Been Putting It Off

I've been putting it off, and I don't know why. Each time I sit down to blog, nothing comes to mind. So now I am going to make myself put down in writing what I should have done last week. As you know, Ethan turned six months old last Wednesday. Therefore it is time for the monthly picture comparison of the boys. Below you will find a picture of each of our three sons when they were six months old. Looking at these pictures, I would have to say that Ethan is showing more of an individual look now, although he still clearly looks like he belongs with the other two.

Joey, at six months. He was jabbering away at Mommy while I took his picture.
Nick, at six months. He was blossoming into a happy baby. (Those pajamas he's wearing; Ethan wears them now, but they are much smaller on Ethan!)

Ethan, at six months. I was lucky to get a smile out of him; he knew he was going to eat since he was being put in the highchair. Usually, when he is being prepared to be fed, the only thing on his mind is his food, and if it is not in his mouth as soon as he is buckled in, he is advising me of his displeasure.

Last Saturday, we got Ethan's six month pictures done at JC Penney. They turned out so adorable! I can't wait to get them back. They should be ready next Tuesday.

On Thursday, Ethan had his six month check up with his doctor. Dr. Bateman only works part time now, so the last time she saw Ethan was when he was two weeks old. Since then, the NP's were seeing him. It was nice to be seen by the doctor for a change. Ethan is growing well and looking healthy. She says he has got strong gums and jaw, as he was chomping on her finger anytime it got close enough to his mouth. He wants everything in his mouth these days. I think he may be teething; you can feel the bottom two front teeth under his gums, but they are not close enough to cut through. So it may take awhile still, but if they are moving even a little, they would be irritating him and making him want to chew on anything he can.

Dr. Bateman picked him up when she was done and declared him "solid." He weighed in at 19lbs 2oz. I think he may have lost some weight the week before since he was sick and had been throwing up and had diarrhea, but he is still a healthy weight and in the 75th percentile. He was measured as 28 inches long, which is only an inch more than last time, but still in the 95th percentile. His growth rate is slowing down, which is what all of our boys have done. They have all made the greatest gains in their first four months, and then slowed down after that. At least they're consistent! All in all, it was a good appointment. He only had two shots instead of three, and the oral rotovirus vaccine for the third and final time. He didn't like getting poked, but was quick to recover.

Joey is learning how to thumb wrestle. It happens to be the one sport in which I play rather well. He has a lot of fun, particularly with the opening declaration. His one weakness is that he likes to use his second hand to help him control his opponent. I end up having to hold both his hands so he only uses the one thumb. I try not to make it too easy on him, but I let him win the majority of the times; both to bolster his self-confidence, and because I have such an unfair advantage over him!

Nick is talking so much more and is doing really well with it. There are still many times when I can't figure out what he is trying to say, but through a process of elimination or pantomime, we usually come to the answer. I still translate most of his speech for Daddy....but that is to be expected.

I have got to hit the shower before going to bed, so I really must be going now. Be blessed and know that each one of you are missed, loved, and thought of all the time.

Another Week Begins

Happy Monday! (If that is not an oxymoron, I don't know what is) Today was a good day because all of my kids are finally feeling well again. This was the first day that Ethan woke up happy and more like himself than he has been in the last few days. He still does not have his appetite back, but he will get there.
It is hard to imagine, but Ethan will be six months old on Wednesday. He is such an amazing child. He is so sweet and loving. He has a joy of life that is wonderful to see. He has his check-up on Thursday, and I can't wait to see how much he has grown.

I'm not an artistic person. But I must say I was pretty proud of the Valentine's cards that the "boys" did for Tirzah. The boys did help, but I did the bee all by myself! (Aubrey, I will have you know that I made the wings and the antennae out of the scraps from cutting the bee out, instead of wasting more paper to make them!)

This adorable little girl is Tirzah. (She has the hair I dream of having on a girl!) She is just a few months younger than Nick. Nick is her boyfriend, but Nick doesn't really know it. He's clueless, or in denial; typical male. They have a lot of fun together. I was glad I could watch her for Adam and Rachel as they each took a class with AKSOM, Alaska School Of Ministry. Adam took a class on Personal Evangelism and Rachel took a class on Eschatology; the study of end times.

Here is my little man, so tired of not feeling well. He fell asleep while bouncing, as did both his brothers before him. I find it so funny that each of the boys have had a different style of jumping in the bouncer. Joey was a straight bouncer. He bounced up and down, getting as high as he could; the normal bouncer, you could say. Nick took a different approach; he would bounce a few times to get it going, and then lift his feet and let it swing him back and forth. Ethan, is a child after my own heart. He will rock back and forth in it, rolling from the balls of his feet, to the top of his toes, while in a steady bouncing rhythm. It is the funniest thing to watch.

I am attempting to get to bed earlier tonight. It is a miracle that I have possession of the computer at this early hour. If Nick didn't have a movie to watch, I would probably be sitting in bed waiting for him to be done, until it is pointless to try to stay awake any longer. It will be nice to get my computer time in and still get to bed relatively early.

I hope your week is a great one; stay healthy and safe.

Pictures Of Love

Seeing as how this is Valentine's Day, I thought I would just show you some of my favorite pictures of love. They say a picture is worth a thousand words; so I will keep my big mouth shut and let the pictures do the talking.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Knock On Wood

Yesterday was one of the hardest days with the kids yet. After Nick woke up feeling as awful as he did, he started feeling well enough to throw a fit about EVERYTHING. He was not happy about anything. If Joey picked up a car to play with, Nick insisted that it was 'his'. Sure, this is normal toddler behavior, but the manner in which he insisted was very un-Bug like.
I gave him a popsicle after nap, and after taking a couple licks, he was screaming because he wanted the popsicle off the stick. Then he wanted the wrapper removed, but once removed, he was screaming because the popsicle was too cold, sticky, and drippy. Finally, by the time he was a quarter the way through it, having taken 15-20 minutes, he had been screaming the whole time, I took it away from him and threw it away. That most certainly did not make him happy, but I could not take anymore.
That was how Nick acted about everything yesterday. I had little sanity to begin with, but I was completely loco by the end of the day.

To make matters worse, Ethan got sick too. He had a couple of diarrhea blowouts in which his clothes were soiled up the back and down the legs. Then, he threw up twice. Not just spit up, but the whole body clenching, stomach emptying kind. Neither of the other boys ever threw up as babies, so this was my first experience with it. I felt so horrible for him. He went through four outfits, and two bedding sets (which turned into three loads of laundry for me!)

So far this morning, Bug seems to be back to normal. As soon as he woke up, he came into bed with us and started wiggling and giggling, absolutely normal Bug behavior. Ethan got a bottle in the middle of the night after having kept down the Pedialyte, and he has kept that down as well. He was just woken up by Bug, and he, too, seems to be feeling a bit better.

So pray with me that today will be the day that all three boys are back to healthy, happy, children and Mommy gets a bit of a break. I am still battling a bit of congestion, but nothing I can't handle. It sound as if all three boys are clamoring to be fed (imagine that) so I will say so long for now.

Have a great weekend and a Happy Valentine's Day tomorrow.

False Alarm

Well, I guess our recovery will take a little longer than I thought.
Nick started dry heaving again this morning. He also had a heart rate of 132 and I could feel his heart pumping while my fingers were practically hovering over his chest.
Since then, his heart rate has gone back down, and I can't feel it strongly anymore. But that sure scared me for a moment. He is back on a fluids only diet until further notice.

I, on the other hand, am feeling even better. I got a good night sleep (comparatively) and don't feel nauseated anymore. I never did throw up (thank the Lord) but the last couple days have made me feel as if I might throw up at anytime. I have hardly had anything to eat....in fact, the only thing I ate yesterday was a sandwich. Part of my problem could be that I have a rumbly in my tumbly.

I sent the boys downstairs a few minutes ago, so I better go catch up with them before the house is destroyed. Boys! It is amazing the amount of mischief and destruction they can accomplish in such a short time.

Recovering

We have all taken turns being sick over the last couple of weeks. This is why I have been absent from the blog. I have been exhausted, feel like I have been ran through the wringer. Joey and Daddy were sick last week, Nick and I are sick this week. Last night was the first time I got any sleep in the last three days.

On Monday night, Nick was throwing up between 11pm and 6am. After the first two times, he was only dry heaving, which hurts so bad. He would be crying, saying "I'm done" even while his body was still all clenched up. He didn't want to do any more. I felt so bad. My mom was the best when I was sick; she always knew how to make me feel better, and took such great care of me. She made it look so easy. I feel like I am bumbling around and not doing any good for my kids.

I was so tempted to call mom at 2:30am as I was sitting up blowing my nose for the millionth time. I wanted her to be here, so I figured that if she couldn't be here physically, she could at least be there over the phone. If I had to be up and miserable, somebody else should be up and miserable with me! But, alas, I had more common sense than that; besides, my husband was mumbling in his sleep that I should NOT call my mom in the middle of the night.

But we are now all on the mend. As long as I keep the Advil and Sudafed shoved down my throat, I can manage a semi-alive posture. The more sleep I get, the better I feel. The boys and I just got up from a two hour nap, so I am feeling pretty good right now. I have another hour before I can take more drugs. Ethan is playing nicely on the bed, waiting patiently for his mom to feed him. I think I will let him have bananas again; he loves bananas.

Hope everyone else is well and healthy. Have a great week.

"Grandpa Told Me"

Joey has been making me laugh all day. He has had a cold for the last few days, and this morning was feeling the worst yet. Shortly after coming downstairs, he coughed so hard he gagged and threw up. His throat was so soar he could hardly eat his breakfast. (No, that is not what is making me laugh.)

Today, his 'phrase' is "Grandpa told me." I can only guess that it is his way of thinking that I must give him what he wants if it was because "grandpa told me"! For example, "Grandpa told me that after I throw up I should do art because it will make me feel better." Therefore, I am required to get out his art supplies and let him make something. I have no problem letting him make art; I just found it hilarious that he needed to do it because "Grandpa told him." All day, he has been prefacing his comments with "grandpa told me." I can't even tell you the last time he spoke to one of his Grandpas. He's too funny.

Then, oh my goodness, I just about had a coughing fit myself laughing so hard at what he said before nap. He was changing into a Pull-Up and wanted to show me that he had kept his underwear clean and dry. Of course I told him how proud I was of him. And he said, "It's what I do all day. It's what I live for." Where did he hear that phrase? I was trying so hard not to laugh, so that he wouldn't think I was laughing AT him, but I couldn't quite contain myself. Every time I started laughing out loud, I had to cover it with a kiss and an "I love you." He was loved and kissed a LOT before finally getting him into bed.

On another note, Ethan rolled over from back to tummy for the first time yesterday! He has been rolling over from tummy to back since he was fifteen days old, but he finally mastered both ways. It's kind of funny watching him, because it is like watching it in slow motion. He gets his arm stuck under him and can't quite get all the way over, so he just sits there, as if suspended, until he can manage that final kick that gets him all the way on to his tummy and frees his arm.

It has been less than half an hour since I laid the boys down for a nap, and I think all three of them are asleep!! That doesn't happen often. So, I am going to take advantage of that and try to get some sleep myself. With the boys getting sick, I have been awakened at least once an hour all night long for the last few nights. I could use this hour or so to catch up.