Pieces

For the third in line, he sure gets a lot of love and attention. But he definitely doesn't get the face time on blog posts like the other two got. This is Reese's {two week late} 9 month post. He had a check up last Wednesday. Unfortunately, some vaccines were recalled and the office did not have the ones he needed so we had to go back today just for shots. Nice.

He is growing wonderfully well. He was 20 pounds, 3 ounces and 28 1/2 inches long. His eye is still constantly teary, goopy, and gunky which means we will more than likely be having surgery to open up the blocked duct sometime in June. I was telling a friend of mine today that I've just kind of assumed all along that we'd have to do this. I haven't even really prayed and asked God to heal him. After realizing that, I decided that I will pray. And ask God to heal him. Because He can do that if He wants to. And I'm going to pray, believing that He can... if He wants to.

Reese has mastered crawling. He can pull up on anything and is attempting to stand without holding on to anything. We have to be diligent about closing the door to the playroom upstairs because as soon as he hears the door open, he makes a mad dash to the stairs. Both Elle and Grady do a great job of trying to keep him safe:). He, like his brother, would much rather have your food than baby food. He seems to like most things, although I don't think I have offered him quite the variety the others got. Elle and Grady were drinking at least one "bottle" of formula from a cup by now. Reese, not so much. We're just in the chew-on-it-and-throw-it-on-the-floor stage now. He is trying to wave and sometimes it sounds like he's saying, "Haaay DaDa". He has two bottom teeth and the top four are still on the horizon. It won't be much longer now. Maybe.

He is such a happy baby. He makes me smile. I love to hold him up in the air and watch him kick both legs straight out over and over. I even love wiping his eye with a warm washcloth 5 times a day. He doesn't like it. He made our family complete. Little Reeses pieces.

Something's got to be done about that hair. It's a mix between the joker and Johnny Depp's Madhatter?! Nice ear wings Reese.

The Same Team

Yesterday, Grady and I were in the backyard, having a little mid-morning snack, enjoying the sunshine, and having a deep discussion about the meaning of Easter:

Me: Yes, we do have eggs at Easter, but it's really a celebration of Jesus' death for our sins and that he didn't stay dead but came back to life! And He's alive now!

Grady: No!

Me: Yes, He did. And it's great that He did, because it means that if we believe He died for us, we get to live with Him in heaven.

Grady: No! I not go to heaven.

Me, trying very hard not to laugh: You don't want to be in heaven with me and Daddy?

Grady, standing by the fence with his best pouty face: No!

Today, in continuing our great understanding of the gospel, I was reading an Easter book to Elle and Grady.

Grady: Turn back to the soldiers! {After his request is met, he hurries to put on his knight armor to be a soldier.}

Grady, with sword pointing at my face: I going to fight heaven!

Me: I'm not really sure you want to try and fight heaven.

Grady: I going to fight Jesus!

Me: I really don't think you need to fight Jesus. We want to be on the same team as Jesus.

Needless to say, I think I have a long way to go in my sweet little 2 year old soldier's understanding of the gospel. But I guess sometimes, in some ways, we adults are still trying to "fight" Jesus instead of being on His same team.

Sunday Night Dinner

One of the many great things about Sundays is Steven is usually the one in the kitchen {at least for dinner!}. He likes to cook and experiment but doesn't have a lot of opportunity because of working later nights. He makes up for it on Sundays. Yesterday was no exception. We planned to have chicken salad croissant sandwiches and sweet potato fries. But he gets in there and the food processor comes out and the majority of the pantry items and a whole plethora of spices and the experimenting starts. He got crazy and decided to whip up a little dessert last night too.

"Is this cool whip for something?" he calls, as he digs in the freezer. Then I see him chopping up oranges next to some really old sugar cones on the counter. There is also jello involved.

"What exactly are you making?"
"You know, you have this all the time. The stuff with jello and marshmallows {which are NOT a present item} and fruit."

The kids patiently waited while the "common" dessert chilled in the freezer.

We try to teach the kids to be thankful for whatever food they have and to say nice things and not complain. Elle says, "Well, I like the cone." I tried to hold myself together until I saw Steven laughing too.

Then they tried to feed it to the baby to see if he'd eat it.

He wasn't quite as disappointed.

I will say the dinner was great. Dessert, not so much. But, I am thankful no matter what it is when I get a break from the thinking, planning, cooking and cleaning!

Who's Your Paddy?

Grady, 7 months, March 2008

Reese, 9 months, March 2010

First Night Exhaustion

I'm not sure how much sleep the bunkers got last night. The boys are napping now. I was in my bedroom reading. Elle was in the kitchen drawing, coloring and writing. I fell asleep reading and soon realized it was way too quiet. I went to find Elle and this is what I found. Right in the middle of the hallway, on a way-too-small Dora couch.

Looking Up

Things are looking up around here. We had an excellent weekend. Everybody is well. We're still having a few teething and napping issues, but the spring forward did wonders for us today. I'm hoping it springs us back to normal.

Some friends and their two girls came over for dinner last night. We had such a great time that this is the only picture I have. I'm not sure how many other appropriate photos I could have gotten. The older girls played dress up but spent much of the time in little more than their underwear. Grady got in there though at the end, and put on the Cinderella dress and high heels. And Mary Aplin made us smile the entire night, despite Grady insisting on calling her a "he". She wasn't the least bit discouraged by it.

There isn't much as refueling and refreshing as good food and fellowship with other believers. We were so refreshed that we skipped church today and put together bunk beds for Elle and Grady. You never know how those kind of things are going to work out within a married couple. Hanging pictures, driving somewhere new, putting furniture together. If you complete these tasks and are still speaking to one another, then I'd say chances are pretty good for your future together. Steven is the "visual" one and wants to just look at the wall and put the nail where he "thinks" it should go. I like to read the directions at least twice and measure everything, twice. Today, the bunk beds came together without a hitch. Without one argument. We just might make it after all!

The Bug

Seems like the common theme among lots of you these days is sickness. Not wanting to be outdone, we Salters jumped right in with a 10 hour night of the throw up bug last Thursday night. All three of 'em. Thankfully, it was short and after a lazy day recuperating {and doing 134 loads of laundry!} on Friday, everyone was better. Or so we thought.

Then ole Steve came down with something on Sunday and spent about 30 minutes the whole day not shaking, shivering, breathing heavy, or moaning in the bed. He was better yesterday morning, but I'm not sure if Grady is 100% yet. He's cried and complained of his ear hurting for the past two days and has a lingering wet cough, so we're going to see if we can have another 28 minuter in the morning to check him out.

I really try to remember "it could always be worse" and I know there are many families out there who would give anything to have a little stomach bug or an ear infection. I truly am thankful we have only experienced minor illnesses. BUT, in spite of these truths I remind myself, mommy is a bit weary and exhausted!

28 Minutes

I had to write this down because I'm sure it will never happen again as long as I live. I went to the pediatrician's office yesterday and was in and out in 28 minutes.

No, that's not a typo. You read it right. Twenty-eight minutes. I have never, in all my multitude of visits to the pediatrician's office, come out of there in less than an hour. Usually I dock at least one and a half hours there per visit. Well visits, sick visits, morning, afternoon. Doesn't really matter. And 95% of the time, all three children are with me. I try to make the most of the time by thinking about how I could make the office run smoother. I have a lot of great ideas. But then I remember when I worked as a nurse in a doctor's office, and I cut them a little slack. Maybe 30 minutes slack. But then I remember the time Grady stuck his hand in throw-up on the floor under the "well" side play table before I could get to him. And I subtract that 30 minutes...

Anyway, I thought Reese might have an ear infection. The good news is his ears were clear, but his gums are bulging with four top teeth rearing their painful heads. The little guy didn't finish a bottle all day and wouldn't even drink a sip at bedtime. His nose was a faucet and the diapers... Oh my! But none of that is associated with teething:).

Two down, one to go

I am proud to announce that

1) we've gotten Grady to dress up in something other than a princess dress and

2) the knight is potty trained!

It really went a whole lot better than I had envisioned. And maybe that's why... low expectations. He was just ready. We only had to bribe with candy for the first few times. He didn't really care about character underwear. If fact, he would rather not wear any, which I think is pretty funny. I guess the freedom from 2 1/2 years of diapers was so amazing, he just can't bear to put anything else on. He didn't really care about a sticker chart, which we did, or toys after a certain amount of success, which we did. Basically, he just wanted to be free. We are so proud of him!

And this little guy went from crawling to pulling up on everything in about a day! I had forgotten how much freedom I had when he was not mobile or standing on unstable toys or chairs or heading for all things containing cords or the fireplace. I finally set up the pack-n-play in the den so I can achieve "containment" when necessary.

And this precious girl. We gave each other pedicures the other day. I was smart enough to choose a clear glitter polish for my color. Otherwise, I'm certain my entire foot would have been red. We have plans to "make her dreams come true" when she turns 5 in May with a Disney vacation. She is already so excited she can't stand it. We are Disney amateurs, so bring on any advice you have for tackling Disney with a 5 year old, almost 3 year old and almost 1 year old.