Poor Baby!

On top of RSV, Evelyn also has her first ear infection :( She started complaining about it from the moment she woke up yesterday until she finally took an early nap around 11 but hasn't complained since. By the time we saw the Dr. today I thought maybe it was just an ear ache since she's seemed fine since but Dr. Lamb confirmed it and said it was so infected most kids would be crying, so she couldn't believe she wasn't even fussy! She's been started on some antibiotics and also has some drops for the pain so hopefully she'll get over this soon!

RSV

Aubrey has had a persistent cough since she got sick after Christmas. All there other symptoms went away but the cough has lingered and at one point seemed to be slowly getting better until a few nights ago when she seemed to be in pain with each cough. Poor baby would lay on my lap and whine that she didn't want to be sick anymore, which was absolutely heartbreaking as a parent. We found the girls friends came down with strep throat a few days after they were here for Evelyn's party so I was worried that that's what was causing Aubrey's recent throat irritation.

Well we scheduled her an appointment and after dealing with a nurse who didn't interact well with children and never explained anything she was doing we managed to get a throat culture, nose culture and a breathing treatment done. It really surprises me that some nurses are so oblivious to the fact that while the things they are doing are routine for them most kids aren't used to having a giant q-tip put down their throat or up their nose and that that mask and pump that make crazy noises and has "smoke" coming out of it seems pretty scary when you're 3. When our first nurse realized Aubrey was going to kick, scream and fight the breathing treatment she just left me with it, thankfully though a second nurse came in and she was wonderful! She explained to Aubrey what it was and that it would make her better (which of course held more weight than when I tried telling her that :)) and got her calmed down. After the breathing treatment we got the culture results back and while it was negative for Strep, she did have RSV. Since RSV is so contagious Evelyn either already has it or will get it too.

Both the girls we're prescribed Singular and an inhaler symptom relieve and should get better in about 7-10 days. Hopefully we won't go crazy being stuck at home that long!

Bed time

Bed time around here has been horrible lately! Evelyn had always been a good sleeper, even when we took the side off her crib to make it a toddler daybed, but ever since our first night in our new place it has been a constant battle with her. Here the girls are sharing a room (and Aubrey is actually sleeping in it!) which we though might be a problem but that isn't the case, Evvy just refuses to go to bed before 11 or 12!! Even when we start bedtime around 7 like we used to, it still takes hours for her to fall asleep. Normally that wouldn't be too bad because I've always been a night owl but during the move my sleep schedule changed and I am exhausted by 8 or 9. Aubrey has been doing great in her bed, she whines for a few minutes and than falls asleep and will sleep through the night.

Evvy on the other hand won't fall asleep despite trying everything we can think of; letting her fall asleep watching a movie, laying in her bed with her, taking Aubrey out of the room...I would just bring Evvy to bed with us but I don't sleep well to begin with and adding a squirming toddler to my bed only leaves me EXHAUSTED when I wake up even after 8+ hours of sleep! And while I am thankful that Aubrey has been going to sleep early, because she goes to bed early she also gets up early which means I can't even sleep in...It's a vicious cycle and I really hope the end is near because both Craig and I are starting to loose our patience and are missing our time together after the girls in bed.

No More Aubrey-punzle

So yesterday after giving Aubrey a bath, I was brushing the horrible tangles out of her hair and realized that handfuls of hair were falling out! Turns out Aubrey had found some scissors and cut her bangs (which have been in her eyes) and hair because she "didn't like it" (also the same reason she took a pen and colored all over the 16x20 family portrait I just had printed out.) I love that the girls are so independent but some times I wish they weren't that independent, like thinking they can make their own breakfast and such...

Anyway her hair was way beyond salvaging, she pretty much cut one side of her hair to her shoulder leaving the other side mid-back length. So off to the salon we went today. We knew she was going to end up with a bob and while she probably needed that much cut off just to remove the split ends and such, I was so sad to see it get cut off!!! I know it's just hair and it will grow back but I loved her long hair. She had just gotten to the point where she would let me fix her hair into braids, buns and pigtails, and occasionally even let me curl it! While I hate the idea of her growing up, I loved how her hair made her look like a slender little girl as opposed to baby girl with a round face. She too is sad that she no longer has long hair "like Belle" and as I write this is whinning that she wants her hair to be long again. It'll take some getting used to but I already am warming up to it just a few hours after, plus we shouldnt have anymore fights over brushing her hair. Here are some Before and After photos:

These two were taken just a few weeks ago, I was just commenting how long her hair was getting

The damage

This doesn't even begin do it justice

At the Salon

Her new hair

Evvy loves to sing...

Sfrarr sfrarr brush pants, Sfrarr sfrarr brush pants.....sfrarr bob!

Oh Evvybug I love you soo much! You are too cute for words sometimes and this totally makes up for the fact that you were a little monster at the grocery store today :) Also the fact that you've been giving me sooo many kisses lately! Now can we talk about the whole fighting bedtime thing...

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from the Mortons…may you be blessed this day and remember the reason for the season.

Christmas cards

So I finally sent out our Christmas cards. I know they probably won't be recieved in time but a late card is better than no card at all! My plan was to have them done last week but Craig and Evvy caught a cold and then we had his Christmas party to get ready for, which we cut really close as well, shopping for outfits that morning! But I finally had a chance to get a group photo of us yesterday and than got some GREAT photos of the girls in our backyard this morning. Here are some of the photo's that didn't make the card...

Aubrey's silly dance!

Pretending to be a frog

I think that these photos capture the girls personallities pretty well, always running around and being silly!!



Grumpy Girl, this is what I have to deal with every time I take out my camera, notice the glare out of the corner of her eye...this girl has gotten soo much attitude lately

Eventually she usually comes around

And these were taken inside, wearing a silly elf hat Uncle Colton sent them