End of the week.

So it's Friday night, but it doesn't really feel like Friday night. John has his "Beekeeper School" tomorrow over in Ohio, north of Cincinnati. He has to leave by 6:15 am so it will be kind of like a regular workday in terms of him being gone. It is over at 3 pm and an hour and a half drive. No plans for me and the kids, I just want to sew on my NEW sewing machine that I just got set it this afternoon but didn't get to play on it 5 minutes as Allie never went to sleep for her nap! Argh! That rarely happens. Usually after her lunch around 10:30 or 11 am I let her play a bit until she *ahem* poops, or 30 minutes goes by, whichever comes first. Then I change her, nurse her, and off to nappy-nap time for 2-3 hours of bliss. Today, she never poo'd so I went ahead and laid her down. She was practically asleep when I put her down after nursing, but as soon as her head hit the mattress she woke up - and never went back to sleep. After an hour, she pooped! So, I changed her, then told her it was still nite-nite time, to which she was NOT pleased, and gave her another hour then went ahead and got her up, as by this time it was almost 2 pm. So, we were in complete meltdown mode by 5 pm, wouldn't even eat supper, so a quick bath and here we go again. Again, she is practically comatose while nursing and then as soon as I laid her down, POOF she is back awake and it took her at least an hour and a half to get herself to sleep! OMG! It was misery!!! I had a splitting headache. Not sure what the problem was. She was just at her pediatrician's office yesterday. Her ears were completely clear. We went to see Dr Mike because she has had a crusty, red belly button off and on for several weeks. Turns out, it is eczema! So a prescription cream (which our pharmacy doesn't have, great) and hopefully it will heal up. We have known her skin is extra sensitive. I hate that she will have to deal with that, but am trying to stay positive and hope it is mild. She does have a few spots on her face that Dr Mike says look like allergic reactions - they popped up the evening after the egg hunt (which was outside in the grass - she hasn't really been in the grass her entire life yet). She is most likely going to be our allergy baby. So, while she was supposed to be napping, Asher was happily playing his new "video game" system, the vSmile, which was given to us from Ginger since Evan got an upgraded one. I bought the Thomas & Friends game for it, and he loved it! It is basically like the computer learning games we do online, except it is on the TV and he has a cool joystick controller to move the trains around. We had a guy come out this afternoon to give us an estimate on gravel rock for our drive. It is in bad shape and needs more rock laid down. The guy hopes to be able to come out next week, if we can catch a break in all of this torrential rain! Can I just say, I am so glad we live wayyy up on a plateau and don't have to worry with floods? Anyway, the guy's truck can carry 25 tons of rock, and it will take THREE loads to do our driveway and parking area up here at the house. But wow, it will look great and be so much easier to drive on as our current state is very packed down and getting pits in it. John says this will have to be done every couple of years. Still cheaper than blacktopping though, well maybe not in the long long long run, but hey. Now, back to Thursday and the heat repair guy. He told John on Wednesday night that he would be out around 9 am. John told him I would be home. I was upset as this was screwing up my entire day. I was supposed to drop Asher off at school at 8 am, go to my friend Melanie's to give her some stuff, then go see Dr Mike at 9 am, then to the Library Storytime at 10 am, then lunch with my friend Rhonda and her little girl who is Allie's age, then to their house (which is also downtown - where the Library and Asher's school are) for a little playdate/naptime until time to pick up Asher at 2:45 pm. So, that didn't happen as I had to reschedule the doctor, totally cancel on Rhonda and the Library, I went ahead and stopped off at Melanie's, but then I got home around 9:15 am and sat around and waited for Kelly to show up. I had left the gate open for him, in case he came before I got back, but his track record is usually to be late. Plus, he hadn't tried to call so I assumed he had not came out yet. Well at THREE o'clock in the afternoon, John calls him (while I am getting Asher and taking Allie to the doctor) and finds out Kelly came out at 8:30 am, looked at the unit, and decided he has to order parts and he'll call us when they come in!!! I was soooo irritated at his lack of consideration to call us and tell us this! Then I could have salvaged my day and not spent it huddled in the house, freezing, thinking we couldn't run the heat - turns out we can run it in Emergency mode. Argh!!! I just kept telling myself, you never know the reason. I guess I was supposed to be home all day for whatever reason, so now that I have vented that out of my system, I'll hush about it. Monday I will have to deal with the Sears repairman again, as our deep freeze is alarming two or three times a day for no reason and it is quite annoying - has been going on for a couple of months and I am finally fed up with having to reset it. Just hate having to pay for the call plus repairs when it is keeping at -5 just fine. Something screwy with the computer system, thinks the door is ajar and it is having a "communication error", yeah, I have a 4 yr old - I think I know what that is like! LOL!! Asher is officially on Spring Break and will be home all next week. We are planning on the Library Storytime on Thursday, and maybe the Children's Museum on Wednesday. John will be on call Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Sat, Sun. Also, called Mason County school this week (Straub Elementary) and set up an appointment for Kindergarten registration. We will go on Monday, April 7th at 4 pm - Asher will come too as he will be screened, as in he will have to say his ABCs, write his name, count to 10, yadda, yadda, yadda. We will also get to tour the school which Asher is very excited about. I am getting excited for him (but also terrified. Kindergarten seems like such a big step from preschool.) Allie is really talking a ton lately! She has added a few new words, but mostly just babbles at you with inflection and everything. So adorable. Her new favorite sign is "open". And she loves to open and close things, and loves to put things in and take things out. She has also discovered BOOKS! Yay! I rearranged the bookshelf so all her board books are on the lowest shelf now for her to look at whenever she wants. Her favorite right now is The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and she also loves Ten Little Ladybugs and Ten Little Eggs or whatever that title is. I am showing her the signs for the animals and things in the books, and she is so curious! She is starting to point (a little) and can't remember if I have said that she is waving bye-bye and says it, as well as saying nite-nite while waving bye-bye. Oh! The other adorable thing she is doing is her love affairs with her babies! The pic on the blog shows her first Cabbage Patch that Mimi got her. She hugs and loves on her "baby" and carries her around and wraps her up in a blankie. She also got a little Belle doll in her Easter basket that she likes to clutch (it is hand-held size) and give kisses. She makes the sound of smooches. So so so sweet. I love these kids. They are so much work, and most days I am so exhausted and can't imagine having ANY more children and how do people do it with more?! I love them, but I also LOVE naptime and bedtime and QUIET time as Allie is the physical energy and Asher is the mental and physical. So by suppertime I am wiped out and ready for just laying out on the couch....but that doesn't happen until the kitchen is clean and animals taken care of, but I have decided to STOP doing laundry after 7 pm. Now, I know that isn't the best for the environment, but really, I can't do laundry late anymore - I feel like I run it most of the morning and part of the day off and on, so by night I want to do "just one more load" but then I am up and running and John is ready for me to just sit with him and relax. So, I think I am going to work on cutting off chores and saying, It's OK if the kitchen isn't perfect or the laundry isn't all done or the toys didn't get picked up. It's almost the end of March, and I will be gathering my thoughts for April's word of the month and reflecting back on what I managed to get accomplished this month.