Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Ear ache

Yesterday Molly had her follow up doc appt from last Thursday's ER visit. Turns out poor little bug has an ear ache. This might have been the reason for all the discomfort last week or that could still be a separate incident. However, it DOES explain the rough night we had Saturday while visiting Grandpa Hickson. Molly only slept for an hour in the car on the drive up so she was a little fussy the rest of the day. She went down for bed without any issues, but got up again at 9:00 and 10:00 with a little cry. We were all in the same room (and by we I mean N, Molly, Sadie, AND myself), but I was able to get her back to sleep without waking N up. Well, at 10:30 that was NOT the case. Poor bug was screaming and upset. She only wanted daddy and she wanted him to "walk". By walk she means hold me in your arms, but don't even think about sitting down. At 35 lbs the becomes a tricky scenario QUICK.

Over the course of the next three hours we try every trick in the book to get her to calm down and fall back asleep. She immediately calms down in N's arms (only while he's standing), but acts up again as soon as we try to do anything else. So it wasn't the inconsolable screaming I dealt with on Thursday, but something was definitely wrong. I finally get her to fall asleep propped up on me and pillows around 1:30 am. About a half an hour later she slides off me and situates herself up on all the pillows. I use this opportunity to sneak off to the bathroom as she had been crushing my bladder. When I get back she's sprawled out over my side of the bed. I give up because she looks so content and attempt to go to sleep on her inflatable toddler bed.

Yeah, in hindsight I should have propped the bed up against the wall and just slept on the floor, but I was trying to make as little noise as possible so I made do and attempted to not move a muscle. I was up at every little sound, but bug was able to sleep through until 8:00 am. N was also able to sleep for the most part, but was woken up several times once Molly moved herself sideways and would ninja kick him right in the ribs.

Needless to say I was a complete wreck all day Sunday. Total Mommy Zombie mode. I went to bed at 8:15 that night and slept through until 7:00 the next morning when Molly woke up.

The doc told me to get Children's Tylenol Cold for the ear ache. We're not at the point where antibiotics are needed, but there are a couple symptoms I do need to keep an eye out for. The meds are actually meant for slightly older kids, but the doc said a small dose was fine. So, Molly was knocked out nice and good for nap time yesterday and again for bed time last night. Getting a good sleep is definitely helping, but she's still not supposed to be around children for the next 4-5 days. This is a bummer because we had some really fun stuff planned for this week. Oh well, with this heat wave we're having it's just as well our lilly white asses are inside with the a/c.

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Private Pool Party

Now *this* is how you beat the heat.

Saturday, September 25, 2010

On the way to Granpa Hickson's

Yes that is Sadie peeking over.

Friday, September 24, 2010

want vs. need

The other night Molly was in the bath tub and splashing up a storm so I told her to stop. A few minutes later she gets me again good with the water and I tell her to stop splashing. She then looks me straight in the eye and in a very serious tone says, "Mommy, I neeeeed to go swimming." Apparently the bath tub is not quite cutting it.

Molly also asked me if we could go see Robert and Connor. Before I can reply she then adds on "and MONKEY WALK!" I ask her if she wants to see Robert and Connor or if she just wants to use their pool. She's smart, she simply smiled.

So considerate!

When someone sneezes Molly will immediately run up and say, "Bless you!" It's quite adorable. It was even more adorable in MN when Heather's allergies were bothering her and she was doing this every couple of minutes. Heather told her it was very sweet, but she really didn't need to say "Bless you" every single time she sneezed... but Molly did... and she said it A LOT!

Another adorable trait is she will ask if you're ok when you cough. In fact she has popped out of bed and opened up her door to yell at N in the office when she's heard him cough (and is clearly not asleep yet).

The best part is she INSISTS you do the same to her. If she sneezes and you don't immediately say, "Bless you" she will then say, "Molly sneezed" and look at you until you bless her. Same thing with coughing. If you don't ask if her if she's ok she'll tell you she just coughed and will wait for the appropriate reply.

Cuddle muffin

As soon as she saw I was trying to take a pic she moved to get down, but she was cuddling N and being super cute. A little delicate today, but feeling better.

Thursday, September 23, 2010

ER visit

Let me just start this off by saying Molly is currently sound asleep in her bed and nothing serious was wrong so the grandmas don't freak out.

Molly was fine this morning. She went to swim class and had a blast. Afterwards we visited Granny Marsh and everything was fine. She was a little picky about eating lunch and I simply chalked that up to her not being super hungry since she inhaled some snacks after swim class. We get home and she's falling asleep in the car so I'm hoping we'll have a nice easy transfer to bed for nap time.

Wrong.

First Molly gets a second wind when we pull up to the house and insists on tracking down a few toys before heading to bed. I finally get her in bed and it's clear she's not going to be falling asleep any time soon. We battle back n' forth for a bit. Then she starts to do her whine cry. She tells me, "Molly's upset" but won't be any more specific than that. After some stalling she asks for a cliff bar. I think the light lunch might be the culprit and agree to this. Once she gets the cliff bar she doesn't want it and asks for O's. I still suspect she might legitimately be hungry so I comply. Takes one bite and pushed it away. I take that as a clear sign it's a stall tactic and get her back in bed. She starts crying moments later.

At this point it's around 3:00 and Molly is seriously crying. She's rubbing her eyes and I think she's just overly tired and can't fall asleep. I spend the next half an hour calming her down and rubbing her back and she falls asleep just before 3:30. I think she's down at this point.

At 3:50 I hear her crying... actually it was more like screaming. Something was NOT right. She was inconsolable at this point. I go down the checklist trying to figure out what it is. No temp, but I offer some tylenol just in case and she freaks out at the suggestion. I take this as a indication she might have a sore throat. I offer juice and popsicles, but she is screaming herself into quite a state. My gut tells me this is not just upset, something is seriously wrong as this is completely out of character for her. The only other time I've seen her scream like this was when N pulled a wire that was a good 1/4 IN her big toe. AND that screaming only lasted a few minutes.

I call her doc and she's screaming in the background and they tell me to come right on in. She screams most of the visit. I can calm her down for a few minutes, but then the slightest little thing would set her off. Doc checks her over. No temp. Ears are fine. Throat looks a little sore, but nothing the screaming wouldn't account for. No real obvious signs that anything is seriously wrong. Doc suspects that she might be coming down with a flu bug and goes off. Keep in mind I'm catching maybe 20% of what the doc is telling me as Molly is screaming in my ear.

Doc comes back and tells me she would like me to take Molly to the ER for further tests. She's worried that it might be Intussusception (the sliding of one part of the intestine into another) as she knows this is NOT like Molly and she has seen Molly at her worst. The doc had already called ahead to Good Sam and let me know they were expecting us.

As we're finishing up at the doc's office Molly starts to pass gas. I notice that this offers some relief, but she's still pretty upset. We get to Good Sam and she passes even more as we're checking in with the Triage Nurse. She is getting calmer so I'm crossing my fingers this is culprit. We get into see the doc. He wants to do an ultrasound as it's less evasive than the Barium treatment (aka contrast enema) we were initially sent down for.

The ultrasound tech comes to get us so we can check things out. Molly was much calmer by this point, but still not happy to have goo on her belly and some wand waved around. Luckily N was with us at this point and between the two of us and my iPhone playing Princess and the Frog we were able to keep her calm so the tech could get a good image. The tech did point out some major gas which wasn't that surprising considering the tooty pants Molly had become.

The doc came in and said the ultrasound was clear. It could very well just be really bad gas that was backed up and we pretty much had to let it run its course. They wanted to get some liquids in her to make sure that didn't cause immediate pain and she inhaled the apple juice. No crying at all so we were sent home a little after 7.

Molly was a little tired and went to bed without a fuss about 8. She did wake up around 9 with a cry that I quickly responded to. She wanted to be upright on me in the glider in her room and pretty much fell back asleep in my arms. The first time I tried to relocate her back to bed she woke up enough to protest. I waited until she was really asleep... then waited a little bit longer before I put her back down.

Fingers crossed she gets a good night sleep and passes whatever caused all the pain in the first place. There are a couple things I need to keep an eye out for, but the main instruction was to keep her hydrated.

So yeah... looong day.

Chillin' with Frosty

Note her arm is around Frosty.

Monday, September 20, 2010

Trader Joe's Art

To be fair a few of those stickers were already there. Still she was awfully quick about it.

Yes she is still in her pjs. Someone is not feeling well and it was a rough (and very long) night.

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Temperence's sleepover



On Friday night my great niece Temperence spent the night. Her mom and dad were going to a wedding and it was going to be a late night. Mom dropped her off with everything needed for a sleepover, but had me promise to call if there were any issues. Temperence was fine. Mom, on the other hand, was a little nervous.

Both Molly and Temperence had skipped their nap that day. They were a little wound up, but no real issues. They did start to show signs of being ready for bed a little earlier than normal, but that was it. For the most part Temperence did laps around the house as walking is a pretty new skill for her. She would also walk up to Molly and pat her on the head which was completely adorable.



I started the dinner/bath time/pj process a little early as both girls were spotted yawning and rubbing their eyes. We wound down the evening with Temperence's favorite Barney dvd and both girls were in bed a little after 8:00.





Temperence slept through until 6:30 the next morning and Molly woke up around 7:30. The sleepover was a success and hopefully mom and dad will have her spend the night again.



For the rest of the pictures click here.

Friday, September 17, 2010

Yummy Cupcakes

Note the matching pjs.

What the...?!?

Temperence is trying to figure out what crazy monkey Molly is doing. She's spending the night with us while her mom and dad attend a wedding.

New haircut

Molly was having fun looking at herself on the iPhone while I tried to get a somewhat still shot of her. She was squirmy wormy when getting her hair cut earlier and has continued to be so all day. I had them take off some length in the back and taper the front more. I also had them go a little short on her bangs because they grow so fast.

Thursday, September 16, 2010

My little guppy

Molly had her first mom-free swim class today. She's in the guppy class and she LOVED it. In fact we ran into her teacher when we came out of the changing room and Molly bellowed, "Monkey walk!" at the top of her lungs while jumping up and down in excitement. Someone likes swim class.

This is the same class we were supposed to enroll in last winter, but I opted to sign her up for Little Gym instead. We had a nice refresher class over the summer with Auntie Bree and Logan. I think swim classes might just become a year round activity as she loves them so. The instructor even said that it was the best first guppy class she's ever done as all three kids were excited and happy to be there. I believe her as she still had scratch marks from the day before when a little boy did not want to say goodbye to mommy.

I actually wore my bathing suit just in case, but I don't see the need to do that again. I did hang out off to the side as Molly pulled herself out of the pool to follow me when I went to sit in the observation area. Other than that she ignored me so I'm sure I'll be able to sneak off sooner rather than later.

All in all a resounding success!

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Horsies!

The obsession continues...

Monday, September 13, 2010

Mid 60's and slightly overcast

This definitely Molly's favorite weather. Slightly cool, but not cold. Less sun also helps. She's been on fire ever since we got to the park.

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Movie Night in the Rose Garden



Friday night was the 4th Annual Safety Fair & Outdoor Movie Night in the Rose Garden. Seeing as we live less than a block away from the Rose Garden I wanted to go. Molly was still a little snotty on Friday, but mostly over whatever cold she caught in MN. The Jodoins joined us. We all walked down and set up our blankets to secure a spot. There was a CRAZY balloon maker there that was doing all sorts of insane stuff. I saw Ariel, an octopus, butterfly wings, several elaborate swords, and a few more animals I couldn't quite make out from where we were sitting. We sent the guys down to get dinner at Zanotto's and hung out with the kiddos. The movie got started a little after 7:30 when it was finally dark enough to see.

The movie was Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and it was quite entertaining. Molly lasted until about 8:30 when it was clear she was done and ready for bed. Since she hadn't been feeling well we didn't want to push it. Besides, at that point she was wrapped up in a blanket and not even facing the screen so she might as well be in her own bed. N headed back home with her and I stayed to watch the rest of the movie with the Jodoins. I cannot wait until we can sit in our backyard and watch movies on the side of our new garage!

Garage Project Update

This was taken yesterday afternoon:



The exterior and interior painting is done. The floors were sealed with the first layer and they were drying when this was taken. Here is a shot of the garage door down so you can see what that looks like.



The fence to the right is 6.5 feet tall to remind you how friggin' HUGE this new garage is. N always wanted his very own lair. Wish granted.



As you can see the rest of the yard is pretty much chaos at this point. Once the floors are dry N can move everything out of this old shed. Once that has been completed the old shed will be torn down. A new fence will also be put up as the shed wall is currently serving as a fence. The HUGE camphor tree will remain (obviously, the thing is 50+ feet tall and provides me with my beloved shade) and the Magnolia tree in the back (center of yard). Everything else will be reduced to dirt so we can get a landscaper in. Sprinklers will be put down and lawn will be put in with some other stuff to make it look pretty. I mainly want a nice big open area so the kids (furry and human) can run around. I am toying with the idea of putting in a play structure, but right now with both buildings I can't really visualize how much room we'll have. Once the shed is gone I'll have a much better idea.

I uploaded a lot more pictures so take a look here if you're interested.

Friday, September 10, 2010

MN Trip



Last Monday Molly and I flew out to MN to visit the Kellys. N joined us on Friday for the long weekend. I had to wake Molly up at 5:30 in the morning so we could make our flight. She was not happy to be awake at that hour, but wasn't *too* grumpy about it. By the time we got to the airport she was awake and cooperative. We got a Jamba Juice on our way to the gate and boarded the plane without any issues. I was in the aisle seat and Molly was in the middle. The lady who had the window seat pretty much slept the entire time, but every now and then Molly would try and lay flat and get her with her feet. She was very pleasant about the whole thing, but I still wished her children free flights when we landed.

Molly konked out in the car as soon as we got going and slept the entire drive to Heather's. I called when we arrived in the hopes of transferring her inside for nap time, but she woke up as soon as I got her out of the seat. Then it was all over when we got inside and Emma started yelling hello. The girls got along great the entire trip. Sure there were some tears when they would fight over the same toy, but for the most part they chased each other around and giggled. Molly taught Emma how to blow raspberries so that was huge. I'm sure Heather and Adam are so appreciative of that skill being passed on. They would run up to each other and blow raspberries in each other's face. Lovely, huh?

It was hot and humid the day we arrived. That evening we headed down to a new man made lake in the area and let the girls go swimming. I didn't get a chance to snap any pics, but the girls had a blast. The lake was super shallow so the girls could wander in quite a ways without any worries. Since it was man made there were no rocks, which was very nice. However the wind picked up and created a lovely sand blasting effect so we had to cut out a bit early. Still, it was a huge hit and the girls kept talking about going to the beach and even had a fake beach in Norah's closet.

On Tuesday we headed into Minneapolis so we could check out the Children's Museum. It was great. The girls pretty much took off in two separate directions so Heather and I would wave as we passed each other chasing them down. Once they got some of their initial energy out it was easier to keep them in the same area.





On Wednesday we went to Como Park which is part zoo and part mini amusement park. First up was the butterfly exhibit and then a few others. After lunch we had full intention of purchasing some tickets and going on some rides, but the girls seemed content climbing on rocks and benches. We wandered past a few more animals and then headed out for nap time.





Thursday was chilly and rainy so Heather gathered up her girls and met up with us at the hotel. We had an indoor pool where we were staying. The kiddie pool had a water feature that proved entertaining. We went in the main pool so Molly could monkey walk around it and then headed back to the kiddie pool. After that we met up with Heather's sister and her two kids for lunch and let the kids rip on an indoor play structure. Molly came over to me and informed me that it was night night time so we took off. I love a kid that ASKS for nap time.







Friday was the day that N arrived. Molly and I picked him up at the airport and then swung by the Mall of America. We wanted to grab a quick bite and I wanted to pick up some fresh cheese curds from Rybicki's. We went back to the hotel for nap time and then headed over to the Kellys. We had dinner and put the girls down and played a game of Settlers. I won!

On Saturday we hit the MN State Fair. Apparently there was a record breaking number of people that attended that day. I'm not surprised, the place was PACKED! I know we only saw a fraction of it too. We arrived and immediately got a malt from the creamery. Chocolate for the Hicksons and strawberry for the Kellys. After that we set out to find the french fries that Heather wanted. I saw a sign that said "World's Best French Fries" and Heather informed me they lied. We finally found the yellow sign she had been looking for and we all dug in to a MASSIVE bucket o' fries. We were close to all the barns so we headed over to check out the horsies, cows, sheep, and pigs. Molly was in AWE of all the horsies. There was one in particular that was massive. No way could that barn stall hold him if he wanted out. I came up to the top of his back. He was still a neck and head taller than me.



After the livestock tour we circled back and I got some deep fried raviolis (my favorite fair food). Yum! We then worked our way over to the kid section and N got a pickle on a stick on the way. We even saw a sign for deep fried FRUIT! Was nothing sacred?!? Molly got to ride the horsies on the carousel. By the time we got to the kiddie section Molly was pretty done and content to chill in the stroller. We opted out of buying her any tickets as I think it would have been a battle to get her on a ride at that point. Emma rode a few and I went to get some deep fried cheese curds for the group as they made their way around. On our way out we kept getting cut off by this MASSIVE parade. It blocked our route several times and we finally realized it was going out the gate we need to go out to catch our bus back to the parking lot... of course.

We headed back to the Kellys and put the girls down for a well overdue nap. Heather konked out on the couch with baby Norah, Adam watched a game, and N did some work. Molly was woken up with TWO poopy diapers and then could not fall back asleep so I went downstairs to watch Cinderella on the iPad with her for some quiet time. We got takeout that night and put the girls down again so we could hang out.

Sunday morning I headed back down to Minneapolis to meet up with some girlfriends for breakfast. Molly was a little snotty so it was just as well she was hanging out at the hotel with dad. We met up with the Kellys post nap and Molly seemed in much better spirits. At first I thought it was just the drastic weather change from hot n' humid to cold n' rainy that was causing the snotty nose, but now I think she caught a mild cold. The a/c unit in the hotel room did NOT help matters. On Monday morning she woke up around 4:30 am and could not get back to sleep. I suggested to N that we take her for a drive in the car so she could sit upright and Molly perked up at that idea and demanded to go in the car seat. I ended driving around from 5:00 to 6:00 am. Not sure where I went, but pretty much in one big loop. Thank god for GPS on the iPhone.



Sunday night we had dinner at the Kellys and put the girls down again so we could have another game of Settlers. This time Heather won and I was dead last. My numbers were just not being rolled. Everyone else was constantly in danger of losing cards if a 7 was rolled and I had one... *maybe* two. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!

Monday we had an indoor bbq at Heather's parent's house since it was raining off and on all day. Lots of good food. N stayed back at the hotel with Molly through nap time in the hopes that she could sleep off whatever was bringing her down. That night we hung out for a bit, but went back to the hotel for bed time.



Tuesday we packed up and headed back over to visit Heather and the girls before taking off for the airport. It was a nice visit, but still too short! I would love for Heather and the girls to be local. Emma and Molly got along fabulously! Molly even spent the first few days calling Emma 'Sota. She thought her name was Minnesota and that's the nick name she gave her. It was adorable.

N brought his camera so hopefully we'll see those pictures soon. In the meantime click here for the rest of my pictures.

The apple does not fall far from the tree.

This morning I was getting Molly dressed and attempted to put her in a skort. She freaked out and started to cry saying, "No skirt... pants... PANTS!" Heh.

Music in the Park

We joined Granny and Grandpa Marsh for Music in the Park in Los Gatos a couple Sundays ago.



Molly danced and had a blast being the center of attention.



However, when she's done.... she's done.



(That was taken INSIDE the dried up fountain)

Hello, My name is Kim and I'm a pool whore.

A few weeks back we had a pretty intense heat wave.



I walked outside during Molly's nap and realized there was no way in hell I was making it to Muay Thai that night so I did what any rational person would do... I invited ourselves over to the Jodoins. They have a pool.

Hey, I brought dinner.

The next day it was still nuts so I invited Molly and I over to Granny Marsh's for lunch and a dip in their pool.



That night we were back at the Jodoins for another dip.

I fully admit I'm a pool whore.

"Daddy fix!"

The expression "Daddy fix!" initially started out with Nathan. He would proclaim it whenever Molly was upset or hurt and he would scoop her up in his arms to make it all better. Now it's something Molly says whenever a toy breaks. In fact both N and I are pretty sure she is breaking some of her toys so N can fix them. So far he's been able to get everything back together, but we are both a little nervous about the day that will come when a toy is beyond repair. We have a feeling Molly will be crying, "Daddy fix!" as the toy is tossed in the trash and won't be able to understand why Daddy can't fix it this time. N's heart will break I'm sure.

Anyway, since Molly is obsessed with Toy Story (mainly Bullseye) most of the toys she's been playing with (and breaking) have been Toy Story related.

Poor Bullseye! (Don't worry, his leg is all better now.)



It's turning into ER: Toy Story.



Just the other day Molly's beloved Frosty the Snowman board book had two pages that were stuck together. When I got them apart part of one page had torn off and was still stuck to the other. Molly took it from me and proudly said, "Daddy fix!" and walked off to put it on his desk. Yeah, not sure HOW Daddy is going to fix that one. This should be interesting.

Robert's 3rd Birthday (the pictures)



N uploaded these last night. He's a little behind on his pictures and galleries in case you couldn't tell. Robert turned 3 back on August 11th and his birthday party was the Saturday before that. We didn't stay for the entire party as little Miss Temperence was also having her first birthday party that day, but N was able to get some great shots. They are mostly from the bouncy house as that is where Molly spent the vast majority of her time.

It was a Spiderman themed party (and bouncy house) and here is the birthday boy shooting spider webs.


Molly was nonstop motion.


However, she did take the occasional apple juice break.


This is a great shot of an airborne Emily.


Here's another great one of Jamie.


Molly and N


For the rest of the gallery click here.

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

MSP to SJC

For someone obsessed with Toy Story 2 even the baggage carts are fascinating.

So cute when they're sleeping!

Tummy time with Norah

Rockin' pjs and Princess shoes

It's a look.

I'm actually quite impressed Molly has learned to walk in these without killing herself.

Friday, September 3, 2010

Princess shoes

I thought Granny would like this. Molly has been very intrigued by Emma's Princess shoes. They are next to impossible to walk in (especially on carpet) so she's mainly done laps around the couch so she can hold on to something. Of course as soon as I try to get a picture she takes them off, which is what she's doing here.