Kate Elizabeth Steinbach

Today we went over to my friend Jody's house to visit her and new baby Kate. Kate was born on March 13th and we had seen her 2 other times, but I had forgotten my camera! She is doing well and mommy and daddy are too.

Reef loved looking at her and even showed off by walking half way across the room by himself! I was shocked when he took off from the coffee table all the way to me on the other side of the room! He acted as if he had been doing it all his life! I knew it was coming soon, but was not "really" prepared for it. So it begins...

9 month check up

Today we had Reef's 9 month well baby check up and it was just like the others...He's a healthy growing boy who is nearly 30 in. tall (70 %) and about 21 lbs (60%). He is almost ready to take off and walk across the room, but is holding back.

His new obsession is chewing on mardi gras beads. I guess they make a good teether. I just have to make sure they are in good shape and not ready to fall apart!

Jared never shaves during vacations (since he has to be clean shaven for work) so he was having fun with his beard by shaving it into what I like to call a White Trash 'Stash. He did shave it this morning before heading to work, but we got some laughs yesterday with it.

Getting Home/Neat Repeatz

WE made it home at 12:35 am today and it was not a great homecoming. Jared unlocked the house and of course to save on heating, we had turned our heater down to 60*! BRRRRR!!! Then we hear 2 of our smoke detectors chirping that they have low batteries. Do you think we would have 2 9V batteries lying around....NOPE! He went to Wal Mart at 12:45 am and we were back in business around 1. Reef had woke up when I took him out of his car seat and wanted to nurse, so we did that while Jared was at Wal Mart (and convienently one of the detectors was in Reef's room.) After we got that back in business and got Reef snuggled in bed with a big blanket we could get some sleep as well. What a trip!

This noon I was able to get away for a couple hours to hit up Neat Repeatz with Steph Verkamp. Neat Repeatz is a bi-annual consignment sale that you can find some pretty good deals at. Today was the last day, thus it was 1/2 price day for most items. I walked away with several good deals for Reef's wardrobe for about $18! Reef did great for Daddy while I was away, so it was a pretty good day.

9 month pictures on the island!

We decided to take some pictures of Reef on the island and call them our 9 month pictures. I decided we didn't NEED to get professional pics done at 9 months because his year pictures will look soooo similar, and who can beat pictures on the beach? :)

There was an awesome looking piece of driftwood buried in the sand right outside the beach cottage, so I thought that would be a perfect spot for pictures. One of the tricky parts was being aware of high tide, because then it would be nearly underwater, so I planned accordingly. We tried to take them at the beginning of the week, but Reef wasn't quite adapted to the whole water and sand bit, so the pictures ended up like this:


At the end of the week, they turned out like this:



Here are a few honorable mentions...

More Florida Pics

Here are some pictures with mommy! Reef experienced a lot of firsts this trip, even though it was not his first trip to Florida. His first trip was when he was 3 weeks old when we went to Daytona Beach. Of course, a 3 week old can't do many things, we still dipped his toes in the ocean and pool, but this time he really got to experience the beach!

Some of his firsts: Being in the Gulf of Mexico, playing in the sand, eating the sand/shells, floating in the ocean/gulf, driving a golf cart& boat (with a little help!), taking a shower outdoors, falling asleep while floating, and eating many new things such as lasagne, corn bread, cheesies, etc.

Reef also started giving high fives while swinging (note daddy/reef high fives in the swing.)

It was a great trip and we enjoyed seeing our friends Jeff & Jane, Amy, and The Melvin's who all live on the island either full time or for the majority of the year and of course meeting new friends.

Greetings from N. Captiva Island, FL

Here are a few highlights from our Florida trip. I don't want to bore you with tons of pics, but here are a few cute ones.

Looking out the window at Daddy and Grampy floating in the ocean.

Standing in the sand for the first time with Daddy.

Floating with Daddy.

Swinging, looking at the ocean.

Standing in the Ocean with Daddy and Grampy.

Do you notice a theme in these pictures? If not, note that I am not in them...I have lost all my pregnancy weight, but somehow, just SOMEHOW, it got redistributed and I am still not bikini ready! Hehehe. I will make my debut in some pictures down the line, I promise, but those involving swimsuits will stay behind the scenes! :)

On our way to FLORIDA!

Tonight we drive to Kansas City to stay the night before leaving on a jet plane to FLORIDA! Our flight is at 7:50am, so we figured it would be easier with Reef to stay the night and get up at 5:30 instead of getting up at 3:30 and having a 2 1/2 hour drive, wait at the airport for an hour, then have a 2 1/2 hour flight and finally a 2 1/2 hour drive from Tampa to Fort Meyers! Too much for a little tyke to take all in one day.

I will be updating pictures and adventures from the trip when we get back.

9 months!

Reef is 9 months old today and it seems to have flown by! I had to work today but then tomorrow I am not working so I can finalize our trip packing for Florida. Reef also got his first haircut by great-aunt Di this afternoon. I had trimmed around his ears 2 times before, but this was an all over evening out cut. He looks sooo much older, I think with his new hair! It's also several shades lighter than it used to. His "new" hair growth came in lighter than when he was first born.

I tried on Reef's body glove swim/life jacket thingie that we got at a garage sale before he was born and as you can see, it's still a little big. It says 30-45 lbs and since he weighs just over 20, I figured it would be. You can also see that I took this picture yesterday (note the longer hair!)

We have Reef's 9 month well baby check up on March 30th since Dr. Brabec had to be out of town tomorrow as was previously scheduled. We will have an update on his stats then. :)

Loverly day

Today was a great day! I didn't have to work....okay, you got me, I CHOSE not to work because I had just worked 6 days in a row, that's right, 6 school days, and I missed my baby. It also was pretty exhausting when you aren't used to it! Dealing with 21 third graders for 7 hours is pretty crazy!

First stop was the vital statistics office downtown to obtain a copy of Reef's birth certificate so we can go on vacation on Saturday! I had never gotten around to getting one and luckily Rick and Cyndi checked to see if we needed any identification for Reef. $12 later, we have proof he was born. I could've just showed them my stretch marks and episiotamy (sp?) scar! hehehe

Next on the agenda was Shopko to get some more Hyland's teething tablets. Shopko is the cheapest around to get them. Only $3.99! They work great and there are 125 little tablets in each bottle *I typically give him about 3 each time.* I met Breanna here and she stayed out with the cars and babies while I ran in. What a great friend!

Super Target was next and we killed about an hour and a half just walking and looking at mostly baby things. I walked away with Reef's 1st bday invites, thank you's, napkins and table cloths for $4!!! Gotta love clearance!

Then we made a quick stop at Noodles and Company to pick up lunch for ourselves and Jody as we were going to stop and see how she was faring as a new mother!

Jody & baby Kate was our next to last stop. Kate's bilirubin levels were at a high 18, so she gets to be a glow worm just like Reef was. Hopefully she doesn't have to stay on them for very long! They were doing good...just a lack of sleep for mommy! Typical new mother woes! How soon you forget. We had a short visit as she had a Dr. appt. to get to that afternoon.

Finally we ended up back at our house and we went on a short walk with the boys. It was a long, but good day! I am ready for bed....GOOD NIGHT and Happy St. Patty's Day!

Life with 3 kids...

I know you must be thinking...Jared and Julie don't have 3 kids...but here are a few ways that I/we have been able to experience this:

I have 3 children: Jared, Enzo and Reef. It would be appropriate to laugh here!

I watch 3 children: Reef, Max & Oscar. Life with twins and another child can be quite complicated, but it can also be pretty easy. It can get crazy with 3 babies and I don't envy anyone with multiples. Pat & Breanna do a great job with a 4 year old and 4 month old twins!

We watched 3 children: Reef, Scoie & Cooper. Having a 5, 3 and nearly 1 year old for several hours was pretty darn easy. Granted it was from 7pm-2am and they had already been fed and bathed! We played, then watched Madagascar 2 and finally read a couple bedtime stories before heading to sleepy town, but they are 3 good kids! Reef did a great job over there and fell asleep around 8:30 and didn't wake up until we put him in his carseat to head home around 2 am!

I know I have pictures of Scoie and Cooper, I just can't find them now...I will put them up later!

FRIDAY, The 13th...

So, I am NOT a superstitious person and I love when the 13th falls on a Friday. Reef's due date was June 13th, which was a Friday and I soooooo wanted him to be born then, but, God had other plans! Anyway, today was a great day. My friends Jody & Joe Steinbach had their baby girl, Kate Elizabeth this morning and she was a healthy 8 lbs 4 oz! She was due on the 10th, so Jody didn't have to wait too much longer (she actually went into labor on the 11th....so she was ready to go by the 13th!)

This evening we had a babysitter (THANKS MEGAN!!!) and we went to Rain, a Beatles Tribute with Rick and Cyndi. It was AWESOME! They put on quite the show with costume changes and everything. We enjoyed drinks and a meal before the show and just headed home after. Reef was a good boy for Megan and went to bed without a fight *although he still isn't really taking a bottle* and slept the night away!

Many reasons that Friday, The 13th is NOT a bad day!

Working girl

So this week might not have too many entries just because I am subbing all this week and next Monday for the same teacher at Belmont! It's a great experience and I love the kids, school & staff. So far the past 2 days have been great and I expect more good things to come. What's even better yet, it's spirit week, so there are fun days. Monday was hat day, today was comfy clothes day *I wore jeans and a sweatshirt! and tomorrow is crazy socks/hair day. I probably will just stick with some crazy socks...

That's all for now, folks!

Roseola

Roseola is an acute disease of infants and young children that is characterized by high fever followed by a rash that appears on trunk, limbs, neck and face. www.About.com


So on top of Reef going to the doctor yesterday and finding out he just has a cold, viral fever & all 4 top teeth coming in (which, by the way, 2 of them are poking out already!) he has Roseola now, too.

Roseola is a harmless rash that less than 1/2 of all babies get between the ages of 6 months and 2 years. It happens, usually, after their first major fever (over 103*) and will go away between 1-5 days.

At first I thought it was just a heat rash because I have usually been putting a onesie on under his pj's and he got really cranky Friday night, so I took it off. I noticed a few bumps Friday night after the onesie incident (also, it was a brand new onesie that I'm pretty sure hadn't been washed, so that was the 2nd culprit, or so I thought that the rash was from.) Saturday morning brought more bumps, just in the torso area, so the heat/sensitive rash, I thought was a pretty good guess! By Sunday, it had started spreading to his neck and face and slightly on his legs and I was getting worried. I called our "Telephone Line to Care" through our pediatrician and a nurse talked me through signs and symptoms and finally came to Roseola. After some research of my own on the internet, I am convinced that is what it is and hope that it goes away SOON because I hate seeing my baby's beautiful skin all bumpy!

Here are pictures of what the rash looks like (I got it off the internet.)

Dr. visit

We decided to go to the doctor today because Reef still had a fever when he woke up and it was nearing the 48 hour mark. We went in and the nurse and doctor checked him up and down and told us it was a combo of a cold and all 4 top teeth coming in! She assured us that with a cold it can take 72 hours for a fever to go away as long as it stays below 105*. I will know this for next time!

As for the top teeth coming in...that is going to be a real fun project in itself! The top left tooth looks like it should poke through any day now and the other 3 are getting close. He wasn't this crabby with his first 2 teeth, so I'm chalking it up to the cold. The only other cold symptom that he has is a runny/congested nose...so we're trying to take care of that with saline. Last night he slept a little better than Thursday night with a 5 hour stretch from 11-4!

103* fever

Tonight Reef had a 103.2* fever and it was kinda scary. He wasn't acting any differently except he took a long nap on our 2+ hour walk and then fell asleep on the way home as well! I first noticed he was warm while we were at the mall this noon and he was fussy, but he still had his lightweight jacket on, and as soon as I took it off, he was acting better. We went on a nice walk with Bre and the boys, Steph and Crew and Dez. Reef normally takes about a 30 min. nap on these walks but today he was fussy for the first 10 minutes and then slept for nearly 1 1/2 hours and then was content for the rest of the walk. When we got back to Breanna's he played for a bit and then we headed home.

On the ride home he fell asleep but woke up as soon as we got in the house. I noticed his eyes were a little watery and he felt warmer, but he still had his jacket on and the car was kinda warm. We played for about an hour before I took his temp under his arm and it was 102.4. Jared got home while Reef was eating supper and we (I) decided to take his temperature rectally to get a more acurate read. I knew under the arm is about 1* different, but I wanted to double check. Sure enough it was 103.2 and I decided to call the Telephone Line to Care that is through our Pediatrician's office & St. E's. The nurse asked me a bunch of questions and she decided that if his temp was going down with some tylenol it should be fine, but if it hits 105 or he has any worse symptoms we should go to the ER. I assummed it would be fine, but just wanted to double check because 103 sounds awefully high for a little guy, but since he was acting normally, I wasn't too worried.

I will keep you posted on his well being. He is peacefully sleeping as of 8:00 and I hope we get a good night's rest! Wish us luck and health.

Trip to Gretna

I watched the twins this morning at our house and it went MUCH more smoothly for my little rugrat. Reef was great as were the twins. I even had about 30 minutes to myself when all 3 of them were sleeping! Quite a feat, if you think about it. Reef took an hour nap (which he USUALLY doesn't take at Breanna's) and the boys took their usual 2+ hour naps.

When Breanna got back at noon with some lunch we decided that we would try our hand at taking them to Gretna to the outlets. Carters and Osh Gosh were having 50% off sales and Breanna had $10 off coupons so we had to see what they had for us! It was a great trip and back with the boys being a little fussy during the shopping. I swear we played musical babies! We took Breanna's Yukon so we could all ride together, but that meant only one stroller could fit, so we had 2 front carriers as well. The twins were SUPPOSED to have been the riders in the carriers, but about halfway through I had Reef strapped to my chest! WHAT A WORKOUT! It went smoothly from there. I got some great finds...which you will see pictures of soon! This summer should be fun with trips to the zoo and whatever else we feel we can tackle.

If you look hard at the pictures you can see all 3 car seats...Reef's is green(and of course the cow has to be in front of his face!) and the twins have blue and grey.

Rick having fun on the internet!

I had several emails come up from grampy Rick and from the subject line it looked as if they were viruses...they weren't...they were super cute magazine covers he had played around with on the internet. Here are a few of my favorites:


This picture was taken in Florida at the beach cottage last year when I was about 6 months pregnant...Rick thought it would be funny to push out his stomach for the picture, too!

This picture was from Joe & Ivy's wedding in July when Reef was 4 weeks old.

This is one of my favorites...Snug as a bug...Cute little bear!