T's Bday Party

We threw a very low key part for T which included just invited a bunch of people over for cupcakes outside to play in the afternoon one day. It was a beautiful day and the kids all had lots of fun!

First up presents from us, family and some friends. We gave P a present too so she didn't feel left out.

Then the party:

And the cupcake:

Happy Birthday T!

Easter

So, we had plans to go to my grandmas for Easter but the night before was when P got sick with the stomach bug. It was a bit cold that day and rainy too. We had a very very very low key day. Gave them each the Easter baskets Evelyn sent and hid eggs around the house which were filled with all sorts of random stuff (socks, bracelets, bubbles, stickers, quarters). They had fun.

T-1 Year Old

Wow, I am a bit behind...it all started with the kids being sick which lasted about a month, then getting my life back together for work and then I was in Boston for the marathon cheering on my sister. I'm back and have a little time, which means be prepared for an abundance of posts in the next week.

T turned 1 a week and a half ago. Stats at the doctor were
17.4 lbs (3rd %)
29.5 inches (50th %)

She is still in a lot of 9 month clothes. She is so little, but I will say that in the past two weeks or so she has become an eating machine. She pretty much will eat anything we put in front of her now and her 9 month clothes are actually getting tight. So maybe we will move up to 12 month here soon. She seems sooooo active. She has no words at all but is running and climbing like a champ. She loves P and they are starting to play together a little bit which is cute.

Anyway, here are some photos with the 12 month sticker (she was impossible to photograph)

Sickness Sickness Go Away

On Friday it will be 4 weeks since Tatum first got sick. She now has bronchitis and 1.5 ear infections. (i.e. 1 ear infection and the other one was on its way). This poor girl has been through so much. Oh and P was on antibiotics too for upper respiratory infection, but that ended last week and now she has a stomach bug that started with throwing up (only once) last Sat night and she has had diarrhea since then (so 4 1/2 days). Lets just say EZ and I are just waiting for the day when everyone is healthy in the house.

I got pretty sick too with some sort of chest infection, it was really rough and I am finally feeling better. I had planned on running a 5K next weekend to take a first attempt at my goal of breaking 22 minutes, but after not running for a bit with T in the hospital then not running for a bit because I was really sick, I'm not sure I am going to run in. Perhaps wait a few more weeks and try. I'm not sure.

All the sickness has meant a lot of days of staying home with kids and not getting work done. For me, it has meant a lot of stress added to my job. It isn't like I can just not teach the material at all. There is a time limit and a deadline to my semesters (which end in less than 3 weeks). I know for sure my teaching has definitely suffered and I will just have to brace for not the best of evaluations this semester. I keep thinking, I just need to make it to the end of the semester and things will be a little calmer, but then I remember that my application for tenure and promotion is due the first week of June which means for me, May will be spend putting that together.

Hospital Visit

The last time I posted about T I said she has a double ear infection. Little did we all know (the day that got posted) we would be heading to the hospital.

T spiked a fever of 105 and was so labored with her breathing, this was about 9:45pm Wed 3/13 at night. I went to the ER and we probably waited no more than a few minutes total (CRAZY) and were back in a room so fast. Everything happened really quickly, lots of swabs and chest x-ray, by about midnight they told me it was pneumonia and pretty bad-this meant a lot of it and in both lungs. Her oxygen levels were low (80's) and her heartrate was so high (200 bpm) We were admitted to a room in the pediatric ward of the hospital and were there 4 1/2 days.

She was oxygen and antibiotics, basically slept a lot. She refused the crib they had, so we had to lay in bed with her all day/night, make sure she didn't try to crawl off, ect. EZ got pink eye during all of this and wasn't allowed to come for a couple of days. T was a trooper though. She did however loose a lot of weight. she only weighted 17lbs before all of this and was down to 14.5 last Thursday at her checkup. She's finally eating at about 90/95% of what she was before so we are doing much much better. But she just looks really thin. I can only imagine when I go back in less than 2 weeks for her 1 year that she will be off the charts on weight percentile since she was already in like the 10th% as it was. Poor girl. She is still fitting really loosly in 9month clothes. Totally caught up to P on that one. (P weighed 19.8 lbs at her 1 year.)

She looks so happy here:

She has become a paci baby which she never really took one before! This was after we got the oxygen out

Must give a huge thanks to my in-laws for coming down for a week to help out withe everything!

First Hair Cut

I finally took P in for her first haircut! I only got a couple inches cut off, but it looks much healthier now. And she did really well and loved that they gave her some fruit snacks after she was done!

Fun at the Park

It's finally starting to get warm and we have been heading to the park. Oh, love the park. We need to get T warmed up to climbing the stairs and going down the little slides, she does love the swing. Here is P enjoying some park time:

 

P got some new shades and thinks they are fun:

P is also into picking out her clothes and she picks out some nice outfits-

T-11 Months

I know I am a week late, and I had really good intentions of posting this. But T got sick for like the first time, and she has pretty much been out of commission since Saturday. The doctor said Sat she had a double ear infection, and it's now Wednesday and she is still a cranky mess. P also has some sort of cold too. I was on spring break last week but we've had to keep the kids home every day this week which has made it a bit stressful for me and getting all my work done.

Anyway, here she is at 11 months-the day before the fever struck!

These were taken in the morning and that night after bath, EZ brought her down and got her ready and put her on the floor to make her bottle (which takes maybe 2 min) and this is what happened. This should have been a sign of what was to come:

Poor girl...she pepped up a little bit the other day and enjoyed some home time with EZ:

Museum

I took P to the local children's museum last weekend for a birthday party. She always seems to have lots of fun and the museum has a lot of different activities to do. It does get super crowded which always makes me paranoid, but when I've gone when it first opens it seems pretty quiet and the children don't have to fight over things.

Looking at bugs under the magnifying glass

She cracked me up putting on the safety vest backwards:

Building lots of things:

Playing with the chickens:

Bristle blocks

More T

I have somehow managed to take more photos of T then I have of P. She is into all sorts of stuff and is totally walking like a pro. It is her preferred mode of transportation.  And she still has pretty bad eczema on her face and even patches of it on her back belly and legs. I can't seemed to figure out the best way to keep it under control. Some days it seems like it is getting better and then the next day it comes right back again.

 Start them young with the housework right!

Teaching P how to play the kazoo

Pigtail day:

 Enjoying a treat on the porch:

Lastly here are T's latest walking skills:

Backlogged

EZ's parents came to visit a couple weeks ago. It is always nice when they come for the weekend and P loves seeing them. And lucky for us they always watch the kids one night and let us have a free date night! I am terrible at taking photos when they are here, but here is T with grandpa.

T is such a little climber and so busy. She constantly climbs onto the little chair we have and has no fears it seems!  And big sister P always makes her laugh!

She is always up for some sort of adventure!