More Sugar Than Spice

Wait It Out

Just a quick post before I go crawl into bed next to Monkey for a long, and hopefully uneventful night

We are currently in day four of the hostage situation.  Monkey has consistently had 102 degree fever since Saturday, with the ever-loving 104 degree spike at 3am.  After a drive to the emergency room, only to turn around due to a break in the fever, a trip to the doctor, only to find out it’s not strep, and a middle of the night puking we are in the same situation we were 86 hours ago: No change, very little patience, and a lot of unanswered questions.

As I’ve mentioned before, Monkey hasn’t gotten sick since she had tubes put in her ears almost two years ago.  Sure we’ve had the occasional cough for a day, a runny nose here and there, but certainly no dragging on forever, unexplainable fever.

Totally Clueless

Yesterday, Monkey started her new swim lesson at the Castle Rock Recreation Center.  She has loved the lessons, but I was thinking this might be her last one there, as the group lessons can be short and I think she would thrive with a little more one-on-one learning.

Monkey struggled a little in her lesson yesterday, and was shivering the entire time.  Honestly, I was surprised since I normally have to drag her out of the pool - not into it.

As we were getting ready to leave, we stopped to shower since we were meeting family for a charity lunch.  One of the showers wasn’t working, so we were waiting in line with a couple of other families. Finally it was to be our turn. A woman came out of a dressing room with her kids and led them right into the shower.  Travis and I looked at each other in disbelief.  In the last couple of weeks I have had a few people totally disregard the world around them, but it still catches me off guard each time.

The Haves and Have-Nots

The lists have begun. I have things to finish in Monkeys room before I allow myself to make purchases for Caterpillar. BUT, that hasn’t stopped me from figuring out exactly what I want so when the time comes all I need is my car keys, my list and my wallet.

As I am pondering all of these choices, I realized we made some purchases with Monkey that were a complete waste. We made some that were not a total loss, but have been passed along because they weren’t a good fit for us, and some that Caterpillar will get to use for years to come. Here’s the skinny:

DIDN’T MAKE THE CUT

1. The Diaper Genie Twistaway. This item is hard to use due to all of the twisting required, and does not guard odors. Additionally, you have to buy their bags. What a waste of money. I did see they have new and improved version, but we haven’t tried it. We replaced this with a Diaper Champ before Monkey was able to say “What stinks?”, and we never looked back.
2. Winnie the Pooh Bedding: We purchased the whole set thinking it would last well beyond Monkey since it had blues, greens, yellows and pinks. When Monkey was about two months old I realized if I never saw Winnie the Pooh again, it would be too soon. I suppose what they say is right - everything in moderation.
3. The Ticking Timebomb Clock: Again, Winnie the Pooh… However, the most annoying thing was the tick-tock we listened to for hours on end while rocking and feeding Monkey. This time around we will be going digital just to be on the safe side.
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Bamerina

We had our big ultrasound yesterday and as it turns out, as always, God is challenging me… with a boy. I am so nervous because I still don’t have Monkey figured out, and we are both made of sugar and spice. I am praying the addition of snails and tails does not make for a recipe of disaster.

The good news is I think Monkey will be slightly less jealous of Mouse because in addition to his extra body parts, his room, toys, etc. will be different from hers. Although, that being said, one thing I adore about Monkey is the fact she is not the typical anything. She has been blessed with a heart of God and is His princess, but she has no hesitation about pulling up her dress in order to get closer to the bugs and spiders in our yard. She already has the spirit and stubbornness of her mama, and the grace and forgiveness of her daddy. She’s funny and silly, but when she snuggles in and “cootchies” the connection is serious and unforgettable. She’s these things and more, and she’s only three. I can’t wait to see her take on the new challenge of big sister.

Judgment

Travis and I came home tired after serving in church yesterday, but we were excited to have my in-laws over for the afternoon and dinner.  They had gone to the church service and we were talking about the message (which I didn’t see) and the subject of judgment came up.

This has been on my heart lately, because after writing my review of Aspen Grove Salon, I have received the nastiest emails and responses.  Very few had to do with the salon, and most attacked me personally, casting judgment on my family and my choice to stay home with my daughter.  Many of them I couldn’t even post because they were a complete disruption in the blog and the review process. Almost all of them were intended to be hurtful.

I have been called some overused terms like ’soccer mom’ and some not so overused terms that I choose not to repeat.  I sit back and wonder why a woman would try so hard to tear down another woman? But more importantly: when did staying home to raise a family become a bad thing?

Swimmin’ Wit Da Fishes

Monkey competed her swim lessons last week and we left with a certificate in hand and a feeling of accomplishment.  Granted, all the kids in her class passed, but I can still be a proud mama, right?

I didn’t really see a huge improvement in her swimming with this class, but she did learn the different arm positions, worked on floating with assistance on her front and back and even held her breath to go under water.  Here is a great picture of her getting ready to dunk her face in.  As you can see, she has no fear - which only increases my fear…

We start again next week and the focus will be doing much of the same, but unassisted.  I am really looking forward to her being able to go under without much prep (ie. hold your breath, now… one…. two…three) so when we go to the pool, mom doesn’t have to be an arms length away at all times.  That was fun when she was smaller, but now she has friends to go exploring with and mom is just in her way. Talk about feeling like a tag along!

She loves the water, and has so much fun in it.  In fact, leaving the pool has become very challenging and usually involves a bribe of some sort…. or a threat.  Depending on my mood.  Here she is laughing with her friends who were in her class this time, and I believe are going to be in the up coming class as well.

Just like her teacher said on her report card, we all hope she keeps on swimming!

Out Of Room

My girlfriend and I have a pact. We are both pregnant (she’s due at the end of the month) and we have agreed that when she goes to the hospital I will keep her son, and while I am pushing a watermelon out of my haunches, she will take care of Monkey. Last night she was having some complications and the doctor wanted to have her come in for follow up.

Her son came over with his hospital bags packed and was looking forward to a night of popcorn (with M&M’s of course) and a late night movie. The kids played in the toy room for a while, then came down to settle in. They were about 20 minutes into the movie when mom called. False alarm. The baby is out of room, but not ready to make any moves yet. She will be back for her angel in 30 minutes.

Wall-E xceptional

We took Monkey and her cousins to see Wall-E on opening day, and I don’t know who was more excited - Daddy or the kids.

The first 30 mins had no - I mean NO - dialog … yet even Monkey felt sorry for the robot when sad things happened to him.  That is amazing animation and character development.

It was Monkeys first movie in the theater since Happy Feet, since she couldn’t really sit still for the entire movie at that time.  We have stuck to the drive thru movies since then, but since they closed the closest one last year, we thought we would give it another shot.

She did great.  She ate popcorn and candy, and even let us know when she had to potty.  After a long and exhausting week, it was just what we needed.   At the discounted rates that Kerasotes offers during their “twilight hours” we were able to pile in the car and get in and out for less than $50, including five tickets, popcorn and drinks for all.

In summary, two thumbs up from this mommy - and check out your local theaters… there may be more discounts than you realize.  If not, this movie is worth the full price.

Get In The Zone

Today after VBS we all piled in the car and headed to Brunswick Zone, which is basically a bowling alley on crack.  They have about 50 lanes of bowling, laser tag, pool tables and an arcade.  I thought this would be a good idea because Monkey has never been bowling, and I had a coupon, so it was actually a reasonable price for an afternoon of entertainment.

We invited our friends Chris and Asher to get the most bang for our buck.  I also thought Monkey could use some friend time, and I knew I could.  As we pulled into the parking lot, both Monkey and Asher looked as though they would be content sleeping the car for the duration of the afternoon. I know Chris and I felt the same way.  However, Monkeys cousins, Jacob and Maddie, were clawing at the car doors to get out.  They hadn’t been able to visit BZ for a while, so they were stoked.  After the chaos of changing shoes and getting our names in the computer, I thought I would have a minute to sit and chat with Chris.  WRONG.

Unprepared

Yesterday was the start of Vacation Bible School and I have to say, they really should rename this organized chaos. I thought I was ready. I had prepped the crafts for my classes, read through the instructions a thousand times, and I had even woken up early to go through every thing in my head, just to make sure it was perfectly prepared.

Turns out the only thing that wasn’t perfectly prepared, was me. I was tired, my shoes were not as comfortable as I had hoped, and I really had no idea that hair gel would be so impossible to squeeze into a plastic test tube - especially with fifteen sets of eyes watching my every move.

My crafts ran about two minutes late all day long, and my room looked like a something had exploded. As I crawled around on my hands and knees picking up plastic bags and stickers at the end of the day, I realized I had not prepared for the unexpected. I had not prepared for the kids scissors to be pretty much useless and I had not prepared for the reaction from Monkey when her cousins came home with a craft and she had nothing.