Saturday, January 30, 2010

"Dear Jesus, thank you for a great mom and thank you for a great me!!"

It was a good prayer...especially considering I then walked downstairs, into the bathroom, and then proceeded to clean pee off the wall and trim. Made that task, not nearly as irritating!

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Eureka!!!

Paperclip Found!!!

Oops!!

I have been meaning to put a blog together about our fabulous weekend away...but haven't gotten there yet. Turns out that when you take a weekend away, when you get back it means catching up at home and work!! I promise...it will come soon. It's not going to be that exciting so don't get your hopes up...but it will come.


In the meantime...Keira swallowed a paperclip yesterday. That's the oops part! I was doing some mom-chores...buzzing around the house until Quaid found me.


"Mom, you got to come and see this!!"


Mom lesson #1: That is NEVER a good sign...pretty sure I've mentioned that in previous post...but again...NOT a good sign.


I enter my office to find little miss monkey sitting on my desk with everything thrown around and she's pounding on my keyboard. Nice. I looked at her and she shot me this cheesy wide grin with a little giggle. Yeah she knew...and she was trying to pull the "i'm so cute, aren't I?" card. Not so much! At that moment I grabbed her up...a certain odor wafted up to my nose....

Up the stairs we went, I laid Keira down to change her she sort of gagged....and then I saw it! I small metal paperclip in the back of her throat. I immediately lifted her up and then saw her swallow. Strange look...swallow...strange look...swallow....strange look....swallow....giddy grin!

Down the hatch it went. My first thought was, "Oh well..it's just a paperclip." And then I got a little worried. There is kind of a pointy end...that could cause some problems. I'm usually a "it will heal on it's own" sort of a mom. My boys have a few scars that prove it...Stitches are after all only for cosmetic purposes, right? And they're boys...they need scars!

So lucky me I work at a hospital...so I made a quick call to one of the ER nurses. And she told me what I thought. If Keira seems to be doing okay, then she is okay. If she's in pain...something is wrong. So I am waiting...I do want to know it comes out...so until I have proof of that, it will be some entertaining diaper changes!!

I was telling someone at work my story and he says to me, "Well at least you know she has her s**t together!" Very funny.....

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Ava at her finest mothering moments....and Keira doesn't mind at all!!



Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Craft Day

I made a homeschooling goal this year to try and do "school things" like craft time. So I did a little shopping at http://www.orientaltrading.com/ (Mel you probably shouldn't look at this :) and got the kids some crafts. So here it is...
Little igloos with penguins...Cute huh??
And we made sugar cookies the next day and the kids got to decorate them. They thought it was the coolest.

And what does Keira do during craft time? If you take a look just to the left of Ava's head, on the kitchen table...from the bottom picture on up...you'll see her make her way right up to her favorite spot...that little monkey!!!

Friday, January 15, 2010

Nathan and I are going to the Pahl cabin this weekend...WITH NO KIDS!!!!!! I can't remember the last time we've been without our kids. One night last year...but we were at a marriage conference, up late and up early and only 1 night...that's not vacation....other than that...I honestly can't remember. Probably for my friend Tasha's wedding in Mexico...I was 7 months preggo with Ava...so even then...packed one along with us :) Friday 4pm until Monday lunch time...I am SO excited. We have a few friends stopping in through out the weekend which will be awesome. We don't see our friends very often either.

My mom is watching the kids and my sister Nancy...who has plans to take them to the MOA amusement park so that should bring about some stories.

So I'm off to a weekend of sleeping in, eating whenever and whatever I want, no one depending on me for the necessities of life. A weekend of friends, games, puzzles, and food!!!

I'll leave you with one last parenting tip before I throw it out of my mind for the weekend:

Fiber One Yoghurt - NOT a good snack for a 1 year old.

So I'm a morning person...definitely a morning person. NOT a night person. Which is sort of a drag because Nathan is a night person. After almost 7 1/2 years of marriage I'm still hoping that will change. Not that that has anything to do with this blog...but I'm just saying....I can hope can't I??

Anyway, my new work schedule has allowed me to be home more during the day...but that means working a few evening shifts. Night before last I worked 2:30-11pm. About 9pm is when I start to shut down...I grabbed for my coke to get me through the last few hours. Not that caffeine does anything for me...but I like to think it does.

Fast forward to the morning. I usually am up at around 5:15am...but not after I don't get to bed until midnight which is a good 3 hours past my normal bedtime. Sad I know...but I am 28...that's old isn't it??

It's 7:47...Ava comes in my room....

"Mom, can I eat?"

Like every good Mom, what did I say? "Not yet, I'm not ready to wake up yet. Go play or watch a movie."

So, out she went...we've trained them well :)

Then Quaid comes in 8:07..."Mom are you getting up yet?"

"Nope, not yet...go play with Keira." All while keeping my eyes closed and trying to stay as much sleeping as I could. By this point Keira is sort of making a little fuss because everyone else was up and she was still stuck in her crib.

Back to sleep I went but this is where I was really impressed with myself...I was fully dreaming but yet seemed to be fully awake and listening. I know because I was dreaming about being taken for a tour through this clothing manufacturer/retail store by none other than Bill Cosby, commenting on the huge bin of nice white socks that were going to be used as explosive carriers by the the Middle-Eastern folk (is that the P.C. term??) who ran the place...(It was a long night at work...don't ask!) All this while hearing the clinking of Lincoln Logs that my kids were playing with in the hallway, and monitoring their conversation to make sure they were all being nice to eachother...Pretty talented right?

Just then who comes plopping on my bed...Keira...hhhmmm last I checked she didn't know how to climb out of her crib...

Q: "Look mom...we got Keira out of her crib!!"

Me: "How did you do that?" (now unfortunately being fully awake)

Q: "Well, Ava jumped in and lifted her out and I grabbed her!"

Just then I see a giggly little girl who comes crawling across my bed turns and plops her bum right on my face, cheering herself along the whole way. Some wake up to fresh brewing coffee...not me...12 hour old diaper...Mmmmmmm that'll wake ya up!!

A: "Mom, the clock says 8...2...0...are you getting up yet??"

Me: "Nope, not yet!"

A: "Ooohhhh it's taking forever!!!"

The boys had made it downstairs by now running around the kitchen and the girls were on their way downstairs as well..

AAAHHHH sweet sleep once again...I was going to steal every minute I could! I close my eyes and start to drift back into dreamland...hoping there was something a little less disturbing waiting for me....

And then I hear from Quaid...

"Ohhh Jentzen...what did you do??? Keira!!!....STAND STILL!!!"

Yep, that was my cue....I guess they do need a parent!!

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Keira Shower

Seeing as how I have a bit of a Keira blog bug...I thought I would feed into it a little more...

I always thought that bathtime would be a time I would loved. Cute kids all sudsied up, playing with cute bath toys...laughing and giggling....

Turns out it's kids all wet, crying because they have soap in their eyes, crying because the water is too cold, or too hot, me bending over the tub trying to get them clean, water splashed all over the wall and floor, me getting my socks all wet. Brushing through snarled hair, kids shivering while the lotion goes on, crying because they can't get their undies on because their legs are all sticky, getting their heads stuck in their jammies because their arms are all sticky. Bath time is not my favorite thing to do. I do however love the smell of clean kids...so once in a while it actually happens. And I try to always arrange bath days on the nights I'm gone so daddy has to do it :) Don't worry...it's not a secret...I'm pretty sure he's caught on by now.

So to alleviate some of the cons about bathtime...here at the Walkington's we've started throwing the kids in our shower...sometimes just the boys, sometimes Ava and Jentzen...sometimes one at a time...no matter the combination...it solves almost all the problems...

no wet socks: the showers don't spray outside the door.

no water too hot or cold: it's got an instant hot water heater, so it never goes cold.

no soap in the eyes complaints: somehow it magically doesn't matter if the "shower" gets soap in their eyes, only when it's mom dowsing them with a cup full of water does it hurt.

no back breaking for mom: no bending over the tub...they are always standing.

Not all problems solved...but at least a few...but turns out this particular night, it created another...


Turns out Keira likes the shower as well. She was sitting on the floor outside the shower for awhile. I honestly didn't think she would go in. Turns out I was wrong! I turned to get something and in she went...She danced around the shower like crazy! Laughing and giggling the whole time...yep...in her clothes!!


Monday, January 11, 2010

Since Nathan posted his "Keira the climbing monkey" post (see his blog) I thought I would post mine...and by the way...anyone know where I can get a pair of sticky socks??

My baby girl went from just hobbling around to full forced climbing very quickly. I forget how fast they go once they actually learn they can. She **LOVES** to climb. When she was first learning to crawl, she crawled in everything...and when she learned to walk she climbed on everything.


This particular day, she must have climbed up there 10 times. She would get all the way up there and just sit and fuss till I came to her her down. Some would think she would learn her lesson that she couldn't figure out how to get down so she probably shouldn't go up there again. Nope...not so much. I would go in, get her down...and walk out of the room. Five minutes later I would hear her little fuss again, sure enough back up on her little perch yet again. Good thing I love her little sad whiny face or I might have been a little irritated with her!

But finally...she now knows how to get herself down!

Thursday, January 7, 2010

So my kids have not left the house since we got home from skiing...that would be on the 28th. It's now the 7th...you do the math...a LONG time!! They have been sick almost the whole time...on and off between them all. Just colds...nothing major...but still.

I'm not really one that will take her kids out with snot dripping out of their nose. It's gross...and that's how others get sick...and I know first hand what a pain it is to have sick kids. Most of all I get bummed when they have to miss things because they are sick...so in the effort to not pass it on to others...we've been home. We've done a few fun things at home to pass the time...more on that later...when I actually get the pics downloaded!!

And lucky for me...this whole week has been freezing cold...so they can't even go outside...TOTAL bummer!

Quaid asks every day. I told him when it's 20 you can go outside. So he looked early this morning and it said 16 on our indoor temperature thing. Then after lunch he checked again...20!!!

So sure thing...I bundled all three kids up and out they went. They came in after 5 minutes because their mittens fell off...Quaid was complaining because his cheeks were cold. I, being the compassionate mom that I am, "Oh it's just cause you're not used to it...back out you go!"

Then they all came in 10 minutes later..."Mom we're cold!!" This time Quaid sort of crying because his cheeks were cold. I figured it must be cold because Quaid LOVES being outside! For him to want to come in...it must be cold. I let them all come in after only 15 minutes. I checked the temp again. Now it said 28! Wow 8 degrees in 15 minutes!! Yeah that must not be right. I went to check the weather online....

Turns out it's only 6 degrees with a -14 windchill! Oops! Maybe mom should keep up on the weather forcast!

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

The day has come...I can't believe it...I knew it would come...but not so soon. It saddens me more than I thought it would...I thought I would be so ready for it...I'm not...Ready or not, here it is...

...I photographed all my baby stuff to sell!!

It is a sad day :(

But on the bright side...all the money I get from selling it, is going to be put in the family dirtbike fund!! If anyone would like to donate to that fund, I'm sure Nathan would be more than appreciative!

That fund needs to supply 1 daddy bike and 2 kids bikes with helmets and gear. So if anyone is in need of a breast pump or car seat....mine are on sale for $1000 each :) Any takers??

Monday, January 4, 2010

I learned a few lessons about eggs today that I thought someone out there might be interested in...Quick go get some paper...you might want to write this down:

1. An hour and a half is a little bit too long to boil an egg.
2. A 2 qt pan doesn't hold enough water to actually boil for a hour and a half.
3. When water boils, it actually turns into steam and evaporates away, and at some point, leaving none.
4. When you smell something burning in the kitchen, be sure to go check things out. It probably won't just go away on it's own.
5. When you continue to boil and egg with no water...it will get a nice shade of black/brown, and will actually burn right through the shell!
6. And if you have real special eggs...when they get hot enough...they will actually explode!!
See those awesome pieces of white all over my counter...yep...that's the egg...

And this...yeah well...that's the leftovers. Two eggs completely blew apart. America's next top chef...could totally be me!!
7. And the best lesson learned: exploded, half charred, rubbery egg whites make a great snack for a hungry 1 year old scavenging for food on the kitchen floor while mom is otherwise occupied!

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