Goodbye Mr. Dick

Farewell to Richard Phillips...how ironic that I just ran into him.

http://www.ifallsdailyjournal.com/news/deaths/richard-w-phillips-11891#comment-9955

la, la, la, ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Ahhhhh, my 30 hour getaway was amazing. Totally bummed that we both (Regan and I) had the opportunity to sleep all night with no interruptions and neither of us did! We both tossed and turned for no reason at all. Both thinking we are keeping the other awake, but didn't. At 7:30 was the latest either of us could lay there! We left about 4:30 on Friday night. A little later than anticipated, but you know I had to wait for my drugs to try something else for this sinus infection...yes I have another sinus infection! So 14 days of Amox and 3-4 weeks of FloNase and if this doesn't work, I get to have a CT scan of my face. So we leave the Falls and head straight for Duluth. Of course we pit stop in Virginia to hit Target and the wonderful New China Buffet that I have heard so much about. It was great...not so new anymore, but awesome food. I hate buffets-I hate the germy feeling I get, all the options, and feeling like I need to eat my money's worth. This is my main reason for disliking Vegas! That town is surrounded by buffets. So we dished up on awesome food and I had to find a bathroom to re-wash my hands since the old guy in line with us kept coughing on his hand and then dishing himself up! I had one word for him that I tell my 3 year old 100 times a day=elbow! But the food was great, even if it was a buffet. So by 8:30 we finally got out of Virginia and headed to Duluth. We checked into the hotel...with down comforter and pillows! Heaven. Super hot, hot-tub was just the relaxation we needed. By 11 pm neither of us could stay awake so to bed it was. Pathetic I know. 7:30 am up for coffee and breakfast and off to shop! We shopped right up until Lunch and were basically done. We managed to see a bunch of people from The Falls of course. Lunch at Applebee's was my pick. Then we gave ourselves time to get down by the lake to ShearKatz salon in the Fitger's complex. Regan goes in a little earlier than I do to start our pampering treatments. So the whole set included, facial, manicure, pedicure and eyebrow wax. The waxing isn't real relaxing but must be done. 2 1/2 hours later and totally dark outside. She picked Olive Garden for supper so we go there and it's an hour wait for a table so we take our little vibrating notifier back to Target to shop some more. It starts playing music part way down the road to Target. I call Olive Garden using Goog411-one of the coolest features out there-and ask if our table is ready...the hostess says no and that we may be out of range! So after our hour wait we get our table and enjoy some of the best food ever! We even split a piece of pumpkin cheesecake, yummm. So after 30 hours of craziness, we managed to get almost all of our Christmas shopping done, pamper ourselves, have adult conversation, and alone time. Well deserved and thoroughly enjoyed.

fa, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la

fa, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la...I am off for a weekend getaway for shopping and pampering! Mani's, pedi's, facial, sleeping in, hot-tub, ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh. can't wait!

go put some underwear on...literally

my 3 year old takes what you say literally. Parker still had a pull up on and I said take it off and put on some underwear. He was in the bathroom for quite a while and I knocked and went in and found 20+ pair of underwear on the floor and about 5 already on Parker. I said, just one pair is enough. So out he comes with every single pair of clean underwear he owns on! So we made a counting game out of it.

Watch Me Grow

9 months already! I took these pictures the other day and laughed so hard at this kids expressions. Especially the tongue-sticking-out one. I swear I try to comb that hair down...it has a Harry Potter mind of it's own. He kept grabbing his foot and flicking his leg up and down in the air and spitting at me. He is really into babbling these days and finally does the ba-ba-ba-ba sound when you pat his mouth with your hand. He is standing unsupported for a moment or two. Once he realizes he is standing he sits on his butt very quickly. I am not ready for a walking baby just yet! No real sounds or words though, not even da-da or ma-ma. Happy baby. Last night he played in the laundry basket full of whites for an hour. Still in the puppy or carry-something-in-your-mouth stage. It's hilarious to see him crawling as fast as he can with something in his mouth and breathing fast through his nose. I love this age!

Oh the sickness

Well, 9 months has gone by already! This past month has been full of ups and downs. Emmitt sleeps all night long, all the time. He is usually in bed by 8 or 8:30 and sleeps until either 5:30 am and then goes down again until 7:30 am, or up for good at 7 am. So why am I still so tired? I haven't quite figured that one out yet. It may be that we are yet again...sick!? I brought him in for the classic symptom of tugging at the ear, crankiness, high fever, and he once again has an ear infection. The doctor put him on Amoxicillian for the left ear infection, the right was clear. 5 days into the meds, I didn't see much improvement and wondered if I should wait out the 10 days prescription or take him in again. Day 6, he turned for the better and seemed to be feeling pretty good. 13 days total and all the symptoms came flying back to us. So in we go again, mainly to be sure the infection has cleared...it has in the left ear, but full fledged and pussy (I know that looks like a different word once typed, but not really sure how to spell pus in that way?) in the right ear. So our main family physician decides to try to outsmart the bacteria. Since our kids are in a daycare setting and around lots of kids he decides to put Emmitt on a totally different med. Most kids go on Amox or azythromycin or Zithromax and even at 9 months, he can be resistant to that kind of med already. So we make it a whole 6 days of the Cefprozil and that brings us to this morning of Emmitt barfing all over me, himself, my kitchen floor...I was told to bring Emmitt in today and just sneak him into the clinic, find my doctors nurse and have the doc take a look to see how the ear is looking. How convenient that he is barfing all over me today?! So I drop him off at daycare with all intentions of taking him in after work and I get the call that he is still barfing. So I leave work to bring him in and when I get there the doc takes a look and says, the ear is better, still really, really red, but not pussy (there's that word again). So to quit the Cefprozil since it did do some good, but it is most likely causing some GI upset. Then to stick to the BRAT diet-bananas, applesauce, rice and toast. So I bring him back to daycare, say a prayer and hope for the best. We both managed to make it through the day. I know I am not the only one this crap happens to, but I am certainly ready for the sickness to go away. I am on a totally different route of trying to get better-an inhaler, nasal spray and Mucinex to shake this 10 week cold. Bear's seems to have waned, only to start all over again as a new cold. We have tried hot herbal tea, Emergen C, vitamin C tablets, zinc tablets and lozenges. I think we all need a vaca to a warm tropical place...but for now we keep plugging away. This weekend my wonderful husband is giving up his third opportunity to shoot the big one for me to get out of town with a friend for a pampering/shopping weekend away. And I get to hand delivery baby ski's gift! I promise to launch it off from the vicinity of the street so I don't get anyone sick!

Hatrick=3

Hatrick=3 goals=Parker loves hockey=a really cool 3rd Birthday party

I brainstormed what on earth kind of theme I would do for this year's party. I just about did a plain 'ol Happy Birthday theme and then it hit me. HATRICK! In a hockey game, when you score 3 goals, it is a hatrick. What better than a hockey themed hatrick party?! I couldn't contain myself when I saw the black and white striped party supplies. So I tried to keep it pretty simple with black and white decorations. Black and White star balloons, weighted down with hockey pucks of course, all over the house. Striped tablecloth, plates and napkins. Hockey puck cookies with "black" and gray frosting complete with 3's on them for Stephie's. A double chocolate fudge cake with "black" frosting, meant to look like a hockey puck...topped with a Stanley Cup and 3 candles. I say "black" because the longest part of preparing for this party was dumping enough black food coloring into the frosting to make it black. Which I should mention turns your teeth and lips and any other body part that gets frosting on it a greenish purple color.

The double layered hockey puck cake The 2 referees of the party were of course mom and dad...the center was Bronco Parker.

He thoroughly enjoyed being sung to this year. Last year he was a little unsure of why all these people were singing to and staring at him.

Grandma Audrey in a Russian hockey jersey
Norm and Papa Don came in from the shack for the party. These two are joined at the hip during deer season. Both have their bucks of course. Norm shot the one Bear passed up. And Don of course shot a Unicorn as always. He actually thought is was a doe, but is famous for shooting the little guys...which is why we never have any big bucks at the shack.

The best dressed award goes to this crazy family! Again you'll recall that Derek is unable to take a serious picture. This kid makes me laugh every time I see him. These guys come to the party in old timer hockey gear and jerseys. Scott completed his look by borrowing his wife's eyeliner and marking up his face with stitches. It was super fun for the adults as well as the 3 year old.
Emmitt fit right into the mix of gift opening. He ate the paper and played on the boxes. Parker let him help open and play with the toys he got too.
Derek posing for Auntie

And our baby is 3. Still can't figure out where the last 3 years went but, he is still capable of being a mommas boy and snuggling right in with me.

A heads up for next year's theme...I could hardly make you wait until then to hear about it...FORE! Golf theme here I come...I know you are waiting, full of anticipation. and I have already found the green party supplies!!!

Happy 3rd Birthday baby...my first baby...my big boy. You came into this world pink and screaming at 9:26 am on November 11th, 2005. Weighing in at 7#11oz and 20 1/2 inches long. You changed our lives forever in an indescribable way. I feel like I hardly blinked and 3 very busy years have gone by. You were born in the morning on a cold, wet, snowy, November day. Your birthday is some how full of elevens...7-11 was your weight, born on 11-11-05, our address is 1105...daddy thought about going out and buying a Power Ball with those numbers. You have changed every day of your life. Lately it seems like you say more new words than when you first started talking. You come up with some of the funniest things. Like when I said we were going to stretch our legs after our long car ride and I come in from unpacking the car to find you totally naked doing gymnastic like stretches in the hallway! All this bending and twisting...I asked what on earth you were doing...you said "stretching my legs"! I am guessing you were naked because I had gotten your brother undressed and just stretching his legs out in a diaper. Your favorite word is obviously "why?". I have told everyone around us to give you a reason for the "why" question. It's very entertaining to listen to them try to come up with an answer. Like, "why are you going home now?"...well because my bed is there...why?...because that's where my house is...etc...usually by the time you stump us to come up with an answer, you're pretty satisfied with the previous 20 answers we have given you. Once in awhile we say the inevitable "because I said so". Auntie Tammy gave you a "because that's all you need to know right now" answer one day!
On our way out to the shack one day, I stopped to gas up the car and picked up some licorice for us to share in the car. I passed a piece back to you and said
"here you go honey". You kept asking me "why ooh (you) hunny?"
I said, "Why am I hungry...because my tummy needs food"
"why ooh hunny?"
"I'm not hungry anymore honey, because I am eating licorice"
"why ooh hunny?"
"why am I hungry?"
"no hunny"
"oh, honey?!"
"yeah (geez lady!)
"why are you my honey?"
"yeah"
"well because you are my baby and I love you, so I call you honey"
why?
"because you grew in my belly, so you're my baby"
why?
"because daddy and I made you"
why?
"because we love each other"
why?
"because that's what mommy and daddy's do, we love our babies"

Even if you don't look or act like a baby anymore, you'll always be our first baby. You are growing, even if you rarely eat a meal. You hit 20 pounds at 10 months and are 26 pounds at 3 years old. You are a little over 3 feet tall. You have morphed from a round faced baby into a little boy. You can count to about 27, know all your shapes and colors. You can sing along to many kids songs-like, Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, Rock a Bye Baby, Pat-a-Cake, Itsy Bitsy Spider and more. You can sing along to a few grown up ones-like, Taylor Swift's Pictures to Burn, Rascal Flatts' Life is a Highway and Keith Urban's Day's Go By.

It doesn't seem possible that 3 years ago we were watching Ben Gordon score his first two goals as a Golden Gopher. Daddy had you all swaddled up and were snuggling you in the chair talking to you about hockey. We had settled in for a long night. I sent daddy home to get some sleep and just you and I stayed at the hospital. You had slept for the first 12 hours of your life, which happened to be during the day, so that left us up most of the night. We struggled to figure nursing out together. I held you most of the night and just stared at you. I was completely head over heels in love with you. Daddy thought it was weird when I kept saying that I was in love with you and that I didn't just love you because you were my baby. He soon got it. I am still falling in love with you, 3 years later. Moments that make me realize just how sweet you are. I love how you bounce your baby pretending to get it to sleep. How you play and interact with your baby brother. How you touch my hands when we read books together. How you ask "ooh otay mom?" (are you okay mom) if you see me crying. How you get excitement in your voice when you tell me about something that you did. How you ask me to hold you in the chair, every single night, at bedtime. How you want just one more hug before you go to bed. How you give butterfly kisses to me. How you crawl into our bed, on my side, when you wake up early, just to snuggle. I know you grow older with every passing day, but you will always be, my first baby and my honey.

On a side note...by clicking on Ben's link, check out the date of the article being published. 02-13-08 (Emmitt's Birthday!) I told you we have this freaky thing with numbers!

last year's post in case you want to be nostalgic...

3 Years Ago

3 years ago today I was laying in the spare bedroom watching Days of Our Lives wondering if I was really having contractions, peeing my pants or leaking amniotic fluid...at 3 pm November 10th, 2005 I would find out that I was indeed in labor and should go home, get my bag and head to the hospital...

Happy Halloween

I was a Pirate Lady at work...most people didn't know what I was. I had a lot of different possibilities, from a Gypsy, to being with the Russians, a yodeler, a German Oktoberfest girl, a dancer of some kind...and the other words for Pirate lady-wench, buccaneer, etc...I had this costume from 3 years ago for Parker's first Halloween. We were a Pirate family-a very sick-pirate family. Bear didn't wear his costume, and Parker and I had come down with our first round of Strep throat. We had gone trick-or-treating that year, but not for long and came home sick. Little did we know that that was the kick off to our illnesses that year-nor that just about every holiday we would be sick?!
After work I decided to ditch the very itchy and uncomfortable Pirate outfit and make use of my Pink Lady jacket. I was supposed to have traveled to Orlando this year for Convention for work but decided at the last minute possible to stay home with my babies. Olivia Newton-John was our guest this year and we were to be her Pink Ladies...but at least I got to keep the jacket! The wig was from a prior years costume. It was terrible and needed a brush but that required time and effort-I had neither. Parker and I had surfed the web about a month ago for lion face paintings and came across a few good ones. He was so good letting me paint his face. It managed to stay untouched for a few pics. And my little Yoda of course. I told you he would make an adorable Yoda.

This is just a preview of the amount of candy my kid was about to consume! The sugar shooting lion!

The mighty lion-the sugar hasn't taken control...yet

Yoda-the hat fit perfectly but the cape was huge. He would get a little frustrated when he was trying to crawl, stand or find his hands.

oh...back to the sickness at just about every holiday including this year's Halloween.

Yoda has an ear infection. I brought him in Thursday to the clinic and it is in his left ear. But it was caught early and the antibiotics, Tylenol, Motrin are being pumped into him every 4 hours. The seem to be doing no good...Thursday and Friday we virtually got no sleep. Thank God, daddy came home Thursday night!

Best buds-Parker the Lion featuring Jillian the Bat. They were finally big or old enough to understand the whole trick-or-treating process. Regan and I have gone every year together. We make the rounds to people we know and those who say they have a special treat for the kids. This year with double the kids, we decided to put the babies in my stroller and the big kids in hers and let them run to the door's themselves and just stick to our neighborhood. We told everyone that if they wanted to see the kids in their costumes, they could come to us! Sort of felt bad about it, for about a minute and then said, screw it! It's not worth all the car seat, buckle, unbuckle in a huge puffy costume, drag the kids in and out of the car kind of night! Neither of us needed that kind of craziness added to our life. I should mention that Brooks had an ear infection and the round of meds didn't work and it turned out to be viral. Viral meaning, it just has to "run it's course" there are no meds for viral! Regan didn't sleep for 2 weeks, so let's all hope Emmitt's is bacterial and not a viral ear infection...

Trick or Treat! The both loved dinging the doorbells repeatedly. When we would ask them "what do you say" once in awhile either of them would say "thank you" instead of "trick-or-treat"...we have them programmed I swear!

Not kidding-at every door we went to, Parker asked the candy-passer-outer "why you got that?" and point to their bowl of candy. And it was so funny watching the people come up with an answer to the inevitable "why" question. Regan and I laughed every time! A happier Yoda moment-there weren't a whole lot of them that night. He did eat a whole piece of pizza when we got home though! Brooks in the monkey costume from Parker. Fit him nicely...he is a big boy. Parker wore the costume at 2 and Brooks is 9 months!

okay...now the sugar has kicked in...here is a mighty roar! Happy Halloween!!!!

PS-the tonsils are still "medium-sized"