Bedtime Routine Blues...

Its funny how time really does fly even if you are not having fun but just being busy. Case in point, its been a week since I have been able to post anything. I took the kids to the pool last Friday and they had fun. Ella did well and Alex was happy to be able to go in the big pool all by himself at times. Jade stayed in the little pool. We went again with Daddy on Sunday cause it was hot and the last day for the pool to be open. Alex had a dentist appointment this morning so I dropped the girls off at Grandmas for a couple hours. We stopped at Toys R Us afterwards so Alex could pick out a lunch box cause some days he might not like hot lunch from school, especially if its broccoli. After picking the girls back up we hit McDonald's for lunch. Kindergarten starts tomorrow so today we headed to the school so Alex could see his classroom, meet his teacher, drop off his school supplies, and get a little familiar with the place. Not much fun with both girls at their nap time, sure wish I had help for that one. We have been trying to get the kids in bed earlier so they can be prepared to start the new routine, its been difficult. We come up with new ideas on how to get it to work every night and so far its just jumbled chaos and usually ends with me frustrated cause I have to be the bad guy and say its time to brush teeth and get ready for bed. I give the 5 minute warning, the 2 minute warning then the its time to get ready command. Then I am the bad guy again cause the kids don't listen and then they get into trouble and before you know it I am the worst parent ever and I don't know how to take care of them! I would like to get the routine down and agreed upon tonight. Although I have to say its been nice having both Alex and Jade in bed and pretty much asleep by 9. Tonight they start bedtime at 8 which it does suck because Kato doesn't get home until 6 and that only leaves 2 hours before they have to be in bed and not much "Daddy time". It might not work for our family but Alex definitely needs to be in bed earlier then 9:30 or 10 cause he has to get up at 6:45. Already today he has been a bear and difficult. Oh Dear Lord please give me patients to deal with my blessings!!! thanks for reading xoxo

UHH OHHH

Daddy is at it again...He should NOT be dressing the girls or doing their hair!!!!

Camp Randall

Sunday we ventured out to Camp Randall for family fun day. It was really hot and there were alot of people there. Not the best environment for Jade cause she was hot and sweaty, cranky, and only wanted to be carried. We walked around and although it would have been nice to get autographs and photos with Bucky it would have been hard to stand in line with the kids in the heat without snacks for that long. So Kato snapped off a couple of shots and we headed out. It was neat to see him get down on the ground with Alex so he could feel the AstroTurf and hear his dad talk about the Badgers. They got a couple of posters and we figured next year would be a better year with the kids as they will be older and we will plan it a little better. We stopped to get Alex some new socks and plain white undies as per his request and then we headed to Culvers for dinner. Both kids ate really well and its nice to see Alex getting his healthy appetite back since his teeth have been fixed. We headed home, Kato bathed the kids and we watched a little football. It was a good day. Maternity leave is almost over and it will soon be time to get back to work. I am cherishing every day as much as possible although I am looking forward to having Michael and Alex in school. thanks for reading xoxo

TGIF

Friday Kato came home early from work. His office has summer hours where they work a little longer during the week then on every other Friday they can leave at noon. Kato hasn't taken advantage of this yet this year, he usually works through it and gets the overtime. So Friday he gets home around 2 and takes Alex out on the boat for some Father Son fishing time. They had a good time but only caught one fish. Then it started storming with thunder and lightening, they made it out of the water just in time. We went out to dinner and stopped to get some groceries. It was a good night. thanks for reading xoxo

We are the worst parents EVER!!

Last night Alex was so tired he was just a bear. He had woken up at 6:30am and did not take a nap. The day before he had his oral surgery so he was also in a little bit of pain. We gave him Tylenol and Motrin through out the day as needed. Anyway, he and his dad were upstairs and from the living room downstairs it sounded like they were having a WWF Smackdown! Later Alex came downstairs crying and I asked him what was wrong. He proceeded to explain how daddy won this many times (he holds up 10 fingers) and he only let me win this many times (he holds up about 3 fingers). I started to giggle a little cause it was so cute and he was so upset all at once. He didn' t like that and all of a sudden he shouts out "YOU ARE THE WORST PARENTS EVER, YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW HOW TO TAKE CARE OF ME!!!" I bust out laughing but turn my head as if I am coughing. I felt bad but only for two seconds because first of all how would he know if we are the worst parents ever when we are the only parents he knows and second he doesn't quite have the concept of being a good sport when it comes to losing a wrestling match with Dad. He thinks Kato should just let him win every time. So I holler up to Kato and he comes down so we can talk about the "worst parent ever!" situation. Kato asks him how we can be better and Alex said "let me win at wrestling," and we should let him do whatever he wants, and we should let Jade do whatever she wants also. We have been having to say no to him alot because he of his mouth, like no to straws, no to crunchy things to eat, and no to playing outside on Monday. Well we explained how that is dangerous and if we are the worst parents ever then its only because we love our kids and are trying to protect them. Of course he didn't understand that and was set in his ways. We will have to see what the next couple of days brings as far as his perception of us as parents go. I am sure that once he is allowed crunchy food, straws, and to play outside his views will change after all he is only 5 and hasn't had that many years of childhood to be able to critique our parenting skills. thanks for reading xoxo

Michael quit football

Its a sad day at the Katers house...Michael has decided not to play football this year. He wants to make money (so he says) but I have a feeling he wants to just spend more time hanging out with friends. Once school starts he won't have as many hours at the theater and he may end up regretting his decision not to play. Right now, as it is, he has been doing nothing but working and spending the money he earns hanging out with friends. They go out to eat all the time and he is blowing his chances of getting his license because he has to have enough money to pay for insurance. He thinks he knows everything and has it all, so only time will tell if he is making the right choices. Reality bites sometimes and thats just the way life is. I am heartbroken though cause he is such a great athlete and could have had the "turn around" season our town is looking for when it comes to football. We got a new coach and a new opportunity to make something of our team. In the end it was his decision, I just hope he is happy with it. thanks for reading xoxo

Ellas Duct Taped Diaper

Daddy didn't want to waste a diaper when the tab pulled off so he taped it. NICE

Alex had oral surgery

Its sad when you look forward to getting up at 4am to take your daughters to grandmas so that you can take your son to the hospital for some oral surgery and while you are waiting the hour and a half your husband considers breakfast at the hospital cafeteria a "date." I guess in a way it was except he didn't have any money to pay for the meal so he left me hanging in the line while he hustled to the ATM for cash since they don't take debit cards and by the time we got it done and to the table the eggs were kinda cold. Anyway, the surgery went well and the dentist removed one really bad tooth. Alex wasn't aware that he would have that done and we weren't sure if it was going to happen or not. The dentist had to wait until he got in there to see. Once out of surgery we were able to go back to the recovery area and see him. He was really out of it but by the time we got back to his room he was waking up and ready to talk. Alex did great and was concerned about his "vampire teeth" and if they were ok. He asked about the hole in his mouth where his tooth used to be and what the hard thing was in its place, a spacer. He was also upset that they didn't take away a tooth from the other side, ya know just to even it out. We explained everything to him as best we could, and we checked out his newly removed tooth that he got to keep. He said the tooth fairy isn't real so I am not sure if it will go under his pillow tonight. They released him around 11am and we stopped at the gift shop where he picked out a stuffed cat to bring home. It seems he wasn't too traumatized by the ordeal and we are really thankful he is ok and its now done. The dentist did say his two front bottom teeth were loose and would probably fall out within a month. He is the last 5 year old I know who still hasn't lost a tooth naturally. I think he will do much better now and should hopefully eat a little better too. thanks for reading xoxo

Good bye to the 10 year Filas

Sunday we headed up to an outlet mall to get Alex some shoes. He found a pair of Nike's that he really likes and were reasonably priced. We also stopped to get some items for the boat trailer. Kato needed some shoes also so we went to two places for him. After 530 minutes or so he finally found a pair and tried selling me on the pair saying he was going to replace the ones he had on because they had rips and tears in the sides and his feet get hot and sweaty. He didn't have to sell me on shoes I know how he is. He picked a pair that were white and black which shocked me cause I am used to him picking darker colors like all navy blue or brown. I was so surprised that I could hardly contain it and made comments to the clerk. She was laughing at the situation when I said Kato hadn't bought white shoes since we were first together which just so happened to be the ones he had on, Fila's. The lady commented again "yeah I figured since I haven't seen Fila's in FOREVER!" I told Kato what she had said and he laughed. As we were waiting in the drive thru at Dairy Queen for our mini blizzards, Kato reached down and grabbed hold of his ripped Fila's and gave a good pull ripping them open and exposing his entire foot. Then he asked if we were going to stop anywhere else. I had a good laugh when he asked me if I wanted him to save the little silver metal Fila sign attached to the shoes so he could make me a pair of earrings. I said no thank you. Afterwards we got some fried chicken as Alex requested it since he is going in for some oral surgery on Monday. We watched Date Night and called it a night as 4am comes really quick. thanks for reading xoxo

Back to School shopping

Packed up the family today and headed to the mall area. We needed to get the boys some back to school jeans. Alex needs shoes too but it didn't happen today. We had to stop at the in laws to drop off the boat trailer so that on our way back we could bring the boat and trailer home with us. Once there I had to feed Ella so we let the kids out of their seats to run around in the van. The mosquitoes were out in full swing and I didn't want the kids out getting tore up, plus Alex would want to rock climb and Jade would want to follow and its not safe and no one would be able to watch them so that's just the way it is. Once at the mall area we ended up just going to Kohls. Michael found a pair he liked so we got two pairs in different colors. Alex and Jade were running all over and Jade was of course throwing fits. Alex had to try on the jeans cause he is so skinny I wanted to make sure they were not too big. He got two pairs of size 6 slims. They look good. Jade was screaming, Alex was trying to play with her, Ella was poopy, Michael was limping as he hurt his leg, and I was slowly learning why people with 4 kids don't go out. Its so weird cause I have watched 9 kids during daycare and have had no problems but the 4 of my own I can't seem to control and have no idea how to do this parenting thing anymore. It's as if my skills disappeared with my amniotic fluid. I am sure things would be better if Jade wasn't such a screaming machine, she just doesn't let it go and it builds and builds and gets louder and louder. No one wants to hear it and there is nothing Kato and I can do to get her to stop. We might invent a shock collar for kids just for this reason. I am sure parents would buy it. We could be millionaires then we could hire a nanny, a really mean one, to take care of the kids so that the two of us can sit back and eat bon bons all day. I know the kids are only temporary cause they will grow up and move out and I will look back on all this and wish for it back. thanks for reading xoxo

Enough to go postal!!

Its 90 degrees outside and probably closer to 100 with the humidity. Jade has had a fever of 100 or higher for two days now. The doctor said its viral and to treat the symptoms, Tylenol and Motrin. Ella has decided not to nap today even tho she was up twice last night and she is eating every 1-2 hours. I have been trying to pay bills since 9am but everytime I get going the kids need something. My mom left her camera here and my dad left his hat. Its been a week since they have been home and I needed to get it out to them. I packed up the kids and headed two blocks to the post office. Once there they have a little kiosk with the "if it fits it ships" boxes. I find a box but its a little to small so I use an envelope with a tag next to it that says $4.90 or whatever the change is. Anyway, I put the stuff into the envelope and go inside to fill in the address. Alex and Jade are running all over the post office and going behind things and under tables, it was getting nuts and to top it off Ella started crying. I head up to the counter and the guy said "you want this overnighted?" I said no just normal delivery is fine. He said "this envelope is the overnight express and its $18 plus change." I said the sign next to the envelope where I got it said $4.90. He said yeah but its not. I said then there should be a sign that says its more. His reply was "well it says it all over the envelope." First of all it does not say on the envelope its going to cost $18 to mail it and second of all there is no sign next to the envelopes saying its going to cost $18 to mail it and third of all CAN YOU NOT HEAR MY KIDS GOING CRAZY IN HERE!!!! It was enough to make me go postal. So no offence to those of you who work at a post office but come on...if the sign says $4.90 next to the envelopes then why would I suspect it would cost me $18 and why should I have to change the fricken envelope if the sticker you place on it clearly states its to be delivered normal delivery. AND if the kids mess up your perfect little kiosk because you were to stupid to help a little bit more then too fricken bad, maybe next time you can offer a little help instead of just standing there watching all of the frustration build. I am glad the kids put finger prints all over your freshly cleaned glass door and yes I will have a good day, thank you. thanks for reading xoxo

Aunt Gail

My favorite Auntie Gail with her garden vase. She is fighting breast cancer right now. "Fight like a Girl" Auntie!!! Love you!! thanks for reading xoxo

Sleep baby sleep...PLEASE

There must be a switch built into children that gets turned on (by them) at random times only to throw us parents for a loop!! Either that or they are in cahoots with karma. For some reason Ella has decided to become a night owl! Sunday night I was so tired I could hardly stand it. I started getting the kids ready for bed around 8:15 and could hardly wait for 9 o'clock to get here, which is usually the time we put them all to bed. At 8:45ish I was going up to bed to feed Ella and pass out, Kato stayed up with Alex and Jade to finish brushing teeth and going potty and all that bed time jazz. Well as soon as Ella was fed (she only ate on one side before falling asleep) I laid her down in her bed where she slept for about 15 minutes and woke up. She was fussy and so I checked the diaper, burped her again (sometimes she burps later after a feeding) and when all else failed I fed her again. She fell asleep so back to bed. She slept for a few minute, woke up and was fussy again. I repeated the routine again, and again, and again. Finally at 11:30 Kato helped out. He held her, changed her, bounced her, she fell asleep so he laid her down. She woke up and started squawking again! I was so tired I was crying cause I had nothing left to feed her and she won't take a nuk. Kato took her I fell back asleep and when I woke up again she was in Jade's room in the swing sleeping peacefully. I guess around 1:30 Kato got tired too and figured he would try anything. Bless his heart he is a good dad and husband. So we got through that night barely! I hoped it was only a one night thing but Ella did it again last night. Today I am going to try to keep her up more during the day so we can get this sleep thing back on track. Plus I don't want to have to put her in the swing just to get her to sleep at night. My mom said I was a night owl too so it could be karma coming back to haunt me. For whatever the reason there is not enough coffee in this house to help with this issue. thanks for reading xoxo

Sunday isn't fun day

Grocery shopping and cleaning Alex's room is not my idea of a great Sunday but because it was icky weather and it needed to be done that is what we did today. It seems no matter what Kato and I do in Alex's room it still gets trashed in a matter of moments. He loves his toys and it sometimes is hard for him to part with them even if it is only moving some of them downstairs. Jade did not have a nap today and surprisingly she wasn't too horrible. Stir fry for supper followed by a little game of football, Cowboys vs. Bengals. Crazy to think football season is already here which means summer is almost over. Hope the Packers have a great season this year, totally bummed I can't make it to ladies football weekend in Denver. Would have been a great trip but Ella is so very worth missing it for. thanks for reading xoxo

Zoo and Mustard

We took the younger kids to the zoo today. Alex really likes the penguins and Jade liked everything except riding in the stroller. She wanted to walk the entire time. We let the kids feed some goats and we saw everything there was to see. I forgot to bring the camera so I didn't get any photos this time around. I was surprised to see they really do have a badger there. Every time I have been to the zoo the badger was always in his den or whatever but today he was out and wondering all over his habitat, even drinking from his puddle. After the zoo we met up with Jayne in downtown Middleton at the Mustard Museum. They were having a mustard festival type thing going on. The wiener mobile was there and they had some music, tons of games for kids, mustard painting, balloons, and a bouncy house maze thing. We didn't stay long but Alex and Jayne went on to do some school supply shopping. Kato, the girls, and I got a couple of movies and ordered pizza. Alex got home around 9 and showed us all his school supplies. He is really excited for kindergarten. It was a good Saturday. Earlier today Kato and I were talking about something, I think it might have been the boat trailer, I told him I was going to blog about it but since I can't really remember what it was we were talking about I won't be able to blog about it, so there you go Mr. Katers blog blog blog!!! Thanks for reading xoxo

Our "landscape artist"

Not only has Michael been working at the movie theater he also has been working as a "landscape artist" for the neighbors. Sometimes I don't understand why he is the way he is and I usually can see the humor in his ways..such as now. Out in public and working hard is Michael in lime green shorts and bug eyed silver sunglasses, no shirt with black socks and shoes. Come on ladies you know you want this!! If there is ever a time when you need a "landscape artist" you know where you can find one!! He is a hard worker but enjoys having fun while working. I don't know how much he charges for his services but based on the look alone its well worth the money!! thanks for reading xoxo

newborn into size 1 already

Funny how you get so emotional over the littlest things after having a baby. The other day Ella ran out of newborn size diapers so we started using the size ones. Makes sense to me because she is already weighing in at 9 pounds 4 ounces and the newborn size goes to 10 pounds. I didn't want to go out and buy more newborn size diapers when we have a good supply of size 1 plus size 1 starts at 8 pounds. Anyway last night I pick her up to feed her and change her diaper and I found one newborn size diaper in her changing area upstairs. I picked it up and looked at it for a moment and compared it to the size 1 and instantly started to cry. Probably due to the fluctuating hormones but also because its the last time my babies will ever wear a newborn size diaper and since I am not having anymore babies all these little reality reminders that my baby is not going to stay a baby for long hurts. Don't get me wrong it will be nice when Jade is out of diapers but Ella just started using them and she already is moving up a size. So here I am crying over a diaper and its not like some of the others where you cry because it stinks so bad and you don't want to change it or because its the 40th one you changed that day and it somehow has leaked all over your carpet again. Its just the reminder that your babies are growing up too fast. thanks for reading xoxo

Feeling domesticated

This morning the kids slept until 8:30 which was nice because at 2am this morning my husband went sneaking around and scared the sh** out of me. Apparently he got a phone call and had to get up to take it so on his way back to bed he heard Ella fussing. I got her up and was nursing her when he tip toed in without saying anything and I FREAKED OUT!! I probably wouldn't have been scared had he said something or made a little noise before popping his head around the corner like Freddy or Jason does before they slash someone up. Anyway, so it took me a little while to get back to sleep. Once we all got up, changed diapers, got milk, fed the baby, fed the kids, showered (yes it happened can't believe it myself) and went for a walk to the store I decided to make some banana cranberry bread. It was super yummy. I did some laundry but didn't carry it up, ran the dishwasher, got Jade down for a nap (which isn't easy anymore) and cut up the watermelon Alex grew in the garden. I am feeling domesticated!! Wish I wasn't sore and the doc would let me do more but I know healing time is important. Glad I don't get to vacuum, bummed I can't go swimming. thanks for reading xoxo

Boat Trailer and Back to Normal???

We went out yesterday to look at boat trailers and we were surprised that they are so hard to find. We would have called but it wasn't exactly easy searching for used boat trailers on line. Most places don't list what we are looking for. We tried Craigslist but didn't have much success either. So off we, Kato, Alex, Jade, Ella, and I, were and after the fourth stop or so we found one. Its not pretty and it needs a little work but for the price it was a steal!! Kato didn't seem excited at first but once we got it he perked up a bit. We stopped at Target too and ran into an old friend who was in our wedding, Rob, second from the right in our photo. On the way home we all fell asleep, except Kato who was driving. Alex got his backpack for school, it has Bucky Badger on it. Ella got her first pair of shoes, that were not hand me downs, and Jade got a hamster in a ball. Its not real and kind of like a Zhu Zhu pet. All is well at the Katers house and soon we will be back to normal well at least into a nice little routine since everyone is gone and Kato heads back to work. Let's hope the kids are good for me. thanks for reading xoxo

Good bye to the parental units...

In a blink of an eye everything changes. My parents left early this morning. I wasn't surprised that they were going to be gone before we got out of bed but I was a little surprised at how obvious it was that my mom wanted to leave. I know she has been here for awhile now and she was anxious to see Zak again but it was almost like she couldn't leave here fast enough. She packed up everything Saturday morning and put as much of it in her car as she could. Its fine tho I know how she is and its not personal. We went to Polka on the River and the kids had a little fun in the bouncy houses. Saturday night we had a good time grilling out and having dinner with Keith and Jayne. Followed by roasted marshmallows and smores. I got some beer but didn't have one, in fact I haven't had a beer yet. Usually I have at least one by now. As usual my parents left behind some things, a hat and a camera. I will be taking some photos and returning it to them soon. Now that things are getting more routine Jade has calmed down a bit. She seems to be getting better when it comes to me feeding Ella and Daddy giving Ella some time. I know it must be difficult for her I hope it just doesn't mess her up and she will come to love and want to be around her sister. They are, after all going to be sharing a room. At least that way Kato only has to put bars on one set of windows. Last night Ella decided to stay up until 2am. I was so tired and about ready to call in reinforcements (Daddy or Grandma) but she finally tuckered herself out. Lets hope for a more restful night tonight. Thank you to my mom for coming out and staying with us during the birth of our daughter Ella and thank you to my dad for coming out too. Couldn't have had my babies without you guys, well I suppose I could have but I am really glad I didn't have to! THANK YOU LOVE YOU!! thanks for reading xoxo