A Pink Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving this year was in Boise with my side of the family. 

My mom and sister outdid themselves with another amazing feast and my dad provided some of amazing wine! It was fun. It was tasty. But best of all, it was pink!

Two happy, healthy girls.

Wonderful family and friends.

We are so thankful.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Nothing 'Worser'

There is nothing worse than a sick kid. Nothing. Worse.

Except for a sick kid AND a sick parent...or make that two sick parents...no, wait... make that two sick parents, a sick kid AND an infant. That, my friends, is bad. In fact, there is nothing "worser"!!! 

Yes, a nasty stomach virus swept through our household this past week. It started with Grace. She threw up every 15 minutes for over eight hours. We didn't sleep a wink. Grace had never thrown up before so that scared us her. But she also didn't know the concept of vomiting into something (i.e. toilet, bucket, etc). She never really got the hang of that so instead we would try to catch the throw up as it projectiled out of her mouth. So not only did we have to clean up her clothes, our clothes and the bed/sheets/floor, now every rag towel in the house was covered in puke. The house smelled awful. WE smelled awful. I think the dogs thought the world was coming to an end. 

Then Court got sick. I was hoping I could stay healthy. After all, someone had to care for this motley crew AND attend to an infant. But alas, the virus got me. While it completely knocked me and Court out for 36 hours, it ravaged poor Grace for about 10 days.

 Grace and Daddy watching Beauty and the Beast for the 100th time - that day! 

On the 5th day, we took Grace to the doctor. (While we had been on the horn with the triage nurse at our pediatrician's office, Charlotte had her well baby check-up in the midst of all this so we just threw Grace at the doctor during that same appointment.) The pediatrician assured us that although she had not kept a morsel of food or a drop of water down in 5 days, she was 'fine.'

 Good news but not convincing. Just hard to believe she could possibly be ok when our little jumping machine sat motionless for over a week. She literally did not move a muscle. We watched Beauty and the Beast allll dayyy loonng for about a week. I think I could do a 'one-man' rendition - I know the whole movie by heart. Listening to a Disney film on repeat for a week....well, let's just say that it is enough to drive a person crazy. I literally thought I was going to have a mental breakdown if I heard "Bonjur! Bonjur! Bonjur! Bonjur! Bonjur!" one more time.

Luckily, we are all on the mend and Baby Charlotte stayed happy and healthy.

Very scary. Very exhausting. Literally, the worst week of parenthood by far. 

I have no idea how we are going to get through the rebellious teenage years!!

Grow Baby Grow!

Charlotte's 2 month well-baby check-up came a week early thanks to the Thanksgiving holiday. But that didn't stop our sweet baby girl from tippin' those scales!

At seven weeks, here are the stats!

height: 22 1/4" (71%)

weight: 11.4 lbs (75%)

head: 39 cm (70%)

Aside from growing like a weed, her favorite pastimes include smiling, cooing, sleeping (thank god!) and snuggling. She's an absolute angel!

 I know I am completely biased but ain't she a doll?!

Sooo Busy - We're Sick!

I realize I haven't been in this space lately. Can I just say things have been busy? And it isn't even the kids keeping me hopping...well at least not until Saturday night when Grace AND Court both came down with something awful.

Watching Beauty and the Beast for the second time in the same day.

Grace was up all night Saturday vomiting - every 15 minutes. I slept by her side the whole night - wiping away the vomit, stripping off the wet clothes and blankets, putting new sheets and towels on the bed/floor (we ended up sleeping most of the night on the floor in her room). Court was right there - helping the whole night - regardless of being sick himself. What a trooper! Charlotte - who has been nothing but a great sleeper - decided that same night that she was not going to cooperate with our bedtime routine anymore and basically screamed until 11 pm. Luckily, she still likes to sleep (once she falls asleep) and slept until 8 am - waking only once for a quick feed!

This is the first time Grace has been sick - REALLY sick and it is just awful. It breaks my heart every time she throws up because she feels awful and doesn't understand why.

As soon as we kick this bug, I am hoping to get some posts up here. So much has been going on. Charlotte has her 2 month appointment tomorrow - 2 MONTHS!! - and I can't wait to hear her stats! She is growing like a weed. Pics and more to follow soon...hopefully!

A Night to Celebrate

The night before our fifth wedding anniversary, we headed to Walla Walla, Washington. 

(Never heard of it? Look it up!) It's wine country folks! Beautiful, delicious wine country!!)

We took the kids...very romantic...and tried for a family photo with our camera's timer! 

See attempts below.

Definitely NOT going on the Christmas card! ha!

All in all, the overnight jaunt to wine country was AWESOME! Best night away from home in the past 22 months and I am being DEAD serious.

Why was it so awesome you ask? Here's the breakdown:

1. Reservations at a DELICIOUS restaurant.

2. Charlotte slept during the ENTIRE dinner!

3. Grace gobbled up almost everything put in front of her (keeping her busy and content) and when there was no food to eat she happily occupied herself with the best invention ever (after the epidural, of course) the iPad!

4. We had a two hour dinner WITH TWO KIDS in tow! (Can I get a hallelujah in here?!)

5. Yes, there is more good stuff! We had a fantastic bottle of wine and polished it off between the two of us! Now we're really feeling good!

6. I had a perfectly cooked steak with foie gras butter and red wine reduction. REPEAT. FOIE GRAS BUTTER! (Can I get an Amen?!)

7. Grace went to bed as easy as 1, 2, 3....and Charlotte? Not too long after. With 5:30 pm dinner reservations, we were back to the hotel and in bed by 8:30 pm. (Can I hear 12 hours of solid sleep?)

And finally, the topper...a woman at the restaurant asked us how old Grace was. When we said, just shy of two...she responded that she thought Grace was at least 3.5 because she was so well behaved! (Can I get a woop woop?! That NEVER EVER happens!)

Best anniversary gift EVER...well, that wasn't a piece of jewelry!

Puttin' Her to Work

She's eager to help so what's a mom to do?

Put her to work of course!