Shaving Cream

Louisa and I were sick this week. Louisa was sick for about 36 hours with a couple of bad croupy nights; however, she quickly was on the mend after a couple of antibiotic doses. I, on the other hand, was sick for like a week---a voiceless and coughing mess.

We had planned to celebrate Thanksgiving with friends; however, that plan quickly went down the drain with all of the sickness. Dave totally saved the day--cooked a great Thanksgiving dinner and took care of the kids while I more or less rested. If it had been up to me, we would've ordered pizza and called it a day, but I am so thankful that Dave would never allow that to happen!

After dinner, the kids played with shaving and paint--a favorite of theirs and mine. Smells good and provides lots of entertainment--even for Louisa!

Chubbs

Delaney asked me the other day--Mommy, why does our baby have such a fat belly? Yup, Louisa has gone chunky. Delaney virtually has six pack abs (seriously, I dream of having her abs) and Elliot has little to no belly, so we are loving every little roll and dimple!

Thanksgiving Recital

This picture is so Delaney--a whirlwind of puffy pink!


Delaney's school Thanksgiving recital was as cute as last year, but it did make me think about how much 'bigger' (older) she is now--no longer a baby and definitely a little girl.

Sledding

Yesterday, on Elliot's birthday, we woke up to snow--which is crazy because just 2 1/2 weeks ago, Laney and Elliot were swimming in Lake Tahoe. But really, when you're three and four years old, what could possibly be more exciting and fun than the first snowfall of winter? The kids had a great time 'sledding' in our front yard. I can't believe that Weezy is big enough to sled with the big kids this year. Crazy.

The Big 3!

All of the girls in our family have birthdays within about 6 weeks of each other, and poor Elliot has been waiting, waiting and waiting for his birthday. He even asked me a number of times---Why don't I get a birthday, mommy? How sad is that???

Finally, it's Elliot's big day. He had a birthday party at Positive Energy-a local gymnastics center-and it was wonderful! They did a great job of oganizing the party---playing fun games and making sure that Elliot felt special. I'm a big fan of small and simple birthday parties and I was reluctant to have a bigger party for Elliot and worried that he would feel really shy (he's often shy in group settings) but he was completely comfortable and so happy.

So--here's to my little man-cub, finally a big three year old!

Worms

With Gramps and Mimi in town, everyone (except me-I went on an 8 1/2 mile run and joined the troops after a long hot shower!) went fishing in a stocked lake by our house.




Apparently, Elliot was REALLY into the worms! When Gramps or Daddy would pull the line out of the water, Elliot would shout--I caught a snake, I caught a snake! He carried around his worms all morning until they were all flat, dried out and knotted together (YUCK). We had to wrestle them out of his hands when it was time to get into the car. And later at bedtime, he cried that he wanted his worms to sleep with him.

Elliot is a crazy little boy right now--so rambunctious and not altogether very pleasant. But he's still my baby boy and I could look at his big smile forever.

A Princess, A Cowboy & A Dragon

About a month ago when Delaney decided that she wanted to be Cinderella for Halloween, I really was pretty disappointed. Princesses are boring and every other 4 year old girl wants to be a princess--how boring, unoriginal and unlike Delaney. However, after weeks of watching Delaney run around the house in her Cinderalla costume in pure delight-I've kind of come around. I still think that princesses are pretty boring--but not when Delaney is princess!--She 'charges' her wand by my cell phone and runs around the house, wearing her crown, and plays trucks with Elliot and dives off of our couch. Very orginal.

Taylor Creek

This was our third year at the Taylor Creek salmon run--the kids love it more and more each year. This October, the whole family went up once with family friends and then I took the kids up for a second look during the week. Elliot in particular loved watching the salmon. He's such a busy little boy but he totally was content to sit by the creek and watch the salmon swim and jump. I love watching my kids enjoy nature and being outdoors. We're so lucky to live here.

Goblin Run

My running group sponsored a children's run this weekend. Both Laney and Elliot ran the 1/2 mile loop---Laney and her buddy had so much fun that they ran it a second time! Elliot was super determined and definitely one of the youngest runners. Delaney wore her piggy costume from last year and Elliot opted (not surprisingly) out of wearing a costume. Dave and Louisa cheered us on!




Don't worry Weezy--You'll be running with the big kids next year!

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The kids make my birthday special--they get so excited about making me pictures and baking cupcakes and having a 'party' that I can't help but look forward to it too.

I ran a half marathon on Sunday at Lake Tahoe and came home totally wiped out and exhausted to find this--three little munchkins painting birthday surprises in the backyard. Dave is great at doing art projects with the kids and making sure to include Louisa. Yes, my baby was covered in paint in the backyard, and yes, I loved it!





Laney was a little disappointed with my presents-she kept asking me--Didn't Daddy buy you a watch, or a ring, or a new bike or something? Adorable!

Emerald Bay Trail Run

I ran a 7 1/2 mile trail run at Lake Tahoe. It was HARD--I'm taking crazy steep hills. But so worth it. The scenery was spectacular; however, I have to admit that after about mile 5 I couldn't have cared less about the scenery and just wanted the race to be OVER. I seriously ran the entire race as fast as I could-I don't think that I could've ran it a second faster. And then felt really good. I get 2nd place in my age group (small field) but I'll take it!

My fans arrived 1 1/2 hours after I finished and were sufficiently unimpressed. Oh well.

Markers

This little girl loves to do whatever her big brother is doing--she already can push little cars around the floor while scooting along. She is Elliot's biggest fan and I can't say that I blame her--he's a whirlwind of motion and fun! She can say 'Elliot' as clearly as anything. She's usually the first one up in the morning and when she hears Elliot call for us, she goes crawling over to his door. Today when Elliot was drawing with markers, she insisted that she get in on the action, and happily sat in her booster seat, putting markers in and out of a plastic bag. I don't think that she cared what she did-she just wanted to be with Elliot.

Three Babes In The Tub

Three little naked bodies in the tub--it's so cute and absolute mayhem. As Dave has said, we need to wear ponchos during bathtime. And they won't spread out--all three of them are always in the same corner of the tub--kind of reminds me of puppies. Louisa LOVES to take a bath with the big kids. I worry some about her getting knocked around too much with all of the 'swimming'--flailing arms and legs, but she seems to be able to hold her own-which is a very, very good thing.

Weezy's First Birthday

To be perfectly honest, I've been dreading this day--my baby turning one. She's the baby of the family and I just love the first year---I love nothing more than snuggling a baby. However, when I woke up this morning, I didn't feel sad at all--I am so excited for Louisa--for who she is now and who she will become in the next year. So many fun changes and experiences in the next year. And I also feel a total sense of accomplishment--I've done it--I've survived Louisa's first year, survived a tough recovery after a c-section, survived all of the sleepless nights and exhausting days, survived Laney's first year of preschool (with all of the colds that came with it!!) and survived raising three very young children (for at least one year!).

Dave and I were watching a nature show about monkeys--apparently baby monkeys maintain skin-to-skin contact with their mothers for the first 6-months of life---Louisa managed skin-to-skin contact for the first 12 months! She loves to be held (by me), so it's a good thing that her mama loves to hold her. She's happiest in my arms.

She didn't start to crawl until 11 1/2 months---which is so late that I totally worked myself into a panic. But it's just who she is---she's happy, mellow, content and communicates so well that her siblings (and mommy) pretty much get anything for her that she wants. For months, if she couldn't reach something that she wanted to play with, she yelled and gestured for the big kids to get it for her or happily started playing with something else. She has her own timetable.

She said her first clear word before she was 11 months and can now say 5 words. She speaks clearly and imitates everything that we do.

She's my shy, sweet girl. She's mild and even tempered. Buries her face in my chest when strangers are around and is as sweet as anything until someone tries to approach her, and then she SCREAMS!

She loves her siblings. Watches everything that they do and tries to keep up with them. She laughs with them and loves to play. She really has her eye on Elliot--he's going to be in trouble!

After a slow start, she's become a good eater and weighs 18 lbs. She only weighed 13 lbs at 9 months, so she is gaining and growing fast! She eats pretty much everything and anything, and we feed her exactly whatever we're eating--she's been done with baby food for awhile.

She's not the best sleeper but that's party my fault-I'm just not persistent enough with her at night. Given the choice, I'll put her in bed with us at 3 AM to nurse instead of listen to her cry. It's so quiet and still at night and I love the alone time with her. And she is not a good napper at all--she can happily get through the day with a 45 minute nap (this is scary to me---I live for nap time!).

Louisa has the most beautiful big dark eyes with long lashes. We love her little dimple and crooked smile. She has a great belly laugh. Happy Birthday Baby Weezy!