Hiking!

Walter and Jem love going hiking with Daddy.  Especially Jem.  I like hiking too, but it is harder to do with a baby and toddler to worry about.  The picture on the right was taken last summer.  You can see how happy they were.  The picture on the left was taken last month.

Post Wide Yard sale!

Probably my most favorite day of the year besides Holidays is the post wide yard sale.  I love yard sales.  I love getting a good bargain.  My husband had to teach a scouting class so I had to get a babysitter.  I only went for five hours so I missed a bunch of yard sales.  I would have gone longer if my husband had been watching the kids.  Oh Well!  I had a blast those five hours.  I will post more tomorrow with some pictures of a couple of my finds.  I have to get to bed.

Rilla!

Rilla turned 18 months old on Monday.  What a sweet little girl.  I am so happy to be her Mom.  I love the Toddler age as well.  She is pretty good about listening (not nearly as many tantrums as Jem had and she listens better).  She says, "Up" now.  She has other words that she says, but this is the first one she pronounces the ending letter.  My two older boys never got attached to blankets, but she has.  Luckily there are three that are the same (two yellow and one white) so I can wash one if it gets dirty, etc.  They are afgans my Grandmother made for Jem, Rilla, and Shirley (She hadn't started making them when I had Walter).  Rilla, of course has laid claim to all three, so the boys can't use them.  She only weighs 21 pounds and Shirley already weighs 17 1/2 pounds.  He is closing in on her.  She is in the 5th percentile for her weight (but 60th percentile for her height) while he is in the 95th percentile for his weight (and 90th percentile for his height).  I was very surprised when I first saw her after she was born.  I was expecting a bald baby and she came out with a full head of very dark blonde hair (it even looked brown).

What fun it is to look back at pictures of her when she was a baby. Her hair gradually lightened up. She eventually did lose most of her original hair she was born with but she has plenty of it now. If I don't put her hair up, it is in her face (plus she gets static cling really easy). Sometimes she doesn't want me to do her hair (like today) so it is getting harder to do.

Ear Infections!

Rilla and Shirley have been sick for two and a half weeks and just kept getting worse. last Saturday I took them to urgent care because Shirley was coughing and wheezing (like he did when he had RSV) and Rilla had started running a fever on Friday and was rubbing her right ear a lot. The doctor said they were fine, that they just had colds. I didn't agree with him, but I am also not the type to argue with a doctor. I knew Shirley's coughing and wheezing could be helped with a nebulizer treatment. So the last few days, they didn't get any better and at 3 am this morning Shirley woke up crying and was inconsolible. No matter what I did, he couldn't go back to sleep. I knew he was in pain of some sort. I thought it might be an ear infection because he has been rubbing his right ear as well. Luckily I had well baby checkups scheduled for them today (Rilla's 18 month and Shirley's 4 month). I had them with Doctor Collazo, and I love Doctor Collazo. He is such a good doctor and takes the time to really check and find out what is wrong when kids are sick (he is the one who had Shirley tested for RSV when I took him in two months ago). Most doctors wouldn't have even checked to see if he might have RSV. I was right. They both had double ear infections. Poor kids. I am so happy that they seem to be feeling better, especially Shirley. He didn't smile for us once all morning, but now he is since he is feeling better, plus he isn't coughing and wheezing so much either.  (Both of these pictures were taken by Jem)

Walter was sick with a stomach bug for a couple of days two and a half weeks ago but didn't catch the head colf/flu until yesterday. His started with a sore throat so I kept him home from school. It turned into a pretty high fever but he seemed to be feeling better tonight and actually ate some saltene crackers and top ramen (he ate almost nothing since Monday Night). Jem was sick last week but is much better now. He got the stomach bug pretty bad. Last Wednesday I had to take him to the bathroom atleast 15 times and he threw up twice. The next day he was doing much better, but did catch the head cold/flu. His symptoms have been really mild compared to the other three. I am crossing my fingers he doesn't get any worse.

It has't been all that bad. At least until last night, all of them have been sleeping through the night so I have been getting good sleep. I think that makes a big difference in a Mom's (or Dad's) sanity and patience when it comes to taking care of sick kids. i do look forward to Rilla being her normal happy go lucky self once a gain. Plus, I really hate seeing my kids sick.

Stone Soup!

You gotta love elementary school productions.  This year the first graders put on "Stone Soup".  Walter was very excited about us coming and seeing it.  He sang in the chorus.  We invited Teah and her girls to come along.  Aside from not being able to hear most of the narration and actors, it was really cute.  It was fun hearing the kids singing.  Here is Walter in his costume and with his class right before the play.

Each parent was asked to bring a dozen cookies for refreshments afterwards. Here is Jem and Teah's oldest daughter helping me make cookies.

During the play, Rilla and Teah's youngest daughter didn't really enjoy sitting on the bench for so long, but they loved the last song, which was very upbeat, and they loved all the clapping at the end, even though they had no idea why they were clapping.

Tantrums!

I love being a Mom.  I really do.  It is so much fun watching my children grow.  I can even get a good laugh over a tantrum.  Rilla had a huge one today over something silly.  She is still getting over being sick so she has had a lot of tantrum this past week.  When it gets really bad I know she is very tired and needs a nap (she sleeps a lot when she is sick).  Today she threw the major tantrum when we went to get our mail from the mail box.  I had to carry her home (about a block and a half) kicking and screaming.  As soon as I laid her in her crib she stopped crying and and calmed right down and went to sleep.  I love that she likes her crib (with her 3 blankets and pacifier and a small stuffed animal or two) and settles right down for her naps and bedtime.  It is a comforting place for her.  Even when she wakes up, she usually just lays there for a while before she decides she wants to get up.  All of my kids sleep really well and I am very grateful for that.

I Rearranged!

Last month I rearranged my living room/dining room/playroom.  We have lived here about a year and that is the longest we have lived in one place for a while that I had the overwhelming desire to rearrange.  The living room and playroom have been switched and the dining room moved a little since I was able to move the desk into the playroom.  Here are pictures.

The first picture is taken from our front door. The two of the living room and play room are taken from the dining room. The two of the dining room are taken from the living room. The middle bottom picture is of our new entertainment center that I bought at the thrift store for $95.00. It is made from real wood, not particle board like our last one. I have learned my lesson about buying particle board furniture. It does not last very long when you move frequently. I love yard sales and thrift stores. I love getting good bargains.

Multi-tasking!

Isn't it nice to know that Daddy's can successfully multi-task too:) This was too cute not to post.

Brothers!

This was so cute I had to take pictures and share it.  On Tuesday I told Walter to get two books to read for homework (they have a reading program at his school).  He got his two books and sat down by Shirley who was lying on the floor and read the two books to him.  Shirley loved it.  Jem also joined in and listened.  How cute.