Aunts come to visit: Part 1

Aunt Liah and Aunt Ellie came to visit this weekend.  We had so much fun!  They arrived very late on Thursday night and stayed through Sunday morning. 

On Friday we spent the day shopping, getting pedicures, having lunch, and napping.  We then picked the kids up early from school and enjoyed some time in the back yard.

 The twins got these swings from Grandmommie and Pops for their birthday.  They were a little afraid at first but quickly learned that the swings were way more fun than they are scary.

Aunt Liah and Aunt Ellie are so much fun!  The kids warmed up to them right away and were definitely sad when they left.  We just don't get enough of the aunts around here.  :-(

Helms Family Christmas 2012

Surprise!  I have pictures from the Christmas trip to Texas after all.

Olivia got this doll from Grandmommie and Pops.  Unfortunately, she was and is still not a fan.  I think she is jealous of it because it's another baby.

Caroline loved the doll.  She even demonstrated how to swaddle it.  Of note, that blanket was also gifted to us by Grandmommie.  It's one of my baby blankets.

I took this pic of Morgan throwing a hissy fit.  It was sort of funny at the time (not to her I'm sure).

Merry Christmas family!  We love you very much!

Part of the routine

Every night after bathtime, the kids end up in a wonderful mood (water does that!) and get a small burst of energy before it's time for bed.  They usually end up ganging up on one of us and pin us down. 

In the picture below, it was Forrest's night.

P.A.R.K.

We decided to go the park today and went I asked Forrest if he wanted to, I didn't actually say the word.  I spelled it.  I realized this was a holdover from spending time with Morgan and Caroline.  My kids haven't played at parks enough to really know that word (at least I don't think they do), but that word is not to be mentioned around Liah's girls unless your shoes are already on and your jacket's zipped up.  Once the girls hear it, they are making a beeline for the door.

Anyways, we went to the park behind Oak Grove Primary School today.  The kids had a wonderful time.

Baby you can drive my car

We went to Corner Market this morning but Olivia's nose was spouting like an oil derrick (see previous post, and it goes on and on).  So she and I went out to the car for kleenex and decided to wait there while Dad and Carter finished shopping. 

Faces of sickness

I would be remiss if I didn't mention that the kids have had a rough winter, health wise.  It seems like there has been some form of sickness in our house since Thanksgiving.  In addition to Carter's staph infection, they've had ear infections, colds, and Olivia even got the stomach flu.  I took these two pics in January while they were each battling illness.  Poor kids (and poor Mom and Dad!).

Carter's Icky Finger

On Saturday afternoon, we noticed that Carter looked like he had jammed his index finger.  It was kind of swollen and purple around the cuticle.  Sunday morning, we realized we had a problem.

Carter has been plagued by staph infection in his diapered region for months.  So, it appeared that it had also infected a cut he had on his cuticle.  We took him to the E.R. that afternoon to get it drained.  We were shown to a room relatively quickly (where I took the below pic), but ended up having to wait a very long time to see a doctor.

Carter thought it was fun at first, but after a couple hours in that room (and well in to nap time) he got very grouchy.

He finally fell asleep on my chest, which was a respite from the screaming and crying he had been doing for 30 straight minutes before he passed out.  It's hard for him to sleep on me on a hospital bed when he's not used to doing that.

After all that waiting, the blister on his finger kind of went away.  It was still swollen and purple, but no longer looked full of liquid.  So, the doctor decided not to lance it and to just treat it with antibiotics.