Swim grades

First steps

Jeannie took her first steps Tuesday. She did it once for me and daddy and then when Oma came by she did it for her too. It was quite exciting.

Liesl had her swim class last night. She has almost graduated to the next level but she needs to work on her stroke skills. She has really learned a lot from those HS students I have to commend them and their patience, not for her but there are some really challenging moments for them.

Looking forward to a play date with Colton today and another with him and his sister tomorrow.

February was tough for being sick

Last month was pretty rough being sick. Since Valentines, all 4 of us got the flu...and bad. First it was Liesl in the middle of a play date. Kayla and Colton came over to play and we thought at first that she was car sick because she just got home from Oma Ronnie's house but we soon found out different. It was horrible stomach flu and she sat on the couch most of the day watching TV. I was next, about 36 hours later in the middle of the night I was nursing and needed a bucket next to me just in case. luckily it didnt come to that and I was able to make it to the bathroom in time afterwards. How miserable. By morning Jim was sick and stayed that way for several days. I was over it in 6 or 9 hours. I thought for sure that Jeannie had escaped until 48 hours later and then I found her confused in her crib covered in ick....not knowing what to do. We cleaned up and took a bath and I slept on the floor with her with layers upon layers of towels and receiving blankets. It only lasted 4 hours but the poor little thing, all she did was eat and...you know all night. At one point she had crawled out from under the blanket and I found her ice cold with goosebumps all over. She is about 19 lbs now, I am sure she lost a little from that episode. she is very good at cruising along the furniture but still hasnt taken her first steps. She hasnt cut any teeth yet. She started saying bub-bye last week and waving when people leave. It is very cute. That and Momma are pretty much all she says now. she is super fast crawling. Hates having her diaper changed and will squirm like crazy to get away from that. She loves bananas and will eat a whole one in one sitting. Bath time is one of her favorite times of day besides mealtimes. She really likes lasagne and spaghetti and gets mad if she doesnt get sauce with the noodles. Her and Liesl love their Sesame Street time and both love ELMO the best. It is a good quiet down time. Jeannie has been carrying around a lavender dishcloth (new knitted one) everywhere she goes. We call it her baby because she cannot be seen without it. She likes to chew on it and hold it close. I think it is so cute I am hoping I dont lose it by accident :(. Speaking of losing things. I lost my glasses for a month and a half and finally found them in the exact place I looked 100 times to try and find them. guess they were on vacation

Yesterday I made some babylegs from a pair of adult LONG socks so now they both have ST Patty's Day socks. We managed to make it over to Oz the Great and Powerful with Liesl last night while Jeannie had an Oma Ronnie evening. Liesl loved the movie but was covering her eyes every time a scary part came up. When Oma Gabi came home from FL, the kids and I spent the night and brought lasagne for dinner. Liesl was so happy for Oma to be home. The next day, Oma talked us into going to the Jaeger banquet so I had to run and get Liesl's Dirndl. When Jeannie woke up from her nap there she kept asking Aunt Melisa "Momma?". How cute. We had a good time at the club and the girls looked so cute in thier dresses. I hope Kaethe tante is on the mend, we missed her terribly this weekend.

Writing our name today

Liesl did a great job writing her name today. So proud of her

Finally catching up

Wish I would have gotten some pictures of the birthday party yesterday but I had my hands a little full. Will have to ask John and Kelly. They had tons of ppl taking pictures. Here are a few I think I have missed. I need to start taking pictures more and be ready for Jeannie's first steps.

Liesl and Jim got "beard heads" which are super cool hats that they love. The girls and Robbie got their pictures taken. Jeannie has been really into spaghetti. Wait.... No more like everything. Liesl is still into the dinosaurs. Colton And Kayla have been coming over for play dates all the time which is great. Love the company and sharing toys and projects is fun for the kids. Colton had no idea what play dog was! Who knew. Face paints are a blast. The kids love to get them done and I offer them up whenever the kids come to play. Hopefully we will be able to have our make up sleep over at Grady's this week.

Oh and how could I forget the wonderful Fleis girls. Hoping to hang out more with our 5 girls

Over the plague

This past week all 4 of us spent trying to get over the flu that we unfortunately caught. It was horrendous, will spare the details other than when Jeannie got it I was glad to be over it and on my game. I woke up at 2:30 with her sunday night and the poor thing had thrown up all over herself. I had to plop her in the tub and clean it all up. I made a bed for us on the floor and slept with her through the night on layers of towels and recieving blankets. Hers lasted about half the time of ours thank god and Ihad too many scares with it. She was happy for the most part all yesterday regardless of lack of sleep. I was so behind on housework that i had 4 full loads of dishes and tons of sheets, towels and blankets of course. Glad it is over.

Last week I got a few breaks with babysitting and cleaned up the basement. Not a small feat. I still hadnt unpacked many things from many moves and had to make decisions to take  lot to the trash and alot ot good will. We have been rewarded with a clean floor and a clean laundry room a workable gym, and a TV and play area for the kids. There is still some work to got before the kids are ready to go down there though.

Jeannie has started in on the blocks now, the puzzles and the stacking toys and trains. The kids love to play together with them in Jean's room. Jeannie has also figured out her xylophone on her own. She found the mallet and went to town on it the other morning. She has also come to love walking along the fireplace edge and trying to climb up on the entertainment center....uuuuugh. I just quit blockading it and put something soft down. She made it past everything i put there. One of her favorite pastimes is pulling all the dishtowels out of my kitchen drawers after the fireplace hearth of course.

The kids were invited to an awesome birthday party at Goldfish Swim School Sunday that we attended. That place is amazing. There were all kinds of toys in the pool including kid size canoes and floating atvs. How awesome was that. It was Skyler Swanson's birthday and her daddy John was happy that she had a friend there other than from pre-school. The girls had a blast. Liesl ran around freely in her lifejacket and Jeannie splashed around in my arms.

Liesl missed her first swim lesson witb the flu laxt week so she starts up again wednesday and gymnastics today. She and i are excited for a routine again. She has been working on a second level of BOB books and doing well on the first. I cleaned up the playroom and organized all her art supplies.so she is loving that. We worked on projects for Valentines day. Hearts with glitter of course and she has been chomping at the bjt for another. We watched Mary Poppins because I learned a new trick that allowed me to play all my video files on the TV and she now likes cleaning up again. I pulled out all the tents in the Family room and the kids have been running through them playing Camp and Pirate Ship. What fun. Liesl cant get enough noodle soup and Jeannie is very good with any food now and can bite pieces off on her own and feed herself.

Little reader

Jeannie, the other day, before naptime, grabbed a book amd brought it over to me and handed it to me and crawled up in my lap. I took it as "read to me momma" and she brought over several more before she was ready for bed. That is a big step for a little person. Liesl has lao been doing a lot of reading on her own too. I am hoping to maybe get a little math in before september comes. she has been taking swim and gymnastics classes again starting tomorrow. Her sister should start soon too. Jeannie still does not have teeth and has not walked and still has little vocabulary but momma. She is very into eating. Loves exploring foods. She visited the doctor last week for her 9 month well visit. She was 18lbs 13 oz, 28inches long and crown was 17.5 inches she is getting big but the doctor wanted to say something because she dropped to the 50th percentile in weight but said she wasnt too skinny. She has definately leaned out with all the cruising. The kids have been hanging out with Oma Ronnie a little to give me a break. It is nice to be able to see movies before they get on cable. It doesnt happen too often so i really appreciate it.