Home Run Derby

I couldn't take the long hair anymore. With Rubix sick for so long the hair just got in the way with holding him in the night. I really wanted to wait for a work event, Seeds of Hope, on June 11th, but I just couldn't do it. If Rubix pulled another hair of mine I was going to lose it! So I went last Tuesday and compromised with Daddy and kept it around shoulder height instead of going to my chin like I usually do. So for my 20th anniversary and 9th donation I am giving 13 inches instead of the 16 inches that I was hoping for.  It is officially in the mail and on its way to Locks of Love so that some little girl will be able to enjoy it. 

On Saturday both kiddos had a baseball game. The entire day from 9 am to 3 pm the Home Run Derby Festival ran so that the kids could enjoy fun and games before and/or after their games. Phoenix was such a big girl this year and went right up onto the slides and in the jump house with no assistance or coaxing. It was great! She had such a blast!

She was having so much fun that she forgot to play the games to win prizes and was a bit disappointment as we were heading home and she realized that she didn't have any prizes to take home with her. 

To raise extra money Daddy got a dunk tank for the day as well. Did I mentioned that Daddy Keith organized and put on the entire event and was there at 6:30 am and didn't get home until 4 pm that night! He worked really hard to provide a super fun day for all families. Anyways, the dunk tank allowed all of the kids to dunk their coaches, which made for great fun. Here is Axel enjoying his slushy while we wait for Daddy to get in the tank.

Rubix was a champ. Our babysitters apparently became unavailable so we had to manage to get through the day by napping in the stroller. He managed to take a 40 minute nap which equated to him melting down just before 2 pm. Although, Phoenix, Rubix and I had to leave an hour early it worked out great, as Rubix managed to take a late nap at home and was back to his happy self by 4 pm!

Here is Axel about to dunk Daddy!

Mommy got to try as well, but was unsuccessful with my 3 balls.

Luckily, Phoenix got special privileges so after she tried to throw the big, heavier balls we manually dunked Daddy.

Unfortunately, Daddy had a big splash zone which caused both Rubix and Phoenix to get a little wet, which both of them were not happy about.

It is amazing how much better Axel is at swimming. His form continues to improve at each practice. You can see below how natural he looks now while swimming free style. You can also see he is way ahead of his counterparts. He is typically doing 2 full laps or 4 lengths of the pull more than his teammates. He would do more if they didn't stop him for instruction :)

Last night we had our first parent meeting at Harker. It was very exciting to learn a little bit more about how next year is going to go for Axel. Some things that I didn't realize is that Spanish is apart of the curriculum. You can also take immersion Spanish after school or learn another language like Mandarin or Hindu as well with beginner or full immersion after school classes. Movement arts (dance, theater, etc) and Music (including playing an instrument) is also apart of the regular weekly curriculum. You can also be apart of the band or orchestra after school and take private lessons in addition to what they will do during class. There was tons of additional information given to us which I would love to share, but rather not be a bore. All in all we are extremely excited for Axel to be apart of the Harker community with the focus in his education being about the process and journey that he is about to embark rather than the end result. I love that!

I leave you with Rubix playing ball. I always talk about it, but wanted to share a video of how he spends most of his waking hours, especially when he is at home!

Rubix 13 months, Easter and more!

Here is Rubix helping me clean up from his first real hair cut. I trimmed the front of his hair right before his birthday to keep the hair out of his eyes, but on his 13 month milestone I decided to give him a full on hair cut. I think he looks adorable despite it being quite short. 

 On Saturday morning the kids decorated Easter eggs. Rubix was still a mess from his double ear infection that after taking this photo I had to take him for a walk/ run to get him to fall asleep. He started antibiotics on Wednesday night after dealing with fevers every night, vomiting and sleepless nights. I had a phone appointment with a doctor who had us then come in to take a look. I was so glad that I was persistent and took Rubix to the doctor for the third time in a month (along with our 3 ER visits). It was an extremely difficult first month to the start off his second year of life. The doctor gave him a stronger antibiotic since it was his second time in less than a month of needing treatment. She felt it was a resistant strain of infection and that is why he seemed continuously sick the entire month.

Because of Rubix being sick Axel and I went to church alone on Saturday night for the Easter service. Daddy and Phoenix were sad to miss, but it was the best thing for Rubix to stay home.

 On Easter morning we woke and had delicious pumpkin donuts that daddy made and egg mcmuffins. The kids then opened their Easter baskets and had their indoor egg hunt.

 After we were done Jade and Zoe joined us for our outdoor egg hunt. This year Mommy Easter Bunny hid 94 eggs, 10 for Rubix on the grass and 21 for each of the 4 hunters.

 Axel had much harder locations this year. He was excited and up for the challenge!

 Phoenix was quite swift in her hunting and had a blast!

Here Axel asked for assistance and Tyler was more than happy to help while the girls just watched and pointed. 

Easter afternoon Axel had his Russian school of Math. Afterwards, I prepared our ham dinner and then took off to see my newest niece, Aya Rose Jolley. She was born around 2 in the afternoon on Easter day. She is absolutely precious and I was very glad I was able to go and meet her while Daddy stayed home with the kids. 

 Now that Rubix is back to his normal self I have had more time to take some photos. Since Phoenix received Elsa bubble bath for Easter, the kids have been enjoying fun bath times again.

 I love seeing them all having fun together. These are the memories that I hope they look back on and want to replicate with their families some day.

 This morning I was able to capture the kids eating breakfast together. Rubix is back to eating normally. He actually can't seem to eat enough. He ate an entire pancake and has enjoyed quiche, lasagna and even macaroni and cheese! We had to take him off of whole milk since he is on the Augmentum antibiotic because he has had terrible stomach upset. Luckily, we had 2 cans of Neocate Junior that we were able to give him and I just ordered 4 more cans. I am hoping after 4 weeks of being off of whole milk that he will be able to tolerate it without pain, vomiting or diarrhea. He is still waking once a night, but once he catches up with food after loosing a pound from being sick, I am very hopeful that he will be sleeping through the night.

The other big news is that Rubix started walking! He took his first 5 steps on Wednesday night. Last night at Axel's game he took about 15 or more steps before he realized that he was doing it by himself and decided to stop. He is also talking up a storm and started saying 'Mama'yesterday! He also says nana for banana, car, cry, and thanks to Phoenix he says NO! He continues to say up, down, off, on, cracker, caw caw, nigh/night, Axel, Angela and I do believe he has been practicing Pheeny, although it isn't very articulate yet. He amazes Keith and I every day at home much he is changing and growing. I am getting really excited for what the future may hold when I have no more diapers, cribs, baby food or naps! I do love the baby phase, but after lots of prayer over the past 6 months I finally feel at peace with us continuing as a family of 5 indefinitely. It is so nice to feel complete and be ready to get rid of all of our baby stuff slowly over the next year!

We continue to have baseball and now swim team. Axel has improved by leaps and bounds and is quite fast in the pool. I hope to get some good photos of the kids playing ball and Axel swimming. Until next time.... God Bless!

Sanborn National Park Hike

Last Sunday we enjoyed a lovely hike through Sanborn National Park. They have an unbelievable trail system. It is beautiful and quaint inside the Redwood forest. 

 We had several highlights. One was seeing a live banana slug. You can see Daddy's sense of humor and wanted the kids to see why it was called a banana slug. They are huge and slimy!

 Seeing all of the huge old trees that you can go into were also amazing.

 Axel had the privilege of going on a field trip here in Kindergarten or first grade. I can't remember, but I do remember hearing about the ghost rock. Axel couldn't wait to show us all that he had seen and the ghost rock was at the top of his list. As you can see it does look like a ghost. The family did so well that we hope to go on regular hikes throughout the year.

 Even Rubix did well considering he was running a fever still and not feeling well.

 We ended the hike with a silly picture and then some snacks and play time on the big rocks near the parking lot. We plan on taking little Grammy and Auntie Josie here when they come visit the first week in July.

  Rubix has been sick for such a long time. After a week of sleepless nights and vomiting and lack of eating and drinking we finally went back to the doctor to learn that he has a double ear infection. Because it is his second ear infection in less than one month's time it is considered a resistant strain so he was given stronger antibiotics. We hope that this will fully rid him of this illness and we can finally be healthy again. It has been such a hard month for the family with having to hold Rubix most of the night, but considering how much pain he has been in we understand his need for Mommy and Daddy help.

We are hoping the rain doesn't ruin our annual park egg hunt, but we are looking forward to a fun filled weekend of activities celebrating our Lord and Savior rain or shine!

Axel Stats, Gma/Gpa Burgess Visit and Family Photos

On Tuesday this is how Rubix woke up from his nap at daycare. I took him to the Emergency Room for the third time in 2 weeks because there was no doctor appointments available and that is what the advice nurse recommended after she spoke with the pediatrician. He has been on prescription eye drops ever since. He is slowly coming around, but whatever virus or viruses he keeps picking up is really doing a number to Keith and I. We are exhausted because of the long nights of holding him to get him to sleep. We are thinking that he is healthy enough to start sleep training him again, but hearing him cry is very difficult for both of us. 

 On Wednesday I took Axel to the doctor and Keith stayed home with Rubix. I also had a car appointment for an update on a recall and an oil change and we thought it was best to keep Rubix home and on his normal schedule. The ER doc told us to keep him away from others for a minimum of 24 hours because of how contagious bacterial conjunctivitis is. Axel continues to grow at a more rapid rate. He is finally in the double digits! He is in the 10th percentile for height at 3 feet and 11.5 inches. He continues to be at the 2nd percentile for weight and is now 43.8 pounds. We are excited to see if he continues to jump another 3 percent in height in the coming year.

On Thursday Gma and Gpa Burgess arrived. Because of the rainy weather and Rubix's nap schedule we had a mellow day at home. We played outside for a little bit and then headed to Axel's baseball game.

 Unfortunately, the storm rolled in during the first inning and the downpour cancelled the game. Gma and Gpa did get to see Axel warm up pitching, but everyone was glad to get out of the pouring rain instead of playing and spectating the 2nd inning.

 On Friday, Gma and Gpa watched Rubix while Axel, Phoenix and I went to the dentist. I managed to get a picture of Axel. He is looking older and bigger by the day it seems. Because I was trying to get Phoenix to cooperate the entire time I was unable to get a picture of her. I am hoping she will be doing a significant amount of maturing over the next year so things like the dentist will not be such a chore!

 Rubix was exhausted when we left for the dentist. I was really worried that he was going to cry/ scream the entire time I was gone. Luckily, after 30 minutes of playing ball, Gma was able to walk him to sleep. She wasn't able to put him down, but she was able to get him to sleep for over an hour. Go Grandma! I ended up taking him to the doctor again on Friday afternoon. He threw up Thursday night and I was at my wits end to figure out what is wrong with him. Fortunately, he is healthy and well according to the doctor, but he does have fluid in his ears which might be causing increased symptoms with lying down, hence vomiting, snoring and coughing at night with lying down and why he feels better being held.

 On Saturday we took family photos and then headed to downtown Saratoga to go the the historic museum and the cemetery. Gma and Gpa enjoyed them both. Rubix and Phoenix liked the water fountain the best. It was a wonderful day and visit. We feel very lucky that they were able to come and spend time with us.

I will leave you with our 2017 family photo as well as 

 a super cute sibling photo and

 Father/ sons photo and

 mother/ daughter photo!

We are looking forward to a wonderful Easter celebrating the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior and of course a super fun Easter egg hunt!

Axel is 8 years old!

Here is Axel, Friday morning, March 31st. He enjoyed opening his cards from Gma Sonia/Gma Bruce and GGma Connie and GGpa Jerry while eating his pancake breakfast. 

 While Axel was at school Phoenix, Rubix and I had fun playing at the park. They are both getting so much bigger.

 Daddy joined us for the last 5 minutes. He took the day off to help prepare for Axel's sleepover party and to be able to take the boys to a 4:45 pm movie. Rubix was really needy all day and was melting down and Phoenix really wanted to play on the big rocks so Daddy took her as I was heading towards the car. She was so happy I had to capture the picture even if it was from far away.

 I was able to join Axel at school for the last 10 minutes of the day. Each child said what they like about the birthday boy and they sang a couple of songs, including the Happy Birthday song. Axel then passed out the chocolate cupcakes that he (I) brought to school to share with his classmates.

 Alex, Kedar and Nico arrived just after 4 pm and then headed to the Lego Batman movie. Axel has been waiting to see the Lego Batman movie since it came out because he wanted to see it for his birthday. What patience he has! They came back all hyped up so after dinner and singing happy birthday Daddy took them out to the park. Luckily, Rubix wasn't feeling well so he was asleep before they got back from the movies and I was able to get Phoenix to sleep while they were out in the park.

 The rest of the night was all about building the Lego kits that the boys brought him. They all worked together to get the kits built. It was tough to pull them away but they managed to finish most of the building by 9:30 pm and I turned the lights out at 10 pm. Daddy and I each had to talk with them once about falling asleep and the house was quiet of 8 year old boys until 6:48 am. I had a tough night with Rubix, but everyone else slept soundly. I was a bit shocked that they all got up so early, but whoever had to use the restroom woke up the other three and that was that.

 The boys enjoyed waffles, bacon and fruit for breakfast and another couple of hours of playing before they headed off to their Spring break adventures. Axel said it was the best birthday ever. I actually thought it was much easier to have a sleepover then a big party and hope he will have another couple of birthdays like this before he decides he rather do something else.

 Rubix woke up with a rash all over his face and chest and back. It got progressively worse as the day went on. I put him to bed the night before with a fever of 101. He had a fever off and on all day today. Phoenix was complaining about her throat again. I went ahead and checked her temperature and she had a fever of 102 degrees! I felt so bad. I was so busy with fussy Rubix and Phoenix was just more quiet then usual and not fussy that I didn't realize she was also sick. When I looked in her mouth she had red dots everywhere and the white and yellow in the back of her throat. For the second week in a row I went to the ER, but this time with both Rubix and Phoenix. They thought Phoenix had strep, but her culture came back negative. Her fever broke last night and she is much better today. Rubix woke with another fever and his rash has spread to his entire body. His fever appears to be gone since late morning, but I will have to see if it spikes again overnight. It looks like he will miss another day or two of day care again! Rubix luckily started eating today and his diarrhea is finally over. He had soft stools in almost every diaper for the past 5 days so it was a great relief today to not clean poop off of his cloth diapers!

Rubix has been very interested in putting things in and out of containers and seeing how things work. I love watching him play with this particular toy. 

He gets so excited when he is able to put the shapes on and take them off. I forgot to mention that his 5th tooth has been coming in all week as well. It is the tooth next to his right top front tooth. He has been pulling his hair and ear all week. It is hard to know if it tooth pain or discomfort from his virus. 

Last Thursday, Axel decided to spend Phoenix's practice with Rubix and Nicole. I have Nicole come to watch Rubix during Pheeny's practice. Axel sometimes has games himself or helps out with Pheeny's practice, but on this particular day he wanted to play with Nicole. It is funny that he enjoyed making a daisy loop. 

Last week I caught Phoenix dancing. She had herself accessorized with Rubix's stacking rings. It was all fun until she tried to take them off of her ankles during dinner. She was very upset that she couldn't get them off herself. Luckily, I was able to work mommy magic and slide them off her feet!

We have been so busy with baseball, play dates, Russian school of math, getting the yard updated and ER visits/ sick kids, that we really haven't had any down time. Last weekend we did manage to have a little family time in the park. I love Rubix's concentration on getting ball to stay on the tee. I also love Axel's desire to help his little brother.

So cute!

Phoenix enjoys playing baseball more with Daddy then on her team, but she is starting to do better each game and practice.

She has the capacity to be able to listen and follow instructions, but just like with any other child she has to want to cooperate. Here Phoenix enjoyed working together with Axel.

Rubix loves watching his brother and sister, but at the same time he can't wait to do what they are doing. You can see just looking at his face how excited he gets when it is his turn to hit and play ball.

After we had come in for bath time last Sunday Daddy was out moving the trash and recycle bins to the curb when he saw this beautiful rainbow.

We all hurried to see and I was able to capture a picture of Daddy and the kiddos.

This week is Spring break. Axel has two days of Campbell Care and then we have a Day date together on Wednesday. We will get to enjoy the day together getting the Tuscon worked on, going to his 8 year check up and then having the afternoon to do whatever our hearts desire. Thursday through Sunday we will get to enjoy time with Gma Sonia and Gpa Bruce as they are going to be in town visiting. With baseball games, swim practice all week, dentist appointments and family pictures, along with our guests, we are sure to have a fun and action packed week!