29 Weeks, Sick Day

Lauren loves her Piglet these days. She calls it her daughter and wraps it in her special favorite blanket and says its her Baby Piglet. Caroline was 29 weeks Thursday.



And she was sick. She was not her cheerful self!

This smile (below) was one of just a few we saw all day. We could tell she was miserable, poor baby. Austin stayed home from school Thursday, making three sick days in a row for him. In the morning, Caroline was crying and crying and crying and just would not stop, so I called the doctor, thinking maybe she had an ear infection. I took her in, and the doctor checked Austin too. Neither of them have ear infections, thankfully, so no antibiotics. Though the doctor did prescribe Albuterol for both of them to help them with the wheezy cough. Austin had coughed the entire two hours he was in bed for his nap on Weds., and that was with the vaporizer going, and cough medicine! The Albuterol helped both of them sleep better, we think.

Austin went back to school Friday, but Julia had a sore throat and runny nose, so I kept her home. She read most of the day. Lauren also got the cold and is coughing a lot and has a runny nose. :( Lauren wanted to play Play Doh, and Julia nicely played with her for awhile. Lauren loves playing with Julia, but Julia is growing up, and often is not interested in playing the same things as Lauren. Though Lauren will willingly play anything Julia suggests; if Julia invites her. ;)

Playing Play Doh.... And a cute one of sweet Caroline. She had two big naps yesterday and was much happier than the couple days before! We are so glad to have our cheerful baby back. And glad for her that she feels better!

Library, Bath Time

We went to the library Wednesday after we picked Julia up from school. We usually go about every 4-6 weeks, but I don't think we've been there since early November! When Julia and Austin were really young we went to story time at the library, quite often. I think Lauren's only been there a handful of time. Life just got busier, I guess. The kids love going to the library. We check out LOTS of books each time. Julia checks out her own, and her bag is bulging when she's done. I told her she's only allowed to check out what will fit in her bag!


The kids are kind of interested in this picture-a-day project. A few times they've suggested pictures. They all liked seeing the pictures of them at the library.

These poor sick kids. Lauren was well here. Now she's sick. This was Wednesday night, and Caroline was the happieset that she'd been all day, just sitting in her little tub-boat in the steamy bathroom. Julia takes showers in the same room, so it was nice and steamy. Austin and Lauren liked having the baby in the tub with them.

I've got more pictures of Austin snuggling up to Caroline. He just adores her! Often he'll see me taking her picture and hop right in the frame, snuggling her close. She loves him just as much. I thought it was funny how Caroline was holding/chewing the blue fish and wearing the yellow one like a bracelet. :)

Sick Kids

This little boy



and this little girl, are sick. :( They both have bad colds, with bad coughs and stuffy runny noses. Caroline has been sleeping a lot. She hasn't been into eating her solids, just nursing. She woke up last night, in the middle of the night, for the first time in probably a month. The vaporizer is purring away in the room they share. And I'm glad they're the ones sharing, as they're both sick and both need the vaporizer!


Julia and Austin had no school on Monday for a teachers work day. Austin's stayed home the last two days because he was sick. I wonder if he'll even go tomorrow! Lauren is happy he's home, and those two have been playing together constantly. On the walk home from school yesterday morning, Austin found two dandelions that had gone to seed. He blew the first one, then handed the second to his sister, saying, "This is for you, Wawren." Today, on the way to school, Austin said his tummy hurt. So he got in the stroller and Lauren was only too happy to give up her seat so she could walk! She is a big kid after all. ;) She said she was going to find two dandelions and give one to Austin. I'd thought he'd picked them all, but we searched and searched, and found two (and only two!) in our neighbor's yard. So she nicely picked them, and gave one to Austin. I imagine there will be more dandelions soon, as those two blew the seeds all over. :D

Hanging Out at Home

Last Saturday we stayed home, and it was so nice to relax and not have to go anywhere. I finished taking and working on Caroline's 6-month pictures. I decided I could take my own of her, instead of going to Sears or Penney's, this time. All the kids had a nice time playing in the family room, reading, and watching movies. Often Brian or I will stick Caroline on the floor in the room where her siblings are playing. She really likes being in with them; I think she feels included, a part of what they're up to!



Random photo: Lauren took this Bible story book home from Brian's mom, as Grandma said she could. Lauren is enthralled with the story of King Solomon and almost cutting the baby in two, that the two mothers were fighting over. Oh my--she always has the book open to this story! And she wants that story read to her over and over and over again. And she "reads" it to herself, over and over and over again.

Naughty naughty Pongo eating my plant! See that poor plant?! That is what he has done to all four plants I had on that desk. Destroyed them! The healthy looking ivy is fake, or I'm sure it would be destroyed too. Look at him licking his chops!!

All the kids get baths on Saturday nights. Caroline still loves hers--she's getting big in the baby tub!

Just the sisters on Sunday. Lauren's wearing the Princess bow my friend gave us. Sometimes Lauren will say, "I'm a wittle dawling." or "I'm a wittle pincess!" or "I'm so pecious..." LOL She has a healthy self-esteem, no? Awhile ago at the grocery store, when we were shopping, she exclaimed out of the blue, "I don't want dat tood (that food)! It wooks wike GUNK!" I had to check out what she was seeing at her level, riding in the front of the cart in the little police car that's attached. She'd spotted a can of turnip greens. And I have to say I agreed with her. The picture did indeed look like gunk. :D No worries--Mama won't be buying that anytime soon. [If ever...]

Austin got this awesome set of Legos for Christmas, from my sister and brother-in-law. Over Christmas break Austin had put some of the castle together. And Julia helped him out, assembling the drawbridge. Then we got busy, went down to Brian's mom's, school started, Awana started, etc., and the castle sat. One day I told Austin to pick up the little pieces so they wouldn't get lost or vacuumed, and he started dismantling what he and Julia had put together! That was not what I meant! Saturday Brian helped Austin complete the castle. It went from this:

to this: I have to say it is a really cool set. The gate goes up and down, as does the drawbridge. There are launchers to shoot "things" at the bad guys. Very fun. He was playing with it with his Lego Coast Guard ship. Not sure how the Coast Guard and a medieval castle connect in history, but he had fun. ;)

Tomorrow my breakfast group friends are coming here, so I folded and put away laundry today and cleaned the house. I am going to make a Bisquick ham and cheese pie and Overnight Coffee Cake, and fruit. We are going to start reading this book, a chapter a week I think, and discuss it the next time we meet. Of course I will just be reading it for his sense of humor. Our kids are perfectly well-behaved. No advice needed for those angels.

:D :D :D :D LOL and KIDDING! ;)

28 Weeks, Project 365

I mentioned a few posts back, buying a pocket calendar. I am using it for a project I plan to do this year, where you take a picture and write just a little about your day, every day. I got the idea from this and read about it here first (but also a few other scrapbook blogs I read now and then). I didn't buy the kit and am going to do my own system for the weekly pages. I'm writing the little bit of journaling in the pocket calendar until I can get my pages set up. I have a stamp set on order for the days and week labels, which should arrive the middle of February, so then I can get started making pages! I don't plan to share all 365 photos here. I thought about it, but decided that would be too much to keep up with! I will share some though, and hopefully the layouts as I finish them.

Anyway. Every day we walk the same route to school. We see these cool mushrooms growing in shady spots in our neighbor's yard. Some of the clusters get really, really big! But most of the time her gardener destroys them before they get this big!! I hope he leaves them alone so we can see just how big they will get! I just think they are interesting. :)


Lauren got to walk that little bit on the way back home. I got a kick out of her trying so hard to push that stroller up the hill. She was bound and determined, though. And also I thought it was funny her boots are on the wrong feet. This happens all. the. time. She does not care. In fact, she gets upset when we tell her to change feet. So we just let her be! I guess she'll change them if she gets uncomfortable enough. And the next picture--Caroline at 28 weeks.

Caroline loves, loves loves watching the kitties! Pongo will often come by her on the floor, and she gets so smiley and excited! Both cats snuggle right up next to her, on my lap, when we're nursing.

Just a cute little smile :)

Caroline's 6-month appointment was this morning. She got more shots; she didn't cry at all for the first one, but did for the second! She weighed 14 lbs., 10 oz., putting her in the 30th % for weight, and measured 26" long, in the 55th % for height. She is such a peanut! It's no wonder she's still wearing 3-6 month clothes! The outfit above is 6-9 months, and it is still a little big. The pants were too wide around her waist, and the sleeves were too long for her arms. :) Caroline kicks so much; she is the kickiest baby I've ever seen--for sure of my own kids! The doctor said as long as she is sleeping well we don't need to be concerned, and can be sure she's getting enough to eat. Here is our picture of the day for today:

And one of her bandages. Poor little legs. :(

Now I have to go make Taco Soup for supper. I asked each of the big kids and Brian one thing they'd like for dinner and put each of those on the menu for this week. Julia wanted soup with chips (Taco Soup) and Caesar Salad. Austin requested chicken nuggets, so I'm going to make homeade ones. Lauren wanted tacos, and Brian wanted chicken corn chowder. I get tired of coming up with ideas. Every so often I ask them what they want, and really I should do it more often, as there is half the week figured out with those four meals!

Elephant Seals

We once again drove up to San Simeon to see the elephant seals on Martin Luther King Day. Just like last year. The car DVD system is still in the van from when we went to see Brian's mom, so the kids watched DVDs. They said looking at the beach and trees and hills is boring....! They liked seeing the seals, though. They all wanted to look at them through Brian's binoculars.


They also shared these tiny binoculars Julia once got at a safari themed birthday party. They do magnify the view a little, surprisingly, being plastic and all. ;)


Lauren was being a stinker, and Brian got her out of her mood with a big tickle. :D


We didn't see any births this year. There were a lot of mother and baby seals. It was very warm, then news said 74. The mother seals were flipping up sand over themselves and the babies.
Two male elephant seals:

Below: Brian and all the kids were standing on these rocks, and Austin tried to push Brian off. Brian wouldn't let Austin on that rock, and said it was his rock! He gave Austin a pebble and said that was Austin's rock. ;)

We went to a little restaurant, The Sea Shanty, for lunch in Cayucos. The waitress brought Tootsie Roll Pops with everyone along with the bill. The big kids noticed a playground across the street from the restaurant and begged to go play there. We were in no rush, so went over there after eating. Look what got left in the stroller as soon as we went to the park: Lauren's is the smallest--with bite marks in it. Though you probably can't see them at this size. She always tries to crunch up her candy as soon as gets in her mouth. Tootsie Roll Pops are a little hard to crunch up right away. ;)

Brian thought Caroline Grace better taste his sucker. Oh boy. One day it's rice cereal with a little applesauce. And the very next day she gets Tootsie Pop licks.

Lauren was the first one to spot the "door" in this huge bush. It was all hollow inside, and the kids had a great time climbing on the branches. They said they were climbing trees! You could tell they weren't the first ones to go in the bush as the ground was all packed down like many kids had played in there. :)

Wood Chopper, Pie Baker, and Feeding Six

Friday afternoon Austin and Lauren played outside in the backyard. He was chopping wood. He was actually chopping wood--with his little garden trowel! See the tiny little chip of wood he is whacking at with the trowel? To my amazement, it really was being cut. He whacked his finger a few times too--but that didn't deter him from trying to chop that little scrap in two.


Lauren was making pies. She said they looked like "little girl pies" (the rocket-shaped molds). And once she said that, I do have to agree. She brought many pies to me: "Here's a pie for you, Mommy. There's tchocowate tchips and marshmawwows on it!"

See what Austin found in the garden? Two nice ripe red strawberries. We split them five ways, so everyone could taste them! Kind of fun to be finding strawberries in our garden--in January! It has been really warm here, in the high 70s and low 80s, this past week. Crazy!

Pictures of the girls after church

Pictures of all the girls. ;) Austin was only too happy to not be included.

He built a tent for Lauren and himself to play in. Guess he was taking my picture as I took theirs!

And...I am now officially feeding and washing dishes for six! Well, I guess technically I have been since Caroline's been born, nursing her should count, after all. But today we gave Caroline her first solid food! She got a little rice cereal mixed with water and applesauce, and ate it all gone, about 1/4 cup or so. She was so excited, kicking her little legs the entire time. It was also very serious business, as she had a look of deep concentration on her face much of the time. :)

Each of the big kids had to have a turn giving her a few bites, of course.

Empty bowl, full tummy. :D

We tried feeding Caroline more cereal/applesauce mixture at supper time, but she wasn't too interested and only ate a few bites. Her doctor ok'd starting solids at 4 mos, but said we could wait till 6 mos. if we wanted, and that it was probably better if she was sleeping well and didn't seem hungry. She didn't seem hungry after nursing and she is a wonderful sleeper--sleeps through the night every night now, usually 8 hours. :D :D Honestly, I didn't want to start solids any sooner than necessary because it is one more thing to do! But she certainly was ready today, so it was definitely time to start her. I have to also say, that none of the big kids got applesauce mixed with their first rice cereal. Things have loosened up on this tight ship. I'm not worried about allergies with Caroline, and the cereal/water mixture smells pretty much like paste, so that is why she got some flavor added!

One more thing, some of you might notice Caroline's new high chair! The one Julia and Austin used, the seat cover broke, completely in two and the foam came out. I was going to use the old cover for a pattern to sew a new cover, but never did. We were given a new high chair for Lauren, which we appreciate, but from the beginning, it reclined too much, which caused more spills. So we are going to sell that one (hopefully) and Caroline got a new one.