I Should Blog

As the holiday season nears, our schedules are picking up.  This time of year is always so busy!  I feel bad that my blog posts are few and far between right now, but there simply isn't enough time to do everything!

Here's what we're up to:

*Dylan is turning 10 on Saturday.  HOW is that even possible?  An entire decade passed since our (big) preemie was born a month early!  He certainly changed our lives and is the sweetest, kindest, most loving boy.  He makes us so proud!





*Lexie is beautiful, but she's also sweet and incredibly smart.  This girl is kicking butt in second grade!





*Lily keeps us on our toes.  She is the funniest little girl, and has quite a personality. She is also ridiculously stubborn. Parenting Dylan and Lexie was easy.  Parenting Lily is not. She challenges us every day with her stubborn, independent streak!





*I had a rough day last week. Liam was really struggling to crawl.  He can pull up, stand, and cruise, but HATES being forced to try to crawl.  After a particularly challenging Physical Therapy session, I found myself near tears, thinking he would never get it.  After a short-lived pity party, I took Lily and Liam to the park to enjoy the beautiful weather and I let Liam be a regular little boy.  It was exactly what we needed.





*And guess what?  Two days later, something clicked.  All it took was some food bribery!



*Dylan and Liam look so much alike.  Liam has always looked like his big brother!



*Our sweet Great Dane, Bailey, is showing her age.  She's going to be 10, which is the end of the average lifespan for her breed.  She's losing weight, acting anxious all the time, and chews on her legs.  Lily loves her dog, and I hate the fact that she won't vividly remember her, and that Liam won't remember her at all. She's the sweetest dog, and it hurts to think about saying goodbye.



*Dylan and Lexie had sleepovers on Saturday night, so Lily, Liam, and I had an impromptu visit with some of our favorite people!




*We got an awesome new fireplace!  It's the favorite spot in the house!



*We got a dusting of snow on Friday afternoon, and again last night.  It's supposed to be super cold tonight and tomorrow (16 overnight, and 19 is the high tomorrow in Pittsburgh.  It will be colder here, north of the city.).  It's way too early for this!



*Liam got his third haircut.  Some people, who shall not be named, were making fun of his long combover. The bathroom sink was the perfect haircut location.




*I have a holiday clothing shopping problem.




(Top 3 are from Old Navy. Bottom 4 from Target.)

*My Netflix #StreamTeam package arrived at the beginning of the month. I'm still giddy about this opportunity! This month's post is coming up soon!



*I dragged all 4 kids to Dylan and Lexie's parent teacher conferences.  It was quite an adventure!  I wrote the time down wrong for the first conference, which meant we rushed out the door 5 minutes before the start time.  It takes 10 minutes to get to the school, park, and get everyone into the building.  Liam was still covered in his breakfast, so he had a baby wipe bath and clothing change in the stairwell, between conferences.  Both teachers raved about Dylan and Lexie, so I was one proud mama!



*They both received perfect attendance awards, Lexie got straight A's, and Dylan got all A's and two B's. All the tests in 4th Grade are challenging Dylan, but he's getting the hang of it. Both kids are reading way above grade level! They definitely love to read!



*Liam had some Santa Claus practice with his Papa.



*Lily was completely potty trained just before her 2nd Birthday.  For the past few weeks, she has been having accidents, and it's driving me crazy.  We just went back to bare bottom method and she has to earn back her underwear.  Ha!

*Liam is teething like crazy, which means he's drooling like crazy, too. I have a fun review/giveaway coming up later this week!

*Liam is NEVER allowed to have a Fiber One bar again.  He sampled one in Costco, and it gave him the most awful gas ever.  We went to the grocery store after we left Costco, and I felt so bad for the fellow customers.  He was tooting in every aisle, and the smell was gag-worthy!  He thought our reactions were hilarious!



*Grant and I recently had an afternoon date.  With one kid.  When you have 4 kids, taking 1 kid with you feels like a vacation.  We had breakfast, started our Christmas shopping, and went to Starbucks.  Liam's Aunt Annie, who works in HR at Toys R Us, took him behind the scenes while we shopped.  Grant and I had a great afternoon, even with our baby sidekick!




*Speaking of Grant, he works overtime almost every single day.  The mortgage industry keeps him very busy!  I swear, his coworkers see him more than we do!

*I mentioned it in the previous post, but Liam had a great appointment with his new ENT!  He doesn't have to go back until May!



*I *THINK* we might need one of these around our Christmas Tree this year!



*Finally, I leave you with the funniest picture from the past two weeks!