His new spectacles

004, originally uploaded by megan bauer.

Owen got his classes today. The ride home he must have said, "WOW!" 20 times. He said the difference was absolutely amazing and he could even read the speed limit signs. He's super excited and now he's begging for sports glasses to use during soccer. I suppose that will be next. Owen had a good day. In addition to his glasses, he was chosen to have lunch w/ their special guest today at school, Tiny Glover, who is a performer/story teller. Each teacher chose one child from each class to eat lunch w/ him and Owen was it. He seems to get chosen for everything (lucky kid!) student council, special concerts, leading the class in activities, etc. It's been like that every school year for him. I hope life is always going to be that easy for him. I have a feeling it will be.

Basement soccer

This winter we picked up the basement (I suppose it's more accurate to say that we just pushed everything up against the sides). And, brought Owen's Bounce Back down there. It's been great, because Owen (and therefore, Henry and Emmett are spending LOTS of time down there). Owen is down there, literally, one to two hours every school day and many more on the weekends "practicing"...running plays through his head, etc. When Eddie's home he's down there playing, too. Usually they have soccer shoes and goalie gloves on. It's quite a sight! I now have holes in my ceiling and numerous dents in my walls that I'm trying (hard!) to ignore. He can't play outside in the winter here because of the mass quantity of snow, so this will have to do. BTW...I'm going to video Henry kicking the ball next. He's learning very, very early :)

Another one bites the dust.....

I took Owen back to the eye doctor today after failing yet ANOTHER eye exam at school. He's also been complaining about things being blurry. Plus, he got marked off on a paper at school because he wrote the date on the board as the 23rd and it was really the 25th. He said he couldn't see it right. It kills him to not get a perfect score especially on something so silly. But, I had him at the eye doctor in November and he was borderline at that point (20 X 50) and they don't usually correct for that. So, of course insurance won't pay for another eye exam since it's been less then one year. What's a mom to do??? I took him back and paid for it out of pocket. $280.00 later, Owen has glasses. His vision was 20 X 80 in one eye and 20 X 100 in the other. YIKES! We pick the glasses up tomorrow, stay tuned for photos!

15 month check up

001, originally uploaded by megan bauer.

weight - 22 pounds 8 ounces (30th %)
height - 32 inches (75th %)
head - 48 cm (75th5)

Henry's lost one pound in the last few weeks. And, he hasn't been eating ANYTHING! That was one of my questions to ask the pediatrician. For example, he ate 3 teeny tiny cheese stars for lunch. That's it. AND, he's not a huge snacker. He doesn't eat crackers, animal crackers, graham crackers. Never particularly liked them. He no longer will touch yogurt, avocado, bananas, apples, grapes, toast, grilled cheese, Cheerios. And, he doesn't like juice. I am COMPLETELY struggling w/ ideas. The pediatrician thinks that he didn't look well and still might be getting over his bronchiolitis from last week. She thought he looked pale. I'm supposed to bring him back if he doesn't start eating in a week or two.

Making my life easier....

001, originally uploaded by megan bauer.

Props to Henry and Emmett. For the past few weeks, I've been dragging Henry and Emmett to the gym in the AM and to the dreaded GYM DAYCARE! Emmett doesn't love it. He complains a bit and he is usually the oldest there. He spends most of the time chasing Henry around, protecting him from the dreaded 2 years who try to take toys from him and hit him (Mean! Mean! 2 year olds!) Henry never cries when I leave him. He smiles at the ladies and goes off to play. Isn't it weird that my 15 month old has never had any stranger anxiety? Especially considering that he is rarely left w/ anyone other then me and Eddie (and Sheila). I'm not sure the "care" is great. It's crowded. And, I'm not sure the kids are watched as closely as they should be. But, Henry and Emmett don't complain. And, so I can go work out and get my arse in shape. I think the ladies must love them, too, because they hugged both boys when they left today.

Henry

008, originally uploaded by megan bauer.

Banging on the piano...

009, originally uploaded by megan bauer.

"When do I get to start piano lessons, mom?"

Changing Emmett's sleep schedule

As you know....Emmett is my extreme early bird. To bed around 530 - 6 PM. Up around 5 AM. Eddie and I decided this week that this needs to change. It's not as if he bothers us when he gets up at 5. He goes downstairs quietly and gets himself breakfast and watches TV. BUT, we are trying to limit TV and by the time I make my way downstairs around 630-7, he has already watched 1.5 - 2 hours of TV. Too much. Plus, Eddie misses out on anytime w/ him in the evening. So, this week we have held him up to around 7-730 every evening hoping that his body will eventually adjust. It hasn't worked yet. He's been up around 5-530 every morning and he's SUPER tired. But, we're sticking w/ it. Hoping he will adjust. For his sake and ours :)

PS Why does it seem that I am CONSTANTLY blogging about my kids sleep patterns???

PPS I still don't have the results back from the sleep studies yet. It's been 2 weeks. I should have them any day now.

When they finally fall asleep...

011, originally uploaded by megan bauer.

they look like this.

And this.

014, originally uploaded by megan bauer.

Intertwined w/ one another. Brothers. Best buddies. Owen said he dreamt last night that he saved Emmett from a fire. He told him that he would always take care of him.

Surviving Winter Break

014, originally uploaded by megan bauer.

Last week was winter break for the kiddos. It is no wonder that our kids go to school until the end of June. They are out of school ALL THE TIME! Add snow days to the scheduled breaks and it seems as if they are home constantly. So, home all week last week for winter break. Remember that I packed the Wii up, banned the TV from regular use and was only allowing the kids to play on the computer for a half hour a day. It was going to be a LONG week. But, I'm pleased to report, that the kids actually PLAYED. And, we had a GREAT week. Owen went to soccer camp on Monday and Tuesday. When Emmett remembered that their was going to be no Wii, TV, or computer at our house, he joined Owen at soccer camp on Tuesday. Wednesday and Thursday, Owen had soccer tournaments. They were a great break to our day and it was a lot of fun. The kids played outside, did puzzles, LEGOS, and get this??? They used their imaginations once again. The only tough day was Friday. The weather was nasty. No soccer. The kids were antsy. Unfortunately, since Henry was sick all week, I couldn't take the kids to the gym. But, I made it 4 evenings. Yeah!

BTW...Owen's spending a lot of time in goal for his teams. He's pretty good at it. He's certainly not going to be a goalie as he gets older (he's a striker by skill, I'm told), but for now, it's fun for him. I'm a little frightened w/ him in goal. He plays against 10 and 11 years some of which are bigger then me. I'm afraid he's going to lose his head. But, doesn't he look like a goalie in this photo?

043, originally uploaded by megan bauer.

Just one of MANY trophies Owen has already collected.

022, originally uploaded by megan bauer.

Doing puzzles

002, originally uploaded by megan bauer.

Cutting coupons and box tops

Trying to hold Henry still

010, originally uploaded by megan bauer.

Photo by Emmett

017, originally uploaded by megan bauer.

We did Legos...

I am releasing control.......

Really. I am. At least I'm trying. Hard. Really, really hard. It's 930 pm and Owen is upstairs reading. I leave him in bed every night at 830 pm. I give him one hour of laying there and if he's still awake after that hour, he can read. It's about the only thing that works for us. And, he is almost always asleep before 930. But, about 2 times a week he gets up at 930. And, then he stays up. And up. And up some more. Last night he was up until after 11. Eddie and I turned off the lights for bed and he was still awake...saying, I think I'll try to sleep again now. (keep in mind, he's up around 630 AM every morning, irregardless of when he falls asleep). So, after school today he watched a program about tornadoes. I left him at 830 and 2 minutes later, he was up. And up. And up some more. Scared about tornadoes. In tears. Finally, I gave in. I'm all OWEN! I DON'T care what you do. Just stay in bed. Fine. Read. But stay in your room. It's my quiet time. Releasing control. Breathe in. Breathe out.

This week

058, originally uploaded by megan bauer.

This photo is of my boys unloading my groceries. They (seriously!) organize my groceries for me to put away. Very, very convenient...

My goals for the week: I'm cooking a handful of new recipes. I only work 8 hours in the next three weeks and so, I'm trying a handful of new recipes. I made Weight Watchers beef stew Friday and it was really, really good (8 points). Tonight is roast pork w/ sage and potatoes. Smells really good....I'll let you know how it turns out. I also have 3 bean chili (a Weight Watchers slow cooker recipe) and easy chicken dijon (WW again) on the schedule for the week.

I'd like to go to the gym 5-6 days this week. I made it 5 days last week. I was hoping to go this AM, but Henry loves his AM nap (doesn't take a PM nap) and slept from 915-1215. We didn't make it. The day care closes at 1 pm. Tomorrow I'll just have to wake him, because I meet w/ Ben, my personal trainer, at 11 AM. I've been going in the evening when Eddie gets home. Not my fave...but at least I'm there.

Henry's first sled ride..

Not sure exactly how safe this was, but Henry sure enjoyed sledding down the neighbor's driveway.

Henry wants to go outside!

023, originally uploaded by megan bauer.

Eddie went out to shovel the walkway today and Owen and Emmett went out to play. Henry decided that he wanted to go out and had me put a pair of gloves on him. That wasn't enough. He stood by the door. Begging. So, I decided to do it. We put his snowsuit on. Tried to put his boots on (they didn't fit) and headed out. We put him in a sled and the big boys pulled him in the snow for a long time. Not once did he ask to get out. He just hung out. Waiting to be pulled. Happy to be part of the gang.