Reindeer Photo Shoot!

Bubble Bath Extravaganza!!!

December 7th is now officially "Day of the Super Dad"

So Mick has been showing off some daddy skills around here lately. He got Mr. Pie to go to sleep by himself around 7:30. The boy slept until 6:00 the next morning!!! I woke up to him crying, looked at my alarm clock and then pinched myself,"I have to be dreaming!" NOPE he slept for over 12 hours straight!!!! Ok, so if that wasn't great enough, I got a call at work from the 3 men around 9:30, turns out Kyan made it though the night with out a pullup!!! So Mickey shining with daddy skills! I say, "I would have been impressed if I came home to all that and the house was clean!" Then I'll call him Super Dad!

RECAP!

Its 0630 (I think, too tired to actually realize real time) Mick brings me a crying baby. Pie nuzzles up to me in bed but isn't interested in eating. I try to swaddle him and make him think going back to sleep is a good idea. BB disagrees with me, mick rolls over and I see a head bob across the foot board. Oh man Kyan is up too :( I still try to convince Nolan to sleep. Mick tells me (as if I don't already know, just in denial) Nolan wants to get up. Kyan is hungry and our day, no matter how much I want to lie to myself, must begin! 0730 The big guys head down stairs for breakfast as I search for my eyes on the night stand and I pick up Mr. Pie. I look at him and wish I could absorb some of his cheerfulness, why can't I be a morning person!? Kyan eats his usual two packs of instant oatmeal and some other stuff (too tired to notice, I promise..it was healthy and edible) Mick is indulging in the OJ we bought yesterday,he's been complaining about his OJ deficiency for about a week now. (a half hour later he complains of heart burn....I call it Karma!) Mick takes a shower and I get Kyan dressed, pack his school bag and help him brush his teeth. Now its my turn to take a shower.....hope this wakes me up! 0830 the big guys head to school. And Nolan and I call our friends Melissa and Gavin to confirm our play date. 0900 head out to CVS and then to play date. 0945 Thank god I made it to Melissa's I know she has some strong #%% coffee bound to wake me up! Here I just get to relax and chit chat a bit. Usually I have to leave by 1145 to pick Ky up at preschool but Its Monday and mick volunteers. So instead they meet me at Melissa's. 1235 we head to lunch at a place Melissa suggests (good call on the french dip Melissa) By this time I have a great deal of energy from the 3 cups of coffee! We make it out of there just in time for Kyans 3 year well child check up at 2:00. In comes a med student....here we go. Seeking medical care for your children in the University of Michigan health system can be bitter sweet. Ever want your ped. to pay extra attention to you? The past 2 appt I've had for the boys have been lead by med students....to make a VERY long story short, we got out out there at 3:35!!!! WHAT THE.... Ok, must hurry and call the lab for my drug screen for new jobby job, they are only open until 4. Drug screen cancelled, something about a water line breaking. I asked the lady if I could just come pee in a cup, I told her I carried purell. She says to me, 3 people just peed in the toilet and well.....I say Ill call tomorrow. Now we drive to my dr. and drop off a form I need from her for my job, kyan unbuckled...carry the car seat in...hand them a paper....walk back out... carrying car seat...."come on kyan" buckle kyan in then mr. p. This routine of care seats, unbuckle, buckle, unbuckle buckle is a killer. 4:00 hhhmm there's the mall (I need to exchange Kyans slippers that I bought to small) We get into JC Penny (me chugging along with the car seat...why am I carrying this thing??) "Come on Kyan" Get to the shoe depart. WHAT? they only make the slippers up to the size I bought! And I don't have my receipt! EEERRRRR! Of course we cant go to the mall and not play at the indoor playground! "Come on Bud!" We play for about 25min....kyan is now on the verge of breaking, lack of nap is NOT a good thing for him...Me too, my caffeine high is dissipating. I need to play my cards right to get back through Penny's and to the car without him having a tantrum! There is no way I could possibly carry the car seat with a 20lb Pie and a 35lb 3 year old kicking a screaming! "Look I want to go up that!" up the escalator we go, walk around the bedding department, down the escalator we go (again on the verge of breaking, you really need to pick your battles....I just want to make it to the car) 4:40 we are in the car and both boys are ZZ ZZZ ZZZ within min! On my 10 mile drive home I envision sleeping in the driveway just so I can get a nap in too! Yes, this is what I'm going to do, I cant wait!!! I exit to find a traffic jam because of 3 stop lights not working....here goes my shut eye :( I decide to drop off a Bday card for my bro at the local post office on the way.....I'm not moving in all this chaos anyway! 520 I'm rounding the last corner and cant wait to shut my eyes in the driveway! WHAT... a solicitor is at my door and approaching the vehicle (damn, have to remember to buy that no soliciting sign) I donate $5 bucks to help keep the Great lakes clean (I'm such a great citizen....tired but great!) Mick calls and tells me he fell asleep in his car in the parking lot waiting for the bus, he got a 3+hr nap....IM SO JEALOUS. and now I feel really bad for keeping Pie in bed this morning and taking an hour of sleep away from him. Ok so now I attempt to bring both kids in and I'm unsuccessful with Mr. Pie. He starts screaming as I walk in with Kyan on my shoulder. I lay kyan down and again try to convince Nolan that his nap time really isn't over.....I promise, its STILL Nap TIME!!!! No luck. Kyan wakes up 1/2 hour later while Im talking to auntie wind. 6:00 Bath time and a talk with Grandma Debbie. Dunk both kids and then its Supper time. Kyan goes out to eat at "Mommy's Kitchen" and Oh Look! Mommy is the waitress tonight. The boy orders EVERYthing on the menu. Chips and salsa, apples and PB, ramon noodles (baked not fried), raisins, ice water, Hot cocoa, and second hot cocoa after baby brother spilled it all over "Mommy's kitchen's" floor:( don't worry it wasn't hot just warm cocoa at this restaurant. Then a second order of Ramon noodles. I'm so glad I was never a real waitress!!!!! This kid has me running my butt off and he's only 3 and I know I'm not getting a good tip! I put Nolan to sleep while he finishes. 8:00 story time by the Christmas tree. Read 3 books then its potty time. We brush our teeth. "SSHHH " don't wake your brother . Kyan climbs in bed and requests a call to daddy at school to say good night. I run down stairs to get the phone. Up the stairs...SH&% the baby's crying! Kyan talks to daddy while I rock Nolan back to sleep. 8:30 tuck Kyan in and get the computer to blog about never ending day! The forecast looks like tomorrow is going to be another crazy one!!!!

On The Eleventh Day Of Chrismas, Mickey Cut a Tree......

As you can see Mr. Pie was delegating all the hard labor.

Because The Chicks Dig It!

Here you go mom, this is a result of the screams you heard over the phone tonight! Kyan fell and smacked his face on the fire place ledge! OUCH! The picture doesnt really show how puffy it got. I will admit, I freaked!

Sick AGAIN!

Yeah so the boys are both struggling with another virus :( I'm hoping this isn't an "every other month" bug that invites itself into our house and takes over all winter! Kyan stayed home from preschool today. Mick says I just wanted to sleep in, yeah I wish Nolan had no intentions in that! I was awake almost every hour last night dealing with one of my sick little men:( Their coughs sound like they hurt so bad and with this whole DXM recall on infant/childrens cough suppressants, whats a mom to do? Tonight I gave them both a vapor bath and rubbed 'um down with vicks but they still sound terrible. I bought some good ol fashion Tussin the pharmacist at Kroger said you still can't go wrong with an expectorant, we'll see.

I resigned at U of M :( Now that I actually have a last day marked, I'm feeling very emotional about it. I guess I'm not going to miss the job (I can do that anywhere) but I will miss the nursing staff. I start my new traveling position on Dec. 10. Its at the hospital that Mr. Pie was born at. I'm very excited for the extra cash to start falling into my bank account! It's going to be so great when mick starts bringing home some bacon!!!!! Speaking of that, he's in Grand Rapids tonight vacationing from sick children! well actually he has another interview with a firm he interviewed with a few weeks back. C'mon Honey!!! Go Get 'um! HOOO HHOOO. I'm really pushing for this area, I would be great to grow old with my greatest pal Amy!

Ambien CRX IS

"Does your baby still wake several times during the night? Is he having trouble falling asleep on his own? Once he falls asleep does he wake every 2 to 3 hours during the night? Introducing Ambien CRX IS (Controlled Release Xtreme Infant Style) The all natural way to help baby fall asleep and stay asleep. No more venturing in dark hallways in the middle of the night. No more howls on the monitor under the moon. Just peace and quiet. That's right, sleep for 8 hours at a time from start to finish! Common side effects include extremely supercharged and energized parents, perma-grin associated with extreme happiness in the mornings (both baby and mom) and obsession with pillows and sheets. Warning, may put coffee companies out of business.

AND THEN I WOKE UP :(

We are on night two of tough love. Actually Mr. Pie is doing quite well with falling asleep on his own. He still insists on eating a few times at night, hey, at least he goes right back to sleep! If he's following in Kyans footstep he should sleep through the night in about 3months and 13 days but whose counting!!!!!!!!

Whew! I need my routine back!!!!

WOW, we have had company for 3 weekends in a row! First it was the big guy's bday with the gradparents. Next we had Micks sis and fam, and friends from (BOOOO Ohio state!) Ohio for extended bday wishes and early christmas and this past weekend we had some friends here from WI and Grand Rapids for the MI vs Ohio state game. We are exhausted, infact all the boys are crashed right now in celebration of quietness in the house!!!! I too am able to relax today (thank you to my BFF Amy for helping me clean up before jettin' the set!!!) And not to mention my wonderful Mickey for letting me sleep in today!

Mr. P is sitting up and able to "scoot" around the room now. Pearly white #2 has also decided to make his appearence! Unfortunaely we still need to work on sleeping in longer blocks at night......Sorry Pie 3 hours at a time just does not cut it for Mom and Dad! And yes Nolans official new name is Pie or Mr. Pie or for short Mr. P. Our friends this weekend really made it official. Mick thinks when he turn 18 he should get a tatoo of a slice of pie on his bicep....hard core baby brother!!!!!

Besides Kyan's meltdown in Meijer last week he remains a compliant 3 year old! He was great with our company this past weekend with the little sleep that he did get (we all know we are strict with his sleep....) He is SO busy our friends say all they have to do is look at the boy and it wears the heck out of them.....I know the feeling!!!!

I have been submitted for 2 traveling positions and am waiting to hear back from them, hopefully in the next week or week after bc of the holiday. So please everybody keep the fingers crossed!

3 YEARS OLD!

I know this is dated material but I have to let you all know how Halloween actually went. Kyan was so entertaining. He started off great all by himself, running as fast as he could up to random houses, ringing the doorbell and yelling "trick or treat?" Then, in his muscle man outfit with his masked flipped up and flashing,he would run as fast as he could back half way down the driveway, set his bucket down, dig for the exact treat that house gave him and yell "Mommy, Daddy! LOOK! WOW! Can I eat it!" This went on house after house, Mick and I loving the entertainment. At about house ~14 Kyan was on the front porch with a few other kids. I heard him start crying and sent mick up there bc I thought he tripped and fell. Then I heard the biggest girl skreek I ever heard my son let out. The kid got his first Halloween spook! Some 7 year old dressed all scary scared the living day lights out of kyan! After that he was a little nervous and needed some assistance with walking up to houses!

Kyan's Bday was a success in fact ever since he turned 3 his behavior has been wonderful! Almost like when he was 2.... Listening like an angel! After weeks of contemplating what to do for his party, I am so happy we had a tiny shindig with just family at the house! It was so relaxing and stress free! He was spoiled rotten by everybody as usual! Kyan also had a bday party at school bringing cupcakes to celebrate! ( I was the lucky one to make them , 1030pm the night before because I forgot veg. oil at the store) He's finally telling people he's 3 and not 6 too! And he is also telling people his name these days instead of,"I don't have a name."

The fam headed to Grand Rapids on Sunday for another interview for Mick. It was nice to see Amy even though we just saw her the day before at Kyans party! Amy and I hung out at Davids Bridal with the boys (kyans was comical here too ," Yes bud you would look adorable in that dress, yes and that one too, yup blue is def. your color )and did some wedding gown shopping! As for Mick's interview, well if he doesn't get this one we will have to blame it on the pink lady shaver he had to use that morning !