Christmas Card

Here's our family Christmas card. I'm so very proud of myself as I have most of the Christmas shopping done, ordered all the prints from my camera that have been on there since July, and ordered some Christmas cards! I'll be completely honest when I say that the only reason I did Christmas cards was to get my order total over $30 and get free shipping ($6 in Christmas cards was much less than the $15+ in shipping costs) so if you don't get a card this year, don't take it personal. I ordered the smallest quantity just to get that free shipping! But a very successful start to the holiday season!

Classic Damask Frame Christmas

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The Week of Appointments

I kickstarted my week off from work with a triple doctor appointment visit on the 18th. The pediatrician was that far out when I called to make the twins' 4 year check-up so I decided to add Hannah to the visit for her 9 month since the date was several weeks past that marker too. Thankfully, Jake took a half-day from work to help me because I knew having to corral three children in an exam room and deal with one being looked at while the other two run wild would be too much for just me.

Here's Ava and Carter rocking their smocks!
The baby doesn't get a smock. She had to hang out in just a diaper. Hannah had a blast crawling around the exam table though. It made a wonderful circular track that entertained her for at least 10 minutes!

The appointment results:

Ava: 33 lbs (31%ile) and 39 inches tall (31%ile)

Carter: 49 lbs (off the charts!) and 42 inches tall (82%ile)

Hannah: 19 lbs 12 oz (61%ile) and 28.5 inches tall (75%ile)

Before you gasp about the large weight difference between the twins, it should be noted that over the summer Ava weighed almost 38 lbs. When she was sick, her weight dropped to about 31 lbs. The doctor was very pleased and impressed that she has managed to put 2 lbs back on in only 2 months. So we'll get our baby girl back up there soon enough!

Everyone looks healthy and the only potential concern at the moment is that Carter's vision is between 20/30 and 20/40 on his right eye. He could see some of the letters on the 20/30 line so it is up to us if we want to take him in to the eye doctor. It made me so sad to see him struggle to see some of those letters! Brought back all the memories of my 7th grade physical when my mom thought I was joking because my right eye couldn't even see the E at the top of the chart. At least we are aware with Carter before it becomes something like 20/150!

Monday, I took the twins to the dentist. Everything looks good in Ava's mouth. It should, since 7 of the teeth have crowns and four have fillings! Unfortunately, Carter needs a crown on a molar. It appears to be the same issue that affected Ava's teeth. The dentist refers to it as de-mineralization or a deterioration of the enamal. Thankfully, we were able to do x-rays on both children and it is only the one crown that Carter needs. We will be doing this in-office instead of putting him under like we did Ava. Much less expensive and much less stressful!

Tuesday was Ellie's dentist day. I was unable to get her scheduled for the same day so we had to go back on Tuesday. Everything looks great with Ellie. She will be getting sealants placed on her molars the same day Carter gets his crown. Amen for dental insurance that will cover that 100%! These kids and their medical/dental issues!

Here's hoping everyone stay healthy for a while! We shouldn't have to see the doctor again until Hannah's 1 year check-up in February and Ellie's 9 year visit in May or June.

Catching Up

In what seems to be a common theme in my life right now, I am playing catch up with the blog. I've had numerous things to post but no time to sit down and actually do it. So here is the past few weeks in a nutshell.

Ellie had a music concert on Nov. 10. It was entitled "Mighty Musical Minds" and consisted of songs about doing well in school. It was very cute!
We took the younger three to Brunswick to burn off some energy. The twins love the arcade area there. They play games and have no clue what they are doing. Carter tried his hand at Deal or No Deal,

while Ava slapped away at a trivia game.

Even Hannah got into the fun at the skeeball area.

Can I help you?

That same evening, we went for a triple bath. Good in theory, not always the best idea in practice. There's just not enough room for all three and the twins hog the tub and don't let Hannah play.

We also had a birthday party for Papa Rich. Carter didn't want Hannah to provide the entertainment so he took her spoon away. She didn't like that very much.

Luckily, Grandma gave her a new one so she could get back to banging on her pot. Who needs toys?!

Jake's cousin Jill has been helping us out when in a bind with the childcare situation this fall. She took a year long leave of absence from her job as she just had a baby in September, along with a 4.5 year old and an 18 month old. To return the favor, Jake and I watched her three children so she and her husband could go out on a date night. It was quite the night, even with their baby sleeping the whole time and Ellie at a friend's house! Three 4 year olds, an 18 month old, a 9 month old, and a sleeping baby! Phew! Carter loves having a boy to play with though.

The night after babysitting, we awoke to the joy of white covered ground! Actually, the only ones overjoyed were these two.

Carter cried when I made him come in. I told him once Ellie came home from her sleepover that she would go back out with him. Of course, she came home and had no desire to go outside. The girls will go out and play for a bit but it is our little buddy who loves his snow time!

Other tidbits:

*Ellie got to go to a rollerderby with a friend. She enjoyed it a lot and followed up the rollerderby with a sleepover. It still seems surreal to me that she is old enough for sleepovers but I remember spending the night at friends' houses in 3rd grade. How did my little girl get so grown up?

*Carter will remain the only male Wendorff grandchild for at least several more years. Elizabeth Grace Zimmermann was born yesterday, November 20th. Poor buddy needs all the male interaction he can get! We now have: Ellie, Ava, Carter, Olivia, Hannah, Isabella, and Elizabeth. Phew! What a mouthful! He also remains the only male grandchild on the Ramaker side and we hope it stays that way for quite some time!

(Although note to Alex: the flower girl dress that keeps on giving is a 2T. Hannah may be able to squeeze into it up until age 3. That dress has been worn for three weddings now. It will be worn for your wedding as well so get crackin'!)

*I have this whole week off for Thanksgiving break. It couldn't have come at a better time. My list of things-to-do is a mile long and needs to get some items checked off before more jump on. Hoping for a productive week at home finished off with a successful Black Friday shopping in which almost all my Christmas shopping is done. Theme of this year: wrap it up as fast as possible!

More to come in the following days since I may actually have time to post!

9 Months Old!

Wow! Time flies and another month has gone by. I'm 9 months old now!

My front top two teeth popped through to join the other two. I now have 7 teeth! My sisters and brother were all 10 months old before they got their first tooth. A month younger than that and I have 7!
I crawl really fast and I pull myself up to standing on anything and everything. If I can stand against it, I will find a way to get up into a standing position! My crib had to get lowered so I don't try to find a way out of it.

My favorite game is "So Big!" I throw my hands up high in the air and clap for myself afterwards. I'm such a big girl!

I love to sample real food. If you are holding me and trying to eat or drink something, you better share it with me or I will squeal at you. I'm so excited for my 1st Thanksgiving because I love mashed potatoes! I am my mother's daughter!

It's hard to believe I keep growing so fast! Pretty soon we'll have to start planning my 1st birthday party. It's the same day as something called the Super Bowl so I'm hoping for a big party! I love to be the star and can't wait for all the attention to be on me!

New Cousin!

We have a new cousin! Isabella Ann Kunkel was born in the early morning hours of October 27th. This post is a bit late as the reason for the "Big Camera Huntdown" was to have it with when we got to meet little Isabella. The camera wasn't found in time so I grabbed Ellie's camera (my really old digital) but it took me until today to find the cord to upload the photos to the computer. So while we are super excited about the newest member of the Wendorff clan, we didn't want to share the news until we had photos to go with it!

Here's sweet Isabella with her Uncle Jakey and Auntie Alissa
The beautiful new mama and her little peanut

The oldest cousin and the youngest cousin (for now that is! Holly is due in just a few weeks!)

These two are going to be the best of friends! Only 8.5 months apart! Hannah has been biting lately (I think she thinks she is kissing but sometimes I do think she tries to bite). On the drive down, I said to Jake "I wonder how long it will be before Hannah tries to bite Isabella?!" I wanted to get a picture of the two babies so we held Isabella up next to Hannah. Low and behold, Jaws leans over and tries to bite the 36 hour old baby! What a stinker! At least we are well aware now that Isabella can not be left on the floor with Hannah around as Jaws will crawl over and poke and bite her little defenseless cousin.

I do love the gleaming white teeth in this photo to illustrate the fact that she is a chomper!

Isabella is a big topic of conversation around here and all the kids are excited to get to see her again soon. Now we are waiting for the next member to join the Wendorff clan. At our house, we are really hoping for a boy. At this point, Carter is outnumbered on the Wendorff side 1:5 in the grandchildren department. He'd really like a male cousin to play with! We'll let you know when Baby Zimmermann makes his/her appearance!

Halloween 2011

The kids had a fun Halloween this year. We had a vampire, Rapunzel, Batman, and a princess/ballerina. We decided to go trick-or-treating right at 6 pm this year so we would still have light for some of the evening. This was a great year for Halloween as the older three all understand what to do and could run from house to house while Jake and I stood on the street supervising. We just went up and down our street and the kids' bags were nearly full by that point so we decided to call it a night. Just enough candy for them to feel successful but not so much that we will be eating candy for weeks!

Hannah is the only one who didn't find Halloween to be that fun. She was nearly asleep by the time we got home!

The loot! They all were practically in tears when I decided to put all the candy in one container. Ownership is very important to these three!

All in all, we had a good fall/Halloween. I opted for small painted pumpkins instead of carved pumpkins this year. If there is more time, next year we will try carving. I also had a really neat idea to paint clear glass jars orange to be jack-o-lanterns when a candle is placed inside but we didn't get to that project either. I will put my baby food jars away for next fall instead! As the kids get older, I want to make the different holidays fun and special for them so I need to start planning ahead more so if we end up with another crazy busy fall, I have most of the supplies on hand that I need.

Next up, Thanksgiving! I have visions of votive turkeys and other fun fall decor for our 2nd Thanksgiving at home with just us and the kids. Now to get those crafts done!