Kicking off 2020 (in the most deserving way)

Oh man, was it a rough start to (what would later prove to be) a rough year. While thankfully nobody was sick during the holidays- when does that ever happen?!- we made it up for it as soon as we got home. These are my sad, sick, sweet cuddly babies. Thank heavens for the invention of Disney Plus. 

Grandma and Poppop came out to visit and we had so much fun with them, even though Stephen had to work the whole time. They took care of our plants and yard, bought us delicious food and made us delicious food, and took care of the girls so that I could actually get something done! I was able to go get my hair cut finally (it felt AMAZING) and I even got to do a little kid-free shopping. John was able to golf and Lucina played with the girls so everyone but Stephen got to enjoy themselves. They stayed one day extra so that we would be able to go out to dinner on Friday night (the one night they always try to give them during busy season) and everything was packed in downtown Gilbert. We ended up going to LoLo's, a place I never thought I would witness Lucina eating at, and then ended the night with ice cream at Petersons.
Rory had a cut on the bridge of her nose that she got over the holidays, and it just never seemed to be healing. Then all these other sores started popping up on her chin and around her mouth. I had no idea where they came from, but I just kept telling her not to pick at her face. Every morning there would be more sores and they would all look a little worse. This had been happening all of January, but it got really bad while John and Lucina were here and Lucina finally said she thought I should check in with my dad. I texted him and he immediately said it looked like impetigo.
I took Rory into the pediatrician, he confirmed it, and started her on some medicine. As a baby Rory had a reaction to Penicilin so they don't prescribe that to her any more, so Dr Seitter said there was a chance the medicine would not be the right ticket to get rid of it. I was told it would get worse before it got better, but if there wasn't improvement in a week to come back. We were faithful about giving her the medicine and watched her face get worse and then it seemed to come to a point where there a was a standstill and there was a morning where there were no new sores. I continued to give her the medicine and then right about at the week mark she woke up with a sore that I couldn't tell if it was new or if she had badly picked an old sores (three year olds and skin conditions, such a maddening combination). We finished the prescription and then realized she wasn't better at all and the impetigo was alive and well. We went back in, got a new medicine to try, and got to go through the whole fun process again. In the mean time, while she was impetigo, which is wildly contagious, she can't go to toddlerschool, the library, or dance class. She can't play at the park or at any friend's houses. She can't kiss mom or dad or be too close to Ada. It was the longest month ever. 

In the mean time, Ada is now five months old and still doesn't sleep through the night. Doesn't even almost sleep through the night. She still wakes up two or three times to eat and I am so grumpy and exhausted all the time. I bought a Baby Merlin's Magic Sleep Suit because at this point I will try anything. I don't know that it is making any difference, but she looks like a little marshmallow in it and it is pretty dang cute. Marisa shared her Taking Cara Babies sleep course with me so I decided to try to sleep train her since Stephen isn't around anyways. His hours are so long now that when he does get home around 2-3 in the morning he sleeps in the guest room so that he can actually get a few hours of sleep instead of being woken up by Ada every couple of hours. The sleep course says that every baby should be sleep trained within 14 days. You let them cry it out with specifically spaced check ins and the idea is that the crying gets shorter and shorter every night. Well, Ada is a rare breed because after 14 days she was no where closer to sleeping through the night and her record for crying it out was when she woke up at 2 am and cried until 6 am at which point (according to the course) she had made it to morning time so I went and got her out of her crib. I went back to being at her beck and call and nursing whenever she wanted at night and she dropped from three night time feedings to two, so I guess in a way it was a win. In a way. 

This picture is when Rory asked if Ada could chat with her in her bed for a minute one night and I legitimately cried a little because they have so few positive interactions these days and Ada was so stinking excited I couldn't even stand it. It gave me hope for days ahead when they might even be friends. 

Speaking of few positive Ada-Rory interactions, after being on Impetigo house arrest I was losing my mind a little bit and Rory needed some new pants. I decided going to Old Navy wouldn't be completely irresponsible of me as long as I tried to keep her from touching anything. As I browsed the kids section Rory took the stroller from me and began pushing Ada around. Ada LOVED it. She was laughing so hard and was so happy and Rory loved the attention! I picked out the pants listening to the sound of them getting along and moved on to other unnecessary items. I had just grabbed a set of matching sister shirts when I heard Ada scream and start to cry. I whirled around to see Rory with Ada's foot in her mouth biting down with all her might. I dropped the clothes, grabbed her arm with one hand, and the stroller with the other and marched right back to the car. This picture is the bruise that resulted and was taken the next day. Rory, my sweet, you are a fickle little stinker pants. 

When the medicine had done its work and no more new sores were showing up, her face still looked like a painful mess, but we NEEDED to change up our day somehow. We went to the park and had a little picnic lunch. It was short lived because it turns out a park is only fun if there are other kids to play with. We were back at home in no time, driving each other crazy once again. I was determined to have a good day so we hopped in the car, drove through McDonald's for some fries and ice cream and drove to the temple. We finished our snacks and then walked around the temple and got all our energy out. It was peaceful and therapeutic and hopefully not a major disruption to all the happy people that were there. 

Ada seems to be enjoying her marshmallow suit, so here's hoping sleep follows soon. Rory lives for getting the Friend magazine in the mail so here's hoping they have an issue on how you shouldn't bite your baby sisters. 

Busy season is all around exhausting and hard. Stephen is worked around the clock and I worry for his mental health and physical health all day long. I go to bed at night just praying he won't fall asleep at the wheel when he is finally able to come back home. I feel sad that he doesn't get to see the girls, and sadder still that they don't get to see him. I feel sad for me that I have no one to help pick up my slack after a day of keeping up with a feisty toddler and a night keeping up with a hungry baby. And then I feel guilty for being sad because I know how awesome our life is and I know how lucky I am to be with these sweet girls all day and all night. 

And then, finally, there was light at the end of the tunnel! The second round of medicine worked! Her face slowly started to heal (extra slow thanks to the constant picking) and our world of Toddlerschool, dance and play dates was able to open back up! So I had to make sure we came back with a bang! I whipped up some homemade buttercream, got out my cutest sprinkles, and let Rory and Rebecca go to town on some sugar cookies. We watched a movie. We painted Frozen 2 rings. We had sandwiches shaped like hearts. It was incredible. Here's to having a thankful heart to get through difficult months!

December and Christmas 2019

As soon as we were back from Vegas it was time to celebrate my birthday! The best part about having a December birthday is that since it's in the midst of all the holidays it always sneaks up on me. Emily made me this gorgeous hand-painted ornament, which was so sweet. Kristy and Marisa sent me Crumbl cookies because they get me. Courtney ordered Thai food for us so that I didn't have to cook for the night! I love my birthday. Rory had dance class that day and afterwards Sarah and Rebecca went with us to Joe's Farm Grill so I could cash in on my free birthday lunch. They started making chicken and waffles and this meal was so good that I have not stopped thinking about it since and I want it documented forever in our family history. 

On Saturday we met up with the Collins for dinner at Caldwell County BBQ and then drove out to Schnepf farms to see their Christmas village and lights. They had all sorts of fun and cute things to do and the best part was that the lady at the entrance only made us pay one entrance fee instead of three- huzzah for birthday miracles! We decorated cookies, rode a Christmas train, fed baby reindeer, made a pine cone ornament, and even got to meet Santa. Added bonus was Rory was super feeling herself in this new puppy dress that Grammy got for her.

Move aside Christmas, back to my birthday festivities! Gilbert was lucky enough to get a Giving Machine again and we could not wait to make use of it. After Rory's toddlerschool the girls and I headed to downtown Gilbert to pick some items to buy for others. Rory chose "stinky shoes" which were actually a fresh, new pair for someone who needed them and Ada and I got food, backpacks, and school supplies. I hope we keep getting the machine so we can keep this tradition going. We then went to Oregano's, just like last year, so I could cash in on my birthday pazookie. We were a little bit of a nuisance for all the poor business men and women sneaking away for a lunch break, but man did I enjoy my food even if Rory was jumping around on the benches and Ada was crying and struggling to nurse in the confines of a booth table. I'm sure eventually these two will make much better lunch dates. 

My parents organized an adults only trip to Hawaii and unfortunately this year we pulled the baby short straw and decided we would bring a human into the world instead. Since we had 4 month old Ada we opted to miss out instead of making everyone else endure a beach vacay with a baby, and while we were bummed we knew it was the right sacrifice to make for those who would be able to go kid-less on the trip. Jon and Kacey had a previous engagement fall through and last minute were able to join the Hawaii crew, and they knew just the baby-laden sisters to ask to watch their kids! So Kendall and I met up in Vegas and stayed with the Nielsens for the week. It was a lot of kids and a lot of babies, so I recruited Ashleigh and John to take Rory for me for the week. Rory is at her worst when I am giving my attention to anyone else, and it definitely made our week go more smoothly to have her off having fun with her other cousins. John and Ashleigh were absolute angels and took her to do all the most fun things. She hasn't stopped asking to go to their house since. In fact, she often asks if I can leave so she can see John John and Ashleigh again and go to the movies with them. 

Kendall and I got a lot of baby time and it was so funny to visit with my sister who lives too far from me now. Ethan is so calm and happy and I still am amazed at the way he could go from laughing and playing in the Rock N Play to immediately asleep. We helped ourselves to lots of good food, watched lots of corny movies, and mostly kept each other sane in the midst of trying to take over Kacey's life. She left one day before the Nielsens came home and that one day was HARD. I got Rory back from John and Ashleigh and I tried to channel my inner Kendall to be fun and exciting (she truly is the best aunt). She bought gingerbread houses beforehand knowing I would need something to do with them, and as you can see from the pictures I was not quite able to make "houses" happen at all. Hey, I tried and more importantly no children were lost in the process. We were all very, very excited when Jon and Kacey finally made it home and Stephen (who had joined me earlier that day) and I decided to take off for St George right away. 

Christmas in St George was so great and it was wonderful that everyone could be there together. The morning of Christmas Eve we went to Fiesta Fun to go bowling where we had our own personal lanes. The kids all loved it and Rory even bowled a Turkey! She earned $2 from her uncles and felt like a pretty big deal. I didn't bowl nearly as well, but I was wearing Ada the whole time so I will blame it on that. 

We ate lots of delicious food to be eaten, and I'm spacing out on some of the other details of our celebrating but we mostly just had a good time being all together. The girls loved their Christmas jammies and looked so cute together. One of the most fun parts of the night was doing the nativity puppet show with aunt Bekah, which turned into carols around the piano while Grandma played. 

Christmas unwrapping went mostly well considering we had so many three year olds to potentially fight over presents. Rory was once again stoked to get a candy cane from Santa (I'm hoping she never realizes you can ask for other things) and was just as stoked as we thought she would be to find some safety scissors in her stocking. She immediately tried to cut her hair and her cousins, which we also figured would probably happen. She was spoiled by grandma and her cousins and had a wonderful Christmas. 

All leading up to Christmas Rory kept asking to ride on Uncle Nate's "vroom vrooms". She was so excited about it and would talk about how fun it was going to be all the time. We finally set up a time to take the kids out after Christmas and it took us the longest time to convince her to go. She wouldn't be bribed by anything! I can't remember what finally changed her mind, but she finally tried it and we were so proud of her. She had the best time zooming around with Stephen. 

We all enjoyed just having down time with family. There was great food, fun games, and Rory and Mar Mar even got in some light reading (Man, do we wish the Skousens lived closer!). Ada and Lincoln are only about six months apart, but I love that he looks so grown up compared to her here. Can't wait to see these cousin friends grow up together.