Monday, December 23, 2013

Oh christmas tree, oh christmas tree, of all the trees most lovely



This was the first year we put colored lights on the tree. I prefer white lights for everything, but Tom and the kids like having lots of color, so color it was. Really we should have a couple more strands of lights on it, but I didn't have the energy to go out to get more so I made do with two strands. When we unpacked all of our decorations we noticed that our star was broken. We bought a new, and in my opinion much better, tree topper and the kids love it. The girls helped decorate the tree and put the majority of their ornaments on two branches. And they both helped daddy put the tree topper on and plug it in.



We never got a chance to get our outdoor lights up thanks to a string of snowy and icy and rainy days. I did manage to make and put up two giant wreaths on the front of the house, but then never plugged them in. Next year. Really I want to cover our house in lights a la Clark Griswold, but Tom's not fully into that idea. Next year. Our elf, Mr. Socks, has also been pretty busy flying back and forth to the North Pole and getting into all sorts of trouble here.

I finished all of my elfing thanks to amazon and a couple of trips to Target. Now I just need to wrap, though I'm afraid that's going to have to wait until Christmas Eve. For now I've got a ton of cookie baking to do!

Remember when it snowed?


Somewhere between 29 weeks and 34 weeks old...oops

Life got way too hectic recently and I think I missed a couple of weekly shots. :( Here are the most recent ones. He's already 34 weeks old and will be 8 months old right after Christmas.



Tommy is all over the place and into absolutely everything. He crawls at lightning speed and is pulling up, too, so nothing is safe. He swipes everything and immediately tucks it in his mouth. He's still the happiest baby I know. In fact, as I type this he's crawling around grabbing things off of the couch and laughing...and he got his flu shot this afternoon, too. Happy kid.




Tuesday, December 3, 2013

29 Weeks Old




The girls are so insistent on being a part of Tommy's weekly pictures. They get really upset when I ask for JUST ONE SHOT of him. I usually wind up taking a picture or two or twenty of them with him before they move on and let me snap one of just him and his bear. And even in this week's picture you can see Lexi walking in with her baby. Tommy just doesn't care who's in his picture. He loves his sisters so much and lights up when they call his name.

November flew by so fast and even this weekly picture is already a week overdue (he's on his way to 31 weeks old). Right before Thanksgiving someone asked me how old he was and I started to respond "six months" but then caught myself and realized that he was actually already seven months old.

He's also flying through developments - crawling, self-feeding, PULLING UP(!). I'm still waiting for the best development - sleeping through the night. That would be a Christmas miracle. Despite the fact that he likes to wake up once or twice a night, he's a pretty easy baby. He's still such a cuddlebug and is so mellow. Now that he can move he wants to go everywhere. In the mornings the kids usually convene in the playroom while they get ready for the day and Tommy takes advantage of all of the open doors and sneaks into his sisters' rooms. Quiet as a mouse he crawls in and starts exploring without them knowing. Sneaky little boy.

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

A budding artist

I have loved nearly every stage our kids have gone through, though I could definitely do with less of the whining and crying over nothing. Tommy is so smiley and happy and mobile. Lexi's laugh is contagious and she's so smart and loving. Stasa is so inquisitive and eager to learn. Pre-K has really allowed her to bloom. Along with pre-K, we enrolled her in an enrichment program to focus on phonics in a smaller setting. We've been amazed with her progress in her penmanship and spelling and drawing. She comes home every day with more and more artwork, but now she almost always adds her name or writes what she's drawn. Yesterday she came bounding over with a piece of art just for daddy. In fact, daddy was the first word after her name that she learned to spell.

After posting some scanned artwork on Facebook, a colleague just recommended I try the Artkive app. You take pictures of the artwork with your phone and save it and can make a book with all of the pictures later. I can't wait to get started with it and will definitely share how it works out.

Here's some recent artwork by Stasa.

Sunday, November 17, 2013

To Jersey and back

A week ago at zero dark thirty, we packed up the kids and the car and got on the road to New Jersey.




We weren't even on the road for 15 minutes before Stasa started moaning that she didn't feel well. THen she started dramatically coughing.
Stasa: I'm sick.
Me: Okay, well go to sleep - that might make you feel better.
Stasa: COUGH COUGH
Me: Okay, you're fine. Go to sleep.
Stasa: I'm sick. I threw up.
Me: Stas, you're fine. You're just coughing and will be okay.
Stasa: But I threw up.

I finally asked Tom to turn on the cabin lights since it was still dark out and sure enough she had vomit in her hands. Luckily (is there a luckily?) it was mostly in her hands so I cleaned her up pretty fast. She proceeded to throw up every 45 minutes or so in different plastic bags. We finally stopped at a Target somewhere in Maryland to get more bags, Pepto for kids (did you know they even made that?), Gatorade, and to let everyone go potty. Back on the road and more vomit, but this time it was mostly just Gatorade. Ewwwww.

After six or so hours we made it to Alex and Judyth's house in Jersey. Alex had taken the day off to visit with us, so he and his son, Sebastian, met us there. And wouldn't you know Stasa was pretty much all better by the time we got settled in the house. She rested in the guest room for a bit, but Alex had also put on some TV for her. I think part of it was getting up super early (and staying up late the night before).

The weekend was so much fun. We feel the same way every time we visit friends far away - we wish we could all live closer and see each other more often. I hate all of the distance between us and people we love.

The guys had planned to make this huge Greek meal for everyone on Saturday, so they started prepping on Friday night while Judyth and I sat and watched and critiqued them. They were ever so grateful. Saturday we all got up really early, which happens when you're sleeping in a room with three small children. Tommy was in a pack-n-play and we originally planned to have both girls sleep on the air mattress but they both ended up in bed with us, so I gave them and Tom the bed and took the air mattress all for myself. So needless to say, when Tommy woke up, most everyone in the room woke up with him, but that pretty much happens at home, too. It's like the girls have a sixth sense when people are awake without them. Fear of missing out.

Where was I? Oh, right. Getting up early on Saturday. It was a good thing we were up early since the guys had to get started right away with cooking. We went ahead and fed the kids and this was pretty much the only bite of food Lexi and Sebastian had all weekend. They both were on food strikes and chugged milk all weekend.


Tom and Alex made sooooooooooooo much food. I'm not even sure I can name it all, but let me try. Horiatiki (traditional Greek salad), melitzanosalata (eggplant salad), fava, yemista(stuffed tomatoes and peppers), souvlaki (grilled pork kabobs), pilafi (rice pilaf), grilled pitas, and krasomeze (this beef stew like dish). So.Much.Food.





It felt like Thanksgiving. Lots of people, everyone eating wherever. Everyone planning their second and third plate. A few people took a walk to let their food settle before filling up on a second or third plate. I dove straight in and ate firsts and seconds back to back. After dinner we all just sat around, watching football, chatting here and there and playing on our phones. LOL

Sunday morning Tom woke up feeling ill. Same feeling as Stasa, but we figured he just overdid it the night before at dinner. Saturday night when he went to bed he had chills, but again we both thought he just overate. It wasn't until Monday that we figured out what was going on - more on that in a bit.

Sunday was a pretty lazy day. We got up and had breakfast and then just hung around while Tommy napped. Once Tommallama was up we walked over to a nearby playground to let the kids burn off some energy. I made both girls go potty twice before we left the house and the minute we got to the playground Lexi announced that she had to go. RIGHT NOW. So Tom took her to a nearby cafe and brought me back a coffee and some treats. We let the kids play for awhile until all of our hands were icicles and then we headed back to the house.




We spent the rest of the day and night just lounging at the house. I took some pics of Sebastian outside and then the kids played in the backyard until one by one they came in because it was cold and dark. Each one came in crying because they wanted to stay outside. None of them cared that they couldn't see anything or that their hands were ice cold again.

We hung around on Monday until everyone had breakfast and rush hour died down. Right before we left I started feeling ill. Nausea and chills. I briefly wondered if I ate too much Chinese food the night before - or maybe my stomach was still weak from my bout of food poisoning on the previous Thursday night. I spent the entire drive home curled up in the backseat under all of our coats. When I finally woke up, still feeling nauseous, we were minutes from home. Apparently all of the kids slept the entire ride home, too so we made it back in record time. It wasn't until we were home and I was curled up on the couch that we realized that we probably all got some sort of 24 hour stomach bug. Super fun time for it to hit all of us.

We had such a blast that weekend and I hope we plan another one sooner rather than later. The last time they visited us, Stasa was just a year and half. The last time we saw them, or rather Tom saw them, they were getting married and I was 2 weeks from delivering Lexi. It's so cliche, but time flies by way too fast.

Friday, November 1, 2013

Happy Halloween!




I still can not believe how October flew by and it was apparent that the month got away from us on Wednesday night when we were making a late night run to the pumpkin patch so we could carve jack-o-lanterns. Thankfully the kids didn't care that we were so delayed in carving pumpkins and happily picked out their perfect pumpkin and face they wanted carved into it. Stasa was really helpful in cleaning them out and Lexi tried, she really really tried, but was picking out one seed at a time. LOL

Tom had decorated the yard the weekend before, so after we finished carving our pumpkins, we nestled them among the graveyard that is our front yard and they looked fantastic!

The girls woke up yesterday so excited for Halloween - dressing up at school, the candy, dressing up at home, the candy, a school parade, CANDY, CANDY, CANDY. LOL Eyes on the prize. When I came downstairs to leave for work I found Stasa inhaling the scent from the candy bag. ::deep sniff:: This ::sniff:: smells ::sniff:: SO. GOOD. ::sniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiff::

When Tom and I showed up for the school parade, the teachers were still getting the kids dressed in their costumes and trying to keep them somewhat calm. Lexi was literally vibrating with excitement. Her little body just couldn't stand all of the excitement and had to release all of her energy in the form of jumping and shaking. The kids were crazed. Half of them were overly excited and jumping and the other half were wailing and melting down.


Tommy was ADORABLE in his sailor suit.



After the parade we grabbed the kids and got away from the madness. The girls were already dying to tear into their candy bags, and we let them have a few pieces while we got dinner ready and them in their costumes.



We wound up both taking all three kids around the cul-de-sac, then Tom and the girls walked over to our favorite trick-or-treating neighborhood while I packed Tommy up in the car to drive over since it was threatening rain. Well, the minute I got in the car it started raining so I brought Tom and the girls umbrellas and then followed them along in the car since Tommy was in and out of sleep and I wanted to be able to pack the kids in if it really started pouring. They managed to get through a few streets before the girls started getting tired. Lexi finally announced that she was done and we packed it in - they had more than enough candy for their age anyway. We got home and they dumped their bags and immediately started sorting through their goodies. We let them have some candy before calling it a night, brushing teeth, and tucking them in bed.

Yesterday Lexi looked at me and said, "Mommy, you know what's after Halloween?" I asked her what was next, she smiled and said "CHRISTMAS!" HAHA

26 weeks old and 6 month stats



Oh, boo boo. I really need to start taking these weekly pictures earlier in the day when he's happy and not right before bedtime. Mom fail.

So much has happened this past month that it's been hard to keep track of it all. Tommy started solid foods, and loves them, really loves them. He gets upset when he finishes a meal, but I know there's no way his little stomach could hold any more food than what we gave him. He also loves sitting at the dinner table with us and happily smiles and coos at everyone. So far he's had avocado, banana, cereal, plums, pears, peaches, sweet potato, a couple of winter squashes, and mango. Up next are the green veggies and adding in some herbs. I'm thinking that we may just puree whatever we're having for dinner (but not meats) and then just feed him that. I gave him a bite of my skillet potatoes the other day and he loved them - spices and all.



Tommy also started sitting up on his own and is army crawling all over the place. I was putting Stasa's hair up this morning and had the tv remote on the floor next to me and all of a sudden Tommy was by my side swiping at the remote. He slugs his body across the floor fast. He gets up on his knees and rocks, but hasn't quite figured out how to crawl, so he resorts to moving like a slug.



He's been drooling up a storm and a couple of weeks ago I felt something sharp in his mouth and poked around and discovered two teeth buds emerging. They've finally fully popped through his gums and the doctor checked his upper gums and said we've got awhile before those come in.

We took him for his six month well check this week and the doc said he looks great. His stats are so close to Lexi's and Stasa's at that age. He wound up getting all but one vaccination and his flu shot. The one vaccine will be delayed since we opted to get the flu shot.


Weight
Height
Tommy
16 lbs 5 oz
27.5”
Lexi
16 lbs 3 oz
27”
Stasa
16 lbs 10 oz
26.5”

Monday, October 28, 2013

LA Babies!




Back at the beginning of the month (whoa, October seriously flew by), Tommy and I packed it up and headed out to California to visit with Jennifer and her new baby girl, Aberdeen. I was a bit nervous, as I always am, about flying with a baby and keeping them quiet and entertained, especially on such a long flight. Tommy was a dream. He happily played in my lap, ate, and napped a bit throughout the whole flight. We were lucky that our early morning flight to the west coast was nearly empty, so we had the entire back row to ourselves, which meant I could kind of stretch out, too.



As soon as we touched down and grabbed our bag, Jennifer whisked us off to a spot near a beautiful beach for lunch. At that point we realized that the babies implemented a new rule for the weekend: at least one baby must be crying at all times. It's like they chatted ahead of time to plan this out. Not cool, babies. NOT. COOL.



After lunch we headed out for a relaxing walk along the beach so we could get in some light exercise and chatting, but Tommy had other plans. I brought the Bjorn with me to carry him around the airport, but left it in Jennifer's car for the walk since she brought a stroller for us. He FREAKED out and did not want to be put in the stroller at all. So I carried him on my hip while pushing the stroller up and down the boardwalk and at one point he slumped over in my arms, fast asleep, but then immediately woke up the minute I tried transferring him to the stroller. GRUMP.


After our walk we went back to the house to settle in and figure out what we wanted to do with our weekend. Plus I got my hands on that sweet little girl.


Such a snuggle bunny - I so love the teeny tiny baby stage.

The first night Jennifer cooked a delicious lasagna for us and we just hung out at the house. We decided to get up early (as we always do when together) and head out for custom donuts, a mini photo shoot of the babes and a nice walk around a reservoir in the afternoon and then MEXICAN for dinner! Yum!

I thought it was funny to take pictures of the babies side by side in their car seats. One baby! TWO BABIES! Tommy loved it.


The custom donuts were AH-MAZING. I mean, seriously, I really hope they open a place on the east coast. We chose two donuts and some donut holes to share and they were all so good. I think my favorite was a combo strawberry, goat cheese and basil donut, though the apple pie one was good, too.


If you're in the LA area, definitely check out Donut Friend. So yum.

Now, the photo shoot of the babies didn't go as we had planned. Tommy wasn't having any of it. Remember how I said that one baby must be crying at all times? Yeah, he tagged in for the photo shoot, so most of the pictures of him look like this.


And when I finally threw in the towel on trying to get a decent picture of him, this is what he did.


LOL

After our walk we headed back to Jennifer's place to cool off. It was much hotter than we'd thought it would be and we were a sweaty mess after walking around the reservoir, though it wasn't nearly as hot and nasty as it was last summer. Tommy and Aberdeen both fell asleep when we got home and I got a chance to use my swaddling ninja skills and wrapped that baby up tight. Snug as a bug.


Tommy slept okay while we were in LA, but I didn't really push the Ferber method since we were in a new place and different time zone. I kind of just went by his signs and he was waking up a bit more at night than he usually does. And since I didn't try to get him on west coast time, he was waking up at like 3:30 for the day, though I was able to get him to relax in the bed with me until at least 4:30 or 5:00.


One baby. TWO BABIES!

Our last day in LA was packed with fun. We woke up super early (thanks, babies!), got them fed and all of us dressed and headed out for breakfast at The Griddle Cafe. That place was amazing. We split food again and got a baked potato omelet and lemon pancakes. The pancakes were huge. And by huge I mean bigger than my head. Bigger than two of my heads. It was all so good and I literally had to force myself to put my fork down so I wouldn't explode. After breakfast we packed up the kids and drove over to Olvera Street for some walking and light shopping. I ended up getting the girls fighting masks and capes, of course they were princess and Hello Kitty and not anything traditional or scary.


We ended our shopping trip with a light snack and a street show then packed it up again and headed back home, with a super quick stop at Glendale Harley Davidson to get a shirt for Tom.



Once home, we stripped the babies down and let them "play." Play time really consisted of Tommy attacking Aberdeen. He was just so excited to have another baby down on his level. He enjoyed being the one to be all up in someone's face. It's the only way he knows how to play since that's what his sisters do to him on a daily basis. He turned and twisted around to get back to Aberdeen every time we moved him away. Determined, he was.





Seriously. He couldn't keep his hands to himself. All over her.


At the last minute we decided to pack up my stuff, get the babies redressed and spend some time with Courtney before my flight home.

One baby. TWO BABIES!

The babies decided to coordinate outfits for our trip to Courtney's. Look at these two. So adorable.


And then Tommy realized that Aberdeen was laying next to him again and he just.couldn't.help.it. MUST EAT BABY.



Again and again. Then we made Courtney double up with babies and Tommy tried attacking her. He's insatiable. Crazy baby.


We walked to The Counter for dinner and  then back to Courtney's to hang out until my redeye back home. I figured that the flight would be pretty empty since it was Saturday, but I couldn't have been more wrong.


Our flight was so full that they staff were begging people to check their carry on bags at no cost. We ended up stuck in the very last row in a window seat (thank goodness), and it was so crowded. Ridiculous. I barely slept on the flight between trying to get comfortable and Tommy waking to nurse and was exhausted when we landed in Dulles.


While I was happy to be home - I missed the girls and Tom - I was sad that the trip went by so fast. I miss having Jennifer close by and hope we can make it out there more often. I promised Stasa that she could come next time.