Thursday, September 25, 2008

busy times

It's been busy around here. Three kids is an adjustment for sure. Ethan started preschool last month and just finished his first season of soccer. He's been battling some health problems for the past 8 months and was recently diagnosed with Crohn's/Colitis. He'll undergo one more test very soon to distinguish which one of the two he has exactly. They're treating him for Colitis right now and we're just crossing our fingers he doesn't have Crohn's disease. They say there's a 50% chance that he does and if not he for sure has Colitis (which isn't good either, just less severe).

Lilly is a busy 2 year old and loves nothing more than hanging out with big brother. They're quite the pair, it's more of a love/hate relationship really. If they fight I separate them and then they'll cry for eachother. It's an interesting dynamic when the two of them are together. Lilly is very sharp, sassy, independent and an absolute sweet heart. She's loved watching Ethan play soccer this year and can't wait to play herself. Unfortunetely for her, that's two years away. But that doesn's stop her from practicing. She's sporty but still a little girly girl which I love.Olivia is a sweet, sweet soul. She wants nothing more than to be held all the time and she's so cute the way she snuggles right into your neck. She smiled at me for the first time the other day and it melted my heart. It's fun to see their little personalities come out and I'm starting to get little glimpses of hers every day.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Intorducing our newest addition...Olivia Grace!


Born July 30th at 4:06 am. Weighing 7 lbs. 2 oz. 20 inches.

We are really enjoying our little Olivia. As the nurses in the hospital described her (they even wrote it on her chart) PPIEW- Practically Perfect In Every Way. She's a little dainty girl just like her sister. She has long fingers and toes, I think she's going to be tall! Despite being a little sleep deprived, we're really enjoying her. She has a sweet disposition and is a welcome addition to the family.

Lilly and Ethan are enjoying their new sister. Lilly calls Olivia "her baby" and wants to hold her all the time, it's cute. She is quite the little mother.

Monday, July 14, 2008

"But you don't look 9 months pregnant!"

But I am, really, I promise. And just to appease the doctors and random strangers telling me this on a daily basis, I had an ultrasound today (at the request of my doctor of course). And low and behold, baby is 7 lbs and 20 inches!! II still have a few weeks to go so baby still has more time to cook. Not that I was really worried, I knew everything was fine because I feel the mass of baby inside me everyday and she's feeling heavy these days. Hey doctors, long torso= not so big belly. I know I'm making light, but I really am grateful she's fine and I'm fine. Her little heart looks beautiful and everything else seemed healthy on the ultrasound today. I couldn't see her sweet face though, she was facing backwards and her head was way down in there. So, we'll just have to wait for her much anticipated debut.

Anyway, we're eagerly anticipating and slightly freaking out about being a family of FIVE very soon. We haven't done much vacationing this summer because of my condition, but we've tried to make the most of what's going on locally and maybe we'll get a camping trip in by the end of the summer, we'll see.

Ethan's really enjoying BYU preschool this summer. He's made tremendous strides since his last go at preschool and we're really proud of him. He's also had music camp, sports camp, swim and tennis lessons so he's been a busy boy. Lilly's still a little tiny for camps and she likes to stay close to mom so we've spent lots of time playing together and swimming. She's a little fish, just give her a noodle or ring and she's off. She's learning to swim really well and even has better technique than her 4 year old brother who's already had 2 years of swim lessons! It's looking like I've got a little athlete on my hands. She's the tiniest, little dainty girl but she's a fierce competitor and very strong. It's a funny combination. A wolf in sheep's clothing really.

Ethan and Lilly goofing off in their tent

dancing before church
local fair
little swimmermusic camp
Independence Day
Ethan and I woke up at the crack of dawn (6 am) to watch the hot air balloons take off.
My camera ran out of memory right after I shot this photo of Lilly. It was just before the parade was starting. But I did get this cute one of her being camera shy.


Friday, June 20, 2008

Why do you blog?

I've been in the blogging world for about a year now and I really want to know, why do you blog?

I'm still trying to figure this out for myself. That's why my blog is filled with random posts. Some family stuff, some political, some social, some just rants. My blogging is infrequent because either I don't find the time to blog, don't feel like sharing my life at the moment, or just plain tired of blogging. Then I'll have spurts where I really enjoy blogging. Hmm, maybe I'm suffering from ADSB (Attention Deficit Schizophrenic Blogging). It's a new condition just discovered by the American Board of Everyone Has a Mental Disorder Organization. You can get drugs for it.

I found this blogging world to be a unique window into the human psyche and why we willingly open our lives to millions in cyber space. I know some people keep their blogs private and others don't. So, why do you blog?
Is your blog a form of creative expression?
Do you blog for family members who live far away?
Do you blog to meet people of similar interests?
Do you blog to enter into interesting discussions?
Do you blog because you feel the need to compete and show off you super cute family and make everyone else feel like theirs is less than stellar? (That was a little harsh, but definitely need to be voiced because let's face it, we all know it's there. It's like the elephant in the room.)
I'm really serious, I would love to know.

There is no wrong answer, everyone will probably have a unique reason. So please, discuss.

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Viva Las Vegas!

Just call us the Griswold's! Last weekend we loaded up the station wagon, kids in tow and headed to Las Vegas for Memorial Day weekend. We had a fun, wild, and exhausting time. We didn't find Wally World, but we find some other great stuff to do. We took the kids to The Excalibur for the Tournament Of The Kings (much like the Medieval Times Dinner Theater just a little more Vegasy). We ate with our hands and cheered on our Norwegian King as he jousted and fought his way to his death. The kids loved it. The next day we checked out some more casinos and visited the amusement park at the Circus Circus. It was a great time but I think our next vacation will be the beach. Just a little more relaxing, especially when mom is 7 1/2 months pregnant. My body is still in recovery mode from this trip, but it was worth it.

Lilly riding a $300 wooden horse at the Ferrari store in The Wynn. She knocked it over by accident and I cringed thinking I would have to fork out $300 for an Italian rocking horse. Luckily no damage.

Tournament Of Kings Dinner Theater
The Hulk was in our hotel!
Tired babies

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Just in case you forgot....

...or you're thinking about having a baby, here's some wonderful 3D medical animation to help you visualize your body getting ripped open. Ryan sent this to me the other day. It's always nice to have a visual of the insane pain I'll be going through in the next couple of months. Thanks honey!

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Feliz CumpleaƱos Lilly!


We've had a fun few days celebrating Lilly's 2nd birthday. Yesterday, May 5th, was her birthday. The party started last Friday and didn't stop until bedtime last night. We celebrated her Cinco De Mayo birthday with family, friends, parties and an outing to a pioneer village in Salt Lake. We also made it to the tulip festival which was beautiful.

Lilly is truly our little flower. Her sweet and delicate spirit brightens our lives. We love her so much. She is such a blessing. Happy birthday Lilly.




Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Good Sport

Ethan attended a sports camp at the local rec center for the last couple of weeks. Although I was really into sports as a kid, I've never pushed it on my kids and I won't. I'll introduce them to all kinds of things and let them choose what they want to do. Ethan does have many talents and I wouldn't exactly call him a "sporto". But he's expressed interest in various sports lately so I signed him up for this camp. What you have to know about my son is that if he's not interested in something he's as stubborn as a mule and won't do it. So, the first day went awesome, total participation. The second day I dropped him off and ran errands at Target (next door, perfect opportunity) while he did his thing. I went to go pick him up and the instructor told me he sat out the whole time and refused to play. Ethan told the guy he was feeling "under the weather" that day. Very Ethan. Then in the car he's like "Mom, where were you?" I told him I went to Target. "You can't just leave me and go to Target, I was freaking out". I asked him if that's why he sat at out. He told me yes, so I felt bad. So Lilly and I sat in the gym and watched him in all his glory every day. Ethan participated but occasionally got a little off focus. He made sure that part of his exercise routine included break dancing in the middle of the gym while singing "Smooth Criminal" for everyone. The instructor kindly told me that I might want to sign him up for creative dance, they offer that at the rec. Lovely.

Ethan hitting a homerun




Thursday, April 10, 2008

Breakdown

I hope I don't loose any friends over this. It's been a really hard decision for me and one I've struggled with lately and told myself I'd never, ever do. But it's crunch time and I have no other realistic options to suit my needs. So, here it is. Sigh!

I'm breaking down and buying a minivan.

Please stop laughing at me. I don't want to be ridiculed or teased. I'm the same person I've always been, just a little less cool. I hope you don't look the other way when you see me or introduce me as a "friend of a friend". I will miss my sweet manual shift German station wagon that's been oh so cool. And believe me, I would love to get the Mercedes GL 320 CDI SUV but I just don't have 55K sitting around for luxury me stuff. So, I'm going Japanese oh yes I'm going Japanese I really think so, and getting this.

I think I'll be content, it's a pretty sweet ride on the inside and has all the bells and whistles I need and the price is right. Plus, you all can pawn your kids off on me more often now because I can fit up to 6 car seats in this thing. I'm officially a bus driver. Don't all call me at once now. I'll have a sign up sheet.

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Baby Chic

I just thought I'd share some links to some cute baby/kid stuff. Some of the stuff is a little pricey, but I love to browse for ideas. The third link has some really cute car seat covers and accessories for baby/kid.

http://www.poshtots.com/
http://www.landofnod.com/
http://ctadb.com/

So, I'm trying to figure out how to arrange my kids rooms right now. We have three bedrooms upstairs including the master. My two kid rooms aren't huge, neither one has any growing room. Lilly's room is the smallest and it's the designated nursery. It has a crib, dresser and glider in right now and that's about all it can fit. Ethan's room is a little larger and has a twin bed, dresser, kid table and tiny book shelf. So my question is, what do I do with Lilly? We have a fourth bedroom in the basement, but I'm not going to put Ethan down there, he'd freak out. The new baby will be here in four months and it's a girl so I'll keep the nursery the way it is. I was considering putting the baby and Lilly in the nursery, but I don't think that's such a great idea now. Lilly will just be two when the baby's born and I have a feeling she's going to be very jealous. Whenever Ryan and I hold someone's baby or play with a little one, she comes running and says "My Mommy"! or "My Daddy"! and will try to tug on the baby.

So, my only realistic option is putting Ethan and Lilly in a room together. This just doesn't seem fun to me. I feel like I'm kicking Lilly out of her cute girlie room and throwing her in a boy room with her brother. I could just stick a toddler bed in there or buy bunk beds. I know the sleeping arrangement will be a nightmare at first (both of my kids are light sleepers and require a lot of sleep, I'm talking 12-13 hours a night), but I'm sure they'll get used to it.

The baby will most likely be in our room in a bassinet for the first 6 weeks of so. But I wanted to transition Lilly before the baby's born so she's not traumatized.

Oh yeah, I do have one other option: Put my house up for sale and find a house with 4 bedrooms on the same floor. Unfortunately, that's just not in the cards right now. Although I'm crossing my fingers in might be in the next year.

Any creative suggestions would be appreciated.

I'm sure I sound like the biggest whiner right now, a hundred years ago most families slept in the same room together, all 12 of them.

Sunday, March 30, 2008

Wow, it's been a while!

I guess if you were to grade me on blogging for the last 5 months, I'd probably have a D+ (I like to stay positive). However, in my defense, I have some good excuses:

1. Pregnancy. In the past I've found the evening is the best time to blog. Recently, due to the parasite taking over my body, my bed seems to be my best friend in the evening. I do have a laptop, but the thought of going downstairs and getting my camera and downloading my pictures is honestly more energy than I'm willing to expense. Horrible I know. But today I'm sick in bed with the flu and I've finally downloaded TWO months of pictures from my camera to my computer.

2. Computer problems. My laptop LCD screen is having major issues. It's gone completely dim and I've lost most of the color. It's a relatively new computer (2 year old HP) but the warranty is up (of course, I swear computer companies have this industry rigged) and to have someone look at it is at a least $150 plus parts....Yikes! So, I'm making due with what I have. It makes shopping on the internet a real bugger because I can never tell what color anything is. So I usually call up a friend (thanks Tiffany) or I email my husband the link so he can tell me. This is really cramping my style.

3. Blogging is like crack. Easily addictive and a hard habit to quit (not that I really know, I've just heard). I can spend hours blogging and procrastinating on things I should be doing. But it is really fun to read everyone's witty comments and catch up on all the latest news. So just like all things you have to find a good balance.

So, here are the highlights from the last two months. My wonderful son Ethan turned 4 years old Feb. 6th. We had a fun party for him with friends and family at the Kanagaroo Zoo, a giant playland full of blow-up slides and jumping toys. The kids and the adults had a blast! My mom arrived from Cincinnati the same day as his party and it was fun to have her in town for 2 weeks.

I know my last blog was basically me venting on my crazy son's latest antics, but I have to say that since he's been out of school and turned 4 I have noticed major changes. He's really maturing and minding lately and I can't help but brag about how wonderful he's been. Sure he has his moments, we all do. I think he's just growing out of his crazy 3 year old stage. I'm so in love with his vibrant personality and his comedic talent. He can make me laugh out loud with his clever comments and impersonations. I think I have a mini Macuauly Caulkin/Jim Carrey on my hands. Many people have told me I need to get him into acting, I might have to consider it. He's a riot.

Here are some birthday pics.

The birthday room was really cute

We've also been busy visiting in-laws, taking mini-breaks to Park City for some winter fun and spending lots of time indoors due to the lovely winter weather that pounded us for the months of Nov-March (it's snowing again today). We're definitely ready for Spring here.

Oh yeah, and for those of you who don't know the sex of our baby, we're having a :

Of course we're really excited and can't wait to meet this new member of the family. We hope to see her beautiful smiling face around Aug. 7th. Of course I have to pick (well, I didn't really pick it) the hottest month of the year to have a baby. I think the average temperature is about 110 degrees in Utah at that time. Lovely.

We also had a wonderful Easter here in Provo. The kiddies came downstairs to find their baskets the Easter bunny had left for them on Easter morning. Ryan's family joined us for church, egg- hunt and dinner on Easter Sunday. We had another egg-hunt earlier in the week with friends.

Ethan, Lilly, Paige and Sailor at egg-hunt

Ryan, Grandpa Chris and Peter holding tired children after 1 o'clock church

egg-hunt in back yard


Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Just call him "David"

I can't help but smile every time I read David Shannon's "No David" and other "David" books to Ethan. We almost have the entire collection. This is my son. He's the sweetest, most lovable wild child and he's 100% real. Thanks goodness, he's too innocent to understand conformity and he definitely marches to his own drum. We need people like Ethan. He'll be the type of guy that when sitting in a room with a bunch of suits listening to a boring lecture, will make the inappropriate comment that makes everyone chuckle under their breath and lightens the mood, God love him. He's got more personality in his pinkie finger than, well...you get the point. We've had a lot of incidents with Ethan in the last week. Someone told me a while ago to keep a journal of Ethan events because they're so outrageous, this week I'm starting one. Maybe I'll turn them into children's books in 20 years and embarrass the gajebeez out of him. Here are a few highlights from the past week:

Last Thursday:
Email from posh, creme de la creme preschool Ethan's been attending for more than a year: "Ethan has been very destructive here at school lately, from purposely breaking a chair, to sticking various objects down our bathroom sinks and toilets. It has become a problem considering he's damaging school property.

I have to interject, my son does not do these sort of things at home. And I found out later the chair breaking was an accident. He does other dumb stuff, but he knows better than to break my things on purpose. He fears my wrath and knows the wooden spoon will be waiting to rear it's ugly wooden self on his bum.

School: "We are putting into consideration having to remove him from our school if his behavior does not change".

Me: I apologize profusely and will pay for any damages done to school property. Obviously this is not a good fit for him and or you and I will be removing him from school immediately.

I don't make excuses for bad behavior. But my son is three and they advanced him for academic reasons to a 4 and 5 year old pre-k class. They were going to put him into Kindergarten next year. He was by far the youngest in there and I always questioned his age with them, but they assured me he was fine. His teacher later tells me (about a week before I took him out of school) that all the other children can stay on task for 10 minutes or more, but my son, who fully understands the task, can only stay on task for about 2 minutes. I wasn't trying to be rude, but I politely pointed out to her that my son IS 3!! And he's a very active boy! Phew. It's not rocket science people.

So, here I am. It's winter, I'm pregnant, and my son now has no school and is bored out of his mind. I'm trying to get creative, but just like any parent, you need a break. Although I love him to death and he loves me, we both need some time apart. His time at school was just that. I'm now back at square one. Trying to find a good fit for my son. I visited BYU preschool today and was extremely impressed. I just hope he will be accepted. It's a long shot. They give priority to students an faculty.

Sunday:
I'll just give you a quick synopsis. 4:15 pm. arrive home from church. 4:30 pm. Ryan and I making dinner, Ethan puts superman shirt on and tells me he want to go outside and fight bad guys. I say no because it's Sunday, it's getting late and it's freezing outside. I say he can go in the garage and play with toys while I make dinner. 4:40 Check on Ethan because it's grown quiet. He's escaped and in nowhere in sight. Uncle Peter goes one way, I go the other and we scour the neighborhood. No Ethan. 5:45. I call 911. 5:50 Provo city police department, fire engine and ambulance arrive at my house. Ryan is there to let them in . They search our house from top to bottom. I'm out driving around looking for him. My ward is out looking. It's dark, and he has no coat (just a hoodie), and it's 25 degrees outside. I'm crying my eyes out, praying that he's alive. 6:40 Completely dark , no Ethan. I've covered all of south Provo. More than 2 hours has gone by, I start thinking the worst. 6:50 Ryan calls me, he's been found, perfectly fine. Fire chief brings him home in his car, not a scared bone in his body, just hungry and tired. he tells me he wanted to go for a run and stretch his legs. Nice.

Tuesday morning:

Wake up to an awful smell. Go downstairs to find #2 matter all over my half bath (walls, floor, sink, toilet, vent). My son was covered in it and was attempting to clean the mess with lots of water and towels but just making it worse. He obviously had the runs and didn't get to the toilet in time, it was all in his p.j's too. Without saying much else, I'll just tell you it was the most disgusting thing I've ever seen or had to clean. It took more than an hour to clean the bathroom from top to bottom, I even used an entire bottle of lysol, a whole container of lysol wipes and bleach. And for a pregnant lady with a hyper sense of smell, that's an accomplishment. I couldn't get too mad, he was sorry and it was an accident.

Wow, that's a lot for one week. The fun never ends at my house. At least my life isn't boring. Oh yeah, and my kids aren't perfect. But I love them just the same.

Now I have to ask, was your week as interesting as mine? I know Azucar's vitamin incident with El Guille is defintely noteworthy, but I still think I win.

Sunday, January 20, 2008

Another New Year, Another Tew

Happy New Year everyone! It's been a while since I've blogged. I've been a little of out commission for the last month or so. We found out we were expecting the beginning of December. We're excited and the pregnancy has been healthy. Unfortunately, I've been plagued with sickness and fatigue every day. I've never been hit this hard by pregnancy. Now that I'm at that 3 month mark things are looking up, although I'm definitely feeling green at night still. This has honestly been the longest month and a half of my life! My kids are wonderful, but I feel like I've had them trapped in the house a lot lately. I think they're getting cabin fever. We haven't been out much. Partly because it's a hard winter here in Utah (snow storms and freezing temperatures nonstop since November) and partly because my body just won't move lately. I did take them sledding this week, I had a slight burst of energy. That was short lived though. The next day I was exhausted. Man, I sure do love the first trimester :) Wow, I can't believe I'm up past 8 p.m. tonight! This is a record. We're grateful though. It certainly will be fun to meet the next little Tew in our family. We sure do love our little Tew-Who's.