March Madness

 Well, I think my last post left off with everyone getting sick except for me. This one recaps the week after everyone seemed to be recovering, which also happened to be the week we discovered that Evelynn is extremely allergic to Penicillin.

 Claire at play in her bed - ordinarily I don't let the kids play in bed, but I think I took this right after letting Evie try to wake Claire up after a nap. Most days Claire gets mad about Evie trying to climb into her bed, but on this day they both thought it was great. Ah the joys of sisterhood.

 Little cowgirl - Claire put the hat on Evie and started singing "She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain" complete with a lot of "Yee-haws"

 One of my must-haves before Buddy's arrival was a double umbrella stroller. I LOVED my double stroller before, but the fact of the matter is, if it is in the back of my car, I have ZERO room for anything else. Apparently only the UK has a triple umbrella stroller, so I had to settle for a double. The girls love it and it fits in my car and in the hall closet no problem, so I'm happy with the trade-in. Of course I also have a triple jogger now, but that doesn't fit in the car or even inside our house.

 And thus begins the penicillin reaction. Day one looked pretty rough (above).

Day two looked worse still. She started a three day fever and swelled all over. I ran her back to the doctor just in case. This was one of the few times where I literally felt my heart drop into my stomach over just the sight of my child. I knew it was a drug reaction and that it had to run its course, but it was scary for me, and quite exhausting. She felt miserable and I was at a loss to help.

 Family being here is a huge blessing - on the second day of the penicillin reaction, my sister took Claire for an all day playdate and sent me this picture. I'm glad Claire could have some fun. Evelynn went into a benadryl-induced sleep and I got some rest too.

 The doctors told us on the second day that Evie could start to look even worse over 3 to 4 days, but God spared us more of that and she woke the third day looking much more comfortable. She ran a fever and had swollen eyes and lips for a few more days, but the lesions and hives started to diminish and now all that remains are scabs and scales from her scratching.

 We even managed to make a local big barbecue on Saturday. The girls had such a good time they cried when we had to go home.

 All tuckered out on the ride home.

 Daddy's little helper

All she ever wants to do is be outside - and outside means swinging!

March So Far

For a change, I'm adding a post before the end of the month. Here are some March photos to date. Claire had the ear infection in February. In March it was Evie's turn. Luckily, I have managed to stay well despite the rest of my family getting sick. That may sound selfish, but being pregnant, I'll take what breaks I can!

Speaking of pregnancy, it continues to go well. Other than insomnia, I have very little to complain about. It has been normal to the point of boring - very unlike my other pregnancies and for that I am grateful. We will have one extra ultrasound in the next few weeks just to make sure Buddy is still growing well and there are no placental problems, but other than that it should be smooth sailing to our May 31st c-section. Carrying a boy has been a little different than the girls. I feel much bigger, though that may just be my perception. And his movements are stronger - I feel a whole lot kicks and bumps and such and Claire loves it when Buddy kicks her. He will not be ignored!

At 14 months, Evie is a talker, walker, climber, and destroyer. Her favorite word (and thing) is "dog." She calls Claire "sister." She dropped her morning nap quite earlier than expected (usually closer to 18 months before this happens). This means you'll see many pictures below of her asleep in her high chair at lunch. She often starts to doze off as soon as she starts to eat. The nap has been a bit challenging since the girls share a room and Claire needs less of an afternoon nap than Evie. I put Claire down later than E and hope they get up at the same time. Sometimes it works. Evie's nickname is "Oogie." Not sure why, but there you have it. She seems to speak Chinese. When Claire gets to talking (which is nearly constantly), Evie chimes in with strings of words we don't recognize. She loves to be outside and cries when we drag her back in.

At 2 and a half, Claire is challenging our newly forming parenting ideas and skills. I have been reading a plethora of parenting books and trying to find my own style by combining the good ideas and leaving ones I'm not too sure about. Luckily, Claire is still my fairly easy sweet girl, so she makes it easier than perhaps another child would. Still, we have our challenges. It is not an exaggeration to say that Claire talks almost all the time. Much of it is intelligible too, though she still struggles with some of her consonants. She loves to read and points to words all the time saying "What that says?" She has started recognizing letters and can spell her name and the word "Tacky" (because it is one of her favorite stories, Tacky the Penguin). She has started to play pretend a bit - she likes to put her hooded blankie on and call herself "Super Claire" with the power of being "super nice." She tolerates being a big sister most of the time and is very excited about Buddy coming.

Okay, enough talk. Now for the pictures!

February Review

It is truly my intention to post more than once a month. I'm actually hoping to have MORE energy AFTER Buddy arrives, but we shall see. For now, enjoy a few pictures from the past month - and sorry for such a delay!
You are about to see a ton of photos of Evie in her high chair. I think this is for 2 reasons - one, it's the only place I can get her to be (somewhat) still, which means they are the only pictures that aren't completely blurry; and two, she LOVES to eat. Also, February proved to be a nice month to be outside (toward the end) so you will see some outdoor play photos. And if I skimped on Claire pictures this is probably due to the fact that she got an ear infection and was pretty low key for a good bit of this month. In fact, she spent at least an hour a night coughing for literally over 4 weeks. Quite a rough month for us!