Updates on the Girls

I am really behind blogging. I missed a whole trip to the beach during the last cold snap of the season. It was great being together, but kind of strange having picnics and walks on the beach in 25 mph cold winds plus gusts. About the only thing you could do on the beach was walk, but that was only during the times the sand wasn't blowing. The girls had a good time, though, and Natalie enjoyed going to a few playgrounds. I've also missed a jump time together with a friend, Lillah and her brother, Colt, that Natalie liked. Nicole was also there, but just crawling and not jumping.

I've also missed some updates on the girls too. Natalie is really growing well. She seems to have inherited my bug-a-phobe tendencies, so I'm hoping the bug equipment from her Easter basket will get her less of that way. She is really painting and coloring well right now. I'll try to get together some samples of her artwork progression. She isn't reading yet, but starting to get interested in learning. Her communication is very good, she really holds good conversations. And, such an imagination!

Nicole has 2 new teeth growing, top right and bottom right. They are both peeking out right now. She is cruising full speed, pulling up on everything. She walks when her hands or body is held up. It won't be long now. She says "Mama" when she is hungry or wanting attention. She seems to really work well with her hands too. She keeps me quite busy with all her exploring. We have had really simple meals lately because that has taken up most of my time.

First Haircut

Although it seems that this should have happened already, I have just now taken Natalie for her first haircut. She did really well and enjoyed the experience. We went to a non-appointment place because it was kind of a spur of the moment thing. Although, it turned out really well. She had a good time and the stylist was very good with her. And, it was kind of a mother-daughter thing that we don't get to do much. Just the two of us for a morning with a little shopping together too. Although, Natalie was asking to go home after only a couple of stores!

Hanging by a Thread

Is this a blog about my sanity level? No, not really! The title does make one think, though.

Nicole's fingernail is unfortuately seeming like it will fall off. It is barely on at this point. This makes me worry about infections once it does actually fall off because keeping a bandage on is not really an option. Praying that it stays on until the infection point issues are gone!

Precious Fingers

There are things you don't realize with 2 children that are hazards that were not with just one. I guess that is the best way to say it.

Yesterday, I was waiting for the doctor's office to call me back. I have had a sinus infection that has spread over the past 3 weeks. At first I took no medication, then last week took Robitussin (on doctor's advice). I've been very cautious since I'm still nursing. I wasn't looking forward to seeing the doctor, since we've been there a lot lately it seems for the girls. By 3pm I still had not heard from the doctor and I started working on putting summer things into my drawers from the attic. Both girls were awake. Nicole took a super short nap & Natalie decided no nap was for her. I quickly was throwing things on the bed to sort into drawers later. Nicole was crawling around in the room. When Natalie decided to go to the bathroom, Nicole crawled after her. I went and picked her up since Natalie was calling for privacy. But, Nicole loves her big sister and crawled right back. By then, Natalie was done but still wanted privacy. So, she shoved the bathroom door towards the closed position. The bad thing was that Nicole was right past the threshold with her little left hand apparently out first. The door caught her fourth fingernail and raised it from the nailbed. I didn't know this at the time, so I just thought she had been bumped by the door. But, I quickly saw the nail start bleeding and realized what had happened. So, we all piled into the car and zoomed to the doctor office.

The blessing was that it appears that the finger is not broken, and the fingernail stayed on enough to cover the nailbed to keep out infection. This morning, the first joint to the finger is still red-pink but no pus or any other signs of infection. A bandaid or bandage would just have her gnaw on it and possibly choke, so just trying to keep it clean and ointment on it. Praying for healing and no infection!

I'm also on antibiotics now, so praying to feel much better. And, praying for no more sisterly accidents!

Nicole 9 Month Checkup

Nicole had a good report at the doctor today. I had a few minor concerns during the past 3 weeks of illness, but the doctor didn't find anything of issue. She was 18 lb 2 oz today, growing well. Thank you, Lord!

Bouncing Back

The video showed up on the top! Oh, well, it is a good introduction to our weekend. We bounced from Natalie's school Easter program (yes, I know it is past Easter, but we can still celebrate!) to visit Mimi & Poppa. It was a whirlwind of a weekend, but we had a lot of fun.

Natalie's class is marching with their baskets to hunt the eggs. They were supposed to each get 12 eggs (no more, no less). Natalie ended up with 14 when we stopped her & counted, so I threw back 2 of them to the hiding places.

Everyone had a good time looking around for the eggs!

Nicole was kind of a draw for the kids. She loved just getting out of the stroller for a while on the grass. But, no cut up tire mulch in her mouth, please! That was a hazard for her.

We then took Natalie & Nicole on the journey to see Mimi and Poppa. We had good weather and a good trip. Their dog, Laci, is always something fun for the girls. They followed her everywhere, both of them! Natalie even tried out the dog door!

We enjoyed time that night then went the next morning to the mall with a purpose. Here is the audience. Poppa is holding Natalie's hand right now while she gets on the trampoline. It was a neat thing, that was like an amusement park ride in that it bounced you up and down while you bounced on the trampoline. You could do flips, but neither Natalie or I tried it out! I thought I might "toss my cookies" as you had to pull up your knees and lean back. No pictures here of me on there, just Natalie! That's the good thing about being the blogger.

Here's Natalie bouncing up!

There was also a "nature" scene for the kids with neat spongy type toys in it. Both Natalie & Nicole enjoyed playing around in there.

Poor Woody taking one for the team on a pretty day--inside in a fake outdoor play area! He wanted to be jogging right then. I was able to go to one store and shop, which was really quite nice. Usually I only get to the grocery store, and sometimes Wal-Mart. I hadn't been to a mall in...I don't really know how long!

The Chic-fil-A cow came by and enticed us to get lunch there. Then, we left and had a safe journey back home (PTL!).

Easter is Here!

Wow, it is Easter already! Praise the Lord for His gift of His son on this day! Woody unfortunately had to work today, so it was a little challenge getting both girls to church. But, we made it thanks to some grace from the Lord! We had a good time at church and then returned home for pictures. We also opened Easter baskets with Daddy when he was home from lunch. Nicole's first Easter!

I didn't have much in her basket, just a couple of toys and a pair of shoes that looked cute but of course are pretty impractical at this point!

I can't decide between these two shots of the pretty girls in their Easter outfits!

The Easter baskets before opening. I tried for a no-candy approach this year.

Most of Natalie's basket included bug catching equipment, a pink baseball glove, playdough scene, a CD for VeggieTales Toddler Tunes (she loves the Dinnertime Song), and a small bag of candy. She loved the surprise of the basket!

Princess Party for Maggie

Today was the day Natalie went to Maggie's birthday party at her house. It took all morning to try on princess dresses, shoes, and crowns. She put on almost every combination before settling on the mermaid princess dress, pink plastic shoes, and soft gold crown. The shoes turned out to be a bad choice because she ended up rubbing a blister on her feet. But, she enjoyed dressing up and getting ready herself.

At the party!

Happy Birthday, Maggie!

The first activity was making a pretty picture frame for the picture that the hostess gave to them of themselves at the party. Digital cameras and printers make it all possible!

Nicole is here with Addi, her friend who is just a couple of weeks younger. Nicole is 9 months old today! Happy 9 month Birthday, Nicole! At least you attended a birthday party! Nicole spent most of the time crawling on the garage floor and trying to get into anything she could!

But, she did like sitting on toys too. Here, on a little motorcycle.

The next activity was a story that set the tone for the egg hunt. Since it was a birthday party, it wasn't an Easter egg hunt, just a fun egg hunt. Natalie found 2 eggs!

Now, the food. Good food for the girls to get fueled up for the playtime.

And, Natalie was happy she got cake & ice cream. She asked about 3 times if she would get cake on the ride over. Not only cake, but cake with pink icing!

The pinata was a learning experience. Everyone had a few turns to hit the crown pinata. However, there were some mishaps in kids hitting kids accidently and it took adults to actually break the thing open.

But, once open, everyone scrambled for the candy!

Playtime afterwards, here with Carson.

Happy Birthday, Maggie!!

Something Wicked This Way Comes

I'm disturbed, and I guess I just need to vent. I don't really know how to start this blog as a lot of ideas are floating in my head. I guess it is just overwhelming with worry about wickedness & images that will disturb my kids. From my own childhood (1983), I remember vividly images from this Disney movie:
I can remember scenes from the movie, probably pretty well done for a film. Probably not many people saw it on its first go around. However, it was rereleased in 2004 in DVD as a family movie. I don't think it fits any of the criteria, due to the evil images and fear factor involved.
Other evil images that have stayed with me from childhood throughout the time even include a shot from a documentary of Nostradamus, with an image of his vampire prediction.
Even at the Easter egg grab yesterday, there was a play about sorcery.
Dora even gets into the action with witches and spells. It seemed so innocent the first few episodes that you let down your guard.

All this to say, where is it going to end? What can we do as parents? Why is magic facination so prevalent? Why steer our kids towards something so vile?

Natalie gets nightmares from seemingly innocent inuendos of evil. The tough thing is keeping her from all this garbage that makes it even worse.

When Parents Know to Remove the Mobile

It's down now!

Easter Egg Grab

Since Natalie hasn't had many activities, I found out about this activity in the area last night. We decided to try it because it was outdoors. Nicole isn't 100%, but she isn't running a fever either. We tried to keep her away from other children as much as possible.

Poor little girl taking one for the team!

The Easter bunny and other figures were neat for Natalie, so she wanted to get near them. But, she didn't want to go up to them without me. Of course, she was upset when we left because she didn't hug the Easter bunny. Maybe next time...

There were a couple of inflatables. Natalie was able to get into the bouncy one. She had a good time bouncing!

The liked the clowns, but once again, needed Mommy.

Maybe this is the Easter bunny?

Here is one to actually touch and pet!

Now, the Easter eggs. As you can see, they are not hidden so it is not a "hunt." There were over 13,000 there, though. A lot of plastic.

Natalie is ready to go for the grab! She grabbed over a dozen and had a good time. Although it was as organized as the chaos could be, it was still too much going on for Woody to take pictures during the grab. No injuries, though, PTL!

Then, we had to leave to get Woody back to work! It was a good time.

Easter Crafts

We've tried to do some crafts this week at least since Natalie hasn't done many activities with Nicole being sick. Here, more painting cookies (still like sugar cookies!). This time with Easter theme.

Trying for a foam church. Here, this one is waiting for hot glue. I've found that with foam crafts, hot glue works best unless you are able to hold the pieces together for a very long time. Not usually able to do that with Natalie & Nicole! Natalie doesn't have the time either...

She loves painting. She has done a really good job on two ceramic pieces that were Easter themed. She spent a long time on them and asks for more paintables.

Another foam craft. Mr. Chick had to be hot glued, no other way to keep him together. Natalie did the face with regular glue, though, all by herself!

Foam stickers on the egg worked great!

We also have a egg growing as we speak. It is supposed to grow 600% of its original size. Which is great, but it takes 10 days. So, we have to check the egg several times per day until probably Easter when it is finally grown. Tough for a 4 year old to wait on that!

Another Mad Dash to the Doctor

Yesterday, again had to take Nicole to the doctor. I guess the temperature was not related to teething. It went up to 101 and I took her in late yesterday. The doctor said her white blood count suggested a virus and he thought it might be roseola. Last night, her temperature was over 103 but then went down to 99 after some Tylenol. She was awake a lot last night after 1am. She seems really irritable and restless. Poor little girl! Please say a prayer for her if you have a chance. I do actually hope it is roseola, to get it out of the way and have something that we know a little about. We'll find out if she has a rash sometime by Thursday.

Natalie has been a doll during this time, being very helpful and not upset that a lot of attention is off of her. It is her spring break, and it hasn't been as activity packed for her as I would have hoped. But, at least we have some quality moments when Nicole is resting.