Clubs

I guess the big thing amongst the first graders of Jim Darcy School these days is creating clubs. Never one to miss out on a trend, Megan created her own club....The Praying and Games Club. She was telling us about the latest happenings within her club over dinner tonight. Apparently, she was a little upset with a couple club members because they weren't taking her club seriously - they were more interested in the games part of the club and not really into praying. For Megan's sake, I hope these kids get their act together (said with just a little sarcasm). It sounds like she's losing members daily.

I'll just shut my mouth now...

So, this morning I was kind of on Kellan's case to hurry up and brush his teeth. He was struggling with this little task, though, because our cat (Buffy the Mouse Slayer) was in the bathtub. I could, and probably will someday, devote an entire post to complaining about our extraordinarily annoying and obese cat. Because this cat is so....ahem...overweight, she makes a lot of noise when she jumps in and out of the tub, but she really likes hanging out there. Isn't that wierd?! ANYWHO, for some reason, Kellan was just beside himself about the cat being in the bathtub and wanted me to get her out immediately. I was trying to inhale my yogurt before I had to go wake up Mr. Crabby, otherwise known as Jacksen. (He is NOT a morning person!) I was trying to tell Kellan that it really didn't matter if the cat was in the tub and that I didn't really want to skip my breakfast to deal with the issue. He got so mad and frusterated that he finally blurted out "Shut your mouth, MOM!" I was mortified and told him he just forfeited his bedtime snack....which he is now eating because I forgot he wasn't supposed to get one. Sigh.....

Kellan's Birthday

Mr. Kellan turned 5 today! He had a fun day at daycare and his daddy took him shopping for Sketcher Illuminator shoes this afternoon! Tonight we celebrated with pizza and cake and ice cream....and more presents, of course!

Kellan's Story

When Megan was 1 1/2, we decided we were ready for our second, and what we assumed would be our last, baby. We got pregnant after only two months on Clomid, which was so easy compared to our first time around. Unfortunatly, that pregnancy ended in a miscarriage on the day of my first prenatal appointment. We were sad about that, but previous experience taught us that it was God's will and we just needed to trust in His plan. SO....just one more month on Clomid gave us Kellan! We didn't find out for certain Kellan was a boy until he was born, but all along I just felt like I was going to have a little boy. (I don't know if I mentioned this with Megan and Jacksen's stories, but we didn't find out the gender of any of our babies prior to their births.) My pregnancy was very easy and Kellan was born on the very day of my scheduled C-section. His birth was very calm....the calm before the storm. For some reason, I had a very hard time adjusting to two children. I felt guilty that all of my time couldn't be devoted to Megan anymore and nursing was really rough. Kellan preferred bottles and pretty much quit nursing on his own when he was five months old. In many ways, Kellan was our easiest baby and it didn't take long for me to realize that I didn't take anything away from Megan. Rather, I gave her a great gift in her little brother. Kellan was a dream child until he turned three. He slept when he was supposed to sleep, ate whatever we gave him, and played well with his sister. From the moment he turned three until about 3-4 months ago, we had our hands full. He decided bugging his sister and brother and making up his own rules was much more fun than anything his parents had in mind. However, right about the time we thought we couldn't take another day, he turned back into our sweet little Kellan....and not a moment too soon. Jacksen is now three and he seems to be following in his brother's footsteps...Heaven help us!

The Weekend

It was a great weekend for the McCauley kids....

Marc, Megan and Kellan went night skiing Friday evening. They met up with the Lindgrens and the Burgers and had a great time with their kids.

Megan is playing on a YMCA basketball team and Marc is coaching. She played Saturday morning - there are some pretty amazing players on her team. Unfortunately, she's about as enthusiastic about basketball as she is about soccer.....well, it's good exercise anyway!




Today was Kellan's last day of being 4....that's what he informed me when he got up this morning! We had a birthday party for him at the local bowling alley this afternoon - he was delighted!

Tomorrow we are having Grandpa and Grandma McCauley over for Kellan's birthday dinner and a little more present opening. It's hard to believe our middlest is already 5....seems like just yesterday I was having a major panic attack about adding our second kiddo to our family....more about that day tomorrow....

Birthday Ideas

Mr. Kellan is going to be 5 this coming Monday! It's a little tricky having a birthday only a month after Christmas - there is nothing that he really wants or needs. When we ask him what he would like for his birthday he tells us just two things:


1. Sketcher Illuminators (Yes, shoes! A boy after my own heart!); and

2. A magic wand that makes things in books turn real.

The first request is totally doable (Is that a word?!), but the second....not so much. Hmmmm......

Interesting Night...

Megan spent the night at her friend's house on Sunday night and she came home in a very grouchy mood yesterday afternoon. I assumed she was grouchy because she and her little friend stayed up late; however, I was wrong....

Ami and I made crazy meatballs for dinner last night and they were sooooo good! Megan ate a good dinner, but seemed kinda tired. The kids were all in bed by 8:00, but Marc and I were up until 9:30-ish working out, making lunches, etc. At 11:45 we woke up to Megan screaming because she was throwing up....all over the floor in her room. I was immediately regretting making crazy meatballs for dinner (they have saurkraut, chili sauce, and cranberry sauce in them) and I was also regretting putting light yellow carpet in the kids' rooms. Marc and I spent 45 minutes trying to clean the carpet and stripping Kellan's bed. We have found the kid in the bottom bunk is at a disadvantage when the kid in the top bunk gets sick. Kellan was so grossed out by the whole thing that he ended up throwing up himself. Nice. Anyway, we got the mess mostly cleaned up, Megan snuggled up with Marc on the couch and Kellan got to sleep with me. Unfortunately, Kellan is a very active sleeper and I was really sore from working out all weekend so I had a hard time going back to sleep. Just as I was finally dozing off, Jacksen woke up crying because he had a bad dream. That was pretty much the end of our sleep time for the night.

So now I'm staying home today with three kids who, besides being a little tired, are feeling perfectly fine. Sigh.....

Daycare Thoughts

So, while I was in the shower this morning (The shower seems to be the only place I can ponder anything without interruption!), I was thinking that we only have 5 more months and approximately $2,300 to pay for daycare for Kellan. While I know I should be enjoying these last few months of his "little guy" time, I can hardly wait for our monthly daycare bill to decrease! That said, I also can't say enough how much we love our daycare lady, Arlene, and the good care she provides to our boys.

When Megan was three months old I went back to work part-time and Auntie Katy took care of our baby. It was so nice to leave our little preemie with family - and anybody who knows Katy knows how much she loves babies! This arrangement was great, but by the time Megan was ten months old, Katy was feeling like she needed to get out of her house more.....so we put Megan into a daycare. At first this daycare seemed great, but after a few months we started noticing things that were not so good. There were two women who ran this daycare...the babies were put in one little bedroom with a gate across the doorway and the older kiddos were kept in the basement, where they played, ate, slept, etc. The basement was quite small and dark and seemed rather crowded. These kids were not allowed to go upstairs unless they had to use the bathroom....except for the caregivers' grandchildren - they were allowed to freely roam the entire home. The kids were fed cold waffles or macaroni and cheese for lunch everyday. There were two big dogs barracaded in the kitchen. They had very menacing barks and I'm sure they were not allowed around the kiddos for a reason. The final straw was when they installed video cameras in the basement and the baby room. These women would just sit in the livingroom and watch TV all day and occasionally glance at the monitors to check on the kids. Let's just say, we did not part on very good terms.

We found Arlene through Aunt Katy's church. She is in her mid-60's and has run a daycare for more than 30 years! She is like a grandmother to the children she watches. She feeds them well, can recognize an ear infection before a kiddo even has a symptom, her house is cleaner than mine, and she gives the best parenting advice! Her yard is better than any playground and nothing is better to these kids than a hug from Arlene! She is worth every penny we pay her and then some!

Not Me! Monday!

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

This last weekend was not one of my laziest weekends ever. I did not manage to watch two entire adult (no, not ADULT, just grown-up) movies over the weekend....and I didn't laugh hysterically during the part when Betty White feels up Sandra Bullock in The Proposal. I didn't forget about dusting, skip disinfecting light switches and doorknobs (I know, I can be a little....um....particular) and I didn't ignore the laundry piling up in the kids' laundry basket.

I also didn't spend the majority of the weekend fudging on my diet. I didn't eat a few Ritz crackers with cheddar cheese and I didn't thoroughly enjoy a piece of razzleberry pie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream last night. And I mostly certainly didn't skip weighing myself when I got out of the shower this morning.

And today, when I went in for a haircut, I didn't get my eyebrows waxed...for the first time in my 36+ years. And it didn't hurt just a little bit either...especially when she decided to pluck a little bit AFTER waxing. Nope, I wasn't bawling like a baby. AND, I definitely didn't get a smirk on my face when Marc decided (very seriously, I might add) that maybe he should go get his eyebrows waxed. What kind of man would even think about doing that?! They whine about papercuts for cryin' out loud!

I am now off to torture myself with more situps so I can lose some of the weight that I probably didn't gain back this weekend...

Out to Dinner

So, since it's Friday night and the end of a very long, tiring week of work, I thought it would be a great idea to take the kids out for pizza tonight. I wish I would've thought about it a little more before we actually spent 20+ minutes getting them into coats, boots, hats, gloves, etc. The first five minutes at the restaurant were somewhat enjoyable, but the warm glow of not having to cook and clean up a meal as well as the rare treat of being in a social setting soon faded.

No sooner did our bread sticks and drink arrive than Jacksen decided he wanted some root beer like Megan. So, his sweet big sister let him drink from her root beer bottle. All was well until he started dancing in his seat and spilled the root beer all over the seat and his coat. Jacksen pretty much spent the rest of the meal pouting because he was no longer allowed to dance in his seat.

About five minutes later, just when our pizza was served, Kellan dropped his cup of milk..straw and all...onto the floor under the table. Not only did I feel obligated to pass my drink (nope, nothing alcoholic) on to Kellan, but we spent the rest of the meal reminding Megan not to step in the milk under the table.

Finally, as we were literally begging Jacksen and Kellan to finish eating so we could get out of the darn restaurant, Kellan picked up my glass and accidentally dropped it on the table. It broke...loudly...and ice went all over the table.

I have no doubt it will be awhile before we take the kiddos out for another meal....

Not Me! Monday!

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

It was a looooooong weekend at the McCauley house. Marc caught the flu and was really sick...the whoooooole weekend. Being the perfect wife that I am, I sure didn't get just a little annoyed (and maybe kinda grouchy) when he kept me up all night Friday night...and Saturday night. And I'm sure I didn't bawl him out about it. Have you ever noticed how men literally MOAN and GROAN when they're sick...what is that all about?! Why can't they just suffer quietly like us tough chicks? Sheesh!

While I enjoyed having the kids home for two entire weeks (yep, 14 days!), I was not just a little bit happy to haul them to school and daycare at the crack of dawn this morning. Imagine my surprise when I came home to an almost clean house this evening!

And now, when I'm supposed to be working out, I'm not sneaking in a quick post about all of the things I haven't been doing lately! Really, my family thinks I'm working out....you'd think they'd know better. I better go work up a sweat really quick....while reading something intellectual....like the latest People magazine....

New Years Resolutions

Happy New Year! I've been thinking how crazy that it's already 2010...it's been the most eventful decade of my life...well, I guess I'm only in my third decade, but it's still been the most eventful. In the last ten years I got married, had three children, figured out what I want to be when I grow up (still working on the growing up part!), travelled a little, gained more than a few pounds, and figured out that crazy curly hair is just fine. At least those are the things that immediately come to mind...I'm sure I've done more than that.

Now that my children are out of the baby stage, it seems like it's time to spend at least a little more time focusing on myself - something that I've almost forgotten how to do in the last ten years! I've never been too excited about New Years resolutions....it just seemed so...I don't know...cliche, I guess. However, this year I've come up with a few for myself:

• I want to lose at least ten pounds. I don't think it's realistic, or even healthy, to weigh what I did ten years ago (108 lbs!), but I at least want to get down to a more comfortable weight. NO, I'm NOT going to say what I weigh right now...it's not horrible, but it's too much for me.
• Along with losing a little weight, I am going to exercise a minimum of 30 minutes three times a week....even if I'm tired and busy.
• Lastly, I am going to take a little more time for myself. I feel kind of selfish saying that, but I think I will be a better person if I feel like I matter to myself. It seems like I've heard every one of my girlfriends say how much better they feel when they get a break....I think I'll try it!

Okay...now that I've actually put this in writing, I will feel obligated to stick to it....that's my strategy anyway. So, now I'm off to the mall to shop for some cute boots....