At the moment my mom is at the movies with Jenna, Jared and Ava are napping, and I am sitting on the couch as still as possible, sipping ginger ale, praying that my lunch does not re-enter the atmosphere. Jenna had some virus on Sunday that resulted in sickness (to put in nicely) and wearing a pull-up for the rest of the day. So far Ava just had a low fever, so hopefully that's the worst of it for the rest of us. I started some laundry and vacuumed the bedrooms this morning, so I feel like I've met my house-duty quota for the day. Though I am sure more chores will present themselves as the day unfolds.
I started my day in the best possible way, a shower, prayer and reading the Word. Unfortunately, this is nowhere near my normal routine. That is usually reserved for waking up to Ava yelling to get out of her crib or because Jenna took something out of it, getting Ava out, making sure Jenna goes to the bathroom, straightening myself up a little, brushing my teeth, and re-entering mommy land for the remainder of the day. Last night I went to sleep around 11:30 and somehow managed to wake up after Lance this morning at 6:30. I was quickly motivated to get up and take a shower since I knew I might not get another chance during the day. I heard Jenna get up as I was getting dressed, and she came in wanting to play the computer. So, as usual, she had to go to the bathroom first, and I tried my best to keep quiet so Ava and Jared wouldn't wake up. But before I sent her out to the living room, I thought I'd take advantage of us being up together to pray with her for our day. I automatically felt a tenderness come over me toward her. We have many power struggles and lots of whining throughout the day, so sometimes I forget how so very precious she is. It wasn't a long, drawn out prayer that would make her start playing with whatever she could find in arm's reach, but a good note to start the day on. As soon as I was finished she quickly asked if she could "go play the computer now?" and off she went. I grabbed a cup of coffee and headed back to my room for some Bible time.
I don't read books for myself as often as I would like. Really, ever in the last few years. I also don't retain what I'm reading well, but instead forget what I've read as soon I read it. I find myself reading the same few sentences over again or skimming back. I always hated the English assignments where you had to write your own recap of what you just read! I like that I have a study Bible that has the commentary on the bottom, the profiles and timelines of the "characters." The commentary might not be perfect interpretation all the time, but after every few verses I find myself at the bottom of the page looking for an answer to, "What the heck does that mean?" Which I think can be common when you're reading the Old Testament. How ever long it took me to get through 7 chapters of Isaiah didn't really matter. I needed the replenishment and to be reminded of the power of God's word.
I had a thought as I was reading. One of the captivating aspects of reading anyone's book is that you are connecting with the author, their person, their personality, their thought-process. How awesome it is that we have THIS resource available to us. It isn't just any author's work, but it is history, the present, the future, the person, the personality, the thought-process of our Creator. In the day to day that can be mundane, I find myself desiring to be closer to the Lord, be reassured of His presence (in the midst of a toddler fit or the splashing water out of the tub that has brought me to the end of my rope), and just to be at peace. At the same time I can honestly ask myself, how do I expect to have any of that without reading the Word more? This is not to down-play the power of prayer in seeking God or to start a debate on whether God can reveal himself to those who don't have a Bible. But I DO. What excuse seems good enough to not take the time? None of course. The benefit far out-weighs whatever I could be doing in those few minutes (ie. my technology addiction as Lance would say, blogging is the exception right?).
Isaiah 4:2-5:2 - In that day the Branch of the LORD will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land will be the pride and glory of the survivors in Israel. Those who are left in Zion, who remain in Jerusalem, will be called holy, all who are recorded among the living in Jerusalem. The Lord will wash away the filth of the women of Zion; he will cleanse the bloodstains from Jerusalem by a spirit of judgment and a spirit of fire. Then the LORD will create over all of Mount Zion and over those who assemble there a cloud of smoke by day and a glow of flaming fire by night; over everything the glory will be a canopy. It will be a shelter and shade from the heat of the day, and a refuge and hiding place from the storm and rain. I will sing for the one I love a song about his vineyard: My loved one had a vineyard on a fertile hillside. He dug it up and cleared it of stones and planted it with the choicest vines. He built a watchtower in it and cut out a winepress as well. Then he looked for a crop of good grapes, but it yielded only bad fruit.
It all sounds nice until the last line there doesn't it? The importance of understanding the context in which Scripture is written goes without saying, but I also love when I am left with a thought for personal reflection and application. Today I am left with the thought of my children being my fruit. One of the points of the parenting study we're doing is so simple, but a good reminder. Without a doubt, your kids will do what you DO, not what you say! And I want the example of prayer and reading the Word to be one in the fore-front with the kids and the person they see me as. They won't really see me as an individual for many years and in maturity, I'm just their mom. With this blessing and responsibility I want to be someone who unashamedly displays the influence that God has had, and continues to have, on me as a person and be a reflection of Christ's love for people. What I'm striving for in myself is the dream I have for them.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Pizza night
We usually get pizza once a week and have found a great local place that prepares everything for you, and you take it home to bake. It's become our preferred take out pizza. Occassionally I do make our own using the Pillsbury dough that you roll out, I'll put some olive oil on, pre-bake it a little bit, then finish it off with the toppings. Usually it's a bbq chicken w/ red onion. We really like it.
I recently found a couple ingredients that are a little better than what I'm used to or would have normally chosen for my pizzas. I try to find products with the least amount of ingredients in them and least processed in general. So at my last grocery trip I opted for 100% whole wheat Boboli crust instead of the white refrigerated Pillsbury dough. You'd either find it near the bread or in the pasta aisle. I liked the small size of them, so I got two.
Here's the rest:
Baked each at 450 for 8-10 mins. on a parchment lined baking sheet.
Pizza #1
1 package of Jimmy Dean all natural pork sausage
2 Tbs olive oil
1-2 cups shredded part-skim mozz (monterey jack also melts and binds well, or a shredded Italian mix of cheese would be even better!)
12 oz of the generic pizza sauce
I broke up and cooked the sausage in olive oil and drained it. Add the sauce to the crust, little bit of cheese, sausage and the rest of the cheese; however you like it. Bake 8-10 mins.
(I was also going to add some left over tomatoes from our salad last night, but the girls ate them all while I was cooking the meat). :)
Pizza #2
1 package of chicken tenders
1 Tbs olive oil
Baby spinach leaves*
Shredded Italian blend or part-skim mozz
Sprinkling of olive oil and parmesan for the crust
(I didn't do this, but sun-dried tomatoes would have been really good with this too)
Season uncooked chicken with salt and pepper. I used the same pan from the sausage and kept some of the oil. You can either empty that out and add another 2 Tbs oil, or leave it (which I did for the flavor) and add an extra 1 Tbs oil. Cook over med/high. Sprinkle the second crust with some olive oil and parm and bake for 2 minutes to absorb it and melt the cheese a little bit. Take it out, add the chicken, then spinach and top with your shredded cheese. Bake 8-10 mins.
*Note: For the spinach leaves, I just used some that were left in the pre-packaged bag that we had with dinner last night. I never feel like having salad two days in a row, and it usually goes bad. I'm glad I could use it for something.
Lance and the kids really liked the sausage pizza, I had one piece, and I'm having my second of the chicken one while Ava is running in and out of the kitchen asking for pieces of it.
Easy, successful, everyone ate and in a timely manner :) My kind of dinner.
I recently found a couple ingredients that are a little better than what I'm used to or would have normally chosen for my pizzas. I try to find products with the least amount of ingredients in them and least processed in general. So at my last grocery trip I opted for 100% whole wheat Boboli crust instead of the white refrigerated Pillsbury dough. You'd either find it near the bread or in the pasta aisle. I liked the small size of them, so I got two.
Here's the rest:
Baked each at 450 for 8-10 mins. on a parchment lined baking sheet.
Pizza #1
1 package of Jimmy Dean all natural pork sausage
2 Tbs olive oil
1-2 cups shredded part-skim mozz (monterey jack also melts and binds well, or a shredded Italian mix of cheese would be even better!)
12 oz of the generic pizza sauce
I broke up and cooked the sausage in olive oil and drained it. Add the sauce to the crust, little bit of cheese, sausage and the rest of the cheese; however you like it. Bake 8-10 mins.
(I was also going to add some left over tomatoes from our salad last night, but the girls ate them all while I was cooking the meat). :)
Pizza #2
1 package of chicken tenders
1 Tbs olive oil
Baby spinach leaves*
Shredded Italian blend or part-skim mozz
Sprinkling of olive oil and parmesan for the crust
(I didn't do this, but sun-dried tomatoes would have been really good with this too)
Season uncooked chicken with salt and pepper. I used the same pan from the sausage and kept some of the oil. You can either empty that out and add another 2 Tbs oil, or leave it (which I did for the flavor) and add an extra 1 Tbs oil. Cook over med/high. Sprinkle the second crust with some olive oil and parm and bake for 2 minutes to absorb it and melt the cheese a little bit. Take it out, add the chicken, then spinach and top with your shredded cheese. Bake 8-10 mins.
*Note: For the spinach leaves, I just used some that were left in the pre-packaged bag that we had with dinner last night. I never feel like having salad two days in a row, and it usually goes bad. I'm glad I could use it for something.
Lance and the kids really liked the sausage pizza, I had one piece, and I'm having my second of the chicken one while Ava is running in and out of the kitchen asking for pieces of it.
Easy, successful, everyone ate and in a timely manner :) My kind of dinner.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Don't play with your food! Or do?
Jenna is always the last person sitting at the table, procrastinating eating whatever it is she doesn't like or just taking her sweet time because she wants to tell jokes, play games, etc. Usually by the time we're eating dinner, we're counting down to bath and bed. The girls go down around 7, and I get in the habit of putting off dinner prep. We usually end up eating around 6. I definitely need to move all of this up. You'd think I'd learn by now to start dinner earlier so I'm not as stressed to make Jenna eat. In the back of my mind I'm worried about causing some kind of eating disorder by making her eat too quickly. I also don't want this to be yet another time of the day that I'm just telling her what to do the whole time. Dinner is supposed to be a fun, family-centered, relaxing time. Sometimes we get it right, ie. letting Ava crawl on the table when she's done and laughing at each other. Sometimes I just have to say, "Who cares?" Tonight was one of those nights that I wanted to lighten up with dinner but keep Jenna from getting so distracted that she takes forever. I decided that I didn't want to just leave her at the table by herself, exiled because she's the last one to finish her food. We had a big spinach salad with chicken. Quick and easy. She had already eaten her tomatoes, cucumbers and cheese cubes, and had some chicken and spinach leaves left (plus a couple pieces of avocado that I knew weren't going to get eaten). Then it hit me. She wants to play a game, so I'll make it up. Finish her food by taking bites in a pattern! She LOVES patterns and finds them in everything. So she made up what pattern she wanted to eat in. Chicken, chicken, lettuce, lettuce. This worked great for a reasonable amount of time. I just had to hold myself back from speeding her eating up. Even though she ate slowly, she kept track of the pattern as she was eating. It was cute. But then she had to be leaf-eating animals in the zoo, and I had to be a kid that wanted to ask the zookeeper if I could go in and feed them. Now, when Jenna plays games like this she tells me exactly what to say. I always tweak it a little and tell her that I can say what I want if I'm pretending, and when she's pretending she can say what she wants. For my own patience, and her eating even slower because of this game, I was done after the giraffe and zebra. Ava entered the scene and started getting into everything around Jenna and egging her on. So I decided she was just done. I'm continually checking myself and thinking about the long-term impact of my actions and words on the kids, especially Jenna. From tonight's experience, I took that it's ok to not be on schedule sometimes. You would think I know this by now with 3 kids and the fact that we're late everywhere we go. But by accepting the time I have for what it is, I can make it less stressful and more enjoyable for everyone. I might regret saying this some day, but for now I say...play...even with your food :)
Friday, January 28, 2011
Anything for blankie
So Jenna only gets her blankie for bed time, and we keep it at the top of her closet. There is also a toy chest in front of her closet. She always tries to sneak it. You see where this is going. First she started moving her night stand across the room, but we caught her. Then it was quiet. That's never a good thing. She wasn't in her room, and when she doesn't respond to my calling her I know she has blankie. I found her with the blankie, sucking her thumb in Jared's room. I couldn't help but laugh, and I told her to show me how she got it. Standing on the toy chest, she used her hobby horse to reach and get the it down. Then she said she "tiptoed to Jared's room." It's now in the hall closet, and she's standing and trying to balance on Cookie Monster and reaching to get the blankie once again. Ugh.
Trippy
I literally feel like I am in a different day than the one I woke up to this morning. I know I lay out my day's schedule a lot, so sorry if it seems monotonous, but here's a snapshot of my morning. It all started with a high squeal and crying.
5:45 - 6:15 a.m. Jared wakes up, gets a bottle and goes back down.
6 a.m. - Jenna is awake, Lance is getting ready for work.
6:15 a.m. - I walk out from Jared's room to Jenna already playing on the computer and Lance in the kitchen. I go take a shower...and pray while I'm in there!
7 a.m. - Get Jenna off the computer. Right now it's really a blur what happended between then and 7:45 when Ava woke up.
7:45 a.m. - Got Ava, changed her, made Jenna go potty, got breakfast ready.
8 a.m. - Had breakfast with the girls. Ava loves oatmeal, Jenna does not unless it has blueberries, but oh well, they got grapes instead and she took forever eating. Put some cartoons on after breakfast while I balanced the checkbook.
8:45 a.m. - Got Jared up, changed and out to feed him breakfast. From this time, the girls played, we read some, watched some SuperWhy and Yo Gabba Gabba on DVR.
10 a.m. - The girls get snacks, and I give Jared a bottle in his room so he wouldn't be too distracted. Of course the girls end up in there anyway :)
By 10:30 my brain was so heavy, I've had a cup of coffee, but it has done absolutely nothing for my 5 hour sleep last night, which was on the couch because I fell asleep watching Jimmy Fallon. So Ava was off for a nap! She took a while to go to sleep, but I also put Jared in his swing for a nap at this time. He was asleep in 15 minutes. Since Jenna had gotten up so early I thought NAP FOR EVERYONE. I got some laundry going while Jenna went potty again, and we both laid down in my room. The last time I looked at the clock it was 11. Jenna made a couple escape attempts when my eyes were closed, but after a trip to the potty and some threats to take away her animal figures and no movie today she managed to lay still. We both fell asleep! At one point I could faintly hear Ava yelling "UP" and talking in her crib. I could also hear the squeaking of her mattress while she's bouncing. I finally opened my eyes at 12:30 to Jenna passed out, mouth open, thumb falling out of her mouth and all. So I slid out of bed to get Ava. I realized as soon as I walked in why she was yelling, phew! When I took her in Jared's room to the changing table I could see the sun shining through the curtains, and I had the weirdest feeling that I skipped a day and woke up to a bright, sunny morning after a full night of sleep. We proceeded to the kitchen to get some lunch. It didn't take long for Jared to wake up with her running around, but I let him continue swinging while we sat at the table and chatted :) I sat down to start writing this just before 1, at which time I saw Ava go into my room (I should've closed the door all the way)! I quiety rushed in there, grabbed her under the arms, took her out and closed the door. She immediately started crying, "Jenna wake up!" Sorry sweetpea, not happening if I can do something about it. Then she wanted to go into Jenna's bed, saying, "nigh night." Hm, that could work. She loves anything of Jenna's and tries to imitate her all day long, so we'll try it out. Case in point, SHE COMES OUT OF THE ROOM lol and is saying, "Climb." She can't get back up on the bed herself. Then it took a whole minute when I left for her to start peeling off the flower wall stickers (which I'm sure she has seen Jenna do repeatedly as many of them are moved around the wall). I went in there and said, "No stickers, lay down." As soon as I left she did it again, of course. I walked in, and she immediately jumped to lay down with a big smile on her face. She knows exactly what she is doing. She did it one more time with a warning "no stickers" or she was going to go to her bed. That was inevitable. I figured she didn't get a good nap in earlier since she ended up with a messy diaper, so I put her in her crib. I gave Jared his bottle at 1:15. He is already insisting on holding it and taking his sweet time. Actually very sweet because he stops to baby scream and laugh, so I don't mind the extra time :) It's 2 p.m. now. I hear Ava playing in her crib, Jared's getting sleep again, and Jenna is still asleep.
As I wrote in my bio blurb under my picture, I have seen a lot of things, many of them weird, unexplainable, many surprising and disturbing (one of which was the eery feeling all morning of 9/11, the peacefulness of the day that I felt until the first tower was hit, surreal!). Not that today and that day come even remotely close in themselves, but today falls into one of those weird feeling categories, but in a good way. I'm sure the fact that I started my day by praying as something to do with this :) For some reason I had no problem letting Ava ride her tricycle through the living room. And the last time I slept during the day was when I had a stomach virus. I never do it, and the timing doesn't usually work out that I can if I wanted to, but I am OH SO GLAD that I did. Cheers to one of the weirdest feeling, but calmest, days of my parenthood.
5:45 - 6:15 a.m. Jared wakes up, gets a bottle and goes back down.
6 a.m. - Jenna is awake, Lance is getting ready for work.
6:15 a.m. - I walk out from Jared's room to Jenna already playing on the computer and Lance in the kitchen. I go take a shower...and pray while I'm in there!
7 a.m. - Get Jenna off the computer. Right now it's really a blur what happended between then and 7:45 when Ava woke up.
7:45 a.m. - Got Ava, changed her, made Jenna go potty, got breakfast ready.
8 a.m. - Had breakfast with the girls. Ava loves oatmeal, Jenna does not unless it has blueberries, but oh well, they got grapes instead and she took forever eating. Put some cartoons on after breakfast while I balanced the checkbook.
8:45 a.m. - Got Jared up, changed and out to feed him breakfast. From this time, the girls played, we read some, watched some SuperWhy and Yo Gabba Gabba on DVR.
10 a.m. - The girls get snacks, and I give Jared a bottle in his room so he wouldn't be too distracted. Of course the girls end up in there anyway :)
By 10:30 my brain was so heavy, I've had a cup of coffee, but it has done absolutely nothing for my 5 hour sleep last night, which was on the couch because I fell asleep watching Jimmy Fallon. So Ava was off for a nap! She took a while to go to sleep, but I also put Jared in his swing for a nap at this time. He was asleep in 15 minutes. Since Jenna had gotten up so early I thought NAP FOR EVERYONE. I got some laundry going while Jenna went potty again, and we both laid down in my room. The last time I looked at the clock it was 11. Jenna made a couple escape attempts when my eyes were closed, but after a trip to the potty and some threats to take away her animal figures and no movie today she managed to lay still. We both fell asleep! At one point I could faintly hear Ava yelling "UP" and talking in her crib. I could also hear the squeaking of her mattress while she's bouncing. I finally opened my eyes at 12:30 to Jenna passed out, mouth open, thumb falling out of her mouth and all. So I slid out of bed to get Ava. I realized as soon as I walked in why she was yelling, phew! When I took her in Jared's room to the changing table I could see the sun shining through the curtains, and I had the weirdest feeling that I skipped a day and woke up to a bright, sunny morning after a full night of sleep. We proceeded to the kitchen to get some lunch. It didn't take long for Jared to wake up with her running around, but I let him continue swinging while we sat at the table and chatted :) I sat down to start writing this just before 1, at which time I saw Ava go into my room (I should've closed the door all the way)! I quiety rushed in there, grabbed her under the arms, took her out and closed the door. She immediately started crying, "Jenna wake up!" Sorry sweetpea, not happening if I can do something about it. Then she wanted to go into Jenna's bed, saying, "nigh night." Hm, that could work. She loves anything of Jenna's and tries to imitate her all day long, so we'll try it out. Case in point, SHE COMES OUT OF THE ROOM lol and is saying, "Climb." She can't get back up on the bed herself. Then it took a whole minute when I left for her to start peeling off the flower wall stickers (which I'm sure she has seen Jenna do repeatedly as many of them are moved around the wall). I went in there and said, "No stickers, lay down." As soon as I left she did it again, of course. I walked in, and she immediately jumped to lay down with a big smile on her face. She knows exactly what she is doing. She did it one more time with a warning "no stickers" or she was going to go to her bed. That was inevitable. I figured she didn't get a good nap in earlier since she ended up with a messy diaper, so I put her in her crib. I gave Jared his bottle at 1:15. He is already insisting on holding it and taking his sweet time. Actually very sweet because he stops to baby scream and laugh, so I don't mind the extra time :) It's 2 p.m. now. I hear Ava playing in her crib, Jared's getting sleep again, and Jenna is still asleep.
As I wrote in my bio blurb under my picture, I have seen a lot of things, many of them weird, unexplainable, many surprising and disturbing (one of which was the eery feeling all morning of 9/11, the peacefulness of the day that I felt until the first tower was hit, surreal!). Not that today and that day come even remotely close in themselves, but today falls into one of those weird feeling categories, but in a good way. I'm sure the fact that I started my day by praying as something to do with this :) For some reason I had no problem letting Ava ride her tricycle through the living room. And the last time I slept during the day was when I had a stomach virus. I never do it, and the timing doesn't usually work out that I can if I wanted to, but I am OH SO GLAD that I did. Cheers to one of the weirdest feeling, but calmest, days of my parenthood.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Sick and tired
Well, it's been almost 2 weeks since Jared stopped nursing, and it has been 3 days that he has had a fever. He has had nothing more than a runny nose for 7 months, then he gets sick. Just when all doubts about going to formula had settled, the lack of my immunity-boosting nourishment for this tiny person has caused him to get sick. Ok, he might have gotten sick anyway considering both girls had a cold, but the timing doesn't help.
The plague seeped in on Monday, the 17th. Since Lance was off work I decided we should all go out to the mall, let Jenna unwind in the play area and use the babies' Build-a-Bear gift cards. Somehow I had completely overlooked the fact that the play area would be PACKED because of the holiday. But Jenna wanted to play, we were staying. Build-a-Bear is right next to the play area, so we went there first thinking the play area might not be as crowded in 30 minutes. No such luck. But it was fun picking out some new friends for Jared (Buster a spotted puppy) and Ava (Kara the Hello Kitty). Just a side note, on the drive to the mall, anticipating going to Build-a-Bear I actually envisioned a spotted puppy that we would get Jared and we would name him Buster, then I saw just that in the window of the store. It was really wierd. I wonder if he'll be extra special to Jared LOL. It was a long wait in line to stuff them, of course Jenna just wanted to plug her ears while the girl ran the cotton machine. She lightened up for the second animal and actually stepped on the pedal to run the machine. I love that store. I have more fun doing the "baths" and picking out the clothes that the kids do. I almost got the Hello Kitty mini couch, but I got a look and "uh...no" from Lance, so that didn't happen :) Oh well. It was on to the play area.
There were a lot of big kids, we knew Ava would just get trampled, so Lance put her on some of the mechanical cars and then took her and Jared in the stroller to get some cookies while I stayed with Jenna. She made a little friend (no surprise) and they played hide and seek. It was cute because there were so many kids they really had to look for each other. The time passed quickly, Lance came back. I asked if he got cookies, he said "I got cookies for us." I left it at that. Note that exact phrasing. Ava was getting cranky, so it was time to head out. We got in the car, and I looked around for some cookies. So I asked Lance where they were, and he said, "We ate them. I got some for me and Ava." Um, ok, we are having communication issues lately! LOL I pointed out his phrasing when I asked him earlier, but I should've known that I needed to be more specific. So no, "us" just meant him and Ava, not "all of us." Then of course I feel bad having told Jenna when we LEFT the play area that we would have cookies when we left. Now, usually I am super-anal about wiping the kids hands off after they've been somewhere germy, so I don't know what I was thinking not doing this for Jenna when we got in the car! When we got home she went potty and washed them, but the damage was done. Sickness was inevitable. By Wednesday she was coughing and sneezing all over the place. Sunday morning Ava had a fever. She's a tough cookie, though and was over it in a couple days. It's been a week now, and Jenna has that lingering loose cough, but is overall just fine. Saturday night, though, Jared started with a low fever of 99. It's been up and down since then, the highest was last night at 103. I finally broke down yesterday and let Lance take him to the doctor. It's not that I don't want him to get better, but I always try to hold off because I know he's just going to get antibiotics, which he just finished for an ear infection a couple weeks ago. Jared has also had a nasty chest cough and some wheezing, which I've been treating with Albuterol. So inevitably, he has a double ear infection and was prescribed with antibiotics. I'm glad that this time he got a 5-day antibiotic instead of another 10-day. Praying this will take! Poor little guy. He's only been drinking 3 or 4 ounces at a time, but getting plenty of rest. We were supposed to go to a MOPS playdate this morning, but he was at 101 when he got up. Another leisurely day in the Clifton house. So far Lance and I have avoided this cold that the kids have passed around. I hope it stays that way. We've all been sick off and on since Christmas, and I am sick and tired of being sick and tired. I can't wait for spring!!!
The plague seeped in on Monday, the 17th. Since Lance was off work I decided we should all go out to the mall, let Jenna unwind in the play area and use the babies' Build-a-Bear gift cards. Somehow I had completely overlooked the fact that the play area would be PACKED because of the holiday. But Jenna wanted to play, we were staying. Build-a-Bear is right next to the play area, so we went there first thinking the play area might not be as crowded in 30 minutes. No such luck. But it was fun picking out some new friends for Jared (Buster a spotted puppy) and Ava (Kara the Hello Kitty). Just a side note, on the drive to the mall, anticipating going to Build-a-Bear I actually envisioned a spotted puppy that we would get Jared and we would name him Buster, then I saw just that in the window of the store. It was really wierd. I wonder if he'll be extra special to Jared LOL. It was a long wait in line to stuff them, of course Jenna just wanted to plug her ears while the girl ran the cotton machine. She lightened up for the second animal and actually stepped on the pedal to run the machine. I love that store. I have more fun doing the "baths" and picking out the clothes that the kids do. I almost got the Hello Kitty mini couch, but I got a look and "uh...no" from Lance, so that didn't happen :) Oh well. It was on to the play area.
There were a lot of big kids, we knew Ava would just get trampled, so Lance put her on some of the mechanical cars and then took her and Jared in the stroller to get some cookies while I stayed with Jenna. She made a little friend (no surprise) and they played hide and seek. It was cute because there were so many kids they really had to look for each other. The time passed quickly, Lance came back. I asked if he got cookies, he said "I got cookies for us." I left it at that. Note that exact phrasing. Ava was getting cranky, so it was time to head out. We got in the car, and I looked around for some cookies. So I asked Lance where they were, and he said, "We ate them. I got some for me and Ava." Um, ok, we are having communication issues lately! LOL I pointed out his phrasing when I asked him earlier, but I should've known that I needed to be more specific. So no, "us" just meant him and Ava, not "all of us." Then of course I feel bad having told Jenna when we LEFT the play area that we would have cookies when we left. Now, usually I am super-anal about wiping the kids hands off after they've been somewhere germy, so I don't know what I was thinking not doing this for Jenna when we got in the car! When we got home she went potty and washed them, but the damage was done. Sickness was inevitable. By Wednesday she was coughing and sneezing all over the place. Sunday morning Ava had a fever. She's a tough cookie, though and was over it in a couple days. It's been a week now, and Jenna has that lingering loose cough, but is overall just fine. Saturday night, though, Jared started with a low fever of 99. It's been up and down since then, the highest was last night at 103. I finally broke down yesterday and let Lance take him to the doctor. It's not that I don't want him to get better, but I always try to hold off because I know he's just going to get antibiotics, which he just finished for an ear infection a couple weeks ago. Jared has also had a nasty chest cough and some wheezing, which I've been treating with Albuterol. So inevitably, he has a double ear infection and was prescribed with antibiotics. I'm glad that this time he got a 5-day antibiotic instead of another 10-day. Praying this will take! Poor little guy. He's only been drinking 3 or 4 ounces at a time, but getting plenty of rest. We were supposed to go to a MOPS playdate this morning, but he was at 101 when he got up. Another leisurely day in the Clifton house. So far Lance and I have avoided this cold that the kids have passed around. I hope it stays that way. We've all been sick off and on since Christmas, and I am sick and tired of being sick and tired. I can't wait for spring!!!
Friday, January 21, 2011
Is there anyone out there, outside...
Today has been a pretty good, but busy day. Jared woke up at 5 a.m. this morning to eat. I only know this because I asked Lance when I called him at work this morning. I didn't hear him on the monitor or hear Lance get up for work. I got great sleep last night, and when I woke up at 7:15 both girls were still in bed and Jared was starting to wake up, talking through the monitor. Perfect time to get in a shower. I got myself together, Jenna was out on the computer and the babies weren't complaining yet. By the time I got Ava and Jared up and changed it was 8 o'clock. Some other things to kick off the good day: 1) payday; 2) Lance coming home at 12:30; and 3) fresh coffee. I also got a text this morning that one of my closest friends had her baby in the middle of the night! Welcome Isaiah :) We were also looking forward to kids movie night at church with "Finding Nemo."
At 8:30 I gave Jared a bottle, put some cartoons on for the girls, and got some coffee and breakfast going. It was a really quick morning. 11 o'clock rolled around, gave the girls snacks and Ava went down for a nap around 11:45. Lance came home with a pizza for lunch before Jenna and I went to her preschool to do a Dial 3 Screening for 3-5 year olds. With the late breakfast and snacks, plus recovering from a cold, Jenna wasn't hungry at all for lunch, so she got a string cheese before we left.
I had never heard of this program until moving to St. Louis, but it's called Parents as Teachers. It's a free service through our district where parent educators can come to your home and evaluate your kids milestones and development but also give you tips on helping your kids meet goals. Basically, as a parent, "you are your child's first and most important teacher." The screening is made to determine if your child is on track with their development based on averages for their age. They look at gross and fine motor skills, concepts, speech and language and social development, and also check their vision and hearing. It couldn't hurt, and it might actually boost my own self-esteem that I'm doing something right in the midst of beating myself up for yelling or snapping at Jenna. I really think children's behavior outside the home is partly their own personality but also very much the influences on them IN the home. I think I really underestimate Jenna sometimes. She gets so whiny and difficult a lot at home, but I know she is a big social butterfly, loves interacting with other people, and is improving so much on listening (to other adults, not me). She can't really express herself at home when I'm constantly shifting my attention off of whatever I'm doing with her to tend to Ava or Jared. I try to take advantage of any opportunity to get her out and about, especially school. She loves it, and I love that. So onto the screening.
I wasn't really sure what to expect, so I was prepping Jenna by telling her that a teacher was going to ask her about the things she's learning in preschool, her numbers, etc. We signed in and went to the waiting area of the school lobby that has toys and books. It didn't take long for one of the "parent educators", who is also a sub for Jenna's teacher, to come out and get Jenna. She asked, "Jenna, do you want to go play some games?" To which Jenna replied, "Sure. Mommy, can I go play some games?" It was adorable. Then she rushed off as excited as can be, chatting down the hallway. I delighted in the other parent's amusement of her. She is something else. I knew that I wouldn't be in there with her, but I didn't like just sitting and waiting with nothing to do for an hour. I did some texting for a couple minutes, and another mom had come back to the waiting area after peeking into the gym where the kids were. Without being too obvious that I was going to do exactly what she did, I gave it a few minutes, then made my way around to the gym. Jenna's teacher was walking out of her room at the same time, and she was just as anxious to peek in at Jenna with me and adding that she expects Jenna will have no problem with kindergarten. We were chatting trying to steer clear of the windows. After a few minutes, her teacher left and I stayed to spy. I watched Jenna sitting at a table by herself with the educator, listening intently, and then sorting shapes into piles. I also saw her stacking blocks at one point. They changed stations to do motor skills: throwing and catching, hopping, jumping, skipping. When they left that station she spotted me through the window, AH. I didn't want to throw her off and make her non-compliant by the mere sight of me. The educator said something to the effect of "it's someone's mommy," to which Jenna quickly replied, "It's mine!" I quickly moved out of the sight and then felt totally stupid. I heard her talking, but I decided to just go back to the waiting area. I had been gone too long. My sister called after a few minutes, so I went out the first set of front doors. It was nice and heated between those doors and the outer set of doors. I saw two of the educators come to the waiting area and then another mom direct them toward the front door, so I rushed off the phone and went back inside. I followed them to the gym where Jenna was playing with (what else) animals with a little boy. She looked so cute and grown up all on her own in that room. I sat at a little table to discuss the results of Jenna's evaluations.
I wish I could've had the copy of the results that they keep because they showed the specific tasks that they did, so I'll try to jog my memory. She mentioned the block stacking activity for motor skills, which was also copying. She stacked a single tower but had a little difficulty building a pyramid style with the long level on the bottom, smaller level stacked above that in a row, etc. She did great with the physical things, jumping on one foot, skipping, etc. Some fine motors skills need work. She is on track with cutting for her age level (3-4yrs), though we need to practice some more. She isn't as coordinated with twiddling her thumbs and touching each finger to her thumbs. I never would've even though to practice something like that. But she did great with "concepts" such as, naming colors while being timed (15 in 30 seconds...or something like that), identifying body parts (except wrist), positions (between, above, below), sorting and identifying shapes and identifying concepts. One in particular was looking at a picture and telling what it's used for. One picture showed a thermometer, but Jenna said it was a ruler (I guess it looked similar with the little lines, and we use the forehead scanner at home. I don't think she's seen those old-school thermometers LOL). The educator asked what a ruler is used for, and Jenna said, "to see how long you are." :) The educator was really impressed with Jenna's rhyming ability and identifying upper and lower case letters. She also had to copy some letters and symbols. The triangle and diamond were tricky. She was trying to do the diamond, stopped and said, "That's not right," and quickly moved on to the next one. She did an eye spy picture game to identify the objects that start with a certain sound, like find the things that start with the "t" sound. As far as behavior, on one hand I was surprised that there were NO concerns, but then again it's always different when mommy isn't hovering to correct her every mis-step. That automatically turns into selective hearing and straight-up ignoring! She listened, stayed on task, and understood directions.
At one point when we were discussing the behavior, and the woman said they call Jenna the cheerleader because she's so enthusiastic about everything, I just had to laugh and tell the woman that it must be that she got out of the house because we've been cooped up inside, and I've been seeing a different little girl. Of course I know how well Jenna separates from me and does in school, but I realized the woman could take that as me being out of touch with Jenna or that I don't appreciate that about her or something. It's weird how I feel like I have to defend my parenting. Also, when she was talking about working on cutting with scissors, I told her that I have two other little ones that I'm going back and forth with, so I'm not really leaving Jenna with scissors to practice. I laughed about it, but hopefully she didn't take offense to that :-\ Either way, I sat at that table doing everything I could to not 1) cry and 2) laugh hysterically in sheer pride and joy. It's just a preK screening, but in those 15 minutes of going over Jenna's skills assessment I felt such satisfaction and accomplishment in myself. She didn't have to straight out say, you've done a great job, and she didn't. But sitting there seeing her reaction to all that Jenna was able to do and the individual that she is, was validation enough for me.
I feel like since having the babies, I miss developments and things with Jenna that she gets in school, but I am really glad that she has her outlet in school and can come home, we can be excited together on her counting or drawing something new or some different craft, things that I don't really have the time and energy to do at home...I guess except on snow days. It was really perfect, God-ordained timing with Jenna's age and having Ava. On one hand I'm going to always be a teacher for Jenna, but on the other, as Ava is getting bigger I feel like I've taught Jenna all I can in the "getting ready for school" capacity, atleast at this time in my life with the demands of Ava and Jared. I am so grateful that I was able to spend her first three years so focused on her, reading to her, taking her out, teaching, practicing, playing. Thankfully Ava takes a big nap during the day where Jenna and I can do projects or do a learning workbook. But at times I'll start something with Jenna, and have to say, "Oh wait, Ava's awake, I'll be back," or "Hold on, I need to get Jared's bottle ready." Today she did get whiny when I had to feed Jared. She just wanted me to put him in his rocking chair :) But while we don't have many routines left besides baby napping schedules, she has adapted really well. It was no surprise, though, that when Lance asked who she wanted to take her to movie night she said, "Mommy. I love mommy."
But before we headed out for that, I took Ava with me to go visit my friend and her baby. We stopped to get some flowers and then made it through the 17 degree (lower with wind chill) walk inside the hospital. One thing I thought about was that, although Jared is really little for his age, he has grown so much! Thankfully I had no yearning for another child or anything when I held the baby :) I kept Ava in the stroller, so we didn't stay too long as she was getting whiny, but it was a nice outing with just me and her. We got home, I cooked up some meat for Lance to make tacos, and Jenna and I were off to church. We did stop at the bakery for a big Valentine's day cookie (that Jenna picked out), and I had a miniature piece of white cake with a strawberry sauce, white chocolate mousse and strawberry on top. We were going to be a few minutes late for the movie, but it was nice to not make her rush to get somewhere. It's also good that she missed the baracuda in the beginning, it's scares her. Although she did surprisingly well during the scary angler fish part I'm trying to prep her for scary, loud things like that by telling her to plug her ears and close her eyes. Before she would run out of the room altogether, but I think I've convinced her that she doesn't have to miss more of the movie than necessary by leaving the room. Just close your ears and eyes, and I'll tell you when it's done. She must have asked me 10 times to sit right by her so I can hold her during the scary parts. She also knows how to control the remote to fast-foward the DVR for recorded movies, so she can get past the scary parts herself. Overall, the time out for us today was great. She had great manners, telling me thank you every time I brought a drink or food to our table for us, she would climb on my lap during the movie, we played a little Wii. There was also a little devotional for the kids mid-movie to think about why Nemo got in trouble and lost (he didn't listen to his dad), and that even though Nemo didn't listen, his dad still loved him and wasn't going to stop until he found him. She was exhausted by the time we got home, and so was I. I'm not used to being out that late. I think we left around 8:30. It's 11:30 right now, and I'm delusional.
In closing, no matter how much I have to tell Jenna to wait, stop what she's doing to Ava, don't do this or that...I love that girl, and she loves me, and now she has shown the world, well her preschool, how much I've invested in her. I guess I should technically say that I don't need recognition, it's my job as a mother to also be a teacher and guide her, and I do it out of my love for her. That's all fine and dandy, but it's also nice to know that someone notices!!!
At 8:30 I gave Jared a bottle, put some cartoons on for the girls, and got some coffee and breakfast going. It was a really quick morning. 11 o'clock rolled around, gave the girls snacks and Ava went down for a nap around 11:45. Lance came home with a pizza for lunch before Jenna and I went to her preschool to do a Dial 3 Screening for 3-5 year olds. With the late breakfast and snacks, plus recovering from a cold, Jenna wasn't hungry at all for lunch, so she got a string cheese before we left.
I had never heard of this program until moving to St. Louis, but it's called Parents as Teachers. It's a free service through our district where parent educators can come to your home and evaluate your kids milestones and development but also give you tips on helping your kids meet goals. Basically, as a parent, "you are your child's first and most important teacher." The screening is made to determine if your child is on track with their development based on averages for their age. They look at gross and fine motor skills, concepts, speech and language and social development, and also check their vision and hearing. It couldn't hurt, and it might actually boost my own self-esteem that I'm doing something right in the midst of beating myself up for yelling or snapping at Jenna. I really think children's behavior outside the home is partly their own personality but also very much the influences on them IN the home. I think I really underestimate Jenna sometimes. She gets so whiny and difficult a lot at home, but I know she is a big social butterfly, loves interacting with other people, and is improving so much on listening (to other adults, not me). She can't really express herself at home when I'm constantly shifting my attention off of whatever I'm doing with her to tend to Ava or Jared. I try to take advantage of any opportunity to get her out and about, especially school. She loves it, and I love that. So onto the screening.
I wasn't really sure what to expect, so I was prepping Jenna by telling her that a teacher was going to ask her about the things she's learning in preschool, her numbers, etc. We signed in and went to the waiting area of the school lobby that has toys and books. It didn't take long for one of the "parent educators", who is also a sub for Jenna's teacher, to come out and get Jenna. She asked, "Jenna, do you want to go play some games?" To which Jenna replied, "Sure. Mommy, can I go play some games?" It was adorable. Then she rushed off as excited as can be, chatting down the hallway. I delighted in the other parent's amusement of her. She is something else. I knew that I wouldn't be in there with her, but I didn't like just sitting and waiting with nothing to do for an hour. I did some texting for a couple minutes, and another mom had come back to the waiting area after peeking into the gym where the kids were. Without being too obvious that I was going to do exactly what she did, I gave it a few minutes, then made my way around to the gym. Jenna's teacher was walking out of her room at the same time, and she was just as anxious to peek in at Jenna with me and adding that she expects Jenna will have no problem with kindergarten. We were chatting trying to steer clear of the windows. After a few minutes, her teacher left and I stayed to spy. I watched Jenna sitting at a table by herself with the educator, listening intently, and then sorting shapes into piles. I also saw her stacking blocks at one point. They changed stations to do motor skills: throwing and catching, hopping, jumping, skipping. When they left that station she spotted me through the window, AH. I didn't want to throw her off and make her non-compliant by the mere sight of me. The educator said something to the effect of "it's someone's mommy," to which Jenna quickly replied, "It's mine!" I quickly moved out of the sight and then felt totally stupid. I heard her talking, but I decided to just go back to the waiting area. I had been gone too long. My sister called after a few minutes, so I went out the first set of front doors. It was nice and heated between those doors and the outer set of doors. I saw two of the educators come to the waiting area and then another mom direct them toward the front door, so I rushed off the phone and went back inside. I followed them to the gym where Jenna was playing with (what else) animals with a little boy. She looked so cute and grown up all on her own in that room. I sat at a little table to discuss the results of Jenna's evaluations.
I wish I could've had the copy of the results that they keep because they showed the specific tasks that they did, so I'll try to jog my memory. She mentioned the block stacking activity for motor skills, which was also copying. She stacked a single tower but had a little difficulty building a pyramid style with the long level on the bottom, smaller level stacked above that in a row, etc. She did great with the physical things, jumping on one foot, skipping, etc. Some fine motors skills need work. She is on track with cutting for her age level (3-4yrs), though we need to practice some more. She isn't as coordinated with twiddling her thumbs and touching each finger to her thumbs. I never would've even though to practice something like that. But she did great with "concepts" such as, naming colors while being timed (15 in 30 seconds...or something like that), identifying body parts (except wrist), positions (between, above, below), sorting and identifying shapes and identifying concepts. One in particular was looking at a picture and telling what it's used for. One picture showed a thermometer, but Jenna said it was a ruler (I guess it looked similar with the little lines, and we use the forehead scanner at home. I don't think she's seen those old-school thermometers LOL). The educator asked what a ruler is used for, and Jenna said, "to see how long you are." :) The educator was really impressed with Jenna's rhyming ability and identifying upper and lower case letters. She also had to copy some letters and symbols. The triangle and diamond were tricky. She was trying to do the diamond, stopped and said, "That's not right," and quickly moved on to the next one. She did an eye spy picture game to identify the objects that start with a certain sound, like find the things that start with the "t" sound. As far as behavior, on one hand I was surprised that there were NO concerns, but then again it's always different when mommy isn't hovering to correct her every mis-step. That automatically turns into selective hearing and straight-up ignoring! She listened, stayed on task, and understood directions.
At one point when we were discussing the behavior, and the woman said they call Jenna the cheerleader because she's so enthusiastic about everything, I just had to laugh and tell the woman that it must be that she got out of the house because we've been cooped up inside, and I've been seeing a different little girl. Of course I know how well Jenna separates from me and does in school, but I realized the woman could take that as me being out of touch with Jenna or that I don't appreciate that about her or something. It's weird how I feel like I have to defend my parenting. Also, when she was talking about working on cutting with scissors, I told her that I have two other little ones that I'm going back and forth with, so I'm not really leaving Jenna with scissors to practice. I laughed about it, but hopefully she didn't take offense to that :-\ Either way, I sat at that table doing everything I could to not 1) cry and 2) laugh hysterically in sheer pride and joy. It's just a preK screening, but in those 15 minutes of going over Jenna's skills assessment I felt such satisfaction and accomplishment in myself. She didn't have to straight out say, you've done a great job, and she didn't. But sitting there seeing her reaction to all that Jenna was able to do and the individual that she is, was validation enough for me.
I feel like since having the babies, I miss developments and things with Jenna that she gets in school, but I am really glad that she has her outlet in school and can come home, we can be excited together on her counting or drawing something new or some different craft, things that I don't really have the time and energy to do at home...I guess except on snow days. It was really perfect, God-ordained timing with Jenna's age and having Ava. On one hand I'm going to always be a teacher for Jenna, but on the other, as Ava is getting bigger I feel like I've taught Jenna all I can in the "getting ready for school" capacity, atleast at this time in my life with the demands of Ava and Jared. I am so grateful that I was able to spend her first three years so focused on her, reading to her, taking her out, teaching, practicing, playing. Thankfully Ava takes a big nap during the day where Jenna and I can do projects or do a learning workbook. But at times I'll start something with Jenna, and have to say, "Oh wait, Ava's awake, I'll be back," or "Hold on, I need to get Jared's bottle ready." Today she did get whiny when I had to feed Jared. She just wanted me to put him in his rocking chair :) But while we don't have many routines left besides baby napping schedules, she has adapted really well. It was no surprise, though, that when Lance asked who she wanted to take her to movie night she said, "Mommy. I love mommy."
But before we headed out for that, I took Ava with me to go visit my friend and her baby. We stopped to get some flowers and then made it through the 17 degree (lower with wind chill) walk inside the hospital. One thing I thought about was that, although Jared is really little for his age, he has grown so much! Thankfully I had no yearning for another child or anything when I held the baby :) I kept Ava in the stroller, so we didn't stay too long as she was getting whiny, but it was a nice outing with just me and her. We got home, I cooked up some meat for Lance to make tacos, and Jenna and I were off to church. We did stop at the bakery for a big Valentine's day cookie (that Jenna picked out), and I had a miniature piece of white cake with a strawberry sauce, white chocolate mousse and strawberry on top. We were going to be a few minutes late for the movie, but it was nice to not make her rush to get somewhere. It's also good that she missed the baracuda in the beginning, it's scares her. Although she did surprisingly well during the scary angler fish part I'm trying to prep her for scary, loud things like that by telling her to plug her ears and close her eyes. Before she would run out of the room altogether, but I think I've convinced her that she doesn't have to miss more of the movie than necessary by leaving the room. Just close your ears and eyes, and I'll tell you when it's done. She must have asked me 10 times to sit right by her so I can hold her during the scary parts. She also knows how to control the remote to fast-foward the DVR for recorded movies, so she can get past the scary parts herself. Overall, the time out for us today was great. She had great manners, telling me thank you every time I brought a drink or food to our table for us, she would climb on my lap during the movie, we played a little Wii. There was also a little devotional for the kids mid-movie to think about why Nemo got in trouble and lost (he didn't listen to his dad), and that even though Nemo didn't listen, his dad still loved him and wasn't going to stop until he found him. She was exhausted by the time we got home, and so was I. I'm not used to being out that late. I think we left around 8:30. It's 11:30 right now, and I'm delusional.
In closing, no matter how much I have to tell Jenna to wait, stop what she's doing to Ava, don't do this or that...I love that girl, and she loves me, and now she has shown the world, well her preschool, how much I've invested in her. I guess I should technically say that I don't need recognition, it's my job as a mother to also be a teacher and guide her, and I do it out of my love for her. That's all fine and dandy, but it's also nice to know that someone notices!!!
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