Tuesday, December 30, 2008

The pictures are out of order but you get the idea...


This is the aftermath. Sadly, our living room still looks like this today.




After Santa came, but before Ethan awoke




This picture is Ethan fresh from the bed, checking out Santa's surprises





My parents living room. Christmas card-esqe, is it not?


















Ethan and I in front of the fire. Do you think Ethan is excited?










Ethan on the way to church Christmas Eve, dancing in his car seat to Christmas songs

Monday, December 29, 2008

The last 4 days in a nutshell

I am on day 4 of 5 days off in a row and it. is. heavenly. I am seriously enjoying it WAY more than I should! I really needed it, though. Burn out at my job happens FAST and I was just working way too many days in a row for the past few weeks. I was spent! I am actually looking forward to going back and I even contemplated working tomorrow even though technically I am off, but I am able to talk myself off THAT ledge really quick.

We have had a wonderful time as a family. Christmas Eve is my favorite day of the year. I absolutely love it. I love going to church on that day, and I really love going back to my parents house for snacks and presents. I have always loved that day. When we got home, we got Ethan to bed and tried out our new Wii Fit. I am overweight and Jay is obese and our Mii's were gigantic after it calculated our BMI and weight. We laughed so hard we had tears in our eyes. Christmas day was wonderful, amazing, and everything in between. We opened presents at home, just the three of us, then we all got dressed and headed to Newport to eat a really early dinner at Jay's Grandma's house. It was fun and delicious. Unfortunately I had to work that afternoon, but it was okay. Ethan just wanted to go home anyways, so it worked out good.

Friday my sister in law came into town with her family. We spent the entire day at my in-laws house, just relaxing, socializing, and eating. It was really fun and Ethan was really good. I was looking forward to this day for a while.

Saturday we did nothing. Sunday we had lunch at my parents and Jay watched a ton of football. Even I, the biggest non-football fan in the world, hung my head in shame when the Lions lost.

Today Jay and I were determined to get Ethan out of the house. We were lazy in the morning and then headed out to lunch at Red Robin. Ethan was absolutely adorable. They were playing 50's music and Ethan couldn't stop dancing. He ate really good, too, which for him is a big thing. Afterwards, we visited Jay's Grandma at the nursing home. It was sad. Jay and I just kept looking at each other. She has changed so much since we last saw her and it made me realize that we absolutely NEED to get over there more often. She is slowly slipping away. She had a very glazed look in her eyes. She just seemed very distant. She didn't know who we were and she couldn't keep her eyes open for nothing. Here on out, I vow to make it out there at least once a week. No excuses. After we left there, we went to Funtastic and had a great time. Ethan had so much fun. There was one little boy that tried to push Ethan down. It literally broke his heart. The whole way home, Ethan had the saddest look on his face. Jay kept reminding him that not all children are nice, and if you encounter a child who is mean, just stay away from him. Ethan kept pouting, so we just drove along in silence. Finally he spoke up and said "That's it! Next week, I am going to play a trick on him."

That's all for now. We're home for the evening and my pajama pants are calling my name.

Saturday, December 27, 2008

Christmas!!

We got everything we wanted and more for Christmas this year. I'll make a more detailed post later. I am coming down with a sinus infection, I believe, so I am feeling kind of miserable right now.

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Sunday, December 21, 2008

So! After last nights little debacle, things are smooth sailing in the K household. Ethan apologized more than ever and I KNOW he meant it. He has been a doll all day. I think we are past that little moment of evil. For now, anyway. I'm not putting my guard down yet.

I learned a few things, though! For one, my son can pack a mean punch. My jaw agrees.
Imagine getting punched in the face by a 4 year old. Now imagine by a 13 year old. 20? You get the idea. In other words, that was his first and last punch to the noggin in his life. And I am so thankful he got it out of his system.
I learned that you have to follow through. If we say no presents, that means no presents. Don't give me your sweet, Jerry McGuire kid face, because you KNOW that always works and don't expect anything anymore! It's D-O-N-E. And I will promise to not make your punishments to steep...it has to be within reason.
Clothing is never an option. I see you like to strip naked when you are REALLY mad. Just so you know, no matter how many times you try this, we will ALWAYS make you get dressed. It's nonnegotiable. Stop trying.
The excuse "I'm tired" when you want to get out of doing something will NEVER fly. I tried it at work today, actually. I said I was too tired to check out all my patients. Wanna know what happened to me? Someone laughed in my face and said "room 631 needs you now. there is blood everywhere." So I got real made and took off all my clothes. Wanna know what happened THEN? I cleaned up blood NAKED! Okay, so I embellished a bit. But get the idea, Ethan-face?

And last...I love you so much. Painfully much. You are my life, my world, my everything. When you acted like that, you hurt me in the worst possible way. That's not now I treat you and it won't be how you treat me. We are a family and a family loves one another.

So get some practice on this boy, because there will be no repeats.

Saturday, December 20, 2008

There are no words tonight for a post. All I can say is that my sons behavior, for the first time in his 4 little years of life, has brought me to tears. And yet despite my anger towards him right now, I still REALLY want to go lay with him, scatch his back, and "talk about our day" like we always do. But I won't this time. Because I am seeing for myself right now how my lack of discipline is being thrown right back in my face in a really bad way.

Thursday, December 18, 2008

So I am standing in line at Meijer today with a pair of light green pajamas with pink hearts all over them for my neice. The cashier looks at Ethan, holds up the size 11/12 girls pajamas and asks Ethan "Are these for you?" Okay. Now I can see if the pajamas were unisex. I can EVEN see if maybe the pajamas were girls, but in a size 4T, but COME ON NOW. The look Ethan gave her was priceless. He looked at her like she had two heads. I didn't even know what to say so I said something like "uh, no." Hello??!

Amazing and devastating, all in one

http://kayleighannefreeman.blogspot.com/

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Definitely NOT a chef. Where it says one pinch of salt and two teaspoons of vanilla, I put in a pinch of vanilla (yes! you can pinch vanilla...try it sometime) and two teaspoons of salt. Needless to say, have LOTS of water on hand when eating any christmas cookies that I make.

Ethan is wiser beyond his years. Like the time he saw a toy he wanted on a commercial and I old him Santa might bring that to him. He said to me "NO, mom, that toy is at Toys R Us!"

Then today we were driving and Toys R Us was coming up and he asked if we could go. I told him no because Christmas was next week. He said "but look! there are cars everywhere over there! we CAN go!"

Seriously kid, make this a touch easier for me, will ya?

In other news...he is just being his sweet, lovey self, and I soak up every minute of it. We were out shopping at a bookstore and he kept picking up these novels for him to read. I kept telling him those were for adults and I'd show him a picture book. He'd get all offended and insist he needed a novel. Uh. No. I am not spending money on some book that I can't read to you, and even I won't understand! I just wont! So I finally got him settled on this young readers book about Igor the...I don't know what he is. His name is Igor. Anyhow, this whole "need a novel NOW" mentality came after him seeing me read the vampire books...he wanted to read something good, too! So now we have, and I will introduce the name of the book as Ethan has been doing so to anyone who will listen "iPod the vampire book". If you correct him and say Igor, he will go right back to saying iPod.

Whatever works, right?

Simon glasses








More pictures!! These pictures crack me up. These were taken this time last year. Ethan had this mild obsession with Simon from Alvin and the Chipmunks. He desperately wanted Simon glasses, so Jay's aunt who works at an eye clinic got him a pair of nonprescription glasses. He wore them everywhere. People would smile at him, but I knew in the back of their minds they were wondering what on earth his parents were doing getting him glasses like that.




Monday, December 15, 2008

Pictures a la my dear father-in-law


















His talent and patience is amazing. Definitely something I am in awe over.



Got a joke for ya.

Three women friends, one in a casual relationship, one engaged to be married and one a long-time wife, met for drinks after work. The conversation eventually drifted towards how best to spice up their sex lives. After much discussion, they decided to surprise their men by engaging in some S&M role playing.

The following week they met up again to compare notes. Sipping her drink, the single girl leered and said, 'Last Friday at the end of the work day I went to my boyfriend's office wearing a leather coat. When all the other people had left, I slipped out of it and all I had on was a leather bodice, black stockings and stiletto heels. He was so aroused that we made mad passionate love on his desk right then and there!' The engaged woman giggled and said, 'That's pretty much my story! When my fiancé got home last Friday, he found me waiting for him in a black mask, leather bodice, black hose and stiletto pumps. He was so turned on that we not only had sex all night, he wants to move up our wedding date!

The married woman put her glass down and said, 'I did a lot of planning. I made arrangements for the kids to stay over at Grandma's. I took a long scented-oil bath and then put on my best perfume. I slipped into a tight leather bodice, a black garter belt, black stockings and six-inch stilettos. I finished it off with a black mask. When my husband got home from work, he grabbed a beer and the remote, sat down and yelled, 'Hey, Batman, what's for dinner?''

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Life in Hell

Wow! Work was somethin' else today! The past few days have been hellish, so I was only expecting the worst. Fortunately for me, I had a wonderful group. All my little oldies were so pleasantly confused, I was actually JEALOUS of their state of mind. I need to slip into that every now and then for a good mental break.

The nurse next to me was having the worst night I have ever seen in the history of nursing. For one, she got on her shift and had a rapid response going on on one of her patients. What a great way to start your night! I know I have talked about this patient before...she has a history of closed head injury. She is very impulsive, aggressive, and she can scream like it's nobody's business. In other words...nightmare. It's the saddest thing ever. She wasn't always like this. Her dear sweet mom doesn't know what to do. NO ONE will care for her. Seriously...no one. Their insurance money is gone. So when we see she is coming tonight (after we just sent her off to rehab about 2 months ago after a 90 day stay with us) we weren't real excited. She arrives on the floor and she is actually really quiet. We get her vitals. Heart rate 136, BP 106/66, temp 103. Nice! She's going septic. We get her off the floor and to the ICU. We had her all of 15 minutes. So we all recoup from that. I am at the front desk with some CSP's and a few nurses, including the charge nurse. We hear the code blue light go on. 90% of the time it's a false alarm. We hear "HELP!" Yeah...not false. We all go sprinting down the hall and what do our wandering eyes see? But a little old man, butt naked, laying on the floor saying "I'm cold! Where is the bathroom?" It was the most pathetic site I've ever seen. After a few x-rays and a ct scan....diagnosis is fractured hip. Stay in bed, little old man!

Next up! Little old lady "I'm feeling winded and sweaty". We get her vitals. Blood pressure 180/97, heart rate 150's, pulse ox 85% on room air. Any jaw pain? Do you feel any pain radiating down your arm? Call another rapid response! Here they all come...my job was to document. Our little old lady was getting the work-up for an acute MI and she was being transferred to the unit as I left for the night.

This ALL happened within 4 hours of ONE persons shift. It was crazy.

Friday, December 12, 2008

So Ethan is all about this new cartoon called "Total Drama Island". Whenever he says it, I can't help but compare it to Paris Hilton is my new BFF. And I cringe every time.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Chores and exercises

Ethan has been taking commercials WAY too literally lately. Like just now he told me we needed to save money for some egg nog. And earlier he said that Target was the place to be on Christmas Eve. What??

Earlier today I was SO mad at him. He was making our morning extremely chaotic. He was just being all around difficult. At one point he said tearfully "You are being so mad to me!" and I started with "Yes! Because you haven't listened to a word I said, you won't get dressed..." and he cut me off short and said "I didn't ask WHY! I just said you were being mad!" Despite my anger, I had to laugh. Seriously...smart kid.

He had an ear ache the week before Halloween. I took him to his doctor and got him on Amoxicillin. I never did the recheck 2 weeks later. Bad mommy! Then he got another ear ache the day after Thanksgiving. Got him antibiotics again. I did do the recheck this time and find out that his ear is STILL infected and "full of fluid". Ooooh boy. He is now on a stronger antibiotic and he goes back December 23. I pray that it is cleared up. He has been so healthy for so long, we don't need to go this route now!

And last...after this mornings poor behavior, this evening he comes up to me and asks if he can do "chores and exercises". I asked him why, and he said he needs to show Santa that he's a good boy. I didn't TELL him to do any chores, but this boy can clean! He did such a good job! He still wanted to do exercises (I have no idea where he got that part from...) but we ran out of time so he said he'll do that in the morning. Oookay!

That's all for tonight.

Monday, December 8, 2008

Chicago 2008!!!

Mom and I in the giant security mirror. Leslie would have been in the pic, but you can see her white hat bent over the enormous selection of german ornaments. She was WAY too busy.



This was take two. Take one had mom cut out completely.





Mom, Leslie, and their Kindergluein. Or whatever.


Leslie on the elevator. I believe this was between floors 3 and 4, but it's hard to say.





I was pretending to be Bella. Shut up.




The obsession is unhealthy, really.





Yayy! Twilight!






At the Italian Mexican restaurant.








Looooooooong bus ride.



Santa eats at the McDonald's drive-thru. Cool yet kinda scary.




































Sunday, December 7, 2008

Back from Chicago! It was a whirlwind of a weekend but we had FUN! I swear, I laugh more with my mom and sister than I do with anyone. We just have so much fun together.

Some highlights that no one will understand but us:

- the dark side
- SNORT
- german ornaments
- owl collections
- uumph, ugh, ouch, that hurt my finger...THERE! I think that'll do it!
- do you need another half?
- here comes the chicago'tude! get sea dog!
- wait, wait, wait, don't take the picture until I am looking UP!

ALL in all, we had a wonderful time. I really did. It was so refreshing and my GOD did we laugh. I know, I said that already. I love them both so much and I can't wait to do it again. THANK YOU DAD!!!! You are the best! I love you.

Friday, December 5, 2008

It was a saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad day in our house. Elfie committed suicide.

Let's start at the beginning.

I decided to start the "Elf on a shelf" tradition with Ethan. I won't go into details but if you are curious, you can google it. Basically, I have this little elf that I hide every morning. Ethan has to find him. During the day, he "watches" Ethan and at night he goes to the North Pole to let Santa know if he was good. Behavior-wise, it's not working, but it's still cute.

Anyhow, since I work at night, Jay normally hides the Elf. I'm there in the morning when Ethan has to find him. Ethan LOVES to find him. Yesterdays spot was on a fan blade in the computer room (see where this is going?)

Jay forgot to hide him. I never even thought about it. Ethan woke up this morning and went straight to the computer room to play. First, he turned the fan on. Not only did Elfie fall, Elfie slammed into the wall, first. Ethan CRIED. Hard. As soon as I heard the clunk of Elfie's head on the hardwood floors (well...the wall, first) my mind was going a mile a minute. I held Ethan for a second, then told him to wait in the other room, I was going to go look at the crime scene. I scooped Elfie up, hid him in a new spot, and totally played dumb. I suppose you could say I made Ethan feel like he imagined the whole terrible story, but regardless, he bought it. And he's happy now.

The end.

Thursday, December 4, 2008

If you walk in and see this:

...you should probably investigate. Because chances are, there is something there that he did not intend for you to see. Like, oh, I don't know, maybe this:

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Twilight obsessed

It's true. I am obsessed with Twilight. I loved books 1 and 2 the best, but I have read them all. And...(hangs head in shame)...I have seen the movie TWICE in the theater and I would totally be up for going again. Anyone?? I haven't seen a movie more than once at the theatre since my sister and I saw Wayne's World at Showboat 6 times back when THAT was the hot new movie. The characters in the movie are almost exactly as I had them pictured in my mind. Bella especially. Even Edward. Oooooooooooh Edward. He looks crazy on all the shows he has been on, but let me assure you, he is absolutely delicious in the movie. Like, heart stopping, melt into a big puddle delicious. Especially at the end of the movie. Ballet studio and prom...sigh! Again...anyone wanna go see it??? :)

Ethan is getting over cold number 4,000 since school started. It really doesn't make sense to me because it's not like this is his first time being around a big group of kids. He's been in church sunday school since he was very young, and he has done the daycare thing for forever. He has never been this consistently sick. He is also on his second ear ache in a month. Not good. He needs a boost in immunity! Otherwise, he is doing SO good. He still loves school. Tomorrow is his "star day" where he gets to be the leader. He also gets to bring a special guest with him. He didn't even have to think about it before he decided he wanted to take Meema (my mom). Both are equally excited.

This weekend my mom, sister, and I leave for Chicago. I am REALLY excited. It's going to be different than what we usually do, but I think it'll be really fun. I am also excited about having 5 days off of work in a row.

After another unsuccessful cycle of trying to get pregnant, I am now charting. I've heard about charting for forever, but never really paid much attention to it. I never had to! It took me like 6 weeks to get pregnant with Ethan. I am on month 14 now. Ridiculous. So yeah. I bought a basal body thermometer and I am following the instructions insanely carefully. You are supposed to take your temperature FIRST THING in the morning. Like, before you even get out of bed, sit up, anything. I always make sure the thermometer is on my nightstand before I go to bed. I've only done it 4 times this cycle so far, and twice now I have fallen back asleep with the dumb thing in my mouth. And another time I laid there for forever in the dark, being super still, waiting for it to beep on ly to find out I never turned it on. I had a feeling that may have been the problem, but I couldn't get out of bed to turn the light on! So instead I inched close to the window and used the light of the moon to see if it was on. This better work.

Okay, that's all. Gotta get ready for work. Ethan is a master at the Wii now, so that's all he wants to do lately. It's actually really impressive watching him play.