Our 1st Unplanned Hosptial Stay

Disclaimer:  I've written this blog over the course of 2 days of half asleep hospital stay, so don't expect perfection.  My thoughts are choppy.  And I tried to go back & edit, but didn't get real far, soexcuse me if I have tenses wrong!

In our mere 2 years of life.....in addition to the 5-6 weeks spent in the NICU.  And Livi's day of eye surgery.  We have already conquered 2 different ERs in town from all various standpoints, allergic reactions to pneumonia.  Each child has been.  We have managed this year alone to meet not one, but 2 insurance deductables (thanks to a mid-year job change).  {Not to mention what our 2009 bills could have been if not for amazing insurance!}  But this is our first ER visit turned hospital admission.  And I'll tell you we were less than prepared.  There will be some household updates that go on as soon as we get home!

One... invest in a land line when you have kids.  The one time you need it, the $20 or whatever it costs a month will seem worth it.  Trust me.  I've been meaning to get us one for 2 years now.  For exactly the reason that cell phones are not permanent.  Thank heavens for amazing friends at 2:30am!! 

Two... I will be putting together (& giving at baby showers from here on out) a pack that fits in a diaper bag & says "Take with you to the ER."  Full of travel size lotions, soaps, a comb, tooth brush & paste, deoderant, razors, clean socks, underwear, a roll of quarters & a powder puff for all those zits weeks like this create.  {At least I have clean clothes & undies thanks to a little grandparent & sister respite.  Ones mind just never thinks to ask for the little things like deoderant in the moment.}  Anything else anyone suggests I add to the pack?!  Seriously, I'm making it!

So why are we in the hospital? 

My poor princess. 
She hadn't eaten anything all day Monday.  She took an extra nap.  I knew she wasn't feeling well.  Just figured the stomach flu that I had Sunday was hitting her too.

By 6:30pm she was wheezing.  Not totally surprising, she'd had a runny nose for days. So I gave her a breathing treatment we had at home.  Put her to bed at 8.  She was breathing heavy & having retractions. I definately wasn't completly comfortable putting her to bed, I just wanted to see how she settled in.  I checked on her every hour x2 hours & she was just laying there awake. Breating too hard to sleep!! I gave her one more breathing treatment & watched her breathe for a while.  I could count 4-5 ribs with each breath & she wouldn't sit still or settle to sleep.  That did it for me.  Restlessness I can not take.  {Pretty sure I've said that before!}  And hell, like I said, our insurance deductable is already met, whats another ER visit!!  So at 12:30am, we headed on in.....

We went to Children's & got right in the ER.  I was concerned, as our last visit there wasn't my favorite ER trip of our previous 3.  But this one I was pleased with.  She got back-to-back treatments right away, 1 albuterol & I'm not sure what the other one was, a combo of Albuterol & something else. Finally she relaxed & her breathing slowed down to closer to normal, but then her sats dropped to 87-88.  So we did a 3rd treatment, got some oral steroids & ended up on 1.5L of oxygen. (Which is apparently just a whif in their terms, sounds like a TON to a NICU nurse!)  We did an x-ray.  And as the ER doctor so appropriately put it "They can send babies home from the nursery on oxgyen, but from the ER we can not."  And so, we got admitted.

Her chext x-ray they say looks fine.  One small spot of some atelectasis.  But they don't think she has pneumonia.  She is afebrile.  We did not do RSV cultures.  At first they thought maybe it was a true asthma attack (with her history).  But it sounds like for now they have settled on a diagnosis of bronchiolitis.  Just something viral, so no antibiotics.  Just with her history of premature lungs & her either having asthma or reactive airway disease, it was just too much for her. {Apparently croup is going around like wild-fire here too, just an FYI!}  They are not diagnosing her with asthma yet, they say its too early to tell.  But we treat reactive airway & asthma the same at this point anyways.  We have seen various residents, the ER doctor, the on call ped Monday night, our pediatrician & today we also consulted with Dr. Thomas (the respiratory doctor Livi has seen in the past & has an appointment with in January.) 

Tuesday, we had a racemic epi treatment (and watched her heart rate for hours afterwards!). And 2 more doses of steroids. 

She has managed to drink well, so thus far we have avoided an IV.  Though it came close!  Tuesday, her blood pressure after everything was through the roof! I'm talking 135/88 type BPs! And she wasn't peeing despite drinking. Her abdomen was distended & I was getting worried.  We weren't sure what was going on?  We ended up doing a bladder scan & finding she had 200+ mL urine in there. We were talking about cathing, IVs, etc & all of the sudden she said "Pee potty" & we took her to the toilet & she sat down & peed 100mL! Then 5 mins later said it again, & we found a 150mL wet diaper. Sheesh girl!  After that, her blood pressure was back down to almost normal.  Baffles me?  She has asked to go potty here 2x since. I swear we'll leave her potty trained.  Heck of an expensive potty training course!

By evening (after a massive nose, booger sucker outer fest by the respiratory therapist!) we had her on room air satting 94%.  And she was pretty spunky tonight after a good nap.  So the test was to see if she could keep her oxygen sats up while asleep.  Knowing she had needed at one point up to 2L during the day while sleeping, I was doubtful.  And unfortunately, as soon as she sacked out, her sats slumped down to 85!  So we spent the night back on oxygen.  So we are pretty much guarnteed to be here for at least another night.
Last night her & I finally got a little sleep.  She had slept probably just 4 since we got here at midnight Monday  And I had slept maybe 1.5 hours since Monday at 8am.  My head last night was getting dillusional! 

Wednesday so far is about the same.  I'm at the hospital with Livi.  Jeff had to spend a day at work, preparing to take more days off of work.  And the boys are enduring their first day of daycare without Livi.  My heart breaks for them too!  We were able to get her off the oxygen again this morning.  But when we got her down for a nap, her sats dropped back down to 88-89.  (They want them above 90).  So she is back on 1/2L of O2.  An improvement from last night's sleeping sats though!! 

We are going to re-start her on her inhaled steroids that she was on last winter.  We "challenged" her this summer by weaning off of them.  And had a great summer.  But this was her first respiratory "challenge" off steriods.  And it looks like a big fat fail!  So back to the preventative steroids we go (its an asthma medication).  Per protocol, we'll get all the asthma education before she goes home.  Visit Dr. Thomas mid-January.  Hopefully have a less than eventful remainder of our winter.  And go from there...

My poor baby!  She has had a hard, hard year!  She is such a trooper!  The only time she has cried was for x-ray & one middle of the night breathing treatment.  Oh, and of course booger sucking.  She holds my had like a grown up & is so, so brave!  She needs a toy doctor kit though... as she's learned to enjoy playing with the stethoscope! Making me lift up my shirt to listen to my belly! LOVE HER!!

More learning

Livi is on this crazy learning-spurt!  She is so different that the little busy-body-boys who are just all about trucks, trains & airplanes. 

She's rocking her colors: Blue, green, red, pink, purple, orange, yellow, white & black.
And shapes:  circle, heart, moon, star, triangle, flower.

She brings me the magna-doodle & wants me to quiz her on things all day long.
The boys bring me magna-doodles & want me to draw cars, trucks, tractors & trains all day long. 
Don't get me wrong, the boys are picking up words rapidly too, they just aren't as interested in actively learning it all! 

Guess we need to start working on our ABCs!!!

She's even started asking "Whats that?"

This past week I came home one day to Jeff telling me we're in trouble with her already.  Apparently someone lost some change in our couch at the b-day party.... and she found it.  Brought it to Jeff saying "money!"  "two money!"  I have NO idea where she even learned that!  I swear the only "money" she sees me use is plastic (sad but true).  Such a girl! 

Sunday she showed her dad that I apparently take too many pictures.  She had multiple dolls, Elmo & Cookie Monster lined up on a chair.  She had a block that has a moving part (kind of looks like a camera button, I'll give her that).  Stood infront of them with it in her hand saying "Cheese!"  Took the dolls off.  Lined them up again.  And did it again!  I love their little imaginations!


But my favorite thing as of this weekend to hear the kiddos say is "Miss-Miss Tea"  Any guesses as to what new fixture in our house they are pointing out??

Thanksgiving

I got lucky to have a stretch of days off around Thanksgiving so we could celebrate with family.

Thursday we did Thanksgiving lunch at my grandparents with a slew of my aunts, uncles, cousins & their kiddos.  The weather was beautiful & we spent a lot of time outside.

 LeeLee's Turkey Shirt

 They weren't in a very picture cooperating mood.  We had to get out the fruit snacks just to get them to sit down.

Thursday evening, we traveled to Jeff's parents house for a late Thanksgiving dinner.  We brought along the kids' new sleeping bags for a trial run.  And I am proud to say they were a complete success!!  They went down easily for night & naps.  And slept well until morning.  They didn't necessarily stay "in" the sleeping bags all night.  But not too bad for a 1st time. 

There was one little funny though.  Saturday morning, the boys were up (& somehow opened their bedroom door!!)  And we heard Livi whining in their room, so we went to get her.  But she wasn't in her bed!  We ran across the hall to our room.  Searched the near by bathroom.  And their bedroom closet.  She of course didn't make a peep this whole time.  Where the heck is she??!!  Finally we pulled up the bed skirt on the bed in that room.... to find Livi underneath!  Jeff asked her what she was doing?  She replied "Stuck!"  She had apparently crawled in from the side & was trying to get out the bottom, but the bed frame at the foot of the bed sat too low.  We got in a good laugh!  A similar event happened the following night while she was looking for her lovie in the dark. 

Friday we watched the Husker victory (er... me & the kids napped through the first half!)  We stopped by Jeff's Aunt Linda's house to help celebrate two of her grandkids' 1st birthdays.  My boys are so much like their daddy... I can not get them to eat cake!  Livi on the other hand, asked for it & ate a whole piece!! 

Livi & daddy got to break the wish bone from the turkey.  Wonder what Livi wished for??

We spent Saturday playing with Addie & Ava.  And headed home Saturday afternoon.  Jeff & I stayed up late & put up the stockings & Christmas tree. 

Sounds like so far the kids are doing pretty well with the tree.  Why do I say "sounds like"... well because I slept through most of Sunday.  Why??

It's apparently my little way of keeping the holiday pounds off.  I had the "pleasure" of enduring my 2nd stomach flu of the season.  I can't believe it either.  What are the odds??  I spent 90% of the day in bed.  I'm pretty miserable.  Logan slept poorly Saturday night & I don't think he felt like himself either.  He napped on & off with me all morning & afternoon.  He was so sweet.  I would wake up to find him with his head on the pillow face to face with me, driving a car on the pillow & watching me sleep!  Once I woke up to find him rubbing my arm.  By evening, he seemed to be feeling himself.  Hopefully no one else gets it this time!  By this evening, I'm functional at least.  I am absolutely exhausted!  Just completely beat.  And my body aches, aches, aches.  But I will take that as long as the kiddos stay healthy this time!

Hope you all had a fantastic Thanksgiving!

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to the best daddy we could ask for!

Happy Birthday also to Grandpa Tom.
And Happy Anniversary to Uncle J & Aunt Becky!

{The best I could get!  Everyone's sign is already torn by this point & taped to their shirts ;) }

A TURKEY Play & Craft Date

Friday morning my friends Kerry, Laura & I had an impromptu play date for the kids & craft date for the mamas.  Thanks to some Pinterest inspiration, we now have some pretty adorable Thankgiving gear for our crew of pretty adorable kiddos! 

Livi learned to say her friend Mason's name & spent the evening talking about "Mason house."  "More Mason!"  Though at this age, none of the kids really play "together" per say, Mason was apparently a hit with her. 

Thanks for the great time girls!  Its always a blast!  Thanks for having us over Kerry!

My pictures didn't turn out all that fantastic.  Kinda fuzzy!   Hopefully Kerry's are better!!

Some pre-cut patterns.  Lots of tracing & cutting.  {A trip to Walmart}  And some more cutting...

And ironing.  And cutting.  And more ironing.

 And we have a boy turkey shirt!  Front & back.

 {A little blurry, Jackson was running away}

 And a girl turkey shirt!

 Mason, Jackson, Grant, Hayden, Olivia & Logan.... our little turkeys all ready for Thanksgiving!

 Gobble, Gobble, Gobble!

Parent-teacher conferences

I have officially sat through my first ever parent-teacher conference!  Phew!  Glad to have that out of the way.  Kind of funny to think about, I know.  But its true, our daycare did have a sort of parent-teacher conference about 2 weeks ago. 

It was a pretty quick little ordeal.  Less than 15 minutes.  I didn't have any real concerns, nor did they.  It was optional to go, obviously.  But I was excited for a few one-on-one minutes with the kids' main teachers & curious on how they thought things were going.

In short, all is well.  We still have a few morning tears on & off (really just from Miss Liv who has become a super-duper-mama's-girl in the past few weeks.)  But I love Miss Janette who is there at drop off time.  She is great in that situation.  Otherwise its happily playing for them.  They are often so into playing when they get picked up, we actually have to encourage them out the door.  Which is the biggest change from the early days.  I'm glad they enjoy their time.  They eat well there.  They are finally sleeping well there (more 2 hour naps vs 45 min naps.  Though daycare days still = early to bed nights & crabbier evenings, assumingly just because they got woken up at the crack of dawn.)  The teachers rattled off names of a handfull of kids who are their "favorites" to play with.  And if I didn't think that socialization was a fantastic opportunity for them, I'd hire a nanny so they could sleep in.  But I think, especially Hayden, so far as had some drastic changes in his socialization abilities, as strongly evidenced in his social bravery at the football game this past weekend.  Jeff would agree. 

Their teachers said the do an awesome job helping pick up.  I know they LEARNED how to pick up at school.  So far my favorite, favorite thing they have learned there.  At home now I can tell them things like "If you want to go outside, we have to clean up all these trucks first."  And they do!  Ok, not always, but they are toddlers, nothing is always.  They are transitioning to a new "main" teacher, as their old one is doing more work on the preschool side.  (Makes me sad, I like Miss Amanda, she does a lot of creative, sensory things with them!)  Their new teacher said she was shocked at how well they listen.  That they only have to tell/ask them to do things once & that she was very amazed by that.  Wow!  Wish they listened like that at home!!

They said they did a little "experimenting" on how they did seperated, and that they didn't like it.  I guess I didn't ask specifics as to what they did when seperated, probably because I wasn't surprised.  I assumed that would be the case.  They said they do branch out away from eachother & play.  But then every so often, stop what they are doing to go around & find everyone.  Take roll sort of.  Then back to playing.  Kind of sweet, I think! 

They had a little book of some of their coloring projects.  Pictures.  They tried to get their handprints one day... Logan didn't cooperate.  He didn't like the ink on his hands, just said "YUCK!"  I just laughed, so typical.  They had a checklist of developmental things they watch for & mark off.  There wasn't much checked off, but they are only there 1-2 days a week & have only been going for 3 months.  They sent the checklist home with me to go through & bring back.  I checked off probably 90% of the things on it.... so that made me feel good about them from a preemie developmental standpoint.  I asked about how they felt they did developmentally?  They said they keep up just fine, they had never stopped to think about them being preemies.  Even though I don't think they talk as much there as they do at home, they still felt they keep up in the speech category too.  Most of the gals there do actually have degrees in Early Childhood Education, so its at least coming from someone who does have some educational background in it.  Not just a college student part-time job thing.

So thats that.  Check first parent-teacher conference off my to-do list!  Next step, first trip to the principal's office. 

Prematurity Awareness & 2 year well check

November 17, 2011 is World Prematurity Day.  Raising awareness about the seriousness of premature birth.

On this day, I celebrate NICUs everywhere & I celebrate the health of my preemies!  I pray for all those less fortunate than us.  And I stand amazed at the little miracles whose lives I've had an opportunity to play a small role in. 

On this day, we celebrated by finding out just how big our 2 year old preemies are!  We visited the pediatrician for our 2 year well visit. 

Developmentally, we get an A!  We said YES to pretty much all of the developmental questions they asked.  {The only one I think that was a no was saying things like "I" or "Me" rather than "Olivia" or "Logan."  We do say "mine" though}  We talked a little about speech.  They should have 50+ words in their vocab, (& I think we are all there.)  Strangers should understand around 40% of what they say.  (so hopefully they do?)  And we should be putting 2 words together (which Logan quickly squeeked in this week!)  So all is well for now.  We'll just keep an eye on how they progress, especially with speech, making sure they are improving with their actual pronunciation of words.

Hayden still has big tonsils.... we'll keep watching them.
Ears look good!
Hearts & Lungs sound good.
And he was glad our past few months of daycare hadn't landed us back in the office too much thus far!

The main thing we discussed was Logan & Livi & their outie belly buttons or hernias?  They had those massive umbilical hernias as babies, remember?  They don't look all that big here, but I remember thinking Livi's was the size of a golf ball.  Maybe it wasn't really that big at its peak, but thats what I remember comparing it to. 

Most likely a product of prematurity (though Uncle Ethan had one too, so genetics could play a part?)  Well they shrunk way down a long, long time ago, like at 6-7 months old, & I just assumed what was left was an outie.  A little leftover stretched skin.  But Dr. Fran thinks that the defect {the hole in the abdominal wall that allows for the hernia} is still present.  Or may still be present.  Small, but present.  So he suggested we visit the surgeons to see if they recommend repair.  Usually if they are going to repair themselves, they do so by age 2.  So now that we're two, its time to check with the specialists.  He said they might not even suggest surgical repair & at this point its really up to us.  Not that I want any surgeries, nor do I feel they give us any trouble at this time, but I think its worth a vist to Raynor's office (or one of those guys in that practice) for a consult.  Especially because I know Uncle Ethan's (which never got repaired as a baby) hurts him sometimes as an adult.

So I need to call & make that appointment.  Livi needs a follow-up appointment with Dr. Troia {eyes} made for April-ish.  And we were supposed to take Liv back to see Dr. Thomas {respiratory} this fall too, but I'm guessing now it will be after the 1st of the year for sure before we can get in?!  Seesh!  Guess I'll spend the afternoon on the phone!

We got 1 shot, Hepatitis A vaccine.  And they got their flu {mist} vaccine. 

They of course were scared.  Cried some.  Said "all done" & "bye bye" a lot.  But we survived.  Fully enjoyed some fruit snacks when it was all over.  And assuming we stay on a healthy course- we don't go back until they are THREE!  That seems crazy!

We had a difficult time getting Hayden to stay on the scale.  I think he actually weighs more than what they got, but no biggy.  {My guesses going in were 25-26 lbs for Livi & Logan, 30-31 lbs for Hayden.}  And somehow they got Hayden to be shorter than Livi & Logan, which is obsurd.  We laughed about it.  All agreed even watching them run around the room that that could not be true.  Tried it again, & still failed.  Oh well.  So... I stood them by the wall & measured them at home before putting them down for naps ;)  I think what I got seems more accurate when you see the percentages.  They are still shorties.  These percentages are on their term growth chart.

Hayden:
Weight:  29 lbs 6 oz (67%)
Height:  {They got 34.75 in which was the 60%}  I got 34.25 in (48%)
Head:  20.25 in (98%)
*At 18 months, he was 26 lbs 11 oz (62%), 32 in tall (43%), head 20 in (99%!)

Olivia:
Weight:  25 lbs 15.5 oz (41%)
Height:  {They got 35 in which was the 80%} I got 33.75 in (50%)
Head:  19 in (64%)
*At 18 months she was 22 lbs 15 oz (30%), 32 in tall (63%), head 18.5 in (65%).

Logan:
Weight:  25 lbs 12.5 oz (22%)
Height:  {They got 35 in which was the 67%} I got 33.5 in (28%)
Head:  19.5 in (67%)
*Logan has really caught up in percentages this past 6 months.  At 18 months, he wsa 22 lbs 3 oz (8%), 31 in tall (16%), head 19 in (57%).

What do you think??!!

My mommy-blogger friend Ashli over at "Baby on the Brehm" posted picture of this new safe sleep campaign.  I'm not going to choose sides on this debate.  But just due to the pure shock value of the ad, I just could not help but share:

I'm a nurse.  And a mommy.  I know the sleeping campaigns.  I know what the statistics say.  SIDS... we all hear it 1000 different ways, 1000 different times.  But this seems a little dramatic.  Scare tactics taken to the extreme.  I broke "the rules," my babes slept on their bellies.  And had blankets.  {Not in my bed though.}  I understand what parents do for sleep in despiration.  I understand cultural beliefs.  Personal beliefs.  And I also understand that those beliefs will withstand any attempt to change one's opinions by inducing fear.  I also understand health care's responsibility to educate families on what the research says is safest sleep practices.  But this is down right playing dirty! 

The guidelines I saw recently are also saying a baby should not be put in a swing or bouncer for long periods of time, or for sleep until the baby is more than 4 months old.  There goes the bouncy sleeping for those reflux babes.  Is anything safe anymore?

Thoughts??!!

Advice??!!

So... I'm thinking of doing some house re-arranging?  I've asked a few other Moms of Multiples their input & have gotten kind of mixed answers. 

Here's the situation:

Issue 1:  We have a 3 bedroom house.  One is ours, one is the kids & one is office/storage.  We have the basement set up with basically a couch, TV & toys.  The problem is, the kids prefer not to be down there, especially not alone.  Everything migrates back up & our kitching/dining/living area upstairs just becomes a clutter.  We spend almost all of our time on the main floor & by having that 3rd room as an office, it feels like "wasted space" & that we could make a better use of it. 

Issue 2:  We are starting to gender differentiate a little bit.  And I'd like Livi to have a little space for "girly" stuff.  And the boys have a little "boy space" for their cars {and their present Santa has hiding in our garage.}

Possible solution?  Move office furniture to basement.  Move Livi to her own room in what was the office {there is already a purple accent wall!.}  And split up the toys between the 2 bedrooms to make room for the office/storage stuff downstairs.  Of course some toys would still be in the living room & downstairs.

Ideally we'd have enough rooms to do it all... but for now we don't.  I just want to feel like we are maximizing the space we have.  And I want to make our house look the best possible way we can have it arranged so when Jeff (hopefully) finds a full-time job for fall, we can (hopefully) jump into the journey of selling our home & looking for a larger one. 

My worries:
Will Livi sleep without her brothers???
Will having more toys, like the big stuff, in their rooms impact my good sleepers??
Will they play in their rooms, or will it all still end up under the kitchen table?


We always planned on splitting up the kiddos into boy/girl rooms as soon as we found ourselves in a larger house.  Figured that would be a great time to jump to twin beds.  New bedding, new beds & boy-girl seperate rooms with new decor.  Two of the other b/g/b triplet mamas I talk to often moved their little girls to her own room around 9 months of age, their kiddos slept better that way.  I thought about it then too, I just felt bad for her being "alone."  And we had no sleep issues.  Now I hope we can still transition ok?  I have heard nightmare stories from another triplet mama who waited until right before kindergarten to seperate her g/g/b triplets & a whole year later still couldn't get their little boy to stay sleeping in his own room. 

So... what do you think??  If you were me, what would you do?? 

IF we do it, I want to do it around Christmas, when Jeff has some time off.  Just incase its a rocky transition.  Plus I can incorporate some of Liv's Christmas gifts to be things she might need to make a girly room.  I think Jeff's ok either way. 


On a complete & total side note, look how long her hair would be in back if it wasn't for those curls!

I still love words!

So I know we aren't leading the pack of 2 year olds with our vocabulary & speech abilities.  But I don't think we are bringing up the rear of the pack either?  I'm curious to see what Dr. Fran has to say when we go for our 2 year ped visit on Thursday?  What "the list" of what-your-2-year-old-should-be-doing questions the nurse will read through all includes?  And what we need to work on?  And oh so curious to see what they officially weigh & how much taller they have gotten?  {And if they do any better in the dr office being 6 months older & exposed a little more via daycare?!}

Just a few of the newest things we hear around our house....

Logan: 
*"Ma-mus" {Thomas- as in the train}
*And he has totally got the hang of the 2 word thing this week.  Apparently turning 2 did that for him?  "Bye Bye daddy" "More nak"  "two block"
*He's been saying colors {mostly blue & red} like crazy this week & occasionally he is even right, mostly with red, "run".
*And he is starting to repeat more & more things.  He needed a "word-spurt!"

Olivia:
*"Neck"
*"Two blue sock" {Blue- another color she knows!}
*Its no longer just "nack," but "root nack" {fruit snack}
*"Ma-mus"
*"Uh- side" {outside}
*"baby bobble" {bottle}
*Among dozens of other things she surprises me with constantly!  Her newest thing is sitting & "reading" books to herself outloud.  It's all mumbo-jumbo, but insanely cute!

Hayden:
*Says "pee" everytime he poops.
*Also says "Ma-mus"
*"happen?" {said when he gets hurt.  I think because I say "What happened?" when someone is crying}

Last week Livi, Hayden & I carried on a 10 minute conversation about who is all coming over for their party on Saturday!!  They said "three mama" "two papa"..... then sometimes they switched around the 2 & 3 just to get a reaction out of me.  "Baby Aba".  "ADDIE!!"  "Baby LeeLee."  Livi said "Alex play?!"  Liv finally has "Ti-tuh" {Tisha} down.  And her & Hayden are working on Aaron & Ethan.... though the 2 sound quite the same & more like "Alan" than either of the above.

"March," "stuck," "help," "broke," "yuck," "mess," "sweep,"& "trash" also lead the pack as most heard words around the house.  They are becoming a bit anal & a bit of "neat freeks."  Always worried about having dirty hands & always wanting to throw trash away.  Think thats genetic??  Or learned? 

Along with more words comes more push for independence.  I can't tell you how many hour long "fights" or tantrums I've had because I absolutely refuse to let them have fruit snacks for breakfast!!


Going to be an insanely busy next few weeks.  Thanksgiving, Jeff's birthday, Jeff's finals, Christmas.  Seems crazy to think of how close Christmas really is?!  {Though I'm excited for Jeff for this semester to be over.  Hopefully next semester will be a little calmer?}  I've got a good start on presents.  And a good list that won't take me long to finish, so that feels good.  I think this year we'll actually put up a real tree??  Last year we just did a tiny one on an end table since we had 3 one year olds.  Not sure how it will go over??  Hopefully it doesn't get tipped over?!

2nd Birthday Party!!!!

We rang in the celebration of year 2 with a Sesame Street theme.  "Melmo," "Cookie," & "Tweet tweet" {Big Bird} are a hit at our house!!  We had beautiful weather for mid-November in Nebraska, not quite warm enough to be outside.  But nice none the less.  We had a house full of friends & family who came out to celebrate with us & spoil us rotten.  We are so blessed & so loved!! 

Elmo, Big Bird, Cooke Monster & Oscar the Grouch pumpkins

Sesame Street party hats for the kiddos!

Yummy Eileen's Cookies!

We let all the kiddos play for a while & then jumped right into presents.  They did a pretty good job opening presents this year.  They had it figured out & didn't need help.  The only catch was they got so excited about the things they got, they didn't want to move on!!  Towards the end, they were done.  They just wanted to play with their new things.  Jeff & I ended up mostly opening the last few.  We should have done it in spurts.  Opened a few before eating & a few after.  That just goes to show they got a lot of good stuff!!

Hayden

Olivia

She thought Cookie eating her finger was hillarous!

Logan

We ended up getting 2 of the same present.  Lightening McQueen & Mater.  We tried to take one set & put it back to return.  But Logan would have none of it!  He insisted on immediately opening them all.  But I think this was a blessing... hopefully it helps us avoid a few battles!  Logan has slept with a handful of these cars both nights so far!

This is what the kiddos got from mommy & daddy.  {Thank you Craigslist for making this purchase budget friendly!!}  Hoping this will be a good way for toddlers to burn energy in the garage this winter!!

Hayden trying it out!

Olivia!

Hayden & Livi enjoy it.  Logan, not so much.  Typical.  All the kids had a great time with it at the party!!

Then we ate supper {and mommy dreamed of a bigger kitchen!!  Maybe next year?}
Here's Addie "talking on the phone" while she eats.  Quite the little multi-tasker!

And afterwards, we did cupcakes & sang "Happy Birthday!"

They needed help blowing out their candles.  And weren't so sure about the cake.  Logan said "YUCK!" when he got red frosting on his hands.  And Olivia immediately wanted her hands "wash."  Quite a bit different than last year!!

Then it was back to playing!  The kids were go-go-go for hours!  Stayed up LATE!  It was a real party!!  We ended up with a 3.5 year old, 5 2 year olds, a 1 year old, a 5 month old, a 7 week old & a 2 week old at the party.  Plus grandparents, aunts, uncles & friends!!

Livi, Addie & Liv's new baby bouncing!

Baby LeeLee came to celebrate too!  I was the lucky one to catch her in an awake moment!

Towards the end of the night.... a worn out Livi cuddling with mommy & Analeigh!

My 3 Elmos giving Grandma GG & LeeLee kisses before she goes home.

The kids crashed & slept hard!  And the next day took a good 3.5 hour nap!!  Wow!  They were party animals!

Our lucky ducks got lots of awesome loot again this year.  Lots of books, CARS, food sets for their kitchen, dishes, coloring books, a basketball, Mr. Potato Head, games, a slead & snow boots, Old Navy fleeces, a baby doll, sleeping bags & barns with animals! 

The sleeping bags come in backpacks.  Hoping the kids will learn to sleep in these as it would be a lot easier than traveling with 3 pack & plays!

These are the barns the boys got.  Hand made from their Great Grandpa!

We had a fantastic birthday.  We are so thankful you were all able to make it out to celebrate!!  We would not be growing into the kids we are without all of you in our lives.  {Nor would our parents still be sane!}  We are so blessed to have you all. 

Happy 2nd Birthday Hayden, Olivia & Logan! 
WORDS CAN NOT EXPRESS HOW MUCH I LOVE YOU!!