An Earful and More Fun...

The past week at our house has been busy. James spent one whole week being sick with one thing or another and I can safely say that I have now crossed over into an elite group of mothers who sacrifice themselves in hopes of making their babies feel better.

Last Wednesday started off fairly normal, though James did seem a little out of sorts and extra tired. I figured he was still short on sleep from our busy day at the Mall of America. By the end of the night I had a literal ear-full and we knew something was up with our little guy. We did our usual crazy Wednesday night routine. Ella was dropped off at gymnastics by Mark, James and I picked her up and headed to church for children’s choir, and then I went off to adult choir. Mark picked the kids up after choir, brought them home and gave them their bedtime snack. Usually when I get home from choir the kids are tucked into bed and are trying to stay awake for a goodnight kiss from me. Last Wednesday night the kids were still up when I got home and James was firmly parked on the potty. It seems that James had announced that he had to go poopy and the poop just didn’t want to come out. This happens sometimes for our poor boy since he doesn’t eat as much as he should. By the time I got home, James had already been sitting on the potty for twenty minutes. We sent Ella off to bed and tried to convince James that maybe he could go potty later, but he was very adamant about staying on the potty.

(Warning!!! The next two paragraphs contain a lot of potty talk so stop reading if you don’t like that kind of stuff!) James tried and cried and cried and tried, but the poop just didn’t want to come out. Still he sat upon the potty and minutes turned into hours. He did not want to get down. We removed him anyway and he begged to sit back on the potty as soon as we took him off. By the time we were nearing the two hour mark this very tired and pregnant mommy was camped out on the bathroom floor keeping the little boy with tears in his eyes company. We finally convinced him that maybe his tummy would feel better if he just got down and tried again later. Again, we helped him off the potty and again he claimed to really need to get back on it. This time there were results.

As soon as I had him settled back on the potty, he sqeezed out the biggest turd of his little life. Unfortunately with all his effort, James also squeezed out a good amount of pee and it shot straight in my ear. It was a direct hit to my right ear canal and the side of my face. An experience that I do not want repeated. Ever. James was relieved to have finally made such a big poop, but was concerned at all my commotion. When I explained to James what he had done he said in a very concerned little voice, “At least it didn’t go in your eyes or mouth…or on Daddy!” And, Mark piped in that at least pee is sterile… Thanks honey, that instantly made it all better...

As if getting pee in my ear wasn’t enough to make our lives as parents interesting enough, James woke up in the middle of the night and puked all over. He continued to vomit through the day on Thursday and by the end of the night became “unconstipated” as he was sick out both ends.
Poor little James didn’t eat for 72 hours and refused most liquids too. We were getting pretty concerned about him by Saturday evening, but he perked up a bit on Sunday and most of Monday. Round one ended just as round two began. By Monday night his eye was looking funny and he was still having trouble sleeping. Tuesday brought with it a trip to the doctor and a diagnosis of pink eye. James has lost a pound or two in the last week, but is finally getting his appetite back. The poor little guy looks pretty thin as he didn’t have any extra cushion to begin with.

There are silver linings to James’ sick week… No one else caught his stomach bug or pink eye virus…yet. The doctor thought if we made it this far without getting it that the rest of us might be in the clear. I sure hope so. I think I’ve done my fair share of vomiting in the past six months and I don’t think it would be fun to lose more sleep with a sick little girl or husband. I did come down with a cold on Saturday, but I am starting to improve already, so hopefully my cold will be a quick one.

In baby news, I am starting to feel a little better. Some days still aren't great, but on other days I don’t feel sick all day long anymore. On those days I finally have somewhat of an appetite, though it is still kind of limited. I’ll be 31 weeks along on Monday and will have another level II ultrasound on Wednesday to look for the kidney problems that Ella and James have had. Hopefully no problems will be found. Since Ella was born just after 38 weeks and James arrived during my 37th week, we realistically can expect this baby in about six weeks or so. The countdown is on! I feel like there is a lot needs to get done before we become a family of five and I am afraid the weeks are going to go by too fast.

Ella had a snow day from school today and she was pretty excited to have a relaxing morning at home. Though the morning weather was just fine, the snow is really coming down now. James has had his nap interrupted by some “Thunder Snow”. There have been some pretty big cracks of thunder and flashes of lightening, but I am hoping the wild weather has passed. James could really use a nice solid nap…and so could I!!

Valentine's Day and Mall of America

We had a busy weekend! On Valentine's morning, the kids were anxious to celebrate the holiday and were awake faster than we were. As is tradition in our house, the kids each were given a heart-shaped lollipop! Of course, they were excited to attempt to eat them!

We usually give the kids a gift of some sort on Valentine's Day and this year was no different. Our surprise to them was a small karaoke set with two microphones. The kids were thrilled and we have been serenaded with their solos and duets many times. Thank goodness for the volume control.... Since my parents are spending some time in Texas and Arizona and we didn't score another babysitter on Valentine's Day, we enjoyed a family dinner out instead of a date just for two. Mark, the kids and I all got dressed up and went out for a nice meal at local restaurant on a lake. Ella and James were on their best behavior and used their very best manners during the meal. Though, Ella was unable to eat very much... While munching on some garlic toast, her other really loose tooth became so loose that she wasn't able to take normal bites anymore. The tooth managed to stay in her mouth for the rest of the evening and at about 2 a.m. Isabella appeared in our room and woke us from a deep sleep by proclaiming her tooth had just fallen out! It was an exciting end to a busy day!

Below is a pic of the kids dressed up and performing one of their greatest hits!

We've been talking about spending some time at the Mall of America and Sunday seemed like a perfect day for this little adventure. We met up with our friends, Jenny and Kate, to take in some rides at the indoor amusement park. Here's a photo of our brave riders on the kiddie roller coaster. If you look close, you can see the bigger hole in Ella's new smile.

Here is a blurry shot I caught as our crew was flying by on the coaster. James loved this ride! So did Mark.... : )

While Mark and Ella were off taking in some of the bigger rides, Jenny and I took Kate and James on a few tamer rides.

Ella continues to be a daredevil and is very anxious to go on any ride for which she is tall enough. At 42" she can ride many of the rides as long as Mark accompanies her. Mark took her on

the 'Fairly Odd Coaster" and the "Pepsi Orange Streak". She also rode the "Splat O Sphere" by herself. She would have loved to ride the upside down coaster, but she is just not tall enough yet... thank goodness!!

Our adventures at the Mall of America continued as we did a little window shopping (we actually didn't buy anything but tickets and food while we were there!). We ended our time at the MOA by going to Underwater World. Both kids have been there before, but didn't remember it too well. James really liked watching most of the fish swim by...

When the sharks swam right over us, James was a little concerned.



Here's Miss Ella smiling in a shark's mouth...

We really enjoyed our day at the Mega Mall and got home just in time for Ella to put another tooth under her pillow for the Tooth Fairy.

Happy Valentine's Day

Hope that you all have a LOVEly day doing whatever your heart desires!



Here's this year's pic of our little sweethearts:

The Tooth Fairy Visits

Isabella and her new smile!


The Prized Tooth in the Treasure Chest

Getting Ready for the Tooth Fairy

A video clip of Ella the night before the Tooth Fairy came to our house:

And, no, the Tooth Fairy didn't bring her $100! : )

This is a clip of Ella when we woke her up the next morning... She was barely awake when she reached under her pillow!

My "Baby" and her Baby Teeth

The saga of the loose teeth has been very intense lately. The teeth that have been a little loose for so long have finally become really loose. By Sunday night, it was clear that the Tooth Fairy would be visiting soon. One tooth had become so loose that Ella could almost lay it down flat with her tongue.

When faced with the reality that a tooth might actually be ready to come out, Ella wasn't nearly as excited to let it happen. In fact, there were some tears and worry as she was about to begin this new phase. The tooth stayed in her mouth through the night on Sunday and through the school day on Monday. This morning when we sent her to school the tooth was still there. But, when I picked her up from the bus stop at noon, I was greeted with a brand new smile from my little girl... Her tooth fell out during circle time at kindergarten today and she couldn't have been happier. The school nurse gave her a tiny pink treasure chest to keep her new treasure in. And, we are anxiously awaiting a visit from the Tooth Fair tonight!

Here is one of the last pictures of Ella (and James) with all her baby teeth. All the teeth are still there at this point...just not standing upright...