4 months old

Anna had her 4 month old well-baby checkup today. She's 13lbs 3oz (40th %). She's 23.75 inches long (25th %) and her head circumference is in the 70th %. She is doing great. All of her percentiles are very similar to previous checkups. She received 4 shots today and an oral vaccine. All went well. The nurses gave her the shots simultaneously so she only felt two pokes. She didn't cry very long at all. Maddie did well too (she cried at the last apt. when Anna got her shots). We talked about solids and decided to wait until 6 months. At 6 months we'll start everything (one at a time) beginning with rice cereal. Then every couple of days she'll get a new kind of food; veggies and fruits, etc. That will be great fun for Maddie.

Anna has well developed muscles all over. She sits up really well. She also chews on everything. We expect her to be sitting up earlier than typical due to these strong muscles. And she might be cutting a tooth earlier than Maddie (8/9 months).

In other news Ryan is very excited at the prospect of driving home a different car tomorrow. We had slated this year to retire the Honda and the timing worked out to be this week. We had originally planned to also retire the Explorer at the end of this year but I haven't decided yet if that's what I want to do. More on that at the end of the year. I test drove another one, but I need a few more months of contemplation before I make a decision.

Maddie will be escorted by her father to her first Daddy-Daughter Date Night this Thursday. They'll have dinner and dance. She's going to be dolled up with curls and (shhhh don't tell her) she'll be getting a rose wrist corsage from daddy to wear to the dance. She's very excited about her first "date" with dad and getting fancy for the event. I am sure I will post lots of pictures of our princess. Anna and I are going to hang out and have some special mommy time. Maddie also has a birthday party on Friday and Ryan and I are going to a church hoedown barn party. It should be a good time. Ryan wants to get some "poo" kickers to wear to the party. We'll see if he actually does it. :)

Making the rounds

Now Anna has the distinct pleasure of having the stomach flu! Poor girl vomited at 8 and 1015 this morning. Pedialite stayed down this afternoon and so far she's keeping down the milk from the last time I nursed her. It looks like the worst is past.

She's 17 weeks today and just a few days from her 4 month anniversary. I think I am going to hold off on solids for awhile. She can have them now, but I don't want her to wean yet, so we're going to wait a bit longer.

This past week Ryan was in Tampa for a courthouse project. He's the courthouse expert in their firm and he has a great relationship with the courthouse developer. He brought back some cool shells for Maddie. I finished up the planning workshop for the junior high kids today and the local tv station took some footage of their presentations. It was fun to do it again and I look forward to next year's group.

Maddie is doing well. Her stomach flu was fast and furious and she's back to eating all her regular foods again. We made a snow-woman tonight and are going to take photos in the morning. I will post them tomorrow.

Maddie's sick now too!

Picture this.... Maddie in her fuzzy warm flannel Disney purple princess jammies and dad (not in princess jammies) cuddled up on the bed reading a few chapters of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory", Maddie spoons up icy peppermint ice cream while listening to Charlie as he finds the golden ticket. She's giddy as the cold ice cream slides down her throat and happy for Charlie and his fate. After the story is done she heads to the bathroom to brush her teeth. Mom and dad are chatting as she loads up her toothbrush with blue sparkly Spongebob paste. Then suddenly Maddie comes running into the bedroom with pink froth foaming out of her mouth and proceeds to chuck that delicious peppermint ice cream all over the floor. She threw up a few times before we were able to clean up and she zonked out on the bed from exhaustion.

So Maddie is home today with Anna and I! Grandma JoLene is coming over around 4 so I can head into work for a bit. Maddie seems to be feeling better and has been able to keep all her food today in her stomach, where it should be.

I just wanted to share that beautiful moment of parenthood with you all, since things like these should never be kept to one's self. :)

Snow DAY!!

We received about 7-8 inches of snow last night. We ended up going to Lincoln yesterday to do some things and we were able to visit Maddie's Godparents and give the triplets their birthday gifts. We had a good time but it was snowing by the time we were driving home and it was very slick. I had to drive about 45-50 mph the entire way home on the interstate.

Today we tredged out to church and ate lunch during a potluck fundraiser at church, then had some fun playing in the snow; sledding, jumping on the trampoline and swinging on the swingset.

Anna is feeling better (she still has an overabundance of boogers) but now Maddie is running a low grade temperature. She's not feeling very well and is just lounging on the couch all cuddled up in a blanket.

I was able to get 7 pages done at the scrapbooking thing on Friday. I didn't know if I would know anyone there when I went (it's a group from chuch) but when I walked in I was pleasantly surprised and knew a lady there. She's actually "the cookie lady" from church. She gives all the kiddos cookies after the service. Maddie just adores her. We were able to sit with her during the potluck while she and Maddie had a long conversation about everything. Joan seems to like Maddie too. She said Maddie is "charming". Anyway, I hope everyone has fun in the snow!

Another day off work.

Ryan stayed home today since I got to teach a junior high city planning seminar. Anna is still recovering. She's had a rough go of it, but is a real trooper. She doesn't seem to be running a fever anymore. The blood and urine cultures did not grow so she's in the clear for the nasty stuff and just seems to have a viral infection. It looks like Maddie is getting a touch of it because she has a booger nose. She doesn't like it when I tell her that, so I reserve my comments for when she really needs to blow her nose.

Anna is 16 weeks now and she probably could have cereal, but we're going to wait since she's not feeling well. She has her 4 month check up on the 29th.

Maddie enjoyed a couple days at home while her sister was home. She watched movies and played in her playroom.

This weekend I am going scrapbooking (tonight) and two friends are coming up from Lincoln to spend time with me. It should be a good time.

Sick!

Anna is officially sick with her first infection. I decided to take her to the doctor today to have her checked out, thinking she might have an ear infection. Little did I realize that she had a 102.2 fever! The great news is that she does not have an ear infection but they're checking her for other infections; bladder and blood. They think it's probably viral but want to cover the bases. I also asked them to look at a little spot under her arm. It appears to be a hemangioma. It's in a discrete place and shouldn't be a problem. The assumption is that by 4 it will be completely gone. I will put a picture of it on here later. It's really not a big deal and the location is ideal. I will keep you updated on Anna's health over the next couple of days!

Also, she was weighed. She was less than I thought. She weighed 12lb 12oz and that's right below 50% so she's doing great!

Brrrrr!

Annalise Renee is 15 weeks and Madeline is 4.5. Annalise made it through her second week of daycare without a fever and is doing well. Madeline ended up with a fever on the Friday of her first week in daycare so we're happy that Anna is doing so well. They tell us that she's an angel and they feel bad that she's so content because they end up helping the other babies more. It doesn't bother me at all, actually it makes me happy to know she can soothe herself and doesn't need as much attention to stay happy. She's around 14.5 pounds now. I think she's a little below the 75th percentile which is a little lower than she was before. She still has oodles of rolls though. It's adorable. Her new diapers arrived today so we're happy that she doesn't have to wear the other one's anymore since she's outgrown them and they started leaking a lot more often. The new ones seem to work really well!

It's chilly today with a dusting of snow on the ground. It's too powdery for a snowman but hopefully we'll be able to sled later.

Madeline is looking forward to Valentines day. It was the only way I could get her to stop being sad about the end of Christmas. I told her Valentines Day is coming up so she is really getting geared up for that. She's still taking dance lessons and looking forward to her recital. It appears to be the same dance as last year so she already knows the routine. Her recital costume is very similar to last years costume too.

We went to the Cheesecake Factory tonight and that place was PACKED! It was worth the cheesecake though. Madeline got a piece of chocolate cake. Yummy!

Not much else going on. I will post pictures later.

14 weeks

Annalise Renee is 14 weeks today. It's hard to believe she's so big. We all survived our first week of daycare. The nursing at her school is going really well. The gals have gotten used to seeing me three times each day and it's nice to be aware of everything that goes on.

Madeline is happy to be back at school. The transition was flawless. She did not cry and was not sad at all. She did get some new "fancy" clothes to wear to school. The only problem we're dealing with now is that she wants to wear the same clothes everyday to school. She is now on day three of her new fancy pants. Fortunately they will be washed tonight.

Happy New Year

Today was my first day back at work, Madeline's first day back to school and Annalise's first day at daycare. We all did very well. Maddie was very happy to get back, I loved being at work again and Anna did great. I fed her three times during the day so I was able to cuddle and love her a lot. I am happy to be back in the routine. I think I was the only one happy to be at work today. My co-workers said they'd have preferred to be at home. Our next holiday is coming up in a week and a half.

Hope everyone's new year started out well. Oh I almost forgot. We received about 4 inches of snow on Sunday in just a few hours. It was quite a storm! Maddie had a great time running around in the snow and sledding down our backyard. She did have one minor accident when she ran into the fence at the bottom of our yard; she had a swollen lip for a couple of hours. She rebounded quickly. We were surprised when we came home from dropping off Amanda and Spencer because our wonderful neighbor had cleared our driveway and sidewalks! I found out later that two of the neighbors had a friendly argument about who was going to get to clear it. Gotto love great neighbors!