Happy Easter!!

We always love Easter! The kids love the candy, I love having what ever I gave up for Lent and we are all thankful that Jesus died and rose for us!

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We spent yesterday prepping for Easter. It's easy to convince the kids to clean up the living room if I tell them the Easter Bunny can't hide eggs if it's all messy. So the kids cleaned up and we also dyed Easter eggs. This is one of my favorite parts of Easter. Although I hate when set up and clean up take longer than the actual event. We only did 9 eggs, so it was pretty fast. The kids had a great time and we made some great eggs. We've only egg fought a few so far, but Emma's is the winner so far beating the one I made, Nick's and one of Ryan's.

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The kids (almost) managed to stay upstairs until everyone was ready today. We came down and found baskets and eggs. Nick finally got into finding eggs, but preferred to put the toy milk and juice from the kitchen in his basket. Emma found 1 egg first with M&M's and was set. They had fun, but were mad that we didn't have time to sit and eat everything! We took a quick family picture, while still nicely dressed and off we went.

Today, we attended Kris's church for Easter service. They had a breakfast before hand (yay! No making or cleaning up breakfast for me). Then they had an egg hunt afterward. It was forced inside due to all the rain we've been having. I went with Emma and Nick; Ryan was done before they even got a few eggs! They all had a great time. I am so thankful that all my kids feel at home at Kris's church.

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Spring Break

The kids are in PA with Kris. From what I've been told they are making themselves at home at the farm. Kris found them with a bag of peanuts on the porch just swinging away. Kris has been moving furniture around and cleaning in preparation of the upcoming trips there for the whole family. They had a great time at Katie's birthday party and seeing the Imagination Movers (Ryan got to shake Rich's hand!).

While they are gone, Nick and I have had some great one on one time. He is loving being the center of my attention. We've been to the gym a lot and swam one day. He really thinks he is about 4 though, wants to go off and swim by himself. We saw the ENT last Saturday, who said he needed tubes. We were lucky enough to be able to schedule the surgery for yesterday. He was great, even though he hadn't eaten all day! I can already tell he's hearing better and he is making more babbling sounds.

Nick had his 15 month doctors appointment on Thursday. He did great, even though he had another double ear infection. His speech was the only thing they were worried about, which hopefully the tubes will help with. He's switched from 75th% on height and 50th% on weight to 50th% on height and 75th% on weight - which explains the belly he's developed!

We've played outside almost every day this week, thanks to the nice weather. Nick really likes bouncing the basketball. And when it rolls away he's right after it, until it gets to the grass. He does not like the grass, even with shoes on. Nor does he like the sand (I opened and cleaned out the sand box for him). We've been on a lot of walks this week and have really enjoyed playing together. We also got him some new shoes since the soft ones just weren't going to cut it outside anymore. He didn't like them, but has now gotten used to them.

Today, we went to the Easter egg hunt at our gym. Because it was on grass, Nick was a little confused and seemed more bothered by the grass than worried about getting eggs. He also got to see the Easter bunny, which he was not a fan of!

If Kris took pictures, I'll post them when he gets home tomorrow! I'm off to enjoy the last day with only one!

Up until now..

Since the sicknesses hit....

Nick still keeps getting sick (ear infections) and Ryan got a viral infection that attacked his hip joint. Ryan is doing ok - he was back walking within a day and Nick is seeing the ENT.

We haven't really had a lot going on. We've had some nice weather, which of course takes us outside! The kids were all shocked with short sleeves and kept trying to pull them down. We've had a few trips to the park and played outside our house. Ryan was excited to get his truck back out again. Here is a quick update on everyone:

Ryan - I have only one picture of Ryan since March. Actually I only had 5 pictures taken the whole month of March, so that shows how exciting we are. Ryan is doing great at school. His hand writing is really taking off. Ryan was named Student of the Week a few weeks ago, when he had a really good week of writing. Ryan loves playing school at home. He has an entire pretend class (all the kids from his class) - he gives them papers to do and tells then where to go - unfortunately, he really likes playing this after he goes to bed! So he'll be up for an hour or so talking to himself. Ryan is just starting to outgrow all his clothes - do they have to get bigger??

Emma - She's driving us crazy! I must hear 'but I want to, I want to' at least 10 times a day (as if that is going to make me change my mind). She's decided that naps aren't important until she is so tired she actually drops! Last week taking two naps - one in which she fell asleep within minutes of laying down (so not her). She loves movies and would watch tv all day. Although she seems to be pulling for attention, she doesn't seem to want too much of it when I can give it (Nick's naptime). She's lately been a bully to Nick, knocking him down and sitting on top of him. It all starts innocently with a hug but progresses quickly. His crying doesn't bother her! She is still loving puzzles and is very excited for her birthday in a few weeks. Maybe turning 3 will be better!

Nick - he's getting so big! He's finally started eating some fruits and veggies. He's still particular about them, but he's trying. He is walking really good now and needs some new shoes! He's pretty happy to walk around the house and play. He has started to listen to directions and loves to be my helper. He's had 6 ear infections since December and has an appointment with the ENT this week. He's finally sleeping through the night most nights and although Kris says to let him cry it out, I don't because usually he's up because his ears hurt!

That's all. This next week is Spring Break. Kris is taking Ryan and Emma to PA to visit his family. They get to go to Katie's 4th birthday party, Kelli's Easter egg hunt and see the Imagination Movers. They are very excited to go, but are already telling me that they'll miss me. I'm sure I'll miss them more. Nick and I are staying home - visiting the ENT and his pediatrician for his 15 month appointment and getting some spring cleaning done. It should be a good week all around!

Sickies

We just can't get past the sicknesses here. I got sick about 2 weeks ago along with Nick. I had bronchitis and a sinus infection and Nick had a double ear infection. Nick was at the doctors for 3 days in a row to get shots of antibiotics instead of take home medicine. We have battled these ear infections since Christmas. If this one doesn't clear up or we have another one we will be at the ENT for tubes. Not what I would prefer, but I don't want anything to hinder his speech. He isn't really talking, more grunting and sounds - so I'm not tempting things.

Emma threw up once, but was fine after that. Ryan got sick last Monday and then was fine, but then was sick again on Thursday and Friday. Just running a fever and throwing up once. He would alternate between fine and sick depending on the medicine in his system.

So because of all that, we haven't gone out much and I'm missing the gym. But I have new running shoes and we are headed out tonight. It's been pretty boring here. Thanks again to my mom who happened to come down to visit and ended up taking care of me and everyone else!!!

Nick is a Walker!

I tried to upload a different (better looking video) but Blogger was having trouble with it. So I'll share this one instead! He's gotten way better since this video was shot about 2 weeks ago. Now he can turn around and bend down and pick something up. I'm not sure, but I think today he stood up without anything to help pull himself up on.

A Whole Month

It's been a whole month since I last updated. We've had a busy time with a bunch of birthdays and trips out. Plus a whole lot of playing at home. In fact, a lot of the time I forgot to even get my camera out. So here are some updates and pics to go along with it.

We've celebrated Kris's birthday (and gave some birthday wishes to Grammie, Uncle Kevin and Aunt Amy). Nothing outrageous here. We went out to dinner and had cupcakes at home. Kris really liked his Polamalu jersey that I bought him - although he would have preferred that they actually WIN the Super Bowl. But we did have a family of little Steelers fans as you can see.

We've had some trips to the park on the nice days and the museum on the not so nice ones. We are spending a lot of time at the gym to work out and take swim lessons. But we've been spending a lot of time at home just playing! Here is an update per kid.

Ryan - Ryan is doing well in school, but could be better. We have a meeting this Thursday with ALL of his teachers and we're really not sure what to expect. He is having a lot of trouble with the writing portion of school and the concentrating part. Luckily, he really enjoys school and has been disappointed the days it has been cancelled. He recently added OT at Children's to his Speech Therapy. OT is working on calming his body down and having more body recognition. His speech has come a long way to where we can understand almost everything he says. He is working on sound production at around a 3 year old level (yes, Emma speaks clearer than him now). Happily, he enjoys his time in therapy and likes to do the homework at home (can't say the same about school homework). He is really into Disney movies and playing school, Sunday school and church. We're still working on helping him figure out how to do these things by himself though! Do you like his new haircut??

Emma - Emma is 2 1/2 - as she will tell anyone who asks. Then she will give a monologue about how when she turns 3 she will go to preschool. Yes, we signed her up and she got to visit there on open house night. She is really looking forward to it and I fully expect her to be standing at the door with her backpack on the day after she turns 3 expecting to go that day. She will be sorely disappointed. But she will be happy to be able to go into the big kid room at the gym - which has been a big goal of hers. She is working hard on using the potty. She tends to forget during the day, but will use it willingly when we are out (and tell us she has too). But she hates to be wet or dirty if she has an accident, which I think is a step in the right direction. She's been in big girl underwear for a while now and we tend to have one or two accidents a day if we're not careful.

Emma is taking swim lessons at the gym. Ryan started with her, but he was not happy and after 2 weeks we gave the whole lesson to her. She is progressing well and is a real fish, but she just needs to get over her fear of putting her face in the water and she'll be set. Emma's new love is doing puzzles. Aunt Dawn sent Ryan a puzzle of all the states and Emma loves it! She can do it all by herself and likes to know who lives in each state. She has decided to be a big girl in all respects. She no longer wants to sit her her booster at the table, wear a bib or use baby silverware. She also wants to get herself dressed and brush her own hair and teeth (such a different child from Ryan who would still let me do all that if I would).

Nick - Nick is now walking! He took off in the last two weeks (amazingly, I only have video of him walking - no pictures). We had seen steps for the last month or so but it was only one or two. Last week, he decided that he was up for more and has taken up to 20 steps (that we've seen). He's still wobbly, but I am excited to have him be more steady by the time spring and summer come. Today he shocked me by blowing kisses to my parents on Skype. I had never seen him do that before nor tried to teach him, so I was amazed. He also started waving bye and saying iye to it, actually understanding what he was doing. Nick has been plagued with ear infections this year and may end up with tubes if this one doesn't clear up. We've been to the ER for wheezing and I've been up with him too many nights because he just wasn't comfortable. Plus he has the first 4 molars coming in with only 1 breaking through already.

Nick stopped nursing just last week. I was nursing in the morning because he was really hungry - sometimes seeming to need it at 4am or so. But he finally started drinking cows milk, eating more and sleeping longer, so he didn't seem to even want it by the end. And that was it. He is definitely my pickiest eater. He takes after Grandpa - a real meat and potatoes kid. He loves yogurt, but is just finally starting to eat real fruit - although he would eat baby fruit.

Nick Pics and Sickie Boy

On Tuesday, we had Nick's 1 year old pictures taken. We had to reschedule once after a bump on the head. It went pretty well. I couldn't convince Emma to sit for a picture and I forgot to put some lipstick on, but they came out great. Here are some from it.

In the news on Nick. He took his first steps - finally! I think he will be following in his brother and sister's shoes of walking right around 13 months. He took a few steps on Tuesday, but we were absent from that (he was with my mom). I saw it yesterday! How exciting to see him finally do it.

In other news, we were back at the ER with Nick last night. He was having trouble breathing and was wheezing. I took him in and spent some 'wonderful' time there calming a cranky baby and watching tv. They took some x-rays and gave him a breathing treatment, and diagnosed RSV (a virus) saying there isn't much we can do. So we are back home with a cranky baby on some snow days. He's getting some good naps, but keeps waking himself up at night. Hopefully, this will pass soon - I hate seeing my baby in pain!