Halloween 2019

Happy Halloween! TBH, I feel like Halloween took forever to get here simultaneously wondering why it was taking so long to leave. Isn't that strange? Must be from all the things we've been doing. I swear Elias is my wishywashy bub with switching costumes so often. Last year, he went from being a hot dog, to Buzz Lightyear, to a skeleton. This year, it was Louise Belcher, a witch, and Chase from Paw Patrol. He exhausts me. Though, the witch costume was mixed in with our laundry and we didn't find it until after we had been trick-or-treating. We had a good night. I can't believe I was pregnant this time last year. The idea of even carrying one more baby makes my uterus cringe. Anyhoo, per our tradition, the Wicked Witch left the kids with a few treats this morning, so they were happy. Elias loves all the magic surrounding the holidays. He's exceptionally excited for Santa to visit.

Fun story! So, we were back on our street heading home when we were at a house about two doors down from ours. Nobody answered, but the house next to them said, "We have candy! You can come over here!" So we did. I headed up to the door last since Zac was pushing Elias in the stroller and Jac and Leah were in a hurry to collect and get home. I walked through an unmistakable spider web. It felt like a lot of webbing, so I brushed what I could off my face and hair and felt creepy. There was even a slight tugging on the choker I was wearing, so I shook my head a bit thinking it was probably the spider. I told my family I might have a spider on me and if they could check me, that'd be cool. Jac looked me over, but didn't see anything. I didn't feel like I was alone, so I wanted to get home. I got the baby out of the harness and handed him to Jac. No spiders. I got the actual harness off me, no spiders. I took off my coat and draped it over the baby gate. No spiders. Then... a sudden sensation on my arm. I looked over and and brushed whatever it was off me, but in slow motion, I saw legs and watched it in horror as it fell to the floor. I screamed. It was gigantic and awful with mandibles the size of chop sticks. My hands were shaking and I completely freaked out. Zac captured it in a baby food jar and only after I took a lava-hot shower and washed the creeps off me was I able to sit and take a picture of the asshole critter. I even looked it up and found it's a garden orb spider, which only makes webs at night. My dumbo kids have named it Gerald.

X-Ray, Random

I brought all the kids to Elias' appointment to get his leg checked out again. The doctor confirmed a small fracture, but said it's healing perfectly. I take him back in two weeks for another x-ray and if it looks good, they'll take his cast off. 

They had to re-wrap his heel because he picked a hole in his cast and the edges were sharp and hurting him. He's also become itchy, so I've been trying to soothe him by using popsicle sticks to poke down the sides of his legs. He's also been trying to stand and is super independent. He'll slide out of his bed, which is close to the floor, then scoot to the door and get up on his good leg to open it, then scoot all the way to the den and climb onto the sofa. It's remarkable and scary because he doesn't seem worried that he could hurt himself further. I've been bathing him by washing his whole body with a damp, mildly soapy cloth, then rubbing him down with lotion. It's hard cleaning his foot on the cast side, even though his toes are peeking out, so his skin is dry and peeling around his toes. I've been doing what I can do keep them comfortable with lotion. He's also been doing great with getting to the bathroom. I have him sleep in training pants, just in case he has an accident, so his cast doesn't get wet, but he's been waking up dry every morning. I also started letting him get back into Awana at church, so Jac gets to push him in the stroller so he can participate. I think Jac likes it, too, because he can be in the same room as Leah. That's one of the downsides at the church right now. Jac is only 13, but most of the youth are 17 and up. He's too big for Leah's group, but too young for the youth, so he's just kind of stuck. He'd rather be in the group with Leah, which nobody minds. They understand. I just think he feels awkward about it. I was trying to explain that to Mom the other day. Molly is 13, but her and Abbi (17) get along just fine because Molly is more mature, like Meredith was at that age. Jac is always around Leah and younger brothers that he ends up adapting to how they play, so he feels more comfortable with younger kids. I was like that, though. Most of my friends are 3-6 years younger than me. Maybe one day the church will expand or we'll find a new one when we move.

Oh, I'm also going to be in a Christmas play at a theater this December called The Rented Christmas. I've got a small role as Bridget, the housekeeper, but it's been fun participating. I'm a little exhausted because I've got rehearsals every night, but I like getting out of the house and I'm doing something just for me. I'm not even nervous! I thought I might be because my anxiety always kicked in with church solos, but with this, it's just so comfortable. I've gotta have my lines memorized by November 11th, so I've been working on that. I'm hoping to do it again later on. Andrea thinks I should be part of the suggestion group because I've been asking about possible future plays, ha.

Cole: 11 months!

Baby Bear is 11 months old!

He can say Mama and Baba, wave bye-bye, and babble little sounds. He'll clap his hands if we say "yay!" and will shake his head back and forth if we say "no no no". He loves baths now that he can sit up and he'll soak the bathroom with splashes. He can stand alone for about five seconds and has tried to take a step or two. He loves most baby foods, except for bananas, and prefers oatmeal to rice cereal. He sleeps about four hours before waking to get in our bed for another four, though sometimes on a good night, he'll sleep six. I'm still breastfeeding, though my right side isn't as productive as my left. I feel my supply is starting to dwindle a bit since he's eating baby food. His hair is a reddish color in front, but darker brown in the back. It's so weird! So far, he's got his two bottom teeth, but four are trying to come out all at once on top. His little gums are so sore and swollen. He laughs more than he cries now and he can entertain himself in his play pen for longer periods of time, sometimes an hour. He loves Sesame Street and classical piano music. When he's happy to see someone, he'll do a full-body wiggle and scrunch his face in a goofy gummy grin.

Pumpkins

We finally bought pumpkins to carve! This month has been so chaotic, we haven't had a chance to visit a pumpkin patch. I know they're fun and all, but we're trying to save money for trips and the idea of $12 a person x 6 is not worth it, especially since the kids have already collected buckets of candy and it's not even Halloween. Elias drew a face for me to carve and he helped pick out all the seeds. This was Cole's first experience with gutting gourds, so he sat by and watched with fascination. We didn't have our pumpkin carving supplies, so I used a bread knife. It worked pretty well, but it was a little clumsy. The kids were impressed. I baked the seeds and they turned out yum. It helps to coat them in maple syrup, then toss them with salt, brown sugar, and pumpkin spice.

Trunk or Treat

We planned to attend the annual Trunk or Treat because the kids had so much fun last year, but it was supposed to rain. The event was moved from the football field to the community center, which Zac and I were wary about. Our family just recovered from sore throats and sniffles, so being indoors with a lot of people made me nervous about catching more bugs. We went and waited in the line. A long line. So long in fact, it snaked around the building and we stood there for TWO HOURS. By the time we reached the building, most of the booths had run out of candy. Lesson learned! Something to blog about. The kids were decent sports about the whole thing (kinda). Elias was the most patient, Jac and Leah kept complaining about how cold/hungry/bored/tired they were, while Cole slept in my arms UNDER my shirt with a boob in his mouth. Next year, if the event gets moved indoors, we aren't going. Luckily, we made it to the booths our church were hosting and Mrs. Rita gave us a big bag of candy.

Before hand, we decided to purchase last minute costumes because the kids only agreed to Bob's Burgers for C Spire, so we stopped at Target and picked up a witch costume for Leah and a burger for Jac. He wanted to be a pizza again, but no luck finding one. Luckily, both costumes were a little big, so they've got something for next year, that is if May doesn't shred them.

Fun

I saw this online and thought why not?

*Ask your spouse/significant other these questions and write EXACTLY what they say*

1. What is something I say a lot? "Hell yeah"
2. What makes me sad? "Pictures of puppies you can't have"
3. What's my favorite thing to do? "Crochet"
4. How tall am I? "Five-ffffffffffour"
5. What do I do when you're not around? "Teach the kids and take care of the house a bit. Take care of the kids... a lot of stuff."
6. What's my favorite TV show? "Friends"
7. If I became famous, what would it be for? "Writing."
8. What makes you proud of me? "You're a good mama, a sweet woman, and you've got good values. And you're not stupid *laughs*"
9. Where can I most likely be found? "Hobby Lobby, Bath & Body Works, Target, or shopping"
10. What is my favorite restaurant? "Fernandos"
11. Where is one place I don't like to be? "Your mom's".
12. If I could go anywhere, where would it be? "Paris".
13. How do I annoy/irritate you? "When you don't do something if I tell you to, but you won't do it if I don't tell you. Or you won't do it at all *laughs*"
14. How do you annoy me? "When I don't do something you tell me to and when you remind me, I still forget. Or how I grope you when I drink too much... but I think you like that *laughs*"
15. Who is my favorite person? "It me".
16. You get a call that I'm in trouble. Who am I with? "James because he did something stupid."
17. If I were in jail, would you come bail me out? "Yep... wait, what did you do?"

C Spire

We won the costume contest at C Spire again. I don't know why other people don't dress up, but I'm not complaining. Last year we won a gift card to Burgers and Blues and this year it was to Starbucks. I've got us on a super tight budget right now in order to save for a trip to New York in the spring, so I was having a hard time figuring out costumes. Most are about $30-$50 each and it's ridiculous to pay that much for something one would only wear once (think wedding dresses). So I went a frugal route and picked DIY Bob's Burgers, only opposite sex since boys outnumber girls in our family. I spent a total of maybe $50 for the shirts, ears, mustache, and aprons, plus yarn for Cole's burger costume that I made myself.

It's raining

It's been a rough week and it's only Tuesday.

First of all, it's pregnancy and infant loss awareness day. I've got two candles for two babies that aren't here. I find it mildly symbolic that this day is in October as I had my first loss in October while the second was due in October.

As I've previously mentioned, Sunday started off the week with Elias breaking his leg. Zac took off Monday morning to sit with the kids while I brought Elias to the bone doctor, but couldn't get an appointment until 2pm. So Zac went on to work and was home early so I could leave. Leah tagged along for I dunno what reason. I guess she was bored or something. After a few long hours, Elias was fitted for a bright red cast and we were discharged. Upon leaving, Leah started complaining about her ear hurting and spiked a fever. I gave her some medicine and got Elias situated, then headed out to a line-reading for a play I'm going to be in this December, thanks to Andrea for the part (more on that in a minute). I got home from the reading and Leah's fever was higher, she was crying (but she's dramatic, so crying happens over everything) and dizzy, so I said fuck it and brought her to the ER last night. After a brief exam, I learned she's got strep throat. A shoutout to the asshole who brought their infected kid to church Wednesday night because I'm 100% positive that's where she got it. She started crying after she took a dissolvable Zofran, then took forever to drink the ibuprofen, then started freaking out with another medicine because it was slimy and made her mouth numb. I told the nurse to pray for me, signed the discharge papers and we headed home. She went on to bed and I was finally able to just sit for a minute and recharge.

This morning, I left Jac with the younger kids and dropped Leah's prescriptions off, then headed to the grocery in the rain for Sprite and potatoes. I was a bit stressed, so I forgot to get more Ibuprofen and probiotic yogurt, but luckily Zac's break was coming up so he swung by the store and grabbed all that for me. Leah's been medicated for the day and I'm doing my best to keep that stubborn child fed and hydrated, but she doesn't want to eat, doesn't' want to drink or take medicine or rest, so I've about decided to put her outside. I won't, but I might. 

My line-reading went great. I'm playing the part of Bridget, who is a housekeeper for a lonely, wealthy man. He wants to rent a Christmas for the holidays. The play is cute and has a Hallmark movie vibe, but I'm excited to be doing something just for me. I'm going to tell Andrea to keep me in mind for upcoming plays, especially if she decides to direct Young Frankenstein. I have another reading tonight and I'm looking forward to it. We started attending a church group on Tuesday nights, but with the kids sick, I'm doing the reading instead while Zac takes care of the kids. I don't think we're going to church Wednesday either, especially if it's still raining since Elias' cast can't get wet. I honestly don't want to be that asshole who brings the sick kids, so when Leah's better and her antibiotic is finished, then we'll go.

I need more coffee and have a kitchen to clean, laundry to fold, and whatever else to do. Jac is helping a bunch by keeping Cole occupied for me so I can get shit done. Adieu.

13 is Lucky

My favorite husband and I have been married a whopping THIRTEEN years! Our (what we call) golden anniversary that honestly doesn't feel like that long ago we said our vows. We had a nice weekend together and got a little more holiday shopping done (mostly for me because everyone but the little boys are done). I'm feeling a little giddy about Christmas and less giddy about Halloween, even though I very much love Halloween. Maybe I just want to wrap the gifts and such. Who knows? Let me back up a bit...

Saturday we went to the outlet mall to walk around because the temperature was actually cold enough for sweaters. FINALLY! I know it's not going to last very long, but this week of chill has been divine. I just want to stay outside and hold a warm mug of anything and inhale the neighbor's chimney smoke from a distance. Now, about Halloween. Many times, I've tried to theme my family for costume ideas. Only once did it workout where we were Jack and Sally with Lock, Shock, and Barrel. I've tried to dress us as the Addams family or Mario Bros, but the kids are rarely interested. This year, we're hoping to participate in the C-Spire costume contest again as *drum roll* Bob's Burgers. The twist is we'll be the opposite gender. So, I'm going to be Bob, Zac will be Linda, Jac will be Tina, Leah will be Gene, Elias will be Louise, and Cole will be a burger or wear a onesie with a burger on it. I spent about $30 for all our shirts, a mustache, and two aprons. Meanwhile every costume in the state is like $40 each, so technically I scored. I brought Leah with me to look for a Louise hat and pick up a few groceries, but didn't have luck with the burger costume or the hat.

Sunday, today, is my 13th anniversary. We woke up surprisingly on time and made it to church. I had to be in the nursery during the service and honestly only enjoyed it because I could hold my baby bear for the duration. He was super snuggly, too. After church, Zac made some beans and rice while the kids played outside on the trampoline. Jac eventually came in and played with Cole while Leah jumped on the trampoline with Elias. After a few minutes, I heard Elias start shouting. Normally, shouting happens when they're playing so I didn't jump up right away. Then, it sounded like crying, but not regular crying. It was very different. So I hurried out there and he was inconsolable. After looking him over, he said his right leg hurt. He couldn't stand on it and didn't want me to touch it. It wasn't swelling or anything, but I decided to be safe and take him to the ER while Zac kept the other three. I signed us in, sat in the waiting area for a few minutes, then headed back to the exam room. Elias' leg was moved around a bit and he answered their questions about falling on his leg after being bounced too high. He was super brave and helpful. An X-ray was done and the image came back inconclusive, but there was a shadow in the area where he was most sensitive. They were going to give him a CT scan, but decided to put him in a splint and told us to go to the other hospital that specializes in pediatric emergencies. My poor Elias is in a splint from his toes to his hip on his right side. He's been very cooperative and calm aside from getting upset during a flare of pain. He just wanted to watch Monsters Inc and go to bed. I've gotta get up early tomorrow morning to bring him to the evaluation. I'm positive it's broken, even though the X-ray wasn't definite. He can't stand and when Zac and I took him to use the potty, he was screaming in pain. Zac's going to stay home with the other kids until I get home so I don't have to take them all with me. It's been quite the day.

Park

Yesterday, Zac let me sleep in a bit late. It was something of a rough weekend. Cole was up til 1am Saturday morning, then Elias woke up with a wet bed at 4am. I spent the rest of the night trying to get Cole back to sleep with off-and-on nursing sessions and him biting me (hard) over and over again, then crying because I said "Ow!". Apparently, I'm not supposed to yell. So, Zac didn't wake me after he took Cole to the kitchen and I slept til 11am. We had a leisure morning. Zac made breakfast and we went to the library and the grocery. It felt like a lazy morning, but maybe too lazy? I got restless and decided to rearrange the den, clean the kitchen, and fold some clothes. Midway through folding laundry, I felt sleepy, so I reheated that morning's coffee. Needless to say, once the kids were tucked in and Cole was in his bassinet, I could not sleep. Around 4am Sunday morning, I finally dozed off. Then Zac's alarm went off at 7 and Elias came in our room to use the toilet, then Cole woke up to Elias slamming the door behind him and, well, it wasn't fun. We skipped church and I made pancakes (from scratch!), then we went to Best Buy to order a new refrigerator because we desperately need an ice-maker and water filter. While Zac did that, I took the kids next door to PetSmart to look at critters, then went to Target to look at Halloween costumes. They're considering being junk foods.

We picked up a pizza for lunch and headed to the park for a little while until we realized that even though it's October, it's still the south and super hot, so we went back home. Elias fell asleep in my lap while we watched The Witches, then I fell asleep rocking him, so I had to rush to get dinner ready (spinach artichoke lasagna, which was pretty good). And now, I'm hanging out in my room with a sleepy baby bear while Zac is in the shower and Leah is reading to Elias and Jac is loading the dishwasher. Hashtag blessed, y'all.

Anyhoo, here are some pics from the park.

Checkups and Cake

I slept in the other day when Cole was due for his 9 month checkup. Luckily, it was rescheduled quickly, so we went today. I even got Leah's shot record straightened out. Cole had his finger pricked to check his iron, but he's healthy, no anemia. He goes back in December.

 

The middles had Awana at church tonight, so I dropped them off. When I went back to get them, Mrs. Rita was cutting up some bundt cakes, so Leah grabbed me a slice and I kid you not, it was like biting into every happy thought I'd ever had. I learned the cake was picked up from Nothing Bundt Cakes and OMG, I just want a carrot cake from there. Now I know what I want for my birthday.

Witchy Traditions

October is finally here! So close to cooler weather and more pumpkins (as if I don't have enough already) and orange everywhere.

The Wicked Witch dropped off the October treats, though more like tricks because the sugar cookies tasted like stale biscuits.