Christmas Break (I mean Christmas Project Week)

We had a busy two weeks with Jake home.  Right after Christmas we began remodeling our kitchen.  I will post pictures of that later this week.  But for now, here's a little clue to how it turned out (SPOILERS)!

We spent an afternoon at Sam's Club - always an adventure!

When we finally uncovered Scarlett she said, "my foot has sprinkles!"  (cause it fell asleep!)

I caught Scarlett and Jake praying.  When she prays she often says "thank you for mommy and daddy, and babies, and Scarlett, and daddy, and babies, and Scarlett, and mommy"  She wants to make sure she doesn't forget anyone!!!

She also likes to say "Please, can I?", "I need to get a move on." "Let's Eat" (right after praying), "careful daddy, it's dangerous.  You bein' careful daddy?"  "I'm 3!" (she really thinks that she's 3). "I a grill" (means I'm a girl).

We worked on potty training a bit.  I don't want to pressure her too much.  She's very strong willed.  So I usually have to bribe her to wear panties, and even that doesn't always work.  Baby steps, I mean 2 yr old steps.

The twins have a new trick!

For New Year's Eve, Jake and I put the babies to bed like normal then went and painted the kitchen.  We finally called it quits around 1 am.  We got all cleaned up and were just turning out the light when I heard Scarlett scream "MOMMY!"  I went to check on her and instantly when I opened the door I could tell (or smell) that something was wrong.  I turned the light on and she was sitting up in bed, covered in vomit, completely bewildered and horrified.  "I'm messy mommy!"  I grabbed a towel, scooped her up and plopped her in the shower.  She soaked while Jake and I cleaned up the remnants of our dinner from all over her room.  After we got her in new pjs, we let her sleep in our bed (while her room aired out).  She was so wired from the shower or since we let her in our bed that she couldn't sleep.  She just kept wiggling, talking, playing, hitting the mattress, climbing on top of me (literally - I was laying on my side and she was trying to balance on top of me).  It was maddening.  Then right when she was falling asleep the babies woke up.  Perfect.  I tried to sneak out to feed them.  About 3 minutes after I started nursing them, in walks Scarlett carrying a 5 foot long cardboard tube.  Then she started playing and woke the babies up even more.  Ugh.  Plus, Jaide had a fever (again) so I had to give her meds and cool her down (take off helmet, lukewarm washcloth, etc). I also gave in and gave Scarlett Benadryl (I was losing it!)  It was around 4 am when we finally had peace again and I was able to fall asleep.  Of course Jake slept through most of this.  He's been blessed with the ability to sleep through the noise/kicks/screams of our children.  I truly think this is a talent.  Especially cause he takes the morning shift and lets me sleep in!  Happy New Year!!!

Just playing with our new toys - and yes, that's a glass ornament that my two year old is playing with right next to my babies.  Mother of the year, I know. 

Some little girl saw the twins and exclaimed "PIGGY HEADS!"  her mom was horrified and explained that it was cause of the pink helmets.  We thought it was funny.

Jan 2 I took Jaide (and Siena and Scarlett) through the snow to the pediatrician's office.  She had a low-grade fever (like 100.5-101ish) for 4 days so they wanted to see her.  We were there for 3 hours!  That was a long time to keep the peace in a tiny room with no tv!  Since her ear/throat looked fine they did a toe prick to see if her white blood cells were high.  They were elevated so they decided to do a catheter (poor thing!).  They tested it in the office and saw signs of infection.  Her white blood cell count was 21.8 (normal is 4.5-10.5) and her platelet count was 486 (normal is 150-450).  They decided to give her 2 ceftrizxone shots (antibiotics) while they waited for the results of the urine test.  The doctor suspected a UTI which is a serious infection with babies.  10 years ago she would have been admitted to the hospital if she had one.  So she wanted to do the shots cause they're much stronger than the oral antibiotics.  We had to go back the next day for 2 more shots since the lab results weren't back.  Finally on Saturday we heard that the UTI was negative.  That's great news!  (since a UTI meant going to the urologist for more testing and an ultrasound of the kidneys).  Her fever hadn't come back so the doctor thinks it was just a rouge infection.

The girls were sooooooooooo patient during all of this.  Scarlett was darling.  Whenever someone new would walk in she would ask "what's you name?"  then they would ask her hers "I'm Sca-lett".  Or if they asked her "how are you?" "I'm three"  (no you're not!!!)

Poor thing!

Siena was happy just sitting in her car seat watching the commotion.  We went through a lot of yogurt bites and had to play musical arms while I nursed them.

Scarlett has been really helpful with the twins.  She wants to hold them, feed them, and even help change their diapers.  When I tell her she's such a great big sister she says "no, I'm a medium sister"!!!

I love how she opens her mouth when feeding Siena.  Jake does that too!

I'm a medium girl!

*side note: as I was watching these videos I realized that Scarlett is never wearing clothes.  I promise we dress her everyday (well, most days).  She will take off all her clothes before a meal (she doesn't like to get them messy), if she spills anything on them, if she's going potty, or right when we walk in the door after being out of the house.  Silly thing.  Maybe I should try to work on keeping her dressed more.  But who am I to judge?  I lounge in my sweats all day and I take off my bra right when we get home (TMI?)