Fun at the Doctor's Office

Daddy got a kick out of Connor's statement that "he was brave for his flu shot". Daddy was the brave one as he took all three kids to the doctor today. The nurse took note of that also since daddy did the same thing back in August. It was a scheduled visit for the boys flu shots, but turned into a full-fledged doctor appointment. Brady had a really infected toe that needed amputation, I mean medicine, and Claire came down with a nasty virus. Good thing Claire has reserves with her 20+ lbs as it hurts for her to eat right now. She received lots of loving instead!

Weekend getaway to French Lick

Each September, we try to take a mini-vacation with the kids. This year, we decided to spend a weekend of fun in French Lick at Big Splash Adventure and Indiana Railway. As an added bonus for the boys, we invited the Johnson family to join us. After swim lessons on Saturday morning, we met up at Chick-Fil-A for lunch before we were to hit the road. We were hoping to show up in French Lick and have the joint vacation be a surprise, but we ended up spilling the beans before we left town that we were meeting our friends there.

The boys (Connor, Brady, and Carac) had a good time playing in the water park that afternoon and into the evening. They made their way around the water park spending time in the lost river, time in the bigger pool where you could play basketball, and lots of time in Buccaneer Bay. They loved Buccaneer Bay where they played on the slides over and over again. Claire loved playing in the water sprays. The daddies got a chance to try out the large slides. The majority of the time, the parents played the role of referee and lifeguard. There were good times and bad times between the three boys...sometimes feelings would get hurt if they ran off from each other or picked a different slide partner. By the end of the day, the boys were exhausted and ready to get a good night's rest.

The next day, we let the boys spend a couple more hours back at the water park. We then had plans to head over to the Indiana Railway for a 2 hour train excursion. The boys had a good time and sat back and relaxed for the trip. I think their favorite part was the tunnels. After fun-filled days with the Johnson family, we then headed back home.

Mommy and Claire

We didn't plan this...if I remember correctly, Chris dressed Claire while I was getting dressed. We coordinate so nicely!

Boys are tough (and oblivious)

Brady came home from school with a nice black bruise and goose egg on his forehead. When asked what happened, we got a response of "I don't know", "no, I didn't fall", "what bruise on my head". I asked if he cried when it happened - "no, I was brave". Later in the conversation, he said he fell INTO the wall. Hmmm...I guess as long as he isn't bothered by it, we shouldn't be.

Baby Food - does she like it?

It's official....Claire is moving on to solids! In the last week, we have introduced 1st baby foods to Claire's diet. She now enjoys joining us for dinner where we feed her spoonfuls during our dinner. She likes to make the feeding as messy as possible by trying to suck her thumb or fist and then wiping her eyes, ears, and hair. She does best when you allow her to slurp the food from the spoon.

Claire's New Bath

Claire is not so little anymore and was ready to move to a bigger tub since she has outgrown the sink. I remembered using an inflatable tub with Connor to make the bathtub safer, so I went on the hunt for one for Claire. I think we skipped that step with Brady since he took baths with Connor.

I couldn't wait to try it out since Claire is sitting on her own really good these days. She loved it and just splashes away...it's like her own little swimming pool.

Look who's 5 months now!

Claire turned 5 months old this week! She is getting to be a lot of fun these days with her constant smiles, giggles, and screams. She loves hanging out with her brothers and she has started hanging out on the floor more. She will sit or lay on her tummy playing with toys these days and the boys are right there to help her out if needed. I suspect that she will be crawling in no time based on the excitement she gets when the boys go running down the hallway. She gets those arms a pumping, those legs pulled up, and she can get some movement when she tries hard enough. If she sees a toy, she will figure out how to reach it. I love watching the expressions on their face as they problem solve and learn new things.

I can get that toy if I really want to...

Got it...now I need to take a thumb break!

Claire Health Update

As mentioned in an earlier post, Claire ended up with a high fever that was due to a UTI and a kidney infection. The antibiotics did the trick, but did require further testing to be sure that those types of infections would not be recurring. Our baby girl has went for doctor appts, testing, or nurse appts 8 times in the last month. She is such a trooper though! She has been the perfect patient at every one and wouldn't know there was any cause for concern! (I also applaud the doctor's offices for finally having the check-in procedures finally streamlined.)

Claire has been given a great report from her heart doctor that the heart valve is functioning as it should and they don't need to see her again until her 1st birthday. Yay! She had several tests performed on her bladder and kidneys. She will not need to repeat those tests until her 1st birthday also. As a precaution due to some weakness identified in her bladder, she will be taking a 3 month daily antibiotic. While that has it's own side-effects and concerns for when she goes off the antibiotic, the good news is that she should be able to ward off infections for the fall season.

Claire's Day w/Grandparents

While we spent the day with the boys at Holiday World, Claire had a fun day with Mimi & Papa. Shopping of course...and she was spoiled as usual! She even got to pick out some of her Christmas gifts during their outing to Toys-R-Us. They had an enjoyable day together!

Holiday World Fun

Every September, we make a trip to Holiday World for my company picnic. It's a great day to go since the park is closed to the public. We weren't sure if we were going to make it this year. The Thursday before, Connor had a high fever that apparently was all he needed to "kick" whatever was ailing him and was fine by Friday morning. That Friday, Brady came down with flu-like symptoms that developed into a fever later in the day. By Saturday, the boys claimed to be 100% better and were not going to miss the Holiday World outing.

Since the weather was mild that day, we decided we would still go and take our chances. Plus, Claire had plans to spend the day with her grandparents. We arrived at Holiday World during some light sprinkles, but that soon passed and the rest of the day turned out to be beautiful. The boys rode their normal choice of rides. We spent an extended time in Hollidog Funtown, since we saw a friend that the boys played with for a little while. We ended the day in Reindeer Ranch, which is the perfect place to end the day. We saw several people we knew, the boys got several quick rides in, and the exit was in close proximity so no distractions on the way out.

We headed to get Claire and decided to prolong the day. Unsure of why we would torture ourselves this way..but we went to dinner with Mimi & Papa. The boys were as good as could be expected after a long day at Holiday World, but seemed to meet the approval of the wait staff as they gave the boys extra attention. We survived the day and had a relaxing Sunday to look forward to.

Cousins

The cousins on my side of the family...my three, my brother's son (hiding in the back), and my sister's group. With the exception of Tyler (age 2 1/2), my three are the youngest.

Cousins - Oldest & Youngest

On my side of the family, the oldest grandchild is my sister's son who will be 14 later this year. The youngest grandchild is my Claire at almost 5 months. They look like they could be siblings!

It's Not Too Cold!

On our final day of the Labor Day weekend, we went to my parents for an afternoon visit. The pool was a nice 75 (or less) degrees...nice for the crazy kids that is. It turned out to be a hot, sunny afternoon...which at least helped a little bit for the kids that decided to brave the pool. Nice end to the weekend - we had a nice day of food and visiting with family.

To make sure he doesn't get off the hook here - my brother even showed up and met Claire for the first time (yes, she is almost 5 months). Hopefully, he will not wait so long between visits next time as I know several were glad to see him.

Labor Day Family Time

We had a fun-filled Labor Day weekend. We kicked off the weekend on Saturday at a friend's 4-year birthday party. I had to go solo with the three kids since Chris was sick (and needed to get better for the family gatherings). The boys had a blast running around with the older boys that were there and Claire was just content to watch all the excitement.

On Sunday, we went to the Gottman's for the annual Labor Day pool party. However, it was a little on the chilly side for the pool. While the boys did brave the pool for a little bit (and made daddy join them), they had their bikes as an afternoon activity also. Claire received lots of attention that afternoon as she was passed between, I believe, every family member. It was nice to visit with family for what turned out to be a really nice afternoon.

Princess has a new ride!

Check out Claire's new ride...she loves it! I couldn't resist going after a girly car seat!