I forgot how hard this is

So I haven't been doing very well at "being healthy." Well, I've lost six-eight lbs in the last three months. I was hoping that would be much higher, but I still have a hard time skipping the treats and only eating for one. :)

I've been going to the YMCA every day that Jamey has school. I do enjoy the Y a lot. However, our dear sweet Josey has picked up on Separation Anxiety early. She cries every time I walk out of the room. Screams like I'm torturing her. Leaving her in KidStuff has been pointless. I get paged to pick her up after 10-15 minutes.

And I've got to tell you, it's worse to get there and start a workout just to end it after 10 minutes than it is to just not go. Now that it's nicer, I think I'll pull out the jogger and do my running around the neighborhood with the kiddos.

But what should I do with Jamey? I can't keep up with him if he's on his bike. Maybe the scooter??

Controlling the Chaos??

Just a normal day of controlled chaos.


6:45 am - Josey and I woke up
7 - Livy woke up happy
7:15 - Ivy came in totally sleepy still

Get up. Jeremy was still home. Remember we were going to the zoo, so start getting everyone dressed.

7:45 - Jamey woke up happy

Jeremy left sometime, and then Ivy & Jamey got dressed.

8:30 - shower

8:50 - Ivy said something like "Why don't you go upstairs with Josey? We're going to make you something special. It's a secret." So I take Josey up to try to get her down for a nap. For the last month or so, she won't nap. She falls asleep, but the second I lay her down, she cries. And there's no fixing it. She'll only nap if I'm holding her. But today she fell asleep and let me out of the room!

9ish - Livy is covered in orange marker. The bathroom floor is orange. The scale is orange. There is poop on the bathroom rug. The living room carpet is orange. Ivy forgot to make my "special secret" and ate an entire huge row of brownies I made last night. Ivy & Jamey are fighting about who gets to play on the iPad. Livy is yelling maybe at no one or everyone. I have no idea what she's even saying. She doesn't seem mad at anything in particular. She's just yelling.

9:20 - Make breakfast for Jamey & Livy. Ivy's not hungry.

9:30 - Get Livy in the tub. Oh crap! Josey is crying. Hold her while I get everyone settled into something. Ivy is playing 2nd grade math games on the iPad. Jamey is playing Kids Wii Fit so "he can play all day because it's exercising."

9:45 - I did remember to turn off the tub before we had a waterfall. The pooped-on rug is in the wash. Josey is happily watching Jamey.

The kids are going to run laps around the school if it gets above freezing today. I might need to crack open Auntie Jenny's raspberry wine!

Ivy lost her first tooth

A few days ago, Ivy showed us that she had her first loose tooth. The excitement was uncontainable. She's been wiggling it and showing it off constantly.

Today at swimming lessons, she learned that her friend Maddie Jo got "8 quarters!!" for her tooth last week. Eight quarters!! Can you believe it??

At bedtime, the kids were all in brushing their teeth, and Ivy started FREAKING out. I mean, serious, full-on panic attack. Her tooth was bleeding, and she just can't take it. She lost it so bad. And then Jamey was screaming, "What's going on? What happened to Ivy? Can I see?"

So I sent Jamey to get his jammies on, pulled Ivy's hair back, and tried to jam a tissue in her mouth.

This all happened in the span of about two minutes.

Then I put the tissue in her mouth, and the tooth just fell out in my hand.

Ivy went from freaking out and crying to jumping up and down screaming "It came out! I lost a tooth! It's my first tooth!!" She was dancing and jumping and screaming; it was very exciting!

The tooth. I'm surprised at how tiny it is. 

The empty spot

She put the tooth in a cup waiting for the Tooth Fairy. 

There were lots of questions about how the Tooth Fairy would get in and what she would leave. I told the kids that the Tooth Fairy is tiny and magic like Tinkerbell. Jamey said he's going to keep one eye open all night so he can see her. Ivy really hopes she's sparkly. 

She's really so excited to show off to "the lady in the gym after school," and her friends Bella and Maddie Jo. And she wanted me to take a million pictures.

I know there are pregnancy hormones involved, but I almost cried. The milestones never stop, and she just keeps getting bigger. 

Big Brother/Big Sister Class

When I was pregnant with Livy, I signed Jamey & Ivy up for the New Sibling class. It seemed beneficial and fun, so we signed up again. It was last night at St. Francis.

They watched a short video about life with a new baby and then talked about how babies are born. We toured the birth center quickly and saw a brand new baby. I was hoping to catch a glimpse of the water birth room, but they just had a birth. We'll maybe go up there another day.

Ivy and Jamey were very knowledgable about how babies are made and get out, thanks to "It's Not the Stork." 

Practicing diapers

Certificates :) 

Volleyball

We signed Ivy up to play volleyball with PLAY in Prior Lake. She's been once so far and had a great time!

The 1st/2nd grade team doesn't really play games or divide into teams. All 38 girls do drills and learn about the game. Ivy was excited that a girl from swimming lessons was there.

 All ready to go

Starting Preschool

Jamey is starting 4-year-old preschool at Shepherd's Flock this fall. It's affiliated with Shepherd of the Lakes Lutheran Church here in Prior Lake.

Parent Orientation
Jeremy & I went over to SOLLC for Parent Orientation the other day. The director read through the handbook, and we filled out a bunch of paperwork. He got a t-shirt and will get a Spark Story Bible with his name on it.

On the way out, we happened to meet one of Jamey's teachers, Ms. Kay. She seems super nice and hilarious.

We had forgotten a check to pay for field trips, etc., so the kids and I ran over there to drop it off this morning. The director is also super nice, and all the teachers seem so peppy. We met his other teacher, Ms. Kerry. Again, very friendly, nice, and energetic.


Meet the Teacher
Jamey, Livy and I went over to Shepherd's Flock Friday morning to meet his teacher and drop off his school supplies. I was expecting a really low-key kind of "do nothing" event, but it was scheduled for an hour, and the whole hour was full of fun activity. The preschoolers had a little "scavenger hunt." They did an art project, read a book, found their favorite color on the Circle Time rug, ate a snack, and played with toys. Jamey was excited to find his cubby and backpack hook.

Miss Kay

Coloring and cutting out a leaf for the Fall bulletin board

Miss Kerry

Snack Time!

BTW: Livy is dying to go to school. 

Pretending to work like Daddy

"It's my chair!"

Reading a story about loving preschool

First Day
Jamey's first day was today. He's so super excited! I think he was up before 6 this morning--got dressed and made his bed before 7.

This was shortly after he combed his hair. 

All ready!

Livy asked for her "pitchy" too.

Some Highlights: 

• He walked into the room by himself and didn't even look back for a "Goodbye" or kisses.
• He asked if he could go every day.
• Three Circle Times! and three stories!
• They got to play on the playground. 
• He got sent home with two "Special Notes" that he had a lot of fun with his new friend Blake and he worked very hard on his art project. (Funny thing: he told me they didn't do art today.)

He got to pick lunch at any restaurant. At first he chose the Pizza Ranch, but he changed his mind because Ivy was still in school and would be sad that she didn't get to play basketball. 

All healed up

It's been three weeks since Jamey's surgery. That first week, we tried to keep him down as much as possible. I arranged play dates for Ivy so she wouldn't be here begging Jamey to play, but even without her here, we were hard-pressed to keep him in front of the TV for long. He didn't want to watch movies, play cars, read books--he wanted to ride bike and run around outside.

He did have a couple rough nights. He woke up crying, so we gave him more medicine, let him suck on ice, and even put an ice pack on his throat. But that was only two nights (not even two nights in a row).

He started eating really well in the hospital, so he ate scrambled eggs and PediaSure for a few days. He was eager to eat real food though.

He's all healed up and doing well!