Seriously?

I woke up this morning to a blissfully quiet house. Annie had fallen back to sleep after being nursed and cuddled at 2 AM, and at 5 AM. The big girls were still sleeping. Dan was finishing up a long night at the hospital. I was thinking about the day, and wondering (never knowing!) if we should take Annie in to see the doctor, and realizing that we really need groceries as there is very little food in the house. At 6:45, Annie awoke in a fury, feverish and fussy and covered in snot and sour milk. Temp of 102. I undressed her, said good morning to Erin, QUIETLY closing the door so maybe Kate would stay asleep a little longer (my beautiful, clever, funny oldest daughter and I have been butting heads all week. She is my little clone--tempered and passionate and outspoken and determined to have her way, every way, every day!) said good morning to Dan (Daddy's home! Hooray!), blew off what he said about the garage door not working (certainly, fixable!) and got Annie's bath ready....asked Dan about his night....a report of very little sleep....and got peed on by Annie. My fault---it's been awhile, now, and no diaper to speak of. I'm wearing my running clothes, and I only have one set. I keep them on. So, Annie is now in the tub, Dan takes over, and I go to pump with Erin. (Erin keeping me company. Annie is eating little, and I am uncomfortable.) Minutes later, Dan calls for help...Annie has pooped in the tub. Perhaps she overheard me telling Daddy that cousin Ryan did this just yesterday, and wanted to empathize with him. Sometimes it happens to the littlest people. So, we clean this up, and clean her up, get her back in the tub, get her out, medicated, nursed...feeling a little better, the big girls get breakfasted, somehow we all make it down to the basement and I start The Run.

Dan goes out to assess the damage. The door is unfixable. Frozen to the ground, falling apart in the middle, the van is in danger. After buying a new door (just an FYI....it won't fit in a Honda Civic) and reading the instructions and deliberating (and deliberating, and deliberating) my well intentioned husband has decided to hand it over to the professionals, as painful as we all know that this is to Dan.

It is now 2:20 pm. Annie, having exhausted herself from crying (and puking), is sleeping. Erin is sleeping. Dan, hopefully, is sleeping...the night shift starts in 3 hours. I have another 5 mile run under my belt, and Kate and I are off to clean the disaster of the basement. Tomorrow is another day.

Determination

Well, Annie finally got the bug, and let me tell you....she is one miserable baby. Of some amusement to me (not to her...) as soon as she sees the Tylenol or Motrin dispenser coming towards her, she starts a series of frantic rapid-fire raspberry spitting to try and avoid the offensive medicine. Poor baby.....despite her best efforts, I always win. Despite the illness, she is still determined to crawl. She now does really fast rocking on her hands and knees....occasionally, she will do a little hop forward....more often than not she falls on her face. Annie is looking forward to healthier and more coordinated days!

Annie still won't smile for the camera. I have to come out from behind it to get her to smile, so the smiley pictures are always slightly off. I love this last picture. Annie is constant motion. Perhaps you've noticed she is wearing stripey pjs in almost every picture (on the entire blog?!) We have about 4 pairs of favorite pjs that are in constant rotation. It's a rare day that I get this baby dressed!

Sometimes Annie doesn't get the joke.

This is what happens when the kids add their own bubble bath.

A Long Weekend

Fevers and coughs and runny noses and watery eyes....restless nights and long afternoon naps....lots of baths and tylenol and kleenex. Who ever thought I'd be looking forward to Monday?

my favorite

annie love

Sitting Pretty

Today, Annie sits!

All-purpose Cake

Annie, 6 months

Erin, 2 years

Mama, 34 years

If anyone else has a birthday this week, come on over. (This means you, Jen!) We've still got lots of cake!

The day is young...

even if the mama isn't. I told Dan that all I wanted for my birthday is a picture with all three girls. This is what we've gotten so far. What's a birthday without a challenge?

birthday girl

Erin had a great birthday. We had a quiet day at home with Daddy complete with presents and a really, really big pink birthday cake. What more could any 2 year old want?

Happy Birthday, Erin!

time flies...

Annie, 6 months ago today.

Annie, today.

Max and Viv

Yesterday we celebrated Erin's 2nd birthday (a bit early) with the Madison cousins. The kids spent the afternoon bouncing on inflatable horses (the best!), swinging in the basement, playing with toys and grandparents, telling (endless) (great) knock-knock jokes, and at last, digging in to some pretty good cake. As we drove away, Erin proclaimed "I like Max's house!" Overall, a great day and a very happy little birthday girl.

cousins, cousins

bedlam, mayhem, noise, noise, noise!

On the go

Annie is now getting on her hands and knees and rocking. She also manages to move her little body backwards across the rug. She is so pleased. Perhaps one of these days she'll actually roll from her back to her stomach, too..?

First Foods

Annie got her first taste of rice cereal last night. She did pretty well with it and seemed fairly pleased to be (finally) eating something. Although I knew not to expect that it would improve her sleeping, I secretly hoped that this would be the answer to my nightly prayers...it wasn't. We'll probably keep feeding her anyway.

Kate and Erin have spent the winter wearing legwarmers, every day...and night. This morning I put a pair of tights on Kate and she excitedly proclaimed "MAMA! My legwarmers have socks!"

I then put a pair of tights on Erin who kept saying (over and over) "Where are my legs? Where are my legs?" Hmm. Perhaps I need to get the children out of the house a little more often.

Ahhh.....the pure joy.....and discomfort?.....of being Erin.

Courtney

Courtney is sweet and spunky!