Halloween!

Paxton was "Superhero Wolverine" and Porter was Flash for Halloween this year. Don't ask me why they picked these costumes because I don't believe either of them knows who these characters are, but this is what they wanted so this is what they got. They didn't have either of these costumes at Target and that was as far as I looked, so my awesome mother ran ALL OVER TOWN trying to find these two specific costumes.

Knowing good and well Charlotte was going to wear her costume for all of about 30 seconds my mom just picked her up some butterfly wings and a tiara and wand. After seeing the costumes I think Porter wanted to be the fairy princess more than Flash, but whatever.

*This was the best picture I could get of Charlotte in her costume which proves my mom's theory was right!*

We went to the Aquarium on Thursday night for a little trick or treating. The boys had a ton of fun. Charlotte ran around like a complete maniac, as usual. There was trick or treating, an enormous bouncy house slide, another bouncy house, games, etc. It was awesome.

Not sure Porter liked the mermaid!

And the best part was that meems went with us!!!

It was a good thing that we went and had some Halloween fun on Thursday night because by Friday morning Paxton was running a fever. This means that he had miss his big Halloween party at school. Total bummer. And he ran a fever all weekend and just felt overall crummy. On Monday at 530 he was asleep on the couch. Not cool. But he perked up and we went trick or treating!

Paxton was loving it. Porter was into it for the first few houses, but he started to go down hill fast. By the time we got home him and Charlotte were running a fever. We had Charlotte strapped in the wagon and were letting her eat candy after candy to keep her still and not sprinting down the street. She kept getting pieces of candy out of Porter's bucket and saying "stuck, stuck" because she couldn't get the wrapper off.

Porter jumped into the wagon at one point and wasn't doing any more trick or treating. I asked him if he wanted to go to the next house with Pax and he said, "no thanks, it's making me nervous." I'm not quite sure if he really knows what that word means exactly though since this morning when Pax was singing this song over and over Porter said, "Pax stop singing that song. It's getting on my nervous." But who knows. He didn't feel good, but he did feel good enough to down a couple pieces of candy before jumping in the bath!

All in all it was a successful night. Fever's past and present, everyone had a blast! And Scott and I scored on some candy!

Pumpkin Carving

I broke down and we did pumpkin carving this year. I do NOT like pulling the guts out of a pumpkin, I don't like the way it feels or smells (I know, I'm weird), and I am always afraid Scott is going to slice his hand open with the knife (I already said I know I'm weird), so I try and avoid this holiday festivity if I can, but you know Paxton wouldn't let it go. Soooooo.......

Gross! Pumpkin guts!

(Clearly this is not the best photo of me, but I had to put it in there for Scott's benefit. We have about a million photos of me with this nasty face when I am grossed out. Which happens often, apparently.)

The finished product! We go old school over here and just free hand it. No kits involved people. Can you guess who wanted the nice pumpkin and who wanted the scary pumpkin?

And let me add that I carved the scary pumpkin, which is much more high quality than the happy pumpkin. Just sayin'.

Oh, wait! You know you've got to give your pumpkin a kiss, right?!?!

And if Paxton does it, then you know Porter is going to put the moves on his pumpkin too!

Unfortunatley, these pumpkins went rotten in about 2 days. All that slaving away with the pumpkin guts and we didn't even get to keep them that long! But the boys loved it so I guess we will have to add it to the fall festivity list! Maybe next year we will get with the times and get better tools. I mean I know my scary pumpkin looks professional, but Scott's could use some help. In his defense the kitchen knife we were using was pretty dull. :)

Three Little Peas in a Pod

These 3 are best friends. They love each other so much it is heart melting. That doesn't mean they don't fight and argue and get on each other's nerves, but above all else they are thick as thieves.

They hardly ever want to be without each other. Every day when we turn down the road that leads to Paxton's school Paxton will say, "Porter, I'm going to miss you." And Charlotte starts to cry when he gets out of the car and we drive off. And then when we go to get him he immediately gets in the car and says, "What did you do while I was gone?" And before I can even ask, Porter will ask, "Did you have a good day at school, Bubba?"

When we started gymnastics Porter was a little nervous. They are in a 3 and 4 year old class so they let me stick Porter in there with Paxton even though he is only 2. He cried the whole entire first class and wouldn't participate at all. When Pax and I were giving him a pep talk (of course Paxton LOVED it from day 1) before the next class I asked him what he was scared of. Porter told us he was scared of the "marshmallows" (the foam pit) so I told him he didn't need to do that part. He only had to do what he thought was fun. After the class Porter runs out and says, "I had so much fun mommy! I even did the marshmallows!" We get in the car and I ask Porter what his favorite part of the class was. His reply, "the trampoline." When I asked Paxton what his favorite part of the class was his reply was, "when Porter did the marshmallows! I was so proud of him!" Be still my heart!

Charlotte has turned into a chatterbox lately. Her favorite thing to do is tell knock-knock jokes. This is how it goes EVERY SINGLE TIME, "knock knock" "whose there Charlotte" "blah blah" "blah blah who" and then you have to fake laugh like you think it's funny. She does this probably 500 times a day. And if you don't do your part (the whose there part) then she will start to scream "KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK" over and over and over until you acknowledge her. This gets old by about 8 o'clock in the morning. Paxton is the only one who will play this game with her all day long. And he doesn't just fake laugh like the rest of us. He will drum up a really sweet sounding laugh to please her. Paxton also says about 100 times a day how cute Charlotte is and how he "loves her so much it's unbelievable."

If I get onto Paxton, Porter will get mad at me. "Don't get my brother in trouble." And if I have to send Paxton to time out, Porter will intentionally do something to get himself put into time out so he can be with his brother.

Sometimes, when the mom and dad guilt starts to kick in, Scott and I will wonder if every one's needs are being met emotionally. Since they are all so close in age and there has always been a baby in the house we are always concerned about everyone getting the proper amount of one-on-one attention. When we start to have these concerns we always remind ourselves that they love each other as much as they love us. They will be much better off in the long run for having each other than a fraction more attention from me or Scott. There is no sibling rivalry yet, and we are doing our best to keep it that way. We love how much they love each other.

Porter-isms

Porter talks exceptionally well for an almost 3 year old. He also says some of the funniest things.

We pulled up to the dry cleaners drive thru window one day and he says, "Mommy, I want french fries. And juice. And beeth (beef)."

"Um, Porter, we are at the cleaners."

"What, I can't have french fries? Can I just have some beeth then?"

"Porter, we are not at Arby's honey, we are at the cleaners getting daddy's clothes."

"Well can I at least have juice?"

"Porter, they do NOT have food or juice here!"

"Well then let's go to Arby's and get some beeth?!"

These are just a few things that transpired today.

He was singing:

"If you're happy in your nose clap your hands. If your happy in your nose clap your hands. If your happy and you nose it then your face will surely show it, if your happy and you nose it clap your hands!"

I mean, it kind of makes sense if you think about it!

We were in the car on our way to shop with Aunt Karla and she turns around to him and says, "Porter, do you want me to buy you lunch?" He says, "No thanks! I don't want you to buy me lunch, I want you to buy me a TOY! A truck. A green truck. Okay?!"

"Bubba, did you have a good day at school? Did you sing the Wokie Pokie?"

Paxton has learned quite a lot at pre-school, one of which happens to be potty talk. Porter comes up to me and says, "Paxton called me poo poo ice. I said thank you! Because I go poo poo and I like ice! See, we ARE being nice!" This obviously makes no sense to me at all, but I did find it comical that he thought they were playing nicely together by making sense of the nonsense.

And here are a few words that are mispronounced ever so adorably!!!

tecause = because

wobe = love

cheeth = cheese

I know it is wrong on so many levels, but I perpetuate mispronunciation! I LOVE the way he talks and I don't want it to change just yet!

Sweet baby girl

When did this sweet, precious, tiny, helpless, adorable baby...

Turn into this rambunctious, talkative, climbing, running, knock-knock joke telling, pizza eating toddler???

More to come on my darling daughter's entry into toddler-hood!

This is living!

Paxton was sick week before last. Not like stay in bed all day sick. He had that upper respiratory thing that has been spreading like mad. He was on breathing treatments and steroids and antibiotics so I didn't want to send him to school. I needed to be able to monitor his breathing.

Since Scott was out of town and I wasn't sending my buddy to school, I decided to pack up and head to OKC for a few days. We hadn't seen my parents in a while so we were missing them a lot!

Like I said, it wasn't like Pax had to stay in bed or anything so we decided to have some fun on our "sick-cation."

We went to the zoo.

And the pumpkin patch!

And we went to the park several times and ate pizza and tons of treats. The boys got to sleep with meems and pops, and I got to go to dinner with friends. It was all together a total BLAST of a time, breathing treatments and all! Every day of our lives is more blessed than the day before. I don't feel deserving of the perfection that is my life, but I'll take it! And be ever so grateful for every second of it.

School and food allergies

Since Paxton started school it has taken the food allergy concern to a whole new level. He is only at school from 1:15 to 3:45 so they don't eat a meal at school. That doesn't mean that a child in his class didn't eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on their way to school and still has the residue on their fingers. That doesn't mean that at the holiday parties there won't be tons of food, candy and treats with eggs and milk in them that he can't have.

His teachers are aware of his food allergies and are very respectful of this situation. They do a cooking project every Friday, and Paxton's teachers have been ever so gracious to include me in the decision making for the menu. The homeroom mother is also AWESOME and will include special instructions to the parents that when bringing food for the cooking projects there is a child with a severe peanut allergy in the class. All of this is very helpful and I am so appreciative. What most people don't understand is that it is so much more involved than you can imagine, unless you are living it.

Paxton can eat pretzels. Only Rold Gold brand, though. He can eat chocolate chips. Only Enjoy Life. He can have marshmallows but not marshmallows fluff. He can't have anything made by Little Debbie or Stauffer's. Pretty much everything made by Great Value is processed in a facility that contains nuts so that is all off limits. He can't have regular butter. He can hardly have anything that comes in a package, however you aren't allowed to bring homemade treats to school due to the "peanut free" policy (basically, if you are bringing a snack for everyone in the class it has to be peanut free, however, you can bring whatever you want in your lunch). This means Paxton will have to sit a a peanut free table in the lunch room, possibly by himself. And the list goes on and on and on.

He is very aware of his allergies. He is also only 4. We let him eat pancakes at a restaurant (that he had eaten 2 days before with no problems at all) and he had 3 bites and started having a severe allergic reaction. This fills me with so much anxiety since the nurse's clinic is in a completely different building than his classroom and the cafeteria if something were to happen.

I am learning to trust Paxton, trust his teachers, and trust the school. This is NOT easy. I don't know if it ever will be. We take all the proper precautions by carrying an Epi-Pen, Benadryl, and steriods everywhere we go. If he is not in the care of me or Scott though, I can not be sure that the proper procedure will be followed if he has a reaction.

With Halloween fast approaching my anxiety level is rising as well. Anytime there is candy, for the most part, there is nuts, milk and eggs. We have a good system where we fill a bag full of candy he can have and when he is done trick-or-treating we switch the 'safe' bag with the trick-or-treat bag and let him eat away. We have to go home as soon as the other kids we are with start to eat their candy though since they could be eating a Snickers or something right next to him.

This is just a small glimpse into what goes into having a child with food allergies. This is a life threatening condition like many others, it is just managed without medicine. It is managed with avoidance. Don't get me wrong, I would take some food allergies over any other life threatening condition any day. I am not complaining in the slightest. I do not feel sorry for him or for me and Scott. It makes us a healthier, more food conscious family. I appreciate this situation and accept it with open arms. I am just saying that a lot of times it is not taken as seriously as it should be. This is SERIOUS!

I came across this list on a food allergy website and thought it was so perfect. I am going to start handing this out to everyone I know. I think I am going to make it my mission to educate people on food allergies. Not just the responsibility of keeping kids with food allergies safe, but the responsibility of keeping them included. There are a LOT of safe super yummy foods out there for people with food allergies that EVERYONE can enjoy. You just have to do a little label reading!

Ten Things Children with Food Allergies Want You to Know

Ten Things Children with Food Allergies Want You to Know
©2011 Gina Clowes

1. I long to be included.

I would like to look, act and eat like everyone else. I’d like to buy my lunch and sit wherever I want. I know I can’t, but I’m happy when someone cares enough to provide a safe potato chip, cookie or Popsicle for me. It’s nice when I can have something similar to what the other kids are eating and I love it when I can eat the same thing as everyone else. Whenever it’s possible, please think to include me!

2. I’m scared I could die from my food allergies.

I’ve heard my parents and teachers mention “life-threatening” food allergies and I remember having some reactions where I felt very sick and really scared. I saw how frightened my parents were too. Sometimes, I could use a little reassurance that I will be okay.

3. I feel like I’m the only one sometimes.

If you have a support group or know another way for me to meet other children who have food allergies, I would really like that. It would be nice to know that I’m not the only kid who has food allergies. Having another friend with food allergies in my classroom or to eat with me at lunch would help me too.

4. I get confused when grown-ups offer me food.

I know I’m supposed to be polite and listen to grown-ups, but my parents have told me I should only take food from them. When you offer food to me (especially candy), I’d like to take it but I’m unsure and don’t know what I should do.

5. If grown-ups kiss me, right after they’ve eaten something I’m allergic to, I’ll get itchy spots.

If your dog licks me, I’ll get itchy spots too. I don’t feel quite brave enough or know how to tell you this, but I’m hoping you will remember; if you’ve just eaten something that I’m allergic to, I may get hives so please don’t kiss me right after you’ve eaten that particular food.

6. I’m embarrassed when people fuss over what I’m eating.

I know I have to eat my own safe food, but it’s easier for me when I’m not singled out. Sometimes, I feel very embarrassed when grown-ups ask me a lot of questions. More than anything, I just want to fit in.

7. I hear all adult conversations about my food allergies.

My ears perk up when I hear grown-ups mention my name or my food allergies. Please don’t pity me or act terrified because that will cause me to feel frightened. Food allergies are just one part of me. Instead, let me overhear you list all the wonderful things about me!

8. Sometimes I’m sad about having food allergies.

It’s hard to be the only kid in the class not having a birthday cupcake and having to eat something different from my box of “safe treats”. What makes it worse, is knowing this will happen a lot throughout the year because there are 20 or more other birthdays in my class. I know it’s not the end of the world, but from my perspective, it’s pretty tough at times.

9. I’m watching you! You may think that I’m too little to notice, but I know when you forget my EpiPen® and return home to get it.

I watch you every time, when you’re reading the list of ingredients on my bag of Skittles. You are my role model and I’m learning how to manage my food allergies from you!

10. I will do about as well as you do.

My parents and other grown-ups “can-do” attitude will help me cope with the challenges of living with allergies and ensure that food allergies don’t stop me from being everything I was meant to be!

School Pictures 2011

Paxton Michael England

Age: 4 1/2

Grade: Pre-K at Jenks West Elementary

Favorite Food: Nuggets and Oatmeal

Favorite Activity: Play games

Favorite Song: Hot Potato

Favorite Color: Orange

Best Friend: Porter and Manha

Favorite Toy: Action figure with tentacles and Evil Dr. Pork Chop

Favorite TV Show: Spiderman, Backyardagins

Favorite Book: Beauty and the Beast

Favorite thing to do outside: Play baseball

Favorite Drink: Orange Juice

What do you want to be when you grow up: Prince

Funniest person you know: ME!

Favorite thing to wear: My Captain America and Spiderman shirt

Bed Time: 8:15 pm

Wake Up Time: 7:30 am

Bath or Shower: Shower

Can read beginner books, write the alphabet, and count to 100

Sweetest, most loving, sensitive, helpful 4 year old boy in the world!

A Doctor's Evaluation

Last weekend I had to take Paxton to urgent care because he was having some wheezing and coughing. There is a Pediatric Urgent Care close by that we have frequented lately (unfortunately) and the doctors are really sweet.

Although I hate when my babies are sick, I kind of had fun taking Pax to the doctor because it is very rare that I get to spend time alone with Paxton. Being that it was a Saturday, Scott stayed home with the little ones so it was just me and my buddy. Because I have been dealing with his "asthma" and wheezing and post nasal drip since he was born pretty much, I know the drill. He was definitely wheezing, but I busted out my trusty stethoscope and listened to his lungs and knew it has been much worse in the past. Not to mention if one was judging his illness by his mood and attitude you would have never know he was sick, but I knew he needed a steroid. So while we were sitting in the room waiting to see the doctor Paxton and I were playing our usual games of I Spy, Rhyme Time, Spelling Bee, etc. It was in this doctor's office that I learned Paxton knew the Pledge of Allegiance and the Oklahoma Flag Salute! We were having fun.

The doctor comes in and it goes like this:

Pax: Hi Doctor I am Paxton. What is your name?

Doctor: My name is Kate.

Pax: YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME! That is my mom's name.

Doc: Well what is wrong today Paxton?

Pax: Nothing I am just playing games with my mom. You want to rhyme with us?

Me: He is wheezing and coughing and he isn't responding to the breathing treatments as well as usual. I just don't want him to get pneumonia.

Doc: Paxton can I listen to your lungs?

Pax: Sure, is that your stethoscope? My mom has a stethoscope. Me and my brother use it as a lasso.

Doc: Are you in the medical profession?

Me (embarrassed): No I am just a bit neurotic. Can't help it.

Doc laughs and I know what she is thinking.

Pax: I am 4, I go to preschool, do you have kids, I go to Jenks, where did you go to school, do you like being a doctor...

Me: Pax take some deep breaths and hold your questions til the end buddy.

Doctor finishes up listen and sits at her computer to start typing in her assessment.

Paxton: Am I going to need more breathing treatments? I hate breathing treatments. I am going to be wolverine for Halloween. My little brother is going to be Flash. I have a little sister named Charlotte. She is the cutest thing you have ever seen. Can I go to Kayla's birthday party today? I really like my friends...

As all this talking is going on I am watching over the doctor's shoulder at what she is typing in the computer. She is putting in what his pulse ox is, what he lungs sound like, his temp, what meds he takes, what his allergies are, etc. Then I notice her scroll back up and she types in TALKATIVE into one of the boxes. I started laughing out loud. She turned around and looked at me inquisitively. I said "Talkative! That is a pretty fair assessment! I don't think ANYONE would disagree with that!" She said, "No, no that's a good thing. I mean he's not lethargic or struggling to move air in and out." I told her there was no need to explain. I got it!

There are some things that you don't need to go to medical school to diagnose I guess! If I could write my own prescriptions I would save so much money in co-pays!

Potty Training

I HATE potty training! I know plenty of people who are super eager to get their child potty trained. Diapers are expensive and stinky. I get it. But when you have 2 other children in tow and you are at Target with a huge basket full of groceries and your child with a bladder the size of a walnut screams, "MOMMY, I HAVE TO GO PEE PEE AND POO POO!!!! NOWWWWWWWW!!!" What to you do? You run to the dirty Target bathroom unload everyone from the basket. Leave the massive bunch of groceries outside of the door to melt. Take the pooping child and set him on the filthy toilet where he is going to touch all over the toilet seat so he doesn't fall in. The other two are crawling all over the floor, underneath stalls, touching everything in site. This is way grosser to me than changing a diaper. Or you're on your way to OKC from Tulsa by yourself with the kids and one has to use the bathroom. Here we come nasty truck stop bathroom...all 4 of us!

This is why I am in no rush to get my kids potty trained. I completely understand the necessity of this concept, but I choose to wait until the very last minute. This is pretty true to form for most areas of my life. Why not this too, right?!

So comes the time to just get it over with and get Porter potty trained, and not gonna lie, I have been dreading it! I told myself I was going to start one day and would take his diaper off for an hour or two and then get lazy and put it back on. Finally, I knew I had to get it over with. I started Tuesday. By Thursday he was potty trained!!!!! WHAT!!!!! And waking up in a completely dry diaper, taking it off and using the bathroom and putting on his own undies. Seriously? Thank you God for my sweet, easy going, fun loving, perfect child Porter!

When I was so worried about weaning him, he did it himself. I don't even remember it. I just woke up one day and thought to myself, "I haven't nursed Porter in a few days." He was scared his first day or gymnastics. The second day, no big deal. Potty trained himself in two days. He is my little precious buddy. I am glad that things are easy for Porter. He is definitely not the middle child. He is our "medium boy." :)

4 year old conversation

I get to volunteer in Paxton's class on Friday afternoons during "center time." During the first few times I would stand in the back so Paxton wouldn't get distracted by me and participate with his teachers and friends. I guess I put a little more stock in the fact that Paxton and I are best friends, and I just knew he would want to play with ME more than his friends...WRONG. He barely even acknowledged I was there until he got to my center. Then he threw me some sweet, "I love you, Mommy's!" :) Other than that though, he just goes about his business. I do believe I embarrassed him the other day when I was in full dance mode during the hokey pokey!

While Paxton was at another center I was eaves dropping on his conversation with one of his buddy's (this won't be the last time that happens). This is how it went:

Friend: Who is Charlotte? (I think he heard me say something to Pax about Charlotte.)

Pax: She's my little sister. And Porter is my little brother. Who is your little sister?

Friend: I don't have a sister.

Pax: Then who is your little brother?

Friend: I don't have a brother.

Pax: Then what DO you have?

Friend: I have TOYS!

Touche, little dude! Touche! It's so cute to hear these little people have their own conversations and form their own friendships. I absolutely look forward to my few hours in that classroom. I love to spend the time with Pax, but I also am falling in love with all his little classmates. They are all so adorable and unique!

Catch phrases at the England house

As I am sure is true in everyone's house, there is never a dull moment around here. Sometimes the insanity is perpetuated by me (aka turning up the music super loud so we can dance it out) and others it is driven by one (or all) of the kids just being kids.

There are phrases that I hear or say on a daily basis that are fitting (and funny if I actually listen to what's being said) for this season in our lives, however, if I were to hear the same phrase 18 years from now it would not be so cute!

Here are a few examples:

"Charlotte, NO MORE DANCING ON THE TABLE!"

"Paxton, you have to wear pants at the dinner table or at LEAST underwear!"

"Porter, take your underwear off of your head!"

"Charlotte, stay out of the trash can!"

"Boys, please take your hands out of your pants!"

"No, Paxton, you may not kiss the babysitter who you have never met before tonight."

"Charlotte, do not put your hands in the toilet."

"Porter, just because we had to let you pee in a cup in the car that one time doesn't mean you need to hold it until we get in the car so you can go in a cup again!"

Some of these phrases are said about every 5 minutes all day long. I try not to be a no no no mommy, as the word starts to lose it's effect after the millionth time it is said. For a while I would gasp really dramatically and say DANGER if someone was about to do something dangerous. This, apparently, was funny and therefore not effective either. There are so many books out there written on getting your baby to sleep. I've given up on trying to feel really well rested. I wish there were books titled, "How to keep your toddler from knocking out her front teeth, " or "How to keep your preschooler from talking to every stranger on the planet without scaring him to death about strangers," or "How to teach your almost 3 year old that he doesn't need to do everything his older brother does...the good things and the bad things."

When we were in college we started this thing we called "only in Stillwater," where everytime we would see or hear something that reminded us of Stillwater we would write it down. The list was HILARIOUS!!!! These phrases are my grown up version. And the list grows every day!

Jerry

Today we had our playroom painted. One of my dear friends who knows a ton of people referred a really nice man named Jerry to paint for us. When he came over this morning to give me a bid for the job this is what he walked into:

*Please note we have NEVER met Jerry before in our lives!*

Jerry: Good morning ma'am. Nice to meet you. (as we shake hands)

Me: Good morning Jerry, I'm Kate.

Paxton sticking out his hand for a shake: Hi Jerry, I'm Paxton.

Porter: And I'm Porter.

And then it happens...just like that...Paxton goes in for the HUG! Arms wrapped ever so tightly around Jerry's waist, head buried in Jerry's bellybutton is where Paxton landed. For so long, I had to gently pull him off of our new friend. Jerry was caught a little off guard by the sudden act of affection, but very quick to recripricate the love Paxton was giving him. Jerry has 4 kids of his own so he was VERY sweet to the boys all day. And each and every (1000) time the boys would say something like, "Jerry why do you have sunglasses on your head? Jerry why do you have paint on your arm? Jerry what does that say on your shirt? Jerry do you like turkey sandwiches? Jerry are you going to paint until sundown? Jerry is that your truck? Jerry ummmmmmm....." He was quick with a sweet response that satisfied the questioner at hand.

Don't you know that when Jerry was packing up for the day and about to leave it happened yet again. Biggest bear hug Jerry has probably ever had!

I LOVE the sweet acceptance of children. It amazes me, really. I wish this could carry into adulthood. That people would never lose this innocence and love for everyone no matter what the situation or circumstance.

However, this brings me to a new lesson we might need to start covering...STRANGERS!