Magic Piano

If you haven't seen this video you should take a few minutes to watch it.  It will make you smile! 

Lainey Reading

Lainey's really figured out how to read recently.  She is quite excited and proud of herself.  She really, really, really wants to know how to read fluently.  I am certain she will likely be a kid with her nose stuck in a book all the time.  In the video below we are at the library.  She had read through the book once before with almost no help from me.   She memorizes words really quickly once she sees them and remembers them.  She still needs help with sounding unfamiliar words out. 

Lainey reading

I can't upload this video anywhere but facebook for some reason.

Hopefully the above link works for you.

and some random photos from the week....

 Mr. Carson

He has a mild cold and is quite hoarse which is pretty funny to listen too.

Poor guy! 

 Not the best "selfie" but pictures of me are few and far between so I'm posting it anyway.

 I took Erik to see a Christmas light display (Lainey turned me down!).

He has a jacket on but it's been unseasonably warm this week (75 degrees tomorrow!).

Carson helping with the dishes (he fell off this bench about 30 seconds later).

Poor guy!

Have you been to a Derm recently?

It's fairly obvious that I'm at a higher risk than most for skin cancer based on my phenotype (red hair, pasty white skin).   Since skin cancer is a cancer you can (hopefully) prevent or catch early I've been pretty good about have annual skin checks.  5 years ago, a derm PA took off one mole on my stomach (benign).  I saw a derm MD two years later and nothing was found to be concerning.  A year ago I saw another derm PA and she wanted to take one mole off of my arm.    Instead of doing it at the time of my initial appointment, she had me schedule one for later in the month.  I had a meeting come up at work that I could not change that conflicted with the follow up appointment.  I called to cancel the appt 44 hours before my appointment time and the clinic charged me $70 as I hadn't given them enough notice.  I thought that was a completely ridiculous policy and let them know that!  After talking to the practice manager they waived my fee but warned me that they wouldn't wave a fee in the future.   Very, very annoyed with that policy I didn't schedule a follow appointment.  About 6 weeks ago I had an appointment was a derm PA my friend loves.    Immediately upon meeting her I could tell she was kind, smart, and good at her job.  She didn't think the mole on my arm needed to come off but found 3 concerning ones on my legs.  She did shave biopsies of them all and they all showed moderate atypia.  So, I had to go back and have a larger amount of skin excised.  This went well but was a bigger procedure than I anticipated.  She cut out the skin down to the subcutaneous level (I now know what my thigh fat looks like!).  My moles are all pretty large so the patch of skin removed was diamond shaped probably 3 inches in length and width.  That's a pretty big hole!  I ended up with three 6 centimeter incisions on my legs plus one smaller one that she took off via punch biopsy (2 cm).  

Here some photos if you are curious....

Pressure dressings -

3 on my left leg, 1 on my right

PRetty looking incision

Did you know that women are most likely to develop melanoma on their legs.  

It most commonly found on men's trunks.

Have you been to a dermatologist lately?!

Lainey and Kyle

Our kids all look similar to each other but Victor and I both think Kyle looks most similar to Lainey!

Here are photos of them both around 3 months of age.  Let me know what you think!

Kyle

Lainey

Carson

This is Erik at 15 months, not a fair comparison but

his baby photos are stored elsewhere and I'm to tired to search for a 

3 month photo at the moment!

Christmas Parties

I have been to SOOOO many parties this past week.  I am so, so thankful to have such a full and busy life but man I am partied out. 

We were invited to 5 parties this weekend, went to 4.  One on Monday (made it), two work related ones on Wednesday (went to both), Erik's class party today (made it), and Lainey's class party tomorrow (going to miss it - sorry sweet pea!). 

Here are a few photos from Erik's party.  It was really just 5 fun craft projects for the kids.  There wasn't a program although, the kids ended the projects faster than anticipated so they did sing a few songs which was cute.  They have a really nice class this year.  No child seems to cause any major trouble.

 I love J's curls.

 Katelyn and Kaylee

Katelyn's Dad just got home from a looong deployment.

He hasn't been home in 12 months but was at school today

helping with reindeer crafts. 

 Mrs. O'Connor is the teacher's aide.

All the kindergarten classes have a full time aide in our district.

The kindergarten classes at our school are also really small - 18.

First grade classes don't have an aide in them and the class sizes go up to 26-27 

because they decrease the number of classes.   Might be interesting!

 Erik really didn't care to pose for me.

 Singing Christmas songs -caught Erik flashing his dimples

in the photo below.

 This little guy, Z, is full of the dickens.

Erik finds him quite amusing (see below).

I think he's pretty cute too.

 Erik with his teacher, Mrs. Shubert.

She's had a tough fall!

Shoulder surgery, Shingles, and Bells Palsy.

Poor thing!  

I bought her a gift certificate for a massage

as clearly she's been a little stressed!

Feeling like I needed to be fair I bought the aide and Lainey's 

teachers massage certificates as well. 

Very pricey teacher's gifts this year but hopefully they will enjoy them!

My sweet cute babies!

 Lainey is such a happy big sister

 Playdate with our neighbor M 

M is in Lainey's pre-k class and the girls play so well together

they tend to spend 1-2 afternoons a week together as well.

M is going to be in daycare during the afternoon soon.

We will miss her!

 Oh how I love this sweet baby!

 Kyle does not lack for attention!

Sweet big kids were outside watching for 

a plane carrying buddies Madison, James, and Tyler

Week in Review

What happened in the Chen house this week?

1)Kyle wore clothes instead of PJs a couple of days.  Ha!  He's so cute!

2)  We put the Christmas tree and decorations up!

3) Same tree, fell down at 6 AM on my workday after Victor had already left.  "All by itself," said 3 innocent children.  Haha!

4) Carson discovered the camera on my phone and took a LOT of photos, including one of me getting ready for the day, not yet dressed.  (Glad this was not on a role of film as I was unaware of the photo at the time it was being taken!)  Also includes the photos below...

5) Carson's been caught!

So much for being afraid of the potty chair.

After being bribed by one LARGE cookie he happily sat on his chair.

He's done so 3-4 times a day with a smile on his face (and my phone in his hand) ever since.

Not very successful endavours BUT I now at least have him sitting there.

Maybe by 3?!

"I not tired!"

That's Carson's favorite punch line.

I've shortened his naps significantly this past month(60-90 minutes only)

 and basically just told him who's boss.

The past three nights he's slept from 7:15 to 6:00

(instead of 8:30 to 6:00).  Let's hope that trend continues.

6)Kyle sleeps.  Kyle is such an amazing sleeper (compared to the trio).  He basically sleeps for 12 hours each night, usually just getting up once (sometimes twice).  Fantastic and amazing!

7) Erik and Lainey discovered the rainbow loom.  They love it, although assistance is still required at this point.  Lots of little rubber bands around my house.

8)  The kids were home for 1.5 days due to a forecast calling for up to 1 inch of snow.  (Eyeroll)  We did get about 10 minutes of flurries after 4 days of solid rain.  Being cooped indoors for 4.5 days of rain made me question how much I would enjoy being home and possibly indoors with all 4 kids during the 12 days of Christmas break. Figuring that might be less fun than being indoors in WI with grandparents and friends we decided, last minute, to book a trip home for a couple of days.  Wish us luck as traveling with 4 small kids is going to be quite an adventure (likely sleepless).  It most certainly won't be boring. Ha!  (It is forecast to be 60 for two days this week so no more snow days out here.  Yay!)

This photo was taken on one of the said snow days. (Lainey fell asleep!)

9)  This weekend was busy with holiday, birthday, and going away parties.  Our best buddies and neighbors are officially gone now.  Sad!  Victor was out of commission for 48 hours because he had a minor procedure (he's fine Grandma Chen - no worries).  I believe he slept for about 24 hours and basically lived in the basement for 2 days.  I just pretended like he wasn't home (so I didn't get annoyed) and went about the weekend like I do when he is gone for reserve duty.  I did a good job apparently because this morning around 9 AM Erik wanted me to help him with his rainbow loom.  I suggested he ask Victor for help (he is much more patient with craft-type projects).  Erik looked at me like I was dumb and said, " But Mom, Dad is on a work trip, remember?!"  Haha! 

 10)  My poor brother is back in the hospital fighting an infection again.  The last 2-3 months have been quite discouraging for them.  As Daron said, he's gone from bad to worse to "worser."  Please pray for him!

I hope you had a good week!

Snow Day?!

My kids have been home from school for the past 1.5 days.  Why?  No they are not sick.  No, we don't have bad weather.   In fact, it was 45 and sunny this afternoon.  Why were they home?  Well, you see there was a possibility of getting 1-2 inches of snow sometime today which shuts down everything 24 hours beforehand.  Of course, if we happen to get the predicted 1 inch of snow (we didn't) school would be closed the following day as well.   It's our 7th winter out in the DC area and I still can't decide if their snow phobia is funny or annoying.  (We did have on VERY snowy winter - 65 inches which caused the entire city to shut down for THREE weeks!  Every other winter has topped out at 4-5 inches over the course of the entire season.)

Here is a very funny post about snow phobia in DC...

http://www.buzzfeed.com/danoshinsky/washington-dc-is-the-worst-during-a-snowstorm

Notable quote: Happy, Happy, Happy

This morning we decorated the Christmas tree.  Victor started this (somewhat daunting) project while I was upstairs.  When I came down, a few minutes into hanging the lights, Carson ran over to give me a big hug.  (I can't even count how many hugs I get a day from that kid!)  He then hopped backed to the tree exclaiming loudly with each jump, "I happy, happy happy!"

Oh how I am so thankful I get to parent that sweet, little boy.  He is spunky, spirited, and loud at times but overall he is truly just a little ball of joy. 

Cute Kyle!

Cute little jabbering baby!

And a funny take on having four kids!

Almost too accurate to even be funny.

Even though being a parent of (2,3, or) 4 is tough at times, I'm oh go grateful to be a parent!

Please say a prayer for my friend (PA classmate) Amy and her family.
Her 27 year old sister passed away tonight from heart failure.
She needed a second heart transplant but didn't make it. 

Santa Dilemma

Well,  "Packerbacker" and my parents are headed back to the airport.  We had a nice visit.  Sometimes (often) I find hosting a little stressful (even though visitors are more than welcome).  But this Thanksgiving it was just nice.  Thanks for coming family!  5 vs 4 is much easier than 2 vs 4! Ha! 

Right after they left we gathered up the troops and went to visit Santa.  It was the most pleasant Santa trip I've ever had.  Santa visited our neighborhood clubhouse.  No traveling, no traffic, and no lines.  Excellent.

Carson was so excited he ran and jumped on Santa's lap immediately.  Erik was reluctant and wouldn't go near him at first.  Finally, we convinced him to stand next to him for a picture (after letting him warm up to the idea for 10 minutes).  Once Erik was ready, Carson didn't want back on his lap.  Oh well.

This whole Santa thing perplexes me.  We had told the kids in the past that Santa is pretend but a fun character just like Cinderella, Snow White, etc.  We did this to take some of the Santa hype away from Christmas, focusing more on the birth of Jesus which is really what Christmas is all about (or at least at one point it was).   I was fine with that and so was Erik (he has always been very practical).  Well, now Lainey and Carson enter the picture.  They both dive easily and excitedly into the world of fairies and Santa, etc.  So this year  I've just let them think he is real because, unlike Erik, they will be devastated to think that he is pretend. 

Adding to the Santa dilemma is this Elf on the Shelf game.  This is when an Elf is supposed to visit your house and then report to the north pole every night.  He/She comes back before you wake, but is in a different place everyday.  Kind of a fun game but certainly distracts from religious ideas.   For some reason I am feeling like I need to give into peer pressure as "everyone" else has an elf in their house and I don't want them to feel left out.  Truly it would be fun and is fairly harmless but again distracts you from the true meaning of Christmas which I don't want.  (I have an elf but it is still in hiding until I decide what to do.)

So what to do?  I am not sure!  What approach do you take towards Santa/elves/Jesus in your house?!

Here are our photos of the day...

Thanksgiving 2013

My parents and Colin came to visit us this Thanksgiving.  So nice to have family in town.  My kids wanted to know where Victor and I were going when Grandma and Papa got here.  Ha!  No where this time kiddos.  (The last two times they visited we were gone - hospital in August and Charleston in March). 

Here are some photos of our weekend so far...

 Story time

 Puzzle time

 New toys we bought from a neighbor that's outgrown them

 Sweet, sweet baby

 It's a tough life

 Dad suggested to me a few weeks ago that he, Victor, and Colin

would cook Thanksgiving dinner while Mom and I went to the spa.

I tried to arrange massages but the local salon was booked this weekend.

So no spa but we did go to the gym together and had a restful day.

Dad it seems liked the supervisor role.

Colin made the turkey, gravy, and soup (for lunch).

Victor did the rest of dinner - cinnamon roles, brownies, brocolli, 

mac and cheese, and scalloped potatoes. 

Apparently, I need to get the guy in the kitchen more often!

Dad did do all the dishes this weekend.

 Dinner was disrupted by a bloody tooth!

After a little wiggling, Erik lost tooth #1.

His two front bottom adult teeth are already in, so I 'm glad

one of the baby teeth is finally out!

The other front tooth isn't loose at all.

We will continue to call him Mr. Shark until he no longer has

two rows of visible teeth. 

 Post-dinner Starwars monopoly

Erik is a happy boy!

We also skyped with Daron and Feifei

and wish they and Kevin could be here too!

I hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving!

Kyle - 3 Months!

Can you believe our little baby is already 3 months old?!  Not a newborn anymore I guess.

Kyle is a fantastic baby!  He is an amazing sleeper.  I was very convinced he would have reflux too, since all the others did, but he does not.  No reflux = baby sleeping in his crib at 2.5 months for 8-9 hours in a row.   Completely amazing!  For the past 2 weeks he has been going to bed at 6:30 and sleeping most nights until 2:30 or so.   The feeding session takes about 30 minutes but he goes back down, usually awake without fussing, and gets up again around 6:00.  He sleeps so well I actually miss him! He also has a bald spot. Ha!  The other kiddos were all sleeping on Victor's chest or in their bouncy chair still at this point.

Kyle is a very content little guy.  He wakes up in the morning happy as a clam and just smiles and coos for about 30 minutes.  I love it!  He likes to be held a lot.  If he is awake, he would prefer to be in our arms.   He still likes his "plug" but doesn't need it as much.   He's not quite as happy as Carson was (hard to beat that!) but overall if laid back and content.

He loves to watch everything and tracks well.  The kids find this quite funny because he turns his head watching them run back and forth across the room.  It's cute.  He rolls over from front to back fairly often and has good head control.   He still had dark blue-gray eyes.  He has new hair growing in which appears to be very dark brown.  

He nurses well and eats every 2-3 hours during the day, and once at night.  He weighs 13 pounds.   I had mastitis earlier this month, right after he started sleeping better.  It's resolved quickly thankfully!

I am so so grateful for our little guy!  He is a wonderful addition to our family!