"Idol" Worship

American Idol was starting earlier tonight and Kinley wanted to watch a few minutes of "The Singing Show" before bed. I told her we needed to read our scriptures first and turn the tv off while we read. She asked why, and I told her that reading scriptures was more important than watching television. She asked why again, and I told her that scriptures come from Heavenly Father and the Singing Show was just a silly tv show made by man.

To which she quite forcefully responded:

"Heavenly Father gave us scriptures, but he ALSO helped the tv men make the tv... So the television DID come from Heavenly Father and the Singing Show IS important."

Give me strength...

Big Boy Bum

Well, the day has finally come. Tanner is officially in size 4 diapers. I recently decided he was "starting" to outgrow his size 3. When I joyously announced my epiphany to Bethany and Justin, they burst out laughing, each in turn, and looked at me like I was from Mars, as if to say, "He was ready for size 4 diapers probably 6 months ago."

And the results are in: he woke up in dry pajamas this morning :)

Wendy's and Weed

What an adventuresome afternoon!

Apparently Justin has missed the entire family this week. He called us up today and invited all of us to meet him for dinner at Wendy's. (Dinner out twice in a week? That is some serious love). Kinley was very excited, particularly because she had been in tears this morning missing her Daddy. Tanner was just happy to get his hands on some nuggets and fries. An unexpected visit with Daddy was a bonus.

In other more bizarre news, my 19-year old brother is in jail...again. Last night he was arrested for possession of marijuana. I tell ya, never a dull moment.

Grumpy Cuss

This is my grumpy kid today.

Tanner Teething, etc.

Fab. That 4th molar we've been expecting has finally made an appearance. The first point has broken through the gum. This explains his restless sleep, weak appetite, and surly demeanor these last 48 hours. I'm relieved. I thought I'd completely screwed him up by trying to get him to give up one of his naps. This makes more sense. Just coincidentally bad timing. This too shall pass.

Since we had a free babysitter last night (three cheers for babysitting club!), Justin invited me out for dinner to break up his evening. We went to Tucanos and used Kinley's birthday club free meal :) The meat selection (which is what they are famous for) is very delicious, but I really go nuts over their salad bar. I can fill myself up 4 times over just at the salad bar (and usually do, I might add). It's not your standard salad bar, that's for sure. Come to think of it, I don't think a single piece of lettuce actually landed on my plate...

Anyway, it was nice to be out, just the two of us. We talked about taxes and our children, what else? As is our Tucanos tradition, we kept eating until we were just a little nauseas, which meant that we were seriously ailing by the time we rolled each other into the car. Then I picked up the kids and came home and enjoyed a lovely evening of gabbing and visiting with a friend, Mindy. All in all, a really great night. Tax season is looking up.

This morning hasn't been quite as great. While talking to Heather on the phone this morning, I was online searching for a description of The Goose Girl on Amazon for her. By the time I made it back downstairs, there were approximately 400 Islandberry Crunch Cereal balls scattered throughout the kitchen and livingroom. As soon as I had swept up a sufficient-sized mountain, Tannersaurus came swooping along with his busy little hands and dispersed the entire pile back to the far corners of the kitchen in one motion. He was sure to step on and crush as many stray balls as possible while running for his life to get out my reach.

To quote my sister Lyndsey... "Le sigh"....

The Giver

I finished The Giver by Lois Lowry this week. A lot of people say they read it in the 8th grade and still remember it fondly. Good ol' Peru Central School District. I had never heard of the book until last month. It was quite a book and I really liked it.

I don't know that I would recommend it to an 8th grader myself just because of one short, slightly disturbing scene near the end of the story, but it is a really great book. I'm adding it to my favorites list. I'm still thinking about it and I'm anxious to read the companion volumes, Gathering Blue, and Messenger.

Kinley Story #2

As I was packing Tanner into the stroller to take Kinley to Joy School this morning, Kinley asked where the car was. I said, "Daddy took the car today so that he could put gas in it for me. Wasn't that so nice of him?"

She agreed that it was very thoughtful. After a moment, she looked extremely concerned and bewildered when she said, "Wow, poor Daddy. How did he drive TWO cars to work?"

Kinley Story #1

We were walking down the street today and Kinley pointed out several trash cans that were laying on their sides. I asked her how she thought they might have fallen over. She said the wind blew them over. I told her that was probably exactly what happened and that she is so smart.

Her response?

"Yep, I'm using my smartness again."

Tanner's Eating Habits

Tanner has been eating so well lately, knock on wood. The only problem is that he will ONLY eat food that comes from my plate AND from my fork/spoon (unless it's oatmeal, crackers, or pbj). If I try to use a separate spoon, he comes unhinged and grabs the "right" one and hands it to me. What's a little spit between friends?

This morning I reintroduced him to scrambled eggs with salsa. It was a big hit this time, unlike my last attempt. Then again, back then he was in the middle of his "goldfish crackers and milk" diet. Last night for dinner he ate an entire sandwich AND an entire banana AND a bottle of milk.

I don't know why food is so important to me. I don't know why it gives me a warm fuzzy feeling inside when my kids eat a hearty meal or try something new and like it. Subconsciously I think my success as a parent rests solely on the diversity of their palate. Surely there is something more important :)

Were You Here?

So....

I don't know WHO ever looks at our blog, except for a few friends and family members who tell me sometimes that they are faithful visitors.

Leave us a comment! Let us know who you are!

Naughty Eye

My weak little cornea is quite discouraging sometimes. It has been behaving very suspiciously these last few days and I get the feeling that it's only staying attached by sheer willpower, not because it really wants to heal. I went to the doctor on Tuesday, and while it is showing positive signs of healing, he reminded me that I can't slack off and get lazy because we are at "the very very beginning of a very long race." He said that if all goes well, I should be able to rub my eyes like a cat in the morning by Christmas. I asked :) Man, I miss that...

I thought I was to the place where I could just use eye drops a few times a day and ointment at night, but after a few days of that, I was getting some very clear, all too familiar warning signs from my cornea. So now I'm back to drops every 20-60 minutes and goopy ointment several times during the night. I don't bother to set my alarm or anything. When you're afraid that you are going to wake up with your cornea detached, you don't sleep that well anyway. Highly annoying and a little disheartening.

I did some more research online yesterday and just became more and more discouraged with what I read. I don't want be the (shockingly high) statistic that has to manage this for the rest of my life!

Have I mentioned that I HATE Candyland? Someone, please play it with my daughter! I just can't bring myself to swallow my irritation and she really wants to play it!

Happy Wednesday

The kids are in bed early tonight, as I've sneakily managed to make happen a few times this week. I've started doing a sly little thing in the evenings recently. I have started turning off ALL of the lights around 6:30 and snuggling with the two of them on the couch in the dark, watching The O'Reilly Factor. Because it's so dark, the kids think it's really late. Tanner finishes his bottle and then starts rubbing his face with his blanket, trying to get more and more comfortable. He starts off on my chest drinking his bottle and then ends up chillin' on the floor with his blanket watching Bill. Eventually he will bring me his blanket and let me know he wants his bed. He gets so giddy as we head up the stairs. Kinley doesn't even question the time (previous bedtime for her has been between 8:00 and 8:30).

Because it's early enough in the evening to to not be totally exasperated by overtired children, and because I feel a little naughty/guilty tricking them, I have the serenity of mind to brush their teeth jovially, say prayers thoroughly, and even sing a song or two. They think I'm Supermom as I smirkily head off to do other things with my night. It's 7:15 and I have the whole night ahead of me. Hey, I'm a tax widow, and I'm always just a smidge unhinged as it is. I need all the sanity I can find.

I'm trying to simplify and streamline my life. Just ask my kids who ate their oatmeal in the bathtub this morning. No. I'm not kidding...

We're nothing if not very colorful, wouldn't you say?

Ok, funny story time: For the last three mornings I have had to get Kinley up for various reasons (work and doctor's appointments). Tonight before bed she asked if she could please sleep in tomorrow morning. I didn't expect that question until she was the obligatorily belligerent adolescent. I gave her my blessing :)

It's 8:30 and Justin has just returned to the nest. There is a BYU basketball game on the tube, which he'll likely fall asleep to. He "slept in" this morning; he didn't leave for the office until almost 5:30!! American Idol is boring me this season (hence, why I'm blogging instead of watching that). I think I'll go watch some basketball myself (snore, snore) and see if I can swap some backscratches.

Before I go, we had a great mini-enrichment at my house last night. A friend of mine who just left our ward presented a great class on sleep solutions for babies. It was FABULOUS. She has a side business as well www.bbsleepsolutions.com. It was extremely helpful information, much of it based on the books "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" and "The Happiest Baby on the Block", both of which books I totally swear by and should be in every mommy's library (in my humble opinion, at least). My kids are amazing sleepers, but I don't know how much is nurture and how much is their sleepy little nature. I'm quite positive that much of it came from those books, but who ever knows to what extent?

Ok, I'm getting super tired even though it's not quite 9:00, and I haven't even gotten the chance to blog about my naughty little eye. Maybe tomorrow.

Cowardly Kinley

My Photo Shop Elements arrived this morning...

Kinley August 2004

I can't believe my little princess used to be so small. This is Kinley at Tanner's age. I finally see the resemblance that some people talk about. These are ALL current tanner facial expressions.

Scrapping Scrapping

I've been having a lot of fun with these fun new (FREE!) scrapbooking kits from The Shabby Princess. Many thanks to Mindy for showing me the ropes!

Memory Lane

I took a little trip down Memory Lane this evening while Justin was working late. This was REALLY fun...

My 4 Year Old

Here are a few more pictures of Kinley celebrating her birthday last weekend. She's a sultry little poser, but she's cute as a button.

Resourceful Tanner

When I was loading the groceries from the cart on to the belt at Wal-mart this afternoon, I wasn't paying careful attention to the 16-month old little boy that I brought with me. I turned around and found that little boy (Tanner, if you're wondering) twisted around in his seat, helping himself to the open bag of (unwashed!) grapes that were right in his reach! He totally had chipmunk cheeks!

"Safety Kid" Kinley

We were listening to "Safety Kids" in the car on the way to Wal-mart this afternoon. (If you don't know what it is, it's children's music that teaches about personal safety, drugs and alcohol, pornography, and more). Today we listened to the segment on the dangers of using drugs and alchohol.

When we got to Wal-mart, we all got out of the car and I started walking toward a cart with Tanner. I said, "hurry, Kinley, come hold my shirt!"

She responded, "Mommy, I can't run that fast! I didn't take drugs, but I still can't run that fast!"

Hm. I guess she is listening!

Get a Blog!

I love it when my friends and family members have blogs so that I can check in on them. There are very very few, so I wish more of you did them!

If you are reading this, if you have a blog and I know about it, I assure you that I check it several times per week. Hope that doesn't freak you out. I wish more people had them. I get great book recommendations, scrapbooking ideas, recipes, exercise motivation, parenting advice, and so much more from reading about the life and times of my friends and family. For those very very few of you who keep blogs, THANK YOU!!

Get one, ok?

Each one is so different, but so great. Some bloggers update every couple of weeks, some people every day, and everything in between. Some are a lot of pictures and not much writing, other are a lot of writing and few pictures. Mine's totally out of control, but that's because I'm still in obsession-mode, and if you know me well, you know what that means.

And as far as safety, no one can access your page without knowing the link. You can't google it or search for it in any other way.

If you don't want to do a blog, I understand (not really, but I'll pretend, ha ha ha!) Just send me a newsy email so that I can find out what's going on in YOUR life and respond directly to you!

P.S. -- this in no way should imply that I am not extremely appreciative of phone calls or personal emails. Duh.

Kinley and the Temple

We drove past the Provo temple yesterday and Kinley said, "Look! The temple has a trophy on top of it."

Sweet Peaceful Saturday

*Sigh*....

Justin's brother Matt was married yesterday morning in the Mount Timpanogos Temple. We held the luncheon in our church building, then went to Heber for the reception last night, where Kim is from. My parents-in-law came in to town on Thursday afternoon and stayed with us until this morning. We finished up luncheon shopping at Costco when they arrived and spent the evening finishing some minor preparations. The wedding ceremony was beautiful and the luncheon was a success. The reception in Heber was very nice too, and they have another one up in Idaho tonight. Tanner threw some really impressive tantrums and wanted to be loved by me and only me for much of the day, which made for some interesting dynamics.

All that's left of celebrating around here is the washing of the table linens that we borrowed from the Relief Society. I'll get around to that "sometime". Other than that, we're done, woo hoo!!

I need to make a grocery trip to Wal-mart, deliver some lunch/dinner to my beloved (who left at 4:30 this morning and doesn't plan to return until after midnight tonight), and at least THINK about folding the 8 loads of clean laundry that have slowly been collecting into a massive pile in my bedroom, . Other than that, I plan to do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING today. I'll snooze while the kids are snoozing, and I'll read some more of The Giver. In fact, while my darlings are watching some Saturday morning cartoons, I think I'm going to try to fit in a quick cat-nap right now. Toodles!

Hear Ye! Hear ye! Tanner is Eating!!

Tanner has been EATING these last two days! Last night for dinner he ate eggs, hashbrowns, TOMATOES, and an entire container of yogurt!! It's a miracle!! This afternoon for lunch he ate a banana and some more yogurt, and a little bit of cereal. It's major progress, since he hasn't been eating anything to speak of in a week!

Enna Burning

Now that I can finally read again, I've been able to relax into a book at night before falling asleep. The other day I finished Enna Burning by Shannon Hale. It was good, particularly if you enjoyed the first novel, The Goose Girl, which I did. Both are very good reads, though neither were as utterly delightful, in my opinion, as The Princess Academy by the same author.

The Enchantment of Twilight

Why, oh why is Twilight so amazing? Really, if you are a woman between the ages of 15 and 99 and haven't read it yet, you need to get a MOVE ON! Don't read too much about it in advance to save the suspense. Just BUY the book and treat yourself to a once-in-a-lifetime read. No one believes it can possibly be that good, but once they finally cave to the pressure, they are believers. It really is that good. I busted up laughing when I read Mindy's description of her experience! I'm still snickering!

If you live in the area, you're welcome to borrow my copy!

Happy Valentine's Day!

We're just being the crazy Bradshaws over here, nothing new! My week to teach Joy School has fallen during an unfortunate week, with Matt's wedding this weekend, and me still trying to play catch up from the "great cornea drama of 2007". Someone suggested I try to switch weeks with another mom, but I figure, at least the insanity of the current week is a known lunacy.

With the way things have gone this year, I'd better just keep putting one foot in front of the other when I have the chance! Who knows what drama will befall us next week?! I'd better just get everything done that I can possibly get done so that my schedule will be clear for whatever tragically comedic episode is up next!

Kinley is loving being four years old, just like the rest of us. I love to be able to say, "Oh, but Kinley, you are four years old now!" like it's some magic age that makes her suddenly more responsible and self-sufficient. What some people would never guess about our otherwise very precocious little imp is that she is spoon-fed meals at our house more often than not because we are totally lame parents. It's just easier to feed her than to wait the 2 hours it takes her to finish her meals on her own.

Well, my eye has managed to hold together for the last two days, so I'm cautiously "opto"-mistic (ha ha, aren't I punny!) that we're getting there. I have been waking up every two hours at night dreaming about my eyeball falling out, so I just go ahead and get out of bed to go put more goop in my eye, just to be safe. Forgive me if I'm a little paranoid!!

Justin is in full-blown tax season now. He's been getting up at 4 in the morning for the last several weeks and he's starting to look tired, as is normal for this stage. By the end of March he looks really rough around the edges, but he's hanging in there so far. He's been coming home between 7 and 8, and of course works every Saturday. Now that I'm not [so] self-obsessed about my eye, I've remembered that I'm supposed to make him lunches so that he doesn't starve. Oops.

The Illusionist

We rented The Illusionist last night for an early Valentine's Day Celebration. That was a GREAT movie.

Kinley and that MOUTH

Tonight during dinner, Justin and I were discussing the particulars of precisely when he was going to do some small task, the details of which I don't even remember. What I do remember is that I wanted it done now now now now now, and he wanted to do it in some timeframe, um, after that.

It's mid-tax season, and it's been a mess of a week, so we're all a little edgy. Cut us some slack. Anyway, he said somewhat huffily, "Megan, will you please just let me eat my dinner in peace??"

To which Miss Kinley piped in, "Daddy, don't talk to Mommy that way. She's a grown-up too."

Neither of us were quite sure what the appropriate response was to that, so I just snickered a thank you to Kinley, and slipped her a surreptitious wink (which with my lazy eye was really somethin'). Justin was annoyed, but couldn't figure out exactly what to scold her about and couldn't throw together a coherent argument in his own defense on the fly.

Ah, the life and times of the Bradshaws. Like I said, never a dull moment.

Corn Dogs

This is Tanner trying his very first bite of corn dog!

This Tanner after he spit out the first bite of corn dog and threw the rest on the floor... How can you be mad at big brown eyes like those??

Tanner Chillin'

Kinley is 4 Years Old

Ok, not until tomorrow, but we had a wonderful birthday party this morning! It was a little frenetic around here during preparations. There may have been some tears shed and threats handed out, and I'm not publicly confessing to any profanity, but I won't deny it either. The boys of the family weren't especially cooperative in the beginning, but they were the ones who saved the day in the end. Justin came home from work to help tidy and keep whiney Tanner happy for an hour, and Tanner ended up sleeping through the entire party and then some.

Kinley was so very happy to have friends come over to help celebrate. We played Pin the Tail on the Donkey, which was a great success. We made Valentine's Day Countdown Chains (most of which were forgotten by guests, but that's my fault). We also played a crazy game of "keep the balloon in the air", which got pretty wild, so we took it to the basement. We decorated cupcakes and stuffed ourselves with Bagel Bites and Corndogs.

Mardie stayed through the whole party and helped keep the peace and move everything along smoothly. She even ran a load of dishes, THANK YOU!! Overall, I think it was a really great event! Except for the moment when one friend arrived without Kinley seeing; when she realized he was there a few minutes later, the first thing out of her mouth was "where's my present?" We had a long discussion this morning about party do's and don't's. I'll have to add that one to the list for next time...

Miss Kinley and Her Lovely Advice

This afternoon on the way home from Wal-mart, I put her new carseat in the front seat, still in its box. Kinley asked why I didn't put it in the trunk. I explained that it wouldn't fit in the trunk with the groceries and other assorted space-fillers.

Her response? "Mommy, I think you just need a little more practice. If you try a little bit harder, you can make it fit in the trunk. You just need to do smarter things."

I Should Mention

After catching you up on all the misery and woe of the week, I realized that I left some very important points out:

It is healing and hopefully will continue to make rapid progress. There is not pain to speak of at this point; my eye just feels really tired now. I was able to drive to Wal-mart today without wondering how many pedestrians I was going to take out. Fortunately, BOTH my amazing children have been UNBELIEVABLY well-behaved through all of this.

Because Wednesday (hell-day) started off as an anticipated regular work-day at the orthodontist office, I just left the children at Bethany's house (our fabulous sitter) for the whole day and she walked them home that night because I couldn't drive and Justin was working late. Friendly neighbors have graciously taken Kinley and Tanner every time I've had to go to the doctor, even at the last minute. And our hometeacher (I'm sure his wife was 90% responsible, as we always figure with such matters, right or wrong) brought over some delicious dinner on Wednesday, thanks to interference from my beloved friend Shannan. When I get the recipe for the meatballs, I'll post it. It was REALLY good.

I'm already in much much better shape than Wednesday, or even yesterday. Every day it seems to get exponentially better, so I'm hopeful that tomorrow the lame eye will be nothing more than a goofy-looking nuisance.

We're still moving ahead with Kinley's birthday party tomorrow morning.

And did I mention that my life is totally insane?

One funny side-note: I tend to be a pretty grateful-hearted person in general. But the heavy drugs make me REALLY REALLY grateful. I had to force myself to try to sleep the day away on Wednesday because all I wanted to do was call up everyone I knew and tell them how much I loved them and how completely over-the-top weepily grateful I was for them in my life.

When It Rains...

I haven't made a posting in a few days, just in case you noticed.

After my allergic reaction on Tuesday, I stopped using the antibiotic eye-drops. I was steadily improving throughout the day until the afternoon, when it began to get strangely sensitive, irritated, and swollen again. By the next morning I knew I was in serious trouble, so I camped out on Dr. Lewis' door until he arrived at the office.

It appears that the epithilial layer of my cornea is having difficulting reattaching. Remember, I had a small patch missing on Monday. Dr. Lewis took off the ragged edges around it. It did heal over, at least on the surface. But underneath, the new tissue did not reattach. It was jiggling around, irritated, swelling, and just ripe for falling off all over again.

So, he took off the whole thing. He took off the whole top layer of my cornea (there are 5 layers in all, with the epithelium not successfully reattaching to the Bowman layer), all the way around, back to where he knew it was attached firmly. Sometimes they do this technique on purpose to help improve vision in people who aren't candidates for Lasik. The success rate is very high, though he is concerned that I have thus far not responded typically. I have to keep it extremely lubricated, and I'll have to keep on top of moisturizing it for up to 3 months, at least at night. For now it's needs constant attention with artificial tears, antibiotic ointment, anti-inflammatory drops, etc., and a whole lot of prayers. The contact comes out on Monday and we'll be white-knuckling for a few days. Next Monday and Tuesday will be the most tense days as we hope and pray it sticks. Like I said, the totally firm adhesion won't be over for another three months, but we'll get a good idea of how well it's going by the middle of next week.

I was feeling VERY "woe is me" all day Wednesday and some of yesterday. I was on Percocet every 3 and a half hours all of Wednesday. I had to have Shannan from across the street come over to read my prescriptions in the morning because I couldn't even tell which was which. She even had to set the alarm on the oven so that I would know when I could take another pill because I couldn't read the clocks. How pathetic is that? I was wearing sunglasses around the house until late yesterday.

The swelling makes me very light sensitive, but the swelling is decreasing, which means the sensitivity is too. The pharmacy had to over-night special order the preservative-free anti-inflammatory, which just makes the whole thing even more bizarre. I can open my eyes long enough to get a few things done, though they are very tired now from writing this blog and I need to go rest them for a while, since Tanner is sleeping.

My life is totally insane.

Kinley's Wheels

The little wheels of Kinley's mind...

On Sunday the Sunbeam lesson was "Jesus is Heavenly Father's son." She's been tossing that around in her mind for a day or so. Last night after scripture reading she said, "Mommy, I have a question. If Jesus is Heavenly Father's son...then who is Heavenly Father's father and mother??" It turned into a great discussion...one I didn't anticipate having for a while, maybe, but she is wise beyond her years.

In other Sunbeam logic, she also said last night, "If Jesus gives us everything...then.. Jesus gave the store Chicken Run so that we could rent it. Can I watch it tomorrow?"

Maza Kinlija -- Kinley's friend Alicia speaks Spanish, so Kinley has been asking me recently to teach her words and phrases in Latvian, or I should say, "Lap-bien." I don't take it as seriously as she does, and we don't do it very often, but it's fun for both of us when the occasion arises. This morning she was very grumpy with me that I wouldn't speak to Tanner in Lap-bien. I had to explain that Tanner still needs to figure out how to understand and speak English before we move on to something else!

Only Me

Yep, it's official. I'm definitely ALLERGIC to these new antibiotic eye drops. Dr. Lewis thinks it must be the preservatives in them. I've never met an antibiotic drop that I'm NOT allergic to.

And the Eye Drama Goes On...

Well, we've had an interesting turn of events. Three times in the last two weeks I have woken up in the morning and felt like my eye was redamaged. The first two times the sensation seemed to alleviate itself within an hour or so. This morning was different. It kept getting worse. I felt like I was right back at square one. I couldn't see, I couldn't open my eye, it was extremely red and swollen, much lancing pain, and otherwise basically felt like the wound had completely reopened. I shouldn't have been driving, so don't tell anyone.

Justin thought I should see my old friend Dr. Abrams, the condescending opthamologist that the ER sent me to originally. Over my dead body. On a lark, I asked my boss if he knew any good eye guys and he sent me to his cousin, Dr. Todd Lewis, an optometrist. He had me come right down (again, shouldn't have been driving, but desperate times and all that). He drew me a picture of my eye and the state that it's in. The short version is that the entry site from the card did heal previously, but the card went into my eye at an upward angle, so all of the tissue underneath was damaged and never healed properly.

I've been slowly continuing to damage it with sleep and eye goop and all that for the last few weeks, hence the few rough mornings recently. So NOW there is a patch of cornea missing that was torn off by my own eyelid. Gross, huh? It's called "recurrent erosion".

He was great. He cut off the jagged edges to give me a smoother healing surface as I start the healing process all over again. I'm wearing a contact lens over the top (because the open wound itself is incredibly sensitive) until Friday and I'm back to using antibiotics 4 times a day and lubricant drops every hour. Yea. Did I mention the new antibiotics cost $47?

According to him, this is going to be a slow healer. I need to regrow all of the tissue, but in the end there shouldn't be any permanent damage -- hey, haven't I heard that before? Even when I feel fine (like I have mostly for the last several weeks), I need to keep treating it for at least 5 weeks. I'm thrilled.

It seems to me that the injury this time is actually worse than where we were originally, but with the contact in my eye serving as a band-aid, and without the accompanying allergic reaction to swell up half my face, it actually doesn't feel as painful. I'm just really blurry in the one eye, but I'm at work today, on my lunch break at the moment. I'm functional this go round, just a little blind.

We're hoping the current treatment works, or he's going to want to try "spot welding" next, which is where they drill into the eye to CREATE scar tissue that will hopefully hold better. In the mean time, I'm going to purchase something Heather recommended -- her happy eye formula, Dr. Christopher's Herbal Eyebright Formula. I'll throw that in the mix and try to give myself the best chance of success.

Never a dull moment at the Bradshaw house! I hate Candyland....

Super Bowl Sunday

Well, today is Super Bowl Sunday. We went to Danny and Mardie's place to watch the game. Thankfully, my children were extraordinarily well behaved.

Alas, I had access to Mardie's Diet Pepsi with lime. Even more unfortunately, I was extremely thirsty. I knew I was was making a dangerously poor choice by drinking more than one ounce of caffeinated beverage after NOON! Oh, but it's been so long and it tasted SO DELICIOUS!!

So, here we are... it's 10:15 already and I'm more awake than I've been since, well...probably the last Diet Pepsi I had :) Tick tock...tick tock...

Anyway, we had a great discussion in Relief Society this afternoon. I wish I had had the presence of mind to take copious notes. The lesson was on teaching our children to worship reverently. It could have also been aptly named "keeping your wiggly kids from climbing the walls in sacrament meeting." I loved it. I got some good suggestions.

Kinley is mostly really reverent, but we could raise the bar some. Tanner, well, as you know-- he's a monster in church. But I think it's time to put on my Mean Mom hat and work through it instead of letting the tail wag this old dog. The good news is that just in the last couple of weeks he has become very responsive to "No, no". He hasn't been throwing blue tantrums every time he hears it. It appears he's becoming much more accepting of his status as the little person in this relationship. He and Justin have taken turns for the last few Sundays with various bugs, so Tanner hasn't actually been to church meetings in several weeks. Maybe this next week will be different and he'll be a little angel...ha, ha.

In other Tanner news, he now says "Mommy". He's been saying Mama for a while, but now he says "Mommy". Though, Mommy doesn't JUST mean Mommy, in the traditional sense. It also means, "help me please"; "can I have some of that?"; "more please"; and a few other things. It's a catch all for any question or help he needs. He points and says, "Mommy". It's actually quite cute. I've figured out that it mostly means "Please".

In Kinley news, she has really taken a shine to her Sunbeam teachers and the feeling appears mutual. The Barbers say she has a startlingly sharp recall ability, which is no surprise. She has always shocked me with the minor details of life that she remembers with absolute clarity. I truly wonder sometimes if I'm dealing with a photographic memory of sorts. If so, she certainly didn't get it from me.

Justin is getting up at 4 in the morning tomorrow (ah, the joys of tax season); I'd better go set my alarm so that I can make it to work on time myself.

Tanner's Hat

Tanner did not want to be left out of the fun!

Babysitting Club

We now have a babysitting club up and running in our ward. I nervously joined a group with three other families and we decided to rotate Friday nights. Last night was my first night with the whole band. I was extremely nervous because Justin works very late these days, which means I'm solo for the next few months.

They were remarkably well-behaved. I was greatly relieved and, frankly, a little surprised! Everyone wanted to play dress up in Kinley's costumes, to their own varying tastes. It was a busy night, but I probably had as much fun as Kinley and the rest. And hey, now I'm off for three weeks, woo hoo!

A New Day

If you have a weak stomach, don't continue....

Well, we have reached a milestone with Tanner. I was in the office while he was splashing in the tub. He got suddenly quiet and then started screaming. I went in to see what could possibly be the matter. He was holding out his fingers like he was touching disgusting because, well, he was...

Turns out he had made himself a tub full of Poo Poo stew. That's not the milestone (heck, we crossed that a year ago). The major event is that Tanner is now equally grossed out, just like the rest of us. Hallelujah.

Tanner's First Whole Sandwich

He didn't want broken off pieces of sandwhich yesterday. I thought he'd never in a million years want the sandwhich whole! You can see that I was wrong! :)

Guests for Lunch

We had guests for lunch today. Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and Buzz Lightyear shared some sandwiches.

Tanner After A Long Winter's Nap

The Perfect Family

In the interest of full disclosure, lest anyone ever accuse me of posting only the very best of the Bradshaw Brood, I should probably confess publicly that I slammed the ketchup bottle on the counter in a major fit of frustration tonight. Hmmm... plastic doesn't mean indestructible. Now what am I going to have on my eggs tomorrow morning?

Who Wants to Be A Millionaire? Incidentally, if anyone ever needs to know the answer to "how many paper towels does it take to mop up 24 ounces of ketchup?", I'll be your phone-a-friend.

I'll spare you the details of Tanner's tumble from the chair onto the tile headfirst while I was on the phone this afternoon as well as how I almost boiled both of my kids in the bathtub this morning. I need some dignity.

Tanner and the Laundry

I remember when Kinley was this age. What with all the wanton destruction he leaves in his wake, I had forgotten how helpful they CAN be with small tasks.

Tanner loaded up an entire laundry basket one item at a time! It was so fun for both of us! He was so proud of himself, but then he wanted to unload the basket one item at a time... and then he didn't like the idea of putting the clothes in the washer. He tried to pull them all OUT one at a time.