Please Pass the Puke and Poop

So, I won't go into too much detail, but we had quite the little flu/stomach bug around our house recently. I am very rarely sick, Chuck is occasionally sick and the kids have never been sick, so it was must have been some bug. After dinner about 2 weeks ago, C threw up. He then woke during the night with diarrhea and puking. I didn't want to risk taking him into the child care at the Y, but I had to teach yoga the next morning, so I took him with me (see picture below) He was lethargic the whole day, but that was basically it. We went to the Pointe Hilton Tapatillo Resort for the 4th of July, and I woke up feeling really bad, thinking it was because I needed to eat, but as I was almost done with breakfast, I started throwing up. I felt okay after that and we managed to spend some fun time at the pools. But once we were home, there was more throwing up. I still felt bad on Sunday and Chuck started feeling bad also. And just after we had gone to bed, H woke up and had puked everywhere! It was a mess. At least C made it to the toilet both times. A couple times as I threw up H was watching and she would mimic me after I'd get up. So maybe she'll know what to do next time. Chuck insisted on painting the house on Mon. and not thinking I'd still be sick, I taught a step and cycling class. I threw up after cycling. On Tues. Chuck rode his bike to work and thinking he was "okay" ate a meatball sub at lunch. Needless to say, Tues. night he was not doing well. He still went to work on Wed. and was in bad shape Wed. night. I told him he'd feel much better if he'd throw up (he'd been reisisting, how you do that, I don't know). So, he threw up and it was uphill from there. I would have said I had it the worst until Chuck got it, but by not taking it easy, eating a meatball sub and resisting the urge to puke, he didn't make it any easier on himself. We are all doing better now! Chuck has his big race this weekend. He lost about 8 pounds, so he is trying to get that put back on and is very worried about not being able to regain his strength. So, send positive thoughts and energy his way!

Royalty Baby #3 is on the way!

After a temporary lapse of judgement, I decided we should have another baby. And yes, I did mean to say I. Several months before H turned 2, I started thinking/wondering if we should have another baby. I'm content with the 2 kids and I don't feel the need to make my life harder, but being from a family of 7, I really want my kids to have siblings. Plus, I feel like we can provide a good, loving home to some of the little spirits waiting to come experience mortality. So, I approached the subject with Chuck. Of course, he will do whatever I want, but he was NOT thinking we should have another baby. Although, things haven't really gotten easier, he felt like we were starting to see "the light at the end of the tunnel". And Cameron has been and still is so hard, Chuck doesn't think we can handle another one. And although, I am keeping my fingers crossed that we don't have another Cameron, because I could NOT handle that, I do have more faith than Chuck that we can handle another one. So, thinking it would take a couple of months we started to try. Well, it did not take a couple months thus NOT leaving me with time to change my mind (probably a good thing if it's meant to be) and leaving us with a due date in early January; not when I wanted to have a baby. I felt nothing for about 6 weeks, and all the sudden, my belly popped out, I was exhausted and I felt very nauseous. After a couple weeks of nausea, I started feeling really hungry. But that hasn't really seemed to last like it did in my previous pregnancies. I'm still a little tired, but other than that I feel pretty good. And although I do have my fears, as things progress, I am getting more excited.

I used a group practice with C and was not impressed with the OBGYNs. So, with H, I used a midwife and it was great! So, I made my first appointment with the midwife I saw with H. She is still doing prenatal care, but not deliveries. When H was born, she and another midwife were doing all the deliveries, unless there were complications, at St. Joes. If there were complications one of OBs they worked under did the delivery. But most of the OB's time was spent at Good Sam with the midwifes not being allowed to deliver there. Since then, the OBs decided they didn't want to go between the two hospitals, which left the midwifes unable to do deliveries. So, if I stay with this midwife, whichever doctor is on call would do the delivery. And although it's nice to have a midwife for the prenatal care, it's the delivery that really counts. I don't think I'm comfortable having an OB deliver, so I'm going to check to see if there are any midwifes that do deliveries that are covered by my insurance.

As with our other kids, we have no plans on finding out the gender.

What's a 4 year old boy up to?

At C's check up, he was 401/2 inches tall and weighed 35 pounds. I couldn't believe the trauma the immunizations caused. He said he was never going back to the doctor (did I mention that H didn't cry at all?). C continues to love firetrucks as well as construction trucks, basically any truck. His favorite thing to do is play with mom. And he really likes to watch TV. He has become obsessed with Scooby Doo. His dog, Chocolate Brownie, still goes everywhere with him. He is not sleeping thru the night. I would have never thought I've be saying that at age 4! But, he has gone back to taking naps. Probably because 5am is just a little too early to get up! He still is not playing independently, but I am seeing progress in some areas. He doesn't get upset everytime I leave, he wants to take naps with daddy and even wants to sit by him at meals. He even once said that he liked his daddy. And when I say it's time to go, he doesn't put up much of a fuss. But getting him to get in his car seat and put on his seat belt is another story. We have been trying to keep busy this summer by taking swimming lessons (which are getting better) and a Spanish class. We've also been spending some time with friends.

Carson and C at Firehouse subs

C and Morgan at her 4th b-day party

C with Chocolate Brownie

C loves to ride his "trainer" along side his daddy. We prop up the training wheels, so the back wheel can spin. He has to be sure 1.to have his jersey on 2.have his drink 3. have his "bars" and 4. have Chocolate Brownie

Tomatoes!

We have had a lot of luck with our tomatoes this year, as you can see. This was one of many "batches". My cousin, Rachel, posted a picture of her tomatoes on her blog, so I had to complete:) We've also had several zucchinis (as you can see on the side) we haven't gotten to soon enough, or neglected to see amongst the foliage. They aren't good to eat once they are that big, but Chuck has made a lot of yummy bread from them. We've also had a lot of lettuce and beets. And we've had a good amount of bell peppers, chili peppers and yellow squash. We are still waiting on some butternut squash and pumpkins.

Hannah's first backpacking trip

Hannah went on her first backpacking trip last weekend. Chuck took her and Cameron along with a friend and two of his kids to Horton Creek (near Payson). They left Friday, hiked in about a mile and camped. They hiked two more miles on Sat. before setting up camp. They hike out the 3 miles on Sunday. Chuck said the trip was perfect; perfect scenery, perfect weather and the kids did great. Except...for when Chuck was holding C, who was claiming he needed to poop and had just peed all over his pants, and H, who really had pooped, was taking the poop out of her diaper and smearing it on the back of Chuck's leg. (She has never done that before BTW). How can you get mad at a face like this?

we always have M&M's on our camping/backpacking trip, but for this one, C chose twizzlers

having a snack at the fish hatchery on the way home

Group Photo: Chuck, Hannah, Moss, Durrant, Mara and Cameron

(I'm not sure what's up with H's outfit. Chuck said she picked it out herself)

Chuck says C has been watching too much "Man vs. Wild" because the first thing he did when he got to camp was take off his shirt.

Hannah's blanket and baby have to go everywhere!

I was happy to see she actually wore the shoes I had bought her and spent too much money on. And what did I do while the kids were away other than enjoy absolute freedom? Well, I went to Wal-Mart and the post office. I did some yoga homework and blogged. I went to a yoga class (as well as my teacher training), went out to dinner with a friend. And did some much needed things around the house like clean the microwave and frig. I do love my children, but it is sure nice not to have the under my feet all day!

What's a 2 year old girl up to?

Hannah had her 2 year check up the other day and is 32 inches tall (10th percentile) and 24 pounds (19th percentile). She a small girl! Most of the nights, she sleeps well and is still napping well. She has a pretty good appetite and has recently discovered she loves peanut butter and apples. She still doesn't have a lot of words, but really uses the one she does have like: mama, dada, baby. Although, she doesn't have many words, she understands everything. She is usually sweet, helpful, obedient and happy. But it's not unlike her to hit her brother for no reason, ignore mom or throw a giant fit. She is also learning some bad qualities/habits from her brother. Like thinking Mom needs to do everything for her. For example, she will want her baby, which might be 3 feet away, so I tell her to go get her baby. She will look at me, shake her head and say, "Mama". It's cute now, but won't be cute for long. And she has to have her baby everywhere she goes, just like C and Chocolate Brownie. Here are some picture of her at age 2. It's just coincidence they are all of her naked.

A naked, firefightin', shoppin', mom?

talking on the phone...naked

Daddy came home just after she'd gotten out of the shower. And she gave him a big hug.

She had had enough time to get her shoes on before Daddy got home.

Happy Birthday Chuck and Hannah!

On Saturday the 30th, Hannah celebrated her 2nd birthday and Chuck his 45th! We celebrated with a small family get together at the Basha's Food Court. Yes, I know. That sounds a little weird, but here's the story. So, in our quest to find a place to get our Saturday tradition ice/ Pibb Xtra. We tried a Basha's close to our house. Well, they had large pellet ice which isn't quite good enough. So, as I'm talking with the Basha's associate about the ice, she gets me the real thing from the back. They have a crushed ice machine for use in the deli. So, as we went back the next week, I noticed they also had mac & cheese (C's favorite), pizza by the slice and so much more including a large sitting area that's always empty. So, I told Chuck the next time I wanted to take the kids to lunch, I was going to take them there. As we were planning our celebrating between Chuck's 6 hour ride and my 6 hours of yoga teacher training, we decided to meet at the Basha's Food Court. We ate, got our ice, opened presents and had cake. I didn't want to make a huge cake and have it sitting around the house, so when we decided to go to Basha's, I thought hey, let's just get cake there! So, I know I'm not going to get any mother or wife of the year awards for this party, but everyone seemed to have a good time.

Oh, yeah. And I had a birthday too (on the 11th). We went to Spinatos on Sat. and had dinner with a cake Charity made on Sunday. I turned 32. It's not so hard getting old when you have a much older husband, but still, it's not all that fun. So, as I was teaching a cycling class this week, I had some new, young girls in class. One of them asked me how long I've been teaching and I said, "Oh, since college, so 10 years or so." And she said, "You don't look like your more than 24." How nice is that?

Part of Chuck's 6 hour ride (all he asked for for his b-day) was on the Orion. (The Orion is the speed trike, designed and built by an associate at Honeywell. Chuck set the world record for the fastest tricycle last year.) He is now training for a 1 hour and 6 hour race in Detroit at the end of July. Here is his training area.

Cameron really wanted to get Chuck a red shirt for his b-day.

Hannah doesn't care that she is at the Basha's food court. She's just happy to get presents. (Her hair is a mess because Daddy was left in charge)

Happy Birthday Chuck and Hannah! We love you.