Merry Christmas 2012!!

Christmas Eve...they were so excited.  And hey, those outfits look vaguely familiar!!  (if you're confused, see prior post!)

Santa arrived!!!

This is as good as it gets with all three.

Time to dig in!



Christmas didn't start off the best.  Emmi actually started vomiting yesterday morning.  I've never seen someone so tiny throw up so much.  It was scary!  And she went 4 1/2 hours without even attempting to eat anything.  That's a very, very long time for our baby who likes to snack *at least* every two hours around the clock!!  But she's doing much better today.  Still not eating a whole lot or quite as often as normal, but she's making more of an effort and she's giving me some wet diapers again!  (for a while there her diapers were remaining completely dry)

Anyway, Santa was really good to the girls this year!  He brought them a few things that they really, really wanted.  And of course, they had to open every single thing they got by the time they went to bed tonight.  Puzzles, gymnastics Dora doll, princess dresses, three board games, a leapfrog learn to read program, etc, etc, etc.  Everything was out of the box by tonight!!  They didn't show the initial excitement upon unwrapping their gifts that I was expecting.  And I must admit, I was kind of bummed.  I was wanting them to be bouncing off the walls with excitement...and they weren't.  With each gift they opened, they were like "great, ok, what's next."  But don't worry...they ended up bouncing off the walls!!

Hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas!! 



Obsessions

The big girls....are obsessed.  With what you may ask?  With clothes.  What clothes?  Well, it depends on the time of year.  Way back in April, they received new Easter dresses from Grandma J.  Well, those Easter dresses then became wear-every-single-day-that-mom-will-let-us dresses.  And because I wouldn't let them wear them to daycare (because I worried about how they would play on the playground comfortably in a dress), they decided that Easter dresses were the best possible option for pajamas.  And because Nate and I weren't in the fighting mood (pick your battles, right?), we let them wear their Easter dresses to bed almost every single night of the summer.

Fast forward to October.  Grandma L and I bought them new outfits for their birthday.  I know you know where this is going.  This is the *new* wear-every-single-day-that-mom-will-let-us outfit.  I'm on the verge of hiding them.  I let them wear these outfits to daycare since I don't have to worry about the logistics of them playing outside in them (partly because they're not dresses and partly because they now wear snowpants outside anyway).  But they don't care if they wore the outfits to daycare the day before, you can bet they will ask to wear them again the very next day...to which I say "ummm, no."  They whine...and beg...and I have to insist that they're dirty and need to be washed.  Obsessed.

They had their Christmas party today at daycare and there was a little gift exchange.  So I had purchased a gift for two of the other little girls and wrapped them last night.  Well the girls saw the gifts sitting on the table before bed last night and got really excited about their upcoming party.  I figured that was bad news...and I was right.  At 6 o'clock this morning, they were in my room asking if it was time to go to daycare yet.  "No, go back to bed."  Surprisingly, they did.  And they both actually fell back to sleep! 

But it was so cute this morning to see how excited they were to give their classmates the presents they bought for them.  Livi knew that she had gotten a gift for Cierra and Addi knew that her gift was for Abigail.  The whole way to daycare, they kept saying how Cierra and Abigail were going to be so happy to get their presents!

Lastly, we had our Christmas with Grandma and Grandpa J on Sunday.  The girls were just giddy with anticipation.  They scored some really neat and fun things from grandma and grandpa.  One of the things they received was a twin size bedding set.  Nate and I are getting them twin beds for Christmas.  So grandma found an absolutely adorable princess comforter, pillow case and bed sheet for their new beds.  The girls were so excited about it that they had to sleep with their new pillow cases right away that night!  Now we just have to get their new beds!!!

And so it begins

It's that time of year for the sick bug to make its presence in this house.  Yuck.  Surprisingly, I was the first one to come down with it!  I rarely get what everyone else gets (I think my immunities might be a little higher than average from working in the ER), but if I do manage to get the sick bug, I'm not usually the one to start its run through our house!  But yup...this time I did.

The stomach bug hit last weekend.  Just me.  And we were hoping to keep it contained to just me since the big girls were at Grandma and Grandpa L's for a couple of days.  Well it hit Nate on Wednesday.  And then late Thursday morning I got the call from daycare that I had to come pick up Addi because she threw up.  Ugh.  When I went to pick them up, Livi actually wanted to stay.  In the two years the girls have been in daycare, if one was sick, they both stayed home sick.  And if one came home early, the other would come home early.  They simply didn't want to be there without the other.  But on Thursday, Livi completely shocked me...I told her I was taking Addi home and she asked if she could stay and play with her friends!!  By all means, please do...I was already leaving Emmi there because I thought it might be hard to nurse a baby while trying to throw a bucket under my puking child.  So it was best if the healthy kids stayed till Nate was done with work.

Anyway, Addi is on the mend.  And knock on wood, but both Livi and Emmi have managed to stay healthy.  Since we're a couple days out from Addi's sickness, I'm hoping the other two are in the clear...and I'm already wishing the cold and flu season was over!!!

Finally, a little update on Emmi.  She discovered her feet within the past week.  And boy does she love playing with them!  She's given herself a few little scratches on her legs trying to grab at her toes all the time.  She also still loves putting her fingers in her mouth.  Only now it's become a game to see just how many fingers she can fit!  It's not uncommon to see her with at least eight of her fingers jammed inside...sometimes the only digits spared from her little mouth are her thumbs!  And she tried some rice cereal for the first time a week ago.  She was really watching me eat that day so I figured, hey, why not.  She did really, really well!!  I'm not quite ready to make it a daily thing for her yet but I'll keep giving her a taste of solids every few days.

Well you don't say!!

Just too sweet, I tell ya.

She looks nervous to me!

Those big blue eyes get me every time.

She definitely makes me smile!!

The house is eerily quiet...

Because the twins aren't here!!  Even with little Emmi really, really finding her voice the past couple of days, the house is still pretty gosh darn quiet.

We had a family reunion in my hometown yesterday.  And this morning, we came back home with Emmi and the twins stayed with Grandma and Grandpa L.  They have a day of vacation to use up at daycare before the end of the year, so they're staying with grandma and grandpa until late Tuesday afternoon.  If we don't use the day of vacation, we just lose it.  So we might as well try to save a little bit of money by keeping them out for that day!

Leading up to this weekend, I was excited to have a couple nights where I didn't have to battle night time routine, play referee, hear the word "mommy" more times in an hour than I can even count, etc.  But now that we're back home and the twins were left behind...I miss them terribly!

I've called my mom at least four times today to check in on how they're doing.  Do they miss us?  Are they behaving?  Are they having fun?  At one point today, I guess Addi said that she "wants her mommy."  So grandma told her that they could load her stuff up and take them back home...to which she promptly replied with a big fat no.  I guess she doesn't miss me quite that much!

We're in the middle of a snowstorm, so earlier today they went outside to play in the snow for the first time this winter.  They "cooked" grandma and grandpa some macaroni and cheese and hotdogs.  They took a two and a half hour nap...which probably had a lot to do with how late they were up last night because they didn't want to leave the reunion and all of their "friends" (i.e. cousins).  The last I checked in, they were stealing spaghetti and meatballs off of grandpa's plate. 

Overall, they're having a blast.  But I can honestly say that I'll be anticipating their arrival back home.  On Tuesday, I'll take Emmi to daycare as normally scheduled and by the time Nate and I get back from work, the twins will be home!  I can't wait to hear all the stories they'll have to tell about their weekend away at grandma and grandpa's!!

Four months!

I can barely believe it.  Miss Emilia is four months old today.  Already.  So sad. 

She had her appointment yesterday and I was shocked at her size...or lack thereof!  She weighed in at 13lbs 3oz and was 25 1/2 inches long.  Skinny little Addi was 13 1/2 pounds at four months!  Emmi actually weighs less than Addi did!  That's just crazy to me.  Plus Addi was shorter in length than Emmi is.  So Emmi really is a little string bean...long and skinny.  But Dr K isn't concerned in the least.  She's hitting all of her milestones, she's interactive, she's happy, etc.  So we'll roll with it!

I asked Dr K about Emmi "snacking" instead of eating a good "meal."  Unfortunately, she said that there's really nothing we can do to change that.  She said some babies like that feeling of having a Thanksgiving dinner every 4-5 hours (i.e. a very full, almost overstuffed belly).  And some babies prefer to graze all day long.  That's Emmi.  The little girl will act ravenous and when I sit down to nurse her, she nurses on one side for a few minutes and calls it quits.  All the books about breastfeeding tell you to offer the second side once baby is done with the first side.  Ha!!  She's not the least bit interested.  And with the bottle, she rarely, rarely takes more than 2oz at a time.  We'll offer her a 3oz bottle, but without fail, she stops after 2oz.  Because of this snacking (either via nursing or via bottle feeding), she wants to eat every hour and a half around the clock.  BUT...she's healthy.  So that's all that matters.  And if she needs to eat every hour and a half, well then that's what we'll do!!

We got the green light at the appt to begin some rice cereal with her.  Addi, Livi and Elli all started at four months as well.  However, I know the guidelines are kind of changing and some pediatricians are recommending waiting till the baby is closer to six months to start.  But Dr K said to follow her lead.  If she's watching us as we eat and following the fork's path from plate to mouth...she might be ready.  As of right now, she doesn't seem to notice.  So I think we'll wait just a little bit longer.

Oh yes, her shots.  She did fabulous.  She cried for less than five seconds.  I scooped her up off the table, she whimpered a bit, and then she was done.  After the nurses left the room, I fed her.  And afterwards, she produced the biggest smile I've ever seen from a baby who had shots not even 10 minutes earlier.  What a trooper. 

Addi and Livi showering her with love.

Pure sweetness.

Four months old with her bunny.

And a little hammin' it up for the camera!!