Somebody Stop Me!

I can't help it that retailers stock their shelves with these little guys around spring time. 

I think this makes 7. 

The Almost Easter Bunny Pic

After taking the girls to have their Easter pics taken, I thought it would be a good idea to go over and have the girls pic taken with the Easter bunny.  In years past (with just P1) it's been something I would do if I was in the area.  I figured it was P2's first Easter I better preserve the memory and get her pic with the rabbit. 

As we walked to that area of the mall, I expected there to be a long line.  It surprised me to see that only a few people were in line.  It was, afterall, the last Sunday before Easter, so I thought everyone and their mama would be in line.  Nope.  Not even close.  In fact, as we got a little closer and got in line, a few people ahead of us stepped out of line.  Not a good sign.  We're waiting, and once we get to the front, a girl comes over with some sample photos and starts giving me the schpeal.  "You can get this sheet and this sheet, OR this sheet and this sheet OR....".  I asked how much they were a sheet.  She happily exclaimed "$24.99".  I think my jaw dropped at this point.  I said "Per Sheet???".  Yes, a sheet.  Holy BUNNY SHEET!  That's grand larceny right there.  Now I've paid for some over-priced Santa pictures during my mommy-dom, but $24.99 for one stinking sheet with a sad white rabbit?!?!?  Ummm, NO. 

I politely told the girl we were just going to visit the bunny (code for: You're on crack if you think I'm paying $24.99 a sheet!!). :)  Meanwhile, I tell P1 that I'm going to attempt to take a pic with my phone and to be looking at me and smiling when I walk back up to them to pick up P2!  (While trying to keep it on the DL because I see the sign that says to refrain from taking personal pics without a minimum purchase blah blah.  YA RIGHT!!)  So I sit both of them down, and oddly enough, when you're not smiling for the camera and trying to coerce smiles from children, there isn't a whole lot going on there.  There isn't much to say to a bunny, and he has less to say back!  So they just sat there.  AWKWARD!  hahaha  After what seemed like an eternity, I grab my phone and slowly walk up to get P2.  In my feable attempt to be sneaky.....

I present to you....


P2's first visit with the Easter Bunny....

HAHAHAAHHAAHHA  I've got proof she saw the Bunny.

$24.99 a sheet my a$$!!!!!!

Comments

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NEW Stephenie Meyer Vampire Book!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today is like CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Stephenie Meyer, AKA Twilight Goddess has just announced on her site, that she's released a 200 page novella based on a character from Eclipse.  It's called The Second Short Life of Bree Tanner and it's coming out on June 5th!!!!!!!  25 days before Eclipse the movie will be released!!  Awesome awesome awesome!!!

THANK YOU STEPHENIE!!!!!  Your fans have been waiting for something new from you for a while!!!!!!!!!!

Easter Approaching

Easter is always a fun time at our house. Not only do we celebrate the resurrection of Christ with a wonderful feast,  we decorate eggs, make a special dessert for Mimi's house (last year it was fancy decorated cupcakes), deviled eggs galore, gorgeous spring weather (hopefully!) and just lots of fun with the extended family.  I tend to take a million pics of the kiddos and love when they are all dressed up!  Here's a tip!  Easter is the perfect time to take pics for moms/grandma's Mother's Day presents!!   

Since this is Pen's first Easter, I had to go out and find a special basket.  Since she was about 3mo old, I've been buying little stuffed lambs for her.  It started with one and now she has about 5 of them.  Now whenever I see a cute stuffed lamb, I buy it for her.  Well, almost.  Right now our grocery store has one for Easter and it's HUGE!!  Almost life size!  I've thought about it....hahahaha  Anyway, as I was saying, lambs.  When I was at Hobby Lobby, I found the cutest basket and guess what it has attached to it?!  That's right!   A lamb!  I couldn't resist.   For her basket, Pen's getting a new pair of sandals, a new sippy cup, a Carter's plush bunny (gasp!) some plastic eggs filled with yogurt melts and a few new sets of PJs.  Piper is getting two new pairs of flip-flops, a bathing suit, The Princess and the Frog DVD, a new outfit, plastic eggs filled with money and some candy.  When I was a kid, my Easter bunny would put money in my eggs and I thought that was the coolest!!  The tradition continues!  Thanks Mom! ;) 

One thing I always do is have pictures taken of the girl, now girls, for Easter!!  I was able to find and purchase matching dresses for them!  That sounds pretty easy, but finding matching dresses in a size 12mo and a size 8 is EXTREMELY difficult.  That's why when I found them, I HAD to buy them.  Now black wouldn't be my first choice for an Easter dress, but I'm actually pretty pleased with how these turned out!!  It doesn't hurt that I have the two most beautiful kiddos around. ;)

I love how P2 is standing on her tippy toes here. 

See it below!  It's Lamby the fourth. :)

This is P2's new silly face.  She knows we crack up when she does it, so it's now a habit! 

I LOVE this one.  The expression is so sweet!

This is one of my faves too! 

These were taken on Sat after I got the dresses in the mail.  They tried them on and I snapped a few pics!

Happy Girls!

My BIG FAT POSITIVE!!!

Since I didn't want to forget about this day (thanks Jess!), I'm going to post what I posted on a message board the day I found out I was pregnant with Pen.  The day was Wednesday, 9/3/08 and after 11months of trying to conceive, and one day before our appt with a specialist, I finally got a positive pregnancy test!!!  For the record, she was conceived on the weekend of 8/22/08 and here is what followed!!!  :) 



I'm sick today though, actually have been sick over the weekend. Sore throat, low grade fever, tired...so I came home early today. Before I came home, I had to swing by the OB to pick up my paperwork to take to the RE tomorrow. So once I got that, I decided to stop at the drug store and buy some medicine, cough drops and a Preg test since I was out. I WAS on a break.......

So much for my break!!!!!!!!! I can't believe it!!!!! It took less than one minute for this thing to blare the word PREGNANT at me!! If I hadn't already peed, I would have peed my pants!! I was shaking!!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't know if you can tell, but P's shirt says "Big Sister". The balloons are for DH. He doesn't know yet and we're waiting til he comes home!!!!!! OMG, I still can't believe it.

Shaking, the first thing I did was text my friend Amy to tell her the news since we'd been trying to get preggo for what seemed like FOREVER!  I sent her the pic and I think she was as shocked as I was!  Then I tried calling my mom.  I tried her cell.  No luck.  Her home.  No luck.  The cell again.  And again.  And again.  I kept getting voicemail and I didn't want to tell her in a message.  So I asked her to call me back.  When she finally did, I played it calm.  "Hey Mom, how are you doing?"  "Pretty good, how are you?" "I'M PREGNANT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"   We both laughed!  It was GREAT!!!!   Then I went and bought the balloons for M.  I wanted something to put on the porch to announce the pregnancy!  I had bought P1 a shirt that read "Big Sister" on it and she was quickly outgrowing it so against my better judgment, I shared the news with her when I picked her up from school!  I wanted her to wear the shirt when daddy came home!!  When he walked in, the first thing she said was "Daddy, Look at my shirt!  I'm going to be a big sister!!!".  He looked at me and said "Really?!" and I said yep!!  It was a beautiful moment!!!!  The rest is history and I'm so blessed to have another baby girl to add to my collection!!!

Snotty, Barfy, and Froggy.

BARFY

I'm running on little sleep.  It's almost 4pm and I'm fighting to stay awake.  Yesterday I came home to find a lethargic P1 lying on the couch, rosy cheeks, and a grump look on her face.  I ask what's the problem and she says "I'm Sick."  Ummmm, OK, care to elaborate for me??  M told me she had thrown up three times already. 

Now, first you must know.  P1 has vomitting issues.  She's had it for a few years now.  Fine one second, barfing the next.  No rhyme or reason. Can't figure it out to save our lives.  We've taken her to see Pedi-GI doctors, she's had a scope down her throat (the proper name escapes me!) and she's had a Ph-Probe done to check for acid levels in her tummy.  She's had CAT scans, ultrasounds, and EKGs and all come back normal.  She was diagnosed with slight reflux, which was a shock because she NEVER had reflux as a baby.  We were instructed to put her on Nexium powder, once a day for a few months and we did.  It seemed to help, but the doctors agreed she couldn't be on it forever.  After a while (much longer than the dr. recommended), we weaned her off of it.  The vomitting never ceased entirely, but now it's becoming the rule rather than the exception.  Since I'm horrible at keeping notes about it, I'm going to use my blog as a way to record her episodes from now on.  I apologize in advance. :)

So, this makes episode #2 for March.  She did throw up last week at the gparents house.  She ate nothing unusual there. 

Yesterday, she did have her normal lunch, but she did start the morning off with some kind of cereal bar that her friend gave her.  It sounded like it was full of sugar, but that's about it.  The vomitting didn't start until later in the evening, so I doubt there is a connection there.

Poor thing was up and down all night.  She sleeps with a bowl at night in case she can't make it to the restroom in time.  She's got pretty good aim. lol  I ended up sleeping next to her on the couch to keep her company since she didn't want to sleep in her room. 

I got little sleep. 

SNOTTY

Then P2 woke up yesterday morning with a snotty nose.  I mean, REALLY snotty.  She wasn't running a fever, so I took her to school anyway.  She seemed OK once we got there.  Then last night she started running a low-grade fever and coughing.  She woke herself up several times last night, but thankfully she lulled herself back to sleep. 

FROGGY

On Sunday night, M started complaining about feeling congested.  Then yesterday complained about it again and really thought he was starting to come down with something.  This morning, when he was coming home from work so I could come in for a few hours, I noticed he sounds awful. Like he has a frog in his throat!!  He says he feels ok, just sounds horrible!

  Good Lord...the cat and I are the only ones not sick at home.  Wish us luck!  Knock on wood. 
 

Hello Blog. Long time, no see.

Yes, I've been neglecting my blog lately.  Not for lack of anything to write about, I assure you.  In fact, I have a million posts in my head but haven't had the time to get them out.  Here is an attempt.  If this seems a little erratic and all over the place, welcome to my world/brain. 

Lets go back to the week of March 1st.  M's grandma has Alzheimers for about 6yrs now. Perhaps longer. She's 80.   But she's been living with the inlaws for a few years now.  They built her a beautiful addition to their home and gave her her own space to live.  A place where she could still have some privacy and independence, but still in close proximity to the family where they could keep an eye on her.    My inlaws both work and 24/7 care was not possible...so after a few 'episodes' of GG (what we call her) "seeing an intruder" in the mirror (herself) and climbing up on the furniture to cover the mirrors with sheets and threatening to take her own life one too many times, the family had been thinking it was time to see about putting her in a 'home'.  Well, one afternoon my MIL was called at work from the local police station who had been notified of an elderly woman, with a purse, walking down the street obviously confused and far from home.  Apparently GG had had enough and left with her purse, going to who knows where.  Thank God the weather was nice and she stayed on the road where someone was able to see her.  I shudder to think of the alternative.  Anyway, so that weekend they took GG to the long-term care facility.  It's been hard on the family, but we know it's for the best.  On Saturday, we took the girls out to see her and she seemed to be doing OK.  I think she recognized us, but it's hard to say.  Sometimes she's with it, and other times she seems really confused and lost.  It's a horrible disease and I hope a cure is found in my lifetime. 

The next thing on our plate was Amy and the Twinks visit!  After two years of being online friends, we finally got to meet and introduce our families.  It was a great weekend, and I'll have to post the pics and talk more about it...but I'll have to do that another time, or more specifically when I'm at home. 

So moving on.  Last week. 
Spring Break.

My MIL offers to watch P1 all week.  I take her out to where they live on Monday afternoon.  I must preface and say my MIL is a great grandma and loves to spoil her grandkids ROTTEN.  I'm very thankful that she's so attentive to them and LOVES to have them stay over every chance they get.  I know some people don't have family close to help entertain the kiddos, and some people who do have family close but they choose to have little or no contact with their grandkids.  It's sad, but I know there are a lot of people out there like that.  I'm VERY grateful that M's parents are nearby and attentive to their grandkids.  SO.... that brings me to tell you about M's sister and her family.  She's a good person, she really is, at heart.  But not the brightest crayon in the box, if you ask me.  So her daughter, J1 and P1 are not only cousins, but best friends.  I'm happy they are so close and love each other very much.  They are two years apart in age.  So naturally, when P1 goes to her gparents house, J1 is always over there too.

Well, from what I gather, J1 had been scratching at her head for a while.  So much that my SIL kept getting after her thinking it was some kind of nervous habit.  Instead of thinking 'why does my child keep scratching her head like a maniac' and check her head, she ignored it.  Well, on Thursday, while at the zoo, my MIL saw J1 scratching and decided to check her head.  Yep, LICE.  Full of it.  (makes my skin crawl just thinking about it).  After some checking, my SIL's family of 5 all has it.  My inlaws, and yep, P1.  LOVELY.  Freakin LOVELY.  Do they call us on Thursday to let us know about it?  Nope.  They call us on Saturday when we're on our way out there to pick her up and to visit them at their house.  WTF?!?!  REALLY?!?!  So now because of my SIL's stupidity (OH, and it's not the first time she's dealt with the critters on her kiddos before!!!!), I have to deal with the mess, and try to keep the bugs out of our house & heads.  LOVELY.  Sense my fustration??   She did treat P1 with the bug stuff and said she 'thought' she got most of the eggs out.  My poor baby, in her most pathetic little voice, asked my MIL, "Am I going to die?".  Poor thing!!  Obviously, we've never had the need to discuss lice in our home prior to this. 

My MIL decides it's best not to come over to her house (ya think?!?!) so we meet at GG's facility and try to avoid contact.  Once we get home, I take everything of P1's and wash it in SUPER hot water and dry it a few times, hoping to kill anything living in there. I changed sheets and pillowcases and checked P1's head several times yesterday just to make sure.  I debated calling the school this morning, but from the looks of it, she appears to be lice-free.  I hope my SIL had the sense to keep her kids out of school, but $5 says they are there right now.  Grrrrrr.  Thankfully our kids don't attend the same school.   What makes me so mad is that they didn't call and at least give us the heads up on the lice! (pun intended!).  Geez. 

So that was pretty much the month of March in a nutshell.  Oh, M and I did see MUSE on St. Paddy's day and it was an AWESOME show!!!!  Matthew Bellamy, you're my hero!!!  All the guys did great and are VERY talented musicians...but Matthew, your vocals are amazing.  How you can sound exactly the same live as you do on your CDs is amazing.   Not to mention you're an awesome guitarrist.  Completely effortless.  Seriously, if you like rock music, with a little Queen-esque edge and pop tones thrown in for good measure, GO SEE MUSE!!!  You won't be disappointed.  Seriously one of the most under-appreciated bands out there today.  I have a few of their songs on here...take a listen!!  :) 

Pic Post of P2

Say that five times fast. 

Here are the much anticipated pics of Pen at 9.5months!  OK, so I'm the only one who really anticipated their arrival, but nonetheless here they are!!!  :) 

Who Has the Cutest Babies???  Umm, that would be ME!!  bwahaha

Pen is 10 months old!!!!

Please tell me how this happened so fast?!  I can't believe she's in double digit months now!!  That's insane to me!  P1's first year went by fast, but P2's is 50% faster!!  I still can't wrap my brain around the fact that she will be one year in two short months.  That just doesn't seem possible.  I JUST HAD HER!!

So at 10mo, my sweet girl is very smart!  She can do the sign for "more", wave bye-bye, give us "five", is cruising and crawling like a mad woman, can make kissy sounds with her lips, thinks it's funny to throw her cup/bottle when she's done with it, lights up with a huge grin when she sees her big sister, doesn't stay down when I'm trying to change her diaper, loves to play peek-a-boo and sing the itsy-bitsy spider, she can say mamamama, dadadada, lalalalalala, buhbuh (she does this while waving), and all kinds of other random noises, she is trying to make the 'meow' sound when I ask her what does the kitty say, she loves to be tickled and cuddled, loves peas, mum-mums, apples, pears, sweet potatoes, yogurt melts, rice, and ground beef. :)

I love you PenPen.  Happy 10 months my precious Sweet Pea!!

Jake What is Wrong with You??

I'm sure if you look at the bottom of her foot it will say "Russ".

Piper-isms

More crazy things the 7yo has come up with in her little life that crack us up!  Some are from when she was around 2-3, but I'm blogging so I don't forget them as she, and I, get older.  Mommy loves you Pipy!! 

Cold Snog= Cole Slaw
BuzzOnYa= Lasagna
Stooge= Stew
TandyTane= Candy Cane
TalkUhDieDull= Crocodile
TocaTola= Coca Cola
UmmRella= Umbrella
No No= any type of bug
There It Is= The first name of her favorite blankey
Old Boddy Boddy= The second name of the same blankey!
Rella=Cinderella
Enchilala= Enchilada

I'm corrupting her:  This year she wanted some Twilight Sweethearts for Valentine's Day to give out to her friends.  I bought them. They didn't have pictures on the packs, just Twi sayings on the candy.  She came home on the Monday before the party and said "Mom, do you think it's appropriate for me to take Twilight stuff to school?  I'm only in the first grade!".  I asked her who said that and she said nobody. I told her "it's JUST CANDY and if someone from the school has a problem with it they can call your mom!!!!!"   bwahahahaha 

Sweet Layla Grace

This is Layla Grace. 

Isn't she beautiful??  Right now she is fighting a battle agaist Neuroblastoma. Cancer. She is all of 2.  Sadly, she is losing her battle.  The doctors have told her parents that she has a few weeks, but like the fighter that she is, that was weeks ago.  Like her mom says, Layla doesn't follow the textbooks, and right now she is still in the care of her parents.  Surrounded by their love, as well as the love of her two older sisters and thousands of others.  Most of which are strangers, like myself, who find themselves drawn to their story.  Praying for their baby.  Praying for a miracle.  Praying for peace against this cancer that is destroying her tiny body.  It's awful.  No child should ever have to live with this, or die from this.

Thanks to Layla & her family, I squeeze my girls a little tighter.  I hug much longer.  I make memories of the way P1 crinkles up her nose when she laughs, or the way P2 stretches out her little chubby legs in the morning. Their screams and hollers have become music in my house.  Each new day is a celebration that I thank God for everyday I have with them.  Both Layla and Shanna (her mom) have inspired me to be a better mom.  Thank you, sweet Layla.  

   

Ouch

I tweaked my back this weekend.  In preparation for our upcoming visitors (Amy and the Twinks! And J too.  It's just more fun to call them "Amy and the Twinks" cuz it's kinda like Alvin and the Chipmunks...I digress.)  So, as I was saying- visitors are coming and I'm trying to make my house somewhat presentable!  No, my house isn't a sty and I won't be featured on the show Hoarders (yet!), but we just have a lot of stuff.  We're trying to purge a lot of it and I'm thankful the goodwill van will be in the neighborhood two days before AandTs come to visit!  P1's room was a nightmare and since my guests will be bunking in her room, I figured it was only polite to pick up all the Barbie shoes, My Little Ponys, puzzle pieces, etc etc off the floor!!   5 garbage bags full of items to toss, donate, and resale came out of that room yesterday and it's still not done!!  I'm saving the clothes for last.  And man she's got the clothes. 

My weekend was also full of cleaning the kitchen, the living room, and I'm starting to organize my craft corner.  For Xmas, M's big gift to me was to build & put up some shelves in our bedroom for my stuff.  Yes, the calendar does say MARCH 1st and he's just now getting to it.  I guess I will cut him some slack since he did have back surgery right before Christmas.  Hmmppphhh.  heehee  While P1 and I were organizing all of my junk, M was outside cutting, painting, and finishing my shelves!!  YAE!!!!  I can't wait to post pics of the "After".  Trust me, you don't want to see the "Before".  For those of you that saw what P2's room looked like before it became the beautiful nursery that it is now- Ya, it's like that, only a much smaller version.  Shudder.

I'm really hoping my back gets better so I can get the stuff done that I need to before next weekend!!