Withdraws?

Clarie: "Is there any more milk?"

Me: "No, Evan has the last of it in his cup right now."

(As Evan drinks the last of the milk) Clarie: "I'm going to have milk withdraws!"

Evan: "No, TEA withdraws!"

---Do you think he drinks enough tea when he's at Grammy's house?!---

Aubrie's 10th Month

Ok, so I'm a little late on writing Aubrie's 10 month post. I haven't even gotten her in for her 9 month checkup and vaccines... I won't be caught off guard by Christmas next year, and I'll know to plan her checkups, plan her birthday party early (since it's in February), etc. Ok, on to Aubrie's stats for the month.

Here are some of her traits this month:

*She weighed 16 pounds, 5 ounces when I took her in for a bacterial infection a few weeks ago. That's 2 pounds more than Evan when he was 10 months old.

*She's quite the diva, and can really throw a good tantrum when she wants to! I've been trying to figure out what sets her off, and I've narrowed it down to when she's in pain, and when she's been frightened by something. She also really likes to be held, and will let us know when she doesn't want to be alone! But she's still a very happy and sweet baby, though. She just likes to be dramatic.

*She still loves stuffed animals and blankets. If it's soft, she'll try to hug it! She almost face-planted into the water last  night while I was giving her a bath because she was trying to hug the washrag...

*She's standing like crazy now. Every time I turn around, she's standing up next to whatever I left her next to. Yes, even in her highchair (which almost gave me a heart attack!). She is so cute because she knows she's doing something big! She'll stand up and just give us this huge smile.

*She's getting 4 more teeth, which I hope come in really soon! Since she doesn't like pain much, you can imagine how the past few days have been around here. Although, I'm making it sound like she's always complaining. She's not at all. In fact, when she got her other 6 teeth in (all at once), I almost couldn't tell until they were actually in her mouth. Once these 4 come in, she'll have 6 teeth on top, and 4 on bottom.

*She and Evan are starting to play together more now, although Evan is figuring out that Aubrie is going to be joining him in his playtime more often now, and I'm not sure he likes it! They are definitely two different personalities, but they love each other very much, and that's all that matters to us.

---
Aubrie,

We love you so much and couldn't picture our life without you. Your smile melts our hearts and your laugh makes us so happy! We love you so very much!

Santa, In My House?!

Evan found a hat and gloves that I'd bought for him, and decided that he'd like to pretend for a while. So, he asked me to sit on his lap...

He sat down on the floor, and asked me to sit on his lap again. So, I sat down with my legs across his legs, and and wondered what he was going to do. Then he looked and me and said, "I'm Santa. What do you want for Christmas?!"

I almost died laughing! I don't remember what I told him, but he leaned over and pretended to hand me whatever I mentioned to him. He did this several times.

Then Kaytlynn wanted a turn, so she sat on his lap and he pretended to be Santa with her. It was so cute! I love my Little Man's imagination!

Dinosaurs

While Evan and Chris are roaring at the kitchen table, Chris tells Evan:

Chris: "Evan, please roar softer because Aubrie is asleep."

Evan: "But dinosaurs roar loud?!"

International Answer the Phone like Buddy the Elf Day...

...is December 18th! If you haven't seen the movie "Elf" with Will Ferrell, then you are missing out on a Christmas classic! Click here to read all about the "holiday." I hope to hear lots of, "Buddy the Elf, what's your favorite color?!," next Saturday!

Kids Say the Darndest Things

While eating homemade pizza and visiting with my Dad tonight, the conversation went something like this:

Evan: "Pops, can you hop?"

Pops: "No, I don't hop..."

Evan: "Is it because you're old?"

We about died laughing! Although, Evan is in that stage where he doesn't want us to laugh at anything. But it was so funny! Then the conversation went like this:

Evan: "Can I have some monies, Pops?"

Mom: "Evan, you're supposed to ask for money before you call Pops old!"

Pops: "How much do you want?"

Evan: "2."

Pops: "2 what?"

Evan: "2 monies."

Pops: "If you promise to give one to your Mom, and one to Aunt Clarie, then I'll give you some."

Then he pulls out 2 $100 bills! Of course, we took it and ran! Just joking! Thanks so much, Dad! I promise not to buy diapers with it!

Talking to Himself

This is what I hear Evan saying to himself as he's "trying" to lay down and take a nap today. Keep in mind, he's not really trying to sleep. It's more like he's pulled whatever toys and books he can get his hands on and put them in his bed...

"Mommy! she is in the Christmas tree,

she better come out, she better come out

and she canna be a cranky bear

and Mommy is canna not roar yet

she's not a good roarer, no she's not

Mommy, open this book! Mommy!

Mommy, where are you? 

(whispering) Mommy? Mommy? Mommeeee?

Mommy, could you read this book to me?"

(then he kept talking in a whisper, but I couldn't make out what he was saying.)

A Milestone I'd Rather Skip

Yes, Aubrie has had her first sickness. And not just any sickness. She has now been on antibiotics for 24 hours for, most likely, pneumonia. I say most likely because it could also be a urinary tract infection, or something going on with her kidneys. I should know in a couple of days what's going on with her urine, and then a few days after that I will get the results back from her blood culture.

Aubrie had a low fever of 99 degrees on Wednesday night, but I thought it was due to teething. But by Thursday afternoon, it was up to 101.3. Even then, I thought she was just fighting off a virus, so I didn't take her into the doctor. The only symptom that she had was the fever. She was still her normal happy self. But when she woke up in the middle of the night on Thursday, it was up to 101.9. So I called the doctor on Friday morning to see what I should do. Of course, when she woke up later that morning, the fever was gone! I thought, "Hallelujah!" This meant that I didn't make an appointment... A few hours later, the fever was back up, so I called and took her in. I'm glad that I did, because even with tylenol, her temp was 100 degrees when I got to the doctor, and it went up to 102.6 while we were waiting.

After checking for ear infections and not finding anything, we had to wait around for her to pee in a bag to check for a UTI. Then we had to have a blood sample drawn for a blood culture, which I hope I never have to go through again in my life. It was awful for her to go through, and for me to watch. They couldn't find her veins, and she threw up 5 times... it was not a good visit for her.

-----------------

Fast forward several days since I started writing this post. I know, life happened. :) I got a call from the doctor today, and it wasn't a UTI. The blood culture has a few days left, but they said it looks like nothing will grow on it, either. What that means is that it wasn't pneumonia, either. She said, most likely, that it was an infection somewhere in her body that wasn't one of the normal infections, and that the antibiotics have cured whatever it was. The only side effect is that she has some loose stool, but I will take that over "lava baby!" (because of how hot she was). 

Thank you for the prayers, and I'm thankful that she's almost back to normal. 

:)

Christmas Memories

This morning, our family started putting up Christmas decorations. We bought a new Christmas tree this year, and it is beautiful! Our other tree just couldn't take another year (it last 6 years, and we only spent $30 at Walgreens during our first year of marriage). We had Mariah Carey's Christmas album playing in the background, and we were all dancing around. Evan kept saying, "This is fun!"

I love that Chris and I are passing down our own family traditions to our children, because they were such fond memories for us both as children. Chris' Mom would wake them all up by blaring Mariah Carey's Christmas album on the stereo, and they would listen to it all the time. We love being together as a family, so that our children will have fond memories and a strong sense of stability in their lives. Chris and I hope and pray every day that we are giving our children the skills that they will need to grow up healthy, have a heart for God, and be happy. These Christmas memories will surely make me smile all the days of my life, so I hope it will make them happy, too.

Thanksgiving Holiday

Saturday, Nov 20:

We spent Saturday celebrating Allison's birthday by going out to eat at Carrabba's Restaurant, and it was gooooooood! It was a little expensive, but you can't beat the food, or the good company and memories!

Sunday, Nov 21:

After church, we left for the Valley to visit Chris' family. We left about 12:30, and made it to Raymondville by about 6:30 that night. It was a great drive, and the kids actually did really well! Once there, we spent some time visiting with Chris's Dad & family, and then headed over to check in to our hotel and hit the sack. The kids did really well in the hotel, too. Evan slept in a bed with Chris, and I slept in the other bed so that I wouldn't wake anyone up when I had to get up with Aubrie.

Monday, Nov 22:

We woke up and ate breakfast at the hotel, and then headed over to visit with Chris' amazing Grandmother, Anita, who lives in Harlingen. We spent some time there, eating of course, before we decided to take Grandma Anita out to the mall. While there, we noticed that Santa was at the mall, with no line! Alia and I had seen this last year, but thought we'd take the kids in Houston. Did we do that? No. So, this year we decided to go for it! It was Evan & Aubrie's first time to sit and take pictures with Santa, and they did so well! Since there was no one around, Evan had a nice little conversation with Santa. Santa asked what Evan wanted for Christmas, and Evan said, "Candy." So Santa reached over and pulled a candy cane off of a tree and handed it to Evan. Evan was on cloud 9! 

Later in the day we went to visit Chris' sister, Elke, and her family, Kylee, Kailynn, Kyra, and Kenzie (Felix was working). They live in Edinburg. Can you tell that we did a fair amount of driving on this trip?! It was a lot of fun, though. While there, we ate the best spaghetti I've ever had, and played Rock Band with the girls. Evan was having so much fun with the girls, especially Kyra. They were running everywhere together! So cute! 

Then we left there to go visit with Chris' Dad's family again. Rosie had amazing fajitas out for dinner, so we all ate again, and it was fantastic! We ate so much on this trip, but loved every minute of it, because it all tasted so good! We got to see Chris' sister Ember's new baby, Samuel. He is so precious! 8 weeks old, and weighing 10 pounds now. He is the calmest, cutest, quietest baby I think I've ever seen, and so sweet to hold. It ALMOST made me want to have another one right now... and then I gave him back to his Mama and enjoyed where I'm at in my life with my kids. :)

Funny story: Later that night at the hotel, Chris said he woke up and couldn't find Evan in the bed. He looked on the floor closest to Evan's side of the bed, but didn't see him there. He looked in my bed to see if Evan had crawled in bed with me, but he wasn't there. So he started to get our of bed, and lightly stepped on him on the ground! Evan was sound asleep on the floor, so Chris just picked him up and put him back in the bed. The next morning, we asked Evan what had happened, and he said, "I fell off the bed!" I guess he couldn't get back in the bed (they were tall), and either didn't try or couldn't wake Chris, so he just slept on the floor!

Tuesday, Nov 23:

You guessed it, we ate another great breakfast of egg & sausage taquitos, and then finished it off with apple pie... I know, but it was good! We spent another few hours visiting in Raymondville, and then hit the road around 1:00. It was such a nice visit, and we were so happy to have spent this Thanksgiving Holiday with our family.

(Wed: spent at home, yeah!)

Thurs, Nov 25:
We spent Thanksgiving Day at Nick & Alia's house with Chris' family, as well as some friends from church. It was such a nice time together, and the food was amazing!

Fri, Nov 26:
We spent the morning shopping for a new Christmas tree, which we found at Home Depot, and is beautiful! After that, we drove down to Santa Fe, where my Mom lives. After the kids were down, (well, when Aubrie was down), Chris took me to see the new Harry Potter movie, and it was so much fun! When we got home, we couldn't find Evan in his bed, and found out that he had gone to sleep in Grammy and Patty's (the dog) bed; so cute!

Sat, Nov 27:
We were going to get Aubrie's ears pierced at the same place that my Mom and I had our ears pierced as kids, but couldn't because the ear-piercing specialist wasn't there. Instead, we just took Aubrie outside to take her 9 month pictures at my Mom's house, which is what we did when Evan was 9 months old. Then we went to my Grandmother's house for ANOTHER amazing meal and fellowship. My Aunt Susan was there with her daughter, Sarah, and Evan loved playing with her (Sarah). He kept saying, "Where did my Sarah go?" Then we drove back home to our house, and enjoyed Sunday together as a family before starting our routine again on Monday, Nov 29.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Conversations

Some snippets of conversations that we've had today:

__________________

(As we're putting up our Christmas tree)

Momma: "Look at this beautiful angel ornament, Evan?!

Evan (to Daddy): "Is it beautiful like Mama?"

(Melted my heart!)

----------------------------

(As Chris was putting him to sleep tonight)

Evan: "Can I have that farm toy over there, Daddy?"

Daddy: "No, Evan, because it's time to go night-night."

Evan: "I'm going to go get it when you close the door, Daddy, and put it in my bed."

Daddy: "Thank you for telling me the truth. Do you want me to get it for you so you don't have to get out of bed?"

Evan: "Yes."

(5 seconds after closing the door, Evan was up and out of bed to get some books to put in his bed, as well. He's now sitting up there and "reading" books to himself!)

Big Boy Bed

On Sunday, November 14, 2010, we moved Evan from his crib over to his "big boy bed." We were planning on doing it over Thanksgiving, but it just seemed like the right time to do it last weekend. Evan had been crying when we'd put him down for bed, which he hardly ever does, so we just decided to make the change and see if that helped (which it did!). He's really been switching to independent mode these last few weeks, and now having the new bed makes him feel even more grown up.

It was soooooo cute to watch Evan's face as we told him about getting his big boy bed. He was honestly so happy! 

He has actually done really well this week with the bed. I, being the mean Mom that I am, put one of those door knob protectors on the inside of his door so that he can't leave his room when he gets out of his bed. I did it mainly because we have stairs, and I don't want him walking into that hallway in the dark of night. But he's also used to having boundaries, so going from his crib to free reign of the house was just not an option! But it has worked well, because when he does get out of bed, he'll play for a bit and then get right back in bed.

Naptime has been a bit of an issue because it now takes him longer to fall asleep. So, we've had to alter our routine a bit, but we're figuring it out and making it work. We kept the crib together, just in case his new bed didn't work out, but we're going to take it apart tomorrow. Evan is now officially in a big boy bed! (Can't believe it!).

Aubrie is 9 months!

Ok, only 3 months until Aubrie turns 1 year old. I. can't. believe. it.

Aubrie's Personality: 

*She definitely knows what she wants.

*She LOVES to eat.

*She doesn't like to have her diaper changed when she first wakes up. She has to be fed first, and then she'll let me changer her diaper/clothes.

*When I feed her, she likes to hold her hand up to my mouth to kiss it; over and over and over...

*She's in Mommy mode, right now. I can't leave the room without her crying. Also, even if she's totally fine ahead of time and then sees me, she'll start crying for me to hold her. Honestly, I'm going to miss that when she outgrows it...

Things She Likes:

*She LOVES food. Any kind of food. She's had bananas, squash, sweet potatoes, carrots, green beans, peas, little bits of apple juice in rice cereal & food, and kix (LOVES kix).

*She loves her brother and Daddy. Even if she's crying, she'll stop if Evan comes up to her to soothe her. It's so cute because Evan is really starting to notice Aubrie as his sister. She loves to be in his crib with him. I love to watch them play together!

*She loves animals of any kind, especially dogs.
*She's a "woobie" girl. Just like in the movie, "Mr. Mom," my girl has loves to sleep with a blanket. She can be in the middle of a full-out cry, and I can pull the blanket across my shoulder, and she will lean over and be asleep as soon as her head hits my shoulder! (Right now it's not a specific blanket, which is nice!).
*She also has a favorite stuffed animal; a white lamb we've started calling "Lamby."
*She loves to play peek-a-boo
*She loves to play games with us. Right now her favorite is "stick a toy in Mommy's mouth and pull it out really fast."

Things Aubrie Does:

*snorts

*yells with excitement when Daddy comes home from work (Evan does this, too. It's so cute to watch!).

*can clap her hands when we say "yeah!"

*can sign "more" and "eat"

*she can roll, lay down from sitting up (by doing the splits!), sit up from laying down (usually with one leg bent), scoot forward and backward, and is working on getting up on her knees to crawl.
*She now throws her arms up in the air when we say, "Amen!"

_____________

Because I'm a slacker, I haven't even scheduled her 9 month appointment... So, I don't have official stats yet. But it's on my to-do list!

Don't Talk

On friday (11/12/10), a friend from church orchestra watched the kids while I went to get a new haircut (I got side bangs for the first time since junior high!). As we were driving to her house, we saw a fire engine. The conversation went something like this:

Evan: "Can we see the fire engine's face, Mama?"

Me: "Sure, I'll try to catch up to him."

(then the fire engine turned)

Evan: "Where did the fire engine go?"

Me: "I think it went to the fire station.:

Evan: "No, it didn't. Don't talk. You already told me words."

It sounds terrible, but I was trying not to laugh. If he had been older I would have spanked him if he actually meant those words rudely. I just didn't expect him to say that!

Too Big

Last night, Evan started crying around 2am (of course after Chris, my sister, and I stayed up watching Dexter until 12:45am). I went into his room to hold him for a bit, and I realized how hard it was to carry him like I used to because he's gotten so big. He just doesn't fit into my arms the way he did when he was a baby, and that makes me sad.

I almost started crying last night when I went back to bed because it just hit me that Evan was never going to be small enough for me to carry around like that, ever again. I mean, I can still carry him around, and he'll still put his head on my shoulder. He's just getting so big and all grown up every day, and I can hardly stand it. Right now, he's still in an in-between stage where he wants to be loved like a "baby", but struggles with independence. I only hope that I can continue to listen to what God is instructing me to do and raise my kids the right way, because I have no idea what to expect in this new phase! 

We were going to wait until Thanksgiving to put Evan in his big boy bed, but I think we're going to put it together after he wakes up from his nap today. When I told him what we were going to do, his face lit up! It was so cute! Please be praying for us and him and that it would be a smooth transition for all of us! Oh, and please be praying that I can deal with this new stage with Evan.

Cousins

I love these kids. Thank God for the close family that we have.