Hot Chocolate Milk and Strawberries

Early on the morning of Friday, April 6, Audrey came into my bedroom and told me that Truman had gotten himself a snack. Matt was still in the bathroom getting ready and I was still half asleep so didn't know what to make of her announcement.

I went downstairs and found this.

Truman had a big grin on his face and was eating a bowl of strawberries and "hot chocolate milk." The day before, Fred Meyer had chocolate milk on sale so I bought two half gallons. We had part of one half gallon with dinner and it made quite an impression on Truman. Such an impression, in fact, that he helped himself to breakfast before 8:00 A.M. all on his own.

After staring in disbelief at my not yet two and a half year old, I looked into the kitchen and saw this.

My heart sank and I am ashamed to admit that my anger swelled.  It wasn't 8:00 in the morning yet and I already had a huge mess to clean up.  Matt was upstairs, busily getting ready to leave for work, so I was the one who would get to clean up.  That sweet, happy smile on my boy did little to calm my temper and I immediately required Truman's help in cleaning up.

He was happy to help but I wanted him to realize what a terrible mess he had caused by being so naughty.  I was frustrated and at the end of my rope.  Keep in mind that this was at the tail-end of our family's stomach virus illness and we had all just recovered.  I was still struggling with the upper respiratory infection I had had and still needed to regularly use an inhaler.  Truman had thrown up for the final time on Wednesday morning and I had gone to the grocery store for the first time in more than two weeks just the day before.

The cherry on top came just after I had finished mopping up the floor. I took the wet towels we had used to clean up and put them on the stairwell to take up. Then I walked back to the dining room to supervise while Truman finished his snack. I walked back just in time to see Truman jump out of his chair and send his half full glass of chocolate milk flying all over the carpet. It wasn't one big puddle. It was everywhere. I broke down at that point and banished the kids upstairs while I cleaned up the carpet.

I can look at these pictures now and smile at the messy little boy in them. I can look at these pictures and be amazed at what he was able to accomplish, all by himself. 

Truman managed to get a bowl and cup from the second shelf of an upper cabinet. He managed to get the four pound container of strawberries out of a vegetable crisper drawer in our bottom freezer, french door refrigerator and help himself to several. He then managed to get a half-full half gallon container of chocolate milk from the very top shelf in our bottom freezer, french door refrigerator. It was even being stored behind a ham. He did all of this without disturbing anything else in the fridge, which is impressive because the milk was on the left shelf in the fridge. That door doesn't just swing open. The wall is in the way and you have to actually hold it open to get anything out of that side. The only mess came when he poured himself a nice glass of "hot chocolate milk," but at least it was confined to the kitchen floor and rug. Then he took his cup and bowl, put them on the table, and sat down to eat a delicious snack.

When I think about it now I realize that part of the reason he did this is because he was coming off his illness and was hungry. I think he thought we were starving him for a week because when he finally quit throwing up and we finally let him start eating real food, he talked about food and asked for food all the time.

When I look at these pictures now I can appreciate the independence of my little boy. At the time I truly felt like the universe hated me and was trying to make me suffer. Now I can see that the universe was just showing me what an independent little spirit I have the opportunity to mother. Now I can see that the universe was just giving me a humorous story to tell in the future. 

Now I can see how I should have reacted and I vow to do better next time.

I took this last picture of Audrey because she asked me to. I was taking pictures of Truman so she wanted a picture of herself. I think she's beautiful even when she just woke up and her hair's a mess.

At least I pushed my frustration aside long enough to take these pictures.
I almost didn't.
I was that upset.
But I'm really glad I did.

I want to always remember that big, strawberry smile.

April Flowers

While I wouldn't go so far as to say that spring is finally here, the flowers are blooming and we've had several pretty days.  A few weeks ago Audrey brought me a small bouquet of flowers she picked from the backyard.  I quizzed her on where she found them because we hadn't planted any flowers yet.  She explained that they were growing in the rocks so I went out to investigate.

Sure enough, growing in our rock path next to our garden planter were several clumps of pretty purple violas.  Last spring Dawn Williams, an older sister in our ward, gave me three viola plants.  We put them in the garden and enjoyed them all spring and summer.  When everything died back I had Matt clean out the garden, not realizing that violas are perennials.  Somehow, some survived.  We've got several rogue plants in our garden area and even more that found a home in our gravel path.  I plan to dig several of them up and replant them in pots.

What makes these little plants even more special is that Dawn passed away last week.  She is missed, but I love that I have these little reminders of her generosity and happy smiles.  I always associate purple with her so it's fitting that the all purple flowers are the ones that came back this year.

 Seeing these little flowers in the kitchen window helps brighten my day and my kids have been good about keeping me supplied with fresh flowers.

 Earlier this month I finally put out our spring wreath.  We don't use our front door much, but a week or so later I went out and noticed a bunch of grass and dried weeds on our front mat.  I wondered where it came from and got my answer when I looked up.  Our wreath had the beginnings of a bird nest tucked in it.  I waited a few days and didn't notice any activity so I cleaned out the nest and put the wreath back on the door.

 A few days later I noticed that another nest was partially built!  I don't know if it's the same bird or a new one, but I've been watching and I haven't seen any new activity.  My best guess is that two different birds started building nests in our wreaths and then abandoned them because they realized it might not be a good spot.  It's kind of cool to have a nest in our wreath though.

These pictures don't do the nests justice.  When I pulled the first one out I was shocked at how large it was.  It was nestled down in the flowers so it looked pretty sparse, but was in fact, pretty well-developed.

These small things give me hope for spring.  

SICK!

This year has not been too kind to our family, at least not in the health department.

It all started on Christmas Eve last year when I started feeling the first twinges of morning sickness.  I was really hoping that this time would be different and I wouldn't get sick at all.  Wishful thinking.  I wasn't terribly sick--it was nothing like when I was pregnant with Audrey--but I did feel poorly most of the time.  This lasted until the end of February, when at almost 15 weeks, I seemed to turn a corner.

Of course, a couple of days after I started feeling less nauseated my allergies kicked in, full force.  It was miserable.  Itchy, itchy, itchy.  To make things worse, if I was outside on a nice day I started having problems breathing.  It would take a day or more in the house just to get rid of the breathing issues. 

All of this culminated in a trip to urgent care on Saturday, March 24.  I had been having a hard time breathing for awhile and it had gotten to the point that I felt like I was really fighting for air.  They said I probably had an upper respiratory infection, a sinus infection, and that I was starting to get an ear infection in my left ear.  At 34.  Who gets an ear infection when they're my age?  They gave me some antibiotics and an inhaler and sent me on my way.  Almost the exact same thing happened to me when I was newly pregnant with Truman and I took the same meds (only they gave me a breathing treatment in the office too) and I started feeling better almost immediately.

This time my recovery has been much slower.  I spent Sunday at home and really felt sick all over.  You know when you're sick and your whole body feels it?  You have that light, kind of floaty feeling?  That was me.  Matt came and picked up the kids for church and some friends watched them during Sacrament Meeting.  (Thank you, thank you, thank you!)  I was able to get some rest before he had to bring them home and head back to church to finish up his stuff. 

By Monday I was feeling a bit better.  I wasn't fully back, but I could manage, which was good because that was Matt's birthday golf day.  Cheri watched the kids after preschool so I got almost two full hours of uninterruped sleep.  (Thank you, thank you, thank you!)  She also took care of dinner for us.  (Have I said thank you?)

I slowly recovered throughout the week and then Thursday night Truman got sick.  I think the first time he threw up was around 12:45 A.M. (technically Friday morning).  I gave him a bath and Matt cleaned up the crib and started the washer.  We put him back to bed and he threw up again about 2:00.  We repeated our clean up.  Then again at 3:00.  By the time he threw up around 4:00 there wasn't really much to clean up so I handled it on my own.  And again at 5:00.  Somewhere during all of this my stomach started hurting.  I thought it was because I'd only had a couple of very broken hours of sleep, but it made me a little nervous.

In the morning Matt got up for work and I put Truman and a bowl in bed with me.  My hope was that he would watch TV and I could get some rest.  I felt awful.  Matt told me he would come home early if he could.  He turned on the downstairs TV for Audrey before he left and I later called down and told her to make her own breakfast.  My sweet girl made herself toast, with butter and everything, all by herself.

My plan for rest didn't work.  Truman was starving and wanted to eat.  It was a constant battle and every time he moved I jumped up and grabbed his bowl.  I was so afraid he was going to throw up in my bed.  At 10:00 we stumbled downstairs and I gave him some water and dry Cheerios.  He devoured them and asked for more.  I gave him a few more and then refused to give him more food.  I called Matt and he told me he was packing up to head home.  I was so grateful.  By now I knew I was sick too.

I fought with Truman about food until Matt got home and then I reminded him about Audrey's preschool and went upstairs to bed.  Matt called his mom so she came and got Audrey and fed her lunch and took her to preschool.  Almost immediately Audrey threw up on the playground.  So they turned around and came home.  Now Matt had two sick kids downstairs and a sick wife upstairs.  He took care of us all day. 

The Carnegies brought us some chicken soup which we were able to eat once we felt a little better.  We are so grateful for good friends who also happen to be good neighbors.  That night Matt slept on the couch downstairs because I was worried about making him sick.  Audrey threw up at some point and while Matt changed her sheets she climbed into bed with me and slept with me all night.  That was the last time she threw up and I could tell she felt a lot better.  Because there were clean sheets on her bed, Matt decided to sleep there for the rest of the night.

I think Truman threw up one time that night and my poor, exhausted husband was at the end of his rope so I helped him clean it up.  I was doing a little better but still felt crummy and very weak.  I hadn't eaten in well over 24 hours at this point.

The next day (Saturday) Cheri came over and watched the kids so Matt could get some rest too.  He wasn't feeling well at this point.  He never got sick though so I think it was just due to exhaustion.  The kids were doing better although Truman did throw up a couple of times.  She took care of feeding us and doing the dishes and kept the kids entertained.

By Sunday we slowly started to emerge from our sick bubble.  We took a walk, ate some simple meals, and even watched General Conference.  Of course, Truman threw up again that night and would continue to randomly throw up, sometimes after not throwing up for almost 48 hours, for several more days.  I think his last episode was early Wednesday morning. 

The hardest part about that is that even though he would throw up, he seemed fine and wanted to eat.  He would fuss, fight, throw tantrums, and go to great lengths to get his own food if we refused him or didn't give him as much as he would like.  He was not interested in eating water, crackers, rice, bananas, applesauce, chicken noodle soup, and the other bland foods I felt I could somewhat safely give him.  He'd eat it, then ask for more and more and more.  It was really a very draining week to live with Truman.

Once he was truly better we got a taste of what teenaged Truman is going to be like.  We could not get enough food into the boy.  We could not satisfy his appetite. 

We're finally all doing better now.  At my last OB appointment I mentioned to my doctor about my earlier problems breathing and what I had taken for it.  I also told her that after more than two weeks I was still using my inhaler regularly.  She prescribed me a steriod inhaler and a nasal spray allergy medicine (GAG!  I hate spraying stuff in my nose!).  I don't care for the medications, but I have to admit that they work pretty well.  I'm doing much better now and am starting to taper off them. 

I feel like we've suffered with enough sickness to last us through next year.  It's our turn to be healthy now and actually live life instead of just survive it.

Matt snapped these pictures of the kids on Friday, March 31.  From what I understand it was pretty much a movie marathon for them all day.  As evening approached they finally gave out.  Poor little things.

I am grateful for two other things that I haven't mentioned.

1. I am thankful that Matt didn't get sick.

2. I am thankful for Matt.

Matt's Birthday Reprieve

If you're comparing this year's birthday celebration for Matt to the ones he's had in previous years, his 34th looks a bit low-key.  I guess that's what happens when your wife has been pregnant and sick for almost three months and then gets sick again (not pregnancy related) the weekend before your birthday.  The weekend after Matt's birthday the kids and I all got sick again, but more on that later.  Luckily we did have a short reprieve of relative health where we could all celebrate Matt's special day.

For now let's concentrate on our favorite boy.  Matt's birthday fun began on Monday, March 26, when he left work early and went golfing with three of his friends--Phil, Dustin, and Brant.  The boys enjoyed perfect weather for their day of golf and had a great time, from what I hear.  When they got ready to leave, Phil noticed his car had a flat tire so they put on the spare and then made it to Sears just in time to get it fixed.  After that they went to dinner and spent the evening eating and talking.  Matt didn't get home until after 11:00 P.M. and told me he had had a great day.

Two days later we celebrated together as a family.  When he got off work we went to dinner at a sushi place.  The first restaurant we went to was closed so we tried a new place we heard was good.  I was worried about what the kids and I would eat, but they had things other than sushi and we all enjoyed our meal.  I was most impressed with Audrey.  Our adventurous girl tried a couple of different pieces of Matt's sushi, one of them with raw tuna.  She didn't love it, but she didn't gag or freak out either and said the raw fish was good.  Matt loved the meal and was so happy to get some more sushi.  He seems to be craving it all the time these days.  I like it too, but not as much as he does and not when I'm pregnant.

We had one small adventure with Truman at the restaurant.  He drank my entire cup of miso soup and then threw up about half of it.  I managed to catch it in the soup cup and since he hadn't eaten anything else it just looked like soup.  We were kind of paranoid he was going to throw up again but he was fine for the rest of the meal.

After dinner we headed home for some birthday cake!

I wasn't feeling well that week so I took the lazy way and ordered an ice cream cake from Coldstone.  Matt couldn't have been happier if I had made a six layer cake from scratch.  He loves ice cream cake so it was a hit.

Happy Birthday to the greatest man!

The kids helped him blow out his candles.

After cake it was time for the presents.  The kids helped out here too.

We kind of surprised him with a new basketball.  Just what he was wanting!

Then my camera died.

We also got him a coat rack for his office.  This was the gift he was really surprised about.  He had no idea what was in the heavy, large-ish box.  I think that he was happy when he opened it and saw his new coat rack.  He's wanted one since he started working at his new law firm two years ago and now he finally has one.  It looks nice and I'm excited to see it the next time we visit.

Thus ended Matt's 34th birthday.  It was no week long, four part extravaganza like last year's celebration, but I think it was still nice and I think Matt had a good time.

We sure do love this boy.  Happy birthday!

Puppets and Loud Noises

On Monday, March 19, Audrey's preschool class took a field trip to a local puppet museum.  The kids got a tour of the museum and learned about all different kinds of puppets from all over the world.  Then they were treated to a little shadow puppet show.  Somehow I only took two pictures the entire time and one of them turned out blurry.  They had a room where the kids could play with puppets and musical instruments and put on their own puppet show.  I got a picture of Truman, who thought it was the greatest thing ever, but didn't get one of Audrey.  I'll blame my negligence on the baby.  Even though I didn't get any pictures of her, Audrey had a great time learning about puppets and an even better time putting on puppet shows with her friends.

Both of my kids have an intolerance for loud noises.  Unless, of course, they are the one making the loud noise.  Whenever I dry my hair in the morning I must do it in the bathroom with the door closed.  If I leave it open they will come in holding their ears, scold me, and slam the door shut.  Truman also had a fear of the vacuum cleaner.  I snapped these pictures in early March.  Audrey was using the Dust Buster to clean up a mess she made and Truman sat with his hands over his ears the entire time.



I feel the need to document some of this stuff.

St. Patty's Day

I have lots of Easter pictures begging to be downloaded, so I guess I had better get crackin' and finish up posting about March. 

Our St. Patrick's Day began with a green breakfast.  We've never done anything like this before, probably because we never really did much to celebrate the holiday until last year and last year it was a Thursday.  But in our house, St. Patrick's Day on a Saturday means a festive breakfast.  Apparently.

 Matt and the kids made green pancakes.  Audrey and Truman wanted chocolate chips in theirs and eagerly awaited their turn to add in the chocolate.

 You may notice that Audrey has a new, shorter haircut.  The night before we both got out hair done.  Audrey wanted hers short and is loving getting to wear it down.  It's much easier to brush now but all of her beautiful curls are gone.  I think she looks super cute, but so much older!

 While Matt and the kids slaved away at the pancakes, I worked on some green eggs.  I've never colored eggs that weren't hard-boiled before and was surprised at how green they turned out.

 Yum!  All we needed was some green ham...

 The kids loved the breakfast and for days afterward Truman kept asking for "jean eggs."

 Matt wouldn't let me take a picture of him because he had just gotten home from playing basketball and hadn't showered yet.  I did get a shot of his breakfast though.

 It's a little weird eating a green breakfast but everything tasted great.

 After breakfast I tried to get a few cute pictures of my kids in their St. Pat's best.

They were as cooperative as usual so this was the best I could get.

 Truman sure does love his froggy shirt!

 And for the record (and to justify my constant whining about how crappy the weather is up here), our St. Patrick's Day started out like this!

It didn't stick around and it did melt off pretty quickly, but isn't March 17 just a few days from the official start of spring?  Evidently Mother Nature, who I hear neglected the rest of the country's winter this year, focused all of her efforts on giving us a pretty cold and very long one.

We ended up having our traditional St. Patrick's Day dinner on Sunday.  We had corned beef, colcannon, Irish soda bread, limeade, and Moist Watergate Cake.  It was delicious!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

An Oklahoma! Birthday

My birthday fell on a Saturday this year and I'm lucky enough to have a great husband and children to make it extra special.  The passing of another year isn't quite as exciting as it once was.  I enjoy my birthdays now more because my kids get so excited and I get the opportunity to spend time with my family.  This year I had a great one.

 We had a quiet little celebration with a yummy red velvet cake.

 They gave me some beautiful alstroemerias that looked beautiful for days and days and days.  They also gave me a gift certificate for a spa where I can go get a massage, which is a thoughtful and needed gift.  And we all spent the day together.

That evening Grammy came over to watch the kids while Matt and I went out on a nice date.

 We went to Seattle and enjoyed an incredible dinner at a favorite restaurant.

 Do you notice the personalization on the menu?  So nice.

I had the lobster bisque and pecan encrusted trout.  Then Matt and I shared some complimentary creme brulee.  It was fantastic.

 Our next stop was to see a show.

 I'm pretty sure I remember watching Oklahoma! on TV when I was little.  But it was a very long time ago and I don't remember much.  Some of the songs are familiar, but that could be because my dad used to sing "Oh What a Beautiful Mornin'" when he'd wake me up. 

 The 5th Avenue Theatre is beautiful inside.  This is the first show we've seen there and these pictures really don't do it justice.

 I loved the musical.  That Rodgers and Hammerstein really knew what they were doing.

I really loved getting a special date night with my thoughtful husband.

I had a very happy birthday.  What a great way to celebrate another year!

Truman Goes to the Dentist

Truman turned two back in November, and in our family, turning two means you get to take your first trip to the dentist.  That finally happened for Truman on Tuesday, February 21.

I started talking to him about the dentist a few weeks before the appointment so that he'd be ready to go when the time came.  At first his reaction was very negative.  He did not want to go to the dentist.  He wanted to stay with Mommy.  But I kept talking and Audrey started talking (she loves the dentist) and by the time the big day arrived Truman seemed open to the idea of seeing the dentist.

You see, I felt the need to prepare Truman because he's a bit more hesitant than Audrey was at this age.  He's a little more careful of new people and situations and prefers the comfort of his family to striking out on his own new adventure.  I love our pediatric dentist, Dr. H.  He and his office remind me a lot of my own pediatric dentist back in Fort Worth, Dr. Doss.  Both are awesome dentists with very cool, kid-friendly offices.  Another similarity is that they ask parents to remain in the waiting room while the kids go back on their own.  I am a huge believer in this.  That's how my dentist did it and I love that Dr. H does is that way too.  I really think it's better for everyone involved, but with Truman I was a little worried that he might freak out and refuse to go back.

I was a bit surprised when he took Audrey's hand and followed the hygienist.  One of the receptionists went back and reported to me that he was doing really well.  She said he was letting them take x-rays and everything.  I was floored.  Even Audrey didn't allow that on her first visit.  But Truman let them do whatever they needed to and never fussed. 

Thinking about it now, I probably shouldn't have been so suprised by his behavior.  When Truman was just a baby I took him to our eye doctor for a complimentary infant exam.  The doctor dilated his eyes, checked them, and then told me he'd never gotten a better look into a baby's eyes before.  Truman just sat very still and stared at him.  In new situations and when he's out of his comfort zone he often gets very still and quiet and obedient. 

I was so proud of my boy and when he finally emerged he was so proud to show me his bag of goodies and the toy he chose from the chest.

 He was especially excited about his Diego toothbrush and the new tube of toothpaste.

 It was a very successful first trip to the dentist!

Audrey was also a champ, as always.  On this visit she did more big girl stuff--a fluoride rinse instead of them painting her teeth and she got to sit in a bigger chair.  She sure is growing up.

 Two days later I found my kids in their fort.  This is a common sight at our house.

 I looked a little more closely and discovered that Truman was playing with the slinky Audrey had gotten from the dentist.  What's more surprising is that she was letting him play with it without complaining.

I love it when these two get along.