It ain't pretty

Sick Ollie this morning, wearing one of my shirts because I was out of his in the dead of night

It seems a little cliche to talk about how much energy Oliver has and how he never stops - I hear it all the time from parents of kids his age. He's my third though, so I feel like I am at least somewhat qualified to say that he is beyond the typical level of toddler mischievousness. I am telling you, this kid NEVER stops. NEVER. He is happy, he is fun, he is adorable as can be, but he is TROUBLE. He climbs everything, including our stove. He unplugs everything. He sticks raw ground beef in his mouth, and rips Christmas lights out of their sockets and then crunches on them. Even with our firm bedtime routine in place, he fights sleep for over an hour every night - sometimes refusing to settle until we physically hold him still.

So Chad and I have speculated for awhile what it would be like if Oliver got sick. Not exactly hoping he would - we aren't that starved for some peace - but just wondering if he would actually lie still for awhile like our other boys do when they are sick.

We found out yesterday afternoon (Chad's birthday) when he started throwing up. Yes, he did lie still, and even seemed to watch a little TV in between his bouts of clothes-soaking hurling. The poor little guy was pathetic and I cuddled and cooed over his sick little body with all the patience in the world.

And then the sun went down.

I went to sleep with him at 9, knowing that it could be a long night. Gabe slept on one side of me, because he was also sick, and Ollie on the other. Chad was in the guest room. Sometime between 9 and 10, in my sleepy and confused state, I gave in to Oliver's pleas to nurse. I realized what I had done when it promptly came right back up, soaking yet another set of clothes and yet another blanket.

The rest of the night was ugly. The dazed, listless baby was gone and replaced by one who screamed into the dead of the night because I wouldn't nurse him or give him a drink. He was hysterical, trying to climb off the bed to find his own water. Over and over again he did his sign for "drink" and over and over again screamed at me when I tried to tell him it would hurt his belly. I figured that sleep would have to take over at some point - he had to be exhausted. I could wait it out. After and hour or so of this, I started to wonder and gave him a little Pedialyte. He grabbed it and gulped it down, and then promptly threw it up and did his "drink" sign again.

Oliver screams were now waking Gabe up and keeping Chad awake, which normally wouldn't have been a huge problem, but Chad was supposed to leave the house at 6 am. Luke was taking him to the BMW Performance Driving School as a birthday gift - a non-refundable birthday gift and something Chad has been really looking forward to. You kinda want to sleep before you do something like that, right?

The hours dragged, and Oliver still wasn't going to sleep or losing any steam. He was now trying to grab his and Gabe's vomit bowls to drink out of them. Chad and I were both losing our patience, and just didn't know what to do. A little before 2, I decided that even if it meant giving in to Ollie when I knew it wasn't good for him, I would let him nurse and drink as much as he wanted so he would stop screaming and let Chad sleep. I gathered some dry blankets, towels, and clothes, and let him nurse and barf to his heart's content. After 4:30 or so he finally started sleeping for an hour or so at a time.

So....... now we know what sick Ollie is like, and it is scary!

How about you? Have any of your kids been even more energetic when sick?

Have your kids ever become sick at a very inconvenient time or in a very inconvenient place?

Couldn't resist

I know it is a day late, but I saw this picture on Cake Wrecks today and just laughed and laughed.

Is there such a thing as too many cheesecake posts?

I may be pushing it, but I had to mention the cheesecake I made for Chad's birthday, because it was SO easy and SO delicious. No cracks either! I found this recipe on allrecipes.com, which is really where I find all my new recipes.

Brownie Chocolate Chip Cheesecake

Ingredients

• 1 (19.5 ounce) package Pillsbury® Classic Traditional Fudge Brownies
• 3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1 (14 ounce) can EAGLE BRAND® Sweetened Condensed Milk
• 3 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease bottom only of 9-inch springform pan. Prepare brownie mix as package directs for chewy brownies. Spread evenly in prepared pan. Bake 35 minutes or until set.
2. In large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese until fluffy. Gradually beat in sweetened condensed milk. Add eggs and vanilla; mix well. Stir in chocolate chips. Pour into prepared pan.
3. Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees F. Bake 50 minutes or until set. Cool. Chill thoroughly. Remove side of springform pan. Garnish as desired. Store leftovers covered in refrigerator.

Now let me do the allrecipes classic reviewer thing and mention that I didn't use mini chocolate chips or the name brands (duh), but otherwise I followed this recipe exactly and it came out perfectly!

Carne Asada and Cheesecake

We had the family (and Luke, of course) over Sunday night to celebrate Chad's upcoming 30th birthday. I can't tell you how much help I got from my family members getting the food ready (I kind of went into my "spaz" mode). Everything turned out delicious, especially Chad's guacamole, and Chad got some great gag gifts, along with a mini-roast from Colin. Fun night - almost as fun as the birthday boy.

Panchetta (Gabe)

This kid cracks me up on a daily basis, but today he did two things that just warmed my heart.

First, I am the Primary Secretary, so I was off in a corner doing some of my duties today, half-listening to sharing time. The pianist was playing a few notes from a song and the kids had to name the song. All of the sudden I heard Gabe answering correctly, very purposefully, in a loud and clear voice. It wasn't an easy song and he was the first one to know it. You have to know Gabe to know how big this is. I couldn't stop smiling at the sound of that voice.

Second, we were having "quiet time" (a Jeppson Sunday tradition where everyone stays in a separate room so Mommy and Daddy can hopefully take a nap) this afternoon when I heard Gabe talking. I had just gotten Ollie to sleep, so I stomped over to Gabe's room to tell him to zip it. When I looked in, he had one of the Bob books and he was sounding the words in it out, and very successfully. We have been doing reading lessons together, but this is the first time I have seen him making any reading attempt on his own. He may be a jokester, but he is also such a smart kid.

Man Soup

Chad is not a huge soup fan (probably because he had a lot of nasty soup in Chile) but I always know that he will like this soup when I make it. It is filling too, so he never has to make himself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich an hour after dinner is over.

Last night when I was making it, Colin said, "Are you making that soup that I love so much?"

What I love even more than the fact that my kids will eat it all? It is very very easy.

I add a can of green beans to it, just for some additional veggies, and sometimes I will add some sort of pasta in. Also, I have never used the picante sauce, because I never have it on hand.

Sunshine in Winter

It was 2:00 pm and I finishing up some chores so that I could get Oliver and Gabe ready to leave for the daily school pick-up.

Chad called to let me know that he was leaving work a little early - would I like him to pick the boys up?

And so, all the sudden, I had more than an hour freed up in my day - an hour that is always otherwise occupied. An hour that didn't have dishes or laundry assigned to it.

An hour to just play on the trampoline under sunny blue skies.

All the more pleasant because it was out of the routine, just like the 60 degree weather - a gift when none were expected.


Really, I can't tell you how happy this made me.

(the helmet was Gabe's request and is more of a fashion statement than a safety precaution, in case you were wondering about it :)

Sleeping soundly

I can't get these images out my head tonight:

My sturdy, spacious home.

Rubble everywhere.

My three precious boys curling their little bodies in bed, fast asleep.

Thousands of children out in the open, many without parents there to hold them. Little bodies strewn on the streets or hidden under concrete.

Tonight I want to gather those children in my feeble arms, sit them in front of my fireplace with a buffet of food, and tuck them in, under quilts, to sleep on every empty square inch of my house - let them sleep and forget for at least one night.

I can't be there, but my prayers and heart are in Haiti.

(We are such fortunate people. How can we forget that?)

Belated Thank-You

Back when New Moon opened, my cousin Olivia* rented a theater out with her friends, sold the tickets, and had an awesome showing. After it was over, she had a give-away with some of the swag bags they had leftover from the event, and I won one!

I was so excited when I came home from vacation to find it in the mail. Along with some hilarious New Moon memorobilia, there were a few extras thrown in, like some homemade pepper jelly, which disappeared a long time ago when I made some Texas Egg Rolls to go with them. SO delicious Olivia and so adorable too!

Thank You Thank You Thank You!

I'm trying to think of a cool place to put my stickers....maybe my Primary binder?

*For those of you who aren't familiar with her blog, check it out and get with the times. My brother-in-law James actually just won a book in another give-away!

More belated thank you's coming tomorrow.

When Pizza Hut says "Unlimited Toppings"....

....I go for the gusto!

Keepin' It Real Wednesday

Sitting here at my computer tonight, this is what I am asking myself:

Do I have a headache and feel like crap because I over-exercised today, or because I need more sleep, or because I am getting sick?

If I get sick, can I let my house fall apart completely? Maybe I want to be sick.

Can I go to bed without putting away the laundry that was big goal for the evening?

Is it really that horrible to let my pots lay dirty for one more night?

Can 10 pm-6am somehow add up to 10 hours of sleep?

Will I feel better in the morning?

I know the answer to that one. Thank goodness. Goodnight!

Winter Wonderland

Colin braved the record-breaking cold yesterday to go outside to play with his friend, and soon came to the front door yelling, "Mom! Come outside RIGHT NOW!"

This is what he had discovered!

Our hose was turned on because we have a timer set up (set to never go off right now), and the connection between the timer and the hose was leaking and spraying a thin stream of water out. It was enough to create some Chihuly-ish ice sculptures for the boys to crunch over and a neat story to tell Dad when he called.

Gabe

Gabe: What's it called when you pack a gun?

Me(baffled): Uh, I don't know.

Gabe (thinking for a few moments): Oh yeah, PACKIN' HEAT!

If you can't tell from the picture, that's a sword, spy binoculars, handcuffs, a gun, two lightsabers, and of course, some 3D glasses.

Peace from a box

When Chad first announced that he was going to have to travel with his new job, I felt a lot of initial sadness, sure. But I have to admit that I then I started to picture quiet evenings by myself. Curling up in bed to watch Pride and Prejudice yet again, maybe finally watching My Sister's Keeper, or getting completely absorbed in a book for a few hours. I was going to pamper myself at the end of the day for parenting our children solo.

It hasn't exactly gone that way. Not one bit, actually. I just watched half an hour of Anne of Green Gables (Christmas gift) while scrubbing down my kitchen and loading a third round of dishes and very soon I will be collapsing into sleep. Does that count?

I have found one way of treating myself that has become a bit of a Katie tradition. Every Monday when Chad leaves for Houston, when I go grocery shopping I buy myself a couple of Kashi meals - meals that I normally don't buy because they are on the pricey side. After Ollie has gone down for a nap, I get to sit down to a very tasty, very healthy hot meal and maybe a few moments of quiet. It actually helps a lot.

What are some surprisingly relaxing ways you have found to deal?

Chad Vs. The Waves

Right when we got to the beach the first time in Daytona, Colin kicked his brand new ball and it went into the water. Chad, being the good Daddy he is, went after it.....in jeans.

If the camera is a little shaky, it's because I was laughing so hard.