Sammy and Helene's Birthday!

Motherly guilt moment.

Apparently I never blogged about Hannah's birthday. I don't even have pictures. As if the poor girl doesn't already have a middle child complex--I just realize this as I'm about to blog about Sammy and Helene's birthday.

We had it back in Pasadena at the Pirate Park. In my defense, it was a crazy day. And since I was the one hosting the party and making sure everyone had food and drinks and cake all while watching kids on the playground and then running a quick trip to Vons for more drinks because we ran out and it was super hot--and I had no one designated as photographer. 

Ugh. I'm a crappy mom. So so so so sorry Hannah. I'll make it up to you this year, I promise.

As you know, Sammy and Helene are 5 years and 1 day apart and since Helene is only three...I can still get away with a joint party. For now. 

Yes, we had it at Chuck E Cheese. Was there any doubt? It's easy. They do it all. They clean up. We just show up and hand out tokens to the kids. Done and done.

I'm 8!

I'm 3!

 

Birthday girl!

 Cake!

 More cake!

Yeah...I'm still a crappy mom...because that's all the pictures I have. 

sigh.

Happy birthday regardless kiddos!

Valentine's Day

Hannah and Helene have had that awful hacking cough that is uncontrollable and seems to linger forever. Hannah stayed home from church on Sunday (hence the pajamas in the photos) and Helene lasted for about 30 minutes of Sacrament Meeting. I swear, she wasn't coughing that hard at home and I figured I would take her and just not send her to nursery (she's still not thrilled about nursery anyway).

But then Sacrament meeting started...and so did her coughing. And it never stopped. Really. NO exaggeration. She coughed and coughed and hacked for 30 minutes straight. And people kept turning around or looking over to see. Some gave me "the look"...and I felt like the worst mom EVER. I finally texted Sam to come get her and take her home because I didn't want to load up all the toys, books and snacks that were unpacked and make even more of a spectacle by parading out.

Sam texted me that he was in the parking lot and I took Helene out. Just in time as she coughed/gagged/spit up some pretzels she was eating--right into my waiting hand. Third child. I've learned to anticipate it all. (Including the full on vomit in my bed at midnight that same night due to 2 more hours of uncontrollable coughing). So out she went into the van. I went back in quietly...just to have Sammy say in a loud voice "Hey! Where's the baby??" Thank you Sammy.

Despite the sickies, I was still a nice mom and we made and decorated heart-shaped sugar cookies after church. All the kids wanted to do was lick the frosting. I mean, we had a great time rolling and cutting out cookies--and they enjoyed decorating too, but that bowl had so many fingers in it that the bowl was almost licked clean.

And there were a lot of tongues licking frosting off the cookies as well. Needless to say, we didn't share them with any friends. In fact, I threw them away after the kids went to bed. Memories were made...right? We don't have to actually eat them. :)

I don't have any pictures from any of the parties at school on Monday, but I did manage to take a group shot outside of Hannah's classroom. Practically impossible to get everyone looking at the camera.

It's always hot in October (and other musings)

Why do I always seem to forget this fact? Maybe because we were spoiled last week with cool temps and some rain--a definite rarity in SoCal in October. It was 110(!) just two weeks ago, last week was rain and temps in the low 60s, and then back up to the 90s this week. Ugh.

I took the kids to the park on Saturday forgetting how hot Hamilton Park is and that there is no shade--and so we only lasted about an hour. Long enough to tire out Helene for a nice nap when we got home.

Yep. She's officially a toddler.
Ummmm....can you believe he is going to be SEVEN in 4 months?
How is that even possible?!

Her middle name should have been Sassy...and that's all I'm going to say.

Ok. No, it's not. Quick story (if you're on my FB, you've already heard it, sorry). So, the other day she points at my stomach and asks me "who's in your tummy?" I quickly replied "no one", but was truthfully was so speechless (i.e. offended) I wasn't quick enough to retort that it was her fault it looks that way since she was my biggest baby, coming in at 8lbs 9oz and 22 inches (no how clue how she even fit when I'm only 5' 3 3/4" and come on...like I'd really tell her that!) So anyway, looks like I will now be saving up for this.
Yes. That's my Diet Coke.
And yes, it's empty.

Can't you tell by the look of disappointment?
Speaking of Diet Coke.
Can I just say again how much I love the Arcadia In-N-Out? I stopped by for my daily Diet Coke before we went to the park, and got caught in the Saturday lunch rush. I was seventh in line, and the customer placing his order must have been ordering food for an entire soccer team. Ugh! It was going to take FOREVER. And then I get the sign from one of the workers at the "pick-up window" (its one of those old walk-up only In-N-Outs, for those who don't know) who is holding up my extra large diet coke and smiling.
Oh yeah.
Thank you very much.
So, I go the window, get my drink, quickly give them my money and walk away happy.
Totally made my day.

And while I'm making random convo here, I am so loving Mad Men this season. And if this picture posted on Facebook by my friend Farrah doesn't convince me to get back into the entertainment industry--nothing will.

Ummmm.....Yum. E.
(oops...did I just say that out loud?)
Seriously. She is one lucky lady.

More excuses as to why we are MIA on the blog...

So after a fun evening being crafty with Lexi...I was awoken at 2am to the sound of Helene vomiting.

And it all went downhill from there.

I will spare you the details. And while this is also a journal for me to remember...I don't think I could ever forget how terrible the next five days were.

Full of more vomiting, diarrhea, changing clothing, laundry, cleaning, whining, complaining, and yelling than I could have ever thought possible.

So the kids did a lot of this.

I love how he is the one smiling--and he was the absolute worst patient of them all.

Poor poor Helene.
This was a day she was actually feeling better and was over the vomiting and diarrhea. I got her dressed and left the room to get something, came back and she was just lying on the floor.

The older kids were complaining of body aches so I'm sure Helene had them too.
That face is so sad.

Remarkably, NONE of Valerie's kids caught it, nor any of the adults. Although Valerie and I did have a day or two of queasy stomachs, but mentally talked our way out of it by telling ourselves we weren't really sick. I did have one night where I had a slight fever and my entire body ached...but it was apparently nothing 10 hours of sleep couldn't cure.

Tuesday musings...

According to my Google Reader--everyone has been updating their blog today, so it guilted me into updating mine.

I got a Droid yesterday. Love it. But it totally feeds my internet addiction...so that's probably not a good thing. Look forward to more blog posts about parental neglect.

Sammy and Hannah have still not adjusted to the time change--Sammy especially.

It is driving me insane.

They both just lie in bed gabbing away, bothering each other, and finding excuses to get out of bed. I know...I know...ALL kids do that. But it's worse than ever. The earliest Hannah has fallen asleep since the change has been 9:00 and Sammy hasn't been falling asleep until 10pm or even 11pm one night. And they still get up between 7am and 8am.

So, you can imagine the grouchiness and whining that I deal with every. single. day. due to their lack of sleep.

Have I mentioned it's driving me insane?

Don't tell me to try Benadryl...doesn't work. Vicodin doesn't even work (it was given for legitimate purpose, Sammy's legs were bothering him). It didn't even phase him. Give me Vicodin and I am out.

Hannah has had 3 birthday parties in the past 3 weeks with another one scheduled for next Friday. Crazy. She is really excited about her birthday coming up in July...I just hope she doesn't expect a big to-do like the ones she's been to. The last one she went to must have run at least $600. No joke. Between the venue, the food, and the goodie bags...it was a little over-the-top. Needless to say, she had a great time.

Helene is still my angel child--just along for the ride. The poor thing is in the car probably more than she is at home on some days, and she just takes it all in stride. Very few complaints. She is walking/running e v e r y w h e r e. She is into everything and loves to eat everything. Yes, even egg shells out of the trashcan.

That habit needs to end. Soon.

I am so spoiled by her demeanor...we may have to just stop there and make her the last baby. I've been told "3 is a magical number" by many.

So, there ya go. A-somewhat-boring-but-it's-still-something update. I've got to get my blogging mojo back if you want more exciting posts.

Parenting Tip #1

This is what happens when you are on the computer
and, apparently, not paying attention to the baby.

I'm on my way to Mom of the Year.

Rainy Days and Mondays

We've been rained on pretty much non-stop since Monday.

Not that that's a bad thing. We need the rain in So Cal and it's been a nice change of pace. I just wish I could stay home in sweatpants, watching movies in bed curled up with my cats--and not driving around taking kids to and from school and making trips to Costco. I just kept telling myself that people who live in Washington and Oregon do this way more often than I do, so I can handle it for a few days. Yep--I'm a trooper!

Monday was MLK Jr. Day, so the kids were off school--YAY! Sammy has been wanting to go to a Clippers game for quite sometime, and since they had a day game for the holiday, Samuel and Sammy finally got to go.

The plan was for them to take the subway down to Staples Center, but it was raining so hard that I ended up dropping them off instead.

Hannah was feeling left out since she didn't get to go to the game (we all would have gone, but I couldn't find 4 tickets together on Ebay in a decent section--and I figured Hannah would get bored of it after a while), so I told her we would go do something fun of her choosing. So the plan was lunch at In-N-Out and games at Chuck E Cheese's. No big surprise there, right?

We ended up doing the drive thru at In-N-Out (along with a million other people) because it was pouring so hard there was no way I was getting the kids out. Lunch was yummy and even Helene ate a grilled cheese--yep, we start them young in our family. Then it was off to Chuck E Cheese's to meet up with Krista and her family for some games.

The girls had such a great time and it, surprisingly, wasn't too crowded (at least when we arrived). Hannah and Ally were really cute to watch. They would buddy up and do stuff together and then go their own separate ways and do their own thing. Even Helene took a little ride on one of the kiddie rides. Krista and I enjoyed chatting while consuming all the diet coke we could from the self-serve soda fountain. (Sadly, no pictures because I gave the boys my camera to take pictures at the game.)

Tuesday was back to school for all. It was kind of a hard adjustment since we played hookey for part of last week while Val was in town. Helene came down with a mild fever late Tuesday afternoon that turned into a 105.5 degree fever (!) by Wednesday.

Stupid Chuck E Cheese germs.

Totally my fault. I was a hand-washing nazi making Hannah wash her hands a million times, but didn't even think about Helene since she was either in a high chair or being held almost the entire time. Except for when she sat in a train ride for about 30 seconds--although I guess she could have caught it from the high chair as well.

Hannah finally had her very first haircut on Thursday. When I wash it, it's past the middle of her back and it's just gotten out of control and so tangled--it needed a good cut. There was some drama (was there any question there would be?) when Erika tried to get her over to the sink to shampoo her hair. The plan was to deep condition it so she could get the tangles out, but Hannah would have NOTHING to do with getting her hair washed. So back to the chair for some good old-fashioned hair combing.

Erika was so patient and gentle (unlike when I comb Hannah's hair) and while there was still some crying and screaming at the beginning--we managed to bribe Hannah with some chocolate and promises of horchata on the way home to get her to sit still and be quiet. It really turned out so cute!

With all the non-stop rain, there has been much Wii playing, TV watching, and cookie and banana bread baking...and eating...mostly by me.

You'd never know this little one was sick. Just look at that face!

She LOVES balloons!

Friday, all the Kindergarten classes at Sammy's school put on a "Popcorn Parade", based on the book by Tommy De Paola.

He was one of the chefs.

It was cute to see him up there and see him be so sociable with all his little friends.

That about sums up our crazy wet week. Looking forward to the sunshine this weekend and some outdoor time at the park.

Hannah's surgery

As most, or all, of you know, our family has had our share of surgeries. Sammy has had three, Samuel has had one, and now Hannah joins in the count.

We noticed a cyst on her neck in early 2008. We had it biopsied in August 2008 and it came back benign. A few months ago, I noticed that there seemed to be two more little lumps next to the original cyst. We went back to our ENT and she recommended taking them out.

So Tuesday, we went back to Good Samaritan Hospital to have everything removed. We had to be there at 6:30am (again) and surgery was scheduled for 7:30am. Just like our previous experience with Good Samaritan, the nurses were so great with Hannah and really took amazing care of both of us.

Good thing I brought some Princesses
with us to entertain her

She was put under general anesthesia and they put a breathing tube in as well, just in case. The surgeon said that the other two little lumps were two new cysts and that there were a few more that were below the surface, so she removed them all. The original larger cyst was actually a bronchial cleft cyst and went all the way up to her tonsils, so the doctor had to really dig to get everything out.

Hannah did really well in the post-op and the anesthesiologist and surgeon came by several times to check on her. (Again, way better care than at CHLA with Sammy!!) Her biggest complaint was about the IV in her arm and how raw and sore her throat was from the breathing tube. We went home around noon and Hannah immediately took to the couch to watch Cinderella and eat some waffles.

She hasn't complained of the pain much--really only in the hours when we first came home and that was more about her throat than her neck. And she didn't like the bandage around her neck either, but we told her that she was wearing a scarf just like a snowman and she stopped complaining about it.

She chose pizza for dinner and ate three pieces.

Helene ate two. Really.

We went back to the ENT on Wednesday to take off the bandages and remove a drainage tube--Hannah was happy to get her "scarf" taken off.

She went back to school today, her choice, and hasn't complained of any pain at all. So glad that everything went so smoothly and it wasn't a huge ordeal for her (or me).

Now, let's hope that we don't have any more surgeries in 2010!!

Post Thanksgiving sickies

WARNING: do not read if you can't handle vomit stories

So it all began Saturday afternoon when Sammy complained that his stomach hurt...and it's all been downhill from there. The stomach flu bug has officially hit us.

He started to feel better around 2am, so I decided that he and I could (finally) go to bed--we took a bowl with us, just in case. I was awoken at 3am by Helene vomiting all over me and the bed. By this time everyone is awake, so all we all head downstairs so I can strip the sheets off my bed.

I begin doing laundry and brace myself for a long night. As expected, Hannah begins vomiting at 4am. At this point, it's all I can do to keep the vomit bowls coming. Everyone seems to quiet down and stop vomiting around 6am, so we all head back to bed--with bowls in hand. We slept until 9am and went downstairs. Sammy felt okay enough to have some cereal and I gave Helene some Joe's O's (same as Cheerios, but better). Hannah ate some goldfish crackers and seemed okay. I was so tired and Helene seemed like she needed a nap, so Helene and I went upstairs to bed. No sooner did I lie down, then Hannah starts yelling/crying from the top of the stairs. She had thrown up from the top of the stairs, vomit was all over her and literally cascading down the stairs. Awesome.

No nap for me. I start the bath for Hannah and begin cleaning up the stairs. Note to self: never let Hannah eat Parmesean Goldfish if she has the stomach flu--the smell coming back up is positively putrid. Samuel has been at work pretty much the entire time this has been going on (he works double shifts on the weekends and is really only home for a few hours to sleep). I call him just for a little sympathy and then go back to cleaning.

I do the best I can with the stairs, but they are carpet after all, so the smell isn't entirely gone. And I then go upstairs to nap with Hannah in tow--and a bowl. Helene and I woke up around 3:30, but Hannah was still passed out--poor thing.

Samuel got home around 5pm and went straight to bed since he has to get up for work at 10pm and had been there since 11pm the night before. Everyone seemed vomit free and doing okay with food and drink, so we all went to bed at 8pm. I woke up at 10pm to get Samuel up for work and fix him lunch to take with him. Hannah also woke up and we hung out and watched TV for a bit and then went back to bed around 11:30pm. Fortunately, it was a quiet night with no one getting sick.

This morning, everyone was doing great. No complaints of stomach pain, no vomiting. I was still a bit cautious and only allowed the kids toast to eat. Next thing I know, Hannah is vomiting all over the couch and the floor and herself. **sigh** Back to the tub she goes and I do my best to clean up the couch.

Samuel came home from work early so I could go over to Danielle's and borrow her steam cleaner (I didn't dare take the kids anywhere in the van) to use on the carpet and the couch (thank you Danielle!) and to get a diet coke. When I got back, Hannah wasn't downstairs. I asked Sammy where she went and he told me that she went upstairs to nap. Sure enough, there she was passed out next to Samuel. Anyone who knows Hannah, knows that just isn't like her at all.


Here's hoping she's over it soon since it looks like everyone else is better now. I'm just glad that Samuel and I survived this unscathed. Or am I speaking too soon?

Trick or Treat!

Happy Halloween!

Our ward Trunk or Treat was pretty low-key compared to last year's In-N-Out truck visit. Admittedly, we got there a little late (we aren't big chili fans anyway), and was surprised to find no Trunk-or-Treat in the parking lot, but candy being passed out from the classrooms. At least the rooms were decorated, but it was really odd. Not sure why the change (not enough participation, I guess?), but I would soon find that to be a Halloween theme.

My battery died while we were there, so here are just a few pictures.

Hanging out, eating candy

Musical chairs
Helene so proud of standing on a chair
Halloween Night!
All ready to go trick-or-treating!

Yes, Sammy is a pumpkin. Again. For the third year in a row--what can I say. Every time I ask what he wants to be, he says "a pumpkin" and the costume still fits. A win-win, I say!
Hannah is Belle from Beauty and the Beast (thanks to Niki for letting us borrow the Belle shoes to complete the outfit). Thanks to Dana (click and scroll to the bottom post for her entire ensemble) for the hand-me-down Crayola Crayon costume for Helene.

Love it!

Sammy was a little eager to get the candy

So cute!
Hannah was mad that Sammy got to ring the doorbell
This house was a little too scary so Samuel went with each of them
Good thing Helene is so mellow, she sat here for the whole night.

It wasn't the best Halloween night as the kids were overly tired and cranky. Hannah had at least 7 meltdowns and wanted to be carried. Sammy's legs hurt after walking for a while and wanted/needed to be carried, but then Hannah would freak out because she wanted to be carried too. *sigh*

And it seemed like no one was home to give out candy. We went to the same neighborhood we always go to--and after an hour of trick-or-treating and at least 50 houses, we only got candy from about 15 houses. Not sure if everyone went out for the night because it was a Saturday or what, but after dealing with cranky kids, I decided we were done and we headed home.

Here's looking to next year when Helene will be walking!