Run! Run! I just wasted so much time doing random blah blah's on the internet. I hate that feeling! and it's not even 7:30 am! What have I done with my life?!
I'm a little freaked out cuz I'm super stuffed up and it's killing me softly. It's super common to get stuffed up when you're pregnant. My mom has MAJOR sinus issues that run in her family, and she's had a couple of sinus surgeries. She told me that she didn't have ANY sinus problems until she was pregnant, so anytime I feel like this in pregnancy, I'm terrified that it'll never end and that will be the end of my life as I know it. Here's hoping it passes, because permanent sinus problems sounds like the most annoying problem to have.
Also, why are all the grandparents having so many problems in my family? My Oma recently had surgery (she has cancer) and it really took a toll on my Opa's health; just all the stress of it, I guess. And now, since she's been home from her surgery and desperately needing rest and care, he's been in the hospital twice (in one week) because he's had major trouble breathing and his blood pressure keeps either spiking or dropping way too low. It's been really stressful and emotional for my parents - my mom because she's basically been my Oma's support system through her whole cancer journey. She's driven her to all of her appointments, explained what the doctors were telling her, called and followed up with clinics, etc. and it's definitely been an emotional time. It's been exhausting/hard on my dad because... well, his dad could die at any time.
Could you imagine if your dad was dying?!?!? your DAD?! They're supposed to be invincible. Dad's are like the original super hero's of our lives that are supposed to do everything, not be scared of anything, and of course, be immortal. He's spent a lot of time with my Opa; helping him with things that he needs around the house because of course my Oma is in recovery and can no longer do all of the million things she used to do for him on a daily basis. This has been hard for my dad because my dad, much like my Opa, is used to being the dotee, not the dote...r. He has now declared my Oma a saint. This? This is one of the reasons why I'm so thankful that I have a daughter. In my dad's family there are only three brothers. Say what you will about gender just being a label, men in general are not nurturers and caretakers. My dad and his brothers don't know the first thing about taking care of another human being in the way that a woman could. Let me rephrase that... it doesn't come naturally to them. My dad and his brother are 100% willing and trying their hardest, but the whole selfless thing doesn't come natural to them. I'm thankful to have a dad (and an uncle) who is willing to put in the time and effort to make sure his parents are comfortable, and also for a mom that pushed him to do so in the first place.
And now my mom tells me that my Grandpa was in the hospital with excruciating pain for the second time this week. Something about his gall bladder. So my mom was in Peace Arch over night last night making sure everything was okay.
My grandparents are falling apart.
My parents are absolutely exhausted.
And I never look forward to the age of craziness that comes when all the parents are in their late 80's. And I'm sad for my grandparents. And sad for my parents.
And Stuart's Opa died on Thursday. And he's sad. He's going to the funeral on Friday and coming home Saturday. As much as I want to be there beside him, it's hard with the kids and also hard that it's happening so close to Christmas and we're going back in just 2 weeks again. So, he'll make a quick trip of it. I feel so sad for Stuart's mom because now she's lost both parents. Luckily, she has three sisters that she's very close with to talk to. This is just another reason why siblings are so important. You need them so much in times like this (I'm assuming!).
Sunday, November 27, 2016
Saturday, November 26, 2016
Thanksgiving Week
Croup
November 23rd Frankie woke up super early in the morning gasping for air. It was super scary.
Previously, Joey had a really bad night time cough that we e-mailed our doctor about. We weren't alarmed with Joey because he's had respiratory issues since he was a baby and we're used to it with him and usually know what to do since he has two puffers on hand in case he has a flare up. The doctor said it sounded like Joey had croup, but we weren't worried because his cough was mostly contained to a barky coughing episode every couple of hours and he didn't have any trouble breathing.
Croup is viral, though and Frankie got it shortly after Joey was finished with it and it hit her little system so much harder because she's littler. Croup can definitely be scary because she was literally having trouble breathing. It was the longest drive to the emergency ever. Stuart obviously stayed home with Joey, so it was just me and Frankie at the hospital. They gave her a 'breathing treatment' which is basically adrenaline that you inhale for a good fifteen minutes. (I held a wand and she breathed it in) She actually did really well. I thought she might squirm or turn her head away, but I think she enjoyed the mist in her face and it actually calmed her down. After that she had some steroid medication orally that would stop any inflammation and we sat in the emergency room for three hours while they monitored her because they wanted to make sure her heart rate didn't spike from all of the adrenaline.
It was a long three hours because she was super upset about having a monitor thing taped to her big toe and I was exhausted and couldn't even stand up from some kind of nerve pain I've been experiencing in my leg that had flared up the night before so bad that I was literally crawling around the house because walking was too painful. Super bad timing.
Anyway - that happened early Wednesday morning and I didn't want to risk infecting any of my friends kids with the virus at our Thanksgiving gathering that we've had planned and organized for over a month. I was so excited about it and looking forward to it for weeks. But, things happen and I'm so glad Frankie is a-okay.
Thanksgiving
Thursday (thanksgiving day) we were invited to family friends for thanksgiving (in lieu of being able to go to our friends thanksgiving) and no kids were going to be there, so it was safe for our family to join. I was so so so happy that we had another gathering to go to, because it would have been depressing to be home on thanksgiving by ourselves, especially since I hadn't gone out and gotten anything special to prepare for Thursday except for the side dish that I was going to bring to the other event.
Thanksgiving at the Heath's was awesome. The only downsides were that I was feeling really pregnancy sick and barfed three times while we were there after barely eating and Joey didn't have any nap because of the timing of the meal and he was acting like a crazy guy, running around the house yelling half the time. Yikes! But it was so nice to be there that all the niceness of the whole thing overshadowed the hard parts.
(Black) Friday
Yesterday was a nice 'home day' for our family. I think I read to Joey, without exaggeration, for probably three hours total. And Stuart and I got to have some alone time with Frankie (a rarity) in the afternoon because she woke up an hour earlier than Joey did from her nap.
Something fun and cool that happened yesterday was that I went out with my friend Chelsea for a walk on my favorite trail for two and a half hours and it was so fun. We never ran out of things to talk about! I really like her and we're going for a walk again today and are going to try and make it a super regular thing, which I'm completely stoked about. Yay!!
16 Week Bump!
Hey! Tomorrow I'll officially be 16 weeks. Baby is the size of an avocado now! Hereeee's my bump! and my super dirty pants! haha
November 23rd Frankie woke up super early in the morning gasping for air. It was super scary.
Previously, Joey had a really bad night time cough that we e-mailed our doctor about. We weren't alarmed with Joey because he's had respiratory issues since he was a baby and we're used to it with him and usually know what to do since he has two puffers on hand in case he has a flare up. The doctor said it sounded like Joey had croup, but we weren't worried because his cough was mostly contained to a barky coughing episode every couple of hours and he didn't have any trouble breathing.
Croup is viral, though and Frankie got it shortly after Joey was finished with it and it hit her little system so much harder because she's littler. Croup can definitely be scary because she was literally having trouble breathing. It was the longest drive to the emergency ever. Stuart obviously stayed home with Joey, so it was just me and Frankie at the hospital. They gave her a 'breathing treatment' which is basically adrenaline that you inhale for a good fifteen minutes. (I held a wand and she breathed it in) She actually did really well. I thought she might squirm or turn her head away, but I think she enjoyed the mist in her face and it actually calmed her down. After that she had some steroid medication orally that would stop any inflammation and we sat in the emergency room for three hours while they monitored her because they wanted to make sure her heart rate didn't spike from all of the adrenaline.
It was a long three hours because she was super upset about having a monitor thing taped to her big toe and I was exhausted and couldn't even stand up from some kind of nerve pain I've been experiencing in my leg that had flared up the night before so bad that I was literally crawling around the house because walking was too painful. Super bad timing.
Anyway - that happened early Wednesday morning and I didn't want to risk infecting any of my friends kids with the virus at our Thanksgiving gathering that we've had planned and organized for over a month. I was so excited about it and looking forward to it for weeks. But, things happen and I'm so glad Frankie is a-okay.
Thanksgiving
Thursday (thanksgiving day) we were invited to family friends for thanksgiving (in lieu of being able to go to our friends thanksgiving) and no kids were going to be there, so it was safe for our family to join. I was so so so happy that we had another gathering to go to, because it would have been depressing to be home on thanksgiving by ourselves, especially since I hadn't gone out and gotten anything special to prepare for Thursday except for the side dish that I was going to bring to the other event.
My silly kids while I was cooking just had to be in the kitchen with me :)
Thanksgiving at the Heath's was awesome. The only downsides were that I was feeling really pregnancy sick and barfed three times while we were there after barely eating and Joey didn't have any nap because of the timing of the meal and he was acting like a crazy guy, running around the house yelling half the time. Yikes! But it was so nice to be there that all the niceness of the whole thing overshadowed the hard parts.
(Black) Friday
Something fun and cool that happened yesterday was that I went out with my friend Chelsea for a walk on my favorite trail for two and a half hours and it was so fun. We never ran out of things to talk about! I really like her and we're going for a walk again today and are going to try and make it a super regular thing, which I'm completely stoked about. Yay!!
16 Week Bump!
Hey! Tomorrow I'll officially be 16 weeks. Baby is the size of an avocado now! Hereeee's my bump! and my super dirty pants! haha
Tuesday, November 22, 2016
Hospital Visit
You know my jean shorts? Come on, you do. They're pretty much all I wear in the summertime. Well, today I need to pack 'em away because they officially don't fit me anymore! I mean, I haven't attempted to wear them in a good three weeks, but now it's confirmed! I need to go shopping for some bigger clothes!
I think my belly has gotten smaller. I think it might be because when I could finally eat something again, I would get super bloated I looked ultra pregnant, but now my body has figured out that it'll be receiving food on a regular basis and doesn't bloat like it did at the beginning. So, I look like a normal pregnant person for 15 weeks! Horray! Also, I'm not so uncomfortable!
PS the baby is the size of an apple this week! And it's going to DOUBLE in size in the next 2 weeks! woooah, baby!
---
Yesterday was a majorly busy day. Ryan and Janice (Ryan was the pastor at the church we went to when Stuart was doing his internship and Janice is his wife and also was the worship pastor) were good friends of ours when Stuart was doing his internship. The church that we went to at that time was all but dead. It had about 30 regular attendees who were... what's the nice word they use to describe weird people? .. ah yes, colorful. Ryan and Janice were amazing. He was the best pastor I'd ever heard and she was an amazing worship leader. It was so odd to me that they were leading such a ghost town of a church. We guessed (and I think we were right) that they weren't receiving much encouragement, so we would have them and their (then 15 year old) daughter over for dinner a few times, they came over for a thanksgiving turkey, and we treated them to a Stanford football game. We even watched the presidential reelection with them for hours the day we moved back to Vancouver when we should have been packing!
We got pretty close with them. We'd skype from Vancouver on occasion and I went back and stayed with their family for a few days and went to a women's retreat with some of the girls from the old church. I spent time with their whole family including out of town family, and lots of time with their daughter, Olivia. Looking back, they really were like family!
Before we moved back, a huge church hired Ryan as a welcome pastor and decided to keep the existing church that they were running and pour a bunch of money into it to make it really nice (it was super run down when we were there. I remember that painting the bathrooms was their big project haha). So now, Ryan doesn't preach anymore. And Janice occasionally is in the background vocals up front. And it's really sad to me because they're both so talented and no one at this humongous church we goes to knows it.
They got busy with tasks and needs at the huge new church (we also attend this church), and we got busy with having babies. Janice threw me a baby shower when we moved here, and they babysat Joey when he was two months old, but after that, things got busy for both of us and we stopped spending much time together at all. We'd hug at church and talk for two minutes, but since Ryan is the welcome pastor and Janice is his wife, they were busy with all the people needing their attention after church.
Two years ago, around this time, Olivia (their daughter) got really sick. The doctors couldn't figure out what was wrong with her. She's had the most extreme case of Chrone's Disease for her whole life, which majorly suppresses her immune system. But when she got sick the way she did, it wasn't Chrone's related and doctors couldn't figure out what was causing it and therefore couldn't treat it other than with an ng (feeding) tube and pain medication. She couldn't eat, threw up buckets of bile, and was in constant pain for over a month. She lost so much weight. She looked like a ghost. It got so bad that they thought she might not make it. She was too weak to even walk and her body was rejecting even the food that was slowly getting pumped into her stomach. She received a 'Make A Wish'. It was during this time that Janice and I really reconnected. We would text and call a lot and I spent time (with Joey) at the hospital with Olivia and her and delivered a meal for their family.
Eventually, Olivia got better and has only had small slides in her health since that time, It was her last year of high school and she had to finish it out with home schooling. We attended her graduation ceremony and a small dinner at their house. (I was very pregnant with Frankie).
Again, as life got busy, we've drifted apart with the occasional 'we sure do miss you!' text, or a quick hug at church and an offer to babysit or a general invitation to see their new house. About a month ago, once again, Olivia has gone downhill. Really downhill. She's been living in the hospital and the pain medication she takes every two hours, which is stronger than morphine, is having almost no effect on her.
I went with the kids yesterday morning to visit and we stayed for two hours. I wasn't sure how the kids would react because they know Olivia and Joey is scared of her at the best of times, let alone with her lying in a hospital bed with tubes coming out of her. I had been talking to him about Olivia and how she has 'an owie in her tummy that's making her so sick that she has to live in the hospital' and that we have to be 'extra kind and loving to her' for days. I think it really helped, because he was standing by her and even talking to her and didn't freak out once for the whole two hours that we visited! And he even told her that he loves her!
Janice looked so tired. I have never seen her look so spent. At the end of our visit, she said she had to go because she had to organize a Christmas event at the church and hadn't picked up any of the food and Olivia cried when they were hugging and kept saying "Don't leave me here alone" IT. WAS. THE. SADDEST. THING. IN. THE. WHOLE. WORLD. It was already an hour past the kids nap time, but I said it would be no problem for me to run all of her errands for her. She said 'No, no. It's okay. I'm sure your kids need a nap.' and I assured her it was no problem. For the next two hours, I shlepped my half dead, verging on nervous breakdown kids to run errands and they barely survived! haha. I was sooooo exhausted. It definitely screwed with their sleep big time, but if it meant Olivia not needing to be alone and depressed for another couple of hours, then it was definitely worth it.
WOW. That was an incredibly long winded way of saying what I did yesterday.
I think my belly has gotten smaller. I think it might be because when I could finally eat something again, I would get super bloated I looked ultra pregnant, but now my body has figured out that it'll be receiving food on a regular basis and doesn't bloat like it did at the beginning. So, I look like a normal pregnant person for 15 weeks! Horray! Also, I'm not so uncomfortable!
PS the baby is the size of an apple this week! And it's going to DOUBLE in size in the next 2 weeks! woooah, baby!
---
Yesterday was a majorly busy day. Ryan and Janice (Ryan was the pastor at the church we went to when Stuart was doing his internship and Janice is his wife and also was the worship pastor) were good friends of ours when Stuart was doing his internship. The church that we went to at that time was all but dead. It had about 30 regular attendees who were... what's the nice word they use to describe weird people? .. ah yes, colorful. Ryan and Janice were amazing. He was the best pastor I'd ever heard and she was an amazing worship leader. It was so odd to me that they were leading such a ghost town of a church. We guessed (and I think we were right) that they weren't receiving much encouragement, so we would have them and their (then 15 year old) daughter over for dinner a few times, they came over for a thanksgiving turkey, and we treated them to a Stanford football game. We even watched the presidential reelection with them for hours the day we moved back to Vancouver when we should have been packing!
We got pretty close with them. We'd skype from Vancouver on occasion and I went back and stayed with their family for a few days and went to a women's retreat with some of the girls from the old church. I spent time with their whole family including out of town family, and lots of time with their daughter, Olivia. Looking back, they really were like family!
Before we moved back, a huge church hired Ryan as a welcome pastor and decided to keep the existing church that they were running and pour a bunch of money into it to make it really nice (it was super run down when we were there. I remember that painting the bathrooms was their big project haha). So now, Ryan doesn't preach anymore. And Janice occasionally is in the background vocals up front. And it's really sad to me because they're both so talented and no one at this humongous church we goes to knows it.
They got busy with tasks and needs at the huge new church (we also attend this church), and we got busy with having babies. Janice threw me a baby shower when we moved here, and they babysat Joey when he was two months old, but after that, things got busy for both of us and we stopped spending much time together at all. We'd hug at church and talk for two minutes, but since Ryan is the welcome pastor and Janice is his wife, they were busy with all the people needing their attention after church.
Two years ago, around this time, Olivia (their daughter) got really sick. The doctors couldn't figure out what was wrong with her. She's had the most extreme case of Chrone's Disease for her whole life, which majorly suppresses her immune system. But when she got sick the way she did, it wasn't Chrone's related and doctors couldn't figure out what was causing it and therefore couldn't treat it other than with an ng (feeding) tube and pain medication. She couldn't eat, threw up buckets of bile, and was in constant pain for over a month. She lost so much weight. She looked like a ghost. It got so bad that they thought she might not make it. She was too weak to even walk and her body was rejecting even the food that was slowly getting pumped into her stomach. She received a 'Make A Wish'. It was during this time that Janice and I really reconnected. We would text and call a lot and I spent time (with Joey) at the hospital with Olivia and her and delivered a meal for their family.
Eventually, Olivia got better and has only had small slides in her health since that time, It was her last year of high school and she had to finish it out with home schooling. We attended her graduation ceremony and a small dinner at their house. (I was very pregnant with Frankie).
Again, as life got busy, we've drifted apart with the occasional 'we sure do miss you!' text, or a quick hug at church and an offer to babysit or a general invitation to see their new house. About a month ago, once again, Olivia has gone downhill. Really downhill. She's been living in the hospital and the pain medication she takes every two hours, which is stronger than morphine, is having almost no effect on her.
I went with the kids yesterday morning to visit and we stayed for two hours. I wasn't sure how the kids would react because they know Olivia and Joey is scared of her at the best of times, let alone with her lying in a hospital bed with tubes coming out of her. I had been talking to him about Olivia and how she has 'an owie in her tummy that's making her so sick that she has to live in the hospital' and that we have to be 'extra kind and loving to her' for days. I think it really helped, because he was standing by her and even talking to her and didn't freak out once for the whole two hours that we visited! And he even told her that he loves her!
Janice looked so tired. I have never seen her look so spent. At the end of our visit, she said she had to go because she had to organize a Christmas event at the church and hadn't picked up any of the food and Olivia cried when they were hugging and kept saying "Don't leave me here alone" IT. WAS. THE. SADDEST. THING. IN. THE. WHOLE. WORLD. It was already an hour past the kids nap time, but I said it would be no problem for me to run all of her errands for her. She said 'No, no. It's okay. I'm sure your kids need a nap.' and I assured her it was no problem. For the next two hours, I shlepped my half dead, verging on nervous breakdown kids to run errands and they barely survived! haha. I was sooooo exhausted. It definitely screwed with their sleep big time, but if it meant Olivia not needing to be alone and depressed for another couple of hours, then it was definitely worth it.
WOW. That was an incredibly long winded way of saying what I did yesterday.
Saturday, November 19, 2016
Life Just Keeps Chuggin' Along
Oh! On Wednesday, Joey had his first dentist appointment. The place that I booked the appointment had a three month waiting list. Three months! And when we got there, I realized why. The place was amazing! Joey was treated like a superstar from the moment we walked in until the moment we left. His hygienist was so good at making him feel comfortable with everything she was doing and was so engaging with him. I couldn't believe how well it went. Oh, and no cavities and perfect teeth! Yay!
My little superstar
The rest of the week just kind of flew by, with different activities includingggg tree farm, YMCA, various errands, friends house, Cubbies, Trinity Stay 'N Play, and lunches out because apparently I'm the incredible hulk now and need mass amounts of food.
Joey after Cubbies. He was running around and having so much fun with his little Cubbie friends (the name for the age 3-5 class) and I told him I was getting tired and that I wanted to go home soon and he said, "mommy! it's okay! you have a bed right here! See! It's really comfortable. I'll show you. You just lay down like this! There's a worm and a snake here and they're going to give you new cars from Cars!" hahaha it was so funny so I wanted to take a picture to remember it :)
This is Joey and Frankie every morning. I never have my phone out in the morning when I'm with them because we are always just playing together, but I wanted to snap a pic to remember what a 'morning in the life' is like right now, because this literally happens for an hour every morning. Joey lines up his trains or his cars from Cars. (Always one or the other) and Frankie destroys it while I'm getting their fruit cut up. I give her a container and something different to play with and come sit on the couch with a cup of coffee and the kids cut up fruit and play trains (or cars) with Joey. We mainly just talk to each other (as trains/cars) about our smoke stacks, boilers, fireboxes, wheels, paint jobs, or chug on 'shake shake bridge' (the couch arm rest). The couch arm rest became the place to play because when I was sick earlier in the pregnancy, I always needed to sit down on the couch in the morning, so Joey and Frankie brought the party to me. And it's been that way ever since!
Joey and Frankie together at Joey's morning class at the YMCA. Usually life is pretty busy and we make it to this class 2-3 times a week. (Next Step). I could drop Joey off at the class, but for some reason I don't think he's ready for it yet. Either that or I just plain old don't want to because I love watching him participate. There are a lot of other moms who come to the class with their younger one and stay, so I don't feel bad about it. It's a great class! And Frankie loves watching!
Trinity Stay 'N Play. (Note how concentrated Joey is). Some of my friends say that they don't like coming because their two kids always end up in different rooms (there are different activities in different rooms) and it's hard to keep track of them. Frankie wouldn't even dream of being anywhere away from her cool big brother, so I never have that issue :)
Joey and Ellie after Stay 'N Play. There's 1/2 hour of singing at the end of the 2 hours and it's really well organized. Joey loves it and there's a felt board with visuals for every song. We all went to In 'N Out burger after. It's our new tradition to do this after Stay 'N Play because there's one close by and I don't feel bad about feeding Joey a hamburger once every two weeks (Stay 'N Play is every other Friday). And the kids had a lot of fun!
Just a funny pic of the kids being wild with daddy last night! :)
And now it's the weekend! Horray! Stuart has a hockey tournament, the kids are getting babysat, and I'm going to an essential oil party at my friends house! :) Then we have a birthday party to go to! fun fun!
Tuesday, November 15, 2016
Sweetness and Little Milestones
Joey is... he's amazing. He amazes me all the time with how he cares for others.
Sometimes I feel dizzy (pregnancy) and I need to lay down. He will come lay down beside me and reassure me 'It's okay, mommy. You will feel better soon. I'll get you some water and you will feel much better'.
Yesterday, Frankie and him were sitting on an ATV and he was telling her the 'rules' of being on an ATV. 'So, if you want to ride, you just ride, Frankie. I'll be with you the whole time. You don't have to worry. Okay, Frankie? I will be here beside you the whole time, Frankie.' He said a lot more than that, but that's what I remember and I have some of it on video, too. :)
And he's such a sweet, nice little communicator. Ellie, one of his little friends was using a giant shovel and there was only one. He took the end of it and she angrily said 'I don't need help!' I thought maybe he'd pull it or get upset, but instead he let go, moved to face her and said 'Okay. If you need help, just ask me. Okay? If you need any help, just ask.' Oh mannnnn it was cute.
Once, an older girl (4) was being mean to him at the YMCA and instead of retaliating or complaining to me, I heard him say, 'You're being unkind. You shouldn't be unkind to me.' wahhhh! oh my word. He's so sweet.
Last night I was out with some women and Stuart had some friends over. One of his friends, Justin, showed up earlier than Stuart thought and he hadn't put the kids to bed yet. Joey told Justin that he should come sit on the couch with them to watch Bob the Builder and when he went to sleep, he went up to Justin and said, 'You can sleep wherever you just want.' haha! <3
He says the most precious stuff all the time. I'm sure i have a million more examples, but those are the ones from yesterday that stick out in my mind. These days I'm, more often than not, pleasantly surprised by his behavior and instincts.
----
On a different note, but also something that I have to write down so that I remember around what age Joey started doing certain things: Joey can officially sound out words (read). Just a month ago he started asking incessantly what everything he saw (on cereal boxes, notes on the fridge, billboards, etc) spelled. 'What does h-o-n-e-y spell?' and I make him sound out each letter with me and we figure out together what it spells. He would ask probably 100 times a day for different words. Or he would do the reverse. "How do you spell arm?' for example. Now, he's starting to do it on his own. And not with just small words, either! I don't remember what he sounded out yesterday, but I remember it was a long word and I was shocked and so impressed!
Another thing he's been doing a lot of (probably the same amount or more than the word thing) is asking me about numbers. For example 'What does 2-2-7 make?' to which I reply 'two hundred and twenty seven'. He's mastered identifying numbers he sees up to a hundred and has for the most part figured out how to say a number in the hundreds that he sees, and thousands isn't far behind, I'm sure! It's so interesting how his little brain is curious about this and how fast he learns. So cool.
---
Something I need to write down for the Frankster is that yesterday she said her first 3 word sentence! (Nov. 14/16) It was so surprising and cute! She was standing in the kitchen with me while I was making pizza and I had been feeding her little pieces of cheese while I assembled it. I guess it had been a minute since I'd given her another bite and she said, 'More cheese, please!' Up until then I'd barely heard her say much of anything and I was beginning to wonder when the heck she'd start talking! haha it was so surprising! But I actually remember having a similar experience with Joey! He had barely said anything and then one day I was driving with him after dropping Stuart off at work and I heard him in the back seat say, clear as a bell, 'one. two. three.' haha one of the most exciting moments of my life! :)
Sometimes I feel dizzy (pregnancy) and I need to lay down. He will come lay down beside me and reassure me 'It's okay, mommy. You will feel better soon. I'll get you some water and you will feel much better'.
Yesterday, Frankie and him were sitting on an ATV and he was telling her the 'rules' of being on an ATV. 'So, if you want to ride, you just ride, Frankie. I'll be with you the whole time. You don't have to worry. Okay, Frankie? I will be here beside you the whole time, Frankie.' He said a lot more than that, but that's what I remember and I have some of it on video, too. :)
And he's such a sweet, nice little communicator. Ellie, one of his little friends was using a giant shovel and there was only one. He took the end of it and she angrily said 'I don't need help!' I thought maybe he'd pull it or get upset, but instead he let go, moved to face her and said 'Okay. If you need help, just ask me. Okay? If you need any help, just ask.' Oh mannnnn it was cute.
Once, an older girl (4) was being mean to him at the YMCA and instead of retaliating or complaining to me, I heard him say, 'You're being unkind. You shouldn't be unkind to me.' wahhhh! oh my word. He's so sweet.
Last night I was out with some women and Stuart had some friends over. One of his friends, Justin, showed up earlier than Stuart thought and he hadn't put the kids to bed yet. Joey told Justin that he should come sit on the couch with them to watch Bob the Builder and when he went to sleep, he went up to Justin and said, 'You can sleep wherever you just want.' haha! <3
He says the most precious stuff all the time. I'm sure i have a million more examples, but those are the ones from yesterday that stick out in my mind. These days I'm, more often than not, pleasantly surprised by his behavior and instincts.
----
On a different note, but also something that I have to write down so that I remember around what age Joey started doing certain things: Joey can officially sound out words (read). Just a month ago he started asking incessantly what everything he saw (on cereal boxes, notes on the fridge, billboards, etc) spelled. 'What does h-o-n-e-y spell?' and I make him sound out each letter with me and we figure out together what it spells. He would ask probably 100 times a day for different words. Or he would do the reverse. "How do you spell arm?' for example. Now, he's starting to do it on his own. And not with just small words, either! I don't remember what he sounded out yesterday, but I remember it was a long word and I was shocked and so impressed!
Another thing he's been doing a lot of (probably the same amount or more than the word thing) is asking me about numbers. For example 'What does 2-2-7 make?' to which I reply 'two hundred and twenty seven'. He's mastered identifying numbers he sees up to a hundred and has for the most part figured out how to say a number in the hundreds that he sees, and thousands isn't far behind, I'm sure! It's so interesting how his little brain is curious about this and how fast he learns. So cool.
---
Something I need to write down for the Frankster is that yesterday she said her first 3 word sentence! (Nov. 14/16) It was so surprising and cute! She was standing in the kitchen with me while I was making pizza and I had been feeding her little pieces of cheese while I assembled it. I guess it had been a minute since I'd given her another bite and she said, 'More cheese, please!' Up until then I'd barely heard her say much of anything and I was beginning to wonder when the heck she'd start talking! haha it was so surprising! But I actually remember having a similar experience with Joey! He had barely said anything and then one day I was driving with him after dropping Stuart off at work and I heard him in the back seat say, clear as a bell, 'one. two. three.' haha one of the most exciting moments of my life! :)
Saturday, November 12, 2016
Things that make me happy
Hey! Here's a list of things that make me happy!
-Hiking... something that I NEVER do because I like to do it with people and no one that I'm friends with here likes it. I started hiking a bit on a trail that I knew had a lot of foot traffic before I found out I was pregnant with Frankie, but it's way nicer to go with someone.
-Going for long walks or runs on the Los Gatos trail. (Also something that I almost never get a chance to do!) After I gave birth to Frankie, I would go to this trail once a week and run for a good hour and a half. It was the best feeling in the world and something I would look forward to all week. I'm hoping that I can do this once a week solitude thang again when the new baby comes because it helped me feel great and keep my sanity.
-My kids. Duh. Joey and Frankie are the sweetest, funniest kids in the world and they light up my life all day erry day.
-Stuart. I was gonna say, 'duh' but, I guess saying your spouse makes you happy isn't a given. But, Stuart makes me happy. We have so much fun hanging out and still have plenty to talk, laugh, and reminisce about after seven and a half years of marriage. We have even more to laugh about with Joey and Frankie around :)
-Talking on the phone. Whenever I'm feeling bored or in a funk, talking on the phone always makes me feel great. I love hearing about my friends and families lives from back home and I'm always reminded that I'm not all alone in times of... well, being alone.
-Shooting hoops. I had forgotten about this one for yearrrs and yearrrs. I don't know why it never dawned on me that this was something that I enjoy because I used to do it all the time growing up and it's so fun and makes me feel so happy! I've started doing this again a lot, and I hope to continue because it's been energizing me in a way that I didn't expect (physically and mentally) so, I'm stoked!
-The beach. Oh my gosh, sitting at a table by the beach and having breakfast with Stuart when it's still a little cold out????? If I could do that every morning I would die of happiness. That sounds like my wildest dream.
-(along the same lines) Going out for breakfast and sitting outside!
- Playing piano. Which I never get to do and is something so seared into my identity, I feel a hole inside me without it. Even thinking about it makes me feel anxious and kind of sick. I miss it really bad. And it's not like I can just go do it. And now I feel like crying. We can't fit a piano into this apartment, and it would probably be too noisy for neighbors, but if Costco gets awesome keyboards again this Christmas season, I'm buying one. (and then I can plug headphones in so only I can hear it. It would be perfect for when the kids are napping). I want to play again so bad and what I really want to do is go to nursing homes and play Christmas carols and talk to the old people after and omg that sounds so great. BUT, if I have no where to practice (and no sheet music for that matter) I can't fricken do it.
-Listening to music. Let me tell you something. Growing up, listening to music is like all I did with my alone time. I'd listen to music and practice performing (singing and moving around a 'stage' in the mirror). This was literally my favorite hobby of all time from ages 5-17. Why do you think I did so well in the lip sync competitions? I was obsessed with music and performing. Let me tell you something else. I almost never listen to music anymore. I don't even know what music I like anymore. It's been so long since I've listened to music or sang anything. The thought of that makes me feel sad, too.
- Being with my old friends.
- Christmas time
- Christmas eve at my parents house
- Camping
- When Joey's caring and compassionate
- When Frankie climbs on top of me and rests her head on my chest
- Weddings
- Watching TV while eating
- Ordering pizza and having it delivered right when starvation has me on the brink of insanity
- Giving presents to people
- Cooking
I'm gonna stop now, but I want to keep adding to this list because it's fun and a good reminder for when I'm feelin' blueeeee
-Hiking... something that I NEVER do because I like to do it with people and no one that I'm friends with here likes it. I started hiking a bit on a trail that I knew had a lot of foot traffic before I found out I was pregnant with Frankie, but it's way nicer to go with someone.
-Going for long walks or runs on the Los Gatos trail. (Also something that I almost never get a chance to do!) After I gave birth to Frankie, I would go to this trail once a week and run for a good hour and a half. It was the best feeling in the world and something I would look forward to all week. I'm hoping that I can do this once a week solitude thang again when the new baby comes because it helped me feel great and keep my sanity.
-My kids. Duh. Joey and Frankie are the sweetest, funniest kids in the world and they light up my life all day erry day.
-Stuart. I was gonna say, 'duh' but, I guess saying your spouse makes you happy isn't a given. But, Stuart makes me happy. We have so much fun hanging out and still have plenty to talk, laugh, and reminisce about after seven and a half years of marriage. We have even more to laugh about with Joey and Frankie around :)
-Talking on the phone. Whenever I'm feeling bored or in a funk, talking on the phone always makes me feel great. I love hearing about my friends and families lives from back home and I'm always reminded that I'm not all alone in times of... well, being alone.
-Shooting hoops. I had forgotten about this one for yearrrs and yearrrs. I don't know why it never dawned on me that this was something that I enjoy because I used to do it all the time growing up and it's so fun and makes me feel so happy! I've started doing this again a lot, and I hope to continue because it's been energizing me in a way that I didn't expect (physically and mentally) so, I'm stoked!
-The beach. Oh my gosh, sitting at a table by the beach and having breakfast with Stuart when it's still a little cold out????? If I could do that every morning I would die of happiness. That sounds like my wildest dream.
-(along the same lines) Going out for breakfast and sitting outside!
- Playing piano. Which I never get to do and is something so seared into my identity, I feel a hole inside me without it. Even thinking about it makes me feel anxious and kind of sick. I miss it really bad. And it's not like I can just go do it. And now I feel like crying. We can't fit a piano into this apartment, and it would probably be too noisy for neighbors, but if Costco gets awesome keyboards again this Christmas season, I'm buying one. (and then I can plug headphones in so only I can hear it. It would be perfect for when the kids are napping). I want to play again so bad and what I really want to do is go to nursing homes and play Christmas carols and talk to the old people after and omg that sounds so great. BUT, if I have no where to practice (and no sheet music for that matter) I can't fricken do it.
-Listening to music. Let me tell you something. Growing up, listening to music is like all I did with my alone time. I'd listen to music and practice performing (singing and moving around a 'stage' in the mirror). This was literally my favorite hobby of all time from ages 5-17. Why do you think I did so well in the lip sync competitions? I was obsessed with music and performing. Let me tell you something else. I almost never listen to music anymore. I don't even know what music I like anymore. It's been so long since I've listened to music or sang anything. The thought of that makes me feel sad, too.
- Being with my old friends.
- Christmas time
- Christmas eve at my parents house
- Camping
- When Joey's caring and compassionate
- When Frankie climbs on top of me and rests her head on my chest
- Weddings
- Watching TV while eating
- Ordering pizza and having it delivered right when starvation has me on the brink of insanity
- Giving presents to people
- Cooking
I'm gonna stop now, but I want to keep adding to this list because it's fun and a good reminder for when I'm feelin' blueeeee
Friday, November 11, 2016
A long awaited (by me) blog update!
Blogging in the mornings has become impossible because of daylight savings, and therefore I haven't done it all week. BUT, I think we're getting into more of a normal rhythm now because for the first time in a while, I'm up before the kids!
I also think we've found a resort that we want to go to in February. My brother and his wife went to this resort for their honeymoon and vowed never to go anywhere else because this place was so amazing. When they went back for their fifth anniversary, it was equally amazing. It's really expensive (in my opinion) BUT, then I realized that it was expensive in Canadian dollars, and that literally for us it's a thousand dollars cheaper! Which makes it totally within my mental budget. Sooooo, I'm incredibly stoked.
It's so ridiculous that literally all I've been doing with my free time is trying to find an awesome place at a good price and it suddenly dawned on me yesterday to ask Jesse about the awesome place he went. And then there's our decision. Haha. I could read tripadvisor reviews until my eyes pop out, but one family recommendation (especially one from the least easily pleased person in my family) and I'm there. Book 'em, Dan-o.
Everything this week has felt surreal and bizarre. Monday felt like Christmas eve. I could not stop thinking about Tuesday. (Election day, duh.) It was the longest day in the history of days.
Then, Tuesday. Well, everyone knows what happened Tuesday. I really wish I were more surprised. And I really think that if Hillary had a penis, she would have won. BUT, that's show biz. Unbelievable.
I listened to an NPR segment about some dude (can't remember his name) who's a journalist and a democrat. And also who hates Trump. He dedicated 3 years of his life during the campaign to flying all over America to different Trump rallies in all the states and interviewing people. He apparently has a tiny, junky plane that he piloted with his wife by his side for the whole adventure. Anyway - the hour long segment was about the new perspective that he gained (naturally) on middle America and why people there (and no, not just dumb people) believed in and supported Trump. I wish I could remember the name of the dude so that you could listen to the segment. Or that I could re-listen because I was listening as I was driving, and got out of the car for 20 minutes in the middle cuz I had to go to Costco. But, it was interesting.
Obviously, people here in California (one of the NON Trump states, of which there were few) are somber. We're talking, really upset. It feels like there's been a death and I don't know how long this lingering feeling will last. But, it's eerie.
Eeeeyuck. Just thinking about the implications it's already had on justifying hateful acts toward different races makes me physically sick. I think I need to stop writing about this.
***IN OTHER NEWS***
Let me see if there's any 'in other news'.
Ummmmmmm. Oh, gee. I don't know.
OH, okay.
We've been going to the Y again for the past 2 weeks since I've been feeling better and I'm so happy to be back there! Their kids classes are so great and I love taking the kids to 123 Grow. It's one hour. Half an hour of play time on tiny slides, teeter totters, tunnels, etc. 15 minutes of circle time where we sing songs with actions, then stretches and more singing standing up, then the 'Merry-go-round' song where you walk around in a circle, then prance, then run, and swing your kid around and they laugh like maniacs and it's SO cute, then obstacle course (2 small balance beams), then sticker, then parachute and 8 more songs, then the kids sit on a mat while soft music plays and watch bubbles come out of a bubble machine. Then they get their arm (or, by most toddlers request, their tummy) stamped and class is over. It's the cutest. I love it SO much and it's SUCH a good, fun bonding activity.
I like to take just Frankie to that class and leave Joey in the kids club because it's more meant for her age, but Joey really likes to come there with us still and he's so well behaved now (if you asked me when he had just turned three, I would say NO WAY) that I let him come with us most times. It's just nice for me to get that alone time with Frankie that I almost never get.
On Mondays and Wednesdays, 123 Grow and Next Step don't overlap, so I take the kids both to Next Step, too. Next Step is the class for Joey's age group and it's an hour long mini 'preschool'. There's free play table activities at the beginning (toys/puzzles/coloring/craft) and then circle time for the last half hour where the kids introduce themselves and say their favorite something, singing, a lesson and a story. Then the teacher talks about a letter and the kids get worksheets to practice writing that letter. Just in the past 2 weeks, Joey has loved circle time and even participates in the singing and actions. I'm so excited about it. Frankie and I just sit there while I stuff her face with snacks. She loves watching all the big kids and sitting near Joey.
Fridays is 'Ready, Set, Read' instead of Next Step, which is really similar to next step, except more singing, they don't learn about a letter, and there's a way cooler craft. That's where we'll go today.
OH, and before I take the kids to those classes, I've been dropping them off in kids club for 45 minutes while I go play basketball. It's been so fun to play basketball again. Oh my goodness. I forgot how much I loved it! And it's always open gym in the morning and the gym is always empty and it's amazing. I just practice lay-ups, 3 pointers, free throws, and blah blah blah. It's a good workout and I find myself running almost the whole time. My calves are actually sore this morning. How sad is that? I guess if you're not playing basketball, when the heck do you find yourself doing that much jumping? I'm gonna tell myself that's what it is and not the fact that I'm out of shape from doing nothing for almost three months while I was sick with this baby. :P
One super crazy pregnancy thing that happens to me from doing exercise though is that my groin hurts SO BAD for hour after I'm done. Like, it's hard to walk! Your joints get super loose when you're pregnant, sooo it makes sense that it would hurt, but I definitely don't remember this from my other pregnancies.
After doing that and taking the kids to their classes, we always sit outside with friends/acquaintances and eat our lunch at picnic tables while Joey scooters around and comes for bites after every few laps.
It's so much fun and such a nice routine and I love it and the kids love it, so horray!
The End!
I also think we've found a resort that we want to go to in February. My brother and his wife went to this resort for their honeymoon and vowed never to go anywhere else because this place was so amazing. When they went back for their fifth anniversary, it was equally amazing. It's really expensive (in my opinion) BUT, then I realized that it was expensive in Canadian dollars, and that literally for us it's a thousand dollars cheaper! Which makes it totally within my mental budget. Sooooo, I'm incredibly stoked.
It's so ridiculous that literally all I've been doing with my free time is trying to find an awesome place at a good price and it suddenly dawned on me yesterday to ask Jesse about the awesome place he went. And then there's our decision. Haha. I could read tripadvisor reviews until my eyes pop out, but one family recommendation (especially one from the least easily pleased person in my family) and I'm there. Book 'em, Dan-o.
Everything this week has felt surreal and bizarre. Monday felt like Christmas eve. I could not stop thinking about Tuesday. (Election day, duh.) It was the longest day in the history of days.
Then, Tuesday. Well, everyone knows what happened Tuesday. I really wish I were more surprised. And I really think that if Hillary had a penis, she would have won. BUT, that's show biz. Unbelievable.
I listened to an NPR segment about some dude (can't remember his name) who's a journalist and a democrat. And also who hates Trump. He dedicated 3 years of his life during the campaign to flying all over America to different Trump rallies in all the states and interviewing people. He apparently has a tiny, junky plane that he piloted with his wife by his side for the whole adventure. Anyway - the hour long segment was about the new perspective that he gained (naturally) on middle America and why people there (and no, not just dumb people) believed in and supported Trump. I wish I could remember the name of the dude so that you could listen to the segment. Or that I could re-listen because I was listening as I was driving, and got out of the car for 20 minutes in the middle cuz I had to go to Costco. But, it was interesting.
Obviously, people here in California (one of the NON Trump states, of which there were few) are somber. We're talking, really upset. It feels like there's been a death and I don't know how long this lingering feeling will last. But, it's eerie.
Eeeeyuck. Just thinking about the implications it's already had on justifying hateful acts toward different races makes me physically sick. I think I need to stop writing about this.
***IN OTHER NEWS***
Let me see if there's any 'in other news'.
Ummmmmmm. Oh, gee. I don't know.
OH, okay.
We've been going to the Y again for the past 2 weeks since I've been feeling better and I'm so happy to be back there! Their kids classes are so great and I love taking the kids to 123 Grow. It's one hour. Half an hour of play time on tiny slides, teeter totters, tunnels, etc. 15 minutes of circle time where we sing songs with actions, then stretches and more singing standing up, then the 'Merry-go-round' song where you walk around in a circle, then prance, then run, and swing your kid around and they laugh like maniacs and it's SO cute, then obstacle course (2 small balance beams), then sticker, then parachute and 8 more songs, then the kids sit on a mat while soft music plays and watch bubbles come out of a bubble machine. Then they get their arm (or, by most toddlers request, their tummy) stamped and class is over. It's the cutest. I love it SO much and it's SUCH a good, fun bonding activity.
I like to take just Frankie to that class and leave Joey in the kids club because it's more meant for her age, but Joey really likes to come there with us still and he's so well behaved now (if you asked me when he had just turned three, I would say NO WAY) that I let him come with us most times. It's just nice for me to get that alone time with Frankie that I almost never get.
On Mondays and Wednesdays, 123 Grow and Next Step don't overlap, so I take the kids both to Next Step, too. Next Step is the class for Joey's age group and it's an hour long mini 'preschool'. There's free play table activities at the beginning (toys/puzzles/coloring/craft) and then circle time for the last half hour where the kids introduce themselves and say their favorite something, singing, a lesson and a story. Then the teacher talks about a letter and the kids get worksheets to practice writing that letter. Just in the past 2 weeks, Joey has loved circle time and even participates in the singing and actions. I'm so excited about it. Frankie and I just sit there while I stuff her face with snacks. She loves watching all the big kids and sitting near Joey.
Fridays is 'Ready, Set, Read' instead of Next Step, which is really similar to next step, except more singing, they don't learn about a letter, and there's a way cooler craft. That's where we'll go today.
OH, and before I take the kids to those classes, I've been dropping them off in kids club for 45 minutes while I go play basketball. It's been so fun to play basketball again. Oh my goodness. I forgot how much I loved it! And it's always open gym in the morning and the gym is always empty and it's amazing. I just practice lay-ups, 3 pointers, free throws, and blah blah blah. It's a good workout and I find myself running almost the whole time. My calves are actually sore this morning. How sad is that? I guess if you're not playing basketball, when the heck do you find yourself doing that much jumping? I'm gonna tell myself that's what it is and not the fact that I'm out of shape from doing nothing for almost three months while I was sick with this baby. :P
One super crazy pregnancy thing that happens to me from doing exercise though is that my groin hurts SO BAD for hour after I'm done. Like, it's hard to walk! Your joints get super loose when you're pregnant, sooo it makes sense that it would hurt, but I definitely don't remember this from my other pregnancies.
After doing that and taking the kids to their classes, we always sit outside with friends/acquaintances and eat our lunch at picnic tables while Joey scooters around and comes for bites after every few laps.
It's so much fun and such a nice routine and I love it and the kids love it, so horray!
The End!
Saturday, November 5, 2016
'Camping'
Last night Stuart had the idea of setting up a tent in our living room. I didn't think it was the best idea at first, but guess what? IT WAS THE BEST IDEA EVER.
Frankie was trying to destroy it the entire time he was assembling it and I was trying to ward her off, but once it was finally up and our air mattress was in and blown up it was awesome.
They bounced around Stuart and me while we lay inside (me SO tired and SO bloated. At night time i look about 5 months pregnant.) and they were being hilarious. Joey kept saying he was a flying cat and doing somersaults and Frankie was just being cute. They both couldn't stop laughing.
Around 8:45, we calmed them down with a bible story and then brushed their teeth and put PJ's on.
Stu positioned the tent so it was in front of the TV, and then we brought in blankets, turned off all the lights, and watched half an hour of 'Cars'.
When we turned it off and it was time to for Joey to go to bed for real (9:30) he said in the dark with sparkling eyes, "This is the best day of my whole life." OH. MY. GOSH. What a special moment!
WAHH.
It was so sweet. I wanna take the kids camping SO bad for real, but I don't think it will happen any time soon. By the time summer comes, we'll have a new baby! Maybe in a few years :)
Frankie was trying to destroy it the entire time he was assembling it and I was trying to ward her off, but once it was finally up and our air mattress was in and blown up it was awesome.
They bounced around Stuart and me while we lay inside (me SO tired and SO bloated. At night time i look about 5 months pregnant.) and they were being hilarious. Joey kept saying he was a flying cat and doing somersaults and Frankie was just being cute. They both couldn't stop laughing.
Around 8:45, we calmed them down with a bible story and then brushed their teeth and put PJ's on.
Stu positioned the tent so it was in front of the TV, and then we brought in blankets, turned off all the lights, and watched half an hour of 'Cars'.
When we turned it off and it was time to for Joey to go to bed for real (9:30) he said in the dark with sparkling eyes, "This is the best day of my whole life." OH. MY. GOSH. What a special moment!
WAHH.
It was so sweet. I wanna take the kids camping SO bad for real, but I don't think it will happen any time soon. By the time summer comes, we'll have a new baby! Maybe in a few years :)
Thursday, November 3, 2016
Okay, fine. Here's the truth.
The real reason I have had a hard time posting lately is because all of my morning free time is spent looking and dreaming about a pimpin holiday to take with Stuart without the kids before the baby is born. THERE. I said it. It's not that I've been tired.
We've just been having SO much fun when we go out on dates and I miss spending that totally alone couple time with him! Last time we went back home, my dad said (and he never makes comments like this): "Vanessa. I've never seen you look this tired. You need a break. Leave the kids with us and go to Mexico again." (We did that a month before Frankie was born and it was heaven.on.earth.)
Sooooo, now I'm looking at Cancun all-inclusive's like it's my job. And this morning is no exception. So, peace out.
We've just been having SO much fun when we go out on dates and I miss spending that totally alone couple time with him! Last time we went back home, my dad said (and he never makes comments like this): "Vanessa. I've never seen you look this tired. You need a break. Leave the kids with us and go to Mexico again." (We did that a month before Frankie was born and it was heaven.on.earth.)
Sooooo, now I'm looking at Cancun all-inclusive's like it's my job. And this morning is no exception. So, peace out.
Wednesday, November 2, 2016
Halloween 2016
I don't know why I haven't written the past couple of days. I think things have just been so busy and I was exhausted!
Halloween was a great success. It was actually the most fun Halloween I've had with the kids (specifically Joey) yet. Joey loved saying 'trick or treat' and getting candy. Like, he loved it. And he happily wore his pirate costume! And whenever he'd look at Frankie in her butterfly costume, he'd say, "Aw, Frankie! You are just so cute!"
The morning of Halloween, we dropped Stuart's mom off at the Oakland Airport, so by the time we got to the morning trick or treat we'd already been driving a good hour and 45 minutes and were all itching to get out of the car.
I didn't tell any of my friends who were going to be there that we were going, because the Willow Glen trick or treat is an insane, chaotic event and I didn't want to have to try to stick together with them and I wanted to focus on the kids. I'm so glad I made that decision because Joey and Frankie were happy the entire time. Barnes and Noble had I guess donated a bunch of kids best sellers. It was amazing. Joey got an awesome 'Thomas and Friends Treasury' and Frankie got a super cute Eric Carle book. That was the highlight of the morning for this mama.
This was also the first year that Joey enjoyed (and even insisted on!) getting his face painted, and at lunch, the first time Frankie has eaten broccoli and enjoyed it. We had the best time at a restuarant together. It was chaos, but it was fun becuase the kids were being so funny and well behaved and I wasn't sick. The weather was perfect and the food was good! It was just the perfect morning with my kids.
Halloween was a great success. It was actually the most fun Halloween I've had with the kids (specifically Joey) yet. Joey loved saying 'trick or treat' and getting candy. Like, he loved it. And he happily wore his pirate costume! And whenever he'd look at Frankie in her butterfly costume, he'd say, "Aw, Frankie! You are just so cute!"
The morning of Halloween, we dropped Stuart's mom off at the Oakland Airport, so by the time we got to the morning trick or treat we'd already been driving a good hour and 45 minutes and were all itching to get out of the car.
I didn't tell any of my friends who were going to be there that we were going, because the Willow Glen trick or treat is an insane, chaotic event and I didn't want to have to try to stick together with them and I wanted to focus on the kids. I'm so glad I made that decision because Joey and Frankie were happy the entire time. Barnes and Noble had I guess donated a bunch of kids best sellers. It was amazing. Joey got an awesome 'Thomas and Friends Treasury' and Frankie got a super cute Eric Carle book. That was the highlight of the morning for this mama.
This was also the first year that Joey enjoyed (and even insisted on!) getting his face painted, and at lunch, the first time Frankie has eaten broccoli and enjoyed it. We had the best time at a restuarant together. It was chaos, but it was fun becuase the kids were being so funny and well behaved and I wasn't sick. The weather was perfect and the food was good! It was just the perfect morning with my kids.
When we got home, Frankie had a long nap and Joey had.... no nap. I'm pretty sure it's because I said, "On Halloween, you're allowed to eat as much candy and chocolate as you want. It's the only day that you're allowed." and so, as you can imagine, he was on sugar overload. Oops. My bad.
I really wanted him to sleep because we were planning to go to a tick or treating event at our church at 6 that evening and I knew it was going to be a late night. We all piled in the car around 6 o'clock, and as we were walking through the trick or treating line, a tired Joey says in an exhausted sounding voice, "I really shouldn't be here. I should be sleeping." Haha! Our poor little Joey!
Another first that happened this Halloween is that Joey got into a bouncy house full of kids, and I mean, packed, and didn't freak out. He was the one who suggested him going in. I couldn't believe it! He spent a good 20 minutes in there with rowdy older kids and had the time of his life. I was so proud of him for how brave he was!
When we got home, the kids were bouncing off the walls and being so funny and cute. Joey had eaten so much chocolate it was crazy, and so had Stuart and I, and Stuart and I were feeling sick and soooo hungry for real food. Luckily I had fed the kids a bunch of veggies and fruit before we went out, so hopefully Joey didn't feel too sick haha he didn't say he did, so I'm sure he was fine.
We didn't get the kids to bed until 9, which is crazy, but whatever. It was Halloween!
The End.
PS I have a bunch of pictures that I'll post later!
I really wanted him to sleep because we were planning to go to a tick or treating event at our church at 6 that evening and I knew it was going to be a late night. We all piled in the car around 6 o'clock, and as we were walking through the trick or treating line, a tired Joey says in an exhausted sounding voice, "I really shouldn't be here. I should be sleeping." Haha! Our poor little Joey!
Another first that happened this Halloween is that Joey got into a bouncy house full of kids, and I mean, packed, and didn't freak out. He was the one who suggested him going in. I couldn't believe it! He spent a good 20 minutes in there with rowdy older kids and had the time of his life. I was so proud of him for how brave he was!
When we got home, the kids were bouncing off the walls and being so funny and cute. Joey had eaten so much chocolate it was crazy, and so had Stuart and I, and Stuart and I were feeling sick and soooo hungry for real food. Luckily I had fed the kids a bunch of veggies and fruit before we went out, so hopefully Joey didn't feel too sick haha he didn't say he did, so I'm sure he was fine.
We didn't get the kids to bed until 9, which is crazy, but whatever. It was Halloween!
The End.
PS I have a bunch of pictures that I'll post later!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)