Squink!

That's K's new word for wink since she get's confused between wink and squint =)  Love the funny little words they still use at this age.

We had a full birthday week with her party on memorial day, her actual birthday on Thursday and a dinner with my parents on Saturday.  On her actual b-day we let her pick where she wanted to eat and she chose "Old McDonald's".  Ha!  So we had dinner there, played in the play land for a bit and then came home to have yet another cupcake and give her the bike we got her.  She rode to the corner and back but is taking a while to get use to the brake when the pedal goes backwards. 

On Saturday evening my parents came over and brought pizza for dinner.  Then we enjoyed even more cupcakes. 

My Mom got her tons of clothes (5 outfits) and shoes (3 pairs) and my sister and niece picked out this adorable outfit for her too.   

All in all the b-day week was very busy and extremely fun!  Her official 4 year stats are 39 lb (79th%) and  40.5" (67th%).

In a few weeks it'll be time to start to plan C's 1st birthday.  How crazy is that?!

She's 4!

I promised pictures so here they are =)

The cupcake table, such a nice setting at our local park.  It was a beautiful day and a perfect 75 degrees.

 This was her cupcake cake and the whipped frosting was so light and yummy!  Plus it's just darn cute.

Sandwich fixins.  Might be hard to see but M made a crown serving tray that had K's name spelled out in puffy paint amongst the jewels at the top.  Such a good daddy!

We hired a face painter and all the kids really liked it.  She was really good and FAST.  She painted 16 kids in an hour.  I was pretty impressed.  K got a snowflake (for Frozen of course) on one cheek, a unicorn on the other cheek and a butterfly on her arm.

K and two of her besties from school enjoying lunch (sandwiches, gold fish, string cheese, carrots and bananas).

Everyone grabbed a string and pulled at the same time to open the pinata.  Such an improvement over the kind you hit with a stick!

All the kiddos picking out their perfect cupcake

Paddle boat ride on the coveted pink flamingo.

Opening presents at home after the party.  This was the first time we did it this way and it was so much better.  

Her favorite friend gift, a pooping dog *oh my*

Family picture from this morning since we forgot to get one at her party on Monday

She got a new bike from us and is doing a great job at learning to ride it!

This is a collage I've made of this day the last five years.  Can't believe she's already 4!

A few fun stories/notes from today:

• On the way to school I told her I loved being her mommy and she said "even when I'm misbehaving?"  A tear came to my eye.
• When given a choice for anywhere or anything she wanted for dinner she chose "Old McDonald's".
• She has an "irritated taste bug". No matter how many times I try to tell her it's "bud" not "bug" she still calls it that.  Hilarious!

Maybe, just maybe!

C had his last dose of antibiotic last night.  We'll go recheck the ears the end of this coming week and make sure all is well.  Other than a bit of a runny nose that showed up late this week we might all be...gulp...healthy =)

This is good timing because we have a busy weekend.  Today was gymnastics this morning and then we're having a BBQ and taking the girls fishing (max 20 minutes I'm thinking) with friends tonight.  Tomorrow is my MIL's birthday and we're all going to the zoo in the morning.  Then, the big finale to the weekend is K's 4th birthday party Monday.  I can't believe she's FOUR!  

We had parent teacher conferences yesterday and K is doing great, she knows all her numbers, letters and is doing great in her pre-math skills and language.  After their field trip filled summer (2-3 per week) she'll be moving to the pre-k class in September.  C will be moving to the toddler room in the July/Aug timeframe depending on his mobility.  Currently he's army crawling only but is pretty darn fast at it =)

M had a great week...he got a promotion and a raise on the day before his birthday =)  We celebrated by taking his b-day afternoon off, having a nice sushi lunch, playing 9 holes of golf, enjoying 1 hr of wine tasting and then picking up the kids and going out for pizza.  Such a fun day!

Will update with some pictures after all the fun this weekend =)

Not yet...

The health gods are not ready to smile upon us yet =(  Last I wrote C had the tummy bug, the next day I got it (Thursday), then it was K's turn (3am Friday) and finally M's (Friday).  All but M threw up multiple times and had chills followed by fever.  It was pretty terrible.  For the most part it left each of us in about 24 hours but has left some wicked stomach cramps and GI issues that still hit a couple times a day.  Friday C also woke up with pink eye.  Saturday he started doing some weird head move where he held it sideways, like a dog listening to a whistle.  It was odd enough I took him in to the doctor, luckily our pediatrician rocks and fit us in on Saturday morning.  Turned out he had a double ear infection and needed to start meds.  Fast forward to last night in bath and I noticed he had a rash and hives all over his back.  I placed an urgent call to the ped and they had me stop the antibiotic (amoxicillian) and give benadryl.  I took him in this morning and one ear is still infected so they have me started a new antibiotic in a couple days.  Big, huge, sigh.  Can I just cry uncle?  My poor little guy has been so darn sick all year.  We need a break in a big way!  

Ok, whining over.  Now for the fun updates =)

• K is now night potty trained.  She had only a bit of a wet pull-up a handful of times this year but finally made it 30 days in a row with a dry one and is now wearing undies to bed.  She is so proud =)
• K went to a "Frozen Princess Party" on Saturday and it was really cute.  They had hired Elsa and Anna to come and the ladies had story time, face painting, song time and even did a little magic.  There were about 12 girls and they had a wonderful time.  I've included some pictures below.
• C got his 5th tooth last week and his 6th yesterday.  Chomp, chomp! 
• M's b-day is a week from today.  Right now the plan is that he'll take the full day off and go for a run in the morning.  We will meet for a sushi lunch and play a round of 9 holes in the afternoon.  He's getting some accessories (bed cover and nerf bars) for his truck so he'll be a happy man.
• A dear friend of mine IRL who has been TTC #2 for a couple years and struggled through thyroid surgery, a failed FET, failed fresh cycle, etc. just got two positive, good doubling betas.  Her first u/s is on the 30th and I'm keeping everything crossed this is it!

Spring!

Well, my hopes of spring giving us a break on being sick have been dashed!  Shortly after my last update we all came down with a cold.  I also got pink eye and then to finish me off, a clogged milk duct.  It was not pretty friends.  Just a few days ago we saw light at the end of the tunnel and all started feeling better...but today C threw up in his sleep at 4am and then 3 more times this morning (full stomach emptying).  Sigh.  Hopefully the rest of the house escapes getting this little gem of a virus.

Good news on the sleep front =)  C has settled into a new routine - he goes down at 8:45 and sleeps until 4 or 5 when he wakes up for a quick one side feeding (10-15 minutes) and then goes back to sleep until 7 or 7:30.  Hopefully he starts sleeping through that last feeding soon but it's much improved.  He's learning how to self soothe and is able to put himself back to sleep most of the time in the middle of the nigh.

Here are some pictures from the last three weeks!

Easter morning - trying on their ears =)

Playing outside after Easter brunch, she's looking so grown up!

C's first carousel ride - he loved it!

We had a picnic at the zoo last weekend - the kids had a blast

These adorable little goslings wandered around us while we had our picnic. Adorable!

9 Months Old!

C is 9 months today!!!  Here are some highlights I want to make sure not to forget about him at this age:

• he is 29" and 22.25lb, which is 76th% and 77th%
• wears size 3 diapers
• fits best in 12 month clothes 
• breastfeeding 5 times a day and has three solid meals which are all regular table food, he didn't ever take to purees
• sleeping has been tough for the last month, he's waking up at night and we're trying to sleep train (5 min of settling and 5 minutes out of his room on repeat until he goes back to sleep) and overall just hoping it's one of those famous "sleep regressions" and his normal 9 hour pattern comes back soon
• we transitioned out of a swaddle last week - it could be contributing to the sleep issues
• has 4 teeth (2 top and 2 bottom)
• sits for long periods (hours) and plays
• rolls and spins anywhere he wants to go but doesn't make efforts to go too far yet
• isn't making moves to crawl or walk but this is fine with us
• gives wonderful cuddles, hugs and kisses
• has a contagious laugh and huge smile - really one of the happiest babies I've ever seen, his sister makes him laugh more than anything in the world

Short Kiddo Updates

K finished her round of antibiotics for strep and is thankfully back to 100%.  She is loving the warmer temps and enjoys the playground time at school twice a day.  This week it's in the 60's all week but then we're getting snow again this weekend.  Hopefully things will line up to go to the zoo and other outdoor venues soon.  She's also excited gymnastics is going again.  

Here she is last weekend in a shirt that was mine when I was little.

C is such a happy little guy and loves to draw in the ladies with his big smile.  He is much more serious when assessing men, it cracks me up.  Unfortunatly we've had a tough run with sleep.  He's been getting up 1-2 times a night and demands that I nurse him or he goes on a car ride.  We can try rocking him, walking him, pacifiers, etc. and nothing works.  I fear we are starting a bad habit but hopefully it's a short stage and he'll go back to his 9 hour stretches soon.  He'll be 9 months next week so I'll do a bigger update on him then.

Here he is showing off his 4 teeth!