No lessons PLEASE!

Our upstairs neighbor BB always teases that her kids are going to teach MVJ a lesson or two so that she keeps us on our toes. We love your children dearly, BB, but please, please no lessons! Here are a few of the bad things little miss JB and mister EB could teach my sweet, innocent little thing:

How to --
1) climb on the furniture to try to get out the window.
2) climb up the shelves in her closet.
3) get things out of the refrigerator (and hide them in her room -- like eggs!).
4) take off her diaper and smear poo around the room!
5) balance on the foot of brother's bed and climb up the dresser.
6) open up her piggy bank to dump coins out for little brother to play with.
7) play with the potty in big sister's potty chair.
8) break the lightbulb in the lamp that was "out of reach" on the far end of the dresser and play with the broken glass.
9) open up locks on the front door to wander around the hallway.
10) run from Mommy at the mall.
11) dump out ALL the toys in her room before bed each night.

I'm sure there are more, but truly there are great things the B children know how to do too! The naughty list is just way more astonishing!

Oh man! Time flies!

I was totally encouraged today when my friend (my long term sub to be exact), KE, said that she and another friend at work (LH) kept checking my blog to see if I updated it. SO, KE and LH, this one's for you! : )

What have we done so far in April? Welllllll, here's a quick update:

*The B's called us Tuesday morning... BB was GOING TO THE HOSPITAL! Woohoo! JJ went upstairs to be in their apartment with their two kiddos so they could leave and I slept a bit more after being up oh, just about every two hours with li'l miss MVJ the night before. I called him a little while later to say I was going to shower and then would be up. He said that no, I should come up first. I got there and he was sitting in the living room. He was like the kids are awake, you should go in there and get them up. I was like, what, that's what you wanted me to come do?? But, I went in there and told them their Mommy and Daddy went to the hospital so that Mommy could have her baby. They were more than a little excited. We got them dressed and checked BB's detailed schedule to see what would happen next. I LOVE that she prepared for basically everything. It made our "job" a lot easier! She called about 11:30 ish almost depressed. Not much had happened. The baby wasn't dropping, so they didn't want to break her water. She was feeling bad that I was in for more babysitting than I maybe had bargained for. I told her not to worry - the kids were doing great and we'd be just fine. The kids were doing great. JB was full of her usual spunk and EB was in a great mood. We read LOTS of books, watched a baby einstein DVD, and played with their kitchen toys. Time went quite quickly! Those kiddos are BUSY, let me tell you! JB had a question for everything... and is a nosy little thing! I did need JJ to be there as often as he could ... with MVJ PLUS two busy kiddos... it got a little hectic! At about 7:45ish we got a call from BB. She wanted to talk to JB. I heard her say, "You have a little sister!" YAY!!! JB wanted pretty much nothing to do with taking a phone call and hung up on BB! I quickly called her back to get all the details. Little missy wasn't quite so little, NAB weighed in at 9 lbs, 11 oz! And her birth wasn't without some excitement. Her head came out but she wouldn't turn her shoulders. The doctors feared her head would go back in BB, so a nurse basically jumped on BB to apply pressure while a doctor just pulled her out rather forcefully. She ended up with a broken shoulder, but is doing rather well now. She is a beautiful little girl and we are so happy for the whole B family!

*MVJ turned TWO MONTHS! Wow! Which means.... two month shots! : ( Poor baby! Poor Mommy! She cried so hard that she stopped breathing and the nurse had to blow air in her face to get her started enough to breathe again. She was fine a few minutes later. I didn't get this tip beforehand: give your baby baby tylenol before going to the doctor --- so now you and I all know!

*We went to Bismarck, my hometown, for Easter. My grandparents got to meet their very first great grandchild, and it was the most awesome thing ever! My grandpa became putty in her hands! He is one who tears up easily (our major sporting wins, musical performances, graduations, etc... we could always count on Grandpa's tears), but he could just not contain himself with this little bundle. Everything she did was the most advance and most mature and smartest thing ever! I loved it! We went to Bismarck two days after her shots and after driving for four hours, she was a little out of sorts and by that evening she was crying hard. My grandparents said they didn't sleep that night worrying about her. Awww! My parents and JJ and I slept just fine because MVJ only woke up twice after falling into a deep sleep -- she wore herself out! After much pinochle playing and, oh, just a few pictures, it was time to hit the road back to Grand Forks.

*Back home not much was accomplished during the week after Easter, but then on Saturday my Mom came up to hang out with us before the big event of the weekend: MVJ's Baptism on Sunday! LJ and AJ are MVJ's godparents, so they came up, along with LJ and BJ of course. My Dad drove my brother and grandparents up the morning of the big day and several friends joined us at Church. It was so special! We are so blessed to know so many great people! Here's how the baptism went down: we had it all planned that I would nurse MJV around 10:15ish since Church started at 10:30 so that she'd have some time to have her tummy settled before her big moment. WELL, would you believe that she was JUST TOO TIRED to wake up and be bothered with eating? I tried everything, but to no avail! So, back to our spots I went. What could I do? After a song or two, announcements, and a mission moment, MVJ started to squirm a bit. Uh oh, just what we had feared! She'd be screaming hungry by the time she got to the front. But, Pastor Paul motioned for us to come up and she quieted down and was absolutely awake and absolutely silent the whole time! Her picture was put on the big screen and everyone ooohed and aaahed at how simply beautiful she is (Mommy talking of course!). The holy water in her hair made it spikey and added to the whole effect! We pray that little miss MVJ will gorw up to love the Lord and develop a personal relationship with Jesus. She sure has the tools now - two baby Bibles, a PraiseBaby CD, a beautiful cross that says "God danced the day you were born" (I love that image), and of course lots of love and support from lots of wonderful people!

*So Saturday night I started feeling sick. I was like whatever... I am so unlucky, I get sick all. the. time. I had a fever for sure -- night sweats, chills, achy and headache. I took some tylenol before Church and felt better (and of course was a bit distracted). After MVJ's reception at the golf course (totally recommend that buffet by the way!), JJ, MVJ and I all took about a TWO hour nap! It was wonderful! But afterwards I still didn't feel better. In fact, that night I felt even worse and (boys reading this can look away) my right breast started getting all red and hot and starting Saturday it was ouchy when MVJ nursed on that side. I took some more tylenol and told JJ about it. He told me to make an appointment with my doc. She happened to be out sick for the day and would be back Wednesday... I just felt too miserable to wait it out, so I made an appointment with a different resident doctor. The nurse took my temp. and it was 102.3. Ahhh, that explained a lot of the icky feelings! Yup, turns out I have mastitis. Grrrrreat! Seriously if there is ANYTHING I could possibly get, I do. It's EJ's Law or something. So, some antibiotics to fight my infection (taken four times a day... I feel like I'm popping pills all day!), lots of water, rest, nursing and pumping later... I feel much, much better! Yay! I even went to work today for two meetings... and just some visiting too! I have to say I LOVE LOVE being home, but I think it will be good to get back to work in August too. I'll probably feel great to be back to work and then want to be home after the first week or so!

Lots of excitement!

JJ, M and I have been BUSY lately! She has been a trooper with getting packed up and heading out! It was JJ's spring break, so on Wednesday we headed to visit LJ, AJ and family. We love visiting the AJ family! Hanging out with niecey LJ and nephew BJ, eating yummy food (including all out deserts Wednesday night!), playing games (a new one this time -- Ticket to Ride -- highly recommend it -- and not just because I *almost* won the second time we played!), and this time even attending their Bible study with them!

Friday morning, we had to get up early because of a play date I scheduled at the mall play place. M and I played with the B's and also LB (a friend from work) and her two kiddos -- RB and MB. The kiddos did a great job running around playing. Little MB (about 8 1/2 mo.) will be up chasing her brother in no time! We crashed at home in the afternoon and then M and I went to a baby shower for AB-E and baby RE, who is about 3 weeks older than MVJ. We had an impromptu photo shoot with MVJ and RE. They are so dang cute and about as different as can be. RE has beautiful light reddish hair and MVJ is just so dark. Then we headed home to clean up a bit and unpack from the J's.

Saturday, M and I headed to Perkins for a little baby shower for the O's (MO and PO are adding another boy to their family of MO and FO). CJ was so kind to set it up and it was fun to go eat with just "the girls" (we allowed baby boy J in CJ's tummy to join us). I hadn't seen AO in quite some time! Then, we went home and SM, a friend from work, came over with her sister LM and daugher H to bring MVJ a gift and hang out! Little H is so cute! JJ got home from work and it was all over -- she had a huge crush on him! heehee!

Sunday JJ had to work at 6 am. Yeck! MVJ and I headed to Church at 10, where little miss M decided to be awakies the whole time! She was busy, busy, busy in my lap. After Church, a few ladies came up and commented on how BEAUTIFUL this little girl is! Friend MM, who signs during Church, came and promised to get together after Easter.

Then, back home again, home again. Phew! I think a relaxing Monday will be JUST FINE! : )

Babysitting the B's

Yesterday, the B's had an ultrasound (BB is H-U-G-E, poor thing, and the doc wanted to see if she should go early because she's already had two relatively large babes and she is a tiny lady). Since it's Spring Break, TB could go with, so I babysat JB and EB. Mommy and Daddy got them ready and fed them breakfast, so my only job was to play! It was fun! The only downside was I had no voice! On Friday I started getting a bit raspy and it has just gotten worse since then. I don't have any cold symptoms and feel just fine... I just can't talk. It's annoying! And what did the kiddos want to do? Read books. Of course! I basically whispered through them (like If You Give a Pig a Pancake... FOUR times) ; ), which worked because the kiddos were quiet trying to listen.

MVJ hung out with us too. I put her in their baby papasan, but she cried, so I put her on the couch, but the kiddos were a little too interested for me to just leave her there. It seemed that all I was saying to EB was "No." One time he chanted, "No, no, no." While I was in the middle of one of the books, MVJ peed through a diaper! All of a sudden my leg was wet! It was the first time THAT has happened! Poor MVJ, it seems that all I talk about are her pees and poops! But, anyways, I got up to change her and the B's are all interested. JB and EB come into the room with the changing table and JB has every question in the book for me. What's that? What are you doing? And even, "Does she have a vagina or a penis?" I said, "Well, she's a little girl." Without skipping a beat: "Oh, vagina then. Are you using butt cream?" (EB has had a major diaper rash and butt cream is essential at their house at the moment!) "Is her butt all clean?" You know, she is more experienced than I am with this whole diapering thing, so maybe I should be asking her the questions! ; )

JB

Our little miss upstairs neighbor, JB, who turns three in March has a new trick. Whenever her Mommy (BB) uses the restroom (come on Mom -- who told you you could take breaks like that??!), she gets into the refridgerator and takes things out. One time she had a carton of eggs in her room (Mommy caught her before she opened it!). Another time she had spilled half and half all over the kitchen floor. SO. Desperate times call for desperate measures. BB needed to go out and get a lock for the fridge. She called to see if I could watch the kiddos. I happily obliged and off BB went. JB and I were reading books when we came across one with Elmo where he talks about what he wants to be when he grows up. I asked JB what she's going to be when she grows up. Without missing a beat, she shared, "We have mittens for me when I get bigger." Yup. Makes sense. : )

Christmas Cards

Pretty much since we've been married we've taken a snowboarding trip for Christmas/New Years. We've taken a picture on the mountain and sent out New Years or late holiday cards. This year I have been begging JJ to let me get professional belly pictures. He finally conceded and we had an appointment scheduled for today. Had in past tense because the weather was craptastic this morning. Church was even cancelled! Our upstairs neighbor BB called at around 2:00 and miracle of miracles offered to take our pictures. She said her two kiddos were sleeping so to come up NOW! We quickly redressed in our picture attire and headed upstairs. She was ironing a white sheet. JJ tacked it up and the photoshoot began. It was so much fun! I had a few poses/props in mind and BB had a ton of great ideas as well. I was absolutely amazed at how well they turned out. BB should definitely consider a career in photography! She even took into consideration the lighting and wasn't afraid to tell us to move our heads or help with my hair, etc. It was fabulous! So I'll keep you waiting for the card in the mail. Which *should* be there before Christmas this year! Of course, that's if the Sam's Club photo printer gets fixed. Argh for my bad luck! But they said they should be back up and running Tuesday..... I suppose that's if the fix-it guy can get there. I'm still crossing my fingers for no school tomorrow!!

Never too late... right?

Our upstairs neighbor BB, who is pregnant with their third kiddo, lent me a preggo workout DVD for the weekend. I have been meaning to find a good preggo workout because I am way too concerned to stick with my old routines for fear I would do something to damage myself or the baby. So, now, at week 27, I have started my regimine. : ) I popped it in on Saturday and JJ just laughed as two very obviously pregnant women and one who I am suspicious if she was even preggers at all - she had a teeny-tiny little bump - bopped along to workout music. But, true to BB's words, my back felt oh so good and I just felt mentally good for doing some workouts and preparing my body for the big B-day.

JJ and the B's

JJ babysat the B's on Wednesday afternoon so their parents could run a much-needed errand. Together. Without kiddos. I have always been a babysitter and lover of children, so I was a bit jealous. Also, I was quite surprised that JJ was up for the challenge, but then I remembered how many nieces and nephews he has (I believe the count is at 15 -- of course some of them are his age, but I digress). He's been around kids his whole life!

So here's the run-down of events: JJ said both kids were up the whole time (I think they were supposed to be down for their afternoon naps). And EB didn't even cry once! In fact, when JJ left, EB was whining at his leg to be picked up rather than hang out with his parents who had been gone for ~2 hours. He did, however, keep trying to jump off the couches -- JJ even had to make a leg-grabbing save once! JB was up to all kinds of mischief. She was also jabbering the whole time. She kept commanding him to sleep and then she'd jump on him to wake him up. At one point she grabbed JJ's cellphone and ran into her parents bedroom and shut the door. (Thank goodness there was no lock on it!) JJ came in and JB screamed and scurried to a corner of the bed until JJ confiscated the phone. JB managed to call TB (her Dad), so they were worried that there was an emergency with the kids and JJ was calling to report.

Later, JJ (safely back at home) was making supper (Home-made perogies in fact! Mmmm!) when he started laughing out loud to a text by TB. It read something like this. JB is running around saying that you are her husband, that you slept with her on the couch, that you played in Mommy and Daddy's bed and that she saw your panties.


Note: JJ's boxers are constantly showing just a little bit and BB and TB got JB to try out wearing big girl undies again by saying that JJ and EJ wear panties. She's been wearing them ever since!

Tormenting a Two-year Old

We went to our upstairs neighbors' for supper on Saturday night. They are the ones with two adorable kiddos (EB and JB). JB had the crush on JJ. BB (mom) said that JB was crying because she missed me. BB was surprised at the change of favor -- it was always JJ before. So she asked, "Who do you like better? E or J?" --"E." "Who do you miss more? J or E?" --"E."

Anyways, we decided we better hang out with them, because obviously it has been awhile if JB is crying for us. We had a delicious (I would seriously recommend it) Papa Murphy's stuffed crust pizza. Yum, yum. They even got half without mushrooms for me! After dinner we were playing with the kiddos and JB showed us her babies' potty chair (a small ice cream bucket) -- (JB was potty trained and then an unfortunate bout of stomach flu made her regress, so the B's are trying to get her back on track.) TB (dad) decided to pretend that a "baby" had to go #2. He started making grunting noises and shaking the poor doll. JB got hysterical. She was crying and saying, "No T! No way!!" and clapping her hands and stomping her feet. It was hillarious, albeit a bit mean.

Also, side note: JB calls her dad by his first name. It is pretty funny. BB tries to correct her, but TB says that if she's ever lost it's more important that she knows his first name. Oh, ever so practical TB.

Neighbors!

Since we have been married, we have lived in a residence hall (JJ was the only guy in a building with about 300 women), and in an apartment for about 2 1/2 months. From there we moved to JJ's hometown, where we lived in a triplex with -- one of the other apartments was occupied by two of JJ's brothers and the other had neighbors with yappy dogs. Next, we moved to the on campus apartment we live in now. We've always had people around us, but I have to say it is great to have wonderful neighbors. I mean, don't get me wrong, it was always interesting living among JJ's bros, but we just love living by the B's. They are fabulous. First of all, they have two of the cutest kids in the world. And it certainly doesn't hurt that they always seem to have the ingredients we need (just today we "borrowed" a whole small brick of cheese). We have a BBQ scheduled for Friday. Just neighbors being neighborly!