Madsen Kiddos: vacation

Official Parent Here

I think today I officially became a parent. I also have to officially forgive my parents for ever throwing away any of my toys ever. I have to tell you I would be willing to bet throwing away those toys MADE THEIR DAY. Maybe even their week. I forgive them for ridding their home of my broken toys. I am confident that they bought me new toys. I was never toy-less.
My home is McDonalds toy free. Which is delightful especially considering it is Monopoly time. Also known as the crappiest toy time of the year because they don't have to try. CRAPPY. John and I just finished cleaning the zone known as the kid zone.
Sadly, our basement did not escape some of the rain and flood madness- it seems like some water got through the bilco doors and was happily soaked up by a sheepskin rug we used to use as Austin's dog bed. It was huge (we got it at Costco and it was quite nice originally but let's face it, nothing used as a dog bed on which "hooves" have been consumed remains in good condition) and smelled quite disgusting. I smelled this on Tuesday and went hunting. I'm glad it was so big or we could have had a serious basement disaster. Now I am thinking twice about the decision to get carpet down their- if we ever had a flood it could be a mess- and one that I paid a LOT of money for. What would we have done if the water had been worse? Those poor people who are still trying to pick up the pieces from the flood.

You might wonder why I was able to mysteriously go through toys with no interruption. Well besides the fact that it was done in the middle of the night my kiddos have been on Vacation with my Aunt Sara and Uncle Mark. I have never been so excited to have quiet- I've been pretty anxious about the idea that I am having another baby and I won't be alone for a LONG time after the baby is born. A lot of people say that having three kids is super hard but having two kids rocked my world in a bad way so I am a little nervous. Plus I've been getting really dizzy the past few weeks. I had to stop running at the gym because I would be too dizzy afterward, which was a little scary. Maybe it was just my bodies was of reminding me I'm pregnant. and probably a little anemic. Luckily I'm not throwing up as much anymore (except this weekend but John also got sick so it probably wasn't the baby.) Unfortunately I have acid reflux. Fortunately you can take Zantac when you are pregnant and that takes care of it (I took some when I visited Mark and Sara and I felt like a MIRACLE happened.) How did I not realize that was totally treatable?
Not treatable: being tired. I am always tired. My doctor told me it was normal to be tired when you had a parasite of this size. I slept a lot while my kiddos were on vacation with my awesome family. When they offered I was happy to come back and sleep and get ready for baby and sew a lot for my etsy shop (can I admit that without being a terrible parent? I hope so) Probably I could have survived with my kids and I know I would have had fun there, but I still glad I was able to sleep a lot and I didn't do much and I got to do all my blood work and diabetes test (pregnant- lots of tests for stuff) with no child in my lap or trying to figure out what all the buttons did or trying to empty the water machine in the waiting room. I was still tired, and I totally missed the kiddos. I think it's important to sometimes have a break and be alone. Possibly sleeping. OK I felt guilty and almost too tired to feel guilty but not quite. My mom seemed concerned. Should she have been concerned? I can't decide if she should be super worried or just happy for me. You get the picture, just another thing I owe Mark and Sara for. Maybe they would take a black hairy dog as a thank you gift...
Did I ever mention that Sara potty trained my child? We had been working on it but She did the whole "week of potty training." So pretty much eternally indebted.
Speaking of potty training some child peed on the play bed mattress. We threw it away on finding that delightful surprise today. There was no saving the mattress- it was one of those really uncomfortable thin ones from IKEA. So uncomfortable that we made it a play mattress, if you know what I mean. I don't know who the child is, but I have my suspicions- like every child that has ever played in the basement who doesn't wear a diaper all the time.
You can imagine that I feel much better now that the basement is clean. John vacuumed it.
Just wanted to celebrate my transition into adulthood. Maybe it's about time since I'm 30. Now that I'm official going to those parent orientations for Kindergarten next year will be no problem.

Good Morning

The birds seem to think it is the freaking best time of the day early in the morning.
I went to get a drink in the bathroom and the window was open.
bird cacophony.
remember when I got married and my husband had a parrot that imitated loud beeping noises in the house as well as voices? Turns out beeping and screeching at about 150 decibels is WAY fun. Also that it's normal that he started wanting to kill John and mate with me...
Anyway it's hard to sleep with all the BIRDS. I'll blame them today.

Good news for this morning-
Last Sunday John had his white coat ceremony. I'm so happy for him- his class tests are over. Now he just has to take Step One of the USMLE aka the worst and biggest test ever. I made him let me take a picture of him on that day and he made a face. My mom watched the kiddos so I actually got to see the ceremony. Turns out it's awkward to watch people put coats on other people- but I love looking at all the shoes. I never realized that I love going to events just to see what kind of shoes other people are wearing. It is mesmerizing.

so I'll be going out of town for a while so he can study. (also have you ever lived with someone studying for that? Not so much) It's time to retreat to Mark and Sara's. and My grandma's house but that's not the reason Danielle has been doing whatever I ask her to do for days.

Also good news: I'm bringing the fabric Jen got me for my birthday. We play games with Jen and Steven and they put up with our kiddos and my ridiculous impatience. Speaking of which I am SICK of not being able to get maple bars. There was one store with half rate ones up until a few months ago when they stopped having them. You never know how much you want a maple bar until you live in a place without them. Needless to say I am angry about it.

Not angry about: my precious fabric. I just want to hoard it. I have a spot where I keep the japanese Echino fabric and it's literally a little hard for me to ever use because I still want to own it afterward. For my pile. I'm taking it on vacation with me.

why do I feel awake two hours before the boy wakes up (around five) and never when he wakes up?

I love Vacation. I hate Vacation.

Things I hated about vacation today.
1. only packing three shirts. what?
2. Colds for everyone! There is something really gross about snotting babies while you are breastfeeding.
3. Danielle has an ear infection- woke up in the middle of the night.
5. No phone charger for two days means no phone.
6. Unreliable internet- who knew I was so addicted.
7. I have never been more upset about being allergic to cats.
8. Baby Mark the fussy eater.
9. Forgetting "clean blankie" when we went to stay in Salt Lake for the night.
10. Not staying in Provo because of ear infection.
11. Waiting over an hour for prescriptions to be called in.
12. Waiting even longer to get them filled.
13. Baby Mark throwing up.

Things I loved about vacation today.
1. Doctors who call in prescriptions.
2. Getting things done from my to do list.
3. Easter at Grandma's House!
4. Danielle playing with her aunt.
5. John making fantastic eggs.
6. Mark's cute outfit from Grandma
7. Getting a sweater on sale at Nordstrom for 20 dollars.
8. Claire convincing Danielle that the new clean blanket was all right.
9. Doctors calling in replacement prescriptions.
10. Mom waking up at 4 a.m. to get Tylenol.
11. Mom letting me use her super good smelling hair stuff.
12. Today I went to the bathroom alone EVERY TIME I WANTED TO. Beat that most parents of a two year old and six month old.
13. Got to sleep in while John watched baby.
14. Finally got a phone charger.
15. Danielle went on the potty.

TIVO- I am looking forward to seeing survivor tonight!

The Jersey Shore

We drove to Jersey Friday to see Uncle Mark and Aunt Sara. Danielle picked herself some flowers from the boardwalk and then went to run in the ocean. We are going to teach her to swim really well or else hope she learns some natural fear. I liked the pictures of my cousins and Danielle on the bench- it captures their personalities.
We went around 5:30 so it wasn't too hot and we didn't have to get tags to be there. Mark and Sara bought us some curly fries that were really good. I captured a really perfect man photo with the store in the background.
This was Danielle's first time seeing the ocean and John's first time at the beach out here on the East coast. Eddie was super cute because he is afraid of the sand. I thought he wanted to go down and walk in it but he was actually asking for a towel. He wanted to sit on a towel rather than walk on the sand. Mostly dry sand is scary.
We didn't find anything like money or rings like the men with metal detectors towards the end but we did find an extra bucket which Danielle made sure we didn't leave in the ocean as the tide was coming in. The Bergs are really good hosts, and we got to eat some yummy chocolate chip cookies when we got back. Here is a rare photo of my with my 30 weeks pregnant belly. Sara was there, even though we didn't get a photo of her tank top or what she claims was a swim team swimsuit. Some things you can only see in Jersey.
While we are here John is learning how to wire a fan and light. You can count on the Bergs to teach us the skillz. Yes- that's skills with a "z". They like doing house projects and so do I. I am so excited to move into our house in Scranton as soon as we close... sigh. Only three more weeks. Then we Bergs will have to come paint our house.