The Summons

I remember when my little brother had been recently potty trained, we always heard "Moooooommy! Come wiiiiiiiipe me!" ringing through the house. Tanner shouts the infinitely more sophisticated "I went poo-oop!" in a sing-song voice.

What do/did your children say/sing/yell when you were going through this fun phase? Please, do tell.

Incidentally, my parents are still cleaning up my brother's crap, snicker, snicker...

Diva Darbi

Crew got a special visit this weekend! We love you, Darbs!

Boxed In!

You guys are so seriously the best. We now have so many boxes that are perfect for our needs! We are so set! Thank you all so much! I really doubt that we'll need any more, but I definitely know who to pester if we need a few more next week! Love you guys!

Sort, Sort, Sort...

Slowly, but surely, we are making headway through our various "treasures." We are attempting to do this in a thorough manner, which is taking longer but we hope will ultimately be more fulfilling in the long run. We are making conscious decisions about every single hair-bow, sock, and half-empty bottle of Children's Tylenol. I can't believe some of the (expired, broken, or otherwise unappreciated) things were finding in the cupboards.

I find it so exhilarating to pitch our trash. I feel like I'm starring in my own episode of Clean House. I keep expecting Niecey to jump out of a dusty box to pass judgment on our "mayhem and foolishness".

I am most proud of our basement accomplishments. I spent hours this weekend sorting through 12 boxes of memorabilia, consolidating and sorting the piles into 3 manageable bins. Of course this required a few trips down memory lane to my high adventure traveling days of yore. The trinkets, pics, maps, books, and clippings look so lovely and snug in their new digs. And wow, I was sure skinny.

Onward we go!!

Growin' Boy...

My Crew has just entered the exciting world of 3-6 month clothing!

Pack, Pack, Pack....

It's starting to feel real. It's so liberating to dejunk our belongings. Man, we have collected a lot of stuff over the years. My apologies to the landfills and D.I. workers. 14 days from this moment I hope to be passed out on a mattress in my new master bedroom, heaving a sigh of relief that we got every last box through the front door.

Bubble Slices

Are my kids the only ones that fight over who gets the pizza slices with the bubbles on it?

I've spent my years of motherhood eating each and every one of the pieces of "damaged" bubble pizza, like a good martyr should. To my great amusement, this particular act of noble sacrifice has rendered "bubble pizzas" the most desirable slices of pizza ever. Kinley and Tanner are banking on the reality that mommy usually takes the low road when sharing food. Ha. Got them.

A perfect, unblemished slice of pie creates disappointment, and occasionally tears, at our dinner table.

Go figure.

Smooches

It may not be a face that only his mother can love, but his mother sure does love this face.

An Historical Day

I have been impatiently waiting 3 years and 11 months for this moment, but it has finally arrived. It's happened not once, but twice in the last 24 hours.

Tanner has learned to ask nicely for something, without prompting. Oh, happy day.

Crew on Vacation

Playing with cousin Karlee

Chillin' with cousin Tora

Cabin Retreat

We spent the weekend in a cabin in Ider-ho with Justin's family.

There were endless hours of air hockey.Much exploring and frolicking by "the 6-pack".
And occasional posing on demand.
Horseshoe Lake.


Papa.
Crew and the Sexy Beast.
Kinley and cousin Adalyn waiting and wading.
Kinley with her uncles and cousin on her very first canoe trip ever.

Tanner getting ready to go on a ride with Uncle Adam and Mommy.
Tanner and Mommy after capsizing in the middle of the lake.
What's a cabin retreat without four-wheelers, really?

And a pinata.

An afternoon excursion to Mesa Falls.

Pretty Princess

Posing At Grandma's House

First Grade!

I have a great big first grader and she is loving it so far!
"No, no, Kinley. Don't get the Barbie backpack because she is dressed so immodestly. Get this Tinkerbell backpack instead..." Ahem.

Cashew Cabbage Salad

I swiped this recipe from my friend Allison. It's so yummy!

Cashew Cabbage Salad
1 head cabbage, chopped thinly (or 1/2 head green and 1/2 head purple)
1 bunch green onions
1 can (9.5oz) cashews, halves and pieces
1/2 C. - 3/4 C. toasted sesame seeds (I only had about 2 tbs and it was still yummy!)
1 pkg. ramen noodles chicken flavor

dressing:
3/4 C. vegetable oil
3 Tbl. sugar
4 1/2 tsp. vinegar
3/4 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. pepper
3/4 of ramen chicken flavor seasoning packet

Combine cabbage and green onions then chill. Combine all ingredients of dressing then chill. Right before serving add rest of ingredients, break up dry ramen noodles till little pieces and toss then add dressing and toss.

Baby For Sale

We are currently entertaining bids for the Midnight Monster.

Crew, previously known as the "Super Sleeper", is going through a bit of a "transition period", sorting out his feelings about swaddling.

I rewarded him this morning for last night's shenanigans with a big bowl of green beans for breakfast.

So Long, Ghetto Allens!

Not far from our house is a local grocery store often referred to by our community as "Ghetto Allen's." It's a creepy little dive where even the dented cans are twice the price of what a sober person would pay, should sober people ever shop there, which they don't. I do almost anything to avoid that place. Alas, I found myself without sesame seeds this afternoon, making a salad that just had to have sesame seeds and it is the closest store to my house.

When we got there, I pleaded with the children to keep close and touch nothing. Our budget requires us to shop at Walmart regularly, which is sufficiently low-brow, but as soon as we exited the van, Kinley remarked "wow... there are a lot of squashed cigarettes on the ground." Again I reminded them to keep close and touch nothing.

After finding the last, dusty canister of sesame seeds in the store, we made our way to the checkout stand. Notice I didn't say "line", because there was none. During the transaction, I was distracted by the wiggle worm clutched to my chest and the indignation of paying $4.99 for 2 tbs of sesame seeds. Kinley and Tanner slipped quickly away to the "glass case." You know which one I'm talking about. The place where you buy things that are kept "behind the counter".

As they were bent over peering intently inside the glass case at some colorful boxes, I broke into a cold sweat. I'm just kept thinking "Oh please, don't be condoms, don't be condoms... I can't handle that today." I heard Tanner say, "Look! It's Otter Pops!" Confusion, more cold sweat. "Please don't be colorful condoms..."

I grabbed my black market sesame seeds and raced over to see what was so fascinating inside the cabinet. Right up front, sharing a shelf with a smiling crowd of stuffed hippos and giraffes, there lay a display of boxes that looked alarming like Otter Pops but were, in fact, home drug testing kits. Yes, ladies and gentlemen. Ecstasy? Meth? Cocaine? Marijuana? If you need to test your loved ones for illegal substances, Allen's has all the testing equipment that you need. And they come in fun, bright colors. Just like Otter Pops.

Man, I'm gonna miss that place...

He Sits

Yes he does. Very briefly, but he is definitely making efforts. It's a little startling for me to see a baby the size of a 3-month-old sitting up by himself. He and Kinley can join the circus together. I'm really proud of him.

My Aspiring Hooker

Once upon a time, I worked at an orthodontist office. The good doctor inspected Kinley's gigantic chompers during a recent visit. While I was distracted catching up with an old co-worker, another friend gifted Kinley with the make-up case of her dreams. Yeeaaahhh.... thanks. a. lot. This is how she emerged from the van when we arrived home. Lovely, no? Me thinks her career as a make up artist may be in jeopardy if this gets out... I've got to remember to get that case out of the van because she keeps emerging from it looking like a sleazy clown...

Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas

I found this yummy recipe at the Sister's Cafe. It's really fantastic; even the kids loved it. *The recipe makes 12 large enchiladas and fills (2) 9 x 13 pans.

Ingredients
1/3 cup honey
4.5 Tbs lime juice
1 Tbs chili powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder

6 cups cooked chicken, shredded
12 flour tortillas, soft taco size
4.5 cups colby and/or monterey jack cheese, shredded
(3) 10 oz. cans green enchilada sauce

Directions
Mix first 4 ingredients together and toss with shredded chicken. Let it "marinate" for at least a half hour. Pour 1/2 can green enchilada sauce on the bottom of each 9x13 pan. Fill flour tortillas with 1/2 cup chicken and 1/4 cup shredded cheese. Roll and put in the pan. Pour one whole can of green enchilada sauce over the top of the enchiladas; then sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. (Put it under the broiler at the end for approx 5 minutes to make the cheese brown and crispy on the top.)

*The recipe makes 12 large enchiladas and fills (2) 9 x 13 pans.

Snicker, Snicker...

I'm sorry. I found this on my friend's blog and I just couldn't resist posting it myself. Hee hee!

Clarification

Because of a something someone said to me, I started to wonder if I was unclear in one of my recent posts. That happens sometimes.

When I said "it took a lot of convincing, but I see the need..." I meant (and have now edited) that it took a lot of convincing from my pediatrician. I didn't convince him that Crew needed more intervention; he strong-armed me.

It just goes against my nature to freak out and interfere with Crew's development when I'm not 100% convinced that he is officially "behind". I know for a fact that he's not very behind and if he was, I would be the first one in line sounding the alarms. I've been more of the attitude that he's gentle and mellow and taking his time. So he's not at the front of the charts for his milestones; so what?

My confidence in diagnoses and prognoses was completely shattered by our NICU experience and so many of the insane, unnecessary interventions they tried to pull off, particularly by our OT at Primary's. I never got around to documenting the insanity with that crazy woman, but she has scarred my opinion of occupational therapy pretty irreparably. I now take all opinions with a gigantic bucket of salt and have major trust issues with those that are supposed to help us. I trust our pediatrician a lot more than anyone else, so I'll listen to him... for now, LOL! :)

My experience in the NICU has probably driven me to the opposite extreme, but I endured so many overreactions and misplaced, conflicting reports during those 94 days that I just have no tolerance for that kind of drama now. When some stranger spies an area of mild, potential concern with Crew, my first inclination is to do an internal eye roll and a silent sigh.

And don't even get me started on "specialists". My Primary's OT was an "eating specialist" that wanted to put Crew under general anesthesia and shove a camera down his trachea to investigate this mysterious "stridor" or "wheezing noise" that he did when he ate. You know, the kind of gentle wheezing/grunting that almost all babies do when they eat? I had to raise unholy hell to put a stop to that one, just in the nick of time. Just one of dozens of frustrating events that still raise my hackles when I think about them.

I'm trying to find the proper balance as we negotiate these waters. I (obviously) won't overreact to Crew's nontraditional development, but I don't want to underreact either. I want him to have exactly what he truly needs and I'm willing to go to the moon to get it, but I simply don't have it within me to hang my fears or my peace on the authority of the Hawaii Early Learning Profile. Let's just see how this plays out before we get our panties into a knot, shall we?

Therapy

Well, we've been doing our physical therapy, as we pinky-promised our pediatrician that we would. After 4 sessions, Crew appears to be thinking about maybe making some small efforts toward sitting up. Basically, he doesn't collapse in half, burying his face in his feet 100% of the time. More like... 85% of the time. It really is helpful to have one of the kids stand over my shoulder to encourage him to look up and try to hold himself up a little. My face apparently isn't exciting enough.

He remains slow to grab at items, but once he gets it into his hot little mitt, he almost always brings it right to his mouth, which is a good thing. I can't be positive, but I wonder sometimes if he favors his right hand/arm. Justin doesn't necessarily think so, but we're watching it and encouraging him to use both hands until such time as it becomes normal and appropriate for him to favor one hand over another.

He rolls onto his side all the time and every once in a while comes close to rolling all the way onto his belly. He manages to flip himself over often enough from his belly to his back.

Messy? Me?