Last night I was so keyed up for today. I had a million things to do, and many of them were fun. It was also supposed to be Bethany's first day of preschool (finally!), and I'd been getting her worked up for that, too. Well, it all went to pot when Bethany woke up this morning and I saw her goopy, swollen, pink eye. Of all the days for this to happen, why today? So of course all my plans went out the window. No preschool for Bethany, no grocery shopping, and the added doctor's appointment set me back on just about everything else. And while we were at the doctor's, Bethany suddenly reverted to her panicked state when confronted with anything doctor related. She absolutely freaked out, enough that the doctor left the room, saying he was going to go see his next patient, and then he'd be back. While he was gone, I kept talking to Bethany telling her that she had to let the doctor see her eye, and finally she said, "Fine!" When he came back, she did cooperate--barely--but she insisted he keep his little flashlight thing at least twelve inches away. Whatever. At least we got some eye drops so she can go to school. We didn't get them until almost 4:00, so she won't get to go until Wednesday, but there's not really anything I can do about it. I'm using the drops on Meagan, too. This morning she was fine, but by bedtime her eye was three times as swollen as Bethany's was this morning, while Bethany's wasn't swollen at all anymore. Hopefully this will be a quick illness, then. I just hope that Sean doesn't get it, too.
I'd like to say that the day at least ended on a good note, but it really didn't. I'd promised the kids that we'd decorate the Christmas tree for Family Home Evening. With everything going on today, including a fussy Sean who wanted to be held a lot, all I managed to do by dinnertime was bring the tree upstairs. My ideal way of decorating the tree starts when kids are in bed. I like to put the tree up, and put on the lights and garland by myself, without kids running around like crazy. Then I like to sift through the ornaments, and choose which ones to put on the tree and have them all ready to go when we decorate it all together as a family. It's much less chaotic that way, and I get to interact more with the kids as they are putting the ornaments up. What really happened was I put the tree up while the kids finished dinner. Sean was afraid of the tree at first and screamed bloody murder, so I was trying to hold him while finishing spreading the branches. Then I put the lights on the tree while the girls ran around and screamed in the background, and Sean crawled in circles around the tree and grabbed lights and pulled himself up to standing for the first time. When I finally got the ornaments out, they were grabbing them and putting them on the tree as fast as I could get the hooks on them, so I didn't really get to help out with placement or anything else. Now that they've gone to bed, I need to redistributethe ornaments. But I don't feel like it. I'm just sitting here, messing with the laptop, and not even wanting to do any other decorating at all. Maybe I'll just have the tree up this year, and nothing else.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Monday, November 23, 2009
A Battle of Wills
Over and over again, I work to make a nice balanced dinner, which my children then reject. Bethany's definitely the worst. Meagan is learning to branch out and try new things (she actually likes broccoli, and even tried squash the other day), but Bethany has a very limited palate. Last night I just got tired of her refusing to eat, and refusing to eat stuff that I know she normally likes, and told her that she wasn't leaving her chair until she ate at least one piece of the breaded chicken I made, and one piece of broccoli. She did taste the broccoli fairly quickly. Of course, she grimaced and nearly spit it out, but at least she tried it. The chicken, on the other hand, was a different story.
I just don't get it. How exactly is breaded chicken different from chicken nuggets. She has no problem eating those. So why is what I made any different? She does like "clean" chicken--or completely plain with nothing on it chicken (I guess chicken nuggets are the exception). So I figured that was why she wasn't eating it, and scraped off all the breaded stuff. It still wasn't good enough. She didn't make a big fuss at first about having to sit in her chair, but then the longer it went on, the more upset she got, until she was screaming and crying that she "can't stay in the kitchen for a long, long time," and yelling "Never, never!" at me when I told her all she had to do was eat one little piece, and then she could leave. Sheesh. I kind of ignored her and did some dishes for a while, while she sat and cried. Nate tried to reason with her and bribe her with a cookie or game time on the Wii. Finally I sat down to talk to her and asked her why she wouldn't eat it. She said there was still stuff on it. I asked if I washed it, if she would eat it and she said yes. So I actually speared her bite of chicken, took it to the sink, ran it under some water and brought it back. She immediately stuffed it in her mouth, chewed it up and said, "Yummy!" That crazy kid is going to drive me insane one of these days.
I just don't get it. How exactly is breaded chicken different from chicken nuggets. She has no problem eating those. So why is what I made any different? She does like "clean" chicken--or completely plain with nothing on it chicken (I guess chicken nuggets are the exception). So I figured that was why she wasn't eating it, and scraped off all the breaded stuff. It still wasn't good enough. She didn't make a big fuss at first about having to sit in her chair, but then the longer it went on, the more upset she got, until she was screaming and crying that she "can't stay in the kitchen for a long, long time," and yelling "Never, never!" at me when I told her all she had to do was eat one little piece, and then she could leave. Sheesh. I kind of ignored her and did some dishes for a while, while she sat and cried. Nate tried to reason with her and bribe her with a cookie or game time on the Wii. Finally I sat down to talk to her and asked her why she wouldn't eat it. She said there was still stuff on it. I asked if I washed it, if she would eat it and she said yes. So I actually speared her bite of chicken, took it to the sink, ran it under some water and brought it back. She immediately stuffed it in her mouth, chewed it up and said, "Yummy!" That crazy kid is going to drive me insane one of these days.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
"Yes, Your Mom"
For the past couple of months, Bethany has been saying, "Yes, your majesty" to me when I ask her to do things. It's sometimes cute, and sometimes annoying, because it sounds like she's being sarcastic. The thing is, she has no idea what sarcasm even is, so I know she's not trying to be. I think she got the whole idea from Backyardigans. There's an episode where Pablo is a king and a couple of the others are knights, and keep saying "Yes, your majesty" to him. Somewhere along the line, though, Bethany's modified the phrase into "Yes, your mom". It's hilarious. I'll tell her to wash her hands or get dressed or whatever, and she says, "Yes, your mom." I wonder how long it will last.
****
Every night before I go to bed, I check on the kids. I developed this habit when Bethany was really little, because she'd wiggle out from under her blankets at night and then get cold. So I'd go in, cover her up, and go to bed. Now it's hard for me to sleep if I don't do it, like there's something niggling at my conscience that I've forgotten. I get a lot of laughs out of it, too, though. I don't know how many pictures I've taken of the kids in weird sleeping positions. And then there's all the times they've talked in their sleep. Sometime it's hard to make out their babblings, but the other night I came in, and Meagan sat up and said, "Mommy, I want to be upside down." A few days before that, when I went in, Bethany first asked if it was morning, then said, "I like bubbles." I'd really like to know what they're dreaming sometimes.
****
At dinner the other night, Bethany held up a piece of the cornbread she was eating and said, "What does this make?" Confused, Nate and I looked at each other and said, "What?" She repeated, "What does this make?" Not getting an answer, she then said, "Poops or pee-pee?"
Along the same vein, after I was done eating the other day, she asked me if I was full. When I said yes, she then said, "Now you need to go pee-pee." I really have no idea where she got these ideas from, unless it was from us telling her she couldn't have water at night or it would make her go pee-pee in her bed. Regardless, it was pretty funny.
****
Our ward's primary program was a couple Sundays ago. Bethany's part was, "When I am twelve, I can do baptisms for the dead." She loves playing with the microphone in the primary room--but only after everyone's gone and we're just cleaning up. When she had to give a talk in primary, she just stood there while Nate said everything for her. So I was pretty sure that she wouldn't say anything for the program. We tried practicing her part with her at home. At first we'd prompt her with, "When I am twelve..." and then she'd say, "I'm five!" Then, when she finally started saying the whole line, she'd tack on "tomorrow" at the end. So we'd ask her to say her line, and she'd say, "When I am twelve, I can do baptisms for the dead tomorrow." Of course, Meagan was fascinated with the whole thing, and learned the part along with Bethany. She'd randomly come up to me during the day and say, "When I am twelve, I can do baptisms for the dead." She really wanted to talk in that microphone, too.
On the day of the program, we made a speical effort to get to church on time. It was the first time since Sean was born that I was on time. Bethany sat in her chair up on the stage, but didn't really participate. When she got up for her part, she crossed her arms, turned sideways and huffed. So the counselor said her part for her, and she hopped down and went back to her chair. Oh well, maybe next year.
****
Meagan came up to Nate while he was washing dishes and said, "We don't eat bees. We eat spiders. We eat spiders in nursery. We pull their legs off!" ??? Makes you wonder what they're getting up to in nursery.
****
Every night before I go to bed, I check on the kids. I developed this habit when Bethany was really little, because she'd wiggle out from under her blankets at night and then get cold. So I'd go in, cover her up, and go to bed. Now it's hard for me to sleep if I don't do it, like there's something niggling at my conscience that I've forgotten. I get a lot of laughs out of it, too, though. I don't know how many pictures I've taken of the kids in weird sleeping positions. And then there's all the times they've talked in their sleep. Sometime it's hard to make out their babblings, but the other night I came in, and Meagan sat up and said, "Mommy, I want to be upside down." A few days before that, when I went in, Bethany first asked if it was morning, then said, "I like bubbles." I'd really like to know what they're dreaming sometimes.
****
At dinner the other night, Bethany held up a piece of the cornbread she was eating and said, "What does this make?" Confused, Nate and I looked at each other and said, "What?" She repeated, "What does this make?" Not getting an answer, she then said, "Poops or pee-pee?"
Along the same vein, after I was done eating the other day, she asked me if I was full. When I said yes, she then said, "Now you need to go pee-pee." I really have no idea where she got these ideas from, unless it was from us telling her she couldn't have water at night or it would make her go pee-pee in her bed. Regardless, it was pretty funny.
****
Our ward's primary program was a couple Sundays ago. Bethany's part was, "When I am twelve, I can do baptisms for the dead." She loves playing with the microphone in the primary room--but only after everyone's gone and we're just cleaning up. When she had to give a talk in primary, she just stood there while Nate said everything for her. So I was pretty sure that she wouldn't say anything for the program. We tried practicing her part with her at home. At first we'd prompt her with, "When I am twelve..." and then she'd say, "I'm five!" Then, when she finally started saying the whole line, she'd tack on "tomorrow" at the end. So we'd ask her to say her line, and she'd say, "When I am twelve, I can do baptisms for the dead tomorrow." Of course, Meagan was fascinated with the whole thing, and learned the part along with Bethany. She'd randomly come up to me during the day and say, "When I am twelve, I can do baptisms for the dead." She really wanted to talk in that microphone, too.
On the day of the program, we made a speical effort to get to church on time. It was the first time since Sean was born that I was on time. Bethany sat in her chair up on the stage, but didn't really participate. When she got up for her part, she crossed her arms, turned sideways and huffed. So the counselor said her part for her, and she hopped down and went back to her chair. Oh well, maybe next year.
****
Meagan came up to Nate while he was washing dishes and said, "We don't eat bees. We eat spiders. We eat spiders in nursery. We pull their legs off!" ??? Makes you wonder what they're getting up to in nursery.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Going Mini-golfing
It was dark and a bit cold, but we decided to go minigolfing the other night. The kids don't really get how the game is supposed to go, but they sure have a lot of fun. Meagan's idea of minigolfing is to carry her ball to the hole, set it down on the edge and then knock it in. Bethany does a bit better, but she tends to drag her ball with the club. It's all good.
At the end of this course, the final hole is inside a big box with a plexiglass front. The holes kind of look like skee ball--if you get it in the center hole, you count it as one stroke, two strokes for the second ring, etc. Well, most of us didn't do so well, but Bethany and Nate both managed to get the center ring. For days afterward, Bethany talked about how she and her daddy both got "it in the hole." It was really cute.
At the end of this course, the final hole is inside a big box with a plexiglass front. The holes kind of look like skee ball--if you get it in the center hole, you count it as one stroke, two strokes for the second ring, etc. Well, most of us didn't do so well, but Bethany and Nate both managed to get the center ring. For days afterward, Bethany talked about how she and her daddy both got "it in the hole." It was really cute.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Cute pictures of the kids
The kids looked so cute at church yesterday that I decided to take some pictures when we got home.
Meagan's new haircut
I finally did it. I cut Meagan's hair. Aside from a bang trim, I'd never cut her hair before. I'd resisted doing it, because she had these cute little curls at the ends of her hair, and I'd heard of so many kids who'd lost their curl after their hair was cut. That, and I was afraid of really butchering her hair, since I've never done anything like it before. But her hair was getting really straggly, so I finally did it. It turned out much better than I was expecting. She wiggled and squirmed a lot, which made it a little hard, and it's a bit shorter than I first meant to cut it, but that's okay. I had to trim a few stray pieces the next day, but on the whole, I'm pretty proud of my first attempt. I was happy enough that I even dared trim the hair above Sean's ears, too.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Halloween pics
I hate coming up with Halloween costumes for the kids. They're no help at all. Bethany hates dressing up, so there's never anything that she voluntarily wants, and she outright rejects anything else I may suggest. Meagan's easier, but is still too young to really tell me what she wants. After a couple years of spending a lot of time making costumes that they hated, I decided that this year I would just buy something. So we all headed to the store to look at costumes. Once again, Meagan was pretty easy to please. After looking at a couple of costumes, she picked out a green M&M. It turned out to be slightly too small for her, but not so small that it didn't work. There's one down. Then I found an easy one for Sean, too--a little doggie/sleeper deal. It's really cute, and really easy. Bethany, on the other hand, refused anything we found. For days, anytime we went to a store with costumes, I'd have her look and tell me if there was anything she liked. She'd barely even glance at them before she'd say no. I kept telling her that she had to wear something if she wanted to go Trick or Treating, but she didn't really seem to care. Finally, only a few days before our ward Trunk or Treat, I was at Joann, and saw some tulle. She's never minded wearing her leotard to gymnastics, so I decided to just sew a little tulle skirt and add it to the leotard. I thought that it would be minimal enough that she wouldn't object. I put it on her when we got to the church, and I was right, she didn't seem to mind too much. They had a great time at the Trunk or Treat (even if it doesn't look like it in the pictures).
The Trunk or Treat was on a Tuesday, and Halloween this year was on Saturday. After we'd gotten home from the ward party, Bethany said she didn't want to wear her costume anymore. All week long I told her she didn't have to wear it if she didn't want to, but if she wanted to go Trick or Treating, she had to wear something. She told me she didn't want to go Trick or Treating. Over and over she said that. She really meant it. On Saturday night, she was still saying it. Then Meagan said she'd rather have a bath than go Trick or Treating, so I put them in the tub, and thought that was that. About 7:00 they got out, and then of course Meagan started crying that she wanted to go Trick or Treating. Sigh. I wasn't going to give in, because it was already so late, but I could tell that Nate really wanted to take them out. So I blow dryed Meagan's hair and got her in her costume. So then Bethany finally wants to go, too. Turns out it was a moot point about her costume, since I went to get it and found that Meagan had had a potty accident on top of it. At the last minute we cobbled together a costume for Bethany out of Nate's work boots and my old uniform. It was kinda cute, but Bethany had a really hard time clomping around in the boots. I stayed home with Sean, and Nate's mom sat out in the driveway handing out candy. Nate and the girls weren't gone for very long, but at least they got to go. And who was the one who didn't want to stop? Bethany of course.
The Trunk or Treat was on a Tuesday, and Halloween this year was on Saturday. After we'd gotten home from the ward party, Bethany said she didn't want to wear her costume anymore. All week long I told her she didn't have to wear it if she didn't want to, but if she wanted to go Trick or Treating, she had to wear something. She told me she didn't want to go Trick or Treating. Over and over she said that. She really meant it. On Saturday night, she was still saying it. Then Meagan said she'd rather have a bath than go Trick or Treating, so I put them in the tub, and thought that was that. About 7:00 they got out, and then of course Meagan started crying that she wanted to go Trick or Treating. Sigh. I wasn't going to give in, because it was already so late, but I could tell that Nate really wanted to take them out. So I blow dryed Meagan's hair and got her in her costume. So then Bethany finally wants to go, too. Turns out it was a moot point about her costume, since I went to get it and found that Meagan had had a potty accident on top of it. At the last minute we cobbled together a costume for Bethany out of Nate's work boots and my old uniform. It was kinda cute, but Bethany had a really hard time clomping around in the boots. I stayed home with Sean, and Nate's mom sat out in the driveway handing out candy. Nate and the girls weren't gone for very long, but at least they got to go. And who was the one who didn't want to stop? Bethany of course.
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