Note to self: Never ever mow the lawn again.

This is me after a benedryl, sudafed PE, allergy eye drops, and cucumbers on my eyes. All because I was trying to help Dave with everything on his "to do" list.

Stupid, stupid, stupid. This is the worst allergic reaction I've ever had after mowing the grass.

Well aren't I just little miss Suzy Homemaker today

Let's go through the checklist...

• Provided my children with a nutritious, homemade breakfast... check!
• Engaged my children with fun and educational activities... check!
• Cleaned and decluttered my home in preparation for our vacation this week... check!
• Made my bed... check!
• Washed and line dried laundry, then folded and put away... check!
• Assisted older child with her daily chores... check!
  
• Made delicious chocolate chip cookies from scratch... check!
• Canned strawberry jam... check!
• Went on lovely family outing after dinner... check!
• Didn't allow my children to play naked outside... check!

Now let's go over the list a little bit...

Provided my children with a nutritious, homemade breakfast: Breakfast was technically homemade, but it was leftover pancakes. I make a triple batch at a time and save the rest in a ziplock bag in the fridge for fast and easy breakfasts during the week.

Engaged my children with fun and educational activities: While there was some TV watching today, we also did some craft projects this afternoon. We also did some singing. I probably could have done more, but I was really busy.
Cleaned and decluttered my home in preparation for our vacation this week: I hate coming home from a trip to a dirty house. I also hate cleaning. But I knew I had to do a bit of it so I could feel sane. Tomorrow is an extremely busy day, so I had to get everything done today. I worked my little tail off this morning and got almost my entire cleaning list done today. Maybe that's not a big accomplishment for many people, but for me, cleaning and decluttering is like pulling out my fingernails with pliers. It's torturous to me. But I did it anyway.
Made my bed: I do this every day. I hate when my sheets get all bunched up at my feet. This is the best way to combat this.
Washed and line dried laundry, then folded and put away: I really must take a picture of my makeshift clothesline. I can't stand wasting all this hot air outside and heating my house at the same time by using my dryer, so the other day I strung out a clothesline I bought over a year ago and just started line drying my laundry. I've decided I will likely use the dryer for towel and underwear day, however. Line-dried towels are just so... crunchy. I like crunchy stuff, but not crunchy towels.
Assisted older child with her daily chores: We printed a new chore chart for Lacy today, with the same four chores I had before, plus a new category: stay in bed. Tonight, other than a one-time deal of getting up to use the bathroom, she did it! She's getting pretty good and doing her chores without a fight.

Made delicious chocolate chip cookies from scratch: Well, we have to have some snacks for our trip, and cookies are just so yummy. I was really busy making a million other things, so I figured, hey, what's one more thing in the kitchen? Tonight after the kids went to bed I boiled a dozen eggs, made rice pudding (our breakfast for tomorrow, made with short grain brown rice and xylitol), made strawberry jam, and of course the cookies. This is why I'm blogging so late at night (rather, early in the morning).

Canned strawberry jam: As I mentioned above, I made some jam tonight. I don't have any proper canning equipment, but I know how to make jam and I had enough stuff that I could rig something up, so that's what I did. I really had to make it tonight otherwise the strawberries would have gone bad. To process the jam once you make it, you have to put it in a boiling water bath for about 10 minutes. The company that makes the canning jars also has some really neat equipment, including a funnel specifically for canning, a basket for inserting and removing from the hot water bath easily, and specially designed tongs for gripping glass jars. I had a stock pot tall enough (water is supposed to come above all the jars by 1-2 inches), but nothing else. So I spooned the jam into the jars and made a nice mess while I was at it, made a makeshift grate for the bottom of the pot of water (the jars aren't supposed to directly touch the bottom of the pan), and I just used regular tongs for lifting the jars, individually, in and out of the water. That was a bit of a task! They are quite awkward to handle, and since you're putting the jars in one at a time, there is a tendency for the first couple to want to tip over. Eventually I finished and now I have 6 little jars of strawberry jam, made from delicious Spooner farm strawberries. Yummy!

My makeshift grate:

The final product:


Went on lovely family outing after dinner: Dave wanted to take the boat on a test run to make sure all was running well. So we took the boat out, slipped on everyone's life vests, and had a nice little time cruising around the lake and trying to catch fish. We were unsuccessful, but at least Rose ate a worm.

Didn't allow my children to play naked outside: At first they were actually naked. I was making dinner and I didn't notice at first. I had to yell at them to come inside and get dressed. It took Rose about 10 minutes until she finally came inside. She ran to the bedroom and grabbed panties. So they played outside in their panties for about a half hour after that. Our yard is very private, otherwise I would have physically gone outside and brought the girls in myself. I'm not too worried about someone seeing them outside, because our entire backyard is fenced, and we have lots of big trees and bushes that help block the view. So I guess I get this one on a technicality, since I wasn't really all that upset about it and I didn't force them to come in right away once I realized they were actually naked.

See? Not naked.

*photo removed*

Playing in the back yard, while not naked

*photo removed*

(the neighbors in the house behind us are never outside, and their blinds were closed. That's the only neighbor that we can see their house from our backyard, without standing up against the fence to look out)

Before going on our little boating trip, a motorcycle skidded into our stopped and waiting neighbor's truck. The motorcyclist was a total idiot. Dave always sees this guy riding around about 60 down the streets of our neighborhood. He doesn't even have a motorcycle endorsement, or insurance. He skidded about 30 feet before bumping against our neighbor's front tire (it was a huge lifted truck). Totaled the motorcycle. It was a pretty nice motorcycle, too. I can't help but feel a little bad for him, but this was definitely karma at work! This is why we are so careful that our kids can't get out of our backyard. The street is awfully dangerous with guys like this in our neighborhood.

Blood denaturingly hot

Today was really, really hot. Not like Arizona hot, but hot nonetheless. The problem is, being in Washington, we don't have air conditioning in our home, nor do we have it in our fuel efficient car. So we had to take the guzzler today to church because it got up to 93 (according to the news) today. Our house was so hot after dinner that we just went into the coolest room in our house (our bedroom), ate ice cream, and watched "Matilda." Lacy got scared in a lot of places, but she enjoyed it. Then Dave, being the great daddy he is, let her stay up for the next movie, "Nanny McPhee," before she had to get in her own bed. He did that mostly because it is so darned hot, and her bed isn't directly above the fan like ours is. On a positive note, the girls' bedroom, which they never sleep in, cooled down quickly, so when they're in there next yearish, it will be a little more comfortable for them. Perhaps we should just move them now. Or at least Lacy. She's been baaad about bed time lately! Gotta redo the routine charts or something, I think.

Later this week we're going on vacation. I'm so looking forward to it, despite a not so good weather forecast! We need some time together as a family. Dave has had one three day weekend since he's started working this job, and one other Saturday off. Other than that and the couple days he took off for the girls' surgeries and sick days, he's worked 6 days a week, 10 hours a day for 3 months. It's time for a break! The company started off with 180 employees, but has whittled it down to just four remaining employees-- Dave, his partner, and two other members of a different union. How flattering that Dave is literally going to be in the very final, small group to be let go. He must have impressed the right people! Heck, his supervisor got laid off before Dave did! He has two work days to go before he is officially (we think-- they keep changing it) laid off.

What's the point?

If you wake your children up fairly early, keep them active all day long, and put them to bed (complete with regular bedtime ritual) at 8, and they don't go to sleep until 10:30 at the earliest, what's the point of keeping them super busy all day?

We walked to the park. We swam for an hour and a half. The girls played outside. Lacy watched minimal TV. Yet, Lacy fought bedtime and wouldn't sleep until 10:30. Rose was even worse, not sleeping until 11:30. Then they both woke up before 9 today-- Lacy before 8! She is such a grouch today, too.

Here's hoping they go to sleep early tonight!

Keeping Busy!

Today was a super busy day for us! I like to consolidate tasks with gas being $4.30/gallon and a truck that gets 12 mgp. We're working on ways to improve the mpg, but in the meantime, I don't go many places at all because of the sheer cost of driving and the lack of alternatives to driving in my area (biking is not safe on the roads leading to town, and there are no buses).

First was gymnastics. Rose was a little overwhelmed because it is gym camp this week, and there were lots of big girls and boys using all the equipment in the gym. They looked so awesome! Lacy and Rose's classes combined, and Lacy was the only big kid in her class today. She did so great! So did Rose-- walking on the balance beam without any help! It was a little tough to keep her under control at times, but we managed.

Next stop was feeding the truck. I managed to find it for $4.23, filled up, and then saw another gas station for $4.09. D'oh!

Then we went to Fred Meyer to talk to them about a pair of sandals that I had purchased earlier this year. One of them had totally come apart at the seams. It was no longer wearable. I think it was defective, because the other shoe was just fine. Because of the defect, I was able to exchange them across for another pair of exactly the same sandals. I was glad they had them, because I really love the way they look and feel. I am extremely picky about my sandals, so it is always a great day when I actually find a pair that meet my criteria and fit me well!

After that, we went to the free school lunch program at one of the elementary schools. We went to one in Lacey, because that's where we were today. It was fun for the girls to eat there, and it was nice to not have to worry about food. Lacy ate her entire sandwich. I was surprised and impressed. Rose ate all the cheese off hers and ate most of the meat, but that was about it, other than the apple juice! She doesn't get juice much at home, so it was quite a treat for her. Afterward, we played for a few minutes and I saw some of my old friends from Lacey and talked for a couple minutes with them (when I wasn't chasing kids, that is!).

Finally, we went to Spooner's to pick strawberries. Rose got quite dirty with juice and dirt all over her. I was certainly glad they wore pink shirts today! We managed to get out of there with about 9 pounds of berries, and probably another pound in Rose's belly. Lacy didn't eat many at all while she was picking. She was so helpful, and was very good at picking berries.

On the way home, Rose fell asleep. Lacy is now watching PBS, eating strawberries, and drinking water. She was thirsty and tired when we got home, and I didn't want to fight with her, so the TV went on today. She hasn't watched any TV at all until now, so I think it's a pretty good day. We'll probably turn it off soon so she doesn't get overloaded. Rose is still sleeping soundly, and I'm trying to come up with dinner for us. I was going to take the girls swimming again today (we went yesterday and they had a blast!) but it's already 3:30, so I don't think that's happening, unfortunately. There's always tomorrow, and that's one thing we can do that is totally 100% free-- other than the dues that we would have to pay whether or not we used the pool. It is really close so we can actually walk there.

TV-free Day

I decided Lacy has been watching too much TV lately, so today I announced we were having a TV-free day. Lacy cheerfully said, "OK!" She hasn't even asked to watch TV all day long. At lunch, I asked Lacy what she wanted to do during Rose's nap time, and she chose her Princess coloring book and markers. She is a little louder than usual, and interrupted me with an almost sleeping Rose twice, but Rose eventually went down and Lacy has been finding things to do all afternoon. Monday is my heavy-duty chore day, so it's been impressive that she hasn't even asked, or even hinted at wishing she could turn the TV on!

I also started a chore chart for Lacy today. She has four daily chores: make her bed, put away books, put away toys, and another chore I assign her. On Sundays, she gets a "free" day, but all others she will get a simple chore, such as dusting or cleaning the dining room window. When she completes her chore, she can put a sticker on the spot for that day and that chore.

Keep homebirth safe and legal for all Americans!

The AMA has recently adopted a resolution which seeks legislation to ban homebirth. Please sign this petition, even if you are not a homebirther yourself. All Americans should have access to quality health care options. Homebirth has been shown to be as safe as hospital birth, resulting in fewer complications, cesareans, episiotomies, and other interventions than comparative hospital births. I am proof that the midwifery model of care works-- one successful homebirth, and one transfer to the hospital when the midwife's training and instincts were telling her we needed to go, due to complications that presented themselves. That is how things should work-- midwives for uncomplicated labors, and obstetricians for more complicated cases. These two professions should work together, not against each other.

The AMA adopted this resolution in part because of a recent documentary critical of the way hospital births are currently conducted-- "The Business of Being Born," by Ricki Lake. They are afraid homebirth is becoming trendy and people will do it now just because of her documentary. They actually specifically named her in a draft of the resolution, though they (wisely) left it out of the final document.

The AMA's efforts would be better spent focusing on a new, larger problem of low birthweight babies. We have had the highest rate of low birthweight babies in 40 years, which is probably the result of convenience cesareans and inductions, which have risen sharply in the last decade or so. Christina Aguilera had a convenience cesarean at 37 weeks-- why doesn't the AMA adopt a resolution specifically targeting her? That is a much more dangerous birth choice.

Woot! 59 cent chicken!

Thanks to Leslie for the heads up on the 12 hour sale at Top Foods, featuring whole chicken for $.59/lb. Many of you recall my love affair with using whole chickens rather than buying them in pieces. Today's sale had a limit of four chickens. So after our initial purchase, I ran out to the truck, loaded everything in the back, and went back in to buy four more chickens. NICE! I just finished butchering them all and they're now nicely packed away in the freezer, ready to use. I do want to rethink my current storage method. I use too much plastic. I like everything cut up and ready to go, since I'm sort of a lazy cook and often don't have dinner planned at 4 pm. That way, I can just take out a baggie of chicken thighs and defrost in the microwave (or a pound of ground beef, which I package similarly) and voila, there's my protein! Next time I do this, I think I will butcher fewer chickens at a time so I can lay out the pieces on a cookie sheet to individually freeze pieces. Less plastic use is always a good thing. Hopefully in a couple year's time I'll be using chickens from my own little farm rather than the grocery store! Heck, maybe we'll have a commune going by then and someone else can help me butcher chickens!

To think, just 8 years ago I was still a vegetarian. Sometimes I wish I still was, but I think I actually eat a lot more healthfully now than I did pre-meat. That is, if you don't count the ice cream and Sweets and Beets.

Today we had gymnastics, but starting next month we will be going on Wednesday at 11 am. That's going to be good, since Leslie lives sort of close by, and her kids will be going to violin on Thursdays 10-12. This way, we can meet up or hang out at Leslie's, though I'm hoping we can arrange park or library trips occasionally.

I actually wasn't so sure we could go to gymnastics this morning. Lacy has been coughing since Tuesday, and Rose has been a little as well (I think she's finally getting those top 2-year molars, though, so it may be unrelated to Lacy's cough). She woke up with a nasty cough this morning. I decided to wait it out to see if she would get better. I gave her a Ricola cough drop, which helped a little bit. Probably because she crunched it right up, rather than sucked it down. Just like her mama-- impatient. I decided to see if a hot shower would help clear her lungs. So I gathered two naked girls into the shower and we had a little party. I plugged the drain up, let the hot water vapor pool around us, and added a few drops of peppermint essential oil for good measure. That did the trick! No more coughing pretty much the rest of the day.

During this time, Dave has been sleeping on the couch to avoid getting sick. Unfortunately, he still ended up getting some sort of flu today. I have him taking some homeopatics that have helped him with the flu before, and I'm hoping that spending pretty much all evening on the couch today has helped him relax and rejuvinate his body. I hate to sound greedy and/or insensitive, but, Friday is an overtime day, and it is really helpful when he works Fridays, especially since he likely only has one more week after this with this company.

Some good news came today. In the midst of these medical bills from hades, we have a little glimmer of happiness. The insurance is covering more of Rose's dental expenses than I previously thought! I saw how much they were billing the insurance for most of the procedures, compared it to my "maximum benefit" chart, and realized that the crowns were going to cost a bit more than the insurance covered, by about $75 a pop. Plus there were additional things that weren't covered fully, so I was expecting to pay somewhere in the neighborhood of $300 for that lovely smile Rose now possesses. Plus facility fees ($300) and anesthesiologist fees (we have yet to be billed for that, but I'm expecting around $75). In addition, Lacy had surgery the same day, as you may recall, which will cost us around $475 for facility fees, unless we get a network discount that I don't know about (we still owe about half of that), anesthesiologist fees (about $75) and physician's fees, which will probably be in the neighborhood of $150-200. That is one expensive day! Not that I'm complaining-- Dave's been working extra hours, which has prevented the medical bills from becoming a hardship, and Lacy gets better sleep now. In fact, a friend of ours the other day commented on how beautiful Lacy is now that she doesn't have rings around her eyes all the time! She doesn't snore, and she never has trouble breathing at night anymore. That's been huge for us. It's just so nice when you get little gifts like that.

Father's Day

We all slept in really, really late for Father's Day this year. Like, until almost 11 o'clock. That meant waffles for brunch, showers or baths for everyone, and rush out the door for 1 o'clock church. Dave did Lacy's hair and she got lots of compliments about it.



Before we left, Lacy gave her dad the gifts we bought for him-- a sun shield for his car winshield (he has no a/c, so it gets HOT in there!), a kite, and a new box of drill bits. Eventually, if they will ever restock it, we will be getting a tool chest for him as well. It has 11 drawers and is perfect. I have a coupon to buy it for a huge discount, but unfortunately Harbor Freight hasn't had it in stock for a looooong time, and I can't afford to drive up to Tacoma to pick one up!

At church, I played piano for the children. They were doing a musical number, so I played while they stood up at the front of the church looking cute. That's pretty much all they did, because I ended up playing a piano solo. Oh well, at least they were cute. The thing that bugs me about this is that LACY KNOWS ALL THE SONGS! She was singing it in the car after church! Why didn't she sing IN the church?

After church, we met Dave's family at Burfoot Park. We had lots of fun playing with cousins and running around the park. Dave flew the kite with the girls, who loved that. Kelly had to laugh at Rose, who has perfected the art of getting her picture taken. At the top of the slide she would wait and smile, giving me time to take a picture. At the bottom, she would stop at the end, look up and smile. Kelly got a really cute picture of her at the bottom of the slide. Unfortunately, I forgot a memory card, so I only had room for a few pictures on my internal memory card.

Posing at the top of the slide
Rose is quite the little monkey. This is her favorite thing to do at gymnastics, too!

Posing again... I was hoping Allison would look at the camera, too, but this is the best we could do!
Lacy enjoyed playing on the playground, too. She was busy, and usually with Brenda or someone else other than me, so I didn't get many pictures of Lacy.

Fat lip

Today, to get out of the house, we decided to take a little trip to Bed Bath & Beyond, to use a gift card I received for my birthday to buy a waffle iron. We haven't had a waffle iron since we moved here almost 4 years ago-- somehow it got lost in the shuffle. That happens when you share a home with another couple. Anyway, BB&B was right by the mall, so I decided to take the kids to the play area inside the mall, since it has been raining buckets here lately.

We had only been in there playing about 5 minutes when I saw Rose do a face plant off one of the structures. I ran to her right away, and started cuddling her. I noticed that her mouth was bleeding a little, but I wasn't concerned. Another adult told me, "Mom, she's bleeding!" I said, "I know." A little more cuddling, and I took another look. Her mouth and hand were all bloody, and so were both our shirts. I took both kids, in their stocking feet, to the family bathroom, which seemed an eternity away. I washed Rose up really well, and saw that she was just fine, with just a little fat lip. I washed the blood off her shirt and dried it under the hand dryer. I decided that we came there for playing and that was what we were going to do, darn it! I didn't want to gross anybody out with her bloody clothes, though.

We went back and played for another 10 minutes or so. The girls had an okay time. They get really stir crazy if we don't go out and do things occasionally, which is the main reason we stayed there.

On another note, I got really annoyed with other parents at the play area. It clearly states in the posted rules (you can't miss them-- they're right by the only entrance!) that shoes are NOT to be worn in the play area. There were several children wearing shoes, two of whom looked to be 3 or 4. I'm not going to get mad at a 1 year old wearing shoes, because frankly, usually they're pretty soft, their feet are small, and the children don't weigh a lot and aren't as active as older children, so the shoes won't cause much damage to other children. But older children? This is a play area primarily designed for really young kids, so the older children can really hurt the younger kids wearing shoes. Especially when they're jumping off the toys or wearing pointy, hard cowboy boots. Ugh.

I'm not even going to get into the inappropriate discipline that I witnessed at the play area today, other than to say, spanking is not the most appropriate discipline tactic for a 1 year old. Positive reinforcement or redirection works soooo much better, and witnessing a very young toddler being spanked, even lightly, was really shocking to me. That is all.

Here is Rose's fat lip. Poor sweet girl! It doesn't look too bad, but there was a LOT of blood!

First talk!

Lacy gave her first talk in Primary (our church's children's organization) today. It was very cute. Her topic was temples. We prepared throughout the week by talking about temples, and gathering pictures for her to use. This morning, we tried practicing with her, but she refused, because she was giving her talk in Primary later, not at home. She also insisted that she would give the talk by herself when she went to Primary.

We got to Primary, and she got to sit up front to wait for her turn to give the talk. Dave discreetly snapped a quick picture of her waiting for her turn.

When it came time to give her talk, she went right up, and said, "Dad, can you help me?" So of course he helped her. She wanted him to tell her exactly what to say, which is what we were trying to avoid with practicing beforehand. Oh well. She held up a family photo, a picture of the Seattle Temple, and a picture of Jesus. She spoke well and clearly into the microphone, and didn't hesitate at all. She's really blossoming, and is becoming less and less shy. I'm so proud of her! I stuck around until after singing time, because I'm subbing on the piano next week, including playing one song in Sacrament meeting for Father's Day, so I practiced it once through with the kids. I also played piano in Relief Society today.

Rewind just a second here... at the beginning of church, there were some investigators with the missionaries that we had met last week. Lacy really took a liking to the woman, Nancy, and held her hand up until church started. She led her to our pew and insisted she sit with us. Of course, she didn't want to sit next to her once church started and sat, briefly, next to an older woman in our ward. Then, both girls were excessively loud and disruptive during Sacrament meeting. Lovely. And then, it went over about 15 minutes, so we got to tame the crabbiness even longer. Lucky us.

After church today we were supposed to have some people over for dinner, but the wife got sick and they couldn't make it. Just as well-- Dave was able to take a friend out fishing before he undergoes a painful surgery tomorrow. He had a good time, caught some fish, and is now trying to get a little sleep before the week starts all over again tomorrow! While he was gone, a friend, Grant, brought over some steelhead that he caught over the weekend. Yummy! We're having that for dinner tomorrow.

Yesterday I attended a funeral for a friend of mine from high school. Very sad. She left behind two little girls, age 5 and 3, and a husband. It was the first Catholic funeral mass I have attended, and I appreciated the experience. I got to see several of my girlfriends that I haven't seen in a long time, and it was nice to see them, of course I would have rather seen them under different circumstances. While I was gone, my sister watched my kids. Afterward, we had a "covered" wagon picnic in the park as a reward for Regan. She blogged about it and included some cute pictures from yesterday.

After our pioneer picnic, I loaded up the girls and went to Dairy Queen for some time with my girlfriends. I met Jenny, Erin, Chanda and Angela there. I was glad I wasn't the only one with kids! Lacy and Jenny had an instant bond and were BFFs, at least for the duration of our trip, and she fell in love with Angela's newborn baby Aurora. I got the little kids cones, and got myself a small chocolate sundae. I'm trying not to go overboard, since I'm trying to lose a little weight, but I'm not depriving myself either. Anyway, we had a nice time, and chatted for about an hour and a half before my kids said, through their actions, "IT'S TIME TO GO!" We had fun, and hopefully we'll get to see Jenny again soon. She hadn't been to Washington in 5 years! Don't wait that long for your next trip, Jenny! Everyone else was local, so hopefully we can all get together soon. I see Chanda a lot, since she lives across the street from my sister. Fun!

The water main

A little late, but this is certainly noteworthy! Last Tuesday, after I miraculously put Rose down to bed just before 8, I washed my hands and noticed we have very little water pressure. Curious, I went into the kitchen and checked-- no water pressure there, either. I told Dave, who prepared to go next door to see if they had water pressure. He opened the door, and saw what the problem was. We had water shooting up 6 feet in the air! OK, I didn't actually see it, and the number keeps getting bigger, but for little while we had a water feature going there in our front yard. By the time I got out there to take a look, it was just a little fountain, reaching up maybe 2 inches, but the amount of water that was coming out of it was amazing. Dave ran around trying to find the right tools to turn off our water main, and had to borrow a tool from the neighbor. Before he got it turned off, we saw the water gauge quickly turning in circles.

Immediately, we started looking for tools, shovels, and everything else we might need. Dave started digging as soon as we borrowed a shovel from our neighbor. One of our shoves is missing and the other was run over by the people who resurfaced our lawn. Lacy couldn't sleep with us out there working, so I told her she could watch us IF she would sit quietly in a chair and not get up. I thought this would take very little time to find where the pipe was. I misjudged. Dave's friend Chris had work lights, so he said he'd come over and help us out. At that point, it was close to 10, so I made Lacy go to bed.

Dave and Chris kept working until after 11, when they finally found the pipe. It was too late and they didn't have all the tools and parts to fix the pipe, so they decided to call it a night. The next morning, was at the Home Depot as soon as it opened. He worked hard and fast, and got the repair done early. He was able to still make it down to work before the first break was over, and got an 8 hour day still. He kept the hole open to see if there are any leaks. There are a couple, but unfortunately Dave hasn't had the time with his crazy schedule to fix it, so I have a giant hole in my front yard still! Oh, well-- at least I have running water! I keep reminding myself how much worse it could have been-- it could have happened while we were asleep, or while we were out of town even. We had a much higher than normal water bill last month, which I attributed to watering my garden more often, but perhaps the leaky pipe also contributed!

While we were working, I gave Lacy the camera, and she took a few pictures of the action. This one's a pretty accurate depiction of what we were doing. Dave doing all the work, me scratching my head wondering what the heck I could do to help. Really, the only thing I was doing was watching, fetching tools, and telling Dave where the water was coming from when he turned the main on and off so he would know where to dig (I would have just dug straight down from where the water was coming up, but it was actually at quite a bit of an angle. Glad Dave's smart about this type of thing).

At last! The broken pipe. If you click on it for a larger image, you can see the 6 inch crack across the top of the pipe.

Dave's repair work.


We are going to replace the whole pipe when we relandscape our front yard. Apparently there is another spot on the pipe where a repair has been done, and according to our neighbor it didn't look as sturdy as Dave's repair. The pipe is only rated at 75 pounds pressure and should be 150 pounds (or something like that... that's jargon I'm not really familiar with) so it really should be fixed anyway. He's planning on trenching it out and buffering it with a layer of sand before covering it back up with dirt. The problem here was that big rocks were close to the pipe, bumped up against it with the normal shifting we have here in the Pacific Northwest, which weakened the pipe eventually leading to its failure.

But before that happens, I just want my front yard back. Pretty please?

Memorial Day

We had a really nice Memorial Day. Dave had to work, but it was worth it since he was getting paid double time. They decided to let the guys off after 5 hours, so he got paid for a full day's work working only half the day. Soon after he returned home, we prepared to visit with Dave's family in Shelton.

The big thing for my girls was the hammock. They loved swinging on it! They were on it quite a bit. It was fun to swing on alone...


Just the babies...


The girl cousins...


The oldest cousins...

And, just for a second, all four girls were on the hammock. Allison decided it was too crowded!

We (meaning everyone but me) swung the ball around the front yard for a while

Took pictures of the cute little girls (Rose, Madison, Lacy and Allison)

And took time to smell the flowers.


It was a fun time for all. In the end, we were very glad that Dave got off work so early, as everyone left for Jared's baseball game. I didn't get any pictures there since Rose immediately made a bee-line for the playground. It was a FUN playground, but playground pebbles were stuck in it all over the place. I'm a bit OCD and had to try to get as many rocks off that structure as possible. I'm weird, I know. Dave was excited that the only game he was able to attend, he was able to watch Jared hit a home run! Way to go, Jared!

We changed the kids into their jammies at the car and headed home. What a fun day!

As for today, I need to be getting to bed. It's late, but I worked out late tonight because Rose was having some issues falling asleep (as was Lacy... not sure what happened tonight!). I needed to have some downtime after working so hard. I only ate two cookies today! Go me! I ate one as a snack with the girls mid-morning, and one as a reward for doing so well all day long. If I completely deprive myself, I know I'll just gorge myself later on, so I'm not even going there. My diet is all but unchanged, just adding a few extra portions of vegetables a day, and limiting unhealthy snacks. Hopefully that, with the exercise that I've been doing, will get me back down where I want to be by the time we go on vacation in July!

Before I go to bed...

I wanted to update that I am actively trying to lose weight. I got back down to my pre-baby weight, and then I gained back a bunch of weight. So this month I am actively trying to loose that weight, and then a few extra pounds for good measure! I've started working out and walking around the neighborhood, and I'm going to watch what I eat and reach for fruit instead of cookies!

And what was my motivation? A little girl in Lacy's gymnastics class came up to me, patted my tummy, and asked me if there was a baby in my tummy. It's time to loose some weight.

Rose's birthday

Rose has been two for more than a week now, so it's about time I updated you with birthday photos! Rose had a very nice birthday, despite her mom being out of it with allergies. It was a beautiful day, and we decided to enjoy the good weather and have the small family party (just us four) outside.


Rose didn't really "get it" that it was her birthday, and didn't understand how to open presents (I'm sure she'll learn before her 3rd birthday!). Dave had to help her with everything.

First thing she opened was the chair. Previously we had only one chair, which the girls fought over (and made compromises on) in the past. Lacy enjoyed helping Rose by getting her the presents she thought Rose should open next. Everything was a surprise for Lacy, too, which was half the fun!

OK, I lied. There was one gift that wasn't a surprise for Lacy. But she picked it out for Rose. It was a Barbie Mariposa coloring book with a box of 8 washable crayons. We should have picked Rose Art brand, but we went with Crayola. Darn! Didn't think of it until we were out of the store.

One of Rose's favorite gifts was the doll with the stroller I got her. She loves pushing a baby around in a stroller! We have several strollers that she likes to use, and it never hurts to have more!


She also loved the bubbles. I got her a no-spill bubble container, which is good since she recently dumped out two bottles of bubbles during an FHE activity of bubble blowing.

Since Rose's favorite color is yellow, and since she loves playing dress-ups, I couldn't pass up this cute Belle dress up dress.

Lacy thought that she should have been able to try it on first. She was shocked that we wouldn't let her wear it until Rose got to put it on and wear it for a while.

Eventually, the girls put on Rose's new pajamas (she got two coordinating pairs), and we went inside to have cake and ice cream. Lacy picked out the cake from the store. I usually make cakes from scratch, but I have been feeling poorly with allergies lately so a lot of things have gone by the wayside. Rose didn't understand the concept of blowing out birthday candles, so she just sat there, staring blankly at the cake wondering what the heck those little pointy things were on fire. Dave "helped" her blow out the candles. Eventually.


We had a really fun, laid back day. We did the laid back thing with Lacy's second birthday as well, and I highly recommend it. Lacy wants a big birthday bash this year, and I'm not sure if I'm up for it! These low key family events are just so... easy!

Rose didn't get many presents, either, which was nice. My parents sent some money for Rose, so the gifts were from both them and from us. She ended up getting the coloring book and crayons, a shape sorting cube, the Belle dress, bubbles and a bubble bucket, two pairs of pajamas, a fold-up chair, and the doll with stroller. She didn't really need a lot, being the second girl, but I tried to get her a couple nice things that I knew she would love. And you know what? She plays with every single toy I got her, so it was successful!

An interesting tidbit: completely on accident, Rose wore the same dress Lacy wore on her 2nd birthday.

What's With Wednesday?

A short recap:

Two weeks ago Wednesday, Dave took the day off to be with me and the girls while the girls had surgery.

A week ago Wednesday, Dave went in to work but was sent home because he was sick.

Last night, our water main broke in our front yard, so Dave is taking as much time as he needs off until it is fixed. Another Wednesday, another day of not working. He's really hoping to get back to work before noonish so he can have half a day's pay at least, and it looks like it very well could happen.

So yesterday after Rose went to bed, I noticed that we had virtually no water pressure. I checked the other sink, and yup, same thing. So I told Dave, who got some shoes and went to check with the neighbors to see if they had pressure.

He didn't have to go far. In the front yard was a geyser shooting up about 3-4 feet high. He immediately gets to work, trying to find the right tools to turn off the water. He had to borrow tools and a shovel because one of ours is missing and the other clearly got run over. Dang! So he starts digging and finally finds the darned pipe at almost 11 o'clock, with the help of our friend Chris. It has about a 5 inch crack in it. I wonder how long it had been cracked like that! Our water bill last month was for over 1000 units more than the previous month, but we watered the garden a lot. I'm wondering if the pipe's been cracked for some time and we didn't notice last month because of all the watering of the lawn we did.

Well, I'm trying to look at the bright side. At least it wasn't geysering all night, with Dave waking up this morning to a muddy mess in the front yard. It was probably only shooting up water like that for a half hour or so. At least it happened on a Tuesday night, not a Thursday night, where Dave would have to miss overtime work.

Just when we start getting comfortable, something like this always happens.

A Few of Rose's Favorite Things

I meant to blog this yesterday on Rose's actual birthday, but my allergies are very severe right now and yesterday was the worst day of allergies I've experienced so far this year. Anyway. This is a list of many of Rose's favorite things!

Favorite Song: "Popcorn Popping," "Book of Mormon Stories"
Favorite Color: Yellow
Favorite Toy: Dolls
Favorite Animal: Dog (in theory, not in actuality!)
Favorite Book: The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Any "Little People" lift the flap book
Favorite Game: Duck, Duck, Goose
Favorite Thing to do with Dad: Cuddle after baths
Favorite Thing to do with Mom: Nursing... duh!
Favorite Thing to do with Lacy: Play dress-ups
Favorite Naughty Activity: Coloring on walls
Favorite Messy Activity: Playing in dirt/sand
Favorite Food: rice and noodles
Favorite Class: Nursery
Favorite Part of Spiritual Time: family hug and kisses
Favorite Sister: Lacy
Favorite Prissy Thing: Painting fingers and toes
Favorite Phrase: "Family Hug!" (it comes out as, "ga ga ga!!!!")
Favorite Person to talk to on the phone: Daddy

I guess I need to clean up the stuff Rose dumps out of drawers more often.

One of the girls dropped an apple on the floor, and when I picked up the apple I saw this:

Lacy's making me crazy!

I'm not exactly sure why (but I have some suspicions), but ever since the surgery, Lacy's been very difficult to get to go to bed. She used to go to bed like a dream, but now? Not so much. She stalls and won't stay in bed and makes noise and whines. I think it's because she's more rested, and I just have to get her to be getting up at about 7 each morning so she'll go to sleep at 8. That's 11 hours of sleep, and I think that's what she needs. She used to go to bed at 8 and get up at 9 or 9:30, sometimes 10, and complained of being tired a lot. I guess the apnea was really affecting the quality of sleep, and she needs a lot less now. Plus, she's been absolutely spoiled this last week and has been watching 5-6 hours of TV a day. Bad, I know, but she's recovering and isn't at 100% yet. I'm thinking of going for another TV free week next week, or at least 2-3 days, to wean her off the TV habit. She'll be fully recovered by then.

Rough Night

Dave's been sick, Lacy's been recovering from surgery, and Rose has been all around cranky lately, so that is a recipe for disaster. Rose kept waking up last night, and at 4 am she woke up and would. not. go. to. sleep. Since it was before she was allowed to nurse (that's a nightweaning thing we started-- she's allowed to nurse after 6 am). After disturbing Dave and myself to the point of no more sleep, I decided to put on a movie, Evan Almighty, with the hope that Rose would be pacified enough to fall asleep. It worked! Unfortunately, Dave had already left for work, so he didn't benefit from the extra sleep, but if she does it again tonight I'll try it again. With her snoozing in my arm, I finished watching the end of the movie. The credits appeared, and I heard a little voice say, "Mommy, the movie's over!" I had no idea that Lacy was watching, too! She apparently doesn't sleep as soundly as she did before the surgery. Maybe because now she can actually hear, and stuff. And because she doesn't require as many hours of sleep because she gets better quality sleep. We really need to focus on her routine as soon as she's well, because between her and Rose, I'm bound to be committed.

I told her...

I didn't care where she slept as long as she stayed in the bedroom. She really wanted to be out with us. This is how I found her a few minutes ago as I was preparing to come to bed.

Another one from today. Rose and Lacy only have one outdoor chair to share, so sometimes they fight over it. Today, they compromised.


We had a nice day today. I took Rose to church and Dave stayed home with Lacy, since she's still cranky and moody from the surgery. She's adjusting to needing less sleep (hence her being awake until 10:30 tonight for the upteeth time since the surgery). Lacy was very sad to have to miss Sunbeams, but she called her teacher before church, crying with tears running down her face while she told her she had to miss, asking her to prepare the handouts for her to take home. She was comforted only by the offer of ice cream from her dad. The teacher wrote her a really sweet note and sent home some activities relating to being thankful for hands.

Tonight after church we barbequed and hung out outside. After dinner we played with bubbles until the girls spilled all our bubble solution (Les, do you have a bubble recipe?) then the girls had popsicles. I admired my newly formed grass and watered my garden and lawn. It was a pleasant evening, but tomorrow's a work day and home blessing hour, so we're going to be busy yet again. Lacy's itchin' to leave the house, so I'm not sure how we'll fit that in.

Top 1000 Names for 2007

The top 1000 names for 2007 has been released by the SSA. I'm so excited! This is my baby naming bible. I always refer to it when naming a child to ensure that their name isn't too popular. Rose's name was ranked #347 in the year she was born, and is only getting less popular. In 2006, 945 babies were given the first name Rose. Lacy's name was ranked 897 in the year she was born, with just 270 children given the name Lacy that year. It has since dropped off the list completely. Lacey, however, is still on the list. Oh, well. At least she'll always have to spell her name for people. As long as Rose doesn't have to spell her name for people, we'll be doing fine.

Surgery Day

Yesterday was a stressful day for us, but it is over and done with and we are moving on! It all started at about 5:15 when Dave and I got up and started getting ready. It was nice for Dave to get to sleep in for once. We left the house at about 6 and arrived right before 6:30 at the surgery center. After checking in and agreeing to hand them over our first born if our insurance didn't cover the procedures, we waited to be called back. We went back just before 7. Both girls were weighed and measured-- Lacy was 41 inches tall and just over 31 pounds, and Rose was 35 inches tall and just under 26 pounds. They dosed up Rose with some medicine first to make her loopy. Then we changed the girls into matching hospital gowns. Lacy equated gown with marriage, so she got married and had babies about three times before she got the loopy medicine. She would lay down in a chair and say, "I'm having a birth." On one occasion, she noted that she was having her baby in a pool. Gotta indoctrinate 'em young, I say ;)

After talking to both doctors and both anesthesiologists, I felt fairly comfortable that the girls would be well taken care of. They took Rose back first, and promised to take good care of her. She clung to the nurse as they took her back. Poor baby. I was told that they gas them up and put them to sleep and then insert the IV, which is a policy I really appreciate. They put the IV in Rose's foot.

Lacy went back about a half hour after Rose. They took her back in a red wagon. Dave and I went out to the waiting area to scarf down some food and wait for our kids to be done. At about 9, the dentist came out saying he had saved Rose's front tooth and capped three more besides. Dave went back to be with her in recovery while I waited. While I was waiting, Lacy's doctor came out to tell me that the procedure was successful, and that her adenoids were "huge." She also didn't have much fluid behind her ears, but he put in the tubes anyway. I'm a little annoyed at that part, since I didn't really want her to have tubes in the first place, but I'm saying that it had to have been necessary for her comfort otherwise he wouldn't have done it (I hope no one tries to argue that point with me especially since the surgeon is my bishop and I feel strongly that he wouldn't just do something "just because"). When Rose was transferred to another stage of recovery, I was invited back to join her and Dave (only one parent allowed per patient in the first stage of recovery). I held her close and snuggled the baby up. She looked so good, yet puffy. She was on an IV drip, which was taken out after she drank some juice.

Lacy came out after a while, and boy was she loud about it. We were told that she may come out aggressive, and that certainly proved to be true for her. I honestly think it had something to do with the Vicodin that they gave her, because she only has temper tantrums like that after she takes the Vicodin (because she's fighting it so much). She was kicking and screaming and so unpleasant, but she was very vulnerable and needy so I didn't blame her for having that attitude one bit. Rose was sleepy, so she went to Dave and I held Lacy, who absolutely refused to drink any water or juice, and wouldn't eat a Popsicle. That was one thing she needed to do to be released. We got all the discharge instructions and got permission from the surgeon to leave anyway.

The kids slept a lot on the way home and throughout the day. So much so in fact that Lacy didn't go to sleep last night until 12:30! Part of the problem was that we let her sleep in our bed, as a special treat for her hard day. I forgot how crowded four in a bed is. I'm glad that she's in her own bed tonight!

Even though Dave took the day off work, we still made money by selling some scrap metal to the recycling yard. Almost $70, so not as much as he would have made working, but heck it's something at least. We also resorted to bribes and force to get Lacy to take her medicine. Nice. I hate doing that to her. I'm officially not making her take Vicodin anymore because she hates it so, and it makes her miserable. She's taking Tylenol instead. As long as she doesn't complain about the pain, we're fine, I guess. I'll just dose her up every four hours on Tylenol tomorrow and stop that on Saturday and just give as needed, when she complains of pain. She is speaking with a squeaky voice but is otherwise feeling pretty darned good, and acting relatively normal. She even had a tea party outside this afternoon with her cousin and sister. I blogged about our day on my family's blog, complete with pictures.

I really hope Rose doesn't need the same surgery. And I really hope this stops Lacy's apnea problems. It was truly scary listening to her gasping for breath after not breathing for several seconds at a time. I would have to move her to help her breathe more comfortably, and that was while I was awake. I slept through most of it. I've been told that it is scary after the fact, because you don't know if they're breathing or not!

Anyway, we took a bunch of pictures to remember our big day yesterday!

Drugged Rose, before her costume change
Rose "before" photo
Girls in their gowns, waiting to be called back
Loopy Lacy going back for surgery
Rose "after" picture
Lacy recovering on the couch... she took much longer than Rose to come off the anesthesia

We're done

Surgery went well and both girls are resting now at home. Lacy was very unhappy once she was coming off the anesthesia. Hopefully we can get her to continue drinking liquids so she can start feeling better! I'll update more in depth later.

Tomorrow's the big day

We go in tomorrow for the girls' procedures. Rose's is first at 6:30, and Lacy's is at 6:55. That's check in time, and I'm assuming it will take much, much longer than that. I'll update you tomorrow with how it went.

Mother's Day

I had a lovely Mother's Day! I got to sleep in until 8:30 when Rose woke up to pee (3 days dry in a row! And she's not even 2 yet, and this isn't the first time she's had multiple nights in a row where she's woken up dry!). Dave made me breakfast, which included some leftover breakfast potatoes (which were still yummy), eggs with peppers, onions and cheese, and bacon. Big, thick slices, from mostly organic pigs that I actually saw while they were alive. We ate right after Lacy woke up at 10:30. Yes, you heard that right. Girlfriend likes to sleep in. Lacy and I showered after breakfast, and when I got out it was already noon and time to get packing! We quickly got the girls dressed and ready and headed to church.

We had a nice program at church, which I didn't witness, because Rose was a total mess from being so tired with having no nap! So I took her to the Mother's lounge, but the chairs were occupied, so there was no chance I was going to get her to take a quick snooze. I barely made it back in to the chapel to lead the closing song! We received some delicious truffles from the men, and then we took the girls to their classes. We snuck out early, but Lacy had time enough to make me a nice card and give me a couple gifts from Primary.

This is a cute little jewelry box (lined with purple felt, of course) with a picture of her in her China dress.


Lacy and Rose both contributed on making this bag. I think it's hilarious that they got the date wrong!


And the card that Lacy dictated... very typical Lacy letter.

Here's the beautiful hanging basket I got on Thursday for an early Mother's Day gift.


After church, we went to my sister's house to enjoy salmon and conversation (if you could hear it over all the yelling from the nine children who were there). It was not only Mother's Day, but also Mark's birthday, my just younger brother, who was actually born on Mother's Day 28 years ago. Happy Birthday, Mark. We all had a nice time. I'm sure there will be photos posted on my family's blog later. We took a bunch and had a really fun time with it.

And a couple pictures from Saturday. We went to wooden boat days (or something like that) down in Olympia with my sister's family. The kids enjoyed making their own little wooden boats. More pictures have been posted on my sister's blog.


The finished product

It's on!

Rose's dental work has been pre-authorized now, and assuming everything else goes as planned, we will have two kids going in to the Surgery Center on Wednesday. Dave is planning to take that day off to spend time helping me take care of the kids. I guess I have to work really hard to make sure the house is spotless (for me) before that day so I can focus on helping my little kiddos get well. I've rearranged the girls' gymnastics schedule so they can attend Tuesday instead of Thursday, since I doubt at least Lacy will not be up for gymnastics yet.

Speaking of which, we had it again today. It was a lot of fun for Lacy anyway, and Rose did marginally better. We'll give it another 6 weeks or so before we throw in the towel! She just won't do most of the stuff in the obstacle course, and won't do balance beams. She likes the opening exercises, the trampolines, and today showed interest in the cube pit. Lacy loves her class, loves her teacher, and loves everything about gymnastics! Except, she doesn't follow directions well or pay attention to the teacher. She's a bit of a space cadet at times, but I've been accused of the same so I'm sure she gets it from me. Lucky kid.

We had a busy day today, running errands all morning after gymnastics and taking a break at home. We went to the bank to iron out some problems we'd had with the way they set up our accounts, tried for the fourth time to pick up the 11-drawer tool box we have a raincheck on, and went to the coop for a few groceries.

I've been making an effort to conserve gas. I deliberately don't drive anywhere for at least two days a week, and the effort is paying off! I just switched to the second gas tank today, and I filled up almost two weeks ago! Usually I'm halfway through the second tank already, and running on fumes by Monday morning. Go me!

Today Dave surprised me by coming home early! He actually got off around 3:15, but said he was on a break when he called asking some questions. Around 3:40 he called back updating me about our plans tonight and said, "Gotta get back to work!" I didn't realize that "work" was getting my mother's day present ready! He came home with a gift certificate for a haircut, a manicure/pedicure treatment, a card from him and another card from the girls, and an absolutely beautiful hanging potted flower. It's now hanging by our front door. Gorgeous! What a wonderful guy I married. Hopefully I can get him something awesome for Father's Day. Anyone have any ideas? He had the girls come out and "sign" the card, and Lacy delivered it to me. It was so sweet! He figured he wouldn't have time to do this any other time, so he'd better get it done now!

Tonight we went to Charlie's Safari. It's kind of like Chuck E. Cheese's, only 1,000,000 times better. It's locally owned and operated, and is just absolutely wonderful. It has a bunch of bounce house type things, a toddler play area, a huge play center that is like a good McDonald's PlayPlace on steroids, an indoor basketball court (like, 1/8 court), laser tag, arcade games, pizza, and mini golf. Rose liked the toddler area and the Helicopter bounce house and original bounce house, and Lacy liked both the bounce house slides. We will be going again sometime in the future. It's around $8 a kid over age 2 (and they charge for the under-2 set as well) but parents are free, at least for the bounce house/play areas. Mini golf and laser tag are additional. Anyway, tonight was a preview night for the vendors, and Dave's really good friend Tom installed the fire suppression system in the kitchen and invited us to come along. We're glad we did! We were out late and the kids got to bed way too late, but we had such a good time.

Afterward, we exchanged Dave's boots for a new pair. He got the kind of boots he really wanted, and he'll probably be happy with them. Work boots are sure expensive! I hate spending $100 for boots every couple of years! But, he has to have them, and he needs good boots since he's had some foot problems recently. Thank goodness for a good podiatrist!

Tomorrow is another busy day. I'm going to go to Costco to pick up a few things, but before that I hope to get a little cleaning done around the house. Then maybe we'll play at Leslie's house for a while, and go home later that evening. Dave is going fishing tomorrow night, so we won't see him until after bedtime. Saturday I'm hoping to go to my midwifery clinic's annual mother's day picnic. I don't know what I'll make for that yet.

I'd better get to bed! Three people are snoring in my room and it really ought to be four. Actually none of us should be snoring as it is disruptive of sleep. Hopefully Lacy won't snore anymore after next week. I can't believe she's having surgery. I'm totally having second thoughts on whether this is necessary surgery or not. At least my surgeon is my bishop, so I'm feeling a little better about it. I doubt he would recommend an unnecessary surgery to a member of his ward. Or, at least, I hope he wouldn't!

Say YES to your kids!

Sometimes, as a parent, our kids ask us things. Things we don't want to do, for whatever reason. Maybe we're not in the mood. Maybe we don't think it will be good for the child. Maybe it is dangerous. Whatever reason, we say no. A lot.

My sister wisely told me that for some of those things one of her sons asks her, she will say yes now instead of no, and his attitude has changed dramatically. I thought she made some really good points, and I decided to try to say yes more to my kids.

Tonight, Lacy has been restless. She has everything on her checklist checked off for bedtime, so she has no real reason to stall us, since everything is done. But she can't sleep. And it's disturbing Dave, who hasn't gotten much sleep this weekend, on account of helping a friend of ours pass an inspection this morning. He worked until 2 am last night, after working a 60 hour work week, and then continued working this morning around 10 until almost 5. She was making a lot of noise, thrashing around, and being disruptive for Dave. She kept asking for things. I kept saying no. Then I thought of what my sister had told me. And I changed my attitude a bit

"Mom... can you say a prayer for me to have good dreams?" (keep in mind, we've already had family prayer and she's said her own personal prayers).

"Okay." I say a prayer, naming specific things that Lacy would like to dream about.

"...and rainbows!" Lacy interjects. "And doggies!" So I add those requests to the current prayer in progress. I finish the prayer. "Thanks, mom. Now I'll have good dreams. Can you snuggle me for a minute?"

"Yes. But just for a minute. I have a few things I have to do." I crawl into her toddler-sized bed, and we snuggle for about five minutes. She tells me a few secrets. She talks about nice things, and asks me some questions. I don't tell her to be quiet, I just let her get it out.

"Okay, Lacy, just another minute and I have to get out."

"Why?"

"I have to pick up some things. We made a mess today, and I want to pick up a little to prepare our home for home blessing hour tomorrow." That's what we call the regular routine cleaning that happens once a week.

"Oh. Can I get in your bed tomorrow when Dad goes to work?" I agree, and we snuggle, I kiss her goodnight and get out of bed, and wait for her to fall asleep so I can get some tidying done. In the meantime, I write this blog. I left the room about ten minutes ago, and she is now breathing loudly. I expect in a couple more minutes she'll be snoring loudly. See what a few yeses can do?

Hold that thought...

What a surprise! More drama in the dental department! Rose's preauthorization for underoing general anesthesia was denied! The letter says, "The Medical Review Department has determined that medical/dental necessity is not supported by the clinical documentation provided. The Trust will need clinical documentation which supports the medical/dental necessity of facility fees for dental caries, including a comprehensive description of all dental procedures to be performed. Therefore, based on teh available information and Plan provisions, your request for pre-authorization of benefits is denied. This determination can be reconsidered upon the receipt of th above information." The letter talks about appeals processes and that we have the right to initiate a lawsuit if the appeal is denied. I'm not sure if submitting the information is an appeal, or just a continuation of the initial request. I've never dealt with this before. I'm really, really hoping they don't want x-rays, because we don't have 'em. She will be getting x-rays while under general anesthesia.

Hopefully this can all get straightened out quickly, because I don't want to delay her appointment. This has gone on for too many months now, and I'm done with it. I'm considering sending them this picture and asking them if that is enough:

But it doesn't show her two molars that need work. One needs extensive work, the other needs a minor repair. It's almost exactly the same as Lacy's teeth, but at a more advanced stage of decay. I'm considering major changes for my next baby:

*No juice or soda. Period.
*Brush teeth twice a day from the day the first tooth pops out of the gums
*Vitamin D supplementation from birth
*Fluoride supplementation from 6 months
*Nightweaning between 12-15 months
*Teaching to fall asleep without nursing from one or two months, so it can be a habit when teething begins
*Better diet during pregnancy, and no more tandem nursing (no more close together babies!)
*Better diet during nursing, especially calcium-rich foods and calcium supplements.
*Xylitol daily during pregnancy and while nursing, and added to child's diet after solid foods are started

So those are a few thoughts. I realize why Rose's teeth are so much worse than Lacy's now, and it's because I inadvertantly nightweaned Lacy around 14-15 months, her teeth appeared later than Rose's, and my diet was improved during pregnancy because I wasn't running after a toddler or nursing.

Going under the knife

Both girls will be receiving General Anesthesia on May 14th. Rose will be having her teeth fixed, and Lacy will be having her tonsils and adenoids removed, and tubes in her ears. They are both going to go in to the same surgery center, so it will be a fun day for us. Dave will likely take the day off work, but if he can't for some reason, my sister Leslie has offered to help us out with the post-op stuff. We'll be eating a lot of ice cream and juice that day, I gather.

Gymnastics

We had gymnastics again today. Lacy loved it. Rose had her first class and, well, she didn't really know what to do with herself. I think it is a bit advanced for her. We'll try it for a month or two, and if she doesn't start getting it, we'll dis enroll her for a while and just focus on Lacy for a while. Lacy has shown improvement even from just going twice. This may be her thing. I hear from some very reliable sources that it can get very expensive (in the thousands per month even) so I don't know if we can handle having her in gymnastics competitively. But for now, it's teaching her balance, coordination and helping her to become strong.

Afterward we visited Leslie and her brood, who were all home from school today due to well child visits. We hung out, nobody napped, and now everyone is falling apart. Dave is out fishing tonight, so we're going to eat in a few minutes and then we'll start the bedtime routine. Hopefully they'll be in bed tonight by about 7! That would be lovely. We'll see.

And a Lacyism... Lately she's been doing the whole "Close your eyes! Ok, now OPEN YOUR EYES!" thing, but she doesn't really get it. She'll say, "Mom, close your eyes. Open your eyes. (very excitedly) I'm going to gymnastics today!!!" Like closing my eyes and opening them again makes the statement so much more exciting!