Micah's first year portrait

We went to Sears today to take Micah's one year picture. He did such a good job, and made it very hard to pick just one pose. So I picked two (the first two). Oh, and in the first one, you may notice the bruise above his lip. Last night he fell while drinking from his cup. I thought about rescheduling the pictures, but then remembered that this isn't going to stop any time soon!

Because I think my kids are cute...

And I might be addicted to this whole montage thing.

Photo and video editing at onetruemedia.com

Micah's first year

Make video montages at onetruemedia.com

Pink Eye, Stairs and my Mommy Resume

(Check out his left eye. Don't worry, I saved the really gross ones for another day. I was thinking of you Laura!!)

Last Sunday, Elizabeth woke up with "an itch in my eye, you get it out Mommy?" She also had green stuff coming out of her eye. Like any good mom, I assume it's nothing, and continue to get ready for church. That is until Micah wakes up, and his eye is glued shut from all the green stuff. Time to call to doctor. Long story short, we ended up at the Scott and White Clinic (rather than Sunday school, you're welcome!) and both kids were diagnosed with pink eye. Elizabeth was given drops and Micah was given an oral antibiotic, since he also had an ear infection. Elizabeth's eye improved immediately, while our pastor described Micah as looking, "rough." Pastor Jon couldn't tell if Micah looked more hung over, or beat up.

The first day off the oral antibiotics, which happened to be right in the middle of our Spring break, Micah's eyes get worse. He ended up with drops as well.

So, I now get to add pink eye to my Mommy Resume. These kids aren't wasting any time filling my resume with all kinds of things.

A side note about guardian angels. I believe that God watches over His children, and uses angels to protect us. I now have proof of Micah's guardian angel.

We were in Kansas for Micah's birthday. My parents, since they live in Kansas, have stairs leading to their basement. Thankfully, these stairs are nice and carpeted, not creepy and squeaky. Micah can go up stairs, but still hasn't mastered going down stairs gracefully. While we were all busy preparing his birthday dinner, Micah decided to test gravity, and tumbled down the entire flight of stairs! Needless to say, it was quite scary for all of us, especially his poor Aunt Megan who got to him first. Being the clam mother I am, I immediately go through every worse case scenario, and decide that freaking out is a good option. By the time I get my seven month pregnant self down the stairs, Megan and Grad-Daddy have both helped calm him down. I take him, and within seconds, he is totally calm, and ready to get down to play! The crazy thing is that there wasn't a scratch on the boy! No bruises, no scratches, NOTHING! It was amazing!

See, like I said, I have lots of exciting things to put on my Mommy resume.

Micah's first birthday!

Today we celebrated Micah's FIRST birthday! How crazy is that?!?! We can't believe that it has been a year already. We had a very special day. Here's a picture recap of his day.

Micah and his Daddy!

Want some of my special birthday breakfast? Pancakes and bacon!!

Opening presents from Grandma and Grand-Daddy, with Elizabeth's help of course!

Playing at Burger King.

Special birthday cupcakes, made by Elizabeth and Grandma.

These are our fake smiles! Cheese!

Our family

The birthday boy, enjoying his birthday cupcakes.

A bath to wash off the birthday cake.

WANTED

This little boy may look sweet, but in reality, he is wanted for a terrible crime. What crime you ask? Doll Homicide!

Today at 12:44 pm, I discovered a poor, innocent doll face down in the toilet. At first, doll suicide was suspected. But upon further examination, it was determined that self respecting dolls don't usually end up face down in the toilet.

Several attempts have, and will be made to salvage this unfortunate doll. Family (Elizabeth) has not been contacted. Several more attempts will be made to salvage said doll.

If you have any information on this crime, please contact Mommy and Daddy immediately!

Yummy!

I made the best dinner EVER last night! And it was so easy! So, busy mommas out there, get some paper....

Chicken Parmesan Alfredo Bake

4 chicken breasts
1 jar Alfredo sauce
2 cups mozzarella cheese
1 egg
1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs

Coat chicken breasts in egg, then in bread crumbs. Place into a 9x13 pan.
Cook for 20 minutes at 400 degrees.
Cover chicken with 1 cup alfredo sauce and cheese.
Bake again for 10 minutes, or until chicken is done.
Use any excess alfredo sauce for spaghetti.

My personal note: use all the alfredo sauce on the chicken. The cheese and flavored bread crumbs mix together to make a yummy topping for spaghetti!

Enjoy!

Another trip to the dentist

Well, we were back at the dentist again today. Who would have thought that a "little" fall off the slide could cause so much trouble! But as Elizabeth told the hygienist, "I fell on the slide AND the ground!"

After watching Elizabeth's two front teeth turn gray for over a week, we decided we should go ahead and take her in. She was totally excited! The hygienist took her back, let her sit in the chair, asked her what happened, and Elizabeth (of course) was more than happy to share the horrible drama of the slide!

Then the excitement started.

Dr. V came in to check her out. Unknowingly, he kinda snuck up on her, and scared her to death! Then, she realizes that this guy kinda looked weird, due to the mask and funny dentist goggles (why he didn’t take them off, I don’t know!!). So she did what any two year old would do. Cry. And cry, and cry! We couldn't get her to open her mouth. She just kept saying, "I want to go home! I not like this dentist!" Finally the hygienists (there were two at this point) bribed her to show Dr. V her teeth, and she got two toys!

The diagnosis: Her two front teeth are dead. Thankfully, it doesn't look like there's going to be any effect on her permanent teeth. We still have to keep an eye on her to look for signs of decay in the gums, but all is good for now.

So, Elizabeth needs a face mask for her third birthday!

And he does tricks!

With his first birthday just around the corner, Micah has gotten very busy! Here are just a few pictures of all he can do right now. I'm working on posting a video of him quacking. So cute!

Micah would rather grab the lens cover than have his picture taken.

How big is Micah? Soooo BIG!

His new smile. He only does it on command.

Poor Micah! Check the left side of his forehead. He fell into the couch.

Awwww. Aren't the adorable?

Calm?

Wow! It's been a while since I've posted. Could it be that life at the Krajca house is calming down? No such luck! I think it's simply the fact that we are becoming immune to the chaos that surrounds us day in and out.

For example.

My newest fear is of balloons. A friend (thanks Erin!) told me that if a child swallows a piece of balloon, there is nothing that can be done, and they will probably choke. And of course what deadly play thing do the unknowing employees of HEB give my children? BALLOONS! So, Elizabeth and Micah (as well as other HEB shoppers) got quite and eye full as I flipped out when Micah had the balloon remotely close to his mouth. Considering the fact that I'm 6'1, and seven months pregnant, nothing is done discreetly. Add to that the fact that I have two non-quiet children, who were ridding in the cadilac of shopping carts, and we gave several shoppers quite a show.

Thankfully, both children lived to tell of our trip to HEB. And I will never again let those idiots give my children balloons.... at least until Micah learns that not everything has to go in his mouth.

First trip to Dentist

Elizabeth's first trip to the dentist went VERY well! Her teeth are fine, and there should be no long term damage. The hygienist said that her nerves are bruised, and she will be sore for a few more weeks. Keep the pudding and apple sauce coming.

Here's Elizabeth wearing all her new "stuff" from the hygienist. She loved the whole experience, and wants to go back again. The hygienist was wonderful, letting Elizabeth play with the instruments, watch, dress up, ride the chair.

Future Higienists of America

Water Baby

Both my kids seem to be huge fans of the water! Bath time is the highlight of our day, and Elizabeth is counting days until the pool opens.

Micah has discovered a love for water as well. Unfortunately, it's either dog water or toilet water. Here's how I found his yesterday.

Teeth Drama, Part II

Yesterday, I decided that it was finally time to brush Elizabeth top four teeth. I hadn't brushed those four teeth since the whole slide fiasco, so it was time! I started gently brushing, and her teeth started bleeding. Long story short, I got a good look at her teeth, and realized that her two top, front teeth are loose. So, tomorrow Elizabeth gets to make her first trip to the dentist!

Here's my question. How can such a girly girl (I bribe her to eat her breakfast by telling her that I will curl her hair!) be such a tom boy? It's a good combination, just not one that I saw coming. One minute she's wearing curls and a pink tutu, wanting to have her toe nails painted (pink of course!), the next she's trying another dare devil stunt, while wearing her tutu of course.

All this has me very nervous about having boys!

Why you don't invite Elizabeth to parties

At Alexis' birthday party, Elizabeth succeeded in shoving almost an entire cupcake in her mouth. As soon as she swallowed, she was ready for another. Yeah right!
You can invite Micah to your parties, he's pretty well behaved.... most of the time.

Blood and Dog water

Being the good moms that we are, my friend Christi and I took Elizabeth, her daughter Alexis and Micah to the park. Our goal was to exhaust them so that they would take good naps.

As most of you know, Elizabeth is quite the dare devil. Today, she proved that yet again. After going down a very fast slide with me at the bottom catching her, she decided to go it alone. Not only did she do it by herself, she went on her tummy, feet first. As she (literally) flew off the bottom of the slide, she managed to whack her face into the slide. I was right there; just not close enough to do anything. I picked her up, and immediately notice that her mouth is bleeding. She is sobbing, which is only adding drool to the blood, making it seem worse. Of course we have nothing to clean her up with, she's still sobbing, and I can't figure out what part of her mouth she's bleeding from. Obviously, it's time to go home!

We put Micah and Alexis in the wagon, and I carry Elizabeth, who is sobbing and screaming, not to mention, covered in blood. We were turning onto our street when the wind picks up the hat Elizabeth had brought. Christi sweetly stops the wagon to pick up the hat. Because of the way the wagon stopped, Alexis falls out, landing on her face. Christi picks her up and says, "Of course. There's blood." So now, we have two sobbing two year olds, both bleeding from the mouth. Thank goodness none of our neighbors were out!

We get home, and try to assess the damage. Christi calms Alexis down with food (such a good girl!) and Elizabeth continues to scream and sob. At this point, I know she's hurt, but I can't tell anything more than that since she won't stop screaming! She was sobbing so much that she started gagging, which was the last thing I wanted to deal with! Thankfully, she calmed down a little. At this point, she's been crying for about 40 minutes, non stop. I notice that poor neglected Micah has a soaking wet diaper. I put my sobbing daughter down, and change Micah. By the time I'm done, Elizabeth has fallen asleep on the couch after almost an hour of crying.

Gently, praying that she wouldn’t wake up, I put Elizabeth in bed. Christi had put Alexis down. I come out to check on Micah, who is playing quietly in the kitchen. After a minute, I look over to check on him again, and he is face down in the dog water! All we could do was laugh at that point! Poor Micah was so overwhelmed by the whole situation; he decided putting his head completely in the dog water was a good solution.

All three kids took GREAT naps! So despite everything, our goal was accomplished. :-)

Alexis has a nice fat lip to show for a day with the Krajcas.

Elizabeth's entire top lip is so swollen that she can't swallow without slurping. Her gums are swollen and bruised on top of her top four teeth. She also has bruising behind her teeth.

I convinced Micah that life wasn't that bad, and he hasn't gone for the dog water again.

Just another fun day at the Krajca House!

A few pics

Watching Daddy get the ice of the van.
He may look innocent. But, in reality, he had just figured out how to take his diaper off, and made quite the mess in his bed.

The ball, Micah's new favorite toy!

Look at the concentration!

Showing off the new roller skates and equipment.

Things I say during the day.

"Elizabeth, don't throw the ball at your brother's head."

"Elizabeth, don't throw ANYTHING at your brother's head."

"Micah, don't put that used McDonalds french fry that you found on the floor in your mouth!"

"Why is my carpet blue?"

"Micah, don't push buttons on the answering machine, you'll erase all the messages again."

"No, oranges grow on trees, not babies."

"I know pink is a pretty color, but not pink marker all over your face!"

"Why is your brother crying?"

"Take the toilet brush out of your mouth, Micah!"

"Hello? Poison control? I just found my son sucking on the end of the disposable Clorox toilet brush..... yes, it had been used."

"Why would you lock your brother in the pantry?"

"I promise there are no bugs under your bed."

"Don't throw the newly folded laundry out of the basket!"

"Yes, you are very talented Elizabeth. But please don't put the whole cupcake in your mouth again."

And finally...
"I have the best job ever, and it's NEVER dull!"

A day in the life of Elizabeth

Elizabeth had a very busy day today. Thankfully, she is feeling better, but unfortunately, that means she is back to her regular busy self. Here is a sampling of our day.

After we came back from the grocery store, Elizabeth went to the bathroom. She comes out saying, "Oh, no Mommy!" I look to see that she has Vaseline all over her hands. I call my mom to help her, since I was with Micah, and right by furniture that I didn't want to get messed up. Mom takes Elizabeth to the bathroom, which is also covered in Vaseline. Mom sighs, and Elizabeth offers to help "fix it." Fixing it entailed her smearing the Vaseline in her hair. I should have taken a picture of how greasy and gross she looked.

This evening, at dinner, Elizabeth offered to pray. Here's how it went. "Oh Father, thank you for this food, and that food. Bless this food " she pauses while I laugh a tiny bit and resumes a little louder, "bless this food to nourish out bodies. Praise God that I didn't say pee-pee or toot. Thank you for family that is together. Amen!" do I hear an amen from anyone else?!?

After her bath, where I scrubbed all the Vaseline out of her hair, I put her down for the evening. She had a short nap, so she was a little crazy by this time. The end of a long day is near, and both kids are in bed. I lay down to take a breather. Suddenly, Elizabeth cries out. She's somehow managed to go potty all over herself and her bed. I change her, her bed, and tell her to go to the bathroom. She does. While she's doing that, I try to finish getting everything ready to put her down... again. I go to get her out of the bathroom, and guess what she has done. Put more Vaseline on her face and of course, her newly cleaned hair.

As I sat here, typing this blog, a sweet little face suddenly appeared over my shoulder. "What you doing Mommy?" Scared me to DEATH! Elizabeth then proceeds to scale the couch, into my lap, and tell me that she wants to wait up for Daddy. I pick her up, and tell her that she needs to go back to bed. "One book, Mommy?" Sure. "Let's read the dirty book, Mommy!" What on earth?!?! Thankfully, it was a book, literally, about dirt. She is currently in bed, counting. Perhaps she's counting sheep and will go to sleep soon.

So, right now, go call your mom, and tell her thank you for putting up with all your toddler antics.

Party

When: 3:30 am
Where: Krajca house
RSVP to Micah and Elizabeth

Apparently, Curtis and I missed this invitation, and had a rude awakening when both kids were awake and not that happy in the middle of the night.

Micah had actually been having a really good night, which we are thankful for. The medicine seems to be helping him a lot. Unfortunately, the hyperness that we were expecting is coming in the form of uncontrollable sobbing. It's like he knows that he is sleepy, but he just can't sleep, so he cries.... a lot!

Elizabeth had been doing great. But then, she didn't take a nap yesterday. We put her down last night, thinking that she would sleep really well. At 10 pm, she woke up screaming. It took Curtis taking her outside to wake her up enough to calm her down. She did that again at midnight. Then at 3:30, party time! Both kids were up for an hour at that point. Elizabeth woke up another time, around 5:00 am. And did I mention that while she was up at 3:30, we took her temp and it was almost 102?

So, needless to say, the Krajcas are TIRED!

Update on the sickos

Well, one out of two is better! Elizabeth is doing great!

Micah on the other hand.....

On Sunday night, he got a high temp. I called the doctor's office, and they said to take him to the emergency room (since that was the only thing open at that point!). Micah and I spent three hours at the ER, just to learn what I already suspected, ear infection.

Monday was a long day of Micah just not doing great, not sleeping well, not eating.

So today, I took him to the pediatrician. Bronchitis. So now, he's on three prescription medications, and Tylenol to keep his temp in check. One of the meds makes him hyper, and the doctor told me to not be surprised if he doesn't sleep for the next few days. Fun!

So keep sweet Micah in your prayers. And me too!

Why I'm not at church

This weekend might win "The Longest Weekend Ever" award.

It all started on Thursday, when Elizabeth woke up from her nap with a low grade temp.

By Friday, she had diarrhea and a low grade temp.

By Saturday, she was still the same. Micah didn't want to miss out on the fun, so he developed a rash from his nose to his knees, had green snot coming out his nose, and a cough. Now, this cough was not just a little cough. By the evening, every time he coughed, he threw up.

Curtis and I didn't get to bed till 2 am this morning! Micah kept throwing up, and Elizabeth kept having "issues" and we had to change her sheets three times during the night.

So, being the caring people we are, we decided to stay home today, and keep our germs to ourselves! But, of course, today is the first nice day in over a week. I would much rather be at church worshipping, spending time with friends, anything but this!

Today has been about the same as yesterday. More diarrhea, and throwing up. Micah still has a rash, and both kids are very tired and whiny. Oh well, at least we have a good washing machine.

Playing Dress Up

Poor Micah! He and Elizabeth were playing dress up, and he got stuck with a ballet leotard on his head. He was not all that happy about his costume!

A five day weekend!

I LOVE the great state of Texas! The temp drops, you get some ice, and everything closes for two days! Curtis is home for the second day in a row, due to the icy roads, and that's on top of having MLK Day off on Monday. What fun!

Confused Elizabeth

Poor Elizabeth. She is a little sponge right now, and she sometimes goes on information overload.

After seeing the movie Monsters Inc. she has developed a "fear" of monsters. Mostly this fear emerges when the light is off and she doesn't want to go into a room. Curtis and I tried to explain to her that monsters are pretend and imaginary, God didn't make monsters, so they can't be real. That seemed to work for a while. As I'm reminding her of all this a day later I again tell her that God didn't make monsters so they aren't real. Elizabeth responds, "I know! Monsters made themselves!"

Since having the light on is a big deal, we frequently hear, "You turn light on, Daddy/Mommy?" Curtis had been asked to turn on the light in her bathroom, and was heading that way when she told him, "Actually, I have my chair. I do it myself."

Yesterday, we were reading a book about Noah, and how God protected him. Later that same day, we were talking about how God protects us. "God protects us in the ark," Elizabeth tells me.

Today, after Sunday school we asked Elizabeth what she learned. "God was sick." Huh? Knowing that there must be something lost in the whole story process, I ask her teacher what they had covered. The Good Samaritan. Well, at least she got something! The best lesson for Elizabeth was that she got a band-aid during the story.

So, needless to say, Curtis and I have been doing a lot of explaining and re-explaining.

Here's a picture of Elizabeth's latest act of mischeif. No, that's not lipstick, it's Sharpie marker.

Look what I can do...

Micah started our year off with a bang! On the first day of the year, he took his first steps while we were in Kansas. It was a true family affair with his Mommy, Daddy, big sister, Grandma, Grand-Daddy, Aunt Megan, and soon to be Unlce Matt, cheering him on.

Here are pics of those first few steps.

Sibling love

One of the things that I think I'm going to love about having all the kids close together is the kind of relationships that I hope they have. We are just starting to get glimpses of sibling interactions. A few examples.

Mt. Cheerios. Micah LOVES sitting in his highchair and eating Cheerios. When Micah eats, Elizabeth feels the need to eat as well. So frequently, she will ask if she can have some Cheerios too. Since they're both calm and occupied, they could be eating dirt and I would still let them! Often, I use the Cheerios to get the two of them to stay in one place long enough for me to take care of something (brushing my teeth perhaps). The worst sound to hear is a noise rather like running water. The first time I heard it, I went running into the living room, and there, on Micah's highchair tray, I saw Mt. Cheerios. Elizabeth had poured almost the entire box of Cheerios onto the tray. Before I could react, Micah began throwing Cheerios everywhere. Let's just say KC was one happy dog!

Their new favorite activity is wrestling. They love to roll around on the ground together, taking turns "hiding" from the other. I think that's why God made Micah has big as he did.

Screaming has become another favorite activity. Most of the time, this activity takes place in the car. It starts with Elizabeth screaming (more like shrieking) at Micah. Micah laughs, and screams back. After a few rounds, and a reminder from Mommy that we don't scream in the car, it then proceeds to other noise making. Elizabeth starts, Micah laughs, and tries to mimic. It's really pretty funny, and you can't beat the sound of laughter from two sweet kids!

We know that when Baby #3 is born, he will make things even more exciting! And I'm dreading the day when the screaming at each other isn't for fun. :-)

Nine months old!

Yesterday, Micah turned nine months old. He has had a very busy few months as of late. He is now an avid crawler (and very quick!) and has recently tried to start walking. As much as I look forward to seeing his first steps, I'm not quite ready to have another walker in the family!

At his doctor's appointment, Micah weighted 25 lbs and measured 31 1/4 inched. This confirmed what we already knew.... he's a big, growing boy! All these measurements put him above the 95th percentile, which means he's off the charts! Just as a side reference, when Elizabeth was nine months old, she weighed 22 lbs and was 29 1/4 inches. Watch out Terra, Krajca kids are HUGE!

We are looking forward to Micah's first Christmas, his first steps, and in a few short months, celebrating his first birthday!

ballet recital

On December 2nd, Elizabeth had her first ever ballet recital. After two other tutu's, that weren't quite right, we found this adorable one! So cute! It was funny because about seven other little girls had the same one on. My parents were able to make it down, and our best friends the Findleys also came.

I was a little worried about the recital. The previous rehearsals had yielded little to no dancing from Elizabeth, and lots of tears! But, she managed to get up there, and "dance". Most of the time (as you can see from the other little girls in the pictures) she isn't quite doing what everyone else is doing, but she still did something besides crying!

Curtis and I had told her that if she danced, she would get a lollypop at the end. As the music was ending, Elizabeth leaned over and declared, "I want my lillypop, Mommy!" The room broke out in laughter. It was a perfect ending to her first recital.

Really, she LOVES ballet. This picture reminds me of Elizabeth's Aunt Shannon. :-)

Cute, but not quite in synch.

A dance of her own.

Picking up the flowers, and throwing them in the air (the closest she came to doing what everyone else was doing).

My favorite pose!

Blooper Christmas Card Pics

This evening, we took an hour out of our schedule to try to take some Christmas card pictures. Yes, that's right, I did say an hour! At one point, I just looked at Curtis and said, "Just think, it will be even worse this time next year!"

Here are a few of the pictures that we will not be using. You'll have to wait till you get your Christmas letter for the real thing! Oh, and thank you to Grandma for the adorable matching PJs!

The surprised look

The "I'm out of here picture"

The confused look

Poor Micah!

We don't care what you want us to do, we are going to eat the lights now!

Sweet picture of Micah, but Elizabeth is a little too mesmerized by the lights.

Adam and Andrew

A few weeks ago, I asked you all to be in prayer for our friends, the Bollines (Lindsey and Kenny). God graciously kept the babies inside Lindsey for three weeks. Those three weeks made a huge difference!

On Friday, the boys were born, at about 26 weeks. You can imagine the huge prayer need that these sweet boys have. They have both already undergone surgery, and are facing numerous physical battles. Please pray fervently that God would protect and keep these babies. Please also pray that God would continue to heal Lindsey, who has had some trouble following her c-section. Lindsey is schedule to be released on Wednesday, so please pray for her and Kenny as they have to leave the babies.

To see pictures of these tiny little miracles, go the Bolline's blog (listed below, and under my friends).