Join the Mureens

Yes, we're a little behind on assembling it for her. If you'd like to know more about the assembly process, read Libby's blog here. It took us (mostly Jon did all the work) several days. I told my parents they better start working on that dollhouse they bought her themselves - those are the sorts of things you are supposed to do with your time when you're retired :) Anna Kate's first words about it were, "It doesn't have a toaster," and "It's not real?" But now she loves it.

by Anna Kate...when J.R. had a poopy, she took matters into her own hands. I swear she was born a mother.

This was a few weeks ago...the handprints are now gone, but the pink in the carpet is still with us. Anna Kate just put the paint on her hands, but J.R. was covered in it. When I saw it, this is what Anna Kate said, "I love pink, I really do." They both got in big trouble and totally bonded over getting in trouble together...

So it's been a while since I've blogged...there are several different reasons for this.

1. My nesting syndrome has taken over my life and all I can think about are home improvement projects.


2. I wasn't going to blog again until our Christmas decorations were totally put away into the attic (they're upstairs, but not into the attic yet).


3. I really need to finish this big project for the preschool PTA matching new members with old members...yeah, won't be doing the PTA board next year.


4. I want to spare you of the details of a recent run of throw-ups, blow-out #2s, messes and spills associated with my toddlers, in addition to a crick in my neck that left me practically paralyzed for several days -- thankfully my mom came up to help us during that time.


5. I have a lot of pictures I need to upload and download that I want to blog about...I'll get around to that someday.

So ANYWAY........the day before yesterday we went to the E.R...Anna Kate's 3rd trip in 3 years...when she was 2 weeks old she choked on spit-up and turned blue and rode in the ambulence for that one; when she was 2 years old, she got dehydrated from an illness and they gave her some juice and she drank it for them (she wouldn't drink anything for us) and then they sent her home, and now she's three and...

I wake up at the crack of dawn ready to tackle an implusive home improvement project...painting our painted brick fireplace several shades darker. The kids are surprisingly chill and contentedly watch me paint while they drink their milks and talk on the couch. We take a break for lunch...they watch a little t.v...ok, so I thought it would only take a couple of hours for me to paint the fireplace, and at this point I'm seeing I way underestimated the amount of time it would take. Nap time for the kids. Both go down and all is quiet and I'm painting...at about 3:30pm Anna Kate comes out of her room to tell me, "I love sparkles...I really do" (ought-oh, that's what she said about "pink" after she'd painted our upstairs room with my hot pink acrylic paint handprints last week). So I go in...sure enough her room reeks of nail polish and she's painted all over herself and her bedding with sheer light pink sparkly nail polish so that she can sparkle like a princess. Now she knows better than to paint anything except paper - ESPECIALLY NOT THE HOUSE OR FURNITURE - and painting must be with mommy. So......I'm about to give her a spanking and she lunges away from me into her dresser shelf and starts crying hysterically and turns around and her face is covered in blood. I go into shock and have no idea what to do at this point. So I regain composure and start to try to wipe her face to find the source of the blood and there's a huge gash above her eye. So I do what any other mom would do and call my friend, Libby, to ask what to do. She says I need to call my doctor. Then my doctor says I need to take her to the E.R. Just then J.R. wakes up and starts screaming. He's done a huge puke all over his bed. I'm just not sure how urgent it is to get Anna Kate to the E.R., but we can't go with J.R. covered in puke, so I clean up his mess. After I get him and the bed cleaned up, he does it again....bigger....so I clean it up again...wondering, "Will my daughter be literally scarred for life b/c I didn't get her to the E.R. soon enough...but I just don't know what else I can do...J.R. looks and is obviously really sick and appears dehydrated and exhausted as well...and Anna Kate is fine aside from the gash..." Meanwhile, I can't just leave all the paint and brushes and roller to dry out because I still have more painting to do on the fireplace...so I put away that mess so we can get to the E.R. But wait...now I'm covered in paint, blood and puke and so I change clothes and get ready and by now Jon can leave work early, so I might as well wait for him to get home so I don't have to haul poor J.R. up there with us b/c he's exhausted...so that's our plan and the kids and I eat dinner. Several HOURS later Anna Kate and I get to the emergency room. Let's just say she had no intentions of cooperating with the doctor (despite much bribery) when needles, string and scissors were coming at her eye...so we had to sedate and blind-fold her...she really bonded with her nurse Jennifer who gave her stickers, juice and a popsicle, but never totally warmed up to the doctor, and and we got home about 10:30 pm...5 stitches later. Our doctor was really great...he was my friend Libby's husband's roommate in medical school. J.R. finally drank and held down some gatorade so we didn't have to go back to the E.R. for him, and Jon and I went right to sleep and slept like rocks.