international travel

So we went to Mexico today... on accident. Yep, you read that right, we accidentally went to Mexico. "How can anyone do something that stupid," you may ask, and I'll tell you. We were going to the outlet mall, which is right on the boarder. It's the last exit in the U.S. We were driving along, and I said to Jesse, "Its the next exit in 3/4 mile." Then I kinda spaced out. A few minutes later I looked up and noticed that we had clearly passed the exit as the signs were indicating which lanes to get in if you had things to declare at customs. I have no clue how we both managed to miss the exit since there are a million huge signs saying, "Last US exit," and "highway ends." So, we drove up to the closest customs agent we could find, only to find that he didn't speak English. Jesse kept trying to ask if there was a way to turn around without crossing the boarder (clearly there wasn't or they wouldn't have had a million warning signs.) The guy managed to communicate that we needed to "cross the bridge," after about five minutes. So, we went to Mexico. It took us roughly five minutes to get turned around, and about ninety minutes of waiting in traffic to get back into the United States. The kids were hungry since we were waiting to eat at the mall, and by the time we got to customs Savannah was about to pee her pants. We pull up to the US customs agent with both kids screaming only to find out that we had no acceptable documents to enter the United States. Apparently a driver's license or military ID are not good enough anymore, effective January first. The guy explained to us that to enter the United States you have to have a passport, a birth certificate, or an enriched driver's license. None of which we routinely carry in the car. After about five minutes of debate the guy finally agreed to let us enter the United States only because of our crying children. Thank goodness for grumpy kids!

Moral of the story, pay attention to road signs so you don't ever accidentally enter Mexico!

Savannah being sweet

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Lincoln looking way too big eating his green eggs and ham

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Fashionista Woes

I think every parent of girls has dealt with this at some point. Their little girl becomes opinionated about their clothing, and it becomes a problem. Thus far we've had pretty good success with steering Savannah to an acceptable choice with clothing, but tonight we had a pretty funny experience.

We were getting ready to go to the grocery store, and Savannah came out of the playroom in a dress up dress. She was wearing normal clothes not five minutes earlier. Jesse told her that she needed to change, then went back to getting himself ready. I went to put Savannah in the car a few minutes later and she had not changed. I told her that she needed to put her regular clothes back on. She rebutted with, "But they don't fit." Umm, yes they do, she was wearing them five minutes ago. Then she insisted that the zipper hurts her. I know that it doesn't but I didn't want to have a huge fight, so I asked her what she was willing to wear. The dress up dress, that was all. For the record, I was fine with her wearing the dress up dress to the store, but Daddy had already told her no, so I couldn't give it. I gave her three choices of acceptable clothes and told her to get dressed while I found Lincoln's clothes. Five minutes later I returned to find her sitting on the floor in her panties singing, "I'm going to the store BUTT NAKED!" over and over and over. I tried to hide my giggles and told her that I was going to put Lincoln in the car, and if she wasn't out there wearing clothes by the time I finished getting him buckled she was getting left home along (which would never actually happen, but the threat is pretty good at getting her to cooperate.) Five minutes later she came out the front door wearing an outfit I had chosen for her along with her plush penguin slippers. You know, the kind that look like a stuffed animal is sitting on your foot. It was a good thing she had other shoes in the car, because I was not going back into the house to start the clothes argument again!

Oh, and on a related note, last night Jesse told Savannah her dress was getting too short (it was a sundress from last year) and she smiled and said, "No its not Daddy." And all he said was, "OK, you're right." We are in for it when this one is a teenager!

Gotta love military health clinics

I hated the doctor's office in North Carolina. It was one of my biggest complaints about living there. I'm not realizing that this is a Marine Corps wide thing, not a Halyburton hospital thing. The first time I had a sick child after moving here I was pretty impressed, they were able to get us a sick appointment only two days after I called. Not anything to be impressed by in the civilian world, but better that I was used to. I was pretty excited. So, then Lincoln was sick again a few weeks later. I called to make him an appointment and they said that there was nothing available that week, but they would have a nurse call me back to discuss my options. Two days later I still hadn't received a call, so I called them and was able to get him seen. About two weeks after that I was really sick, so I called to make myself and appointment. This would have been Feb 27. I was informed that the next available appointment was March 21. I was so mad, and asked what I was supposed to do if I was sick and couldn't be seen for a month. I was told to leave my phone number and the nurse would call me back within 72 hours. Well, I had seen how well that works the last time, and was going out of town in 2 days, so I just waited until I was in Utah where I could go to the Urgent Care without having a referral from my doctor. Turns out I had a sinus infection and an ear infection. Good thing I didn't wait a month to be seen, huh.

So, fast forward to today. My phone rings and it is the nurse from the health clinic calling to check on Lincoln. I told them I had no clue why they were calling and the nurse says, "Well, your information was put into a different system, so I didn't get your information until today." I was so confused, and said, but I didn't call. At this point I'm wondering if I really am going crazy because Lincoln is sick, but I don't remember calling the doctor about it. She says, "It says right here that you called Feb. 12 and that's yesterday, today is the 13." I was so irritated that I had to explain to the nurse that yes, it is the 13, of MARCH! They were calling me back a MONTH after I had called about a medical issue. Um, sick kids (or adults) can't wait for a month. No, I didn't tell the nurse all that, but I wanted to. Then she said, "Well is his problem resolved?" I didn't even remember which problem this call was about since Lincoln has been sick on and off all winter, but I said yes because he hasn't been sick for a month straight.

I really wish they would let us see a civilian doctor.

horrible night and a fun day

A few nights ago I bought the kids a vapor thing by Pediacare. It plugs into the outlet in their room, and you put these little vapor strips in it, and it releases them all night. It also has a nightlight. Best $8 I ever spent. Seriously the kids went from being so stuffed up they couldn't sleep to having no problems overnight. So, since Jesse and I are both sick as well, he finally broke down and bought another one for our room last night. Well, when I first laid down I couldn't sleep because I was coughing so bad. Then once the vapors stopped that I couldn't sleep because of the nightlight. Ironically I used to not be able to sleep in the dark, I guess I've gotten used to it. Finally around midnight I fell asleep, only to wake up about an hour later with an extremely dry scratchy throat. Apparently I've been sick for so long my body has gotten used to all the mucus running down my throat and now I can't sleep without it... LOVELY! So, I woke up about every 20-30 minutes until 5 when Lincoln woke up screaming. I tried ignoring him for about five minutes, until Savannah came into my room and said, "Mama, the baby is crying! He needs his nursey!" So, I stumbled down the hall to their room. I tried nursing him for a few minutes and putting him back in his bed. He started screaming again. We repeated this for about half an hour, when I decided to change his diaper. Still screaming. Again with the nursing, but now his is crying softly while nursing and screaming when I try to put him down. So I went in the kitchen and gave him some Motrin. Still screaming. So, I got him a drink. Still screaming. I realize he is reaching for something on the counter. Its a cookie. We've been up for over and hour now. Jesse will be up any minute to get ready for work. So I gave him the darn cookie and put him back to bed. Didn't hear another peep out of him until 8. He must be my child.

So, I was pretty tired this morning. I gave up on sleeping around 7, and laid in the playroom and watched Curious George with the kids until 10. Finally it was Lincoln's nap time! I put him down and conned Savannah into cuddling with me so I could sleep for an hour or so. We got up around 11:30 and put the kids in the bath. I let them play in there for a long time, and as I'm getting them out I notice a familiar car in front of my house. Patricia and her kids had stopped by for a surprise visit! (she had tried to call, but we got new phone numbers and apparently Jesse neglected to tell her) I was so embarrassed! It was nearly 1, and I was still in my PJs, the kids were just getting out of the bath, and the house was not exactly clean. Oh well, what can ya do, right. We ended up having a pretty good day though. We hung out around the house and played with the kids until Jesse got home from work, then went to a place called Dave and Busters and let the kids play arcade games for a few hours. It wasn't exactly a kid place like we had thought, but was fun never-the-less. I took pictures, but all I had with me was a disposable camera, so they will have to wait.

Oh, and one funny for the night. When I got home I called my mother-in-law because she had left me a message that she needed our new address. When I hung up, Savannah asked me who I was talking to. I answered, "Grandma." She came back with, "Chris Critchlow or my Grandma Conger?" I have no clue how she knew that my mom's name is Chris Critchlow. She has this crazy knack of picking up bits and pieces of information and using them at the oddest moments.

Languages

Savannah and I were talking as we were walking to our car after church today. From the parking lot you can see a train bridge, and there happened to see a train going by. Savannah said, "Wow, look at that big, red train. Its loud, but I can't hear it because I don't speak train or Spanish." I don't know what it is with her insisting that she can't speak Spanish lately.

Funny kids

We got back today from spending the weekend in Utah. So, I thought I'd share a couple funny things the kids said/did while we were there.
~Caytie and I went to Macy's with Savannah, Lincoln, and Bridger. While we were browsing through the bra department Savannah kept insisting that she needed a bra to cover her "little boobies." She was loudly saying that she needed one to wear to the beach, and holding them up to her chest to show us that they fit, and even went so far as to lift up her shirt to show Caytie how big her boobies are getting. When we started putting the bras back she insisted that the last two were for her brother. Caytie told her that boys don't wear bras, and she said, "But my dad does!"
~Also while at Macy's, Caytie took Savannah to the bathroom while I was trying on some clothes. Savannah turned to Caytie and asked, "Caytie, where's my daddy's wife?"
~We were playing a game with Nana, and Nana suggested that we try counting the pieces in Spanish. Savannah said that she didn't know Spanish, but maybe we should say a prayer then we could all speak Spanish. (She actually can count to 10, and knows many other words)
~My mom took us out to eat at Bucca di Beppo in SLC. We were discussing funny things that Savannah had said, and I mentioned that she has learned the word, "Rank." Savannah heard me and yelled, "I did rank poop!" loud enough for the entire restaurant to hear.
~and finally, a funny Lincoln story! Lincoln was playing with Bridger, who is 3 months younger than him. Bridger came walking into the kitchen with a large red mark on his forehead that looked suspiciously like it could have been caused by the sippy cup Lincoln was holding. My mom said, "Bridge, what happened to your head?" Not five seconds later, Lincoln came walking in behind him, and I said, "Lincoln..." but before I could get out the rest of the sentence he held out his arms and said, "I don't know," with a very guilty looking smile on his face.