Sick

We attempted to potty train Titus this past weekend. That failed miserably when he started running a fever and took 3 naps in a single afternoon. We gave up completely when he threw up the meds we gave him for the fever. Oh well. A few more weeks {or months} in diapers can't hurt. 

Max also woke up sniffy, coughing and sick today. I plan on relying heavily on Disney Jr and lots of naps to get us through this day. David went to school a little sniffy, but not complaining at all. Hopefully he can stay healthy enough to stay in school all week.

Highlights from Kindergarten {Day 3}

David....
- Is tired. Really tired. He told me he talked to Wyatt, a little boy who sits at the same table in class, and learned that Wyatt rides the bus home from school. I can't get anything else out of him. He's exhausted.
- Ready for a break, but also disappointed that he doesn't have school tomorrow.


Max....
- Got to be my helper today. We went to my OB appointment this morning {35 weeks now!}. He got to pick which level of the parking garage we parked on. My doctor is on level 3, but he prefers to go one level up and park on #4 because its the top level and it's in the sunshine. It also means he gets to help push the buttons as we take the elevator one level down to the right floor.
- Got to listen to Kira's "heart beeps" during the appointment. He imitated the swooshing doppler machine's sound all day.
- Pulled fall/winter clothes out of storage and had lunch with Monga today. School mornings are chilly and the boys needed a jacket or sweatshirt. He is convinced he has all brand new clothes now.

Highlights from Kindergarten {Day 2}

David...
- Looked more nervous when I dropped him off today, but he didn't cry.
- Couldn't find the boy with the cool shark shirt at recess so he played with 2 other friends instead. They were fun too, but their shirts were not as cool and they weren't quite as fun as the kid from yesterday. They played tag and ran.
- Came home singing the "Mr. Golden Sun" song and retelling the story of Humpty Dumpty.
- Made an owl book called "Look Whoooo's in Kindergarten".
- Very proudly stayed on green on the behavior chart. Very good news. Mom and Dad get a letter sent home to sign if he flips to yellow, red or the dreaded, terrible awful blue.
- More tired tonight than yesterday, but still not exhausted.

Max....
- He did much better without David today, but still needs a lot of attention from me. No tears though!
- Contemplated whether or not his friend, Clara, is a real princess. We've decided yes. Definitely yes.
- Again carried his backpack around and ate lunch out of his lunch box.
- Played with playdough and watched a whole lotta Disney Jr.

Highlights from Kindergarten {Day 1}

David....
- He loves his spot at the yellow table. He was a little disappointed at first to not get a seat at the blue table because that's his favorite color, but yellow turned out to be pretty great.
- His class has 2 pets: a snail and a shark. They named the shark Darko. Sharky was the runner up choice.
- I thought he had gym class on Wednesdays. He says he didn't today, but he did go to a room with a different teacher and they played games and the room smelled like big kids. Pretty sure that's gym class. ;)
- One of his favorite things today was playing on the slide and climbing wall at recess. He played with another little boy and made a friend. He can't remember his name, but he was wearing a shark shirt and that was really cool.
- He came home singing a days of the week song and talking about rhyming words.
- He has 2 snack times, a lunch break and a rest time. My pregnant self is jealous.
- He called both Mongas and Aunt Ashley to tell them about his great first day at school. 

Max...
- Found a tiny back pack and filled it with junk. He carried it around all day pretending to go to school.
- I gave him an old lunchbox to eat lunch out of. That was a big deal.
- He struggled a lot with missing David. Being a younger brother, he has never been on his own. He really has no idea how to play by himself. He's sticking tight to me and needs lots of ideas and encouragement to go play by himself.
- He painted with watercolors, helped me with laundry and dishes and made a trip to Meijer to buy an ice cream surprise for David for doing a good job at school.
- Monkey had a tragic little accident today. Max, Titus and Monkey were fighting invisible bad guys this morning. Monkey tripped over his cape and got caught by a bad guy and bammed with a hammer. So sad. He got hurt really bad and he had a broken leg (just like Max's little friend, Clara, who is in a body cast after breaking her leg). Max called Aunt Ashley (a paramedic) on his toy cell phone that was stashed in his underwear and she took Monkey to the hospital in her ambulance truck and the doctors put a red cast on his legs and tummy. Monkey was then carried around the house on a pillow so nothing would hurt him and no one is allowed to touch him - for almost 4 hours!  

The first day

It's here. The first day of Kindergarten. Wow. Seems like just yesterday that I was changing diapers and recording his first steps. Where did that baby go? 

We met his teacher and dropped off classroom supplies yesterday. He found his locker, nametag and work space at the yellow table. He's sitting next to one other little boy and 4 girls. 

Last night we packed up his lunch {a meat and cheese kabob with crackers, cukes and ranch dip and raspberries} and set out his clothes. He was one proud little dude. 

He was ready and raring to go this morning. He was dressed with shoes on, had eaten breakfast and brushed his teeth and was asking to pack up his lunch box and back pack at 7:40am. And school doesn't start until 8:33! He even begged me to drop him off early. 

saying bye to dad as he leaves for work

one last long hug

An egg, Canadian bacon and cheese english muffin sandwich
for breakfast. 

Ready to go. 

He was totally ok with me not going to school with him. He's very ready to be a big guy. He hopped out of the van in the drop off lane, grabbed his bag, ran right over to his teacher and never looked back. Not a single tear. No panicked or nervous looks. I got my tears out last night. I did much better holding it together this morning. Happiness all around....until we pulled away. Max is missing his buddy. Everything was cool until we pulled out of the drive and left David behind. Max got very quiet then, not a half mile down the road, I heard a sniffle and a teary-eyed, quivery voice say "I think David will be ok today". 

I lost it and the tears started flowin'. He just breaks my heart! My poor guy is torn up about his best friend being gone all day. We've done a lot of special things since dropping David off this morning. It's gotten better and he's adjusting now, but he seems a little lost and unsure of what to do. It will be a hard couple of days until we get used to this. 

A letter to my son

September 3^rd, 2013
Dear David,                                                                                                   

Hey, buddy. Tomorrow is a very big day for you. It’s your very first day of school. We picked out your clothes, you helped make your lunch, we packed your backpack. You’re all set. You were walking pretty tall tonight as we got you ready for your big day.

Tomorrow isn’t just a big deal because you’re meeting new friends and learning new things. It’s also very important because this is the first time you’ll be away from Mama like this. I won’t be there to make sure you eat a good lunch or remind you to wash your hands. You’re a big guy now and you’ll be doing those things for yourself. You’re going to be making your own decisions all day long. Make good choices, buddy.

When I was in school, there was a boy named Terry. Terry didn’t have a lot of friends because he looked a little different and he wore funny clothes and sometimes he even smelled a little bit. Terry didn’t smile very much. He didn’t have anyone to eat lunch with and he never played with anyone else on the playground at recess. Terry never did his homework. I don’t think his parents reminded him like Dad and I will remind you. The other kids teased him a lot. Whenever they did, his head hung lower and lower and lower and he looked very sad. I never teased him, but I never told the other kids to stop, either. And I never talked to Terry. I never invited him to sit next to me at lunch or to play with me at recess. Instead, he sat and played by himself. He must have been very lonely.

I still think about Terry. I wonder if he remembers me? Probably not. I bet if I’d asked him to play and be my friend he’d still remember me.

 I think that God puts people in our lives as gifts to us. Sometimes those gifts turn out to be our very best friends and sometimes those gifts help us learn and grow. The other kids in your class this year, they are some of God’s gifts to you. So please, buddy, treat each one like a gift from God. Every single one.

Buddy, if you see a child being left out, or hurt, or teased, a part of your heart will hurt a little. Dad and I want you to trust that heart ache. Your whole life, we want you to notice and trust your heart ache. That heart ache is called compassion, and it is God’s signal to you to do something. It is God saying to you, David, help! One of my children is hurting! Do something to help! 

Whenever you feel compassion you should be SO happy! It means God is talking to you, and that is wonderful. It means He is trying to use you to do good things. Sometimes compassion will make you want to act right away. It might lead you to tell a teaser to “Stop it!” or say “That’s not kind” and then ask the teased kid to play. You might invite a left-out kid to sit next to you at lunch. You might help someone pick up their things or carry their lunchbox if they are feeling sad or having a bad day. These things could be hard to do, but you can do hard things.

Sometimes you will feel compassion but you won’t do something right away and that’s okay, too. You might choose to tell your teacher or other big person at school or tell us. Sometimes, that’s the best choice. Asking for help for someone who is hurting or being picked on is not tattling, it is doing the right thing. If someone in your class needs help, please tell me, buddy. We will make a plan to help together.

When God speaks to you by making your heart hurt for another, by giving you compassion for them, please do something. Remember, that is God whispering to you. I really wish I hadn’t ignored God when He whispered to me about Terry at my school. I remember Him trying, I remember feeling compassion, but I chose fear over compassion. It seemed too scary to talk to a new friend so I didn’t do anything. I wish I had. Terry could have used a friend and I could have too.

David, Dad and I don’t care – at all - if you are the smartest or fastest or coolest or funniest kid in your class. There will be lots of contests at school and we don’t care if you win a single one of them. We don’t care if you are your teacher’s favorite or not. We don’t care if you have the best clothes or coolest backpack. We don’t send you to school to be the best; We would be SO proud if you did all those things, but it’s not what’s most important to us. We want to see you make good choices and do what pleases God.

Dad and I thought about homeschooling you instead. You’re a great kid and we know you’d end up super smart and awesome either way, but we chose to send you to public school this year. God calls us to be a light, His light, in a dark place. We think you can do a great job of that at school. By showing compassion and being a good friend even when it’s hard, you’re shining Jesus’ light at your school. Don’t try to be the best this year, honey. Just try everyday to show compassion and love to your classmates. That’s all that Dad and I could ask for.

I love you so very much. Nothing will ever change that.

 

Love,

Mama

 

 

 

{The idea for "The Talk" from this mama}

Making room for ruffles and tutus

David, Max, and Titus have learned a hard life lesson the last few weeks. A few really. 

#1: Girls have a lot of stuff. 

#2: They will want all your closet space to put said stuff in. 

#3: All the stuff they have is never enough. So they will get more. And you will lose more closet space. 

Poor dudes. 

Our weekdays and nights have been busy lately so we've really only got the weekends to work on baby girl preparations. One weekend recently, we moved the beds and dressers to accommodate a 4th kid in the 2 bedrooms they'll share. The next weekend we tackled closets. We added more hanging space for clothes in one room and stacked the other closet full of boxes and storage-y stuff. This weekend, we have plans to buy pink spray paint and finish a few crafty projects I have going for her. No major rearranging or heavy lifting this weekend; Kira has to share our time this week with back-to-school plans for David. My buddy is heading to Kindergarten next Wednesday!

On top of turning our house upside down and moving things all over, I've been neck deep in sewing projects with my mom. We've come up with all sorts of creative ways to add pink and ruffles to things. My poor boys are sick to death of JoAnn fabrics and Hobby Lobby. I'm pretty sure if they never saw another flowery patterned bolt of fabric or stood for another tutu fitting it would still be too soon. Poor guys. {*Side note: Titus really hates wearing tutus. Go figure. Also, he seems to cry harder if you laugh and say he's pretty. Most times he'll pinch his forearms and proudly declare with a grunt "strong!"}

BUT I am saving oodles of money and making lots of melt your heart, make you squeal, to-die-for super cute things. Dave made me a spreadsheet {because that's how accountants roll} and totaled up all my projects. So far we've spent $80 and saved nearly $200 over buying the same things in a store! I'll take that kind of savings all day long. And, as a bonus, I'm way happier with the things we've created than if I'd just pulled something off a shelf. 

Now on to pictures....

All three boys are sleeping in the same room now

The toy, clothes and diaper changing room 

The new and improved clothes closet!
David and Max can now reach to get their
own clothes.

We unstitched every seam of the old bouncy seat,
used the old pieces as patterns for new ones
then reassembled the whole thing. We saved the
blue frame and buckles from the boys' seat
and just girlified  the rest with a flower print fabric.
Photos don't do it justice. It's adorable. Maybe my
favorite project so far.  

All the flowers are pinned on so they can
be easily removed and aren't destroyed
in the washer when I need to wash the
seat. Poo happens. Gotta plan ahead.

Miss Kira and her Kangaroo have
matching pink tutus. 

From flowers to teddy bears in hats to tea cups -
this girl has got a burp cloth to fit the occasion.

Super soft and snuggly flannel blanket. 

A new boppy nursing pillow cover to replace the
green and orange dino one I used with the boys. 

And finally, to avoid spending $60+ replacing our torn
pack and play, we made a simple bassinet.
We'll keep this downstairs in the living room for her naps
and such when she's a newborn. Hopefully, it will also keep
rolling balls, zooming trucks and rowdy brothers off of her. 

Made from a laundry basket so it's easy to clean, cheap and
reusable when she outgrows it! 

Just 5-6 more weeks until our sweet girl arrives!