Car washing

The kids helped us wash the cars last week. By the time we got the camera, they were pretty much done with it, but for those who want to see them in action, here they are. Hazel's sniffing face at the end is her word/sound for dog. Who knows why.

Nona talks

This doesn't quite capture how much she talks, but it's the best we have on video. Plus, she shows you how good she is at passing gas.

Jude's strong!

Who has the better end of this deal? No we did not prompt Jude to do this. It was all on his own. And Hazel loves it.

Big Heads

All of our kids had their "Well Visits" recently. Here are their stats:

18 months Jude:


Height: 30 1/4 inches - 5th percentile
Weight: 22 lbs 11 ounces - 10th percentile
Head size: 48 centimeters - 55th percentile


18 months Hazel:


Height: 30 inches - 8th percentile
Weight: 21 lbs 3 ounces - 3rd percentile
Head Size: 46.4 centimeters - 50th percentile


2 months Nona:


Height: 21 1/2 inches - 20th percentile
Weight: 10 lbs 13 ounces - 50th percentile
Head Size: 39.6 centimeters - 75th percentile

And the consensus is? Our kids have big heads compared to their bodies. :) They are all doing great and growing well.

2 months

Nona was 2 months old this past Saturday! She is doing great. 

• She is very social and smiles and talks a lot
• She has rolled over (front to back) several times
• It is never a secret when she fills her diaper
• She goes to bed around 8:30 and usually sleeps until 2:30 or so and then again until 5 or 6. She has no daytime routine though.
• She is generally the most fussy between 6:00 and 8:30 at night (which means Noel often ends up doing bedtime alone with Hazel and Jude)

She is such a joy!

Daily Life

Here are a few photos from the past couple weeks. Just a little insight into our daily life.

 We have the kids in cloth diapers and LOVE it! Every other day is diaper washing and folding day and we always play "diaper head" while we fold. They love it.

 Here's Hazel's handy work due to teething and getting mad at Jude. Poor, poor Jude. I just can't get to them fast enough sometimes.

 The kids love playing the piano! Hazel is helping her baby doll play the piano in this picture. She is really  starting to play with her doll now that Nona's around.

We took the kids out for the first time this week now that flu/RSV season is over. Woo hoo! We're free! Too bad the only place to go in town is Wal Mart. We also went to Starbucks, which was much more fun.

Happy Mother's Day!

I had a great Mother's Day despite not getting a great picture. Since I couldn't decide which one was "best", I thought I'd let you decide.

18 months!

Wow! Hazel and Jude are 18 months old! I can hardly believe it. What are they up to?

• Neither of them are saying anything meaningful yet (a lot of babbling), but according to their speech evaluations they are still within the normal range and Hazel's receptive language is even above her actual age.
• They both sleep about 11-12 hours each night. And, dare I say it? Hazel has FINALLY been sleeping through the night for the past couple of weeks (minus last night). I think they're transitioning to 1 nap a day, and it's still the morning nap for both of them (which makes them more than ready for bedtime each night). Every few days though they'll still throw in a 2nd nap.
• Their favorite activity is to take blocks out of a drawer in Hazel's room, put them on her table, and then put them back in the drawer. They do this together (without fighting!) many times throughout the day.
• They both love books. Some of their favorites are "Barnyard Dance", "Dear Zoo", "Shake a Leg" and any books that have textures to feel in them.
• They both love being chased and squeal with delight. 
• They LOVE going outside and get so excited to get their coats and shoes on. 
• Hazel copies almost everything that Jude does, especially the things that I say, "No, Jude." to. For example (here's their latest), Jude gags himself (who knows why???). I say, "No gagging, Jude." Hazel looks right at me, opens her mouth, sticks her finger in and gags herself. I say, "No gagging!".  They both continue to do it over and over. Noel turns the other way and bursts into laughter. Luckily, no one has barfed from this activity yet. It's only a matter of time...
• We had our first toilet "incident" yesterday. As I was changing Hazel's diaper, Jude got in the bathroom and threw a whole role of toilet paper in the toilet. Stinker.

Hazel is on day 7 of no Prevacid (reflux medication) and things are going well so far. Praise the Lord! We think she may be done with it, but won't know for sure for another week or so.

 Sorry about the drippy snot. All 3 kids have colds. 

 This is what Hazel looks like many times throughout the day. She collects anything and everything and holds as many things as possible (under her chin, mouth, arms, etc.). Maybe she'll be a saver instead of a spender. :)

 Jude thinks his daddy is very funny.

 Poor buddy Jude has been bitten by Hazel several times the last few days. He tries to steal her toys and she retaliates by biting (more when she's teething) and when I'm feeding Nona, I can't catch her fast enough. At least he's still smiling.

And here's a few of Nona just for fun.

 This is not Nona's normal face during tummy time. Normally she's crying.

I think she's getting so big!

Hazel's big day

 This is Hazel's proud face. She's proud because she "graduated" from the early intervention program today. She had several kinds of evaluations done over the past couple weeks, and all scores came back within the normal range for her actual age (non-adjusted). Yay, Hazel! She's caught up! 

Jude showed much improvement in the several areas he was tested in as well. All of his scores also fell within the normal range, but in talking with the team we decided to continue services with him because some of his skills (physical and social) are borderline and he could still use some extra help catching up.

So, it's a big day. We're very proud of both of them. Should we throw a party?

6 weeks old

Nona is 6 weeks old already! She still sleeps a lot, but is not a real deep sleeper. I often have to have her sleep in our room during the day because Hazel and Jude are too loud for her. She's been getting up 1 to 2 times a night for the past few nights and actually slept through the night 1 time. Amazing! 

 Hazel loves giving Nona kisses. I've tried to convey to her that this is better than stepping on Nona or poking Nona's eyes. She seems to be catching on.

 One of Nona's many faces.

 Sweet smiles.

 More smiles.

 Getting so pretty!

Nona tried a bottle for the first time the other day. It went well. She drank it all, but then acted like she hadn't eaten anything and wanted to nurse afterwards. Maybe we just didn't put enough in to satisfy her. I'm not sure. We'll try again soon.

Sorry for some of the poor picture quality. It's hard to hold a baby in one hand and a camera in the other and try to get the picture centered!