Silly Squat, Bear Crawl, Standing, and First Steps!

Lia has been very busy learning new tricks!

Trick #1: I call this the "silly squat". We have watched each and every one of our children do this. It looks terribly uncomfortable and would seem to require quite a bit of balance.

Trick #2: The Bear Crawl. This maneuver is very practical on driveways where crawling in the traditional manner would be hard on the knees.

Trick #3: STANDING! Lia has been standing up quite a bit lately. Last night we saw her take her first baby steps. We've only seen it happen two times but hope to capture it on video soon!

And here is her other silly pose. I think she is checking out what things look like upside down.

It is not good when the Mommy is sick...

I believe I am suffering from an infection caused by a clogged milk duct. Clogged milk ducts are somewhat common for nursing moms and can lead to an infection called Mastisis if the fluid does not drain properly.... I don't think the infection is very common but I don't know a lot about it. When Chris and Emily were away over Christmas I was hit quite suddenly with chills, nausea and spiked a high fever. That night, it was all I could do to get David and Lia fed and in bed. At one point the nausea was so bad I had to lie my face down on the cool tile in the kitchen floor. Once the kids were in bed my shivering got so bad I found it difficult to open a bottle of Tylenol. I got in a hot bath to stop the shivering then dragged myself to bed. The fever spiked and I felt very worn out the next day. The next day I spent mostly on the couch and was able to function by the afternoon. It was quite odd. I called my doctor and the nurse I spoke with prescribed an antibiotic in case it was an infection. I filled the medication at the pharmacy but began to feel better so I never took it. The clogged duct slowly got better and life went on. Until...

Friday night, our friends Stan and Peggy invited us over to their house so our kids could play together and we could hang out and eat pizza. I had devoloped another clogged milk duct, this time on the other side but it wasn't very bothersome. We were having a good time but I started to feel a little run down around 10:00 and just wanted to go to bed. By the time we got home, I had violent shivers again just like the last time. Luckily, Chris was able to put the kids to bed and I was able to take some Tylenol and get in the tub to warm up. After dragging myself to bed, my fever spiked again. After the tylenol wore off and I started to shiver again, Chris got me some more medicine and took my temperature. It was around 102-103. I would guess it was hotter during the night but I didn't have the good sense to measure it then. I think I was a little delerious.

Saturday, I am very thankful I was able to spend in bed. Chris thought it would be a very good idea for me to take my antibiotics and started the regimen of taking them 4 times a day... yikes! I didn't get out of bed till 3:00 and have felt better since. To entertain the kids, he blew up the bouncy castle from my cousin Tony in our living room. What a sight that was... it took up the whole room! Emily thought it was cool but David was too scared to get in it. Thank goodness he was able to take over for me.

Sunday, I felt quite a bit better. We all went to church together and got some things done around the house. I think I will survive but I feel like I've been put through the ringer. Hopefully next week's post will be more focused on the fun things we have done and cute pictures to go with them. On that note, Chris is working on a family vacation for us. We have decided to go to Monterrey for spring break. We have enough frequent flyer miles for most of our tickets and enough Marriott points for a 6-7 night stay at a Residence Inn so it should be very economical and lots of fun.

Today is MLK day so I have Emily home so I need to come up with something fun for us. More later...

Michelle

I guess Christmas is over...

We spent the weekend taking down the Christmas tree and decorations. So sad. The lights are still up in our front yard though. David dearly loves running around outside and playing winter wonderland. We may have to leave them up a little longer - they are so festive.

Saturday, we treated the family to pizza and a movie. I put on my all time favorite musical, Annie. Emily seemed to enjoy it as much as I did. David, no surprise, was not that interested.

Emily sang at the children's mass on Sunday morning and helped me teach faith formation after that so we had a busy morning. Chris took the kids to the park in the afternoon and I was able to sneak a nap in with Lia - always a treat!

I had the hot tub removed from our back yard last Thursday. We have no need for it and I have been wanting to clear it out since we moved in. The man who sold it to the previous owners was happy to take it away. He may be able to refurbish and sell it so hopefully he can benefit from it. I am now trying to find someone to remove our decks and dispose of the rotting wood. Once all that is cleared out we may put in a concrete patio. Something simple. I guess that is the 2009 project.

David continues to do well with his potty training. He is not having many accidents. We are mainly trying to get him to do his #2 business in the potty. He is struggling with that but we have had some success so I suppose it is coming along.

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As for the weekly pictures, here is Emily proudly displaying her artwork. My aunt Debbie gave her a paint kit with all these great stencils and glitter. She loves to paint! I was very impressed with her work. Painting is messy business and I was quite pleased that she took the clean up process very seriously. Her Nana showed her how to wash all her brushes in soapy water and she spent quite a bit of time cleaning when she was done. Very responsible!

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And here is Lia, in her new snuggly purple suit from Great Grandma Morgan. I have been trying to take pictures of the kids with their presents for thank you notes. Gotta get those done soon! Lia has been extremly active this week and eating a ton of food. It is impressive to see her put away a meal! She is also getting more and more interested in what her siblings are doing. We were also able to get her to take sips of milk from a sippy cup. This is a great achievement because it means I can leave her with other people for longer periods of time. She sure is cute!

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And here is David with his crazy googly eyed dinosaur book. He is really growing up on me. He talks nonstop these days and is really enjoying being back at school. Now that he is potty trained, he goes to the kid's gym when I go to the YMCA. He used to go to the baby room so this is a big deal for him. The last time we went, he was playing with all these little boys in the "castle" and having a grand time. Our bedtime routine has been the same for a while. After bath and brushing teeth, we read two books and then sing songs. His song selection changes periodically, but lately we sing the ABC song, Jingle Bells, then he says, "The Eyes of Texas, Mommy and you're outta here..." Then I sing the Eyes of Texas, then Yea Orange, Yea White, then the Texas fight song... we practice our longhorn sign with our fingers and of course a big kiss.

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It is time for bed. I'll try to update soon.

Chef Emily, Haircuts, and Potty Adventures

Emily was invited to Emma's 4th birthday party today. It was a cooking theme and the kids made their own personal pizzas and decorated cupcakes. Peg, Emma's mom, did a great job with the decorations. She had the party room all decked out in pink and polka dots. She wrapped the chairs with pink sashes and flowers. It was awesome. The kids decorated their own chef hats and got to come home with aprons and cupcakes. Here is a picture of Emily showing off her work and a short video of her describing the process. She is so proud.

Cupcake decorating is a very complicated process. Here is the video:

Since we are potty training David, we are spending a lot of time around the house. He is also spending a lot of time naked. He has graduated to using his potty ring on the big potty and is doing an awesome job with the pee. We are struggling with the other nasty stuff. Ew. Anyway, I cut Chris and David's hair in the back yard today. I haven't cut Chris's in a while and still really enjoy doing it. He sits really still and is appreciative of my effort. I can't say the same for David. Haircuts are still very traumatic for him. We had to strap him in his booster seat and we took turns holding his head and arms to get the job done. Though challenging, the result is still awfully cute. So yes, both Daddy and David now have exactly the same hair cut. Chris was a little annoyed that I wanted to take a picture of his haircut while he was eating his lunch but cooperated anyway. Here are the neatly trimmed men in my life:

What is that Lia doing now....?

Lia has a new trick! Over the past few days she has started to "cruise" more confidently down the couch. Today, while Chris had the big kids, she decided to use the chair as a walker! Oh my goodness. This video is her 3rd attempt. She was napping when everyone got home and I was able to show them the video right away.

And here are the kids silly sayings:

Emily says, "wrecking it all up." I am fairly certain this came from the kids at school. As in, "I was trying to put glitter on my picture and David keeps wrecking it all up."

David says, "Don't use those worms." for "Don't use those words." He knows it is not correct but thinks it is mighty funny to say it anyway.

Happy New Year!

We spent New Years Eve at home this year. The kids were treated to pancakes, their favorite dinner... and Chris and I treated ourselves to lobster! Chris made me lobster for my last birthday and did such a great job with it on the grill we thought we should indulge again. Even, better, we got them on 'manager special' at Kroger for a great price - $10 each. With a little asparagus, butter, and a fine Fume Blanc from my parents - it was a fabulous meal. Chris and I made it to midnight and rang in 2009... and then promptly went to sleep. It is almost comical to see lobster and fine wine set on the table with sippy cups in the background....