Little Bug was 17 Months on the 17th!!!

Kate still continues to grow and learn new things. She is at such a cute stage. She loves her "sis" and doesn't like to be without her. I'm sure Kate will really miss Sam when she starts school in a couple of weeks. She does a great job of communicating what she wants. I think she is starting to thin out and is definitely eating less.

This week she has been sick. She hasn't been sick much in the 17 months of her life. I dont remember her being sick since February. She has had a high fever, but not really any other symptoms. It keeps spiking at night so needless to say I haven't had a lot of sleep the past few nights. She wakes up saying "baby, baby". She wants me to rock her and sing rock a bye baby. How precious is that? She seems better today so I think we are at the end of it. Kate will soon be 18 months and it is so hard to believe!! riding with "sis" in the bike trailer

The Childrens Museum

Just the girls and I took a trip to the children's museum on Friday. I thought it would be the perfect day since it has been 97 degrees every day and the kids are back in school. Well I was a little off. It was the busiest day I've ever seen. I guess everyone had the same idea as me. I definitely dont think all the kids are back in school yet. Regardless the girls had a lot of fun. This was Kate's first time getting out of the stroller to explore so it was a whole new dynamic keeping track of two little people. looking way too big!
In the maze

going two different ways

kate was a little confused by the mirrors

gathering rocks

styling Barbie's hair

my favorite part (dress up and the fashion show)

Sam and Kate walking the runway...

The train

Sam loved it of course and Kate's not so sure?

Sooooo Pretty!

Good Old Fashion Summer!

It has been such an amazing summer. I have to say when I pondered the thought of taking Sam out of school for a "summer break" I got really nervous. In the end I decided to go for it. What is two months EVERYDAY with a VERY talkative and moody 4 year old? HA! Not a moment to myself, no time to clean, fold laundry, or run errands. Hey, life is short and we had some summer fun to experience. We started our adventure July 1st. No school, no activities, absolutely NO schedules on our summer break adventure. I was pleasantly surprised to find out this was the best decision I could have made.

The girls and I have mostly enjoyed the pool (Sam has been taking swim lessons with one of the life guards and is successfully swimming on her own quite well!!!) the zoo, walks, the park, playing with friends, a fourth of July trip to Michigan, (pictures to come)staying up late, catching lightening bugs and frogs, big breakfasts, sit down family dinner, the list goes on..........

This past year or so I've faced a lot of fears as a mom and the rewards have been indescribable. I've made memories with my children that will last a lifetime for both of us!!!!

I'm sad to say summer break will end after labor day and Sam will begin her new school 3 days a week. It will be back to schedules and learning to get ready for the big Kindergarten!

Scary picture! Scary situatiuon!

So I can't believe I'm even posting this picture, but I wanted it for a memory of how scary I looked. haha So.......Thursday Morning I woke up and my legs were itching. I looked at them and there were red bumps all over them. Of course I freaked out not knowing what it was. I did what every american does these days and immediately got on the internet. I had a feeling it was hives and every picture I pulled up looked exactly like my legs. As the day went on they were coming and going and showing up in new places. Thursday night I called my dr to see if I could take benedryl along with my allergy medicine I take on a daily basis. My dr said if my eyes should start swelling I should go to the er. I wake up at 4 am and my eyes felt puffy. I went back to bed to get a little more rest and woke up to one eye completely swollen shut and the other well on its way to swelling shut. At 6 am I decided to head to the er. I get there and they check me in right away. The dr immediately gives me benedryl, prednizone, and pepsid. After watching me for about an hour nothing changed, and in fact the hives were spreading around my mouth and my lips were swelling. Now I'll admit I was starting to freak out a little. The dr talked to me about the possibility of doing an adrenaline shot but warned me that there are some unpleasant side effects. Vomiting, increased heart rate, and trouble breathing. I opted for it considering the hives were clearly heading for my throat. They gave me the shot and it wasn't nearly as bad as they prepared me for. My heart was definitely racing but no vomiting. The most amazing part of it was that the hives were dissappearing within minutes. My eyes took the better part of the day to go down.

I will say it was a scary ordeal. I'm still scared considering I do not know what triggered it. We are thinking it may be blueberries or possibly a new laundry detergent I was using. As of now all hives are gone and I'm on some different medications for about 10 days to keep the hives away.

Billy Bob #1 & #2 and the Toad Catcher - Ooooh the fun of summer!

Kate is 15 Months old!

Kate is getting so big...... I dont know where the time has gone. She has gone from not so curiuos to Curious George literally. As you can see in the picture above she has turned into a little monkey and is into EVERYTHING!!! She still doesn't have the temper her sister had, but has all the typical toddler characteristics. Just in the last couple of weeks she has transformed into full fledged toddler mode. Climbing, wondering, independence, talking, trying to run, did I mention dancing? This girl loves to dance and recognizes the songs she likes. She wants to do anything and everything Sam does. It is too cute to watch. They are becomming quite the little playmates WHEN Sam decides to be nice and include her little sister. Kate now keeps us on our toes but we enjoy every minute of her bright little smile. The first thing she says every morning when she wakes up is "sis?"

At her 15 month appointment she was 32.5 inches and 27.5 lbs. She was in 95th percentile for both. A nice big healthy girl! This time around she was NOT happy about the shots. She cried for quite a while and I ran over to the medcheck which is in the same building for a (sinus infection). When they took us back to the room for me Kate freaked out..... she was not having it. She knew she was back in the room and she knew there might be shots involved. HAHA

Fun to be sisters!!

Its fun to wear matching pj's

Playing dress up together

Playing Playdough together

Eating Saturday Morning doughnuts together

The list goes on.....

Happy Fathers Day 2010!!

We love our dad he's the best dad! We have soooo much fun with him!!

Kate's first major OUCHY!

Of course it had to happen the night before Zane and I leave for our 24 hour get-away! We were in the kitchen Friday night and Kate was playing quietly in the playroom, as she often does. For a moment in time I had somehow forgotten that she had turned into a monkey in the last two weeks. She had tried to climb on a doll high chair and it collapsed on her. I'm still not exactly sure where or what she hit but it looked that bad for a few hours then she woke up Saturday morning and it was the one little red dot in the middle. Geeze .......Zane and I looked at each other and thought (why do our girls always bump their heads this badly) I thought it was the boys that were supposed to do this?

On to the next day. Kate did wake up looking fine and no swelling or bruising, so we were off to our mini trip to French Lick. Wow was it fun!?! Zane set this all up for my birthday surprise. We set off on our adventure at 9:30 AM sharp. We sat in the car enjoying the 2.5 hour road trip. No there was no "are we there yet" no "I'm hungry" no "I'm thirsty" did I mention no "are we there yet?" Just magazine reading, radio listening, and adult conversation!!!!! We arrived and I immediately got to go to the spa for 2.5 hours. A stay at home mom of 2 kids under the age of 4 can appreciate this like you cannot imagine. It started with the pluto bath. An aromatherapy bath that consisted of 24 minerals from the pluto waters that french lick is known for. (From what I'm told this is the reason some of the 1920's movie stars came to the resort for these baths.....pretty cool!) Next a 50 minute massage ...more relaxation. Finally a manicure which I messed up before I got out of there and again reminded me why I normally do not get manicures.
After the spa visit I went to meet up with Zane. Where else did I find him? The Casino of course. I sat down next to him and started playing blackjack and before we knew it we were friends with everyone at the table.....singing songs and cheering every time there was a win! The 80 year old woman next to me downing glasses of wine asked me to be her guest. What does this mean you ask??? Well she gave me an orange wrist band that would allow me to get free drinks all night. Just what I needed. HA It turns out that people who gamble ALOT earn this status. Imagine that? She had been there since Thursday. She was a fun old lady with a lot of character.
I did a little shopping for a 1 year old and 4 year old souvenir.
On to the Steakhouse (delicious) -By the time we were finished it was after midnight and we were beat. We slept in and headed back in the morning.
I was glad to see the girls, they missed us, but it was a trip to remember.
It was fun to feel young again and laugh with my best friend!!!!

Summer Fun!

shucking corn
smiles


curls from the humidity

playing on the deck

Sisters in the gator

Tennis Camp

strawberry picking

Big Girl Piggy Tails

Look who is soo big.......

Sam's first recital - May 15th

This day gave a whole new meaning to the phrase "proud parent"!!!