Again!?!?

Yes our family just got over some pretty icky respiratory stuff. Jason is still battling the ends of his a little. But this morning when I went to get the boys out of their beds, Dalton told me he'd thrown up on his pillow. Sure 'nuff. But I thought maybe it was a fluke...our kids are pukers after all.

However, I came home from dropping Easton off at school and Jason and Dalton were in the bathroom cleaning Diddles up after another round. :( Lucky me got to clean up the floor where it happened. And then I gave him a bath:


After he got some fresh jammies, I tucked him in on the couch with some "Duck Tales" per his request:


He had a few more rounds of heaving but nothing came up. In the bath he did it and when nothing came up he said, "Ta Da!" Ha ha! And he had some more on the couch later on where he called out, "Mom! Help me!" :(

He pretty much stayed on the couch until it was time to go get Easton from school. I left D in his p.j.'s with no shoes and asked Tabor's dad if he wouldn't mind keeping an eye on Autumn and Dalton in the car while I ran in to retrieve Easton. Dalton cried and yelled because he said he really wanted to go in but Ryan chatted with him through the window and got him to stop crying for the minute I was inside.

A little after we got home again Dalton wandered into the kitchen saying, "I'm getting hungry" so I gave him some dry toast and, like, an ounce of diluted juice. He held it down and said he was still hungry so after awhile I gave him a little more of the same. That stayed down as well so I let him eat the cereal bar he was begging for. So far so good. I'm just worried it might be like his last tummy bug (Christmas break of last year) when he puked a couple of times or so every day for nearly a week. And one of my worst fears is that all 3 will get it at the same time...or even worse, Jason and/or I too!

But for now, we'll focus on some happier times from yesterday:

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Mr. Imagination

Most of you know Easton has never been short on imagination. Remember this from right after he turned 3? (It's a classic, you should watch it again.) :)

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Ever since he was really little he's assigned roles from his favorite TV shows and movies to himself and the rest of the family. And he would carry it on for days only calling me "Ruby" or "Jessie".

He used to only do it with his handful of favorites: Max & Ruby or Toy Story. These days, every single thing he sees he's doing this. It's to the point where he's interrupting books or talking through large portions of TV shows so he can fill us in on who we all are. Even at night when Jason tells the kids a made up story or even a classic one from memory Easton has to interrupt with which character he is in the story. Dude.

Just this morning we watched Olivia. He is Oliva, Dalton is the little brother Ian and Autumn is the baby brother, William. During a Yo Gabba Gabba segment he had to say, "I'm the blue one!" not to mention he already assigned the actual Gabbaland characters to everyone which prompted tears from Dalton, "Easton called me Muno but I want to be Brobee". Aaaaaaaaargh!

I love his imagination, I really do but good grief. Sometimes I just want to say, "think of it in your own head, man". Or fill me in later so we can enjoy the show or story.

We read some Dr. Seuss this morning and first he chimed in that he and Dalton were "Sally and me":


Then he had to pipe in again to change to "Little Cat A" as well, assigning "Little Cat D" to Dalton because he starts with D but Easton would not be E and Autumn could not be A:


Here he is at it again, and then I ask him about some of our cast of characters from various programs:

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It's a lot to keep track of. As trying as it can be when he's interrupting constantly, it's also really fun when we can just play and be our characters. I like being Wonder Woman to my boys. Or "Prince Alaya" as Dalton calls me when I'm Princess Leia. I think it's funny when strangers hear Easton calling me, "Black Arachnia" instead of "Mom".

Between this phase and Easton's "What if" questions he's sure keeping my ears busy. "What if me and you and Dalton were all in your mom's tummy at the same time? Then we could..." "What if the power went out and the flashlights didn't have batteries? Then I could..."

I do enjoy that little guy. His brain must get very tired, though. :)

And from our books, I just had one little Dalton tidbit to share. I was reading this page and stopping to explain what "thin" and "stout" meant to Dalton:

I was like, "See, this 'thin' fish is skinny like Easton...and this 'stout' one is kind of puffy like..." "Like Mommy!"

Ack, I'm now closer to 32 than I am to 31. Gosh, 32 is all grown up. I'm heading towards mid-30s. People in their mid-30s are married and have kids and mortgages and.... oh wait. :)

I've got some pictures, of course.

You know how I've been mentioning the special bond between Dalton and Autumn, but really it's just that they have 9 hours every week where Easton isn't here. However, Easton and Autumn have a special bond as well:






And she lets him do this to her:




This video could've certainly been cropped, so don't feel like you have to watch it all but I'm keeping it long for my buddy Ranen. :)

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Autumn thinks both her brothers are The Most. She has gotten to where if they are around, she won't nurse anymore. She'd much rather keep an eye on them and wake up extra in the night to make up for what she's not eating during the day. The other day Easton was throwing a gigantic fit complete with screaming (yes, he can still be highly emotional) and Autumn thought it was the funniest thing. Her reaction ended up making Easton laugh in the midst of his tantruming. That's pretty powerful. Then again, she's powerful cute as my mom would say:


Snuggling with her biggest Bubba before breakfast on Saturday:


She put this on her nose during breakfast and then sat completely still like this the entire time.

She was clearly very tired so I took a picture then took pity on the sweet thing and took her up to her bed.

Later on Saturday, the snow was melted enough, the weather was almost warm enough, and the kids were no longer sick so Jason could finally set up the trampoline we and The Maws got our family for Christmas. The boys looked out the bedroom window because I didn't want them out there bugging J too much about hurrying up:


They're standing on the elliptical in our bedroom...Easton would have to stand on the opposite side to get Dalton boosted up on his pedal:


And they continued their observing from Autumn's room:


And the back door:


Eventually I let them go out:






And finally it was ready! It was super cold outside but we went out for a bit anyway. This video is really long but whatever, I'm in no mood to edit all of this right now:

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I especially like the helpful big brother at the end before we have the ladder set up. :) We found the boys sharing a snack out there too:


Little Autumn isn't so little anymore. She's trying to sit up in her swing these days:


And here she is sitting pretty in her $1 Walmart dress after church on Sunday:


Watching the Saints game with Daddy...he looks a little stressed doesn't he?


Here's a few pics from my camera phone:


And yesterday at the mall:

Seriously, I wish I had a big brother like Easton. He's super awesome, even if he does still throw a fit here and there (which I don't see ending anytime soon, unfortunately).

Autumn this morning after I dressed her in clothes that she's outgrowing again. :(

Her belly kept hanging out of the top and while the sleeves look just fine, the pants look like capris. And her socks wouldn't even stay on. She's wearing just a onesie now. :) Well, a onesie and a Miracle Blanket.

But, ooooh, I hear her starting to call. Must go try to nurse her while the boys are quietly watching a show so they don't distract her.

Ta ta!

Saints Win!!!!

Haven't seen my husband this ecstatic in awhile. New Orleans has never been to the Superbowl...I think Colts vs. Saints is going to be a great match since they were both undefeated for so long this season...both the Number 1 seed. Isn't that nice it worked out that way? Even though I do really like Brett Farve, the poor guy.

Anyway, while I'm thinking all New Orleansy and jazzy...check out this little montage of jazzy art set to Jason's cover of Boz Scaggs' "Lowdown" (it's the track I sing back-up on if you haven't heard it yet). :)

Autumn is 5 Months Old Today

I don't like my editing job on these as much as I did last month but the Saints game is close to starting and this'll have to do. :)

Musical Beds and Little Interruptions

Last night we let the boys switch beds just for fun. They thought this was the funniest idea and I didn't see the harm in it. Till Easton had a really hard time falling asleep in the unfamiliar surroundings. I wouldn't have thought that it would be too different for him, but I guess it was.

This morning Easton had school. Jason is working from home today because he's quite sick with what the rest of us had. I had lost my voice but now I'm just hoarse...however, I have a little movie from us reading today and I'm realizing I don't sound quite as bad as I sound in my head...

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Anyway, that's all I've really got for today except that I'm worried Autumn might be coming down with pink eye. Her eye was just slightly gooby this morning but just now I was noticing a definite pinkish hue of the conjunctiva in her little left eye. Certainly nothing full blown yet but after I show it to Jason (for proof) I'm sure I'll be squirting some breast milk and it's many powerful healing properties into her eye. :) I used to do it with Easton and his frequent eye infections although sometimes he'd still need his perscription drops. Worth a shot though! If it is pink eye, you all know how contagious it is and I'm not sure the rest of the family will go for me squirting boob juice at their faces. Autumn, however, is used to it. We shall see...

Have a good weekend and Go Saints!!!

Blogging *Again*

Wow, two days in a row. Not too shabby.

We're having a mostly great day here today. Autumn did puke all over me again this morning, though. :( She's still stuffy and all the coughing plus a belly full of mucous triggered another lovely fountain. But, to protect the new(ish) carpet I threw myself in the line of fire as I had not yet showered and was still in my jammies. An easy fix compared to the carpet. However, she still seems to be feeling well enough.

When she woke from her first nap we headed out for a bit after getting dressed. Little Diddles wanted to wear his new shirt. When he came to Wal-Mart with me this weekend he spotted a green shirt that he wanted to have. He loves green and I'm a sucker for my little guy, especially when he takes an interest in his clothes. So I bought it. However, it's short sleeved so I told him he'd have to wear a shirt under it too because it's chilly today. Once he got both of 'em on he approved with a nod and a "That looks stylish". And then he wanted a fauxhawk:


My growing girl is in a new (to her) outfit today too. So that means a picture:

Although now I'm noticing her Valentine's socks are sticking out like a sore thumb (sore toe?).

Speaking of 'sticking out'...I love her little tongue:


Of course her brothers love her bunches as well and couldn't wait for me to finish with her little photo session so they could get back to her:


I hope these kids always love one another this much!


Once we headed out, our first stop was our temporary library. The kids love the library and so do I. They pick out books and browse the movies and play with the puzzles and such they have out. It's a good time. And I LOVE free books. Books that I can read and then take back so they don't clutter up my house. I'm not against owning some books. Like kids books or books I might want to read again and again (like Harry Potter). But I'm quite the avid reader so I really like being able to "rent" books and take them back. And my new favorite discovery are the e-books I can get from the library and read on my Blackberry! However, not a ton of titles I'm interested in are available that way but still...free e-books too??? Libraries rock!

Okay, so anyway...that was quite the tangent but we did spend some time at the library this morning. The boys wanted to stay even longer than I'd planned because they were liking it so much so we just hung out. Autumn cat-napped in her car seat and I browsed one of my new books.

Our regular library has closed because they're about to open a new facility to replace it. We've been having to go to another branch or the bookmobile for our library needs lately. But we got the idea to drive by the new branch just to look at it and we got excited. The bonus is that we found a small playground right across the parking lot from the new location and I'm envisioning plenty of fun outings with books and playing at the park on the nicer days. Yay!

We then headed to Starbucks where Easton was not happy I got a coffee. He wanted chai. Hee hee.

And we hit the post office as well where Easton was very pleased to see there was no line (unlike that nightmare visit we'd had before Christmas). Alabamaws, be on the lookout for new pictures! :)

Finally we headed home despite Dalton pleading to "go somewhere else!!!" I guess all those days at home recently had taken their toll on him as well. :)

I have a few Dalton funnies before I go...I was nursing Autumn and D was hanging out with us so I was quizzing him,
Me: "Dalton, who's your father?"
D: "Daddy!"
Me: "Who is your grandmother?"
D: "Gramoo?" (Yes, one of them) :)
Me: "Who is your aunt?"
D: "My bug!"
Ha ha ha! Ant/aunt!!! Hee hee!

When I busted up laughing he goes, "You are kidding me!" Just because he's heard people say that. Goob.

And as we were heading into the grocery store last night both boys grabbed my free hand. I have Autumn's car seat in one hand and they each grabbed a finger from the other hand so one is standing in front of the other. It makes it a little harder for the boys to walk so I instructed Dalton to hold Easton's hand instead so we would be more of a line (we do it all the time with E on the end) . He obliged but he didn't let go of my hand to do it. So the boys were kind of making a loop and Easton and I just laughed and laughed that Dalton did it that way and we walked all the way into the store that way as a circle, just because it made us smile. :)

And now it's time for me to go. The boys are being so silly for their quiet time and that's making me smile too. They are playing with their pretend food and "meep"ing to communicate with each other instead of talking. They can't wait for Daddy to get home and see how crazy they were with this food. Rascals!

Back Amongst the Living!

Hooray! I'm back, babies! Prepare yourselves. Or yourself. Who even reads this thing anymore? Anyway...

We have had quite the infirmary going on here this last week or so. As I'd mentioned, Dalton was sick last weekend. Then everyone else. Jason must not have had the illness first like we originally thought because he's sick with it now...again?

But back to our week, I picked Easton up from school on Wednesday and that's the last time we really went anywhere till last night! We would've gone out yesterday except, when I went on my regular Tuesday morning Krispy Kreme run (the kids were here with J) I discovered my car wouldn't start. Grrr. We thought it was the battery but Jason had a doctor's appointment and couldn't stick around to try to diagnose or fix the problem so we were stuck here all day yet again. The bright side is that I didn't have to cook AGAIN (since I couldn't go get any ingredients). The downside is that I was in a grumpy mood all day. But my kids are awesome and just rolled with it (and me) again.

We've kept ourselves fairly entertained since last Wednesday afternoon.

On Thursday during quiet time the boys tucked themselves under the same couch blanket:

I often find them on entirely separate couches for their quiet time shows so I had to document the event.

Family Fun magazine arrived in the mail that day and I saw a fun idea to do painting with pencil erasers in kind of a pointillism/Georges Seurat kind of way. I thought the boys would love it. They love to paint. Easton didn't even want to...I got Dalton to do some with me. Barely.


How do you like my finished product?

Easton and Dalton both contributed to the green at some point but that's about it, the stinkers.

Friday is when we discovered Easton's fever and that he'd be staying home from school. He was a little bummed he'd be missing learning about the latest planet and racing the other 5 year olds on the playground. He really wants to test out his theory that he'll be faster now that he's five. Instead he had to settle for doing his new birthday solar system puzzle here at home with us:




"Look, Dalton! There's a piece of Uranus!" (No, he doesn't know why I laughed so hard when I heard him say that).


Dalton sweetly entertaining Autumn once again:


We got in lots of snuggles during these few sick days. Dalton actually took this one:


See how she's just wasn't her little bright-eyed self?


That adorable little pout again. Girl's gonna learn how to work that to her advantage for sure. :)


Dalton photo-bombing:


An outfit change was in store for Autumn. She's growing even more so her 3 months stuff is getting too small and her larger 3-6 months stuff is starting to fit better. So she's now wearing this little Calvin Klein number from a co-worker of July's. The quilt is from July's mom:


Later we noticed Easton had received a package. A birthday gift from his pen pal Isaiah! He was thrilled to open up some new PlayDoh and accessories. We got right to work:




My monster creations for Dalton:




And then I thought Easton would love these...turns out he didn't like my idea but I kept at it. Mean mommy.

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On Saturday I actually got out of the house for a bit for some groceries. Jason insisted a trip out would be good for at least one kid so I took the healthiest one (Dalton) with me to Wal-Mart. Autumn was napping and apparently Easton crashed on the couch. Dalton and I saw Mrs. L while we were shopping which was fun. Then I came home to find Easton completely miserable and burning with fever. We got some Tylenol Cold in him and some snuggles and he was faring much better:


We also watched the Saints win their playoff game! Yay!

Sunday we had to miss church again with our sickies. And we watched more football. Easton played more PlayDoh.

Monday I would've sent Easton to school if they would've had it (it was MLK Jr. day). But Autumn was the really sick one at that point. Anyway, Jason still had work despite the federal holiday and I just laid around with Autumn much of the day. It was nicer weather so the boys played in the backyard awhile. Oh how I wish we had our trampoline set up already. For now, the sandbox will suffice:


With the back door slightly open, somehow a bee made it's way into our house. A bee! With a stinger! In winter? But yeah...I was not too excited about that. I ended up trapping him in a Tupperware against the sliding glass door but because he was trying to get out through the glass it was impossible to slide the lid in to safely contain him so I could let him outside. In a slight panic I had to call Easton for help. I sent him for cleaning supplies and I was trying to talk him through opening the child-safe locks on the cabinet that has the hazardous supplies in it. Yes, seriously. He couldn't do it (which is really a good thing, I suppose, as that's what they're for...to keep kids out) but I remembered where I had some that weren't locked up and sent him for those. Easton--who is the man of the house when Daddy is at work--ordered Dalton to go to their room and shut the door to stay safe. How cute is that??? My pint-sized hero returned with some cleaners and I sprayed and squirted stuff on the window and then moved the bee container over that. Sad but true. He kind of drowned/poisioned to death :( and then I didn't want to dump him in the trash just in case he came back to life or something. Hee hee. And I didn't want to dump him outside because I didn't want a bird to eat his poisonous self so I put him in the garbage disposal and ran it. Good grief, eh? We'd been stuck in the house for so long I think my sanity had run out.

After the bee fiasco we decided to have a middle of the day bubble bath just for something fun to pass the time. They rarely get to linger long in the bath and even more rarely do they get any bubbles. Autumn had to watch from the sidelines with me:


Easton had fun...






...but Dalton had a blast:








Then because we weren't going anywhere, they put on some fresh jammies and posed for some super-slick lookin' pictures:




The boys did a fabulous job entertaining themselves while I largely laid around myself or had my hands full with their very ill sister. They played so well together and came up with all kinds of fun on their own. Their latest favorite is using the blue and green gingerbread men from Candy Land as their "action figures". These figures have accompanied them to the sandbox, all around the backyard, and are the new astronauts for E's space shuttle:


Yesterday (Tuesday) is the day when people were pretty much seeming healthy enough to get out of the house. Autumn had had a horrible night so I did too. This was on top of two previous nights of less than stellar sleep with the sickies already. Even with my mere 3 hours or so of sleep total I had big plans for Office Max, the grocery store, and the library before I learned my car was dead. So we made due again. More sandbox fun even though it was a much cooler day:


Autumn was napping and I sat by the door watching the boys and flipping through my Parents magazine that had come in the mail. I saw a cool idea to draw your own pictures on Band-aids instead of always buying the pricier character ones. I thought it sounded fun and hoped I'd remember to do it in the future. I was thinking much further into the future, however, on his way into the house, Dalton fell and skinned his little knee through his p.j. pants. :( So he picked our décor for his two bandages:

He felt much better.

Yesterday afternoon, Jason left work a smidge early to try to fix the car. It wasn't the battery like we originally thought so he came in to research a few more troubleshooting ideas and tried one and ended up getting it to start again. And again. Whew. For now. He showed me what he did in case I get stranded out somewhere. Eek! I really hope it was just a fluke. With the car fixed he and the boys headed out to test it out again and pick up some take-out for dinner.

And that brings us to today where Easton got to head back to school. Autumn seems much much better today. Once she woke for the day I dressed her in a 6 month sized outfit and posed her on the opposite side of the quilt July's mom made:




My little flower child. She's got her sparkle back. And her appetite too. Yesterday she went over 7 hours during the DAYtime refusing to eat at all.

Autumn, Dalton and I then headed out for a quick errand before picking up Easton from school and running a few more errands. Ahhhh, so nice to be out and about again. Of course now we're home for lunch and quiet time but to have been out amongst the living has been lovely!