The end of an era

About a month ago I got an emailed letter that stated that the day care where all 3 of my kids go will close as of December 31. As you can imagine, that sent me into utter panic mode. There are waiting lists at all of the daycares here in Blacksburg, so it's hard to get 1 child into a center, let alone 3. Especially with only 3 weeks notice. And especially an infant. We've stayed relatively current on other waiting lists because, although we were very happy at our current daycare, you just never know what might happen. Well, I guess that paid off kind of. I was able to get spots at another good school for Blythe and Ethan to start January 3rd and for Brynn to start sometime in late February. Although I'd have to find something for Brynn for a short while, I was so relieved!

I was prepared for the stress of uprooting my kids from their current well-known, safe environment because there was no other option.

Well, then we got word that there was a potential buyer for the current daycare, but there were so many unknowns - would she buy it? what changes would she make? what would it be like? what would the transition be like? As these answers unfolded over the past few weeks, the stress and difficulty of making a decision of whether to stay or go to the new school got greater and greater. I don't think we've ever before had to make a decision like this that we knew would greatly affect the lives of everyone in our family.

I'm not going to go into the details of why we made our decision, but the decision we made was to start the kids at the new school. So today was Blythe and Ethan's last day at their current school. Brynn will stay until her spot at the new school opens up.

Making that decision gets complicated with friends our kids have made, friends we have made, a staff that is like family to us, Brynn's primary care giver who she likes just as much as me (or maybe even more). It's hard. It's really hard.

Blythe started at that school in August of 2007, when she was 19 months old. Ethan started at 12 weeks old and Brynn at 12 weeks old also. I'm trying to get excited about the possibilities at the new school - new friends, new teachers, new experiences, but it's hard because what we've had is so safe and comfortable and my kids have had wonderful experiences there.

So today is a sad day. But we'll cherish the memories we've had and continue to stay in touch with our old friends.

Snow Day

Yesterday was the first snow day of the season. We got 5 inches of snow, which probably would have been more, but it changed over to sleet and then freezing rain a few hours before the weather people had anticipated. The 5 inches of snow was powder though, so the sleet and freezing rain on top improved the sledding conditions.

Fortunately, I had just bought a sled. Nope - we never had one before now. The first 5 years we lived here it hardly snowed. Then last year hit and we didn't have a sled, but you couldn't find one anywhere. It's certainly seeming like this year will be a lot like last year. Cold and snowy. In fact, the other morning it was colder here than it was all last winter. And it's not even winter yet. And last winter was one of the coldest on record. I don't really like cold and snowy, but when you can sled, it makes it a little better.

By the time I broke out the camera, Ethan had had enough of the cold weather. He had sledded earlier in the day, so he was cozy inside watching Dora.

First Tooth

Last Friday Brynn cut her first tooth (one of the lower middle ones). The second one should be not too far behind. She's been taking it pretty well, like the laid back baby she is. Really not much to report on that, but since this blog has taken the place of a baby book, wanted to make sure it was recorded.

"Blythe" toy

Good thing my kids can't read yet or type in web addresses to look at my blog. That means I can post pictures of Christmas presents online.

Actually, there's only one I want to post. This one is way cooler in the box, so I decided to take a picture. I love it because "Blythe" is not in the top 1000 most popular names for a girl. And then this toy even looks a little like Blythe. It's almost like I designed this toy just for her.



No one else probably thinks it's as cool as I do, but whatever.

Christmas decorating

Blythe and Ethan decorated the Christmas tree this year. Can you tell by the placement of ornaments?


We're struggling with Christmas decorating this year. No one is visiting, so I don't really want to put up a lot (because that means having to take down a lot). The kids keep asking when we are going to put up lights outside, but it hasn't been above 20 degrees here in 4 days and every single time I look out the window, I see blowing snow.

I also have yet to buy a single Christmas present from the store. I have bought some stuff online, but I really need to make a trip to Target and it just hasn't happened yet. Christmas is coming up WAY too fast!

A Beary Good Thanksgiving

Okay, so my title is cheesy, but we saw a BEAR...a real, live, giant 500 pound black bear. We headed out to Cashiers to spend Thanksgiving with Grams and Peep and after a delicious Thanksgiving meal, I thought I'd walk off a bit of it by pushing Brynn in the stroller and telling Blythe to "hurry up" as she walked slowly behind me. We were all suited up and Brynn was in the stroller, when a car drove by and said, "We just saw a big bear walk across the street". This is broad daylight, mind you. So I said, "hmmm...probably a walk with my 2 daughters is not such a good idea". So we went back in and told the others about the bear. The other fearless adults all ran out to go get a look at him. His name is Wheeler and he's been in the area for years rummaging through trash most nights. Grams and Peep had seen him at night but never during the day.

They found him settled down a hill, about 100 feet from the road. So a small crowd formed on the road just watching him down there. They came back to the house to get cameras, and then Dan, a family friend, took my camera and got within probably 15 feet of the bear. The bear clearly preferred the peanut butter jar over Dan.



Beautiful creature.



Anyway, we also had our Christmas with Grams and Peep while we were there. Kind of nice to have such an early Christmas because the kids can really enjoy the stuff they got. Ethan is loving his Thomas the Train matching game (I think we've played it almost every night) and his Automoblox cars.


Blythe loves her Leapster game and her fairy outfit.


And Brynn loves, well she loves her mommy, but she doesn't mind being a fairy either.


On Saturday, Blythe and Ethan went out with Grams, Peep, and Braden to find a Christmas tree they could bring back to Louisiana. It was a little on the cold side!


Anyway, it was a fun trip filled with some DELICIOUS food! Trying to work some of it off, which is hard because it's SNOWING here. I used to like snow until last winter. Now I don't like it so much!

We're famous

For the past few weeks I've been dealing with a day care situation that I'm still not quite ready to blog about yet, however it's been a huge stressor and time suck for me (thus the measly 8 blogs in November). But anyway, yesterday the news cameras were there and now our family is famous (and Ethan's boogers are famous too).

6 months

I missed Brynn's 6 month update last week since we were travelling to Cashiers, NC for Thanksgiving. She decided to celebrate her half birthday by being sick with a fever. Lovely. Anyway, Braden took her to the doctor the day before for her measurements and shots, but that's when her fever started, so no shots for her (will have to go this week sometime).

She was 16 pounds 10 ounces and 26.5 inches tall. I looked it up and all 3 of my kids were 26.5 inches tall at 6 months. Weird, huh?

Anyway, it appears she is entering into a new phase of her life. She really seems a lot different now than she did just a few weeks ago. She's starting to teeth (those bottom 2 should break through any day now). That and that darned fever she had have been making her a much fussier baby than normal. But the other thing is that she's starting to want to be awake more. Appears the days of catnapping in mom's arms while her siblings are loud as can be are over. I tried it tonight and she wouldn't go to sleep. Finally I took her to her room where it was quiet and she fell asleep. I laid her down in her crib and whoops! awake again! I think she's afraid she's missing out. Used to be she had no schedule on weekends because she would just sleep when she's tired. But now....we might have to try a schedule (which is a pain when that schedule involves 2 naps and you have 2 other kids you need to get out of the house).

Brynn is sitting by herself quite nicely these days. If she's on a soft carpeted area, I'll let her hang out by herself with toys and no pillow. It the floor is hard, she still needs a pillow or someone to sit behind her because she does get distracted and fall backwards sometimes.

It's funny though that she can sit so well, yet I still have NEVER seen her roll over. I know she has done it at daycare, but at home NOTHING. I'm kind of thinking she'll be a late crawler. But who knows. Like I said, she's acting like a different baby recently so it's possible.

As for eating, she's tried lots of foods. All fruits, veggies, and cereal. Such a shocker, but she is not a fan of vegetables. Except sweet potatoes. She USED to like carrots and peas, but now she makes faces (because she'd rather have fruit).

She's saying some sounds like "Ba" and "Da", but mostly she's really quiet around her siblings (because they are so loud and she knows she can't compete). I let her lay in her bed in the mornings for a good while so she can practice talking before the wild ones invade her room. Recently they've been going into her room (after she's awake) and they climb in bed with her and jump and do seat drops to shake the whole bed and then Brynn laughs (kind of a nervous laugh I think...like "please don't jump on my head").

She does lots of big girl things now like sit in the grocery cart and sit in a high chair at restaurants. She's even taken baths in the big bath tub with no bath seat.

She wears size 3 diapers now and is wearing 6-9 or 6-12 month clothes.

Anyway, happy half birthday Brynn! May the next 6 months not go by as quickly as your first 6 months.

There's nothing better

than a baby laughing....

Flu shots

Took the kids to get flu shots today (well, not Brynn...she has to be 6 months so will get hers next week).

Braden had already gotten his, but I had not, so I got one too. It had been a LONG time since Blythe has had a shot. Last year she just got the H1N1 nasal mist thing, so I guess it was 2 years ago, when she was 2 that she got a flu shot. Ethan got an H1N1 shot last year, but he didn't remember. So when I asked them this morning, "Who wants to get a shot this morning!?!?!', they both said, "ME!". Ha! Maybe Ethan remembered a little because then he said, "It's just a little tiny shot, right?". Right. Here was my plan:

Mommy goes first (and acts like I can hardly feel anything)
Blythe goes second (and I make sure to tell her to be brave and not cry so Ethan doesn't get freaked out)
Ethan goes last (because he's definitely going to cry)

This plan did not work out as nicely as it had played out in my head.

Blythe completely lost it when she got a shot. She just kept crying and making sad faces and just couldn't believe we had let those nurses do that to her. This did little to calm any fears Ethan had. So he started crying when they wiped the area with an alcohol swab. And then of course screamed when they gave him the shot.

But he got over it quickly. Blythe did not.

Prior to the shot I had told her about getting shots when she turns 5. So at the doctors office after the shot she said, "I don't want any more shots until I'm 5". So I agreed. No more shots until she's 5. Later in the car she said, "Mom, I thought about it and I decided I don't want any more shots until I'm 6". Unfortunately I had to inform her of the horrific news that shots are required before she goes to kindergarten.

I also found out at the doctors office that Ethan never had his flu shot booster. I now remember forgetting to bring him back when he was a baby. Then last year because of the H1N1 crap, the kids didn't get regular flu shots because no one had them. So great, now I get to bring him back to the doctor in a month for a shot again. And now that he's almost 3, he's going to remember and it's not going to be fun.

Deep Thoughts....

My mother had 3 kids. Growing up I thought for sure she couldn't love me, my brother, and my sister all equally. She clearly loved me the most. No, actually Doug because he was the baby. Okay, actually Laura because she was the oldest (why else would she have gotten to do all the stuff I wanted to do..."because she's the oldest"...that's lame). Okay, so clearly she did a pretty good job of hiding who her favorite was. But I always knew she had a favorite (even if I didn't know who that person was).

But now that I have 3 kids I know that she didn't have a favorite. And she loved us all equally. Before Ethan was born I was so worried because I couldn't imagine splitting the love I had for Blythe in 2. That's not how it works though. And I loved Ethan just as much as I loved Blythe. Yet I still worried again before I had Brynn. But again I see how love is complicated and unexplainable. All I know is there is NOTHING I wouldn't do for any of my children.

But just because I love Blythe and Ethan a lot doesn't mean I don't feel guilty for spending the time I need to spend with Brynn. I need to feed Brynn and hold her and nurture her. And I LOVE doing it. But I wish I could also spend more time with Blythe and Ethan. And I know that time will come. In the meantime I wish things would slow down. I wish life wasn't so stressful and things were just simpler.

But things aren't going to slow down and life won't get any simpler. So I will settle on enjoying the little things and taking a few moments each day to feel grateful for all that I have. Happy Friday!

Family Room Before and After

Yahoo! We FINALLY finished our cabinet projects. Yes, I know people build houses in less time than it took us to finish this project, but whatever.

Here are the before and after pics of our family room. I may have left in the "clutter" (dog beds, baby swing, etc) in the before pic and removed it in the after pic for an extra dramatic effect. But still, look how much bigger and neater our family room looks now.

I need to hang a picture before I take the "after" picture of the basement, so I know the suspense is killing you, but you'll just have to wait longer for those pictures.

My baby got baptized

First of all - a refrigerator update. The repairman FINALLY came at 7:15 on Friday night. Holy crap, I was in panic mode. As I suspected, it was the motherboard, which is normally a $285 part. But since it was so late, he only charged me $100 and now my refrigerator is as good as new. Phew!

Braden's parents came in town on Friday early evening and then my parents, sister, brother, sister-in-law, and niece came on Saturday morning. It was really cold here (but fortunately the chance of snow didn't produce), so we headed to the new indoor pool. Blythe went down the slide "like a hundred times" and even yours truly went down the slide (it really was a lot of fun). Brynn liked the pool until she started getting splashed (and tired), so then she liked sleeping at the pool.

Blythe and Ethan could have swum for hours probably (and Ada too), but we didn't want to push nap time TOO much.

Then on Sunday, my baby was baptized. Isn't she beautiful in her christening dress?

The rest of us didn't look too bad either.

And here's the star with her godparents (and aunt and uncle) Doug and Lynette:

Brynn did great with the baptism even though she was SO tired (and fell asleep not 5 minutes later). Ethan TRIED to steal her thunder by making faces at the crowd during the baptism. He's always trying to make people laugh, that silly boy.

Anyway, it was a very, very nice weekend and we all had a good time. Here's a few more pics from the weekend.

Save the milk!

Our refrigerator has been making a clicking noise off and on for the past week. Kind of annoying, but it stops after a few minutes, so whatever. Then last night it wouldn't stop. Just kept clicking. And clicking. And clicking. And clicking. I couldn't take it anymore! It sounds like someone left their turn signal on. Forever.

So I got online to research. Bad news. This means that we are going to need a new motherboard. And that the refrigerator and freezer will likely stop working very soon. Wow, great timing. Brynn's getting baptized this weekend so we have all our family coming into town and I had just bought craploads of food from Walmart yesterday. Fortunately, there is an online repairman scheduling tool so I was able to schedule someone to come out this afternoon (sometime in a 5 hour block of time).

UNFORTUNATELY - the refrigerator and freezer stopped working sometime over night. Yes, I have a crapload of food in there that I don't want to go bad. But I have frozen breast milk in the freezer people! I.must.save.the.breast.milk. Got me a cooler out this morning and filled it with the already-melting ice and the breast milk. So we should be safe there. I likely let out all traces of cold air left while I was doing that though (because bad motherboard also took down my ice dispenser).

Please get here soon refrigerator repairman! What if he doesn't have a new motherboard? What if I have to wait longer? Supposed to be 23 degrees tonight, so I guess I could put all the frozen stuff outside. And tomorrow's high is 41, so we'll be good for a day or so.

In the meantime, the damn clicking noise continues. And it's driving me CRRAAAAAZZZYYY!

Halloween

Despite Braden's goal to make at least 10 kids cry in terror on Halloween, I think he only made 1 kid cry. Ethan. Poor kid is just scared of everything. Even though he would watch Braden put his mask on, he still was petrified of Braden in costume. And the fog. Screetching like a little girl every time our fog machine came on.

That's right - we have a fog machine. Definitely added to the spooky atmosphere.

That's Braden in costume and Blythe dressed up as Ariel. Nice hair, huh? I was a little worried she'd have pink hair for a week (and Blythe was hoping she would), but it came out after just 2 shampoos. Braden was pretty scary looking. Notice his Freddy Krueger hand with the knives. Yikes!

Although Ethan was scared at our house, he did enjoy trick or treating around the neighborhood. He was slow compared to his sister RUNNING from house to house. Good thing his friend Luke went slow with him.

Blythe was really into the whole Halloween experience. After she finished trick or treating around the neighborhood, she wanted to sit on our porch and hand out the candy. Later we found out she liked doing that because she was eating the candy she was supposed to be passing out. Oh well. We ran out at one point and then just started using hers anyway.

Brynn made it through a short bit of trick or treating. She didn't get any candy, but looked cute in her ladybug costume.

Overall, it was a really good and really fun Halloween. How about one more pic of the 3 kiddos in costume.