It's The Little Things....

that sometimes make a big difference. I have wanted to have pictures of the kids, (well really Sophie before we had kids, plural) hanging in our stairwell for a long time now. When Sophie was an infant, I did the baby picture thing, and had her photo taken at 3,6,9 and 12 ms. A year ago I found a frame at Target that would accomodate four 5 x 7 photos. By now we had the twins, so I did purchase 3. Last week I finally got around to getting Sophie's baby pictures out, deciding which should go in the frame, and put it together. Terry was much quicker than I was. Once he saw it in the frame, he was ready to hang it. That got me moving on Michael and Emily's, and yesterday, we hung all three in the stairwell. Granted, Sophie's is the only one that is full, and Mike and Em's will have 6, 12,18 mth and a 2 year old picture instead of the first year, but I do feel satisfied. By no means do we have a perfectly decorated home. I take pride in the fact that our home is clean (for the most part!) comfortable, and kid friendly; that is the stage of life we are in right now. So for me, this is a huge decorating accomplishment!

Brotherly Love

It was bound to happen, sooner or later. I guess when you spend all your time with someone, they begin to get on your nerves.

But really Michael, did you have to bite her to get your point across? I think a simple "Excuse me Emily, but you are in my way, " would have sufficed.



Lucky for you, Emily knows you are getting your molars and just wanted to chew on something, anything, even your cute baby sister.

The Frown and The Fever

When Sophie was a toddler, she made "the frown" on command. We thought it was hilarious, because right after the frown, she would break out into a huge smile. It was a fun game for quite awhile. Here she is at 15 ms, in Jan '03:

And here is Emily, almost 15 months old, with her own twist on "the frown." God help me when they are teenagers!!


Emily did have something to frown about Thursday when I took this photo. She and Michael both had a fever, hers got so high (102.9) I called the pediatrician. I was told to watch it and as long as it went down with Motrin, she was ok. It did go down, but she was up till 2:30 am just fussy and restless. The next morning it was back up. I took them both in, and they did a CBC on Emily. It came back normal, and our pediatrician advised me to be on the lookout for either Roseola or Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease. Emily slept great last night, and was much better today. Michael on the other hand, was up 3 times last night, and this morning his temp was 103.4. I have to say, seeing the thermometer reading shoot up that high threw me. I spoke with the pediatrician and after she quizzed me on his behavior (lethargic, but still playful at times) any new symptoms (just a clear runny nose) we agreed it was better not to drag him in again today. He probably has what Emily had yesterday. After Motrin his fever is down as well.

I wasn't going to bathe either one of them tonight, but after seeing Sophie in the tub, they both wanted to get in. So, rub a dub dub, here are our 3 kids in the tub:

We are hoping for a more restful night tonight, long live Motrin!

Mother really does know best

I received a digital camera for Christmas, had fun taking pictures, then spent about 2 hours trying to figure out how to download them. Even though I did everything the owner's manual suggested, I was unsuccessful. Yesterday my parents came over to celebrate Terry's birthday. My mother, who has used a digital camera for a while now, decided to have a go. After showing her everything I had tried, she agreed the software was not working correctly. I ran downstairs to rescue dinner while she continued to fiddle with it. A few minutes later, she was victorious. Apparently, the USB cord does not go in the receptacle marked as such, but in another spot on the tower. Who knew? So, better late than never, here are some photos from Dad's 80th birthday.

Dad has always decorated the birthday cakes in our family, and his own birthday was no exception.

Turning 80 gets you a greeting from the prez.....As Sophie said, "Look Mommy, there's Grandma's favorite president!"

Sophie and Grandma, getting ready to dive into the orange cake.

Here's Michael with some cake on his mouth, plus a nice close up of his first shiner. Actually, by the next day, it had totally faded. But for Grandpa's party, he looked like a real thug!

All in a Morning's Work

Have I mentioned lately how active Michael and Emily are becoming? Let me assure you, it bears repeating! They are walking, crawling and climbing into whatever they can. No longer are they content to stay gated in the family room, or "Babyland" as my sister in law Pat called it on her last visit. Here is the photographic evidence:

Playing with a paper grocery bag, it makes a great toy.

I had turned my back for a second to speak to Sophie and when I turned back, there was Michael, removing the last sippy cup from the dishwasher...what a good little helper!

Emily decides that climbing looks like fun, and since the dishwasher has now been closed, decides to test out her skills on Sophie's chair. She climbs it with ease.

This is the drawer that contains stuff for them to pull out and play with, however, Michael has decided he needs to get in and inspect it further. This is a theme for him....


So, at almost 15 months old, they are curious, active toddlers. Lucikly my camera is always at hand to document the chaos!