February Round-Up

This month has been a memorable one for our little Traxler Tribe.  Beginning with Adella receiving her  baby blessing (on Feb. 3rd) from the most important men in her life - 

to ending with us gearing up to move into our forever home.  It's true, we're leaving Virginia after a short 7 month stay to head even further west.  Our next move takes us to Charles Town, WV.  This will be our 6th move (in only 3 different states) in 6 years of marriage and I'm thrilled say it is indeed our FINAL one!

Just a quick photo I snapped on my iPhone.  Better photos to come.

Trust me, never in a MILLION years did I think I'd choose to live in West Virginia nonetheless raise my children there.  While growing up in MoCo, MD I heard and held on to a pretty healthy dose of stigmas about West Virginia (roadkill, lack of diversity and culture, "country talk" & grammar, buffets on every corner, etc.), BUT here is the thing - it is so stinkin' affordable.  Yes yes, it does come with the hefty price of a longer commute into Falls Church for Dave (1 1/2 hours each way).  That is the trade off.  One I never thought we'd be willing to make...until now.  I truly think for us it took having 3 kids in 2 years to see that more land and a bigger house in a rural setting would actually suit our goals perfectly.  Dave is able to work earlier hours (7am-3pm) so that he can be home in time for dinner and to help with bedtimes each night which is great!  That was actually one of the first things we found out and confirmed before even placing an offer on the house because otherwise it'd be a no go.  As for the house itself, the address is Charles Town, but really it's on the outskirts and only 2 miles from the Virginia state line, it sits on 3 acres - some has been cleared during construction, but many mature trees still remain, it overlooks a beautiful equestrian farm and with 4 bedrooms and 3.5 bathrooms in 3400 sq. feet which will fit the needs of our family for a long long time.

After moving to this condo last summer and dealing with Suzie's breathing issues which lead to her diagnosis of asthma we knew extending our lease for another year was not going to happen.  Not sure if it is related to environmental factors, but it's not worth the risk of staying to find out.  With housing prices in this area going up (and interest rates still low) we felt it'd be best to buy sooner than later as to not price ourselves out of the market.  Turns out Loudoun County, VA is no cheaper than MoCo and if we moved back the commute would be about the same for Dave, so we started looking a few months back.  We looked all over, but didn't find anything in our price range that was in an area we'd want to live in (aka not run down ghetto-ish) AND that had enough space.  I know a family of five can squeeze into 1500 sq. feet, but it just wasn't something I was willing to attempt.  We were feeling pretty discouraged with the options available in MD.  Who would want to purchase a home they'd be bursting at the seems of from the moment they move in?  Out of pure curiosity Dave decided to check out prices in Martinsburg/Charles Town/Harpers Ferry area just to see what they were.  Well, as you can see one thing led to another and we happened to find a new build that had a contract fall through recently so the builders were motivated to sell (but then again builders are always motivated to sell).  In any case it ended up working well for us when they accepted our initial "low ball" offer.  We'll close on the house tomorrow and move in on Saturday.  Dave and I have been giddy all month talking about the different types of fruit trees we want to plant and wondering if Ian, Suzie and Adella will end up asking for a real pony one day since they'll grow up seeing horses right across the street.

Our other notable February happenings include Adella turning 3 months old, a candlelit dinner of delicious seafood prepared by Dave for Valentines Day, a family outing to the Air & Space museum by Dulles airport, Ian's first haircut with the clippers and the twins turning 17 months today.  

Adella continues to be as sweet as sugar.  She has round the clock smiles to give and her soft coos and little giggle are things I wish I could bottle and keep forever.  My favorite moment with her is in the mornings when she wakes up, stretches her arms, opens her eyes then focuses on my face her immediate reactions is the best open mouth smile that of course melts me every time.  During this past month she has moved out of our room in the bassinet into the crib in her nursery.  She has held strong with the same routine the twins were on of sleeping 5 hours, nurse, 3 more hours of sleep, nurse, 3 final hours of sleep then up for the day at 7am.  And now that she's just about to her fourth month I'm feeling just like I did with the twins at this point - so very very ready for a strait 12 hours of sleep!  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that after our move when I make the transition to not responding to her nighttime cries anymore she will do as well as her big sister and brother did and bless us with only one night of crying-it-out.  Oh that would be wonderful!

cute outfit from Auntie Jamie & Uncle Brook that I am obviously pretty excited about

On the 14th during the day I had the Ian and Suzie color Valentine pictures for Dave which we taped to the wall with a sign saying - We Love Daddy! - for him to see upon coming home from work.  It was a hit :-)  And he surprised me with a beautiful bouquet of flowers and proceeded to prepared a scrumptious meal for us to enjoy once the kiddos were in bed.  A perfect way to enjoy the holiday without having to find a babysitter.  

We LOVED seeing all the planes at Air & Space, especially the space shuttle Discovery!  We'll be back for sure.

After visiting the Air & Space museum we hit up Cafe Rio for some yummy grub.  Ian was too cute bopping around in his high chair while he got his groove on to the music playing.  Too bad I can't figure out how to upload videos from my iPhone to Blogger - the .MOV format doesn't seem to work for some reason :(

I find myself in awe more than not of all the things Ian and Suzie learn each day.  Seventeen months brings with it more body coordination, more verbal & ASL words, more fine motor skills (coloring and using a spoon...properly), lots of laughter, bigger appetites, temper tantrums when mommy just can't understand what is needed/wanted, veracious stair climbing, interest in other people and the all important ONE MONTH CLOSER TO NURSERY!  I really am banking on that making our Sundays much more do-able. 

Ian getting his first haircut with the clippers from daddy while mommy distracted him during dinnertime with an app that shows pictures and makes the sound of different animals.  It was a success on all accounts!

It has also been so amazingly sweet to witness the kind ways Suzie and Ian hug, kiss and love on Adella.  My heart was not prepared for how much joy I'd feel when seeing such sibling love.  It is so important to Dave and me that our children care for and respect each other.  To see it at such a young age is lovely.  I hope to do all I can to continue to foster that natural instinct throughout their childhood lives. 

Getting a closer look

Look Mom, I can hold 3 balloons at one time!

A big thank you to my sweet friend Shauna for making and sending us these wonderful crochet flowers for my girls.  They are beautiful!

First hair accessory Suzie doesn't immediately pull out, yay!

With teamwork anything is possible.  Like pushing the office chair over to a box so we both can climb on it!

March promises to hold lots of new adventures for us.  Bring 'em on (getting a head start with my country accent)!

Her First White Dress

 

 The lightly falling snowflakes were the perfect backdrop for Adella's baby blessing this past Sunday.  Luckily at just under 3 months old she fit into the same dress Suzie wore at 1 1\2 months.  Having not grown up with sisters to share traditions like this with I wanted to start one for my girls.  “Every member of the church of Christ having children is to bring them unto the elders before the church, who are to lay their hands upon them in the name of Jesus Christ, and bless them in his name” (D&C 20:70)  That is exactly what we did and it was oh, so sweet.  Dave gave her a beautiful blessing that was pure and perfect, just like little Miss Adella Mae.

I love these lines from the poem My Three White Dresses by Linda Gay Perry Nelson

Upon my blessing day,

As a little baby clothed

In my first white dress,

My dad held me in his arms,

There to name and bless.

So pure and clean was I just then,

With time to grow and learn

About the Father's plan for me.

 

Two Almost Three

Official Stats-

Weight - 12 lbs. 5 oz. (75th %tile)

Length - 23.75 inches (90th %tile)

Adella turned 2 months on January 7th and will be 3 months old tomorrow, but since there is no doctor visit for her third month these are the only stats we have until her four month visit.  She was born 2 pounds heavier than the twins, but measured in just under what they were at two months.

Our sweet girl has been full of smiles!

Big, wide open mouth smiles most of the time.  I love them!

Adella has become so much more aware of her surroundings between months one and two.  She loves to smile, coo and giggle - especially for daddy in the evenings.  Somehow Dave gets her to cooing up a storm when he comes home.  He says its just because the way he looks at her and says, "Ahh-goo," but when I try I can never duplicate his results.  Guess this is the start of that priceless daddy-daughter bond.  

I read this article a while back and it really hit home for me.  Already when I look back of photos during the twins first months the ones with me in them doing just normal everyday things are limited.  I was either in my pjs or my hair was a mess so I'd say, later - we'll get a photo of me with them later.  But life goes on and later never seems to happen so I'm trying to make it a point to stay in the photos with Adella.  I want all of my children to see how much they were loved on everyday by their mom.  And that just by being them they filled my heart with more joy than I've ever known before.

Sleepy Adella after church one Sunday

In the process of trying to show off her cute owl dress I woke her up, oops.

I surprised Ian and Suzie one morning by wheeling in Adella in her bassinet.  Not sure if they were excited about seeing her or just touching her mobile, but either way seeing smiles on their faces first thing in the morning is something I always love.  

A little side note about the bassinet and cribs - all of them were given to us by my wonderfully amazing SIL, Anne.  Suzie's crib used to be the one her cousin Caroline slept in and Ian's belonged to cousin Chase.  The bassinet Adella is in is one of two Anne gave us as a baby shower gift for the twins.  Without Anne our children's sleeping arrangements just wouldn't be quite the same ;-)

When the twins are down for naps Adella gets to have her tummy time.  She does quite well holding her head up and will usually do so for a good solid 5 minutes before even letting out one peep of discontent.

A bit blurry, but look how high she is holding her head!

I never get tired of seeing these blue eyes

She has started to notice and reach for the toys on her play gym more now.  She also does well tracking them with her eyes as they swing and move around.

Adella Mae has been such a source of light and happiness.  I find myself being so different with her than I was with Ian & Suzie.  Mostly just because the nature of meeting the needs of one baby rather than two at a time is so different.  I hold her.  A lot.  Like all the time.  I was not able to do that with the twins nearly as much as I do with Adella.  The time to sleep train her for sleeping 12 hours at night is coming and I'm setting myself up for disaster because I'm so used to just holding Adella until she falls asleep. I love to see her drift off into dreamland while in my arms.  I almost never did that with the twins because having them learn to self sooth when putting them down drowsy, but awake was just a part of survival.  But with Adella I usually hold her wrapped up in a blanket while I sit on the couch supervising Ian and Suzie as they play.  The natural side effect of this is now my time spent playing/engaging with the twins has been cut short by quite a bit.  I'm hoping to find a better balance in the coming months so I don't feel I'm short changing any of them.  

Christmas 2012

In case you haven't caught on to my new trend, I'll spell it out for you - get a blog post done before the next milestone/holiday happens.  So getting the twins 15 month post up before they turned 16 months, Adella's 2 month milestones before she turns 3 months and Chrismas before Valentines comes is all well within reason, right?  When your a mom of 3 kids that are 13 months apart in age, you betcha it is! 

We spent Christmas Eve hosting Dave's parents, his brothers Leamon and Sam and his niece Victoria.  It was a simple and relaxing evening spent just enjoying being together.  After dinner there was a lively game of parcheesi followed by some tasty homemade pies courtesy of Dave's mom.

Ian and Suzie got stuffed animals from Pop-pop and Grandma Traxler.  They are pretty cool and start out as a dog house and igloo then after pressing the doorbell you unzip them and turn them inside out to be a dog and penguin.  Suzie LOVED hers and wouldn't let go.  She ended up sleeping with it that night :-)

On Christmas morning Ian and Suzie had more stuffed animals in store, this time from their Great Grandma Hellie.  As you can see, Suzie gave her seal of approval again.

After enjoying a quite Christmas morning with just us and the kids we loaded up the car and headed over to see my side of the family.  The holiday festivities seemed to make me even more forgetful and I totally spaced getting a photo of our new family of five, BUT at least there are separate photos showing all of us that day. 

Ms. Smiles

Ian and Suzie had fun playing with their new toys (thanks Brook, Grandpop & Lela) and my dad was able to fit in lap time with each of the twins.

Suzie took a liking to this particular bottle of soda (which happened to belong to my cousin's girlfriend) and carried it around with her for quite some time.  Thank goodness for simple entertainment and caps that screw on tight.  This is one of the only pictures I have of Suzie standing up in that dress and I just love how she looks in it.  Having girls is pretty fun. 

After getting them in their Christmas jammies we drove back home.  Having a car full of sleeping children is pure bliss I tell you!  When Suzie and Ian woke up the next morning they were all smiles.

Ian couldn't wait to play with his new toys and Suzie was being her regular goofy self.

Then they noticed the snow falling outside.  It was determined an outdoor adventure was required to help celebrate a white-day-after-Christmas (and the twins turning 15 months old!).

Fifteen Months Old...only for the next few days

 Before the twins turn 16 months old I realized I needed to get their 15 month milestones up because if I don't do it now everything will just blend together and they'll be 18 months before I know it!  

Twins Official Stats - 

Suzette - 24 lbs. 10 oz (75th %tile) / 31.25 inches (75th %tile)

Ian - 25 lbs. (60th %tile) / 32.75 inches (90th %tile)

Ian and Suzette turned 15 months old the day after Christmas and lucky for them it snowed that day!  We took them outside to see the snow up close and personal, but then it started to turn more from snow to sleet, boo.  We were able to snap a few quick pics though.

At first Ian wasn't too thrilled,

but then he started to smile and enjoy being outside.

Dave not looking and Suzie smiling.

Dave looking and Suzie not smiling...

Adella all bundled up for her first winter weather outing

This is the first time since birth that Ian has weighed more than Suzie.  Both of them have lengthened out a bit so Suzie's weight is now spread out which means her bountiful belly is no more.  It has been funny to see pants that were too tight on her all of a sudden start to fit pretty well now.  Ian has always been lanky, but with his new heavyweight status he has started to get some more chubs on him, mostly on his thighs.  Because of Suzie's newfound "skinny" state she has been able to figure out how to do some things she couldn't before --

Like squeeze in between the fridge and wall to emerge victorious with the dust pan and swiffer.

Ian promptly swiped the dust pan from her to enjoy the moment to it's fullest.

Yes, that is Ian's tongue on the dust pan

Speaking of Ian's thighs they are doing some pretty exciting things these days -- we now have two walkers on our hands!  Ian took his first steps on December 5th and within just a few days he was walking all over the place.  Suzie started walking at 11 months and Ian was perfectly content to crawl everywhere until he was 14 months old.  It has been so fun to see the proud smile on his face as he toddles all over the place.  He has a pretty wide gait to help with stability and when he thinks he's about to fall he'll quickly squat down, wait, then stand up again all without his bum touching the floor once.  When Ian does fall it's not a big deal, but it's interesting that he tries to avoid it at all costs.  I'm thinking down the road when hindsight is 20/20 I'll understand better what it was foreshadowing about his personality.

Suzie has become quite the talker.  Words starting with B are easiest for her to say - baby, ball, blue, book and bye-bye.  She has continued to say mom and dad as well (maybe she'll say mommy and daddy when she's talking more or did she just skip that and go straight to mom and dad?) and has added, "peas please" to her meal time vocabulary.  Suzie also says nose while pointing at Adella's.  As for her health status we received the official diagnosis of asthma from a pediatric pulmonologist in October and have been doing nebulizer treatments of an inhaled steroid twice a day since then.  The dosage was doubled after her hospital stay when Adella was born.  Her follow-up with the pulmonologist went well, but Suzie didn't get past the end of December without getting sick again.

Dave and I gave in on our "no tv before 2 years old" rule to make the time Suzie has to sit still for her treatments bearable for everyone.  So Signing Time and Baby Einstein it is.  At least with Signing Time their signing vocabulary has improved a ton!

This time it started with a cold she got a few days after Christmas which lead to her first ear infection, but luckily her asthma has remained under control.  Ian actually went a few days without catching it, but then finally did and despite all our efforts Adella caught the cold as well.  Three sick children was no fun, but the silver lining was that I never caught the cold so in my sane moments (they are in short supply these days) I was able to take care of all my sick babies during the day.  Once Dave got home from work he jumped right in and would grab hold of the reins to help with whatever was needed until he'd go to work the next morning.  Bless his heart.

Ian & Suzie truly are toddlers in every way.  Curious and very mobile.  These days it's all about figuring out any way they can climb up onto or over things - chairs, couches, dressers, tables and any sort of barrier these days don't seem to stand a chance.  This has lead to some heart attack moments for me.  It seems they know when I'm sitting down nursing Adella is the time to strike.  That is when I saw them first figure out how to climb over our make-shift stair barrier (a coffee table turned on its side) and make their way upstairs to wreak havoc on any and everything they could get their hands onto.  I do have to say their methods for climbing over the barrier were pretty interesting so I recorded it the next time it happened.  If you have a few spare minutes you can see the difference in how Ian does it at the beginning and then Suzie at the end.

Hmm, need to check out why my video isn't uploading.  Hopefully I'll get it figured out and posted soon.

I think problem solving is great and secretly part of me so interested to see how their little minds and bodies figure out how to maneuver onto and around things, BUT I enjoy my sanity too and not having my heart skip a beat wondering if they'll break their neck falling down a flight of stairs or get a concussion while falling off the back of the couch would be nice.  I know each of their strengths and trust their abilities for the most part, but the twins like to follow each other in these escapades.  So while it may not be such a big deal for one toddler to be climbing/jumping/running on the couch, when two are doing it while your holding a baby in your arms it puts this mommy's nerves on edge just waiting for the moment when one falls, trips or gets pushed by the other and tumbles down.  I can certainly say I've never been so grateful for having carpet in my life!

 

**UPDATE**
I typed this up yesterday during their afternoon nap.  Upon walking into their room to get them up I found Suzie and Ian both sitting up IN THE SAME CRIB!!!  Suzie somehow managed to climb out of her crib and into Ian's!  Oh my.  Dave figured out how to drop the crib mattress even lower (it was already on it's lowest setting, but his fabulous engineering mind came up with another solution), but it may be time to look into getting a crib tent as well.

All in all fifteen months is pretty awesome, but once they turn eighteen months and can be dropped off in nursery for the last 2 hours of church will be even more awesome!

Onward and Upward

Since completing his Masters in Sustainable Energy Engineering Dave has been focused more than ever on the path that will lead him to having a rewarding and meaningful career.  Part of that has been preparing for and taking some critical credentialing exams.  In Febrary of 2012 he passed his Leadership in Energy Engineering Accredited Professional (LEED AP) exam.  Here is a little blurb from Engineering Daily about what that means:

A LEED AP is looked upon as an engineer with a high level of knowledge in integrated design. Many companies look up to LEED AP to facilitate the LEED certification process.

The LEED accreditation is the highest valued environmental accreditation and its importance cannot be undervalued in the coming years. Today most companies are audited for compliance to green initiatives. There are stringent rules to comply with the green regulations and any failure can lead to huge fines. With more and more companies resorting to go green, the LEED accreditation will only gain further importance.

Most recently at the end of October (less than 2 weeks before Adella was born) Dave took the Professional Engineer exam.  He'd been preparing for it by studying for months almost every moment he wasn't at work or sleeping.  When I'd glance at the problems he'd be working on from his textbooks I'd be intimidated within seconds.  There wasn't anything simple or easy about it.  Lots of dedication, time, fasting and prayer helped to guide Dave in the best way to study and prepare for the exam.  This is what the National Society of Professional Engineers has to say about the it:

To a client, it means you've got the credentials to earn their trust. To an employer, it signals your ability to take on a higher level of responsibility.  Among your colleagues, it demands respect. To yourself, it's a symbol pride and measure of your own hard-won achievement. 

To become licensed, engineers must complete a four-year college degree, work under a Professional Engineer for at least four years, pass two intensive competency exams and earn a license from their state's licensure board. Then, to retain their licenses, PEs must continually maintain and improve their skills throughout their careers.

 Yet the results are well worth the effort. By combining their specialized skills with their high standards for ethics and quality assurance, PEs help make us healthier, keep us safer and allow all of us to live better lives than ever before.

When explaining it to my family and friends I'd always equate it to someone who went to law school, but never took the bar and how that would limit what they could achieve and how far they could go in their career.  So the PE exam to engineers is like what the bar is to lawyers = it's a BIG deal!  Dave had been running into a glass ceiling of sorts with just his Masters and not being a PE.  The test is only offered 2 times a year and if Dave didn't pass in October it'd mean more studying and paying the not-so-small fee to take it again in April.  Not to mention we'd have a newborn on our hands and study time would be limited.  So the day before he took the exam he left work early, drove to the city where the test was being administered and checked into a hotel.  No distractions, plenty of sleep and some last minute study time would set him up well to be as focused as possible on passing the test.  As for me, I just kept my fingers crossed I didn't go into early labor while he was gone.

After the 8 hour exam was over Dave called me on his way home and said, "I feel good about it."  I was glad to hear that, but knowing my husband is always optimistic (not by nature, but by choice) I had a feeling he'd say that.  Official confirmation came just a few days before Christmas, DAVE PASSED!!!

Only a licensed engineer may prepare, sign and seal, and submit engineering plans and drawings to a public authority for approval, or seal engineering work for public and private clients.

Dave's Christmas present to himself was ordering the stamp he'll use on drawings that he approves.   

To say I'm incredibly proud would be an understatement.  

(Un)Happy Holidays

Our attempt at a Christmas family photo resulted in some rather unhappy children...

but at least Dave and I look good!  Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas and safe New Year!