Abby's First Haircut

Well, Abby had her first hair cut this morning. It was about time! Her bangs kept getting in her eyes and it was driving her crazy. I've been worried about how she'd do as she really isn't a big fan of me even just brushing her hair. I had bad thoughts about what she'd do when we not only brushed her hair but tried to cut it as well. Someone was going to lose a finger!
But, she did great! I think it was really because she was scared. Amanda changed salons last week so she didn't have that cool little chair Jake got to use when he got his first hair cut, which I was a little sad about, but she had a pretty cool booster seat for the kids. Abby's face was solemn the whole time. She held on to her little duck and watched both Amanda and I very closely. Afterwards, Amanda even managed to put a little braid in Abby's hair. It's still in, or at least it was when I laid her down for her nap, so we'll soon see if she left it in over nap time. Maybe not.
She didn't really have much cut...just her bangs and a little trim in the back and sides to even things out. We also got Jake in for a much needed cut, but I didn't grab any pictures of his cut since it wasn't his first time.

They grow up so fast!

This past week we made the switch from eating off our highchair trays to eating off the table. What a big step! I didn't think we were ready as we still threw plates and food off our trays, but I thought maybe if I give them the extra responsibility they'll surprise me. They are actually doing okay. You still have to watch them b/c they will toss their plates when they're done eating (with or without food still left on their plates), but for the most part, they're doing really well. They're still using their own plates, not really ready to let them use mine, but maybe soon.

Maybe after the holidays we'll start practicing on regular cups. They love to drink out of regular cups, but they get everything down the front of their shirt so I know it will be a process.

(yes, he's smiling with banana in his mouth)
(the kids prefer to eat pancakes and sandwiches in big pieces now, vs. torn into bite size pieces...I guess it makes them feel older)

A Playdate at the Park

Last week we went to a play date at the park. It was a fun little park that I hadn't been to before and since my mom was here she got to "tag" along as well. Actually, she was in charge of one kid, me the other. They ran all over that park climbing on the playground, swinging, chasing birds and attempting to take a swim (we stopped that!). I tried so hard to get a picture of the kids together, but it was impossible! I really wanted one of them looking at the fountain, but they wouldn't stand still (especially together) for 2 seconds.

Abby loved this thing and kept riding it over and over.

Jake gave it a try, but wasn't as fond of it. He also didn't make it bounce/spring as much as Abby. She really got into it.

You can't tell from the pictures, but this window angled out over the ground. Jake thought it was the neatest thing to lean over and look out.

Abby took a quick look, but couldn't really tell what all the fuss was about.

Abby looked so cute I thought it would make a great picture of the two of them looking out at the fountain. Hmm, how do I get Jake to stand next to her.

This was as close as we could get Jake to stand next to Abby. She eventually came over and stood next to him, but by the time I got the camera up and took the picture... she was already off.

This was the only picture I got of the two of them together. They are running all over the park chasing birds.

Happy Belated Birthday Nana!

Monday was my mom's birthday and we all went to Stephenville this weekend to celebrate. Whitney and I have been trying to get all four kids together for a group picture for several months now and mom really wanted an updated group shot for her birthday so we finally rounded the kids up before church (aka before everyone was dirty) and grabbed a few shots. Happy Birthday!

Update

Well, I haven't posted in a while (a week is a long time for me :-), but wanted to let everyone know I'm okay. I ended up in the ER early Monday morning last week with a kidney infection. I knew Friday I was coming down with one and since it was over the weekend, I decided to see if I could wait until Monday morning to treat it. I was planning on calling my doctor right at 8:30 when they opened to come in for some antibiotics, but my body decided it really didn't want to wait. So, around 5 in the morning I finally went to the ER. John stayed here with the kids and watched them. I went to the Frisco hospital since my doctor is in Frisco on Mondays and his office is in the hospital. I was hoping to see him while I was there. At 6 the ER doctor told me they were admitting me for a kidney infection and started antibiotics immediately through an IV. I got settled in the anti-partum unit and waited to call my doctor at 8:30. I had a really great nurse and she actually new my doc was in surgery that morning and managed to get a hold of him just before he went for surgery around 7ish. He was upset no one called him earlier, but said he'd discharge me if I came straight up to his office after he got out of surgery. They pumped me full of liquids and antibiotics for a few more hours and then by 10 I was heading up to his office. He of course grilled me about waiting this long with an infection and then sent me back home with some more antibiotics. If I wasn't feeling better in 24 hours though he wanted me back in the hospital. Hmmm, 24 hours later I still wasn't feeling better, but I decided to give the drugs another day to work. By Wednesday I was feeling better, but not 100% and I still had lower back pain. I called my doctor back and asked what he wanted to do, hoping he'd just change my antibiotics at home vs. sending me back to the hospital. He did and I'm doing much better now. I went back to see him yesterday and everything is looking good with the baby. We heard the heartbeat and he was happy I finally put on a few pounds. He's having me come back next week as well for another culture test just to make sure the infection is gone, but everything looks to be back in order.

Going to the beach, sort-of

This week, I had John pick up a bag of sand for the kids. I wanted to turn their water table into a sand table. I always wanted a sand table vs. sand box thinking the kids wouldn't get as dirty standing to play with the sand vs. sitting in it. :-)
Thursday afternoon, we played outside to try out the sand table for the first time and it was a big hit. They LOVED it and played with it for a few hours! They are getting really good about playing in the backyard and I can even come in the house for a few moments to get dinner going or something like that (the windows are all open so I can see the kids). The dog door is also always open and they'll pop their heads in for a bit just to see if I'm there I guess then run back outside to play. Well they played with the sand for about 3 hours Thursday and by the time dinner was ready they were walking sand balls! I had to dust them off, strip them down and wipe them off just so we could eat dinner (then it was straight to the tub). They proceeded to throw sand in the air - just to watch it fall; fill buckets with sand and dump them in the grass just to see how many piles they could make. They even dumped sand on their table outside and tried to "finger paint" with the sand. Sand was everywhere! When it was all said and done, I think they dumped at least half the sand out of the box and they may have even had less sand on them and everywhere else, if we had a sand box vs. table!!!
Oh well. The sand is cheap so we'll fill it up occasionally. Hopefully they'll start playing with it in the table vs. just watching it fall to the grand. They really had a blast with that stuff. I just have to remember to only let them play with the sand on bath nights!