Today is Ella's third birthday! It turned out to be a really nice day, and I think Ella was pretty happy with it all. Do you think she looks happy?


Nope, definitely not happy.


Ella started out her day by opening presents. Cole had wrapped up a bunch of little toys from around the house, and he had a lot of fun unwrapping those for her. We gave her a Dora the Explorer backpack adventure kit, crayons and a Handy Manny coloring book, a Yo Gabba Gabba shirt and a pair of pants, and a Yo Gabba Gabba dvd. Can you guess what she's interested in right now?

Then we took her to get her picture taken, and she also picked out her birthday cake. We thought it would be fun for her to wander through the bakery and choose whatever looked good, and she chose a variety plate that had four different cakes. Yummy! We went to McDonald's for lunch so the kids could run around the playland. The last time we went to the playland, I was hugely pregnant and Ella didn't want to come down from the playland without my help, so I would have to haul myself up through the tunnels to get to her and slide down with her. Now she has no qualms about going up or down by herself.

Today we also dropped off the van and picked it up just a few hours later with a new distributor. It runs so nicely now! Cory was also able to pick up his car, so now we have two working vehicles again. Hooray!

Okay, I need to finish getting ready for bed so I can get Tylan to sleep, too.

Thanks for the sympathy regarding Cory's crash with the deer. He's perfectly fine as far as we know. We're all going to the chiropractor tomorrow, so maybe something will pop up there. Anne, (sorry to hear about your car troubles, too!), that deer wasn't even killed! Cory didn't see it anywhere, so he probably just had a glancing blow from the car. We were hoping to hear back from insurance yesterday that they okayed everything so we could get the car in tomorrow, but we haven't heard back from them yet.

Just when you think our car troubles couldn't get worse, they, of course, did! Cory was using the van on Friday night to deliver pizzas and it started to stall kind of like it did a few weeks ago when we had that $500 worth of work done. He was able to get it in Saturday morning only to discover that the van now needs a new distributor to the tune of basically $500. There was a washer inside the distributor that was all mangled to pieces and was causing the worst of the stalling, so the mechanic removed it and cleaned out the distributor as best he could. The van is running good now and should hopefully make it until the new distributor arrives and we get that repaired.

At this point I almost wish we lived someplace where we could rely on public transportation and didn't even need our own vehicles!

Other than that, the weekend has actually been very nice. Cory worked from about 3-9:30 yesterday and 10:15-2:30 today. He went straight from work to buy a few groceries and should be home soon. I'm so glad he could do that for us today because it's a cold and extremely windy day and I wasn't really looking forward to taking the kids out.

Accalia had a birthday party to attend yesterday afternoon and had a fabulous time. The party was at the rec center, so the girls spent a couple hours swimming and going down the water slide. There was music and cake and party favors that Accalia is planning to use for Halloween since she's dressing up as Hannah Montana.

This coming week will hopefully be lots of fun for us, especially if we can get both vehicles back to fine running order. Cory is taking Wednesday off since it's Ella's third birthday. We're not planning anything too major. Accalia, Cole and I are planning a Yo Gabba Gabba party for Ella, and we're going to have lunch at McDonald's so the kids can run around the playland. I have a feeling this may be the last year (maybe second to last) where Ella doesn't really care what happens for her birthday. Then Friday, of course, is Halloween. Cory has that night off from delivering pizzas, so he'll be able to take the kids all over the place and I won't have to worry about the weather being too cold to take Tylan out and about in.

I'd better make sure there's a clear path through the living room so Cory can bring in the groceries soon.

Here are a few pictures of the car (one estimate is around $2500 for repairs):





Notice the deer hair stuck in the windshield cracks in that second picture? From the one estimate done so far, the hood, front fender, windshield, one headlight, and the driver's side mirror will all have to be replaced. Cory also noticed a bit of shaking when he drove the car over 45 mph, so that will need to be checked out, too.

Cory claims to be a huge fan of deer hunting now.

Cory called around 7:30 a.m. (I admit it - I was still asleep) to tell me he hit a deer on his way to work. He was just a few miles from work when it happened. Thankfully he's okay. The car probably isn't so great, but Cory thinks the damage may be limited to a dent on the front fender and a destroyed windshield and side mirror. Another prison employee picked Cory up to take him the rest of the way to work, and Cory thinks he'll be able to get a ride home. If not, here we are waiting. And we're back to having just one vehicle...

In other news, last night Tylan had a bit of a developmental moment. One of her favorite things is to be lifted in the hair and held horizontally so she can "fly". Last night she figured out that if she looks back down she'll see me and see that she's still connected to me. After that, all she wanted was to be lifted up so she could let her eyes track back down to me. It was really cute.

Midafternoon I asked the kids if they wanted to go out to the aquarium one last time before it closes for the fall/winter on November 1, and they were very excited to do that. In all honesty, a part of me suggested that just to get out of the house and away from the neighbor girls. Accalia and Cole could barely come in the house to do anything without the girls being right there wondering where they were and when they'd be out again. As the kids ran to the house to get ready to go, I could hear the younger one yell to Cole, "No, Cole! You don't have to go right now! You can keep playing!"

Anyway, we were the only ones at the aquarium and were there at a perfect time. One of the game wardens was feeding the animals, so we saw him feed worms to the snakes, salamanders and frogs. I don't think the kids had ever seen those animals just swallow their food whole, so that was really neat for them. We also talked a bit about the albino catfish at the aquarium since we noticed that it no longer had this huge lump on one of its "whiskers." It turns out it was a cyst (non-cancerous) that had never been found on catfish before, so that's been documented. The catfish is 13 years old, which is nearing the end of its life in the wild. I suppose it will live a little bit longer since it's at the aquarium.

Other than that, the rest of the day has consisted of Accalia having ballet, finding out more details about a birthday party she's going to on Saturday, Cory having a really good counseling session, and us watching Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and Prison Break.

Now I'm just waiting for my hiccuping baby to go to sleep so I can head there myself.

Public schools are off today - I think it's a teacher work day - so, of course, the neighbor girls have been coming over early and often. The first time the doorbell rang Cole was still in him pjs, and he just yelled "We're not coming out to play!" through the closed door. I suggested it might be a little more polite to open the door and tell them he wasn't ready to play yet.

Bullying issues aside, I think Cole is wishing he had a little boy in the neighborhood to play with so he could have more quality time with the games and play that really interest him. They started out great playing a type of baseball game, but then the girls decided they wanted to do something else and Cole was left wanting something else, too. So he came inside where we decided to play Monopoly Junior. Playing a board game is easier said than done with a two-year-old who wants to use the game pieces as a demolition derby. So I suggested we play Monopoly online, which we did until Ella wanted to click away on that game. Back to the actual board game. All in all, that didn't last long.

Then I suggested we make playdough. That turned out to be a big hit with all of them except now Ella is extremely cranky. I think she wants all of the playdough - Accalia has orange, Cole blue, Ella red - and it's not appeasing her to just have a little bit of each color from the other kids. Actually, I think she just needs a nap at this point.

Tylan's awake now so I need to change a diaper. Then it's back to cleaning up, I guess.

I really was hoping for an earlier night last night since Cole actually fell asleep earlier than normal. Unfortunately, Ella had fallen asleep on the couch in the late afternoon, so that shot those plans. Oh well. One of these days it'll happen. I can pretty much guarantee I'll be up around 7 or 7:30 each day anyway simply because that's when Tylan starts to get restless. She needs to get up, have her diaper changed, smile at me for a while, and then get in the sling and fall right back to sleep.

Last night, as Cole was talking to Cory and myself, it came out that he's being bullied by the older neighbor girl. I had noticed that in the past couple weeks Cole was not as happy when playing with the neighbors, and he told us last night that she's been threatening him with physical violence. I feel so guilty about not having stopped this from the very beginning, especially since they always play together in our yard or their yard. I haven't been outside as much simply because it's gotten cooler and I haven't been taking Tylan out as much. For now, I think I may have them play inside a little more often so I can actually be there to intervene if anything starts up. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that this has happened. The older neighbor girl especially hasn't seemed very happy or content in recent weeks. I don't know if it's because of school, her mom, her dad or something else. It's probably a combination. And Cole, while very outgoing and energetic, is also extremely sensitive and takes every little thing to heart. It's easy to see how this might have started.

I guess I need to get us all ready for the day. Accalia and Cole aren't up yet, but I'll have to get them up before long to head to the art studio.

I thought this was a timely post since I had recently noticed how much more common the name Harper seems to be in the past couple years. Harper - as a girl's name - is one Cory and I had considered since my pregnancy with Accalia. Author Harper Lee was our inspiration. We were still contemplating it during my pregnancy with Tylan, but for whatever reason it just has never felt like the right choice. I wonder if now it's going to become rather common.

I think our kids' names will be a mix of the more common and more unique. I've never met or heard of another Accalia, although Myron says he heard a parent calling a child Accalia when we were at Disneyworld in 2002. Cole's pretty darn common, although I suppose that also depends on the part of the country you are in. Ella's somewhat common. I've never met another Ella around here, but I hear the name mentioned often with small children in the blogosphere. Tylan, I suspect won't be too common. While researching it a bit during my pregnancy, most references came up as boy's names and most were spelled Tylen.

I suppose we could keep Harper in contention if there were a baby #5, but I'm ready to be finished. Four seems to be what I can handle, and that's on the good days...

I've been trying to find a few minutes for the past couple days to sit down and blog, but it just hasn't happened.

Friday morning was a happy one because we were able to pick up the van, although it wasn't very nice to pay the nearly $500 for the repairs. It turned out there were a bunch of little things - tune up type repairs - that needed to be done in order to get the van running well again. We still have a couple belts that need to be replaced, and we'll try to get that taken care of before our Christmas travels.

Friday morning was also the first time Cole went to the art studio that Accalia has been taking classes at for the past few years. He recently started asking if he could go, so now he's going along with Accalia. He loved it, and Lita (the owner) was very impressed with his focus and intensity.

Cory worked all three days over the weekend, but they were relatively short shifts so we saw a lot more of him than we usually do. Saturday morning was the first Saturday in well over a month that we didn't have to get up to do anything. No soccer games, LLL meetings, etc. So we took it easy and Cory got our camper ready for the winter. Hopefully next year we'll get more than just one camping trip out of it! Saturday was the day that the new Discovery Bridge spanning the Missouri River and connecting Yankton with Nebraska was dedicated. We didn't attend the dedication ceremony, but we did drive over the new bridge just like most locals were doing. I was supposed to hold the monthly LLL meeting on Saturday, but the library is closed for at least a couple weeks to have new carpet and a new circulation desk installed. I guess the other thing that happened on Saturday was a trip to Goodwill with Cole, Ella, Tylan and myself. I initially wanted to find a winter dress or two for Accalia, but that didn't happen. I did find a couple things for Tylan, though, as well as a new ballet skirt for Accalia, some books, and an assortment of games and puzzles.

Sunday was supposed to be the fire station open house, but that was postponed. I think it was probably because of the weather and the forecast for rain, but it didn't end up raining until the night. It was a pretty relaxing day overall since Cory had Monday off (Native American Day), so there wasn't a bunch of rushing around or going to bed early for him.

Yesterday was a full day, which we had planned since Cory would be home. I took Tylan and went to my 8-week postpartum checkup. Everyone at the office wanted to see Tylan, which is something of a bonus of going to a smaller clinic where everyone remembers you. Everything is fine with me as far as Dr. M could see. I've lost 30 of the 50 pounds I gained during Tylan's pregnancy. I guess we'll see how it goes with those final 20. I haven't actually done anything yet to intentionally lose weight and I never have with pregnancy weight, but I have a feeling it won't be that easy this time.

In the afternoon, Cole and I took Tylan for her well child visit (she's 8 weeks today), and everything is looking good for her, too. She now weighs 11 pounds, 9 ounces (in the 90th percentile and about a 2 1/2 pound gain over 6 weeks) and is 22 inches long (in the 50th percentile and a one inch gain). Over the past couple weeks Ella has developed a case of baby acne on her face, which none of the other kids have ever had as infants. Apparently it usually starts at 4-6 weeks and may last for several months. Her doctor said that babies who develop baby acne are more likely to develop acnes as teenagers. I haven't checked that out, though, to see if that's actually the case. It doesn't see to bother Tylan, so at this point it's just a cosmetic issue. Poor thing.

Accalia had ballet later in the day and has gymnastics today. So far today we've made trips to the bank and to the grocery store. I have a couple packages ready to mail later today. That's about it for running around. The biggest challenge lately seems to be trying to maintain harmony in the home, especially between Cole and Ella. Accalia and Cole never had these problems getting along, but it's another story with Cole and Ella lately. It's basically Ella wanting to be included and Cole wanting to play alone. It doesn't help that Cole and Ella have such similar personalities and energy. Lots of clashes lately. It could be an interesting winter if we aren't able to find strategies to help.

So last night absolutely sucked. Completely. It started when I went to get Cole from tumbling. At first the van wouldn't start, and then it did and there was a weird smell. So I had Cory run to get Cole, which was not fun since Cory had to eat quit and get to work. Since the van is overdue for an oil change, I asked Cory if I should just run out to get the oil changed just in case that was a problem, and he said sure. So we went to Wal-Mart since their tire/oil express department is open until after 8 p.m. They told me it would take 45 minutes to an hour. Nearly an hour later my name was called and I walked back only to be told that they hadn't been able to start the van!

That really wasn't the best news to hear at any time, but especially not with a baby waking up and starting to fuss, a 2-year-old and 6-year-old getting pretty close to crankiness, and a 9-year-old complaining about being hungry. So, since there was nothing they could do, I first called Cory at work and told him what happened. We would have been able to keep the van at Wal-Mart overnight and have it towed in the morning, so I first tried calling the Yankton Transit Service (a fleet of mini buses), but apparently they close at 4:30. Then I tried calling a cab, but they closed at 6:30. Yeah, 24 hour public transportation is not something that happens in a small town. So then I could think of only two people who had vehicles large enough to give us a ride home. No luck getting in touch. So I went out to the van and tried starting it. It started. So I figured I'd get us all home and worry about getting it to a shop in the morning.

Well, I made it about a mile from Wal-Mart when the van died and I was able to pull over to the side of the road. I called Cory, who called back with a tow truck number after getting back from a delivery. So I called and about 20 minutes later the tow truck was there. Cory was able to come and get us and squeeze us all into his car on his way to a delivery. In retrospect, I should have left the van at Wal-Mart, not even chancing that drive and had Cory come right away even though it wasn't the safest of driving circumstances.

Now the van is at the repair shop and I hope to hear back from the mechanic today about what is wrong. Please let it be minor and inexpensive and able to be repaired quickly! This has just been a really crappy year for our vehicles.

The good news is that the kids and I are warm and cozy at home with plenty of food to eat, things to do, etc. Right now the kids are dancing to Halloween music and have been doing things like coloring and creating Halloween/autumn images to decorate the house.

Oh my gosh, I'm tired. Two late nights in a row having nothing to do with Tylan. It's all about Ella. That girl CAN NOT nap. Ever again.

Oh Ella, Ella, Ella. Some days I think it would actually be easier to have two newborns right now rather than my almost three-year-old. I'm sure it's exhausting to deal with it all. At least that's how it feels lately. It's everything from how she's interacting with her siblings (and how they do with her), her frequent uses of words such as "mine" and "No!", her being so close to wanting to use the toilet but refusing to do so, and about a million other things that are all perfectly normal for this age. Did I mention, though, that I'm tired and don't want to have to deal with any of it?

So far there hasn't been anything too spectacular going on this week. Just dance, dance, dance. Cole's all ready for tumbling in a couple hours. Tomorrow I have my first haircut since Tylan was born, and I'll be bringing the little darling with me, hoping she'll either be zonked out in her car seat the entire time or just stare lovingly at me while I hurry the stylist along.

And that is about it. I really need to take care of the dishes now that Cole has moved his elaborate play area from right in front of the dishwasher.

Both soccer games went well yesterday. Cole scored three goals!

Today is overcast. It rained a tiny bit earlier in the day. The next couple days are supposed to be rainy, and that makes me happy. I'm really ready to just hole up in the house for a few days. I'm not sure why I'm feeling like this, but maybe we've just been out and about too much lately. I'd also really like a day or two without the neighbor girls here. They've both been here this weekend, and usually at least one is gone at their dad's. It's starting to feel like summer again when they were around constantly and hardly ever gave the kids a break from their presence. They were over this morning by 9 a.m. before Accalia or Cole were even awake. They don't seem to be in very good moods today either. Actually, they're usually rather cranky since school started.

The kids and I have been putting up Halloween decorations this weekend. Cole isn't quite satisfied that our house is spooky enough, though. There's a bed and breakfast a block away that has gone all out, and that's what Cole is trying to do here.

Okay, Ella's upset now after stumbling outside and I might try to tackle some LLL correspondence that I don't want to tackle.

Tomorrow morning are the last soccer games of the fall for Accalia and Cole. I need to get myself and Cole to bed. Lately Cole has resisted doing pretty much everything until the very last moment. It makes for a big rush at the end when he decides to put on his pjs, go to the bathroom, etc. It's not just at bedtime either. I'm not sure if this is just a phase or if it's a part of his personality that's becoming more prominent.

Speaking of phases, Ella is going through one that has driven me nuts with the older two as well - dumping things out. I'll have just picked up all of the legos or the blocks or whatever, and Ella will come along and dump everything out. For the longest time all Ella wanted to do was to put things away in their containers. I remember when Cole would do this by finding the largest container he could and emptying out the contents of all of the smaller containers. We put up our stack of puzzles when he was going through this, too, because he'd just dump out all of the pieces at once. I remember Accalia doing this while I was pregnant with Cole, and her favorite thing was to take all of our DVDS and videotapes and put them in a huge pile.

Other than those minor annoyances, things are fine. Still tired and relying too much on caffeine to keep going, but I often forget, too, that Tylan is just six weeks old. It feels as if she's been around much, much longer. The chaos of our house is driving me crazy, but I'm honestly at a complete loss as to where I should even start.

Anyway, I'm tired and know I'll be the one rushing around getting everyone ready in the morning, so I'd better sign off.

It's yet another day of being fueled by caffeine. I'm starting to feel rather sleep deprived, but my sleep at night really isn't bad at all. I could benefit from going to bed a little earlier and waking up a little later, but that's not necessarily going to happen with four kids who all vary a bit in their sleep routines.

I paid bills - most of them - this morning. Yuck.

The kids and I went out this afternoon and bought Halloween costumes. For the past couple years, they've just been using whatever we have at home since we have a variety of things to choose from, but this year they were really eager to get something new. Accalia really wants to be Hannah Montana. While she enjoys watching the show every once in a while, she's by no means a rapid Hannah fan. I think the older neighbor girl said she wants to be Hannah Montana for Halloween, so that's what prompted this wish. Cole is going as Spiderman (the black one), and Ella wants to be a princess. I'm going to have to exchange her costume, though, because the Tinkerbell costume she picked out (okay, not technically a princess) is a 3T/4T but doesn't even cover her butt. Tylan is going to be wearing a shirt that says "I love my mummy", and that'll have everyone set for the festivities.

Cole has tumbling in a few minutes (switching to a class with older boys) and then soccer practice later on. I'd better get going, I guess!