Sidewalk chalk

Matt had a ton of work to do around the house today so I was alone with the girls for the better part of the morning. I decided to take them outside and make sidewalk chalk.
1/4 cup corn starch
1/4 cup water
food coloring
I think the girls had more fun playing with the containers, paint brushes and water than the actual chalk.
They painted the house, the bricks and their faces but never really decorated the sidewalk the way I had envisioned.
Lior did draw a picture of a party and said it was a bris for a boy baby. They had a blast getting wet and pouring water all over each other and even more fun when I suggested that they go and play in the sprinkler.

When all was said and done they had a great day and took a great nap, especially Akiva who slept through it all,even Jordan's chalk covered kisses!

Lice

Just when we were getting back on schedule it happened, lice and the schedule flew out of the window. The girls were sent home from school on Thursday because Lior had two nits on her head and they found one on Sydney. I know kids get it but why mine? Why now?
We stripped all the beds and boiled the sheets, stuffed animals and blankets. I am still trying to do laundry, fold it and put it away. The mound of bedding and animals was higher than my dryer. If I were washing all of our clothes as well I would have to do laundry every hour on the hour for the next week. Thank goodness my mom is washing all of our clothes right now.
We treated the girls hair Thursday night with Julie's help because I can not touch the shampoo. The initial application of shampoo caused some minor trauma but I was able to bribe the girls with M&M's and jelly beans to sit still and watch a movie while the shampoo sat on their heads. Washing out the shampoo was another story. Lior screamed.
Sydney screamed.
Jordan was completely overwhelmed by the entire situation and extremely grateful that she was able to sit and eat her M&M's because she is too young to have her hair treated.

Back on track

As we all know I hate Wednesdays because of the cleaning lady and the Little Gym. Having to be out all day with four kids, under three by myself is not an easy task, especially when one of my two and a half year olds has a major attitude. Lior has decided that she can yell at me whenever she does not like what I have to say. She also does not like when she gets put in time out for not listening or hitting Sydney. We wound up leaving the playground because Lior threw her sippy cup in the dirt and refused to pick it up. She was really surprised when I told her we were leaving and stood up to walk away. It was time to leave anyway, everyone needed a nap and I needed air conditioning.

The day actually went really well, even with Lior's melt down at the end. Jordan continues to amaze me with her gross motor skills. She tries her hardest to keep up with the big girls and tries everything they do. There was a sixteen month old on the playground with her mother and she was following the little girl around ready to catch her at a moments notice. She asked me how old Jordan was and was shocked when I told her that she was only a month older or maybe she was shocked because I was not following Jordan around and allowing her to hang from bars well above her head. She even went down the "bumpy slide" without any help.


Sydney had a great time at the park and at the gym but fell apart the second we hit the car to go home. She told me that her belly hurt and she pretty much cried the entire way home. She continued to cry after she slept for twenty minutes and while she ate her Oreos. She cried when she did not get to pick the movie we watched and she cried when she got to watch something she liked. She cried whenever I looked at her funny or said two words to her. She cried every time Jordan touched a toy or her. Sydney cried and wound up not eating her dinner because she did not feel well. She looked like she did not feel well and I hope that she feels better tomorrow because when Sydney does not feel well the people around her know about it.

Akiva made his first appearance at the playground today. He really just lounged in the stroller while the girls played. He was even great in the gym where he hung out in the B'jorn while I chased the girls around the gym. The poor kid had some really bad gas today and after dinner he was arching his back so badly I thought he was going to touch the back of his head with his heels. Every time I moved him he cried, I felt so bad I wanted to cry. His little body was so rigid I could not bend him so I put him on his belly and gave him some gas medicine and tried to help him let some of it out. Hopefully, he feels better because he is far too little to be so pitiful!
Now that we are back on our schedule and the girls are getting to sleep at a reasonable hour, maybe I will have more time to blog and post pictures...

Back to normal

Things are getting back to normal here. Yesterday was Julie's last day and Matt was so sorry to see her go, he loved having her here in the mornings, in the afternoon and in the evenings. I loved having her here also, having an extra set of hands was a tremendous help and the girls just adore her. I am glad that they will be spending the summer with her at camp.
Now that Julie is gone I am getting back into the swing of things and we are getting back on our schedule. Today was a school day and Matt had the girls dressed and ready by eight thirty, all by himself! I was very impressed with him this morning, I just know that by the end of the week I will have to start picking out the clothes or the girls will look like rag dolls every day. The first day back to school was interesting, Lior got bitten by one of her classmates. Matt was less than thrilled and had me call school to find out what the policy was about biting and what type of consequence the other child received. My husband has a wonderful way with words and after calling the other child several colorful names I managed to calm him down by reminding him that the kids are two and have limited language skills and biting happens, the trick is to make sure it does not happen again. Lior does not seem at all upset by it, she told me as if it was a normal occurrence "so and so bit me today" and then Sydney piped in "that was not nice, we do not bite, Lior cried."
How is that for an exciting day?
On another note, Akiva lost his belly button yesterday so I was able to give him a real bath tonight. This child needed a bath desperately, the girls are constantly touching him and rubbing his hair with their dirty little hands. He was one dirty kid! He is also one cute-cute kid! I am totally in love with this little boy, he is just delightful. I can just sit and stare at him for hours which I would do if I had the time, which I don't.

Monday update, again!

I thought I was done with Monday updates but since I have not posted in over a week there is a lot to catch up on. Our newest family member has had a lot happen to him in the first twelve days of his life. He went to the doctor last Wednesday and we discovered that he gained one ounce since he came home from the hospital and since that day I have been trying very hard to get him to eat without sleeping through the feedings. It appears that all of my hard work and lack of sleep has paid off and Akiva gained eight ounces in the last five days which means he is almost back at his birth weight.
On Thursday we had Akiva's bris which was more stressful than you can imagine. Akiva was a real trooper and really did not cry, maybe that is because they gave him enough wine to numb any pain...I think Matt could have used some of the wine I drank because he almost passed out during the "procedure". Even the girls seemed bothered by it because they wanted their daddy and daddy was too busy to hold them but because they were so high maintenance it distracted me and allowed me to stay in the room during the entire bris. Changing his diaper became an adventure, who ever said that boys were easier to change than girls? They lied!
Jordan is amazing and using longer utterances every day. I am constantly amazed by her expressive vocabulary which seems to be growing everyday. She started to name colors (pink and green) and was able to point to and name circles in a book. We have had a friend come every day since I have come home from the hospital to help me take care of the girls and Jordan is in love with her. I think she has enjoyed the time she spends with Julie when she wakes up from her nap early. Julie puts a pony tail in her hair and Jordan is just thrilled to have it. She still loves the baby and stops playing to run and kiss her baby. She has taken to calling her baby "Ice cream" which she thinks is a riot because she knows that the babies name is Akiva.
Sydney and Lior are also in love with Julie and do not seem to mind when I have to leave the house for a doctors appointment. When Julie puts their hair in a pony tail they manage to leave it in for more than thirty seconds, especially when she puts fresh flowers in their hair.

Over the weekend we took the girls to Gumbo Limbo and one of the nature walks we always go to. The girls loved seeing the sea turtles at Gumbo Limbo and having a picnic in a nearby park where they got to feed the fish the food they did not eat. Akiva did very well experiencing the Florida heat and our weekend excursions.
Matt and I are completely exhausted chasing after three big kids and keeping up with one very mellow newborn. At least I am getting a much needed nap every afternoon which makes me love Julie too and she does not even put my hair in a pony tail! I wish Matt could get a nap every day but now that we do not need to put antibiotic cream on Akiva every time we change his diaper maybe Matt can get a full nights sleep.

Akiva Jeremy

He has a name. It only took us two full days in the hospital to name our newest family member. I think we had the name the entire time we were batting names around but neither of us wanted to make the final decision. It is a good thing they encourage you to name your child prior to leaving the hospital or he would still be nameless.
Akiva is LOVED by his sisters. Jordan walks around and points to him "bruda, bruda hold, hold Keeva." She really loves her new baby and is constantly kissing him and rubbing his head.
Sydney is very helpful and is always trying to help me with the baby. She changes diapers and sits with me while I feed him. Since I have been home she runs into my bedroom when she wakes up and looks for "the new baby" and then covers him with kisses and tries to get him to come sit with her while she eats breakfast.
Lior loves being a big sister as well. She is easily motivated to do things she does not want to do if she knows that Akiva is the reward. She hugs and kisses him and thinks everything about him is "cute".
This poor baby has four mothers at least they all love him very much.
I think Matt is still in a complete state of shock and can not believe that this baby has a penis. We just did not think that we would ever have a boy and we are still completely blown away. I think having the bris on Thursday will help us come to terms with the fact that it is a boy, because we will not have a choice.
Akiva had his first doctors appointment today and he has to go back again on Wednesday. When we left the hospital the doctor was concerned because he lost ten ounces and she wanted to make sure that he started gaining weight once he was home so she had us come in today. When they weighed him he had lost two more ounces so we must go back to make sure he has started to gain weight. I am going to have to start being more insistent that he stay awake when he is nursing. Since we have been home from the doctors I have started to strip him down and make him miserable prior to feeding him so he will stay awake! Now all I have to do is stay awake while he is nursing tonight so I can keep him awake, both of us would rather be sleeping!

The waiting is over!

Our newest family arrived this morning at eight twenty one this morning screaming and yelling and making a ruckus and just absolutely gorgeous! You can not imagine our surprise when they told us that the baby was a BOY!! Our very beautiful baby boy weighed in at a whopping seven pounds seven ounces (not fourteen, as reported earlier) and nineteen and a half inches long. Our biggest baby yet! We have yet to discuss a name but we are going to talk about it soon....


He did enjoy meeting his big sisters and they loved seeing their new baby. When I reminded Sydney that her new baby was a boy, not a girl she told me "but I made a girl baby!" Wait until she changes his diaper tomorrow and she sees that the plumbing is completely different! I can not wait.