Get ready

So despite my initial decision to NOT dress up for Halloween, I decided that wouldn't be any fun.  So... check in later for pics of a crazy mad scientist, a rock princess, a cute little genie, and of course a little spunky monkey.

Sneak Peek

Here's Kate getting ready to go to dance class to dance in her costume.  In case you can't tell she's a genie.  More pics to come...

Crossing my fingers

So at this very moment everyone seems to be well.  There's still a little snot left in Aidan that he shows off ala massive sneezes but his spirits are much improved.  Kate seems completely recovered and despite a strange crazy sneezefest Monday and Tuesday for me, I'm doing good.  My dear husband seems to have escaped getting sick.  Punk.  Our lives haven't been all that exciting and I've spent the last week not doing a whole lot besides recovering from a week where I did more then I should have while I was sick.  Why is that when something crazy is going on I tend to want to do things that aren't exactly apres pos  around here?  It's like when there's a tornado warning I start furiously picking stuff up like the tornado won't bother us if everything is in its right place or I like baking when there's chances of the power going out in the winter.   So I also apparently feel the need to keep my house clean when I'm sick and alone and there's no one to blame for things not getting done but myself.  Isn't it easier when you can put the blame on another person?!

So for those of you that care here's a rundown of what you missed over the last week...

MINUTES:
Saturday/Sunday: These are basically interchangeable because I think I was in pajamas most of both days and didn't leave the house.  We sat around, I edited photos, there was TV watching, I complained about football, Daniel complained about football but in a different way, I expressed sadness over not being able to go to Boo at the Zoo and we ate.  Yes eating is often a necessity.

Monday: Back to school and lots of sneezing.  That about covers it.  Oh and we had a yummy beef stroganoff for dinner.

Tuesday: Feeling better but not great, showered and forced myself to go to the mall to walk around.  It was nice and Aidan got a good nap in.  I found a pair of jeans I'd really wanted on sale since all the ones I bought since giving birth are too big (woohoo!) and the ones I had before that are icky.  Yes I needed a new pair of jeans because my old ones are icky.  I might be twelve.

Wednesday: School, Target at 8:00 a.m. to get cat food so those things will stop terrorizing me, discovered only weird people are in the store right after it opens,  Dance class in costume, church, and home.  I might have visited McDonalds for a diet coke too.

CURRENT EVENTS
Aidan's grumpiness last week might have been due to yet another tooth popping it's way through on the bottom row.  The more to bite you with my dear!  Muh, ha, ha ha!

There's some talk about a move to Chicago.  This time I think it's a real possibility.  I'm O-V-E-R the excitement and won't reignite it until there's a real offer on the table.

Kate's Halloween party at school is tomorrow.  This time I won't forget my camera like I did yesterday at Kate's dance party.

The Christmas stress is already starting to set in and it's not even November yet.  What to get people.  How to see everyone.  So much to think about.

You think you've had a rough time

I think all things considered, I've held it together quite well.  But everyone has a breaking point right?  Yesterday Kate didn't have a fever and although she was still coughing a lot she was doing better with that too.  Then the call from her Dr.'s office came in and they told me the radiologist that looked at her chest x-rays from Tuesday felt like she had a little pneumonia.  Great.  So I pretty much decided to go ahead and keep my hyper, incredibly bored child home yet another day.  Oh and Aidan is starting to cough a little and sneeze a whole lot.  So far he doesn't have a fever.

Kate clearly is in need of some social interaction with someone other then her crazy Mother, baby brother, and various characters on the Disney channel.  Yesterday she thought it would be a good idea to color on the walls, the coffee table, and 2 bath towels with paint pens while Aidan and I were napping RIGHT THERE and then proceeded to get into Aidan's baby swing and strap herself in.  She's a good 15 pounds over the weight limit and when I awoke to the phone ringing I found her strapped in without her pants or underwear on.  Why you might ask didn't she wake me up so I could help her get out?  Why you might ask was she not wearing underwear or pants?  She was afraid of getting in trouble (duh- of course I wasn't going to be pleased) and because she was trying to get loose and thought removing the "bulk" of panties and thin pajama pants might help.

Then there's the bouncing around, squealing during Aidan's naps, and the reenactments of some Shakespeare worthy poisoning scenes every time I have to give her Tamiflu.  She acted shocked when I told her Aidan took it better the she did.  Of course he eats veggies too so I'm sure she thinks he's a  little nuts.  So in essence I'm tired.  I'm tired of feeling rundown, not sleeping well, having coughing, feverish, snotty, pukey (which re-started today as well after a 2 day reprieve) and grumpy or hyper kids.  I just want to take a hot bath with bubbles and not have someone bug me.  I want to eat my pancakes without having to keep Kate from essentially eating Aidan's cheeks or taking his toy away.  I want these kids on Nick to stop singing the same damn song over and over again.  Why won't they stop singing!!  I'm going to have that stupid song in my head all day.  I want my husband to come home and I want to head to a luxury hotel and get pampered for a few days- since we're talking about things that ain't gonna happen.

Then last night was the kicker.  I had a massive anxiety attack.  I've had a few in my life and this was probably the worst.  The kids were asleep and I had just finished watching a particularly unsettling episode of Grey's Anatomy that the entire time I was watching I kept thinking I should just stop because it was making me nervous, and Oh never mind I'll just keep watching.  It was about a woman who died an unnecessary death because of a freak situation.  I sat up and was going to get Kate moved to her bed and realized my neck was really sore.  That was all it took.

When Daniel called this morning our conversation went like this... Him: "How's it going?"  Me: "Well... Kate is puking again, last night I couldn't sleep because I thought I was going to die in my sleep because I thought I had meningitis or carbon monoxide poisoning.  Then my head started hurting but not a normal headache a weird headache like none I've ever had before and then it started tingling.  Then my chest hurt, I felt like I couldn't breathe or swallow, I felt dizzy, and I had visions of having to drive myself to the hospital and I was scared to go to sleep because if I died I wasn't sure Kate would know what to do when she found me dead the next morning."  Then after he stopped in a questionable area to use the bathroom he called me back and said, "Hey I didn't get mugged!"  I replied, "Hey I didn't die in my sleep!"  His response..."Long distance high-five!"  Yep we're weird like that.

Yes the conversation was one big run on sentence, yes it was disturbing at the time but I can laugh about it now,  and yes I realized I was having a panic attack after surfing the Internet, checking the carbon monoxide detector, putting a heating pad on my neck, and eating some oreos.  I'm not sure the last part helped all that much but hey you've got to try anything.

I finally did go to sleep around 2 and relaxed as much as one can given the present situation, and am now counting down the hours until my husband comes home to rescue me.  Oh my word they're playing that song again!  Boycott the Fresh beat band!  Do it now!

Let's class this joint back up

Kate is still sick and enjoyed some of the stomach related perks of the flu today along with a higher fever.  Aidan is still holding strong and doesn't seem to be sick yet.  Come on Tamiflu!  Keep doing your job.  I still feel like I'm on fire without the fever and feel slightly like I took one too many doses of cold medicine and have morning sickness like nausea (no I'm not pregnant). But we're keeping it together despite our cabin fever.

Now enjoy a few pics (not all that great ones but pics none the less) of our trip to the pumpkin patch before the real fun set in.  Strangely enough there are no pictures of actual pumpkins.  Hmm.

Yep

Kate and Aidan are being treated with Tamiflu.  I'm apparently on my own for now.  Daniel come home!!  You know you want some of this...

Overheard

While holding a sleeping Aidan I said to Kate: "Will you please get me a granola bar?'  Without skipping a beat... "Dad, will you get Mom a granola bar?"  I wonder where she gets it?

Quick little update

So I haven't been on here in a few days.  Life was kinda boring Thursday and Friday.  We headed to a pretty cool pumpkin patch on Saturday and Daniel yelled at the TV a lot.  Sunday brought a day at home.  Oh and in the middle of this I edited ridiculous amount of photos.  Daniel works with a guy who does photography on the side and needed some help editing his pictures.  I'm not sure if he'll think I'm good enough to keep sending me stuff but we'll see.  It's fun and tedious at the same time and I've already learned a lot.  I did get a little sick of looking at the same people's faces for 2 days though.

Today however the winds changed.  Kate woke up with a fever and has alternated between hyper/crazy girl to droopy/sleepy girl.  Right now she's emerging out of the droopy phase due to the amazing effects of Motrin.  No school for her tomorrow though.  She'll be thrilled since she's been asking all day if she can go.  Now I've started feeling scratchy throated, sneezy, and strangely like I'm going through menopause with all these hot flashes.  Oink, oink?  Then just to spice it up Daniel called and said they're sending him last minute to North Carolina for work and he leaves tomorrow before noon and won't be back until Friday night.  Should be good fun if me and Aidan get sick too.  He just ask if I'd be mad if he went to the beach without me.  Yes.  Yes I would be.  Oh well.    

Back to blogging with a bang!

Moral: Don't pour cold water in a glass pan that's been in a 400 degree oven.

Google me happy

It's a cold, rainy, cloudy day.  Oh how I love to talk about the weather!  Sooo... I changed up my blog background again.  The creepy staring dots were weirding me out and my attempt at adding a little fall pizazz to my ol' blog failed.  I'm back to bright and cheery.  It contrasts nicely against the weather. :-)

So in an attempt to squelch my boredom and keep me from going shopping for things I can't have, I thought I'd engage in a little google fun.  Ever google yourself?  It's a good time.  Put your name in quotations and it brings up more.  My biggest problem is that apparently there are people with my same name that have more Internet exposure and consequently more exciting lives.  For instance there's one of me in Detroit and Springfield.  Some other me works in event planning and another in marketing.  I kinda doubt they're sitting at home with a baby on them that's spewing out gas that has to be more then gas, but, oh, nothing.  Still gas.

So after the first 10 pages I still haven't found myself.  Let's throw the maiden name in with the married name.  Ding ding ding.  We have a winner!  I'm the number 1 hit with a link to my facebook page!  Take out the quotes and I'm still number 1 with a bonus link to info about my college graduation!  So this got me thinking about how often you might be searching for things online and would come across my blog.  Everyone loves exposure when they write on the Internet right?

Type in spunky stories and booyah I'm #1 and #2!  Google "Mimi and Dude" and there I am at #6 and #10.  However, I am sad to say that my parents aren't the only Mimi and Dudes out there.  Sorry guys.  There are more of you too!    Google leafy bug and there my blog is at the bottom of page 1 thanks to some random site that is linking to it.  Strange.  But Jackpot anyway!  I think that one is REALLY gonna bring in the traffic!  Yep.  I'm officially heading to the mall to shop get a life.

Oops, I did it again

Now I have that song in my head.  Gotta love it when Britney Spears creeps into your head.  Anyway... I did actually do it again.  I talked about Aidan yesterday and said he "still wakes up but it has gotten better."  Big mistake.  Of course if I write about something like that and post it on the Internet it's never going to last.   It was not a restful night.  If you ask my husband he'd probably say he slept well.  Him and Aidan.  That would also be a big mistake.  We're still battling a stuffy nose so I guess that's partially to blame.  So maybe if I post things on the Internet the opposite will happen.  I don't want to go on a vacation.  I do not want my husband to get a promotion and make more money.  Aidan is the worst sleeper ever.  The cloudy, rainy, cold weather delights me.  Oops, there I go talking about the weather again.

Sure is nice weather you all are having

You know when you 're talking about the weather you're probably just desperate.  But I figure it's my blog so why not?  When we first moved to Kansas almost 2 years ago (Oh my word I can't believe I've been here that long) we kind of assumed the weather couldn't be that much different then it was down in Oklahoma.

Since moving we endured a devastating ice storm that causes me to panic when the lights flicker, wind storms that blow giant trees down in our yard, 18 inches of snow in April (when I was just a few weeks away from my due date, having contractions, and scared to death I'd go into labor and wouldn't be able to get out), and temps in the low 40's as the high for the day in October.  Where I come from October is just an extension of summer.

After the ice storm our realtor stopped by and informed me that the weather is never like that and that ice storms like that only happen once every 20 years or so.  We were told multiple times that snow 18 inches deep in the spring was unheard of around here, and Daniel's coworkers assure him that weather like this in October "never happens."  Yep.  I think you Kansas lovers are just trying to make us feel better about your state.  You don't want to be honest and admit that Kansas actually has wilder weather then Oklahoma.

Hmmm.  Let's see.  What else is going on?  Aidan has a sinus infection and is on an antibiotic.  His nose is still stuffy.  He sleeps sometimes in his crib and sometimes in our bed.  I'm re-learning that although he and Kate are in fact very different you should never make any assumptions about how life is going to work with a baby because as soon as you think you have them figured out they'll change it up on you.  He still wakes up but it has gotten better.  He actually put himself to sleep in his crib the other night and stayed for about 5 hours.  Naps are still the best thing in the world.  Kate is loud but adorable.  My husband is messy but occasionally endearing.  I entered both our kiddos in a contest to be gap kids models just for fun.  My kitchen needs to be cleaned.  I made a scrumptious beef stew yesterday.  I re-ignited my love of photoshop yesterday while playing around.  I miss the sun after the last 2 days of solid clouds and yep I'm back to talking about the weather.  I think a couple random pics are in order.

This little guy was featured at a birthday party we went to down in Oklahoma a few weeks ago.  Very cool- although Kate wouldn't have anything to do with him.  This coming from the child that picks up insects of any kind on a regular basis.

Here's Daniel and Aidan watching the snake with a seventies vibe on a nice warm sunny fall day.  There I go talking about the weather again.  Time to stop.

Fall fun in the front yard

Fall is definitely in the air so we stepped outside and snapped some pics.  Neither child was at their most cooperative.  See the rest of the photo shoot here.

Just because I think she's cute

For my amusement

• I called the pediatrician's office this morning to get Aidan in and was put on hold for a while.  I was amused to find Shaggy's song "That girl" playing.  You see me and Shaggy go way back.  Kate had to hear his song 'Angel" every night while being danced to sleep.  But this one has genius lyrics like this that are totally appropriate for a doctor's office...

Well, I'm weak to her touch, gon' rub her to her blush
Love struck that girl, I got an instant crush
You can call me a lush, infatuation or just lust
The girl possess the stuff to make the man def, ooh, ah
Holy Moses, Lord, it could have been me
Caught up in this trap and didn't wanna be
But I ain't a fool, I was one step ahead
I had to let go 'cause I was over my head 

• A church billboard near our house reads; 'If God had a refrigerator he'd have you picture on it." I like that.  I'm not sure it would speak to me enough to make me want to go to church there if I didn't already go somewhere, but I appreciate it none the less.  
• While walking around Target today I was in the kitchen section and walked down the aisle with the knives.  Right there in the middle of the knife blocks was a home pregnancy test.  I would have loved to have been inside the person's head that left it there.  Was there something in particular about cutlery that made you second guess the need to know if you're expecting?  Just wondering.
• We were talking tonight and I asked Daniel if he read my blog from yesterday.  "No.  I didn't have to go to the bathroom today."  'You read my blog while you're on the pot?"  Yep.  He does and now everyone knows.  Ha!
• We had steak for dinner tonight and Kate said, "I have chicken in my teeth."  Daniel: "It's not chicken, it's cow." Kate: "Then get the cow out of my teeth."  Oh Kate you make me smile.

Also amusement worthy:

That Murphy and his laws

Yesterday was a doozy of a day for me.  I tried to be positive but lack of sleep and trying to keep up with 2 kids, 3 cats, and 1 husband made me ultra, super, cranky.  I needed sleep and I was going to get it at any cost. Aidan went to sleep in his crib and I made the decision right then and there that when he woke up that was it.  I needed to be able to get right back to sleep if I was going to have to be around other people.  It worked out OK and Aidan ended up sleeping about 4 hours in his room and the rest of the night in ours with only 1 wake up in there for just a few minutes.

I woke up still feeling drugged and my sweet dear husband ( yes I did just say that about you) told me to go back to bed and took care of getting Kate off to school.  They only had to interrupt my slumber once to ask where the library book was, and then again to ask again where it was, before finally finding it.  But of course by this time Aidan was awake and completely uninterested in going to sleep again.  Eventually we got the nap, were woken up by Bank of America who I tried to get to in time to inform that I no longer wanted calls placed to my number before noon or after 7, and had a decent day filled with laundry sorting and rolling all over the living room.  Well one of us rolled anyway.

So I'm thinking life is OK,  I'll head out early since it looks like rain and get a parking spot up front to pick up Kate from school.  I get in the car, turn the key, and it won't start.  I try again.  No luck.  Then I remember.  We went to Wichita 2 nights ago and had the light on in the back to keep Aidan happy since it was past 7:30 and he morphs into this crazed little being.  Apparently it never got turned off and now my battery is dead, I don't know anyone around here very well, I'm not even sure the car would start if jumped, how do you jump a car anyway, Daniel is a minimum of 35 minutes away, Kate has to be picked up in 25 minutes, and Oh my God it's starting to rain.  So I strap on my tennis shoes, a raincoat, put Aidan in the stroller with a blanket and a rain cover and start walking.  I call Daniel and on the 2nd try he answers and says he'll head out and informs me it's about to start raining hard according to the radar.  Whatcha gonna do?

We start walking and I'm sure people were thinking, "Who does that girl think she is wearing an OU jacket in Kansas, walking outside in the rain with a baby."  The sidewalks looked like we'd suffered an earthquake and dogs barked at us making Aidan cry.  At least it was just sprinkling and her school is only a few streets away.  We got to school, rounded up Kate, were breathed on by a gazillion children probably carrying the swine flu, endured no less then 3 comments about how fat my child is for his age, and Daniel finally came to rescue us.  We ended up having to replace the battery by the way.  

Then tonight I tried to get Aidan to sleep and the kid puked big time all over me.  I had no idea he could have that much milk in his tummy and that when you throw some avocado in the mix it really isn't a pretty sight.  I called for Daniel t bring me something and he comes up there with 2 large bath towels and a washrag- not wet.  Who did he think had puked up there?  A horse?

He's been so cranky, restless, and a little snotty nosed all week.  So with this new symptom I'm calling tomorrow to get him checked out.  I'm thinking maybe an ear infection.  With my luck it's probably just teething or something.  He also just discovered he has teeth on the bottom and that when nursing it's kinda fun to use them.  When I said, "NO!" he just smiled at me.  Then proof that things are all awry- he's not even remotely tired and is suddenly perky.  Oh boy.  Oh and we got an automated call from Kate's school tonight that there have been several reported cases of the swine flu at her school and she's complaining of a headache.  I'm going to bed- for a couple hours cause Lord knows Aidan won't sleep good tonight.  Ugh.

Bath time: A composition in black and white

Operation Crib Transfer: Night 1

I have to keep repeating the mantra: "Kate and Aidan are not the same children, Kate and Aidan are not the same."  This has become apparent in more ways than one.  She hated veggies.  He devours them.  She thought sleeping through the night was just a stupid expression.  Aidan has actually done it.  Kate needed songs and dancing to go to sleep.  Aidan is content with falling asleep with far less drama.  Kate preferred to sleep next to us.  Aidan clearly dislikes it.
 
So last night we did something I never could have done with Kate and moved Aidan to his crib where he stayed for the entire night.  Whoa... Wait.  He didn't sleep that entire time.  He was just in there.  And before you worry that we let him cry it out- we didn't do that either.  I got him to sleep and he proceeded to wake up at midnight, around 3:00 and 6:00.  He never got angry, I nursed, I patted him a bit and he happily went back to sleep until the never ending pit known as his stomach signaled that it was time to "FEED ME!"  Not the most ideal of situations but an improvement from the restless bouts of sleep we had the night before.  I've come to realize that I might need to think of his best interest and not mine.  Trust me it's much easier to lay in bed and reach over to pick him up with out ever setting a foot on the floor.  But only if you're sleeping between said reaching.

We also bit the bullet and invested in a new monitor.  Did you know monitors have come a long way since 2004?  Who knew.  Apparently Sony did and they make a good one that if you're in the market for a new monitor you should definitely check it out.  It has has 27 channels so it's highly likely there won't be interference and the best thing: It has a voice activation feature.  No static noise unless the baby is moving around or making sounds.  It's wonderful.  I actually got to sleep last night and didn't dream aliens were coming to abduct me.

So although sleep appears to still be over-rated.  At least we're getting more restful periods of it.  Cross everything you got that tonight goes a little better.  Oh and don't tell Aidan he's napping in a crib right now either.    

My dearest Aidan

Dear Aidan:
Your Mommy needs to take a moment to level with you.  You know I love you.  Who else would laugh when you puke on her or get poop on your foot?  Who else would delight in the fact that at 4 months you started getting your teeth or that you actually managed to eat some of those creepy pureed green beans.  Who else thinks the way your eyes light up when you smile and the way you interact with your sister are perfect examples of why being a parent has its perks.  Your Mommy is a fan.  If there were a facebook page for fans of Aidan, I'd be the first to sign up.

But we need to have a heart to heart.  No one else is willing to get up with you not once but even twice after she goes to bed.  That would be a dream at this point.  But seriously at the 4+ point for 3 nights in a row, we're developing the perfect equation for irritated Mommy.  You see Mommy needs sleep too.  You know how you get at about 7:30 every night?  The crying, the red face, the puffy eyes, the strong desire for a stiff drink...  No?  Well Mommy does.  She feels that way in the morning.

We've tried putting you in your co-sleeper.  We've tried letting you sleep with us on a pillow and not.  We've tried feeding you in the evening.  Tonight we're going to cancel that feeding and see if your tummy is bothering you.  We've tried changing the brand of diapers to a more absorbent kind.  We even resorted last night to something I was hesitant to do and let you sleep in your crib for a while.  I put you in there at around 9:20 and when I laid you down you didn't even stir, and you stayed until 12:30.  You weren't even all that mad when your wimpers came through the monitor with it's red light and alien worthy sounds that I had been staring at since 10:30.  Yes Mommy might need help.  I went and got you and brought you to us and you nursed and nursed and then I tried putting you down in your co-sleeper.  Fuss, fuss, quiet, kick, fart, quiet, fuss, fuss, fuss, and you're up.

But we have to find a solution.  I'm happy at this point to wake up and feed you when you're genuinely hungry.  But all those other times?  What are they about?  You're clearly tired.  You and I took a nap just this morning from 8:00 to almost noon with a feeding in there of course.  You've only been up an hour and after displaying your new favorite mode of transportation: rolling front to back and back to front over and over until you hit a barricade; you're tired.  You are now nursing and on your way to dream land while Mommy types with one hand.  Yes Mommy is THAT talented.

So what do you say?  Ah, ba, eeh, oouh?  That's what I thought.
Yours for sleepless night after sleepless night,
Mommy

Leafy bug

The past couple days we've had this little visitor on our front porch.  Today I braved having a mutant insect get on me and snapped a photo.  Pretty cool.

They don't teach vegetable identification at Walmart

The last two evenings we've had the pleasure of making a run to Walmart to get a few things.  Somehow we managed to get in the same woman's check-out line and two times in a row she amazed me with her lack of knowledge of common vegetables.  How is it that you get through life and don't know these things. Last night she picked up a sweet potato and kind of weighed it back and forth in her hands and said, "Uh sweet potato?"  Yes.  Yes it is.  We also bought a butternut squash and as we were walking out I said, "How is it that she didn't know what a sweet potato was but got butternut squash right?"  Daniel said, "Easy, it had a sticker."

So tonight I hadn't noticed we were in the same person's line until I hear her ask Daniel, "Is this a yellow onion?"  Well it's clearly an onion.  It doesn't look red or white.  So once again, yes.  Yes it IS a yellow onion.  Ding Ding Ding!  You win!  Instead of answering her in an effort I'm hoping must have been designed to not make her feel stupid, he said, "I don't know" and turned to me for confirmation.  Watch out people.  This vegetable amnesia is catching.