I am here and still going. Things are so busy recently with all the clowns home everyday. We have been on a mission to keep things fun and busy, thus little time for the ringmaster on the computer. I have been sewing in what little free time I have and yet again, little time for the ringmaster to play on the computer.
Here are our updates.
Freckles... graduated from Kindergarten and will be going on to first grade this fall. Her teacher says that she is brilliant. I knew that, but it is always nice to have a teacher reinforce those thoughts. She has slowly been getting used to the water. We have a close family friend with a pool so she has been getting more and more 'carefree' in the pool. Not so scared.
Jane will be a Kindergartner this fall. She has just started to read and should be ahead of the game when she gets to school as well. She loves to be outside and if we could ever get it to stop raining here she would get her wish. Jane will have to be covered in bug spray because otherwise she will be picked up and carried to the giant mosquito layer and eaten. She is like candy to mosquitoes.
Buzzy... oh Buzzy. He is getting funnier by the day. Always so sweet. Under that sweet, funny exterior there is trouble a brewing. You can see the wheels-a-turning. Buzzy is completely day trained now. So potty training was a success. WOO HOO score one for the ringmaster. Now if we could just get him nap and night trained it would be a complete success.
Blinker is getting so big, so fast. She is starting to pull up on everything and is crawling everywhere and getting into everything. She has 4 teeth and a smile that will light up a room. She is so easy going and content to just play by herself.
So there is the update... and I hope to have some more for everyone as the summer goes on, but with vacation, VBS, holidays, and more birthdays this whole summer thing just goes by too fast. Too soon we will be back to school.
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Buzzy has done so well. First day was a little rough in the accident department, but since then it has been smooth sailing. I am so proud of him.
We are still doing diapers at nap and bedtime but he has been completely accident free since yesterday morning... and that was only a partial accident. He stopped himself and we went to the potty to finish.
My little man is getting so big.
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Today is day one of the new world order at the circus.
Buzzy is starting down the long road that is potty training. Duh duh duh!
This will probably be the all encompassing subject of the blog for the next few posts, or at the very least a good portion of it, until we achieve success. While I maintain a calm, cool, supportive facade with Buzzy, I will be coming here to brag or vent about how the process is going.
Today so far we have had 2 accidents. The first was a win for the ringmaster. He stopped himself when he realized that he was going. I ran him to the bathroom and got him to the potty where he finished in the potty. WOO HOO. Second time... not quite as big a victory for the ringmaster. Let's just say that the rug that normally sits in just inside of our back door is in the washer now. In his defense he was trying to have a BM thus the bigger puddle.
He completely dislikes being wet, so I know that he has had an accident pretty quickly if I don't actually see it happen and we get him to the bathroom. I pray that makes this a little less painful for both of us, but he is very stubborn, thus the late training. Wish us luck.
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This morning as we were doing our normal rush rush rush to get everyone ready to walk out the door, I was slapped in the face with the reality that occasionally the clowns DO listen to me when I talk.
Here is the story.
I have not been feeling 100% for a few days... just temperature change chest congestion and maybe mild allergies, nothing earth shattering. Well I decided to take a shower this morning and try to loosen it up and see if I could clear it out a bit before starting my day. For what it is worth the shower did not work.
I come back down to the kitchen and Freckles is making her lunch for school and she says to me
"Dad says you were up in the shower laying around while he was bustin' our buns to get ready."
To which I respond,
"I was not laying around in the shower I was actually attempting to cough up a lung and see if I could breathe a little bit better."
Freckles say "Oh..."
In chimes Buzzy "Suck it up buttercup!"
All I could do is look and laugh. It is something that we say to him when he is having a tantrum over nothing. So I guess I know that he really does listen to me when I talk. Why can't he hear when I tell him to clean the toy room??
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We are still alive and kicking.
Blinker is doing so much better. The tubes are little miracles, she was just a different baby by that afternoon. I wish that there was a miracle for teething. She is working on her top two teeth and has become quite the biter. All I can say is OWIE for mama.
Buzzy had his first wipe out on his tricycle the other day, now he has scraped up knees. I was so proud of him, he got up and dusted off and was back on the tricycle within minutes. There is just no stopping him.
Jane is well, Jane. Still dancing to the song in her head. Never a dull moment. There is always a good story to tell... I just wish that I had more time to devote to writing them down for you all.
Freckles amazes me every day. She is reading more and more. Every time #1 and I turn around she is reading something. I think that over the summer I am going to have to keep her busy with the library and keep it up.
I am feeling better and can say that much. After another appointment, an abdominal ultra sound and an abdominal x-ray I have come to find out that I have irritable bowel syndrome, or so they think. Well due to the fact that I am still pretty exclusively breastfeeding Blinker there is very little that I can do when it comes to medication. I am not going to venture into the realm of untested medications to find out later that I did some harm to her. I am taking a probiotic every day and in the first week has made a tremendous difference. I have gone back to my one true love... the mighty diet coke, but only once a day, first thing in the morning to kick start my engine.
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I am sure that as the ringmaster here I am more prone to the stress of day to day life. I have been slightly overwhelmed by the stress recently. I am not motivated to do much any more, including my job. I feel overwhelmed by the "to-do" list that is sitting in front of me. I have been sick and so have all the clowns.
I finally broke down and took myself in to the doctor today. As ringmaster I just don't have the time to spare in this crazy circus to do that, but I hit my breaking point last night. I have been feeling gross and nauseous, crampy, yucky and gassy for over a week. (For inquiring minds I have taken the big pee stick test... and it was a resounding negative). I figured that with the "flu" that I had over the weekend that it was over, but then last night full force it was back. I told #1 that it was done... I was calling first thing this morning and getting an appointment to have myself looked at. I am hopefully on the path to repair now with the help of a new supplement, some anti-acid meds, and a determination to stop drinking my one true love.... Diet Coke. Mostly because the bubbles make the gas and cramps worse... so we may only be parted for a few days not forever. We will see, I am afraid that if I go back it will be for good. It is my one vice. I think this has only been fueled by my stress right now over Blinker's surgery.
As far as illness goes it has been a long winter of illness here, we had 3 of the clowns in yesterday alone.
Jane was in for her follow-up with the ENT. It was bittersweet. She has had a persistent hole in her left ear from the set of tubes that she got at 16 months that had not closed after the tube fell out. Well good news was that the hole has closed up. Bad news is that there is fluid behind both of her ears. We were given some allergy nasal spray and a couple of things to do with her to try and help her to 'pop' her ears and try to get the fluid out. We go back in a month for another follow up, if the fluid is not gone we may be looking at another set of tubes for her.
Blinker went in for her consult to get tubes. After 6 weeks on antibiotics. we have decided that it was time for a different answer. She could just not stay off of the medication for more then 2 days without redeveloping another ear infection, thus the tubes. We have to be at the hospital at 6 am in the morning for 7 am surgery. It is gonna be a long day for this ring master.
Buzzy had woken up Monday night with a blood curdling scream. Started crying uncontrollably and could not calm down to tell us what was wrong. We finally calmed him down enough to hear that his ear hurt, off to find the Motrin and back to sleep. So on the way to the early morning appointments for the girls we called the pediatrician so that we could have his ears looked at. Guess what... ear infection.
I am overjoyed by the warm weather that we are experiencing here at the big top, the doors and windows are all open and we are allowing the germs to TAKE A HIKE.
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Thank goodness for spring. I believe that is enough said. I am so ready for the weather to be nicer and take this show on the road. The clowns are getting restless and it has been a long long long winter. I am so looking forward to the next few days when the weather is supposed to super duper nice and we can get out in the yard.
We saw robins the other day, we have made our first official trip to the park, I believe that things are starting to look up.
On another note we take Blinker in tomorrow morning to the Ear, Nose and Throat doctor. I presume that they are going to say that she needs to have tubes put in her ears, I tend to agree - but that is just the mama in me - since she has been on antibiotics for over a month now and it seems that we cannot keep the ear infections away with out. I will keep everyone posted.
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Can anyone explain to me why Buzzy seems to think that this is the funniest phrase out there. He runs through the house yelling it and giggling. Just running in circles
"Mr Tootybottom, Mr Tootybottom, Mr Tootybottom." giggling after each time he says it.
It is fairly comical the first few minutes but now after days of repeated Mr Tootybottom running... the ringmaster is kind of getting bored with it. Why is that little clowns get things stuck in their heads and they become an obsession? They just go over board with them. {please see entry entitled KA-CHOW - he has an obsessive way about him}
Is there a switch that I can reset Mr Tootybottom and he can find something new and different to say for a few days before I reset him again. I suppose to be honest this is all my fault, he tooted the other day at the lunch table and I called him Mr Tootybottom. Oh well... off to find that reset button.
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The ringmaster got a new toy 2 days ago, and I just finally got around to taking pictures of it so that the whole world could see it. I am so excited and over joyed to introduce you all to the newest member of the circus... our new washer.
It is a sad day when a person gets kind of excited about an appliance, but really what else do I get that is mine all mine. NADA, ZIP, ZILCH. This is the one thing in my house that no one else will touch. Bwah ha ha ha ha ha.
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This week at school Freckles was the 'Top Banana". She got to have guests(#1 and I) come to school and have lunch with her today. While there I read a book to her Kindergarten class, she got to bring snack on Monday. She gets to be the line leader all week. She has pictures of herself as a baby and of her family on the "top banana" bulletin board. Also on the board are things about her, what she wants to be when she grows up (a mommy - I must have done something right ?!?), her favorite activity (baseball), her favorite color (pink), her favorite food (ice cream).
We had our picture taken in front of her bulletin board. Very exciting stuff for a 6 year old.
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Jane and Buzzy are helping #1 prepare dinner for the night and all I hear out of the kitchen from the living room is... FTR they are making stuffed shells.
"Why are we putting poison ivy in dinner??" from the ever wise mouth of Jane.
"We are using spinach, not poison ivy." #1 replies.
"Are you sure... leaves of 3 let it be dad."
"I am sure, we do not cook with poison ivy honey."
"well for the record... it looks like poison ivy and I am NOT eating. Even if it is spinach."
Ahhhh from the mouths of babes.
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You cannot even begin to understand how tired I am of this word.
Buzzy seriously runs through the house, and every third word out of his mouth...KA-CHOW! He is a quick little thing,and blurs by and at the top of his lungs, here it comes again... KA-CHOW. Playing with his matchbox cars... Yep one more time KA-CHOW. In the bathtub the other night... shows me his tushy (his words) and you guessed it... KA-CHOW. Thank you Lightning McQueen.
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Life has been going along fine..... well seemingly. Friday is going well, I get a ton done during nap time since Freckles is in school and Jane is at a birthday party for the afternoon/evening. Then along comes Friday afternoon, so much for "Thank goodness it's Friday!". That flew out the window at roughly 3:30 pm.
Blinker woke up from her afternoon nap in a mood that was completely out of the ordinary for her. Fussed for a bit, attempted to nap in the sling fitfully, and then woke up to cry for 2 hours pretty much straight. I called the pediatricians office, knowing full well that Blinker is going to have another ear infection, upset because she just finished a course of antibiotics Thursday. By the time I call the pediatrician office is full for night clinic hours and they transfer me to urgent care. Note: I am never going to urgent care again... I will pay an ER bill first!! Yes it was that bad! We get to urgent care where the doctor there looks in her left ear and says "ok" looks in her right ear and says "ok" and then says "I need to take a second look in the first ear" OOOOOK. He does his double take on the left ear and proceeds to tell me that he thinks it is infected and prescribes antibiotics.
I fill the script, pick Jane up from the birthday party on my way home and get the clowns in bed very very late. This is the beginning of a long long long night that I spend in Blinkers room with her in bed with me. Thank goodness for the full size mattress and box spring that we bought last weekend for her room. It is saving my back over and over again.
We wake this morning and Blinker has dried crusty stuff all over the side of her head around the infected ear... so back to the doc we go... thankfully to the pediatrician this time, not ours, but one of her partners. The ear is definitely infected, and there is no obvious rupture but it is completely possible that there was a tiny rupture and there was some fluid that leaked out and it has sealed up.
Well between when I leave the office and when I get home #1 gets a call from the pediatricians nurse in which we find out here that the UC doctor prescribed the wrong amount of antibiotics (too little not too much thank goodness) and the pediatrician we saw today is going to call in a refill for the extra that we are going to need.
To add to the fun and excitement of that, the pharmacist then calls wondering what is going on. Is it bad that the pharmacist at a major department store knows me and my kids... does that mean we are there to often?? He informs #1 that we need to call before we come in because they are going to have to talk to the insurance company. Imagine my surprise when we find out that the insurance company is not going to like something *insert surprised face here*, but they don't like to do refills on antibiotics. So the pharmacist needs time to mill it over with them, and there is no point in me standing in the store with the clowns. This is the part where having the pharmacist know you is a good thing. :D
UGH!!
We see our pediatrician on Tuesday when we take Buzzy in for a recheck on his ear infection that he had the same time we took Blinker in 2 weeks ago. I am guessing that we will be talking tubes since this is her 2nd rupture and 4th ear infection in her short 6 1/2 months. BOO!
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So #1 and I posed this question to the clowns last night at dinner... I am so perplexed by the workings of the minds of little ones. So here are the answers that we were given.
Freckles wants to be an Artist. This seems like a great thing, she is always doodling, drawing or coloring on something, and yes, even on things that she shouldn't be. I have paid many bills with doodles on the remittance portion and almost wish that I had stock in Mr Clean Magic Erasers. The discussion then moved on to the gallery opening and the food that will be served. In case you are curious... little smokies on fancy toothpicks and mini egg rolls. Oh to be 6 again.
Jane... well she wants to be a hair cutter. Those are her words. I asked if she wanted to be a stylist... and was informed ever so curtly that it was a hair cutter not a stylist. I gave up there, Jane is very obstinate and there is no changing her mind once it is set. #1 asked if she would be giving free do's to the family. She then told us very matter-a-factly that she would charge us like everyone else and that fair is fair (man my words are coming back to bite me in the butt already and she is only 4). So I guess all is fair right?!? We again discussed the grand opening and the food involved. Again... little smokies and mini egg rolls (I see myself gaining a tremendous amount of weight with all these events that I have to go to).
Buzzy, this one blew me away, he wants to be a dancer... that is right a dancer. Not a crane operator, dump truck driver, dinosaur digger... a dancer. All I could do is laugh, can you tell he has two older sisters?? He has always had a strong affinity towards the tu-tu. I have a number of blackmail photos to share with his first (and every one that follows) girlfriend and to post at his high school graduation party.
Blinker, this is what I have decided to call her, since Frumpy seems so... just that... Frumpy, and that is just so not her. My smiley little lady.... I am hoping will become a tooth paste commercial actress... LOL. Her smile is just infectious. I can be having the worst of days, and that little bitty toothless smile just makes it all better.
Now if I could just decide what I want to be when I grow up. I think for now I will stick with ringmaster. :D
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Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages, welcome to the greatest show on earth... Motherhood.
I am the ringmaster mama here (or so I like to believe), although most days I am the tiger in the cage... the kids control the show. I have been SO BLESSED, I am the mother to 4 wonderful kiddos (3 girls and my little man). I am married to the most awesome man (#1). I knew the day that I met him that he was "the one" and that we would be together.
Along for the wild ride is the my #1, he seconds as the flame eating and knife throwing act. The quiet side of our relationship, we have been married now for almost 11 years.
We have 4 clowns, they would be our kiddos:
The oldest Freckles Pennywise. She is probably going to grow to be our trapeze act. Constantly climbing, dangling from something, swinging from the rafters.
Next in the line up Baggy Pants Jane. Soon to be the tiger/lion trainer. She is the quiet one... but I know that there is something more going on behind the innocent facade.
The lone boy in the circus Buzzy Buggy Berry. He is destined to be our human cannonball. The boy is and has been a monkey since day one. I find him in some of the most bizarre places. He raises my blood pressure daily, the little daredevil that he is.
Finally is our small fry, Frumpy Blinker. She is still in the process of determining her roll in this circus. For now she is one of the clowns.
This is our wild journey... welcome to the show.
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