke up right before it was time to go and so the timing seemed right. Jonathan and I decided that worst-case, one of us would walk around with him while the other ate dinner (which was what happened! ha).

We gave the girls a bath before we left and then took a 15-minute drive to an Italian restaurant nearby.



below: Calla on the drive over.

 She had packed her coloring books and crayons and was ready to go! We haven't seen Opa in awhile, so she asked me if he had been in Africa. Hahaha! (We pray for Corinne's Africa trip every Monday, so I think that's why Africa is considered a "common place" around here.)

Jonathan and I were busy juggling Jay most of the dinner ...he wasn't fussy, but he wasn't very content sitting at the table so Jonathan ended up taking him outside to walk around. He was very happy to be carried around!

In the meantime, the girls and I got a chance to catch up with Opa and Courtney. Calla was happy to see the restaurant had paper over their tablecloths, so she could draw. (-: Courtney helped her perfect a star.

below: She looks bored but she wasn't! In fact, when it was time to go she complained, "Oh no! Already?!?"

 below: Kelsey. I got this jumper for Calla for her 3rd birthday. It's hard to believe Kelsey will be 3 shortly.

 below: Well this is not a flattering pic (I am probably leaning over to pick up Jay's toys...he likes to toss them on the floor these days). Jay looks ready to pounce on my knife.

Thank you to Opa for buying us dinner. It felt nice to get out of the house after being inside all day, and even nicer not to have to cook! (-:

Jay started getting fussy, so we left in a rush. Calla drew exactly 33 stars on the paper tablecloth before we left. (She counted.) As soon as we got home, we put the kiddos to bed and Jonathan and I weren't far behind them!

SATURDAY we woke up feeling so much better after a long night sleep with minimal interruptions! I think Jaybird was finally turning a corner. Poor little fellow; it had been a week!

Jonathan and I took turns going to the gym, since I didn't want to stick him in childcare quite yet. Jonathan played basketball for a couple hours, and then the girls and I went to the sports center for an hour while I ran and they did crafts. (-:

I wish Jonathan and Jay could have had some meaningful father-son bonding time, but instead Jay was a major crank, had a big meltdown, and eventually fell asleep. Yikes!

The rest of our morning and afternoon was pretty low-key. It was raining outside so that kept us from doing yardwork, definitely a mixed blessing! haha. Jonathan was feeling under the weather with a cold, so he spent a lot of time resting while the girls and I finished up laundry from the day before. Jonathan did put on a show for the girls and watched it with them, which they thought was great (every time I put a show on for them they want me to watch it with them...obviously they don't understand that the whole "point" of a show is to distract them so I can quick get something done! oops).

Halfway through the afternoon, my friend Emily texted me to see if we wanted to go to the indoor swimming pool at the sports center with them at 4:30. Well I knew that wouldn't work with Jay's nap, but Jonathan decided he could stay home with Jay and join us once the baby woke up.

So the girls and I got in our swimsuits and headed over. The girls were so excited.

below: Obviously nobody sits still in the pool. This blurry pic was the best I could do...

 Calla...

 Kels-Bels...

Emily and Brian's kiddos are fish. I think I have mentioned that on here before. Ashlyn (5) and Grant (3) have been swimming since before they were 2. Seriously. (Emily said she is weird about it; she likes her kids to know how to swim by the time they are 2 so she doesn't have to worry about them in the water. It is probably a very smart idea! She said Grant was jumping off the diving board at 23 months. haha) Their youngest Lucy is 13 months and no, she doesn't swim yet. haha

I had Calla and Kelsey take off their swimmies and then gave each of them a swimming lesson. Kelsey isn't real good at remembering to kick her legs and move her arms at the same time. Calla does fine if she can get past the whole fearful "you are going to drop me!" thing. Kelsey has no fear; she just needs practice! Maybe they can learn together.

Daddy and Jaybird eventually came. We were all planning to get out of the pool soon, so Jonathan and Jay just watched from a chair. Jay's eyes were wide...he was transfixed by all the splashing! ha

At 6 or so we all got out. I showered the girls off and we got dressed and then drove to Qdoba, a Mexican place nearby for dinner. Ashlyn, Grant, Calla and Kelsey sat at a kids table...initially, Ashlyn and Grant were arguing over who could sit next to Calla. I could tell Calla was just beaming with pride over the fact that two people wanted to sit next to her enough that they'd argue about it! How special! Eventually she sat in the middle, and then Kelsey sat on the other side of Grant.

Since it was a Mexican place, i had another opportunity to give Jay some guacamole. Truth is - he still likes it! I stuffed several finger-fulls in his mouth. That settles it. I have got to start making this for him. It is honesty the ONLY food that he likes. All others (including pears, his second-favorite) he reacts to with pursed lips and a very noticeable shoulder-shudder. Like, "Yuck!"

After Qdoba, we came home and put the kids to bed. Kelsey took forever to fall asleep. I thought for sure after swimming that she would fall asleep right away. She must not have worked hard enough on her doggy-paddle!

Callaism~

~ Calla likes to try to pick Jay up. This is ill-advised. Jay usually takes her attempts in stride.

Kelseyism~

~ Kelsey hasn't met many foods that she doesn't like. She is definitely out of the toddler-picky stage. She was popping pecans today like they were M & Ms.

Save the Date

It may seem strange to plan this so far in advance, but (1) Jay's dedication is really important to Jonathan and I and (2) our church is having a huge baby boom and the dedication Sundays for 2012 are filling up! Don't worry; we'll send out another reminder closer to November. (-: 

Mass Update (Wednesday & Thursday)

So WEDNESDAY, let me see if I can remember...yes, Wednesday I wasn't quite sure if I should head to Bible Study since Jay was still sick. But I decided to go, and since Jay is still little I could just keep him with me. He wasn't sleeping well in his crib anyway, so it's not like he was going to miss some solid naps.

It was another hot day Wednesday, so the girls went to church in sandals and sundresses. It is going to be a sad day when we have to wear socks again. haha. Jay was brave while I dropped them off, and sat happily in the stroller. He got sleepy during the speaker, so I strolled him around outside for five minutes and he fell right to sleep. I should have taken a picture; it's the first time he's ever fallen asleep in the stroller. But I barely would have had time to pull my phone out anyway, since he woke up twenty minutes or so later. Boo.

Jay was so disruptive towards the end of study (fussy/clingy/etc.) that I ended up just leaving Bible Study early. We picked up Kelsey early, but when we arrived at Calla's class the class had gone for a walk outside so we ended up waiting a bit. Calla thought it was amusing that we were waiting for her when she got back. "I was at the park!" she told us. She complained that it was a little windy. (Sheesh; it was in the mid-80s. The breeze should have felt nice!)

On our drive home, Jenny called me and invited me to her house for lunch since she felt bad that Jay was sick. "That way you don't have to fuss with lunch at your house," she said. It was soo nice of her. I just stood in her kitchen, holding Jay, while she made me and my kids (and her kids) lunch. We stayed long enough to eat and push the kids in the swings for a couple minutes, and then we left. Jay was getting to the end of his rope.

He fell asleep on the way home.

Well Wednesday afternoon, Kelsey got in a nap and even Calla rested a bit in her bed but Jay was a major crank. He did end up taking a pretty solid late-afternoon nap which was a good thing because we had to gather our strength for Awana. I went back and forth in my head about going to Awana since I didn't want Jay to have a meltdown. But I didn't want Calla to miss it (next week we don't have Awana since it's Spring break) and I thought Jay might be able to sleep in the baby bjorn.

Thankfully, Jonathan came home early and helped me get dinner on the table for the kids. He held Jay, which in itself was a nice break. My muscles in my right arm have got to be bulging since Jay has been a permanent fixture there in all his waking hours. Ha.

Calla and Kelsey love Awana, and so they are always eager to eat an early dinner and get out the door. We stopped at the cafe in church to get me a coffee so I could have a pick-me up in case the evening got hairy. haha. But actually the evening went great. Jay did fine as long as he was glued to my person. And eventually he got a little fussy so I stuck him in the baby bjorn and swayed back and forth a couple times and he was out like a light.

Meanwhile, Kelsey was keeping up with all the boys. The other Puggles leaders and I thought for sure the kids would come into class in a semi-comatose state after a hot sunny day. Didn't they all play outside all day? Well we were so wrong. The kids were bouncing off the walls. Some boys began to run round and round the classroom, and of course Kelsey was on their heels as soon as she sensed something fun was up. The kids couldn't even eat their snack without pounding their elbows over and over on the table. I had to feel jealous of Jay, just snuggled up and snoozing in the bjorn. I was ready to get in an adult-size bjorn myself.

We got home and I put Jay to bed. Jonathan got home in time to help me get the girls in bed. I also made a breakfast cake for a playdate I was hosting on Thursday. Then I went to bed early; I was so afraid of getting sick!

THURSDAY I woke up, and I wasn't sick. (Every morning this week I wake up, prepared to feel sick.) Jay had his fussiest day on Thursday. He took a nap very shortly after getting up; being sick has made him sleepy. In the meantime, the girls and I got up and dressed. I had invited my girlfriend Ashley and her three kids over for a playdate.

The weather had called for rain but instead it was sunny and warm, which was a nice surprise. Ashley and her little ones arrived. I felt bad that Jay was pretty fussy during their visit (even when I was holding him) but in retrospect it would have been such a long morning without our visitors! It was so nice to have some adult conversation, and for Calla and Kelsey to have some playmates.

We had donut holes and fruit for the kiddos. Calla got bent out of shape that our guests were eating a lot of donuts. Calla needs to realize that she is an unusual donut-eater. She is certainly unlike most kids, in that she tends to eat two or three donut holes and then put some aside for another time. (I swear, her stomach is the size of a pea.) Kelsey Mae is much more typical - she stuffs them in her face like a champ. So when our guests were helping themselves to normal amounts of donuts and Calla was complaining, I was rolling my eyes on the inside while outwardly telling her to just calm down. If you are concerned that everybody else is eating the donuts, then eat some yourself! haha. "Early bird gets the worm."

The kids discovered it was warm outside and played on the back deck for awhile. Calla got out her pink golf clubs (a Christmas present from Opa back when she was 2!) and the kids were swinging them around a bit but somehow nobody got clubbed in the head. Ashley and I stayed inside with the babies; her little one Maddie is almost 1 and very busy! She was so happy with Jay's toys. It was nice to see those toys getting some use since Jay has been taking a week-off from playtime (focusing instead on "sicktime/crabbytime/clingytime").

By lunchtime, Ashley and her gang were headed out the door. The timing worked out well since Jay was crabby and ready for a nap. In fact, he was so misreable by the time that I put him to bed that after I got him sleeping and the girls their lunch, I called the doctor. I didn't think I needed a doctor's appointment (after all, if the child will not take Tylenol there's no way he will take whatever the doctor prescribes), but I requested a nurse give me a call. I wanted to talk to the nurse about his symptoms so I was sure I was giving him enough attention.

Jay's symptoms: coughing/runny nose/throwing up after 50-75% of his feeds. The nurse spoke to me for a long time, asking specific questions about his throwing up. She then asked about my other kids, so I mentioned how Calla had seemed under the weather on Monday. She concluded that she thinks Jay has a virus, including some stomach bug that is causing the throwing up. She told me she wanted me to nurse only one side (pumping the other), for half the normal amount of time, and to nurse every hour. (That way he only got an ounce or so at a time, which would be gentle on his tummy and hopefully keep him from throwing up.) I thought it made a lot of sense. After all, who likes to eat a big meal on a sick stomach?

Thursday afternoon I let Kelsey skip her nap. She and Calla played and I did some laundry. Jay took a three-hour nap, which was wonderful because he woke up sort of happy. It least, happier then he was. I pumped, then I fed him a little bit. Then at 4:30 the kids and I got in the car and I drove to the Chick-fil-A drive-thru for our dinner. It was a 30-minute trip to drive to the Chick-fil-A at rush hour and back towards our house. Jay just sat sucking on his toys...it's remarkable that the boy who used to scream can now tolerate the car for 30 minutes. If any of you had sat in my car four months ago for longer than five minutes you would know what I was talking about. I can still hear that screaming in my nightmares. (-:

Jonathan was gone all day Thursday because he had flown to Boston to watch Uncle Ben's team play in the NCAA sweet Sixteen. The Badgers game began at 6:15 central time. Two of his friends went too (and Mema and Opa and other family members!).

One of the friends' wives, Brooke, and I decided to get together over the dinner hour since being husband-less over dinner isn't very fun. Since it was so warm out, we decided to meet at a nearby park with dinner. (Hence, the Chick-fil-A.) Jenny and her kids came too since Luke had to work late.

Those couple hours at the park were the happiest Jay was all day. Maybe the fresh air felt good. He sat in the stroller, and then I held him in the bjorn where he slept for the last hour. It was nice to see him so relaxed.

Do you know who else was relaxed? this girl! She loves swinging...

 PUSH ME HIGH!

We went to Northside Park, which was completely redone last year and is in great shape. They have a zip line (is that what it's called?). Calla mastered her fear of the zipline at the end of park season last year and this year she is feeling confident and in control....

See? No big deal, Mom! (She was wearing her Wisconsin jersey and so was her little friend Jake. I wish I would have gotten a pic of the two of them together! Jake is only a couple months older and is a real cutie. ha)

 below: The sick onlooker. He likes to suck his fingers. And play with Kelsey's dolly. I have decided it takes a real man to play with a baby doll. Right, Jay?

Fun on the zipline...

Kelsey Mae is always with Calla, and when she saw Calla on the zipline she surely didn't see a reason why she shouldn't hop on. Calla would yell for me across the park and I'd come help Kelsey get her little bottom balanced on the little seat, and then I'd let her go. (She went on the zipline last year but I always ran next to it, holding onto her little waist.) She usually needed help getting the zipline back up the hill too.

But anyway I guess one time she decided she wanted to get on herself. I could see this going on from a few yards away, so I yelled at her to wait up, that I'd come. But she yelled back something to the tune of : "No! I do it by myself!" and sure enough she sat on it. She stayed seated for about two seconds, because once the zipline started going (it went pretty fast since she weighs nothing), half her bottom slipped off. Oh my. She was hanging on with both arms, but the other bottom cheek slipped off and by this point her hands had slipped down and her feet were dragging. There was nothing I could do but yell, "Hang on, Kelsey! Hold tight!"

Things weren't looking good. As the zipline picked up speed, one of her hands slipped off. And with just one hand hanging on, she lasted a few seconds before she fell completely off and landed with a big thump in the mulch.

Poor girl! She was covered in mulch and in tears. The mulch was caked onto her jeans, and in her hair, and stuck in her shirt, and she was so mad! I rushed over to her to comfort her (waking up Jay in the process), but she wasn't mad at mama. She was mad at the zipline.

I said, "Do you want to get back on?" And she nodded and started running back to the top of the hill. "YES!"

I wiped the mulch off her face (Calla dutifully picked some pieces out of her hair) and then put her back on the seat. This time I reminded her that I should help her get on. Then I gave her a push and she went down. When she got to the bottom she was smiling. I told her, "Way to get back on your horse, Kelsey!" haha

By 7, the sky was getting dark and looking like rain was headed our way. Plus, Uncle Ben's game had already started and although I had taped it I wanted to watch it! So we said goodbye to Brooke and Jenny and their seven kids (between them) and went home.

I put the girls in their pajamas, and then they brushed their teeth and did some crafts while we watched the first half. The advantage of taping it is then we can fast-forward the commercials. Even Jay was pretty cheerful during the game, since he had gotten a catnap in at the park.

(Uncle Ben...I stole this pic off the Wisconsin website)...

At half-time, I paused the game and put the girls to bed. They fell asleep super fast. Then I put Jay in his crib. I started the second half, fully meaning on venturing to the kitchen for some ice cream or something but the game was so riveting I never got off the couch. Wow that sure is saying something.

Ben played well, but sadly Wisconsin lost. Boo.

Uncle Ben again (unfortunately this was after their loss. This pic was on the homepage of Yahoo.com the next day. Aunt Kimmi called it to my attention!)

After the game I planned on updating the blog a bit, but Jay was waking up for some comfort. Little stinker has begun some horrible sleep habits since being sick. Of course, I was supposed to be nursing him a little bit every hour anyway so it was good he kept waking up.

Before I went to bed I checked on the girls. This is how they looked....and I wonder why Kelsey wakes up at night!

Actually, before I fell asleep, Kelsey wandered over to my room so I put her in bed with me. Then I went to check on Calla. For some reason, the door of their room was locked and the light was on. What? I banged on it until Calla woke up (took several minutes) and unlocked the door. She seemed half-asleep (probably was) so I am not sure why she decided to turn the light on and lock the door. I didn't like the idea of her doing that so I moved her to Jonathan's side of the bed for the night. Might as well have a slumber party if daddy is away!

Callaism~

~ Calla mentioned Bea the other day. I thought she had outgrown Bea but apparently not. Bea lives on. I never bring her up.

~ Calla is a big-time tattle-tale. I am not quite sure how to handle it. Perhaps Aunt Corinne, the child psychology major, can enlighten me. At times it is helpful ("Mom, Kelsey is in the bathroom playing in the water!") and at times it is annoying. Calla probably doesn't know the difference, but I do.

Kelseyism~

~ Kelsey has thought it is funny to randomly suck Jay's newborn pacifiers. (He was never a fan of those green newborn pacis, so I put them with Kelsey's baby doll things.) I do not think it is so funny. If a child does not need a pacifier under the age of 1, there is no reason they should start picking them up at the age of 33 months. I am going to hide them.