How to Treat an Ear Infection

Step 1: Put funny hat on baby.

Step 2: Put thumb in mouth.

Step 3: Do not remove hat or thumb. Removal will result in high-pitched screaming that will last indefinetly. If you must remove hat, do so after baby is sleeping.

The Kissing Hand

If you aren't familiar with the story "The Kissing Hand" by Audrey Penn, you should be! Here's a brief synopsis: Chester Raccoon is afraid to go to school. To make him feel more comfortable, his mother kisses the palm of his left hand and tells him that if he ever needs a "little love from home" he should press his hand to his cheek.

We've started The Kissing Hand with Gavin to get him to go to Sunbeams. On Sunday, I used a permanent marker to draw a kiss on his hand to help him feel brave. Good news: he went to Sunbeams. Bad news: He cried for the first 15 minutes and the primary president had to hold him the whole time.

However, the message of the book stuck. Look what I caught him doing this morning!

Can you see the little black mark on his cheek?

He's a pretty cute little beast...even if he is a beast some of the time.

Sick Baby?

Sick baby?

Sick baby?

Sick baby?

Sick baby?

Sick Baby!

Laynie has been sick for almost two months. Finally the drainage from her ears and nose has settled in her chest. She crawls around like a wild child all day and coughs all night. I've tried propping her up on a bunch of pillows, slathered her in Vick's, bathed her in menthol, sat with her in a steamy shower, and plugged in the humidifier. All to no avail. If anyone has any other ideas, please let me know!

The doctor finally called in a prescription for cough medicine and we all got a good night sleep last night. Hopefully some good-quality rest will help her mend. If not, it's back to the doctor's on Thursday. I think I would worry more if she acted sick but as you can all see, she's her typically sweet, active self!

Monkey in the Museum

Gavin, Laynie and I went with some friends to the Children's Museum of Houston.

Even Laynie had fun! Even though she spent most of her time in the stroller.

The kids learned about the Laws of Gravity and the awesome power of the pulley. (Sorry Jami! I couldn't pass up posting this pic!)

Gavin learned how our foods are produced; apples grow on trees, fish come from the sea, and milk comes from cows. He had a hard time understanding why milking in this position could be dangerous.

Then the kids went grocery shopping.

The "store" was Gavin's favorite part of the whole museum. He spent about 30 minutes picking out his own foods, scanning them and then checking out at the register. He even made change for a little girl who didn't want to wait her turn at the check out stand.

He also got to drive a Mustang. The hood had been replaced with a sheet of glass. My friend McCall wowed us with her knowledge of spark plugs, batteries and transmissions. I was pretty proud that I knew which part of the engine was the radiator.

Then the kids got to paint their own faces. This is the only close-up I could get of Gav's face.

It was a fun day and the kids were pooped out (That's Bryn laying on the floor of the museum).

But we thought we'd stop for one last group photo. Gavin had his own ideas about that. All the other kids are posing at the other pillar.

Up-Chuck E. Cheese?

Our first experience at Chuck E. Cheese was AWESOME! Not only was it surprisingly clean, but we had the whole place to ourselves for the first 30 minutes.

Gav loved the Monster Truck (although at first he was afraid it was going to tip over) and the clock-swing thing.

Laynie took a couple rides on the carosel.

And one with Chuck

But was mostly content with sitting in the stroller eating my sunglasses.

All-in-all it was a great afternoon for the Wallace cousins!

Turn your back for one minute...

How come whenever you're in hurry, there is always some disaster? Yesterday morning Gavin was in the bathtub while I was putting on my makeup. He was having a blast so I thought I would just let him soak. Laynie was crawling around in the bathroom entertaining us both. Gavin decided it was time to get out, so I ran to his room to get some clean clothes. Meanwhile...

He decided it would be awesome to cover Laynie in bubbles. She was soaked to the skin!

When I came back to the bathroom, that is what he looked like.

Don't mind the little naked leg in the background. Instead using a towel to dry off, he decided to "blow dry." Which is Gav's code for running around without any clothes on until I catch him.

Aren't they fun!

Top Ten Things About Having Joel Visit

10. 45 Hours of Televised Football (and that is NOT an exaggeration)

9. 24 Hours of Halo

8. 2 Ward Football Games

7. Taping Jamie's Ankles (it was great for him...not sure Joel loved doing it though)

6. 2 Hours (and $170 worth) of Fireworks

5. Eating Out at all our Favorite Restaurants (Pappasitos, Red Onion, Valley Ranch, NOT Goode Company. It was yucky!)

4. Dog Pile Uncle Joel

3. A Whole Lot of Dew-Do (If you don't know, you don't want to!)

2. Mary Poppins Performance (I wish I had pictures of that. Can you say BLACKMAIL?)

1. "You have BEEF in your TEEF!"

Joel it was such a pleasure having you here! We can't wait for you to come back. Maybe this summer?

P.S. I'm having some serious spacing issues with this blog. Don't judge too harshly!