"Is this creepy?"

Eli is turning more and more boy lately.  Of course he's a boy, but not a little toddler boy anymore.  He's becoming the boy that turns everything into a gun and runs around making shooting noises.  He laughs when he says 'poop' and wipes his face on his shirt.  His new thing is making a face and asking if it's creepy.  If I say yes, he'll run to the mirror just to make sure it really is creepy.

 

The good, the bad and the ugly

The good news is, Alison is growing like a weed and lost her second top tooth at the pool today!

The bad news is, we've been battling hand, foot and mouth for over a week.  Last week, Eli had a fever and a sore throat.  I took him to the doctor and she said hand, foot and mouth is going around like crazy.  About the time Eli got better, Colin got it really bad.  He never ran a fever like Eli did, but his entire body was covered in sores...like even sores on his ears, nose, back of his knees and bottom.  He was in so much pain he didn't eat or sleep much for 2 days.  It was terrible.  I also took him to the doctor to make sure he didn't have strep or an ear infection along with the virus.  We were there early in the morning and the doctor said Colin was his 4th patient that morning with hand, foot and mouth.  Colin didn't want anything on his body and would only eat ice cream (and yes, there is a bike in my dining room because it was the only thing that kept him happy):

Just when I thought I could see the light of everyone being healthy, Alison woke up with a slight fever and complained that her neck hurt.  I've been reading a lot about hand, foot and mouth this week and had read an article that said viral meningitis can come from the disease.  When her neck pain didn't go away after some motrin and ice, we took her to the ER.  Thankfully we were able to see a doctor fairly quickly who was confident that she did not have meningitis.  He clearly has treated it before and knew exactly what he was looking for and dealing with.  He said she must have just pulled a muscle but told us to come back right away if she got really sick.  She didn't and has seemed fine since then, but her neck is still bothering her.

Praise the Lord, everyone is healthy today!  Colin looks a little less like a leaper and his smile has returned to his beautiful face.

We were finally able to get out of the house today and even had the energy to make some grandma Yoder pickles!

Hopefully this week I'll see less doctors and more pool water :) 

Corn pickin

Our friends graciously let us come pick corn again this year.  The kids were excited to help...until their dog decided to join us.  We had to quickly jump to plan B when both boys wanted to be held because the dog was running around.  To their credit, they do have a big dog who was excited to see us and we were in a corn field that towered over their head.

He always has his hand there...weird, I know.

Plan B= Ben and Alison picked corn, the boys hung out in the car (with all the doors open) and I shucked the corn.

I love this little smile...

After 3 buckets, Ben helped me finish shucking and Alison tried some non-cooked corn.

I loved our plan of cleaning up the corn while we were out there.  A field of grass was a whole lot easier to clean up than my wood floors.

We stopped by the sunflowers on our way out.

The next night, Ben and I spent an hour and a half blanching/cutting/freezing corn.  We called it our corn date...we're so romantic :)  But it gave us time to talk and we won't have to buy corn ever again.

Back to the 3rd

Colin is back down to the 3rd percentile :(  Thankfully we saw the same doctor as his last appointment and he continues to believe that he's just burning too many calories.  Ben realized that his drop may be contributed to the fact that we took our baby gates down and he now goes up and down the stairs several times a day.  Anyway, we are still trying everything we can to get calories in Colin.  Whatever he will eat, he can have as much as he wants.  Ben brought home a bag of these popcorn chips from his overseas trip and Colin loved them.  So we stocked up on them and he prefers to eat them straight from the bag.

Anyone who is around Colin for a few minutes can see how much he is constantly on the move.  It's not hard to see where all of his calories are going.  But, he'll stop for Alison.  They've been snuggling in the evening and it's the cutest thing ever.

Colin's 2 year pictures

Colin William, 2 years old

Taking pictures of a little boy who never stops moving is near impossible.  I've tried twice and today was an adventure.  Join me on the journey...

I decided to attempt pictures first thing in the morning.  So I got him up, changed his clothes and snapped some shots before he could get anything dirty.  First rookie mistake on my part.  Alison and Eli of course wanted to jump in on the action, but were still in pj's. 

I took 2 pictures of Colin and he was gone.  Eli was quick to take his spot.

 

 Seeing Eli say "cheese" made Colin want another turn.

Then he wanted to see the picture I took.

"I see?" he kept asking while trying to look at the screen of the camera.

 

Then he would laugh at picture I took.  Thanks, kid.

 

Alison's turn.

 

She scooped up Colin and this is my favorite picture I got of him...I guess Alison will have to be on his picture wall.

 

Eli jumped in...my favorite picture of Eli...maybe I need to learn how to photo shop :)

You have to watch out, or Colin will lick you!

 

Don't you love how Eli has a toothpaste stain on his sleeve.  I'm pretty sure I tell him everyday to wipe his face on a towel.

Alison asked if she could try taking a picture.  Don't you just love morning hair?  That must be why Colin is jumping out of my arms.

 

Eli thought that looked fun...he wanted hold Colin too.

And this is how Colin felt about that.

 

I think I may try getting another picture again, but this time one in action.  I for sure need a new photo location.  I like the lighting, but not the glare I get in the eyes and it's cramped so all my pictures are super up close.  Any ideas?

And for a little perspective on how different the boys are; this is Eli wearing the same shirt when he was 1 year old!

Happy July

We had a quiet 4th of July.  Ben was on a fishing trip, our kids aren't firework fans and there was potentially a tropical storm...good times :)  Thankfully the storm was very small and the kids and I were even able to get out and run some errands.  Random fact: our kids will eat Arby's well, but we've only been there 3 times with them.   They all got cat ears from their meals and have been pretending to be animals for the last several days.

I am a plant killer.  I either water too little or too much, but never in the right equation.  In efforts to keep our plants alive while Ben was gone, I dug out this sprinkler left from the owners.  The kids chased the water and thought it was great to get wet in their clothes.  Plants watered and kids laughing...it was a win, win in my books.

  Our morning wore out Colin...I love how he sleeps.  He only sucks his thumb while he sleeps and rubs the corner of his blankie.

Eli looked super duper cute this morning for church.  In the rush of the morning I didn't get the picture I wanted, but he just melted me all day long.  Here, he's eating a cookie Ben brought home from his fishing trip in Canada.

It was a beautiful afternoon and while the boys napped, I took Alison out for a jog.  She made it a mile and announced to Ben that she runs faster than me.  She ran a 13 minute pace...I'll just leave it at that.  I loved being out with her!  She is a special little girl.  Only a princess can run a mile in a sequin, off the shoulder tank top.