sister knows best?

i never realized how fortunate i was to have an older sister...until now, when i see how addy is with amelia. first thing addy does in the morning is look for millie in the crib & if she's not there, she will hunt everywhere for her. when she finds her, oh, it's like love explodes in the room. adeline says 'hello amelia (well, "hiya ame-i-a") & pats her head & plays with her hair & gives her kisses & kisses & more kisses. it's really wonderful to witness. addy has such a soft heart towards others & i'm especially glad it applies to her sister as well.

later in the morning i was trying to figure out if millie was ready for a nap, so i started by changing her diaper. addy sees what's going on & starts moving these stacked plastic tote shelves we have full of blankets & such. i ask her what she's doing & she just says "doin it" & points to the wall. i have no idea what she's talking about, but i just say "okay" to see what she's up to. so she moves the shelves & then pushes the stool over to the window...then she reaches up & pulls on the string for the blinds! she then hands me a burp cloth & a pacifier, points to the nosie maker fan & then to the cd player (we really have to do lots of white noise or else addy wakes up millie) & i was totally laughing by this point. but i tell addy that i will turn the rest on, that she can go play now. so she then looks at me rather sternly & says "shhh" with her finger up to her mouth & then she waves bye & softly shuts the door. LOVE IT. she is such a little mama. or a bossy little girl...

i've heard stories about the good & bad things my sister & i did to my brother as a baby & now i can only imagine how much more efficient we were b/c my sister was 4 & i was 2... poor scotty. but now, i'm positive he was entertained & well taken care of by his other two mamas.

here is a picture of amelia this afternoon, right before her nap, so she's a bit leany & scrunched in the bumbo b/c she could barely keep her eyes open. today she has a SERIOUS spike mohawk. we really do nothing to encourage her hair to stand up on end like this...by the morning, it just has it's own way of being.



& here's the confession of the day: i give up on cloth diapers. it's just not going to work with my girls! every day i put at least one on amelia & there's only 1 that doesn't make her bottom bright red by the time i change the diaper an hour or so later. the one that doesn't is an organic, fleece all-in-one that my friend gave to us as a gift for millie's birth (b/c we were planning on doing cloth), but it's very pricey (oh, $20 each & we would need 12-18! plus more for the next size up). it's been very hard for me to admit defeat. we still use cloth wipes & it seems the best combination is cloth wipes & disposable diapers (pampers or huggies...i think b/c they have the least amount of dye). personally, if i were a baby, i would want cloth next to my skin instead of the scratchy disposables (& apparently that's the only thing i could have when a baby & in fact, my skin was much worse than even addy's...my poor parents!). i keep thinking that the chemicals in the diaper HAS to be worse than the cloth so i keep trying...(the cloths' do hold urine & such more on the skin, even with the wonderful all-in-one) & i'm fine with changing the cloth diapers a bit more, then washing & folding them (i think washing & folding the wipes is much more time consuming & icky). i'm just not okay with giving my girls diaper rashes when it's avoidable. how funny that i couldn't wear disposables as a baby b/c they gave me constant rashes & now my girls can't wear cloth b/c they give them constant rashes... yes, as i said, admitting defeat is difficult. so, now it's official. i guess i will have to move on.

extra things in the cart

this is what i found in the shopping cart at target today: a can of keyboard cleaner spray (???), can of febreeze spray (strawberry?), a dora the explorer birthday card, kitten christmas cards (pack of 18), & a pack of hair bands (multi colored). this was the work of a very fast toddler...i really didn't ignore her or let her wander too far at all & plop, i look down & there's all the extras. when do we lose our ability to be that quick on our toes (okay, when did i lose that ability?).

i have a very very cute video of amelia smiling & nearly laughing at the kissing penguins, but alas, i suck at computer schtuff & don't know how to upload. so...until my hubby helps me, you'll just have to use your imagination. but, she's adorable.

what did i do this weekend? well, yesterday was quite fun. & i forget friday night....hmm, what did we do? hmmm...do not remember! anyway, yesterday afternoon i sold my winter maternity clothes & they took about half of them & i walked away with $85! yea! & then they said that they'd love to see my spring & summer clothes in march, so i'm very much looking forward to going there again. bye bye maternity clothes (no worries, leila, i still have yours; i didn't sell yours, UNLESS you want me to ;o). selling the maternity clothes has made it official: the gerbicks are only having 2 babies (by this mama). i tell wes if he wants a boy we either have to #1 adopt #2 knock up another lady. i really hope he chooses #1 if he wants a boy. (let's set this straight: if he chooses #2, he will have many many many other problems on his hands). so yes, 2 kids it is. i feel pretty darn good about this decision.

really, i was a terrible pregnant lady. all the little woes & problems got me good but thankfully i never had anything seriously wrong. however, i would go through labor & delivery any day before being pregnant again. although painful, it's amazing to birth a baby. & i'm happy with my decision to do the no pain meds hypnobirthing thing twice. all in all, i'm satisfied with my two babies that i have & the way in which they arrived; it is complete. so there kristi & judy; you have my thesis on why i am certain i won't be (purposefully) pregnant ever again! :o)

speaking of those ladies...after i sold my clothes, i went thrifting with judy to this AWESOME store called 'the village thrift store' (off of cleveland ave). it was totally amazing. they had racks of clothes in excellent condition for pennies. seriously, pennies. i spent $0.45 on a gap jumper (red, like a christmas outfit), size 3T. & there were dozens of deals like that...it was like manna from heaven & i was just sitting there picking it up. i went away with an entire garbage bag full of clothes for next summer & some extra little things for amelia for only $32. a full garbage bag...i love bargains. why why why spend full price?

then after that judy & i met kristi (my sister) at easton to eat at the cheesecake factory. a special treat for selling my maternity clothes (oh wait, the new hat & socks were also a treat...). we waited for 2 hours to get a table. what were we thinking?! oh my. but we had a ball & ate a lot, shared the food & then went over to barnes & noble to talk some more. & then today was christmas stuff. gifts online are purchased, the christmas photo thing is complete. i didn't go to church & kept millie home with me, hoping to find a bit more time to do the online calendars & such. but i'm also struggling a bit with whether or not we should stay at that church. we just have some equally as intriguing options only a few miles away from home...anyway, it's not really something i need to discuss in this blog, so i'll skip to saying that i am glad that so many other people worry about things like what to do if your car lands in water! your comments were helpful.

wes is brewing beer outside (yes, now, at 9 p.m. & in the freezing cold...crazy man) & i am ready to hit the hay. & i still don't remember what we did friday night. how is it possible to have such a terrible memory at such a young age? (yup, calling myself young here!)

catastrophic thinking

so, i have this situation that i need to let everyone know about. something i think about more than i'd like to admit...it can take up chunks of half hours throughout the day...just b/c i want to figure it out! wes & i are here talking about it AGAIN, so i guess i better see what anyone else has to say about it. here it is:

i'm driving with both girls down a road. the road has a pond, lake, river beside it. i have to swerve the car to miss a deer (or in sometimes, it's icy & the car goes off the road). the car goes into the pond/river/lake. WHAT DO I DO?! i have two girls strapped in car seats & me in a seat belt, automatic locks & windows...egads. how do i get us all out alive?

i think this bothers me b/c i'm not such a good swimmer, but i'm fairly good in a crisis, so i could handle it, but it would have to be perfect. there's the whole thing about the air being used, water pushing onto the car, so a door won't open & automatic locks & windows will shut down in the water.

SEE! this is scary!

i plot out my course every time, but i'm never satisfied... first get me out of the seat belt, then addy, put her in the front seat. then get amelia out, then holding addy in my legs (so she won't be swept away from the gush of water) & amelia in my left arm, i somehow break the window & then grab addy & then try to swim up. impossible? let me know what you think. unless you're kristi or cal & then you'll just tell me this is 'catastrophic thinking' & i should stop thinking about it. but...i need a plan.

this all started again after i found a "glass window breaker tool" in a sahalie magazine. perfect! it's on my christmas list (in addition to a personal trainer & a SAHM emergency/illness day care, both are pretty out of my reach).

another one bites the dust

in an earlier post, i said something along the lines of 'we have a new nativity set & it was a good deal & i shouldn't really get worked up about addy playing with it...' blah blah blah. well, addy is holding me to that. the other day she was playing with it & we were talking about how the angel told the shepherds & the wise men about baby jesus being born...LOW & BEHOLD the angel was blowing it's own horn a bit too much b/c it's arms & trumpet were taken away, by addy. all it took was one swift drop off the table & the angel is now armless & hornless.

that sealed my decision of not to care if things get ruined or messed up with kids in the house. i really had thought that before & that's the main reason why we still have the UGLY tile & nasty carpet from the previous owners in our house. things are just things, eh?

on tuesday, my dad was taken back to the cleveland clinic ER b/c he was having another diverticulitis flair up...very very painful. he was admitted to the hospital & nearly had emergency surgery to remove part of his colon, which was originally scheduled to be performed this coming monday...but that is now postponed until the inflammation goes down, sometime in february. this is really hard on him in general, the pain from the perforations in the colon, plus the medicine/antibiotics to keep the inflammation down...well it just makes for a generally crappy time. so i went with my sister to cleveland on wednesday to see him. it's very sad & humbling to see someone you love in so much pain. BUT the good news is that now he can eat christmas dinner! (if he had surgery on monday, he would be on a restricted diet for awhile) so we are thinking up a wonderful meal that will last all day. this afternoon he was sent home, so he now has his own comfortable bed & his grand new TV & the best nurse of all (my mom).

addy & amelia's pictures are below; this was from last week. amelia didn't cooperate very well, so there's more of addy....you'll just have to wait to see our christmas picture thing to see the rest.
this was the outfit addy picked out for a photo shoot:

funny addy story from today: addy sits in the infant swing. infant swing folds somehow & collapses on addy. addy is sandwiched in swing & flailing her arms & legs about, letting out loud yelps & cries. the mama is talking on the phone & quickly says goodbye (sorry mom) to help addy out of the precarious situation. addy cries & cries & cries, pointing at the swing, saying "bad, bad."
it's very unusual for addy to cry over getting hurt, so this was a pretty scary thing for her, apparently. she did have a slightly bloody nose & some purple fingers from a pinch & a welt on her left cheek. but holy crap, folks, it was HILARIOUS. i really had to bite my lip to not laugh when consoling her...one of the funniest sights i've seen in awhile.

& millie, oh millie. we have taken to calling her "millionaire"...it started with millie, then went to mills, then millionaire. she's been having a rough week or two. stuffy nose, low grade fever every once in awhile, general crankiness. we were going to wait until monday to see if she improved, then take her to the pediatrician if not. well, this morning, i saw this white thing coming out of her gums & i was shocked; GASP: maybe she was teething! but it was coming from her molar area & pointed towards her cheek...weird. long story short: it's a benign cyst, sometimes called 'baby pearl' or something like that. anyway, no problem. (we obviously took her to the ped b/c it looks rather odd & freakish). as for the general crankiness & minor illness: a passing little virus, as suspected. she should return to normal in a few days or up to a week...but we are VERY tired.

ode to my streaker toddler

i just have to say, there's nothing more, oh, delightful than seeing a diaper clad-naked toddler running around in the morning...excited & jolly & giggly. adeline loves the morning. it seems she is full of wonder & love of being alive. i really have so much to learn from my little ones.

what a week

this week started off not so bad. the girls & i went to the gym early monday morning & addy played at 'toddler time' at the westerville rec center. then...monday night, we made a double batch of chicken taco soup, which i find to be very yummy....until now. when i see it now, it makes my stomach gurgle in a baaaaddd way. monday night i was very nauseous & didn't sleep well...as soon as i tried to eat breakfast, "the sheets" (wes' word for diarrhea & according to my mom, that's what the ohio mennonites also call it) started & didn't stop until very late that night. midday i had a very long round of vomiting... by dinner, i was sucking on pedialite popsicles. it's terrible to say this, but thankfully wes wasn't feeling very well either, so he stayed home from work & was able to take the girls while i moaned in bed most of the day. good times.

thursday morning, wes left for vermont & let me tell you, i wanted to be there. i have always wanted to go to vermont & there he goes, without his wifely. of course, he tried many times to get me to go with him, but i just couldn't bare to leave millie (even with grandparents) when she is this young for more than 1 day (it would've been 3 days). so lucky him...sleeping in a hotel all night! but millie loved on me that night by sleeping through the night...it doesn't happen that often (maybe 3 times?) but when it does, it freaks me out! i go in & check on her several times just to be sure everything is okay. so she sleeps through the night, i don't. it all seems a bit ridiculous, eh?! (& i was also worried that she was allergic to the wool blanket b/c i had just found out that her daddy & grandma are allergic to wool, so i checked on her twice, making sure she wasn't having an allergic reaction, you know...with her throat swelled shut, hives, etc, etc. seriously, where do these doom & gloom thoughts come from?!).

wes' mom, sue, came to stay with us & help me out while wes was gone...which was wonderful b/c i wasn't fully functioning again until friday. we had a good time, the 4 ladies; baking cookies, shopping, getting our pictures at shutterbug photography. addy loves it when we have visitors & she was gleeful most of the time. sue also had a cold, so together we were probably a sore sight of illness, but we made it & everyone was at least happy, if not healthy.

a picture of the cookie making

saturday was a christmas day. i sent wes & addy out to buy the christmas tree (we get a real one) & i saw them drive up 45 minutes later & thought to myself: 'what have i done?!' it's a VERY LARGE tree...more wide than tall, but it does touch our ceiling & at the base is as wide as i am long. oh my. this is what happens when mama doesn't go on the tree hunting expedition...

did i mention that it has a severely crooked trunk?! anyway, we brought all the loads of boxes out of the basement, my sister came over to help decorate & control the kiddos...we turned on 11 hours of christmas music & got to work!

addy has really taken to the nativity set. i found it at old time pottery last year & was stoked b/c it was only $25 & was pretty much what i had been looking for. this year, i am stoked again b/c it was only $25 & i don't feel irritated when addy begins to bang it around, moving the pieces & creating her own nativity scene (who knew 'little people' were at jesus' birth?! :o) today she even took the lambs & donkey to 'little people' school in the school bus! what i'm saying is that if i had purchased the much nicer, more expensive set, i would not let addy play with it & what fun is that? now she knows all the nativity set people by name & it's really helping us do some explaining on the whole christmas deal. b/c it's fun.

here's a few more thoughts & pictures:

millie & her little tongue, 14 weeks

here's the odd one...adeline has had this rash for about two weeks. well, not sure if it's a rash or what, but it's not pimples & they can come & go throughout the day. i'm wondering if it's from the dryness, even though we have a humidifier always running in our house & a whole-house furnace humidifier. anyway, nothing will make it better! not aquaphor, vaseline, lotion, desitin, her prescription eczema cream, or the burt's bees baby winter face goop. who knows.
oh, & it's sometimes on her belly as well & seems to itch a bit at times. i'm really hoping to avoid going to the pediatrician this week, but i don't know what else to do & don't want to ignore something that could be a sign of a bigger problem...ANY IDEAS?

i just have to say that i am really frustrated that i'm getting so sick this year. every month it's a different virus or bacteria or WHATEVER (baby...pregnancy) that knocks me off my feet for at least one day & i'm left recovering for a week. i don't know what to do about it! i was taking vitamins, but they don't seem to help & i exercises when i can...but lets me realistic about how often i can get out of the house to the gym right now! at least now i'm not prego so i can take medicine...there it is, looking on the bright side. (see how wes is positively influencing me over the years...) but really, what's going on?! UGH. this year has been very bad for my health :o)

okay, here's the last random thing: i'm trying to set up the advent thing. we've put little dove chocolates in it for addy to eat every night, so we've got the food & excitement part covered. my question is, does anyone have any ideas about what to put in the boxes for each day besides chocolate or treats? i'm talking about 'learning' things, such as a bible verse or a story or SOMETHING. i'm running out of ideas to talk about...we've gone over that jesus was a baby, it's jesus' birthday, etc etc... i remember as a kid doing certain things every night (so help, mom!) that had to do with advent & christmas.

okay, long post, hope no one fell asleep

Grandma and Addy

Hi Everyone, I'm learning to blog in Columbus with the "girls".
We played and shopped today with Judy and little Elliot.
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