Catching Up

So this month has flown by and I can't believe that Easter is tomorrow? Really? I guess I was so focused on St. Patrick's Day and getting past that that I forgot about Easter being in March this year. Thus, this past week has been a whirlwind of fun Easter Activities. We've made sugar cookies and frosted them with our cute little friend Sophie, we've hung up easter decorations in our windows, colored Easter Eggs, had a fun Easter hunt with most of the KWGCS 801 crew, and made a darling little Easter Wreath out of Finley's little hands. Here are some cute pics of these events. I'm sure I'll have plenty more pics after our Easter celebrations with my family tomorrow.

Finley & Sophie and their cute little cookies.





Finley and I coloring our Easter Eggs.


Finley, Eve, Tatum, Cleo, Eliza, Elias (801 club)


Finley inspected every egg before he put it in his bag.





Finley with a mouth FULL of candy.



Tuckered out - notice that he's still holding his bag of candy?

Movie night in a tent

As a child I remember making tents and forts out of blankets and chairs with my sisters. Sometimes we'd even make them between our beds in the room. No matter how they were made they were often a perfect spot for playing dolls, reading, listening to music, etc. Ryan was also the same way as a kid, though his blanket forts were much more intense than mine. So when Finley wanted to build a tent who were we to say no. Ryan actually did all the work and he (they) built a fine tent using the TV Armoire and couches so that they could watch a movie under it. After multiple re-do's (Finley thought the blankets looked like giant slides and thus attempted to slide down them, resulting in a couple hard falls and some sad tears) success was had and they watched a Wallace and Grommit movie underneath. These are some of the pictures of the night.

Can you guess what this is?

Yes, it's a rash. But can you guess what caused it? If not, don't worry. Even the Dr. was at a loss when he saw it on Friday (I took these pictures on Wed the day after the little dots started appearing, but by Fri it was full-blown with red, puffy little spots all over her body and swollen, tired eyes - so I took her in).

I was told that it could be: an allergic reaction to amoxicillan (taken for an ear infection 7 days prior to the rash appearing), or a reaction to her MMR immunization over 2 weeks ago, or a viral infection, or an allergic reaction to something she ate, or ....

Unfortunately all she can do is wait it out. Lucky for me she hasn't been fussy. But I'm happy to report that as of today, the rash has calmed down a TON and other than some minor spotting and very rosy cheeks, she looks much better. Guess it just goes to show that no matter how medically advanced our society is, we won't always have cut & dry answers to life's little ailments.

A Spoonful of Sugar

... helps the medicine go down, in the most delightful way.

Um, not true! Whomever wrote that was an idiot. Finley came down with something late last Sun night (a week ago) and on Mon had a slight cough. I figured it would go away, but by Tues night it was all too deep, harsh, and scratchy for my comfort so I called first thing Wed to take him to the Doctor. He didn't have bronchitis like I thought, but a bronchial type cough that really can't by treated with antibiotics, just motrin to treat the fever/achiness and a humidifier. The Dr. thought to check out Berlin "just in case" to make sure she didn't have it too (she wasn't exhibiting any signs at all). But luckily he did because he found that she had the befinnings of an ear infection in her right ear. Lucky for her she got some amoxicillan.

Finley of course HATES taking medicine of any kind, so I thought I would be tricky and mix it with chocolate milk. No sooner than one sip he cried and said, "Mommy, I don't like this." Ok, so I tried adding it to some Juice thinking he'd never know medicine was in it. Again, "Mommy, I don't want this - it's gross." Finally I just laid him down, braced his arms with my legs and opened his mouth. He spit it all out - all over his face, clothes, the floor, myself. So I gave up and let him be miserable. Berlin was next and I thought she would do better. Yeah right. She spit up the sticky orange mess and rubbed it all in her hair, up her nose, across her face, and down her clothes. She had obviously watched Finley. I HATE this part of being mom.

To top it off, late Wednesday night I came down with the stomach flu and spent 1 1/2 hours in the bathroom throwing up, went to bed, woke up and ended back in the same spot. Luckily by Thursday afternoon it had worked it's course.

A week later, we are better, atleast for the most part. Finn's cough is still there, but not as bad. He is still refusing to eat anything (going on day 3 of food strike) and will only consume liquids. But I'm sure he'll make up for it when he feels up to it. We actually had a few moments of fun play this afternoon. Finn's been a major GRUMP all weekend long so it was nice to see him smile for a bit even if it was short-lived. Here are some pictures of him in a box and Berlin driving her buggy.

Berlin getting in & closing the door.

Her feet barely touch when sitting so she just turns the wheel and honks the horn.
But she doesn't seem to mind.

Staring down the paparazzi.

Dear Gateway Discovery Center

aka The Children's Museum of Salt Lake City. The first 2 months of our membership have been great and we go once a week. As of Friday I feel my membership is no longer all that great. In fact it downright stinks because I now have to deal with a screaming kid who wants to see the new Seasame Street "Elmo" exhibit but can't because 1. there's an additional $4 fee to see it, and 2. he now can't go upstairs to the block room because inevitably he sees the Elmo stuff right next to it and begs to go in but can't due to reason #1. I understand that the exhibit is special and I'm sure the licensing fees are outrageous to have the exhibit there. However, the membership when I bought it covered the whole museum, now, it only covers about 60% of the museum. Does this mean that I am going to get a 40% refund on my membership price? In my mind it should. Or maybe you can deal with the screaming little boy who can't see Elmo everytime we go to the museum while I play with my other child. Honestly, I refuse to pay an additional $64 on top of my membership price ($4 each week over the next 16 weeks) to keep him from throwing a tempertantrum. Come June I will definitely be reviewing if it's worth it to renew our membership when it doesn't cover all the exhibits. If I had to do it today I wouldn't.

Despite my recent dissatisfaction, I did get some cute pictures of Berlin, who wasn't crying over the fact that she couldn't see Elmo.

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Finley tuckered out on the road.

Finley using his Curious George stamps. DJ Master Finley in the house!


Berlin snuggling with Daddy
Finley pointing to the moon.
Finley checking out his heart laser & Berlin eating snow.
This Halloween costume gets worn everyday. Finley loves to pretend he's Rodney going off to Robot City to find Mr. Bigweld. He even has his little suitcase.

Finley playing with Play-doh on V-day.