Just Because

Lainey & Ellie updates

Alaina - everyday she surprises us by what she says and makes us laugh with her cute made-up songs and expressive face. Often the songs are made up of whatever we told her last as in the classic, "no hit, no hit, no hit . . ." I also love to hear her sing Yo Gabba Gabba songs ("wiggle, wiggle, wiggle go . . ." and "don't bite your friends"). She's well into the "I do it myself" stage. She still uses her binky (it's proving a hard habit to break), sleeps next to her bed instead of in it, and loves to wear puffy skirts--the better for dancing (and eating and sleeping). Alaina claims to be 7 years old (most definitely inspired by her sister) and when asked her name she says, "my name!" Lately she's been really excited about saying prayers. Other fun words: "arf arf" for dog, "jammies" for all clothes, "skirt" for skirts and dresses, and "gnope" for milk. She great at saying your welcome and sorry (though she doesn't seem to genuinely mean the latter yet).

Gabrielle - she's been crawling for about a week (crawling! my baby's getting so big!), she's eight months old, and has recently started clapping (we're pretty sure Alaina taught her). We stopped feeding Ellie solids while she was sick (because nursing was hard enough for her) and now I'm having a tough time getting her to eat them again. She was having purees three times a day. Now, I can barely get her to eat them for one meal. We've finally started to let her "cry it out" at bedtimes (we moved her pack 'n play into the bathroom). Elle's favorite toys seem to be: diapers, wires, and remote controls. She also loves singing/playing "The Grand Old Duke of York" (she's loved this since we first sang it months ago).

Darn Snow

Yesterday I tried to pick up some cupcakes before the snow hit. I timed it wrong and what should have been a 20 minute drive home took me about 2 hours and 45 minutes. That's right, 2+ harrowing hours with my three little girls in tow, a nearly-dead cell phone, both house keys (sorry Drew), and virtually no necessities. And by necessities I mean hats and gloves for all of us, a coat for Ellie, drinks, snacks, snow shovel, a coat for me (I stupidly wore just a zip-up hoodie). Lizzie & Ellie slept during part of the drive. Alaina cried and whined almost the whole time. She was hungry, she didn't like her seat belt, she kept kicking the window and telling the snow to go away because she didn't want it there. Argh! Notice my back window. Totally covered in snow. It came down faster than I could melt it. Probably the worst driving conditions I have ever experienced.

Snow day today. Of course. Yes there's snow on the ground, but not on the street. I had no problem getting to the gym and Target and a friend's house this morning. I'm sure I could have gotten Liz to school. Ditto on tomorrow since school's already cancelled.

This evening the girls and I made edible snowmen (chocolate covered marshmallows on a stick). Kissing snow people. Incidently, whenever Alaina sees kissing--on t.v. or between her parents--she says ewwwww.

Yesterday's cupcakes were from Fluffy Thoughts Cupcakes in Mclean. It was my first time going to any sort of cupcake shop and they tasted fine, but I still just don't get the whole cupcake craze.

Feelin better . . . pretty much

So, we survived nearly a week of illness. Andrew & I are done with our meds and we feel better (except for the lack of sleep). No more migraines, no more cold chills and body aches, no more laying on the couch begging Lizzie to bring us diapers for the babies because it was just too hard/painful to get up. Oh, and next year we'll definitely get our flu shots instead of skipping it like this year.

We had an intense day when then girls all spiked really high fevers and we had to keep the ib profen following pretty regularly, but after that the kiddos seemed to steadily improve. Lizzie feels better and is back at school, or would be if today wasn't a completely unnecessary "snow day." The babies are still a bit sick but it's manageable. No more projectile mucous-spitup mixture from Ellie. Whew.

We had a lot of days at home while we were all sick. The first few days the kids were lethargic and spent most of the day napping and watching t.v. When their health began to improve we had to find ways to keep them busy:

Kitchen Drums A Christmas package from Aunt Cindy came at just the right time.

Liz decorated a gingerbread house from the post Christmas clearance. $1 and worth every penny.

The day the kids started getting sick my friend, Trish, called and said she wanted to get rid of her kid's zhu zhu pet home. Did we want it? Yes, please.

The loved playing with/fighting over this.

We also colored and turned these recyclables . . .

. . . into a V'day garland. It wasn't to everyone's taste so we also made a one with patterned paper.

Lizzie made a fort.

Ah, I'm glad it's pretty much over. We knew we wouldn't feel like cooking much so we bought a bunch of pizza at Costco. It'll be a long time before I crave another slice. Last night my VT, Michelle, surprised me with scrumptious homemade soup. It was so, so good. Creamy, lots of dill. I love, love, love dill. Yum. I had it for dinner last night and breakfast this morning.

Sick Day #2

Today is going better. We have been able to chill at home (well, I did take Gabrielle to the doc this morning) and the medications seem to be helping.

Of course anything seems better than yesterday when we took turns taking the children and ourselves to the doctor, picked up prescriptions, and dropped off the van to have our bumper fixed (I was rear-ended a few days before Christmas).

Still, it seems like one sick person in the family is bad enough, having literally everyone under the weather is tough.

Final analysis:
Andrew = flu
Jill = flu
Lizzie = strep throat
Alaina = cold
Ellie = cold

Sick Day

We've survived our first official sick day. Drew & I have the flu and Liz tested positive for strep throat. I really hope the medicine kicks in soon because we are completely wiped out. Today the kids survived on lots of t.v. and handfuls of dry cereal.

Today's nap

I tried to put her in her bed (well, actually on the floor next to her bed because she won't sleep in it), but she was VERY set on sleeping in the laundry basket. I figured I didn't really care where she slept as long as she slept.

MLK day at Longwood Gardens

We made use of my season pass yesterday (thanks again Drew). Luckily they have indoor gardens (including a children's garden). And thank goodness I remembered a change of clothes for Alaina because she sure needed them after playing in the fountains.