Still Sick...Plus 1

So in case you're wondering why I fell off the wagon again after proclaiming I wouldn't...I'm still sick.  Yep, it's been over a month.  My sick from before was labelled by the doc as "basically influenza minus the body aches" and since I had a flu shot, they didn't test for it.  Whatever.  It was a different doc than I normally see.  She gave me an inhaler and some cough syrup with codeine.  I was sick for about 3 weeks before it started turning into sinus crap.  After 2 days of sinus pain and pressure, I went in and it was indeed now a sinus infection.  Yuck.  I did what I was told and was finally feeling better at almost the 4 week mark.  Then Mikayla came down with strep throat (as did 4 people in 2 of my daycare families, who shared it with her) and a viral croup-type cough at the same time.  I got the croup type thing only 5 days after starting to feel better.  Mikayla is on day 8 of 10 of her antibiotics, and I'm able to breathe again.  Let's hope this is the END!!!  I'm incredibly sick of being sick.

Rain and Bows

Mikayla is still having quite a bit of storm anxiety.  She is especially worried if it gets really windy or rains.  However, I think we've hit a turning point.  All summer since the accident, she's been terrified of storms.  She cries, shakes, goes pale, almost hyper ventilates...it's extremely heart breaking as her parents, for us to not be able to help her and have to see her like that.  We have been teaching her to take deep breaths, snuggle a special blanket or toy (or person), say a prayer asking for help to get through the storm.  It seems to work sometimes, not so much other times.

While camping Labor Day weekend, a quick "storm" blew up on Sunday afternoon.  We were outside and could see the entire cloud, surrounded by sunlight.  It would be here and gone within 10 minutes.  As adults, we knew that.  But we couldn't explain that to Mikayla.  As the first raindrops started to fall, she started crying and ran to the camper.  I was just coming out after preparing dinner and I talked her into sitting under the canopy with everyone else.  She was scared, but she agreed.  We sat there while it rained for about 10 minutes--no wind, no thunder, no lightning.  The whole time, we made a big deal out of how brave she was being and how it was almost over.  Then, the rain stopped and this showed up:

It was perfect!  We could see the entire rainbow, plus the majority of a lighter, double rainbow above it.  Most of us had never seen such a bright rainbow, with colors so vivid we could even make out the purple!  Mikayla was convinced the rainbow was just for her, for being so brave.  We told her that rainbows only come out after the rain, and that there was no other way they could be in the sky.  Only after rain can they shine like that.  It was just what she needed!  Now we hope that the memory remains for the next storm--we haven't had rain in over a week, which for this summer is just a crazy long amount of time.

Call me Gramma

With three daughters, this post is something that surprises me greatly and will probably surprise many of you, as well.  I am just now becoming a Gramma.  Alayna and Lilly never really had a desire for children when they were younger, but Mikayla already has 3--their names are Toni and Brianna (they are twins but about 20 yrs apart and one with blue, one with green eyes) and their baby brother Chip.  Yes, Mikayla is the only one of our girls to really get into playing with dolls.

It probably started about a year ago at my parents' house.  The girls were there overnight and Mikayla needed a toy to snuggle.  Mom brought out my old Cabbage Patch Doll, Toni Roni Macaroni, and it was love.  Since that day, Toni has gone along on several day trips, outings, overnights and playdates, and she's even received birthday and Christmas presents.  Then this fall, Mikayla found a Cabbage Patch Doll that Alayna had received as a toddler that was identical to Toni, but with blue eyes and about 20 yrs newer.  She was buried on the top shelf of Alayna's closet and forgotten (I told you, she and Lilly never got into dolls for more than occasional play)  Well, Brianna soon became Toni's twin sister and together, they went everywhere.  Even more recently, Mikayla has become attached to another Cabbage Patch Doll, this one an itty bitty baby, whom she calls Chip after the little boy/cup in Beauty and the Beast.

The imaginative play she enacts with these dolls is adorable!  I must watch them every now and then so that she can go to work, or on a date with her husband.  Sometimes they just want Gramma, too, and cry for me even when Mommy Mikayla is right there.  And the other day, Mikayla came to me just exhausted and sad because the girls were throwing up all over their clothes and blankets, and she had to tell me she just couldn't make it to my wedding with Daddy.  Then I heard them "puking" while Mikayla shushed and rocked them, telling them they were okay but asking them to please stop puking so she could wash laundry.  She's a pretty good Momma.

Brianna, Mikayla, Chip and Toni

(Mikayla said her husband was at work, so he couldn't get in the picture)

Swim Lessons

Today is Day #2 of swimming lessons for Mikayla and Lilly.  They both are so excited and can't wait.  Since we live in the middle of nowhere, there weren't any lessons within 30 miles that were held in the winter.  After some talk (for several years) there are now finally lessons available at the area motel!  Every Monday the girls go for the next 7 weeks.  I am just as excited as they are.

I'll be sure to get some pics tonight (I missed last week--their first lesson--because of a migraine.  It killed me to not be there!)  I guess Lilly did awesome last week, and Mikayla did very well...as long as she stayed in the pool.  She apparently would do what was asked, then run to make sure my mom (who took them b/c Andy was working) saw everything she did.  We're going to work on that tonight.

Happy Birthday, Mikayla!

Mikayla celebrated her fourth birthday last week. It's so strange to say that she's now 4. When they are still 3, it's easy to pretend that they are still a baby or at the very least, a toddler. But at 4, they seem so much older. There's a certain "aura" about 4 that means the 4-year-old is now big and mature and old.

Mikayla could hardly wait for Christmas because she knew her birthday was right after it. Every day she'd ask, "Is it my birfday yet?!" When it finally was, the first thing she said in the morning was, "Good morning Mommy, aren't you going to say Happy Birfday Mikayla?" She makes us laugh so hard every day!

Happy Birthday, big 4-year-old Mikayla!

*Knock Knock* Hello?!

Is anyone still out there? I know, I know...It's been a long time since I updated. Over a month and a half. Ouch. We have been busy and while that's not an excuse, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

But I've been informed that people have missed our little family. And I've missed blogging. So I'm going to make a bigger effort to keep this thing caught up again. But in doing so, I'm going to do one update post right now, with some pics, and then we'll be off again on the daily what-nots.

So what's been happening since Lilly turned 6? Well, she had her friends over for a friend party. And she was able to officially join 4H as a Cloverbud. Alayna started basketball, which has kept us running at least 3x a week for after school practices and 5 Saturdays in a row for tournaments. We celebrated Halloween, where we dressed up as the 3 Blind Mice, the farmer and the farmer's wife (complete with a cardboard and aluminum foil carving knife) Mid-November brought us our first snowfall of the year--10" worth--and a great day in the snow. The snow is still around and today we are dealing with freezing rain on top of it. I started watching a new little girl for daycare and last week interviewed a new little boy who will start after Thanksgiving. I also found out one of my families has a brother who will need childcare for his son come January--so I feel very blessed to be keeping busy. Andy shot a very nice buck on opening day of deer season, and the head is in my freezer. Yes, I'm told it will get mounted. I can't really fight him much because he lets me do just about anything when it comes to decorating the house...

That's the last month in a nut-shell. Now here are some pics and we'll hopefully see you soon, same place and whatever time is convenient for you.

Alayna zooming by with the ball

Lilly wanted a big brownie instead of cake for her party

Halloween 2010

Snow!

Drama Drama Don't Need a Llama

While I'm still going through pictures and getting things put back in order from our crazy few weeks, I thought you'd all appreciate this story. I did not appreciate it while it was happening just a few moments ago.

Anyone who knows Mikayla, knows that she's quite a spit-fire. We always say that she has every bit of attitude, stubbornness and spunk that Lilly and Alayna didn't get. While the older two girls are usually quite calm and level-headed, even as small children, Mikayla has always been high-maintenance.

Today is one of those hot, nasty, disgusting summer days all sane people hate. The summers here in WI are usually nice and pleasant, but we always get a few days of heat and humidity. Well, today is 90 with dew points in the 70s, or "oppressive" as the weathermen call it. Yummy. My house smells like sweaty kids (you know that smell) and a hint of last night's Chinese take-out. Appetizing, I tell you.

So anyway, the kids are sticky messes and their hair is smashed into their faces. I asked Mikayla if she wanted a pony-tail to help her cool down. She said yes and turned around for me to put it in. I combed her hair and put the pony-tail in, just like she agreed to. Then she Flipped. Out.

"I don't want a pony! I want my hair down!" she wailed while pulling the pony-tail partially out of her hair. I told her that the pony looked pretty and would keep her from getting so hot. Well, that was the wrong thing to say, apparently. She went into full melt-down mode and threw herself onto the floor. Now, remember how I said I've been either super busy or gone for the last 2 weeks, including the last 5 days staying at the county fair? Our floor hasn't been vacuumed since we came home and dumped all of our stuff all over. The crying and sweating child got off the floor with dirt and dog hair stuck all over her face and a ponytail only holding half of her hair. She marched into the bathroom, looked in the mirror and came right back out with a horrified look on her face. I wanted to laugh and cry.

"Mommy," she sobbed, "I sorry I tooked my pony out. Please put it back in so it's pretty!"

I washed up her face, re-combed her hair and put the ponytail back in. Then she went into the bathroom, still hiccuping a little from her fit, and proclaimed herself pretty after gazing into the mirror for 5 minutes. She's now happily playing ponies, with an adorable ponytail sticking out of her head that kind of looks like a horn...interesting.

Look What Mikayla learned!

She doesn't have the legs down yet, but she gets the job done with her arms! She'll be our little body-builder if she keeps it up and soon pass Daddy up in the guns (bicep) department! Mikayla is so happy to be able to swing on her own, and we are so happy to not have to push her constantly.

Baby Bellies

One of Mikayla's good friends is expecting a baby brother in a few weeks. Mikayla has always been a big lover of babies--both real and plastic--but I think she's finally old enough to realize that the baby is actually in the big belly. When one of my best friends had a baby in November, I don't think it was all put together. But now, being 7 months older, she's made the connection.

At story time the other day, she was asking her friend's mom all about her tummy and the baby. She came home and pretended she had a baby in her belly. Lilly also had a baby in her belly, according to Mikayla. And the other day she mentioned to Gramma that she was in Daddy's belly when he was a Mommy...think about that one for awhile.

So yesterday after nap time, Mikayla was snuggling with me until she was fully awake. She sat up and looked at me for a long time, then asked, "Mommy, do you have 2 babies in your tummy?"

Now I'll be honest, I was a little offended. I know she didn't mean it like it sounded, but as a woman you automatically think she's calling you fat. And I'm not, but I was beginning to wonder if I'd let myself slip and not realized it. "No, Mommy is not having any babies. Why?"

She got a funny, confused look on her face. "But you have 2 big bellies!"

When I followed her gaze, I realized where she was looking. "No honey, those aren't part of my tummy. My tummy is under them...."

Singing in the Spring

Alayna's spring program was this past week. The kids all sang various songs that represented spring or other countries. It was a very cute program, from the little Kindergartners up to the 4th graders who were almost too cool for what they had to do. Alayna was part of an international choir, that sang a song called "Go For the Gold" during the school's closing ceremonies for the Olympics. She also had a narration part before the first grade sang, then sang 2 songs with her third grade class. She did a great job with her singing, but especially her reading. She read loud and clear, which some of the other students did not. She has such poise. She's in the picture below, pretty much center.

In other concert news, Mikayla almost stole the show from all the kids performing. It started before we were even in the school. We were walking up to the door, with two little old ladies in front of us. Mikayla heard a little scream and immediately asked what that noise was. I told her I didn't know and she goes, "I fink it was a child, or a kid!" The ladies started laughing and had to turn around to see who made such an observation! Then during the program, one of the Special Education students was making some throat noises. Mikayla heard the noise and again, asked what it was. When I said it was just someone making a noise, she piped up with, "I fink there's a sheep in here!" (and she's right, it sounded like a sheep baa'ing) Then the student made the noise again and Mikayla commented, "Or maybe it's a coyote...or fox!" All the people around us were laughing, as Mikayla is ever so quiet. A few minutes went by without incident, then a baby started crying. Almost as loud as her "only talking, not yet yelling" voice can go, she proclaimed, "Someone's crabby!" Ah, always fun with that little girl.

Mikayla's Big Weekend

On Saturday, my mom, the girls and I went shopping for Easter dresses. We headed to a mall and found perfect dresses. Then we decided it was time for a certain 3-year-old to get her ears pierced.

She's been wanting them done forever, so she could be just like her big sisters. We used it as motivation to help her quit sucking her thumb. Her poor thumb was so cracked and wrinkly all the time, not to mention the simple irritation on our part to see that thumb constantly in her mouth. So we told her she could get earrings when she stopped sucking her thumb. Well, it took a few months (this was at her birthday in December) She'd find herself with her thumb in her mouth, take it out and tell herself "No!" Or we'd catch her and simply say earrings, and that thumb would fly out of her mouth. So finally, we decided this weekend was it. She could get the beloved earrings. She cried, saying the "snipper" hurt when it put in her pretties, but that was quickly forgotten with a sticker, a sucker, and a look at herself in the mirror. Then all was good. And so far, she's been good about letting me clean them, as well!

Yesterday (Sunday) was an absolutely gorgeous day. Not only was it sunny and dry for the first time in over a week, but it was 62 degrees!! We broke a record high for the date. Obviously, as soon as we got home from church we hunkered down in the house. Or not. Maybe we spent the entire afternoon outside playing basketball, riding bike, swinging and sliding on the play sets, picking up a winter's worth of dog crap from the yard...all those fun things you do on the first real nice day of the year.

Mikayla had another milestone yesterday--she figured out how to pedal her tricycle! She was really close at the end of last year, but she just couldn't get things going and figured out on her own. This year, she didn't even try. She just got on, pedaled and went sailing across the driveway. She stopped and yelled, "I did it! I rided my bike myself!!" Then she had to show everyone she could pedal like a big girl and even went so far as to say it was because of her earrings.


After spending some time on the driveway, we headed to the backyard. Mikayla hopped on the PowerWheels Gator and decided to go for a drive. She worked on her steering and I think she's finally getting the hang of it! Then she wanted to go for a horsey ride, so we did that, too. See?

Now don't get me wrong, the other girls were about, too. Lilly was steadily practicing with her bike, trying to get the hang of no training wheels. She didn't master it yesterday, but she's getting closer. She's set herself a goal of no training wheels or help by summertime. It's so cute to see her lose her balance and catch herself, straighten her shoulders and say, "Let's try again." I have no doubt she'll be riding along in no time! Alayna was zooming around on her bike, sometimes trying to show Lilly what to do and other times just riding past her. She also helped Daddy move some things around with the aid of the lawn-mower, expertly driving and pulling downed trees and brush into the burn pile. All in all, it was a great weekend!

New Ride

For the girls' Christmas when they were 3 (or were about to turn 3), Andy's parents have bought them each a PowerWheels. Alayna got a 2-passenger Gator like the one on their farm, and Lilly got a lawn-mower like our big mowers we go camping with. This year was Mikayla's 3-year-old Christmas (technically it wasn't, but she turned 3 only days after) so it was her turn. They bought her a Ford truck that will hold 2 people and has a small box in the back to carry her heavy loads. With the driveway almost clear of snow and ice, we were finally able to take it out for her first test drive! She was so excited!

Daddy's first time rescuing her from being stuck

Lilly had to help her steer a couple of times

Lilly gets a try at driving the truck

I'm sure it won't be long and Mikayla will be a pro at driving the truck all over the place. Then we'll have a real caravan through our trails of Alayna's lawn-mower (she's outgrown her Gator and has her own lawn-mower now--minus the deck of course) Lilly's PowerWheels Mower and Mikayla's truck.

Down by the Bay

Here are the musical stylings of Miss Mikayla. She'll be signing autographs when she learns how to write her name...

I posted earlier today, too, a big update...

Can it Be? Mikayla's Three!

I know I still need to do the whole "Look at what a wonderful Christmas we had" post. And I will do that, I promise. I also promise that it was a truly wonderful Christmas. But as Mikayla said on Sunday when someone asked whose birthday was coming up, "Baby Jesus's birfday need to be aaaallllllll done, then it's my 3!" Well, Baby Jesus's birthday is all done so that must mean that Mikayla is, indeed, 3.



Oh Mikayla, what to say about you? From the first time I felt you move, I knew you were the mover and shaker of the siblings. We didn't know if you were a boy or a girl, but we knew that you were going to be a handful--and a lot of fun. You were constantly kicking and punching and rolling around. You birth was quick and no non-sense. As a baby, you made sure no one forgot about you while you took in everything. And that is still true today. You seldom sit still, you have tons of energy, you have an imagination that's unbelievable and you say words bigger than yourself (like humongous, horrible and ridiculous) You also throw more fits than your sisters combined, you have the unfortunate grace (or lack) of your mother, and you have to try everything at least once, just like your father. We couldn't love you anymore than we do. Life would sure be boring without you around!

**As I was writing this, Mikayla came up to me and said, "Mommy, yookit--I 3 and I rockin' the beer gut! Aren't I a little stinker?" (Rockin' the Beer Gut is a country song...)

Happy 3, Mikayla!

First family pic with 5 before leaving the hospital

5 months old

Yee-Haw (about 13 months)

Somewhere in the early 2's

Christmas Eve, 5 days before 3!

This Kid keeps me on my toes

Mikayla is such a riot and every day, she makes me and others laugh. She's always got a funny story to tell, says something hysterical or does some random dance or movement that is just too cute. This age is such fun!

Friday morning we were listening to Christmas music. "Gramma Got Run Over by a Reindeer" was playing and after Mikayla stopped laughing hysterically, she had to call her Gramma's to let them know that they were run over. When we pulled into my mom's driveway Sunday afternoon, Mikayla looks around and goes, "Nope, no reindeer!"

Sunday afternoon, Alayna and Lilly were having some issues with getting along. I was asking them to be nice to one another and prompted them with, "Remember the rule?" I was referring to The Golden Rule but Mikayla pipes up with, "No singing or dancing at the table?!" Well, that's a good one to remember too.

Sunday evening we were getting dinner ready and the girls were playing dress up. Mikayla comes upstairs with her Packers sweatshirt on, a pink sheer fairy skirt, one purple and one pink dress-up shoe, and a green and purple elastic headband from when she was probably 18 months old--on 80's sweatband style. She walked to a few feet from the oven, where she could see herself in the door, got in a perfect sumo wrestling squat and proceeded to do fake karate punches complete with "Hi-ya's!" I'm talking continuous punch-punch-punch-punch with no breaks in between. Then she calmly walked away like nothing happened. I think I peed myself.

I posted earlier today, too!

The Young One

I have one older sister, and that's it. Even though are only the two of us siblings, that doesn't mean we didn't have the same sibling squabbles (say that 5x fast!) or the same feelings of unfairness and injustice over something the other one got to do. I distinctly remember wanting to get chicken pox because my sister had them and got to stay with Gramma during the day, watching movies, eating ice cream and having fun. Of course, I didn't understand that they itched and hurt and all that. I was thrilled to have the pox show up a few days later, anxious for my own special time with Gramma like my sister.

In my home right now, there are 3 siblings, all sisters. I see how upset Alayna gets at times, being the oldest and therefore the one we expect the most out of because of her maturity. I see how upset Lilly sometimes gets because she can't do fun things that Alayna gets to do because she's not old enough, but she doesn't get away with certain things like Mikayla might. And I see how upset Mikayla gets, always being the baby, always trying to play catch up to the big girls.

This morning as I was getting Alayna ready for 3rd grade and Lilly ready for 4K, Mikayla woke up and announced that she was going to school. When I told her she can't go to school with the girls, she responded, "But I'm taller! I big now." Oh honey, if only it were that easy. Then as we watched the girls climb onto the bus, Mikayla proudly told me that she's going to school tomorrow. "I read my books and play outside." When I told her they do much more than that at school, she responded with, "They jump with their friends? I can jump, so I go to school!"

I can relate to that, being the younger sister. I remember my sister having her first sleep-over at our house, or at another friend's house. I remember her playing sports and me watching from the sidelines. I remember my sister and her best friend making me play all the "undesirable" characters when we played because I was littlest. I remember her driving and me sitting next to her, envious. But I also remember getting away with things that she didn't, simply because I was younger and "didn't know any better". And I remember feeling more confident in several ways because I had already watched my sister go through sports, or drivers' training, or whatever. She was my inside information, from watching her all those years.

So I understand when Mikayla wants to be like the big girls. I get it. But as Mom, I want to slow her down and make her be my little girl as long as possible. I know how fast it goes. I've been there with her two older sisters. She wants things to speed up and I want them to slow down. But instead, I play along and pretend that we have a schoolroom in the kitchen. We read books and play games, and our school is much better than real school. But she knows. She knows it's not the same. And she still wakes each day, hoping she's now tall enough to go to school like the big girls.

What's Up?

I am almost a master when it comes to funny facial expressions. Besides my naturally funny-looking face, I can do some pretty weird stuff with my features. I can cross my eyes like no one I know--even moving them and making them dance while crossed, I can wiggle my nostrils, wiggle my ears, raise only one eyebrow and wiggle that...My girls have all tried to mimic me and my mastery, and they continue to try. BUT, last night I noticed that one of them mastered one of my skills and it's just too cute not to share:

*I posted another Mikayla funny below, so check that out, too! And in the above video, please disregard the basket of laundry waiting to be folded...I've been busy.

You says Me

We have the Leap Frog Fridge Phonics for the girls.  Mikayla loves playing with it and plugging in the various letter magnets.  The base recognizes what letter is in the window and will sing a little song about that letter.  The song gets stuck in my head for hours on end...

"P says 'puh', P says 'puh'.  Every letter makes a sound.  P says 'puh'."  When a letter has two sounds, like A, it does both.  "A says 'ah' and A says 'aye'.  Every letter makes a sound.  A says 'ah' and 'aye'."

The other day, my mom and I were sitting in the kitchen and Mikayla was playing with the Fridge Phonics on the floor.  "U says 'uh' and U says 'you'..."  Mikayla gasped and said, "Mommy!  U says ME!"

Bragging Rights

Alright Grammas to my kids, is this your reason to brag?

How about this one?

OKay, maybe it's this one.

What's up with toys these days?

Lately, we've been having some pretty naughty toys.  I don't know what they have to act out against, honestly.  They have nice cozy homes in the toy box, bins or shelves; they have tons of other toys to play with; the kids are generally nice to them; and the dogs leave them alone, for the most part.  Sounds like a pretty good life for a toy, right? 

So why are they acting out?!  The other day, Diego got all lippy and said something was "stupid."  Well, stupid is a word that we don't use in our home, and he knows it.  He was tattled on by Mikayla and promptly put in the corner for time-out.  Then only minutes later, his sister Alicia said the same naughty word, was tattled on by Mikayla, and also put into time-out.  Those siblings are trouble, I tell you.  Not only that, but apparently they've been saying those naughty words to the other toys and continuing to spread their mischief.  Mikayla just came up to me with a CareBear--a CareBear of all things, who are supposed to be kind and caring--and told me he called her stupid.  What am I going to do with all these rule-breakers?

I took the CareBear, and Mikayla, in my lap and reiterated that stupid is not a good word to say and we don't use it in our home.  Then I told Mikayla that her toys needed to stop saying it as well.  She was incensed that I was talking to her about it.  "Mommy, my no say it!  The CareBear did!"  Clever, but I wasn't born yesterday.  The funny thing is, the CareBear never did say it.  Not in it's beary voice or Mikayla's, I was within earshot the whole time.  She's obviously just trying out limits to see what will happen when she/someone says something that's "naughty."  This littlest princess of ours has always kept us on our toes.