Vacation

In case you didn’t know, we went on vacation. We went to Oak Island, NC and stayed in “our” house, Due South. We took our time on getting there; we drove about 7 hours on Friday and finished the trip on Saturday morning.


After taking care of the grocery shopping (Saturday evening) and a trip to Wal*Mart (Sunday morning) for fishing supplies, we were ready for fun and sun. Maggie took to the beach much better than I had expected. She was most happy sitting in my lap or between my legs right where the tide rolled in. All she needed was a shovel and a bucket full of water. Izzy spent her days running (on her tip-toes) up and down the beach and having someone walk out in the water with her.

We did take a short trip to South Port to shop at an awesome toy/candy store and look at some water. We also took a day off from the sun and sand to visit the aquarium. This is our 3rd time at that aquarium. It’s pretty much the same fish every time. I think next time we go, we’ll skip that trip.




We all slept in one room. I worried about how that would work, but it did. One of us slept with Izzy every night and Maggie started in the pack-n-play each night, but would end up in bed with one of us by the morning. She only had one rough night.

There was less card and game playing this time around. With 4 children under the age of 4, once we got them to bed we were all too tired to play cards. That’s a shame too, because I would have kicked some serious butt.

I, of course, got a great sunburn. My back is itching like crazy these days and I leave skin everywhere I go. The girls both got tanned, since I was smart enough to put sun screen on them. Luke got a small burn on his back and a pretty good one on his legs from the day they went out on a chartered fishing trip.

We were all very sad to leave at the end of the week. Izzy was very sad when we went to the beach one last time, on Friday evening. The tide was high, it was getting dark, and she was in regular clothes. No more getting in the water for her. I won’t lie; I shed a tear while packing up our suit cases. Saturday morning, we finished cleaning up the house and set home at 8:30am. After just a few stops, we were back home at 10:30pm.

It was so wonderful to spend an entire week with my family. We work all day during the week and are so busy on the weekends; we hardly get to concentrate just on the girls. We had nowhere to go, nowhere to be at any specific time. The girls got to spend time with their cousins and we got to spend some time without dogs or alarm clocks.

I’ll let the pictures tell the rest of the story…..

Will (age 9 months), Grammy, Maggie (age 1 year), Granddaddy

Henry (age 8 years), Izzy (age 3 years), Laney (age 2 years)

A Thanksgiving Turkey

Maggie had her one year appointment today.  She is 26 pounds, 30 inches.  She's a big girl.  As big as a Thanksgiving turkey that would feed a small town.  But, she is healthy and that is really all that matters.

Today, I officially became that mom.  That mom that sends her kid to school with pinkish eyes.  The one that wants to infect the other 6 kids in her class.  We've never dealt with pink eye.  I have no idea what it looks like.  She also complains of a sore throat and has a runny nose.  Luke thinks maybe it is allergies.  I don't have allergies, so I don't know what those look like either.  Either way, I sent my daughter to school with possible pink eye.  NICE ONE! 

You know what else I did?  I signed her up for an "end-of-the-year" field trip.  Not so bad of an idea on the surface.  I found the permission slip in her bag, it was due last week.  I filled it out, got money for the fee and dropped it off at school.  This trip is for the 4-5 year old class, but all kids are invited.  So are their parents.  I was already late to work last week to take Maggie to the doctor.  I was late today, and now leaving early, for doctors appointments again.  I can't possibly take Friday off to go on this field trip.  I signed my 3 year old up to go on a field trip and I'm not going with her.  Who does that?  I wanted her to go and have fun.  But I didn't think it all the way through.  Now that I have had time to think about it, she is not going on the trip.  There is no way.  First, she is still so young.  I know the teachers will take good care of her and watch out for her, but I fear that she will wonder why everyone else has a parent with them except her.  Second, I don't know if any of the other kids in her class will be going.  She would be with a totally new group of kids, with no parent.

So far today, I'm not winning mother of the year.

Hey Girl Hey .....

It's been a while, but there really isn't much to report.  We are just living life and raising children. 

We had our 6th anniversary on March 27th.  It fell on a Saturday this year and we went to dinner.  The Hunters kept the kids and we went to dinner.  We picked up our children and I was blessed with a shower of hot puke from Maggie.  Yum!  She picked up the 24(ish) hour bug that Izzy had earlier in the week.  That Sunday, Maggie and Luke were both sick on the couch for most of the day.  Just before Easter (the Friday before) I thought it was my turn with the sickness.  I had a fever most of the day but rode it out b/c it would be gone by Saturday afternoon.  Well, here we are 2.5 weeks later and I'm still hacking.  I was the lucky one to get bronchitis.  It's just plain awful.  No fever to really speak of, so no real need to take off work.  Because if I'm going to take off work I'm going to keep my kids at home with me, so either way, I wouldn't be getting any rest.  I've been to the doctor twice.  This last time I got some anitbiotics, something to supress the cough during the day and some more hopped up cough medicine.  I hope I kick this soon, it's wearing me out.

Luke has been nominated and accepted into the FBI citizen's academy and is learning classified secrets.  Well, probably not.  But, he is in classes on Thrusday nights and is pretty excited about it. 

We did have Easter in there.  In an effort to spread the love, we did Easter on Saturday with my family and on Sunday with Luke's family.  On Saturday we, and by we I mean Luke and my dad, put up a swing set for the girls at my mom & dad's house.  Hopefully this will help keep Izzy busy during the summer and allow my mom to maybe sit down for a second and breathe!  The girls got more candy then they could eat in 10 years, so as good parents, we are trying to help them out.  The big hit, as always, were the bubbles!  Sadly, since I was hacking up my lungs, we didn't go to church.

Maggie also turned 11 months old on the 12th.  She has 2 bottom teeth and one top tooth and is working on 2 other top teeth right now.  She eats anything.  But, don't start her with finger food and then expect her to eat baby food from a spoon.  She won't have any of that.  Most nights, she eats what we eat for dinner.  She's getting the hang of a sippy cup and we have given up formula for plain ol' milk.  She has FINALLY learned the art of pulling herself to standing and is starting to walk around the furniture.  She is also crawling at full speed and wants to be in the kitchen all the time.

Izzy continues to do well at school.  She is starting to sound out words to figure out what letter it starts with, for the most part she does really well with that.  Now that it is nice out, she wants to play at the park all the time.  Even though we have a swing set in the back yard, she would rather go across the street to play.  Every night when we put her to bed she says "If I have a bad dream, I'll just come downstairs."  And sure enough, she will show up.  Sometimes at 2am, sometimes at 4am, and sometimes at 7am.  I can just picture what it will be like when Maggie is no longer in a crib.  They will either be in bed together or Izzy will go wake her up to come sleep in our bed.

We have a few things to look forward to in May... Terry & Sam's anniversary, mother's day, and of course Maggie's 1st birthday.  After that, we can put all of our focus into our beach trip!

2 months to go

Well, it's been a month since I've put anything new up here.  March has flown by.  We have been busy every weekend and the weeks are just as busy.  We have had a lot of Masonic stuff going on, 2 birthdays, and life in general.

The girls are doing great. 

Izzy is starting to identify more letters by the day.  She can say her ABCs but knowing what they are when they are in print is a different story.  They work on writing their names everyday in preschool and she is getting pretty good at it.  She sometimes writes her letters in reverse, meaning she will start from the far right of the letter and move to the left.  They aren't backward, just unconventional.  She can spell "mom" and "dad" and she wrote mom on the chalk board at church yesterday.  We got a letter from the preschool that they will be doing evaluations with the kids during the first week of April.  I hope she does well.  I worry about her because she is the youngest in the class.  It's a 3-4 year old class, but most of the kids will turn 4 before the year is out.  Izzy won't turn 4 until the next school year is about to start.  If she can't grasp the concept of what they are trying to get her to do (count to a certain number, name the letters in front of her) she will just quit.  But, I try to approach everything as a learning situation.  So, she has been helping find the numbers on the microwave when I use it and I have her tell me the letters she recognizes when we read books.  I know she will be fine, she just has to feel like working with the teachers on the day of the evaluations!

Maggie is now 10 months old.  She is finally crawling forward.  She would go in reverse or just pivot around until she got where she wanted to be.  She's not going super fast, but she can do it.  Her favorite thing to do is go straight for the DVDs and either push them all in or pull them all out.  I've given up on keeping them in a neat line and pulled to the front.  It's just not worth it!  She has two bottom teeth and at least one of her top teeth have broken through.  She has slept a little better the past 2 nights, but last week was rough.  These teeth are causing her a great deal of pain and she just has a hard time eating and sleeping because of it.  She is down to just 3 (or 4) bottles a day and in a few months we will take her off formula (YEA!) and start taking away her bottles all together, if she hasn't done that on her own by then.  She would rather feed herself then to have you feed her with a spoon.  She loves mac & cheese, either the baby food version or the real stuff.  She loves green beans, hates peas.  The other night we fed her beef ravioli that Izzy wouldn't eat.  She loved it!  She wouldn't let me leave her in the nursery at church yesterday, so I took her into service with me.  She actually did pretty good, charming all of the people behind us, but then she was a mama's girl all day and didn't want me to put her down.  I love those moments, but she is a HEAVY girl!

I mentioned 2 birthdays.  Mine was last Monday and Carin's is tomorrow.  I am now 22 and Carin is 24.  We are growing so fast :)  As a result of these birthdays, I have had 2 straight weekends that involved "adult time" and went to dinner and a concert one weekend and then went out to dinner and a bar this past weekend.  I had my dinner with the Hunters on the 14th and Carin and I did our joint birthday dinner at Mom & Dad's this weekend, complete with decorations that Izzy picked out.  Everyone got party hats...

Next up, CARIN'S BIRTHDAY TOMORROW and our wedding anniversary on Saturday.  But, please don't forget CARIN'S BIRTHDAY IS TOMORROW.

9 months and 6 teeth and wet beds

Oh hi.  We've been a bit busy and I haven't posted an update about Maggie turning 9 months old. 

The weather here has been crazy.  Depending on your feelings about snow, you would either love or hate the month of February here in Columbus.  Last week was a shortened week due to President's day, but then I was off again on Tuesday due to the massive amounts of snow we had on the ground.  As a result Maggie's doctor appointment got cancelled and moved to Thursday and I was out of work for another half day.  It's amazing I still have a job.  Since we moved our office, I have been late every day (except for today) or off to the doctor with a child. Here's hoping March looks a little better.

So, Maggie is now 9 months old, as of the 12th.  Where has the time gone?  We switched doctors and I feel so much better about that decision.  Our old doctor was a very nice guy, but he missed an ear infection.  How does that happen?  The new doctor is excellent and said Maggie is great.  She is 24 pounds and 29 inches.  I've been worried about the flat spot on her head since she was about 3 months old.  The old doctor, my cousin Traci, and the new doctor have all told me not to worry about it.  Since they are all in the medical profession, I will stop worrying about it.  We started giving Maggie some table food.  She loves shredded cheese and bread.  We diced up some carrots for her over the weekend and she seemed to like that too.  She now has her 2 bottom teeth and her doctor informed me that she has 4 top teeth coming in.  This is bothering her a lot.  She is not sleeping well at all.  And in turn, neither are we.  But, we will get through this.  She is trying very hard to crawl, and I would bet that it happens pretty soon.  My daydream of her and Izzy wearing the same clothes is over.  Maggie is wearing 18 month clothes.  She is a big girl!

Izzy has been out of school for most of this month.  She is not happy about this!  We thought for sure she would be going back last Thursday as the school district was only on a 2 hour delay, but then they closed.  When I broke the news to her she cried.  She misses her boys, I suppose.  She will go back tomorrow and have a delayed Valentine's party.  She had been sleeping in pull-ups since we started potty training.  She had been waking up dry.  So, we thought it was time for her to start sleeping in her regular underwear, her "big girl unders."  She did so good for a full week.  And then, I bragged.  And she wet the bed that same night.  She was very upset by it so I didn't yell at her.  We got her cleaned up and I let her sleep with us.  And then she did it the next night.  And then she went back to pull-ups.  I"m not sure, but I think maybe she just wanted an excuse to sleep with us.  So, after a week of pull-ups, I put her back in her big girl unders last night.  I even went back an hour after she went to bed to make her go again.  She had already done that on her own.  Shd didn't flush, because she didn't want to wake her baby sister, so I did see the proof that she went again.  On my second trip up to get a crying Maggie, Izzy was awake, and wet.  At 12:10am, I sent her down to sleep with us while I got Maggie back to sleep.  So, it's back to pull-ups for her.  She will get the hang of it, I know she will.  I think she is still adjusting to Maggie. 

But she is doing so good with everything else.  She loves her sister but still needs her one-on-one time.  She has a wonderful imagination and is helpful around the house when she wants to be. She is starting to identify more letters and numbers, which is GERAT!

I can't believe we will be having a birthday party for Maggie soon.  And then, we can go to the beach!  And then have a birthday party for Izzy.  Time goes by so much faster when there are kids involved.

Pictures

Here is the link to the pictures that we had taken on Sunday....
Izzy age 3
Maggie age (6 days shy of) 7 months

http://mjstudio.zenfolio.com/p162829723

6 months

Maggie is officially 6 months old.  We have made it 6 months.  We have made it through sleepless nights, endless crying, an eye infection, thrush, a 4 day stretch of no poop, and her first cold.  She is rolling over, can sit on her own, and is eating rice cereal, fruits, and veggies.  She sleeps through the night, and on the rare occassion that she does wake up, all she wants is her diaper changed.  On the other side of that, she doesn't nap very well.  She doesn't take a pacifier which makes it difficult when she has a hard time falling asleep.  She loves Izzy and is very curious about the dogs. 


Maggie was 7lbs 4oz and 19 inches long on May 12, 2009.  On November 12, 2009 she was 20lbs 11oz and 28 inches long.  I packed away the 3-6 month clothes pretty much before she wore them and I have a feeling I will be packing away the 6-9 month clothes pretty soon.  She is already in 9-12 month sleepers but most everything else in the 6-9 month range will fit.  Socks are a different story.  Her chubby legs and feet are not made for socks.  The socks either cut into her legs or fall off.  I have no doubt that the chubby will melt away once she figures out how to crawl.  She will be following Izzy everywhere, and Izzy doesn't walk!

She has her moments where she cries and cries and screams and cries.  And in those moments we walk, and bounce, and sway, and walk.  It is also in those moments that I realize how quickly she is growing up and how much she has changed in the past 6 months.  The next 6 months will give way to teeth, crawling, walking, and finger foods.  These first 6 months have gone by so fast, I'm just glad I have a camera to capture the moments.

Finally

I'm finally going to get serious about this and start posting updates for everyone who cares.  Because as I see it, if you don't care, you wouldn't be here... right? Right.  Ok, moving on.

Izzy has started preschool and loves it, at least we think she does.  There are 8 children in her class, 2 girls, 6 boys.  It's hard to get her to talk about school, like what they did or what she learned.  Mostly she will say "We played and played."  I haven't noticed a big change in her since she started.  I did notice yesterday that she brought a toy (and all the accessories) up from the play room and when she was done with it, actually took it back downstairs.  I don't know if she put it away once she got it down there, but at least she took it down there.  Izzy loves having a little sister.  She sings to her and talks to her and shares her toys.  I'm very surprised there haven't been any major melt downs over Maggie having one of her toys or Maggie taking over the high chair.  We have moved Izzy to a booster seat at the "big" table and she does wonderful with that.  Now to just get her to eat.  She eats about as much as a baby bird some days.

Maggie is getting over her first official cold.  She had some trouble sleeping this past Friday night and then we started to really notice it Saturday night.  I stayed home with her and Izzy on Monday, and by that point we all had it.  The past few nights she has been back to sleeping through the night in her crib, so that's good... for all of us!  Maggie is a bit high maintenance, so we spend a lot of our time holding her or walking the floor with her to keep her happy.  Since this cold hit her, she is even more high maintenance and our arms and backs are sore from the walking and bouncing and sitting and standing we have to do with her to make her happy.  She gets easily frustrated with her toys and will start to cry when she can't get it in her mouth just the way she wants!  I wonder where she gets that from.....  She is babbling and sitting up straighter and straighter every day, with some support from us, of course.  She rolls 3/4 of the way over and then gets mad at the bottom arm and cries and goes back to her back.  She'll figure it out soon though. 

Nothing new to report other than the growing kids!  Since we are officially in October it's time to start thinking about the holidays coming up.  We will kick off the Holiday season with Luke's birthday on the 13th.