Tiredly Awake

Little Miss Blue Eyes #2 was yawning at 7:30. I thought- COOL! I am going to have a nice long evening all to myself (since Rhya was being put to bed by her Daddy)

I should know by now that anticipation wrecks everything. She was determined to stay awake. DETERMINED. She nursed enthusiastically (in our bed) but instead of falling asleep she popped right up, pulled herself up on the headboard, and started waving out the window. Then she plopped down and started yanking at the clock. After that she proceeded to sit on my belly and pull my hair. Any time I tried to lay her down she squawked.

I gave up and sat her on her potty while feeding her a jar of baby food. She chowed. Then crawled over and pushed Rhya's door open while saying, "EH, EH!" ...as loud as she could.

It was so funny because I KNEW she was tired. Her eyes told me so. She just MADE herself stay awake by 'baby talking' super loud, crawling all over, and getting into stuff.

I finally grabbed a paci and blankie, and headed to the lazyboy while making little throaty noises. Instant conk out.

Her favorite place to sleep is as close to Daddy as possible (or as he says, 'on his head') so we'll see how long she lasts in her pack 'n play.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Change gears:
I took the kids sledding at the farm on the last warm day:

I LOVE Rhya's creativity. Her attention span is getting quite long. She's very particular on how she scrunches the tissue paper, how big of a glue dot she squeezes out and how she strategically cuts the corners out. Then she'll surprise me and rip off an entire edge and scribble like crazy. :-)

Rhya told me that she could butter her own bun. 

Let's just say it was a hectic day. Turning off the sink was not a priority. :-)

I don't know why I bother to wash mirrors, but here are my helpers, hard at work! The wee one is shredding  paper towel.

We rolled pine cones in peanut butter and seed and hung it out for the birds. Thanks for the idea, Kristina!

She sits just like her Daddy, right, Gma Mo?

A few weeks ago

9 months

I just sat down and copied last year's calendar unto this year's calendar. I kept seeing my pregnancy weeks: 30 weeks, 37 weeks, 39 weeks, 40 weeks (I should've written 42 weeks down- ha!)

Months later, Brielle is let's see...roughly 38 weeks old! She's been out as long as she was in. ;-)

At 9 months, Brielle weighs about what Rhya weighed at one year: 19 pounds, 4 ounces.

Brielle is still a humongous Mommy's girl but loves chilling with most people as long as I am out of sight.

She is addicted to climbing the stairway and will howl if we shut the door to prevent the event!

Anytime we start talking about leaving she starts waving 'bye-bye' while saying, 'eh?'

Brielle claps her hands and puts her hand to her mouth to make a 'ba ba ba' sound.

She thinks it's great to play hide and seek, whether it's peeking around one side of my shoulders and then quickly switching to the other, or by putting something over her head and then whipping it off, or by laughing when people hide behind their hands and then appear.

She is increasingly interested in what Rhya and Jordan are up to and is able to keep track of them. She rocks back and forth with glee when she's actually able to enter in.

Brielle loves to play the chase game (especially on the stairs). We say, "I'm going to GET YOU!" She laughs hysterically and climbs/crawls for all she's worth.

Anytime the fridge is open for any length of time you can bet the baby will be there. Today she climbed to the first shelf and grabbed for the olives.

She loves to rip toilet paper. If you are at our house and see shreds all over the floor you will know that the baby has visited the bathroom.

She also loves to unload ANYTHING. Ex.: if the dishwasher is open she'll grab the utensils, one by one, and fling them on the floor, without even looking to see where they're going.

Sledding is right up her alley. Bundle her up good and she'll last for as long as the big kids!

If I am holding her while drinking from a cup you can be SURE that her little hand will grab at it like crazy and then wail if she doesn't get a sip. Same goes for when I am talking on the phone.

Today I opened the door into the garage to see something quick and she's completely lost it when I closed the door: she thought she was going to go outside with me! The same thing happened when I yelled down the stairway at Nate and then turned around: she thought she was getting to go downstairs with me!

She's a fiery one. Not only that. She's
- such a lover
- a lightening quick grinner
- playful as a puppy
- snugly as a teddy bear

Sigh. Baby love.

Always Interesting

Life with kids is far from dull. Here are a few events from the past week:

The other day Rhya yelled from the bathroom, "Mommy, I am going to cut my HAAIRRR!"
Before I had a chance to run in there, I heard the snip. And another. She was looking pleased as punch as I barged into the bathroom. The scissors was posed for another section, ready for action!
 We had a little discussion. She now has two little botch jobs by her left ear. She sincerely thought that I would be proud of her new-found accomplishment.

We met Amanda and the kids at the Bloomington Rainbow Systems indoor playground. It was incredibly fun! Afterwards, our appetites hauled us and all 5 kids (2 and under) into the crowded Panera Bread. We spent the meal keeping the babies happy, helping the three 2 year olds with their food, reminding the kids to keep their feet off of the bench, picking up dropped utensils, sneaking in a little adult conversation, etc etc....
This is what took the cake: I guided the 3 kids into the bathroom before heading for home. The toilet was massive. Rhya hopped up like she usually does, but kept right on going! Next thing we all knew, her head and feet were the only things sticking up from the massive toilet bowl. Screams prevailed. She was wet with toilet water up to her belly button and knees. Thankfully she wasn't hurt and it was so hilarious that we all started laughing our heads off. At least the lady in the stall next to us had some potty time entertainment.

Never a dull moment.

Eventful

Almost every visit we've made to Terry and Sarah's has resulted in memorable events:
- Wedding
- Maida
- Gabriel
- New Year's 2012/13

We arrived Sat night. The kids had a WONDERFUL time in the tub:

Catching up on snuggles:

 Saturday eve went awesome. Sunday, special meeting day as well as Terry and Sarah's 3rd Ann, Nate woke up sick. Monday Rhya puked all over their carpet (she gagged on grapefruit juice and lost her supper). Brielle got poop (nasty runny teething poop) all over their hw floor. Sakari, the dog who never has accidents, pooped on their carpet.
Monday Gabriel was beside himself ALL day.
Tuesday Terry woke up with the flu.

Those were just the side details. The 'memorable' part of our stay was little Gabriel.
He fell flat on the parking lot, thanks to slippery ice, while being carried into special meeting.
He was very (understatement) fussy for the rest of the day. He got a goose egg on his forehead, but no other injuries were found. We chalked up his wails to being sore, teething, constipation, and a bug.
Monday brought zero relief for the little man. He coloring was gray, his skin was cold and clammy, and he would scream in pain every time we moved him.
Monday night the broken leg was discovered. We spent New Year's eve in the urgent care getting the little man all fixed up. The splint brought instant relief. Here he is, all fixed up:

He tried SO HARD to be his happy self through it all. What a sweet boy! 

The dogs were feeling a little bit neglected, so Rhya did some Mollie lovin:

We're hoping for some good ole' uneventful visits in the future. :-) Happy healing, Gabriel!!