Brandon had to work late all during his birthday week, so we didn't have much time to celebrate, but Lily and I did manage to make him a pie. We used the basic apple pie recipe from Joy of Cooking which is really simple and always turns out great. I made it after breakfast and it only took around 30 minutes which was good since if I cook anything longer Ehren will start hanging onto my legs and crying.
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| Birthday pie (with pie bird so it stays pretty!) |
January is also the month I started watching Winry (5 months old) during the day time. It turns out that having three children is not as hard as I thought it would be! Ehren has done much better than I thought he would. He really seems interested in the baby although he does not have the motor skills to always be gentle so I have to watch him like a hawk if he can reach her. He tries to give her toys, replace her pacifier or bottle, and pats her and hugs her. He even will throw dirty diapers away for me. It makes me realize how big he is getting compared to the little baby. Nap time can get a little rocky with the little ones, but she is easier to get down to sleep than Ehren is. I can usually wait until she's tired and then just put her down and presto - she's asleep. LOVE that. (Don't get me wrong - I love my difficult one too!) Speaking of sleeping.... I am proud to announce that Ehren now will self sooth himself without resorting to letting him cry. I can put him in his crib when he's tired (but awake) and he will fall asleep on his own. I just lay down on the floor where he can't see me but he knows I'm there and its enough for him. Sometimes he watches a crib toy that makes noise and other times he'll roll over and conk out without the toy.
Lily had a nice birthday and party. She wanted to have a rainbow theme and invite family and her friends. Since our house space is limited we opted to have her party at McDonalds. Because I didn't make reservations soon enough the party was at 6:00 pm! She had fun though and we got to see the family which is always nice. McDonalds didn't allow outside food and drink so we made rainbow cupcakes and went out to eat at Fazolis with our adopted college students before services on Wednesday. Not surprisingly, our little firecracker also had a blast at that "party."
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| Lily's girlfriends Anni and Louise |
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| Cousin Wyatt |
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| Snakey got covered in cakey |
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| Our first batch of rainbow cupcakes (Thanks Pinterest) |
Lily also started preschool this month on Tues-Thurs from 9:00 to 1:30. I decided that she was becoming too bored just hanging out with me and needed some more mental stimulation. I thought this was especially important since I would be devoting so much time to caring for the babies. However, having her away for part of the day can be actually harder because when she's here Ehren wants to play with her and will mostly leave me alone to care for the baby. He'd check in on me from time to time for reassurance and then go back to playing. When its just me and the little babies, he's a lot more demanding for attention.
Lily loves preschool! So far it has been exactly as I hoped. The teacher also seems pleased with her behavior and knowledge. Apparently Lily knows all her letters though I have not formally taught them to her.
Ehren's separation anxiety is showing signs of tapering off. As I mentioned earlier, he no longer must be put to sleep by physical contact with us, but has also survived bible class twice without us being there. The first time was hard on him and I know he cried, but the second time was better and although he needed to be held periodically, he didn't become as upset. So there's hope for the little Klingon yet! I'm so glad he's making these steps because I know independence is an important part of growing up!
For my birthday we didn't really do anything special since we had a gospel meeting that night with Tim Jennings. It was an excellent meeting and very timely. I was glad that I was able to worship on my birthday. That day had been a little rough but I got a little knock on the door and was surprised to find a chocolate covered fruit bouquet with a balloon and a teddy bear from Anna. That was a nice treat and made even better since all three kids were asleep and not awakened by the delivery. I also got a most awesome card from Aly that wished me a Happy "29th" birthday from my "110 lb" friend. That gave us a good laugh since this is my second "29th" birthday. ;-) The Saturday after my birthday aunt Angie came over and watched the kids so Brandon and I could go out to eat lunch. Ehren went down for a late nap and was still sleeping when we got back. I was glad for that because he might have been upset if he knew we had gone. Lily had Aunt Angie all to herself which she loved because Aunt Angie always brings books.
That pretty much brings you up to date on the happenings of January. I've been so busy I haven't had much time for crafting anything except one little panda bear. I'm also working on a quiet book for Ehren for services. I've got one page almost finished and it has taking me a LOoooooong time. Hopefully I can finish it before he outgrows the need for it!
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| Tolee's panda |
