So far this morning, we've eaten breakfast, had some coffee, watched some cartoons and Cade's moved on to the basement to play with his trains. In other words, we're taking some time to relax! When I relax, I usually get bored which usually leads me to pick up the computer, which then leads to random Internet surfing and that leads to me getting ideas and getting antsy to get things done. Goodbye relaxation! :)
This morning, I was going over our Baby Bucket List, looking for small, simple things that we could do today. I decided to go from there to our Wishpot account and check to make sure Brynlee's list is up-to-date. It looks good right now (more random Internet surfing will lead to more items added!) but I got to thinking about how to get the word out that we even have that list! We (most likely) won't have a baby shower...at least not the whole shebang...and we only have a few things that we really need. So here's "the word" to anyone wondering what to get us...go to our Wishpot account!! Make sure you click "reserve gift" so we don't get duplicates! Also, gift cards would be AMAZING!!!
Thank you all in advance! We can't wait to have Brynlee here and shower her with all her girly stuff :)
This weekend we got lots of things moved from the infamous "To Do List" to the lengthening "DONE!" list! In about 2 1/2 days, we painted Brynlee's room, painted Cade's room, got Cade a bed frame and put the crib up in Brynlee's room. Cory also got the doors we'll need to finish the basement; not on the to-do list persay, but still a step to FINISHING the basement!
And speaking of our basement, my sister moved out of her apartment this weekend but can't move into her new place until August. So that leaves her living in our basement for the summer! This obviously will put a damper on getting the basement "play" friendly, but maybe we'll have to focus our energy on everything else :)
Anyway, back to the kids' rooms.....Brynlee's colors are dark pink and light green. We'll put a white chair rail around her room. In Cade's room, you need sunglasses! I got my inspiration from his bedding: We used bright blue, bright orange and bright green. The green is brighter than I anticipated, but it works for his room! Under the blue, we're going to hang a white shelf and trim and under the orange stripe we're hanging white trim. Hard to explain, but we'll have pictures when it's done :)
Here are both rooms painted and ready for their trim and wall decorations!!!
This past weekend was the annual ISU celebration, VEISHEA!! It's always a good time, whether you can "go out" or not :) There are tons of family activites and we've had a lot of fun the past 3 years we've celebrated with Cade. His favorite, and the biggest activity, is the parade. We have had "our spot" the past 3 years and we love it. I could complain about the unruly kids that stood RIGHT in front of our chairs and stole candy that landed in our personal spaces, but I won't because the last 2 family events we've had (see Easter Egg Hunting and Cade's First Recital) have had someone or something "ruin" things and I'm not ruining this memory :) Let's just say next year, we're putting our chairs in the middle of the street and working our way back from there :)
The day starts bright and early with a pancake breakfast that starts at 8 am. We usually try to get to campus as close to 8 as possible, park our cars, set up our chairs for the parade, then fill up on all-you-can-eat pancakes for $5. Actually, I don't know if it's truly "all-you-can-eat" but you get to go back at least once and you get anywhere from 2-4 pancakes in one trip and that's all that I can eat! Cade even got seconds! We hit up some booths and tents set up on central campus on our way back to "our spot" and this year I answered a trivia question correctly to win a Cy tattoo for Cade. Woohoo!! The parade was great (about 1 1/2 hours long), even though this year they only had 3 real "floats" among all the entries! Must be budget cuts, haha! My mom, Cory's parents and the Otts joined us, so that was awesome! Bridget and I had to humor ourselves with our "teacher talk" to the rude little kids in order to refrain from blowing our tops :)
After the parade we visited some of the open houses. There was a petting zoo and a cow milking exhibit through the Pre-Vet college and of course Cade got to participate in that. He didn't know what to think about actually milking the cow, but he did it! To kill some time while we were waiting for the food lines to shorten (next year, we're getting our food BEFORE the parade ends!) we decided to see what the Psychology Club had set up and actually had some fun playing the games and doing the experiments they had set up. After lunch Cory, Cade and I stopped by the ISU spring football game/practice. The weather was GORGEOUS and it felt so nice sitting in the sun!!! This year, my ritual of buying a blown glass pretty from the Gaffer's Guild didn't hold true, but I hope to take time to visit them next year. I have some really cool, unique vases that I got 2 years ago (Cory broke the things I got last year before we even got home!)
After we left the game, we headed back to campus to hit up the carnival. We parked by the horse barns and saw that they were giving rides so of course we (I) HAD to have Cade do it!!! He did really well...not scared or apprehensive at all! At the carnival this year, he could actually go on all but one of the rides all by himself! Of course, I couldn't ride anything (*tear) but Cory did go on the swinging boat with him - the one he was TERRIFIED of last year - and this year he liked MOST of it. Mostly, just the first half :) He wasn't "scared" persay, just didn't like the feeling in his stomach. Overall, he LOVED the carnival of course, and like always, his tickets didn't last as long as he would have liked.
We finally got him convinced that we needed to go and we met up with my mom and sister at Applebee's for dinner. After a late lunch, day of snacking and time in the sun, Cory and I were only able to split an appetizer sampler. Not surprisingly, Cade got a full kids' meal and finished most of it :) It's also not surprisng that all of us were ready to CRASH when we got home and without a nap that day, Cade went down very easily! All in all, we love VEISHEA and can't wait until next year. We're definitely taking notes to better our experiences each year and we're creating some pretty cool family memories and traditions!
Saturday, April 10 was Cade's first dance recital! His class did a tap dance to "Animal Crackers In My Soup" from Shirly Temple and it was ADORABLE! Cade was the only boy, front and center and got a little nervous walkig out on stage. But after some coaxing by his teacher, he overcame his fears and did a pretty great job! His class was definitely the best, all knowing what they were supposed to do and they looked great. I give all credit to his teachers and I had heard very good things about the "lead" teacher he had so I was excited about that, but we will probably NEVER take lessons from Parks and Rec again...more to come on this topic!
The entire program only lasted about an hour (which was awesome) and was only younger kids. The oldest class was probably around 10 years old, so it was kinda boring to watch at some points :) The gymnastics instructors did a "routine" and I think I could've gotten on stage, 5 months pregnant and 10 years out of dance, and done AS MUCH if not MORE than what those "teachers" did!! One of them even needed SPOTTED for a kick-over!!! I couldn't believe it. If I hadn't already pulled Cade out of the gymnastics program, I would definitely know to do it now! I never really liked the way the gymnastics classes did things anyway, which brings me to my complaints about NEVER going back through Parks and Rec.....
The fact that the recital was extremely laid-back and "unprofessional" was completely fine with me because 1) Cade is young and it doesn't really matter and 2) he's a boy and probably won't last much longer anyway...we're just waiting for these ballet and tap techniques to help in basketball and football :) Anyway, it was fine with me until I went upstairs to where all the kids were waiting for their turn to dance and I realized also how laid-back and unprofessional the supervision and care was. First I should say, Cade usually has NO problems being independent, being around new people and doing his own thing. Usually, I get more upset than he does. So, I ignored my gut "mommy" feeling and left him right before 2:00 (when the recital was supposed to start) to go down to my seat. I told him I would come back to check on him before his dance, and I did after the gymnastics section (around 2:20). What I discovered still breaks my heart and brings tears to my eyes. The kids were running around like wild animals, not supervised or staying in their classes like suggested that they would be and Cade was sitting against the wall by himself, his shoe untied and muttering "Momma, momma" to himself. I also noticed two other little girls in his class backed against the wall by themselves, wide-eyed and scared to death. Also, a lot of their skirts had the ribbon ripping off the bottom and they had holes in the knees of their tights. Now, I'm not at all a, "Oh my poor baby!" kind of mother, but I was PISSED! I can't even describe what the room was like. For his sake, I put a smile on my face and asked him in the most upbeat way how he was doing but as soon as he saw me, he dove into my arms, squeezed on with all his might and BAWLED! I asked if he told a grown-up that he needed help or if a grown-up even talked to him at all...he said no. I tried to perk him up and get a smile on his face because I knew his dance was coming up really soon! Just then, a "helper" called out the name of his class to line up. I told him it was time to go and he squeezed his legs and arms around me even harder! At this point, I was fuming and if his teachers (who were at the stage helping their other classes) weren't so great, I would have walked him out right then. Instead, I just said loud enough for the "helper" to hear me, "Oh don't worry buddy, I'm not going to leave you alone here again!"
Here are some pictures of Cade's Easter egg hunting fun! We went to the citywide hunt at a park on Saturday morning, then had our own fun at home Sunday morning.
 2010 was the second year that Cade could really get into Easter. We started off Saturday going to the park for the annual citywide Easter egg hunt. The weather was beautiful, my mom, Bridget and her little girl Kaylin joined us and Cade was all hyped up and extremely excited. The only thing that could "ruin" it was a crazy Asian mom who didn't understand common English courtesies and her son who had to be at least a year younger than Cade who didn't even seem to care to be there. Let me explain...
The egg hunt is over as soon as it stats. There are three different age groups and hundreds of crazy parents waiting for the go ahead to push their child into the sea of "hidden" eggs. This would be just fine if everyone would show at least a little respect to others standing around them. When I noticed where Cade's age group was gathering, I got him a front row seat because, remembering from last year, if you weren't right up there ready to go, you lost! I told Cade to stand nicely to wait for them to tell us to go. The lady "in charge" was still standing on a picnic table giving a few directions when I heard crazy (foreign) battlecry beside me and saw some Asian lady literally running and carrying her child by his arm pits into the middle of the eggs. Ummm, excuse me, what's going on?? Everyone else kind of looked around, but didn't want their kid to "lose", so they ran in behind her. I was so angry, annoyed and frustrated that I didn't even get any pictures of Cade during this frenzy. Lucky for him, Cory was standing there and told him to go ahead because I just couldn't take my eyes off of the crazy lady and kept looking back at the people in charge for someone to...stop her? Somehow?
Anyway, Cade did end up getting 4 1/2 (yes, 1/2) eggs and was pretty pumped about it. We saw someone we knew and his granddaughter who was just around a year old, and she didn't have any eggs so we even made Cade SHARE one of his eggs. What a concept, huh? Don't worry though, the crazy Asian family had, oh, THIRTY+ eggs!!!! They couldn't even hold all of them in the TWO baskets they had. Dad had to hold some in his hands and the BABY (who couldn't even walk yet) also had some in his hands and spread around him on the ground like a cute little picture perfect moment. I wanted to run by, yelling my own battlecry, grab one of their baskets (and maybe the baby too, just for payback) and herd my own family to our vehicle. Then, I would share with the other kids who got NOTHING. I saw some kids in tears :(
When it was all said and done, I thought we'd get a nice picture with the Easter bunny walking around. He was obviously swarmed with other kids and crazy parents trying to get a picture (the bucket of candy he had was probably an unneeded distraction!) but I walked Cade up to patiently wait his turn. I was still pretty annoyed with the whole debacle with the egg hunt, but decided to try to forget about it...what could I do anyway?? Well......
It took three or four attempts to get a GOOD picture of Cade with the bunny. The one I put at the top of this post is the good one. Here are my other attempts...
This one is okay...a cute "wave" moment. I'm attempting to move Cade in closer to the bunny person to have him stand next to him, but closely look at the left side of the picture. Okay, now imagine me nudging Cade forward and this, is my next attempt.... AH HA! There you are crazy Asian mom, who not only stole everyone else's Easter eggs before they even had a chance, but now you're jumping into everyone else's pictures. This is only one out of NO JOKE, TEN PICTURES THEY TOOK WITH THIS RABBIT!!!!! They kept walking away (probably to check the picture on the digital camera) then would randomly come running back through the crowd to get another picture. I tried to push Cade up THREE times, but he was so confused and in awe of this creature that he wasn't quick enough and OH! HERE SHE'D COME AGAIN!!! And LOOK at her son. He is BEGGING someone to rescue him.
Anyway, enough ranting......
We ended up having a great Easter! Cade got to play at the park for awhile after the hunt. Bridget stuck around with us for a bit and we chatted a little. When we left, we ate lunch with my mom at the Dutch Oven Bakery. Sunday morning, Cade got up to find all the eggs the Easter bunny left behind at our house (inside AND outside!) He loved it. I'm just glad our neighbors didn't send their kids out to attack Cade while we were doing the hunt outside...haha. He even asked before we went out, "Is it just me this time, Mom?" Yes, dear, and I will fight anyone who thinks otherwise :)
Cade's life never has a dull moment, and if it starts to slow down, he sees to it that it doesn't! Last Friday, Cade was riding a bike outside at school. Next thing I know, I hear him crying and see a teacher walking very quickly toward me with Cade and a bloody lip - Cade's bloody lip, not hers :) He had somehow tipped the bike over and banged up his top lip on the sidewalk. It was nothing I hadn't seen (more literally than I knew at the time!) so I got it washed, got some ice and started the accident report paperwork. Routine procedures. What I can't believe I forgot to make "routine" was to check his teeth and gums. EVERY child who has a hard hit to his/her mouth should ALWAYS get a good check of his/her gums and teeth! Parents and caregivers, TAKE NOTE! Anyway, I know this from a previous experience with another child in my class who hit their mouth and did not have a good outcome.
I did "watch" Cade's mouth over the weekend and didn't think there was a problem. He even ate raw baby carrots :) Monday morning, however, as I'm putting him into his seat, I attempted to wipe a piece of food off of his "tooth in question" and noticed it was a bit loose. He also chose THAT moment to tell me that it hurt a little. Won-der-ful! Cory made a dentist appointment for that afternoon and I was in nervous breakdown mode until then.
Cade was amazing at his appointment. He jumped right up into the chair, laughed when the assistant layed the seat back and talked the dentist's ear off about how he hurt himself. He even sat still with his mouth wide open the entire time the dentist's fingers were rooting around in there! SO proud of him! We ended up leaving with a relatively clean bill of health: no fractures, no severe trama. Possible, slight darkening and some looseness for awhile was the prognosis. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!! That was a huge weight off my shoulders! I haven't noticed any change in color yet, but I'm not about to wiggle it! Also on Monday, Cade started swim lessons. Just another activity to add to our hectic-ness! Now, 6:30 on Mondays and Wednesdays is swim and 5:30 on Thursdays is dance (but just until April 10, when he has his recital!!!) Not to mention that Cory is still working nights and we have a ton of work- and home-related projects going on....it can get crazy, but hey, that's life, right?!?
Of course, Cade had to start swim lessons off with a bang (literally?) when he was struggling to climb onto the ledge to sit and pushed himself too hard and hit his "injured" tooth right on the edge. No blood, no mark, but lots of tears! You could tell it hurt! Other than that, he's really enjoying lessons so far. The only complaint I have is that it's SUPER loud in the pool with other classes all around and people constantly coming or going. The kids have a hard time hearing and the teachers have to speed through a 30 minute lesson, even if some of the kids aren't listening or can't hear sometimes, which has been Cade's situation so far! He's just so mezmerized by the huge pool and so excited to be in the water - he loves to swim - that he gets lost in daydreams and doesn't hear the next direction. At least I should be thankful that he stays by the wall where he needs to be and he's not the kid throwing in all the toys and swimming away from the class like a couple other boys! Here's a video as proof :)
He still hasn't put his face all the way under (he's only had 2 classes) but really, he hasn't even HEARD the direction that that's what he's SUPPOSED to do. I think I'll look into private or semi-private lessons next time, maybe in 5 weeks when these lessons are over.
In any case, our lives have been nothing short of busy, dramatic...normal!
As I mentioned on our new page, "Baby Bucket List," I am a list maker. I always strive to be organized, but do fall short most of the time :) Hey, it's a lot of work to stay organized...almost as much work to REorganize, so what's the difference, right? HAHA!
Anyway, after creating a list of things to do before Brynlee is born, I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. I want those things done, NOW!!! That's where I believe lists really help, whereas Cory criticizes that in the time it took me to create that page and write the list, I could have gotten something done. Whatever!
My point is, I created the list on Friday and on Saturday, I talked Cory into (forced him into, actually) getting our upstairs closets under control. Don't get me wrong, they were still completely functional and pretty well organized, but there were A LOT of clothes, shoes, purses we (I) don't wear anymore and needed to get rid of. We'd gradually been taking some things from our closet and dresser and bagging them up for "garage sale." This wasn't going fast enough to suit me, so we got that DONE today!! No more extra stuff in our closet, and we gained a little floor space, some extra hangers and an ENTIRE shelf!! Also, our dresser has one whole drawer completely EMPTY! YAY!!
We also went through the closet in Cade's room. The way it's built, we can't use it for clothes so his clothes are actually in what will be Brynlee's room. This is another project on our list! Anyway, we weeded out some of the things in the storage closet (old bedding, random stuffed animals and baby toys that we won't use for Brynlee, Cade's old humidifier, etc.) Mostly, the only stuff we have in there now is extra blankets and sheets, gift bags, tissue paper and wrapping paper and some memorabilia things. Hopefully we'll get his closet ready for his clothes after we're done with the stairs!
So, all in all, we've "gotten rid of" a lot of junk and freed up some space! (And when I say, "gotten rid of," I mean, it's moved from our closets to garbage bags that now sit in our living room, waiting to be moved to the basement, where they will wait to be sold at a garage sale! hahaha) On the surface, all of this may not seem like it relates to having a new baby, but it does feel good to have these certain things under control before she releases all sorts of chaos on our lives!
Cade's (& my) center is doing a "Mini March" fundraiser to raise money for Cystic Fibrosis Foundation on Wednesday, March 31. I am actually the volunteer chairperson for the "March" and would appreciate the support even more than Cade would understand :)
It's a little walk-a-thon where the toddler and preschool rooms march around our center and/or playground and we have optional lessons to teach the kids the value of helping others. This is a pre-paid event so I would need any checks mailed to me ASAP. Because the march is already next Wednesday, I can write a check for everything and collect from everyone afterwards.
These are just a few examples of the prizes that Cade could win:
$35-$64 - Mini March T-shirt or this year's "soundtrack" CD, "Rory's Little Broadway"
$65-$99 - Pocket Power Racer or My First Uno/Skip-Bo Card Game
$100-$149 - Frog Hopper Game
$150-$249 - Princess Barbie (maybe he could give this to his little sister, haha) or Junior Stilts
$250-$349 - Etch-A-Sketch
...and this goes up to $1500 where he could win a pair of two way radios or $150 gift certificate for Teachers' School Supply.
In addition to prizes earned for raising $65 or more, Cade would also get the choice of the T-shirt or CD.
The prizes are great, but I really enjoy raising money for things like this, so ANY donations would be GREATLY appreciated!!!!!
Give me a call (641-799-9795) or send me an email on the "Contact Us" page for any questions and/or to donate! Thank you so much in advance :)
So we JUST had the ultrasound to find out that Baby #2 is a girl, and we already have gifts from friends! I hope this doesn't continue for the next 5 months/when she's born or we'll have to find a new house! Here's some of the things Brynlee has so luckily acquired at 5 months gestational age :) Thank you to my mom and sister! Brynlee will of course need her own giraffe, just like her older brother! The blanket has a giraffe on it and says "I "heart" you" :) They bought these on the way up to Ames on SUNDAY, before the ultrasound! Thank you to Pranav, Neha, Aneesh & Anika from the child care center. Aneesh is in my room. His parents are SO sweet and Neha had these in her pocket when she came to pick the kids up MONDAY AFTERNOON, meaning, she already had them bought, just knowing that I was having a girl :) Thank you to Aunt Kelsey! Kelsey works with me and is the most sweetest person ever :) I saw this outfit at Target and almost bought it myself! I love the color and unique design...I'm so excited for her to wear it :)
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