Happy Halloween!

Good morning! They say when it rains, it pours, and this house is no exception to that "rule." Carson was up and running full force by Saturday evening. We had dinner with family on Sunday evening and then a lazy "catch-up" from the weekend Monday.

We were supposed to go to the pumpkin patch on Tuesday, but it rained and rained and my MOPS groups decided that 40 preschoolers in a mud puddle was NOT a good idea. We postponed to this Tuesday - hopefully it won't be wet AND cold!

Carson and I got to pick Seth up from daycare Tuesday evening. He stayed for dinner. The kids had so much fun together. I love that they are finally at an age where they can "play together" and interact a lot.

Wednesday was the day the rain started in our house. Delaney woke up around 7:45 (nothing unusual yet) and said she was cold. It was kind of chilly, so I told her we'd wrap up in a blanket and she'd be fine. We sat on the couch till Carson got up and then I fixed some breakfast. About 2 minutes into breakfast she said she was going to go get her blanket because she was cold. She got down from the table and disappeared into her room for a few minutes. When I went back to check on her she was snuggled up under her blankets totally asleep. I scared her b/c I thought she was pretending so I touched her back to see if she was okay and she jumped. She slept until 11:15 - anyone who knows Delaney knows I usually have to hold her in bed to get her to go to sleep, so I knew something was wrong. She picked at lunch and then went back to bed about 1 and didn't get up till almost 4. BLUCK!!! All I could think was "here we go again." Carson and I went to church Wednesday evening and when we got home Delaney was herself - bouncing all over the house asking how church was and the house smelled oddly like popcorn!!! Guess she was feeling better.

Thursday she got up like normal, we went to dance, then Wal-Mart, then McDonalds. We had soooo much fun at McDonalds. They were both in great moods and they talked about everything and ate like big kids! It was such a great mommy/kiddo time!!!

Friday we went to the library. Delaney was fading fast during the morning. She took a long nap in the afternoon and we assumed she was fine - just still feeling yuck from Wednesday and being so busy on Thursday. However, right before dinner she said, "I'm not hungry, do I have to eat?" While we were finishing getting it on the table, she said, "I'm going to puke." And, that she did!!! Luckily she made it to the bathroom - one up on Carson!!! She was pretty whiny and laid around all evening, but she did seem better once she had just gotten it all out.

Saturday we were lazy in the morning. Matt and I had a date in the evening. We went to this great bar and grill (Hal's Fabulous Vegas) and then drove downtown to have hot chocolate. It was such a nice escape. We also bought the paint for the kitchen - maybe it will be done before Christmas!!!

Last night we went to Chinese with Shannon, Aaron, Teri, and Jeff - Delaney ate enough "noodles/spaghetti" for a few kids!!! Guess she's feeling better.

A few funny stories from the week: One night after baths Delaney asked if she could go get a drink of water from the kitchen. Matt told her to get her drink and come straight back. She walked down the hall a few steps, then turned around and said, "I can't come straight back, I'm going to have to turn." HA!!! Hope you all enjoy her self portrait - I was so proud of her - I am sure Matt thought I was a huge dork, but oh well!!! She also has really taken to making words with her letter blocks and cards. She started with cat, bat, rat, and then was doing dance and prance by the end of it - even Matt was impressed with that!!!!



Carson uttered the phrase, "I am not going to listen to this" talking about Delaney's whining A LOT this week!! It was pretty cute. We enjoyed a wonderful Wednesday together while Delaney slept. He was quite the character!!!

Happy Halloween!!!
Gretchen

What a week!

I feel as if I owe you all a very long email to make up for the last few weeks. However, if you had endured this week with me, you wouldn't expect much!

Our week started off okay. I had a retreat in New Albany on Monday that was disorganized and unproductive, but they paid me for it and provided breakfast and lunch, so who can complain? I returned home to two kids in a great mood! They had enjoyed their day with Aunt Shannon and Grandma Teri. They had played dress up and eaten out for lunch!

During dinner things went from good to bad in a matter of minutes. Anyone who knows me knows that I have a tendency to plan my life out in advance and get a little irritated when things don't go as planned - well, it was about to happen and I had no control over it!! Carson decided puking during dinner was a great plan. Now, sometimes Carson does this b/c he shoves so much food into his mouth (like at Chick-fil-a with my new MOPS friends), but he wasn't pigging out at the moment, so we were confused. He seemed okay the rest of the night, so we thought it was a flukish thing and he'd be fine. However, Tuesday morning he decided it would be a good idea to do the same thing minutes after breakfast - that was when I realized my week was NOT going to go as planned. No MOPS for us on Tuesday! After he hadn't had a wet diaper for 12 hours I decided to call the doctor, who, of course, wanted to see him that day. She found an ear infection and probably something viral causing the vomiting. So, home we went to tough it out on the puking, but with medicine (that he obviously couldn't keep down) for the ear. He got sick 3 more times during the night on Tuesday/Wednesday - which meant no storytime at the library for Wednesday. Did I mention I was having a garage sale this weekend too and desperately needed to get some closets cleaned out? And that the only place my sweet baby boy wanted to be was on my lap?!? By Wednesday evening we thought he was on the upswing. He had kept down 2 doses of medicine and was eating a little. However, after puking 3 more times Wednesday night, we didn't know what to expect. Thursday was a rocky rough day. He was soooo lethargic that I could barely stand it. He just whined, not for food or drink, but just a moaning, whimpery whine everytime I put him down to do anything else - you know, go to the bathroom, help Delaney get dressed - all those things I needed to do :-) By Thursday evening we were pretty sure a trip to the emergency room was in our future. He had a fever of 102 and we decided to try some Motrin to see if we could get that under control. You wouldn't believe the difference that made. I gave it to him around 7pm and by a little after 8 he was walking around the house and talking - is that my boy?!? By Friday afternoon I would say he was 75% himself. We decided to let him leave the house for the first time since Monday. He wanted worms and dirt (ice cream with crushed oreos and gummi worms), so of course, that is what we got!! Today he is himself - whiny, but I think that comes from being 2 and living with Delaney!!!

Delaney was a very big girl this week. She learned to be a little more self sufficient and understanding that the world couldn't revolve around her for a while. Not today, of course!!

I decided to go forward with the garage sale, of course, only half of the stuff was out that should have been, but it was productive. Matt took Friday off work to man the kids while I manned the garage. I made about $50 each day - not too bad for a total lack of planning. I made enough to finish the kitchen redo - that was the goal, so I'm happy!!! Hopefully you will get to see my before and after pictures soon - didn't I say that back in February?!?!?

Love you all!
Gretchen

pictures

This week you are just getting cute pictures! As most of you know this past weekend was Matt's younger sister's wedding celebration in Chicago. These were taken there. Enjoy!!

Love,
Gretchen

Adventures In Babysitting (from Bub)

Hi all,

I told Gretchen I might write a guest column. I had a great time with the kids last Tuesday. They had gotten up early enough that Gretchen already had them dressed when I arrived. We headed outside almost immediately after mommy headed for work.

They were excited to see the "surprise" I had to show them in my truck. When I started pulling out my fire gear, however, Delaney informed me that if I started putting it on she was going to hide. I did manage to get the gear on without her hiding but that was about it. Later in the afternoon when Matt got home he donned the gear and was even able pick up Carson and Delaney.

Our walk was really more of a run. I let them run just a bit ahead as long as they would stop when I said stop. It did take a few tries to get this rule to sink in. First we walked to the lake that is about a block away. I think crossing the street wowed them more than the lake. Next we went to the bridge behind their house, which I gathered was the usual destination of the walks. There wasn't any water under the bridge, but we threw some rocks in anyway.

Just as we were getting back home it had started to rain. We raced back to save the sidewalk chalk and chairs that we had left outside. I scooted their chairs out close to the rain so they could stick their feet out in it. It didn't take long for that to become a full fledged dancing in the rain. I had to drag them out of the rain to have lunch.

Grandpa Bub

Slower Pace

We went at a slower pace this week and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Monday we had a lazy day around the house. I got caught up on some laundry and cleaning. When Matt got home from work we took the kids to their first Greenwood Christian Academy sports event. (GCA is the school I used to teach at). We went to watch the girls that I had in first grade when I was pregnant with Delaney play volleyball. The girls were all "grown up" and our kids had a blast. They have been "throwing" the volleyball ever since.

Tuesday was a work day for me. Grandpa Bub (Matt's dad) came to stay with the kids. All I know is the day consisted of a walk without strollers, sidewalk chalk, playing in the rain, and trying on his fire gear - sounds like they had WAY more fun than I did!!!!

Wednesday we went to visit an older couple from our church. He had a stroke a few weeks ago that affected his speech and we thought Carson could bring some cheer to him - they seem to have similar problems - their minds go faster than their mouths :-) The kids got to play with their kitten - Princess Sophie - and I got to socialize. It was a nice visit and lasted a lot longer than I had planned. But, we were having so much fun, I didn't want to drag the kids away.

Thursday Delaney had dance and then we went to sell cookie dough (dance fund raiser -don't worry, if you live close enough for me to deliver it to you, you will be getting an email about it) at Grampy's work. It is a hilarious process because Delaney refuses to talk to people she doesn't know (unless we're in the store), so Carson walks up to people and says, "Are you want some cookie dough?" While Delaney hands them the paper and backs away!! Too cute, but they've made lots of sales that way!!

Friday was another lazy day - we ran to Meijer in the morning for some groceries and then we waited around for the Royal Spa man to come fix our hot tub - it is up and running now if anyone is interested!!

Saturday was spent cleaning the hot tub and the shower - blah!!! However, I was greatly rewarded by going to The Cheesecake Factory with 2 of my friends. We had a blast!!!! I love going out with them b/c my face hurts by the end of the night from laughing so hard. It is a nice break from Mommyhood :-)

Today was full of football - the kids were screaming "Ball, ball, ball" during a game that Matt wasn't even watching. Carson was little Matt during dinner. He sat watching the TV the entire time, but he ate most of his food too, so I couldn't say much. Sundays are the only days that the TV is permitted to be on during a meal, so it's okay with me if he's glued to it - like father, like son!


Love you all. Have a GREAT week!
Gretchen