swimming!

This past week was horrible at school. I don't even want to discuss it. I can sum it up like this. We have "Teacher Quality Day" on Thursday but we truly need an "Administrator Quality Day". Enough said about that. I was so upset I wanted to resign. Gerhardt was supposed to be gone for the weekend installing computers and stuff in a new branch in Des Moines. Since I don't work on Friday and they put him up in the Marriott he asked if I would like to get away and go with him. He may have regretted asking that because I know he planned on leaving yet Thursday afternoon but I had to pack and packing for myself and the 2 children on short notice took awhile. Not to mention Anne had an allergic reaction to something before we left and we almost took her to the hospital. Luckily the Benadryll took care of it. It was late Thursday night when we arrived at the Marriott. We had a King size bed. It was big enough for Gerhardt and I and Anneliese. Sleeping in the same bed as Anne is very dangerous but the bed was big enough I didn't get kicked at all. It was very comfy. Gerhardt went to work on Friday and Anne and I hit the pool. Baby Kiefer sat in the stroller and fell asleep. Anne had a blast. We had to get out when Kiefer woke up and started crying. Luckily he took a long morning nap. Then we had to walk somewhere for lunch. How I wished I could use my sit and stand stroller but that again is another infuriating story. I used the single stroller and for the first time Anne's backpack leash. I usually just tell her to stay close to Mommy and she does but there is a lot more traffic in Des Moines so I didn't chance it. We enjoyed lunch at Perkins (pancakes with sprinkles are Anne's favorite). Then we went back to the hotel for a nap. At first I didn't think it was going to happen but Anne realized she could get her sleeping bag in the closet and wanted to sleep in there. She went to sleep and so did Kiefer so I actually got a nap. After the nap was supper followed by more time in the pool. Daddy took Kiefer so I could concentrate on Anne who has no fear in the water. We all slept pretty good that night. We got up and Anne and I went for one more swim. Gerhardt thought he would be done shortly after noon and we would go home. He met us to check out and go for lunch. He told me it would take him an hour, 2 tops. Well, problems arose and we were stuck in the office building for many hours. Anne entertained herself by coloring and running around the empty hallways. She finally fell asleep in my lap and I laid her down in one of the offices. Gerhardt then informed me I should look for a place for us to stay that night because it was going to be a while. He was waiting for someone to call him back. They finally called around 6 to say someone else would have to call him in the morning. The Marriott was booked with a corporate rate. Even though we will be reimbursed by the company we had to look for a cheap hotel. I found a place that looked interesting. It was a Budget Inn and it had an attacked German restaurant. It also had a pool. When we got there the restaurant was closed, the place was pretty run down and the indoor pool was an outdoor pool with a shed around it. We did swim a little but it was really cold so even Anne admitted she wanted to get out. The next morning someone was supposed to call at 10 Eastern time. Well, they got confused and waited until 10 our time. Gerhardt could then finish what he had to do. At 12:30 we finally left, got lunch and started home. We got back around 7. Anne and Kiefer slept very well as did Gerhardt and I. Poor Gerhardt had to drive back today and is staying the night tonight. He just called that he is finally done and will drive home tomorrow morning. It was a fun weekend even if I made it sound horrible. I was away from school and the household chores and I really needed that.

Mommy's Birthday

Gerhardt and Anneliese making Mommy's birthday cake. Gerhardt was going to make it at work and surprise me but didn't bring enough eggs. This way Anneliese got to help and we got cute pictures and yummy cake!
She did a pretty good job of frosting the cake.
Licking off the frosting, the best part!

3 year check

Anneliese had her 3 year well child check up on Thursday. She is very healthy and actually gained a pound. She has been 30 pounds for about 9 months but now she tips the scales at 31 pounds. She is in the 50% for height and 35% for weight. She has far surpassed all the cognitive development milestones. Can she count to 4? She can count to 30 some days but at least to 20. Does she know 3 colors. She knows a lot of colors even some obsure ones. I don't really think Anne is exceptional because her friends can do those things too. The only milestone she hasn't reached is she can't ride her tricycle. She just can't seem to get her little legs to push the pedal down. The doctor was not worried and said that was more of a 4 year old milestone anyway.

I told the doctor about the allergy test and my doubts about the findings. He said he had a letter from the allergist and went to get it. The allergist is foreign and very difficult to understand but I am still not sure what is going on. The findings he told the doctor were very different than what he told me. He said Anneliese is definitely very allergic to milk. He also stated that her egg allergy seems to be going away but not completely gone. He stated that she is definitely not allergic to wheat and mushrooms which was inconclusive in the test 2 years ago. He then stated results for peanuts and cats were inconclusive. He did go on to say that he believed her wheezing and coughing was caused by her cat allergy and the cats should be removed. She doesn't wheeze or cough! He then stated that the cat allergy may be contributing to flare ups of her eczema although that is unlikely. Anneliese's doctor is obviously a cat lover and told me not to worry about it. He didn't see any reason to get rid of the cats. He said most allergists tell people to get rid of cats no matter what. If she does start wheezing or coughing we will have to do something. I told him we bought an air purifier and he asked if that was helping anything. We haven't had it long enough to really tell. The thing is we have it set on automatic and it runs on the lowest setting most of the time and says the air is clean. Either our purifier isn't very good or our house wasn't too bad to start with. Seriously I would think there would be a lot of cat dander in the air with our 2 big hairy cats. That is where we are with that.

first week of school

Monday morning I went back to work. I was ready to go back actually. I told Anne Sunday night that she was going to Jamie's the next day. She was up before 6, got her own clothes out of the dresser and pretty much dressed herself. She was ready to go around 6:30 and kept telling me we needed to leave now. I was still in my jammies. I got everyone packed up and to Jamie's with no tears. It was much easier dropping off Kiefer for the first time for 2 reasons. First of all I know Jamie now and know she will take excellent care of my kids. I don't think there is anyone on earth I trust more than her. Secondly, I knew I was only going back to work part time and wouldn't be away from them as much as before. I need to get away from them for awhile. I did warn Jamie that Anne strongly resists naps now. I got to work on time!

We had a motivational speaker and I was impressed with the first day's presentation and pretty pumped about the new school year. When I went to pick up the kids I asked how things went. Jamie said Anne was the first one asleep at nap time and had no problems at all. I asked Jamie to come live with us. Kiefer only took an ounce of his bottle in the morning and nothing in the afternoon. I fed him at lunch time. Otherwise he did fine too. She said he didn't fuss but just refused the bottle. When I put Anne in the car she cried, "Mommy I want to stay at Jamie's and play with my friends!" This was after I asked if she missed Mommy today. She did say yes. I am glad she is so happy there.

Tuesday I learned of some new policies and the new middle school schedule. It is horrible! Kids cannot take band and choir. They have to choose and they only get it every third day. Everywhere else in the state has middle school band at least every other day if not every day. Several good kids quit band because they chose choir. The choir took an even bigger hit. This is all because one of our middle schools was labeled one of the 35 worst schools in the state because of ITBS scores. They eliminated study hall which used to be opposite band and choir so they could have longer periods for math and reading. The students who do not take band or choir take general music. Why are we punishing the music kids? They are the ones with the high ITBS scores. I could comment more but will refrain from doing so. My friend Mary who teaches general music referred to me as "having my panties on fire" over the situation. I came home rather dissolutioned on the second day of school.

Wednesday I was supposed to work a half day and it was Anne's birthday. In order to get everything done before open house I worked almost a full day. I was yelled at by Mary and Gerhardt for doing so but promise not to make it a habit. I also found out the new middle school band director has TWO lunch duties. He has an hour of lunch duty every single day. I am so glad I did not take that job!

Thursday and Friday I had off. It was weird not going to school on the first day of school. It was fine though. My schedule has not been established yet. It will be fairly random for the first few weeks while I am recruiting. I got that all set up on Wednesday.

New allergy

I took Anneliese to the allergist on Thursday. I was hoping he would tell me she had outgrown her egg allergy. I have been feeding her some eggs and she hasn't seemed to have a reaction. The test was awful. Kiefer slept in his stroller while we waited the half hour to see the doctor but as soon as they started to prick her woke up crying and wanting to eat. I realized then I should have left him with a sitter so I could have at least held her hand. She was very brave. She did exactly as the doctor told her. She didn't try to scratch her back at all but she did sit and wriggle so I could tell it itched. After they were done pricking her she sat and looked so sad. Her bottom lip was jutted out and tears ran down her cheek. It broke my heart. I moved Kiefer's stroller right next to her and put him back in it. I held his bottle in one hand and her hand in the other. At one point she layed her head on my shoulder and cried. The first test came back positive for milk, eggs, and CATS. They couldn't read the peanut result. They redid the peanut and cat tests because I told them we have 2 cats and she has never had a problem with them. Both of those tests came back positive too. The doctor explained that her cat allergy was mild but was probably the cause of her eczema. It might get worse and turn into a sneezing and wheezing allergy or she may outgrow it in a couple of years. He did suggest we get rid of the cats. My first thought was daycare. Jamie has 3 cats and I don't want to have to switch providers. The doctor thought since her allergy was mild that shouldn't be a problem as long as the place where she sleeps at night is allergen free. If her allergy gets worse we will have to make other arrangements. I expected Gerhardt would be upset by the news. I called him at work and said, "I have really bad news. Anne is allergic to cats and we have to get rid of them." He responded, "Is that all? The tone of your voice sounded like it was something really bad like we have to amputate Anne's leg."

Shortly after we got home Anne started playing with the kitties. She was hugging Ludwig and he being the great cat he is was patiently putting up with it. She calls Ludwig her kitty and Wolfie is Daddy's kitty. I don't have a kitty I guess. I don't know how she will react to getting rid of them. I think she will be very sad and look for them for awhile and then again she might not even care. If she were older it would be worse. That same night when I went to tuck Anne into bed Ludwig jumped up on her bed. He has never done that before with her in it. He curled up like he was going to sleep there too. I had to remove him from her room. She cried and said, "Ludwig wants to sleep with me Mommy!" He sat layed right outside her room in front of the door for a long time.

At this point we have not found a good home for the cats. We had hoped Gerhardt's Aunt would take them but she doesn't want them permanently. I am not sure what we will do. It would be good to keep them together but hard to get someone to take 2 adult gigantic, very hairy cats. I don't want to take them to the pound. Anne has survived this long she will make it a little longer. I have been doing a lot of research into the cat allergy and have found several sources that say you can keep a cat if you do several things. They can't ever be in the room where the person with the allergy sleeps. We can keep them out of her room I think. You should vacuum the house including furniture twice a week and steam clean the carpets twice a month. You should also get an air filter. I am lucky to get the carpets vacuumed once a week and cleaned once a year. Vacuuming the furniture only happens when it really needs it. I don't think that is possible for me! I am looking into an air cleaner though. I have read several reviews where they have worked very well for people with a cat allergy that wanted to keep their cat and had more severe symptoms than Anne. It is worth a try but I am not sure which one to get. We will need to get one whether we keep the cats or not. Even when they are gone the allergens will still be everywhere. I keep going back and forth. I know I need to do the best thing for Anne and that is getting rid of the cats. Then I think of how good pets are for kids and how much my pets meant to me as a kid. Dogs are so much work and she could be allergic to them too. We didn't test for dogs. You can't pet a fish! Gerhardt says we could get her a hamster. Yuck, Ew, Gross! The poor kid can't have cheese or ice cream and now we have to take her pets away too! Right now I am looking for a good air cleaner and still hoping to find a good home for Ludwig and Wolfie. Maybe someplace where we could still visit them.

Crazy names

For the longest time Anneliese had boring names for her stuffed animals and dolls. Her doll was Baby Doll and her brown bear was Brown Bear, and the white bear was named White Bear. I think you get the idea. She has started giving them real names except they are bizarre. Her doll is Baby Chicken. Other stuffed animals are Gilbur, Honor, Cizzy and Shaggybum. My personal favorite is Garfieldcat. Garfieldcat is a dog.

Baby Kiefer is over 12 pounds now and is wearing 3-6 month clothes. I packed away the 0-3 month clothes yesterday. It was sad but not as traumatic as I thought it might be. I think I had so many things to do that I did have time to cry about him outgrowing his baby clothes.

Zoo

Yesterday we took the kids to the Niabi zoo in the Quad Cities. Gerhardt had wanted to take Anneliese as a Daddy-Daughter Day but I wanted to go too. The plan was to leave our house by 8:00 am and get to the zoo when it opened at 9:30. The weather forecast called for mild temperatures in the morning and rain starting around noon. The rain forecast was moved back to 3:00 pm later. It is not a big zoo so I thought we could see it all in the morning and then hopefully Anne would nap on the way home. So much for planning. Kiefer didn't quite agree with the plan. Of course we weren't quite ready at 8:00 but could have left at 8:15 but Kiefer wanted to eat so I fed him and then after getting him in the carseat he puked enough to have to completely change his clothes. We left at 9 am.

The trip to my parents was horrible with Anne screaming, "I'm stuck!" the whole way. Gerhardt thought we should try playing a video on our portable DVD player for this trip. We brought along the Incredibles and the Letter Factory. 2 videos should have been enough. It wasn't that long of a trip. First of all there was construction. Then I am not sure what happened. I remember Gerhardt turning off on highway 67 like the google directions told us to and then I fell asleep. I woke up from time to time but really wasn't paying much attention. I remember going through Oneida and thinking "This isn't on the google map" I didn't say anything and dismissed it as the town was too small. Later we were in Galva and again I was thinking the same thing. Gerhardt said, "Are we on the right road? I don't think we are on 67." He was right. We were on 34 East. I have no idea how that happened. We may have gotten mixed up when we stopped on a side road to feed a hungry Kiefer. The trip that should have taken an hour and a half took more than 3 hours. We got near the zoo at 12:15 and decided to stop for lunch. We got to the zoo at 1:00. Shortly after entering the zoo, Kiefer wanted to eat again. I found a bench in a gazebo and fed him there. Gerhardt and Anneliese went off to see the animals. When we stopped for lunch I had put a disposable diaper on Kiefer. I hate disposables and never use them but I still had a few the hospital gave me and thought this would be a good time to use them. As I sat in the gazebo feeding Kiefer, I heard loud explosive pooping noises, then I felt wet. The diaper did not hold it in. Not only were Kiefer's clothes soaked but mine as well. There was even poop on the bench and on my shoe. I was not thrilled. I used cloth diapers the rest of the day. After getting that all cleaned up and him fed Gerhardt and Anne came back. They had already seen most of the zoo but Anne wanted to show Mommy things. Luckily I did pack extra clothes for Kiefer and myself since he is the puke master. I went to the bathroom and changed. Then I told Gerhardt he probably should have brought Anne by himself. The day got better. There were sprinkles from time to time but it never rained and we had a lot of fun the rest of the day. Anneliese loved all the animals and especially loved feeding the fish and ducks in the Koi pond. She wanted to go on the Carousel so we bought her a ticket and I was going to go with her. She couldn't decide which animal to ride so I decided for her. We walked around the merry go round twice trying to decide. When I put her on the horse she started crying and wanted down. She said she needed to "Sit with Daddy". There was a bench for handicapped people so I sat on that and held her there. So much for rollercoasters. She is scared of the Merry-Go-Round. We rode in the bench for the 1 minute ride that cost $2. Oh well. She had a blast the rest of the day. The weather was perfect eventhough it sprinkled a little. We left the zoo at 4:30 after feeding Kiefer again. We stopped for supper on the way and to feed Kiefer again. We got home at 8:00. Gerhardt and I were very sick of hearing the Incredibles and especially the Letter Factory. We need to get more DVDS for the next trip. The DVD was a great idea there was no whining unless the movie stopped. She did take a half hour nap.

I asked Anneliese what her favorite animal was when we got home. She said it was a brown and pink Elephant. We didn't even see an elephant. They were inside when we went by their pen. Then I decided to be more specific and ask what animal she liked the best that we saw today. She said she liked the monkey. We saw several monkeys. Gerhardt said she got most excited about the Bear and Zebra. It was a fun day for all and I was glad a went along in the end.