Mr. Mischief

 This stand has been sitting in our kitchen for years.

I dress it up seasonally, often holding a vase with a candle in it.

It's never been touched by our kids or knocked over as they ran by.

But it took Colin all of 2 minutes to figure out that he loves to take off the bottom rack and bang it on the ground. 

Then he discovered the kitty beds.  Clearly he likes the smell of them.

 He crawls into them and then pushes them around the kitchen.

And his ultimate favorite thing to get into it the power cords.  He will go to great lengths to chew on any cord he can find.

 Nothing can stop Mr. Mischief.

Smoochie's favorite spot...he likes to keep Mr. Mischief company while he naps.

Seeing fruit

Whenever Alison and I play princesses, she always asks me which princess I want to be.  I always choose Cinderella because she's my favorite.  And Alison will say, "You don't want to be Cinderella.  All she does is work."  Then she'll get this pondering look on her face that says, "well, I guess that fits".  It's true.  Often the life of a mommy feels like Cinderella.  We're often covered in messes, waiting on other people and working all day just to keep the house clean.  Some times it feels like nothing is getting accomplished in these "Cinderella" days.

But then you get these really cool mommy moments that let you know it's all worth it.   You realize that they're watching you work and hearing your words, even if they're not directed at little ears.  This post is a reminder to myself...be encouraged; you're work is greater than grilled cheese sandwhiches, clean ears and conquering the laundry.


Alison's teacher told her that she's ready for 1st grade.  A simple compliment, true.  But I just let it simmer in my heart "my daughter can read".  She's not just reading, but telling the stories.  Seeing the fruit of years of work is sweet.

Alison grabbed her bible and "coffee", laid by the fire and started reading Genesis one morning.  She's seen me do it quietly for years, while they watch their morning show...but this morning she decided to join me.

We were all starving for lunch.  As I fed Colin, Alison took everyone's order: peanut butter and honey or cheese and crackers.  She went into the kitchen, stood on her tippy toes to get tortillas out of the bread box and somehow got the peanut butter out of the pantry.  She made her and Eliot a lunch of  peanut butter tortilla, grapes and a drink.  I couldn't count how many times she's asked me for lunch, but I will always remember the one time she made me lunch.
(please ignore the crying at the end.  I promise all was well)

7 Months

 My little stinker is now 16 lbs!

2 lbs in one month, I'd say those little food pouches are doing their job and worth the money!

He has 2 bottom teeth and 2 on top should be popping through in the next couple of weeks.

Thanks to those teeth working their way down, Colin currently has a double ear infection.

Side note:  I'm so thankful for our doctor!  I took Eliot in to get his stitches removed and she noticed Colin seemed not like his usual self.  I told her he's been pretty grumpy, but contributed it to reintroducing bread this week.  She took the initiative to check him out and found both ears infected.  I was so impressed that she knew him well enough to know he wasn't feeling well and that she took the time after Eliot's appointment to take care of Colin.  She immediately called in a prescription for him and also gave me samples to keep checking his poop for blood, so maybe we can figure out what he's allergic to before going to the allergist in March.

He is so busy and curious and mischievious that he is not allowed to be left alone.  ever.

The other day I was changing his clothes and left him on the floor of his room to go help Eli in the potty.  I heard a crash and found him between the chair and end table...he had yanked on the cord of the lamp and pulled in on himself.  I don't even know how he got in that small space or how he got there so quickly!

He wouldn't stay still for a moment during this photo shoot.  As soon as I laid him down, he rolled over and climbed out.  Who is this child?!  I thought Shear babies were non-movers?  What happened to my "sit on a blanket and play with a basket of toys" stage? 

He's starting going up into a pike position.  It looks like he's just going to stand up!

Eli's first stitches

Monday morning Alison missed the bus.

That should have been my first clue as to how the day was going to go.

With a quick change of plans, we started the prep to take Alison to school and then go to the Y.

I was changing Colin's diaper, Ben was finishing breakfast and we told Alison to go brush her teeth.  I guess Eliot felt lost without an instruction and went to watch Alison brush her teeth.

Alison was the only one who witnessed the fall, but somehow Eliot slipped off the potty and hit the back of his head.  I heard the scream and ran so fast I almost left Colin on the changing table.  It was our first really bloody experience in the Shear house.  But I think at least one of these episodes is healthy for parents, because it shows you how you react in an emergency situation.  Me, I freeze.  I just scooped him up and held him.  Ben came in, calmly looked at his wound and declared he needed stitches.  See, we're a perfect team.  I scoop and freeze and Ben makes a plan of action.  Then my mommy brain might have kicked in a little too much.  I started making plans to get Alison to school, get Colin to a friends house and then prepped any food or entertainment they might need.  Alison must have felt my vibe because she started packing herself books to read and asked for special chocolates to munch on while she waited.  Ben finally stopped me and said, "Just get in the car!".  So our whole troop ventured to the doctor's office.  4 stitches and lots of tears later, he was good as new.

I struggled with feeling guilty the whole rest of the day.  I kid you not, I worked hard all week "baby proofing" our home.  It was the first time in 3 kids that I've gone to extensive measures to make sure everything is safe.  I researched, I made to-do lists and I'm pretty sure I drove Ben crazy how much I talked about it.  I'm not sure if it was because I've heard of some tragic stories lately or because Colin is way more determined than Alison and Eliot ever were, but I had this huge tug on my heart to make sure my kids were safe.  One night I was sharing this with a friend and she asked me what I thought would happen, why I thought I felt this tug.  And I told her I just felt like something was going to happen...and it did.  My guilt came, not from the simple accident, but that I couldn't prevent.  All the baby proofing in the world still can't protect my kids.  I could follow them around all day and they will still get hurt.  That's such a frustrating feeling as a mom.  He wasn't doing anything crazy or naughty...like spinning his brother around in the exersaucer...yet he was still hurt.

 

The stitches come out tomorrow and I'm sure it's not the last time we'll see them in our house. 

 Just look at these two.  I think we're in trouble.

My outfit maker

Alison loves putting together her own outfits.

Food Allergies?

 Christmas Day, we were getting the kids ready for naps.  I went to change Colin's diaper and found his diaper was full of blood.  Sorry, this post might be too graphic.  But, as I stood there in shock, mucusy blood just kept pouring out.  My heart just broke for my little boy.  I have several friends who have kids with food allergies and I immediately remembered them telling me that blood in the stool was the first sign.  I cried as I realized something was not right and as I thought about what this would mean for Colin.  We got the kids to sleep and began researching and making phone calls.  He had no other symptoms of concern and didn't seem at all in discomfort so we didn't take him into the emergency room.  I took him into the pediatrician the next day and she confirmed that she believes he has a food allergy.  She checked his bottom to make sure it wasn't just a hemorrhoid and did an ultrasound to make sure everything in his belly was okay.  She sent me home with a couple of testers and told me to test his poop in a couple of days.  I got a call Wednesday saying that the tests came back positive-he still has blood in his stool even though we can't see it!  She said we needed to see a specialist and there wasn't much more they would be able to do at their office.  BUT the first available appointment at the specialist is March 14th!  That's first available in all of Virginia...I told her I would drive anywhere at any time.  Poor receptionist lady.  I pretty much just lost it on her.  So my 6 month old son is had blood in his stool from something I'm feeding him, but I can't know what that is for 3 more months!  I asked her what in the world I was suppose to feed him until then!  Well she didn't have an answer, but assured me I was at the top of their cancellation list.  I called my pediatrician back to ask the same question.  They told me to keep feeding him what I am, to continue introducing new foods, to keep a detailed log of everything he eats and if I can see blood, then to call them immediately.

My only guess to his allergy is a something in bread.  I gave him his first piece of bread a few days before Christmas.  He was pretty much refusing to be spoon fed, but I found that he loved chewing on a waffle or bun.  We make all our own bread, so I felt good about what I was feeding him.  Now it just makes me sad to think that he may never get to eat all the delicious food that's baked around here. 

Right after the pediatrician called I just felt frozen.  How could I keep feeding my son something that was possibly hurting him?  Was it hurting him?  How in the world could I figure out what was bothering him if I can't see the blood?  Should I change my diet?  How do I know what to eliminate from my diet and how do I know if it's working?  Should I stop nursing?  Should I feed him bread again to see if the bleeding comes back and possibly get into the specialist quicker?  Is he cranky because he's teething or because his tummy hurts?

I don't know any of the answers.  Right now, I can't bring myself to give him bread again.  I didn't eat bread for a couple of days, but didn't notice any difference in anything.  I got him to eat out of food pouches and am thankful to at least be getting food in him.  I bought a refillable pouch and have been making all of his food so I know exactly what he's getting.  I have a feeling this is going to be a long road.  You know that mom gut feeling?  I've had it many times when they would tell us something was wrong with Alison and I just knew everything was fine.  I have that opposite feeling this time.  My gut tells me something is wrong and it's so very frustrating to have to wait long months to find out any answers.  Please pray with us that a spot opens up with the specialist soon!

On the bright side, he's started sitting on his own and cut a second bottom tooth.

Alison's Winter Break

Alison had 2 weeks off of school for winter break.

New Year's Day, Ben offered to watch the boys so Alison and I could go out for a girls day.  We headed to Williamsburg to do a little shopping.  Alison was in heaven.  If you want to see this girl happy, just take her to a clothing store and let her try some things on.

It was refreshing to have some time with just my princess...reminded me of all the times we would go shopping in Michigan when she was just a baby.

She's back at school this week and today was the first day she's ever said she wanted to stay home.  Her nose was a little stuffy and she said, "Don't you think I should stay home with you until my nose is better?"  I knew she really just wanted to stay home with Colin.

Christmas 2012

Colin loved crawling under the tree and chewing on the ornaments

 Christmas morning, we were ready for early risers.  We set the coffee to automatically turn on at 6:30 and the boys were up just like we predicted.  Ben made tea pastries and we played with the boys while we sipped our coffee and waited for the princess to wake up.  By 8 am we thought something must be wrong and all went in to check on her.  We stood there and stared at her for a couple of minutes...Ben finally picked her up and asked if she remembered it was Christmas.  "Oh Yeah!"  With groggy eyes, she went and got her stocking and we all opened them on our bed.

 

The kids were not as over-the-top excited as I thought they would be, but their calmness was refreshing. 

Poor Colin missed breakfast, his morning nap and only got 1 present from Aunt Beth (other than his Christmas pj's)...he didn't seem to mind a bit and was perfectly content to climb through the boxes and chew on the paper.  Oh, the life of a third baby.

After presents and tea pastries, we played and played and played.

It was a big day for this little man. 

 Not only was it his first Christmas, but he also cut his first tooth and officially started army crawling!

In the evening, we got dressed up and had a fancy Christmas dinner.

Perfecto pork, garlic mashed potatoes, green beans, zwiebach and a nice red wine.

Candles lit and some pumpkin pie, made for the perfect Christmas evening.

We had a wonderful Christmas and I can say I enjoyed every moment.