Does she look big enough for a “Big Girl Bed?”

Well ready or not (or maybe a little of both) here it is!

Do you see the purple pillow?  She actually sleeps on this side because this is the side she slept on in her crib so we wanted to keep it the same for a while.  It seems to work out well because we just fold the comforter back and wha-la bed made.

Her bed is so big (or rather her room is so small) that this is the only place we could put her bed without it invading all the space in her room.

So how’s it going you ask?

Nights

Sleeping at night is awesome!  Her bedtime routine (reading her ABC book with Daddy) is the same as before and she goes to bed with no complaints.  ALTHOUGH… last night (her 3rd night) Luke and I were laying in bed and we heard a thud.  I was like – what was that?!  In a non-shalaunt voice Luke said “Alyssa falling off her bed.”  I was like “Huh?” Then I was like “OH!” and I sprinted upstairs to find Alyssa looking at her bed as if thinking “what happened?”  I held her for a minute and then put her back in her bed and she went right back to sleep. 

Naps

Well naps haven’t been as easy.  Actually they have been terrible.  I’ve been doing the same routine as I did with her crib, but she’s not going along with “the plan.”  She’ll be fine until I’m about to walk out the door and then the craziness begins.  Today she cried and I sang her another song then left.  She got out of bed and I put her back in bed about 10-15 times (no exaggeration).  After about an hour of this nonsense I decided to hold onto the door handle of her bedroom so that she would just give up and get into bed and go to sleep.  Well when I did this she played with the door handle and locked the door! 

After less than 5 more minutes of crying it was silent.  I waited a while then checked the door to make sure – yep locked.  I wasn’t that worried because it’s one of those push locks so it’s easily unlocked from the inside if you turn the door handle.  So I just anxiously waited until she woke up.  Thankfully Luke came home from work early.  He wasn’t as relaxed as I was, but I tried to assure him that I thought it would be okay.  As we were talking downstairs in our room we heard footsteps.  I was pretty funny because Alyssa was greeted by cheering parents and just gave a big smile.  She was probably thinking…what’s the big deal?  I don’t think she knew she had locked herself in her room.

I might have poisoned my family tonight.

Hopefully not, but it’s possible.

It went like this…

I made a casserole and actually had enough time to cut up real pieces of chicken to put into it instead of the Costco canned chicken I normally use.  So I put it in the oven and set the timer amount for what it called on the recipe.  When the timer went off I was busy with Evan so Luke was in charge from there.  He dished up some for himself and Alyssa and they began to eat.  A few minutes I came over to the table and noticed right away that the chicken was not cooked!  There seemed to be some pieces that were, but most were only partially cooked. 

Luke couldn’t recall how much they had eaten or specifically how much chicken they had eaten, but he thinks only a few bites each.  He didn’t think to check the chicken because for this recipe I usually use the canned chicken. 

I put the casserole back in the oven to finish baking and when it was done I found myself eating alone.  Meanwhile I had called the nurse hotline and made an inquiry.  She said that all we could do was wait 12-48 hours for signs of food poisoning.  Luke vowed to not eat for 12 hours “just in case,” (whatever that means) but 3 hours into his fast he was sitting on the couch with 10 Oreo’s and a big glass of milk! 

Whatever.

I think they’ll be fine.  (hopefully)  But just in case, they might need some prayers!  

Thursdays are normally long because Luke doesn’t get home until 9pm because of band practice at church…well sometimes he comes home between work and practice, but it still tends to feel long when he’s not around.

Well today felt abnormally long because Evan couldn’t keep his milk down.  He has the stomach virus that Alyssa and I got a few days ago except that Alyssa and I only threw up one time each.  Today he threw up 5 times which meant 5 outfit changes for him AND for me.  It also included an extra shower for myself because the 2 of 5 landed in my hair!  So gross.  Did I mention it was gross?  Today also included 5 to 6 loads of laundry.

I learned a lot today, but here are just three I’ll share:

I learned how to throw myself in front of projectile vomit as to protect my carpet.

I learned not to use a small pan to heat water on the big burner with angel hair pasta because it will catch on fire if you are not there to pay attention.

I learned how to spell Lactobacillus thanks to our kind and loving Dr. Nohle who talked with me about my kids sickness today on the phone.  (It’s for tightening up the bowels and he said it’s good to have on hand in the medicine cabinet and safe to use for the entire family)

THANKFULLY this was not a flu virus, just a more generic stomach virus so there were no fevers or body aches to tend to.  Each and every time Evan finished his milk (for the 2nd time if you know what I mean) he always had a smile on his face.  And in general he was a pretty happy baby today.  He did take quite a few naps and put himself to sleep quite easily.

Here’s a picture of him post milk consumption and then eruption.  Picture courtesy of Luke…yes he did get home in time to experience an Evan upset. You know because it’s nice to not to have to endure this experience all by yourself.  :) 

So counting yesterday our little smiley dude has had 10 tummy upsets.  Poor guy.

Oh and yes it’s 1am and I’m still wide awake…it’s all that Mr. Pibb I drank today to give me my energy for the day!  Yeah, yeah…I know I should use vitamins instead.

Speaking of Vitamins!  I’ve been using Hyland’s Sniffles and Sneezes remedy for Alyssa’s runny nose – it is AMAZING!!  If you haven’t heard of it check out their website.  You can buy them almost anywhere.  http://www.hylands.com/  Two doses and her nose stops running.  Where has this been all her life?!  I can’t say enough good things about it because although throw up is disgusting – wiping runny nose is up there on the gross list right after the whole loose bowel thing.

Side Note: Runny noses are extremely common in this state.  I’m still getting used to the fact that our doctor said that it is not uncommon for a child to have a cold twice a month (that’s every other week!)  It is killing me…I can’t wait for the sun to come out and the runny noses to go away!

The Botanical Gardens in Bellevue with the Pence Family

I was pouring rain when we arrived, but thanks to Jenn’s prayers there was a halt in the rain for pretty much the exact time we arrived to when we left – the power of prayer is amazing!  It was still freezing, but at least it wasn’t raining!

That butterfly was really cool, as were all the flowers made of lights.

Christmas With My Family

My parents arrived Christmas Day evening and we celebrated Christmas the next morning.  Alyssa had so much fun with them and is always asking where they are.

My mom curled Alyssa’s hair and put a necklace on her. :)

Besides her kitchen, she did get a few other things – compliments of Santa and grandma.  I think we’ll be able to give her that Disney snow globe at least one more year without her catching on. 

Here we are in our Christmas Jammies.

Playing in the Snow

As soon as my mom got here she was super excited to play in the snow.  The first few days went by and we never found the right moment to go play outside.  Just as the snow was on the melt we snuck out during nap time to re-build a snow lady.  We made a double sided snow lady that way we could enjoy her through our picture window and so that our neighbors could enjoy her as well.

This is the side I decorated…

  This is the side my mom decorated…scary! I think she looks like an alien snow lady!

Here I am making my dad laugh…my mom finally joined in at the end.

Hope you enjoyed a little Christmas past.

Alyssa will pretty much do anything to watch a movie.  The typical is to say “movie please" followed by listing each and every one of her movies in a whiny voice while following you around the house until you give in or distract her.  Depending on which room in the house you are in her request change from DVD’s to YouTube video’s.  (She’s a huge fan of The Elephant Song on YouTube and knows most of the words.)

Well the other day we were all sitting in the living room watching TV and she asked to watch one of her movies.  We said no and suggested she go play with her books or puzzles and then continued on watching our show.  A few minutes later Luke turns around to this:

Here she is amazingly reaching up to grab one of her DVD’s.  It’s pretty amazing because what you can’t tell from the first picture is that her DVD’s are on a shelf that she can not reach!  The second picture is the view from afar:

She used her piggy to balance and reach the taller shelf!  It may be typical for boys at her age to climb on things, but this is the very first time she has ever climbed up on something.  She rarely attempts to climb up on the couch which she could probably do if she really wanted to.

I’m trying to decide what to do about feeding Alyssa snacks in regards to crumbs.  Sometimes it would be nice if she could feed herself a snack outside of her high chair while I’m feeding Evan.  I usually have cheerios or crackers in a spill-proof bowl handy on those occasions, but that usually requires thinking ahead!  The other day I was busy with Evan and she brought me a container of cookies from the kitchen counter.  I told her that she could have one but I didn’t really want her to track crumbs all over the house so I told her to go eat it in the kitchen.  I look away for a second and then look back to see this:

So funny how she has her arm resting on the counter!  Luckily I had the camera right next to me.  She stood there the entire time eating her cookie, which I guess worked out.

Ok. I admit it. I am the tooth fairy. Which explains why I have been so tired lately. I am up all night sneaking into kid’s rooms trying to place money under their pillows without waking them up. It also explains why I never have any money. Kids demand a lot these days for their teeth. I even saw one kid the other day who had a debit card machine next to his bed with a sign that read “Dear Tooth Fairy, Feel free to just swipe your card and be on your way. The tooth is on the right hand side”. The nerve (pun intended) of that kid. So I swiped my card for $300 and then called my credit card and put a hold on the charge. That will teach him!

Sometimes I leave things that I’m working on up on the screen of my computer and come back and Luke has typed in random things.  I had to always edit my college papers carefully to make sure his nonsense didn’t creep in unexpectedly!  I’ve decided that this one is just too funny not to post.  So I hope you enjoyed my husband’s humor as much as I did and always do.

FOOD!

Yep, that would be baby oatmeal

And yes he loved the spoon more than the oatmeal, but ate about a tablespoon worth

And yes Alyssa couldn’t stay out of the pictures…although I don’t think she has acquired full on jealousy as of yet…she just loves getting her picture taken.

And yes Alyssa made me give her some…and yes it has breastmilk in it – Luke gaged

And yes my eyes have dark circles, that would be because this chunker boy decided that sleeping all night in his bed is for babies and that he much enjoys sleeping in an adult bed.  Although we’re working on getting Alyssa a big girl bed so that we can get Evan into the crib and out of the pack in play.  I’m not quite sure he sleeps the same in the pack in play as he does on a mattress.  I’ve given him naps in Alyssa’s crib and I think he sleeps much better there than in his pack in play.

But back to the food thing.

So far I’ve fed him about every other day and we’ve tried oatmeal and banana’s and the combination.  He isn’t really into it yet, but we’ll keep trying since that’s what we’re supposed to do.  I’m not really all that excited about feeding him because it just means more thing to schedule out, but I guess babies have to start eating sometime and so I guess I should try harder to feed him every day!   

My next plan of attack is to get rice cereal (my neighbor gave me the box of oatmeal is why I tried it with him first) and bust out the food processor for making apple sauce and such.  Although speaking of apple sauce.  Have you tried the natural apple sauce at Target?  Soo yummy.  Way better than the name brand apple sauces.  I might just use that instead of making my own.  Luke even noticed the difference.  Our lame, but comical conversation went like this:

Luke: Have you tried that Target apple sauce?!

Sabrina: Yeah it’s really good huh?

Luke: Yeah, you should buy more.

We are actually planning on going on a date one of these days and hopefully our conversation strays far away from the above!

Do you miss these faces?

Not to worry, they will be coming to visit you early this summer! (Well those of you who live in California that is.)

We found a great deal on jetBlue and booked a flight from May 27 – June 10! Yep, 2 whole weeks!  Yeay!  Can’t wait to see you all soon!