Thanksgiving Day

I only took 3 pictures this day, but let me tell you, it was a mad house. The boys (meaning Blake, Toren and my dad) woke up and turned football on right away. We spent the morning getting ready for The Dinner. My cousins Eric and his wife Marni, as well as Stephanie and her husband Andy came over with all their kids. Dinner was set for 2pm. This actually worked out great because Audrey and I put the boys down for naps at 1pm and they slept through it all. I can't tell you how nice Thanksgiving dinner was.

 Brody snuggling with Grandpa before naps.

Blake and I honestly had one of the best Thanksgivings. The food was amazing, company was even better and it helped that Braden loved playing with his cousins and Brody was asleep. Brody did wake up and have time to get some good play in before everyone left, but as for the dinner conversation, it was uninterrupted. 

I truly am grateful for an amazing family, extended and all. The Lord has blessed me with so many things. Health (mostly), strength, the Gospel, my husband, my children, my family and the list can go on and on. It was nice to be around the people we loved. Of course we missed the Barnett's, Mallory & Brent, as well as Blair, but we hope they know we love them and are thinking about them.

It was no surprise that the boys were super tired by night. There's no picture of Braden, but man was that boy tired. Here are Austin and Brody watching a little football with Toren. They really did sit on him and watch football for a long while. I just think they were so tired.

Both Blake and I ate way more than we should of. Our stomach hurt well beyond Thursday. That's how it should be, right? My family did go see the Muppets while Blake and I watched the sleeping kids. They said it was amazing if you wanted a review. Blake and I got to watch a couple of fun history channel shows and actually visit in peace. It was nice, I sure love my husband.

Thanksgiving: Day 2 (The Mall)

It was nice to sleep in and be lazy in the morning. We all decided to head to the mall and check out the stores and hot items of the season. My dad was really getting antsy to buy a new tv and of course he need Toren and Blake's help in deciding which one to buy. While the boys were spending 5 minutes (like an hour) in Sears, we let the boys play. If you click to enlarge the photo, you can see Brody's "look" in the bottom right hand picture. He's so funny and does this anytime I try and take a picture.

Grandma couldn't resist letting them ride the little token rides. The boys loved it, mostly.

We stopped by the food court and got lunch, something I haven't done since I was in Junior High, and then headed home for naps. While the bitty babies were napping, Kalen took me to see Twilight Sage: Breaking Dawn. I am thankful to Kalen because she hasn't seen any of them and took me because it got us in for free. What a great sister. We both enjoyed it. Definitely not the best movie I've seen, but by no means the worst either. We got back to see some happy boys.

Not much else happened that night. We mostly were prepping for Thanksgiving the next day. My mom also got a hold of the Black Friday ads early. This kept us all entertained most the night. Isn't it funny how much time is consumed going through ads. Everything looked so appealing, so we started to plan our Thursday night/Friday morning shopping schedule.

It was fun to watch Austin. We were kind of nervous that Braden and Brody would overwhelm him. They can be rough, especially with each other. Austin had no issues throwing a punch her or knocking someone over there. He was one of the boys and I am pretty sure they all loved it. I could tell he especially loved Braden. Braden always liked the older boys when he was little too (and now).

Thanksgiving: Day 1

Our original plan was to stay here for Thanksgiving and Christmas. The closer it got, the more we wanted to get away. We had all planned (meaning my family) to head to Seattle and spend the time with Audrey and Toren. Well, Audrey is leaving for a month to go visit her family in Thailand (I know, I pretty much hate her), so we then decided meeting at my parents would be easier.

Blake got off work a little early on Tuesday and we headed down to Oregon City. We were surprised to find that it only took us 5 1/2 hours and that's with a quick restroom stop. Ok, we actually just stopped on the side of the road and made Braden go in the bushes, but still. We arrived around 7ish and Toren and Audrey weren't far behind. It is so fun to see the cousins get together. Braden and Brody had to show everyone their Power Ranger moves. Austin quickly joined in (no pictures of him).

Brody was excited to see the dogs and the rats. He was thrilled to be around the pets all week. He is going to be the hard one. Blake and I already know he will start asking for a dog as soon as he can talk. Too bad Braden is allergic. My mom won Grandma of the Year Award because she had some Power Ranger Samurai tv shows recorded, plus she brought down a huge bucket of my younger brother's Power Ranger toys. There was a lot. We needed to calm them down, so they got to watch a little tv show before we started the bedtime routine.

Our goal was to get there by 7pm so we could let the boys get their wiggles out and get them into bed by 8:30ish. Well, it didn't work. Brody went down at 9pm and Braden at 10pm. Fortunately, they slept in until 8:30am. We were excited to be away. Expect many more posts.

Snow Play

Braden has never been too interested in the snow. This is the first year I have seen a genuine interest. On Saturday I told Blake his only focus was to finish the toy cove. Since it snowed tons the night before, the driveway needed to be shoveled. I bundled the kids up in their snowsuits and we headed outside.

This little gem is Brody's snowsuit. It's too small for him, but I couldn't resist. It's a throw back to the 1980's.

I shoveled, the boys played and we had fun. After I got done shoveling, I joined in their fun. That meant snowballs, jumping in the piles of snow I had made and of course...

building a snowman with your best friend. The snow wasn't the most ideal for snowman building, but we made it work. Braden has already demolished it by having his own turkey bowl. (I checked out a book at the library that talked about Thanksgiving Day football. Braden couldn't help but tackle the poor snowy man.)

Brody didn't last nearly as long as Braden and I, but he still lasted a little. It helps that there was no wind and it wasn't that cold. Maybe I will be looking forward to some snow filled days this winter. I informed Blake we needed to get a sled of some sort, as we have a great little hill in the back.

One Exhausted Boy

We got home Friday around lunch from running errands all morning. The boys played in the snow (look at previous post), ate lunch, then asked to watch a little cartoon.We were all in the need of a good rest period. I turned on a movie for them and finished making myself lunch. (isn't that how it always works? Moms eat last.) I came over to snuggle with my boys and found this. He was out within a matter of minutes. I took him up to his bed where he continued to sleep for the next 4 hours. What a tired little man.

First Snow of the Season

I am sure most of you have or are experiencing this. Our first snow occurred on Friday. The boys were super excited, especially Brody as this is his first real memory.

While I got lunch ready, the boys played outside.

Braden's into throwing snowballs and making piles of snow.

Brody is still checking things out.

After awhile, Brody wasn't impressed with how cold it made him. It actually wasn't very cold outside, but it was when you are covered in snow.

This is him all snuggled in his blanket (thanks Jennie) waiting for lunch. He's so silly.

I will be honest. I hate the snow unless it involves missing school, snowboarding or watching it from a hot tub. All of these don't affect me at the moment, so yes, I hate snow. It makes everything go so much slower. We have to shovel the driveway, drive more slowly, and bundle up even more. I guess this is what we are in for, so bring it on.

Thanksgiving Program

Braden's pre-school had a little Thanksgiving program. They made pumpkin pies for all the families and prepared a cute song. It was held the last 30 minutes of class. Blake was able to take an early lunch and join me. When it came time to sing the song we got this...

Grumpilicious is what we like to call him. He is easily embarrassed and we could tell him was truly embarrassed for all the kids singing. The teachers assured us that he would practice singing with the kids, but when it came time to perform, he was a no go.

He's trying not to smile here. All the parents, including Blake and I, couldn't help but laugh. All the other kids were so happy to be there singing and participating, but it was Braden's defiant attitude that won everyone over.

I am going to have to teach this kid to loosen up. He even gets embarrassed when my mom is trying to teach him a new song. It was fun to see him interact with the kids in his classroom. And the pie was delicious.

When Mom's Away...

the boys will play. I teach a Wednesday night spin class from 5:30-6:30pm. That means that I leave around 5pm and get home between 6:45-7pm. Blake has the chance to play with the boys. I found these pictures on the camera, so I can only assume this is what they were up to last Wednesday.

Although this little boy is challenging, I sure do love him. I love his lazy eyes. I don't know who he gets this from, but I love it.

I am glad to know the boys are safe while I am gone. Blake enjoys the time alone with the boys, mostly.

Bunk Beds

With baby #3 on the way, we know we are on a deadline to get Brody out of the crib. Technically, our crib turns into a toddler bed, then a twin bed, but realistically that will never happen. We have been looking into getting bunk beds to save space in the room. My good friend Merilee had an old loft bed with a slide that she said we could buy. After an amazing price and quick setup, here's what we have. It's actually supposed to just be a bed with storage underneath, but a mattress and little boy fit just fine. By the time Brody gets too big for it, Baby #3 can scoot on in, however, Braden still fits fine and he's almost 4.

It's not hard to guess what caught the boys attention first. They both were in a mad dash for the ladder.

So they could get to the slide. Braden loves that he can slide down in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. The first night in the bed we hear him run to the bathroom. He was wearing a full pajama set and needed help unzipping it. Blake ran into help him and he proudly declared, "I got to slide down to go pee!" I have never seen a happier 3 year old at 2 am.

Our plan is to not switch Brody out of the crib until January. There's really no hurry. He doesn't know how to climb out of his crib yet which means he's still contained. I went to put him to bed that first night and he just yelled at me. "NO!" I put him down thinking he may need a little more time, it was a bit earlier than normal. He ran over to his new bed and crawled on in.

Braden is also excited to be on the top bunk. He looks forward to Thanksgiving next week at my parents house because he will sleep on the top bunk there and "it's higher."

As for Brody. That was the only night that he actually fell asleep in his bed. Every other time we've tried he comes out about 5 minutes later. We promptly put him back in the crib. Like I said, we are in no hurry, so I don't mind trying to put him in bed and then keeping the crib until we need it, which won't be until March.

As for now, the boys loved this new addition and Braden looks forward to his friend Blake coming to play for a week and sleeping on the bottom bunk. Thanks George's for keeping this in such good condition and then being willing to part with it for a great price. Bunk beds can get really expensive.

The Doors Installed

Slowly but surely this little project is getting done. Blake is working hard when he gets the chance. He says this is his last project for awhile, but I know he is secretly loving working with his hands and having to figure things out. The boys always crowd him when he pulls out the tools.

He finished installing the door on Saturday. It took him ALL day to complete it. Mostly because we got a 24 inch door and he had to cut in down to fit the opening. I guess you do use geometry in your everyday life.

As you can tell, the door isn't completely finished. We need to put in matching hardware, paint it, and Blake needs to fix the open whole in the top of the door. He's already cut out molding to go around the door, so we are hoping to finish up everything this Saturday. We will see if it happens.

Blonde Ponytail

I have been following a new blog. It's called the Blonde Ponytail.  I have a couple reasons for following her. #1 She has amazing fitness giveaways (like the one going on now: http://www.blondeponytail.com/2011/11/gymboss-interval-timer-review-giveaway.html), #2 She's motivating with fitness in all aspects. Running, resistance training, cardio, etc. #3 She's a fellow employee at my gym. She's an inspiration and a motivation. She's even nicer than she looks and I am glad I have the opportunity to work with her. I look forward to getting to know her even more. As for now, if you need a little exercise motivation and a little humor, go to her blog now. (http://www.blondeponytail.com/)

Those Neighbors Kids

I have the privilege of watching the neighbors kids every once in awhile. Last week Rachel really needed a run (I totally get that) and her husband had a late meeting. How could I not watch these two adorable boys. Z is now rolling around everywhere and sitting. The older kids thought it was fun to join him.

Six months of cuteness.

Brody is really into babies at the moment. Hopefully he feels this way in another 3 1/2 months when his brother arrives. As for now, we will borrow Little Z as our own. Brody is so soft and sweet with him. I think Z is mostly amused.

Can I say that I am already going into a depression just thinking of them moving? I hope the spring (minus when the baby comes) takes forever to get here.

Our Night in the Hospital

 First and foremost, big shout out to Rachel for letting me call her every hour and ask for help. Thanks for looking at Braden (and Brody for that matter, as he has an ear infection) every time I asked, plus some. You are a great neighbor and an even better friend.

Thursday morning Braden came in (after waking up multiple times throughout the night) and told us he just didn't feel good. Blake told him to climb into bed with us. It was 6am, so we wanted the extra hour of sleep. We both noticed his rapid and shallow breathing. I told Blake I would monitor it and probably bring him into the doctors. By 8:15 am, I was asking my neighbor (the ER nurse) to come check it out. She agreed that it sounded bad and I should bring him in.

At 10 am Braden was getting his first nebulizer treatment. The doctor seemed happy with how this helped his breathing, but was pretty sure this was an asthma attack, so he sent us home with more treatments and an  inhaler. The instructions were to give him the nebulizer every 4 hours for the next 4-5 days.

We got home and Braden crashed on the couch. The neighbor came over to give me her nebulizer to borrow (they're really expensive) and said again, his breathing is NOT good. Call the doctors. I did and they told me to give him another treatment immediately, which was only 2 hours since he last treatment, not 4.

By 3:30 pm, his breathing was really rapid again. I called and they told me to bring him in. This resulted in another treatment plus a steroid. Note: steroids make kids crazy and hyper. Can you tell how happy he is about this? Before they did the treatment they took his oxygen levels and they were at 87. The doctor said it would need to be above 90 or we would be spending the night in the hospital. After the treatment, it was up to 93, still not perfect, but good. 

We were sent home, but by 6:30pm the breathing was bad again. I called and she said we needed to go into the hospital for the night. We got there and they did another treatment and checked his oxygen levels. This time they were down to 85. They put him on oxygen right away. He HATED this. They did another treatment at midnight and then again at 4am. The nurse at 4am decided it would be best to flip on all the light and scare the crap out of us. Let's just say, we both have been up since 4.

So, what do you do at the hospital with a 3 year old for 12 hours? Really, anything that will keep him happy. The staff hardly looked at him throughout the day, which makes me angry because they were concerned about his oxygen level, that's why we had to stay there. The original goal was to have us leave around 8 in the morning. But no, they only looked at him every 4 hours or so. Other than that, we were exploring the hospital, watching tv, computer games and I even let him take a 1 1/2 hour shower. Yes folks, I kept handing him anything I could find from the room and he loved it.

Blake did come around lunch time and bring this little boy. They hung out in the morning at the science center. I am sure Brody loved the attention. He loved the bed going up and down. 

I was so tired, so I took Brody home for his nap (and mine too) while Blake stayed with Braden. They said we should be out of there by 2pm. 

I woke up from my nap at 3 and there was still no sign of them. I called Blake and he informed me that Braden fell asleep and his oxygen level dropped to 80. This is really bad. The nurses were confident he would need to stay another night. After Brody woke up we headed back to the hospital to make a parental switch. Blake took Brody to McDonald's and let him play for dinner and I hung with our sick little man. We were all dreading another night in the hospital. Well, his doctor came in at 6pm and said all other signs looked good, so she did feel comfortable sending him home for the night, as long as we keep giving him his nebulizer and bring him in to the office in the morning. Can do Doc. 

As you can tell, it's been a long 28 hours. We are hoping to get this under control. As for now we know a couple of things, #1 Braden has asthma, #2 Braden hates wearing an oxygen tube and #3 Braden will do almost anything for a candy cane. I am glad it took a night in the hospital to realize all this. We sure do love him and hope this setup will really help prevent any real significant problems in the future. They don't think activity will induce the asthma, more virus' or colds. So bring it on cold season, with out inhaler in hand, we are ready for you.

Motherhood and Discipline

This is a long post about the little stresses of motherhood. This is the real life of the Barnett's.

It's our favorite part of parenting, right? I have spoken with a lot of people recently about our true reality compared to the reality that our blogs, facebook, or whatever internet source presents to the rest of the world. I am the first person to say that I am not perfect. Gasp! I know. I am sure I yell at my kids one too many times throughout the day and break down into tears one too many times for my husbands liking, but that's life. It's my real life.

I have a friend who has 2 boys, like me. We were talking and she admitted she needed a break. I couldn't help but laugh. Her older son is in pre-school (like Braden) and she just needs a morning off during the week. I can completely relate. She has started looking into a daycare or early pre-school for her younger one (who's 2). Just 3 hours or so one morning a week. I too had this exact same conversation with my mom a couple weeks ago. 

Why should I feel bad admitting I need a break one morning a week to do something completely for myself (watch tv, read a book, take a nap, etc). Yes, I do go to the gym and the kids are in the child care for an hour or so, but that's only 3 days throughout the week (I tend to go early mornings or at night for my class) and I'm isolated to just working out. That isn't bad, but sometimes I would like to just read a book or do nothing. I say this because Blake usually gets home and I check out. My 10 hours home with the kids makes me think the moment he walks in the door I am done. This just isn't the case or shouldn't be. That's not fair to Blake or the kids.

Fortunately, I voiced this concern and feeling to a friend and we have since traded kids for the morning. I take her daughter for a morning so she can have a break and then she takes Brody one morning. No payment needed, it's only 3 hours or so, but just enough to feel complete.

I know some may read this and think, what a terrible mom. I LOVE spending all the moments with my kids and would feel terrible putting them in a daycare or something like that. To that I say, great, but for me I have realized if I am going to be the best mother and wife, I need to not be "on" 100% of the time. I need that time for me. It's selfish, but I think it's an ok selfish.

This bring me to disciplining. I also think I was completely overwhelmed because I feel like my kids run wild and do whatever they want. I am sure those who observe us would say something different, but they aren't home with us all the time. Blake and I have started some new things with the boys. First off, Brody. We have officially instituted time outs. We make him sit against the wall with his legs crossed for 2 minutes. We didn't think he could do this until the person at kidcare put him in timeout for tackling a baby. He tries to sneak out, but for the most part it works and is correcting behavior.

Braden on the other hand. Timeouts worked for awhile, but then they just resorted to him sitting on the stairs yelling, "Can I come out yet?" over and over. After speaking with my mom we have come up with a new method. He hates being by himself (first child syndrome). If he is disobedient or mean to his brother then we tell him he needs to go upstairs and play by himself. He hates this. We don't call it a timeout, but merely being removed because he isn't listening or making our home unsafe. We send him upstairs and don't really think about him until he asks if he can come back down. (It's usually less than 5 minutes.) If he hurt his brother he needs to walk down and ask Brody is he feels safe and if he can return and play. Sometimes Brody says yes, sometimes no and most times he just doesn't care so we help him answer. 

This has worked really well. I find myself not yelling as much. Instead of getting all worked up and not following through (old system), I just calmly say, "Braden, you are making our home unsafe, you need to go upstairs and play by yourself for a little bit." Things aren't perfect in the Barnett home, but they are getting better. We are not always the cookie cutter shaped happy people I blog about, but overall, we are happy and love each other very much. Hope you enjoy the thoughts. I will assume I am not alone in my motherhood feelings, I am seeing many mothers in the same situation as me and it's comforting to know it's not just me.

Freezer

A couple of weeks ago my spin class and I were talking about Christmas and presents we wanted. I had mentioned that I might ask my parents and in-laws to help contribute to the freezer fund. I have wanted one for so long. I feel like we never have space to buy in bulk or make yummy freezer jams. Anyways, on Friday this great married couple who attends my classes said they were getting a new freezer and wanted to know if I wanted their old one. Of course I said yes and asked how much I could buy it for. They refused to let me pay for it. They said it was about 15 years old, so I am actually helping them. The other deal I made is that I need to pass it along for free if for some reason we don't want it or upgrade. Deal and deal.

Well, we set up a time for me to get it, but then I received a call saying it would be just as easy for them to come drop it off. Honestly, they are so sweet. They came by yesterday and Lloyd (the husband) got it all setup. Blake was coming home from the store, so he wasn't here to help. He got it leveled and going. I am too excited.

I am already waiting for berries to go on sale so I can make some strawberry jam. Please let the great freezer dinner or freezer jam recipes be posted. I want to stock up for this babies arrival. Ok, I won't make dinners for that until February, but I can at least try them out until then. Now I need to think of a different Christmas gift.

Thoughts from a 22 Week Pregnant Woman

As I read my girlfriends (yes Toren, I have many girlfriends) facebook post asking if anyone wants to do an easy 8-10 mile run this morning, I can't help but reflect upon this time last year. Do I want to go out and run 8-10 miles, absolutely. Could I? Probably not, at least, not without walking or almost passing out (this friend is fast). Camille (running partner +) and I planned to go out and run for an hour this morning. That was the end of the conversation until I received a call from her this morning.

Phone rings, I answer "yeah, we didn't discuss anything beyond running for an hour." Camille: "And it's 27 degrees. I am not running in 27 degree weather." "Really? If I recall last year at this time we were more than running in cold weather." "Well, we had a goal back then and we don't now." It's a true statement and it stinks.

Ok, it doesn't really stink. We are growing babies and that's important. I am still working out, but it's nothing like running. I stopped fully running about 2-3 weeks ago. It's just too uncomfortable and I decided early on in this pregnancy that I didn't want to be uncomfortable. This lead to switching into maternity clothes a littler earlier. The elliptical has replaced the treadmill and our hour long sessions of running on Saturday have been replaced with weights in the gym.

Keeping with comfort, I have developed this new pain in my lower back. I shouldn't underestimate it by saying pain. Maybe I should say demon, affliction, misery, etc. I have heard of this sciatica nerve before and I thought it was just a bunch of mumbo jumbo, not really, but now I am a believer. It's crippling and terrible. I can see Braden's concern when the pain starts up and my face gets all twisted and teary eyed. Suggestions? How do I fix this? Am I doomed for the next 18 weeks? Fortunately, my husband is terrible at massages, so he demanded I go get a professional one to see if we can loosen it up. Is it ok to be grateful your husband is terrible at something so you can benefit from someone being great at it? Well, I am.

So friends, what else do I do? How can I get this baby to figuratively "get off my back?" I love him and am excited for his arrival, but please I want my lower back back. 

Halloween

In keeping with family tradition (since the beginning of our marriage), we had Papa Murphey's pizza for dinner. The added bonus this year was each of the boys getting a mini pizza and some lady passing out a free large pizza coupon. This means dinner was free. Can you beat that?

We have just told Braden we can go trick or treating after dinner. Excited much?

Brody's little pizza. He ate the whole thing.

We had to threaten Braden with no trick or treating if he didn't eat. He ended up eating the whole pizza.

After what seemed like forever (for Braden), we got into our coats and headed out. Brody refused to get dressed up, so Blake decided to stay at home and pass out candy with him. They were going to join us once we did a small loop. Here we are at our first house.

The neighbors. You gotta love them.

We made it to the corner and back up the other side of the street to our house before Braden said he was too cold to continue. This was about 10-12 houses and it was perfect. I didn't want candy lying around the house, I have NO self control. I love our neighborhood. There were only 3-4 houses that didn't participate. That's what it should be.

We came home and helped Brody pass out candy. Brody loved it, except for when 'The Mummy' came. A 10 year old boy had a really cool mummy costume, not scary, but still cool. Brody grabbed the candy and started to stare. I asked if he wanted to put the candy in his bucket. He looked at the mummy, then at me, then back at the mummy and said, "NOOOO." It was funny.

Our little dragon neighbor joined in on the fun. Aren't these two just so cute? They are best buddies.

Halloween was a success. Brody got more than enough candy for the whole house. They get to pick 3 candies each day. So far this has been good for them. I wish I would stick to the 3 candy rule. It's hard because Braden can't eat some of it (allergies) which means I have to get rid of it, right? I'm just being a good mom.

Question: What age do you stop trick or treating? We had 3 college students come trick or treating. I couldn't help but vocally saying, "Really? I don't feel good about this, but since we have some left over crappy candy, it can be yours." I know, a little harsh, but seriously? They did this around 7:15ish which is when all the little kids are out too. I turned off the lights after them. My parents had us stop when we were in middle school. Maybe even before then, I can't remember. That's why we had Halloween Parties. Just thought I'd ask what the overall opinion is.