Parenting classes

I am not too proud to admit that I have signed up for parenting classes. They start on April 6th and are on Mondays for 8 weeks. You may be thinking that with my little angels how could I possibly need parenting classes?!...HA! Let's see which of the sessions I need most....

Session 1: Handling Misbehavior Without Breaking a Sweat (This one runs a very close second.)
Session 2: Teaching Kids to Listen...the First Time (Ding Ding Ding...we have a winner!)
Session 3: Avoiding Power Struggles
Session 4: Limits Create Happier Parents, Happier Kids, and Happier Families
Session 5: What to Do When Your Kids Leave you Speechless

I'm looking forward to learning new tactics for dealing with the cubs' temper tantrums and selective hearing. Best of all, it's free! Where do I sign up???

Things that happened in between fevers....

Tuesday night was my monthly LCMOM meeting. We had dinner and a white elephant gift exchange. I always enjoy getting out for an evening. The Doctor had given the "all clear" for Zach to attend his therapy session on Thursday even though he still had the lingering fever. She said as long as he wasn't exhibiting any other symptoms it should be ok. One of the moms from my LCMOM group graciously invited Emily over to her house while I took Zach to his appointment. Emily played with Kim's boys, Nathan and James, while I sat with Zach in his therapy room while he screamed at the top of his lungs for 30 minutes. Emily obviously got the better end of the deal. This was the worst session yet. Last week he managed to eat his yogurt in the middle of all the screaming. This week was nothing but screaming. Except he would stop screaming if you put a toy on the table. Of course afterwards he ate his yogurt up in the car without any problem. So frustrating. On Thursday night I went to dinner with the girls from THC. We went to Rio Mambo for mexican food and a nice strong Margarita. A desperately needed Margarita after that therapy session. My dear friend Debbie invited us over for lunch on Friday. She took time off for the week because her daughter was out of school for Spring Break. Sydney is seven and just the most beautiful little girl...Debbie is going to have her hands full when those boys start knocking on the door. We spent most of our visit outside. I'm glad it was pretty outside because I was very nervous that the cubs would break something if we stayed inside. The cubs are very curious and have to touch everything. On Friday evening we took the cubs to the Cotton Patch for dinner. It is pretty loud there and even with all the noise I think Zach's squeals were still the loudest. He loves to hear his echo even when the rest of us don't love it so much. Matt and Beth Ann came over on Saturday. It has been too long since we saw them last. We all went over to the old house together for one last look. It was a bit sad. I remember being so excited when we first bought the house and now I am so excited to sell it. I actually gave my keys and garage door opener to Steve today so he could give them to our realtor for closing. Closing is scheduled for 1:00 on Wednesday. Zach did impress me this weekend by trying some new foods. He ate a Pringle potato chip. It sounds silly to blog about that, but it really is huge for him. It was only one half of a chip and it took about 10 minutes, but he ate it on his own and that's all that matters to me. On Sunday he actually put a Mum-Mum (a rice cracker...Emily loves them) in his mouth. He didn't really eat any of it, but he put it in his mouth numerous times. Even Steve had to admit that it was exciting to see him do this. We had Taco Bueno for lunch on Sunday and Zach gobbled up his refried beans. I even added some sour cream just for the added calories. Last night I made chicken with pasta for dinner and he tried some of the pasta too. He has learned to push things out with his tongue if he doesn't like it. This is huge progress because before he would try to swallow it, gag, and throw up everything. I'd much rather he spit it out than throw it (and everything else) up.

Saturday Monday night fever

Last Monday evening Zach came down with "the fever". "The fever" was 103.4 when we called the on-call Doctor. Our instructions were to continue medicating him and call in the morning for an appointment if the fever persisted. Zach was extremely fussy. He wanted to be held, but when I held him he would squirm and was never able to get comfortable. So I'd put him down and he'd cry to be held again. Tuesday morning "the fever" was still here, so I called and was told that our Pedi was out for the day. Not a big deal except none of the other Doctors in the office accept our insurance (BOO...HISS!!). Our options were to take him to the urgent care clinic (No thanks) or wait until Wednesday morning. After our last urgent care experience I decided that we would wait for a Wednesday morning appointment with Zach's favorite pediatrician. Tuesday afternoon I thought "the fever" had finally broken. His temp was down and he was playing like it was any normal day. We decided that if "the fever" stayed away, we would just cancel our appointment, but on Wednesday morning "the fever" was back up to 102.2. Just great. I loaded the cubs up and headed for the Doctor's office. The fussiness was back. He screamed when we tried to get his weight and when the Nurse tried to take his temperature. Our Doctor came in and checked his ears, nose, throat, and listened to his chest and said that she couldn't find any reason for his fever. I thought maybe it was due to his teething, but she said it would be very unusual for his fever to get that high from just teething...there had to be something else going on. She decided to do some lab work. This was my first experience with Zach getting his blood drawn. Steve always handles this, but I guess I forgot to mention that I was by myself with both Emily and Zachary, and this was not going to be fun. The following five minutes seemed like five hours but she finally got what she needed from Zach's poor finger. The results came in that afternoon....everything was perfectly normal. However, we still had "the fever". We had "the fever" on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. By Saturday morning "the fever" had finally broken. FINALLY. No more waking up in the middle of the night to give him medications. And then, when I thought all was good, on Saturday Emily screamed and cried all night with "THE FEVER". UGH!!!!!

Our little exhibitionist.

I put Emily in a casual little dress this morning. Isn't she adorable?



Apparently she didn't like it too much, because during her "naptime" she unsuccessfully tried to take it off.


I'm sure you'll also note her cheesy grin. Every time I aim the camera at her, she squints her eyes (I guess she's anticipating the flash), gives me her toothiest grin, and says "eeeee". She drops everything to give me this look. I'd rather catch her regular and much cuter expressions, but all I'm able to capture is her "eeee" face.

New casa progress

Every Monday the builders call to give us a report on what's happening at the new casa. They usually call Steve but he's been so busy at work that we have asked them to call me instead. Today's report was full of all the little punch-list items that need to be taken care of. The big news is the carpet is being installed on Friday. The carpenters will be working on trim details and the painters will be in this week. Our final walk-through is tentatively scheduled for the afternoon of March 30th. The best news of all: we are still on target for our April 3rd closing date! Woo Hoo!

Moving forward

So far so good on the sale of the old house. The date that the buyers could terminate the contract without reason has passed. Steve is finishing up the minor issues that the buyers want fixed. He has managed to bring most of the boxes down from the attic and move them to storage. I think we have enough Christmas lights to decorate the whole neighborhood. Just wait until we have our first Christmas at the new house, we will be the beacon of light that all airline passengers will be able to see as they are flying above. The appraisers are scheduled to come out early tomorrow morning. I am so excited to get this house sold. What a huge relief it will be to not have two mortgages at the same time.

There isn't much to catch up on this week. Last Sunday we took the cubs to the park to enjoy the spectacular weather. Can you believe that we left earlier than planned because it was just too hot?? After the park we visited with our friend Donna who was here from out of town.

Monday night was GNO with Deb and Kristi. LOVE LOVE LOVE those raspberry margaritas. Monday was also the last day of our spectacular weather. The rest of the week was cold and rainy and we have been cooped up since. I think the cubs and I are experiencing cabin fever. We did venture out on Thursday for Zach's therapy appointment. While it did not go as badly as the week before it still did not go very well. I feel like I am watching dollars go down the drain here, and at a particular time where we don't have much money to waste. I'm going to give it a few more sessions and then I might contact ECI (early childhood intervention). They are much cheaper and perform therapy at home where the child is more comfortable. I think the major problem with Zach's therapy is that he's not comfortable. He starts screaming as soon as we put him in the little wooden chair. After his therapy we went to Paradise Pond. Major mistake on my part. The cubs acted horribly and I was so embarrassed that after the third temper tantrum I gathered them up and brought them home. Zach even refused to walk out with me, so I had to carry them both to the car in the yucky weather. UGH. Paradise Pond is supposed to be a fun treat. It's a real beating for me because it is so hard to keep an eye on them at the same time. They are usually at opposite ends of the building, and Zach won't stand still for a second. I don't really enjoy it, but since they (usually) do, I suck it up so that they will have a fun time, but I don't think anyone had fun at our last visit. Maybe we'll have to skip it next week.

The weather is still crummy and we are still stuck inside. When will we ever see the sun again??

The week in pictures

Zach at the park last Sunday:


Emily at the park:


Woe is me:


Mesmerized by Sesame Street:


Checking out the back yard at the new house:


Emily snagged the latest edition of Golf Magazine before daddy did:


The latest fashion in footwear:


Twin Elmos:


Emily devouring a piece of pizza:


Zach examining his piece of pizza: