Not much news to report here, I just don't want to fall behind in my blog like someone I know :)
We had a boring weekend because Gus had to work most of the weekend and it was too cold to do anything outside. He's supposed to take tuesday off so maybe we'll get to make up some lost time!
Gus won the Award of Excellence again this year! Some of you may remember we went to Boston in 2003 when he won it then. This year it's at a really fancy resort in Scottsdale, Arizona. We can't find anyone to watch the kids, so we're going to bring them. Oh my! It's going to be interesting! We have to pay a babysitter there to watch the kids while we're at dinner, but the rest of the time we should be able to have fun with them. More later because it's nap time and Gustav is melting down...
Monday, March 27, 2006
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
I was just typing that last post when Callie started taking off her pants. I kept yelling at her "leave your pants on!" but she insisted. Then she started tapping her totally sagging diaper and saying 'full diaper' over and over again and swinging it back and forth between her knees. I took a picture just for fun.
More Portraits!
I took the kids for more portraits yesterday. I got the name of a photographer who takes the pictures in her home (and is a lot less expensive). I thought she did a good job. I took pictures of the pictures with my digital camera so I could share them. I didn't buy wallets this time because I'm sure you all love getting those tiny pictures that you have no idea what to do with :)
My Personal DNA
According to the personality test floating around the Hertz family I am a Cautious Idealist. In pictoral terminology I am this:
I don't know how the picture turned out, but if you mouse over the colors it tells you what my traits are. I thought the 'low attention to style' was pretty funny. Also, what is 'Agency' because I apparently have 'very high agency' (the big bright green one at the top.) According to the program, if I want to be different (ie. fix some of my issues :)) I should open myself to other's ideas and take an "occasional foray into the unknown" to broaden my perspective. Interesting...
If you want to take this test for yourself, it was pretty cool. Here's the link: http://personaldna.com/
I don't know how the picture turned out, but if you mouse over the colors it tells you what my traits are. I thought the 'low attention to style' was pretty funny. Also, what is 'Agency' because I apparently have 'very high agency' (the big bright green one at the top.) According to the program, if I want to be different (ie. fix some of my issues :)) I should open myself to other's ideas and take an "occasional foray into the unknown" to broaden my perspective. Interesting...
If you want to take this test for yourself, it was pretty cool. Here's the link: http://personaldna.com/
Monday, March 20, 2006
Lots of Pictures
I wrote a lot with the pictures so this will be short. I thought I'd give a little update on Gus. He's still biking almost every weekend. He and Doug have found some new places to go, but Gus still loves Carvins Cove where he bikes up Brushy Mountain. They went to Douthat a couple weekends ago and found it was a great place to hike, bike, fish and camp so I think our first camping trip will be there. I think it's about 30 to 45 minutes away from here. He also found a great place to catch trout and I'm just waiting for a warm weekend so I can try too (I'm still a bit of a wimp with the cold weather!) Although, it was 80 degrees for 3 or 4 days last week!! He also bought a new boat (more on that later!) It's basically a blow up boat for the big rivers. Other than that he continues to be successful at his job and we keep getting fun things from his spirit reward points (like the camping set!)
The kids are great and have been healthy for a whole week!! Gustav is like a new baby with this antibiotic and I think he covered several new milestones last week now that he's feeling better. He's almost sitting up on his own, he can roll and maneuver every which way to get where he wants to go. I have to constantly keep an eye on him! He's so active too, it takes a lot of patience to get him dressed! Callie can practically talk and loves to talk to her Daddy on the phone. She tells him all about her day and sometimes calls to ask him a question, like "where did the geese go?" The geese are her new favorite animal (along with the cows and the horses we see on the way to the BAC!)
I'm pretty much the same, just trying to work out a lot. Got to get in shape for summer - a new concept now that we live north of Florida! bye!
The kids are great and have been healthy for a whole week!! Gustav is like a new baby with this antibiotic and I think he covered several new milestones last week now that he's feeling better. He's almost sitting up on his own, he can roll and maneuver every which way to get where he wants to go. I have to constantly keep an eye on him! He's so active too, it takes a lot of patience to get him dressed! Callie can practically talk and loves to talk to her Daddy on the phone. She tells him all about her day and sometimes calls to ask him a question, like "where did the geese go?" The geese are her new favorite animal (along with the cows and the horses we see on the way to the BAC!)
I'm pretty much the same, just trying to work out a lot. Got to get in shape for summer - a new concept now that we live north of Florida! bye!
We can't wait to go camping!! Here's our obnoxiously huge 3-room tent we got from Gus' spirit award points. We actually got a whole camping package that includes the tent, 2 queen size blow up mattresses, 4 sleeping bags, a propane stove, propane lantern, enamel ware for 4, a pack away table with 2 benches, 4 captains chairs, and the most important - a huge coffee press! Who needs a house when you have all that?
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
The Stats on Gustav
His 6 month checkup went well yesterday. He gained 2 pounds and now weighs 15 lbs 9.6 oz (25th percentile) he grew 2 inches and is now 26 inches long (50th percentile) and his head grew to 17 1/4 inches (50th percentile). He is growing well! He's a little skinny thing, but he looks perfect!
The only bad news is that he did have an infection in his other ear. The doctor said it was really bad (like the ear drum might have popped). He sure is a trooper though! We started a new antibiotic called Omnicef. It's still in the penicillin family so if he's actually allergic, he may have another reaction. After talking to the peditrician, I think he's probably not allergic because he would have to have been exposed to it one time before the reaction so that his body could see it again and say "get out of here!" thus, the allergic reaction. Does that make sense? The only ways that could have happened are if I took penicillin when I was pregnant or nursing or if they gave it to him when he was born. None of that happened (as far as I can remember) so we're hoping he's not. The only problem is that it's now on his 'record' and they only way to get it off is to have blood work done to test for allergies. If he does well on the Omnicef then we won't have to worry because it's just as good, if not better than the amoxicillin (just more expensive).
That's it for my update. I have a picture of Callie sleeping in the car (she doesn't do that often). I guess her new bed time is catching up with her because she also took a 2 1/2 hour nap yesterday (she usually only naps for an hour or less). I think I forgot to mention that we're letting her stay up until 8 pm so she can have more Daddy time (that's the pic of her eating daddy's food)!
The only bad news is that he did have an infection in his other ear. The doctor said it was really bad (like the ear drum might have popped). He sure is a trooper though! We started a new antibiotic called Omnicef. It's still in the penicillin family so if he's actually allergic, he may have another reaction. After talking to the peditrician, I think he's probably not allergic because he would have to have been exposed to it one time before the reaction so that his body could see it again and say "get out of here!" thus, the allergic reaction. Does that make sense? The only ways that could have happened are if I took penicillin when I was pregnant or nursing or if they gave it to him when he was born. None of that happened (as far as I can remember) so we're hoping he's not. The only problem is that it's now on his 'record' and they only way to get it off is to have blood work done to test for allergies. If he does well on the Omnicef then we won't have to worry because it's just as good, if not better than the amoxicillin (just more expensive).
That's it for my update. I have a picture of Callie sleeping in the car (she doesn't do that often). I guess her new bed time is catching up with her because she also took a 2 1/2 hour nap yesterday (she usually only naps for an hour or less). I think I forgot to mention that we're letting her stay up until 8 pm so she can have more Daddy time (that's the pic of her eating daddy's food)!
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
Moo-mees!!
It's nice to know that your kids listen to you some of the time! I was preparing my breakfast while Callie RAN her play vacuum (too bad it doesn't really work) around the kitchen and I was standing in her way and she said "moo-mees!!" (excuse me). Now however, she is playing in the garbage can which kind of erases the earlier politeness in my mind - gross!
We had an eventful weekend. On Friday night we had the Foreman's (Gus' boss' family) and the Snodgresses (his co-worker's family) over for a Lenten dinner. They are all Catholic except for Mike, so we were trying to convert him by showing him how fun Lent can be when you get together and eat teriyaki salmon and drink margaritas! It was like a madhouse here with 5 kids running around (Gustav was sleeping the whole time). Callie was the youngest of the awake kids so she was observing the mayhem in awe. She even tried a few 'big girl' tricks (see the pictures) that didn't quite work out in her favor.
On Saturday we had the Barnette's over for dinner. They live in the same house that we do, but about a block away. I met Michelle in the Moms club and we work out together at the BAC so we wanted to get to know them. They have two girls one older than Callie and one younger. Callie was imitating Kayla (the older girl) the whole night, it was really cute! Gus and Mike seemed to get along too, so hopefully they will become good friends of ours and it's a bonus that they live so close.
Gustav has his 6 month appointment today. Poor little guy got hives the other day. The doctor thought it might be from the amoxicillin he was taking for his ear infection, so he had us take him off of it because his ear was almost back to normal. I'm convinced that he has an infection in the other ear now though. It may sound gross, but his ear smells and he has been rubbing it. We'll find out today. The hives really scared me though because I've never seen it before. It was so weird, they kept moving around on his body. He'd have a huge one in one place and 30 minutes later it would be gone and then he'd have more somewhere else. It was too coincidental that David (Andrea's son) also got hives on the same day as Gustav and we were hanging out together the day before. Our new theory is that they had the same virus and it appeared as hives instead of other symptoms. It would be good if Gustav wasn't allergic to amoxicillin! Hopefully, I'll find out more today at his appointment - or is might be one of those childhood quandaries.
Through all his sickness this year, he is still doing great. He is rolling all over the place and 'creeping.' He can pretty much get wherever he wants to go as long as a chair or something doesn't get in his way:)
I might write more after his appointment if I get a chance. Bye!
We had an eventful weekend. On Friday night we had the Foreman's (Gus' boss' family) and the Snodgresses (his co-worker's family) over for a Lenten dinner. They are all Catholic except for Mike, so we were trying to convert him by showing him how fun Lent can be when you get together and eat teriyaki salmon and drink margaritas! It was like a madhouse here with 5 kids running around (Gustav was sleeping the whole time). Callie was the youngest of the awake kids so she was observing the mayhem in awe. She even tried a few 'big girl' tricks (see the pictures) that didn't quite work out in her favor.
On Saturday we had the Barnette's over for dinner. They live in the same house that we do, but about a block away. I met Michelle in the Moms club and we work out together at the BAC so we wanted to get to know them. They have two girls one older than Callie and one younger. Callie was imitating Kayla (the older girl) the whole night, it was really cute! Gus and Mike seemed to get along too, so hopefully they will become good friends of ours and it's a bonus that they live so close.
Gustav has his 6 month appointment today. Poor little guy got hives the other day. The doctor thought it might be from the amoxicillin he was taking for his ear infection, so he had us take him off of it because his ear was almost back to normal. I'm convinced that he has an infection in the other ear now though. It may sound gross, but his ear smells and he has been rubbing it. We'll find out today. The hives really scared me though because I've never seen it before. It was so weird, they kept moving around on his body. He'd have a huge one in one place and 30 minutes later it would be gone and then he'd have more somewhere else. It was too coincidental that David (Andrea's son) also got hives on the same day as Gustav and we were hanging out together the day before. Our new theory is that they had the same virus and it appeared as hives instead of other symptoms. It would be good if Gustav wasn't allergic to amoxicillin! Hopefully, I'll find out more today at his appointment - or is might be one of those childhood quandaries.
Through all his sickness this year, he is still doing great. He is rolling all over the place and 'creeping.' He can pretty much get wherever he wants to go as long as a chair or something doesn't get in his way:)
I might write more after his appointment if I get a chance. Bye!
Monday, March 06, 2006
Sunday, March 05, 2006
You Know You're a Mother When...
You know you're a mother when you let your child throw up all over you just to avoid getting it on the carpet! The biggest decision after saving yourself hours of cleanup is - do I change my clothes or my childs clothes first? Yep, Callie is now getting over a stomach virus. I must say I'm looking forward to spring because I've heard that there isn't as much sickness then. Has anyone answered the biggest question on my mind - why does everyone get sick in the winter?
Last week was a bit rough because on top of getting barfed on I found out I won't be able to take the aerobics job because the nursery requires that the kids be potty trained if you work there. I don't understand why they won't just let them sit in poopy diapers for one hour! It could be because they don't feel like smelling it, but whatever it is, it's probably for the best anyway.
Gustav is beginning to 'talk' all the time, even during church. It is so cute, he just moves his mouth and lets out these funny sounds. Then he gets so excited! He was definitely a charmer at church today. He woke up during mass and requested to be taken out of the car seat and when I lifted him up you could almost hear a collective 'AAWWW' coming from all the people within eye shot! He then noticed he was being looked at and shined his best grin for all the ladies.
Aside from being sick this last week, Callie is also getting better and better at talking. It seems like she figures out how to say new sentences every day. She can also count to 12 (the number of steps in our house) on cue and is really good at it. She counts everything now. "Callie, how many crackers do you have left" she replies "one, twoo, tree...etc." It is adorable. She is even more in love with Strawberry Shortcake (if that was possible) and I'm about to 'lose' the video. Since she was sick I let her watch TV a lot and I kept asking her if she wanted to watch Pooh or Baby Einstein or something else and she only wanted 'babrys cake' so we actually watched it 3 times IN A ROW on Thursday. I can't get the songs out of my head!
I'm going to look for some pictures to post. Oh and Nonna, that ecard from Strawberry land was from Callie!
Last week was a bit rough because on top of getting barfed on I found out I won't be able to take the aerobics job because the nursery requires that the kids be potty trained if you work there. I don't understand why they won't just let them sit in poopy diapers for one hour! It could be because they don't feel like smelling it, but whatever it is, it's probably for the best anyway.
Gustav is beginning to 'talk' all the time, even during church. It is so cute, he just moves his mouth and lets out these funny sounds. Then he gets so excited! He was definitely a charmer at church today. He woke up during mass and requested to be taken out of the car seat and when I lifted him up you could almost hear a collective 'AAWWW' coming from all the people within eye shot! He then noticed he was being looked at and shined his best grin for all the ladies.
Aside from being sick this last week, Callie is also getting better and better at talking. It seems like she figures out how to say new sentences every day. She can also count to 12 (the number of steps in our house) on cue and is really good at it. She counts everything now. "Callie, how many crackers do you have left" she replies "one, twoo, tree...etc." It is adorable. She is even more in love with Strawberry Shortcake (if that was possible) and I'm about to 'lose' the video. Since she was sick I let her watch TV a lot and I kept asking her if she wanted to watch Pooh or Baby Einstein or something else and she only wanted 'babrys cake' so we actually watched it 3 times IN A ROW on Thursday. I can't get the songs out of my head!
I'm going to look for some pictures to post. Oh and Nonna, that ecard from Strawberry land was from Callie!