SARRRRAHHHHH

I have to admit, we seem to find ourselves hollering out the title of this post more than you can imagine. Sarah is a bit of a handful. She is like the energizer bunny on steroids. You just get her out of one thing and while you are cleaning up whatever mess she has created she sees an opening and gets into something else. She is tireless, even when the poor kid can barely breathe and is coughing like an 80 year old asthmatic. I know that kids are kids and they are all busy at this age. BUT- we have done this before, twice, and survived. I'm not so sure we'll make it through this one. This is different. She is destined to do something athletic, we are certain of it. The kid can climb, jump, run, somersault. The worst part of all this though, is she does not have any fear. She will fall right on her head, get up and do the same thing again, with more determination. Actually- this just happened yesterday during our visit to the pediatrician. I was trying to listen to the instructions on the home nebulizer machine when she managed to get up onto a chair and then dive off of it (trying to get to the examine table I think) and hit her head. I tried to console her, but all she wanted was to try it again, even with the tears running down her face.

So, today, Anna made the comment that Sarah's name actually works really well for her because we are always saying "ahhhhh" when she very nearly tips something over or manages to get the baby proof outlet covers off and is busily trying to stick Alex's star wars pieces into the outlet. So, thus, Sar- ahhhh. Hopefully she won't really think this is how her name is pronounced :)

Thou Shalt Not Clean

Do you ever just feel like you weren't meant to do something? Warning- this will be a bit of a whiney post but just keep in mind I got a whopping hour and a half of sleep last night and am really not in the best mood. Onto the posting......so, it's a very slow day at work today so I had the opportunity to take an extra day off. Doesn't happen too often so I took it with the intention that I would clean my carpets, catch up on my laundry room and tackle the death trap that is my storage room. Doesn't that sound like a fun day? Well, in hindsight it really would have been extremely fun. However, God had different plans for me today. At about 12:30 this morning Anna woke up screaming in pain. Her ears were absolutely killing her. We gave her ibuprofen and tylenol but neither did anything. She didn't sleep at all, just cried in pain. And so, I didn't sleep either. I was up and we were in the parking lot of the pediatrician at the opening time of 7:45. We found out as I suspected she had 2 very badly infected ears. One has a large blister on it and the other had actually ruptured so there was quite a bit of junk coming out of it. I got a prescription for her and we were going to Target to fill it when Chris called saying that Alex was complaining his ear was killing him. I had decided I would have to go home, pick up Alex and bring him to the doctor as well. On the way home, (going to wait for the Target stop til after the other appt), Anna threw up all over the backseat of the car. Not much I could do at that point so we just kept driving. Got home to find Sarah with the nastiest tightest cough. Decided I might as well take her with too. So, $60 in copays later, Alex has an ear infection, as does Sarah. Sarah also has neb treatments that she needs 3 times/day because she is wheezing. And so, we are home now (finally), it's noon and not only have I not actually cleaned anything....I now have a car seat and a backseat full of pink vomit (yogurt), a pile of puked on clothes, 5 new prescriptions, a shiny new nebulizer machine (yes we had to buy one) and a headache. I think the lesson God has taught me today is: Don't even think about cleaning up that mess- really, why bother? And so, I shall go now and sit on the couch with Anna who is still throwing up and attempt to assemble our new nebulizer machine. Anyone know a good maid?

Waitress, may I have another?

Really....who needs toys when you have picnic baskets?

Sarah Getting Ready

I think this could be a little hint of what is to come in the teenage years. I put this dress and headband on her and she spent about 5 minutes in front of the mirror. For Sarah- 5 minutes is an eternity- she barely has a 5 second attention span. I even had time to go and get the camera.

The World's Most Comfortable Couch :)

Megan is Married!!!

I know it's probably old news to some of you but since it was such a small ceremony I thought I'd share some pictures. Enjoy! (For those of you who don't know, Megan is my sister, #5 in the lineup to be exact)

New Year's Resolutions Part 2

So...in case anyone is wondering how I am doing on my resolution to try to be less crazy about the house being clean.....

I tried, I really did. I made it 14 whole days. Then I found myself crazily scrubbing out the kitchen garbage can at 10:00 tonight while trying to catch up on, well, almost 14 days of laundry. I've decided that a healthier resolution may be to figure out a way to work a maid into the budget........

On a different note, it seems that Anna has been washing her hands and Alex was watching cartoons this morning when I got up (NOT WWF Smackdown) so I guess they are doing a lot better than their mom!

The Many Faces of Sarah

Silly Sarah- otherwise known as, let's see how many crazy things I can do with food at the table that will make Alex and Anna laugh when they are supposed to be eating.....

Pleading Sarah- oh please please please let me over this gate, I promise I won't pull over the printer this time....

Pretending to Sleep Sarah- in her sister's bed of course :) Just because she knows she is not supposed to be in it, that makes it all the more enticing!

Actually Sleeping Sarah- a pretty rare picture actually- kudos to Juel for making this one happen :)

Serious Sarah- or as we refer to her as- "seriously plotting her next move"

BFF Sarah- Sarah and Jazz are pretty much inseparable these days. Could have something to do with the rate at which Sarah consumes and then drops food......

Non-Verbal Sarah- or....I've decided I will not talk until I can speak in full sentences so for now I will just point and make some type of gutteral whining noise and you better pay attention or I will throw an all out temper tantrum......

Sweet Sarah- all ready to cuddle with her favorite blankey and paci......

New Year's Resolutions

And here we are, 2010! We rang in the new year at home this year very low key, just us and the kids. Chris was the only one who actually made it to midnight, the rest of us turned in pretty early.

We have been talking about New Year's Resolutions and trying to explain to the kids what these are. Both Chris and I are sticking with the usual resolution- lose weight, eat healthy, make more time for ourselves, blah blah blah. The only other resolution I have made for myself is to not beat myself up so much over my dirty house. Truth is, I work full time and go to school full time amongst raising 3 kids. Something has to give and it won't be time with my kids or time for myself. Sorry house- you will be neglected. Not saying it'll be condemned or anything, but I just won't "redo" the cleaning Chris does and I won't insist that everything is picked up immediately. Clothes will continue to sit in baskets and I am going to try really hard not to stress out about this. I'll let you know how it's going. In the meantime, know if you visit our house in the near future, it will likely need attention, but as it is last on my list of many priorities, it will sadly be left out.

I thought you might appreciate the kids' resolutions:

Alex has decided in 2010 he will not watch as much WWF Smackdown. Yikes- didn't know he'd actually ever seen this show. He really needs to stop getting up so early and watching inappropriate TV. We do have parental controls turned on so you need a password to watch anything rated over PG. Apparently beating each other to a bloody pulp is considered mild enough to be included in this rating.

Anna's resolution is more practical. She has decided that she will start washing her hands after she uses the bathroom.YUCK!!! I swear we have taught both of them this important skill and I was positive she was actually doing this. Needless to say, I then spent all day yesterday scrubbing down the bathroom and clorox wiping all door handles in the entire house (needed to be done anyways, but this was the kick in the butt I needed)- so much for my neglecting the house resolution- yes I have already digressed but in the interest of health it had to be done!

Sarah, of course, does not understand any of this. I am going to guess at what her resolution(s) will be:
- Give up the pacifier. It has become somewhat of an extra appendage on her face lately and I know it will need to go soon.
- Ditch the crib. Yes, she has gotten out of her crib twice now, but for the most part she stays contained. We know this will not last long and 2010 will see the last crib in our house :(
- Learn to talk. It seems she has been too busy perfecting her climbing and jumping skills that she says very few words. We are both betting she will just start talking in complete sentences one day, just like her older sister did.
- Learn to climb up and down the stairs without getting a head injury. She is really good at going up, not so good at going down.
- Grow hair. She does have some but definitely not enough to put any cute bows or clips in- not that she'd leave them in anyways!
- Increase # of teeth in her mouth by at least 5. She has gotten 5 teeth since August. I'm guessing there are about 5 more ready to come through right now. She has started biting and got Chris really good on the arm the other day. Actually drew blood right through his shirt.
-  Figure out a way to strap herself to the dog so that when she climbs on and he stands up she doesn't fall off. Hoping she doesn't actually figure this one out but it is really funny to watch those two together.


In all, I'm sure 2010 will not disappoint. I will try to chronicle as much of it as I can. I will also be better about taking pictures- I've gotten rather lazy in this respect. Happy New Year!