Happy Birthday Charlotte!

I know her birthday was 2 weeks ago. I was waiting until after her party to write about her birthday so I could include it too. Of course her party was a week ago. But both of the twins have had croup since then so I've been a little busy.


Charlotte woke up on her birthday so excited to be four. She said she felt just a little bit older that morning. Rehm kept trying to tell her she wasn't really four yet because she wasn't born until 5:00pm. Charlotte rushed through getting ready so she could go downstairs and open presents. She got a art desk and some furniture for her doll house. She also had really fun new shoes from her cousin Griffin. She insisted on wearing them to school even though they are not approved school footwear (we took other shoes to change into after she showed them to her teacher).


Then it was off to school with birthday cupcakes. And her Mommy and Daddy were both going to be co-oping at her school. Mommy had the 9-11 shift and Daddy had the 11-1 shift. Usually one parent would do the whole time but the twins had to be picked up from their class at 11 since they were still on their graduated schedule. Charlotte got a special birthday crown so everyone would know she was four!

That night for dinner Charlotte got to pick what she wanted for dinner. She decided she wanted Texadelphia. Michael and were pleased with her choice because it was one of the Kids Eat Free nights there. We did wonder if that made us bad parents since it was her birthday that we were so thrilled to not actually pay for her meal.

Charlotte's birthday party was the following Saturday at Chuck E. Cheese. She had a blast! She got to see her friends from school, plus a few dance friends and a few friends from the school she went to last year. Rehm was a little envious that she got to have a CEC party when he has never had a party there.

At Charlotte's annual checkup she measured 43.25 inches (97th percentile) and 45 pounds (95th percentile). She had to get three shots but she was as brave as she could be. She only cried a little bit. OK she was really quite dramatic and started whimpering anytime someone came in the room. And screamed when the started the shots. But she did calm down right away when they were all done.

At four here are some of Charlotte's favorite things:

Color: Pink

Food: Enchiladas

TV Show: Little Einsteins (This is a complete lie. She always refuses to watch this show. She really likes Pinky Dinky Doo, Max and Ruby, JoJo's Circus, and Sesame Street.)

Toy: The new rocking toys from Ikea (She does like these but her favorites right now are her art desk, her little tykes vanity, her doll house and Baby Caroline.)

Game: The Wiggles

Song: Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and You are my Sunshine



Here is the Charlotte Birth to Four slide show. If you can't see this all of the pictures can be viewed here.

Happy Birthday sweet girl!
Jenn

Football

I should be working. I should be straightening the house. I should be doing any number of things and if I'm going to blog it should be about Charlotte's birthday. But I'm going to talk about one of my biggest football pet peeves instead...

Hair! Yep your read that right, hair! If you are going to play football and have on that hot, tight, sweaty helmet, why in the world would you have long hair? I swear it seems like every time I look up during a game, I see some guy pull off his helmet and his hair will be longer than mine. Of course it is extremely gross looking at this point because it has been stuffed up in the helmet getting all funky. And how in the world do they get the helmet on with all that hair? And how do they keep all of that hair out of their faces? I just don't get it. It is just down right gross! Do they really think it looks good? Do they really think people see them on TV and say "Oh man, look at that guy's hair! Wow it is awesome! I want hair like that!?"

OK, just to clarify, I'm not a huge football fan. I don't come home and think "man, I can't wait to turn on some football!" But I'm married to a man that thinks there are 3 sports in this world. They are college football, spring training and recruiting. So I see a lot of nasty football hair because this time of year that is what is going to be on TV if I don't have control of the remote.

Yes, I do have other football pet peeves but I'll stop with just one today.

If I was going to wear a helmet that much I'd shave my head!
Jenn

The Stuff Mart

We went to the Stuff Mart today - Ikea. This was our families first trip to the Stuff Mart. Appropriately as we are pulling into the parking lot the Veggie Tales song "The Stuff Mart" came on. The parking lot is huge and it was full. It took us a few minutes to find a parking space and then a few more to walk in the store.

My goodness! I who like shopping and was the one who wanted to go was totally overwhelmed. I could spend 24 hours straight in that store and still not know half of what is in there. It was complete overload for me. The twins were mesmerized. Their eyes were big and they were just staring. I'm sure it was the store and not the fact that it was 4 pm and they had not had a nap today. Now let me just say they were put down for a nap and chose not to sleep - I don't want you thinking I was a bad mom and not letting my 1 year olds nap. Charlotte and Rehm were in heaven. They both loved the store and can't wait to go back. Michael was the least impressed or phased by Stuff Mart. He did say they have to sell food because it takes so long to get out of the store.

I went to Stuff Mart for one reason. I wanted to buy some of their kid plates, cups and bowls. I didn't have enough plates and such now that the twins are eating real food and knew from friends that the ones at Stuff Mart were the perfect size and of course cheap. I have been wanting to go to Stuff Mart for months but have not found a good time to go. I finally decided I would just order them online and have them shipped since it didn't look like I would ever get there. Unfortunately when I went to the web site I discovered they were only available in the store! So if I wanted these items I had to go to the actual store to get them.

After we had been in the store 30 minutes and still had not seen the famed plates, bowls and cups I was starting to think they really weren't worth the effort. Alas we found them and a cute little rocking toy and after 15 more minutes of winding through the store were able to check out and leave. Now I do have to say we bought 12 plates, 12 bowls, 6 cups, and 2 rocking toys (they stack so storing 2 is as easy as storing one) and spent less than $30.



For those of you who don't have preschoolers the Stuff Mart is actually the subject of a veggie tales movie. It even has its very own title song. The moral point of the this Veggie Tales is contentment - that more stuff will not make us happier. The Stuff Mart is the store in the story that has everything. I really did feel like I was at Stuff Mart today.

As Veggie Tales put it "Happiness waits at the Stuff Mart...All you need is...lots...more...stuff!"
Jenn

PS I just spent 10 minutes on the Ikea website trying to find the rocking toy so I could add a link. I couldn't find it. It finally dawned on me that I have two of them and I own a digital camera, duh!

The Blanket Fairy

Today at school Rehm's class read a book about the blanket fairy. Then they did a worksheet where they wrote what they wanted the blanket family to bring them (and drew a picture). Rehm's sheet says "I want $600.00" and the picture is several green rectangles. Obviously the all that money he wants. I'm sure most of the kids wanted a kitten or a puppy or some kind of new toy. Not my kid, he wants cold hard cash! And not just a little bit, but $600!

I asked him about the worksheet. It went something like this:

Me: Did you do this at school today?
Rehm: Yes.
Me: Did you read a book about the blanket fairy?
Rehm: Yes.
Me: So what did you want the blanket fairy to bring you?
Rehm: $600.00
Me: Why do you want $600.00?
Rehm: So I can buy a Wii for the family!
Me: Do you know what you do with the Wii?
Rehm: Yeah, you buy Wii games and play them.
Me: Do you know anyone with a Wii?
Rehm: Yeah, Seth and Kyle (boys in his class)
Me: Do either of them have older siblings.
Rehm: Yeah they both do.

Of course my first reaction when I saw his answer was, "how have I raised such a greedy child?" But then after he explained he wanted to buy something for the family I had to reconsider, but it's not like he wanted to give it to his favorite charity or something. If we actually had a Wii he would not like sharing it with his siblings I'm sure. When I called Michael to tell him about this his response was pure giddiness that someone else in the family also wants a Wii.

Ah joy, video games.
Jenn

PS I was going to scan the worksheet for everyone to see but I'm having technical difficulties and my tech support person is not available to help me out a the moment.

Charlotte's First Day of School

OK Charlotte was supposed start school last Wednesday, but she had a fever and couldn't go until Friday. On Friday I forgot to do the interview (oops), so we did it yesterday.



In her interview she talks about having music in my office. I have a desk in one end of a large classroom and that is where they have a little movement class everyday. She thinks it is very funny that she is in my office. There are 10 kids in her class - not six. Parents do help in the class most days. She is very excited that next week her Mommy and Daddy are going to help

Enjoy,
Jenn

Gig 'Em Aggies

Michael here (yes, I do blog occasionally). The extended family had some extra tickets for the Texas A&M-Montana St game. So, Charlotte, Rehm and I headed to Aggieland with Grandma and Grandpa. The game was ok- the Aggies looked alright for the 1st game of the year, though not as sharp as you'd like against a Division I-AA team. Rehm didn't like the noise from the cannon (that is shot after each Aggie td) or the flyover from the fighter planes after the national anthem. So, he spent a lot of time looking like this:


Of course, after the game he said his favorite things were...the planes and the cannon!

Charlotte loved her Aggie overalls, getting kisses whenever the Aggies score and singing the Aggie War hymn.



Both kids loved their snowcones and watching the band march at halftime.


At one point in the game, Rehm was standing next to me and in front of his seat. The Montana St coach was out on the field arguing about some call and the man a couple of people over yelled, "Aww, sit down already!!" Rehm dropped into his seat like he'd been shot :) The man was very apologetic and explained to him that he was yelling at the coach.

Later, Rehm looked at me and said, "I wish there were designated smoking areas in Kyle Field. " I, along with the woman sitting on the other side (wife of the man yelling at the coach) looked at him in bewilderment. "Why?"I asked, "Are you thinking of lighting up?" He had no such intentions...he just thought it would be nice for the people who wanted to smoke to have a place where they could. How compassionate (in a completely politically incorrect way!)

Overall, a wonderful time staying up way past bedtime!

Toothless No More

It's official, no more toothless kids in our house. Ruby is finally sporting a new tooth. Granted you can't really see it yet but you can feel it. That is if Ruby is willing to cooperate and let you get a finger in her mouth. Now don't take that as an invitation to come up and stick your finger in my daughter's mouth. I don't know where your finger has been and well really just don't want people messing with my baby. So for a few more weeks you'll have to take my word for it. And what's a few more weeks when it took her 14 months to get one?

Happy Day
Jenn

Coo Coo Chicken

Charlotte helped Michael plan our menu for the week. Yes, we plan our menu. It makes grocery shopping easier and makes dinner prep easier as I skip the "what do I feel like fixing for dinner" step. Charlotte's pick was Toasted Cous Cous with Chicken. She thought it was a funny name and dubbed it Coo Coo Chicken.

Last night was Coo Coo Chicken night. Michael had a meeting and wasn't going to be home for dinner. I seriously considered cooking something else as I knew I wasn't feeding cous cous to the twins (too messy), Rehm wouldn't eat it and Michael wasn't home. But since it was the dish Charlotte wanted this week I decided to go ahead. She helped me make the cous cous (which is not actually toasted - haven't figured that out yet). At dinner time I decide to add cheese toast to the menu so there would be something on everyone's plate they would definitely eat.

We sit down to dinner. This is the conversation I had with Rehm.

Rehm: I don't like anything on my plate
Me: Sure you do you like cheese toast
Rehm: It's the wrong kind of bread and the wrong kind of cheese.
Me: You eat both of those.
Rehm: I only eat that bread for peanut butter and jelly and I don't like American cheese.
Me: You eat American cheese all the time.
Rehm: Yeah, only on grilled cheese!
Me: And how is a grilled cheese different from cheese toast?

He proceeded to ask for cinnamon toast and dessert. He got neither. He ate nothing on his plate. I refused to fix him anything else. Next time maybe cheese toast will sound more appetizing to him.

Charlotte would not actually try the Coo Coo Chicken and only picked the cheese off of her cheese toast and ate her strawberries.

Why did I go to the trouble of Coo Coo Chicken? If you figure it out let me know.
Jenn

Fourteen Month Update

The girls are so busy now. They have so many new tricks.


Ruby is cruising all over the place and likes to walk holding our hands. Last night she took about three steps unassisted. It won't be long before she is officially a walker! She can climb up and down the stairs. She loves to patty cake. Her newest word is "woohoo." She is still toothless.


Eliza Claire is cruising. She likes to play with any toy that has balls with it. She can climb up and down the stairs. She loves to play peek-a-boo. Her favorite word is "hi." She has 3 teeth and 3 more on the way.

Where did my babies go?
Jenn

PS new pictures are here.

PSS I've been trying for two days to upload a cute video of the girls and have had no luck. I guess it is time to talk nice to my personal tech support personnel. I'll post it when I can.

Happy Birthday Sam

Sam's eighth heavenly birthday was August 30th. The evening before his birthday was really hard on me this year. I still miss him so very much. I still wonder what he would look like and what his favorite things to do would be. I would love to see him playing with his siblings. I would just love to give him a big hug and tell him how very much I love him. But since I can't I try to be his mom in different ways, one of which is reaching out to others who lose a baby.


Yesterday we celebrated his birthday with a party at the cemetery. I know this sounds very unusual and it is. But when you involve your children in the planning process this is what happens. In their minds it is his birthday and that means there must be a party. It doesn't matter that he is in heaven, there must be a party. Of course if you have a party there must be guests and party favors and cake. This year they insisted on inviting more friends than in past years. So I got the task of inviting everyone to our unusual party. Luckily we have wonderful friends who are very gracious about our strange requests

Everyone had fun celebrating Sam's birthday. The kids went on a tour of the section of the cemetery to ring all the wind chimes they could find. Rehm and Charlotte had picked out little plastic zoo animals and lizards to decorate Sam's stone, so all the kids helped with the decorating. Then we sang Happy Birthday and had cake. Then we release balloons to send to Sam in heaven. The older kids really liked that part and really liked watching After the balloon release we gave everyone their party favor (a light stick) and it was time to go.



It is really touching to have family and friends who love our family enough to come to the cemetery for a birthday party. I feel truly blessed to have such amazing people in my life.

After having lunch Michael, the kids and I went to the hospital. Every year we take a bag containing a book on grief, a journal and a keepsake (usually a Willow Tree angel) and ask that it be given to a family whose baby dies. Every year we trek to the Labor and Delivery Nurses Station and the staff standing there look at us like we are crazy since we have several kids with us and are obviously not about to have a baby. We explain why we are there, give them the bag and leave. It is something I'm glad we do and I hope that whoever receives the bag finds a small measure of comfort in that bag.

Happy Birthday my sweet boy!
Jenn