Random Update

It’s been ages (or so it seems) since I’ve done much of a post. I’ve just felt overwhelmed with everything there is to do on a weekly basis - in all areas of life. How is there really time for everything? I actually realized tonight that I have started a few posts here & there and never finished them! Oh well. Here are a few random updates:

An Evening Out

A few weeks ago, we went to a dinner/dance with my family. Dad treated us all (very sweet). So, it was Dad, Frankie, Dee, Buck, Rick, Kristina, Butch & me. Jessica babysat for us and things went smoothly for her. We didn't leave until around 7:00 and Leah goes to bed shortly after that. So, that meant she really only had Lacey to watch for most of the time.

It was a lot of fun, but I think I was so excited to be OUT that I drank too much. I honestly planned on limiting myself to 3 glasses of wine and know that it all that I asked for/went to get. But, I think Butch and/or Rick and/or Buck brought back another glass or 2 at other times. I felt horrible the next day!

Anyway, there was a lottery type thing at the dance. Everyone had a number and if your number was called, they you were eliminated. It was fun, but it interupted the dancing. And, each time they did it, they turned the lights all the way up for all of us to read our tickets.

The band was pretty good. Dee & I danced a ton. Dad, too. I've said it before........when I'm 70, I sure hope I'm moving like that on the dance floor!

Last Weekend

Kristina's parents both turned 70 in recent weeks, so she & her sister hosted a pool party to celebrate on Saturday. It was the hottest weekend so far. Bad for being outside, but at least there was a pool! It was Lacey's first time in this year and Leah's first time ever. Both had a ball. This is Jessica (Steckita) with the girls:

On Sunday, we went to Dad's to cookout. The week before, he bought a swingset and had it all set up for Lacey (and Leah) when we got there. He put on a baby swing that we'd bought for Lacey when she was an infant. Lacey never liked it, but Leah loved it!

Lacey loved the pool at PaPa's house, too. She can touch the bottom now, so she feels like a big girl.

Air Conditioning

Well, our a/c broke again. Yes, you read that right. This is the 3rd time in a year. Last year - literally while I was at the hospital in labor - a new inside unit was being installed for our upstairs a/c. A few months ago, a new inside unit was installed for our downstairs a/c. And now....we've had a new outside unit installed for upstairs. We were without for about a week. This just happened to be the week that we had our first heatwave. Lovely. It was about 90* in Leah's room when she went to bed for 3 nights. And, humid. On the last night, we decided to try putting fans in the foyer and direct them toward the balcony to bring cold air upstairs and this helped a bit. I'm just happy that it's fixed now. We are all sleeping better.

Commute

For some reason....that I've yet to figure out....my morning commute has gotten worse lately. It used to take about 90 min. pretty regularly. The last 2 weeks, it's been about 2 hours. I know part of the problem is they have a road closed in DC that is causing others to take my route. But, that isn't the entire issue. Considering metro and commuter bus numbers are so high (thank you to gas prices), you would think my commute would be shorter. Makes no sense to me and it's making me crazy. Before kids, I was in the office by 7:30. After Lacey, it was about 8:00. After Leah it was about 8:30. With this recent issue, I'm lucky to make it in by 8:45. This is yet another reason why I love my work @ home days.

Father's Day

We're going to the Optimist Club picnic tomorrow. Dad is a member and they have this annual cookout/picnic that we started going to a few years ago. Last year, I was 9 months pregnant and it was HOT. This year, we'll have 2 of them to chase around, but the weather is expected to be much nicer. They have a nice little playground for the kids. And, last year, they had buggies pulled by horses. Lacey loved it. We're hoping for more of the same this year.

I struggled with what to get Butch. I can't really post anything here in case he reads this before tomorrow. :-)

Well, I'd better run. After much time away, I feel like I've written a book. Hehe.

I've been tagged!

I feel bad! Allison tagged me a while ago, but because I've been so bad at keeping up with blogs lately, I didn't see it until today!

1. What was I doing 10 years ago?
Hmmm. That would have been 1998. I had left KVI and was working at Seabury. But, at that point, I believe the companies had completely merged. So, I was probably working in Old Town Alexandria. I believe this was the timing of when I decided to move back in with Mom & Dad for a bit, too. The dad of the roomie I was living with owned the house and she really wanted to live by herself, so I was without a place to live and really wanted to save to buy something of my own. And, the timing was also good because it got me away from the boyfriend that I really needed to get away from. Leaving Northern VA gave me the space to move on from him permanently.

2) What are 5 things on my to-do list for today (not in any particular order):Well today is almost over so I'd better give you a hybrid of today/tomorrow--
1. Watch Juno with Butch tonight.
2. Go to the Father’s Day picnic that the Optomist Club has.
3. Go to the grocery store.
4. Put away laundry.
5. Walk on the treadmill!

3) Snacks I enjoy:Cheese, cookies, M&Ms, peanut butter crackers

4) Things I would do if I were a billionaire:Set aside an entire college fund for our kids.
Set aside our retirement fund.
Make sure my entire family was taken care of (paid off houses, college for the kids, etc.)
Share the money with Best Friends.
Share the money with organizations that take care of children.

5) Places I have lived:Southern MD (Charlotte Hall and Hughesville)
VA (Alexandria, Springfield, Annandale, Arlington, Fairfax)
Salisbury, MD

Dancin' Machine

Need I say more?

A New(ish) Playhouse

I had been keeping my eyes out for some fun outdoor play equipment and found a playhouse through Craig's List locally. We want one for our house, too, but since we spend a good deal of time at Dad's during the summer and he doesn't have many toys around for the girls, I thought we'd set this playhouse up at his house.

On Sunday, we took the play house to Dad's to set up and let the girls play in it for awhile.

I'm keeping my eyes out for another local deal, too.

Daycare "Book"

The daycare/preschool theme from April was "Around the World" and the kids learned about different countries, the cultures, food, etc. It was cute. Well, Miss Lisa also helps them put together daycare books -- each child has a page of their own. Then, when it is complete, it's sent home to each family for a quick peak before sending it on to the next family. The most recent book that I've seen is on travel.....to go along with the Around the World theme.

Here is Lacey's page.

I can see Nancy's smile all the way from Pittsburgh!

Start of my Weekend

My weekend didn't exactly get off to a great start. I left the office around 3:30 in hopes of getting home by 4:45 and walking on the treadmill before dinner. Instead, I walked down to the garage to find glass all over the floor next to my car. It took a few seconds for it to settle in. Someone had busted my drivers side window. All they took was my iPod. The only other things worth anything were my sunglasses and my bluetooth, but both were still in the car. I was just going to get the glass cleaned up, call the car insurance and go home.

But, the property manager and garage manager had other plans. They wanted me to stay until the cops got there. Turns out that one other car had the same thing happen -- and they only took her iPod, too. By the way, our iPods were both out of sight. I think the jerk(s) just saw the power cords and took a chance.

My car was in a "safe" place of the garage, too. It wasn't in a corner or way in the back. It was close to the front and didn't really have any other cars around it. (I park it in the same spot each day - it's a parallel space.) Ugh.

Today, I learned that someone else had an iPod and a GPS taken. Her car was unlocked, though.

So, we waited for the cops and had a report written. The garage company wants to pay for the damages, which is fine, but it would just have been easier to go through my insurance. Instead of leaving at 3:30, I left at 6:00 and got home at 7:15 - just in time to get Leah to bed.

Oh - and driving home with no window wasn't very pleasant since it wasn't very warm out. I had a rain coat, so that helped. And the heat helped when I finally thought to turn it on .... 20 min. before getting home.

Leah is 10 Months Old!

Wow...before you know it, I'll be planning her birthday party!

This is what we went through to get the 10 Month Pic!

Okay, here are the comparison pics.

9 Months

10 Months

Landscaping

Butch had a "free" day off work a couple of weeks ago because the Pope was in town and half of the student body was going to Mass. So, he did a lot of landscaping. The side of the house (the side that is seen as you drive up) had nothing.


And, now it has lots of shrubs and flowers. They are all fairly small right now, but it is such an improvement!

A Wedding = Adult Time

It's been a while since I've really had time to do any posts!


A few weekends ago, Butch and I got an afternoon out.....without kids.....for my cousin, Chet's wedding. The wedding (2:00) was full Catholic Mass and even though we aren't Catholic, the homily was pretty good. The reception (3:00) was at Olde Breton Inn (the same place we had our reception). When we came in, heavy hors d'ouevres were already being set out. Unfortunately, it seems they should not have been set out yet. The reception didn't include dinner, so really everyone should have waited for the bridal party before digging in. However....the wait staff was telling people to eat. We were still holding off at our table, but had decided (finally) since we were being told to eat, we should. While in line, the bridal party arrived....and I thought "this is silly, how can we see them be announced if we're standing in line". This is when I heard someone say "well they shouldn't be eating". So, the staff at Olde Breton Inn seems to have messed up. Oh well. There was plenty of food and the bridal party absolutely had enough to eat! By the way, we sat down after we heard the "well they shouldn't be eating" comment so we could see them walking in.


We didn't have a lot of time to really enjoy things since I wanted to get home to nurse Leah and get her ready for bed. We were initially trying to get home around 5:30, but ended up getting home around 6:30 or 6:45. (Kristin babysat.) There was a little time for drinks and dancing. Quite amazing watching Dad gettin' down. I hope I'm doing that at age 70!

Lacey & Leah's Well Visits

I took Lacey and Leah in for well visits a couple of weeks ago (April 1, actually). Lots of fun (sarcasm, sarcasm.....)! Lacey is quite afraid of stepping on a scale. No clue why. But, she won't do it at home either, so it isn't just the doctor's office. I finally convinced her to sit on the baby scale. Yes, she is 3 and she sat on the baby scale. I also had to really work to get her height. But....alas we did. She weighs 33 pounds and is 39 inches tall. Tall and skinny.

Leah was 19.5 pounds and 27.5 inches. She was also much easier to weigh. :-)

No shots for either of them...thankfully. However, I have lab slips (somewhere) for both girls...urine for Lacey and blood for Leah. I'm not rushing since I know how much fun both of those will be. (again....sarcasm, sarcasm.)

Of course, even though it was a "well visit" for both of them, they both had colds. Lacey walked out with a prescription for a boo-boo she had on her face. She had fallen face first into Miss Lisa's driveway a few days before and busted her lip and nose. The nose was starting to look pretty bad, so Dr. Jill fixed her up. After 1 application of the cream, the difference was noticable. After a couple of days, it was almost gone.

Maybe I won't need to go back to see the doc again until Leah is a year? Cross your fingers for me....

Kramer

Kramer (14 years old) has been losing weight. Yes, I have been thinking "here we go again". He used to be about 15-16 pounds. We noticed the weight loss couple of months ago, but since he was holding at about 10-11 pounds, I hadn't rushed him to the vet. There were way too many things on my to-do list. But, I finally got him in last Wednesday. They took blood and urine to run some tests. On Saturday, we found out he has hyperthyroidism. I was so relieved to here it is something treatable and that he doesn't have kidney disease. I've had enough of that.

They prescribed meds for him and since he doesn't do pills, it was called into our local pharmacy to be "compounded" into a liquid that tastes like chicken. :-) Of course, it's not like he'll drink it, but I feel better holding him down and squirting it in his mouth.

In 2 weeks, we have to go back for more blood work to make sure the doseage is okay. Sometimes they need to adjust it a bit.

A Dog on a Rainy Day

Yes, she got a bath. Need I say more?

Spring Break and Easter

Butch had a nice long spring break. He was off the Thursday & Friday before Easter and the whole week after Easter. Nice. We left for Pittsburgh on Thursday morning. What should be a 5 1/2 hour drive is more like 7 hours with 2 kids. Not bad, though.

Once we got into Pittsburgh, we stopped at Becky's house for a visit. Becky is someone from my February Sweethearts group. (We met online at Baby Center over 3 years ago.) Becky has 2 little ones under age 2 and is pregnant with her 3rd. I don't know where she gets the energy! Anyway, it was nice to meet her in person after all this time. Lacey was a bit quiet and shy around Cristian and Emma, but that's typical for her. She didn't want to leave their house, though.

After we left Becky's we drove another 45 min. to get to Chuck & Nancy's. Lacey fell asleep on the drive (when we were nearly there) and stayed in the car for a bit longer snoozing. It was a good visit, even though it was short. On Friday, we went to Shakespeare's for lunch since Lacey is obsessed with princesses at the moment. There aren't any princesses there, but she loved the castle.

We were back home for Easter. Lacey was excited about the Easter Bunny's visit and thrilled to discover the baskets left for her and Leah. We headed to Dee & Bucky's for "linner" (late lunch/early dinner.....the name comes from my friend, Tonya). Before Linner, Lacey got to hunt eggs in the yard. She loved it this year.

I took off Tuesday & Wednesday to use up some vacation from 2007. I wish I'd taken the entire week. It was good to get things done. I organized and packed away baby/kids clothing, we took lots of it and other things (bouncy seats, play mat, etc.) to the consignment shop (and made $165) and organized the basement a little. We also took time each day to watch a movie. Day 1 was Knocked Up and day 2 was Atonement. Two extremely different flicks, but they were both really good. I think I'm going to take 2 back to back days off in April, too. Unfortunately, Butch won't be off to help with bigger things, but it will still be good.

"I Pledge Allegiance...."

Leah - 9 Months Old!

How did this happen? My little baby is 9 months old! She started crawling about a week ago and has been nonstop ever since. Last night, she pulled herself up to a standing position for the first time! She's doing GREAT! I couldn't get her to sit still for pictures this month! :-)

9 Months

8 Months

Doc Visit, Pictures, Etc.

I finally got in to a doctor (from my slip/fall in the bathroom) on Wednesday. He didn't think I really had a head injury, but did think I was fighting a virus. Since I "had 2 things going on at once" (fall and virus), he wanted to do a CT Scan to be safe. That was done on Thursday and by then, my head-aches were completely gone. Seemed stupid to go, but oh well. Anyway, all must have been well since I didn't hear from him and I feel fine.

Saturday, we took the girls for pictures at Portrait Innovations. They do a great job and I wanted some of Lacey at age 3.....and some more of them together now that Leah is more active. Leah was difficult, though, because she didn't want to sit still. :-) She was all over the place. There were some great pics, though. Unfortunately, their printer was down, so we are waiting for them. They have this great package where you get TONS of pictures for a reasonable price (when you consider the number of pics). But, who needs all those pictures? We did that in the fall and it was fine since Christmas was coming & we sent a bunch out in New Year's cards. So, I decided we'd just buy what we needed. We probably have 30% (or less) of what we had in November and spent the same. Ugh. Oh well. I sort of wish we'd just bought the whole package now. I think this summer, I'm going to have a friend from work come out to do pics. She has a side business of photography and does an awesome job. She has a "sitting fee" plus the cost of the pictures, so I know it will be pricey. But, we'll probably only do it once a year from then on and she can do them at our house, with our pets, and has the benefit of really getting the kids in action.

Today, I took Lacey to Target to spend some of her birthday money. She (of course) picked out little Barbie's (Mariposa). And, they were naked in no time. Do all little girls do this? Sometimes she'll dress them again, but often, her dolls will be naked. Strange girl.

Thursday, we'll be leaving for Pittsburgh. We're taking Brady to a kennel the night before and a neighbor/student at Butch's school is going to cat sit. We're piling the girls in the van early on Thursday (7:30ish) and once we get into the Pittsburgh area, we'll be stopping to see Becky. She is one of the girls on my February Sweethearts board. (These are the women that I met online over 3.5 years ago. We were all pregnant and due to be first time moms in February 2005. Amazing how close we've stayed after all this time.) Anyway, I'll get to meet Becky and her two kiddos. After a visit there, we'll head to Grandma and Poppy's house for a couple of nights. Should be fun. I'm just hoping that Leah deals with the long drive well. Pray for me. :-) I know Lacey will be fine. She's got the DVD player and I've started a little stash of new treats for the car (magna doodle, paper, Easter Bunny is Comin' to Town DVD, etc.).

Leah is waking.......bye!

Leah - 8 months!

Well....I'm a little late this month getting this post up! But, here is Leah's 8 month picture.

8 Months

7 Months

She's doing great! She hasn't mastered crawling, yet. But, she is on her hands and knees a lot now. If she falls down to her chest, she scoots backwards pretty quickly. These days, it seems like she just wants to stand all the time......which means we spend a good deal of time on the floor, helping her stand.

This past week, she has been pretty cranky and it seems to be her teeth. She has 3 now, but evidently, another one (or more) is trying to come in. Last week at Miss Lisa's, she barely napped. One day, she napped 45 min. in the morning and that was it. Poor Miss Lisa.

Nighttime sleep has improved, though! I decided to be a little more of a hard ass and not go to her unless she'd been down for at least 6 hours. For the last 8 nights, we've had 4-5 that she's slept through completely. I actually got 7.5 hours of sleep one night and was amazingly rested. I don't think that's happened since very early pregnancy with Leah.

Binky....Pacifier.....

Lacey still loves her "binks". I'm considering going cold turkey and saying that we forgot them at Grandma and Poppy's house in Pittsburgh. That way, when we come back, oh well. I'm afraid, though!

Here is a post from a message board that I visit. It was quite funny and I hope she doesn't mind that I'm sharing. She titled it "Pacifier Throwdown". :-)

My daughter is a finger sucker. Not a thumb sucker or a pacifier user. She sucks her middle two fingers; I find it endearing.

For her first two weeks of life she took a pacifier, then gave it up forever. For a while, she would suck her wrists at night. From the bassinette it made a hilarious smacking sound. Finally she settled with the fingers.

The pacifier went into the memory box and it's been there for three years. Last night she found it. She recognized what it was and thought it was for her baby dolls. I explained that it was hers when she was a little baby. She put it into her mouth and gave it a try.

Instant addiction. I could see it in her eyes. I told her to put it back into the box and she was compliant, but then she took it out again.

Back into the box. Box on shelf. She suggested we keep the box in her bedroom instead. Knowing her for three years, I could spot that ruse a mile away. "You just want the box so you can use the pacifier." Deny, deny, deny.

She found a stepstool and got the box. Dug out the pacifier and popped it in her mouth. This time when I told her to put it back, she used slight of hand - she only pantomimed putting the pacifier back in the box. It was in her pocket.

Prestidigitation aside, and I do appreciate her effort, that pacifier was not going to be hers. I took it from her pocket and she snatched it off of me. Back into the mouth it went and she scrambled under the bed.

Always under the bed. Always, always. I'm going to attach a mop head to that child and make like it's medicine time... turn spring cleaning into a thing of the past.

So I fish the child out from under the bed but she takes off. She's quick. Wiley. And I'm a little bit stuck under the bed, so I had that slowing me down. I finally tracked her down; she was hiding in a closet happily sucking on that dang pacifier. I did the only thing a mean, evil mommy would do in my situation. I pulled it out of her mouth and put it too high for her to reach.

Left with no other option, she resorted to the final weapon of threedom. Screaming, crying, shaking, clawing and writhing on the ground. The sound of a parents' job well done. (Commonly heard only moments before my very own heart rips in two.)

Past Couple of Weeks

Well, the week after the girls' illnesses was somewhat normal. Chuck & Nancy came into town that Thursday for a visit. We had a bit of a wintry mix that Friday (which is the reason they came in a day sooner). Butch was off and we kept the girls home from daycare to avoid the icy roads.

Saturday, Nancy & I headed to the Crossing at Casey Jones for the Royal British Tradition Tea. We met Dee and Kristina there. It's such a nice time just going to relax. (Of course, this could be because with a 3 year old and an 8 month old, I don't get to do that much.)

The next week was a bit crazy. Miss Lisa's dad died on Monday afternoon. He'd been suffering from Alzheimer's for a couple of years and over the past several months began having other health issues. I know how sad and hard it is to lose a parent, so I thought about her a lot that week.

Of course, with daycare being closed, the girls were home again. Chuck & Nancy were still in town, but Nancy was still using a cane due to having knee surgery in January. So, I didn't think it would be good to leave them alone with both girls. (One being a 19 pound baby that needs to be carried around and up and down stairs.) It was a help having them around, though. I was able to work most of Tuesday, including conference calls, without much interruption. In fact, I headed into the office with Lacey, to pick up some papers. Butch took off on Wednesday so I could go to a client meeting. Then, I was home on Thursday & Friday. Chuck & Nancy actually left on Thursday after my morning meeting. And, Butch took off Friday morning so I could work and do a conference call. I gave up on work that afternoon and just took the afternoon off! I was too tired from balancing it all.

That weekend, Kristin had her House Warming party. She's about an hour away - in Northern VA. It was nice and we loved her place. Lots of yummy food. But, the girls weren't happy being on the floor by themselves and it started to get crowded, so we left. Leah cried from Waldorf to our house (about 20-25 min.) nonstop. Ugh. This makes me quite worried about the 5-6 hour drive to Pittsburgh.

Let's see......where are we?

The next week was pretty normal. And, last weekend was quiet. Butch had to work on Sunday at an open house for school. That was just a few hours, though.

And, now we are back into a work week. Today I was only in the office for a couple of hours before heading to Gaithersburg for a lunch and meeting. Tomorrow I'm working at home. That's good since I'm thinking I may need to see a doctor for this concussion (?). I hate to bother going when there is most likely nothing to be done, but I think I'll feel better about it.

A Concussion???

On Saturday, I was getting out of the shower and heard the phone ringing. I wasn't "rushing", but thought I'd try to get it. (I was waiting for a call back from the kennel to get an estimate on boarding Brady and they are tough to get in touch with.) My first step was on the bath mat. The second step on the linoleum. And, my foot went right out from under me. My head hit the wall really hard. I sat there for a few seconds taking stock of how I was and decided I'd be sore, but was otherwise okay. I had a bruise on my ankle and a knot, plus some swelling and a scrape on my arm. Today.....2 days later, I'm thinking I have a concussion. I keep having dizzy spells. I think I'll be calling the doctor tomorrow.

Lacey's 3rd Birthday

Lacey turned 3 on February 23! Wow! The celebrations actually started the Monday before. We were closed for President's Day and the girls were home with Butch & me. Lacey & I went to Build a Bear for some fun. She made a stuffed cat named.....are you ready?......Kitty. :-) And, we dressed her in Snow White attire. After Build a Bear, we headed to The Children's Place for a bit of shopping, then off to lunch at Red Robin.

Saturday was her actual birthday. Even though her party was planned for Sunday, we couldn't *not* celebrate on Saturday, right? So, it was pizza for dinner and some chocolate cake with ice cream for dessert. We also let her have a couple of gifts that night. Nancy made her a Sleeping Beauty dress, which she (of course) had to immediately put on. Butch & I gave her an easel (chalk board, white board, art paper, etc.) and Sleeping Beauty had to get right to her art work.


Day 3 of celebrations was Sunday. Everyone came over for Chick Fil A. Yum-o. Lacey was thrilled with all of her gifts. She got lots of Princess things (including a nightgown which she changed into) and books, etc. Dad got her (okay, I got it from him) a Princess Scooter. She was quite pleased with it, too. Then, on to the GOOD stuff. Carvel Ice Cream Cake. With Barbie the Island Princess on it. (Yes, she is wearing the nightgown she got.....)

Monday was the daycare party. Yep. Another party. Chuck, Nancy & I headed to Miss Lisa's for lunch and also brought a cupcake cake with little Disney Princesses on it. Lacey, Logan & Mary Kate were all happy.So, Lacey had a great birthday. It's just amazing to me that she is 3.

Momnesia?

Dee sent me a link to an article a few days ago. Many of you may already have seen the story since I've heard it on a few radio shows, etc. Many things associated with having a baby (sleep deprivation, hormone changes and stress to name a few) can reduce memory. Interesting, but certainly not surprising! As I read on another blog yesterday "amazingly enough I can usually remember where every single miscellaneous item is in my house for whenever my kids (and husband) whine “moooommm… where is the (fill in the blank)?”

I know that I lost a lot of sleep when Lacey was born....and have lost a lot in these past 8 months. But, wow. A mom loses between 450-700 hours of sleep in the baby's first year alone. Gulp. No wonder I can't stay up past 9:00 most nights.

As poor as a new momma's memory might be, and as much in a 'fog' as she may seem to be, a mother tends to have increased awareness for the health and safety of their child. Well, at least that becomes the complete focus.

Take me, for example. I'll fess up to something I did when Leah was about 10 weeks old. It was the week before she started daycare and I need to boil all the new bottle nipples I'd bought. So, I put them on the stove while she was napping. Then, she cried. And, I went to her. And completely forgot that the stove had water on with nipples getting ready to boil. I was focused entirely on getting her back to sleep..........and the smoke detector went off.

We have smoke detectors that have cried wolf many times. So, I was *sure* it was acting up. I called Butch to complain and ask how to fix it. But, when I walked back in the house (I'd stepped out with Leah because of the noise), I smelled smoke. When I came into the kitchen, the flames were a few feet high. Yes. That's right. I about freaked. Set Leah on the deck in her bouncy, put out the fire and aired the house out.

So, it is of no surprise to me that there is something labeled Momnesia.

This Past Week

Last Friday I attended the gala I had mentioned before. It was nice and (happily) went by more quickly than usual. It seems like they gave fewer awards. Tiki Barber was the guest speaker. And, Lindsay Czarniak was the MC. I like her, so that was cool. I got home around 11:00ish.

Saturday, Agnes & Trampas arrived around noon. We just hung out all afternoon....tending to sick kids. Dee & Kristin came over around 5:00ish to babysit for us while we went to dinner at The Tides. Mmmmm. It's expensive, but good. And, since we rarely go to out to eat, we deserve it. :-) Ag & Tramp left on Sunday morning around 10:00 since it's about a 7 hour drive and he had to get up for work at 3:30 a.m. Monday morning.

It's good that they left that early since Leah was so sick. As soon as they were gone, I packed up the diaper bag and took her to the After Hours place. They diagnosed her with bronchiolitis and said she might even have pneumonia, but without a chest x-ray (which couldn't be done on Sunday), they didn't know. So, they put her on 4 meds. Yes. 4. Cefdinir (antibiotic), Albuterol, Prednisolone and over the counter Claritin. She slept horribly that night.

Since they suggested she see her regular ped on Monday, we went to see Dr. Jill. Thankfully, Dr. Jill took her off Prednisolone and Claritin. She said that they had either overreacted or that Leah had improved quickly. Then, I read more about Albuterol and was amazed at the side effects. I'd read them all the day before, but since they'd said "possibly pneumonia", I wasn't messing with it. After Jill's more relaxed view, I decided to take her off the Albuterol (it was for "as needed" anyway). Good decision. She (and I) slept SO MUCH BETTER Monday night.

Lacey has been fighting a cold for a couple of weeks now. I kept her & Leah home Monday & Tuesday. At daycare, they go outside at around noon to get one girl on the preK bus. I wasn't crazy about 2 little ones with lung and cold issues being outside since we were having a cold snap.

On Tuesday, Lacey started with a low-grade fever. But, she wasn't letting me check her temp in her left ear (ear infection?), so I took her to the After Hours place that night. During the rain/ice. Blah. Ears were clear. "Just a cold". But, we at least got an Rx for a nice decongestant/cough med that allowed her to sleep much better.

Since Lacey was still dealing with a fever, we kept her home again on Wed. Butch stayed home that day and I went to the office. Leah went to daycare.

This morning, I was really thinking everyone would be back in daycare. But, it wasn't meant to be. Lacey had eye discharge. Pink-eye. Back to the pediatrician at 10:00 where he confirmed pink-eye and wrote an Rx for an antibiotic. Hooray! Kill those germs! He said he thinks she's had a sinus infection, which lead to the pink-eye. She's been given the okay to go back to Miss Lisa's tomorrow.

Whew. What a week.

Butch has today off due to "snow". This is a joke since it was barely an inch. He went into the office this a.m. to do a few things, but has been home this afternoon so I can work more easily. He's running the veggies and dip to Miss Lisa's for their afternoon Valentine's Party that Lacey can't even be at. And, I've promised her that we'll make cupcakes.

Tonya will be in town for work on Friday and was planning to stay the night with us. But, now her parents are coming for a somewhat unexpected visit and she is trying to get home Friday night.

Butch was supposed to go to DE to play in a volleyball tourny, but (thankfully) volunteered to stay home since we've had such a rough week and the kids aren't really better yet.

I don't think we'll be doing much of anything this weekend other than catching our breath.

Nursing in Public

Okay, when I have nursed Leah in public (even at the Charles County Fair....), I always have used a blanket. And, there is no way I could do it now because she is way too interested in everything around her.

But, this comic is great!

February is here!

What the heck happened to January? It really flew by for me.

We got a new computer armoire and set it up in our sunroom. It's much nicer to have the computer in our living area rather than in a guest bedroom upstairs. It makes it nicer for me with working from home, too. I use the laptop, but it's nice to have a "workspace" downstairs where I usually work.

I took Friday off to try to get some things checked off my to-do list. I didn't get nearly as much done as I wanted to, but that's okay. I knew I had too much on the list. I did get some things (summer baby and summer maternity) taken to the Just for Kids consignment shop down the street. Rather than getting a portion of whatever they sell, they just buy your stuff upfront. So, they have the big bin and will call me once they've gone through it all and I'll pick up a check plus anything they "couldn't take".

Then, I went to the mall to look for something to wear to the gala that I have to go to Feb. 8. I found a glittery red top that I can wear with a black skirt that was borrowed from my boss. No way am I spending $100+ on something that (a) I won't wear again (most likely) and (b) is a size bigger than where I would like to be. So, I'm glad I was able to get something to work without spending a ton.

I went to Target, too. Lately, I can't get out without spending $175 or so. This is mainly b/c I stock up on diapers when I go. Anyway, it was raining so hard that I heard it in the store .... on the roof. Ugh. I had no umbrella. I bought a new one.

Lacey is doing pretty well. She has a cold, but is starting to recover from that. She's doing well sleeping in her big girl bed. We still have the crib up just because I don't want to deal with taking it down yet. :-) I'm hoping we can sell it on craig's list for $100 or so. She has been doing really well with using the potty at Miss Lisa's, but won't use it at home at all. I have no clue why that is. She'll be going in for her well visit in a few weeks, so I'll see what Dr. Jill thinks. I have lots of friends that haven't had their kids trained until 3+, so I'm not "worried", but I would love to be done with buying diapers for her.

We aren't doing much this weekend. The weather is warm (50's), but it poured yesterday, so it's really muddy out. Blah. We need to do some straightening up and cleaning and organizing the guest room since Agnes & Trampas will be here next weekend. Hopefully we will make it to church tomorrow morning, too.

Can't remember if I mentioned it before, but I am going to NY on Tuesday for a client meeting. I'll be leaving the house at 6:15 a.m. and not getting home until 7:00 p.m. or later. Not normally a bad thing, but with Leah still nursing and me having to pump during that time, it's a pain to travel even for a day. Oh well. My flight gets in early enough that I should be able to pump at the airport before going to the meeting. And my contacts for this client are both women, so if I need to use an office to pump there, it won't be too weird.

Then, on Friday I have the client gala I mentioned earlier. It's at 6:30 (I think) downtown. I'm going to work remote that day and pick Leah up earlier than normal so that I can at least nurse her before going downtown. I won't be home until 11:00 or so, so Butch is on his own that evening. I'll be ducking out of the gala about 5 min. before it's done so I can be one of the first to get my car from the valet....otherwise, I'll be waiting forever and getting home that much later. It's a nice event, but they give way too many awards and speeches, so by the end it's boring.

Lacey's calling me......

Leah - 7 months old!

Yes, I'm going to do this every month until she is a year! :-)

7 Months Old

6 Months Old

I can't believe she is 7 months old. She's so much fun. There are a few songs that she loves. When we sing them, she kicks like crazy (or jumps if she's in a standing position). One of them is Itsy Bitsy Spider. She hasn't figured out how to get on her hands & knees, yet. But, she scoots while on her butt like crazy. If you put her down, she'll be several feet away within a few minutes.

2008 Version of Getting to Know Me

1. What time did you get up this morning? I got up at 6:30, but I'd been awake since 5:40 thanks to Lacey, then Leah.

2. Diamonds or pearls? Diamonds

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? Harry Potter 5

4.What is your favorite TV show? Lost

5 What do you usually have for breakfast? Oatmeal or 2 Kashi Go Lean Waffles

6. What is your middle name? Heather

7. What food do you dislike? cavier

8. What is your favorite CD at moment? Hmmm.....Keith Urban's

9. What kind of car do you drive? Honda CR-V (almost 100,000 on that baby)

10. Favorite sandwich? pbj

11. What characteristic do you despise? dishonesty

12. Favorite item of clothing? comfy clothes.....sweats or something like that.

13. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go? wine country...anywhere

14. Favorite brand of clothing? nope

15. Where would you retire to? North or South Carolina

16. What was your most recent memorable birthday? Hahahahaha????

17. Favorite sport to watch? football

18. Furthest place you are sending this? The furthest place that someone is reading it would be California or Nevada....depending on if those peeps are reading it.

19. Person you expect to send it back first? No one

21. When is your birthday? September

22. Are you a morning person or a night person? Well, I'm more of a morning person since having kids.

23. What is your shoe size? 8.5

24. Pets? Kramer, my elderly cat (old man) and Brady, the crazy mutt

25. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share with us? Notta

26. What did you want to be when you were little? a ballerina

27. How are you today? Fairly well rested and okay.

28. What is your favorite candy? depends on my mood. Although, anything with peanut butter or white chocolate is usually good!

29. What is your favorite flower? tulips

30. What is a day on the calendar you are looking forward to? When Leah sleeps through the night consistantly! ;-) Um, taking Lacey to Build a Bear, which I'm going to do for her birthday treat.

29. What is your full name? Tricia Heather Hamilton

33. What are you listening to right now? Lacey running around the upstairs hallway, screaming "Leeaaaahhhh....Leeeaaahhhhhh"....and now, silence. Bliss. Oops....now she is reading a David book to Leah.

34. What was the last thing you ate? Wheat thins

35. Do you wish on stars? Nope

36. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? purple

37. How is the weather right now? cloudy and cold

38. Last person you spoke to on the phone? Deedlebug

39. Favorite soft drink? fountain Diet Coke....and yes, it must be FOUNTAIN! I have one every day. It's a quirk. Either Butch or I drive out to Wawa and get one on the weekends.

40. Favorite restaurant? Bonefish

41. Hair color? Red (and sadly, gray)

42. What was your favorite toy as a child? dolls

43. Summer or winter? Summer between the 2, but I'd rather have spring or fall.

44. Hugs or kisses? both

45. Chocolate or Vanilla? chocolate

46. Coffee or tea? hate coffee......love chai tea.....other tea is okay, too.

47. Do you want your friends to email you back? Sure...

49. What is under your bed? nothing

50. What did you do last night? dinner at home, played with the kids, read a book

51. What are you afraid of? spiders

52. Salty or sweet? sweet

53. How many keys on your keyring? <10

54. How many years at your current job? gulp.....15 years in March

55. Favorite day of the week? Saturday

56. How many towns have you lived in? 7

57. Do you make friends easily? It's harder as an adult, but, yes

58. How many people will you send this too? 0

59. How many will respond? 0

Holiday Weekend

We had a nice long weekend here. Butch & I were both off and daycare was closed. I wish the weather had been either a little warmer, or that we'd had snow! Instead, we were stuck inside most of the time b/c it was so cold. After being in for 2 days, we headed to Red Robin for lunch on Monday and it was soooo good. I love that place. We rarely go out to dinner with the kids b/c it's a pain. Lacey usually wants to run around, so we haven't even tried it for several months. One of us normally ends up taking her out of the restaurant or something. But, she's turned a corner and was wonderful on Monday. She tried to get down once, and I told her 'no', so she hopped right back up and colored.

Oh - I had a hickie. Yes, that's right. On my chin. From Leah. She likes to bite my chin....which I was okay with before she got 2 teeth. So, now I try to keep her away. Well, my neck was hurting and she'd grabbed hold of my hair on both sides to pull me to her......and I couldn't jerk away without horrible pain b/c of my neck. So, she sucked on my chin and I didn't think much of it. Until I went to put on make-up. I tried to take a picture, but it just wasn't working. To get the angle that I needed, you'd be looking up my nose, which is just not okay. Thankfully, the hickie is now gone.

Yesterday, I received a belated Christmas gift and card from my friend, Barb. I had to read the card several times because I was so confused. She had a baby on 12/31/07. I had NO IDEA she was pregnant! Some friend I am! We went to high school together and were really close. Then, she moved to Las Vegas after graduation. We used to be so much better at staying in touch. In fact, I was a maid of honor in her wedding (in Lake Tahoe) and had gone out for her weekend bachelorette party (Napa Valley). But, after I realized she'd been pregnant for 9 months and I had no clue, I realized that we've been really bad at staying in touch! She thought she had told me.... Anyway, I'm going to be better about that. (Any of you that read this and aren't good at staying in touch.....take a lesson from this!)

Our good friends, Agnes & Trampas are coming for a visit next month. I'm looking forward to seeing them and having some adults (that aren't family or people from work) to hang out with. (Our friends are thrown about the country and we really don't have anyone that we hang out with around here.) Anyway, they are only coming for an overnight visit, but I can't wait.

I can't believe that Lacey will be 3 in another month. It's crazy. I told her about having a "princense" birthday party and she was soooo excited. I was telling everyone that would come. When I said "Jessica", her face brighted and she said "Steckita"! I love Steckita! So funny.

Lacey is no longer scared of Brady (hooray)! She has learned to tell Brady "no bite" and is quite bossy with her now. It's pretty funny.

Church, Leah's Doc Appt, ......

We hadn't made it to church since Christmas Eve and were feeling the need to get our butts in gear. On Sunday, we got organized and made it. We were 10 minutes late....I never wanted to be That Family, but oh well. We went. And, I'm happy with that. It was the non-traditional service that is less structured and it's easier in my mind to be late to that. The girls were angels. No joke. Lacey wanted to go to the nursery (nerf-ery) as soon as we arrived, but 5 min. later, Butch came back in with Lacey...she changed her mind. She has never has liked the lady who does the nursery for that service. Anyway, she played with the bookmark in the hymnal (the nice colored strings). After the service, a few people commented on how good they were. Made me feel good for having made the effort.

The associate pastor was there that day - no sign of the head pastor - and I was happy for that since it means service runs for a "normal" time rather than super long. The message was interesting and I think I probably took it a little differently than how Sue meant it. However, she focused on baptism and what that means. Having spent an hour with Pastor Ann last fall before Leah's baptism, I know that Ann thinks it means you go to church and promise to bring your child up in the church. Sue's message on Sunday focused a lot on other ways that you can serve God - including doing good things in your community - perhaps even fighting The Man (my words) when they are trying to do things that may impact the environment in a bad way. It was basically how I feel about being a Christian --- I don't believe that you have to attend church to do God's work. I fully believe that we can do good things in the world that God would be pleased with without going to a weekly service. Having said that, I think we get things from a weekly service that help us to stay focused, but I do not think it is totally necessary. Anyway, I'm sure this isn't what Sue's intention was....for us to walk away with that thought.....but it spoke to me. Okay......that is my religious rant for the year.

Leah had her 6 month well visit on Monday. She weighs 17 lbs 13 oz. and is 27" long. About 75th percentile for both, I think. Dr. Jill was pleased with everything and said that Leah's not rolling over is nothing to worry about. It appears that Leah simply does not want to be on her tummy. :-) And, since she cries so much when placed on her tummy, she's not there often enough or long enough to learn to roll to her back. Oh - and her sleep issues....Dr. Jill confirmed my initial thought.....Leah is drinking what she needs at daycare (7-10 oz. in 9 hours) to avoid being too hungry or dehydrated, but she is saving up to nurse from me because she would much rather have me. Very sweet....but I'm tired. I guess I'll just live with it for now. I'm not ready to let her cry it out in the middle of the night. She's our last baby and I'm okay letting her be a baby for now.

She got 4 shots and 1 oral vaccine. Since one of the shots is for multiple diseases, she was vaccinated for SEVEN things. Ugh. I wish I would have thought to ask to do it in 2 visits. That is a lot for a little body. She woke up at 10:30 screaming, nursed, then back to sleep until 1:00 a.m. Then, more screaming, Motrin, nursed and back down until 6:00. This morning she had a fever of about 100-100.5*. I hope it gets out of her system soon so she's happier.


I picked up the girls around 2:15 today because Miss Lisa's dad was taken to the hospital. He was unresponsive, but I don't know more than that. He has alzheimer's and it's apparently gotten a lot worse recently. This is the 2nd person that I know (recently) with such a progressive alzheimer's. Such a sad disease.

Brady's latest chew toys have been the window sill in the living room and the cuffs of a pair of my jeans. Ugh. So, we put the baby gates up and she's stuck in the area I'm in during my work @ home days so I can keep a closer eye on her. Lacey is now afraid of her because she likes to nip when she plays and she nipped Lacey's arm the other day. It doesn't hurt at all....Brady has gotten my chin a few times. But, it was enough to freak Lacey out. I really hope we get past that soon. Lacey doesn't want to be on the floor with Brady around. I have the family room blocked off this afternoon so Lacey can play in there without fear of the dog. Ugh.

I have a work function to attend on 2/8 - a gala for a client. It's actually a nice event and they usually have good speakers, but it is THE LAST thing I want to do on a Friday night. It's in DC, so by the time I get home from this, it will be 11:00ish. Yuck. In addition, it means I had better get serious about weight loss so I have something to wear to this thing! I refuse to buy something new in a bigger size for something like this!!!! Only 5 pounds and I'd be happy enough. (This is where you say "put down the M&M's, Tricia" or "put down the cookies". Man, I have a sweet tooth!!!

Ahhh....it's the weekend

So, this post will probably be dated 1/7, but I'm writing it on 1/12. I uploaded some pics on 1/7 and saved the post to do later.....and it doesn't update the date. Stupid.

Anyway, I thought I should do a quick update. Even though there isn't much going on around here, so there isn't much interesting to say.

I have Tastefully Simple Beer Bread in the oven right now. MMMMmmmmm. So good. And, I am so bad. I always find something to ruin any weight loss attempts. I signed up for Weight Watchers at Work before the holidays. It was a special 7 week thing to try to avoid gaining over the holidays. And, it worked out pretty well since I (net) lost 2 pounds. I was down more than that, but then put some back on during Christmas. And, now I can't find the motivation to behave. It'll come, I know.

I had a potential work trip in April to San Diego. And, while I would love to go to San Diego, I wasn't crazy about leaving Leah for 4 nights....especially since I hope to still be nursing her. So, my Client Rep (Chris) out of our Des Moines office is going for me. She is thrilled and having a girlfriend go with her. The trip is actually for a client's conference and Chris will be staffing a table and prepared to talk about the insurance program for this client. Fun stuff. Anyway, it's a very quiet conference and they are very nice people, so she should have fun.

My next potential overnight trip (that I know of now) is in July, so I should be good to go then. It's to Philadelphia...not nearly as good as San Diego! :-)

Brady is a chewer....I know I already said that before. But, she has now chewed on the window sills in the living room. Brat. So, we are going to put up the baby gates to keep her in the sunroom/kitchen/family room area - especially on my work @ home days. We need to get those back up again soon anyway since Leah will start crawling in a couple of months.

The girls are doing well. A week or so ago, Butch & Lacey were playing in the basement and she was running....and fell into the Christmas tree box. That is where these lovely boo-boo's come from.

I try really hard just to let them rough-house, but the last several times when I've bit my tongue, she's gotten banged up pretty good. And they were all preventable if I would have just said something. So, I'm just going to be over-protective momma now. I know she'll get hurt at times, but if it's something preventable, I just can't keep my mouth shut. There is no reason to.

She's dozing on the chair in the family room now. She hasn't taken a nap in her room since Leah was born. No, I'm not joking.

Leah is doing pretty well, except her sleep! She had a couple of bad nights earlier this week where I was up with her 4-5 times, but the past couple of nights, it's only been twice. Ugh. What happened to my good sleeper??? This has been going on since October. I bet she's only slept a solid 6+ hours 8-10 times since the beginning of October. It's wearing on me. I would like to feel like I could stay up past 10:00 without fear of getting zero sleep. At least when she wakes up, she goes back down easily. If she nurses, she's back in bed within 15 minutes, usually less.

She's sitting on her own well and is still super happy. She's only rolled over twice, which has me a little worried. She should be doing that well now. But, since she does the rest okay, I try not to worry. She has her 6 month well visit on Monday, so I'll be able to talk to Dr. Jill about it then anyway. I think she's getting 3 shots again. Poor girl.

Here is cutie-patootee Leah having a good ol' time:

Well, Leah woke from her 3rd catnap. It's 3:25 right now and she has had 3 naps of 30-40 min. today. Why she won't snooze for long periods is beyond me. She has -- when swaddled. And, she does at Lisa's - unswaddled. I just can't figure it out, but I'm frustrated. Lacey was at least 6 months before she settled into good naps, too, though. It's only a phase, it's only a phase, it's only a phase.

Brady

I don't know if I've mentioned on the blog that we adopted a puppy. She is a black lab/terrier mix and was about 29 lbs when we got her. She's gotten a bit more plump, but isn't expected to get big. Her name is Brady.

Here is Brady with Leah:

Brady & Lacey taking a rest:

We've learned that lab hair is quite different from Frisbee's hair. Lab hair is coarse and wirey (sp?). It gets on everything and doesn't "shake off". Fris used to sleep with us & it was never a problem b/c he shed some, but it was fluffy hair. We kicked Brady out of the bed after the first bit of laundry that I folded on the bed ended up covered in her hair (and wouldn't shake off....had to be picked off).

Just this week, we decided she is also kicked off of the furniture. We ordered another dog bed to keep in the family room for her so she has a comfy place to lay. I love her dearly, but am not dealing with that hair everywhere. It weaves its way into fabrics. In fact, I think we are very seriously considering buying the Dyson pet vaccuum now. We've talked about it before, but with the hefty price tag ($500+) have ruled it out. But, it is supposed to be awesome, and it might be more needed now. We'll see.

What other Brady news? She likes to chew up the kids' toys. She chewed one of Lacey's pacifiers, chewed up one of the Little People, chewed up Lacey's tooth brush and has chewed (and eaten) the hand off of one of her dolls. Ugh. Keep in mind, she is crated when we are away. She manages to get into these other things (usually) on my work from home days. She just wanders around getting into trouble. So, if she doesn't find a way to behave, we may end up putting baby gates up to keep her confined to just the few rooms I'm in during work hours.

Lacey really likes to play with her. It's sort of nice having a new puppy "grow up" with the kids. Frisbee never really understood how to play with Lacey. Brady is learning quick.

Leah - 6 months old!

Wow, I can't even believe it. Here are the first 6 months!

August 1---1 month old

September 1---2 months

October 1 --- 3 months

November 1 --- 4 months

December 1 --- 5 months

January 1 --- 6 months

Christmas Likes....

I got this on email and thought I'd post it here (copying after my wonderful cousin, Bink).

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping, except for gifts that are really odd shaped or when I'm "wrapping" at the last minute.

2. Real tree or artificial? Artificial this year

3. When do you put up the tree? The weekend after Thanksgiving.

4. When do you take the tree down? New Year's-ish.

5. Do you like eggnog? I like Soy Nog.

6. What was your favorite gift received as a child? I don't think I remember any!

7. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes - a very old one.

8. Hardest person to buy for? Dad.

9. Easiest person to buy for? Lacey and Leah.

10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Can't think of one to mention.

11. Mail or email cards? Mail.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Elf.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? September or so.....

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Nope.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Cookies. :-)

16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? Clear.

17. Favorite Christmas song? Silent Night.......or on a lighter note, Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree

18. Travel for Christmas or stay at home? Stay home.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeers? Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Commet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? A reindeer that Lacey made.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? One of Christmas Eve (PJs), the rest on Christmas morning.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? All of the news about shopping.

23. What I love most about Christmas? Just about everything else! I love the wonder that children feel!

Merry Christmas!

On Christmas Eve (a.k.a., Butch's birthday), we were quite busy. I went with Dee, Rick, Kristina, Jess & JD to mom's grave to put up a wreath and new winter mini flag. (We are really bad about getting down there and will make it a resolution for 2008 to do it more....even though we tried that for 2007 and failed.) Then, we went to Dad's (where Butch and the girls were waiting) and gave him his present.........a new leather recliner. His old one was falling apart....literally.

We were able to come home for a short bit before getting ready for 5:00 church. It's the family service and is really cute b/c the kids do a lot of it. And, you don't feel bad when your kids are making noise because it is the family service. :-)

Then, we headed home for dinner (mexican casserole) and ice cream cake for B's birthday. Lacey even sang for him. Our tongues turned blue from the yummy ice cream cake.

Before the ice cream cake, Lacey opened 1 gift for her and 1 for Leah. Of course, it was new PJs. That was always a tradition for us growing up, so I think I'll do the same now. Lacey got a new princess nightgown, with robe and slippers. She was very pleased. Leah got a new Piglet sleeper. Lacey actually slept in her robe.

I was exhausted on Christmas morning b/c Leah slept horribly. Her 2nd tooth is coming in and seems to be really giving her a tough time. She woke up early, too......6:20 or so. She was actually back down for a nap by the time that Lacey woke up for presents.

When Lacey woke up and was calling for me, I went into her room and told her Santa had come and brought presents. When I asked her if she wanted to go see, she said "no". So, I had to make sure she realized that Santa wasn't here anymore.....then she was okay coming downstairs. She does not like to be close to the man in the red suit.

Two of the things that Santa left (unwrapped) were her favs......Barbie, Island Princess and the Belle baby doll. With those and the crayons, markers and new coloring books, she would have been happy. Because she was fine with those things, it took a long time to get her focused enough to open everything. And, I actually had to open a few things for her.

Here's a picture of the tree before the chaos....

Leah woke a little while later and Butch opened up her gifts for her. She enjoyed the paper, but really like the books and things, too. She was cranky some through the day b/c of those darn teeth.

Rick, Kristina, Jess, JD, Dad, Dee, Buck, Kristin & Kyle all came for dinner later in the day. Even though we "hosted", we got off pretty easy because Dad did the stuffed ham and Buck did a fried turkey. We always do pot-luck, so Kristina brought a couple of dishes and we just had a few things to do for dinner. What did we have, you ask? Besides the meat, we had broccoli casserole, grean bean casserole, corn pudding, sweet potato casserole, strawberry spinach salad, gravy & rolls. For dessert, we had carrot cake and pistachio torte (and cookies, of course).

Between dinner & dessert, we opened gifts. More toys for the girls and also some clothes. Lacey was (again) thrilled --- especially since she got more princess things. Here she is showing off the dress that Grandma made for her:

It was a busy day and at the end, you wonder where it went. But, it was fun (even with the few tantrums from Lacey) and we enjoyed the company, the food and the wine. :-)

Each year, we do a pic of all of the cousins....here is the one for 2007.....with the newest "member", Leah:

Some Sad News

I hadn't blogged about this last week, but wanted to do so now so that you can keep my boss & her family in your prayers. Her only child, 25-year old Blythe, was killed while serving in the Peace Corps on 12/6. I can't imagine what Joan and her husband are going through. They received the news while out of town (together, thankfully), at a business dinner. At any time, this is horrible news for a parent to hear, but at this time of year, it must be ever more awful.

http://www.beepcentral.com/story.aspx?story=20567

Santa came for a visit to our neighborhood last night. He was riding on the local fire trucks. :-) They do it every year, but this is the first year we walked Lacey down the street for it just because they come sort of "late" (8:00).....after her old bedtime. She was so excited.

I think I'm nearly done Christmas shopping. Just a handful of things left (thankfully). I need to get the gifts for you out of towners wrapped so I can get those in the mail.

We still haven't gotten Christmas cards done. I haven't been able to get Lacey to cooperate for a picture in her dress. Of course, the last 3 days were shot since she had hives......wait a minute.....that's another story. Re the cards, we may end up sending them late or just doing New Year's cards. We'll see.

Hives......so Sunday morning, Lacey & Butch played downstairs in the basement for quite a bit. It's unfinished and a mess. Open insullation. Cat hair, etc. You get the picture. She was rolling around on the rug down there and I think that may be what caused the hives. They aren't too bad now, but on Sunday....wow. Dr. Jill says they commonly stick around for a couple of days. They go away with Benadryl, then come back (in different spots) when the meds wear off. Hopefully we are at the end of this now.

Both Lacey & I have colds. I think Leah is getting one, too. Blah. Oh well, better now than in 2 weeks.

I had Lisa start Leah on lunch this week. She has been diving for her dinner, so I figure she is hungry. Hopefully she'll go back to being a good sleeper soon......either food will help or maybe those darn teeth will come in. :-) Or, she'll just keep waking every 4-5 hours.

Frisbee 2000 - 12/8/2007

Well, he was doing somewhat better yesterday and we expected to bring him home today. However, he took a turn for the worse overnight. We spoke to the vet around 9:15 this morning and she said that he needed a blood transfusion if we were to continue. She agreed, though, that it was a gamble. He simply wasn't responding well. I asked about bringing him home for the weekend, but she didn't think he would last until Monday. We decided to euthanize him today and to do it there so he wasn't stressed any further.

When we got to the vet around 11:30, he didn't even wag his tail or lift his head. He was so anemic from all of the fluids he was receiving that he was too weak. And, even with all the fluids, his kidney counts didn't ever get very low. We spent several minutes petting him and talking to him.

It was heart-breaking to let him go. I can't believe that my fun-loving 7 year old goofy dog is now gone. I know we did the right thing in letting him go, but I'm just so angry that he got so sick in the first place.....from a freakin' tick.

We will miss him tremendously. It has already felt strange over the last few days with no barking and no one licking up our messes on the floor.

Frisbee

I am so sad. Frisbee was diagnosed this week with kidney disease and Lyme disease. He had been a little weird about his eating habits for the past few weeks -- not interested in his food, but devouring Kramer's food -- and begging at the table (more than normal). Nancy mentioned during their visit that she thought he'd lost weight. We didn't think so....until Sunday when we decided to weigh him. He had gone from 30-32 pounds or so down to 25. That's more than 20%. More than 10% is an issue. So, I bought different food on Monday to see if he would eat canned dog food....he ate it....and then vomited a few hours later. So, I made an appt. at the vet for Wed. Because of his young age (7), she was surprised that he had kidney disease, which is why they decided to test for Lyme disease, too. Apparently Lyme disease can cause kidney problems if left untreated. Looking back through the spring and summer, there are only 2 instances that we now realize were related to Lyme.....2 times that he limped.....for a day....and then appeared to be fine. He seemed fine otherwise.

We have always just used the flea/tick stuff in the spring/summer months. I would suggest that if you live in an area with Lyme disease to use it all year long. And, I've learned that there is a vaccine which is 75% effective. Get it. We had a horrible infestation in our yard this year and had to put pesticides down twice. It was awful.

Kidney disease is fatal. We learned that with Toonces. It's the same *&%^ illness that we lost him to 15 months ago. The vet estimated 6-12 months for Frisbee when we spoke on Wednesday. They kept him in the hospital that night to give IV fluids and flush his system. Thursday, they tested blood again and it was better, but not great, so they kept him overnight again. Today, she called to say that he had vomited a few times last night (not good at all) and they really wanted to keep him until tomorrow morning. Based on all of this, I'm not sure we even have 6 months with him.

Day by day. I visited him yesterday & Butch is going this afternoon. If we get him home tomorrow and the weekend doesn't go well, I imagine we'll be making big decisions. I am hoping that he will at least do better through the holidays, but based on how things have gone so far, I'm not sure how likely that is. I don't want to put him through lots of treatment and antibiotics (for the Lyme disease) if he isn't going to have a good quality of life.

He is truly the best dog ever. He has tolerated a ton from Lacey and barely growled at her. He has been annoying as hell with the loud barking, but wow, what a watch dog. The teeth are shown if someone he doesn't know shows up. I have never worried about being safe.

Give your dog a hug today. And, take issues with ticks very seriously.

"Shake Your Booty"

Last night, Lacey was playing with her Little People (who "live" on the coffee table and end tables.....I guess each table is a new town or something). So, she turns several of the Little People around so their backs are facing her and says (a few times) "Shake Your Booty". Butch was sitting right there and I was in the kitchen, but he didn't even hear her. (He tunes her out when she's playing.) I asked him if she said what I thought she said. She said it again a few minutes later and he did hear her......yes, we heard correctly.

No clue where she got that from. We do let her watch some inappropriate TV, but it's not anything like that. Maybe the older girls at daycare.......too funny.

Thanksgiving and Leah's Baptism

Butch was off the day before Thanksgiving and our office closed at 1:00. So, I worked at home that day and we kept the girls home. We headed out for family pictures that afternoon. Amazingly, both girls cooperated. After pictures, we treated Lacey to Cold Stone Creamery. Okay, you're right....it was an excuse for me to get to go.

Chuck & Nancy came for a visit over Thanksgiving weekend. They arrived on Turkey Day around noon. (They were going to come the day before, but we suggested waiting since traffic is a nightmare around here the day before.) Anyway, we were invited over to Dee's around 1:00ish and dinner was to be around 3:00. But....Leah actually took a *good* nap that day. And, I was not about to wake her up. No way. So, we didn't get over to Dee's until about 3:00. (There were some other's that were late, too, though.) Dinner got moved to about 4:00.

There were about 15-16 people there....including Dee & family, Rick & family, us, Dad, Calvin (Buck's dad), Steve & Amy & kids. (Steve is Buck's bro.) They have 2 little girls, too. Riley is about 5 and Camryn is around Lacey's age. Dee had been wanting to get Lacey together with them for a while....but Lacey is a shy girl and wasn't much up for playing at first. Even later, she wasn't much for playing "with" them by herself. Oh well.

Dinner was YUM-O! Turkey, stuffed ham, gravy, mashed potatoes, broccoli casserole, corn pudding, sweet potato casserole, salad, mac & cheese, biscuits......I don't think I'm forgetting anything. It was so good. After everyone had time for the food to settle, out came the desserts. And, by then....it was time for us to head home right after because of sleepy little ones.

We didn't do much the rest of the weekend. Relax, visit, eat, etc. Well....until Sunday. Sunday was Leah's baptism. It went smoothly. Leah's dress was beautiful. Nancy made it.

I hate sitting in the front of church. I suppose we didn't have to, but everyone else in the fam would want to since they'd want to take pictures, etc. (And, we'd want them to take pics.) Trying to keep Lacey quiet was a struggle at first. She never comes to church. She always goes to the nursery. Anyway, after acting up a bit in the beginning, she took her binks and rested. Leah seemed to really like the water - kind of funny. The pastor walked Leah around the church after the baptism and she enjoyed that, too. After all of the excitement, Lacey fell asleep on me and Leah fell asleep on Butch.

We headed back to the house after church for Italian Meatball Stew and a little football. Everyone left at half-time.....our TV isn't big enough. :-) I'm not joking here. Hehe.

Not much else is going on. I've started Christmas shopping - most of it online.

I have to head to NY on Tuesday and am not looking forward to it. At least I don't travel a lot anymore.

I'd better get myself organized for tomorrow. Bottles to prepare, ironing, etc.

Leah is 5 month's old!

4 months

5 months

She's getting to be so much fun. Just this last week, she has started to sit a little better, but you still need to catch her when she starts to lose her balance. She loves to play with her toys. I was putting her to bed the other night and she laughed at "nothing". I was just getting her jammies on and she laughed. So cute.

I weighed her last night & she's up to 17 pounds. We started her on cereal a few weeks ago and she's eaten some fruits, too.....bananas, pears, apples. Bananas are her fav.

We started letting her cry at bedtime a little over a week ago to try to get her back to sleeping through. It's been okay. At least she goes down easily now and we don't have to bounce or rock her to sleep anymore. Out of maybe 9 nights, she's slept "through" twice. Hopefully that will come (soon). She slept so great until 3 months old.

I'll do an update on everything else later. They both just woke from naps....

Leah had her 4 month well visit Tuesday. She is now 15 pounds, 15 ounces and 25.25" long. She was given 4 shots again and another oral vaccine. Her little legs are a little red and swollen from the shots, but otherwise, she's been a trooper.

Her sleep hasn't been great since she hit 3 months. She used to sleep 7+ hours, then another 3-4. But, then she settled into 4-5 hour stretches only. I mentioned it to the doc and he thinks she is needing more to eat, so she's on cereal now. She isn't so sure she likes it. :-)

Last time I posted, I mentioned Lacey would be going for her flu shot. It went okay. She did scream, but got over it quickly since I told her we'd go to the store to buy "Belle" (Beauty & the Beast). We got to Borders and they didn't have it, but she didn't care because she found another Barbie DVD. She loves those. The animation isn't very good, but the stories aren't too bad.

We had the carpets cleaned last weekend and they look incredible. It's amazing what a professional can do. And, we had Joyce (our previous cleaning person) come on Monday. Unfortunately, despite my directions on what was important to do, she did her own thing and didn't have enough time to do our master bathroom. Ugh. She's coming back on Sunday to do that. She is really good, but she's also good at ignoring your requests.

I have to go to NY for a daytrip in early December and am not looking forward to it!!! I'm still nursing Leah, so I have to drag the pump with me (through security) and find decent places to pump along the way. No fun. I'm hoping to have only a couple of other trips over the next 7 months so that it isn't such an issue.

What else?

We hid Lacey's Halloween costume since she was so obsessed with it. Now she is obsessed with a dress that I bought her for Easter that she didn't wear b/c the weather was so cold. She is putting it on every evening after getting home from daycare. Oh - and she is a trip when I go to The Children's Place website (or other kids clothing sites) and look at dresses. Cracks me up what a *girl* she is!!! I love it!

November is here already!

Wow! I can't believe that Thanksgiving will be here in just a few short weeks.

Butch has to work tomorrow (SAT administration), so it will be the girls & me for most of tomorrow. It wouldn't be so bad if Leah would settle into a good nap routine! But, she still catnaps for the most part, which makes it hard. We don't really have other plans for the weekend. Just trying to rest up and do a few things here.

Lacey has an appointment on Monday afternoon for her flu shot. Not sure how that will go! She hasn't had to have a shot since she was just over 18 months and she was not as strong then. We'll see.

The following Monday, daycare is closed for Veteran's Day. So, I'm taking a day off. I was hoping to get Leah in that day for her well visit, but there were not appointments available, so I get to take some time off on Tuesday, the 13th, too. 4 more shots coming her way. Poor baby.

We're hoping to get family pictures done in November, but I'm not sure when. Maybe the week of Thanksgiving. We were going to try for the weekend before, but Lacey & I both have hair appointments that Friday and I don't want pictures done so close to getting our haircuts.

Chuck & Nancy are coming to visit for Thanksgiving. And, we have Leah's baptism scheduled for that Sunday.

Oh - I forgot. We've also been making an attempt at going to church --- 2 weeks in a row now. Hopefully Lacey will adjust to the nursery. The first week, Butch stayed with her. The next week, he ducked out (he'd told her all along he was going to, but didn't tell her when he *did*). Anyway, she was fine for a while, but apparently started crying at some point and sat on the teacher's lap for the rest of the time. We'll keep trying. She's got to warm up to it at some point, right?

The girls, Halloween, etc.

Both girls have colds again, but they don't seem to be too bad (so far). They have been taking turns having bad nights sleeping, so Butch & I have been exhausted. Thankfully, Lacey has slept through the last couple of nights and Leah slept solid from 12:30 to 6:15 last night. So, I feel a little more human now.

We've done some fun things the last few weekends. We did make it to the pumpkin farm a couple of weekends ago and Lacey loved it. Last year, she loved these tunnels that you could crawl through, but this year, she said "it's dirty" and didn't want to go in. This is the girl who plays in the dirt frequently. Weird. Anyway, it was a nice day.

Halloween was fun! Lacey was Cinderella and Leah was her pumpkin. I picked them up at daycare, got them dressed, then headed to my dad's. Dee, Rick & Kristina met us there so we didn't have to do house hopping. After that, we came home and planned to just do 1 street in our neighborhood. Lacey was done after 4 houses, so it was a short night. She wouldn't take her costume off that night, so she slept in it. And, she insisted on sleeping in it last night, too.

Leah's 4 month pics

It's amazing that she is 4 months already! Her next doctor's appointment is November 13.

3 month picture

4 month picture