Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Four

Abby turned 4 two weeks ago, on the 18th. We had a very small party on the 11th with just a handful of her friends. I made tacos and a couple sides, and bought cupcakes. I don't think I could've handled more than that this year. On her actual birthday, we took her to Red Robin since she'd been asking to go for weeks.

She cracks me up with turning four. She's constantly using "but I'm 4 now!" as an excuse to do stuff, or when I let her do something she normally wouldn't it's "because she's 4." She also keeps talking about how much more grown up she is now, and how much bigger she's gotten!

Last week was her 4-year checkup. She's 42lbs. and 42.25 inches tall. She's in the 90th percentile for each, so she's still big for her age. Everything went well except her vision test, so they referred us to an eye doctor. We went today and sure enough, she needs glasses. She has 20/40 vision and a mild astigmatism in both eyes. The poor thing never had a chance since Damon and I are both completely blind and I had astigmatism in both eyes. Damon had lasik a bunch of years ago, but I still can't see past my nose without my glasses or contacts. She was so excited to choose them herself, so hopefully she'll take care of them. We'll see. I'm hoping since she's old enough to get it, keeping them on her won't be a huge fight. We did go with the titanium flex glasses thanks to Rachael's advice, but I'd love to hear about any tricks you used to keep glasses on your kids or keep them from losing/breaking them. We'll get them in about a week, so pictures will definitely be forthcoming!

Abby's first school picture. She loves school! At her parent-teacher conference a couple months ago, her teacher had nothing but good things to say.
Abby's first school picture

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays!

Santa 2008

We didn't get a Santa picture with the twins because they were sleeping in the stroller and it's too much work to get them in and out of their carseats. Next year for sure!

Friday, December 19, 2008

Too Long for Twitter

Abby turned 4 yesterday (more on that later when I have time for a proper post), and a friend of ours gave her this huge sticker set. Among them were some itty-bitty nail stickers. We had this conversation just now as I'm making her lunch:

Abby: I'm going to go upstairs to use the tweezers to get the stickers off (the plastic thing they're on) because I can't do it with my fingers.

Me: No, the tweezers are not toys, blah, blah, blah.

Abby: But, Mom! I'm FOUR YEARS OLD!

I wish I had my camera handy because the look she gave me was priceless!

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

4 Months

Yeah, I'm late. Again. I have a really good excuse this time. My sister went back to California on Thursday. We're so grateful she basically put her life on hold and moved halfway across the country to help us out for 5 months. She was a huge help at the end of my pregnancy when I couldn't do too much for Abby, then in these first months with the babies. I couldn't have gotten through it without her. It's definitely scary being on my own now, but at least she was able to help through the really tough first months when no one slept. The hardest phase is behind us.

Damon was able to take Friday afternoon and Monday afternoon off to help me out, but now he's spending the night in Kansas City. It's just me and the kids until late tomorrow night. Today actually went a lot smoother than I expected it to. Last night was rough with Emma, but I got Cora up at 7:20 when Emma woke up and they stayed on the same schedule the rest of the day. They took 3 naps, all at the same time! The first one lasted about 1.5 hours, the second THREE hours, and the third about 1/2 hour. Emma went to bed for the night at 8, and Cora around 8:45. I got 3 loads of laundry done, all the bathrooms cleaned but the master, the basement picked up, the dishwasher loaded and run, and even a nap! We're having a small birthday party for Abby on Thursday afternoon, so I have to get the house clean by then. Tomorrow, I'll attempt my first solo trip to Target with the kids.

The babies had their 4-month checkups yesterday. Cora weighs 13lbs. 4oz. (50th percentile) and is 25 inches tall (75th), and Emma weighs 13lbs. 1oz. (50th) and is 23.75 inches tall (50th). Cora was 10th for weight and 25th for height, and Emma was 10th and 10th at their 2-month visit! Cora's been upped to half a pill twice a day on the Prevacid because she still spits up like crazy. On bad days, she can go through an entire load of laundry in a day! Even on good days, she can go through several bibs and 2-3 clothes changes. Emma's also been approved for up to 2 oz. of prune juice since she's constantly severely constipated. She won't go for a few days, then she screams in pain when she finally does. Cora also has a bad case of eczema, particularly on her elbows and shoulders, so we're to try Eucerin, Cetaphil (both of which made Abby's eczema worse), and Aquaphor. We've also been given the ok to start solids, and the doctor suggested it might help with Cora's spit up, so they'll get their first taste of cereal this weekend.

Milestones:

*As you can see from the pictures, both girls are now holding their heads high when on their tummies.

*Cora hasn't rolled again since that first time, but Emma rolls constantly.

*She's also trying really hard to roll from back to belly. She has become extremely squirmy when on her back!

*Cora LOVES Abby's old Exersaucer while Emma could care less.

*They both also love the bouncy chairs, but will only tolerate the swings for short periods of time.

*Cora sleeps a good 12 hours a night while Emma still gets up at least once a night, but more often 2-3 times.

*They're both very chatty, but Emma tends to be pretty soft-spoken when she babbles. She's the mellow twin while Cora is more excitable.

*Emma loves to take baths, but Cora is terrified of them and screams the entire time. Even with me in the tub with her.

Monday, December 8, 2008

Makes My Monday

Cheryl at Twinfatuation started this and I thought it was a great idea. Wanna know what makes my Monday?

All 3 kids are taking a nap at the same time! Not only that, but the babies have been asleep 1.5 hours already! AT THE SAME TIME! I showered and got myself ready for the day and now I'm enjoying some guilt-free ME time, despite all the cleaning I have to do before Abby's birthday party on Thursday.

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Help Settle a Debate at My House

I've posted a poll at the top of my blog. Damon and I are having an ongoing debate on the virtues of having multiple laptops, but we can't seem to agree so I thought I'd ask the internets. How many of you have more than one computer/laptop in your home? Please answer in the poll. Thanks!