09.01.10
Posted in Beth, Firsts at 8:07 am by Shannon
I dropped Alex off at school this morning. It took everything in me not to let him see me cry. And when he said “I’ll miss you Mama”, I almost lost it. Cried my way to work.
Alex was excited this morning, but his Mama was definitely not ready for this. 
Alex, ready for school this morning:
6pm Update:
First day seems to be a mixed bag. Alex said “I didn’t get free choice time because I did three bad things.” But when asked if he liked school a little while later, he said yes. I don’t know what free choice time is and he says he can’t remember what he did to get into trouble. And there was no note from the teacher, so I have no idea what happened. It’s a little frustrating.
Permalink
08.29.10
Posted in Alex at 9:54 am by Shannon
This morning as a special treat I made strawberry sauce to put on our waffles. We got Alex all set up, put some whipped cream on it and gave it to him. He ate some whipped cream, which was fine. Then he took a bite of waffle with strawberry on it. As soon as it hit his mouth, he violently spit it back out onto the plate. Eric said, “What’s wrong Alex?” Alex’s response?
“That’s the worst thing I”ve ever tasted!”
Permalink
08.21.10
Posted in Alex, Beth at 7:41 am by Shannon
What you probably didn’t know is that when we left on Saturday night, Mom and Dad immediately scrambled to pack up for their week-long visit to our place to babysit the kids for the week since our daycare lady needed two back-to-back weeks off.
They arrived about 6pm having had a horrible, 11 hour ride in. (It might actually pay to drive overnight since we did it in almost half the time!)
I had taken Monday off since I didn’t have a car to drive and figured I’d have to spend time dealing with the insurance and all that. So late Monday morning Dad went out and started leveling the ground for the pool. When Beth went down for her nap, Mom and I went out to help finish leveling and put it up. Took 2-3 hours to totally fill it and boy was that water cold! Eric went to play Sheepshead after work, as he usually does every other Monday (and then the alternate Tuesday).
Tuesday I went to back to work. Mom and Dad were going to take the kids to the park, but Alex wasn’t interested so they stayed home. When Beth went down for her nap, Alex and Grandpa went into the basement to play trains. This set up a pattern for the rest of the week, with Alex going down with either Grandpa or Grandma. He got a lot of train time! Tuesday night when I got home, Dad and I took them into the pool while Mom took pictures. The kids had a lot of fun with Grandpa swimming, too. It was hot that day!
Wednesday Mom and Dad took the kids out in the back yard during the day. I went to my dance class that evening, as I usually do on Wednesday’s, so no swimming that night.
Thursday they went to the park, even though Alex again didn’t seem interested. Alex ran around for a bit, and Beth loves to swing. That evening Bill & Olya came over for dinner, Sweet & Sour Pork cooked by Dad, according to tradition. Their kids were staying with Olya’s parents in Russia, so it wasn’t the chaotic visit that it usually is.
Friday they went to Chuck-E-Cheese. Alex loves the games, and has gotten really good at Skeeball. Beth got in to ride with Barney and when it started to move, she started to scream. So Beth watched Barney bob up and down instead. That night Grandpa took them in the pool again while Grandma watched and Mommy tried to catch up on all the things she had been neglecting for the past two weeks (like mail!).
Saturday Grandpa went to the Farmer’s market and then gymnastics with Alex and Eric while I took Beth to swim class and Grandma slept in. Kevin and Sarah brought their kids over that day. We all had pizza for lunch, although her kids don’t really eat pizza well. But Sarah said not to make them something else because she likes to sometimes make them eat things they don’t particularly like. And she agrees that not eating pizza is just wrong! After Beth’s nap, Grandma and Grandpa took the kids for a walk around the pond. Actually, Alex took his scooter with him. Beth walked the entire distance except for two brief periods of wanting Grandpa to carry her.
Sunday morning we were supposed to take Beth for her 18 month pictures, but she got a mosquito bite on her cheek Friday night and it looked so bad on Saturday that we rescheduled the appointment. When we called JCPenney’s, they said that they don’t do touch-ups and make-up wasn’t doing it. Those pictures have since been rescheduled two more times and have not yet actually happened due to the fact that I’m trying very hard to get a female photographer (wish us luck on Aug 28th!).
I suspect that as much as Mom and Dad love seeing the kids, even they were happy to go home on Sunday afternoon after seeing them for 14 days straight! They probably slept for a week after they got home due to total exhaustion. 
Permalink
08.20.10
Posted in Alex, Beth, Jenna, Ohio at 2:42 pm by Shannon
I’ve been wanting to write this for some time now, but I just have not been able to find the time.
As you all know, we went to Ohio for a week in July. Leigh came over every day while we were there, driving 45 minutes each way, having been asked to stay at Geoff’s while we were there so that Jenna could sleep in her room.
So we drove up on Saturday night. The drive went pretty well. Kids stayed up a little later than usual, probably due to the fact that they were watching DVDs. We made the drive in just over 7 hours, arriving at 3:30am local time. Fortunately for everyone, the kids went to bed when we got there instead of staying up like last year.
Sunday during the day we took it easy since we were running on about 4 hours of sleep. Eric and I tried to sleep in, but just didn’t make it past 8am. That changed later in the week. 
One day we didn’t get up until 9:30. Total bliss for people who get up at 6am on weekdays and usually about 6:30-7:00 on weekends.
Sunday night we had lots of company over for dinner: Grandma & Grandpa, Aunt Carole, Uncle Richard, Uncle Mark, Aunt Kathy, Uncle Dave, & Vel. It was great to see everyone!
Monday we drove out to Aunt Mary Ellen’s for a BBQ. We forgot the diaper bag which meant we had no regular diapers and no pacifier for Beth. We had swim diapers. We were hoping that Beth would sleep in the car on the way because it was nap-time, but she didn’t. She cried alot, in spite of the DVD player going. When we got into town, we stopped at the Dollar store and acquired 2 pacifiers, diapers and wipes. We all had a good-time in the pool and even Beth went in. I’ve come to realize in later weeks that Beth’s crying in the pool has more to do with the fact that she doesn’t want to do what Mommy wants her to do and less to do with not wanting to be in the water. Anyway, we left there about 4:00 and Beth was asleep before we were 5 minutes away! That was the start of us figuring out that Beth did not actually need to nap at 10am. That night she was in a really good mood.
Monday night we had pizza for dinner (Marco’s White Cheesy, yum!) because we got back about 5:45 and Mom and Dad were 30 minutes behind us because they stopped somewhere along the way.
Tuesday we took Alex to see Toy Story 3. His first movie in a movie theater. Jenna went too, but she’d already seen it. He was pretty good. We sat through the previews munching popcorn and then just as the movie started, he needed to go potty. One time I wished he was still in diapers! So we ran (literally) to the potty and back, missing the first part of the movie. He sat through most of it, only getting up twice. The first time he was dancing back and forth and I told him to sit down. The second time he was standing still, so I let him be. I think he really enjoyed it, but the movie was much more emotional than I was expecting. About two minutes from the end, Alex wanted to go potty again. This time I made him wait because lately he’d been going potty a lot and then not really going much. As soon as the movie ended, I sent him to the bathroom with Eric. That day I think that Beth took her nap around noon. I don’t actually know what Mom and Dad did with her while we were gone, but I’m pretty sure she went down for her nap either just before or just after we got back from the movie, which has started at 10:30.
Tuesday night Eric and I went to dinner by ourselves, at Carrie Cerino’s. It’s always nice for us to get out alone once in a while. The hard part was finding a restaurant since Eric and I like to go to smaller, family owned places rather than big chains. But Mom remembered this place because my grandmother worked there at some point in the past, long before I was born. It was really good. We even ordered dessert and my was so rich I had to take more than half of it home! Grandma and Grandpa came over for dinner again that night because even through Eric and I weren’t there, the great-grandkids were. Mom got some movies of Beth interacting with both of them.
Wednesday we went to the zoo. It was about 90 degrees and boy were we hot! Even Eric and I went under the sprinklers when we found them. We had a good time, though. Beth walked more than she rode. We had put her down for her nap around 10:30 so that she would be up by 1:30 and we could do the zoo in the afternoon. We paid to see the Dinosaur exhibit, which was good. Jenna bought a couple of ICEEs, which we all shared. We headed home by 4:00 and were very happy to get the air-conditioning going in the van!
Wednesday night Leigh brought Geoff over for dinner to meet us. And, of course, Beth was cranky, much to Leigh’s chagrin. We realized it was the first time all week Beth had gotten her nap at her usual time and decided to try pushing it back the rest of the week.
Thursday I stayed home with Beth while Mom, Dad, Eric, Jenna, Leigh and Alex went mini-golfing. It was another hot day, but they survived. They left when Beth went down for her nap at 1:00. I got the quiet time that I’d been craving. From what I heard, everyone had fun. When Beth got up from her nap, I got her ready to go swimming in the pool Mom and Dad had bought for the kids. We were outside setting up the sprinkler instead when they got back. Alex immediately put on his swimsuit and joined in.
Thursday night we had Grandma & Grandpa and Uncle Dave over for dinner. The kids were still in the pool when they got there, so Grandma & Grandpa sat on the patio (in the shade) and watched for a while.
Friday Mom & Dad took the kids to the park in the morning and showed them off at the library (which is right next to the park). I think Jenna stayed home with us. No one came for dinner that night since we were getting a little burned out on company.
Saturday we took it easy again. Eric napped in the afternoon, as did Beth, getting ready for the long drive ahead of us. Ironically, that might have been a mistake. We left Mom & Dad’s around 7pm local time (6pm WI time) and made great time home, arriving just before 1am. Beth had been up until 10:30pm when I finally turned off the DVD player. Alex had fallen asleep at least an hour earlier. She fell asleep within 10 minutes. When we got home, the kids went to bed, I went to bed, and Eric couldn’t sleep. It was either the nap or too much caffeine on the way, but he ended up going to bed at 9:00am when I got up. Alex had gone downstairs around 6am and was on the computer when I got downstairs and I think Beth was just getting up when I did.
And you would think that would be the end of our adventures, but you would be wrong. Wait for part II, “Mom and Dad Babysit”!
Permalink
08.07.10
Posted in Uncategorized at 6:53 pm by Shannon
I don’t normally post things not related to the kids, but most of you have probably heard the fate of my 2008 Saturn Astra: totaled by flooding.
We signed on a new car today and brought it home: a 2010 red Chevy Malibu.
Boy it’s been a stressful couple of weeks trying to pick out a new car. And let me tell you, 2 hours at the car dealership followed by a 30 minute drive home follwed by a 30 minute drive back with my checkbook followed by another hour at the dealership with a toddler and a pre-schooler is just not fun! Alex was actually being entertained by one of the sales ladies, thank goodness. And we were signing and trying to keep Beth from eating the crayons that Alex started out with.
Permalink
08.01.10
Posted in Alex at 4:55 pm by Shannon
Today I took Alex to pick out his first backpack. At first he didn’t want to go and told me to “Get one with Thomas”. I said, “But what if they don’t have Thomas, what should I get then?” He thought for a minute. Then I said “Alex, this is your only chance to pick out your very first backpack, I think you should go with me.” He said “OK, I’ll go pick out my first backpack.”
He ended up picking out a Lighting McQueen one:
Permalink
Posted in Alex at 4:51 pm by Shannon
Right before we left for vacation in Ohio, I had an interesting conversation with Alex. We were talking and he called me “Mommy” for the first time. Then he said “Oh, sorry, I mean Mama”. I said “Alex, you can call me whatever you want, Mama, Mommy, Mom, Mother, whatever.”. And then he said “And I’m going to call Daddy ‘Super Father Man’!”. No idea where he got that one, but it had me laughing!
Permalink
07.15.10
Posted in Alex, Beth, Ohio at 10:54 am by Shannon
So as all of you should know by now, we leave Saturday night for my parent’s house. We’re scheduled to arrive about 4am. I’m going to post here a list of things that we need to bring. I know some of this stuff is obvious, but in the rush to finish packing, things inevitably get forgotten. This will serve two purposes:
- Next year I won’t have to compile a new list, just tweak it a little
- In 10 years when I’m complaining about packing for vacation with the children, I will remember how much worse it was when they were toddlers because half this stuff doesn’t need to be packed anymore.
This year’s list:
- clothes
- pajamas
- swimsuits (which can’t be packed until the last minute because Beth has class swim Sat morning and Mama only has one swimsuit)
- Bunny & Teddy
- Beth’s teddy bear
- Both kid’s blankets
- neck pillows (for car trip)
- forks for Beth
- camera – with extra batteries
- both laptops
- iPods
- iPod speaker
- flash drive
- bibs
- diapers
- underwear for Alex (hey, it’s the first year of not packing diapers for him, I almost forgot this one!)
- swim diapers for Beth
- sippy cups
- pacifiers
- baby monitor
- medicine & other first-aid items
- DVD player
Suggestions from Parenting Magazine (somewhat useful for visiting family, but probably more useful when truly vacationing):
- Medications for preexisting conditions (such as an inhaler or EpiPen)
- Fever reducer/pain reliever (acetaminophen or ibuprofen)
- Antibacterial cream (such as Neosporin)
- Bandages
- Antihistamine (such as Benadryl for possible allergic reactions)
- Thermometer
- Pedialyte (get the powder form for easy packing)
- Sunblock
- 1% hydrocortisone cream (to reduce itching after insect bites or rashes)
- Insect repellent
- Tweezers (for tick or splinter removal)
Permalink
07.10.10
Posted in Alex, Beth, Videos at 9:54 pm by Shannon
More random videos:
06/12/2010 – Dancing to Little Einsteins
07/01/2010 – Beth’s Chalk Tower
07/02/2010 – Tackling Alex
07/04/2010 – Fun in the Sprinkler
07/10/2010 – “Waking up” Daddy
Permalink
07.09.10
Posted in Alex, Beth at 9:05 am by Shannon
So last night I had time to kill since Eric was going to Bill’s to play video games. (Olya and I had dinner out the previous day.) It was still hot out, so I decided to try and take the kids in the new pool. I changed into my swimsuit before I picked them up from daycare and took their suits, towels and sunscreen into the backyard. That way we didn’t even have to go inside after we got home. Alex went in right away. I decided to let Beth take the lead and see what she wanted to do. She wandered around for about 10 minutes and then indicated she wanted in. So in she went, me right behind. The pool is so big and deep that I don’t want to put her in alone and then have to circle the pool as she walks around, just in case she fell down. Which she did almost do a few times. The water came just to the tops of her legs. Alex is able to sit on the bottom and still have his head out. Of course, the pool is having some serous issues since the ground was not nearly as level as I though. So one side is filled to the top and the other side is only abut halfway up.
Beth stayed in about 30 minutes and then got in and out a few times over the next 30 minutes. Alex stayed in the whole time. I had remembered the little swimming penguin we bought two years ago and had brought that out with their stuff earlier. Alex had a ball. It has a small propeller on the back so it “swims” around and we played a game of watching who it would bump into next. Beth through it was funny until it bumped into her. Then she wasn’t so sure. She didn’t cry or get upset, but she didn’t laugh either. Alex and I just laughed trying to get her to realize it was fine. She never totally warmed up to it, but she didn’t get worse either. After they went to bed I went and found the other two that we bought but never opened, so next time they can have 3 swimming penguins.
We all had a good time and stayed outside for a little more than an hour. I think I’ve gotten more sun this year than the previous two years combined because the weather has been so nice on the weekends this year. And I’ve actually been spending time outside with them when we get home each night instead of rushing them in the house.
I’ll try to post a picture of the lopsided pool later. Of course I have no photographic evidence that Beth went in the pool last night since I had to be in there with her.
Our lopsided pool:
07/10/2010 Update: Eric took a picture for me last night
(I am just off camera within reach):
Permalink
« Previous entries Next Page » Next Page »