My True Punishment

I now have to bathe Michael daily....Yes, this is my true punishment.

Confession: I HATE bathing my children. I know lots of mom's don't mind it, but it is my least favorite mommy chore, from day one, even as tiny little babies. I love the relaxing time watching them play around, in fact I usually clean the bathroom then, but I HATE the end of the bath and the aftermath. Screaming, not wanting to get faces wet, or wash hair, or getting cold, "he splashed me..." etc. I hate trying to get clothes on half wet, half lotioned bodies as they shiver and cry. I'm usually drenched at that point as well.

I think my true hatred of bath time started when Isabelle was an infant and she pooped in the tub EVERY SINGLE TIME I gave her a bath. You think I exaggerate do you? I thought she would grow out of it, but finally at 16 months, I quit giving her in the bathtub baths for like 3 months. I made her take showers or did the wash rag thing, but refused to let her sit in a pool of warm water. I would even wait until after she pooped to put her in the tub, and she still managed to squeeze something out EVERY SINGLE TIME! I got SO tired of cleaning up poop in the tub, not to mention having to disinfect all the toys every time.

So, I used to bathe my kids once to twice a week. Yes, judge me....go ahead. But Michael's eczema was getting so bad, I only gave him a bath once a week. Isabelle seems to end up in one or two of my showers a week, so it wasn't that bad.

Well, we finally took Michael to a dermatologist yesterday and his fix, "Bath every night, this soap stuff, this cream, this lotion, and repeat in the morning without the bath." I almost puked, right there in the doctor's office. EVERY NIGHT?! Are you kidding me? So tonight was night two of "every night" and I'm already done...What do you do while your kids take baths? They are still young enough that I'll walk away to grab something for a second, but other than that, I sit on the lid of the toilet in the splash zone while laundry needs to be folded or dishes need to be done. This is my true punishment.

On the flip side. Michael's skin looks amazing after just 24 hours of this regiment. He hardly scratched today and was SOOO happy! I couldn't believe it. The only whining from him was if he was actually hungry or thirsty. He used to wander around the house whining for no apparent reason. Diaper changes and clothes changes used to be a nightmare as he frantically scratched every exposed part of his legs and chest and rubbed his back on the carpet or my chest. Today, they were pleasant. We'll see if his crying in the night improves too. He just will cry for 5 minutes here and there as he tries to scratch in his sleep. He's asleep, but crying and scratching. We're also hoping that he'll get some good REM sleep and maybe grow a bit more too. All in all, I guess I'll take my punishment, if it means my poor little itchy baby finally has some relief!

Almost Spring

Friday was a beautiful day. It was all of 56 degrees! We were outside teased by Spring soon to come. We put the swings back on the swing set, and played with chalk. Kids rode the bike and trike, played with the wagon, and played a little baseball. I even cleaned out a bit of the garage. We played outside for 3 WHOLE HOURS!!!!! It was amazing! Spring is just around the corner in a few more weeks (Although April is forecast to be wetter and colder than average) and I can't wait!

THE Card table Playhouse

Mike's mom and grandma, sisters, aunts, cousins, etc...ALL the ladies that live in the area, get together regularly for "Sister get togethers." They get together and make all sorts of fun things, enjoy lunch, and let all the little bitties run around and play. When we lived in Salt Lake, I used to get to go. I miss these sister get togethers A LOT!!!!!!! Anyway, one time they suggested making these playhouses. It looked like WAAAAY too much work and so I wasn't going to make one, despite the fact I thought Isabelle might have a little fun with it. They ended up making them after I left at the sister get togethers for a few months and for Christmas, Mike's mom and sister, made one for me, I mean my kids. All I can say is, it is AMAZING! And my kids are in LOVE! I thought it would be something that got put up for a day or two and then I'd put it away. It has been almost a completely permanent fixture in my living room since Christmas.

The tree has velcro that leaves and apples go on, the corn stalks have little felt corn husks, the ground has spots to "grow" potatoes and carrots. There are flowers for the flowerbox under the window. There's a mailbox with a little hole, and a window that rolls up with ribbon. It is truly amazing. The kids love to hide things and themselves in there and it has just been the best thing. I guess if I had realized they would love it that much, I might have been willing to make it myself, but instead I'm SOOOO glad that they made it for me. My children would truly have been deprived without it. :) Thanks again, Mom and Sharon (and all the other sisters that pitched in on all these)!

Tough Beans

So it's a lazy Saturday afternoon in our house. Mike is watching March Madness and the kids and I finish up lunch. Our normal routine is Isabelle gets to watch an Olivia right after lunch as "quiet time." She mentioned getting to watch Olivia after lunch and Mike said, "Nope, tough beans. You can watch a show upstairs." Upstairs only has a DVD player, so no Olivia. She was devastated, and jokingly Mike kept saying "Tough Beans." Isabelle finally said, "Ok, I guess I'm still hungry. I'll have some beans." What's so funny about this, is she HATES beans. Isabelle will eat just about anything BUT beans. I asked her if she really was going to eat them and she said, "I think I'll like them this time." So I opened a can of black beans for her and gave her a good 1/2 cup. She ate the ENTIRE bowl. When she was done, she said, "Ok, I get to watch Olivia now." Apparently she was confused on what "Tough Beans" means. Mike did let her watch her Olivia. She also said she likes beans now. Only time will tell on that one! I wish I could spend some time in a 3 year old brain!

"Cute Kids"

I asked Isabelle to help me with something and she responded, "Wait just a second, mom. I have to take a picture of my cute kids, then I'd be happy to help you." Such a little mommy...

And the dolls names are (l to R): Amena, Mary, Pinky, and Daisy. This is just half of her little brood.

Our Newest Adventure

So over the last many weeks, I've had lots of "strange" feelings. I've been tired, needing to go to the bathroom alot, crying, and my awesome flat tummy has just looked off. You think "DUH, you're pregnant!" I think, "well my last two babies were thanks to fertility drugs, so there is no possible way I'm pregnant since I haven't taken any fertility drugs lately." Well since I have been pregnant before, I realized enough of these symptoms felt like pregnancy and finally I broke down and took a pregnancy test and sure enough....Baby Ward #3 is on it's way!!!!!!

This also explains all of Isabelle's comments about a baby sister. Obviously we don't know what it is yet, but when we told Isabelle we were having a baby, she immediately responded, "YEAH! My baby sister is coming!!!!" She continues to ask "How's my baby sister growing today?" "My baby sister...." etc. We keep telling her it could be a brother, to which she looks at us completely dumbfounded, "No, it's going to be my sister." It will be funny if it really is a girl.

I got to go to the doctor yesterday morning for my first appointment, but didn't get an official due date. We were going to go back in next week for an ultrasound to double check, but after the accident, they wanted to check me out and they ended up doing an ultrasound after all. I'm 14 weeks and due Sept 11th. We got some cute pictures on the ultrasound. One of them is the baby waving at us. You can see all five little fingers. When we showed them to Isabelle, she said, "My baby sister is so cute!!!" She keeps bringing the hand picture and saying, "Look how cute her hand is!" It's really funny.

The look on Mike's face was priceless when I told him. I wish I had a camera ready. He has been in denial, despite my growing belly, until yesterday when he heard the heartbeat and then again for the ultrasound.

It's a weird picture, but you get the idea, I'm getting big quick. I guess that's what happens by your 3rd! We are so excited for this little miracle baby to join our family!!!!

My First.....

Car Accident! So, it was quite adventuresome. I dropped my kids off yesterday morning at a friend's house and went to the doctor. Picked them up, fed them lunch, and took them to another friend's house for me to go to a dentist appointment. On my way to the dentist, a lady was pulling out of a driveway and couldn't see around an illegally parked semi truck. I saw her as I was passing her and she was about to hit me, so I gunned it. Unfortunately, she still got me in the back. The truck spun almost 90 degrees. I tried to move the truck but it just made a funny sound and didn't move. So I got out to assess the damage. My rear passenger tire is pushed into the bed of my truck enough that the tire no longer spins. Yada, yada, yada....all the cops etc tow truck etc, and the best part, Monday is Mike's Moses Lake day which is almost a 2 hour drive. He started on his way home to help. The lady with my kids was so nice and told me not to worry about them. I called another lady in the ward to give me a ride to the doctor and Mike met me there. My brother, Mr. Allstate agent, was SUPER helpful! It wasn't my fault at all. The lady got a ticket, and the truck driver got a parking ticket. We haven't heard back how long the truck is going to take, so until then we are a one car family. That's fine and all for a bit, but Mike doesn't have a job I can just drop him off at if I need the car for a day. Anyway, I never made it to the dentist and luckily the kids weren't in the car! When we went back to pick up the kids, my friend had made us dinner and everything! I'm super sore today. Bending and twisting have been difficult, but Mike was able to work from home today to help out. I'm so grateful for helpful people!

Jekyll and Hyde

This little face seriously makes my heart melt. He's finally catching up in the teeth department, hence the paci and boogers hanging out. Anyway, he is usually the sweetest kid. Lots of kisses, and loves to just sit and cuddle, plays nicely, and is just happy to toddle around, but then all of a sudden he turns into the meanest little boy. He PINCHES!!!!!!!! This kid will pinch anyone for no apparent reason. He has such tiny fingers that it really really hurts. He also will throw hysterical fits when things don't go his way. He definitely inherited the Robertson temper. The rest of the time, I'm in love with this kid.

Isabelle said the other day, "Mom! Michael pinched me AGAIN! Brothers are mean. I'm done having a brother. Where is my baby sister?"

New Toys

In transition from car to truck, I decided to bring them in to be washed. And NOW they sit in them with no complaints......

Grateful

I think my husband is great. He loves me. He was so incredibly helpful in my mass hysteria yesterday. The more gratitude I have for him, the more I see to be grateful for. It's a great cycle to get stuck in! I'm so grateful for my hubby!