E.L. Fudge cookies, South Carolina State Fair, & "About"

You know, being the mother of a 4 year-old and 1 year-old I can honestly say that not much that they say or do surprises me anymore. I'm actually surprised if the day goes by and something strange hasn't happened. It's nothing for us to spend hours, days, or months discussing a topic. For instance, we had a sprinkler system installed last summer. Well, we did the "responsible" and legal thing of calling PUPS to come out and mark the utility lines before the guys started digging. Chloe was convinced that God had turned parts of the yard orange and yellow with special rain he sent down, and that He did this because He gets bored looking at the same color of grass all day up there in Heaven and he wanted to spice things up a bit. Maybe it was wrong of us but on day 15 of that conversation we decided to just agree with her and move on. Case closed--- or so we thought. A couple of weeks ago Chloe had a friend over for a play date and we (Chloe, friend, me & Emma in stroller) went for a walk through the neighborhood. Looks like someone else is getting a sprinkler system. Chloe saw the lines and in her exasperated tone that she can use said, "When is God gonna stop coloring the grass around here?!? I thought he had stopped but it looks like he's at it again. Can you believe that mom?" Knowing that if I didn't agree I would have to relive this story and my explanation for at least 2 weeks-- I did the weak thing and just shook my head and said, "Guess He wanted to have some fun again!"
Todays "reliving old moments with Chloe" story started with a trip to the grocery store. E.L. Fudge cookies were on sale, and pardon me but I can't pass up 2 buttery cookies with chocolate fudge between them for $2.19 a box! Who could?!? Well, Chloe asked for some pineapple and cookies for a snack. Simple enough-- or so I thought. She saw the cookie and explained (for about 20 minutes) how these cookies remind her how little she is. What?!? Exactly-- apparently they had these cookies for snack at school and "her Nina" could twist them apart "so gently" and lick the chocolate off before dunking the cookie in her pudding. Apparently Chloe wasn't so gentle in pulling hers apart and they kept breaking into pieces. She told me it was because she was so much "littler" than Nina. Well, I informed her that was silly and she just needed to pull them slowly and that she and Nina were about the same size. This started a retelling of our trip to the S.C. State Fair--in October. The height requirement for the slide ride was 42" tall. Nina walked up, measured, and was handed her burlap sack and sent on her way. Chloe however apparently measured in at 41 7/8" tall- so the dude made me go with her. I didn't mind, I grabbed the sack and rode down the slide with her-- I was actually glad he was doing his job, but really if I had teased her hair up 1/8 of an inch, the kid would've been fine-- and I wouldn't have to hear about this all the time and how that one moment from October means she is "small". So here's what she had to say regarding the cookie:

"Remember how I was smaller than Nina at the South Carolina State Fair when that guy measured me? So, I am smaller and I just haven't practiced enough with my cookies. And remember mom, about is not the same as same-- so I'm not the same size as Nina."

To which I responded, "Pardon me, but if you use that tone with me again you'll be ABOUT to get a spanking-- and that is the same as SAME dear!"

"Sorry mom." -- Kills me how cute she is even when she's being a little snot!... God help me when she's 13!!!!

Hitting the Bottle

We handed Emma a bottle the other day while she was sitting on the couch in the living room watching the Wiggles. Micky walked in a minute later and saw this...










And yes, her jeans are unbuttoned- we got nervous the button would pop off, fly across the room and hit Chloe in the head! She tends to fair better with elastic waistbands! This may sound crazy, but for some reason I couldn't help but think how cute she looks like this-- but how this same pose can look so gross on a grown-up with a beer gut! Told you, crazy. But you gotta love this pudding pop!!!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Shh... please don't tell Chloe that I posted this 2 days late :-(
Don't worry, I showed it to Micky on his birthday, but she specifically asked me to put it on my "computer page"-- and this is the first time I've been able to sit and do it :-)

Steroids--- not always bad....

Sorry I've been MIA for awhile. Emma has been sick for about a week. It started last Tuesday night when she woke up at 3am with 103 fever. I took her to the doctor Wednesday only to find out that yet again she had a viral infection. I soooo hate viruses-- there's nothing you can do but wait it out and buy stock in Children's Motrin! Turns out she had something her pediatrician termed "paraflu" basically a cousin to the real flu-- but a cousin that Tamaflu wouldn't help treat, so more Motrin!!! Well, the cousin lasted his 3 days as the Doc had predicted and yesterday morning she had a new visitor (I'm guessing the crazy uncle in this disease process!) a nice hacking cough but luckily with no fever accompanying it. The nurse I spoke with yesterday told me they were seeing this cough linger for about 5 days in kids who had gotten the "cousin". My first thought was, Great! Poor kid can't catch a break. My second thought was, how bad is this thing gonna get?!? At about 4am last night I found out. I awoke to what sounded like someone whistling through Emma's baby monitor. I rushed upstairs to discover that it was Emma wheezing while she slept. I camped out in the recliner in her room to keep a closer eye on her and she woke up about 15 minutes later and had apparently changed species. The poor baby was barking like a seal. For all you parents out there who have had a child with croup, I can now truly understand your misery at having to witness such a barking fit. I immediately scooped her up and took her downstairs and out the front door into the cool night air. It took a minute but it worked. However, I then got to see her gasping for breath. Something I hope to never witness again-- in my profession I've seen that type of stridor from people on their death beds and I'm not exaggerating when I say that's what it reminded me of. A truly horrific experience.
Well, I called the on-call doc and we were first in line at the office this morning. Dr. Bowtie (not his name, but dude was wearing a pretty slick bow tie-- which unfortunately I can never appreciate or buy for my husband because every time I see a bow tie the image of my eight grade English 1 teacher pops in my head, and that bald dude is not what I want to picture anytime that I look at my husband-- so no bow ties for Mick!) Sorry for the rant, but Dr. BT prescribed some oral steroid drops for Emma and hopefully all will be well in a few days. He did however warn me that it might get worse before it gets better... yeah!! Just what a mom who's pretty scared wants to hear-- but I appreciate his honesty-- sort of! So, hopefully the barking will not return and Emma will not be learning how to balance a beach ball on her nose anytime soon. Please keep Emma in your prayers tonight and hope this family of illnesses will leave her alone soon! She's entirely too cute to be sick like this, how unfair!
Hopefully the steroids won't beef her up too much :-)