New Sprinkler

Uncle Aaron & Katie brought the kids a present when they came out this weekend.  A new sprinkler... this thing is fun.  The kids were entertained for nearly an hour yesterday afternoon.  Which is impressive considering their attention spans. :)  

Remember that feeling?

Kaiya just wet herself while playing hide and seek with Uncle Aaron & Katie. She was hiding... :)

Florida

Last weekend while Tony had a guys weekend, the kids and I escaped to Orlando for the weekend. It was really refreshing and we were able to time it right and see both of my sisters and my mom. Here are some pictures from the trip.

Kaiya jumping into the pool - borrowing Cameron's floaty suit. She thought it was cool with Spiderman.

At the beach where Ruthie & Chris are getting married.

This kid was so happy in the sand. It was ridiculous.

My buddy & I

Pictures before Ruthie's bridal shower.

Where's the fight?

I'm not a dedicated viewer of Jon & Kate + 8. I've watched the occasional episode here and there. But of course with all the recent press I decided to DVR last night's episode. Like most of America, I'm sad at the impending divorce. And watching that episode was so painful. I just listened to the lies that they are choosing to believe.

All I heard over and over last night was: "We're committed to doing the best thing for our kids." Well, FIGHT! Fight for the marriage. But today I was struck with something.

There are many many marriages dissolving just like the Gosselin's. People you know. People you love. And what I'm wondering is: Where the heck is the Gosselin's support system? And who's support system are you a part of?

Let's support each other. Let's love each other. Ask the hard questions when necessary. And fight for our marriages.

Here's one of the best posts I've seen on the Jon & Kate thing: Minivans are Hot

Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger - NO Bacon

Over the weekend I was traveling down to Florida and on the way home I didn't have food packed for myself and we had to stop and eat fast food (gasp!). Now before you go freaking out that I gave my kids the nasty food... I had packed for them. I know some of you were starting to go into complete shock. You can breathe easier now. :)

I stopped at Wendy's and looked over the menu. Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger sounded good because it comes with lettuce, tomato, and mayo. Only I don't eat pork. Could order it without bacon, but that would be just a regular cheeseburger, right? Not at Wendy's... a regular cheeseburger is similar to Mickey D's with just ketchup, mustard, pickles. I really wanted the other toppings. So I decided to order a Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger with no bacon. The cashier was so confused. I mean really confused. I explained to her that I wanted the toppings and she said I could just order a cheeseburger deluxe. Only... a cheeseburger deluxes is: $1.49. And a Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger is: 99 cents.

Ummm... I'll take the Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger - no bacon. Well... all hell broke loose in that Wendy's when she put that order through. WHAT? A Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger without the bacon? Can we do that? But isn't that just a cheeseburger? Why doesn't she want the bacon? Isn't that just a single cheeseburger? Manager gets involved and is just as confused. Just make the freakin' sandwich for heaven's sake.

I left my friend Kat to bring the order out for us. After my exit they proceeded to go nuts on her about my order. She just shrugs her shoulders. I think they might have thrown the food at her, but there were other guests in line behind her.

I know I was the one ordering... but this really didn't seem all that complicated to me. Make the sandwich and don't put bacon on it. I'm the paying customer -- shoot -- it's not like I asked for an additional discount for leaving the bacon off! It was so funny. Kat and I laughed about it for a good 10 miles down the road. She thinks that a rule was made at that Wendy's right after I left that no one can order the Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger without bacon. She's probably right. :)

Almost Wordless Wednesday

Kaiya put this up her nose last night.  Daddy was babysitting... need I say more?

To Daddy's credit though... he is the one who got it out.  And it was WAY up there.  I couldn't see it - he could only see it with the flash light.  Took us 2 1/2 hours, but he finally got it out.  She was spastic, we didn't have the ideal tools, and had to call a friend over to help us hold her down. :)  But... we didn't have to go to the hospital!!  We seriously prayed that thing out of her nose... because honestly... Tony was in no frame of mind to debate vaccination with the ER staff. :)

Kaiya has some bathtub paints and usually wants to use them every bath. Understandably, I don't want her to use them every bath. :) So last night I told her no since she had used them the night before. She whined a bit, but then went on with being in the bath. I went into my room and started putting clothes away. I walked past the bathroom to check on them and stood in the doorway where they couldn't see me. And I see Kaiya picking up the paints. She hadn't started using them, but was more just entertaining the idea of disobeying me. I stood there for a minute or so while she was internally debating. She caved in to the temptation and began squirting it onto her legs. I chose that moment to walk into the bathroom, expecting her to fully jump out of her skin with guilt. Negative. She barely acknowledged my presence. It went like this:

Me: "Kaiya. Did Mama say you could paint tonight?"

Kaiya: still squirting the paints... "No."

Me: "Then what are you doing?"

Kaiya: still squirting the paints and not even bothering to look up... "Paint'n."

Hello? Who am I? Just your mother!! The one you are supposed to obey! Yeah -- she got the paints taken away. Possibly forever.

The joys of having an older sister...

Bollywood - Kaiya Style

I let Kaiya watch snippets of So You Think You Can Dance and this was her favorite of Wednesday night's show. Mainly because she has decided that the guy is Aladdin and the girl must be Jasmine. You can't really see the dancers on this video -- this is Kaiya's interpretation. At the end of the routine the dancers kiss -- look for Kaiya's attempt at kissing the air. :)

Promotion

On Sunday our church got a new check-in system for the kids. I think with the update, Kaiya was also moved up into the next age group since she turned 3 in March. She was a little nervous at first to be going to a new classroom, but they won her over with playdough. :) On our way home from church I was trying to talk to her about what they did in her new class.

She told me a little about the class and then announced in a very serious voice: I'm getting older.

I said: Yes, baby, you are!

It was quiet for a little bit and then from the backseat I hear: "Mama? Am I still three?"

She said it in the most confused and concerned voice. I said - "Yep, you are still three." A great sigh of relief from the back seat. :)

Love these two...

Thought I would post this sweet picture of the kids. They played together upstairs while I cleaned for about an hour. Very little squabbling and sharing problems. It was really sweet and a relief to see them playing so well. They were really enjoying each other.

To post or not to post...

I've debated posting about this for a few months now. It's personal. My male readers won't be the least bit interested. And it's possible some of my female readers won't be interested either. But I just can't help myself. I found this thing that is just too cool not to post about it. So there's the disclaimer -- if the female reproductive system grosses you out -- read NO further. :)

In February, a friend was telling me about The Diva Cup. Her sister was going to the Philippines to be a missionary and wouldn't have regular access to stores with tampons, etc. So she ordered the diva cup. I went on the website and checked it out. Then I found it at Earth Fare, one of our health food stores. I'm not gonna get into the logistics on how one would use this thing... but I really prefer it 10x over to tampons. You have to change it less frequently and I'm saving money and being green. It was an investment... $39. But I've heard that you can get it cheaper... it just depends on the mark-up of your store.

Anyway... check it out. The website has a pretty extensive FAQ section... but if you have a question, you can e-mail me-- obviously I'm not too shy. :)

Kaiya's Prayer

The other night I was getting ready for bed and Kaiya was hanging out with me in my room. My legs were really itchy and so I was scratching my legs and saying, "My legs are driving me crazy! They are so itchy!"

Kaiya says: "Oh mama, I will help you with that." Folds her hands and bows her head: "Dear God (said very dramatically), please help mama's legs no not be skinny anymore."

The prayer was too sweet to interrupt -- but "not be skinny" -- NO!!!!! Definitely the last thing I would be praying...

More of the pictures Ruthie took...

Wordless Wednesday - Aunt Ruthie's Pictures

This has NEVER happened in our house before.

For those of you who know how much this girl loves her food... She actually fell asleep mid-meal at the dinner table last night. It was priceless.And this little guy has been pouting like crazy lately. Here is is with the classic pout look for his Aunt Ruthie. If anything doesn't go his way this is the reaction you can expect to get. He flops onto his bottom, stares at the ground and sticks that bottom lip out as far as he can. It usually comes out much further than this:

Enjoying his rice

We're having a pretty good weekend. Thursday through Saturday we worked a booth at the Speed Street Festival. This festival is one of the largest Charlotte has each year and comes before the NASCAR Sprint Cup held in town. So from 12-8 p.m. each day we were out there doing health screenings. It was exhausting, but we've got a week full of new patient appointments as a result, so definitely worth it.

We are working at the office for the morning shift today and then going to enjoy the rest of our day with Ruthie and Chris and the kids.

What's the worst thing...

...your child has ever eaten?

I just got to put one on the list for Kaleb. He ate a small piece of cat poop on Friday. About the size of a cheerio -- and that's exactly what he thought it was. And the worst part is that I thought it was a cheerio too... I watched him put it in his mouth. About 30 seconds later he made a horrible face and stuck his tongue out. Why it took him that long to figure out it was poo, I have no idea, but I quickly grabbed what remained off his tongue. ICK.

Saturday afternoon he got a fever. Not sure if it was the cat poo or the 6 teeth he is currently cutting. But he got adjusted and some Immunoberry supplement and we let his body do its thing. And it did -- just like it always does! Once again demonstrating that unless the fever hits an emergency level - 105-107 degrees - Tylenol is unnecessary!

So now just to make me feel a little better and to entertain the readers... What is the worst thing your child has ever eaten? Or for those without kids, the child of someone you know. And Kelli I'm hoping you'll comment -- cause I'm not sure if yours can be beaten. :)

Who Tooted?

On Thursday during Tony's birthday breakfast, Kaleb ripped a very loud fart. I asked him, "Kaleb, did you toot?" He violently shakes his head NO! I ask, "Well, who tooted then?" He smiled and pointed to his bottom.

A round of laughter followed from everyone.

Apparently he doesn't realize they are one in the same.

Introducing... Baby Cakes

Kaiya got a new doll this weekend. She was found at a yard sale for 25 cents. Possibly only 25 cents because she was naked. But we quickly remedied that by digging into Kaiya's old preemie clothes. Kaiya was so excited when she saw this dress that she wore for Easter:





And it fit the doll just perfectly! She decided to name her doll Baby Cakes. I call Kaiya that sometimes, I guess. But I didn't think she really liked it because she would always tell me that she is not Baby Cakes - she is Half Pint (Papa's nickname for her). So I was surprised that she decided to name the doll Baby Cakes. I taught her how to swaddle the baby last night and she really liked that. It's been fun.

Happy Birthday Tony!

Yesterday was Tony's birthday! The night before I told Kaiya that it was his birthday tomorrow and she got very excited. "I will make him pancakes for his birthday!" she decided. So when we woke up, we let Daddy stay in bed a little bit later and got started on his birthday breakfast. Look at my two little helpers!

Quite proud of themselves for getting Daddy's birthday breakfast ready.

When I thought about a birthday post for Tony, I really kept getting struck with the thought that I'm so thankful for his life. So Laura, thanks for choosing life for your son. Look at the blessing that he has become to so many people because of that one decision you made to give him life. I try to step back and imagine what it must have been like for you - young, single - a whole life ahead of you, people in your support system encouraging you to have an abortion. By choosing life for Tony you have given me a wonderful husband and beautiful children. He's not only impacting lives for the kingdom, but also making a major impact on our patients' health. He is changing lives. Just one choice... that changed my life. Happy Birthday Tony!