meet Weston!

We would like to introduce you to a new name you’ll be seeing pop up on my blog in the next year, Weston!
Our favorite little childcare kid, Sam, is having a blast with his mom and new brother Jack. We were so sad our time with him ended and I really thought there was no way I’d ever find another single kid who only needed care for a few days a week.  And then God landed 2 potential jobs in my lap.

Someone posted on Chambana moms that they were looking for part-time care and people were posting suggestions for lots of centers.  I put my info out there saying if they were looking for in-home care, I’d love to chat.  Rachel emailed me quickly as did another family who saw the post.  We met with the other family who needed care for a 1 year old, 3 days a week.  While he was adorable and the mom and I had very similar styles of parenting, I was pretty nervous about his age.  And I really would prefer the majority of the school week be with my kids (3 days vs 2).  So I was thrilled that Rachel and her husband, Dane wanted to meet.They came over and Weston played with the kids and we all chatted about every issue under the sun.  Then on Thursday, Weston came over for a “trial run” while his mom worked in her classroom.  It couldn’t have gone better.  He played so well with Owen and Ellison and is such a sweetie. He loves a good art project like my kids. And who doesn’t love some outside play time? And the kid sleeps.  Hallelujah.All in all, it was a great first day.  We’ll be getting to hang out with this sweet little guy on Tuesdays and Fridays.  I’m so thankful I’ll be able to help add to our budget while still just hanging at home with my kiddos.
 

Casey’s Birthday Weekend

This past weekend, we packed up and headed to Peoria to help celebrate my brother Casey’s birthday!  He flew in from Colorado and we were excited to see him, Philip and Kara, and my folks.  We got there mid-morning and just had a fun time hanging out. The kids had a blast playing in the basement, running naked in the hose outside and feeding the cows. Oh and just being crazy.The parental units made an amazing dinner for Casey us.Then we finally got to the part Owen was waiting for, Cake and presents. 
Owen was pretty concerned that Casey didn’t get any presents to open, just cards.  Welcome to adult life buddy. We made the mistake of thinking Owen and Ellie could possibly sleep in the same room together.  Parent FAIL.  I guess we should have known that putting 2 terrible sleepers together is just going to result in more terrible sleep.  So somewhere in the middle of the night, we divided and conquered.  Ellie came and slept with me (and Miles) and William slept with Owen.Sunday morning we finally got a picture of my parents and the kids.  That’s been a long time coming.  I took about 40 and this was the best. :) We had a great time at their church, the Vineyard Church Peoria and after a quick lunch, got on the road.  The kiddos were asleep before we got on the highway.When we got home, we finally got around to something we’ve been talking about doing. . .making Ellie’s crib into a toddler bed.  As you can tell, she was thrilled!It really hasn’t done much to make sleep better or worse this week which I guess I should be thankful for.  Of course we’ve had a few more things to clean up as she now loves to pull books off her bookshelf and take shoes out of drawers.  And one night, she did walk downstairs in the middle of the night looking for me.  But other than that, we’re on our way to true toddler-hood.  Next up: paci only at night and maybe potty training?  Lord help us.

B&N Frozen Event

Today we decided to have an outing after naps (rare for us) and we headed to Barnes and Noble for their Frozen event.  It was billed as super fun thing for kids and I thought there would be a few more characters present.  It wasn’t a glamorous event by any means, but the kids did awesome and it’s always fun to get out and about.At the first table, they poured what looked like salt into a cup.  Owen got to dump in water and it turned into “snow.”  They go to play with it in pans and bury animals and such.  Then, we build snowman (Olafs) with glitter playdoh.We cut out some snowflakes and hung them up on the little stage area.  Of course, we had to belt out some Frozen tunes while on the stage! They were so awesome that when Owen asked for a treat while we were leaving, I had to oblige. :) It was a fun way to ruin our dinner. :)

Curtis Orchard

This week has been unseasonably cool and so one morning we decided to head over to Curtis Orchard for our first trip of the season!  This place is about 5 minutes from our house and just about perfect for an outing.  Free play spaces, kitties to hold, goats to feed, and yummy donuts to share.   There was only 1 or 2 other families there when we went, so we basically had free run of the place.  I also had some tokens left from last season, so the kids got to play in the mini-golf/park area.  Owen was also very excited that they had fixed the train that moves around the dining area. (for a quarter :)

Looking forward to many more trips as fall nears!  

flood!

Whew is all I have to say after last weekend.

The fun began on Friday afternoon.  I drove the kids to Bloomington to meet my parents at a McDonald’s.  We ate and played in the nice (seriously one of the nicer Mickey D’s I’ve been to) kid area.  We switched cars and then I drove home with just this guy:Saturday morning I was enjoying my coffee that hadn’t been warmed up several times, cuddling with Miles, and reading a book.  It was pouring outside and even when our phones went off with a flood alert, I wasn’t too worried.  Until William disappeared in the basement and then came up to say he needed help.  The sump pump was starting to not keep up with the amount of water that was coming in.  So we started shoveling buckets across the room into the shower.

We realized the storm drain where it pumps to was flooded by many feet of water, so the water we were pumping out had no where to go. I drove as fast as I could to Awesome Machines down the road and we rented a pump with a hose that we put out the window. By the time I got back, our storage area and William's tiled office were covered in water. But with the pump and towels I think we saved our new carpet. It's wet all the way around the edge of the room but we have fans going and rented a wet vac that we used several times.  With the dehumidifier as well, I think we’re all good now.  It was SO not how we wanted to spend kid-free time, but at the same time I'm glad they were out of the way.

We were also excited that it opened some doors with our neighbors.  Many lost a lot more than we did.  The couple across the street asked William to help move furniture and they let us borrow their dehumidifier until ours arrived.  They were super thankful and I hope that through the bad stuff we can chat more often!
We did get a pre-anniversary dinner out and also went out to breakfast the next morning.  Miles slept through both so it was super nice.  We drove back to Bloomington and met at Avanti’s (yum)!  Despite the basement craziness it was refreshing having a short break from the big kids.

I obviously didn’t take any pictures of the middle of the flooding, but here’s some aftermath pics:

the hose going out the window that saved it

ok, so you can't really even see the water, but it's there

doctor's visit and the pool

This week, we had a crazy early doctor appointment for Owen and Miles.  Seriously, why did I schedule that at 8?!  Owen was a total disaster and cried for everything, getting on the scale, getting measured, blood pressure, etc.  This then caused Ellie to cry and then Miles got in on it.  Fun times.  The only thing I remember is that Miles was 13 pounds even.  90-something percentile.  Big boy!  He has terrible goopy eyes but they don’t do anything about the clogged tear ducts until he’s a year.  Hopefully it won’t be that long.

Miles also has a umbilical granuloma.  It’s basically a piece of tissue that stays on your baby's bellybutton after the umbilical cord falls off. Rather than getting covered with skin as it heals, there is a red tissue on the bellybutton.  They use silver nitrate to essentially “burn” it away since it doesn’t have any nerve endings.  I didn’t really consider asking more questions before Dr. Melvin did it.  While it worked for the top of granuloma, the bottom will need more silver nitrate.  And because he was moving so much, the silver nitrate got on parts of his belly button and stomach.  He cried a lot more than normal that day/night so he was probably in pain.  Felt like an awful momma.  A little googling just suggested putting Vaseline everywhere before the silver nitrate is applied to protect it.  We'll do that before he gets the rest of it removed.After the doctor, we headed right to the pool.  Avery once again was a huge help holding Miles while we played!And a cute someone got a hold of my phone during snack break.  

brotherly/sisterly love

No real reason for this post except for these cute pictures of Owen and Ellie.  While they fight and drive each other crazy, there are many more of these kind of moments.  So thankful they have each other.  And that I have them.

And here they are playing on the steps and discussing the chapstick Ellie has in her purse and the color of polish on their toes. (yes, Owens' toes are painted)