All jumbled

It has been a little bit since I have last posted and I think the main reason is that my computer has decided to take another break. My husband is still the computer whisperer that I bragged about however the battery that we bought was a dud and had to be sent back for a new one, which leaves me to type on either my iPad or Michael's computer of which he is not too fond of. So I have not wanted to type a long blog on either but today as I was sitting and having a conversation with myself I realized that I needed to get some of my thoughts out and down. Yes, you read that correctly I was having a full on conversation with myself about a bunch of stuff and I realized that my word quota has not been hit lately. Lucky you, eh?
Today I actually had a conversation with a fellow blogger and I expressed to her my frustration in her lack of blogging to which has forced me to have to pick up a few more blogs to read. While we had a real face to face conversation I told her that part of the reason I began blogging was of course for my lovely family to see and hear accounts of the crazy Kulow life I live, but honestly it is a means for me to get my daily word count at least closer to fulfillment. I was pleased to hear that she too feels the same way, I am not totally crazy, well at least not in that area... At least there is one other person with the same thought process, phew!
Ladies, you understand what I am talking about though... When your husband gets home from work there is so much to tell him... Kid number one was as sassy can be. Kid number two pooped on the potty all by himself. Kid number three is teething yet again and thanks to that his diapers are class three hazardous material. Doesn't your husband just love to be greeted with such information and is of course engaged in it all asking questions, validating your concerns and listens not only with his ears but is making eye contact with you the entire time. Okay, so I am not the only one? Hence the birth of my blog at least, if he wants to know what is going on in our family he can find it at this link.  He can quickly read over my antics and be fully up to date with the happenings that are my life!
Now on to some of the thoughts that have been jumbling my head...
Kulow independence... Oh sakes! I have had it in my face lately, Zeke is really coming into his own as well as Ki as a matter of fact. Last night was a good example of this Kulow independence. We had dinner and after dinner I spend some time cleaning up from it which includes, clearing dishes from the table, washing pots and pans, loading dishwasher, sweeping and wiping down the counters, I do it every night, it is just my routine. After dinner the boys know that they need to play quietly either in the front living room or in the basement and then when I am done we go upstairs for bath time. Well last night as I was washing the pots and pans I hear Michael say,"Andrea did you turn on the bath tub?" Well, no Kulow I am in the kitchen. I walk upstairs to find two naked boys and they have pinned down the baby and are trying to get him undressed, the bath is running and Zeke looks at me like... Well! I get the two older boys in their bath that they drew and then go to their room and Zeke turned down their beds, like I do every night before bath time. I look at Michael and about the only thing to come out of my mouth was, "Really, Kulow? You bred independence and I am not thinking it is such a hot trait right now!" So, no one can accuse these Kulow boys of not being self sufficient, because there are days that I am afraid that they will find out that they don't need me!
Growing up and keeping up. My baby Riah is growing up and is starting to keep up with his brothers. Yes, this is a good thing, but since I know this is my last baby there is a part of me that wishes he would slow down a little. Riah does not think that he is not even one, he thinks that he is two or three years old. Yesterday was a good example of it, the three of them are all playing together now so they spent the afternoon after Ki got home from school playing. I gave them lunch and then let them all play together until nap time. I put all three boys down for nap at 2:30 and then spent nap time doing my stuff. Riah woke up an hour and a half later and I brought him to the basement with me to finish the laundry that I was working on and I turn around and Riah is not with me.  I walk up the basement stairs to hear Zeke and Ki yelling,"Leave us alone Riah!" Well Riah felt that if he was awake that his brothers better be too. After a little grumpiness brothers came to play with baby Riah and he was all smiles!
Pants down... Okay not really but, the figure of speech works here! Tuesday morning I woke up and realized that Riah's finger which I already knew was infected was not getting better and in fact looked really bad. A quick call to the doctor had us an appointment first thing in the morning. Breakfast was served and we got dressed and dashed out of the house. Got to the doctor got seen right away, Riah had to get antibiotics and we were out of there. I had orders from Michael to go to the bank first thing and deposit a check, of which I followed directions. Two minutes away from home I get a call from Ki's speech therapist saying that she was at our home waiting for us, I tell her we will be right there I hang up only to remember that I left the house a mess. Granted a mess for my house is not too terrible but I start panicking. I pull into the garage and she is sitting on the front step... Crap no time to run in and clean before she sees. She comes in and sees me picking up toys just as fast as I can and she says, "I don't think I have ever seen your house like this before." Ugh! To which I respond, "We had to leave and I had anticipated being back in plenty of time to clear the mayhem, but things did not work accordingly. I am so sorry for the mess." she just smiled it off, but literally I felt like she walked in on me in the bathroom or something. I guess that teaches me to not leave without cleaning up... Of which is my normal rule of thumb but I was frazzled by the condition of poor Riah's finger. Don't worry about his finger, it looks a ton better, the swelling is down, it is not nearly as red and it is no longer pussing, yes I let it go too long, I thought it would heal on it's own... Lesson learned!
Next week will be like Christmas here in our house... We got the boys their leap pads, I chose two cameras - a point and shoot and a dslr, my computer battery should come as well as a new and updated operating system for my computer. Needless to say I feel like I want to stalk the mail man! Too bad the guy doesn't get here until around six every night which means that I don't get my mail until the next day for the most part.
Luxuries from the states... I was putting some stuff together for a friend of ours that lives in Germany who are getting ready to have their first little baby, since I was planning on sending a box I facebooked them and asked if there was anything that I could add for them in the box for them. Their responses were original wheat thins and maple syrup. A quick trip to Costco will fill that request! It got me thinking about the things that I always had my mom send me whenever I lived overseas... Peanut butter, red vines, charmin toilet paper, and Walmart brand lemon cookies. Made me also think of when I was in the hospital and I would send Michael to the store for things... Nutella, chai tea and laughing cow cheese. Some of the most simple things can make such a huge difference! What are things that you can't live without?
Kindergarten... Yikes, when did that happen? Zeke will be starting kindergarten in eight months. Wednesday was a particulary hard day for Zeke and I in our school work time which sent me to the computer to research when kindergarten registration began. Oh yeah, I tried getting him into a charter school and wound up being like 257 on the list... I know that God can move mountains and that a waiting list is not too big for God... However I also know that God can use a wait list as a closed door. Soooo, that brings us back to Wednesday, thankfully I got on to check because I have to have him registered before the eleventh of this month! That night is the first parent orientation and then the following week I have to bring in all his papers. Phew! I guess it was a good thing that we had a rough school time, my frustration and realization that homeschool is not for me brought me to research and realize that I needed to get on the ball!
Speech has been going great for Ki! He is up to four and five word sentences, which is new within the last week or so and is a huge step for him. I am super proud of him! On Tuesday when we were at the doctor for Riah I asked about Zeke's speech and was told to call their speech pathologist. A quick call to her... Oh side note here... so I call her and mention my name and she cuts me off and says, "Yeah, you are Zeke's mom. I remember you guys!" okay I have not talked to this woman since March of last year and she remembers me and Zeke... I was a little nervous, did we make that much of an impact? Okay back to my call... So after she remembers who we are I begin talking with her about Zeke's progress and that he is no longer having fluency issues just still struggling with articulation to which she says we need to have another evaluation. Talking with her I explain that Ki will be graduating out of his speech services in the coming months and that we will need to get private services for him too. She was super helpful and I just have to say I have been totally and completely satisfied with the care and attention that I have gotten from her services and the insurance agency that she works for! Yeah, for them for figuring it out!
Okay, well I think I may have put a dent in my word quota for the day! For those that hung through to the end, you are brave! I hope that everyone is doing great now that I have filled your brain and eyes with my jumbled thoughts! Once my computer is back and healthy I will post pictures.