Creighton is Two!

Creighton's second birthday was yesterday. We celebrated by taking the kids to Chuck E. Cheese's yesterday afternoon. The boys really enjoyed that - I think Creighton's favorite part was putting the tokens in the machines and pulling off the tickets... most of the games seemed a little old for him. Stratton really enjoyed it all though!

And yesterday evening we did cake (cupcakes) and presents. With each present he opened he gave an excited "Oh, Thank you!" squeal. It was a fun birthday!

Home Sweet Chamberpot?

My life is so gross! I also thought of titling this entry "Down in the dumps". For the last two days Stratton has been sick and had diarrhea and I ended up having to rinse out his underwear twice because he didn't make it to the bathroom in time. Ugh! (But I am grateful that those are the only accidents he's had since he's been potty trained, which has been since he turned three.) So then I needed to bleach the sinks. I did this yesterday morning while Cratey was taking a bath. I finished cleaning the bathrooms and went back in to my bathroom to wash Creighton and get him out and found him standing next to the toilet with two big logs of poo on the floor between the tub and the toilet. ARGH!!

And as if that isn't enough, Cratey is making all the signals that say he's ready to be potty trained. So we bought him pull ups and have been starting having him use the potty. But he wants to do it about every 15 minutes. And he never does anything! I take it back - he usually does just one little toot and then jumps off and about sticks his head in, trying to see it. But he's taken off his diaper many times and peed on the floor once and in his bed repeatedly!

And we won't even go into Keelian and all the extra laundry I'm doing because of her!

Let me just say that being a stay-at-home mom is not for the fainthearted! This tests me like nothing I've ever experienced at college or working. I had to clean up throw up yesterday too (can you say, dry heaves?) And I'm not even getting paid or recognition for this (well, not in the way most people want or expect it). If I didn't believe so strongly in the importance of motherhood and the role mothers play in shaping their children's futures, then yesterday would have been a throw in the towel day!

More Keelian Pictures

These are for my out of town siblings so they can see their niece via technology - even if they can't be here to see her!

I found Stratton likes snuggling his baby sister too. Had to move him after the pic, however, as I was afraid he'd suffocate her!
These are the most recent pictures of her (sometime late last week). Can't tell who she looks like yet.
At her doctor's appointment Monday, I found out that she's grown 1/2 an inch and put on almost a pound since birth.
My Mom and I did cute little naked pictures of her when she was 6 days old. So fun!

In Praise of Arnica montana

I've discovered this wonderful little miracle called Arnica gel. You can find it in health and nutrition stores and it is used for bruising, swelling, and sprains. I was picking some up for my mother-in-law and it was a much cheaper price per ounce if you bought the two pack, so I thought I might get some for myself too.

It sounded kind of hokey at the time. (My father-in-law calls it "wuss cream"!) The sales lady said that she fell down some stairs and got some pretty bad bruising on her legs so she put some Arnica gel on it and the next day the bruises were almost gone. I was a bit dubious, but she was so impressed by it that I thought it was worth a try.

Boy, have I used it a lot since then! I think I use it on Creighton at least once a week; he's forever running into things or falling off things. And it turns out I have actually been really impressed. There have been many times where Creighton has gotten hurt and immediately after he's had a purpley blood blister looking spot - one that you know is going to be a nasty bruise - and I put the Arnica gel on it and by the next day it is practically gone.

One night, Stratton fell off the chair in our room, head first, and hit his forehead on the metal frame of our bed. Ouch! He had a deep line on his forehead where he'd hit (he was lucky the skin didn't break or that would have really bled!) and the beginnings of a nice goose egg. It happened to be right next to another bruise on his forehead that was at the green-almost healed stage. I put the Arnica gel on the new owie and the next morning there was no bruise. There was just a small bump and a faint line where the original one was. And the bump and line were both gone before the other bruise was. Impressive, eh? Yes, this one is a diaper bag necessity for my boys!

*Note: It works by dilating the blood capillaries to speed up the healing process. You're not supposed to take this internally or put it on any open cuts. Evidently it can be toxic, so use it carefully with kids.

Not to be outdone...

Though Creighton doesn't say all the funny things Stratton does, he's a character in his own right. Ric and I decided that if he was a cartoon character, he'd be the Tazmanian Devil - "Taz" - from Looney Tunes. He's just a whirlwind of activity, mostly talking unintelligibly, a slobbering mess all over the place. But we love him! Here are some of his latest antics:

• Hauling the baby training potty all over the house to use it as his stool. I can't express how much it grosses me out that he brings a toilet into the kitchen (no, nothing in it - it's just the idea of it!).
• He was fascinated with "blowing" his nose in a kleenex and then flushing it down the toilet for the last couple of weeks, but last weekend he discovered something much more effective -- unrolling 6-8 yards of toilet paper at a time and flushing the whole lot of it! I really need to get childproof locks for the bathroom doors.
• Sleep naked! For some inexplicable reason, that child will not leave his pajamas on after he's put to bed at night. Little Houdini worms his way out of the pj's (without even unzipping the onesie ones) and tosses them on the floor next to the crib. No matter how many times we go in and put the jammies back on, he always ends up undressed. So we've just given up on putting him in pj's for bed. It makes it much easier, really. At least he leaves the diaper on. However, we came in the other night and he had obviously tried to take it off and had gotten it undone on one side before he went to sleep, but then must've peed in his sleep because he was (asleep) soaked from head to toe. So we had to get him up and change the sheets and clean him up and he wasn't very happy! Guess that one backfired for him!

All in all, Creighton is an absolute joy though. He makes me crazy trying to keep up with him, but he is so willing and helpful and sweet (which is especially nice right now because Stratton is being rather independent and obstinate!). My favorite thing he does (and maybe it's because I didn't purposely teach him this) is whenever I sneeze or cough he says, "Bless you, Mama!" It totally melts my heart!

Wheels Always Turning...

A couple of Stratton funnies:

• About two weeks ago I was sitting in my Sunday school class, listening to the closing prayer, when I got a tap on my shoulder and Pam Moody whispered in my ear that Stratton had an emergency and I was needed in the bathroom. With pictures of blood dripping everywhere, I grabbed my bag and rushed (as fast as a 9 month pregnant woman wearing heels can rush) down the hall to where about 10 or 12 ward members were clustered around the men's bathroom. As I entered the bathroom I heard Stratton singing from one of the stalls. The stall door was open and there he was, perched on the toilet with feet swinging back and forth, pants around his ankles. "Stratton? What are you doing, Buddy?" "Hi Mom! I'm going potty," he answered brightly. Relief flooded through me. "Are you done? Do you need me to wipe your bum?" "Yep!" We took care of business and got his hands washed and he went running back to class. I couldn't help but laugh - that's what the emergency was all about?! The primary president told me he went to the bathroom and when he didn't come back his teacher went after him and he wouldn't let her wipe him, so she got the primary president but Stratton wouldn't let her either. They got Pam (the ward librarian, who sits behind us in sacrament meeting and always spoils the boys with treats and prizes every week) but Stratton wouldn't let her either. So they got the bishop, but he wouldn't let the bishop do it either! This whole time they'd been trying to find Ric and I but Ric had run home for something and for some reason they didn't see me when they looked into the Gospel Essentials class. It was quite hilarious actually - such a big to-do over my four year old that needed his bottom wiped! I was actually glad that nobody else had done it because it was an almost embarrassingly big poo!
• A couple of nights ago I had sorted some laundry and needed it taken to the boys' bathroom/laundry room and asked Stratton if he could do it. "Sure!" he answered. "Ha! That's what any man could do!" And he handed me his favorite blanket, and pushed the basket to the bathroom. My hero!
• I didn't realize how closely Stratton was paying attention to what I was doing when I nursed the baby until the other day I watched him lift up his shirt, and while holding it with his chin, stick his baby tiger stuffed animal up to his nipple. "I'm feeding my baby too," he informed me. "Honey, only mommies feed the babies," I corrected. He disregarded my instruction, arguing that daddies do too. I tried again. "No Buddy, it's a very special thing and only mommies feed their babies mommy milk." "Well daddies do too and they give the babies special daddy milk and it's chocolate milk and I'm the baby tiger's daddy," he stubbornly insisted. He had me there - chocolate milk trumps regular milk every time in my mind too. (I have since decided that it is now necessary to fully cover up when nursing!)

Keelian Belle Has Arrived!

Keelian was born at 9:02 am Sunday. She was 8 lbs. and 19 1/2 in. We got home yesterday morning and are doing well. Stratton and Creighton are thrilled to death with their new little sister and are obsessed with playing with the new "toy". And of course Daddy is wrapped around her finger. We are loving our new baby!