Genevieve: 5 Months

She is five months old, people.  Hard, hard to believe.  But, it's been a fabulous five months!  I haven't written much about it on the blog, because I know it is so very tiny in the grand scheme of things, really.  But, I'm a worrier.  I feel like I get better and then boom, something hits, and I'm back at it. What I superficially worry a lot about is taking my kids to the doctor.  I don't want to go if I'll be told nothing is wrong.  I don't want to be that patient.  Remember John Paul's trip to the ER for what turned out to be GAS???  Yet, I also don't want to miss something major.  Plus our pediatrician is two hours away.  But, do you know what I think it really boils down to...pride and insecurity.  That's me.

Well, back up to this winter.  Genevieve got a little cold when she was about two months old.  No big deal, right?  Then, at about 3.5 months, she got what I thought was another cold.  I let it go probably longer than I should, and when I finally took her to the doctor, they diagnosed her with bronchiolitis and an ear infection.  As soon as we finished her antibiotics and breathing treatments, she had four days of being well, caught a stomach bug, and then immediately following that, got hit with another round of the bronchial stuff.  Well, after this round, the doctor said she had developed a little scar tissue in her lungs, and they would need an 8-week steroid breathing treatment coupled with albuterol - which amounted to four breathing treatments a day.

Fast forward to now.  She has another cold/upper respiratory infection.  She's been cough-free maybe two days since she started the treatments, and it feels like we're back at square one.  So, after more than a few people told me they (or their children) have had lifelong lung problems or have become asthmatic because of similar situations, I basically panicked and marched her right back to the doctor, because things hadn't gotten better, and I was feeling pretty guilty thinking that if I'd have only taken her in sooner (initially) we wouldn't be here today.

All of this to say, it's just taking a lot of time.  We've got another 4-8 weeks of treatments ahead of us, and a time period where she needs to stay/get well.  BUT!  The doctor said she's very hopeful that she will grow out of this in a year or so and doesn't believe she'll have lifelong problems.  So, I'm breathing a sigh of relief.  And, through this little struggle of ours, I'm realizing how very blessed we've been in the health department and praying for all of those mothers who have to watch their babies deal with much, MUCH more than this.  God bless you guys.  This is tiny.  And, this is something we can easily handle.

Beyond that, Genevieve is an angel.  She's so happy and seems just content to be a part of the family. Her eyes light up at the sight of her siblings, and they can make her giggle like no one else.  She's our tiniest little one (which isn't super tiny unless you're comparing her to our other kiddos).  Here is where she is now:

Eating a few foods (beans, peas, squash)
Drinking a 5-6 oz bottle per time
Rolling over
Sleeping about 12 hours at night and a few times during the day.
Weighing almost 15 pounds
Wearing 3/6 month clothing
Sucking her thumb
Wearing size 1 diapers
Loving the bumbo (no one else really did)
Still determining her eye color (I'm guessing hazel but they're still pretty gray)

And, that's about it for this five-month-old!

17/52: Security

I wanted to get a photo much like I did last year with their little blankets/animals that they sleep with.

Carter // 5 - He has three blankets.  A big black one, a big blue one, and a little cream one he's had since he was born.

Peter // 4 - He has a blue blanket and two neigh-neighs.

John Paul // 3 - He has every stuffed animal he's ever received :)  And, his giraffe blanket.

Sophie // 1 - It's really just her pink blanket (nonie), but these animals are in her bed.

Genevieve // 5 months - She's not really attached to anything just yet, but these are hers.

Making Biscotti

If you follow me on Instagram, you now I'm on a biscotti kick.  For some reason I feel they're less bad for me than a brownie??  I'm just going to tell myself that as I eat away.  I've tried a lot (not all recently).  We've made chocolate chip, chocolate toffee, gingerbread, cranberry almond and blueberry almond.  In terms of texture and everything really, these are my absolute favorite.  But, I change the recipe up a bit.  I only do half of the almond and cranberries required.  I don't do the lemon or lemon zest, and I don't do the chocolate.  This time, I also made some with the blueberry flavored dried cranberries, and I'm hooked!

So, here's how I do it...

I form the dough into three flat logs.  I probably should not have put them all on the same pan, but oh well.

After I bake them, I let them sit for about five minutes.

Then, I cut the very ends off every log, so they'll be flat when I bake the sides.  Go ahead and eat these pieces.

Once that's done, I cut them into pieces a little under an inch wide.

I flip them all on the same side and bake 7-10 minutes.

Then, I flip them on the other and do the same (this was a blueberry batch).

Then, they're ready to eat (or send in a package).  Voila!

If you have another recipe that you love, send it my way!  Like I said, I'm on a kick :)