Snow Day

Yesterday it snowed. I know, it was random, but we live in Texas so I expect random. It wasn't even that cold outside to me, and the ground was too warm for anything to stick, but it snowed enough that the kids could go outside and check it out. I will say that these were the biggest darn snowflakes I have ever seen! I tried to get pictures of them but of course it didn't work. I don't know how else to describe it other than they were just huge snowflakes. Beth liked trying to catch the snowflakes while I think Luke was just happy to be outside! After a few minutes outside, their little noses were bright pink so I brought them inside and we all had hot (well, warm) chocolate.

One of the cutest things is while we were outside, there was water coming out of the gutter. Both kids were so fascinated by it and wanted to play in the water, and I was just like- come on, it's a gutter! Then I realized they really don't have any experience with rain water and gutters, as we're always inside when it rains! So I taught Beth about gutters!

at first, luke was hesitant to come off the porch!

"catching" snowflakes

Fall Preview

Ohhh I am sooo looking forward to fall weather so I can get my kids dressed up in their new fall clothes! Here's a preview of what we have in store, hehehe. I love kid's clothes!

9 months old and some random thoughts

coming tomorrow!

edited: You will not BELIEVE what happened. I had a LONG, beautiful post saved that I was going to add here, detailing Luke, the past 9 months, Beth, my motherhood thoughts and I even tied some religion all in there... GONE. How annoying. Deep breath...

I will have to work on this later. What a bummer. In short, here's the numbers:

Luke is 18 lbs even, which puts him in the 10-25th percent for weight, and he's 28 inches long, which puts him in the 25th percent. We visited Dr. F. yesterday for his well-baby checkup, and he has no worries about Luke! Still no teeth, not even any signs of teeth. He is still occasionally pulling up, but he doesn't seem to be in any hurry to get mobile (I guess I'm okay with that!). When Ryan gets home, Luke practically jumps out of my arms to get to Ryan, it must be quite a warm welcome for Daddy with Luke doing that and Beth running to the door yelling, "My daddy! My daddy!" Luke is all smiles all the time now, and his big sister constantly makes him laugh. It cracks me up to see them together, I was waiting for these moments!

All of my other deep thoughts will have to come later... If I can remember them...

Weekend in photos

corn-shucker, from last week. she did this all by herself! (yes, she dressed herself too. when your kid can dress herself, you don't care what she wears!)

i don't remember why he was so smiley, but i love it.

first pathetic cucumber. it's still growing though. if you look closely, you can see a shriveled up one right next to it. that's what happens when they don't get enough water!

another happy picture.

he was playing with daddy on the bed.

our house guest for the week. layla and finley are having lots of fun together!

me and bethie right before i trimmed her hair. it was getting long but it's still thin since her layers weren't even yet. so i fixed that!

what her hair looks like now. if it looks crooked, it's probably because it is!

hee-man. he carried in most of my groceries tonight, all in one trip. and closed the trunk and the front door behind him. and i don't even have to tip him!

kids

(alex, did you teach her this lovely face?)

two and a half

Saturday was Beth's 1/2 birthday. I know I'm a huge dork for thinking about it so much, but there is already such a big difference between 2-yr-old Beth and 2.5-yr-old Beth, so I'll blog about it! And for my records, she was 29 pounds last week at the doctor when she had her post-hospital checkup.

1. Her fascination with Dora the Explorer/Franklin the turtle. I think she likes the consistency between the tv show and the books, not to mention all the toys! She's starting to repeat the Spanish words she here from the show, especially "Para!" which is a command to "Stop!" Ryan and I liked that she couldn't identify any licensed Disney character for the longest time, and that she still has no idea who Hannah Montana or Ronald McDonald or any Disney princesses are. But that if she sees a painting of a woman holding a baby, she usually says it's Jesus and Mary (and she's usually right!). We're just weird like that, but it makes me proud!

2. Hopping. She doesn't walk any more, she hops. She jumps. Constantly. In fact, I have a small video of it, I will add it here later.

3. Fantasy play. She carries on conversations between her toys, dolls or anything really. They talk back and forth about all sorts of thinks, recently I heard a conversation where one doll was telling the other to, "Shh! Be quiet, the baby is asleep!" Ha! What's really cool for me is that I've read in child development books that this would happen- that little girls incorporate what they experience in their daily life into their fantasy play. Supposedly it helps them gain control over the situation- instead of being told by mommy to keep quiet, she has control over the doll telling them to keep quiet. It has to do with defining her place in the world (or something like that).

4. Attitude. The girl has attitude, but I don't think she's a diva. When she doesn't get her way, she's starting to throw things or hit- nothing major yet, usually she's tinkering with a toy and if she can't make it do what she wants, she throws it. Or if I ask her to bring me something, she might throw it the other way. It's still at the point where I kind of want to laugh because her little temper is so cute, but I know not to reinfoce the behavior either. So I reiterate that we don't use our hands that way, and ask her to pick up the item and bring it back to me. She's started yelling at me too, again just occasionally, but it's a big fat reminder to me that I really shouldn't model behaviors I don't want to see her repeat...

5. Giggling. Everything is a joke! She says something and laughs, and puts her hand in front of her mouth as she giggles. She's so girly, it's so cute!

6. Fears. She's started to experience fear in the mildest way. Today she was playing with Ariel and Eric (her dolls) and quickly ran over to me and said, "Mommy, I need to get by you, the deers is going to get me!" She's never been a fan of the deer at Grandma and Grandpa's house, but apparently they've made a big impact on her! She explained to me that she liked baby deers and mommy deers, but not daddy dears. A couple of days ago, she was playing in our shower stall and pulled up the little drain. She hopped out pretty quickly and told me the crocodile was going to get her!!! Where on earth she picked that up, I have no idea, because we don't talk like that around here. In fact, we don't use the wordy "scary" because it paints an image we don't want her to experience yet. In the hospital, nurses kept telling her not to be afraid or scared- she totally wasn't at all but I wonder if the words somehow got to her.

Beth and Luke, playing and dancing

Back at home

Today has been a good day. Beth honestly seems 100% back to her normal self with the exception of her nasty cough and runny nose. Luke is also doing better, his congestion seems to be clearing up. I think Ryan and myself see a light at the end of the tunnel, hopefully tomorrow will be even better!

We started our day with some pancakes and eggs for breakfast, as requested by Beth. Then we went to the park to feed the ducks and swing for a little bit- you wouldn't believe how much energy Beth has after being cooped up in the hospital room for a few days (she was in isolation which means she wasn't allowed to leave her room!). So we got out for a bit in the morning, came home for lunch and naps and spent the rest of the day at home.

ryan likes this picture

Beth is doing great with her breathing treatments, in fact they haven't been an issue at all. We just sit in bed and read while she holds it up to her mouth (she wants to!) and then it's over after a few minutes.

Beth is home!

Beth was discharged this afternoon! She was off oxygen for most of the day and keep her intake up above 95%, so our pediatrician felt comfortable sending her home. We are administering breathing treatments at home every 4-6 hours as needed, but other than that she's supposed to be okay. We're staying in this weekend and taking it easy, as we're still not sure if she's contagious or not. I think Luke has really missed me the past couple of days, he's had my milk in bottles but I can tell he's missed me. He's just a little extra clingy, poor boy.

At some point I'll come back and recap from start to finish our whirl-wind of a week, but right now I am exhausted and want to go to bed! Here are pictures.

right after we checked in, she let them put an IV in and take a chest x-ray without any complaint at all!!!

the next day, starting to feel a little better. this is her face she made quite often, i think it was to help the odd feeling of having the oxygen tube stuck up her nose.

her "ET" thumb. this was the oxygen monitor, so cool. it was just on her thumb, nothing was pricking her, but it constantly monitored her oxygen intake.

the hospital had a very nice lady who came and brought toys and special things for beth- a blanket, bear pillows, toys, movies, stickers, and snow cones! this hospital trip was one big dora-themed vacation for her- stickers, movies, books, toys- you name it. it was all about dora!

Going home, yay!

Beth update

My children are hilarious. I love seeing bits and pieces of us in them- in their attitudes, their looks, their sayings, even their gestures and postures. Ok it's mostly Beth right now, but Luke is starting to become a little kid and show his personality a little more every day.

Beth cracks me up. She loves to mimic right now, mostly words and actions. She frequently will "sit like grandpa," "dance like daddy," or try to copy my facial expressions. She is a follower when it comes to her interactions with her friend Grace. They feed off of each other but Beth will totally follow the mood or actions that Grace initiates. This can mostly be a good thing, but not always, as 2 1/2 year olds and nearly-3 year olds can be moody sometimes! Beth will copy everything I say, which really holds me to a higher standard of speaking. Not that I have a potty mouth, but it means I can't even say something like, "Finley, you're driving me nuts!" because Beth will say it to Luke- "You're driving me nuts!" Etcetera. I'm sure it will get worse! The other day I wiped some goop out of Luke's eye, and not even a few minutes later I caught Beth trying to wipe his eye too, only she wasn't wiping very gently! It's the little things like that, not necessarily bad, but just not things I really want her to repeat either!

And now the musings: I've realized lately that I feel like I'm holding her to too-high standards again, I think I went through this a few months ago right after Luke was born. It's easy to ask her to help me put stuff away, go talk to Luke for a second, go grab this, etc., and brush her off when her requests aren't conveinent for me. She is so mature, I think, for her age, but I've had people tell me they thought she's precocious even since she was 8 months old! Yesterday I was just thinking about her, this little girl who is not quite 2 1/2 years old yet, and how she's still just a baby.

Everyone always says time flies, but not for me. I think it's kind of nice that she acts a little old for her age, because it gives me another chance to actually treat her like her age! So, I'm taking a proverbial step back with her, not in a bad way but I'll treat her like she wants me to. I'll hold her when she asks (which actually means she's less whiny about it the rest of the day, who'd have thought?), I'll look her in the eye when she's talking to me, I'll try my hardest to figure out what exactly she's saying to me, and I won't expect her to share perfectly with her brother. I have high expectations for her but I don't think they're unrealistic- Ryan calls this "managing our expectations." After my ponderings and personal resolutions last night, I had a good day with her today. She just needs to be treated like the little girl that she is!

Here we go...

Yesterday in Wal-Mart I had a "first" with Beth. We were near the baby food aisle and I was looking at items on the shelf, Beth was in the cart about a foot away from me and Luke was in my sling. I was half-listening to her as I was reading labels, but I heard her very clearly say, "Mommy, that man way big!" I quickly glanced behind me and there was an overweight man, hopefully out of earshot, on the other side of the aisle. Of course, she proceeded so say it again since I didn't immediately acknowledge her comment. I had no idea what to say to her or how to handle the situation, this is the first time I'd even thought of what I would say/do if/when she said something rude. Unfortunately I'm not quick on my toes, so I pretended not to hear here and quickly changed the subject about something completely different, got her looking at and talking about something in my hand.

Okay experienced mommys- what do you say to your children when they're rude in public? Yes, I know she's only 2 1/2, but there's definitely a right way and a wrong way to handle a situation like that. I'm going over it in my head again and again, and while I think I have an idea of what to say when it happens again, I want to get advice from my friends!

Dora and Blueberries

Yesterday (Thursday) we went to see Dora the Explorer! Beth adores watching the tv show Dora, I usually DVR it and she watches one or two episodes a few times a week. I found out a local library was having a special Dora visit, so we went to see the little show. It was cute, I guess, Beth had a fun time and I think that's all that matters!

I didn't tell Beth beforehand that we were going to see Dora, I just told her we were going to the library. I took this picture right after I told her we were about to see Dora- she was so happy!

Luke, however, was unimpressed.

Beth and Grace right before the show started, very giddy!

DORA! (and Adventure Tyler, whoever he is!)

I forget how monster teeth were involved, but all the kids got a pair. I put away my germophobe side and let her put them in, they were so funny looking!

Luke, still unimpressed. It got the best of him.

It's nothing short of a miracle that she wanted to hug Dora. This is the first time she's been interested in hugging a character like this, I was fairly impressed.

This morning we went to a blueberry farm! We got there around 9:00 am- ugh it was already so hot, and we stayed till 11 am. All four kids did great (we went with Grace and Colin too), Beth picked maybe 4 berries first thing and then ate out of my bucket as I was picking, so it was sort of a slow effort! She was eating faster than I could pick! Luke played in our new (used) wagon for awhile, then I held him, then I put him down in the wagon. That's right ladies and gentlemen, I laid him in the wagon awake, did out "shushing" and patting that he's used to, and he fell asleep! I thanked God for this miracle, no small feat! I almost filled our bucket, by the time we left (it was too hot and the girls needed to go potty!) I checked out with almost 4 lbs of blueberries at a whopping $1.50 a pound. I actually wanted more, but maybe this will turn out to be more than I think! Last month's issue of Martha Stewart Living had lots of blueberry recipes, so I plan on making a cobbler, pancakes, and maybe a pie or something else fancy. Plus we'll probably eat some of them just plain!

Happy boy at the beginning of the morning!

Beth's bucket stayed pepetually empty, despite my dropping a handful of berries in there every two minutes.

She also did a little tree climbing!

Thank you, Lord, for the miracles you surprise me with!

small fingers in my bucket

but how could i say no to this face?

Here's Luke at lunch today. He's never gotten so messy before! It was so funny! It's avocado and banana, he was eating them out of a mesh feeder and just smeared it everywhere. I should've gotten a picture of the floor too, everything was just a huge mess!

As an update, Beth had a really good time with her grandparents the other night. I don't think she asked for me but one time, and even then she did just fine without me! Looks like maybe Grandma and Grandpa will be enjoying a little more time with Beth... Hehehe. :-)

Bye Bye Bethie!

Today Beth has left us to go spend the night with her grandparents- all by herself- for the first time! They left about 45 minutes ago and I will go pick her up tomorrow morning. So she'll be away from me for less than 24 hours, but spending the night at someone else's house without me present is a whole new thing for us! I have actually only been away from Beth for 4 nights since she was born. Okay, I'll admit I was a little emotional sending her off... But I know she's going to be totally spoiled rotten and will probably not even realize I'm not there. She's been looking forward to this day since we told her a few days ago, so I hope she has a good time!

Little hunter

The other night Beth killed a fly with our fly swatter! See the little speck? She chased him for a good 5 minutes before she finally got him. Ryan is a proud papa!

Happier news

In an effort to not be too depressing, I'll share what I did last night. :-) My friend Katie and I had a ladies night, we went and got massages then went to a new wine bar, topped off with some yummy Taco Cabana. We had hour-long massages (though it was definitely under an hour) and had some good laughs despite our attempts to relax. It was my first massage while not pregnant (I had two while pregnant with Beth!) and I had to keep reminding myself to just relax. At the wine bar, we sat on the rooftop on a beautiful night and split a bottle of Riesling, then not quite ready to go home yet we wrapped up the night with tacos and queso. It was wonderfully relaxing, I had such a great time and am so happy that I have a hubby who encourages me to take "me" time, and that I have a great friend to share some laughs with! The whole thing left me very energized to tackle a new day, luckily it wasn't too rough of a day despite the initial sudden doctor appointment (see post below!).

Here is a cute video from Beth tonight, a nice moment in the day despite the sickness. She's doing "3 little monkeys jumping on the bed."

Luke's room