Christmas

First off, Merry Christmas everyone a day late. It's been crazy around here since Stephanie has been sick since last Tuesday. We finally went to the doctor today and she has an ear infection. Hopefully she is on the way up. Sher had a rough week and was not ready for Christmas. She missed it all. She couldn't go to church so I went with Emily and then we always go to (Nana and ) Grandpas for Christmas Eve but Stephanie couldn't do it. I really wanted her to be there, for all of us to be there, but she didn't even want to get in the tub and she still had a fever. Poor girl. I didn't want to force her to do something she didn't want to. So she stay behind with Jeff and I just took Emily. Stephanie still wasn't better Christmas day so she finally opened her last 2 presents today. Emily loved the paper the best. Emily is coming down with a cold and is teething but hopefully she isn't as bad as Stephanie. She was coughing so hard at times she would throw up. It was so sad to see her cough so hard. So now as Stephanie is on the mend I hope it doesn't take Emily so long. Last night was one of the worst nights Jeff and I have ever had with kids. Emily was trying to sleep with us but would wake up every half hour and was so unhappy. Then Stephanie was up every couple hours. Hopefully tonight is better since Jeff is at work and it's all me.

This was the first Christmas without Nana and as we tried to have everything the same, she was missing. Everything about her not being there was missed. I knew it was going to be hard and I missed her so much. She loved having Christmas at her house and having us all there. As much as things were the same it felt different. We all knew that she was celebrating her first Christmas with Jesus though. We also knew she wouldn't want us to be sad at Christmas because of her. It was very hard no to be.

Pictures to follow soon.

Sick one

Stephanie has been not feeling well for a couple days now. She came down with a fever Tuesday evening and seemed a little better Wednesday after she got some medicine but after running around for a few minutes I think she wore herself out right away. She slept til 10:30 yesterday and took a 2 hour nap. She had some trouble falling asleep last night but again slept til 10:30 this morning. She had a fever of 102 but she didn't want to get out of bed this morning. I was able to hold her head up just to get her some medicine but she just wanted to lay back down. She fell right back asleep. Poor baby. I feel bad for her and it's hard when I have to fed Emily and can't comfort her. They had their Christmas pictures set for tomorrow morning but that is being rescheduled. Hopefully she is all better by Christmas and Emily stays healthy.

Christmas cards

All the time I took figuring out what card to use and getting the girls pictures just right might have gone to waste. My Christmas cards were to have arrived last week and when they didn't I called about them and all I know now is that they were lost somewhere along the way. Somewhere between here and Michigan. Not far not here. They lost my Christmas cards!! I was already upset that I wasn't going to get them out until today and now that they haven't even arrived yet, they won't get out before Christmas if I get them at all. So far the carrier DHL is looking for them and the company I ordered from Photoworks, which I have never had a problem with before, will take no responsibility. Needless to say I won't be ordering from them again. I still can't believe I don't have any Christmas cards. I knew I should've just made them myself. Sorry, I just needed to vent to someone besides the people on the phone.

Almost sitting

I can't believe it but Emily is almost sitting by herself. She can do it for a short period but she leans forward on her hands to help balance herself. I can't believe how big she is getting and how fast this year has gone. She just seems to be doing everything so fast and not being a little baby. It started when she didn't want to be held in the cradle position because she wants to sit up and see what's going on. Now she is going to be sitting by herself and playing with her toys. At least she is still swaddled to sleep so she seems like a baby then. Not that it helps her sleep so much better but she is going to be too big soon for that. I'm not ready to deal with that though.

Stephanie in the snow

Stephanie has been dying to play outside since winter hit. I am not the winter type so Jeff finally took her out this weekend and she wasn't sure what to do. It is pretty deep so she has trouble walking in it. We have got quite a bit of snow this month but she wants to play with all her summer stuff and it quite confused by the snow. Maybe Santa will bring her a sled so she can try sledding or at least be pulled around in it out back.

She's getting around

Emily starts out on the blanket and will roll over and get pretty far away from it. She only will roll once since once she gets onto her tummy she hasn't figured out how to get on her back again (only one time right before she turned 3 months). So she moves around and scoots to get where she wants to be. It doesn't take too long before she gets frustrated though.

Emily is 5 months old

This was of course last week but it's getting posted now. She didn't grow much in the last month but she has become so much more interactive. She loves to be talked to, smiled at, played with, and just loves getting attention. This doesn't sit so well with Stephanie. Emily loves playing with her toys, everything in her mouth, lots of drooling. She loves to be entertained and is trying very hard to communicate. She loves it when Stephanie tries to play with her or talk to her but that doesn't happen very often. She has tried some fruits this month, some applesauce, bananas, and pears. She has some days where she will eat it and other days when she would rather just play with it. I wish she would eat more to help her sleep better at night. She was doing good getting up once around 4:00am but now it is back to eating at 1:00 and 4:00. It would be great to get more than 3 hours of consecutive sleep. Once that does happen I'll wish for a little baby again.

Thanksgiving

Of course this was last month also but I have to catch up at sometime. We were all at my Auntie Susie house this year to celebrate. As always the food was great, the party was fun, and we had a great time. The family gets bigger every year as we had Tyler and Emily celebrating their first Thanksgivings, we now have between 35-40 people there and the babies keep coming. We are already expecting another baby for next spring when my cousins wife has thier first. I guess it means bigger turkeys.

Happy 60th Mom

This happened last month but I haven't been able to write much so this never made it into the blog. We all (my brothers and their families and Grandpa) went over to my parents a few weeks ago to celebrate. Emily got to see her uncles and cousins she hadn't seen in 2 months so of course she looked so big. They all had lots of fun holding her. We all had a good time but I know my mom was missing Nana. This was very hard for her not to have her mom around for her birthday. Especially for turning 60 and not thinking last year that it would be the last one she would be around for. As everyone says she definitely does not look 60. But hearing it from Nana always meant a lot. I am not sure I got those genes since I was always told I look older than I am (at least that is how it was when I was a teenager). I sure hope I can look, feel, and act as well as my mom when I turn 60. I did make the cake (not my best work) which was a big fiasco but I am still practicing.

Sorry I have been MIA

Since Jeff has been back from hunting I have been busy with Christmas shopping and returning. I am glad to say that I am almost done. Yay!! The next big project though is the Christmas card. Since I have already figured out that the girls will not sit next to each other for a picture I am going to have to do some sort of collage card to get both the girls on the card. I tried talking Jeff into doing a family picture, no, not this year. Hopefully next year. I will try to get some pictures up soon. I can't believe Stephanie was 29 months yesterday (so next month she will be 2.5) and Emily is going to be 5 months tomorrow. This year just flew by. So much happened this year, some good, and some terrible. Who knows what next year will bring but hopefully not as bad as this year.

Sleep

Last night I drove up with my mom to the outlet mall in Oshkosh (about 1hr 15min away) since it opened at midnight to meet Alle and shop. The deals weren't so great but we shopped til around 4:00. The plan was for me to sleep when I got home till about noon and then Jeff would be leave again to go hunting. I had the best sleep!! He thought I would hate it waking up at noon but I think that was the first time since Emily was born that I had almost 6 hours of continuous sleep. I felt so refreshed getting up. So of course now I am not too tired but since both of the kids are sleeping I should be heading there soon. They had a rough night with Jeff and it was technically my first night away from Emily. She sure gave Daddy a hard time. Hopefully things are back to usual tonight. Even 6 more hours of sleep would be nice.

Hopefully back on track

Stephanie has been off of her nap schedule since Jeff left on Friday. She had to come to work with me on Friday since Jeff was gone and she usually is napping and Jeff is home so she stays home with him. I tried putting her down for an early nap but that didn't work. So she missed her nap on Friday and was so happy to go to bed at 7:00. Then she slept til almost 8::00 on Saturday and we were at my parents for my Mom's birthday in the afternoon so she missed her nap again and then again she went to bed early, we'll almost 8:00 this time. On Sunday she actually was able to watch most of the Packer game since she slept til 10:30 Sunday morning (she was up some time during the night, but I don't know for how long). Then again to bed around 7:00. So today I wanted her back on track because I know she will be up late for Thanksgiving and can't have her missing more naps and wanting to crash at 7:00 on Thursday. She was falling asleep in the car this afternoon but I kept her awake so she would go right down for a nap when we got home. Of course that didn't work and she wouldn't fall asleep at home and we needed to go get Mia from school. Thankfully she fell asleep on the way there and actually slept in the car after we picked her up and while Mia did her homework. So she finally got a nap in. Now hopefully she is back on track. We are off (of work) for the week so hopefully we have no more nap conflicts.

The bumbo is a hit

Even though we use the bumbo seat to sit Emily up, Stephanie has taken a liking to it. She will sit in it, carry it around, and sometimes wants to get Emily out of it. I have even used it for her at work to sit and eat since she doesn't have a seat there and will take a bite and get down and leave since she knows shes not buckled in. But since she still fits in the seat I can use it for her when I am right there, since she could easy get out of it. I think she is getting more use out of it now than she did when she was learning to sit.

Teething

Emily is constantly drooling and wanting something in her mouth. Usually it is her 2 little fingers, most convenient, but sometimes a toy. The problem with the toy is that she is always dropping it and resorting back to her fingers. She does get mad at her toys sometimes when she can't get the part she wants in her mouth. Since she is always drooling and wet she is constantly getting a little reddness around her cheeks and chest. We are always putting lotion on it but it's hard to get her dry. We go through at least 5 bibs a day. Plus more bibs used for eating.

Jeff's birthday

Jeff's birthday was last month but his parents came by last weekend for the Packer game (yay Packers!!) and we had steaks, potatoes, and cake. Stephanie could not wait for the cake and went back for seconds after her nap. She loved the Packer cake because she recognizes the Packer "G" on all the Packer stuff around.

Hunting season

Jeff left this morning to go hunting. I hate when he leaves but I know this is one of the few times he gets to leave and hang out with his friends. I'll never understand his love for hunting but I knew what I married into. He is so excited since his friend Fetter flew in from Australia last night. He hasn't seen him since he got married here and moved to Australia 2 years ago. Jeff will come back for Thanksgiving but then back up for next weekend. He sure owes me big time for this.

Snapping

Stephanie has learn to snap with her right hand this week. I noticed her making the movement with the correct fingers and once I did it, it was easy for her to copy. She does make some sound, though sometimes you have to really be listening to hear it, but she can do it. I'm so proud of my big girl.

Little sickness

This morning Stephanie had her first upset stomach. She threw up right after coming downstairs and did a couple more times after that. She just wanted to rest on my lap and relax on the couch this morning. It was so sad to see her like that because she had never thrown up before. It was also hard to comfort her and hold Emily since Jeff was sleeping (he worked last night). But by noon she wanted some juice, then she had a bagel, teddy grahams, and was running around the house. She was a little whinny but much better. So whatever sickness she had, I'm glad it didn't stay long and is hopefully gone.

Rolling again

Emily rolled from her back to her front on Friday. She has been working so hard for the last 2 weeks and was getting most of the way there but then her arm was in the way so she rolls back. Yesterday morning she was trying and before she got it herself all the way over Stephanie came over to push her the rest of the way. I know, Stephanie was just trying to help. Maybe she remembers having the same problem. After she got back to her back she got to her tummy herself this time. But once she gets to her tummy she needs help getting her arms out and now she forgot how to get from her tummy to her back. So much to learn. She's getting there...too fast for me.

Big Chair

Back in September I got a upholstered chair for Emily's room. I was taking pictures of Emily in it and Stephanie wanted to get up. I thought she would get right down realizing she was right next to Emily. She didn't though but she did try to stay away from touching her. I asked her to hold Emily's hand, which lastedfor only a second, then she realized what she was doing and had to get down.

Garlic mashed potatoes

We love mashed potatoes (okay, I really love them) and we also love garlic so one thing we make are garlic mashed potatoes. Jeff made them tonight and for some reason wanted to use all the garlic we had (even though I need some for dinner tomorrow). He ended up putting about 12 or so cloves of garlic in the potatoes and we couldn't even eat them. They were too much for us which has never happened, but Stephanie kept eating them. She would eat them and then stick her hand in her mouth because of the strong garlic taste but still go back for more. We ended up having to cut her off. It reminded me of once Jeff got some really super hot buffalo wings (which he loves) and as much as he loves them he had to stop because it got too painful to eat. Usually they are hot and it is pianful but he has never not been able to to eat them before. I never understood why he would eat something that was painful to eat. He hated wasting them but he couldn't do it anymore. Like father, like daughter.

Emily at 4 months

I always take the kids to Pennys for their monthly photo picture the first year. Stephanie missed hers once by a day since we were out of town that month on the 3rd. So yesterday Emily's had her appointment and decided to scratch herself on her face 2 hours before her picture. I debated for awhile what to do and since I am so anal I was having a hard decision on what to do. I finally decided to change it for Thursday and deal with it. But here are her pictures I did take yesterday when she was officially 4 months. At 4 months she rolls over quite a bit from her tummy to her back and is almost there the other way. She has begun to eat her fingers and it is usually the first 2 on her right hand. She will hold a rattle and try to get it into her mouth but usually drops it. She will occasionally sleep most of the night (8-5, then eat and back to sleep til 7 or 8). She has eaten cereal a few times and loves to sit and look around. Every once in awhile she is scared of strangers but other times she is okay. She loves to talk and watch her big sister. She is such a sweet baby and a wonderful joy in our lives. It's hard to believe she is 4 months already.

Fun bath time

Sunday I gave both girls a bath together. It went okay and Emily came away unharmed. She got some water poured on her head once by Stephanie but that was it. Stephanie of course wanted more space but with Emily's tub in there, there wasn't much room. I think it will be better once Emily moves into the bath seat. Maybe another month in the baby tub. Emily enjoyed it more since she had more water and was able to kick around and splash all she wanted.

Little Emily wants some real food

Sunday morning Jeff made some pancakes for breakfast and even though Emily just had a bottle she couldn't help but STARE at Jeff eat his pancakes. She would watch him chew and follow his fork and move her mouth and drool. She so badly wanted some pancakes. She was also leaning as far as she could towards him to get as close as possible. She goes next week to the doctor and even though I have already started her on cereal, we will probably then start with some other foods. She can't wait.

Big sister helping

Stephanie thought it was a good idea to help change Emily's diaper. Even though I just changed Emily and Stephanie is the one who really needed to be changed. At least she was being nice and helping instead of pushing her sister away.