Roughing It

What do you do when the Packer game is on and Daddy won't let you watch an "Addie Movie?"



Momma steps in and builds a tent!

Complete with a mini DVD player to watch Shrek. Everything is more fun when you have a tent to play in.

Crazy Uncle Matty

Crazy Uncle Matty and his girlfriend, Katherine, came to visit us last weekend. We went out for breakfast and then went to the Great Lakes Aquarium. Since Matt and Katherine live in Chicago, we wanted to show them a little bit of Lake Superior.

Lily loved the aquarium! She loved all the fish, especially the really big trout. For some reason she kept going back to that tank. Lily also loved the ducks. They had an area with wood ducks and goldeneye ducks that had been injured in the wild and so couldn't be released. I think we could have spent all day watching one little duck paddle around the pond while his buddies slept. Another BIG hit was the otters. The aquarium has 2 otters that are a blast to watch. Next to the otters is a slide. Lily and Addie both loved the slide, but Lily felt like she was a really big kid on it!

The kids were exhausted by the time we got home. They went right to bed for their afternoon nap. Addie really enjoyed having people "stay over" at our house. She now wants to know who's staying over next. So... who's it going to be? Anyone want to come visit us? The girls will let you snuggle and read books to them!

While I'm typing this and uploading pictures (and getting some CM stuff typed up for my retreat this weekend), my wonderful hubby is cleaning up supper - unloading and loading the dishwasher and cleaning up the dishes. Did I mention he also cooked supper tonight? Pretty cool! Thanks hon.

Pumpkin Patch

If Peter Piper picked a patch of pumpkins, how many pumpkins would Peter Piper pick?



The answer: 6 pumpkins (one is hiding in the back of the wagon because it is tiny) and 7 acorn squash - all picked from the pumpkin patch in the back yard. Now, how many pumpkins will Peter Piper carve?

We're Exhausted

Lily had been sick since Tuesday afternoon with a temperature, so on Friday morning I made an appointment with a pediatrician. That morning she seemed worse than ever, more clingy, more sad, saying "owie Tummy." She didn't eat or drink much.

We got to the pediatrician's office Friday afternoon and were seen right away. The doctor did the normal sick kid check - ears, throat, lungs, etc. Everything seemed fine, except she clung to me and just whimpered. When he got to the pushing on the stomach part, Lily came unglued. She screamed bloody murder. The doctor ordered a CBC (blood test) and urine test. They had to do a catheter because she is so little (horrible experience that I hope to never have to go through again!) The blood test went slightly better, but not much. The urine came back negative for a urinary tract infection. Her white blood count was a little high.

The pediatrician decided that Lily was too sick to send home - he thought she might be having an apendicitis. Although it's rare in small children, it does happen. He told me to take her over to the attached hospital and get her admitted. She would need to be sedated and have a CT scan.

When we got to the hospital we were seen by a very nice nurse, Vicky, and a resident. Lily was again prodded on her stomach. He asked me to poke her stomach. Later a hospitalist also came in to check on us. She poked and prodded Lily's stomach and checked her ears and throat. They asked if she had been exposed to anything at daycare. The only thing she had been exposed to was strep. They were concerned about her being dehydrated so they ordered an IV and a blood test to test her electrolytes. I asked if we could just try getting her to drink fluids first. Lily drank about 4 oz of formula and some ice chips. She was happiest with the ice. Finally they ordered Tylenol for her.

By this time, Adam had found someone who could watch Addie so he came to the hospital. Mom and Dad were on their way up from Boyceville. We ended up getting a meal for Lily (of which she ate little) and Adam got me some food because it was getting late. The doctors ordered a strep test which came back positive. They ordered a shot of amoxicillin and canceled the blood test. They told us we could go home that night.

By the time we left, it was 10:00 pm. Lily fell asleep that night at midnight. The poor thing was exhausted by all she had been through.

Last night she had a hard time falling asleep. She didn't go to bed until about 11:00. Lily woke up at 2:30 screaming that her tummy hurt. I am completely exhausted, just drained.

My Monkey

I had a little monkey this morning. Her name is Lily. She didn't want to get dressed, she didn't want to drink her milk, she didn't even want to eat breakfast. She just wanted to cuddle on Momma's lap. She slept very late this morning and just woke up a little clingy and cuddly. My monkey thought it was pretty neat that I took a picture of her baby.


Big sister thought it was pretty neat that I took a picture of her. In fact, big sister insisted that I take a picture of her teeth. She wanted a close up of her teeth, but settled for a picture with her sister instead.

I tried to tell Lily she was too cute in her little fleece vest to cry, but she cried anyway. She also ripped the vest off just to show me that she's cute even when crying and without a vest.

Food Allergy Special

The Food Network is doing a special on Food Allergies:

Edible Enemies
"Edible Enemies is a one-hour special report that looks at the mysterious increase in both the number and the severity of food allergies in the United States. 12 million Americans now have food allergies. There is no cure. There is no treatment, other than a shot of epinephrine in an emergency. We will hear from the parents of small children, and from teenagers and adults living with life-threatening food allergies".

AIR TIMES:
October 13, 2007 4:00 PM ET/PT
October 19, 2007 10:00 AM ET/PT

Thanks to a different blogger, I got a recipe for Dairy Free Pumpkin Pie that I'll have to try out for Thanksgiving. Yummy!

Why Momma?

Tonight Addie and I were snuggled up in the green chair watching Shrek. Addie kept asking me all sorts of questions, such as, "Why Shrek sad Momma?" "Momma, why they looking at the stars?" "Momma, why Pincs Fee-oona kick that man?"

I did the typical, "what do you think Addie?" But it really wasn't working. Finally I had a chance to ask some questions of my own. "Addie, why do you think you ask so many questions?"

"'Cause I have lot of questions to ask. And I ask you them." Very simple, very concise. She has questions so she asks them. She isn't worried about internally filtering her questions, she isn't worried about what anyone else will think of her. She has a question and she asks. Man, kids are amazing.

Shave and a Haircut, 2 Bits

Nope, not a post about my new haircut/hair color. Just a post about the girls. If you ever want to see two little girls enthralled for long amounts of time... say over a half hour (which is an amazing amount of time) get out a cheap can of shaving cream.

You just put a blob of shaving cream on the high chair or table top and let them go at it. It was great! Lily tried tasting it, "yucky." Lily then tried to shake it off her hands. Then she squished... and squished and rubbed it all around. By the end she was packing shaving cream into her ears! She had two little shaving cream/hair horns sticking out from her head.

Addie on the other hand got into it right away. She smeared it all over the table and then drew pictures in it. I was instructed to take pictures of her pictures. Too cute!

Hopefully I can get those pictures off the horrible will not download camera and put them up soon.

Daddy's Home!

Daddy's Home! The full mountain man beard is gone, my house looks a little like a camouflage bomb went off (with a generous helping of pink little girl toys used as shrapnel). It is great to have him home.

I think Lily said, "Daddydaddydaddy..." constantly for 2 days. Addie got a special trip down to the cabin on Monday with Daddy all by herself. The girls are extremely happy to have him home. (me too!)

Lily and Addie would like to say "Happy Birthday Darla!" We were going to call you in the car this morning, but Grandma gave the girls fruit snacks for the ride and there was NO WAY I was handing my phone to that sticky fingers.

Thank You

Thank you everyone for your encouragement. I'm feeling better today. It might be because Addie fell asleep in the car last night and didn't wake up until 7:30 this morning.

Most likely it is because my mom and sister are coming tonight (Dress warmly Syren, it's really chilly here!). Thank goodness for moms, they can fix anything. Auntie Rene is a rock star around my house so the girls will be ecstatic to see her.

I realized this morning that the girls are acting out a lot more with Adam gone because they aren't getting as much attention as usual. (Yes, you can smack me in the forehead for being so dense as to not figure this out!) They're used to getting attention from both Adam and I. If I'm busy cooking dinner, they can always go to him for a snuggle or a book. When it's just me, they tend to fight each other for attention. So that's why I can't have a moment's peace. That also explains why they have to be next to me every waking moment. "Momma, why you showering?" "I come in too?" "Momma, you peeing?" "Momma, I put on makeup too." Seriously, is a moment in the bathroom alone too much to ask?

So now that I realize the attention portion, I think it will be easier to bear.

Deep Breaths

"...and this too shall pass."

I talked to Adam this morning and it sounds like he will be coming home on Saturday. So I just need to hang in there until then. It's not that the girls are doing anything too terrible, it's just that I'm the only one there. I'm the one that always has to be the enforcer. I'm the one that has to put them to bed every night. I'm the one that has to fight Lily to get dressed while stopping Addie from throwing a shoe at our heads. It's just a lot to deal with.


So I will look at cute peaceful pictures of my children. I will make a long leisurely hair appointment for when Adam is back in town. I might even get a pedicure so I can stay away from home a little bit longer! I will remember that I love my children (and I will remember that it would be wrong to sell them as child slaves.)

Missing You...

We miss Daddy. Today as I was leaving the house to go to work, Addie asked me to "Be Daddy." I needed to talk in a lower voice and give her a hug and kiss goodbye. After than then I could "be Momma" again for another hug and kiss.

This morning on her way downstairs with Grandma Argh, Addie announced that she missed Daddy. She then proceeded to go into a long drawn out story about how Daddy rough houses with her. There was a long description (including a demonstration of her wiggling) of how she gets away from Daddy. It was the funniest, cutest thing!

I've got a secret

Happy Day Before Labor Day.

Adam left for his 2 week long adventure to Colorado today. He'll be hunting in the middle of nowhere without cell reception, running water or easy access to medical facilities for 2 weeks. For those of you keeping track, this means he will miss my birthday. I say this not to make him feel bad, but because it is important for the rest of the story.

Today the girls and I were playing outside when Addie came running up to me and said, "Momma! I have a secret for you."

"You do? What is it?" Now, she's done this before and it's always been things like the fact that she's getting a birthday party or other commonly known facts.

"Momma, Daddy asked Grandma to make a cake for you. She's bringing you a cake on your birthday. Grandma's got a present too, because it's going to be your birthday! Shh... it's a surprise."

Now how cute is that!? How could I not just laugh and give her the biggest hug in the world? She was so serious about the whole thing!

Birthday Goodies

Is that an excited face or what?! We had a great birthday party on Saturday. Lots of friend and family, Addie is still talking about it. We gave Addie a new bike. It's one that starts as a trike and converts to a 2 wheeler. The first thing she said was, "Can I have a Pink one?" Nope, sorry honey, it only comes in red.


And when everyone else left, the cousins, Aunties, Uncle and Grandma & Grandpa were still there to play. The 4 cousins all get along so well.

Just in Case

OK so I'm really not all that bad of a Momma. I feel I should give a list of all the words Lily says so it doesn't look like "Sponge Bob" is the only words she says. :) By the way, she calls Diego "Sponge Bob" also. Not sure what that says...

Aggie (the cat, she uses this for most animals)
Addie
Momma
Dadda
Bott (bottle)
Blankie
Skuse Me
All Done
Mease (please)
Dog
Baby
Woof Woof
Up
Reese (her friend at school)
Book
Boppa
No
Back (her version of "Give It Back!")
*edited to add:
Poop
Potty

There are more... I just can't think of them right now.

Happy Birthday Addie!

My baby turned 3 yesterday. We had a great weekend playing with our friends the Hennemann's at the cabin. The Hennemann's are moving from Florida to Alaska (talk about serious culture shock!!) and were just passing through on their trek north. They have a little girl who is exactly 2 months older than Addie and a 8 month old baby. So Lily was gaga over the baby; calling her Reese (her baby friend from daycare) all day yesterday. Addie and Ellie played as only 3 year old girls can play. They played with their babies, had a rousing game of Hungry Hungry Hippo (or Oh So Hungry Hippo as the girls were calling it), bounced on a giant inflatable castle, watched Sleeping Beauty, and generally just had a great time.

We brought some presents to the cabin and Grandma Argh made a cake so we were able to celebrate Addie's birthday. We'll have a big party next Saturday. In the meantime, everyone is glad to be home. Lily has been running a fever all weekend so she's feeling pretty crummy. It was 103 last night, but seems to have come down some. She's pushing teeth through but she must have a virus on top of that. Poor little thing.

This morning on the way home I was thinking about how much things have changed in three years. Three years ago I was shocked when the doctor told me I should have a C-Section on the following morning (Aug 19). I cried because this was not what I wanted, yet I was so excited to know that my baby would be there the next day. It was such a crazy roller coaster range of emotions. Then we saw this cute little thing with the crazy Don King shock of dark hair and the scream you could hear all the way down the hall of the Birth Center. Who wouldn't want to take her home? I love you to pieces baby girl! Even if you don't want us calling you our little girl anymore (Little Big Girl is acceptable though.)

Choo Choo Train!

Here's a picture from the Optimist Club convention at the first of the month. Our "evening of fun" was a train ride up the north shore of Lake Superior. It also included a pizza dinner. That's always an issue with Lily around. I couldn't really special order a cheeseless pizza like I would normally order since you pretty much just get a 1/2 pizza per person and they're all the same. So... I brought Lily's lunch bag with me filled with cheeseless pizza (I keep leftovers in the freezer and just take out a piece or 2 as needed.), fruit roll-ups, juice boxes and other special treats that they don't usually get. Luckily I didn't have to worry about contact allergies with her so I didn't freak out about her touching the seats or anything.

My little sister came with us on the train and was a HUGE help. Since there was no table there was really no way to keep the kids confined while eating other than on our laps. Notice that I was an idiot and wore white pants that day. Addie did make new friends with a couple from St Cloud (Jim & Jimmy according to Addie) - I've known them for awhile now and they really are the sweetest couple. By the end of the night Addie was giving Jim hugs and kisses! It really was a lot of fun and I'd definitely go again.

I'm a Bad Momma

I've failed as a mother. My 16 month old can say "sponge bob" when she sees him on TV.

Chillin' at Auntie Rene's House

Here we are, just hanging out, eating our crackers, watching a Disney movie while Mommy, Auntie, and our 2 Grandma's make cards. Yep, we're pretty cool. Momma would never let us eat crackers in bed at home!

In other news, we're counting down to Addie's 3rd birthday. She's very excited about bringing cupcakes to daycare and about her party! She is telling anyone that will listen that she is having a party. Can you believe that this was Addie at her 1st birthday party? Boy she has grown! Addie keeps telling me that "Now I all grown up Momma." It just about breaks your heart! She's definitely becoming a big kid. The first week in September she'll move downstairs to the preschool room at daycare. That will be very hard for me!

The Big Lake

The girls had a great time at the beach on Sunday. We got together with the FOP for a picnic. Although Adam works with all these folks, the families don't often have a chance to get together and play. Addie immediately stripped down and waded into the lake. That's really saying something since the average temp of the lake is 37 degrees F. Addie really didn't seem to mind though! We spent a lot of time collecting rocks (that I need to remember to take out of her pockets before the shorts go through the wash).

John O taught Addie to make a really good sandcastle. She spent a lot of time shoveling sand into her bucket.

Both girls were covered head to toe in sand by the time we got home. I'm still trying to wash the sand out of Addie's hair. I've pretty much given up the fight against sand in the carseat - I figure it's a lost cause.

Never Underestimate!

Never underestimate the abilities of a 16 month old! This morning I was putting on my makeup in the living room so Lily wouldn't be lonely (Addie decided to sleep in until 10am when it was time to leave for daycare). Lily wanted to play with my makeup so I gave her a tube of lipstick that I didn't think she'd be able to open.

Wrong.

She opened it. She stuck her fingers in. She looks like she had been in a horribly traumatic accident.

When I brought her to daycare she still had lipstick under her eye. I heard the daycare teacher commenting on her pretty sparkles on her face!

Lily and Addie want to give a shout out to all their friends in Cell Block D! (get it? Jail, D...) Also all their love to the Comm Center!

Our Weekend

We had a great weekend at the cabin. The weather was very hot but we were able to cool things off for the most part with some AC and splashing in the lake.

Lily was a little unsure of the water to start with, but she loved the sand! She liked rubbing it all over her legs. On Sunday I was able to finally put her in a floaty and let her kick herself around in the shallows. She loved it! What a little fish she is once she gets over the scaredy-catness! Addie really enjoyed splashing in the shallows. She and Adam raced up and down the beach splashing water everywhere.

Adam made a fort out of some cushions, a table and some blankets. The girls loved hiding in there.
Addie helped me make "pupcakes" for Grandma's birthday. She was very excited because they were "worm pupcakes with dirt!" We used strawberry cake mix and chocolate frosting. I had Addie dip each cupcake into crushed chocolate cookies and put gummy worms on top. (all were safe for Lily by the way!) It really did look kind of gross! She thought it was the coolest thing ever, especially since she got to help. We almost blew the surprise when Addie told Grandma over the phone that she had made cupcakes for Grandma's birthday. Luckily Grandma didn't think Addie could possibly be talking about real dirt cupcakes! When Grandma, Grandpa and Auntie Rachel showed up on Saturday morning and saw us there, Grandma was very surprised.

Addie has discovered a new favorite - Candyland. Actually she likes playing all games right now. (Hint, hint, games would be a great birthday gift!) She doesn't really follow the rules, but that's ok, she's getting the general idea.

Saturday night Addie went home with Grandma and Grandpa to get some special time alone with them. They took her to church (one of her favorite places) the next morning and then to breakfast before coming back to the cabin.


Grandpa broke out the guitar on Sunday afternoon and Addie just loved it! She stared at Grandpa for the longest time, then got up on his lap and helped him play.

It was a great weekend - lots of sun, sand and family.

An Open Letter

Momma, maybe you don't get it. These pants you put me in today? They're 9 month pants. You see how they sag in the back? You see how they show my diaper like I'm a slutty teenager showing off my thong? Well guess what Momma, I'm 16 months old. I'm a big girl, I'm no baby. Someone obviously isn't feeding me enough.
















What's that? Oh, you can see that I have my mouth jammed with food and I'm not stopping to chew? Oh well, I guess you are feeding me. I did eat an entire chicken breast for supper tonight along with broccoli, some bread, and dessert.

Never mind! I love you Momma!

Nonchiladas

I made this up this week and it was a HUGE hit at our house. Addie said it was too "picy" but only after she had eaten half her plate. Lily has had leftovers twice for lunch since. I had planned on making enchiladas, but we were out of tortillas and I didn't want to put cheese on it because of Lily. Hence, it became "Nonchiladas."

1 lb. ground beef
1 can black beans
1 4 oz can tomato sauce
1 15 oz can diced tomatoes
1 packet enchilada seasoning
onion, diced
green pepper, diced
celery, diced

Cook and drain ground beef in skillet. Add onions and saute until just transparent. Add green pepper and celery. Stir. Add tomatoes, sauce and enchilada packet. Stir it all together. If you wanted, you could transfer it into a casserole and bake it with some cheese on top. However, part of the appeal for me was that the green peppers and celery didn't get overcooked so they were still a little crunchy. Otherwise, serve it with a nice big green salad and maybe some tortilla chips. Yummy!

The other bonus of this recipe is that it is super fast. If you chop the vegetables while the beef is cooking it goes together in no time. Very important when you have 2 children clinging to your pant legs telling you they are hungry!

Whee!

Lily has added two new words to her vocabulary. "Bubba" and "Whee." She found a bottle of bubbles outside yesterday and insisted that I blow bubbles for her. As soon as she saw the bubbles she started saying, "Whee!" I'm also pretty convinced that she said "boppa" when she saw grandpa today, but she refused to say it again when Ray was inside.

See here for why I don't have any pictures to show you. I took darn cute picture of Lily in her farmer overalls yesterday and more today, chasing after bubbles.

Momma's Taking Us to the Zoo Tomorrow...

Some pictures from our recent trip to the Lake Superior Zoo.


Addie and Tyler watch the Polar Bears eat watermelon.

Addie and Em look for the tigers. There was supposed to be something called Tiger Enrichment, but nothing seemed to be happening. I don't suppose that the tigers were learning to read...

Poor Lily was wiped out! She slept for a while in the stroller, then went home to take a 2 hour nap! Poor kid.

Big Girl Bed

Yeah Addie! Addie's in a big girl bed!

She spent her first night in a big girl bed last night. She did very well, only falling out once. This morning Lily woke her up at 5:20 which was a little early (2 1/2 hours earlier than normal!) However, she is extremely excited about her "new" bed. She doesn't realize that it's actually her crib with one side removed. :)

Poop Everywhere

WARNING** This may be too much information for some people. If so, look at the cute picture of Lily with Grandpa and move on.

For those of you still with me it was a morning to remember. It started out much like any other day. Addie still hasn't pooped, so we moved on to slightly more advanced maneuvers. I gave Addie her peanut butter with mineral oil mixed in and a bagel to dunk, a cup of yogurt with mineral oil and some juice. I convinced her that Dr. Shar told me Addie should have some cream on her butt to make it feel better. While Addie "assumed the position," I inserted a suppository. Not as traumatic as Dr. Shar had lead me to believe it would be. It should take about 15 minutes or so to soften up whatever is blocking the plumbing.

But then.... the trauma started. Addie started crying and moaning and whining for Daddy. Daddy was outside working on the siding. Daddy had to come in to periodically comfort Addie. Finally (55 minutes later) I had to get ready for work so I asked Addie if she would like to come take a bath. Normally she loves taking a bath. Not. Today. She screamed; she cried. She ran from the bathroom screaming (nakey) and slammed the door shut. While I was in the shower I hear her start screaming again, "I poop, I poop." So I opened the bathroom door and she raced to the potty. Yes, she did poop, all over the hallway. Of course I had to calm her down because she was traumatized by pooping on the hall floor. The poor kid felt so bad about it.

Honestly, I have no idea how that kid didn't block up the toilet. We must have fantastic plumbing! She was on the potty, she'd say she was done; two seconds later she was back on again. I'd just clean out the potty and she'd be back on again. Not to mention the mess on the floor! Mineral oil is bad. Very bad. Like eating too much Olestra as Adam would say.

Meanwhile, downstairs Lily got into the peanut butter laced with mineral oil. There was peanut butter all over the floor, over the rocking horse, all over her. So what do I do? I take both kids to daycare and let the teachers deal with the aftermath. Momma needs a drink!

Obvious Genetic Link

It is obvious to me that there is a gene responsible both for the love of shoes and for wanting to talk on the phone. Here Lily talks to all of her Peeps while walking around the living room. She says, "Hiiii..." "Uh huh" "ohhhh" and "Buh bye" She looks like a mini-me!

As for the shoe gene, well I realized that both my girls have it. Lily loves nothing more than to try on Addie's and my shoes. She even gets excited about putting her own shoes on. I had assumed this was learned behavior. However, I was reminded of Crazy Uncle Matty's shoe "habit" while we were in Chicago. He's got more shoes than I do. So I believe that my girls come by this love of shoes quite naturally from both sides. It is obvious to me that Adam just has a recessive shoe gene.

See, it's not her fault that Imelda Marcos had so many shoes! Adam, pay no attention to the letters DSW with the dollar amount after it on our Discover Card bill. It clearly is not my fault either.

Poop

This will not be a pretty post. Do not read it if you are offended by words such as poop, or descriptions of such words.

Day 4 of Big Girl Undies/Day 2 of Mineral Oil
Our pediatrician recommended 2 tbs of mineral oil per day to help Addie become more regular. Right now she poops once a week. You can almost set your watch by it - seriously, it's always Saturday afternoon just after nap time.

Day One:
Addie woke up at 11pm with a yell. I went in to find her standing up in her bed saying, "I pooping." Thanking God and several other deities that I managed to put a Pull Up on her before bed, I ran her to the bathroom. Success!

Day Two:
No poop. Well, not really. There was much yelling, grabbing of stomach and whining. There was also very thin oily poop that dribbled out of her. Some accompanied by gas, some not. Some dropping on my carpet. None of it making its way into the potty. Addie absolutely refused to sit on the potty to see if that would help her stomach feel better. In the battle of wills between toddler and momma, this toddler will win. I even tried a warm bath to see if that would do the trick. Again, much screaming and yelling - no poop.

Day Three:
This morning was ugly. Run away from home ugly. All Addie wanted to do was lay with her head in my lap. If that was not possible, then she wanted to be superglued to my side. Both kids were exhausted from the late night the night before so that didn't help. Normally I would love to just cuddle up on the couch with Addie and Lily and watch TV, knit and "nuggle." However, when I have to get ready for work, it is really difficult to have both of them attached to the same leg. I just want a shower in peace. I want a shower with no one screaming, no one throwing toys into the tub with me, no one stealing toys from their sister, no one picking on their sister, no one saying, "momma, I hungry." I want a gate at the base of my steps that will prevent them from coming upstairs after me if I disappear for 2 seconds. I want to shower without worrying that Lily will fall down the steps.

Great News All Around

I forget how hard it is to get 4 people smiling at once, especially when 2 of them are under 3~
Sharon took this picture of us at Darla's wedding. Speaking of....


We had a great time at Darla's wedding. I have nothing good to say about the Americinn in Wisconsin Rapids or the hotel situation in general in that town, however that is neither here nor there and will perhaps be a post for a different day. Darla was radiant in her dress - and a good time was had by all.

Now, on to the news of the week. Drumroll please............ Lily now weighs 19 lbs, 9 oz! Yes, she put on over a pound in the last 3 weeks. Thank goodness for calorie supplements! She's now in the 7% and her doctor isn't worried about her anymore. Her height was questionable, but I think that was a measuring inaccuracy more than anything. If she can continue gaining weight, even a slow weight gain, I will be happy.

Next drumroll....... Addie has gone all day in big girl underwear for 3 days now! She is doing incredibly well. I was really concerned yesterday when we had to leave the bookstore because she needed to pee and absolutely refused to use a "big potty." Only the training potty will do for this girl. However, Addie made it all the way home without an accident. I went back to the bookstore today and got a book for her as a reward. The Kiss That Missed
I also had to appologize to the clerk because we left the kids section a little messy when we literally ran from the store. I also picked up Magyk and Flyte ~ Book 1 and 2 of the Septimus Heap series. We listened to Magyk on our roadtrip and I think it will be a good bedtime story to read to the girls when they are a little bigger. I'll wait to get Book 3 when it comes out in paperback.

We have big excitement this weekend, Mona and Boppa Dude, Auntie Reen, and Auntie Em & her family are all coming to our house. Hopefully I'll have good pictures to show from the zoo.

What we've been up to....

We spent part of Father's Day at the lake in Siren. Addie loved playing with her cousins, but didn't want to go too far into the water. She'd let the waves splash her toes.

Lily hung out on the dock with Auntie Reen. She wanted nothing to do with the lake. Too scary (and not because of her near death experience either).


Lily decided that she was going to feed herself soy yogurt this morning. Messy, but fun.

Long Morning

It's been a rather long morning. It should have been such a good one, it started off so well. I got up right after Adam and jumped in the shower so I didn't have to worry about the girls being downstairs alone while I was upstairs showering. I'm half convinced Addie is going to smother Lily one of these days while I am showering. Adam got Addie up, I got Lily when she woke up. I gave the girls yogurt for breakfast (Silk soy yogurt for Lily of course). Then it was bathtime...

Fill up the tub
Dump in toys
Dump in 2 year old
Keep 1 year old from jumping in herself while fully dressed
Grab towels
Gently put 1 year old in tub
"Sit down Lily" Lily sits
"Sit down Lily" Lily sits
"Lily, SIT DOWN" Lily sits
Then everything went into slow motion... Lily slips and falls under the water. I can see her little eyes are wide open and her mouth is doing that, "ohh ohh" thing like a fish. She's trying to push herself up, but can't quite get it. I grab her, bring her up out of the water and pat her on the back. She seems to be breathing just fine. Oh man, I think she scared 5 years off my life. I never knew how long it takes to get from one end of my tiny bathroom to the other. Lily was obviously scared because it caused her to empty her bowels into the bathtub.

Take Addie out of tub
Take toys out of tub
Place toys in bleach solution
"No Addie, you can't play with the spoon, it's being cleaned."
Remove Addie's hand from bleach solution
Try to calm Addie down while spraying out the tub
Scrub Tub
Place Addie back in tub to wash her hair.

So Lily is semi-clean. I figure the dunking was enough to wash her hair, I wasn't going to put her back in again.

As I'm getting Addie dressed, she spys the "Big Girl Underwear" with princesses on them and insists that she must wear that. I explain that those underwear are only for girls who go on the potty every time. That underwear doesn't catch the pee like diapers do. Can you sit on the potty every time? So we put on the underwear. I grab 3 more pairs and 3 more pairs of shorts to go to daycare. At this point I am resigned to cleaning the upholstery in the carseat.

I am in the kitchen getting Lily's lunch ready when I hear Addie say, "look, I made a puddle." Of course you did, because we need to be leaving the house right now and we are nowhere near ready. Lily then crawls through the puddle. No Lily, sit right there and wait for Momma. Addie then walks through the puddle. Stop, everyone stop! At least I had a change of outfits ready for her. Addie says, "This no catch pee." Yep, that's what I said kiddo.

She made it to daycare without another accident. I fully expect that there will be a full load of Addie laundry by tonight.

I Walk the Line

Lily is walking! She started walking on Saturday at Mom and Dad's. She's been standing on her own for quite a while now. Saturday we set her down and Dad held out his arms to her. Lily took 3 steps on her own! Three steps is about her max, but I know it won't be long before she's moving all over the place.

In other news, when Mom & Syren asked Addie what her favorite part of daycare was, she said "AJ." My daughters favorite part about daycare is a little boy. *sigh* And so it begins......

Things I've Been Asked

"Where did the alphabet come from?"
Wow, how do you answer that one? I finally told Addie that some guys made up the alphabet a really long time ago so that Mommy's could read their kids stories. That seemed to work.

While we were playing with the glass pebbles you put in fishbowls, Addie said, "Momma, we use this money at church?" This kid loves church! She wants to go to church every day. She corrects Adam if he doesn't hold his hands correctly while praying. She corrects us if we forget to say prayers. Somehow I'm not sure the church office would find it cute that we're putting glass pebbles in the collection basket. We'd better attach a note!

Lily

After running a mysterious temperature for 36 hours with no other real noticable symptoms (other than sleeping about 30 of those hours) I took Lily into the doctor's office. The doctor keyed in on Lily's eyes, both had big bags under them, but one looked like she had been stung by a bee (or punched by someone). I didn't even really notice it until he pointed it out, I thought it was just the sick, red, puffy eyes that kids get.

The doc called in another physician to consult. They both agreed it is periorbital cellulitis.

Basically she has a bacterial infection of the tissue surrounding her eye. We're happy they caught it extremely early as this could lead to eye/nerve/bone damage if left untreated. At my request, they are treating this pretty agressively. Lily was given 2 shots of antibiotic in her thigh in the clinic and was sent home with oral antibiotics. She also has another appointment on Friday to see if there's been improvement.

The other thing we found out at the clinic is that Lily weighs 17 lbs, 13 oz. Basically the same as she did 2 months ago, and less than she did at 9 months. The kid eats and eats. She eats more than Addie at most meals! The doctor put her on a calorie supplement and wants to see how she does on that for 1 month before they do anything further. We're also going to be giving her more concentrated formula so she gets more calories per serving. The doc gave us a few other ideas to try. Basically I'm very scared. At our 12 month appt. the doctor told us that if she doesn't start gaining weight by her 15 month appointment (at the end of June) we would test her for metabolic disorders. It might be related to the dairy allergy, but it might be something additional. The words failure to thrive just keeps running through my head.

I Addie, I 2

Adam and I are blown away by our social butterfly. Addie will walk right up to kids roughly the same age as her (give or take a few years) and say, "I Addie, I 2" and wait for a response. Most kids have no idea what she's saying. That or they're just too shy to say something, even to another kid.

Yesterday we went to see the new lambs at Bob and Pam's house. The lambs were adorable and the girls were excited as all get out. Addie almost immediately (after scarfing down the top of a cupcake, some fruit, large amounts of cheese and half a hot dog) made friends with another little boy and girl that were there. The boy was a year or so older than Addie and the girl was a year or so younger. Still, Addie made friends. She ran and fake falled with the boy, she blew bubbles in the little girl's face, she traded (and even gave away at one point) her bubbles. At one point Addie even demonstrated the chicken dance for her new friends. I swear, I have no idea where the kid gets this from!

Lily on the other hand, charmed the older ladies and practiced her new walking skills.

Have you seen Dumpr? The have a sketch feature that allows you to bring in a picture and convert it into a line drawing. I find this oddly addicting.