Happy 3 Month Birthday, Hope!

Our sweet baby Hope is three months old. She has grown and changed so much over the last three months. Here is what you've been up to, Baby Hope:

• You love to eat. It seems like nursing is FINALLY the way it's supposed to be.




• You love to watch your brother and sister and always smile at them.




• Your schedule is basically wake at 6:00-6:30 am, go down for a nap around 8:00 or 8:30 am, another nap around noon, and then a short nap around 5:00 or 6:00 pm. You still cat nap some and we haven't been able to get your afternoon nap to last too long in your bed. You'll sleep in your car seat or the swing for that nap though. Every night you get a bath (which you love), put jammies on, nurse, read a book, and then I put you in your bed. You put yourself to sleep and then get up around 3:00 am to eat. You have slept through the entire night a couple of times, but nothing consistent yet.




• You smile, smile, smile. It is the sweetest smile around.




• You love the Helen Oxenbury books. Especially the I Hear one. There is a picture of a baby on the last page that makes you smile just about every time.




• You are standing up on our laps. You love to do that so you can see things that are going on.




• When Daddy says, "Are you a pretty girl?" you smile from ear to ear. You love your Daddy and always grin for him.
• Your nicknames are Hopie, Hopester, Sweet Pea, Pumpkin Pie, Princess Poopy Pants, and a few others.




• Of course you love your Momma too. It melts me to see you smile at me and when you move your arms and legs when you see me. You also know how to get me to pick you up!




• Your hair is really coming in. It is a light brown color and your eyes are still blue. We think you look just like Philip did when he was a baby.




• You are still wearing some 0-3 months clothes and some 3-6 month clothes.




• You weigh around 12 1/2- 13 pounds on our home scale.




• You love your Bee (paci).




• You still aren't fond of tummy time.

Hope, you are such a blessing to our family. We adore you and thank God for giving you to us to love and raise.

A Visit with the Miller's

Saturday we met the Miller's at a place called KidSense in Rutherfordton. It is a children's museum with exhibits that are interactive for the kids. It looked like a lot of fun and boy was it a good choice.

We started out having lunch at a nice little resturant. It was fun to watch Grace and Zhanna. They sat there and talked and played the entire time. Randy and I talked later about how neat it is that they just pick up where they left off. It is like they are next door neighbors or classmates.

We walked down to KidSenses and paid our admission. The older girls seemed to enjoy the bubble room and the news studio the most. They loved using the microphone to talk and seeing themselves on camera. Abby and Philip both enjoyed the store where they could pick up all kinds of groceries and then scan them at the check out. Philip also enjoyed a climbing apparatus that went from the bottom floor to the top floor. He was hard to keep up with!

Once we got home, Grace and Philip played outside and by the time they both came in for the day, Philip had fallen and skinned his knee and Grace got herself stung twice by a yellow jacket. Talk about drama- didn't you all hear wild screaming on Saturday afternoon. You would have thought the child lost a limb. But she survived it and we did too.

Where was Hope, you ask? Just hanging out being a cutie.

Poop, Poop, Poop

   That seems to be a recurrent theme in our house these days. Lucky for you all, there are NO PICTURES.

    Tuesday, Philip and I were upstairs and Grace was downstairs with Hope (who was in her swing). I heard Grace talking and thought something didn't seem quite right. I went downstairs and found Grace standing over Hope who was buck naked on the changing table. I go into my Mommy lecture about picking up the baby and how it isn't safe, etc. and then help her finish getting Hope's diaper and clothes back on. When I got back to my bedroom, Philip says, "Mommy, I think I pooped in my underwear." He had......while he was laying on my bed. So I had to strip down the 4 year old and my bed.

    Randy was holding Hope before supper today. When he handed her to me, he asked if she was wet because his hand was wet. I told him that she just sweats a lot. We all sat down to supper and were chatting when Randy noticed a mustard stain on his pants. We're having pizza- that's not mustard! It's poop. I pick Hope up and sure enough she's leaked- on her outfit, the boppy, and her Daddy. Randy starts "eewwwing," and talking about cloroxing his hand and puts his hand towards Grace. She screams and runs for the hills with her Daddy hot on her tail. Philip and I laughed and laughed. After a baby clean up, we all sat back down and enjoyed our poop free supper. Tomorrow is a brand new day.

Philip's Mask

This past Monday, little man came into our room at 2:00 am with a fever of 103. We gave him Motrin and then listened to him talk utter nonsense for the next two hours. Yes, he was in our bed. Ok, he and Daddy were in my bed; I was on the floor. He finally fell asleep and yes, you guessed it, Hope woke up. But that isn't really a part of the story.

Off to the doctor's office we went. The front door had a sign that said, "If your child has a fever and cough, please ask for a mask." So we got the mask. Philip didn't want to wear it. It was too big so I had to tie the sides to make it fit for him.

Flu and strep tests were negative so the diagnosis was a virus. Yep, it's the third virus he's had in 2 months. His fever finally broke late Tuesday evening and he's been right as rain ever since.

Do you think he looks like a future doctor?