She hasn't been reading Cosmo!

Apparently tall and thin is "in" (as opposed to short with lots of, *ahem*, personality), but Gwen hasn't been reading the fashion mags.

No, her problem is her mom, who apparently isn't producing more than 2 oz of milk at any given time. I find it amazing that she hasn't been cranky at all, given that she's been underfed by 4-6 oz at every single feeding. Who knew there was such a thing as a baby who is too good?

Hopefully we'll get this dairy cranking again soon and she'll go right back to being a chunker!

A pound and a half?!

I thought Gwen was thinning out. To be honest, I've been worried lately because she doesn't eat as often as she ought to and she's seemed to be getting thinner. So this morning when I realized that her diaper was actually looser on her than it used to be I called the doc's office and took her in for a weight check.

My little girl has lost a pound and a half in the last month.

I am floored by this. I figured they'd tell me she was getting taller but hadn't gained the weight to match. The fact that she has actually lost almost 10% of her body weight in only 4 weeks is very disconcerting. I took this picture Sunday and she is obviously not scrawny or unhealthy looking. She is a very active, alert baby hitting all her developmental milestones. And fortunately she was in the 90th percentile before and had a little chub to spare but clearly this cannot continue.

My doctor is on vacation and the PA in his office did not give me a call back today with a recommended course of action. I'll be calling first thing tomorrow. I talked on the phone with a lactation consultant and will be meeting with her Friday morning. I'm hoping we can figure out what the heck is going on and get little Gwen growing like she should be.

As a side note, I did NOT take Nate and the other kids with me to the doctor's office, so no streaking today. Darn.

I got a good one

Scott has always been very sweet and thoughtful, but this week he took it to a whole new level (Warning: Men, if your wives read this, you may be expected to step it up a bit). He declared Friday to be the "Day of Carrie". I woke up to a scavenger hunt, which led me to a plethora of treats, some sweet notes, and the realization that today was not going to be an ordinary day.



Yes, I broke into the Payday bar before I could get any pictures taken. In my defense, I had just taught my spin class and was starving!

Just in case you can't read the notes, my sweetheart came home early from work, then sent me to Sonic for my favorite beverage, followed by a 1 hour massage at the spa. Oh, sweet heaven! It was fantastic!

He also gave me a gift card to do a little shopping, which I used to buy a couple of new shirts for spinning.

Then I came home, changed, fed Gwen, greeted the babysitter (who he booked), and off we went to see a movie and get dinner.

It was a wonderful, relaxing, completely unexpected day. Now do you know why I love this guy?!

Reading World

We created a reading nook in the girls' room, which is just a special spot to curl up and read books. We rearranged things that were already there, which only took about 30 minutes and didn't cost a penny, so it's the best kind of project there is!

The girls love it, as do I, but I'm warning you: enter with caution. You may snuggle into "Reading World" for story time in the mid-afternoon and wake up in the early evening wondering what happened to you! In fact, Brenna was the only one who remained conscious yesterday afternoon; Nate and Gwen napped in their beds and Ava and I passed out in here. I'm not sure, but I think Brenna read some Dostoevsky during that time.

Just kidding. Sort of.

Swimming Lessons

Summer is in full swing, so it's time for swimming lessons! I'm dying for my kids to learn how to swim for 2 reasons. First, water stresses me out with small children. Non-swimmers can slip under in a heartbeat and trying to keep track of 3 of them, plus an infant, is tough. Second, I would love to be able to play in the water with them. I love to swim and do silly tricks off the diving board and all that jazz. I'd like someone to join me.

So here are some photos. Let's begin with the littlest one, because she is so adorable. Here she does her Duane Johnson, aka "The Rock", impersonation. She hasn't even met her Aunt Julie yet, but she inherited her gift.

The first day of swimming lessons always starts with smiles (and an example of why parents shouldn't cut their children's bangs at home. Which reminds me, Ava and Nate got together and decided she needed some bangs yesterday. Come to think of it, maybe that's what happened with this otherwise adorable little girl.)

And ends like this.

See? It's not just Nate.

Except for Brenna who was ready to start swimming. She has been afraid of water since she was a baby, but that all ended this week. Look at her go!

At least one of the kids isn't screaming her head off! We'll call it a success.

I Have a Love/Hate Relationship

with Legos. I love them because when the kids are sharing they can play with them for ages. That's the beauty of open-ended toys. When the going is good with Legos, it's very very good.

I hate them because any time the kids play with them the floor looks like this.

8 million teeny tiny pieces are a pain in the wazoo to clean up every. single. day.

I also hate them because the kids fight over them. Brenna and Ava used their allowance money from the past few weeks to buy a new Lego set each. They worked during Nate's naptime Monday to get them put together and the second Nate woke up he wanted to play with them. Screaming and fighting ensued. I gave Brenna a bucket to put her new set in so she could get it away from Nate, so she put all her Legos in there and left it sitting on the ground. Um, hello? Could we try putting it out of his reach?

I'm sick of trying to keep Nate out of the girls' new Legos. I'm sick of hollering at the girls to stop trying to beat up Nate. I'm sick of the screaming and wailing when he destroys something they've made.

Anyway, to make a long story short these things are making me insane and right now I hate them far more than I love them.

Oh, wait. We're trying to get Nate to stop saying he hates everything. Okay, I don't hate the Legos, I'm mad at them.

No. No, I definitely hate them.

Dance recital

I used to think dance recitals, with their over-the-top costumes and glammed-up little girls, were a waste of energy. Their very nature seemed contrary to my feminist ideals. I loathed the idea of any daughter of mine participating in one, and even vowed to find a dance studio that didn't do them if one of my girls insisted on dancing.

And then I gave birth to a princess. I relaxed a little, and decided I could tolerate a full-scale recital. And now, after our second year of this, I LOVE them. Why? Because I get to see my shy daughter walk onto a stage with confidence and perform for hundreds of people. Because I know how young she is and how hard it is to concentrate and learn dance steps. Because I know how good she feels doing it. And because it's just plain fun to get lost in girl-land sometimes.

So here are a few pictures from the big night. Ava danced to the song "I Enjoy Being a Girl", which was just perfect for her. So here's my little darling posing as only she does:

A shot of her on the left, during the performance:

Walking onstage for the grand finale:
After her big performance, with a bouquet of roses from Daddy.

Great job, Ava!

Oh, come on, everyone sucks their thumb!

How many people do you know that can actually suck their big toe?

If you've met Gwen then you can say you know one.

How do you get a baby to stop sucking on her big toe? Pull out a camera.