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We have stayed home for over a week now and I am getting cabin fever. I miss being out and about. I am still barely sick, this is the weirdest cold and it lingers forever. The girls are feeling tons better, but they are really sleepy and a bit irritable still. Hoping to get out for a long walk tomorrow and get back on track with my goal to lose weight and be healthier.

Elsie was really playful today. She would make a noise and I would make one back and then she would laugh. We would keep doing this back and forth for a long time, so much fun. I absolutely love her personality that is already shining through. Before I put her down for bed, I was hiding behind the kitchen counters and playing peek-a-boo with her. She was totally into it and thought it was really funny. Just love to get her laughing!

Ruby has been into reading lately and will sit and listen to any book you bring her way. It just amazes me with the details she retains. Today she would bring me a book, we'd read it, then put it back on the shelf only to grab a new book.

She has been so cuddly lately, when she wakes up in the morning she will ask for a blanket and snuggle in my lap. When we are on the couch, she will nestle up beside me.

Before nap today, I decided to show Ruby how to cut a snowflake out of paper. She did not want to watch me do it because I had the scissors and she wanted them. Once I was done, she was pretty impressed and thought it was quite cool. She then folded hers up and cut into it. I turned it so that she could cut some pieces out too. She was really proud of her finished snowflake and taped them both to the window to look at. We also hung some ornaments on the tree. Ruby kept picking the same branches, I was afraid they would all be too heavy in one place but they are doing okay so far. So funny to see them all in one cluster on the tree. She was so tired, that she actually started to fall asleep during her lunch so I brought her into her bedroom and she fell right asleep. A two hour nap, yay!

We went to Ruby's favorite store today, Huckleberries! I love it too! They have tiny carts there and she immediately goes and gets one to push around while I put groceries in it. Works well for both of us. She also loves to put the groceries on the counter for the clerk. The clerks there are getting to know her name now. Mike came with us today, love it when he can be with us, makes the shopping a bit easier and manageable.

Birthday Party

Today we went to Makenna's birthday party. The theme was "princess", so everyone decorated a crown and played games that were centered around this theme. Ruby decorated her crown very simply, with one gem stone on each point. Ruby tried to peek when it came time to play pin the drawbridge on the castle. They also played "Frog, Frog, Princess" and when Ruby got picked, she ran around once and then ran right into Mike's lap. It was really funny. Everyone got a chuckle. All the kiddos were really cute together. The cake was really neat and so yummy, we all enjoyed that. All the girls wanted to hold Elsie or just talk to her, but Elsie was not having it. She did not want anyone else to hold her while we were there. Ruby also tried summer sausage as a snack, I was really surprised to see her eat an entire slice of it. She usually is much pickier with spicy meats, she just gobbled it all down.

I must have told Ruby 40 times today not to pull Elsie into her lap, it was really frustrating. Ruby continued to try over and over and Elsie just kept getting more and more upset. She is on the go and doesn't want Ruby to hold her down. Also, Ruby grabs her pretty abruptly. Mike and I had to be firm with her today, that she must ask us for permission before trying to hold her. She loves her sister, but is really getting possessive now that Elsie is mobile. It is hard to share your things when you haven't had to for so long. We have just noticed this the past few days. Hoping she settles down a bit, I know she will, but hopefully it is sooner rather than later.

I gave Elsie some pears to taste today, from the can. She really liked the taste and kept putting them up to her mouth and licking them. Once she got the pears into her mouth, she didn't seem too impressed about their texture though.

Moses Lake

We spent most of the day in Moses Lake and Ephrata with Mike's family. It was good to see that Steven was healing so nicely and that his vision is slowly returning.

We drove up to see Lynn and the boys first. Wish we lived closer and could be more help. The boys are so cute and Ruby loves to be around them all especially Michael, she asks about him all the time at home. Mike went and got us all food from DK's, it was really good. Just so nice to sit down and talk/chat with Lynn. Ruby and Michael ran around while Elsie and Paxton explored together. Paxton and Elsie are only 3 weeks apart and doing the same things right now. So cute to watch them together. Paxton just wanted to grab Elsie and touch her, she is alittle bashful and hesitant with other babies it seems. They did play a bit, but then she got upset and wanted me to hold her. If she is in my arms she is perfectly fine around other babies, she just gets overwhelmed when they grab at her face or reach for her. Michael also wanted to hold Elsie, but she just doesn't want to be held down these days. Michael and Ruby played around the house together, Ruby wanted to put him to bed of course. He wasn't too keen on the idea. She is all about bedtime right now since we have been working on it with her each night. She is such a little mommy to other kiddos. When we were getting ready to leave, Ruby wanted to hug Michael, but he wasn't interested. She loves hugging now. Aunt Lynn gave her a big hug and she was able to hug Paxton, so this satisfied her.

Next we dropped Mike off at his parents house to visit his brother. We left and went to Walmart to pick up a gift for Ruby's friend Makenna. Ruby picked out a barbie horse of course! She is so into horses right now. When we were in line, an old friend of Mike's family, Alice, came over to say hi. She met Elsie for the first time and Ruby was about two years younger when she saw us last. It was really good to see her! By the time we were done buying that one gift, it was time to head back to get Mike.

When we got to Mike's parent's house, they waved for us to come inside. Ruby bundled up and headed in and I brought Elsie with me. Mike and Steven talked to Ruby about Steven's injuries and she was able to look at him up close and give him a hug. She immediately wanted to get the leggos out of the back room to play with, so she went back there and got them with her grandma. Mike worked on those with her while I sat Elsie on the floor for her grandma to watch crawl around. Elsie played a bit with some individual leggos and then Mike's mom brought out some stacking cups to keep her interested. After a little chatting, we decided it was time to head home.

Ruby and Elsie both slept the entire trip home and Mike just transfered Ruby into her bed. She was so tired. I am a bit worried about her, she hasn't been eating as much lately and she has circles under her eyes. I am going to keep my eye on her, right now I am thinking that she is still just sick. Poor girl!

Christmas Tree

We decided that today would be the day we went up to Camden Tree Farm to pick out our Christmas tree. It was a really nice day, not too cold. Once we were there, we decided to go on the hay ride up to get our tree. Ruby and Elsie enjoyed the ride. Once we were up at the top, we all unloaded and began our search of the perfect tree. We all walked to the top of the hill they were on and quickly found the perfect tree. Mike cut it down and then said, "I hope this wasn't sold already?" We were so excited that we found the one, that we didn't even look for a tag that said whether is was already sold. Sure enough, once we inspected it, we found a tag tucked inside the tree next to the trunk. So frustrating. Mike had already carried it down most of the way, and then decided he needed to bring it back to the spot we cut it from. I went down and explained what happened to one of the workers and they were really understanding. They just told me to have Mike bring it down and they would call the people who had already bought it and explain. So....we were back to square one and looked a bit more before finding another tree. Ruby said she didn't like it, but wanted another one that close by. She really liked this particular tree, so we decided that was the one. It had a bent trunk, but we went with it anyway. Mike was able to cut it so that trunk really didn't matter. We took the hayride back and went directly to the store to pay for the tree. Then it was time to get our cup of apple cider, yum, it was the real thing, not the stuff from the envelope. Ruby is always worried about how hot things are,so she tried a sip but wouldn't drink much more because it was hot. We went back to the waiting area to wait for our tree. They had a really nice place to sit next to a fire. Ruby could see the workers putting the trees in a shaker and through the binding, she thought it was pretty neat. Mike was able to fit the tree in the back of our Durango, I was amazed. It is nice to have a larger vehicle this year. What a great outting, I just love doing things like this as a family and making it a tradition.

Ruby and Elsie were really tired. We saw a deer on the ride back into town, Ruby was really excited to see it jumping through the field. She also loved all the horses in the pastures. Ruby grabbed the book Cinderella and read it silently to herself, enjoying the pictures. Elsie slept the whole way back to Spokane.

When we got back to Spokane, it was past lunch so we decided to go to Olive Garden. We love it there! I ate way too much, three bowls of soup, one of each type except the chili one. I can't believe how hungry I was today. There was no wait either, we went in and they seated up right away. So nice, there is always a wait it seems.

After enjoying our food, we then headed out to the valley to pick up Elsie's 7 month pics. by this time, Ruby and Elsie were sound asleep. The sunset on the ride home was gorgeous as always, it was bright orange.

We rearranged the living room to fit the tree in, I love it so much. It is absolutely perfect and smells sooooo good. Elsie was really good with it today too, she hasn't been pulling at it or anything. I am going to put very little on it this year too, so she doesn't want to touch it too much. She has been so on the go lately and can grab things so fast, it is quite the experience. She is also sitting up every chance she gets and speeding through the house to get to where she wants. Everything happens way too fast during this phase.

Ruby and I made chocolate chip oatmeal cookies for Daddy tonight, although I think we ended up eating more that he did. He really wanted us to make them for him, and I promised we would make them after returning from our family christmas tree trip. It just seemed like the perfect way to end the day. I think she enjoyed pouring the ingredients in and stirring them and eatting the cookies too :)

Mike ate his leftover meal tonight, he was looking forward to it all day. He ate in the living room on a TV tray and we never do that, Ruby had to have her own too. She shared the meal with him, turkey and mashed potatoes, but didn't eat Daddy's favorite part the stuffing. Hopefully she will grow to like it since we love it so much.

What a great day!

Thanksgiving!

Dinner turned out great and everything we exactly as planned. Mike asked me to make lots of stuffing, so I used two whole loaves from Costco to make it. He is in heaven with that! I also decided to serve broccoli as the vegetable, it went perfectly. I was looking up the time for our turkey on the internet today and found out that we could cook it breast side down for juicier meat. I tried it, and it was really good! Yum! Elsie tried broccoli and mashed potatoes for the first time, she was really messy. Ruby wasn't a big fan of the stuffing and tried a bit of her turkey. She really wasn't feeling up to par, so I didn't expect that she would eat much. Later when we ate pumpkin pie, she asked for a slice.

Neal and Janessa came by for a brief visit on their way home. I wish we lived closer to them, such awesome friends. Hoping we can get together more often after the winter is over and Elsie is a bit older. They left us with divinity and fudge, it is soooo good. Hard to stop myself from eating it all :)

It was a very nice day of sitting around and relaxing (aside from all the cooking I did).

I am thankful for my family and everyone else God has blessed me with throughout my life.

I told Ruby today was a day to give thanks for the thinks we are grateful for, and I asked her if she was grateful for Elsie. She quickly said "yes!" They are so fun to watch together, can't wait to watch them blossom as sisters. Mike made me come into the living room today so I could see them crawling together. So funny, it is neat to see that even though they can't communicate verbally yet with one another, they find other unique ways. Loving it!

Food

Yesterday, Elsie pulled herself up to standing for the first time. That girl is on the go right now, she is booking it from one thing to another, hard to keep up with her.

Ruby played UNO with Mike yesterday, the child's version. We noticed that she was turning her cards so the numbers were not upside down. She is now recognizing that the numbers match and putting those in the pile all by herself, in addition to being able to put the same color together.

Last night Ruby had 103.5 temp, we called the consulting nurse and she was surprised that we hadn't dealt with this before. When we called it was only at 102 and she said that was normal, Ruby's had never even been that high before. Mike went promptly to get children's motrin and it took the fever away by 1 am. Thank goodness! So scary! Elsie had a fever about a week ago, so I think that they both had the same thing but it took Ruby longer to get the same cold. It sure kept us on the edge of our seats though.

Today, Ruby grabbed a mouthpiece of a trombone that Mike had sitting on the counter. I told Ruby not to touch it because it was full of germs and dirty. She sat it down and looked at it for a while and then said, "Did a dog pee on it?" I told her no and then she said "Is it a bell?" I was laughing so much, she just didn't quite understand what it was and why I was making such a big deal about it.

Ruby's temperature was down all day and she is feeling much better, thank goodness.

Elsie is pulling up on everything these days and following us around the house like crazy. When Mike came home today, she immediately started crawling toward him trying to get his attention. When he picked her up, she was so happy and just staring at him and smiling from ear to ear. She is so content just being held in our arms and looking around at everything.

Mike decided he was going to work on fixing a part in Ruby's little kitchen that was broken. When he sat down, Elsie crawled over to his leg and pushed up on it and watched everything he was doing. Ruby came in behind him and crawled all over him too, they were definitely missing him today. It was so neat to see them loving on him and just wanting to be with him.

Later at dinner, I made pancakes. I gave Elsie some broken up pieces of pancake on her tray. Usually she just pushes food I give her around and it ends up on the floor. I was so surprised to see that she was taking the pieces and trying to feed them to herself. So cool! She was gagging either, yay! I was totally excited and couldn't stop watching her, she is just amazing me lately. She is also sitting herself up in the sitting position all the time now. I cannot wait for her to be pulling up and then pulling around the furniture.

Ruby had a hard time going down without me today, but she is in there sticking it out. A tiny fuss, but pretty quiet so far. Hoping she can get to sleep easily tonight.

I am SOOO blessed and thankful for my two beautiful girls. Not a moment goes by where I forget to count my blessings!

Looking forward to Thanksgiving tomorrow...still praying for Steven and that his eyesight fully recovers!

Standing

Elsie still has a cough and runny nose, but that didn't slow her down. She pulled up several times today to a standing position. She has also be crawling all over the place and so fast. I find her sitting up on her own all the time now. I think she is teething because she gets pretty upset when I don't hold her and bites down on her fingers quite a bit.



Neal, Janessa, and Samuel came by today. Ruby was so excited to see them. After only about 15 minutes though, I noticed that she was laying down with a blanket in the living room, which is totally not her. She was starting to get sicker and develop a fever. Even though she felt icky, she still managed to eat one of the cupcakes they brought and run around with Mike and Sam a lot before they left. Elsie was so relaxed too while they were here, usually she is a bit skeptical of having guests and wants to be held by me the whole time. Janessa actually held her quite a bit and she was all smiles with Neal and Sam. Once they left, Ruby was so sleepy that she fell asleep on the couch with Mike and when she woke up she had a fever. We gave her tylenol and she was fast asleep again. Thank goodness, she woke up feeling much better. Mike actually had to wake her because it was getting so late and we were afraid she wouldn't go back to sleep at night time. It was so funny because Mike kept saying quotes from one of her favorite movies "Shark Tale". After he said a quote, he would ask her who said it. She actually identified a few, but was so irritated with him bugging her that she finally got up off the couch and woke all the way up.



Mike played a few games with her before dinner. Ruby wanted to play UNO, the child's version. Mike noticed that she was turning her cards in the right direction, making the numbers face the correct way. We both noticed that she was able to match the numbers this time on her own, instead of only recognizing that the colors were the same.



We received good news about Mike's brother Steven today. His right eye is in better condition than originally thought. It has a cut that is 50% deep rather than 90%. He still cannot see out of it though, so we still need prayers that he will have a full recovery and regain eyesight. We are hopefully going to spend some time with them on Friday.