Jumping

This is how Elliot spends a large portion of his waking hours--jumping, jumping, jumping. Jumping on the couch, jumping off the couch. Jumping on the chairs. Jumping off the chairs. Jumping on the back steps. Jumping off of the back steps. Jumping, jumping, jumping!

Puddles

What's better than jumping in big puddles after a rainy morning?

Scarves

Gigi sent Laney and Elliot beautiful handmade scarves. Delaney LOVES her scarf. She was thrilled that the scarf is purple and matches her coat 'perfectly'. She's been waiting and waiting for it to arrive in the mail and seriously hasn't let it out of her sight since we opened up the box. She even put the scarf in her room at bedtime. Laney wanted to know why Baby Louisa doesn't wear a scarf and if she can wear her scarf ALL summer-even when it's really, really, really hot out! Delaney loves clothes--she certainly doesn't get that from me--she must get it from her Gigi. And for the record, Laney told me that she has 'the best Gigi ever'! If anything happens to this scarf, I'm going to be in trouble--maybe we should put an order in with Gigi for a second scarf--just in case...

Pants

Louisa can finally fit into a pair of pants (granted they're size 3 months, but it's a start! Dave thinks that the rice cereal may be chunking her up a little!). Since birth, she's only worn sleepers because literally nothing stays around that little girl's waist; I've even tried rolling the top of the pants-but they still fall right down. I thought that Laney was small, but Louisa is even tinier---she's definitely longer than Laney was but even smaller. It's amazing. She's very strong and capable, but there's just nothing to her. She must have the Schwartz hiney genes!

Beat

Laney and Elliot had dental appointments this morning---and yes, I was lucky enough to take all three kids to the appointments by myself. And yes, it was exhausting. Summary: Laney was super cooperative and wonderful. Elliot wouldn't open his mouth for a good 15 minutes and threw a mini-fit because he was given a 'baby toy'. And Louisa cried / fussed for about 75% of the time. Oh, and a man in the waiting room asked me if Elliot or his sister had cut his hair and I got to tell him that his mother actually butchered his hair. Overall, I think that everything went pretty well.

Since it was another beautiful, beautiful day, we then headed to Lampe Park in Gardnerville where the kids happily played for 3 1/2 hours! My heart was in my throat for a lot of the time--Elliot will climb up on all and any bars--many of which were far, far above my head. I was so worried that he was going to fall--and I know that it's inevitable-he will fall someday, but I find the whole thing terrifying.

When we got home, Laney and Elliot vegged out on the couch and watched a little TV---I love it how they always sit so close to each other---so sweet. Their little faces were even a little pink from being in the sun all day--I guess that a little Vitamin D can't hurt!

Squishy Turtle

Louisa has a favorite toy--the 'Squishy Turtle' book (given to her by her Uncle Mat and Aunt Rebecca!). She loves all of the different textures and crinkly sounds and apparently it tastes good too! She laughs and smiles when she even sees the book coming her way. Laney has picked up on how much Louisa likes the book and looks for it anytime that Louisa starts to fret---it's pretty cute.

Winter Beach Day

We're getting a little taste of Spring this week. The weather was beautiful today-sunny, still and around 60 degrees, so the kids and I headed up to Sand Harbor for the day. I definitely had my hands full with all three kids, but we had a great time. It was wonderful to see Laney and Elliot run around on the beach---they played, played and played for 2 1/2 hours. Louisa was a little fussy but did well once I put her in the front carrier--I guess there's nothing quite like being snuggled against mommy!


The beach was beautiful and I felt wonderful after getting some fresh air and sunshine.

Love

Now this is love!





Louisa loves, loves, loves her big brother and the feeling is mutual. Elliot tells me that 'Laweezy not mommy's baby, my baby'. He always wants to hold her and snuggle with her. When they're sitting next to each other in the jogging stroller and Louisa starts to cry, Elliot immediately grabs and holds her little hand. And Louisa laughs and smiles at everything that Elliot does--she thinks that he's absolutely hilarious! They're so cute together.

The Best

There are certainly things that we don't have. But when I look at a picture like this, I am totally reminded that I have absolutely everything that is important.

Mommy Made

I fed her while she was growing inside of my belly and have breastfed her since she was born, so I honestly had mixed feelings about Louisa starting 'solid' foods; while it will be nice to nurse her a little less as she continues to eat food, I kind of love it that she's been solely fed by her mommy. But she's ready....And if she winds up being the baby in our family, I expect that she'll often be ready for the next stage in her life long before I am.

We gave Miss Louisa her first bites of rice cereal tonite and she LOVED it. Delaney hated it. Elliot liked it so-so. But Louisa LOVES it and obviously is so ready for food. Mixed feelings about that... My baby is growing up.

The Mishap

No, Elliot did not shave his own head and no, his mother is not on drugs-just exhausted! Well, at least he's not 13---or even 6 years old. Louisa was screaming in the exersaucer, Delaney was running around the house and Elliot was sitting in the seat for---oh, about 5 seconds, so I decided to go for it-and give him a 'haircut'. I forgot the guard. Obviously. It'll grow back, right?

Super Bowl Sunday

We had hoped to have friends over for the Super Bowl but since we were all recovering from the latest plague to hit our family, this is how we spent Super Bowl Sunday--eating forbidden chips with neon-orange nacho 'cheese' in the family room!

Cutie-Pie

When Louisa is happy, she likes to stick out her tongue. It's pretty adorable. She also has discovered her feet-and LOVES them--loves looking at them, loves holding them and loves chewing on them!

Shoot Me

In case anyone wondered, having three sick little kids for a week is pretty miserable-for everyone. And hell for the mommy. Our six week stretch of good health ended on Monday morning when Laney woke up with a fever and nasty cough and Elliot and Louisa quickly followed. I'm thankful that Grandma Mimi and Gramps were here to help out until Wednesday. But then things got really ugly. Laney got more and more sick and no one was sleeping well. The kids were cranky and sick and miserable. Mommy was really cranky and exhausted. Dave and I took all three kids to the doctor on Thursday afternoon (during 'naptime'!) and Laney was diagnosed with pneumonia. Great. I sat in the van for 45 minutes at the pharmacy's drive-in, waiting for Laney's antibiotic--her first antibiotic ever--(which had been dropped off hours before) with three screaming sick kids.

But---Laney and Elliot are definitely on the mend now. I'm still a little worried about Louisa's cough. And oh yes, Dave and I are both getting colds--I'm hoping that it's some version of whatever the kids have-and not a new germ!

We've been sick a lot since Laney started preschool. Like nearly every month. Having three little kids is not easy but it's really, really hard when anyone is sick-and when everyone is sick, it's really hard to make it through the day. I start to go a little crazy after being housebound for a couple of days with sick kids--it's so intense, exhausting and isolating. I find that I really need to remind myself how lucky we are to have three kids with working immune systems-who get better easily and without major complications.

Little Sweet Moments

The Return Of The Battlestar

Delaney and Elliot loved the exersaucer / battlestar / neglect-o-matic, and Louisa has followed suit!

As I like to put away one 'big' baby toy before getting out another 'big' toy, we put the baby swing in the garage to store (because you just never know). It made me a little sad that Louisa has outgrown the swing (not in size but just doesn't find it so fun anymore), but I'm over it-she's onto bigger and better things!