Togetherness

The sicklies & Arden's four month checkup

After a rough week. . .we've all had a virus of some sort and then the "out-of-the-blue" snow day, I was ready to get out of the house. Even if it was to go to work (after missing 3 days) and then to the doctor with Arden. Thankfully Arden never seemed to get what the rest of us had, she has a runny nose and a little bit of a cough, but no fever! Stratton ran fever for 3 days before it finally let up. It was a low grade fever, but you could tell he felt awful, then I started running fever Tuesday night and mine finally went away on Thursday afternoon! Jarrod has been sick with a cough and congestion but no fever! We've just been a family of sicklies! Hopefully we're all on the mend now!

She did get in her first cat fight today! Actually, another kid scratched her. It looks so bad, but it doesn't seem to bother her a bit! The other kid is being moved to a different room on Monday!

Arden was really good for her appointment. She just cooed and played with the nurse and doctor Bailey. She did cry pretty good when she got the shots, but who can blame her?! So, our sweet little Arden, is exactly that. . .little! She only weighs 13.2 pounds and was 24 inches long. That puts her in the 40th-45th percentile. A far cry from big brother, who at 4 months weighed 17 pounds and was 27 inches, and in the 99th percentile! But doctor Bailey assured us that she is growing perfectly, she actually went up significantly from only being in the 25th percentile in weight at 2 months. She's just going to be petite! That's ok, I guess. Short people have more personality anyway!

She is still wearing 0-3/3 month sizes for the most part. Some of them (especially leggings) are getting on the tight side. Sister has some thick thighs! I think all her weight gain has gone to her little legs! She can still wear size 1 diapers, but as soon as we finish out this next box we will be moving up a size. She is going to be our free-spirited child, I fear. She is still getting up in the middle of the night for a bottle and refuses anything resembling a schedule or any kind of structure! Of course the doctor says thats completly normal, but when you had a previous child that flourished on a schedule and was sleeping through the night at 12 weeks. . .it's a hard concept to grasp! But at least she is a happy, healthy baby and we can't complain about that! She is usually very bright eyed and curious. You can see the wheels turning in that little head of hers! She does't stay in one place for very long at all and she loves attention and to be held! She also adores Stratton. She just grins and laughs at him like he is the funniest thing ever.

She did have a fussy spell tonight, but after another dose of tylenol and a bath she settled down and went to sleep. Stratton on the other hand has been really whiney and has been giving us fits every night. Tonight was a particularly intense fit over not wanting to take a bath?! I'm sure it's the combination of being sick, being SO off our schedule and trying to test us. . .well, it's not working out for him, I can tell you that much! I hope he realizes it soon, because we are so tired of dealing with it! Our eveings are stressful enough without the drama king making a huge production!

I am looking forward to a low-key weekend. . . Hopefully.

Arden turned 4 months on Saturday! Time is just flying by too fast! Lately Arden has been fighting her bottle. She'll take an ounce or so and then act like she doesn't want it, even though she still seems like she's hungry. It's so frustrating! We decided to start giving her a little rice cereal at night to see if that helped any. She seems to like it pretty good. She's still learning what to do with it! I think she gets as much of it on her face as she does in her mouth. But so far we haven't noticed too much difference in her eating. I'm not sure what her deal is! But I plan to ask her doctor on Friday.

Arden also had her follow up with the audiologist this morning. Her right ear was completely clear but she still has fluid on her left ear, so we go back in a month and if the fluid is still there then we will probably be looking at tubes. She has a cold so it wasn't a good day for a doctor appointment, and we had to wait quite a while to see the doctor but she was pretty good considering she was sleepy and tired.

And Stratton is sick now. He got up this morning with a low grade fever and runny nose. We opted out of taking him to sick call since we are afraid he would pick up something else (worse) from the clinic! But I called them this afternoon and they do want to see him tomorrow. I feel like it's just a cold, but there is so much stuff going around who knows. I guess will find out tomorrow.

GoDaddy.com Bowl and Mobile!

The second we found out that ASU would be playing in the GoDaddy.com bowl game AND it was in Mobile, we knew we were going! Lucky for us we have fabulous friends that took us in for a few days! We had a terrific time with the Graham’s and really enjoyed our trip!

We left Wednesday night and drove to Jackson, MS. Spent the night and got up and drove the rest of the way on Thursday. We got to Mobile around 4pm, it takes longer with a baby that takes forever to eat and a 3 year old that has to use the bathroom every hour! We are so grateful to Brett and Kristen for putting up with us for 4 nights! And Stratton had so much fun playing with Ian and Kate! Ian tried to teach Stratton all about cars. The kids knowledge about them is kinda crazy. He knows all the makes and models. He even gave Stratton a Aston Martin Hot Wheels car. It was bright blue. Every time we saw a bright blue car out Stratton told us it was a Aston Martin. . .so Ian’s lesson’s apparently didn’t do much good! They played really well together, there were just a few incidents and fights.

Stratton, Ian, Kate and Arden

Friday Ian and Kate both had school, so we decided to try and take Stratton to the beach! Even though it’s so cold if we are that close to the beach we are going! We stopped at Lulu’s for lunch on our way to G.S. and it was good. Stratton ate a ton of shrimp! He loves shrimp and fish! Then we headed to the beach! To our surprise he loved it. It was pretty cold, the sand was cold and the water was freezing! I didn’t think he’d want to stay long so we didn’t take any toys. Next time I’ll know better! He would have stayed all day! And he wanted to know where his beach toys were! Oops. Arden didn’t like the cold wind so Jarrod took her back to the car and they hung out in the warm car while Stratton and I played on the beach. After I finally convinced Stratton that we needed to go- his feet were turning blue- we sat on the boardwalk for awhile and dried off. Then we made a stop by the outlet in Foley on our way back to Mobile. Both kids fell asleep so we just drove to each store and took turns going in! It took longer that way, but at least both kids got a decent nap! Then we met the Graham’s at a local gem of a restaurant called Kravers. It’s good to know the locals! And the folks eating there were so friendly and talkative! Of course Arden draws attention anywhere we go! We got back to the Graham’s house and Kristen had made chocolate chip cookies! What a awesome hostess she is!

Saturday we didn’t get up and out too early. But getting 4 kids ready is not an easy thing! Brett had to work but the rest of us went to Fairhope. Which is just the cutest little downtown area. We had lunch in the French Quarter area at Panini Petes. It was really good! And a really cool little place! There were other Red Wolves there (as there were everywhere we went!) and the chef/owner was milling around and we got to talk to him, he was super nice.  We had planned to let the kids play at a nearby playground, but it was just too cold and damp. So the Graham’s went back to their house to get Brett and we ran by the Bass Pro Shop. Of course the kids fell asleep again on the way there, so I sat in the car while Jarrod went in and shopped. When they woke up we did go in for just a minute, but we had to leave so we could get ready for the parade and fireworks in downtown Mobile!

Waiting patiently at Panini Petes

Pretty sure Kristen told the kids to ‘Look at the camera!”- Nope. Not going to happen!

Saturday night we went to the parade and fireworks in downtown Mobile. It was such a neat experience! The parade was a lot of fun! Stratton kept calling it the “football-christmas parade”. It was more like a Mari Gras parade with some cool floats, bands, local motorcycles, the cheerleaders and players and more! There were fellow red wolves everywhere! So many people we knew were there! We had coffee and hot chocolate at a little place called Serda’s. I ended up having to leave the parade about halfway through to do feed Arden, and I went back into the coffee shop! The kids LOVED the parade. And Arden hung in there for awhile till she got too hungry! There were beads and moon pies and all sorts of stuff being thrown from the floats! Kate caught a big teddy bear! Stratton got a ton of beads and some little beanie baby type animals! The fireworks were good too. But by the time it was all over we were tired! I had Arden in the baby bjorn and my back was killing me! But she did great in it, so it was worth it! There’s no way you could have had a stroller with the crowd!

Before the parade

We brought Kate and Ian Red Wolves shirts so they wore them on Saturday!

 

At the Parade

“See my beads, Mommy!”

Brett and Jarrod had sore shoulders the next day!

Arden snuggled in the baby Bjorn, she liked the parade, too!

StAte Cheerleaders!

Fire-breathing dragon! (it had real smoke)

The team hotel with red lights in honor of the Red Wolves and the fireworks!

On Sunday we got up went to church with the Grahams, we saw some Valley View folks there too! Then we had lunch at a Mexican place and took the kids back to the house for a nap. . .it was really hard getting Stratton down! We decided to have dinner before the game at Felix’s. It was awesome. It was right on the bay and if you get seated in the right place you can see the battleship. I would highly recommend it! After we ate the Graham’s and Arden went back to the house, while Jarrod, Stratton and I went to the GAME! It was so much colder than I had anticipated. We should have taken more jackets and some blankets! We were not impressed with the stadium to say the least. But we had a good time. There were lots of people we knew there and it was really cool to all be together so far away from home! We ended up leaving at the end of the 3rd quarter because Stratton was falling asleep and I was freezing ( my feet were hurting they were so cold!). We watched the end of the game on the Grahams TV! And guess what?? We WON!!

Courtesy of Stratton

Having fun, but so COLD!

Monday we got up and left around 11 am. Kate and Ian both had school, so it made it easier to leave but Stratton still wasn’t 100% sold on the idea! We thought we would stop in Jackson on the way back and spend the night again, but we were so ready to be home in our own beds that we just decided to go for it! Arden was better on the way home. Both of them fell asleep after we had dinner at around 7:30 and slept most of the rest of the way home. We got back home around midnight, got the kids changed and back in bed and I think we actually got to sleep about 1:30 or so. Stratton was up by 8 am, so Jarrod took them to Daycare and then he went in to work at noon while I stayed home and did ALL the laundry and put stuff away and unpacked- fun! I love going places but I sure hate coming home and having to deal with the mess!

We had such a great time! However if they go back next year, I think we have decided that we will go to all the pregame stuff but watch the game on TV! Haha! Big thanks to the Graham’s for letting us stay with them! It worked out so well to have kids for Stratton to play with, and having a babysitter for Arden Sunday night! They were awesome hosts!!  Kristen and I got to talk a little, but I think we are too old for those “all night” talks like we used to have!  I hope one day we can return the favor, but we will never live anywhere interesting like they do!! We are planning to go back to Gulf Shores sometime in May so maybe they can come stay in our Condo on the beach for a day or two!

A week of rest?!

I got off work from December 24th- January 3rd! So we have had a great time at home this past week! Of course Monday and Tuesday were busy with Christmas festivities and then Wednesday was all about the snow, but we’ve been taking it easy and playing inside since it’s so cold! We’ve watched lots of movies and had many cups of hot chocolate! Jarrod has had to work a few late nights, and I think the kids might be getting tired of me! It will be nice to have a change of scenery next week when we head to Mobile! We did go out and get dinner out on New Year’s Eve. Stratton wanted “Bosco Bread House” aka San Francisco Bread Company (we still have no idea why he calls it that OR why he likes it so much?) and he had been really good AND we were completely out of food again at our house! Well as we were ordering we ran into some good friends that we haven’t seen in forever, Amber and John Sutton! We ended up eating together and having a great time catching up. We will be getting together again soon hopefully!

Arden is just growing and turning into such a big girl! Her next Dr visit is in a couple of weeks and I am anxious to see how much she weighs! She has laughed out loud a few times, but mostly just grins. . .a lot! She is cooing and making all kinds of noises ( I think she likes to hear herself!) and she thinks Stratton is just so funny! She is a pretty happy baby most of the time! She still doesn’t eat much, but I’m not too worried since she seems to be putting on weight (even if it seems like it’s all going to one area- her thighs!) and she is sitting up well with a little support. She really likes the bumbo and we’ve been taking it with us pretty much everywhere! It’s so perfect for restaurants! She absolutely hates the carseat. She starts with the screams the moment you snap the harness! So we don’t make her stay in it except for when we’re in the car! It will be interesting to see how she does in it on our way to Mobile! Scary?!

We got Arden’s jumparoo put together, finally and she loves it! It plays music and has lights and all sorts of stuff! This was a baby gift from some of Jarrod’s family! We never had one with Stratton, but Kayce had one at her house when she kept him and I remember he saying how much he liked it. The only problem is the thing is HUGE! I figure she won’t be in it too long though, she doesn’t ever seem to be content in once place for very long at all! But at least this keeps her busy for a few minutes for now!

Like father like son. . . (he’s on the ipad if you can’t tell)

Oops! I was spotted!

Stratton actually asked me to take their picture in front of the tree!

Arden has learned how to grasp and hold and she is fascinated!

Silly Smile! . . .notice Jarrod in the background, pretty sure he was trying to nap! Uh, not going to happen with both kids at home! We had a great week at home! Even if we’re a little tired of each other!