Peek-a-boo

This is no longer a toothless grin.

November 28 Elli's first tooth popped out. Within ten minutes of my discovering it, she bit me three times while nursing. OUCH!!! I have to break that habit fast!

Speaking of peek-a-boo... This is Reese on her best behavior at a fancy restaurant. And yes, I choose to take her picture instead of correcting the behavior.

Owl Blanket Project: Six Months

Well, I am a few days late posting this, but my baby girl is six months old! Look at how she has grown...I had a hard time snapping this picture this month because she was rolling all over the place.

-Her biggest strides came this month in hand control. She know reaches straight out for the object she wants to touch. Her favorite thing to grab, hair! Brady and Reese have been at the receiving end quite a bit. I love it though because when I hold her facing me she grabs with both hands and it is just like a little hug from her, I look forward to my hugs after her naps.
-We had a interesting month in the breastfeeding department. Her weight gain had slowed down last month so I spent some time with a lactation consultant to get everything back on track. In the previous month she only gained 2 ounces, but after the consultant got everything fixed Elli gained 10 ounces in one week!
-Since I didn't have as much milk, Elli has stopped sleeping through the night. She still sleeps on average 6-8 hours, but definitely not through the night, but it is okay because she needs to calories.
-A day before she turned six months, she got to try solid food. She did the best out of the three girls. I believe this is due to the fact that she takes medicine nightly so she is used to different taste. She has tried sweet potatoes, avocado and bananas. I think bananas are her favorite.

My two favorite things about this video: one, she uses her thumb to suck the food down, Brady did the same thing and I think it is so clever and two, how she would be eager for the next bite.

Our Baby Business Woman

Our family had a yard sale this past weekend. I had been preparing for it for a while so the girls we very aware of what was going on and how it all worked. I decided to let them get involved. Karl and I use credit for everything these days and they need to learn what money is and where it comes from.

The day or two before the yard sale we baked cookies (from scratch  and made lemonade (from crystal light powder). They were very eager to have their first lemonade stand.

I told Karl we would start setting up at 6am so that we would be ready at 7am. I my alram was set for 6am, I woke up threw on a jacket and headed out. Karl had already set up half the stuff and the girls were both awake, ready to sale lemonade. It was like it was Christmas morning for them and they couldn't sleep in anticipation. Brady and Reese got their stand all set up and sat in their chairs in the dark waiting for a 'bite'.

Apparently 'early birds' don't get the worm (or cookies and lemonade). Even though we had a steady flow of costumers in the first hour, none of them showed any interest in the girls whatsoever. I had to be their first costumer. This bored Reese and she went inside for the rest of the morning. Brady, however, was determined. Patience paid off.

 After all was said and done Brady sold about $20 of cookies and lemonade by noon. She was very proud of herself, and often bragged about her success to people stopping by to check out the yard sale. Occasionally I would hear "I have LOTS of money" being sung to visiting costumers. We had a little mini lesson about bragging.

Brady came in with her cash and Reese immediately went after the money assuming she got half of it. Insert another teachable moment...you have to work for your money. Reese was quite upset that she didn't get to have money even though she didn't work for it.

We brought Brady out to use her money for whatever she would like. She choose Doc McStuffins play set and Lego Friends doll.

Brady we are so proud of you for working hard for your money!

Owl Blanket Project: Five Months

Little Miss Elli Dew is five months old today! And boy is she a cutie! Look at my little ham...

 Not only did she pose for the picture above, but she kept turning out adorable moments.

 One of her new favorite toys...a toy that is always within reach...

Elli does like reaching out for toys, faces, books, earrings (ouch), hair (ouch) and iPhones (whoops). Here she is grabbing and hugging her dolly. 

Some other new milestones are:
-She is the ROLLY POLLY ELLI! She has mastered the barrel roll, which means she can move across a room within minutes.
-She is stable enough for extended time in the exersaucer. The older girls love playing with her during this time.
-She is still sleeping about 12 hours straight at night, however she has moved her bedtime up to 5ish, which means this momma gets up early these days.
-She is very distracted while nursing now, other words she is very aware of the world around her and doesn't want to miss out.
-Speaking of awareness, she stares me down when we eat now. She watches the food go from the plate to our mouth. And boy does she have the glare down to make this momma feel guilty. One more month baby girl and you can join us for dinner.
-Elli's talking lately has become singing...this video will do the talking

-She weighs about 15 pounds and is 26.5" long. Her growing has slowed down a little bit, I feel like.

I am really having a great time with Elli lately. She is constantly sending smiles my way and I just can't get enough of them! I love you Elliot!

"They're Changing"

I have to record this Orthnerism that happened tonight at bedtime that had all of us rolling...

After the girls were put to bed, Reese comes out boo-hooing. She fell off her bed and her head hurt. After being asked where is hurt, she states all over. After some consoling, I get a flashlight out to check her pupils to rule out a concussion. So lying on her bed, Karl looking at her pupils while I move the light over her eyes. Karl says "Yea, Christy, they are changing!"

Reese starts crying again... "But I like hazel!"

Reesey Poo, I am glad you love of the color of your eyes!

Time for a Reset

I know all kids go through rough phases. At first I felt as though I had two kids going through phases at the same time. Was it school starting? Adjustment to baby? Impending move? All of the above combined into one? Either way, the cause aside, this wasn't a phase, we have consistent bratty behavior on our hands that NEEDS to be corrected asap. Minor triggers would cause catastrophe. Appreciation of the good in their lives had gone out the windows. 

On Monday morning, both girls had a major tantrum, one over clothes the other over having to give Elli her goodbye kiss second. It was time for major mommy intervention. While the girls were at school, I got to work. Almost all the toys are packed away. Clothes are put away so that their wardrobe contains less then 10 outfits a piece. Not even the bath has any toys.  

Thank goodness for the extra bedroom so that I have a place to lock up all the toys. 

So I have a Good Behavior chart posted on the fridge. We are focusing on the positive here. There are five bullets for the girls:

     ·    Happily share with your sisters

·    Listen to parents the first time

·    Use manners: please, thank you, excuse me

·    Use happy voice when asking for something

·    Help out around the house 

If they have good behavior all day they will have a toy and outfit returned to them. 

Now if I feel the kids are heading towards bad behavior, I kindly take their hand and read the good behavior chart, emphasizing the bullet that needs work. 

Brady loves these new boundaries. She ran around showing Karl the empty house when he got home from work Monday. Today, she said "Mommy,  I love earning my toys, this is so fun!" Reese on the other hand is trying to figure out how strong those boundaries are. She needs the chart read to her about 5 times a day but she corrects the behavior easily after reading the bullets. We have not have a single tantrum since this was implemented two days ago. I know you are thinking that is not that long, but considering their behavior before then, I am sure we are making progress. 

Hopefully we are back to the sweet behaved girls that I so often brag about. 

As a side note, I love seeing the girls use their imagination with the few toys they have access to.

Video Clips

I am proud of my girls and the growth socially, physically and mentally that is happening at school. 

Here is a few clips to enjoy:

Reese out of nowhere has been really picking up on her German. I have not a clue how accurate this is, but I believe she is counting up to 29 (with some numbers skipped) in this video.

Brady has been working on the monkey bars ever since she started at that school. They have a low set that Reese can reach while standing on the ground to practice on. Then as the kids get older they learn on the big monkey bars. In September Brady was so excited because she could go across two bars. Well look at her now...

Reflection of Friendship

A little over a week ago, I had the privilege of throwing a shower for my bestie from college, Kristen. I didn't hesitate to buy a plane ticket and head north to celebrate this new momma of two.  Our group of eight have now officially thrown a shower for eight weddings and eight new arrivals (however sometimes they come in twos). 

This lovely group of ladies are the moms of a total of sixteen kids with three more to come, that includes three sets of twins. Another interesting fact of the 16 kids, 12 are girls! Did Meredith College do something to us when we graduated to generate the next generation of Angels?

I was lucky in college to have two sets of really great friends. There was my amazing ladies at Meredith College. However, I also had my fantastic set of friends at N. C. State. This group consisted of my sister, some of our high school friends and then a few new recruits. This group was about eight to ten people large as well.  Here is the funny part, of this group only four are married...me, my husband, my sister and one other. And only two have kids, me and my husband.

When I thought about this one day, I honestly started laughing. When I was in college I was very defensive about what people would say about the all womens' college I regarded with high standards. "Marriage farm" "are you getting your MRS degree?" etc etc. Well, I guess I know now why people say that. My thoughts just zoom off from here, but instead of dispensing them to you, I will let your thoughts zoom off too; hopefully to a positive place.

I love my Meredith girls and all that we have become and I love my wolfpack and the adventures they have all partaken.

Show and Telli

Yep, shall I write show and tELLI. I always like to post about the girls when they get to be leader of the day at school. This is a responsibility the girls do not take lightly. Shopping for snack, picking out a the right outfit, deciding what to bring to show and tell so that their friends will be in awe; this is all serious stuff. However, lately what to bring to show and tell has been an easy decision...a baby!

I love that the girls are so proud of Elli that they want to share her with their class. It works out that she is on display about once a month. The teacher discusses the new milestones for her age as the kids watch and ask questions. On Friday, Elli even showed off her latest move, the barrel roll!

I just love the bonds I have with my siblings and love even more that my kids love each other just as much.

 Showing off her neck exercises

 This right here is pride and pure love all mixed into a three year old.

A funny side note: When Reese was leader of the day, Brady was on her third day of missing school for a fever. So that I could be in the room so help Reese show Elli, they allowed Brady to sit in the loft. She looks so pitiful over there. 

Halloween's Past

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

Playing Hookie

So my poor Brady girl keeps spiking a fever at dinner time for the last three nights. She is fine all day (constant checking tells me so) with no symptoms and then BAM at 5:00 spikes to 102 fever. School rules (and common etiquette) state that she must be fever free for 24 hours before returning to school. So essentially during the day she feels fine but has to play hookie. So today we decided to make the most of it.

Let's start off with a lunch date (alfresco) with Daddy on base! I am quite pumped about how adorable this quick picture turned out.

So next I asked the girls if they wanted to go to the park or the beach next. Don't look at the picture below to guess their response...they wanted to go to the park. We headed over to the base park, only to be told they would get 10 minutes of play because they were about to spray the sand with chemicals to kill the grass growing. So we walked to the beach to "just play with the sand". Well, just playing with the sand led to "mommy, can we just put our feet in the water" then to "why can you get so much deeper without your pants getting wet mommy?" to my statement "well, there is no one else on this beach so lets break our modesty rules" I will say I felt rather European...or Russian (thinking back to St. Petersburg and kids of all ages stripping to play in public fountains).

They had a blast, the outside weather was 80 degrees but I am pretty sure the water was just as warm!

Elli hung out in her stroller. Her daily antibiotics make her vulnerable to the sun, so she just enjoyed the breeze. See her on the walkway?!?!?!

What a fun day of playing hookie! Why not make the most of a unpredictable fever and living in a state that has only two seasons: 11.5 months of summer and 2 weeks of winter.

Pixie Dust under the pillow

On Tuesday morning, Brady woke up and her tooth looked like this...

We tried to convince her to let us pull in, but she SWORE it was still not ready! She wouldn't let us touch it, but she just kept playing with it with her tongue. Sure enough about two minutes after I snapped the above picture, there was the tooth sitting on her tongue. She immediately (at 6:30 am) got into a giggly fit. Pure joy and elation as she ran around the house giggling, wanting so badly for Reese to be awake to show her. Look at just how happy she was...still brings tears to my eyes!

I recorded the video below about five minutes after she lost the tooth. She can see just how giddy she was. The laugh she does at about 18 seconds into the video is what she spent the first 5 minutes doing non-stop. 

She placed the tooth in the trinket box Karl bought from Bahrain so that it wouldn't get lost during the day.

She had to wait all day for night time so that the tooth fairy could come. After school she even checked under her pillow to see if the tooth-fairy might have come during the day. She was more giddy going to bed then she has ever been on Christmas Eve. 

Guess what the tooth fairy delivered...a dollar covered in pixie dust! The pixie dust also got all over Brady's pillow and sheets...oh my!

Owl Blanket: Month Four

Today Elli celebrated her fourth month anniversary! It is funny because it seems like May 24th was so so long ago, but at the same time it has flown by...make sense?

Each month (except the first) I have tried to place Elli's bottom in the same place to reference how much higher her head is. This month there was a huge jump in height!

There is a reason she looks so much bigger...she has gained about a pound and a half, to be well over 14 1/2 pounds (75th%ile) and grew 1.25" coming in at 25.75" (90th%ile). I love seeing babies grow so well on 'momma's milk'!

Not only has she grown bunches but she recently hit a lot of milestones!

 -She started laughing! I just love baby giggles.

-She has found her toes, especially when she is lying on the diaper table.

-I am pretty sure I feel molars trying to poke through in the back. She loves chewing and her fingers and sticks them way back in her mouth. Also, look at all the drool on her onesie in the picture above...enough said!

-Within the last week, I have noticed her rubbing her eyes when she is tired.

- Also, within the last week, Elliot has decided that she wants to hold her head up. She was being stubborn about this for a long time and then all of a sudden she decided she knows how to use her muscles. 

-She also reaches out for toys that are around her and tracks them with her eyes in all directions.

-Lastly, she is my first child that loves a blankie! I think it is so sweet... Luckily she loves the Aden and Anais blankets that are very light and she can breath through if they cover her face. 

Happy 4th month birthday, Elli Girl! I love you and can't wait to see what you have in store for us next!

Spotlight on Elliot

Elli Dew is becoming a very sweet baby. I used to say she was my hardest baby, but that is no longer true at all. Now that she is able to self sooth with the thumb and blankie, she is a much happier baby. Let her have her thumb and place a blankie in her other hand and she is set!

Elli is laughing now. She has laughed in response to almost all of us now. I love my Elliot laughs.

Elli is the sleeping champ these days. She averages about 12 hours a night without waking up at all. She goes to bed at 6:45 and doesn't usually make a sound until I need to nurse her to get ready to leave for school. Yes, you read that right, I normally have to wake her up in the mornings. Just the other day, I woke her up after 14 hours of sleep so that we could leave for Reese's soccer game...crazy I know.


Elli, I eagerly await to see your personality shine through. Are you going to be the typical 'baby' of the family? Are you going to be a momma's girl or a daddy's girl? Thank you for being a great baby! I am smitten with you. I love that even when your sisters are smothering you, you only have smiles to share with them; you never complain about their desire to love on you all the time. I love you, Elli Dew.

Spotlight on Reese

Reese is our easy going comedian. She has the natural ability to make us laugh without even trying. She will make faces or say things that just has me rolling. For example, just tonight, she comes out from her bedroom and says "I need a band-aid right here (pointing to her upper arm),, Brady almost bit me!"

I recently asked Reese's school teacher how she was doing since we have had listening issues at home. Her teacher said she is doing great but runs on her own clock. All I could think was, if you only really knew. Reese knows how to make a 30 second task take 15 minutes. After she goes potty, she will just sit there and stare into space for five minutes. I wish I knew what she was thinking when she does all that! I bet it is pretty interesting...

I also love watching Reese dance to music. Her smile as she floats across the floor is so contagious. She gets into her own world and just loves life, which makes me seize the moment.

Reese has a great interest in board games these days. She is a natural at board games. In Guess Who, she is able to ask the correct questions to whittle down the crowd. In memory (when she is attentive), she can honestly win the game. But all the while, she isn't in it to win, she enjoys the act of playing. I love that about her. It is about the journey not the destination.

Reese, you are my middle daughter. I think you are perfectly sandwiched. You are the peanut butter in the Orthner sandwich. You have always loved the peanut butter more then the bread, therefore I think it is the perfect spot for you. You know how to play the games that Brady makes up for you, and share selflessly like none other. But at the same time, you are great at being role model for Elliot and looking out for her whenever you can. You are the best big/little sister ever. My wish for you is that you continue to love being the 'lucky' one that gets to have an older and younger sister. Thanks for all the smiles, Beautiful!

Spotlight on Brady

Tonight I want to dedicate a post to just Brady (yes, Reese and Elliot are to follow).

Brady started Kindergarten four weeks ago. I have already seen tons of growth in her. Going to school over six hours a day really does make a difference. She is able to retain the foreign languages she is learning; sign language, German and Spanish. She is more interested in vocabulary, constantly asking what words mean to confirm her definition from context.

I have also loved watching her grow in gymnastics. When she started in dance she was a natural talent. She has a natural ballet line and picked up right away. With gymnastics, she is in a 5 and 6 year old class, with girls that have already taken for a year or two. She is not a natural. She has been practicing all over the house though. Within three weeks, she can now do a bridge and is pretty close to a cart wheel. She is becoming quite the dare devil; climbing up to the top of sofas and jumping off or...

We have also watched her love of reading develop. She has a HUGE interest in chapter books being read to her. She is also able to summarize at the end of the chapter accurately in 4-5 sentences. We currently have an American Girl compilation book of 6 novels. She is determined to finish the whole thing before we have to return it 3 weeks later.

Here is a recent funny story that really demonstrates her personality. Karl and Reese were at soccer. Elli was sleeping and I was cooking dinner. Brady entertaining herself outside, digs up dirt and wants to plant seeds.

I provide her with some seeds and she states she needs to make a calendar chart to remind herself to water the seeds everyday. Using her monthly calendar she writes Sunday through Saturday on a piece of paper. She shows me and states that she messed up on the W for Wednesday. I assure her that we can still understand what it says. We work on creating a chart together. She wants a stapler to complete the chart so I give her one and then finish my chores. This is what I come up to next...

She taped it to the sliding glass door and everything. I was wondering why the handwriting paper got added but didn't think much about it. Then I realized it is Brady and she does everything for a reason. Since she messed up her W, she attached the W handwriting paper so that she can practice her Ws every time she waters! She is her father's child!

Brady, I love you for your beauty inside and out. You are my big helper with perseverance like none other. I love that the times I have to 'get on' you about something, it is because you are trying to help out too much! I love that you have a deep sense of who you want to be. I hope that you keep all these personality traits. You are going places!