funny faces

We love making funny faces and taking pictures.  Here's some of the latest ones - I definitely have more of Jack because Olivia is too cool for pictures these days.

Scarred for life

It's been several weeks since Olivia was scarred for life, but it's been a heavy week this week and we are all in need of laughter, so I feel like this post is needed!
Early last month, Olivia developed a horrible stomach flu.  She spent several days at home unable to keep anything down and having horrible stomach cramps.  After a few days I joined her in hugging the porcelain bowl.  Olivia was in a lot of pain and we felt like she needed to see the doctor.  Since I was unable to get out of bed Brian felt like it would be best to take Jack with him also.    Before the doctor sent them on to the hospital for a CT scan they were sent to the bathroom for a urine sample.
I'm sure you wondering where the laughter comes in, right?  I mean so far, this is nothing to laugh about.
Brian takes Olivia and Jack into the bathroom.  As Jack starts to open cabinets and get into everything, Brian takes the collection cup and....  Well, he kind of just stands there with lots of thoughts running through his head.  He tells Olivia that she needs to pee in the cup and so she drops her pants and starts to get on the toilet - she's been in the bathroom at my midwife's office enough to know how girls do this.  Brian on the other hand is completely clueless!  He tells her to get off of the toilet and stand up.  He has her kind of spread her legs a little and he holds the cup up to her and tells her to pee in it.  After looking at him like he has 3 heads she tries, but the girl cannot pee in the cup while standing up.  It doesn't help that Jack is getting into everything and she's yelling at him while Brian holds the cup with one hand and tries to keep Jack out of stuff with the other hand.
Brian finally realizes that she is going to need to sit down on the toilet to accomplish this.  Olivia sits down and Brian is baffled as to where he puts the cup.  He starts to put it in the front but decides the holding it under her from behind will be the best option.  He finally gets into place and is ready for her to pee...and he drops the cup in the toilet.
He goes out into the hallway and asks a nurse for a new cup.  The nurse also offers to take Jack to help out a little.  Brian takes the new cup back into the bathroom and attempts this again.  This time Olivia was successful at getting pee into the cup...and all over Brian's hand.
This is when Brian knew that there was something wrong.  He told me, "when she peed it just went everywhere and not in a straight stream!".
Thank God Olivia is only 5 and will hopefully never remember this.  If she does, it will probably come out in a therapy session many years from now.

Sibling Rivalry

I know ALL about sibling rivalry because I have two older brothers.  One of the cruelest things I remember them doing was mixing up play-doh until they got an ugly brown color.  Then they would roll it up to look like poop and put it in my baby doll's diapers.  It freaked me out every time and I hated it!

I had no idea that the sibling rivalry would start so soon!  Jack's only a year and a half and Olivia has been waiting the entire year and a half for her brother to be old enough and interested in playing with her.  Now that he's to that point there are times when she doesn't want it.  

Olivia has started the I-don't-want-Jack-in-my-room phase which will probably last for the next 15 years.  I know that my children each need their own personal space, but I also feel like it's important to share and part of that means letting your brother come in your room.  So the rule I started with Olivia is, "if you have gone into Jack's room today, then he's allowed to go into your room".  It seems to be working for now.  

When Jack is in Olivia's room and annoying her, she reacts by taking whatever she is playing with to the kitchen table or somewhere else that Jack can't reach.  The other night she was playing Littlest Pets and Jack was in her room "wrecking" it so she brought it downstairs to the kitchen table to play by herself.

It didn't take too long for Jack to realize this so he came into the kitchen and climbed up on the table to play with his sister.

Jack the spectator

Here is where he starts to disturb her and she stops him

He decides that he'll just annoy her by peaking through the window

...and while she's not looking, he'll reach through the window and steal whatever is within reach

The I'm-up-to-something look

Olivia takes action, trying to push her brother back

She finally realizes that he's not going anywhere and he might be a good playmate so she let's him play.

Cookies for Chloe

If you haven't had the chance to meet Chloe, you're missing out on a very special little girl!  That's why when her mom, Aimee, asked me to make cookies for a Thank You party for Chloe I jumped at the chance!
Early in January, Chloe was out enjoying the snow with family and friends when she lost control of the child-size snowmobile she was driving and wrecked.  She was taken by ambulance to a near-by hospital where they stabilized her and prepared her for the flight to University of Chicago.  She was in a drug-induced coma with a chest tube and on a ventilator.
When I talked to Aimee that night I was in the middle of braiding Olivia's hair.  I sat on the phone and I listened to Aimee cry on the other side.  She felt helpless, there wasn't a thing she could do.  As a mother, my heart just ached for her.  I got off the phone and immediately started praying, calling others to pray and requesting prayer through facebook.
I didn't sleep much that night, but the new day brought about new miracles!  That evening, about 24 hours after the accident, Chloe woke up for the first time and was taken off the ventilator.  Slowly over the next few days Chloe started to become more Chloe-like!  Now, a little over a month later, Chloe is still making improvements. She just finished her first week back to school and doctor check-ups and new scans are just proving how much of a little miracle she is.  Chloe will most likely make a full recovery with absolutely no surgery needed - praise the Lord!
Aimee and Ryan were shocked by the amount of people who prayed, offered condolences, and did everything from making meals to sending gifts to keep the kids busy.  During these types of situations, you really start to realize the number of people in your life who REALLY do care for you, and even the strangers who God places in your life at just the right time!  I'm always so amazed at God's perfect plan and they way he lines things up with such perfection.  It was a horrible thing that happened, but it was amazing to see God's hand at work.
Because of the overwhelming support that Ryan and Aimee received, they wanted to throw a Thank You Party to honor all of the people who touched their lives during this past month.  The date was set for Valentine's Day and because Aimee and I must have been separated at birth, she immediately started thinking THEME!  Every party needs a theme, right?  Well, since it was Valentine's day, that made Aimee's task a little easier.  She came to me with a fabulous idea and I was ecstatic!  She wanted conversation heart sugar cookies that had to do with Chloe's accident.

And of course we had to make a few for our house for Valentine's Day - it wouldn't be the same without them!  The first time I made my decorated sugar cookies was for Valentine's day - 7 years ago.  AND 6 years ago, it was a conversation heart cookie that told Brian we were expecting our first child!

Happy Valentine's Day - may you be blessed with love!  Remember to tell those you love just how much they mean to you.

It ends similar to how it begins...with a cup

I begin my day hoping no one notices me until I've finished my first cup of coffee.

...and after a long day of playing mommy I like to end my day with a different cup in my hand - only this time the house is quiet.

Disney 2009 - Day seven

Day Seven was our last day in Disney - kind of bittersweet!  We were all exhausted and ready to get home, but not ready to leave the magic in Disney!

We spent our last day in Disney at the Magic Kingdom.  Olivia had her list of rides that she loved so much she had to do one last time!  This was probably one of her favorites - Goofy's barnbuster!  Here she is in the back of the plane, riding with daddy.  Believe it or not, she actually kept her hands up for most of the ride - just so happens I snapped the pic right as she put them down!  She's a brave little girl.

We stopped for a quick picture in front of Minnie's cute little house

Jack didn't last too long, he was exhausted...and sick of the stroller.

We couldn't pass up a photo opportunity with the fairy God-mother outside of Cinderella's Castle.

A few pictures in our resort lobby before packing up for the flight back home

All week long Olivia studied how the girl characters would pose.  By the end of the trip, she was "posing" for every picture.  Still to this day, she poses like the princesses!

It was an exhausting trip, but it was absolutely amazing!  I was so excited for this trip and to see the look on my children's faces when they experienced Disney for the very first time, but I have to admit, I was just as amazed as they were by the magical things at Disney.  It was a fabulous trip and we can't wait to go back.

Disney 2009 - Day Six

We began our 6th day of Disney at Epcot where we definitely felt like we were 6 days into our Disney trip...and exhausted!  I must say, I think the kids handled it much better than Brian and I did.  I think we did more complaining of the heat and exhaustion than the kids did.  This probably had to do with the fact that they got pushed around in a stroller all week with fans attached to it!  Brian was also feeling pretty bad and waiting for some meds to kick in from a diverticulitis attack.  

We probably spent the first hour and a half at the Seas with Nemo and Friends - we rode the clam-mobile ride two times, sent lot so time looking at the tanks with sea animals and also sat down and had a chat with Crush, the turtle.

We walked through all the countries, but Mexico was really the only country that we spent much time in.  We visited the Mexico Pavilion and took a relaxing boat ride.  After the ride we walked through the Mexico mart and did a little shopping.  Here's Jack trying on a hat!

I feel like we missed out on so much at Epcot, but we were all exhausted and just not into it!  There's always next time!  We're Cubs fans, we've learned to look at everything that way!