Dentist!

I took all 4 of my kids to the dentist yesterday.  It was Rilla's and Shirley's first time.  Luckily, Walter and Jem like going to the dentist.  I hated it growing up, but that was because I had some bad experiences.  Here is what Walter said when we drove into the parking lot, "Oh, I love this place."  We go to General Dentist and they are very good with kids.  They get balloons when they are done and it definately helps.  The promise of a balloon got Rilla to lay in the chair, let them look at her teeth and then clean them.  She wasn't too sure how she felt about being there at first.  I could tell she was a little scared.  It also helped that her two brothers are such good examples.  NO CAVITIES for the older three!  I am very happy about that, but must admit that it must be because they got their Father's genes on that one (he didn't have his first cavity until he was 23 years old).  I must confess I am not the greatest at making sure they brush really well and they hardly floss.  Shirley has one on his front top tooth.  You can see it when he smiles.  He has had the dark spot there since he was 9 or 10 months old and I think it is because he was severely anemic during that time (we found out at his 9 month check up).  He was put on iron supplimments for a few months and I saw an improvement in the color of his teeth growing in (they were a darker pearl color instead of almost transluscent).  They are still unable to get x-rays of Jem's teeth because he has such a high gag reflex.  They even have tv's on the ceilings so they can watch cartoons while lying in the chair.

Update on Jem!

I haven't written about Jem lately.  He is doing great.  He seemed to grow up so much in the last few months.  He is doing so much better in preschool.  He doesn't hurry and scribble just to get done quicker so he can go play.  He knows most of his letters and is very good at counting.  He has never been as excited about learning as Walter was.  He also has a lot more energy than Walter and a very good imagination.  He is our entertainer.  He is such a fun boy.  These pictures pretty much sum up his personality:






He is a very good brother. He can get a little too rough some times, but for the most part he is very nice to his siblings. He loves Shirley. He is very protective of him. He teases Rilla sometimes, but the two play really well together most of the time (while Walter is at school). When Walter is home, he and Jem play together. Shirley looks so much like Jem did at his age.



Jem's love language is Physical touch. If you haven't read the Book, "The Five Love Languages of Children" by Chapman, I highly recommend it. It helps me understand Jem so much better and not get so frustrated when he jumps on my back or punches me while running by. I know he is showing me affection and instead of yelling at him I ask him to give me a hug instead. I like this last picture of him. He looks so cute and angelic in it. He really is a good boy and I am grateful to have him as my son. He sure has taught me a lot. Walter has always been easy for me to understand because he is so much like me. Jem is more like his dad. He is very social, just like Gil, too. He loves when we have guests over for dinner. He talks their ear off. Jem really makes our lives more enjoyable.

Update on Shirley!

Shirley is doing so well now. I am very happy to be done nursing. he takes a bottle now and sleeps through the night again. The first night I stopped nursing him he threw a 2 1/2 hour fit. The second night it only lasted an hour and the third he slept through the night. He loves dogs (too bad he is actually allergic to them). I bought him Bolt from the Disney store a couple of months ago and he loves it. He even sleeps with him.


I used o give him his nebulizer treatments (morning and night) while I nursed but I had to find a new way because he hated sitting still for it and he especially hated the mask. We discovered he LOVES The Wiggles, so I put that on and I hold him and he will let me put on the mask and he leaves it on while he watches.  The second picture is of me trying to give him the treatment before I figured out about The Wiggles.  It looks like he is cooperating but that is only because Gil was entertaining him (which he couldn't always do).


He is eating well now, too. We have a pretty good number of foods he can eat and we only feed him those foods. For a treat he gets marshmallows. He loves marshmallows. If he is ever grumpy all I have to do is offer him marshmallows or to put The Wiggles on and he cheers right up.


Yesterday, he discovered dirt. He really enjoys playing in it. I don't enjoy it so much. He brought a bunch of it inside today. Oh, well. I know I shouldn't worry about a little dirt. Of course, the dirtier he gets, the more I will have to bathe him. I only give him a bath once a week, unless he needs another one, because of his eczema. The water dries out his skin and when his legs and feet are uncovered he scratches them, even in the bath. I had to start putting tights on him (with the feet cut off) during the day to keep him from scratching behind his knees and causing them to bleed. I also have to keep socks on him at all times because his ankles, especially his right, have the worst eczema. Back to playing in the dirt. I gave him a bath tonight because of it. He sure does love taking baths.


He is almost 17 months old and it is such a fun age. He loves teasing Rilla and testing his limits. He communicates very well. We are working on him using words for things instead of screaming or yelling. It is working pretty well. He must be going through a growth spurt because he is eating so much lately. He is on a special formula called Neocate. It is an amino acid based food suppliment. It tastes awful and he wouldn't drink it at first. I had to start small. I started by putting half a scoop in diluted juice (half water half apple juice) and slowly increase the amount. I am up to 2 1/2 scoops (in 6 oz). I feel better that he is getting the extra nutrients that he probably is not getting on the few foods he is able to eat.


He loves his brothers and sisters and his Daddy. He especially loves it when Gil gets home from work. This is a picture of Gil trying to do push-ups during his lunch break (yes, he is wearing a backpack with weights in it- he does like a thousand of them a day).

But at the end of the day, I have to admit, he is a Mamma's Boy.  He prefers me most of the time.  I don't mind most of the time.  I know it won't always be that way and then I will miss it.

My Blog Book!

I was very excited when I started blogging to be able to print it off and count it as journaling.  I used to be so good at keeping a journal until I got married and had kids.  Then last month I read Linda's blog about a web site that you could download a free program and make it into a book.  It is www.blurb.com.  I downloaded it and the program transfers your posts with their pictures.  Then it puts them into a selected layout and then I was able to change each page how I wanted. I really enjoyed making it and I love how it turned out.  I had to change our nicknames back to our real names and that took some time. I am going to make a new one each year.  My book was 82 pages and only cost 44.95 plus S/H.  Here are pictures of my book with some of my pages.

Military Carnival!

Last Saturday, Our Post had a military carnival to celebrate the military child.  I took the kids last year and they had a lot of fun.  This year Gil got to come so it was much more fun.  The only downside was we had bad weather this year and most of the outdoor activities, like the Jump castles and pony rides, were cancelled.  They had games, activities, a BBQ lunch, cotton candy, and entertainment.  I love that the military has activities like this, and it is all free.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter!  We had a pretty good Easter.  Walter woke up sick.  He caught what Shirley had last Thursday.  Luckily, it was only lasted a day for each of them, though Shirley's asthma kicked in on Saturday from it.  He is doing better today.  Hardly any coughing anymore.  Gil stayed home from church with Walter and Shirley.  I teach nursery, so need to go if I can.  The kids were very excited when they woke up and saw their Easter baskets.  Rilla loved her dress.  She loved getting dressed up.  I had braided her hair Saturday so it was all wavy yesterday.