Peas Please!

Scene: Natali eating lunch...a large quesadilla. Not quiet finished with the quesadilla on her plate the conversation starts.

Natali: I'm still hungry.
Mom: Finish your quesadilla first.

Dad walks into the kitchen and gets a chocolate chip cookie.

Natali: I want a cookie.
Dad: Finish your quesadilla then you can have a cookie.

Mom (giving that look to dad and says): I was going to have her eat peas.
Natali: I want peas!
Dad: You can't have any peas until you finish your cookie.

Natali (5 min. later): Daddy, I finsihed my cookie...I want peas.

Man are we good parents or what?

Fire Station 18

Today we got to visit a fire station here in West Des Moines for playgroup. The kids loved! The firemen were really nice and did a great job keeping the kids involved and entertained. Natali was kind of scared at first, she thought they would turn the sirens on. But once they reassured her that there would be no loud noises she relaxed and enjoyed. Isaac also enjoyed this trip, but probably enjoyed our McDonald's Happy Meals even more afterwards.

Watching the lights, without the noise!

Natali & Chase...apparently having a moment

Bubba enjoying all the tubes and cord hanging from the ceiling

The kids getting a tour of the "Big" truck

Who is that Snoring?

So I was sitting in the kitchen and could hear this deep breathing/snoring. I just assumed it was Ben in the other room relaxing. Then about 5 minutes later, Ben says from the other room, "Is that you snoring?" Nope not me. The culprit was Isaac! He was snoring so loud that we could hear him from his crib through the kids room door. Like father like son.

Neil Diamond + Peyton Manning

Yes this year Peyton Manning graced the cover of my homemade Valentines day card from Ben. I laughed, and I am still laughing every time I pass our fridge where it hangs. Last year Neil Diamond was the face of choice. Ben is a HUGE anit-Valentines day person. I understand his point, why do we need to a specific day to show our love...shouldn't we do that every day? But, I still like any excuse to celebrate, do something fun, and eat yummy food! When we do our cards he chooses to go the more humorous route (which is one of the many reasons I love him) and this year he did not disappoint. Why Peyton Manning? Really...why not! Yes I do have a mini crush on him, he just seems like a nice guy. Plus I think all his ESPN commercials are funny, and he is hysterical on SNL (Fancy Pants)!!! And that picture rocks, just look that face (can you hear my sarcasm)! So funny and completely unexpected. We had a great day at home with kids just relaxing. We had X & O pancakes, kids opened their Valentines from us, went out to lunch, played a game of "family memory", ate heart shaped rice krispy treats, and ended the night with dinner and a movie. Happy Valentine's Day!

It's Back!

Oh, the snow was gone. We could see grass. All the nasty gray snow along the sides of the road melted away. The birds were singing. The sun was shinning. We stopped wearing "heavy" winter coats. Spring was coming...it really truly was! I was SO happy! Then "IT" happened today. Not just a little, but A LOT! I think about 6-8 inches. I tried to be happy and make the best of it. So I took advantage of Isaac taking a good nap, Ben being home early, and it still being above 30 degrees outside. We played!

The ER and Prune Jucie

Poor little Natali spent 9 hours yesterday in the ER. It started around 2:20 pm yesterday when she started screaming and writhing in pain on her bed. She said her stomach hurt. Instantly Ben prompted for her to go use the restroom. Nothing. No fever, no vomiting, ate earlier in the day, but was screaming and nothing we did seemed to calm her down. After about 30-40 minutes of this we decided something must be wrong and called the 24 hour nurse. She could hear Natali in the background and suggested/urged us to take he into the ER. So we all loaded into the car and Ben dropped us off at the front doors of the Mercy ER while he went back home and made arangements for Isaac. Natali had fallen asleep in the car, and now was relatively calm.

We got called back and I explained what was going on and felt pretty stupid. Natali was now popping jokes to the nurses, talking non-stop, and seemed normal although she said her stomach still hurt. Then we were taken back to the Children's wing of the ER. More nurses, forms, questions, a relatively healthy looking child, forms, more nurses, and finally "the" doctor. He was ready to pass it all off to some stomach bug until he had her walk. Instantly she doubled over in pain, wouldn't walk, complained of pain, and wouldn't let him come close to touching her stomach. He instantly became concerned about possible appendicitis. He ordered an IV, x-rays, blood work, urine sample (that was fun), and eventually a CT scan. We had multiple specialists come poke and prod her stomach. In the end the final ruling was no appendicitis, but lots of backed up...poop . Natali thought it was pretty silly that we kept talking about poop and if she needed to go poopies. After a little thing we like to call an enema (now that was really fun), Natali was jumping up and down and walking pain free. Seriously...all of this because of a constipation?

Poor little girl! The whole thing was quiet a long process. She screamed bloody murder during the x-rays. She was literally thrashing in the bed while they tried to get her IV in. She had to drink contrast for the CT scan, which she drank like a champ. She was forced to go "wetties" in a cup. But, she watched about 8 hours of movies while laying in bed, being 100% loved, and taken care of. She got a bunch of stickers, a stuffed animal to take home, and a new sparkle Sleeping Beauty Barbie. All in all, she was a trooper and even loved having the CT scan done. All the staff was great and made it such a positive good experience for her.

We were finally discharged around 12:10 am and advised to add 4oz. of prune juice to her diet. We were so grateful that it wasn't appendicitis, but couldn't help look at each other as we were walking out and say, "9 hours in the ER for an enema and prune juice!" What a day. Thankfully we had some friends take care of Isaac and Ben could be there with me. Especially since I couldn't go into any of the x-rays and CT scan with her because of being pregnant. Natali was such a brave little girl and did so well. We were so proud of her and felt so blessed that we were all able to come home together!

Isaac Roger 18 months

Sweet little Isaac is now 18 months! Let me just say that getting his picture taken is no simple task. He won't hold still, he won't smile at the camera, he tries to run out of the room, he touches everything he is not suppose to, and today he biffed it on the backdrop cutting his upper lip and getting a fat lip. Let's just say picture time was officially over after that. Isaac is constantly tripping and busting up his mouth! Is this normal? Natali never did. I blame it on the fact that he is a boy and extremely clumsy.

Isaac is growing up too fast. Last week was his first week of nursery in church. Being the paranoid mother that I am I went in and checked on him half way through. BIG mistake. I know, I know, I should have known better. But of course he clung to me and cried when I left. Sorry nursery people!

Isaac has such a sweet personality. He is down to one long afternoon nap, he will eat almost anything we put in front of him, and he loves to read books. Two of his favorites are, Goodnight Moon, and Goodnight Gorilla. He says so much: book, cookie, gorilla, Savannah, drink, mommy, daddy, quack quack, ruff ruff, yellow, up, no, apple, more, and all done. He loves climbing up and down the stairs and can not get enough of being in the bathroom. He is a riot to watch in the bath tub with his sister, and is starting to get the hang of "holding his own" around big sister. I've seen a few good pushes and hair pulls. She usually deserves it!

We sure love our little man and are blessed to have him in our family!

29th Birthday

On the 23rd of this month we celebrated Ben turning 29! It was a great day and Ben was a trooper and went along with all celebration that a birthday brings. Ben had the day off, which was much more of a present to me than him I think. Natali helped me make a German chocolate cake and was surprisingly patient while Ben opened his gifts. Later than night Ben and I went on a date (HALLELUJAH)! We dropped off both kids (which was a first with Isaac), and went out for an evening on the town (thank you fabulous babysitters). We even went to one of those restaurants where I'm sure kids are not allowed. It was magical...sitting by the fireplace, adult conversation, and eating food I did not prepare nor would be cleaning up. Yeah for birthdays, and a super duper yeah for dates!!!

Outside Fun Time

We haven't been able to really play in the snow much this winter. I mean, lets be honest, who wants to go out when it physically hurts to breath or blink your eyes. But on this day it it actually warmed up to a pleasant 35 degrees. After all the time we have spent inside I decided to bundle the kids up and let them go have some fun in the snow. It was pretty cute, and I think we all benefited from the sunshine and fresh air.

I think Isaac wasn't to happy with the snowball Natali threw at his head!

Cold Cold Days

We've had a few days this January that were too cold to even attempt leaving the house. I'm talking -25 with the windchill! So we kept our comfy cozy clothes on all day, watched movies, made forts, colored, played with play dough, and counted the minutes (and seconds) until Daddy came home from school.

We discovered that unlike Natali, Isaac is what we call a "dipper". He loves to dip his fries in the ketchup or Dad's homemade fry sauce. At times he doesn't even need a fry. He'll just stick his chubby little fingers in it and lick it right off. We're pretty amused!

January also brought Natali a day of the "sickies"! She sipped on pedialyte (she won't do carbonation) and dinned on dry toast and saltines. Thankfully it was only 24 hours!
WThe boys relaxing!

Cute kiddos playing picnic on the lion rug! I love it when Isaac crouches down in front of the lion and roars back at it!