Some bumps...

We have had a busy, somewhat crazy week. On Monday, our friend Bekka and her daughter Izzy came to visit. Izzy is just a few weeks older than Caroline and at their age they don't interact much, but it was fun to see them together. I was especially glad to see Caroline's neglected baby doll get some attention. Izzy loved to hold her and carry her around, and really wanted to take her home. I don't think Caroline would have ever missed her. Sniff..
Monday afternoon I was walking down the stairs after the kids woke up from their nap and my heel slipped out from under me. I bumped/slid from the top of the stairs down to the landing. I mostly bumped my back and arms, but I think my head hit the stairs on the last few steps. I remember being scared and hurting all over, so I just rested my head on the steps. The next thing I knew I felt hot and dizzy and had this weird rushing sensation in my head. I heard Rylan calling, "mommy, mommy" and I woke up to see his little head peering over the top of the stairs at me. I don't think I was out for long and he wasn't overly concerned. I took it easy the rest of the day and gave myself the night off from cooking dinner!
Tuesday we had MOPS and Wednesday morning Caroline and I ran errands like crazy while Rylan was at his boys playgroup. Thursday was dentist and groceries and I cooked two meals in the afternoon.
Today we met some friends at the park in the morning. I am so proud of Rylan's potty-training, but wished he could have gone #2 the first time we trudged up the enormous hill to the bathroom! We spent about 45 minutes of our park time traveling to and from the bathroom. Oh well, such is the life of a mom. At least the sun finally came out and warmed things up while we were spending so much time in the bathroom.
And I feel like our lives have been a broken record in this area, but the kids are sick again! At least Caroline is still sick. Rylan had a runny nose and cough for a few days, but seems all recovered now. Caroline has a terrible runny nose and is fighting sleep like I have never seen her do before. She cried for 1 1/2 hours this afternoon with two attempts to rock her to sleep after which she promptly woke up as soon as I put her back in the crib. She really just wanted to be comforted by mom and when I curled up in my bed with her, she finally fell asleep and has been resting for the past hour. She's not running a fever, but I am worried this cold has led to another ear infection. And now it is Friday night and the doctor's office is closed for the weekend. I feel like my poor baby has been sick more often than she has been well for the past two months.
Here are a few pictures from this past week:





My little seamstress in training. I have been sewing and making hair bows like crazy when the kids are taking naps and many evenings lately. I really can't sew when they are awake; too many dangerous and sharp objects for them to get into trouble with. But this measuring tape seemed relatively safe for Caroline one afternoon as I finished up one of my latest projects. It brings back memories of being a little girl spending time with my mom as she sewed, playing with the pin cushion and scraps of fabric.

We have been working on our special Valentines cards and after our "top-secret" project was finished, I let Rylan paint whatever he wanted. He has been more interested in drawing and absolutely loved painting. These are what he called his paint brush "prints." Maybe he has some artistic interest, or his attention span is finally lengthening enough for a more stationary activity like this! I do love seeing his excitement at his creative projects, and it really wasn't as messy as I was afraid it would be.

This picture just cracks me up and here is the caption that goes with it: "Mom, feel my bumps!" Bumps being the grapes I gave him for lunch. He stuffs them in his mouth and then asks me to feel the lumps in his cheeks. What a character! Makes me remember a time when his cheeks looked like this all the time, and there were no grapes in them. He was the chubbiest baby.