St. Patrick's Day Parade

Zac and I planned a trip to Louisiana a while back. We were going to leave Wednesday (the 16th), but I discovered the St. Patrick's parade would be the Sunday prior to our departure. Luckily, he was able to switch with a co-worker and we left Saturday instead.

I woke the kids early this morning, texted Jessie to find out our meet-up plans, then we headed across the lake, dressed in green. Most of March has been nothing but rain, thunderstorms, and major flooding for us here in the south. We were excited that today was a breezy, sunny, afternoon. We met up with Jessie at her place, packed some snacks, and covered ourselves in sunscreen, then left to find a parking spot within walking distance to the parade route. I found us an unoccupied bench, perfect for the kiddos to stand on to see everything, next to a tall fence for shade. We caught a bunch of potatoes and carrots, a few cabbages and lemons, and so many beads (which we left behind). Jessie and I received a few drunken kisses in exchange for silk flowers, which we gave to Leah. Elias slept most of the time, only waking once or twice from being startled by loud music.

Elias 7 months

Seven months old. Jac keeps reminding me that "it won't be long until he's one!"

He eats everything he can get his little hands on. Right now, he's eating stage-two baby foods. Applesauce is still a favorite, as is strawberry yogurt melts. He crawls on hands and knees, though sometimes I think he wants to go faster than he's able and ends up falling onto his face and belly. He's trying to pull/push himself up onto his knees (I'm assuming it's the first sign of wanting to walk really bad). He's super grabby. I can't put him within anything arm's-reach because he'll scoop it up. Hobby Lobby is a danger zone. I'm still breastfeeding, usually three or four times a day, depending on when he wants to nurse, and he wakes up to nurse between 1 and 3am every night. He blows raspberries at me, loves bath time (kicking his feet so hard that the water splashes everywhere), and really enjoys Zac's lazer pointer... just like the dogs. He's not liking the wrap so much anymore, twisting around to face forward and free his arms. I guess it's time to let him ride in the shopping carts. We're dealing with separation anxiety right now, but Ms. Rita from church is the only person non-family who he'll reach for willingly. Other than that, he's happy to smile at everyone from a distance while safely in my arms. He's not saying much, but "Hey!" is popular. He says "hey" to everything, especially Toby and Ruby, or to Zac if he hasn't seen him all day. Leah makes him laugh the hardest, but Jac takes all the really good snuggles.

An update on his rash: it's cleared up almost completely. Tomorrow is his last day for the oral medicine and I'll continue with the topical until it's gone.

So many things...

It's been a rough month. A good, spring-y, warm-yet-chilly, allergy-infested month.

My throat has been itching every day since March began, quite literally. When my throat itches, I sneeze. When I sneeze, it's not just one tiny "chew" sneeze. No, that would be fair. Instead, I blast out (obnoxiously, mind you) at least 15 double-sneezes "ah-chew, chew" to the point where I can't breathe and my eyes are watering and any liquid I was trying to hold steadily is painted on my clothes or a sleeping baby is abruptly awoken, startled, and thus crying. I loathe pollen (almost as I loathe being told "bless you" for every. single. sneeze). I love being outside. I could say I love Benadryl, but I do not love the side-effects of Benadryl because once my sinuses clear enough for me to breathe without dripping something onto someone, I slip into a medicated coma and am utterly useless until the side-effects wear off.

On the topic of allergies: Elias broke into a rash Saturday afternoon. I assumed it was a heat rash as he had the small red scattered bumps on his back and neck and we were outside on a blanket. Sunday morning, he had what looked like hives. I debated taking him to the emergency room, but he didn't appear to be itching, had no fever, and was acting like Normal Elias. Last night, the rashes were getting bigger and raised, warm to the touch, and just awful-looking. I took him to the doctor this morning to get him examined and he has Fifth Disease, which sounds horribly frightening. Luckily, it's merely a virus, the rest of us haven't caught it, and it runs a gentle, though ugly, course. I've got a topical and oral medication to administer every day for the next week and I'm hoping it clears up quickly. Dr. Y said, "It looks much worse than it is." Skin-to-skin contact or warm baths will make the rash look darker, but as long as he's behaving like usual, there aren't any concerns.

Leap Year

The kids were excited this year was a leap year, so they convinced us to celebrate with the fire pit. We ate way too many toasted marshmallows, but it was worth it.

Louisiana Trip

The whole family has dealt with colds over the past two weeks. It's been a disgusting mess. I'm just glad it's over. No more sore throats or whining or mucus. We were finally able to get out of the house a bit.

We headed to Sean's Wednesday afternoon, mostly to hang out with him for his birthday. It was a lazy, but fun visit. We didn't go across the lake like usual, but I was able to finally see Keara and meet Luna/introduce Elias and the kiddos played at the park.

I was able to create a crochet pattern and can finish up the kids' Easter gifts. Sean's cat, Nozomi, tried to help a bit.

We shopped at 2nd and Charles where I played with all the ukuleles and we picked out a vinyl Batman figure for Sean's birthday. Leah found a mask and we looked at books, but I think we're going to wait until our trip next month to buy anything. We did buy some stuff at the World Market. Jac picked out some candy sushi and chocolate-covered honey comb (it was weird, but good). Zac introduced the kiddos to the Pokemon card game, so it's been an adventure watching them play together.

Also, I started collecting Tsum Tsums. It's a bit silly I suppose, but they're adorable.

Hearts, chocolates, and flowers

The month of February has been going by and I haven't had a minute to sit and write down all the things I meant to write about.

Leah was baptized on Valentine's Day. She didn't even cry after being submerged, though she said she had been practicing going underwater while in the bathtub. Dad cried, which I guess is a good thing. The last time he cried was probably when I was Leah's age and he was in the hospital after having his first heart-attack.

Mardi Gras was celebrated a day late and so far away from Louisiana this year, much to our disappointment. No parades, no beads. It was shared with Elias' sixth month of being with us as well as National Pizza Day. I did manage to make my own king cake with the help of ready-to-bake cinnamon rolls and food coloring on sugar. Zac even made a fantastic gumbo for the first time. Getting that roux right was tough, but he nailed it.

comedy/tragedy pizza faces

Elias had his last round of vaccinations until August, so he was feeling a little crabby, but snuggly. He's discovered a love of water and splashing, so on his days where he is hard to comfort, we just let him splash in some water, be it the sink or bath tub.

As a late Valentine, Zac surprised me with a trip to La Brioche in Jackson to pick out some macarons. It was such a cozy patisserie! All the coffee and cookies and ice cream. The macarons are by far my favorite, especially the strawberry and lemon.

Elias 6 months

This post is late because the 9th was Mardi Gras, as well as National Pizza Day, so there were some distractions.

Elias is halfway to being a whole year old. What! How?

Couldn't resist a pic of three neck-less kiddos.

He's already eating baby food, usually once a day but we're going to bump him up to twice a day.  So far, he's not a picky eater, but he's only had a few things to sample. He's drinking eight-ounce bottles and wearing size three diapers. Recently, he learned to push onto his knees, but usually alligator-crawls to get from A to B. His little knees are pink from creeping around so much. It's hard to change his diaper, unless he's got a distraction, otherwise, he's rolling away. I plan to talk to his pediatrician next week to see about giving him juice. I'm not quite ready to wean him just yet and he still searches for me to nurse him, so I'll continue that a while longer.