Life as a four year old...

So far, "four" has been great to Maddie. Well, minus the pneumonia on her birthday. That was weak sauce. But, after that, things have looked up. She got new furniture!!

When she was at preschool on Tuesday, daddy brought up her new bed and dresser that he'd painted. Some neighbors gave us their daughter's old furniture and we love it!

We went shopping with nana today and got new bedding for Maddie's birthday - it looks awesome! I'll post pics soon.

Maddie was hilarious. She immediately started "decorating."  She was adamant about where her jewelry boxes went, her pictures, etc. 

We had dance class which makes Madeline so happy. She smiles the entire time. During class tonight, they worked on posture by walking across the floors with bowls on their heads. 

The girl next to Madeline dropped her bowl 2 steps in.

Mads made it all the way across the floor. At this point, I'm literally seeing her future as America's Next Top Model. Except, I realized her ENORMOUS bow on her headband was probably helping her. :)

Even though she's four, she's still got little sister problems. The other day she laid all of her babies out very meticulously. Then, a bigger baby decided she wanted to play.

Think she will notice me?

I can't stop laughing about this. The other night, Sydney only wanted to ride on Maddie's back in the bath tub. 

Speaking of Sydney, I think she might be a genius. After the bath, she was going through my drawers. She pulled out a pair of nail clippers and opened them...

And then proceeded to try to cut her nails!

This was amazing to me. I'm pretty certain she's never seen us do that?! Oh Mensa, I've got a new candidate for you!

Next up: well-visits. One kiddo is 10%, one is 50%. I'll let you guess...

Christmas with the flu

Last year on Christmas, Sydney has RSV. This year, Maddie had the flu. Next year, we will be locked in our house, on quarantine, Dec 15th-24th. This has been a ROUGH week.

On Monday night, we went to the mall for some last minute shopping. Maddie was fine, running around the play land and eating a pretty normal sized dinner. About 30 minutes later, she was running a fever and very whiny. It hit her QUICK.

I went ahead and took her to the ped on Tuesday knowing the holidays were quickly coming and wanting to get her an antibiotic if it was something that could be treated by one. 

She tested negative for flu but the ped was certain she had it, given her symptoms. (Sudden onset, fever  even with medicine, plus what the ped called "flu-eyes".) 

We spent most of Tuesday and Wednesday VERY sick. Maddie barely moved from the couch and threw up often. Evidently, little girl couldn't hold down the Tamiflu. 

She did laugh when she saw Bella's antics though. 

On Christmas morning, she rallied a little when she saw that Santa had come!

Sydnado totally demolished the train table.

And, sat in the "baby" carrier.

Stella was right in the thick of things.

Funny story. For those of you wondering, Maddie did her get her yo-yo. After talking about it Christmas Eve, Chris ran out to Walgreens for one last Hail Mary. We had been to SEVEN different stores and all were sold-out of yo-yos. He found one and we were so excited. Maddie picked it up on Christmas morning and said, "What's this? A boy toy?" We told her it was a yo-yo and she said, "Oh."

Chris and I are still laughing about that. 

After about an hour of presents and play, Maddie was WHOOPED. She laid down on the couch for a long time before we headed to my parents.

The girls enjoyed seeing their tia and grandparents and picking up some more swag.

Then, Maddie laid down and passed out.

She wasn't the only one.

We headed back home. We had hoped to go to Chris's parents house for Christmas dinner, but at this point, Maddie had spiked another fever and was miserable. So Chris and Sydney went, while Maddie and I snuggled. 

Sydney, I hear, was all over the place and in EVERYONE's business.

Friday morning, Maddie had another little energy burst so we made it to nana and grandpa's for a quick visit. Maddie had a lot of gifts waiting for her and got to see her cousins for a bit!

Getting her mobile clinic!

Then, we played that game where we try to get all four kids together for a picture.

Quick Quinn! Come here!

Quinn, we are SERIOUSLY losing Sydney.

And, she's gone.

This is so cute and I really wish Sydney would have stayed put.

But, no. She had moved to the fireplace and was enjoying her long hair blowing in the breeze.

So, we moved the kids to the fireplace.

We're getting somewhere.

And, she's gone again.

We stopped at this point though.

We were able to get one good model pose from Madeline.

And, then, the energy burst was over and it was time go back home to rest.

Poor Maddie cakes. She wanted so desperately to be happy and to play with her cousins and toys, but she just didn't have it in her. We came home and she rested the remainder of the day.  Friday night, her temp went back up to 102 so we headed to the doctor Sat AM. Turns out, the virus had moved to her lungs so she had a touch of pneumonia AND an ear infection. I wanted to cry. BUT, three days on antibiotic and Maddie is up and about, fever free. We are more than 24 hours afebrile. HALLELUJAH! Let the Lysol-ing commence!!

31

Chris is 31 today. Love love love him!!

So far, the biggest change I've noticed as he turns the corner to 40 is that he can't swing me around like he used to.

We started dating in high school when he was 16 and a lot more agile.

I considered trading him in for a younger model, but he reminded me I'm not far behind. 

Happy birthday to my Christopher! This has been a rough week for us having to be man on man defense with a sick kid and a baby who ONLY wanted to play with her sister. I couldn't ask for a better husband! Going out to celebrate (kid-free!) tonight!

Happy birthday, Maddie!

Today, our big girl, Madeline turns FOUR! I can hardly believe it. Madeline is a smart, funny, happy little girl. She's had a great year of being three and I can't wait to see what's ahead for her!

Some highlights from Maddie's year...

Love this little girl!