A Party, A Doctor Visit, and Everyday Fun

We celebrated Miss Hannah's first birthday a weekend or two ago. (I know, I keep saying I'll get my act together with the blog and another two weeks end up going by. I don't know what to tell you other than don't hold your breath waiting for a blog update!)

I whipped up this beauty of a cake. I expect a call from Buddy Valastro, the Cake Boss, any day now.
Hannah is still working on the one nap-two nap combo so she needed a nap at 5 pm the evening of her party. We had to wake her so she could have some cake. She wasn't sure what to think of

all the birthday hoopla, especially fresh from a nap.Hmm, what's this?

Part of the reason Hannah needed to be woken up for the cake was because this kid could not wait any longer for a piece of cake. I actually busted him with a fork in hand and a chair pushed over to the counter where the cake was waiting prior to waking the birthday girl up.

Hannah thought the cake was delicious and that her out-of-control brother was hilarious!

Poor girl didn't get to open many of her presents herself. Carter had to "help" her open them up because she's only a baby. Thankfully she didn't care and enjoyed tossing tissue paper around.

Hannah also had her one year check up. She clocked in at 21 lbs 9 oz (58%ile) and 30 inches (77%ile). The girl is slowing down! Unfortunately, we left the appointment with two referrals for Hannah and one for Carter. Hannah needs to see a dermatologist about a mole on her leg that has undergone some changes in the last month. She also had to be seen by a physical therapist for a case of torticollis. We have some exercises we are now doing and she seems to not have such a head tilt anymore.

Carter's referral is regarding a cyst under his right eye. This developed around Christmas time. I took him in to see a different pediatrician in January thinking it was a sty. She said it was a cyst and would go away on it's own. It has not gone anywhere and seems to fluctuate in size. I asked our regular pediatrician if she wanted to see him regarding the eye or if she could just give me a referral out. Due to the cyst's proximity to the eye, we have to see an opthamologist and it will likely require surgery to be removed. Yay! We were hoping to have a third year of some form of surgery for one of the kids!!

For Hannah's birthday, we got her some flexible, soft soled shoes. Success! She will walk in them. She cruises everywhere and is enjoying her freedom outdoors now.

Although sometimes a girl needs a rest from all that walking, even in the snowy driveway. (And you can obviously see the head tilt in this picture. Not sure how I didn't see it that much before?)

Just a few days after that snow fall, everyone was able to be out without snowpants on. Hannah even found a piece of chalk. Hilariously enough, she knows what to do with it and walks around making chicken scratches on the driveway!

This past Sunday was a relaxing day at home in which we give the kids a break from the gym and either alternate going or I take a day off from working out. These three were snuggled on the couch together with cartoons.

Ava was waiting for her waffle to pop up. And as you can see from this picture, one of the reasons I take a day off from the gym is to actually catch up around the house. It doesn't take long for a mess to appear around here with 6 people in the house!

And here is a picture of one of Ava's fashion creations as I mentioned in the last post. White sweater dress, black tutu skirt, navy blue tights, and pink dress-up shoes. Fashionista in the house! One postive from this picture is that her bangs are growing! They are almost normal bang-length now! The real question is: will they grow all the way back out by her birthday in October?! Only time will tell! (And we still keep Carter away from the scissors!)

A Busy 2 Weeks

It's been a busy and full past 2 weeks. Not that there is ever much of a dull moment around here with four children anyway, but we've had much going on since the last post.

First, we've added a wizard to the family. He prefers a wand of wood, but it can be of any design and it doesn't matter if it is sharpened or not. (I prefer unsharpened for safety reasons. He goes with whatever seems to have the magic for the day!)
Ava has become quite the singer and performer. She's also whipped out some fun phrases. My two favorites are "Mom, whatever" and "Is this your room? No? Then you don't get any say on ...." You can imagine how often we butt heads with phrases like that! She uses the 2nd most often when she is picking out her clothes each day. So she walks around in a dress, skirt, and sweatpants one day and a tank top, t-shirt, sweatshirt, leggings, and shorts the next. It's not worth the battle and as long as all skin is covered with it being winter, I've decided I don't really care what she wears.

Most nights Carter and Hannah bathe together and Ellie and Ava shower together or right after each other. One night I was out with Ellie so Jake tossed the younger three in the tub together. They are running out of room!

Little one enjoys some naked time after her bath and will run away from you before you can get her dressed!

We actually had some snow a weekend or two ago. We decided to take Hannah out with the older kids to see what she thought of the snow.

She wasn't impressed! And since she won't walk in shoes, she definitely wasn't going to try walking in boots that are 2 sizes too big!

Last week we had a full week with illnesses aplenty. Ellie started our week off with a double ear infection on Monday. Tuesday afternoon, Carter got the flu. By the time I got home from work that night after only 2 hours away, Ava had joined Carter in the flu department. Jake stayed home Thursday because he didn't feel good himself. I had a hunch on Thursday that I was going to get a call from Ellie's school that day saying she was sick. I must have a sixth sense for these things because sure enough, during my lunch break, I received a call from the nurse. Poor Ellie had gotten sick in the line coming in from recess.

Due to a policy of the school's that children must have not been sick in the past 24 hours, Ellie got to stay home on Friday. I took both Wednesday off to be home with the twins and Friday off for poor Ellie. Everyone was feeling fine within 12 hours of getting the bug but we still had a relaxing day at home.

Hannah and I were fortunate enough to not get physically sick. A good thing too, because little one loves to eat table food now and enjoyed our simple Friday sick lunch of noodles and grapes.

The older three enjoyed our simple lunch too.

Snow the weekend before and this past weekend, it was already pretty much melted and we could go out and ride bikes and chalk. We took Hannah out again but as she refuses to walk in the shoes we have, she just stood there the whole time! A trip to Target is in store to look for more flexible shoes for her.

Sunday was Hannah Jade's 1st birthday! While we aren't celebrating until this Saturday, we did have a small birthday/Super Bowl bash with Jake's parents. Hannah is in the process of figuring out how many naps a day she wants. On her birthday, I knew she was tired at noon after having skipped a morning nap. I was hoping to get her fed with lunch and then put her down for a several hour afternoon nap. Despite a snack to occupy her while I made her lunch, when I came over with a plate, this is what I found! Poor girl couldn't make it any longer! Being 1 year old is tough work!

Here are some videos of the children dancing. The first is still sideways (sorry!) but shows both Hannah walking now and her smashing dance moves.

The second shows the older three grooving to some song on the tv. We are the next Von Trapp family singers with the bonus of dance skills!