Friday, March 23, 2012

baking and learning

It's been a pretty exciting week at Chez Macintyre.  Boy2's birthday was a rousing success, everyone mad it through without being sick (always a plus), and the house is currently (mostly) clean with the laundry (more-or-less) caught up.

The Boy came home from school Tuesday talking all about the visitors to his class that day.  They had a python and a tortoise come.  I was told all about how the snake felt, how you don't touch a tortoise' tail because it will pee on the floor, how deep/far a tortoise can dig, you name it, I learned it.

I'm also learning how smart my Boy really is.  He put a row of six stickers on a piece of paper, put an equals sign and the number six.  Then he put in addition signs.  Then he wrote down the different ways to add to six (2+3+1, 2+2+2, 5+1, and so on).  And this is Kindergarten!  They are learning groups of ten, groups of five (prep for multiplication and division), and he's beginning to really read.  Report cards came out Thursday and I could feel my heart swell as I read the teacher comments on how this little person is growing and developing at such a rate!  Pride may be a sin, but it's one I am horribly guilty of where my kids are involved!

Boy2 has done a bit of a turn around this week.  Twice he's asked to go to bed early and has gotten himself into his pj's at 6:30.  He's started saying "please" and "thank you" without reminders.  Don't really know what to think, but there are enough glimpses into the old Boy2 that I'm not overly worried.  It was just a little odd to hear "Momma?  Can we go to bed early tonight?" two nights in a row.

The Girl is teething again.  But this time sleep is not the enemy.  She woke up early this morning saying "Ow.  Ow.  Momma, ow."  And yesterday she was holding her fingers in her mouth yelling and crying.  So those are my indicators this time.  She's still napping, still sleeping through the night (thankfully), and there doesn't seem to be any fever this time.

Yesterday the snow started again.  Sunday afternoon Hubby and the kids raked the back yard since most of it was bare and dry.  It's not anymore.  But after the kids were done playing in the snow at the school park, they wanted to play in the back.  I thought "But your stuff is already wet!" however, they stayed out there for quite a while, brought their stuff in, and it was all dry today, so it worked out.

They got to have waffles for breakfast this morning with blue berry syrup (Daddy made it last night), cheese buns and strawberries for lunch, and more light stuff for supper.  Hubby is in Edmonton for a seminar tonight, so it's just the kids and me.

Wednesday night I felt like baking so I made blondies.  Hubby felt like doing the syrup yesterday so he did.  Tonight I felt like baking, so there are currently cinnamon buns in the oven.  I hope they turn out, though.  My dough wasn't really rising, but I need them done a cooled before I go to bed tonight.  They smell tasty :)

As far as the newest addition I'm working on, I've been utterly exhausted this week.  I can barely keep my eyes open at nap time, but I know if I sleep then, sleep will not come as easily at night.  Unlike Hubby, I'm not accustomed to waiting for sleep.  It usually summons me and I start sawing logs almost as soon as my head hits the pillow.  Anything longer than that frustrates me, so I've been trying to not nap.  When I can't help it, I wake suddenly 20 or so minutes in and then I get up.

But I've hit the more uncomfortable stage.  A few aches and pains, tossing and turning to try to get comfy at night, toss in a handful of Braxton Hicks contractions and there's a pretty accurate snapshot of where I'm at. But every night I see the belly moving, I feel the turning and kicking, and it's all good.

I can't believe there are only 11 weeks to go (give or take) until this little bundle comes to join us.  Hard to believe.

Monday, March 19, 2012

Happy Birthday Boy2!

Happy Birthday to my Boy2!!




I can't really believe that four years have gone by so quickly.  My funny little pale baby  is now a spunky opinionated preschooler.  Yesterday we had a supper with cake, this morning they woke up to Jedi robes and light sabers.  Lots of Star Wars, a few books, stickers.  I didn't make a robe for the Girl and she was very disappointed, so I think I'll be going through the fabric box and making one for her too.

But here are a couple of pictures from the last couple of days, and I'll try to write more later.





Friday, March 9, 2012

sick boy and Star Wars.

It's been a long time since I've let the kids watch morning cartoons.  It feels good to hear the children's programming filter up from the basement.  There is silence otherwise.  Hubby just went down to say goodbye before going into the office, and when he came back up he said he wasn't certain the kids realized he was leaving.  Their eyes never left the TV :)  It's kinda amusing.

Boy2 was sick last night.  Hubby and I put a movie on downstairs and couldn't really hear anything aside from the furnace and the show, but then Hubby muted it and we heard the Girl howling.  Up I go, to find her awake, but also Boy2 up and screaming, covered in puke.  On him, the bed, the carpet.  Gave a num to soothe the Girl then focused on my poor little guy.  Stripped him down, got him in the tub (it was all over his head, thank goodness Hubby had shorn his hair earlier this week), washed, then with warm and clean jammies, he snuggled into bed with Daddy.  Gave him the option to snuggle me, but he wanted Daddy at this point.  He'd been yelling at me that he was cold and his foot hurt, so I became a focus for the bad that he was experiencing.  Not a big deal.  He was being comforted.

I stripped the bed, threw the blankets, sheets, and pillow into the wash, scrubbed the carpet, put clean linen and blankets on his bed, got out an ice cream bucket for beside the bed, and got a children's gravol for him.  Didn't really do that much good, since he threw up the gravol and water.  Oh well.  We kept a small lamp on in the room so he could see the bucket, then we tried to go to bed (it was after 11 at this point and our days start awfully early).  Ended up laying next to Boy2 in his bed for a few hours so he would actually sleep.  Tried to get water into him since nothing hurts quite like dry heaving.  Everything came up again.  He was mumbling in his sleep and moving his legs around, so I turned out the light around 1:30 thinking that he would likely sleep deeper without the light.  I was right.  I moved into my own bed and slept for a few hours, to be awakened by a scream that he wanted the light on.  Got him back to sleep, then he woke again an hour or so later yelling that he needed Mommy.  Then all the kids wanted to start the day at 6:30.  I hope it'll be a good day, in spite of the fatigue.

He had a breakfast of ginger ale and crackers, and so far so good.  No melt downs yet, and we're about four hours from nap time, so we may make it :)

Yesterday afternoon, Boy2 and the Girl were looking at Hubby's World Book of Records on the kitchen floor beside me.  They got to a page that had a photo of Cristo Redentor in Brazil and I heard "Momma, look!  God!"  I said, "Yes, that's a statue of Jesus."  Then Boy2 said "But Momma, Jesus is God."  I smiled, Yes, yes he is.  When Hubby got home I told him.  "A four year old gets it!" was his response.

The Boy has started a new unit in school: the Rain Forest.  He came home Tuesday talking all about Howler Monkeys and how loud they are.  Apparently they watched a video on them.  So we got out Planet Earth (BBC) and they watched the Jungles episode that has the monkeys, birds of paradise, tree frogs, and insects.  It's been a while since we've watched them and the kids were fascinated.  Didn't really hold the Girl's attention, but I've noticed that very little TV actually does.  She seems to have a preference for human interaction (I'm not going to complain about that!).

I was hoping Boy2 would give up his num after his dental work last week.  No such luck.  And he doesn't believe in fairies, so the soother fairy is out of the question.  I think I've convinced him that he should give his nums to the new baby when it arrives, though.  He seems pretty pleased with the idea, and I've brought it up a couple of times, so I think that we will push for that.  He'll be four next week, and I was at a loss for how to convince him to give it up, but I think we've hit on just the right solution.

The Girl has decided that she enjoys sleep again.  She's had eight good nights in a row, and she's eating again, so I think we're more or less out of the woods with her.  Her mouth was bleeding a bit at snack time yesterday afternoon, though, but sore gums are fairly normal for a teething toddler.  I can still remember when the Boy put a spoon in his mouth and it started to bleed.  It was just what was needed to help the tooth break through the gums, though.

Even with cutting back on Star Wars (too difficult to cut out completely), there is still the Mania at this house.  The Boy brings home the books from the school library, they build the fighters with their legos, they pretend to shoot blasters across the table...  Last night, Hubby tired to convince the boys that he was a Jedi and used the Force.  They said "No, you're a pastor!  You work at the church!"  Dad: "And I use the Force there."  Me: "He wears a robe, like the Jedi..."  kids: "No!"  Me: "Yeah.  It's white, but it's still a robe like Obi-Wan wears."  I don't think we convinced them :)

I should really get going.  Hubby picked up a pantry for me yesterday so I'm going to put it together this morning.  After changing some more laundry.  I'm very grateful for a washing machine that works and that we don't have to go to a laundromat or have shared laundry.  We did when we were first married, but thankfully we've been able to have separate laundry the rest of the time.  And after this summer when the washer died, the new machine has definitely held up it's end.

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

thoughts and stuff

There's alot to think and talk about.  The kids have been great.  The Girl has successfully slept the night through  for 6 nights in a row.  I'm hoping that this is going to be the new norm.  Her appetite is improved, she's allowing me to brush her teeth, she's napping, it's like she's back to normal.  Like I said, I hope this is the new normal :)

Boy2 has successfully gotten through his dental work.  He woke up from the anesthesia grumpy as heck and screaming for his num.  We didn't bring it and he didn't really settle down until we loaded up to go home.  The promise of his soother as soon as we got home was as good as a sedative.  Half hour later he was running around and trying to jump on the furniture.  We put that to a quick end and he's been going non stop since.  He wakes up very happy and chipper.  It doesn't always stay that way long, but he returns to it quickly.

We're trying to cut back a bit on the wii and the Star Wars.  Yesterday, going into the city for a walk through WEM, the boys sang in the back seat of the van.  The lyrics were about bad guys and good guys killing each other.  Now, I know that alot of this is normal.  I can vaguely remember playing a version of cops and robbers when I was younger.  But knowing how real all this is to them...  No matter how many times we remind them it is all pretend and the result of an imagination, they always go back to it.  The conversations about good, bad, anger, peace, revenge, death, life, you name it.  Star Wars is what these boys eat, sleep, and breathe.

I'm thinking about making the kids Jedi robes.  Boy2 wants a Jedi cake.  So I'm making it a number 4 with Jedi figures on it.  But if I'm going to do the robes, I'm going to have to get started on them right away.  Hubby has asked for one too.  In white that would make a great alb.  Complete with hood :)  

But we decided to essentially "unplug" the kids completely.  They already watch very little TV, so that's not the issue, but the Wii is being severely limited now and and Leap Pad (though very educational) is being limited as well.

I did my gestational diabetes test last week.  Saw the doctor yesterday, and she said everything was normal.  She also said I was measuring a few weeks ahead...  I'm thinking it's likely because I've had quite a few pregnancies in recent years.  Or we could have another nearly 10 pound baby en route.