No more nursing

After last night's 3 hour fit asking for mom, Ruben's been cut off. I was going to gradually wean him but we're done. He was only nursing before bed anyway, but now he's using it as a power play and these parents aren't going to take it. Karl walked him around the block three times in the sling, but it's done. Ruben went to bed without nursing.

The Rearrange

I don't know if a lot of people do this, and I blame it on moving every year for the first four years of our marriage, but we rearrange the furniture on a semi-annual basis. What can I say, we love change. I mean, it's not like our house is huge and we're able to completely redesign spaces. Plus, all of our furniture is second-hand (thank you Craigslist), so it's not like we're putting together terribly matching pieces. It's more about how comfortable we are in the space and how we anticipate using it. Last week's big rearrange was all about turning the living room into a space for gross motor play. That means more rough housing and running and fewer toys. In fact, it really meant no toys at all. They have been banished to the bedrooms and basement and so far, they've mostly managed to stay there. Roughhousing and running have increased by three fold and now that the computer desk is out of the way, the circle through our kitchen, living room, and dining room is going to have permanent skid marks.

Quirkiness

Our kids have acted strangely lately. Yesterday when Ruben saw June wearing a headband, he wanted one too. So he wore a green headband all day...and night...and today. June is usually a "path of least resistance" kind of girl, but yesterday on a rare trip to Walmart, she decided that she could carry the 20 gallon tote we were purchasing all the way to the register...then to the car...then inside the house. Then both kids climbed in the tote and ate their bedtime snack. Because that's what every kid does...eat bedtime snack in a tote wearing a headband.

Topeka Trip (1 of 3)

It is the year for weddings. Blake, Brad, Kristen, and Starla all are getting married this year and someone from our family is in each wedding (if not multiples). March 31st was Blake and Sarah's wedding and our first trip to Topeka this year. Kristen and Starla are also getting married in Topeka so we'll retrace that bit of highway a few more times this year.

Karl had been slotted as the best man since the start which he was actually really excited about since he ends up officiating a lot of the time which means he can't goof off because he has to be the serious pastor. He took full advantage of his unpastor title and pretended to lose the wedding bands during the ceremony but did put the pastor hat back on a bit during the best man toast which was fairly appropriate. A few weeks ago Ruben was asked to be the ring bearer since Erin, Josh, and Amos were not going to be able to come to the wedding and Amos had held the ring bearer position. Ruben obliged and we were lucky to have friends who gave us a cute little suit to wear so we didn't have to worry about renting a mini-tux. However during the day on Friday, Ruben started acting sick. He wouldn't take a nap, he half slept as Karl carried him in the sling around the zoo, he fussed incessantly, and finally threw up on me about an hour before the rehearsal dinner (right after I had changed into my rehearsal dinner clothes, of course). We kind of wrote Ruben out of the wedding at that point and asked Kye to step in at least for the rehearsal and perhaps even for the wedding the next day. Ruben stayed home with Papa, who ended up just holding Ruben either walking around the block or laying on the couch for the next six or eight hours.

Rehearsal went fine, but the flower girl didn't like the wagon and Kye didn't like Karl so how exactly everyone would get up the aisle was left up in the air. Thankfully, by morning Ruben was acting better (at least not puking), so we put him in his little suit and prayed that he would make it through the service. Somehow or another, someone convinced Ruben and the flower girl that riding in the wagon was fun and they sat quietly when their turn came. The only problem was that Ruben didn't want to get out of the wagon and Karl and I had a pretty messy Ruben exchange but all went well until Papa mentioned the wagon to Ruben during the vows and Ruben thought that meant he got to go back to the wagon which resulted in Nana's taking him to the nursery. Have I mentioned that Uncle Kory is the best in Ruben's estimation? Unfortunately, every time Kye sees Ruben getting Kory's attention, he wants it too.

Sunday was great because we got to go to the Palm Sunday service at First Christian Church. I don't remember the Phelp's gauntlet being quite so scary as a child. After church, it was definitely time to get spoiled by Nana (seriously, three days in Topeka and no spoiling yet). Easter baskets and an awesome Easter egg hunt with healthy snacks in the eggs. Not to mention a great photo shoot.

 
 

As a closing thought...every town should feature awesome Mexican restaurants with $.99 margaritas. We've lived a lot of places, but nowhere has come close to the $.99 margaritas of Topeka, Kansas. Thankfully, we'll be back at least twice more this year!! Now that is worth the 7 hour drive.

Doggy!

A lot has happened in the last week, but I must start with this story because believe it or not this is where it all began.

Ruben has been particularly fascinated with dogs lately. Last week sometime, he woke up at 4 in the morning and was dead set on finding Nova and playing with her. I think part of this fascination has to do with a routine that is becoming more routine in our house. With Ruben sleeping more soundly at night, he often wakes up before his lazy mom wants to get out of bed so he hangs out with Dad while he goes through his morning routine. This includes a walk with Nova. In fact, one morning when Ruben woke up shortly after Karl had already taken Nova on a walk, Karl was forced to take a second short walk to make the screaming stop. Ruben knows what he wants. When he's playing with Nova he's mostly tackling and hitting (don't worry I try to correct the movement into a gentle pat, but it always ends up looking like hitting and quite frankly I think Nova actually enjoys it). Although sometimes Ruben does just cuddle with Nova as well or try to ride her like a horse. This is the only picture we've managed to take of the relationship because the cuddling, tackling, and patting ramps up quickly into pulling hair, latching arms around her neck, and hitting. Nova's quick with the evasion techniques.

Now I told you that story so I could tell you this one...

Last Thursday we packed up the car to drive to Kansas for Blake and Sarah's wedding and started out on the road. By Iowa City both kids were asleep and Karl and I were actually engaged in uninterrupted conversation. I love car trips. We started seeing signs for Des Moines and Karl turns to me and says, "Wow, Nova's really quiet back there." I glance in the back seat and say, "Nova's not in the back seat" (with much less panic in my voice than I would have anticipated). A few phone calls later and we had a wonderful dog sitter lined up and the guilt attack was lessening. Seriously, how could we forget our dog! What kind of horrible parents are we! Needless to say, since we've been back in Davenport, Nova has received a little more attention than usual and I've tried to keep Ruben from hitting her so much. It is amazing how guilt can motivate.