Little Boys & Baby Girls

19/May/2012 – Manic

So mom came to visit two days ago and I was given an opportunity to go grocery shopping with Belle while she took the other three for a walk. While I was standing in the check-out line with maybe ten things in my cart realizing I would have to do another grocery run since I walked around in a daze like a lost puppy, I had a great idea. We were going to do a flower bed in the front of the house. It had to be done for some curb appeal and we don’t like the “show your foundation” look. So I call mom while I’m putting my ten items on the belt, which consisted of a lot of cleaning products and not nearly enough food, and tell her my great idea. We will eat, nap the kids, and go get everything. She’s here trying to tell me it’s a job to do over a few days.

This is the first time I realize home improvement projects are never smooth, require a lot of trips back and forth, and a little planning could go a long way. Anyway we head to a garden center and load up on bags of soil and two plants. Don’t ask me what they are because I can never tell you. I don’t even care what it is, I’m just going to try to not kill it. I don’t even know the first thing about a flower bed. I mean, I know I needed dirt and plants but then what? So we had to drop off the soil and two mystery plants, then head to home depot because I wanted bigger green plant things. We find what we’re looking for immediately and some nice summer worker loads them in the van for us. One problem: I can just fit the kids in with these plants but not my giant tandem stroller. Ok so stroller stays behind in the garden center and we drive back home for the second round of unloading. Then back for the stroller, coffee, and timbits (priorities).

When Jon got home we bossed him around to dig up the grass and turn over the soil. I even took loads of grass and dirt to the back woods as he dug it up. All the while I’m wondering how much longer dad is going to be so that we can get this done. Like Now. And mom is all “Lauren, it’s a two day job, we can’t do it all tonight.” Yes we can Ma, yes we can. When dad showed up he started digging, Jon threw rocks around and we placed the plants. While I bathed the kids and got them ready for bed, Mom watered the plants. And then watered the kids with the hose (ya, they were mad). See? Not a two or three day job. It took an afternoon of running around like dumb and dumber, and then an evening of hauling dirt, throwing rocks, and wetting kids. Dad was strangely quiet through it all. I wonder what he was thinking.

We didn’t stop there. The next day Jon and I were looking at our new landscaping and decided to keep things interesting by doing a paver walkway. Right now it’s all grass with some cement blocks. Not pretty. So last night we go to home depot again, after googling how to do this walkway stuff. We can’t commit to anything there, so we go look at Kent. Nothing eye catching there either but we bought some supplies: sand, bags of gravel, and little tools. We put as much as we could in the van without breaking the suspension and it was a funny, wobbly ride home. On Salisbury road Logan says “what’s that noise?” Yep, you guessed it, sand pouring out of the bag into the trunk. It’s ok, minimal damage and we keep on going. At this point we hadn’t even started excavating, so until nine o’clock last night we dig up grass, dirt, and rocks. And then borrowed the neighbors wheel barrow to unload it behind the house. Good news: while I was digging and shoveling, I did not encounter any worms or spiders. Win.

We got it all dug up last night, and by eight o’clock this morning we were out the door and on the way back to home depot. We decided on the pavers we liked, and made three trips back and forth to get the pavers, tool rentals, and more gravel. (Even that wasn’t enough. I had to make two more trips to Kent in the afternoon for gravel and sand). While the kids were having their afternoon nap and Belle in the stroller outside (the kid who never sleeps) cheering us on, we cut into the bags of gravel, measured, spread and Jon compacted it all down with that weird vibrating thing. We worked well together as we marked and leveled our area. I was all “dude if you hit my hand with that mallet I’m going to hurt you” and I chickened out and let go of the stick which then went flying across the grass as he hit it. Oops. See? He is hazard. Jon started to lose faith after a while when there were certain sections he couldn’t seem to keep down, but he got it. After another trip to Kent he did the sand while I laid out the pattern to the pavers. He did an excellent job placing them and we are so happy with the end result. We still have some finessing to do around the edges with top soil but it’s in and looks great.

What a crazy few days. It isn’t over. After a full day’s work outside, Jon had enough time to scarf down a gourmet supper of cereal and get ready to go the Monster Spectacular with the boys. Logan has been asking about the monster trucks all day long. Tomorrow is weeding, mowing, and cleaning up the disaster that ensued from our little home projects.

13/May/2012 – Happy Birthday Logan Jay!

Four years ago today, we welcomed our Logie Bear into the family. We were living in Toronto, and had two beautiful boys, a decent size condo and a fun little car. He was perfect in every way and he still is. When asked how old he is, he looks around sheepishly and says “I don’t know…” and then finally we get it out of him. He is four years old and holds up four fingers to show us how many that is.

When we think of one word we would use to describe Logan, it’s thoughtful. He is such a kind, loving, and thoughtful boy. He always concerns himself with others. If Belle is crying he will get her a blanket or pacifier, or he worried often about Daddy being by himself on an airplane. He likes making others happy. Logie loves to play with his big brother, is big into transformers, mighty machines, and cars. He takes his bobbie (blanket) every where he goes, and especially likes one corner. He loves to rough house with Max and the boy next door, and especially likes his girl-friends on the other side of the house. He asks to play with them every day. His repeated phrase is “I’m not happy!” when we ask him to do something he doesn’t want, or doesn’t like what he hears. Especially when we say it’s bed time which happens shortly after 7:30 PM for him now. Logie still sports his blonde hair and big round blue eyes. He dresses himself with lots of encouragement: every day he still asks for me to put his shirt on but he ends up doing it himself. He is more capable than he gives himself credit for. He even puts on his own shoes. At four years old he sleeps in a big boy bed littered with transformers theme, sings songs and theme songs to shows like hot wheels battle force 5, transformers, Thomas the train and Astro Boy.

How we celebrated his birthday: yesterday (12/May) we did the big party. Our day started out with the kids seeing Daddy for the first time in ten days and they were so happy (he got home in the middle of the night). Logan picked out a transformers cake that had an Optimus Prime toy on it from Superstore which was a big hit. In the morning we went to get his cake and take some four-year pictures. He has been asking to go to the “special park” (Crystal Palace) often so we told him we would take him for his birthday. In the end, we decided to have the whole party there. We invited a bunch of his friends and we did lots of rides, ordered pizza, and then had cake, only to go on more rides after that. Logan really likes the monster truck ride, so we did that one a few times along with the train, submarine, and air planes. As we sang the happy birthday song he got a bit embarrassed and got red in the face which was so cute. He did a great job blowing out his four candles and couldn’t wait to rip that optimus prime toy off the cake.

He went into this thing called the birthday blower which had balloons in it and air that blew them around. He got in it and then totally freaked out (which I got on video to show him when he’s a teen). We didn’t get back home until after 5:00 PM and when we did, it was present time! He sat on the couch and tore through his birthday gifts as we sat and watched. His reaction when he opened the transformer toy from us was priceless. He got shaky and screamed with excitement. I think he was pretty surprised. He was given all kinds of wonderful things for his birthday and we are very thankful for everyone’s generosity and coming out to celebrate Logan.

It’s mother’s day. What a great day for Logan to have a birthday! Today we went out for a long walk through a park which all kids really enjoyed. We saw lots of squirrels and ducks, and the boys threw some rocks in the water. I was given a beautiful garnet and diamond ring! We had a very nice, low key day. Because tomorrow is our wedding anniversary, we tried to sit down with a delicious meal Jon cooked. Instead, we took turns plowing through the food while the other walked and tried to soothe a crisis-crying Belle. Ah the romance! :)

5/May/2012 – She’s WALKING!

No more scootching for Belle. She is on the move and walking at 14 months, 4 days old. Tonight I put on her little shoes that she was carrying around and playing with. Next thing I know she is up and walking around. She can take a bunch of steps and will fall down but she gets back up and keeps on going. We are all so excited for her. I really can’t believe she just got up and got on the move. Belle is very proud of herself too!

Other things: Belle does not like watermelon. She is just disgusted by it being in her mouth and if we ask her if she wants watermelon, she gets mad, says “NO!” and puts her head down as she pouts. While we are on the subject of “no”, it happens to be her new favorite word. Yet if we say no to her she starts to cry and acts totally heartbroken.

Daddy is in Houston, TX and Grammy is here. Miley loves to put on her make up every morning with Grammy. They go through a whole process every morning. She can be such a princess.

Gramma V sent up some presents for the kids: a little something to keep them going until Daddy gets home. The boys got a transformer (big win!) and Miley a Barbie which she was pleased with. Belle got some girlie socks and a book she likes to chew on. I took Max over to Grandpa’s one night, and he had a great time having snacks and getting presents. Spoiled little boy!

30/April/2012 – Catching up

It was time for a break. The kids have been sick with something or other, Belle is still keeping us on our toes, and the latest go-ahead at pediatrics had me in a funk for a while. That story is in a private entry since it turned into a long vent more than anything. So, time to get back into the swing of things and point form it is!

Max:

- Wants to be a train driver when he grows up

- Really enjoys arts and crafts time. Our latest project was taking green tissue paper and ripping it up to make leaves for a tree, and gluing them to the top of the tree trunk made of construction paper. He is so proud and didn’t want my help: “I can do it myself you know”. I helped Logan while he worked on his art. We hung them up in their bedroom.

- Cuddled up with me on a Saturday night and watched one of my all-time favorite movies “Paulie” and it was awesome. I don’t get enough time with him.

- Belle loves Max. He is so great with her too. If I need some help he tries really hard to make her happy with her pacifier or blanket. He entertains her well and they play together. The giggling and laughing is so refreshing and sweet.

- Loves reading ‘The Daddy Book’ every night before going to bed

- Favorite toys are his transformers.

- Been fighting a cold the last few weeks

- Signed up for another season of soccer.

- The way he talks about transformers “this is a single pack optimus prime, it connects to the launcher from the other pack. It’s in vehicle mode right now but it’s an easy transformation.” He just lights up with excitement, and wants us to be as enthused as he is.

Logan:

- Has a birthday coming up in two weeks. Everything he sees, he states that he wants for his birthday.

- Loves playing with the girls next door. The first thing he asks almost every day is if he can go play next door. If I say no, he says “I’m not happy!”

- I worry about him a little bit with Max going to school in September. One day Jon and I divided the kids and the errands. I was at home with Logan and Belle, and I couldn’t get Logan to play excitedly with anything with me. He said he wanted to wait for Max. He seemed sad a little lost.

- Favorite book is “the Daddy book” that he reads with Daddy at bedtime. He knows a lot of it by heart so he fills in the blanks to some of the sentences.

- Favorite toys are his transformer bot shots.

- Driving home from the grocery store yesterday he says “we have to drive fast, Daddy can’t be home by himself!”

- Fighting a cold and fever the last few weeks.

- Is a little spook who is afraid of the noise of the dryer…which is a problem since our laundry room and main bathroom are one.

- Registered for another soccer season!

Miley:

- Finally mastered the stairs! She can get up and down. Her legs were just too short, but I guess she had a bit of a growth spurt. She is super dainty and careful the way she climbs up and down. I let her do her own thing on the steps to going outside, but the bigger flights of stairs I make sure to be right there.

- Is a total princess and likes to have tea parties. She has a tea set, and loves to pour the tea or ‘hot coffee’ for us…especially Daddy. It is adorable.

- Has been battling a cold on and off for weeks. She came down with a fever over the weekend, so off to the doctor today. She is never sick but now has her first ear infection in both ears. First time on antibiotics too. She weighs 25 lb and 85 cm tall.

- Her vocabulary and clarity with her speech has just exploded over the last few weeks. We are very pleased, and since she can communicate better, there are fewer tantrums.

- One of her favorite things to do is color and doodle.

- She got jealous today when we were making a fuss about Belle’s walking. She wanted to walk to me too and have everyone clap for her. So we did. We remember Max doing the very same thing when Logan learned to walk. It was cute.

- Wants her own iPad. We let the boys use ours to play some games or watch a video. One day she yelled at Max that it’s “MY iPaP”. Jon got a laugh out of this one. His wallet won’t be laughing when she’s older though.

- Learning her colors and numbers. If you ask how old she is, she will hold up two thumbs.

Belle:

- Somehow I managed to overlook writing this: she took her first steps on April 12 (13.5 months old). I even caught it on video! Today she suddenly is taking five-six steps on her own. Tonight I was doing dishes and turned around to see her just standing there totally proud of herself. Then she walked to me. I’m so proud!!

- Has had an ear infection and cold. She wasn’t keeping her antibiotic down, so ended up with injections in her thighs. Now on oral antibiotics.

- Struggling with some foods: can’t do the texture of cheerios or chicken. Had an allergy skin test done. Rice and banana are of question. I knew there was an issue with banana, I don’t think there is any question at all. Loves salty cheesies though. Figures she likes the junk food. Her diet has been way too much pedialyte and not enough neocate. We are plugging along.

- Waves like the queen.

- Pouts. If we say no or get a bit stern she will look down, and look at us from the top of her eyes. Sometimes she will put her head right down.

- On 22-April she said ‘Mommy’

- On 29-April she said ‘Miley’ (caught on video)

- Other words: Thank you, I love you, Elmo, where are you, Up

- She functions on very little sleep and I don’t know how she manages.

- She is very clingy and shy. She doesn’t like new people, and even the kids we play with on a regular basis makes her hold onto me with a death grip. There are a few people besides mommy and daddy she will go to: unfortunately that seems to be health care folks.

16/April/2012 – All Played Out

We had a crazy, busy, fun, exhausting day today. We started out this morning by going shopping for new sandals for the boys. Their feet have grown a lot since last summer. Logan picked out a pair of Thomas sandals which he just loves and is wearing a size 10 now. I let him wear the shoes in the house and he even asked to wear them to bed. He is so proud of them! Max picked out bumblebee transformer sandals and is in a whopping size 11 already. His feet are huge. His interests are all things transformers and I was surprised Logan didn’t want the exact same pair as Max. Miss Miley was adamant that she needed shoes too, and I was not going to say no to a little girl who loves shoes. Especially when what she picked out were five dollar croc knock-offs. She picked out cutesy little pink crocs with little hearts on them and proudly wore them all day long.

After a short nap, we spent the whole afternoon outside. We played with all the neighbor kids. Max and Logan have a great time with the little boy next door who likes to rough-house just like they do. So we played with the kids who live on either side of us and at one point, we had nine kiddies playing in a bouncy castle and running around. My monkeys are just exhausted. Before we played with everyone else, I filled the water table with water and Belle splashed around with that for a while. The older three were more focused on getting off the deck and chasing bubbles I was blowing for them. After supper they had the fastest baths of their lives and are being tucked into bed nice and early. We had fun!

11/April/2012 – Everyone loves a picnic

Today we had some fun! I had decided early in the morning that it would be a great day for a picnic but I wanted it to be more exciting than just eating outside. So before lunch time we decided that later in the afternoon we would have a teddy bear picnic. I got out sheets of construction paper, glue, stamps, crayons, and stickers and we dug deep into craft time making invitations for the kids teddy bears. We started out by cutting a circle and gluing it to the front of a sheet of paper. Max cut out his own circle while Logan needed some assistance with his safety scissors. I cut out the circles for the girls’ artwork. The boys did great with gluing the pieces together themselves and then we got on to stamping “Teddy Bear Picnic” on the front. They had to identify each letter before stamping it on the paper, and then read out the whole thing when we were done. Afterwards we all decorated the invitations with stickers, doodling and whatnot.

Max and Logan ran upstairs to get their bears, as well as Miley’s and Belle’s. They all picked the bears we had specially made for them at Build-A-Bear before they were born. Once downstairs, they excitedly presented their bears with invitations to an afternoon picnic right after nap time. I snapped a few pictures. Once the kids went down for a nap I grabbed a teddy-bear blanket and packed up a laundry basket with snacks for the picnic: teddy bear puffs perfect for Belle and the bears, and then some fruit, juice, and crackers for the rest of the crew.

After nap everyone was ready to get outside, so we set up with the teddy bears who gratefully accepted our invites, and ate our picnic. Once that was done we cleaned up and headed to the park for some exercise, feed some ducks, and play at the playground. Our day has been full and our kids are exhausted. So is Mommy! We had a great day.

On the flipside, while I was working hard to make craft time an enjoyable learning experience for the kids Belle was wailing uncontrollably nonstop almost the whole time. Poor button has been pretty miserable: awake a lot, extra grumpy, and a new medication her doctor prescribed was an epic fail: instead of increasing her appetite it totally went away and instead of helping her sleep, she was awake and in crisis mode. I nixed it pretty quickly.

There are some good, cutesy things though. She high-tails it to the dishwasher every time I open it. She likes to just stand there and watch me. Sometimes she likes to help by pulling out the dishes and throwing them around (relax, they are plastic). She also seems to forget that she can’t walk yet. She will let go of whatever she is holding onto and try to walk away only to fall on her face. Button is going to be on the move soon since she has mastered walking along the furniture and anything else she can grab on to.

Miley’s new phase: “Why?” Everything leads to her asking “why?”

‘Miley it’s time for lunch’ Why?

‘Miley lets go outside.’ Why?

‘Time to brush your teeth!’ Why?

…you all get the idea. We get a kick out of it.

She also pronounces Logan’s name as “dody” just like Max used to do when he was that age. We are loving that. Her temper leaves a lot to be desired though. She screams a lot and pouts often which lead to time outs and sometimes put in her room. We are teaching her to use her words and that screaming is not acceptable but it’s a slow change. Sometimes I think she feels a little lost in the mix and like she’s not being heard. She tries to keep up with the boys when they are doing their own thing, and Belle is still very attention and time consuming for me. We’ve made more of a point to give her one on one time and she is always a little angel when we do.

8/April/2012 – Easter Weekend

We have had a jam-packed weekend filled with lots of fun for us with the kids. Earlier in the week we dyed eggs all kinds of nice bright colors to decorate for Easter. Max, Logan, and Miley all had fun dipping eggs into their favorite colors and watching them dry. Belle wasn’t at all impressed and made it well known. Mommy did some eggs on Belle’s behalf instead. We placed the brightly dyed eggs on a plate in the kitchen and every time the kids walk by, they point them out or stop and admire. On Thursday, Grandpa came by with Easter presents for the kids from him and Gramma. They each got a cute little box filled with chocolate eggs and twenty bucks each to spend on whatever they wanted. They were so excited and it turns out that afternoon I had to make a stop at the pediatrician’s office and then to peds with Belle so Daddy took the other three to the toy store to pick out what they wanted. Of course the boys picked out transformers and Miley a wooden puzzle set. Belle still has her money stashed away for another time. Grandpa visited for a bit and Miley was really upset to see him leave. We fixed up her tears with a chocolate though. Thanks Gramma and Grandpa!

Friday: This morning Daddy took the boys out to a car show. After breakfast and having a bath, they were out the door chalk full of excitement. They couldn’t wait to see bumblebee (transformer imaginations) and I’m pretty certain Daddy was looking forward to seeing all the cars too. They were out all morning long and got some great pictures. Mommy and the girls hung out at home doing girly things.

After nap time, we packed all the monkeys in the van and headed to Amherst to visit Great Gram, Grammie, and Poppy. They played outside, and with the box full of toys GG has stashed in her basement. Logan was afraid of the little dog the whole time and stayed pretty close to Daddy. Belle wasn’t too impressed either: she didn’t like the texture of the dog’s fur and grimaced every single time she even got close. They had a great afternoon!

After we got home, Yvonne came to visit. Mommy got some time to get out and spend with a good friend. Opportunity for catching up, some laughs, and whatnot. She spent the night too.

Saturday: Another busy day in our corner of the world. This morning there was a model train show over in Riverview. Our boys still love trains, and were out the door again with Daddy before nine o’clock. Mommy, Yvonne, and the girls just played and took pictures while the boys did their boy stuff. The boys came home with steam engines for their electric track – I knew Daddy would get suckered in. He loves these toys as much as his boys do. I put lunch in the oven just as they were getting home and Mommy, Yvonne, and Belle went out for a while to run some errands and do a bit of shopping. Daddy was left in charge of lunch and nap time for the other three.

After nap time we headed over to the zoo to see the Easter Bunny, some animals, and an egg hunt. The kids ended up being under dressed because it was much warmer at our place compared to the zoo. There was a cold wind but that didn’t stop any of the kids from having a great time. Each kid sat on the Easter Bunny and only Belle cried. Miley happily went up to the bunny and sat on it which surprised me. They each got a little chocolate afterwards. We walked a little bit and saw a few animals then went on to the egg hunt. Max, Logan, and Miley all dug through a pile of hay to find five plastic eggs and trade them in for a treat bag. Miley would pick up an egg and throw it back into the pile, but she got a treat bag anyway. Max dug right in to find his eggs whereas Logan wasn’t too fussy about the hay so Daddy helped him along. This year is actually the first year any of the kids have ever seen or sat on the Easter bunny.

After the zoo, it was time for supper and just chilling out a bit after a busy two days. Now the kids are waiting on the Easter Bunny!

Sunday: Hoppy Easter! The bunny came through this house last night leaving baskets full of goodies and plastic eggs for an egg hunt. Max and Logan each got some transformer bot shots, a little bag of chocolate eggs and some bubbles. Miley got bubbles and a doodle board. Belle got a pack of sookies, some sesame street toys and a pair of shoes. Once they played for a few minutes the boys dug into the egg hunt. Miley put one egg in her basket and spent the rest of the time eyeballing a piece of chocolate. Belle just hung out and watched as the boys filled their baskets with plastic eggs hidden all through the main floor of the house. Logan had quite the eye for the eggs and reminded me of Uncle Nat who would push his way through to get all those candy eggs in his basket. Max ran around in more circles than I could count but got in the groove and looked in all the right places.

Once they found all the eggs, they started opening them up and found them filled with money. They would open an egg, find a quarter or two, and then run to the kitchen to put it in a stash on the counter. This took a good twenty minutes before they were finished with those. Then there were a bunch of bigger sized plastic eggs. We sat on the floor and opened those up to find alphabet puzzle pieces. They each took turns opening an egg, identifying the letter, and putting it in the right spot on the puzzle board. It was a lot of fun! Daddy took some videos while we did the puzzle together, and they were excited every single time they opened an egg.

After all that, the kids went to the basement to play with their bot shots and Daddy made up some food. Max and Logan were just thrilled with their morning. Miley doesn’t get the concept but loved the fact that she had some goodies and eggs. We staggered nap time: Mommy and Belle went for a rest by ten o’clock and Daddy went for a sleep when the other three went for their usual rest. This afternoon we had even more fun: Grammy, Poppy, and Great Gram came up for a visit. The kids were just delighted to see them again and this time, it turns out the Easter Bunny left a bag of goodies for the kids in Amherst and left it up to the grandparents to deliver. Naturally a big bag of candy made them super excited, but they only had one treat out of it and we tucked the rest away for later. Since Belle can’t have candy, she got a book and has been interested in it since there are sesame street characters in it.

We had a great long weekend!

28/March/2012 – Busy busy busy

Belle went adventuring today. I haven’t closed the gate to the stairs for a long time since it’s not an issue for the kids. This morning Belle saw an opportunity there I guess. I went to the kitchen to get something for the boys, and when I came back to the living room, I saw Belle three stairs up and just standing straight up. Not holding on to anything. Nothing. Now she just started getting the hang of balancing and standing without assistance over the last few days. In a split second I raced and grabbed her without trying to spook her so that she wouldn’t fall down the stairs. I don’t think I have moved that fast in a long time. Holy crap. Gate must stay closed forever. I went from a state of panic to a state of I-can’t-believe-she-climbed-stairs-and-I-missed-it to ohMyGawd-she-could-have-been-seriously-hurt. Wow she is really growing up fast. So at 12m28d old, she can climb stairs, and apparently balance herself in a standing position pretty well. Our Lil’ Rebel!

Sleep is going ok. About half way through the night I cave from exhaustion and haul her into our bed. We are weaning her night time meds that never really helped with sleeping in the first place, which seems to be causing some trouble too. Little sleep and two days of a lot of crying = grumpy mama. Today we had to go for round #2 at pediatrics to get Belle to pee. We were there for a bit yesterday but I had other commitments that didn’t involve spending the day on pediatrics with a crying baby. Time to make sure her UTI is cleared up since she’s finished with the antibiotic. Is there an antibiotic out there to get your kid to eat solids again? She wouldn’t even take some apple juice today when one of the nurses offered it. Such a funny duck!

New word: Empty. She held her bottle and I said “oh it’s empty” and she said “empty.” Definitely not a fluke since she has said it again a few times over the course of the day. So proud!

Sunday morning every one (except me) woke up with laryngitis, cold, and fever. The boys and Miley are still fighting it but sounding much better. Surprisingly Belle was the one who was the least affected. She has a runny nose but that’s it. Tonight the boys helped Daddy to start assembling the bed frames we got for them. So far we have one done and the other will get done tomorrow. Bed time for the girls had to happen so the banging had to stop.

I need to get some videos of the boys singing. They sing theme songs to their favorite shows and it’s awesome. They know all the words and even dance a little when they sing. If only you could picture two boys singing “Go go Power Rangers!”

24/March/2012 – Fail.

Ok so I stuck it out for two nights with Belle sleeping in her crib. Last night I just couldn’t do it. She was up late and didn’t settle in the first place only to be up fussing and crying just an hour after we finally got to bed. It was a rough night, as they have all been but I am too tired. I spend a lot of time during the day feeling the dread of what’s to come at night. Tonight, she is back in her crib. Hopefully I can keep her there through the night. I had a nap today while Daddy and Belle went out for a bit.

Belle’s new words: weeee, bye.

Surprisingly, her weight was pretty decent when she went for a check up yesterday. I was happy about that especially with how little she is still taking in. Button spent most of the day refusing her neocate and not interested in much. We tried chocolate flavored formula yesterday: she took an ounce and a half and was done with it. She spent the whole afternoon and evening crying with tummy pains. It shouldn’t be caused by the formula but who knows. Back to infant neocate it is, I am not messing around with this.

We took the kids to a neighbours birthday party today. The boys had lots of fun with friends and some clown entertainment - the same one we had for Belle’s birthday. By the time we got them home, it was supper and bath time. Everyone was tired and went to bed early, with the exception of Belle. She’s always tired and never sleeps! Tomorrow brings our usual early morning outing to the grocery store, and Daddy is working on the van because the brakes still squeak and apparently the mechanics at the dealership suck!

end rant.

22/March/2012 – Is it really March?

Because the weather is incredible! We have spent the last two days outside playing with the water table, swinging on the swings and hanging out with friends. The kids have been having their meals out on the picnic table too, and really think it’s something special to be allowed to eat outside.

The boys are doing great sleeping in their new beds. Logan woke up a lot the first night feeling confused but he has since settled in and does fine at nap time.

The real reason for this entry: Belle spent the night in her crib. That’s it, I’m tired of getting kicked in the stomach, hit in the face, afraid to move and wake her. She’s not sleeping anyway, and up several times an hour. I stuck it out though and put her back in her crib every time. This meant that I was in and out of bed a million times last night. I am so SO tired today, but I think some of that is mental (ha). I hope I have the ambition to stick it out again tonight. The good thing is that she really has no problem sleeping away from me. She even napped the last few days in her crib (if you can call it a nap). Honestly she slept with us because of anxiety and sleep deprivation. I just get too tired to keep getting up. I’m going into tonight with high expectations for Jon and myself.

Tomorrow afternoon we are off to pediatrics for a weight check and meet with the dietician. Yay (not). I’m afraid to see what the scale is going to say after the last two weeks.

18/March/2012 – Big deep breath of fresh air

What a gorgeous day here today. Last evening and again today, the kids have been playing outside soaking up the sun and fresh air. This afternoon Mommy and the girls went shoe shopping for Miley. Her little feet have grown over the winter and I am happily ready to pack away the boots. While we did that, Daddy and the boys played outside. After a while we were reunited and spent some time outdoors taking the kids for a walk. The boys played in mud puddles and chunks of melting snow while Miley walked close by her Daddy and Belle. Mommy and Max played a round of “sticky ball” too.

By the time we finished our walk there were some hungry, grumbly bellies. Mommy made supper while Daddy bathed all the kiddies. They ate quickly and ran around outside on the deck until close to bed time. Everyone should sleep well tonight. Even little button ventured in and out of the house herself, scootching over the frame of the patio door and onto the deck.

We had a great weekend. We got some one on one time with the kids, and the boys picked out all their new bedding for their new big boy beds. We went with matching Transformer comforters, but different colored sheets: green for Max and blue for Logan (obviously!). We also picked up some transformer decals for the walls above their beds. All the bedding is washed up and we are just waiting on furniture delivery.

Belle is doing ok. Much better than she was last week: no fever and looks better. My last entry nailed it though. There is no sleep happening here: maybe three hours a night. Her tummy is hurting from the antibiotic (I think) and she has very little appetite. We are keeping her hydrated though. And of course, the fussing up and irritability is there. What a monkey she is too, because now we can hardly get medications into her. She flails her arms around, seals her lips shut, and moves away when I try to give her anything. The attempts at force feeding her last week when she was sick really messed things up and she doesn’t like the taste of amoxicillin. I wasn’t feeling so great with the lack of sleep, but I went to bed early while Daddy took care of Button, and we napped today. Ready to take on another week!

I think it’s going to be a great week. The weather will be great for getting out of the house and having some fun!

15/March/2012 – Belle Updates

It has been a rough week. At this very moment Belle is sleeping and the house is quiet. This mama is teary-eyed and drained. Last night we ended up back at Pediatrics since we were going on eighteen hours with no fluid intake. She would barely move, slept a lot, and still had a puffy face as she battled a fever throughout the day. Also, her urine culture showed bacteria which we found out today is a UTI. Did I mention how much I enjoy driving in bad weather with a baby?

Last night she got an injection of broad spectrum antibiotics and had the NG tube placed again. She hates the NG tube and kept trying to pull it immediately. We even had her in restraints (which was sad) but that girl is flexible so even having her wrists tied down didn’t help. I pumped pedialyte into her and definitely got her rehydrated overnight. We got her through the night without pulling the tube. This morning though, I left her for one minute to reheat my coffee and when I got back to the living room saw that she ripped it out along with all the tape that was on her face. What a monkey!

Obviously her weight is down from not eating or drinking. Apart from the fact that she looked so unwell, the weight is a huge issue for me. It’s what landed her in pediatrics in the first place one year ago, and I have obsessed about her poor gaining ever since. When I see the scale numbers going in the wrong direction it’s a huge defeat even though I know it’s beyond my control with her being sick. When she would miss one feeding I would panic, and I still do. For Belle to go so long with no success getting anything into her had me right back in panic mode. I forced four ounces of pedialyte by bottle this afternoon and she clawed me, kicked, arched and screamed as if I was torturing her (I cut her fingernails after this- geesh!). But I got it into her and wasn’t able to do so just one day ago. Tonight, I gave her some pedialyte and a bit of neocate mixed in. She drank it uncomfortably, but she drank it nonetheless! There are improvements.

She is now on amoxil for the UTI, and she will get better. However, we all know it doesn’t take much to upset the applecart with Belle. She is pretty pathetic looking right now and it will take weeks for her to rally from this. Food will be a struggle again, sleep will be even worse than it already is, her irritability is full force. Again, such defeat. I’m sure with a bit of rest and seeing her feel better means I will feel better. I’ve never had a kid with a fever for days, struggle with intake, and look so unwell so this was new for me. Surprising with four kids, I know.

14/March/2012- Really?!?!

Will the drama ever stop with this kid? I took Belle for her one year vaccines last week. Three days ago she came down with a fever, not eating, looking unwell. Yesterday she got even worse with a high fever that I couldn’t bring down, her eyes and face looked puffy, she was lethargic and hard to keep awake. She was scheduled to be at pediatrics in the afternoon to check for a UTI in case the fever wasn’t vaccine related. I toyed with the idea of just taking her to the ER in the morning but just kept on dealing with her until the afternoon. I could not get any fluids into her. She would purse her lips shut and push me away. Yesterday was day two of hardly any intake. I absolutely did not like how she looked.

By evening I was still at pediatrics, and I had the choice between an NG tube or IV fluids and likely have to stay. I went with the NG tube, focusing on the fact that I could take her home and care for her myself. This wasn’t a very good idea. She cried a lot, and spent all night trying to pull the NG tube out. She is just too old and smart for it now, and that likelihood didn’t even cross my mind when I decided on the tube and honestly I just wanted to get her home. By middle of the night she pulled the tube out despite our every effort to keep her hands away from it. I was ok with it though because she took a bottle of pedialyte when we offered it. I assumed we were over the hump.

This morning we are back to where we were yesterday. Refusing any kind of fluids, fever is up despite round the clock medication, and she is starting to look unwell again with a puffy face. The one thing on our side right now is that I got a good amount of pedialyte into her. So we keep on trucking and hoping she turns a corner on her own in the next day so I don’t end up back on pediatrics with her. I feel like I am going to waste away and drop to the floor after the last few days, only to be dealing with it all over again today. Hopefully the stars align and we all have a nap this afternoon.

Now for some nice news. Daddy took the boys and Miley for the afternoon yesterday while I was on Belle-duty. They went out and bought big boys beds: it’s time to move on from the toddler beds. They picked out their bed frames and mattresses so now all that’s left is the bedding – Mommy’s favorite part! The new furniture should be here in about ten days, so we have time to take the boys shopping for their new bedding sets. Max is more excited than Logan about having a real big boy bed. Time to start thinking about how we are going to arrange their bedroom.

12/March/2012 – The kiddies

We have a set of pop-up tents and while we were spending a day indoors I decided to break one out for the boys. They wanted to pretend they were camping so we put one of the little flip-out sofas in there with some blankets, a few toys, and snacks. They had their fun in it throughout the afternoon, and even Miley (who was scared of it before) ventured in and hung out with the boys. Evening time rolled around and they spent a few hours in there watching videos on the iPad. All we could see was their little heads every now and again. It was like they weren’t even in the same room with us.

Belle’s new nickname is Scootch. While she does crawl to get around, most of the time she scootches along on her bum. Seeing her in action is hilarious, and now every time we see her we say “hey Scootch!” I have a few videos as I am sure this way of mobility is not going to last long. Belle is doing something new every day lately.

Miley is still enthralled with her doll house. I’m so happy about how much she enjoys playing with it. I’m having fun with her too. Mostly she spends time moving around the furniture and whatnot. The fact that she is playing quietly without needing us involved is huge. She is not much for independent play these days.

It was such a beautiful day outside. I dressed up the kids and we headed on out to the deck and the backyard. The kids played in the mud, the swings, and the slide. Miley enjoyed some time on the swing yelling “weeeee” every time I pushed her. Belle sat in the swing next to her (first time!) and I pushed her a little bit. She’s not feeling well though and didn’t enjoy it as much as Miley. Getting outside to run around was so refreshing, and tired the kids right out. I can’t wait for summer.

Cuteness: Belle waved bye to daddy tonight as I was taking her upstairs to bed. She totally melted our hearts and has us wrapped around her finger. Tightly.

10/March/2012- Miley, it’s your birthday!

Our first baby girl is two years old today!

Dear Miley,

You are two years old today. How did that happen so fast? You are a sweet little girl with a lot of spunk. You can be quiet, loving, and girlie only to flick a switch and be rough-housing, screaming, and pushing your way through your siblings to get what you want. You have lots of energy but you certainly know how relax. When you aren’t running around and playing hard you relax with a tinkerbell movie (your favorite), look at some books, colour, or play alone with your collection of fairy dolls and baby dolls. You have beautiful long, dark hair, deep blue eyes, and the most gorgeous smile. Your little giggle is just adorable, and watching you run off to do something is so cute. You are tiny but you’ve just had a little growth spurt. Suddenly the length of your pants are fitting you better (sorry about the genetic short stature).

You love all things girl. You like to use mommy’s makeup brushes, do nail polish, and play with jewelry. You don’t mind getting your earrings changed and you like shoes. Your favorite toys are dolls (you call them babies), barbies and fairy dolls, and a set of stacking shapes. At the same time you like to be a part of what the boys are into. Sometimes you play with toy cars, transformers, and airplanes and you enjoy running around with them. When you hear music you dance around and sing “la-la-la.” When you need some downtime you get comfy in your spot on the big couch with your pink blanket and watch Bubble Guppies, Cat in the Hat, or Tinkerbell.

We celebrated your second birthday with all things Tinkerbell. We had a beautiful tinkerbell cake for you, decorations and balloons all tinkerbell, and mommy made a special sign that said happy birthday, strung across the big wall in the kitchen. You jumped around playing with the balloons throughout the morning, and Daddy took you to a special breakfast at Cora’s. You and Daddy sat at the table and colored, and you filled up on juice instead of good food. After nap time, you woke to Gramma and Grandpa here, and ready to celebrate you! You woke up on the grumpy side, but you enjoyed your cake and had a big smile on your face as we sang the happy birthday song. You even tried to blow out your candles. Logan helped you get the job done. After cake we moved on to your presents. You got so many lovely things. Max and Logan picked out a special tinkerbell doll just for you. Yesterday, when I told them it was your birthday Max immediately was concerned about getting you a present. He said “she likes barbies so we should get her one of those.” He found a tinkerbell-barbie doll and was pleased. He couldn’t wait for you to open it, and when you did it was the present you were most excited about. Since you love music, mommy and daddy got you a CD-karaoke machine. We are going to have lots of fun with that. Along with some books, boots, and cute outfits, you got a doll house from Gramma and Grandpa – your very first one. I am surprised at how much you like it. It is your favorite gift: I got some great pictures of you just sitting quietly playing with it, rearranging furniture and playing with the dolls. I’m impressed.

After your gift opening, Mommy and Gramma took you out for some French fries and a walk through the mall. You were so cute being your dainty little self, all dressed up in a dress, boots, and hair in pigtails. You stopped in a store where you were fascinated with all the hair accessories, purses, and jewelry. You left with a set of plastic necklaces, bracelets, and rings, flaunting them as you walked through the mall. Once we got home, we dressed you in a new outfit, read you one of your books and tucked you into bed. You were beyond tired, and quite irritable. I don’t think you were feeling the greatest all day long but you had some great moments in there.

Happy birthday little girl. We love you!

7/March/2012 – Busy Bees

Max and Logan got outside this morning with our neighbor and their friends. We traded kids: I took her six month old boy, and she took my boys. Off they trucked through the snow and to the park nearby. When I asked the boys if they wanted to go out and play they were overexcited. They ran upstairs to get socks, got all dressed in their snowsuits and waited patiently for a few minutes until they heard a knock at the door. Out they went, and I didn’t see them for an hour. They opened the front door, crawled back in the house saying they were hungry and all out of energy. Logie and Max sat at the table, told me about their outing while they filled their bellies with lunch, and off for a good nap they went. Having her little guy didn’t even feel like a fair trade: he took a bottle and slept the whole time.

Miley stayed in the house with me, and we watched Curious George while she snacked on some finger foods for lunch. I don’t think she even noticed the boys were gone.

Belle news! She walks with her baby walker! (12m,6d old) I got a few good videos of her holding on to the walker and just taking off. She did so great, and we were so excited. I can’t believe she can walk without holding onto our hands. She fell a few times but it didn’t stop her from getting up and going again. Once she started, she didn’t want to stop. When we sat her down on her bum she started to cry because she wanted to keep walking. It didn’t take long to tire her out and she was in bed at 6:00 PM.

She’s doing ok post-immunizations, but had vomited her meds given to help her sleep. I have been worrying about her since she has missed two doses now and today she wasn’t quite herself: shaky, off-balance now and again.

Tonight, Logie has been tucked into bed with a fever. I was out for a few minutes and Daddy was tucking him into bed when he noticed Logan was burning up. First thing Logan asked for was Mommy. I’m sure he’ll be fine but I really hate when my kiddies are sick :(

6/March/2012 – updates

It’s a busy household with all kinds of things going on.

Max and Logan each got a ceramic car (bank) to paint from Grammy and Poppy. Daddy sat at the table with them and helped them paint and they had a great time with it. Max did most of his himself, and Logan supervised as he told Daddy what colors to paint where. The boys have been hitting up Grandpa for money every time they see him, so between their allowance and some money here and there from Grandpa, they have a good bit to put in their banks. So far the boys both seem to be saving for a transformer.

On Sunday nights, the three “men” in the house have a cute routine. Daddy goes upstairs to iron his clothes for the work week and takes the boys with him. Max and Logan both climb into our bed all propped up with our pillows, each with an iPad in hand watching transformer videos. They look so small in the giant bed with big pillows and a fluffy duvet. Talk about being treated like royalty!

Miley is going to be two years old on Saturday. We have a few things planned for our little princess. And little she is! Jon and I were lying in bed the other night just chatting about her, and how she is so short she can’t even climb stairs: it’s like she has no legs. Height is not in her favour with a short mother, and two short grandmothers. We had a good laugh about her. She is just so full of character. Jon has been having a hard time doing Miley’s hair up with elastics. I guess his fingers are too big for missy’s dainty elastics and fine hair. After bathing the kids the other night, she came down with her hair all done: he found a little elastic that he could use. Not too hard to tell he was proud of himself.

Belle Button had her one year immunizations today. Poor pumpkin got poked three times in her arms, and was definitely upset about it. Once we were out of that room and walking around, she was fine and bounced right back. Hopefully she isn’t bothered too much by them.

She has new words! She says ‘oh no!’ a lot and it’s so funny. She will drop her sookie, fall down, just anything, and her response is “oh no.” She also says “hello” when she picks up a toy phone. Belle is changing so much.

When Button cries, she now adds “ma-ma-ma” in there as she is wailing. It’s a definite way to pull at the heart strings. Now that she is crawling all over and has the run of the place, she follows me around and pulls at my legs while she whines and cries.

3/March/2012 – It’s Party Time

Today is Belle’s birthday party! I have to be honest in saying birthday parties are so not my thing, but I got sucked in this time and have been planning this for well over a month. I started decorating the house yesterday with a big banner I made (and started a month ago), lots of streamers, decorating cupcakes, and wrapping Belle’s birthday gift. Max and Logan helped me with the streamers, and watched closely as I decorated cupcakes to make sure I was doing a good job.

This morning, once we were cleaned up and ready for the day, we went to get a bunch of helium-filled balloons, more decorations, and some snack food to put out. Meanwhile Gramma was over hanging out with Miley and Max, warming up some home-made chili for the guests, and getting the house organized. Grammy made a nacho dip and we put out lots of good food for everyone to munch on.

Belle had a short nap just before party time, and Mommy dressed her up in a cute pettiskirt, pink shirt, and baby leggings. She had a hard time getting around in the pettiskirt since it was kind of heavy and full of ruffles. Just before 2:00 our house was full of guests and excited kids. Shortly thereafter, Daisy the clown arrived for face painting and balloon sculpting. The kids had a great time with the clown, and Belle even got a pink number one painting on her cheek. Max and Logan flat out refused to have anything to do with the face painting, but curiously stood by as some of the other kids got theirs done. After face painting we moved on to balloon sculpting. All the kids were jumping up and down, all over the place, throwing out demands for certain things: Logan got a sword, Belle got a bouquet of flowers on a headband, there was a flying mouse, a hummingbird, a wiener dog, and poodle – all kinds of things. My kids were certainly entertained. Admittedly, the clown was a last minute decision when I realized I didn’t have anything lined up to actually entertain these kids. I don’t recommend hiring a last minute clown. This clown had zero personality, monotone voice, and couldn’t even be bothered to talk to the kids. It was almost awkward. The kids had fun with her though, and didn’t know any different. All the adults got a good laugh about it after she left. I somehow managed to hire a depressed clown hahaha. Anyway, it was all good.

At this point Belle was completely overwhelmed and crying, which I expected. I took her upstairs to my room and changed her, gave her a cuddle and bit of quiet time. Before too long she was ready to face the crowd again. She was the focal point of the whole room as we sang ‘Happy Birthday’ and gave her a little cupcake with a #1 candle on it. Daddy helped her blow it out (what did you wish for, Belle?) and she took one taste of the icing and was disgusted. No cupcake for Belle. We tore through her gifts with the help of all the little people in the room: Mommy and Daddy went big this year and got her a Laugh and Learn Home. Daddy assembled it the night before, so that once things quieted down after the party she could just play with it. She got so many nice and thoughtful gifts: toys, outfits, gift cards. We can’t thank everyone enough for their generosity.

It is 6:00 PM and its quiet time! We had a great afternoon with our family and friends, and some great laughs (thank you, clown). We pulled out the little house we got for Belle and she was immediately interested in it. I can see plenty of hours of playtime with this toy; it’s already so popular with Belle and the other three as well. To say that we were all zonked by this time is an understatement. When we had some time to just chat, we noted how great of a day it was overall. Belle’s mood was decent, everyone had a great time, and we are going into our little girls second year with high hopes.

1/March/2012 – Happy 1^st Birthday Belle

She is one year old today! I find that incredibly hard to believe. Although each passing day seemed slow, and often a challenge, looking back on the year as a whole I feel like it flew by. This morning she started her day at 4:00AM and I was done my shift. Daddy took over and downstairs they went. Apparently they eventually fell asleep on the floor together for over a half hour. Daddy really enjoyed his cuddle time with Belle, and was the first one to wish her a happy birthday. Mommy dressed her up in a dress and took lots of pictures, gave her lots of hugs, kisses, and cuddles. We sang ‘Happy Birthday’ a few times. Her big party is on Saturday, so we are saving her big gift for then.

Dear Belle,

One year ago today you were forced into this world, and gosh you were stubborn about it. We tried to coax you out several times and you kept everyone on their toes by switching positions and not keeping your head where it was supposed to be. You were the talk of L&D that whole day. You and I had a rough day, but twenty four hours later you left the nursery to be in my arms. I was so happy and couldn’t wait to get you home, leaving the drama of a challenging pregnancy behind. You were so tiny; just five little pounds that fit like a little ball in my arms, and most of you fit in Daddy’s hands. I even took a picture of you next to a loaf of bread so that I could remember how small you truly were. Today at one year old you weigh 17 lb, 3 oz. You’ve grown so much baby girl!

We have had our share of ups and downs. Your first year didn’t go quite as I had imagined. You’ve had some feeding troubles, tummy troubles, all kinds of little troubles that made you one big irritable baby. There have been hours of non-stop crying, days where you wouldn’t eat, moments where you’ve scared me silly. We made it through all those things: some of them still persist, and we still have our struggles, but we are getting through them. One of these days they all have to go away though, and I’m looking forward to it for everyone’s sake.

To date, you are crawling, standing with assistance, babbling, and have four words in your vocabulary. Your development has been remarkable in this last month, and your true colors are shining through more and more. Each time you learn to do something new, it is a victory for you, me, and Daddy. We spent plenty of time worrying about delays and disorders. You’ve certainly put those to rest. You have beautiful blue eyes, strawberry blonde hair that curls in the back when it is freshly washed, and four little teeth. Your smile is just gorgeous and lights us up every time we see you beaming. You are very expressive with your eyes: they are so bright and sparkle when you are happy and well, and we can always tell when something is not right. We can’t go anywhere without that pink blanket of yours, and a bag full of pacifiers just in case we lose one when we are out and about. Sometimes when you are overwhelmed or upset you cover your whole head with your blanket, and we know it’s time to change things up and get you to a calmer, happier place.

We are still working on solid foods with you. Again, you have kept us on our toes. So far you tolerate (and like) mashed potato, sweet potato (semi-tolerable), squash (not so well), and a tiny bit of banana. There is a whole list of foods you can’t have, or just flat out refuse. You definitely do not like carrots, or sweet icing from a cake. You are definitely interested in what your brothers and sister are eating at snack time: unfortunately they are foods you can’t have. Hopefully as you keep growing, some of these issues will go away.

Belle, you are not a sleeper! You take sleeplessness to a whole new level. You are still up most of the night, regardless of what we have or are currently using for medication. Sometimes you are just awake, but often times it is because you have a tummy ache. So you get fussy, can’t settle, and we have to try to keep you happy so that you don’t wake up the whole house. Even during the day we are lucky to get a half hour nap from you. I think if you slept well, you would be far less irritable. Mommy knows best on this one.

Our first year has been quite a ride Button. But when you smile, laugh, and play you just light up our lives. You seem to just fit in this house hold, and it is hard to imagine what life would be like without you. We love you very much!

Love, Mommy.

Belle had a busy day on her first birthday. I took her to get an x-ray done, and she was pretty mad at me for that. Then she had an appointment with the dietician: next food we are going with is banana, her weight is ok and getting her by for another week. After that it was off to the nephrologist down the hall. In terms of her urinary reflux, we can repeat her VCUG any time between now and July. I don’t know when we will do it, but my rush was to get her off the Bactrim hoping it would settle her out. The doctor honestly thought I was pulling for something that wasn’t going to happen. I’m still looking for that miracle answer that makes everything better. However, the appointment was great but not for the reason we were there. From the doctor’s personal experience, he knew exactly what we are dealing with. Not that he made anything better, but there were some suggestions. But to have someone just know from experience is huge. Not to say we haven’t had great support from everyone involved in Belle’s care, but not one of those people is currently living it. The exhaustion: well there aren’t any words for it. I spend moments where she is over the top upset telling myself I don’t need to call her doctor, because even he can’t fix it.

What is hard for me today, is that everyone kept saying, and keeps saying she will outgrow it. Well we’ve made it to a year and there are some improvements, some new issues. When do things get better then? If it wasn’t at six months, nine months, and now twelve months, then when? Crystal ball, anyone? So we just keep on keeping on. Most times I can’t even be bothered to talk about it anymore, because there is nothing more to say. So this weekend we are going to celebrate Belle, and how far we have come. I am not going to ask myself “will tonight be the night she sleeps? Will today be the better day?” It’s not worth the energy. We have accomplished a lot, so let’s party instead! Speaking of celebrating Belle, the nurses at Pediatrics had birthday gifts for Belle and sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to her: she has a beautifully knitted pink blanket, a doll (she loves dolls!), and bag full of goodies. So sweet!

Max and Logan are so excited for Belle’s birthday celebration. They love having friends over, and all the treats that come with a party. Mostly though, they are dying to get their hands on the birthday gift we got for her. They are lecturing me already that Belle has to share. They are using my own parenting lectures against me.

29/Feb/2012 – On the road again

…to IWK to get Belle’s eyes checked. The plan was that she was going to be sedated at 8:00 AM so that her eye pressure could be checked without her fussing up. So we got on the road before 5:00 AM, and left the other three kids in the care of Grammy and Poppy. Belle hadn’t had any food since the night before, but content with pedialyte. She slept the whole way to Halifax which made for an easy drive. We got there just in time (traffic) and got set up in day surgery, registered, and waited for her to be sedated. So we waited…for fifty minutes. Then the nurse and eye doctor came in to say they weren’t sedating her because after looking at her history they decided it was too dangerous. Then they said we weren’t going to be doing anything today. Well I was shooting daggers from my eyes at this point. For starters, why can’t these people get their stuff straight? This is the THIRD time they seem misinformed and disorganized. Maybe someone should have looked at her history before booking her in for a sedation? We drove from Moncton and arranged for a day off work and child care. We are doing SOMETHING today.

So, we went up to the 6^th floor and they did an eye exam, ultrasound, and used a new tool to check eye pressure which took six readings and averaged them. This gave us a normal result! I was very happy about that, my blood pressure came down from wanting to go cray-zee on these people. Apparently they will contact us in eight to ten weeks to do a repeat check to make sure her eye pressure is in fact stable (yeah right, I won’t wait for that phone call!). Then the doctor had the nerve to question us about why everyone was so concerned about her eye pressure readings. Gee, I don’t know….because they are high?

We called to check in on the kids, and the boys were disappointed that they didn’t get to come with us this time. When we got home, Max gave us big hugs, telling us he missed us very much. I think he had the impression that we were going to be gone for a few days with Belle. Max is under the weather, complaining of a sore throat, ear ache, and headache. Hoping he feels better soon.

24/Feb/2012 – MacKids News

The boys have been little charmers lately. They will often tell me “ Mommy your hair looks pretty” (when it’s at its worst no less) with big smiles on their faces. They know they are being cute and full of beans. The newest issue between them is who gets to go first – at everything from walking down the stairs, to getting in and out of the van. Max often pushes his way in there to be first at everything which leaves Logan all worked up and upset. So teaching Max that he can’t always be first and win at everything while explaining to Logan that there is nothing wrong with being “second” has been a challenge. I do not like the competitive attitude, and nipping it right now.

Overheard conversation:

Logan: Max, are you my best friend?

Max: Yes, and you are my best friend.

Logan: Yeah, that’s right!

The fighting over clothing between the girls has begun. I was hoping we would make it to the age of ten or something before this started. Daddy dressed Belle in a pair of Miley’s jammies and Miley noticed. She yelled “HEY! That’s mine!” and then after a few minutes carried on. The next day we dressed Belle in a pair of striped pants similar to a pair that Miley has. The minute she saw Belle in the pants she got very angry and tried pulling them off of Belle’s legs. We had to show Miley that the pants Belle had on were in fact Belle’s, and not Miley’s. Wow.

Of course there is plenty going on in Belle’s world. Just to up the ante on her cuteness factor she will take her sookie out of her mouth and try to share it with me. It’s the sweetest thing and a big deal to share one of the things that brings her comfort with her Mama. I love her!

Today she is all over the place. She isn’t just crawling around in the living room: she follows us around the main floor and we find her under the table or getting into something she shouldn’t. I’m happy that she is so mobile and developing well, but the downfall is that she can cry and follow me around where before I could leave her in one spot and go tend to another child. Life has gotten a tad busier. When I went to the kitchen, I returned to the living room to find her at the book case, with the shelves open, ripping out the books and chewing on paper: all in a matter of minutes. Once I Belle-proofed the shelves I let her enjoy tearing all the books out and playing with the puzzles, magnets, and other kiddie stuff. I got some cute pictures too!

Belle is showing lots of interest in Miley’s toy dolls. She slobbers all over the face, really examines the hands and feet, and adores the noises it makes. I enjoy just watching her (in those rare moments that she allows that).

22/Feb/2012 – Checkup for Belle & Picture Time

Our little Peach had a scheduled appointment for a checkup with her pediatrician today. All is well: she is weighing in at 7.8 kg (17 lb, 3oz), and if I could remember her length and head circumference I would post it. Soon we will be changing up her formula and using Neocate Jr since she is coming up on a year old. There really isn’t much to report which is nice! She needs an x-ray done, and we are still trying to work out her lack of sleep. Next week we go back to IWK (argh!!) to get an ultrasound done of her eyes, and then she sees the nephrologist and has a weight check at peds on her birthday.

Proud Mommy Moment: going through the mail I saw that Max’s school assessment came in. I tore it open and was so excited to see all green flags – he met all the appropriate requirements. Our son’s first 100% on a test! I really didn’t doubt he would do well, but it was just nice to see it on paper.

I did a photo shoot with Logan and Max today. I bought this super cute hat with pictures in mind. Logan was wearing it around the house a lot, so I figured since he likes it, now would be the time for photos. I got both boys dressed in cute shirts and brought them downstairs for some pictures. They were both super cute with their antics. I posted a few of the shots captured. The boys were lots of fun to play with, and I can’t say how cute Logan is walking around with that hat on just for the sake of it.

20/Feb/2012 – More Belle News, Miley News, Boy-News!

Today, Belle would get on her tummy and then try to stand on her feet (11 months, 19 days old). She was able to lift herself a bit before losing balance and falling to her bum, but she was proud of herself. She took it up a notch with the new moves while Mommy wasn’t around: she held on to the baby walker and took three steps on her own! I got to see a second attempt later in the evening though, it was so exciting!

Yesterday (19/Feb) she pulled to stand on her own. I’m sitting on the couch drinking my coffee and I see this little head pop up. Well, there is Belle looking at me with a big grin on her face and holding on to the kids fold out couch, standing on her feet.

Daddy and the boys had such a fun day today. We kind of divided and conquered with the kids. We broke out the PS3 and the boys got right into video gaming. They played with daddy for an hour before nap time and had great fun all afternoon too. When we turned it off the boys weren’t too happy with us. They played ‘Little Big Planet’ and some PS Move games. They are already asking when they can play again. That is something that will have to wait until Daddy gets home from work and the girls are in bed, but we will be sure to make time for it.

Max and Logan are big into hot wheels stuff again. There is a show they like, and they walk around singing “hot wheels! Battleforce5!” which is just hilarious. They have been playing quietly downstairs quite a bit with their hot wheel tracks and dinkies. It’s neat to watch their interests change so frequently, but we can always count on one thing: it will either be trains, cars, or transformers.

While Daddy was video gaming with the boys, Mommy took Miley upstairs. We opened up a chest full of dress-up clothes that she got for Christmas from Gramma and Grandpa. She picked out a dress, put on some pearls, shoes, and carried a wand around. She wanted to go show daddy right away, and once she was made to feel all important with Daddy’s reaction, I took her downstairs to my studio for some pictures. She was so cute and such a princess. She spent a chunk of the afternoon in the dress, and didn’t want to take it off. We had to coax her out of it at supper time. I see lots of girly time in our near future.

18/Feb/2012 – Belle’s Cake Smash

I wanted Belle’s first birthday to be a huge deal. I have been working on portraits and putting together an album. I didn’t want the average picture of her with her birthday cake so I decided a full photo shoot with a cake smash in my studio would be much more memorable. One of Belle’s favorite nurses on Pediatrics made her an amazingly beautiful cake. It was so gorgeous in fact, that I almost didn’t want to go through with the cake smash. I took a lot of pictures of just the cake itself (yes, it was that pretty!).

On Saturday morning the cake was ready, and once the other three kids went for their nap, Jon and I set up for the smash. I dressed her up in her little birthday-girl onesie, tutu, and baby legs, got the backdrop ready and my lighting just right. Daddy brought the princess downstairs and we set her in front of the cake. She just sat there for a minute, looking at the cake and then at us as if to say “am I allowed to touch this?” She picked at the purple icing for a minute and tasted it: the face she made was so twisted and of absolute disgust as if we were torturing her. I captured that really well in some pictures. Then, she didn’t like the sticky hands: she was waving them all over the place trying to get the icing off. Cue meltdown here.

We could not get her to sit in front of the cake after this. She was stiff as a board and screaming. I took her out of the room and walked her a bit to distract her, and we slowly made our way back towards the cake with little steps at a time. At this point I am completely covered in purple icing and need a shower and fresh set of clothes. I was making this photo shoot happen no matter what. We gave her a taste of the actual cake and that grabbed her interest and suited Belle’s taste buds. We were able to sit her back in front of the cake, and I jumped back behind the camera.

Finally I got some great opportunities for pictures, as she dug her hands in the cake, took bites, smudged the icing around her, and still got upset at the sticky hands every so often. There was purple icing everywhere: from her hair all the way down to her toes. She didn’t wreck into the cake as much as I had hoped, but I definitely had fun with her. I finished the shoot with over 200 images and it was still hard to narrow down the best ones.

Logan loves cake. Naturally he wanted a giant piece of it when he saw it. Since Belle only wrecked half the cake, I salvaged the other half and gave him a treat. The cake was the first thing he was looking for after he woke from his nap.

13/Feb/2012 – Reflection

I wanted to be a mommy for as long as I can remember. I had this vision of what it would be like; what I would be like. So when I found out I was pregnant for the very first time, I started this website. I never wanted to forget anything: all the milestones, the special family moments, something to look back on some day. What I really liked about it was that at the end of a rough day, I could come to this site and find something good to write about. It helped me see the positive in a day full of negative. So that is what I strived for, I have filled this website with mostly good moments with the kids. Any difficult times were downplayed in intensity, because some day the kids might read this and when I’m older I’m sure to look back on it and I wanted to remember all the amazing moment that came with motherhood.

While I think it is important to be positive, and focus on all the great things in our household, let’s be honest: there are days that are absolutely terrible. There are days where I don’t feel like I’m living up to the mom I should be. I am so grateful that I am mommy to four beautiful, amazing children. There are many moments though where I’m feeling far from grateful: like when Belle is screaming and I can’t get her to just be quiet for five minutes, when Miley is throwing a tantrum or throwing toys across the room for extra attention that I can’t give at that very minute, or when Max and Logan and whining and fighting over toys and at each other. A fair amount of time all of those things can happen simultaneously and I want to just get down on the floor and have a tantrum too because I am tired, because I can’t split myself four ways all the time. A day like today- I wish I could pull the duvet up over my head and sleep. It is certainly easy to lose yourself with four kids. I do spend time working on my photography, and use my talent to capture moments with my children. I’m glad I can do that.

I am so fortunate to be able to stay at home with my kids. Again, I had this idea of what it would be like. I can’t imagine, even on my worst days, sending my kids to day care or having someone else take care of them while I go to a full time job. This is my job. I love being surrounded by their laughter, tears, screams, and tantrums. Sometimes I don’t realize it until later on though. It is just Jon and I and our four kids. It’s not like we can just call Grandma over from across the street to help out for an appointment, or an evening for Jon and I to go out. And that’s ok. I like being independent, I like being able to do this myself. I wanted a big family, and I want to raise them with my husband. Some days (ok, a lot of days) I am envious that Jon gets to walk out the door, to go interact with other adults, have a hot coffee without interruptions from children needing something, and not listen to Belle cry so much. At the same time though, at the end of his full day at work he comes home to four kids who all jump for his attention, and often an irritable wife. So life isn’t always perfect here, but we strive to make the best of it. I could never do it without Jon.

My girls are having birthdays next month. Miley is going to be two years old. She is growing so fast, and dang she is so cute and she knows it. She has quite a pout when she doesn’t get her way, she can repeat anything we say, loves her “babies” (dolls and stuffed animals), and her latest accomplishment is being able to climb up on the big couch and sit with the boys. She has marked her territory on the middle cushion. No blanket or toys belonging to the boys can touch her spot. Sometimes I worry that I can’t give her all the love and attention she needs. We brought Belle home when she was just eleven and a half months old. She was still a baby. I feel like I can’t even remember the last year with Miley sometimes. Another moment of mommy guilt. Belle is having her first birthday in two weeks. I am definitely sad about it. I want a do-over on the last year. Again, I had this image of what life would be like: I would have my baby, cuddle her, love her, teach her things. Reality is that I spent most of it worrying about her, she always has something going on with her, there were so many appointments, hospital stays, phone calls to her doctor, just flat out a concern. I have struggled too. There have been more melt downs from fatigue and being overwhelmed than I can even count. I hope that we have a better second year with her, and a great year for Miley too.

This morning Logan came to me, crying his little heart out, saying that he wanted his sookie. I explained to him that he doesn’t have a sookie anymore, and he’s a big boy now. I was surprised because he has been sookie-free for so long now without so much as a second thought. Instead he buried his face into my shoulder and had a good cry. I got him a snack and sat him on the couch. He ate up and came around a bit, but not before mentioning it again. I worry about him: Max is starting school in September and those two boys have been so close and inseparable. I think he is going to be a little lost without Max home all day. When Max went to school one morning for his assessment, Logan couldn’t understand why it wasn’t his turn to go too. What we do with Max, we always do with Logan. We have been very mindful about equality since day one.

I can’t believe Max is going to be off to school. It is going to be hard to send him out in the world on his own to learn without me guiding him. I can only hope that Jon and I have taught him well, and that he can use the skills he needs to have a good, happy day at school. I worry that he will fall on the playground and I won’t be the one to scoop him up and kiss him better, or that someone will hurt his feelings, or that he won’t listen and someone who doesn’t love him will be teaching him these life lessons. I will certainly be waiting for him when he gets home, to hear all about his days and to talk to him about them. He’s growing up on me. But I am so proud of him. He is a great big brother to his three siblings: he helps whenever he can, they all play together well, and love each other.

At the end of the day when I am tucking them into bed for the night, and looking forward to (hopefully) a hot cup of tea uninterrupted, I am thankful and so blessed. I love them so much and would never change it for anything. Some days I’m just too tired to see past the fog, but I am doing my best. I sure hope they realize that when they are older. This post isn’t meant to be negative, just honest. I love my life with my kids, but not every moment of every day is perfect and blissful. Like right now, Belle is screaming at me (again) and Max and Logan want snacks. Mommy’s duties call!

3/Feb/2012 – Mr. Max goes to school

Max had an assessment at school this morning. Daddy got him up, dressed and all ready when he woke and off they went. He got a name tag and went into a classroom with some other kids for over an hour while Daddy attended an information session. He had a lot of fun: he made a snowman (we need to work on his cutting skills – I realized I don’t let him use scissors!), played with other kids, got some stickers. Apparently he was a little shy at first but it didn’t take him long to settle in.

I got some pictures of him standing in the classroom: he looked so small in that big room. How is he already school age?? I was sad that I couldn’t take him, since I was with Belle at Pediatrics. However, he came to visit right after, and excitedly marched in the room telling me about his morning. I’m glad he had fun.

He ended the day with a headache. I think all the excitement, missing a nap after a late bedtime, and not eating properly caught up with him. Daddy gave him some advil and tucked him into his bobbie and life was ok again.

Logan wanted a turn going to school, and he doesn’t understand why he can’t go – he and Max are always doing everything together so he is feeling a little left out.

Belle tried to wave for the first time tonight (11m,2d old). The kicker: it was to her pediatrician! It was so cute, and she is really coming along with her development.

1/Feb/2012 – Belle is 11 months!

One month out from her big #1! I have been working viciously at her one year pictures. I have started them already since I want a full album of different poses and I can only get a few shots in at a time. She isn’t the easiest model to work with, but I am so pleased with the results thus far. Here’s the news on Belle:

Weight: 7.6 kg – still trying to hit that 17 lb mark!

Clothing: size 9-12 months and very loose around her waist, clothing doesn’t always fit right on her.

Diapers – Size 3 Pampers

Teeth: two bottom teeth, and her gums are looking a little swollen on the top.

Soothing: the usual pacifier and blanket, she likes the music from the mobile in her crib, cuddling up with Mommy.

Sleep: asleep by 7:30 pm (thank you Melatonin!) but then up most of the night. We seem to have Baby Einstein movie marathons in the early part of the morning. She sleeps in her crib for the first part, and will occasionally nap there too. Otherwise she is curled up next to Mommy.

Food: Just started a hypoallergenic diet yesterday. Anything we have already fed her is nixed. Started with lamb and carrots, a few bites several times a day to get her tummy used to it. Neocate for formula.

Play: Enjoys a bucket full of dinky cars that belong to her brothers, colorful stacking cups, anything that makes noise. Uses her jolly jumper and exersaucer for entertainment, likes to chew on books rather than read them

Nicknames: Pumpkin, Belle-E-Button Brookster.

Milestones: Almost crawling, rolls around on the floor, makes new sounds and I swear she says “mine”. If we hold her hands she will walk around, and if we stop before she is ready she will throw a tantrum.

Other: We call her our little carpet cleaner. She will look for little specs and crumbs on the carpet and try to get to them. If she does, they go straight in her mouth. I can’t seem to keep that area rug clean enough!

24/Jan/2012 – Sleep Fail!

Last night we increased Belle’s melatonin dose, hoping it would make for better nights for all of us. As usual, after giving it to her we got her settled in for bed easily. However, after one hour the chaos of the night began. She got jittery, wouldn’t eat but a suck from her bottle here and there, and her breathing was messed up that I spent most of the time she was asleep counting between breaths. Then she would gasp, wake herself up and be hard to settle again. I think I sprouted some new gray hairs from that one.

Her jitteriness and not eating carried on into the day, and she was so grumpy. Another darn call to her doctor, there was no way I was giving her that dose of melatonin again without some reassurance (do doctors get paid for phone calls like that? Ha!). Anyway, back to the old dose of melatonin and try it at the increased dose sometime next week on a trial when she is finished with her antibiotic. We have one more option to try for helping her sleep, and we are still on the fence about it. At the end of the day I did get some solid food into her, with a lot of coaxing she took some chicken with mashed potato. She loves the taste but wasn’t too fussy about eating it. The timing was unfortunate too, but I’m afraid with her lack of eating she will waste away on me. So began the post-eating tummy troubles. Daddy had to take her out of the house for a little while so that Mommy could have a break.

We have given Belle little pieces of gluten-free bread. She will sit in the high chair and play around with it, eat some of it, and is happy to just be a part of the meal process. Most of the tiny pieces land on the floor or under her seat, but what she does take in doesn’t seem to bother her. She doesn’t work that pincer grasp very well and this seems to be forcing her to practice it.

Max was such an awesome little helper today. Well, he is awesome in general but he took it up a notch today. He helped Logan get dressed, buttoned his pants, and when it was time to go out the door he helped Logan into his sweater and tried furiously to zip it up. I stepped in to help with the zipper struggles but I am so proud of him. He is always helpful, especially when it comes to getting a diaper or pacifier for Belle, or a blankie for Miley. I am just so proud of him for stepping in when his little brother needed some help. He really is a very sweet boy!

22/Jan/2012 – What a week!!

Daddy was away in Houston this week, and things were busy.

Miley love love loves to color. I bought her a tinkerbell coloring book and brought out her princess crayons and she got right into coloring. She sat at the table or stood in the tower and would doodle on every page. Every now and again she would yell “HELP ME” looking for us to color with her, but she was mostly quiet and concentrating on her art work. I really appreciate how much she likes colouring. When Daddy got home she pulled the book out herself to show Daddy, and wanted to color. I hope it continues to keep her interest. Grammy Mac bought her some tinkerbell stickers which also keep her attention as she likes to stick them randomly all over the page.

The poor little girl battled the tummy bug for most of the whole week, which made us all kind of miserable. She wasn’t feeling well which meant she was cranky, and I was exhausted from getting up with her so much and being out of her sleep routine. One day she woke up with her appetite back and getting closer to being herself again. I took little videos of her to send to Daddy, one that said “hi Daddy, I love you” as she coloured away, which was priceless. She can be so sweet.

Logan had his turn with the virus too, and I had to put him in a pull-up to control laundry and accidents. He was so angry with me, and yelled that “those underwear are for babies!” With some convincing, he put them on. Thankfully he was better within twenty four hours. He definitely missed Daddy while he was away but was a very good boy. Mommy bought he and Max a transformer to play with to break up the waiting, counting down and monotony. They were so grateful.

Daddy brought home a neat toy for the boys: dinky Cars that actually drive on the iPad on a Cars game. It is so cool, and I’ve never seen Logan so enthralled with something before. He sat quietly for a while last night and this morning just driving his Lightening McQueen along the iPad screen. The set came with two cars so Max played too, he used the Holly Shiftwell car, and is pretty good at the game. Still, Cars is more Logan’s thing than Max’s: Max went to the transformers games as soon as he got the chance.

I brought Max and Logan to the airport to get Daddy. The excitement was awesome! They kept looking around the corner waiting for Daddy and started to think he wasn’t coming after all. Max even got a little teary. Once they saw him they had big hugs, and helped get the big red suitcase off the conveyor belt. Max even told Daddy “I missed you” unprompted, and Logan was stuck to Daddy’s side like glue. They all missed him very much.

Belle has an infection going on and is on antibiotic. Her weight is down because it was hard to get her formula into her and even pedialyte for that matter. She spends most of the night awake, and is just kind of off in general. It is thought to be a side effect of her flu vaccine. I have no plans to get her one again. I knew she was starting to get unwell Saturday night, and by Sunday morning sure enough, she went downhill. So it was a long week of worrying about her. She also had an appointment with OT and physio on the 19^th. After a chunk of time spent with her screaming, they were reluctant to give us another appointment saying they don’t really have anything more to offer Belle that can help. I was totally heartbroken because this was the one thing that I really thought would help, that I had faith in. So I left there feeling like they gave up and abandoned her. Apparently they will call in a few months to see how things are going. Whatever.

Max, Logan, and Miley all made cupcakes with Grammy, and had a great time decorating them with sprinkles. I think the boys ate more candy sprinkles than they did decorating but it kept them busy and they enjoyed it. We tried to come up with things to keep them occupied through the week, and when they heard about making cupcakes it didn’t take long to get that going.

15/Jan/2012 – Walking and Jumping

When we hold Belle’s hands, she will walk all around the place. All of a sudden she is on the move: we got some videos of her in action, she is quite the little cutie pie. We also invested in a jolly jumper for her. We needed something for her to get through some of the evening rough patches and she likes jumping in her exersaucer. This was a good idea because she took to it right away and spent over a half hour just jumping away and pleased with herself.

Initially we had bought the jolly jumper to hang from a door frame, but once we got it home we realized all of our frames are too wide. I returned it right away to get the one on a stand, and as I was returning I got plenty of unsolicited advice from a customer service rep at Toys R Us:

CSR: Oh I must say I am relieved you are returning this

Me: huh? Why?

CSR: I just don’t like them at all. After seeing my friend’s baby in one and walking around to let herself swing back – I just didn’t like what I saw.

Me: sounds like the kid was too old for it.

CSR: either way, the jumperoo would be a safer choice. I know they are more expensive but….

Me: Do you have kids?

CSR: No.

Me: Ah ha. I’ll take the Jolly jumper with the stand please.

What’s funny is that this is our third Jolly Jumper purchase since having kids. We always get rid of them after the kids outgrow it thinking we will have no use for one. I was pregnant with Belle when I got rid of Miley’s. I don’t know what I was thinking.

My poor Miley Moo is still fighting a gastro virus. We are on day four or five now (losing count). I just wish she would feel better. You would never know she is sick the way she carries on and still eating some and drinking plenty.

10/Jan/2012 – On the go again

Belle had an appointment in Halifax with an ophthalmologist because the pressure readings were high for her eyes at her last checkup. The assumption was that it was likely because she was crying so hard during the eye exam but now we have to make sure everything is fine. This appointment was basically a repeat of what was already done in Moncton, so there were no surprises. Mostly I felt annoyed that they had this big file on Belle’s history but couldn’t seem to get any of it right. They all thought we were there because Belle had extreme eye irritability. Huh? Did you people even LOOK at her chart? I should have called ahead to find out exactly what was going to take place today so that my expectations would have been reasonable. I wasn’t expecting a replay with the exact same results as what we did at home. On the flip side I understand that they need to do their own investigation.

Her eye pressure was still high, but her eyes looked good. The ophthalmologist said that maybe the eye pressure readings were high from her crying. I can’t dispute that but I am questioning it a bit since she wasn't crying when they checked the first eye and she wasn’t fussing up beforehand whereas the last appointment she had been wailing well before they got a chance to check the pressure. Regardless, the fact that the readings are high is being acknowledged and they want us back in four weeks to do an ultrasound of the eye, another reading and based on that, sedate her to check again. I have some thinking to do.

We packed up the whole family and made our way to Halifax first thing in the morning. The kids were just gems the whole trip. The boys really liked being in a big truck, and they watched their movies along the way. We stopped for snacks, pee breaks, and lunch before heading over to Belle’s appointment. We let the other three kiddies stretch their legs a bit and then they did their own thing with Daddy while I took Belle to her appointment. We took them to the mall afterwards to let them walk around, burn off some energy and a little retail therapy. Then we made our way back home. Miley hardly slept a wink the whole day, and same with the boys. Logan slept for ten minutes and then came back to life with a vengeance. He and Max goofed around in the back for a big chunk of the drive home while we smirked and giggled at their antics from the front. They were just so well behaved, and the whole day was pretty easy overall. I’m glad we brought them along with us.

9/Jan/2012 – Lots of Belle updates!

On January 5^th we started the baby steps of getting her to sleep in her crib. She slept for twenty minutes in the crib at nap time and then for an hour in the evening at her bedtime. I am not willing to do any crying it out with her right now, and I haven’t figured out how I’m going to make this a successful change but it will work out somehow.

Her little noises are: da-da, ba-ba, still lots of coos and squeals, and I MAY have gotten a ma-ma. I am working hard on that one. She is still clapping her hands often, and is starting to try to grab things out of her reach which means trying to throw herself towards the object. Then she falls and gets upset. Watching her eat a mum-mum rice cracker is SO cute. Button just loves to eat and watching her devour these crackers with all the cute faces is fun. I sat on the floor and just keep snapping pictures of her. She is so happy and enjoys it, until the after-effect kicks on of blowing up like a balloon and crying. It makes me so sad for her, she wants the food.

Belle had a check-up with her doctor today. Her weight is 16 lb, 13 oz! I think that is fabulous after a stomach virus and her lack of solid foods. I have to suck it up and just feed her solid foods consistently – so much easier said than done. I knew her pediatrician was going to tell me this so I wasn’t surprised: I get where he is coming from and she needs the food. We just struggle so much afterwards with tummy pains and inconsolable crying: it is overwhelming to deal with. Anyway – now we are starting her on chicken this week and taking it from there. On Friday she goes for the second half of her flu vaccine. It was a busy morning and we covered a lot of things going on.

Today, at 10 months and 8 days old we had our very first tantrum from Belle. She grabbed a candy wrapper I had and started playing with it because she liked the crinkly noise it made. When she tried to put it in her mouth I took it away. She got stiff as a board, beet-red from crying hard, fists in the air and nothing could distract her. Boy, was she mad at me. Meanwhile I’m giggling at her behavior.

The transmission in our van is currently sitting on the garage floor at the dealership. What a giant inconvenience, especially when we have to take Belle to Halifax tomorrow to get her eyes checked. We had to get a rental and driving a big Yukon to NS tomorrow. The boys are stoked to be taking a little road trip in a big truck.

Yesterday we went out for breakfast with Grandpa. The boys really enjoyed themselves and Logan wanted the whole basket of toast all to himself. Max and Logan were more focused on getting to the end of the meal so that they could pick out a toy from the treasure chest.

At bedtime, Daddy has been doing story time with all the kids. Miley always reads a book with Daddy when he tucks her into bed at night. Logan now has sparked interest in reading, and will sit quietly and pay attention to the whole book as Daddy reads. Max picks the same book every night: a book about trains. Such a nice moment for the kids and Daddy.

4/Jan/2012 – Another Tooth!

Belle got her second bottom tooth, on the right side(10m, 3d old). This one has been trying to come through for a while and it finally broke through the gum. I really thought teething would be a challenge with Belle, but she has been pretty good overall.

Miley loves nail polish. She wanted her toe nails done again, and this time we went with a metallic blue. She is such a little diva the way she brushes her own hair, plays with my make-up brushes, puts on her lipsmacker gloss and lets me paint her nails. I got her a little Barbie makeup case to put all her nail polish in, and she got some sparkly tinkerbell nail polish too. I see lots of girly time in our near future.

Logan got some Cars decal stickers from Uncle Nat and Auntie Leia for Christmas. Tonight when Daddy got home from work he put them up all over his side of the room and on the dresser. He had so much fun and loves his new stickers. He is the biggest Cars and Lightening McQueen fan you will ever meet. The other night we put Logan to bed and usually he calls us back upstairs a few times for silly things. On this particular night we didn’t hear from him at all and commented on how tired he must have been to fall asleep so fast. When we went to check on him we found band-aid wrappers all over the floor, a band-aid on his forehead, and a few stuck to the night stand. It was so hilarious. Daddy left the first aid kit in his room and he got into the band-aids. We got quite a laugh. No wonder he was so quiet! Logie has also had quite a growth spurt – we’ve had a few people comment on how tall he has gotten and how much he has thinned out. He is just about the same height as Max right now.

As I was tucking Max into bed one night earlier in the week, I realized that he is outgrowing his little bed. We have been on the hunt for a new bed set for both boys. Max likes the idea of bunk beds but neither boy wants to sleep on the top so we nixed that idea pretty quickly. I want the perfect set and so far I haven’t found it, but Max is having a blast going from bed to bed.

1/Jan/2012 – Belle is 10 months old

Happy ten months Princess Belle! I’m sitting here thinking she just can’t be ten months old already: I just had her. She is growing so fast and it’s kind of sad that she is already so close to being a year old. We spent her day trying to get some pictures in Mommy’s studio but she wasn’t too happy. It took three different tries and we didn’t get much to work with. I did get some great shots of her grumpy/crying/mad face though. Belle had some bonding time with Daddy while Mommy napped and played on the floor lots today. Here is the news on Belle at ten months old:

Weight: 7.45 kg

Clothing size: 9-12 months

Diapers: Size 3 pampers

Teeth: one bottom left tooth, the other bottom tooth is working its way through

Soothing: being rocked or bounced in Mommy’s arms; always needs her pink blanket and a pacifier. Likes having her back rubbed by daddy. When we can’t settle her at all we take her for a drive – sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.

Sleep: asleep by 8:30 PM, frequent waking but some improvement since taking Melatonin and Zantac through the night. We aim for naps during the day but they are often interrupted with a tummy pain or some kind of irritation. She sleeps in her Nap Nanny in between Mommy and Daddy.

Food: Right now it is Neocate only, and pedialyte when she is not eating or sick. We learned she can’t do ground beef. I expect we will be pushing the solids big time this month.

Play: she has toys she likes more than others, like stackable blocks (she plays with Miley), her cool manhattan toy she got for Christmas, still likes her exersaucer, a big beaded wooden necklace, anything with tags or strings. She will sit on her own and play here and there.

Nicknames: Peach, Pumpkin, Princess Belle, Button

Milestones: On December 27^th she started clapping her hands for the first time. We will say “yay” and she will clap her hands along with us. She can stand unassisted and balance herself for a good ten to fifteen seconds, and she will stand and support herself at the toy box. Her babbling is increasing, she screams and is getting louder.

Other: she makes this cute face where she moves her mouth like a fish but doesn’t make any sound. I call her a little bubble guppy. She is shy and needs time to warm up to strangers. Belle is very attached to Mommy. She has an appointment to check her eyes at IWK this month, as well as a checkup with her pediatrician. We hope for a low key month!

Tonight, Miley sat on the floor and patiently let Mommy paint her toe nails a pretty, bright pink. She actually enjoyed it and it’s the first time she let me do it without having to distract her with something else. She is turning into such a girly girl the way she plays with my make-up brushes and plays with her dolls. I really enjoyed painting her little piggies tonight: it was so much fun.

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