It's the Little "Things"

My kids seem to be changing just as fast as the seasons and I keep hearing this little voice in the back of my head telling me to write more, imprint, and hold tight to these moments.

Brinlee just turned 17 months and is rapidly changing. She's getting to my all time favorite little kids age. The age where everyday is something new and radically different. Her personality is shining and she's wearing her cool sun shades because I'm pretty sure she is impressive to herself! The girl is going to be trouble. Who am I kidding? She already is trouble. You can scold and yell until you're about to erupt and it doesn't faze her in the slightest. She likes to pull the DVDs from the rack and some she will study, but most get tossed over her head and onto the ground. I was being firm and direct when I told her to stop pulling them down and get picking the up, but she didn't even flinch or stop staring at the DVD cover. You would've sworn she was deaf. I finally had it and asked her if she wanted to go to time out and without looking up, she shook her head no. So she really does understand me! The little stinker! She's at that age where because she doesn't say much, you tend to wonder how much she really understands, but clearly she knows more than I give her credit for and plays the game well.
 I get my exercise by chasing after her. She gets into everything! And I mean EVERYTHING! I am convinced that she has the disorder known as Pica most commonly seen in pregnancy. It's a disorder where people eat things that are considered inedible. No lie, she eats the tips off of markers and will chew up and swallow as many crayons as she can get away with. She literally poops out the rainbow sometimes!
She babbles a lot, but actual words are limited. She is still very stubborn about calling me mom and looks straight at me when I come home from work and says "Hi Dad!" The more I tell her to say mom, the more she calls me dad. She says bye, eyes, here, and welcome, but the rest of her communication is "jeh, jeh, buche" whatever that means.
She is following in her sisters footsteps and when being scolded with the words "No" will drop to the ground, arch her back, and try with all her might to squeeze out tears after she makes sure you are watching. She of course makes sure to be on a soft surface and gets even more frustrated if she wants to throw down on concrete.
She is obsessed with toothbrushes and does not discriminate on which of the many in the bathroom drawer she uses. This is not such a bad thing since my step-mom is a Dental Hygienist, but I guess spreading all those mouth germs isn't very hygienic! And this may be a sign of her future as a Dental Hygienist. Ok that's a bit far fetched, but it sounds like a good plan right?
She enjoys using a fork, but also still loves her bedtime bottle. It's like she is Miss Independent and a big girl for some things, but others will be diverted to her baby ways.
 It's a toss up of who, between her or Mason, is more of a cuddler. She starts smacking her lips before reaching you which is absolutely adorable.
 Just like the other 2, she loves music and can keep up her dance moves with them both. One of her favorites to dance to is Katy Perry's "E.T." song.
We will be starting her in swimming next Monday which I am excited about. I love having one on one time and this is a great opportunity for us since it's a parent-toddler class. She is shy, but willing to show off!

Lilah is finally potty trained with the exclusion of the night!!!!!!!! I am so proud! She really turned the corner on April Fools Day of all days. I'm not surprised that she would pick that day. Her personality wants to keep you on your toes and it seems as though the minute you really want to get excited about an advancement from her, she will put you back in your place and remind you that it's on her terms. Thus, I think she picks that day because she knew we wouldn't really believe that her days of diapers was coming to an end and she likes to surprise us. When we are surprised, I think we tend to be more genuine as to not exaggerate something that we anticipate. We didn't get too overjoyed at first, thinking the underwear days wouldn't last, but she proved us wrong, which I am so happy that she did! She is so funny and still occasionally tells me she has a surprise for me and then leans forward on the toilet to show and tell me my surprise is poop! Awesome!
Along with her growing up to a "big girl" she has also grown in inches. Dave and I are sure that this happened overnight!

Mason is still growing like the weeds on a rainy day. He is only 4 1/2 years old and over 46 inches. I guess I am waiting for him to average out like Dave and I. His clothes continue to have little wear and tear due to the fact that he outgrows them so fast.
He's still a major love bug and throws his entire body on you when giving hugs. He likes to wink, point, and click his tongue when he likes your idea. He often talks about things from "back in the day" or "when I was little."
He apologizing often making it hard to put him in time out when he really does need it.
He is obsessed with video games which he doesn't get to play often, but he will talk like they are the only think he eats and breathes. He wants every single toy on tv and it frustrates me because he has an overabundance of toys and doesn't play with them. I really am thinking that I need to simplify Birthday and Christmas gifts because I go overboard and they can't even focus because they are so overwhelmed. I am hoping that doing so will make him treasure and enjoy more toys.
 I may have already mentioned it, but his teacher, who has taught for over 20 years, says he's the nicest kid. He is sensitive though which creates some drama filled moments. He hates going to bed. He is a night owl like his mother and prefers to push his bed time to the limits. He will cry and insist we let him sleep on the couch. After 20 minutes of "pushing" him to bed, he actually calmly lays down and we do our nighttime routine of reading a book, saying prayers, hugs and kisses, and our saying, which was passed on from my dad, "goodnight, love you, sleep good." It's amazing how even though he fights the structure of going to bed in his room, he still deep down relies on the structure in the end.
He will be starting swimming again this coming week. He's such a friendly kid that he gets distracted easily and chats with the other kids during the lessons, but I think that since he is now in preschool, the structure may have influenced his listening skills or at least I hope!

With work and family balance, life can be so exhausting. If the kids are being defiant, it can be hard not to throw in the towel and let them run wild. Scolding and yelling take less energy than getting out of my seat to put them in time out, right? Well, I have come to the conclusion that yelling really doesn't work for my kids. Don't think that stops me from yelling though! But, I realized that time out is the most effective way to really change the bad behavior. And, even though there are times that I can barely lift a finger cause I'm so tired, putting them in time out, in the long run, will help decrease the amount of time that is spent yelling over and over like a broken record. We all need time outs even as adults and so it only makes sense that it is most likely going to be the most effective and beneficial way to decrease the negative behavior.



I enjoy all of their talented, entertaining, and funny moments. It's hard to believe that there will be a time when our home will be quiet and empty. I pray that I am parenting to the best of my ability to make them the best that they can be.

Tomorrow's Another Day

Stressed is a mild word for what life has been like lately. I've been through worse, but really it has been a couple weeks of little sleep and a mind that doesn't turn off. It's those everyday stresses that are bound to happen, but you just don't expect them to all come at once. Although I guess that's where the saying "when it rains, it pours" came about.
It all started about 4 weeks ago, when my son started the week with a fever and complained of a sore throat. Since his tonsil and adenoid surgery was just a little over a week away, I figured we'd better bring him in sooner than later to make sure he was well for his surgery. Funny thing is, he was scheduled to have this surgery in November, but 2 days before, he developed his first case of strep and was still not up to par to push surgery on an already run down body. So, when I brought him in this time, I was a bit surprised when they said he had strep once again. Was this a sign that maybe we shouldn't have the surgery? After all, hos need for surgery wasn't due to on-going infections like most who have their tonsils and adenoids out, but instead it was the excessive snoring and choking on his tongue that was concern enough to consult with ENT. Surprise, surprise, just like his sister, he also had quite enlarged glands, and thus it was recommended that they be taken out. Luckily this time he was diagnosed with strep, we had plenty of days to complete his antibiotics before surgery. Of course, when one has a sore throat, we all start developing phantom symptoms that make us wonder if we too had it. So, each of us were swabbed and luckily all came back negative.
Fast forward 2 days, and the luck was no longer on our side. My girls rapidly developed increased irritability, worsening colds, & runny noses and I was sure they both had ear infections at the very least. You would think as a mother, my husband would trust my gut on when to take the kids to the doctor, but no. Then, maybe, just maybe, the fact that I've been a nurse for 9 years would also give me some credit for my judgement and assessment, but nope, not one bit. I was not surprised when the first words out of his mouth when I told him I had made the girls a doctor appointment was, "Why? They just have colds." I made a bet with him that I would be bringing the girls home with at least one diagnosis of ear infection and if I was right, my winnings would be the oh so sweet words of "You were right." The next day I bundled the girls up and made my way back to the clinic for the 3rd time in 3 days secretly hoping I would lose that bet, but knowing deep down that I wouldn't. We made our way to the exam room and after a thorough history of the days that lead up to our visit, his otoscope showed the doctor what I anticipated...Lilah has double ear infection and Brinlee had one ear infected. After further evaluation and tests, Lilah also had bronchitis and Brinlee had RSV. Now, the only RSV I'm used to seeing is the little ones who are admitted to the hospital, so I was very relieved to know that I could treat her at home as long as she didn't progressively get worse. Whew! We made our way out of the clinic and I could barely wait to whip my phone out to call Dave with the update. They took their time recovering and just when they finally turned the corner, Mason was preparing for surgery.
Prior to the day, we tried to prepare him as best as we could for a 4 yo. We told him that we had to go to the doctor to get his throat fixed like Lilah, but obviously he didn't quite understand what that meant. He just kept worrying about whether he was getting a shot or not. I thought, a shot would be much better exchange than a constant sore throat and pain, but tried to be as optimistic as possible without lying to him. When the day arrived, Mason had preferred to sleep in a little longer than wake up to go to the hospital, after all he is my kid! After slowly getting ready (again, he is my kid), we headed to the hospital, where Mason was all smiles and thumbs up. He even does this thumbs up thing where he clicks his tongue and gives a big wink. Such a nice boy! Following surgery, his thumbs up turned to nods of yes or no since the pain prevented him from talking. We made it home shortly after and he had a fast and uneventful recovery.

As Valentines Day approached, we were past due and more than ready for a date night out. Reservations were made and my mouth watered with the thought of the buttery smooth fillet minion soon to be in my mouth. I was at work that day and checked in with Dave on my lunch break. Unfortunately, the call wouldn't be my last. Reservations needed to be canceled, as Lilah had been throwing up all day. I felt so bad for her. Nobody likes to throw up, but as a 3 yo it has to be worse. She was so good though. She remained pale and pretty much out of it, but right before she puked, she would  pop up and say ever so matter of factly, "where's the bucket?" Little linen needed to be changed and by the following day, Lilah was feeling well again.

had envisioned to be devoted to only caring for Mason. But, life is not always easy. Challenges will be faced and it's in those moments that we have an opportunity to step up and do the right thing. I can say that I was very pleased to be united with my co-workers or as I like to call them, my "work family." They trusted us to come up with as best of a schedule as possible. It's times when the emotions are about to burst, that I take a deep breath and realize that this too shall past and there is a light at the end of the tunnel. The light for me and my friend/co-worker who helped build the schedule will be an overdue spa day. Most of the time, it's us who are responsible for creating the light at the end of the tunnel.

Spooktacular Fun

Halloween this year was spooktacular! I know, I'm a dork! Can't help it. We started the season getting the most delicious apples around at Deer Lake Orchard. One of my favorite things about fall are eating Honey Crisp apples. Yummy! The kids and I made caramel apples. They were great helpers and enjoyed eating them as much as me.

Of course we also had to decorate and carve pumpkins. I wasn't sure if they were ready for carving, but the lady at the pumpkin stand thought they would do well. We started off with painting them, since I was still leery about them carving. However, when Dave and I started carving out pumpkins, they insisted on doing it too. With some guidance they actually did quite well.

Our next adventure took place at my friend Sarah's Halloween party. It was last Friday night and was a ton of fun. They had my friend's husband dj, a keg, and pulled pork. There were lots of friends that I haven't seen in a very long time. Dave any I dressed as hippies. It took me 3 hours to pick a Halloween costume while in a overtired daze searching countless "hoe" outfits online. I am totally fine with anybody who wants to wear skimpy costumes, but it would be nice if there was more of a variety for those of us who would feel a lot more comfortable in something that covered our bootys. Also, this is Minnesota and I freeze enough in jeans and a sweatshirt, so lets be realistic and cater to those of us who want to feel relaxed. OK that's my rant. I am very happy that I found something for the fun festivities. The next night we went to another friend of mines Halloween party and had a great time there too!

Then came the night the kids have been waiting for...trick or treating. I love seeing the kids in their costumes and the excitement of the big night! Thankfully my mom always comes to help and Ethan comes too. We bundled Brinlee up and she tagged along in the stroller. Mason decided to be Bumblebee Transformer, which I announced as Bumblebee TUNA as I videoed him. Yep, I totally called him TUNA instead of transformer!  Lilah was Minnie Mouse and she was very happy to be her as she said, "I'm cute!" (She gets her confidence from her dad!) Brinlee was a grey and pink leopard/cheetah and Ethan was a Scream. His mask was very neat and he could squirt "blood" through it which dripped down his mask face. The kids did a great job holding up through all the houses we went too. Mason constantly asked when we were going home because he wanted to eat his treats. He didn't quite get the concept of the more houses we go to, the more treats you get to eat. He didn't get antsy though and kept a positive attitude the whole way. He even started to switch his voice to sound scary when getting to the doors! Lilah fell about 2/3 of the way and then had a melt down which led to the "I can't walk" drama. That's her new thing. If she's upset, she will say things like, "My tummy hurts. My head hurts. I can't walk." Can be quite frustrating, especially when you really don't have much of a choice but to carry her the final 1/3 of the way or leave her on the grass of a neighbors yard as she throws a major tantrum. Maybe when she turns 3 in January, this terrible 2 business will end. I can hope, right? Brinlee did very well in the stroller and ended up falling asleep for some of the way. All in all it was a great time!

If I Could Capture It In a Bottle

First I want to say THANK YOU SO MUCH ladies for your positive, sweet, and encouraging words! I cannot tell you how much it meant to me. Even brought tears to my eyes. Sooo very thoughtful and just what I needed. Life is going great! Of course I am lucky to have family and friends like you who help bring warmth and sunshine. MUAH!

It feels like I haven't wrote about my kiddos in a while and they are growing fast, so I need to keep up on all the growth which brings lots of laughs and smiles around.

In one month my baby will become a toddler. I will likely always call her my baby, but it will have a different meaning. Quite hard to believe she is already going to be 1! Her personality is changing right along with her age. She is becoming so vocal and even said "Naw-naw" while trying to push out "Mama" as I repeated those very words a hundred times over again. So I shall say that she was officially 10 mo old when she said Mama. Luckily I had witnesses who verified and agreed that this was certainly the case. Unfortunately, for me, she says "Dada" 90% of the times that I try and get her to say mama. I can't help but laugh and wonder if she does it on purpose!

She's becoming more spunky like her sister and actually is copying some bad habits of Lilah. For instance, she will push her bottom lip out as far as she can, gently "fall" to the ground, and arch her back when being scolded and let out a fake, no tears, "cry". Amazing how fast we pick up behaviors of those around us! Like Lilah, she loves to bounce and the crib is starting to feel the stress. It doesn't help that her sister who bounces more than Tigger used the crib before her.

Lovin her smiles too! She's poppin up teeth unlike the other 2 and makes sure to show them off with a squish of her nose and squinting of her eyes for added cuteness.

She eats her crackers in the most bizarre way. Rather than keeping them flat, she turns them horizontally and takes a bite right between her two front teeth. Definitely bother us adults to see such an odd bite. I think because we don't like having stuff stuck in our teeth and so we assume she wouldn't either, but she  certainly enjoys that "Do I have something stuck in my teeth" feeling.

She pulls herself up to stand on anything that is high enough to give her that extra oomph. This is a bit shocking since she refused to bear weight when we would try and stand her up just a couple of months ago. I have a feeling she will be walking soon, but try not to think about that too much.

I am happy to say that she is still a mommy's girl and has a hard time letting others hold her if I'm in her line of sight. OK so maybe it's not always a good thing, but it sure feels good to know that the minute she is in my arms, her tears come to a screeching halt!

Next is Miss Lilah. She has been staying busy being Brinlee's second mama and trying to keep her in line. You would think that being a little caregiver would want to make her be a big girl and go on the potty chair, but unfortunately that is not the case. I now have no doubt that she will not go on the potty because, as she stated, "I want to be a baby. I don't want to be a big girl. I want to wear diapers" I guess she feels she is ahead of her age in so many other ways that this will help give her balance? That is what I have concluded at least. She always helps get her own diaper, wipes, and even pulls out the powder for when she needs a diaper change. A few months ago she even changed her own diaper! I would have never even know about that hadn't it been for the soaking wet diaper she left on the living room floor and the fidgeting motions she was making trying to adjust the diaper that she applied only covering one butt cheek.

Then, there's the cute things she says. I wish we could capture the "I can't believe they said that" moments on video. I am sure there would be a lot more smiles and laughter in the world. I would love to press repeat on those moments when I'm having a bad day. One evening, she ate 3/4 of her apple and put the rest in the fridge to save for later. I thought it was so cute that she did it on her own without prompting and I told her, "You are sooo cute! I just want to eat you up!" She quickly replied, "No you can't eat me, I'm not supper." I chuckled and said, "Oh pretty please! I bet you taste yummy. You are just too cute." She responded, "No mom, you can't eat me. I'm not a cupcake!"

She still loves to color and draw. Anytime I give a card to her to sign, she takes the pink sparkly pen and decorates the entire inside, barely leaving room for our 4 signatures. An interesting thing was said by Mason the other day. Dave had noticed that Mason didn't color much of his fire safety coloring book from school and commented, "You aren't much of a colorer, are you Mase?" He replied, "Naahhh. Is it because Lilah is such a good colorer and I'm not?" We have never told Mason he wasn't a good colorer, nor did we imply it. However, we and a few others have went on and on to Lilah about how well she colors and I suppose Mason took it as a negative that we didn't say the same to him. Interesting how that works. We all seem to do better when we have that positive reinforcement. It makes sense that if you never hear praise about your work, you probably won't find it gratifying and worthwhile, and thus stop doing it.

I am thinking about putting Lilah in dance instead of tumbling this year. I would love for her to do both, but it would be time consuming and of course, financially too much money. She would be a natural at ballet. Hopefully I can better assess which one she prefers or she will be able to help decide which she likes best. I really want all of them to have opportunities to do fun things outside of home that is individualized for them.

Mason is enjoying preschool and making new friends. It's fun to hear about his day, the things he learned, and his interactions. The friend he talks about most is Myles. He's already talked about going to his house or Myles coming here. When did he get so big???

Tonight he told me that he wanted to stay on the couch and sleep "because my knees kind of hurt from too much fighting." Cracked me up a little. He wasn't talking about the fighting that happens between him and Lilah, but rather the pretend MMA fights that he has with the air or his stuffed spiderman. He sure knows how to talk me into things and it never fails that when he gets the sense that I may say no, he quickly flashes me his big brown eyes, bats his long lashes, gives me a suddle smile, wraps his arms around me, kisses my arm, and says, "I love you mom."

He has however had his 4 going on 13 moments. He would play video games 24/7 if we let him, says things like "come on, I just have to" and has even told Dave that he doesn't like him. Ouch! You get nervous and think, seriously, what is he going to be like when he's a teenager if he's already got the attitude of a teenager. I am hoping he takes his time getting there...

Mostly though, he is sensitive, empathetic, and caring. The other day my mom came over to watch the kids while Dave and I ran a couple errands. Mason was in the bathroom as we left and had we waited for him, we may not have gotten all the things done that needed to be done if you know what I mean. Mom said when he came out of the bathroom he was quite upset and said with disappointment, "But I just wanted to give them a hug and a kiss goodbye. If they just waited a minute, I was almost done." Oh be still my heart!

Growing Entertainment

Entertainment in my life comes in the form of 3 little ones who seem to never stop surprising me. Whether it be their words or actions, I just cannot help but smile and many times laugh. I usually update some of their cute little moments on facebook, but really wanted to take the time and update here while also just talking a little bit about where they are at right now.

     Mason is getting ready to start preschool. He could not be any more excited. He plans on taking the River Rider bus which is a transportation company that gives rides to many people throughout the community, including hundreds of preschoolers. I'm not gonna lie, I haven't thought much about it because I know I will be a nervous wreck. Heck, writing about it now is bringing on feelings of fear! Unfortunately I couldn't make it to his preschool open house as Lilah fell fast asleep 2 hours prior to her normal bed time and I was simply exhausted after my beloved grandma's funeral. Dave ended up taking him and said things went well. Of course, Mason enjoyed exploring the "new" toys there. I worry about him not being able to focus and to be easily distracted and distracting to other kids. He has a hard time keeping focus at home and will talk to anyone about anything. My hope is that it will help him to stay on track and show us what we can help him work on to prepare for kindergarden in a couple years. The teachers thought Mason was in the wrong class because he is so tall. I'm telling you, our kids all picked up some pretty strong recessive genes!
  They encouraged us to work with Mason on cutting coupons as they discovered he could use more practice in this area. The other day, Dave got out the scissors and some left over ads and put Mason to work. Later that evening, Mason had told me that he practiced cutting coupons. I figured since he was bringing it up that he must've been excited and I assumed it went well for him. However when I asked how it went, he answered "Not good. I'm gonna have to do more cutting when I go to school." I told Dave what Mason had said and Dave said that Mason had a hard time because when Lilah saw Mason cutting, she insisted on also practicing and threw a fit about wanting his scissors and not the other ones that we had. Poor kid!
     He knows how to spell his name and does an ok job writing it too.
     Mason is still such a love bug. He is constantly coming up to me to give me hugs and kisses and tells me that he loves me. His kisses crack me up! He sticks his lips out as far as they will go and they look just like a duck bills! This is one thing I am no doubt going to miss someday. Sure he may still give me hugs and kisses, but there is not way that they will be as often, nor will his lips be puckered so cute.
     He talks endlessly about video games. Rarely do him and Dave play video games, but you would not know that if you talked to Mason. He wants to play 24/7 and I suppose talking about it keeps the idea alive!
     He recently turned 4 yo and had his well child visit. His doctor talks highly of Mason and has said more than once that he is one of his favorite patients. While sitting on the exam table during his appointment, the doctor told Mason how cool he was and then the doc made a fist and told Mason to give him some skin. With determination in his eyes, Mason just sat there. The doc said again, "Give me some skin." I thought, "what in the world? Why is Mason not doing it?" After more consentration, I hear a loud fart come out right out of him. The doc took a few steps back and the 2 of them busted out laughing. I could not believe it! I was so embarassed. The doc looked at Mason and said "That was awesome! Now give me some skin!" Oh boy.....!
     He really enjoys fishing with Dave. His stories are true fisherman tales. Whenever people ask him how big the fish was that he caught, the length from hand to hand widens as he talks! He talks about the stink worms and how much the fish likes them. It's so much fun to hear him talk about it. I have some great memories of fishing with my dad and hope Mason has many more.
     He's got dance moves that I've never seen before and isn't afraid to show them. He also loves to sing many songs beyond his time. Staying home with dad who plays his favorite music throughout the day will do that. Funny story is that one of the first songs he learned to sing was "Blue Eyes Crying In the Rain" by Willie Nelson. Well, one day while my dad was watching him at his house, they went to a garage sale and my dad bought that Willie Nelson CD and gave it to Mason. The whole way home from his house, we listened to that song over and over!
     He likes to use words like "cool" and "awesome." Sometimes I wonder if he is really only 4.

Little Miss Lilah is my little mama. Dave keeps saying that he's sure she will have like 12 kids when she gets older. She is constantly paying attention to Brinlee and always handing her a nuk or a toy or a blanket. When Brinlee wakes up in the morning, we will find toys in her crib that Lilah has tossed over for her. She has done this since Brinlee slept in a bassinet. While sitting next to Brinlee a while ago, Brinlee let out a sneeze. Lilah placed her hand on Brinlee's back and said in a soft, sweet voice, "Bless you Binlee, but next time you need to cover your mouth like this" and then gives a demo. Lilah has scolded Brinlee if she sees Brinlee throw a toy or snack off of her highchair tray she will say, "No Brinlee. I don't think so. That's naughty." She has fed her baby food if we set the bowl on the table near Brinlee and walk away for a brief moment. She is very attentive to her and never shown any signs of jealousy. It's a fun relationship to watch and I often wonder what it will become.
     She is so into babies that if we are out and about she will go right up to a stroller to oodle over the baby that she doesn't know. Normally she is shy to new people, but a baby will always get her attention.
     Her love of her dollies is just as sweet. She will swaddle them and hold them against her chest while trying to "burp" them. She places them in Brinlee's swing, highchair, or walker. She's even shown Mason's action figures motherly love by laying a cloth on top of them as a blanket.
     She LOVES to color and is great at it! She is creative and likes to learn. One day I heard her count up to 17. Like most kids, she is a sponge. Her memory is amazing. She retains so much. I think it has a lot to do with her love of books since an early age.
    She is stubborn and still throws the biggest tantrums around. Her scream could shattered glass. She can go from happy to mad in seconds and the only thing that cools her off is a time out. When she's mad, she needs time alone because she is in no mood for talking or hugs or whatever else you think could settle someone down.
    Her stubborness has held her back from being potty trained. She is in control and the ball is in her court. She will go pee on the potty chair with a little convincing, but it really seems to be on her terms. I have a feeling we are getting close to her being trained, but should "knock on wood" cause you just never can know for sure.
     She is 2 1/2 years old, but if you observed her for a day, you would think I was lying. She talks so well and knows so much that I often wonder where she learns it all.
     She will be getting her tonsils and adenoids out on Sept 9th. She snores so loud that sometimes it sounds like she is choking. She will have it done at Childrens and stay the night since she is under 3 yo. I am very nervous and pray that it will go smoothly and she will have a quick recovery. Ironically, her cousin will also be at Children's at the same time having heart surgery. Mason will also have a T&A in the next 2-3 months as he also snores and arches his head back so far back to breathe at night. These 2 older ones sure like to copy eachother, from severe peanut allergy to bad eczema to staph infections. We are lucky though because this is nothing compared to what some people have to go through.

     Sweet baby Brinlee, she is my honey. 9 months old already and showing us that she wants to be heard around here too! She is much more vocal and almost yells at times although it's all babble. It's funny how even though you don't know the things they are trying to say, you can still understand their emotions.
    She started to crawl a little over a month ago. Mostly the army crawl, but it certainly works well. She can even go from lying on her belly to sitting on her butt!
    She has started to wave good bye and is also clapping. It melted my heart seeing her do that. Really made me realize just how much she is growing.
    She is munching on more snack type foods and drinks from her sippy cup.
    When she gets excited her little legs just go crazy kicking up and down as she giggles.

It is so bitter sweet watching them grow. They melt my heart so much and to think that this will all be a distant memory someday is almost too much to bear!

    

    

Sweetheart

Brinlee's been drooling like a mad woman for the past month and chewing on everything in sight, but so did the other 2 kids at this age. So as she was sitting on my lap and we were exchanging big smiles, a white glare from her mouth caught my eye. I thought, "hmmm maybe one's trying to poke through" and swooped my finger across her bottom gum, only to feel the sharp edges of her first tooth! I'm not gonna lie, I was pretty excited and picked up the phone to share the news with Dave. I couldn't believe it! The other kids didn't get their first tooth until at least 6 months so this was unexpected. And, she is my baby. Things are not suppose to move faster. But, I guess this is just one of the many things that are out of my control. My happiness quickly turned to a tiny bit of sadness as I realized this was another step toward toddler hood.

I must add how much of a little love bug she is. She just loves to be nestled up face to face, cheek to cheek. And, if you have a space between your face and her's, she will en wrap her little hands around your cheeks to show her love. Her name means "sweetheart" and I think we picked right : )

Kids say the darndest things!

Lilah LOVES books. I love reading to her too. I was reading her a book with animal sounds and really enunciated the farm animal sounds. We were having our little moment, she was giggling as I really gave my all with the "oink oink" and "quack quack" noises. As we were in the zone, I heard Mason from the background saying "That's too loud. That's too loud on my ears." Taking a brief moment to see what the fuss was about, I replied, "What's too loud?"  As he walked past me, he casually looks over and says, "Ummm, your mouth." Thanks Mase.....

My mom came over to watch the kids last evening as Dave and I went to April and Dan's wedding. Thank God we are so lucky to have parents so available and willing to help watch the kids so we can have one less thing to worry about while out and about. When we came home from the wedding, my mom reported that all went pretty well, minus the usual Mason and Lilah tiffs over toys. She said that Lilah came up to her and said "I need my diaper changed." She was going to change Lilah's diaper and before doing so, she told Lilah that she should go potty on the potty chair. Lilah looks at her and says, "Nooo." So, mom says, "Mason goes potty on the potty chair. He's a big boy, aren't you Mason." Mason says "Yep." Then mom says, "Don't you want to be a big girl?" Lilah says, "No." Mom says, "Why not?" Lilah says, "Because I want to be Lilah." She sure is stubborn and I'm not sure I can convince her that she can still be Lilah and be a big girl since this is the second time she's said this...

Mason was upset yesterday because he wanted 2 pillows that Lilah was laying on. The thing is, we have 5 of these exact same pillows, but he decided to make a battle and tried to take the ones she had. So, Dave told him to leave Lilah's pillows alone and tried to calm the situation by giving Mason other pillows. Mason was upset and started stomping and punching the pillows. Dave says, " Are you mad now?" While pouting, Mason says "No." Dave says, "Are you gonna hit the pillow?" Mason a little bit louder says "No." Dave says, "Are you gonna stomp your feet?" With frustration Mason replies, "No." Dave says, "Do you need a hug?" Mason as if defeated says "Yeah." Sometimes its as simple as that!

Dave had taken Mason on a dirt bike ride and the next day Mason says, "Hey dad, wanna go for a rip?"

Brinlee is only 2 days away from being 5 months old. I've decided to try and not rush her age by saying "almost 5 months." If she's 4 months and 28 days, then to me, she is still 4 months. She is getting stronger and actually strengthening her little legs by jumping up and down in her jumper. She is also able to sit up pretty good with some assistance. My favorite things that she's doing right now is her vocalization. She's trying to talk and I am using every opportunity to embed the words "mama" in her head. We shall see if she will be the first out of our 3 to say mama instead of dada first. She also loves kisses and will plant her voluptuous cheeks on our lips. She's such a sweetie! The smiles are coming more freely which is a nice bonus. Lovin her sweetness!

Mason and Lilah getting along

Brinlee caught in a smile!

Lost his marble

The other night Mason was trying to reenact a scene from the movie "Fantastic Mr. Fox." There is this scene where one of the characters takes a tube of some sort and shoots blueberries out of it by blowing in the tube, kind of similar to shooting spit balls out of a straw. Well he took a stray marble from one of our games and then used the vacuum attachment as his shooter. I was in the kitchen and did not see what happened next. Dave says he was unsuccessful at shooting the marble out the attachment, so he needed to analyze the problem. With the marble still in place, he pointed the attachment toward the ceiling to see what may have been the problem. Well, down slid the marble at full speed into Mason's open mouth, down his throat, and into his stomach. A loud gulp was heard, along with the words from Dave "You swallowed the marble didn't you?" I was in a bit of a panic while hearing this, but Mason was calm as could be and said "yep." Dave laughed it off and went back to what he was doing while I speed dialed the clinic line to see if he needed to be brought in. Because of his age, the lady on the line said he should go to the ER. So, my reluctant hubby got ready and away they went. Within the hour, the two were back with the x-ray. Dave explained that my cool as a cucumber son was asked "Can you see it?"  and he said non shaulantly, pointing to the x-ray "Yep, there it is. That's the purple marble I swallowed." I asked Mason if he knew how the marble was going to get out of his tummy and he starting coughing and said "Um yeah, I'm just gonna cough it out of my mouth." I explained that he would have to poop it out and I think it took some time for him to digest that thought.
The next day was the big day. He was sure he seen it in the toilet, but Dave said it stunk so bad in there that he needed to flush the toilet and didn't feel it necessary to stand and examine. Mason was disappointed that Dave did that, but I sure do not blame him! Here's to hoping we don't need to make anymore trips to the ER, at least anytime soon.

Nice to meet you

Lilah is my spunky girl. She always has been. I remember when we were in the hospital after her birth, I could hear her screams down the hall because she was ready to eat. There was nothing gradual about when she got mad. It was all or none. On the morning we were suppose to go home, I walked to the nursery window and the nurse was trying to get her blood pressures, but Lilah wasn't having it. She was beet red in the face and screaming with all her might. As you know, I work in the nursery and there are things that we can do to try and calm a baby so we can get accurate blood pressures, like use a pacifier dipped in sugar water to soothe them, but not my girl. She wanted to eat right then. So, the blood pressures had to wait and out to me she came.
After her feeding, she went back to the nursery to get blood pressures. While she was in there, the PCT came to my room with a bag of Lilah's clothes. Turns out Lilah had projectile pooped all over everything, her clothes, her crib, her blanket. To be honest, I had changed hundreds of diapers, but never heard of projectile poop, so it was a little hard to picture what had happened. Fast forward a couple days later. We were at home and I was changing Lilah's already poopy diaper. Well, before I could get her clean diaper on, out shoots this fountain of poop, all over the changing table, and onto the carpet a couple feet away. I was shocked and panicked! I guess she would show me the true definition of projectile poop!
I guess when I think of who my kids are, it seems that their little personalities were already formed before they were born. From the first day of life Lilah was spunky. Mason was sensitive and it showed with his quivering lip. Brinlee is quiet and content. I know these personalities will be shaped by life experiences, but how amazing is it that if we really tune in, we can get to know who they are within hours of life. I think there are somethings that we cannot change about ourselves, somethings that just make us who we are from the very beginning. Although there are many things around us that we can control, perhaps this "personality" we see is a glimpse into our spirit.