Trick or Treat

Take one.
Take two.

Fall Fun

Last weekend we made a trip to a local orchard so the kids could pick out pumpkins for Halloween. Well okay. I picked out Caroline's pumpkin for her. Jonah's getting to be a big kid. He wasn't interested in the petting zoo or playground but he did want to take the hay ride out to the corn maze with David. I don't know why but they had a really big chair there. It was an absolutely gorgeous fall day and we all had a very good time. I highly recommend going. Lesson for next year, bring your own lunch because the lines are insane.

Half Birthday

Caroline turned 6 months old on October 6 (I've been meaning to post this blog for a while.). We had a half birthday party for her complete with a present and butterfly cupcakes. She enjoyed her presents. I gave her a taste of the icing from the cupcakes but she seemed pretty ambivalent to it. The doctor gave her a clean bill of health and gave us a long list of baby-proofing projects to do to the house. We've been meaning to do all of the things the doctor recommended since she's slowly starting to get mobile. Caroline's been doing a belly crawl backwards for a few weeks now. I don't know why she goes backwards. She keeps getting stuck under furniture in the corner of a room. Then she cries for us to come rescue her. Today however she started the back and forth rocking pre-crawl. So I'm sure the real crawling is about to commence.

She still doesn't have any teeth but I'm sure they'll come. All and all six months is proving to be a real joy. If she would just sleep through the night....

Test Results

Caroline had her VUCG test (where they filled her bladder with ink and watched her pee) and ultrasound yesterday morning. The worst part was that they strapped her down to this table to perform the VUCG test. She was not happy at all. The tests confirmed she has grade 2 urinary reflux which means urine back tracks up to her kidneys when she urinates. This causes urinary tract infections and potentially kidney infections. The good news is that 90% of these cases cure themselves as the children grow. So hopefully her little body will fix itself. For now we have to keep her on a low grade antibiotic everyday and have theses same tests done every year (yuck!) to track her progress.

Thankfully she'd forgotten all about the tests by bath time and forgiven mommy and daddy.

Blueberries for Lunch

Caroline enjoyed her lunch very much.

UK Arboretum

Jonah's cub scout den took a field trip to the UK Arboretum this week. It's a beautiful place. I felt really silly for living so close and never visiting it before. It's only about five minutes away from our house. There are paths that would be perfect for taking Caroline walking in her stroller. I'll definitely go back.

Jonah's into not smiling for pictures. I thought this was a teenager thing. I hope he outgrows it soon.
The den checks out real live Venus Flytraps.I never knew bottles grew on trees! Actually it's some kind of good luck custom in another culture. I forget which one exactly.I finally got a smile!

A Better Movie

I'm not sure where I got the "Macha!Macha!Macha!" Did one of the muppets say that? Animal maybe. Well Caroline likes it and that's what counts.

Happy Anniversary to Us!

I just recently finally got around to getting some of our wedding pictures framed and put up in our house. About time right? It only took me two years. Considering I had zero wedding planning experience I was very happy with how everything turned out. I don't even think I had ever hosted a real party before. Well I had thrown a couple of kids parties. I guess that explains the clown at our reception, which I thought worked really well thank you very much. Here's a couple of my favs (Amber and Heather did such an awesome job!).

I don't know which of these I like better. The huge toothless grin on Jonah's face on the first pic is priceless but how he holds David's hand on the second is absolutely precious.














































Doesn't this look like we were in the middle of Europe somewhere?

I loved having six flower girls! They were all too cute to pick just one.

I'm glad Jonah liked the cake.

I love you David! Thank you for an amazing two years. I can't wait to share the years to come.

Happy Birthday David!

A Movie!

Okay, okay. Not much but it's a start.

Mmmmmm! Piggies!

AreYou Ready for Some Football?!

I gather that the first game of the season is tonight. I haven't seen David this excited since he got the new car.

Go Bengals!

Small Fry

The fall baseball season, or fall ball as they call it here, has begun. Jonah has moved up into the big time and is now playing in the little league division with the 9-12 year olds. I know he's only 8 but they go by the age that they will be in the spring. I realized at the first practice that Jonah is the smallest kid on the team which makes me very glad that fall ball is considered instructional. They don't even keep score and every kid gets a chance to play all the positions, including pitcher! My little boy is growing up fast.

He did not like it at all when I made him pose for this photo.
Go Jonah!

Manifestation of an Illness

I had mentioned in my previous post that little Caroline has been ill. I'll break it down.

Monday August 20 - I notice Caroline has a little bit of a cold with a runny nose and cough.

Thursday August 23 - That evening Caroline has a fever of 102.4 and a barky cough.

Friday August 24 - We take Caroline to the doctor who confirms she has croup. They give her a dose of steroids to help open her airways.

Sunday August 26 - Caroline has been doing much better but we notice she has a lot of congestion in her chest. David calls the doctor who gives us some suggestions to help clear her up.

Monday August 27 - Caroline's fever is back.

Tuesday August 28 - Her fever goes over 102 again.

Wednesday August 29 - At the doctor's office, they take a chest x-ray and blood and urine samples. The doctor tells us Caroline has pneumonia. They decide not to put her in the hospital since she's been eating well (the hosptial!). They give her a shot of antibiotics and send us home.

Thursday August 30 - Caroline's fever is coming down. Back at the doctor's office they give her another shot of antibiotics. They also give her a prescription for antibiotics.

Friday August 31 - I talk to the doctor on the phone. Caroline didn't have pneumonia but a urinary tract infection. According to the doctor, a UTI is much more serious than pneumonia for a baby (oh great!). If bacteria were to get into her kidneys, it could cause permanent kidney damage. They want me to bring Caroline back in a week to test her urine again to make sure the infection is completely gone. Then in two more weeks they want to perform an ultrasound and a test where they fill her bladder with ink to see her urinate. UTIs are unusual in babies and they want to make sure there's nothing wrong with her urinary tract. Hopefully the tests will have normal results and show the UTI to be just a fluke.

One of the absolute worst experiences as a parent is holding your baby down for shots and/or tests. Thankfully, Caroline is doing much, much better and back to her smiling self again. I'll keep you posted on her tests.

Caroline sick.
Caroline all better!

Next

Summer (and my maternity leave) officially ended August 13th. Jonah headed off to third grade (third grade!). I went back to work. Little Caroline started at her new daycare (and has already been sick). We had a great summer that I'll always remember. Every year I love summer more and more. Seeing it go makes me a little sad.

The local public pool has already been emptied.
David took down our badminton net.I guess I'll just have to look forward to something else. Hmmmmm. What shall Caroline be for her first Halloween?


Oh. And David will always remember this summer because he got his first brand new car.Doesn't he look absolutely giddy?

Ewwwwww! Peas!

Him, mom, HIM! Part II

Over the past several months Moby's fur had gotten pretty badly matted so I decided I better take her to a pet groomer. I wasn't going to try and deal with that mess. While I was on the phone making an appointment, Jonah was in the room listening closely.

Groomer: Is the cat a male or a female?
Me: Female
Jonah: He's a male mom!
Groomer: Has she been spayed?
Me: Yes, she has.
Jonah: He, mom, HE!
Goomer: How old is she?
Me: She's about 5 to 6 years old.
Jonah: MOM! HE! Movey is a HE!
Me: (After an outburst of laughing.) I'm sorry ma'am.

Once I got off the phone, Jonah was pretty upset with me and demanded to know why I always get Moby's gender wrong. So I decided to tell him the truth.

Me: Jonah. I think it's time that you know the truth. Moby is a girl.
Jonah: (Without hesitation.) No mom. You're wrong. Movey doesn't have any nipples and girl cats have nipples so that they can feed their babies.

At that point I decided to just let it go. I wasn't going to try and argue with his logic.

Four Month Update

Caroline is now four months old. At her doctor appointment yesterday, she weighed 14 lbs and 6 ozs which is in the 64% and was 24 1/2 ins long which is in the 57%. So she is just above average for her age, even though people like to comment all the time what a little chunk she is. I have to admit that I do lovingly call her my chunky monkey sometimes. I think it's the cheeks. Well her roly poly thighs don't help much.

She has rolled over from front to back and back to front, but just sporadically.

She now loves to put everything into her mouth.
We've started giving her solids. She's had rice cereal and bananas. She absolutely loves them. Jonah had no interest in food until after he was 6 months. I guess Caroline loves to eat, just like her mama.She's even started to sit up a little.
Some parents get really hung up on when their child reaches milestones. I think because they are hoping that their child is advanced and some kind of genius. I do get excited when Caroline reaches a milestone but it's more because I know she's one small step closer to eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and going to the potty. Anyway the doctor said she's perfectly normal and healthy. And I'm perfectly happy with that.

Field Trip Fridays

One of the things that scared me the most about having a baby and being on maternity leave is the fact that I would have Jonah home with me all summer long. I could already hear him. "I'm bored. I'm bored. I'm bored." I was right too. So one of the ideas that I came up with to entertain him is field trip Fridays. We came up with a list of day trips that would give him something to look forward to during the week. For example we've been bowling, to Gattitown, to the movies, and to the Lexington Children's Museum. Sometimes Jonah invites a friend. I'm not sure where we're going tomorrow, now that I think about it. I better check the list. Anyway, here's some fun photos from the Children's Museum.

Hmmmmmm. This puzzle is difficult! (It was too. I couldn't figure it out.)
Jonah's a miner. (Doesn't it look like I photoshoped him into the photo?)
I get sick just watching this.
Rock climbing.
Jonah's a nut!
Big brother and lil' sis.

Mini Vacation

We just got back from spending a long weekend in FL visiting my family in Jacksonville. We had a great time.

This was Caroline's first airplane ride. She did absolutely awesome. She would get a little fussy during the landing but that was it. She much prefers traveling by air over car. She doesn't care for the car. Here's a family photo my mom took. Yes, I got all my hair cut off. It's just easier. While we did some shopping, David walked Caroline around in her snugli and protected her from the FL sun with the umbrella. Isn't he an awesome dad?
I don't have any pictures at the beach. Caroline didn't care for the beach and things got a little bit ugly. She loves the pool though.Jonah got a chance to give golf a try. He really liked it. I don't know. Seems like an expensive habit to me. I do really miss FL and my fam but man was it hot!!

Cheese!

Jonah loves to entertain his little sister.

Well, we all do. Who can resist when you get this kind of reaction?