Getting Better

Yay. The girls are getting better and are at school today. They both slept all night - on the same night, can you belive it? Me neither. I thought I was dreaming when I woke up and it was not dark outside. I'm a new woman today.

Layla has yuckies coming out of her ear again. We have to go back to the ENT to make sure there is nothing else wrong. She doesn't seem to mind though which is nice.

Here is a little morning video of the many things Layla has to say. You can also get an idea of how bad she wants to climb somthing. She is a standing machine. She is trying to cruise and let go now too (which is followed by falling - always as she is not ready for this yet) Busy bee.

Here are some recent pictures too.

What's up here that I can get into? (she often finds hannah's snacks and drinks here so this is her favorite table)

This is how you play with a pretzel in your mouth.

Hah - I can get this car all by myself now. Now how to I get in?

If you really need to concentrate, stick your tongue out - it really helps.

Can we please get a break?

After another ear infection Layla was fine, but then woke up on Saturday with a fever. Then she stopped eating and drinking. She has some virus that causes blisters in her throat and mouth. I am still at home with her and have been straw feeding her pediatyte just to keep her hydrated. She woke up last night and just couldn't get back to sleep. I figured she was dehydrated and hungry and made her a bottle which she drank (thank God) and finally went to sleep. That was 1:30am. At 2:30 Hannah woke us up by throwing up in the hallway. She is now running a fever and puking. We were up until 5:30 with her. Layla woke up at 5:45. Hannah got back up at 6:30 and is running a high fever again.

I am having my second cup of coffee since finding out I was pregnant (sorry baby, but mom has no other options today). It tastes like tar. I also have realized after 3 days of carrying sick children around that I am terribly out of shape. My arms and back hurt, not to mention being out of breath. Having 3 kids in 4 years will do bad things to your body like this.

I have bleached the bathroom and sanitized the paci's and the toys, but I'm sure I've missed something. You can't get puke out of carpet and who knows what else Layla put in her mouth the past 3 days. I'm sure I'm destined to have a puking baby by tomorrow and a 3 year old with blisters in her mouth.

The only good news out of the weekend is that baby Shockley #3 is doing well. I know this only because I can finally feel the little peanut moving around. I suppose my days of forgetting I'm pregnant are over. This is a good thing as the sight of my ever enlarging belly kept shocking me.

I'm sure Matt is out right now trying to plan an overnight anywhere but here and I can't blame him. We need a break - I need a break, but that is the funny thing about parenting - there are no breaks. You just keep going, keep cleaning, keep holding and rocking.

Someone wake me when it is over.

My Girls

My Girls being cute (notice how tiny Hannah looks with her chubby sister on top of her).
Layla - having some quality diaper off time.
The only time in life your tush and thighs can look like this and everyone thinks it's the cutest thing ever.
Happy messy baby trying pretzels - yum!

Standing

Yes - she can stand. Not to steady yet, but up she goes on whatever she can find. And the old saying is true "what goes up, must come down" and mostly on face or head :) I can't get a good picture yet because I am trying to stay close and catch her. We want to avoid any broken bones or major boo boos.

Layla also has another ear infection this week. Since it is so yucky, she is on anti-biotics and ear drops for 10 days. She doesn't seemed bothered by it which is nice, but it sure is gross. She weighed in at 22lbs 12oz last night at the doctors - so she is still eating well :)

We have also decided that Layla's first meaningful word is ball. She will say ball or repeat ball when she sees one, so we think she really means it. If we are wrong - oh well. We are going with ball. We had to look it up, but Hannah's first word was woof (for dog). Funny :)

Daddy's girl....

Hannah just loves her daddy. This video will certainly be a hit with her future husband :) I think it is especially cute that at 3 she wants to marry daddy, but already know she wants to have a boyfriend. In fact, she already has herself a little boyfriend for whatever that means when you are three. My sweet girl.

Nothing new really.

Hannah finished swimming lessons this week. She made a lot of progress in 8 weeks so we will have another round here before summer. She also had her pre-school screening this week and did great. She tested at a 4 to 5 year-old level in language and concepts so that was very good. Her motor skills are just ok, but that is what we expected. She had fun and was very proud of herself. Hannah had 2 birthday parties this weekend, so it was a busy one for her (and us).

Layla is doing ok - just crawling and doing her thing (read: getting into everything and spilling as much as possible :). She did have a double ear infection last week (yes with the tubes!) and she was leaking green gunk out her ears. Gross......The good news is that it doesn't hurt like before the tubes, no fever, and no anti-biotics! We can treat her with just ear drops. That should be over now and with the weather warming up, we are hopeful for some healthy months. We are working with Layla to try and get her to eat some regular food, but she just hates anything not pureed. She still gags easily and then throws up. I can only dream of the day that this child stops throwing up.......She sure is cute though.

We are starting to think about Layla's birthday party already as it will be here before we know it. Hopefully our backyard dries out by then :) May 31st sounds like a great day for a party!

Happy 10 months baby!

A few days late, but oh well. Layla is a crawling maniac! She is everywhere and fast. She is trying to pull up on things and open cabinets and drawers so you really can't leave her anywhere unattended. She has 2 teeth now (so cute), but still won't eat anything not purreed. Someday she will.

One toofer:

Two Teefers: (ignore the mess - she just ate, but it was a good tooth picture)

Layla is finally rolling over. A bit late, but she is now motivated by the fact that if she rolls over she can get up and go:) Diaper changes have taken on that oh-so-special fun of trying to keep said poopy baby on back while clean up occurs or else have poopy mess. Fun. We also have her trying to stand up in her crib now so we don't quite know what time she gets up in the morning. She is silent as a lamb, but just sitting or kneeling in her crib waiting for someone to come get her. As long as she has a paci, she is content to just hang.

10 months and the fit throwing has started. Yesterday she threw herself backwards on the floor screaming because I took her out of Hannah's play car. Today it was because I took her out of the bathroom and closed the door. It brings back so many memories of Hannah's fit days (not that they are 100% over).

Layla is a Mommy's girl. She loves loves loves a mommy. Other people are funny and ok, but if Mom is around - she is a must have. I have to admit - I love it. She just cuddles and kisses - so sweet.

Look at her curlies starting! When it is humid or she is sweaty they turn to rings already. That's a lot of curls for one mom to comb!