Not a baby anymore!

I am enjoying being home w/the kiddos this first week of summer! We, like always, have had baseball every night, but have already worked in yard, went to the zoo, signed up for the reading program & conquered a nap routine! I am excited, yet sad that my little girl is growing up. Audrey started to tell us that she pooped. We would check & she hadn't, but 5 min later, she would! So we bought a potty seat. It, of course, turned into a toy, but we've been putting her in it whenever we would normally change her diaper & she has gone twice! Audrey gets so excited when we cheer her on!

Not sure Gavin realizes that his shadow wants to do everything he does! Sometimes he is a GREAT big brother & other times.... Well... Boys will be boys....

First train trip!

Audrey is very into trains right now. We have to watch Chuggington every morning as soon as we get up. My mom's birthday was coming up & I had been saying we should go visit her cousin, but was unsure about traveling a three hour drive w/an 18 month old. So, we took the train.

It was a little stressful at times, but I liked being able to get up & walk or allow Audrey to roam a little bit.

Barbara, my mom's cousin, watches her granddaughters so I didn't have to take anything. Audrey has been cutting her canines so she somewhat showed her true colors as she threw fits & had trouble sleeping. However, she did play pretty well w/Teagan & Logan.

It was nice to relax & just visit!

Escape

Jim & I took a much needed weekend & headed to Galena last Friday night. Miss A stayed w/Grammy & the boys were with their mom.

Out view from our hotel balcony was so peaceful Saturday morning.

We headed downtown to explore the shops, before checking out a wine tasting. This event was HUGE! There were 45 vendors that had 8 or so wines for you to sample. Some also had beer or hard alcohol. Good thing there was food to munch on!

Jim loves sushi, but I have never been willing to try it. Is there a better time than on vacation? We went to Little Tokyo & I ordered a cooked roll. It was surprisingly very good!

Like every down time, we came home to a house full of laundry & no food. I was trying to pay bills when Jim got a call that Gavin had been hit in the head w/a metal bat & he needed to meet Gavin & his mom at the hospital in her town. I'm not good at waiting,but probably wouldn't handle the blood well, either. Gavin is a trooper! Two stitches & a headache coming right up! Did I mention baseball starts Sunday? Ugh!

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!

Tonight we went to the library to have dinner with the cat in the hat! I was so excited to see my Grammy working the food table. I kept waving to her! I got a hat & colored. They had sandwiches with cat shapes on them. I liked the blue jello with a red fish in it! I sat in my seat like a big girl. The cat has been my babysitter before! I was getting antsy so mommy didn't think I would sit for the story or face painting. She took me downstairs to look at books. I didn't want to leave & threw a small fit for mommy. She hopes I get better before story hour this summer!

Messy!

Audrey & I play every evening for about an hour between dinner & bedtime. Tonight we played in the kitchen. Audrey helped me make chocolate pudding. Yumm!

Audrey's 1st ER visit

I hate to say it, but I'm glad we got this "first" out of the way. Audrey started running a low grade temp Tuesday after dinner, but I just chalked it up to teething. She was zonked by 7, but I didn't give it a second thought since it was first day back to daycare. However, we woke up screaming at 2am w/high fever. :(

I do not get along w/thermometers, but after giving up on 2 of my own a friend brought Hera over. Audrey had a temp of 102! Couldn't ever really get it to break & when I checked on her at 9 it was 104!!!!

Sooooo.... We headed to the ER. They did a strep test (negative), chest x-ray (clear), & urine analysis (fine). First 2 tests were a piece of cake, but the third about ripped out my heart. The nurses couldn't get a catheter in her & tried forever only to decide to tape a bag to her. So.Not.Fun!

Finally determined that she had an upper respiratory infection w/a high fever. This momma now knows to alternate Tylenol w/ibuprofen.

We also know now not to give Audrey amoxicillin. She broke out in hives on Saturday....

It is always something around here!

Big girl!

Since we are still on winter break, we have a little more time to eat breakfast & experiment with silverware. Mommy thought Audrey would be a little messy so we stripped our clothes off. She didn't do bad, though, as she experimented with the spoon, her hand, & even her waffle to eat the yogurt.

Swimming!

Audrey & I took an aquababies class during the month of November. She learned so much & loved it! There were only two other kids in the class & one was our good friend, Jacob.

Audrey would start laughing & splashing as soon as we were in the water. We would sing songs like Ring Around the Rosie, Wheels on the Bus, If you're Happy & You know it, & the Hokey Pokey doing motions like reach & pull or blowing bubbles. She would reach for me as I sat her on the side & said "come to me!" We would kick, play w/toys, & go under.

It was a fast 30 min., but she loved it! Audrey also loved playing w\the toilet paper as I got dressed in stall & lockers, too!

Can I freeze time?

I love these moments!

Gavin still likes to cook or do crafts w/me & he has been DYING to make caramel apples. So, as soon as Audrey went to bed tonight we got to work!

He ALWAYS starts out wanting to do everything himself, but by the end he is saying "you do it."

However....I wouldn't change anything for the world!

Happy Birthday, Jim!

Today is Jim's birthday! I won't tell how old he is because it is making him crabby. We had cake tonight w/family & I posted messages from the kiddies on Facebook all day!

Happy Birthday to my favorite guy!

11 months!

Wow! Where did summer go? Oh, that's right! We spent it at the baseball park. I will catch up w/my children someday, but for now I'm checking out the blogger app for my iPhone. This lil miss is 11 months & into everything e en though she is not walking yet. Here are a few pics on her new outside toys.

NEED.TO.FIND.TIME

I really need to find time to tell you what we are up to! Here's a short list:

• Boys started baseball....enough said!


• However, Gman is pitching this year!


• Audrey started rolling on a Thursday and by Monday was trying to get into a crawling position!


• Audrey isn't sleeping 10-12 hours a night like I bragged about forever. She hasn't slept through the night since she started rolling three weeks ago. I wasn't sure if it was allergies, teeth, hunger, growing pains, ears...so after two weeks we went to the doctor. NOTHING wrong with her! We have thus begun to cry it out! I.WANT.TO.CRY!


• Audrey started blowing raspberries this week. The boys love it!


• I have too many projects going on at school to even begin to tell you about!


• Jim is again attempting to coach both baseball teams...ugh! I love that he is active in boys' lives, but I feel like we are constantly running in different directions.


• Ryan was home and Audrey fell in love just like the boys. He deploys at the end of the month.

I promise to catch up and post pics soon!

Unexpected...

An amazing lady in my life passed away yesterday. My stepgrandmother, Betty, lost her battle with cancer. She was always healthy, happy, and strong which is making this harder. I've been praying for peace and understanding for the last few days.

Betty took me in as family immediately and treated my kiddos like her great grandkids, too. It was scary how fast she went downhill this last week. Audrey and I saw her on Tuesday. She was sitting up in her chair eating dinner. By Friday, she was bedridden and they called in Hospice. Betty talked to Audrey Friday night, but that was the last time she knew we were there.

I'm glad that she is no longer in pain. However, it will not be any easier to say goodbye.

Guess who is sitting on her own?

Yep! Miss Audrey!

She isn't completely independent yet, but is getting the hang of it.

Audrey does pretty well until she reaches for a toy.

She can straighten herself up if she falls forward, but if we go to the side or back, we are down for the count.

Mommy is sad that her spring break is almost over!

Basketball

Bailey has been playing basketball at the Y this winter. Looking back at these pictures, I can't believe how big and skinny he is! He actually just walked in from a trip to his doctor and he is 5 feet, four inches tall and weighs 112 pounds!

He has scored points in several different games.

He is good,I just wish that he believed in himself more!

His team won all their games! Bailey had fun and now it's onto baseball!

First Taste of Food

Audrey has been trying to grab our food and since she is 5 1/2 mths, we decided to try food over Spring Break.

We went with sweet potatoes first because we heard green vegetables have more gas. Audrey is already a gassy baby :)

She LOVES sweet potatoes!

Give me more, mom!

Not a fan of green beans, but has been trying them more and more.

First Sickness = No Fun!

I'm on Spring Break and trying to play catch up. Maybe one of these days, I'll post things when they actually happen....

I need to learn to keep my mouth shut! I had said on Monday that "knock on wood, Audrey had been very healthy." Of course, my fellow teachers told me that I had just cursed myself. Low and behold, Audrey's junky nose started effecting her sleep Tuesday night. I decided to stay home and call the doctor because she had a low grade fever and had developed a cough. Doctor ordered breathing treatments ( I know way too much about these with my own health) and a chest xray.

Daddy showed up at the hospital as soon as I text him with the news. I thought, man, she's already a Daddy's girl. He claimed he didn't want me to have to go through that by myself. Dr. Larson warned me that chest xrays are no fun, but I really didn't know what I was in for. I should have let Dad take her in, but I hate hearing her cry and not be able to soothe her. The contraption looked like a medieval torture chamber! She had to sit on this bicycle seat with her arms stretched above her while they closed a clear plastic tube around her. Audrey screamed! Luckily the chest xray came back clear so it was a week of breathing treatments every four hours.

These nebulizers have come a long way since I was a baby! We still have mine and it is about 20 times bigger than Audrey's! Plus, it has a car adapter! Grandma Deb was a little jealous of that remembering all the times we had to stop for Uncle Ryan or my treatments when traveling.

Daddy took her back to the doctor a week later. We really felt that she was starting to feel better. It had been a rough week! Audrey HATED mommy because I was constantly wiping her nose and she was coughing and spitting up after the breathing treatments started loosening everything. We had her sleeping in her carseat, which helped keep her upright, until she was houdini and somehow got out of it and ended up face down on the floor perpendicular to the seat! Mommy freaked and ran to pick her up! I got the biggest grin from her! Needless to say, we are no longer using the swaddler (we have graduated to a sleep sack with arms pinned shut) and we went back to sleeping in the crib immediately!

Here she is the day before her follow up with the doctor. Does she look sick?

Audrey ended up having an ear infection at this appointment! Ugh! So we were to continue the breathing treatments, add an antibiotic, and come back in two weeks.

Audrey and I just got home from her follow-up! This girl is all better and now weighs 17# 4oz!!!