Heather 8 months

Heather is on the move. A couple of weeks ago she learned how to crawl on all fours and there is no stopping her now. Everyday she is getting faster. She is also pulling up and climbing on everything that is chest high for her. She is getting better and supporting her weight and I don't think it will be long before she is cruising.

She has also learned to clap and beat on a drum. It is so cute to see her get excited. First, she lets out a loud delightful squeal followed by clapping. She loves to see Sam and watch him play fetch.

She has recently discovered the joys of splashing in the bath tub. So much so that sometimes she topples herself backwards.

Her new favorite food is Cheerios. I think she would eat a whole box if I would let her. Lately she has been refusing her morning baby soft cereal for crunchy cheerios. I have also given her spaghetti, which she loved. She also likes finely shredded cheese. She is doing well with the sippy cup and will drink formula out of it. The past few days she has drank about 6-8 oz during mealtimes.

This past week she went for her 9 month check up (a month early) because the doctor wanted to make sure a previous ear infection was clear. At this checkup they draw blood and check the hemoglobin (iron) and she was found to have low levels, so now I have to give her multivitamin drops with iron and if anyone has ever had to give this nasty stuff to their kid they know what I mean when it is like giving your baby dirty engine oil. It is the most foul smelling, staining, disgusting stuff I have ever given my child. I had to give it to Brooke as well for about a month and I hated it then as much as I do now. Although, I have learned a few tricks. #1 don't ever give it to your baby while they are dressed or on anything that is not immediately wipeable. I'm talking naked on a tile floor, watch out for the grout. #2 make sure the baby is lying down with their head between your legs and have an old towel draped over your legs so that you don't get dirty. #3 squirt just a little into their cheeks so hopefully they can't spit it back at you. #4 I hope that no one has to give this repulsive stuff to their baby! She will have her levels checked again in a couple of weeks and I pray that they are normal!

Heather is wearing 6-9 month clothing and size 3 diapers. She weighs 15lbs 3oz.

Potty training woes

Potty training has not gone as smoothly as I hoped it would. I know that Brooke is mentally capable of learning this life skill and maybe that is why it is so frustrating that she hasn't been interested in learning. Several months ago, she peed in the potty and I was so happy and thought that she would master it soon, but to my dismay that was only a one time occurrence. Then a couple of months later she wanted to go poo poo in the potty and with 3 successful days I thought we were on the track to having her trained in a few weeks! I was thinking her lack of interest was because of my inconsistency in asking if she needed to use the potty. So, I started becoming more consistent and we always tried before bath time, but I was only met with defiance. We have tried encouraging potty usage with stamps, stickers, and candy without much success. So, last night I decided maybe if she picked out her big girl underwear herself then we would have more positive participation. We went to target and she gleefully picked out Nemo and Toy Story panties. I washed them last night and she wanted to wear them today. Wish us luck as we try yet another different direction to potty training.

Oops! Did I forget to mention....

Ryan passed his oral boards!!!

And this is how he celebrated....



I bought this special beer (Life and Limb - from brewers Sierra Nevada and Dogfish Head) for his birthday a couple of years ago and he has been saving it for a very special occasion! This was certainly a monumental achievement that deserved a proper celebration!

Congratulations to my wonderful husband! Words cannot explain how proud of him I am! He has spent countless hours...(or more appropriate) years studying, working call for 36hrs straight (and sometimes more), stressing about surgeries, and not to mention time away from family so that he can be the best surgeon he is today! I know there will still be time spent studying, getting up at inconvenient times to go into the hospital, etc... but I am glad this is behind him and now hopefully he can relax a little!

Chicago

Ryan and I went to Chicago 2 weeks ago because he took his oral boards for general surgery on May 2nd. We arrived late Thursday night before his exam because he was taking a prep course on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Heather and I tagged along for moral support and also because one of my best friends from high school, Eskai, lives in a suburb of Chicago. While Ryan was occupied with his course I visited with Eskai and her family all weekend! It was great. On Friday we went to a local chocolate festival!

Me and Eskai

Heather pulling herself up to the front of the stroller so she can stand.

Trying to capture a sweet picture in front of some beautiful tulips. Their tulips and daffodils are blooming this time of year in Chicago, so it was a beautiful site.

On Saturday, it was just Eskai, Heather, and me and we went shopping at IKEA and the mall.
While at IKEA, Heather fell asleep in the stroller and we decided to eat lunch there hoping that she would stay asleep through lunch and catch a good nap. Instead, as soon as we parked the stroller beside the table and stopped the constant motion her eyes popped open and she only ended up taking a short nap. So, I took her out of the stroller and was holding her. I knew I smelled something funny and figured she had a dirty diaper, but I wanted to finish eating my lunch and then I would change her. Well, as I was entertaining her and moving her around Eskai noticed that she had a blow out through the back of her onesie and then we found some on my shirt and.. there was also some on the stroller.... and Heather's sweater. This was the most massive blowout any of my children have ever had and of course it would happen while at a store on vacation. Luckily, I had packed a fresh change of clothes for Heather and a t-shirt for me in her diaper bag! (ladies, I always recommend keeping a t-shirt in the diaper bag for you because this is actually the 3rd time I have had to use it. Both of the previous times were due to throw up and spit up) And thankfully, IKEA had a huge family/nursing room that we were able to take advantage of and clean ourselves up! At least, we could laugh about it later. Eskai was so sweet to even take home our clothes and wash them for me, so I would still have a back up set in case it happened again.

On Sunday, I met up with her family again to have some famous Chicago style deep dish pizza. It is a backwards pizza. They start off with cheese on bottom then sauce then toppings. It was very good, but filling.

Here is a picture of Sarai (Eskai's 4 year old), Eskai, Me, and Heather.

Then Ryan, Heather, and I headed to downtown Chicago where Ryan would be taking his exam the next day.
After Ryan's exam, we decided to take advantage of 1 1/2 days to tour the city. First we went to the Chicago Art Institute.

We saw some amazing very famous art works.

After that we walked around and saw The Bean (Cloud's Gate), a stainless steel structure and Buckingham fountain.

The next day we headed out to the Field and History museum and that took up most of the day.

That night we hired a babysitter for Heather and treated ourselves to a fancy dinner.
Moto restaurant in Chicago was a memorable dining experince. It was unlike anything I have ever had before. It is called molecular gastronomy. Molecular gastronomy seeks to investigate and explain the chemical reasons behind the transformation of ingredients, as well as the social, artistic and technical components of culinary and gastronomic phenomena in general. Here is just a few highlights from our 10 course dinner.



Ahi tuna served with lime juice saki foam made into a snowman with Hawaiian salt crystals and pink peppercorns for buttons.


The forest floor with a truffle cream topped with green bread crumbs and dehydrated mushrooms, green and white asparagus, and cauliflower.

Cracker Jacks - Quail roasted in cola sauce served with powdered popcorn and candied peanuts then a sweet cherry flavored surprise.


Warm blue cheese sauce served with chamomile bubbles and candied hazelnuts.


Violet soda served in a flask with cardamom leaf and orange and vanilla packing peanut.

While on our trip, Heather started crawling on all fours and experimenting with funny faces.

When we arrived back in Longview, one of the first things Brooke wanted to do was see Heather. At first sight they both we all smiles and Brooke held Heather's hand. It melted my heart!


Of course while I was shopping, I had to find something for Brooke. She loves Nemo and recently fell in love with Mickey Mouse, so we went to the Disney store and I found some stuffed animals. She instantly fell in love with them and they quickly became a part of her crib essentials.

Pictures

These are pictures I have been meaning to share. Sorry for the back up in blogs lately.


This was a quick shot of the girls in their Easter dresses before we headed to church. Brooke fell outside the Thursday before Easter and had a busted lip for Easter this year.

For Lisa's mother's day present this year, we decided to take a picture of all 3 of her grandchildren...together. This was a major task to get a toddler and 2 infants to sit still AND smile for a picture. Before Jason came over, I took some shots of the girls.






Jason was having a time sticking out his tongue and I thought these were too cute.

Here is another hilarious one of Jason sticking out his tongue.

And another....ha ha!
This was one of my favorites, but I just wish Heather was leaning into Jason.

This one made the cut and was printed and framed for Lisa.

Heather 7 months

Heather is now 7 months and the name of the game is mobility. There is no more sitting still and staying in the same place. I couldn't get a staged picture with the animals this month because she was so active. She has discovered how to army crawl and is getting into everything. Brooke is starting to discover how bittersweet it is having a younger sibling. She enjoys showing her how to crawl and interacting more with her, but at the same time she dislikes Heather getting into her stuff and destroying something she took time and effort to make.

Heather's personality has really blossomed this past month. Along with the enhanced mobility, has come more opinions about which foods and toys she likes or dislikes. She doesn't like banana flavored baby food at all. I can get her to eat some of a real banana, but nothing that is manufactured baby food. She sometimes refuses green vegetables. She loves anything she isn't supposed to have like dirty laundry left on the floor, shoes, papers, magazines, cell phones, etc. She gets bored with the same old toys, so I try to change them out. She is starting to protest being put in the bouncy seat because she know that she can't crawl out of it. She protests when I walk away from her. She is sleeping 10hrs at night. She goes to bed between 7 and 7:30 then wakes up around 5:30 for a feeding and goes back to sleep for another couple of hours. She still takes 2 naps a day, one around 9 am then another around 1:30. She weighs 14lbs 15 oz. She is wearing 6-9 month clothes and I just bought size 3 diapers for her.

Spring Portraits

We had professional pictures taken at the end of March courtesy of Jan and Tom Barnett Photography. This is a perfect mile marker for the kids as Brooke just turned 2 and Heather is 6 months. There are literally hundreds of pictures and it was so hard to choose which ones to pick for the blog, but here are my favorites.