nine

Silver is 9 months... has been now for a while... thought I'd better post about it.

Sterling is growing up. He now has quite the little temper. He is a true boy. He loves to explore.

His head circumference and height are in the 90th percentile, and his weight is in the 40th.

Silver doesn't quite "crawl" yet, but he rolls around a bunch, and does this little manuver where he "crawls with his legs on his toes, and uses his shoulder (with his head cocked to one side) instead of his arms. Pretty soon he will be crawling all over - but until then, there will be rug burns on his neck.

He loves his Sister so so much... she can always make him laugh, stop crying, (or start crying) and keep him entertained on car rides. He is a bit of a mamma's boy, so I feel lucky for that, but he mostly likes it when all of the family is together... in the same room. If anyone even simply walks down the hall, he can burst into tears on the spot. His eating is sporadic. He is enjoying getting to eat some "solid" food now, but enjoys exploring a little more - so often times his meals are only snacks, and I spend a lot of my time trying to force food down him. (I'm guessing this will change in about 12 years).

Peek-a-boo is his favorite right now. He loves to pull things over his face, and when you ask where Sterling has gone, he will belly laugh.

He has slept through the night a total of 6 times since he was born... he is finally out of our room, but now Stella is in our room, because she can't sleep with him and all of his screaming. We are hoping (and praying) he will soon see the light and realize that sleep really is a good thing. Even his naps are tragically short. He will get though it... soon too... at least thats what I keep saying, so I don't have a major meltdown.

Sterling loves to "talk". He can roll his tongue all the way around, and spends a bunch of time experimenting with all of the different sounds he can make. He now has 3 teeth in his little mouth. Two on bottom and his right one up top. (the fourth is right there... should be here soon)

He is so adorable, and we get a lot of... he looks just like daddy.

Can't wait to see what the next 9 months have to bring. If they are anything like the last, plenty of laughs, smiles, and sleepless nights? Uh oh.

Little angel

Stella is such an angel. Music is one of her current LOVE'S. She sings constantly; the store, the car, the bathroom...Everywhere!!! and we love to listen to her sweet little voice.

(sorry - it is actually a short video... once the picture fades to black, the video is done... I am editing on Andy's computer, and it keeps shutting down, so I decided not to fix it... )

"Trunk Or Treat"

Halloween was very exciting for me this year. I had grand ideas for costumes, 4 pumpkins to carve, and my mom around beforehand to help me prepare. The costumes ended up working out (for the kiddos at least) and the pumpkins, well...

Stella was excited to help carve pumpkins so I decided to carve hers first. I was going to try to be super cool and carve our faces from "cartoon" drawings of pictures of each of us on our own pumpkin, but then got realistic and decided to carve our first initial onto each pumpkin. Its a good thing I started with Stella's, because what started out as standing for her turned into standing for "S"mith since we only made it through one pumpkin before running out of time.

Stella was all about helping, until she reached her hand in and felt what was inside. Then she just wanted to watch and kept saying, "I can't pull seeds out". This picture was taken right after she reached inside - you can see it on her face that she felt tricked. She was obviously not expecting all the gooey stuff.

(This is Stella's "shy" face. She makes it a lot these days.)

Because my mom was in town and could help wrangle children while I tried my hand at the sewing machine, I was able to successfully make the kids costumes. (wait - how does this sewing machine turn on again???) I decided a while ago that I wanted Stella to be a flapper this year. I thought it was the perfect thing for her because of her hair right now- so decided I'd better do it while I could. We also had a cowboy hat for Sterling that I thought wouldn't fit him for a while. I tried it on a few months ago to see if it might be able to work, and it was almost too small. So I decided then that he was a cowboy this year - and crossed my fingers that his head would't grow too rapidly. My mom had the awesome idea of having me go as a cowgirl, and Andy as a 20's gangster - so that we could partner with our kids, and we planned on that for a while, but then Andy decided he didn't want to wear one of his suits to the trunk or treat complete with neon cotton candy and chili cook off contest, so we both ended up being cowboy's. Stella was odd man out - but she looked adorable, so it didn't matter.

Sterling had the whole ticked off cowboy look down for all the pictures. He was actually a really good sport - wore his hat almost all night long and everything.

Stella came with me to buy the candy to pass out, and I told her it was for the trunk or treat. From that moment on she started saying she wanted to trunk or treat "right now" and becasme super excited for the whole thing to go down. She said trunk or treat at every car we went to, and told everyone thank you using sign language (everyone thought she was blowing them kisses) which got her even more candy.

We couldn't find Stella's pumpkin (candy holder) so she used her little Louis Vuitton ... She tried to zip it up between each car... I guess she wanted to make absolutely positive not one piece of precious candy would fall out.

Stella thought she was so cool holding the pumpkin. I think it may have weighed as much as she did.

(Look closely, you can see Sterlings teeth)

This next picture is of my friend Shalene and her costume partner in crime Jill. Stella was freaked out by Shalene. (the clown fish) She hid under the table the entire time she was around talking with all of us. I was impressed that this was the only costume she was afraid of. (funny thing is, Stella knows Shalene well, she is in the Young Womens presidency with me, so we spend a fair amount of time together - but in Stella's defense, I didn't ever recognize her at first!)

Stella's precious loot. Not bad!

I'm no celebrity... but am I being punk'd

I feel like I entered the twilight zone last weekend. Remember my post about hoping Sterling's ear infections made up the extent of our doctor visits this "sick" season. Well... it did not work out - not at all actually. Sterling then got himself a nice little case of hand foot mouth - complete with, as the doctor put it, very large ulcers in the back of his throat. Great. Along with this came a fever of 103.8. Nice. Then Stella spiked a fever - seemed to be the same thing maybe? Well, we assumed it was, until she started complaining her neck hurt. Knowing that could actually mean throat - which would make sense, I wasn't to concerned, until she pointed to it and it was on the backside behind her ear. Along with this, her eyes hurt, stomach hurt, etc. We decided to call her Dr. to try to make a weekend appointment, just to make sure it was the same thing Sterling had, and there wasn't something else going around our little house. When the nurse called back to schedule the appointment, she told us we needed to take her the the pediatric E.R. because her symptoms matched those of meningitis, and this marks the beginning of the end. Not realizing what a bad idea it would be to go to the pediatric E.R., we made our way downtown, a little concerned, but pretty sure she didn't have meningitis. We waited for two hours in the waiting room, while my poor mom who was in town held Sterling outside so that he didn't have to be in the room with all of the coughing, barfing, crazy other sick kiddos.

Finally, we were called back, and my mom and Sterling headed to the car to wait. The Resident checked Stella out, and said something about possibly getting her fluids because she looked "puny" and possibly testing for strep and H1N1. Next thing we knew, the nurses were in the room, prepping Stella for her IV. So, we knew the fluids weren't really a bad thing, Stella was pretty much refusing to drink... but it was torturous for her - and us.She was so good when they stuck her, didn't pull her arm or flinch at all, but her jaw dropped to the ground and the tears started flowing. She was totally caught off guard. Luckily, the nurses let Andy hold her the whole time, and she and he eventually fell asleep next to each other on the little bed. When the doctor started talking about her possibly having the flu - I asked what it would mean for my 8 month old son if she tested positive.

He said, oh, he probably needs to be tested as well. I mentioned he was outside and he said to go check him in, bring him back, and they could test him too while we were already there. Sounded terrific to me. Perfect to get it all done in one nice little trip - rather then having to wait in some waiting room for another two hours. I went and got Sterling, brought him back, and they tested him for the flu. Never tested Stella. Hmm... we asked about that, and the nurses just said that the Dr. hadn't ordered her test yet... So then we hear that both Stella's strep test, and Sterlings flu test are negative. This is where it really gets crazy. So they say they want to Get some blood from Sterling to test. (They had already taken a sample from Stella's when they were putting in her IV. I was a little unsure why they wanted to test Sterlings blood. If he didn't have the flu then we weren't worried. It was just his hand foot mouth. No tests required for that - allready diagnosed.) When the nurse came in to get some blood, she said that they were going to put an IV in so that in case his blood work came back high, they wouldn't have to poke him again. (Are you kidding me... instead of doing a simple foot prick you are going to put an IV in his hand!!! They could tell we were a little hesitant on the situation and tried to insure us that it was the easiest way to go about it all.) So, they attempted to get an IV in... unsuccsessfully. Poor Sterling was not to fond of the whole experience at all!! Apparently he has veins like me... very very hard to get needles into. Finally they settled for a foot prick, but had to squeeze forever because Sterling is "not a good bleeder". They also ordered a chest x-ray. I could have told them he didn't have pneumonia, but they needed to see for themselves. At least Sterling enjoyed this part. They strapped him into a chair, and he smiled and smiled at me through the window. So cute. Obviously, those came back normal. When the blood work finally came back - his counts were elevated. (well duh - he had hand foot mouth!!) so they needed to grow out the culture to make sure it wasn't bacteria in his blood. Until it was grown out - they needed to treat Sterling as if there was bacteria - just in case. This meant and IV of big dog antibiotics. Great. Much screaming, one almost passed out mom, and angry grandma, and a ticked off dad, and two poked up kids later, we were able to leave the hospital, a whopping 9 hours later. Not fun. But thats not the end of the story. We had to bring Sterling back the next night for his second dose of the antibiotics. This time - no IV, just a shot in each leg. He still screamed his head off though, and it still took 3 hours. For a measly little dose of antibiotics. All to make his follow up appointment with his pediatrician to find out he is fine. It was just the hand foot mouth virus all along. Like we thought. We just wanted to make sure he didn't have the flu - if Stella did. She never even ended up being tested for it. Crazy... but both kids are now happy and healthy... so lets hope now that this is the last of it for us this season. Seriously!

This little dude no longer has a toothless grin, well... not technically at least.

Bling bling...

I was just contemplating getting another charm for my "initials" necklace. I have a charm for Andy and Stella. Only problem is, If I get a charm for Sterling, I would be wearing a necklace that said, well, -a dirty word- around my neck. Bummer...

Apples + Bees = BFF

We went to a pick your own apple orchard on Saturday. We did it when Stella was a little baby two years ago, and there was a freeze that year so there weren't many apples, and mainly we just walked around their pumpkin patch and bought apple cider from their store. This time we decided to go to a different farm, and had a similar experience. They told us that the apples were sparce, and if we couldn't fill our (pre-paid) bags, that there were bins of apples they had picked, washed and had ready to go in bins spread out across the orchard. We bought three bags. We couldn't even fill one with apples we picked ourselves. But besides the lack of apples, we had a great time hanging out together as a family. Andy and I would love to have a pick your own orchard one day. We think it is a great little family business, and it would be great for our children and grand children. Andy loves to be in touch with nature - especially helping others to get in touch with their food supply, so every time we go to one of these "pick your own" farms, we get re-inspired. One thing about pick your own farms I don't like... Bees!!! This orchard had plenty. I would like to pat myself on the back though- I did not scream, squeal, jump, or run around in circles once. I stayed very calm the entire time, and just steered clear of any apples in an attempt to also steer clear of any bees. Stella on the other hand, had plenty of contact with bees, and plenty of tears to shed as a result. Every time a bee would fly up to her, she would tense up and run stiffly to try to get away. We told her the bees just wanted her apples because they were sweet, so she began to throw her apples onto the ground whenever a bee came after her. Then she would point at the apple on the ground and burst into tears because she really wanted the apple. It was a never ending sad cycle that repeated itself numerous times during our stay in the orchard.

If you enlarge this next image, you can see a bee flying at Stella's apple. It is right where she is looking, in front of her sleeve.

And then here again, the bee, a little closer to its target, and really starting to freak Stella out. She will throw the apple down in 5, 4, 3...

Stella enjoyed watching her dad pick apples, and climb trees almost as much as she enjoyed eating them. She really wanted dad to put her up in a tree, but the bee cycle would often interrupt the moment, and we would move on without Stella ever leaving the ground. Maybe next time.

This clever little one was trying real hard to give us a hint... Stella wanted nothing to do with feeding any of the animals.

Right down the street from the farm, there was a hayride, pumpkin patch, pony ride place. It also had ice cream...and so did we. ;) Stella was so excited to ride the horse. She was screaming and kicking in the car, shaking with excitement. I was excited too... after all, what a perfect picture opportunity. I was going to get my good pictures as Stella rounded the corner to make her way back, that way she would be facing me. She never made it that far. She only made it ten feet in fact.

She hopped on the pony...

Called out for Dad, and started her dismount...

And that was that.

So Sterling got a chance.

He rode much longer than Stella did...

But eventually bailed too. Then my camera died. There's always next year for some cute horse pics I guess.

We may not have come away with bags and bags full of apples like we had hoped, but we did come away with some fun little memories... and (some) pictures to prove it.

Catch up... more pictures than you can handle

I have so many recent pictures, I figured I could just make a massive post of nothing specific... just a whole bunch of things that we have been up to, or pictures of the kiddos doing what they do most the time. Stella and Sterling have been getting along fantastic for the most part. Every once in a while Stella will have a day where she wants everything Sterling has. If he has a toy - she will grab it from him, if he's in the bumbo seat... she wants to sit in the bumbo seat, etc. But usually, she is so loving and caring towards him. Often times, if he cries in the car, she says things like, "look Sterling, look at all the cars!" Or she sings to him to try to make him stop. So sweet.

Sterling cried this morning as his dad left for school... My kiddos both love their dad sooo much!

Karen Rozmus came over the other day for a young womens meeting, and Stella went crazy when she saw her at the front door. At one point during the meeting Karen walked towards the door to get something from her purse, and Stella said, "Karen don't go!" Then Karen did her hair in these pig tails, and when Karen did end up leaving, Stella told her, "Give me my kiss." before she let her walk out the door. So funny.

Stella always piles toys in front of/on top of Sterling to help keep him busy. (or to distract him so she can take the one away from him that she wants)

Stella has been doing great on the potty training front. She does just fine, as long as she has her little "potty" around. Don't know how we will get her to realize that the big toilet isn't actually scary, but until then I guess it will mean diapers when we aren't home. Hopefully soon she will be adventerous and try out the "big potty".

Look at Sterlings legs in this next picture. This pretty much sums him up. Total chiller and relaxer, and loves his dads phone, or anything with a screen.

Sterling can konk out basically anywhere.

Stella's new favorite place to hang out is on top of the fridge. I guess thats what happens when your Dad is so tall.

Stella loves to imitate us. She gets all ready to go, and stands by the door telling me she is going to school or to work like her dad. Once or twice she has told me she is going to the gym. She also calls me and Andy "babe" on occasion because thats what we so often call each other.

Stella asks to hold Sterling quite a bit, and then she will always tell me to take a picture. So I have plenty of pictures like this laying around.

After bath time one night, we played around with the kids hair. I did Sterlings hair how my mom always used to do my hair when I was a baby. We also brushed Stella's hair out straight and left it... it ended up curling just like normal.

It would appear that Stella loves her ice cream. She asks for it multiple times a day. I have to remind her a couple of times a day that ice cream is only what we eat for dessert - not for every thing else. Funny thing is, Stella doesn't like cold things. She never finishes her ice cream, because she doesn't like the cold, and we only give her mini cones as it is. But she still asks for it all the time.

An apple a day...

I decided to take Sterling to the doctor yesterday, because he seemed inconsolable. If I was holding him, and Andy walked by, he would reach out for Andy, to then turn right back and reach out for me 30 seconds later, just trying to make himself feel better. He had been grabbing at his ears a little - but I wasn't certain that meant anything, considering he is literally going to get his two bottom teeth any second now. Luckily, we were able to get in to see the Doc. right away, and sure enough, Sterling had an ear infection... in both ears. Poor little guy. He was so miserable. I felt terrible knowing that he was in so much pain, and that he was trying so hard to figure out what he could do to stop it from hurting. Thank goodness for numbing ear drops!!! This is the first time I have had to give medicine to one of my kids (besides teething tablets, occasional tylenol, and pedialyte). I think I lucked out pretty well with Stella being 2 and still no ear infections. We do pretty well keeping the Doctors away... lets hope this is it for the sick season eh? After taking his medicine faithfully, he is now as good as gold. You would never know he was "sick" just by looking at him. Stella was such a great big sister while we were at the Doctors. Normally, she freaks out, and doesn't want anyone else to touch him but me, however, I think she was a little nervous with how sad Sterling seemed to be, and she was just hoping someone could "fix" the problem. While we waited for the Doctor to come in, Stella sang him "I am a child of God" over and over again. She is going to be a fantastic mother someday.

*8*

Dear little silver,

Some things about you at 8 months old.

You are starting to show super excitement when Daddy comes home... ( I thought I had my mamma's boy, maybe not)

You get the biggest kick out of your big sis. All she has to do is say peek - a - boo, and you giggle your little heart out.

You wake up at least once a night (usually 2-3 times)... we are working on the soothing yourself, you get there, but it takes about an hour every time you wake. (I didn't think anyone could be harder to get to sleep through the night than Stella, I guess you just want to prove me wrong.)

When it finally is time to feed you in the morning, you giggle and giggle with pure excitement from the time I pick you up until you get to eat...

You are still as cuddly as can be - LOVE IT!!

You love your food, but when I put you in the bumbo to feed you - you flail yourself around until the first bite is in your mouth, then you remember.. ah yes, I like this.

You are a techno geek. You love all electronics, and can stare at the tv or computer screen for hours. (well, minutes, but in baby time..)

You don't like shoes or anything on your feet - but you will learn;).

Body contact is your best friend. You love to be as close to someone as you can get.

You still love to head butt your mom and your dad. We like it too.

You hate having your diaper changed or clothes put on you. Consequently, mom hates this too. You wiggle all around, and cleaning you up ends up meaning cleaning a lot of things up.

Still no teeth, but they are so close bud!

You ate your first whole mum mum tonight!!!

We kinda think you look like a cute little Dopey.

You still sleep in mommy and daddy's room, if you could just sleep through the night you could move into your crib - Stella wants so bad for you to sleep in with her.

Most of your clothes are 12 months.

You love to stick your tongue out in the corner of your mouth - you are so funny with your mouth.

You refuse to crawl. You prefer to roll around and around. Your belly is not where you want to be.

You still love to rock front to back when we say yeah yeah yeah - little dancer.

You have started copying me when I sign to you- soon you will be able to tell me a little about what you want.

You pout with your whole body, hanging your head and arms all the way down.

You are such a little sweet heart. I can't believe you are already 8 months!! We love you "big boy".

*camera just died... pictures will have to come later