Carrots for the Bunny

A friend of my mom's has a serious green thumb. She invited the kids over to pull carrots from her garden for the Easter Bunny. They had a great time and Ryan even said he would eat one (Audrey likes carrots anyway). We are starting a garden of our own this year so hopefully they continue to enjoy seeing where food comes from as much as they did today. Mr. Easter Bunny is a lucky dude. 

Making Easter Eggs

Ballet Sparkle

Morning of Play

Morning Cartoons

With all the stories in the world of bad fathers I am so thankful to have picked a man that is a great dad. Here are some pictures of Saturday morning cartoons, my kids (and I) are pretty lucky!

Reading

We are trying to get our kids to love reading as much as we do. I love that I was able to take this picture of then during "nap" reading their books together. 

Week of Pictures

What's Wrong?

Toddler health is a hard thing to deal with. Audrey is of the age where she can tell me something is wrong- but not really old enough to give me a lot of details and she can be lead by questions so she will admit to having a symptom simply because you ask instead of because she actually has them. 

A few months ago she developed a rash around her mouth that won't go away- doctors diagnosed her with eczema caused by the cold weather (after the allergy panel came back negative). The issue is that around that time she also started having trouble sleeping- a problem which has been progressively getting worse until finally she was getting up 5 times a night (a nightmare for all of us). One night I slept in her room to see what was up (and to give Don a chance to sleep through the night since he had a double ear infection/ sinus infection), when Audrey woke up she would sit up quickly gasping. It's hard to tell if she wasn't getting air, if she had a bad dream or if something else was going on. We took her to a specialist who told us it wasn't apnea but could be related to allergies or acid reflux. It's hard to actually tell because she can't tell us the details of the problem or why she gasps awake. The good news is that since starting allergy meds the rash around her mouth has gotten A LOT better. She also slept from 12-7 this morning without waking up at all. I guess the allergy panel didn't test for whatever she is allergic to. 

It's hard when you are having issue sand you can't figure out what they are- you want to make it better but it's hard to know how to do that (especially when come across specialists who essentially disregard you because your child isn't a surgical candidate). These are the things they don't warn you about in the parenting books. 

Volunteering

Since both kids are now in school part time I decided to get back into the world. I am not ready to get a job since their schedules are still changing and they are only part days so instead I found an organization that I can volunteer with. They focus on keeping kids safe and have a lot of different opportunities  The first I did was taking care of kids whose parents are taking parenting classes- that one wasn't really what I was looking for but it did get me with the organization. The second thing I have started was teaching first graders how to protect themselves from physical and sexual abuse and how to report when something happens. I LOVE it, the kids are great and with that age you can really have fun with them and they are fully engaged in what you are teaching them. The final thing I started is mentoring a new mom, I started with her when her baby was 1.5 weeks old and I will continue you to see her every two weeks for the first year. I help with anything she needs- picking doctors, baby proofing, meal planning, daycare research and anything else she has questions about. So far I have really liked the latter two opportunities.  They give me just enough of something outside of the house that I feel like I have my own identity again but at the same time the time commitments aren't great enough that I feel like it is taking me away from the kids and family.

Birthday Season Begins...

The more kids you have the more birthday parties you get invited to... This weekend was the beginning of the season begins today... we have 2 next weekend and then 2 the weekend after.  Lots of fun to be had. It's fun because each birthday party is different- backyard fun, bowling, activities at a gym, children s museum, and even the zoo. The kids love this time of year! and it lasts all the way into the summer. I'm starting to feel the pressure for my kids birthdays. 

Ballet Class

Audrey had her first ballet class today. She seemed to like it a lot, especially considering the theme today was fairies. They had fairy wings, flowers, tutu's, flower hats, stuffed animals. The class is just a month long but if she continues to have a good time I will sign her up for some more. 

Friend's Baby Shower

A friend of mine (Leigh) decided to have her baby shower after her sweet baby Hollynn was born. It was a girls brunch out- a great escape for her because she has been dealing with a non-sleeping baby. The food, company and cupcakes were awesome! I love celebrating such a special occasion. 

Fearsome Fours

We have all heard of the terrible 2's.... When we hit about 20 months with Ryan I knew what they were all in trouble. What everyone failed to tell me is that 4 is worse then 2. You start getting into mouthiness and moodiness, defiance and laziness. Don't get me wrong I love Ryan. In his lucid moments (when he isn't a 4 year old mess) he is wonderful and sweet. He is figuring out the world and I can see it's hard.  Hopefully he starts to work it out or I figure out how to deal with him more positively. Maybe I was just inspired to write this because he spent the weekend with Grandma and came back exhausted and completely out of schedule.  As is the deal with most of parenting I suppose we will wait and see if this too shall pass.