January in Pictures

Most of the pictures are of Maggie, because this is what Norah spent the month of January doing... meltdown after meltdown and tantrum after tantrum. Okay, maybe it just seems that way. She is SO smart and imaginative, but also very determined and insistent. Let's say that.

Maggie's new silly face. I guess she likes showing off her teeth. This was early in the month. You can see the upper right tooth just coming in. It's completely in now and the upper left is about halfway in. It's awful cute, but those teeth are pretty painful for Mommy!

Maggie isn't walking yet. She will stand on her own for a bit, when she's distracted or we've tricked her. Once she realizes she isn't holding anything she either lunges for one of us (as if it's a game) or very calmly lowers herself to her knees. I think she just prefers the security of crawling. She's a cautious and sensitive one.

Matching outfits from Grammy for Christmas. The vests are REALLY warm and furry.

Norah loves how I rearranged the toyroom so that she has this reading area (about 1/4 of the room!). Her couch is there, as well as some pillows against the wall, a rocking chair I had when I was a little girl, and a striped rug. Oh, and the books.... :)

I know they could care less, but GO PACK! We did have fun throwing the little footballs all over the place during the Packer/Bears game. And Maggie will now say "Da-down!" and put her arms up. She doesn't officially say many words yet.

Friends from CA sent the girls these cute little aprons for Christmas. Oh, and underneath they have on a matching warm and cuddly fleece outfit from Grandma and Grandpa.

Oh, Elly! Maggie is very attached to her Elly and her pink and white zebra striped blanket. She gets so excited when I give them to her at naptime or bedtime.

The box of music stuff is a pretty big hit around our house, with ours and the daycare kids too. Sometimes I want to bang my head against the xylophone though when they get going with the harmonicas and kazoos and maracas! And that's in addition to all the other music making toys that they have to continually press the buttons for even when they're playing something else!

Other January things:

We've been sick. That's about it. This weekend we all got the flu, except for Maggie. I'm crossing my fingers that she doesn't still get it. Mostly recovered now, but still feeling weak and tired from not eating and drinking much the last several days. It really would have been great to be closer to some family who could have helped. Poor Maggie just couldn't understand why we all just layed around and didn't want to crawl around and play with her. :(

I decided tonight that this baby moves and kicks more like Norah already than Maggie. So maybe another strong-willed and crazy wildchild?

Norah is 2 1/2 today! Happy half birthday baby girl. She spent it begging for food, but she only threw up once. We lay around and she stayed in pajamas all day. Norah also took 2 naps today, for the first time in probably a year or more! Poor girl just wanted her cinnamon rolls... but they'll have to wait until later this week when we're all recovered.

Baby, Sickies, and other Goodness

No pictures today, as I'm typing this on my desktop computer and all the pictures and videos are on Tim's laptop. Sorry if that's what you were looking for!

We've had a rough go of things here lately. Norah and Maggie have been sick pretty continuously since before Christmas. I took Norah to the doctor about 2 weeks ago for her ears. She was complaining that she couldn't hear and cried if water got in. Well, she freaked out! It started when the nurse wanted her to get on the scale. I was able to diffuse the situation before she started wailing though. Mommy power! However, when Dr. Brennan came in the door to the exam room, she took one look and started screaming. He tried to look in her ears while she sat on my lap crying, but she kept thrashing around and burying her head in my armpit. It finally took me and an intern to hold her down while Dr. Brennan held her head down so he could take a quick look. It would have taken all of 30 seconds if she had sat still... and her ears looked just fine, of course. He said it was likely just a congested and eustachian tube from her having been sick a week before that. So he did prescribe an antibiotic anyway.

Then this Sunday Maggie woke up and felt a little warm. We went to church anyway, but as the service went on we could tell she was getting hotter and feeling worse. By the afternoon her fever was 103.3. My daycare kids have all been sick lately too, darn germs. One kid had tonsillitus and sinusitis, so I decided to call the doctor for Maggie right away Monday morning. She'd also been kind of cringing when drinking, so I thought maybe her throat was bothering her. The nurse said to wait another day or two and see what happened with the fever. Monday she seemed a bit better, with her fever going no higher than 101. I thought we were on the mend! Then Tuesday it was back up to 103.7 mid-morning. It stayed fairly high all day, so around dinner time I called the doctor's office again. I wanted to get her in right away Wed. morning. The nurse said I should bring her in to the after hours clinic, which I did at 8:30 Tues. night. Poor Maggie was SO tired since I snatched her right out of her crib to take her. Of course her temp was 99 when we were there and then yesterday morning she felt absolutely fine. Cranky, but no fever. I guess the $25 co-pay is a small price to pay for peace of mind. :) Hopefully we're all on the mend now. I've got 2 daycare kids right on the tail end of being sick and hoping the other one isn't coming down with something. She's home today and was yesterday too with a "fever" of 100... haha. I guess I'm glad that her mom thinks I shouldn't have to deal with a crabby baby and keeps her home.

I had an appointment with my midwife Tuesday afternoon. 16 and a half weeks now! I'm measuring just right and Baby's heart sounded great, nice and strong. I've been feeling him/her moving and kicking for a week and a half or so now, and it was neat to have Julie (CNM) notice that too while she was listening. My weight was a pound less according to their scale than when I was in 6 weeks ago, but I think I've gained 2-3 pounds now based on our scale at home. I weigh myself every morning just to keep track. I can't remember though how I gauged how much I gained with Maggie, if I calculated it from where I started or from the lowest point since I know I lost some. So for now I'll be keeping track from the lowest point (2-3 gain) and from where I started (still down 4 pounds). I know most women have gained a bit more by this point, but I guess I'm just unbalanced. I know I'll still gain just as much as average, it just happens during a shorter time period! :) Tim and I are working on girl names, as we've used the two we already had chosen. We have about 10 on our list now that we both "like," though some more than others. Middle name is going to wait until we choose a first name. Baby boy name is STILL the same, and will be until we get to use it. Yes, you read that correctly... this baby will, God-willing, NOT be the last one.

I have several prayer requests if you feel so inclined...
For health to return to our house! We're sick of being sick!
For LCMS churches calling candidates from the Seminaries, and those men assisting the process. There's going to be another shortage this year.
For peace of mind and ease of spirit as I am struggling a lot with my daycare situation lately.

Quick Tidbits

* Maggie has 4 teeth now! The third was a real bummer, but the fourth popped through with no trouble. Two on top and two on bottom. Norah didn't have a single one at this age (11 mo.).

* We bought a van this week! It's a 2008 Black Dodge Grand Caravan. 100,000 fewer miles, 6 years newer... same monthly payment as our Envoy (which was starting to fall apart!). TONS more space! Norah loves that she can push the button to close her door.

* 14 weeks into this pregnancy, and everything is going super smoothly. I definitely notice being more tired this time, but who wouldn't be with 4 children more to take care of than last time around? I'm finally gaining weight, 2 pounds so far. I lost 7 at the beginning though, so we're still in the negatives. And I definitely need to pull out the maternity pants. It's amazing how I can actually weigh less than pre-preg. but still barely get pants that were too loose closed anymore! I'm looking forward to having a cute little bump and not just feeling chubby though.

* Less than 4 months to Call Service! No more explanation needed. :)

Norah - December

Fort Wayne's first snow that "stuck." Also, the first time Norah was really out in snow.

We taught Norah how to dunk her Oreo cookie in a cup of milk using a fork. :)

Norah helped with all the Christmas baking and goodie-making this year. She unwrapped every candy I used.

Norah had lots of fun decorating!

She still loves her babies.

Norah's first time playing at the McDonalds Playland. She had a hard time climbing from step to step, but still had fun. I guess they made it large enough so an adult can use it too.

Lots of driving in December! Both girls are great travelers!

Maggie - December

Makeshift highchair at Great Grandma's house.

This is one of Maggie's favorite spots, even more so when there's snow on the ground.

We're working on walking!

Check out that tongue. Maggie's got a sweet tooth!

Mmm... spaghetti! That girl's good with a fork and spoon already!

Maggie's first Oreo. We just couldn't NOT let her join in on the yummy-ness.

So much jumping her sock fell off!

Maggie's getting to be quite the daredevil these days. She climbs stairs fairly often and likes to hang on the safety gates around the house too.

Christmas, etc.

Oh, shhh... I know it's been forever. These are all out of order, but I'm tired.



Christmas in Fort Wayne. Maggie's first present. She would have just been fine pushing boxes around, and wasn't really interested in ripping paper off.

Maggie loved this rocking horse. It's so cute to see her do it herself too!

Norah's saying, "Oooooooo!"

Norah with cousins Andrew and Delaney. Grammy's piano got a workout while we were there!

Our family on Christmas Eve at Bethlehem in Sheboygan. Tired girls!