Leah's First Trip to The Mall.

Last weekend we all went to the mall to pick up a suit for Dennis and pick up a couple other things.  It was really our first long trip out as a family with Leah.  She didn't do so well.  She doesn't love being in her car seat and I think she is so used to being home and sleeping in her bed/pack n play that she isn't as good at falling asleep out and about.  She did better once I took her out of the stroller and put her in the baby carrier.  But, overall, she doesn't do so well away from home.

Yesterday, Leah had her follow up with a urologist and a another renal ultrasound.  We got good news that the dilation in both kidneys has improved.  She needs to get one more follow up at 1 year old, but I was told that the chances of her needing surgery now are almost zero.

Leah 3 Months Old!

Leah is 3 months old today!  Leah at 3 months is doing so well.  She rolled over for the first time last week (February 6th).  She rolled tummy to back twice.  She is sleeping well.  She is starting to do a 6 hr stretch at night.  Going to bed pretty consistently around 8-8:30 now and waking up somewhere between 2-3:30 to eat and then goes back to sleep.  She wakes up somewhere between 7-8.  Sometimes waking up one more time between those times.  During the day she usually is up, eats (she is a quick eater and doesn't seem to eat as much as the boys), plays, and then goes down for a nap after being up for 1-1/2 hrs.  She does that pattern pretty much all day, though the evenings aren't always as predictable.

She likes to sleep to white noise.  And she naps on her belly (even though she isn't suppose to).  At night we put her on her back swaddled up and she does well.

Leah loves to play on her play mat now.  She is starting to reach and hit the toys that are hanging.  She smiles and laughs at the toys.  She also laughs at the bears hanging from her swing.  She likes the swing ok and will play in it for a short period, but eventually fusses.  She hasn't really fallen asleep in the swing.

She is laid back and patient a lot of the time, but when she is tired she fusses and just wants to be put down.  She doesn't want to be held when she is tired, she wants to be put in her bed.  She also doesn't love her car seat and doesn't fall asleep too quickly in the car.

We are loving her so much and just love to kiss and cuddle with her and to make her laugh and smile.

Valentine's Day 2013

Valentine's Day started off with the boys being surprised when they came downstairs to see a love note from Dennis and I and a mini light saber that holds M&M's, at the kitchen table..  To say they were excited doesn't even come close.  They couldn't believe we bought light sabers, even though they were small.  We started this tradition of surprising them with a small treat on Valentine's day a couple years ago and I love it.  We only spend a couple dollars, but it is so nice to see their excitement.

The boys were SO excited this year when they got home from school.  They each had a bag full of valentine's from school that they dumped out so they could go through them.  They had Valentine parties at school, which they were excited to tell me about too.

Logan was home today, but he can't wait to go to school tomorrow and see what he got.  Today, he just spent time with me and Leah.  Dennis surprised me with a delivery of flowers which was awesome, especially because I wasn't having the best day.  I wasn't feeling well and I was extremely sore from working out yesterday for the first time since early pregnancy.

Dennis then picked up sushi for us on his way home from work and McDonald's for the boys.  Fast food is a treat for them because we rarely eat it.  Our long drives to VA and the occasional time Dennis is out of town and we are in a rush for dinner are pretty much the only time's we eat fast food.  Colin didn't even know what McDonald's was until he was maybe 3 and he didn't have a french fry for the first time until he was about that same age.  We always order happy meals with fruit for them and milk instead of juice/soda or fries.  They don't even ask for fries, though now the happy meals have to come with fries and fruit, so we don't even have the option to not get fries.  I know one day they will ask for fries and something other than milk, but while they are little and don't care, I figure why give them junk if you don't have to.

Anyway, it wasn't the most exciting Valentine's Day, but it was still nice to take a moment to remind each other how much we love each other.

Dennis' 37th Birthday!

Not having a babysitter, we were restricted to staying home for Dennis' birthday this year.  So instead I cooked him a nice meal.  We had a delicious ribeye steak with blue cheese and onion sauce.  I also cooked a chocolate pie.  It was a nice night and hopefully Dennis didn't miss going out too much...

Oh and both Evan and Colin without being asked made Dennis homemade birthday cards that were very sweet.

Wilson.

Colin and I went to church on Saturday for a walk through of mass.  The priest basically talked to all the second graders and their families about mass and why we do all the different things during mass.  It was actually very interesting.

The boys spent a lot of the time outside this weekend playing football.  It was freezing, but they didn't seem to care.  Dennis and I took turns running different errands, but other than that it was a quiet weekend.  We did all enjoy an family outing out to frozen yogurt on Friday night.  That was probably our first family outing with Leah.

Evan was excited this weekend because he got to bring home "Wilson", who was his class stuffed animal.  He got to do things all weekend with Wilson and then write in Wilson's journal about what he did and include pictures.

Leah has been smiling and cooing so much and it is so cute!!!

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Flying Solo.

Dennis has been out of town this week.  Which means I had to take all four kids to Tae Kwan Do on Tuesday and Thursday evening.  Colin is also going this week and next week, because if he does 2 free weeks Evan gets a back pack.  Colin also loves it and wants to do it longer, but we don't really want him doing the same sports as Evan.  We also know that he loves soccer and every other sport he has tried, so we would rather him focus on soccer for now and see how busy we are once that starts up in the spring.

Anyway, we survived all going to Tae Kwan Do.  Dennis got home tonight just in time for me to go to a parent meeting at the church about Colin's First Communion.  It was a busy week, but things seem to be settling down around here now that Leah is getting older.

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A Future Author?

Evan has become very passionate about writing.  Before going to Kindergarten he would write "books", those books were pictures with squiggly lines for the words and he would read them to us.  Now that he is starting to read more and his writing is taking off, he has started writing books again.  He often will come home from school, do his homework, and then start working on his book.

He recently wrote "The Case of The Missing Key", He wrote Illustrator Evan, Author Evan.
He was so excited to read it to me.  Then he decided to take the book to school to share it with his class.  His teacher emailed me and said that he read it to his class and inspired others to write books too.  His next book he is working on...."The Case of The Wimpy Super Hero".

Last night was the Super Bowl.  Dennis and I made some yummy appetizers for dinner and we all sat in front of the TV and watched it.  The boys were disappointed to have to go to bed at halftime, so we recorded the rest for them.  They watched the halftime show this morning.  Since they aren't used to evening television they were kind of in shock by some of the risque commercial adds.  For example, one had a gorgeous woman making out with an overweight nerdy guy, Evan says, "They were eating each other!".  Then, there was an underwear commercial with male models and Colin says, "Awkward".  They were also not sure how to react to the Beyonce half time show that they saw this morning before getting on the bus.

In other news, we got a minivan!!!  I never pictured myself with a minivan, but with 4 kids it was past time to get one.  It is just so practical to have all that space for traveling and the best part is the automated sliding doors.  No more having to worry about the boys swinging the doors open and hitting the cars next to us.  We chose a black Toyota Sienna since it has all wheel drive.

Dennis is off in New York all week, so it is just me and the kids for the next four days, should be interesting.

This morning I had a phone meeting with Evan's teacher since I couldn't set up a time to conference with her.  She said she wishes she could clone Evan and his enthusiasm for learning.  His reading has greatly improved and he is past where he needs to be by the end of the year.  They also did a reading test where the benchmark was a score of 120 and Evan scored a 240!!!  And he got 100% on another test that checks his sounding out made up words.  I hope he keeps up this love of learning.

Leah had another shot on Friday to prevent RSV.  She was 9lb 2oz with her diaper and onesie on.

Spending time with Daddy...