I am LUCKY!

Okay, so I got a little upset with myself after my post two days ago. But, I've kinda been a single mom for the past few months, I wasn't (and still am not) feeling swell and it was just one of those days. I know everyone has them, just not everyone writes it down.

So here is my reason for thinking of this. I was going through my Facebook homepage and saw that one of my friends had to take her son, 5 months old or so, to Urgent Care and ended up with a diagnosis of a double ear infection. I have seen this on a few other's status updates in previous months and I always feel sorry for the parent and quite relieved as one also.

I have been so fricking lucky to have such seriously healthy kids!! No Urgent Care trips here!! Neither one of them has had an ear infection. I don't remember ever having one as a kid and Buddy doesn't either. I do remember my brother having one or two and drinking the pink medicine that smelled like bubblegum.

Hayden has never had what I would consider the flu, just a little stomach thing twice at night and he was fine the following day. Colds, yes, but never anything serious. I have taken Hayden to the doctor once, that I recall, for something other than the routine checkups. I thought he was getting an ear infection because he tugged on his ear once and was a little more crabby than usual. He was teething. He's never had a prescription, never had any aversion to formula or allergic reaction to food. We think he's allergic to cats though. That will be tested again soon. The kid hasn't had a fever since he was 1.

He has, however, been to the ER twice. Both for the same thing and something completely avoidable. Nursemaids elbow. He slipped in the locker room at the gym when he was 1.5 and he was holding my hand at the time. I pulled up, he went down, screaming from him and panic from me. The second time was from playing in his room. Him and I (of course, the one who's typically NOT rough) were just having fun, he was on one side of the bed, me on the other; I grabbed his hands, pulled and her the pop. Off to the ER. **Please don't pull your kids up by just their hands!! That's how this happens and I kick myself when I catch myself doing it to Maya!! (Which I hardly ever do!)

Miss Maya has had a few more colds in her shorter time. She had the flu once that lastest a few days. I figured out her formula issue myself. And she had a horrible cough that lasted for months last year, but it only affected her at night. Since she was otherwise perfectly healthy, the doc said to watch it, it may be allergies. Sure enough, Springtime came and it got a smidge worse. Got some sample packets of Singular and it was gone. Never a prescription for this girl either!!

Everyone around here (AZ I mean) and many on Facebook have kids that have had ear infections, nebulizers (sp?), pooping issues (with all three kids at some point for one I may add), asthma, other breathing stuff, colic, formula problems, double ear infections and that's what I can think of now.

I am so very thankful for my two extremely healthy, not to mention adorable, kids. I am such a lucky mom. I am so lucky to have both of them here, in my family, my home and my heart.

Lurking

I am sitting on the couch doing my morning thing. It's 6:52 am.

At 6:28 am, Hayden got up. Last night I drilled, I thought, into him that he needs to stay in bed until 7:00. I tell him, seven zero zero.

He went back to his room for approximately 7 minutes.

He's now been sitting at the top of the stairs for around 15 minutes (it's too early for math!) and thinks I don't hear him. I'm playing ignorant.

He just spoke:

"Mom, it keeps not saying seven zero zero."

"Dude, you have to wait. It will take a few more minutes."

"Fine."

He's gone back to his room.

My day...

I got out of bed at 6:24am. Did my business, opened the computer, turned on the news and got my cup of coffee. All that took, what, 5 minutes tops. I had just sat on my keester on the couch and heard the unmistakable footfalls of H. First thoughts in my head? "CRAP!"
Last night, about 2am, Maya started a coughing attack and couldn't get herself back to sleep, so I grabbed her up and plopped her with me. Typically, she will sleep past 7, but I don't know, she heard H or something and I heard her little run across my room and greeted H at the stairs. "DOUBLE CRAP!"
Seriously, my only "me" time is in the morning with my coffee, computer and news and I wasn't getting that this morning. Nighttime I am ready to sleep at 8:30/9. And, typically, when I am greeted this early by these two, it's not going to be a good day.
And it wasn't.
Getting H dressed was a fight. He has this thing about matching and it wasn't working this morning. Just because there is a speck of the color in the shirt that goes with a stripe on the shorts does not make it a matching combination. Maya would not sit still to comb her hair (have you seen it?!). I have been fighting some kind of cold/allergy crud the last few days; plugged ears, nose and itchy throat, yuck. Somehow we managed breakfast, a ride to the gym/daycare and home again. And that's when the &%^$ hit the fan. Hard.
Maya has this unbelievable capability of getting in the way of me or getting into something in the kitchen whenever I am cooking. She puts herself between me and the cupboard and latches. So annoying, seriously. It's never a playful thing, it's a crying because she's hungry and nothing is going to stop her until her dinner is served. Lunch ended up being frozen cheese pizza, black olives and oranges. While "making" it, she moves the kitchen chairs to any countertop I am not occupying and discovers every single thing withing reach. She does this all day, everyday. My table looks like a cafeteria during the mopping process. Chairs turned up onto the table with legs sticking up to keep her from making that obnoxious noise of moving the chairs across the tile. Man, does that tick her off!
Later in the day, while Maya was sleeping, I needed a nap. This cold thing is kicking my tush. I couldn't keep my eyes open and H is totally fine playing in the living room while I have a rest. He played with LEGOS with the "understanding" they needed to be picked up when I said so, "you should only take out what you need", I say. They are dumped on the coffee table and floor. LEGOS everywhere and it took him 2 hours of me (45 minutes of it in and out sleep) for them all to be put in the bucket. It's not that big of a bucket!!
Then another hour was wasted yelling to get the playroom upstairs cleaned up and things put away. Plus, he was a complete butt to Maya today. Takes/slaps the NUK out of her mouth, sits on her cuz she's in "his" spot, slaps her highchair tray while she eating and really just finds any way to piss her off; just a brat to her. She wasn't the super gem she could have been, but I give her a little break since her understanding of things isn't at H's level.
Throw in a tantrum by H about eating his peas, spilling milk and saying he didn't and him getting so mad that my birthday is now taken away and my day is complete.
Now: Glass two of Little Black Dress Chardonney and happiness has filled me again, except I can't hear, breath and my throat is a bit dry.

Super H

It's tough being a 4 year old boy at home with a sister and mom. I have been sewing skirts and doing hair bows and bracelets for Maya. It was very obvious that Hayden felt a little left out. He asked for a bracelet, but Swarovski crystals are just not masculine. I did make him a necklace, but he seems less than impressed with it.

I follow a sewing blog whose author makes superhero capes. I figured I could find a pattern somewhere and make that for H. He was very excited about it.

With a little research, I came up with a pattern. I figured reversible was doable. He told me what he wanted on it and voila!

He really is excited about it! I got lots of Thanks, Mom's. :)

And, later that day...

I couldn't help myself. I had some leftover trim from her lamp in her room and a crown template....

Settling...

Last week was, well in a word, a bitch. Looking back, I think I blew a lot of things out of proportion and my stress level was probably a little higher than normal considering Buddy hasn't be able to be home as much as we are used to.

Maya has learned every button to push and pushes them repeatedly. I thank myself for not putting wood floors in the kitchen because of the amount the chairs have been pushed from cupboard to cupboard and room to room. The noise itself is enough to drive someone crazy.

Hayden was actually pretty dang good. It was just the question after question after question and the comment after comment after comment. I just have to remind myself that this is the way 4 year olds are.

My cousin, whom I babysat as an infant and is now a mom herself which I still cannot get over, remembers me asking her why she had to ask so many questions when she was around 4/5 and now has a 4 year old herself doing the same thing. (That was a sentence no English teacher would approve) I completely remember her repeatedly asking "Why?" to everything. So, it either happens to every child or it just runs in my family.

Anyway, this week has been better. Maya is still a little diva, Hayden is still asking questions and tells me which numbers are bigger than other numbers hourly, but it's better. We've settled back into a routine and have cold pizza for snacks and popcorn for dinner. Sometimes.

Hey, if you didn't always have to make a meal, you'd do it too!

Fill it up

Hayden went to the dentist a couple weeks ago for his 6 month check-up and ended up with a cavitiy. Uck. Hayden seemed extremely proud of himself for some reason. He talked about it like it was the coolest thing he has accomplished. I don't know how many times I had to tell him that they are not good and that it's a big bummer he has one.

So, today he got it filled. I wasn't allowed in to sit by his side and hold his hand. Not that I would have been able to. I get faint pretty darn easy. Anyway, I sat close to the door and could hear the dentist talking to him, the drills and other equipment running, but not a peep from Hayden. Not one yell out for me, not on cry of pain (not that I wanted that), not one little miniscule sound from my little man. Nope.

20 minutes later, he comes walking out of there with a smile that matched his Paul Frank monkey shirt. I got a nice, "Hi, Mom!" The dentist said he did wonderfully. He laid perfectly still, didn't make a sound, didn't shed one tear. Oh, he got gassed, not injected, just in case you were curious.

"Hey, Bud. How you doing? Does your mouth hurt?"

"No. I liked getting my cavity. See, I got a Transformer sticker for me and a sticker for Maya and I got this dinosaur."

Alright then. Off to Target for an Icee. As we are driving there, I asked him if his mouth hurt, again. He said no, he was fine.

Me: "So you liked getting your cavity filled?"

H: "Yep."

M: "It wasn't scary? Mommy doesn't like getting cavities filled. It's okay if you didn't like it."

H: "No, it wasn't scary. It was fine."

M: "What was your favorite part?"

H: "Getting the Transformer sticker."

Ah.

I'm Cooked

I'm burned out. I'm crabby. I'm tired. I'm simply just not a happy person right now.
Buddy's been working out of town for the past couple months and as thankful as we are that he has a job, it sucks that he's gone throughout the week.
I feel like I'm constantly yelling. I don't mean too, it's just repeating myself isn't working. At all.
I have a two and a half foot shadow following me. All the time. She gets between me and the counter. Grabs my legs for me to pick her up. Just follows me. Everywhere. She's lovely, adorable, sweet, but geez!!
The boy is driving me crazy with questions! I know he's at the age of curiosity and all, but it's never ending.
I have a little diva. A cute diva, but a diva.
I rarely get a potty break to myself.
I can't go to the grocery store because Maya won't stay seated in the cart and Hayden gets crabby cuz he can't get everything he sees. So food gets slim by the end of the week. I seriously dread having to take them both. It's not a happy experience.
So, I am done with my crabby rant. Sometimes things just need to get out. It may not have made much sense and I'm good with that. I'm just tired, just burned out and still crabby. Hopefully the dark cloud lifts soon and I improve my mood. Right now, I'm a big gloom.
Don't get me wrong, I love my kids dearly. They do make me smile and laugh everyday. I am just in desperate need of a break. I don't want to sound like the total bitch mom who doesn't appreciate her family, I just needed a rant.

Bah Humbunny

I feel the the Grinch of Easter. I didn't hype up the Bunny, but Hayden knew something "Santaish" was coming. We did baskets, but I hid them pretty simply. I was lazy and didn't feel like attending church. Buddy is not a church-goer and I really don't like going by myself. My dad pointed out I could have just gone with Hayden (he does like to go), but Hayden was glued to Buddy's side for the weekend and I didn't want him to miss out on Daddytime since Buddy is gone throughout the week.
I didn't put Miss Maya in her Easter dress that her Grandma B. got for her. (Don't worry, she'll wear it!!) I was just in no mood to bathe anyone in the morning, prep them for pics, only to have them want to play in the sandbox or grass within two seconds.

So, our day was filled with: Buddy and Hayden heading to the pool store to get a remedy for our swamp. The kids helping wash Bud's truck, me doing laundry. I did bake a ham, but moreso for Bud to be able to make sandwiches for work. I made a run to the grocery store for fruit, popcorn and beer. Ya, you read right. Then, while the kids slept, Bud watched some car show or Van Dame movie and I caught an episode of Lost in season 5. We ordered pizza, said goodbye for the week to Bud and finally all bathed and kids in bed.

So, that was our Easter Sunday in a nutshell. I have no adorable pics of the kids happily searching for their baskets, no festive pics in their Sunday best and nada on the "never forgotten memory" chart in my head.

But, we were together as a family and I think that's just as it should have been.

"Nnn"

I love the new words Maya is learning and hearing how she says what. Some take some time to figure out exactly what in the world she is telling us, but once it's known, it makes things so much easier.

Take, for example, the word "nana". Most people would assume this means Grandma or some other important woman in a child's life. Not in Maya's world. Nana=NUK. Know how long that one took to figure out? Ya, awhile. But, now we know what she means and are happy to

Other words are more obvious like ba=ball, bow=bowl, Papa=Grandpa, Mama=Grandma, tee=teeth, eeeee=eat and so one, you get the idea.

She says Mommy and Daddy like a pro and if you've heard her, you know she says it upwords of 500 times a day. She points to pictures and tells you who's who, pointing to herself when her's comes around. But when it came to Hayden, she never really repeated the same word twice. She'd make weird noises or nothing. But we knew who she meant, mostly because she'd point. Now, finally, she has a consistent sound, yes, sound, for addressing her big brother. Hayden=Nnn.

I was hoping she'd call him, Den, Hay, Hayhay, Dude or something along those lines. Nope, we get, Nnn. Not even, En. Nnn.

Just own up

Some dried spots of spilled juice were scattered across the floor. I assumed the culprit was Hayden since Maya is not a big juicer.

"Hayden, did you spill your juice on the floor?"

"No."

"Then why is the floor sticky?"

"Maybe Prada peed."

"No, she didn't pee. It's sticky spots of juice from your juicebox. Why didn't you tell me you spilled?"

"Well, did you smell it?"

1 bite, 2 bite, 3 bite, 3

Hayden is not a good eater. He eats, but it takes a lot of effort on his parents part to get him to eat. Oh, you put mac and cheese or chicken nuggets in from of him and he dives right in. It's the other gazillion things which are made and served him that are hard to get down his throat. (breakfast/lunch/dinner food, not snacks)

Anyway, one thing that is starting to get easier to get him to munch down are veggies. Tonight, he shunned the green beans so I asked if he could eat peas instead. To my amazement, he said "sure". Maya loves them, so we usually have them on hand.

Getting him to eat something starts out with the same line, "how many bites do I need to eat?"

This time around, I pushed it with three. His reply: "how bout 7?"

Uh... sure?

I give him one.

His time frame for chewing is approximately the time span of a typical commercial break. It seems to take forever!

Done with the first bite and he says, "um, how bout I just have three bites?"

I say that's fine.

Let me just mention that I am filling the spoon and pouring them in his mouth. His idea of a bit would be one pea.

He's on the second bite now. I think the time lapse for this is 5 minutes.

Now, the third bite down.

As he is starting his second minute of chewing I get another bite for him and tell him that it's bite number three. His expression changed to confusion and I can see the gears in his head moving.

Huh?

"Yep," I say, "this is bite number three."

He says to me, "Mom, you're screwed up!"

He ate the "third" bite.

Sleep with me

Maya has been a little bit of a stinker when it comes to falling asleep while traveling. She freaked out at the pack-n-play at my parents house and made it through one out of the two (so far) nights at my in-laws. The nights at my parents, I gave in after a half an hour the first night. The second, she fell asleep for two hours in the pnp and that was enough and the third was a replay of the first night but had an added bonus of staying up moving/standing/talking/crawling until 11:30 in the bed.

Now, I am kicking myself. Kicking myself for getting so irritated that Maya won't sleep in her "own" bed while we are away from home.
The first evening at my in-laws was a breeze. For some reason, not a peep of annoyance or freakout. Last night, she fell asleep, after about 20 minutes of screams, in her crib. When I went to put Hayden in bed an hour later, I went over to check on her, cover her with her blanket and check for a pulse. She awoke. And wouldn't go back to bed. So, I got pissy, stuck her in bed with me and rolled over to watch "Lost" on my computer. To my utter relief and amazement, she fell asleep quickly and cutely.

When I closed my computer and turned to my other side where she was. She looked so little, so angelic, so FRICKING cute I smacked myself for getting upset that she wouldn't sleep in her own bed. I put my finger in her hand and fell asleep.

She is only this size for a short time and this is now the time I need to be treasuring for cuddling! What the heck am I thinking not just plopping her next to me without hesitation?! I do need sleep and continually wake up when one of the kids is next to me, ie: woke up with a head in my back, but she is growing so fast. If she puts up a huge fuss tonight, looks like I'll have a bed partner.

Heading home

It's the night before the kids and I leave for a week in Minnesota. We are all excited to go. Hayden is so excited to show all his grandparents how he is reading. Maya has no clue. I am most excited just for the extra hands to take hold of these two. It's been a long couple weeks with Buddy starting up a job where he's staying four nights a week. I'm ready for a nice break.
But, it's starting to sink in that I won't be seeing my Grandma. Every time I have traveled home the past 10 years, I went over to visit, play cards and enjoy some wine at least twice, if not more. It was a time for us to chat and enjoy one another. Playing cards was something we never got bored with when we played. We could play for hours or a full day. And she loved her wine.
I think it's going to be a little emotional either when I first get to my parents house or when I first pass by her last home. My first question to my mom when ever I talked to her on the phone or arrived at home was, "how's Grandma doing?" Besides arriving for the week of her funeral, this will be the first time I won't be asking.

Bring me the roll

For the weak of stomach, this tale is about barf.

Maya ate a lot tonight. She ate it fast too. Mac and cheese, green beans, Cutie orange and a pack of fruit snacks. Then, she played. A lot. Bath time, all good. Got the kids ready for bed and we headed downstairs.

Maya ran to the stairs, stopped short, and barfed. She looked up at me and smiled like all was good. I told Hayden to go downstairs and get me the roll of paper towels.

I heard the rumblings of more barf headed up. Grabbed Miss and ran to my bathroom, which isn't far. All over the tile and just a smidge in the sink. This girl swallowed a whole slice of orange!! Jeez! She looked on the sink and started saying "Tee tee!" (Teeth, teeth). She loves to brush. Well, she must feel better.

In the meantime, Hayden had not come up yet. I yelled down to get the paper towels. He said he was. Up the stairs he came; with one.

Perterbed, I repeated myself, again. "Please bring me the roll of paper towels. The whole roll."

While I used my one to clean up the explosion, I could hear him.

"Ah crap" was what went through my mind. He came upstairs with the whole roll alright. The whole roll UNrolled; minus the cardboard tube.

Now, I have a very large pile of papertowels shoved into the papertowel holder. My counter will be amiss for weeks.

How'd ya get their names?

While pregnant with my children, we never told people what we were naming them. 1: we didn't know what we were having and 2: I didn't ever want to hear, "oh, I know/knew someone with that name, he/she was a brat/etc." or see that look on someone's face like, 'really? you're picking that name?' I think Buddy blabbed once, before we were even close to having them, so there were a few people who knew, but I never told. That I can remember anyway.

I get asked how their names have come to be and thought I would share.

I'm not sure where I heard Hayden's name. I just liked it when I did. I've read a few books which have a character who's name is Hayden, so I assume it's from them. I always thought it was slightly original too. Now I hear it everywhere. His middle name is James, my dad. Not that I had to use it, I really did like how the two went together.

Maya's name, however, I remember exactly (almost exactly) where I heard it. It was in high school and my family was coming home from a ski trip to Montana. We were on the shuttle bus that took us from the airport to the parking lot where we left our car. On the bus was a little girl about the age of 3, with brown, curly hair and simply adorable. I was watching her sit in her seat and play. She got up once and her mom said, "Come here, Maya." She turned around, her curls bouncing on her shoulders and she returned to her seat.

I fell in love with the name. When I thought of the name Maya, I always like the middle name Christine. I just liked the sound of them together. I had a great aunt, Christine, but I don't think this was how I put the two together.

All of this was before I had met my future hubby and baby daddy, of course. :) I was just lucky enough that he liked her first name and really liked the middle name. His real name isn't Buddy, it's Christopher, like his dad's. Also, he has a sister, named Christine.

And now, I have a curly haired little girl named, Maya Christine. I think it fell into place just perfect.