Warm then Cold

Anthony was laid off last week so I enjoyed some much needed rest and being able to sleep in. While him being laid off is not good, I try to look at the positive. We got to see him for a week since he has been out of town a lot lately, I can sleep in, the kids get to wrestle a lot with him and burn some energy. 

Saturday it was so nice and warm. It was almost 60 degrees. The older two went to see Grandma. Anthony had some errands he needed to run. Honestly I did not want to go. I was tired and just wanted to enjoy some time at home relaxing. Well he surprised me and offered to take me to the camera store to look at cameras. I have been going back and forth for months about the camera upgrade I want. I was even considering the "dark side" as my good friend says. Meaning I considered switching to a Canon. So we ran our errands and headed to the camera store to test cameras and a couple lenses. Ari got to be my subject since he was with us. I have to say I fell in love with one camera. It was perfect. Considering the lighting conditions I was thrilled with it. I also took my own card so I could edit the pictures and see if it was worth it. Well, it was. My editing time was cut in half. My photos were sharper etc. The color was nicer. All around I am in love and can not wait until I can upgrade. It will be soon. 

 

It is amazing how much cameras have changed even since my last camera purchase 3 years ago. The technology just keeps getting better.  

I really enjoyed my time spending with Anthony. It has been hard to always get away with his work schedule and having Ari etc. Finally Ari is doing better and not crying all the time so going out is getting easier. It was nice to enjoy a meal without interruption. I also was thrilled Anthony went with me to the camera store. He is so supporting of my hobby/business. Without his support it would be very hard to continue or even started what I have. 

Sunday we went to visit family. Now the day before it was nice and warm. Sunday night we headed out to the car to head home and had a bunch of snow. Anthony took the kids home and even though it was bed time took them out to play in the snow. I would have joined had I needed to nurse Ari and get him to bed. It was the perfect snow for packing. They did make a snowman but Eli wrecked it. 

 

We have not gotten much snow this year so this was a treat for them. We woke up and all the snow had come off the branches of the trees. I do love Michigan winters just for the snow. 

Yesterday was school. Eli is doing really well with school. He knows math very well, but he struggles recognizing the numbers. He can count dots, items etc, but write the number 2 and he can not say that is 2. So we have been working on that. I was getting a bit frustrated yesterday so Anthony had him do some jumping jacks to maybe get rid of some energy and to help him count. Lilliana decided to join him. Her version of jumping jacks are very funny. 

 

Eli decided to give me a montage of faces............

Happy

 

Silly

 

The Hulk

 

SpiderMan

 

He finally did get his numbers last night so I am glad. Silly boy. 

I am happy to say Lilliana is out of diapers for the most part. I have not done much to potty train her. I never did do the three day potty training with her. She poops and pees on her own and we are only in diapers for night time. Although she woke me up at 6 this morning asking for me to take it off to go potty so it looks like we will be doing pull ups so she can go on her own. I have not tested nap time yet either. I hope to work on that this week. She has been a dream to potty train and really done all the work on her own. Last week I decided it was not fair to keep her in a diaper since she was always going or asking to go. One thing I never did well with Eli was having him take his pants and underwear on and off on  his own. This time we just had her practice and she can do that on her own too as long as they are not jeans. I am very proud of her!!

Ari is into his tongue lately. The kids blows bubbles and sticks his tongue out all the time. He does it to get our attention. Then when we look at him he laughs. 

 

He has always been our late night owl too. The silly boy gets so much attention after the older two go to bed because he is awake and does not sleep. Last night he and Anthony were playing.

 

 

He is just like Eli in the fact he likes thrills and excitement. Typical boy!!!

 

 

Eli is actually sick today so we are laying low. Anthony is back to work so it is a "normal" week again. 

Happy New Year a week late!

We have been enjoying playing with all of our new Christmas toys.

Before the new year we said good-bye to Aunt Natasha. She is a Marine and will be stationed in Japan for the next two years. She gets to join her older brother too. We are happy they are stationed together!

 

Anthony has been out of town the past few weeks, but we have been able to enjoy long weekends due to the Holidays. We didn't do anything grand for New Years. In fact Anthony and I were asleep by 10:30. The kids had been on a weird schedule and getting up very early so we were exhausted. I think we were averaging 4-5 hours a night all said and done. Needless to say I am happy they are back to sleeping somewhat normal.

As you all are aware we had 2 months of straight sickness in our house so with the new year I had some goals. Those goals included keeping the kids healthier and avoiding being sick all the time. I took off so much work plus we were all cranky and tired from lack of sleep or not feeling well. 

One of the things I started as far as spending more time with the kids at night and also hoping to keep them from getting sick was daily evening massages and essential oils. I have used essential oils at times for myself but I knew there were other options. Regardless of whether they worked or not to me it was helping the kids relax before bed too and I knew it could not hurt anything. A wonderful Photog friend who thinks a lot like I do natural wise happened to write a blog post right around the time I was beginning to think about essential oils so it came in handy. You can read her post here. On a complete side note she is one amazing photographer. She has a very lifestyle approach and I love it. If I lived closer I would hire her for birth photography as she captures some of the most wonderful moments. 

Before I got my oils I made some of my own lotion. In the winter I have the worst dry skin. I have had it since I was a child and I wake up with nail marks all over my legs sometimes bleeding from scratching. I got some local beeswax and decided to do something with it. This was the end result.

 

It is all natural too. I think if the kids ate it they would be just fine....my kids like to eat lotion. I know weird. Ingredients are coconut oil, olive oil and beeswax. 

So every night I massage them with this and then they get On Guard Oil put on their feet even Ari. We have only been doing it since the beginning of the year but the year, but it has become routine. One night I got busy and we skipped it before bed time. Eli woke up in the middle of the night and came upstairs and asked me to to do it. They smell wonderful and so far we have not gotten sick. That is not saying much as maybe we have had everything but I do know the flu is going around really bad. Here is to hoping it helps.  I have to say I am in love with this lotion too. It is a little greasy but I do not have the dry skin anymore.

 

 

Ari also turned 6 months right before the New Year. He is a hoot. 

 

As you can tell he loves his toes! He also loves this ball toy that he got for Christmas. Although Lilliana and Eli love it too. For some reason even though it is a baby toy it is the popular toy in the house. They cart it everywhere if I don't insist they leave it for Ari. The balls pop in the center and also roll out of the alligators mouth. 

 

Both Eli and Lilliana have been ready for solids at 6 months or even before. Ari really is not ready. I am doing a different approach with him after learning more, no grains for him. He also does not get dairy as he has an intolerance to it.  Also instead of spoon feeding we will just be doing Baby Lead weaning. I let him have an avacodo this weekend. He liked the taste but didn't do great with eating. He still has the suck swallow reflex and really does not sit up the best on his own. He would rather be on the move even though we work on it everyday. 

 

While taking pictures of him. Lilliana said, "Picture of me please?!" I love that little girl. So of course I took her picture and then Eli wanted one. 

 

Ari has been getting around very well these past couple weeks with a combination of army crawl, lunge, and rolling. Well today he finally started actually crawling on all fours much to his brother's dismay. Eli has to watch out for everything. They love playing with each other so it helps. Eli is a wonderful big brother and for the most part is very patient with Lilliana and Ari. 

  

 Lilliana has become my shadow. She follows me around most days and wants to be me. Most of the time I love it. Sometimes I get annoyed, but I can count on her to help with anything including doing dishes. Today as I was doing laundry she opened the dishwasher on her own and put all the silverware in the drawer. Now it was just thrown in but she knows the drill. Anthony came in and helped her organize it. She also mopped my kitchen floor. She loves to help and walks around saying, "helping, helping, helping." 

She is a silly girl and likes to make you laugh. We have been making her hair funny looking lately. She has this habit of smearing applesauce, honey, or yogurt in her hair and on her skin so we can stick it straight up in the air or she needs a bath at the end of the night because I am not washing it after every meal unless we go out. I know I admitted she walks around with dirty hair. I do wash it I promise. 

 

Uncle Jake and Aunt Holli sent us a package of great games for Christmas. Needless to say we play some sort of game everyday and the kids love it. The past few days the Dominos have been a hit. Eli of course wants to play with them after we play the game. They each have their own set too so that helps. He makes his into trains, or they are blocks that the dump trucks move. One day they were popcorn or gold. Needless to say they keep him entertained.

 

 I have not done an Embrace the Camera picture for a couple weeks as life has been a little out of the normal for us. So here it is. In my tired I need to get a shower mom look stage. I was holding Ari. Eli decided to join us and play. Well Lilliana could not be left out and had to get in my lap too. You don't see it but at at the bottom of the chair is a stool. Lilliana carts it everywhere. Honestly, I want to burn the thing. It is how she got up. It is also her gateway to naughtiness aka things she can't reach but thinks she needs. These things include, makeup, markers, homeschool things, phones, tablets, glue the list goes on................One day I will laugh but as of late I don't laugh. Regardless of how I look I am glad Anthony grabbed a picture of us all smooshed together in the chair. I love them. Take the time to take photos of yourself with your loved ones. It is so important!