Ahem.... correction...... THREE children with ear infections

Well, last night was a hard one. I got home from my last photography class last night around 8:30 to the boys running around the house in their PJs and Evie screaming in her bedroom. Found Chris (a very exhausted looking Chris) in there trying to console her - apparently she had been doing that for over an hour. She was also up a lot of the night which isn't normal for her - uncomfortable, lots of congestion, lots of crying ... and eventually having a temperature early this morning. She also was showing signs of an ear infection - tugging on her left ear, wouldn't suck on her nuk (usually that calms her back to sleep VERY quickly), and would only eat 1-2 oz out of her bottles before crying again. So ..... I made an appt for her (and me) for urgent care this morning. And after waiting 1 hour in the waiting room, and then over 30 minutes in the exam room I finally walked out to one of the nurses and asked "What the heck is going on - my husband has been driving my two year old twins around for over and hour and a half and they are getting restless... is it going to be much longer?" .... something I obviously should have done sooner as it got the doctor in right away. Not sure if they forgot about us or what.... but I think it would have been pretty hard to miss the bawling baby (Evie) in our room. Urgent Care up here really stinks.... but back to Evie. Turns out after she has a double ear infection ... that is after the doctor scraped her ears out multiple times getting out chunks of wax (man did she scream for that) .... and did an RSV test (sticking a pipe cleaner up her nostril - another thing she wasn't a fan of). Luckily no RSV... but now she is also on antibiotics.

Poor thing didn't even give me a smile until just recently.... she was just so out of sorts. For those of you that know Evie or have spent some time with her, you know she quite a content, happy, smiley little baby. This was NOT the Evie we saw last night and earlier today .... poor thing. But the good news is that she is coming around now.

Anyway - thought I would also let you know.... come back VERY soon as I am now working on getting my favorite pictures from Evie's 6 month photo shoot together. Trina (love this girl) stopped by yesterday evening on her way into town to drop off the finished CD of the images. Immediately ran down to the computer to check them out and noted my favorites. So if the boys will give me just a few more minutes of peace here (they are watching Madagascar) I will have them up momentarily. Hopefully my next post will find us all well again... and here's hoping you and your families are well.

Sick Oscar, Sick MacKay, Sick Evie = Exhausted Mommy and Daddy (who are also sick)

Does it get any worse than sick kids... while also being sick yourself? unnngh. Well it started with Oscar early last week (Tues 3/2) with intermittent fevers and just a little bit of a drippy nose. Well the drippy nose got worse (as did the fever) and by Friday (3/5) MacKay was starting it up... and of course it was the same as usual. Oscar always gets these bugs first and it just lingers forever with him... and when it finally hits MacKay it hits HARD. By Saturday Oscar was bawling every time he coughed so we decided he needed to be seen. So I reluctantly accepted that yet ANOTHER photo shoot was going to go awry and called up Trina to tell her she didn't need to rush over like previously planned as we weren't going to include the boys in the shoot.... just Evie, as she was the only one (at that time) feeling decent. So Chris took Oscar into Urgent Care while we got ready for Evie's 6 (really 7) month photo shoot. And luckily, Grandma Chris had come up to visit and help out during the shoot (gets a bit crazy) ..... so she just kept MacKay occupied playing with puzzles while we blazed through Evie's pictures. Trina even joked that it might have been a record, 5+ changes in outfits/props etc in under 20 minutes time..... and I should say, all smiles and no tears whatsoever. Evie was a trooper and LOVED flirting with the camera. If you want to check out a sneak peak of the pictures from the photo shoot check out the photographer's blog (http://trina-luminousprints.blogspot.com/2010/03/babies-galore-2.html). Can't wait to see the rest of them - will be sure to post my favorites, as I always do, as soon as I get them. P.S. The trip to urgent care didn't find anything with Oscar other than just the common viral cold going around. Lungs sounded fine (which was shocking to us, his cough made it sound like it was BAD) but it was good just to know. AND... I'm glad we kept the photo appt with Trina (we were thinking of postponing to the next weekend) as Evie started getting the runny nose on Sunday. So that was good timing for us.

As a followup to all the sickness, I had called the kiddos' pediatrician on Monday (wanted to know Benadryl dosing instruction for Evie) but they could hear Oscar coughing and crying from over the phone and asked that I bring them all in instead. So we booked up back to back appts for all of them for Tuesday. Glad we did, cuz later that night Oscar told me, on two occasions, that "It hurt! It hurt" while pointing at his ear. One was bad too as he was in bed and started crying. So Tuesday we hauled them all in.... and found out that Oscar DID in fact have an infection in his left ear (the one he was pointing at the night before)... and MacKay had an infection in his right ear, yet the doctor noted that his left ear didn't look so hot either. So bummed... we had made it this long (2+ years) avoiding ear infections and here we were. So I am hoping this is just a one time thing and we don't have recurring problems with this. Evie looked okay but the doc did tell me that she probably hasn't hit the worst of it yet and to really watch her in the next few days. (fun fun fun). Weird tho, cuz all she had was the sinus stuff.... no fever the whole time. All in all though, the boys are doing a lot better now. And I will say, tho I HATE when my kids are sick.... the ONE piece of silver lining in this..... my boys are NAPPING. :) I know I know, I am horrible. But really, it was nice to see that whenever MacKay was starting to get tired he would just say "Bed Mommy.... Nap" and would walk right into his room and lie down and go to sleep. I'm just going to enjoy it for now, as I know it won't last long I'm sure.

Here's some big news...... Evie got her first tooth. We just noticed it last night, and it is her left bottom one. I guess that might explain the congestion with her considering she never had a fever like the boys did. Chris noticed it while rolling around on the ground with her while I was giving the boys their baths. Which I should note .... just prior to us finding out that our little princess cut a tooth, she got PEE'D on by her big brother. While getting the boys ready for their bath I took Oscar's diaper off and in the 2-3 seconds it took me to turn around and grab MacKay's diaper (to throw in the pail) Oscar had peed on his little sister. I didn't even witness it, just noticed that Oscar was unusually interested in his .... well.... manhood... which is something he's done the other times (which haven't been many) he's peed on the floor. Sure enough the floor in between him and Evie was wet as was her entire back. I just kept laughing later that night at that sight.... Evie sitting there so innocent and sweet while her brother was standing above her showering her. So Evie had a very eventful night last night. Can't wait to tell her years from now how the night that we discovered her first tooth was the same one where she got pee'd on by Oscar.

Oh well, that is enough.... not a lot of pictures for this post, as I still don't have my nice Nikon back. Long story, but we had forgotten that we had purchased the extended coverage/warranty on that camera through Best Buy. So instead of paying Nikon over $200 (what they wanted to fix it), we instead opted for them to send the camera back to us so we can bring it into Best Buy like we should have to begin with. Either they will fix it for free... or if they cannot fix it they "junk it" and give me credit to buy another similar camera in the store. Meanwhile I'm having anxiety attacks cuz I feel naked without my camera... it's normally like another appendage for me :)

Here is Evie in her first pair of real PJs.... tho it's like she was shoved into them, they were already too small (size 12 months). So now we've moved onto 18 month PJs.

I love this picture of the boys cuz they just look like "James Dean WannaBe Studs" - just hanging out waiting to go to ECFE class the other week

Evie hanging out in her high chair while I got the boys ready to go in the car for ECFE - she's just always smiling.

Okay.... warning, these are a bit goofy. My good friend Heidi sent up a bunch of hats/tutus etc for me to use for Evie's photo shoot and here were a couple of the "head wear" items ... at the same time. We laughed and said she looks like one of those old ladies who doesn't know when to stop accessorizing. :) And the last picture is with just the hat..... one that we used for the actual photo shoot.

MacKay and Oscar chillin' in the chair we borrowed from the Williams family as a prop for Evie to sit in..... Evie really didn't get much time in it (aside from the actual picture taking) as the boys wouldn't give it up :) I should note, this is when they started getting "the crud", you can sorta see it in their faces.

Well unfortunately that is it for pictures this time around. Will have more when I get the CD from Trina from Evie's photo shoot and will post some of my favorites. Take care.

Big Boy Beds, Sledding and Bouncers...

Well a lot has been going on at the Hoglund household since last post. Chris found out quickly after his NV trip that he passed the Nevada licensure test. YAY. Gma Chris came up Vday weekend to help take care of the kids so Chris and I could get out for some dinner (and drinks out with friends) and even an afternoon movie too. I can't remember the last time Chris and I went to a movie together - I think it might have been Iron Man - and THAT was a long time ago. :) And I have been taking a photography class - one that goes over how to use your camera on manual mode (vs auto) and composition etc. It's very interesting and I am learning a lot, so much so that I shot over 600 photos last weekend while we were visiting Gma Bonnie and Gpa Dean. Was just playing around with it... and they have SUCH great natural light coming into their house that it made it really easy to get some fantastic photos of the kids which I am very excited to share below. .... now the bummer of it all. Right after we got back my camera broke and was showing an error that basically meant I needed to send it in for repairs.... so I now I am without a camera for about TWO WEEKS. I feel naked... I use that camera so much, I don't even know what to do with myself. Not to mention, sorta hard to take a photography class without a camera... but luckily there is one other woman in class that has a camera similar to mine (what are the odds.. she is a mother to twin boys as well - 3 yrs old) so I am just pairing up with her to keep learning. I also have found a new addiction.... Matilda Jane boutique clothing (http://www.matildajaneclothing.com/). Unnghhh. I've got probably 10-20 pieces I've bought from trunk sales and eBay ranging from 18 months to size 6. Yes... size 6.. for a 6 year old. So if any of you know of a support group or detox facility for this... please let me know. :) Lastly, I am super excited as we just bought tickets to go to "A Day Out With Thomas" at the Tumbleweed Express (http://www.thetumbleweedexpress.com/) in Lakeville. We bought tickets to go Saturday July 31st and I cannot WAIT to go now. The boys are going to FREAK OUT when they see him. They still are just so obsessed with Thomas and all his friends. We cannot watch a show/movie without them screaming out each character as they appear on the screen. And we're definitely going to plan a couple weekends to come down to go to the Como and MN Zoos as they are learning all the different animals and the sounds they make. They will get such a kick out of that. We've already mentioned it to the grandparents so we can work out both a.) who is going to stay back and watch Evie and more importantly, b.) who gets to come with for each of the trips to help out. It's going to be such a fun summer with how old they are getting and all the things they can do now. Evie too... she should be walking and mobile come summer... can't wait.

Onto Evie.... she is growing so much. Already in her 12 month clothes for the most part, and getting so much stronger. I swear I could stand her up at the couch (holding on) and she could balance herself for a bit before falling... she's just so sturdy lately. Rarely ever (if even ever) falls over unintentionally while sitting... her balance has gotten so good in the last month or so. And her little legs are ALWAYS moving and kicking... so we thought we might as well give her something to do with them, so we put away her swing (which we hadn't used for about a month) and brought up the boys' old Horsie Jumper. She seriously took about 15 seconds to figure the whole thing out and now is just a bouncing machine. And her hair is getting so much longer and thicker ... we've noticed it is very much like MacKay's in both shape (hair line and direction) and in coarseness. So on the positive side of it, MacKay's hair is VERY thick and grows like a weed so she should have enough for piggy/pony tails quickly..... but it is stick straight and very coarse as I mentioned. Last time we were at the doctor she weighed in a 16 lbs 6 oz... which is the 60+ percentile. Which is shocking as this little one eats like a bird.... for the life of me I cannot get her to get the recommended amount of formula in, especially now after starting solids... in fact she won't even take her last bottle of the night (right before bed)... but it doesn't seem to phase her as she still sleeps through the night very soundly. Goes to bed around 8:30 pm (sometimes earlier if she gets ornery) and wakes around 8 am the next morning. We were definitely blessed with good sleepers. But she seems to love the solids.. especially veggies. We've gone through all of them and are now on the Stage 2 foods (a little more fun as they mix flavors) and she cannot get enough of the veggies. Next weekend we have her 6 month (tho she will be more like 7 months) pictures with Trina Sutton from Luminous Prints (http://www.luminousprints.com/). And my good friend Heidi is gracious enough to lend me some cute hats and tutu/pettiskirts for the shoot...cannot wait to see how this turns out.

The boys.... man are they changing.. even DAILY. They learn so much now... little sponges. They now can count to 10 with some help (sometimes they need a little hint)... tho MacKay likes to skip a lot of numbers and goes 1...4...6..8. We're working on it though. They know a lot of colors and love to point them out on people's clothes, toys etc. They also are starting a new fetish with DINOSAURS. They love dinosaur programs (real and animated) and their little figurines they got for Valentines Day. They know, and more surprisingly can SAY, quite a few of them: TRex, Stegosaurus, Triceratops, Brachiosaurus, Velociraptor, Ankylosuarus, Allosaurus etc. It is just amazing. They mostly speak in 3-4 word sentences, sometimes even more and are generally pretty easy to understand now. They love ECFE class - I love watching them from the other room (when we separate) to see them participating in the songs and dancing the teachers do with them. I rarely can ever get them to do that - what gives? :) And just this last Friday, Shawna and I took our twins (hers are 1 year younger than the boys) and Evie to the Open Gym at the Franklin Arts Center up here. All the kids had a blast at it... it was just sheer chaos getting them all into the building though as there is no way to maneuver strollers as there are just too many sets of stairs. It was a fiasco getting them in and out, but I think it was well worth it for what they got out of it.

Like I mentioned before, last weekend we took the boys to Gma Bonnie and Gpa Dean's ... and did those boys have a blast there - WOW. They weren't showing signs of wanting to take a nap (they sorta nodded off on the way down that morning) so we got them all dudded up in their winter gear and brought them outside to play. Eventually the sled came out and it was all downhill (pardon the pun) from there.... as all they wanted to do was sled down the hill onto the lake. Dean and Bonnie have the PERFECT set up there, just a gradual slope right out onto the lake right outside their house. Perfect for their age... and I must mention, their first time sledding ever. From that point on it was "Dat FUN" and "AGAIN AGAIN AGAIN". They had a blast and I got to snap a ton of pictures that first day while Daddy and Gpa Dean did all the work hauling them up the hill and sending them down. That night they crashed when they went to bed - they were so tired out from such a fun day. The next day we did it all again, just Chris and I... so no more pictures, but man did we get a work out showing those boys a good time.

But the biggest news..... the boys are now in Toddler beds, or what we call "Big Boy Beds." I can say it was rough the first couple days. Initially I started it at nap time - thinking it would be better if I were awake for it all, vs overnight. But in hindsight, not so good as naps are not their strong suit. Many days they would (and still do) go without a nap and just play in there. But the first two days (of naps) were hard and involved me going in there every 5-10 minutes to put them back in bed. They would finally fall asleep about 10 minutes before nap time was over .... which didn't make for very relaxing "me time" - which is usually what nap time is for me. But we tried it overnight that 2nd day and they went right to bed, never left their beds. And it has been going pretty well ever since. Sure we have a bad day here or there (like last night when they stayed up until midnight and were CONSTANTLY getting out of their beds)... but it is going so much better than I had thought it was going to go. I was losing sleep planning for this... and here they transitioned pretty darn well, like they have with everything else. When am I going to learn to just go with the flow eh? I must note though... Oscar seems to really like sleeping with his head down at the foot of the bed. It is where I find him most mornings. And EVERY night/morning I have found MacKay on the floor. Most of the time it is in the middle of the night, ~4am when I get up to check on them. He will be on the floor wrapped up in his blanket. Once it was like he was kneeling on the floor and leaning over onto his bed.... and just this morning I had checked on them around 7am and was amazed that MacKay was still in his bed... but then came 8am when we woke them up and he was on the floor again :) And Daddy wanted to put them in bunk beds..... ;)

Well, onto the photos. There are a ton...... a lot of them taken with my new found knowledge of shooting on manual (with the help of my class). And then some taken with our back up camera (CoolPix) due to having to send our other one in. But all pretty good pictures capturing what is going on with the kids lately. Hope you enjoy.

Just a fun picture of Evie and her prized veggies - here she is enjoying her Squash, one of her favorites along with peas.

Don't know what the fascination is with our front hall closet but the boys LOVE going in there and hiding .. or worse, emptying it of all the shoes we have stacked in there.

The boys with their dinosaurs. They both love dinosaurs... but MacKay seems to be a bit more obsessed with them. Oscar's obsession lately has been with TrAAA-Kerrs (Tractors).

Some fun in the snow at our house. While Gma Chris was up, it was such nice weather so we got the kiddos outside for a romp in the snow while Daddy raked snow off the roof.

Oh boy.... even Evie is starting to like these Dinosaur things... :)

LOVE these PJs. Thank you Hillmann family (gift for the boys' 2nd birthday). And the boys love them too. Snapped quite a few very colorful pictures of them in these... and surprisingly even have a picture of all three of my kiddos together, thanks to Gma Chris who was getting them to do "If You're Happy And You Know It..." with them.

Evie hanging out in her crib with her bedtime toys..... she, like MacKay, loves her satiny blanket. If all else fails in getting her to go down for a nap, if we give her that she goes right to sleep.

And now ... the pictures I shot on manual setting at Gma Bonnie and Gpa Dean's

Some cute pictures of Evie wearing a super cute outfit from Gma Chris's good friend Sharon Oswalt.

MacKay and Oscar having fun in the snow.. (MacKay loved shovelling while Oscar was more interested in checking out Gpa Dean's "TrAAA-Ker" - his John Deere riding lawn mower)

TONS of pictures of the boys sledding ... note the big smiles on their faces. I wish we could do this EVERY day.

Just some more fun pictures of the boys .... (Note: the concerned look on Oscar's face is as a result of Gpa Dean firing up the lawn mower while Oscar was sitting on it... freaked him out pretty good. He distanced himself from his beloved "TrAAA-Ker" and stood there still staring at it from a safe distance with this concerned look on his face, talking about how it turned "On" and was "Loud")

Some more adorable pictures of Evie at Gma and Gpa's (the next day)... wearing her velvet Juicy Couture hoodie outfit that Gma and Gpa had gotten for her when she was born.. BTW - LOVE LOVE LOVE the last picture as it has fantastic composition to it (with Oscar in the background). Even my photographer/teacher from my class commented on it.

The boys coloring at Gma and Gpas, and the last of the photos I took on manual settings .... Oscar is more into pointing out the different markers/crayons and stating the colors, where as MacKay is our artistic one who LOVES to color.

This is the last picture I got to take on my Nikon D40x camera before having to send it in for service.... but was trying to capture MacKay and Oscar's antics during their naps in their big boy beds.

Just a super cute picture (with my Coolpix.... as all the rest on this post are) of the boys wearing their warm up suits that they got from the Vagts' boys/family. We were chasing each other from family room to the dining room and when they would get cornered like this they had the biggest goofy smiles on their faces... had to grab the camera. This is the kind of picture I need to look at when I am getting frustrated with their whining etc..... just to remind me what wonderful boys they are.

Some pictures of Evie in her Horsie Bouncer...

Lastly... some pictures to show how I commonly find the boys during their naps or in the morning when I go to wake them up .... Note Oscar at the foot of the bed and MacKay on the floor.

Well that is it for now. Hopefully will have my camera back reasonably soon to snap some more pictures. I learned more at this week's class and am anxious to try it out on my camera again. So check back again soon. Take care.