Two is Easy, Three is Hard

I took the kids into the doctor's Friday. Little Viking Girl had her two year check-up, Baby #3 his two month check-up, and Hulk was there for the flu vaccine. Taking three kids to the doctor's is challenging.

While there, the doctor and I spoke a little bit about Little Viking Girl and she told me that "two is easy, three is hard" in reference to Viking Girl's age. In English, we say "the terrible two's" but in Spanish (and I assume other Latin based languages) they say "los terribles tres" - or the terrible threes.

We're doing ok.

Potty-training was a good learning experience for J and I. We have to let go and let Little Viking Girl take the lead. We have to pick our battles, we have to be consistent, and we need to trust her. Which is hard when working with a two-year old.

With potty-training, we couldn't do the standard "set an alarm and every 20 minutes put her on the toilet." If she didn't want to sit, she was not going to sit. And it became war. So we kept her in panties, when she had an accident we would sit her on the toilet, tell her that's what the toilet is for, clean her up, and do that all over again. She caught on pretty quick but we had to trust her to tell us. And some days I felt like she didn't care if she had pee soaked clothes or not; but we got there.

Last night, there was a Halloween party at our church. The kids dressed in their Halloween costumes and went around the gym to trick-or-treat (it was raining outside otherwise we would have done trunk-or-treat in the parking lot).

I love family themed Halloween costumes. I think they're more fun and let us work together as we come up with costume ideas. Because Little Viking Girl is too young to fully grasp the idea of Halloween we let Hulk take the lead in planning our costumes (she knows she likes candy but she has no idea why people are giving her candy, cognitively I don't expect her to grasp the concept for two more years).

This year he wanted to be a police officer, Little Viking Girl was going to be a fire fighter, J a construction worker, and I would be a doctor. Baby #3 was going as a giraffe which totally clashed with our theme but that costume has been worn by Little Viking Girl and Hulk so at this point IT'S TRADITION.

I had the kids put on their costumes before we left but as I was getting us ready to go Little Viking Girl decided she was not going to wear hers anymore. I figured that was fine and packed the costume in the diaper bag for her to put on once we got to church. At church, she was very firm in not wanting to put on the costume. Instead, she stole the name tags from my doctor's costume.

It worked.

Everyone thought she was a nurse (or me, since I worked in a research lab).

And she had fun getting candy.

Because it was raining out, all the parents lined up around the perimeter of the gym and the kids walked along trick-or-treating. I stayed in line with Baby #3 and Hulk gently led Little Viking Girl down the line. She had the cutest confused expression on her face and Hulk was such a great big brother helping her. I was very proud of him.

This morning before church Little Viking Girl decided that she was going to wear a bright orange basketball shirt and nike leggings to our sacrament service.

I chose my battle and said no.

She went to church in a dress but she picked out her shoes and socks.

It worked.

The world needs more strong willed women.

I am lucky enough to be raising one of them.

A Very Pumpiny Post

On Thursday we decided to be responsible parents by pulling Hulk out of school early so we could go to a pumpkin patch as a family. That's how parenting works, right?

I spent a lot of time scouring websites for local pumpkin patches and Cincinnati blogs or news articles recommending different places. I ultimately decided on Blooms and Berries Farm Market because it was open during the week (J works Saturdays), it was less than $10 per person, it had a corn maze (I <3 corn mazes), and you didn't have to pay extra for the activities.

We had a lot of fun. It was a relatively warm day and there weren't a lot of people there (which meant no lines!). Little Viking Girl enjoyed feeding the goats and the pumpkin bounce pad, both older kids enjoyed the corn maze, the slide, riding the barrel train (three times!), and picking out pumpkins. Hulk enjoyed trying out all the musical stations set up across the main field and playing in a corn kernel pit.

J and I called it a success.

I think there are more activities on the weekends (like food stands) but there was plenty for the kids to do and there was a shop full of farm fresh products that we didn't pay any attention to because we only wanted the pumpkins.

We're bad consumers like that.

Friday morning I woke up feeling super sick and spent my day alternating between bed and the bathroom. J stepped it up and took over my traditional parenting duties but that also meant that he didn't get the studying in that he needed to for the Series 9 exam. I also had plans on carving the pumpkins this evening but that'll have to wait until Sunday when we can do it as a family.

We really liked the Blooms and Berries experience, there was so much for the kids to do and they seemed to be happy the entire time. Initially J thought that we'd only be there for an hour or two but we were there for three and half hours before deciding that the kids were getting cranky and we needed to leave. I think next year we're going to visit the Neltner's Farm. The admission is cheaper, they have a model train display (perfect for my train loving kids), the pumpkins are $0.04 cheaper per pound, but you have to pay extra for the rides which, when added to the admission price, makes it similar to Blooms and Berries. And that's only if they want to go on one barrel train or pony ride.

We'll see how we're feeling next year.

For more pictures of our pumpkins:
 

Pray for the Country

Last Sunday we participated in a general broadcast for our church for the Northeast region of the United States.

It was insightful and spiritual despite the fussy two-year old and cranky six-year old. It's interesting how quickly we've adapted to only two hours of church.

During the broadcast President Ballard, a leader in the church, asked us to pray for our country. He said,

"Our nation was founded on prayer, it was preserved by prayer and we need prayer again... this country was established and preserved by our founding fathers and mothers, who repeatedly acknowledged the hand of God through prayer."

To whomever you pray, be it God, Allah, or Buddah - please do so.

Memoirs of a Parent

Last night, while going through our bedtime routine Hulk had a breakdown.
I don't know how other six year olds breakdown but for Hulk, it is a quick deterioration into a rather large infant who cannot do anything for himself.

Part of our bedtime routine involves Hulk reading a verse out of the scriptures. It's just one verse, J and I don't do any other reading. If he needs help, we give it to him after he asks for it but otherwise he does the reading of that ONE verse and then we talk about it after.

Last night he became stuck on the word "gave". He read "give", J gently corrected him by saying, "gave". Hulk paused and then read "give", I gently corrected him by saying, "gave".

And it was all downhill from there.

Hulk broke into loud crying, slammed his body against Little Viking Girl's twin sized bed, and fell to the floor. We asked him to sit up and continue reading but he loudly declared that he was physically incapable and it was our fault. There's something satirically comical about a six year old who is pretending they can't do something.

At this point I usually walk away.

I don't negotiate with terrorists.

But it was bedtime, he was detracting from Little Viking Girl's bedtime experience, and my parents were hoping to have a short video call with him after we had gotten the kids ready for bed.

So I gave him options: he could finish reading the verse, correctly and without whining or he could go straight to bed.

He continued to whine and scream.

He went straight to bed.

As J and I were leaving his room he made sure to yell at us that we were bad parents.

I made sure to tell him that I love him.

Five minutes later he was asleep.

Unloading today

It's been a long week. Which is mostly my fault. And by "mostly" I mean all my fault. I have a list of projects that I've been trying to work through and have been prioritizing them over sleep. Which means I stay up until 2:00 am deep cleaning the fridge or rearranging closets. 

You know, super important stuff. 

Fun fact: old tuna fish turns the festive colors of red and green.

J didn't have to go into work Thursday and Friday but he needs to study for the Series 9 so he spent all of Thursday day locked in a room with all of his study material. Friday morning he realized what I hadn't: that I had over extended myself. 

And he made me sleep in and then, after all the kids were in bed, he sent me to bed BEFORE 11 pm. It was crazy. I married a keeper.

Saturday morning I woke up early to run five miles, then it was straight to Hulk's last soccer game. We came home (and by "we" I mean me and the kids, J had to go to work) with a screaming Baby #3. I quickly made the older two lunch, gave strict instructions to not let Link the dog into the kitchen while they were eating, and then took care of Baby #3. As soon as he was taken care of we headed to the zoo for over five hours. Which breaks a few of my rules - going on a weekend, going when there are LOTS of people, and spending more than two or three hours.

But it was for a good reason. It was HallZooween. Which also means that there were more people there. But HallZooween is only on the weekends so our choices were going when there would be a lot of people and not going at all.

The kids had fun getting candy, were mildly entertained by the animals smashing pumpkins, and Hulk was inspired to be a magician from the magic show and quite upset that I wouldn't buy him the $20 magic kit that was for sell after the show. 

When we got home I let Little Viking Girl out of her carseat and she climbed around the car while I was unloading. Hulk whined in the back seat (still offended that I wouldn't spend $20 for him) and Baby #3 cried because he slept the whole time at the zoo and was now literally starving. 

But honestly, I brought this upon myself. We shouldn't have been at the zoo that long, I should have woken Baby #3 to feed him, I should have... By this time the mom guilt is hitting me hard and I am feeling overwhelmed and stressed. 

And then Little Viking Girl pees in the car. 

We are not TEN FEET from the bathroom. 

Now, some things to know about Little Viking Girl: 

She is very strong willed. 

She cannot be bribed. 

If she wants to do something, she doesn't care that you said no - she will do it anyways. 

She won't sit on the toilet unless she first tells you that she wants to. 

And she doesn't seem to mind peeing her pants. 

I may have yelled at her.

And by "may" I mean I actually yelled at her. 

And she laughed.

So with a crying baby I stripped Viking Girl out of her pee soaked clothes, cleaned the pee soaked seats in the car, and started a load of laundry. 

After taking care of Viking Girl, I finally sat down to take care of Baby #3 who, by this point, was convinced that the world was over and that he had been abandoned by everyone to die of starvation. 

As I was feeding him Little Viking Girl wanted attention too, so she brought in several books for me to read to her. Here I am, tired and wanting to be left alone and she's climbing all over me, demanding to be read to or brining me toys to play with her while I am trying to nurse Baby #3. 

And in my mind I'm thinking, "this is why introverts shouldn't have kids." and "please go away, please go away, please go away." and "why can't you go play by yourself for five minutes?"

But then I think, "in ten years, she's going to hate me and not want anything to do with me. I need to enjoy this." 

And honestly, it's hard for me to enjoy it. I am going to have to make the choice to enjoy it, but it was a thought that brought me out of a dark place.

A little while later I am trying to make dinner. Hulk is convinced that he's starving to death but has decided to come into the kitchen to read me a book. The book is on trains, has several pictures, and while reading he asks me questions like, "which one is your favorite? which one can go on streets? which one carries passengers?" 

And the same thoughts from before come into my mind because honestly, I don't care about trains and I am trying to make my "starving" kid dinner. Why can't anyone just leave me alone? He would have dinner in half the time if he just stopped. I am stressed and overwhelmed. And tired. 

Very tired.

Then the same thought from before comes into my mind, "in ten years, he's not going to want to spend time with you. Enjoy this."

The thought doesn't help the overwhelming feeling but it does help calm me down, forces me to take a deep breath, and to make the choice to slow down. 

And that's how my day went. 

Now I get to go clean the kitchen and fold laundry. 

Carol Ann's Carousel

My kids love carousels. But honestly, what kid doesn't? 

Right before Baby #3 was born I finally took the kids to Carol Ann's Carousel (which I always want to call "Queen Ann's Carousel" instead for some reason). 

We love Smale Riverfront Park, Cincinnati has some pretty cool parks and Smale just has such a variety of things to do. 

Anyways, even though we've been to Smale Park 120,098,413 times we had never checked out the carousel. It's located across the street from the park in a building. You can either climb the stairs or go up an elevator. Outside of the carousel's building is a splash pad but the kids need to be dried off before riding the carousel. 

The only other carousels I have experience with are the Cincinnati Zoo's and the Albany, Oregon Carousel. 

Call me biased but I like the Albany Carousel better. The animals are handmade in a shop next to the carousel where you can receive guided tours. A lot of thought and imagery is put into each animal with stories that you can read while waiting to ride.

So I guess the reason I like the Albany Carousel better is for the sentimental feeling it gives. 

And little kids don't care about that. 

What they care about are cool animals and going around in a consistent circular and vertical motion. 

And for $2 a ride (which is cheaper than the zoo's carousel) I thought it was pretty good. 

We will be back. Dun dun dunnn.

I mean, just look at these faces :D

Smale Park

I have a couple of favorite things I like to do in Cincinnati: 

1. If it's an unbearably hot and humid day I drag the kids out of our air conditioned home to Smale Park to play in the water area (my other favorites are Summit Park and Clippard Park).

2.  Get take out curry from Krishna (it is the best) and take it to Smale Park for a picnic dinner.

Summer 2018

Summer 2018

Cincinnati has several really neat parks (Ault, Eden, Summit, and Fort Liberty Playground just to name a few). We really like Smale for a variety of reasons:

• It's close to the river so you get the ambiance of the water plus the occasional barge which my kids love to watch
• Walking across the Purple People Bridge
• The bench swings
• The water play area
• The flying pig
• The huge chimes that you can play by stepping on key pads on the ground
• The variety of people that you meet
• What we call "the maze" but is really just a path that you follow back and forth that leads to a giant rock in the center
• The playground
• The flower gardens
• The statues and monuments
• Carol Ann's Carousel
• The Skystar

Summer 2019

Honestly, I'm probably forgetting things. There is so much to do at this park which keeps it exciting and fun - if the kids don't want to do something then there's a dozen other things for them to do at the park.

What we really don't like about Smale Park:

• The bathrooms

Summer 2019

Summer 2019

And seriously, if you haven't been to Krishna's - Go!

Summer 2019

Summer 2019

Being Two is Tough

I had big plans for this weekend.

BIG.

I was going to take the kids to the Model Train Show at Lakota West High School (Hulk specifically asked to go after seeing signs around town #advertisingworks) before heading to EnterTrainment Junction (their Halloween stuff is up!) and then end our night roaming downtown for BLINK Cincinnati. We have never been to BLINK and I think it sounds like the COOLEST EXPERIENCE EVER. #ughh To finish our three day weekend I was to take the kids to spend the day at a friend's.

But Little Viking Girl has been sick for the last two days. Like, throwing up on me/won't stop moaning/won't eat/no one can sleep type sick. J stayed home from church with her. Which is a big deal for our family. So all the above is postponed. #firstworldproblems

Hulk has been incredible. While I'm holding a moaning girl that is spending her first few days as a two year old unbearably sick, he has been keeping Baby #3 happy when he starts to fuss or playing quietly and undemandingly by himself. Usually he doesn't like playing by himself, he wants someone at least in the same room with him but he has ungrudgingly understood that Little Viking Girl needs all of my attention. I am always impressed at his maturity. So tonight, while J took care of the invalid two year old, I took him to a musical presentation at our church that way he could have some attention too. I think it helped that the fireside had cookies and homemade rice crispies ;)

I think Little Viking Girl's fever broke this evening so there's a light at the end of the tunnel. She is not an easy patient and we're exhausted. But we love her and this is only a few days.
It'll be over and forgotten soon.

And then she'll be back to this:

She's so fun :)

Little Viking Girl

Today we celebrated our favorite little girl's second birthday.

Hulk has (for the most part) been a very laid back child. He wants to be at home, sitting in his room, drawing or playing with legos. When I was pregnant with Little Viking Girl, I was convinced that she was going to be the polar opposite of Hulk. I thought that she was going to be high strung, fussy, demanding, and hard to work with.

I was partially right.

She is the polar opposite of Hulk - but in all the best ways.

She's a mover, she's loud (you know when she's happy), she's independent and head strong (which does make her hard to work with but I like a woman that knows what she wants and isn't willing to back down or sacrifice). She's athletic, loves the water, and prefers to be outside.

While Hulk prefers slides, she wants to be flying on the swing set. While Hulk likes to keep his feet firmly on the ground, she's defying gravity on the monkey bars. Hulk is shy, she's out going and bubbly.

We love her. She has us all wrapped around her fingers.

She adds spice to our life and fun to our family.

She is the boss and she knows it.

Happy birthday baby girl ❤

Cincinnati Fire Museum

Aside from trains, Hulk's next biggest obsession is fire trucks. He once told me that he wants to be a fire truck when he grows up.

December 2018

You read that right.
A fire TRUCK.
You go kid.

Whenever I hear about a touch-a-truck event, we are there. The township I live in has a big event every summer and we've gotten to be friends with some of the fire fighters.
We ❤ our fire department.

I don't remember how I heard about the Cincinnati Fire Museum, it was probably one of those websites that lists family activities in the Nasty Natti. But however I heard about it my thought process was essentially, "Fire Museum = Fire Trucks = We are going".
We have been three times now.
I have no idea why.

December 2018

The museum is in an old fire house in downtown. It's small and the times that we have been there has only been one staff member that spends her time in the really small gift shop that I mistakingly let Hulk walk through the first time we went. Bad choice. I spent the next forever trying to get him out of there without buying anything. I. Hate. Gift. Shops. Almost as much as I hate waiting in line. Probably more, actually.

Anyways, you start by going downstairs and turning right (at the bottom of the stairs). The first exhibit is a game-show style movie that was probably produced in the 80s and teaches fire safety for kids. It features Donald Duck. Hulk loves it for some reason. Probably because we don't have tv at home. He's deprived.

March 2019

Along the wall (too high for kids to see) are old pictures of fire fighters from Cincinnati. The next exhibit is of fire fighting in early Cincinnati. There's a pump that kids can play with but a lot of reading - which is fine, I enjoy reading educational material at museums. Five year olds do not. I do explain the displays to Hulk. There's an old trampoline for people to jump onto when exiting burning buildings from a high window, several hats and buckets, and pictures. One historical bit I found interesting was that early fire fighters used hollowed out tree trunks as pipes to supply water. The trunks were coated to prevent water from leaking out. When there was a fire, the fire fighters would dig to the trunk, tap into the water during the fire, and then plug the trunk up and burry it when finished. There's even an old pipe on display. Blew my mind.
As an Oregonian and grand-daughter of a Forestry Engineer I believe it is my birth right to be nerded out by trees.

December 2018

<-- You can see the tree in the background of this picture, so cool!













Moving on there's a spartan display of a house that provides information on how to keep your house safe from fires. There's also a cabinet with several toy fire trucks.

December 2018

Upstairs there's a cab from a fire truck that kids can sit in (Hulk's favorite), an old dispatch station (you can hear dispatch calls being made as you walk around the museum), several old fire trucks, uniforms, gear, and displays providing information about the evolution of the fire department in Cincinnati. One time we went there was an accordion player, the kids loved dancing to his music. The history is really interesting, particularly the ingenuity of early fire fighters to keep their departments running smoothly and efficiently to respond quickly to reports.


As I said, we've been back a few times. Which amazes me because it's such a small museum, it does not take that long to walk through, and it is not kid friendly. I would even be so bold as to say boring. Aside from the movie, the hand pump, and the cab - there's nothing for kids to do and everything else is no touching. Which Hulk respects but Little Viking Girl is like, "I'm going to touch what I want to touch and if you try to stop me I will scream. Try me." She's a punk like that. But Hulk's a wannabe fire truck so it fits with his interests even though I was bored out of my mind after the first time. I mentioned to one of our fire fighter friends that we went and he said that the next time we go we should work it out so that he can come with us so that he can provide more in-depth history. Maybe that's the secret.

The National Underground Raidroad Freedom Center

This last Martin Luther King Jr Day, The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center had free admission for the public. This museum had been on my bucket list for awhile and I figured what better way to honor Dr King than by learning about slavery in the United States. The Freedom Center also had free admission during the entire month of February (Black History month), so if you're in Cincinnati during that time, it's something to look into.

It is really well put together but designed for older children and adults. Some of the exhibits I felt awkward having Hulk there because of the gravity of the content but he was in a good mood and willing to indulge me. I really liked the museum. I am not sure which word to use here. I can't really say that I "enjoyed" the museum because that would imply that is was entertaining in some way. It was eye-opening, educational, and at times it made me feel uncomfortable but in a "I can't believe people are so horrible, how can I learn from this?" kind of way.

I only took one picture because I was busy teaching my son that people should not "be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character." After all, "education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world."

It is a museum that we will continue to go back to because it is important to learn about both sides of history - the good and the bad.