A learning moment

As I was sweeping the floor, I overheard this conversation that was taking place in the bathroom:

Indi: "Josie, go tell mommy that I have diarrhea."
Josie: "What is diarrhea, Indi?"
Indi: "When your poop comes out really fast!"
Josie: "Well, you farted too, so it is when you fart and poop comes out!"
Indi: "Yeah, I think so."
Josie: "And it really stinks!"
Indi: "Yeah."

At least I don't have to explain what it is now!

Getting closer

I've been thinking a lot about our little adventure we've been on for the last three years. It's amazing that it will be over in only one week. Thayne has his last final in two days, graduation in five, days and then we move in seven days. I was sure it was going to be the longest three years of our lives but as I look back, it has actually gone by fast. I do have to admit that the first year was hard but once I made friends and got into a routine, things really improved. I am so proud of my husband!!! He has been working so hard, and accomplishing so much since we have come here. Even with classes, and studying, Thayne has been a great husband and father! He has been so supportive, loving and attentive through these last three years. Others are always shocked when they find out that he's a law student (doing well, I might add) with four children. He has found a great balance between school and family and I am so appreciative off that.
Here are a few things I will miss about our little town and experience:

My awesome playgroup!!
My wonderful friends who were always there for me when I needed them!
Our beautiful home
The great parks
My son's school (wonderful teachers, programs and family events)
Josie's therapy preschool (she has made so much progress in her speech)
The long vacations Thayne had from school (spring and fall break, summers, etc.)
Our little local library
My rubber stamping club!


Here are a few things I won't miss:

Living like poor students
living so far from my family
Thayne's finals!!


As we come to the end of this great adventure, another one starts. One that I'm scared to begin! Thayne will be heading to the east coast for his summer job while me and the kids stay with my mom. Three months away from Thayne seems so long! I know that the kids will miss him as well but I hope that the time flies by fast so that we can be together as a family again. This will be a great time for Thayne. He is so excited to get started working and putting all of this new knowledge he has to use.

The Cup

(Read at your own risk. This post may cause immediate vomitting!)

When I took Josie to the Doctor for her 5 year old check up they asked her to pee in a cup. She was quite excited to do so. That should have been a hint to me. Well, she has been to the Dr several times since then and every time she wants to pee in a cup and the answer is always "no". This morning, Indi told me in the car, on the way to pick up Josie from school, that Josie peed in the cup that is in the bathroom. I was so disgusted!! When Josie got in the car, I asked her about it and she confessed. I made sure she understood that peeing in a cup was only appropriate at the Doctor's office and ONLY if the Doctor asks her to. Well, when we got home, I made a bottle for Kai and was taking her upstairs for a nap when I looked in the bathroom and saw Indi taking a drink from the CUP!!! AWWWWWWW.......I wanted to throw up. I yelled "Indi put that cup down!". I think I scared her because she threw the cup down and looked completely shocked. After I put Kai down I went in the bathroom and found two cups on the counter. I don't know which one she peed in and I was scared to find out for fear that it was the one Indi was drinking out of. I put both cups in kitchen sink but now I'm thinking about putting them both in the garbage.

I'm here!

I've gotten a couple of emails from some of you wondering why I haven't blogged for a week so I thought I'd better post something so no one else worries. It's a frantic time for us right now because Thayne is in the middle of studying for finals and I'm packing and and trying to be a decent mom most of the time. Thayne's last day of school was last week and even though he has finals it was good to see that part of the adventure over! I know that he can't feel any relief yet, since finals are still ahead of him but those will be over in a week and a half and then the celebration begins! We rented a storage unit here in town and are going to leave our stuff here because we don't know where we are going after the summer. We felt like it was more economical to rent a storage shed then to move our stuff twice. I've started to pack up the kid's toys which has been an interesting situation for them. They're excited to go to Gram's house for the summer but not excited to leave most of their toys here. I'm also packing up their winter and fall clothes and Josie is always asking me if we are going to save the clothes or throw them away. I don't think she quite understands what is going on. I hear Indi trying to explain it to her but even Indi is confused :).

Thayne's parents, my Mom, my Dad, and my brother and his kids are coming to join in Thayne's graduation celebration! We're going to have a FULL house but it will be fun. Thayne's parents will be staying in a hotel but everyone else will be piled on our floor :). I love crowds of people but Thayne always has to prepare himself for it and then is still overwhelmed when they all come. He's the oldest in his family and I'm the youngest so that should explain the reason for our feelings of crowds. The more the merrier for me!

I had to take the kids to church by myself, yesterday, and so I thought I'd take a couple of pictures of them before we left. They didn't turn out like I wanted but...oh well!


(I took about 6 pictures and Josie wasn't looking at me in any of them. This is the only decent one of all of them but Josie. Can you imagine what would happen if we added another kid to this clan?)



(My youngest and my oldest!)

Keep going..

I've been watching my blog, like a hawk, this last week and haven't seen any questionable visitors. Thayne and I have discussed it and have decided that I'll continue to blog and be more careful about the pictures I put up.

Anyways, this last week I've been feeling like nothing I own is really mine. It all belongs to my kids, so they think. I remember getting lectures from my mom, when I was younger (well most of my life as a child and adolescent), that I was not allowed to touch other people's stuff. She told me more than once that their stuff was not my stuff. So it's only fitting that I have children that are just like me. So am I wasting my time to even attempt to teach them to respect other people's things? Probably not because who knows how worse I would have been if my mom had given up on lecturing me. This is not a fun thing about parenting. I feel like I should call my parents and siblings and tell them I'm sorry for making their things mine and for breaking, wrecking, or losing everything that I touched that belonged to them.

Even Thayne said, a couple of weeks ago "I can't have anything nice with all these kids around!". It's sad but very true!

Explanation

Many of you have asked how we know that sickos are visiting our blog. I'll do my best to try and explain it. I have recently added a new tracker that is very detailed (notice it on the left hand side of the blog). It tells me where the person is living (not exactly but close) and where they came from and what the last thing they looked at on my blog.

Within the last couple of weeks I have noticed that many individuals have googled the words "B a t h i n g B e a u t y" and one of the results was a post on my blog about my three girls taking a bath. Then after I saw a lot of people coming to that post I changed the name of the post and deleted those words in the body of the post but that didn't stop them. The picture of the girls must have been shared because I started to get a lot of people coming directly to the post without googling it which means that the link of the post was being shared and they came to the direct link to see the pictures. THEN...I noticed that they were coming to my site to see the picture only and not the post where the picture is found. SCARY!! That's when I started to get nervous and very freaked out. I went and deleted the pictures completely but that doesn't stop those nasty people who already have the picture and are (I'm sure) distributing it.

So, if you have a blog I STRONGLY suggest that you get the tracker I am using and keep a very close eye on who is coming to visit your site, where they are coming from and what the last thing they look at before they leave. If it says that they arrived from Google.com then you can click on that part and it will show you what words they put in the search engine to get to your site.

I hope that all makes sense. It's really hard to explain it in writing! Thanks for all your kind words and letting me know that I'll still have an audience if I end up password protecting my site.

Sad Day

I'm sitting here trying to decide if I should keep blogging. It's a sad day for me. I enjoy blogging about my life, especially my children but I fear that I am putting us in a dangerous situation. It has come to my attention that there are several perverted individuals who are accessing pictures of my children for their sick addictions. Specifically pictures of my girls taking baths. I have deleted the pictures that have been downloaded by these individuals so that others can't do it but those that already have them are likely to distribute them without my knowledge.

Thayne and I feel like we have done what we can without having to put a password on my blog, but who knows if it's enough. If I put a password on my blog then you won't be able to use "Google Reader" or any other program that notifies you if I published a new post. Which could mean that you'll forget about me and my family if you depend on those programs :(. I can't even begin to comprehend individuals like this and it's horrible that we even have to look out for them.

Worst Pediatrician

When we first moved here I asked a bunch of other moms for a recommendation for a Pediatrician. I don't even remember who recommended her but I went with a recommendation that was HORRIBLE! I cringe every time I have to take one of my kids in and usually ask to see someone else if possible when making the appointment. I know, you're all wondering why I continue to go to her (or her office) and it's out of complete procrastination. I have to make several phone calls to my insurance company and then it takes 30 days to actually change and blah blah blah. I am always happy when I don't have to see her which makes me procrastinate more.
Well, Kai came down with the worst diaper rash I have ever seen and I treated it with everything that I knew and finally decided to take her in. The only doctor available was the Dr. Horrible (that's what I'm going to call her) so I reluctantly agreed to see her. She took one look at the diaper rash and said it was a yeast infection. She prescribed me some cream and sent me on my way. After two days of using the cream the rash was worse and she started to get a rash on her face, stomach arms, back and legs. I took her back and asked for someone else and was granted my request. The new doctor took a culture and said that she had strep in her diaper area but didn't know what the rash on the rest of her body was. She gave me an antibiotic to give Kai and wanted me to come back in three days if it wasn't better. Kai's diaper rash seemed a little better (less red) but the rash everywhere else was getting worse so we went back in. We were able to see the same doctor we saw the very last visit and she took another culture of the rash and said Kai also had a Staph Infection which was caused by the open wounds on her bum. SO, we got another antibiotic and a skin cream. After several days the rash stopped growing but has not completely disappeared. Here is the after affects of her ordeal:

(Notice rash on her arm and armpit, mouth and stomach....poor thing!)



(Different view of her tummy!)


(I guess I should look on the bright side and be glad that her face doesn't look like this anymore :>. This picture is when she was less than a day old!)

Hmmm

I am sitting here trying to think of something to write to update how our lives have been going but I'm struggling. We have had a pretty uneventful last several days (thank goodness). I'm starting to pack our stuff slowly. Every time the kids see me start to pack a box they ask me about a million times if they can pack their stuff now.

I'm trying not to think about being away from Thayne for the whole summer. The thought of it makes me a bit emotional and scared. He's my rock and strength and to think that I won't have that for the summer is frightening. I just hope the time goes by very quickly!

Josie has been thinking a lot about Jesus, lately, I think. Whenever I ask her to go do something (put her clothes on, clean something up, etc.) she often will come back and say, "Mommy, Jesus can't help me put my pants on, so can you help me?". Every time it is her time to pray she always thanks God for Jesus and has even asked that Jesus come and visit. She's so dang cute!! Indi said a prayer, the other day, and asked God to help Jesus have a good day! I am so grateful that they understand (in their own little way) that Jesus is real and is here to help us. I feel like that is one of my duties of a mom is to help them understand our religious beliefs and so far I feel like I am accomplishing it!

We got Jaed's report card from school and he's doing well in everything except P.E.. He's pretty much failing P.E.. Every quarter the teacher puts a mark on 'Needs Improvement' for P.E.. We ask him about it and he just says that he doesn't like it. My guess is that he doesn't like to take orders so he's not participating. Obviously, we need to work on that.......as soon as we find out how.