Tidbits

We went to the Hospice Easter Egg Roll/Hunt this morning. This was our 2nd year going. They changed the location this year because the other church was already holding an event for this date. I hope they go back to the old one for next year. It was much better - more spread out - more scenic, etc. Last year, they had a much bigger moon bounce and they had pony rides. But, because the location didn't have enough space...those things were gone. We didn't stay as long this year, but the kids enjoyed the egg hunt.
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Tomorrow, we have another Easter Egg Hunt. This time it's with the 7th District Optimist Club, that Dad belongs to. I think it's a better location, so that will help. And, an old high school friend usually takes her daughter there (she's 4, I think). So, it will be good to finally see her. (We've been talking about it for about 4 years!)
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I went to NY on business Thursday-Friday. We were celebrating 30 years with one of my clients. Crazy to think of spending all that money for me to fly up, stay overnight and come back...just for dinner. But, it's worth it for the relationship. I was happy to be back in my room at 8:59, just in time for Grey's! And, I actually slept without waking up from about 10:30 to 5:00. I can't believe it! Then, I dozed back off for another hour before coming home.
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Yesterday afternoon, I went to Lacey's school to help with their "spring celebration". Those kids are so cute. The "party" had to stay inside since it was rainy and cold outside. But, the kids had fun, anyway. That was their last day before Spring Break.
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Speaking of Spring Break, Lacey's and Butch's aren't the same week. Annoying. They overlap by a few days, but that's it. That's going to make it difficult to do trips in the future since I won't want to take them out of school. We talked a little about going up to Pittsburgh for just 3-4 days this year, but the girls are starting swim lessons next Saturday & they are too expensive to miss. Plus, we have entirely too much to do around here.
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Lacey did swim lessons through the community a few years ago. Then, we signed her up again last year. She refused to do any of it. She was still in the midst of her shy phase. Plus, the classes are only 30 minutes long and there are 5-7 kids in a class. So, there is very little 1-on-1 time. I've been searching for someone to do private lessons and had no luck. I did find a place about 40 minutes from here that does private or semi-private lessons, though. The girls are signed up for semi-private lessons together. I think that will work okay because Lacey tends to be more "careful" and Leah tends to just "go for it". I think their level might be about the same. The teacher is a young woman who teaches kindergarten and the person I spoke with said he calls her the child whisperer because she's so good with little ones.
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I'm realizing I should probably stop typing since I need to do some laundry before heading out for "Mom's Craft Night". It's with some of the women from my "meet-up" group and one of the mom's is pretty crafty...she has these events every few months to help those of us that aren't very good at crafts. :-)

More later!

A March Weekend

We've been having a nice quiet weekend and I love it. We did absolutely nothing Friday night. Lacey fell asleep pretty quickly (8:30 or so) and Leah (as usual) didn't fall asleep until 9:00ish. I'm pretty sure that that will be the case until her naps are done. And, they won't be done until she's in pre-K (another 18 months).

I stayed up for a bit & watched Ghost Whisperer while sipping a glass of wine. (I bought a new one that I had at Bonefish Grill. I don't like it as much as I did at the restaurant!)

I had plans to go to the gym today for the Turbo Kick class at 9:30. But, Leah had a slight fever again (100.3) and has had a slight cold for over a week, so I took her to the doctor for a 9:00 appointment to check out her ears. That is so frustrating. I know body temps fluctuate through the day, but 100.3 seems a bit high for that. When she had her bad ear infection in early December, I asked if her ears hurt & she said "no". So, obviously, I can't count on her answers. Anyway, her ears and everything else were fine. And, the temp was gone. I told Butch I'm putting the darn thermometer away. I just wish she would answer me honestly on whether things hurt and things would be much easier.

I digress....

So, I didn't make it to the gym for my class. Leah & I met Butch & Lacey in La Plata for Leah's dance/gymnastics class. This week, he went to her class while Lacey & I went to Target.

When we got home.....I tried out the new treadmill! Hooray for me! It's pretty awesome. I didn't realize when we bought it that it has built in fans. :-) Nice little feature. I walked for 30 min., with a little bit of running mixed in at the end to boost the calories burned. It felt great to get in a workout.

I'm hoping I can get on a schedule of doing that in the morning. On office days, that will be tough....like 4:30 a.m. tough. So, if the kids don't sleep well, it won't happen. On work at home days, it would be about 6:00 a.m. We'll see how it goes. I know that's the best time of day for me to really do it.

We got the girls outside today for a bit. The high today was supposed to be in the low 50's, but I don't know if that happened or not. It was windy, but the sun was shining brightly. Love it! It does wonders for my attitude.

We managed to fold lots of clean laundry, and do 3 more loads. Yikes. Laundry is like rabbits with multiplying. Especially with kids.

Once the kids fall asleep, I'm planning to watch a little more TV before bed. I'm hopeful for an earlier sleep time for Leah since she had an early & short nap today.

Tomorrow, I will hit the treadmill in the morning. I was hoping to have us all go to the park for late morning fun & a picnic since tomorrow is another nice day, but Butch has to go to work for an Open House from 11:30 to 3:00.

Tomorrow night we are having dinner at Dad's house. We'll head over sometime in the afternoon to visit a bit. I need to figure out what our contribution to dinner is. He's got ribs and chicken; Dee/Buck are bringing potatoes. Maybe we'll bring salad or something healthy like that.

[Speaking of salad, Leah-Lou loves romaine lettuce. Amazing. She dips it in Ranch, but she'll eat mine (in light creamy ceasar), too. Lacey has tried it a few times after seeing Leah eat it.]

Lacey's 5th Birthday

Wow. I have a 5 year old. It's been 5 years since our lives changed by having a baby!

Lacey had entirely too many celebrations! (Although, now that I think about it, it's kind of cool to have 5 celebrations for your 5th birthday.)

On her birthday, I woke her up by whispering in her ear, "Happy Birthday" and she woke up with a huge smile. She was so excited. I sent pink iced donuts to Miss Lisa's for morning snack. (I only wish I'd saved one for myself!) Then, for school, I sent pink iced cupcakes. They were bought at Food Lion. (You have to send store bought things these days because of allergy issues.) I had never seen Food Lion's pink.....wow......I should have taken a picture. They were shocking pink. Hot pink. Crazy pink.

We let Lacey open up presents from Grandma & Poppy and us before dinner. For dinner, we let Lacey pick what to do....she picked Bert's! Always a win. Once we were at home, we had Pinkalicious cupcakes.

(Have you realized, yet, what Lacey's favorite color is?)

The rest of the week went by normally.....

On Saturday, Lacey had her first "friends" birthday party! It was awesome! We had it at Flips, which is where they take gymnastics. Several kids from daycare came and a few from dance class. Including Lacey, there were 11 kids and that was perfect. Mr. Ken (the teacher) was amazing with the kids. I've seen him with babies before, but not the bigger kids. He has a gift.

They did a couple of things that really put Lacey at the center of attention. What a difference! A year ago, she probably would have been in tears, or close to it, at being watched by everyone. But, she did well....enjoyed it!

After an hour of running, playing games, being silly and wearing themselves out, we had cake and ice cream before opening gifts.

The first thing she opened was from a girl at dance class. It was a ballerina Barbie. Lacey said "I already have her!". Lovely. Hopefully the mom wasn't too offended!

On the way home, Lacey fell asleep and stayed that way (in the car) for 2 hours. Her party had wiped her out, apparently.

Some of the family came by that evening for dinner (Ledo's Pizza) and Carvel Ice Cream Cake. We were missing several, though. Rick, Kristina and Kyle were at a pool tournament. Bucky hadn't been feeling well, so he stayed home to avoid getting anyone else sick. So, it was quieter than normal

And, I should mention, those little french braids in her hair....I did them. My first attempt. Didn't look great, but I didn't think it was a bad job for a beginner. :-)

Wrist Injury

Throughout last summer, my right wrist had been hurting. Sometimes it just ached. But, when I would push open a door, or do a push up, it was terrible.

I finally called a doctor and went in for an appointment in September to see an orthopedist whose specialty is hands. He did some x-rays and didn’t see any “secondary damage”, but seemed fairly sure that I had torn ligaments. A couple of weeks later, I had an MRI. As soon as the radiologist started putting the dye in my wrist, he could tell (on the x-ray) that I had tears in my Triangular Fibrocartilage Complex (TFCC) and he showed me where the tear was. It was pretty cool to see, but I didn’t really know what it meant for me. And, I still had to do the actual MRI, which honestly wasn’t too bad. I think I was lucky to be laying on my stomach – so I couldn’t look up & see how I was confined.

(Sort of digressing here, but I remember Mom going for one of her many MRIs. It was during a thunderstorm and they kept losing power. So, she’d be in the middle of having an MRI done, and it would “stop” with her inside. And, they’d have to start over again. And, again. And, again.)

When I went back to the doctor a few days later, I knew I was in trouble when the first thing he said was “I haven’t seen a tear this bad in a long time”. Why, thank you. At another point, he said my wrist looked like that of someone that had played in the NFL for 10 years. Thanks, again. (And, where is all that money I earned?) The tears were old & new and who knows how I actually injured myself. Sometimes surgery is needed, but he felt that at my “young” (ahem) age we should try to avoid it unless it was really necessary. I think at some point I will end up needed it, but he is hoping to push it off a bit since technology is improving so much with these things.

He prescribed a brace for 2-3 months. Remember, this is my right wrist….and I’m right handed. It made things interesting for sure. But, at least it wasn’t a cast…I could take it off to take a shower, etc.

The follow up appointment in December was a weird one. He told me that it had healed….just by moving my wrist around and pushing in certain areas. And, when I asked about hurting in a different area, he told me “that’s the arthritis”. I thought “secondary damage” was arthritis? And, that I had no secondary damage? I was confused, but he seemed rushed & it wasn’t all really registering with me at the time. So, I have no idea. He told me to stop wearing the brace so much. (But, if it is healed, why do I have to wear it at all?) And, to do some exercises with my wrist to help loosen it up…..then come back for a follow up in 2-3 months.

I don’t wear the brace at all anymore – unless it’s hurting & I want to make sure it doesn’t do anything weird when I’m sleeping. I think that’s only happened once or twice since the last appointment. I try not to do much that could reinjure it, though. It’s frustrating. Cleaning is much more difficult because of that repetitive movement and the strain on my wrist. And, I know this sounds weird, but I would just like to be able to do that. Yes, I would like to be able to clean the bathroom. I feel like I’m making excuses when I get Butch to do it. Yet, I don’t want to clean it myself & cause a new injury that leads to surgery. And, working out is challenging because many of my workout DVDs and the classes I do either do push ups or things very similar that require a lot with the wrist.

Things like this really make you feel old. On top of this issue, I’ve had a shoulder injury for quite some time that needs to be looked at. Lately, I can’t sleep on my left side without having a lot of shoulder pain. I think it's a shoulder impingement.

I have an appointment for a follow up on my wrist & on my shoulder in a couple of weeks.

Blizzard 2010

It’s unreal that we can have a blizzard here two times in one winter. But it happened. They were predicting up to 3 feet for some places in the DC metro area. We decided to pick the girls up from daycare early so we wouldn’t have risk driving in nasty weather. The schools had all closed for the day, too, in anticipation of it. In our county, it was a teacher day (kids weren’t going anyway), but the teachers ended up “off” as well. It started on Friday, February 5th late in the day and kept going for nearly 24 hours.

These storms always make me nervous. We have trees on 3 sides of our house. They are all really close to the house & quite tall. With the weight of snow (or ice) and blowing winds….and a ground as wet as ours is (from all the other rain and snow this season)…..well, you get it. I worry that a tree will fall on the house. Or, that a tree is going to fall & cause us to lose power for an extended period of time. The only source of heat we have is electricity. And, we have a well, so if we lose power, we lose our water source as well.

When these worries come up, I take a few precautions. The heat goes up, up, up. It gets very warm in here and I wear short sleeves because of it. But, my logic is that if we start off at 76 degrees, it will take a lot longer to get “too cold” for my girls. Leaving the house to go stay elsewhere isn’t an option when the roads are covered with snow. The other thing we do is fill the tub with water (to use for toilets) and fill up pitchers with drinking water. Happily, these precautions turned out to be unnecessary since we didn’t lose power. But, it made me feel better.

There were plenty of people that lost power, though. At the worst, about 8,000 were out of power. My brother-in-law, Buck, works for SMECO. He spent years as a lineman – out in the weather and fixing down lines. Luckily, he’s in management now, so he’s at least not out in the cold. But, he still works extra hours and gets a bit cranky. Dee said she had to tell him at one point “I know this sucks, but it’s not my fault”.

We ended up with 21 inches at our house.
Butch shoveled the driveway a few times on Saturday (while it was still snowing). Even with doing that, he spent 5 ½ hours shoveling on Sunday. We joked about buying a snow blower, but we’ll end up not having a snow like this (fingers crossed) for another 8 years.

I really enjoyed watching the birds....and Kramer did, too.

Our street is a shared driveway and the HOA doesn’t plow it. One of our neighbors has a snow blower & takes care of it. Somehow this is figured into our dues, but I don’t really understand it. I need to ask about it soon. I think we pay “extra” for it….which doesn’t make sense because if “neighbor” bought a snow blower and it’s paid for now…why do we pay extra each year. I’m assuming that that extra amount is passed on to him. I guess for his time? But, the neighbor across the street and we (well, Butch) help with the snow blower, too. I do need to check on that.

During this storm, he was out of town. We found out later his wife was in town….and we wish we knew that…..since Butch could have stayed up with the street throughout Saturday. By Sunday, Butch & I decided we really needed to get someone to plow it. A snow blower isn’t designed to handle 21 inches of heavy snow. We did hear through the grapevine that neighbor’s wife said she was not paying for a plow. Thank you. Next time, let us know you are home & it won’t be needed.

On Monday, neighbor’s relative came to use the snow blower. It was working, but having a hard time keeping up with it. A family friend who has some piece of equipment (forgive me....remembering the names of those things is not high on my priority list) was able to work us in, thankfully. I hate the “stuck” feeling. The other neighbors split the cost with us, so we weren’t totally footing the bill.

Schools and the Federal Government were closed on Monday and Tuesday. Then, we got more snow. For our area, they were calling for more of a wintery mix. That’s how it started on Tuesday night. Thankfully, we only ended up with another 4 inches or so. But, with that extra bit, schools ended up closing the rest of the week and the Federal Government didn’t reopen until Friday.

The schools stayed closed for the entire week. Miss Lisa generally follows the Federal Government, so she was open on Friday. Lacey & Leah were happy to see her and the kids.

The following week, schools were open, but opened late for a few days. I worked from home almost the entire week. Commuting was a nightmare since in DC there is nowhere to put all of that snow. Even on the beltway, you could be driving along with 4 lanes, and all of a sudden, it was down to 2. You can imagine the accidents.

Here it is, March 5....an entire month later......and there is still snow in our yard. Most places are snow-free. But, not all. We are expecting highs in the 50's this weekend and into next week, so I'm hoping it's all gone soon!

Sleeping Arrangements….and Sleep

So, you are already aware that sleep has been rough in this house since December. Mostly it’s due to Leah. Though, it seems the nights that she sleeps well, Lacey wakes me up.

We had been planning to do some room shuffling since Leah was out of her crib. The “nursery” is typically pretty cold. It’s usually about 2 degrees colder than the rest of the upstairs in the winter. I think this is because it hangs over the garage by a few inches. Also…that room is the smallest one, so it makes sense that it should be the guest room. The plan was to move Lacey from her room to the existing guest room (biggest after the master); move Leah to Lacey’s old room; and make the “nursery” the guest room. (Got all that?)

But, with Leah’s sleep issues, we decided to put them in the same room in hopes that having Lacey there would help her sleep. Even when I was pregnant with Leah (and maybe before), I thought it would be nice to have them share a room (if our 2nd ended up the same gender). I wasn’t sure about making the switch, but Dee suggested it and it reminded me of my earlier thoughts….so we took a chance.

We also ended up buying Leah a full size bed so she’d have more space. (Of course, I have more space when I have to come in & lay down with her.)

We weren’t sure it would be a permanent thing. But, they both seem like they really enjoy being in the same room. No, it’s not really helping with the sleep problems that I can tell, but maybe that will come in time.

Up until recently, I was laying down with Leah to get her to go to sleep. I know, I know. A no-no. But, it got her to sleep. My intent was to leave when she was really groggy, but I have always been so tired that I fall asleep. Then, I wake up 45 min. later, exhausted and unable to do anything except go to my bed.

In early February, I decided I’d had enough. Leah (and Lacey) earn points if they go to sleep in their bed – without me (or Butch) in the bed, too. Leah usually lays on the floor next to me (while I’m on the laptop) for a while, but eventually she gets into her bed when I remind her of the points (and the prizes that come after earning those points). The 3rd night, she slept through the entire night. I was amazed, but skeptical. Good thing I was skeptical….because I think that's only happened once since then!

The room is PINK! And, we have pink Christmas lights draped over the closet door. That makes for an awesome night light. It’s quite cute and we have finally decided they are staying together. I think they’d both hate it if we separated them now. We ordered beds that are going to be delivered next week. I'm excited to see it more "complete". Then it will be time to start hanging pictures and things! (I'll include pictures once it looks complete.)

Even though the sleep isn’t better (yet), it’s nice being able to be on the computer for a bit in the evening. During the week I catch up on work emails. And, I’m not going straight to sleep after Leah falls asleep. I can actually stay up and watch a show if I want. And, strangely enough, I think my body is getting used to waking up 3-5 times a night. I hope it can get used to solid sleep again soon, though.

Leah’s Ears

Just before Thanksgiving, we moved Leah from the crib to a twin bed. She’d been waking in the night and one of us would end up rocking her for an hour (or more). It’s hard to sleep in a rocking chair. So, we decided to move her to the twin ….. my thinking was she’d either sleep a little better…or, if she didn’t, I could at least just climb into bed next to her & doze off. The transition to the twin went well initially. In fact, she actually slept better for a few nights and I started to think that she was just cramped in the crib.

Around this time, she caught a cold. But, she still slept alright. Until the week after Thanksgiving. She started sleeping poorly and one night, when she just wouldn’t fall back to sleep and was super fussy, I gave her Motrin. She crashed within 15 minutes. Obviously something hurt and even though she had no fever, I took her to see Dr. Jill the next day (December 3rd). She had a double ear infection. Jill said “wow….she’s not complaining?” Nope. Other than the sleep issues, she was fine. She was happy during the daytime hours. Her ears drums were “bulging”. No wonder her sleep had gotten so terrible.

She was on an antibiotic for a couple of days, then developed a fever and a rash (which was only there for an hour or so). I took her back to the doctor that Saturday and they changed her antibiotic.

Then, the day after Christmas she developed a fever again. We were leaving the next day for Atlanta, so I didn’t want to take any chances. I took her to the After Hours Pediatric place. Her ears weren’t terrible, but there was still fluid and it was cloudy. It’s supposed to be clear. So, back on an antibiotic.

After the Atlanta trip, I took her in for a recheck to make sure she was clear. She still had fluid, but no infection. That lasted a week. We went back exactly 1 week later and got antibiotics again. By this point, I was sure we’d end up going to see an ENT and ending up with tubes.

(All this time, her sleep was awful.)

Leah kept running a low grade fever, even on the antibiotic. And, I was heading out of town on a business trip…unsure if Butch would have the intuition to know if she needed to go back. Dr. Jill changed her antibiotic again for us.

When I got home from my trip, Leah still had a low grade fever!!! (The most it ever hit during most of this time was 100.5 or so…and that was rare. Usually it was below 100.) I took her back to the doctors and she was given an “all clear”. Huh. No fluid. Probably a virus.

On the way home from the doctor’s, she threw up. I hate the smell of that. I think it might be the worst part of parenting. (Well, it’s either vomit or the lack of sleep.) Thankfully, she never threw up again during that illness!

She had until the end of February to totally clear up the ears & have them stay clear......or it was off to see an ENT. Luckily, her ears have been fine. Too bad her sleep hasn't improved!

Business Trip: Des Moines

My company sent all of us to Des Moines for 2 very full days of sales training in January. I was sleep deprived when I started this trip and was much more so by the return.

Wednesday, I flew to DSM via Chicago. I got up at 4:30 a.m. to catch my flight. DSM was having an ice storm that day and our flight form Chicago was canceled. I was traveling with another colleague….and when we arrived at our gate, we ran into 3 other colleagues. Our flight was the 3rd of the day to be canceled and the most flights through the afternoon were full…our next option was a 9:00 p.m. flight. One of the guys (Matt) is from Chicago & suggested driving, so that’s what we did.

We waited 2 hours to get our luggage. Matt rented a Cadillac Escalade and the 5 of us piled in. Surprisingly, the drive went pretty well. There was only a 30 min. or so section where the I-80 was slushy. By the time we got into DSM, the temperature had warmed enough that the roads were just wet.

I’d been in my room for about 30 minutes when the power went out. Lovely. A dark hotel room. I wished I had freshened up as soon as I’d gotten to the room! Oh well. I tried to freshen my make-up, then I walked down 12 flights of stairs to meet up with the others and we headed over to the reception. It was a nice event and the best thing was spending time with Tonya and Mindy, who I rarely get to see. (Tonya is my best friend who lives in Charlotte.)

Luckily, by the time we headed back to the rooms, the hotel had gotten the issues with the power fixed. Apparently it happens fairly often.

We had to be downstairs for breakfast at 6:30 a.m., then started meetings at 7:30. There was a short break before our “Summit” (recap of 2009, talking of what to accomplish in 2010) started at 2:00 p.m. Another break (1 hour) before starting the reception & awards dinner. (Tonya & I just laid on her bed and chatted….I had a hard time standing back up by then!)

The dinner was good. The motivational speaker was amazing (though a bit crazy in my humble opinion). And, the awards section was long. We were seated (for dinner) at 7:00 and it didn’t all end until 11:00. Considering I’d been in a seat most of the day for training, and had such an early start that morning, I was beat. Completely. Off to bed.

Another short night of sleep since we had to be downstairs at 6:30 to catch a bus over to the office. (There were about 50 of us, so they had rented a bus.) Quick breakfast, then training started at 7:30….and went until 3:30. They really need to look at breaking this up a little more because I don’t think anyone was getting much out of the training by Friday morning.

Everyone was flying out Friday night, but I had decided to stay until Saturday. I was planning to have dinner with Mindy, but we were both exhausted and she hadn’t seen her husband all week, so she headed home. I had tried to change my flight, but they wanted to charge me the change fee, plus the difference in airfare. No thank you. They did, however, bump me to first class.

Friday night, I was in my PJs at 5:00. I ordered a pizza and wine from room service. The plan was to watch a movie, but I didn’t think it was worth the money since I didn’t know when I would fall asleep…and maybe miss the movie. I just watched NCIS (3 hours of it) while chilling out. And, I have to say, it was awesome. I think I turned out the light around 9:00 and slept fairly well until the alarm went off at 5:30.

The girls (and Butch) were happy to see me when I got home that afternoon. They made a sign to welcome me back:
How can that not make you smile?

Atlanta (via Fort Mill, SC)

We left December 27th to visit Steve & Marilee (and Cooper & Samantha). Butch had seen them in June, but I hadn’t seen them since December 2006. It’s unreal how time flies by. We decided to drive for many reasons. Airfare, flexibility of when to leave, being able to have our van (and car seats for the kids), etc. My friend, Tonya, lives in Ft. Mill, SC, which is a little more than halfway. We drove from our house to hers the first day….7 ½ hours. We stopped at a McDonalds about halfway down to let the girls play for a bit and get rid of that energy. Because of the short time we had for the whole trip, we had to get back on the road the next day. But, it was nice to stay the night at her house and get in a little visit. (Of course, with Leah’s sleep issues….and the fact that neither kid sleeps well when we travel…..I didn’t get much visiting time. I was out for the night when it was time to get the girls to bed.)

The drive from her place to Steve & Marilee’s was about 5 hours. Not too bad, right? We stopped at a Waffle House for lunch – because I’d never been to one. I thought it would be pretty good diner food….not so much. Oh well.

The last time Lacey & Samantha met, they were about 18 months old, so they had no memory of each other, yet they were fast friends. Inseparable from the start. They had a sleepover the very first night.

One of the nights while we were there, we went out to dinner. Steve & Marilee had hired a babysitter. I knew my kids wouldn’t go to sleep easily with someone new…in a new place, but it was worth some adult time. Dinner was great…as was the wine. J But, I was entirely too full to enjoy a drink after dinner. That was annoying since we headed to a bar after dinner.

When we got back to the house, we headed downstairs to the family room area….but that is past the area where the kids were “sleeping”. As soon as Leah heard us, she was calling for me. It actually worked okay for me since I was so tired and so full. I was able to get to bed without feeling too guilty. (I may have it rough with sleep at home, but it’s worse when traveling with them!)

Marilee & I took the girls to see Princess & the Frog – awesome movie. Leah came with us because I knew she’d feel left out from the girls if she didn’t. She fell asleep (thankfully) about 30 min. into the movie.

We had a nice time catching up with them and letting the kids get to know each other. I wish they didn’t live so far away. The trip was too short (only 3 nights there), but we wanted to get home a couple of days before having to return to work. So….off we drove to Ft. Mill on New Year’s Eve.

We stopped on our way to Tonya’s to see a friend of mine that I know from an online mom’s message board. I’ve “known” Becky for about 2 ½ years and wanted to see her in person since she lived somewhat close to Tonya. It ended up being pretty far out of the way, but it was still good to meet her and her husband….and kids….and see their house.

We didn’t get to Tonya’s until around 7:30. Dinner was frozen pizza….easy & perfect! I had intentions of getting my monsters to bed and staying up with Butch, Tonya & Ben. No luck. I fell asleep getting my kids to sleep. When I woke (around 11:00), everyone else was in bed!

We left fairly early the next morning since it’s nearly an 8 hour drive home. The drive home was much worse than the drive down! Everyone was tired and cranky and tired of being in a car.

We stopped at Cracker Barrel! That food is so good. Full of calories and fat, but yummy! Then, we were back in Maryland. You know that feeling when you are so ready to be home? We had it. But, we had to stop at the grocery store for milk! Ugh. While Leah & I were in the store, Butch & Lacey picked up Ledo’s pizza. At least we didn’t have to cook.

It was a great trip….but there is nothing like your own bed.

Merry Christmas!

(It seems quite silly to be blogging about Christmas when it's now March. But I do want to have all the big things written down somewhere.)

Christmas is so much fun with kids! And they are so much fun at their ages. Chuck & Nancy didn't come down this year, so it was just the 4 of us on Christmas morning. Butch started the casserole before we came downstairs so it would be done when we finished with gifts. (More on the casserole later!)

Lacey & Leah were amazed to see all the gifts under the tree! (What kid wouldn't be?!)
They immediately started digging in. Santa had wrapped the really big gifts and it took them a bit to realize there was something BIG to open. I'm glad they didn't realize it right away since Lacey was so into her new bike that I'm not sure she would have kept unwrapping right away!

And, yes...Santa brought them bikes. Lacey's is a big girl one with training wheels. Leah's is a Radio Flyer trike that has a handle on it that we can push until she learns how to peddle on her own.

At some point, the timer went off and Butch checked the casserole. He thought it still needed to cook more, so we put it back in. Checked it a bit later and it still wasn't done....I then checked the recipe & realized he had set the timer for 30 min.....instead of 1 hour. Huh. No wonder it wasn't done!

Somewhere around noon, we headed to Rick & Kristina's house. I love holidays with my family. I know what a lucky person I am, too....to have a family that I really like to spend time with.

We had a fabulous dinner! I usually try to take a picture of the food & somehow didn't get that done this year. We had roast beef, stuffed ham, sweet potatoes, broccoli casserole, salad....and I know I missing things!

And, then the cousins opened up all of their gifts, while the rest of us watched
Every year....or most years....for a long time, we get a picture of the cousins. The past several times, there have been serious pictures with everyone smiling, then the less serious....silly face picture.

I love those "kids".

Christmas Eve 2009

The holidays are always so hectic. And, Christmas Eve is one of those days where I feel like we run around a bit much. But it seems worth it all in the end.

I had to work (from home, luckily) until 12:00 and daycare closed at 1:00. Aunt Marilyn had invited us to an open house for the girls to see Santa. (She has a connection to him through her brother!) He is amazing! So, we picked the girls up & drove to Indian Head. For those that don't know, it's about a 30-40 minute drive. The girls got changed into their Christmas dresses, then sat with Santa and posed for pictures.
We had planned to only be there for an hour or so to allow time to pick up pizza before church (at 5:00). That didn't work out!

We ended up visiting longer than we had planned. It's just too hard to leave when you don't see someone often enough. By the time we left, we knew we'd be late for church (40 minutes back toward home). While Butch was in Ledo's picking up our pizza (in La Plata), it dawned on me that there is a Methodist Church right in La Plata that we could go to. So, that's what we did. It was okay. The 5:00 is supposed to be the "children's service" or "family service". At Mt. Zion, our regular church, this means that the service is really done for the kids. It incorporates them and makes it more fun for them. However, at the La Plata church, I felt like it was just a regular service that was more tolerant of noise. Live and learn, right? Next year we will be at Mt. Zion, I think.

After church, we headed home for pizza. In case you don't know, Christmas Eve is also Butch's birthday. We had birthday cake for him after the pizza and he opened his gifts. I had gotten him an iPod....finally he decided he wanted one!

Then, we switched back to Christmas mode. :-) The girls get to open 2 gifts each year. One is usually PJs and the other is an ornament. We got them new robes this year, too.

Something new happened this year! Lacey was able to write a note to Santa!

I can't believe she's old enough to do that! I love it!

Daycare Christmas Party

The Daycare Party was Tuesday, the 22nd. Miss Lisa's daughter had written a play about the animals in the forest taking care of a little tree that was lonely. Sort of a Charlie Brown tree. Lacey's best buddy went out for her part before Lacey (with her sister) and "froze". Lacey & Leah went out and Lacey refused to do her speaking part, too! Oh well, they were cute! And, when the time came for singing, everyone participated.
Santa came - arriving on a fire truck! No surprise to me that Leah was the first one to run up to him. That girl has no fear.

It was a bit surprising that Lacey went up right after Leah! She sat on his lap for a few minutes and talked.The kids had picked names a few weeks before for a gift exchange. Miss Lisa had also gotten them gifts. And, Miss Lisa had helped them to make gifts for us. They were little bags that had been decorated with fingerprint painting and it said a hug was inside. Inside the bag was a piece of yarn that was as long as their arms are wide. It was a very sweet gift that we'll be keeping.

December 2009 (Pre-Christmas)

Lacey & Leah headed to the dentist in late November & I was amazed at how well they both did! Lacey did fairly well last time, too, so I shouldn't have been surprised. Leah sat by herself in the chair & let them do what they needed to. They told us that Lacey's bottom teeth (middle) were both loose, so she got quite excited about the tooth fairy coming at some point.

Leah had a cold at the end of November and by the first week in December her sleep had deteriorated enough that I took her to see Dr. Jill. She'd had the cold for nearly 2 weeks by that point. As it turned out, she had a double ear infection - both ear drums were bulging. Dr. Jill called her a tough cookie, considering she wasn't complaining. Poor baby.

We started with winter early here this year! It was really just a dusting, but we don't normally get snow so early. This was December 5th. It was just enough for the kids to explore, but not to cause issues with driving.



Just wait until the pictures from future snow storms! Yikes!

Butch & I had taken off on December 18th to take the girls to see Sesame Street Live. For anyone that doesn't know, Leah is a huge fan of Elmo. She loved it! Lacey enjoyed it, too, but not nearly as much.
We had planned to go see the Christmas Spectacular with the Rockettes on Saturday, the 19th. Dee, Kristin, Lacey and I were going. Unfortunately, Mother Nature had other plans for us....a blizzard. We got 16 inches at our house. It snowed for 24 hours straight. Unbelievable.
Saturday morning, we knew we weren't going to the show. They didn't cancel it, but they did give refunds to those that couldn't make it, so at least we got our money back.

We stayed inside that day since it was so windy and cold, but made it out to play on Sunday.

Lacey isn't much of a daredevil, so she wouldn't go sledding in the backyard (big hill). Instead, she liked the mound of snow made from Butch's shoveling work.
The snow wasn't packing very well (too powdery), but it worked okay for a snow castle.
And, Leah didn't like going into the snow since it was so deep. But she had fun with her sandbox toys.

We had lots of fun throwing a tennis ball for Brady into the snow. She'd hop through the snow & see the hole where the ball went....then dig for it. Made for a tired dog that night.
I have some great videos from that day, but have never had luck uploading them to blogger for some reason. I'm really not sure why, but I try to do it an 2 hours later, it's still trying to upload. So, I'm giving up. Maybe I'll put them on Facebookor email them out.

Catching Up

Okay, okay....I know. Way behind. Not sure how that happens. And now I have so much to catch up on. I'm trying not to skip through things because I'm thinking about having this put into a book for the kids to be able to keep. So, just know that you are going to see a lot of posts here & many of them are old!

Princess Tea

There is a little place in La Plata called The Royal Tea Room. I went last weekend with friends for lunch. I'd heard from friends that they will do a "princess tea", which seemed like a great idea. I thought about doing it for both girls, but Leah is just a little too toddler-ish to be expected to sit through something like that. So, when I made the reservations, I just included Lacey. It was Dee, Kristin, Kristina, Jessica, Grandma, Lacey & me.

Grandma had bought Lacey & Leah play jewelry sets, but the earrings kept breaking. Lacey has wanted earrings for a while and I've been telling her when she turns 5 she can have them. Well....I decided yesterday was a special day and thought she could get them to show off at the tea. Grandma, Lacey & I headed to the mall. On the day after Thanksgiving. Amazingly, the parking wasn't too bad. And, the crowd wasn't too bad.

Lacey picked pretty pink earrings. Here she is getting ready to get it done. (Yes, she wore her Snow White dress for the Princess Tea.)
She was crying after, so I don't have an "after" shot for you. But, she really recovered quickly & was happy with them.

Here is Lacey smiling at her special Princess Tea snacks. They did a great job for a little girl. The owner came out before hand to ask what she liked & didn't like so we could make sure Lacey would be happy with her treats. There was a star shaped turkey sandwich, a heart shaped peanut butter sandwich, a little hotdog, grilled cheese, etc. Yum-o.

The whole gang.....Jessica wearing Lacey's special tiara....

Lunch with Santa

It seems that I am always saying "I can't believe how long it's been"....when I post. But, I think I have new motivation. I found out that I can have my blog put into a nice book. That will be awesome to have done for the kids. Motivation.

Today we went to Lunch with Santa through the 22nd Annual Hospice Festival of Trees. We apparently went in the wrong way because we almost missed lunch! We spent a lot of time in the room with Santa and a very cool train set up.....and the lunch was down the hall! But, we got to eat even thought they had already put the food away.

The girls were great with Santa. I was amazed that neither one was scared or nervous.



Lacey told Santa that she wants a bike for Christmas. He made sure to talk to her about not riding in the streets. ;-) Leah wasn't very talkative with him, but has said "Elmo" anytime someone asks her what she wants.

The girls got their faces painted....and Grandma joined in the fun as well!
We walked through the hall where all of the amazing trees were. Wow. They are beautiful.

Almost Heaven....West Virginia....

….Blue Ridge Mountains…Shenandoah River…

I remember listening to that song on the drive to WV long, long ago when I was maybe 4 or 5. We all piled in the station wagon to go visit Mom’s family. No car seats. Just kids all over the back of the station wagon.

Aunt Annie – Mom’s sister – had lived in Houston for years. I know if I try to guess, I’ll be wrong. 25 years, maybe? Anyway, she & Steve retired and moved to West by God Virginia January 1st.

Dee & I have been trying to coordinate a visit for quite some time. We finally went the last weekend in September. We drove one route and Dee/Buck took a different route. They had left about 20 minutes earlier than us….and we made it to Annie’s about an hour earlier than them. Even with stops for kids.

The girls were good on the drive. And, we were driving through beautiful scenery after only about 2 hours into the drive. Butch said the drive was easy & good….until the mountains. It was still pretty and all….but was more stressful.

This was the first time Annie had met Lacey & Leah. As we were pulling into the driveway, Lacey --- who used to be so shy --- said “Aunt Annie’s gonna love me”! And, as soon as she got out, ran over to give Annie a big hug.

That evening, we just relaxed on their front porch. They have a feeding station for the deer, so the girls “helped” with filling that up. Then we waited (not for long) for the deer to show. The girls stayed fairly quiet, but even when they made a loud noise, the deer just looked up to check things out.

Unfortunately, it rained the entire next day. That was our only full day & we were supposed to go to the park. I’d made a trip to Michael’s and picked up crafts to entertain the kids, so they were set. And, later….we let them put on their rain boots & coats to go splash in puddles (although, I don’t think they really splashed much).

We had spaghetti with Aunt Annie’s homemade sauce on Saturday night. Yum-o! She uses brown sugar in her sauce. I do, too, but obviously not as much. I think I’ll add more next time I make it.

Sunday morning we had a big breakfast before packing the car up and heading out. I’m so glad we went. I asked Lacey what her favorite part of the visit was. She said “everything at Aunt Annie’s was my favorite part”. Sweet girl.

I’m not really sure how to describe it, but I felt somehow closer to Mom during that time. Partly the visit to West Virginia and partly Aunt Annie – who seems so similar to Mom.

I know we’ll head back for a visit again before too long. Soon, we’ll be planning our “reunion” for all of that side of the family. Can’t wait!