one tired out little guy

first time letting me put pig tails in her hair-not even, but they're actually still in her hair!

Well we have had another great day here. It was 56 degrees. I took D'Angelo, Adeline & Auggie to see Seussical the Musical this morning with a few of our friends. Afterwards we went to Red Robin for lunch. We had a nice time especially since it is kid friendly & I never feel like we are bothering any other patrons...our party consisted of 5 adults and eight children. D & Addie went to Gaga and Papa's this afternoon. Auggie was upset that he was being left behind until I reminded him that we would be going to Josh's pancake breakfast tomorrow morning.

On another note, we went to the Flower & Garden show last Sunday so I wanted to post a few pictures:

We thought we had a great weather day yesterday at 41 but today it is 50 here! Sunny, beautiful and 50 degrees. Yesterday morning Grandma Debbie came over and we all took a nice walk over to the playground where the kids had fun running around and enjoyed the slides.

X & O Turn One!

Xavier and Oliver turned 1 on Saturday March 8th.

I can't believe how fast the year has gone. They are both anxious to get walking. Xavier is taking 4-5 steps at a time while Oliver gets himself across the room. They are enjoying climbing everything possible. They just laugh out loud when I catch them climbing from the couch onto the windowsill where they bang on the glass. They are not babies anymore....they are on the fast track to toddler hood. I guess I can blame that on them having 3 active siblings. They eat dinner with us and drink regular milk like everyone else. They still have their bottles but are drinking from sippy cups here and there. Amazing how it changes from 1st child to 4th & 5th...D'Angelo never had a bottle after his first birthday; Adeline just gave up her bottle 4 months ago and Auggie will still take one if you give him the opportunity.

We didn't have a big party but we did have cake, balloons and gifts. The big guys had been so excited to have the twins birthday party. The kids all went to play with friends Saturday morning for a few hours, then we came home and decorated the house together. Decorating with the help of three little guys is interesting. After dinner we had cake and presents. D, Ade & Aug love singing happy birthday over and over so that I will re-light the candles again and again so that they can help the babies blow them out.

ignore the dates on the pictures...the camera can't keep the date set

It has been a busy week for us. Thursday night Rick, D'Angelo and I went to the preview party for "Sugar from the Sun" at Garfield Park Conservatory . It was an enjoyable evening with the new exhibit looking spectacular! D had lots of fun playing in the children's garden with his friend Steven and eating flowers made out of fruit. The "Sugar from the Sun" exhibit opened to the pubic Saturday March 1st.

With Rick being finished up at Garfield Park there is still no time for slowing down...
Now, it's off to set up his garden Extreme Pools by RickRock - Sugar from the Sun at The Chicagoland Flower & Garden Show. The set up is this week with the show running March 8-16. He hasn't done the show in a couple years so it will be interesting to visit the new venue; Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont.

Friday, my Mom came over and hung out with us during the day. The kids love when she is here. Rick came home early so my Mom and I could catch the 4:30 train downtown. I took her to see Jersey Boys http://www.jerseyboysinfo.com/chicago/. We tried to get a table at The Italian Village but the wait was too long so we went over to the Chop House-conveniently located across the street form the theatre. The food was great and my favorite was the awesome pear salad we shared. The show rocked! I saw it at Thanksgiving and it was just as fun the second time. The funniest part of the night was walking back to the train station instead of cabbing it-just because. My mom was not convinced that I knew where I was going...Hello, I used to work at the Board of Trade Mom. We got to the train safely thank you.

Saturday I took the big kids to a super fun 2nd birthday party for their friend Taylor. It was at the US gymnastics center in Lake Zurich. The kids had a blast trying out all the trampolines, hanging from the rings and uneven bars, jumping into the pit, walking the balance beams, and playing in the bounce house.

Today we didn't do too much! We went and played at Taylor's house to meet her new pony Butterscotch. My kids thought it was so neat. I am NOT buying one.

Thankfully everyone seems to be feeling better. I took Adeline to the doctor Saturday morning to find out the cause of her rash. It was not an allergic reaction. I was told it was from the virus she and the kids were suffering from. The doctor said they've seen lots of rashes with the new spring virus' starting up. Luckily, it is no more contagious than the common cold. (wash hands,wash hands, wash hands)

This morning we met some friends at Garfield Park Conservatory to tour the new exhibit that Rick has been working on there, Sugar from the Sun. Then we spent our afternoon at Lucy's house & the kids had a great time playing with all her toys!

it's my nap time you know

This is Adeline at 8:30am.

Her spots have turned into more of a blotchy rash now.

Thankfully the ibuprofen is working to control her fever.

We have had a long night here. Twins were up alot overnight. Augustine is still sleeping. He hasn't been out of bed since I put him down for his nap yesterday afternoon at 1:00. Adeline is still running a 101 fever as of 6am. She is miserable and it has been a chore to get her to drink fluids. She still has no appetite. She has been taking Ibuprofen and has had 4 doses of Benedryl. I am going to call the doctor in a little while. I did find some information that might explain her rash though.

http://www.askdrsears.com/html/8/T082900.asp
Viral illness – the most common rash suddenly appearing on your child is rash due to a variety of viruses. Some viruses can be easily identified, including chicken pox, fifth disease, and roseola. Most viruses, however, do not cause their own specific type of rash as chicken pox does. These generic viral rashes can have many different appearances, such as lacy or pimply, raised or flat, bumps, spots, or blotches, and they often (but not always) start on the trunk, and then spread to the extremities.
The most important thing to understand here is that if your child has a fever or is not feeling well, and breaks out in one of these generic rashes, then it is probably a harmless virus and nothing to worry about.

you know your kids are sick when...

You know your kids are sick when...

You get her water in her sparkly pink cup & milk in her purple cup...but then she doesn't want the purple cup she wants a boy cup (which is anything that isn't pink or purple). Soooo you go back to the kitchen and return with a green cup of milk.
But that is no good either; so, you go back to the kitchen to transfer the milk to yet another cup. Return with the blue, definitely a boy cup, and what does she say in return for this feat?
I want my purple sparkly cup! UGH!

You put your son down for his nap at 1:15 in the afternoon and at 10:00pm he still hasn't wanted to get up yet. All he has had since then was a baba of milk! He must be sick; I gave him a bottle of milk.

Your daughter requests applesauce...you get her a cup of applesauce
She says, "No, I want yogurt".
You get her yogurt she eats 2 bites and then asks for egg & cheese.
You make a cheese omelet and she eats 1 bite and says, "I want water & watch Dora."
You give her, her sparkly pink cup of water and return her to the couch she has been on all day. You turn on the TV, start a Dora video and after a few minutes she asks to go to bed.

You have been up to console her more than once while writing this message.

Allergic reaction?

We have had some type of illness in this house for what seems like FOREVER! One kid gets healthy and someone else picks up the slack and catches a new yucky virus. We had Adeline with an ear infection Monday 2/11. D'Angelo ear infection 2/13. Days following, everyone gets cough, congestion and irritable! Fevers. Yesterday Rick and I took all 5 to the doctor together.
How many people can you fit in one exam room? We had the seven of us, the doctor, a med student to assist and our double stroller. I think we win-LOL. The conclusion was something viral. Great, good times, let's wait this out. My favorite part of our visit was while 4 out of our 5 were crying/screaming the doc looked at the med student and sighed, "Ahhhh, the joys of becoming a pediatrician". I laughed.

This morning when I went to get Adeline from her bed I found her looking like this. I called the doctor and the nurse thinks it is an allergic reaction to the antibiotics she took for the past 9 days. Benedryl has helped with her facial swelling, but she still has the rash all over her entire body. Two doses down so far. If it hasn't cleared by tomorrow I am taking her in to be seen again.

Happy Valentines Day

We had a nice Valentine's Day here. The kids had a little playgroup party this morning at their friends Lucy & Cole's house. They were most excited to bring valentines and treats to give to their friends. There were fun crafts to make and little heart shaped cakes for the kids to frost, sprinkle and enjoy. We had a fun time - thanks for hosting the party Jill. Grandma Debbie came and took Adeline home for an overnight visit while Gaga & Papa came to take the boys home for the weekend. It feels very strange to be home with just the twins.

Thanks to my sweet husband for sending me a beautiful dozen of red roses, I was quite surprised. Rick left very early this morning with his buddy Tom to go on their annual trip to the Keweenaw Peninsula located on the northwestern end of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. It is surrounded on three sides by Lake Superior which is where their water supply will come from while roughing it up there. They drive in as far as they can, park the jeep and snowshoe 8 miles, pulling a sled full of their gear to a cabin without electicity or plumbing. Not my idea of winter fun. After I snowshoe I'd like to be in a nice warm place with a hot shower available.

My little valentines

Oliver stole Adeline's apple... I guess he thinks he's a big kid. I was surprised at how well he actually ate it though.

11 months old

X and O are 11 months old today. Where does the time go? I ask myself that question quite often. All my kids are growing and changing quickly. It is so neat to see the personalities of Xavier & Oliver developing. Oliver is genuinely a happy baby. He is almost always smiling, but when he's not...Oliver is so much like Adeline with DRAMA! Yep, he is the one that will throw himself down and sob when I take something away from him. He also throws himself back -with great force- when he's upset. I can't count the times he has hit his head on the ground because I didn't catch him in time or someone else was caught off guard by his crazy antics. Xavier reminds me so much of Augustine- the happy, mellow guy. Xavier is turning out to be even tempered and happy. Both X & O love to play peek a boo and have lots of entertainment from D'Angelo and the A Team. I am amazed by these little guys every day.

Finally Outside! Daddy is going to take them for a nice walk through our yard.