Quality Time

11-16

On Monday, we let Charlie stay home from school. When I called the secretary to tell her that Charlie wouldn't be at school today, she asked if he was sick. I said, "No, we have out of town family here and it's a special day." She paused and said ohh in a way that I was pretty sure she was judging me. Go ahead, woman. But yes, I do think spending a day at home with grandparents trumps school! I should have kept him home all week long...

Alanna put on her apron and helped Grandma make banana bread on Monday afternoon. She loves to help in the kitchen and is thrilled whenever she gets to! Unfortunately for Alanna, I don't always let her help me... my patience runs a bit thin sometimes. :/

Charlie and Grandpa played Legos for a bit while Grandma and Alanna were baking and Molly and Hattie were napping. I believe my dad created a Lego Pope-mobile. Pretty rad!

11-17

Oh my goodness, Hattie is even smiling in this one! It will be interesting to see if Hattie bridges the gap between Molly and Alanna who don't especially look alike. Grandma and three of her seven granddaughters. So special!

We really didn't leave the house too much while my parents were here. Mom and I took Charlie to school on Tuesday so she could see where to go and how to pick him up. Charlie was thrilled to have Grandma and Grandpa drop him off and pick him up from school!! I turn into chopped liver whenever Grandma and Grandpa are around. Which is fine with me - the kids are trying to soak up as much of their grandparents as possible. Nothing wrong with that!!! Like this little tiny one looking so intently at Grandpa:

Lake Grandma and Grandpa Come for a Visit

11-15

Lake Grandma and Grandpa came for a visit the week before Thanksgiving. We had such a great time with them!! They flew into Eugene on the night of the 14th and stayed overnight before driving down on Sunday morning. We were all so excited for their arrival since we haven't seen them since May! It has been quite a long stretch, longer than usual. Typically between our trips back to MN and my parents' visits, we see them 3-4 times a year with maybe 4 months in between visits. This time was a long 6 months. We couldn't wait to introduce them to sweet baby Hattie!

Hattie was wearing her very last size newborn diaper and a newborn outfit when Grandpa and Grandma arrived, but within a few hours, the diaper was changed to the next size up. It was also time to retire her size newborn outfits. Fittingly, Hattie wore the Grandma Loves Me outfit on the day my parents came. :)

We watched out the window waiting for Grandma and Grandpa to arrive even though we didn't know what kind of rental car they would be driving.

YAY!!!! They're here! And wasting no time, Grandma and Grandpa's arms were filled with grandkids.

Hattie is grandchild number ten for my parents. Dad and I were having a conversation during the week and he mentioned that people think that ten grandkids is kind of a lot these days. I was a bit surprised by that!

Puzzles, lacing cards, cash registers, tag reader books and map... these kiddos have a lot planned for Grandma and Grandpa while they're here!

Grandma and Grandpa came bringing gifts; Charlie received a new Lego kit, Alanna received a smelly puzzle, and Molly received a washable coloring book and crayons. Hattie received her own baby gift - and outfit and an owl taggie blanket sewn by my mom. She's super talented and free-handed the whole thing. It's adorable!

Grandpa snuggles are some of the best snuggles!

More people for Charlie to read to!

Help! And Helper of the Day

11-13

Oh brother, moms who read this blog. I need advice. A friend whom I know through a moms church group and story time at the library offered to bring us a meal in exchange for some baby snuggling time. I know this woman but not really well. As in I have interacted with her several times but always in a neutral settling, never at my home or hers. When she signed up for a meal train date, she sent me a message asking to come over for a play date when she dropped off the food. I was hesitant to agree in the first place since I wasn't quite ready for visitors unless the visitors were one of about three friends whom I know really well. But I went against my judgement and agreed to let them come over. I was hoping for a short visit but they stayed for about an hour and 20 minutes, an hour longer than I wanted. That being said, here goes...

I took this picture to document Molly's adorable pigtails, one of which was ripped out of her hair by a boy that came over with his mom and sister. The boy was 18 months old and a complete bully. He was swatting at and hitting Molly to the point where she crawled up on the couch next to me (I was nursing Hattie) because she was scared of him. The first time it happened, I chalked it up to age giving this boy the benefit of the doubt. After it happened three times, Molly was on the couch. It was the only place he couldn't reach her. A bit later when I was sitting on the floor, Molly was glued to my lap, eyeing the boy and trying to stay safe. I pushed the boy's hand away several times but all it took was one second for me to look the other direction before he swooped in and pulled Molly's pigtail hard enough to pull the ponytail holder out and break it all while I was holding her in my lap. The mom was getting after her son but he only laughed and smiled when he got in trouble. The picture doesn't show the two long bright red fingernail scratches from the top of Molly's forehead down to the middle of her cheek. Seriously, this boy was rough. And mean. Seeing that he wasn't going to quit, I ended up putting Molly in her high chair where she was out of reach and safe from the kid. Good grief. I was so upset about the whole thing; not wanting to do the play date in the first place, the behavior of the boy, the lack of effective discipline from.the mother, and mostly the guilt I felt for the whole situation. By me not putting my foot down and asking them to leave, I passively put this woman and our primitive friendship above my daughter, and for that I was steaming mad at myself for. So what the heck, moms? How would you have handled the situation? I know you all have been there before, so what do you do? 

The rest of the day was spent recovering from the events of the morning. I played and replayed it over and over in my head and came up with a lot of things I should have said. Some were not appropriate. Some were. Why is it difficult to just say what needs to be said - "I think it's time for the play date to be over" or "I can't let Caleb hit Molly anymore so I think you should go".

 

Though it looks like Hattie got her own battle wounds, she simply scratched herself with her fingernails. I wasn't as concerned for her since I was holding her nearly the entire time, but she was in the swing for a bit towards the end which would have been right at this boy's height...

Charlie has been the helper of the day at school twice now. I guess part of being the helper is getting to have your own daily message. Charlie's first daily message said "On the weekend, Charlie likes to play soccer outside." This one says that his favorite food is bread and butter. No surprise there! I think he also gets to be the line leader throughout the day. It's a pretty big deal when you're a kindergartener!

Those cute piggies! She looks more and more like a big girl when I fix her hair. It is becoming a necessity since her hair hangs down lower than her eyes now. I have no plans to cut bangs so what you see that appears to be bangs is actually just her baby hair along her hairline.

Charlie is my helper at home, too. He helps us out so, so much and often does it with a good attitude.

 

Three Weeks

11-12

Hattie Elizabeth is three weeks old! Her newborn outfits are getting a bit snug and short in the sleeves so I know she's growing even if I can't see it every day. Yep, she likes the pacifier and at this point, she was getting better and better about keeping it in. 

This is Molly's 92-week picture... or something like that. :)

Charlie and Alanna played a game of Cootie one evening with minimal help from us. We love games!

Pre-bedtime nap. Sound familiar, anyone?? 

These socks! Aren't they hilarious? They are supposed to be the fold-down kind but I don't usually bother. Instead I can pull them up over her knees. Such tiny little legs!!

Our New Little Bike Rider!

11-11

These pictures were taken on Veteran's Day, a week after Alanna learned to ride her bike. A few days after her birthday, she and Matt went outside to ride bike, and she just decided that she was ready to have the training wheels taken off. I'm pretty sure I blogged about it, but didn't include pictures. If the pictures look blurry, it's because she whizzes around the driveway like she has been riding bike for her whole life! What I hope the pictures show is her emotions when she's riding; so proud of her accomplishment, that feeling of conquering something, and so confident in her new skill. All of that PLUS the sheer joy of being a kid and riding a bike makes for one excited little girl. Four years old and riding a two-wheeler! Nice job, Alanna!!

Veteran's Day

11-11

Matt and Charlie were home on Veteran's day. It was a pretty gray start to the day, lightly raining all morning before turning to a heavy mist closer to 11am. There was a parade downtown Roseburg that started at 11 but we didn't decide to go until only 10-15 minutes before it started. Due to the precipitation, Matt ended up taking Charlie, Alanna, and Molly while Hattie and I stayed home. Thankfully the mist let up quite a bit shortly after the parade started before eventually quitting all together. The parade lasted for nearly two hours and the troops came home with a bucket full of candy and trinkets. They had a great time! Hattie and I got some things done around the house, too. 

A few minutes after this picture was taken, Hattie blew out of a diaper getting poop on her clothes, blanket, and Matt's jeans. It was a good one!! 

First Bath

11-10

Hattie's umbilical cord finally came off on Tuesday at 19 days old. The nurse who cut the cord left it really long, longer than the other kids' cords, not that it really means anything. I'm certain our kids all made it to two-plus weeks at the very minimum. A nurse told me that a thick healthy umbilical cord is related to how long before it dries up and falls off. If she was correct, we had some healthy umbilical cords!! I was excited to give Hattie a real bath though she didn't mirror my excitement. She cried through nearly the entire thing! I never get the temperature just right; I assume that since she's a baby, the water can't be hot but if the water isn't warm enough then she's freezing cold... I think it was the latter for the first bath. The next few nights got progressively better for both of us. I got the water temperature regulated and she got used to bathing in general. There was less and less crying for the next few nights!

I can't remember where we went, but Hattie's big sisters were eager to have her home!

It's a big tub for a tiny girl.