Brooke's Thr3e Kids: April 2008

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Coloring - April 15, 2007

Here's a pic of the kids coloring. They are getting so good at entertaining themselves! I'm loving it :) I wonder how good they'll be at entertaining the baby when s/he arrives... Hannah has decided that she can take care of this baby all by herself :) We'll see about that! I will have to make sure to teach her to change wet diapers.
Last night Hannah put all the alphabet magnets in order w/ very little help. I was impressed!! Then I helped her match the lowercase letters to the uppercase, and she was SO proud :) She knows most of the letter sounds as well. The last time we went over them she was unsure of G, W, and Y. We started working on sounding out words, but she's not quite ready for that. She won't start kindergarten until fall 2008 due to her October birthday, so I suspect she'll be reading books by then :)
Now we need to work on some number recognition... I have a feeling math will not be her strong point, but maybe she'll surprise me.
When Elijah sees letters or numbers he starts saying "E...O...T...". It's pretty funny.

Boy Outfit - April 13, 2007

Here's the outfit Lockie will come home in if s/he happens to be a boy.

Girl Outfit - April 12, 2007

Isn't that the cutest thing ever?? I'll have to take a picture of the boy outfit too, because it's pretty darn cute too!

Baby Clothes - April 11, 2007

I am simply DYING to go buy baby clothes!! However, Target now has a 90 day return policy even with a receipt. Since I don't know whether Baby Lockie is a boy or a girl, I will be buying a little of both in the tiniest size. So, I have to wait another week, at least, so I can return the clothes we don't need.
I do need fewer boy clothes than girl clothes, thanks to Elijah. I sold almost all of Hannah's clothes on Ebay before Eli was born. I did save some of the gender neutral stuff, and a few things that I really liked. I may placate myself and buy the girl going-home outfit I've been drooling over. Since I'll have to wash it before we know the gender, I won't be able to return it anyway. I have a boy going-home outfit that Eli was supposed to wear, but didn't....
Also, we've finally decided on names. Sorry, it's a secret until the baby arrives! However, I will give you the rules we followed. The first names are from the Old Testament and end in "ah", just like Hannah and Elijah. The middle names are also from the Old Testament (and happen to be 3 syllables long). If it's a boy (unsure about a girl yet), there will be a second middle name as well.

Happy Easter!! - April 08, 2007

The kids woke up at 5:30 this morning for their egg hunt!! All I can say is it's a good thing the Easter Bunny was ready for them...
EB hid about 3 dozen plastic eggs w/ candy around the house, and left baskets full of gardening supplies (plastic trowels and digging devices, gardening gloves, hats, bug houses) and of course a couple of stuffed bunnies.
I was amazed at Hannah's egg finding skills, they were MUCH improved from last year. She hardly left any for Elijah to find, and once he realized there was candy in them he just wanted that!
So far, it's been a better Easter than last year (at 8:30am!) because I didn't just get home from taking Eli to the ER. Last year he was SO sick... inconsolable screaming, breathing poorly, etc. I am happy that everyone is healthy right now!

Easter Basket - April 08, 2007

Easter Eggs - April 08, 2007

These are the eggs Hannah and I dyed and tatooed.

Shoes - April 04, 2007

Hannah's school is having a play on April 20th. The school proclaims this is "a big deal", so I suppose it is. Hannah is a damsel, and the school is providing the costume (no complaints there!). We were asked to provide "fancy dress shoes". Hannah and I went to Target and picked out some sparkly pink shoes. She ADORES them :) Today, they had professional pictures taken in their costumes, and the school sent home numerous reminders to PLEASE BRING THE FANCY DRESS SHOES. When I picked Hannah up, she told me that she had to take off her shoes for the picture because they had ballet slippers for them to wear. Ummmm.... WHAT?? The shoes were inexpensive ($6.99), and Hannah needed something dressy anyway, so that's not a problem. I just don't understand what the big fuss was about the shoes if they didn't need them...
I love Hannah's school, but it's the stuff like this that DRIVES ME CRAZY!!

Breakfast with the Easter Bunny - March 31, 2007

A church down the street had "Breakfast with the Easter Bunny" today. Hannah said she would like to go, so we did. WOW! There were a ton of kids!! I guess more people show up for the Easter Bunny than for a regular service.
Hannah picked out a Go-gurt, a mini chocolate donut, and a mini cinnamon roll for breakfast. She slowly warmed up to the crowd while she ate. Soon after, the Easter Bunny arrived, and Hannah definitely wanted to meet him. She was a bit unsure about sitting in his lap, but did a fine job. She didn't quite smile for the picture though. One tiny girl was crying when her mom pried her off the bunny's lap! I can't say that I've ever seen that before!!
Then it was time for the egg hunt. Thankfully, Hannah was with the younger group (2-4 year olds) because she is a bit passive about these kinds of things. She did manage to find about 10 eggs, but it looked like everyone else found about twice that many. There was more than enough candy, and even she was happy with the amount she brought home.

Easter Hannah - March 31, 2007

Here's Hannah after the Easter egg hunt. She's actually SMILING for the camera! Amazing :)

Lawn Tractor - March 30, 2007

I bet you didn't know a toddler could drive a lawn tractor! Well, he sure wishes he could.

Hannah - March 30, 2007

Hannah is writing a book about birds, and this is the author's pic we took.

Crab Apple Tree - March 30, 2007

Here is our gorgeous crab apple tree. It looks a million times better in person!

The Dare Devil - March 21, 2007

To truly understand my shock, you first have to know just how cautious Hannah is. She is perhaps the most cautious child I have ever known. She simply did not climb on playground equipment without help until she was 4 years old.
However, my son (21 months), is of a different nature. Today, he ran over to our swing set (the cool wooden kind with a fort), climbed the skinny, slippery, metal rungs of the ladder to the fort, and slid down the slide (feet first, on his belly). I was so convinced that he wouldn't be able to get further than the first rung of the slide that I didn't even bother to get out of my chair which was a good 20+ feet from the swing set. He proceded to repeat his climbing and sliding feat several more times. I decided I should run and get the video camera... however, he wouldn't do it after that. I tried to get him to show Pete later on, but he refused.
Now he's trying to climb everything in the house...

Kids and grandparents - March 17, 2007

Nesting, anyone?? - March 15, 2007

I should have taken pictures...
First I cleaned Hannah's room (ugg!!). Then I took all the boxes out of her closet and sorted through ALL the outgrown clothing... Finally, all the stuff is sorted according to size. I got all the stuff back into her closet. I ended up with 7 boxes of clothes, 4 empty boxes, a large trash bag for Goodwill, and a small bag of trash.
Next on the list is sorting (and labeling) all the cloth diapers. I literally have a crib full of cloth diapers... And yet Elijah has been wearing Huggies for the past couple of months. Oh well. Those extra loads of laundry were killing me.

Updates - March 11, 2007

Today is my 33rd birthday... OMG! How did *THAT* happen.
We had a nice trip to OKC last week. It was a bit short, but certainly better than nothing. We won't be able to go this summer because Lockie is due to arrive in July. Even making that twelve hour trip at 21 weeks pregnant was less than fun. I had been instructed by my doctor to get out of the car at least every two hours to reduce the risk of blood clots. I swelled a little bit, but not too bad. However, the day after we arrived, I drove an hour to visit my friend. During that drive I had *SIX* contractions... Not really a good thing that early in pregnancy. I drank a bunch of water when I got to her house, and my uterus calmed down. I'm sure I was dehydrated from the long drive the day before. Hannah and Elijah were practically perfect on the trip. I don't think there was any screaming! They hardly even watched the DVD player... They napped a lot more than normal, snacked a lot, and played nicely. Just when they are getting to be really great travellers we're be adding a newborn...
I received my Hypnobabies course this week. It's a 5 week course, and each week there are two hypnosis scripts to listen to. You alternate which one you listen to each day. I was surprised at how relaxed I got listening the first time! It's something you get better and better at, so that was a huge confidence boost. I listened to the 2nd script for the first time last night, and I felt myself really going "under" at times. I truly have no fear of labor this time around, and that's pretty exciting!

My Cuties - February 20, 2007

SNOW! - February 17, 2007

It FINALLY snowed enough to go out in play in it. We got about 3 inches, which is significantly more than the previous dustings that got school CANCELLED.
Hannah was disappointed that she couldn't make a snowball or snowman. I had no trouble packing a snowball, but our snowman didn't get very far... Hannah made a snow volcano instead.
Yes, my son is wearing pink mittens. They were the mittens that were already attached to the snowsuit, so we went with that. I really need to find him some fleece mittens like Hannah's because her hands stayed toasty warm, and Eli's did NOT. Finding baby-sized mittens is always a challenge though.

Hypnobirth - February 15, 2007

Well, some of you will definitely think I've gone off the deep end this time, but what the heck, I'll blog about it anyway.
I've just ordered the homestudy course from HypnoBabies, so I can do self-hypnosis during labor. It's a 5 week course where you listen to hypnosis CDs, read some materials, and work in a workbook. During labor (aka "birthing time" in HB-speak) you listen to a special hypnosis CD, and all the post-hypnotic suggestions you learned earlier and used to relax you. At best, the mom feels only pressure during labor and birth, at worst you have some really great relaxation techniques to use.
I think I can do this since I was able to relax though 10 hours of pitocin induced contractions during Elijah's birth. It was only when there was no longer a break between the contractions (and the doc broke my water), that I requested an epidural. Without the induction, I'm pretty sure I could have gone the distance on my own!
So, there you have it. That's what I'm excited about these days :)
Now to decide whether or not to have a "recreational" ultrasound to find out Lockie's gender... I only have a couple of weeks to decide.

Illness - February 12, 2007

The kids are sick again. I can't even begin to count how many bouts of colds they've had this winter. At least they aren't SICK sick, they just have really nasty, productive coughs. Hannah has even started hacking up blobs of phlegm that, of course, end up on the floor :( I suppose I should count myself lucky that they've never had any stomach viruses...
On a totally unrelated note, we got our camera back last week (still no new batteries for the others... no surprise there). I think I'll go take some pictures of the kids!

Lockie's ultrasound - February 06, 2007

http://tinyurl.com/35uper
Lockie did NOT cooperate, so we still don't know the gender! However, everything is great.

Big Bird's Banana Bread - February 01, 2007

My friend, Barb, sent me this recipe a few years back. It's FANTASTIC banana bread, super simple, and fairly healthy. She got it from a 1970's Sesame Street Magazine.
3 ripe bananas, peeled and mashed
3/4 cup honey
1/4 cup melted butter
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
Mix together, pour into a greased bread pan, and bake at 350 for one hour. I like to add 1/2 cup of chocolate chips and 1/2 cup of walnuts. YUM!! If you don't add the extras, this bread tastes best the following day, it's much moister then.

Elijah and the computer - January 29, 2007

Apparently Elijah has decided that it's now his turn to cause chaos in our house. Last year it was Hannah, so the little guy is starting a bit early.
I was upstairs searching for Gerber training pants. I *KNEW* I had three more pairs of boy trainers. I searched through four, large boxes of cloth diapers... yes, I have too many! I couldn't find them. I looked in Eli's clothes drawers, nope. After 20 minutes, I thought maybe they were in the bathroom closet with some extra potties (too many of those too!!). They were there, thank goodness because I was losing my mind.
Hannah yells from downstairs, "Come see what Eli did to the computer". Great... I didn't hear a thud, but this child is known to do pull up the craziest windows. He had turned the picture on the monitor sideways!! Now, why is that even an option?? I can't fathom a time when that would come in handy. I called Pete. He did an internet search and found the solution within a few seconds. Ctrl-Alt-up arrow fixes it (if you want to see what my boy child did, just push Ctrl-Alt-left arrow).

Cameras - January 28, 2007

There will be no pics for January!
Our new camcorder that we've been using as a camera is in NJ being repaired. Our old Fuji is having memory card problems along with rechargeable batteries that won't hold a charge (I keep forgetting to buy new ones!!). Our Nikon is also having battery issues. So, I suppose if I could remember to get new batteries, we'd have a working camera! That's probably not going to happen this week.
***
On a totally unrelated note Hannah grew an inch last week. No really, she did!! She woke up complaining of leg pains (this happens periodically), and I decided to measure her. She was a full inch taller than the last mark on the wall. We'd just checked last week to see if she'd grown, and she hadn't. I suppose if I grew an inch in a week, my legs would hurt too!!

Baby Names part 2 - January 25, 2007

Here's the list of names in order of how popular they were in 2005.
Noah - #23 (#5 in 2006!)
Isaiah - #45
Isaac - #50
Micah - #151
Jonah - #184
Ezra - #358
Judah - #523
Zechariah - #643
I was shocked to hear from some people that they were ALL common, lol.

Baby Names - January 24, 2007

We don't know yet if we are having a boy or a girl, but I just can't make up my mind on a boy's name.
Which name do you like for a boy?
Ezra

Isaac

Isaiah

Jonah

Judah

Micah

Noah

Zechariah

Nothing new - January 23, 2007

Our new camera has been sent off to be fixed, and our old camera is on it's last legs. We still have one more digital, but it doesn't look like there will be many January pictures!!
The kids are starting to sleep better these days which is nice. All the illness and teething had really cut down on our amount of sleep.
Hannah is wishing for snow, but all we seem to get are flurries and rain.
My next prenatal appointment is next week, but there shouldn't be anything to report.
So, all in all, there just isn't a whole lot going on these days, which is a good thing!

Haircuts - January 14, 2007

I cut the kids' hair today! Elijah's is quite a bit shorter than before. I just trimmed Hannah's bangs and around her ears since she was getting a bit shaggy. I'll have to get pictures tomorrow so I can upload them.

Screaming - January 10, 2007

This little guy was up SCREAMING for two hours last night (12-2 am). I'm guessing it's the last two canines he's teething (5 new teeth in 2 weeks already). He went through every word and sign he knows to try to distract me from getting him back to sleep. I'm not sure how yelling "kitty!" and doing the sign is supposed to help, but he was desperate. I'll be happy to be done with teething!!

Heartbeat! - January 04, 2007

We heard Lockie's heartbeat for the first time today! So, I'm officially announcing this pregnancy. I'm 12 weeks, and feeling less nauseated (yay!!). I've had a difficult time bonding with this baby since the last pregnancy ended in a miscarriage. I'm due mid-July, but I'm hoping for a 07-07-07 baby :)

Home Sweet Home - January 03, 2007

We made the 12 hour drive back to Indiana yesterday. We woke up at 3am, and left Oklahoma at 4am. One hour into the trip, Hannah threw up, and we didn't know what to do. Should we turn around or keep going?? We decided to keep going. Thankfully, it was just a one time occurence. She had her pillow stuffed behind her head, which contorted her into a bad position. It appears that caused her to gag on mucous, and yack... Her stomach was empty, so it wasn't as bad as it sounds. By the time we reached Joplin, MO for breakfast she was feeling great!
There were no other incidents during this trip (unlike the trip to OKC where we missed hitting a deer by about 6 inches and left a significant amount of tread from our brand new tires on I-64). The kids were well behaved, and there were NO screaming fits! I'm quite impressed :) The kids were very happy to be home, though we will miss Momma and Papa.

My Siblings - January 03, 2007

Going home - December 11, 2006

We are so excited to be going to Oklahoma for Christmas!!! Can't wait to get there and see my family and friends.

Can't believe it's December - December 04, 2006

Not much going on... Just thought I'd add a picture of the kiddos.

Falling Down - November 22, 2006

This is Hannah falling out of the swing, and landing on her head! Grandpa isn't sure how he got this picture because he swears he was already running over to help her. Thankfully, she is fine :) It *IS* a great action shot though!!

Pneumonia - November 16, 2006

Remember how Pete had the flu? Well, his body aches went away, but they were replaced by a nasty, hacking cough. He went to the doctor today, and he has pneumonia! Our friends had it a few weeks back, and I was afraid that Elijah would get it... I never expected Pete to get it, he's usually pretty healthy! So, a round of antibiotics were in order. Doc says he should be feeling better by Saturday. I hope so, I'm exhausted from being the only well adult around here!

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

The Flu - November 12, 2006

Pete has the flu. Last weekend he travelled by plane to Pittsburg, and I'm sure that's where he picked it up. He has slept the better part of 48 hours! I just hope he keeps his germs to himself because the kids and I certainly don't need it.

November 03, 2006

There's a hidden message here

Trick or Treat!! - November 01, 2006

You would NOT believe the amount of candy we have right now!!

All Hail Princess Aurora - October 28, 2006

Here's Hannah dressed to go to her Halloween party today. I bet you can't even tell that she has sweatpants and a long sleeved shirt on underneath! Hmmm... I just realized that she looks a bit like JonBenet Ramsey dressed like this! At least it's just a Halloween costume!

Sick, Sick, SICK! - October 27, 2006

Elijah is sick... We aren't having much fun around here. He's been sick since last Wednesday, and REALLY sick since Monday. Hopefully, he'll start to feel a bit better soon.

Hannah is Four - October 23, 2006

Today is Hannah's 4th birthday, so we had a little party for her. We had some friends over, ate pizza, and had a pinata (the civilized, pull-the-streamer kind).

4TH BIRTHDAY!! - October 23, 2006

Opening Presents - October 21, 2006

Hmmm... Do you think she's happy??

Hannah's 4th Birthday Party - October 16, 2006

We don't have much luck with people actually coming to Hannah's parties, but we do have fun anyway. This year we invited all eleven girls in Hannah's class, and the 3 Sherman kids. Only 6 kids from Hannah's class RSVPed, 2 yes and 4 no. Ty Sherman had pneumonia. So, we had 4 guests.
It was a perfect day to be at the zoo, and the five girls were great. Hannah thought her party was great, so I guess it was a success!

New Hair Cut - October 14, 2006

I guess I got jealous of Hannah's short hair, so I went and got mine cut too!!

Friday, April 25, 2008

Sleeping Beauty One - October 09, 2006

Face Paint - October 09, 2006

We went to a birthday party at The Children's Museum of Evansville. One of the exhibits was self face painting. I put the nose and whiskers on Hannah-the-cat, but she did the rest.

Big Baby - October 06, 2006

Hannah hasn't worn footed pajamas since she was 12 months old or so. Her skin was too sensitive for anything but 100% cotton, and most cotton pj's don't have feet. It gets so darn cold at night (we are trying to not use heat until it's really necessary), that I gave in and bought the kids fleece footed pajamas. Hannah looks like a GIANT baby in them, and she thinks it's the greatest thing. I know I wore footed jammies when I was older than she is, but 5t fleece sleepers just look HUGE. Anyhoo, she's excited to wear them, so I hope her skin continues to like them!
Mr. I-Hate-Blankets (aka Elijah) also got a pair, and he's so fuzzy warm all night

Before and After - September 27, 2006

Thank goodness Walmart has a salon that's open in the evenings!

Hair Stylist in the Making?? - September 27, 2006

Hannah cut her own hair today. We were at the Shermans house, and Kate and Hannah were playing SO quietly in their toy room. They skip into the living room, and announce "we cut our hair!". Kate had one tiny chunk cut, and Hannah had given herself a whole new 'do. I told her that she probably won't get her scissors back until she's 5, especially since she says she likes giving herself haircuts... She actually did a pretty good job, it looks like something from the '80's.

Back of Hair - September 27, 2006

Elijah WALKS!! - September 20, 2006

I will have to take a movie tomorrow.
We were at our friends' house today when Eli suddenly walked about ten feet by himself. It was amazing :) The next time he tried, he walked about 20 feet and even turned a corner without falling. I think he's a perfectionist, and he wasn't going to do this walking thing until he could do it RIGHT. He's been on the verge of walking for months now. Oh, and I have a bad feeling that tomorrow he'll be running, YIKES!!

Fender No-Bender - September 18, 2006

I went to pick up Hannah from school today and it was raining. The school has the parents line their cars up, and the children are brought out to the car when their parent reaches the front on the line. The whole thing is quite orderly and works nicely. I saw Hannah come out of the building, so I got out of the car with my umbrella so I could get her into her carseat. I was just about to walk around the back of my car when I decided to wait for the minivan behind me to come to a complete stop. Well, the driver jumped out of her van BEFORE IT STOPPED MOVING! Therefore, the minivan bumped into my car. I was kind of in shock because I typically apply the break, put the car in 'park', and put on the emergency break before hopping out of the car. She was going less than 5 mph, so I wasn't too concerned, except for the fact that Elijah was in the car. He seemed okay, and wasn't crying, though he was a bit stunned by the jolt.
The woman who hit me was nearly hysterical, mostly because my baby was in the car. Her English wasn't great, so that wasn't terribly helpful either. I told her that everything seemed to be okay, and she gave me her name and phone number.
The teacher who was walking Hannah to the car saw it happen, and her eyes got WIDE. I think she was afraid there might be a big scene.
I was a little shaken, but mostly I just couldn't get over the fact that she jumped out of her car while it was still moving!!!!!! Tomorrow maybe I'll show up later so I can be at the END of the line :) Oh, and I didn't see any damage to either car. Thank goodness for bumpers!

Rain - September 12, 2006

It rained 5 inches in two hours in Evansville today! This is what our backyard looked like. Typically, there is grass and not a lake there... I can NOT believe how much it rains here, it's unbelievable! It has rained like this three times since we moved into our new house on July 7th.

Another Pic from the Literacy Fair - September 09, 2006

Literacy Fair - September 09, 2006

Here is Hannah listening to a story.

We Met Clifford! - September 09, 2006

We went to a literacy fair so that we could meet Clifford. Hannah got to make lots of cool crafts, and got a free Dr Seuss book! She couldn't wait to meet Clifford, but when she finally saw him, she wanted nothing to do with him. The picture is lousy, but it's the best I could do :)

A Rough Week - September 09, 2006

I had a miscarriage this week. I was only 6 weeks along, but I already couldn't wait to meet this little one. I did see the baby after it left my body, and I'm glad that I had that closure.
I am thankful that my body seems to be taking care of everything, and I shouldn't need a D&C (something I'm terrified of).

Drum Roll Please - August 27, 2006

I recently found out that I am unexpectedly expecting!! Wow, huh?? The estimated date of arrival is May 1, 2007, but I'm guessing we will have an April baby.