Learning to get dressed

Richard had one of his daily potty accidents. Lest you get confused or optimistic, these accidents usually occur at least once a day. We are making him do as much work as possible in cleaning up these messes. He got himself dressed all by himself this afternoon. You may not realize, but both the shirt AND the pants are on backwards. At least they're on!

Why I love being a mom

If you read my last blog, you may understand my mood. I wanted to share another passion of mine that I sometimes have to remind myself of--why I am a mother and why I stay at home. Life is full of so many distractions that I felt I needed to focus on the great blessings I have.

I have been typing some excerpts from my journal into documents for my children's baby books. Yesterday, I began typing October 2, 2006. For those of you who don't know the significance of that day, it's the day Audrey was born. A flood of feelings as I relived that day overcame me. I today read the blog of a woman who was in my previous ward. She reminded me of the joy that comes from being a new mother.

So, here's a short list of the reason's I LOVE being a mother:

1. Hearing Richard say, " Mommy, I love you! You're so pretty!"

2. Hearing Audrey say, "Ma, Ma, Ma, Ma."

3. Holding one of them on my lap and having a head nestled against my chest.

4. Hearing a cry of distress and knowing I am the one being sought after and I can be a comfort.

5. Having a vulnerable child in my care to guide through this confusing world.

6. Having a vulnerable child actually look to me to guide them.

7. Cuddling with a child to help him/her go to sleep.

8. Hearing Richard say, "Mommy, I want to cuddle with you. Come sit by me."

9. Having Audrey plop herself down on my lap.

10. Knowing someone will love me unconditionally as I learn patience, compassion, etc.

11. Hearing Audrey squeal and laugh with delight as I chase and tickle her.

For those of you who are parents, I'm sure you can relate to the joy that fills your soul as you watch your child progress, learn, etc. I adore my children. I am far from eloquent and often feel I struggle to express what I am feeling. I hope I have conveyed at least a small portion of what I wanted to share.

So call me a paranoid ICU nurse...

I tend to keep my opinions to myself. However, a few topics hit me in such a way that I become very passionate. 

On that note, some may say I've become the typical ICU nurse--calloused, unfeeling, and unaffected by what is an extremely stressful situation for some. I have been a nurse for almost 5 years, and so I cannot deny that, to a point, it is true. During those few years, I have watched people pass away, have fought for lives, have wished with every fiber in my heart that I could release someone from this life, and have been a small part in miraculous recoveries. 

I have been most affected by the young, tragic passings. Hence, a few things I am passionate about. Life is fragile. PLEASE don't think you are invincible. I understand I see the worst of what goes on and so only a small percentage of people actually experience the tragedies I see. With that, I also know that not one of my patient's families saw it coming. They were all blindsided.

I have watched in complete helplessness as a young wife, married less than a year, sobbed uncontrollably at the side of her husband. I've seen a teenage boy weep shamelessly outside the room of his father. I have heard the panic in a mother's voice as she was trying to make plans to get to the hospital before her daughter left this life. I don't know if I can convey the sorrow, pain, and desperation that accompanies these experiences. 

Please wear a helmet! Make your family members wear a helmet! If your head could be smashed, PLEASE wear a helmet! If you insist on riding motorcycles, ATVs, long boards, skateboards, or something with a high risk of head injury, PLEASE wear a helmet! I know it's not "cool." I know it messes up your hair. I know you think I'm paranoid. I've seen what can happen. Also, DON'T ride in the bed of a truck. You are not restrained and have such a risk of serious injury if you fall out.

I am passionate about many things, but I felt strongly to share this. To the few who actually read the musings of a stay-at-home mom, I hope this may at least cause you to think...

At least it wasn't his finger...

So, I make the bread we eat and make the pizza crust when we have pizza once a week. Which means, I use my KitchenAid on a regular basis. Richard often helps me. He has many times heard to NOT play with the attachment area. Today, I turned my back. Silly me. Did you know knives don't like being put in the attachment square? Especially when the mixer is on?

Waving the white flag

Who needs a 3 1/2 year old potty trained anyway? Richard thinks the idea is SO overrated. He won't cooperate and would rather wear diapers. Oh, well. Seven more months before preschool. I've got time... Right?

Nintendo anyone?

Richard has discovered we have a Game Cube. Back in November, my sister and her family came into town from California. Their oldest children wanted to play our Game Cube. Well, Scott and I always play after the kids go to bed, so Richard really hasn't seen it played much. This memory from November must have stuck with him, because he asked me this last week if he could play a game on the TV. I must have looked confused because he further clarified with, "I want to play 'the racing game.'" I see. Mario Kart. "How well can a three-year-old play?," I thought. I pictured him just holding the controller and watching. Well, teach him to push the green button and that the gray stick will help you steer, and apparently, relatively well. He finishes courses if you give him the chance! Who'd have thunk? So, my three-year-old is already getting addicted to video games. I have to limit his play time or he'd play all afternoon!

Audrey also likes to get on the fun. OK. So the 15 month old is the one who just holds the controller and watches. Silly me.

Growing up....

I enrolled Richard for preschool next year. I was asking women in my ward for recommendations and they were all telling me I needed to get moving fast, because all the preschools were currently enrolling and filling quickly. After making some phone calls, I was glad to get Richard in to the only preschool that gave me the option of three days/week for Richard's age. All the others would only offer two days/week. I think he'll love going the extra day, especially since he'll be the oldest or so. Now I just have to convince him to be potty trained. 

In that regard, we've made a little bit of progress today. I think donuts are the bribe for him.  At least for now. I bought donuts last week as a treat. However, Richard has been banned from treats unless he uses the potty and gets varied amounts depending on how much he goes, if his diaper is dry, how recently he last went, etc. (He doesn't get more if he just went 5 minutes ago. He doesn't quite understand that...) He actually pooped in the potty, which is only the second time he's ever done that. He'll let you know that as well. He's apparently counting. If he doesn't want to go, he'll let you know how many times he's gone--as if that should justify his lack of desire to go. As he finished the donuts of this morning, I went to the store and bought more donuts since he went. He kept his pull-up dry all afternoon and seems excited about the prospect of getting everything I've promised him if he'll just be potty trained. However, I hate to get my hopes up, because he seemed to do this the last time he pooped in the potty, which was about 4 months ago.

Baby, it's COLD outside!

It's snowed here quite a bit lately. As I've stated earlier, Richard LOVES being outside. So, cold and snow do not deter that interest. However, it does complicate riding his bike!

He also really wanted a turn with the snow shovel. So, that involves the same pile of snow on the shovel getting a ride around the yard. Whatever makes him happy!

Scott is braving the freezing weather to be with the scouts on the Klondike. Brrrr! I'm glad I'm sleeping in my warm bed tonight and not out in the snow!

the woes of being sick....

Audrey has been really sick the past few days. She threw up on Sunday and couldn't keep anything down. I finally just put her to bed at 5:30 because she was so grumpy but if I gave her anything to eat or drink she'd throw up in about 15 minutes. On Monday she didn't throw up at all but she was having massive diarrhea and all she wanted to do was sleep. I'm sure she was not keeping anything inside her then either and the fact that all she wanted to do was sleep was making me really concerned. I finally started giving her the knock-off brand pedialyte. It really seemed to help once she got all the milk out of her system. She perked up and acted a little happy and played some. I was getting encouraged. We gave her pedialyte for a couple days but then ran out. She was eating and seemed to be getting better, so I didn't go buy more since it's expensive. My mom watched the kids yesterday while I went skiing with Annette and Paul. Well, obviously the milk was reintroduced prematurely because she had diarrhea about every 10-15 minutes and even threw up again! So, I restarted the pedialyte, and she's been a lot better. So, I hope I don't have to give her that exclusively for a long time, because it's a TON more expensive than milk! Of course, her health is worth it, but I hope she gets better soon!

Here is Audrey feeling so tired and sick that she couldn't even wait to be brought to her crib.