My Girls are growing up….

I know it has been awhile, sorry about that.  Life is a never ending roller coaster, and if you have children you know exactly what I mean!  Let’s see, since my last post…..I have been able to take Gracie’s bottle away from her completely.  It has been over a week since she has had a bottle.  YAY ME!  Yay Gracie!  

We threw a 4th of July Cookout.  It went very well.  Some of my family came and almost all of Geoff’s immediate family came.  They played Bocce ball, and fished a little it was a good time.  My sister Tammy and my niece Brandi decided to paint toenails and fingernails, Patriotically.

 

Miss Gracie was scared but really wanted them painted.  So Grandma Betty stepped in and painted her little toes, RED WHITE AND BLUE of course!  

 

Just love this pic of Emma with the flag, she was actually pouting because the “big Kids” were playing ball without her, BOCCE Ball that is.  And of course that made her little lip roll out like a red carpet.  But we later found her fishing!

 

Also, since my last post my Husband has bought a new GMC Sierra!  He had a GMC Canyon and was just not happy with it.  He wanted a full sized truck, so he checked into and found that if he traded it in he would save 75 bucks a month and be 0% for 72 months.  So needless to say we did it!  

The Girls were definitely enjoying it.  They love running around in the back of the truck bed.  It has been a very busy couple of months around here.  We are having a very wet summer so that hinders our outdoor activities.  My girls are very busy and active and that wears a Mama out!

An Unbelievable Experience….

On Saturday May 3, 2008, My Family and Friends walked for the March for Babies.  Better known to most as the March of Dimes.  This was our 3rd consecutive year walking.  We are Team Miss Emma.  My first born, Emma, was 10 weeks early.  I had preeclampsia, my kidneys were failing and my blood pressure was through the roof.  I had been on bed rest for the last 7 months.  I couldn’t lift my own laundry basket or push the grocery cart.  Emma came out screaming at the top of those tiny lungs, weighing in at 2lbs 7ozs.  She spent 6 weeks in the NICU. Emma had no major problems, no Ventilator.  Praise the Lord.  I traveled 2x a day 30 miles each way to sit with her.  It was worth every moment to have the perfect little 3 year old we have today.  

 

 

Team Miss Emma raised over $1000 for the March for Babies.  I received the crystal carriage as a gift for the top family team.  Talk about bringing tears to a mother’s eyes.  I told the man who gave it to me he was going to make me cry and my mom said “I am already crying for you!”  I love my family and friends so much for supporting me in this new found cause.  They all have been super supportive, since the day I found out I was pregnant with Emma.  When we decided to have another baby, my family was super scared that we would not be so lucky with Gracie.  Our Dr with Gracie had no worries, he seen me weekly and decided to take Gracie 4 weeks early via C-section.  With my history or preeclampsia and high blood pressure, I will probably never experience natural childbirth, my Dr refuses to let me labor due to the chance of a stroke.  I must say though thanks to the research  March of Dimes funds, My Husband and I have 2 beautiful, healthy baby girls.

 

 

 

 

 

Spring has Sprung……

 

I do believe Spring has made an entrance!  I have never had such a longing for a new season to begin.

My Girls seem to like the Slide the best but Emma is Excited about the swings too! Gracie is still not too sure about all of it but I am sure she will come around by the end of summer and I will have plenty of shots of her in action too, just like big sis!!

 

 

 

 Our Family spent the last 2 days outside.  Saturday we made a little Journey around our home.  Sunday we went to a local park for a bit.   The Girls love it outside.  Sidewalk Chalk, Wagons, Swings, Slides, alll so much fun.  Of course I took some pictures during our outings!

 

All My spring flowers have sprouted I am so excited.  So much to see and do in the Spring, and as the saying goes April Showers bring May Flowers, the rain will be here in a couple of days.  We get to enjoy it until then.  I have opened my windows and blinds, to feel the breeze and the sunshine in!

 

 

And Here’s Gracie…..

Our younger daughter Gracie has really started to show her personality the last couple of weeks.  I am sorry to say but I think she is going to be a MINI ME.  Poor girl!  I can see so much of me in her it cracks me up!   I am more of the outgoing, good humored, sometimes loud type.  I love a good laugh!   And I can be VERY ornery at times (I get that from MY Dad).  Gracie has this devious laugh, it is hilarious to hear her do it.  We usually hear it right before she does something or immediately after.    

 

 Like tonight for example, Emma was asleep on the couch and Gracie was trying to wake her up, every time she would touch Emma we would hear it!  She is definitely destined to be a HANDFUL!  I love it though, I have the best of both WORLDS!  I have my pretty, kind-hearted princess, and my Cute but ornery tom-girl.  Our house is filled with laughter most of the time.  My Girls Love each other and Geoff and I are already preparing ourselves for the DOUBLE-Teaming that is sure to come about with two girls 2 years apart!  We know we are in for a long and crazy ride but, we wouldn’t have it any other way!

Cloth Diapering….

My Husband and I are considering cloth diapering.  We are just thinking about it right now, not an all out commitment quite yet.  Gracie will be in Diapers probably another year if I had to guess, so we may buy a couple maybe more to try it out, then if we do decide we like it, we can add to our diaper stash for the next baby.  That is if we decide to have another Baby!   I can’t believe how much it has changed since my mom and grandma did it.  These Diapers are actually stylish, and cute, this could become an obsession very quickly!     These are diapers from one of my WAHM’s Business.  WWW.PAMPEREDBUNZ.COM  She has a discount right now for $2, the code is grandreopen.   So if you are interested in some Cloth Diapers, check out her site.    

Accessorize……

Any of you who have little kids, especially the little girls know EXACTLY what I mean.  You  buy an outfit, and it is not JUST the outfit.  It has little socks, or a pair of shoes, headband, or a hat.  Now with that said no matter what the size of the outfit, the those accessories NEVER seem to be the right size at the time they actually wear the outfit.  Occasionally, they are too small but more times than I can count they are much too big.  Case in point….. As you can see Emma has on her Easter Dress with the lovely hat.  This is a 3T, the hat is probably a 5t or more!  Poor kid, although it makes for some cute pics and made the congregation laugh, it has to be extremely frustrating for the child I am sure!  I even safety pinned the side of the hat up so it wouldn’t “flap” down in her face, but it didn’t matter, it was so big the hat just kind of slid around on her head.I also have a few outfits from when my girls were infants, the sizes were 3-6 months, 6-9 months, and 12 months.  They came with these adorable headbands, and each one of these still is too big for my 3 year old, and I can put them on my HEAD with out even stretching them!  How can I expect this headband to fit my “baby” when it is big enough for me????  

March for Babies

And the EASTER BUNNY Wins with a KNOCK OUT…..

These are the pictures of my girls with the Easter Bunny today at our local Wal-mart.  As you can see my girls were very content sitting on his lap.  Gracie didn’t even want to come to me when I tried to remove her from his fluffy little lap!  Which is amazing considering the history she has with other characters.  Emma was more than happy to give him a hug and decided it was okay to sit on his lap, heck she even smiled for the camera!  And all this took place BEFORE they got their candy!        Now, these are the pictures of the last encounter with SANTA!  As you can see, Gracie doesn’t care what Santa has for her.  She just wants out of this man’s lap and NOW!  As for Emma, she finally relented and decided she would stand beside Santa to get her gift.  All the while asking him if it was a Princess Cash Register.   Then, after she opened the much loved Cash Register, we were able to get the hug for poor Santa.    I don’t know about you but I would be very afraid of a life-size fuzzy rabbit, more so than an old man in a red and white suit.  There is just something about Santa, he just sends kids into a frenzy.  No matter how many gifts he brings, by the time they are friendly with Santa it is time for them to stop believing in him.   Poor Santa. 

A Beautiful New Addition…….

On March 7, My Husband’s youngest sister brought a beautiful baby girl into the world.  Her name is Kennedy Lynn.  Now, this little wonder weighed 7 pounds and 1 whole ounce.  Perfect in every way.  This is their first baby, and I know they are going to be wonderful parents.

 

 

 

 

Our girls, Emma and Gracie have not been able to see their new cousin, since we all have been fighting colds.  Emma is just chomping at the bit to see Baby Kennedy.  If you ask Emma about her, she says, “Baby Kennedy is my new cousin, and she is going to play with me, but not until she gets bigger.  I just want to hold her for a little bit.”  So, needless to say Emma is a bit excited about this new bundle of joy, and is a little tired of experiencing Kennedy through those few Kodak moments we captured to show her! 

 

Kennedy brings the tally to 4 girls, on my husbands side of the family!  Yes, this family is huge into football, and all we can produce is girls!  I love each and every one of these little princesses, but I know my husband and father-in-law secretly hope for a little boy to come out of these pregnancies.   

 

 

As for my husband and I, we are not sure if our family is complete yet, this is still a subject up for debate in our life.  I do know, if we do have another child and it is a girl, I AM DONE.  You remember the show 8 is Enough?  Well, 3 is enough here!  Whether it be 3 girls, or 2 girls and one boy.  So that subject is definately  TO BE CONTINUED! 

 

Now, did you really think I was gonna take all these pictures and NOT hold this beautiful baby?????  Ya, RIGHT! 

 

 

Snow, Snow, SUN, More Snow…..

Ok, I LOVE snow.  But, there comes a point when Enough is Enough.  I realize Spring is not until March 20th, but it has been cold then warm, cold then warm.  We had days that were in the high 50’s then the next day it was in the teens.  What is up with that?  I have allergies, so I like it to get cold and stay cold for at least a couple of months.  It has not done that this winter.  The Night before last it froze rain for hours then dumped 6 to 8 inches of snow on top of it all.  Apparently the Snow plows around here didn’t feel the need to clear the roads so my dear husband could make it home that night.  A 25 minute drive wound up being a 50 minute white knuckled treacherous trip.   My kids have an awful case of Cabin Fever.  They are so full of energy, I wish they would burn it on something constructive, maybe do some laundry or mop the floor!  Or just pick up some toys and put them away!  As of right now they both are on antibiotics for sinus infections.  So they can’t even go out and play in the snow, when it is on the ground.   Emma loves the snow, we have our own little “sled”, I call it a laundry basket but when the snow flies it becomes a “state of the art snowmobile” Powered by MOMMY OR Aunt April!  And let me tell ya like all other power it is not very plentiful!    Since then, we have upgraded to a tiny tot sled, it has a seat and a belt.  It is cute.  Probably a little safer too.  Although, Emma is not at all crazy about “hanging” on to Gracie while riding on the sled.  My girls seem to like the snow. Emma tells us everytime it snows even the tiniest bit, “I just love to make snow angels!” I truly don’t think the child has ever made a snow angel, but she will one of these days!   I just hope spring is coming soon!