Happy Easter 2011

Happy Easter!!!!

The baskets (total cost- $4)

The Easter Egg Hunt:

The annual bunny ear picture:

2011 (Boys 5 1/2, Girls 2)

2010 (Boys 4 1/2, Girls 1)

Pediatrician Friday

Instead of  "Word.less Wed.nesday" or "Flas.hback Fri.day" I should do "Pediatrician Friday!" (I put the periods in so that anyone searching for those words won't come up with my blog...FYI).

Thomas woke up this morning holding his ear and crying that it hurt. This from the boy that never complained once when we discovered he had pneumonia (we only found out b/c Joshua had pneumonia and they randomly checked Thomas too), the boy that had strep and when asked told us his throat didn't hurt at all. A seriously high pain threshhold. So I knew. Pediatrician Friday is here! It's like we have a standing appointment, they don't even ask any questions, I just let them know we are coming in. :)

Luckily it's just that, an ear infection. I'll spare you the details, but what they pulled out of his ear would have hurt an adult. There were some serious issues going on deep in there. But, now we're on meds and life is good.

Hope you enjoyed the pictures! We get bored sometimes! And the nurses just laugh at me as I pull out the spray bottle, comb, and hair ties so I can do the girls' hair during the appointment since we hauled tushie to get there and get to preschool just a tad bit late! Hey, at least everyone was dressed, right?!

AND, this was the first appointment where Thomas did 90% of the talking. I answered the family questions (like yes, we've all had colds, no- he hasn't had a temp, etc). Thomas answered all of the standard, where does it hurt, when did it start, etc. This is huge! I love it!

The Girls' Actual Birthday

So as not to let the day pass without a little fanfare, we still celebrated the girls' bday on the 21st, even though daddy is out of town. Some great friends gave us a dollhouse with all the accessories around Christmas. But, we had already found a used kitchen set so we saved it for their birthday! Instead of spending money on new gifts, I let the boys sort through the accessories and they hand-picked what to give the girls. I also found a used bicycle and pulled out the boys' old bike and put the training wheels on both for the girls to ride. They woke up and were so happy. In fact, all the kids were super happy. We had a great great day! I can't believe they are actually two now! Happy birthday girls (4/21/11).

Two Years Old *Tear*

My babies are two years old! What happened? Actually, I am totally loving it. They are at a great great age. So much fun...for the most part.

And oh! How they've changed!

Newborn

1 Year

2 Year

Katie continues to be a spit-fire. That girl keeps me on my toes. If she's happy, she's hilarious. If she's not happy? Look out world! She continues to hate her carseat and screams bloody murder for hours on end if in it. It's enough that the windows have to be opened and surrounding cars look at us like we're torturing her. She loves gum, Elmo, daddy, and baseball. She's still the shy twin. Holds on to mommy more tightly, has a harder time separating. BUT, she'll sleep through the night about 70% of the time. I'll take it!

Molly is a hoot. She is a ham! An outside girl at heart, she will spend hours playing outside and beg not to have to come in. She love fruit snacks, Elmo, daddy, and 'nuggling.' She tells knock knock jokes and cracks me up. While she separates easier and loves to chat with other people, nothing is better than when she runs back to me and wraps her arms around my neck for a big hug.

I can't believe they are growing up. My last babies. I'll keep them babies as long as I can. Except for the sleeping through the night part...that can happen anytime now! 

I Did It...Until "It" Happened...

I did it! Maybe not entirely successfully, but I did it!

The boys' friend had a birthday party at the Y swimming pool. It was either do it alone with all four children, or not go at all. I decided to at least try. The first part is easy, aside from clinging, whiny little girls. The boys had a blast! The swimming part was more tricky. Changing them all into swimsuits. Finding that Joshua grabbed swimming trucks three sizes too big that fall off after a single step. Awesome. Dragging all four children and mommy in her fatty swimsuit through the Y looking for a clothespin...awesome. Finally, we arrive in the pool. I'm informed that all four children must stay together. This is near impossible. The girls can only touch in the wading pool area and are otherwise miserable. The boys have no intention of staying in the wading area with the babies. Thank goodness for our good friend Beth that agreed (to the lifeguards chagrin) to watch the boys with her kids while she was over there. Then "it" happened. I have a previous post about "it" in the bathtub. I have NEVER experienced "it" in the pool. I saw the look on Molly's face, picked her up and "it" all squished up her backside. In an effort not to have to evacuate the whole pool, I quickly (and quietly) grabbed a towel and wrapped her up. Then I had to run back to the pool to grab Katie who was happily playing and not happy to be disturbed.

Needless to say, after dressing myself and the girls, we grabbed the boys, everyone dressed and we headed home. The kids are exhausted, so is mommy. And while I can say I successfully completed the majority of this birthday party....somehow it doesn't feel like a total success. It was more of an icky success. :)

Spring Soccer

Both Thomas and Joshua decided they wanted to try soccer this season. We broke our own "one sport per season" rule for Joshua (he's already in dance) to let him have a little variety and some experience in something else. You can totally tell a difference between how they play. At first they were both rather slow and painful to watch (to be honest). But once they go the hang of it, I was really proud! Joshua was really running after the ball (after he twirled a few circles and fell down) and Thomas scored a few goals! It's just plain fun to watch. And that's what it's about, right?! Fun!

Happy 2nd Birthday Party Girls!

While Katie and Molly don't officially turn two until next week, this was the best day to celebrate, and celebrate we did. We partied hard on base and enjoyed a very fun spot. Our family and some close friends played with us and it was probably the easiest party we've ever done. Some pizza, some cake, some presents. Life is good. Thanks for all who came!

Portraits- Boys: 5 1/2 Years Old, Girls: 2 Years Old

This session went pretty much as I expected it.

Molly was the biggest ham you've ever met.

Katie was shy and timid and didn't want to take pictures at all. Notice the candy in her hand for the majority of the pictures. It took massive bribery to get her up there, but once she got going, she did really well!

Thomas is easy as long as you get a genuine smile. He tends to get cheesy....fast. :)

Joshua is easy and loves to pose. Although he gets to giggly and goofy and has to get back on track.

In pairs they were great and fairly easy. All four of them together remains difficult but is getting easier and easier.

Riverfront Park

Today we decided to spend some quality time as a family and packed lunches and went to use our season passes at Riverfront Park. The boys are pretty much old enough to go on everything. The girls? It's ridiculous (to me). Things were different and easier with the boys, but they've set new height limits. The girls cannot ride the little airplanes or the tiny train. But they CAN ride the roller coaster and the spider. Awesome. I cannot take them on this little boat (not on water, just pretend boat that swings back and forth) because they must each have an adult. Spectacular. Needless to say, I'm a little peeved. I'll have to have help to go to the park this summer because the girls want to do the rides and all the rides require that I have two adults. Hrmph!

But today was great, because alas, we had two adults! Katie LOVES the roller coaster. Molly does not. Molly LOVES the strawberry spin ride. Both girls are big fans of the carousel. We will spend many hours at the carousel this summer!

Here are some highlights:

Thomas and Molly in the spinning strawberry

Katie, Joshua, and Dan ride the roller coaster

Daddy and Katie ride the little swinging boat

The always awesome carousel...



The View From Here

Beautiful isn't it?

Adjusting an Almost 2-Year Old

The adventure began earlier this week. Katie went down the slide and landed on her bottom. Mind you the slide is maybe 2 feet at most off the ground and she landed in grass. But, she couldn't get up.The poor girl would try and then just break down in a heap on the ground. It took me 90 minutes to calm her and get her in a state of something less than hysteria. I had put Dan on stand-by at work, but decided since it was 5:00, the peds office would be closed and I was NOT doing another ER visit. She seemed to recover and do fine.

Fast forward to Friday. Thomas and Katie are playing something (arguing?) and she falls flat on her bottom. The girl comes unglued. She crawls around for a good while. She tries to stand but falls to the floor crying before even getting to her feet. After an hour of crying, I call the pediatrician with the knowledge that she likely broke/bruised her tailbone, but there was probably nothing they could do for it.

A call from the pediatrician confirms my thoughts. She likely broke/fractured her tailbone, but there is nothing they can do. We can do an xray, but it will change nothing. I opt out of the xray and trauma of that adventure and look for other options.

We went to a park and Katie appeared to manage alright, but you could see her sluggishly climb the stairs really putting one leg above the other. Her run was also a little off as her legs were coming together oddly. Putting her in her carseat has always been a nightmare, but now she arches her back and screams that it hurts her tush. She is hysterical and clearly in pain the entire car ride.

At a friends recommendation I call a chiropractor that does a lot with children. I am hesistant. This is an unfamiliar realm for me (and not a very comfortable one, particularly with my children). The whole experience is not all I wanted it to be, but I went along with it, knowing it would either do no harm (hopefully) or give her some relief.  He does his work and she cries in pain (or fear?). It was a little hard for me.

BUT...afterwards she said she felt better. That was at least a step forward. I put her in her carseat without the slightest fight. In fact, she giggled the entire way home. We get home and she is a whole new child. Happy. Smiling. Playing. Not that she doesn't normally do those things, but she's so clingy and can switch to unhappy in a heartbeat.

We saw only happy Katie tonight. It was such a treat. I pray that this is due to the adustment done today and that she will continue to be this happy Katie. I've missed her so. And so I become a somewhat hesitant believer. If it wasn't so expensive I'd have the whole family adjusted! :)

23-Months

Just a quick photo post. I'll do a more lengthy post in a month when they turn two, but for now, here's a peek at the girls at 23-months.

The Newest Obsession

Our newest obsession may surprise you. It's helmets. Katie and Molly just got their first helmets, so the obsession is easy. The boys generally wear their helmets outside because they ride their bikes and forget to take them off. I find it all very comforting. Everything is better with a helmet, right?

Katie riding her new scooter and wearing her new helmet. Who says we have to give them their birthday presents ON their birthday? :)

Molly wearing her new helmet and riding the scooter, although she lost interest fast, so this is the only pic I could get!

Thomas wearing his helmet at the park (he had ridden his bike there and just left it on). Where did my little baby boy go???

Katie pulling Molly home from the park. Katie pulled the wagon the entire way and refused any help! What a big girl! Molly could have cared less and enjoyed her Chex Mix and chocolate milk the entire way home. :)