First week of November!

Last weekend we had planned to get up and get out of town! Jarrod was off of work and I took off on Friday. Our plan was to drop the kids off at my mom and dad’s and then Jarrod and I were heading for the hills. . .literally. We decided to rent a cabin in Branson like we did last year. Well, Stratton woke up with a tummy ache, I chalked it up to a late night and too much candy from Trunk-or Treat. But I went ahead and gave him some zofran, to help in case he was nauseated. He laid around, which I thought was because zofran makes him sleepy. We didn’t get around as quickly as we had hoped and it was 11am before we were headed out. We had to run a few errands, so we decided to go grab a bite of lunch first, Stratton picked “Good Luck Charlie’s”- aka O’Charely’s. While we were there he acted really tired. He barely ate a bite. We were on the way out of town driving down the interstate when all the sudden Stratton started throwing up. It was just once and it was mostly phlegm.  I had a feeling (and from past experiences) that he probably had strep again. Arden was sound asleep in the carseat, so rather than risk waking her up, we ran home and changed Stratton’s clothes, then we went directly to the dr office. Jarrod sat in the truck with Arden while I took Stratton in. It was just a little after noon, and didn’t take very long at all to get back and have him looked at. Sure enough they swabbed his throat and he was positive for strep. So, we had 2 options- get a 10 day supply of antibiotics and he might feel better in a couple of days OR get a shot and he would be like new in 12 hours or less.  . . can you guess which route I went?? Injection it is!! Stratton was furious, but it actually wasn’t as bad as before. We had to wait 20 minutes after the shot to make sure he didn’t have any adverse reactions, so I thought why not go ahead and get my flu shot! Stratton thought this was really funny. He wouldn’t even hold my hand! Stinker. He just laughed. By the time we left the doctor’s office (maybe an hour tops) he was already acting better. We decided to go ahead and try to make the most of the weekend and stay with our original plans- I mean it was like now or never if we were going to get away anytime till 2014!

I forgot to mention that while we were loading up Jarrod threw a bag in the back of the truck and tweaked his back again. He was hurting pretty bad but felt like he would be alright still going to Branson. He grabbed some muscle relaxers and pain pills, just in case!

We dropped the kiddos off at my mom and dad’s. Arden had slept pretty much the entire time since we left the restaurant! She had a great nap!! And Stratton had slept all the way to HR so he was feeling better. I think we finally got headed towards Branson around 4pm! We went straight to Branson Landing and walked through Bass Pro and then had dinner at TL&C. Jarrod was hurting more so we didn’t do much looking around (plus, most of the stuff was closed by the time we got done eating) so we ran by Krispy Kreme (the Hot Doughnut light was on so we HAD to stop) and then to Walgreens to get a few things before making it to our cabin at about 10pm.

Saturday, we slept late. Jarrod slept till about 8:30 and I didn’t get up till 11:30!! It was so nice! I felt bad Jarrod was laid up on the couch with the heating pad on his back when I got up- poor guy the muscle relaxers weren’t helping at all. We didn’t have any plans- there were a few places at the outlet mall I wanted to check out, so we just hung out in the cabin. We ate lunch there and ended up not getting out till 3pm! We shopped a little. Jarrod felt like the more he walked the better his back was feeling. For a little while. We decided to skip going to a show and went back to the cabin after supper. We didn’t even hit up ColdStone- which is unheard of!

Sunday we got up and were checked out by 9:30. We thought we’d stop at Bob Evan’s and have breakfast, but it took us an HOUR to get there because of traffic! It was insane! Then we get there and they tell us it’s a 25 minute wait! It’s already 10:30, so we decide that in 30 mins we could be in Harrison and then just stop for lunch! We went a different route home, since we were going to HR first to get the kids, and it was much faster. We got there a little after 3pm. The kids were napping (actually, Arden was still at grandma and grandpa’s house) and my mom was at the church at a baby shower, so we had to wait a little while before we could leave. We ended up getting back to J’boro just in time for church. After church we went and ate Mexican with our group of friends. We got home and I was getting Arden ready for bed and Jarrod was bringing the bags in when I heard Stratton in the Living room- throwing up again. It was bad this time. I gave him some Phenergan this time and got him, the couch, the floor and the bathroom all cleaned up and he seemed to be alright after that. Who knows?!

I had already marked Monday off at work in hopes that I could spend the day working on our garage sale stuff, but since Jarrod messed his back up he couldn’t very well go get all our stuff out of the storage unit, so that wasn’t going to happen and with Stratton getting sick again I just decided to stay home with him and make sure he ate bland food and didn’t get too excited! He was fine. He played and took a really good nap. He has been fine the rest of the week. I guess he finally licked it! I am afraid we are on the road to having his tonsils removed in the near future though.

Arden must be cutting teeth because she is not sleeping well at all. All weekend and week she has been up in the middle of the night. Wednesday night was a really bad night. I think I got about 4 hours of sleep. Jarrod spent the hours from about 4-6 in the recliner with her. She did sleep better last night, so I’m hopeful it was just her teeth!

Stratton had his first “official” field trip on Thursday. They went to the Nature Center, and he Loved it! He was excited they got to ride the bus (with NO seatbelts!!—his words) and they got to see baby crocodiles, snacks and fish. And they got to see some of the bigger fish getting fed small goldfish (and not the cheese crackers, REAL live goldfish—again his words) he was full of it telling us all kinds of stuff.

We decided to cancel the garage sale. Margie has a hairline fracture in her foot and it’s been giving her a lot of trouble and pain, and both Jennifer and I haven’t had the time to get our stuff together. So looks like it will be postponed till spring! The good news is not we have a weekend with nothing major planned, which will be nice!

Halloween

Before School

Trunk or Treat!

Getting ready for Halloween

We love cookie pops! Arden had her first one tonight! I got them Halloween ones as a treat, Stratton picked the pumpkin and Arden got a mummy. She licked the icing off hers and then gave it back to me!

I think she liked it . . . just a little.

They also got a Halloween goody bag, and Stratton also got a new costume. I gave in and bought him the ugly Power Ranger costume he wanted. I figured it only cost me $20, and there won't be many more years where I can be a hero with something that cost $20. . . I hear way too many stories from the people I work with about all their kids want are gadgets that cost $500! I was right, he said it was the best costume ever, and it was the best day ever. . . I can't wait to see how he feels about actual Halloween day!

Bitter Sweet

This week I packed the bottles away. It's the offical end to Arden being a "baby". It's been a rough couple of weeks for me realizing how fast my kids are growing.

We had Stratton's Parent Teacher Conference last week, and the teacher told us great things. I'm amazed at how much he is learning! I feel like he talks "big" now, too. He's always had a pretty extensive vocabulary, but I have really noticed a difference in words he uses to describe things and his imagination has kicked up some of the eleborate stories he tells. They also told us that he is right where he needs to be in all the areas that they test them in. And she said his art skills are really good. He even made a pattern with shapes and colors and most of the kids didn't get that! Most of all I was proud to hear that he is well behaved, and other than some issues with sharing and controlling his emotions when he gets really upset (typical for a four year old) she said she rarely has any problems with him!

Arden has pretty much digressed in the talking department. I feel like Stratton was more vocal than she is at 13 months. But she seems think about things more, she does things with intent and is much better at things that take dexerity and concentration. It amazes me how she works at puzzles and blocks, Stratton has never been interested in puzzles or things like that. She is already good at holding a crayon and she seems to really enjoy coloring and drawing.

I am so thankful that my kids are growing and learning and are healthy and happy! But it sure is hard sometimes when those little milestones come and go. I'm trying so hard to be present and enjoy those moments, I know they aren't going to slow down anytime soon!

Family day @ Pebbles farm

A great defeat. (For me at least)

This was the day I have been dreading since he was born.

Look at this picture. Notice anything?? (Other than he is  excited about some stickers) Do you see the pride in this kid’s eyes? He had just won a great battle.

Honestly, I wasn’t “in it- to win it” on this particular morning, and he knew it- and when the underdog senses weakness (or tiredness in my case) that is when they make their move! You probably didn’t even noticed that Stratton’s clothes don’t match- but they don’t.

And it Just. Drives. Me. Crazy!

This is how it went down. I laid his clothes out on the ottoman in the living room like I do every morning. (Stratton is now really good about dressing himself if I lay the clothes out.) I am in the bathroom getting ready when he storms in and throws his blue jeans at me and says “I want to wear Pants, not jeans!”- (Apparently we need to re-visit what “pants” are) then he tells me he wants to wear shorts with his new wolf shirt, to which I tell him it’s too cool to wear shorts. He’s alright with that but he’s not giving in to wearing jeans, he would rather wear “comfy pants”. Then he rushes to his room and pulls out a pair of navy and bright blue and white track pants (mainly because I hadn’t folded and put away laundry and there wasn’t much else in the drawer. . . ) and tells me he wants to wear them. His shirt is dark grey, with some white and neon green. Not going to happen. So, I tell him that the wolf shirt and navy pants didn’t match and he would either need to pick another shirt, or just wear the jeans. His answer: “But Momma, why do I HAVE to match??”

Touché.

I weighed my options at this point. I thought about how I would explain to a 4 year old (male, at that) about the rules of matching and the importance of an outfit coordinating and how we should look our best, but let’s get real. That would have been a waste of breath and time, and it was about 5 minutes till we needed to walk out the door. Then I thought about just lying. I could tell him that it’s in the bible (You know over in the first chapter of Paul) that usually works. So, I had to pick; A.) Let him win (and wear clashing clothes) B.) Make him wear what I wanted, which would take time picking something new out, and probably result in a meltdown and would make us late for school, and that would make me late for work or C.) Tell him a blatant lie that I’m sure I would be forced to deal with at a later time when some smart kid tells him there is no book of Paul (not to mention, the obvious: lying is never a good strategy).

So, I LET him win.. . . Sometimes the underdog wins.

A sick free week and relaxing weekend

Things are looking up. We didn’t go to the doctor last week with either kid! I bet they miss us : ) It was a pretty low key week! (I almost hate to say something like that in fear of jinxing things!) I’ve had a cold and the crud but I went to the doctor yesterday morning and got a Decadron shot and meds and feel much better today! Jarrod either pulled a muscle (or maybe has a kidney stone??) and he was moving slow this weekend, but he seems to be getting better everyday.

Stratton got to go to his first book fair at school. He thought that was really cool. Arden continues to bite kids at school and I’m researching possible baby boot camps. Miss attitude is actually had a better week. I think the teething must be getting a little better. Stratton went grocery shopping with me and for the first time didn’t ask for a toy or throw a fit when he didn’t get something he wanted. Gotta celebrate the small victories!

Friday night we tried to do a family movie night, Stratton and Jarrod rented the Disney movie Brave. Stratton like the movie ok, I mean the parts he actually watched. . .he was devastated when we told him we rented it (Redbox) and had to take it back! Haha! Jarrod and I have seen one adult movie in the past year probably, and guess which movie he rented for us to watch that night after the kids were in bed?? Yep. (I thought it was funny- Jarrod not so much) We didn’t feel like staying up late to watch it again. So movie night was pretty much a flop. I  guess we will have to revisit it again when we have another free Friday night in the future. . .whenever that will be!!

We spent most of the weekend in Searcy, we had Margie’s birthday Saturday night. Stratton and Archer got to play Saturday and almost all day Sunday. They are so funny. I just love watching them interact, it’s so cute to listen to them talk to each other.

Stratton decorated Nan’s envelope- No help! I think he got the holidays covered!

Arden liked the cake!

I found the cutest Red Wolves treats at Full Sun when I was birthday shopping. . .

Yummy!

We don’t have too much going on this week- for once. The Red Wolves game is tonight, but me and the kids are staying home since it’s a school night and it doesn’t start till 7pm. {Happy Anniversary to us!} We have our first “Parent Teacher Conference” Thursday night! And then Stratton is out of school on Friday and Jarrod is supposed to be off too, so I think I will play hooky as well! The weather is getting cooler and it finally feels like fall! We are looking forward to some family fun this weekend. Maybe a trip to the pumpkin patch!