Not Me and I Don't Know

I guess gone are the days when my kids got all excited about being helpful. Or maybe it's just a quick phase.

Normally I will ask them to feed the dogs and they fight over who gets to use the red cup (instead of the green cup) and they keep on filling the dish until it's practically overflowing and I have to tell them to stop.

But yesterday I said, "Who wants to feed the dogs?" and these are the responses I got:
"not me!"
"I don't want to"

Ugh! They're banding together against me! Instead of blaming each other when I ask "who made this mess?". Now I get:
"I don't know"
"Not me"

Damn these I-Don't-Know and Not-Me people. Think I could get tax deductions for Not me and I Don't Know?

Brynn's 4 month stats

Because I need to keep track of these things, and this is the place where I do that, here's a short blog with Brynn's stats from the doctor yesterday:

Weight = 14 lbs 12 oz (75th percentile)

Length = 25 inches (75th percentile)

Head circumference = 16 inches (about 40th percentile)

So measuring pretty close to where Blythe and Ethan were at this stage. She got 2 shots, which she totally loved (not). And because I like to reminisce, here are pics of Blythe and Ethan at 4 months:

Blythe

Ethan

Day Out with Thomas

Yesterday we headed to "Day Out with Thomas" in Spencer, NC. That's about 40 minutes from my parents house, so we drove there on Saturday and got to spend the day with my Nana (who's 91) who is visiting from Austin, my aunt Barbara who is visiting from California, my parents, and Doug, Lynette, and Ada who drove there to hang out for the day. It was a very nice visit. It was my aunt Barbara's first time meeting all of my kids, so that was neat. I'm sure the house was nice and peaceful and quiet before the 4 grandkids bombarded the place. Then it was like total chaos practically all day long. Brynn wasn't really even part of the chaos and Lynette is pregnant with another girl. What will it be like when there are 2 more crazy kids??? I'll have to start drinking earlier in the day.

So anyway, back to our Thomas visit. Like every other outdoor family activity we embark on, it rained. At least it wasn't the thundering, lightning, might-possibly-die-in-this-storm kind of rain like we got at Carowinds. Actually, we did get an hour or 2 of no rain. Unfortunately that was the time period we were inside. When it was time for lunch (all of the vendors were outside) and time for our train ride on Thomas (where you wait in line outside), THAT'S when it was raining. At least we were prepared this time with rain coats and umbrella's. And I dressed the kids warmly since I knew the cold front was coming through. Unfortunately, Brynn decided to have a blow out while hanging out in the front carrier, and the only thing I had for her was an extra onesie. So here we all were with our coats and jeans and our 4 month old wearing just a short sleeve shirt. And I couldn't put her in the stoller because we're not the "cool" parents who purchase a waterproof zipper-liner-thing for the stroller (seriously, how often do people use those things?). So she was in the front carrier safe from the rain under the umbrella, but freezing. Oh well. I do have to say though that the baby changing area at the Thomas Day was pretty impressive. They had this conference room set up with a bunch of tables each with a big thick pad and a paper covering each pad. Then they had wipes, baby powder, and Purell at each station. Not only that, but they had DIAPERS! 6 neat bins, one for each size 1 through 6. But...no extra pair of pants.

Despite the rain, I think the kids really liked their visit to Thomas. Ethan of course was deathly afraid of Sir Topham Hatt, but was comforted by the fact that Sir Topham Hatt had to stay in the same place all day. Ethan loved looking at the model trains and then looking through all the big trains.

Blythe really enjoyed the magic show and the music show. She said the music show was her favorite thing. They let the kids play instruments to the songs and it's pretty neat. Ethan particpated on the song where they play the bongo drums, otherwise he sat back and watched.

We looked at old cars at the museum and then after lunch we took our ride on the Thomas train, which is about a 25 minute train ride. Ethan said that was his favorite part. The kids got certificates to commemorate their experience.

Brynn was a trooper the whole time and never cried or complained (until she got hungry) and stayed awake the whole time. All 3 kids were asleep within 15 minutes of being in the car and they all slept almost all the way back to Blacksburg. Nice!

4 months!

Dang - time is just going by way too fast. And now ANOTHER month has passed and Brynn is 4 months old. That's a third of a year people! Completely ridiculous. Anyway, she heads to the doctor Tuesday next week, so no status until then, but here's what she's up to.

• The picture is from bath time, which she LOVES. Still in the baby bath seat, but getting almost too big. Plus she likes to try to "jump" out of it, which isn't all that safe.
  
• Sleep is basically still the same. About 12 hours at night (7:30pm to 7:15am) and about 3 naps during the day. Actually on day care days it's sometimes 4. All are about 30 or 45 minutes. There's just too much going to on sleep and miss it all!


• Eating is still the same too. Eats 5 times a day, though on day care days it's 2 bottles a day (I'm still going to the day care once a day to feed her). She can now take a bottle of formula if necessary (though she still gets almost all breast milk).


• She loves going to Ethan's gymnastics class on Thursdays because she gets to go in the front carrier and make flirty eyes at the other little boys. But she's getting heavy in the front carrier!


• 2 days ago was the first time I noticed her cry real tears


• She LOVES her mommy. I can usually calm her down almost instantly.


• She has not rolled over nor has made any attempt to (unless she has at day care). Partly I think because she's lazy and partly because of lack of opportunity. She's in the exersaucer, the car seat, or being held much of the time. Though she is on her back in her bed for 12 hours....scratch that...she has plenty of opportunity. She's just lazy.


• She laughs some, but it's kind of hard to get her to laugh. When she does, it's a soft giggle, not a big belly laugh.


• Still wearing size 2 diapers. She's grown out of any small 3-6 month clothes and is mostly wearing larger 3-6 month or small 6-9 month stuff.


• She can sit for sometimes a couple of seconds without support but usually leans too far forward or falls to the side.


• She does try to talk all the time. Sometimes even at 3 or 4 in the morning. She can say some consonants like "h" and "b" and "g" and "l" sounds.
  

The next month will hold many changes for this little girl. Won't be long until we move her to the bath seat in the big bath tub. Soon she'll be trying some solids and be able to sit in a high chair. She can probably go ahead and try the johnny jumper, though I haven't gotten it out yet. I'll probably break out the baby backpack soon too, as it's easier to carry her in than the front carrier. And hopefully she'll be rolling over in the next month. Good times ahead!

Let's make some noise

You're gonna have to be loud to be heard in this household.

Louder than that for sure. So Brynn's been practicing. At about 3 in the morning. Not screaming or crying, just talking. I don't ever have to go in there. She just practices for about 15 or 20 minutes and then goes back to sleep. Then she practices some more when she wakes up in the morning (while she waits for Mommy to take her sweet ass time brushing her teeth, brushing her hair, putting on makeup, etc). But she's content just laying there talking. I swear she can almost say "Hi!". Yesterday and today, when I say "Hi!' to Brynn, she says "Ha" back to me. Clearly with the "H" sound.

Her primary focus is definitely on talking and not on mobility. She hasn't rolled over yet. Hasn't even made an effort to. Of course, that probably has something to do with her rarely laying down unless she's asleep. She's usually in her exersaucer, the front carrier, or being held. Speaking of front carrier, she fell asleep in it yesterday. Facing frontwards. She was SO tired from daycare!

We're silly

What a beautiful weekend! If only I could say my kids were beautiful little angels all weekend. Man, they can wear us out! Blythe is testing her limits these days and finding out which buttons she can push that REALLY tick us off. And getting Ethan to take a nap, well, I don't even want to think about it anymore. Makes my head hurt.

But we did have some brighter moments to the weekend.

Ethan and Braden went to the VT football game. This weekend there was no rain AND the hokies finally pulled out a W. We only have 2 season tickets, so the girls had to stay behind. While Brynn caught up on her napping for the week, Blythe and I had a picnic in the front yard. Then we painted fingernails. Then I taught her how to play "War". For a brief while I had more cards and she started crying because she was losing. Then she started winning and it didn't take long before she had all the cards. Then she said, "That's okay mom, that's just the way things go sometimes".

Later we took some pictures of ourselves making different facial expressions. Here we have HAPPY:

and SAD:

and ANGRY:

and SILLY:


Okay, so it doesn't take much to amuse ourselves.

This morning we had pictures at church for the church directory. Amazingly, I think we might have actually taken a good family picture. Guess we'll see. Brynn was VERY asleep just before the picture, but woke up to participate in the family photo op, then went back to sleep.

I did get a cute picture of Brynn before church though.

Family pic

Here's a good pic that my friend Emily took on our trip to Cashiers in August.

And the project goes on

Sorry - still no before and after pics of our living room or our basement. In the basement, we are almost done with everything. Just need to order some trim pieces and nailgun those on and we'll be done down there. We got ourselves a big 47 inch TV for down there so now we don't have to squint to watch movies.

In the living room, we're just waiting on countertops. We ordered them back in July and apparently they were back-ordered. Finally picked them up last Friday and tried to install them on Sunday and found they were not cut to the right size. The depth was half and inch too big. Seems like they could just cut that half inch off, but we also had them cut a hole for electrical cords and cutting a half inch off the back would mess it up. So we took them back and now wait another 3-4 weeks for them to be back-ordered again. Ugh! At least they gave us the countertops for free after all the hassle. But the never-ending project continues.

Good news

The good news is that I can now dry my hair in half as much time. The bad news is that's because I have about half of my hair. Damn after-effects of pregnancy. I swear I'm going to be bald in a few weeks if this keeps up. I can't wait until it all grows back at the same time. Gray. That's going to be freakin awesome.

But enough about me. How about a blog about the weekend? Saturday was the first VT home football game of the season. And although we SUCK (and are now 0-2), Ethan looked cute for the game.

We only have 2 tickets to the games, so this week Braden and Ethan went. Blythe was going to go, but it was raining and she didn't want to sit in the rain. She only likes to go to football games if the weather is ideal. No idea where she gets that from. Oh wait....

Anyway, they got to go on the field before the game and then stayed until mid-way through the second quarter. Ethan had a good time. I think they'll go this weekend too.

The weather was MUCH better yesterday, so we got to do a lot of playing outside. Blythe, Ginsey, and Ginsey's other friend spent the day running back and forth from Ginsey's house to ours, eating snacks all day, dressing up in various outfits, and telling secrets. Basically, Blythe was in HEAVEN.

Ethan's been asking all summer to go on a bike ride and it's either been too hot or just too much going on with a newborn and all. But yesterday Braden took him on a bike ride to the grocery store to pick up some food for dinner.

When they got back, a few of the neighbors started up an impromptu t-ball game. Eventually there were about 6 or 7 families playing. LOVE LOVE our neighborhood on days like that.

As for Brynn, we got to break out the exersaucer this weekend! Oh exersaucer, how I love thee. It'll be a freaking miracle though if the exersaucer lasts until Brynn grows out of it without Blythe or Ethan breaking it. I have little faith in the small pieces of rubber that are now almost 5 years old that are holding it together.

Anyway, it was a good weekend. Tomorrow is Braden's birthday so be sure to wish him Happy Birthday! He'll be just as OLD as me!

Fall Activities

Well the activities have begun! Blythe started swim lessons on Tuesday, which she has every Tuesday and Thursday for the next 4 weeks. Ethan started gymnastics yesterday, which he has once a week until Thanksgiving.

Braden was out of town Tuesday, so it was just me and the 3 kids trying to get from day care to campus, to the pool, to the locker room. I had to entertain Ethan and Brynn during the lesson, so I didn't get to watch a whole lot of it, let alone actually get some footage. But overall I'd say she did well. She did not do well at listening to her instructor tell her to "Stay on the wall!" when it wasn't her turn. We had us a little talk afterwards about it. Braden took her yesterday and I asked if she did better at staying on the wall when it wasn't her turn, and he said No. But he did say she did the backstroke yesterday. So I think these lessons will be good.

As for Ethan, since I had Brynn on my in the front carrier, I also didn't get any footage of him. He acted all shy at the beginning of class. They split into 2 groups and his group did trampoline first. He wanted no part of it at first, but came around eventually. Then his group switched to floor and he wanted no part of doing a somersault, but again eventually came around.

Brynn takes cat naps at day care usually so she is REALLY tired in the evenings. Should make for an interesting Fall but, so far so good.

Labor Day weekend

Last weekend we headed back to Cashiers, NC, but this time Grams and Peep were there! It wasn't as long of a trip as last time, but we squeezed a lot into those few days. Braden's friend Magnus (or as the kids call him...Maggots) met us there on Friday night and then Saturday morning we headed to the big playground to get some energy out. Around lunchtime my friend Sue came up with her daughter, Sadie, just before the guys headed out to Atlanta to watch the LSU vs UNC game at the Georgia Dome and then stay at Sue's house.

So while Sue was there, the kids played. Ethan's like, "Um, that's my shirt"

Then Sadie's like, "Oops. I didn't know. I'm just a baby."

Then Ethan's like, "That's okay. Let's hug it out."

Anyway, we headed to the indoor pool later that day (the weather was BEAUTIFUL, but too cool for the outdoor pool). I think Brynn really liked that pool because it was so warm. For some reason, Blythe and Ethan thought they'd be allowed in the hot tub, but alas it was for people 14 and older.

The guys had a great time in Atlanta and got back in the early afternoon shortly after Sue left to go home. Ethan took a nap and then we loaded up the jet boat that Grams and Peep have (it's like an oversized jet ski) and headed to Lake Jocassee. This lake is gorgeous! Mountains all around and blue, clear water. There's a nice state park where we put the boat in then we found a beach area to hang out at and swim at and tube around.

Here's Ethan showing off the beauty of the lake.

We headed out to find a waterfall too. Apparently there's a really big waterfall, but you have to climb some large boulders to see it (Braden climbed them and can vouch for that). But that wasn't very kid friendly for a 2 and 4 year old. So we settled for just sitting on a rock near it.

We headed home the next day. The car trips weren't too bad. Ethan won't really watch movies in the car. He just talks and makes loud random noises the whole time, so we put him in the far back with Blythe. If our van had a 4th row, he'd be there. Far away from Braden and I in the front seat. I did get a speeding ticket going home. Damn Tennessee police who sit at the bottom of the hill and get you when you are going your fastest (seriously...are people really supposed to ride their brakes the whole way down the hill??). You are welcome Tennessee for my $209. I'm not bitter or anything. Anyway, it had a bad ending, but overall we did have a really great Labor Day weekend. I can't believe this summer is now over. This was really a GREAT summer. Record high temperature summer, which works for me because it was great pool weather. Didn't work almost the whole summer, and had lots of fun with the kiddos!

A snake and a six

I think it might be time to remove the little potty from the kids bathroom, which will force Ethan to use the big potty (you know, the one with water in it that doesn't require you to clean the poop out of it). The little potty is Ethan's favorite place to poop. Pretty much he poops every morning at the same time (I'm so envious...if only I could be that regular!). The "great" thing about the little potty is that after you do your business, you can take time to marvel at the masterpiece you have created. And comment on it.

About a week ago, it was "a snake". A few days ago Ethan said he made "a six!" The day he made the six, he actually went first before waking me up. Then he came in to my room with his jammie bottoms around his ankles to let me know so I could wipe him. Yay. He had taken off his pull-up by himself before he went, so at least we're progressing.

This morning I was dead asleep (though I think it was around 7am) and I heard someone say "Mommy", so I turned and he was there and gave me a small piece of plastic (from a clothing tag). I said Thanks and then he left and I went back to sleep. I'm not quite sure where all he went, but I know he went downstairs at some point. Anyway, later he came to wake me up again, but this time was carrying the "containment bucket" from the potty to show me his masterpiece. Fortunately I have a cold and can't smell. So we flushed it and that was that. Later we were in Brynn's room and he said he needed to get his pull-up so he could put it in Brynn's diaper genie and he went downstairs to get it. So again, not sure what all happened this morning.

Though in thinking about it, I'm not sure that getting rid of the potty will eliminate the desire to show everyone his works of art. All growing up I remember boys saying stuff like, "Man, you should have seen the turd in that dump I just took. It was like a foot long!"

Ah, boys.

Conversations with a 4 year old

Blythe told me the other day she wanted to be 5 forever. So I reminded her she was 4 and not 5, to which she reminded me that she will be 5 in January.

So I told her if she's 5 forever, she'll never be 6. So she decided she wanted to be 6 forever. But then I told her if she's 6 forever, she'll never be 7. So then it was 7 that she wanted to be. This went on a few more rounds until she finally decided on 9. She wants to be 9 forever.

She also wants to be a mom when she grows up. Except she doesn't want to change her baby's diaper. She also doesn't want to feed her baby. So I'm not quite sure she would be "mom" material. And apparently she wants to be an unwed mom, as she insists she NEVER wants to get married. I really don't know why. With our cabinet project, we took all our photo albums out and she has loved looking through those. She especially loves the pictures from our wedding. But she wants no part of a wedding for herself.

Speaking of cabinet project...I'm SO ready for it to be done. But it just keeps going. We can now add tiling to our list of things we can do. Not grouting yet though. So there's still no guarantee it will work out, but we're getting there. I really need to get this done though as I envision my workload at work will be getting really tough very soon. My company laid off 30% of my team today, including my boss. So it was a rough day on the workfront.

3 months!

Okay, so Brynn was actually 3 months old yesterday, but I forgot to get her picture in the bath.

She loves her bath! She was actually VERY tired and VERY hungry, but you'd never know it when you put her in the bath. Getting her out...another story. Anyway, let's see what she's up to these days:

• She started day care this week and had a rough couple of days to start, but today she did great! She ate from her bottle, took 2 naps (one was 2 hours and the other was almost 3!), and even pooped a couple times (better there than at home!)
• Still sleeping about 11-12 hours at night and usually takes 3 naps a day
• She's still in 3-6 month clothes, but the shirts are getting a little snug. Wearing size 2 diapers.
• She started laughing this month. She laughed for Daddy a cute set of giggles. She has not done that for me though I have tried and tried. When Gommy came last week, she had Brynn giggling within an hour of her arrival. I guess I'm just not that funny.
• She still likes playing with her playgym. She really likes the lights on the star from her old playgym. She also still likes the bubbles on her bouncy seat.
• She has never liked the swing at home, but likes it at day care. Go figure.
• Her hair is falling out and she has a nice big bald spot on the back of her head where she sleeps on it.
• She's starting to have more interest in her brother and sister. I can sit her on my lap and she is sometimes entertained just by watching them. I think she's cautious of her brother (because he's likely to be too rough around her) and maybe still a little annoyed with her sister (because she likes to touch and kiss Brynn ALL the time, even when she's eating).
• Now that she's 3 months, that means Mommy had to go back to work and I miss my baby girl during the day. She was my little sidekick all summer. She was my walking buddy, my pool buddy, my grocery buddy, and sometimes (rarely) my nap-on-the-couch buddy. I've gone up to the day care each day though to feed her and visit with her. Hopefully I can keep that up for a while.

First day of day care

Yesterday was Brynn's first day. Her perfectly happy days of spending all day with mom and sleeping in a quiet room and eating straight from the source, were terribly interrupted by this thing called "day care" because mom has to do this thing called "work".

She didn't have the best day, but it also could have been worse. Mainly, she didn't want to eat from the bottle. So basically she didn't. They said she was pretty happy and didn't cry unless you tried to feed her, then she would cry. She took a couple of naps, about 40 minutes each. For day care, that's not bad. But compared to the amount she was sleeping at home, that made her quite tired. I ended up picking her up at 3:00pm and at that point she was SO tired and SO hungry. Apparently more tired than hungry as she fell asleep in my arms almost as soon as I took her out of her car seat. About 45 minutes later she woke up and was VERY hungry.

So I'm hoping for a better day today. I'm trying different bottles today so maybe that will help. She was smiling when I dropped her off so that helped me feel better today. I struggled yesterday to keep it together until I got to the car (where I then burst into tears). It was exactly the same way I felt after Ethan's first day, so it doesn't get any easier the more times you do it. But it has to be done, and she's in good hands there.