Pacis, Pink-Eye and other stuff

We continue to plod along in paci-free land over here and it's still going great! I am thrilled at how much easier it has been than I expected and so happy with her improvements in sleeping!

Last night she only woke up once in 11 hours and I went ahead and fed her since she hadn't eaten since the late afternoon. There has been no hard crying or screaming at all from her in the past 2 days, which I was afraid of. Only minor fussing here and there and on the fun side, much more babbling and laughing, smiling and general cuteness! Tonight she fell asleep without a peep!

She does, of course, have pink-eye, thanks to Zakkai (!!) so we now have 2 kiddos on eye drops. Zakkai has been battling it for a week and a half now but hopefully it will clear up soon (before it spreads to the rest of us!). Poor E woke up with a very red, crusty eye so I knew it was the right choice to take her in.

(pic~pre-pink eye;)

My loving, wonderful husband did ALL the school drop-offs/pick-ups today to give me a break (which I spent going to the drs, filling Little Girl's prescription and a couple other errands, instead of laying on the couch eating bon-bons and reading romance novels like I'd planned..:P ) and it was so nice! It really takes a lot to drive back and forth so many times a day. What a keeper, he is!

And most randomly (because what would a post be like without random information about my life??!!), I am on a cleaning/purging/organizing kick (post-baby nesting? ha!) these days. We have the bad habit of collecting things on top of the tv entertainment center or stacking mail on my piano that needs to be filed, or the boys rooms filled with toys they don't want/need or the embarassingly full storage porch filled with...stuff I need to get rid of.

So I am on a quest to sell things on Craigslist (since I can't have a garage sale) so if you know of anyone who needs some baby items (baby boy clothes, double stroller, carseat, baby bedding, etc) please let me know! Not only would it help us de-clutter, which would be very helpful in any future moves, it will help us have a little money to replace our broken appliances...

so we can have more stuff...

to get rid of eventually....

so I can get organized....

Hmmm. Change of plans. We're selling off everything and living in our van!

My 3 Peas in a Pod

Woohoo for warmer weather today!! Isn't it amazing how a few (or 15) degrees can make such a difference in your spirit and attitude?

I even opened the windows for a bit today to let fresh air in (and let the germs out!!!) and it was so nice.

Samuel begged to play outside after school today with his best friend, Peter. Well, he didn't have to beg too hard, really....:) They (plus Z) had a blast running around with 2 other school friends. In fact, they all were so excited to be outside that at different times all 5 of them bumped heads with one another. But the tears were quickly dried in favor of running.



We are trying to get Samuel signed up for a class for the spring (soccer, tennis or golf) with his best buddy but he is absolutely refusing and says he'll never go. Sigh. His stubborn streak is most definitely coming out!

I have no idea where he gets it....

Sweet Cheeks is doing great!! 1 1/2 whole days without the pacifier. She only woke up twice last night (a big improvement over 7+ times!) and today was able to nap without it. I was really nervous over putting her in the carseat without it, as I usually give it to her so she can sleep while we are out. I started to panic, only then realizing that I, too, would be going through paci withdrawal!

But after a few minutes of fussing and crying (but not really hard), she was able to put herself to sleep (1 time for a 3 hour nap!). Yea, Little Girl!! We'll see about tonight...


Also, she really has started laughing!!! She let out one or two laughs in the last couple of weeks but it was a quick "I'm not quite sure what to do here" burst. But I swore Monday that she looked at me and laughed and then she did it to Ben when he knelt down to talk to her yesterday.



And today for the first time, I actually got her to laugh a lot by making a silly noise:) It was incredibly charming and I fell in love with her again. (for the millionth time!)



The sad news is that I'm almost certain she is getting pink-eye and have to take her in to the drs tomorrow:( Always something with these kiddos!!

In other news, in the past few days, our printer, vacuum and microwave have all bit the dust but this means great fun for our handy "fix-it" boy! We let him play with the printer for a bit yesterday and he worked very hard testing it out, tightening things with his tools and trying to fix it. He's really cute when he does this and it keeps him entertained for hours!!

He is very ready to turn 4 years old on Sunday and tells me over and over "I am a big boy now, Mommy. I'm not a baby anymore." (sniff) But I comfort myself that there is still a little baby in there when I look into his emotional (irrational) baby blue's and see his soft baby chubby upper arms and the Buddha belly that is still slightly there and when I feel that sweet little hand tuck in mine everyday as we walk into school.

He may not want to admit it...but he's still my baby:)

A Little This and a Little That

One nice thing about blogging each night is that it gives me a chance to run through our day in my mind and think about all the things, big and little, that happened and see what stands out. I also notice that I pay attention to details more, thinking, "That would be a great thing to blog about!"

Nevermind that I usually forget by the time I sit down:)

The happy news of the day is that Zakkai has finally turned the corner health-wise and finally seems to be on the mend! He had me worried there for several days. As you can see, his lip area is starting to heal now~less raw and more scabbed over. His poor nose is still pretty sore so he doesn't like me to touch it and doesn't want to blow his nose anymore. Can't blame him!

Zakkai? Are you there?

Oh, there you are, goose!

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On Saturday, we decided to get out for a bit and took the bus downtown to the Lego Store on Michigan Ave. You should've heard the cheers that rang out of the boys when they heard where we were going!

Mommy, can we move in here?


Ben, I am your father.

E~ "We were at the Lego store??!" She fell sound asleep after "lunch" when we went back to play for a few more minutes. Don't worry, she was breathing just fine and had plenty of air;) She likes to bury her head under the wrap to sleep!

This is the sweet outfit that Little Miss wore yesterday to honor Daddy. If you can't see, it says "I love my Daddy." As if he needed anything else to melt his heart!

In a continuation of her sleep saga (sick of it yet?!), after being woken up no less than 7 times last night, I came to the conclusion that Eliana is a Paci Addict. I had to come out of denial and see the light for myself, though the haze of sleep-deprived desperation!

So, we made the tough choice to break her from the pacifier today:( I felt really bad (Okay, guilty, if you must know) and I really need to stop reading what other people say on the internet because it influences me waaay too much! But she was super over-tired this morning (me, too! me, too!) and I can't let that go on.

Plan: No more paci! We have scaled down the crying rule to 7 minutes (10 is very hard to keep up) and plan to go in and soothe, let her suck on our finger for a minute or two to calm, and then leave and repeat.

Nap 1: Only cried 6 minutes, then lights out for 2 hours!!! Much better than her recent 30 min naps!

Nap 2: Cried about 14 min total (with soothing in between) and slept about 1 hour.

Nap 3: Fought off and on for 1 hour before giving up for a 55 min nap.

Bedtime: No peep at all and still counting!! She has been starting her crazy wake-ups around 9pm (it is 9:05 now...) so I am hoping against all hope that she will have a better night!

All in all, it was a better day than I thought. Hopefully this will help her get more rest and learn to self-soothe a little better. I know, there's that nasty word again! But I am hopeful this time!

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The Hubster and I got to go on a date last night due to some nifty babysitting swapping that he initiated:) I babysat for some friends on Sunday night and they babysat in return for us last night. It was a short yet sweet time together! It was, after all, my first time leaving Eliana longer than 30 min and she isn't exactly....sleep trust-worthy yet. Good thing we came back when we did because she was up within 15-20 min after our friend left. Stinker! (the baby, not the friend:)

Anyways, it was so refreshing to get out and walk in the (cold) night air and hold hands and talk about little things without, "Mommy! Daddy! Look at me! Me! Me! Me! Me! Me! Me! Me!" Oh, sorry. You got the point? Love those critters but definitely need some Mommy-Daddy time.

And we ended the night with some delicious Caramel Chocolate Cheesecake and watched The Office!

My kind of night! Well, except for the hourly wake-ups......

Happy Birthentine's Day!

Happy Birthday, My Love!! I have always thought it so special to celebrate your birthday on Valentine's Day. What better day to have a birthday than a day all about love!

So, Happiest Birthday to a Loving Husband,

An Amazing Daddy,


My Best Friend,

A Tender-Hearted,
Loving, Wonderful, Hard-Working Man! May God bless you this year with the desires of your heart and fulfillment of your dreams.

I love you!

Sweet Cheeks

Hey there, Sweet Cheeks! Whatcha got cookin'?


Oh, hey there, mummy dearest! I'm just hangin' out here. Have I ever told you what a great life I have? I dig this family, Mommy-o!



I get so many kisses from my brothers. Although, mommy? Have they ever heard of personal space? It's kind of hard to see them when they are 2 inches from my face. But still. They love me so I'm cool with it. Most of the time...



And they do give me my pacifier when I'm crying and remind me that I'm okay and that's pretty nice. So, I guess I'll keep them.



Sorry, I woke you up so early today. But really, 5:15 am isn't too bad, is it? The sun is....thinking about coming out later. It's quiet and peaceful so you can hear me very clearly! I had a lot to talk about this morning, huh? I was just checking to make sure you were still there.



I heard you tell Daddy that you like my "Ham grin" where I scrunch up my face. Pretty cute, you think?! I've been working hard on that one. Do you like my faces where my tongue hangs out? I like my tongue and think it's pretty fun to stick it out. What are tongues for anyways?



Hey, downtown was cool today! My first trip on a bus and first views of Michigan Ave! Of course, I was sleeping most of the time....but still. Definitely cool. The Lego store was awesome! All those lights....Oh, there were Legos there, too? I don't know what those are but maybe I'll like them someday. Those lights though....



I sure loved being all snuggled up to you in the Moby wrap. We make a pretty good team, huh, Mommy? As far as I'm concerned, you can carry me around in there forever!



Oh and I looooove bathtime, Mums! Have I ever told you that? It makes me so happy every time...all that warm water and shampoo that smells so nice. Plus you give me lots of kisses afterwards and tell me my skin's soft and dress me in cozy jammies. It's a pretty great way to go to sleep at night.



And one more thing. Sorry about all the nighttime wake-ups lately. I know it kind frustrates you but look at it this way; I like you a lot! And nighttime is one time that I can get you alllllll to myself. Plus it keep you on your toes and you've got to learn to roll with the punches, mommy-dear. After all, I'm only 3 1/2 months old.



Anyways, love you lots and can't wait to stare at you tomorrow!



xoxoxo
Sweet Cheeks