Wednesday, June 30, 2010

This is just too cute

Ever have one of those days you would really like to take a nap? Yes that day was today for me. But unfortunately my kids do not take naps.

Well that was until William cozied up next to me on the couch. Then Harrison sat next to him. I look over and find them asleep! Why couldn't it be an hour earlier when I had time to nap?! Anyhow, it is just too cute to watch them cuddled up together!


Monday, June 28, 2010

Feeding the Ducks

The boys had a play date with their friend Addison today. We went to another "duck pond." It was almost a little too close for comfort. We were surrounded by ducks and they boys did not get scared.
Check out the size of this one. He is the size of Harry. He actually bit Harrison and Addison and they didn't flinch.
Addison actually tried catching them :)
And Will gave her a lecture about getting too close to the water.


Weekend recap with the Archers

It was a pretty good weekend at the Archers. Friday night we went to the Farmers Market and stocked up on fresh veggies and fruits. Afterwards we took the boys to Red Robin for dinner. It is a rare thing for us to take them to dinner. I think Red Robin is perfect since it is so loud with a lot of kids that we can't really tell if our kids are that bad :)

Saturday morning Scott went dirt biking. Of-course this is fun for the boys because they get to play with Daddy's helmet. Since Will was hogging his helmet, Harry was fine with a bike helmet.





Saturday night Scott and I went out on a date. We went to the Odyssey Restaurant. I knew ahead of time that the views were spectacular there and what did I do? Forgot my camera. After dinner we just walked the grounds. Then we went to play pool. I don't think I have played pool since college and it definitely showed. It was fun though.
Sunday wasn't fun at all. I woke up at 5:15am with really bad tachycardia. It was really hard to knock out. I took a ton of medicine and stayed in bed until after 1pm. I rested the rest of the day because I kept getting episodes. Finally I did get a break. I have a new appointment with a new cardiologist July 15th at Cedars Sinai and I am looking forward to getting more answers. I requested my medical records last week and have learned more than I wanted. There is a lot of stuff my doctor did not tell me. He only diagnosed with with two different kinds of tachycardia. What he never told me in addition to tachycardia was I had/have left atrial enlargement, right bundle branch block, t-wave abnormality and inferior ischemia, atrial flutter, enlarged right hilar lymph node, etc. The list is long. I had to look up these to see what they are and am really surprised my doctor never mentioned these things to me. I guess that is why I have abnormal EKGs. Anyhow, I am looking forward to a new doctor who will actually listen to me and answer my questions.

Bye Bye Braces

It's been four and a half months. William had his last appointment on Thursday. He has corrected his Achilles tendons more than anticipated and he is done wearing them! He got them off just in time for beach season. Way to go Will!

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Some things never change

William sleeping on the couch this week. William a few weeks old.
Almost three and a half years later and she is still so protective over him and Harrison too.

How can one little thing hurt so much?


Yes I took a picture of my foot :) See the little toe next to my pinkie toe? It is so jammed and bruised that it hurts to walk and it throbs. It looks all funky. Scott thinks I should go to the doctor but I always heard they don't do anything if it's broken anyway. It definitely hurts though. No tennis shoes for me today.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Busy day

We have been on the go all day. First we went to the gym. Then we went to the park to feed the ducks. We haven't been to this particular park for a little bit because they were cleaning out the pond. Well I guess most of the ducks left because there were only 3 there. But one of them had four little ducklings so that was exciting to see.
We had a little picnic in the park.

And then we played for a little bit before heading home.

We washed the car.
Not a bad job.
Yes I have had the same car for 5 years. I love this car and I haven't had any problems with it (knock on wood). My plan was to drive this UNTIL it died. Unfortunately I foresee us getting a different (I say different, not new) car very soon. I don't know why Chevy would make a car with child proof windows but not child proof locks. It happens all too often where one of us will be driving down the interstate and the "door ajar" alert comes on the dashboard. I feel like I am about to have a heart attack each time the door flies open on the highway. And I know the boys know how to get out of their carseats so for the safety of our children, I think we need to trade this one in.
Then we played in the sprinklers.
And gave Belle a bath.


I'm pretty sure my toe is broken. William smashed it and now it is shaped funny, swollen, bruised and it hurts like heck to stand or move it. Argh.

Terrible Twos? Definance? Lack of discipline?

Yep, I am sure it is all three. I'm pretty positive we have let these kids get away with way too much that they believe, "I am in charge" as William would put it. It is very exhausting. I am reading two parenting books right now and am grasping for help. I know Scott and I have both been bad about following through and disciplining correctly. I know the terms, "boys will be boys" and "it's the terrible twos" but I also believe that they have lost respect for us and I don't want this to continue. It may seem funny to read back on some of this one day but right now it is hard. Scott and I have really buckled down the last two days and are trying to gain back the control. I know it is our fault for allowing their actions. Here are some examples of a typical day:

1.

Action: SLAP (Harrison hitting William)

Me: Harrison, please don't hit your brother. That is mean and it hurts him.

Action: SLAP, SLAP

Me: Harrison, if you hit your brother again, you are going to time out.

Harrison: "I want to go to time out." Action: SLAP (Harrison hitting Will)

2.

William: "I just peed on Belle."

Me: "William, why would you pee on Belle. That is mean."

William: "Because I wanted to."

3.

Me: Harrison, please share your gatorade with William

Harrison's action: pouring the gatorade out on the garage floor so William can't have any




4.

Me: Harrison, please be careful with your granola

Harrison's action: Turning the package upside down on purpose.


5. "They" say to get down to the child's level and get them to look in your eye when disciplining them. I do that. I proceed to grab Harrison's head to get him to look at me. He closes his eyes.



These are all things that happened within ONE hour. Imagine the other 23.



Don't get me wrong, I love my babies and they have their good moments. Just lately there has been so much defiance that it is an all day struggle. Harrison is very violent and William truly believes he is the boss. I'm tired.

Monday, June 21, 2010

Happy Father's Day!

Yesterday was very relaxing which is exactly what Scott wanted and needed. He works so hard and never, seriously never, relaxes or takes time for himself. He took the day off of work Friday to get the church BBQ set up. He works late and then (this past month) has spent a lot of time at church helping me with the nursery. He works very long hours at work. Weekends are family time but he doesn't get "Scott time" very often. So yesterday he slept past 10am (and this is the guy that wakes up at 4am every day for work). And yes we missed church. I made a nice large brunch and Scott watched the race. Check him out. 3 o'clock and he is is pajama pants :) Good for you Scott. You deserve it. You are such a hard worker and a great loving father. Happy Father's day! Other cute pictures from the day: William found the baby doll I bought him when I was pregnant with Harrison. He was rocking him to sleep.
I went to check on Harrison before I went to sleep last night. I didn't see him in his bed. I found him in his rocking chair.
Of-course, Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there. Especially my dad who is a great father. I love you dad!


Sunday, June 20, 2010

Church BBQ

Yesterday we had our annual church BBQ. It was perfect weather and a nice day to fellowship. Here are some of my favorite pictures from the day.

Madeleine in the jump house. Harry with some left over food on his face.

A jump house full of children.
Harrison playing with Ballerina Barbie and Ken. Shh, don't tell Scott.
Taking a break from jumping to eat some ice cream. Notice my kids are too busy eating the ice cream to look up for the camera.

Monday, June 14, 2010

Watch out Kobe Bryant, you have some competition

*Not the best video as I took it with my phone after William squirted it with water. But check it out, they don't miss a shot!*

Friday, June 11, 2010

Just like Daddy

William wants to be just like his daddy. Every morning he asks for his tie and work shoes. This morning he asked for his work shirt but I didn't know what he was talking about. He then proceeded to get his "Farmers" shirt. I guess he thinks he can wear pajama pants to work though.
These are good pictures of their personalities. William, the wild one.
Harrison, the overconfident one who thinks he is the boss.

When they think Mommy isn't looking



Oh so cute. Good thing I only post pictures of their cuteness. And I'm glad with a day like yesterday I could see that in them. These kids are making me insane. I begged Scott to come home early yesterday and thankfully he came home a little after 5pm. After sobbing in the kitchen corner yesterday, I think they finally broke me down. Sometimes being a parent is hard. This stage is so hard and I really am ready for a break. So I locked myself in our room last night for a few hours to come out to find this...
I guess they worked so hard on driving me insane yesterday that they didn't have any energy left for their dad. And so it begins today. Furniture already being moved, slamming doors because Harry wants it shut and William wants it open, screaming, whining, crying, pushing, punching, throwing toys, closet on the the bedroom floor, not listening to the sound of my voice, etc. The list goes on and it's only 8:45am. Where is Super Nanny?

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Catching up with the Archers

I forgot to post this picture a while ago. We had the air mattress up while the Archers were visiting. The day they left, the boys decided to take a "nap." They pulled out their pillows and blankets. For some reason, I guess that means taking your shirt off. And of-course our kids don't actually nap so that is why I said "nap."
Scott took these pictures the other night and I love the sequence since it is in the matter of seconds.

Oh and I would like to suggest Topsy Turvy to anyone with a dog who takes the vegetables right before you are ready to get them. They actually work! Check out my tomato plant. I am so excited to have home grown tomatoes.


I haven't been feeling well. Today marks the third day of heart issues. It has progressively getting worse. I'm trying to manage my heart rate on my own with medication but yesterday I took more than I have in the past. My heart rate was 160 sitting down yesterday but I was able to bring it down here and there but not below 100. This morning my blood pressure was really low along with a high heart rate so I had to swallow a hand full of salt to help the pressure. I know I need to call my cardiologist BUT I really have lost all confidence in him. He doesn't listen to me and the times I tell him I have high heart rate, he tells me I shouldn't have it then. For instance: I have noticed that my heart rate is high when I wake up (before getting out of bed) and he knew that because they had to wake me up while in the hospital because my heart rate would spike when I was sleeping. That should not happen with the diagnosis I have. My diagnosis states that my blood pressure and heart rate are affected by standing up and exerting energy. The other time that is consistent is when I have a drink of alcohol, my heart rate goes up. My cardiologist's response was, "um, that shouldn't happen." I also asked him about a particular heart syndrome one of my doctor friends asked about and his response was, "well I haven't seen that in your tests but that doesn't mean you don't have it." So I really feel like he has given up on me. Today I am having shortness of breath so I am getting a little nervous.
On another note, our boys are going through every stage imaginable. William has serious separation anxiety issues with me. I cannot go to the bathroom without tears streaming down his face that I am leaving. You don't want to see the scene for when I actually have to leave the house. Harry is a short-tempered terrible two. William is a terrible three. Ugh, it has been really hard around here. They do not listen AT ALL! I thought it was just me and losing my patience so fast but Scott had them for two hours the other night and when I came home, I think he lost some of his hair. He told me he didn't know how I did it all day, he was going crazy after an hour. I know this stage shall too pass but if anyone has any ideas of how to discipline 2 and 3 year olds, that would be great. Better yet, if you can just tell me how to get them to hear me, that would be great.






Wednesday, June 9, 2010

My Little Genius

Yesterday I came out of the bathroom to find this...