Team Cross

Breathing problems

Friday Austin stayed home from school.  I had to give him 3 breathing treatments.  He hadn't had any breathing problems since before Christmas before we got rid of the dogs, but woke up several times overnight, which eventually resulted in giving him a breathing treatment at 5am.  I started to get allergy alerts on Monday when the cedar spiked up to high levels.  The weather was so gorgeous outside that I gave him his allergy medicine and let them play all week.  I can't just keep the kid indoors for the rest of his life!  Anyway, I think the last straw came on Thursday morning.  While Scott was taking a shower, Austin was playing in his new spot in our cabinets behind the bathroom door.  He came out and told Scott that there was 'black stuff in his house', and when Scott looked inside, there was black mold on the inside wall that is shared with the shower.  Austin is highly allergic to mold, and had been playing in there every morning all week.  We had no idea it existed because it is way far back in the cabinet, and on a side that we don't look in because of the way the door is positioned in our bathroom.  If Austin hadn't been in there, who knows how long it would've been until we found it.  It was then I wondered if the mold was what caused the problems with his breathing this week, since he spent a lot of time every morning in the cabinet.  We are going to make some calls to get it looked at and fixed on Monday.  The good news is, Austin actually slept well last night for the first time all week, and although he is congested, his breathing is better today.  He might need maybe one more treatment today.  He is acting himself too, whereas yesterday he was feeling so bad that he just sat on the couch all day.  Scott has a game against Sam Houston today at 4.  This week our tree also started blooming which is always a nice sign that spring is around the corner.  I am ready for it!  

Really Cool T-Mobile Commercial

On Friday Jan 16, 2009, T-Mobile launched their new commercial, filmed at Liverpool Station in London. They used 400 dancers and 10 hidden cameras. No one but the station employees and dancers knew what was going on.  Notice the number of travelers in the train station that spontaneously joined in the fun, photographing what they could with their cell phones.

I found random pictures on my phone!

Occasionally I take pictures with my phone and then forget to get them off.  Today while getting pictures from the park off of my phone I found these!

Tyler seriously chillin' in the grocery cart:

Cody with his hat on:

Our view during dinner at Joe T. Garcia's Restaurant on one of our dates:

A trip down to our lake for a walk:

Park Day

I finally got a picture of Tyler's teeth while he was complaining to me today. And boy did he complain a lot.  The only boy that had a really good day today was Cody.  Austin became sicker as the day went on, and Tyler was just off his schedule all day which made him unhappy. He took a lot of little naps, which meant that he was just plain tired all day.  By lunchtime I knew that we were going to have to go somewhere today.  Austin, although he was stuffy and snotty, was acting fine and was getting into trouble from the start.  Austin doesn't like Thursdays for the same reason I do: we have nothing scheduled.  Every Thursday morning, Austin wakes up and asks, "Mommy do I have school today?" I reply, "No."  Next question is, "Do I have gymnastics?" I reply, "Nope"." Then, he usually folds his arms, makes a mad face with a noise like "hmph" and he tells me, "I don't like Thursdays...can we go to Target?"  The kid just likes a plan--something do to--something on the calendar...sigh...sadly, he's just like me.  BUT, I like Thursdays because there is nothing, and I don't have to rush anywhere and pack up 3 kids if I don't want to.  Sometimes that's a good thing, other times it makes for a long dang day.  So, after naps I decided that we would go outside, despite the fact that the pollen levels around here were out the roof (Austin's allergies) and despite the fact that Tyler was a grumpy grumpy boy.  The minute I pet the boys in the backyard, the fighting began, so I marched them straight back in, and told them to get their shoes, we were going to a park.  The kicker with me is, I have not taken the boys to a park by myself since Tyler was born.  There are plenty of reasons why, and they all have to do with safety.  I am outnumbered, and with the kids being so little, the thought of going to the park makes me nervous.  I know some of you might be laughing but put yourself in my shoes.  Tyler is in the stroller, Cody is running around trying to climb on very high things and keep up with Austin, and Austin is running off in another direction from Cody and/or screaming mommy! for help doing something.  I know as the kids get older this problem will solve itself, but right now, it's still a problem.  So, I tried to find a small park where I could keep and eye on both Austin and Cody, while staying close with Tyler on me or in the stroller.  I went to a park down the road and the visit was good.  Before we even got out of the car, I prepped Austin by giving him some rules.  The only one he objected to was the "keep your hands to yourself" rule...he said, "but they (the kids he saw playing on the playgroud) are my friends!"  Anyway, only a few times was I in a bind:  I was standing by the stroller with Tyler giving him his sippy cup, when I see Cody attempting to climb up this arch ladder thingy behind Austin.  Since I couldn't leave Tyler in the stroller that far away, I had to yank him out of the stroller and run to Cody...Cody was about 5 feet in the air before I got to him, and then I had to proceed to untangle him and pull him down from the ladder (he was fighting me on this) with one arm...I barely succeeded.  I didn't want to put Tyler down because I didn't want him to start eating wood chips and choking.  Another time, I was carrying Tyler around while walking under the playset following the boys above.  Cody took it upon himself to jump off the ledge that his brother just jumped off of, and didn't do so well, falling flat on his face from about 3-4 feet up.  He came up with a mouth full of mulch, said "ouch" while spitting out wood chips, and after I gave him a good brush off and kissed him were his boo boos were, he was off again.  The park I need to find is one the same size as this one, but just with smaller equipment.  The age on the sign at the one we were at was for kids ages 5-8.  I am making this my mission not only to have a good little park to play at, but because I also want to have Cody's birthday party at a park, and it needs to be one that is not stressful for the parents.  In the first pic I posted below, Austin is sad because all of the 'big boy' swings were taken...they came open after I took this and he was happy again!  Anyway, on the drive home Austin made it all worthwhile by making this remark: "Mommy, today was a great day."

Count Dracula...I mean, Cody.

Can you imagine this sweet boy...

...doing THIS?!

AH! Let me tell you, this biting thing is ridiculous.  Ugh.  I have bitten Cody back, put him in timeout, swatted him on the butt...any ideas?  The thing is, I can understand WHY he is biting Austin.  Now when I say that, I am NOT justifying biting.  I HATE it when he does this and I want him to stop.  From Cody's point of view, it's the only way to get a 40-pound Austin off of him, or to keep Austin from taking a toy he is quietly playing with, or to get back a toy that Austin took away suddenly...but it HAS TO STOP!  Today, I witnessed Austin running from Cody screaming (with a ball he just took from him) while Cody was chasing after him screaming and with his mouth open and teeth out...ready to pounce and bite.  I grabbed Austin, turned him towards Cody, and told him to give Cody his dang ball back.  Austin threw it back at Cody, and then ran away.  Yesterday, Cody got Austin on the side of the face because Austin was lying on top of him and wouldn't get off.  This is frustrating.  These boys are really starting to go at each other.  I am finding myself jumping up and prying them apart, only for them to run at each other again.  I would say that they play great together 80% of the time, and the other 20% is UGLY.

Tyler is finding his tiny way around and it's too cute.  He takes very small crawling steps with his arms and legs and just inches along little by little.

New Teeth and New Friends!

TYLER HAS TEETH!  His 2 front bottom teeth finally broke through yesterday!  I have been trying to get a picture but the kid is so stubborn he freaks out every time I make an attempt...it is my new mission to get a picture of his new teeth just like I did for my other two...I will win this one Tyler!  Yesterday and today were difficult days...Austin was up a lot during the night past 2 nights, so he has been "challenging" to say the least.  Today was a better day than Monday though.  Monday he was tired from school too and the rest of the afternoon was CRAZY.  Today Scott left for Beaumont and Austin had gymnastics.  He did great again!  This afternoon, I actually sat my tired butt on the couch and read a little before Tyler got up from his nap...the rest of the day was spent outside since it was 80 today!  Austin has 2 new friends, Payton and Piper.  They are 6 and are twins.  Their grandmother lives behind us and keeps them after school.  They climb up on the fence and talk with Austin on a regular basis...Austin climbs up on his car. Today, Payton lost his second tooth and that was the hot topic.  They are really cute!

Running Theme: I am tired.

This week was just tiring.  For some reason, I was a little sluggish, slow-moving, and just slept like a rock only to wake up every morning NOT feeling refreshed.  Friday, Austin had school and Scott took him.  I stayed at home and got stuff done around the house.  Cody was congested...it has been nice, but really windy this week and he woke up sneezing a lot.  He was fine, just mad that I was chasing him around all day with the booger sucker.  In the morning while Austin was at school, Tyler and Cody hung out on the floor a lot.  Cody has mixed feelings about Tyler right now.  One minute he's hugging and kissing on him, and the next minute, he ripping a toy out of Tyler's hand, yelling MINE! and giving him a smack on the head.  He is also really starting to go after Austin if he makes him mad, and Austin will now run.  I think Austin is starting to recognize that Cody is getting bigger.  I have thoughts of what the heck is going to happen when they are all a little older and a fight breaks out over a toy or something.  Like I have said before, I need to stay in shape.  Anywho (I say that now because I always laugh when Emily says it on her blog), after putting Cody and Tyler down for a nap I started cleaning the bathrooms like a madwoman.  I knew I had a certain amount of time to get them done before someone woke up.  I had put off cleaning them for so long...I was going to clean them before my mom cam in, but when I found out that my mom couldn't come in, I put it off.  Well, Scott's brother and his family were in town, and coming over Friday night, so it had to be done.  Ugh.  Anyway, I worked up a pretty good sweat, and Tyler woke up early but I left him in bed because I had to get the job done.  Tyler was happy to talk and squeal to himself while I finished.  After picking up Austin from school we ran into Babiesrus for formula and baby food.  I don't know if I have mentioned it, but Tyler is now on the bottle.  I could never get things going again after getting the stomach virus, and Tyler was too impatient to try anymore so be basically weaned himself.  He was only nursing about 3 times a day anyway since all he wants to eat is food now, so it wasn't that big of an issue.  He has 3 bottles a day and eats for the rest of his meals.  At least he is sleeping through the night so I don't have to prepare any bottles in the middle of the night, and at least he's 9 months old and I won't be buying formula or preparing bottles for very much longer.  Scott's family got over here at about 3:30 Friday afternoon and left around 7:30.  Yesterday Scott had his game at 4.  We were all in our pjs most of the day. I put Cody and Tyler down for naps and got in the shower, got Austin ready and waited for Abbey to get here.  Austin sat in the chair and watched Aladin while I finshed getting dressed.  When I came out I couldn't believe what I saw...he had fallen asleep sitting up!!  I grabbed the camera AND took pics with my camera phone because I knew Scott wouldn't believe me if I didn't have evidence.  Shocking.  The game was great and UTA ended up winning by close to 20 points...that's 5 in a row!  Scott only has 4 games left before the conference tournament and I just cannot believe that!

He likes to move it move it...again...

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Outside Fun

This week's weather has been awesome.  The temps have been in the 60s and 70s, and the kids have enjoyed going outside everyday.  They have been playing together well, and have only fought a few times.  Cody has been doing the screaming thing when Austin does anything that makes him mad.  I check on the situation, and if it's nothing, I tell Cody to quit the screaming.  He has figured out that I run to his rescue when Austin teases him or gets too rough with him, and in usual toddler-style, is now milking the whole 'younger smaller brother' routine.  Thing about it is, Cody is now instigating a lot of the fights, is almost as strong as Austin, and gets really mad when anything and everything doesn't go his way (once again--coming up on 2 years old here) and screams bloody murder.  Most of the time, Austin is just teasing him, and I tell Austin to knock it off.  Yesterday, Austin was dragging a swing around the yard, and every time Cody would bend down to pick up the other end of the swing, Austin would take off running and laughing with the swing, and Cody would scream.  This went on for a long time, until Cody eventually caught up to Austin, smacked him in the face and bit him on the shoulder.  Cody got put in timeout for hitting and biting, Austin got put in timeout for continuing to tease Cody when I told him to stop repeatedly, and the swing got taken away.  Problem solved.  Cody has been wearing his hat everyday.  Most of the time he puts it on backwards, but yesterday when I put it on the right way while outside, he actually left it on that way.  He looked adorable.  Austin has been practicing his gymnastics on the swingset (and occasionally gets hurt), and is quite proud of himself.  He loves gymnastics, and I have been really proud of him during class lately.  He is listening much better.   Last night Tyler was sportin' his new pjs and looked like such a big boy!  Of course, he was fine while I was holding onto him, and then threw a little Tyler-fit when I tried to step away to take a picture...he's such a baby!  HA!  Pictures are from being outside, dinner last night, Cody's first masterpiece, and pjs!  Oh yeah, if you are wondering why my kids have been missing clothes lately (Dinger), it's because I have been giving them an early bath after coming in from being outside.  They don't want to put their pjs on, and I don't want to put on an entire new outfit that they are going to get dirty anyway, so I just have been letting them run around in underwear and diaper until after dinner...Austin calls it "hanging out in underwear'.

Normal Crazy Days

Yesterday was rough and stressful.  It involved a lot of noise, crying, injuries, etc.  Austin's behavior was a little rough, probably because he started out the day being reminded that he did not have school and that school was closed.  I found 2 splinters in the bottom of Cody's feet.  He has one in each heel, and I think it's from trampling around in our flowerbeds in the back.  He and Austin were also attempting to pick up our big border rocks in the backyard (after I told them to stop doing it about 2 times), and Cody smashed his finger between 2 rocks, leaving his left index finger bright purple underneath the nail.  After that, we came inside, but not before Austin did the same thing to his finger, just not as bad.  I gave Austin and Cody a bath and we headed up to Scott's practice since Scott will be gone for 3 days.  When we got there, Cody, who hardly ever makes a peep, desperately wanted Scott, and kept yelling for his daddy.  I took the boys away from the bleachers and out to the seating to run around.  Cody took a huge poop, Austin fell and skinned his knees, and Tyler sit up all over my black pants, my shirt, and himself.  I thought practice would never end...it was the longest 30 minutes ever.  Today started out crazy too for some reason, and I was determined to keep it from getting out of control today again.  Cody had a freakish poop that mysteriously came out of his diaper and went all over his pants and fell to the floor...he was sitting in his chair at the table by the way.  I had to pull him out and strip him down for a bath!  Tyler slept until 9:45!!! I am not kidding.  I put him to bed at 7:45 last night, and the kid didn't make a peep until 9:45 this morning.  WHAT THE HECK AND THANK YOU JESUS!  All this was before we even made it out the door for gymnastics at 10:30am.  Tyler was grumpy because he was off schedule, and as soon as we got in the car, he crashed again.  Both Tyler and Cody took very good naps this afternoon.  It was on the verge of raining all day and I guess the darkness helped out with the naps!  I was able to fold several loads of laundry!  The afternoon was topped off with more adventures in the backyard with NO injuries.  Austin played in the shower while I gave Cody and Tyler a bath, and the boys had hot dogs and veggies for dinner.  Tyler was in bed by 7 and Austin and Cody were in bed by 7:30, but not before jumping up and down in bed for a long time...

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