Pierced Piper

On Sunday we had an impromptu mall trip with my two neighbor friends.  We decided to make it a girls only day since the men wanted to watch football so I took my girls along with Bella, Piper's BFF.  We took baby Bradley along too but he's only 4 months old and doesn't "count" as a kid yet.

While we were there, I had a though - why not get Piper's ears pierced?  She has been asking off and on for a while now and this was the perfect opportunity since Bella was with us (and she has hers pierced which was one of the reasons that Piper has recently started asking).  When I asked her she started jumping up and down - she was so excited.  

We headed over to Piercing Pagoda since that is where Caroline had hers pierced and I liked it.  However, in four years, they had greatly increased their prices and my hope of getting Piper the same earrings (with her birthstone) were dashed when I saw the $55 price tag.  Um, what.  I was just about to pull back and head up to Claire's when I saw these pink, crystal starts for a much more reasonable price.  Caroline and I easily persuaded Piper to pick those - she really did like them - and we were set.  

Piper climbed into the chair and was all smiles.  I crossed my fingers and hoped for the best because THIS was where Caroline's piercing went downhill.  

But, she continued doing great!  She sat very still while the woman marked her ears.

She seemed fine as she waited for them to get set to pierce them both at the same time but I could tell by the look on her face she was very nervous.  She didn't say a thing but sat there quietly looking nervous but didn't once say a word.  The two women did the piercing at the same time and in a flash, it was done.  I thought she would want to look at her ears right away, but she didn't.  She got out of the chair really fast and came right over to me where I was kneeling down and she buried her head into my shoulder and we just hugged.  I rubbed her back and told her how proud I was and that she was so brave.  Caroline and the other two moms thought she was crying but it just looked that way.  I whispered to her, "Do you want to see your ears?"  At first she said no but then it kind of registered and she quickly put her head up and looked right in the mirror!  A huge smile spread across her face and she was fine although I could tell she was still processing it all.  She wasn't that interested in the stickers or lollipop like her sister hadn't been either.

We got home a little later and she was so excited to show everyone.  She showed Jason and all of our neighbors and then called my mom to tell her.  She was so proud!  Then later she asked me to take her photo again with her sticker:

So now we're in the cleaning and turning phase of the ear piercing.  I reminded Piper not to be touching her ears since her fingers are probably dirty and we don't want them to get infected.  So on Monday, I got home from work and she runs up to me and says, "Mommy, a whole bunch of kids at school were touching my ears!"  I didn't really believe her because who touches ears, but I also know that when my sister was in pre-K she broke her arm and the teacher made a point to tell the kids not to push her and then they all did.  (Famous Chrissa story!)  I didn't think much more about it until last night when she was getting out of the tub and said, "Hey mommy, remember how I told you all those kids were touching my ears?  Well, you know who those kids were?  ME!!"  I guess she had been touching her ears a lot (which you would understand/expect) and felt guilty about it so she made up a story.  Not quite the truth but it did make me laugh to know she felt guilty about touching her ears.

Thankfully, they look great so far and I'm looking forward to seeing her get some earrings for Christmas this year.  I know she can't wait until Thanksgiving to be able to change them!

Happy 5th to My Piper...A Day Late

Happy Birthday to my sweet Piper!  I cannot believe you are five.  YOU are my baby.  YOU will always be my baby.  I will always have a hard time seeing you as the age you really are.  Sniff.  I love you to pieces and I cannot imagine life with you.  I just feel so lucky that I get to be your mom!

I didn't update yesterday (or the day before) because I was in party prep mode.  What that means for me is that I am a maniac.  Well, kind of.  You have to understand, I grew up watching my mom plan parties.  My mom throws good parties.  Like great parties.  Great food and just knows how to pull it all together.  However, I really haven't thrown too many parties over the years. I did a 1 year birthday for each of the kids but that was relatively lower effort since it was mostly family with a few close friends and with only a few kids - they weren't kid parties.  However, these past 8 years, I've avoided parties somewhat because I don't like to do parties outside of the house (not that they're not fun to attend, I just don't want to do one myself) and in our old house, I just didn't feel like it was conducive to entertaining.  Unfinished, dark basement that was packed with stuff and just not as much space as I would have liked especially knowing that at the ages my kids were that parents would usually stay which means more bodies.  While we had an awesome deck, if it's hot or rainy, everything has to be accommodated for inside and that just wasn't an option for me.  Again, I need to be able to plan EVERYTHING.

So once we got settled in the new neighborhood, I knew that it was time.  I knew I needed to put my anxieties about having a house full of people aside and just DO IT.  Piper's birthday was a perfect opportunity.  It started off in my head very small but got a little bigger than initially anticipated but it was still not too big.  We invited 11 kids and that was the perfect amount and perfect mix.  Aside from my parents and Jason's parents, we had our old neighbor friends and our new neighbor friends - a very good mix of people!  It primarily was a kids's party though and thankfully because I had so many things left over from my SIL's baby shower in January, I only had to buy some decorations.  The tea party idea was really fun, and fairly easy to execute.  We played three games and the kids were so much fun! And then when it was time for "tea," the kids all behaved so well - not a single one of my great grandmother's china tea cups, saucers or bowls was even the least bit chipped.  All the moms helped out a lot too.

Although I have to say this for the party planning - how did people plan good parties BEFORE Pinterest?  Seriously?  About 2/3 of the ideas for this party came from the wonderful Pinterest.  Everything from recipes, party games, to how to keep my apples for my Apple Nachos from browning (non-lemon juice method) came from Pinterest.  Several of the moms laughed with me because they recognized things they'd seen and wanted to try.  To say that I love it, is an understatement.

So without further adieu, here are few photos.  I literally was doing party prep until 5 minutes before guests arrived and then I had to run up and dry my hair so I have no photos of how things looked beforehand.  Thankfully, my MIL, and a few of my neighbors have already shared a few photos with me.  It really was a great party and I am SO glad I planned to do pretty much everything inside since it was so stinking hot.  But what do you expect in mid-July, right?

We started off making crowns - the funny thing was that a lot of the kids ended up wearing them for a good portion of the party, which I didn't expect.  It was a good activity to keep them busy while we waited for everyone to arrive and before games.  I give Caroline credit for thinking up this idea at the craft store.

The first game was "Catch the Tea" or another version of Pin the Tail on the Donkey.  (Credit: Pinterest)

Lucas won this one even though Caroline said she got it closest to catch the tea.

The two littlest kids and Bryce didn't play, but that didn't bother me.  They were happy playing with toys together.  Next was "Drop the Pin into the Jar."  I give my mom credit for this one.  We played this at a lot of our parties when I was a kid.  Such a SIMPLE idea!  You stand on a little stool and have the chance to drop five clothespins into a jar without bending over.  (I think this is the SAME stool we used when we were kids...I inherited it - my grandfather made them for all of us.)

Finally, it was a tea party version of Hot Potato....Hot Teapot!  Surprisingly, most of the kids had never played and they LOVED it.  I had two prizes so we played twice.  On of my adult neighbors even sat in for a round and had a ball.  (Don't you love that they wore their crowns???)

The birthday girl was totally into it!!

Even Bryce got caught smiling:

And then it was time for tea - here's a placesetting.  Caroline made the name cards and set the table.  (I had mustaches for the boys although Bryce was the only one that wore it.)

One of the things I highly recommend doing (per Pinterest, duh) for any kid parties where you're serving ice cream is to dish it out ahead of time in muffin tins (in papers) and freeze it.  Seriously, best idea!  I just plopped them on kids plates and there was no sticky scoop, hard scooping, or dripping.

We had a pinata, of course:

Here are a few other funny photos - Bradley, our youngest party goer:

And given that my mom is a babyaholic, she had to hold both Bradley and Ethan at the same time:

It was a great day, but I was EXHAUSTED at the end.  I realized that I hadn't really sat from 9am until 5pm for more than about 30 seconds (if that).  I had done a lot of the prep the day before too which was a lot of standing.  I logged my steps on Saturday and I logged more than I do on an active day where I take a walk.  And then when I went to bed last night my mind was still on overdrive so I could not turn it off.  Thankfully, we keep melatonin on hand and within an hour of taking them, I was asleep. But 6am came way too early this morning.  But it was worth it.  The kids were still sleeping when I left!  It's almost time to plan Bryce's party now.  He said he wants Skateland but I'm not so sure.  I'd kind of like to do it at the house again but maybe look into renting one of those big blow up waterslides.  We'll see.  I need a few days to NOT think about a party.

Her Inner Voice

On Friday afternoon before the big kids and I got home, our next door neighbor returned from her trip to a conference in Texas.  Because she is so sweet and always thinking of the kids, she brought each of the kids one of those inexpensive drawstring "backpacks" with a few random conference items inside:  stress balls, rubber bracelets, frisbees, among other things.  Because Piper was the only kid home with Big Dad, she took it upon herself to go through all three bags.  Apparently, inside Caroline's bag was a handy dandy clip on black Sharpie.  At this point I'm not quite sure where all this went down or how it ended up in the basement but Piper took it upon herself to tag the fridge on her little kitchen in the basement playroom while Big Dad sat up in the family room unaware.

I guess upon realizing it wasn't coming off, she then hung a baby blanket over the fridge (the yellow gingham you see to the left in the photo).  I noticed it on Friday evening and again on Saturday after she and Bryce cleaned up the playroom but didn't think much of it because Piper does quirky things when she arranges things.  But later on Saturday when some neighbor kids were over to play, the blanket came off and guess what we all saw???

At first I wasn't concerned because I figured she did it with one of her markers, you know, the water soluble ones?  She doesn't know where I keep the permanent markers.  (When I got home from work on Friday and saw the Sharpie in Caroline's bag, I quickly banished it to my secret spot knowing something like this could happen.)  I was angry at her for writing on something that wasn't paper, but I figured it would come off and we'd be done with it.  However, sitting at dinner on Saturday evening, we talked about it some more and Caroline insisted that it was NOT water soluble marker so I started quizzing Piper.  She immediately started hiding her face which is the first sign something is NOT what you expected and she's feeling ashamed.  I asked her why she did it and she said (without missing a beat), "My inner voice told me to do it."

She's not quite 5 years old, folks, and she has an inner voice that she acknowledges.  C'mon!!!  I have no idea where she even heard that term "inner voice."  I'm telling you, this child thinks up things the other two never have.  I kept up the interrogation until the story came out.

At this point, I started consulting Pinterest since I remembered seeing something about removing Sharpie from "anything" a few weeks back.  First I tried nail polish remover (lightened it but started to take off some paint too), then I tried - as directed - rubbing alcohol, hairspray, and toothpaste....nothing.  #PinterestFail

I didn't try the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser yet (I know, am I crazy?) but given that the nail polish remover took off some paint and I know the Eraser will take off paint, I was a little hesitant.

On Sunday morning, I took the kids over to my parents' to see my dad for Father's Day and I told them.  Kind of funny since my dad just finally fixed the oven door on the little kitchen that he made in late 2005 because Piper broke that off when she was 2.  And now she goes and vandalizes it.  He had a giggle about it (much like he does about a lot of things Piper does) and then found a can of paint in the basement that he believes he used on it.  Here's hoping.  My neighbor wants me to try some kind of goop remover she has and I think I will try it and then paint it anyway.

I'm telling you, you cannot leave this child alone.  When the kids' two day a week, summer sitter, Moira was here this weekend for an orientation of sorts, that was something I said to her multiple times:  Do not leave Piper alone.  She thinks of things you wouldn't imagine.  

Piper's Old Tricks

In the same vein that Katie was talking about how she can't leave her youngest daughter unsupervised, I feel the same way about Piper.  I don't worry about her safety as much as I used to but she still does things that worry me when I find out about them later.

Last week I went in to find her room completely wrecked (which I know is usually the case because she will close her door when it's not in good shape).  What concerned me was that I found things from her top shelf in her closet on the floor.  When I asked her how she got them she told me a story about how she used her shoe rack to climb up there.  Mind you her shoe rack is NOT meant for climbing and could have easily toppled/collapsed under her weight.

Then the other day we found something else that worried us.  Sometimes when Piper closes her room door because it's messy, she'll also lock it for some unknown reason.  We keep room keys on the tops of door frames so obviously can't reach the key to unlock it herself.  Well, she needed to get in and we were downstairs doing something else so we told her to wait.  Waiting was not something Piper planned to do.  Instead she used her typical Piper problem solving skills and went to work.  First she went and retrieved the plastic stool from our bathroom. (A somewhat flimsy, easy to topple stool with four legs from Ikea.)  Then she got Bryce's shark mouth "reacher" and stood and attempted to knock the key off the frame.  She succeeded because when we got up there a little while later we found the stool, reacher, and the key on the ground.  The only thing she'd been unable to do was actually use the key to unlock the door herself.  Just a stool wouldn't bother me in most situations, but the problem is where Piper's door is....it's basically a balcony!!! (photo from before we moved in)

Um, scary.  Standing on that stool would have put her VERY close to just falling over the railing.  OMG.  PIPER!!!

She is just so resourceful.  She has been a problem solver since she was little.  She is the reason we still have furniture bolted to the wall.  I still worry about her bed being close to the window but there's really no other option.  She just thinks she can do anything and it will be fine - she has no fear.  At least it doesn't seem like she's accident prone like Bryce because I think those two things together would be a recipe for disaster.

PreK Graduation...Belated

These past 2 weeks have been SOOOO busy!  Add that to the fact that we've been continuing to try and get settled in the house and you have me completely frazzled.  One of the crazy evenings we had recently was Piper's PreK graduation on May 16.  This was kind of odd and made me a little sad because Caroline and Bryce didn't have PreK graduations.  Both of them were in daycare at the time which served perfectly as a preschool for the school type atmosphere, but didn't have the actual pomp and circumstance of more typical school events.  Both Caroline and Bryce commented on that fact but I told them that we didn't have any other options at the time and they were both very well prepared for kindergarten which was the most important part.  Quite honestly, I worry a little about Piper and starting kindergarten since her pre-k was NOT an "academic" pre-k and was definitely more about about learning rituals of school like sitting on a carpet for story time, raising your hand, lining up for the bathroom, and singing songs/saying the pledge.  All important kindergarten prep but they didn't really focus on letters/numbers.  We've been working with her ourselves and she's been working on an online curriculum that she likes very much too.  She's always been my scrappy, spunky kid that figures things out herself so I am hopeful she'll continue to be the little sponge that she always has been and will adjust quickly to kindergarten.  

Anyway, back to graduation....on a whim the night before I looked in her closet for what she should wear and spotted the dress Caroline wore in Kevin and Kelly's wedding almost 5 years ago!  I was so excited and when I showed Piper she quickly agreed to wear it.  (Strangely enough, she cannot wear the shoes because her feet are bigger than Caroline's were at the time!)  

Here's Caroline in the same dress in May 2008 (I was 33 weeks pregnant with Piper) although without the dramatic expression that Piper always seems to serve up.

Cute, right?  But hard to believe.  I hope she'll have another occasion to wear it.  I wish I had more photos of her in the dress but alas Piper did not allow that to happen.  Just after I took this photo, she decided she wanted to come out on the front porch but I had to "introduce" her first to Jason and her siblings.  Well, because we were running very late, without me realizing it,  Jason and the other kids had already gotten in the  car.  As I walked out on the porch, Caroline was coming back in to get something and saw Piper.  That did it.  Instant SCREAMS!!!   Cry, cry, cry!  She ran into the family room and buried her head.  She was so mad.  Ugh.  I kept calling her and finally she made her way out to the car and we hustled down the road.

We made it in time and thankfully Sandy was already there waiting for us.  It was kind of chaotic with all the pre-k kids and their families.  Quite honestly it seemed like a lot of hoopla for "just" preschool, but who am I to say?  (I was a little put off by the fact that the cap/gown/tassel and pre-k t-shirt was $28 but I didn't have much choice...again, this was new to me.  Why not just do those cute little paper hats since clearly Piper won't be wearing THIS again?)  But she looked really cute and was very excited, so that's all that matters, right?

She sang a bunch of songs, played in the "marching band" and really got into the singing this time.  She was quite proud of herself and we enjoyed it.  Hard to believe my baby is going to kindergarten in the fall.  I guess because Caroline and Bryce were the oldest kids in their classes, it seems like they got an extra year but I know Piper is ready and will do well.  She can't wait to be going to the same school as her big brother and sister.  She'll always be my baby though.

Piper, Pee & Pull Up Problems

Piper will be 5 in mid-July and she's still wearing a pull-up to bed at night.  I was starting to get concerned a few months ago since she was still waking up with a full pull-up (of pee) almost every morning, but then all of a sudden, she started having lots of mornings where she'd wake up dry.  Knowing that Caroline took a full year past potty training to manage to stay dry at night, I haven't been totally worried about Piper.  I know kids get things in their own time and I also know that Piper can be lazy - if she's wearing a pull-up sometimes before even going to sleep, she'll just go ahead and pee in it!  So it does make me wonder if sometimes she would wake up in the night and just pee instead of getting up.  Apparently, my MIL had some real issues as a little girl too that she grew out of so it could be in the genes as well.

Piper had so many dry nights in a row when we were still living with my mom that I wanted to try underwear but because all of my water proof pads were in storage, we waited.  However, we did try it once or twice (to no success) because the pull-ups had been irritating her little bum so much.  Sigh.

So here we are again and last night her butt was SO irritated (she has such sensitive skin) and she really didn't want to put a pull up on.  (I think she is less sensitive to Easy Ups but they didn't have any Pull Ups in her size the last time and Jason just went ahead and bought them which I normally wouldn't do.)  I put the pad on her bed (we have a waterproof mattress cover too) and had her go to the bathroom right before bed (which usually does the trick) but she woke up wet this morning.  At least I only had to take the top sheet/blanket off instead of the bottom sheet!  I'm getting to the point where I'm frustrated.  I think some of this is just her needing to learn her body's signals but I also think she sleeps deeply.  She doesn't seem to have a bladder the size of a dime like Bryce (who NEVER had an issue with night potty training, strangely enough).  Piper can just be so difficult.  She is soooooo dramatic and cries over the least thing.  She tries your temper, that one.  For example, the other night Jason caught her guzzling water down when she was brushing her teeth!  She had been outside running around and I hate the idea of restricting water when she's truly thirsty (I drink a lot of water too so being thirsty and not being able to drink sounds tortuous.)  I can't watch her every second before bed and what I think did it last night was without my knowledge, one of her friends gave out Capri Suns to everyone when they were playing (the girl's dad didn't know she was doing it either - ha!) so it's very hard to control your kids' liquid intake, especially in the summer when they are naturally thirstier.

I'm not at the point where I want to employ one of those bed alarms though or anything like that.  I just want it to magically happen like it did for Caroline.  It just seems like Piper needs a lot more vigilance than Caroline did.  Typical.  I want to stop having sheets to wash and put back on constantly.  Especially since pull-ups aren't fool proof either and will often not be on right and leak.  I just want to be done.  Perhaps she needs more of an incentive....she has mentioned wanting her ears pierced and while Caroline didn't get hers pierced until she was approaching 6, I might be able to be persuaded to make it a reward for Piper since she's almost 5 and wants to have pierced ears like her friend, Bella.  Hmmmm, something to think about.

Piper Funnies

Piper never fails to disappoint us.  Always doing or saying something unexpected.  Yesterday, my sister and her boyfriend came to visit us and after dinner we went outside to talk landscaping while the kids resumed bike riding.  Chrissa and I were out back when Will came around the back of the house laughing.  Somehow, Piper managed to get her purple wig stuck in her bike chain.  Like REALLY stuck. Huh?

Chrissa, being the bike expert that she is went to take a look at it and couldn't believe how stuck it was.  All we could do was laugh because, I mean really, a wig stuck in a bike chain?  And a purple wig at that.  Not sure how we're going to get it out.  Although it cements our decision to move Piper up to Caroline's old bike.    I asked Piper later how it happened and she said, "Well, I put my wig in the baby doll seat on the back just to have it and it fell off when I was riding."  Naturally.  She was a little upset when I told her we'd probably have to cut it out and that the wig would be ruined.

Then on Friday, Piper was playing outside with her friend Bella.  They were getting the wagon out of the garage and Jason overheard Piper say to Bella as they were walking the wagon and scooter between the van and the Pilot, "Be careful not to hit that car [the Pilot], Bella. It's not paid off yet."

Jason got a good chuckle out of that one. How did she know that???  Further, how does she know the van IS paid off?  Is this something most 4 1/2 year olds know?  Maybe we need to start discussing our long term investment plans with her.

Fever Continues

Piper continued to feel bad last night and woke up this morning with a 101.4 temperature.  Her main complaints are body aches, tiredness, and HUNGER.  Weird.  My mom and MIL both commented that it was like they couldn't fill her up.  No idea if the hunger is related or she's just having a growth spurt.

Hoping she can go to school tomorrow but we'll wait and see.  Also hoping it stays with just Piper!

Mini-Virus?

Piper woke up this morning and said her body hurt "all over!"  She was mostly acting normal but said her head hurt.  I gave her ibuprofen and my mom said she was fine the rest of the morning.  We guessed it was soreness from skating yesterday especially since it was a full body workout for her considering she was gripping my arm a lot and hanging.  Bryce said he felt sore too.  However, she got home from pre-k and said  she just wanted to snuggle up on the couch in a blanket and eat warm tomato soup.  Yes, it's colder then it should be in late April (I guess Mother Nature took my pleas a little too seriously about not getting too warm since we don't have our summer clothes.) but that's not my Piper.  She even told my mom she was too achy to eat her snack at school.

My mom took her temperature and it was 100.7 and then she went to sleep after having another dose of ibuprofen.

My mom said she's rebounded and has been eating a bunch but I'm not convinced that she's truly over whatever it was.  Kids get these weird sleepy, fever viruses from time to time so I'm wondering if that is what it is.  Of course, this isn't the greatest timing considering what is coming up this week.  But, I will take a sleepy fever virus over a stomach bug ANY DAY!!!

And poor Bryce, while he's not sick again, is in the midst of the oak pollen peak.  Thankfully, so far we've been able to keep his eyes from going totally flaming red but he'll have beginnings of his asthma cough and his eyes will start to itch and we'll treat him right away.  Hoping to avoid a short course of steroids again as the allergist was hopeful might be possible this year due to 6 months of allergy shots.  We'll see. Our new house should be pretty pollen free since it's been closed up but I had hoped to open it up and let the breezes blow through to get the new carpet smell (and whatever comes with them) out.  But that might not be the best option for the dude.

April has been a rough health month for the kiddos.  Livable but I'm ready for a warm, sick-free May.

Over It

I think Piper is finally better.  She was still not herself yesterday and didn't go to school (she missed her Easter party, sniff sniff) but it was good that she was able to rest some more.  I suspected that she might be hitting her day 6 recovery when last night after dinner (which she barely touched) she ate 5 pieces of graham cracker with peanut butter and her personality seemed to be coming back.  Then this morning when I came up from getting a shower, she was sitting and watching TV and asked for more graham crackers with peanut butter.  She's had no appetite for a week so this is a big deal!  She scarfed those down and seemed more like Piper again.  Hopefully, she'll be rebounding more today with my MIL and this nice weather.

Speaking of which, I ran out last night and bought some short sleeved shirts from Kohl's for Jason and I to weather these next few warm days.  It really was so nice going outside yesterday evening to warmth and for it not to be chilly this morning.  Although it made me realize that Jason and I don't have light jackets to wear. HA!  Thankfully the kids each have a zip hoodie to wear.  Gosh, I miss my clothes.

I swung by the house last night when I was out and was hoping to see some progress outside (sod or finished porch pillars and rails) but no.  They've got a week and a half before our final walk through and I think they have given themselves ample time to get it all done.  I am still convinced we could have settled earlier this month.  It was nice driving through the new 'hood seeing so many people out washing cars, playing with kids and doing general outside things.  Can't wait to be one of them.  The kids bikes and scooters will definitely be coming over early in our moving process because it will give them something to do while we unpack.  I have a feeling they are going to be all over that neighborhood quickly.

As I was leaving (which I hate doing!), I stopped and said hello to a family that we met a while back that has two kids.  They asked when we settled and when I told them they asked when we were moving in and I said "THE NEXT DAY!"  For some reason that surprised them.  I guess not everyone moves in right away.  As much as I like the idea of painting before we move in, doing it ourselves would take too long and after all these months of waiting, we cannot wait one.more.day.

Oh and I am now trying to pick similar colors of Behr paint to paint our interiors.  I was originally looking at Sherwin Williams because we thought we were going to use that painter all of our neighbors had used and he was an SW guy.  But now since we're going to do a lot of it ourselves (at least the upstairs rooms) I am going through Behr colors.  We painted every single room in the old house with Behr and always had a great experience.  The one room we didn't use Behr for was a disaster, so since we know what has always worked for us,  I think we'll stick with it.  Behr doesn't have as great of a website though and their color app isn't compatible with my phone (um, it's a brand new phone....clearly their technology is behind).  But when Jason and I were at Home Depot the other night I raided their paint chips and I picked out the colors for the kids' rooms that were very similar to the ones they'd picked out from SW.  I'm still not sure about the downstairs colors but I think we'll wait to get a painter before deciding and not knowing what kind of paint they'll prefer to use (if any).

Sickety Sick Sick!

On Wednesday night at around 11pm just as I was going to sleep I heard Piper cry out in the next room.  I opened the door and was hit with the smell of vomit.  It was everywhere.  She hadn't made it to the bucket at the bottom of her bed.  Bryce was in the trundle to the side below her and was pissed that she woke him up.  I was so mad about his attitude.   Piper was covered in barf and was crying and could not be consoled. We were trying to strip her bed but Bryce was being difficult saying he wouldn't move.  After we got Piper's barf clothes off of her, my mom sat and cuddled her while Jason and I cleaned up.  We decided to put Bryce in bed with Jason, I slept in Piper's bed and Piper was going to sleep on the trundle for closest access to a barf bucket.  Caroline and my mom went down to sleep on the couch together.  Thank goodness they did because Piper was sick every 15-30 minutes until 6:30am.  It was a rough night.  After the first three times of barfing though, she finally started making it into the barf bucket.  (Of course after those first three times, she didn't have much in her stomach.)  Something about this particular virus is a bit violent.  It just kind of shoots out of you.  YUCK!!  She also started with diarrhea in the middle of the night but thankfully that was fairly short lived.

Jason stayed home (worked from home) and so did my mom but she was sick now too.  I felt okay but my stomach felt off which could have been from a lack of sleep or getting sick - I couldn't tell.  Piper had a few more vomiting incidents through the day but was able to keep some sips down.  Later in the evening though she woke up from a long nap, gulped some Gatorade and then sat on my lap.  All of a sudden she was spewing Gatorade everywhere.  EVERYWHERE.  Including directly in my face.  Did I mention some got in my mouth?  OMG.  All I could do was laugh.  Seriously.  This was happening.  I took Piper up for a bath (washed my face) and then got a shower myself while Jason cleaned up.  I'm glad it was just Gatorade.

Bryce still isn't himself either.  No appetite and when we had pancakes for dinner (it was all I could muster), he barely ate one and then was complaining of a stomachache.  He barfed again.  Since Monday (when he was truly sick) he has barfed once a day since then.  WTH?  

So I am home from work again today (Jason went in) and hoping for only people getting better.  I thought maybe Caroline was getting sick but she woke up feeling fine.  My stomach doesn't feel right again but I still have no idea what that means.  Caroline has a birthday party tomorrow and I am hoping she will stay healthy because she is looking forward to it.  Poor kid has had a HORRIBLE spring break just sitting home with her sick siblings - I feel really bad about it.

Crossword for Pop Pop

Piper is such a thoughtful, sweet little girl. (When she wants to be.)  Yesterday, my mom took her to lunch when they were out and about in their errands. After lunch she kept telling my mom to please not throw away the bag that her lunch came in.  Please, please, please!  She never said why but my mom didn't question it since she had put some things inside of it.

However, as soon as my dad got home from work, we found out why.  On the bag was a small crossword puzzle and she knew he liked them so she saved it for him.  As soon as he walked in the door she met him and showed him the bag.  I know I teared up seeing him hug and thank her for thinking of him.

After Piper was in bed, my dad made sure to do that crossword puzzle and left it for her to find this morning.  (My dad goes to work VERY early!)  She was so happy to see that he'd done it.

Thoughtfulness just isn't something you teach.  It's something that comes naturally and I love seeing it in Piper.

Stirring the Pot

Last night we were eating dinner and I looked down at Piper who was sitting next to me.  She was sitting with her finger in her belly button and moving it around.  When I asked her what she was doing she looked up at me with a big smile on her face and said,

"Stirring the pot!!"

Well, that just made me LAUGH.  Of course she loved that she had that effect on me and she started giggling.  I asked her where she heard it and she said she made it up.  Not sure if I believe that but knowing Piper it is possible.

Has anyone else heard that expression for playing with your belly button when you're eating?  That child...she never fails to bring a smile to my face.

(Of course she's also the first one to cry about things and has been a bit difficult lately so it's good to laugh at her instead of hear her crying about nothing.)

Just Wanna Be a Big Girl

Our friend, Zoe, came over to spend the night on Saturday while Bryce went and stayed at her house with her younger brother, Taki.  It was a perfect exchange because neither family ended up with more kids than usual and all said children were so happy to have another kid around, they happily entertained themselves.

Zoe is several months older than Caroline and they get along really well.  And while Piper is a good bit younger, Zoe really likes her and is much better at including her than Caroline is sometimes.  For the most part while Zoe was at the house, all three girls played really well together.  There were a few incidents where Piper was feeling left out but it was quickly turned around.  I was really proud of the older girls for including her even in their videos and other things they played.

On Sunday morning, the girls decided they wanted manicures and pedicures and I said that I agreed to do the painting.  I started first on their toenails since they needed to be dry since we were leaving in an hour.  I did Piper's first and then moved onto Zoe's.  Caroline, however, decided she did NOT want my help and would try herself.  So while I was painting Zoe's toes, Caroline started painting hers while Piper's toes dried. When I went back to the other end of the island to start on Piper's toes, I found that Piper had decided that she too was going to paint her own fingernails.  Obviously most four year olds are not expert manicurists and the fingernail polish was all over her hands.  I reacted quickly and said, "PIPER!  You need to ask before you do that - you could have made a huge mess and gotten it on your clothes or Bertie's furniture!"

Well, I could barely get the words out and she just crumbled and buried her neck into my shoulder crying.

"I just wanted to be like the big girls!"

Well, I just about started crying myself.  I felt  terrible.  Terrible.  Sigh.

I hugged her and told her I was sorry for how I reacted but that fingernail polish is not something you just play around with.  Plus, I told her that Zoe was having me paint her fingernails so not all the big girls were painting their own nails.  She continued to cry and I just comforted her and told her I understood.

I got the nail polish remover and we took off what she did and reapplied the polish.  She was happy again.

I think it IS important to note here that Caroline's fingernails and toenails were a bit of a disaster and she started to get angry about how bad they looked.  I told her that she just had to wait for me and I would have been happy to do them but she couldn't wait.  There wasn't enough time to redo her toes but I did fix her fingers and she was happy enough with that.

Girls and fingernail polish.  Such a difficult relationship.

End of Speech

Today was my final IEP meeting with Piper's SLP, the Assistant Principal, and the special education teacher at our elementary school.  I could have done the meeting on the phone like I did last year but since this was the final meeting and I absolutely adore Patty, the SLP, I wanted to make an appearance.  Plus, with work winding down due to the semester ending and preparing for our winter break it didn't matter if I came in late. Patty went over how thrilled she is with Piper's progress and outlined that in many ways she's now above level and she is age appropriate for all other areas.  Quite a turnaround from 2 years ago when she could barely say much of anything.

And while I had no stress anticipating this meeting since it was really just a wrap up, I was not expecting to have a few moments of tears.  But I did and it was all because of how wonderful the teachers at the school have been to my children and how bittersweet it us for us to be leaving in a few months.  While I'm thrilled at Piper's progress in regards to speech, I am sad she won't be seeing Patty anymore and Patty told me how much she is going to miss her.  And since we won't be at the school for much longer it means we won't run into her regularly.  Patty told the AP, Ms. T, about our impending move and when she did, the tears came out.  I just told her how highly we value the faculty and staff of the school and how impressed we've been with them.  Ms. T seemed touched and thanked me for sharing such kind words.  I expressed a little disappointment that Piper won't get to follow in her siblings footsteps and have the same kindergarten and first grade teachers - both of whom were hoping to get her.

I've actually already friended both their former kindergarten teacher and Caroline's former second grade teacher on Facebook since neither of my children have them as teachers any longer and there's no weirdness with the teacher/parent relationship.  They are both such wonderful people that I wanted to stay in touch with them.  I could even see becoming (IRL) friends with Caroline's 2nd grade teacher since she's around our age, she lives near our new house, and has kids of similar ages.

I'm sure that when the time comes to actually transfer them to our new school I will shed a few more tears.  I'm very happy about the elementary school we'll be sending them to (one of best in the county!) but a little sad to be leaving behind friendly, familiar faces.

Thank goodness Ms. T, Patty, and the special ed teacher are so compassionate and didn't mind my tears at all.  I'm sure they've had tears in that room for other reasons in the past but it was nice to laugh and talk about my kids since they know (and like) all three of them.  I guess when it comes to your children, your emotions lie pretty close to the surface.  I don't consider myself a true crier but when it comes to the kids, I can cry at the least little thing.

Pre-K Christmas

Last night was Piper's pre-k Christmas program and it was so cute!  She was so so so so so excited and just thrilled to finally get to wear the Christmas outfit that my mom had gotten for her.  She looks so cute in it but that red bow headband is the icing on the cake.  We had a pose session in front of the tree.

The other really cute thing about Piper's program was that Caroline was just so excited FOR Piper.  She wanted to wear her Christmas outfit too.  She kept saying such nice things to Piper and I have to say that since we've moved into my mom's the girls have gotten along really well.  I've made sure to tell Caroline what a good big sister she is and how much it means to Piper.

It was a little disorganized at first but the kids were taken backstage and they all came out in these adorable little choir capes.  They sang eight songs and while they didn't always know all the words it was funny seeing them sing the words they did know and all their expressions.  You could see how proud she was to be up on stage.

At the end of the performance, Santa came in and the kids were so excited.  I love that Piper has no fear of Santa and takes any chance she gets to sit on his lap.  (Bryce and Caroline haven't sat on his lap since 2005.)   Just another example of how different kids can be.

But after she got off Santa's lap she couldn't wait to come back and see all of us.  She was positively radiant with excitement from her show and so proud of herself.  It was absolutely adorable.

OMG, Piper

Piper came home from school on Monday proudly announcing, "I have a crush.  On Nate.  In my class."  She said it was such sincerity, it was almost as if she had been rehearsing it in her head.  She was so proud to tell everyone.  Then after telling me that part, she went on to tell me that they sang a new song in school about a princess and that she got to be the princess and that the princess got to pick her prince and guess who she picked as her prince?  Yup, Nate.  And then......Nate danced with her and at the end he dipped her.  Yep, dipped her.  Who is this pre-k Casanova?

Needless to say, each time she told the story we were all laughing.  Especially when she makes the funniest faces as she's going through telling the story.  Whether Nate actually dipped her, I don't know but we all have been giggling about it for days.

Yesterday was my MIL's day to volunteer at Piper's school and as it happened Nate's mom also volunteered  so my MIL got to talk to her and told her about Piper's crush.  Nate's mom was just tickled but said how shy he is which makes me wonder if there really was any dipping.  Upon coming home, Piper told us all that she got to sit next to Nate and she was just tickled about it.  Mind you, she had purposely "dressed pretty" for him.  (And yes, I had a discussion with her that boys rarely notice what you're wearing and that you should dress the way you like, so that you feel good about yourself.)

Where do my daughters get this boy craziness?  Seriously.  I was NOT a boy crazy little girl and we do not talk about boyfriends, dating, etc with them.  Caroline just seems to be hardwired and I feel like Piper has just picked it up over the years although Caroline isn't as boy crazy as she once was.

Later in the evening as Piper was recounting her day at school to my dad, she said that she told her friend Trista that she had a crush on Nate.  I asked her what Trista said when she told her.  To which Piper makes the funniest face and says, "Oh, she said O. M. G!!!!!"  Well, that had my dad and I in stitches.

My dad asked her if she knew what that meant and she just laughed and said, "No."

That little girl is something else.  She always makes us laugh.  I just never know what is going to come out of her mouth.  She went on later to tell us that Nate was her type and that he has a big head because he has a big brain and is very smart.  Well, at least she's not concerned about the kind of car he drives, right?

Dammit!

Piper's mouth strikes again and once again I am left with no idea where she heard what she said.

Last night we were laying in bed and talking and I was asking her about something that she wasn't keen on talking about and all of a sudden, she rolled over (away from me), pulled up the blanket, and said, "DAMMIT!" and then covered her face.

Well, clearly she caught me off guard and I quickly wiped the smirk off my face before I rolled her back over.  Clearly because she covered her face she KNEW what she was saying was not allowed.  I told her that wasn't appropriate and then she wouldn't look at me and kept turning away.  I basically told that was another word I didn't want to hear coming out of her mouth and next time she would have a consequence.  We're up to 3 words now.....it's like she's trying them all out on me and using them "correctly."  How long is this list gonna get?

Now to be clear, I don't truly consider "damn" and "hell" to be bad words - just not words that should be coming out of a kids' mouth.  Particularly since you don't want them teaching other kids those words.  And even though I don't consider them bad words, Jason and I don't utter them in the kids' earshot.  So I have no clue - none of our parents or family are foul mouthed.  Not that an occasional bad word hasn't been uttered in their presence - it's just not anything habitual or directed at them.  Although "hell" and "damn" are words you might hear on TV in a PG show so they're not as off-limits socially as her previous utterances.

That kid is going to keep me on my toes.  Better keep her close!

Big Bad Word

I'm not one of those people that gets offended by foul language.  Words are words and we are the ones that give them power.  However, my stance change when it comes to children.  It's not that kids shouldn't be aware of those words but I believe they need to be taught when using them is completely inappropriate.  While I've been known to use bad words when I'm talking to other adults who I am very comfortable with, when it comes to my house, Jason and I do not use them in front of the kids.  Role modeling is one of the most important parts of parenting and we feel that by not using them in front of the kids we have it that much easier when these issues of bad words come up.

Quite honestly, to this point we haven't had any issues.  I know the kids know some of these words because Caroline and Bryce have asked what certain words mean.  Again, no problem there and I don't overreact.  I have no problem telling them what  "shit" or "ass" means.  I think it's good for them to know.  And up until this point, those words haven't come out in any kind of inappropriate way.  I know that they hear them at school from other kids but so long as they know they are words not to be said at school and at home, we're okay.

Several weeks ago another word came up at home that I wasn't please about but it came up as somewhat as a descriptive word and not in the name calling format.  The lovely word "asshole" was uttered.  Oh good lord.  I'm not sure which one of the older kids said it but it was one of those situations where they heard it, wanted to know what it was and when I told them it was another name for the part of their body that they are already familiar with, they understood.  However, upon hearing that Piper latched onto it and one evening as they were getting ready for bed we heard Piper say to Bryce that she could see his, well, you know what.

We told her that even using it "correctly" it's not an appropriate word to say and she seemed to get it although it was very hard for Jason and I not to smile because a 4 year old saying that is enough to make you giggle even if it's not something you want to hear.

Well, last night things changed a bit.  Piper and Bryce had been at each other's throats all evening and I was upstairs cleaning when I heard the back and forth name/insults.  Jason was right down there with them and trying to get them to knock it off when Piper threw "asshole" at Bryce.  BAM!  I couldn't believe my ears - where had she heard it used like that????

Jason immediately sent Piper up to her room and I stood at the top of the steps and made sure she got up to me.  She was crying the whole way and I sent her into her room and she closed the door and then SCREAMED at the top of her lungs.  We ignored it but clearly the name calling came from a very angry place inside her.  I let her cry for a while and when she called to go to the bathroom, I told her to go and then to get ready for bed.  It was only 7:15.  At that point, she was much calmer and we had a talk about it. I asked her where she heard that word used like that and she told me that Kodi told her.  (Kodi is my IL's dog.)  I told her that I don't think Kodi can talk but that the word should not be used to call someone a name.  She seemed to have the appropriate level of remorse and was upset that she was going to bed so much earlier than her siblings so she knew that this was a big deal and not to do it again.  I read her a book and she passed out within a few minutes of turning out the light.  I had a feeling that her being tired contributed to everything but it's still not okay.

Here's hoping we've nipped this one in the bud but I also know those kinds of words usually come out when a kid is losing control of their emotions.  If we didn't teach her this time, she'll learn the next time when the punishment will be greater - which I explained to Piper.

Sigh.  I absolutely refuse to have a foul-mouthed kid.  I know things will change as the kids get older and more mature, but for now bad language is off limits.

Growing Pains

It seems Piper is going through some issues right now.  Figures since the other two seem mostly fine.  Piper's issue?  She cries about everything.  EVERYTHING!!!  This past weekend was "Piper Cry Cry Weekend."  OMG.  Enough already.  And on top of that, she's been a bit nasty to her siblings too.  Now, I will say that Bryce does NOT help the situation at all.  He is constantly critical of pretty much everything she does and says.  However, Caroline is usually the one Piper gets along with - but she certainly took it out on her this weekend which doesn't make any sense.  In the past few weeks, Caroline has had "alone nights" with each of her grandmothers and in both situations, Piper cried and cried that she missed Caroline.  In fact, both times Piper had to talk to Caroline on the phone because she missed her so much.  However, upon returning Piper has lashed out at Caroline over various things.  Yesterday she ended up kicking Caroline in the face because she was angry at her.  Nice.  I know Piper was tired at that point which I'm sure helped fuel it but not acceptable.  She apologized to her later but Caroline said she didn't forgive her which made Piper even angrier.

Both my girls, let's face it, are dramatic.  Oh good gracious they are.  Although Bryce certainly got his share of the drama gene too lest you think raising a boy is supposed to be "easier" than raising a girl.  Piper seems to be coming into her own in terms of drama but in a different way with her being the youngest.  She tries to rely heavily on being the youngest and still being seen as somewhat of a baby.  We tell her all the time that she's a big girl and NOT a baby but we'll still see her do things and try to get away with it  because she thinks she's cute and that she's a baby.  She thinks she needs a lot more help than Caroline did at age four - that's for certain.  We've been trying very hard to be consistent with her on things and making her do them when we know she can.  That can be hard sometimes though because she still seems so little by comparison and she can be very cute and sweet when she wants to be.

She also has a new habit that we hate where if you scold her, especially Jason, she runs and hides her face and cries really hard like you just hurt her soul.  Sigh.  She has a hard time staying put for an entire meal too. That WILL stop as I have no tolerance for kids that won't sit at the table for a mealtime.  Jason assures me that Caroline went through something similar so I'm hoping she'll figure out quickly she is expected to do the same as her siblings.

So Piper has a lot of time outs in her future to combat all this stuff.  Not that she hasn't had time outs before but I don't think we've been as consistent with her.  I hate the thought of making my baby grow up too fast but in the case of her behavior lately, something has got to give.