Freedom

We have all been healthy for almost a week now! I am so happy that Adrienne never really got sick. It was so nice to be able to leave the house again, now that we knew we weren't going to be infecting other people with the horrible virus.

It also hasn't been so crazy cold which means we were able to go on several walks. It takes us SO long to get ready. We all need our coats, hats and gloves. Morgan needs her snow pants and boots. Adrienne needs her blanket to wrap around her legs in the stroller. I need Abbey's leash, the poop bag and my cell phone - you know in case something happens to us in the 15 min. that we actually stay outside.

Even if Morgan says she doesn't want to go and Adrienne cries as she sits on the floor all bundled up ... it is always worth it.

As soon as that garage door goes up, the mood brightens.

Adrienne starts with her happy jabber ...

... and Morgan is running for the snow.

Recently we have added "red light - STOP ... green light - GO" (complete with traffic cop hand motions) to the games we play on our walks. Since Adrienne finds everything Morgan does hysterical, she especially enjoys this game.

It's great to have healthy kids, our normal routine, and the ability to do the things that lift our spirits, making the day run smoothly.

Fifth Disease

...ever heard of it? I hadn't until last week. I have quickly grown to hate it. I know, we tell Morgan not to use that word. But I REALLY REALLY do not appreciate its presence in my world.

Morgan ran a low grade fever (off and on) and had no appetite for 4 days. We didn't think much about that or her cough until she woke up from one of her naps with her eyes pasted shut. I was gone to a weekend scrap fest with my girlfriends. (don't judge me for a. leaving when Morgan was sick or b. going to a weekend scrap fest) Monday we headed to the doctor and were introduced to the evil virus that has caused us to go in to quarantine mode

... Fifth Disease.

This picture really doesn't do justice to what Morgan looked like. She had dark red circles around her eyes, her eyes were swollen and producing gunk at a sickening speed, her cheeks were red and she had a rash on her shoulders and chest.

It was WONDERFUL!

The bad news is it is viral so you just get to push Motrin and wait. The good news is that only 13 short days later Morgan is mostly back to herself.

That's right 13 days!

What a mess! Adrienne started with the eye crud a few days ago, but doesn't have it nearly as bad as Morgan. So since we were told that it is highly contagious and very dangerous for pregos we are trying to stay away from everyone. I don't know that I have any enemies, but if I did, I wouldn't even want to pass it on to their kids. It's that bad.

So we have established that we all feel horrible for Morgan (and Adrienne) and all that they have had to go through. However, we also need to remember the parents - you know who we are - who have to work at reprogramming a 3 year old who has been doted on for close to 2 weeks. It is proving to be a big job.

Dave and I are staying strong against the challenge and I am proud to say that progress is being made.

Christmas - part 1

So here we are almost 1 month later and I am finally getting around to posting about our Christmas. Dave took off a whole week over Christmas this year, something he usually isn't able to do. So we were able to plan visits with both our families. We weren't planning on making it one big tour of the Midwest, but that's what it turned into.

Despite the crazy winter weather we were all able to make it to Grandma and Grandpa Chupp's house safe and sound.

We had a great time together, as usual. Amazing as it is, we were able to eat our meals, open stockings, have our Christmas and even watch a couple of movies, all while working around four different nap schedules.

It's always fun to see what the kids will get in their stockings. I know that Donna has just as much fun as the kids do with it. It's great that there are grandkids for her to buy for. Before they were around these silly things would have gone to us. As you can imagine the reindeer antlers just wouldn't look quite as cute on me. :)

The adults decided not to exchange gifts this year. Instead we took the money we would have normally spent on each other and gave it to a family close to us who we knew was struggling. They were so shocked and thankful. It was great to see what they were able to do with our gift.

We did still get gifts for the kids. It was fun seeing them open their gifts and help each other break in all the new toys and books.

Morgan received a couple of things that she quickly became attached to. Sarah made her a blanket that has been tucked in around her for every nap and bedtime since she opened it. I don't blame her. It is super soft - and cute too. :) Then she got her first music box, from Grandma and Grandpa Chupp. We turn that on as we leave the room to help her go to sleep. These two things were a huge help to comfort her in these past crazy sick weeks.

Surprise, surprise, Adrienne found something new to chew on.
She also spent a lot of time patting the gate, and talking to anyone who would listen. Most often you could count on Abbey being right there by her side.
On Sunday, after waking up to a less then warm house, no power, crazy winds and frigid temperatures, we decided we probably shouldn't risk traveling with the kids back to Goshen for regrouping session. We waited until the next day and drove straight from OH to IA and survived for the week on what I had packed for the weekend. Luckily we stuck in our gifts for my family at the last minute.

Christmas - part 2

The trip from OH to IA went really well. Both the girls slept a lot. They were most likely trying to make up for not sleeping enough at night and playing extra hard with their cousins during the day.

Adrienne was happy to try her first french fry during the trip. In case you can't tell, she is a fan.

When Mom heard how much Morgan loved decorating for Christmas she decided to wait to decorate the tree until we got there. Of course Morgan loved helping decorate her third tree of the season. It was fun to see my brother Chris and his family while we were there. They even hosted us for an extra yummy breakfast and special viewing of The Little Mermaid. I think they were blown away by the fact that Morgan ate the most pancakes of anyone at the table. What can I say? My girl LOVES pancakes. We all enjoyed Chris' demonstration of the powers of the magic wand. He is truly a man secure in his manhood. :)

Morgan and Adrienne love Aunt Sandi. She has two boys and loves to shop for girl stuff. She will often come with things for the girls just because (hence the princess get up Chris is sporting). I'm sure she doesn't mind that they love her. :) Morgan and I put together a gingerbread kit. AKA I put most of it together while Morgan sampled the candy. She was entertained for a while decorating the snowmen.

The girls loved helping Mom in the kitchen any chance they got.

Once Mitch, Heidi and the boys made it from Goshen we had our family Christmas, starting with the reading of the Christmas story.

The girls both had a lot of fun with their gifts. Morgan got some crazy things to add to her dress up collection. Her cousin Tommy did a great job picking out her gifts!

This is Morgan's oldest cousin, Becca. If you have been following this blog for a while you may remember that Becca has taught Morgan some very important skills in this past year - how to collect candy at a parade, and how to catch fire flies are the two that come to mind right now.Our family has an interesting dynamics with the cousins. We have the "big" cousins and the "little" cousins. There were a lot of years that I'm sure Becca, Vince and Tommy were pretty bored as they were the only cousins. I don't think they would say they are bored now. They are all so good with the "little" cousins, and of course the "little" cousins think they are so great. We have a great time together and there is always plenty to laugh about. Our happy family on Christmas day.

We had crazy winter weather in IA too. It was a bit of a bummer since it meant that I didn't get a chance to see some of the people I was hoping to see. On the other hand it is kind of nice to be snowed in.

Before I knew it our week in IA was over. We had a great time with our family. However, Adrienne was not proving to be the best sleeper away from her own bed. I was thankful she was a happy baby during the day despite waking up far too many times at night. So as we started heading back to Goshen I couldn't help but look forward to sleeping in our own bed, and more importantly having Adrienne in her own bed. I was ready to sleep! Little did I know ...

Christmas - part 3

Once we got back home, I think we were all looking forward to getting back into our routine. We had such a great time with all our family, but it always feels good to be home. We had no idea what the next days were going to bring.

Adrienne was sick our first night back with a high fever and the pukes. It was horrible. Dave was out with some of his college buddies when the whole thing started. I ended up calling him home. I felt bad, but needed extra hands.

I ended up sleeping on the floor in her room by her bed and waking up with her every 45 min - hour when she woke up to help her get back to sleep. She spent a lot of time in our arms the next few days. It is never fun when kids are sick. I would much rather be sick myself then have to see them feel so miserable.

When we got home from IA we had promised Morgan that we would do our Christmas the next morning. We didn't know what to do. We knew Adrienne felt horrible and didn't have any energy. We also felt bad for Morgan who was looking forward to it, and had been so good about us having to spend so much time with Adrienne.

We decided to go for it in between Adrienne's catnaps. We were so glad we did. She really liked the things that we got her. She smiled more in that half hour then she did for the next couple of days.

I made a photo book for Morgan about all the people who love her. I couldn't wait to give it to her! She loves it and asks to read it several times a day.

And of course the teddy bear. This was last minute. Grandma Chupp took Morgan to see Santa and all she asked for was a little teddy bear. Grandma thought that as much as Morgan talked about this I should probably get one. So I did.

That brings us to the end of our Christmas adventure.

Sink full of snow

For various reasons we have been stuck inside for way too long. Except for going to the doctor on Monday, the girls haven't left the house for 11 days. That is too long! We could all use some fresh air. Dave took a couple of days off and has been home with us which helps. Nothing like a good man to balance out the strong wills of the women in this house. :)

So I was trying to catch up on the blogs I love to read, when I saw a great idea. Hillary always seems to be doing great activities with her kids. Today I decided to try one of her ideas ... it was a hit! Snow in the kitchen sink isn't quite the same as Morgan being able to go stomping through the snow, but it was fun.

After we made a fort, "baked" several snow cakes, and made some snowballs, we decided to make a snowman.

It shouldn't surprise you that Morgan kissed the snowman. She kisses everything. If you remember, she even kissed the caterpillar she found in the park this summer. Yuck.
Thanks Hillary! This was a great idea.

You should try it.

Adrienne 11 months

So I guess it is about time to pull myself out of my blogger's slump to update you all on my 11 month old cutie pie.

Her personality seems to come out more and more each day. She is very social, making friends with everyone from the people that come over to our house to the cashier at Walmart. Today as we were checking out she smiled at the cashier and then proceeded to talk to the cashier. What cracks me up is that she already knows the rules of conversation. I say that because she would make several sounds while looking at the girl and then wait for her to respond to her. Then she would do it again. She is starting to joke with us in her own sort of baby way - going back and forth with us mimicking sounds and laughing with us. It's great! She's not all sweet though. She also has a serious feisty streak. She lets out an emotion filled squeal that is most likely heard by our neighbors when I take her away from the recycling box. It's not mentioned in the baby proofing books, but I can only imagine it isn't safe to let 11 month olds play with glass bottles and empty soup cans. It's really too bad. She would be entertained for hours with that box if I would let her.

One of her favorite activities is pulling herself up to the dishwasher. If fact every time she hears me open it she turns on turbo crawl to get there as fast as she possibly can. She doesn't even have to be in the kitchen. She is able to hear that door open from amazing distances. It cracks me up!

Pulling herself up to the window isn't new, but I love this picture because you can see the hair that is growing at a rapid pace! I'm so excited. For those of you who don't know or don't remember, Morgan didn't really have hair until she was close to 18 months old. So it may not look like much, but this is a lot for my babies. :)

Adrienne has said her first word ... Mama. Today she said it as she was crawling to me in the kitchen. I was of course excited, but wasn't going to jump to calling it her first word. She continued to say it all day. When Dave came home from work I told him about it and of course he gave me the look telling me ya right, without really saying it. This evening she said it several times when he was holding her and she wanted to come to me. Then Dave said those magic words. "Are you going to count this as her first word?" I told him that I didn't know to which he responded. "Well I guess you should if she is looking at you when she says it." So I am happy to say that Adrienne's first word was Mama! :)

At eleven months Adrienne also:

bounces every time she hears music (just like her dad) :)

gives hugs

sleeps a 9-10 hrs stretch at night!!!

eats what we do

LOVES peas

is in to EVERYTHING

gives five

figured out how to climb stairs, but luckily I was right there so she only made it up 2 steps

continues to chew on and bite everything

likes to crawl through things, squealing when she gets stuck

joins in the wrestling matches between Morgan and Dave

continues to try her best to escape diaper changes

has started cruising

will stand for several seconds on her own

shakes her head "no" when she is discovered doing something she shouldn't be doing

LOVES her sister Morgan, following her everywhere and belly laughing over any little face.

We love you Adrienne!