The Past Few Weeks

We seem to be struggling with getting rid of illnesses in our home right now. Usually its just me who gets sick and then it moves on. Crystal and Ty seem to have immune systems made of steel, but this winter is really kicking our trashes! Crystal got sick before Christmas with a pretty nasty cough. It started to get better but when we got home from Christmas vacation it flared up again. She now has a lingering cough we are still trying to get rid of (the doctor has helped us out with this and it is now all but gone completely thank goodness). At the same time I went through the whole sore throat, cough, sinus cold which isn't unusual especially when I'm nursing. I'm not sure why, but I think I was sick Crystal's first year of life and now its looking the same with Lily. Nursing just seems to weaken my immune system. Then poor sweet little Lily got sick which scared me to death especially when the doctor seemed so concerned about it, but she is doing well and just has a small cough that the doctor says may take a while to go away. Then Ty woke up with a cold about a week ago and he's still getting over it. But to top it all off I managed to contract THE FLU! And I got a flu shot this year! First time ever and this is the year I get the flu ... I really can't believe it! Now I'm just PRAYING the flu doesn't go around to everyone else in the house! Hasn't this home had enough sickness for one season? Seriously? I've sanitized and sprayed Lysol and washed ALL bedding and blankets possible! I really don't know what else to do ... nothing seems to stop it!

Okay I'm done ranting and now for what everyone is really here looking for. Here are random pictures from the past few weeks:

SUPERBOWL

This was the most exciting part of Superbowl Sunday for Crystal and her friend Jackson. Ty (being the thrifty and frugal man that he is) refused to buy ice for the cooler to keep the soda cold, but there wasn't room in our fridge, so before church that morning he took the cooler outside and packed it with snow! You'd think the kids would want a soda but no all they wanted to do was to play with and eat the snow!

Jackson had the right idea! He had a spoon to use so his hands wouldn't get cold ... hehe!

LILY

This is Lily's FAVORITE outfit! She LOVES LOVES LOVES being naked! The second her diaper comes off she starts kicking, swinging her arms, cooing and smiling like crazy!

NAPTIME

Our wonderful cheap apartment started having a bit of a leaking problem when the snow started to melt, and there were 3 leaks in the roof above Crystal's room. As a result this was the only place we could put her bed where we KNEW it wouldn't get wet. I went in to check on her during her nap one day and found her like this. Looks like she couldn't decide of she wanted to sleep on the couch or the bed!

Just a note: I find it interesting that as soon as she was able to choose for herself she has always liked to sleep on her stomach ... hmmm. Makes me wonder if she wasn't better off that way to begin with... just sayin ...

LILY'S HAND!

So I walked in the room and found Lily just STARING at her hand with it up in the air and her fingers spread out. I debated trying to get the camera cuz I didn't think she'd do it long enough, left the room, came back and she was STILL doing it! So I ran downstairs, got the camera, came back and she was STILL just STARING at her hand with a serious look of concentration. I know its not the greatest picture and it looks like her eyes are closed but she was seriously just contemplating what to do with this new object she seemed to have found!

When I took the picture, she looked in my direction but kept her hand up in the air.

Then she just went right back to looking at her hand again! It was SO FUNNY to watch! I really wonder what she was thinking about while she was doing it!

CRYSTAL'S FROG

Crystal often finds Lily's clothes and wants to put them on and wear them. She really doesn't understand that they won't fit her! So Ty satisfied her the other day by putting Lily's clothes on her stuffed frog! Crystal was so excited! In fact I believe the frog is still sporting the Hawaiian dress in the picture.

I'm loving the "smile for the camera" phase Crystal is going through! She and I have had some serious battles over getting her picture taken the past year, so this is so so so wonderful!

Sick Sister, Spoiled Sister

Sick Sister!

Poor Lily has spent the day being poked, prodded, and suctioned by doctors and nurses! She woke up Monday night pretty congested and by last night the only evidence of her sad cry was her mouth open and tears in her eyes! She was so congested that she couldn't get ANY sound out at all. Her fever was 102.7 degrees at 1am. We gave her Tylenol and tried to comfort her as much as possible. Around 4am she finally fell into a relaxing sleep (she had been sleeping before but very uncomfortably and crying on and off(if you call it crying when there's no sound!)). It was so heartbreaking to have her feel so uncomfortable and be helpless to do anything for her. She slept for about 5 hrs after that (thank goodness we were all able to get a bit of sleep). But she woke this morning with a fever of 101 degrees. We gave her Tylenol to help with the fever and then decided we needed to take her to the doctor.

So naturally when we got in to the doctor her fever had broke and she was actually acting a bit like herself again. Regardless the doctor was concerned about the symptoms we described to him. He checked her out and tested her white blood count (poked her poor foot!). He thinks it viral (which is what we thought since Crystal has had a cold also), but he's concerned about it because of her age. So he gave us medication for Croup and he's going to call tonight and we'll decide if she needs the medicine or not. He also had us go to the hospital and get a mucus sample to try to figure out what strain of virus it is. They went ahead and sucked out as much as they could while they were at it. We'll find out tomorrow morning the results of the test. Regardless of what type of virus it is, the doctor said as long as she starts getting better instead of worse from here on out she'll be fine. We just have to wait it out and hope she doesn't get any worse!

The look in her eyes just makes me so sad!

She's laid like this with her arms curled up to

her chest (or mouth) since Monday night.

Her 'good' mood this afternoon at the doctor's office didn't

last long and she's back to crying with no voice again.

She'll feel better in a few days though and

be her sweet self again soon!

Spoiled Sister!

Crystal was being dragged along all afternoon with us sitting in waiting rooms (several without any toys!). We went to McDonald's in between (mostly because I forgot to eat breakfast and was dying) and not only did Crystal get to play on the big toy, but Daddy got her a Chicken Nugget Happy Meal (we generally eat off the dollar menu)! So after we ate we headed to the hospital to get Lily's test done. While sitting in the last waiting room, the lady at the information desk took a liking to Crystal and kept GIVING her toys.

This smile makes me happy!

Crystal has finally figured out the camera and

says 'cheese!' whenever I pull it out!

These are the toys she came home with today.

Not spoiled at all is she!

So when we got home today, Crystal had three new toys to play with and her sister had a band aid on her foot and a sore nose! Doesn't seem fair I know :(

Below are just some random pictures from the past week or so. Enjoy!

Crystal WANTED to have her picture taken! Doesn't happen often so I took advantage. Her fingers are always in her mouth! We can't convince her to keep them out! She doesn't suck on them though so it could be worse!

The pan and lid to the pan that go to her toy kitchen. For some reason she is always using the lid as a cellphone ... lol! She also thinks our flash drives are mini cellphones and occasionally the remote controls are cellphones too... hehe!

Ignore the hair! She pulls it out during her nap almost every day and we weren't leaving the house so I didn't bother fixing it! She was playing with her blocks Monday night, and I couldn't believe how high she was able to stack them! Her favorite part is pushing them down afterward! It took a lot of talking to keep her from knocking it down long enough for a picture!

Lily's favorite position is sitting up (her sister was the same way). She doesn't want to miss anything and this is the prime position to see everything that is going on! She can hold herself up for about a minute but then always falls either to the side or on her face .. hehe. The bumbo is a lifesaver! She can sit up and I know she isn't going to fall down and hurt herself! (Thanks Danielle for letting me borrow it!)

Lily's a Model!

When Lily was born, Ty's Aunt had a friend who needed a newborn to model her tutus for her website. Lily, being a newborn, was the perfect candidate! Ty's Aunt took the pictures and was kind enough to give them to me when she was done! Isn't she an amazing photographer?

This picture was taken a few weeks later in case

you were wondering why she looks fatter...lol.

Comparing Faces!

I have wanted to do this with Crystal for a long time but haven't gotten around to it. Now that we have two kids and we get the questions more and more I thought I'd sit down and finally do it. The following are questions we are constantly asked by people and instead of answering them I'll let you guys decide for yourselves!!!

Does Lily look like Crystal did when she was a baby?

Crystal.......................Lily

1 DAY OLD

I know Crystal's picture looks strange. I had to put it sideways to get them to fit right.

Crystal............................Lily

1 MONTH OLD

Crystal.....................Lily

2 MONTHS OLD

Crystal...........................Lily

3 MONTHS OLD

My opinion? As Lily gets older I do see more and more of Crystal's features in her, but for the most part they look like night and day to me ... literally since Lily's skin is actually quite a bit darker than Crystal's skin.

Does Crystal look more like her DAD or her MOM?

DAD...........Crystal............MOM

2 YEARS OLD

My Opinion? I'm really not sure. I change my mind every other day ... lol. Ty and I had a lot of similar features at this age so its hard to tell who she looks more like. If I had to choose though I would probably say her DAD. She looks to me like she has his nose and mouth! But don't take my word for it! Look at the picture and decide for yourself! :D

Does Lily look more like her DAD or her MOM?

(Now this one might be a little harder to decide because I didn't have a picture of Ty at 1 month or a picture of me at 3 months so I had to make 2 separate comparative pictures.)

MOM................................Lily...............

1 MONTH OLD

DAD.............................Lily

3 MONTHS OLD

My opinion? Right now I think she looks a lot like her MOM, but I suspect as she gets older that will probably change! :D

Lily is 3 months old!

So I realize its only been a week since I posted Lily's 2 month stats, but just yesterday Lily turned 3 months old! I was looking at pictures of her from in the hospital and the day we brought her home and I just can't get over how BIG she has gotten! She was sooo tiny and fragile and now she's very SOLID and catching up to other babies her age!

Then.........................NOW!

I couldn't find the doll we used in the first picture

but this one is relatively the same size!

Then.......................NOW!

I'm more than thrilled that she has grown so much and caught up to the other babies her age. But at the same time I wish she would stay my tiny newborn! She's growing up way too fast. Not to mention getting harder to lug around everywhere ... lol.

My Two Wonderful Blessings!

I have been thinking a lot lately about how funny life is. When I was young, I always hated it when I got stuck with a baby that spit up all the time and smelled like throw up... I would always leave feeling like I smelled like throw up too! I also did NOT like holding babies that slobbered constantly ... slobber is gross and icky! I was also petrified of babies who were noisy breathers because I was so nervous the whole time that they were going to stop breathing any minute. It was as if they were struggling to get in their next breath!

I was soooo glad when Crystal came along and she had NONE of these traits! She very very very rarely spit up and slobber only ran down her chin when she was teething. As for the breathing, I never had to worry about whether she would be able to get through her next breath... though she was a vocal sleeper, her breathing never sounded labored!

....then came Lily....

Lily spits up constantly... and ALWAYS smells like throw up no matter how often I wipe her face or how many times a day I change her clothes! And her breathing, oh dear goodness, her breathing! She often sounds as if every breath is a struggle, but the doctor assures us she is just fine and its completely normal. And just the past week .... you guessed it ... she has started to slobber ... I can't leave her lying on the couch without a burp rag under her because if she doesn't spit up all over it, she's guaranteed to slobber on it!

You would think I wouldn't be able to stand being around my own child, but that isn't the case! I can't get enough of her! I haven't even been strong enough to move her out of our bedroom yet at night. She still sleeps in the bassinet right next to me despite her noisy breathing! Though she spits up on me (once on my head and down my face ... not joking ... it was gross!), I still want to hold her all day and don't want to miss a minute!

I often wonder how well I would have handled it all if Crystal had been this way. People would always tell me its different when its your own child, but I don't believe it. I still don't like slobber or spit up even if its my child's slobber and spit up. BUT with burp rag in hand (and often good smelling wipes and extra sets of clothing ... lol), its not hard at all to look past it all and see the perfection underneath :D.

On the up side Lily sleeps through the night and she rarely has crying fits (though it has happened once or twice)! And there are only a few things more important to me than my sleep (don't worry my children come first... just not happily ... lol)!

And don't worry! For as much as Lily spits up you'd think it would affect her health but it hasn't AT ALL! She has over doubled her weight since birth!

I am so thankful for the two beautiful daughters that Heavenly Father has entrusted to us! Every day, I see them and wonder what wonderful thing I could have done do deserve them. They are perfect in every way and though I am not in any way perfect, I am thankful to be given the opportunity to watch them grow and to teach them and help them along the way.

Lily 2 Month Stats

As I said before, the few Christmas pictures are the only pictures I have of Lily at 2 months. She will be 3 months in a week, so technically this picture is still a 2 month picture... just not a very accurate one cuz she's grown so much the past few weeks... mostly in chubbiness not length... lol.

I just took these pictures today:

She is ALMOST sitting up on her own which is completely ridiculous because she's not even 3 months yet. The doctor told us to either keep her on her stomach or sitting up when she's awake because the back of her head is so flat from lying on her back to sleep. Because of this she sits up A LOT!

Sorry I couldn't catch a smile! She'd stop smiling every time the camera flashed...lol.

Can you believe how CHUBBY she has gotten!!!

Because Lily turned 2 months just before the doctor's office closed for Christmas break, we couldn't get her 2 month appointment till Jan. 4th which made her actually almost 2 and 1/2 months for her stats. She has GROWN that is for sure!

Here's her 2 month stats:

Weight: 12 LBS 6 OZS 40th %ile! She has over doubled her weight in 2 months!!!

Height: 21.5 inches 25th %ile.

Head: 37.5cm 10th %ile.

Doc says she's doing great! He doesn't think her flat head is a problem either since its still symmetrical so it won't be noticeable once she grows hair! Lets hope her hairs starts growing faster! Her hair isn't keeping up with her head growth ... lol ... so its starting to get pretty thin!!! hehe.