Last night we had a babysitter so that we could get out on our own for a few hours. We're very lucky in that the young woman who lives across the street from us adores our kids and they feel the same about her (they actually ask me if I can have Joslin come babysit).
When we got home, we had the usual summary of events. It was so funny, though. Apparently they all sat on the front porch, and Joslin's mom came over to visit. They started talking about names for the baby (which, by the way, we have made no progress on). It seems Kemper sat in deep thought for a while, then decided he would name his baby brother Pocket. When Joslin asked him why, he said, "Because I always have such interesting things in my pockets".
In its favor, I'm pretty sure he'd never in his life meet another person who shares his name....
Monday, August 04, 2008
Saturday, August 02, 2008
Flood
Well, we were at the beach for a week of relaxation and came home to find that it had been even rainier in Boston than in Maine and our basement had flooded in our absence. This happens every now and then, but typically in the spring with the never-ending storms we seem to get then.
By flood, I don't really mean flood. More like puddled. The water comes in on one side of the basement, fills up this hole in the floor (don't know exactly what said hole is for), then overflows and runs across the basement floor into another hole (again, not sure why it's there to begin with). If that hole fills up, which is extremely rare, we then get the buckets out and bail it from there into the basement toilet (yet another feature of our house that seems a little unusual). Of course, this all assumes we're home to monitor the situation. Which we weren't.
Normally the basement is in pretty good shape to withstand said water issues. But it just so happens that we're in the middle of renovating our kitchen and back room, so we had to put a bunch of boxes and stuff into the basement for the duration of the project. To prepare for the boxes, we rearranged other things, which ended up being right in the path of the water. It then took my pregnant self a week to finally assess the damages, and I found to my relief that most of the baby clothes were in plastic bags and therefore seemingly undamaged. Whew. Then I found the suitcases - mostly dry, but covered in mildew. Once those were tossed out into the sun to dry and get brushed off, I discovered my infant car seat. Which was, of course, coated in fuzzy mold. Ugh. So now I'm just hoping I can get it clean enough to use when the baby comes. Plus I think I'll need to inspect every article of clothing now to make sure it isn't green and fuzzy.
Sigh. Like I really needed this.
By flood, I don't really mean flood. More like puddled. The water comes in on one side of the basement, fills up this hole in the floor (don't know exactly what said hole is for), then overflows and runs across the basement floor into another hole (again, not sure why it's there to begin with). If that hole fills up, which is extremely rare, we then get the buckets out and bail it from there into the basement toilet (yet another feature of our house that seems a little unusual). Of course, this all assumes we're home to monitor the situation. Which we weren't.
Normally the basement is in pretty good shape to withstand said water issues. But it just so happens that we're in the middle of renovating our kitchen and back room, so we had to put a bunch of boxes and stuff into the basement for the duration of the project. To prepare for the boxes, we rearranged other things, which ended up being right in the path of the water. It then took my pregnant self a week to finally assess the damages, and I found to my relief that most of the baby clothes were in plastic bags and therefore seemingly undamaged. Whew. Then I found the suitcases - mostly dry, but covered in mildew. Once those were tossed out into the sun to dry and get brushed off, I discovered my infant car seat. Which was, of course, coated in fuzzy mold. Ugh. So now I'm just hoping I can get it clean enough to use when the baby comes. Plus I think I'll need to inspect every article of clothing now to make sure it isn't green and fuzzy.
Sigh. Like I really needed this.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Charm School
Well, I think my boys might need a little help in the charm department. Don't get me wrong, they're very cute and polite, but I think it might be time to teach them about tact and little white lies.
The other day I was sitting on the toilet when my usual audience arrived. (I know, I should just lock the door, but whatever.) So there I am, doing my business, when Rowan very seriously looks up at me and says, "Mom, why is your butt so big?"
See? Not so charming. But it was awfully funny.
The other day I was sitting on the toilet when my usual audience arrived. (I know, I should just lock the door, but whatever.) So there I am, doing my business, when Rowan very seriously looks up at me and says, "Mom, why is your butt so big?"
See? Not so charming. But it was awfully funny.
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Ack!
The other day things were not so great at our house. I was feeling sick (nausea and completely blocked up sinuses), the basement was threatening to flood with all the rain we were getting, I was signed up to work at the co-op we belong to, and who knows what all else.
In the late morning, the boys asked if they could have the candy Rowan had picked out for them last night, so I got them out. They were Brach's butterscotch ones. Anyway, about 15 seconds after popping it in his mouth, Kemper proceeded to choke. Not the fully blocked airway kind of choking, but close enough. He was trying to shove his fingers into his throat to get it out, gagging all the while. I did the Heimlich maneuver, and it eventually popped out. Whew. I set the offending piece of candy on the counter so I could comfort poor Kemper, then he got up and I started cleaning up the floor. While I was doing this, he grabbed the candy off the counter and popped it into his mouth...
...and CHOKED AGAIN! I couldn't believe it. This time was even worse. The candy never came back up, he just gagged and gagged and spit up blood (he had scratched the back of his throat while trying to get it out), then swallowed it. Of course, this one was all my fault. Why didn't I just throw the stupid thing in the trash?!
Man, what an experience. Thank goodness for CPR training. I'm not sure which of us was more frightened by the whole event, but suffice it to say we sat on the kitchen floor, both of us in tears, for quite a while.
In the late morning, the boys asked if they could have the candy Rowan had picked out for them last night, so I got them out. They were Brach's butterscotch ones. Anyway, about 15 seconds after popping it in his mouth, Kemper proceeded to choke. Not the fully blocked airway kind of choking, but close enough. He was trying to shove his fingers into his throat to get it out, gagging all the while. I did the Heimlich maneuver, and it eventually popped out. Whew. I set the offending piece of candy on the counter so I could comfort poor Kemper, then he got up and I started cleaning up the floor. While I was doing this, he grabbed the candy off the counter and popped it into his mouth...
...and CHOKED AGAIN! I couldn't believe it. This time was even worse. The candy never came back up, he just gagged and gagged and spit up blood (he had scratched the back of his throat while trying to get it out), then swallowed it. Of course, this one was all my fault. Why didn't I just throw the stupid thing in the trash?!
Man, what an experience. Thank goodness for CPR training. I'm not sure which of us was more frightened by the whole event, but suffice it to say we sat on the kitchen floor, both of us in tears, for quite a while.
Tuesday, February 05, 2008
Birthday Blues
My, how time flies. I somehow managed to miss posting anything about Christmas or the New Year. Both of those holidays were great - a nice long visit with Mimi and Pops, cousin Cyrus and uncle Reynolds for a few days, lots of presents.
But on to birthdays. Today is the boys' 4th birthday. Hard to believe, but true. We had their party this past Saturday, and it was a big hit. For the first time, I contracted it out, so to speak. We had a build your own sundae party at a local ice cream shop. They provided a staffer to play games with the kids, and they did all the set up and clean up. I think most of the kids had fun, though some of them sat out of a game or two (Rowan wanted no part of "Pin the cherry on the sundae" game, for example).
In any event, it was fun. I think next year we might be up to having a drop-off party, but I just wasn't ready for that this time around.
Late Saturday night, Kemper woke up as Morgan and I were getting ready for bed. Sick as a dog. At first I thought maybe we had let him eat too much junk (ice cream sundae and king cake at a church Mardi Gras fundraiser that night), but I now know it was a virus. He was up most of the night (which, of course, means I was up most of the night as well), and spent most of Sunday in recovery.
And guess what? Like nearly everything else in this house, we share viruses. It was Rowan's turn to spend the night on the makeshift bed in the bathroom. At least he's pretty much over the vomiting in bed thing. He didn't quite make it all the way to the bathroom, but still. The wood floor is much easier to clean up than the bed.
Sigh. I wonder when I'll get this dread disease?
But on to birthdays. Today is the boys' 4th birthday. Hard to believe, but true. We had their party this past Saturday, and it was a big hit. For the first time, I contracted it out, so to speak. We had a build your own sundae party at a local ice cream shop. They provided a staffer to play games with the kids, and they did all the set up and clean up. I think most of the kids had fun, though some of them sat out of a game or two (Rowan wanted no part of "Pin the cherry on the sundae" game, for example).
In any event, it was fun. I think next year we might be up to having a drop-off party, but I just wasn't ready for that this time around.
Late Saturday night, Kemper woke up as Morgan and I were getting ready for bed. Sick as a dog. At first I thought maybe we had let him eat too much junk (ice cream sundae and king cake at a church Mardi Gras fundraiser that night), but I now know it was a virus. He was up most of the night (which, of course, means I was up most of the night as well), and spent most of Sunday in recovery.
And guess what? Like nearly everything else in this house, we share viruses. It was Rowan's turn to spend the night on the makeshift bed in the bathroom. At least he's pretty much over the vomiting in bed thing. He didn't quite make it all the way to the bathroom, but still. The wood floor is much easier to clean up than the bed.
Sigh. I wonder when I'll get this dread disease?
Saturday, December 08, 2007
Precision
A few nights ago as I was trying to herd the boys upstairs to bed, Kemper kept resisting my pleas. After a couple of attempts, I finally went back into the kitchen to see what was going on.
"I'm hanging my monkeys in their trees to sleep." He was being very careful to make sure they wouldn't fall out during the night. Here's what he did:
The only empty drawer pulls were a result of an insufficient number of monkeys.
Tuesday, December 04, 2007
Upgrades
After long deliberation, I have purchased high-backed booster seats for the boys. If you don't have small children, you are not very likely to know much about the current various options for child restraint systems. And if you do have small kids, you know how many choices are out there.
One member of my mothers of twins group sent an email with a YouTube link about why you should keep kids in a 5 point harness seat for as long as possible. It was, of course, a tear jerker. You know, a story about how they put their son into a booster, then got in an accident and he died because the seat belt failed. And how if he'd stayed in a 5 point harness seat, he'd still be alive. (I'm not trying to minimize the loss, but to summarize the video. I can't imagine losing one of my kids in a car crash, or in any other way.)
So I started thinking we needed new, bigger seats with harnesses since the boys are outgrowing their current seats. Research on various sites muddied the waters, in my opinion. I couldn't find anything other than the video that talked about prolonged use of the harness. I felt like this horrible parent for even considering a shift to booster seats. It was suggested by someone near and dear that perhaps I was overreacting. I continued to stew over this for a good long while. Several months, actually.
In the end, I decided that since I survived a child restraint free upbringing, and since my kids are perhaps the only children alive who haven't unbuckled their straps in protest, I would go with the boosters. Every time I went to Target or any other store that sells car seats, I'd examine them carefully, then leave to think on it some more. Maybe I am a bad mommy for reaching this conclusion, but I have to draw the line somewhere, right? I always make sure my kids are buckled up, I'm a careful driver, and last but not least, Kemper and Rowan are SO happy with the new seats I'm convinced I made the right choice. Rowan thanks me for buying him a new seat every time we get in the car. It's only been a few days, but they're still very excited about using real seat belts like mommy and daddy.
One member of my mothers of twins group sent an email with a YouTube link about why you should keep kids in a 5 point harness seat for as long as possible. It was, of course, a tear jerker. You know, a story about how they put their son into a booster, then got in an accident and he died because the seat belt failed. And how if he'd stayed in a 5 point harness seat, he'd still be alive. (I'm not trying to minimize the loss, but to summarize the video. I can't imagine losing one of my kids in a car crash, or in any other way.)
So I started thinking we needed new, bigger seats with harnesses since the boys are outgrowing their current seats. Research on various sites muddied the waters, in my opinion. I couldn't find anything other than the video that talked about prolonged use of the harness. I felt like this horrible parent for even considering a shift to booster seats. It was suggested by someone near and dear that perhaps I was overreacting. I continued to stew over this for a good long while. Several months, actually.
In the end, I decided that since I survived a child restraint free upbringing, and since my kids are perhaps the only children alive who haven't unbuckled their straps in protest, I would go with the boosters. Every time I went to Target or any other store that sells car seats, I'd examine them carefully, then leave to think on it some more. Maybe I am a bad mommy for reaching this conclusion, but I have to draw the line somewhere, right? I always make sure my kids are buckled up, I'm a careful driver, and last but not least, Kemper and Rowan are SO happy with the new seats I'm convinced I made the right choice. Rowan thanks me for buying him a new seat every time we get in the car. It's only been a few days, but they're still very excited about using real seat belts like mommy and daddy.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)