From 2010, Best of

Livi loves the pool too!

Eviction

Dear microbe infecting my lungs...
This note hereby declares that you are officially and finally evicted.  I have much too important things to do than cough and hack because of you all night.  My immune system is at its wits end trying to contain you, and I am really tired of coughing up the huge chunks of junk that its contained. Further, my body has turned up the temperature well beyond your survival limits (and mine for that matter). You are costing me money, time, and most importantly energy.  I vastly prefer to breath with ease, sleep uninterrupted, stop popping over the counter pain medication like candy, and of course cool down enough to stop the chills/sweats. Consequently you have really over stayed your welcome.

GET OUT, STAY OUT!  

Water Baby

From 2010, Best of

Today was a beautiful day in Wisconsin.  The kids played outside all day.  Taylor and Alivya helped me put up our big pool, and Evan swept it all out. We had sloppy joes and chips for dinner.  It was just a really nice day.  The kids cleaned up the yard, Amy swept my patio (thanks!!!) and Jon got some much needed rest...
Amy and Evan also cleaned out the kids little kid pool, and much to my surprise Ava wanted in!  AND, once she got in, she didn't want to get out.

From 2010, Best of

From 2010, Best of

From 2010, Best of

Even Wes hung out outside without getting too cranky.  Eventually we took of his shirt, which I think cooled him off a little. 

After dinner my sister helped me get them all in PJs and we sent them off to spend a couple of nights with Grandma K!  Here is to some rest and recooperation!!!!

From 2010, Best of

I know this one is blurry, but I just love the determination in his face.  So very Wes like...

Tired

From 2010, Best of

Too tired to make a real post...

Hair

From 2010, Best of

From 2010, Best of

 of you that know me well, know that I have trouble with cutting the kids hair.  Taylor got his first haircut well after he turned three, and Liv hasn't had one at all...  you also probably know that Taylor and Livi didn't even have hair until they were two, so this achievement isn't as impressive as it sounds.  Ava and Wes, on the other hand, have mounds of hair now.  When Wes goes to bed with wet hair, he wakes up with this five inch long waff of hair sticking straight up.  Many have compared his hair to the Donald Trump comb over, though it is thick and fluffy.  The back is fussy and stringy.  I can wash the stringyness out of it, but within a few hours its back to looking matted and unclean.  Still I just can't bring myself to cut his adorable hair.

From 2010, Best of

Ava, as you can see, also has hair flopping over her beautiful eyes.  Luckily, it is long enough now for a really super cute little piggy!

Blue eyes

From 2010, Best of

Three out of our four kiddos have Blue eyes, Ava has hazel eyes like me... sometimes blue, sometimes green, usually somewhere in between.  I love taking pictures of babies eyes...  So beautiful!

From 2010, Best of

Ava loves playing outside... mostly...  she would love it more if she could walk, but she is just not brave enough to try. Instead, Ava "walks" like this while outdoors, where she doesn't have to drag her knees along the different textures...  It is slow going which makes her angry.  Still, if she wants something bad enough, like this ball, she does it anyway.

Carry On

From 2007, Best of

Might need one of these on the way home tonight :)

It took me 30 minutes to ride my bicycle to work this morning.  Just about the time I got across the College Avenue bridge, I thought maybe I wasn't going to make it.  I took a little break, then carried on.  I was surprised how quickly I recovered though, and felt pretty good within an hour after getting here. I can say, I am not in a hurry to leave, though I think the ride home will be less stressful since I won't be on a schedule. 

Will I do it again tomorrow... well we'll see how I feel after I get home tonight :)  It sure felt good to be out doing something good for me though. 

My own two feet

So tomorrow my plan is to bike to work, since I work weekends...  I work about four miles from home, no major hills or obstacles, shouldn't be too bad.  I'm excited about not having to worry about where to park... our hospital just began repaving the parking lot, and they've made a really big stink about where we are supposed to park.  At the rate it is going, I am going to have to park about four miles away anyhow, so what then would be the difference?  Wish me luck!

The Other People

From J&J Online

A few weeks ago the kids had picture day at school, a certain popular company, known for their incredibly cheap photo sessions and characteristic white backgrounds, brought in their equipment and with permission snapped away. 

From J&J Online

 I don't consider these people our competition since they can provide their service so cheap, and have their own little niche in the world.  However, I am terribly disappointed as a parent that they are able to make as much profit as they do, with such utterly low quality photography. They sent home with the kids a film sized strip of "proofs" known in our world as a contact sheet.  Mainly due to the size of these contact sheets, the photos, generally speaking, were fine.  

From J&J Online

There were a couple photos that I like the poses, and they did manage to capture some pretty natural smiles from Taylor, but Liv was clearly not having any of it.  I considered ordering a couple for the grandparents, but decided that I couldn't bare to spend $8 for an 8x10 (on photos that at best I considered, okay).  Now having said all that, this company, out of the goodness of their hearts... and advertising... gave each family a free 8x10 of their children. 

From J&J Online

 Putting aside my feelings about Alivya's somber, less than cooperative appearance, the enlargements themselves are terrible.  

From J&J Online

 In Alivya's photo, for example, you can see that her left eye is completely out of focus, but most of the photograph is blurry.  Her skin is all red and blotchy and their trademark white background actually appears grayish.  Its a sad statement for a photo and even if the sessions are cheap (free...) the cost for a print is unbelievable.  The prints that we were given to us are no better than the prints I have ordered from Walmart, where I can get an 8x10 printed in an hour for $2.84.  Some people have said, "but Julie, you've charged up to $10.00 for an 8x10".  This is true, our 8x10 are spray coated for protection, printed on special high quality photo paper, and come mounted (which is where the real cost comes in...) 

From J&J Online

Okay, sorry about the rant... so these are the images.  They are really low quality and won't print very well, so I wouldn't bother.  If you want them, you'll have to pay the outrageous and ridiculously high prices set forth by the "People". Really, if you want a nice print of the kids, let me know, we're always taking really good quality candid photos of them, and I can get prints just as good for much better prices.

Productivity

From 2010, Best of

 At preschool today, Taylor and Livi went on a field trip to a local park.  They were super excited, and even got out of bed without too much difficulty...  when I got there later in the afternoon to pick them up, I was told that my son was the "accident prone" child of the day.  GREAT!  I guess some little girl from another group at the park ran into him, and he fell down causing a big scrap on his elbow.  Sometime after that it was discovered that Taylor has a marble sized bump on his hand.  It appears like a big mosquito bite, but there is no sign of the stinger, and it doesn't itch or hurt or anything.  It is also hard, so we are going to keep an eye on for a couple days and see what happens with it.  Otherwise, they had a great time.

Jon and I finally got around to moving the huge pile of stones that have been piled up in the backyard for a year or so.  Feels good to have that done.

In the meantime, my sister taught Ava a new word.  Ava says "Up" along with Dada, Mama, Ball, Buh bye, and Ba (loosely translated into Baba for bottle...) She uses all of these words appropriately at times.  The first three I think she really understands, the later are more experiments.  She also began signing More in the last couple days.

Wes can sit independently with a boppie pillow around his waist for up to 20 minutes.  I know this sounds sort of silly, but its a big deal for us.  We increased some of his Birth to three services this week, OT and the early intervention teacher will now see him weekly like PT.  I am really encouraged by some of things he has been doing, I think the extra contact will only help more.  

It was a busy day, but productive.

Mr Alligator

Oh Or E O

From 2010, Best of

The AFTERMATH

Ava's first Oreo. Eaten like I have never seen before.  I gave her half the cookie, which she put on her tongue, then tossed on her tray about six times before deciding that she actually liked it. Then shoved the entire circle into her mouth and pushed it in with her fingers until it finally dissolved. So cute!

Glasses

From 2010, Best of

Livi was 15months old when she got her glasses.  So far, she is the only one of our children who needs them.  She has a slight correction in only one eye, that seems to need slightly more correction every year.  After Taylor destroyed her last pair, we took to the internet and bought her the titanium indestructible type. It was a bit intimidating at first, but the glasses have been great so far.  In fact, we bought them just a month before her annual exam, and when her prescription was changed, I emailed the company to ask for new lenses rather than buying a whole new set. To my surprise, they gave me half off the new lenses, and paid for shipping themselves.

Anyway, this post wasn't supposed to be about my great internet find, but rather about Taylor's obsession with glasses.  For so long he was the only member of our family without glasses, that I think he is naturally curious.  However, his natural curiosity grew into a pretty impressive obsession.  He uses his hands as glasses, anything that he can wrap around his head (like Livi's dress up Snow White and Cinderella headbands) and the above photo... Snow White head band wrapped cleverly around Ava and Wes' peek a blocks.  In a terrific showcase of the usefulness of this set up, when I asked Taylor to come over to me to take this photo, he tripped over nearly everything in the living room and just about broke his neck...  poor kid just wants to fit in!

Wes

From 2010, Best of

Wes sat on the floor with a boppie pillow around his waist and played for about 15 minutes.  The paranoya mommy in me puts a regular pillow behind him, so he looks like he is wearing a big billowing tutu, but at lease he is safe.  He loves that he is upright with his hands free to grab around and play with everything he can get his hands on.  We have a toy like a baby piano that has little toys hang below it.  Wes pounded those keys and pulled at the toys, until he lost his balance and then gripped it for dear life.  He eventually found his balance again, but I could tell he was getting tired, cause then his head would slump forward and bang on the keys.  At first he thought this was kinda fun, but pretty soon he got really ticked and screamed.  I hate that something like sitting, that gives him so much pleasure, is so hard for him.  One of the long term effects of prematurity is this pain of having to watch your child struggle for every little milestone.  Still, I am super excited that we have found some way for him to begin sitting "independently", and excited for him to get past this one.

Potty Times

From 2010, Best of

Taylor is such a flirt with the camera these days.  He loves to see the photo after its taken.  Livi likes this too, but she has for a long time.  

Taylor, I'm proud to say, is FINALLY potty training.  Its been rough though, and to say that he is potty trained would be inaccurate.  I decided to take the diapers and pull ups away completely.  Two weeks ago I put undies on him and told him that the diapers were all gone.  I repeated over and over and over again that pee pee and poo poo do not go in out undies, and that he needed to put them in the potty.  I changed and washed a ton of urine and feces soaked undies and pants, sometimes wanting to kill myself, but, two weeks later, he is putting most of it in the potty. He still has accidents daily, sometimes just one, sometimes two, sometimes more, but slowly, he is starting to tell us that he has to go.  The accidents are also getting smaller in size, more like dribbles before he realizes he has to go.  We put pull ups on at night, I want him to get really good at it during the day before I try to night train him.  Tay definitely isn't Livi, our experiences with potty training could not be more different.  None of the many incentives we tried gave Taylor any will to go on the potty.  He also doesn't understand the urgency... when Liv was training, if she realized she had to go, she ran right to the potty so as not to have an accident... Taylor on the other hand, will tell us he needs to go, take five steps towards the potty, find a toy, ten steps in another direction, (reminder) five steps towards, another toy, (reminder) go to the potty, then stop and tell us a story, then try to get his pants and undies down, which of course is usually too late.  He is super distractible! The most difficult part for us is that we try to help him, but usually we have a baby in tow, and Tay still isn't able to follow directions as easily as the average four year old (and it gets worse when he feels pressured)...  So I do a lot of laundry, praise the **ll out of the successes, try not to yell even when I know that he needs to hurry and he stops to tell me a long winded story that he can't quite articulate because he knows that he should be getting on the potty, and potty trained he is... to some degree.  

From J&J Online

I am still learning to take photos with my new eyes... Thought they both were in focus :(

Doctor Doctor

From J&J Online

 Jon and I were watching a program on TV while Taylor and Livi passed their last hour of play time before bed tonight.  It started out as it usually does, the two of them chasing each other around our open floor plan, squealing a the tops of their lungs.  Ava pidder paddering quickly behind them...  Eventually they tired of this game, a feat I never thought possible, and settled down right in front of us.  Livi sat in the toddler rocking chair an Taylor put a sock on his hand.  During this time, he is explaining to her that "its just going to be a little poke".  I watched him wrap a string around her arm after pulling it over the side towards him.  He wiped the area rubbing somewhat vigorously with a cloth, that I presumed to be an alcohol pad.  Then reminding her of the poke, he gently stabbed her arm with the end of the string (which had a little plastic on it like a shoe string...)  Taylor told her how good she was and how easy it was while securing his stringy IV with a pony tail holder and attaching the bolus with a clothes pin.

From J&J Online

Here the good doctor checks on his patient...
Then they removed the assembly and Taylor got to be the patient.  The whole scene was interesting to us.  Obviously I worry about all the medical intervention that they've been forced to endure, but I never dreamed that they could absorb so much of the process.  Most of their medical interactions take place while they were screaming and flailing about as to change our minds of the necessity of the torture.  Watching them reenact this scene reminded me that they really are super sponges carrying more water than I can actually imagine.

Mischief

From 2010, Best of

I'm posting a picture of this cute little ham even though he threw up all over me this morning, which was not at all cute.

Anyone read any good books lately?

Top 4 Excuses

From 2010, Best of

I know I need more pics of Tay and Liv, its just that I have so much more time right now with Ava and Wes... and when I am with Tay and Liv, I have Ava and Wes to take care of... it also helps that there are a lot of things that Tay and Liv are doing right now that I don't find real cute.  Some examples?  Hmmm, how about getting into my bedroom and cutting up pictures and coloring on my papers with highlighters, or drawing faces on my documents and on the babies floor mat?  Then there is dumping dirt all over my table outside, pushing each other around the house in baby furniture (and scratching my floors), and stacking their bean bags with Wes' therapy ball to make "snowmen".  I admit that they can be incredibly creative, however, I'm usually too tired for creativity!  My last excuse for not snapping as many pics recently, the posing...  Livi has a very distinctive pose face, and as cute as she is, I find it very unnatural...

BAD TIMES

From J&J Online

I chose this picture to illustrate what it is like when things go bad, aka: when Ava doesn't get her own way. This was taken after she crawled up the steps and realized she couldn't get down. The same scenario presents itself over and over all day long; after she pulls up on something (ie the couch), if something she tries to pull on falls over on her (ie Wes' chair), if the toy in her hand refuses to fit into whatever container she is trying to force it into....  darn physics, those laws had it in for her from the start!  She is smart, even got down one step the other day! Though I think she will find it a lot easier to go down backwards rather than forward someday.  She is even starting to shuffle a little bit while standing along furniture.

Ava is also really getting into the imitation.  She's been clapping to pat a cake for  a few months, but now she likes blowing raspberries, running her fingers over her lips (and especially yours), and most recently waving bye bye.  She says Dada appropriately, sometimes Mama, and makes some clear choices... like when Jon gets home everyday, she "cruns" (my term for running in a crawl) in a beeline until she is at his feet, then screams until he picks her up.  No one gets Dada time until she's had her Ava time!

From J&J Online

Computer issues

From J&J Online

From J&J Online

I was trying to post these pictures of the kids with their adorable treats from Sue, but the computer wanted them to be landscape, and I couldn't convince it that they were meant to be portraits... I have prevailled!

Oh, and Sue,

From J&J Online

Thanks for the treats!!!

Sink

From J&J Online

From J&J Online

A couple weeks ago Jon and I put a new sink in the kitchen.  The old sink was leaking nasty gross grout out the edges, and I just couldn't take it anymore.  Thankfully my husband understands and fed my need... sometimes he makes me feel all spoiled... a new sink!!!   THANKS HUBBY!

Happy Cinco de Mayo

From J&J Online

Wes, Ava, and I celebrated the cinco by driving to Milwaukee and back.  They had follow up eye appointments with a pediatric ophthalmologist.  We arrived in town early for a play date with Missy and Liam, then headed out to meet Sue at Children's Hospital for the appointment.   After getting the all clear from Dr R, we went to lunch and enjoyed a wonderful visit.  Its not every day I get to spend time with someone who really understands the journey we've been on with our children, and someone I respect and enjoy so much.  Thanks Sue for meeting up with us and being great company!!!!

Ava's New Trick

From J&J Online

Ava has a new trick... yup, stairs!  She got up one several weeks ago, and promptly started screaming since she could neither go up another, nor got down... not a problem anymore.  She has mastered the art of climbing stairs and she is fast.  So a new gait is on order... can't get here soon enough (mostly because she hasn't learned how to get down them, and I am totally afraid she'll fall backwards down them...  she is fearless....).

Yesterday we took the kids to the playground by their school for a picnic that the school put on.  It was a good time, the kids ran about and wore themselves out, we had good food that I didn't have to clean up, and it was bed time just about the time we got home... love it when my house misses the daily violent winds of hurricanes Taylor, Alivya and Ava!

Frog Tastic Celbration

From J&J Online

From J&J Online

Jon took the kids, and Evan, to a "Frog-tastic Celebration" at a local wetland museum on Saturday.  I wasn't able to go, so I can't really say what it was all about but the kids appeared to be having a pretty good time...  

Rain

From Jon's Gallery

It was so nice to go into work when it was raining and crappy out, and come out when the sun was up and shining.  I have been working 3-11 mostly since I went back to work in 2007, so this 7a-7p schedule has been a nice change, at least during daylight savings... 

May Day

From 2010, Best of