New rules.

I made a new rule today, it involves things I need to pack when I travel.

A thermometer, infant acetaminophen, and children's acetaminophen.

After an amazing visit with my friends, Jeanne became sick rapidly.  An alarmingly high fever, especially since we didn't have a thermometer, lead to a hectic night.  Although her demeanor changed for the better by morning, she still clearly had a fever.

We stayed in the hotel, and went to CVS to get the above mentioned supplies.  She is eating a little bit, but not much, and she is doing a great job keeping herself hydrated.

I am hoping tomorrow will be much better.

I am still in good spirits, and will not allow this trip to be squashed by a bug.  Children get sick, especially when you rub their dirty little faces into new petri dishes, like planes.  And buses.  And new museums.

As long as they are playing and laughing, so will I.

Boston bound!

Since my husband does a lot of travel, we miss him quite a lot. But his current meeting is in Boston, so the three of us tagged along. Although, we were still hesitant on how the kids would behave on the flight or the hotel, I felt much more 'in control' compared to our Miami trip last year. Since Boston has a lot of public transportation, we won't be stuck in the hotel, and with our museum of life and science membership, the children's and science museum will be free to us here.

So far, the kids have been great. Loki was a bit of a squirmer on the flight, but eventually settled down to nap. Jeanne was plenty happy playing with the iPad, although she did ask 'are we there yet?' several times, which I thought was hilarious.

Both kids lasted well until we got to the hotel around 10:30am, then they needed food and a nap. Jeanne was weirdly afraid of the king sized bed at first, but thankfully, we brought her Yo Gabba Gabba nap mat, and that made everything all better. We remembered Loki's wooby too. After a 2 hour mid day nap (sweet!), they we right as rain. We picked up dinner from the hotel, and our groceries arrived.

At first, I was put back at how much dinner was, but them I realized , as if for the first time, that I am feeding four people. We shared a burger with fries, a salad with golden and red beets and a Cesar salad with Salmon. We also gave the kids peaches, cheese and juice from our groceries.

I am so glad I got the groceries already. These kids need food in a moments notice, as I'm sure most kids do. We got hummus, a pound of cheese, which I think might have been too much, 8 juice boxes ,8 yogurts, 4 applesauces, jelly, almond milk and a loaf of bread. From home I brought peanut butter packets, and flat packages of baby food for Loki, many Lara bars, a bag of trail mix, a bag of Cheerios and a bag of chocolate rice krispies(the foo foo kind), sesame seeds and pumpkin seeds.

Thankfully Loki is nappig well in the crib, but spent most of the night in bed with us, I don't think its as comfortable as his crib mattress at home.

Today, we are going to meet a friend of mine and his family for lunch, Jeanne is excited to sit on the train. So far so good!

Long overdue

 Okay, I know, it has been a very long time since I have posted last.  It has been very hard for me to manage these past few weeks, as Loki is persistent and Jeanne seems to have lost her hearing recently.  So sad really, she never hears me.  Never listens, oh well, it was nice while it lasted.

Loki is returning to his former "hold me!" stage, which is no fun.  He is resisting any and all attempts to be put to sleep by himself and is getting into everything, and I mean everything.

Jeanne is completely potty trained and has only had a couple of accidents, but I mostly blame myself for not remembering to take her when we're out.  I do have a horrible memory, no doubt.

These photos are old, wow.  Sorry.  But here they are none the less!  Don't forget, in 4 short days we will be seeing some of you in person!

 Puzzles:

 First, we did a bunch of puzzles we got from Memaw and Papaw for Christmas, and she was able to complete the 9, 12 and 16 piece puzzles easily, then within a day, she did them all by herself.  This was exciting for me, she searched, turned, did some experimenting, and was quite and focused for 15 minutes!  I then bought her a couple of 24 piece puzzles.  She did those without a problem.  Sweet!

 

 

Check this out.  That chick is posing.  And just where is did she learn to be such a funny person?  Hm?  Any guesses?

Really?  OK, ok... (16 piece that started the puzzle onslaught in our home)

 

 First 24 piece puzzle.  DONE!

Grandma took a day off and we went in town to Marbles!  This place is great. but I haven't taken Jeanne since Loki was newborn.  It is a madhouse, and now that Loki is mobile, I knew I would need two people to watch the babes!  Here is my future model son, checking out the garden.

Yes, I did say garden, you read that right.  This was in January.  Check out the healthy snapdragons thriving outside.  In freaking January!

 Jeanne in the "Grocery Store" checking out a lobster.

 Go figure, her favorite thing to do is 'food shopping'.  We do it ever 48-72 hours (in real life).

 PHOTOS BY JEANNE!

 

 

 

 

 I know I look like death here.  I was sick, really sick.  Sick for almost 2 full weeks.  Yuck.

 It's time for red sauce!  He's really off all 'baby food' now, I am just finishing up the last few jars I've got left.  Two teeth and eating almost everything.  Just like Jeanne did.  Why let a little thing like 'lack of teeth' get in your way of eating?

Why this girl hates to smile while looking at the camera, I will never know.  

But here's her tongue, she thought you might like that.

Jeanne loves to make facades with these blocks. 

 Loki loves to knock them down, see him coming around with that grin?

PEACE!

Valentine's Day

Yeah, I don't celebrate it.  We don't exchange gifts or cards on most holiday's.

I would be remiss if I did not take this opportunity, to well, you know, talk about the people I love.

My husband is a wonderful partner. 

He is kind, loving, supportive, funny and a great father.  Thank you babe, for all that you do for this family.

Jeanne is a bouncing, curious, stubborn, giggling little girl.  I love to steal away moments with her to read her a book or do a puzzle with her.  I miss our time alone together, and I think we both appreciate the limited alone time we do get.  She loves to give hugs and I love to get them.

Loki's personality has been emerging so much lately.  He has been playing more with his sister, and loves to mimic you.  Listening to him giggle makes all of us smile.  He has shown us his first sign this week, the sign for "Daddy".  He uses and understands  the word "Mama" and "Daddy" correctly, and he has made his own sign up for "More", despite us all showing him over and over again.  He prefers to bang his tray one handed.  He also thinks this is hilarious. 


I am very grateful to have found such a loving man and to have such a wonderful family.

Please play nicely.

Hubbers and I are pretty strict with Jeanne and her behavior towards Loki.  At first it was because he was less than 6 pounds and she wanted to smother him with hugs and kisses.  Then, however it was more rough play.  She was always banging him on the head or throwing toys at him. 

Even now, she is just as likely to squeeze him until he cries (her method of hugging), or will kick him for no reason.  The worst part is when she and Loki are playing alone, but she doesn't know I'm watching her from the doorway.  She'll look around, then smack him, then be super surprised to hear my voice immediately.

It's not always vicious.  Sometimes Jeanne will just yank every toy out of his hand.

I know I am eventually going to have to let them figure it out.  I'd rather not my daughter be a bully.  I'd also rather not always be standing up for Loki.

A random assortment of photos

Consider this a potluck post, a little but of everything in photos.

Loki eating beets and looking nasty.

Loki in the "body of stars" pj's hanging out with his favorite toy in the house.

A TRIP TO THE MUSEUM w

Loki and his buddy

Jeanne and her friend, future astronauts playing in a model shuttle.

Filling and pouring, filling and pouring.

Check this out, this was probably 3 weeks ago.  

 Not only do we have buds, but they are already opening!

Jeanne plays piano at a friends house.

VIDEO: Piano man

Loki painting, with chocolate pudding.

When left on his own, Loki is likely just dumping every bin over.

PLAYING IN THE PARK WITH FRIENDS:

Jeanne and he buddy met the girl in the girl at the playground, but they three hung out for quite a while.

Notice the short sleeves here folks.  Its warm, warm, warm.

These guys were hanging out on the bench for a while, I asked them to do this pose just once, and they got it perfectly.

 

Jeanne with her buddy and his little sister. 

I think little buddy loves the camera, what do you think?

 

They liked having their picture taken, so they asked for more poses.  Cute kids huh?