Back in the Groove

Camden was finally beginning to feel a bit better by today, so we resumed some normal activities.  I was supposed to clean Aunt Karen's house last week, but due to illness and a lack of sleep we held off until today.

Riella is always so happy in the mornings.  I loved her outfit today.

Riella made herself comfy and took a snooze on the couch after a feeding.  She sucked her bottom lip and was sound asleep like this.  It was pretty cute.

After school we all made chocolate chip cookies together.  Camden loves to pour in the ingredients.

They are all such good helpers.

We ate an early dinner and they were ready for some outside time.  I let them play in the backyard until it was dark.

They had so much fun together!

They built this adorable snowman all by themselves.  I did bring them a carrot and some cherry tomatoes out to help complete the face. They were so proud of themselves!

What a Week!

The week started off pretty normal.  Aunt Karen asked me to come over and help her do some decorating and organizing.  Riella kicked off Valentine's week in this cute outfit Grandma Thacker got her for Christmas.

Cam's nose had been running a bit in the morning, but nothing major.  He just kept getting worse while we were at Karen's though.  He started to feel a bit warm and his voice started going out and he looked awful.  I was afraid he was getting a throat infection so I called the pediatrician and got him an appointment.

Here he is playing while we waited. He was miserable, but still in pretty good spirits.  Thankfully, his strep test came back negative and his throat wasn't infected either.  He did have a low-grade fever though.  The doc said it looked like it might turn into croup that night.

Thankfully, it didn't turn into croup but he was so congested and coughing so badly that he couldn't sleep that night. At 3:30 AM we went downstairs to get some fluids.  He thought it was time to start the day.  He watched tv and lounged on the couch for several hours before finally falling asleep again on the couch with me.

This little cutie had no problem sleeping though.  She slept 12 full hours and woke up happy as a camper.  She is such a sweet baby.  I have to be careful to make sure I'm listening for her because she never wakes up crying and will just be laying in there, but still hungry.  

After school Tuesday we worked on assembling Ryker's valentines.  He was so excited to do some with bugs! I love the way they turned out and they were so easy to do (& cheap)!

He got a new 3-D book at the book fair last week.  He feel asleep looking at it with the glasses on and all.  Cam didn't sleep well Tuesday either.

Cam was pretty nasty sick all week so we didn't leave the house and had lots of quality playtime in the playroom.  I got out the Bumbo for Riella to try.  She loves it!  She also loves chewing and sucking on her fingers.  I wish I could get her to take a paci instead, but no real luck there.

Riella has a horrible bald spot on the back of her head and everything else was growing all wonky.  She was starting to get a mullet in the back.  Not a good look! I asked Robert to use the trimmers to trim her up. Cam wanted a trim too.  Then Ryker did too.  This is the first time I've let Robert touch the boys' hair.  I am a bit paranoid about him hacking it all off.  I realize this may seem irrational to some of you, but I have haircut phobia.  It all dates back to one particularly traumatizing Great Clips experience Freshman year of high school that left me with what I refer to as the Mushroom Cut.  Imagine the shape of a mushroom and then put it on my head....not pretty!  

Another heart ensemble for Valentine's week. By Thursday the germs had caught up with Riella too.  Her nose was a bit runny and her eyes were watering constantly.  It was SOOO sad. :-(

Nonna stopped by to bring her some clothes and a hat she knit her.  She was pretty pathetic by this point.  She kept throwing up all day.  Pitiful!

Thankfully by Friday morning she was back to her usual happy self!  Yay! Cam was much better by this point too.

Then, the snow started....again.  We got 5.5" Valentine's Day.

Ryker made it home from school ok and was excited to show me all his Valentines goodies.  

With the kids still being germy, we opted for a night in.  We put the kids down and enjoyed some time together.  It was the perfect Valentine's Day with my honey.

It took Robert almost 2 hours to get home Friday night so it was dark out when he got home.  He shoveled two paths, one for each tire, got the car in the garage and left the rest.  Saturday morning we all suited up and went out.  The temperatures were actually pretty decent so I bundled up Riella for her first real snow experience.  

It was a bit bright for her and once Ryker accidentally got snow on her face she was pretty much over it.

See what I mean?

I held her and she was happy to watch the boys for a bit before we headed in.  

Cam thought he'd help clear the driveway...with the lawn mower.  Ha!

Ryker thought it was perfect weather for riding his scooter!

Afterwards, they came in for cupcakes and hot chocolate.  Yum!

It was an exhausting week with Camden hardly sleeping at all, but we made it through.

Sunday Funday

My chambray crew before church this morning.

After church it was home to change into our IU gear and walk over to Carson's IU-themed birthday party.  This kid is OBSESSED with IU basketball.  They have season tickets and he loves going to the games.  He knows every player, their number, position, etc.  It's so funny!

We had a great time at the party!

Date Night

My mom called yesterday and asked if they could watch the kids so Robert and I could go out.  I didn't hesitate and second and said, "Yes, please!"  We started the evening doing a little shopping at Target which was way more fun than it should have been.  He is hilarious and can always make me laugh. After Target we went to Texas Roadhouse to use a gift card. We love that place but tonight it was especially delicious!

It's always fun spending time just the two of us.  I love him so very much and there is no one I'd rather be with than him.

3 Month Photo Shoot

I decided to have a little fun and do a mini photo session with Riella the other night for her 3 month pictures.  For my lack of photography skills and a proper camera, I thought they turned out pretty good.  It helps when your model is as gorgeous as mine.  :-)

Full Friday

Ryker has been having some digestive issues (again) so I scheduled us for a consult with Dr. A this morning.  School ended up being on a 2-hour delay due to frigid cold temperatures.  

This cutie was bundled up in this adorable outfit she got for Christmas.  She is in 6 month clothes now so we are poppin' tags on all kinds of new outfits.  Such fun!

Dr. Anderson had some great advice and tips for us to try.  The appointment was at 9:30 so we still got to school after it had begun.  Ryker had left some things in his class that I wanted to be sure to pick up so I took him back to his classroom.  He was not eager for me to leave whatsoever.  You could tell it was a Friday and they were on a 2-hour delay.  I felt sorry for Miss Oliver trying to wrangle all those kids.  She mentioned that they were about to go to lunch so I took Cam and Riella out in the common area where they do indoor recess and let Cam play while we waited for lunch time.

This kid was quite the hit with the other kids.  He's such a ham and they all thought he was hilarious.

Ryker was very happy we stayed for lunch.

We had some silly boys share our table with us.  Sadly, Ryker was no more ready for me to go after lunch than he was before.  It kills me leaving him when he's sad like he was today.  At least it's Friday and we have all weekend to hang out. 

Another Snow Day

This winter has been a doozy!  School was canceled once again today due to bad weather.

We got in several rounds of sight word frisbee.  This game has improved his skills so much.  I'm not sure what it is but the words are sticking like they never did when we were just doing flashcards.

Camden enjoyed some play time in Riella's play gym.  It's hilarious to me how when you pull out a toy for the baby, the big kids get into it too.

Speaking of Riella, we enjoyed lounging on the couch watching the boys play.

This was before bed.  Robert was reading to the boys in their room but Cam snuck into Riella's room and made her wear his hat.  It was pretty funny.

Both the boys start out the night in Ryker's bed when we lay them down.  Ryker is usually first to fall asleep and then Camden goes over to his bed and sleeps there.  But, sometimes, like tonight, they both fall asleep in Ryker's bed.  It's so sweet!