The last week

I know, I know. I have a whole page of vacation photos waiting for me but things are a bit crazy around here and sunny vacay pics will have to wait for a little while longer.   The last few weeks have been a whirlwind of school field trips and work projects and turkey hunts.  Will started baseball practice a few weeks ago and has added in swimming lessons since we returned from Spring Break.  Reina's ballet recital is around the corner and the end of the school year beckons and yikes!  

Both kiddos received a gift card from Toys R Us for their birthdays and last weekend was our first chance to get to the store.  They both had $25 to spend and we anticipated a rather lengthy visit while decisions were made and options pondered.  I accompanied Reina on a leisurely stroll through, baby dolls, stuffed animals, every manner of plastic animal until we came upon the Barbie aisle.  (Glenn and Will headed to Legos, naturally.)  Reina hemmed and hawed and then spotted this: 

 

 Barbie the Baby Zoo Animal Veterinarian.  I think Reina was more interested in the baby koala, monkey and tiger that she later named Cookie, Pickles and Cheese Stick.  (We think Reina was hungry that day.)  Barbie and the baby animals have a place of honor in Reina's room and we still get daily updates on the status of the baby animals.  Glenn and I've decided that perhaps this is Reina's dream job - taking care of exotic baby animals while also wearing high heels and looking glamorous while you do it. 

Will picked Legos - and the only surprise there was how long it took him to choose.  The true dilemma came when the Lego he picked out was a few dollars less than his gift card but then he couldn't find one that was cheap enough to use up the rest of his money.  Oh the problems of the second graders. 

Before the shopping spree, I ran a half marathon in Fort Collins.  There are no pictures of me after the race because it wasn't a pretty sight.  But hey - look at this poster I got for finishing the race.

Glenn celebrated a forty-something birthday this week.  He asked for and received hunting clothes and underwear (really!).  I also surprised him with a UW men's basketball MWC championship shirt.  I told him that he could wear it to the gym but he wants to save the shirt for game day.  We also went out to dinner and Glenn ate dessert.  Big day! 

On Wednesday, Will and I went on a field trip with his class to the Butterfly Pavilion.  Will held a tarantula.  I did not.

 Will started to feel a little puny during the field trip and came down with a springtime cold/asthma thing.  He and I stayed home on Thursday and he's on the mend. 

Reina stuck this note to my back yesterday.  It's made me giggle ever since.  Kindergarten humor and/or insults.  You have to at least admire her correct spelling and penmanship. 

To end our week, we took a walk to a nearby park.  Tootsie and Trigger had a great time - but it really doesn't take a lot for them to have a good time.  Some playground equipment and lax leash laws are all they need for a fun night out. 

Another one bites the dust

For the last few years, I've tried to blog every day in November as part of a national blogging movement thing.  And just like last year, I find myself blogging about sick kids during national blogging month.  Yesterday, I picked kiddos up from the after school program, came home, started dinner, Glenn and Will left for a wrestling camp (more on that later) and Reina threw up.  I thought because four days had passed since Will's "food poisoning" (which was obviously not food poisoning but just a stomach virus that seems to be racing through our town) that we were all in the clear.  Not so much.  Glenn and I still fine and I hope we stay that way.  We have a bunch of fun events planned for the weekend and none of them involve vomiting.  Fingers crossed!

Reina was sick all night, but true to form, woke up this morning, asked for some Sprite and cartoons and was jumping on the bed when I called home to check on her mid-morning.  Glenn and I took turns on Reina duty today, but we probably would've been better off hiring a lion tamer to come over and hang out.

When Will and Glenn came home from wrestling camp last night, Reina was using our barf bucket and Will walked over and patted her on the head and said "poor Reina."  He doesn't always let on that he kind of likes his little sister but that moment sure touched my heart.  In stark contrast to Reina's reaction on Monday morning when she found he was sick.  She came bursting into my room crying that she didn't want to see Bobo throw up because she doesn't like to hear about people barfing.  I guess we can cross ob/gyn or internal medicine off her list of potential professions. 

Warning: this post features a discussion of barfing, ad naseum

Will, who hasn't missed a day of school since November 2013, woke up in the middle night and proceeded to throw up at a regular interval until noon, at which time I took him to the doctor and got the magical medicine that helped him last year when this same thing happened but we let it go for about a week.  Wow, long run-on sentence.  What can I say, I've been up since the middle night helping someone hold the puke bucket.  The rest of us feel fine even though I keep checking in with my stomach, "You okay buddy?  Feeling good?  Nothing bad happening, right?"  I think Will must've eaten something yucky on the hunting trip.  When I asked if he remembered anything in particular, he described an energy bar that tasted "gross" and that he tossed it in the woods. I told him that there's probably a raccoon running around those woods with a bad stomachache now too and that briefly made him smile.  Tomorrow is Veteran's Day and Glenn and I have the day off.  The kids are supposed to have a half day of school, but we'll see how Will's doing.  Reina might be the sole Pauley who has to be anywhere by 8:30 a.m., and boy won't she be thrilled by that.  It's better than barfing!

Poop

Three year old boys. So interesting. So interested in poop. Will loves to sprinkle the word "poop" into ordinary conversation.

Will: Mom, what are you eating?
Me: I'm eating a sandwich.
Will: Is it a poop sandwich?

Any hope that this is a short-lived phase?

The poop excitement continued this afternoon when I came home after picking up the kids, and a mere 3 hours before I leave for a road trip to Minnesota (sans kids!) with Aunt Vicky, to sort of discover and cause a toilet overflow that left little bits of poop and a lot of water all over the bathroor floor. Will was equal parts freaked out/excited. He kept yelling, "It's an emergency! Should I call Fireman Sam?" Yes, please do! If only a fictional fireman tv character could come over and clean up the mess for me.


That golden orb that floats in the sky came out briefly over the weekend and we all went outside to enjoy it.

Here's hoping there's sunny weather where you are. I'll be back next week with tales of our road trip and stories of how the kiddos survived with daddy and grandparents all weekend. Hopefully I will survive without them!

Reina - 15 months old!

How can it be that our girl is 15-months old already? Time is flying! She had a good check-up even though I had to bring Will along. Both kids have colds and it turns out that Will had an ear/sinus infection. I'm demanding my money back from the ear, nose and throat doctor for his latest round of ear tubes, but I digress. Reina is growing like a weed. She's now 70% in height and 100% in cuteness. Reina had to get 2 shots and I tried to warn Will that she would get upset. I told him to come stand by me but he was too busy playing with the curtain in the exam room. As soon as Reina got her shots, she started screaming (of course). As soon as Will heard Reina screaming, he started crying. Loudly. Then the following dialogue took place:


Me: Will, why are you crying?
Will: (actual tears and stunned look) Why is baby crying?!
Will: (getting panicky) Why does baby have band-aids?
Will: What happened??!!
Me: Don't worry, you don't have to get a shot. Get your jacket.
Will: (Tears start to subside) Ok. But I need a lollipop.


I mentioned in an earlier post that we had a garage sale last weekend and Will did something memorable. I won't go into great detail but to give you a brief overview, I looked up from completing a sale to see Will peeing on the driveway in full view of about 10 garage sale shoppers and came within inches of actually peeing on merchandise. (Yeah, I know. I should be thankful that he was actually out on the driveway and not inside of the garage. Hey, the kid was manners, what can I say.) It was one of those moments when time seemed to stop and in my head I'm yelling "NOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooo."


You can bet that I'll find a way to include that little anecdote in a toast at his wedding.


We did have a short but firm conversation afterwards that we DO NOT PEE IN PUBLIC.


Okay, this post is supposed to be all about Reina and her fabulous 15 months. She's growing up! She's still working on the whole walking thing but she's getting better. She'll take a few steps and then fall into your lap or grab onto your leg but she's getting braver. Reina's starting add more words to her repertoire and she'll nod her head for "yes" or shake it virgorously for "no. She's a little shyer than Will was but once she warms up she's friendly and charming and will eagerly bring you a book to read or a shoe to put on her foot. She's our happy girl!


Look at those big blue eyes and perfect skin! It reminds me that I need moisturizer. And maybe botox. Scary baby!

Too tired for anything but photos with pithy captions

It's been a long week here at the Pauley household. Reina had ear infections. Will barfed twice at our friend's house while we were there for dinner. Glenn barfed at our house a few nights later. Reina had a tummyache/earache/personality disorder that resulted in her requiring my constant company from 2 a.m. until dawn last night. I'm sore from doing exercise videos. The wind is howling and there's not enough chocolate in the house. But we've got pictures of kiddos.

Reina's new favorite place to play? Her brother's room. Lots of little tiny toys, perfect size for jamming in your mouth. All sorts of stuff that's usually off-limits when he's in the room. "No no baby! That's my _______ (insert name of toy that is rarely played with until Reina finds it interesting)!" It's a picture of the elusive Will Pauley! He got a haircut about 30 minutes after this picture was taken. It was much needed. Reina's new favorite toy? The toilet. Hours and hours of enjoyment. Here she is reenacting what her Dad did all night. I don't think he had a smile on his face though. "What do you mean I don't get to splash my fingers in the water? It's so fun! Mom, you are so boring. Whatever."
Special thanks to Pop-pop and Grandma Hansen for coming to the rescue today. They took Will to lunch at Old McDonald's and took Reina for the afternoon so that I could nap and maintain some sense of sanity while Glenn recuperated from all the barfing. Love you guys!!