Standing!!!

We took advantage of the beautiful weather yesterday and spent most of our day outside! Josh mowed the lawn while I planted a few things and vacuumed my car. Alex hung out on a blanket with Cooper! I took many little breaks to play with her and she kept trying to stand up. I remembered our friend Rachel let us have a VTech Sit to Stand walker that her son no longer used so I thought it was time to break it out! Alex sat in my lap with the walker in front of us (the wheels we locked) and she grabbed the bar and pulled herself right up!!! I, of course, stayed right beside her in case she lost her balance, but she did great!!! She could balance herself for 1-2 minutes at a time! This morning she tried again and I moved away a little to take a few pics. I still don't have batteries for the camera so the quality isn't that great, but you can see the little pumpkin standing!!!

I don't usually put buttons on my blog but I have been reading about Stellan since he was in utero. You can read his story on their site, but in brief, he was diagnosed with heart failure and an enlarged heart when he was in the womb, he was born in great health and now, he is back in the hospital with his heart function slipping way. The story just breaks my heart and makes me hold my sweet baby girl a little closer, tighter and longer every chance I get.

Our First 5K

Well, I should say Josh's first 5k! We were up bright and early this morning dressed in our warmest clothes because it was COLD!!! Alex was bundled up and looked like the Stay-Puft Marshmallow man! We could barely buckle her in the car seat!! Alex and I walked a whole whopping .9 miles because it was so cold! My whole goal was to see Josh cross the finish line and we missed it because I was helping Tracy's mom with Abby! :( He finished in 29 minutes and 30 (something) seconds!! After the race and awards, we headed home to get ready for the day. Alex was great considering how cold it was, she only got fussy when she started to get sleepy. We ran errands the rest of the day. Josh got a new lawn mower, we had lunch then headed to Houston to pick up a few gifts for upcoming baby showers and finished our day off with dinner at Chuy's.

My poor pumpkin is having some tummy issues. Sometime between home and Babies R Us, she blew out her diaper. It was on her car seat and clothes. Good thing I had a change of clothes. Since we knew we were going to be out a while longer, we bought another outfit at BRU just in case! Poor Alex has had 6 poopie diapers and 3 outfit changes today. It doesn't seem to bother her in the least, but it still makes me feel sorry for her! I hope it passes soon, if she is still having issues on Monday, I'm taking her to the doctor. I can only handle so many poopie diaper changes and poo covered clothes a day and I think I've met my limit! I have gone through half a bottle of Shout this week!

Baby, bundled up

Warm me up! Josh, post race

Bunny cup

So the poor little pumpkin has made me some very interesting "pants
presents" today, we've had 4 wardrobe changes!!!. I called the pedi
and he said to keep an eye on it, stick to starchy foods, give her
some pedialyte to make sure she stays hydrated and it should pass in
the next day or so. I've been trying to get Alex to learn how to use
a straw so while I was at Target yesterday, I saw the cutest bunny cup
with a soft straw. I put some pediatyle in it and after a minute or so
she figured it out!!!

Stomach Bug

We have had an off couple of days...no, it's not Alex this time! It started Wednesday with poor little Abby getting sick. She had some stomach bug thing so Katie picked her up around noon. By two, I wasn't feeling so hot. I think I had a mild touch of it and spent most of the afternoon/evening throwing up. Josh came home to take care of Alex so I could rest. By the time I went to bed, I was running a fever. Good thing is, Thursday morning I was feeling like a brand new person. Miss Abby stayed home with Tracy yesterday so Alex and I took advantage by going to Kohl's, Target, lunch with Josh then the mall. Now thinking back, I probably shouldn't have made my first meal after being sick a whole plate of honey seared chicken from Pei Wei. I felt ok until we got to the mall, then I started smelling all the wonderful mall smells (warm pretzels, cookies, and all the other goodies) and my stomach started turning again. We high tailed it out of the mall as quickly as possible. We made it home just in time for me to heave. Thankfully that was it! I tried getting Alex to take a nap so I could sleep for a few minutes, she had no part of it, so I put her in bed with me, gave her my phone case to play with and she was a happy camper for about 20 minutes, then she went down for a nap! Since I was feeling much better, I decided to join Josh for one of his departments work things. We went to the bowling ally and everyone played video games and stuff while Alex and I hung out with Sheena and Kyler. When we left, I decided I was hungry so we picked up a pizza. Again, probably not the smartest thing, but the doughy crust and bread sticks just sounded so good! Thankfully I was ok and am still ok! Abby is back today, feeling much better, but now Katie has it!

Somewhere along the way, I lost a huge package of batteries for my camera so I've had to use my cell phone to take pictures. For some reason, every time I am out, I seem to forget to pick up more batteries!

Alex, perfecting the pout
trying to keep the munchkin entertained in bed so I could rest

Cooper pillow

Giving Mommy kisses!!!

Cheese Thief!

Cooper has learned the best place to be during meal times is right by Alex! He stole a piece of cheese off her tray today! He is so darn cute, I couldn't get mad at him!

Our schedule is still way off! Yesterday, Alex napped for a whole whopping hour the entire day. She was out by 6:20 last night! I had a doctors appointment this morning and I could tell she was getting sleepy, but she just cried when I put her down. Since Josh was coming home so I didn't have to take the girls, I figured I wouldn't push for her to take a nap. She played with Josh the entire time I was gone and about 15 minutes after he left, she crashed! I'm pretty much going day by day now to see what she decides to do. I've never really pressed to put her on a schedule, I usually follow her lead, so I'll just wait and see what she settles on!

On a good note, I had a great visit with the rheumatologist today! Normal RF (rheumatoid factor) is around 23, my counts were 150-something about 5 months ago, 112 at the last appointment and 42 this week! This means, the meds are working!!! In a few weeks, I'll start lowering my daily Prednisone intake. I'm currently taking 5 mg a day so each month I'll lower it by 1 mg until I hopefully don't have to take it anymore! My next round of blood work and appointment will be June!

Both girls are up and calling so we are off to run errands!!

Weekend at the Lake

We went to visit my parents this weekend and had the best time! We got there Friday night and Alex got in some quality Nomi and Popi time before she went to sleep. Saturday, we relaxed in the morning then Nomi, Alex and I went to run some errands while Josh helped Popi in the yard. Nomi and Popi bought the pumpkin a pink swing, so after lunch she got to try it out! It was so cute watching Alex swing, she just squealed in delight the whole time! Cooper got to play with his pals Annie and Stoney so he was happy! By the end of the day the kids were tired so after Alex went to bed and Cooper passed out on the couch, we stayed up playing games! Sunday was a little windy out and I forgot to bring a hat for Alex so we had to make do with a cloth napkin she wore like a a do-rag! Josh helped Popi with more yard work while Nomi say with Alex on a swing. By the time I got out there, Alex was passed out on her Nomi. After a little more fun on the swing and a late lunch we headed home around 5. I was so sure Alex was going to sleep the entire way home because she had only taken 2 very short naps but she didn't! She slept the first 30 minutes then stayed awake the rest of the trip. It worked out good because when we got home, she took a bottle then went straight to bed! Cooper ate his dinner then disappeared. I found him knocked out on our bed. Poor little guy was pooped from his weekend! Actually, we were all pooped from our weekend, but it was worth it!

Alex and her new pink swing!

My mom and me swinging!
Josh and I had a hard time getting our timing down!

Alex and her napkin hat!

Alex and Popi

Here comes Cooper Cottontail!

Ladies Who Lunch

Today, since both girls we up and getting hungry at the same time, I decided to feed them together instead of one at a time. I tried one at a time yesterday and it just didn't work out. Abby was too interested in Alex and Alex was upset Abby was eating when she wasn't! It was actually much easier than I thought. Alex stayed occupied with pieces of mango for the first few minutes. Once she noticed Abby was getting food on a spoon, she wanted some too, so I held both of their bowls & spoons and alternated bites.

Before

After (Abby was getting sleepy, putting her hands in her mouth

and rubbing her eyes, that's why she has sweet potatoes all over her face)

I am constantly taking pictures of Alex, the top one is my favorite this week, and the bottom is Josh's fav!