A blogstravaganza!- Mama.

Blog world, it's your lucky day! We've got a week's worth of cuteness loaded into one huge blog post! So grab a cup of coffee and buckle down.
We had to get a picture of George in this little sleep sack. It was Henry's and a serious favorite of Papa's. The giraffe shoes are new (from a consignment sale) and adorable.
Georgie is really getting fun. At about 4 weeks, she actually started looking at us instead of staring cross-eyed at the wall over my shoulder. And at 5 weeks, she started watching us and smiling. You can guess who gets the most smiles. Papa, of course.


I'm not going to kid myself that everyone wants to watch long videos of newborns doing close to nothing. So I tried to keep these videos short. So if you're interested in some serious cute, check out these hiccups!

We're very cautious about declaring the end of Georgie's gross skin. Her whole body has peeled a couple times (especially her hands and feet). With June, I got a big dose of kharma cradle cap. When Henry was a baby, I saw a kid with cradle cap and physically recoiled, priding myself on not producing a child with a gross flaky head. That came back to bite me when June was born and had the nastiest cradle cap ever. So I don't want to say I'm in the clear, even if Georgie's acne doesn't seem too bad. But there is a lot of skin underneath those big cheeks to hide acne on.


Here's a cute video of a sweet baby yawn.


And a little babbling.


After all those pictures, someone was pretty tired and fussy. This is the "tired and possibly dirty" cry. Georgie hates a dirty diaper, loves getting changed, and really LOVES pooping in a dry diaper. That's 20 cents down the drain.
On to Henry. He is super fun these days and very serious about what he loves. Here's the inside of his desk (don't pinch your fingers!). Workbooks, pencils, and a ruler. More importantly, he's got a folder full of cars ripped from newspapers and magazines waiting to be cut out and placed in that red tin for future use. He even stole my blue fabric scrap bag to collect his paper scraps when he cuts out his cars. This kid means business. (Grandma, I think Henry might need you to make him one of these bags for Christmas. I want mine back.)

School has really been paying off. Henry came home eager to explain gravity to us.

He even made a whirly-gig to demonstrate gravitational force. Check out the air under his feet.
And check out that Jay Bruce shirt! Jay Bruce hit a walk off home run against the Astros to clinch the Reds division championship since 1995. Playoffs here we come!

The high point of the week was the boy scouts' bike rodeo. Henry had his helmet and bike inspected and begged me to let him ride over this ramp after he saw older kids jumping it. He was so pumped and never took it fast enough to get an air, so I wasn't too nervous. Old Henry "Rules" Turner loved that they put down chalk lines all over the parking lot to follow and even had traffic signs up to obey. He was probably the only kid there who did follow them. I see many bike 4-H projects in his future. Uncle Kevin, your godson is following in your footsteps. This picture was posted on the newspaper's website. Here's the link to the article.
Since the birth of baby George, we haven't had to do much cooking. After all the family visitors left, the local moms' club set up meals to be delivered 3 times a week for a month. And most of the meals consisted of enough food to feed this family at least 3 or 4 times. I've cooked maybe 3 or 4 times and still have a freezer full of leftovers. Thanks, Mom's Club! We did get the itch to do some cooking last week. I made coconut pudding from scratch and Henry helped cut up bananas to simmer in coconut milk.
Henry has become acutely aware of my inability to remember to return school library books. And because he is the house's official time and date keeper, he took it upon himself to mark even library day until the end of the year on his calendar. He sounded out the word "Libaye" himself.
Finally on to the big girl in the house. June sure does love her little sister. She constantly is carrying around Georgie's blankie and nukie and trying to give them to her (probably because she's jealous that she doesn't get to have hers out of bed). And when the baby isn't around, she's asking "Where's Georgie?" She's very concerned when she cries (hence the blankie and nukie) and today I found her holding Georgie's hand waiting for me to come comfort her.

June is a barrel of fun these days. She must have picked up all the imagination that Henry is lacking. She insisted that I be her horsie in this video- an act that really cracked her up.

Henry and June both love books, but Henry really only wants to read them in bed. June is our avid book reader and you can regularly find her beside a book shelf surrounded by a pile of books "reading" out loud. I walked in to find her narrating her favorite animal book quite loudly. Of course, when I got the camera she noticed me and refused to read it again. But eventually she did show me a few pages.

"Leo-po" is lady bug. And I love that she cheers for herself when she reaches the end.

Last, but not least, is a new recording of June's FAVORITE SONG EVER: "Hold on tight." We still listen to it about 90 times a day. Every time she hears music, June requests "Hold on tight," then throws a fit if you don't put it on repeat. She then drags the step stool over in front of the stove and sings along while performing certain hand motions. It takes about 20 repetitions before she loses interest and walks away. But don't let her hear you turn it off, or she'll run back in and ask for it again.

Glamour shots- Georgie.

Mama found a few more outfits from the "Becky collection" that she wanted to put me in before it was too late.

This is the baptism gown Grandma made mama when she was a baby. Mama was baptized when she was only 10 days old, so she wanted to stuff me in it while I was still small enough.

The arm holes are actually so small that Grandma ripped part of the seam so June could put it on when she was a baby. After this little photo shoot, mama sewed the seams back up. I guess this means she's not saving the dress for any more fat-armed little girls.

There's someone up there, isn't there? Don't let him jump on me!

We finally got a real smile on camera! I had a huge dirty diaper while mama was taking pictures and she was terrified of what yellow baby poop might do to a white 29 year old dress, so I had a quick change. Maybe it's easy to catch a smile on the changing table because I do not like having a dirty diaper and love getting changed into a nice, dry diaper.

Next outfit- mama's tiny little white stork sleeper. But by this point, I was tired and didn't want my picture taken.

Mama had a heck of a time finding this sleeper. She had it out before I was born, but then it got misplaced.

She searched the whole house and finally found it in a bin of Henry's old clothes she put in the attic. She was so happy she found it that I've worn it twice this week.

Don't I look sweet? But don't be fooled. I don't like to sleep on my own without being touched.

The only way mama can get me to take a nap on my own is to wrap me up in my fancy swaddling blanket (it even has built in arm restraints!) as tight as she can get me. This can normally buy her around 5 minutes before I wake up and demand to be held. But on Saturday afternoon, I did sleep for almost 4 hours. Alleluia!

I'll have mine with a side of George- June.

Mama, we know she can't roll over yet, but is this really the best place to keep a baby?

Fine, just don't let her put a foot in my "butter-jelly."

I love playing with my "Een-steins" as the Little Einsteins are known around our house. I line them up and name them: "Leo... Annie..Een-stein...Een-stein." Those two little black-haired girl is also named June, so we have a good deal of Little Einsteins stuff (and mama doesn't find them terribly annoying like some other shows). But I don't like that June has my name, so she is just called "Een-stein."

No new news on my foot. I'm taking my medicine and it's still about the same. It's not bothering me, except that I walk slower.

(Side note: We're not going to complain about a sore foot, because there are some pretty major kid injuries going on out there in the blog world right now. Broken arms, broken legs, braces on 3 year olds?!?!? Take it easy, blog friends!)

Last week, we went out for pizza. Papa fed me a slice without cutting it up. I love it! Then we went to a soccer game at the University. At every meal since, I've requested "pizza and soccer game."

Henry's got a computer game that he plays called "Jump Start Kindergarten." He's played it this summer, but only just recently discovered that there are missions you have to go on that involve earning gems, then using the gems to buy things to accomplish the mission. Some of the things he has to do is earn gems to buy a pet, food, shampoo, and teach it tricks. His pet is a blue pig named Blossom. He also bought seeds, plant food, and a special light and grew flowers to plant in a flower bed. He loves this game.

Where's that baby now? Mama thinks this picture with the bright flash and the look on Georgie's face makes it looking like a shocking celebrity caught in the act of something scandalous. But the only scandalous thing Georgie might do is get the sheets dirty. Get a diaper on that kid!

On Saturday morning, papa took Henry and John to Lowes for the Build and Grow clinic. If you've never been to one, it's good free fun and kids get to build something on their own with great little kits with precut pieces and pre-drilled holes for nails and kid sized tools. I was MAD when I was not allowed to go.

Henry built a little stage and put on a show that featured Lowe's workers and aliens. (He didn't actually put on a show, but had a fun time arranging them on the stage.)

Papa promised them that if they were good they could go out for doughnuts. We didn't know that there would be fire trucks and the fire safety truck on display at Lowes. So by the time they got back from the grocery store, it was almost noon. Mama tried to fortify our lunch doughnuts with some apples, cheese, carrots and yogurt. But guess what was the only item to get eaten in it's entirety? Sorry, Miss Juliet, for sugaring John up and sending him home.

They brought home a doughnut for me too. I took the unorthodox "no-hands" method. Pretty messy for a cream-filled doughnut.

After lunch, I closed myself in the office and read books until mama made me take a nap.

1 month comparison- Georgie.

Part of being the youngest of 3 means recreating photo opportunities so you match your older brother and sister. These were all taken when we were roughly one month old.

Here's the original shot of Henry in his "I love my aunt" outfit. Look at all that black hair!

June clearly wins the chunky baby contest.

I did not want to get my picture taken just because everyone else did it. But besides being the blondest kid with the least hair, it looks like I'm also the smallest of the three of us. That makes mama feel better because she regularly comments on how big I'm getting then starts talking about how maybe she does want 4 kids after all. Don't go down that road, mama. I'm the baby and I plan on staying the baby.

Soaked- Henry.

We've had a great time playing with the new water works PVC pipe toy. Or the "water table" as it has come to be known.

We even went back to the hardware to store to buy more connectors so we could make it bigger and better.

We're learning a lot about water pressure and now I know that you can't crank up the water without busting a joint.
You can guess how much mama loves playing with this, regardless of the wasted water, big mud puddles, and dirty legs.

I don't have to take a bath tonight, right?

June, what are you doing in France carrying around a a baguette? Oh wait, you're just in Pendleton at our favorite bakery. (By the way, Aunt Jenni, now they're making chocolate twist pretzels!)

Don't wait till you get home!

When I get home from school at 2, June is already down for her nap and hopefully Georgie is too. I need to have a little time to wind down before I go down for my nap (though I don't sleep). So mama made a deal with me. Every day when I get home, we have to do at least two workbook pages together. Mama is glad that I'm quiet, and I'm glad because mama makes us lemonade to share while we work. Today, I read all of the words on this page and colored each block the right color to reveal the picture. When I was done, mama took my picture with this tired fussy baby.

Happy Month Day!- George.

Yesterday, I was one month old!

I am so alert! It's getting hard for mama and papa to get me to sleep during the day. Unless I'm being held of course.

Mama continues to think I have a very pleasant disposition, despite the fact that I may be the fussiest of her 3 babies. She is continually reminded of a line from Prode and Prejudice where Mrs. Gardiner observes of Mr. Darcy: "There's something very pleasant about his mouth when he speaks." Coincidentally, Mr. Darcy's little sister is named Georgiana- a fact that did not escape mama when she was naming me.

Mama was dismayed to realize that a whole month has gone by and she hasn't dressed me up in any "Vintage Becky."

This was the dress mama came home from the hospital in. It was probably a little longer on mama as a newborn. June had her turn in this dress too.

Here's the wonderful blessed 4th nuk that I finally decided to take.

Even though it's hard to get a "touch-free" nap from me during the day, my night time sleep is great!

I consistently sleep from 4-7 hours at a time. Mama thinks this may having something to do with the fact that I continue to nurse at least 3 or 4 times between 8 and midnight.

Hey mama, when you're going to take an artsy photo, remember to clean out under the couch.

During mama's insomnia spells this summer, she made a bunch of initial t-shirts for all the new babies she knows. Here's my "G." Did we ever tell you that I would have been named George if I was a boy? That's why the "G" shirt was made well in advance.

Mama heard that some of the other kids liked their shirts so much that they immediately had huge diaper blowout. I decided to follow that trend.

Whoa! Why didn't anyone tell me my head was so big? But I am putting in the effort to catch the rest of my body up. Check out those thigh rolls! They weren't there a month ago!

After my photo shoot, I slept for a while until Henry saw that I was awake. His first concern was to cover my legs so i wouldn't get cold. (I was only 94 degrees outside today.) His next concern was to determine my preference. First, he presented me with 3 empty medicine cups. He said they were filled with water, milk, and juice. I picked milk. Next, he wanted to know which mode of transportation I liked best.
It's too hard to choose!

Looks like he's done this before. Remember when June was a baby? Blech, we forgot about that gross rash he had. Check out how much dark hair June had! Mama might have to set up a comparison of all of us at 1 month.

Engineering marvels- June.

Mama saw this in a magazine and has been wanting papa start this project for us for a while. Today finally proved the perfect day to try it.

What is it? Simply put, it's PVC pipe and a bunch of connectors and a hose. But drill a couple holes and it's a sprinkler that can be taken apart and rebuilt a thousand different ways. It took Henry a while to decide it was more than a fancy way to water the garden and actually get up the nerve to run through it.

I had fun running in the water before I realized my dress was COMPLETELY SOAKED! Oh no! Papa had to take me inside and calm me down with a grilled cheese. (By the way, since our grandmas were in town Henry has caught on that most people don't eat grilled cheese by toasting bread and melting cheese on it in the microwave. Now, he always requests it on the stove.)

You might have heard George crying in the video. She was mad because no one was holding her. But she eventually fell asleep in the swing and let us play for a few minutes.

Before bed, papa let us watch the start of the Clemson football game. I really got into it. At the end you can hear me expressing concern over a "Joey." Joey Votto apparently is the universal term for any athlete now.

Mama's so pumped about this, she made me post it. The Williams family in Madison sent us this AWESOME baby present. Nothing says congratulations on your new baby like two brat fest totes! They also sent Georgie a Madison Farmer's Market shirt. The best of Madison! Thanks, Williams!

Our crazy week- mama.

So we mentioned yesterday that the week was a little crazy too. You'll remember that June has been having ankle problems all summer. When we went into see the doctor for Georgie's check-up a few weeks ago, she took another look at June's ankle and recommended we visit an orthopedist in Greenville.

He took more x-rays and also determined there were no breaks or fractures. The next step was bloodwork and an MRI. Since it's a hike to Greenville, he was able to get us in at the hospital that day for the MRI. It made for a very long day as we had the baby with us and weren't planning on spending the day in the hospital.

At the hospital, June was not pleased to have an IV put in. I got to go back to the MRI machine to be with her when she was sedated. She was pretty mad, but the medicine kicked in almost instantly and she passed out mid-cry. She was very disoriented when she came to and spent a few hours getting back to normal.

After the MRI, the doctor found that June's ankle (bones, tendons, everything) was filled with fluid. And after a visit to the rheumatologist, it was determined that June has juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. Poor kid.

The good news is that it only seems to be in her one ankle. And it seems to be mild enough that right now we're only treating it with regular does of ibuprofen. Hopefully, this flair up goes away in the next 6 months. Then we'll have to wait and see if it comes back. The best news is that most kids with JRA don't grow up to be adults with RA.