Ahhh....summer is finally here and it feels so good! What a busy week last week was- packing up at both buildings I work at and scrambling to finish all the end of the year tasks. It felt so great to leave on Friday knowing that I was done and have the whole summer home with my kids to look forward to! We had a great Memorial Day weekend with lots of family time. We are all slowly getting over the nasty virus that knocked us down and enjoyed spending time grilling with family including my aunt and uncle and cousins from Wisconsin.
Jeff took an extra day off work today so he had a four day weekend and we loved every minute of it. Today it was BEAUTIFUL out all day so we literally were outside the whole day and loved it. Ella just had a blast playing on her playset. She runs and climbs and laughs so hard she can hardly stand up. She has had lots of playdates with the neighbor kids and is slowly but surely getting over her shyness. I looked at her feet outside today because she was barefoot and noticed she already has noticeable tan lines from her sandals. That girl is going to be brown by summer's end! It was funny today- we were sitting in the front yard with some neighbors watching Ella play and she was driving around in her little Cozy Coupe car. We told her she could drive it to our neighbor's Ahmed and Danielle's house and back which is just two houses down. She went all by herself down to their driveway and turned around and came back. Small little thing I know but I found myself thinking- wow she is growing up and becoming a little girl and not a "baby" anymore. I find myself having moments like that more and more often. It is SO fun to see her grow and learn but of course a part of me is nostalgic and thinking she is growing up too fast!
In other news, Brody had his four month check up and shots today. Man I hate those shots. Today was the first day of new protocol at our pedi's office and they have combined a few of the vaccines so instead of four injections and an oral, he only had to get two injections and an oral. Works for me! Less pokes makes everybody happy! I think my heart just about broke in half though watching him sob as she poked his chunky little thighs. Ugh that little cry just kills me. Sweet little Brody is just NOT a crier or fussy baby so to see him crying hard like that is awful. He handled them like a trooper though and was all better after a little cuddling from Mom. I asked the pedi to check his ears because now that his cold is getting better he has been having trouble sleeping the past few nights and had diarrhea. Sure enough, poor little man has an ear infection. :( So we are starting antibiotics and hopefully he will be good as new soon. Poor thing, shots AND an ear infection- he is really down and out. Bless his heart he is doing his best to be cheerful Big B though. Not fussy during the day and still full of smiles- just having a rough time sleeping at night and waking crying in pain.
Brody has grown almost 2.5 inches in the last two months- he is now 26.3 inches which puts him int he 90% for height! Where does he get that height from? My bets are on his Uncle Jason :) He weighs 14 lbs 6 oz so 39% for weight. I weighed him at home last week and he was 15 lbs even so he has lost a little with this illness. Hopefully he will be gaining back again soon! Head circumference is 43%. We got the go ahead to try rice cereal when we feel comfortable so we will give it a try sometime here soon. Other than that B is meeting all his milestones- rolling both ways, babbling, smiling- just an amazing little guy!
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Colds, Playset and Elmo!
Its been a busy week in the Grinstead house and a bit of a tough one, health wise. It started off with Ella who came home from the sitter last Thursday covered in a rash that would come and go on her legs, arms, face and back. She was otherwise acting fine but I called the pediatrician to see what they would say and they said there are tons of viral rashes going around and just to watch it and let them know if it hung around more than a week. Thankfully after a few days a few doses of Benadryl, her rash disappeared and was followed with a cold. We had several days of a major runny nose and horrible cough which led to little eating and Miss Ella just wasn't quite herself. A few days later, Brody boy woke up with a little gunk in his eyes and it seems he has caught the cold as well. Thankfully he did not develop a rash but has a runny nose and quite a cough. Bless his heart he hasn't stopped being a smiley little guy though and it hasn't seemed to affect his temperament as of yet and of course not his eating! :) Jeff has also been under the weather this week with a bad cold and cough so I supposed it was inevitable that I would get it too. Thursday morning I woke up with a bad sore throat and headache and just was SO tired. I chalked it up to a busy week but the sore throat kept getting worse and by Friday it felt like I was swallowing glass. I debated about whether to go to the doctor because I didn't want to waste the time if they were just going to tell me it was a common cold but at the same time didn't want to leave strep untreated and potentially expose my family. So I sucked it up and went to Doctor's Now on Friday afternoon as soon as my students left. Let me tell you it was not a fun experience. I waited in the waiting room for 1.5 hours!!! There were only two people ahead of me and I was told when I got there that it would just be a few minutes. UGH. The doctor's office was the last place I wanted to be on a Friday afternoon! They did the rapid strep test and it came back negative. Even more frustrating. However, the doctor said that he could see white bumps in my throat and that it looked and sounded like classic strep to him so he prescribed Z-pack for me. He said if the antibiotics clear it up within 24-48 hours then it was most likely strep. If not, then it is a virus. I was a mess on Friday night- just SO tired and run down and my throat felt like it was being sliced open. I took the meds and some tylenol and went right to bed when the kids did. Thank the Lord Ella slept all through the night and Brody just woke at 4:30 for a quick bottle so I was able to get some good rest and feel a lot better this morning. My throat feels a ton better.
I think one of the hardest things about being a Mommy is when you get sick. Knock on wood, besides the hyperemesis with Brody I am generally usually healthy but man, when I get sick it is just SO hard. There have been days when all I want to do is crawl into bed and sleep for 2 days straight but I have two little ones that need me so I kind of have to put my needs on the back burner. Thankfully Jeff is so wonderful and steps in to help out a ton but he can't do it all and my Mommy guilt kicks in when I am spending time away from them. The good news is, cuddles from my babies are some of the BEST medicine! :)
In other news, Ella's "park" is almost done! It is finished enough for her to play on it and she is having a blast. She loves to climb up the different climbers as fast as she can and go down the slide on her belly! I love seeing her stand on the bridge and wave at me with a huge grin on her face! Jeff installed the steering wheel and telescope this week so she is having fun with those. He is outside with my dad right now working on the tube slide so hopefully that will be finished up soon. I also plan to pick up the baby swing when I go get groceries later today so then Big B can play too!
Ella, my mom and I also went to Elmo Live this morning at Wells Fargo. Ella had an absolute blast. We took her last year and she enjoyed it but this year she was much more excited and into it! My dad got us awesome seats- second row in the aisle so we were so close to the stage and Ella even got to touch two of the characters when they came down to dance. She was grinning from ear to ear and bouncing around on my lap to the music. What a fun morning! To make it even better, when we got home, Jeff had cleaned the whole house and it looked awesome! Thanks honey!
One more week of school to go and then we are DONE for the summer! Yay! It will be a busy week of packing up all my stuff (moving rooms) and keeping all the students who are pretty much "checked out" occupied and on task for the next five days. I can't wait until Friday when we can celebrate! I am looking forward to spending the next few months at home with Brody and Ella! Looks like we will be spending lots of time outside :)
I think one of the hardest things about being a Mommy is when you get sick. Knock on wood, besides the hyperemesis with Brody I am generally usually healthy but man, when I get sick it is just SO hard. There have been days when all I want to do is crawl into bed and sleep for 2 days straight but I have two little ones that need me so I kind of have to put my needs on the back burner. Thankfully Jeff is so wonderful and steps in to help out a ton but he can't do it all and my Mommy guilt kicks in when I am spending time away from them. The good news is, cuddles from my babies are some of the BEST medicine! :)
In other news, Ella's "park" is almost done! It is finished enough for her to play on it and she is having a blast. She loves to climb up the different climbers as fast as she can and go down the slide on her belly! I love seeing her stand on the bridge and wave at me with a huge grin on her face! Jeff installed the steering wheel and telescope this week so she is having fun with those. He is outside with my dad right now working on the tube slide so hopefully that will be finished up soon. I also plan to pick up the baby swing when I go get groceries later today so then Big B can play too!
Ella, my mom and I also went to Elmo Live this morning at Wells Fargo. Ella had an absolute blast. We took her last year and she enjoyed it but this year she was much more excited and into it! My dad got us awesome seats- second row in the aisle so we were so close to the stage and Ella even got to touch two of the characters when they came down to dance. She was grinning from ear to ear and bouncing around on my lap to the music. What a fun morning! To make it even better, when we got home, Jeff had cleaned the whole house and it looked awesome! Thanks honey!
One more week of school to go and then we are DONE for the summer! Yay! It will be a busy week of packing up all my stuff (moving rooms) and keeping all the students who are pretty much "checked out" occupied and on task for the next five days. I can't wait until Friday when we can celebrate! I am looking forward to spending the next few months at home with Brody and Ella! Looks like we will be spending lots of time outside :)
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Random post on finding out sex of the baby
Today Jeff and I were hanging out with the kiddos and talking about how lucky we are to be blessed with our beautiful girl and sweet baby boy. Jeff was asking me if I remembered that moment in the delivery room when he told me we had a little boy and it brought back memories of that amazing day and moment. It got me thinking about our reasons for not wanting to find out the sex before our babies were born and how strange that seemed to most people since it seems like the majority of parents find out the sex ahead of time these days.
For us, we felt that there are so few surprises left in life that we wanted to hold out until the end. Many argue that "its a surprise no matter when you find out" which I definitely think is true, however, I honestly believe that nothing can top the experience of finding out the sex of your newborn child amongst the other emotions of becoming a parent. The added anticipation of nine months of wondering, guessing and hoping all built up to that one moment in which my husband was able to hand me my newborn baby and tell me first "It's a GIRL!" and the next time "It's a BOY!" I truly cannot put into words the emotion and overwhelming love that we both felt at that special time.
In my case, both pregnancies resulted in upwards of ten ultrasounds and ended in inductions so we had many sneak peeks at our little ones and ended up knowing exactly when they were coming so we enjoyed having the surprise of not knowing whether we would be holding a baby boy or baby girl in our arms as we pulled up to the hospital for our scheduled inductions.
Others will say that they were able to bond better with their unborn child after knowing whether it was a boy or a girl. I suppose I cannot really comment on this since I only have my experience, but I feel as though I was able to bond with my little ones just as much without knowing their genders. To me, bonding was feeling those sweet little kicks and hiccups and noticing the little knees and elbows as they shifted and rolled.
The planner in me of course would have benefitted from being prepared when baby arrived with gender specific clothes and accessories had we known the sex but you know, we received SO many gifts of clothing once our kiddos were born that this really wasn't an issue. In fact, even if we had known Ella was going to be a girl, we would have had to run out and buy new clothes after she was born anyway because she wasn't able to fit into newborn sizes and needed all preemie clothing for the first month. So much for planning! :)
I guess all I want to say is that I am SO glad that we chose to wait to find out what we were having. Those precious memories that Jeff and I shared immediately after delivery upon learning that we were blessed first with a beautiful daughter and then an amazing son are memories that I will treasure always. I truly believe that there will be very few moments if any in our lives that will rival the intensity and pure joy that we experienced on those special days. For us, the outcomes were absolutely perfect and we wouldn't have it any other day. We were so blessed with our two little surprises. :)
For us, we felt that there are so few surprises left in life that we wanted to hold out until the end. Many argue that "its a surprise no matter when you find out" which I definitely think is true, however, I honestly believe that nothing can top the experience of finding out the sex of your newborn child amongst the other emotions of becoming a parent. The added anticipation of nine months of wondering, guessing and hoping all built up to that one moment in which my husband was able to hand me my newborn baby and tell me first "It's a GIRL!" and the next time "It's a BOY!" I truly cannot put into words the emotion and overwhelming love that we both felt at that special time.
In my case, both pregnancies resulted in upwards of ten ultrasounds and ended in inductions so we had many sneak peeks at our little ones and ended up knowing exactly when they were coming so we enjoyed having the surprise of not knowing whether we would be holding a baby boy or baby girl in our arms as we pulled up to the hospital for our scheduled inductions.
Others will say that they were able to bond better with their unborn child after knowing whether it was a boy or a girl. I suppose I cannot really comment on this since I only have my experience, but I feel as though I was able to bond with my little ones just as much without knowing their genders. To me, bonding was feeling those sweet little kicks and hiccups and noticing the little knees and elbows as they shifted and rolled.
The planner in me of course would have benefitted from being prepared when baby arrived with gender specific clothes and accessories had we known the sex but you know, we received SO many gifts of clothing once our kiddos were born that this really wasn't an issue. In fact, even if we had known Ella was going to be a girl, we would have had to run out and buy new clothes after she was born anyway because she wasn't able to fit into newborn sizes and needed all preemie clothing for the first month. So much for planning! :)
I guess all I want to say is that I am SO glad that we chose to wait to find out what we were having. Those precious memories that Jeff and I shared immediately after delivery upon learning that we were blessed first with a beautiful daughter and then an amazing son are memories that I will treasure always. I truly believe that there will be very few moments if any in our lives that will rival the intensity and pure joy that we experienced on those special days. For us, the outcomes were absolutely perfect and we wouldn't have it any other day. We were so blessed with our two little surprises. :)
Rain, Rain Go Away
What a yucky, rainy weekend this has been! We got so spoiled the previous week with 80+ degree temps and this 50 degrees and rainy stuff is a shock to the system! I guess that's Iowa weather for you huh? Well, another week down at work and just two short weeks to go. Ten days to be exact. :) Right now ten days sounds like forever since the kids at work have definitely been challenging as the school year draws to a close. I think this will probably be the toughest week to get through and then next week should hopefully go pretty quickly!
This weekend has been a really busy one so far. Busy weekends are fun but boy they drain me. I need my relaxation time :) Jeff and his Dad worked on the playset some more this weekend and it is almost finished! It looks so great! Both treehouse forts are completely up and are connected by a cool wooden bridge. There is an arch climber with different sized holes which I thought would be too hard for Ella but she is a pro! Then there is a regular ladder and a faux stone climber. We have one slide up and one more slide to install. The swing and glider are also up and we just need to go pick up a baby swing. Ella LOVES it. She loves to ride on her glider and is all smiles. I love seeing her so happy! It has been a bit stressful as the playset has taken quite a bit longer than we anticipated and there have been a few bumps in the road but it will all be SO worth it!
Yesterday while the boys were working on the playset, I worked on cleaning, dishes and laundry. Things sure do pile up now that I am back at work but I was able to get the house back into order at least for the most part! Then last night Jeff and I headed to the wedding of a family friend in Newton while my parents watched the kiddos. When we got home Ella was bouncing off the walls haha but at least Brody boy was in bed. What a good little man. In fact, he went down at 7:15 PM and woke at 5:45 to eat and is still asleep now at 8 AM. Must have been tired poor guy!
I am always amazed at how much the kids grow and change each week. Even Ella seems to learn new words and skills almost daily! Her new thing now is to tell us she needs something "RIGHT NOW" (oh so politely) or to stop what she is doing and say "Hey! Wait a minute! What's that?" She is too darn funny and too smart for her own good we think. :) And then there is B. Still as laid back as ever. Our sitter tells us she hardly knows he is there he is so good. He has been a little roller lately, mostly from back to tummy but yesterday he started doing tummy to back more. It won't be long before he is rolling all over the place!
Well I was hoping for a day of relaxation and playing outside but the weather isn't looking too great. So we will probably get groceries and do some playing in the basement! Here's to hoping another work week goes by quickly- this mama is looking forward to summer!
This weekend has been a really busy one so far. Busy weekends are fun but boy they drain me. I need my relaxation time :) Jeff and his Dad worked on the playset some more this weekend and it is almost finished! It looks so great! Both treehouse forts are completely up and are connected by a cool wooden bridge. There is an arch climber with different sized holes which I thought would be too hard for Ella but she is a pro! Then there is a regular ladder and a faux stone climber. We have one slide up and one more slide to install. The swing and glider are also up and we just need to go pick up a baby swing. Ella LOVES it. She loves to ride on her glider and is all smiles. I love seeing her so happy! It has been a bit stressful as the playset has taken quite a bit longer than we anticipated and there have been a few bumps in the road but it will all be SO worth it!
Yesterday while the boys were working on the playset, I worked on cleaning, dishes and laundry. Things sure do pile up now that I am back at work but I was able to get the house back into order at least for the most part! Then last night Jeff and I headed to the wedding of a family friend in Newton while my parents watched the kiddos. When we got home Ella was bouncing off the walls haha but at least Brody boy was in bed. What a good little man. In fact, he went down at 7:15 PM and woke at 5:45 to eat and is still asleep now at 8 AM. Must have been tired poor guy!
I am always amazed at how much the kids grow and change each week. Even Ella seems to learn new words and skills almost daily! Her new thing now is to tell us she needs something "RIGHT NOW" (oh so politely) or to stop what she is doing and say "Hey! Wait a minute! What's that?" She is too darn funny and too smart for her own good we think. :) And then there is B. Still as laid back as ever. Our sitter tells us she hardly knows he is there he is so good. He has been a little roller lately, mostly from back to tummy but yesterday he started doing tummy to back more. It won't be long before he is rolling all over the place!
Well I was hoping for a day of relaxation and playing outside but the weather isn't looking too great. So we will probably get groceries and do some playing in the basement! Here's to hoping another work week goes by quickly- this mama is looking forward to summer!
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Happy Mother's Day!
Happy Mother's Day to all my fellow Mommies and Moms-To-Be out there! What a beautiful day it is outside! I'm feeling extra blessed today to be a Mommy to my two wonderful kiddos. They have completed my family and shown me how to love in ways I didn't even know possible!
Today got off to a great start with both Brody and Ella sleeping in and Jeff bringing me breakfast in bed. Then when Ella got up she brought me a sweet card she and her Daddy had picked out that had a gift certificate for a much needed massage! I can't wait to use that! This is the first year that Ella has been able to say "Happy Mother's Day Mommy" and it was so sweet to hear those words and get the best hug and kiss from my favorite little girl! Later, Ella and I had a girls brunch with my mom, grandma, aunt and great aunt at Legends. Ella sat like a little lady and it was fun to be able to include her in the tradition while Daddy and B had boy's time at home.
I survived my first week back to work last week- one week down, three weeks to go until summer! Like I told Jeff, I honestly think the dread leading up to going back to work was worse than actually being there. Now don't get me wrong, it was still SO hard to leave my little man for the first time but I felt good knowing that he would be in wonderful hands with Pat and having his sister there with him also made me feel better. Work is SO busy that I really don't have much time to dwell on missing the kids and being sad and honestly before I know it the day is over and its my favorite time- time to pick up the kiddos at daycare. Brody had an awesome week last week and fit in great with his new friends. Now I just need to make it through these next few weeks and it is summer vacation- woo hoo!
In other news we have a bit of construction going on around here. Daddy is building the kids a playset in the backyard! Yay! Thankfully we have some great friends, family and neighbors who are pitching in to help since this is quite the project. It is slowly but surely coming along and I can't wait until it is ready and Ella can play on it. This little girl LOVES the park so she is ecstatic that she is going to have her own "park" in her backyard! The hard part has been trying to explain to her that its not ready to play yet because she sees it outside and wants to play so bad. Hopefully soon! I think she and I will have a lot of fun out there this summer while her brother is sleeping and it won't be long before Big B is out there climbing right along with her!
I will leave you with one of my favorite quotes about motherhood- this one pretty much sums it all up!
"Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body." ~Elizabeth Stone
Today got off to a great start with both Brody and Ella sleeping in and Jeff bringing me breakfast in bed. Then when Ella got up she brought me a sweet card she and her Daddy had picked out that had a gift certificate for a much needed massage! I can't wait to use that! This is the first year that Ella has been able to say "Happy Mother's Day Mommy" and it was so sweet to hear those words and get the best hug and kiss from my favorite little girl! Later, Ella and I had a girls brunch with my mom, grandma, aunt and great aunt at Legends. Ella sat like a little lady and it was fun to be able to include her in the tradition while Daddy and B had boy's time at home.
I survived my first week back to work last week- one week down, three weeks to go until summer! Like I told Jeff, I honestly think the dread leading up to going back to work was worse than actually being there. Now don't get me wrong, it was still SO hard to leave my little man for the first time but I felt good knowing that he would be in wonderful hands with Pat and having his sister there with him also made me feel better. Work is SO busy that I really don't have much time to dwell on missing the kids and being sad and honestly before I know it the day is over and its my favorite time- time to pick up the kiddos at daycare. Brody had an awesome week last week and fit in great with his new friends. Now I just need to make it through these next few weeks and it is summer vacation- woo hoo!
In other news we have a bit of construction going on around here. Daddy is building the kids a playset in the backyard! Yay! Thankfully we have some great friends, family and neighbors who are pitching in to help since this is quite the project. It is slowly but surely coming along and I can't wait until it is ready and Ella can play on it. This little girl LOVES the park so she is ecstatic that she is going to have her own "park" in her backyard! The hard part has been trying to explain to her that its not ready to play yet because she sees it outside and wants to play so bad. Hopefully soon! I think she and I will have a lot of fun out there this summer while her brother is sleeping and it won't be long before Big B is out there climbing right along with her!
I will leave you with one of my favorite quotes about motherhood- this one pretty much sums it all up!
"Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body." ~Elizabeth Stone
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