boots with the furrr...

This is what happens when Landy comes to town! :-)

bogged down

I sometimes feel like such a loser. My "to do" lists keep growing, not getting smaller. I need some organizational tips, so feel free to leave some comments and help me out! I am so bogged down with work that I feel like my life revolves around it right now. I still work "part time", but I'm having a hard time doing my paperwork from home while trying to be a stay-at-home mom. I just work on Mondays and Tuesdays (and make-up appointments one other day), but my paperwork at home keeps piling up. I'm thinking about hiring a babysitter for a couple more hours a week and specifically doing paperwork during that time. That way, I have a set time with no distractions and can get something done instead of starting something and changing a diaper, then starting again and getting somebody a drink, then starting again and drying some tears, then starting again...and never finishing ANYTHING. I don't even finish changing a diaper before my mind is racing again, thinking of what I'm doing next. I'm ready to just slow down and enjoy life more!!!!! Again, if any of you have any suggestions or tips, I'm all ears (or eyes, I guess since I'll be reading them).

On a much happier note, Ellie and Ava are doing really well! Ellie loves her KinderMusik class and her dance class and she's now in a tumbling class until the end of May that has been a big hit! She scored at 51 months in her fine motor skills of writing, holding a pencil correctly... and at 63 months in the fine motor skills area of cutting on a line, cutting out a circle, using buttons... It was fun to hear the results of the evaluation, although we don't have the written results yet. She did qualify to receive some occupational therapy though, for a delay in the area of sensory integration.

Ava says hi now, walks with help, and is on a much more normal napping schedule (short morning nap, long afternoon nap, and sometimes a really short cat nap in the evenings). She's working so hard on cutting teeth, but the silly things just won't come through. She loves it when Ellie hides - she will reach and stretch as far as her little neck with let her to try to find Ellie...then Ellie jumps out and scares her and she laughs a big belly laugh...then it all starts over again. She's our little jokester and she knows it! She loves to be funny!

My Nannie will turn 75 years young tomorrow (my mom's mom)! She never gets on a computer so she'll never see this, but HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NANNIE!!! We went to Texas Roadhouse the other night and they made her get on the saddle!! I have the video and will post it one of these days. We also went to see the Gaither's Homecoming concert and we're all going to eat lunch with her tomorrow. Then, my cousin Landy is coming to spend the night and we're all so excited!!! Ellie can't wait.

I love pictures!

Ellie is so affectionate with Ava! (and Ava eats it up!)

PRECIOUS!

Ellie on our way out the door to Ava's check up.

this is one of my new favorite pictures of the girls together -
I may have to make it black and white and print some of this one!

I love hooded towel pictures!

we visited some friends in Nashville over the weekend

EARTHQUAKE

I can honestly say that I was the most scared of my life at 4:30 this morning when I realized we were having an earthquake. I woke Jeff up (he sleeps through everything) and took off to get the girls...my fear was not being able to get to them. I had to think fast because I wanted to get one and have Jeff get the other, so my reasoning was that if I needed to for whatever reason, I could maneuver better holding Ava and Jeff could handle Ellie better, so I yelled for him to get Ellie and we stood in their doorways. The weirdest part for me what that I could tell that it started on the end of our house that our bedrooms are on and moved to where the office is. Thankfully, we are all fine and we had no damage, it just wiggled a safety gate loose outside going to our swimming pool.

Ava had her 6 month check up today. She weighs 18lbs. 5 oz. and is 27 3/4 inches long - those measurements, along with her head are in about the 95th percentile. (We think they measured her length wrong at her 4 month check up because they said it was 27 1/2 and there is no way she has only grown 1/4 of an inch in 2 months.) Anyway, all is well and she's growing and meeting milestones wonderfully.

Ellie had an evaluation on Wednesday because we're dealing with some sensory issues. Nothing big, just little things that if targeted, will help her in school. She chews on things a lot, has trouble with balance/vestibular, and really doesn't like her hands to be dirty. Although some of the things sound quirky and silly, I didn't want to just let it go, so she will receive Occupational Therapy for a short time to try to help her in some of these areas. (Being a developmental therapist makes me so much more aware of some of these things.) She also tested her fine motor skills, and Ellie scored in the 98th percentile, so she's well above average there!

6 months old!

Locks of Love

Jeff and a fellow BCM'er, Cole, finally cut their hair for locks of love tonight! Here are the before and after shots.

Old videos

I love watching old home videos. It brings back great memories and always makes me laugh. I found this video of Ellie when she was about 17 months old.

Easter

We had a great Easter with our families. Thankfully, we were able to spend time with each side and our kids had a blast playing with cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents...

Need a Laugh?

When you say, "Quick question about my hair..."

Ellie says, "Uh, I'm on the phone!"

Spring

Spring is in the air - and I love it! The rain is not my favorite, but I know that it takes rain to create other enjoyable things. I love this picture. It's just weeds growing next to our house, but it's a great reminder that spring is here.

Already??

Ava decided to start sitting on her own this weekend. She's not a pro yet, but she can sit for a good 30+ seconds on her own and sometimes longer. I have to get her sitting just right, but she'll sit and play with a toy. She also quit taking her pacifier. Ellie stopped taking hers at 7 1/2 months and we wanted to do about the same with Ava. She'll be 6 months old Friday, so I guess she thinks she's big stuff. She's also babbling like crazy and saying mama and bye bye, and blowing raspberries if that counts as talking.

Ellie has moved past her 3 year old "funk" that she seemed to be in. She was really in a phase that was not our favorite, but the past month or so has been wonderful! She was sassy, defiant, lying, pushing the limits, whining...and it was driving us crazy. She didn't really have the terrible 2's, but when she hit 3, we thought we were going to lose our minds. She's back, though. Our sweet, obedient, loving little girl - who is not so little anymore!!

My cousin, Landy, was playing with the kids at Nannie's house on Easter and she convinced them she was magic by "taking off her thumb" and putting it back on. So, I was giving the girls a bath tonight and was trying to juggle 2 kids in the tub when one can't sit up. I finished, got Ava out, dried her off, put a diaper on her, and wrapped her in her towel. I went to get Ellie out of the tub so she could put her own pajamas on while I was putting Ava's on and I guess I wasn't fast enough. She was telling me to hurry because she was cold. I said, "I'm going as fast as I can. I'm not magic - I can't do everything all at once." To which she replied, "Well, Landy is magic!"

Easter Preview

Here are a few pictures of the girls in their Easter dresses. Hopefully we can get outside Sunday to take some, but I'm not sure what the weather is going to do.

front view

So, here is a front view of my hair, and a side one so you can see the angle. I like it. It's fun and so easy to fix. The other pictures are of Ellie looking silly, Ava drinking water from a straw (she loves doing that), USI basketball game, and chillin' with Daddy. The first one is Ellie's Mommy and Me dance class - and the next is with her teacher.

catching up

I haven't been on here much this week, so I'll try to get caught up on posting new info about the girls. Ava can roll both ways now, she's reaching and grabbing at things like crazy, and she can even hold her own bottle when we give her one. She's going to be a jokester!! She's so funny and she already knows it! Ava is 5 months old now and loves to eat. At her 4 month check up, she was 16 lb. 4 oz (97th%) and 27 3/4 in (WAY off the top of the chart). I feel like Ava's mouth is always open - she's either smiling, talking, or eating! :-)

Ellie loves going to "school" (mother's morning out)...but hasn't wanted to go the last 3 times, so I'm working on figuring out why. Her dance recital is in June and we're trying to let her hair grow out because they are supposed to wear dog ears and all the other little girls have long straight hair...and Ellie's is all different lengths and so curly. It can go in dog ears and that's how she wears it most days because it stays out of her face better, but it's not a nice, neat ponytail, so I'm trying to let it grow as much as possible. Ellie has turned in to a terrific eater - she used to be picky, but we would still make her at least try things. It was always such a struggle at the dinner table, but she has picked up some great eating habits lately and it's been such a blessing! Much less stressful at the table! She's also drinking from a regular cup all the time now (except in the van). I went to a training and they said that sippy cups don't always allow the muscles in your mouth to develop correctly, which could cause speech issues. She could drink from a regular cup, but we would use sippy just so we didn't have to clean up spills. She has done great, though! Instead of saying, "it's a good thing we put our coats on", Ellie says, "good idea we put our coats on"! She loves to quote the commercial where the lady is getting her hair done and says, "quick question about my hair". Ellie walks around saying, "Uh...I'm on the phone!" and she has attitude when she says it. It's so funny!

I got my hair cut - it's a mom cut, but a fun one. It's just an angle, but I can do the back normal or spike it, like it is in the picture. I've tried several times lately to get this cut and finally got a good one Thursday night.

We went to a USI basketball game and of course, had to wear cheerleading outfits. :-) Ellie also got to go to Chuck E. Cheese with a friend from dance class.

virus

Do not click on the stinkin' comments left on my blog if you can't see the message. If it says click here and here is a link, they are trying to plant a virus. It's driving me crazy!!!!!

When I'm down...

...all I have to do is look at a picture like this and realize how blessed I am.

Happies and Crappies

My friend, Emily, posted "Thankful Thursday" on her blog and I thought I'd do the same. Only, once I thought about it, I thought I'd do what our life group at church does. We do happies and crappies. What was the best part of the week, what was the worst part/prayer requests.

My happies for the week: my girls.

I'm so blessed with such wonderful girls and I've really paid attention to that this week. I don't like to compare them to other kids, but I do like to think about typical kid behavior and see if my kids are doing the same developmentally and socially. Ellie has an earlier bed time and has done so much better - not so whiny, not pushing my buttons as much, and just happier all around. Ava is such an amazing baby! She's fairly advanced in her development and she's just a great kid! People warned me that the second born would be a handful, but she has proven them wrong so far (aside from the month when she was about 2 months old when we thought she had food allergies - and by the way, I think I've figured it out - BANANAS, of all things!!)

I kept my nieces over the weekend and we had a blast! All 4 girls went to get their picture taken and it turned out great! It's so nice to spend time with family.

Jeff broke out his guitar tonight and played around with it and I played my keyboard for a little while. We don't do that very often, but our kids love it when we do. Ellie likes to learn to play along and Ava loves to listen.

We were able to spend time with our neighbors today, which we haven't done in a very long time! We had a good time and it was good to do something out of the ordinary.

My cousin, Landy, turned 25 today!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, EFFIE! :-)

Also, I've been reading my Bible every night for the past week. I've never done that consistently in my entire life, so it was a big accomplishment, although I still have lots to learn.


My crappies/prayer requests:
~Ellie was sick this week - tonsils were swollen, puss pockets on throat, fever, runny nose, cough...I took her to the dr., but her dr. was out and the one we saw said she was fine - to just take her home and let her rest...?!?? At least it wasn't strep.
~Ava has had a runny nose and has been fussy today. She's not a fussy baby at all, so we know she doesn't feel well.
~Normal, everyday strains in our marriage. We've just been in a funk lately and need to get out of it. I think the weather is making it worse because we can't do so many of our favorite things.
~Friends. I don't feel like I have many close ones here. Most of my best friends live several hours away and it's hard to meet people and/or spend time to develop relationships when we're iced in.
~ICE. We have it again. Jeff actually slipped on it today and has some pretty good bruises. He'll probably end up at the chiropractor because his shoulder is really bothering him.

Praying for my girls

I've been thinking a lot lately about what I want for my girls. These are the top 3 things I've been praying for quite a while now. What do you pray/have you prayed for your kids?

1. That if they are ever sick, whether it be a cold, the flu, cancer...whatever, that I get it instead of them.

2. That they are better/smarter/more Godly than me.

3. They they are a blessing to those around them.

Cabin Fever

My friend Sandy is probably laughing at us for thinking that we have so much snow, because compared to Chicago, this is nothing. We were snowed in though, and had major cabin fever. Jeff and Ellie went out to play, but it was so icy, they couldn't do much. We don't have a sled, so I decided to try a make-shift one. I tied clothesline to a laundry basket...and it was a huge hit! Ellie loved it outside - and both of the girls enjoyed it inside! :-)

as big as Texas

One time, when Ellie pooped, she said, "I pooped as big as Texas!" It was pretty funny.

The snow is what was as big as Texas today. I don't think I've ever seen flakes as big as the ones that were coming down earlier.

I don't know how Ava opens her eyes so wide, but she does it all the time! :-)