It’s been a tough five days.

Sick and cranky kids, Owen’s poop issues (a clean out), obviously Tom being gone on a holiday, me now starting to feel sick—all on top of the normal everyday stuff—and after some random unimportant thing (like Katie reaching for the Kleenex box for the 23rd time) I kinda lost it. I really try not to do it in front of the kids, but it just happened.

Poor Owen was like “Mama, are you okay?”

I told him I was—I just really missed daddy and it was really hard work taking care of everything by myself while he was gone.

He came over and hugged me and gave me a kiss saying “It’s okay mom.” Then told me he was going to read me a happy story.

/bawl

Our first picture with Santa!

Over the years we just never cared about getting the picture with Santa. I hate crowds and I hate holiday crowds even more…so we just never did it. Then, once Owen was a bit older, we tried…but the commotion was too much for him and we had to leave before Santa even arrived.

Fast forward to this year and he’s showing A LOT more interest in Christmas—like things he wants and asking about Santa—so I thought I’d have to try this year (of course, the year Tom is gone). Thankfully, the local autism society planned a sensory-friendly event at the mall (two hours before regular pictures with Santa started) and we were first in line!

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Owen was good at being patient (just asking a handful of times how many more minutes) and overall it was easy peasy! Of course Katie wasn’t her normal smiling self, but I was just happy she wasn’t snotty and/or screaming and/or wiggly and actually looked at the camera. I think they only took four pictures! Owen was great, too—and was EXCITED to see Santa. (Last night when I was telling him about the “mystery trip” to prepare him, he asked if it was the real Santa or a pretend Santa. I had no idea where he got the idea of real and pretend, but I told him it was a pretend Santa because of course the real Santa was getting ready at the North Pole. He accepted that.)

Of course the picture packages are a complete racket—but I ended up with a $40 package because it came with a $20 Shutterfly credit. I could have gotten cheaper packages but they only came with $10 Shutterfly credits so it was cost efficient (for me) to get the bigger package. So I will have actual photos to mail out this year. 🙂

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On the way out, Owen wanted to ride in this kiddie car. I just happened to have the required quarters, so I said okay.

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As you can see, Katie lasted about four seconds…and Owen only lasted about three more. 🙂

Today was a Facebook day.

Nothing really blog-worthy happened today…but I did post a few things on Facebook that I thought I’d share here:

Up today? Toy Story. Both are fully entranced. Unfortunately, we only got to see about 10 minutes of the movie before our network decided to flake out…and an hour of messing with it did nothing. Which leads to…

I am so sick of our worthless wireless network that there just might be 500 yards of ethernet cable running through the house when Tom gets home.

On the best of days, I don’t have the energy for two sick kids (with one super snotty girl). On a day like today when I am feeling exhausted and headachy, I REALLY don’t have the energy to be up and wiping noses every two minutes. But when you can see the snot fly through the air during a sneeze…you can’t really ignore it. At least Owen can (mostly) do his own and can kind of help with Katie…but I still need to intervene a lot.

Aww crap. I just realized Katie is likely teething. It’s about the age and would explain the extra chewing and slobber. Yeah, you’d think I would have thought of that before now…but no.

I’m so glad Owen didn’t want to take a nap today so that he could fall asleep on the couch at 4:45. 😐

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And I just had to be a mean mom and wake Owen up from a nap. I just couldn’t let him take a long nap at this time of day when his bedtime is 7:30…because I am NOT giving up my nightly alone/me time if I can help it. Especially since I want to go to bed early since I’m not feeling the best.

How can one tiny girl produce SO much snot?!

Of course the best time to find out the humidifier in your kid’s room is dead is at bedtime. GRRR. Unfortunately, this means a trip to town—since it’s the weekend, Amazon wouldn’t get here until Wednesday…and with a coupon at BB&B I can get $10 off. Blurg.

Thanksgiving, photo fail, and friends.

The day started out well enough. Owen was very VERY excited about going to Uncle Roger’s for Thanksgiving…and kept asking me how many minutes how many minutes how many minutes. I told him it wouldn’t be until after Katie’s nap, so then he started asking how many minutes until her nap. Over and over and over. At 9am. 🙂 He told me he was going to go get in the car. I told him no, it wasn’t time yet. I finally told him it would be a few hours, and I would let him know when it was time…I wouldn’t let him miss it.

Fast forward until after Katie’s nap. I had the mashed potatoes going on the stove and their nice outfits all ready…and of course she woke up too early. Fine, no problem. I got them both dressed for pictures. Katie wasn’t terribly happy (she’s got a cold—as does Owen—and her nap wasn’t long enough) so it was challenging to say the least. And she was really REALLY cute, too, so I was disappointed. But I was snapping away and hoping I’d at least get one decent shot.

Then it was off to finish the potatoes. And take breaks every minute or so to wipe Katie’s nose. And try to get Owen to RELAX about getting his shoes and coat on and wanting to get in the car. And then I decided to take more pictures…AND DISCOVERED THERE WAS NO MEMORY CARD IN THE CAMERA SO I DIDN’T HAVE ANY PICTURES. I wasn’t in a great mood before that, so that just pushed me over the edge. (It’s the little things, I swear.)

So I was rushing to get everything packed to leave the house (changes of clothes for both kids because it was Owen’s Clean Out Weekend and because Katie accidentally got some of Owen’s “poop juice”, diapers, pull-ups, snacks, etc.), get the potatoes finished and in the crock pot, stack all the dirty dishes, let the dog out, and then—since I’m apparently a masochist—TRY TO TAKE MORE PICTURES WITH UNCOOPERATIVE KIDS… Needless to say I didn’t get one good picture.

The best picture of the super cute hand-me-down dress:

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The best of the awful sibling pics:

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The good thing about the day was going to our friend’s house—my babysitter’s house—so she took over Katie duty while her younger sister played with Owen. This became Katie’s favorite new activity:

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The kids were having a great time playing (Owen even asked to play on the big outdoor trampoline!), I was drinking wine and visiting, and all seemed well. Until Owen came over to me asking where the bathroom was, so I went with him to show him—and watched as he puked in the toilet. Twice. Oh lovely. I told him he might be going home—if he was sick, we really couldn’t stay. He immediately started whining that he didn’t want go…he wanted to keep playing. So I told him we had to take his temperature and if he had a temp, we had to go. He didn’t have a temp, so we stayed.

The dinner was nice and it was good to be with friends—it helped not to miss Tom quite as much. But of course Owen was frustrating. He had told me he would try all the new foods…but come time, he didn’t touch anything. He claims he ate a bite of mashed potatoes but he didn’t. He didn’t even want his yogurt. Sigh. Then he had to go potty—and I went to check on him (I don’t trust him when we’re not at our house)—and it’s a good thing I did because he had peed all over the toilet, floor, and waste basket. SERIOUSLY?! Breathe. Breathe. I know where the cleaning supplies are, so off I went. It wasn’t a big deal (and they didn’t care) but still, it was like WHAT ELSE IS GOING TO HAPPEN?! Then we called it an early night because Katie was getting tired and I really just wanted to get into jammies and relax.

Once we got home, I tried pictures again…and didn’t have much more luck.

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Both kids were in bed by 7 and then I got to relax…

Owenisms 30

As he’s getting into the car after school.
Owen: Hi Katie! How was your day? I missed you!

On the way home, Owen asked me how many minutes until we got home. I said two. As I slowed down to turn in the driveway:
Owen: Is this our house?
Me: Ohmygosh?! I stop the car in the street before pulling in the driveway. Is this our house?
Owen: Blue windows and blue door. Yep, 108. Our house.

Owen wanted to play with my Doctor Who sonic screwdriver so I begrudgingly let him—specifically telling him to BE CAREFUL and not lose any of the parts. Less than three minutes later…
Owen: Mama, I lost the end.
Me: I JUST HANDED IT TO YOU. HOW COULD YOU LOSE IT?
Owen: I don’t know.

Owen: Mama? Want to hear a joke?
Me: Sure.
Owen: Apple juice corn!

Owen: What’s that brown thing?
Me: The avocado pit.
Owen: Why?
Me: Because that’s how it grows.
Owen: Why?

He’s taken to asking what every song on the radio is.
Owen: Mama, what’s this song?
Me: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Owen: Why?

Owen: Mama, what’s this song?
Me: Winter Wonderland
Owen: Why?
Me: Because that’s what it’s called.
Owen: Why?

Owen came in while I was showering. This happens about twice a week. Long story short, he ended up taking a shower with me this time.
Owen: Bending over and looking at my pubic area. Where’s your penis?
Me: I don’t have a penis.
Owen: You don’t?
Me: Thinking “Oh crap, what have I started?” Boys have penises. Girls don’t.
Owen: No. Where is it?
Me: I told you, only boys have penises.
And then I changed the subject and he was off on how tickly the bubbles were. So, a conversation for another day…

Cotton Ball F, Corn, and Finger Painting

These were from about two weeks ago that I forgot to post. 🙂

I think he came up with the F words on his own (you can’t see them in the picture): feel, fun, firefighters, friends, fish

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This one was done with corn. I was really confused about that for a bit…until he told me that it was an ear of corn. Ahhh yes, that makes more sense. 🙂

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Owen noticed what was wrong!

I can’t believe I’ve read this book 5-6 times and never saw it…but in my defense, it’s just a graphic and there’s technically nothing to read on it. And I’m usually reading fast so I don’t start crying.

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But then, after he noticed the 7 was missing…I noticed Wednesday was spelled wrong! TWO MISTAKES!

I contacted the company and they couldn’t believe in over 200 printings no one noticed! They thanked me and said they’d send a replacement book (which I declined, though maybe I should have accepted it so each kid could have one as a memento).

(Daddy’s Deployed is a completely customized children’s book for those with a parent deploying. The book features the name, gender, and physical attributes of, not only the child, but the parents as well!)

Owen’s first school pictures!!

Hell, technically his first ever professional pictures!! (I had the professional photographer come when he was about six months old but that never turned out…and I had my professional photog cousin take some pics one weekend at a family gathering, but it wasn’t anything official.)

I am BEYOND THRILLED and honestly a little amazed at the perfect smiles and cute poses! I mean, just look at the goofy grin I got this morning! I was really worried about getting one good shot, and I got three! Of course I think Pose B is hilarious because that’s just SO not him but it’s such a typical school photo shot—I love it! I had no idea there would be three options, as the form we filled out just let us pick a color background (beige, blue, or red) and accessories (the letters J-O-Y, etc.).

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So after I posted them on Facebook, Tom messaged me:

Tom: OMG! How did you know?
Me: How did I know what?
Tom: The Shirt. Rob and I had to wear matching blue shirts for every school picture, until 6th grade.
Me: Ha ha, I had no idea. I just wanted him in blue since he looks good in blue and I knew I could pick a blue background.

Talk about fate. 🙂

Oh, and…CHALLENGE ACCEPTED. 😈

And, wow have school photos come a long way—you didn’t get an order form ahead of time. As I mentioned, we just got the background and accessory request. You get the order form with the proofs about two weeks later with a website and code numbers to see the proof and order everything from holiday cards to mugs and notepads. I haven’t gotten to check the prices on anything yet, but I’m guessing I’ll just get the smallest package that gets me all three pictures and then I’ll use them as I normally would in my Shutterfly things. STAY TUNED.

Last-minute homework

I don’t always remember to check his bag at night…so some mornings it’s a rush to get it done. Of course this morning it was a dot-to-dot using the alphabet and he pretty much had to sing the alphabet to complete each letter—when he just did one completely by himself with no singing about two days ago. Only because we were running late, I’m sure. 🙂

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