My walking and getting into everything one year old

Well we finally celebrated Lindsay's birthday with the family. She did not dig into her cake. She had a few bites but was mostly annoyed that the icing would not come off her fingers. She kept trying to get it off and even tried to rub off the icing onto Julianne's shirt. So that was probably the funniest part and her reaction to the icing clumps on her fingers. That may be a little foreshadowing into her personality. Nathan is really particular about stuff on him but I can't really remember his cake eating experience. I guess I should go back to my blog and see how he reacted. She liked her gifts but like most one year old's did not really understand the older kids experience and was done with the first package.

She is checking out everyone and wondering why they are all staring at her and singing.



I can't get this icing off.


Here are some other pictures of Lindsay and her Santa doll that she loves but weighs too much for her right now. And her adventures outside since she is now mostly walking.





Julianne had a wax museum show at her school for all the 4th graders. She was Toni Morrison and she did an excellent job. So all the parents came to the wax museum and when you put money into their cups the kids came alive as their characters. We had a great time and the kids were very informative.



Mallory also had her class production. They had an open house in their rooms showing all the work they have worked on and it was followed by a singing production. She had a great time and it was great to see her with all her classmates.


Love her face in this one.

Well this past few weeks everyone, except for the adults, have been sick. It started with Julianne getting strep on a Sunday. D took her to the local clinic. She got medicine. Mallory and Nathan took a bath that night (the point for this comes later). Tuesday Mallory came home from school not feeling well so I took her into the doctor. Sure enough she also had strep. Nathan had a skinned knee that was looking a little funky. So during this week I was keeping my eye on it and putting medicine on it. On Thursday morning it was not looking any better and was actually spreading and looking pretty gross. So I took him in and he has impetigo which is a skin infection caused by the strep or staph bug. With four kids I thought I have seen it all but this was one that I was not aware of. So we got oral and topical antibiotics for that. So at one time I had 9 bottles of amoxicillin in my fridge. It gets better. Monday I took Lindsay in for her 1 year appointment and I thought that she may have an ear infection and she did. So she was also put on antibiotics. So everyone at my house is taking the pink stuff. I just took Julianne to the clinic this past Sunday and her strep is back so now she is on penicillin. So hopefully that takes care of all this strep. Julianne always gets strep so hopefully this will take care of it. Nathans leg is so much better and is really healed. Hopefully Lindsay's ear infection clears up because we are leaving for spring break soon and I don't really want to spend my time in a clinic there.


More pictures of the one year old.






Things I am grateful/thankful for:
-antibiotics-I would have a lot of misserable kids right now
-nice winter weather (70's this week)
-My comfy bed and quiet time to myself.

Lindsay is walking

Well Lindsay has been testing out her legs recently. She now walks around 5 to 10 steps at a time. She still walks on her tiptoes so that kind of prevents her for taking off and going longer. I don't know why she does that and I think she is the only one that started walking like that.





I love when the kids sit like this. I love their little toes and I wish I could sit like this longer than a few minutes.

I checked on Lindsay one night, which I don't always do, and I was surprised when I noticed that her bottom was exposed. So I took a closer look and noticed that her leg out of her pajamas and her diaper was off her rear. So of course I had to grab my camera to capture this moment. I am glad that I did go in that night because who knows what I might have found in the morning. Definitely a wet bed and hopefully not some #2's in her bed, yuck.




Here is Mallory loving on her much neglected dogs. So I took a few pictures of them since they do not get as much attention these days and they are getting older.


Mel's extremely large tongue.





Some more basketball pictures. Julianne had a great season in her first year of basketball. She really pushed herself and definitely came out of her comfort zone. She was point guard most of the time and ended up having a great season and she learned so much. I even practiced with her some nights and she would teach me about protection dribbling, screens, and left handed layups. So I am even having fun learning about the game and practicing with her. She still had days that she did not want to be the point guard because "it is too much pressure", but she really is the best person for that position on both teams. The local team, with all girls, was tough but not as tough as her co-ed league. She was good and really competed with the boys. She had really upsetting times in the game where she was frustrated with people blocking her or her not being able to protect the ball. I am just really proud of her for trying and staying strong. Basketball is a tough, aggressive sport. I know she puts a lot of pressure on herself so we tried to emphasize that she does not have to do that and it is about fun. Anyway, she had a great season and she really pushed her comfort level.

Things I am grateful/thankful for:
-Lindsay accomplishing walking
-Lindsay's crazy stage where she tears up my kitchen and never puts anything back. :)
-Julianne and all her hard work learning the tough and aggressive game of basketball
-D coaching Julianne in her two leagues and growing as a coach and a father in those times.

I am reflecting on Lindsay's birthday in a few weeks. I can't believe that our baby is almost one. It just seems like yesterday she was weeks old. I went to Mallory's school for a presentation yesterday and I saw a newborn, like a few weeks old. She was so tiny and pink. Then I looked at Lindsay and she was big, cruising, laughing, blabbing, and full of happiness. It was just so surreal to see the difference a year makes. I know that the nine months they are in the womb is nothing compared to the growth that occurs within the first year outside of the womb but it is too bad we can't see that as well. She is a happy, somewhat serious child. She still prefers to be held but has times that she crawls around the first floor and explores on her own. She likes to interact with the kids and sometimes wrestles with them. She is only posessive of me when another sibling is on my lap. Then she comes over and demands that they move. She loves her dad. She loves for him to carry around and for him to hold her when he comes home from work and eats his dinner. Within the past week she is showing her frustration by either putting her head down or arching her back in frustration. I know that more of that will come. She is not much of a snuggler, she is too busy with everything else. I remember that at this age Nathan was not a snuggler either but he is now a big snuggler. So hopefully that will come back to her. The girls still love her and still want to get her up from her nap. They also like to pick her up and move her away from their playing space. Nathan loves to tackle her at the basketball games when she is getting too close to the court. This year of growth is amazing and I am excited for the next year of her life. She will learn to walk, begin her tantrums, playing with the kids, talking more. It is such a fun age for kids.

Last night we had our first official no TV night. The kids watch about a half an hour to an hour of TV from 7 to 8 before bed. This has been their ritual for many years: they clean up their toys, get their desserts (if they get one) and watch TV. This either entails watching TV or playing an electronic devise, or both. It is not every night since we are so busy but if we are home during this time the TV is usually on. So on Sunday night I watch an Oprah show and it was about Hasidic Jews. it was very interesting and I really learned a lot about this group of Jewish community in New York City. I love how Oprah interviews different populations, cultures, religions. I think it opens my eyes up to different experiences and really in the end all we are all the same. That was even mentioned in this episode that even though this religion is strict in their dress, food separations, Faith and beliefs they are still people who love their children, want the best for their family and their community and really want to experience life. Anyway, from the show I learned that they do not watch TV, ever. Their kids help around the house, cook dinner, play games, read, sing songs with their kids, dance, etc. I loved the innocence of not watching TV. The older kids had no idea about all the pressures other teens go through with all the images of sexy clothes, games, violence, etc. While I am not advocating giving up our TV it is a great reminder that the kids can enjoy other things beside their beloved nighttime TV. So we went to the library and borrowed books they were interested in and looked at those books during that time at home. Nathan kept asking when are getting our treats and watching TV and I reminded him that we were not watching TV tonight that we were going to look at our books and explore different things we were interested in. So we did, we read a karate books, a book on figure skating, Julianne read a thumb sucking book to everyone, and Nathan looked through his Iron Man picture book. No one complained that they were not watching TV and it was nice. Nathan asked me this morning if we were going to watch TV tonight and I said we probably would and he said good. I asked him if he had fun last night and he did say he did. So I think I will try to do it every Monday, since I usually don't work and I am not cleaning up, catching up on house stuff or just exhausted, and make sure we have interesting books or learn about new things during this time.

Things I am grateful/thankful for:
-Learning about different cultures, even if it is through watching TV
-Lindsay and her growth
-Snow
-Julianne getting a 100% on her math test after having gone to school early to get some help
-Experiencing Julianne's mental growth with dealing with her emotions

January birthday's

Well we have finally completed all our January birthdays. Our household has 3 January birthdays including mine and D's. He gets to claim that for 8 days I am the older woman. During those times I like to say I am the wiser one for having lived longer then him. We have fun with it. We all had great birthday's. Not anything big but some nice family celebrations. I wanted to go to an indoor rock climbing place but with basketball in full swing I will have to postpone that adventure. So we went out to dinner and for D's birthday we are going to go to a local comedy show. We spent Nathan's birthday at the local Magic Mountain. We will never go to that over stimulating, games that cost more than 2 tokens (they said 2 tokens but once you put 2 in it demanded more), and bad pizza place. It was so over stimulating for D and I. The kids had an OK time. It might have been better in the warmer months when we could do some stuff outside but the kids play scape and the video games were too crowded and loud. I would go to Chuck-E-Cheese any day over this other place. So we will have to suggest bowling or another activity next time, even if it is not about us.











Everyone singing "Happy Birthday" to me.

I can't believe that Nathan is five years old. He is such a sweet loving boy. He loves to play sports, pretend play with the girls, do his learning books with Stacy, snuggle and read books with me, wrestle with D, play the ipod, and do it all over again the next day. He really is such a great kid. I love spending time with him while the girls are at school.

Julianne started basketball season and after a few over emotional time outs she is doing well. She is still getting used to this more physical game and learning the flow of the game. She is on two teams this year and it is a lot for her but she is working through it. She is on a local girls team and a recreation co-ed league. The competition in the co-ed league is fierce but it is good for her. D is also coaching both leagues so she is learning the fundamentals and enjoying the game with her father. I am happy because that means less time taking her to these practices and it is something that they can enjoy together. She is doing a great job and picking up the skills and learning the game. She was really upset when she got her first foul and did not understand that it is OK. That means she is really in the game. She also was amazed that players really do steal the ball. She is working on her confidence and her aggressiveness. I must say that basketball is pretty aggressive and it would be hard to really get into the game. I think with time and interest she will learn to turn that aggressive power on.





Funny picture of coach D getting into the game.


Lindsay not really enjoying the game or my picture taking activities.

Mallory having fun with Nathan while they run underneath the bleachers.





Of course I have to post some pictures of Lindsay. She is growing and eating like a champ. She loves lots of different foods so I am hoping that will stick with her, but I am not optimistic. She still cruises around and loves to crawl. She is playing with the kids more and seeks them out. She tries to hang with the big kids and what they are playing with but they don't always want to play with her. She is saying mama and dada but not really to us, just blabbling. She can also clap and wave. She loves to clap and started doing that when we were at Julianne's ochrestra concert in December. She will be one next month which just sounds and seems strange. Time does really fly by and that seems sad to me but I am excited to see what kind of personality she develops.

Things I am grateful/thankful for:
-good yoga practices
-warmer January weather
-another birthday
-Julianne continually working on her emotional highs
-my warm comfy bed and house
-when I do sleep well