Potty Party Pooper

Libby was dry for two naps and two nights last week, so I told her we would have a party for her on Saturday to celebrate no more diapers. All week, she was looking forward to Saturday - so much so that she forgot to be dry anymore. We did a LOT of extra laundry and finally had to put her back in diapers at night time. Grandma and Papa and Uncle Josh all came up to celebrate our anticlimactic party on Saturday afternoon. We had pizza for dinner and then a chocolate cake with purple cream cheese icing and ice cream for desert. It was delicious. Libby received a few presents from Mommy and Daddy and Grandma and Papa, too, which she had a great time playing with. This week, she's been dry during her afternoon naps, but still needs the bed time diaper. At least we cut down on one diaper per day - every little bit helps.

Caleb has been exceptionally crabby for the past few weeks. Thursday evening was the culmination of the grouchiness when he finally cut his third tooth. It's his top left front tooth, so he strongly resembles a Jack-O-Lantern now. In other Caleb developments, he's really improved in his crawling over the last few weeks. He can go surprisingly fast when he really wants something. He has also started pulling up to stand on everything (or everyone) that he can grab. His favorite trick is to pinch the back of your legs and hang all of his weight from your skin while he attempts to haul himself up from the floor. Ouch! He's quite the little tornado. I am looking forward to the day he understands and responds properly to the word, "NO". Curiosity has been his biggest downfall lately. So far today, he has broken the fan in the living room by pulling it down on himself, pulled down the broom and mop from the pegs in the kitchen, and removed the security bar from the sliding door and chewed on it. The cats, dog and Libby's hair have all fallen victim to his vice grip and his disregard for directions from Mommy and Daddy. Just this afternoon, he got his fingers stuck in the cat door to the basement and later fell over and became wedged in the corner of his crib. His arm was stuck in the bars so that he couldn't sit up and he had bumped his head. What a busy little boy!

Click here for pictures from the potty party and Caleb getting into mischief.

Father's Day Weekend at Lowe's

Our downstairs toilet has been malfunctioning for almost two months. From the best I could guess, there was a build-up of minerals in the fill valve in the tank. There has only been a pathetic trickle of water dribbling out of the top of the valve, barely enough to fill the tank, and thus, barely enough to flush the toilet. The only way to get the old valve to work was to turn off the water supply, wait about 30 seconds, turn the water back on, and hope that it would work. I was finally frustrated enough to do something about the problem, so after work on Friday night, I took a quick trip over to Lowe's to get some supplies. I had asked around at work and made a quick call to my Dad to find out how to fix this thing. Armed with that advice and with Libby in tow, I made my way to the plumbing department and found the new fill valve all by myself. I was too embarrassed to ask a salesman with help finding toilet "guts" since I did not know at the time that it was officially referred to as a fill valve. On Saturday morning, I installed the new valve with no problems. Nathan helped me finish up the installation after he got out of the shower. I get excited every time someone flushes the toilet now, because I know it works and I don't have to go play with the water anymore!

After one successful project under our belts for the weekend, we figured we may as well tackle another one. So followed another call to my parents for how-to advice, a little web browsing, and another trip to Lowe's. This time, all four of us went on the expedition - hunting for swing set parts. Now, Libby has been pestering for her own "park", as she calls a swing set since the early spring. And since it has been extremely hot lately, we have cut back on the eleven-block trip to the park with both kids sweating in the wagon, searing sun beating down, and Mandie tugging on the leash to chase every dog she sees along the way. We've been looking for a swing set for quite some time, but nothing worked for us in our tiny little back yard. So, we got really ambitious and decided to build one ourselves. We made up a little diagram of what we wanted, took some measurements and we were in business. We bought the swings, braces, and hardware, and came home to put the kids to bed for their naps. Then Nathan took the station wagon back to Lowe's to pick up the lumber. We decided to use a 4x6 beam and two 4x4 posts as an A frame on one end - the other end of the beam was to framed up to the garage. The 4x6 beam came in a 8 foot length, which was exactly what we wanted. We thought we'd grab a 4x4 beam in the 16 foot length and have them cut it in half for us, but it was not to be. They couldn't cut a beam that thick, so Nathan was forced to buy a hand saw and cut the beam in half himself in the parking lot so he could get the thing home in the car. After that, he made two more trips to Lowe's, one to Home Depot, and one to Burger King. After too many small setbacks to count, we finally got the swing set legs attached to the main beam by 10:15 Saturday night. Libby was outside with us playing with a flashlight in the dark. We took a few pictures throughout the process and took several of Libby standing under the tripod in the back yard in the dark.

Sunday morning dawned very warm and hazy. We plunked both kids in the tub for a bath before church. They were having a great time, so we took more pictures of them together. I also got a really cute shot of Caleb showing off the cellulite on his bowed chubby legs and bottom as he stood holding on to the side of the bath tub. I have a very similar picture of Libby at the same age, so Nathan and I joked that we should frame each one of our kid's backside photos and post them in the bathroom. After baths, we all got dressed and went to church. Nathan and I tried out a great new Sunday School class and then taught the 4 and 5 year old class during the worship service. There were 12 wild little kindergartners in the class, so we had our hands full.
When we got home, we were already tired out from the morning, but still had to finish the swing set before the rain showers predicted for the afternoon. I used my jig saw to cut out an opening in the side of the garage wall for the beam. It was a struggle at first, but after I changed the blade, it cut through like the wall and the siding so much easier. The opening was perfect! Incidentally, it was the only thing that went completely right the first time during the entire project. We cut out two squares of sod from the yard and installed concrete pavers under the legs of the swing set. Then we framed up the inside of the garage wall to secure the main beam. Or we attempted to, anyway. The 2x4's in the garage are nearly petrified with age and were almost impossible to put a screw or nail into, even after we pre-drilled a pilot hole.

Finally, after sweating in the 95+ degree heat for two days, we finished our new swing set! We learned a lot and acquired a few new tools in the process. We fought and laughed and sweated together. In the end, we are better friends and enjoyed working together to complete what was a seemingly simple, yet proved to be such a difficult project. The final count was an entire 1 lb box of galvanized screws, 4 swing hanger bolts, 8 carriage bolts, washers, and loc nuts, 2-8 foot 4x4 posts, 1-8 foot 4X6 beam, 1-8 foot 2x4, 2 swing set braces and 2 swing set brackets, 1 kid swing and 1 baby swing.

When we finished up, Libby was still taking her afternoon nap. She had fallen asleep on the floor, which we, of course, took a picture of. While we waited for her to wake up, we took Caleb out and let him have a sneak preview of the swing set. He loved it, and laughed and giggled while he was swinging. Finally, Libby woke up and we took her out to check out the surprise. She was so excited to see the swing set! She climbed in the swing and took to it right away. She's never been in a big kid swing seat before, so we weren't sure how she'd do, but she loves it! Caleb and Libby both enjoyed their time together on their new swings and neither was very happy when we made them come inside for bed. Caleb, Libby and I spent several hours outside swinging this morning before it got too hot.

Thank you Mom and Dad for all the advice on projects this weekend. The next thing on the "List of Things To Do" is to install a magnetic catch on the sliding screen door to prevent the cats from pawing open the door and escaping. . .


Click here to see all of our pictures and videos from the weekend.

Medicine Sipping Munchkin

Libby made her first trip to the Emergency Room yesterday morning. It's interesting that I've never been to the ER for myself, but I've already taken Libby and Caleb each one time this year.

It seems that we left Caleb's ibuprofen out on the coffee table Tuesday night after we gave him his bed time dose. Nathan is positive that he put the cap back on the bottle, so we're not sure if he simply forgot to put the top on, or if Libby has mastered child proof lids. Regardless, Libby was standing by the couch sipping the medicine when I came down stairs on my way out the door to work. Nathan was out walking the dog, so I had to wait until he came back in to see how much was left in the bottle before Libby got hold of it. He thought there was at least a half of a bottle left, so I called our pediatrician's office. They connected me to one of their urgent care doctors who said Libby needed to be checked out ASAP in the ER.

So, I packed her into the car and zipped her over to the Cuyahoga Falls general hospital. They took her in quickly and monitored her vitals while they made up their minds about what to do. At first, they thought they should administer activated charcoal to get the toxins out of her system. The nurses were all laughing at Libby the whole time, because she had such a bad attitude about the whole episode. She was highly offended when they tried to weigh her (37 lbs by the way!) and even more offended when they asked her any questions or touched her at all. The worst was when they peeled off the sticky pads they had used to monitor her. She was mad that she couldn't have anything to drink, and she was mad that she couldn't have a snack. Finally, after hours of waiting, they decided that they would just discharge her as long as we kept a careful eye on her. The nurses were really glad that they didn't have to hold her down and make her take the charcoal after the attitude she was giving them. We estimated that she took about 300-400 Mg's of Ibuprofen. I think she should be all set on any aches and pains for a few weeks! For once, having a 100 + percentile sized child is paying off.

Nathan stayed home with the kids all day. I finally made it to work several hours later than I had planned. Libby showed no signs of any ill effect from her episode. Nathan was especially relieved that she was OK, since he left the medicine out where she could reach it. We both learned a valuable lesson (a $100 copay lesson) to keep the medicine out of reach at all times. Libby learned not to drink any body's medicine without permission, or she will have to go to the hated hospital again. And now we have the poison control number posted prominently on the side of the refrigerator.

Bustling, rustling, hustling

We had a fun June weekend with the kids. Libby enjoyed playing in her little kiddie pool with Bun-bun. I was not aware that she was in the pool or that Bun-bun was doing the "dead bunny float" in the pool until I heard Libby giggling on the back porch while I was feeding kittens and Caleb in the living room. She had opened the door by herself, taken off her shorts and climbed into the pool. Soggy, sopping Bun-bun had to go through the spin cycle in the washer, and basked in the sun on Libby's window sill until he was dry enough to go to bed with her for the night. That poor old bunny can't take much more abuse, I'm afraid.

After I got home from work on Saturday, we packed up the crew and headed to the Akron zoo for the afternoon. Libby had a great time looking at all of the animals and playing on the playgrounds near the animal exhibits. Caleb was missing his nap, so he was really quiet and looked kind of sad in his pictures. He did enjoy looking at the animals, especially the sheep and goats that were on his eye level from the stroller.

Sunday we had a potluck dinner after church with some of the other parents. The kids all went outside on the playground and had a great time. Libby jabbered on and on about playing on the slide and the swings with the other kids. One of these days, we'll get her our own play set. We've been looking around, but our yard is so small, most sets are too big. We would like to attach an A-frame and beam with a couple of swings to the side of the garage, but I'm not really sure how to secure it enough to stand up to crazy swinging. Any ideas or suggestions would be very welcome.

On Monday, the new service flag for Sam came, so I put it up on the other side of the porch from Old Glory. Nathan and I had a few issues getting the bracket mounted on Saturday evening; but it's up, and we're still married. Both flags are looking good out there in the breeze today. Mandie was modeling herself in front of the new flags while I was taking pictures. I embellished my little patriotic wreath on the front door with two small flags and a yellow ribbon bow. While I was working on tying the bow, Caleb stole one of my flags and practiced waving and chewing on it. He'll be all ready for Independence Day this year.

Today, I'm cleaning, doing laundry and catching up on facebook and my blog. Both kids were exceptionally whiny and grumpy today, so I put them both to bed earlier than usual for their afternoon naps. Libby decided that she didn't need that nap and hollered and yelled and banged in her room until I finally gave in and went upstairs to let her out. I had just taken a phone call from Mom when I tip toed upstairs past Caleb's room and opened Libby's door. There she stood in the door way: the shirt that she was wearing when I put her to bed was on the floor and she was now wearing an over sized pink and blue striped dress from her closet. She wore a pink straw hat from Easter on her messy mop of hair (the same hat that she absolutely refused to wear at Easter), and her light up purple gym sneakers with lace trimmed white socks. She had her little green purse over her arm and Bun-bun hanging from her fist while she sucked her thumb. I couldn't discipline her, since she looked so funny. I ran downstairs for the camera and managed to get a few funny shots of her coming down the stairs behind me. You can see more of our pictures from the past week by clicking here.

Sam

Just a note to all that Sam is leaving for Iraq on Saturday. We think that he'll be stationed in Mosul Iraq (near ancient Nineveh for anyone who's interested) for the next 15 months. That means that Aedon will be almost 2 years old when Sam comes back. Your prayers are appreciated.

Baby Dedication

We finally had Libby and Caleb dedicated in church on Sunday. We asked Dad to take some pictures for us, but that didn't work out. So, for lack of pictures to post, I'll just write about it.


Our pastor talked about the meanings of their names: Caleb Nathan - Faithful, Gift of God, and Elizabeth Eva - Consecrated to God, Giver of life. While Pastor John was speaking, Caleb was intent on kicking over the music stand behind us. I held him out in front of me, where he wriggled and kicked and had a great time. Someone told us after the service that he looked like he was "flying". Toward the end of the dedication, Caleb kept reaching over to cute little the baby girl next to us, grunting at her, and trying to pull on her dress. What a little baby flirt!


Libby was pretty good while Nathan was holding her, but got wiggly toward the end. She kept grabbing for the little gifts from the church while the pastor was praying. We let her unwrap them when we got home. They each got The New Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes. Libby absolutely loves looking at hers, and we've started reading her a few stories from it before bed each night. Last night, she slept with it in her bed. As I am writing this, she is begging me to read her another story. . .

Long Saturday Morning

We had a rough start to our Saturday morning today. I came down around 7:30 to feed the kittens and found that one of them was nearly unconscious - non responsive and barely breathing. It was one of the larger females, so I was surprised to see her so ill. I suspected that she may have low blood sugar and immediately rubbed some Karo syrup on her tongue and gums to get her jump started. She did not respond at all and went completely limp in my hands. I knew she was on her way out if I couldn't get her perked up in a hurry. We settled into a cycle: Karo syrup, a few drops of formula, vigorous rubbing, more Karo syrup, a little more formula, more rubbing. She was still not coming around, so I called work for some advice. Dr. Mark said that the kitten should be responding by now and that I should bring her in for help. I gave her a little more time at home and within 15 minutes she was struggling to lift her head and look around. Another 15 minutes and she was wobbling across the floor on very unsteady but determined little legs. I was so relieved! She's doing 100% better this afternoon. She taking her bottle, going potty, and even pestering her siblings a little. If she was a boy, I'd christen her Lazarus.


After the kitten scare, we went outside to play with Libby for a little while. Mandie and Honeycomb accompanied us into the front yard while Libby and I drew on the sidewalk with chalk. I got inspired and drew a big cartoon version of Honeycomb. She was not impressed. She rolled furiously in the chalk likeness and is now sporting a pink chalk neck where she used to be milky white.

While we were outside, I figured I should photograph some of my roses and other flowers while they are still in bloom. Apparently our local rabbit family took a liking to my pansies, because there isn't much left to the blossoms and some of the leaves. A few varieties were unscathed and I took pictures of what was left of them. They must not have been as delicious as the others. Maybe I should put some salad dressing on them for the rabbits and they might eat them, too. Remember the quote from Bambi?

Eating greens is a special treat.
They make long ears and great big feet.
But it sure is awful stuff to eat!

Libby was giving Bun-bun rides in the wagon while I was taking pictures of flowers and Nathan was searching for Honeycomb who was sleeping, fully concealed, under the forsythia bush. Libby was getting pretty pink, so we made her come in out of the sun and the heat, much to her chagrin. She and Caleb were a little cranky, so they are both tucked into bed and sleeping - or at least that's what they are supposed to be doing. The kittens and the cats are all sleeping now. Mandie is snoring under the dining room table. Nathan is watching reruns of 24 on TV. Maybe I should go take a little nap myself. . .

Click here to see more pictures of Honeycomb, the flowers and Libby playing.