Whaz Up?

You Tell Me

Monday, May 29, 2006

The whole gang on Sunday afternoon! Tammi, Brianna, Grandpa, Aunt Kay, Grandma, Aunt Carolyn, Uncle Don, & Uncle Jerry. Carolyn had her three grandkids stay with them this weekend & they loved the little Z's! Marissa enjoyed playing with Lexi too!

The kids cooling off on such a hot day! Here's Jordan & Nick. Brianna, Marissa, & Lexi.

Mmmmm freeze pops!! The sign of summer!

Phil, Tammi, Zander, & Mitch just kickin' back enjoying some cocktails & kiddie cocktails!

Just hanging out on the deck......

Here's one of Lexi reeling in the fish she caught on her own. Pretty hard to see the fish....it was so sunny out I had no idea what I was taking a picture of!! It was a keeper Sunny though! I think Phil ended up cleaning about 50 of them this weekend! We are starting to stock the freezer!!

Zachary was so content getting pushed around in his stroller. He loved chewing on the strap too!

View from the top of the steps. Lexi enjoyed fishing this weekend too. She caught a few fish on her own!

Nick had a good time this weekend. He was always the first one up in the morning ready to go! He enjoyed meeting some new kids too & played ball with them.

Zander tried fishing for the first time this weekend. Most of the time we didn't have anything on his pole, just a bobber & we'd cast it out & he'd leave it out there & then slowly reel it & laugh & giggle. There were a couple of times when he used a different pole that had bait on it. Phil casted it out & then was helping someone else & all of a sudden Zander was reeling in a sunnie!! No idea how he hooked it because I sure had trouble hooking them!! It wasn't a keeper but it sure was neat to see him actually reel one in by himself!!

Thursday, May 25, 2006

Law Breaker.........

Monday, Phil went over to the cabin to try to fix the water heater. An element went out so he got a replacment & thought that would do it. Well, when he was doing that, something happened with the circuit breaker & he lost power to half the place. So he came back home & called an electrician. They finally made it out there today & got the problem fixed. It was just a fuse outside that blew he said. The plumber thought the electrician could fix the water heater problem (and said we'd save a $65 service call too). Well, after the electrician was done, he called me and said the power was working in the whole place & he thought the water heater was working. There was power to it he said. Since he wasn't going to stick around to check it out (and he had honestly said that he had no clue w/ the water heater and didn't deal with them), I thought I better head over there today to see if we had hot water. If not, then we'd have to call the plumber in the morning to get home over there. So the kids & I headed over after Nick got home from school.

As luck would have it, no hot water. So now we have to call the plumber in the morning & hope his schedule is open that he can get out there to fix it! It won't be the end of the world if we don't get it fixed this weekend, but it sure would be nice!! Boiling water to do the dishes was kind of a pain. And it's a longer weekend and not being able to shower....yuck. I like to shower everyday!

So of course Nick did some fishing while we were there. They were biting pretty good. He caught a bass & some sunnies. Here's the picture of the bass & one of the sunnies. (To show daddy what size Bass he caught). Well, we couldn't find the basket to keep the fish in overnight (so Phil can clean them on Friday), so Nick thought it would be ok to just keep them in the 5 gallon bucket until we got back there tomorrow. Hell if I know if that is alright or not, so I said sure. So he left it sitting on the dock. I didn't think it was a good idea but figured whatever.

Well Phil just called from work & said that wasn't a smart thing to do. First off, you can't keep Bass yet....the opener for them is Saturday. OOOPS. And second, the fish will be dead by the time we get there. I said, so you can still clean them, can't you. He said no way, with flies eating on them and stuff. Ok, so I learn something new about fishing all the time!

Nick has show & tell tomorrow & tonight as I was tucking him in he said "I know what I would bring tomorrow if I could" I said "the Bass?" Yep he said. I said, how about if I print out the picture I took of it & then you can tell your class about it & show them the picture. I told him that he could tell his friends that he did everything by himself.....baited the hook, caught it & took it off the hook too. I was too late with getting a picture of him holding it. I was at the cabin when he caught it & Lexi came running up & said "Nick caught a Bass" So I grabbed the camera & he already had it in the bucket. He said he's not very good at picking them up once they are in the bucket like that, so this picture will have to do! It was the length of a 5 gallon bucket about what? 10 inches? I don't know, he was pretty proud of it though!!

Tuesday, May 23, 2006

Crazy Kids!

Sure it got pretty hot today....but hot enough for this!??! For them it was! (I think they liked your new sprinkler Phil!)








He didn't know what to think!

Monday, May 22, 2006

Preschool Graduation!

Lexi had her last day of preschool this morning! She is now a KINDERGARTNER!!!

Here she is showing Grandma her new book she got from her teacher.



Here she is getting her diploma from her teacher.



Here's part of the class singing "YOU ARE MY SUNSHINE"



Lexi & Mrs. Weiderhoft

Sunday, May 21, 2006

We headed to the lake after school on Friday. We got settled, had supper, & then took the paddle boat out. Saw a couple of ducks & their ducklings.

Zachary on his first paddle boat ride!! Zachary slept great Friday night. He slept from 7:30 -5:30 & then woke up to eat a little & back to sleep until about 8. I went & played dice with some neighbors until about midnight. I won a few quarters ;-)

Look at all the weeds in the lake!! YUCK!!! Grandpa, Mitch, & Eric came over with the boat. They ALMOST made it to our dock but the boat died. So dad ended up taking it back home & today he said it's fixed now & so we'll try again next weekend.

Zachary didn't sleep well Saturday night. He was up at midnight, then two or three & then not very well after that.

Saturday I caught my first fish of the season! Lots of sunnies by the dock. Also a big bass is swimming around but he will NOT take the bait!! Everyone was trying to catch him. No luck.

Nick went with the neighbors on their pontoon fishing for most of Saturday afternoon. Can you see Nick? He's got the blue life jacket on. We were going to go out for a boat ride with them but it didn't work out. Our water heater went out so we were trying to fix that. Not sure what we have to do but hope we can get it fixed by this weekend!!


Zachary & his best friend.......

Baseball!


Nick had his first baseball game tonight! It was cold & raining a little bit. Not very fun for the spectators!! I sat in the van the last inning so not sure what the final score was, but Nick said they lost ;-(

Thursday, May 18, 2006

Food

Lexi stayed over at Grandma's last night. We picked her up tonight on our way to Nick's spring show at school. After the show as we were driving home, Nick asked what we had for supper. We told him chicken....don't you remember. Oh yeah he said.

Then Lexi said that Grandma made chicken, corn, potatoes, and butter bread. I said, mmmm that sounds good Lexi, what did you have?

Popsicles and ice cream

And I don't doubt that at all!!!

And on another note, so much for trying to grow Lexi's bangs out. She CUT her bangs again. I asked her if she did it or Grandma & she said that she did it. I said how come Grandma gave you a scissor. She said to cut paper. Ok then, your HAIR is NOT paper. Ugh. So now I guess we'll take her to the beauty shop to get the rest of the bangs cut & straightened out.

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

Rough Night

And no it wasn't Zachary!! Well, both him & Zander woke up Saturday morning with runny noses/colds so Zach has had a couple of bad nights. But last night was his sister's turn.

12:45....she comes into my room (and Phil is on midnights this week which figures, right?!) "MOMMY....I just puked in my bed...A LOT"

Did you get that last word? A LOT...she wasn't kidding! So I strip her bed & start a load of laundry.

She comes in bed with me for awhile, then she went on the couch in the basement. Then I heard her head upstairs & ask her where she was going. She said the couch upstairs. So she took her bowl with & I head up there & she's puking some more. I didn't think she could have had anything left in her stomach! Poor thing.

So we both camp out on the upstairs couch. Zachary woke up about 5 & I got him & took him back to my bed for a couple of hours. Lexi came down & woke me up just before 7.

So far today she's been fine. Some short stomach bug. Nothing like getting 4 loads of laundry done before 8 am!!

Sunday, May 14, 2006

Twins Win!

The first few innings didn't look too good for the Twins last night, but they made a come back after being down 3-0 & won the game 8-4 (I think it was). This was Lexi's first time riding a big Coach bus & her first MN Twins game! I asked her today what she liked & she said the COTTON CANDY & the POPCORN!!

Phil's co-worker had a hard time with my camera....or else it was all the beer he had! Pretty blurry shot, but here we are! (this was his THIRD attempt)



Nick REALLY enjoyed his Root Beer Float!



We had awesome seats along the First Base Line ($26 tickets!). No need for binocluars here!



Lexi enjoying her Cotton Candy!



And on the way out (we left our seats an inning early so we didn't have to fight the crowd with the kids) we lucked out & saw the Twins Mascot TC the Bear in the hallway!

Friday, May 12, 2006

Rain Cold Rain Cold

Since it's suppose to be a rainy/cold weekend we won't be going to the lake for Fishing Opener. It's just too darn cold & icky out. Tomorrow we are going to the Twins Game. Phil was able to get a couple of extra tickets and so Nick & Lexi will be going with us. We are taking a bus that Kraft is providing. We did this last year & had a fun time. This will be Lexi's first game! After I told her that she gets to go with, her first question was "is there food there?" We'll see how much of the game she watches!! Grandma is coming over to watch the Z boys. I'm sure she'll have a good time!!! Zach napped for a total of about an hour today. If he does that tomorrow, she will be in for a really LONG day!!! Not sure if he's still feeling the side effects of the shots or what but he wasn't a happy camper today.

Speech

Zander had his first day of speech this morning. All went well. He was with his speech therapist for about 30 minutes. Zach & I waited for him in the school library. I wasn't sure how he would do when I left the room, but she said he was fine. Took a couple of minutes for him to warm up to her but then was alright. We will do it two more Friday mornings & then twice/month over the summer.

Ha Ha

On May 1st, as a result of the Mexican boycott,
national retailers reported 4.2% lower sales for the
day, with a 67.8% reduction in shoplifting.

**Credit goes to Troy for this one.

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

Happy 6 Months Zachary David!!

The boy is 6 mos old today! Doctor appointment with 3 shots. He was not a happy camper. He was 19 pounds 14 ounces and 28 inches long. 90% percentile for both height & weight. He's growing great!

On the sleeping side, he did great last night....8:45 - 6:00 w/ NO CRYING during the night!! yeah!

Conversation....

Conversation between Nick & Lexi tonight.

It had just stopped raining outside & I said to Nick "shouldn't you be out looking for worms or something" TV went off immediately.

L: Nick, you said Scooby Doo was on (in a whining voice)
N: I was lying to you Lexi, don't you know that, why do you listen to me?

M O N O P O L Y

When Phil was cleaning out the garage the other day he was in a garbage tossing mode. I had this game sitting out on the shelf for the last year or two. I had it on a garage sale for $1.00 but no one wanted it ;-( So he was gonna toss it & I said, let me try it on Ebay. It sold today. Nice little surprise.

Story behind it. I got it at a company event when at worked at MTS. Future Electronics was a vendor of ours. I won it & was like, oh yeah. Put it on the game shelf for a couple of years, then the garage sale, then sat on the garage shelf. Now it's finally out of here!!

Tuesday, May 09, 2006

The Z Brothers having some fun together tonight!

He loves his brother!!

Monday, May 08, 2006

CIO...no more?

I'm hoping this is it! Night 4 I didn't post about but he did wake up & I ended up bringing him from his room to ours & he cried for about 13 minutes. I was just about ready to go sleep elsewhere & he finally gave up.

Last night.....drum roll....he slept all night without waking or crying!!! YEAH!! I even put him down what seemed early. He slept from 7:45 to 7:00 am!!!

Now to get Zander to go to bed nice...he's been a pill lately & crying before bed. Not sure what his problem has been lately!! If it's not one, it's the other!!

Saturday, May 06, 2006

Growing like a weed!

Zachary is really sitting up good these days. And he's getting so big. I'm anxious to see what he weighs at his 6 mo appointment next week. I have to pull out Zander & Nick's charts to see what they were. Zachary seems heavier!




I won't be posting a picture of my thighs, but check out his!! And that belly!! The kid is SOLID!

1st Day at the Lake!

We went to the lake today to do clean up. We really didn't have a whole lot to do. We moved some furniture around & tried to figure out what the sleeping arrangements will be this year.

We wanted to take the paddle boat out but it was a little too windy on the lake for that. Instead we drank beer & visited with my Aunt & Uncle!!

Nick's pole hit the water today but nothing was caught!!




We took a walk around the resort this afternoon. It ended up being a really nice sunny day!

Night 3 of CIO...

He cried :-( It was about 4:45 am. After 13 mins I went & slept in Nick's room. For some reason Nick was sleeping on his floor so I got his bed. Oh yeah, this morning he said he was too tired to go to his bed. Huh? Whatever kid.

No idea how long he cried. He woke up at 8 this morning smiling again so he wasn't scarred from it!

We'll see how night 4 goes!

Friday, May 05, 2006

CIO Night 2

Last night was uneventful...which is how it should be, right?! Zachary went down at 8:15 & was up at 6:45 this morning. No crying during that night at all. I got up to get Nick some breakfast & heard a noise in the bedroom & checked on him & he was just looking around, smiling.

Praying this will continue..........a night of sleep makes ALL the difference in the world. That and a good morning of garage sales!!! I think I spent over $200 today! Ouch!! Now to go through and sort it all out. Unfortunately I think most of it will be in the keep pile!

Thursday, May 04, 2006

Nick Funny.....

Nick had baseball practice last night. He was telling me about it after I picked him up. The coach had asked all the kids a couple of questions.

1. What is your favorite Baseball Team?

ALL the kids answered the MN TWINS. Nick's answer "Yankees" (We have NO idea why he likes the Yankees so much).

2. Who is your favorite baseball player?

Nick said some of the kids said Torri Hunter, Santana, Joe Maurer & they ALL said a MN Twin. Nick's answer "A-Rod" I was telling this to Phil today & he wonders if Nick even knows A Rod's real name! LOL

Night 1 of CIO......

Ok, so here is how things went last night...he had to cry himself to sleep which lasted about 20 minutes. I survived that. And so did he! So he was pretty much asleep by 9:30. I decided to sleep in Lexi's room since she was at Grandma's. I went to bed about 10:30...heard Phil come home from work just after 11 pm. It was 2:00 that I first heard Zach cry....dang I could hear him from her room!! I let him go for 20 mins...and then went into my room...laid by Phil for a bit while he held me down so I wouldn't go & get Zachary. I had brought a bottle of water with me to try giving him that instead of nursing him. SO after a few more minutes I went in & gave him the bottle....he started crying harder. OK, so now don't laugh!

I didn't have the bottle cover screwed on right (did it w/ my eyes shut I guess LOL) & the water was spilling all over him. Poor kid....nothing like getting cold water on ya to REALLY wake you up, right? Could it get any worse??

So I got him out of the room & took him upstairs to change him & get a different bottle. Course now his eyes are open....gave him the water. After a while he figured out what it was & didn't want it & just started to play w/ the nipple. So I stopped & walked around with him for a little bit & then back into the pack n play he went & I rubbed his back a bit...and then I went back to my bed. It was probably 2:45 or so by this point I think. I can't remember. 4:00 he woke again crying. I left right away & went to the couch upstairs where I could NOT hear him. Then I must have dozed off & woke at 4:41 to his crying & I also was having a really bad thrift store dream. So I went downstairs & it was quiet. It wasn't him I was hearing, it was just the sounds in my head I guess. So I went back to my bed & he woke at 8:00 this morning. Not crying, but smiling at me. So we both made it...we are both alive today! LOL

I was in a lot of pain (nursing & it was what 12 hours? boobs hurt soooo bad!) so I thought he would eat like you wouldn't believe this morning...but you know what, he didn't. He only nursed on the one side & was satisfied. So he obviously is NOT hungry during the night...he just has me trained to feed him.

Phil was in the bedroom sleeping all night. He said he never heard him at 4:00. How he could not hear him is beyond me. He said he was tired. Oh, I guess I'm not???? I know I'm not a light sleeper but a crying kid in the next room & you are able to sleep through it? I wish I could!!

Zachary cried for his morning nap..I put him down 2 hrs after being awake. Not sure how long he cried cause I went in the shower so I didn't have to hear him! He napped a good 2 hours. Then he was up & yawning after an hour of being awake! I put him down not quite 2 hours after being up & he went down without incident.

We will see how night 2 goes! Dreading it already but have plans to sleep on the couch for sure! I'm predicting at least 3 nights of crying before he is sleep trained. As long as I don't cave in!!! This is NOT easy that's for sure. I'll take potty training over this any day!!

Wednesday, May 03, 2006

Grandma DO NOT READ!!!!!

STOP reading Grandma........you aren't gonna like this post!

I've decided to let Zachary CIO (cry it out). He is almost 6 months old & his sleep habits are those of a NEWBORN!! Yes, he is still waking every 3-4 hours.

Tonight is night 1 of sleep training. And since you are still reading Grandma, I'll post a few items I have read about it. I know how you can't stand to hear a baby cry....but he will survive!! I just may not if I keep going like this. Be glad this wasn't your first grandchild from us...he would have been your last if he was!!!

Anyhow, today Zach slept for a total of TWO hours today. ALL day. He should be sleeping SIX hours during the day. Heck, FOUR hours would be nice. So he should have been dead tired & ready for bed at 9 (up since 2:30 w/ a 1/2 hour catnap in the van) right? Wrong. He cried...and cried....and then cried some more. He kept it up for 20 minutes. Usually he goes to bed w/o crying, it's the waking up during the night that kills me. I've never let him cry that long, but he would slow down after 5 mins..then start again & then after 10 mins it was quiet for a bit...then started again up until the 20 minute mark. It was NOT an easy thing to do but he did finally go to sleep.

So I'm planning on sleeping in Lexi's bed tonight (she's at Grandma's) and letting Zach cry when he cries during the night. I'm hoping I won't hear it in her room. He's in my bedroom closet cause he has been waking Zander up at night with his crying & having them BOTH awake during the night is not good. Here is one article I found on sleep training. Not sure how much of it I will try. We'll see how tonight goes I guess.

Controlled crying

If all other methods have failed, controlled crying is the most effective way to sleep-train babies over 6 months.

It is an intense technique and takes a lot of commitment and perseverance but can be very successful in getting your baby to sleep through. If your baby is still feeding in the night, however, it's a good idea to try the core night method to ensure he isn't crying from genuine hunger.

Start controlled crying in the evening on the first day. The same procedure should be carried out no matter how many times your baby or toddler wakes up in the night.

Day 1
Step 1 Decide on a regular time to start the bedtime routine and stick to it. Allow at least one hour for the bath, milk feed and settling.
Step2 Settle your child in his bed before he gets too sleepy. Kiss him goodnight and leave the room.
Step 3 Allow a minimum of five to 10 minutes of crying before returning to reassure him. Reassurance should be kept to the minimum. You can stroke him or say 'ssh-ssh' softly, but resist the urge to pick him up. Leave the room after two minutes even if he continues to cry.
Step 4 After the first half hour of crying, the times between visits should be increased by five to 10 minutes each time, to 15-20 minutes between visits.
Step 5 Continue with the checking plan every 15-20 mins until your baby or toddler falls asleep. Reassurance should still be kept to a minimum of no more than two minutes and he shouldn't be lifted out of the cot.
Step 6 If your baby wakes in the night, continue to follow the same plan for the evening, gradually increasing the time between visits, until you are going in every 15-20 minutes.
Day 2

For daytime naps, it is important you start where you left off in the night.
Step 1 Wait at least 20 minutes before checking your baby and continue to keep visits to him to a maximum of two minutes, with the minimum of reassurance.
Step 2 If your baby or toddler falls asleep closer to the time he's meant to be getting up, allow 15 minutes in the morning nap and 45 minutes at the lunchtime nap so he won't end up sleeping after 3pm in the afternoon. If your baby's very tired he may need a short nap of 15-20 minutes late afternoon, so he doesn't become over-tired.
Step 3 Follow the same settling procedure as the first night in the evening, this time waiting 20-25 minutes before returning. During visits on the second night, reassure your baby by saying "ssh-ssh", but don't stroke or touch him.
Step 4 If your baby is still crying after the first hour, the time between visits should be increased to 35-40 minutes.
Step 5 If he wakes in the night, you should wait 45 minutes before checking him, and you shouldn't speak to him or stroke him. Reduce visits to one minute.

Day 3

By the third day, the majority of babies and toddlers will be settling themselves at all sleep-times within 20 minutes and there's no need to check on them.
Step 1 If your baby backtracks at one of the steep-times and you have to go back to checking him, start off with looking in on him every 15-20 minutes and increase the interval until you are back to 4-5-50 minutes.
Step 2 Once your child has done a few days of settling within 20 minutes, you should be able to use the crying-down method for getting him off to sleep. Within a couple of weeks, the majority of babies and toddlers will be going to sleep without any fuss at all.



And for those of you that don't read Dooce's blog....here's her post on the sleep training they did with Leta (who happens to be Zander's age!). The link is HERE.


Here's hoping I get more than 3 hours of sleep tonight!