I'm back!!

Oops!! I haven't been blogging in a while, I apologize. We have been so, so busy with visitors and fun stuff that I haven't had a chance to sit down and write about it. Today, we are having a rainy old afternoon, so I thought I'd catch you up on what we've been doing.

Last I wrote, my cousins Katy and Paul were coming to visit us. We had a GREAT time with them and the kids just loved them. Millie wasn't too sure about Paul at first, but by the end of the weekend she was saying "I don't want Katy and Paul to leave"! Friday night, Andy babysat the kids and I was able to go out to dinner with Kate, Paul, and my parents and then Saturday Katy and I took the kids to a great new park that opened up downtown along the Beaufort River, while the other's went golfing. Saturday night, we took Kate and Paul to our favorite Beaufort restaurant, Saltus, while Nana and Pap Pap babysat.

Here are some pics from the visit.

K

An Afternoon at the "Beach"

Yesterday we finally had a nice sunny day so we decided to take advantage of it and after Andy came home from work, we all headed over to the Port Royal "beach". It's technically not a true beach in that it's along the Beaufort River, but it has sand, water, & shells so we call it the beach and Millie loves it because there are no waves. It was 5:30 pm in these pictures and about mid-60's with a nice breeze.

The kids were sick again for the past week. Just as they were both getting better, Millie got another bug and then quickly passed it to Blaise. They both still have that lingering croupy cough, but at least they are both sleeping better. One night, we had both awake at 4:30 am crying because they were so stuffy and congested. I had Blaise rocking him in our room, while Andy took Millie into the TV room and fell asleep with her on the sofa. He almost slept through work! He jumped up at 7:30 am and put Millie in the bed with me and had to be at work by 8:00am - oops.

Blaise slept through the night last night (at least as close as he's ever come)! He slept from 9:45 pm until 5:30 am. I pray that this pattern continues, this I could handle. We have also added some mashed banana to his cereal and he seems to love it, eating two big bowls full at a time. He is growing like crazy and is pretty much consistently wearing 9-12 month clothing (he was 5 months old on Tues). He's truly a happy guy and so smiley and content. He loves to watch Millie and just follows her every move when she's around.

Millie is amazing us everyday with something. Her sense of humor is forming and she loves to tell jokes and hear knock knock jokes. She also loves to repeat phrases that she's heard and use them in what she thinks is the appropriate context. For example, the other day she was walking along the "beach" with my parents and she stepped into the deeper water and got her shoes wet. She looked down and said "Oh...that's terrible!" (I think she picked that up from my dad because he says that a lot). My parents cracked up because it was so darn funny and so now she says "that's terrible" all the time and thinks it's so funny. She is getting very good with the concept of numbers and adding and subtracting. We practice by adding up her Nemo figurines and then subtracting them and asking her how many are left. She seems to "get" it.

Today we went into the Psychiatry clinic to visit Andy at work and we all went to lunch. We went for Mexican and Millie discovered that she loves Enchiladas! Well...she is one quarter Mexican :-) She was calling them "salsaladas".

Tommorow my cousin, Katy, and her new husband, Paul, are coming to visit us. They will stay with my parents at their house. We are looking forward to their stay and spending time with them. They'll get to meet Blaise for the first time.

K

A Busy, Busy Week

Hello! Sorry that I have not posted in awhile. Nana & Pap Pap (my parents) arrived on Sunday morning and we have had a fun, but very busy week with them. Millie is loving having them here and is just now getting that they are visiting us, but not staying with us. We have been to "kitty cat" park (twice), Friendly's for ice cream (twice), swimming at the Y, the Charleston Aquarium, shopping at Wal-mart, a birthday party at Chik-Fil-A (Milllie's first school-friend b-day party!), and preschool on Wednesday and today. Whew! No wonder we are all tired tonight.

Blaise is feeling better and his cough and nasal congestion are just about gone now. After months of very little sleep, we really didn't know what else to do to get him to sleep. We had let him "cry it out" a few times and he would eventually fall asleep, but only stay asleep for a short time and waken again. Something wasn't right, he wanted to nurse all the time but would fall asleep eating only to awaken an hour or so later. So, I called our pediatrician back in VA because the ped here thought it was just a "bad habit". She said "sounds like he's not getting enough to eat, are you sure he's getting enough milk from you?" Well, that night we tested her theory. When Blaise woke up the first time (about 2 1/2 hours after he went down) instead of nursing him, Andy gave him a bottle. He drained a good 4 1/2 ounces in about 5 mins and wanted more!! He took another 1 1/2 ounces and then fell asleep for five hours! Poor baby hasn't been sleeping because he has been so hungry. When he would fall asleep nursing I would assume he was done and but him back in his bassinet, but now I stimulate him while he's eating and then burp him, change his diaper and then feed him again so that he is getting enough milk to last him longer. His has really worked wonders and he sleep so much better last night. The ped also suggested that we start him on rice cereal since he has already tripled his birth weight and is grabbing at my sandwich as I try to eat around him. So this afternoon I went out and bought a box of rice cereal. I gave him his first bowl for lunch and he downed it, smiling. For dinner, Andy fed him and after two bowls I finally had to say, "OK, that's enough!" Looks like we have a great eater on our hands - yahoo!!

Millie was invited to her first "school friend" birthday party this week! Her little friend, Will, turned 3 on Wednesday and he had a party at the local Chick-Fil-A restaurant Wednesday night. The restaurant had one of those big indoor playgrounds so after the kids ate their dinners and Will opened his gifts they were all able to run around together and play. Then they had cake and ice cream and got goodie bags to go home with! Millie had a GREAT time!! She did so well. She wore her party hat, ate her dinner, played with the kids, and kept telling me "this is fun!"

Tomorrow I will try to post more and tell all about the trip to the Aquarium.

K