ear infections, oh my

It has been a couple weeks since I have posted....sorry! Right after the boys' baptism, Logan came down with an ear infection. He wouldn't sleep, wouldn't eat and only wanted to be held by me. I realized that he is the first "baby" to have an ear infection. Lauren and Josh were both right around two years old and could tell us that their ear hurt. All Logan did was cry! It was really frustrating and I felt so very bad for him. On top of it, Brian and I were exhausted from being up with him, Logan was exhausted from being ill and Lauren was exhausted from being awake everynight from Logan's crying. Josh slept through it all.
I also think that he had a case of hand, foot, and mouth disease. For those of you not familiar with it, it is really common and most adults and older children that get it don't even know it. But for little ones, it shows up as painfuls little red sores in their mouth, on their hands and/or on their feet. Lauren had it once as a young toddler, but just on her hands and feet. Logan didn't have anything on his hands or feet (one little dot on his finger), but I could see sores in his little mouth and I'm sure it was painful for him to swallow anything.
After almost a week of endless crying, hardly any eating (at one point I was using a medicine-dropper to get apple juice into him to keep him from getting dehydrated), he turned the corner and started to perk up. WOO-HOO!
Now he's back to his old self, but he's extra HUNGRY!!!!
When my kids get sick, I don't ever really worry about the not eating 'cause my kids ALL have plenty of reserves!! I just worry about the dehydration and them being in pain.
Oh, and my own lack of sleep!
So here's to none of my kids catching the four-day fever/flu-ish yuckiness that seems to be going around the neighborhood!

Happy Father's Day, Dad!

This is my dad, Smiley. I've never met anyone's dad that was quite like mine. He is definately a character! Growing up, he had nicknames for all my friends - silly nicknames, right Boohe? He was always singing nonsense songs and chattering away about random silliness. He teased me a lot and built a lot of character in me that way. He has his own language - mittens/gloves = handshoes; tires = screamers. Like I said, I've never met anyone quite like my dad!

Through all the silliness, teasing, and chattering, I always knew that he loved me. He is such a great dad and I'm lucky to call him mine! He always provided for me, made sure I was taken care of, and supported me.

Dad, thank you for being you and for being such a great dad. I'm very lucky and my kids are very fortunate to call you "Bumpa." I love you very much!

Gone Baptizin'

We got Joshua and Logan baptized today!! It was such a great day.....very busy, but wonderful! The boys did really good and we had many friends and family members here to celebrate with us. I get very emotional about our children's godparents. It's a big deal to me, to name people as my children's godparents and to be a godparent myself. I know that I maybe don't do all the things I should as a godparent, but I truly hold my three godson's so close to my heart and pray for them every day.



So, to Melissa, Levon, John, Katie, Brenton and Stephanie, THANK YOU for being such a significant part of our boys' lives. You are all a blessing to us!

Sorry, Katie, I know your eyes are closed, but this is the only with where Josh didn't have his finger up his nose!

our little ball player

Josh is a beginning ball player! He loves playing catch and also loves hitting the ball with his bat. He can actually hit the ball with the bat (little bat, not big fat bat), which I think is pretty good for two years old!
So, I think that instead of investing in our 401K, we take all our money out of it and start Josh on private ball lessons and really start pushing him to play. That way, instead of a retirement 401K fund, we'll have a major league ball player and won't need a 401K!
Okay, so we might be better leaving things the way they are and let him have fun learning to love sports. I guess we should reevaluate when he is three to see which is the better investment - Josh's ball skills or the stock market!! I'm going with Josh on this one!!

Memorial Day Weekend

Lauren, Zoe the dog, Grandma Jane and Josh

We had such a wonderful Memorial Day weekend! We had both sets of grandparents here on Sunday, a cookout with them and the neighbors Sunday night, and Brian's parents, Grandma Jane and Bumpa Larry stayed until Tuesday morning. The kids went to daycare on Tuesday and Lauren was so sad to leave our house knowing that Grandma and Bumpa were still there. Grandma Jane also brought her dog, Zoe. Lauren and Josh were in LOVE with Zoe! Dixie even liked Zoe, too : ) It was a wonderful visit that we had with everyone and it was so nice of Jane and Larry to drive such a long way to see us. We all miss our family in Milwaukee and wish that we could see them more often.

Lauren

Lauren can pump on the swing!! She doesn't need a push at all. For those of you who either don't have kids or haven't experienced the pain that it is to constantly push a three and a half year old on a swing all the while being critiqued on how you are doing it, you cannot fully appreciate the greatness of this feat. To have her go to the swingset and start swinging all on her own is sooooooo wonderful!! And she basically started doing it by herself. My neighbor and I each worked with her teaching her when to bend her knees so she would start getting the hang of it. To not have to hear, "MOOOOOMMMMY, PUUUUUUSH MEEEEEEEE" is such a glorious feeling! Now, I just need to teach Josh how to pump his legs.......

Lauren is getting better at writing her own name, too. Brian drew the lines and she wrote the letters on her chalkboard. That tricky "R" sometimes gives her trouble, as does the "N" which often turns into an "M." But she is working hard (when she wants to) and is so proud of herself when she does write her own name!

Here are the latest Lauren-isms:

"Butterfly's are ridiculous" "Willow trees are special trees" "Gavin (boy at school) likes me all the time" "I need to put that on my birthday list" "That's amaaaaaazing" "We need to be 'sponsible"

Lauren is a wonderful big sister. She takes care of Joshua - even when he doesn't want her to! And Logan is just in love with her. She can make him laugh so hard and he watches her very intently whenever she is around him.

It is so fun to watch her grow : )

the sock stand-off

Josh, our two-year old, and I are involved in a sock stand-off right now. I put his socks on him this morning and he took them off not soon after. Then he wanted to go outside, so instead of putting his socks back on him myself, I decided that he should learn how to do this since he LOVES to take them off. Apparently, he is not a fan of having to put his own socks on and has been throwing a fit about it for the last hour.

Hence, sock stand-off.

Now, I guess I have two choices. I could put his socks on him, but that really doesn't teach him anything except all he has too do is cry and whine long enough and I will do it for him. OR..... since we have a whole hour before we have to be anywhere, I can continue the stand-off.

I'm not sure who it's torturing more, me or him.