A Little of This and a Little of That

My poor neglected family blog! Can I just say how often I would like to sit and update this memory book of mine but just can't seem to find enough minutes in my day? I know I'm making wonderful use of my time by spending it with my family, but I sure do wish I could preserve a lot of these wonderful times that we're having! I realized tonight that it's been almost 2 months since my last post. Yikes! It's after midnight and I don't know when I'll get to update, so I'm sucking it up, losing sleep, and making every effort to get one post out tonight :-))

I had a hair appointment this afternoon. Jackson and Allison stayed with Jason and Elizabeth went with me. Jason and I decided that he should take the kids to a fun center near our home since he has to work this weekend. After I finished getting my hair cut, Jason called and asked me to meet them there. I was going to use the time to get some things done before my evening Bible study at my neighbor's house, but it sounded much more fun to spend time with family. I'm so glad I did! I took Jackson on his first go-kart ride! He LOVED it!!!

 Then,  Jason came out and drove Jackson while the girls watched. They had quite a cheering section!

 

It was pretty chilly outside. Allison was cold so I wrapped her in Lizzie's blanket. I love this child so much!

We stood by the fence and watched our racers. I wanted both girls to be able to see, so I put Alli in Lizzie's car seat (because Elizabeth wouldn't have been able to see if I had put her in the car seat). It's amazing that she can still fit. She's not even close to the weight limit!

Jackson and I figured out that the car with the flames was one of the fastest when it passed us on the track earlier with our pedal to the metal. They were able to get it.

The mountains are a great backdrop for go-karting!

A friend of mind gave Allison this bear lovey when she was born. Elizabeth LOVES it! I give it to her whenever she's sleepy. She sucks on it, chews on it, and cuddles it until she falls asleep. It's so cute!

After the go-kart races, Lizzie and I headed to Bible study and the other three stayed for more fun. It was a great night!

I'm going to backtrack a little and share some photos from this past month. Our precious Elizabeth turned 6 months old on 9 April. We could hardly believe it. About a week before her 1/2 birthday, she started sitting up. At first, it looked like this:

A little crunched over:

Off to her side:

A little too far back:

Onto her back...her favorite view:

Being able to sit up has opened up a whole new world to our sweet girl. She can see so much more, which we love and imagine she does too, especially since she can't hear. By the time she turned 6 months, she was sitting so well and not falling over very often:

And one more shot on her 1/2 birthday with her bear lovey! I tried to take some photos in my neighbors backyard while the kids were jumping on the trampoline. It's hard to get a deaf baby to look at you! I had to compete with the toy. I was waving my hands and signing to her while trying to keep the camera steady. It wasn't easy. I don't care though. I'm just happy to have some pictures. Quality has really gone out the window these days :-)

We have amazing neighbors. We live on a cul-de-sac with 8 other homes and everyone is fantastic. My kids love jumping on Mrs. Mueller's trampoline!

Our Alli has a heart of gold. She loves reading books to herself, her dolls, and especially her sister. Allison is a little mother to Lizzie.

 Elizabeth likes reading books too. She loves holding the book herself.

Once Lizzie hit 6 months, we put her in swim lessons too. We were so excited for her.

You should have heard Jackson and Allison cheering for her with her life vest on. They love her so much!

After only three swim lessons, we decided to take her out. Although the pool is indoor, it's still cold. She had an ear infection a week before she started lessons and she's been battling on-and-off with congestion. The ear infection caused us to have to wait an extra month for cochlear implant surgery, which then had to be pushed back another four weeks because of scheduling difficulties with the surgeon's team. We don't want to put her in any situation that will increase her chances of getting sick, so we decided swimming wasn't a good idea. We are more than ever ready for this girl to get her ears!

We've been spending a lot of days at the park. The weather has been beautiful and we've been enjoying it. Jackson figured out how to cross the monkey bars. He was so proud!

And Allison loves to bury herself in the sand!

All of my kids love to swing, especially my girls!

I don't know if it's Utah's dry climate or my age or what, but I have come to love hair products. For the longest time, I've never put anything in my hair...and only because I wasn't sure what to do with all of it. I'm pretty plain, when it comes to hair, because I'm totally lacking in ability! I don't really know how to style it, so I have a simple cut that doesn't require much effort. My stylist got me using different products about a year ago, but I didn't use them on a regular basis until I got here. Allison loves them too! She asks for hair products after we wash her hair :-)) They work wonders on her hair. In humid Houston, her hair is full of beautiful curly locks. Here, it usually looks like this:

But then hair products and a hair dryer make it look like this:

We can make it curl too, with hair products, but if she sleeps on it, it's a frizzy mess.

Here's yet another bear lovey picture. She loves it!

Allison had her first big dental cleaning in April. She was amazing! She was so excited and let her hygienist, Andrea, do anything. Andrea's son plays soccer with Jackson. Familiarity was a nice bonus!

Speaking of soccer, we've started again for the spring. It's amazing how much better they've all gotten. Jackson amazed me at his first game. He seemed to understand what was going on and he was talking to and encouraging his teammates while on the field playing. I was really proud of his leadership!

We discovered three cavities in Allison's mouth when she got her teeth cleaned. Gasp!!! Our kids brush their teeth every night without fail. Even if they fall asleep, we wake them up and we brush their teeth. This is an area, like many, where Jackson is such a rule follower. He will not go to bed without brushing for fear of a cavity. It was tragic for Jackson when the dentist said she had not one but three cavities. (He wanted to call our family and tell our neighbors!) But the dentist assured us that it was not poor dental hygiene but the way her teeth had formed. He said she had areas of weakened enamel. I still feel responsible. Perhaps she wouldn't have gotten them if I'd made dental appointments sooner? Well, we got the cavity filled this week. Again, she was amazing. Can I just say how grateful I am that my children handle these kinds of services so well?! I know that not all parents are as fortunate. Perhaps Lizzie will rock my world in this area. We'll have to wait and see :-))

Allison is a huge laundry helper. She helps keep the laundry growing, but she also loves to help fold and put away. I folded clothes a few weeks ago and left piles all over the living room while I went to get Elizabeth from her nap. When I came down, Allison had filled the basket.

She has learned how to fold socks. She had sorted her socks out of the laundry pile and when I came back in, they were all folded and lined up. This girl loves to organize and sort things...and she has since before she turned two.

She continues to do things that make us laugh hysterically. Jason bought the kids new umbrellas. They were so excited when it rained. Jackson asked it they could go outside and test them out. When I looked out the back door, this is what I saw:

Umbrella up, shirt on backwards, snow boots and a bare hiney!

We visited Ogden's Treehouse Museum last week. Allison took her Bitty Baby in her Ergo and I took Lizzie in mine!

It's a great museum and they had a lot of fun. Magformers are fantastic. I would love to have some at my house.

 Lizzie had fun too:

I wish I had gotten more pictures of Allison playing in the hospital nursery. I was feeding Elizabeth at the time, but watching Allison was so enjoyable. If my baby ever had to be in a nursery setting, I want Alli taking care of her. She was very attentive!

Jackson took Bitty Baby for a while too, and I threw the pink hat on his head for fun! For the first time, I think he was a little embarrassed by the pink hat :-)

Elizabeth is learning to enjoy her tummy. She still refuses to roll over. She rolled at 5 weeks old and 4 months old, but now she will have nothing to do with it. Once she's tired of her tummy, she cries and gets so mad. I'm so glad she's my third child. This would have been a "tragedy" with my first, but now I know better!

In mid-March, Lizzie found her hearing aids. It was pretty scary when she pulled one out at Walmart, dropped it, and then I couldn't find it for a while. I do not want to have to replace one of those! After that incident and another one at home, I had to put covers on her hearing aids that are attached to a clip, which attaches to her shirt...like the clips some people use for pacifiers. You can see it in this picture:

Now, I can't seem to keep them in her ears. For the longest time, we used toupee tape. It worked so well. Once she discovered them and started pulling them off, we graduated to the covers with the clip. The covers are made of a material that doesn't interfere with the microphone on her hearing aid. It feels like pantyhose material. Getting toupee tape off of it is like getting a sticker off pantyhose. It's a major pain. Once she takes them off, the tape doesn't stick anymore, so I have to replace it. When she pulls her aids off 20 times a day, this gets tiring. I found that she wasn't wearing her aids as much because I couldn't always stop everything and put more tape on. The other day, I found one of Allison's hat and thought, "This may work on Lizzie's head! It may keep her from pulling her hearing aids off." The hat is a little too big for her, so I fold it back and clip it, but it seems to be working well. We only have two more months of this and then we're done. Yippee!!! Here's what the hat looks like:

We can hardly wait for her surgery. And then three weeks after surgery, she will hear!! Praise God! We all talk about what we'll first say to her. It's going to be a big day for this family!