Some fishy stuff

We have had my sister-in-law, Anna, and my really into fishing brother-in-law, Justin, visiting from D.C. the past few days and yesterday Brent, Gpa Steve, Justin and Hunter went out fishing on Justin's boat. They were out for a few hours and I guess Hunter did really well in the boat. He(with Brent's help) caught a quiet large Northern and caught it on Hunter's little Spiderman fishing pole. We were all outside at a little before ten last night watching Justin clean the fish. It was sick and gross, yet in a fascinating sort of way. The fish wasn't dead, so he had to kind of knock it out before he cut it. He'd hit it on its head and then start cutting down its body(gross, huh?!) Anyway, Hunter wanted to watch it and so we let him. When Justin bopped the fish on the head Hunter said, "Ohhh, my head!" in a funny voice. Then when Justin cut down its body he said, "Ohhh! My whole body!" It was SOO funny! We all just stood around laughing for awhile. Brent went out with Steve and Justin again tonight for some serious fishing, and Anna and I took the boys to the dam to do a little fishing. The boys were all over the place making Anna and I nervous since we were close to water, so we didn't stay long, but we stayed long enough for me to catch my first fish ever in Minnesota! I caught a pretty good size Bass. I even held the thing! It didn't squirm, but I had a plan if it did. I was going to throw it as fast as I could and run away screaming. I'm getting OK with touching gross things little by little. You'd think I wouldn't mind touching fish since I touch gross things like spit up and boogers all day, but fish still gross me out. Anyway, it was a proud moment.

Well, I seem to have sinus infection. I'm debating whether or not to go to the doctor tomorrow and just get it over with. I have so much sinus pressure right now in my ears I think they may just pop right off my head. Oh it hurts. So, I'm going to go try to fall asleep and pretend they don't hurt. Here are some random pictures from the last few days: (we're planning a trip to Como Park Zoo one of these days this week, so that will be exciting!)
(ps. In the one picture Hunter is doing the "This little Piggy" with Callie)

Weekend Ramblings

I am so very tired right now. I have slept a total of about 12 hours over the last three nights. I have a cold, or allergies, maybe both, and one thing or the other has kept me up for hours each night. One night it was some animal(I think a rabbit) that was crying for an hour or so, then it has also been the TOTALLY annoying bats that we have in our space in between the roof and our room. I hear those stupid things scratching back and forth across the ceiling all night and it keeps me awake. Finally at about 4 this morning I took Callie and we went down and I slept on the couch. I think I will be sleeping in the guest room in the basement until this problem is resolved. I can't take anymore. I just want to sit and yell and bang on the walls all day while those bats are trying to sleep to show them how annoying it is to not get any rest. We know what we're going to do to rid ourselves of them, we just have to tear down our chimney first, which we'll be doing very very soon. We are going to be starting our remodel in the next few weeks. Our plans are to replace all the windows that haven't been replaced, reside the house, tear down the chimney and get a new fireplace, change the front and back doors, add insulation to the upstairs, make a dining room and add a deck. We are also going to move the playroom down stairs and move Callie into the playroom, so we'll be doing some painting also. It'll pretty much take our summer, but I am so excited! Tonight Brent and I are going on a "date" to price some stuff that we aren't getting locally, like light fixtures and doors. I am excited to go on a date with Brent b/c this has been one of the worst weeks yet of his work schedule. He's been gone every night from about 5:30 on and sleeps most of the morning, so we have seen each other almost zilch. He's out right now on a canoe trip with his buddies, so he wasn't home all last night and today either, so it'll be good to catch up with him.

Since he was going to be gone all night along with my friend's husband, we decided to have a giant slumber party at her house. I spent a good half hour getting all the stuff ready for one night over, and we went to her house and gave all the kids a bath(5 kids) and then laid them down. Hunter slept(or I should say WAS going to sleep) in Isaiah's room on the floor between him and Micah, but they were pretty chatty. Nikki went in to tell them to go to sleep and she heard Hunter say to Isaiah right before she opened the door, "Sometimes my butt itches." So they must have been having some interesting conversations. I asked Hunter this morning what they talked about and he said, "Oh, just kid stuff." Anyway, I was going to sleep in their basement with Tate in a pack-n-play and Callie in her bassinet top. Tate DID NOT WANT TO SLEEP. He was hysterical for a good hour. I'd go down, calm him down and go back upstairs and he would get right out of the pack-n-play and come crying upstairs. I rocked him to sleep finally and I thought that was the end of it, but he woke up the minute I layed him down and was once again hysterical. So, I decided to pack it all up and head home. I got Mr. Chatty out of Isaiah's room and packed it all in the van and we drove home in our pj's. I think my friend and I will jot that down on our "Do not attempt" list. We pretty much have one. The kids were in bed a little before 10, so they have been a little crabby today and are already in for naps. We had already told the kids we'd have a nice breakfast in the morning at Nikki's house so we got up and went back this morning about 8 and had pancakes and sausage and then did some playing. Helped pass the time till the daddies come home.

I've been trying to get Hunter to be a little more self-sufficient lately. I no longer help him get his shoes off or get him dressed. I realized that if I didn't stop helping him he'd never learn, so I just stopped. He throws a fit and cries for me to help him saying he can't do it, but there hasn't been one time that he hasn't been able to. I think its starting to sink in that he can b/c the last time we were leaving he put his shoes on without being asked and took his coat and shoes off when we came home without being asked. Its a small thing but I'm happy about it.

Here are a few pictures from the week. The other night we went on the trail and for a walk to the park by the DQ. We saw some fun stuff along the way.

Sign you've been reading too much Berinstein Bears...

Your son says to you, "Mom, when you were a cub did your parents spank you?"

Home of the Germs

Callie fell asleep outside yesterday wearing her cool shades, so I brought her inside:

Tate thought he was pretty cool in his lion shirt:

I forgot to post this picture of Hunter helping Brent put up the bunk beds. He had out all his tools and said, "Wow, this is tricky!" :

I took the boys to the doctor yesterday afternoon. They both woke up at a little before 6:30, and were both acting cranky and sick, so I called right away at 8 and made them appointments. Hunter then started saying his ear hurt, so I figured they'd have ear infection, which they both did. Tate came to Brent and I at 9:30 and said, "Nap, nap!" so we took him in his room and he layed right down and went to sleep. Hunter wanted to take a nap, too, and slept for about an hour till he woke up crying saying his ear hurt. Tate slept from 9:30-1!! Then we were outside playing and at about 2:30 he came back to me and said, "Nap, nap!" so I took him in and he went right back to sleep. I had to wake him up at 3:30 for the doctor appointment. I can't believe how much he slept yesterday. I even put them to bed early b/c Hunter was falling apart, and they both slept till 7 this morning. So, it was obvious that they weren't feeling well.

Today they have been acting better, we were outside for most of the morning. The boys discovered how cool mud is, and were making "Mud pies for Mother"(just like a book we have). Hunter found some sticks and was putting them in the pie and singing happy birthday to me. They were such a MESS by the time it was all over. I'm seriously going to go through a TON of Shout this summer.

They wanted to have a picnic outside today so we ate on the porch. Well, I should say that I ate on the porch, they just sat there putting their food on the ground. I told them the birds were going to come and eat it all up, so they should eat it quick, but that didn't get them to eat.

I'm catching the boy's cold. It's either that or allergies, but I have a runny nose, sore throat and feel on the verge of a sneeze constantly. I could go for a nice, long nap. I'm hoping we start to feel better soon, I haven't really been outside the house except for a couple quick errands, so it'd be nice to get out to the park tomorrow.

I'm off to do laundry(muddy laundry)...

Callie is THREE months!

Well, I've been saying that these past three months havne't gone by too fast it seems, but I'm starting to think maybe they have. I can't belive she is already three months! Here is what she's doing at three months:

-rolling to her side.
-putting her fist in her mouth. She does this a lot of the time now, I know its crazy but I think she might be teething already. Hunter had his first tooth around 4 months, so it does happen.
-drooling a lot! Another teething sign. I was kind of hoping to avoid the drool after Mr. Tate and his insane amoung of drool.
-cooing and blowing bubbles. I've noticed a difference between her and the boys. She really likes to talk, more so than they boys did. She coos and coos if you'll sit and listen to her(which I do as often as I can, she is so cute!)
-squealing. I caught her with the video camera making the silliest noises last night.
-going to sleep a little earlier than she was. She goes down around 9-9:30 now and sleeps till 4 or 5.

Some new things she'll be doing this month:
-meeting her Aunt Anna and Uncle Justin for the first time!
-going on her first big roadtrip to Iowa.

She is growing out of some of her clothes now, and we are in size 3 month, so she is staying in the normal size for her age. I took a look at her pictures next to her bunny from the last two months, and she is getting longer!

And the bargain of the day is...

We got bunk beds! My Saturday morning routine is to as soon as I get the shopper, peruse the for sale section and look for bunk beds. We have been planning on buying them for the boys this summer sometime. I've found a few listings since I've been looking, but nothing too great of a deal. This morning, though, I saw one for sale for $50! We called right away on it, borrowed Brent's dad's truck and went to check them out. We ended up buying them and it is such a blessing!! They are exactly what we wanted(and for much cheaper than we anticipated getting them for!) They are made of solid oak, have the full size bottom bunk(didn't really initially want that but after Brent got the full mattress for free..)and have three HUGE drawers for storage underneath. We always need more storage. I feel really blessed to have gotten them, it was a great deal! Brent and I were nervous to see how Hunter would tolerate having to go up and more importantly DOWN a ladder, but he wasn't scared at all. He thought it was the coolest thing ever and he feels like a big kid now. I was also worried about Tate getting out of bed a million times, but he didn't. I stuck my ear to their door and heard Hunter talking to Tate. He said, "Look Tate, there is a tree house!" They can see their tree house mural now that Tate's crib is down.

Tate seems to be feeling just a LITTLE bit better than yesterday. He woke up after his nap with a temp of 103.5, so I called the clinic right away, but they were full and I talked to a nurse. She said the main thing was to keep him hydrated. He wouldn't take but a tiny bit of milk, so I was concerned. He only ate a few raisins and a few pretzels for the whole day, and last night he slept on me on and off. He seemed a little more himself this morning, but still lazier than he usually is and he had a temp of 101.3. I absolutely hate it when kids get sick on the weekends and you can't easily get into the clinic. Hunter seems perkier than Tate, he has just been coughing and sniffling. He sneezed yesterday and I heard him say, "Bless myself." I thought that was cute. I kept trying to hydrate Tate, and gave Hunter lots to drink also, and I think Hunter was tired of having to pee, b/c as he was playing with his toys I heard him say, "Awww, not again!!" and then head off to the bathroom. I'm still chuckling about that.

Two Sickies

We have two sick boys right now. Tate seems worse, but they both have fevers. I'm not quite sure what is wrong, they don't really have runny noses or anything. I'm kind of thinking it is in the throat b/c Tate didn't eat breakfast OR lunch. He has had plenty to drink and some raisins as a snack, but won't eat meals. I hate that it is Friday and if they get worse will have to wait till Monday to go to the doctor, but I don't know what I would tell the doctor besides that they have fevers. Under the arm Tate's was 101.4 and Hunter's was 101.3. They are both sleeping now. Hunter woke up crying at 6:30 and has been crying on and off all day. I'm finding it hard to handle all of them. Tate and Hunter both want to be held, and Callie is sticking to the "three month growth spurt" everyone talks about. She wants to nurse a little more frequently, sometimes twice an hour. So, I am wishing there were more of me right now. I went to the library and got them the Little Einstein DVD they both really enjoy, so they have been watching more TV than usual in hopes they will rest. Its too bad, though, b/c it is BEAUTIFUL out!

The new store opened in town yesterday. It is big news up here, and so the kids and I had to go check it out. I was very impressed with the variety of stuff they have. Hunter saw a squishy toy shark that he begged for. I said no. He kept talking about it all morning and I told him maybe he could save his money up for one and he picked up all his toys and came to me shaking his piggy bank. I was telling this to Brent and he told me I should go get it for him, so while he was still asleep(oh yes, naps are back...for now) I went and got it. When he woke up his first words were, "Can we go get that shark now???" He was delighted when I gave it to him. He really likes sharks and underwater creatures.

Yesterday he was asking if my owie(C-section scar) still hurt and I said a little. He wanted to see it and I asked him what it was from just to see what he'd say. He told me, "Well, the doctor man cut you open and Callie just popped out! And then you got married!" I had to laugh.

Callie was particularly smiley this morning so I took a bunch of pictures. They're basically all the same, but here are a couple: