OMGosh

 Ok. So for the last several weeks, life has been a little crazy. Nothing to big, but definitely crazy. This post will probably look and sound like I'm rambling...Sorry. I'm trying to fit a whole bunch of things in. So bare with me :) It will all come together. Maybe :)
 So, two weekends ago our whole family of 6 came down with a lovely stomach virus! ALL 6 OF US AT THE SAME TIME! Good hell. Sara got it first and might I say the worst. Then Spencer, Lily, Todd, Me and lastly was my sweet Adam. Todd said our house looked like a scene from the Exorcist. I have never seen the movie, but if it was anywhere near what we were experiencing here, I have no plans of seeing it. Not now, not ever!
 We were all so sick. Sara was by far the worst. She threw up for a week. Didn't eat, nothing. On last Friday, I called her Dr. in Evanston and asked her if she wanted to see her. She said absolutely. So Sara, Lily and I headed to Evasnton. Sara was great on he way over there. We found out that she has a double ear infection, a possible sinus infection, (the only reason why I say possible, is because my tiniest Princess wouldn't open her mouth for the Dr....AT ALL)
 and lastly, because of how sick Sara was, our family probably had a lovely case of Rotavirus. How super fun! Sara was a sick baby that day. Anyway, the Dr. sent me home with a prescription for the ear infection, anti nausea meds and ear drops. (The Dr. said her ears looked terrible.) And after a quick stop at Walmart for her meds, we headed home. Everything was great until we got off the interstate. Sara massively got sick again. I was hoping she would've made it
 home, but alas, she did not. When we got home, I loaded her up with her meds. The antinausea medication was a miracle. She hasn't thrown up since. YAY!!! I was worried she was going to get severely dehydrated. Through all the last week, all she has wanted to do was nurse. And while I don't mind it, my milk supply had gone down the older she gets and the more table food she eats and drinks. So, I don't have a ton of the goods. And she had massively become a Mama's girl. Which I love, but I get nothing done. Just a lot of snuggle and num-num time. (Which really is/ was ok. :)
 Right before our pukies happened we got to celebrate Arlene's kids (Konnor and Kamryn's) Birthdays. I was fun to go hang out with them for the day and see them open their presents. My boys and Konnor have been best friends since before they could walk and Lily and Kamryn are fabulous buddies too. So it was fun. Todd snuck in a band practice somewhere in there too. He's so yummy when he plays his guitar and sings....MMMMM...Yummy! And I guess there's not much else to catch you up on. Just our Bates' Family craziness:)

Catching up on my Blogging!

I will catch up with my blogging this week, I promise. So check back soon.

Chillin' with Sara

Not much to say! Just some way cute pictures of Sara Chillaxin' on my bed, pretending to be Daddy with the remote....
 
 
 
 

Lily's Easter Party at Miss Holly's

 Today was Lily's Easter party at Miss. Holly's. Last week Holly called me and asked if I could come help out in class today. I volunteered right away, knowing that I probably would've came for a portion of it away. I thought it would be fun to spend the morning, hanging out with Miss Holly, Lily and all the other preschoolers. Sara Rose tagged along.
 Our day started out with Holly taking half the class and dieing eggs and I had the other half making Easter Lilies out of the kids' hand prints. The kids did great on both of the projects.
 Then we moved onto snack. That was grapes and crackers. Sara is a grape freak. They are her favorite food. She was so excited to sit with the big kids and eat her snack. After snack time, we headed outside for the fabulous Easter egg hunt. The kids were so excited to go find some eggs. Lily, along with all the kids, had four eggs to find with their names on it. There were also a whole bunch of plain eggs they could put in their baskets. Sara was a helpie helperton. She ate some snow, fell down a few stairs, found some eggs that weren't hers, along with so many other fun things. It was so cute.
 The funniest part of the day came last. Holly broke out the Alphabet Bingo game. The chips that covered the numbers were Smarties. Well, the kids were great. But sweet Sara went around picking off the Smarties off the Bingo boards. Most of the kids didn't like that very much. One little girl was really upset by her. And Sara was devastated when I held her and wouldn't let her steal anymore Bingo chips. She was trying really hard to
 escape. I couldn't help but giggling. Then when Bingo was all over, a sweet little girl came over to Sara and shared her Smarties. By then, Holly had given her her own candy and she was content. But still, I thought it was cute. Anyway, that was Lily's Easter party today. I loved hanging out with my girls this morning, finding Easter eggs in the snow. Wyoming rocks.

Lily's First Dance Performance

 Miss Lily had her first dance/clogging performance last night. She was stunningly adorable. She was so excited to finally get to wear her costumes. It was all she talked about and she let me curl her hair up all pretty. She looked so cute. And every time I took her picture she was striking a pose. What a precious girl. As you will see in the video, she can really shake her booty. On the first video, she is the 5th dancer. The one with the massive booty shake. Can't miss her :) She reminded me off Todd in the sense that, when she was in her element, she was not shy or timid. But the moment she was done and everyone started talking to her, she immediately got shy and didn't want the attention. Todd is the same way. He can get up in front of a ton of people, sing and play his heart out, but you try to tell him afterwards what a great job he did he all of a sudden gets shy and doesn't really say much. I think they are both massively adorable.
 In the other video, Lily starts out in the middle. There was a little girl who fell earlier in the program and was crying, so she kind of stood by herself while the other little girls danced. I felt so bad for her. It's hard to be 4 and hurt and embarassed. Anyway, the girls were adorable, Lily totally killed it, and you are going to be blessed to hear my fabulous cackle frequently. One final thing, in the first video, the music abruptly stops. The girls weren't finished and they actually danced again, but this video turned out better, so that's the one I posted. The second dance was even more blurry than this one. Happy viewing.

'Real Mom'

Oprah today was great. It was about real confessions of Moms. I mean REAL confessions. It has inspired me to write about my 'real confessions'. Bare with me.

1. I think 'who I am' is completely tied up in being a Mom. I truly have no other identity. I never really had any desire to do anything else. There are days where I think 'I would be a good....' but I kind of just brush it off and move onto something else with the kids. As I have gotten older, I have realized two things. #1 I want my daughters and sons for, that matter, to always have many different things that they identify with, that they are good at, and know that they have a talent in. I'm not saying I'm not good at other things, I'm just saying I want more for them. #2 I don't want to have such empty nest syndrome when the babies are all grown up that I completely loose my mind. Therefore, I think a really lofty goal for me is to really work on finding out who I am, besides being a Mom.
2. I am a time Nazi. Weekends are relaxed a little, but the weekdays are completely scheduled. We get up at a certain time, we go to school at a certain time, we eat lunch at a certain time. O' and bedtime, bedtime I am a total freak. We eat a 6:oo, we do chores after that until 6:45 when I put the girls in the tub, a little soaking and playing, they are out and Adam is in. While they are getting dressed, Spencer is finding a book to read for Sara. Then I read to Lily, Spencer reads to Sara, Adam washes all the vital boy parts, then he is out. While Spencer is in the tub washing all of his vital boy parts (and is it me or do boys smell worse?), Adam is reading his homework to me, Lily is brushing her teeth while I brush Sara's teeth. Then Spencer is out of the tub, Adam is brushing his teeth, and by 7:30 Spencer is reading out load to Adam and me while Lily is laying in her bed, playing her leapster. Finally, around 7:45, Spencer brushes his teeth and EVERY CHILD is in bed. Lights out at 8:00. After that time frame I am exhausted. For the most part it runs pretty smoothly, but there are nights where I feel overwhelmed by it all and I flop on the couch for hours trying to recover.
3. I have MAJOR guilt about something. When Lily was born, I was taking care of my Nana, moving into our home, trying to run a daycare, and had two older kids at home. That whole year was such a blur, that I can't remember barely anything about it. I can't remember Lily's firsts at all. When she crawled, when she walked, what she liked and didn't like, I just can't remember any of it. Nothing. It's just a blur. I wish I had one day back when she was a baby, so I could just lay with her, nurse her, smell her, and completely take her in. No one would disturb me. Just Lily and me. To top off all my guilt, because I was a looser techie at the time, I hadn't backed up ANY pictures from the time she was about 4 months old until she was 2. And when my crappy old computer crashed, all my pictures, from that time were gone. I can't even look at the pictures and try to remember what a wonderful little girl she was and how excited I was to have her.
4. After that year I went into a MAJOR depression. Loosing my Grandma was so hard on me. But the toll of taking care of an elderly Grandparent was overwhelming and the absolute hardest thing I have ever done. That was the year Spencer started first grade. I was a horrible mother to him. I remember one morning, sitting at the edge of my bed just bawling because he had gotten himself up and out the door to catch the little Senior Citizen bus that was transporting the school kids at the time, and I had only woken up when he kissed me good bye. I missed school awards, meetings, lunches, all of it, because I was suffocating in my own grief. I constantly feel like Spencer was totally jipped by me frequently during that time. Now, I am scared to death that I am going to miss something. I am present for almost everything the kids are doing in school and will totally ignore everything else to be there for my kids. That period of my life was the deepest, darkest place I have ever been and after being there and surviving that, I never want to be there again. I never again want to feel like my kid(s) took a backseat to their Mom's grieving. That was horrible and life changing on so many different levels.
5. Because of number 3&4 I am a hovering helicopter of a Mom. I never again want them to feel like they take a backseat to anything or anybody. I attend everything there is for me to attend, volunteer when there is an available spot, fuss over how they look, who is picking on them, this list could go on and on. And to totally make this one worse, is that I hate to have them away from me for very long, and I REALLY hate having them stay the night anywhere. I have been working on that one. I think it's because, ultimately, I am scared they are going to get hurt. No one hovers the way I do, therefore, I am so leary of them leaving for more than just a short period of time.
6. On a lighter note. I believe, with all my heart, that I have really great kids. The best kids. All of them have the best personalities and are the smartest children EVER :) I'm sure all that know my kids would agree.
7. This is a big confession. I really want one more baby. Todd is VERY done. How is this subject solved? One of us has to loose. You can't have half a baby. He has legitimate reasons to be done, I just don't feel like our family is complete. We are still young and can decide this in a few years down the road I guess, but it's a tough one that leaves us both frustrated and upset whenever the subject comes up.
8. I really wish I was more creative. I have a friend who totally rocks at the creativity side of parenting. I feel very lacking in this area. I am happy with either letting the kids play with their friends or hang out and watch a movie or play a board game. I'm boring.
9. I love being in my 30's. I was worried about leaving my 20's for some reason. That probably sounds weird, but I think patience has slowly started to seep into me the older I get. Now, by no means am I patient. (Todd would laugh in my face at that statement). Patience is like molasses. It doesn't just immediately seep into whatever it is trying to cover, but eventually it will get there. I am definitely more patient with my kids in my 30's than I ever was in my 20's. The children are saved. Hopefully.
10. I am scared to death of my kids' spouses thinking about me the way I think about my mother-in-law. I have a very poor relationship with her that has seemed to only get colder over the years. I can't stand needy people. Yet, as strongly as I believe in Karma, I think that there will come a day that some evil girl is going to take my baby away from me. And the hovering, freak of a Mom that I am, is worried that she will hate me and not want to be with me. I know I'm not the same person my as my mother-in-law, but still, I have to tell myself ALL THE TIME...KARMA..MELEA...KARMA...BE NICE!


I guess in saying all of this, I love being a Mom. I probably laid out my worst traits and/or feelings, but I love my little family. LOVE them. I can't imagine not being me, going through all of this crap, because it's made me a pretty good Mommy. One of my goals is to make sure that my kids grow up knowing how loved they are by me and how lucky I was to have them.

Long Freakin' Week in Review.

 So, here I am yet again thinking about what a slacker I am, but then again, this week has been a crazy one.

Monday: Not to terribly exciting. Took the boys to school, then Lily. Followed by grocery shopping and house work.

Tuesday: I had breakfast with my sweet Sala in the morning. Todd and I went over to have lunch with Adam at school because it was "Book Fair" week and each grade had a day to invite their parents to come have lunch with then in the yummy cafeteria and afterwards, hang out and look at books and possibly purchase a few. All of that was so fun. I love hanging out with my little man and seeing his sweet face. Anyway, then, later that afternoon, Arlene and I went out for a belated birthday dinner and got to have a grown up meal that was hot, on my plate, I didn't have to share. Then Arleney and I came back to my house and hung out for a few minutes while Todd and Spencer went to Taekwondo. Lily's eyes looks suspiciously pink earlier in the day so, I called her pediatrician who called in some eye drops for her. (Pinkeye rocks.) However, no dance class. She did declare her undying devotion for a young man she has decide is 'the one'. She was going to go to school and tell him they were going to get married after college. (We pound 'marriage after college' into our kids' heads like you wouldn't believe.) Hopefully he understands this and they will live happily ever after. (Why is she so boy crazy at 4?)

Wednesday: I helped out in the Library in the morning. Had another lunch with my sweet Adam and helped out in the Library again at lunch time. Adam is such a sweet boy :) I know there was 100 other things we did I just can't remember.

Thursday: I had breakfast with Sala again (yes, it's a habit) but we invited our friend Misty. We had a ball giggling and sharing stories about our babies. Then around lunch time, Todd and I grabbed Spencer from school (Adam wanted to go to our neighbors house after school instead of skipping a few hours and coming with us) and headed to Evanston. While in Evanston, we got my Driver's License renewed, groceries, lunch and then came the sad, sad trip to the Pediatrician's office. I love our pediatrician. She is just a fabulous Doctor. Lily and Sara were both due for their immunizations. Lily needed her Kindergarten shots, even though we don't send our kids to school until they are 6, she will be 5 in June and can have the shot anytime after they are 4, so we had them done. And sweet Sara needed her 12-15 month shots. Because I am a looser Mom and got a little bit behind with them. Anyway, Lily is 4 and lets say 3/4. She weighs 41 lbs. and is 3 ft. 3 in. tall. She is in the 50th percentile for weight (YAY!) and 10th for height (Really, does she even have a chance here). Sara 18 months and is 21 lbs. 14 oz. and is 2 ft. 6.5 in. long. She is in the 10th percentile for weight (what?) and the 50th percentile for height (again, what?). The girls looked healthy. Sara immediately showed Dr. DePalma how strong her lungs were by crying loudly from the moment she was weighed until we were leaving the office. Lily was very brave and didn't cry through 3 shots. That is until, she got the 4th, nasty MMR shot. But still she was brave and earned her new Barbie Thumbelina movie and proof of valor and honor. Lily has some dry patches of skin on her (imagine that, MY baby has sensitive skin?) but other than that, she was great. Just sad, and then happy because she got a Ariel band aide. Sweet Sara Rose, the baby with the great memory, screamed her face off. But her lungs were great, ears, teeth and whatever else the Dr. was feeling for, was healthy and fabulous. I swear I leave the Dr. office after immunizations feeling like I had cried for hours. I am just emotionally exhausted. I needed a Starbucks run, with a double shot and the girls earned their ice cream cone. (Spencer did too, for being the wonderful big brother that he is.) And Todd, being the ever wonderful Daddy that he is definitely earned his diet Coke. A quick shout out to Barb for the gift certificate to Starbucks, that was the birthday present EVER! Anyway, when Todd and I got home from Evanston, we feed the kids and Todd went to get his mother so he and I could go out on a quick date for my belated birthday dinner. Todd's Mom offered to keep the kids so we could go out. I was pleasantly surprised and happy. We also bribed Spencer with some extra video game time with his Daddy, if he would help with Sara. To which he eagerly accepted and excelled at. Dinner was yummy and the kids were in one piece when we got home.

Friday: Parent Teacher Conference. Spencer's report card were all 'Advanced' except for P.E. and he was proficient in that. Mr. Argyle said that he has really, really done well in math. One of his best students. Seriously had nothing but praise for my big man. Spencer has really taken off with his math stuff. He will sit at home for hours making up him own 'problems' and figuring them out. I have even caught him calculating on his cell phone, under his covers when he is supposed to be asleep. To which I had to come tell Todd that our child wasn't normal and something needed to be done about it. Mr. Argyle told us that this class was a great class. Full of kids who get off the bus ready to learn. That was cool. Adam's teacher, Mrs. Hickey also adores my other little man. He was proficient in everything. He is reading a little above his grade level and is great with patterns. She also said that everyone who meets him, loves him. He is funny and witty. She loves his personality and told us we were blessed to have such a great kid and kids. The only thing he needs help on is returning his reading book completed, to which I replied that he always returns his books completed. It may take him weeks to remember to return them, but they are done :) She also said that he is in a great class of kids. Anyway. He is doing great. Life is good. We did make a stop at the library to grab the books the kids had picked out through the week. We bought a whole bunch of easy reader books for Adam and of course a superhero book, a book about Vampires for Spencer, Lily got a fairies book and Sara got a few hard cover books about puppies (she calls them "Pup-pup dare") and we come home and just kind of hung out, played Scrabble with Spencer and played with the kiddo's.

Saturday: We woke up to about 18 inches of fabulous snow. One of the biggest storms we have had all winter. The boys played a really funny game with Todd called Curses and in the afternoon, he laid down, the kids played and I had a headache. Todd left for a 5 day graveyard set.

Sunday: My sweet neighbor Melynda came over to hang out with me and let our babies play. We both needed some grown up conversation. And the kids really play well together. It was a great day :)

Well, that was my week in review. I swear there are days where I don't think I can fit one more thing into our schedule and this was a whole week of those days. But I love it, I wouldn't trade it for anything in the whole world.

House of Sickies

 My house has been full of the sickies. We have all had nasty chest coldest going on for 3 weeks. I am so frustrated. So frustrated. The girls have had it the worst. But Todd and Spencer have also struggled a little. The constant coughing and stuffy nose along with an off and on fever seems to be never ending. Our fabulous weather has been helping I think. One day it's 50 and beautiful, the next is dumping more than a foot of snow. Spring time in Wyoming is fabulous. Anyway, it's been a few weeks of the sickies. And I am so sick of the sickies. OVER IT!
 This is an adorable picture of my babies getting ready for bed. Spencer is such a great big brother. He loves to read to the kids and help out with that part of our nightly routine. Adam, Lily and Sara seem to love their big brother reading them stories. And since we have been to sick to outside and play or the weather has been to crappy, he has been reading to them a ton. I guess that's not a bad thing though. Sweet babies of mine.