Just too Busy!

I can't believe it has been 4 months since my last post.  Wow!  I really meant to keep this blog going on a regular basis.  It looks like I have some catching up to do.  On May 5th all three girls and I traveled with my parents back to Malone for and extended stay while Eric did some renovations on the house.  We ended up staying in Malone for a five weeks.  We had a great time, although we all missed Daddy!  Upon our return, the house was a bit of a mess and the renovations were not done, of course, but at least the kitchen was mostly completed and very functional.  (We had to warm up our dinner in the microwave which was sitting on the deck, but by the next day Eric had the new microwave, stove and dishwasher installed!) 

Eric on the other hand did not have such a good time while we were gone, and who would?  He had to work full time and try to complete as much of the kitchen and porch renovation as possible in a very limited amount of time while trying to cover for 2 people who were out on leave at his job. Talk about bad timing!  But gradually the project is getting done, although it looks like we will be headed back to Malone for awhile this fall so things can be finished. 

Lena got her first tooth in May at about 6 1/2 months and her second about a month later.  She is now crawling on her belly at 9 1/2 months.  She love to follow her sisters around as much as she can and finds them very funny! 

Kaylee and Karissa are potty trained!!  This happened about a week after we returned from Malone and took only a few weeks.  Phew, I was pretty worried about that milestone, but they were ready.  I now get to visit many public bathrooms.

We have had a lot of fun going to pools and spray parks this summer.  It has been pretty hot here in Virginia.

We had a great time on vacation with in Malone in the beginning of August and got to see many friends.  It was Eric's first time back home since we left last year!!

"I yike butter"

Toddler talk is very entertaining most of the time!  (Toddler whining on the other hand...not so much)  So as Kaylee and Karissa continue to add words and phrases to their speach I want to take the chance to write down some of my favorites. 

Recently while on a walk we picked buttercups (the flowers!).  I held the flower under each of their chins and apon seeing a yellow reflection told them that they like butter.  Fast forward to a couple of weeks later, the girls were in the stroller when they saw some buttercups.  So Kaylee started to yell "I yike butter, I yike butter" and continued to do so until we picked her some of the flowers.  I am not sure if she remembered the phrase, of if she really thought the name of the flower was I yike butter! 

As you may be able to tell, right now all L sounds come out as Y sounds.  For example:  Yellow = yeyyoe, Loud = Youd, Little = Yittle, you get the picture. 

Karissa calls her tricycle her bidabycle!
When Kaylee doesn't want the window rolled down in the car she says "no windy"
Karissa will sometime say that's Mise (for mine) We think she got that from hearing that's yours, and translated it to mise. 

When they want help they ask use to "help you"

right now they love to sing twinkle twinkle little star, abc's etc.  They have made up a song to the tune of twinkle twinkle little star where all the words are baby Lena over and over again.

Their names for each other are Kaydee and Kwissa! 
When they don't like their food they tell us "No yike it" and often take it out of their mouths with their fingers and hand it to us!  Yum...

Lena

Lena is now 5 months old.  She is a happy, happy baby!  She gave us her first smile at 6 weeks and she first laughed out loud at about 3 months while being entertained by her sisters.  She rolled from her tummy to her back around  3 1/2 months, but didn't do it consistently until 4 months.  She also rolled from her back to her tummy at 4 months, about 2 hours after I told her doctor she hadn't done it yet. 

She continues to wake up twice every night to eat, and needs to be settled back to sleep without eating a couple of time during the night as well.  (Making for a set of tired parents!)

We recently got a johnny jump up for her and she loves it!  It is a great place for her to play safely when Kaylee and Karissa are running around. 

We recently discovered she has a milk protein allergy, so that may explain why she was occasionally extra fussy, but as long as I don't eat milk products, she is fine.  (I will be looking forward to a nice piece of pizza in about 4-5 months!)

We started solid foods, rice cereal and prunes at about 5 months.  Lena isn't really thrilled about any of it yet, but we will keep trying.  Oatmeal cereal was next and today we tried peas....she is not too sure about any of that either!!

Lena loves attention and often laughs at her sisters' antics.  Kalee and Karissa love to hug and kiss her and love to make her laugh, especially when I am changing her diaper. 

Life is still a bit nuts with two toddlers and an infant, but so far, so good!  Everyone is healthy and happy (most of the time!) and we hope to all be sleeping a little bit better soon! 

It will be ok!

Last weekend I once again found myself fretting about how long and how frequent Lena's naps were.  Lines from books I had read about sleep continuously marched through my head "Sleep is important for brain development" " Don't keep a baby up any longer than 2 hours because she can't handle it" " you will need to sleep train her if she is waking up more than 3 times a night at this age", and on and on it went.  Needless to say I was not having a very fun weekend!  Then... an Abba song started playing on the Pandora station we were listening to and my stressful sleep thoughts were replaced with happy childhood memories of dancing to Abba records in my parents living room.  (Mom is a big Abba fan!)  I realized that I turned out ok even if mom never worried that I had been awake for more than 2 hours.  (did you mom?)  Later that day I thought, what if I had never read a book about babies and sleep?  Would my maternal instincts kick in and would I figure it out on my own?  Would I know that I should let her sleep when she is tired?  Would I be happy that she took a nap at all and not worry about where, when and how long? Would this parenting thing become just a little less stressful?  Maybe my Type A self would be able to relax a little more and stop looking at the clock, and instead be able to fully enjoy the dance party in our living room! 

This post is to remind myself that I need to keep things in perspective.

Happy Birthday Kaylee and Karissa

You are 2 today!  Happy Birthday.  We love all the little things you do from your smiles to your tantrums!  Kaylee, you love to sing Twinkle Twinkle little star all the time!  Karissa, you love to cuddle and build towers.  You both are starting to love your little sister Lena, and finally understand a little bit how to be gentle around her!  You are learning to ride the tricycles we got you for your birthday, although you haven't learned how to move the pedals around in circles yet!  It will come, maybe by the time you are 2 1/2.  You are starting to remember the songs from music class, and enjoy art class.  You love to go to play grounds, and last week you sat through a 1/2 hour story time at the library!  Kaylee, your hair is finally starting to get longer, and Karissa you finally had your first haircut a few weeks ago.  (Kaylee you thought you had one, but it was just pretend so you wouldn't get jealous!).  We can't wait to see what changes this year will bring!  We love you both, Mom and Dad.

2012...here we go!

Organized chaos continues to rule in our household as we make our way further into 2012.  A week ago I had to take Karissa to the ER for 3 stitches in her finger after getting it pinched in a door as Kaylee closed it.  She almost lost the tip of her ring finger on her left hand.  We are really hoping her nail will grow back and she won't have to have 9 finger manicures for the rest of her life.  She has been a brave little girl and as long as she has her pacifier, blanket and teddy bear when we change her bandage it goes pretty well!  Hopefully we have fulfilled our ER quota for the year.

I couldn't have survived that day without our nanny and my wonderful friend Donna, who brought dinner that night!

We have been taking the girls to a local indoor pool that has a children's area with slides, a lazy river (a section with a current that goes in an oval) and sprinklers.  This facility has a family changing area, so that means all 5 of us (Lena stays in her car seat since she is only 2 1/2 months old and that may be just a little young to try the pool slide) cram into one big bathroom to get changed to go swimming.  Since the twins are not yet potty trained, they have to wear swim diapers.   Today, after changing the girls into their swim shirts and diapers, Kaylee looked at me and said "Mommy's swim diaper" referring to the bottoms of my tankini.  Lets hope I don't need one of those for many more years.  I don't think they come in my size!!