Drill Bit's First Snow

Drill Bit experienced his first snow today. We bundled him all up in the winter suit my mom brought back from Scotland.

He was not impressed with the snow.

In fact, he was downright ticked.

At least his sisters were having fun!



And the dogs were having fun.

Except Lottie. She got stuck for a bit, but she made it out on her own. (And really, she did actually enjoy plowing her way through, and it made for quite the comical sight!)

And, of course . . .


Kallie found a stick.
Kallie always finds a stick.

Shave and a Haircut . . . TWO BITS!

Sorry. I had to do it.

There weren't actually any shaves occurring though. But both the girls did get their haircut. So did my handsome engineer and I--but I didn't take pictures of us.

First came Bitty Bit. This was her first haircut.

She was very excited about it and had a big smile as our friend (who has a hair studio in her house) rinsed her hair out.

My child has NEVER been this nice about me combing her hair. No matter how much detangler or how gentle I try to be, there is always fussing. I think she felt like a big girl and so didn't mind the tangles so much.

We took about an inch off her hair. When wet, her hair was down to her waistline. Taking that inch off really didn't make a huge impact on the length--but it helped her curl bounce up a little more and gave her hair a healthier appearance.

Her favorite part of the whole event was standing under the "funny hat" hair dryer.

I half-considered cutting Drill Bit's hair. It is almost long enough. But then my little song at the beginning wouldn't have worked. "shave and a haircut . . . three bits" is just wrong. (I do have to change the blog title soon, though.)

Really, how many moms of one-month olds have to decide whether to trim their son's hair?? I doubt we will make it to six months before we have to trim or end up with a mullet.

Then it was Lil Bit's turn . . .

Lil Bit has had many haircuts in her life. She really enjoys being "pampered."

Again--she NEVER smiles when I comb out her hair. The stinker. I really think she enjoys the attention and feeling like a young lady.

I suspect my farmgirls may have a bit of girly-girlness in them as well.

Due Date

Sunday was Drill Bit's official due date. So I took pictures.

Really, any excuse for photos, right?

He isn't really this yellow--I was trying something with the lighting. (This is about how yellow he was before that hospital stay, though.)
But check out his HAIR!

He opened one eye just long enough to give me a "really, mom? more photos?" look

And then he was off to dreamland again.

Eventually I will get photos with his eyes open.

Earning His Keep

If you had any doubts that the pekingese around here earn their keep--here is photographic evidence to prove that they do indeed . . .


Wick (my almost 11 year old peke) has always been good with kids. Yesterday, he say patiently while Bitty Bit did his hair for him.

He works hard for his money kibble.

The Paparrazi Are At It Again

Poor Drill Bit. He really suffers.


His mother, aka the household paparazzi, is always bugging him.


Taking photos out of nowhere and scaring the poop right out of him.
(side note: you can always tell a mom of an infant b/c "poop" becomes an acceptable topic of conversation.)


Often kind of unflattering ones that she thinks are funny and which his sisters are sure to bring out for all his future girlfriends to see.
Did I just say girlfriends?? Ack!! Maybe I will have to bust out a few funny photos to keep them at bay . . .


Poor kid. He really does have it rough.


PS can anyone tell me why babies never keep both socks on?? We don't even have to wait for the washer to eat them--they disappear randomly throughout the day.

Dog Days of . . . Winter?

Going . . .


Going . . .


Gone


Farm dogs really have it rough.

Parent-Teacher Conference

Last week, we had a parent-teacher conference with Lil Bit's first grade teacher. Lil Bit is very intelligent and doing well in school, but we also know that she has trouble with organization and focus and want to help her develop good habits and skills now.

I blame her dad for those lack-of-focus genes.

(No one who knew me as a child is allowed to comment on that last statement or I will find early 90's photos of you and post them on my blog.)

Anyway, this conference made me realize more than ever that teachers really DO need higher salaries. Because it must have taken an insane amount of control on the teacher's part to not laugh hysterically at my child during the following situation that was related to us:

Lil Bit is in the highest reading group and the teacher does more spot checking with their "word studies" since this group does not need as much guidance in this area. Apparently Lil Bit had figured out the pattern of when she would be checked and tried only doing her work on those days.

She got busted.

Teacher: Why didn't you do your work yesterday?
Lil Bit: [dramatic sigh] I was dismayed.
Teacher: Dismayed? Why were you dismayed?
Lil Bit: There have been so many changes at home and it is unsettling.

(SERIOUS compliments to the teacher for not totally cracking up by this point)

Teacher: I know there have been changes at home, but you have been nothing but excited about your little brother. You are not dismayed, you just didn't want to do your work, didn't you?
Lil Bit: (fake) dramatic crying
Teacher: Sweetheart, you are not crying because you are "dismayed." You are crying because you got busted.

(I love Lil Bit's teacher for this!)

The conversation continued later, and Lil Bit has corrected her behavior. The teacher has also come up with some fabulous ideas for how to help Lil Bit stay more organized and hold herself accountable--some of which we will be incorporating at home as well.

Thank you to all the teachers, who maintain self control through the moments when you must want to cry, scream, or just laugh hysterically.

Sweetness Personified

Both my girls love to sing to their baby brother. Here, Bitty Bit is singing "Amazing Grace" to him.



(Sorry about the background noise--I forgot to mute the football game and Lil Bit came in to tell us about a project she was creating.)

Been A While . . .

First of all--thank you for your patience in waiting for me to post again! I have been slightly absorbed by this little person for the past couple weeks:


It was pretty easy to forget to do things like blog. Hopefully, I am getting back into routine and posts will start coming more regularly!

And now for the full story . . .

Drill Bit, as you know, had an early entrance into the world. Actually, he still shouldn't really be here! And, despite his size (still the smallest of all my kids at birth, even at 7 lbs 5 oz), he had many of the typical signs of a preemie. He still has the soft, downy lanugo hair over a lot of his body, and his skin and nails looked not quite ready for the wide world.

Since neither of my girls came early, I was really expecting to go full-term with Drill Bit, despite how miserably uncomfortable this pregnancy was. I was caught completely off guard when, at 5:30 in the morning, my water broke. My Handsome Engineer was startled awake by me poking him and saying (so I am told), "something just happened!" I didn't really give him much information, did I? He didn't know whether to grab a gun or start the car!

After calling my doctor, our parents, and throwing a bunch of random things into a suitcase (amazingly, we actually ended up with most of what we needed!), we woke the girls up and headed to the hospital. I labored almost 4 hours before there was a surgical room available for my c-section and Drill Bit was born at 9:20 . (Luckily, I never went into the really painful labor--just uncomfortable.)


We went home on Christmas Eve, excited to spend Christmas with my girls!

On the 26th, we had an appointment with the pediatrician who told us that Drill Bit needed to be readmitted to the hospital immediately. His bilirubin count had gone up drastically over Christmas and was dangerously high. He needed to be put under phototherapy lights.

I call it the the un-tanning bed.

Let me tell you how much newborns do NOT like being almost naked all night long (or having weird masks over their eyes). Let me tell you much sleep my Handsome Engineer and I did NOT get that night.

Let me tell you how happy I was the next day when his counts had come down enough to let us go home.
I even took a picture of our luggage I was so happy to leave the hospital . . .


Since returning home, life has been wonderfully uneventful! We have enjoyed our expanded family and our girls absolutely LOVE their baby brother.