We Are the Girls!--Galla

I took my girls out to lunch yesterday. As soon as we sat down Galla was all chatter! The waitress came to take our drink orders and Galla starts saying, "Um, yes, a couple of juice and um, um water!" all excitedly. I'm not going to try to relate it all here because it just won't write out as well as she said it, but she was cracking me up! When the waitress came back to take our order she started throwing out requests, "strawberries on muffins and bacon and pancakes...." She settled on the Mickey Mouse pancake with bacon. As soon as Paisley saw that pancake plate hit the table, she started pulling off an ear for herself--this little girl can pound down pancakes! I let Galla pour as much syrup on as she wanted and use the jam dishes with the little silver spoons. Also, a funny Galla tid-bit is that she loves bacon and she always wants to put more salt on the strips. Of course, under normal circumstances, she is not allowed to add salt to bacon, but I let it slide this time. Galla gabbed on and on while we ate. I started telling her how I am so proud of her and happy to be her mom when she interrupts saying:

G: Mom, I don't want to talk about this right now.
Me: Ok, what do you want to talk about?
G: Nothing. Let's just eat.
Me: Ok.
G: (after 2 seconds of silence) Mom, I'm going to miss you when I'm in Hawaii.
Me: Oh! Who are you going to stay with in Hawaii?
G: Mimi and Opa. Mimi is going to pick me up from the airport and take me to their house. They have a big, tall house and I have a princess bed. Can you take me to the airport?

Sounds like a good idea to me! BTW: Mimi and Opa (Brad's parents) live in Ohio.

Then she asked to go to the bathroom and told me not to be angry. SAD! I totally hate taking my kids potty in public. It's not easy to herd 3 kids into a stall and keep all of their hands in sanitary places and get all of the business taken care of while usually holding Paisley. But when she said that I realized that I shouldn't be so irritated with her (or Finn) when nature calls. Definitely a lesson learned from lunch and her honest comment. So I pushed Paisley, highchair and all, into the bathroom and it wasn't a big deal.

As for Paisley, she ate both of Mickey's ears. Some people in the booth next to us asked if we went to the Broadstone gym (which we totally do, like everyday, because I love the childcare and the chance it gives me to get out and workout). Well, they recognized Paisley with her pigtails. She's like a local celebrity! And such a cutie! I love my girlie girls!

3:56

Last Sunday I ran my second marathon! I know, not exactly a peaceful Sunday stroll but most marathons are scheduled for Sundays and I have to run 'em when I can between birthing babies.

The "River City Marathon" started in Folsom (where we live) and ended at a park in Sacramento. It was MUCH smaller than the Portland Marathon that I did a year and a half ago and a way different experience. Seriously, it was some dude at the starting line with a stop watch that just said, "on your mark, get set, go!" and all 115 of us started running.

Brad dropped me off and then met me around mile 5 before heading back to get the kids (my mom spent the night to be with them in the morning) and bringing them back to cheer me on. They showed up around mile 16 (where this pic was taken) and it was so motivating to see them! Then they met me around mile 20. Having my cutie kids cheering me on was so cool.

It was a beautiful course and I felt unbelievably well until mile 24. I was so tired and hot (record heat that day) and thirsty and I didn't know if there was going to be another aid station before the end. I was seriously blacking out and then out of nowhere, there was Brad up on a ridge! I asked him for water and he ran back to the car for a bottle and then chucked it at me. MY HERO!

Those last couple miles were tough. I was wearing my friend's Garmin Forerunner and as I came up on my watch saying 26.2 I still couldn't see the finish line. I asked a lady cheering on the sideline if I was almost there and she assured me ".1 mile!" A few minutes later, still no finish line. I asked another bystander who told me ".2 to go!" What?! How is the finish line getting farther away? My watch actually said 26.52 when I finished. I don't know if the watch or the casual course was off by .3 miles, but either way I met my sub-4 hour goal and finished in 3:56! Hooray! And one cool part about running with such few people is that I placed 3rd in my division. I don't run to compete, just to complete so I'm pretty proud of my 3rd place title. And boy did that Sunday afternoon nap feel good!

Easter-O-Rama=Vom-O-Rama

I love Easter! The true meaning, the spring season, the deviled eggs, the excessive candy...it's great. This year was one for the record books.Saturday we went to our ward's awesome Easter party. We actually got a whole family shot with the famous bunny."I like your bow."--PaisleyHeading out for the hunt. Finn didn't quite understand the urgency with the older kids coming up quickly and needed some prodding.Galla had no problem running to the hunt, but wanted to stop and eat the candy in each plastic egg after picking it up instead of the smarter stategy of gathering then eating.Heading back hand-in-hand.Easter Sunday we went to Modesto after church. Galla is so energetic!This is how Finn prefers to wear his sunglasses. Not only are they upside-down, but notice the ear placement. He looks so goofy in this picture it cracks me up!As we were leaving outside my parents' house, this dog made his appearance. He is definitely pink and blue and we have no idea where he came from. But he was a good doggy and Galla was sure he was another Easter surprise for her.So here's where the title of the post is explained. This year I got the kids buckets instead of baskets. As I was buying them the thought crossed my mind that it's like the buckets are used on Easter morn for candy and then re-used in the days following for catching puke when the kids make themselves sick off of that very candy. Let me tell you, that concept was more entertaining as my thought than as my reality. I don't think the candy was actually the culprit because Brad and I also had our sick bouts, but those buckets came in handy. Enough said.Here's the sad scene two days post-Easter. Mmmmm...smoothie!

Order Early

With Mother's Day about a month away, it's not a bad idea to plant responses in your kids. I've instructed Galla that when daddy asks her, "what should we get mommy for Mother's Day?" she is to say, "a Garmin forerunner!"

It's worth a shot.

This running friend is so sweet and tells you everything from heart rate to pace to distance to what shorts you should wear...what?

I'm not picky. Of course the 405 model in green is the coolest thing I've ever seen, but I'd be totally happy with the 305 or even 205. And Brad says I'm hard to shop for.

no, seriously, i don't feel so good

I had a *fun* adventure today. At Paisley's well-baby check-up the doctor said that she needed to go for a mandatory blood test for lead levels and gave me a list of Quest labs I could take her to. I couldn't remember doing that with Galla or Finn and I asked the doc if I really had to, but she said yes. I guess I am in a new state and, on second thought, I think I did do that with Galla and it wasn't so bad. So, like 3 weeks later, I finally got around to it today. I had a bad feeling as soon as I walked into that dingy waiting room. You know what I'm talking about when you can see that the walls are more dirty about a foot above where the back of the chair ends from countless greasy heads resting against it? But I held my head up and waited patiently and, more importantly, Paisley was being patient and playful as she smiled and waved at all the old people also waiting to have their blood drawn to test for any number of diseases or disorders.

Our turn. I'm instructed to have a seat, squeeze my baby's legs between my legs, hold one of her arms down and hold her other arm out by the wrist. Tight! Don't let your 10-month-old squirm. The phlebotomist looks at the two of us and says Paisley is too low to prop her tiny arm up on that padded bar that goes across the chair. She starts looking for some sort of booster seat. Am I supposed to sit in the booster seat or put the booster on my lap and Paisley on top? No matter, she can't find a booster. She starts poking around on Paisley's right arm trying to find a vain. Paisley immediately starts looking back at me very nervously and rightfully so. I ask Miss Phlebotomist if this is a normal test to be doing on a baby this age. She says yes, but obviously doesn't have much experience doing it. No luck finding a vain on the right arm, she starts searching on the left. At this point I'm thinking, "what have I gotten us into?" I wasn't expecting much more than a finger prick. I ask, "just one vile, right?" No, two. I'm not the best with needles, but anticipating the experience I loaded up on crackers and peanut butter before we left so I wouldn't get woozy.

The needle lady decides that she thinks she found a little vain and is going to "give it a try." I can tell she's not so confident and Paisley is already crying. I'm trying not to look, but I can't help it. She stabs my baby and no blood. She missed the vain! Paisley is screaming and this is when my cracker preparation starts to fail. Miss Phlebotomist says she's going to have to get a different lady. "I don't poke a baby more than once." Maybe we should've called in the expert from the start! I'm not feeling well. I keep taking deep breaths and reminding myself that I'm not the one getting the shot. But it doesn't help. I'm shaking and sweating and getting that tunnel vision where the blackness starts closing in. Paisley is still sitting on my lap crying. I tell the ladies I don't feel so good and ask for some juice or something. They don't have juice. What?! What kind of respectable needle poking place doesn't have a juice box on hand? Are you serious?! I'm desparately digging in my purse with one hand for some mints that are probably sugar-free anyway. The ladies don't seem to believe me that I don't feel well or notice that I'm pale as a ghost and shaking like a leaf. I keep breathing deeply and trying to put my head down. Mr. Big Teenager Boy next to us isn't taking his blood draw so well either and is using the only reclining chair. I decide I'd better call Brad and have him come down and hold Paisley while the next lady takes a stab. Luckily, we were close to home and Brad arrives quickly with Galla and Finn. While I'm in the lobby trying to keep the kids entertained I remembered that I always have those smarties candies in my bag to bribe them with. We all share the sugar and I'm feeling better by the time they're done with my baby.

I'm glad we got to go through all of that just to have the doctor tell me at Paisley's next check-up in a couple months that she does not have an excessive amount of lead in her blood. Not that there was ever reason to suspect she did.

That story was, like, longer than Paisley's birth story.

How cute is she in these pics with Brad? She looks like a little person straight off the page of the Guiness Book of World Records or something!

Groovey Movie Night

Last Thursday we had our first official "Groovey Movie Night!" I thought it'd be fun to get the kids all cozy and stay up late with them watching a movie and eating popcorn and Twizzlers. Brad wasn't so sold on the idea initially (we love the kids' 7:30 bedtime and our evenings alone). But we thought we'd give it a try and made it clear that if they got uppity, it would be off to bed. I took Galla to our local Redbox and she picked out Wall-E. Not my favorite movie, but the kids were great (we did put Paisley to bed at her normal time since she's not much of a movie buff yet) and we'll definitely do it again--maybe even regularly.

So Groovey Movie Night goes into my bribery bag. I like to have as much leverage as possible in those desperate situations when I'm like, "if you do X,Y, or Z, then we can have a groovey movie night!" Maybe it will help with potty training Finn. But probably not. So far even promises of getting to ride on a real tractor havn't produced much progress.Good night my little loves. This picture was actually taken a couple weeks ago when we spent the night at Mammaw's house. Brad and I saw this sweet scene when we went to check on them. They are such good friends and I love how well they play together.