Tale of Two Sisters & A New Brother

Caileigh woke up this morning and walked into Keira's room as I was feeding her holding her notebook and said "Mom I need to go over a few things with you about standing". Me = uh, ok what about standing? And then she began to list all the places that you should not stand and she checked them off her list on her notebook.

C = "You shouldn't stand on top of the dresser".
Me= "Good advice Caileigh"

Happy Monday and here's hoping for a nice week!
C= "You shouldn't stand on top of the changing table"
Me = "good point"

C= "You shouldn't stand on top of the rocking chair b/c you will fall off"
Me = "another good one"

And so on it went all the way to school I found out all the places you should not stand. All good advice! And then she said, "Mom what's advice mean"?

I wonder what she was dreaming of that made her think of this so early in the morning?

YAY DADDY!! He ran the Great Race this morning and did great! Despite the rain he ran the whole time and never stopped until he crossed the finish 6 miles later. It was a wet rainy morning but the girls, Grandma & Grandpa were happy to be out cheering him on. OK so only Grandpa, Keira & I actually saw him running (Grandma & Caileigh were standing under a tree staying dry) but we cheered loud enough for them! So proud of Daddy!! Bring on the half marathon!!

Sigh... where does the time go? This week was another tough one. Sunday night into Monday was the worst -both Caileigh and Keira were sick and I was leaving at 4am for a 6am flight! Thank goodness for Grandma & Grandpa as John texted them at 3am to come over in the morning to watch the girls. Caileigh recovered quickly but Keira kept getting fevers all week. And again didn't want to be put down at all. Just not herself poor thing.

So, finally on Thurs we took her to Dr. Adhar - again, and she tested for a UTI which was negative (thankfully) but she did have an ear infection in her left ear. That wouldn't explain the fevers but maybe why she didn't want to lay down. Well as soon as we get some medicine in her she turns for the better - finally!! As of tonite we are on night 2 of her not crying hysterically when we lay her down in her crib. And today she was pleasant as can be, laughing and giggling. Could the old Keira be back? We hope so!!

Caileigh had an exciting couple of days - Jack was over all day Friday and even slept over Friday night. They are two peas in a pod. Caileigh definitely likes to boss him around but Jack doesn't hesitate to say "no Caileigh!" They were arguing at one point - Jack said "Aunt Sheila, Caileigh told me she's not going to be my friend" and Caileigh said "well he told me my drawing wasn't nice!". They both admitted to saying these not so kind things so I made them make up and hug. Which they did and moved on to playing school.

And Keira, well despite her sickness is moving right along in trying to move about. She loves to stand and is even moving her feet a bit when she stands up. And today she finally figured out how to get on her hands and knees and then back herself up to a sitting position again. She's not moving forward too much but she will lunge for something she likes! Before as soon as she got to her hands and knees she would cry and roll over so this is progress!! We have to start baby proofing our doors and fireplace soon!

Nice breezy (and rainy) weather today. We spent some of the day picking up decorations for Miss Princess' 4th birthday party. Can't wait!!

I'll get some video of Keira added soon!

Another busy week for everyone. Mr. Allan, Amy, Abby & Joey are in our daily prayers and thoughts. Monday was a tough day but his tribute was amazing.

Caileigh and Keira continue to hack and cough they the night but hopefully it's passing. Keira is a mystery some days she sleeps others she's up. Lately she's been crying and whining alot so I hope it's just a bug still bothering her and not a permanent change in her sweet disposition.

I'm off to Kentucky for a few days so it'll just be Daddy and the girls!

Tough week continues. Keira has not been sleeping well since Saturday, Wednesday morning Caileigh woke up throwing up so John stayed home with the girls. Thursday night Keira was up most of the night with croup. John was feeling miserable as well. An x-ray for Keira ruled out pneumonia, lets hope her cough gets better soon.

Prayers for all those lost 8 years ago today and all those fighting for our freedom in Iraq & Afghanistan.

You know the saying that life can change in an instant? Well that is true for us today. Our good friend & co-worker Allan was killed today in a car accident. Just 3 years after our friend Mr. Randy. Mr. Allan as Caileigh calls him had a wonderful wife Amy, daughter Abby just 6 mos older than Caileigh and Joey, 16 months old. We'll miss him everyday.

Happy Birthday Mom!!

Daddy and I made her breakfast in bed - chocolate chip waffles, bananas and whipped cream!! Then she opened her presents (a bracelet I picked out, a few outfits from Daddy, and the Shamu DVD!). Oh and did I mention I made her a rigatoni necklace?! We didn't have any macaroni.

Since it was raining we couldn't go to the pool :( and today was the last day! But instead we stayed inside and watched Shamu and played and took naps! And then Jack slept over!

Mom said it was a great birthday!

Big cookout today with cousins and friends for Mommy's birthday! She turns 28 tomorrow! We had the jumpy thing out and Daddy built a fire for smores!! I loved dressing up with Sydney in our high heels and makeup! Keira and Carter loved seeing each other for the first time!

Guess who is 8 months old?!

So you may be wondering, what is our 8 month old sweetie doing these days? Well all kinds of things!

She's rolling when she wants to;

But she likes to stand all.the.time...
Gets very mad if she has to sit and will climb all over you to stand up...

But if you try to get her to take a step, she sits back down;

Eating pretty much anything you offer - spaghetti, broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, avocado, bread, chicken, etc.. etc.. The only thing she is not a fan of so far is applesauce;

Loved the pool (when the water was warm) and loves taking baths;

Babbling, squawking, talking, licking her lips, smiling (of course) and laughing at her big sister;

Gets excited in the morning when you peek into her crib - kicks her hands and legs so you'll pick her up;

Then when you do she kicks and buries her head in your shoulder and then starts looking for her sister;

Sitting up all the time, plays with her toys, stacks rings and pounds on her toolbox!

17 pounds a few weeks ago and going strong. Wearing 6-9-12 mos clothes (just like her sister did at a year!);

And at last count had two teeth on the bottom but a few more are peeking through I think;

As for sleeping, well a few days last week she slept right until morning but the last few days she's been fussy all night. So some days good and others not so good. Just means more cuddling time with Mom!!

We love you sweet Keira and can't wait for all the fun times ahead!

Just a quick update to say that Caileigh did great presenting her "All About Me" bag at preschool. She ran into school and when Daddy picked her up she said "I had an awesome day at school today", I didn't even cry before I took a nap" (apparently she does this often).

Preschool is going much better this year since she is one of the older kids and its a much smaller class. She is really starting to share more about her day which is nice! Plus she loves her teacher, Ms. Flo. She already got to bring home a Curious George book that Ms. Flo had along with an actual George stuffed animal (Keira loved him!), and she brought in two books from home b/c "Ms. Flo asked her to bring them in". Fun stuff.