The last weekend of January we had visitors; Alex's parents came to visit! We decided not to tell the kids, mostly because the weather is a huge question park, and I didn't want to promise something I couldn't deliver. Not telling the kids meant that I had to get creative to get the little projects for that week done so we were ready to relax and play while we had visitors. I was organizing a shelf upstairs and came down to this :) It was Carter's first foray into scissor-dom since the awful Carter Salon incident in December, so I almost got mad before I realized that he was just cutting lots and lots of squares. He cut two entire pieces of construction paper into little squares, for no particular reason...
Olivia had a half day, which meant that she got done with school when Carter was going, so we had an afternoon just for the two of us while the little kids napped. We spent a good portion of that time in the kitchen making a few weeks worth of baby food for Hunter. My strategy for making baby food is to just throw any slightly overripe fruits and veggies together into the blender, this was actually the first time since O was a baby that I planned ahead and bought supplies to make into baby food to freeze. O was just excited that I gave her a sharp knife :)
A was all about tasting the blueberry banana batch, but didn't try the green stuff (peas, spinach, pear). It was so fun to have just one curious kid in the kitchen with me. I often get overwhelmed by the questions and demands and requests to help by 2-3 kids all at the same time, so I'm likely to put on a show while I do a majority of the cooking or baking. This afternoon gave me hope that I can develop into a mom who cooks with her kids :).
This guy was the beneficiary of all that cooking, and he was nice enough to nap until about 30 seconds after I got the last cubes into the freezer, so we got everything done that I needed.
Most days the chores are pretty set. Makenzie puts the silverware away, Carter does the rest of the dishwasher, and Olivia picks up the living room, stairs, or play room depending on what needs done the most. The kids are always super excited when I give them something else to do, even if it is cleaning the bathroom :) I'm sure by the time he is an effective cleaner he won't be so excited to help in the bathroom, but it was super fun to see Carter giddy as I explained how to use the Lysol wipe. He was really careful to shut the door so 'Hunter couldn't come chew on them' and to empty the garbage when he was done because 'Makenzie can reach the wipes in the trash'. What a thoughtful boy...
Makenzie's job this day was to get this washcloth dirty. It sounds weird, but when I give the kids a washcloth, they know that they are supposed to clean walls, doorknobs, railing, and baseboards until the rag is super dirty. They are always so proud to show me all the messes on the rag, and Makenzie was no exception. She kept running to me to show me every little speck of dirt on the rag and to get encouragement after every wipe.
The next day, Alex's parents drove up, and made it in time to see Carter's Chinese New Year parade. I wish I had gotten my act together enough to take pictures, but this is the only one I got. We spent the whole time laughing at Carter's serious, almost solemn face as he marched up and down the hallway. They did the route three or four times, and his face never changed. It took him a couple times before he even noticed Grandma and Grandpa, and he didn't even crack a smile at that! I was shocked, as he is a total Grandpa's boy.
Once we got home with all the kids, the excitement was in full force. It was actually fun to see Olivia's surprise, she just ran around half yelling for about five minutes :) Grandpa and Grandma came with gifts, which is always fun, but I only took a picture of mine :) I couldn't believe that they had actual Beaver football player Lego figures! It may never make it into the kids play bin, but my little Brandin Cooks be displayed in a place of honor every football season :)
This little guy is constantly showing us his new skills, which included pulling himself up this week. He is getting more efficient at crawling, and is always trying to show us that he can keep up with the bigger kids. I'm sure it won't be very long until he's running around with all of them, but for now I just try to take those extra minutes to cuddle my last baby.
WARNING: SICKNESS and details ahead...
Two days before the Casqueiros came, Carter threw up a couple times. He had one resting day and was back to normal on Friday, so I assumed we were good to go. I assumed wrong. Friday night, the first night with Mary and Gary there, we had disaster zone. Makenzie started around 9:30 throwing up. After the first time, complete with bedding cleanup and bath, I put her back in her own bed, just laying on towels instead of bedding. That didn't last long, she was back at it (and of course missed the towels and made a mess all over the floor) just a couple hours later. After that she was moved to beside our bed, and was up about every ten minutes for the next 4 hours. I don't want to type this without mentioning that 2 year olds who are sick tend to throw their heads around, and Makenzie refuses hair ties, so every time she is sick it's just a mess. Everywhere.
Around 1, in the middle of M being sick, Olivia came out and made it to the top of the stairs before she threw up, all over the landing and first few stairs. It was lovely. I was so glad to have a husband who prefers the bedding/floor cleanup over the kid cleanup and cuddling, because we can each get our job done and get the kids back laying down. Olivia didn't want to lay down, so I went upstairs with her, and she continued to throw up every ten minutes for 5ish hours as well. For a couple hours I was running back and forth between Makenzie, who was with Alex but very hard to help singlehanded, and Olivia who would yell 'Mom, I'm going to throw up' over and over whenever I left.
It was a long night, and we created enough laundry that I never stopped switching it the entire next day. I always err on the side of washing everything rather than leaving any mess uncleaned, so we washing all of our bedding and most of the pillows and cushions as well. I am so grateful that Mary was there to help me get through the laundry and ensure that someone was always watching over the sick kids, and making sure they weren't sneaking food that would hurt their tummies.
This next picture is Makenzie after giving her baby a bath. I was SO glad that she had received an all plastic doll for her birthday because she did not want to bathe at all, but as soon as I promised that she could bathe her baby right after, she was on board.
We didn't do anything on Saturday, but Sunday afternoon was a basketball game that we decided would be the perfect way to get out of the house. Everyone had been well for a day, so I figured (once again, that we were in the clear. It was really fun to go to the game, and especially cool when Butch T Cougar came to share his popcorn with the kids :).
After our one fun day, things went back downhill, Gary was the next one to fall victim, and he had one sick day before Mary and I fell ill the next evening and Alex the evening after that. It was a rough few days. Add that to the fact that the Casqueiros had to drive home before the next storm hit, so they drove as soon as Mary felt well enough, but I didn't even get out of bed to say goodbye, and it was a matter of hours before Alex was down. I'm just counting my blessings that Alex was in town this time (last year when I got a 3-day-super-sick bug Alex was out of town and the kids survived on nothing but plain toast they made themselves) and was able to stay home one day to take care of the kids.
Just one cute picture sometime when everyone felt OK and the kids wanted to do makeup on their dad. Not sure why they made him Rudolph, but it was a fun evening, and they have a wonderful dad :).
No comments:
Post a Comment