Life...

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Why Daddy needs to go back to work...

Not only did he squirt whipped cream in her mouth, but he also fed her COOKIE CRISP for DINNER!!!!

Never mind she's the one we can hardly get to eat as it is.

A healthy meal for Selah is even more of a pipe dream now.

(And yes, she loved it.  Immediately started saying "more more more!")

Micah Update

Micah is 11 days old already.  It's so hard for us to believe, it has gone so fast!

He had another check up today and there was good news and not so good news.

The not so good is he's still pretty yellow, so they want another bilirubin check in a week.

Also not so good, he's only at 9 lbs 5 oz, and the goal is to be back at birth weight by 2 weeks.

Lastly, he has reflux.

But, this is actually the good news as well.

Hopefully, now that he is on meds for the reflux, he will start eating better which will take care of both the jaundice and the lack of weight gain.  And also allow the rest of us a little peace and quiet.  He has been having a lot of trouble nursing, and just wants his pacifier all the time.  So we have had to take the paci away, at least for now.  Therefore, he spends a lot of time somewhere between fussing and screaming.  We now understand why he always wants to sleep on someone and wakes up within 5 minutes of being put down.

God-willing, the Zantac will help ease his misery- and ours!

On a similar note, they used the silver nitrate to cauterize his umilical cord area since it seems to be having a little trouble healing.  Hoepfully this means it won't still be there at 4 months like Selah's!

This will probably be an all-time favorite of mine. 

I'm not touching him, see?

I'm at least a half inch away from his head!

Hanging out in my new gym from Santa! 

Mom and Dad were so relieved to be able to set me down for a few minutes to get a couple of things done!

Christmas part 2...

Christmas Morning!

The boys are looking for their names while Selah enjoys her new rocking horse.

The boys were pretty excited about their new Streetz set.  The get to build a city and drive mini cars in it. (Think Legos + micro machines)

And Selah liked her new puppy dog that sings, plays games and can even learn her name!  (Although I doubt that Selah is one of the names he can learn.  We might have to go with her middle name.)

Thanks for my puppy, Daddy!

Selah's favorite present- BOOKS!

In shock that they got the alarm clock they wanted that I told them was too expensive!

(Well, it WAS, but I got it on Black Friday 1/2 off plus had a coupon at Kohl's.  That made it only mildly overpriced instead of ridiculously so!)

It projects the time on the ceiling (great for Jonah since they have bunk beds) and projects planets, too.  And it's shaped like a rocket.  Right up their alley.

Selah, checking to see if anyone has noticed that she climbed into Micah's new "gym."

She was not happy that we kept taking her out, but once she threw her cup in on his head and then climbed on top of him, we finally moved it up into his crib.  He was glad to be safe at last!

Everyone wants to know how Selah did opening presents...

She was happy for some help!

And liked to look in as soon as possible!

Jonah was thrilled to get new "cool" clothes.  He immediately ripped the tags off (and threw them on the ground) and put them on.

(Noah, on the other hand, opened his box of clothes and said "pants" and juist dumped them on the floor!)

Mr. Eric and Ms. Tammy found the coolest thing.  It's a recordable book.  When you open it, it starts reading to you, and it reads the next page when you turn the page.  Even cooler, Mr. Eric and Ms. Tammy are the ones reading the book!  The boys thought this was really neat and listened to it twice (even though they had just heard it with their dad the night before!)

It's a GIGANTIC Blackberry!

Hello?

Thanks, Dad!  It's a bit big for me to hold!

This is the worst tasting apple ever!  What do you mean it's not real? It looks real!

When nobody is looking, I'm going to check out my brothers' new toy!  Why not?  They play with my new toys!

What's that, Dad?

Tickle me COOKIE MONSTER?

Sounds scary!  Give it back!

Good thing I have patches, he'll help me outrun that scary monster!

(She is absolutely terrified of the Cookie Monster.  She screams hysterically if she even sees him, never mind if someone turns him on.  I think she may need a little bit to warm up to him.)

Jonah with his favorite present- the Tower of Doom!

Both the boys with their new tower!

Selah really likes her new slide, too!

(And Noah and Jonah are more than happy to make sure she doesn't get hurt.  I think they are afraid that if she does they will no longer get to play with it either!)

Poor Selah

The boys love her new toys, too.

Christmas part 1...

Santa came!

This year's "gingerbread house!"

I wasn't even going to pretend I had time to actually make a gingerbread house.  Plus, the kids and Bryan always have fun making these kind of kits.

And we ran out of time to make Santa some cookies, so we just left our "house" on the table for him to nibble on.  Apparently he was full and didn't try it.

It seems that Noah wasn't too far off when he asked what we would do if Santa's presents didn't fit in the house.  "Benefits" of a small living room, I guess.  Makes it look like there are a TON of presents since you can hardly walk through the room!

The presents from Santa aren't wrapped these days.  Less stressful that way.  The boys got pirate ships and a "tower of doom."  I wish we would get to see their faces when they see them! (They are allowed to open their stockings and play with their Santa gifts before we get up. So we kind of miss out on those- but get a little more sleep, so it's an even trade, I guess!)

More to come once the morning comes...

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

The 'den' at Great Wolf Lodge

The kids just LOVED the "den" in our room. They had their own tv, a desk, bunk beds, and a day bed- all in rustic lodge style. It was very cool. They had a Nintendo as well, but it was $10 to rent a game- so we stuck to the waterpark.

Great Wolf Lodge

So there's always a story, right?  And sometimes they're pretty good.  Well, this one is sure to amuse at least a few of you...

We planned a trip to Niagra Falls for the weekend before Micah was born.  Bryan and the kids have never been there, and since we are not excited about traveling with both Selah and Micah, we decided to take a quick trip up there.  Since Bryan is still job-hunting, we know that if we don't go now, it may come down to us never getting there. (Kind of like how we lived in GA for 3.5 years and never made it to Savannah.  I'm still a little bitter.)

So Bryan took Friday off, and we had the car packed and kids loaded and we were on our way by 9 am.  (Impressive, eh?)  And we stopped at Meijer to grab a couple snacks and get gas.  And then, while I was in Meijer, Bryan happened to look at the passports...and wouldn't you know...his was expired .  (Funny thing was, I checked mine and the kids', but never did check his.)

Of course, we had already paid for a hotel (with an indoor waterpark) and all that good stuff.  Needless to say, we were all a little upset, but since the car was already packed for a trip, we decided to try to go somewhere else.  (Thankfully we figured this out BEFORE we crossed the border and Bryan was stuck in Canada!  And we were grateful that the hotel let us change our reservation so we weren't out the money- but now we will have to take Micah with us!)

We have heard wonderful things about Great Wolf Lodge from multiple friends, and decided to try out the one in Sandusky, Ohio.  What a place!  The kids were so thrilled, and everyone (save maybe the woman who was 39 weeks pregnant) had a great time!  Here's a few pictures from our experience.

WHAT IS THAT?

I don't think I'm going to like this...

Daddy never lies, right?

Yeah, those ARE pretty cool!

Slides are my favorite thing EVER!

But sometimes I get a little scared and need a hug from my dad.

The "treehouse"

(That's Jonah in front in the orange shorts.)

A little snuggle time in the hot tub before dinner.

Jonah made some friends.

Having a BLAST!

(As you can kind of see through the window, the slide goes outside.  But they said it didn't get cold.)

Daddy convinced Noah to ride the big slides.

Notice you can't see him?

He's under the water.

That will probably never happen again! He was quite upset!

Jonah coming down the slide that is pitch black inside.

Daddy made quite a splash.

Gotta make sure it's safe for the little ones!

Noah's a little gun-shy after that last one!

The best way to go- not scary at all!

Then there's this big bucket that fills with water, and an alarm goes off before it dumps.  No matter where she was when she heard it, Selah had to try to watch it dump.  She was totally enthralled! So before we left, Daddy took her over to it.

Just waiting.

(Jonah is in the orange shorts on the left side of the group.)

It's coming!

Oh boy!

That's a LOT of water!

They are going to be WET!

Whew, we stayed safe back here!

That was cool! Let's do it again!

Noah stayed dry for this one!

One last run through.

Nice and warm.

No tears allowed or we can't come back again!

BYE waterpark!

I had fun playing in you!

Do we have to leave? 

I'm really not that cold!

Okay, maybe I was a little cold.

The lobby was really neat, and all decorated for Christmas.  Bryan took the kids up there to take pictures while I packed up.  Unfortunately, he didn't take any pictures of the lobby itself, but I guess the kids are cuter anyway...

Keeping warm by the fire.

This was a little too much like sitting on Santa's lap for Selah's liking.

It was a great "last weekend with 3 kids" and we hope to make this at least a yearly trip- WHAT FUN!