Halloween*

For Halloween this year the girls elected to be Belle and Cinderella.  We were pleased because we had those costumes from our Disney trip :-)  We did have to buy some "accessories"....This is the first year that they have really looked forward to Halloween.  They wanted to wear their costumes in the morning.  I told them that was fine but that they wouldn't go trick or treating for a long time and might get uncomfortable.  They decided to keep wearing their pjs.  After lunch, however, they decided they couldn't wait any longer and I was allowed to be in the presence of two princesses for the rest of the day.

After dinner they got their pumpkins and headed out from with Kelly until it was time to start.

Killian was asleep before trick or treating started so he did not wear a costume.

 

 

 

The girls went out with Kelly so I could take care of Killian if he needed me.  I was fine with that plan!

Princesses in their carriage.

They came home tired and with huge smiles on their faces.  All in all, a great night!

Playtime at the house

Being a stay at home mom is a full time job when you have one kid.  With three kids, it is still a full time job, but each part of it is more intense - the frustration, the tears,the happiness, the laughter, the exhaustion...  I'll take it.  I love the good so much I'm willing to fight through the the tough.  There are no words to describe how fun it is to watch your kids play together.

"Swimming Pool" in the living room

Sitting on the edge of the pool

Isn't this seriously the sweetest picture?

Owen's Pumpkin Patch

Continuing on our search for pumpkins and fall fun, we headed to Owen's pumpkin patch with the "cousins".  We really had such a great time.  We went with my cousin Amy, her family, and both our moms.  Lots of good times! Because this was after Kayden's "incident" we had to find some hats to protect the injury.

Feeding goats with Oma.  Somehow Oma talked them into feeding the goats.  Good thing too.  I won't do it and I think Dad was probably getting tired of having to do it every time!

On the hay ride.  Look how cute little brother is :-)

On the "train" ride.  The girls had a blast but I'm pretty sure it wasn't worth the money to make 4 loops of the parking lot...

Work

Kayden is really thriving in her new primary classroom.  She is fully convinced, and has been for quite some time, that she can pretty much do anything she wants to.  For the most part, she is right.  I warned her teacher at the beginning that Kayden believes she should be able to do all the works that Keeley does.  At our parent teacher conference, her teacher confirmed that Kayden does, indeed, like to observe and frequently shadow the older students.  She encouraged me to remind Kayden that she still has to practice some of the more fundamental works.  Her teacher said that Kayden is bright and catches on quickly but then feels like she doesn't need to continue to practice those particular works.  I've been encouraging her, but the teacher has also helped a significant deal.  She has allowed Kayden to watch the older kids as long as the work is "edifying" in some way to her and even allowed her to do some works out of sequence if her friend is doing them.

This work is one example.  She pin-pricked the "parts of the flower" because her friend, Maddie, was also doing it.  Pin-pricking is something she has been doing since her toddler class and it is a great skill.  For those of you unfamiliar with montessori works, pin-pricking is an activity that helps strengthen the pencil grip and increases concentration while also fine-tuning the small motor skills.  Basically Kayden took a pin an puts tons of little holes along a shape until she had effectively "cut" it out.  She then stored her work each day until she finished it, glued it all together while looking at an example, and then labeled it along with her teacher.

This is a "drawer 3" work.  That is not significant at all except to note that she worked out of order.  Again, not important at all except that Keeley has not gotten to this work.  Oh was she angry when Kayden came home with "parts of the flower" before her.  Keeley, who had been previously obsessed with number rods and the moveable alphabet, suddenly decided she needed to spend the next two days doing her "parts of the flower" as well.  We are so proud of both of them.  And, as a side note, I'm learning about botany as well!  I had no idea what corolla and calyx were!

Hospital Day

It started out as a "normal" Wednesday.  We got up, went to school, came home and ate lunch.  I had a doctor's appointment so I told the girls we were going to do things a little different than we normally do.  Instead of cleaning up and having our "quiet time" I was going to let them play for a bit before we had to head down to Kelly's office for him to watch the kids.  Well, we definitely had a different afternoon.  However, it did not follow the plan I detailed to the kids at all.

We had just finished lunch and the girls were playing in the living room.  I put Killian on the mat and turned back to the kitchen to straighten up.  I had not even made it into the kitchen before I heard screaming.  I turned around and saw Kayden holding her head and blood.  Lots of blood.  Quickly I asked Keeley what happened (because Kayden was crying too hard to tell me) and she said she didn't know since she'd been playing with Killian.  I scooped Kayden up to take her to the kitchen and attempt to figure out what had happened.  She was standing when I left her happy and standing 5 seconds later when I turned around to her screaming so I didn't think she'd fallen, yet she had this huge injury.  After looking at the wound, I decided that fall or no fall, we needed stitches.  I called Kelly and told him we were headed to the ER and then told Keeley to get her shoes on.  Fortunately a friend of ours was available to watch Keeley so, after we were all loaded up in the car, we wen to drop Keeley off and I headed to the hospital with my other two babies.  (Killian has to stay with me because he won't take a bottle)  On the way I talked to Kayden and explained that I knew she was scared because there was lots of blood but that the wound was little. 

Pulling into Children's I watch a team of people unload a kid on a stretcher from a helicopter and head inside.  I said a silent prayer that I am only here for what is, at worst, a cosmetic issue and kiss my babies on their heads.

While checking in, the front desk says, "oh, you've never been here."  I wanted to say, "not this week..." but I refrained and re-spelled our last name.  They found us quickly after that and we proceeded to wait for triage. I hear back from Kelly that he is in a board of director's meeting and can't leave.  I tell him I think we're okay and I'll keep him posted.  Kayden holds her rag to her head and we get through triage well and get to a room.  The doctor comes in (the mama bear in me is appeased because I was not satisfied with the nurse practitioner that did her lip stitches and I was already prepared to demand to have a doctor).  She determines that we will need stitches or glue.  Because it is her forehead, I ask for the least scarring option which is stitches.  They place this bandaid on her forehead with some meds in it to stop the bleeding and numb it.

Fortunately for us, tv is not something we watch a lot of so it mesmerizes the kids in situations like this!

We opted not to do the versed this time since it was hard for Kayden to walk after her lip stitches when she had versed.  Kayden was amazingly brave.  She watched them do all three stitches with just a single tear that rolled down her cheek.  After they were finished, I picked her up an snuggled with her and then looked down to see why Killian had been so fussy in the stroller.  I assumed it was because he missed his nap and hates strollers.  When I looked down, I saw that he had spit up a lot.  I put Kayden on the bed and then picked him up to get him cleaned up.  The nurse was going over discharge instructions and was leaving to get my papers when Killian started projectile vomiting. I texted Kelly and told him he did, indeed, need to meet me at the hospital, texted my friend watching Keeley to let her know we'd be a little later, and told the nurse we needed to be admitted.

It is scary how quickly babies can look so sick.  They came in and did an oral zofran dose shortly after Kelly got to the hospital.  Killian quickly threw that up as well so they told me they were going to need to start an IV.  Kelly took Kayden to get me some food and then they left to get Keeley.  Two nurses came in to get Killian's IV started.  They told me I could step out if I wanted to do that.  I said I did not, but that I would cry.  I did cry, but Killian perked up pretty quickly after the IV got started.

Cutest baby ever.

Shortly after this picture was taken, he had a huge blowout diaper - all over me.  Killian is baby #3 so we've had blow outs before.  I was annoyed that I didn't have any clean clothes but, honestly, my clothes were covered in vomit, blood, and snot before the blow-out so I'm not sure it was that big of a deal.  I had extra clothes and diapers for him so I figured it wouldn't be a big deal.  Blow out diapers I can do.  Blow out diapers in airplanes, malls, restaurants...I can do.  A blow out diaper while the child is hooked up to an IV is an entirely different thing.  I tried but could not figure out a way to get him out.  I finally pushed the nurse button and had them come in.  The guy was trying to save the clothes and I kept saying, "They are covered in poop.  Cut them off.  I'm not taking them home."  He finally gave up and had to cut them off.  What a mess!!

No idea what caused all the vomiting, but he did fine after the IV.  They told me to try to give him a bottle of pedialyte.  I told them that would likely not work as he won't even take a bottle of breastmilk.  The doctor didn't want me to nurse him.  I tried the bottle, he took one ounce and then nursed.  He did just fine and we headed home where I promptly disregarded instructions not to nurse.  No one else got sick and Killian was fine the next day.  We now have a prescription of zofran that we can use if anyone else gets sick (and that we will be taking to Disney next time!!)

Here is Kayden with her stitches the next day.  We were left with instructions to not let her wound get direct sunlight on the wound for the next 6 months.  Thank goodness it is winter and not swim season!  She has kept a princess bandaid on the wound since the steri-strips came off.  Every single day she helps us put the vitamin E on and chooses a bandaid.  Sweet girl is getting quite skilled at wound care!

Buttons

Today Kayden learned how to button her buttons.  That may not seem like a huge deal, but it is a big deal to me.  Now she can put her school jumper on all by herself.  She's growing up so fast!!

State Fair!

For several years Kelly and I have gone to the fair with the Martinez family.  It started out with just the couples and now there are 7 kids that tag along too!  This year we weren't able to make our schedules work with them so we just went by ourselves.  We had a good time but I seriously missed the planning help!  Monica, we need you :-)

The girls love the swings...

Killian watching sisters swing.

 

 

They also loved this ride.  To say I was a nervous wreck the entire time they were going would be an understatement.  When did Keeley get big enough to do these things by herself?

I felt much better about Kelly at least having a hand on Kayden's back.

We only let them ride three rides because they are crazy expensive.  This was the last one they chose.  They had so much fun but it was sort of sad to watch them try to make the bear turn by themselves!

After the rides we went to this cute little farm area where the kids "worked" and then got paid with a play dollar that they were allowed to "spend" in a store for a little snack.  The girls enjoyed this while I fed Killian.  I showed up just in time to watch them sell their "goods" (eggs, wool, apples...) and get paid so they could buy their snacks.  Super cute.

 

After that, we watched the dog show and then headed home!

Afternoon playtime

I love how the kids keep themselves busy in the afternoons.  Because they go to school each morning, I'm never quite sure what type of activity they'll be up for after "quiet time"

Keeley and Killian playing while I fix lunch.

"Quiet time" art work production

Dress up during quiet time

Posing together

Parent Lesson Night

Several times a year the school has "Parent Lesson Night."  It is a chance for the kids to teach their parents the lessons they have been doing.  The toddlers do not participate (too little to really understand the concept), so this is the first year both girls will be able to teach us.  The night starts at 6:30 and each age group gets 30 minutes in the classroom to show their parents their works.  They start with the youngest kids so Kayden went to her classroom first.  Before we went in, we talked to each of the girls about the fact that when their sister was showing the work, they needed to not try to help or correct.  I was really amazed at how well each of them did - Keeley because the works were ones she had already done for the most part and Kayden because we were in Keeley's room at what should have been bedtime!

Because we had both girls and baby brother asleep in the wrap (best baby ever), we didn't get any pictures.  We'll have to work on that for next time.  Here is a run down of what the girls showed us.  The works they were the most proud of.

Kayden - two pouring works - one with water and one with tiny beads, a work that involved taking pins from a pin cushion and arranging them in the openings of a salt shaker in a pattern, a sorting work with vegetables and one with fruits, and two of these cylinder works (red and yellow)

This was my favorite work to watch her complete.  She chose her rug and carefully unrolled it (this is a rug work) and then went and selected her box.  She set the box down on her rug and removed the felt piece on top of the box that was the same color as the work.  She then took off the lid and carefully removed each cylinder and placed it on the felt.  After she had them all arranged she took to stacking them on the lid.  She did it perfectly the first try.  She then told us that you have to take them off carefully and can't hit them to knock them down (so tempting!).  After each knob was placed back in the box, she put on the lid, rolled the felt and returned the work to the shelf.  She then rolled her rug and put it away, demonstrating how you are supposed to do it and telling us what not to do.  I was amazed at the care she took with each item and how focused she remained.


Keeley only had a chance to show us two works because hers are a little more involved.  She started with the moveable alphabet. She has been talking about the moveable alphabet since last spring.  A few of her friends were "on the moveable alphabet" and she would watch them and come home and tell me, "I have to finish my sounds and then I can be on the moveable alphabet"  The day before she started, her teacher told her she would get a lesson the following day.  I don't think I have ever seen her so excited.  It is all she talks about now.  The moveable alphabet is a spelling work.  She gets a box similar to this


 and a packet of cards with six pictures. She placed each picture on the rug and said the word then began to pick the letters to spell each word.  I knew that was what the work was but I was still amazed that I watched my baby spell cat, rat, hat, bat, ham, and man last night.  She carefully sounded out each word and placed them next to the pictures.  She is starting a new packet today and is so excited. 

I think all schools should have "Parent Lesson Nights."  The girls were so excited to show their work and so proud of what they could do.  We are pretty proud of them ourselves!