happy new year...bleh.

once again, i've fallen into my poor blogging habits. i made dedicated entries for about a week but suddenly my free time is no longer my own.

elisha has decided that it's too entertaining to watch the world around her. this leads to catnapping, and just poor napping in general. getting her to sleep for an hour when the other 2 are awake is a major achievement. even getting her to sleep for an hour while the other 2 are already asleep is an achievement. maybe she's just busy growing synapses or something, because she is amazing me.

while we were in iowa, she discovered she could roll over and over and over and actually get somewhere. so if you put her on a blanket in the middle of the room and give her 5 minutes, you'll find her in a corner or up against the baseboard heater (which isn't even being used lately, it feels springier than spring outside!). she's also started using her voice more, just kind of blabbing to herself. and the last few days she has started blowing big juicy raspberries. it's so adorable, even if she leaves my shoulder wet all the time. she's really amazing me, i don't remember all this rolling over for at least another month with the other 2. (elisha just turned 4 months.) oh, and baby girl is also trying to sit up. when she's reclining in her carseat, it looks like she's doing little crunches because she's lifting her head up off the seat.

so christmas in iowa was a time of exploration for elisha. for the rest of us, it was a time of sickness. ugh. the 22nd i came down with the stomach flu (although i never threw up, i have such a strong gag reflex...or is that a weak gag reflex?? hmmm) but i felt any second like i could have thrown up. i made frequent trips to the toilet anyway, being struck with the diarrhea bug too. i stayed in bed for a whole day, something i haven't done since before i had kids. i was so weak, i couldn't have walked anyway.

rob had the diarrhea side of the sickness so he was in charge of the kids while i was sick. he brought me elisha every 2 or 3 hours to nurse and thankfully she did not get it. it was a short illness and i felt better around 10pm that night, but then who came into our room around midnight saying that she threw up in her bed? reese. :/

she had the bug the 23rd but was better in time for christmas. we thought we were all healthy so we left iowa on the 26th and who threw up in the hotel the morning of the 27th? cade :/ his first tummy bug :( i snagged the hotel's ice bucket and managed to catch most of it. the rest of the trip was a blur, between him throwing up AND having the nastiest diapers i've ever seen. i guess he really got screwed over.

we also had my initiation into the 'my child's just thrown up on your floor' club. cade nailed the floor in a mcdonald's in NY state. i added it to his baby book. :)

but we're all healthy again, just in time to hear of the meningitis scares in nearby rhode island. i hope all the decontamination they're doing in the schools there does the job. children shouldn't die from germs picked up in school.