Spring Break

We took a day to do a little "spring break" trip.  Ryan of course does not get spring break but he took a day off so we could go to the beach.  We are super big fans of living two hours away from the beach, now this is not nice warm Southern California beaches, this is Northern California (family: think Oregon coast but slightly less overcast), the water is freezing and the outside temperature is not much over 65.  But everyone is still there shivering in their skimpy swimsuits which I think is dumb, maybe they just do it out of principal because after all this is a California and it is a beach. Whatever.  I make the girls wear long sleeves. Anyway we go for the awesome view and the sand (and because it was going to be 95 in Sacramento).  The girls LOVE playing in the sand, especially Rachel she just rolls around in it and got a face full several times.

Rachel couldn't get enough.

Ryan trying to get the girls to touch the water

The girls running away so it wouldn't touch them

The baby tent.

The Jelly Belly Factory was on the way so we made
a stop.  The line for a tour was super long though
so we bought some jelly beans and snapped some
pictures and left.

The look Emily gave me.

The look Emily gave Lauren.  Lauren is clearly a favorite.

Photo Shoot

A dear friend of ours offered to do a photo session for us after Emily was born as a gift.  We have never attempted anything like this before (a real photo session) so it was an adventure. They all did amazingly well though.  I LOVE how the pictures turned out and I think they really capture the girls' personalities.  These are my favorites:

I always thought when seeing pictures like this that the poor kid must be freezing, but the secret is a space heater.  It keeps everyone nice and toasty so all you want to do is sleeeepp.......

My little BumGenius (cloth diaper) poster child shot :)

Daddy's Girls

What you can't see in these cute pictures of their feet is all the snacks we kept stuffing them with and me and my mother-in-law holding them all down to keep them still :) Oh the things we do for cute pictures ;)

I love all my sweet girls!!

 This is what happened afterwords when I tried to take a quick picture of the girls in their matching dresses to email to daddy:

They were exhausted from being cute for sooooo long

Rachel bailed and Lauren did her best to force a smile. Thanks.

A Couple of Bucket Heads

When life gets a little crazy sometimes the best thing to do is put a bucket on your head.  

Give it a try.  It helps.

You can even use a bucket like a drum.  But don't use it like a drum when it is on your 

sisters head, she won't be happy.

 Emily finds us only mildly amusing.

Tough crowd.

Neverland

Ever since Grandma brought us Peter Pan after Emily was born the girls have been obsessed.  They play Peter Pan all the time. Every morning they fly to Neverland and pretend they are mermaids, dance on a drum like Tiger Lily (aka jumping on their bed). This game became even better when Lauren discovered that we actually have a Peter Pan costume (thank you Sarah and Jacqui).  She now wears it almost all day, every day. Lauren has also declared assignments for Halloween: she will be Peter Pan, Rachel will be Wendy, Dad will be Captain Hook, Emily will be Tinker Bell (because she is little), and I will be a pirate.

Peter Pan

Flying

Peter Pan and Tinker Bell (a Cinderella that lights up)

A Little Crazy

This month past month has been a blur.  Aside from doing some life adjusting, all of us have been in a perpetual cycle of sickness. We have been to the doctor way too many times for my taste and spent a lot of money in co-pays and prescriptions.

For my own record this is the chronology of the past month since Emily was born:

Feb. 4th - Released from the hospital with instructions to stay home and take it easy.  haha
Feb. 5th - Took Emily to the doctor for check up and jaundice test.
Feb. 6th  - Took Emily to ER
Feb. 7th -  Met with lactation consultant
Feb. 8th -  Ryan had to go back to work
Feb 9th - Woolsey parents here
Feb 11th - Took Emily to a friend's for newborn pictures. I come down with chills and a fever
Feb 12th - Friend comes over to take pictures with all the girls. I still have a fever and find out I have mastitis. I call the doctor and order a prescription and they ask me to bring Emily in so they can check her weight and make sure she is getting enough to eat.
Feb. 16th - Merkley parents here
Feb. 17th - Emily's baby blessing
Feb. 18th  - Family all goes home, Ryan has the day off
Feb 19th - Emily's two week check-up, everything looks good
Feb 24th - Emily wakes up with lots of greenish goop covering her eyes, kind of congested. The two older girls and I start coming down with colds.
Feb 25th - Dr. visit for Emily to look at goop, doctor takes culture and tells us she will get back to us
Feb 26th -  Lauren first day of "preschool" (actually more of a glorified playgroup with kids her age)
Feb. 28th -  Lauren wakes up with red goopy eyes,  that evening the doctor calls confirms bacterial infection for Emily and asks about other girls, she tells me since these infections are so contagious she would order a prescription for all three girls
March 1st -  Rachel wakes up with red goopy eyes, all girls start prescription eye drops
March 2nd -  Lauren wakes up with hives, they disappear within a few hours.  I call the doctor and they tell us to stop using eye drops on her and to give her some benadryl. I spent the morning at a church women's conference and Ryan cleans the whole house while I'm gone (I love him so much :)
Mar 3rd -  Girls stay home from church due to their nasty colds and eye infections.  Ryan comes home feeling sick.
Mar 4th -  Rachel wakes up from nap with hives on ankles and feet, they disappear within the hour, doctor tells us to stop using eye drops with her and give her benadryl. Emily is very congested and starts to get a little bit of a cough.
Rachel wakes up at 9:40pm screaming, she has hives all over legs and spots on arms, hands, stomach. I call the doctor and they tell me to give her more benadryl and we schedule a doctor appointment for the following day.
Mar 5th - Rachel wakes up in the morning with a few spots of hives but they don't seem to be bothering her. At our appointment Rachel breaks out in hives behind her ears while waiting for the doctor.  By the time the doctor came in she was crying and holding her ears shouting "I don't like it!" Doctor checks her out and can't find anything, she says often with hives you never find out the cause. Great.

Rachel woke up again this morning with hives and saying her eyes hurt. Good. Grief.