Pete's Birthday

Poor Pete (my brother-in-law). He had a kidney stone, which he obviously didn't know about, and it started to descend from his kidney the day before his birthday. The hospital gave him a ton of drugs, and we were hoping he could pass it on his own. We went to his house on his birthday for cake and ice cream. Unfortunately, the next day, the stone got "stuck", and he ended up having to have surgery on Friday to get it out. Nice birthday gift for him! :)



Pete was funny. When we were singing happy birthday to him, Pete was singing along: "Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me..."

After he blew out the candles (I swiped this shot from Nat's blog):

Nat, licking the chocolate frosting off the candles:

Here's Pete with the card I made for him:

Mom and Troy. Troy loves hanging out with his grandma:

Sadie and me:

Nat and I and our pregnant bellies. It's funny to see how different people carry their babies:

Brock, slinging webs at me. He has inherited his big brother's love of Spiderman:

Ben took this cute picture of he and Dylan. Dylan has the cutest little face, and the softest skin:

Talking Dinosaur Eggs

For Easter, I found some plastic eggs that were shaped like dinosaur heads. I put jelly beans in them and hid them, as well as other plastic eggs and our dyed eggs. Here, Ben is making them talk, much to Sadie's glee. Ben is so funny. He is constantly making all of us laugh:

Everyone Poops

Thanks for the support about getting rid of Titan, everyone. You made me feel a lot better about it.

Alright, brace yourselves if you don't like talking about bodily functions, because I'm going to talk about Sadie's potty training adventures. If you are sensitive to such topics, run away from this blog quickly! :)

The above is a book, a real one! It's supposed to help toddlers understand that, when they're pooping, their guts aren't falling out of their bodies. That they're okay. I've thought about getting it from the library.

I mentioned about a month ago that we had started to potty-train Sadie, and maybe a week ago, I mentioned that she was having problems in the, ah, number two area of her training. It only took her one day to get the hang of peeing in the potty, and she's a total champ about that. But she was really, really scared to poop in the potty. I would offer to put her diaper on so that she could poop in the diaper, and she refused to do that, too. It was like, once she realized what was really going on down there, she wanted no part of it. She was so freaked out about it that she would hold it all in and actually constipate herself.

After about five days, she was starting to get really uncomfortable, so we gave her a baby suppository. Those worked for the next ten days or so - every five days, we'd give her one. And she would scream and shake - it was very traumatic for her, because it had built up in her so much, so it hurt to come out.

Well, pretty soon, she somehow figured out how to overcome the power of the suppository. I don't know how - I can't overcome the power of a suppository!! She just somehow made her body ignore it. So then we tried Milk of Magnesia mixed with her morning apple juice. We tried prunes (that went over really well). We tried baby laxatives. She somehow overcame the power of all of these.

We finally tried a baby enema, and that was the ticket. So we had to do baby enemas, every five days or so, for a couple of weeks. She hated it, and I hated having to do it, but it was the only way to give her relief, because she was really uncomfortable. She is probably the only two-year-old in the world that knows the word "enema." When I said it, she would scream and run away. :) I was about to call the doctor to discuss this issue with him, when, lo and behold...

SHE STARTED POOPING WITHOUT AN ENEMA!! It was awesome. She's done it a few times in the last few days. We obviously make a huge deal out of it when she does it. We shower her with praise, I let her call her dad to tell him "the good news..." We still have to talk her into it - she'll resist for awhile. But if I hug her while she's on the toilet, and if I help her grunt - I go, uhhhh...., and then she'll go, uhhhh, and that helps - then she'll do it. So I'm really excited to be possibly overcoming this problem.

Peace Out, Titan.

Alright. I've been too ashamed to tell everyone this news, but it must be done. I got rid of Titan a few days ago. I was seriously about to have a nervous breakdown. I had finally potty-trained him, but all day long, all he did was chew on stuff and jump all over my kids. I spent my entire day finding out where he was in the house and taking things out of his mouth. I'd be showering, and Dylan or Sadie would inevitably come into the bathroom, crying, because Titan had gotten too excited and bitten or scratched them. I had to keep all bedroom and bathroom doors closed, because he would find things to destroy. I have torn ligaments in my hip, and it's extremely painful to bend over, yet that's what I did all day long, to keep him out of things, to keep him from destroying things, etc. I was also concerned about when our baby comes in June. I would like to give the baby tummy time and floor play time, and was the dog going to jump all over him? Lick his face until the baby can't breathe?? Ben and I had been talking for a few weeks about maybe giving him to a new home, but we always felt too guilty to do it. He really loved that dog, but he said he would support whatever I needed to do, because I'm the one at home with the dog all day.

I can't remember if it was Monday or Tuesday, but I was mixing tuna fish in the kitchen for lunch. Dylan asked if he could vacuum the couch, and I was like, well, sure. If that's what you want to do... After about five minutes, I went to the living room to tell Dylan that he had probably vacuumed enough. Dylan had taken the cushions off the couch to vacuum them, and the dog was on the bottom of the couch, where there are springs and stuffing, and there's a liner over them. He had torn the liner off and was taking all the stuffing out. I was like, ahhhhhh!!!! So I put the stuffing back in, and kind of...tucked the lining in, and replaced the cushions, thinking, jeez, that's another thing he has destroyed... And I go back into the kitchen to finish the tuna sandwiches, and Titan had pulled the bowl of tuna mix off the counter and was eating it. I was like, THAT IS IT.

I took the kids with me and took Titan to the pound, straightaway. I knew he'd get adoped in a millisecond, because he's a purebred. I took his paperwork and everything. So we get into the foyer, and I'm about to pay the fee to turn Titan over, and some people were leaving. They had been looking for a dog and hadn't really found anything, and they stopped in their tracks when they saw Titan. They couldn't believe I was getting rid of him, but I explained my situation. I explained that he is the sweetest dog ever, but I just couldn't play with him as much as he needed. He's a hunting dog, after all - meant to be active. And I'm just so busy with the kids and the house. The people were looking for a hunting dog and a companion for their golden retriever. They live on two acres in Shelley, and their kids are older (less likely to be trampled by Titan). They asked if they could have Titan, and I said yes. They seem like they will be a really good family for him. I gave them his paperwork and all his toys and dog biscuits. I told the kids to say goodbye to Titan, and they were like, "See ya!" They seriously didn't care one bit!!

I've been really sad, off and on - I've even cried a couple of times - because like I said, I thought he was so sweet. And I feel really guilty. I always thought I was a dog person, but apparently, I'm not. But I need to respect my emotional state, you know? Sometimes, Sadie or Dylan asks where Titan is, and I remind them that we gave Titan to a new family, and they go, oh yeah. And then they return to playing. Ben has been sad, too, but he has been supportive of my decision. He really is more of a cat person, anyways. But we're NOT getting another animal for many, many years - and not a dog ever again. (Plus, I'm allergic to all cats but persians.) I just don't want to clean up another animal's pee and poop anymore, you know? I'm busy cleaning up my daughter's pee and poop. I'm sick of my life revolving around pee and poop!! I don't need the bother. I'm stressed out enough.

And my life feels about 70 times easier. I'm serious. I can take off my shoes and not put them in the closet right away. I always had to put them away immediately, or the dog would chew on them. I can sit on the couch with a blanket on my legs, and there's no dog chewing on the blanket incessantly, no matter how many times I shoved him away. The kids are no longer getting bludgeoned. My load feels considerably lighter. It's made a huge difference. I know this was the right decision, but it was still really hard.

I wanted to put the last few pictures I took of Titan on here, but it's too hard for me to look at them. I hope all of you don't think the worse of me for having done this. I feel like a cold-hearted snake, as Paula Abdul would say. I've learned my lesson. And I hope Titan is okay.

Scattergories!

I got this via e-mail from my sister, Nat, and I thought it would be fun to do on my bloggie-pooh.





1. What is your name? Karlenn


2. 4 letter word: knob (according to Wikipedia, this is supposed to be a vulgar word, but I've never heard it used vulgarly)


3. Vehicle: Kia


4. City: K-ville. Okay, that's slang for New Orleans, but dang, this is hard!!


5. Boy Name: Karl


6. Girl Name: Karly


7. Alcoholic drink: Kamikaze. Totally had to look that up on Wikipedia, too.


8. Occupation: Kinesiologist


9. Something you wear: knee-high pants


10. Food: Kingfish


11. Something found in a bathroom: Kleenex


12. Reason for Being Late: Kids wouldn't wake up!


13. Cartoon Character: Kitty, Hello :) A little cheating on that one.


14. Something You Shout: King me!


15. Animal: Kangaroo. That was the only easy one on this whole questionnaire. Besides what my name is.


16. Body part: knee


17. Word to describe you: kind


18. Something describing your mother: Kauai-loving


19. Something describing your childhood: Keen. Because I have the vocabulary of a 1940's kid. :)

Sadie's Speech Issues

Here's a video of Sadie, pretending to be a dog. She can't say, "Ruff, ruff!" So she says, "Russ, russ!"

Sadie's speech has been a concern for me for the past six months or so. I couldn't tell if she was delayed or not, because my only basis of comparison is Dylan, who was speaking in clear sentences when he was 18 months old. But I hardly ever understand what she's telling me. Everything is just very slurred. "Doughy" is "kool-aid." "Doss" is "cars." "Saw" is "frog." Luckily, she's mellow, so she doesn't throw a fit if I don't understand her, but I was a little concerned.

So, last week, we had her tested through the Infant/Toddler program in our state (thanks to my friend Carrie, who told me about the program in her state). The Infant/Toddler program is fantastic, because it's absolutely free. They test kids for free, and if your child needs therapy of any sort (development, speech, behavior, etc.), a therapist will come to your house once a week until the child is three years old.

Sadie tested in high in understanding and in expressing herself, but very low in articulation. They also tested her for a developmental problem, and she didn't have anything wrong in that area. Because she's so low in articulation (she's in the 7th percentile - that's not good), she will receive speech therapy through Infant/Toddler. The therapist will come to our house once a week through the summer. When the fall comes, Sadie will go to the local school and get speech therapy there once a week.

Sadie wasn't going to be eligible for Headstart this fall - we make "too much" now (what a joke!) - but now she will be eligible, because there is paperwork to prove that she needs extra help. Headstart is required to make 10% of its students be students with special needs. I'm glad I checked it out - hopefully the therapy will help her. And I'm really glad it's not a problem with her brain - they said she was really smart. She just has a tongue-thrusting problem.

Easter Morning

We had to wake up the kids a little early on Sunday morning, because we had to have our Easter egg hunt, then hurry and get ready for church. First, we looked to see what the Easter Bunny left in our baskets. Sadie got some new church shoes:

And Dylan got two new church belts. I know. The Easter Bunny is sooo boring :)

The kids also got Easter Nerds candy. They love Nerds. I had to help open the packages for them:

The Easter Bunny got Ben the movie, O Brother, Where Art Thou? We used to own it, and we lost it in one of our moves. So he was really excited to get that in his basket:

And then the Easter Bunny got me a new paper cutter and some storage boxes for my scrapbooking stuff. Ben is so cute. We do each others' baskets every year, and he always gets the perfect thing for me:

Last year, I got Dylan a little toy bunny that winds up, and then "poops" out jelly beans. I saved it for him to play with this year, when I got out the Easter decorations, but it wasn't working, and he was so disappointed. So this year, I found, for both him and Sadie, a chicken that poops out jelly beans. Dylan loaded the chicken with jelly beans, and then he said, "Get a load of this, Mom!!" Then he wound it up and watched, with great joy, as the chicken successfully pooped out the jelly beans. I can't believe he said, "Get a load of this!" It was funny:

Then we had our little Easter egg hunt. We had to keep Titan in his kennel while we did it, or he would have chewed all of them up:

Coloring Eggs

My mom was planning an Easter egg hunt last night at her house, but we wanted the kids to have a chance to dye eggs, so we dyed them Saturday night and had a mini-egg hunt at our house Easter morning. Here are the pictures of the dying process. Dylan:

I copied my friend, Nicole's, idea, and made a rainbow egg, but our flash on our camera is a little overzealous. So you can't see that it's rainbow:

Ben snapped this picture right as Dylan was about to spill a cup of dye all over the table. Luckily, I grabbed it just in time. So funny:

Sadie:

Ben was writing "Kar + Ben" on an egg. So sweet:

We bought a little tye-dying kit, so here's Ben, trying that out:

Easter Baskets Make Great Hats!

Cute Aunt Lex

My sister, Lex, came up for spring break last week, and we had so much fun with her. I caught a really cute moment with her and Sadie. My kids love their aunts!!

Swimming (Again)

I'm so sorry if you're annoyed that I'm posting another thing about swimming, but the last time we went, it was with my sister, Beads, and this time, it's with my sister Lex. And last time, my mom had just had surgery and couldn't swim with us, but this time, she could. And my sisters and I use each others' blogs to download any photos we want from each other. And my kids just got new swimsuits from Brenda the Awesome. So, with all of these factors in mind, I'm posting another swimming post. I hope you're not too bugged. We went to the Apple Athletic Club again and had a blast. Lex and Sadie:

Mom and Brockie:

Nat and Troy:

Sadie, always sitting by the stairs:

Mom:

Dylie:

Jake, Troy, and Nat:

A Year with Frog and Toad

Months and months ago, my sweet mom got tickets for Dylan, me, my sister (Nat), and my nephew (Jake) to a play called A Year with Frog and Toad. It's based on a children's book by the same name:

Mom bought Nat and I each the book to start reading to Dylan and Jake, to get them prepared. Nat read the book to Jake a couple of times, but Dylan wouldn't read it, no matter what I tried. I think he was turned off by the pictures - not as flashy as he would like, probably.

The play was performed in the Colonial Theatre in Idaho Falls - it's been around since 1919! They used to have vaudeville-type plays there. It was renovated and reopened in 1999. Here's a picture of the interior:

We took pictures of each other before the play started. Nat and Jake:

Dylan and me:

And mom and her grandkids:

The play was really cute. My favorite character is Snail. Toad never gets any mail, and it makes him sad. So Frog writes Toad a letter and gives it to Snail to deliver to Toad. It takes Snail a whole year to get there. He was a really cute character:

The play was cute. Nat and I were laughing about the way the characters spoke - Nat calls it the "Broadway Voice." It reminds me of how Gaston, in Beauty and the Beast, talks. It's like he's still singing, kind of. And all verbrato-ey. The actors were all fabulous singers, and the set was really cute.

Jake was enthralled. He paid attention to the whole play. Dylan, unfortunately, got bored quickly. He wasn't necessarily interested in the play itself, but he would ask things like, "Mom, how did they get fog on the stage?" and "Where is that light coming from?" I had to keep yanking him down in his seat, because he kept standing up. The play ends where it begins, and when the characters sang the same song as they did before, Dylan says loudly, "Mom, do we have to watch this whole thing again?!?!? I guess he didn't inherit his mom's taste for theatre.

I had a great time. Thanks, Mom! Without you, our lives would be dull indeed. Thanks for being our Sugar Mama! :)

Whose Kids ARE These??

I really, really hate celery. I can stand it if it's chopped and sauteed in butter, and stuffed in a casserole or something, but otherwise, no way, dude. I was chopping some the other night, and Dylan asked for a stick of celery to snack on. I gave him one, smirking, because I thought he would hate it. He totally loved it!! I told him that I heard somewhere that peanut butter is really good on celery sticks, and he asked if he could have some. He ate the whole thing! Crazy.

Of course, Sadie wanted one, too, and she also liked it! Who knew?? She's wearing undies in this shot - we've moved from naked from the waist down to underwear from the waist down. She's doing well with the peeing aspect of potty training. The pooping is a whole other, awful story. I'll have to dedicate a post to that one.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

We didn't do anything extra-special for St. Patrick's Day - I thought for a minute about doing green eggs and ham, but I just feel too crummy to put forth any extra effort. I've had the ingredients to make a pie for a couple of weeks now, but I can't find the energy to make it! My sister, Lexi, is in town, and my mom offered to take Lex, Nat and her family, and me and my family out for lunch yesterday (thanks, mom!). We went to Papa Kelsey's, me and Lex's favorite. Here's Sadie and me - I'm showing that she's wearing green:

Nat and Troy. Nat felt really gross yesterday, so she was a good sport to pack up her kids and come out:

Here's a pic of Lexi and Dylan. She's showing us a piece of Papa Kelsey's luscious garlic cheesy bread. That's all she and I ever order and eat there. It's soooo good:

Mom and Sadie. Not sure what Mom is doing!!

Jake and Brock. I actually got Brock to look at the camera! It's a miracle!!

Dylan got a little Pokemon toy out of a coin machine there. He wanted to make sure I took a picture of it: