Monster Trucks

Today, Saturday and Sunday the Firestone in Garner, NC is celebrating its grand opening with the Monster Truck Bigfoot and letting people come look at it. I'm not a huge fan of watching cars crush cars, so I actually have no idea what all we will be allowed to touch, BUT I am hoping the kids can sit inside.

Because with two little boys, I'm starting to appreciate how cool cars are, for their sake, anyway, because they are In LOVE With Cars. And I think Emily will enjoy at least seeing how excited the boys get.

Perhaps you'll see her and me standing off to the side,shaking our heads as the boys run around dancing for joy. Or, perhaps it will just be me, wondering how I will get three excited kids away from the truck when it is time to leave. Hmmm. Either way, it will be an adventure.

So, that is what we are up to today, other than that, I am at a loss for entertainment. I need warm weather, quckly!

When to do Bunk Beds

My youngest will be 2 in June, and even though the boys have their own rooms now, I would like to give birth to or adopt a third child of our own someday in the future.

So, we are thinking of going ahead and moving the boys into one room, and letting them share bunk beds.

But I am wondering, when is a good age for sleeping on the top bunk? Little Dude will be 4 in September, and he climbs REALLY well-he can climb all the playground equipment with the best of the monkeys.

So I think he is ready, but I am a little worried about JR trying to climb up and getting stuck or falling off the ladder.

Are there certain types of bunk beds that have easier ladders, or brands that anyone can suggest for withstanding the play and sleep of two preschoolers? Does anyone even have suggestions on how to make this transition?

Should we have the bunk beds for a bit, with Little Dude on the bottom, before we move JR into the room and Little Dude to the top? Or should Little Dude always be on the top?

Any thoughts or advice?

Shame on Dr. Wakefield

I'm late to mention this, so I'm sure most of you saw this:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35218819/ns/health-health_care/


Yea, it has rocked the world of Autism. And for me, that rocking is a wonderful, happy news. Because you know what? I'm scared of all the people not vaccinating their children.

I may sound silly, because I have not had to deal with Autism outside of a school setting (yes, I did have one child with mild Autism in a preschool class), and because it is not my child that has it, it may be easy for me to say this, but personally-for me-I would rather deal with Autism than to deal with my child getting Mumps, Measles, Rubella, Chickenpox, Polio, and the like. All those things can-and most likely will-severely cripple or worse, kill your children. Autism though, does not.

But even for me, someone who was steadfast FOR getting every vaccination possible for all members of our family (yes, I even keep up with getting booster vaccinations) I still had that seed of doubt there, that made me a little edgy after shots were given. I'd watch the kids like a hawk, seeing if anything changed. Apparently, though, that was a lot of needless worry.

Apparently, Dr. Wakefield cooked the books to make his theory work-so that he could then finish development an MMR vaccine replacement. See, he was getting thousands upon hundreds of thousands of dollars to create a new vaccine-and to ensure his was used, he got 12 kids to give blood during his son's birthday party, and based his entire thesis on those 12 kids and the one blood sample he took.

In fact, The Lancet, who originally published his findings and started the whole scare, could never reproduce Dr. Wakefield's results. No one could. And slowly, Dr.s who had jumped on board to support it, quietly took their name off the paper. And now, The Lancet has not just said, "Hey, this theory was disproven", they have EXPUNGED it. They have declared it a fabricated, fixed and biased study that never held water and that should have never made it as a scientific study. They are taking all record of it out of their scientific findings.

Do you know how many children in England (Where Dr. Wakefield's study on Autism and the ties to vaccinations were first published) have died now from Measles and Mumps?

And if you have been to the parks around here where I live, you'll run into a great many parents that haven't vaccinated their children. And why do I care? I'm not a scientist, but I do know that vaccinations work as a MASS protection-meaning if everyone is vaccinated then the group as a whole is safe, but if only a few are vaccinated, and an outbreak of say, Polio, comes, then even though your children have been vaccinated, they could still catch it because their bodies are coming into contact with the virus on such a large scale.

So, for Dr. Wakefield, SHAME on you for the fear, anxiety and now danger you have put on parents and children with your bogus study.

And parents, please vaccinate your kids. Now, Let's put all our efforts now on studying Autism, and figuring it out, instead of studying vaccines, because there is an answer to Autism out there, we just haven't looked in the right place yet.

**I'm not any kind of Dr. or scientific person. In fact, I barely made it out of Organic Chemistry with a passing grade in college, so DON'T take what I say as the absolute answer, theory, or whatever. Find the answers and information for yourself and come to your own conclusions.***

I'm So Behind Now That There Are Three

Somehow, having three kids around during the day has more than quadrupled the amount of time to do anything-I greatly underestimated how much time, in fact, just getting out the door would take us.

After all, Emily is Ben's age, and up until now, I have been a record holder for getting the boys' shoes and coats on and buckled into the car. So I figured it wouldn't be that much more to throw one more walking, talking, capable child into the mix.

Boy, so far I have been wrong.

I suppose this is sorta what adopting a toddler would be a little bit like.

We are getting to know each other, trying to figure out what works and what doesn't for her, and I'm trying to keep up with the boys at the same time. Oh yea, and that little thing called my job, too. And this blog, though this is more fun parenting therapy for me than actual work.

So, for anyone out there-any advice on good, cheap entertainment for 2 and 3 year olds? I am going to get a membership to Marbles when we go in two weeks (unless that is a disaster, then I will never take the three kids there alone again...)

And I STILL have to check out the science museum in Durham-I have heard it is amazing, but somehow I just never get myself in the mood to drive out there with all three kids. That might be something I need to take my sweet husband to check out one weekend with the boys and THEN see if I could handle it with the three alone.

One great thing about three? The time FLIES. My days start early and end late, but I swear I have no idea where the time goes. It seems like as soon as breakfast is over and one activity of some sort is done, it is time for lunch and then naps. Whew!

Then by the time we all get outside to play or go for a walk, it is time for stories before Emily goes home-and Bam!, its 6pm. Crazy.

Oh, and now I have got to get to work; I am way behind. Thank goodness the kids are finally napping. Sigh.

LIttle Boy Blue

So everyone knows we had a huge house of sick here last week and some of the week before. And after a few days, everyone was better, except JR.

In fact, JR just kept getting worse. His diarrhea got worse, his eating went down, and even thought he was active, he just wasn't quite himself.

While we were at the doctor's, the boys were found to have double ear infections, so both are still on meds for that-however; JR is allergic to what is normally given, so he got a different med.

And somehow everyone failed to mention that the new med would cause him diarrhea.

So, on top of having the tummy virus, he also was on meds that would increase his diarrhea. But of course, since I didn't know what, I was freaking out and very concerned.

We were all set to go to the doctor yesterday afternoon, when yesterday morning, I noticed JR was turning blue. He was breathing fine, and walking around and playing like normal-but his lips were a deep, dark blue, and his hands and legs had a blue tent. He was also cool to the touch, whereas the other two kids were warm. (We were running errands when this happened, so I couldn't check his temp)

So, off we rushed to the hospital-and then found out that his oxygen was good, but his core temp was lower than it should have been. After a lot of exams there weren't many answers, but the culprit seems to be that he was dehydrated.

Que the mommy guilt.

Even though we did have him drinking electrolytes, it wasn't enough to make up for what he had lost -and at this point I found out he was over his virus, but now everything was caused by the medication he was on.

So, another new medication, some pro biotics medication to replace the good bacteria in his tummy that the other medicine had killed (and which is why he was having diarrhea) and a ton of electrolyte drink. I have seriously been forcing the drinks on him; I have no desire to see him turn blue again.

And that concludes my day yesterday.

Oh, and earlier in the day I found out I need reading glasses, which will be coming in a week in a half! That I am actually excited about, because working has been giving me huge headaches and it turns out my eyes were just working too hard looking at the computer screen. Now I just have to come up with an idea on how to keep up with them, since I will only need them for reading....

Wash Them Grow

Not long ago I participated in my first "Twitter Party", and I must say, it was a little weird. I almost couldn't keep up with all the conversations going on, and I didn't know any of the people I was talking with except the MomSelect folks (who invited me to the party, by the way) so I didn't really say much myself (sorta how I am in real life at parties-I have to warm up to everyone first). Next time around I vow to jump in more.

Anyways, what exactly was the "Wash Them Grow" party about? Why, bathtime! I got to participate in a product testing for Suave kids, and felt very honored they wanted my opinion on the new kid's body washes.

Can I tell you I loved them? They smell oh so yummy, with scents like Berry, Strawberry, and they were gentle for eyes and skin with the Shea Butter and Aloe and the "Free and Gentle" one-which has no dyes, scents, or anything that might irritate your child's skin. Which if anyone has read my recent adventures with JR, you'll know he has some allergies, so the Free and Clear is a huge hit in my house now.

Both of my kids love bathtime any way, but they LOVED all the bubbles Suave kids body wash created and I loved seeing what the retail price was going to be. There is nothing tighter than our budget right now (OK, maybe my pants are tight, too, that's a post for another day) but seeing that I can get tons of bubbles, tear free and dye free gentleness AND great smells in a product created for kids (who become dramatically smellier once they leave the baby stage)for a super low price made me jump for joy!

And if you would like to win a some Suave products for your family, visit washthemgrow.com to enter.

You can check out the party at Twitter #WashThemGrow.

Some people "crashed" our Twitter party by sending and resending messages about how Suave isn't all natural and has chemicals in it-and yes, it does. As does many things. In fact, I am drinking a diet soda right now and I'm pretty sure the sweetener in it has is linked to cancer in lab rats-who ate pounds of the stuff. But the small amount in the occasional soda I drink? Not concerned. I should probably be more concerned about the amount of caffeine in the coffee I drink all day-and that is all natural.

Might I also say it makes my skin-and now my kid's skin-smell oh so good. And that is super nice with two very active, usually muddy, and very smelly, little boys in the house.

While I don't think Suave is offering anything extraordinary or out of the box new-after all, Johnson's baby washes have long been known as "tear free"-Suave IS offering another GREAT option for moms who want tear free body washes for our no-longer-babies-babies, great smell, dye free options that are gentle for skin yet CLEAN the MUCK off- and all without spending half the grocery money for it.

Thank you, Suave, for the great products and the budget saving prices!

**I was given Suave Kids body washes to test out for my honest opinion.**

Still Sick

We are all really sick. Both boys are drinking water and eating crackers-and not wanting to do much else than sit in the reading corner.

Bill is home sick, too. He had to come home early yesterday because he was feeling so badly-and that is a huge thing if you know Bill. He never misses work or comes home unless he is REALLY sick.

Me? Well, I think I'm about to get it. My tummy and head have been hurting all day, but since I haven't eaten anything, I don't have anything to come back up or out, SO I suppose that is a plus. I just don't feel like eating. Every time I start feeling hungry, I start looking around at food and then the tummy churns, making all desire for food go away.

Sigh. And I think we are supposed to get more snow over the weekend. Sigh. Come on spring. I need you...

Sick Times Three

The day started off at 5:50am, with Little Dude coming to tell me he had thrown up in his bed. The poor little guy! So, I cleaned sheets, remade the bed, and he threw up again-in the bed.

So, we moved to the reading corner to sleep, while I put more bedding in line to be washed.

About that time, JR woke up coughing up his lungs.

Then Emily arrived, coughing up her lungs, though Little Dude was looking and acting all better.

I made fruit salad for breakfast, then Little Dude coughed so hard he threw up breakfast. The other two continued coughing, but I noticed JR was tugging rather hard on BOTH ears. Oh my.

By THEN, I was counting the seconds til the doctor office opened.

Going to the Dr.'s with three little ones was quite easy-they listened very well and we all held hands walking from the car to the office (and back). The triple cuteness got everyone's attention, so after a few hundred times of explaining how the boys were mine but the girl was a family friend (and actually having one old lady swear Emily looked like me (which is truly, crazy. The child is almost as tall as me already and looks just like her daddy). I finally gave up the long explanations and just started telling people thank you when they would compliment "my" three kids. That dramatically increased the slow pace we were making to the 4th floor Dr. office via the hospital lobby.

Anyways, once inside, I again had to explain that Emily wasn't mine (which did annoy me since I have been bringing my kids here every few months for shots, well visits, and sick visits for the past 3 years-shouldn't they know us by now? I miss our old doctor. Sigh.) Then I found out both boys have double ear infections again, and Little Dude might have a virus, too, since he is throwing up. (He also threw up on the floor at the office-nothing gets you in to see a doctor quickly like a kid spewing vomit in the waiting room).

Of course Emily wasn't seen; however, the doctor was nice enough to point out that since Emily is also pulling at her ears and coughing up a lung, she, too, is probably sick with the same stuff. Sigh.

So, today we have been pretty tame, and probably watched a little more "Chuggington" than we should have, but that is what sick days are for, right? Some toast, tv, and a big blanket (with buckets nearby, just in case).

First Day On The Job

Today is my first day as nanny to the amazing Emily. So far, no one wanted to eat the breakfast I made (granted it was oatmeal, but I did put brown sugar on it). I also already played with Emily's hair (yippiee!)

Right now everyone is playing super nicely. At the moment they are playing Little Dude's FAVORITE game-and my least favorite game-trash truck. It involves turning his bed into a trash truck.

Doesn't sound so bad, you say?

Well, part of being a trash truck is having trash, so Little Dude, JR and Emily are gathering all the toys in Little Dude's room and dumping them on the bed/trash truck. Always a pain to clean because it takes the kids FOREVER to do it. But, that is part of the deal, they want to play trash truck, there is no other fun until it is cleaned up, and they have to do it all themselves.

For the most part they do a fantastic job of getting things back where they go.

Anyways, the first day, so far, is going well. I can tell I'll be flying through the milk and bread, so today or tomorrow will have to involve a grocery run. We spent the weekend at my in-laws, and I failed to remember I would be going through the rest of our bread today just for sandwiches at lunch.

I'll let you know tomorrow how having three all day goes.

Raising Two

Right now, my life is pretty busy.

We have a toddler who eats us out of house and home. Seriously. See his shirt?


Really though, JR eats everything in sight. I think he'd eat the baseboards if he thought we'd let him. The other day I was sweeping up food from the kitchen floor (You now know my kitchen floor has food on it. Yes, it often DOES) and he GRABBED something and ATE IT. It happen faster than I could think. How gross. (Mental note I need to clean the floor more regularly).

What else keeps me on my toes?

My adorable Prince Charming. (You can't see his shirt in this photo, but it does, in fact say, Prince Charming, so it is officially true.)


Little Dude gets braver and bigger by the minute and amazes me more and more with his worldly observations. Like yesterday, after I lectured him forever about how he shouldn't treat his toys badly because there are hungry, starving, cold people out there, he innocently asked me, "Momma, why don't we let them live here, then they can be warm, eat all the food and they can pick up my toys!"

So wise for 3.

Parenting is the best job in the world, and when it is done well, it is also one of the hardest in the world and I am glad for every minute, even the gross ones.

s

The Color Green

I'm feeling rather green today, and not in the best of ways. Green, usually, is a color I love, but today, I am rather embarrassed to be green.

You see, because I am a tiny bit jealous.

Actually, I am quite green with envy.

The Internet is pretty amazing, and I love it; however, today, I "ran into" an old classmate's writing on the Internet, which lead me to her blog, which then lead me to read all about the amazing writing and traveling career she has lead since I last saw her.

She's been to Ireland, Europe, India, China and Hungry. She's been on the red carpet (Yes, THAT Red Carpet). She travels all over whenever the moment strikes her. She's an editor for an amazing magazine that I love to read when I have the free time in the checkout line and the kids are being good. She has done amazing interviews with writers and authors I love reading and she wears amazing high heels to after-work functions. She has written some books and been published in newspapers.

And even though I am quite happy (and really quite overjoyed) to have children and be here at home, a tiny part of me is a little envious of the life she has; the life I gave up when I decided to stay home with kids.

Not that I would be an editor, or traveling, or writing books, but those were my goals, way back when I was in school. And perhaps, someday when the kids don't need me as much (that does happen, doesn't it? ) I can start working on those goals, again.

I'll have the time to write for fun, and work on putting down some of the stories that have swirled in my head for a number of years. Or maybe I'll get brave enough to submit some writing to a magazine or newspaper.

Or perhaps even just brush up on my English grammar and spelling rules, 'cause Lord knows my mind is a bunch of mush right now. Probably the same mush the kids turned their sandwiches into when they decided it was great fun to dump their orange juice on their plates.

Maybe?

But then.

Watching the kids attempt to clean up (and being oh so sweet and helping each other spread the mess around) makes me so happy I gave up other options-for them and me. Because I benefit dramatically, as well, from having them with me.

Somehow, I don't think all that traveling, interviewing, writing and fabulous shopping would be quite so fun, if I had to miss out on all of this fun.

So, I guess I am only just a little green now, and that is OK, we all encounter those moments now and then, right? All that does matter, is that nothing would make me trade what I have for anything else.

Because even if at first it may not seem like it (even to me) I do, actually, have it all.

Early In The Morning

Now that my husband is working back in town and able to be home every night, my work schedule has changed drastically. Instead of staying up til midnight to get things done, I have been getting up early in the am with Bill, and starting work after he leaves for his work.

And that was going great, until some kind of kid radar went off, enabling the children to sense when I am awake. This morning I haven't even had a shower yet, even though I was up and about at 7am. Why? Because as soon as I started to get in the shower, a little voice scared the c**p out of me, by creeping up behind me before asking for breakfast.

Hearing a voice you aren't expecting while being half dressed is scary, no matter how adorable that voice is.

So, not it is 8:30, the kids are finally fed, dressed, and off playing, and I am FINALLY getting to start some work. Wish me luck in getting all the reports I need to send out done in the next 30 min.

For the most part, I love the flexibility of working from home, but on occasion-like today-where I have deadlines and a list so long of things to do I don't even know where to start (and never mind the kid/house stuff I need to do) I do wish I had more concrete work hours.

OK, I'm off to write like the wind and hopefully have everything sent out as my co-workers get into their offices.