Allergies?

I won't post the picture because it's painful to look at, but what started out as something that resembled Baby Acne, has definitely turned into something much worse. We went to the pediatrician yesterday and it turns out that Baby E is having an allergic reaction to something. It's only on her head and her head is covered. It actually reminds me of the allergic reaction I had to penicillin when I was 11 (not pretty).

So for now, I have to cut out all citrus, nuts, artificial sweetener and gasp... CHOCOLATE. Right before Easter... it's just not right. We also have to wash all our linens and anything else she comes into contact with, in Dreft. So last night I re-washed all my bedding. And I wanted chocolate in the worst way, because once someone tells me I can't have something, I want it so much more. I settled for a bowl of Fiber One cereal. It wasn't chocolate, but it was sweet.

Hopefully, all these efforts will yield in her baby beautiful skin returning in time for her baby blessing in a week.

Big sister, little sister

"Little Sister"

Grammy sent a cute shirt that says "Little Sister" on it. I set baby up to take a picture and the girls wanted to jump in with her.
Already bored of mom's photo session

Cute set up, but a little too late. Baby was finished!

This and that...

Can you tell from this picture that Baby E has strawberry blonde hair... heavy on the strawberry? I think we may have a cute red head on our hands. As they say on the Pirates ride at Disneyland "we want the Reddy!"

The baby stroller fits her just right.

Getting ready for church. They LOVE wearing their matching Christmas dresses. I just wish they would have waited to demand a picture AFTER I had fixed their hair for church. Although, who am I kidding... their hair looks like this more often than not.

Kindergarten

I registered the twins for kindergarten today. I admit, I shed a tear as the big yellow buses were pulling away. My babies are growing up. It doesn't seem so long ago that we were bringing them home from the hospital.

My mom once told me, "the days are long, but the years are short." Too true. I remember many days shedding tears of frustration, and now I'm shedding tears of wonderment.

Oh, where, oh where did the first four years go, or where oh where could they be, with the days so long and the years so short, oh where oh where did they go?

6 Weeks Update

Will post pics later, but the best update of all is that she is already sleeping through the night. Two nights in a row she has slept from 10pm to 4 or 5am. Such bliss! She's also been smiling a lot this past week. It's so sweet. Every once in a while she makes some kind of baby noise to try and communicate with me, but she's not a talker yet. Of course, part of that could be that it's hard to get a word in with all these chatty females in the house.

5 Weeks

A sleeping baby is such a piece of heaven. I love to watch Baby E while she sleeps and wonder what she is dreaming about. Is she remembering heaven? Or is she trying to make sense of this new world around her?

As I post this blog entry, she is moving her lips in and out, like she's sucking. It must be lunch time. I love watching her get rounder each day--- a sign that my hard work of giving her breast milk is paying off. I especially love her double chin. Too bad it's only cute on babies. I have a double chin, too... but I'm pretty sure no one thinks it's cute.
Her first pair of jeans... thanks Batchelors. She looks like a snow bunny, and good thing, because we got 8 inches of snow the day I dressed her like this. Is is Spring yet?

Gretters' first prayer

On and off we ask Gretters if she is interested in saying the bedtime or mealtime prayer. Depending on her mood, she will repeat what we say (or not). Today, while I was feeding the baby, Gretters folded her arms and bowed her head and said the following prayer on her own:

Heav'ly Fadder
Thank this day
Thanks for nuggets (as in Chicken Nuggets)
Thanks for treats (as in anything sweet... this girl has a sweet tooth)
Thanks for treats (yes, she said it twice)
Name Jesus Christ. Amen!!!

From the mouths of babes... first, that she wanted to pray and second, that it was from her heart. Incidentally, I thought I would make her chicken nuggets for dinner tonight (they're the healthy kind, but she still likes them).

Gretters

Two is already a difficult age, but throw in a younger sister who now gets most of the attention, and it just gets to be too much sometimes. Our little baby, isn't the baby anymore, and the adjustment has been challenging. She LOVES Baby E, and is very protective of her. It's just hard to not have every minute of Mommy and Daddy's attention. Still, our little girl has done really well, and is learning how to wait to get what she wants. She loves to snuggle with Mommy and Daddy, and wants us to sit and watch PBS with her in the mornings, or takes us by the hand to lead us to play something with her. I love her little voice that says "C'mon Mommy, let's go." She is an absolutely charming child, who loves life and is full of life.

At first I worried about her feeling left out, pushed aside, although absolutely not intentional on our part. But now that baby is here I don't think Gretters will suffer from middle child syndrome; she is much too fiery and persistent for that... and is too busy bossing her older sisters around (and her parents, when she wears them down). The first week was rough, but it's getting better and she is managing as best as her two year old self can.
We love you Gretters!