Rainy Monday

Today is such a rainy day. We were supposed to get rain this weekend, but it waited until Sunday night and has been raining all day today. I know we need it, but I really don't think it has stopped pouring for the last couple of hours. I love rainy days......but it was much nicer when I had no responsibilities and could just lay around and do nothing. Not today.....trying to get some work done now that Molly has been taking her nap for the last hour. She is getting so mobile now and I really think she completely tires herself out by the time naptime rolls around. A couple of months ago, I was fortunate enough to get her and Brody on the same nap schedule, which definitely makes life easier on the weekends. Luckily, she only took 2 naps for a short period of time and has been on a one nap schedule for a while now.

I am happy to report that her two bottom teeth have finally cut the gum. I was starting to get worried that she was going to be a toothless walker. She is very, very close to walking. She has taken a few steps while holding on to something so I feel like it is just a matter of time before she takes that first step on her own. She is definitely become really active which sometimes makes it difficult to watch both kids, especially since Brody is all over the place.

Speaking of Brody, he has become real cute with Molly sometimes. She of course wants whatever he has and he is not down for it. That really is the only time he gets upset with her. He always looks for her in the morning and when we go in there to get her ready, the minute he walks in her room, he says "There she is! Hi Molly!" Of course, her face lights up big time when she sees him. I posted a picture of Brody feeding her before, and yesterday, he wanted to feed her again. It only lasted a few minutes before he was shoving her off of him, but I was able to get a cute picture. He gave her a kiss on the forehead and tried to get that, but my camera didn't work fast enough! :(

Also, on Wednesday last week, I picked up the kids and when I went to pick up Brody, they told me that he peed and pooped on the potty during school! I know...TMI, but I was so freaking excited! I couldn't stop telling him how proud I was and he looked pretty happy himself! Of course, he hasn't gone since, but hey.....once is going in the right direction. I am really happy that they are working with him in school that way he is getting it there and home. I am hoping that it won't take too long, but I have to keep reminding myself that this is one thing I can't control. This is all Brody......I had a video I was going to post where we were talking about it, but for some reason, I keep getting an error when I try to post it. Oh well.....

New Computer

Last week when I got home from my work travel, I came in and saw a bunch of my computer keys sitting on the fireplace. I asked Ted what happened, and of course, he says he wasn't sure, but we both figure it was Brody. Not sure how that all happened, but Ted tried to fix it and it didn't work very well. So yesterday, we went out to look for another laptop. I hated to spend the money, but since I work from home on Mondays, I need a computer. So, I ended up getting a Sony and I LOVE IT! It is hard for me to get used to the keyboard though, because it has the number key pad on the right of the keyboard, which means I have to type the left side of the keyboard rather than the middle. But, other than that, I am very excited. It is also so much faster than my other computer. Anyway, that is what is going on with me!

Last night, shockingly, Brody said something about feeding Molly her bottle before bed. Of course, I ran to get the camera, hoping he didn't lose interest quickly. My Mom was standing right there and I got these pictures. Priceless!

Molly's 9 Month Checkup

Yesterday, I took Molly to the doctor for her 9 month checkup. Here are her stats:

Weight - 20.0 lbs. (50-75 percentile)
Length - 28 inches (50-75 percentile)
Head - 17 inches (25 percentile)

So, her weight and height are pretty proportionate, but her head is still on the small end. It is crazy because her head doesn't look considerably smaller or disproportionate to her body. Poor thing....she carries all her weight in her thighs right now. Her upper body is small, but her thighs are huge! She is right on the verge of walking though. She is constantly pulling up and has mastered standing on her own without holding on to anything. I am just waiting for the day she takes a few steps. It will be soon.

So, I mentioned a couple of posts ago that I got their pictures taken a couple weeks ago. Here are some of the pics. Poor Molly, she was starting to get sick that morning so a few of the pictures, you can tell because her eyes are red, but she did pretty fantastic during the photo shoot. Brody, of course, was the more difficult one. He would not just smile......he was doing this weird thing with his tongue every time they tried to take a picture. Anyway, I was pleased with these pics and I think they turned out great! (Grandma Crumb - I have some for you that I will either send to you or give you when you get here. You let me know which you would rather me do!)

Rough Day.....

This is how Molly fell asleep tonight.......

Molly's First Sickness

Brody went 14 months before he got sick for the first time. And, of course, that was one week after he started daycare. I, of course, knew that it would probably be hard for Molly to avoid getting sick especially with Brody hanging around and bringing home all the germs from daycare. Well....we made it 9 months before her first sickness and this one kicked her butt. It started last week. She had a runny nose for a couple of days, but I assumed it was just allergies since Ted's allergies were bad and so were Brody's well. Well, last Saturday, I made an appointment to get their pictures taken and she seemed to be fine during the session. Well, that afternoon, this is what she looked like!

Even as sick as she was, she was still smiling and laughing. The next couple of days she was miserable and started to run a fever. I scheduled an appointment for Tuesday afternoon. Well, turns out, her doctor said that essentially, everything from her neck up was infected. She had an ear infection, her eyes were infected, and she had a sinus infection. Luckily, her chest was fine. Well, she was given an antibiotic, and by the next day, she was looking and feeling SOOOO much better. It was crazy how fast she started to recover. So, now she is basically back to normal. Thank Goodness. So I guess I am lucky that she made it 9 months before getting sick for the first time.

Not much else has been going on. My big project finally shipped and I was off last week from Wednesday to Friday. I was able to focus on cleaning the house, which was extremely overdue so I was glad that I was able to get that done. Now, I am leaving tomorrow for a couple of days for a 2-day work training. I will be back late Wednesday night so it is daddy daycare at our house for the next couple of days.

I had to post the following video because it cracks me up. Molly has been crawling for a while now but she has sometimes struggled to crawl when she is wearing a dress. This is how she has overcome that struggle. And she is pretty fast with it too.....

Here are a few other pictures.....

Pictures and Videos

Here are some pictures from this past weekend. Most of our Molly, of course, because Brody won't sit still long enough for me to get a picture....

I finally brought the camera in with me when I fed her because when I give her her lovey at night, it really looks like she is hugging it! So sweet!

This video cracks me up. I absolutely love her laugh!

Finally.....A Break

For the last month or so, I have been working soooooo much. I am working on a big project for the State of Connecticut and I am happy to say, it is finally finished! Whew! Even though I actually enjoyed the project, I don't think I have ever worked late and on weekends as much as I have the past month. But, it looks good and it looks like we have a great shot at winning it, so it makes it all worth it.

Ted has been taking on Daddy daycare while I have been working and has done a great job. He has had the daunting task of feeding both kids dinners, giving them baths, putting Brody down, and feeding Molly before bed. Some nights it can be overwhelming, but we have a really good schedule down with both kids and they are typically in bed by 7:00 each night, so atleast there is some down time.

I have been really slack with the pictures and videos lately. I do have some, but of course, they are at home and I can't upload them here at work. So, I will have to try and upload this weekend. Brody has been really good lately. He moved up into the next class at daycare and they are starting to work with him on the potty training. He has peed once at school and they are getting ready to go hardcore with him. When I dropped him off the other morning, I talked with his main teacher for a long time. I told her "I am one of those Moms that thinks my kid is never going to get it!" She started laughing, saying she gets that a lot. As I was talking to her, one of the kids got up and used the potty and washed his hands. She said "You see him? I never thought he was going to get it, but look at him!" That made me feel a little better. She stressed to us the importance of getting Brody into a good schedule of sitting on the potty at home and we have been doing that more regularly now. He hasn't really gone alot, but he does know what he is supposed to do. His teacher also said "Brody is so smart and he talks so much better than all of the kids in his class.....he should have no problem!" So, we shall see! In the next few weeks, we are going to transition him to his big full bed. He has been in the toddler bed (which we transitioned from his crib) and he has done great. I am now ready to transition him to the big bed and get new bedding for him. Also, I think we are going to start weaning him off the pacifier at night. He still uses it only at night and he never asks for it during the day. I was reading online about some strategies and I also talked to some other moms who went through this. I think we are going to start poking holes in them and then seeing what happens. Apparently, by doing that, it is a psychological thing and they should give up their pacifier themselves rather than us having to take it away from him. How awful is that.....I feel like I am tricking him! But, if it works, then I am all for it.

As for Molly, she is on the move ALL THE TIME. She is able to pull herself up onto everything and is most happen when she has free run of the house. I definitely think that she will be walking definitely before Brody did (he started walking right after his first birthday). She is already able to take a few steps holding on to something. Also, the weirdest thing....she has no teeth yet! I am super surprised about that. Brody got his bottom teeth when he was 4 months old. By this age, he had a whole mouth full of teeth. But, Molly is still smiling a gummy smile! She will be 9 months on the 11th and I am going to ask her doctor about it when I take her for her 9 month checkup. She is still wearing 6-9 month clothes, which of course is strange to me too because at this point, Brody was wearing 18-24 month clothes! HAHA! I will be interested to see how much she weighs. Ted and I still think she is small, but I know that our perception is a little jaded because of how big Brody was.

Ethan starts school on Tuesday. He will be in the 7th grade! Crazy! Where does the time go? Also, he is definitely starting to go through the change. The other night, when we were eating dinner, I couldn't believe how deep his voice was. It is strange to hear. Also, he is already taller than his Nana and is just about my height! Pretty soon, he will be towering over both Ted and I. Hopefully, he will have a good year this year and continue making good grades.

Ted started his new job last week. He is now a government employee and really likes it. The best part is no travel! Atleast, no long trips. If he does travel, it should only be for a couple of days, if that! I am happy that he now has a secure job and that is deifinitely a stress reliever.

And finally, my sister moved back and is now a VA resident as of yesterday around 4. YAY! I am so happy she is finally home. Hopefully, we are going to get together this weekend.

Okay....I think that is all my updates. I am going to try and post some pictures this weekend. Hope everyone has a nice and safe holiday weekend!