Shawn and Kim visit Dec 30-31

We have a long history of having Shawn and Kim Thompson over to our house on New Year's.  It started back before any of us had kids.  It didn't work out this year to have them come ON Dec 31 and stay over for the new year since the Hardinger family made plans to get together over that time, so we opted to have them come Dec 30 and 31.  Dec 30 (Sun) is the day after we arrived home from Texas.  A little soon after just arriving home from a long trip to host people, I realize that...but with some relaxed flexibility and meal planning on the road, we pulled a visit together quick.  I'm glad we did because its always nice to see them.  Their two kids, Caleb and Genevieve are 2 yrs and 6 months, respectively.
I don't remember exactly what we did.  Rachel was around, having come early to our house to prepare food and organize the Hardinger get together in a couple days. We played telephone pictionary, which ended in fits of laughter about each person's series of drawings/phrases.  Caleb (who is slightly autistic) enjoyed running around with toys and watching Backyardigans.  Genevieve was so sweet, smiling and jumping on all our laps.  She loved the jumperoo toy, and even fell asleep in it.  The next morning Dave and Shawn took our older 3 kids and Caleb swimming at the hotel where Shawn's parents were staying.  Rachel, Kim and I did kitchen stuff while caring for Eli and Genevieve.
Violet and Calvin call Shawn Uncle Shawn.

Dave was testing out the smile detection feature on the camera - Shawn smiled - it snapped a pic.

 Genevieve asleep in the jumperoo.

 Rachel constructing her last pie of the year.

Christmas in Garland, TX with Armitages – Dec 22-29, 2012 and Calvin's 5th Birthday

The idea for this trip to Texas started awhile ago when Lisa and I were chatting on facebook, she was telling me about the house they lived in since moving out of Swiss Tower on the DTS campus. She mentioned it is easier to host people now that their house is bigger. Neil, Sten’s dad, purchased the home for him and them in June 2012. She suggested having family to her place in TX for Christmas and the idea was planted but no decisions were made. We decided to make the trek to visit the Armitage family for Christmas sometime in November. We had a garage sale to fund the gas for the trip in November. We didn’t decide travel dates until a few weeks before coming. Calvin’s birthday was Dec 28th so we didn’t want to be traveling on his birthday, we decided to go on the 22nd (Sat before Christmas) and leave the 29th (the Sat after Christmas). When deciding how to get there (driving, not flying), we decided to make the trip all in one day, as opposed to two days. Dave and I disagreed on that when we first started talking about how to get there. I thought…let’s just enjoy the drive and take it in two parts, stay at a hotel with a pool, etc. Dave thought no, the “getting in and out of a hotel” is a lot of work and an extra expense, so why not try make the trip in one day. His viewpoint is rather “why have 2 miserable days of travel when you can only make it one.” I agreed. We weren’t sure whether to drive all through the night, or all through the day. We decided to wake up early in the morning and drive there with the hopes that we would get there and avoid arriving super late in the evening. “Super early” for this family is 5-6 am. Dave and I got up at 5 am on the 22nd and loaded the van and got the kids in the van by 7:15 and drove off by 7:20. My goal in blogging for this trip is not to summarize each day but rather highlight certain memories worth recording. I did not keep a running tab of the events as notes for me to refer to like I’ve done in the past, this time it seemed way too hard to do. We didn’t really do all that much, maybe that’s why. We mostly stayed at Sten and Lisa’s house. The drive down to Texas was l-o-o-o-o-o-n-n-n-n-g-g-g. We thought it would take about 12 hours, but we didn’t arrive at their house to close to 10:30pm, which was 15 total hours of travel. The first few hours of the trip were crawling over icy roads that were aftermath of a blizzard that swept through the Midwest a few days before our trip so that lengthened it quite a bit. We stopped a few times for food/feeding/bathroom breaks/diaper changes. The kids slept a little bit, but mostly watched a marathon of movies. We stopped for one quick “sit down” dinner at a place called Taco Mayo and sat under a table with a big straw umbrella.
Even though we really thought the trip would never end, we eventually arrived at Sten and Lisa’s house on Lakemere Drive in Garland. Emma and Anja were the first to come out and greet us. Violet was a little shy. We said hi, hugs, got a tour of their house, got kids settled where they were sleeping, and went to bed too. Everybody was pretty tired from traveling even though we did nothing but sit all day.
Emma was gracious enough to let us have her room for the week. Eli slept with us in a pack and play crib, and the older 3 kids shared Neil’s room (he was gone for the week visiting family in Peoria). Vanessa in the pink tent, Calvin in the bed, Violet on a mattress on the floor. The first couple nights Violet shared the couch with Emma in the living room. She said she liked sleeping out there.
Sten and Lisa have two very cuddly dogs. One, a pitbull named Kaia, and second, a “puppy” (1 yr old) named Cricket, not sure of the breed. She was named Cricket because she likes to eat bugs. The dogs
are very gentle, snuggly, sweet with kids, and not aggressive at all. Calvin really needs to learn how to “be” around dogs (not rubbing his hands all over them all the time and getting in their faces and sitting on them) … I suspect that is why he may be the victim of many dog attacks lately. I’m glad nothing happened with their dogs. He enjoyed laying down with them, petting them, etc. the whole week.
There were random trips to and from various places, Dave went to a craft/paint store with Kristina to get some art supplies for a painting she worked on for us. Lisa made a few runs to the grocery store. Christmas morning the kids opened their stockings and presents. Lisa and I planned a few meals. We made for meals for the week these things:
* Chicken fajitas
* Orange chicken with rice
* Mexican chicken/cheese/tomato soup
* Potato soup
* Cheeseburgers
Lunches were random, usually simple or leftovers. The favorite of all the kids for breakfast was creamed eggs.
Anja (age 11) and Violet seemed to play together the most. Kristina (almost 15) is more shy, and seemed happy to escape to her room to work on the painting for us. Emma (age 13) was always around, playing with whoever was around her. The kids watched some shows on Netflix, played with lots of playdoh, colored lots of things, played with the dogs, played outside in the snow that Dallas got on Christmas Day (a couple inches!), which was very rare for Texas. Christmas morning our kids had less presents because we had our own LaMarche family Christmas on Thursday of last week before leaving – we didn’t want to pack all their presents and bring them home. That’s another blog post. The Armitage girls gave our kids some books and movies. One evening after dark they lit a fire and we had smores.
Dave and Sten hooked up a rope swing to a tree in their big woody backyard and that was a big source of entertainment the last two days.
We didn’t get out of the house much because leaving with our big crew was a little difficult. We did make a trip to the library to play some games and check out some books. Vanessa and Violet wanted Dora books, Calvin wanted super hero books. Eli scooted across the floor and sucked on the diaper bag handle. The library was really neat – one whole wall of the children’s section was turned into a little store scene, with different storefronts all connected together at a child’s height, featuring different books for each store. It reminded me of BBC’s Western town made of cardboard.

Friday the 28th was Calvin’s 5th birthday. In the morning he said he felt different.  He wanted his favorite breakfast, which in that moment, he said was oatmeal with raisins and brown sugar.  He was so happy the whole day. We made the day special for him by all going to Chick Fil A and letting the kids play on the indoor playplace there and treating everyone to lunch. Lisa made a delicious chocolate cake/chocolate frosting/chocolate chips from scratch and we all enjoyed that after the chicken fajita/taco dinner. Anja hung up a happy birthday sign along with a hand written note that said “Calvin, we just want to let you know that we wish you a….” above the happy birthday sign. We sang happy birthday to Calvin and he opened his presents ~ a transformer Optimus Prime, toy cars/trucks, a stomp rocket and extra nerf rockets, dinosaur coloring book, superman hero figurine and a spiderman “piggy” bank.

I am writing this post from Dave’s laptop computer in the van on the drive home. Eli is crying, Vanessa is whining she is “dir-dee” (thirsty), Violet and Calvin are watching Tom and Jerry, and my eyes are throbbing because I barely slept last night. Eli was a terrible sleeper each night, waking up every couple hours, I do not know why! Maybe the cold he has is keeping him up.
A couple funny moments in the week included Vanessa copying something Dave said. He was being silly getting the kids to bed one night and said with an accent that he was going to break the kids heads if they didn’t listen and obey while getting them ready for bed. Of course he wasn’t serious – but Violet was tired and emotional at the end of one day and really thought he was serious in that moment for some reason and started screaming about it. Vanessa picked up on what Violet said and as she went to bed, she was holding Dave’s hand and said, “Don’t break head, dad!”
Cricket (the younger puppy, age 1), also nearly climbed a tree by jumping up into it trying to chase a squirrel.
Most of the stops on the way home were quick.  The kids watched a bunch of movies and slept some.  Eli (poor baby) enjoyed the trip the least.  I wasn't having much success pumping milk and feeding it to him by the bottle so I made a point to nurse him every time we stopped for someone to go pee.  Our one "long" stop was Chick-Fil-A somewhere in Oklahoma (I think) on the way back for supper.  Or was it Missouri?  I don't know.  Either way, they all got to run around for some time.  I took over driving on the way home ... and somehow we got home at 10:30pm-ish.  To keep us awake, Dave turned on his Slacker radio program and played tons of crazy songs and sang the lyrics probably for my entertainment.  The only one I remember was "The Final Countdown" and some Michael Jackson songs.
Rachel and dad were there (after grocery shopping for our Hardinger family get together).  Dave and I got kids in bed...put everything away.  We were zombies...exhausted.  And we went to BBC the next morning...miraculously.
Dad crashed on the couch, Rachel in the guest room.  Eli in Vanessa's crib - Vanessa on an air mattress in V&C's room.  I was so ready for Eli to be "un-heard" at night...for my own sleep's sake.

Eli's first bites of food

-Eli's first food...bananas on Christmas eve (in Garland, TX with Armitages)
-second food - applesauce on Christmas, avocado

Observations...he swallowed some bites, some others he spit out.  Seemed to like the avocado too!
This seems like such a pointless post.

Christmas (Thursday night the 20th) 2012

I am writing about this a month later than it happened, so the details won't be there.  However, I'll write whatever I remember about it.  We did presents with our family before our trip to Texas, knowing that it would have been difficult to travel with the presents and bring them all home if we decided to open them there instead.  So we told the kids we would have our family's Christmas at our own house on the Thursday before we left.  Friday was reserved for packing.

Dave and I set up the little fake pre-lit Christmas tree a week or so prior to this, and on the day we set it up, the kids decorated it with the ornaments we have.  It seemed too easy, dealing with a fake tree.  No sap, falling needles, and no lighting it.  But the awe of a REAL tree and the smell of fresh pine were definitely missing.

A big snowy blizzard blew through Iowa and most of the midwest those two days (Dec 20 and 21).  So severe that school for both older kids was canceled Thurs and Fri.  This left me with finding something to do with the kids for most of those two days and trying to be productive getting ready for our long trip ahead of us.  We made sugar cookies and decorated them with red/green frosting.  I made two different kinds of frosting to accommodate both mine and Dave's frosting preferences (he likes hard and shiny frosting, I like fluffy buttery frosting).

When it was time to open presents the kids lined up their little chairs next to the tree.  I don't think Vanessa understood what was going on but she quickly caught on. 

Dave and I did most of our Christmas shopping on amazon this year.  We chose for Calvin a big life-like crane with a hook/string.  He also got two Tom&Jerry movies, a lego building board, and legos (from Gma Martha).  For Violet, a Fur Real puppy, kid's accordian, legos (from Gma martha) , a pink/brown dress, a "how to draw book", and a Curious George movie. For Vanessa, a Dora movie (notice the movie theme?  we wanted to get them new things to watch on the drive to TX), a Dora blanket, and a Dora Leap Tag book.  She also got a baby doll from Grandma Martha. Vanessa loves Dora...obviously.  She wanted to wrap up like a taco in her new blanket, watch her movie and play with her book immediately, of course.  We had to load the book onto the Tag reader first, which took some time.
All in all, they were VERY excited about their stuff and seemed appreciative and said thank you a lot.  It was a nice time.

Eli's 2nd tooth and fun bath time

His 2nd tooth poked through to make a matching pair of teeth emerge from his lower gums today.
He also thoroughly enjoyed splashing in the tub full of warm water.  I held him with my arms halfway in the tub while Vanessa and Calvin played.  Eli was intent on grabbing and chewing every tub toy possible and splashing his arms continually and loving every minute.  Calvin helped me clean Eli with the baby soap.  After so much activity in the water, a clean diaper, warm pajamas and quick feeding put him to sleep for a long 2 hour nap.

Eli's first tooth popped through the gums today

It wasn't there when he woke up.  After playing on the floor and gnawing his way through some more cardboard from a box he rolled over to, I noticed his gums gave way to a tiny lower central incisor. :)  I could see his teeth through his gums for about a week now, I am sure the other one is coming in the next couple days or so.  The kids get excited about every little "Eli" change ~ he is even attempting to crawl, getting up on his hands/knees and rocking, and trying to move his knees forward and walking with his hands separately.  The wheels in his brain are spinning as to "how" but he hasn't done it yet.

Eli - 6 months old

My little baby is not a little baby! :) I find out tomorrow his weight/height stats, but I'm going to guess this:

20ish lbs
29" long

actual:

20 lbs exactly
28 1/2 inches long

Will update tomorrow when he goes to his 6 month check at the pediatrician.

He is changing a lot, and the biggest thing I notice is his personality.  His face lights up with delight when he sees me, and he squeals with delight most of the time.  He gives the same reactions to daddy, Violet, and Calvin.  Sometimes Vanessa.  Vanessa gets in his face and bothers him so I don't know if he gets annoyed with her more than he is happy with her.  She tends to take the paci out of his mouth and give it back, which makes him mad.  Violet and Calvin know how to make him laugh though, but surprising him, playing peekaboo, or gently tickling him.  They still enjoy helping me with him - holding him and moving him from place to place, although since he's so heavy, that is much harder for them.  This morning Violet got him buckled into his car seat all by herself, she did an excellent job.  Love having a big helper!

Eli started taking the larger pacifier which he finds easier to suck on and keep in his mouth.  He still loves his snuggling blankets (swaddle muslin blankets).  He is still 100% breastfed and I know I can start introducing cereals/foods to him, but nothing in me wants to start.  It makes for more messy work and it makes his diapers messier.  And since he doesn't exactly seem starving (my little hefty chunk) I will probably wait another month or so to start foods.  It will be nice when I can put him in the high chair with some cheerios to keep him occupied for awhile.  He also is very spitty.  He will throw up milk many times throughout the day, I end up smelling like spit up.

He does take a bottle, and can hold it himself and suck from it.  I have not given it to him though, this is a report from daddy and Calvin when they fed him while I was away from the house for a couple hours last weekend.

Eli is happy to play on the floor surrounded with toys.  He can use his elbows/forearms to drag himself short distances, and he easily rolls both directions.  He'll gnaw and chew on everything, his favorite seems to be cardboard.  He also likes (tolerates) the jumperoo toy for a few minutes at a time too.

He can't sit on his own yet, but he can sort of hold the sitting position for a second or two before toppling over to one side or the other.  I haven't really tried to help him either.  I suppose he'll get there soon.
He's still riding in his infant carrier car seat.  I am bummed he won't make it through the winter in it, since it provides a warm place to transport him in the winter months.  His seat only is rated to hold a child up to 22 lbs.  

Google just informed me that I have filled my quota space for uploading photos. :( Boo!





 

A typical day - November 2012

I feel like I've been at a loss for things to blog about.  For the sake of a new entry, I'll type out a "typical day" for my  sake so in a year, I can look back and read what I did a year ago.  This is something I think I'll never forget, but I know I will.  So boring as it is, sometimes the mundane is interesting enough.
I can't remember what last year was like that much unless I stop and think REALLY hard. :)  Violet had started kindergarten, Calvin had started Tues/Thurs preschool with Miss Jesse at OHCP, Vanessa was just over a year old, and I found out I was pregnant with baby #4.  This year, Violet is in 1st grade with Miss Schoonhoven, Calvin is in M, W, F preschool with Miss Knapp (the best preschool teacher ever!), Vanessa is about 2 1/2 and potty trained (for the most part!), and Eli is almost 5 months old.

My alarm is set for 7:15 am.  I roll out of bed and (by this time Dave has gotten up, usually, and has showered) help get Violet off to school.  Calvin is already awake by this time, either he's snuggled up in bed with me, or he's in the bathroom with Dave.  He is such an early riser, wakes up easily, and is generally very cheerful and happy to be awake (dragging his blue blanket everywhere he goes).  I think he takes after...nobody.  Dave and I are so groggy in the mornings (why do you think we're complete coffee addicts???).  Dave usually gets Violet up, helps her dress for school, and brings her downstairs.  I have Violet's breakfast ready (usually cold cereal or oatmeal, sometimes reheated pancakes or eggs on toast), and then Dave eats.  I pack up Violet's lunch (she likes PB&J most of the time, along with a combination of some of these things: yogurt, cheese sticks, carrot sticks and ranch dip, cheesy chip, applesauce, 1/2 of a banana, or other fresh fruit cut up and her Hello Kitty straw sippy of milk or water), she gets her shoes on and gets in the car.  Sometimes Calvin gets fed, sometimes not.  He usually eats cereal if he has time.  They can be so goofy and silly in the mornings, it is hard to keep them "on track" doing things with out being distracted or playing around, there isn't much time in the AMs to do this...) Calvin has wanted to ride with Dave and Violet to take her to school in the mornings more this year - almost every day he rides along with her.  Last year not so much.  Dave enjoys parking the car and walking in with her, dropping her off at her locker, etc.  Calvin likes seeing everything too.  The 3 of then have a habit of taking turns praying after they go around "the curve", which is the roundabout on the drive to WCS.  I like when they all take off in the morning after the breakfast rush so I can eat breakfast alone, make coffee and go take a shower in silence.  Vanessa and Eli are usually still asleep at this time, so I take time for devotions too.  Occasionally Eli will be crying but I'll leave him or get him, depending on how hard he's crying.  If its a quiet whimper, I leave him, if he's loudly crying, I'll get him. 

By the time I get with my bathroom routine by 8:15, Vanessa is calling from her crib, "Mommmeeee.....mommmeeeee......"  I go in, get her out of bed, take her to the bathroom and change her out of her nighttime diaper to undies for the day.  She sometimes pees, but 9 out of 10 times, she goes poop right away in the morning.  Calvin and Dave get home from taking Violet to school, Calvin finds me in either the bathroom or helping Vanessa get out of bed.  He begs me to play Angry Birds on my Kindle Fire.  I ask him to finish his "8 things"...which is a list of things they need to do in their bedroom on a daily basis. 
1. Get dressed
2. Put pajamas away
3. Turn off butterfly lamp.
4. Make beds
5. Open shades
6. Close closet
7. Turn off light
8. Turn off fan

He enthusiastically RUNS to his room to accomplish everything.  He can't read all that proficiently so he has memorized all of the tasks.  He rushes downstairs and announces that they're all done, and I let him play (if he's eaten breakfast, if not, he eats first) for 20 or 30 minutes.  I set a timer for when he is to stop, and he finishes playing whatever level he's in at that moment and then stops.  He LOVES Angry Birds.  He thinks about the game all day, and constantly talks about the birds and what birds are his favorite, and what each bird does.  The dragon level on angry birds seasons seems to be his favorite right now.  When he's done playing his "however many minutes"...he's done for the day.  He seems to know that is his "allotment" and never asks again for the rest of the day.

(This "typical day" I'm writing is either a Tues or a Thurs morning, because he has preschool M, W and F from 9:00-11:30 am.  Every other Thursday we go to BBC because mommy has Bible Study from 9-11, then we eat lunch with our friends at the church building.)

Once Vanessa and Eli are awake, my attention is mostly on those two.  Eli wakes up and I change his diaper immediately and sit down on the couch to nurse him.  He gets his fill and is completely satisfied for a couple hours.  He is SO smiley.  He is so happy.  I can tickle him gently and he breaks into a big smile, chuckles, giggles and laughs quickly.  He's starting to be occupied for longer periods of time by himself on the floor, only able to use his arms to rotate himself in a circle on the floor.  I surround him with baby toys and that usually lasts him 20-30 minutes.  He gets frustrated if left alone for too long...but Calvin is always willing and ready to lay down on the floor right next to him and roll around with him or give him toys that aren't in his reach.  Eli likes CARDBOARD, plastic keys, any baby toy, just basically anything he can shove in his mouth and knaw on for awhile.  He's getting quite heavy...close to 20 lbs.  Calvin used to pick him up with ease, but now he picks him up for a few seconds, and says "UGH! You're HEAVY!" and lays him back down.  Eli rolls easily both directions, and usually completely fills his diaper with in 10-15 minutes after his first feeding.  He also spits up a lot.  If bent in half (sitting position on my lap) after a feeding a a burp, a big splat of spit up will end up wherever he is...on my shoulder, lap, or the carpet.  Vanessa loves to announce that Eli spit up.  

Vanessa has usually eaten by now.  She likes cold cereal, oatmeal (MUST have raisins), or a bagel with cream cheese.  She's a light eater, grazing throughout the day, not eating a huge quantity of food in one meal.  It always seems like an hour after breakfast, she's running to the kitchen digging for a fork saying "eat! eat!".  She gets yogurt, fruit, cheese, grapes, raisins, or a piece of toast with peanut butter for a snack.  If she is hungry she will usually grab the jar of peanut butter and bring it to me.

Calvin and Vanessa are developing quite a relationship.  Since both kids have grown up quite a bit, they are starting to play a lot more together.  I think they are the two kids that seem to know exactly how to tick each other off the best.  Vanessa is constantly getting into whatever Calvin is doing.  And he knows exactly what to take from her to make her scream.  They sometimes get lost in some toys together in the basement (if Calvin is cheerful enough and plays nicely with her).  They enjoy playing in the tub together.  Vanessa seems to be enjoying a brave streak in the water lately.  I think this stemmed from one morning she woke up and needed a bath because of a leaky pee accident, and got the privilege of taking a bath ALONE.  Which rarely happens for her.  I put a couple inches of water in the tub that time and she got on her tummy and thoroughly enjoyed the water.  Normally she whines her way through a bath, because Violet and Calvin are too splashy/crazy for her.

Soo...the morning rolls on.  Calvin reads books, plays with toys, sometimes watches a Netflix video, flicks rubber bands across the house, blows up balloons, plays songs on the clavinova, colors, draws, works his way through puzzles, etc.  If I print a picture for him, he chooses rockets, crabs, and race cars.  Vanessa just wants Dora.  Vanessa likes to watch Dora the Explorer sometimes, she likes to color too, and will draw circles all over paper, and sometimes a "sun", which is a circle with pointy things coming out from it.  She needs to be supervised (or at least I need to know what she is doing at all times) all the time.  She goes upstairs to get her toothbrush and puts toothpaste on it and brushes her teeth, plays with Violet's doll house, changes her underwear all the time, goes potty on her own and doesn't wipe or clean up all that well so I do it for her, changes her pants/clothes (loves wearing "coats" which are zip up sweatshirts and her sweatshirt with a pocket in the front).  Most days around the house she is wearing a shirt and only underwear.  She still insists on taking off her pants/undies every time she goes potty and can't put them back on the right way, so sometimes I just see her in a shirt and nothing else parts of the day, then I have to find her undies (wherever she dropped them in the house) and help her put them back on. 

Eli always goes down for a morning nap about an hour and a half or two hours after waking up.  This is becoming predictable and I love it.  He doesn't need to nurse before this nap, because his first feeding on both sides really fills him up.  He loves his paci and his muslin swaddling blankets to snuggle with.  I put him in the pack n play crib in the dark guest room with a fan, and he snuggles right into his blankets and goes right to sleep.  He usually sleeps an hour and a half, sometimes 2 hours.  He sleeps from approx 10 am to 11:30 or noon. 

This is a usual schedule if I make no extra outings.  Typically there will be a trip to the bank, the library, grocery store, or any other errands I need to run sometime in the morning. I like to save the bigger run-around errands for when I am down to 2 kids on the mornings Calvin is in school.

Vanessa and Calvin eat lunch and play more.  Blocks in the basement, trains, tinker toys, stacking blocks, etc...Vanessa takes a nap around 2 pm, which works out perfectly if Dave is home (working in the basement), so she sleeps while I go pick up Violet from school at 3 pm.  Calvin always comes with me to get her.  He requests songs when we are driving, either 10,000 Reasons (he says "Bless the Lord"), Technologic by Daft Punk, or The Color Song by Petra.  When I pick up Violet from school, if we have time, I let the kids play at the playground at her school for about 20-30 minutes.   Violet and her friends like to play tag or hide and seek.  Calvin blends in with the friends sometimes, other times he goes off and does his own thing. 

On the drive home, the kids are either fighting horribly, or getting along so well they are in regular fits of uncontrollable laughter.  I don't know how to predict which way it will end up.  I find if I play music they both enjoy, they will stay happy.  If fighting, its probably because Calvin is really tired and should have taken a nap (1 out of 5 days he will fall asleep in the Van while driving to go pick up Violet), and Violet knows every little button to push on Calvin to make him mad. 

Violet and Calvin usually play when she gets home from school.  Her 1st grade homework consists of practicing her 10 spelling words for the week, Bible verse, and a sheet of writing and/or 20 minutes of independent reading.  She started piano too, so that takes either Dave or I to work with her for 20 minutes.  They still love to color, work on puzzle buzz, activity books.  Vanessa wakes up by 4 pm.  She plays around, colors some.  Eli naps again.  I work on making dinner.

Dave tries to come up at a regular time every day by 5:45.  We eat dinner, I usually commit to cleaning up the main floor (dishes, wiping down table, dishwasher, sweeping, caring for Eli), while Dave heads upstairs to get the kids to bed.  We try start the bedtime routine by 7:00 pm, it takes about an hour, so they are sleeping by 8:00-8:15.  If they need baths, sometimes we cut play time short after dinner and head straight for the tub.  Dave is GREAT with the kids and is an amazing helper when he can.  He brushes their teeth, directs them to put pajamas on/go to the bathroom...gets Vanessa to bed, and starts Violet and Calvin's Bible story time and book time.  They are currently reading through the Bible and the kids LOVE it!!

I join them all when the kitchen is cleaned up, and pray with the kids and say goodnight.  All is usually well by 8:30...and then Eli needs tending to. :)  He tends to nap later and goes to bed by 9:00 or 9:30. 

Dave and I sometimes sit down for a minute....I am usually flipping laundry.  My mental list of "to dos" start flying ... because I finally have peace and quiet.  To sit down and relax...and enjoy hanging out with my husband...or do I scurry around and GET STUFF DONE?!??!  That's always the question of the night.  I feel so "tangled" with kids all day that I feel like I can't accomplish anything "big" other than the necessary bare minimum sometimes.  Laundry is a bear.  I fold 5 huge loads every couple days and it takes another couple days for the clean clothes to end up back in the closets.  I have finances to catch up on.  Organizing.  Reading my Bible.  Menu planning.  List making.  Grocery shopping.  Husband-bonding.  TALK to husband!  What's on the schedule for tomorrow?  House-cleaning. Floor-sweeping.  Shopping for-anything-else-the-kids-need (clothes!). Preschool snacks to plan and purchase. Calendar to manage.  Check schedule.  When are library books due?  Meeting to attend.  When is that school program again and when do they have to be there? Wash diapers. Chat with friends? Siblings? Does the house have enough toilet paper? Check supply of milk. Go.type a blog entry. Respond to a few texts or emails.  Pack diaper bag so it is ready next time I go out.  Want to start exercising regularly....how to make that happen.  I love sweatpants. And my hair is always up.  So if you witness me in jeans and my hair isn't in a ponytail, I dressed up for ya.  :). The list goes on and on.  My mind spins....I get overwhelmed.   Can't really even comprehend Christmas shopping.  I think I'm going to boycott gift-giving this year.  Give of my attention/time/energy...not material things. 

Ok..its super late.  I need to go to bed!  And start this all over again.  My quiver is full.  I'm happy!!!  And I'm so BUSY!!  and some days are hard! I love my family so much!!!

Aldi is Calvin's favorite store...

I pulled the van into Aldi's parking lot and Calvin says, "Oh I LOVE this store!" I ask him why and he says, "because its all orange inside and I love orange!".

Oven blunder

I screwed up today with the oven.  Our larger oven has a setting where it circulates air to help thaw out meat.  Before we left this morning, I tossed some chicken breasts from the freezer into a 9x13 pan and put it in the oven and set it to the "thaw" mode.  At least I thought I had set it on the thaw mode.  But I didn't.  Instead, the dial was turned to one notch further than it should have been, which was some type of convection cooking mode.  This oven is really nice, but not exactly intuitive, and requires reading of the manual to understand all the features and what the knob pictures mean.  I am not surprised I flipped the knob to the wrong feature.  I have used this thaw feature before and it was really slick.  Another knob that sets the temperature of the oven was set to "off", and I thought only this circulating air fan was running.  My plan to was to grill the chicken for lunch using a special glaze Dave and I picked up in Galena a while ago.

Well...that plan didn't happen.  Apparently this convection feature it was accidentally on made the oven super hot somehow.  It was left like this from 9-12:30.  We got home from BBC and Violet was the first one to enter the house (no surprise there).  She opened the door a crack, got a stunned and disgusted look at her face which quickly turned to terror, and started yelling "THE HOUSE IS SMOKEY!" Calvin was right behind her and started yelling too.  Violet and Calvin proceeded to dramatically plug their noses and lament at the awful smell coming from the house.  Vanessa and Eli were still buckled in the van.  Dave and I ran in the house and were about knocked over from the smell.  We discovered the oven smoking from all crevices and the top half of the main floor saturated with smoke you couldn't see through.  The smoke alarms were beeping loudly and it felt like mayhem for a few moments.  Dave got hot pads and put the pan on the deck, I shut off the oven, and started fanning the fire alarm to get it to stop beeping. 

The raw chicken that once was had turned into a solidified 9x13 pan of CRISPY BLACKNESS.  Dave ran around the house to open up every single window - the garage doors were opened, doors opened, and a big fan plugged into in the kitchen to get the smoke moving out. 

Oh my are we thankful the house didn't burn down.

We left the doors/windows open and the fan running for a good hour, and we all started to feel very cold.  I was thinking about a back up plan for lunch and instead, Dave suggested we just leave the house for awhile and go somewhere for lunch and let the house air out for awhile.  No question there...we headed to the mall to get some pizza and came home with a couple of yummy smelling peppermint twist candles.  It was better when we got home, but very cold.  We shut the windows, turned the heat back up, lit the candles, and all seemed to be a little better.  Later in the day I made a pan of baked oatmeal with cinnamon/sugar in the smaller easier-to-use oven and that made the house smell yummy to...the baked oatmeal was supper.

This is a pic of the black chicken...gives a whole new meaning to "blackened chicken" if you ask me!

Dave thinks the pan can be revived, I do not.  We picked out the larger chunks of black stuff and have it soaking with hot water and Dawn right now. 

Pic of all 4 kids smiling at the same time!

This type of moment is rare in this house.  And to snap a picture of it?!  Priceless!

Violet, Calvin and Vanessa were involved in some kind of balloon tunnel construction and "sat down to take a break".  I saw them sitting there, grabbed my camera, and stuck Eli in Violet's arms.  I said "smile!!" and amazingly...caught it on camera. 

Eli looks so "sly" with one eye blinking. 

Violet starting piano lessons

I really thought I blogged about this, but I looked a few posts back and realized I didn't.  We have wanted to get her started with piano lessons but what held me back was finding the right set up.  Violet had been asking about learning piano lately and wanting to get started too.  We have explained to her that practicing every day is part of the deal.  I didn't want to drive her somewhere, and wait for 30 minutes with the 3 other kids somewhere.  I thought about having someone come to the house to teach her (like I was used to since that's how it was when I grew up part of the time), but trying to create an atmosphere for her and the teacher to concentrate w/o distractions seemed like an impossibility.
I was chatting with some other WCS parents outside near the playground a few weeks ago after picking up Violet and asked if they knew anybody who taught piano lessons at WCS.  Someone mentioned a teacher named Mrs. Jan Seeley, and suggested asking the school office if she still taught and if she did, if she had openings.  I called the school office on the way home from school that day and the secretary said with confidence that yes, she still teaches, and yes, she had openings.  I got Mrs. Seeley's email address and sent her a message with a few questions when I got home that day.  She quickly and enthusiastically responded saying yes, she would love to start teaching Violet.  She also mentioned that some teachers work it out so they can go take piano lessons DURING school hours.  That seemed dream-like...no way...really!?  How convenient and perfect!!!  After a few email exchanges between Mrs. Seeley and Violet's teacher, Miss Schoonhoven, we worked it out so Violet can take lessons on Tuesdays from 10:30-11:00am.  This is during an hour in her 1st grade class when the class splits into two reading groups - one reads with the teacher for 30 minutes and the other group reads independently.  Miss Schoonhoven said that is a great time for her to miss class for 30 minutes since she is a good reader and if she wanted her to get any extra work done at home that would be sent home in her folder.
I am sure the Lord worked out that conversation with the other parents - it was among some parents that I normally don't cross paths with.
So far she's had 3 lessons, and the Bastien Basics material (talk about flashback, those are the books I started with so many years ago!) has covered finger numbers, left hand/right hand, black keys, low and high, quarter and half notes, stems on the notes, the music alphabet, bar lines, measures, double bar lines, repeat symbols, whole notes, and a handful of songs she can read/play already.
She has a brain that seems to pick up on the concepts quickly, counting the right length of counts per note and using the correct hand and correct finger numbers for each note.  She has a tendency to memorize what she has to play once she learns it, and "just plays it" with out looking.

7 Quiet Nights

I presented a challenge to my kids...well...the older two.  They currently share a room.  Dave and I (and I'm sure the kids were too) were tired of disciplining them in a negative way (spankings) every. single. night. for goofing around and talking after tucking them in to bed at night.  They know the expectation, and that is to stay in their beds and not talk.  No asking for drinks of water, etc.  I don't know the exact reason why it was so hard for them to stay quiet.

I decided to change my approach and motivate them in a positive way.  And it worked wonderfully.  I told them that they would get a trip to Chuck E. Cheese if they managed to stay in their beds at night and be quiet and no talking, for seven straight nights.  I emphasized to them that it had to be 7 nights IN A ROW, and if they goofed around even one night, that would mess it up and they would have to start back over at 1 and try for 7 more nights in a row being quiet.  They both understood, they were both very excited, and proved to me they could do it.  I told them this was going to be a team effort, since they BOTH had to be quiet TOGETHER, so both of them were also motivated to not mess it up for the other person and be blamed for screwing it up.  I really didn't expect them to do it...but the first night, I told them I was going to leave their door open so I could listen to them.  I listened, and heard nothing.  I don't think they even flopped in their beds, they laid so quiet and still.  On the chart I had created and put in the hallway by their bedroom door, I put a "perfect" sticker on the first night's box, looked at the other 6 nights and wondered how the rest of the week would go.   The next morning they both woke up, saw the sticker on the first box, and cheered like they won the lottery.  I congratulated them on their first successful night and so it went...6 more quiet nights.  No goofing around...nothing.  The chart filled up with stickers, and they couldn't wait to go!

So the prize they won was a night to play at Chuck E. Cheese.  We went yesterday, Thursday night. We got some pizza for supper, 100 tokens to split (Vanessa was just in on the action and had no clue she won anything...) and they enjoyed a fun night playing games, collecting tickets, and redeeming them for a little prize at the end.

The funniest (and probably most humiliating!), was when we lost track of Vanessa for a short time, and I found her sitting at someone else's table chowing down on their pizza.  Nobody noticed or said anything, but Dave and I felt pretty bad and got a pretty good laugh out of it.  She got pretty upset when I took it away from her, so we re-directed her to our own table and our own leftover pizza for her to eat. 

I don't know what is next in terms of positively motivating them.  They are looking forward to a new chart to work towards something.  Going to Chuck E. Cheese was probably overkill for a prize...and too expensive to do again for another reward...so I guess we'll have to come up with something.  Maybe $1 for 14 days of quiet nights....and a trip to the dollar tree. :)

Either way, bedtime since then has been very easy.  The "getting ready for bed" is still a bit wild...getting everybody's teeth brushed, making sure everybody has gone pee, and getting pajamas on (there has to be some type of rotation/schedule to follow...its just crazy), then reading books, all while tending to a generally fussy Eli at that time of night.  Dave is super helpful and does most of the bedtime work too.  But the kids have maintained their state of being quiet once we tuck them into their beds, and we leave the door open so they know we can hear them.  It seems to be working for the time being anyway.

Vanessa and her words

She has plenty to say but not too much is easy to understand.  Here are some examples of words she means to say but some out sounding differently:
Hug = hud
Pocket = pee-pah
Apple = app-oh
Sticker = stee-dee
Jesus = Dee-dah
Elmo = Melmo
Shoes = hu-ha (shoes on)
Fish = hish
Undies = unnees
Vanessa = Nessa or hessa or Yessa
Heavy = heddy
Flush = waf
Lid = yid
Legos = day-doh
Granola bar = bee-bah
Sleeve = weef
She likes say "c'mon!!" and drag me places.  She easily gets excited about going places and eating certain things and responds with a very enthusiastic "woohoo!!".
She has also enjoyed her "Jesus loves me" stuffed animal that sings, puzzles, coloring, having books read to her, hooking things together, scribbling on paper, putting on shoes, coats, and mittens all throughout the day, riding the inside trike (she figured out how to pedal and steer), the big big teddy bear, and getting m&ms for a poppy prize (pronounced "poopy hize") when she goes #2 in the toilet.  She has done excellent with potty training.  In undies during the day with almost zero accidents now, although she wets when she is napping and overnight.  I put a pair of training undies on her when out of the house just in case.  When using the toilet she insists on taking everything off to go (can't leave the pants around her ankles or legs at all or she won't go), so to avoid pants laying all over the house, I just don't put them on her at home. 

update on Vanessa (12/19/2012):

New words:

- mad! (if she sees something or a person with a what-seems-like-a-mad face)
- annoying!
 

Calvin's dead butterfly sign

Calvin drew this picture yesterday, and explained it.  I think it comes from all the discussion of road signs and what they tell us, as we talk about all the road signs and what they mean on the way to and from picking Violet up from school.  Yield signs, no passing signs, speed limit signs, stop lights, etc.

These are his words:

"It is a street sign warning of piles and piles of dead butterflies coming up.  If you run over them it will be all bloody and your tires will run out of air.  The butterflies died because they didn't eat enough 'cause there wasn't enough food in the woods."

10,000 Reasons - Matt Redman

This song is infiltrating our home!  I listened to it on www.godtube.com one day (4 weeks ago on a Saturday afternoon before and when Vanessa smashed her head,this song was actually playing when she hit her head, the lyrics "whatever may pass and whatever lies before you" and *SMACK* went her forehead) and all the kids loved it, and asked to hear it (and see it, the video shows the band singing it) over and over again.  I think Violet and Calvin have almost the whole song memorized.  Calvin randomly sings it throughout his day and when we travel in the car he asks to hear it.

Vanessa even catches on, and sings "Bess ya Yord, O my soul...mumble mumble his howy name"  and giggles.

http://www.godtube.com/watch/?v=WLPKDWNX

The lyrics:

"10,000 Reasons (Bless The Lord)"

[Chorus]
Bless the Lord, O my soul
O my soul
Worship His holy name
Sing like never before
O my soul
I'll worship Your holy name

The sun comes up, it's a new day dawning
It's time to sing Your song again
Whatever may pass, and whatever lies before me
Let me be singing when the evening comes

[Chorus]
Bless the Lord, O my soul
O my soul
Worship His holy name
Sing like never before
O my soul
I'll worship Your holy name

You're rich in love, and You're slow to anger
Your name is great, and Your heart is kind
For all Your goodness I will keep on singing
Ten thousand reasons for my heart to find

[Chorus]
Bless the Lord, O my soul
O my soul
Worship His holy name
Sing like never before
O my soul
I'll worship Your holy name

And on that day when my strength is failing
The end draws near and my time has come
Still my soul will sing Your praise unending
Ten thousand years and then forevermore

[Chorus x2]
Bless the Lord, O my soul
O my soul
Worship His holy name
Sing like never before
O my soul
I'll worship Your holy name

Jesus, I'll worship Your holy name
Lord, I'll worship Your holy name

Sing like never before
O my soul
I'll worship Your holy name
Jesus, I'll worship Your holy name
I'll worship Your holy name 

4 weeks after Vanessa's head smash

There is still a hard raised lump where the cut is healing.  She is used to me rubbing things on it frequently during the day.  I asked her where she cut her head and she points to the column, I think she remembers.  But I'm glad the trauma of it is all over!  It is healing pretty well.  Her pediatrician said new skin and new flesh is very pink (blood working to heal it) and will stay that way for quite a few months.

Eli - 4 months

Took Eli to his 4 month well baby check last week!  He's a healthy growing boy, a few ounces shy of 19 lbs (18 lbs 9 oz).  No wonder I can't hold him all that long anymore, my back and shoulders start aching.  He's 27 3/4 inches long and his head is 17 1/4" around.

He smiled his way through the appointment, googling and gurgling with the nurses and the doctor.  Vanessa was with me at the appointment and she played in the corner with the toys.  I had to take her to the bathroom across the hall (newly potty training and wanted to explore all bathrooms in the vicinity).  Eli even smiled up until the point the nurses had to poke his legs for his shots, then he cried for a little bit.  He calmed down pretty quick and fell asleep in his car seat on the way home.

I haven't started feeding him anything solid (or cereal yet)  He's getting VERY mouthy with anything he can shove in his mouth.  He chews on anything: blankets, burp rags, fingers, and toys.  He easily smiles and loves being interacted with. 

He sleeps whenever and wherever he can.  I usually put him up in the pack and play crib in the guest room to nap, but if he falls asleep anywhere else (like the couch or the floor), I'll leave him there.  At night he goes to sleep around 9pm, wakes up once around 5am to eat (usually he's flipped himself over laying on his back and can't roll himself back to his tummy yet so he lays there unhappy)...and after I feed him he goes back to sleep until about 8am.  This gives me enough time to help get Violet off to school in the mornings.

Calvin is the most interested in baby Eli of all the kids.  He loves holding him, playing with him, picking him up, rolling him around, etc.  Vanessa thinks he needs his paci in his mouth at ALL times.  Violet likes to hold him too but he is also very heavy for them so they tire of holding him quickly (unless they are both sitting).

We love our little happy boy so much. :)

This is a frequent scene in our living room...Calvin loving on his little brother.

 Calvin spinning Eli like an airplane.

 I snapped a pic of him rolling over.

Just two more pics...he found some paper on the floor and chewed on it...no wonder he was so busy and quiet for so long.

Kitchen remodel

Before:

After:

- new island cabinets, changed shape of island countertop.  

- 5 barstools (this is where the kids eat for 2 out of 3 meals in the day, we LOVE the eat-in kitchen!)

- new countertops

- new backsplash

- new black sink, new touch faucets

- not pictured, but added small sink to opposite countertop for coffee

- changed cabinet hardware to oil rubbed bronze color

- removed "appliance garage" in the corner

- raised up microwave to match level of cabinets

- new appliances all around, changed from white to black

- added 2nd oven

- extended length of countertop to patio window, this added about 18"

- added third cabinet on right side

There are some minor things to do at this point:
~ fix some dry wall marks
~ repaint red window, the red needs to go, not sure what is next.

A better pic of the real colors:

Backsplash tile progress, its about half done

One of Brook Klunder's tile guys is working on our kitchen.  He prepped the walls on Wednesday, and started cutting tile and putting it up on the wall today.  Its such a big job and so tedius that he will finish tomorrow, I think he will put grout on it too, I'm not sure.  It looks really nice, and its GREAT to see our walls get finished!  We've been looking at ripped up walls for many months!

Day 3 potty training Vanessa

This is beginning to feel normal...to have Vanessa using the potty.  At nighttime she soaks her diaper but I don't really care about nighttime yet.  I'm starting to "hawk" her less during the day, as she is doing better at running to the bathroom to go herself.  She has had no pee accidents today (woke up from her nap a little wet though), and after my constant reminding knowing it was probably time for her to go, made a beeline for the bathroom to go #2 as well!  She immediately got a "poopy prize" (Calvin did too, haha, he was excited with her) which was a dum-dum sucker.  I'm so excited she's making progress!  She still is goofy about stuff, leaving her underwear all over the house and wearing multiple pairs throughout the day, being fussy about how she sits on the toilet (and purposely scoots back "too far" and goes "oh! oh! oh!" like she's pretending to fall in and then falls into a pile of giggles while doing so.  Mama is sick of the "games" already but whatever she needs to go on the toilet..well...she's gonna get it. :)  Sometimes she must have those precious flip flops or white sandals on her feet while going...whatever.  If they're not in her line of sight she doesn't care.  She often sits on the toilet, doesn't do anything, but still insists on wiping and flushing. 

Tomorrow the backsplash glass tile goes in!

will post an updated picture when its finished on Thursday!  Should be a 2-day job.  Messy too.  Can't wait for this kitchen project to be all wrapped up!

Day 2 of potty training Vanessa

This is also day two of no-nap Vanessa.  Dave has been out of town which leaves me no choice but to take Vanessa with me when I pick up Violet, right during her nap time.  Yes, I realize this is the case for 99% of other moms whose husbands don't work at home so I can leave a napping child sleeping while I run an errand.  But I'm used to it and not having the option is hard for me.  :P

She has the #1 thing almost completely.  She will go when I ask her, and tell me she has to pee and go on her own.  There is still a whole realm of particular-ness when she goes, there is usually an issue she takes with which toilet seat she sits on, where the undies go when she is using the toilet, who wipes, gotta flush, and wash those hands.  I don't know if she stays dry when she naps, she hasn't ever napped while working on potty training.  She's still in a crib and can't get out when she wants to, maybe its time to switch to a bed.  But that means she will get up and run around in the morning before I want her to.  Boo. 

She had a #2 accident today, but seemed to actually notice...by going and saying "uh oh! uh oh!".  Maybe she'll catch it next time.

She had to go pee yesterday at Violet's school when I let the kids play on the playground, so I somehow got her in there while V and C were playing on the equipment (I used the double stroller to hold Eli and her) and she went pee after dripping in her undies.  Today, she walked around the playground holding her butt for a few moments...I was nursing Eli at the time and couldn't put him down immediately...but Violet yelled saying that Vanessa said she had to go poop while they were on the slide, so I...again...hauled Vanessa and Eli into the school again (while another mom I knew watched V and C for me) to take her, but I was too late and she had gone in her undies.  She was messy, I didn't have my stroller for Eli...so let's just say I cleaned up with what I could and got out of there asap with a very unhappy baby.  I'm thinking as I walk out of the building that this is crazy and wishing for it to be over.

I get overwhelmed when Dave is out of town.  He has been gone for 2 days.  Why I decided to tackle potty training the 2 yr old on my own with 4 kids (one being a baby) I don't know. Thankfully a friend came to pick up Violet and took her to school.  That was absolutely perfect, since my other 3 kids were still sleeping at 7:40 when she got picked up.  Thank you Lord for that provision!  

Day 1 of potty training Vanessa

Vanessa initiated this potty training adventure.  She had been asking to "go pee" a lot lately and wanting to sit on the toilet, so when she would ask, I would take her, and 3 out of 10 times she said this she would actually go pee.  This seemed like just another one of her fun activities. I wasn't too impressed with her accuracy so I wasn't all that excited about working with her on the toilet.  I honestly just felt too busy to deal with it and found it easier to diaper her so I didn't have to stop what I was doing and take her to the bathroom and help her with the whole potty-ing process.  Ok...so last Sunday morning at Bethany she was hanging on the bathroom door handle and saying "go pee! go pee!"  I knew she was wearing a diaper, so I found a place to put Eli and took her to a stall.  Her diaper was dry.  I put her on the toilet and she went.  Hmm...ok...so maybe she was ready.  I reluctantly agreed (with her, I guess), that it was time to get rid of the diapers.

So today she was in underwear all day.  It was the big game of the day, too.  She barely kept the underwear ON, constantly taking it off and leaving it around the house in random places.  Every time she took them off she wanted to go to the bathroom.  She would go, tinkle a few drops, and stop, wipe, and get all excited, flush the toilet, put her undies back on.  Then take them off, and do the whole process over again.  She DID manage to get to the toilet for #2 two times today, I was simply amazed by this fact.  She missed on another occasion.  Today was pretty successful in her going to the bathroom, but it seemed to escalate my busy-ness, as I had to put Eli down somewhere left screaming (having to stop nursing him) multiple times to help her with something bathroom related, and was not able to keep tabs on what Violet and Calvin were getting into a few times.  I did get an hour with her alone this morning, as Violet and Calvin were both at school and preschool, Eli took a nap, and she was awake.  I couldn't concentrate on anything else, only watching exactly what she was doing every moment of the day, and if I took my attention off her for anything longer than 5-10 minutes, she would have an accident and be walking slowly with her legs apart looking funny with her pants all wet.  At least she was uncomfortable like that.  I left her in undies on my very short errands to take Calvin to school and pick him up.  She didn't nap today either, as Dave is gone for 2 days and I had to pick up Violet from school at 3 pm.  I let the kids play on the school playground for an hour after school, and during this time she said she had to go pee so I went into the building with Vanessa and Eli and took her to the bathroom there.  During bath and bed time tonight, I think she wanted to go pee 15 times.  I know this will get better but the first few days are not easy!

Violet's hair style

I was looking online at for some inspiration/ideas of how to do Violet's hair.  She saw what I was doing over my shoulder and saw a picture of a hairstyle that she really wanted, so I tried it, and it turned out super cute!

This was what she saw:

and after watching a how-to on youtube, I did this to her hair:

Eli - 3 months old

Eli continues to grow and grow.  I don't know how much he weighs now but my guestimate would be 19-20 lbs.  He's such a heavy thing.  He's outgrowing all his 3 mo and 6 month clothes, starting to wear 12 month stuff.  He easily smiles at anybody who will look at him and talk to him, and he will laugh if he's tickled or played with.  He rolls both directions and seems to be wiggliest when I change his diaper.  Once I made a mistake by tending to an issue Vanessa was demanding attention with right when I finished changing Eli's diaper.  He was laying on his changing area by the laundry room sink and as I looked down, I heard a "thunk" and he was in the sink.  Oops!  He cried for 2 seconds after I picked him up then smiled.

Last night was the first night I left him alone in a crib by himself for 6+ hrs.  I fed him at 2 am and then left him in a crib in the guest room so I could sleep soundly, and it made a huge difference.  I woke up feeling rested at 8:45 am for the first time in....3 1/2 months!  Eli has never been a great sleeper at night - constantly waking up wanting to nurse, suck his paci, or just sleep in close proximity to me.  His strong leg kicking is annoying when I'm trying to sleep so the co-sleeping thing is out for good now.  He's big enough to not have to nurse at night multiple times anymore.

He still loves his paci and snuggling his blankets. :)  Oh, and being held.  He doesn't like being left along for too long.  He plays in the exersaucer sometimes, and reaches for toys above his head in the baby gym thing.  Vanessa attacks him (by smothering him with "love", lays and sits on him, so I have to watch her carefully!) so I can't leave him alone too long anyway.  He naps two or three times a day for longer naps too.

Flash visit from Rachel

Rachel made a quick appearance for one night at our house before going to an alumni get together at the U of I this weekend.  She looked at properties with Lockard Realty and spoke with two bankers about financing for her long term plans.

She got some kid time too.  Her visit was very well timed since Dave took a trip to Denver, Colorado for two days (Tues thru Thurs) and she was able to help me a lot.  She flew into Cedar Rapids on Wednesday the 19th and met Jay and Molly for lunch, then drove up to Cedar Falls in time to pick up Violet from school for me!  A friend had taken her to school for me and left the booster car seat in the school office so it was easy for Rachel to bring her home.  Violet helped her with directions on the way home, Rachel wasn't sure where to go.  When she brought Violet home, I took Kelsey home (a family friend who helps clean our house!), and we took advantage of a very windy day and flew Violet's parrot kite in the grassy field by the Orchard Hill Church parking lot 2 blocks away.  It was a perfect day for kite flying too.  It sprinkled a bit, and we saw some random big stringy pieces of corn plants floating in the air and landing near us, that was really weird.  Rachel was "dressed down" in jeans and a t-shirt, and Violet made some comment that she didn't look like Aunt Rachel because she wasn't dressed up. haha!  I grilled BBQ chicken for dinner with rice and broccoli - and Rachel helped me get the kids to bed.  Eli was happy to be held by Aunt Rachel too!

Thursday and Friday were no-school days for Violet since those two days were for parent/teacher conferences.  Mine was scheduled for Thurs at 1:20 pm and Rachel was on kid-duty while I went for that.  Thursday morning was a yummy buttermilk pancake morning.  Rachel went to look at some properties, and came home in time for me to go to Violet's conference.  I worked on sewing a rip in Violet's favorite skirt.  Rachel made a run to Hy-Vee and came home with some corn on the cob, and beef tenderloins for dinner.  Dave came home Thursday afternoon and we all had a yummy dinner that Rachel cooked entirely on the grill.  Best steaks I've had in a long time!

She took off for IA City Thursday night.  Pics from the visit:

 Violet trying to braid Rachel's hair.  All 4 kids are in this pic!

 Vanessa and Violet loved playing with Rachel's fancy clippy-cloppy shoes:

 BIG smile from Eli!

Update on Vanessa's head

We had the stitches taken out last night.  Her injury looks more like a bad scratch now, not so much a huge cut that needed stitches.

Before...and I'll spare you the open fleshy pictures, there's only one on my phone and its a little blurry.

5 days later: