Mama Mocha

As I mentioned earlier, my in-laws like going for coffee, which meant I drank a lot of coffee this weekend. I especially like Mochas, so that's my usually drink. Matthias picked up the word coffee, as we had to keep telling him that he could not drink out of our cups, because coffee is hot (and of course little boys don't need to be drinking it either). My father-in-law was trying to teach him to say Carmel Machiatto (that's his drink at Starbucks). Then we moved on to teaching him to say Mocha. So he started saying 'Mama Mocha?'

Well, today I overheard him talking on his play phone. He was saying 'Get coffee, for Mama'.

Maybe it's time to cut back.

So blessed

This past weekend was my Sister in law's bridal showers, so myself and the boys went with my in-laws to Michigan for the weekend. The weekend went great. The showers (the one I threw and one from her fiance's family) were lovely and the boys and I had a ton of fun with my in-laws. We drank tons of coffee and laughed a lot.

This weekend just reminded me how blessed I am to have married into such a great family. Many of my friends were not so lucky and do not get along with either their parents or their in-laws. My mother- and father-in law treat me as if I am their own child. My brothers- and sister-in-laws treat me as a sibling. God has blessed me with two great families who love and support me. I am so blessed!

Sick Kiddos

So we've had a rough weekend. Friday afternoon, I noticed that Ezra's eyes were all gunky. Saturday, they weren't any better and he woke up from his nap with a fever. I called the nurse line and the nurse recommended we take him in to get seen. Unfortunately the walk-in clinic had just closed, so we ended up having to take him into the ER. I'm not looking forward to that bill.

We arrived at the clinic and Ezra's fever had jumped to 102.8 deg. The triage nurse started by giving him tylenol and motrin to bring the fever down quickly. Then the doctor examined him and found that he had a double eye infection and a double ear infection. Poor baby has had a hard time sleeping last night.

When I came from with Ezra from the ER, Calvin informed me that Matthias had asked to go to bed at 6:30. Calvin was suspicious (the kid usually fights bed time) and took his temp. He was also running a fever. Sunday afternoon, his eyes started to gunk up. This morning he was feeling horrible. I had to bring Ezra in to his peditrician for a follow-up, so I made an appointment for both of them. Matthias also has a double eye infection and double ear infection as well. Poor baby. So now we have two sick little boys on antibiotics. At least they are sleeping better.

Nap time Nudists

So Matthias insisted today that he needed to take his nap on his bed in the sleeping room. I was planning to keep Matthias in our bed during nap time, so Ezra could get a good nap, but against my better judgment, I let him go to bed in his own bed. Ezra had been asleep and Matthias promised he would go to sleep without talking.

Well, I should know better than to trust a two year old. As soon as I closed the door, I heard him climbing into the crib and saying "Hi Efra, Hi!". I guess naptime was over. Well, I had to study and I heard Matthias say, "Ok, go to sleep, Efra!", so I was hoping the boys would fall asleep. Naive mommy.

I go back after a little while and both of the boys are standing completely naked in the crib. Now we know that Ezra cannot get his pjs off, but Matthias can, so it looks like Matthias helped Ezra out of his pjs and diaper. I had to laugh, because Ezra was so proud of himself for being naked! It really was kind of cute. And thankfully, neither had pooped and only one blanket was peed on.

Thankfully, then went to sleep better tonight.

Rough night

so yesterday, we moved Matthias into Ezra's room. This was because we want the boys to share a room when/if we have future kids. But since we are not planning on having these potential children for another five or six years, we don't want them to get used to having their own rooms and then suddenly have to share. So we thought now would be a good time since they both sleep through the night and are young enough that they adjust well.

So yesterday was the big move. And they went to sleep right away. No problems. But this morning Ezra woke up at six and then woke up Matthias. And no one was going back to sleep.

So tonight was night two of going to bed together. I knew that it would not be as easy as it was last night. And it wasn't. We tried to get Ezra to go to sleep first (he was super tired), but he wouldn't go to sleep. Finally we had to lay Matthias down too. And then they started playing and talking. And Matthias started climbing into the crib. Which of course made Ezra upset. It's been going on for four hours and they are just finally starting to be quiet. Maybe this means they'll sleep in? I can only hope.

I know the first few days will be rough, but I wanted to get this all done before I start school and they start daycare in June. so hopefully we all survive the next three months!

Just a box?

Since I am going back to school, we will need to buy a second car (finally) and so we need a second set of carseats (Calvin and I will be sharing daycare drop-offs and pick-ups). Babies R US had their great trade-in event going on and if you traded in a piece of baby gear, you would get a 25% coupon for one item. This was great for us, because we have this old toddler bed that we bought for $15 used with mattress, but is now falling apart. Grandma and Grandpa H are giving Matthias a twin bed soon and we were just going to throw away the toddler bed, since Ezra's crib can be changed into a toddler bed. We also had an umbrella stroller that has a broken wheel, so we traded in that too.


So two trade-ins = 2 coupons = 2 great deals on carseats. Yeah, if only it was that easy. Trade-ins were accepted and so we were given two coupons. Great! We went to get the carseats. First stop, a new Graco My Ride 65 Convertible carseat for Ezra! They have two or three in stock, so we grab one. Next stop. Graco Nautilus 3 in 1 for Matthias. Out of stock for the boy/neutral one. They ask if we want the pink one. Um, not so much. So what are our options (we have to use the coupon on the day of the trade-in)? Can they order one for us? No, warehouse is empty. They have 12 in Brookfield, almost an hour away. Well, we decide that saving $45 is worth the drive, so Calvin drives up to get the carseat. Ok, so a bit of a hassle, but we are successful, right?


Not quite. we get home and go to take out the carseats and get them ready to put in the car. Pull out the My Ride 65 and notice that it has a defective latch connection clip. Now, if you don't know anything about carseats, this is what keeps the carseat in the car if you choose not to use the seatbelts. Now we could have just kept the seat and just used seatbelts with it, but when you are paying $125 for something, you want it to work 100%. So we packed it up and I went back to BRU. (which is like 20 mintues from our house) Haul it in the store and they say no problem, we can exchange it. Clerk goes back to get another one. They are now out of stock in this seat too! Crap! Can they order one? No, the warehouse does not have this seat in stock either (I guess we picked two of the most popular carseats). They start calling around. The BRU in Gurnee, IL (about forty minutes from this BRU and twenty from our house) has six. So I drive down there. And finally am able to get a good carseat.


So anyways, the boys didn't really care one way or another about getting new carseats. What they loved was getting new boxes! These carseats came in these great big boxes and they are having a ton of fun climbing in and out of them, jumping on them, and putting them on top of each other. Who knew how much fun a box could be? With the amount of joy they are getting from these boxes, the boxes themselves are almost worth the $300 we paid for the carseats.

I got in!

I got an e-mail from Marquette University today letting me know that I was accepted into the direct entry msn program! I'm so excited! I have been praying for this for a long time and I felt that it was my calling to become a midwife, so this is just more confirmation. I can't wait to get back into school on a more full-time basis.

Also, I am so glad that I found out this early. Originally I had been told that they usually notify two weeks after the deadline, and then I found out that they weren't planning on sending out notifications until the end of February. Thankfully, they sent them out early, so I can stop stressing and start planning! I need to find a daycare for the boys. We need to buy a second car. And oh yeah, figure out how to pay for all of this.

But I'm not going to start that stuff until tomorrow. Today, I am basking in the excitment!