23 March 2012

Wolf Pups

Vacation is ending and we are heading home tomorrow. Everyone is happily exhausted from so many days at the mountain. We have many stories to tell that I will have to share once I am home and rested. In the meantime check out these adorable Wolf Pups!

20 March 2012

Poor Baby

Vacation took a little twist yesterday throwing us a curve ball that we could not have anticipated. New Kid got sick and it is a sickness we have not had to deal with in the nearly 8 years we have been parents. On Sunday night she woke up about 10:30 having thrown up in her Pack 'n' Play. Thank goodness she was sleeping in our room because she did not cry and I was still awake and heard what was happening. When I leaned over to check on her she was all smiles. We got her out and cleaned her up and she went back to sleep as if nothing had happened.

Yesterday we took the girls to an area in-home daycare where they had stayed last year when we were here to snowboard. Everything was going fine until we got a text (while we were on our way to pick them up) that New Kid had had a huge diaper blow out and then barfed up her snack. Clearly something was amiss. We pumped her full of liquid and gave her some plain pasta for dinner and off to bed she went tired but happy. She awoke crying around 12:30am and I quickly scooped her up just in time for her to blow chunks in my hand. I got her to the sink and then to the toilet where she got a bit more out of her system.

I share this story mainly for one reason and that is to always remember how adorable she looked standing over the toilet calmly throwing up and then pretending to spit into the bowl. Did you know that the height of the toilet is perfect for a toddler to stand and vomit. We went through this exercise 3 times between 12:30 and 1:00am. Each time she would throw up and then look up at us with her most pleasing smile. We would clean her up and put her back in bed where she would quietly drift off to sleep.

We strung together about 3 hours of sleep only to be awakened at 4:00am to more crying. This time it was her diaper that needed changing and she was not as happy to have her PJs removed in the cold of night as she was to stand over the toilet pretending to spit. So here I sit in the condo with a sleeping toddler and an overactive four-year-old . . . it is going to be a long day.

There are many aspects to this story that amaze me but the biggest one is that this was our first (but I doubt not our last) experience with an "up-in-the-night" type sickness like this. Luckily our children have proved resilient and have rarely let illnesses keep them up at night. Outside of car trips (and the time The Boy ate a tube of toothpaste) we have had only one other time where one of our kids has thrown up and that was actually last month. On President's Day when the kids were out of school The Boy complained of being cold and nauseous around 10:00am and then projectile vomited in his bed about an hour later. He ran a fever, took a nap, sat comatose on the couch for a few hours, and then was good as new and able to eat a normal dinner by 6:00pm.

Parenting is about rolling with it and we sure are rolling this week!

18 March 2012

Snow!

The forecast indicated snow today and we waited ALL DAY to see it fall. Finally right at 3:00pm it started and blew hard for about 2 hours. Enough had accumulated and the wind died down allowing a brief excursion into the powder before dinner. New Kid lasted about 2 minute; she fell and got really mad to find her hand freezing cold.


We are expecting more snow overnight and a morning low temperature around 9 degrees. Hopefully it will be good snowman and snowball snow but first we plan to enjoy some nice powder at the mountain!

10 March 2012

Winterfest

Our neighborhood elementary school has an annual carnival/ fundraiser in January they call Winterfest. It's fun way to bring "winter" to Phoenix. This year the weather was actually chilly and overcast and really did look like a winter day. Here a few pictures . . .

09 March 2012

Opening Day


Spring Baseball Season is here! The Boy is a Diamondback again which suits us just fine. Opening Day was last Saturday and it was a gorgeous day to watch the teams parade in and to participate in the fanfare. Even the girls got into it . . . notice Pickle "taking a knee" when the players did.
 

 As one of the older players in his division and on his team he should be getting some prime playing time in positions like Catcher and 1st Base. He also decided - with the help of his grandfather and 2 days before Opening Day - that he is going to bat left handed. Batting is definitely his strong suit and he was the lead off hitter for the Opening Day game getting a double to start things off!

07 March 2012

The Bob


Pickle went to the "slalom" and got her hair cut again. This time we went much shorter and it is so stinkin' cute. I really don't know why it took me so long to do this.

02 March 2012

Day Off

Today I took the day off and I felt a little bit like Ferris Bueller (although legitimately I took a vacation day). I felt like Ferris because I didn't just sit around or spend it cleaning or doing mundane errands. . . I adventured! I started the day by celebrating Dr. Seuss' birthday reading with The Boy at school and then the rest of the day was a dedicated "Girls' Day." Pickle had the day off from school and I promised her lunch out. My Dad and his wife Lynna are in town and with Dad busy all day at a conference she joined us as well. We had manicures - Pickle's first - and then a girly lunch and some shopping. I think the most exciting part of the day for Pickle was riding up and down the glass elevator at Scottsdale Fashion Mall. I also was able to watch her dance class which JP usually gets to do on Friday afternoons. All in all it was a pretty good day off. And now I am curled up on the couch with a glass of wine watching Bud & Sissy. TGIF!