Wrestling Part 1

Wrestling Part 2

Is it Spring yet!?

I can’t not believe Baby #3 will be here in a few shorts weeks! Apparently this kid is on track to be significantly larger than the previous two, so the doctor has encouraged me to induce a week early if I have not gone into labor yet. Due to this, we have nicknamed little brother as ‘big baby bruiser’.

In Brett’s school they were reading a book about polar bears. Mrs. Bolger commented that polar bears can grow to 7 feet tall. Brett told me this during lunch and then said ‘that’s almost as big as your dad!’

After a hectic start to the day, Brett tells me ‘Mom it looks like there’s yogurt in your hair.’ I figured the light from the window was reflecting funny…until I reached up. ‘Oh, that’s because there’s yogurt in my hair’.

Bailey - ‘Hide, my daddy’s going to come and say boo! Hes a french model.’

We were at Bailey’s dance class and there is a fish tank by the lobby. Brett says ‘I wanna get the fish out.’ I explained, ‘We can’t. Fish need to be in the water. If they are out, they will die.’ He said, ‘No, I want to take it out and eat it.’

I was driving downtown with the kids in February. They saw some Valentine’s Day decorations and asked what it was. I said ‘that’s called a cupid, it’s like a baby with a bow and arrow and it’s pretending to shoot you with love or nice, warm feelings for someone’. Brett says, ‘I have that.’ I asked, ‘What do you have?’ He said, ‘I have what you were talking about, for you…and Bailey’.

Bailey saw me packing their lunch; we were going to the museum for the day. She yells, ‘BRETT, we have humus!!’ He responds, ‘YES, I love it!’

All the kids have been interested in letters and the sounds of letters. At breakfast I asked them if they could figure out what was cool about the word ‘Blueberries, buh-buh blue buh-buh berries, it has 2 b’s.’ Brett’s reaction – ‘just like Justin Bie-ber!’ Bailey says ‘I’m going to be your girlfriend!’ and shoots her fist in the air. Letter lesson fail?

They also have been very big into rhyming words. This has gotten us into trouble when we explore word families such as truck, kitchen, and lick...Next topic: words we can not say.

Kids were asking what ‘exaggerate’ means. Rob said ‘like if I said my muscles were as big as a house, that would be an exaggeration’. Without missing a beat, Brett says ‘Dad, your muscles are a small as a mouse!’ This has been repeated often. Kids think it’s hilarious.

Bailey was sitting by me and saw a video for a ‘flying squirrel’ wrestling move. She asked to see it. And then asked to see it 4 more times. She said ‘that is soooo tough and awesome.’ Daddy was proud to hear that one.

Someone during lunch said that wrestling was fun. In complete seriousness, Brett said, ‘No wrestling is not fun; it’s tough and hard work. You have to practice a lot.’

Brett and Bailey being sweet one morning
Brett – ‘Bailey where did you get that dress? It’s beautiful!’
Bailey – ‘Oh THANK YOU!’
Brett – ‘Bailey, I don’t have to go to school today!’
Bailey – ‘Oh yay! I love today!’

We took an unexpected trip to Ohio to check on Grandma (from Ohio) after some surgery complications. I was trying to pack quickly so I could drive with the kids the next morning. Brett saw the pile of his clothes, ran to his drawer and pulled out 2 pairs of dress socks and threw them in the pile. ‘I’m going to bring these incase there’s any parties going on!’

When we were dressing the next morning, Bailey said she was going to wear her ‘I Love Papa’ shirt, because she thought grandpa needed some extra snuggles.

On the way to Ohio, I may or may not have gotten pulled over by the highway patrol for slightly going over the speeding limit. As we are waiting for the officer to come up to the window, Brett is shaking his head in disbelief…’this isn’t happening…this has NEVER happened before’. The officer assures me if my information checks out, he will just give me a warning. While we are waiting, Bailey asks why we were pulled over. I said ‘Mommy was going a little too fast…not SUPER fast…but faster than they want me to go’. Bailey says ‘OK drive slower. Mom, ok? You promise? Drive slower.’

Uncle Phil was talking with the kids about what we were going to name the new baby. They decided ‘Bear Urlacher Harman’. That was before Brett’s favorite player left the team When I told him the news, he actually started crying.

Bailey named our car Angus (after the horse in the Brave movie). We were going over a bridge and she yells ‘Gallop Angus! You’re galloping!’

Bailey was running around and I literally just said Bailey be careful. She falls right on her face. I paused and waited for the crying/screaming to ensue. Then she yells ‘DOWN goes BAILEY!’ and jumps up. Well done little lady.

Bailey ‘Brett, don’t give me a frown…’

At lunch Bailey says ‘I suddenly don’t like lettuce’.

We were eating at a Red Lobster. Bailey asked for the ‘Crabsters’ and Brett said ‘I don’t want shrimp, I want the fish like out of the water!’

I put Bailey’s hair into pigtails. Brett says ‘Oh you don’t look like Bailey; you look like the new girl in town!’

Brett asked to have dinosaur chicken for his snack after nap because it would be a healthy choice.

Brett knocked over Rob’s glass of water on the floor, so he grabbed some towels to clean up. He then looked with complete excitement and said 'Mom you are going to be so happy to see this, it’s going to look all nice and shiny!' And with delight, he scrubbed the floor. That excitement for cleaning can only be attributed to Grandpa from Ohio.

Brett farted, gestured for me to light a candle and said 'the boys are stinky, the girls are not'

Bailey was sleeping in Brett’s room and was being quite difficult and dramatic about getting up…Bailey says ‘I’m not ready to get up, I'm going to lay down some more.’
I said, ‘Bailey grandma’s coming, we need to get dressed and have breakfast.’
‘I'll come down when my plate is on the table! And on my plate will be a pancake, banana and strawberries!’
Humored I said, ‘I don't think we'll have pancakes, what if its cereal?’
She says ‘Then I will have lucky charms!’ Throwing herself back on the pillow.
I guess I appreciate that she knows what she wants…

Focusing on eating has become a chore and I find myself giving multiple prompts to eat. Frustrated one evening when they were talking and playing, I said, ‘Come on guys, I’m tired of waiting for you to finish eating’. Bailey says, ‘Well then you can just go in there and relax’

Bailey comes down wearing her Buckeye’s cheerleading outfit laughing ‘Grandma Nancy’s going to be FURIOUS!’

We were relaxing one evening watching the Voice. Brett says ‘I don’t want you to go on that and no one turn around!’ Apparently Brett agrees with his father about my singing ability!

Both Brett and Bailey have new rooms preparing for the new arrival. As I was working on switching the closets, Brett is running back and forth. He moved 6 or so Ohio State wall stickers to the front of his new door stating he wanted everyone to know before coming into his room that he likes OSU!

One Saturday am, we were watching Kung Fu Panda. Rob asks if he looks like the panda with ‘no hair’. Brett says, ‘No I think mommy looks more like him with her big belly’. You can always count on the honesty of a child!

Brett - ‘It’s not about muscles, it’s about believing in yourself’

Bailey’s traumatic naptime –
It was naptime for the 5 kids…I was putting the boys in Brett’s room. I hear a huge crash and Bailey screaming. I run in her room to find she just jumped off her bed and knocked stuff off her desk but it scared her. I finally get her to calm down and I walk out of the room. I get 2 feet out, ‘MOMMY MOMMY MOMMY, there’s a spider on me!!!’ I go in expecting to tell her it’s nothing and sure enough there was a HUGE centipede crawling on her blanket. I flip it back trying to knock him on the floor and off of her. The sucker was quick and went back behind her bed. We looked and looked and couldn’t find it. So I tried to calm her down again and said he probably crawled back into the wall and was scared of her yelling. She seemed fine and I walk to the bathroom. It’s not even 30 sec ‘MOMMY MOMMY MOMMY it’s BACK!’. I run back in, the creepy hairy looking thing was on her pillow right by her head and she was paralyzed screaming. I throw the pillow off, getting him to the floor and stepped on him FINALLY. She is still screaming and tells me to make sure I flush him down the toilet. I have her come with me and we do it together. Bailey is terrified of her new room at this point and refused to sleep in her room by herself. I frankly didn’t blame her, I hate those crawly things. So she settled taking a nap in our room but requested me 4x to ‘shut the door so the buggies couldn’t come in’. I didn’t think I should tell her that they could crawl right under it…

Bailey was ‘writing on her paper’ I asked her what she was writing. She told me it said ‘you complicate my heart…’ Her poor first boyfriend, I can’t imagine what she’s going to put on her love notes if this is what she says at 3 years old!

From Rob: Last night I was watching a few minutes of the Illinois/Iowa dual from a few weeks ago and paused it as we were going out and shovel. Brett said something to the effect of “no score.”
I said, “no Brett, it’s 2 to 2, see here” and pointed to the score at the top corner of the tv.
He responded, “no dad, they are ear to ear so no one is going to score.” Dallago & Lofthouse were paused on tv tied up ear to ear.
A few tears slipped out.

Bailey told me she wanted a Lion King book. I told her she has one. She said ‘No, I want one with the CD to listen to’. I said, ‘Maybe we’ll have to look for that’. She says ‘you Better!’ I looked at her and said ‘what?’ She apparently assumed I just couldn’t hear and repeated, ‘you Better!’. I said, ‘Try again’. Almost getting it, she says ‘May you please Better?!’

Getting ready for Spring

What do you think? Blue or Pink?

Winter 2013

We’ve had a busy winter! We drove to Ohio for Christmas and stayed with Grandma and Grandpa for a couple days. We came back and celebrated Bailey’s 3rd birthday! Have had a number of illnesses; colds, stomach flu, ear infections – all fun things to have. Rob and Brett still do wrestling a night a week and Bailey is continuing her dance class. The kids are constantly challenging us and entertaining us with the funny things they say. Brett and Bailey really love each other and are creating games to play all the time. They currently are into either Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or Power Rangers. Mommy and daddy are typically the teacher/sansei or the bad, evil guy. I’m guessing depending on how they are feeling about us at the time.

Funny things kids say

‘Daddy your muscles are getting bigger, it looks like they are going to break your shirt.’ (This was actually said right after the last blog entry; Rob lobbied for me to add to blog and resend to everyone, but I thought it could wait)

We were eating somewhere and Brett asked to have some calamari. He’s had it before but this time he said, ‘Oh it tastes like fish AND chicken’. I thought that was a perfect description.

One Saturday Bailey suggested we should go to Dunkin Doughnuts (one of her favorites). Brett said, ‘We just went, we can’t go all the time because it’s not good for us!’ Brett has become our voice of reason.

Bailey was playing legos with Brett and she dropped a little piece down her onesie pajamas. She looked upset and said ‘Oh no, there’s a Lego IN me!’

‘I’m done eating; I just want to show off my moves’

We finally got some snow in Chicago! Brett and Bailey were SO excited to put on their snow pants and gloves and go outside. They did snow angels and shoveled, tried to make snow balls. Bailey was making snow angel, Brett walked over to her with a shovel in his hand.
Bailey said in all seriousness, ‘Are you coming over to hit me?’. I could not stop laughing. Who are we? The Sopranos?

Brett had some fish crackers left from his post wrestling snack. He asked if he could have them but in a very whiney voice. I said simply, ‘Not the way that you are asking, you are whining’. He went to the bathroom like I asked him to and I overheard him rehearsing in the mirror how he was going to apologize for whining and if he could PLEASE have his crackers. He came out from the bathroom and repeated almost verbatim how he practiced. I smiled and said, yes thank you for asking nicely. I feel he will do well when he has to practice public speaking for school.

The kids say prayers together before going to bed. Almost every night, Brett asked God to be with Uncle Brett so he’s not lonely.

Brett was running late for school, I gave him a list of things to do before he had to leave. He jumped up from the table, saluted me and ran off. Not sure if that’s a good thing or bad thing?

I saw a great deal online for girls’ dresses (Rob you may stop reading and skip to next story). I let Bailey tell me which ones she liked, I put them in the cart so we could decide. We were comparing the few that she liked and literally as I say ‘Ok Bailey which ONE do you like best?’ She hit something and the page changed. I asked Bailey what she touched…and then I saw ‘Do your happy dance your order is on the way!’ She hit submit and ordered all of them! Thankfully I was able to contact the company and they could cancel the order. My darling 3 year old has already learned the ease and danger of online shopping!

Brett is obsessed with numbers these days. He is frequently telling us what numbers are on the clock. I can’t remember if I shared, one evening going to wrestling practice Brett read the clock to Rob every minute it changed. ‘Dad! It’s 1 minute after 6!’….’Dad! It’s 2 minutes after 6!’ All the way to Maine South. Now he is constantly asking addition questions. ‘Mom what’s 4 and 4? What’s 5 and 5? What’s 15 and 20?’ I found Rob’s old flash cards from teaching and gave them to Brett. He calls them his numbers game and literally reads each one, guessing the answer and goes through the entire box. This is not a trait from me. I remember flash cards, and I disliked them.

We took Bailey to American Girl for her birthday. She picked out a doll and named her Bella (it HAD to be a B name). She takes her upstairs every night and tucks her in the doll bed in her room. Bella has really helped with the whole little brother disappointment.

Bailey is our little comedian. Rob and I are nightly laughing at her antics. She is doing a great job finally with potty training and is thrilled to be wearing her Merida and Princess underwear. If she goes #2, she asks for privacy, a lesson learned from her brother I’m sure. Then instead of saying that she’s done, she’ll ask me to come in because she has a surprise! Every time she says, ‘I have a surprise...wait for it, wait for it…LOOK! Are you SO surprised?!’

After accidentally coming home with twice the candy we meant to from a candy store, Brett told me during breakfast ‘Mom, you shouldn’t go to a candy store when you’re pregnant!’ Apparently he was talking to his father about my inability to estimate weight of said candy. I said ‘Maybe the baby wanted candy?’
Brett was not humored. ‘Maybe he didn’t.’ Touché.

Brett wanted to play tic tac toe when I was trying to get dinner ready. I told him to practice and play himself. He continued to play then yelled, ‘MOM, I won!’. What a great self-esteem builder

Kids ask to do a ‘sleepover’ every weekend. They break out their sleeping bags for nap and bedtime and get to stay together on the floor. This typically leads to late talking and laughing but it’s so worth it.

Uncle Brett’s birthday would have been last week. I told the kids we were going to meet Daddy for dinner and asked where they thought Daddy would have gone with Uncle Brett for his birthday. Brett said immediately ‘The Owl Restaurant, that’s where he goes with his friends’. Bailey adds, ‘Let’s go and if we see a guy with no hair, than that’s daddy!’.

Winter 2013