Autumn 3 and 1/4

August: Today at the swimming pool you decided to be Mermaid Keanna - you modified your swim moves and then tried flipping like your cousin. On your own you successfully did a front flip 2x.  One of the times after 'mermaid' swimming you came up and said, "I did a Braxton Hicks!"  Your grandma and I laughed hysterically and we know what you've been hearing lately!

                                                             You at  4 months and 3 years

In the bath tonight you were playing with toys and named the sea star ditsy and then said, "This is her mom, she is an occu therapist!"

"I'm cooking some mistakes for us for dinner!"  (aka steaks)

October "I have a new baby the size of a rock.  She is an automatic baby."  M: "What is an automatic baby?"  A: "Oh she eats and poops, that is an automatic baby."

On the Gondola on the way down from the Halloween safety fair a gal joined us.  You talked her ear off, mostly about the scary lady in a mask that offered you candy and then yelled 'boo' as you grabbed for it.  She was terrifying to you. 

You were talking about how your little girl doll would grow up to be a man and I asked why you thought that would happen and you answered, "well Papa says he used to be a little girl."  I explained that Papa was teasing you that he has always been a boy.  You would not believe me until you asked Papa yourself.

On October 2nd you became a big sister!  You eagerly awaited Abby's arrival and love your roll as big sister!  You love to give her kisses, try to get her to smile, talk to her repeating anything I'm saying to her and holding her for a short time - you don't really have the patience to hold her for long.  You ask lots of questions and ask what she is saying when she coos.  I hope you are always as kind and endeared to her your whole life! You are very excited at the prospect of Abby being a little girl and getting to share a bunk bed with her.

November: Your dad was watching a show about Rockefeller and talking about accomplishing things by the time he's 37 and you said, "Oh dad, just be a waffle."

When you start to be a pill doing things you should not, you will start to say, "Oh mom, I'm just being funny."

You said that you were going to marry a friend and I explained a marriage is between a girl and a boy like Jackson or Carson and most importantly that you marry a man that loves Jesus. You asked, "Does Carson love Jesus?" I answered yes and so you said, "Then I'll take him."  You've talked on an off about marrying Carson ever since.  Just the other day you told me you were 18 and so I said I guess you need to leave for college. You said, "No, Carson will be older and I'll be older and so we'll be married and live in Oahu."  Oh dear, the boy drama begins!  You enjoy playing pretend weddings with your daddy and I and then go get you picture book so we can look through the "wedding" album after the ceremony.

Abby filled her diaper and I said, "Hello poop!"  You thought it was the funniest thing and laughed for at least 10 minutes. Now you enjoy saying it when we hear that familiar sound.

As part of the recreation center's Halloween party we got to go ice skating - you thought it was so much fun and by the end was able to skate with the walker without help! You grinned ear to ear most of the time we were there and I think would have stayed all night!

You passed your first swim lessons with flying colors!  You are so comfortable in the water and had no problem doing everything they asked - head under, supported floating and supported front stroke...  You seemed to really enjoy it!

You enjoy and frequently use the words - particular and actually

You went through a stage of pretending to be my mom and then responding, "no I'm your mom, I don't have to do that." when I would ask you to do something - let's just say this didn't go over very well.

You had your first dentist visit and did awesome - letting them take x-rays and clean your teeth! They are in wonderful shape because you brush and floss every day!

We set up for Christmas and at the beginning of decorating you said, "this is the happiest I've ever been!"  You have really enjoyed every aspect of Christmas and ask a lot of questions about Jesus.  You helped with 3 trees - ours, Aunt Laurale's, Great Grandma's, set up lights with dad and made a gingerbread house with us.  On the 1st we got to go to Grand Junction and watch the light parade. You sat next to your cousin Taylor and sat in my lap. You really enjoyed watching the floats!

We met Grandma and Papa at the Children's Museum and you had so much fun at the fire station, building, with the balls, in the grocery store, dancing with tap shoes and running around in the trees. You even took an Ukulele lesson and was the lead singer for 2 songs! You are so self confident.  We then went to the Spaghetti Factory and got to sit in the train car.  You asked everyone that came by for chocolate chips and then at the end of the meal shouted to our waiter in the distance, "I'm ready for my Popsicle now!"   It was a wonderful day!

Things you enjoy - dressing up and roll playing with your babies and stuffed animals, your notebook to write clues in, coloring, drawing, crafts, collecting anything someone gives you - even fabric scraps, roll play all day long as families we know ("I'm Ashton and you are Lisa"), talking - there are times you hardly take a breath for a whole hour, dressing up and changing clothing, parks, swimming at the hot springs with Papa, swimming anywhere, running around, princesses (you've now watched Beauty and the Beast and Cinderella), Micky Mouse, and Busy Town buddies.

Autumn, you are our sweet, sassy, wonderful, fun loving, thoughtful and full of energy girl! We love you more than words and tell!!

Love, Momma and Daddy

Virgin Coconut Oil and Manuka Honey/Oil

I've been on a kick lately of sharing info on Virgin Coconut Oil with anyone that tells be about things that it might help - I LOVE the stuff!!  There is more and more research on the uses of the stuff - it is liquid gold when it comes to keeping the body healthy. The virgin part is important because it means it is unprocessed and has lauric acid in it ( the same thing that is in breast milk to help babies stay well). I bought a huge jar of it on Amazon when we got to Glenwood Springs and use it with cook, with Aloe on my face, all over my prego belly, on dry skin, in my tea (up to 3-4 Tbsp can be taken to help digestive system health, fight bacteria/virus/fungus in the system), on my baby's skin, in my Neti pot, to fight my 3 year old's external yeast infections (read it can be put on a tampon for this as well in women) and the Ringworm she picked up somewhere last week... and on and on.  I discovered it when looking for options for Autumn's recurring yeast infections after she was on serious amounts of antibiotics with a horrid MRSA infection last year and it has become a permanent part of our lives!

Here is some reading if you are interested
http://www.livestrong.com/article/91044-benefits-virgin-coconut-oil/
http://www.coconutresearchcenter.org/research-link.htm
http://coconutoil.com/

 Pure Manuka Honey and Oil are likely the most effective staph killers (and good at killing other bacterias as well) - from what I read it is what they use on a wound that isn't responding to any prescription medication in other countries.  Sure seems like we should be using it as a first line of defense instead of creating super bugs that become antibiotic resistant.  I will never go anywhere with out either the honey or oil in tow.  Regular honey is antibacterial on wounds and medicinal Manuka honey is 8-16x more antibacterial than honey.  It is what we put on our band aids instead of neosporin (which is pretty useless against any serious bacteria).  The honey can be used to kill strep throat or taken to kill a bacterial stomach infection. It can also be melted in a neti pot to kill bacteria in the sinus.  If something might be yeast it is best to stick with either the oil or Coconut oil as the sugar in the honey could feed the yeast/fungus. The oil is for topical use only and should be used with caution - http://www.livestrong.com/article/150268-what-are-the-dangers-of-manuka-oil/ 
The oil needs better research for dosing and uses - but it is the first thing I will put on a sealing band aid if I ever see a boil on any of us again
.
http://researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10289/203/content.pdf?sequence=1
http://www.nhs.uk/news/2011/04April/Pages/manuka-honey-mrsa-superbug-bacteria.aspx
http://manukahoney.com/research.cfm?page_obj_id=5&archive=N&article_id=23
http://www.manukaoil.co.nz/manuka_oil_uses.htm
http://www.livestrong.com/article/141248-manuka-oil-benefits/?utm_source=popslideshow&utm_medium=a1

Abby 2 months

Sweet baby girl - another month has past and you continue to light up our life!  You are so smiley, you have smile after smile for us almost ever time you are awake now.  You don't usually mind having you diaper changed or taking a bath anymore and you can spend 20-30 minutes just awake and happy in our arms or the swing.  You do have a mighty loud scream and hate getting your nose sprayed and suctioned - not that I blame you )-: We've all been sick with a mild cold for the past 2 weeks. You have become quite the mama's girl lately and at times I'm the only one who can calm you.  The milk supply helps, but sometimes you just need my cuddles. You are a pretty good sleeper for the most part and even slept 8 hours in a row one night.  Most nights you sleep 5-6 hours starting between 11-midnight, but are wide awake on both sides of the long stretch.  The long stretch is nice, but a 2-3 hour sleep on either side might be nice! You cat nap throughout the day and usually take a couple hour snooze in the afternoon.  You are most awake in the mornings and starting about 8pm.  You mostly take showers with me because it is convenient and don't usually cry until I put you in a towel at the end.  You had your one month visit on Nov. 13th (at 6 weeks because of insurance) and you were 7 pounds 3 ounces. On the 1st you started a growth spurt and look so much bigger to me - you were 8 pounds 2 ounces this evening (the 3rd), having now surpassed the average birth weight in America.

Things you've done this month:
Thanksgiving with all 6 of your grandparents
A couple of craft fairs where you were ohh and ahhed at a lot
Grand Junction light parade
First hotel stay (the start of your growth spurt and none of us except Autumn slept much)
First sick baby visit - low grade fever with no apparent cause
First Sunday at Great Grandpa and Grandma church and afternoon at their house to celebrate great grandpa's 80th birthday
Time at Aunt Laurale and Uncle Dean's house