Sunday, November 30, 2008

So sad...

FYI for all of you wondering why I seemed to have fallen off the face of the earth. My computer has taken a turn for the worse. I am now praying over it but even though it is Sunday, it is not working. It has crashed and a trip to the Apple store is in my near future. I am going to have to start writing things down because it has been a very eventful week and more to come this week (My BABY turns 4!!!). Hope to blog soon!

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Stop, Drop and Roll

So Harrison was running around the house yesterday.  I try to limit the 'running' in the house, but was pretty much ignoring him at this point.  He had been sick and it had been far to cold to really go outside and play so I was letting it be. 

Sometimes he does this run back and forth thing from the couch to the kitchen.  The whole time he is doing this he says (with his most tired and exhausting voice) "I can't stop running.  My legs just won't let me stop.  Oh, I just can't stop running!"  The whole scene is fairly amusing.

Back to yesterday.  Harrison is running around and is going from the living room, to around the table to the kitchen, etc.  Pretty soon I hear "My butt is on fire!  My butt is on fire!"  OK, hmmm.  "Harrison, what are you doing?"  "Mom, my butt is on fire!"  At this point he is making gestures towards his deri aire and fanning it as to put out the fire.  "Mom, tell me to stop, drop and roll!"  He now runs into the living room and I obediently tell him to stop, drop and roll.  He does so with gusto and lays on the floor quite tired.  He then stands up and says "Whoa, that was close."

Crisis averted, Batman!

Pretty boy

Did you know Harrison does his own make-up?  

At least it was after Sunday School!!!

Illness and doctors

This month has been a myriad of illness and doctors.  Everyone but Chris has been bitten by the flu bug this past week and Harrison, Bennett and Miles are not completely over it yet.  They are having some residual bathroom issues and I didn't even know about Harrison's until tonight when he said "Yeah!  I've had to poop a lot today mom!"  I guess I should pay more attention to his bathroom habits!

Bennett had his 18 month appointment yesterday.  He is 32 inches in height and that puts him in the 45th percentile and 21 pounds, 9 ounces which puts him in the 1st percentile.  I got the 'talk' about what he is eating and what he should be eating and making sure I put butter on everything... but what is there to say?  The kid eats more than Harrison!  I think I am destined to have children who grow up to be the size of my father.  No offense, dad.  There's nothing wrong with being 5 foot 6 inches, is there?!

Bennett also got the flu shot and his last hep b shot.  He woke up this morning with a fever and a runny nose.  And he was crabby all day.  Harrison never reacted to his vaccines but Bennett has run a fever after each set.  Just how it all plays out, I guess.

We are going home this weekend for the Neipert Thanksgiving and also to see my grandparents.  Gpa Wilcke went into the hospital a couple of days after my Gpa DeBolt went into the hospital (who got out yesterday!!!).  Gpa Wilcke was very weak and hadn't been eating much.  They did some tests and a biopsy and he now has cancer in his liver.  Then they sent him home 5 days later.  From what I hear, nobody was especially happy with the hospital stay.  Just not a lot of information or help.  Basically the cancer that he thought was gone is not.  It is traveling to other organs.  At least that is what we think.  They have a meeting with their doctor on Friday to see what the next steps are and get results back from Iowa City.  Overall, it seems pretty bad, but we will wait and take it as it comes.  

Saturday, November 15, 2008

ISU - Losers again...

Pretty boring day at the Neipert household today.  It started out at 12:40 am as I was awoken by Harrison.  There he was, standing there in vomit covered pajamas.  "Mom, I got sick and spit up."  Spit up?  Umm, Harrison, I think they call that gooey, gross substance puke!  Thank goodness he was wearing one piece pj's and I didn't have to take them off over his head.  But, alas, I still had to put him in the bath tub.  He must have barely woken up and just thrown up while still on his back.  There was vomit everywhere around his neck and in his hair.  I tried to clean him up with the wash cloth, but it just didn't work.  He shivered like a wet puppy the whole time in the bath.  I got him out and warmed up and into my bed.  I clearly explained to him that the next time he had to throw up there was a bowl right here that he needed to use.  By 4:35 am he must have forgotten because now my bed sheets were being stripped.  Luckily, this time he was on his side and managed to not get it on himself (or me!).  So, now onto the couch.  Chris was already there so Harrison got the love seat and I got the recliner.  Not the most comfortable arrangement for me, but I was tired so it worked. 

Chris was going to the last home Iowa football game so I was not looking forward to a sick child all day by myself.  So when I was awoken at 8:00 am to "Mom, Bennett's awake" I was pleasantly surprised to find a very well Harrison standing in front of me.  No tummy ache, no body aches, no anything.  Hmmm.  

By 8:30 am I was reminded that just because a child feels better it doesn't mean they are better.  "Mom, I went poopy in my pants.  I don't know how it happened and I am so sorry.  Can you help me."  Ahh, diarrhea.  After 1 pair of pajama pants and 2 pairs of underwear, Harrison managed to control his diarrhea til he got to the toilet and by noon he was completely healed.  Weird stuff, the flu!

So I called Kari and Claudia to report that Harrison was ill and Kari informed me that Will had some mild diarrhea but otherwise he was fine.  I had left a message for Claudia and she called back to report that, in fact, Miles was sick.  Again.  He was throwing up everything she gave him.  Even water.  This was the 3rd weekend in a row for Miles.  First the salmonella, then pneumonia, and now the flu.  That poor kid can't catch a break.  And at this point I don't know if I feel more sorry for him or his parents.

Chris gets home from the football game around 5:00 pm and I couldn't be happier.  Bennett clings to me like no other.  I can't wait for a little daddy time so I can bury my head anywhere without children.  5:30 pm - ring, ring.  Who is calling me?  Oh - it's my cousin, Marc.  "What are you doing for the next couple of hours.  Want to go to the ISU game?"  "Didn't the game already start?"  I ask.  Before he can answer I say yes - but what am I going to wear?!!!  It's like 12 degrees outside!

We got to the game with about 6 minutes left in the 2nd quarter and ended up having a really great time.  It was really not quite as cold as I thought it would be and I like hanging out with Marc.  We live so close yet see so little of each other.  ISU of course lost, but there were glimmers of hope for next year.  Always next year... 

Now I'm at home, still wearing 3 long sleeved shirts and 3 pairs of socks, not yet quite warm enough to take them off.  So overall, I guess November 15th wasn't as boring as I had hoped it would be.  Here's to looking forward to a boring November 16th!

Friday, November 14, 2008

Where did he come from?

One more 'trip to school' story for you today.

I was getting the kids in the car this morning and I had Miles all buckled in and Harrison was getting himself buckled in.  "No mom, I CAN DO IT.  GEEZ!"  It was like he was emotionally hurt that I thought he couldn't handle the situation.

I went around the car and started getting Bennett all buckled in.  Here's the conversation that follows:

Harrison:  "Well, I see Will's not here today."

Me: "Yup."

Harrison:  "He must not be feeling well.  Remember that fever he had yesterday?  Poor guy."

Me:  shaking my head and biting my lip so not to laugh - "Yeah, I hope he feels better."

Harrison:  "Me too.  I don't want Bennett to be lonely while I'm at school with all my friends.  But Miles is here and he LOVES Miles."

Me: smiling "Yes, I think they will have..."

Harrison: interrupting "MOM - I can't get this buckled!  Can you PLEASE just help me?"

At this point there may have been strong words coming from me so I will spare you all the details that follow.  It was nice that he said please though wasn't it?

Echo

You know when you have kids and you think everything they do is just the cutest?  And then they do it again and again and again and you totally forgot how cute it was because now you could just pull your hair out if they do it one more time...

Will stayed home today.  He is feeling a little under the weather.  So when I took Harrison to school today I decided we could walk him in since it was just the 4 of us.  It is amazing how much easier it is with 3 kids vs 4.  Anyway, when you take Harrison to preschool, you have to walk through this big open entry way to get to the hallway that takes you to his classroom.  EVERY time that we go in to the entry way, Bennett produces these high pitched, short screams.  He loves the way they echo.  I remember the first time he learned about echos and I thought how cool that was that he was learning that.  Silly me.  He soon had Will doing it every time we went in and they would even linger to do it more.  Some days I would end up picking Will up and then dragging Bennett out of the entry way.  Have I mentioned that this is a church?

Sure enough, when we walked through the doors this morning (we hadn't taken Harrison into school for 3 weeks now) Bennett remembered exactly what he liked to do.  I just rolled my eyes and kept walking hoping that Bennett would too.  I turned around to see where he was and he made the scream noise again 3 times.  Much to my surprise, Miles piped up 3 perfect high pitched screams just like Bennett.  I looked at him and then at Bennett and they were looking at each other smiling.  I couldn't help but laugh.  It was way too cute the way Miles mimicked Bennett.  Bennett screamed one more time, this time much louder and longer (he now had a new trainee he was concerned about!) and I quickly grabbed his hand and off we went.  

The cuteness only lasted a couple of seconds but I think it was enough to get me through the rest of the hair pulling experiences!

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

So Inappropriate

I like music.  Of all kinds.  But mostly these days, all that seems to play on my radio is NPR.  There is news in the am and pm and classical music during the day.  It works.  

Well, today I decided to spice it up a little bit.  While making lunch I changed the radio station to KISS 107.5 FM.  This is a pop station that plays "The Hits."  It's not that I don't approve of the station, I would just rather listen to classic rock (KGGO) or something country.  What made me turn it on today, I don't know, but I can tell you that the kids loved it!  Both Will and Bennett were dancing around the kitchen and even Harrison came in singing 'Disturbia' which I did not know that he knew.  (Chris - anything you would like to share?)  Even Miles thought the whole scene was funny.  So after P!nk and Britney and Christina shared their tunes I decided that there had been enough womanizing going on and switched over to the tried and true 'Ralph's World.'  That seemed to be just as pleasing and a little less, shall we say, provocative!  :)

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Popcorn and a Movie

My baby is growing up.  Harrison is fascinating me in so many ways lately.  He does amazing things like putting on his own coat, setting the table, wiping his own butt, the list could go on and on.  But it really all hit me on Friday at the movie theatre.  

Harrison has never been to a movie before.  We try not to watch too much TV and I have always thought why waste the money.  Well, he has been seeing commercials (cause we don't let them watch to much TV!) for Madagascar 2 the past couple of weeks and decided it was time to go to the movies!

And it was great.  We were in a bit of a hurry to get to the movie because I wanted to go Friday night as Chris was going to be gone on Saturday (big win for the Skwakeyes, you know).  So there were a couple of different options, but the one I wanted was at 5:55 pm.  This meant that we had to leave AS SOON as Chris got home from work to make it in time.  Well, I don't go to movies all that often and I did seem to forget that there would be 30 minutes of previews.  30 minutes!!!  Anyway, Harrison was so excited about his 'kids pack.'  It was a little box with popcorn, a small soda and some fruit snacks.  He got up on his seat and I didn't hear another word from (except for 'Please open these fruits snacks') until the movie was over.   And this was not from lack of trying on my part.  I kept trying to get him to laugh or tell me what he thought about this part of the movie, but he wanted nothing to do with it.  It was like he was in a trance.  After the movie was over I asked if he liked it and he said yes and I asked if he thought the theatre was cool and he said yes and then he said "And that TV is even bigger than ours!"  

On the way home I asked him about the movie and he told me the parts that he liked and he explained why Marty the Zebra was upset so I knew he had comprehended the whole thing.  He even laughed while telling me what parts he thought were the funniest (those wiley penguins!).  I knew he had a good time even if he didn't show it during the movie.

Anyway, as I was watching the movie and watching Harrison all sorts of emotions came flooding over me.  Here was this little boy doing such a big boy thing.  He was so grown up.  Quietly eating his popcorn, taking a sip of his soda and then putting it back.  Wasn't he just a baby?  Wasn't I just holding him in my arms, keeping him in bed with me cause I didn't want to ever be separated from him?  And here he is at the movies!!!  I know what you are thinking.  The next thing I know he will be at the movies with a different girl.  Well, let me tell you.  That ain't going to happen!

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Pretty Fly for a White Guy

My birthday was a couple of weeks ago and my in-laws, Greg and Pam came up to Des Moines to take us out to dinner (among other things like bringing me my new hutch!).  We went to the Latin King over on the east side.  I had never been to the Latin King, but I had always wanted to.  My dad had talked it up ever since he had eaten there back in his days on the school board.  I had also heard fabulous things from locals.  We were not disappointed.  The ambiance was great, the service was great and the meal was to die for!  I had the Filet Marsala and it was excellent.  I had never had a beef marsala dish before so I was looking forward to it.  Typically marsala dishes are chicken.  This marsala also turned out to be tomato based which was unusual but wonderful.  I ate almost all of it.  And I might have eaten it all if Pam hadn't kept giving me bites of her Steak Duburgo.  And boy was that wonderful!  Both her and Chris had that and Greg had the Stuffed Pork Chop that he said was awesome.  And can you believe that both my children acted like little gentlemen?!  Usually Bennett is a nightmare at restaurants.  There were a couple of times when I thought he might lose it but we always found ways to keep him happy.  Thank goodness!

Oh and dessert... Tira-Mi-Su!!!!!!!!!  Mmmmmmmm  

It comes in 3's

My Uncle Bob died last week.  He had suffered from diabetes most of his adult life and had exposure to Agent Orange while in Vietnam during the war.  Uncle Bob was an interesting man.  He was always smiling and laughing when we were around and his characteristic pony tail always made my grandma want to run and get the scissors.  His diabetes made him very sick and even more so since he was not good at regulating his food intake.  Both my mom and my Aunt Karen made trips to Vancouver, WA to help Uncle Bob and I do believe they helped.  Uncle Bob passed away in his sleep, in his bed, under a warm blanket.  I can't think of a better way to go.

Miles has salmonella.  I won't go into huge details about this but he was hospitalized over night on Friday and they think is worst day was Thursday.  Horrible stomach cramps and VERY tired.  They don't know where he got salmonella but if I had anything to do with it I will be mortified.  Watching a 9 month old grab at their stomach and then cry is heart-wrenching and nothing that I want to go through again.  And I am only the baby-sitter!  Regardless, Miles is feeling much better but may have symptoms for up to a month.   

My grandfather is in the hospital recovering from surgery that repaired scar tissue build up in his upper intestine.  This was from radiation treatment for prostate cancer about 5 years ago.  Very strange how something that was diagnosed, treated and recovered from can come back  to haunt you.  He is in a lot of pain and will be in the hospital for almost a week.  My mom went up to Charles City last night to be there when he got out of surgery.  We are all hoping for a speedy recovery.

So - it comes in 3's.  What that means for everyone around me is that you are now in the clear.  I am done with illness and drama for a little while.  I am going back to boring news like PRESIDENT OBAMA!!!!!!

Saturday, November 1, 2008

First Field Trip

October 23
Harrison's class went on a field trip today.  They are studying pumpkins this week so they went to Iowa Orchard.  They have a very large apple orchard as well as a large pumpkin patch.  It was freezing the day we went and it was also raining.  Luckily there was just enough space inside that all the kids could sit down and listen to the woman talk.  She was quite a woman.  I am sure the kids didn't notice, but she kept telling the parents what to do.  And it wasn't like she was mean or anything, she was just direct.  "Hey.  You.  Pick up that bag of apples.  See, children, those are red apples..."  It was very amusing.
Harrison and his class had a good time and even got apple cider to drink before they went home.  The horrible thing for all of us was that the ovens were right behind the woman that was talking and the employees kept bringing out fresh apple pies from the oven.  Cruel, very cruel.  (I would have bought one (crumb topping, Mmmmm) but they were $15.00 a pie!)

One year

Sunday, October 19
When we got to my parents house my dad was raking the lawn.  I was excited because last year at this time James and Harrison played in the leaves at my parents house and I knew they would have so much fun doing it again.  And you would be amazed what will turn up while you are raking your lawn.  Just ask Nathan.  Wallet's do magically reappear.  Anyway, the boys had a great time.  They chased everyone with leaves, got buried by leaves, and threw leaves on the parts of the lawn that were just raked by Grandpa and then laugh, laugh, laugh as Grandpa got 'so mad.'

October 19, 2007

October 19, 2008

Can you believe the difference a year makes.  Bennett and Kaitlyn were being propped up by leaves and a hidden pumpkin for those pictures!  Now Bennett's mowing the leaves.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention the pie.  And it was a good pie.  But you would think that Harrison had just been given a free trip to the moon.  He was so excited about that apple pie.  And we had to have it before quiet time.  What a goof.  He kept saying 'Mmmmm, piiiiiiie.'

Pumpkin carving was the last great task for the day.  I don't know how I got stuck gutting and carving the pumpkin, but I did.  We purposely didn't do this on Saturday so that the dad's would have to do it on Sunday.  Hmmmm...
This picture isn't great.  James was not sad like this picture suggests.  Or maybe he was.  We had been trying for a while to get them all to smile and look at the camera at the same time.  Aren't they used to us taking photos of them yet?!!!

Get Your Ya-Ya's Out

Bennett continues to be a man of few words.  He has his standard Dada and duck and that is what he wants to stick with right now.  He did teach Will to say all done and/or all gone.  Will was already kind of saying these things but he took on Bennett's version of ga gon or ga don (the 'n' sound is usually not heard very well).  There is a difference but it is subtle and mostly it just comes out ga gon.  Will taught Bennett the sign for more so we have that communication A LOT!

I was so looking forward to when he would run to me saying Mama, Mama just like he does to his dad when Chris gets home from work.  Well, I am still looking forward to it.  He doesn't run to me when I get home from whatever errand I have just run and more importantly, when he does want me for something, he pats me on the leg and calls me Ya-Ya.  We are still working out why this is.  I can't recall that Chris calls me 'Hey, you' (which is what it sometimes sounds like) or that we have a copy of Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood laying around that he could read so your guess is as good as mine at the moment.

Bennett just isn't a linguist like his brother.  Some would say that Harrison is too busy speaking for Bennett but I can't think that is the case in this instance.  If Bennett is tired of Harrison talking he just screams at the top of his lungs.  It makes for a very noisy dinner time.