We ARE Still Here!

WARNING: I am sick and very tired... rambling may occur.... continue at your own risk!

As much as there is nothing out of the ordinary going on, we are very busy. We can start with Elizabeth. About 2 weeks ago I took Elizabeth off GLUTEN. She was complaining about back pain and having 8-12 bowel movements a day. After 2 days off she accidentally ate some animal crackers and had diarrhea the entire next day. My plan with her is to go 6 weeks gluten free, and then re-introduce gluten for 2 weeks and see if it makes her sick. During her time back on gluten we will have her blood tested the celiac markers that are there. In the meantime, every week I pick up the snack and lunch schedule from her school and drive all over the earth to purchase her the same items they are having in a gluten free version. I have amazingly found: chicken nuggets, corn dogs, mac and cheese, and all kinds of tasty snacks. Although it hasn't been very long, she is already asking me when I give her something, "Mom, is this gluten free?" We went to the Cheesecake Factory this week for dinner and Hailey got a cheese pizza, the only thing they had on the children's menu that was GF was a grilled chicken breast. Elizabeth was starving and the look on her face when Hailey got pizza and she got a charred chicken breast was heart breaking. So I distracted her (as any good mother would) asking the waiter to bring out strawberries and whipped cream with the rest of the food... whew, it was a close one! Other than that Elizabeth is doing really great. She loves her reading class and has passed off Book 1 and Book 2, and maybe 15 sight words. Her funniest antics lately include speaking "Spanish" to Hailey, Paul, and I, and then offering her own translations.

Hailey is doing great other than the runny nose that has lasted for six months. She is developing so much of her own personality and is starting to fight with Elizabeth as she has her own preferences and ideas on things. Hailey loves her baby dolls and any dolls that she can carry more than one in a hand. She will bring them to me in the morning and set them up, sitting up, on the pillow while she waits for me. She is very particular on the way that she wants things done and will loose her mind if you don't comply. I hear "no mommy not like that".. "mommy I SAID"... Mommmmmmm"-- about 8 times before I finish eating breakfast. I am to the point now, that when she refuses to wear whatever clothes I have picked and re-picked 27 times for the day, I just drop them on the floor and say 'okay, then dress yourself' at which point she laughs and runs over to obey. Little stinker. She love to snuggle and loves to watch movies. We are finding out that she is a surprisingly good singer and remember words to songs accurately, that she has never heard before. In her preschool class, she still loves to do art and is starting to tell me about her "friends". When you ask her "Hailey who loves you?" She generally answers " Mommy loves me, and Daddy, and Elibazeth (aka Elizabeth) and brother, abuela loves me and abuelo, and Jaden and Ella love me, Missa loves and Duke, and Grandma and Grandpa, and on and on and on.... And someone told me that she needs more love?

Johnny is love charmer of the family. No one can seem to get over how ABSOLUTELY ADORABLE he is. Even when he throws a tantrum, which he is starting to do, he is so adorable that I make him mad- because I am smiling at hi. So he gets even madder and leaves the room. Adorable. Johnny sleeps through the night 10-11 hours and still takes 2 naps a day. Combine that with his "Paul like" appetite and you can see why we can say even at 14 months --- He's a big boy!!! Johnny is walking and running all over the place. The few days that we have had sun, he has been able to spend a lot of time outside. He SCREAMS when you try to bring him in the house. He loves the sounds and dirt and rocks. Sometimes he'll just sit next to me on the step and swing his legs. Adorable. He is also at the age where he thinks that he can talk. So he jabbers at me for a few minutes before stopping to look at me as if to say "Did you get that?" The girls love to dance and because Johnny loves music so much, it makes sense that he would join right in. So he will start to bend his knees until he bends so low that his bum hits the floor and he falls. He learned from watching Elizabeth how to turn in a circle. Only he gets so dizzy 3/4 of the way around that he can't stop laughing and looses his balance. Adorable.

Really, for all the craziness and stress that comes with just tying to get by, I am lucky to be reminded so often how lucky I am to be where I am with who I'm with. I do occasionally leave all the dishes in the sink, and the sticky crap on the floor so that I can say, "Ladies and Gentlemen- Presenting the Dancing Girls and Little Johnny" and then watch my kiddies show their stuff. And sometimes after just hanging out all day Elizabeth will say, " Mom this was the best day EVER!"