The Harris Family

I told you so

2012-02-11T13:02:00.001-06:00

I told you if I ordered fake snow that it would actually snow. The forecast for Sunday night/Monday morning is calling for 2-4 inches of snow. Alex is thrilled! I think we will hold off on playing with the fake snow since there is a chance for real snow. I don’t want to kill the excitement of the real thing. And… I felt bad the other day when Alex said something about wanting it to snow and then she said, “God make it!” All I could think was how I would explain to her that I made the fake snow. Ha ha.

So, obviously, the weather has changed from the 50’s. It isn’t supposed to get above freezing today and the wind chill is in the teens. Cool with me. My emotional weather is warm today, though. I’m feeling good today because my cold seems to be getting better. Drew is running errands in Fayetteville and I’m hanging with the girls and cleaning house. A clean house is always a pick me up. He should be home in a little bit and I see Razorback basketball on television in our afternoon future.

On Tuesday I was running around town while the girls were in therapy and decided to cruise around Lowe’s. I never really understood how a person could just browse in a home improvement store until we bought our house 6 1/2 years ago. Now I could spend hours in that place, just dreaming and, of course, checking out the clearance section. On Tuesday I hit the jackpot. Big time. We’ve been talking about putting a backsplash in the kitchen and have looked a little in the past, but couldn’t ever really spend that much on such a project. Then… I found 2 pallets of glass mosaic tile… beautiful 12x12 tiles for $1.59! Wahoo! There was a BUNCH of the color I didn’t like, but with some digging I found 2 1/2 boxes of the perfect tile! I LOVE it and can’t wait to post photos. Last night Drew put the tile on the walls and tonight we will grout. The entire project (tiles and materials) cost less than $100. I makes such a dramatic difference in my kitchen and I have a heck of a handy man for a husband. Score!

Oh, hey, if you want something to make fun of me for (I’m talking to you, Christin) then here is some ammunition. The newest Twilight movie came out on DVD today and I’m totally watching it tonight.

The girls are feeling pretty good today. They’ve been on antibiotics for a week and it has really helped. Less congestion, easier breathing, happier girls, happier mommy & daddy. Emma’s eczema is still causing problems, but we are just doing what we can. Special shampoo? Check. Special soap? Check. Special lotion? Check. Prescription ointment to use as needed? Check.

Alex has made us smile several times this week. We saw a commercial for this year’s Olympics and she declared that she wanted to go there. Wouldn’t that be awesome? It’s safe to say we will not be going to the Olympics, but we are surely looking forward to watching them on television. Of course, Alex also wants to go on vacation. Where that vacation is depends on the moment. She’s all talk, though. She wants to go somewhere, but she is most content at home.

Thursday

2012-02-09T20:07:00.001-06:00

It’s Thursday evening and I haven’t blogged in a couple of days. We are doing okay around here. The antibiotics seem to have helped the girls. They still have the usual noisy breathing and mild morning congestion, but the troublesome cough and the worst of the congestion is better. Now I think I’ve got a cold. I’m not bedridden or anything, but have that yucky feeling when you have a head cold… little bit of a cough and yuckiness.

I was REALLY looking forward to going to see Heidi and baby Sophie this afternoon while the girls were in therapy, but I had to cancel. I was arguing with myself over whether this was a cold or just allergies, then I stopped to think about what I would want someone to do if my girls were concerned. So, I decided not to take the chance of giving anything to Heidi or Sophie and cancelled. I went ahead and dropped dinner on their front porch. Just because I can’t visit doesn’t mean I couldn’t take the casserole and cupcakes I made for them. I can’t wait to go see them next week, though.

Speaking of Heidi, I was finishing up the binding on Sophie’s quilt last night when I got up off the couch. I sat the quilt, thread, scissors and my thimbles down and when I came back a few minutes later I couldn’t find the thread. I figured I had knocked it off, so I dug in the couch and even in Emma’s toy basket in the floor. Drew wondered if Foose had gotten it, because he had been up on the couch beside me. You should have seen me in the back yard in my bathrobe and Tevas with a flashlight, looking for my thread. This is what I found.

Stupid dog. I had to dig through my sewing box for thread that would match what I had been using. Drew thought it was hilarious, I was mainly just irritated.

On Wednesday I took the girls to Nonnie’s house and then took Grandpa to his post op appointment with the surgeon. We arrived early and the doctor was running late, so we had some quality time with strangers in the waiting room. I tried to look at a magazine, but you know how I feel about those germs. I now know that the guy talking too loud on his cell phone was talking to a person named Terry that is friends with his wife Paula and he is looking to buy restaurant supplies for a health food business. I know that the middle aged woman with the weird husband is afraid that Obama is going to get re-elected because the republicans can’t all agree on one candidate. From way that the two 60-something women were talking to their 80-something year old mother, they doubt her ability to accomplish anything or understand anything without them explaining it to her like she’s a kindergartner. By the way she humored them, I gathered that she was just happy to have them with her and willing to let them baby her, though she obviously didn’t need it. Anyway, we finally got in and Grandpa got the all clear. He felt better to get the staples out of his incision and was happy to have that over with. He’s feeling better each day and I’m thankful for that.

Winter?

2012-02-06T12:32:00.001-06:00

If it weren’t for the weather, I might have to look a lot harder for something to complain about. Even so, it is an easily accessible topic for complaints. Well, I’m not actually complaining, but observing and deciding what to do about it. I’m not really wishing for cold weather, it just seems like if it isn’t going to be warm enough to be spring/summer (60+ degrees) then it should be cold enough to wear boots and a sweater and not break a sweat. It is what it is, and lately (and as far as I can see in the forecast) we are looking at February days in the 50’s. I’m tired of socks, so I’m declaring it warm enough to wear my Tevas. I will still wear pants (you don’t want to see these legs in shorts right now), but I refuse to wear socks unless it actually gets near freezing. So there.

You know, I think what I dislike about this weather is that it feels undecided. Is it warm? Not really. Is it cold? Not really? What is it? It just feels like it’s on the fence. It can’t decide what to do, so it is riding in the middle. Actually, things like this are what get to me the most. So, I’m using the weather as a metaphor for my life. Yeah, yeah, I'm going to try to analyze how I’m feeling. Bear with me. Maybe one of you can relate and know you aren’t alone.

I feel like I’m stuck in the middle right now. There is always plenty to do, but I’m tired and don’t want to do it. So, I do what I can, but never feel like I actually got anything done. Just enough. Just like the weather. Just enough to not be cold, but not enough to be warm. In the middle.

It feels similar with the girls right now. Are they sick? Not fully. Are they well? Not fully. Somewhere in the middle. What is going to happen? Only God knows and he hasn’t shared the plan or time table with me. Probably a good thing, but it isn’t easy.

Everything just feels up in the air. Do you know what I mean? It’s like the life forecast predicts days and days of 50 degree weather. That pretty much just means it could be a little colder, it could be a little warmer. There’s no telling. Picking clothing (for physical weather) and attitude (for emotional weather) that can accommodate fluctuations in either direction is exhausting.

Sure, it could be 80+ degrees outside… just begging us to sit outside, wearing shorts and sandals, and watch the flowers bloom. Here’s the challenge… being thankful that it is 50 degree weather and not negative temperatures. I mean that in the true definition and also the metaphorical way in which I’m comparing weather to life. What a balancing act this is. Maybe this is a glass half empty/glass half full situation. Complain that your glass is already half way gone? Or be thankful that you still have half left in your glass?

Does this make sense to anyone but me? Here is what I’m going to do… I’m going to paint my toenails and wear my Teva sandals. It makes me feel better. Pretty toes make me smile. Maybe with pretty toes and a smile on my face, I will be more inclined to remember that my glass is half full. When I feel good, the girls feed off of it. When they are happy, I feed off of their smiles and giggles. When us girls are happy, Daddy feels happy… and so on.

I have to go paint my toes red. Guess what? Even if it doesn’t act as a miracle jump start for a better attitude, I will at least have pretty toes.

Saturday morning

2012-02-04T12:41:00.001-06:00

Since Drew and I can’t both sleep in on the weekends, we take turns. I got up with the girls this morning and let him sleep a couple extra hours, then he got up and let me lay back down for a couple of hours. This is what I found when I got up.

A fort fashioned with pillows, bean bags, the couch, dining room chairs and a huge quilt. They loved it, and by ‘they’ I mean Drew, Alex & Emma.

The girls actually spent some time playing together in the floor yesterday afternoon. Emma’s Mickey Valentine’s were the focus of attention.

And later, rolling together in the floor…

Considering the weren’t feeling well, that was a happy thing for Drew & I to see. Check out their belts, so you can compliment the girls the next time you see them. Alex had a pair of jeans that kept coming unsnapped last week and she told me she needed a belt. I sent to Stage and found a 3 pack of cute little girls belts for $10 and the girls were thrilled with them.

So now it is Saturday and Drew has the ‘I need to do fix something’ bug. I’m guessing he will keep busy the rest of the day, working on the back porch, fixing the canvas that covers the screen during the winter. The main goal is to be able to pull it back more easily since the weather has been so freakishly warm.

We are keeping the girls home for the weekend, hoping the antibiotics help them feel better and breathe clearly soon. Of course, tomorrow is the Super Bowl and Drew & Alex are looking forward the last football game of the season. I’m pretty sure that Emma and I will just be glad when football is over. No offense to my dear, football loving husband.

As for Grandpa, I saw him for a little while yesterday and he was doing okay. Well, fair. He was up and watching television and Sasha came to spend the afternoon and night with him. She made him a grilled ham & cheese and he ate half of it. He just doesn’t have much of an appetite and still pretty sore. To be honest, he didn’t look like he felt well, but keep in mind that it’s only been 48 hours since surgery. I’m hoping he continues to feel better as the days pass and I will take him to his post-op appointment on Wednesday.

Yep

2012-02-03T14:30:00.001-06:00

We took the girls to the walk-in clinic at Wal-Mart and we were right… they needed antibiotics. Chances are that this started as a virus, which would just be a cold for most people. Because they can’t clear their own airways, the congestion just gets worse and causes secondary infections. It was hard for him to hear Alex’s lungs because her head and throat are so gunky. They both had red throats and Alex’s nasal passages were quite irritated. That makes sense because she has had something of a bloody nose two days in a row. We run the humidifier in their room at night, but the air is so dry in the house when we run the heater. Guess we should have one in the living room for day time.

We got to the clinic right when they opened at 11 and there was only one person in front of us, so we didn’t have to wait long at all. By the time we left, did our shopping and waited on the girls’ prescriptions, the place was full of sick and fussy kids. Guess that’s what happens when the pediatrician has a full schedule and starts telling people to consider the walk-in clinic. Yes, I put GermX on everyone’s hands and wouldn’t let the girls touch anything.

So what happens when we are all 4 at Walmart and have time to kill before prescriptions are ready? Well, first Daddy lets the girls pick a treat since they don’t feel well. I just knew that Emma would want the Justin Bieber Valentines, but I was wrong. She chose Mickey & Minnie Mouse Valentines instead. Alex chose a purple stuffed dog with hearts all over it. We got a humidifier for the living room and new filters for the ones in the bedrooms. The air filter for the furnace in the house needed to be changed, and we picked the good one that is supposed to reduce allergens of all kinds. I hope it makes a difference, since there was a $12 price difference between that one and the cheap one. Paper towels, since I have been on a cleaning kick and ran out. I prefer to clean the bathroom with paper towels instead of rags. I just seems gross to clean up the bathroom filth and then put that nasty rag in the washer with everything else.

Oh, and before we even went to the doctor, I decided that it was absolutely necessary to clean. I dusted everything in the living room and then vacuumed the house. I vacuumed everything and even used the hose to get the baseboards and corners that aren’t otherwise reachable. I even ran it over the couch. We are home now (obviously) and Drew is back in the office working. I’ve given the girls their feeding and medications, called my grandpa’s doctor about the appointment next week and talked to my grandpa and my dad. Now I’m squished between the girls on the couch (just how they like it), but I’m about to die to clean the glass on the front door, start a new load of laundry and disinfect stuff. You know, light switches, door handles, etc. I really need to load the dishwasher (evidenced by the sink that is overflowing), but that’s my least favorite chore. If I just stay out of the kitchen then I can pretend like it isn’t there. By the look of our sweet dogs, they are wondering why we aren’t taking a nap right now. Toto has his head laying on a couch pillow, Foose is passed out in the floor and Mac lifts his head up every once in a while to give me a pitiful “Isn’t it nap time?” look. Sorry dogs, don’t know that we will have nap time today. Hmmm… clean or nap? Clean or nap?

Sick?

2012-02-03T09:02:00.001-06:00

Well, the girls are yucky. Emma had a coughing jag last night and I wound up holding her on my chest for a while so she would be sitting straight up. It finally passed and she slept the rest of the night. Alex slept fine, though she was breathing loudly. This morning she is so congested that it is hard for her to breathe. The difference is that Alex’s cough is very ‘wet’ and Emma’s is quite ‘dry’, or at least a tighter cough than Alex’s. Nobody has a fever.

I decided to call the pediatrician, worried that we might be to the point that antibiotics are needed. Actually, that’s a good thing because there really isn’t anything else we can do for them unless it gets to the point of infection and antibiotics will help clear things up. Otherwise we just have to deal with congestion and the consequences. Turns out that our absolute favorite nurse practitioner is no longer with the practice. I asked where she went and got the expected answer of, “I’m not sure, somewhere closer to home with less commute.” So now the practice just has two pediatricians and today they are completely full. Nothing available at all. Part of that is because our NP is gone, but the other part is that every kid in the area is sick.

So, we are left with the option of taking the girls to the walk in clinic to see a doctor who doesn’t know them. That clinic is part of the same doctor’s group, so they have access to our records. There’s that much, at least. The walk in clinic doesn’t open until 11, so we are just hanging out until then. Drew has his normal 10:30 Friday morning meeting, but he is going to skip it to help me take the girls to the doctor. I’m glad he’s home today to help with that.

Don’t know how long we will have to wait to see a doctor, but I will update later.

So Cute

2012-02-02T11:45:00.001-06:00

Emma lost another tooth yesterday. The first two teeth she lost were on the bottom, but this one was the first on the top. I think it’s adorable.

You can probably tell from this photo that her eczema is flared up again. I was able to find some different lotion at Walgreens yesterday, the kind that the dermatologist gave us samples of. I applied it several times yesterday afternoon and again this morning and it seems to be better than the Eurcerin I was using.

Grandpa’s surgery went well yesterday. The surgeon said that he had to make a bigger incision that usual because he had a gall stone the size of a golf ball! Dang, that big. They were able to look around in there and said that everything else looked good and now that the gall bladder and huge stone are gone, he should feel much better. He went home yesterday afternoon and Dad has been playing nurse ‘Good Body’. Ha ha. That’s just a silly thing we always joke about. My Uncle Matt is there now and Dad will go home this afternoon.

We normally have therapy on Thursdays, but Kim is home sick today. Even before I heard from her, I was already contemplating whether to take the girls today. Alex is so congested and drowsy and this morning she was fussy. I asked her if something hurt and she pointed to her throat. I’m pretty sure it was sore from sleeping with her mouth open from so much drainage and congestion, because she hasn’t complained about it again. Regardless, she isn’t on the up and up. Since Kim is gone and I know that there are so many kids absent from the preschool/therapy because they are sick, we are staying home today. No need to go pick up extra germs.

Drew is working from home today and I love that. It is sunnier today that it has been this week and that always gives my spirit a boost. Oh, and I am totally ordering the Snow In Seconds. Don’t tell Alex, it will be a surprise for her!

Rock On!

2012-02-01T16:13:00.001-06:00

Kathy read my blog from this morning about snow and said that when they lived in California there were produce trucks that would spray the ice from their trucks for certain businesses to decorate with. I was curious about this, but didn’t even know how to begin finding more information. So, I googled ‘Buy Snow’ and found something awesome!

It’s called Snow In Seconds and this is the website: http://snowinseconds.com/index.shtml

It is a powder that expands to 100 times it’s size when you add water. I begins as the temperature of the water you add, but as it dehydrates (in about 3 days) it naturally cools. You can use it outside or inside, it is non-toxic and safe for kids and pets. You can decorate with it, use it for science experiments or just play with it. You can even add a few drops of food coloring to the water to make colored snow! If you put it in the freezer for a while then you can mold it just like snow and make snowmen! Once it dehydrates you can either add more water to make more snow or you can store it to use later. Apparently they used it once on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, but I didn’t see it.

What a fun idea! Nature isn’t providing any snow for Alex, but maybe we can order it. Plus, since it wouldn’t be freezing cold, the girls could play in it longer. I think it sounds like lots of fun. Of course, there is a distinct possibility that I would order it and by the time it got here we would have real snow. Don’t you know that would happen.

It isn’t too expensive, we could fill a small kiddie pool with snow for about $25. I haven’t talked to Drew about it yet, but I think it sounds like a fun idea. It isn’t the real thing, but it may be enough to make Alex happy. Wanna come play in the snow with us?!

Direct flight to snow

2012-02-01T08:54:00.001-06:00

Alex has been wishing for snow for more than a month. Even before Christmas, she was praying for it to snow. She would literally bring it up during bedtime prayers. We got a dusting here once, but that is the closest thing to snow that we have gotten. She was sorely disappointed in the lack of snow that day. For the last few days she has been saying something like, “It snowing! It my birthday!” She knows that it obviously isn’t snowing or her birthday, so I just thought she was being silly. Then I realized that she is relating her birthday with wishing for what she wants… and that want is snow. Sweet girl. Mild winters would be fine with me (though it is a little boring), but right now I would be willing to take Alex to the snow. If only there was a direct flight to somewhere snowy. If wintery weather was anywhere near us, we would quite likely load up the truck and make our way there. Since we can’t drive too far with the girls, it looks like we are out of luck for now. The forecast for areas within a 2 hours drive from here is mild for the next week. I’m not joking, though… Drew and I would really consider getting her to somewhere snowy if we saw the opportunity.

The girls are still quite congested, but nobody is running a fever. Poor Alex is having quite the time breathing with all the congestion in her head. I am giving Benadryl, which is really the only thing we can give her. It won’t clear the congestion, but it could help with the allergies (thanks to the wind and mild weather) and to dry up some of the runny nose stuff.

Grandpa is at the hospital, probably in pre-op right now. Dad stayed with him last night so they could get to the hospital by 6:30 this morning. He is supposed to go home this afternoon and Dad is going to stay the night with him again. Matt is coming tomorrow afternoon, so Grandpa will have someone with him. I’m thankful for that. I could juggle things a bit to check on him, but staying with him wouldn’t really be an option for me. Hopefully he will feel much better once his gall bladder is out and he recovers from surgery. I had to cancel his oral surgery consult last week since we were at the ER. Once he is recovered from all this gall bladder stuff, then we will talk about dental stuff again. One thing at a time.

I think I’ve mentioned this before, but I’m a fan of Craig’s List. I found our couch there last spring and we got a very nice piece of furniture for a fraction of what we would have paid in the store. There’s a lot of junk on there, so if you are looking for something particular then you just have to be patient for the right thing at the right price. I finally found a chair for my office/playroom and Drew went and picked it up for me on Sunday. It is a super cute, really big and comfy chair with an ottoman for $40! I had been prepared to slipcover whatever I found, but I lucked out and found something that doesn’t need it. Awesome! Drew enjoyed meeting the guy who was selling it. He and his wife have lived in Alaska, now here, and are about to move to Boston for a new job. What fun to get to live in different places and experience such different things!

Drew swears he would love to live in Alaska, but I really don’t think I could do it. I’d love to visit for a week or two, but I wouldn’t want to deal with the ridiculous cold, crazy light/dark cycles and short ‘summers’. I mean really, how on Earth would I ever get to wear my Teva sandals if we lived in Alaska?! Not to mention I would probably be chronically depressed during the dark months and having to stay inside so much. We would love to visit many different places, but I think if we were going to live somewhere that it would be a choice between Colorado and Florida. Weird, right? But how cool would it be to breathe the clean mountain air every day and explore the beautiful country? There are several big cities in Colorado, so social, cultural and employment are readily available. And I think my Teva wearing self would fit in quite nicely in that world. Then… Florida. That would probably be my choice. Warm weather and lots of sunshine. A short drive to the beach, no matter where you live in the state. I think it would be good for my mental health with all the sunshine. And I have no problem with Florida rain showers. And let us not forget the fact that I could wear sandals a large majority of the year. Score.

Enough rambling. I’m done for now.

CDO

2012-01-31T12:51:00.001-06:00

Someone told me recently that they didn’t have OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder), they have CDO… in alphabetical order, as it should be. I don’t have OCD (look at my messy truck or overflowing laundry), I think I just have a phobia. Maybe it isn’t even really a phobia. Maybe it’s just something I don’t like. You already know what that is. Turns out that my germ problem is contagious. Well, my anti-germ problem is contagious. I just had a good laugh with Dad about it. When he took Grandpa to meet the surgeon last week, he spotted a Sports Illustrated in the waiting room. He went to reach for it and then a little voice in his head said, “Mandy would never touch that.” He argued with the voice in his head until he finally decided to pick up the magazine and look at it.

Other things that freak me out?

Toys in doctor waiting rooms. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve sat and watched some snotty nosed kid wipe his nose and then pick up another toy, while mom has her head buried in a 6 month old magazine. Depending on where we are, I may let the girls play with things, but not just anywhere. Regardless, I am going to wash their hands when we leave.

Public pens. Say you go to the bank and don’t have a pen in your purse, do you pick up the pen on the counter and use it? You probably do it without hesitating. I have to think about it for a while and will myself to pick it up, then GermX my hands as soon as I’m out of the building. One time I had to ask for a pen in the drive through at the bank. As I was filling out my deposit slip, I had to dig for something in my purse and thoughtlessly put the pen in my mouth. Once I realized what I had done I felt like throwing up (or boiling my lips).

Door handles. For instance, bathroom stall doors. Let’s face it, even if you are like me and wash your hands 100 times a day, you still have to get out of the stall after you do your business. Unless you are going to crawl under the stall door (which I would NEVER do), you will have to touch the door handle. Now, I know I’m not the only one who sees people completely leave the bathroom without washing their hands. Dad has a name for that. Collectively, these people are part of the NoWashee tribe. As in, they No Washee their hands after they go to the bathroom. I suggested he send me the names of each member (and new members) of this tribe and I would blog them. He just laughed. I’m not sure whether to expect an e mail or not, ha ha.

Other door handles… if it’s a push handle, then I just use my body. If the handle must actually be turned, then I just have to deal with it… or wait for someone else to touch the handle and then sneak through the door behind them.

I already told you that I use my elbow or a sleeve covered hand to push elevator buttons. I let someone else do the pushing if I can. Oh, and ATM machines. How many people wipe their nose or rub their eyes and then touch all the buttons on the ATM? Yuck. I don’t even have to mention money, I think we all know that money is dirty. We all touch it and pass it around. I don’t think there’s a way to disinfect paper money, so I just have to ignore it. Surprisingly, money doesn’t creep me out too much… unless I see a kid with money in his mouth, or even an adult holding money in their mouth while they dig in their purse or wallet. Eww.

Phones. My phone is fine, because I can wipe it off with a disinfectant wipe every now and then. A public phone would quite likely push me over the edge.

I’m not to this point yet, but I will say that I completely understand why Howie (what’s his last name?) won’t shake anyone’s hand… he fist bumps. Hands are gross and germy y’all.

Now, all of these things cause me anxiety. The funny thing is, I have absolutely no problem letting my dogs lay on the couch… or walking outside barefoot (not the backyard, though… that’s dog potty area)… or rinsing out my coffee cup from yesterday and pouring myself a fresh cup. Just to be clear, I would never do that with someone else’s coffee cup, only my own. I have no problem with toys scattered in the floor or reusing a bath towel a few times before I wash it. Now, I’m diagnosing myself here, so I know my view is skewed, but I’m pretty sure I’m just being cautious for my girls’ sake and not just being irrational. I’m pretty sure. Fairly sure, anyway.

Okay, now don’t stage an intervention for me. I don’t need to be committed. Yes, these things creep me out and I wash my hands a LOT, but it’s not like I’m holed up in the house and afraid to go out into the world. I still go to Wal-Mart and may even buy a magazine in the check out line, though I will always pick the one in the back that hasn’t been picked up before. I don’t freak out about taking the girls to see friends or family. I don’t want anyone to be offended, so I’m just pointing this out. Your houses don’t bother me, I’m just conscious of large crowds or anyone who is or could be sick. I haven’t always been like this, only recently since the girls have become so prone to getting sick. You guys are all pretty awesome about it all. I know that Kim, Cheryl and Heidi (and now Dion, since Heidi had baby Sophie) are extra careful to keep things sanitized and don’t ever see the girls if they are sick. Family and friends are the same way and I appreciate every one of you. Last night there was lots of coughing and sneezing coming from the girls and this morning they are both pretty congested. Alex’s head is all stuffy and she has her poor little mouth hanging open so she can breathe. Given the fussy level this morning and all the coughing and sneezing going on, I’m letting them stay home from therapy today (at Alex’s request, actually). They don’t feel great and it’s hard to say if they are on the verge of getting sick. I wouldn’t want to spread it around to the other kids at therapy, or get them out in this dreary, windy (though, mild) weather and make anything worse.

Sunday at Home

2012-01-29T10:42:00.001-06:00

Drew and I had a board meeting for Happy Like This yesterday. The girls got to hang out with LaLa for a little while and it felt a little like Christmas with new toys for them to play with. There was a little Mickey Mouse fishing game and I was astonished at how focused Emma was at using her little fishing pole to catch a fish. Her little hand was so steady and she was absolutely zeroed in on the task. She loved it so much that Mom sent it home with us so she can take it to therapy and show Ms Kim. I’m not sure about Mom, but the girls were absolutely exhausted after their play date! Emma was almost asleep by the time we got home.

We had a good board meeting and I was particularly reminded of how special our group is. Everyone has their own suggestions, talents and resources. I have a tendency (surprise, surprise) to take on too much for myself, but our board just naturally takes that away. My point here is to say, “You guys rock and I love you. Thank you for taking such a vested interest in the mission we have before us. I appreciate all you do.”

I am going to keep reminding you all of our silent auction coming up on March 3rd. I am praying for an awesome turnout and I really hope to see all of you there. March 3rd. 5pm. Community Christian Fellowship church in Siloam Springs. Spaghetti Dinner. Lots of silent auction items. A very special cause.

I reactivated my Facebook account a month or two ago because I wanted to get in touch with a few people on there. I haven’t even bothered looking at people’s statuses or just ‘checking’ facebook to see what everyone is up to. For some reason, I did exactly that this morning. It seems that there are a LOT of people with a bug this morning. Fever, snot, tummy problems, etc. So, we are having a Sunday at Home. I miss going to church, but we just can’t take the germ risk with the girls. We have so much family there and there are always tons of hugs and kisses for the girls. I do not want to deprive Alex & Emma of that love, nor the people who make up our church family. Since I am not going to put the girls in little bubbles and forbid anyone from touching or breathing around them, we just have to stay home for now. It’s cold and flu season and we have been quite blessed for the girls to be healthy for the last 6 weeks… we want to keep it that way.

Oh, one more thing. Carrie brought Mimi presents for Alex and Emma yesterday. They were for Christmas, but we rarely cross paths these days. The girls got new Mimi jackets! They LOVED the ones they got last year, in fact Emma was wearing her yesterday. Now they have new ones (in pink & purple, of course) with their names on them and tons of sparkles. I’m not gonna lie, they both slept in them last night because they didn’t want to take them off! I will have to take some pictures of them so share with you guys. Thanks Mimi! And thank you Mollie, for sending pretty sparkly pink & purple Christmas ornaments for the girls. We hung them in the girls’ room so they can enjoy them all year round.

We Done Good

2012-01-28T09:18:00.001-06:00

Kyle and Misty came over yesterday evening and we all such a nice time visiting. I’m so glad Misty suggested getting together, we don’t do that often enough. Of course, they are very conscious about being completely healthy when we hang out. I don’t even worry about that with them at all. Misty and I made dinner. Well, actually we drove through and picked up dinner, but we did choose where to drive through. Kayla amazes me every time I see her. She is really growing up and is such fun to be around. Drew & Kyle sat in the floor and played with the kids for so long. Kayla wanted everyone to play Bubble Gum Bubble Gum, remember that game from when you were little? Everybody sat in a circle and there were tons of giggles and lots of fun.

Then they played Hide & Seek. Alex and Emma had a great time being involved and Drew & Kyle hid with them behind doors and under blankets. Braeden had the winning hide when he sat in the corner of the couch and Misty stacked all the pillows around him. Drew & Kayla had to give up and Braeden took the award. Alex and Emma got so tickled that Kayla couldn’t find him and would look toward the pillows and laugh uncontrollably. How can all that laughter not make a girl feel happy?

I had a little moment in the kitchen with Misty were we absolutely agreed that “We Done Good.” I mean, really. Our husbands are pretty much the best dads ever. They are so involved with their kids and it makes me so happy. As usual, I love hanging out with Misty. For some reason, spending time with Kyle and Misty helps me feel centered. They are really good at making things simple, as I tend to over complicate things in my own mind. I just love them.

As for Grandpa, he will have surgery to remove his gall bladder next week. They are supposed to call Monday morning with the day and time and instructions. I’m hopeful that this will make him feel much better. Please keep him in your prayers and I will keep you updated.

One more picture that was on my camera… I took it last weekend when Emma wasn’t feeling well. She fell asleep in my arms and stayed asleep even when I laid her on the couch. She looked so sweet laying there that I had to take a picture.

Look how big she is! As for her eczema, it is flaring up again. I guess it will just be an ongoing battle since she drools so much. She pretty much only uses her left hand for things, so when she wipes her mouth she gets her chin and left cheek wet and it’s just hard to keep it dry. That just leads to more irritation. I’m using the steroid ointment on it again for a while, but I know not to use it continuously or it can break down skin. Between steroid applications and when I’m not using the steroid at all, I slather her face with Eucerin lotion multiple times a day.

Alex has some congestion right now and you can hear it when she breathes. She also has a wet cough, though not completely severe. I give Benadryl to help with the allergies that likely cause it, as well as a humidifier in their room to fight the dry air from the heater. Other than that our strongest medication is prayer… and so far it is working.

I’m Here

2012-01-27T09:36:00.001-06:00

I’ve gone longer than usual between blogs… so long that I’ve started getting messages asking if everything is ok. Yes, everything is fine. I’ve just been busy.

Yesterday I woke up at 5:30am to a phone call from my dad. Grandpa had been up all night with pain in his upper abdomen/lower chest. He waited longer than he should have, but didn’t want to wake anyone up. He finally called Dad, thinking that he would already be up for work. He wanted Dad to call me when he thought I would be awake. Thankfully, Dad called me immediately. I knew that he was in pain and worried or he wouldn’t have asked to go to the ER. I got dressed, picked him up and drove him to Fayetteville to the hospital. (The Siloam hospital is fine if the problem is routine, but the bigger hospitals have more resources if there is something seriously wrong. Plus, his doctors are all in Fayetteville.) They took us directly to a room at the first mention of chest pain. The did an EKG and blood work and ruled out that it was his heart. I was so glad for that.

First, let me apologize that I didn’t contact anyone that this was going on. I was absorbed in the situation. Here is how things went.

Once they ruled out cardiac problems, things slowed down quite a bit. They weren’t as anxious to do things after that, but were still very kind. They did a ton of blood work, a chest x-ray and CT of his abdomen and chest. Turns out that his gall bladder is all screwy and his pancreas is inflamed. The doctor said that there is a good chance that his pancreas is inflamed because his gall bladder is throwing stones. After a phone call with the surgeon on call, it was decided that the situation was not urgent and they scheduled an appointment for us to consult with the surgeon today (Friday).

Drew was working from home and for the first half of the day he managed to run back and forth between the girls and the office… fielding e mails and phone calls and trying to keep up. There was something of a work emergency and he knew he needed someone to sit with the girls so he could deal with it. He made a couple of phone calls and by noon John was here. I sent Kim a message to let her know the girls wouldn’t make it to therapy. I hate to do that, but it was not a ‘normal’ day. Grandpa was discharged by 12:30, we drove through McDonalds, I took Grandpa home and then dropped his prescriptions off at the pharmacy. I was home by 2 to take over caring for the girls. I gave a feeding and we laid down in the living room for a little while. Despite the fact that I was exhausted and the girls were fussy, our ‘quiet’ time was less than quiet and only lasted about an hour. It was enough to make it through the evening and we were all glad when bedtime arrived. I did make a run back to the store to get Grandpa’s antibiotic and nausea medications and take them to him. He was still quite uncomfortable, but I made him promise to call me if things got worse… no matter what time it was. I think Drew and I were both asleep by 10:30 and I woke up with the girls at 7 to the television still blaring. I guess Drew and I were both so worn out that we fell asleep with it on and didn’t even wake up in the night to turn it off. I must have slept really well because I feel so much better today.

Dad is taking this afternoon off to take Grandpa to the surgeon consultation. I didn’t know how busy Drew would be with work and it is quite stressful for him to try and work and watch the girls. You can’t do both things properly when you are trying to juggle. Last night he told me that he understands why I spend so much time just sitting with the girls. That is encouraging for me when he (or anyone, really) acknowledges that I’m doing the right thing with the girls. Sometimes I beat myself up for not getting things done. That is one reason that Happy Like This has been slow going. I just haven’t had time to devote to it. (This is where I say how thankful I am for each person who has made an unsolicited commitment to furthering the mission of reaching out to families like ours. Thank you!) More than anything the girls just need attention. It comforts them. I know that if they could run around and help with whatever else we need/want to be doing then they absolutely would. But, they cannot, so they need us to slow down with them. So far this morning I have given feedings & medications, cut their nails, painted their toes, snuggled & watched PBS and now I’m squished between them with my computer in my lap. The dishwasher still isn’t loaded, laundry is spilling out of the laundry room and the floor really needs to be vacuumed… and I am sitting with my girls. I know that all of those other things will still be there when I have the time to do it, whenever that may be.

Back to Grandpa, the assumption is that his gall bladder will have to be removed. Nonnie and Mom have both offered to help with the girls so I can do all I can to help Grandpa. Dad has some vacation days he can take to help. He shouldn’t have to stay in the hospital for long, but he will need someone to stay with him for a few days once he goes home. As for Lucky (Grandpa’s little dog/child), he will be in my ‘custody’ if Grandpa is in the hospital. Sorry Toto, Mac & Foose, but you will be outside during the time. You are dogs and dogs can stay outside. Lucky may technically be a canine, but he doesn’t know it and neither does Grandpa!

Chocolate

2012-01-23T09:00:00.001-06:00

After a very turbulent and slightly delayed flight, Drew made it home last night. Boy oh boy, was Alex happy to see her Daddy. Emma would have been too, except that she fell asleep in my arms about 5:30. It was weird, really, because she never just spontaneously falls asleep during the day. I guess she was tired from a less than restful sleep the night before. She didn’t wake up when Drew came in or as we were talking or even when I turned all the lights up. I finally roused her enough to hand her to Drew and she sleepily opened her eyes, noticed Drew was holding her and smiled so big.

We let the girls stay up a little later than normal so they could snuggle with Daddy. The dogs were playing in the floor and being crazy. We have found that if we give Alex the full 3 Valium a day (on a schedule, of course) that she has much better days and talks much more…

Alex: We need another dog.

Me: (laughing at the idea) You think?

Alex: Yeah.

Me: What kind of dog do we need?

Alex: A kitty cat.

Me: (giggles) Oh yeah? You think we need a cat? What color cat?

Alex: Brown

Drew: What would we name it?

Alex: Chocolate

Drew: A brown cat named Chocolate… where would it sleep?

Alex: In my bed.

Drew: Do you think we need a cat or a bunny rabbit?

Alex: Kitty cat.

Me: Okay, but that kitty might get mad at me for keeping it in a bunny cage.

Drew and I were quite impressed with how she had thought that out. A brown kitty named Chocolate. For a moment we almost forgot that neither of us really cares for cats. Is there even such thing as a chocolate brown cat? It would be a little silly to have a yellow cat names Chocolate. Of course, we have a weenie dog named Toto, so we don’t exactly go with the expected. Once we had put the girls to bed, I questioned Drew about it, hoping that all of that was just a hypothetical scenario. His response? “If I thought it would make my girls happy then I could deal with it.” Sweet man. Here’s hoping that neither of us runs into someone giving kittens away any time soon! The only cats I like are the fat kind that lay in the corner, don’t rub all over me, pee all over the house, shed or scratch up the furniture. Think there’s a certain breed that fits those specifications? ha ha Not to mention that many of our friends and family are allergic to cat hair. I’m thinking the chances of us getting a cat are slim to none. There is already a neighborhood cat that roams around, makes the neighborhood dogs bark and tears up trash bags on the curb the night before the trash truck runs. It’s not exactly a lovable kitty. Hey, somebody who has a friendly kitty… can we come to your house so Alex can love on it?

Anyway, Emma slept much better last night. They are still a bit stuffy and congested, but that just goes with the territory. I’m actually not sure what the therapy schedule is for today. Just physical therapy, I think. Heidi (our sweet speech therapist) is being induced today to have little baby Sophie! I am just assuming she won’t be at work since she is supposed to be at the hospital for induction this evening. Though, you never know. Miss Heidi, we love you and are praying for a safe labor and delivery… and of course for a healthy baby girl. We can’t wait to meet her and give you hugs and kisses!

Random request… I’m wanting a comfy chair for my office/playroom. I don’t need anything beautiful or fancy (I’m happy to cover it with a quilt), I’m more concerned with a having a chair that I can curl up in to read a book. I would prefer if it did not rock or swivel. I’m looking at Craigslist, in case somebody is selling one cheap, but thought I would mention it here in case somebody has one that needs a new home. You never know. I don’t think I’ve taken any pictures of my playroom (which I like much better than ‘office’), but I’m not done painting and decorating. It is functional, but not fully pretty yet.

3 hours

2012-01-22T14:46:00.001-06:00

We have about 3 hours until Drew gets home and you would think that us girls haven’t seen him in a month.

I had planned to take the girls to church this morning, but Emma had a hard night. She was up about 2am with some awful congestion that made it hard for her to breathe. I put her in bed with me (humidifier running) and we slept off and on until about 6 when Alex woke up. Emma had a 99.9 temp and still congested, so I turned on the hot shower and sat in the steam with her for a while. I think it helped a little. I’ve been giving Benadryl every 6 hours, in addition to the normal meds, so she’s a little groggy but feels okay enough to sit in the floor and play a little.

All three of us girls are sitting on the couch now. There are plenty of things I could be doing, but the girls want me to sit with the, so I am. We’ve done so much laying around and taking it easy this week that I wish we could get out for something. Anything. I was looking forward to going to church this morning, but wasn’t willing to take any chances with the girls (especially Emma).

I’m so tired of watching television. When we are home there isn’t much else to do to pass the time. We read books now and then, mostly when we are doing feedings because it helps keep Emma occupied. I pulled out a few puzzles, but Alex puts them together fairly quickly and then gets tired of them. We are watching Netfilx now, just for something different. I would like to be working on the quilt I’m piecing, but needles and scissors aren’t the best thing to have in my lap while the girls are tucked as close as possible to me.

All in all, though, no worries. We are just ready for Drew to be home. Alex is so excited for him to be here that every time we talk about it she covers her eyes like she’s waiting on a surprise. I have to give her credit, she has been very good this week. We reached a low point after her weeks of attitude and I don’t know what Drew said to her, but whatever it was worked. She is being sweet and even made a point of it just now. We called to check on Grandpa and I put him on speaker so the girls could talk. He asked her if she was ready for her daddy to be home and of course she said yes. Then she said, “I be a good girl.” Maybe she has been making a pointed effort to be sweet, I think she often doesn’t get credit for making such conscious efforts.

Tomorrow starts a new week and I hope to get the rest of our tax forms so we can prepare and file. I’m not quite sure what Drew’s work plans are for the week. I’m hoping he gets to work from home at least Thursday and Friday. Heck, I wish he could stay home tomorrow! I just checked the weather and it looks like we are stuck in the 50’s for the week. I’m not really wishing for cold weather, but where we are now just feels like we are stuck in the middle somewhere. It isn’t really wintery and it surely isn’t warm and sunshiny. It’s just stuck in the middle.

I’ve killed a few minutes blabbering here, so I best get off my bum and do something. Even I am tired of just sitting. I wonder if this is how the girls feels all the time?

Two Things

2012-01-20T22:23:00.000-06:00

I'm thinking about two things right now, both have to do with Drew. First of all, I mentioned in my last post that Drew and I have been married for almost 12 years. We were talking the other day about when we first met in high school... 15 years ago. We weren't one of those couples that started out as friends and then started dating. It's funny, actually, because I met Drew when he took one of my best friends to a school dance. She liked him as a friend, but didn't LIKE him. Know what I mean? She devised a plan for dance night so that Drew wouldn't get the wrong idea. Her plan was to introduce us at a basketball game a couple of nights before the dance, that way we could swap dates for a slow dance on dance night. Whatever, I was going with a friend and not worried about flirting with anyone. I met Drew at a basketball game, my friend casually introduced us and that was it. Actually, the one thing I remember from that night was that he was drinking a coke and chewing the ice. That's especially funny if you know how much his ice chewing gets on my nerves now :) Dance night came and toward the end of the evening my friend gave me the 'look' that said, "let's switch dates for this dance." So, we switched. Drew and I slow danced to a Boyz II Men song (hey, it was 1997) and it was strange how we just clicked. It was easy to dance with him (keeping in mind that in high school the word 'dance' is a loosely used term for swaying to the music). We talked a little and laughed and just danced. While my friend didn't LIKE him, she didn't seem to like it at all when she noticed that Drew and I were getting along, so half way through the song she decided that she wanted to switch back to our own dates. After the dance a bunch of friends came to my house (well, my parents' house) and we all hung out, ate junk food and watched movies. There really weren't any couples, just a bunch of us that were friends. The next week we all found ourselves at the high school basketball game again, which gave me another reason to run in to Drew. Those casual social encounters gave us a chance to get to know each other better and before I knew it I was walking the long way to my classes and lingering in the hallways as long as possible so that I might bump into him. I now know that Drew was doing the same thing :) Another thing that I know now and didn't know then? The first time he took me to lunch he had saved his lunch money for a week so that he could pay for mine, too. How's that for a high school romance? I'm guessing that nobody though we would be together 15 years later. I'm pretty sure they were just annoyed by how in love we were back then. That's okay, new love is always a bit nauseating when you are the one involved. I'm sure we were annoying, but you know what? I don't care :) I can't analyze how we started dating or how we fell in love, I just know it happened. Some of the best things in the world are the things you don't plan, God just takes care of it. Amen to that!

The second thing I'm thinking about is the strange things I get a wild hair (pun intended) to do when Drew is out of town. For example, I'm currently sitting with my hair smothered in olive oil and then wrapped in saran wrap and a towel. I guess I would do this if he was here, but the fact that he isn't has given me enough alone time to think about all kinds of strange things. Like, realizing that my hair needed a good deep conditioning and following on line do-it-yourself directions that include ingredients from the kitchen and me sitting at the computer and blogging at 10:30pm with my head wrapped in plastic. Cool. I'm so cool. Sorry, no pictures of this event!

Friday

2012-01-20T11:23:00.001-06:00

It’s silly, really. Drew and I have spent approximately 4 years apart during our almost 12 year marriage, thanks to the Army, and now he’s been gone 2 nights and I’m missing him. I wish he was having at least a little bit of fun, but I’ve talked to him a few times and he sounds like the all day meetings are less than exciting. It’s kind of a tease, being in Florida and then being made to sit inside with 200 or 300 other salesmen for meetings 12 hours a day. He also has regular work things to keep up with, since his office deals strictly with Wal-Mart and when Wal-Mart says “Jump” you say “How high?” So, he’s busy and has no free time to enjoy.

Oh well, it is still a blessing to have a job these days and Honeywell has been good to us, so a person should NOT complain about a 5 day sales convention in Orlando. I still think it’s pretty cool that he gets to do that and one day I may get to tag along and read a book by the pool while he’s in meetings. That wouldn’t be too shabby.

Emma is better and hasn’t thrown up since that initial incident Tuesday night. She was puny on Wednesday and I used discretion during her feedings so as not to push the limit. Yesterday she seemed to feel all better. My grandpa has been sick, though. I thought it was the antibiotic from the tooth extractions, since penicillin can make some nauseous, but he was sick even the day after I told him to quit taking it. He only took the pain meds for a short time, so that wasn’t making him sick. I was starting to think it was just a bug, but called the dentist just to be sure. They agreed that the tooth extractions should not do that to him and since he wasn’t taking the meds that it must just be a tummy bug. I checked on him yesterday while the girls were in therapy and made him drink some Gatorade, but he seemed to be okay. He didn’t appear dehydrated and the fact that he was sitting in the recliner and watching television was a good thing. If he was super sick then he would have either been in the bathroom or curled up in the bed.

I’ve been working on HLT stuff after I put the girls to bed in the evenings. Mark your calendars and don’t forget about our silent auction on Saturday, March 3rd at 5pm in Siloam Springs. We will have a spaghetti dinner and there will be some great things up for silent auction. Maybe even a raffle for something really great. Here’s where we need your HELP… do you have something that might be great for the silent auction? Maybe you work somewhere that would be willing to donate an item? Or have a connection somewhere that might be willing to donate an item? Email me at HappyLikeThis@yahoo.com and I can put you in touch with the amazing Britt who is organizing this event. Also, I will have the dinner tickets for sale soon. Adults will be $10 and children will be $5. Pencil us in on your schedule and tell your friends and family, then come join us for a great evening to raise money so that we may give a piece of happiness to special needs families in our area!

This afternoon the girls and I are going to see Beauty and the Beast in the theater with Nonnie. They love the movie and I think it will be fun to see it in the theater. No 3D for us, the glasses give me a head ache (and germ induced panic attack) and the girls won’t wear them at all. Other than that, I’m not doing much today. I’m tired for some reason. I’m getting enough sleep, but feel less than motivated to do anything productive. I always think that when Drew goes out of town I will do some major cleaning and he will come home to an impressively clean and organized house. Instead, it looks pretty much the same when he gets home as it did when he left.

He should be home Sunday evening and I’ve promised the girls that they will see him before they go to bed. Here’s hoping that his flight isn’t delayed at all. Alex has actually been very good about the fact that he is gone. She asks about him multiple times a day, but seems content with reassurance about when he will be home. We got through what we are doing each day, up until Sunday evening when Daddy will be home. Knowledge has always been helpful in helping Alex deal with anything. Surprises are not so helpful. Wednesday night she worked very hard to move the pillows from his spot on the couch. I reminded here that he wouldn’t be home until Sunday night and she said, “I stay up ALLLLLLLL night!” That’s when I made the promise that he would be here before bedtime on Sunday.

It’s a…

2012-01-18T13:31:00.001-06:00

Sasha and Casey had an ultrasound for the baby on Monday and it's a... baby. Yep. A baby. An ornery baby who refused to show its business for the ultrasound. (That's how we know it is Casey's, ha ha.) Everything appeared to be healthy and growing just right. Amen to that. As for boy or girl, we will just have to wait. If there is another medical reason to repeat the ultrasound then they may get another peak, but if not then it will be a surprise to us all when baby arrives.

It's just so exciting to have another baby coming. For the Harris side, JR is almost 1 year old. For the McCarty side of the family, this is the first baby in more than 4 years! That's just exciting and I'm looking forward to being an aunt for the 4th time. To my own surprise, I am completely content with having no more babies of my own. I have the privilege of being Crazy Aunt Mandy and I will gladly accept that role.

Drew just called from Atlanta. He's waiting on his connecting flight to Orlando, sitting at the gate and people watching. That's the best part of flying, for me. The planes make me claustrophobic and it is hard for me to sit still so long, but the people watching in the terminal is pretty great. I know Drew will have a good time in Orlando. He will be in meetings pretty much all the time, but it's still a good break from every day work. They are keeping the guest speakers a secret, but maybe it will be somebody cool.

Yesterday I took my grandpa to the dentist. We had hoped to have 6 teeth on the top extracted, but it didn't go according to plan. Despite the fact that his teeth needed to come out, he still has great bone structure and strength. That makes it really hard to pull those teeth out. His jaw kept locking up and it was just too hard on him. I'm thankful that Dr. Nance decided to stop after 2 teeth and not push things too far. I took Grandpa home, went to Walmart for his prescriptions and made meatloaf and mashed potatoes so he would have something smushy to eat for dinner. Dad came over after work to stay with him over night and today. I'm so glad Grandpa isn't alone, because I think he feels pretty rotten. I'm hoping he recovers from this quickly and then next week I'm taking him to see an oral surgeon. If he can afford the anesthesia bill, it will be much easier on him to be sedated and have the rest of the dental work done at once. We will see.

I got home about 6:30, just in time for the girls' last feeding of the day. Drew was snuggled on the couch with the girls and they were watching the Justin Bieber movie on Netflix. What a dad! The girls were loving it and for that reason he loved it,too. I got feedings ready, fed Alex and then fed Emma. No sooner than I had washed out the feeding tubes did Emma start throwing up. She threw up multiple times in the period of an hour. When I felt like she was safe to lay down, we put the girls to bed. I checked on her several times to make sure she was breathing okay and all was well. She did wake up about 4:30 this morning, just not feeling well. I have her some ibuprofen and held her for a while and she went back to sleep. By 6am the alarm was going off. On a normal day I would have stayed in bed until the girls woke up at 7, but not this morning. I knew Drew had to leave before 8, so I got up to have coffee with him. So much for alone time, though, because Alex was up by 6:15. It's like she has a tracker on her daddy and it goes off if he moves too far away from her... you know, like across the house. She was NOT thrilled for him to leave this morning, but she will be fine. She has asked about him a few times, but she already knows that he is on a work trip and will be back this weekend. I decided to just give Emma water and meds this morning. She held that fine, so for the second feeding I gave her pediasure like normal. She held it down, but she is quite lethargic and snuggly, making it obvious that she just doesn't feel well. I'm praying it is just a little bug and that after a day of taking it easy at home she will feel better tomorrow.

I had planned to take the girls to Nonnie today and go meet Christin for some Madame Wu's yummy Chinese food, but Emma's throwing up ruined that. Drew asked, "Was Christin mad that you had to cancel?" I just smiled and said, "Yes. Yes, she was really mad and never wants to talk to me again." But, not really. Of course, she's my BFF and understands my life as well as anyone could.

Speaking of my life... I haven't tracked my days in a while. I like to do it every so often so that I can look back and see how things have changed. So, let's do this. These days the girls are up by 7am. Throughout the day I change a total of 16-20 diapers, give a total of 10 feedings and 20 doses of medication (not including Benadryl, ibuprofen, eczema creams or Miralax as needed). The girls can scoot from the couch onto the floor and can generally wiggle across the living room floor if they are after something. If they need back on the couch or want on their bean bags then I move them and help them get situated. We usually have about 90 minutes of 'quiet time' mid/late morning. That's just what we call nap time now that nobody sleeps anymore, but definitely still need some rest time. On Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays they have 90 minutes of therapy in the afternoons. Before we leave the house I give the 3rd feeding of the day, change diapers, brush hair wipe faces & hands and brush teeth. Taking the girls anywhere requires loading and unloading of the girls, wheelchairs, computers, backpacks and Alex's tray. If I'm lucky then I have remembered Alex's 'glove' (that helps her hand not clench) and actually make it from the truck to the therapy room without her hiding it somewhere in the hopes that I will forget about it. It's not that bad, really. I do it so often that it's just 'normal'. We do have lovely therapists who almost always help us back out to the truck after therapy. When Drew is working at the office, he is usually home between 5:45 and 6. I bathe the girls every other night. Drew does a lot to help. That sounds bad, like he's my helper, and that isn't true. Sure, my job is to be a stay at home mom, so I do a lot of the girls' personal care during the day when he is at work, but when we are home together it's a joint effort. He changes diapers . He gives feedings and medications (per the schedule that I have on the kitchen cabinet). He has special daddy powers when it comes to convincing the girls to do something or wear something that they don't want to. Mommy wants it done? NO way. Daddy says its a cool idea? Okay, cool. Oh, and if Daddy is here then he is in charge of brushing Alex's hair... she says he does it 'soft' and much prefers him over me for beauty routines :) Drew and I work well togeher and that is such a blessing when it comes to making our family work. It's pretty cool how God put us together. We are so different in so many ways, but we seem to fit together like puzzle pieces when it comes to getting things done. My weaknesses are his strenghts and his weaknesses are my strengths. Pretty cool and comforting to know we can help each other out.

Okay, I've spent enough time sitting here with my laptop that Emma is wanting me to put it down. I'm going to snuggle my girls and enjoy a quiet day at home. Hey Drew, breathe some Florida air and soak up some Florida sunshine for me!

Woop Woop!

2012-01-16T13:23:00.001-06:00

That's me cheering for warm weather. I'm wearing my Teva sandals, a tank top and a pair of khaki pants that had been hiding in the back of the closet since before I lost my weight. I feel good and wish I could just sit outside and read a book all day long. Oh, to have 65+ degree weather every day. If only...

The girls are doing okay today, sort of quiet actually. Well, minus the screaming cat fight mid morning, but other than that they have been good. Please say a little prayer for Alex, as today is the first day she will have to wear her chest harness while sitting in her wheel chair at therapy. It really is necessary, but she is less than keen on the idea. You might want to pray for Cheryl and anyone else in the therapy room if Alex decides she going to be difficult and throw a fit over it. Chances are that she will get mad, cry, pout a little, relax and semi-cooperate. She will probably even crack a smile a time or two, despite her best efforts at being mad, and then when I walk into the room to get her she will suddenly remember that she pissed and resume her crying. Heidi, Kim and Cheryl, am I right?

I'm making the dogs stay outside today. They think they want inside, but it's just to pretty outside to lay on the couch and take a nap. After I drop the girls at therapy I have a number of errands to run before I pick them up. Drew is off tomorrow and I'm taking Grandpa to the dentist for the first round of tooth extractions. It actually works out pretty well because by the time I get him home and settled, Dad will be off work and is going to come stay the night and all day Wednesday with him. That's great and I won't worry about Grandpa Tuesday evening or Wednesday. Drew leaves for Florida Wednesday morning and, as luck would have it, it will be in the upper 70's there while Arkansas temps go back down to frigid. Oh well, Drew will spend most of his time inside for meetings and not in the lovely Florida sunshine and I will likely be inside with the girls and not out in the cold Arkansas winter. Guess it's a draw. I hope that he has a great trip. I know that it is for work, but if nothing else he can sneak outside every once in a while and take in a deep breath of warm humidity for me. Then he can go back into the ridiculously fancy hotel and have a free drink, on the company's dime :)

Time out

2012-01-13T16:02:00.001-06:00

I'm feeling a little frazzled. I've had numerous people say such kind things to me and about me (and my dear Drew), but I just can't understand it. I am nowhere near super mom. In fact, I've tried to debunk this misconception in the past and the more honest I am the more support and encouragement I get. Crazy.
These last few days have just been a little frazzling. The girls are being difficult and it leaves me feeling a bit disheveled... to the extent that I would like to get out of town for the weekend. Since skipping town for a few days isn't an option, I'm hiding in my office. Not hiding, really... the door is open and I can hear the girls in the living room, but I am in my office by myself. Just me and the computer. And 3 dogs. I'm giving myself a time out.
Alex has an attitude lately that I can only attribute to the fact that she is 9 years old. In fact, I think it started exactly on her 9th birthday. What are the chances? It started that day with acting like she didn't care about certain things and refusing to look at the camera for a birthday picture. Now it is a little insulting. She really couldn't give a flip about me, or so it seems. She is all about Daddy... not wanting him to leave, can't wait for him to get home, talking about him all day, thanking God for him during prayers, sitting with him when he is here... it goes on and on. I'm so very glad that she loves her daddy, but it makes me feel like chopped liver.
Britt and Katie came over this afternoon. When we were waiting for them to get here I made a comment about how they needed to be nice and share their toys. Alex wasted no time saying, "NO." Excuse me? Who do you think you are? I'm the mom and you will not talk to me like that. You will not be a snot and get whatever you want. You will not dictate how every moment of every day is spent. I realize that there are very few things in your life that you have control over. I will help you in every way I can and allow you the independence to make certain decisions on your own. That being said, you will not be a snot about it. Oh, and I love you.
Emma is just fussy. Whiny. Restless. As long as everything is exactly the way she wants it, and when she wants it, then everything is peachy. She's always been like that, though. For the most part she isn't being snotty, she is just uncomfortable. I want to make her feel better, but she is already so medicated and sometimes all I can do is hold her. On the other hand, sometimes all I can do is walk away and give myself a time out to catch my breath.
See? My house isn't perfect. I am not a perfect mom. Heck, I'm hiding from my kids right now. I'm catching my breath. When I am done I will go pour myself a glass of ice tea and then I will go back into the living room to sit with my girls.
Want to know the worst part? I realized something last night as I was laying in bed and trying to fall asleep... I miss my kids. Crazy, right? I am with them all the time and I miss them. I miss the way it used to be. I miss playing in the yard with them... picking flowers, chasing butterflies, running in the sprinkler, squishing our toes in the grass and getting filthy dirty. I miss playing dress up. I miss going shopping, just to look and pick out the things we would love to have. I miss having legible and impromptu conversations. I miss making them something special for dinner or letting them eat a cookie before bed, just because they were fresh and a treat. I miss putting them in the truck and going somewhere just because we were tired of staying home. Those are the 'normal' things that I miss.
I only share all of this with you so that maybe you will take your own time out. Put yourself in time out, just for a few minutes. Take a deep breath, give yourself the right to feel frustrated and overwhelmed, and then... put on your big girl panties and go play with your kids. Ask them what they dreamed about last night or where they would like to go if they could go anywhere in the world and imagine with them what it would be like. Ask them what their favorite song is and then learn the words just so you can sing it together. Let them play in the yard and get dirty... then let them take a bath that overflows with bubbles. Let them help you in the kitchen, even though it makes your job a little harder.
Our girls can't do these things anymore. It literally makes my heart hurt. An actual ache in the depths of my chest. Just to be clear, I am NOT having a pity party here. I'm just giving myself a time out. Even grown ups need a time out. I am about to put my big girl panties on and go back to my kids. I am going to sit on the couch with them and let them pick what they want to watch on television. We may read a book or look out the window and watch the birds. When Daddy comes home we will snuggle on the couch and talk about our day. When I put them in the shower tonight, I will help them put soap on their loofa sponge and let them do the washing or even hold the shower head and get the entire bathroom wet. When we put them to bed I will rub Alex's feet and we will all say prayers together. My day will end on a good note and tomorrow when I wake up I will do my best to remember that I have the gift of another day with my family and, if needed, I will give myself another time out to catch my breath.

Get ready...

2012-01-12T16:59:00.000-06:00

I have the photos from the Amber Lanning shoot for The Kids Directory. Get ready for my beautiful girls!

I told you. Drew and I make beautiful babies. Don't deny it, they are seriously beautiful! Amber, you did a wonderful job! Thank you so much! Friends and family... you can probably copy these photos from the blog, but they won't be the highest quality. I know many of you will want prints, so just call me, text me or e mail me and I will get an order together for prints. adh957@yahoo.com

Beautiful

2012-01-10T17:03:00.001-06:00

Britt came to visit this past Saturday. She brought her friends Joanie and John and we all had a lovely time visiting. Joanie made these beautiful rag quilts for the girls. I LOVE them and Emma has asked to sleep with it every night since. It is so warm and snuggly, not to mention so pretty. Joanie used her embroidery machine to put the girls names and pretty things on several of the squares.

See? I told you they were beautiful!

Saturday afternoon we got to visit with Becky, Robin and Nonnie. It was so great to visit with everybody.

Yesterday I dropped the girls off for therapy and came home to a package on the front porch from Lisa’s friend Cassidy. I was so surprised, considering I think I’ve only actually met her one time a few years ago. Somehow, somebody in Texas decided that the girls needed these adorable dolls. They are so soft and sweet and hand made from all natural materials so they are naturally antimicrobial. Oh, somebody knows me so well. I think they are about the cutest things ever!

We had lots of fun with them yesterday evening, mostly arguing over what they should be named :) The girls sided with Daddy just to irritate me, I’m sure. Thank you, thank you, thank you Cassidy and friends! What a lovely surprise!

Drew is working at the office all week. He’s got a lot going on and has accomplished some pretty great things at work in the last week. I’m very proud of how hard he works and very thankful to have him as my husband and provider for our family. Next week is his sales convention in Orlando. Fancy hotel, fancy food, lots of Honeywell people, lots of meetings, maybe a little bit of fun. It will feel like a little bit of a throw back to the Army days, having him away from home for a few days.

Emma’s face is so much better since we went to the dermatologist last week. I take her back on Wednesday for a follow up, though I don’t know what they will do besides say that it looks better. I could do that without a trip to Fayetteville. Oh well, it’s a good excuse to get out and go have lunch with Mom.

Yesterday was the first day of therapy in the new room. We are on the same property as always, but in a smaller building now. I’ve got to get the hang of getting two wheel chairs up the ramp if there is nobody outside to help me, but it will be fine. Alex was happy to be there… she tells me she is a big girl now… so we are calling it the big girl therapy room. When I picked them up 1 1/2 hours later she was a little flustered. I could just be because she had worked hard and was tired, but it took a while for her to calm down even once we were at home. It took more than 30 minutes for her to show any interest in her new doll or anything else. She just gets overwhelmed with change and it takes a while to adjust and recover.

I planned to do laundry today, but I failed to start the dish washer yesterday, so it is running now and I will have to reload later. I can’t do dishes and laundry at the same time or nothing really gets clean. Oh, what I would give for good water pressure.

It is supposed to get a little cooler this week. I’m not exactly hoping for winter weather, but Alex has been praying for snow (during bedtime prayers) for weeks. Just for her, I hope we get a little bit of snow this winter so she can enjoy it.

Oh Come on!

2012-01-08T15:38:00.000-06:00

Alex has said this before, but she has resurrected the phrase in the last couple of weeks. Maybe it's a 9 year old thing? She asks for something she wants, I say no, she says, "Oh come on!" Sort of funny, but also a little annoying.
The girls are a little crazy about Disney World the last few days. I think it is the princess castle they got from Santa. Whatever it is, they keep asking to go to Disney World and Cinderella's castle. Emma can't say much and has to work so hard to get the words out. She puts her hand under her chin to help control it and says each syllable like it is its own word. "I go to Cin Der El La Cas Tle." Keep in mind that most people would be able to understand the girls, but Drew & I can usually decipher. The conversation with Alex goes something like this:

Alex: I go to vacation.
Me: I know, I would like to go on vacation, too.
Alex: I go to Disney World.
Me: I know.
Alex: I go to Cinderella's Castle.
Me: I know, we had fun there, didn't we? But, we aren't going to go again.
Alex: I go now.
Me: We can't go now, silly girl.
Alex: Oh come on!

I suggested that maybe in a month or two we could take a mini vacation to Branson. I made a big deal about seeing the fish at Bass Pro, staying in a hotel, and going shopping at the Disney outlet store.

Me: Doesn't that sound fun?
Alex: No. I go to Disney World.

Well, sassy girl, I hate to be a party pooper, but Disney isn't going to happen again. We had an absolutely amazing vacation in June and it isn't going to happen again. I would be annoyed, but they wouldn't have such great memories of our times at Disney if it hadn't been so wonderful. I don't think they are being selfish, I just think they can't get enough of a good thing. I'm telling myself that anyway. Drew and I both think that a Branson mini vacation would be much more doable and still a good get-a-way. I think we will try to do that later in February or March.

I can't believe that I have failed to mention this until now. The NWA Kid's Directory January issue is out and our beautiful girls are gracing the cover! If you are in NWA then keep your eye out for the magazine at doctor offices, restaurants, etc in the area. If you are not, then you can see it on line. Go to www.nwakidsdirectory.com You can't do it on your phone, only the computer. You can see the cover and if you click on it then you can flip through the magazine. The letter from the editor (pg 9) talks about our family and Happy Like This. The letter is from Heather, but much of it is from what I wrote about HLT. There is another pic of the girls on the top of page 14 and HLT is listed with other non-profits on page 15. Look for one more photo on page 57. I'm pretty proud to have cover models for daughters :)

You should have been a fly on the wall last night. I was preparing to give Emma her last feeding before bed when my back spasmed. I went from sitting on the edge of the couch to laying on the floor, trying to make it stop, as the girls stared in shock and Drew kept saying, "Are you okay?" I laid in the floor for probably 10 minutes and every time I tried to move, my back would spasm and I would do this weird twitching thing. I'm sure it was a little funny, though not to me. Once we put the kids to bed, Drew rubbed my back and that helped a lot. I am never completely sure whether to use ice or heat, so I texted Britt for instructions and then followed them. A couple of ibuprofen helped me sleep, but I sure was feeling it this morning. I haven't had problems like this with my back in a while, but I can feel it from the back of my head to my lower back and down my left arm and into my fingers. Dang.

Cotton Bowl

2012-01-06T09:16:00.002-06:00

Today is the Cotton Bowl... Razorback style. Now, confession time. Drew is going to Ft. Smith for the night to watch it with Stacey and a few Army buddies, so I probably won't watch the game. Gasp! I'm an Arkansan who lives in Razorback country and I won't watch the game? I know, but chances are that I will work with my guitar until my fingers can't take any more and then sit on the couch with my quilting stuff and watch Mad Men on Netflix. Sounds like a good evening to me.
I'm so glad that Drew gets to go hang with his buddies for the night. He is blessed to have a friend like Stacey. He's a good guy and despite the fact that Drew has been out of the Army for a few months, they still see each other every month or two and I would be willing to bet that that will continue for years and years to come.
Emma's face is already looking much much better. The moisturizer and steroid cream seems to be doing the job. Hopefully by this time next week it will be all cleared up and we will be able to see Emma's beautiful sassy face.
We have let the dogs back in this week since we know that Emma's face isn't caused by them being around. We all love having them inside. Mac was looking pretty ragged, so I have him a hair cut. The last time I did that, he looked scary. This time I did a much better job. At least I thought so. Yesterday I had this conversation with Alex...
Alex: Mac get hair cut.
Me: Yep.
Alex: Mommy do it.
Me: Yes I did. I did a good job, didn't I?
Alex: No
Hmm, maybe I'm not as cool as I thought.
Alex has been talking quite a bit the last few days. Last night:
Alex: I go on vacation. To Disney World.
Drew: Did Mommy tell you to say that?
Me: Absolutely not. Alex, what made you think about that?
Alex: Because. Cinderella's castle.
I agree with her that a vacation would be lovely. On one hand it feels like we were just there. On the other hand it feels like such a long time. In reality it has been 7 months. For now we are just playing with the big princess castle and talking about how much fun we had last time. I think I will pull out the pictures, that would be fun. Plus I can see how much I've changed with my weight loss in the last 7 months :)

Then

Now

Not bad. Drew is having a good work week. He's getting a lot of things done and feeling charged. I like it when he feels that way. I also like to overhear him when he's on the phone for work in the office. He sounds so grown up and completely competent in what he's talking about (all of which is completely over my head). What a man :)

D Day results

2012-01-04T16:01:00.000-06:00

I took the girls to Nonnie's and went to Lewis & Clark. I found a super cute pair of... wait for it... TEVAS on the clearance shelf. They are sort of athletic/hiking shoes and super cute. With my gift card I only paid $9 for them! Rock on! A little more shopping and then back to get the girls. Alex was insistent on going with me to take Emma to the doctor, so Nonnie followed us over there to help. I think I put germX on my hands and the girls' hands twice while we were there. My germ phobia is only made worse when the doors don't open automatically and when I have to get in an elevator and push buttons. I do this weird thing where I use my elbow to do things whenever possible. I'm glad no one could hear my inner struggle when the receptionist handed me a pen to fill out the paper work. Gross. Public pen. Germs. Freak out. GermX. Dottie probably would have led me into a psychiatrist office if there had been one in that medical building. I assure you I am fine. I think. Seriously though, I went to the doctor 2 weeks ago to talk about these little panic attacks. It's under control, but I am still going to wash my hands a LOT.
Anyway, we met the doctor and the diagnosis is... severe eczema (atopic dermatitis). Chances are that her skin was irritated from the eczema and that is how the fungus came about. The fungus is long gone, now it is just eczema. The cruddy thing about eczema is that is will keep coming back. They gave me some information and the list of things that aggravate eczema are: woolen products, excess heat or cold, emotional upsets, dust, soap, animal hair and feathers. Hmm, we almost aced that test. I'm pretty sure the sweater she wore yesterday was partly wool. It is excessively cold outside, which means the heater is running inside and the air is warm and dry. Emotional upsets? Really? Is that a joke? Well, suffice it to say that she has the 'emotional upset' down to an art form. Apparently tiny blood vessels in the skin are controlled by the sympathetic nervous system (it's why we get pale when we are scared, blush when we are embarrassed and get flushed with anger). So when she has an emotional upset, those blood vessels go crazy and it just makes her eczema worse. Dust... I try to keep the house clean, but dust is going to happen. I usually use baby soap when I bathe the girls, but the doctor said that's bad. Baby soap smells good, which means it can irritate skin. If it looks good or smells good then it is probably going to irritate her skin. Animal hair, um yeah. We have three dogs and we aren't getting rid of them. The emotional benefits of having the dogs are worth buying some special lotion for Emma's skin. Feathers may be the only thing that we don't have in our house.
Plan of attack: no wool sweaters or blankets. Run a humidifier to keep the air moist and don't take her out when it is really cold. Use special soap when bathing. Slather on the special moisturizer all day. Apply a steroid cream twice a day. I've already been trying to vacuum more often to help with the dust and dog hair, so hopefully that will suffice. Emotions are going to happen, not much we can do there because of the frustration and discomfort of PKAN. We go back to the doctor next week for a follow up.

D Day

2012-01-04T08:45:00.001-06:00

Yep, it's D Day. Dermatologist Day, that is. This afternoon I take Emma to see the dermatologist and hopefully we can get her little face all cleared up. It looks pitiful and worse than ever. It has be be uncomfortable. Here's hoping we don't have to sit in the waiting room for hours, you know that grosses me out. I will surely get some use out of my little bottle of germX.
Before the derm, I'm taking the girls to hang out with Nonnie for a little while and I'm going on a gift card shopping spree! Wahoo! I have 2 gift cards to spend and I'm looking forward to some retail therapy.

I'm about to jump on my band wagon. Are you ready? Medicare. Here we go. I am slightly more than irritated that they do not provide dental care. Do you have any idea how many problems your teeth can cause? All kinds of health problems and ailments, in case you didn't know. But does Medicare help pay for dental? Nope. Not at all. Unless I break my Grandpa's jaw and dental extraction is required to fix it, they will pay for nothing. What a joke. He worked hard his entire life, has a small amount of money in retirement and will have to spend a large chunk of it to fix his teeth. Did you know that to qualify for Medicaid (which would take a miracle to convince my grandpa to do anyway), he would have to make less than $600 a month and have less than $2000 total in other money? That's pitiful. A great number of seniors live on little to no retirement and a small social security check. Congratulations! You worked hard your entire life, you always lived within your means, paid your taxes and saved what you could... now pay a good portion of your monthly income on Medicare and supplemental insurance premiums and spend whatever you have left on dental care. You don't need to eat, right? Breathe... breathe... breathe...

I found this thing on Pinterest. It is 50 questions to ask you spouse. It is intended to spark conversation & communication between spouses (without talking about work or the kids), but some of the questions aren't necessarily marriage related. Drew and I have only done a few so far, but I've learned a little about him and a little about myself. You think you know the answers until you have to say them out loud. So, do it with me...

What are your 5 favorite foods (be specific), with the most favorite first?
Me- pasta, bread, cheese cake, chocolate, coconut cream pie (geez, no wonder I needed Weight Watchers, everything I love is loaded with carbs and sugar! The first on Drew's list was steak!)

What are your favorite types of food, with the most favorite first?
Me- Mexican, Italian, Chinese (Drew and I both name these as our favorites)

What are your 5 favorite hobbies, with the most favorite first?
Me- writing, quilting, music, travel, reading (Drew said his favorite was hanging out with me and the girls. Ahh, so sweet. Of course, football and fishing were next in line)

So what are your answers? Ask your spouse, friends or family... it's fun to hear every one's answers and think about your own.

I named music as one of my favorite hobbies, which is the perfect opportunity to mention that I'm totally rocking my guitar! I'm doing some lessons on line and picking up quicker than I thought I would. My fingers are toughening up a little and I can play much longer than the first few times I tried. I know 4 chords and can use them to make a little bit of something that sounds like music :) What fun I am having!

Next week there are some changes coming to therapy. The preschool is moving half the day care kids to a different location in town, which means that the therapists will be going back and forth between the two places to see everyone. I wasn't too keen on taking the girls to a different place. Heck, Alex doesn't even like that therapy is changing rooms at the current location. Imagine if we moved her to a different location where nothing is familiar. And you know that the germ factor worries me. I'm slightly neurotic which led me to ask all kinds of questions about the other location. Thank goodness that Kim, Cheryl and Heidi are willing to make it work so that the girls can get all of their therapy at the current location. Thanks ladies.

It’s not Monday

2012-01-03T13:19:00.001-06:00

Repeat after me: It is NOT Monday. It is NOT Monday. Am I the only one who is going to be confused all week because of the long weekend? Drew was off yesterday since the 1st was on a Sunday. I think he was happy to go back to work today after so much time at home the last couple of weeks. So many holiday days and the rest working from home, so today is our first day back into a routine.

This is how Emma wanted to be a few mornings ago. The bean bag and blanket Courtney made her make a perfect cocoon

My favorite place to be at home is on the couch and snuggled with my three favorite people. We have some of our best snuggles, giggles and talk on that end of the couch.

I try to rotate toys every once in a while so that the girls don’t get tired of things. When I pull them out after having been stored for a month or two, they are like new again. This weekend I found the girls ‘little babies’. We used hankies to swaddle them and the girls played with them all day. Then we felt silly when we laid baby on the back of the couch and realized she was planking :)

The princess castle is still a big hit and Emma is quite specific about how she likes things arranged. The funniest thing is that she ALWAYS has Snow White on the potty. Maybe she has IBS, we don’t know. Whatever the reason, Emma always has Snow White on the potty while the Little Mermaid soaks in the tub.

As the day is winding down, Alex loves to lay her head on Drew’s lap and wants him to rub her hair. She will all but fall asleep like this and it melts my heart.

And this is a lovely sight to see in the mornings. They hadn’t been up and in the living room for 10 minutes, but they were laying like this together in the floor.

Birthday

2011-12-31T16:37:00.001-06:00

Alex’s birthday on Tuesday was lovely. She is so enjoying being 9 that she keeps talking about it. Yesterday she said, “I tell you a secret.” I bent down and she wrapped her arms around my neck and said (at full volume), “I love you.” My heart melted and then she said, “My birthday, I getting so big!” Yes, my dear, you are so big.

We have a big bag of Mollie’s MeMe made sweat shirts and one of them says, “It’s my birthday.” It was too big, so I rolled the sleeves up on it and let her wear it as a dress with tights.

She only wore the birthday hat long enough for me to snap one picture. She was acting her age and being a little snotty, actually. I tried to take a photo of her with her balloons, but she refused.

I scrunched down to take of photo of the two of us and about got my glasses squished. Still cute though…

Alex has seen this Penbo commercial for months and always says she wants it. It was too expensive at Christmas (only Radio Shack sells it), but after Christmas it was on sale. I just knew she would be so excited, but she actually just stared at it. Little toot. Anyway, Emma loves it and Alex is willing to share with her.

The Penbo: It’s a little dragon toy that dances, talks and sings. It’s tummy opens up and an egg come out with a little baby dragon in it. It’s pretty cute.

Alex may not have worn the birthday hat, but Daddy was a good sport.

Ms Kim came over after therapy… bearing gifts. Look at Alex’s pretty necklace :)

And Emma’s Justin Bieber bracelets :)

They also got Pillow Pets, which they love. They are lined up along the wall on their beds. Perfect for snuggling or just providing a cushion between them and the wall. And look was sassy slippers I got! Can you see how they sparkle?

Thanks Kim, we love you!

My mom came by to wish Alex a happy birthday and she and Alex had the most fun throwing all the ribbons in the air and watching them fall.

Once everyone was gone we gave the girls a bath and put them in their new pjs. Some of Santa’s elves gave the girls footy pajamas and I was leery of whether or not the girls would wear them. I was also completely convinced that the pjs were WAY too big for my little girls. I was wrong on both counts. They fit perfectly and the girls really liked them. Plus, they were ridiculously cute. Alex… refusing to look at the camera, again…

Miss Emma, too busy to look up at me…

Alex got a couple of cards in the mail and about a million phone calls on Tuesday. Thank you to everyone who called to wish her Happy Birthday. I’m sorry that I didn’t manage to answer or return all of your calls, but please know how much we appreciate your well wishes.

So, is that it? Am I caught up on Christmas and Alex’s birthday? Well, I surely forgot many things. There’s just no way to include it all. Did you all enjoy my Christmas cards? What? You didn’t get them? Darn that postal service! Oh, wait… maybe you didn’t get them because they are still in my office. I’m not even going to go to effort and expense of sending them out now. Sorry. Hope you all had a beautiful Christmas and that you will all be safe tonight for New Year celebrations. We have some pretty crazy plans… put the girls to bed like normal, I’m going to soak in the tub while Drew watches football and then snuggle up on the couch with my fella. Pretty wild, right? Sounds perfect to me.

Christmas: Part 4

2011-12-31T16:10:00.001-06:00

How could I have forgotten this part of Christmas: Part 3? Justin Bieber!

Yep, a life size cut out of Justin Bieber from LaLa! OOOOO…. Ahhhhhh… Emma loves it. It is in the girls room and every morning we giggle and say good morning to Justin. FYI, it will totally creep you out to turn around in a half dark room and almost run into this thing.

Christmas evening we went to John & Alison’s. JR was much more interested in eating the wrapping paper than the gifts :)

Then they told me to close my eyes.

Okay, open your eyes. Woohoo!

I got a guitar!

And as you can tell from that photo, I had no idea what to do with it :) I have started learning a few things on line, but I can’t practice long because my fingers get sore. I’m so excited to start learning and I want to learn the right way, not just a few random songs. How hot am I? I know, right?! Thanks John & Alison!

Even Alex was getting in on the picking.

Apparently I was so taken with my guitar that I failed to take pictures of everyone else. Oops. We did have a little birthday for Alex before we left that night. We sang her happy birthday and all helped blow out the candles. She was so happy and I even let her lick a little bit of icing off my finger. She LOVED that.

We all had a great Christmas. We are so very blessed to have so many friends and so much family. Thanks be to God for such a rich and beautiful life!

Christmas: Part 3

2011-12-30T10:06:00.001-06:00

Let’s play catch up. Well, first I have to ramble a little. Yesterday Emma wore her new outfit from Nonnie. It is a pink sweat suit that says, “Wild Child”. How perfect is that? It’s like they made it especially for her. Alex wore her new t-shirt from the McGaugh’s. They gave it to her for her birthday, specially made by Carley and Allison. It is a purple t-shirt with polka dot ribbon on the bottom and the sleeves and “Happy Like This” in sequin letters across the front. It also has her name in rhinestones on the back. Totally sassy and happy and she loves it. These girls make me happy. For real.

Have you been to Wal-Mart (or any other store) since Christmas? Tis the season for storage totes, diet pills, exercise equipment and nicotine patches. It always amazes me how we go from gluttonous amounts of food and things to indulge in, to infinite amounts of products to feed our resolutions. If you have read my blog for more than a year then you know that I don’t believe in resolutions. I believe that we can make changes in our lives at any time during the year. Making all these huge resolutions for the new year is just setting ourselves up for failure. That’s just me.

Okay, Christmas: Part 3. The McCarty’s at our house. I about had a heart attack when I saw Braeden’s Christmas present. God knew what he was doing when he gave me girls. I don’t know that I could have handled a boy. My boys could have quite possibly been sissies. Knee socks and bow ties sissies. Though I totally don’t believe in ATVs and motorcycles, I have to admit that Braeden looked cute.

Mom looked so pretty in her sparkly purple sweater.

Kayla is really blossoming and I enjoy her more and more every time I see her. She is ready and talking and smiling and I just love it. Of course, she has always been beautiful.

I thought I was going to win the prize of best present for Braeden (we got him a marshmallow gun), but Casey and Sasha totally beat me. A whoopie cushion. He laughed so hard that everyone was laughing with him.

Sasha’s belly isn’t obviously showing yet, but she was more than happy for everyone (mostly me) to rub on her belly. That baby bump is most definitely there! I’m so excited and I am declaring that this baby is a girl. Misty and I are itching to throw a baby shower already! First we have to find out if this baby is a boy or girl and then you can be sure that we will go crazy. This baby is especially exciting for us because we don’t have to be pregnant or give birth to it. We won’t have to wake up with it, feed it or change it… unless we want to. Hey, this aunt thing is pretty cool.

Kyle helped Alex open gifts. A sponge bob pillow pet & blanket, a book ready by Poppy, a mermaid Barbie, a pretty purple fleece, jewelry…

I love any picture of Grandpa smiling.

I didn’t do a very good job of getting photos of everyone, but I am so glad that everyone was together at my house. That’s the best gift. There were 17 of us and I loved every minute. I packed up food for everyone that was willing to take it, sent some with Casey and Sasha to take to Matt (who had to work) and when everyone was gone we took at nap (duh). Check back for Christmas: Part 4.

9?

2011-12-27T10:41:00.001-06:00

9? As in nine? As in nine years? Like almost a decade? For real? No, really. Seriously?

Oh my goodenss. My Alex is 9 years old today. I don't even know what to say. I feel a bit in shock. Of course, I am so grateful for her birthday. It is such a blessing, but it's unbelievable to me. I feel like I might be able to freak out if I'm not careful.

I still have 2 parts of Christmas to blog about, but Alex's birthday is on my heart right now. We are hanging out at home today and the girls have therapy this afternoon. It is a treat because Alex loves it so much and I know everyone there will make a big deal out of wishing her a happy birthday. When they get home from therapy we will have a little party for her. Until I can report on that, I'm going to let myself go back to what I was doing 9 years ago.

I remember so clearly how I woke up that morning, about 6am.
ME: Drew! I think my water just broke!
Drew: Are you sure?
ME: Well, either that or I'm peeing in the bed right now.

Drew jumped out of the bed and rushed around just like men in the movies. I remember laughing so much because the experience of having my water break was just plain humerous. It was cold outside and there was still snow on the ground. I put on Drew's huge winter coat and we loaded into the car to go to the hospital.

I had an amazing labor and Christin was there the entire time to rub my feet, my hands and my back. I hear that i was quite the hoot until I hit transition and became some version of the exorcist. Ask poor Misty about that version of me :) Mom, Drew and Christin were there with me through it all and becaues of them I was able to do it all without any drugs at all. My midwife, Mary, was wonderful and at 2pm my sweet Alex came into the world. Mari handed her directly to me and I clearly remember Alex's big eyes and deep dimples on the most beautiful baby I had ever seen. I vaguely remember Mari saying, "Yes, she has clubbed feet," but that was not a highlight of the day. It didn't matter. She was breathing and that was what I cared about. She was perfect in every possible way and she looked straight into my eyes. There really was a shift in the universe at 2pm on December 27, 2002. I'm honestly not exaggerating. It was literally life changing and I had an immediate and indescribably bond with this beautiful little girl from the very first moment.

She has been amazing her entire life and I don't think you could find anyone who would challenge that statement. Today she is 9 years old and I believe that the axis my world sits on is the same one I found on the day she was born. God knows what he is doing and He knew that the world needed Alex. I am so very grateful and blessed to be her mommy and it is a gift to me to share her with all of you.

Happy Birthday Alex! Mommy love you more than you could possibly know.

Christmas: Part 2

2011-12-26T17:24:00.001-06:00

Christmas morning at home…

Do you think she likes the castle that Santa brought?

Daddy & Emma

Emma LOVED the Justin Bieber toothbrush that Alex picked out for her (there’s more story to that, but I will share it later).

And Alex LOVED the lip gloss & make up that Emma picked out for her.

Emma was tearing through the wrapping paper… Look out Daddy!

Emma’s rockin’ it!

This is the picture that Emma colored for me. I LOVE it so much that I immediately hung it on the wall in my office. Drew said she did it all by herself and I can tell how hard to worked on it. How special.

After presents… pretty girls in pink & purple tutus… waiting for my family to arrive for lunch.

Christmas: Part 1

2011-12-26T09:43:00.000-06:00

We had such a lovely Christmas weekend that it will likely take me more than one post to cover it all. We really really had such a blessed weekend and I just want to tell you all about it!

Saturday morning: I cooked, Drew and the girls watched Christmas movies. Saturday afternoon: we went to the McGaugh's for a quick visit. Their house is so comfy that I just want to take a nap on the couch. It reminds me a bit of our home when I was growing up... there were always people in and out because everyone felt comfortable being there. You could put your feet up and watch football on television and not worry about a thing. One thing that is different? Stinker. As in... Stinker the pet skunk. We always had pets, but we never had a pet skunk. Nothing says Merry Christmas like a pet skunk!

Oh yeah, and Milo the weenie dog to help open presents...

Daniela came by with gifts, too...

I'm pretty sure that Alex was hoping Neil was her present :) She's always loved Neil and I've always joke that if he was 10 years younger or she was 10 years older that I would be playing cupid :) He's home from college for Christmas and Alex was so happy to see him. So cute.

Stacy also had a present for me. The most amazing gift. $1700 for Happy Like This! The kids a Central Junior High have been AMAZING and between wrist bands, tshirts and snack for movies during the last week of school they raised so much money for HLT. What a blessing! Now that Christmas is over I have to make time to finish the legal and IRS stuff and we are ready to roll. Get ready y'all, HLT is going to be spreading some awesome happiness with special families in 2012!

Okay, from Stacy's to church. We went to church with Nonnie and the service was lovely... very traditional and I love that. We add so much fluff to Christmas these days that I need and want the traditional service that focuses on the word to remind me of exactly how amazing the birth of Christ is. Alex cried after the service because she wanted to stay at church. My sweet girl, her heart feels things so deeply. We also got to see quite a few people that we don't see often.

We drove the girls through the square to see the lights and then went to Nonnie's. Yummy dinner, lots of laughs, everyone together... perfect. Nonnie made Alex, Emma and JR Christmas pjs and they were adorable.

It's extra funny because it looks like Emma is trying to lick JR. She wasn't. That pesky tongue of her just won't stay put. Oh, and isn't this a sweet pictures of Drew and JR?

Drew's favorite book as a child was "Hiram's Red Shirt". The original copy was quite tattered and has been lost through the years. Dottie has looked for a long time and finally found a copy on line. Drew was so happy to have another copy so we can read it to the girls!

Oh, Pat, thanks for the Ralphie bobble head. It's just what I wanted for Drew to decorate with! LOL

JR loved the Chuck the Truck we got him. Cars and trucks!

Jessica and Jason gave me and the girls some super cute feather head bands, but I don't really have good photo of them. I'm super excited to go to Lewis and Clark and spend my gift card from Nonnie and my Hobby Lobby gift card from Jessica & Jason. What a treat that will be for me! Oh, and Pat & Big Alex always give the best gift... which is probably because Alex reads my blog and knows me so well. The first thing I opened from them was Germ-X that attaches to my purse :) See? I told you Alex knows me so well! I also got new measuring cups and spoons, which are sorely needed in my kitchen. We gave everyone small gifts, but the other half of every one's gifts will be a few more weeks... photos from the girls photo shoot earlier this month. I can't wait to share them with everyone!

It was really such a fun night and the girls were asleep before we got out of Fayetteville. We put them straight to bed and put together the last minute things for Christmas morning before heading to bed ourselves. I will save Christmas morning for the next post, so stay tuned...

Christmas Eve Eve

2011-12-23T18:03:00.001-06:00

Couch? We don't need no stinkin' couch? We've got bean bags!

Why didn't we think of this years ago? They are perfect for the girls.

Ms Elaine and her son came by today with gifts for the girls. She made the cutest tutus that the girls can't wait to wear. Alex got a 'big sister' necklace and Emma got a 'lil sister necklace' and they both got some neat crayon rings. It was so sweet of Elaine to bring these things to Alex and Emma, though I'm pretty sure Emma was confused by why Elaine was here and not at therapy!

I told you I would take pictures of me and Alex wearing our candy cane socks.

Alex wore hers for 3 days before I convinced her she had to take them off for a bath. I better get them washed so she can wear them again.

Emma was wiggling on the toy box the other day and it looked like she was planking!

Then that night there was a UFC match in our living room. Daddy vs Alex & Emma. Guess who won?

So it is Christmas Eve Eve, are you ready? I've got gifts to wrap, but I'm going to do all I can to avoid any reason to go back to the store. Tomorrow morning I have some cooking to do so I will be ready to put it all together Sunday for lunch with my family. We are all going to church with Nonnie tomorrow evening before going back to her house for dinner and gifts. My family will be here Sunday at 11 and then we are going to John's Christmas evening. It will be a busy weekend, but a good weekend. Drew is off on Monday and I'm sure we will take all the Christmas decorations down because... on Tuesday Alex turns 9! I'm always happy to put the decorations up, but I'm also usually happy to take them down and have the house back to normal. Guess what? The Christmas cards are still sitting on the dining room table. You all may never get them :) You surely won't get them before Christmas.

PBS

2011-12-21T12:24:00.001-06:00

I find that the girls and I spend most of our daytime television watching time with PBS. I don't mind that at all. Although, it makes me question the Direct TV bill when we are watching what we could get for free. Do you think Direct TV would prorate our bill for only the evening hours that we watch the other channels? Yeah, I didn't think so.
Alex is longing for it to snow. I was hoping we would have a chance for a while Christmas, but it doesn't look likely. There is a small chance for flurries one morning this week, so maybe she will be satisfied with that for now.
I shared with you last week about Christin's granny. She passed away Monday night in her sleep. I'm so thankful that Christin was there with her this weekend and shared some lovely moments with her as she began passing into Heaven. Please keep the family in your prayers.
There's never a 'good' time to lose a loved one and the holidays are often difficult no matter when you lost that loved one. My prayers are with those who have an empty place at the table this year. How about we just make a concentrated point to be extra thankful for the years we had with that person and for all those we still have with us? I know I will.
I've heard through the grapevine that my nephew JR is walking! Wahoo! Go JR! Can't wait to see it for myself in a few days.
On another Christmas note... gifts. I think I have everything I need for everyone, so that is a relief, but I always feel like I wish I could give more. I LOVE giving gifts. My favorite gift to give is the one that I saw and immediately thought of a certain someone. Maybe it is something they have been wanting, or maybe it is fairly useless but completely wonderful. I just love it. Of course, there are always a few people whom I would love to give something wonderful, but just can't find the right thing. There is some stress involved with this time of year and the obligatory feeling that one needs to give gifts, but I try to let that go. I'm not sure why that feeling even exists. I don't ever think that someone 'should' have given me something or didn't give me something nice enough. That would be a ridiculous thing, so I'm not sure why I think anyone else would feel that towards me. Know what I mean, though?
The girls made more Christmas pretties in OT with Ms Kim yesterday.

The girls are getting super excited for Christmas morning. I hear at least once a day that they want a BIG castle for Christmas. Well girls, I know for a fact that Santa is a pretty good guy and his elves are pretty awesome. I think Christmas morning will be a delight!
Alex told me a couple of days ago (after seeing a pair of socks that Mom got for me) that she needed candy cane socks. I went to the Dollar General, thinking they may have little things like that, but no luck. Then yesterday we went to Walmart with Grandpa and after much looking we found a small strip of toddler Christmas socks and... there was one pair of red and white striped 'candy cane' socks left! Alex was thrilled and we had to put them on once we got to the truck. In fact, I think I may wear mine today so we can be twinkies. Of course, that will necessitate a feet photo, which you know I can't resist. Emma didn't care for the other Christmas socks, so she and Grandpa picked out a pink pair and by the time we got to the truck she had pulled off the socks she was wearing so we could put the new ones on. See? The gift doesn't have to big or expensive... the simplest things can bring the most joy.
I also got a little something beautiful while we were at Walmart with Grandpa. He spoils me and what is silly is that he never feels like it is enough.
I am actually going to get our Christmas cards in the mail today. I hope. They are ready to go and all that is left is to put the stamp on and drop them in the box. Surely I can get that done. Surely. Maybe. We've gotten many lovely cards in the last few weeks. I quite excited to get one from Italy! Thanks Catherine, what a fun surprise to get a card from you and your family! And thank you to everyone who took time to send us cards, I just love getting special mail.
I'm just doddling here... going on and on about random things. I would feel bad, except you all know how to bounce we me by now.
I've got my grocery shopping done and (fingers crossed) won't have to go back to the store again before Christmas. If you have yet to tackle that job or have last minute gifts to buy, may the force be with you.

Sunday Date

2011-12-19T08:59:00.000-06:00

Alex and I went on our date with Mom yesterday. Alex looked so pretty in her new dress and sweater from Ms Heather and the Kids Directory.

Emma was a little it upset about not getting dressed up to go out, but Daddy makes everything better.

I about died laughing when we pulled up to get Mom and she walked out the door. We made Ken take our picture.

We had a great time at the Nutcracker. Alex started to cry at intermission (or half-time as the little girl in front of us called it), but we finally convinced her that there was going to be more dancing. That promise and some LaLa snuggles made it all better.

The theater was full of moms and little girls and I realized something funny. I am less mature than all of the 6 year old little girls in the building. There was some chatter as little voices asked questions, but I had to use all of my self control to not verbalize my thoughts. That's when I became so thankful that we hadn't taken Emma. Aside from her definite inability to sit through a 2 hours performance, she would surely have yelled out what I was thinking... "He naked! I see his panties!" I mean, really. I felt like a pervert, but how can you not notice all the men in tights and everything that those tights reveal? Sorry y'all, but the 6 year old in me really wanted to say, "I see his weenie!" I know, I know. Complete immaturity. I can't help it. But seriously, could we not use heavier fabric for those tights? Oh, and I realize that the men wear make for dramatic and theatrical purposes, but if that guy hadn't been wearing white tights then I would have questioned that he was male. I'm just saying.
Aside from all of that, the ballet was beautiful and I'm so glad we went. Alex loved it and I loved that the most. That and the way mom looked at Alex as she was absorbed in the dance.
After the show we went to Once Upon a Child for some shopping. The owners, Amy & Doug, are so kind and we got some fun things to put under the tree for the girls. Alex got to be the big girl and help us pick things out. She has to keep the secret so that Emma doesn't know what we got, and that's a very big girl job. Go Alex!
I have to say that I was worn out by the time we got home. Daddy and Emma seemed to have a fun day together and they worked on special present for me and Alex. I know they are pictures that they colored, but they are rolled up and wrapped for Christmas morning, so I have to wait a week to see Emma's masterpieces. What fun :)

I did pretty good at handling the germ thing as we were out yesterday. I'm quite prone to neurosis anyway (shocker, I know), but the winter weather, cold & flu viruses and the girls' vulnerability to those things really has me teetering on the edge of being a germaphobe. I have a good mind to install automatic Lysol sprayers on the girls' wheel chairs. If you get within a 2 ft radius, the detector will set off a spray of disinfectant. Good idea, no? Or maybe an invisible fence that will shock you if you get too close. On Friday I walked around the house with a package of Clorox wipes and disinfected all door knobs, handles, light switches and remote controls. Drew and I have been talking about it and we are considering asking our therapists to do home therapy for the winter. There is just no way to avoid these winter ailments in a place like therapy with so many children in and out during the day. We hate to do that, but we feel like it might be a safer option. Heck, the reason we aren't going back to KC until April is because our neurologist doesn't want the girls in the hospital. It's hard to find a balance here. We don't want to deprive the girls of everything and keep them in a bubble, but we want them to be as safe as possible. The fact is that this is a dangerous season for them. My automatic Lysol dispenser doesn't sound so crazy now, does it?

Well, the girls have been patient with me this morning, so I better get myself up and put the computer away.

Maybe

2011-12-18T09:55:00.004-06:00

I've been trying to blog for 3 days now, but the girls have made that impossible. Maybe I can actually get it done right now.
The girls are doing much better. The discomfort they have right now is PKAN related, not strep throat. I swear that I haven't seen them so stiff and jerky in a long time. Alex's right leg is completely out of her control, stiff as a board and flying all over. Emma's body is so jerky and her right arm is very stiff and the harder she tries to move or control it, the more it flies around. It is very frustrating for them and for me & Drew. Frustrating and also dangerous.
As for the strep, they have been on antibiotics for 3 days. The symptoms seems to have gone away and that is great news. We just have to finish the 10 days of antibiotics and hope that gets rid of it completely.
Did I mention that Emma's face rash still isn't completely gone? We did the oral and topical anti-fungal for 4 weeks and it got better but didn't go away. Our pediatrician is referring her to a dermatologist. Hopefully that will be very soon, because without the meds it is looking irritated again.
Since Alex is feeling better and no longer contagious, we are going on our Nutcracker date with Mom this afternoon. I'm looking forward to it and I hope Alex loves it.
It is difficult to be in the house for days at a time when they don't feel well. I could tell that Drew needed a break on Friday, so I sent him to Walmart with a list. Afterwards I realized that was pretty dumb. Here honey, I know you are feeling flustered, so why don't you go to Walmart on a Friday afternoon a week before Christmas? It's a miracle that he handled it so well. Walmart at Christmas could push the most level headed person over the edge. He said it helped that he was wearing his youth church t-shirt... didn't figure he should go postal on anyone while wearing it!
When he got home from Walmart, I took the chance to get out for a little bit. While I was gone I got this text from Drew. "I accidentally ate the rest of the chocolate cake, so if you want something sweet or chocolate then you should pick something up." Gotta love him.
Yesterday I came up with a project for Drew to burn some energy. For a few dollars of lumber, he got to work for a couple of hours and I got a craft table/desk and 2 shelves for my office. Win/win.
I'm not going to lie, I'm looking forward to getting out with Alex today. You might want to say a prayer for Drew & Emma. Drew has a fun 'date' planned for them... watch the new Winnie the Pooh movie and a big coloring book with twistable crayons... but Emma is a lot to handle sometimes. I know that Drew loves being home with us and that he wants to help me, but I also know that he will probably be glad to go to work on Monday.
If I don't wrap up now then I will wind up not posting this. So, let's call it a wrap for now.

Well, that makes sense

2011-12-16T08:57:00.001-06:00

Emma was having such a bad day yesterday that I decided I needed to take her to the doctor. I also spoke with our neurologist's nurse in KC. In less than an hour Dr L called me back. Because of Emma's increased discomfort and our fear that she is headed into another decline, he is increasing a couple of her medications. The trade off for that is that the medications are sedating, but it is worth the trade off for her to be comfortable. I went ahead and took her to our pediatrician, thinking there must be a reason for the fever. Turns out that she has strep throat. Well, that makes sense.
Did you know that strep throat can do much more than make your throat hurt? The tonsils release a toxin that can make your tummy hurt, give you all over aches and even leg cramps. Add all of those things on top of PKAN symptoms and you get two very miserable little girls.
Even though I only took Emma to the doctor, we knew that if Emma had strep then Alex likely did, too. Both girls are on antibiotics now and hopefully that will clear things up. It's actually good news to have strep, because that means there is something we can fix.
The girls slept until 6:45 this morning, which is an improvement over yesterday's 5am. Emma seems to feel some better right now, but Alex is still quite fussy. I just gave the second dose of antibiotics, so that can only help. Maybe by tomorrow morning they will feel like themselves again.

Tiger Baby

2011-12-15T09:16:00.002-06:00

The girls aren't running fever this morning, but they obviously don't feel well. Emma woke up at 4 this morning and by 5 both of the girls were awake and crying. I've been up with them since then and they are so fussy. Crazy fussy. I've given all the meds I can give, just trying to make them more comfortable. I'm thankful Drew is working from home today, so I'm not going it alone.
Alex perked up yesterday afternoon and announced, "I feel better today." She hasn't thrown up again (and is taking full feedings) and I think the reason she threw up the one time was from all the drainage. They were both acting like they felt better yesterday evening, but they were still running low fevers. Of course this morning the fevers are down, but the 'fussies' are up. I'm not taking them to therapy today. I don't want to spread any germs or pick up any new ones. They wouldn't be worth much work today anyway with all the fussing and feeling yucky.

Carley called Drew about midnight last night, so excited about something. She's on Instagram, which is a site sort of like Facebook where you post photos and people comment. She's friends with Justin Bieber there and she posted a picture of our girls with her and Allison, saying how much our girls love him. About 20 minutes later he replied "Beautiful Girls!" She was so excited that she couldn't help but call! So, Emma loves Justin and apparently he thinks she's beautiful... or whoever he pays to monitor his comments on Instagram thinks so anyway!

I've had several people in the last few weeks give me lovely comments and encouragement. It's hard not to second guess myself as a mother sometimes, or at least feel worn out with it all. I'm not the only mom who can say that. Just for the record, your encouragement means so much and I appreciate you all. Thank you.

I'm still hoping that Alex is well enough to go to the Nutcracker on Sunday. Drew says that if she isn't then Mom and I need to go anyway. I agree. What do you think, Mom?

Drew and I are getting into the habit of watching National Geographic Channel on television when we go to bed at night. Last night it was a show about Tigers and their babies. I couldn't fall asleep to it because it was so darn cute and amazing. Seriously the cutest thing I've ever seen. So, I know what I want for Christmas now... a Tiger baby. I'm not much of a cat fan, but how cool would it be to have a tiger?! Of course I can just see us having a reenactment of that seen in The Hangover... Drew stumbles into the bathroom in the morning and comes back out screaming, "There's a jungle cat in the bathroom!" But seriously, I WANT a Tiger baby. I'll take the runt that gets pushed out of the litter. That would sort of be like a rescue situation, right? Can't you just imagine the looks I would get while driving down the road with my Tiger in the passenger seat? Sweet. I totally want a Tiger.

I'm so very tired of the crying and whining. My body is tired of being wallered on and fussed at. I'm sitting here with computer, squished between the girls because it doesn't seem to matter what I do... the just fuss. I don't know how to make them feel better and it is discouraging. Since I don't know what to do, I will give myself a break to catch my breath and then come back and give them my full attention. It might not make things good, but it has to make them feel a little better.

no fun

2011-12-14T13:01:00.002-06:00

Emma woke up with no fever this morning, but it is 99.8 right now. She is acting a little better, but the fever is still there. Then Alex started fussing that her tummy was hurting about 11:30. Her temp was 99.9 and within minutes she threw up. Emma hasn't had any tummy problems at all.
We are hoping that this passes quickly, but there is no way to tell. Their little bodies just can't fight this stuff off. Alex and I are supposed to go see the Nutcracker with my mom on Sunday, I hope she's better by then. Not sure we do with a wheelchair transfer seat if we can't use it.
Drew is working from home today. Thank God. I am tired and I know it's just because the sick thing is here again. Emma was so very fussy Monday and yesterday and that leaves me feeling worn out. Then there's the emotional tiredness that comes with knowing that this is just how it's going to go around here. No fun. I could probably sleep all day if we could pause the rest of the world for a while.
The girls bed sheets have to be changed, not an option. I have clean sheets to put on the beds, but that just means that the dirty sheets will be added to the dirty pile. There are about a million other things I could get done around here, but looks like I will spend most of my day taking care of sick girls.
Kim & Cheryl gave me a 2 week schedule when I picked up Alex from therapy yesterday. I stood there staring at the schedule and thinking that something was wrong. Then it dawned on me that next weekend really is Christmas. The schedule wasn't wrong, I was. I've got to get it all straight in my head so I can have things ready. Plus, it's weird when Christmas is on a Sunday, so that has me thrown off for some reason.
Emma definitely has ants in her pants today. This girl can wiggle and squirm with the best of them. It's crossed my mind that maybe we should get her a bean bag for Christmas. She wiggles on and off the couch all day long and I can't keep her from trying to get into the toy box. She scoots off the couch and into the toy box and then whines because she's uncomfortable. If you were a fly on the wall in my living room right now then you could see for yourself. I wonder if a bean bag to wiggle on would make any difference? I don't know. It would probably just be one more thing to trip over in the floor. A roll of duck tape, that might be a better plan. If she was stuck in one spot then she would have to sit still. Right? Yeah, that's silly. We are talking about Emma and we all know that she can wiggle out of almost anything.
Sweet Alex is curled up beside me and wrapped up in a blanket because she says she's cold. She hasn't said anything since she threw up, but she did stick her hand out of the blanket to wave to Santa on the television. At least she feels well enough to do that.

About a week

2011-12-13T11:15:00.001-06:00

Well, we had about a week of health, but yesterday Emma started running a fever again. She was just acting like she didn't feel well and I could see it in her eyes. The thermometer verified it. I still took Alex to therapy and just kept Emma with me. Drew got up with her several times during the night and she woke up with a 101.2 temp this morning. Now it is 100.2. She doesn't really have any other symptoms besides a fever and just not feeling well. I'm holding her a LOT and giving ibuprofen when necessary. I'm not really giving it for the fever because I know that a low fever helps her body fight the infection. She was so uncomfortable and fussy yesterday that I gave it just so she would feel better. Drew and I both agree that her little body just can't fight all the germs floating around right now. Unless there is a bacterial infection, there is nothing we can do for it.
We did go on church Sunday, the first time in quite some time. I'm glad we went, but I'm sure all the hugs and love didn't help the germ thing for Emma. Drew and I got a kick out of church, I'm actually surprised we didn't get in trouble for giggling during the sermon. I swear, sometimes we are like two teenagers. They are starting a new marriage class in a few weeks, so they passed out a survey to all adults to gather info on what topics would be most helpful to cover. We probably should have waited to fill it out, but we didn't. I absolutely love that we both answered many questions the same. We love so many things about each other, but one of the questions was "What makes you feel most in love with your spouse?" We both checked, "We have fun together." What a gift we have! Neither of us had a real answer for our greatest source of conflict. We checked "Finances and money", but doesn't really cause conflict between us, just stress for both of us. What really made me laugh was, "What do you wish your spouse did better?" We both checked, "Pray together more," but the thing that made me really laugh was what we answered differently. I checked "Listen to me" and Drew checked "Complete household chores." I couldn't stop laughing. It's so true. Drew is easily distracted, which means he isn't always focused when I want him to listen. I am a hopeless slob in so many ways. I think he would agree that I've made progress in the years we have been married, but it's true that I get busy (or bored) and don't always finish the chores I've started.
After church we came straight home and our friends Max & Sharon came over for a visit. We used to all be in the same Sunday school class and Drew and I went to a Hogs game with them last year. They are super fun and I'm so glad Sharon called and we got together. They brought the girls a Christmas gift and brought BBQ for lunch. Such a nice time.
Other stuff...
Christin's granny is in the hospital in Little Rock. Christin went to be with her this weekend and I know it was a difficult few days. She did not qualify for in-house hospice, but she will have to go to a skilled nursing facility once the hospital feels she is stable enough. To be frank, she will likely not recover and her body is just wearing out. Please keep Christin and her family in your prayers during this time.
Alex is feeling pretty good the last few days. She freaked us out a little when she agreed to let us clear out her corner of stuff on the couch last month. I put her birthday cards (from last year) away and her toys sort of scattered and got played with or put away. Now she has 4 new things that she's being protective of. The stuffed snow man from Ms Elaine, a stuffed dolphin from Grandpa John and Alison (which is actually a whale, but don't try to convince Alex of it), a purple stuffed dog from Sharon & Max and her purple Disney fairies purse. She keeps those things lined up beside her on the couch and heaven forbid you move something!
Aside from having a fever and feeling yucky for the last 24 hours, Emma is having a bit of a hard time. Her little tongue isn't cooperating with her. It often pokes out and her mouth is always open. It makes it hard for her to speak at all and I know if frustrates her. It also means there is a lot of drooling going on.
Drew and I did get to have a date on Saturday afternoon. Stacy, Carley and Alison came over and played with the girls so Drew and I could go see a movie and grab a bite to eat. It was nice to get out of the house for a little bit and the girls had SO much fun with the McGaughs.
Alex & I have a date planned with my mom this coming Sunday. We are going to the Walton Arts Center to see the Nutcracker! I felt like there was no chance of Emma sitting still and being able to enjoy such a long performance, but I do think that Alex will love it. Mom and I went to see it years ago and I do recall that it is lengthy. Lengthy, but beautiful. We are going to stay for as much as Alex wants to and I know we will have a great time.
Well, I've used up the girls' patience by blogging, so I best wrap this up. Til next time...

It’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas…

2011-12-11T10:11:00.001-06:00

We’ve had our tree up for weeks, but it is just now beginning to feel a lot like Christmas. Since we were all looking pretty, I decided we needed to take our Christmas card photo. We got a few good pics, but the best one was by far the silly picture we took. I feel a bit obligated to sent a ‘normal’ photo in the cards, but I might just shake it up and send everyone this one.

Then on to Drew’s office party. I was slightly disappointed to find out that it was nothing like the Christmas party on The Office. LOL. From there we ran a couple of errands… final destination, Santa. On the way to the mall the girls were so excited. The conversation when something like this…

Drew: Who are we going to see?

Alex & Emma: SANTA!

Drew: Santa who?

Emma: (annoyed silence)

Drew: Santa Fred?

Emma: NO!

Drew: Santa Bob?

Emma: NO!

(this went on for quite some time, then…)

Drew: Santa Claus?

Emma: NO!

Me & Drew: (confused) Then who?

Emma: Just Santa (as if that were the dumbest question ever)

Silly girl. Now, imagine the confusion on all our faces when we parked at the mall, headed inside and met the Salvation Army bell ringer at the door… a Santa sized man in his 50’s or 60’s with a long white beard and wearing a Santa hat. Emma’s initial response, “Santa!” He was a very kind and jolly man who helped the girls put a few coins in the bucket. We headed for Santa and were pleased to find no line. Santa’s elf was kind enough to let me take a few photos of my own so we didn’t have to spend $30 to buy theirs.

Alex was so excited to see him, tell him she wants a big castle for Christmas and hug his neck.

Emma was still really confused. How on earth did Santa get into his suit and beat us from the Salvation Army bucket to the picture taking place?

I really should have taken a photo with the bell ringer Santa, I know he would have obliged.

We were all worn out after all the running around. The girls have been holding tight to the little snowmen that Ms Elaine gave them, and in the car is no different.

Emma decided that her snowman was happiest perched in my purse.

So, I’ve had time to blog this morning because I got myself all confused and had everyone ready for church an hour before we had to leave. It’s almost time to head that way. Finally.

Christmas Friday

2011-12-09T07:52:00.001-06:00

Today is the Christmas potluck at Drew's work. Food is always a good thing, but what I'm looking forward to the most is taking the girls to see Santa afterwards. Since we will all be out together, we are going to the mall to see Santa. We have to officially tell him that the girls want a big princess castle for Christmas. Oh, and since we will all be dressed and looking purdy, I'm going to make sure I get a photo of us all together before we leave the house. I'm lagging on getting our Christmas cards out, so that will be one step closer. I just feel like there needs to be a photo in the Christmas card. I hate being the last one to send out Christmas cards because I don't want anyone to think I sent them one because they sent us one. Know what I mean? So, just in case you wonder, I am absolutely sending you all Christmas cards because we love you. I'm just not completely prompt in doing so.

Alex and Emma have about a million silly bands on their arms right now... thanks to Big Pam. They got the biggest envelope stuffed full of silly bands this week. Literally more bands than any two little girls could shove on their arms, though the girls did their best to do just that. We still have probably 20 packages that I convinced them to save for later. Getting them to take the bands off to take a shower is like getting Congress to agree on a debt plan. Oh, and when Alex wraps her arm around my neck, those silly bands just about rip my hair out. I may have a bald spot, but the girls are rocking the silly bands.

Drew has had a hard time going to sleep lately, which means he often watches television way after I've fallen asleep. Last night I fell asleep to him watching 'How It's Made". Have you sees that show? They walk you through the process of how all sorts of things are made. Drew loves it. Sometimes I get interested in it, but mainly I try to tune it out. Okay, I often giggle at phrases that sound dirty when you aren't watching the screen to have the context of what they are making. Drew just rolls his eyes at me. Last night I was thinking about the voice over guy for the show. Do you think he's actually an interesting guy or do you think he always uses that dry narrative voice and is the annoying guy in a conversation that has to tell you each and every minute detail about how something was made? Can't you just see him at a Christmas party?
party host: Would you like a glass of wine?
voice over guy: Did you know that the machine that corks the bottles... blah blah... and that the processor that crushes the grapes has a separator that... blah... blah...
party host: I didn't know that. But would you like a glass?
voice over guy: Oh, that wine glass is from the blah blah blah manufacturer that carefully hand blows each piece and before... blah... blah
party host: Seriously dude, do you want some wine or not?

Alex has been so cheery the last couple of days. She was excited to tell everyone at therapy her photo shoot, so I asked Heidi to add a few buttons on her computer. I loved hearing her tell me all about it when I came to pick them up. My favorite button lets her say, "I totally rocked it!" Yes you did! You go Alex! Both of the girls love the sweaters that they were given for the shoot. They wore them to therapy last night and when I tried to change Emma into pajamas last night she clearly said, "No, no, no!" She wasn't about to take it off for bed, so I let her sleep in it.

Enough procrastinating, I have to go mix up the dressing for the potluck. Yum.

Good Stuff

2011-12-08T08:57:00.001-06:00

Everyone is feeling much better around here. The girls are all better, relatively speaking. Drew didn't seem to feel quite as bad as I did and he has recovered a bit quicker. I am finally feeling closer to myself. My head isn't as bubbled and my throat isn't sore anymore. Just a runny nose and chronic dragon breath for me. Attractive, no?

Kendra was sweet enough to work the girls in for a hair cut on Tuesday. They are super cute, as always. Yesterday morning I took the girls to Fayetteville to have their photos taken for the cover of NWA Kids Directory. Once Upon A Child (a local children's resale shop) donated outfits for the girls to wear, so they were all spiffy in their new digs and big pretty bows. I can't even tell you how great they did! There was never a hint of anxiety or tears as they played it up for Mrs Amber to take their pictures. Amber was wonderful and Heather (the Kids Directory editor) was there to cheer them on. It was pretty awesome and I enjoyed getting to visit with these sweet ladies and watch my beautiful girls be super stars. Amber is going to edit the photos and put them on a CD for us, so when I get those in a few weeks you will get to see how amazingly beautiful my girls are. Then when the January issue of Kids Directory comes out, Alex & Emma's smiling faces will be on the cover and also beside a profile of Happy Like This inside! What an awesome experience and huge blessing! I highly recommend Amber Lanning Photography in Fayetteville... her studio is beautiful and she is wonderful!

After the photo shoot I took the girls to hang out with Nonnie for a while so I could run some errands and do some Christmas shopping. I enjoyed a couple of hours by myself, but failed miserably at Christmas shopping. I wound up with nothing but a pink roll of wrapping paper and some purple ribbon. Why does it always work like that? If I had been in a hurry with no money to spend then I would have seen a million things to buy for those on my shopping list. Since I had a little bit of time and a little bit of money, I found absolutely nothing. Oh well, I still have a couple of weeks before Christmas gets here.
Drew is working from home today in his super cool office. Did I mention that? We took the bed down in the playroom and moved my office and craft stuff in there. That means that we each have our own work space. That actually translates to... Drew has a clean and organized office to work in and I have a place for the mess that is my work and creativity.

Tomorrow is the Christmas potluck at Drew's office in Bentonville and I'm taking the dressing. Since Drew works from home on Fridays, he will be here to work in the morning and then we will all go in to Bentonville for lunch. So, the one thing I HAVE to do today is make the bread and cornbread so it can dry out and be ready to make dressing in the morning. Drew always enjoys showing the girls off at the office and I just try to act cool. Ha ha. I've never been in such a work environment, so I always feel a little weird hanging out there with Drew's co-workers. That stupid, isn't it? He's been with NOVAR for almost 6 years, I've met them numerous times and hear about them almost every day. Oh well, I'm still going to fix my hair and wear my cute boots. No need for them to know that I usually have my hair in a pony tail and prefer my yoga pants above all else. Oh wait, are you guys reading this? Yes, you, people of NOVAR? Than disregard what you just read and assume that I am completely cool and perfectly groomed and poised at all times.
Grandpa John and Alison come up with a fun idea for the girls. Beginning December 1st, they each have a box of gifts (wrapped respectively in pink or purple) to open each day until Christmas. What fun is that?! I must divulge that we quickly learned that these presents could not be kept under the tree or Emma would help herself to more presents as the mood struck. One day Emma got a doodle pad for coloring...

Of course the drawing lasted about 2 days and then she found much pleasure in demolishing each and every piece of paper in the pad.

I can't seem to load the picture of Alex opening a present. I think her favorite so far is a little plush what, though it is blue/gray so she swears it is a dolphin. The girls have had fun opening a small gift each day, what a fun idea!

Emma has the cutest crush on Justin Bieber right now. I admit that I'm playing it up with her more than I probably would be otherwise. Boy crushes are something that a mom usually goes through with with her daughters. I guess I'm soaking up this experience with her while I have the chance. We've seen him on television a couple of times lately, singing his new Christmas song, and it is adorable the way she squeals and gets excited over it.

Drew and I have recorded lots of Christmas movies that have been on television lately. I was especially excited to watch Rudolph with the girls, but they had absolutely zero interest. I was disappointed, but then (as usual) God showed me that my expectations were the only problem. Just because I loved (and still do) watching Rudolph doesn't mean that my girls have to. It isn't about the movie we are watching, it is about the delight that we get from it and the snuggles and giggles our family shares because of it. I realized this as we all four snuggled up under a quilt and watched "Good Luck Charlie, It's Christmas!" on Disney channel last Friday night. Good Luck Charlie is one of the girls' favorite shows on Disney right now, so it was a special treat to have a Christmas movie from the show. We had such a fun time staying up a little late and giggling with the girls that I couldn't help but admit how wonderful it was. Thanks for the attitude adjustment, God.

I suppose I better get myself up off the couch and do a little housework. I don't know who is responsible for doing laundry and dishes around here, but they are doing a piss poor job! Oh wait, it's me? Dang.

Monday Monday

2011-12-05T12:00:00.001-06:00

Aside from the occasional quick trip to Wally World, sickness has kept me at home for the last 11 days. I'm anxious to get out this afternoon, but for some reason I'm still in my bath robe. The girls are dressed and by some miracle Alex picked the outfit that coordinates with Emma's. She would never have agreed if she knew that was the one I wanted her to pick. I played it cool and both of my girls are looking cute today. Well, they always look cute, but today they are cute and coordinated. I've been wearing sweats and t-shirts for so many days in a row that I'm both excited and dreading wearing blue jeans today. Regardless, at 2:30 I will take the girls to therapy and be out in public, so I better pick out a pair of britches soon. I'm thinking my skinny jeans, just so I can wear my super cute boots on this cold dreary day.

Drew found one of my old journals yesterday. I started keeping it just before I got pregnant with Alex and it was my 'place' before I started keeping this blog. I wrote about everything in that journal... my pregnancy with Alex, then with Emma, and my size and weight changes along the way. For some reason I had thought to measure my waist line right after I found out I was pregnant the first time. At that point in time I was excited to see how big I would eventually get. At this point in time I am excited to see how thin I was. The awesome part? I weigh 4 pounds less today than I did before I got pregnant and my waist measures exactly the same! It is somehow reassuring to see the numbers I wrote down almost 10 years ago and that they are the same or better today.

I've had Grandma Ann's bed set up in our playroom-turned-guest room for a year now. In the last 12 months I have had exactly one person sleep on it. That means that the room is largely unused and was becoming the place to dump stuff we didn't know what to do with. A week or two ago I decided that was silly and made a proposition. I suggested that we break the bed down and put it in my Grandpa's storage unit and actually use the playroom. Maybe the girls can't use it as we initially intended, but... I can! Drew was overjoyed to think of my mess of an office out of the little room that we share. He let me sleep late yesterday and when I woke up I found the bed taken apart and my desk, computer and filing cabinet moved into the playroom! I didn't have the energy to get too much organized yesterday, but I am so excited to get my room all set up. Drew is ecstatic to have his little office to himself. He can work from home without feeling like he is holed up in the corner. Once I am all set up, I will have the perfect place to work on HLT, do my crafts, sew and use my elliptical. I guess I haven't really had my 'own' room since I was a teenager and it is more exciting now than ever before.

Happy Like This... we are on a roll. Stacy brought me the cash she made last week for HLT and all I have to do it finish the paperwork and send it to Joe to turn in! Once we receive our 501c3 then the possibilities are endless! I'm really very excited to see things rolling again. Britt has been working on getting us in to the March issue of Peek-A-Boo magazine and getting the silent auction ready for March. Don't forget about that... first Saturday in March... silent auction in Siloam Springs... I want you all to be there!

I seem to be doing a pretty good job of procrastinating. I have managed to put off getting dressed until now, but I'm going to have to get my butt up off the couch. Now.

On The Mend

2011-12-04T07:51:00.001-06:00

I think we are on the mend. I still don't feel great, but I feel better than I did. My head still feels like a bubble and my throat is a little sore, but not as bad. I can tell Drew feels better by his attitude and how his eyes look. I know, it's weird, but I can tell by looking at his eyes. Alex and Emma definitely feel better. They have been taking full feedings since yesterday morning and their energy level is way up. I'm thankful for one more day to stay home and recuperate, but I will be ready to get out and about on Monday.

I've been having crazy dreams lately. I have these dreams about my Grandma (McCarty) on a fairly regular basis. They always have the same 'theme', if you will, but are always a little different. In these dreams my Grandma is here with us. I was a bit disturbed when I first started having these dreams a couple of years ago. In the dreams it was perfectly clear to me that we had made a mistake and she had not actually died. As time passed and I had other dreams with her in them, I realized (in my dreams) that she had died, but that God was letting her come back to us sometimes. Now the dreams feel a little different. I long for her to be here with us and even though I can see her and feel her and touch her in my dreams, I know she isn't really there. She is, but not really. But if she isn't then why can I smell her? I can smell her perfume and I know without a doubt that is is her. It isn't so much comforting as it is just painful now. It's painful because I want so badly for her to be here and she isn't. Two nights ago I had another dream about her. In this dream I actually asked her why she was coming back. I asked her if she was choosing when to come back to us or if God just randomly let us have her for small moments. I never got an answer because the dream ended too soon. Drew said I seemed upset as I was coming out of that dream and I still felt shaken once I was awake. What feels so strange is that these dreams are not replays of memories I hold, they are new experiences. I can see her in these dreams, so clearly that she may as well be standing right in front of me. She is always wearing lipstick and her hair is long and pulled up in a bun. She has the strangest expression on her face... calm and not worried at all, like she knows a secret that I haven't figured out yet. I get the feeling that she wants so badly to explain something to me that she simply cannot. She wants me to understand and she knows that someday I will, but she can't tell me the secret just yet. It stirs me and the feeling sticks with me long after the dream has ended.

I'm no stranger to death. I've cared for people in the hospital who have died. I have lost great grandparents, my Grandpa B and too many friends, but for some reason my Grandma is the one that still hurts the most. I was closer to her than to any of the others who have passed, so maybe that is why. I miss her so much for myself, but I miss her even more for my Grandpa. He misses her so badly that I can actually see the ache inside of him and I long for that loneliness in him to be filled.

Well, I didn't mean to go on and on about such a thing. How about another topic? I mentioned several weeks ago about how much I would love to be a writer. When my Grandma B was here last weekend we were talking about that. I said again how I doubted myself because everyone seems to think they are writers these days. She said something encouraging. She said that real writers just have it in them. That they write whether there is a reason to write or not. They write whether or not anyone else will ever read it. Lots of people write a book because they see the opportunity to make some money or become famous, but that real writers just love to write. That's me. I love to write. There is something different about expression in writing that can't be captured for me otherwise. I write constantly. I write here, I write for myself, I write letters... I just write. I love it. I guess I am a writer. Whether I am ever published, doesn't define me as a writer. Maybe someday I will have more than the 60 +/- daily readers I have on this blog. If I don't, I am still a writer. It is a bit empowering... realizing that an audience does not define a writer. Others do not define me. I am me... and I am me regardless of anyone else. Pretty cool.

Less heavy. Let's talk about something lighter. What is less relevant than... breakfast cereal? I haven't bought sugar cereal since last spring, but when I was at the store the other day I was lured in by the festive Christmas box of Cap'n Crunch. Ahh, Cap'n Crunch. So good. I bought the box. I have had a couple bowl of cereal from it, but the majority of the box has been eaten dry. That's the scariest thing about sugar cereal... it is just as yummy when eaten by the handful as it is drowned in milk in a bowl. Evil sugar cereal. No more. It's back to corn flakes or Cheerios for me. I'm pretty sure I could eat 20 pounds of sugar cereal in record time, but I don't want to find out.

It's cold and rainy here today and only going supposed to get colder and rainier in the next few days. We are talking highs in the 30's and even a chance of snow. I don't imagine there will be an accumulation, but you never know around here. I'm normally not a fan of getting out in the cold, wet whether, but the girls and I have been in the house for so many days that I think we will embrace the opportunity. We will bundle up and go to therapy... and we will do it with smiles on our faces. Hope you all have a happy week. Remember to smile. You DO have something to be happy about. Pray for those who do not have a home to go to, heat to warm them or food for their bellies. Help where you can. Give thanks for what you have.

Saturday Morning

2011-12-03T07:31:00.001-06:00

It's Saturday morning, so I guess we are on day 10 of somebody being sick. Drew and I are doing okay, thanks to Dayquil. It is actually probably the acetaminophen in it that helps our body aches, sore throats and head pounding. Whatever, it is helping. Yesterday morning I was almost sure Drew was going to have to take me to the doctor because I couldn't even swallow my own saliva without awful pain. I'm actually not sure I've ever had a sore throat like this. I am not coughing at all, so the soreness is not from that. The fever hasn't come back, but I'm keeping up with the Dayquil, so that may be why. Point being... we still don't feel good, but are taking over the counter medicines and managing. We are super thankful to have today and Sunday to recover before another work week.
The girls are on the mend. No fevers, no vomiting. I increaded the amount of Pediasure I gave them with every feeding yesterday. (Normal is 8oz each, 5 times a day) Before bed they each took 6 oz and then this morning they each took a full feeding. I'm so thankful for that. Alex still sounds junky in her lungs, but it is breaking up and hopefully the antibiotic will clear it all up since she can't cough it up. Alex and Emma have both been very good while Drew and I are feeling yucky. Drew still worked from home Thursday and Friday and was thankful to not be in the office with everyone while he was feeling bad. I'm up with the girls this morning (they are waking up about 6:30 these days) and letting Drew sleep in. I can only guess that we will spend most of the day laying around and taking it very easy.
We have decided to let the dogs be inside again. We are trying to keep them from licking the girls' faces (in hopes that the fungal thing will not return). It's just that we all seem to feel a little better when they are inside, they provide some kind of comfort.
I had to cancel the girls' hair appointments Thursday, which I hated to do. I'm glad I did though, because the girls weren't healthy yet and I was on the verge of a major sore throat and fever. Kendra promised she would figure out how to get them in before Wednesday's photo shoot for Kid's Directory.
Britt called with some great news, too. She has been e mailing the director of Peek-A-Boo magazine. It is a more story oriented magazine for parents in NWA. They do a non-profit issue in March and want me to write an article about our family and HLT! Yeah!
Stacy knocked the fund raising thing out of the park this week. She has $650 for HLT, and that isn't including the money she is holding on to to restock the snacks they are selling to the kids in science class. The coolest donation? Two girls got $100 bonuses from their jobs and decided to donate to HLT in honor of Alex and Emma and their mom's matched their donation! That $400 from 2 special middle school kids. Awesome! Hey Joe, I'm finishing the 501c3 paper work and sending it your way next week, along with the money for the fee.
Okay, I'm worn out. Is it my turn to go back to bed?

Quick

2011-12-01T19:42:00.001-06:00

Super quick... The girls are perking up some. No fever. No vomiting. Took a little bit of formula this evening.
Drew and I feel nasty. Body aches, sore throats, head aches, sinus pressure. I have a 102 temp. I'm going to bed and guessing that Drew won't be far behind. Girls are sleeping now and I'm hoping they do all night.
We are doing fine. We don't want anyone else to get this, so we have quarantined ourselves ;-)

He Listens

2011-12-01T06:18:00.001-06:00

I've been so busy with all the sickness around here that I haven't taken the time to share this story, but I must give credit where credit is due. I posted less than 48 hours ago about Happy Like This and how things are going. I reassured myself and you that God had it under control. You know what? He does. I prayed that He would love us to the next step and He has. He listens! Why are we ever surprised at His goodness?

Less than 30 minutes after I posted on HLT, I got a phone call from Stacy M. In two days at school they had moved enough wrist bands and t-shirts to raise $287! Stacy felt sure that by Friday they would have surpassed our need of $400 to apply for our 501c3 (tax exempt status). Later Tuesday afternoon I got another phone call from my friend Meghan's sister, Heather. She owns and runs The Kid's Directory magazine in northwest Arkansas and the January issue is about non-profits and ways for the community to give back. She asked Alex and Emma to be on the cover! The photo shoot is next Wednesday, so that's just another reason I'm hoping that everyone feels better next week. Happy Like This will get so much attention from this opportunity and I feel so blessed and so excited. Last, but not least... last night I got a text from my friend Michelle who sells Kelly's Kids clothing. This summer she was one of the sweet ladies who helped us raise money at Cherry Berry. My friend Britt had scheduled a party during the Cherry Berry event and so Michelle is donation her commission from Britt's party to HLT. That another $80! How amazing is it that on Monday we had $5 in the bank and no idea of where the needed funds would come from and now we should have enough and more in the bank by next week? Awesome, I tell you. Awesome is our God!

I've taken time to sit and share this as I sit on the couch with Alex. She woke up at 6 and wasn't about to go back to sleep. As much as I wanted her to sleep longer, I can understand her frustration with me. What must it feel like to be ready to get up and not have the ability to do it yourself? So I got her up and brought her to the living room with me. We are watching PBS and enjoying the quiet before Drew & Emma wake up. I'm not really sure what to do about today. The girls have appointments to get their hair cut, appointments that I made 2 weeks ago. It wouldn't be a huge deal except that we have that photo shoot next week and I would really like for them to have their hair cut before then. Drew worked very little yesterday, so he has a lot to do from home today. I expect that he will be in the office all day. That's okay with me, just having him here is nice. I don't feel awesome, but I'm obviously not bed ridden. It's all good.

Since I have this quiet time to sit here and type, I'm going to delve into randomness. Did you hear that Michelle Duggar is expecting her 20th child? I'm usually one to stand up for them... to a point. I don't think they are really hurting anybody else by having babies, but I guess I'm taking this 20th child a little personal. They say that they will continue to receive what God has given them (meaning more children), but I think my Grandma said it best... God also gave them a brain. Their last child was born very very early because Michelle had preeclampsia and other complications. The baby spent quite a long time in the NICU at ACH, so long that they relocated their entire family to a home in LR for some time. The baby is much better now, but not in the clear as far as certain things go... breathing issues, etc. I guess I sort of thought that after such a scare with Michelle's health and the life and well being of their baby that they may think twice about taking that chance again. Guess not. Well, I am in no position to say what they are thinking about. All I know is that baby 20 is on its way and I feel a little offended. I'm sure my own personal situation breeds some extra feelings about it all, but it seems that maybe they are tempting things and taking the health of mom and children for granted. Not to mention the responsibility that the other children take on in caring for another child. I need to leave this subject alone. I mean to offense to them, I just feel a little offended myself. I do not agree with all of their religious beliefs, but I have always respected them for holding true to their convictions. Final thought... it is my opinion that they are accepting their super fertility as a blessing at the expense of other blessings.

More reality television talk... Toddlers & Tiaras. I watched a rerun yesterday, one that I hadn't seen before. The little girl who won the talent competition was dressed at Madonna. Yes, a 3-4 year old dressed as Madonna. Cone boobs and all. She came onto the stage dressed as an angel, then stripped off her robe and wings to reveal a gold suit with cone boobs. For real? And she won? Come on, y'all. Really? Oh, then there was the 3 year old who got so overwhelmed with her pageant crazy dad that she actually said, "You're making my head ache!" Or the 5 year old who was so exhausted and disinterested that her mother fed her a soda and 7 pixie stix (colored sugar) to get her going and perform at her perkiest. Oh my. Why do I subject myself to these things?

I better take a breather, don't want to get myself all worked up. Haha.

Who? Me?

2011-12-01T05:24:00.001-06:00

I'm afraid I'm getting sick. My throat was a little sore yesterday, but I tried to write it off as nothing. At bed time it was feeling swollen and sore. I just woke up with a fussy Emma and my throat feels very sore and swollen and my head is all congested and gross. To quote Tony the Tiger, "Grrrrreat!" Let the nose blowing begin.
I stayed up after I laid Em back down because my head can't breathe and a hot cup of coffee sounds good for my sore throat. The coffee is brewing so you are getting this blog post. Hope no one else is getting this crud.

Chillin'

2011-11-30T15:13:00.001-06:00

Aunt Robin had Christmas gifts sent to the girls. Emma's arrived last week and we've been hiding it in the garage, then Alex's arrived today. It was perfect timing because they needed a pick-me-up.
Emma & Minnie Mouse (that is as big as she is!)...

Alex & Cabbage Patch Cinderella...

Thank you Robin, the girls love the gifts.

I picked up the girls' prescriptions and we have given the first dose of antibiotics and anti-nausea medications. They obviously don't feel well and I'm guessing it will take several days for anyone to actually feel better or anywhere close to normal. Drew and I are afraid of getting sick, so when I was at Walmart I picked up some Emergen-C. It seemed like a good idea... super doses of nutrients that are supposed to boost your immune system. One problem. It takes like orange flavored vomit. Drew swears it wasn't that bad, but I'm fairly sure he was just trying to irritate me. I couldn't pretend it was anything but nasty. Gag.

Our family isn't the only one fighting sickness. Kyle & Braeden have had sore throats and Casey has a nasty cold. Dad has something, don't know if it's the flu or a cold. Aren't we pitiful? So, what I'm trying to say is... Dear family, I love you, but please stay away from my house! Feel better soon and I may consider not Germ-Xing you the next time we see each other!

Report

2011-11-30T11:13:00.001-06:00

First of all, we did a chest x ray and Alex does NOT have pneumonia. Amen. Her lungs are a little junky and she has a sinus infection, something that develops secondary to this constant congestion she has. Same for Emma. Emma's lungs are clear. As for the vomiting, there is tummy bug going around and it is probably just sticking around longer for us because the girls are already weaker than 'normal'. So we will pick up prescriptions for both girls for antibiotics and nausea. We will also get ointment for the tissue around their buttons, because that is a bit infected. We will give nausea medication and only clear liquids today and then try feedings again tomorrow.
Thank you for the prayers and pleas keep sending them up.

Day 7

2011-11-30T08:27:00.001-06:00

This is the 7th day that one or both of the girls has been sick. Emma has had not fever and taking almost full feedings since Sunday, but yesterday she was lazy and didnt feel well. This morning she woke up with a 101.6 temp. Alex ran fever Sunday, threw up Sunday night, no fever Monday, only took a few ounces at a time, ran fever yesterday, still only small amounts of fluid and started with a tight cough last night. This morning I gave her 6 oz of pedialyte and she threw up 1 or 2 ounces of it. I've called the doctor and we have 9:15 appointments. Drew is staying home today instead of going in to the office. I will update after our appointments.

Tuesday

2011-11-29T09:48:00.001-06:00

The girls slept well last night, though they sure were fussy yesterday evening. Evening hours are always the hardest anyway, so not feeling well just nudges things along. Alex still isn’t taking much Pediasure and though she hasn’t thrown up since Sunday night, it is obvious that her tummy doesn’t feel right. We are just taking things easy again today. Emma is still on the mend, but I don’t want to get Alex out in the cold and I don’t want to expose either of them to anything at therapy. Both girls are actually sounded congestion, so that also makes me a little nervous to get them out. Drew will be home this evening sometime and I’m still drudging through the laundry mountain. Actually, it started as a mountain and now it is more of an ant hill. Serious progress being made.

Wow, Alex got really made at me last night. When I took the girls to bed I wanted to put a pair of pajama pants on Alex. She had been wearing a t shirt and socks all day, and she won’t leave a blanket on at night. She was royally irritated with me. I put the pants on her, did not take them off and, more or less, told her she needed to get over it. When I peaked in to check on the girls before I went to bed, she had taken the pants off herself.

Happy Like This. I haven’t mentioned it in a while. The only thing holding us up is affording the 501c3 (tax exempt status) fee of $400. Drew and I haven’t been able to pay it on our own, so things have been at a stand still. Then Stacy McGaugh brought it up when they were here on Sunday. She is a teacher at Central Junior High and last spring the kids there did so much to help the girls go to Disney again. This year they have had intentions of supporting HLT, but Stacy has been waiting for me to be ready. I hadn’t even known to bring it up. My bad. So Stacy took a bunch of wrist bands to school, as well as all the t-shirts I have in stock. I guess they have already started spreading the word because I got an e mail from an 8th grader last night. I’m constantly amazed at how God reaches people I would have no way of knowing and adds them to the army of spreading this happiness! Stacy feels sure that we will have the money to file for our tax exempt status very soon. Awesome! God is good!

I have this hang up about asking people for things, so I generally do not. Especially when money is involved. Not the best attribute for a non-profit president, huh? However, God has shown me time and again that soliciting for money is not the only way to ask for help. That being said, I will put this out there… if there is something that you have been considering doing for HLT, then please contact me. If you have a great idea, let me know. If you have questions, ask me. Nothing done for Happy Like This will go to our family in any way. Anything and everything done for HLT will go straight toward the non-profit and all funds will be used to give other special families a piece of the happiness that our family holds every day.

Hey, something just dawned on me. Here I was a week ago, going on and on about how I have no work experience and wondering what I’m going to do in the future. Hello! Wake up, Mandy! In the last 6 months I have incorporated a non-profit organization, assembled a board, held two board meetings, dealt with the bank, filed proper paper work (of which there is plenty) and an array of other things. I have a degree in Sociology, which is perfect for the non-profit sector. I have a vested interest and passion for the mission of this ministry. God has brought so many people together over this mission already, and the army keeps growing. He has provided and is providing the way for this to get started and I feel sure He will continue to show me the way. Duh. Sometimes I’m so dense.

Bounce with me, I’m changing subjects. Last night sat on the couch and worked on Christmas cards. There was nothing on television that interested me (how many movies about Christmas can we make, people?), so I flipped to Netflix. Cheryl was telling me about Mad Men, so I decided to give it a try. I was 2 1/2 episodes in when Netflix decided to have a brain fart and wouldn’t work. Dang. I was irritated, but it was probably a good thing because it made me go to bed.

So, we’ve been up for 2 hours. How long do we have to be up before we can take a nap? Let’s make a deal. I will wait until the dryer buzzes, switch laundry and start a new load. Then I will give Emma another feeding and try to give Alex some fluids. THEN… we will lay down for some quiet time.

It’s all good

2011-11-28T10:24:00.001-06:00

So I gave you quite the entertaining (and pitiful) post last night after Alex’s throwing up jag. We did pretty well the rest of the night. Some waking up and fussing, but no more throwing up. I did give her a few ounces of pedialyte (the stuff with electrolytes) after I blogged and she held it okay, though not as much as I had hoped. I was up and down all night and I slept on Drew’s side of the bed since Alex took up my side, but it all went okay. Alex loves to sleep in Mommy & Daddy’s bed, and I actually like having her close like that. It reminds me of when she was a baby… when Drew was in Iraq, Alex slept with me every night. She was definitely my snuggle baby.

Emma woke up crying at 4am and I went in to hold her a while. She was all snuggled up to me and looking drowsy when Foose came trotting in the room to check things out. Emma didn’t even have to see him, just hearing him perked her up immediately. She smiled this huge smile and giggled. Foose laid down at my feet and after a while I laid Emma back down. She fussed, but then went back to sleep. After waking up so early, I was afraid she would be up again in an hour or two, but she slept until 9am this morning. Wahoo! I have to admit that I stuck my head in her room multiple times to listen to her breathing.

Alex woke up with no fever. She isn’t ‘normal’ today, but she still has no fever and hasn’t thrown up. I’m going to take some credit for that since I have learned how to read the girls’ expressions and know when to stop pushing fluids into their tummy. I only got 2 ounces of Pediasure in her tummy, but at least that’s a few calories. I also got 2 ounces of Pedialyte to help fight dehydration. Emma took 6 ounces of Pediasure this morning, which is great improvement after 3 full days of almost none.

Despite the crazy night, I feel pretty good today. I am on a roll doing laundry. It builds up in a hurry after four days of sick kiddos. Add in bed sheets and the pile gets a little (a lot) scary. It’s so cold outside today, but not dreary like it has been. We are staying home today, but I’ve opened the blinds to let some sunshine in. That feels good and motivates me.

Thanks to everyone who has offered to come help me, and please don’t be offended that I haven’t accepted. We have had a lengthy string of visitors the last 4 days and I’ve very much appreciated everyone, but I’m really looking forward to being home alone today. I know Drew feels awful about being out of town, but it is really fine. I made him go and I’m not letting him come home early unless I feel like there is a real risk, which I do not. We are on the mend and things are under control. He will be home tomorrow evening, so it’s all good. Don’t forget that I did this gig solo for 27 months, so I’m a pretty tough girl :-) Dear Drew… stay put, get your work done and we will be happy to see you tomorrow evening.

I’m going to have to work in some dish washing between laundry loads today. Both sinks are overflowing with dishes, mainly containers from all the yummy food you all have brought! Alison offered to give the kitchen a good cleaning, but I declined. I know, “Little Miss Do It Myself.” I can’t help it. I’m just that way. Have been my entire life. It will only take me 20 minutes to unload and reload the dishwasher, wipe down all the counters and take the trash out. Heck, I may even get a wild hair and clean the floors. Goodness knows they need it. I need to stir around a little today anyway, since I’ve spent the last 4 days doing little else than snuggling. Since the girls are feeling a little less needy and a little more content today, I’ve already been able to get some things done and it feels good. Don’t get me wrong, we will definitely have some quiet time this afternoon.

I love you all, you are pretty much the best support system a girl could have. Food, visits, prayers, texts, phone calls… I’m blessed to have you all. I promise I will call if I need help. Promise.

The good news...

2011-11-27T21:09:00.001-06:00

The good news is that Alex is better at throwing up than Emma is. The bad news... she is throwing up. I'm laying in my bed with Alex. I just cleaned her up, changed her shirt, cleaned out the puke pan (pardon my name for it) and now we are watching Sponge Bob. I've often wondered why these channels play cartoons and kids shows all through the night. I realize that not all kids go to bed when my kids do, but couldn't really figure who would watch Hannah Montana and Sponge Bob at 2am. This is why. Sick kiddos. I need some sort of light by which to see her through the night, she needs something to distract her from feeling nasty. The answer? Sponge Bob Square Pants.
On a side note, next time you buy a box of baby wipes, thinking you will buy the refill next time, save the plastic container. Take the lid off and you have a perfect emergency bucket when a tummy bug strikes your little one. Perfect size, easy to clean and reuse. Just FYI.
So my sweet Alex still has a fever and now the tummy ache has set in. I'm hoping this night isn't as bad as Emma's first sick night. That was rough.

Well, I shouldn't have been so bold as to make that last comment. No sooner than I finished typing she started throwing up again. I handled it well, thought she was done, laid down the bucket, she heaved again, I jerked in reaction, sloshed said bucket, missed the new vomit and ended up with a pillow and child covered in nastiness. I made sure she was done, apologized a million times, stripped her clothes, went and set up the shower chair, started warm water, bathed her and washed her hair quickly but thoroughly, wrapped her in a towel, carried her to my side (the clean side) of the bed, wrapped her up, covered her up, went to her room for clean clothes, returned 20 seconds later to find she peed on the bed. I took a deep breath, put a folded towel over the wet spot, dressed her quickly and snuggled her up. Now what do I do? I have clean sheets, but I do not have a complete set of extra bedding. I know she needs more fluids to replace what she lost, but I'm afraid we will start that whole process over again.
The dogs are inside for the night and completely rattled over the commotion. Toto gave up and has gone to sleep on the couch. I'm perched here with my phone, blogging for you, and trying to figure out what to do and hoping Alex can rest and this won't go on all night. Poor girl. I would gladly take her place if it would make her feel better. As it stands, I am the mommy and she is the sick little girl.

Switch!

2011-11-27T17:53:00.001-06:00

I’m pretty sure that someone in the universe called for a “Switch!” this morning. Emma woke up with absolutely no fever. She was much perkier and Alex seemed fine, so I made Drew go on his KC trip. He left about 9am and by noon Alex was running a 100.5 temp. Switch.

Dad came over Saturday morning to see the girls. They are always happy to see Poppy.

My Grandma B was in Tulsa visiting a friend on Friday and decided to come on over to Siloam Saturday afternoon. We all got to visit, Grandma stayed in a motel (her choice, I offered her our extra bed!) and then came back over about 11 this morning. We visited a couple of hours and then she headed out.

Shortly after Grandma left, Stacy and the girls came to visit. They brought books and played with the girls while I sat at the table and had some lunch. Allie helped Emma put stickers all over her body. Silly girls.

Alex hugged Carly’s neck until I’m sure it was about to break.

After the McGaugh’s left, John & Alison came by to say hi and brought me some food. I failed to get any pics with them, but they brought me goodies to eat and the girls these cute little caterpillars to play with. You can see Alex’s laying beside her in this pic I just took.

You can tell how rotten she feels by how she is just curled up on the couch. She (like Emma did) perks up when people are around, enjoys the company and smiles pretty, but when it slows down she just lays there. That means that company is a lovely thing, but too much company can be overwhelming. So, these lovely little visits from everyone have been nice. Thank you all for checking on us and keeping us fed… and thank you for staying away if you have the slightest inkling of sickness. Emma’s fever and lethargy lasted 3 full days, so hopefully Alex’s won’t last any longer than that. Actually, I took that photo of her on the couch no more than 10 minutes ago and she is now fast asleep beside me. She’s worn out and just needs to take it easy. The girls and I are staying home tomorrow, no therapy. I hate for them to miss their last session with Britt on Tuesday (she’s moving to another clinic next week), but we will just have to see how things are going. I surely can’t expose them to other stuff when their little bodies are fighting whatever this is.

Drew is at the football game tonight, so look for him on Sunday Night Football. He’s the one who is freezing his buns off (oh wait, that’s everyone) and sitting with 19 other professionals. Monday and Tuesday are full of meetings and then he will head home. I am not jealous of him being there, I am perfectly content being snuggled on the couch with my girls in my cozy home.

Thank you all for the prayers for Emma. There were several times in the last few days that Drew and I were quite scared. We are so thankful that she seems to have kicked this thing and praying that Alex will be able to do the same.

Saturday

2011-11-26T13:09:00.001-06:00

I think it is Saturday. The holiday always messes me up. Emma is still sick. This morning she had a 101.4 temp and is still very lethargic. Yesterday we spent most of the day watching football and snuggling.

After this photo I decided to give Emma a shower. A shower always makes me feel better. She sat in her shower chair and just about fell asleep as I bathed her. Alex refused her shower, so we decided not to argue with her. I sat and snuggled Emma and she fell asleep. I took a photo when I finally laid her down.

I feel like we aren’t keeping her properly hydrated. We keep pushing as many fluids through her button as her tummy can handle, but she isn’t peeing much. I’m doing the best I can.

I ran to Wal-Mart for more pedialyte yesterday afternoon and was able to find $4 pj’s left from the morning sales. Alex was so happy with hers that I was able to bribe her to take a shower. Yep, that’s how you convince an almost 9 year old to take a shower… bribe her with Sponge Bob pajamas. We also got some goodies in the mail. Big Pam sent me a great book and Aunt Paula sent the girls these great Christmas pillows. Alex was a clean and happy little girl.

We also got a very sweet letter from Santa. Apparently he’s super busy this year and actually is outsourcing some gifting. He’s asked that Drew and I do the shopping for the girls. He’s a pretty cool guy with a huge heart and some really great elves to help him out.

Nonnie, Jessica and Jason came over for a while last night and brought us Thanksgiving dinner. I’m afraid to step on the scale after 2 days of food from our families! So good! The girls got a couple of really cute ornaments for our pink & purple tree and got in some Nonnie & Jessica snuggles. Emma perks up some when there are people here, but she wears out quickly and seems to have a harder time recovering. She only took a very small amount of Pediasure during the evening feeding and when our company left and we took the girls to bed, she tried to throw up again. We kept the baby monitor on and listened to her breathing all night, checking on her very often. She slept pretty well, but doesn’t feel well today. In fact, I’d say today is worse as far as her temp and energy level.

Please keep praying her for. The doctor isn’t open again until Monday, but I don’t think there is anything they could do anyway. She isn’t hurting in any specific place, i.e. ears, throat, etc. I’m guessing it’s a virus and they would tell us to push fluids and keep her hydrated. We will keep her as comfortable as possible, take it easy, push fluids and see how things are on Monday.

Drew is scheduled to leave for Kansas City in the morning. His company is taking some clients to a Chiefs vs.. Steelers game and then they have several days of works to do up there. We haven’t really decided if he will go or not, given how Emma is doing.

It’s rainy, damp and cool here, which makes it easy to stay inside and not do much of anything. I hope everyone is having a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend with their families. Much love to you all.

Thanksgiving at Home

2011-11-25T08:10:00.001-06:00

Well, Wednesday night Emma threw up during her feeding and started running a fever. We snuggled her and then put the girls to bed. At midnight she started gagging, trying to throw up. The best way I can explain her vomiting is that her tummy is trying to throw up, but her body doesn't have the muscle control or force to actually get it out. This means stuff is coming up, but her mouth doesn't know what to do. This leads to gagging, which leads to more heaving, more gagging, difficulty getting a breath, and so on. She was so weak from it all that we had to hold her head up so she didn't crumble over and gag even worse. It is very scary for us all. We put Emma in bed with me and Drew said he would sleep on the couch, but the truth is he was awake all night with worry.

Emma's fever stayed between 100 and 101 all night, but by 3am she finally was able to go to sleep. Of course, to add to it all, Foose got sick about 3:30am. You should have seen Drew trying to clean it all up with a flash light and trying not to wake up Emma, who was finally resting.

When Emma was in bed with me I held her for a while to comfort her and hold her more upright. I finally laid her down, but I still needed her close. Instead of laying her on Drew's side or even right beside me, I angled her so that her feet were touching me and I could see her face. I did get a couple hours of sleep, able to hear her breathing relax as she slept.

By the time I woke up Thursday morning, I found Alex snuggled on the couch with a sleeping Drew. When Emma got up she was lethargic and still running a slight fever. We decided that we shouldn't take her out and so I called my family to let them know we wouldn't be at Thanksgiving lunch. Dad offered to come get Alex so she could be with everyone, but she wanted to stay home with us. She doesn't like leaving Daddy or when her sister doesn't feel well. Emma pretty much laid with one of us all day. She perked up a little when Matt & Grandpa came to pick up the food I had made for lunch, and then when Casey & Sasha brought us food after lunch. Yes, I made everyone squish up on the couch so I could take a picture.

Matt brought the girls princess crown ornaments with their names on them. The girls loved them.

Sasha must be a good snuggle partner. Emma picked her head up and tried to smile when she saw that I had the camera.

As for the rest of the day, we just took it easy and tried to keep Emma hydrated. She hasn't taken more than 4 oz at a time since Wednesday afternoon. She gets a look on her face and makes a little noise that tells me she will be sick if I push it any further. I did get a total of about 6 oz of Pediasure in her yesterday and other than that we focused on water and Pedialyte to hydrate. When we put her to bed last night she had a 99.1 temperature, which isn't really a fever, but not quite normal. She woke up at 12, 3 and 5:45 during the night. At 5:45 she was so uncomfortable and pitiful. Her temp was 100.2 so I gave her some Tylenol and a Valium to relax her, along with 4 oz of Pedialyte. When she woke up at 7 her fever was completely normal, but the Tylenol was only about 1 hour in. She is still very lethargic and only took 2 oz of Pediasure at the 8am feeding. She hasn't even been down in the floor to play, just laying on the couch and being very quiet. NOT her normal self at all.

We are supposed to have Thanksgiving with Drew's family this afternoon, but I don't know if that will happen. If she was a normal little girl then 100.2 and feeling puny wouldn't be that big of a deal. Since she is her special self, these little things can turn into big things. Her immune system is already compromised and she is at high risk of lots of things. Let me sort of explain things. We have been told that there will likely be incidents like this that gradually get worse and harder to recover from. She has had a few incidents of fever, vomiting and congestion in the last couple of months. Each time it tends to hang around a little bit longer and make her feel a little worse. We know that at some point it will be too much for her little body to handle and it makes us stick close to home and each other... comforting, snuggling and just being together. Quick visit from family or friends are fine, as long as no one has the slightest hint of being sick, but that feels like the limit. Dragging Emma out, exposing her to other things and pushing the limits of how she feels just makes things worse.

Alex is feeling pretty good. Nothing new or awful going on. She stays close to her Daddy and enjoys being at home. The girls made these Thanksgiving decorations with Ms Kim in therapy last week. They were so proud and so am I.

I made these t-shirts for the girls after I saw a similar idea on Pinterest. Super easy, super cheap, super cute and perfect for my purple Alex and pink Emma.

One last thing... I had to take a family photo of us before we put the girls to bed last night. We were fixed up and looking cute, just us in our comfy clothes and snuggled up on the couch.

Thanksgiving Eve

2011-11-23T08:29:00.001-06:00

Well, it's Thanksgiving Eve and my list of things to be thankful for is great. Let's do this. I am thankful for...

God's mercy and grace.
to still be in love with my husband.
Alex.
Emma.
family... and for friends whom I consider family.

You should have known that I would have to put a little sass in my list, so I'm going to included things I would be thankful for.

I would be thankful if I was ever sure when to use 'who' or 'whom'.
I am thankful that my children are healthy today. One day at a time... and today is good.
I am thankful for my niece and two nephews, and that Casey & Sasha will soon add to my resume as that crazy Aunt Mandy.
I am thankful for this warm and cozy house that we call home.
I am thankful for the food in my belly and that my belly is 22 pounds lighter than it was last Thanksgiving.
I would be thankful for an automatic dish washer that automatically loaded itself.
I am thankful for family bedtime prayers and that my girls thank God for each other and for themselves.
I am thankful for the medications that make our girls comfortable.
I am thankful for nap time.
I am thankful for our dogs.
I would be thankful if our dogs didn't give our child a face fungus.
I am thankful to have had a magical Disney & beach vacation with my family this summer, and for each person who helped to make it possible.
I am thankful for pink & purple.
I am thankful for Drew's job and flexibility.
I am thankful to be a stay at home mom.
I am thankful to have been a military wife for 12 years and that I have now retired that title.
I am thankful for Happy Like This and I WILL be thankful when we can pay for our 501c3 and take it to the next step.
I am thankful for another Thanksgiving to spend with family and friends and to celebrate the blessings we have received in the last 12 months.

Sure, I could go on and on. I have plenty to be thankful for. Tons and tons. So so much. I'm making this my Thanksgiving motto: Give Thanks and Be Happy. Can I get an Amen?

I'm still addicted to Pinterest. I can't stop. There is always something new. It's like the best magazine ever. There are plenty of things I could tell you about, but the one I saw this morning is great. A sign that says, "When I get sad I stop being sad and start being awesome." Sassy and I love it.

Other things...

Kayla is reading! The last time I saw her I was so proud of how she is coming out of her shell and just about burst with pride when she read me a book with a smile on her face. You go girl!

Emma's face looks SO much better!

Alex reminds me on a daily basis that Mac really needs a hair cut.

I made myself a shopping list, carefully shopped and marked each item off my list, left Wal-Mart feeling a little smug that I did such a great job and wouldn't have to go back to the store again, an hour passed, I realized I left two things off my list, had to go back to Wal-Mart at 9pm last night.

Recovered

2011-11-22T11:51:00.001-06:00

The Christmas tree has recovered from its fall yesterday. I put it back together, feeling quite sad over the ornaments that were shattered.

Britt and Katie came over yesterday afternoon and brought the most wonderful pink and purple felt trees. Britt made them after she found the idea on Pinterest. I have to say that the ones she made are even more wonderful than the original photo. I’ve added them to the shelves on each side of the television.

Aren’t they great?!

The dogs aren’t happy to be outside for the second day in a row, but I think it is helping Emma’s face. It looks drastically better this morning. The fever she had on Saturday evening must have been a random, short term thing, because it hasn’t returned. I think the throwing up Sunday morning was because she had been so fussy and cried so much Saturday evening that she had all that drainage on her tummy. She is acting like herself this morning. Her normal, sassy, restless self. Yesterday she wore the outfit I put on her, with her Mickey ears and the scarf that Big Pam made her last winter. Style.

Speaking of Big Pam, she sent me a wonderful surprise. Pecans! Pecans from the place in Madill where we used to get them when we had Christmas at Lake Texoma. I’ve been munching on them like they are candy, which has inspired me to glaze them. I’ve never done that before, but they sound so yummy. I also sent some home with mom so she can make pecan pies. Thanks Pam!

Everybody is gearing up for Black Friday. I feel a little irritated that so many stores are staying open on Thursday or opening that evening for early shopping. I don’t know why it bothers me. If people want to go shopping then they are welcome to. I guess it bothers me because of all the employees that have to work on Thanksgiving because we can’t wait until Friday morning to shop. I remember the gas station down the street from my Grandma & Grandpa’s house. It was always the only place in town that was open on Thanksgiving day. We would go there to get ice and it was so refreshing for the town to be so quiet and unhurried.

I would challenge everyone to do something a little different. Sure, go shopping at the big chains and get the good deals, but I say we should all buy at least one thing locally. The press is labeling it ‘small business Saturday’, but I don’t think it has to be just on Saturday. Any day would still be supportive of your local economy. The cute little gift shop that you always see but never go in, the flea market downtown… heck, even stop for lunch at the little diner in town. That’s my sermon for today. Do it.

Well, I planned to do my grocery shopping yesterday, but I couldn’t make myself go to Wal-Mart while the girls were in therapy. I drove in that direction, but I just couldn’t make myself go inside. Agh, the crowd and crazy people. So now I have to brave the chaos this afternoon since I have to have the things needed to cook tomorrow. I will survive and I have special incentive to do it quickly and follow my list since I will have to pick the girls up from therapy.

I should have known better

2011-11-21T11:05:00.001-06:00

My first post this morning was titled 'Monday Morning'. I should have known better, because after Emma woke up it became the definition of a Monday morning. Em woke up before Drew left for work and he brought her to the living room. Right before he left I gave him a kiss and went to the bathroom. Shame on me for having to do silly things like use the potty. Drew left, I heard the door shut behind him, a couple of minutes passed and then I heard the crash. Imagine my grace as I tried to get from my position on the potty to the living room. I walked down the hall and found the source of the crash. I believe the first thing I did was say, "Emma! What the...?!?!" She was sitting in the floor, not moving a muscle but obviously unharmed, so I picked up the camera that was sitting on the buffet beside me.

Oh, Emma. Happy Monday morning to me. I'm sure that I ruined any effectiveness of discipline when I picked up the camera, but that's just me. It appears that she crawled under the tree, sat up too soon when she reached the back side and knocked the entire tree over. I'm most upset that the top of the tree hit the tile. You see, the pretty and breakable ornaments were positioned at the top of the tree so that Emma couldn't get to them. Guess that plan back fired. Alex's new purple princess ornament from Ms Cheryl, Emma's 'Sassy' ornament and a few others were shattered.

I moved Emma to the couch, with stern instructions to not move her butt a single inch, then picked up the tree. In the process of picking up the tree, the top half came apart from the bottom and I had to put it back together. Then I put on my shoes so I could clean up the shattered glass. The tree is unplugged and pitiful, looks like a complete redecorating is needed. Hey, maybe the second time around I will find new inspiration and it will look prettier than before.

Well, I might as well post a few photos of our added decorations that Emma didn't demolish. The front door...

The shelves in the dining room with the paper trees we made and the wreath I painted...

I had these wooden reindeer in the Christmas boxes, so I painted and glittered them...

I'm not happy with the tulle ribbons, so I'm going to change them. I know it's a little silly to spend so much time on decorations that only stay up a few weeks, but I really enjoy it. It's therapeutic for me and I love to come home to a pretty, cozy, clean, festive home.

Monday Morning

2011-11-21T05:57:00.001-06:00

I got up with Drew at 5 this morning, made all the easier because Drew set the coffee pot last night. Mmm... such a pleasant morning when fresh coffee is waiting for me. Emma slept well last night and hasn't had a fever since Saturday night. She hasn't thrown up since Sunday morning, though I have gone easy on her feedings so as not to push my luck. I will see how she is feeling when she wakes up and if all is well then I will still plan on taking her to therapy this afternoon.

Drew and I enjoy our quiet mornings together. I was talking to my grandpa yesterday and he told me I should be a nurse. He made me feel good when he told me I was so smart and would make a great nurse. I've felt that tug since my first year in college (which led to my working as a nurses' aid at the hospital) and I think the reason is because God knew I would need some of that knowledge and care giving experience in my personal life. I want to want to be a nurse, but I don't want to be a nurse. I mentioned it to Drew last night and his response was actually flattering. The first thing he said was, "We would never see each other." We talked about how I would have to go back to school and then what my work schedule would be like. He hasn't said it in so many words, but this is how I'm receiving his reactions to any conversations we have about me working... he likes having me at home. He likes me getting up with him in the mornings, he likes our occasional lunch dates, he likes me being home when he gets off work... He likes having me here. Which brings me to my own conclusion... I know what I'm good at. I'm good at being a wife to my husband. I'm good at being a caregiver. I've cared for my grandma, I care for the girls, and I will be there for whoever else needs me. This is what I want to do, this is all I've ever really wanted to do. I can still have a job if wanted/needed, but who I am will remain the same. Duh. Wonder why that took me so long to realize?

The girls and I did some more Christmas decorating yesterday. I went through my old scrapbook stuff (left from the days when I thought I would have the time and patience to scrapbook) and made paper Christmas tress. They are super cute sitting on the shelf, I will have to post photos later. Britt spent her Saturday making these super cute felt trees for the girls. She sent me a phone picture, but I can't wait to see them in person. The girls will surely love them and I know they will be a great addition to our pink & purple Christmas. Mom brought the girls a purple ornament on Saturday. It is a pretty egg that plays music when you open it. Is has become thoroughly irritating because Emma likes it to play music constantly! Hey, that gives me an idea... maybe Kayla & Braeden need one of the fabulous noise making ornaments! Misty, what do you think? You could keep it in the car so they can play it everywhere you go. Sound great?!

Thanksgiving is only days away and my mouth is watering just thinking about it. Hey, if anybody is planning a trip to the hospital this week, I would greatly appreciate you putting it off a while. It has been almost exactly one year since I saw my mom laying in the hospital on a ventilator and I'd like to not do that again. If you don't mind. So, dear loved ones, please stay healthy during the holidays.

Alex is up early, so I'm going to hang with her until Emma wakes up. Drew is about to leave for work and I'm so glad he has a short work week. That's something to give thanks for.

Poor Emma

2011-11-20T09:03:00.001-06:00

Poor Emma, she just can’t catch a break. She finished a round of antibiotics for the impetigo, only to have a fungus attack. The rash on her face is getting worse instead of better and I couldn’t figure out why. I took this photo of her this morning. Pitiful.

She keeps scuffing her chin because of the way she falls. The skin is already so irritated that it doesn’t take much to break it open. The rash is all the way up her left chin, onto her eye lid and has moved to her fore head. Her eye is even swollen because of it.

I started reading about it on line (you know, because I’m an internet doctor) and found something interesting. One medical article said that children tend to get this face fungus in to main ways… from pets and after holidays. Actually, it is one main way… it is common after holidays because children have been at relatives houses and exposed to different pets who carry the fungus. Ding ding ding. Our dogs. She ALWAYS has her face buried in a dog and, as I documented a few weeks ago, often gets a face licking. Dang it. I think our dogs are giving her this fungus and and then helping spread it all over her face.

The dogs have been put outside and won’t be coming in when the girls are awake. The girls will miss them, but we have to get Emma’s skin cleared up.

To add insult to injury, she started running a fever last night before bed. 100.7. She went to sleep okay, but about midnight she started fussing. Drew got up and down with her all night, as she was just restless and fussy. I got up with the girls this morning and she didn’t have a fever, but she threw up after her feeding (and before I pushed medications). She’s been sitting with me on the couch all morning, not playing her anything, and she just threw up again. Virus? I don’t know. All we can really do is snuggle her and try to make her feel better. I always wipe out her mouth when she vomits, because the biggest risk of throwing up is aspirating the liquid in her mouth.

Alex is feeling great and is all about wearing her glove (hand splint). She wore it for 3 hours yesterday and then wanted it back on yesterday evening and wanted to sleep in it, so we let her. Hey Britt, that’s okay, right? We took it off this morning to let her hand rest.

I took this picture a couple of days ago.

In other news… I believe in Santa. Santa sent me an e mail to let me know that the girls’ princess castle is on its way and will be here for Christmas morning. Awesome right? Thanks Santa, you rock!

You should be a fly on the wall as Drew and I try to talk about Christmas in code. The girls sitting between us, me trying to describe what I’m talking about without actually saying the words, Drew looking at me like I’ve completely lost my mind. It would be much easier to just wait until the girls are in bed and talk like normal people, but what fun would that be?

Mom came over yesterday afternoon and sat with the girls for a couple of hours while Drew and I went to see Breaking Dawn, the new Twilight movie. I have to say I was disappointed. In fact, I embarrassed Drew when it was over because I made a comment about how awful it was. He said people were looking at me as I said it, and apparently said it too loud. I was frustrated when we left the theater, but have since calmed down. I knew better than to reread the book before we saw the movie. Drew thought it was slow, but hasn’t read the books so he didn’t have any expectations. There is just no way that a movie can capture all that a book provides and things are bound to be altered or left out. I’m sure I will be able to enjoy it more later, but for now I’m just a little disappointed. All the same, Drew and I got out for a little while and enjoyed a little date… and popcorn. Thanks Mom.

Given Emma’s multiple ailments, we are not going to church today. Guess it’s a stay-at-home kind of day. Maybe I will feel inspired to clean, or maybe I will just want to take a nap. Anybody taking bets on which one? Yeah, me too.

It's called style...

2011-11-17T10:16:00.001-06:00

The best time to get the girls dressed is while folding laundry. If it's a good load, the girls will certainly find something in the pile that they want to wear that day. Yesterday morning Alex found a pair of purple striped tights, so all I had to do was find a skirt and skirt to go with. Of course, we put her sweater back on, even though she's been wearing it for 2 days. It's a sweater, it doesn't have to be washed between every wear. Right? Since one load of clothes we were folding happened to be reds & pinks, Emma was in heaven. She immediately picked out her Minnie Mouse skirt and started wiggling it on over the clothes she was wearing. Next? A red & white jacket, the one we got at Universal Studios on their wish trip. It says, "Thing 2" on the arms and hood. Of course, that had to be worn. She was cool with me finding her a shirt, but the jacket HAD to be on. So yesterday my sassy Emma wore her Minnie Costume... black socks, a black turtle neck and pink leggings with her Minnie Mouse skirt... with a Thing 2 jacket on top. It's called style, y'all. Six year old, I have a mind of my own, I'm gonna rock this outfit STYLE.

Wednesday afternoon Cheryl came by with a special surprise. She and Elise had been to Hobby Lobby and found the perfect ornaments for Alex and Emma. Ornaments that couldn't be resisted and made all the more special because they came from Mrs Cheryl and Elise. Alex was in love and was so excited to show her daddy the new ornaments on the tree when he got home. I made sure to hang these pretty things high enough on the tree to keep Miss Emma away from them. Sorry girls, they are a 'look, don't touch' kind of thing.

When I took Emma to the doctor the other day, we were looking at a Christmas card catalogue. Yes, I know, how strange that I would look at a magazine in a doctor's office. Germs galore. It grosses me out, but we sanitized our hands when we were done looking. Anyway, back to my point... we saw the most perfect Christmas cards for our pink & purple "Happy Christmas". We can't spend that much money on cards, but it did give me a great idea. Then Pinterest has had some great ideas and I'm almost ready to start on Christmas cards. I think I'm going to make ours this year, with the girls' help, of course.

I've been thinking about jobs lately. Not jobs for now, but jobs that I may be interested in in the future. I guess I'm surprised that I have little desire to work with children. I wish I wanted to be a nurse, but I just don't. I have a degree in Sociology, but I do not want to be a social worker. That doesn't mean I can't use my degree, just means I don't want to be in social work. I would love to help people, but I have no desire to be engulfed in the politics and games of the government. I haven't had a job in almost 10 years, so I pretty much have no work history. I do have experience in a lot of things, just not exactly employment. Well, I take that back, I was a Connected in Christ coach for a year, so maybe that counts for something. In my working days, I was a nurses' aide/ward secretary at a hospital and I worked retail. I loved working retail. Low stress and fun environment, but also low pay. What would I really like to do? Write. I guess I think I could be a 'real' writer, though by the number of blogs and books out there, about a billion other people think the same thing. Writing is something I could always do, but with absolutely no promise of getting paid for it. There's nothing pushing me to look right now, except for my curiosity. It's just something to think about and maybe one of these days it will dawn on me what I'm meant to do. Of course, Drew and I still agree that our lives are meant to be lived, not worked. We do and will continue to choose to work to live, not live to work. Know what I mean? What I'd really love to do is volunteer. Meals on Wheels, certify Foose as a therapy dog, hospice respite worker, something like that. I can still do things like that, but I haven't found a volunteer job that helps pay the bills :)

The girls and I picked up Grandpa before therapy yesterday afternoon. We dropped the girls off, Grandpa rolled his eyes at my silly conversation with Kim, then we went to the Dollar Tree. I thought it would be a good way to get him out of the apartment. He agreed to go, so I guess that was a success. We did have an okay time, but when I took him home he smiled and told me I was a cheap date. Oh, Grandpa. He's such a grumpy old man, but I love him all the same.

Alex has this new 'glove' for her right hand. I don't even really know what to call it, it is a soft neoprene thing that is meant to help protect her skin since she keeps her hand balled up all the time. She hasn't been crazy about wearing it, but then Ms Britt told her that she could do puzzles next week if she wore it for an hour each day. I remembered to take it to therapy yesterday, but Alex hid it in the truck and it didn't make it inside. Ms Kim added more loot to the bribe by offering the Happy Dance if she would wear it. When we got home she asked to put it on and wore it for 2 hours! She was happy to show daddy and we even sent Kim, Britt and Cheryl a text and photo of her. Ms Kim replied with the Happy Dance and Alex waved her arms while I sang, then asked for it again. Hopefully she will get used to the glove and be willing to wear it often. It is necessary to keep the skin in her palm from breaking down. My grandma had that same problem as her muscles contracted. Her hand stayed balled up and it got to the point that we couldn't even get her hand open enough to trim her nails, which meant that they were digging into her skin. I can still open Alex's hand to trim her nails and keep everything clean.

Drew has worked a lot of hours this week and I'm thankful to have him working from home today. When we got up I ran to church to drop off some cookies for the bake sale. I got to visit with the ladies for a little while and browse the rummage sale before heading home to the girls.

Next week is Thanksgiving and I'm looking forward to Drew's short work week and then spending Thanksgiving with our families and friends. We have so much to be thankful for and having everyone together will be lovely.

Oh, randomness again... bringing in a close second to the play dough pooping dog, I saw a commercial for a pooping baby doll. You feed it some nasty stuff and then it poos in its diaper. It's disgusting. I'm all for little girls playing mommy to their baby dolls, but does the diaper really have to have a smear of green goo in it? Gross.

Alex and Emma are still stuck on Santa bringing a big princess castle for Christmas. They know exactly which one it is and aren't wavering on their wish. K Mart is having a toy sale tomorrow morning, buy one get one half off. That's a good deal if Santa is buying expensive toys, but it really means that he would pay full price for the castle and half price for something else, which he would make as expensive as possible to get the biggest discount. That doesn't save Santa anything. Oh, yes, Santa usually makes all the toys he delivers, but these days even Santa has to outsource some things. haha

Okay, one more thing. Sasha had her first doctor appointment earlier this week and all went well. She is 12 weeks along and they heard the heart beat of the baby. Her next appointment is December 12 and that will be an exciting appointment. Depending on how she is growing, they may have a hint of whether she is carrying one baby or two. It is difficult to tell by just listening to the heart beat because the baby moves so much that you can't really tell if it is one baby or two. If they have suspicion of twins then they will order an ultrasound to confirm. Otherwise she will have her ultrasound after the 1st of the year.

uh oh

2011-11-16T15:22:00.001-06:00

So I finally got on Pinterest and I'm afraid we may have a problem. A losing track of time and wasting large amounts of time kind of problem. I thought I was going to be looking for Christmas decorating ideas, but I found myself more interested in designing my dream house. If you don't know what pinterest is, it's like the best magazine ever. It's a website where people 'pin' different photos of all different things. Style, crafts, decorating, fashion, food... all kinds of things. You can search for photos of certain things, pin the ones you like or add new ones. You wind up with pin boards full of photos of things that you love. Love it!

Alex is a talking machine today. It started yesterday evening. I let the dogs out and when they came back in, Foose flopped down beside Alex. She touched him, then looked at me...

Alex: He wet.
Me: Yep, it's raining outside and he played in it.
Alex: Why?
Me: Why did he play in it?
Alex: Why it raining?
Me: Because God makes it rain so the plants and grass and trees can grow. They need water to grow.
Alex: And sunshine.
Me: Yes! They need water and sunshine to grow!
Alex: Yeah.

Most days she says little to nothing, but every once in a while she can talk like she used to. I love it when we have these little conversations. I gives me a little glimpse of what is in her pretty little head and reminds me of how smart she is. She listens, she learns, she takes it all in... she just can't always express it.

Today the main topic of conversation has been about when Daddy is coming home and asking me to sit with her. Guess where I am right now? Sitting with her. We've also been doing laundry.

Emma has been on Zantac for 5 days now and it seems to be doing the job. It took a couple of days, but now she is holding down full feedings and not having any reflux problems. I'm so thankful for that.

Call me Cousin Eddie

2011-11-15T17:22:00.001-06:00

You've all seen National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, right? Remember when Cousin Eddie and his family show up as the family is looking at Clark's excessive Christmas lights? Remember when the grandpa goes to give Eddie's kids a kiss and Eddie says something like, "I wouldn't do that if I were you. He's got an unidentified lip fungus." Well, call me Cousin Eddie.
Grandpa came over this morning and hung out with Alex while I took Emma to the doctor for the face rash. They did a culture and just called me back about it. Yep, it's a fungal infection. My daughter has a face fungus. Lovely. The antibiotics took care of the impetigo (bacterial)m, but the scratching and irritation allowed for further infection. Now I have to go to Wal-Mart and pick up new topical and oral medications for the fungal infection. If it isn't better in 2 weeks then I call back and we do it all over again... apparently fungal infections can be tricky to get rid of. Grrrreat.
If you have a television then you've seen the commercials for the new Muppets movie. The girls keep asking to go see it and Emma is all about Miss Piggy. Isn't that just perfect? Emma & Miss Piggy? I've gotta say that I would also like to see the movie, so maybe we can figure out how to do that. Or maybe we will wait until it comes out on DVD. That might be a better plan.
Speaking of television, let's do a review, Mandy style. X Factor. I watched it one week, thought it was pretty good, then completely lost interest and never watched it again. Drew has been watching a new show called Homeland on Showtime. I watched it with him last night and have to say it was pretty good. It's pretty dry, as in it isn't overly dramatic or theatrical, but I like that. We've still been watching The Office, but I don't like James Shrader. Everyone else is still pretty funny, but you just can't replace Steve Carell. I'm still watching Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice, but I think my new favorite show might be NCIS: Los Angeles. LL Cool J, gotta love him. Chris O'Donnell, love him. Eric Christian Olsen, adorable and I love him. Daniela Ruah, adorable and I love her, too. You should watch it, it's pretty good.
Speaking of cute boys and television. Hey, Friends fans... remember the episode where they create their 'freebee' lists? Drew and I joke about that all the time, though I've added a clause to say that if we ever actually meet any of these people then all the list is void. Who would be on your list? I would have to say... my nerd crush: Seth Meyers. my hot sexy, somewhat age appropriate, crush: Mark Whalberg. My inappropriately old, but still hot and sexy crush: Jon Bon Jovi. Christin and I already had a very intellectual (haha) conversation about this and her list was full of people I've never heard of. I'm pretty sure my mom would have Tom Selleck and at least one man with an Irish accent. Drew still loves Julia Roberts, he's always had a thing for her. We know that Alex loves Scotty McCreary (she saw him in a magazine the other day and about went crazy). Unfortunately, Emma loves Justin Bieber. LOL. So who is on your list? Come on, it's just a silly game. It's nothing inappropriate, we all have silly crushes. I want to know who is on your crush list!
Okay, I'm just killing time here, sitting with the girls and waiting for Drew to get home. I could be doing something productive, but that would require much more energy than I'm willing to put forth.

Pink & Purple Christmas

2011-11-15T17:19:00.001-06:00

Other things in the living room…

I put the girls’ little silver tree on the buffet by the television.

This wreath hangs on the curtain rod all the time, I just changed a few things…

Don’t look at how dirty the blinds are. For some reason, the thought of cleaning the blinds feels like some sort of torture.

We’ve had these shelves for years, but Drew just put them up again and I added a little Christmas touch.

Mom sent me a Pintrest invite a few months ago and I let it expire before I did anything with it, so Britt sent me another. She also sent me some great ideas she found there. I’m excited to make some things and decorate some more. It almost seems silly to put so much effort into decorations that only stay up for a few weeks of the year, but it is so fun and festive that I can’t help myself. I’m almost afraid to actually get on Pintrest, knowing I may never accomplish anything else.

Now, un-fun stuff. The impetigo on Emma’s face is no better after 10 days of oral and topical antibiotics. I called the nurse and now I have to take her in this morning. What a drag. Hopefully there is something else that will clear it all up, she looks pitiful with this rash all over her face and I know it is irritating her.

Last night we watched The Santa Clause (the Tim Allen movie) with the girls. We were all snuggled up on the couch and at the very end I looked over at Alex and her lip was curled up and she had a big tear rolling down her face. It wasn’t an “I’m so upset this movie is over” cry, it was like she was just feeling emotional over the movie. It was so sweet to see her feeling that. She never made a big deal out of it, just let a few tears fall and enjoyed being snuggled in Daddy’s arms.

Looks like Drew may have to go in to the office Wednesday and Thursday, just so much going on that he can’t handle from home. He will still work from home on Friday and we will just be thankful for that.

Weekend

2011-11-14T12:16:00.001-06:00

Well, Drew didn’t wind up with a deer this weekend. Even so, I’m glad he got to spend some time with Pat & John and then with Stacey. Stacey cracks me up and I often joke that he’s the male version of me. Drew tells me to hush because that’s just weird! The girls were happy to see Stacey, but Foose was not. From the moment he walked in the door, Foose was not pleased. He barked at him and growled, but backed away every time Stacey tried to pet him. Now, most people take it easy, stand still, let the dogs check them out and then gently make their way to the couch. Stacey just came right in, Foose barked and Stacey told him to hush and stop it. He cracks me up.

Emma had fun playing with Stacey’s hunting boots, so he helped her out.

After Stacey headed home and we all took a nap, I had to run to Wal-Mart for a few things to get us through the week. I caved and bought a $20 6ft Christmas tree and a $5 box of pink and purple ornaments. The truth is that even if we waited until payday on Friday, we still couldn’t spend more than that on a prettier tree. The girls were so anxious and I just couldn’t make them wait any longer.

It is sort of pitiful, but only because I usually do Christmas up bigger. Well, I usually do the Christmas tree up bigger. When it was standing there bare it was sad, but once I started decorating, it turned into the perfect Alex & Emma tree.

Before…

Me working on the decorating…

The girls handing me ornaments…

I’m still working on getting everything beautified, so I don’t have a great photo yet. I will wait to post one until I’m all done and satisfied. The girls love the tree. Alex smiles and points like every time she looks is the first time she’s ever seen it. If I can keep Emma out of it then it will be a miracle.

Drew is at the actual office today and Alex seems okay with that, though she has asked me several times when he will be home. Hopefully he can get all the essential things done today and tomorrow so he can work from home the rest of the week.

Twilight. Are any of you surprised that I haven’t posted about it before now? Breaking Dawn, Part 1 of the last Twilight book, is coming to theaters on Friday. We surely won’t be at the midnight showing (we can’t stay up that late anymore anyway!), but I’m hoping to see it soon. I made the mistake of picking up the book again, since it’s been so long since I read it. I’m wishing I hadn’t, because now I’m already frustrated at the fact they they decided to make the last book into 2 movies. I can’t be sure exactly where the movie will cut things off, but I can assume and I know I will be frustrated to wait another year for the last movie to come out.

Even as I read the book and see the previews for the newest movie, I think to myself how ridiculous it is that I like the Twilight Saga. It is completely not my kind of thing. I mean… vampires and ware wolves? Anybody betting would surely assume I wouldn’t be interested in such a thing. Oh well, I am interested and I will drag Drew to the theater to watch it with me soon… and he will oblige and probably even buy me some popcorn. Gotta love that guy.

Gimme Some Love

2011-11-12T08:50:00.001-06:00

Last week my sweet friend and hair dresser, Kendra, come over to visit. She was off on Wednesday and had a super fun surprise for me. The last time I was there I guess I made a comment about her not looking at my toe nails because they hadn't been painted in a while. The next day she came across a super fun deal on small polish sets from OPI and she thought of me :) She brought me such fun things to do my nails and brough her son Jet over to see the girls. Jet was a twin, but his brother Maddox was born with serious health issues and passed away before he was 6 months old. Even though Jet can't remember his brother, he seems to have some extra sense and compassion and I attribute it to Maddox. Jet has always been so sweet and patient with Alex and Emma, without even the slightest hint of pity.
I swear he and Emma could be a little old couple the way they act. Flirt Alert!

Aren't they adorable?!

Jet was acting like he didn't want to love on Alex, but when I didn't have the camera he was being sweet to her. I thought this picture was hilarious, though. Gimme some love, Jet!

Drew's brother Pat came over yesterday evening. The girls had their computers out all afternoon and every 5 minutes Alex would use it to ask, "What time is it?" and then said, "Pat?" She couldn't wait for him to get here. Emma got the biggest kick out of how the dogs reacted to Pat. She just giggled and giggled.

Pat spent the night and he and Drew got up early this morning to head to the deer woods. I haven't heard from them, but I'm guessing that Drew wasn't thrilled about the clear skies last night. The deer move around more at night when they can see, which means they don't bed down for the night and get up early to roam around. Drew was like a little kids on Christmas Eve, going through all his stuff last night and getting everything ready to go. Then he hardly slept at all last night with anticipation. I hope he got a good buck this morning, but we will just have to wait to hear from him. He would be so excited to tell his hunting story and I would love to have a freezer of deer meat... jerky and chili... yum.

I have been preparing for our pink & purple Happy Christmas. Drew cut out this wood wreath for me last week and I finally finished painting it. It's hard to get a good picture without a glare because of all the glitter.

Alex had a lot to say yesterday afternoon and the main thing she wanted to get across was that we were going to have a pink & purple Christmas and she wanted the tree up. I'm still on the hunt for one and this weekend is a pretty busy with Drew deer hunting and the Hogs on television tonight, so we will probably shoot to get a tree up by Wednesday. It's only a week before Thanksgiving and the girls will be ecstatic.

Updates... Emma has continuted to have reflux problems and not take full feedings. I did speak with Dr F and she called in a Zantac prescription. It hasn't been quite 48 hours, but so far I'm not seeing a lot of improvement. She will take a full feeding one time and then not the next. I'm hoping things steadily get better. She is so generally uncomfortable that adding reflux and tummy pains to the mix is just miserable. She is really jerky and can't sit still or get comfortable, almost ever. It leads to lots of fussing and frustration (for all of us).

As for the impetigo on Emma's face, it seems to be clearing up and drying out on her chin, but there is still a rash on her face and neck. We still have several days of antibiotic and plenty of ointment left, so I will continue that and call Dr F back next week if the problem isn't gone.

Alex still has some congestion and takes a little while to get comfortable in the mornings, but she is doing fairly well. No worse, I would say. She is still all about her Daddy and wanted to make sure that he was coming back home today after hunting. She is cool with Drew being in the office and working during the day, as long as he doesn't doddle when he is done. She wants him right beside her.

It's been a long time since I mentioned Extreme Home Makeover. No news, so don't think I'm hiding anything from you all. We won't be getting an extreme home from ABC and that's okay. We are content where we are and if I get my dream house someday, I would rather it not be in our modest neighborhood. Just FYI.

2011-11-11T09:54:00.001-06:00

I recorded the CMA music awards show on Wednesday night and the girls and I are just getting around to watching it. Emma is my music and fashion girl. She is all about listening to our favorite songs and talking about whose dresses are the prettiest. I would have to say that Taylor Swift is Emma's favorite. I'm a fan, but mostly she just makes me want to play the guitar. Brad Paisly, Carrie Underwood, Taylor Swift, Keith Urban... the list goes on and on, but I'm absolutely sure I'm supposed to play the guitar. I've told Drew in the past and now every time we see one of the $100 kiddie guitars displayed for Christmas, he says he's going to get it for me. Honestly, I would love to have a guitar, but I think I'd rather have a nicer one that came from a pawn shop or something. I don't need a fancy and expensive one, but I would like to have a real one and not a toy. Who knows, maybe the reason I'm a terrible singer (that sings constantly anyway) is because I'm not holding a guitar in my arms. I'm sure that's it. I've disclosed before that I have a strange (and very false) feeling that I can sit down at a piano and just start playing... that the music would just flow from my finger tips. That's just ridiculous and I obviously don't have room for a piano in my house, so I think a guitar might just be my musical desire solution. Goodness knows I'm not going to pick up a trumpet again. I played from 7th-12th grades and I was naturally good enough that I felt obligated to continue through those years. Truth is, I never loved it. After junior high I rarely, if ever, practiced. I continued in the high school band... despising early morning rehearsals on the field and hiding in the stands during marching (aka football) season, wishing I was in the student section with my friends and rooting for my handsome football player boyfriend (that's you, Drew). I liked concert season better. I enjoyed the music so much, but mostly like the season because it required little time outside of school. I hate that I didn't put more effort into it, who knows what I could have done. Even so, I do NOT regret bowing out after high school. The night of our last concert, in the spring of my senior year, I put my trumpet in its case for the final time. I never played it again and honestly never missed it. I loved the music and I'm thankful for the knowledge that I have because of it, but a trumpet player I am not. Then there's the vain part... I mean, who ever looked at a woman trumpet player and thought, "Man, she's hot." I can't think of one. I think I would look way hotter playing the guitar. Don't you think? For sure.

Nonnie offered to come over yesterday morning to give me a break and only minutes later I got a text from Christin. She was off yesterday, so we met in Springdale and had lunch and cruised Hobby Lobby for Christmas trees and pink & purple Christmas loot. We quickly found that Hobby Lobby trees are not in the budget, even at 50% off. I thought maybe K Mart would have something to fit the bill, but instead I just felt on the brink of a panic attack. The store is old and kind of dirty and the ceilings are too low. It felt dark and dingy and it felt just like being in a parking garage. The trees were still too expensive... $100 for a 4 ft tree? No thank you. We walked through the toy section, but I had to keep my hands behind my back and remember to breathe. I'm a freak who is irrationally claustrophobic. To the parking lot... fresh air... remember to breathe... don't touch my face with my germy hands... breathe... breathe...

Dang, it makes me feel ridiculous when something so silly makes me all anxious. Germ-a-phobia (is that a real thing?) and claustrophobia. I'm actually surprised that Christin didn't slip me a Valium or something... instead she would touch toys in the store and then reach out like she was going to touch me.

Alex is grooving to Scotty McCreary singing on the awards show now. She hasn't said two words all morning (and almost nothing yesterday), but she clearly got out a "SCOTTY!!!!" and a big smile when he took the stage. Sweet girl. We are American Idol fans around here and Scotty was her favorite last season. She also wants to put on her Belle princess dress because Carrie Underwood's dress is so pretty.

Oh, wait, let's back up to the toy subject. Have you seen the commercial for Doggie Doo? I'm serious. I saw the commercial once and thought it was a joke, then I saw it again. I googled it and it is totally for real. A toy dog that eats play dough treats, makes fart noises and then poops. Hey blog hater, how's that for classless? At least my shitzu is a real dog who had a real problem. This doggie is a toy that poops for your entertainment. Gross. Santa will not be bringing that to my girls. I know him personally and he knows not to cross me there.

Okay, I've used up the girls' patience by sitting here with my computer for too long. I'll leave you with a photo from Wednesday morning. That's the best part about Drew being able to work from home, the early morning snuggles that he gets with the girls because he doesn't have to leave the house at 7am.

Wow

2011-11-08T12:11:00.001-06:00

Yesterday afternoon I was in the midst of writing a grumpy post about how much I despise the time change when Drew called. My complaints of how the girls had been awake since 5:45am, I screwed up the bank account and then sloshed dirty vacuum water all over the carpet suddenly seemed silly. Drew was trying to wait until he got home to tell me, but he just couldn’t hold out that long. The short of it is that he will now get to work from home on Wednesdays, Thursday and Fridays. His boss is wonderful and very understanding about the girls and our family. He knows full well that Drew actually works when he works from home. In fact, he may get more work done at home without the distractions of the office.

I don’t know whether to be more grateful for the flexibility of Drew’s job or the fact that Drew has been paying attention. I’ve been handling things around here just fine lately, but I have been having more head aches in the evenings. The days seem quite long and the truth is that things are serious with the girls. I guess reality is laying heavy on us and the stress that comes with that tends to give me evening head aches. Drew was paying attention.

He will be going into the office like normal on Mondays and Tuesdays, but has the ability to work from home the rest of the week. There could be occasions when he needs to go in, but for the most part he will be home. This doesn’t mean that we have 5 days a week of doing nothing, but it does have some awesome benefits. For one, Alex will have her Daddy here for snuggles when she needs them. Even with him working from 8-5 in our home office, he won’t have commute time. That’s an 1 1/2 to 2 hours a day that he won’t spend in the truck. That’s the first hour of the day that the girls are awake and 5-6pm, which are the hardest for me. By the evening hours the girls are tired and ready for Daddy to be home, which makes cooking dinner even more difficult (hence my evening head aches). That’s also about $45 a week that Drew won’t be spending on gasoline. I’m so looking forward to him being here. You see, I don’t want just anybody here to help. Actually, I think that would cause me more stress than relief. I don’t want home health or hospice (which can be longer term for pediatrics). I absolutely want Drew here and he wants to be here. Blessings abound.

Before anybody says anything, we have talked and joked about how we will be able to handle so much time together. My solution? Drew gets up and does cardio every morning to burn some of his overflowing energy. Another thought? A honey-do list. If I have things around the house that need to be done, then I will just start a list on the chalk board door. That way when Drew has down time and is feeling antsy, he has something to do to burn some energy. Drew’s idea? When we get on each other’s nerves, I will always take the blame!

I couldn’t resist these photos last night. Alex’s face is not unhappy, just tired and happy to have her Daddy home.

Alex pretty much stays in the crook of Drew’s arm from the time he gets home until bed time. That’s her safe place and that is where she prefers to be lately. Daddy likes it, too. Silly Emma doesn’t sit still very long, but she does make time to sit in Daddy’s lap and wrap her arm around his neck. Oh, and check out Drew’s facial hair. He’s been in the military for 12 years, so he has never really had the option of not shaving, not for very long anyway. I’ve talked him into letting his hair grow a little (just longer than his normal high and tight military cut) and now he’s gone about a week without shaving his face. I like it :)

Oh, and one more photo.

The pile of black fur that Emma is laying across is Foose. He is actually chewing on a bone and acting like nothing is happening as Emma drapes her wiggly self across his back. Actually, she was looking at a Christmas toy magazine on the floor and Mac stood in front of her like he was looking at it with her. I’m going to say that this is why Foose never gets out of anybody’s way. From the time we has a puppy he has learned to be patient with the girls. They pet him, poke him, lay on him, pull his tail… and he never gets worked up about it. He just lays there and gives them the occasional lick on the face. Heck, he can even chew on a bone and not feel defensive. Surely that is why he will lay in the middle of the floor and not get out of the way when the vacuum is 2 inches from his face. Compared to Alex and Emma, the vacuum is no threat.

I felt that!

2011-11-06T07:55:00.001-06:00

We took the girls to John and Alison’s Friday afternoon. I probably texted to check on them at least 10 times in 24 hours. I just had a much harder time relaxing this time than during sleep overs in the past. They did fine though. Hey, somebody ask Grandpa John why you should wear sweat pants around Emma. He learned the hard way that if you have both hands busy feeding Alex, you are at risk of losing your britches at the hands of a wiggling Emma!

Drew and I had biometric screenings in Fayetteville. We applied for private health coverage, but Drew’s medical history (90% of which is military related and VA covered) added so much extra premium that it wasn’t worth a switch. So, we went for biometric screenings so that Honeywell will put at little money in our HSA in 2012 to help meet our new high deductible. Anyway, we did that and then went to a movie. For the record, The Three Musketeers in 3D is awful. Drew was wanting to see a 3D movie since we haven’t done that since all the fancy 3D movies have been out in the last few years. The 3D was pretty cool, but the movie was awful. Don’t waste your money or time.

From there we decided to walk around at Target. We browsed the Christmas section and had an idea. Pink and purple Christmas? We are thinking that the girls may love a pink and purple themed Christmas at our house this year. I usually change up the ribbons and accents that I use each year, so we thought it might be fun to go pink and purple for Emma and Alex this year. Just an idea, we will see how the girls feel about it before we go all out.

We strolled through Pet Smart, just because we could, and then drove through Chic-fil-A for a late dinner before checking on the girls one more time and heading home. We laid in bed and watched a movie and I was asleep before 10:30. We slept super late on Saturday (though I woke up about 8 to check on the girls again) and when Drew got up he said he felt an earthquake before we fell asleep…

He described it at the mirror on my dresser rattling and then the window rattling for about 30 seconds, just after 2am. I immediately pulled up the news on my phone and he was right! There was an earthquake 160 miles from here, just outside of Oklahoma City! I was super disappointed that I slept through it.

We went to Waffle House (classy, right?) for a late lunch (that was actually our breakfast) and ate WAY too much. It was so good, but my greasy food craving is definitely gone for a while.

I was so happy to see the girls and they were happy to see us. We hung out with John and Alison and watched the first half of the Hogs game, then bolted home so Drew could watch the last half. We were both in bed by 10:30 and then we felt another earthquake! I was awake this time! I heard a rattling sound and peaked over the bed to see if it was one of the dogs shaking something, then Drew said, “That’s another earthquake.” He was right. It lasted about 45 seconds, I would say, and really shook the stuff on the walls. We could even feel it, not just hear it. After a little while the news reported that it was a 5.4 (I think) in the same place as earlier that morning, 160 miles from Siloam. Hey OKC family, what did it feel like there? It was definitely strong enough to be noticed here. Mom is another 20 or 30 miles to the east of us, but she felt it, too. I texted Dad, but they must have already been asleep. I wasn’t scared of it at all, pretty much just amazed. It’s the first time I’ve ever felt anything like that. Now, if stuff starts falling off the walls or causing damage, then I would be scared.

Time has changed and my hatred for Daylight Savings has returned. The girls were up at what used to be 7:30, but the clock now says is 6:30. Emma is fussy, Alex is stuffy… and I couldn’t be happier to have them here on the couch with me.

Oh Good

2011-11-04T09:55:00.003-05:00

Oh good, my daughter has a skin infection. Emma has had this weird red patch on her chin for more than a month. We had thought that she scuffed it on the carpet and it just wasn't healing because she rubs it on things when it itches. Dr F told us to put neosporin on it a few weeks ago and then when we saw Dr L he told us to use cortizone. Remember my earlier post about Foose licking the ointment off her face? I'm sure that was helpful for the infection. Nothing was helping and last night we noticed that it was spreading on her face and neck. I made an appointment for this morning and we just got home from the doctor. Turns out that she has impetigo. Gross. A bacterial infection of the skin that require an antibiotic cream and oral antibiotic. Of course, when we got home I looked it up online and now I feel like a nasty mom. It said that many kids who get it don't have good hygiene. Mom of the year, here... coming to you live from my living room with my unhygienic child and her bacteria infected face. Oh good.
Okay, in reality it is a common childhood thing that happens when the skin has been broken for some reason and bacteria takes over. Chances are that she did scuff her chin on the carpet and it just never healed because the broken skin allowed bacteria in. Even so, I feel the need to bathe my children in antibacterial soap and wash all linens and clothing in hot water. Now, it is a miracle that Alex (or me or Drew) don't have it. I'm going to chalk that up to my obsessive hand washing. So maybe I don't bathe them enough, but I wash hands compulsively. I'm not going to lie, I still feel like I have nasty bacteria crawling on me. It's sort of like talking about head lice and then feeling like you might scratch your hair out because of the itching, even though there is nothing actually wrong.
So, are you itching now? You're welcome.

Alex had a rough day yesterday. It actually started when she woke up before Drew left for work. She did NOT like him leaving and her crying broke Daddy's heart. I made the mistake of not only mentioning Daddy before therapy, but also bringing up her intended sleep over for tonight. Kim called me during therapy because Alex was having a hard time and crying a lot. She would crack a smile and calm down a little, then she would start crying again. She didn't want to do any work or activities and that isn't like her. She made it a few more hours until Drew got home, but she stuck pretty close to him last night and she reiterated that she wants to stay home with Daddy today. I'm not sure what we are doing about the sleep over tonight. First we will see how John and Alison are feeling, then we will decide about Alex. It is important for Drew and I to have time together (and the girls with Grandpa & Alison), but I don't want to cause her any undue stress.

In less relevant news... I got the wild idea to pin curl my hair last night. Yes, I know, I have naturally curly hair. I read a magazine article about how Taylor Swift pin curls her hair to keep it from frizzing and avoid using products that make her hair goopy or crusty. Great idea, right? Wrong. First Drew made fun of me for having my hair pinned in curls on my head. I woke up before he did this morning and was horrified when I took the pins out of my hair. In short, the pins came out, the curls stayed stuck to my head. You would think my memory is better that this, but it is not. I spent a great deal of my child hood sleeping in sponge rollers and even tried it a time or two as an adult. My hair hold curl REALLY well. I should have remembered that. I could not get the curls to loosen up and the more I tried the more I looked like a grandma who has her hair set once a week and the football helmet of curls stay stuck in place for days. I finally pulled it all back into a pony tail and I'm hoping that when I take the pony tail down the curls will have relaxed a little. Otherwise it is a pony tail day for me.

I'm giving Walmart time to fill Emma's prescriptions and then I will run and pick them up. Speaking of Walmart and prescriptions... I still haven't won the lottery and the jackpot is now up to a billion dollars. Okay, not really, but it is more than $200 million and that is a LOT. In addition to the things I already said I will do, if I win I am going to hang out at the pharmacy with my debit card. I will never again witness a person who has to choose which medications to get this month because they can't afford to pay for them all. Nothing would make me happier than to pay for a person's medications and give them a month of no worries when it comes to medications and bills. Until then, I will have to settle for paying for my own families medications.

James Franco

2011-11-03T12:40:00.000-05:00

My Schwan man is James Franco. I'm almost certain. I swear to you he looks exactly like this...

Well, he looks exactly like that except that he was wearing his Schwan's sweat shirt today. He does NOT look at me like this...

I'm pretty sure that look would cost extra and every woman on the planet would be buying Schwan's products. Generally, he just looks at me with gratitude when I have my list ready and don't have to sit on the front porch and decide what I want while he waits on me. Not to worry, there's no crush going on. I would like him just as much if he was an old, fat and harry guy, because he delivers yummy food. If I could get him to deliver toilet paper and trash bags then I may never need to go to Walmart again. Marketing idea? I think so.

It rained here last night and is chilly today. And windy. Very windy. The leaves on our trees are just barely starting to fall and for the most part they are still green. I've seen a few trees around the area that have turned pretty colors, mainly the maple trees that turn a brilliant red, but our oak trees seem to have missed the memo that it is November. Maybe it's for the best, because if the leaves were beautiful and falling then I would have to muster all my self control to not put the girls in the front yard and take photos. Probably better for allergy prevention to not put them in a pile of leaves.

Speaking of allergies, I'm trying to vacuum the floors more often. I usually only get it done once a week, so I'm trying to step it up to 3 times a week. The girls have never seemed bothered by the dogs at all, but the dust and dog hair can't help anything. We have a great Hyla vacuum (like a Rainbow, with the water filtration), so there is no sense in not using it often. If you think your floors are clean, run my vacuum and then look at all the crap the water caught. You would be shocked, I'm sure. You may even consider buying a ridiculously expensive vacuum to make yourself feel better. I'm guessing that most of us who own a Hyla bought it for that reason.

I wound up going to Walmart the day after Halloween and when I walked through the doors I was greeted by a huge Christmas tree and carols. It's early, but I couldn't help but smile a little at the tree and I'm not sure how long I was humming to the Christmas carols before I realized what I was doing. I mean, Thanksgiving is only a few weeks away, so I guess it really isn't THAT early for Christmas stuff. We will have a few things to buy before we can decorate. After the house flooded last winter, we threw away a bunch of stuff. Just stuff that was ragged and probably needed to be replaced anyway. The thing about having actually thrown it away is that we no longer have the option of making do with it this year. It SO isn't about all of that stuff anyway. It is fun to decorate and have our home feel festive, but it's more about decorating together as a family and enjoying it together, not the actual stuff you decorate with. Even more, it isn't about decorations at all. You know we are Christians. You know we believe that Christmas is a celebration of the birth of Christ. We keep that our focus and the rest is just for fun.

Tomorrow night has been scheduled for the girls to have a sleep over with John & Alison. As long as the girls are feeling well and John and/or Alison aren't sick, we are going to stick with that plan. Drew and I have appointments for biometric screenings later tomorrow afternoon, so I guess that will be our date night kick off. Romantic, no? It's actually just something we have to do for insurance re-enrollment. We looked into private health insurance, but they added on so much premium because of Drew's medical history. Never mind that 90% of that history is military related and VA covered. Whatever. We are sticking with our group plan, despite the changing coverage. If we both have biometric screenings then the company will put a little money in our HSA to help cover our high deductible. Every little bit helps.

Trick or Treat: Part 2

2011-11-01T18:01:00.001-05:00

Mom came over Monday morning to help me take the girls to the fall party at the preschool. My little Minnie Mouse and Princess Belle.

With Ms Britt…

With Ms Cheryl and Ms Heidi…

With Ms Kim…

Courtney and Austin came by in the evening to see the girls in costume and brought them treats.

We had Nonnie over last night to celebrate her birthday. We had dinner, visited, watched television and passed out candy to trick-or-treaters. Oh, and played with all the girls’ goodies.

Ross and Lisa brought their kiddos by to trick or treat, though I had already given milk and medicine and was snuggling Emma, so I didn’t get any photos.

I wanted to use the Halloween make-up to draw on Drew’s face, but he wouldn’t let me (unless I let him draw on me, which I declined). Emma was willing, so I put her mustache back on. It was funny because by the end of the night there was a cute little Minnie Mouse, almost asleep with her daddy, but she still had her mustache.

It was really a fun couple of days, though none of us wanted to get up this morning. After two busy days and staying up late last night, I can only imagine the girls will be in bed early tonight. Drew is working late on a project, so I’m not sure when he will be home. I’ve got to say I’m getting a little tired of being wiggled on and will be happy when bed time rolls around and I can sit on the couch by myself.

Trick or Treat

2011-11-01T17:19:00.001-05:00

It turned out that we had quite a busy Sunday and Monday. It was really a great weekend. Casey and Sasha and Kyle’s crew…

I thought we would help the little kids carve pumpkins, but it turned into an adult event. Cleaning out pumpkin guts…

Alex & Misty

Misty designing and preparing to carve the girls jack-o-lantern…

Casey designing his cowboy jack-o-lantern…

Misty is such a pro at carving, so Drew went to the garage for more tools. For the record, the hatchet was just a joke, but he did use the sheet rock saw.

Kayla and Braeden, look at that blonde hair.

The boys’ pumpkins started as a cowboy, but after seeing Misty’s pumpkin (who was throwing up his pumpkin guts), they added a little something to make him the Marlboro man.

Classy, right? Don’t worry, I cleaned them up to be child friendly before I put them outside last night.

Sasha & Emma.

The girls won the carving contest. Our victory photo…

There is at least one unseen person in this photo, a.k.a. the baby in Sasha’s belly. I didn’t realize until Sunday that twins run in her family and she or her sister are the next in line to have them! I am absolutely overly anxious to find out if there is one baby or two! She should find out fairly soon.

Then the McGaugh’s came trick or treating at our house, bearing goodies for the girls. You know, all the stuff that a mother would cringe to buy her own children, but takes great pleasure in giving to someone else’s children. Make up, colored hair spray, etc. Carly painted on Emma’s face.

Then Allie gave her a mustache!

Stacy and Carly fixed up Alex.

Patsy came with them, but somehow I don’t have her in a single photo.

It was such a fun day around here! Stay tuned for Trick or Treat: Part 2.