8-month Portraits

Since I hardly count the girls 6-month portrait sitting as having even happened, we decided to do 8- and 10-month ones, instead of a 9-month one. We ended up with several cute shots, but I completely forgot to scan them until my brilliant sister reminded me! :)

Here are the ones I have out of frames, as well as photos of the ones already hanging. That will have to do! They turned out pretty cute if I do say so myself, even if both girls were much more sick than we realized at the time!

Party, anyone?

As some of you may have heard (through various venues), I have been suckered into am excited to be hosting a Pampered Chef party in just about a month!  I've never done it before, but I did have fun at the one I attended with this particular consultant, so I thought I'd give it a shot.  

If you know me well, you know I don't love cooking.  Baking sure, but not so much cooking.  For this (and many other reasons), I think we're leaning towards a show that focuses on quick and easy (and inexpensive!) meals.  Regardless, it will be a cooking show (read: you come and learn tips and tricks, etc for said quick, easy, inexpensive meal.... and then get to eat free (yummy) food at the end! Bonus!).

If you're local, or looking for a reason to come in town, please consider taking the night for yourself and joining me on Tuesday, March 24th at my house.  If you're not local, won't be in town, can't find a babysitter, or don't like me, but need something from Pampered Chef and have been meaning to place an order (or looking for somewhere to do so), please feel free to check out Cindy's website and place an order online.  Just enter my name as your host, and you'll be able to see all the products available and have them shipped directly to you.  This is not nearly as fun as coming and partying with us, but will do in a pinch.  Or if, say, you live in Minnesota or California but still have a kitchen and need food.

Let me know if you have any questions!  For your added convenience, I'll add a link to the site in the sidebar.  You're welcome. :) 

Re: CaptionTHIS!

Be sure to check the comments to this entry, you all came up with some funny stuff!

The entries (1 per person) are as follows, in order of submission --

1. Jen
2. Amy
3. Leah
4. Theresa
5. Melissa
6. Suzanne
7. Kim
8. Ayed
9. Sarah
10. Cassi
11. Sharon


And two winners, since I'm feeling generous, are:

Melissa & Theresa!

(integers generated at random.org)

Here are your random numbers:

5 4

Timestamp: 2009-02-24 23:46:06 UTC

Watch your email inbox soon, so I can confirm your mailing address!

Don't forget!

This little contest ends tonight at 6pm.... 

I'll post a "winner" shortly thereafter.  Remember, you don't even have to be creative to win... just lucky enough to be randomly selected.  What do you have to lose? ;)

A Bit Precarious...

Elise has been working hard on pulling herself up around the house! She has getting into a kneel down pat, and has progressed to getting up all the way. Her favorite thing with which to do this is the Learn & Groove Music Table. It takes her a second (and some flexibility that makes her once-limber mama jealous) to get most of the way up...



















... then she works a little while at straightening herself the rest of the way (the best she can on a "table" with 2 legs off at the moment, and while trying to play at the same time!) ...















... until finally she is where she wants to be! (And once there, she is quite pleased with herself!)















Of course, with learning how to pull oneself up to a stand, comes the next logical predicament that works her up in a tizz every time -- how to get down. :)

(Sorry about the video... blogger won't let me rotate the original file. I know this, and usually avoid shooting this direction, but forgot this time. If you're at work, or somewhere you need to do your blog reading inconspicuously, save this for later. Otherwise, just tilt your head and know that a)it's not a long video, and b) I'll do my best not to do this to you any more!)

A Busy Weekend, and more illness....

We had an extremely busy weekend, which is probably part of the reason some of us are more sick than we have been in previous weeks!

First, there was of course lots of preparation, cooking, cleaning, etc for visitors and special events. Never fun :-P

On Saturday morning, we started getting out-of-town guests in to surprise my grandmother for her 65th birthday. We had the party here, and enjoyed lots of time with family from all over! Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of pictures from the event, but here are a couple of the birthday girl! :)































Saturday evening, Kyle and I went to Miami's Bicentennial Charter Day Ball! The university holds this black-tie event every three years to honor the signing of the charter in 1809, but this particular year's gala was nothing short of spectacular. I remember during my freshman year (in 2001) that Miami was already gearing up and in full swing planning the calendar of events marking the bicentennial, and the Charter Day Ball was the pinnacle of a month of celebration!

The site that is (supposedly) hosting pictures of the event is not currently working, so I'll save that info for another day.... hopefully soon!

Getting ready for the event was a bit out of the ordinary, for multiple reasons. First, it was oddly nerve-wracking coming downstairs to a house full of "leftover" guests (that sounds terrible... I had invited some from way out of town who had just met Elise & Avery for the first time to stay. They were very welcome!). I felt like I was meeting a prom date! ;)

Also, to make matters more fun, Elise started wheezing and having Reactive Airway Disease issues that I knew were coming. While getting ready (which included doing my own hair because I wasn't paying for someone else to do it then going out in a snow/rain storm), we were calling back and forth with the pediatrician, calling in breathing treatments, picking up and administering said breathing treatments, and hoping they worked the first time so we didn't have to go to Children's Hospital in a tux and sparkly red gown.

They worked, and continue to work. Elise is doing all right, we had a great time at the event (even if we did leave with the 80 year olds at about 10:30pm) and enjoyed a (mostly) relaxing Sunday afternoon together.

Of course, Elise is still battling pneumonia (though feeling much better), and now Avery is in the throws of the nasty cold that started it all and I have..... an asthma exacerbation? (hopefully!) bronchitis? Who knows. All I know is that we have 10 days to all be at 100%, because we're going to Disney World. This trip isn't negotiable! :-P

CaptionTHIS!

I crack up every time I see this photo.


















Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to leave a comment "captioning" the photo. I just think it screams "funny/inspirational poster", no? :-P

There just may even be a randomly generated "winner", that gets an actual prize! You have until 6pm on Tuesday, February 24th to play. Just submit your best caption, and I'll randomly select a comment by Wednesday (honestly random, all you have to do is participate, not "win" ;)) and said participant will receive a little something in the mail. No lie, I'm just searching for ways to procrastinate around here, and thought some of your ideas might lighten my spirits after a rough couple of weeks of illness!

MD Follow-Up

Because Elise was working SO hard in the office yesterday, Dr B. wanted to see her again today to make sure she didn't need closer monitoring.

She's doing 1000x better (which isn't saying a lot), and still staying oxygenated.  The doctor was comfortable with her staying home (I'm sure it helps that he knows Kyle and I, and that we're in the positions we're in vocationally ;)) as long as she doesn't need IV antibiotics.  Since she is seemingly responding well to the oral meds, we're just to keep an eye on her temp and call if it spikes again.  She also sounded a bit bronchiolitic, but hopefully she'll be able to clear everything on her own and not have any additional breathing difficulty.  If either of these things were to become an issue, or if the blood culture starts growing anything scary, she'd be directly admitted to Children's for IV antibiotics (probably just a day or so), but Dr B is confident (as am I) that it won't come to that.  Let's keep praying that our confidence isn't unfounded!

All this after our phone and internet have been out for 2+ days and we had a repairman come out today.  He found the problem (something down the road, don't ask me!) and we're connected with the world again!

I'm also hosting a 65th birthday party tomorrow complete with several out of town guests, some of which have never met the girls... all before getting ready for and attending a black tie function at Miami.

Can our vacation come quickly, please?

Rhinestone Shades and Cheap Sunglasses

Since our girls do this with them:


























We opted for Cheap Sunglasses. Still, they're awfully cute!


























I'd say Elise and Avery are just about ready for sunny Florida! Just 13 more days! Let's hope that all the illness is gone before then...

My poor baby! :(

So Elise has been sick for a while now. About 13 days ago, she had a bit of a stuffy nose. Nothing special. A few days after that it started draining, but still nothing special. On Tuesday, I called her Pediatrician because she started these AWFUL coughing fits. As per evidence the AAP has, we wouldn't start antibiotics until the 2 week mark because it's more likely viral. I totally get that.

Today, the cough sort of subsided! As a nurse, I think this means two things -- 1) you're better, or 2) you have pneumonia. Elise most certainly was not better, because she is a different child than I have ever seen today. Sleeping non-stop, clingy as all get out (crying if left down for even a second, and usually even crying in my arms), not eating (what?!) and... spiking fevers left and right. After Tylenol, it was 102. It was 103 and climbing quickly when the Tylenol faded after an hour or two.

Ears looked "pink but not 103 pink". Throat looked "pink but not 103 pink". Lungs sound ok, but per our (brilliant, I think!) pediatrician, sometimes kids "hide" pneumonia. "Let's just rule it out", he says.


Or, let's just rule it in. She has pneumonia! :( I'm glad we caught it fairly early, and praying that it's bacterial and responds to antibiotics quickly, because she's miserable. She had a terrible day as it was, then went to the doctor and had stuff stuck up her nose and on her fingers, then to the hospital for xrays, IV blood draws and heel sticks.

Please keep her in your prayers, and Avery as well -- she's about 7 days behind in symptoms but following the same path. The good news is, that likely just means she has the same virus that started it all. The odds are in her favor that she won't also have it settle into pneumonia, but at least we know what we're dealing with.

We'll see Dr. B again tomorrow to make sure she isn't getting worse. I'll keep you posted!

It came!

Silly post office, I wonder what they were doing with Elise's Valentine's Day gift the last few days?! Avery's and ours came right on time, so who knows! Still, we were happy to see it yesterday!














































Thank you Grandma Shelly and Grandpa Mike, for the books, "cookies" and adorable spring outfits! :)

BIG Girls at Cici's!

Kyle and I are big fans of Cici's Pizza. Sure, the pizza is the quality of Tony's [frozen] pizza... but so is the price, and Kyle loves the options. I tend to stick with Pepperoni, but I DO love the desserts. But of course.

The other night, we talked about how most of them around us have closed, and how we should probably hit one of the remaining ones before it goes under as well. Always the optimist ;)

When we got to talking more, we realized it would be a wonderful place to try out the WDW eating plan (enjoying our dinner while keeping little ones occupied by new table food experiences!). It was a blast.

I only had my crappy cell phone camera that I hardly know how to use, but at least it was something!




















































































As you might be able to see, Avery was a bigger fan of the new-found freedom. Elise was fine, but mostly just liked playing with the placemat and chewing on her sippy cup. Miss Avery, though, found it a game. She would literally stick a piece of food in her mouth. Then she'd stick her hand in and see if there was more room, and stick another piece in. No matter what was going in, as long as there was NO open space in her mouth. Then she'd chew for what seemed like hours, lose half of it, and start again. The child was like a shovel. She didn't even look at what she was doing! She would look around the restaurant or at her sister, rake a bunch of food in her little hands, and shove it in. We could have put a rock on her table and it would have made it's way in with everything else. (Perfect illustration, though, of the need to babyproof one's house! ;))

They had, in no particular order, lettuce, croutons, pizza crust (insides), noodles (and lots of them!), apples w/cinammon, crackers, Gerber puffs and apple juice. We had brought the mesh pouches and planned on putting some stuff from the salad bar in them, but all we found was tomatos (not allowed, too acidic for babies <1) and banana peppers (not nice).

It kept them occupied for quite some time, and kept Kyle and I extremely entertained! :-P

Avery's 1st tooth!

After several months, the darn thing finally broke through!  Still just one, but it's awfully cute.... :)

Valentine's Day Gifts

I was hoping that by the time this entry "went to press", we might have been able to share all of the Valentine's gifts. We're still missing a package, though, so there might be yet another addendum to the holiday entries. I swear, I'll stop talking about it sooner or later ;)

First, let me not forget our first princess' celebration! :)



























Also, I had mentioned a 'special gift' the girls received. For months, I have been looking for bracelets for them. I don't know what it is about baby jewelry, but I think it's the cutest thing ever. I never found quite what I was looking for, and after talking to a friend, decided to make exactly what I wanted for Elise and Avery. They turned out all right, if I do say so myself!







































Here is a slightly more detailed (and clear) shot. They're much cuter in person, because they're so doggone tiny! :)

8 months = 3/4 year!

Unbelievable! Eight months ago, I was at the Christ Hospital staring at these two perfect, tiny babies that had just entered the world. Now I'm chasing after two perfect, crazy little girls that have changed my world for the better. :)



























































This last month has been quite a busy one. Elise and Avery have changed so much, and are learning and experiencing so many new things!

Feeding and related issues:
- working on self-feeding, though I won't let them have the spoon yet (except when they (often) take it away from me too quickly!); they LOVE finger foods, though!
- eating a larger variety of foods than Kyle and I combined (in the form of baby food)
- a typical day includes four 6-ounce bottles of formula (7 oz in the mornings, sometimes), about 3.5oz baby food or cereal (for each girl) at lunch, 2 ounces of baby food and a finger-food snack at dinner
- both girls continue to be queens of spit up. While it seems to be tapering a bit on some days, they still undoubtedly vomit more than any baby I've ever taken care of
- still, and this is probably the biggest news in a long time -- NO MORE ZANTAC!!! On occasion it seems Avery might still benefit from it, but for the most party I have two "happy spitters". Considering they've taken the nasty medicine two times each day for almost 250 days, this is huge!














New Motor Skills:
- both girls are working on the "pincer grasp", which is another huge milestone
- just this week, they have started cruising a bit on furniture or stand-up toys. I hesitate to really call it "cruising", because it's so uncoordinated and slow that it hardly counts. Still, they see something they want and move their little feet, lean... whatever it takes to get there. Or they yell and throw their arms up and fall. One of the two.
- the crawling, as I've mentioned several times, is the real deal. In other words, I chase after them all day long. Mobility might be overrated................. ;)














Social Skills (or lack thereof):
- at any given moment, one or both girls can be heard chattering. Usually quite loudly. The clear favorite syllable of choice is "mamama", but I know it doesn't mean me yet. Kyle likes to pretend it does, especially when it's while they are crying or yelling. Go figure.
- we are working on signing "eat" and "more". We wanted to start with just 2 words, but I'll keep you posted on our progress!
- each girl has her moments in stealing toys, gouging one another's eyes out, etc. It can get really ugly sometimes. Kyle actually quite accurately called Elise an Ultimate Fighting Champion this afternoon. Sometimes it's quite sad, really! For the most part though, as you saw, they really do love one another!


































Anything else? Oh. Well, everyone here is sick, to varying degrees. Poor Elise is an absolute wreck. We're praying for an upswing soon, and that Avery - if she is going to - gets the full-blown illness soon, so she has time to be completely well before our trip. I'm NOT interested in flying with sick babies. With regards to clothes, both girls have solidly grown into 3-6 month clothes! They are wearing Size 2 diapers, though I don't know how much longer this will be true.

I feel like I forget things I had intended to share, because I see the girls every day and some things that I once found remarkable (and you might as well) are now common-place. Such is the life of 8-month-olds, I guess, learning new and more exciting things every day!

Please feel free to ask away if I've left anything out about which you are curious. There is a comment feature, you know.......... ;)

Happy Valentine's Day!

We hope yours was wonderful!

Now, let me back up :) The girls started their Valentine's Day a little early, and I'm not even just referring to the plethora of cute outfits they've been wearing all week!

On Thursday, the girls received Valentine's Day gifts from Nana, Pappy and Aunt Cassi. We'll just share a few pictures, the rest will be in the February Picasa album!






























There was a very cute package from Grandma Shelly and Grandpa Mike that came today, but we're still waiting on half of it (silly post office!?) so we are going to hold off on pictures. I promise we'll share!

Elise and Avery wore adorable, matching Valentine's Day PJs last night, but you know this mama wasn't bright enough to take pictures before they went to bed. Of course last night would be one of the nights during which the diaper gets over-saturated! Still, you can just imagine how cute a picture of both of them might have been! ;)

















Since they aren't old enough to partake in any of these --

















They had festive pink formula for breakfast! No, it's not strawberry flavored. Don't they wish...

































Kyle was home today and the girls enjoyed staying in with him, especially considering poor Elise is still sick. It was a fun play-day (when they weren't the crabbiest babies ever)!





















































And look... the outfits are even cute as the girls are crawling away. Good thing, too, considering that's about all they do now............. :)


















Stay tuned (hopefully tomorrow) for pictures of Avery's and Elise's special Valentine's Day gift!