Waking up multiple times during the night - nope
Having a little one wake us up before 6 a.m. and talk our ears off as if we had been up and at 'em already - nope
Both kiddos sick at the same time was our first for the day.
The screaming and crying started just before 1 a.m. the time I often went to bed before I had kids. Andrew was up until around 2. During this time (in no particular order), he had his temp taken 3 times, I spoke with the doc on call, gave him ibuprofin and a breathing treatment, changed a diaper, gave a bottle, stripped his clothes, rocked, cuddled, let him play "rolling dice" on my phone...anything to either acheive or maintain calm/quiet or get him back to sleep.
1 hour later (estimating, I was pretty bleary-eyed), whimpering resumed. Luckily it was easily conquered by replacing the missing pacifier and readjusting the lovey so he wasn't laying on it awkwardly.
sometime within the next hour same thing, I sent Grant to do the same.
A little after 5 a little voice at our doorway says "mommy, where are you?" I answer, "in bed...where you should be." She climbs in bed with me (Grant was on the couch after getting Andrew back down) after a few minutes of lots of wiggling she tells me her forehead hurts and she's burning up. So she gets her medicine and I tell her it will feel better if she's quiet and tries to sleep. She informs me that she's not tired and it's time to get up. I tell her that she can sleep in mommy's bed or she can go back to her bed. She opts to go to her room if I turn on her light, so we compromised and I turned on the little light in her reading corner so that she could look at books quietly but if she decided to go to bed, it would be dark enough. She looked at books and sang to herself from what I could hear on the monitor.
During this time, Andrew got fussy again, I believe Alexis woke him up. Grant got Andrew calmed down but had to try to sleep on the floor with Andrew on top of him. as sweet as it looked, it did not look comfortable at all.
Shortly after this, we gave up on the idea of sleep.
It's probably the only time that Grant has been or will ever be thankful for TAKS and not having his normal schedule at school.
By this time all pain relievers and fever reducers and their sugary flavor syrup has kicked in and the kiddos are not normal but not sleepy and are hungry and thirsty as usual. The doc office calls while they are eating (since I called the on call in the middle of the night for Andrew) to let us know that they would like to see him, and I mention Alexis so they fit her in the same appointment.
For most of the day, Alexis was the most energetic sick child I've ever seen, but her fever stayed if she went over the time frame for the medicine and then the evening hit and she got a bit clingier and finally slowed down. Andrew on the other hand was not his normal self all day and started to do better in the afternoon/evening but was clearly worn out. After Andrew went to bed, Alexis had her highest fever of the day as she laid on the couch watching Rangers. She went to bed and got up to interrupt me writing this 3 times.
The third time, I went and laid down with her and fell asleep rubbing her back. For all I know, I fell asleep before she did. I did eventually get up and leave sleeping Alexis...because Grant came and woke me up.
In the morning, Andrew was up and at 'em like normal. Playing and giggling and crawling around under all the tables in the house. Alexis, however, was still sleeping hard. She didn't wake up until almost 7:30! That might be a record for her. She was still not up to snuff today, though I could tell she was on the mend as she employed her negotiating tactics to try to get what she wanted today. I did stand firm on telling her that if she wasn't hungry for lunch then she wasn't in NEED of candy. Not to say she didn't get ANY candy, it just didn't replace a lunch. I'm pretty sure that she will wake up at 100%.
April 28, 2011
April 25, 2011
Happy Easter!
Egg hunts took place at each kiddo's respective daycare on Wednesday the 20th. (# 3 for Alexis and # 2 for Andrew this year) Andrew was more interested in the twigs and Alexis' took place in the morning, so I didn't get to go. She said she had fun though.
Sunday, after church, we spent the afternoon with friends and had another egg hunt. Andrew skipped this one, but Alexis had a blast...she could find Easter eggs, she could pet chickens, she spun on the tire swing until she was waaay to dizzy to stand and she quoted Rapunzel in Tangled saying "This is the best day EVER!"
How right she is, saying that Easter is the best day.
Sunday, after church, we spent the afternoon with friends and had another egg hunt. Andrew skipped this one, but Alexis had a blast...she could find Easter eggs, she could pet chickens, she spun on the tire swing until she was waaay to dizzy to stand and she quoted Rapunzel in Tangled saying "This is the best day EVER!"
How right she is, saying that Easter is the best day.
April 23, 2011
1st night away
Friday the 22nd was the first night, since being a parent of two, that the kids (together) have been left with someone other than Grant or me over night.
The kids were getting to spend the night with the Grandmas, both of them. So Alexis was going to get to camp out in the downstairs guest room with Mimi while Mema spent the night upstairs in Alexis' room in case Andrew woke up that way each child had a Grandma close by. They played and ate and made muffins and played some more. A great time was had by all.
Grant booked the spa package at NYLO Las Colinas. We called a few days before to make sure there was nothing else we needed to do in regards to setting up our spa appointment and we were assured that it was taken care of and there was nothing we needed to do until we were ready to take advantage of the spa portion.
So Friday we packed, we went to the hotel, checked in and then went to enjoy a quiet dinner at Le Madeleine. Went back to the hotel, took a little self-guided tour of the restaurant, reading room, and the patio/pool lounge area. It was still light and a warm night, so we opted to grab our books and sit in the couches between the pool and restaurant. In case you have not seen NYLO, it is decorated in a very contemporary style with lots of squares, circles and bold colors. I personally loved the hanging pod chairs in the lobby area. We relaxed, listened to the live music and read, and nearly fell asleep with the warm breeze. When it got a little more crowded, the music performer was on break, and it was dark, we decided to go back up to our room where, because it was directly above where we had just been sitting, we could still hear the music just a little softer and we didn't have to deal with the wind picking up.
We slept great...I'm still accustomed to waking up to take care of little people and I still woke up, but it is quite different to wake up and be able to go right back to sleep in a very plush bed than to have to get up bleary eyed, make a bottle, go up stairs, change a diaper, find a paci, sit for a while with a baby taking a bottle, burp, re-check diaper, lay back down, hopefully get out of the room without baby getting up again, check on other child (re-cover other child) and then get back down the stairs, rinse bottle before finally going back to bed. By morning, I was actually ready to wake up at the crack-of-dawn time that I am usually negotiating with a small person not to have to wake up by and yet, I didn't have to. I laid there in the quiet listening to the wind.
We got ready and made use of our breakfast vouchers. For what we sampled of the restaurant, it was excellent.
Then we called to advise the spa we were on our way. I should mention that NYLO does not have an in house spa, they contract with a local spa called GLOW. While we would be happy to return to NYLO, the GLOW spa will NEVER get our business. We were informed that the spa was booked and they could not take our reservation. Excuse us, we bought a package that included service selections from the spa. We were about to become upset with the hotel for not accurately informing us about the package when the lady on the phone with us from the spa told us that they had a reduction in staff (several people had quit in the last few weeks) but they had not informed NYLO to remove the spa package option from their booking page. They said they hadn't had time to advise them. So we went to the front desk to see what they had to say. They had been to the spa the day before to set up our package (pick up our spa menu, gift certificates, and let them know that we would be there Friday night or Saturday) and had not been told that they would not be able to accomodate us. We were given the option from the spa of using the gift certificates for the amount that was included in the package on another date, but they didn't know when they would have availability for the services that we would want. Instead we decided that we just wanted that amount credited back on our bill and to let the hotel take care of it. If we find another day where we both have open schedules and would have childcare then we would just go somewhere closer to home. Because of our inconvenience, NYLO was nice enough to also credit back our miscelaneous purchases the evening before. They later informed us that the spa's mistake was unacceptable and they would be finding a new contractor in order to continue offering that package.
Overall, it was a very nice and refreshing night away, the spa services would have been the marshmallow topping on a chocolate ice cream treat.
The kids were getting to spend the night with the Grandmas, both of them. So Alexis was going to get to camp out in the downstairs guest room with Mimi while Mema spent the night upstairs in Alexis' room in case Andrew woke up that way each child had a Grandma close by. They played and ate and made muffins and played some more. A great time was had by all.
Grant booked the spa package at NYLO Las Colinas. We called a few days before to make sure there was nothing else we needed to do in regards to setting up our spa appointment and we were assured that it was taken care of and there was nothing we needed to do until we were ready to take advantage of the spa portion.
So Friday we packed, we went to the hotel, checked in and then went to enjoy a quiet dinner at Le Madeleine. Went back to the hotel, took a little self-guided tour of the restaurant, reading room, and the patio/pool lounge area. It was still light and a warm night, so we opted to grab our books and sit in the couches between the pool and restaurant. In case you have not seen NYLO, it is decorated in a very contemporary style with lots of squares, circles and bold colors. I personally loved the hanging pod chairs in the lobby area. We relaxed, listened to the live music and read, and nearly fell asleep with the warm breeze. When it got a little more crowded, the music performer was on break, and it was dark, we decided to go back up to our room where, because it was directly above where we had just been sitting, we could still hear the music just a little softer and we didn't have to deal with the wind picking up.
We slept great...I'm still accustomed to waking up to take care of little people and I still woke up, but it is quite different to wake up and be able to go right back to sleep in a very plush bed than to have to get up bleary eyed, make a bottle, go up stairs, change a diaper, find a paci, sit for a while with a baby taking a bottle, burp, re-check diaper, lay back down, hopefully get out of the room without baby getting up again, check on other child (re-cover other child) and then get back down the stairs, rinse bottle before finally going back to bed. By morning, I was actually ready to wake up at the crack-of-dawn time that I am usually negotiating with a small person not to have to wake up by and yet, I didn't have to. I laid there in the quiet listening to the wind.
We got ready and made use of our breakfast vouchers. For what we sampled of the restaurant, it was excellent.
Then we called to advise the spa we were on our way. I should mention that NYLO does not have an in house spa, they contract with a local spa called GLOW. While we would be happy to return to NYLO, the GLOW spa will NEVER get our business. We were informed that the spa was booked and they could not take our reservation. Excuse us, we bought a package that included service selections from the spa. We were about to become upset with the hotel for not accurately informing us about the package when the lady on the phone with us from the spa told us that they had a reduction in staff (several people had quit in the last few weeks) but they had not informed NYLO to remove the spa package option from their booking page. They said they hadn't had time to advise them. So we went to the front desk to see what they had to say. They had been to the spa the day before to set up our package (pick up our spa menu, gift certificates, and let them know that we would be there Friday night or Saturday) and had not been told that they would not be able to accomodate us. We were given the option from the spa of using the gift certificates for the amount that was included in the package on another date, but they didn't know when they would have availability for the services that we would want. Instead we decided that we just wanted that amount credited back on our bill and to let the hotel take care of it. If we find another day where we both have open schedules and would have childcare then we would just go somewhere closer to home. Because of our inconvenience, NYLO was nice enough to also credit back our miscelaneous purchases the evening before. They later informed us that the spa's mistake was unacceptable and they would be finding a new contractor in order to continue offering that package.
Overall, it was a very nice and refreshing night away, the spa services would have been the marshmallow topping on a chocolate ice cream treat.
April 20, 2011
Then (4 years ago) & Now
4 years ago April 19, I was at bunko, when suddenly "huh, that felt weird" I thought and then the air-breathing life of Alexis was about to start.
Alexis has grown from the infant who couldn't gain weight and had wrinkly skin for 6 weeks due to not filling it out to a tall athletic 4 year old.
She continues to squirm and wiggle and jump and play. We hear new songs coming out of her mouth every day. She love to memorize books and laugh.
This year we had a puppet party. We made paper bag puppets and then had special guest Mr. Vic (http://www.themrvic.com/) come and do a show. I made a cookies and cream cake that satisfied all of Alexis' requests for her cake despite it's less than beautiful appearance. She was so excited to be a little hostess and to have her friends over for her party. Pictures below. (Video is quite long, so YouTube rejected it, let me know if you want to see it.)
Alexis has grown from the infant who couldn't gain weight and had wrinkly skin for 6 weeks due to not filling it out to a tall athletic 4 year old.
She continues to squirm and wiggle and jump and play. We hear new songs coming out of her mouth every day. She love to memorize books and laugh.
This year we had a puppet party. We made paper bag puppets and then had special guest Mr. Vic (http://www.themrvic.com/) come and do a show. I made a cookies and cream cake that satisfied all of Alexis' requests for her cake despite it's less than beautiful appearance. She was so excited to be a little hostess and to have her friends over for her party. Pictures below. (Video is quite long, so YouTube rejected it, let me know if you want to see it.)
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| Favors:Glow bracelet, guitar paddle ball, & rockstar glasses. |
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| Pre-party puppet supply table |
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| The cake - her requests were purple and pink icing, with "sprarkles" (sprinkles) and that it say Happy Birthday. |
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| Andrew liked going through the streamers |
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| Working on puppets |
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| a finished puppet |
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April 17, 2011
copy cats & mini-blogworthy moments
So, Alexis was in trouble for being mouthy the other day (big shocker) and we were telling her that she needs to be good and not say bad things so that Andrew only learns good things and then we put her in time out. Her time outs are "Nose & toes against the wall". Andrew lately has been wanting to follow his sister everywhere. So he crawled to the wall, stood up and held himself there with his hands against the wall and looked back at us and smiled. I wish I'd gotten a picture of him putting himself in timeout to be like his sister. This timeout got the intended result, but we didn't do a great job of keeping serious faces because everyone (Alexis, mommy & daddy) were laughing at Andrew and his fun in time out.
In the car, Andrew was playing with a toy and Alexis was bored. "Andrew, please can you let me play with your toy. Mom, Dad, Andrew's not sharing his toy with me." Dad: "Alexis, when Andrew answers you and says the words, 'yes you can play with my toy' then you can have his toy." Alexis "No, when he makes a noise." Dad: "no, he has to say the words." Alexis: "'but dad, he can only make noises."
Alexis whining "I don't like this carseat and I don't want it" (I should preface this with the fact that Andrew is in her old carseat and it sits up much higher and she could see out the window better and reach the door and kick the back of the seat in front of her easier.) "Well, Alexis, that's the only seat we have for you, so if you don't sit in it you might have to walk home." "Well, my tummy hurts because I don't want this carseat and my tummy feels better in the other carseat and if I have to sit in this seat, then I need a bandaid." "Bandaids are at home" After arriving home, she bumps her knee getting out of the car. "NOW, I need two bandaids because I bumped my knee too." In a grumpy voice. Amazingly, all it took to make her feel better was to make her go to the bathroom before eating dinner and let her have some water to drink (because she didn't want juice) and now the girl who said she wasn't tired at all has gone to sleep in nearly record time.
In the car, Andrew was playing with a toy and Alexis was bored. "Andrew, please can you let me play with your toy. Mom, Dad, Andrew's not sharing his toy with me." Dad: "Alexis, when Andrew answers you and says the words, 'yes you can play with my toy' then you can have his toy." Alexis "No, when he makes a noise." Dad: "no, he has to say the words." Alexis: "'but dad, he can only make noises."
Alexis whining "I don't like this carseat and I don't want it" (I should preface this with the fact that Andrew is in her old carseat and it sits up much higher and she could see out the window better and reach the door and kick the back of the seat in front of her easier.) "Well, Alexis, that's the only seat we have for you, so if you don't sit in it you might have to walk home." "Well, my tummy hurts because I don't want this carseat and my tummy feels better in the other carseat and if I have to sit in this seat, then I need a bandaid." "Bandaids are at home" After arriving home, she bumps her knee getting out of the car. "NOW, I need two bandaids because I bumped my knee too." In a grumpy voice. Amazingly, all it took to make her feel better was to make her go to the bathroom before eating dinner and let her have some water to drink (because she didn't want juice) and now the girl who said she wasn't tired at all has gone to sleep in nearly record time.
April 16, 2011
EGGstra Fun!
Egg Hunt #1 was on Saturday morning:
Prep - a few weeks before we helped fill some eggs.
Prep for the day of: Dunkin Donuts to wake up and then on to the park.
We got there and Andrew did not respond to the Easter "Buddy" as well as he did to Santa...at least not at first. Alexis did alright though.
Then a few minutes later as the little ones are lined up, Andrew crawls out of line right up to Bunny, I mean Buddy's feet like they were old friends.
The horn blew and it was time to go...Andrew liked the first egg, so I took it away and put it in his bucket...this was a good strategy for the first 8-10 eggs. He picked one up, I took it away and he picked up another. Then he got tired of having his eggs taken away and sat down and cried. That's when I noticed his leg was bleeding. Poor little guy had scraped his leg while doing the one leg scoot power crawl. So I handed him eggs and let him put a few in his pockets too. Don't worry it was a small scratch and we cleaned him up. (Thanks, Thayer for the bandaid!)
Then it was time for Alexis' group. She started shaking eggs and throwing them back on the ground if she didn't hear anything...some of the silent eggs had things like stickers, silly bands & money in them...oh well. She got plenty of goodies and besides, this was only the 1st hunt for the day.
They played for a little while and then it was time to head home for early naps. Both of them crashed.
Then we headed to the shops for an errand, quick look around, and lunch and it was time for egg hunt # 2.
This was the Chapel Hill Neighborhood Egg Hunt.
Alexis bounced for a while in the bounce house while Grant and I took turns fighting to keep Andrew out of the prize "duck pond" (baby pool with rubber duckies).
Alexis did the bunny hop race after some convincing to step into the bag, a few other crafts and then it was time to run after some more eggs. During the last few minutes before it was time to chase down some eggs, Andrew was playing with a water bottle while sitting in my lap...finally he was content to be still. Then he dropped the water bottle and before it even hit the ground and leaned (dove) to get it and smacked the bridge of his nose on the table. Poor little guy again. Just a little skin off the nose and some dark shadows around the eyes though, nothing too bad. He was calm and happily shaking Easter eggs again a matter of minutes.
Only when we got home did it don on me that we had not used sunscreen and we all had some pink faces and arms (though I think that "lovely" paint on Alexis' face helped her out) and were quite tired. Great day and no little people fought about going to bed. Yay!
Prep - a few weeks before we helped fill some eggs.
Prep for the day of: Dunkin Donuts to wake up and then on to the park.
We got there and Andrew did not respond to the Easter "Buddy" as well as he did to Santa...at least not at first. Alexis did alright though.
Then it was time for Alexis' group. She started shaking eggs and throwing them back on the ground if she didn't hear anything...some of the silent eggs had things like stickers, silly bands & money in them...oh well. She got plenty of goodies and besides, this was only the 1st hunt for the day.
They played for a little while and then it was time to head home for early naps. Both of them crashed.
Then we headed to the shops for an errand, quick look around, and lunch and it was time for egg hunt # 2.
This was the Chapel Hill Neighborhood Egg Hunt.
Alexis bounced for a while in the bounce house while Grant and I took turns fighting to keep Andrew out of the prize "duck pond" (baby pool with rubber duckies).
Alexis did the bunny hop race after some convincing to step into the bag, a few other crafts and then it was time to run after some more eggs. During the last few minutes before it was time to chase down some eggs, Andrew was playing with a water bottle while sitting in my lap...finally he was content to be still. Then he dropped the water bottle and before it even hit the ground and leaned (dove) to get it and smacked the bridge of his nose on the table. Poor little guy again. Just a little skin off the nose and some dark shadows around the eyes though, nothing too bad. He was calm and happily shaking Easter eggs again a matter of minutes.
Only when we got home did it don on me that we had not used sunscreen and we all had some pink faces and arms (though I think that "lovely" paint on Alexis' face helped her out) and were quite tired. Great day and no little people fought about going to bed. Yay!
April 14, 2011
semi-impromptu fun
only Semi - impromptu because it wasn't officially a plan until an hour or so before it happened...free ice cream at Ben & Jerry's and playing in the fountains.
We waited in line, met up with Marcella, and got our free ice cream.
I made the conscious decision not to take Alexis' swimsuit thinking, it's a little breezy, she won't need to get too wet. So when she saw the water fountains and didn't have a swimsuit, she started to just shuck her clothes because she didn't want to get them wet. I swiftly pulled her shorts back up, and told her she could run around and get her feet wet. It started out with giggling and just her feet wet and then one of the fountains shot up on her and it was all over after that. By that point, I figured, I've got a towel in the car and I was pretty sure I had a change of clothes in the trunk, so I let her get soaked. Turns out it wouldn't have mattered if she had shucked her shorts because when they were water-logged, they kept slipping down and making her look like she was a member of FPoA (Future Plumbers of America) anyway.
So the girls were drenched and it was nearing bedtime, and we decided it was time to go. A good time was had by all and a chilly drenched Alexis got a few laughs as we walked back to the car because she was dripping and babbling about the water and telling me she couldn't go to bed yet because I needed to dry her hair.
We waited in line, met up with Marcella, and got our free ice cream.
I made the conscious decision not to take Alexis' swimsuit thinking, it's a little breezy, she won't need to get too wet. So when she saw the water fountains and didn't have a swimsuit, she started to just shuck her clothes because she didn't want to get them wet. I swiftly pulled her shorts back up, and told her she could run around and get her feet wet. It started out with giggling and just her feet wet and then one of the fountains shot up on her and it was all over after that. By that point, I figured, I've got a towel in the car and I was pretty sure I had a change of clothes in the trunk, so I let her get soaked. Turns out it wouldn't have mattered if she had shucked her shorts because when they were water-logged, they kept slipping down and making her look like she was a member of FPoA (Future Plumbers of America) anyway.
So the girls were drenched and it was nearing bedtime, and we decided it was time to go. A good time was had by all and a chilly drenched Alexis got a few laughs as we walked back to the car because she was dripping and babbling about the water and telling me she couldn't go to bed yet because I needed to dry her hair.
April 12, 2011
Visit from Grandpa
Grandpa arrived from Illinois on Thursday. He came to visit while Grant had his big Robotics competition for school. So I picked up the kiddos and we headed to see Grandpa and have a pizza dinner. Andrew started out and continued to perform well as a bottomless pit...oh wait, that's not a performance, that's how he is EVERYDAY.
After a little while, we headed home for some rest and lunch. We played, acted goofy and then made dinner and Grant got home to tell us how the team was doing.
Sunday was pretty normal with church and convincing kiddos to try to nap (which they did not), choir etc. But Alexis got to get a birthday present early from Grandpa. She got the old no-longer-made Snoopy Doghouse Game! I had this game as a kiddo too. Grandpa searched on Ebay for it and finally got one in good condition. The first one he got, we'll keep for spare parts...it's a full game too now that he made a replacement side. Alexis thought it was pretty cool! We also created a fun ride for Andrew. He sat in a diaper box and we looped Sadie's dog leash around the handle/box flap and pulled him around. He thought it was great and Alexis thought it was just as much fun to watch or pull.
Monday we went to see dinosaurs at the Fort Worth Zoo. And upon arrival she was already thrilled because she saw...a squirrel. She loves squirrels and she got to see several up close at the zoo...all the way to the zoo to be excited about squirrels. I guess it fits; she is pretty squirrely. :) She also enjoyed the flamingos, turtles, lizards, and elephants.
We ended the day with burgers on the grill, bath time and a few attempts at pictures. (there were some tired and squirmy people)
Friday, we went to visit Grant at his competition. Alexis was really excited to see the robots...she didn't know what they were supposed to do but she enjoyed the mascots and the robots and both she and Andrew were moving to the "noise" as Grandpa called it...music to teenagers these days.
After a little while, we headed home for some rest and lunch. We played, acted goofy and then made dinner and Grant got home to tell us how the team was doing. Saturday was full of more at home playtime with little people that REALLY did not want to nap. Eventually after Alexis finally gave in, I grabbed Andrew and got in the car to run errands that didn't require me to park so he could sack out for a while. When Alexis woke up, she looked for me but I wasn't home yet from taking Andrew, so I came in and showed her that we were going to make a cake and we had a few ingredients left to get...Andrew was snoozing in the car still so, Grandpa and Alexis piled in too. Alexis came in with me while Grandpa stayed with a snoozing Andrew. We got our Oreos and whipping cream and were on our way. Andrew was awake by this point but wanted to be near mommy, so we strapped him in his highchair with cheerios and toys and Alexis and I got started...Andrew was content until the oreos went in the food processor...he doesn't get upset over much as far as noise goes. He laughs when Sadie freaks out at people knocking on the door, he looks puzzled when we get ice, but turn on the food processor and he flips out! So we crushed the cookies just enough, then let Andrew keep munching on Cheerios as Alexis poured the ingredients in the mixer. The end result turned out great and Alexis was soo proud and when Grandpa told her she did a good job on the cake, she said "I didn't do it myself, my mom helped." :-)
Sunday was pretty normal with church and convincing kiddos to try to nap (which they did not), choir etc. But Alexis got to get a birthday present early from Grandpa. She got the old no-longer-made Snoopy Doghouse Game! I had this game as a kiddo too. Grandpa searched on Ebay for it and finally got one in good condition. The first one he got, we'll keep for spare parts...it's a full game too now that he made a replacement side. Alexis thought it was pretty cool! We also created a fun ride for Andrew. He sat in a diaper box and we looped Sadie's dog leash around the handle/box flap and pulled him around. He thought it was great and Alexis thought it was just as much fun to watch or pull.
By the end of the day, both kids were so tired they went to sleep in their clothes. Alexis asked too actually, saying that she had just put her dress on...even though she had had it on since the morning. But it was a comfy cotton dress, so I saw no harm in her sleeping in it.
Monday we went to see dinosaurs at the Fort Worth Zoo. And upon arrival she was already thrilled because she saw...a squirrel. She loves squirrels and she got to see several up close at the zoo...all the way to the zoo to be excited about squirrels. I guess it fits; she is pretty squirrely. :) She also enjoyed the flamingos, turtles, lizards, and elephants.
April 3, 2011
Whirlwind!
Travelling with 2 kids under the age of 5 is the easiest thing EVER!
Oh wait, the 1st plane ride with both children and Andrew's first flight ever was on April Fool's Day?
Seriously.
Alexis has been in rare form lately just because "but I want to do what I want to do" is her excuse when she doesn't obey and calm down. So even though she wasn't listening and being still for our trek to the airport and she was complaining, all became ok and when she met a little friend.
So we get to the airport and get on the "circle bus" (Parking Spot) and get through security and while Grant is buying some dinner, I'm shoveling Andrew's dinner in while he's in the stroller and Alexis is watching for airplanes out the window...a little boy approaches.
He says "hi" and Alexis turns to me and says "WHO is HE?" I tell her that I don't know but she can let him look out the window with her. So they babble about the planes and the baggage carts and the ladders and whatever else they see until there is a big bug on the window. Then Alexis has a typical Alexis bug freak out so the little boy goes back over to his mom to get a coloring sheet and 2 crayons and he comes back and offers her getting to color half of it with one color while he colors the other half with the other color. At this point the other mom decides that if she wants to see her son again, she should probably move to sit near us b/c there aren't enough seats for us near her and her son has met a new playmate so as far as he's concerned since we are going the same place, this is his new spot. As we are walking down the jetway (no, we did not get to pre-board with both kiddos) he turns to Alexis holding out his hand and says "do you want to hold my hand" she looks back and says "it's ok daddy, we're friends" So she and Trevan (sp?) walk together and then his mom, then Andrew and I and then Grant come on down the jet way and onto the plane and she just keeps walking and gets in the row with them, so since her son is so smitten, his mom asks if she can sit with them, so we said "sure!" and we sat right behind her. They spent most of the 1 hour flight "decorating" his mom with stickers from Alexis' backpack, not sharing silly bands because he didn't want the pink one she tried to give him and she wanted to keep the blue one, and talking about their ears "popping off". Oh and taking pictures of each other. Andrew on the other hand, decided he was tired of being held and fussed, batted at his head, played between our feet and finlly sat on Grant's lap to look out the window. Getting off the plane, Alexis couldn't understand why she couldn't stay with her new friend because he was on the same plane so why wasn't he going to Mimi's too?
We get the kids settled, we visit, we munch and then we got to sleep until around 8 a.m.(!) with only a small interruption for a bottle. It was the longest we've gotten to sleep on a Saturday in a LONG time. Alexis still had some trouble being a big girl but for the most part was fairly well behaved for Nana's 90th b-day celebration and throughout the day, even with her moments at the microphone. In case you haven't seen Alexis when she has an audience, she has the habit of discovering ways to have all eyes on her. So after all the little great-grands sang to Nana, she said she wanted to sing another song, but instead of just singing it to Nana, she saw the microphone, so she sang a few songs all by her lonesome, waiting for applause between each one before she was told it was time for the big people to have the microphone back and to go back and play with the other kiddos. She was so proud of herself. The party wraps up, the kids are tired and it's time to make our way back to the airport.
And at the airport in AMA, she was the best behaved she has been in ages! She sat and spoke in a normal voice without yelling, she colored, and looked at planes and didn't whine and some of this was while Daddy was with both kids at the gate by himself because I was lucky enough to have to go through "additional screening" due to baby food. It took 3 people inspecting the actual baby food jars after it was determined that I and everything else in the diaper bag were safe, but I was allowed to keep the food and continue to the gate after my pat down which was less invasive than most taylors. Alexis continued to be good all the way through our 40 minute delay and then both kids' emotional states were beginning to deteriorate due to lack of adequate napping. We were pretty sure that Alexis would be alright once she finally got on the "big airplane" but we weren't so sure about Andrew, so we headed to the back of the plane. At take off, the kids were GREAT! I was so glad, they were well behaved, decently quiet, smiling with other passengers smiling at them and our thoughts were that this flight would be alright.
...
And then it happened, just as quickly as lightening strikes, we became "that family". About half way through the flight, shortly before we were to get Alexis' applejuice, we were getting Andrew settled with a bottle. Due to airpressure and the temperature of the water, for whatever reason the airflow of the bottle wasn't working quite right and he fussed and fought it and all at once, the cap came unscrewed and he kicked and the bottle went flying. Formula was everywhere! Grant's shirt was the new "milky swirl" polo, my jeans were "formula bleached" and poor Andrew looked like he'd been painted white with his hair matted to his head and dripping off of his eyelashes and shorts and a few drops even made it all the way over to Alexis' seat on the opposite side of me. For those of you that know Alexis' she's a bit of a clean freak, so we got her calmed with a few tears and were thankful that she didn't truly get wet as that would have made the distaster monumental. Andrew was now screaming his head off but not drawing sentimental looks and offers of towels to help clean him off but rather looks of disgust. Grant is so mad at the situation and that this had to be us. So without even the offer of a beverage napkin for help, we manage to do the best we can with one burp cloth, stripping him down, pulling on a new onesie, get more water (b/c he's still hungry) and try again but with warmer water and a smaller amount. This time, all works fine and he eats, falls asleep and stays asleep on my sticky arm. Alexis was a little out of sorts still, and got worse breaking down near baggage claim, but she was calmed, we got on the "circle bus" and back to our car. The kiddos were both asleep before we had even reached Harry Hines and we were hoping that this would not end up being a "power nap". From parking at Love field to arriving back at our car all took place in just over 24 hours. Whew!
Oh wait, the 1st plane ride with both children and Andrew's first flight ever was on April Fool's Day?
Seriously.
Alexis has been in rare form lately just because "but I want to do what I want to do" is her excuse when she doesn't obey and calm down. So even though she wasn't listening and being still for our trek to the airport and she was complaining, all became ok and when she met a little friend.
So we get to the airport and get on the "circle bus" (Parking Spot) and get through security and while Grant is buying some dinner, I'm shoveling Andrew's dinner in while he's in the stroller and Alexis is watching for airplanes out the window...a little boy approaches.
He says "hi" and Alexis turns to me and says "WHO is HE?" I tell her that I don't know but she can let him look out the window with her. So they babble about the planes and the baggage carts and the ladders and whatever else they see until there is a big bug on the window. Then Alexis has a typical Alexis bug freak out so the little boy goes back over to his mom to get a coloring sheet and 2 crayons and he comes back and offers her getting to color half of it with one color while he colors the other half with the other color. At this point the other mom decides that if she wants to see her son again, she should probably move to sit near us b/c there aren't enough seats for us near her and her son has met a new playmate so as far as he's concerned since we are going the same place, this is his new spot. As we are walking down the jetway (no, we did not get to pre-board with both kiddos) he turns to Alexis holding out his hand and says "do you want to hold my hand" she looks back and says "it's ok daddy, we're friends" So she and Trevan (sp?) walk together and then his mom, then Andrew and I and then Grant come on down the jet way and onto the plane and she just keeps walking and gets in the row with them, so since her son is so smitten, his mom asks if she can sit with them, so we said "sure!" and we sat right behind her. They spent most of the 1 hour flight "decorating" his mom with stickers from Alexis' backpack, not sharing silly bands because he didn't want the pink one she tried to give him and she wanted to keep the blue one, and talking about their ears "popping off". Oh and taking pictures of each other. Andrew on the other hand, decided he was tired of being held and fussed, batted at his head, played between our feet and finlly sat on Grant's lap to look out the window. Getting off the plane, Alexis couldn't understand why she couldn't stay with her new friend because he was on the same plane so why wasn't he going to Mimi's too?
We get the kids settled, we visit, we munch and then we got to sleep until around 8 a.m.(!) with only a small interruption for a bottle. It was the longest we've gotten to sleep on a Saturday in a LONG time. Alexis still had some trouble being a big girl but for the most part was fairly well behaved for Nana's 90th b-day celebration and throughout the day, even with her moments at the microphone. In case you haven't seen Alexis when she has an audience, she has the habit of discovering ways to have all eyes on her. So after all the little great-grands sang to Nana, she said she wanted to sing another song, but instead of just singing it to Nana, she saw the microphone, so she sang a few songs all by her lonesome, waiting for applause between each one before she was told it was time for the big people to have the microphone back and to go back and play with the other kiddos. She was so proud of herself. The party wraps up, the kids are tired and it's time to make our way back to the airport.
...
And then it happened, just as quickly as lightening strikes, we became "that family". About half way through the flight, shortly before we were to get Alexis' applejuice, we were getting Andrew settled with a bottle. Due to airpressure and the temperature of the water, for whatever reason the airflow of the bottle wasn't working quite right and he fussed and fought it and all at once, the cap came unscrewed and he kicked and the bottle went flying. Formula was everywhere! Grant's shirt was the new "milky swirl" polo, my jeans were "formula bleached" and poor Andrew looked like he'd been painted white with his hair matted to his head and dripping off of his eyelashes and shorts and a few drops even made it all the way over to Alexis' seat on the opposite side of me. For those of you that know Alexis' she's a bit of a clean freak, so we got her calmed with a few tears and were thankful that she didn't truly get wet as that would have made the distaster monumental. Andrew was now screaming his head off but not drawing sentimental looks and offers of towels to help clean him off but rather looks of disgust. Grant is so mad at the situation and that this had to be us. So without even the offer of a beverage napkin for help, we manage to do the best we can with one burp cloth, stripping him down, pulling on a new onesie, get more water (b/c he's still hungry) and try again but with warmer water and a smaller amount. This time, all works fine and he eats, falls asleep and stays asleep on my sticky arm. Alexis was a little out of sorts still, and got worse breaking down near baggage claim, but she was calmed, we got on the "circle bus" and back to our car. The kiddos were both asleep before we had even reached Harry Hines and we were hoping that this would not end up being a "power nap". From parking at Love field to arriving back at our car all took place in just over 24 hours. Whew!
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