Easter

Easter is over again for another year and yes it snuck up on me again. Why is it that it always gets here way before I'm ready for it? We have a few decorations that I always mean to get out and never do get around to it. This year was no different than the previous ones.

We don't give the kids candy as all of it is too full of sugar not to mention the nasty food dyes. We had to scramble around Sunday morning (Yes, I did say Easter morning!) to find little toys and things to put in their baskets. I then had to sit down and stuff eggs full of GF/CF food that Logan could have just in case the eggs got moved from one basket to another. Who am I fooling? You know the eggs were moved around so many times that we would have never remembered who had which egg no matter what. Marie commented on the fritos and cashews in everyones eggs so I told her the Easter Bunny didn't want Logan to get something he shouldn't have so he gave everyone the same thing. Not to mention the fact that they all love to eat what he has sitting in his bowl anyways.

I made chili with corn bread for our "different Easter dinner" and then boiled some eggs so Marie and I could color them. Once the eggs were dry, we grabbed them and all the other stuffed eggs and sent Daddy outside to hide them so we could have an Easter egg hunt. They had fun; but the one who really enjoyed the hunt was Katie. She was running everywhere trying to grab all the eggs. Her eyes were so big and her grin was from ear to ear! I had Logan and Curtis had Ryan trying to help them find eggs and keep them from running off. Logan would find and egg and hand it to me so I could put it in his basket which he was holding. He was more interested in the airplanes flying around and the swing so his hunt was over pretty quickly. Once he was on the swing he was totally happy to be pushed and sit there doing nothing.

We put Ryan's swing on so we could get him on there too. He didn't seem to like it at first. What a terrified face! I'd say that lasted two seconds then the biggest smile came across his face and he didn't want to get down; not even for the bubbles! The boys had a ball on the swing set with Mommy pushing them while the girls ran around playing with the eggs then having a race. After that got boring Daddy grabbed the bubbles and proceeded to blow them so they could chase them down. I think Marie had the most fun chasing the bubbles. At one point she was trying to kick them out of the air and almost connected with my hand as I had taken over the bubble duties from Daddy. She's such a funny girl!

Talking

Today we spent the day with Daddy and everyone loved it. Okay, maybe not everyone as Logan and Marie had to go to school but the little ones loved it. We try to get down to see Daddy once or twice a month and meet him for lunch and they love it. Today, we went shopping and hit a Cracker Barrel for breakfast in between stops. As we were getting back into the car after breakfast, Katie says to Daddy, "Thank you for meeting Daddy for lunch, you have to go back to work now." What a funny little girl! Daddy will call us from the road when he's on his way home or on his way back to work from lunch and I will let Katie talk to him. She cracked me up yesterday when she asked him, "Are you coming home Daddy?" Daddy said something to her and she looked at me and said, "Daddy come home later." When she's ready to end the conversation she will say, "I love you Daddy, be careful!" and then proceed to give the phone a big kiss. Mmuuwwaaa!

Ryan has been repeating a lot of what we say lately and I didn't realize just how much he's taken in until today. I went into the kitchen to make him some fruit and cereal for lunch, as I was telling him what I was putting into the bowl he said, "Awesome!" He loves to watch Go Diego Go! and Dora the Explorer whenever he can and when Swiper comes on both he and Logan will say "oh man!" For those of you who haven't seen Dora, when Swiper the fox comes along he tries to take whatever they have so they say (three times) "Swiper, no swiping!" and after the third time Swiper says, "Oh man!"

It was funny to hear Ryan say that today but it was especially funny to hear Logan say it. He came up and tried to take something I had in my hands so I said the Swiper no swiping to him and he looked at me and said (no joke, he really said it!) "Oh man!" That boy is such a card. Imagine what he will be like when everyone can fully understand what he's saying. I still have a hard time understanding most of what he says but there are a few things that come out so clear. Last night he was playing when all of a sudden and clear as a bell he sang out, "Now I know my ABC's next time won't you sing with me!" We knew exactly what he was saying and it was just the funniest because we didn't hear him singing or saying any of the ABC's just that one part.

Ok, this last isn't about them talking but it's a cute little something that I hope to be able to get a picture of someday. The little ones will fall asleep in the car whenever we go for a ride of at least 30 minutes especially if it's after a meal. Today, on the way back from our little shopping trip they both fell asleep. Ryan sits behind the driver's seat and Katie behind the front passenger seat. 99.9% of the time when they fall asleep they do it with their heads tilted toward the other. Somehow they both fall out with their heads tilted into the middle of the car. It looks like they are trying to lean on each other's shoulder. One day when I'm not driving I will be sure to take the digital camera with me so I can get a cute shot of this.

They are best buddies as they are with each other most of the time. Of course, there are times when they fight over toys. It seems like in the afternoon when one or both are ready for a nap they both want what whatever the other is playing with and start to scream. Ryan has learned how to get what he wants (even from his big brother Logan) all he has to do is scream at the top of his lungs, stomp his little feet and flap his arms up and down. Most times this will get Logan to give him whatever it was he wanted. Katie has learned this trick and will just turn her back on him which will sometimes start WWIII. For the most part, they adore each other and will even give hugs and kisses but they are siblings so yes we do get the fights.

The cold bug from Hell!!

We've been fighting this cold bug for weeks and it's never really left. This past weekend we opened up the windows as it was nice and crisp during the day. We were hoping to get rid of all the germs so we could start over but of course, that didn't happen. Ryan has had a cough for about a week now but it was finally becoming really productive. I guess with his gag reflex a really productive cough isn't so good. He had his bananas and wanted a bottle so I gave it to him and let him lay propped up on the pillows on the playroom floor. I had made dinner and served everyone and went to sit down. About half way done with my dinner I hear a cough, then Ryan crying and Marie screaming (at the top of her lungs) "MOMMY, HE HURLED!"

Poor little guy must have rolled in it, by the time I ran from the living room to the playroom he was covered. Now I can laugh at how he looked but last night, not so funny. I grabbed him up and headed for the bathroom. Started the bath, wiped him up with towels then stripped him to find he had left me a nice gift in his diaper. Lovely; it never rains, it poors! I had to wipe that up and then get him into the tub and scrub the poor guy's body. I hate the smell of formula/milk after it comes back up. It's totally disgusting so I scrubbed and scrubbed and he splashed and had a merry old time. Logan wanted to join him so I grabbed him up to add him to the mix and low and behold he had also left me a lovely gift. After wiping him up , he jumped in to splash. I had Marie stand in the bathroom while I took Ryan out to dry off. I do this right outside the bathroom door so I can keep an eye on whomever is still left in the bathtub. I had let Logan use the cup we used to soak them with and all of a sudden I heard it. Yup, you guessed it. He took the cup, filled it and proceeded to dump it outside the tub. He was aiming for Katie's potty that makes the music when something gets into the pot. Most of the water hit the bathroom floor and poor Marie was just scrambling to get the cup from him and grab towels to throw down on the floor. Today all of this is very funny but last night I wasn't a happy camper.

After all that, Ryan and Logan are still having issues with the time change. Ryan was still moving around and talking in his crib after midnight and Logan came in to join us around 1:30 so I didn't get a restful night sleep. I'm hoping the boys adjust to the time change soon because I'm just a wee bit tired.

Poor Ms. Katie woke up with a nasty cough and a pretty good temperature this morning so we cancelled all therapies, put the two eldest on the bus and proceeded to cuddle and watch cartoons for most of the day. Ryan was much better today so he wanted to color and play. Katie was pretty well shot for the day being very whiney and clingy. She's now feeling a little better and watching Marie play her game. Keep fingers and toes crossed that they start feeling better tonight so we can all get some sleep.