Christmas Activities

I have been awful about blogging lately. I have been blogging... but not nearly enough pictures... and not nearly enough about our special activities. So I'm going to attempt to play catch up. It will take a while... a few posts here and there... but... better late than never. :)

Here are some more pictures from our Christmas activities... and a few things that the boys were doing right around the Holidays. Months ago I blogged about some of our Christmas activities... but I never finished.

*Brandon started practicing with a sippy cup! Just water in the cup at this point. He took to the sippy cup pretty quickly, and got the hang of tipping it up far enough to drink out of it almost right away. Now when he drinks from the cup and the liquid in it is getting low -- he's pretty funny with it. He tips his head all the way back, and we say "bottoms up!" -- because that's what he looks like when he's drinking from it!

*Cody had to buy a new thing of deoderant and had left it sitting on the kitchen counter. Cody and I walked into the kitchen one night, and caught Jaden trying to put it on! "Just like Daddy!" he said. ;)

*Jaden helped me make a gingerbread house one night. I had never done one before... and have to admit I don't have the patience for it! I got really tired of slowly seeing to every little piece of candy and every last detail. I eventually let Jaden take over all by himself, and he had a blast with it!

*As you can see -- he also enjoyed some eating as he was making it, too. ;)

*Jaden helped me make a birthday cake for Jesus! Then on Christmas Eve we had my parents over to our house after church, and we all enjoyed some of Jesus' birthday cake. We then left a piece of the cake for Santa to eat that night... Jaden understood that Santa was coming to our house and bringing presents because Santa celebrates Jesus' birthday, too!

*On Christmas day we opened presents at our house in the morning... then went to do presents with my parents... and then went to Aplington on Christmas night. Brandon loves little Coco!

*Cody's parents got Ella aand Jaden tents! The kids enjoyed getting them out and playing in them. Of course, Jaden's is a giant football!

*Sitting in Ella's pink tent. :)

*Cousins on Christmas... playing with Ella's guitar!

*Cody... enjoying some wine... some laughs... and some good ol' Christmas cheer. ;)

*Jaden with a gift from Mommy and Daddy. A car garage that makes noises and everything! He loves watching the cars race down the different ramps.


...Almost three months later, Jaden still asks me sometimes -- "Where's the Christmas tree??" Such a special time of year, and we loved it with our TWO little boys!

Brandon's One-Year Stats

Brandon weighed in at 21 1/2 pounds yesterday. He is 29 inches tall. Both height and weight continue to measure in the 25th percentile... while his head circumfrance remains in the 75th percentile. My boys got some brains in there. :) He did really well at his appointment. His ears continue to have fluid in them -- just reinforcing the fact that we made the right decision to get his tubes put in on Friday. The doctor got to see him climb, take a couple of steps and say "uh oh." He had to receive three shots... which he cried for initially but stopped as soon as I picked him up. Then he had to get his finger pricked so they could test his blood for lead and to make sure he's not anemic. He did not cry when they pricked his finger... at all. He just got impatient that he had to sit still long enough for the lab tech to collect enough blood! Last night he went home and surprised us by drinking over half a sippy cup full of milk -- he wanted nothing to do with milk until last night. He now has so many teeth I have lost count. I know there's at least 14 in there... with number 13 and 14 trying to break through as we speak. There may be more I don't even know about. He was a little fussy this morning - we could tell his shots bothered him a bit because whenever we had to touch his legs to change his diaper or get him dressed he wimpered. He didn't want to crawl around this morning - just wanted to be held. I think the combination of the shots and the fact that he does have two more teeth very close to popping through have made for a less than perfect day for our little guy. I just keep reminding myself how awesome it is that he will be done with teething so soon and we won't have to worry about it anymore.

We ask for your prayers for the remainder of the week. Friday we head to Iowa City for his tubes and minor neck surgery. Again -- if you haven't been following our blog -- he has to have a little "cyst" cut off of his neck. They will have to put him under so we pray that everything goes well... and that he doesn't put up too much of a fuss when we have to force him to keep from eating for six hours leading up to the surgery. Cody and I are very anxious to get this done! Hopefully no more ear infection problems after this. Hopefully we'll be getting more sleep in the near future, as well. There has been zero consistency in that department the last few months. A great night of sleep could be followed by a very rough night -- with all of the ear infections, teeth, colds, etc.

I just held a co-workers four month old baby girl in my office. She is perfectly cute, petite and wouldn't stop giving me the biggest smiles. I loved holding such a tiny little piece of pink perfection. BUT... I am also happy that I got to hand her off to her daddy. ;) So don't worry, Cody. I didn't get any ideas. :)

Pee-pee in the Po-TTY!!

"Mama, I peed on the potty all by myself!!"... says Jaden when I get home from work on Monday. Not only did he pee on the potty all by himself (which up until then only happened maybe once a week) -- but he went the WHOLE day with a dry diaper. Meaning... he left home in the morning with a diaper on... and came home that evening wearing THE SAME diaper??!

And folks, I'm proud to say, the trend... continues!! My three year old stinker of a son has finally decided he wants to wear that cute little Thomas the Train and Mickey Mouse underwear that has been stashed in the top drawer of his dresser for months now. And it gets better each day. What started out as an accomplishment just by putting him on the potty every single hour throughout the day... has turned into him actually saying these awesome words -- "I have to go potty!" And I even questioned it once. Five or six nights out of seven he wakes up in the morning completely dry -- and we have been used to him peeing three buckets full about 15 minutes after waking up. But the other morning he had an incredibly wet diaper when he woke up -- so when he told me as he was getting out of bed that he had to go potty, I replied -- "Are you sure??? Your diaper is very wet." I had assumed he had already done his morning peeing... in his diaper. But he insisted that even though his diaper was wet as could be -- he had more coming. So... off came the soggy diaper and to the potty went my son. Sure enough --- he DID still have to potty some more!

He has now told me a couple of times... "I want to wear my underwear!" Well, we are not quite to that point yet. He still had one afternoon this week where he peed and pooed in his diaper during his nap. And I'm still not sure what he's going to do when we're out and about or when he's heavily involved in playing and decides he doesn't want to take a time out to go to the potty. But we're making incredible progress. Incredible. Like over night a switch was flipped. Like all of the sudden he's finally associating the feeling of pottying with the actual action of pottying. And I'm so stinkin proud of him. And he's pretty excited because he knows this means he does get to go to preschool this fall. :) I'm also excited that he will be really good at it by this summer... so he won't have to wear those incredibly uncomfortable "swimmers" diapers when he gets in the pool!

Brandon's Birth Story and More

Starting from the very beginning...
It was near the end of June of 2009, and Cody and I were getting ready for a night out - a pool party with some of his coworkers and then a big summer bash at the house of one of his best friends. We knew there was a possibility I could be pregnant so Cody wanted me to take a pregnancy test before we went out... just so it wouldn't be on my mind. Even though we knew it was possible I was pregnant... I really didn't think I could be since we had literally just decided a couple weeks earlier that we were ready to give it a shot for baby #2. Took the pregnancy test - it came back negative - that was that... Until six days later. I started to really think I was pregnant and that maybe we had taken the test too soon the first time. So during my lunch break I went to Wallgreens, grabbed another test, went back to work and took the test in the bathroom stall all by myself :) I called Cody to ask if I should wait until that night when we were both home, but he told me to just take it. I remember sitting there in the stall with my back to the test waiting the long three minutes -- forcing myself not to look until the three minutes were up! When I saw the beautiful two pink lines, I had to try really hard not to scream -- I didn't want to actually scream out loud because that might have sounded funny to people walking by outside of the bathroom ;) I immediately called Cody... who DIDN'T answer his phone the first time!! So I called him back right away again. It was really good news and a bright spot in a week thad had been very difficult because it also was the week that Coach Ed Thomas was shot and killed.

So... that night we called the family over to our house for supper. After work I picked up pink and blue streamers and decorated the door to the third bedroom of our house -- that was empty at the time. I then put a big sign saying "March, 2010" on the door underneath the streamers because I had calculated that to be my due date. And that's how the grandparents were told... walking by the then-empty bedroom and seeing the pink and blue streamers with baby's due date posted to the door ;)

If I hadn't taken the pregnancy test that day, I wouldn't have had to at all because just a few days later the symptoms kicked in. And they were awful. I had morning sickness with Jaden but never to the point of not being able to think about food - not being able to function. With Brandon, from week five to about week eight/nine I felt awful. The only thing that I could even think about eating - for some strange reason - was spaghetti-o's. Not very nutrious but at that time all I was concerned about was getting some kind of food in my belly. For two weekends in a row I didn't leave the recliner. Cody took care of Jaden and I sat there barely moving. Cody would try and make me food every once in a while - mostly toast - but by the third week of that, I called my doctor. I said - "I can't look at food, I can't think about food, I can't eat food, I can't talk about food, I can't smell food. At all." She thought it best to give me some anti-nausea medicine that was approved for pregnancy but warned me that the major side effect would be extreme fatigue. She wasn't kidding. I was to take three pills a day -- and they seriously worked. My stomach felt so much better, and I was actually able to eat again. But I couldn't stay awake at work. So after a week of that, I stopped taking them - and luckily my nausea didn't come back.

I remember the first time I felt little Brandon kick. I was standing up at work in one of the labs where the practitioners work, and I felt the flutter. If it hadn't been my second pregnancy, I might not have thought anything of it -- but since I'd been through all of this before, I knew instantly what it was. And once he started moving... he never stopped. Never. It's so funny that his personality in my tummy is exactly what his personality is out of my tummy. From the minute he was born, he was a mover. He rolled over early, and once he learned to roll over, he was never happy just lying on his back. Once he learned how to kick Mommy in the ribs, he never stopped kicking me in the ribs :) He doesn't like to lay still for diaper changes, and in my tummy he didn't like to sit still to let me just breathe a little. I carried Jaden high, and I carried Brandon high. Even before I got big, I had trouble breathing because he was pressed into my lungs right away. And after not having much back pain with Jaden at all, I had serious back pain with Brandon. Sitting at my desk every day became a major major struggle. No matter what I did - I could not get comfortable. And -- just like with Jaden, I got very big with Brandon. I remember Jaden coming up to me at one point and telling me I had a big ball in my tummy. Cody called me his little bowling pin. Gotta love the men in my life ;) I remember when we found out Brandon was a boy. The ultrasound tech was getting ready to tell us, but Cody and I both knew before she even said anything. It was that obvious when the picture came up on the monitor. ;)

The final month of the pregnancy was long. At 36 weeks when they expect the baby to be in the head-down position, Brandon decided he wanted to be a stinker. :) I remember my 36 week appointment, the doctor seemed a little concerned and had us go into the ultrasound room for an unscheduled peak at Baby. She then told us he was not head down, and that it would be dangerous to my placenta for her to try and turn him. She hoped he would turn on his own and that if he hadn't by the following week, we would schedule a c-section. A week later - he was head down, and we were prepared for what was supposed to be a normal delivery. Just like with Jaden I had almost zero contractions leading up to my due date. So the week before d-day my doctor decided to schedule me to be induced. This was after seeing on the ultrasound what she believed was going to be a baby of at least nine pounds. Her fear was that if we waited for it to happen naturally, he would be too big for me to get him out of me naturally. I was fine and excited with being induced. I was just ready to meet our little guy! Who at the time... was still without a name. ;)

*This picture was the morning we left for the hospital!*
I remember leaving our house the morning of Brandon's birth and saying goodbye to Jaden. I started crying... realizing it would be my very last moments with Jaden - just one-on-one - me and him - before there was another little person in our lives. We got to the hospital around 7:00 a.m., and they hooked me up to monitors, etc. I was not having any contractions and they wanted to wait for the doctor to get there before they started the medicine that would induce labor... so we hung out in the hospital room for almost two hours without any action at all. A little before 9:00 a.m. Dr. Moussa came in to check me. We were pleased to hear that I was 3 cm dilated. No - that's not a lot - but considering the week before I wasn't really dilated at all... 3 cm sounded okay to me. She then went to break my water, and that's when things got crazy. After breaking my water, she couldn't feel baby's head - but felt what she thought to be his shoulder. So they did an ultrasound and then told me that he had turned sideways again. She spent just a quick minute or two contemplating trying to physically turn him with her hand... but Brandon's heart rate went up really high really quickly so she determined almost immediately that it would be safer for me and for Brandon to do the c-section right away. At that point my water had been broken, and I was starting to experience very intense back contractions. My back labor was right in the spot that my back had hurt throughout the entire pregnancy. And they were much more intense than anything I had felt with Jaden. I remember a lot of nurses and doctors coming in and out of my room prepping me for surgery, and I was pretty frightened. I do not handle blood well - I am very squeemish - and the thought of being awake for my own surgery scared me quite a bit. They wheeled me into the surgery room, and made Cody wait outside while they tried to get the epidural into me. This didn't go well. I had to sit on the edge of the table hunched over with my back and neck rounded - during intense back labor - and after sticking me the first time, he wasn't able to get the needle in right. I actually was able to start feeling the needle going into my spin. After me saying a very quick, "Ouch!!" -- the doctor pulled the needle out and said he would have to start over. Great. (Why they wouldn't let Cody be with me at this point, I still don't understand!) Once he finally got the needle and the medicine in, I felt instant relief and they laid me down on the table. They were putting the curtain up over me so I wouldn't see anything, and at this point I said, "Where's my husband??" I don't know why this was such a funny question to them - maybe it was the way I said it or the tone in my voice -- but the nurses all laughed and one of them said, "Well, that's a very good question. Don't worry - we're getting him for you." Cody came in at that point and sat down by my head. I remember the anesthesiologist saying to me, "Nicole, you need to breathe. The baby needs you to keep breathing." Out of nerves, I must have been holding my breath without realizing it! So he put little tubes in my nose to assist with my breathing. Then... Dr. Moussa said to me, "Nicole, I'm going to pinch your tummy very very hard. Let me know if feel anything." I remember thinking -- "you're going to PINCH me and that is how you're going to test whether or not I'll feel you slicing me open??!" (I really really was not happy to be on a surgical table). ;) But I told her I couldn't feel it and next think I heard was, "okay... scalpel please!" And that was it. There I was lying awake - breathing tubes in my nose - tummy being cut open - medical students staring at me - with a nurse walking around with my personal camera taking pictures of everything. Not exactly the peaceful birth process you dream about. ;)

On top of everything going on, Brandon's birth day was the day that the verdict was supposed to be decided on for the young man that killed Coach Thomas. Cody and I had discussed it and had told our family that no matter what the decision was -- we didn't want to be told anything and we didn't want it to be talked about -- until after Brandon was born. Because of Cody's personal relationship with both Coach T and with the person who shot him -- we just didn't want to be dealing with those emotions on that day. Well... we didn't think to warn our anesthesiologist not to talk about it. While I'm lying there having a baby, he was sitting by my bed on his blackberry. When the verdict was announced, he saw it on his phone and blurted it out right in the middle of the c-section. I immediately and as loudly as I could in the condition and position I was in said something to the effect of -- "This is a personal issue for our family. Cody is close with the victim and the accuser." I never said, "don't talk about it" -- but from the tone in my voice, I think the entire group of doctors and nurses got the hint because everyone immediately shut up on the topic!

Little Brandon decided to be a stinker even during the surgery. Even with the c-section, Dr. Moussa struggled to pull him out of my tummy! We found out after he was born and while I was recovering that it was a really good thing she decided to do the c-section because if I had tried to push -- it could have been very dangerous for both of us. It turns out, Brandon had turned himself even more sideways in the few minutes between the ultrasound and when I got into the operating room. That little boy just didn't want to stop moving! I think he was just super excited to meet his mommy. ;) I remember hearing his first cry at 10:29 a.m., and I remember the nurses and doctor saying - "that is a big baby!" This is what we were expecting - a big baby. Especially since I had been so uncomfortable throughout the pregnancy. When they told me he was only 7 lbs. 11.3 oz., I laughed. He was smaller than Jaden! And much smaller than what Dr. Moussa was expecting him to be. It turns out that they estimate birth weight by head size in the womb... and his head had measured really big in my womb. Well -- his body was and remains in the 25th percentile for size but his head was and remains in the 75th percentile. So -- he's just going to be super smart with a really nice sized brain. ;)

After he was finally out of my tummy, I remember thinking that it took FOREVER for her to stitch me up so that I could hold my little guy. After going back and forth and not being able to agree on names throughout my entire pregnancy, we had it narrowed down to two names by the day he was born - Jordan - and Brandon. We decided that were going to name him after we saw him. Cody held him by my head, and the nurse asked for his name. I really thought up until seeing him that I was going to pick Jordan. As soon as I saw him - I blurted out - "Brandon." (This is the one Cody was really pulling for). It's true what they say -- once you see them -- you just know. :) And I knew he was a Brandon! His full name is Brandon Louis -- (Louis is my dad's middle name).

And that is how our little sweet guy was brought into this crazy world. From the moment we arrived at the hospital - to the moment he was born - was three hours and 29 minutes. A much shorter delivery day than Jaden's was -- but a much much more intense few hours, too!

And we love him dearly. He couldn't be cuter, he couldn't be sweeter, and he completes our little family perfectly. He is growing up before our eyes -- he tries to walk and the only reason he doesn't walk farther than he does is because he gets himself so excited that he collapses after a few steps. He points at everything now. He loves having us carry him around while he points at whatever he wants to see and touch. He is nowhere near the eater that Jaden was, and he's much pickier. He challenges me at every meal. But he loves bananas. Loves them. And he loves little fruit and cereal bars. He tried milk for the first time last night. He loves climbing steps and standing on his step stool looking out our front window. He points to things outside until I tell him what they are. He adores his big brother. He wants to be near him all of the time. He LOVES baths. Even when he's sick or teething -- he finds complete joy and happiness in the water. He tries to dunk his head under water all of the time. His interests are so different than Jaden's were at this point. He actually tries to play with toys instead of just balls. Jaden was a mommy's boy. Brandon is definitely a daddy's boy. He loves me and there are times where he wants me and no one else. But when Cody comes home at the end of the day, and Brandon hears the door open and Cody's big foot steps -- he immediately stops whatever he's doing, and crawls as fast as he can to Cody's feet. He greets Cody with big hugs and cuddles, and it melts my heart to watch it. When he's finished with this round of teething, he will have 13 teeth already. He says "ma ma" -- but only when he really really wants something. And he says "uh oh."  

Brandon -- we love you so very much!!! Happy first birthday!!!

Funny Things My Kid Says -- Volume 1

Starting a "series" to make sure I document everything my kids say. Right now it's obviously all Jaden... won't be long and I will get to start adding in Brandon commentary as well ;)

"My blankie is WET! Put it in the dreyer! Put it in the dreyer right now PLEASE!"

"I'm not going to poop in my bed tonight!" -- followed the next morning by -- "I didn't poop in my bed!" (this is a major accomplisment every single morning now according to Jaden since we had a really bad fiasco of poop in the bed last week) ;)

"I love you veeeerry verrrry much!"

"Oooooo look at my shirt!!!" (He's quite into "fashion" these days) ;)

"Hurry up, Daddy!!" (He's also getting quite bossy).

"My dinky hurts!" (This came out of nowhere last night, and we have not been able to figure out why the heck he said it). ;)

"I wanna watch the Bucs on the computer! I wanna go there! I wanna give the Bucs a high-five!"

"I wanna give TC a hug, a kiss, a high five and knuckles!"

Every time we have to change his diaper... "Don't take my sockies off!!"

Me or Cody: "Did you poop??"
Jaden: "No - Brandon did."
(He's always blaming his younger brother) ;)

And to wrap up this entry... here's one not-so-funny... but rather sweet from prayer time recently...

"I wanna see Heaven. I'd like to see God. I'd like to go there."

My New Love

I had to share... I have a new love. I didn't think it would be right to keep this discovery to myself.

For my birthday, my parents got me a candle. A "WoodWick" candle. I don't know why it took me two months to actually light the thing, but I finally did for the first time last week, and I am truly in love. WoodWick candles use real wood as the wick... so when the candle is burning, it not only smells really good... but it also sounds like a real fireplace crackling along.

And the one above is really awesome because it's called "Autumn Sunset" -- and it truly does smell like autumn. It smells like cozy fireside, cuddling on a Sunday afternoon, leaves burning outside. It smells exactly like my favorite season.

I will never again buy a candle that isn't a WoodWick candle. If you're a candle lover... or even if you're not... you have to check these out. Since I just recently discovered how much I love them, I haven't done a lot of searching for them around town -- but I do know that the Hallmark store in College Square Mall carries an assortment of them. And -- you can visit their website for a wide vareity of different products that they offer. And of course -- they change their scents every season.

I know what I'll be asking for when my birthday comes around again. Or heck... I'll even accept one on Mother's Day... or... Christmas... ;) (Hint hint, Mom and Dad -- you can buy gift certificates on their website)! ;)

Here's their website - enjoy your shopping :)

WoodWick Candles

"This"

I heard a song for the first time today on the long drive back from Des Moines. The lyrics hit home so I wanted to share. It's written from a man's perspective... but you get the idea ;)

*Got a baby girl sleeping in my bedroom
And her momma laughing in my arms
There's the sound of rain on the rooftop
And the game's about to start
I don't really know how I got here
But I'm so glad that I did
And it's crazy to think that one little thing
Could have changed all of this
Maybe it didn't turn out like I planned
Maybe that's why I'm such a lucky man

Like the girl that I loved in high school
Who said she could do better
Or the college I wanted to go to - till I got that letter
All the fights and the tears and the heartache
I thought I'd never get through
And the moment I almost gave up -
All led me here to you
I didn't understand it way back when
But sittin' here right now - it all makes perfect sense

Every stoplight I didn't make
Every chance I did or I didn't take
All the nights I went too far
All the girls that broke my heart
All the doors that I had to close
All the things I knew but I didn't know
Thank God for all I missed
Cause it led me here to this

I cried when my momma passed away
And now I got an angel
Looking out for me today
So nothing's a mistake...

Cuz it led me here to this...

(By Darius Rucker) ;)

Quick Update

Brandon's ninth tooth is about to pop. We can clearly see its white tip coming up, and he's had a lot of swelling, but the tooth hasn't completely popped through the skin yet. It's been bothering him a little bit the last day or two - lots of chewing on his fingers and a lack of appetite. He woke up screaming as if he was being tortured at around 11:00 last night... we gave him some Tylenol and he slept the rest of the night.

Jaden is now saying "sorry" all on his own quite frequently. If he can see that we are frustrated with something he's done - or doesn't do - he has been coming over to me all on his own, resting his head down on my shoulder - and saying, "Sorry, Mama." So sweet, so cute and so grown up.

Brandon has stood without support quite a few times now. He doesn't do it on purpose, and once he realizes that he's doing it, he usually gets really excited with himself and then sits down immediately. ;)

We are two weeks away from introducing Brandon to milk - no more buying formula - no more bottles. I'm pretty excited. No more washing bottles - no more bottles drying on my kitchen counter - no more dirty bottles taking up my sink. Kind of sad though, too... can't believe he's reached that point!

We switched Brandon to a "big boy" car seat this weekend and said goodbye to his infant seat. He HATED being put in his infant seat... and he was finally to the point where he was too long for it. His little feet and legs hung off it so we decided to make the switch a little early. He now sits in a regular car seat FACE FORWARD. Technically you're supposed to wait until they are a year old and weigh 20 pounds before you let them sit forward instead of backwards... but he weighs 22 pounds and is two weeks away from his first birthday. Close enough. And he is much happier sitting face forward.

Brandon hasn't been real good at taking two naps a day for quite some time now -- which is a big adjustment for us. Jaden took two good naps a day until he was 18 months old. Brandon is usually ready for his nap between 11:00/11:30 and then can sleep until 1:30/2:00. It's horrible timing because he misses lunch a lot and then has to eat a later lunch... which screws up his appetite for supper... but after trying for quite a while to keep him awake until early afternoon... I've given up. It's also a rough routine since he normally is awake by 2:00... he is then incredibly tired by 6:30/7:00. This also makes supper time rough. But oh well... I know it's a phase, and it will pass and hopefully as he gets a little older we will have an easier time making him wait until after lunch to put him down for nap.

Jaden continues to fight potty training. Our new daycare lady is awesome at attempting almost every hour to put him on the potty... and we try at home... but we are not succeeding at all. I don't understand it, and Cody and I are getting pretty frustrated. He is showing absolutely no desire to learn, and he hates having to interrupt play time to sit on the potty. I keep getting assurances from our doctor and from other people we know who have had the same issue -- that I don't need to stress over it. He will not graduate high school in a diaper. Still... I'm ready to have one less kid to buy diapers for!

Brandon is still not sleeping through the night. Jaden didn't sleep through the night until he was a year old. And Brandon hasn't had much of an opportunity to try lately with all of the sickness, ear infections and teething he constantly goes through. The ENT doctor in Iowa City told us he thinks that Brandon might sleep much better after he gets tubes put in March 11. He said even when the ear isn't infected, there could be fluid in his ear quite frequently that bothers him during the night when he's laying flat. I also haven't had the opportunity to make him "cry it out" either. How do you make a kid with an ear infection - or a kid with a cold - or a kid who is teething badly - "cry it out?" That would just be cruel.

A big event for us this past week was switching daycares. I won't go into all of the reasons as to why we switched... but we are glad we did it. Our kids are doing great at their new in-home daycare, and we are paying half the price of what we used to pay. I actually think it was the toughest decision I've had to make yet on my journey of parenthood because we'd been going to the same place since Jaden was a baby... almost three years. Daycare can be such a huge stress for parents but it can also be a great blessing for the kids if you find the right one. I'm glad we made the decision that we made, and I also think it was a prayer answered for us financially. It's amazing the ways in which God provides!

That's about it for us. We are loving the "warmer" temps, and I just got an email from my Scentsy sales lady. I'm super excited to order all of my spring and summer "scents" for my Scentsy pot... I'm going to force myself to wait about a month though. Especially since there's snow in the forecast again for this upcoming weekend. Can't wait for our first walk, first visit to the park, first steak on the grill and the first smell of freshly cut grass! I'm hoping Brandon starts walking soon so by the time we can be playing outside, he can run around with Jaden instead of trying to crawl everywhere!

Pray for Kate

Talk about being humbled. My last entry I complained about sick kids. Today I am thanking God that all I had to complain about was snow removal, ear infections and coughs. Many of you have probably already heard about this sweet little girl facing the battle of a lifetime... but in case you haven't... I wanted to share. The more people that hear this story... the more people that pray for this child and her family... the better.

Visit her website, visit the blog that has been receiving entries and visits since the summer of 2009. Say a prayer. Say 1,000 prayers. Then hug your kids tight and feel thankful.

prayforkate.com

I don't have a punching bag... so I'm writing this blog.

"They say God doesn't give you more than you can take - I just wish He didn't trust me so much."

That has been on repeat in my head for the last week. We have been put through a lot since last Monday morning. And every day I have said -- well -- tomorrow has to be a better day... and then I'm proven wrong. So today -- I'm saying it again. Tomorrow has to be better. Heck, even tonight has to be better than last night.

I'm writing this entry because... well... for one thing, I haven't updated the blog in a while. And secondly... misery loves company. And I know that there are other mommies out there who read this. So this is written for you to remember that on your bad days - or even your bad weeks - that you are not alone. Heck, you could even bookmark this entry for you to come back to and read on the days that you want to pull your hair out. I've been pulling my hair out for a couple of days now. Brandon has literally been pulling some of my hair our the last few days. So -- you are not alone.

It started with the forecast last Monday. Blizzard warnings were issued, my incredibly busy work schedule got thrown out the window with the wind, and Jaden started coughing. I think when it starts snowing, I need to ban myself from Facebook. Because almost every status update I read is from teachers or students excited they'll get some days off -- or from people who can't wait to get home from work and be snowed in with their significant others - cuddling on the couch, catching up on their DVR shows, sipping red wine. I literally get angry sometimes. Don't these people realize that there are those of us who suffer when it snows? Snow to me means - hectic mornings trying to get ready for work without Cody there to help. It means having a cranky husband who hasn't slept for days and is tired of working in the middle of the night. It means sad questions from Jaden asking - "Where's Daddy?" Snow to me means my family is apart - my husband is tired - my kids are cranky - and Mommy is stressed. (It also means good money for Cody's business --- but that's hard to think about when I catch my 11 month old son covered in melted chocolate ice cream on our way out the door as I'm already running late for work because I've been taking care of the boys and the home by myself for the third straight morning). So -- there's that. The blizzard. Since last Monday night, Cody has had one night off. Last Friday night. Every night since then he has had to go out in the middle of the night for at least a few hours. They have a lot of snow removal accounts - which again is great for business - not so great for my sanity. Or his.

Then my kids got sick. Really sick. Jaden came down with a really bad cold - a horrible cough - and a fever by Friday morning. Friday was supposed to be his last day at the only daycare he's ever known since he was a baby. (That's a whole different story - and probably will turn out to be another blog entry topic) ;) Cody had to be at work - I had to be at work to turn in my 2011 budget. (Really? That was the last thing I wanted to be focused on at that point) -- and my mom - who normally is our "back up" babysitter when the kids are sick -- was in Cedar Rapids. Because on Friday morning - on top of everything else - my grandpa passed away. My mom is now parent-less. I am now grandparent-less. And I had nowhere for my sick little boy to go. I called my dad. Thank goodness it was the one day that he didn't have 12 meetings scheduled for work. He was able to take the day off to spend some quality grandpa-grandson time with Jaden. We sent Brandon to daycare - and I went to work spending the day at my desk trying to put together our budget in between trying to stop the tears from coming after just finding out about my grandpa. It was a very long day. By Friday night, Brandon's cold was getting worse, Jaden wasn't any better, and I was bracing myself for a very long weekend, as well. Saturday Cody was gone a good chunk of the day doing a home inspection. Our basketball team lost to Drake. We shouldn't have lost to Drake. Saturday night it snowed. Again. Not a lot - but enough so that Cody had to work a good chunk of the day on Sunday, too. By Sunday afternoon my kids looked miserable, acted miserable, and I'd had enough. Cody took them to convenient care when he got done working. We were lucky - no strep throat, no ear infections... but coughs so bad that they both had to receive steroid shots to try and help with the cough. We also received a warning from the doctor - "no daycare on Monday." Monday - the day they were supposed to start at their new daycare. The day of my grandpa's visitation. The day Cody was supposed to be able to catch up on sleep. Now he was stuck at home with two very cranky kids who were sick of being stuck inside - sick of being sick. I went to work until noon and then headed to Cedar Rapids for Grandpa's visitation. Last night was spent filling out all of the paperwork for the new daycare, buying diapers to send along, cleaning bottles to send along -- and praying that the kids would be healthy enough to go to the new place this morning. Cody also had to go into work at 10:00 last night... but hoped to be able to sleep all day today. Ha.

2:00 this morning Brandon starts crying. Cody had just gotten home - we go in to check on him, and he's running a fever of 100. Seriously?? I went back to my bedroom for two minutes, laid on my bed, and got mad at God. I'll admit it. I said a very very sincere but heated prayer - "give us a break - give my kids a break - please!" Then I took care of my fussy little guy. In the process of all of this... I forgot to set my alarm to wake me up this morning. I woke up at 7:30 -- all three of my guys still sleeping -- and panicked. In order to get to work on time and get my kids dropped off at daycare -- I have to leave the house at 7:15. I still had to shower, pack up the car with all of their daycare stuff, wake my kids up, assess their health, get them dressed, get them their medicine, etc. Not to mention -- I had to leave them at a brand new house with brand new people, and they still aren't completely feeling like themselves. Then Cody tells me he has to go into work at 11:00 today instead of being able to sleep. It's never ending. At least that's how it feels.

As I type this, I have received a couple of updates from the new daycare - Jenn - she says Jaden is doing good helping her bake cupcakes. Brandon is a little needy and wanting to be cuddled -- but that's to be expected when he's at a place he doesn't know and is cutting his ninth tooth. (Yes - he's teething on top of everything else). And I am sitting here saying... things have to be better tomorrow.

Days like today - weeks like this past week - I am more than ever grateful for my faith. Because even when the days don't get better when I think they should... I know they will in His time. I have faith - therefore I have hope. And I also have a wonderful family, an adorable little 11 month old who has taken a few steps towards walking by himself the last few days, and a fantastic three year old that looked at me when I got home from saying goodbye to my grandpa last night and said, "I missed you Mommy!"

I have faith... therefore I have hope. And... there is a bottle of red wine in my refrigerator waiting for me... just in case I ever need it.