Bedtime Routines

When I said Lily was sleeping through the night I lied a little. She was sleeping through the night up until a month or so ago. Then, she decided, like the other two at 5-6 months, to stop. Each time I forgot what I did to get them back on track. But, with a little kick in the butt from my mom and sister, Kristine, they would remind me what I had to do, even though it sort of stinks.

Night 1 (July 17):

Lily went to bed around 8 pm with a full tummy. She woke up crying at 4 am. I went into her room, changed her diaper, soothed her for a few minutes, then told her I wasn't going to feed her until the morning and put her back down. She continued to cry for a solid 20 minutes. Torture.

She woke Maggie for a few minutes, but thankfully nothing too major. She woke Jimmy and he couldn't fall back asleep.

Lily slept until I woke her at 8:45 am!

Night 2 (July 18):

Lily went to bed around 7:30 pm. She woke up at 7 am!

Katie woke up at 4 am because she had to go to the bathroom and her bedtime music wasn't playing loud enough after she turned it back on. She complained loud enough that she woke Maggie for a few minutes, but thankfully nothing too major!

Jimmy slept through it.

Night 3 (July 19):

Lily went to bed around 8 pm. She woke up crying around 6 am, but I took my time to get her, so she fell back asleep. She was awake and happy at 7 am.

The other two girls slept peacefully through the night, along with Pappy. I, on the other hand, was sweating like a pig. I kept tossing and turning all night. Today, I feel like poop. I think I have the cold Maggie got and gave to Jimmy, Katie, and Lily, respectively. At least everyone else slept thought the night! I'll take it!

I was fully prepared for this "cry-it-out" test to last three nights... Kristine says it takes three days to break a habit. Seems we have a genius on our hands with Lily Lillers. She figured it out in one try. Makes me want to cry a little that I didn't test it out a month ago!!! I guess I must have secretly enjoyed our nightly meetings to do anything about it sooner.

My baby is now 6 months old :(

We're back... Maybe.

I just dropped Katie off at the second summer school session (HOORAY!), put the other two tater tots down for a nap, and thought, "Hmm... should I update the blog?"

The last post was from when Maggie (now, 21 months) first started walking! That seems like a million years ago! Now, she is talking up a storm and repeating absolutely EVERYTHING we all say! Her vocabulary is amazing for a not-even-two-year-old... but, her attitude... oh, that attitude!

Katie is Katie (now, 4-1/2 yrs. old). Same old thing. She is as silly as ever and seriously says some of the funniest things on the planet. For example, yesterday, she was making a "smoothie" in their toy blender and handed me a sample. I said, "Wow! There are a lot of flavors in there," referring to the cookies, blocks, legos, and figurines she put in to blend. She replied, "Of course there are, Mommy! I'm Flavor Girl and I can do anything!"

Our newest member, Lillian Maria Wilson (now, 6 months old), is great! I only give her 12 more months of being great though... seems our children like to trick us for their first 18 months of life before they turn evil. Lily loves to smile, and she just started giggling. She's rolling over, sleeping through the night (mostly), and is highly entertained by her two crazy sisters! We are still having issues with her lack of interest in taking a bottle, but that finally seems minor in the grand scheme of things. She is growing as she should, so it is all working out.

Jimmy and I are as tired as any parents of three girls would be, but maybe not nearly as tired as anyone with three boys or triplets would be :) One day at a time seems to be the best way to handle it all.

Here are some pictures and videos of our little ladies...

Katie

Maggie

Lily

The Wilson Sisters

Super Girls Song

Loving on Lily

Christmas Fun

Holiday play date at the Wilsons. The gang was all here to play, make cookies, Christmas trees, reindeer food, and hot chocolate. It was a ton of fun!

October/November

We've been going full speed ahead the last several weeks, so I haven't thought much about blogging. We've been getting over colds, helping Maggie practice walking and talking, hosting and attending gatherings, repairing flooded washing machines, refinancing the house, etc... There is just a lot going on in the Wilson household.

Here are some pictures and videos of recent events:

Halloween

Tickle Me, Mags

Walking Mags

Thanksgiving Program at Garner United Methodist Preschool

(Katie is in the white shirt to the right of the boy (Justin) in red...

she keeps clapping throughout the "If you're happy and you know it" song.)

Katie baking

Maggie dancing

6th Annual Fakesgiving Dinner

NC State Fair

We had fun at the state fair last Saturday morning.  Here is a video and a few pictures...

Slide, fun house, and nauseating swing!

Hard to ride something like this when you're pregnant!  Pretty nauseating!

Katie caught a $2 fish, but only got a 10-cent toy!

Katie loved the Ferris Wheel, but Jimmy said it was so cold at the top.

I'm just glad it wasn't a turkey leg!

Mmmmmm!!!

A couple random things...

I had a doctor's appointment on Monday to check the heart rate, etc. of this alien baby inside my belly.  Since I've been quite nauseated, I felt sure things were going as they should, so I was more concerned with the number, not necessarily if he'd find one at all.  I had a feeling I knew exactly what the doctor would say based upon my previous two female fetal heart rates.  I made the mistake of asking a girlfriend with two boys of her own what their heart rates were ahead of time so I could compare.  When Dr. Inge said, "sounds strong," instead of being pleased as punch to just hear I have a healthy heartbeat, I said, "what is it?"  He said EXACTLY what I thought he would say, "about 155."  I sighed, like a jackass, and said, "that's a lot of girls!"  He looked annoyed, as well he should've, and said, "It could still be a boy."  The hell you say!  

I also got an email forward this morning that was totally meant for me!  It said, "God doesn't give us what we want, He gives us what we need."  True dat!  I'll try not to be a jackass anymore and be happy with what God gives me!

Speaking of what God has given me...  I have two beautifully silly girls!  Katie is still saying silly things daily.  The latest family favorite is from Wednesday on our way to the car from the pool. We passed by a prickly bush and Katie walked right into it, then said, "AHH!  That sharp tree is freaking me out!"  I love her!  She's hilarious.

Mags is almost ready to walk, well, not really.  She is a stealth crawler who now pulls herself up to the standing position.  If I can remember correctly, which I'm absolutely sure I cannot, Katie wasn't quite pulling up like this at 9.5 months.  Katie didn't start walking until 16 months.  I think Maggie will walk sooner, which might be OK, giving me time to get used to it before the new one arrives in January.  

Thankfully, even though we're kind of out of girl names at this point, we had one reserve from when Maggie was born that we think we'll use for the next/last, provided that the next girl baby born in the family (by Ben and Amanda Williams in a few short days) doesn't claim it.  If she does, it could get hairy over here, but it will force us to get creative.  Can you say, "Starquesha Theodotia Wilson?"  We'll think of something.  And, hey, just like Dr. Inge said, "It could still be a boy."  ;)

Damn you, FETA!

I had some greek pasta salad today.  I wanted to devour the entire bowl.  I thought I hated feta cheese, but turns out I actually like it.  Not long after I ate more than my share,  I realized that I'm not supposed to be eating feta cheese, as it is one of those soft cheeses that may potentially carry the listeria bacteria.  Now I want to cry.  I can't stop thinking about eating MORE of that pasta salad, but it may have just harmed my unborn baby.

For those of you who CAN eat feta cheese...  this is a good recipe:

Greek Pasta Salad 

(I ate it without shrimp & olives and it was still quite tasty.)

Vacation Time

We had a wonderful time on Sunday checking out the David's new digs (totally gorgeous) and celebrating Jed's first birthday.  We get to watch him grow through their blog, but it's always a treat to see him in person!  He is beyond cute and that wild hair is so dreamy, at least I think that's what the ladies will say when he's older...  much much much older!

We also got to meet the David's old neighbor, Teddie, who occasionally reads this here blog!  It's fun to learn our readership is up by one, especially since there must be only 5 readers total :)  So, since I've been absent from this here blog for a long time, this one's for you, Teddie!

We got back from our annual Sunset Beach vacation on Saturday.  It was a much needed vacation, although Jimmy and I are now thinking we need another vacation from the vacation! Both girls were well behaved, especially after Grandma Judy arrived on Monday... she was our morning time buffer so we could sleep in some.  I guess she could have locked her door, but something tells me nothing would have stopped Katie from entering that room at 6 AM, pulling back the curtains and saying, "Get up, Grandma!  Sunshine's up!  Put your glasses on! Time for breaksast!"

We had several good beach days.  We read our books.  We went to the Fort Fisher Aquarium. We rode bikes on the island.  We ate ice cream.  I slaughtered Jimmy at miniature golf, since our real game was rained out.  We played some other games like Bananagrams (or as Katie calls it, "letters") and Mad Libs...  who knew Judy would get such uncontrollable giggles after hearing "a tongue in-anus pirate buccaneer."  (I contributed the 'part of the body' word 'anus.')

Here are some pictures from our trip:

Lost

I have had a hell of a month...  Uh, no, things have been pretty awful since the new year...  I take that back, turning 31 last July may have been the start of a lot of crappy things (for me), except for having perfect little Maglestein Josephine, of course!

Illnesses, lots of loss (way too much loss!), and other personal struggles...  It's like there is a black cloud hovering over my head.  I understand that concept of the Law of Attraction, but it seems like even when I'm trying to be positive, the negative prevails.

I really haven't wanted to write in the blog for a while.  In fact, I still don't.  So this will be short.

My dad died on April 13, four days shy of his 72nd birthday.  We buried him on this birthday. Yesterday was the one month anniversary of his passing.  How did I handle it?  A panic attack at 3:45 am.  

The church I call myself a member of turned me down on Mother's Day, after the 9:30 AM mass, for a June baptism for Maggie because I don't attend regularly.  I was severely offended by the manner in which I was received, and I am now struggling with the emotions that surround this alienation from a church - of all things.

Now is when I need church the most.  

I'm feeling a little lost.

The latest...

We're slowly but surely going broke one copay at a time.  We've been to the doctor 5 times since December 23rd.  We were disappointed 4 out of the 5 times when the doctors said, "Nope, just a bad cold," referring to Katie, Maggie, and I.  However, Katie was the winner of a double ear infection after Christmas! Since then, thanks to an antibiotic, Katie is well again.  Maggie's sniffles and cough are clearing up, but she now has diarrhea, which is SUCH a joy to clean up. And, Jimmy and I are still suffering from nasty coughs that keep us up at night.  I do think we're on the tail end of all this madness.  We have to be because it's getting to be too much.

During our last visit to the doctor's office for Maggie's unsettling "purring" sounds, Dr. Schoffner asked to see Katie's back to find out where we insert the batteries.  I laughed and said, "Unfortunately, there is no on/off switch."  I think he thinks she's crazy.  He's not far off.

Despite all this illness mess, we had a nice holiday season.  It was a bit crazy because of the illnesses, but overall we enjoyed visiting family and watching the kiddies go bananas opening presents.  

 

Aunt Kerri taught Katie to lick her plate clean!

   

   

   

   

Christmas Day

Katie's new kitchen!

Maggie's poor bubble nose.

   

New Year's Day.  Jimmy is as happy as a hog!