January 2011

It seems like each year I post about how we keep busy in the winter. Lately we have started to feel the drudgery of staying inside every day, all day. Molly asks when it's going to be summer almost every day and I'm kind of wondering the same thing. Life has definitely slowed down for a little bit and since I'm not trying to play catch up on my blog I'm able to share little day-to-day happenings...

Molly and I still do our daily activities. We rarely miss (probably because I almost always make sure I'm home for Stockton's nap) and they still continue to excite her. She can choose an activity out of our jar or she can make one up on her own. We do lots of different things, but here are the activities that I remembered to take a picture of:

-building a hut out of blankets and playing games-playing with blocks and Mr. Potato HeadThis particular game is silly, but a favorite of hers. There are 3 houses (one straw, one stick, and one brick), we make 3 potato heads (for the three pigs), and the giant potato head is always the wolf. And then we act out The Three Little Pigs.

-make/play with PlaydoughShe said that Grandpa Gene taught her to hang the playdough like this.

-have a tea party-paint our fingernails and toenailsIf you look closely you'll notice that every toenail and fingernail is painted a different color.

-and lots of crafts like this Valentine picture frame that we covered in conversation heartsI love looking at these pictures and seeing the various outfits she has chosen! These short activities have been awesome and allow me to have a little free time in the day as well. If I invest a little time playing with her then she'll quietly head to her room after and play for a while. Much better than the constant "Mom, will you do this with me" all day and me always being too busy and then feeling guilty for not playing.

I've also been trying to spend more one-on-one time playing with Stockton before his nap. This is harder for a second child...when Molly's not at school she plays with us which is great but I do enjoy having some time with him all to myself.

We had fun one night after FHE making these snowmen out of doughnuts...fun to make and even more fun to eat!Of course a trip to the cabin always alleviates some wintertime boredom.We're lucky if we are able to make it once a season but we went twice this winter...once with my family and this past weekend we took Justin's family.

We had a bought of sickness, although pretty mild. I won't complain-last year Stockton had three or four ear infections. The tubes cleared that problem up quite well. Stockton's eyes keep running (instead of his nose) but I'm sure that will clear up. I took him to the doctor after a few days of a cough. As a precaution the doc wanted an X-ray of his lungs. They were clear and the cough cleared up after a few more days.Molly also had a trip to the doctor, only not for any sort of sickness, just a nasty bonk on her head. It was at the chaotic time of evening...I was trying to get dinner ready, the kids were hungry but I didn't want to feed them snacks, and they were both starting to get tired...you know how it is. I was changing Stockton's diaper when I heard a crash, a bang, followed by crying. My first thought was that it was just dramatics but she instantly got really sleepy (like falling asleep into her dinner) and about 30 minutes later started throwing up. I called the on-call pediatrician who told me to take her straight to the emergency room. Poor girl was miserable...lethargic, sleepy, and couldn't stop throwing up. Thankfully, Justin was able to meet me there. Since she's had a concussion before they were concerned about potential damage-we didn't have to wait too long for her to get checked out and have a CatScan. All was clear there too although we were told she had suffered a severe concussion. We were able to bring her home with strict instructions not let her do pretty much anything for two weeks. I was so scared to take my eyes off her I made Justin sleep on the couch that night and Molly slept with me!

Okay, moving on. Stockton is still just as crazy as ever. Boys sure are made different than girls! He is exhausting and hilarious all at the same time. We sure love him though. Sometimes in an effort to keep him from tearing apart the whole house (which I swear he can do in less than 10 minutes) I let him wash the dishes. Sure he gets soaked and the floor always needs mopped up after but this will entertain him for a long, long time. And instead of a mess all over the house, I only have one small mess to clean up.And when all else fails and you're just as bored as ever, you can always pretend to be goats and eat paper...

(Sometimes Molly will get Stockton dressed as well as herself...like take off his pajamas and everything. Tonight she tried changing his diaper and did pretty good.)