Nana is brave enough to visit us *again*!!!

My mom came to visit us for a few days. Thankfully the weather really turned around and it was beautiful and sunny every day she was here. Actually, the first day she arrived, we took the kids for a bike ride around the block and she laughed as my neighbour Rick shoveled some snow off his lawn . . . wearing shorts in 23 degrees heat :-)

She and I took the boys and Leah to see Horton Hears a Who one afternoon. It was a cute movie and we all had fun (Leah sadly missed it, she slept through the entire thing!). I was impressed the boys did quite well and sat through almost the entire movie. We even went out for dinner that night, and took the kids to Boston Pizza. This also went well, and gives me courage to try eating out again in the future. Not sure how restaurant dining with a family of five would transpire, but so far so good. We ended up taking our portable DVD player (a tip from Nana!) and that helped keep David occupied while waiting for his chicken!

Nana was thrilled to spend some time with her grandchildren, and to see the new "robust" Leah. She and my cousin Stephanie helped babysit on Saturday while Paul and I went to a wedding. Things went very well, with one teeny weeny exception. Leah refused to take a bottle!! We had tried numerous times before the wedding, with no luck, but I had secret hope that my mom could pull it off. So I hauled my milk tanks home between the wedding and the reception and let the little Buddha have a drink from the tap. Mom finally got her to sleep around 9:00 (no bottle though) and she slept until later when we got home and I woke her and fed her again. You can probably tell from her photos . . . she's not exactly going to waste away to nothing from missing one feeding ;-)

Nana and Princess Leah - As close as we get to a family photo - David not really cooperating at the moment, Leah stuffing her fist in her mouth and Pete, well, being Pete.

David after his first haircut last week (yes, first hair cut at age 2 1/2) - modeling mom's black pumps.
Pete after having his Shawn Cassidy locks trimmed . . .

With his reward sucker in hand . . .

And, last but certainly not least, Leah the ever-expanding baby. Play a game with me - it's called "count the rolls". Bathing her has become quite a chore, one really needs to wedge one's fingers inside the rolls to make sure she is totally clean :-)

Today I once again boxed up some of Leah's clothes that are TOO SMALL for her. A growing number of her little pants and jeans just can't make it past her thighs anymore. I see Sumo wrestling in her future!!!

The duct unplugger!

You're looking at a 14 lb duct-unplugger. That's right. Any of you mommies who breastfed your babies will know what I'm talking about. I had a particularly nasty and painful plugged milk duct this week. It became very swollen, red and sore. The best remedy for clearing it up (i.e. "unplugging" the duct) is to have your baby nurse vigorously to loosen it up. Thankfully, I have a particularly vigorous baby who has quite a lot of suction in her jaws. She unplugged that sucker in less than 24 hours :-) Ah, now mommy feels much better and the earth can go back to spinning on its axis!

Proud of her duct-unplugging capabilities . . .

We are really pushing the baby doll tops over top of long sleeved onesies here until we can truly bust out the summer clothes. We've had a number of beautiful days, but this weekend has been a bit colder. Wearing one of Reese's cute tops and totally mesmorized by her daddy, Leah lounges on our bed . . .

Here's a rare quiet moment between all three siblings. I had to take the photo naked though, b/c I was getting dressed a couple mornings ago and knew shots like this were few and far between :-)
How is potty training David going, you ask? Well, he's a tad more stubborn than Pete was, but we're workin' on it! Resourceful as he is, he continues to find new uses for pull-ups every day.

We feel spring coming!!!

Our little house was hit yet again by the sickies. Once we cleared out the stomach bug, we made way for a nasty cold, with cough. Pete, David and poor Leah all got it, and I had a touch of it too. I think we are doing better now . . . David is hanging onto it sadly, but I think he'll be doing much better in a day or two.

The boys are doing well but are going through a *rough* patch behaviour-wise. I'm chalking it up to a long winter full of snow and not enough time outside. I hope/need/desperately want it to change and I think the blast of spring weather around might do the trick! The past few days have been amazing here - I mean, sunny, warm, no winter coats, hats or mitts needed!!! That is HEAVEN around here these days - we've been out walking and even broke our bikes out yesterday. We still have lots of snow on the lawn, but it is melting quickly and streets and sidewalks are bare. It's amazing how truly wonderful you can feel when the hot sun streams down on your face. We've been walking around our little block 4-5 times a day, Pete riding his bike, David in the wagon, Leah in her sling or babybjorn and Rudy on this leash. People peeking out their windows must think the local circus is going by ;-)

Anyhoo, Leah had her two month check up this week and is a whopping 13 lbs, 13 oz. Even her cold can't stop her from chowing down on mom's milk. Yum Yum! Taking three kids to doctor was challenging, but manageable. For the most part they were pretty good. One of the nurses dealing with us said she thought I was completely organized and totally on top of things. Apparently "many other moms aren't" so she told me ;-) Since I had her fooled AND she made my day with her compliment, I gave her a big hug. I guess somehow the universe channeled through to her that I needed that comment, at that time, on that day. Well, she delivered and I'm sure she had no idea how she made my whole week!

But back to the ever-expanding Leah. She is quickly filling out her 3-6 month clothes and *could* be outgrowing them soon. A quick trip to the mall today allowed me to check the sales for a few spring/summer items for her. Shopping for a girl truly is more fun - wow, the selection compared to the boys stuff is just insane. But fun for me, I can now look at both sides of the stores!

Here is sleeping beauty in one of her cute outfits . . .

Doing her best push up for mom . . .

Waddyalookinat?

Ooooooh, yes, another cute outfit I found at Mexx . . . and the ever-popular Reese Robeez :-)

Uh, remember that sunshine I mentioned???? OOOOOPS - call Children's Aid b/c YES, I gave my two month old a sunburn. Too much walking out in the sunshine today uncovered. It's hard to remember the UV protection when there is still 4 feet of snow in our front yard! Here is her new "pink" face.

Hangin' out in her bumbo (thanks Kelly!!). She loves sitting up in it so she can keep an eye on Thing 1 and Thing 2.

David . . . here seen giving Leah his cold.

. . . and decides to check out what the heck is so cool about this thing.

And last but not least, Pete (sporting his new Shawn Cassidy hair-do) deciding to wake up his sister one morning. Isn't that cute crib bedding???? Big thanks to Karla for lending us that - saved us some big bucks and it's too adorable to boot. She wasn't needing neutral colours anymore b/c she had her baby BOY this afternoon - yay and welcome to little Thomas!!!!

Pete unzipped her sleepsack (no I don't put her to bed like that!!!).

David wants a piece of the action so pulls a chair from the kitchen into the bedroom to get a better look in the crib (that HE was sleeping in only a couple months ago, lol). You can't see from this angle the smiles and looks of adoration little Leah is giving her two big brothers. Makes it all worthwhile, I'd say!!