Nebulize this...

It seems as though Aveyn has been sick for months. She would get better, then worse....better.....worse; you get the picture. Before we left for Florida we took her to the doctor just to make sure she was okay to fly. Her lungs were clear and so were her ears. She was given a clean bill of health and the doctor indicated that she was probably just getting over her last cold (hence the congestion, etc). Fast forward a couple of weeks: we are home from our trip and she is now congested and coughing. I take her to the doctor where once again I am told that her ears look great and her lungs are clear, but that we should watch the fever and bring her back if it lingers AND that things could change (wheezing, ear infections, etc could manifest themselves over night). After five days of severe coughing and sleepless nights (but NO fever), a friend of mine, Heather, reminds me about the nebulizer. I call the doctor to see if they will call in a prescription for albuterol and I am informed that she is too young to still be this 'unwell' and that we need to bring her in. FOUR days after our last appointment where everything looked good, our poor baby girl is now wheezing (fluid in the lungs) and is showing signs of infections in both ears. Grrrrr!! I feel horrible because I didn't pick up on the fact that she wasn't getting better and of course, frustrated that SHE WASN'T GETTING BETTER. She has been on the nebulizer for a little over a week and is slowly showing signs of improvement. She hated it at first, but gradually adapted with the aid of Cael (he loved to 'help' her with her medicine), rattles, Shrek and lots of peek-a-boo!

A day in the life of.......

Cael was coloring with his markers at the coffee table. He was acting like he wanted something to color as opposed to just drawing squiggly lines on a piece of paper.
Me: Cael, do you want Mommy to draw you a picture so you have something to color?
Cael: Yes, peas {For those who know me, you know I can't draw to save my life. I grabbed the sketch book and did a quick drawing of a butterfly and set it in front of Cael}
Cael: Butterfly?
Me: {Shocked} Yes, Cael that is a butterfly {feeling pretty proud of myself ~ I am officially an artistic genius}
Cael: Mommy, color?
Me: Okay, what color should I use? {In my head thinking ~ purple, purple, purple}
Cael: Purpel {With a big smile on his face like he had read my mind ~ who knows ~ maybe he did}
I LOVE THIS KID!!!!!!!!!!! I know it seems stupid, but I really, really enjoy these little interactions. I love how he is turning into this little person and that we can communicate and have conversations. Some of the things that come out of his mouth are just too precious for words and I had to share.

Nana's pitstop

My mom spent the winter down in Yuma, AZ and stopped by to see us on her way back to Omaha. Cael warmed up to her right away, which was great since he has taken his time in the past, and was constantly calling her name to establish her location, to come play with him, to watch him perform his latest trick and simply when she walked up the stairs (thereby leaving Cael's line of sight). Aveyn took a little longer as she tends to be somewhat wary of people she doesn't know or see on a regular basis (a characteristic that Cael never exhibited), but pretty soon they were both smiling and competing for her attention. Nana also brought both of her cats, Simba and Mikki, which was a huge hit with Cael. He was very intrigued and wanted to play with them, but didn't really understand that he couldn't treat them the same way he treats Potter. Needless to say we spent a lot of time separating Cael from the cats and explaining why they didn't want to play (the cats were VERY tired, sneaky and MIA for the majority of her visit if you get the drift ~ wink, wink). The weather was a bit chilly so we didn't really get to do a lot outside, but we still had fun running errands, cooking, eating, hanging out and talking (all while keeping the kids entertained, fed, clothed, bathed and diapered ~ not a small feat). We love having her visit and can't wait until she comes back again in May.

Cael had a mohawk ~ such a handsome little guy!

Aveyn looked so cute in her outfit from Nana and her barrette that I had to take a picture!

Swaddle free baby

I have been worried about how the process of weaning Aveyn from the swaddle was going to go. I have put it off for as long as I possibly could, but lately she has been arching her back and waking up quite a bit in the middle of the night. For about the last week we have been wrapping her in the swaddle blanket, but leaving her arms and legs out and she LOVES it. She really seems to like the blanket wrapped around her mid-section, but having her arms free. I have wanted to take a picture of her while she sleeps because she is so darn cute with both of her arms out to the side like she is flying in her sleep, but have been too afraid that it would wake her. Anyway we are no longer swaddling her in the traditional sense and I couldn't be happier! Now just to tackle the bottle.......all in due time!

Change, change, change......

Seeing the picture of Cael from my last post made me realize just how much he has changed in such a short amount of time. It is truly amazing to think that in just two short years he went from being completely dependent on Ryan and I to walking, talking and working very hard to assert his independence. Obviously his physical appearance changes as well and this is the part I am focusing on in this post. He was a roly poly little baby (as you can see in the previous post) and he has outgrown a lot of his baby 'roundness', but it is funny to me that I still recognize a lot of his expressions and that time hasn't completely erased everything. Either way, he is a cutie patootie and it will be fun to see how much he changes between now and his 10th birthday!

****The first picture was taken in March 2010 and the second picture was taken in July 2008.

Weight a minute.....

When Cael was 8 months old he weighed 23 pounds. I took Aveyn in for an appointment today (she will be 7.5 months on the 24th of this month) and she weighed just under 16 lbs (15 lbs 15.4 oz). Does this shock anyone else but me??? Cael weighed SEVEN pounds more than Aveyn when he was her age. WOWZA! That is a huge difference; HUGE. Ryan and I are a little concerned that Aveyn isn't sitting up on her own (our doctor assured us there is nothing to worry about), but Cael was sitting up by 6.5 months and now I wonder if perhaps his size played a role. Not sure a doctor would agree with me, but that is my story and I am sticking to it...... for now :)

{Pool side}

The beach is nice, but having a pool in your backyard is nothing to scoff at either. We made a couple trips to the beach, but we spent a good deal of time in the pool (or I should say the kids and Ryan spent a lot of time in the pool).

We weren't sure what Aveyn's reaction was going to be to the water, but she LOVED it. She acted like she would have been happy to sit in the floaty for the entire day soaking up the rays. Obviously the major concern was too much sun exposure, but with 100 SPF and a cute hat, she seemed to be covered.

As always, Cael loved the water and impressed Bapa and Gam with his swimming abilities as he had no problem putting his face in the water and swimming from the stairs to whomever was nearby. By the end of the trip he was able to swim the width of the pool all by himself. He was truly amazing to watch. Guess those swimming lessons are paying off!

The beach at Orchid Point

Going to the beach is always a highly anticipated event when we go to Florida and this trip was no different. We knew Aveyn wasn't going to get much out of the excursions, but we had to take her at least once for the photo opportunities. For the most part, Aveyn enjoyed the experience, but at one point it got to be too much and she fell asleep in Mommy's arms after about 45 minutes of laying and kicking on a towel on the sand. She looked absolutely adorable in her hat and surfer girl swimsuit! I can't wait for next year when she can actually play in the ocean and sand.

Cael had a blast flying a kite with Bapa and destroying every sand castle that Daddy tried to build. Cael would be playing somewhere else and spot Ryan attempting to build a castle. He would immediately walk over and start kicking, climbing and throwing until the castle was completely destroyed (poor Daddy ~ all he really wanted to do was build a sand castle). This year Cael wasn't very fond of the water and only went in when Daddy wanted to clean off all the sand. He was much happier playing on the beach and flying his kite.

As always, a special thank you to Kim for capturing some really great pictures with her camera. She manages to take the cutest pictures with the best expressions!!! Thanks Kim!!

Just hanging out

When two young kids are involved it doesn't leave a lot of time for anything other than quick trips to the beach, a lot of time in the swimming pool and going out to lunch/dinner at kid friendly establishments. Luckily, we all enjoy each other's company and don't have a problem hanging out around the house or pool. Not to mention that given our hectic schedules when not on vacation (work, kids, dinner, baths ~ you get the picture), the idea of lounging around doing nothing sounds very appealing. As always, our cameras were handy to capture the moments shared during these lazy days.

I think Ryan and I had underestimated the power of technology as Kim and Dad had downloaded several games to their iPhones in anticipation of Cael's arrival. It kept him entertained for a little bit so we were able to get settled in and we have since downloaded several games to our phones as well for the plane ride home!