STOCK THE FREEZER SHOWER

This morning we attended a "Stock the Freezer" baby shower in honor of Sophie and Alex. Sophie may be ready for the summer to end and her 2nd little man to arrive, but she is absolutely rocking this pregnancy and looking gorgeous!

Cora dressed up for the occasion too, of course:The other kiddos were lookin' pretty snazzy too...

Desi (closest in age to Cora, younger by only 3 weeks):David (the oldest of the 1-year-olds - Cora and I are extremely jealous of his hair):Will (our little buddy):James and Manu didn't stand still long enough for me to capture any 'posed' photos. They LOVED the tunnel!James, Manu, and Will, eyeing Sandy's pool out back...The Hendrix family came too. Marion is getting so big!

Our munchkins always enjoying getting into things they aren't suppose to at Sandy's house...

Sorry 'bout that Sandy! Our kids really did have a blast though!

We sure had a great time! Good company, delicious food, and a wonderful reason to celebrate. Many thanks to Sandy and Katie and Mary Beth for hosting such a fun shower, and best of luck to Sophie over the next month - he'll be here before you know it!

(And the best part of a good party? Sleeping babies on the way home!)

DADDY DRESSED THE BABY

Orange is NOT her color. And he managed to get a tiny, coordinating bow into the 1.5" long wisps of hair on the top of her head. I hear it lasted about 8 minutes at daycare...

BIGGER ROOM, BIGGER STASH

Not only has Cora recently moved up to a bigger and better room, but her diaper stash has grown as well! No, I didn't buy more diapers (not for Cora, anyway - but we HAVE had 4 baby showers to attend recently, all for parents planning to cloth diaper!), but with James being potty trained, Cora has assimilated his diapers into her stash (well, the ones we haven't sold, anyway). I must say, it is REALLY nice not having diapers and wipes and whatnot in my living room anymore (the only convenient place when we had one kid's bedroom downstairs and the other upstairs). Cora's stash is now neatly organized in her ROOM under her CHANGING TABLE (I know, shocker right?), and this mama is very happy with the outcome! (That bucket on top of the changing pad actually lives in her closet, since it holds the daycare diapers - the BumGenius Elementals)Here are the Elementals, snuggled together in the bucket. All 24 of them.And here are her at-home diapers. All of them. Except the 14 FLIP covers (poor gal has been fighting a tricky diaper rash along with her fever, so she's been using the FLIP covers and disposable inserts all week). The left basket holds the 6 FLIP Organic inserts, the 6 gCloth inserts, the 3 BumGenius stay-dry doublers, the 4 HempBabies hemp doublers, and the 6 BumGenius microfleece liners. The center basket holds the fitted diapers (top-to-bottom on the left: 2 Sustainable Babyish, 1 Sassy Britches, 2 Nifty Nappy, 1 Primm-N-Proper Baby, and 1 Bagshot Row Bamboo), the fleece soakers (3 BeFelt, and the 1 I made), and the FLIP covers (when they're clean - right now there's just 1 up in the top right corner). Then, the right basket holds the pocket diapers (minus 1 BumGenius 4.0 that was dirty). There are 3 Doopsy, 3 Rumparooz, and 3 BumGenius. A lovely little rainbow.

And here's my little cutie with her cloth booty:

DADDY'S GIRL

There is no doubt that Cora has been a Mama's Girl for the past year. It started on her first night and continued on from there, growing stronger and stronger as the months passed. Especially once her separation anxiety kicked in around 9-months. And while it has been sweet to be my daughter's "one and only", I must admit that the changes she's made over the past month or so have been a blessing. And not just to me, but to her Daddy as well. You see, Cora no longer prefers me above all others - she is just as happy in Daddy's arms these days. Especially now that she's been home with him, all alone, for 2.5 days this week. The little seed of "Daddy's Girl" that was planted around her 1st birthday is growing, and oh my, is she ever cute with him! She acts silly with him. She shows off for him. And she loves to be in his arms.

And after her 2.5 days at home with Daddy (and 1.5 days with Mama)? Well, she's finally broken through her fever and seems to be on the mend. Whew. TGIF (almost)!

STILL FEVERISH...

Poor Sissy. She had fever through the night (high was 102.5 at 1:30am), and woke with an even higher fever of 103.1. The only time she didn't have a fever today was when her meds were in full swing. The lowest it got all day was 99.2. Therefore, she was in sick mode. She wanted to be held all day. She didn't want to eat (luckily she still nursed well and drank some sippy cups). I wasn't allowed to walk more than 2 steps away from her. Her paci never left her sight (and rarely left her lips). And when she chose to play on her own, she walked back over to me for "Up" and snuggles every 2-3 minutes. Only the cats made her happy.

As we waited for the first meds of the day to kick in, she cooled off with some cold milk while laying across the cool leather couch.After which she promptly fell asleep. And looked so pitiful while doing so. And so cute.After a princess nap, she was still hot, so we high-tailed it to the tub for further cooling.Ate some cold grapes. Drank some more cold milk. All with the paci in sight...A rare smile, captured after multiple kitty hugs and "head love".Hopefully her fever will break soon and she'll feel better tomorrow. Otherwise Jay is in for a LONG day...

THE BOY CAN EAT

He's 2, so some days he eats nothing, or next to nothing. Other days, he eats as much as I do! I was honestly shocked last night when I took him to the grocery store on the way home, and he ate 2 slices of ham and 2 slices of turkey from the deli counter, plus a chunk of cheese. I stopped for Goldies on the way home, and he asked for a cheeseburger, then proceeded to eat 3/4 of it in the car on the way home. The little bit he didn't then finish in the house, he handed over to his Sissy to finish. Then he ate 2 of my chicken nuggets. And polished off 8 oz of milk. Holy jeez.

"FEVER VIRUS"

Man, we HATE it when Baby Doll doesn't feel well. All weekend she was fussy and drooling and running a bit warm (99ish). We KNOW she's teething. Then suddenly this morning she woke with a 101.5 fever. We kept her home, of course. We figured it was the ever-so-common "fever virus" that seems to strike around here in the summer time, so we didn't plan to take her to the doc. After lunch though, daycare reported that one of the babies from Cora's room was out with strep today, so Jay decided to take her in (he was home this afternoon, I was home this morning), just in case. And what did we find out? Fever virus. Oh well, better to be safe. She still had a slight fever this evening, so she'll be home again tomorrow. Good thing she likes the extra attention...

'Let's read this Mama!'She watched James and I pretend to drink from the wooden condiment jars yesterday. Monkey see, monkey do.Oh goodness, is she ever beautiful!The only thing that made her happy today (when not nursing or being held), was having something in each hand (for security?) All day long, she HAD to have at least 2 objects in her possession. Here she's holding her toothbrush and James' wooden engine for his train table. While dressed in her cooking gear.

SLEEPING SWEETLY

Sissy moved downstairs today, to the room right next to her big bro. The 'old' computer/guest room is the quietest and darkest room of the house, and we're REALLY hoping that it helps Cora to start sleeping better (i.e. through the night, more than once or twice per week)! We've been talking about doing it since summer started, and planned to do it next weekend. But once we measured all the furniture and walls and figured out where everything would go, Jay got antsy and decided to just go for it this afternoon. He did ALL the heavy lifting (and let me tell you, our computer desks are HEAVY) while I monitored two VERY whiny munchkins in our makeshift playpen (we cornered off a section of the living room with our couches to keep the kids out from under Jay's busy feet). We're keeping the gorgeous dark green walls that my dad painted, and will add some girly decor over the next few weeks (pictures to come when completed). First on the list of new additions? An iPod docking station for Cora's room, so we can play her music on loop all night long, just as we do for James. The humidifier isn't cutting it anymore. And the kids LOVE to dismantle it, which drives us crazy. Her new player will be here in two days, thanks to AmazonMom's awesome fast & free shipping. For tonight though, she seems to be sleeping sweetly. Let's all cross our fingers that it lasts until at least 5:30am...

(She's started sleeping with the monkey her Auntie & Uncle gave her, and it's SO cute!)

James has to sleep with BOTH his monkeys these days (given to him by Robyn & Stephen back before he was born). And these have to be some of my favorite jammies of his. Monkeys, of course!

Man, there's nothing cuter than sleeping babies, eh?

MARCHING ALONG

Cora started walking (more than a few steps at a time, and of her own desire, without prompting from us) right before we left for vacation. While we were there, she perfected her skills. She thoroughly enjoyed toddling after her brother and cousins. By the end of the trip, she was walking around with all sorts of objects in her hands, bending over to pick things up and righting herself in the middle of the room, continuing on at an impressive pace, and marching along with the boys - proving that practice makes perfect. Way to go Baby Doll!

FAVORITES FROM GRAMBOT

Mom sent out her photos from our vacation today, and she definitely had some winners that I had to share. Here are my favorites...

James took a "yoga break" at the Exploratorium to watch the tropical fish:Team Lindsay took a group photo atop the living roof:James drove the "Piwate Sip!" in the Little Explorer's Cove:

We got a photo with D&T as we settled into the beach house:

Grambot was so happy playing with her little pistol at the pebble beach:While I enjoyed the pebble massage:And James and Jay wrestled:And watched the waves:Cora likes to touch finger tips, just like ET:James and Eli enjoyed their snack traps:A lot:And I showed Dave that 28-month-olds are plenty old enough to handle horsey rides:Good times folks. Good times.

HOMEWARD BOUND

It had to end sometime... Our last morning in Bodega had the kids on edge. All of them. I think the chaos of packing and cleaning, combined with them potentially sensing something was up and not wanting to go home, was to blame. James and Eli stuck together like glue all morning long.Cora wore her flamingo shirt, just for her Grambot.We stopped at the Tides one last time on the way out of town, for a yummy lunch. James liked the poster of the bay and happily showed me the "wah-der" and "o-sin":I couldn't resist one more picture out on the dock. This whaling pot has been a landmark for me of the true Bodega for as long as I can remember (and I'm pretty sure my family started camping at Bodega back when I was 7-years-old or so, approximately 25 years ago):Later that night, back at my parents house, D&T came by with the kiddos so we could have just a little more time to play with them and talk and reminisce about the week and eat the best Chinese food in Stockton. David had the toddlers cracking up at his antics:And the next morning, it was time to head to the airport and travel east to Mississippi. Again, the kids were awesome on the flights. Especially the first (much longer) flight. James fell asleep shortly after we hit cruising altitude and slept for 3 whole hours. Cora napped. And talked. And tore up the in-flight magazines. And ate. And ate. And ate.And when we arrived in Jackson, our car was conveniently parked in the garage (thanks Sandy!) and we got the kids loaded up and managed to keep them awake all the way home, where we found the cats and fish and plants all happy and well taken care of (thanks Christina!). We were all a bit wired after getting the car unloaded, so we played until 11:30 or so, then finally convinced the kids they needed to go to sleep. It was such a great trip, and we are so thankful to have had the opportunity to spend so much quality time with the family (thanks to ALL of you for that - we can't wait to see you again in December)!