My smart niece

My little niece Ellie is always wanting to look at my phone.  Usually I will look up Hello Kitty on pinterest for her but otherwise she knows how to navigate the iphone.  She knows how to play music, look at pics and videos as well as get into Angry Birds.  I haven't yet showed her how to play but I'm sure I will someday soon.  So back in the day (like last year) she used to just take random pictures of the floor or ceiling.  I was just checking out my most recent pics to put on my blog and came across these.  They're not the best pictures but I thought pretty good for a 3 year old!

No helmet!

Friday was the last time Silas wore his helmet.  It's been 3 months and 10 appointments later that Silas now has a perfectly shaped head.  He is still getting used to not having it on, a few times he hit his head on the floor and cried.  He had some skin issues on his head too but that has pretty much cleared up.  I love touching his head, I know it's weird but I missed his head and I'm so excited that he can wear a hat now!  We have one alligator sun hat but I'd like to get a couple more.  Also, I'd like to get some sunglasses for him too.  I think this weekend we'll have to go shopping!

Big Boy

 My baby Silas is getting to be a big boy!  This is what he's up to these days:

• He's 8.5 months old but mostly wears 18 months clothes. 
• He has 2 bottom teeth and one coming out on top!
• He rolls, crawls, and runs in his walker.
• He loves to stand and bounce.
• He gets his helmet (doc band) off this weekend!
• He now sits in a regular seat in his stroller, no more carrier.
• He loves his stroller.
• We get his new carseats soon, he has outgrown his carrier.
• He is usually a good eater but likes to feed himself which can be messy.
• He cries when you walk away from him.
• He loves kisses.
• Sometimes he falls asleep in the bathtub.
• He slept through the night last night.  It's pretty much the first time.

In his 'Eggplant' stroller!

Silas enjoying the nice weather!

New beginnings

Heidi's last day at MGIC is today.  I'm so excited for her!  A promotion, working closer to home, and being in a growing environment is what she deserves.  I've never been one to settle and I'm glad that my sister isn't one to either.  We only get ONE life to live.  Why waste it on anything but the best?  I'm sad today though.  I  remember a wise co-worker once told me that it's sometimes worse for the ones that are left.  Hopefully I'll have a new beginning soon.  To cheer me up, my sister got me another orchid.  When I first joined the department about 3 years ago, she gave me an orchid.  It ended up getting poisoned and died.  I actually think someone here was pouring there leftover crap in it.  I know it's weird but there are a bunch of weirdos at my work.  I hope I can give my new orchid a new home because pretty orchids deserve a new beginning.

I finally got a haircut!  I needed to so badly.  All the Mom's out there understand, sometimes life gets so busy we forget about ourselves.  After having Silas I must admit I've let a lot of things go.  Now that it's nice out and summer is coming, I hope to get things back where they should be.  The new haircut is a start.  I also donated it to Locks of Love.  You only need 10 inches but I did 11 inches because it's my favorite number and I can give a little more :)  Sorry I don't have a before picture but my hair was so long it was getting caught in like doorways, the sink while washing dishes and of course in Silas's hands.  And the shower.  Nick and I tackled the shower drain last week.  It was like taking out a nest of mice, so disgusting.  I feel so much lighter and am happy to use less conditioner!  The next thing I need is a pedicure...I definitely won't take a before picture of that either.

Speaking of new beginnings, I'm so excited to experience all the new things with Silas this summer.  This past weekend was the first time he touched grass.  I can't wait to go swimming with him, swing on the swing, hiking, and I'm sure we'll find many more activities to do for the first time together!  I will make sure to dress him appropriately unlike his outfit on Sunday.  Totally my fault, I didn't think we were going anywhere and I just threw the Christmas sleeper on!  At least he doesn't know the difference yet.

I try to make up for it with other things like dressing him as a Giraffe for his 6-month pics.  I ordered a canvas and it arrived last week.  It's really cool, now we just have to find the perfect spot to hang it!

Laminate Floors

In January, a little over 4 years ago, I went to look at the condo.  I remember sitting in the family room trying to envision living there.  The carpet was new, the walls were white, and the fixtures were gold and outdated.  My Dad and I spent months painting, replacing the fixtures and baseboards.  I finally moved in sometime around April.  It was very quiet and very clean.  The stove didn't get used much, mostly just the microwave and toaster oven.  I was pretty happy and comfortable.  A couple years later I met Nick and he moved in quicker than I did!  Seriously it was like 1 month.  Then we had baby Silas.  I'm still pretty happy and comfortable.  Our stove gets used every night.  Our refrigerator has more than just butter and coffee creamer in.  And our new carpet isn't looking so new anymore.  This has led to getting laminate floors.  I couldn't wait to get rid of the 'dirty' carpet and ugly linoleum.  With us not sure of when we'll make our next move we felt that getting laminate floors will be the most inexpensive way to provide a clean crawling area for Silas and keep me happy.  I'll admit, I complained about the carpet all the time and I was pretty obsessed with using the carpet cleaner.  Or I should say having Nick use the carpet cleaner :)  

So a few weeks ago we bought the flooring from Menards and by the next weekend it was in.  Nick, his Dad and brother Vince got it done in 1 1/2 days!!  I love it.  Below are pics:

Before - Kitchen

Before - Family Room

Before - Family Room/Kitchen

Before - Hallway

Before - Silas's Room

Demolition!

Chipped tile

Moisture barrier and padding

Almost finished - Silas Room

Almost finished - Family Room/Kitchen

Almost finished - Family Room/Kitchen

Hallway

After - Silas's Room

After - Hallway

After - Family Room

After - Kitchen

After - Kitchen

Being Sick

Being sick sucks, but it even sucks more when you and your kids are sick.  This past winter has been the worst winter I have ever experienced with being sick.  And everything I got, Silas got, and vice-versa.  We've been hit with the stomach flu, regular flu, cold, ear-infection, bronchialitis, coughing, sneezing, fevers, you name it.  We have taken many trips to the Dr. lately but that's ok because when we go there they usually give us samples of Silas's formula.  Every little bit helps.  Here is Silas getting the albuterol treatment.  It sucks because he usually cries the whole time.  The advantage to crying is it takes less time for him to inhale it.  This go around he wasn't crying much and the treatment took a lot longer.  This is probably the only case besides when he was born that I'm ok with him crying.

So after all the sickness and medication, I'm happy to report that we are all better, for the most part.  We are still using the inhaler on Silas (sometimes I take a puff too) and this has seemed to really help his wheezing.  I also have this new device that I recommend to all Mom's and Dad's.  It seems kinda gross but it works so well.  The NoseFrida uses your own suction to take out the boogies.  There is a filter so you won't suck anything up.  I use it almost daily on Silas and I get those boogers out every time.  Nick helps me hold him down while I suck them out.  Sometimes it looks like I'm sucking his brains out with the way he moves around and his eyes go goofy but once we're done he can breathe better and we have gotten rid of those booger germs.  I picked it up at BuyBuyBaby.

The last few weeks Jellie (Ellie & Jack) have been coming over more often for dinner.  It's so fun having them over and Silas loves it.  Jellie is so sweet to him.  Ellie will hold his bottle and help feed him.  Jack will give him a toy or find his nukie when he's crying.  Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of situations where Jellie will take toys away from him, throw something, or try to poke, pinch, punch, or sit on him.  It's normal and although it makes me uneasy at times it's kinda cool because they act just like siblings.  I'm so happy that he has cousins that he will be close with. I can already tell he looks up to Ellie.  He is always watching her.  It will be fun when baby # 3 arrives and Silas can be a 'big' cousin.  

Easter 2013

Since my last post things have been crazy busy.  We had a fun Easter at Heidi's for brunch.  We watched Ellie and Jack look for eggs.  Jack is so good at finding them!  I'm excited to do this next year with Silas.  It's cool that Jack is pretty much 1-year older than Silas.  He has gotten so many nice 'hand-me-downs' which has helped Nick and I out while we get used to how much kids can cost!  Another neat thing about Jack being 1-year older is I get an insight on how Silas will be a year from now.  Jack loves to take his shoes and socks off, but then they get lost.  The other day I was telling Nick that we have to begin preparing ourselves for when Silas starts wearing 'normal' clothes.  He will be for sure taking his shoes and socks off just like Jack!  Silas typically wears one-piece sleepers all the time but ever since Easter when I dressed him in regular clothes I'm thinking we should do this more often mostly because he looks so cute.  Anyway it's getting warmer out and those sleepers get hot so we should be seeing Silas in regular clothes more often.  Here we are on Easter in our 'normal' clothes.

 After brunch we played with Ellie's new Hello Kitty car toy.  This year I decided to skip on the candy and just get a couple cool toys that we could play with.  Silas loved the car!

Exhausted from the morning festivities, Silas took a nap.  I think it's cute how he always sleeps on his side with his arm up.

After Heidi's we spent Easter with Nick's family at his parents house.  As usual the food was great, we both got to catch up with some of his family we don't see very often, and we both got to sit back and watch the kids be kids.  Silas loves watching and a lot of action.  By the time we were ready to leave, Silas was already falling asleep in my arms.  It was a perfect Easter!