Santa at Our House

Santa visited our house for Christmas. Luckily he was a little lighter this year. We are running out of space in the house with three kids now. The girls have plenty and next year hopefully I can find some volunteer opportunity so the kids can start learning how to give back.

Santa

Santa made his second consecutive appearance at the holiday party. The girls managed to keep it together to sit in his lap. Shortly after he left, we had to leave too. (See post below).

Merry Christmas 2008

Tiffany invited the gang to her house for a Christmas celebration. She had a craft table set up downstairs and we were going to make our traditional graham cracker houses at her house since we were unable to do it earlier.

We had a great time but I underestimated the craziness of organizing the kids at her house. Usually we have it here and that's all we do. The kids were super energized to be at Tiffany's house and were bouncing around like crazy. Plus I thought we'd be able to manage making the houses like we did last year but I think with more kids added, we will need to premake houses. It was still fun and I'm not sure the kids were disapppointed, I did not hear anyone complain.

We did have to make an early exit though. After ALL the excitement, Carys threw up twice and the final straw was Helen pooping in her pants. It could have been worse I guess but that was pretty much the end of the party for us.

Handsome

Just thought he was handsome in this photo

Proud Sisters

See their smiles, they tell the story. Of course, he can't walk or talk yet.

First Big Snow 2008

Poppy took the girls sledding this year by himself (pretty brave of him considering how scared they became last year). It turns out they LOVED it. They even went down the monster hill together without Poppy. Poppy admitted it was probably best that I did not go, I probably would have freaked out. I will try to work on that in the future, they obviously proved they were up to the challenge. Carys is now ready to go down by herself. I'm sure she'll make it this year.

I will say, Helen's snow angel is a little too close to the road for my taste though.

Post Bath Chill Out

Walker loves his bath, especially the few moments when he's warm and dry after the bath. We've started rubbing his legs with some baby oil and he just relaxes and soak it up. Baby spa anyone?

Faking Holiday Baking

I'm trying to push past the extreme exhaustion of taking care of a newborn 24/7 and give the girls some holiday fun. I'm taking shortcuts this time and not trying to bake from scratch (which is a huge challenge for me even when I'm fully alert). We've done sugar cookies from the package, icing from the container and we do have sprinkles to make it fun.

The best part is the girls don't know the difference right now, the cookies are actually edible and we enjoy eating them as much as making them.

We did also make these delicious buttermilk cinnamon muffins from scratch. The girls love the muffin tops (they were basically bathed in butter and cinnamon sugar- who wouldn't love it) but the rest of the muffin went uneaten. Poppy and I love these muffins and as soon as I start getting more rest, I will be trying more baking recipes from scratch.

Carseat Babies

Lately Poppy and I have been reminiscing about our babies, who Walker resembles, and what traits he might have as he grows.

I've enjoyed looking back at photos and have found that we even took similar ones with each baby. I guess it's similar to the naked baby on the lawn photo that is basically a requirement in the South (but obviously season dependent here).

So we've subconciously opted for the "traditional" carseat photo. I'm going to keep my eyes out for more of this phenomenon to share with you.

I think Walker resembles Helen more from this photo group, especially skin coloring and hair.

Happy Thanksgiving!

This year we give praise to God and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for providing our needs and some of our wants, and thanks to all of our people who love and help support us.

The picture above is Walker's "sleeping bassinet". We have not completed the final move into Walker's room, that's what sleep deprivation will do when you don't prepare ahead of time.

I guess we "thought" we had more time. But this arrangement has actually worked out for the best for the moment. I don't have to move far from the bed to reach him and he's not super worked up waiting on me to feed him at night. The drawback is Poppy's sleep but since he's not going to work this week-end, we can make this work for a few more days. I am ready to have his room set up, with the crib and clothes in their proper place. Maybe we'll get to it this week.

Poppy Love

One thing you should not do when you bring a new baby home is ignore the current "babies". The girls got plenty of love from us and here's a few pics of them with Poppy.

Big Sisters

Here they are, the big sisters!

They were very happy to be able to hold baby Walker in the hospital and almost each night they get two minutes to hold the baby. They really love this time with him even though it's short.

Now they have at least one thing in common, they are both big sisters, and they do seem bigger to me.

The girls are holding up well but they are bouncing off the walls a bit. I think partially due to the interrupted schedule baby brother has introduced as well as the wintertime lack of outside activities. I'd still be taking them to the zoo at this time of year or the park so I do feel a bit sorry for them but they are the luckiest big sisters in the world.

It's a Boy!

Welcome to our lives Walker. The girls are so happy to finally meet you!

Roommates

Poppy worked extremely hard today rearranging and organizing the girls' room. We had to make a trip to the container store for more shelving so each of the girls could have their own drawer space in the closet. I had a meltdown about where the PJ's would go but we eventually figured it out. After tossing out some dozens of kids hangers and random kids bits and pieces, the girls are on their way to sharing a room.

We've decided to put bunk beds on hold for a while b/c of safety questions since they are so young. This makes the room even tighter. We are going to try the set up as is and see how they are able to sleep and use the room. We've left the bookcase and I intend to have some space or cubby or box for each of them for "their" stuff. "Their stuff" was an issue prior to moving in together so I'd like for them to be able to keep personal items to themselves without having to share since they are already sharing a room. Of course, I will always encourage sharing but I don't want everything to have to be shared via parental mandate or situation mandate.

Now the dining room and baby's room are a mess and tomorrow I hope to sort out the remaing stuff without a home at current posting.

UPDATE: Helen fell asleep before Carys tonight, wonder of wonders. They were both tired since we got up super early. I know this is the honeymoon stage and things can (and likely will) go downhill before they are permanently settled into sharing a room. But it's interesting how happy and content Helen seemed tonight to be sleeping in big sister's room. And Carys does have a generosity that is beyond her age allowing her sister to invade her room with a happy heart.

We'll see...

Tiny Dancers

Helen has a CD player in her room for her nighttime soothing music. Now her room has morphed into the princesses ball. She and Carys have been dressing up and playing the one princess CD they have over and over. It's great fun for them, now that they are taking dance class, they are very interpretive of the music. Carys is looking forward to teaching a dance class to Helen and the new baby once he arrives.

Very Little House on the Prairie

Poppy and I are not complete city dwellers so we do have a yearning at times to be in the open country. We tried our local forest preserve but found some unauthorized fire pits, luckily minus the people who created them. This led us to the Arboretum, which is not near our house at all, but totally worth it. Since we rarely have a chance to wander, the girls enjoyed running freely. Being outside, with trees and grass on all sides was great until the mosquitos started biting, which reminded me that I do like the city for a lot of reasons too.

There is no perfect place, but luckily we have outlets for our city genes and our country genes.

Flu Shots

Just another reminder to get your flu shot. We've all had ours now. The girls and I got ours today. Carys was VERY upset to have a shot today. Reminds me of myself, I used to be TERRIFIED of shots. A sticker and a sucker go a long way in the healing process.

Construction Paper, Glue Sticks and Scissors

The girls spend a LOT of time with construction paper, glues sticks and scissors. Helen LOVES cutting paper. She's had a few close calls but is pretty good with the scissors. Then she glues the bits on more paper or bags them for next time. We've added other elements like jewels and cutouts from magazines. I need to take more time to have cut outs from magazines and show them how to make collages.

Carys was in a building mood and was making a house until she became frustrated that she did not know how to put a roof on. I think that ended this session for her but it kept her busy for a good while.

Little Chef

Helen loves to cut things. With knives (here she's using a dull butterknife) or scissors. At school, part of the practical life skills is cutting carrots. She's cut herself a few times but I believe they monitor the kids fairly well.

I've not had the chance to do much cooking with the girls and Helen in particular. They've had a ton of practice setting the table and are great helpers with putting out dinner plates, forks, drinks etc.

I'm looking forward to having more time to find recipes we can all work on. It's best if there are a few jobs for each of the girls and they do not have to do the same thing. They are becoming competative so it's not fun when they argue over jobs. We all did make a brocolli and rice casserole (Helen's favorite) together with no fussing. Everyone was able to do a few jobs and it was very satisfying.

First Day of School

Carys and Helen are at the same school this year in the same classroom. I'm not sure it's been as productive as having them in different classes, but there are other reasons for that as well.

Carys seems protective of her little sister as she is protective of the other little kids. She is definitely the mother hen, sometimes to her detriment. Her challenge is focusing on herself and her work first and helping others when she's completed her tasks. She is a social butterfly.

Helen's challenge is following the montessori rules and picking work that's appropriate for her age. She is very independent spirited and will try to do work she's not ready for. This will serve her later but right now, she has to learn the steps to put things together.

Helen 10 Day Update

The recovery period for Helen's procedure is 10-14 days. I thought we might have a shorter period because she seems to heal so fast. I was wrong. She's had good and bad moments and some really good moments recently but she is still recovering and in pain during certain times of the day. Particularly at night sleeping. I'm thinking maybe because she's not distracted by anything and acutely aware of pain and her need for sleep. She did not get any pain meds last night because we were trying to see if she needed it and we were feeling like we were starting to overmedicate her. Turns out we should have given them. I've spoken with the ENT nurse and have it all straightened out now so she should get a good rest tonight.

The pics are from this summer. We found another great hangout, the Morton Arboretum. It's not as convenient as the zoo but has some great little trails where you can pack a lunch and forget you are part of the big city. In addition, it has the BEST kids playpark. I'm sure we took more pics, I'll dig them up for later posts. It's good to remember how fun summer is as a motivator to get through winter.

Update on Helen's Surgery

She did excellent on Halloween and the next day. So well that we began spacing her meds 6 hours. But there is a relapse period we were aware of but forgot about momentarily and she started to feel the affects of her surgery and the scabbing that occurs at the surgical site. She'd eaten well and did not complain until we put her down for bedtime, she was boohooing a few hours later. We could not be sure she was awake but decided to give her the meds an hour early. She would not have ANY of it. I think she may have been caught halfway asleep and was in pain AND mad that we were trying to wake her up. After much crying, I was able to rock her and calm her down. Once she started snoring, we were able to administer the meds.

Today she's doing well with a little fussiness this morning that she did not sleep well. I tried to have her nap today, she would have none of it. Hopefully tonight will be restful.

She's staying out of school a few more days until she no longer needs meds and can eat regular food.

Halloween 2008

Carys and Helen had a great Halloween (these pics are from their Walkathon parade last week- pre surgery). Helen was a trooper and went trick or treating and did not fuss when I told her she had to wait to eat her candy. I did bring some hershey kisses to ease the candy moratorium.

We had the usual clan there with the little kids getting bigger and ready to trick or treat too, Silas, Kerala and Claire. It was a kids chaotic paradise. Carys totally got away with eating some candy I would not normally allow. I have a feeling once we have three, she'll try to take advantage of the chaos a little more as little kid would. I'll have to work with her on that.

In the end, we went home with a smaller amount of candy than we have had in past years (I was happy about that).

Bribery, Coercion and Fear

Everything we've done this past few days has included a bit of bribery, coercion and today a healthy dose of fear.

One of our main issues is keeping Helen hydrated when she does not want to drink or swallow anything. No matter how sweet or novel the drink or food is. So we had to attach a stipulation to everything she did. Want to watch a movie? Drink this juice first, yes, all of it. Want to play with this toy? Eat this jello first, yes, all of it.

Today she got wise and danced around for quite some time. We had to bring out the big guns and add a bit of truthful fear factor. If you don't drink this, you'll have to go back to the hospital and get another drink for your hand (How the nurses so cleverly refer to an IV). This motivated her but surprisingly slowly too. We had to make a realistic looking phone call to the Dr. at one point. It's a shame that some people are only motivated by fear at times.

I'm hoping tomorrow will not be as much of a struggle. And yes we are managing her pain with meds every 4 hours so it was a bit of pain and her personality.

Breakfast of Champions

Helen had a yummy looking breakfast. She did not manage to eat much but with a bit of prodding she did finish her juice box. Fluids are the most important thing right now and that's what we've been pushing.

Helen had quite a spread at the hospital and luckily we prepared at home to have the same options. I probably overdid it a bit and we will have a LOT of pudding and jello left over. But I did not want to run out of suitable food for her.

I was a bit jealous when I read that twinkies are an acceptable food item for her. For some reason I've been craving twinkies and Poppy has pretty much made it clear he does not want me eating them. If only I had seen that list before her surgery, I would have stocked up for sure:)

Helen Surgery Follow Up

Helen was a trooper the day of her surgery. Actually, I think we all were. In solidarity with her, we abstained from eating until she was prepped to go for surgery. We were delayed and she did not go in until 4:30. Carys and I did not make it until 4:30 but we left to eat about 30 minutes before that because they told us it would be another hour.

Helen was a true champ. I think she was definitely distracted by her hospital gown and the patient advocate who stopped by to show her pictures of the sleeping room and give her bear a bubble gum flavored mask and stint for his arm. The highlight of her visit for both girls was the saline bag connected to IV tubing. They played with that for at least 30 minutes.

Finally, once she was in surgery, I believe it took less than 1 hour from start to finish. Then came the hard part, recovery.

Once she was in the recovery room, she was disoriented and did not want any water or popsicle the nurses were trying to give her. I showed up a little early and they let me in anyway. Helen cried for some time and they did give her a bit of morphine for the pain. Finally once I asked if she could snuggle in my lap, she was calmed and fell asleep. We were there about 45 minutes and when the nurses were assured she was not having any reaction to the anesthesia, she was wheeled to our curtain covered cubicle in the overnight surgical observation section.

We had very spartan accommodations and I know now why Children's is eager to rebuild next to Northwestern. They need some serious updating in their accommodations. But Helen did not care about that. She slept, fussed about the IV and cried about her throat. It was difficult to distract her from the pain but she did seem comforted if I held her. She took her oral meds well and during the night had a few sips of water a bite of yellow jello, a sip of grape juice, and a few licks of a grape popsicle. I think she was a bit disoriented through the night and did not fully understand where she was. Luckily, we packed her nighttime music on my IPOD and brought a travel speaker. It saved us from countless noises and random TV's being on and children crying. Basically we had a little bit of calm behind our little curtain for the night.

Morning was easier AFTER she had her IV taken out. She was highly agitated during that procedure. Vanilla pudding was the first thing that she ate more than a bite of but it was the chocolate pudding that allowed the nurse to release us once she ate the entire cup.

We are home and are settling into watching a few movies. Helen is on strong pain medication so she can eat more during this period of swelling. Once a few days have passed we'll be mixing in some regular tylenol.

We thank God our prayers were answered and Helen seems to have come through this and is on her way to recovering fully. We just have to watch her for any rambunctious play that could dislodge the scabs forming in her throat.

Surgery

Helen has surgery scheduled for tomorrow at 1:30. Please pray that her doctors perform at their best, the surgery goes well and she heals quickly.

Play Doh (or in this case just colored dough)

When Carys was Helen's age, she did not really care about play doh and especially if

I was not intently playing alongside.

I think because Helen can focus on this kind of project and Carys has someone to play with, they are in harmony for about 35-45 minutes before I have to intrude and judge who has too much of one color or instruct them that play doh does not belong on the windows but on the table.

We started to confine the play doh to the porch b/c as everyone knows or finds out, it makes one heck of a mess.

These pics are at the beginning of a session, note the colors have not been "blended" yet.