8 Weeks

Julia is 8 weeks. She'll be 2 months old tomorrow. Time is going so quickly and my little newborn is entering the baby stage.  It's happening too fast. It always does. I love her more than words can say and can't kiss her enough!

She is the most serious of my babies, at least for now. Man I love it when she smiles. It melts my heart. She is starting to talk and we get a good conversation going, just the 2 of us. We spent last weekend in the ER. She had a fever, she caught hand foot and mouth from Audrey, and when newborns have fevers you don't wait around. You take them right in. They have to run all sorts of tests. Blood work. Even a spinal tap. It broke my heart to watch her bring poked and pricked. My eyes just welled up with tears as I rubbed her little head and told her it was almost over. The worst was when they blew a vein and had to start all over on the other hand for the IV. Luckily all the tests were fine and she is all better now. I am so grateful for a healthy and happy baby. I love you Julia. You light up my life. 

I recorded a little clip of Julia this morning but I can't get it to load on Blogger. Maybe tomorrow! 

Oh so fun!

Claire has been so cute lately doing things for her little sisters. She makes them forts, plays school, and comes up with great ideas. She sets up centers around the toy room for the girls to learn at. Math center, reading center, etc. It's adorable. The other day I heard her and Hallie playing in my room. Claire was asking Hallie math questions and if she missed them she had to do 5 push ups. SO FUNNY! 

As I am potty training Audrey she came up with the idea of Audrey being the line leader in order to get her to go to the bathroom. It worked like a charm! Audrey will go in a heart beat as soon as I utter the words, "Audrey, come be the line leader to the bathroom." Claire LOVES being a big sister and helps me when she doesn't even realize it. 

The other day after making a fort for the girls, I asked her to be my helper in the "Beauty Parlor." We dressed them up in skirts, painted toenails and fingernails (different colors of course), did hair with flowers and ribbons, put on necklaces and bracelets, a little makeup and....

rest assured, we did NOT forget the lip gloss.

After that we headed off to the Mexican Fiesta Ward Party. I love having girls.

Zeb's Plan

Yesterday Zeb put a plan into action. What plan? The one where he announces, "I'm going to shave Julia's head," as he goes into our bathroom and locks the door. Am I kidding? No I am not. After he had already started I finally got him to open the door. 

Here is what her hair used to look like:

Monk stripe in the back, followed by a bald stripe, followed by another patch of hair.

And don't forget the completely bald top.

So Zeb decided to take thee stress off me and make the decision to help little Julia out and make it all one length.

Of course you can't really call it a length when it's all gone but at least it's the same now!

(Look at her chompers!) I LOVE those cheeks. 

Here is my little cabbage patch baby! There were a few tears and a lot of, "Oh Julia, I'm sorry." To which Zeb asked, "for what, helping her look better?"

I will admit it was nice to not be the one to make the decision. I didn't have the guts to do it. But now that it's done it will all grow in much better by not being so many different lengths. Too bad my babies are in the bald stage for so long. Let's cross our fingers that maybe it will end a little sooner since we gave her a head start! ;)

According to the girls...

I got the idea for this post from Lindsey's blog. I thought it would be fun to ask all 3 girls these questions and see what their answers were. It was SO much fun. We had some good laughs. You should try it!

What is something mom always says to you?

A: Go in the sunroom and pick books.

H: Go in the sunroom and play.

C: Sorry I threw this away. (I tend to de clutter a LOT and end up throwing special things away!)

What makes mom happy?

A: I go play.

H: Not disobeying.

C: Anything helpful.

What makes mom sad? 

A: Disobeying

H: If you say come inside and I don't.

C: When we are acting really bad sometimes you start crying.

How does mom make you laugh?

A: Cause she makes me silly.

H: Because sometimes you speak like a boy.

C: When she tells me funny jokes.

What was mommy like when she was a little girl?

A: Uh, Julia.

H: She had all blond hair with little brown stripes.

C: Sometimes situations were scary.

How old is your mom?

A: 2

H: 14

C: That'd be 28.

How tall is your mom?

A: 17

H: 11 inches

C: 48 inches, I say.

What is your mom's favorite thing to do?

A: Go potty.

H: Go on the carnival.

C: Scrapbook.

What does your mom do when you are not around?

A: She goes potty.

H: She goes on the computer.

C: Sleep and read and take care of Julia.

If your mom becomes famous what will it be for?

A: Still answering with "the potty"

H: For saying no. (yikes)

C: Scrapbooking.

What is your mom really good at?

A: She loves a baby.

H: Writing stuff down.

C: Scrapbooking.

What is your mom not very good at?

A: Having a baby.

H: playing...kidding!! Pulling the blinds down.

C: Building stuff.

What does mom do for a job?

A: 

H: Making dinner.

C: Stays home and takes care of children.

What is moms favorite food?

A: Chicken nuggets.

H: Oatmeal with orange yogurt.

C: Pasta.

What makes you proud of your mom?

A: Watching curious george.

H: Making dinner.

C: When she takes care of us.

If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?

A: Curious George.

H: Ariel.

C: Helen on Martha Speaks.

What do you and your mom do together?

A: Play.

H: Watch movies.

C: Cook.

How are you and your mom the same?

A: Twins.

H: Blonde hair and brown stripes.

C: We both have short hair.

How are you and your mom different?

A: I'm Audrey and your mom.

H: We don't have the same eye colors.

C: She's a grown up and I'm a kid.

How do you know your mom loves you?

A: Cute.

H: Because you say that.

C: Cause she takes care of me...lots of ways.

What does mom like most about dad?

A: He loves you.

H: Audrey took mine.

C: He works for money. (I laughed so hard and so did Zeb).

What does mom like to do with dad?

A: I don't know.

H: Go out and eat dinner.

C: Date.

Where is moms favorite place to go?

A: Museum.

H: Six flags...is it?

C: Restaurants. 

I have had so much fun looking through all the girls' pictures when they were babies. I LOVE pictures. Shocker, I know. I thought I would post one of each of the older 3!

I love my babies!

What's your take?

During bath time I have 2 wonderful helpers. It takes 6 washcloths per bath.

1 for me.

1 for Hallie.

And 3 or more for Audrey.

Plus another to wipe off the girls wet feet when we're done.

Hallie and Audrey love bath time just as much as Julia. ;)

Every now and then I catch Julia giving a smile. I love it when I do. I can't wait until she really grins and does it more consistently. But for now I will take any smile I can get. I got the tail end of a little smile above.

As you know my kids don't have much hair when they're born. And what little hair they do have falls out anyway. That is the stage we are in with Julia. Right now she is bald in the front, has a patch of hair in the middle that is blonde so you can't see it, has a patch in the middle/back of her head that is dark, and has the monk ring of hair in the back at the bottom (with a bald strip just above the hair). Of course she is still ADORABLE but here is my dilemma, with her hair 4 different lengths, do I shave it off so it can all grow in the same? I know she will eventually be totally bald from it all falling out, so do I get it through the stage faster by doing it myself? Most of you are probably gasping at the thought of it. And quite frankly in my heart of hearts I don't know that I could actually go through with it. BUT I have heard from lots of people that when a baby has virtually no hair, shave it and it will grow back faster and thicker. I don't know if I really believe this. I'd love to hear what you think!

3 in the Bed...

The other night I went to check on the girls after feeding Julia and this is how I found them. All 3 in one bed. No matter how many times we tell them to stay in their own beds and go to sleep, they seldom listen. The frustrations are high when we hear them playing and fighting 2 hours after their bedtime but when I see things like this I can't help but smile. Yes, they fight like all siblings but I am ever so grateful that they truly are the best of friends.