Smarty pants

We were sitting around the table. The girls were coloring and Dave was helping Taylor finish up his homework. I overheard Taylor explaining rather seriously to Dave,

"Dad, I know who is the smartest. First is God. Then Jesus. Then Santa."

Winter winter go away!

Spencer has RSV and two infected ears. NOT. FUN. May I reiterate- NOT. FUN. Exhausting, really. I got a really pathetic looking picture of him at the doctor's office while he was getting his first breathing treatment. I took it with my phone. Somehow when I was loading pictures onto my computer I lost it. I don't know how I did it. But I did. And I'm ticked. He looks great in this picture with his nebulizer. He likes to hold onto it.

The Rundown (mostly just so that I can feel sorry for us)

• No sleep- we've had a couple nights with no sleep but last night he actually slept for hours instead of just minutes. Beauty.
• Feeding issues- He hasn't been able to suck and breathe at the same time. He hasn't been nursing at all. He wouldn't even eat baby food- he would cry and food would drip down his face. I was freaked out at first because of course I was worried about dehydration but also because he has to take a steriod that must be taken with food or it won't stay down. Dave is brilliant and recommended feeding milk to him the same way he takes medicine- in a syringe. So, I've been pumping and we've been feeding him milk through a syringe.
• Breathing treatments. Not so bad really. They actually lull the little guy to sleep most of the time. The biggest issue I have with the breathing treatments is that the medication (levalbuterol) cost me $182.12 and that is with insurance! Seriously. The nebulizer itself was pocket change in comparison to the medicine. Crimany. I think I should take the medicine to the doctor and make him pay for it because Spencer hasn't even used a quarter of the amount he prescribed and I'm just going to be stuck with 3 and a half boxes of unused Levalbuterol. I would say "someone else better get sick and use this up" but that would be counter-productive.
• Antibiotic for his ear infections.
• Not so fun saline drops for his nose. Sucking his brains out with the blue bulb ( the same blue bulb that Livvy has been putting in her mouth all week. That child. She doesn't listen.) has been rather traumatic. For him, not me. It hasn't been gross- it's all clear.

Like I was saying, he actually slept last night. Yay! Just this morning he started nursing again so things are looking good! His breathing is better and he is much happier.

Because my life is madness, Livvy appropriately woke up yesterday with an ouchy ear. So off to the doctor's office we went. Liv doesn't like the doctor at all. The only thing she does like is getting a sticker on her way out the door. She pretty much screamed, yelled, and writhed about like a crazed lunatic the entire time we were there. I had to hold her down on the table just so he could look in her ears and mouth. She is such a stinker!

I didn't even get the benefit of the lethargic sleepy sick child. Oh no, Liv was all over the place. Running in circles, jumping all over, changing her clothes 50 times, and peeing where ever she darn well pleased (that's another potty training story for a different time).

Sara also woke up with a cough. I told the doctor that with my luck I would be calling again!

Taylor also had a doctor appt this week with an Ear/Nose/Throat doctor. In December he got strep and his lymph nodes went out of control. The left side of his neck developed a lump that was HUGE. The first time I noticed it I freaked out! It was the size of a small bar of soap. After three rounds of antibiotics it is mostly gone but we had to go to a specialist to get a baseline and see what to do next if it comes back. I think he told me it was an overactive thyroid or something like that. These doctors and their fancy talk- I don't know what they are saying half the time. Well, I do but don't ask me to repeat it in their terminology ( a lot of good that medical terminology class I took in college has done me).

I pretty much feel like my little family is single handedly keeping the doctor in business. I am ready for everyone to be healthy!

Just here for the food...

I was making dinner in the kitchen. Dave was feeding Spencer some baby food. At some point the spoon traded hands and Livvy became the one feeding Spencer. A minute later I turned around and found this:

One bite for Spencer:



One bite for Livvy:



After I sat there watching her for a while, she finally realized- OOPS! I'm caught!



But don't worry, this didn't deter her in the least bit, she just asked for more baby food.

Oh baby!

Fun news! We have a new baby in the family. Her name is Amelia Jane and she belongs to my brother Russ and his wife Nat. She was born on January 17. She is just so cute and so tiny. I love squeaky soft new babies. There is nothing like that new baby smell. I held her at the hospital and kept breathing in her delicious scent. Yum.

She had some breathing problems and was admitted to the NICU a few hours after she was born. The kids didn't get to meet her until she got home a few days later. But meet her they did- after they were completely washed and sanitized, of course.



My cousin's wife Jennie made this darling hat for Amelia. I was the lucky lady who got to deliver it. It was so cute on her. We love her so much already!!!



She was about done with the kids and her cute hat at this point. Livvy had the death grip on Amelia and didn't want to let go. While she was holding her all by herself we kept asking her, "are you done now?" and every time she would reply "NO". Alrighty then...

Spenny Spenerton- 7 months

Spencer started out his seventh month with a bang! The day the boy turned 6 months he started pooping up his back and hasn't looked back since. Probably 85 % of his business is squished between his shirt and his back (a low estimate considering I just had to take a break from the blog to change yet another blow out). Talk about an explosive month. Somehow he gets away with it- I think it might have something to do with that irresistible toothy grin.

Which yes, brings me to item #2- teeth! Spencer has spent the last month adding some accessories to his cute-ness. His two bottom teeth came in about the same time he started exploding out of his diapers. His two top teeth have also cut through the gums. They are still working their way down and out. It looks as if they are planning on being rather large and in charge. Spencer is my first baby that has really let me know he is feeling those teeth coming down. He has been a bit sad. It's amazing what a little bit of motrin can do to adjust the mood meter on the little guy. Suh-weet.



The highlight of Spencer's month was watching Utah beat Alabama at the Sugar Bowl. He's a fan.





He is doing such a great job at moving his little body around. For the most part it keeps him happy and occupied. Sometimes he gets himself into little predicaments, like scooting under the couch or knocking things onto himself... growing pains. He also likes to push his body up (almost on his knees) and rock. Yikes. The other day there was a sippy cup on the floor that he had his eye on. It took him a good 20 minutes to get to it but he did it! It was so fun to watch. He would roll in the general direction of the cup and find himself at the wrong angle. Roll again to change the angle. Lift himself. Roll. Grunt. Smack his lips. Roll again. It was cute.



The other day I was feeding him a container of baby food. Taylor came by and begged to feed him. Uh, really? A HELPER! Get out of town!!! I stood at the sink washing dishes, watching Taylor feed Spencer and thought to myself "Now this is multi-tasking!" I've had a few days to sit on this and I figure I've got to strategize to keep the kids begging to help. They can't actually know they are helping (aka: working) if I want this to continue. I've got to turn them down sometimes. "Nope, can't feed Spenny today. That's a mommy job." That way they think it's a treat or something and beg to help more. I tell you what, I've got these kids cornered...

He was thrilled to meet his new baby cousin (more on her later). See that face. I think he just realized that she has arrived to steal his thunder.



He is so happy and so good. He gets showered with compliments about his good behavior all the time. It really is good (for him) that he is so mellow- he takes his role as the family doll in stride. Sara can't get enough of holding and squeezing him and then Livvy joins in and his limbs are nearly yanked off. He does his fair share of screaming in protest but he also rolls with it and allows them to love him.

I can't help but love this little guy! He brings so much joy to our family. He follows in the footsteps of Mary Poppins in that he is "practically perfect in every way".

Princess artwork by Sara

While we were at Disneyland we bought Sara and Livvy a package of little princesses to play with. The girls love these little figurines. A few days after we got home Sara lined up all the princesses on the table and drew pictures of a few of them. She did such a good job! She really is quite a little artist for her age.

Sleeping Beauty (my personal favorite)



Jasmine- she wanted to make sure I posted both pictures she drew of Jasmine.

Cinderella & Mulan

The next couple pictures she drew once she saw me scanning in her other pictures.

Ariel & Flounder

Pocahontas

Belle

Snow White- apparently all the scribble looking stuff is her hair. Ya think she was rushing?

Is your handyman a wiseguy too?

We have a situation at our house- it seems that my children have no discretion when it comes to bath toys. They pretty much think that every toy in our house deserves a go in the tub. Because of this haphazard thinking, many innocent (and expensive) toys have been laid to rest. Examples- Talking baby alive- talks no more. Race car that drives and makes noise- rusted out and thrown in the trash. The girl's favorite thing to do is to bring Barbie in the bathtub and wrap her up all cozy in a dripping washcloth. Not really that big of a deal until Barbie has a button to push and sings. Needless to say, a couple different Barbie dolls sing no more. That is just the beginning of a long list of toys that have met their demise in our tub.

Yesterday I put Livvy in the bath. She was playing with a couple purple mardi gras necklaces in the tub. I figured it was no big deal. Those necklaces were launched at us from off of a Mardi Gras Parade Float when we lived in Mississippi. I pretty much consider them disposable because we have so many. I didn't think they could be a hazard in the tub- until I pulled the plug. I saw the smaller of the two necklaces make its way, slippery as a snake, to the drain faster than I could grab it. I didn't actually think it would go down but down down down it went making all kinds of clickety clackety noises. The rest of the water drained out and the entire time I could hear "clickety clackety". So I guess I have a mardi gras necklace stuck in my pipe. After a quick assessment and realizing this was not a job for me, I decided to turn the problem over to Dave when he got home.

Fast forward to Dave getting home. I relayed the whole story to him and the response I got from him:

"Lift up your shirt, that should get it back. "