Uh, I so should be sleeping. But Ben isn't home, and I am terrible at making myself go to sleep. Maybe that is where Kennady gets it. She's been waking up 2-3 (or sometimes more) times a night. I think it's because Ben keeps going and getting her and letting her have a drink of water before rocking her back to sleep. So sweet. So exhausting. While he might think that I sleep while he takes care of Kennady (yes, I know my husband is awesome), I don't. I can't. I wish that I could. And I sleep terribly to begin with. Unless it is in the morning hours (around 10 am or so). Then I sleep like a baby, or like a baby should sleep. So I don't know what is up with Kennady's unusual sleeping patterns. New teeth? A growth spurt? Terrible twos? And once again, she refuses to sleep in her big girl bed, asking for her baby bed and trying (unsuccessfully) to climb into it by herself. This is why children should get boxes for Christmas.
Today was a full day of babysitting (7 am to 6 pm). Around 4 pm the only thing I wanted to do was sleep. But sleeping while two 18-month-olds are playing (aka eating) playdoh probably would end up with a call to poison control. The problem is that by the time I get Kennady to bed, I've gotten my second wind and there's no way I could fall asleep. I will say that babysitting Bailey is a piece of cake compared to what I was doing last week. She and Kennady are best friends (that occasionally smack each other) and mostly entertain each other (while making enormous messes). The only thing I have to do is keep them out of danger. Which is a very exhausting task for the two of them. Both daredevils, and they egg each other on. They can open the doors, get into the child-proofed cabinets, climb from the bar stools onto the counter, lock each other in the toy chest, jump off the back of the couch, and can drown themselves with the in-door water dispenser on the fridge. Oh yes, and they can climb onto the stove and into the dishwasher. And I did one stair-catch today. If you ever call me while I am babysitting, it's probably pretty funny to hear all the things I'm telling them not to do.
And tomorrow I get to do it all again. At least I am the master at getting kids to take simultaneous naps. I just can't wait until they are both potty training.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Lots of Vegetables
Well the week seemed to get a lot better after Wednesday, when I was no longer responsible for 2 extra children. Seriously, how do people ever have more than one kid? I'm thinking lots of cartoons and snacks. And, yes, I am pretty sure I did win the worst mother of the week award at some point this week. Thursday was my day off. Or as much as of a day off as you can have when you still have a kid.
Luckily my kid was bone tired from missing any semblance of a nap on Wednesday (Garrek was pretty determined that no one was going to sleep). So she took a long nap, and so did I. I did manage to make dinner, almost stuffed peppers, and it was yummy, and I think I was mostly forgiven by my husband for being a bum that day. And, wait, I did a load of laundry too. And then I sat on the couch for 2 hours watching tv and telling my husband to stop talking in the middle of my season finale.
Friday, however, I decided it was time to get things done. Much cleaning. Seriously, a lot. And I made Ben's father's day present. A nope, I can't tell you what it is yet, it's a surprise. And, my biggest accomplishment- I painted my toenails. It was wonderful. They are a beautiful shade of hot pink and it makes me think it is summer and not look quite so pasty. It, however, did not feel like summer outside. In fact, I avoided going outside, because it looked cold and I didn't want my toenails to be disappointed. I cleaned the kitchen, did all the dishes, and cleaned the living room. And then I made dinner. Lasagna Florentine, with lots of extra vegetables, because we had a lot in the fridge that were on the edge of death. When I was done with the lasagna, the kitchen was not a complete disaster, but instead very very clean. Wonderful. And that's around the time I won the award for best wife of the week. The living room, on the other hand, was disassembled, because I guess Kennady thought it looked too clean, or not like home or something.
Today an amazing thing happened. Kennady slept in. Unfortunately, we've come to rely on her as our alarm clock, so Ben was a little late to his 9 am study group, and I was a little rushed trying to get out the door to pick up my fruits and vegetables. We started getting a Bountiful Basket every week (we share it with the Seeleys). It's a basket of fruits and vegetables, lots of fruits and vegetables (like a laundry basket full) for $15. Awesomeness. The only thing that is a little scary is that you never know what you are going to get. Last week we got a bag of apples, oranges, mangoes, tomatoes, spinach, lettuce, a small watermelon, bananas, and green cauliflower. The cauliflower was the only thing that I couldn't figure out anything to do with. This week we got strawberries, apples, oranges, peaches, bananas, blackberries, lettuce, carrots, tomatoes, avocados, yellow squash and a coconut. Ben is super excited about the coconut. If you live in Arizona, Texas, Idaho, Utah, Washington, Wyoming or Nevada, you should try it. www.bountifulbaskets.org.
Tonight Ben and I had a hot date. We went to the library and watched a video about getting out of debt, so Ben could get his grant from the school. Funny thing is, we're not in debt. However, it provided us a wonderful opportunity to have a picnic in the library (which is strictly forbidden), something we haven't done since we were dating. In fact, I don't think I have set foot in the library since I graduated. As it should be probably.
Oh, yea, and did I mention that we had a blizzard today? Two really, with sunshine in between. It was crazy and I hated it. I mean, really, it's almost June. Why does it need to snow here? So much for our original plan to go to the zoo. Boo.
Luckily my kid was bone tired from missing any semblance of a nap on Wednesday (Garrek was pretty determined that no one was going to sleep). So she took a long nap, and so did I. I did manage to make dinner, almost stuffed peppers, and it was yummy, and I think I was mostly forgiven by my husband for being a bum that day. And, wait, I did a load of laundry too. And then I sat on the couch for 2 hours watching tv and telling my husband to stop talking in the middle of my season finale.
Friday, however, I decided it was time to get things done. Much cleaning. Seriously, a lot. And I made Ben's father's day present. A nope, I can't tell you what it is yet, it's a surprise. And, my biggest accomplishment- I painted my toenails. It was wonderful. They are a beautiful shade of hot pink and it makes me think it is summer and not look quite so pasty. It, however, did not feel like summer outside. In fact, I avoided going outside, because it looked cold and I didn't want my toenails to be disappointed. I cleaned the kitchen, did all the dishes, and cleaned the living room. And then I made dinner. Lasagna Florentine, with lots of extra vegetables, because we had a lot in the fridge that were on the edge of death. When I was done with the lasagna, the kitchen was not a complete disaster, but instead very very clean. Wonderful. And that's around the time I won the award for best wife of the week. The living room, on the other hand, was disassembled, because I guess Kennady thought it looked too clean, or not like home or something.
Today an amazing thing happened. Kennady slept in. Unfortunately, we've come to rely on her as our alarm clock, so Ben was a little late to his 9 am study group, and I was a little rushed trying to get out the door to pick up my fruits and vegetables. We started getting a Bountiful Basket every week (we share it with the Seeleys). It's a basket of fruits and vegetables, lots of fruits and vegetables (like a laundry basket full) for $15. Awesomeness. The only thing that is a little scary is that you never know what you are going to get. Last week we got a bag of apples, oranges, mangoes, tomatoes, spinach, lettuce, a small watermelon, bananas, and green cauliflower. The cauliflower was the only thing that I couldn't figure out anything to do with. This week we got strawberries, apples, oranges, peaches, bananas, blackberries, lettuce, carrots, tomatoes, avocados, yellow squash and a coconut. Ben is super excited about the coconut. If you live in Arizona, Texas, Idaho, Utah, Washington, Wyoming or Nevada, you should try it. www.bountifulbaskets.org.
Tonight Ben and I had a hot date. We went to the library and watched a video about getting out of debt, so Ben could get his grant from the school. Funny thing is, we're not in debt. However, it provided us a wonderful opportunity to have a picnic in the library (which is strictly forbidden), something we haven't done since we were dating. In fact, I don't think I have set foot in the library since I graduated. As it should be probably.
Oh, yea, and did I mention that we had a blizzard today? Two really, with sunshine in between. It was crazy and I hated it. I mean, really, it's almost June. Why does it need to snow here? So much for our original plan to go to the zoo. Boo.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Adventures With Children
Ok, so I might have 5 minutes, but no guarantees. See, I am temporarily the mother of 3. Uhg. A 6 month old, an 18-month old and a 2 year old. Yesterday I called Ben and left him a voice message telling him we are never having another child. I guess his friends and he thought that was pretty funny, and he was hesitant to come home last night. He did come home, however, and let me put my feet up and made me a giant strawberry shake for dinner. And he fed Kennady and himself. Did I mention the 2 year-old boy is currently potty training and apparently doesn't want to tell me when he needs to use the potty? Last night during my late night grocery store shopping sans Kennady I stocked up on the good snacks, and so far it has made today a little easier.
That's another story. Kennady and I tried to go to the grocery store in Idaho Falls before we went home yesterday. She refused to sit in the cart, so she was walking beside me. I was picking up a store ad and Kennady runs up behind the ad stand and starts looking out the glass, and at the same time someone comes into the store, causing the automatic door to open, which apparently her hand was in the way of. Much screaming ensued, and every employee in the front half of the store came to help us. I didn't even know it was possible to get your hand stuck in an automatic sliding door. She has a little bruise and scratch, but no permanent damage (maybe a little traumatized, or at least I am). I'm pretty sure the manager thought we were going to try to sue the pants off of them. I am considering getting a leash for my kid.
Mom says I should put a recipe up. Almost stuffed peppers. When we were living in Mom's basement, I cooked dinner a lot for the family. She said that she hates bell peppers. So I made her try them, and now she loves them. So here goes my recipe from memory. I reserve the right to make changes later, and if you make it before then, I am not responsible for any dinner disasters.
Almost stuffed peppers
3 bell peppers, different colors (if you are lucky enough to find frozen precut peppers, use a bag of those, so much easier), diced
1 medium onion, diced
1 can diced tomatoes
2 tsp Italian seasoning
1 lbs ground hamburger, browned and drained
1/2 tsp Pepper
1 1/2 tsp Salt
Instant rice, uncooked
1. Fill a large pot with peppers, onion, tomatoes (undrained), Italian seasoning, salt and pepper, and a couple cups of water. Bring to a boil, then simmer until veggies are tender.
2. Take off heat, throw in 2-3 cups rice and cover. Let stand 5 minutes until rice is done. Add hamburger.
3. I like to mix in a little cheese and Ben likes to top with sour cream. Yum!
That's another story. Kennady and I tried to go to the grocery store in Idaho Falls before we went home yesterday. She refused to sit in the cart, so she was walking beside me. I was picking up a store ad and Kennady runs up behind the ad stand and starts looking out the glass, and at the same time someone comes into the store, causing the automatic door to open, which apparently her hand was in the way of. Much screaming ensued, and every employee in the front half of the store came to help us. I didn't even know it was possible to get your hand stuck in an automatic sliding door. She has a little bruise and scratch, but no permanent damage (maybe a little traumatized, or at least I am). I'm pretty sure the manager thought we were going to try to sue the pants off of them. I am considering getting a leash for my kid.
Mom says I should put a recipe up. Almost stuffed peppers. When we were living in Mom's basement, I cooked dinner a lot for the family. She said that she hates bell peppers. So I made her try them, and now she loves them. So here goes my recipe from memory. I reserve the right to make changes later, and if you make it before then, I am not responsible for any dinner disasters.
Almost stuffed peppers
3 bell peppers, different colors (if you are lucky enough to find frozen precut peppers, use a bag of those, so much easier), diced
1 medium onion, diced
1 can diced tomatoes
2 tsp Italian seasoning
1 lbs ground hamburger, browned and drained
1/2 tsp Pepper
1 1/2 tsp Salt
Instant rice, uncooked
1. Fill a large pot with peppers, onion, tomatoes (undrained), Italian seasoning, salt and pepper, and a couple cups of water. Bring to a boil, then simmer until veggies are tender.
2. Take off heat, throw in 2-3 cups rice and cover. Let stand 5 minutes until rice is done. Add hamburger.
3. I like to mix in a little cheese and Ben likes to top with sour cream. Yum!
Monday, May 10, 2010
Happy Mother's Day (ehh.. sort of)
Well it really stinks when your kiddo is sick. And it stinks more when your kiddo is sick on Mother's Day. After the stomach bug, the cold and the mango incident, boy I am ready to be done with this sick thing. Poor Kennady. Yesterday we took her to church. We barely made it through sacrament meeting. Really, she was better than usual, because all she wanted to do was snuggle (very unlike her). But then she started really not feeling well, so we left. We got home, tried to give her some tylenol, and she threw up all over Ben.
So today she was seeming to feel a little better at first, and then not so much. Ben was convinced that she had just entered the terrible twos and was being a brat, because she would stop in the middle of a fit to watch TinkerBell or look at birds. He almost had me convinced. And then she woke up from her nap screaming and was totally inconsolable. So we headed straight for the doctor, and Dr. Jones is awesome because he got us in within a half hour on a Monday with no appointment. It might have helped that Kennady's screaming was near eardrum piercing level, so no one really wanted us in the waiting room. Diagnoses? Not what we were thinking, because we thought for sure it was something with her stomach. Double ear infection, and a pretty nasty one at that. She hasn't even touched her ears once in the last few weeks, but has done plenty of throwing up. So because she was in so much pain, the Dr gave her a antibiotic shot (um, she loved that), so it would work faster. And within a few hours she seemed to be feeling much better. I think we owe our Dr some cookies.
Well, I guess Mother's Day wasn't a total bust. I did get breakfast in bed. Sort of. Dan's conference call ended up being right in the middle of Ben making me pancakes. Pancakes with strawberry jam and whipped cream. Yummm!! And he totally surprised me with a beautiful pearl necklace. Love it! Sorry, no pictures, the sick baby has kept me from getting anything done. And he changed tons of nasty diapers. And he even cleaned up after himself in the kitchen (I had a conversation about how making me food on Mother's Day is really nice, but leaving me a giant mess that takes me the next 3 days to clean up kinda negates the food).
But I still love being a mom, even with all the sickness (although I would much prefer my baby to be feeling better). And now we know that mom instincts are better than (untrained-says Ben) Dr. Dad. Except when it comes to mangoes.
So today she was seeming to feel a little better at first, and then not so much. Ben was convinced that she had just entered the terrible twos and was being a brat, because she would stop in the middle of a fit to watch TinkerBell or look at birds. He almost had me convinced. And then she woke up from her nap screaming and was totally inconsolable. So we headed straight for the doctor, and Dr. Jones is awesome because he got us in within a half hour on a Monday with no appointment. It might have helped that Kennady's screaming was near eardrum piercing level, so no one really wanted us in the waiting room. Diagnoses? Not what we were thinking, because we thought for sure it was something with her stomach. Double ear infection, and a pretty nasty one at that. She hasn't even touched her ears once in the last few weeks, but has done plenty of throwing up. So because she was in so much pain, the Dr gave her a antibiotic shot (um, she loved that), so it would work faster. And within a few hours she seemed to be feeling much better. I think we owe our Dr some cookies.
Well, I guess Mother's Day wasn't a total bust. I did get breakfast in bed. Sort of. Dan's conference call ended up being right in the middle of Ben making me pancakes. Pancakes with strawberry jam and whipped cream. Yummm!! And he totally surprised me with a beautiful pearl necklace. Love it! Sorry, no pictures, the sick baby has kept me from getting anything done. And he changed tons of nasty diapers. And he even cleaned up after himself in the kitchen (I had a conversation about how making me food on Mother's Day is really nice, but leaving me a giant mess that takes me the next 3 days to clean up kinda negates the food).
But I still love being a mom, even with all the sickness (although I would much prefer my baby to be feeling better). And now we know that mom instincts are better than (untrained-says Ben) Dr. Dad. Except when it comes to mangoes.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
I Hate Mangoes
So I used up all of my pictures in the last post. Maybe you should just get used to no pictures, and then when I do post them, it'll be like a bonus. Sorry, but my days are busy and my camera is oober slow.
I attempted to make a decent loaf of bread. I failed. Sometime I'll try again. Not this week though, because I am still disappointed that I went through all that work to have awesome homemade bread to go with my awesome homemade jam, and I didn't get it. That and our house is a disaster. I know I say that a lot, perhaps some of you don't even believe me. I bet my mom does. So I'm not the best housekeeper. I'd like to think that my charm and beauty makes up for it.
And I hate mangoes. I was feeling adventurous the last time I was at the grocery store, so I bought a mango, because Ben has mentioned several times that he really likes them. Later that night when Kennady was whining because she was hungry, I searched the internet and discovered how to cut up a mango, and that was her bedtime snack. This is the same night that Ben and I foolishly decided to stay up late and watch Sherlock Holmes. As we were going to bed (somewhere around midnight) Kennady started coughing. Great, she got Bailey's cold. So we went to sleep. About an hour later, just as I'd fallen into a deep sleep, Kennady wakes up screaming. Ben goes into get her and discovers that the coughing we'd heard was really her vomiting. Awesome. Enter a bath and several loads of laundry. And more vomiting. Really I am very tired of this. The problem is that this time it was my fault, because Ben informed me that the mango wasn't ripe, and ripe mangoes are notoriously bad for babies' tummies (or so say the Brazilians, and I believe them). I'm pretty sure that since we've made it past the 48 hour mark without Ben or I getting sick, that it really was just the mangoes, and not another stomach flu.
Kennady does have Bailey's cold. And so do I. Which made for a very long day of babysitting today (well, 12 hours is long enough without one sick child). Luckily since Bailey is still recovering and Kennady is sick, they both took a 3 hour nap. Bailey figured out how to open doors (the ones with the normal round handles). Sad day for us all (I mean me and her parents) because not only did she decide to play in the toilet, but also can escape the house (not on my watch, because I'm pretty used to locking doors). It made me really grateful that I do not have twins (not that twins are bad...I like twins...just grateful that I don't have twins at this point in my life). Two kids are more than twice the trouble, they always seem to be teaching each other things, teaming up against you, and you run out of hands rather quickly.
And that's all she wrote.
I attempted to make a decent loaf of bread. I failed. Sometime I'll try again. Not this week though, because I am still disappointed that I went through all that work to have awesome homemade bread to go with my awesome homemade jam, and I didn't get it. That and our house is a disaster. I know I say that a lot, perhaps some of you don't even believe me. I bet my mom does. So I'm not the best housekeeper. I'd like to think that my charm and beauty makes up for it.
And I hate mangoes. I was feeling adventurous the last time I was at the grocery store, so I bought a mango, because Ben has mentioned several times that he really likes them. Later that night when Kennady was whining because she was hungry, I searched the internet and discovered how to cut up a mango, and that was her bedtime snack. This is the same night that Ben and I foolishly decided to stay up late and watch Sherlock Holmes. As we were going to bed (somewhere around midnight) Kennady started coughing. Great, she got Bailey's cold. So we went to sleep. About an hour later, just as I'd fallen into a deep sleep, Kennady wakes up screaming. Ben goes into get her and discovers that the coughing we'd heard was really her vomiting. Awesome. Enter a bath and several loads of laundry. And more vomiting. Really I am very tired of this. The problem is that this time it was my fault, because Ben informed me that the mango wasn't ripe, and ripe mangoes are notoriously bad for babies' tummies (or so say the Brazilians, and I believe them). I'm pretty sure that since we've made it past the 48 hour mark without Ben or I getting sick, that it really was just the mangoes, and not another stomach flu.
Kennady does have Bailey's cold. And so do I. Which made for a very long day of babysitting today (well, 12 hours is long enough without one sick child). Luckily since Bailey is still recovering and Kennady is sick, they both took a 3 hour nap. Bailey figured out how to open doors (the ones with the normal round handles). Sad day for us all (I mean me and her parents) because not only did she decide to play in the toilet, but also can escape the house (not on my watch, because I'm pretty used to locking doors). It made me really grateful that I do not have twins (not that twins are bad...I like twins...just grateful that I don't have twins at this point in my life). Two kids are more than twice the trouble, they always seem to be teaching each other things, teaming up against you, and you run out of hands rather quickly.
And that's all she wrote.
Sunday, May 2, 2010
At Last
Pictures. Yep, finally. I was planning on writing something too, but it's gotten to be a lot later than I thought it was. And I have to get up early tomorrow to babysit. So I guess I'll save the writing for another day.
Here is us at Old Faithful. It was cold and snowing. 
Kennady said that is was time to go home. She was very cold (it was really windy and starting to snow). 
This is Kennady at Mammoth Springs. Yes, these pictures are basically in reverse chronological order. I really don't want to take the time to try to fix them. Yes, she is whining, and yes, she did do that most of the day. But we still had fun!
We saw lots of bison. And some wolves. But I didn't get a picture of them.
Yay, Easter pictures! Kennady really didn't want to get the eggs out of the snow (I thought they would be easier to find there) so I had to move all the eggs.
She loved playing with all the eggs.
And here she is in her big girl bed. We've had a few more successful nights in the big bed, one of which ended up with our first episode of bed-wetting. I guess you can still call that a success? We give her 2 chances a night to sleep in her big girl bed, and then she gets put in her crib. Some nights she decides she'll stay in bed so she can sleep in her big girl bed. We've also made pathetic attempts at potty training. I ask her if she wants to use the potty. She almost always says no. Tonight she said yes, and had lots of fun sitting on the potty for half an hour until Ben got really fed up and said she was done.
Ok, I lied, I'm going to write just a little. This week has been great! I actually get to see my husband this semester and I like it. I even got to go grocery shopping without Kennady this week. Friday night we had a date night and went to the temple. Saturday we went to Mike and Kari's for dinner and a movie. Ben likes his new job as a TA, where mostly he gets to tutor. It nice because it's flexible and he doesn't have to work until midnight.
Ooo, and I am absolutely loving how cheap strawberries are right now (so is Kennady). Yesterday I successfully made homemade strawberry jam. Mmmmm.......I love it. I am going to have jam with toast on it for breakfast for the next month. My next goal: to make a decent loaf of bread.
Oh oh oh, and I am so excited. Kennady and I are taking a trip to Missouri for 2 weeks in July while Ben does finals and studies for and takes the MCAT. Yipee! Although I will be a little more than sad to be away from Ben on our anniversary :( And even more exciting, we are really going to Disneyland. We found flights out of Idaho Falls for cheaper than driving. Awesome! Sept 2 - Sept 5. I wish it was longer, but man is it going to be fun. Disneyland and the beach, those are my plans!
Here is us at Old Faithful. It was cold and snowing. 
Kennady said that is was time to go home. She was very cold (it was really windy and starting to snow). 
This is Kennady at Mammoth Springs. Yes, these pictures are basically in reverse chronological order. I really don't want to take the time to try to fix them. Yes, she is whining, and yes, she did do that most of the day. But we still had fun!
We saw lots of bison. And some wolves. But I didn't get a picture of them.
Yay, Easter pictures! Kennady really didn't want to get the eggs out of the snow (I thought they would be easier to find there) so I had to move all the eggs.
She loved playing with all the eggs.
And here she is in her big girl bed. We've had a few more successful nights in the big bed, one of which ended up with our first episode of bed-wetting. I guess you can still call that a success? We give her 2 chances a night to sleep in her big girl bed, and then she gets put in her crib. Some nights she decides she'll stay in bed so she can sleep in her big girl bed. We've also made pathetic attempts at potty training. I ask her if she wants to use the potty. She almost always says no. Tonight she said yes, and had lots of fun sitting on the potty for half an hour until Ben got really fed up and said she was done.Ok, I lied, I'm going to write just a little. This week has been great! I actually get to see my husband this semester and I like it. I even got to go grocery shopping without Kennady this week. Friday night we had a date night and went to the temple. Saturday we went to Mike and Kari's for dinner and a movie. Ben likes his new job as a TA, where mostly he gets to tutor. It nice because it's flexible and he doesn't have to work until midnight.
Ooo, and I am absolutely loving how cheap strawberries are right now (so is Kennady). Yesterday I successfully made homemade strawberry jam. Mmmmm.......I love it. I am going to have jam with toast on it for breakfast for the next month. My next goal: to make a decent loaf of bread.
Oh oh oh, and I am so excited. Kennady and I are taking a trip to Missouri for 2 weeks in July while Ben does finals and studies for and takes the MCAT. Yipee! Although I will be a little more than sad to be away from Ben on our anniversary :( And even more exciting, we are really going to Disneyland. We found flights out of Idaho Falls for cheaper than driving. Awesome! Sept 2 - Sept 5. I wish it was longer, but man is it going to be fun. Disneyland and the beach, those are my plans!
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