Messy hair and dirt

She gets so dirty when she goes outside.  They all do.  There are going to be so many baths this summer.  We need a shower that just stays outside.

Summer is here

Summer is here, but it totally doesn't feel like it.  Yesterday was warm, but so cloudy.  So dreary, in fact, that when I was looking at these pictures, the colors were so blah that I just changed them all to black and white because I couldn't figure get the coloring right.  Because it was blah.  At least black and white adds a little drama.  Or something.

Anyway, so we started off summer yesterday by playing outside all afternoon and then going to Granny's to see Melanie and Troy reveal the sex of their baby.  And today we went to the park and the library before it started raining again.  And now it's raining and the kids are watching the movies they got from the library.

More rain tomorrow and Friday.  And maybe some sun Saturday. I hope so.  When is the pool going to get a chance to warm up if it doesn't stop raining?  Grrrr this weather has me so frustrated. 

Anyway, little Lise has finally decided that crawling around in the grass isn't so bad.  I'd rather have her walking around in the grass, but at least I don't have to hold her the whole time we're outside now.  And she had fun playing in this little car yesterday.  She climbed in it and got stuck in it and just had a grand ole time.  I love her and her hair and her little tongue.

Also my camera so desperately needs to be cleaned.  When I try to take video outside, its bright enough that the settings are such that you can see little dust specks on the sensor.  But there is no place near here to get it professionally cleaned.  And I don't want to mail it somewhere.  Actually I just want to buy a new, full frame camera.  But alas,  we don't have 1400 bucks to spare.  So I'll just keeping saving my piddly little money away until maybe someday I'll have enough.

Sniff sniff.

Camera stuff is so expensive.

When she was sick

My sweet baby girl was really sick with a fever for about four days.  She woke up on a Saturday morning and her fever was high, like over 103.  So I gave her medicine and called the after hours office and they wanted to see her.  Jace had just started taking antibiotics for strep, and even though I know it's very unlikely that young children get strep, I thought maybe she could have it, right?  So they did a throat swab but that came back clear.  And since there were no other signs of anything being wrong besides the high fever, they wanted to do a few tests to rule other things out.  So they took a urine sample to check for a UTI and then we did some blood tests. At first they said the urine was good, but then later I guess they saw some bacteria growing on the culture they sent to the lab.  So the verdict was a UTI.  My poor baby girl. 

Her fever stayed high, about 103-104.5 for the next three days.  It finally went down, thankfully.  We have an ultrasound scheduled for this Friday so they can check and make sure there isn't anything weird going on with her kidneys that may have caused the UTI.  It's not very common for babies to get them.  So fingers crossed it was just a fluke and it will not happen again.  I hated seeing her so sick, and high fever freaked me out.  I'm so scared of them having a seizure or something.  Luckily she was just extra tired and cuddly while she had her fever.

She likes handing me things and then having me hand them back to her lately.  And also dropping things and making me pick them up.  Silly girl.

And I can't believe that the countdown is on for her to be 1 year old.  And the count down is on for Jace to be 8.  How are my kids getting so big?!

Winter in May

Winter decided to make an appearance again.  Ugh.  It's been so rainy and colder than it should ever be in May, as far as I'm concerned.  Also Tuesday was election day so there was no school, so the kid were all home.  The van is in the shop plus Annalise is sick so we couldn't really go anywhere and we were trapped all day inside the house while the rain drizzled and the wind blew.

Not the best prelude to summer.  Which is looming in just five more days.  Actually, I've been looking forward to summer break.  Lazier mornings and playing outside and eating popsicles.  So the warm weather better get on board and the rain better stop.  Okay?

Here are some pics of the boys playing store in their room yesterday to pass the time.  Although they were playing in their room because they had been banished to their room.  Because they wouldn't stop wrestling and being crazy.

Jace these days

As usual, he did not want to smile or sit for a picture.  I did get one other picture of him that was in focus (the others he was being too fidgety and crazy) but his eyes were swollen a little because he had just been outside rubbing his face all over the grass (because that's normal) and it looked like a mug shot. All right fine, I'll go get it.

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I guess he just kind of looks like he got punched in the eye.  And is really really grumpy and having a really really bad day.

Oh this boy.  We have almost finished reading the entire Fablehaven series together.  I read to him (and Cam if Cam is still awake) and then he reads at school or at night after I'm done reading aloud.  I hear him talking about the books a lot and when they play imaginary games there are usually magical creatures from the books in their play.  I've been so happy that's he been to into the books.  He also really liked the Spiderwick Chronicles and read all of those on his own last year in first grade.  Maybe we are almost ready to start Harry Potter and be serious about it.  He's getting ready to be baptized soon.  And he is kind of under the impression that once he turns eight he will get to make ALL of his own choices.  Like be the boss of himself. 

Bahahahahahahaha. 

That's not exactly how it works.  

Also he is losing teeth like a crazy person.  He has two completely grown in permanent teeth and I think four empty spots. 

I tried to take a picture of the missing teeth. . . but this deer in the headlights this is really awkward mom leave me alone picture is really all I could get.  Haha! I  love that toothless smile (or grimace)!

Cameron these days

These days my little Cam Spam is a pistol.  Sometimes happy, sometimes whiny, sometimes extremely loud and goofy. . . all the time a people pleaser.  Unless the person is me or Brice.  Then he's more of little stinker.  He recently went to a play date at a friend from school's house.  The mom commented to me repeatedly how much they enjoyed his company and what a fun little character he is.

Then I got him in the van to go home and he had a complete meltdown because he forgot his apple juice in their house and we were already halfway down the block, therefore I wouldn't let him go back and get it.  Yeah.  He's such a fun little character.  He dries it up real quick though when other people are around.  Little stinker.  He has made so much progress in school.  I worried because he didn't do any kind of preschool.  Neither did Jace.  And so I was afraid he'd be behind or something.  But he never has been.  He's been right on track and over this last month his reading has improved a ton.  He WANTS to read.  Unlike Jace, who NEVER wanted to read.  

This adorable little guy is too cute for his own good.

Faces

Annalise makes the best faces.  She is about to get her top two teeth in, I think, and so she is always shoving her fist in her mouth lately.   And then she kind of has a love hate relationship with Olivia.  Sometimes she loves her and sometimes all she does when Olivia is around is whine.  And I don't really blame her, because Livvy plays a little bit rough.  And doesn't quite understand that not everyone wants you to be up in their face with your loud craziness all the time.

This is her whiney "oooooh she won't leave me alone" look.