amiles, rashes and plugs

Christian has had his first "real" smiles. About 2 weeks ago. He has had a little case of baby acne, so I haven't really taken many pictures. I thought it was clearing up, but he has still been covered in red bumps. But I've now realized that these bumps aren't acne, but rather a rash of some sort. His face is clear, but his neck, chest and back are all covered in red bumps and his arms and legs have just plain bumps. He looks like he's wearing a onesie! I think it's the laundry soap. I used Method baby soap at first and am now using just plain ALL Clear and Free (my normal soap), so I assumed it was fine. I also use dryer balls and not dryer sheets, so there isn't anything there. So I picked up some Target brand baby soap and am trying that again and also doing a second rinse on all loads with vinegar. A waste of water, but we'll see if this helps. I would think the Clear and Free soap would be better, the baby soap actually has added fragrance! But anyhow. He smiles so much now, we just love it! He even smiles at his sisters!

We've been trying to work out our sleeping arrangements for the kids. Currently, Marryn has been alternating between the queen bed and her old toddler bed (we brought it up for her to use when we have guests). Reganne is still in the crib and Christian is in the cradle in our room. So we moved the toddler bed into Reganne's current room (next to the crib), but she wants nothing to do with it. She wants the "big bed." So, for the past couple nights Reganne has slept in the queen bed in Marryn's room and Marryn has slept in the toddler bed in Reganne's room. They eventually need to be in the same room, but first things first.... Naps are another story. Reganne won't stay in bed, so after a few hours...yes it was a couple hours yesterday...we end up putting her in the crib. I really want to get them twin bunk beds (seperate them into just two beds for now), but we have no budget for that right now, so what we have is going to have to work for now. But anyhow, the whole point of my story...

My babies and their plugs.

(Okay, so there was no point for the whole bed story...except that they're in the big bed.)

Reganne only uses her plug when she sleeps. I blame myself for it. When she was 10 months old, she was hardly using one. I took the girls on a plane trip to Arizona to see my family by myself. I was so worried, having the two, that I wouldn't be able to nurse her during take-off and landings, so I urged the plug use. In addition, she was a little out of sorts during the trip, so again, I urged the plug. She came home with a must stronger desire to have it. And now, at almost 2 years, she still wants it. But with the move and then the baby, we haven't found a great time to get rid of it. At least it's only at night. Her other thing, she grabs her neck with it. It's her "comfort" thing. Wierd.

grandma georgia and aunt bernice

My mom and aunt flew up for a week long visit. My parents live on a ranch in Northern Arizona (Bernice in the Phoenix area), so we don't get to see them nearly as much as we would like. It was so much fun to have them up here. My mom is my number one shopping companion (Kim [another aunt], you're a very close second-only because I can usually get Mom to buy me stuff), so we shopped and shopped. We spent time here in Colo Springs, drove up to Castle Rock and visited the outlets and also went up to Manitou Springs. We ate out, ate in and just hung out. It was so great to have that extra 2 sets of hands. Marryn really enjoyed being with Grandma Georgia; she, on her very own, created a "beauty salon" and my mom was her client. Even made her pay for the services. (My mom later bought her a Barbie Salon Kit so Marryn wouldn't have to use the bug catcher and mini fan as stand-ins.) Bernice was alot of fun too. Paid for much of our food and even bought Joey a bunch of steaks as his "prize." (The rest of us got clothes.) She loves to talk, so we would just sit and chat away. It was sad to see them go, and for many reasons (the extra help, the company, the excuse to eat out and shop and of course, knowing that I don't know when I'll see them again...)

brian and brandony

We got a special visit from our best friends a couple weekends ago. We were so fortunate to live right around the corner from them in Fort Collins. Leaving them was the worst and hardest part of our move. Our kids just adore them (as do we of course) and we loved our nightly visits and walks with them. While here, we took a drive up through The Garden of the Gods and then visited the small mountain town of Manitou Springs. We had a such a great time. Being with them and watching them play with our kids just tore my heart apart. I guess we should be lucky that we didn't move too far away....