The jammies switch

Last night I put the kids in their jammies and then I went to take a shower. When I came out I had a surprise. The kids decided that they liked each others pjs better and they decided to trade. I think that it probably had something to do with Gabe having brand new pjs on, but for whatever the reason they switched pjs and I just had to take pictures.

Carissa's Four

Carissa had her fourth birthday yesterday and her party the night before that. She has been counting the days from Christmas to her birthday and she was so excited this year. She wanted to go to the Mayan for dinner and after that we had cake and presents at my parents' house. For those of you who don't know the Mayan is very similar to Casa Bonita in Denver, it has cliff divers and live entertainment and the kids love it. She had a great time and I love seeing her so happy. After she opened her presents she got dressed up and sang for us.

WIC

We had our WIC appointment yesterday and now days WIC is okay with my children's sizes and growth. The appointment was pretty uneventful, but I was exited to see how big they said Carissa and Gabe were. Gabriel is at the 10% for his height (34 inches) and his weight (26.6 lbs.), which is about were he has been the last few times. And I don't remember Carissa percentile, but Carissa has grown so much in the last year. She is 37.5 inches tall, and she weighs 33 lbs.

So Scary

This morning on my way to drop the kids off at school I had a big scare. And I am so thankful that things turned out the way that they did. I was on I-15 going south in the right lane shortly after changing lanes and I was only going about 60 mph, because it was about 22 degrees outside and slightly snowing. I think I must of hit ice, but I'm not sure exactly what happened. My car started going towards the cement barrier on the right side of the interstate and I just moved the steering wheel to adjust, but then I was going farther to the left which got me going back and forth farther and farther each time, until I just knew I didn't have control anymore. Then I went to the left across the entire interstate all lanes (my lane, 3 more lanes and the carpool lane). I was sure that we would hit something or someone would hit us, but when my car stopped I was facing the cement barrier on the left side of the interstate and we didn't hit anything. I looked to my left (direction of oncoming cars) to see one coming straight for me and Gabe (his car seat is on that side). Then that car stopped, I quickly got my car started again, just to have a car zip past the front of mine on the left shoulder. I got going in the right direction and finished going to the kids school. Once I was going again, I was so shaky and Carissa was asking me what happened and telling me that it isn't nice to say bad words and I agreed with her. I was so afraid that Carissa and Gabe were going to get hurt. All I wanted to do was sit and cry, but we were all okay and the car was okay and I am so thankful for that.

School and Siblings

So I haven't been posting very often but I'm working on it. I started school last week and so far it is going well and I'm adjusting, and the kids are doing well with it now too. They only spend 30-60 minutes longer a day at school than they used to, but Carissa over heard me talking to teachers about me going to college and figured out that I wasn't in the baby room all day anymore. She wasn't happy about that, but I explained to her what I was doing and now she is okay with it.



Having a sibling I think is an experience in life that you just can't have without having a sibling. Carissa and Gabriel absolutely love each other and they can play really well together, but they can fight too. And some times they really fight, they will wrestle, hit, kick, push, bite (very rarely though) and both end up crying by the end of it. But I know they truly care about each other and really enjoy being together most of the time. Only recently now they have started teaming up on me in ways I completely don't expect. Over the holidays one day Carissa, Gabe and I were eating at the table together. I had some chips and they both wanted one, so I gave each of them one. Then out of nowhere Gabe decided to poke Carissa's arm with his chip, he poked her a couple of times and then his chip was in pieces on the chair and the floor. He asked for another chip and I told him that he couldn't have one, because he just poked Carissa with his chip and broke it into pieces. Then Carissa gave her chip to Gabe and she politely asked me asked if she could have another chip. At that point I had no idea what to do or say. I want to encourage the fact that she saw her brother was sad and she wanted to help him, but I didn't want to encourage Gabe's misbehavior. And Gabe had already started eating Carissa's chip so I didin't want to try to give the chip back. Anyway, I ended up giving Carissa a new chip and they were both happy and they finished eating. A few days later they did something else where they were teaming up again, anyway I'm starting to feel out numbered. I remember when Brandon and I used to work together when we were little, and I'm happy that Carissa and Gabe are working together but I'm not so happy that they are sometimes working against me.

Dentist

Today Carissa and Gabe went to the dentist, and I was very proud of Gabriel. This was his second trip to the dentist, but the first time all they did was have the dentist look at his teeth and he looked around. Today, he had x-rays and a cleaning (floss, brushing, floride) and then the dentist looked at his teeth. He didn't fuss at all and was very cooperative and still. Carissa did well the last time she went to the dentist up until the last part of it, but she ended up having about 6 cavities and she has had those fixed since then. So needless to say she is very nervous about the dentist office now. She had x-rays after watching Gabe get his this morning and she did finally agree to let the dentist look at her teeth, but no cleaning today. The dentist wants to help build up her confidence again, so we will try the cleaning part again in 6 months. The best part of it is that this time they are both cavity free. Flossing is very important even in very little children, all of Carissa's cavities were from not flossing her teeth.

Christmas and New Years

We had a nice and mostly quiet Christmas and New Years. Ben was with us and for Christmas we just went over to my parent's house and spent Christmas with my family. For New Years Ben just came over and we watched movies.