Safety Stuff

Today was the police station tour with Morgan's Daisy troop, plus another Daisy troop from school. Morgan was very excited about getting a behind the scenes look at what goes on at the police station. The tour took us through a lot of the highlights of the station, the dispatch area, the briefing room, the holding cells, and even the gym. The girls got to sit in a police car and got to see what all those cool things were in there. They even got to meet a detective, who is not in uniform, to understand that not all police officers wear uniforms.

After the tour, the girls went back to the meeting room where we had left our packed lunches and the girls got to watch the movie, The Safe Side, which was created by John Walsh and Julie Clark (of Baby Einstein fame). The movie was fun for the girls to watch, but also successful taught them about "Don't Knows" (people they don't know -- usually called strangers), "Kinda Knows" (like a soccer coach, school teacher, principal, friend's parent, etc), and "Safe Side adult" (someone your parents have cleared as being a trusted adult to take care of you. The video went through several situations where the kids needed Safe Side adults, like when answering a door or when a "Don't Know" approached them or when an adult came to them and asked them to help them find a lost kitten or something equally as tricky. That one really resonated with Morgan. I highly recommend the video (suitable for children ages 4 and older), not only for what it taught, but also for the discussion points that it provides for you and your child after watching it.

Case in point. As we were walking home from the tour, Morgan started talking about how she was ready to make her "safe side adult" list and that she wanted to put it on a board at home where we could always see it. We started discussing who potential people for our "safe side adult" list could be. She immediately started naming relatives. Her cousin, her aunt, her grandma and grandpa. I explained to her that in most cases, family members are going to be "safe side adults" but that in some families, it's not that way. I told her that luckily our family members are okay, but that we needed to also think of non family members since we really don't have much family around us. I asked her to think about someone that she thought we could trust to take care of her. She mentioned her teacher, but then remembered that we had talked about teachers being "Kinda Knows", so she wouldn't be one. I asked her about Miss Kristin (my good friend, also her girl scout leader). She said that Miss Kristin was a "Kinda Know", as we had discussed during the meeting. Which was true, to most of the girls in the troop, Kristin is a "Kinda Know". She also happens to be a very close family friend to us. I asked Morgan if maybe she could be one of our "safe side adults", to which she responded that she wasn't sure and we'd have to test her. When I questioned her on why we would need to test her, or even how we would test her, she told me that we needed to see if she could "handle her". LOL. I explained that Miss Kristin had "handled her" many times now, and that Daddy and I trusted her and I thought it would be okay to have her on our "safe side adult" list. She concurred.

We were almost home, when Morgan looked across the street and saw her preschool friend's Dad's truck. She said, "Is Nolan's Dad a Kinda Know?" I told her that he was. Then she asked, "Does that mean I can't go to his house anymore?" I told her that's not at all what it meant. That as long as she talks to ME and has mine or another safe side adult's permission, she could do things like hanging out with her friends at their house. But, she needed to check with us first. She said she understood.

It was a really good conversation starter. I had already talked to Morgan about our code word and how to use it, so now we just applied it to this new concept of "Don't Knows", "Kinda Knows" and "Safe Side adults". Anything I can do to empower her to know what to do to protect her and her brother, the better.

Shout out to Lara

Here's a shout out to my friend, Lara, who posted some cute pictures and video of Kylee and Bennett from yesterday, over at her blog, Marc and Lara plus 2. Thanks again Lara!

Trophy wife

Why would you give this trophy to a 35 year old man? What the hell are we supposed to do with this??


Lance won the trophy last night for coming in SECOND place at the go karting outing they had at work. Apparently, FIRST place was even BIGGER. I feel sorry for that wife.

The funniest thing is, this morning, gazing at the symbol of glory that is now gracing our kitchen counter top, my husband tells me that his arms and neck are a little sore. Ha!

But, mostly what I want to know, does this make me a trophy wife? No? Sadly, I guess that means we won't be able to keep it then. Shucks.

5 things I'm grateful for today

Thanks to Emily for following this blog and writing about Grace in Small Things. I've been wanting to do it from time to time, so I'm happy to do it today!

1. I have great friends who step in to help whenever needed. Today it was my friend Lara who offered to keep Bennett so I could work in Morgan's class. This made Morgan (and me) very happy.

2. Bennett didn't destroy anything at Lara's house while he was there (that I know of) and I was greeted with comments about how she wanted to adopt him because he was so good, helpful and cute. What a way to make my day! Lara even made chicken nuggets for the kids, which was great since Morgan was STARVING (she must be going through a growth spurt). In turn, I picked up some salads for us and the kids were pretty much done eating by the time we sat down, so we got to sit and eat salad and chit chat while the kids played for a little while after lunch. Soooo nice!

3. During class today, Morgan was tested for AR. This basically assesses where she is in terms of her reading and comprehension. She scored a 1.0, which the average starting first grader. Her teacher told me that she hoped she would be at a 1.4 by the end of the year, essentially at the level of a child in the fourth month of first grade. How exciting! Morgan was really frustrated by the test, but when I explained to her that it had to be hard to figure out where she was and that not all the kids even got to be tested, she mellowed out a little. Then, when we figured out that she'd actually made it into the AR group, allowing her to check out an additional book from the library every week, she got so excited that she HAD to call Daddy and Grandma. I have to say that I'm overwhelmed with pride. She started out the school year, in my opinion, slightly behind with phonetics. She has surpassed my expectations for her this year and the fact that she now has this additional path to pursue, will only help increase her reading level. I know the joy that this will bring to her over the years, so I'm just so incredibly grateful to have a child who loves to learn.

4. Making the best of the fact that Daddy is gone GoKarting with his coworkers tonight, I decided to go cash in our free movie or game coupons at Blockbuster and came home with two movies and one Wii game for free. We also went by Little Caesars for the $5 pizza and when we got home, I set the kids up in the living room with paper plates, pizza, water, and Everyone's Hero on the TV. They both sat there and ate and watched the movie for an HOUR! This is officially the world record for the longest Bennett has sat still in front of the TV. The food must have had something to do with it. What a nice break for me, though! Not only did I not have to cook, but I didn't even have to entertain them for over an hour! I'd say $5 was worth it for dinner and entertainment! Would it be wrong for me to set up the table in the living room permanently? I guess I'd have to put food out permanently too....

5. Quiet. Right now, the kids are all in bed, fast asleep after "such an awesome night" as Morgan put it. Lance is still out, so it's just me awake right now. There's no sound but the bubbling of the fish tank and the clicking of the keys on my laptop. Ahhhhhh. Drink it in.

A new dish for dinner

Tonight, I thought I'd try a new recipe from one of my tried and true cookbooks, the Weight Watchers 5 ingredient, 15 minutes cookbook. This cookbook is seriously overused by me as the recipes are all simple, EASY, healthy and pretty yummy. I can't say we've had a bad one. Never having enough ways to cook chicken, I picked out Mexican Chicken Skillet. Now, mind you, I had like only one of the identical ingredients, so I made do with what I had, but it turned out really yummy nevertheless. I'll post the original recipe with my substitutions in parenthesis.

I will say, that the thing that made it so delicious and ultimately provided that finishing touches was the fact that just as we were dishing up the food, my husband (who's job has not allowed him to have dinner with us during the week since he started two weeks ago) walked in the door. We had a family dinner, yippee!

Ingredients:
Cooking spray
1 9-oz package frozen southwestern-flavored cooked chicken breast strips (I thawed 4 frozen chicken breasts, cut them into strips and seasoned them with some homemade taco seasoning + some chili powder*)
1 3/4 c. water
1 14.5-oz can Mexican-style stewed tomatoes (I used a 15 oz can of diced tomatoes and seasoned it myself with chili powder)
2 cups instant rice, uncooked (I used instant brown rice)
1 8.75-oz can no-salt-added whole-kernel corn, drained (I used frozen corn -- no idea how much, maybe like half a bag? -- that I had thawed under warm water)
1 cup preshredded reduced-fat Mexican blend cheese

1. Coat a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray; place over medium-high heat until hot. Add chicken strips and saute 3 to 5 minutes or until chicken in thoroughly heated (or cooked in my case). Remove chicken from skillet and set aside.

2. Add water and tomatoes to skillet; bring to a boil. Stir in rice and corn; top with chicken strips and cheese. Cover, remove from heat and let stand for 5 minutes. Yield: 4 servings.

8 WW points: 402 Calories, 55.5g Carbohydrate, 7.7g Fat, 1.3g Fiber, 27.1g Protein, 40mg Cholesterol, 767mg Sodium, 239mg Calcium, 2.0mg Iron

* If you want the recipe for the taco seasoning mix, let me know. I got it from the Miserly Moms book.

Ashes and snack

Today was FANTASTIC. Oh so FABULOUS. Today, was a normal day, with normal activities like going to the gym, playgroup at the library, lunch at Baja Fresh, a park in the afternoon. Wheee! That's right, people! We are OUT and ABOUT! After 3+ weeks of Bennett being sick, you should have seen the pure joy, if not faint recognition, at being at the park on a sunny day. We loved every. minute. of it.

Being Ash Wednesday, we were trying to figure out a service to go to. I thought I had finally settled on the 6pm service, but by the time I got everything prepped for cooking dinner after church, diaper changed, shoes on, etc, it was already 5:45. Plan B, I cooked dinner and fed the kids in a hurry and then rushed over to church for the service. Morgan was fascinated with the ashes. I read to her the explanation of Ash Wednesday I had received in my email the day before. She really wanted to go to the service with me, and since I had heard it was short, I told her that she could. She sat on my lap during the service. It started with music and then there was a mini-sermon about Ash Wednesday and Lent. There was some humor in the message and so everyone was laughing here and there, Morgan laughing along with us. Then she started to anticipate the humor, and I probably don't have to tell you that she ended up being the only one to laugh on a couple of occasions. Throughout the service, she would periodically turn to me and whisper in my ear, "When do I get the ash??" I would tell her in a little bit and she'd sit there quietly listening until she couldn't stand it anymore and had to ask again. As soon as the mini-sermon was over, the nice gentleman sitting on my right looks at Morgan and says, "You're giving up ice cream for Lent, right?" If looks could kill...

Finally, it was time for the ashes. We stood up, got in line and went to the front of the chapel where the ashes were being placed on foreheads. The woman in our line asked if Morgan would like ashes and she said she did, so she got some. I got mine and then we headed towards the back of the chapel where communion was out. I grabbed the "bread" and the "wine" and stepped aside to say a prayer. Meanwhile, Morgan is tugging at my pants and asking if she can have some. I quickly and quietly say no and then proceed to take communion. When I'm done, she looks at me and asks if that was what was for snack. Ha! As we are leaving the chapel to go get Bennett from the nursery (it is now FAR past his bedtime), I explain to her that when she is older and learns more about Jesus, she will be able to participate in that special ceremony, but not until later.

When we get to the nursery to pick Bennett up, he takes one look at my forehead and one look at Morgan's forehead and points to his own and proclaims "ME!! Me that on mine head!!" I rub a little ash from my forehead and put it on his and that seems to make him happy. Good thing he didn't see the snack I'd just had!!

Forescore and seven years ago..

Morgan's class has been learning all about the presidents. Specifically George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. They are learning all kinds of interesting facts, not all of which revolve around assassination attempts, so it's good to hear that Morgan's knowledge of presidents is expanding.

Today, they were performing a poem and presidential facts at the school's "Dragon Assembly". Without further ado, here's Morgan, her class and the adjoining class!


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

The trouble with women

I adore women. Not in a I'm-more-into-them-than-into-men way, but I do believe that women are special. Men are special too, but in a different way. Men are special in that way that makes me want to curl up on the couch, rest my head on their chest kind of way.

I think only women can truly appreciate the complexities of being a woman. We know what it's like to have irrational fears, and therefore can sympathize with our friends when they are feeling something like that. A man? Well, he might just brush it off as "girls". We know the rush of adrenaline that comes from finding the perfect pair of shoes ON SALE and finding out that they do have our size. A man? He wouldn't even be shopping.

There's so much said about the sisterhood that is shared between women. And there's even some said about what happens when things go awry. Words like cat fight or bitch fest might be used. In all honesty, sometimes it feels like that. But most of the time, the feelings we women have regarding relationships goes far beyond that. I truly believe that only a woman really knows what I'm talking about here (can I get an amen?).

Here are the things I have learned about women and friendships.

1. Some women will NEVER understand that you can be friends with more than one person.
2. Some women are "best friends" with no one.
3. Some women are "best friends" to too many.
4. Having more than one "best friend" is a hard thing to do. It's a balancing act that many women have taken on. Some have been successful and some have not.
5. Having kids DOES change things.
6. If your husbands don't get along, then it's not going to work out.
7. If your friend's husband is an asshole, it's not going to work out.
8. You cannot make your friend realize that her husband is an asshole.
9. If your friend's parenting style is in opposition to yours, it's not going to work out.
10. Life changes and friendships change. People come and they go. It's part of life.
11. You can't force a friendship on someone. It either works or it doesn't.
12. Women will get upset/jealous/angry if they find out that a group of women are doing something without them. I've seen this in groups of four year olds as well as groups of fifty year olds.
13. Women will get upset/jealous/angry if someone they know has something (or someone) they want and sometimes that can affect a friendship. I've seen this in everything from possessions to what gender baby someone has.
14. When you find the people you DO click with, the people who's HUSBANDS you click with, the ones who parent in a complimentary style and who's lifestyle is not in direct opposition to yours, these people can be the most solid rock upon which to lay your joys, troubles and fears. These are the women who will come to your aid at your greatest time of need. These people can become like family to you. This depth of a relationship is a wonderful thing to experience, but can be hard for other women. Especially women who don't have that in their life.
    
15. Much like in their relationship with men, sometimes women can misread your relationship. Either they think there's more to it than there is, or they don't think as much of it as you do.

I had a friend who approached me tonight. She wanted to know why things between us had changed. I admit that things *have* changed. I told her so. She wanted to know a reason. There was no reason, other than we just weren't that close. I started to feel badly that I wasn't as emotional about it as she was, but then I took a step back. It was then that I realized that I had never considered her to be as close of a friend as she had considered me to be. We had bonded quickly over fussy babies and breastfeeding, but at the end of the day, besides that what else did we have in common? The babies are now toddlers and there's new stuff to worry about. New stuff to bond over. It just so happens that I'm not as close with her now. Not because of anything specifically. No, that would be way easier. I have bonded more closely with some other women and I don't think I should be ashamed of that.

But here she was, crying to me about wanting to be liked. All that was going through my head is "what does she want me to say?". I felt cold and distant. I mean, I felt bad about how she was feeling. I sure wish she didn't feel that way. But, it was strange to have someone have such strong feelings when I didn't. It felt like I was being cornered.

As it turned out, she seemed to have a lot of issues with someone I am friends with. She was dumping them out to me, looking for me to confirm her feelings. See, this is what a lot of women do. They want to commiserate with each other when they feel they have been wronged. Only, usually it's between two close friends. Certainly not someone who's a friend, but not a really close one, about a friend who *is* one of your close friends. Maybe she was upset that this other person and I are better friends now and this was her way of handling it? Maybe that's what felt so weird to me. It was almost as if she was hoping I'd turn my back on my good friend and turn toward her.

I felt bad for her that she needed me to do that. I felt bad that she wanted me to do that. But not bad enough to do it. Is that bad?

See, this is the trouble with being a woman. If I were a man, not only would we have never had that conversation, but I'd also be sitting here right now thinking about things like beer or computers or maybe even what's going on this weekend. Instead, I'm sitting here fretting over a pseudo friend who is upset because I'm not her best friend and upset with myself for not getting upset about it. That's the trouble with women.

The one where I talk in way too much detail about poop

As you are all fully aware, my life has been consumed not *just* with vomit, but also with lots of loose watery poopy diapers. I know, it's just about as much fun as a girl can handle. But, just picture this if you will.

You are fast asleep. Your husband has gotten up and has gotten in the shower, so the thick haze of sleep is gradually dissipating. Out of the corner recesses of your mind you hear the following, "Daddy! Put mine diaper back on!". Sure it's just a lingering dream, you turn over and try to get one last bit of sleep. That's when you hear it again, "Daddy. Mine diaper off!" Suddenly, the voice sounds familiar and real. Almost audibly, the gears of your mind start moving and putting the pieces together. The voice? Your son's. The diaper? Possibly full of diarrhea. And then it happens -- your mind forces your body up before you have really connected the dots. Before you know it, you are downstairs and opening the door of your son's room. To find that he has, in fact, unfastened his diaper. A wave of panic and a quick scan of the entire crib for signs of the yellow, watery poop ensue. Relief hits when you realize that there has been no breech. That's when you have a FIRM discussion with your son about who, exactly, is allowed to take his diaper off. The only options are Mom or Dad. That's IT! He keeps pulling up on the front of the diaper, like he's trying to pull it off by the front of it. Crazy kid.

See, I never had to worry about this with Morgan. It never dawned on her that she could actually take the diaper off herself. Why can't Bennett be equally as innocent and NOT precocious?

In other news, there have only been TWO poopy diapers today. And while they aren't "normal", they certainly aren't of the watery, drippy nature that we've been dealing with for a week now. He's actually kept THE SAME PAIR OF PANTS on ALL DAY! Small wonders.

Lazy

You know you've had a lazy day when it's time to go to bed and you don't have to get changed.

Really, though, I did actually get something accomplished. I went upstairs to do my menu planning and got sidetracked looking through old pictures to scan and upload to Facebook. Oh the pictures! That lead to a general picture organization project, which led to going through a few boxes (even Lance got into the mix) and decluttering. Yippee!

Dinner was frozen homemade chicken soup to keep things easy on the kids' delicate tummies and even Lance heated that up. Yep, a lazy day indeed.

A fun night out, but not a fun night in

I've been looking forward to tonight for weeks, every since I got an email from my friend Melissa's husband Marshall, asking me to save the date and get a sitter. I did both of those things and considering the weeks I've been having, I was really looking forward to a night out on the town with my husband and with friends. We were celebrating Melissa's 30th birthday and I was looking forward to the Cajun food at Roux and then cupcakes at Kara's cupcakes after. The kids were a little touch and go...Morgan hadn't thrown up since Friday morning and Bennett got a little better, then a little worse, then a little better again. So, we decided to go ahead and go. We got dressed up a little (I even curled my hair, though you couldn't tell it by the end of the night!) and headed over to the Alexanders' house to carpool with them down to Santana Row where we were meeting two other couples for dinner.

The food was fabulous - I don't think I've ever had hush puppies as good, and being a southerner, you know I've had my share! The drinks were good too, I even got the traditional New Orleans drinks of a hurricane and a hand grenade! After a long dinner with great conversation, with the added bonus of not having to discipline anyone, we headed over to get our cupcakes. It was sprinkling outside, and there was nowhere to sit inside Kara's, so we got our cupcakes boxed up and headed over to The Left Bank to have a few more drinks and enjoy our cupcakes. I got some coffee with Bailey's and we enjoyed even more great conversation with the Alexanders and their great friends.

Two of us couples were paying for sitters, so we ended the night a little early, a little before 10:30. We drove back up, said our goodbyes to the Alexanders and headed home. Where we were greeted by my niece who informed us that after downing two bowls of macaroni and cheese, Bennett threw up. All over the kitchen. And chaos ensued when our dog, Elly, came running in to eat it up. Pukey kids were set aside while disgusting dogs were dealt with. I felt SOOO bad!! Not just about not being here when Bennett threw up, but also about my niece having to deal with all that.

A good friend of mine made a good point though, what better birth control?? :)

The lows of motherhood

Because one child throwing up and pooping everywhere is not enough, God has seen it fit to bless me with yet another child who is throwing up. Lucky me! It started at 3am last night, when Morgan came into our bedroom, very upset and crying that she had thrown up. I immediately jump out of bed and run into the guest room where she's been sleeping since Lance has been working on her ceiling. Sure enough, there's a big puddle of vomit on the bed. I'm trying to comfort her and also get things cleaned up. I call for Lance's help and then escort her into the bathroom, where she kneels down in front of the toilet and starts heaving. I get a hair tie and tie her hair back, rubbing her back all the while telling her that it's going to be okay.

Now, I consider myself a pretty strong person. I've been there for a lot of people through a lot of situations. But I've found my kryptonite, and it's watching my child begging for the pain to stop. Crying, moaning and screaming out about the pain in her belly. I just started sobbing and told Lance that I couldn't watch it. I felt horrible, but I knew that if I was that upset, I would only upset her more. So, Lance went into the bathroom with her to comfort her while I got myself together. Once I had it together, and she had quit moaning and screaming out, we switched again and while Lance changed the sheets, I sat on the bathroom floor with my first born, rubbing her back while her listless body laid on the bath rug.

This is too much! When she seemed to be done vomiting for the time being and the sheets were all changed, I asked her if she wanted to lay in bed. She said she did and begged me to continue rubbing her back to keep her mind off of her tummy. I would have rubbed her back all night. It didn't take long and she was out. I sat there for a few more minutes, watching my child. Glad the sleep and overcome her and sad for the pain she was in. Finally, I got up and went back into our room to go back to bed. Except I couldn't sleep. I was too worried about her throwing up again. And would I hear her? Would she be moaning again? And what happens when Bennett gets up in the morning and he has pooped everywhere? How am I going to handle two sick kids on my own?

As predicted, when Bennett woke up, it was in a puddle of poop. Poor baby. He immediately got a bath thanks to Daddy and I checked on Morgan. She was in much better spirits, very excited that she had slept the rest of the night without throwing up. I was happy to see her feeling better and we tread cautiously with breakfast for both of the kids. Bananas and toast were in order. Lance ran to the store to restock on bananas and powerade before work and I got settled in for yet another day at home with sick kids. Both of the kids were acting completely normal. Bennett's diapers were looking more normal and Morgan told me she felt good enough to go to school. With some gifts that I had planned to deliver this morning staring me in the face, I asked Morgan if she felt good enough to take a ride in the car. She told me she did. So, I packed the kids up in the car, went through the Starbucks drive through to get a non-fat decaf latte for my favorite pregnant person and then we headed over to Melissa's house to drop off her birthday presents. When we got off on her exit, Morgan fell asleep in the car. I left the engine running, ran up to the door, put the presents and coffee on the doorstep and then knocked on the door. Melissa answered as we were pulling away and I waved a Happy Birthday to her.

I should have known not to push it since Morgan had fallen asleep. See, she's notorious for getting motion sickness when falling asleep in the car in the mornings when she was two and a half, I couldn't feed her breakfast before heading to work (a 3o minute drive) because she would barf it up when she woke up as we were getting off the Interstate. But, I had a movie that was due back to Blockbuster the previous day, so I stopped by on my way home, a five minute detour. Sure enough, about two minutes from home, Morgan wakes up and starts puking everywhere. She's crying and telling me that she's sorry for thinking that she was not going to throw up again. I pull over, telling her that it's okay. I look through my "emergency bag" for something for her to throw up into, but it's been so long since I had to worry about this, there was nothing. I tell her to just throw up where ever she needs to and she continues to do say. I got a bottle of water from the bag, some wipes and give them to her to clean up with and sip as needed. She keeps apologizing to me for throwing up in the car. I keep telling her that it's okay. That I know that she isn't doing it on purpose and that I'm sorry that I took her in the car and that I also didn't bring anything for her to throw up in. Poor baby.

We drive the remaining two minutes home, I take Bennett into the house so that I can tend to Morgan. I get her out of the car, strip out everything she's puked on, take her into the garage where she strips down and then she goes and gets in the shower. I am hosing off her car seat, the car mat, the car seat mat, her clothes, EVERYTHING. Nasty.

Just as I'm done, I go inside and am greeted by a smell that I've come to know over the past few days. Obviously, Bennett has a nasty diaper. Not only that, but it's DISGUSTING. EVERYWHERE. So, he gets a bath. Once the kids are all bathed, I put on a movie for them to watch while I feed Bennett lunch (Morgan's not eating). Bennett eats a little of his lunch, Morgan eats some toast and before I know it it's nap time. Which is what I've been waiting for all morning. I get the kids down for their naps and I lay on the couch and pray for sleep to come quick. I know I'll need my strength to handle the afternoon and evening.

I was supposed to work the Crab Feed fundraiser for the school tonight. But, in an effort to keep my husband from getting this nasty bug (we have plans to go OUT tomorrow night!), I opted out of the volunteering and decided to stay home and finish taking care of the kids for the night.

And here I sit, totally done. Done with the sick kids. Done with the puke and poop. Done with my kids and I being stuck at home sick. Done hearing them call out to me in pain. Done being the one and only to two highly needy children.

The power of mom

Okay, so I'm going on day three of being locked in the house with a very sick toddler and just as I'm about to lose my mind, I get to get out of the house for a dessert social with some of the girls from the moms club tonight. Wow, that was a long sentence. Anyway, I'm always happy to get out for whatever is the outing of the day, but getting some great women out with some wine, coffee, and delicious desserts is really a treat!

We have a new dessert place in town called Nothingbundtcakes. Obviously, the make bundt cakes! Anyway, one of the moms from the moms club was in there one day talking to the owner about spreading the word about their new business. She mentioned the moms club and WHAM before I knew it, they offered to provide us with a bundt cake for the dessert social. They provided us with a "Cute as a Bundton" cake, and it was super cute! It tasted good also. We put some of their brochures out and a bunch of the ladies took one. Because that's how it works with us moms. If you treat us right and we like what we see, we're likely to remember that next time we need something special or if a friend asks us for a recommendation.


You'd be surprised the things we've been given from businesses, just by simply (1) asking for the donation and (2) stating the obvious, you will have the support of the moms in our club. Days at the spa, winery tours and private tastings, month-long family memberships to the tennis club, golfing for two, dinners, toys, WHATEVER! Lately, we've been having our club supporters (those that advertise in our newsletter) offer up promotional goods for us to raffle off. Tonight, I was the recipient of four free tickets to see High School Musical on ice, which is on tour now and coming to our area in the next two weeks. Morgan is going to be thrilled! My friend Lara and I agreed before the drawing that if one of us won it, we'd take the other one and her daughter. So, Morgan is even more thrilled that we'll be going with Chenoa!

Other items we've been given are child proofing baskets, knitting baskets, organic baby clothes baskets, etc. All just because we are moms. And I'm ALL about expoiting that. Hey - that's the true power of mom! :)

Bennett's new word

With an ever increasing vocabulary, it's not at all surprising that my little talker picks up on just about anything we say these days. So, I'm not sure why I was caught off guard when he blurted out at the dinner table tonight, "Diarrhea. Momma me have diarrhea?" With perfect pronunciation, mind you -- which is hilarious when you consider that he can't pronounce SOCK or SHOE properly. With a quick chuckle to myself, I say, "Yes, yes. You have diarrhea". Then he says, "Momma. You tell Kristin me have diarrhea?". I recall the earlier conversation where I was lamenting the woes of waking a sleeping toddler in just enough time to go pick up Morgan from Daisies to discover diarrhea EVERYWHERE. Good times. "Yes, I told Kristin you had diarrhea."

Interesting.

But even more interesting? Later, when I'm putting him to bed and I'm swaying back and forth with him, rubbing his back and kissing his forehead. I tell him that I hope he gets a good night's sleep and wakes up in the morning feeling good. No more diarrhea.

Bennett: "NO!!!"
Me: "What?"
Bennett: "Me want diarrhea"
Me (laughing): "No, trust me you don't. Every time today that you didn't want me to change your diaper was because you have diarrhea. It's making your poor bottom raw."
Bennett: : " NO! Me WANT IT!! Me want it on me. Me want diarrhea on me"

Okay then. So be it.

I am now that mom

You know the one. The one that is blissfully unaware that her 22 month old child is off in the nursery at the gym throwing up. Yep, that's me. *waves*

My heart sank when I saw my favorite nursery worker come running into the exercise studio where I was wrapping up the cardio & core class (although she came *just* as we were on our last set of abs, when I could barely even breathe anymore so at least the timing was right). I mouthed, "me??" while pointing to myself before she could even make her way into the room. She nodded and I flew out of the room as fast as if I hadn't just given it my all in the previous hour that I had been exercising. As we were "power walking" back to the nursery, she tells me that he threw up everywhere. Oh my goodness!

I start explaining that he'd been sick -- I told them this when I dropped him off this morning -- and that I'd kept him home for TWO WEEKS while he recovered. We even talked about how empty the tennis club was this morning due to the rain and that's when I also told them this morning that now that he was totally healthy (haha!) I was not about to miss another workout. Oh man!! I explained to every nursery staff person I saw that he WAS sick, but it was a cold/cough thing. NOT THROWING UP! I would have never have brought him if I thought he was going to throw up. Oh man!

I get home and as soon as we walk in the door, he's standing there waiting for me to take his jacket off and he throws up all over the entry way floor. Poor baby! I strip him down, in what will be the first of many, many wardrobe changes of the day and set him up on the couch with towels and a little bowl for him to throw up in. Not that he wants to do that.

My poor baby has thrown up more times than I can count today. It's slowed down, at least, to only every 30-35 minutes rather than every 15 minutes like he was doing this morning. At one point, I was holding him and he fell asleep. I was still all sweaty and nasty from the gym, so I thought I'd grab a quick shower while I could. I put him down in his crib (triple lined with sheet covers and towels) and took the quickest shower I've ever taken and he managed to throw up while I was in there. Poor baby. I felt so bad for putting him down. So, I've spent all afternoon holding him while he alternated between sleeping and throwing up. He's finally starting to show signs of getting a little better...he asked to get down. I decided it was time to give him some ice chips to see how he does with those. He seems to have perked up a little. Melissa dropped off some pedialyte pops earlier, which was awesome of her, so if all goes well with the ice chips, we'll try the pedialyte pops in a bit.

Kristin brought Morgan home from school for me (thank you again, Kristin!) which is good because Bennett must have thrown up at least 3 times in the time it would have taken me to get there, get her and get home. Morgan was good about eating her lunch nicely and taking her nap without any fuss because she sees how sick her brother is. She's even moderately okay about missing ballet, though she could really use it to burn off some of this energy.

Having a child that's sick just sucks! Although, I have to admit I love the cuddly side of my poor little guy. I'm focusing on that to help get me through the day. Lance won't be home until late again, I'm sure. Being a mom is hard work! But I'm so glad I can be here to comfort my little guy. I just keep telling him that Momma is here. Momma has you. You're going to be okay.