Getting Some Bloodwork Done

Mike is probably going to kill me for posting this, but I don't care! I chuckle every time he needs to get blood drawn because he gets dizzy and nauseous when he sees his own blood. When we lived in Phoenix, he actually passed out while getting blood drawn. He said he woke up, and 5 phlebotomists were standing over him!

He had a physical a few days ago and needed some lab work done. He said he could feel himself getting lightheaded. His color drained from his face, so the phlebotomist gave him some orange juice. He felt better after drinking the juice, but he was still very pale. She made him lay on the nasty clinic floor with his feet up on the chair. Mike said all these little kids were getting throat cultures and lab work done and that everyone just stared at him. He asked several times if he could get up and go (because of how embarrassed he was) but she wouldn't let him. He had to lay there for 15 minutes! Hahahahahaha

It was a good laugh for the day!

22 Months!

Two more months and I will have 2 year olds! Ethan and Mia are doing well. We've dodged the flu for now. They both received their regular flu shot and I'm hoping to get their H1N1 vaccine soon. I'm really praying that we don't get this! What a nightmare that would be.

Ethan is still a rough and tumbling boy. He loves to throw things now. He usually gets me right in the head with a ball or toy when I'm not paying attention. He's got a pretty good aim! I try not to get mad when I get clocked in the head because he's not doing it on purpose! His favorite toys are his tonka dump truck (he's had forever), a new claw toy (from the MOA), stuffed animals, and any type of ball.

He is starting to say a few more words. He can say "ra" for rock (which is his new obsession), "do" for don't, "bu" for butt. There are other words, but I can't think of anymore!

Ethan continues to figure new things out daily. I was in the living room and heard a pop can open. I go running to the kitchen, and sure enough, he had opened a sprite. I thought it was a fluke, but he opened up a diet coke can a few days ago. Uggg! He also figured out how to open my laptop. He climbs up on the chair and starts messing around with it. Mike got after him for getting on my laptop, and Ethan raises his eyebrows (looking as innocent as can be) and goes "huh?" We both busted out laughing. What's funny is not even ten minutes later, Mia climbs up to mess with my lap top and Ethan immediately looks at Mike to see if he's going to get after her. It's amazing how fast they learn these things. He also figured out that he can push his chair up to the door to the screened-in porch and lock/unlock and open the door.

Ethan and Mia are really starting to understand what we say. We were outside and Ethan started running away from me. I asked him, "where are you going" and he replied "ra". He wanted to play with the rocks. Mike asked Mia where her pants were and Ethan went into the living room, grabbed her pants, and brought them to Mike. If I'm going to lay them down for nap, I'll tell both of them to get their blankies, and both will come running with their blankies. It's so cute! I can't wait to use this to my advantage! :)

Mia is my feisty little girly girl. She loves playing with her babies but will brawl with her brother in the same five minutes. She doesn't let him push her around. In fact, it's usually Mia who is pushing him around! I don't think I'll have to worry about her not sticking up for herself. Mia likes to get after Ethan. If he does something to upset her, she points her little finger in his face and yells, "don't, don't, don't, don't." She is still scratching him but doesn't seem to do it as often. She definitely wears the pants!

One of Mia's favorite things to do is to steal the remote from me. She usually waits until I'm nursing Riley and will swoop in and take it before I can grab her. If I ask her to "give me the remote", she'll run and give it to me. It's really cute but irritating, especially when she turns it to an infomercial. Her favorite toys are her babies, a baby stroller, and any type of ball.

Mia continues to love/hate Riley. She kisses her constantly but she will hit or bite her every now and then. She went in for what I thought was a kiss and ended up biting Riley's forehead. Riley started screaming like mad, and Mia looks at her and goes "shhhh" while putting her finger up to her lips. I was trying to get after her without smiling. Sometimes it's hard!

Mia is talking a lot more. She repeats random words that I say. She says, "good girl", "bu" for butt, "here kitty". There are more, but they've slipped my mind!

Mia has started carrying her blankie and bunny around. She sees Ethan doing it and joins in.

Sisterly love.

Cute!

Enjoying the sun!

Enjoying one of the last days of summer.

Mia is my goofy one.

Still obsessed with the blankie and puppy. They have to come everywhere with us. He drags it outside with him. It's been in the mud, on the greasy lawn mower, and even was ripped on the barbed wire fence. He gets mad if I try to hold it for him.

I love this picture of Mia. Pure happiness.

Fell asleep on the couch. I can count on one finger how many times this has happened!

I thought this picture was cute. That's Mia's hand checking out his bellybutton.

Ethan LOVES being outside. I'm all ready dreading this winter!

Playing with Riley's toys and having a blast. They were giggling like crazy together!

Sitting on Mom's lap.

Playing with a new driving toy. Notice all the stuffed animals by him?

Mia Nursing her Baby

Here's a short video of Mia nursing her baby. She does it for a short second in the beginning. Why do they always stop doing stuff when you get the camera out?!?

You can hear Riley in the background. She was ticked that I put her down!

7 Months Old!

Happy 7 Months baby girl! This past month has flown by despite the sleep deprivation! Riley is a really happy smiley baby, especially when she's being held. She really is a sweetie but a pain at the same time. :) Riley continues to be really grabby. She'll go for anything and it goes straight to her mouth. It's funny to watch. I really have to watch her when I have food or something to drink. She grabbed some of my pancakes on Saturday and tried eating them!

We've tried all the fruits and vegetables. Her favorites are sweet potatoes, squash, bananas, and pears. Her least favorites are beans and prunes. We also gave her a chicken noodle dinner for babies. She only took a few bites. I guess she needs to get used to it. We've given her some ritz crackers and she loved them. She made quite the mess though! I plan on weaning her from nursing after she receives her flu shot and H1N1 vaccine. I'm guessing it'll be around December and she'll be about 9 months. She's not going to like it! Her night-time feeding will be the hardest!

I don't see any signs of crawling yet. I can't imagine having all three of them mobile. I can all ready predict that Mia isn't going to leave her alone. It's going to be a nightmare!

Riley loves her big brother and sister. She loves watching them play, fight, and run around. She gets so excited when there's a lot of activity going on. Riley loves to be right in the middle of everything. She doesn't like to be left alone.

Mia going in for a kiss.

Mia likes to grab Riley's shirt and pull her backwards until she falls over.

Close-up.

Enjoying the weather.

Watching Ethan and Mia take a bath.

Mia the pest.

Riley was in the walker first and Ethan did not like it. He threw a fit and when I didn't take Riley out, he climbed in there with her.

Help me!!

First time sitting in a high-chair.

This is why my paper towels are always so crinkly and wet!

Just getting started.

I thought I'd try out a head band.

Excited! She always moves her feet in circles especially when excited. Mia did this too!

Holding Ethan's puppy.

Dad let the three of them play with play-dough in the house. So that's where that blue spot came from on my carpet!

Great-Grandma Krause and Riley.

Grandpa Krause and Riley.

No Ear Infection Here!

Riley was pulling at her ears on Saturday morning, so I was thinking that she may have an ear infection. Maybe this is why she is waking up all the time? Riley and I went to acute care and spent the entire afternoon there. 2 1/2 hours (all the H1N1 school kids were there) and a five minute exam later, I was told that Riley does not have an ear infection but has separation anxiety from me. :) And how do I fix that?

The doctor gave me the "letting her cry herself to sleep" speech. I'm just not ready to do that. With her personality, I don't really think it would work very well anyhow. We are trying once again to get her to sleep in her room. It's not working very well. I do let her fuss for about 5 minutes before I pick her up in the middle of the night. The second I pick her up, she's quiet and falls asleep. The second I lay her down, she starts screeching.

I don't know what to do about this! It all boils down to her wanting to sleep with me. Mike wants her in her own bed. I told him that he needs to help me get up with her in the middle of the night then. He got up with her once, and she screamed bloody murder until I got up and took her. What to do...

Our Mini Vacation

We decided to take a mini-vacation to Minneapolis. Mike and I went to a Metallica concert on Tuesday with a bunch of friends. I can't say I'm the biggest Metallica fan, but it was a fun time! Our group had a suite, and it was a lot of fun! We stayed at the Radisson for a couple of nights. Our hotel was pretty fancy, maybe a little too fancy for us! :)

We spent an afternoon at the Mall of America. We went to the aquarium, which the kids liked. They especially liked looking at the fish aquariums. Ethan and Mia each got a toy from Toys R Us. Can you believe that's all the shopping we did?

Enjoying the fun car ride!

Quiet for the moment.

Looking at the sharks.

Say "cheese"!

Checking out the salt water aquarium.

Going through the aquarium.

Ethan fell asleep for the majority of our shopping trip.

Their favorite part of the trip.

Happy Birthday, Jude!

I have another niece! Jude Monroe was born on 10/09/09 at 3:46pm. She weighed 7 pounds 15 ounces and was 19.5 inches long. She's a cutie! Congrats Sarah and Steve!

Night Owl

It has been a miserable month here. Riley has been waking up 5-8 times per night every night. It started as a gradual thing but escalated when we tried putting her in her own room. To keep our sanity, we moved her pack and play back into our room to see if that would help. She will sleep for about an hour in her pack and play and then she wakes up. The second I pick her up, she puts her head on my shoulder and falls immediately back to sleep. That is, unless I try to lay her back down! I give in and lay her next to me. She's pretty restless even when next to me, so I'm wondering if she's going to get teeth soon. She did sleep last night from 10pm to 4am in her pack and play! I hope she continues this!

Got Out of the House

On Friday, I met some good friends of ours at the Washington Pavillion. It's kind of like a science center in Sioux Falls. Mike stayed home with Riley, so it was the twins and me. Mia had a lot of fun! It didn't take her long to start running around and checking things out. Ethan really surprised me. He was very shy. He wanted me to carry him around or he wanted to sit in the stroller. He finally warmed up the last 10 minutes we were there and started running around a little bit. He actually had a scowl on his face for the first part of our little field trip. I always expected it to be the other way around! I'll have to take them when there aren't so many people there. I know Ethan would have a blast playing with all the stuff.

Playing blocks with Rhea.

Playing with blocks in the stroller. He wouldn't get out and sit on the chair.

Funky mirror.

The ball exhibit was their favorite. It sucked up the balls and they went through all these cool little things.

Mia waiting her turn to play with the balls.

Pick me up!

Mia, Rhea, and Ethan