Unfinished

 

I bought this pretty stack of fabrics in the summer of 2011, with grand plans for beanbag chairs and poufs. They showed up on my doorstep my first day of morning sickness with Andrew. Not only was I not in the mood to sew, but just looking at them made me feel nauseous for months after, even when most of the pregnancy nausea had passed (craaaazy, right? guilt by association?) I have come across them in my box a few times since then but haven't done anything with them. 

We painted Ellie's room and are in the process of cleaning out all the stuff that got dumped there during our move 5 months ago. I have spent several hours in there, twice now, cleaning up, and then suddenly more things appear. But it's for real this time (I think?). The boys are getting big beds soon, and the second crib will move from their room into hers. The dresser is already there. She won't actually move in there for a while yet because it's just too convenient to have her in a bassinet next to our bed! But the room needs to be done. Decluttering on my mind.

I unpack a box labeled "fabric". I survey several baskets filled with skeins of yarn, some half-used, some still unwrapped. I see stacks of felt in a corner. I open a plastic tub filled with embroidery floss, thread, bobbins, yards and yards of elastic. I sigh as I pull out bag after Joann's bag with items for various projects that I purchased and never completed. Quilts, fabrics for half a dozen skirts, Jesse Tree ornaments (begun four years ago), crocheted blankets and hats, a playmat for cars. The state of my crafting life can only be described as unfinished.

 

Very early stages of car playmat with all our favorite places

 

This fabric? Not photographing great, but a gorgeous, silky, silvery-gray swimsuit fabric. Because I couldn't find a maternity swimsuit top I liked, I was either going to make my own with a pattern drafted from a shirt I have, or have my more-talented sister make it for me. It never materialized. This stuff is expensive, ya know!?

It hasn't all been a flop; I HAVE done a lot of projects over the past couple years. And I was completely caught up on all scrapbooking over the summer (now I'm 6 months behind, but that's the way it goes?) I just can't stand the thought of all the precious time and money I've poured into starting these projects, only to have them sit in the closet for another 4 years. Or 14.

 

I emptied the bins and bags and put it all in this box. At least it's all organized and folded now, and it will sit in Ellie's closet for the time being - easy access. All the notions and threads went into the plastic 3-drawer bin.

I have never really had my own dedicated craft space, and I still don't. We have enough storage space in this house that storing these supplies really isn't a burden, but I'm tired of storing them. I need to use them. 2014 is going to be the Year of Finished Projects. And oh, we have a lot of them around here. Before the crafts will come the upstairs bathroom, nursery, and basement clean-and-clear-out - but the crafts will happen, too.

Ellie Claire

There are so many little things I don't want to forget, things I am already forgetting. Ellie was 3 months old on Wednesday, and the amount of photos and documenting I've done has been woefully inadequate. Girl doesn't even have a baby book yet! What a cliche for child #4. (I will be buying her one this week.)

  

Nicknames: Ellie, Elle, Elles, Elphaba, Ellie-belle.

Stats: At 7 weeks, she was 13 pounds. She doesn't go for a check-up for another month. 97% weight and 97% height; she definitely belongs to us. ;)

At 3 months, she is in size 3 diapers and 6mo clothing.

Sleep: She is actually a pretty good sleeper now. She had a few nights about a month ago where she'd sleep 6-7 hours straight (!!!) but that didn't last; thankfully, I didn't have my hopes up very high after my last 3 mediocre-to-poor sleepers. She is usually up 2-3 times a night. I can usually squeeze one good nap out of her a day, and a couple catnaps. She usually wants to be rocked for a few minutes before I set her in her bed; usually that settles her down enough so that she can fall asleep on her own. Sometimes she falls asleep in my arms but she doesn't transfer very well (does any baby?)

Temperament: Ellie was born at 3:16am, spent the first day of her life eating a lot and being generally pleasant, and the first night of her life fussing and squirming and wanting to eat and be held. I finally came to the conclusion that she must be cold - the hospital room was pretty chilly and she was in that little plastic bassinet all by herself, just wrapped in a swaddle blanket with a thin hat. I added an extra blanket and that seemed to help. Second day, calm and chill; second night, lots of fussing and thrashing. I was thinking, "What am I going to do with this baby at home!?!?" Thankfully she mellowed out a lot once we were home and she could be in the cute warm pajamas I got for her. She is totally a summer girl and likes to be warm (it was August but with the air conditioner on everywhere we went, her head and arms were always chilly!)

She was a pretty fussy little girl her first couple months. Not colicky, necessarily, just not as calm as the boys were. She had a few evenings where she just cried and cried and I didn't know what to do for her. She is past that stage now, and it's funny that I've almost forgotten it; "momnesia" is totally a real thing. Every hard evening, rough night, tough pregnancy, difficult labor, etc, doesn't seem so bad when it's just a distant memory. Usually.

She also went through a period for several weeks where she would let out a sharp cry when she was picked up, almost like something in her neck hurt. I took her to the doctor and nothing appeared to be wrong. We then tried the chiro, which seemed to help a lot. I am a believer now!

She is still fussy sometimes now, but normal fussy, and is usually calm once she is picked up. ;)

Health: She has had her first little cold in the past week, but really the only symptom has been a runny nose. She acts like it annoys her and snuffles a lot, which is just pretty cute.

She also had a hip click at her 1 (2?) week checkup, and went for a hip ultrasound at 2.5 months to check for hip dysplasia. The u/s came back negative, and we were told she could resume her "normal infant activities." Like, laying around...?

Hygiene: This girl blows out of a diaper at least once a day. I have a perpetual pile of laundry soaking in Oxiclean... 

Likes: Bouncy seat, warm jammies and hats, the Boba, being sung to, being held, attention. She tolerates the swing.

Dislikes: The car (!!!), dirty diapers...

Siblings: The boys LOVE her. They were obsessed with her when we came home from the hospital; always wanting to "pet" her (gentle, like how you would pet a puppy...) Andrew tested a little bit and gave her a few heavy pats, but has pretty much gotten past that. They can frequently be heard saying things like "She's soooo cute!". Ben is usually the most interested.

She is such a mix of the boys. She has Ben's forehead, but I think she most resembles Nate. She definitely has his mouth; a less exaggerated prehensile lip ;) and she sticks her tongue out a lot.

 

We need to get to her nursery.... I spent hours cleaning it out one day, and now I have piles of summer clothes of the boys on the floor to go through. At some point, it will be finished and she will move in. ;)

7 Quick Takes Friday, v. i-don't-know-i'd-have-to-go-back-and-count

1. Well hello, blog! Life has been 7 kinds of crazy lately. Some hours I feel like I'm flying and then 16 puzzles get dumped out and we have a meal and pears get spilled on the floor and then at naptime someone undoes an entire rubber band ball (oh, twice! because Mom wasn't smart enough to remove it completely from their field of vision after the first time). And diapers and baths and laundry, and this is all just the normal routine! And it's all awesome. But whoa, it's hard to stay on top of, even when you try (now that I'm back to trying rather than surviving.)

2. I love my iPhone. I don't like that I feel a little bit like a snob with it, maybe because I feel like there is something about it (probably the $$$$$ monthly data package) that makes it seem a little bit like a status symbol? And maybe that's just a personal hangup (although I've heard other people say the same thing so it's not JUST me.) But still. Like whoa. I use it ALL the time to take pictures when I just want a snappie and don't want to pull out the big camera. GPS saved me when I had to go to jury duty. And Facebook and Words with Friends have increased my productivity significantly. (lie.) It's not indispensable, but it's nice!

3. Spring break does not exist for online students. Well supposedly it does, but each teacher kind of makes up her (her? I think all my professors are female this semester?) own schedule, one teacher that is observing spring break next week has this week's assignment due Monday, so... does that really count? When you don't get 7 (or even 5) uninterrupted days with NOTHING due, I say no.

4. These kids. They say the cutest and funniest things. Some of which I have recorded on FB and some I typed into my phone, all of which are insanely adorable and which make up for any misbehavior. Most misbehavior.

5. Oh, the weather! Glorious 75 degrees yesterday and today. Tomorrow's forecast says 46, and Sunday says 39, which is just poopy. But 2 days of a glimpse of spring - we'll take what we can get.

6. We put an offer on a house last week. I spent a weekend pinning house improvements that I wanted to do with this particular house in mind. They accepted a higher bid (we offered more than the asking price, even - we knew there were multiple offers and we heard they were expecting there to be 10 by the time they decided on one.) I am slowly getting over it but still disappointed. Oh, perfect house with the perfect 2.7 acres in the perfect location at a perfect price - maybe your twin could pop up down the street?

7. Brian bought a new suit this week for an important event he had at work. This is only newsworthy because he hasn't bought a suit since high school. He had two; one has been too short and small for years, the other one, he ditched the pants but the jacket still fit, so when he needs a jacket he wears it with his tan pants. Makeshift solution that was no longer a solution. So we all went suit shopping (why!?!? oh, because I thought it would be fun to go together) and while he got fitted and tried things on, the boys and I hung out, not so still or quietly. Oh, I can look back and laugh. Maybe if I weren't so concerned about what onlookers thought, that the word "rambunctious" might pop into their heads, I would have enjoyed it more. I struggle with that balance - keeping them calm enough to avoid stares and eyerolls, but letting them enjoy themselves and not expecting them to be little statues. Because they are little boys. And little boy does not = statue.
(We were in a regular department store, by the way, not some high-faluting fancy suit shop. Not a non-kid-friendly store.)

Ok, that was quick! Probably because I didn't have to try to mess with adding pictures and formatting that and centering them and figuring out why they won't become the size I want. I love pictures. But tonight, I'm tired.

Divine Silence

After two very busy days (Sunday: Mass, Aunt Lovey's birthday party, Grandpa's birthday party; Monday: tutoring/piano, afternoon playdate) and a Tuesday morning at Granny's because I had jury duty today (!), everyone was pretty much pooped this afternoon. Nate has mostly given up his afternoon nap, but Ben is not even close to being ready to do that, so 2 days of not napping AND going to bed late had taken their toll! I have been enjoying almost two full hours of silence. golden. Not doing anything terribly productive and it feels nice. ;)

I have a vague to-do list in my head, which includes getting pictures from Andrew's birthday party off Meagan's camera (I did bring my own but when I saw she had hers close by I decided to let her do the photos!), writing thank you notes, and taking Andrew's "1" picture for our wall! I haven't done a "professional" picture of him (I call them professional even though I take them because I use a nice background and have them printed at a professional lab, does that count?) since 5 months.

A few days off from homework is making SUCH a difference. I had a lot of work due last week and over the weekend, and I felt like I was struggling to catch my breath! Taking 12 credit hours was definitely not what I wanted, but I was hoping for a light fall semester (6 credits) and then I'd be DONE. Since I will have a newborn and all! School usually starts somewhere around August 15, and my due date is August 3. I just found out that I will probably have to take Composition 2 because they won't accept my freshman English from Christendom, despite the fact that I took a grad level English class 2 semesters ago and got an A. So, 9 fall credits. But then I will be dooooooone. Forever and ever! So even though I feel like I'm barely getting by this semester, it will be a good thing that I took all 4 classes, I think.

 

He enjoys climbing into things. And he can open the oven door. eek.

I finished my skirt that I ranted about the other day. When I pulled the sewing machine back out, it worked perfectly. (That seems to be the story of my life right now - my check engine light went on Sunday, was on all day yesterday, and this morning was off again! All my stuff is like "let's stop working long enough for her to get really frustrated but not long enough for her to get around to trying to fix us.")

When I went to iron the hem, my iron got a cute little rust spot on it! I don't know if this skirt was really meant to be. ;) But, it's done.

I realized that I do not have a full-length mirror (how!?) so I need to remedy that and then I will post a picture of it. It didn't turn out as cute as I anticipated, which is fairly normal, but it's good enough to wear, I think. ;)

This is my current "take a picture of myself" method - with the webcam! Doesn't it look kind of cloudy? This is my "what I wore Tuesday - jury duty" outfit (NOT the new skirt). A guy thought I looked familiar and asked me if I went to his church. Apparently he is Pentecostal, and he thought that I guess because of my skirt, maybe I was too? I am also wearing a headband (so like my 'headcovering'?). I don't know. I couldn't help but laugh. I was wearing makeup... and my skirt is not super long!

My period of golden silence is almost up - I hear chatter from the other bedroom. :)

The Monday Review v. 3 - Keep That Gut Bacteria in Check!

Most of us have probably heard about probiotics - bacteria that help maintain natural balance in our digestive tract. A lot of people recommend probiotics during and after a course of antibiotics - antibiotics kill off bacteria, including the "good" bacteria, so probiotics will replace the bacteria that was killed off. If our "gut flora" is out of whack, we can have all kinds of digestive problems, most of them issues that occur in the lavatory, which we will not discuss in detail but yeah. Not so much fun.

Since it is believed that 70% of the body's immune system dwells in the digestive tract, keeping the digestive tract healthy is important.

In comes Good Belly. Many probiotics are in pill form, and have to be refrigerated to keep the cultures alive. Good Belly is a liquid probiotic in the form of fruit juice. It comes in several different flavors, and 8oz a day contains 20 billion live and active cultures per serving. A LOT. (You really should go to their site and watch the short video that explains just how they work - it is cute.)

 

I was so skeptical when I decided to try this. I am a picky person. Not just about my food, but my drinks, too. I LOVE juice. I really like the Dole blends - orange peach mango, strawberry kiwi - anything fruity is good to me. And if this was going to be gross, or have a weird aftertaste - no thanks. I'll stick with probiotic capsules. (Which I take very unfaithfully because I'm forgetful.)

But I was not disappointed. I drove all the way to Whole Foods (15 min further than the grocery store) JUST to get Good Belly, and it was completely worth it. It is DELICIOUS. I have tried Pomegranate Blackberry, Blueberry Acai, and Mango, and loved them all. I usually have mine mid-morning as a pick-me-up drink. It's very sweet and tastes basically just like the Dole juices - not weird or "extra healthy." haha. They have a green kind that may be a little more leafy-tasting, but I'm going to stay away from that one and stick with the fruity flavors.

And thanks to that nice guy I married, the health market section of our Hy-Vee also carries it now! No more trips to Whole Foods. It helps to have connections in high places, but even if he hadn't asked for me, it never hurts to put in a word at your local grocery store. Their health market manager really tries to get the things customers ask for, and they'll never know you want it unless you ask!

The downside is that it is not cheap. A quart (pictured above) is $3.99, and 8oz a day means it's $1 a day. They encourage everyone to take the 12-Day Challenge - drink it for 12 days in a row (and they give you coupons!) and if you don't like the results, they will give you a full refund. So while it's quite a bit more expensive than capsule probiotics (about 2x the price for a HIGH-quality refrigerated probiotic), they stand behind it. And if you often drink juice with breakfast, you can replace it with this, which makes it even more worth it, because you don't have to spend the $3 on juice. So if you think of it as a 2-for-1, it's really not that bad.

I didn't complete the 12-Day Challenge. I did it for 10 days and then ran out (before Hy-Vee started carrying it, and I didn't have it in me to make a WF trip with the kids), but I have just started again. I did notice that my stomach was SIGNIFICANTLY more settled after I had been drinking it for several days. And some of the common pregnancy issues were helped by this. I definitely noticed a huge improvement, and less bloating/crampiness.

So I think it is worth a try! I love it.

Check out the Monday Review linky party here at The Champ Life - thanks to Andrea for hosting!

Sewing Fail

Does this ever happen to you?

Find inspiration for something cute on Pinterest. Think, "I HAVE to make this!" Click through to the tutorial. Super, super easy! Go to the store and buy fabric. Promise yourself you won't start til later in the week once you are caught up on _____. Pull out your scissors as soon as you get home, hoping to have a new shirt/skirt/dress to wear by the end of the afternoon.

And then.

Your sewing machine does crazy things like pucker the fabric, making it appear that your tension is WAY too tight, even though it is on the lowest setting, you have changed the needle and are indeed using the correct one, and re-threaded the top thread and the bobbin numerous times. With a normal cotton broadcloth - it's not like we're sewing taffeta here or something! You curse at the machine (in your head) and vow to move your "new treadmill" money into a "new sewing machine" account.

And then the puckering magically stops long enough for you to get a few stitches in. You look at the tutorial you found on Pinterest again to make sure you are doing the "ruffling/gathering" thing right. She makes it look so easy. "Now, sew two rows of basting stitches and gather!" She didn't mention that it might take 15 minutes, and that you will worry the whole time that you will break the thread because you are pulling SO HARD.

They you pin the "gathered fabric" to the waistband. You pat yourself on the back and even take a picture because this is the FIRST project you have ever pinned, because you are so incredibly lazy. But because you are actually pinning, the sewing angels must descend upon your project and make it turn out fabulously. You deserve it.

 

And then you sew it. And it just does. not. turn. out. Gold star for effort! But no gold star for getting other fabric stitched up in it accidentally. You rip out your work and try again, rolling your eyes and grumbling about how you knew pinning was a waste of time. You flip it inside out. It looks GREAT! Except that you didn't match the fabric up correctly that time, so the waistband is right-side-out and the rest of the skirt is inside-out.

You tear it out again and give up the idea of a different-colored waistband. A simple piece of elastic will do, you just need this skirt DONE, dang it! And then, your machine stops catching the bobbin thread again, and no amount of re-threading will fix it.

You come to the sad realization that you wasted your entire afternoon and got about 15 minutes worth of actual sewing done. And you still have to do that homework you ignored. You could cry, or eat too much chocolate, and you are thinking about how satisfying beating the sewing machine with a metal baseball bat would be right about now...

And then you see this Hey Girl meme.

 

And feel completely justified in your righteous anger. So glad he understands.

So, this happened to me yesterday.

7 Quick Takes - in which I reveal a SUPER BIG secret

1.  Okay, so if you are Facebook friends with me, you saw this the other day, and it wasn't really even a BIG SECRET before that. I just neglected to explicitly mention it here. ;) Supposedly August 3rd is the big day. If past history is an indicator, it will probably be more like August 10th with a forced eviction.

2. I find myself more worried about things going "differently" this time than I have before. You'd think by #4 I'd be a pro and anything that comes at me, I can handle... maybe? But as much as I'd love to go into labor spontaneously, since I've never done it, the thought of it kind of freaks me out! And the fact that I have pretty much NEVER had a *real* contraction until I'm in the hospital means that I know I'll be obsessing over every twinge. Oh, and the fact that my labors are fast & furious. I spent a lot of time agonizing over it with Andrew, too, and ended up being induced anyway. So I need to try to not stress over it and forget about the fact that my friend Martina delivered HER #4 in the front seat of her car. Cuz that will never happen to me!

Also, what in the world would I do with a baby girl!? (Not planning on finding out the gender til birth.)

3.

 

This was my favorite skirt. My blue skirt. I mentioned here that I wear it 6 or 7 days a week. It matches everything and is pretty much a substitute for jeans, since it's blue - if the shirt would match jeans, it would match this so-very-comfortable-and-forgiving skirt!... and, yeah. It got a giant tear in it, not on the seam, and a few other random little holes above it. I have NO idea how it happened, or when or where, I just noticed it when I took it off at night a few days ago, so now I'm obsessed with checking for tears in my clothing. I had been to the doctor's office and the store earlier that day, so hopefully it wasn't there then? I feel like it needs a funeral.

4. This is just a symptom of my larger problem. I need some clothes. I told myself that we would do no clothes-buying in February, and I would go on a spring shopping spree in March (both for me and the boys). I have my eye on some tops in super cute colors from Old Navy, and maybe a couple solid-colored knee-length jersey skirts for warmer days? I'm ALL about the daily uniform, and Hallie's post makes it look way cuter than "I have nothing to wear so I wear dark bottoms and a bright shirt every day."
(Side note, why are so many maternity tops SO super low? I usually wear a tank underneath, but it would be nice to have the option NOT to wear a tank without exposing way too much. Even a lot of the crew-necks sit too low for me.)

5. I just finished Little Women for the hundredth time last night. sigh. I know a lot of people don't like it, and think it's too sappy and the girls are too perfect, but it has always been one of my favorites - maybe because if you can see past the slightly loud moral message, they ARE real and relatable, I think. They aren't always happy with the hand they have been dealt, complain a lot, have tempers, argue with their husbands, get angry... but they are always trying to improve. I find myself relating to their struggles more than, oh, those of a girl who got picked to kill other people in a "game" in order to survive? :P

6. After some shenanigans at the grocery store today, I ordered some Hold-On Handles. I jokingly said I needed a leash, but this seems like a good compromise. I have a sweet, darling child who is totally absentminded and "hold on to the cart" means "hold on to the cart for 37 seconds and then get distracted by something delicious-looking", BUT he is a pretty good listener with constant reminders, and I think this being a tangible reminder rather than mom nagging will help. So I have high hopes for these.

7. No one is napping at our house today. That's cool, guys. It will be a fun party tonight that we're going to at 6, which means we won't be home til probably 9. Go ahead, just stay awake, and we can all melt down at the same time (I'll give them til 7?)

Time is Weird.

Today, we went back to our pre-holiday, pre-sickness routine. Just an ordinary morning, with no TV, no going anywhere. Just breakfast, playtime, books, "school", a few chores.

It was a good morning. A peaceful morning. But a slow morning.

Meanwhile, someone learned the art of climbing up on boxes.

Isn't it weird how some days seem to fly by? Afternoons fly. In general, time whizzes. It's February? Didn't we JUST have Christmas? Ash Wednesday is next week. How? I am already reaching my hand out to catch the first drops of spring. There is no more beautiful sight than sun streaming through the windows. We are hoping to be in a house by the summer - it's not set in stone, but the thought of having our own yard and my own little garden makes me giddy. A few more months of plugging along and hopefully it will become a reality.

The idea of this was to find the first letter of each word. Nate kept saying "g-g-grown-up drink!" Which is what we call anything in a can.

But sometimes, the day-to-day drags. Checking the clock and WOW, it's only 9:15... I dislike wanting to rush time. But sometimes, oh man, nap time is quite appealing.

I have this crazy thought that being able to spend some outside time every day would help on slow mornings. We could put on some jackets and run around for a little bit. There is something about being outside that makes time pass a little quicker. But on a 30* day, the thought of bundling everyone up and driving to the park is just a little exhausting. We could always go hang out on the deck, but the grass is greener in our own backyard that we don't have, I guess. (We do have a patch of grass in the front, but they are putting in Google Fiber and dug... the entire front yard up. A few weeks ago. Still a tunnel to China out there!)

I read a book last year called Fifteen Minutes Outside: 365 Ways to Get Out of the House and Connect With Your Kids. It was good. Thought-provoking. Reasons to take your kids outside EVERY day. I am really feeling drawn towards trying something like that. I am becoming more and more of a firm believer in outdoor, unstructured play.

 

We are phasing out the morning nap, so this was post-lunch.

I love the routine of today. It's nice to be back into a normal, quiet morning without one of us having a fever, feeling like we're going to throw up, or being totally exhausted and not wanting to do anything. 

Also, I take a million pictures with my new phone and probably post too many of them on Facebook! Oh well.

What a rambling, slightly incoherent post. I just want to remember the sweetness of the day, and the feeling of "normal" again. :)

"Sure" Means Yes

Testing out the camera on mommy's new phone today, early in the morning. Don't be fooled, they really are sick - see Ben's droopy eyelids.

I usually respond to requests with a "Yes, that's fine," "No, I don't think so," or "No, not right now, maybe later." Apparently lately I've been saying "Sure" a lot. The first few times I said it, Nate would give me a quizzical look, and then I would have to clarify, "Yes, you can do that." Then he started asking, "Does sure mean 'yes'?"

Now every time I say sure, he grins and says, "Sure means yes!" Variations include, "'Fine' means sure and sure means yes!" "'Okay' means yes!" Learning about synonyms early!

New Toy

The hubs bought me a present that I neither needed nor really deserved. It was just an oh-so-giant WANT/wouldn't this be a convenient thing to have/sometimes I get lost and need GPS?

I am pretty darn excited about the oh-so-great camera, but then I realized I can't take a picture of the phone WITH the phone... insert grainy Photo Booth picture.

So, splurge of the year. I really feel spoiled and not like it is quite justified... mostly because I spend most of my time at home and I have internet at home, do I really need it on the go, too? I feel very first-world, non-minimalist. (Not like I was kidding myself before - I love my modern appliances and my laptop and my car, but there is something about a smartphone that is so non-essential, for ME.) But I needed a new phone, regardless. My old phone kept having what I lovingly termed "pregnancy moments" - I would tell it to do something and it was like it couldn't remember what I had pressed.

I'm so excited about the camera/video camera. There are so many little moments I would love to capture (and sometimes tried to with my old phone and its terrible camera) but I don't always want to pull out my giant camera. I LOVE my giant camera, don't get me wrong, but "convenient" is not exactly a word I would use to describe it. I will bring it if we go someplace like the zoo, but it's hard to camera-wear AND baby-wear, and I'm always so worried about bumping it around. Hopefully this will allow me to capture more of the very ordinary moments I want to remember.

so my big camera is probably way more convenient than this thing... I guess it's all relative, isn't it?

Brian downloaded some apps he thought I might appreciate. Facebook, Dave Ramsey, Pandora, Hy-Vee... My Fitness Pal!? Hahaha. I can pretend to be offended but I did use it a lot on the old iTouch. I'm not actively using it now (They've been sending me "Colleen, we miss you!" emails.)

psst: I added a "Follow Me on Pinterest!" link on the right toolbar up towards the top -----> Who would have thought this girl would be able to click "Add HTML/JavaScript" on a Blogger gadget and actually know what to do? With help from Google. :)

Sicks

I just realized I've only taken pictures one time this whole year so far. January is slipping through our fingers!



We have the sicks around here this week. Andrew's cold has been ongoing for weeks and weeks now. I FINALLY took him to the doctor Monday. When they asked "how long has he been sick?" I couldn't even answer the question! That sounds terrible. He has just had some chest congestion and a runny nose for the longest time. At first I thought it was a cold, and then maybe teething... but from a conversation I looked back at on Facebook, it appears he's had this for a full month. Well, two ear infections and bronchiolitis! Poor baby. He is SO SO good-natured though, and really has been sleeping pretty well, there was no way to know it was really more than just a cold! I always hesitate to jump to antibiotics, but we had been doing home remedies that were not helping. We went ahead and did them, and he is FINE now. Within 2 days his chest was completely clear. This happened with him before, over the summer - so I have to wonder if it really was more than just a virus, and actually some kind of bacterial infection.

I feel like my babies always get sick really young! Nate had chicken pox at 2 months, Ben had a BAD case of bronchiolitis and we had to do a bunch of breathing treatments (and he still has problems with constricted airways when he gets sick because of that), Andrew had an ear infection & strep at 4 months and we did breathing treatments over the summer, and he's been sick so much since then. I guess they build up their immune system a lot that first year... they are pretty healthy as toddlers, so?

One of the hard things about being a parent that I never really thought about before having kids is that YOU make the judgment calls on these kinds of things. All of them. Do they need to go to the doctor? Does this cut need stitches? Is this ER-worthy? I hate making the final decision! I always worry that what I decide will be the wrong thing - either I should have taken him in earlier, or I overreacted. But usually whatever we decide ends up being the best thing. There is something to that "mom gut." (not the literal kind.) Moms know! Usually.  (And yes, I usually do call my mom and ask her what she thinks.) :)

this is from Christmas! he is always so cheerful and pleasant. always.

So Andrew is on the mend. But Ben. Oh Ben! He has had a bad case of the grumpies lately, which is unusual for him. I should have known something was coming. (And he says at least 47 times a day, "OH, I have a boo-boo! Kiss it!" with a sad face, sometimes tears. But that is normal.) He has had a fever on and off now for a couple days. Tonight he was pretty pleasant but his temp was 101.6.

Nate did not nap today (a pretty normal occurrence lately!) Normally around 7 he utters a "Oh Mommy, I'm tired..." tonight it happened at 5:30. He stayed up WAY too late playing in his bed last night so I wasn't surprised. But then he went from acting totally normal to acting sick. I took his temp and it was climbing. He acted like he really did NOT feel well so we gave him Tylenol (not really for the fever, it wasn't super high yet). Before Brian had even pulled the dropper all the way out of his mouth he said "OH, I feel really better now!"* and then went up and laid down in bed and crashed.

So, we'll see what tomorrow brings. Maybe they will both wake up fever free? I know several people who have had a random fever day and then, fine. I also know some people with the flu (although I don't *think* we have been exposed to it), so this could go either way.

* The whole reason I started to write this post is because I wanted to remember this incident. SO cute and funny. Medicine is like magic to him. I caught him with the (empty) dropper one day. "Mom, I have to take this medicine so I can feel better." I love him.

Does It Get Much Better Than This?

I don't think so. ;)