Ridiculous

 But OH, so cute!!

At the other end of the tunnel

Our girl has been sick this week. Sick, sick, sick.  On Saturday, she started with a fever but she was mostly ok. When it spiked she would start moving slowly, but she was fairly happy when the medicine kicked in. Sunday, again feverish, but not too worse for the wear. She woke up overnight both nights multiple times feeling terribly hot and we gave her medicine and rocked her back to sleep. Then on Monday she didn't leave my arms the whole day. She was lethargic and so pitiful. We just watched Sesame Street and cuddled. I took her to the doctor, who said "virus" and to wait it out. Tuesday morning her fever finally broke and she definitely felt well enough to move around some, but not well enough to be happy.  She was MISERABLE on Tuesday and Wednesday, wailing her head off at the slightest provocation, but with no other symptoms.  Quite frustrating. On Wednesday morning she got a rash all over her trunk, which I'm told meant the virus was on its way out and she was no longer contagious. Still the wailing.  This picture was taken after a particularly long fit of crying, at the end of which she discovered she could climb by herself into the dining room chair and was quite proud of herself for it (note the shiny tear-and-snot stained face). She also grabbed a pencil off the table and apparently was trying to stab herself in the neck with it. Yay Mommy.  Oh, and yes, my chairs need cleaning.

Anyway, today, I think we've finally seen the true end of this mysterious fever virus, and she was her happy self for a good portion of the day. Two two hour naps probably helped. I'm run ragged by this week.

Paci - love/hate

This little green rubber device keeps my munchkin very very happy. When she is fussy, there is nothing better than a "plug" to make her content and....well, quiet. It calms her when she's mad, distracts her from other things she shouldn't be doing, and helps her sleep.

BUT.

My entire day is devoted to finding them. We have five pacis and we have assigned them to "zones."  One is a Car Paci, one a Diaper Bag Paci, and three Bed Pacis (more on this later). This way, in theory, there will always be one around when and where we need it. HA!  Or more like, we are constantly down to two pacis and have literally no clue where the others could be. I know that ever since these were invented parents have been dealing with the same thing, but somehow in my organizing personality, I thought I could solve the problem. I'm thinking of inventing some sort of beeper system. Or using superglue. Or something. 

The other least favorite thing about the paci is that if she doesn't have one when she wants it, watch out. Produce, Mommy! I frantically try to find one of those suckers (pun intended) while she's wailing and carrying on and the tears just flow. At night, if she wakes up and can't find it, she will cry out until one of us goes and gets it for her. This is the reason for three in the bed - surely she can find one if she reaches around - it's a crib, after all. But no, usually they are on the floor. Thankfully this doesn't happen every night and many times she CAN find it herself. It was a joyous day when she learned how to put it back in her mouth herself, that's for sure.

So now the battle in my mind begins for when to take it away. I think my little paci addict will most definitely notice it's absence in a cold turkey situation. So I think I'm going to just go along under the sure conviction that she will not be taking her pacis to college with her. This, too, shall pass!

Happy Thanksgiving!

 As usual, we had a crazy busy Thanksgiving week, visiting with family and friends and thoroughly enjoying our time with all of them.  Here are bunches of pictures from the last few days.

Audrey in her super cute and festive Thanksgiving dress:

 This is the best family pic we were able to get - Audrey was wrestling us the whole time!

See?

 Aw!!!

 The womenfolk in the kitchen:

Aaaand the menfolk with their various devices and the TV going:

Some outside pics:

 A visit with Owen:

Chatting:

Love this one:

 And she's off:

 Uncle Ben!

Watching the Iron Bowl (note the sad sad face on the poor Auburn fan's face):

 The end!

This week

 Playing in the newly raked leaves:

Our friends came to visit and brought their cutie, Crew, with them. We moms got to go shopping while the dads stayed home and cared for the four kids.  Audrey was the lone girl in the group and I think they wore her out!

Last night, Audrey and I went over to Emily's for a girls' slumber party while Dave and Caleb were camping. We put the "best friends" shirts we purchased for them last year (we are so ridiculous with the matching outfits). Taking a picture was entertaining. Sierra did her part, but Audrey wasn't exactly cooperative. I think she gets a kick out of making us sweat for a good pic!

Later on, I gave the two bitty girls a bath while Jordanna and Emily supervised and Alexa photographed the event:

 This is my favorite. It looks like Audrey is trying to drown Sierra. In actuality, Audrey wants the book behind Sierra's back in her seat and Sierra was trying to chew her seat.

Today, Nick is putting in a new sink and Audrey is "helping."

And there you have it! I'll post some more this week as I have time. Nick is off and we'll be celebrating Thanksgiving, so I'm sure to get some good shots.

Oh yeah, I have a blog

So I've been busy. I have 2-3 hours to get everything done while Audrey naps and it never seems to get done. Blogging has taken a back burner to things like laundry and collapsing in a chair.

 Audrey has been busy sitting in bowls, generally in front of the oven while I am cooking. She rarely can stand to be more than a few inches from me at all times.  For a very independent child who has no separation anxiety whatsoever, this baffles me.

Sitting in her new pink lawn chair with her snack:

 And you can't quite tell from this picture, but she has started to put objects in bowls and other containment devices and walking around with them. Then yesterday and today, she's been putting her paci or juice into them, then holding the bowl (in this case, it's the drawer from her kitchen playset) and putting it in her mouth.  It's the strangest looking thing and I just wonder what she is thinking while she does it.

And, we got a new baby gate!!  This one is of the backyard fence variety. We've wanted one for awhile, and a certain little girl who likes to go "side" but takes off for the front yard every time we open the door just pushed us over the edge.

Going up:

And finished:

Gate:

The ugly fence is the neighbor's fence.  Ours will fade to the same color, though we plan to stain ours. Oh well. It serves its purpose.