And Finally, Pictures!

This is what pink eye in the morning looks like.  Heartbreaking isn't it!

Keeping hydrated with a breakfast smoothie.

Two sick crying kids hugging each other.  Brooke tells her brother, "It's okay, Auber!"

Okay, enough of the sadness!  Here is Brooke having "circle time" with all of her stuffed animals.  This was one of the fun things she got to do with Grandma Britta.  Brooke sang the Hello Song to a few of the animals sitting in the circle.  "Hello Crocodile, Hello Crocodile, Hello Crocodile, We're glad you came to play..."

A little time to sit with Daddy.

Some time to chat with Grandpa John on the cell phone.

I wanted to purchase a bike that Brooke's short legs could reach really well on craigslist, but the people selling their bikes wanted way too much for them.  So a quick stop at Walmart and she started cruising around in her new bike!  She mentioned, "There's no music!"  She also asked Daddy, "Buy me a bell for my bike?"

The Dora bike is still on the big side for Brooke so Oliver pushes behind!  It's a perfect combo!  Update on Oliver.... he's one week away from ten months and started taking one to three steps.  He seems more interested in walking but is such a goofball when we "practice".  He gets frustrated and starts bouncing his legs and throwing back his head. A big difference than Brooke who could practice walking over and over again until I was tired! He has a set of strong legs.  He balances on his own for about 10 seconds and then carefully squats and lowers his body to the floor.  All this walking before 10 months old and in soft shoes! Just joking Grandpa! :) 

Brooke has become a picky eater.  She used to try a bite of anything we asked, but that's no longer the case.  Grandma Koke and Emily have both sent me a few great resources about getting kids to eat new foods.  At lunch we made a pea face after Brooke had a fit about having peas on her plate.  She at the whole mouth!  I guess I have to be more creative in my presentations!

Sickness

I haven't been blogging much lately for a few reasons.  The main reason is the sickness that has been in our family for the last four (or more) weeks.  Oliver woke up one afternoon with crusty eyes and this continued for a few days.  A week later he passed on pink eye to me and I added a cold on top of it.  I passed pink eye on to Brooke a week later and she ended up in the emergency room after one of her naps.  She had pink eye, hives and an ear infection.  So ever since I have had to give her amoxicillian and eye treatment every day.  I'm really looking forward to tomorrow being the last day I have to hold her down and put this medicine in her eyes three times a day.  Oliver now has a very stuffy green filled nose and a cough.  I for some odd reason could not fall asleep last night ALL NIGHT LONG.  Finally at 4am I nodded of for 2 1/2 hours.  So anyway, this is the main reason for the lack of great exciting photos. 

We even had a visit from my parents, but it was pretty sad because they also had colds!  On a positive note, I made it to physical therapy to look at my left sciatica issues.  I was recommended motion control shoes that I feel are making a huge difference in the way I walk and jog.  The therapist found that I have VERY tight calf muscles so he has me doing some excruciating stretches three times a day to hopefully improve my ability to compete this summer in a Try-a-Triathlon.  I'm walking and doing a very small amount of jogging to get my endurance up.  I'm looking forward to getting more and more in shape!

Bye!

New Bike!

Too Cute!

I couldn't help but post these photos on my facebook and the blog.  These kids are two peas in a pod!

I have had weird pelvic pain for a over a month so I went to the doctor.  I found out that I have left sciatica.  Pain in my lower back, pain in my left leg and a slow reflex in my left ankle.  All this when I wanted to start training for my very first race this summer, a try-a-tri in Chelan.  My doctor is sending me to physical therapy and hopefully they can help me get my body ready to compete!

On top of the bad news about my back, I got a terrible cold!  Britta came down to play with the kids.  They played so hard for two days, it was great!  One of Brooke's favorite things to do with Grandma Britta was play with the puzzle that Auntie Kerry gave her for Christmas.  She loves the dancing girls on it!

Brooke's New Room

Brooke recently moved into her new room upstairs!  She loves it!

She slept in her big girl bed for the 2nd night with no problems! 

It's a fun room that I spent many hours painting in the past.  I love the nice window seat and the green walls make it really fun.

Both kids have these floor mats in their room.  They are colorful and functional too.  Oliver is now sleeping in Brooke's crib at night.  He's doing wonderfully!  He goes down at 7:30pm, I feed him again at 10:30-11pm and then he sleeps until about 6:30am!  Finally!!!

Beauty and the Beast

Tonight we saw Brooke's first musical, Beauty and the Beast.  The last month has been super challenging for me.  I have so much respect for all single parents out there!  Kent has been rehearsing long hours with the musical.  For the last few weeks I have hardly even seen him.  So, it was great to have a chance to see what he has been up to in January!  I can't wait until spring, where I can see my husband again and get a few hours to relax!  Phew!

The singing and acting was great, the orchestra played well, and the costumes were spectacular!  The high school boys had such incredible voices, they stole the show!  Brooke loved it.  Her favorite part was the "Be Your Guest" scene where the plates, spoons and forks dance about.  Auntie Caitlin watched Oliver so we could have this special time together.  I was so glad that she loved watching it and was so behaved!  Maybe she'll be on that stage some day!

Fortissimo

Oliver's First Word

Does this mean I talk too much on the phone?  Hopefully not!

Poor red eyes... he has had goopy eyes for a few days.  We were even kicked out of the 9 month photo shoot that we had signed up for.  I guess I just got used to seeing those poor red eyes that I didn't realize how bad they were!

Oliver: 9 Months Old

The countdown to the first birthday has begun and it is coming way too quickly.  This little boy is growing up too quick!  Some of the new things he is doing is clapping, waving (looks like snapping), throwing his hands up at the end of "Patty Cake", and saying "hi", "mama", and "dada" once in a while.  He climbs up everything, holds on comfortably with one hand and cruises around.  One of his favorite games is "find the Ipod".  We hide anything shiny and electronic under a blanket and he goes crazy lifting the blanket to find it.  Peek-a-boo is also a favorite game at this age.  He had a renewed attachment to his Mommy and cries when I leave the room or take anything away from him.  His nine month appointment is on Monday so we'll soon have the official stats.  I but I bet we'll be posting photos of Oliver walking or at least balancing by the 10 month update!