There's Somethin' in My Nose, Mom

With Lance out of town, I was really ready for a break this morning. My mom came to watch the kids while I went to Holland to get my hair cut--finally! It's amazing that in 10 weeks my hair goes from short to long and completely out of control. Tate somehow slept the entire time I was gone so my mom didn't have to worry about feeding him. Rowan had a great time and even took a nap! When I started to hear her stir, I went into her room prepared to cuddle. She looked at me, stood up on her bed and said "There's somethin' in my nose, Mom." Note that I am now "Mom"--no longer "Mama" or "Mommy"--so sad. I looked in and, sure enough, way up there, is a perfect white sphere. I said "Rowan, what is it?" She said "I don't know, Mom, what is it?" She said she found it on the floor. I looked around and didn't see any more. I checked her stuffed animals to see if one was falling apart and then I got to work on the nose. I tried tweezers, a q-tip and even a pointy nail file to no avail. Rowan of course, was flailing around and screaming. Tate, thankfully, was sleeping. I knew I would be too late to get her to the pediatrician before they closed and wasn't too thrilled on going to Urgent Care the second time this week. So, we worked and worked until she finally blew it right out of her nose. I still have no idea what it was, but I am hoping that putting things up her nose does not become the epidemic that taking off her diaper was. Because I can't use duct tape this time.

Can't we just pay someone to do that?

Since Lance will be gone for a couple of nights, I went out to do some grocery shopping after the kids went to bed. I told Lance on my way out the door, "If you could clean whatever needs it, that would be great." I'm thinking to myself that I probably won't get too much done with Lance out of town and my in-laws are coming this weekend, so it's time to vaccuum, dust, clean up, etc. Here is what I come home to--a disassembled laptop and a disassembled desktop. I said "What's going on with the computers?" Lance said "I took the airport card out of the laptop and am going to try to put it in the desktop." What? My first thought is: How is this a priority over cleaning? My second thought is: Here we go again. Though I certainly give him credit for trying, Lance is really not a do-it-yourselfer. Past attempts at fixing things have led to bigger problems which have caused us to call in the professionals, so my thought is, why not just call them in the first place? But, alas, it's 11 at night, Lance is still working on the computers (I am currently borrowing his work computer), the house still needs to be cleaned and we will get to spend exactly no time together before his business trip. And there is a distinct possibility I will be left with two broken computers as well. Ah, good times.

Eight Years

Today is our eighth anniversary. In those eight years, we have owned 7 cars (Jeep, Intrepid, Jetta, Lumina, Volvo, XTerra, Odyssey), lived in 5 different places (apartment in Holland, apartment in Charlotte, house in Charlotte, house in Holland, house in Byron Center), had 3 pets (Harley, Sebastian and Stan the newt who was buried at our first Charlotte apartment in a ceremony complete with flowers that I later saw the neighbor girl Britney carrying around), and have 2 adorably cute kids. We have had times of complete bliss and times of absolute chaos. And I can't think of anyone in the world I'd want to share all of that with other than Lance.

We spent a nice weekend in Chicago. Rowan hung out at Grandma Jackie's while we relaxed with Tate in downtown Chicago. A long boat ride, an outdoor concert, lots of shopping, good food and an amazing massage at the hotel on Sunday morning. I'm pretty sure Lance and I had decided that Chicago was our gift to each other so I didn't even think of a gift for Lance. But he, of course, was prepared with a poem, a bag and a massage appointment. And I was empty-handed for him. He claimed he didn't recall any conversation about gifts. Nonetheless I'm feeling pretty guilty about the whole thing. So, I'll have to come up with a great plan for a late anniversary gift. Off to think...

Ode to Duct Tape

Ah, the sweet sound of silence. No cleaning. No scrubbing. Just sweet sleeping children, both of whom are currently wearing a diaper. Yes, the silver belt has (at least presently) solved our poop problems. I went to get Rowan after her nap (though she didn't actually sleep) and she was playing in her room, naked, with the exception of her diaper and the amazing silver belt. And, since we marketed the belt to Rowan as a fun accessory, she thinks it's great. She asks for her silver belt any time she has a diaper change, but we reserve it for naptime and bedtime. When we cut the diaper off, she says "Poor little silver belt." I'm really getting my hopes up, but I can't imagine any way she can escape this one.

This new wonderful use for duct tape reminds me a bit of the 99 Pull Team ("Awesome Pull Team") and the very odd, humorous things I remember happening. Here's a very short, not at all complete list of some things that might make you laugh ("you" referring to Steph and Heather. Sorry, Mike, I'm sure you loathe all things Pull like Lance, but really you know that's what the cool kids did). One thing I think I remember is that the coaches tried to get Mike Z to eat something (a graham cracker? a granola bar?) without using his hands. He was unsuccessful. Does anyone else remember this? Also, after completing 99 push-ups, I remember listening to my alarm the next morning without having any use of my arms and trying to figure out how to push the snooze button. Lots of insane throwing up, Koop's punctured lung, singing songs to our pullers in the basement of some dorm while they all cried (what was that?), going to the Kappa Chi house where one of our coaches lived(what was her name?) and having to rub Buddha's belly, Anchor Matt ("It's all in the thighs"), Lissa's multi-use kneepads, feeling like the whole "recruitment" meeting was a bit like a haunted house, drinking lots of tea with lemon, making funny pit signs and pit names with Mike ("Crazy Fun Pit aka Pit O' Death" our freshman year and "The Banana Tree of Death" our sophomore year). Oh, the good times we had. Ooh-rah.

The Silver Belt

A busy weekend--a garage sale with the McGowan's, bike rides, lots of ice cream and, of course, continued "My change my diaper" episodes. This really has become an epidemic. And I can't handle it. Cleaning sheets, cleaning blankies, cleaning stuffed animals, cleaning comforters, cleaning carpet. We've tried everything we can think of to get this to stop. Wearing the sleep sack backward, wearing pajamas that are very hard to get off, wearing a diaper with a pull-up over it. But when I get her up in the morning or from her nap, she is naked. Now instead of saying "My change my diaper", she says "Bad girl." Did I really look at her and say "Bad girl"? Have I mistaken my child for a dog? THIS HAS TO STOP!

So, tonight, Rowan is sporting a brand new "silver belt" over her diaper. Yes, this is a strip of duct tape. And no, I don't feel this is over the top in any way, shape or form. It's the natural progression to the next level of trying to outwit my 2-year-old daughter. If she wakes up naked tomorrow, I'll be begging for new ideas. So, start thinking now.

Slightly more exciting news...Lance and I finally feel moved into our house. With the exception of putting things on the wall, everything is unpacked and relatively organized. We still have a list of things we'd like to buy (sleeper sofa (if you've seen a cute one anywhere, let me know. I seem to be finding weird fabrics and microfiber), flat panel TV, a few cute chairs, a swingset), but the actual house is looking pretty good! Our fence is coming the first week in August (with a very shocking price tag, but I still can't wait) and hopefully a swingset will come soon after. So, come on over!

Finally!

We finally have working internet at our house! It has been a long time coming and I feel I have lost touch with the world. It's amazing how much I now depend on something I had used very infrequently before college.

Updates from the Pellow home-

1. After a long morning at DeVos Children's Hospital, we found out that Tate's hips are fine! Yeah! So all of those hours in the Baby Bjorn haven't hurt our little man. Really, I would have been completely crushed if I couldn't carry him around that way. I tried putting him in a stroller for the first time (yes, it's ridiculous, he's very spoiled, but we both prefer the Bjorn) and he cried the entire time. No different than a car seat for him, I suppose. Other than that, he's happy all of the time until nap time. Then, when we try to put him down, there is a remarkable amount of crying which never turns into sleep. So, I cuddle him until he falls asleep and then put him down. He sleeps pretty well once he's asleep, but getting him to sleep is the trick. Especially when Rowan is in the room playing with his toys and demanding that I read her a book. I am also sporting some pretty hickeys on my shoulders from Tate sucking on them anytime I wear sleeveless. So, I've taken to wearing short sleeves which means I have an attractive farmer's tan as well as some healing hickeys. Cute summer look.

2. Though we still have no artwork on the walls and have a few more things to do, we are finally starting to feel settled. There is furniture in every room (and finally a kitched table and chairs!) and we are really loving our house and neighborhood. Several of the neighbors have stopped over and there are lots and lots of kids (though many of them are older than Rowan and Tate). Our fence is coming the first week of August and we've met a few potential babysitters. All is well.

3. Rowan continues to change her own diaper. Of course, that's just what she calls it. What it means is I get to clean up poop after naps. I got so mad at her last time she said "I'm scared of you, Mommy." Is that a good thing or a bad thing? She talks constantly about everything and is so adorable most of the time. However, I'm a little concerned about Rowan's social skills. She has lately thrown sand on her friends, dumped water on their heads (and her own) and walked around putting dog food down her shirt (which, of course, made Lily put dog food down her shirt). The thing is, Rowan isn't doing these things to be mean, she actually thinks it's fun to dump sand and water on her own head and doesn't understand why it would be a problem to do this to someone else. She also thinks it's very funny when someone falls and gets hurt and will reenact the situation over and over. When Ally fell down a step at our house and landed on the floor and cried, Rowan would throw herself down the steps, land on the floor, fake cry, get up and do it again. Should I be concerned?

4. Lots of new babies have been born. Anders, Charlotte and Georgia are all here. Can't wait to meet the local ones and can't wait to shop for fun things.

5. I've really missed my little blog and feel I've missed out on the past month or so. So, I'm glad to be back.

Yes, it has been a long time...

So, I haven't exactly been updating my blog lately. But, in my defense, I have been busy. Really busy. I remember it being just a bit of a pain when Lance and I moved from our two-bedroom apartment in Holland, Michigan to Charlotte, NC just over 7 years ago. Okay, the moving company was disastrous, but I don't really remember the packing and unpacking being very laborious. Fast forward to six months ago when we packed up our 4-bedroom house to move back to Holland. Insane. Packing forever. Realizing that our only child is more spoiled than we ever wanted. So. Much. Stuff. And now to the present where we are moving everything we had already packed plus an alarming amount of things we have acquired in the past 6-months (including another baby!) and are now still in the unpacking process at our new home.

But, we love our house, though I'm a little perplexed by the small kitchen, and we're just kind of slowly going through boxes that are swamping our garage. Since I wasn't in love with our kitchen table and benches or our dining room table and chairs, we gave those away before we moved and now have nothing to sit on while we eat. So, we've been enjoying picnics on a blanket in the middle of the kitchen floor. Rowan loves her new very bright blue room, however, so much light comes through the windows that she wakes up at 7 every day when she previously slept until 9. She is also often skipping her nap. This makes for a very tired, very clingy small child and it is not fun for any of us. Tate has finally made the transition into a real crib after sleeping in a Pack N Play for 4 full months.

Speaking of Tate, he rolled over for the first time on Sunday. His 4-month appointment was yesterday. I can't believe he's growing up so quickly! He weighed in at 15 pounds, 5 ounces and 25 inches. He is huge! Things were going well until the doctor checked his hips and Tate immediately started screaming. The doctor could feel clicking and is relatively certain Tate has hip dysplasia. So, we have to go for an ultrasound at DeVos Children's Hospital and then will be dealing with a few months of leg braces (best case scenario) or surgery and traction (worst case scenario). Or maybe we'll find out it's something different completely. I'm choosing not to stress about it until I know what I need to be stressing about. The ideal is to catch it before 3 months of age and we didn't do that, but hopefully it won't be too terrible for any of us.

Lance is on a business trip this week, but we're very looking forward to a relaxed three-day weekend. A few things on the schedule, some boxes to unpack, but hopefully a little time to relax, too.