We had a beautiful day here in Oregon, but I … I mean the bunny… hid the eggs inside b/c its been so cold and foggy in the AM and the eggs get all wet and nasty.

Kyle (just turned 6) is questioning all the mythology. I finally just said in answer to like the 100th question about all the logistics. “you can believe what you want to believe but your brother and sister still believe in the easter bunny (and tooth fairy and santa) and you need to let them keep that magic.” AND I’ll kick your butt and you won’t see your Nintendo DS for 2 weeks if you go around telling them that the easter bunny isn’t real. LOL! There must be some wild stories flying at kindergarten.

I bought the wrong PAAS kit. It had spackle paint and my kid’s hands are all dyed green and blue from it. Poor Evan was beside himself that he couldn’t get it to wash off (and god forbid mommy try to help him do anything these days, I send him out to the car 15 minutes before we leave b/c he has to climb in and buckle himself in the car seat and it takes forever. Huge fits if I do any part of it).

AHHH…. the joys of motherhood are without number.

Now who is going to eat the 24 eggs we dyed today???? Thankfully I have good cholesterol! I only hid 10 of them b/c I was worried they’d leave stains on my carpet. I don’t think anyone will notice.

Hope you all have a very good day with your families. I’m sick and feel really crummy, but my motherly duties for Easter are done in regards to the rabbit, so WHEW… and we have no family coming over… pretty easy!

Amy has learned to ride a bike on two wheels! When Kyle learned we went out front to ride bikes one day and he said “mommy take off the training wheels!” I went and fiddled around in the garage to find some tools that would work, took the training wheels off. We have a nice flat grassy side yard so I got him started there and we quickly were riding up and down the sidewalk. He was so ready to be on two wheels. The biggest thing they have to learn is to put their feet down when they stop. Pat came home from work and Kyle was zipping around on two wheels and daddy felt a little left out!

Unforunately we had a repeat. Amy declared training wheels gone! I took her to the side yard, daddy came home from work… I told him I’d let him teach Evan how to ride a bike! But when they are ready, they are ready, it doesn’t take much to get them riding. Daddy did get to help with learning a few of the other skills.

There are definately 3 steps to learning to ride a bike:

1. Balance and stop. They have to learn to put their feet down when they stop.

2. Turn, the training wheels make the turning radius much different, they have to learn to judge space and turn within it.

3. Start, I think this is the hardest, the have to learn to push off, pedal, and balance at the same time. Of coure the little kids bikes you can’t rotate the pedals backwards (because that’s breaking) and that makes it more of a challenge in some ways.

Amy has plenty of bumps and bruises from learning to ride, but she is so proud of herself! Here is my little Amy Belle zipping around the street!

We are way behind on our blog. Little Evan gave us a good scare by developing pnemonia. It started out as, we think, the flu. He is prone to the croupy cough and he woke up crouping one morning and we knew he was sick. But he kept getting sicker, spiking high fevers I couldn’t get down and just so lethargic. When he saw our family doctor…

Evan got himself admitted to the hospital! I will admit I suspected it was coming, he was so sick, and I had packed a bag “just in case.” You know that old murphy’s law, I figured packing a bag and being prepared would be a sure way NOT to get sent to the hospital. Our family physician is organized with an urgent care unit so he was able to send us downstairs for labs, a chest xray, and an IV infusion. They put him on Rocephin and he was dehydrated so he needed fluids. Our doctor was borderline whether to admit Evan or send him home with us to monitor closely, then they did a blood oxygen read on him and he was at 85%. Which got him a fast ticket to the the hospital.

We did three nights at our local small town hosptial and Evan just wasn’t getting any better, they did another chest xray and his left lung was almost completely occluded. He had been on some pretty heavy duty antibiotics so to see that he had made no progress was very scary. Our family doctor then made the call to transfer us up to Dorenbecher chidlren’s hospital in Portland, he just felt like we weren’t going to receive the care we needed in our small town hosptial.

Evan and I had an ambulance ride to Portland and he was admitted to Dorenbecher. And I have to say after 3 nights in our small town hosptial Dorenbacher was like being admitted to the Hilton. The staff and facilities were wonderful. Evan ended up having surgery to drain fluid off his left lung and they removed an abcess. He had a chest tube for 2 days to drain off his lung. When they grew out the cultures from his lung he ended up having MRSA, which would explain why he didn’t get better once admitted. The antibiotics he was on don’t cover MRSA. As soon as they got him on Clindamycinwhich covers MRSA he started to improve.

We ended up doing six nights at Dorenbecher and it was a happy day when Evan was released! Nine nights in a hospital is a lot and having my baby so sick. (I know he’s almost three but he’s still my baby!) He is up and running around and seems to have recovered from his ordeal just fine. And we are just now playing catch up with our lives too!

I can’t keep these in stock. Dura-Bib really is the best bib ever, if you don’t believe me order ONE and try it, you’ll be back for more. I found 4 was the right number to rotate through the wash and keep one in the diaper bag, etc… It snaps at the neck so baby can’t yank it off. The thick vinyl wears so well, and you can throw it in the washing machine or dishwasher! The snap together pocket catches droppings, but it unsnaps to wash off and store. And best off all these bibs are durable. Buy 4 for your first child, you won’t need more again any time soon. Mine lasted through 3 kids and got passed onto someone else.

Best of all FREE SHIPPING on the Dura-Bib within the domestic US.

I would have been shocked about it, but Kyle lost his first tooth when he was 4 too. Amy will be 5 at the end of march. Right around Christmas I was helping Amy brush her teeth and noticed that the bottom two teeth were wiggling, one of them quite a bit. And she got to wiggling it and poof! Within 10 days it was out of her month and she had her first tooth fairy visit. The other one is dangling (as you can see in this picture) and Kyle has a couple about to fall out too. I think I better go get a roll of presidential dollars at the bank. The toothfairy is going to be very busy at our house!

In honor of Amy Winehouse….

They tried to make me get a hair cut but
I said no, no, no.
Yes I’ve been blind, but what I can find
You wont know, know, know.

I ain’t got the time
And if my daddy thinks I’m fine
He’s tried to make me get a hair cut
I wont go, go, go.

I’d rather be at home with Mom
Shampoo can’t be so wrong
Cos there’s nothing, nothing from my hair mass
That I can’t learn from my train Thomas!

Didn’t get my diaper changed so much
But I know my hair don’t cloud my sight much

They’re tryin to make me get a hair cut
I said no, no, no
Yes I’ve been blind, but what I can find
You wont know, know, know.

I aint got the time,
only Lala and Dipsy need to rhyme
He’s tried to make me get a hair cut
I wont go, go, go.

The man said, why you think you here?
I said, I got no idea
Im gonna loose my hair?
So I keep my kicking feet near!

Said, I just think you’re too young!
Kiss me, yeah baby
And go have fun!

I’m tryin to make me get a hair cut but
I said no, no, no
Yes I’ve been blind, but what I can find
You wont know, know, know.

Did you know I hid my sippy cup
In a place that will make it just mucked up?
Mommy says pee on the potty
But I just think she’s being naughty.

It’s not just my pride,
You see my hair is so divine!

They’re tryin to make me get a hair cut
BUT I said no, no, no….

Amy got her ears piereced today. It was a spur of the moment type thing. Joann Fabrics is next to Claire’s and I went to Joanns to buy buttons and serger cones. Amy has been asking about having her ears pierced for awhile. A customer came by the other day with her 15 month old baby and the baby had pierced ears and that heighted Amy’s interest. So today we wandered into Claires and I said she could do it if she wanted to. I didn’t put any pressure on at all in any way.

Heck… I was 13 when I got mine pierced, and for awhile I thought about making Amy hold out looking at 13 like it was a magical thing where she could finally get her ears pierced. But I decided that she is a girly girl, she likes her bling, and there is nothing wrong with having pierced ears in this day and age.

I hadn’t even talked to Pat about it, was pretty sure he wouldn’t care (he didn’t). We went in Claire’s first. There was another girl probably 8/9 who went first and she didn’t cry or shout out in any way, and actually smiled between ears. Amy was still unsure, so we went to Joanns to take care of our business, came back out (they are next door to each other). I told Amy, you can do what ever you want. But if you want to get them pierced now would be a good time, I can’t promise we’ll always be able to do it on the spur of the moment like this. And she decided she wanted it!

Amy is 4 1/2. She had her 4 year old shots, which she handled about the same, except there was no proud moment at the end.. LOL! And she also got stung by a bee this summer. And I’d told her it didn’t hurt any worse than her shots or the bee sting. What I thought was interesting, she cringed after the first one, warranted, it does hurt, they got in the second one. (Thank god b/c they told me if she said “no” they couldn’t do the second one. She didn’t even come close to saying no in any way. Just was cringing b/c it did hurt.) The minute she saw her new bling bling ears in the mirror all fussing stopped, she was thrilled. In the car on the way home AFTER she’d figured out when she was going to school again (little show off) she said… PSHHH… that didn’t hurt. Pop in one ear, pop in the next… done!

LOL! That’s my girl.

I answered my own question in the previous post… do they even make actual “big wheels” anymore. Apparently they do!

Big Wheels

And best yet they are made in America… you could buy this for your child and hopefully it doesn’t have toxic plastic! AK!

Love the big wheel, may need to buy a couple this xmas. The kids would have fun on them in our cul-da-sac. Anything beats the list of Nick Jr. induced adverised toys I’m currently being asked for. YAK!

Easy Rider… Evan can ride a bike!

My baby has learned to pedal. We have the Fisher Price Rock Roll and Ride , our version is a little older but you get the idea. We inherited it from our neighbors. We never used the rock portion, though we would have b/c all three of my kiddos loved the plastic tiny tikes rocking thing… but we inherited the one we have metamorphised past the rocking stage. When I was 8 months pregnant, with Evan, and pushing Amy folded over on a trike, our neighbor took pity and give us the rock, roll, and ride, minus the rock, but with the roll. The handle was way too short, but much better than bending over! Hopefully the new model has a longer handle.

I was grateful for the push along almost ride toy, but the best secret was yet to come. This is the easiest thing for kids to learn to pedal on. I have so many mom friends with “big wheels” like this and there is just something about it that is very toddler friendly and they can learn to ride on it. Evan started doing the usual, fred flinstoning it around the patio, then feet on the pedals rocking, then going backwards, the POOF… it all clicked and he was racing around the patio. He has to ride this daily or he gets mad, we even let him bring it in the house because he’s been sick and it’s been so cold outside. He doesn’t bump into one wall (or that would be the end of that!).

Anyways… Mr. Easy Rider….

As you can see it’s been a well loved big wheel ride on toy. The irony of it all… the big kids love it too. I have to fend off Kyle and Amy and any playdate friends b/c Evan is very possessive of his bike “you no ride my bike!” They ALL love that darn big wheel. Do they even actually sell big wheels anymore, maybe they should!

Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus are the hottest concert even currently touring. I guess tickets are selling out in minutes so youngsters can get rockin at a concert with Hannah Montana. My friend Brenda who sells on ebay under the ID Swirlsandtwirls got the idea to do a set inspired by Hannah Montana. She did all the hard work painting these jeans and shirt. Then I finished it off with some sewn details. Amy loved this set and wasn’t about to take it off! We are offering it in custom sizing, if you’re headed to a concert maybe you’ll be needing this.

Hannah Montana Tribute Set