Alayna's having a tough time

We've had a whirlwind of a time the last couple of days. Alayna has been battling excema for well over a year now, but it really has gotten horribly bad over the last month.....of course, now that we don't have health insurance (we are covered again with Chad's new company starting Oct. 1st, soon). So, two nights ago it got so bad that Alayna had scratched her knees until they bled.....and I'm not talking about a small scratch with a little blood. I took Gavin to church and when I returned home Chad met me at the door frantically wondering where the first aid kit was. Of course, I knew exactly where it was and we had to clean it, but vaseline on it and bandage it with gause and medical tape (our biggest bandaid wasn't big enough). Poor thing was miserable! Chad said we HAVE to take her somewhere....this just can't wait any longer. So, next day I took her to our naturopathic doctor....I absolutely LOVE Dr. Jen at the Natural Childbirth & Family Clinic! So, we think its allergy-related. We're going to get allergy/food intolerance testing done in a couple of weeks (its a different dr. who does the testing and that was the soonest we could get an appt.) In the meantime, we're doing hydrocortezone cream and lots of vitamins and probiotics to get her immune system under control again. We talked lots and lots during the appt. and I mentioned my garden and we talked about all of the foods we've been eating lots of. She mentioned that the most common allergens for this time of year and from what her skin looks like are corn, tomatoes and dairy. Well, the only thing we've been eating in massive quantities are tomatoes!!!!! Dairy, sure, but we've always eaten lots of dairy. We won't know for sure until the testing, but I'm thinking that's probably the culprit! I'm avoiding all of those foods for awhile, though, until we know for sure!
My little monkey doodle in his Monkey Doodle diaper!

Cade ~4 Months~

Wow! Time flies! I can't believe that Cade is already 4 months old. Here's a pic I took this morning.

The Puyallup Fair

We went to Puyallup this weekend to spend time with Chad's family, attend our niece, Tate's, 10th birthday party and while we were there, we decided to go to the Puyallup Fair. Now, the fair is a big deal. Chad has fond memories of going to the fair each year when he was a kid. There are vendors who sell things, big barns of farm animals and tons of rides. Chad has been saying for years that we need to go to the fair and this is the first year we've gone. Above, Gavin got to try on a fire fighter jacket at the fire truck display. As for rides, Gavin was very specific on the rides he would and would not go on. The giant slide was his number 1 pick! In fact, he liked it so much he rode it twice....the first time with Daddy and the second time with me. He also decided he would ride the Ferris Wheel, which Chad went with him on. However, any ride that went round in a circle was a no go.....even the chinsy little kid rides he refused to ride.
We thought that it would be cute to get Gavin and Alayna on one of the little kid rides and they both were excited about this little motorcycle ride (basically a small carousel with little colored motorcycles), but as soon as we put Alayna on it, she freaked out! Gavin wouldn't ride by himself and the ride was for kids only, so I have no cute picture of the kids on the motorcycle ride and Alayna spent the rest of our time there in her stroller.

Megan (Chad's youngest sister) went with us and this was the ride she was most looking forward to. As you can see, you sit inside the bear and you go around in a circle and you can spin the bear (can you see the wheel that Chad is leaning on?) Despite its cuteness, this ride actually made Chad feel sick.....too much spinning!

A Perfect Post about Birth

I've been reading lots of blogs recently. Many have been about birth, which you all know I'm passionate about. I just came across a post that I read, then sat and thought about, then read again, let it sink in and (yes!) read it again. Its kind of an old post, but the truth of it is relevent no matter when it was written. Some of you don't care a hill of beans about this topic, and for you I don't recommend this posting, but if you are interested or even intrigued about this topic that I have become so passionate about, take a look here!

Gavin's First Day of School

Gavin's first day of school was this past Thursday, Sept. 4th. He was so excited to wear his new school clothes and take his new Scooby Doo lunch box to school with him. The day passed quickly for me as I had a Le Leche League lunch at a local park to attend. By the time we got home, it was almost time to go pick Gavin up. Alayna didn't even have time for a nap! Gavin seemed very excited when I picked him up. He said that he had a good day and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Once we got home, I made an after-school snack and the phone rang. It was the school manager (basically, the principal). She asked me the strangest question. "I have a question about Gavin," she said. "Is he supposed to be in kindergarten or 1st grade?" Startled, I blurted out, "Kindergarten....that IS where he spent the day today, right?" "Uh, no, actually he was in the 1st grade class today." "WHAT????" You can imagine my horror! Apparently, Gavin's name was somehow on both the kindergarten and 1st grade class lists so no one noticed that he was in the wrong class. It wasn't until the afternoon when they did some placement testing and were greatly concerned that Gavin did not seem ready for 1st grade! "He'll be just fine in Kindergarten," the school manager continued. Well, DUH!!!! I'm trying to keep a positive attitude, but the lack of communication and organization at this school is starting to worry me a bit. The school manager is new to our school this year and I'm trying to keep an attitude of grace knowing that its gotta get better, but with each mistake, its getting harder to do. Oh, and after I got off the phone with the school manager, I asked Gavin about what happened and he immediately started crying! He confessed that he had walked to the wrong room and wasn't sure what to do. Of course, I made sure he knew that none of it was his fault and that we'd get it all straightened out the next day so he could be in the right class.

Tomorrow is Monday and Gavin's first full week of school. I'm hoping that things start to go smoother and hopefully the communication improves. I think I'm going to see what I can do to volunteer and get more involved with the school. I know that's an excellent way to "stay in the loop". It will be hard to do certain things with Alayna and Cade, but maybe there are "paperworky" kinds of things that I could do at home.....we'll see I guess!

The Cat House

Some of you may have thought I was joking when I said our house is the neighborhood cat hangout. Here's proof! Alayna, Cade & I came home from dropping Gavin off at school the other day and this is what we saw in our backyard! It was like a little cat family! There was actually a 5th cat, a calico, but I couldn't fit all 5 in the picture together.

Labor Day Project

We decided to take advantage of a day with no rain to paint our house today. We put new siding on our house last summer and it really needed to be painted by this year. We planned to do it sometime this summer and before we knew it, summer was over! It really turned out to be a fun project.....labor intensive, yes, but fun. Gavin loved helping and the kids from next door came over to help as well.

Everyone working hard!

Cade, our foreman, did his job well as supervisor!

Of course, 20 minutes into the project, it became "boring" for the kids and Chad did most of the work finishing the job!

The finished product! We still have some trimwork to do, but the main painting job is finished....yay! So, what did I do during all of this? I painted a little during Alayna's nap, but between managing Alayna (who was inside playing, snacking and watching Scooby Doo) and nursing Cade, I didn't spend as much time helping as I would have liked to.

The Countdown Begins!

14 Days until School Starts! Gavin is very excited. He has been practicing writing his name and his numbers every day (well, for the last two days at least). We did the official "school supply shopping" the other day and you can see how proud he is. We were told that he needs to bring his pencils to school sharpened, so I got a little electric pencil sharpener and Gavin had a great time opening the packages and sharpening the pencils and putting them in the zipper bag. It turned out to be a great afternoon project for him. The only thing we haven't gotten yet is a new backpack. He does have one, but we bought it a couple of years ago (a "Cars" backpack when he started preschool) and I asked him if he wanted to use that one for kindergarten or get a new one....he said he wanted a new one. We didn't find one that Gavin liked when we were getting the school supplies, so we're going to keep looking. However, Gavin did find a Scooby Doo lunch box that we got for him. Its about twice as big as the Cars one he used for preschool...which is good because I could barely fit a sandwich, juice box and one other item in the old lunch box and I will be putting more things in for him this year since he'll be in school a full day.

I started thinking about the "Kindergarten Let Down" that people talk about. You know, how we get so excited for our kids getting ready for school. We vicariously live through them as they shop for school clothes, supplies, backpacks, lunch boxes, etc. Then we send them off and...... go home. I remember the weird feeling I had after dropping him off at preschool the first time. I'm sure this will be similar. However, as it happens, Melissa has planned a Le Leche League picnic at Blue Lake Park that day, so I'll actually have something to look forward to myself.

Future Mary Kay Consultant

For a few peaceful minutes, I actually enjoyed cleaning up in the kitchen while Gavin and Alayna watched a movie (Cade was asleep). Then I started thinking, "wait a minute....its a little TOO quiet." I rounded the corner to see Alayna covered in a brownish-red.....something. It only took a minute to figure out what it was! I'm bummed that the picture is so dark. I guess I was so overwhelmed by the mess and although I remembered to actually take a picture, I wasn't so concerned about lighting.

Recent Pics

Sorry for the lack of pictures for the last couple of weeks. These are the most recent pics I have at the moment. I will be sure to take more soon!

Thanks, Mom, for the super cute (yes, she made it!) nightgown for Alayna!

Traveling Alone with Three Kids

Sounds like an oxymoron right? How can you be alone when you're with your kids? Ask any Mom and she'll smile and nod in agreement. Being a stay-at-home mom can be one of the loneliest jobs out there! So, why was I making the trip to Chad's family's home without Chad? Short Answer: He was already there. Long Answer: Chad went to Seattle last Monday for work. He needed to stay the whole week and since there was no way I'd live through a whole week as a single parent, we decided to go up on Wednesday (after Gavin and Alayna's dentist appointments) and stay until Friday. So, here are the highlights of our trip to Puyallup: Went through the drive through at Burger King before getting on the road. Didn't want Alayna to spill her root beer (yes, she drinks pop...I'm so ashamed to admit it!), so I pulled over and gave her several sips and then kept the drink in my drink holder. While on the road, she kept asking for more and I (stupidly) handed it back to her. Few minutes later, I glanced back and she had the lid off and was so close to dumping it all over herself; my heart stopped. Took the next exit, found her sippy cup, dumped out the water that was in it and poured the root beer into the sippy. Got back on the road. Short time later, "Mom, I have to go to the bathroom". Oh Gavin! Alright. Take the next exit. Everyone out of the car. And Cade was asleep too! Now he's awake, crying, wanting to be nursed. Since I hate using the restroom at gas stations without buying anything, I let the kids each pick a treat for the rest of the trip. Alayna chooses gummy worms. That's pretty safe, I think. Wrong! Within minutes, I hear her saying "icky" and I look back and she's got wet gummy worms stuck to her hands. How in the world!?! Next thing I know there are gummy remnants on the seat, in her hair, stuck to her shoe. Oh Alayna! Our normally 2.5 hour trip took 3.5 hours! By the time we arrived, I was about to kill someone!

Sounds like fun, huh? Doesn't beat the trip back! Both Cade and Alayna were not excited about another several-hour-trip-home and decided to protest by crying as loud as possible. We were about half way home when traffic came to a halt! Great.....just when I thought there was nothing worse than driving with two screaming kids in the car. Luckily, the traffic jam didn't last long and both Cade and Alayna cried themselves to sleep....ahh, a few quiet minutes!

So, I found a TV show that I now love! I've heard about it, but I had never watched it. Ever hear of Jon & Kate Plus 8? Its so cool! Kate is this hip, urban Mom with spikey blond hair and a sassy attitude. Jon is this laid back Korean guy and compliments Kate very well. They have 8 (yes 8!) kids. Twin girls and sextuplets (3 boys and 3 girls)! If I ever feel like I have it tough, watching this show makes me feel much better! Plus, one of their twins (Madelyn) reminds me a lot of Gavin. Its interesting for me to watch how Kate deals with her. In the couple of episodes I watched, the twins are 7 and the sextuplets are 3. I was telling Chad about the show and said "That's like 2 Gavin's and 6 Alayna's"!!! Seriously, I don't know how they do it!

Toddler Curiosity

My sister, Kelly, is completely into photography and this photo reminds me of one she'd take. This is just the fence in our backyard...one of the boards fell out and Alayna wanted to check it out....click.....perfect photo!

Happy Birthday Gavin!

Gavin had his birthday at Chuck E Cheese's Pizza this year. It was his first "friend" party and he felt so grown up to be able to have three of his friends from preschool attend. Of course, Mom and Dad had some "friends" as well and with their kids, we had quite the group!

Gavin and Isaiah

Let's Play Dress Up

It looks like a mini skirt, but its actually Cade's newborn-size overalls.

I'm amazed that she actually got them on!

The Terrific Twos!

I love this picture because it so precisely represents what my day was like today. I could say more, but I won't....this pic speaks volumes!

Happy 4th of July!

Alayna in her red, white and blue

Melissa invited us over for a backyard BBQ with a few other friends. Here, Melissa's friend Megan plays with the kids (Odessa, to the far left, is Megan's daughter) on the trampoline.

Karen, this pics for you!

~Garden Blog Updated~

We're finally getting summer out here in the Pacific Northwest. That's right, while all of you in the rest of the country were sweltering with record high temps in June, we were bundling up with sweaters and long pants. But, the weather has finally turned in our favor and my garden is finally taking off! I just posted lots of pictures, so if that interests you, check it out! (You can click over from my "links" list over to the right.)

Storytime with Daddy

The kids just love time with their Dad! I couldn't believe that all three sat still enough for a story, so I had to document it with a picture.

One Month Down....And I'm Still Standing!

Its been a crazy month adjusting to life with three kids! Its actually been harder than I thought it would be. I think in my mind Cade was going to be as easy a baby as Alayna was. I forgot that sometimes babies cry for absolutely no reason at all for hours on end. You would have thought I would have remembered that from dealing with Gavin as a baby, but somehow I thought he was going to be super easy. I've mastered nursing in public as I've found myself on several occasions with a screaming Cade as I walked through the aisles and felt self-conscious as everyone stared. I'm sure they were probably thinking "oh poor mom" thoughts, but I still felt like they were secretly judging me. I'd quickly find the closest place to sit; sometimes the deli area or the benches in front of the checkout. I'd nurse Cade discreetly, which with Alayna I would have been a little self-conscious about, but this time around I just don't even think about it. I'm just so relieved for him to not be crying anymore. I've also noticed that no one else seems to care either. I haven't gotten a single weird glance or stare or anything for that matter. I'm sure most people don't even realize what I'm doing (or care for that matter). Not sure if its because we live in a more progressive area of the country or if people are finally "getting it" that babies need to eat, even if its not the most convenient time or place.

Its not all just screaming and crying though (thankfully!). There are definitely the precious, priceless moments. My "banana baby" picture, for example. It was supposed to be a nice warm day, but was chilly and overcast instead. I wanted to put a little jacket on Cade but couldn't find anything clean. Digging through a box, I found this little yellow sweater hand-knit by a lady we used to go to church with. I put it on him and thought, "he looks like a little banana!"

My Three Kids

Its been neat to observe the kids as they interact with their new brother.

There are lots of silly moments!

Cade wearing a special outfit from Grammy!