4 Months Old...

Yeahup time is sure flying by... Garrison is now 4 months old. He is 12 lbs 9 oz and getting bigger by the day! He holds his head up much better these days. He enjoys his exersaucer and bumbo chair. He likes to watch cartoons with the kids every so often while sitting in the corner of the couch propped up in a sitting position by his boppy pillow! He smiles a lot more. He is recognizing his name and surprisingly enough likes being on his tummy any chance he gets! During the day he is awake and alert but still wakes every 2-3 hours at night to eat! Every so often I get lucky and find him sleeping 4-5 hours but that is very rare!! He has also discovered his ability to hold and grab things. Not only does he grab things but everything goes to and in the mouth! He has even started grabbing for the girls' hair! Sadly the kids aren't able to hold him as easily anymore since he likes to squirm!! Pretty soon he will be mobile and a fun playmate!

So until then I will enjoy the last few months that I have before he is a mobile wrecking ball!

Children At Work...

I believe that all children should be raised knowing how to do things around their home! I also believe that children should do those things around the house without being paid. I feel that when a child recieves money for doing something like the dishes (which reminder they made dirty along with the rest of us) its teaching them that they should only do those things when they get paid! So far, not paying them has "paid" off! As you can see from these pictures Liliana likes to help keep the younger two occupied while Dillon likes to help mop the floors! Recently, I gave them each a portion of THEIR bathroom to keep clean and so far they have stayed on top of it! Every now and then a child or two will help and do a little extra around the house, when that happens they do find themselves rewarded with a Sonic slushy or something from the dollar store when out and about but its NOT something they rely on getting all the the time! I truely hope as they grow, they continue to help around the house.

Sick Sick Sick...

We are all sick! I am ready to scream! It started with me and a breast infection 7 days ago(which obviously is NOT contagious). Then this past Monday (5 days ago), Liliana came home with a sore throat and fever. That night I had a sore throat. Dillon also had a lovely cough and runny nose. Tuesday, Dillon seemed to be on his way to getting better, but Liliana and myself were still very sore with nasty coughs! Wednesday Liliana seemed to be on the road to recovery when that night she began a coughing fit that wouldn't stop. I also took notice to one of her eyes leaking mucus! Thursday morning, it appeared as though she had pink eye! I still had a horrible sore throat (which was probably worsened because of my Crohn's disease). But Dillon was definitely much better minus his cough. Off to the dr we go. Pink eye it is for Liliana, allergies for Dillon, and a horribly blistered back part of the throat for Liliana and myself! Seclusion for Liliana in hopes of not infecting the other children. Limited contact with Garrison for fear of him getting sick so young. This brings me to today, Liliana wakes up feeling 10 times better, throat a tad bit sore but eye no longer pink and no longer contagious! Dillon barely coughing and on new allergy medicine. Myself, well its a slow healing process, I am pretty sure the medicine the dr gave me is fighting all it can but there is a whole lot of infection and only so much medicine! I am getting there though! However.............
Ava woke up hacking. Here we go again! The day continues on. I run a couple errands that desperately needed to be done despite still not feeling 100%. When returning home, Marc notices Garrison is very warm. Take his temp....102.5! YIKES!
So as I sit here this evening, I am now listening to Ava coughing and feeling Garrison's warm body against my chest. I feel so helpless! I HATE when the kids are sick, nevermind when I am sick as well! Marc has been wonderful helping where he can, especially coming home from work early a couple days! However, we all know that no matter how much help you have, when sick all you want is to feel better!
I would love to wake up and be over this 'illness" but would love more for my children to be all better and not let this continue in a circle of pass the infection from child to child!
So please let this be my last couple days being sick and taking care of sick children!
Wish us luck on feeling better and hopefully that will bring fun blogs to read soon!

I Can't Reach My Toes...

This evening Garrison was sitting in his boppy chair and noticed his feet. He started wiggling his toes faster while his hands were reaching at his feet. Only problem... he doesn't totally get that he needs to bend forward in order to actually touch his toes! He was quite entertained by his own feet and toes for a good 20 minutes before giving up and wanted more attention from me! His facial expression during this whole process was hilarious because you could tell he was concentrating really hard on his new found body part!

Easter 2009...

Liliana and Dillon were the first to awaken at 6:30AM! Normally my kids sleep in until about 7-8AM so 6:30 was just a tad bit too early! We convinced them to watch some cartoons while we waited for Ava to wake up by herself! We were at a hockey game the night before so we wanted her to sleep! By 7AM, all the kids were awake! The Easter Bunny left eggs on the staircase and then leading into the kitchen where their baskets were. There was also a note that said what room their extra eggs were hidden in! The children like to do their own egg hunts so for the last couple years the Easter Bunny hides so many eggs in 3 different rooms. After finding all their eggs it was time to disassemble the baskets and check out what they got! All were happy, well except for Dillon. He was upset because he couldn't eat candy that early in the AM! He got over it though!

Coloring The Eggs...

Today the kids colored their eggs. Since we aren't big boiled egg eaters I decided I would only boil 18 eggs and let the kids color 6 each. Ava picked a Tinkerbell egg coloring kit, Liliana picked a marker coloring kit, and Dillon picked a mickey mouse coloring kit! I made up the dyes and let them have at it. The excitement was short lived as they realized they would have to wait for the eggs to dry before applying stickers and drawing with markers.

DisneyLand On Ice...

Yes not only did these kids get to go to DisneyLand but then the Ice Show came to town here in Arizona!! I got a postcard in the mail for a deal I couldn't pass up! Seats were 1/2 price on opening night! Tonight was the lucky night! The kids and I were very excited. Marc... well not too much??!! He doesn't get into these sort of things, although he did point out that if we were going back to DLand tonight he then would have been excited??!!

The kids didn't really know what to expect. The last time we went to a Disney On Ice Show was back in 2004 just after Dillon was born. Dillon as a baby actually enjoyed watching the characters and lights but obviously doesn't remember it. Liliana was only 3 yrs old at the time so she has a limited memory of it as well! All 3 kids LOVED it! Garrison once again slept in the sling the ENTIRE SHOW! It was a very cute storyline. Basically they made the Incredible characters the main part of the show. It starts out where the Incredibles are getting ready to take a vacation to DisneyLand. Upon arrival, then realize Mickey and Minnie were kidnapped by the bad guy (I can't remember his name at the moment). As they try to track him down to rescue Mickey and Minnie they basically go through all the different areas of DisneyLand! The best part about going tonight was that the kids still remember our trip a few weeks ago to DLand! So as the show went on and the music came on for different parts symbolizing the different rides all the kids knew and recognized it all! Ava, by far, once again had the best time. It was so funny when Mickey and Minnie were taken... she was yelling "No don't take Mickey and Minnie, I have to save them"
Another fun part was watching her face as they brought out Cinderella. She waved and was yelling "Hi Cinderella" then saying "Mommy shes waving to me"!

Anyway it was a very fun night and I am happy say I got a few good pictures so enjoy...

The kids watching the showDillon showing off his new sword!Main Street Skaters
Its a Small World


Cinderella and the rest of the Disney Characters

The Incredibles once they changed into their costumes

Mickey and Minnie being held captive

The Incredibles trying to save Mickey and Minnie

The Incredibles fighting the army

The pirates chain up the Incredibles

The Haunted MansionThe Tea Cups

The kids pointing the way they were told to

The Finale

More of the finale

Last skate out! What a great show!

Easter Bunny and Egg Hunt...

Today was the MOMS club Easter Egg Hunt/Breakfast. Each month we have a potluck breakfast, but this month we combined an easter egg hunt along with a special appearance from the Easter Bunny into the event! The kids always have fun no matter if its just a playdate at the park but today was oodles of fun with all the extras! Dillon, these days, doesn't make it to many events with preschool being in the morning but today was no school so he got to join in on the fun! The kids played for a couple hours with their friends and then the Easter Bunny arrived! Ava was the first child to see him approaching the park area! She was so excited! 100% not scared! Dillon on the other hand stood glued to my hip! Garrison was sleeping in the stroller so sadly he missed all the fun! We all lined up for pictures and the only way Dillon would get in a picture was if I was there. So a nice friend was willing to snap a picture for me! Once the Easter Bunny took pictures with the children he left a field full of eggs for the kids to collect. After the hunt, it was then a trying task to keep all the kiddies from eating all those yummy goodies! All in all it was a very fun morning! I consider myself VERY lucky to have such wonderful friends and great playmates for my kids!

Another Hockey Game...

Dillon wasn't too happy because we woke him up from a short car nap!

The girls with Howler!

Liliana having Howler sign her book

Ava showing Daddy her book while Liliana starts to get sleepy (she is NEVER usually awake past 8pm)

A shot of the players taking the ice

Dillon as a hockey player!

Ava sporting the hockey look!

The girls as Coyotes players!

Yes Marc and I are brave souls these days. We decided to take advantage of a deal the local hockey team (Coyotes) was offering and purchase tickets for the last two games of the season! Last night was the first of two games we planned on attending. It was against the LA Kings. So we packed up ALL 4 kids and headed to the game! The kids all love going to the hockey games but Ava has the most fun! She howls like a coyote and chants for them when the crowd chants! The Coyotes ended up winning 2-1. As Ava says "Go Coyotes!"