On the Mend... Again

After a pretty miserable day on Monday, we are doing better. Veda's fever kept spiking on Monday so I brought her back in and the Dr. tested for RSV - she is positive. We went back yesterday and Adele is positive too. Veda still doesn't have an appetite. She had about two bites of yogurt and some strawberries and blueberries yesterday. I gave her pasta for dinner and thought she had eaten the entire bowl. I asked her if she wanted more and she said, "yes - for my pocket." Translation - "yes - so I can put them down my shirt with the rest of the pasta that you thought I ate."

I should also mention that we are now 100% potty trained! She had it down by last Friday and the illness didn't effect her at all. She's even asked to go potty in public places... she's a little fearful of falling in when she doesn't have her potty attachment but she's performed like a champ.

Happy Birthday Papi

Happy Birthday! We were going to sing you happy birthday but the star of the show has a sore throat and doesn't want to perform right now;) Hope you have a wonderful birthday week with Iowa State win.

Pneumonia!

Veda has been on a downward spiral all weekend. Yesterday I left at 5am for a work trip to Kansas City. It had been a rough night before but I figured it couldn't get any worse so I might as well go to work as she had to be better on Sunday. Wrong. She had a fever hovering around 104 all day. She was lathargic and wouldn't eat or drink anything. Finally Todd took her to Urgent Care - after scrambling to find a neighbor to take Adele. Diagnosis Pneumonia. She got two large shots of antibiotics. I couldn't bare to stay in KC with Veda so sick and Todd dealing with her AND crazy Dell. So I hoped on a flight home last night. I'm so glad I did.

She still had a very high fever through the night last night but by this morning she is doing relatively better. It will be another cartoon and popsicle day.

Love Her

I asked Veda is she wanted to go for a walk in the stroller so Mommy could get some coffee at the coffee shop. She said, "no let's just cuddle."

The Crew

I've taken some vacation this week since Veda's new daycare hasn't opened yet. It's been a pretty great week being home with the girls. Today we had a playdate with Veda's Besties (Collin, Ella, Morgan and Drew)! 

Veda miss Uncle Kiss

And Dell misses her buddy Owen...

Sweet Baby Dell

Funny little hats! Thanks Aunt Kathy;)

Game On!

Inspired by the progress a friend was having with her son, I decided to take the leap and start the serious potty training. We have been diaper free since Tuesday morning.

Day 1 we had lots of minor accidents but once she realized she was peeing and didn't have a diaper on she would stop and ask to go to the big girl potty. The Toy Story stickers were a big help - Thanks Didie! She made it through naptime and the night without incident.

Day 2 we went to Target to pick up big girl undies and in the excitement of the moment while we discussed the process of the big gril undies/potty she peed in the store. Thankfully we were in the carpeted area. She announced what she was doing as the puddle started to form and I scanned the area for witnesses. There wasn't much I could do since it was on the carpet so I tossed the undies in the cart and away we went. I decided to let her finish the shopping trip in her wet pants as a teaching moment. Not a stellar idea as the temper tantrum that resulted was insane. The rest of the night she went bare bottom and several times we went to the bathroom and found her training potty full of pee - she didn't even tell us - success!

Day 3 she had yet to poop. I know she has been holding it back since she hasn't had a diaper on. I noticed that she had gotten up from breakfast and was eating while standing. Sure enough she went in her undies. That was the only accident of the day and she is now celebrating her accomplishments and telling us when she has to go. So if we can get #2 in the hole we will be all set!

Correct Grammar

So we have been in the process of correcting Veda's grammar (so she talk real nice like mom and dad)....Here are some of the common mistakes made:

Instead of "I", she says "my".....for example, "My wanna go outside" or "My want a Popsicle."  Everything is "up"....for example, in the morning, she says "my wanna go upstairs", when in fact she wants to go downstairs.   The other is "my wanna hold you", instead of "will you hold me".

Tonight everyone wanted to be "held" by mom.  Adele was screaming to be held (by mom only) and of course, Veda wanted to be held too.  Instead, she got me holding her "upstairs" watching football (which I convinced her was better than Wonder Pets).   As Kathy came downstairs, she says "yippeee, hi mommy, my wanna hold you"....I said, no, Veda, it's "WILL YOU hold me".....she said..."no, dat's not Will, it's Mommy and my is going to hold her".  I think we still have some work to do....

Ringing in the New Year

Yes we were in bed by 10pm but it doesn't mean we didn't celebrate - we just started early. Kel, Chris and Owen were in town for the Rose Bowl so we decided we should feast in celebration. The theme was blue cheese... and chocolate!!

We started off with dirty martinis with blue cheese stuffed olives that Todd stuffed himself. Todd grilled new york strip and topped it with gorgonzola. He made fresh blue cheese dressing for our wedge salads complete with fresh bacon and tomatoes. We baked baguettes and smothered them with butter too. Yummmm I'm hungry again! Then Kel and I made molten chocolate cakes.

They were sooooooo easy and sooooooo amazing. If you want to impress guests I highly recommend this dessert. Our homemade version was just as good as any I've had in a resturant... actually much better. Kel found this recipe on the Pioneer Women's blog site and I copied it from Tastykitchen.com (credit where it's due;). Enjoy!!

4 pieces (squares) Semi-sweet Baking Chocolate
½ cups Butter
1 cup Powdered Sugar
2 whole Eggs
2 whole Egg Yolks
6 Tablespoons Flour
2 cups Real Whipping Cream (seriously It's So Much Better!)
2 Tablespoons Sugar
Preparation Instructions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Spray 4 custard cups with Pam and place on cookie sheet.
Microwave chocolate and butter in large bowl on high for about 1 minute, until butter is melted. whisk until chocolate is also melted.
Stir in sugar until well blended. Whisk in eggs and egg yolks. Stir in flour.
Divide between cups.
Bake 13-14 minutes until sides are firm and center is soft. Let stand 1 minute.
Combine sugar and heavy cream and whip until stiff.
Invert cakes on dishes and top with whipped cream.

Fabio is Fabulous ; )

Oo la la! We met our good friends Jon and Christina for dinner last week at one of our favorite resturants. A perfect night all around. Cafe Firenze is owned by Fabio (one of the stars of Bravo's Top Chef). Man was I surprised when I literally bumped into him on my way to the restroom.

Mom's worst fear

You know how you have those dreams that wake you up at night? Mine is about my kids drowning. I was thrilled to see these pics Todd took. Really though they are near the shore and the water is only a few inches deep. Todd took her sleding on the lake too. Can't wait until she gets to drive out on the lake with Poppie to go ice fishing...

Christmas at the Sayre's

We completed gift opening in a record 7 hours at the Sayre house today....Opening presents has become a slightly slower process than it was prior to Veda & Adele.  That combined with the fact Kathy got the flu last night (now I am officially the only person from the Laabs Christmas not to get the flu - first Owen, then Adele, Kelly, Chris, Grandma Didi, and today Grandpa Gary and Kathy).  

We started with a 2 hour opening session this morning, took a 3 hour break for Adele & Veda's nap (Kathy also crashed with them after mistakenly taking Advil PM at 11am - instead of Ibuprofen.)  This was then followed by another 2 hour session to close it out this afternoon.  One of the highlights was Uncle Ryan's "silver noodle" necklace to commemorate Veda's AFV debut this month.

Veda certainly had a barrel of fun (pun intended)...she also loved her new toys, many of which are from our childhood (i.e. Barrel of Monkeys, Candyland, etc).  

Below are the Christmas ornaments that Veda & Adele made for Bull and Nani....and a rare picture of Kathy (given her aggressive bout with the flu last night).

And a rare picture of Baby 'dell, given her 4 day bout with the flu...

 I'm still holding strong....please don't let me get the flu before we fly back on Tuesday afternoon.

Bows, Bobs, Barbies and Bug Boxes

We have successfully completed both family Christmas events.  Christmas Eve in Clear Lake with the Laabs family and the day after Christmas at the Sayre household.  Once again, way too many presents, but certainly lots of fun had by all.  One of Veda's favorite presents was the one she gave to Grandpa Gary....a new minnow bucket (with some real minnows...aka "Bobs").  Veda wanted to catch them, hold them, pet them and even put them in Uncle Chris' shoe.

  Veda also got lots of new bows....I lost count after the 20 pack from Aunt Kelly...

 

Veda got a new Barbie, but the excitement in the night came when Barbie's shoe went missing.  We never actually found it, but I am certain it was under the dishwasher...here's a pic of Veda and Papi "searching" for it.

Veda also received a Bug Box for hunting fire flies this summer back in Iowa....to note, there are no bugs in California, but we decided that Veda might be able to use it to capture snails (which are every where).

 

Merry Christmas from the Laabs family!

Christmas Eve Family Pictures

Merry Christmas from the Laabs and Ehler's families!

An early visit from Santa Claus....

Early Christmas present

Grandma Didi and Papi got the girls (and Owen) their own big red Radio Flyer....This will come in quite handy this summer during our annual 4th of July visit....lots of trips to the ice cream place and the Tiki Bar.