Too Fast

My little Lucy is growing up too fast! I am so proud all that she does, but I just wish she wouldn't do them so quickly. It is sad to see her growing out of her baby stages and on to older accomplishments. I miss hearing some of the phrases she would say; like "cake a show-yo" for take a shower. We tried for so long to have her keep saying that! I know, horrible, but it was so cute. We would say it her way and she would smile and crinkle her nose and say, "show-er!" Too cute. I love that she says (and still says :) ) shi-shlops for flip flops. Some of these things, I just don't want to correct.

She now no longer takes a nap. Although I must say, most days by the end of the day she NEEDS one! She clears her plate from the table like a big girl. She loves to ride her scooter out front. She takes such good care of our dog Missy. She loves her big girl bed and is a pro on the potty. She is a jabber-jaws! She loves to talk your ear off. She is very creative and imaginative. I love all her pretend play. It is so cute.

I know that when this baby comes, she is going to seem even more big than she does now! I want to take advantage of my cuddle time with her as she ends her career as "the baby." Although Sadie may disagree at times, but Lucy is no longer a baby!

Here is one thing that she has still hung on to though and we don't know when this will disappear:

She is still sucking those fingers! I remember when she first started this. I kept trying to take pictures of it, thinking I had to capture it. I don't know why I thought it was a fluke thing and that she wouldn't continue to do it, but I did. And here we are, years later and she is still sucking her fingers. Since she has stopped napping, she seems to do it more. It used to be, that I would never see her suck her fingers unless she was laying down for a nap or bed. But now she will do it when she is watching a movie in the middle of the day or cuddling with Mommy or Daddy. She is so sweet! So this was her last Sunday, after watching a movie and resting. She actually fell asleep. She loves to sit on this little bench and be as close as possible to the TV. She is STILL into her movies and LOVES them. She loves to sing along to the songs and can recite many lines from many movies. Not something I am too proud of! :)

She is very sensitive! You can't be very harsh with her or she will just pucker up that bottom lip while trying her hardest not to cry. But the second you acknowledge it, the tears come and she feels so horrible or embarrassed. It is so cute and so sweet just like her!

May I have this Dance?

I am in charge of Activity Days with Church for the 10/11 year old girls. So me and the other leader, my friend Angelica, put together a Daddy Daughter Dance for the girls. We had a lot of fun! My friend Lyndsee teaches dance, so she taught Angelica and I some of the new dance crazes that are out right now that we could teach the girls and their Dads. So we refreshed on the Macarena and the Chicken Dance, and learned the Cupid Shuffle and... I can't remember the other one at the moment. (Lyndsee, help!) Anyway, we played some mingling games for a little bit and then boogied on over to the dance floor. Which we so cutely decorated with a ceiling of balloons.

Angelica and I did our best at teaching the dances, which I thought we did pretty well. I won't say we are the BEST dancers, especially with my big old belly, but we taught them. :)

After the "fun" dances, we taught the girls about slow dancing and where to place your hands, for when they get to go to the youth dances. :) It was sweet. So they danced to "Butterfly Kisses" which I love because my Dad played that for my sisters and I on the day we got married! (Tears!)

Here is Lucy and Daddy dancing to Butterfly Kisses! (Sadie was off playing with the suitcase full of stuff she brought to entertain herself with in case she got bored, plus I think she was upset about not getting to do the chicken dance again). Chris came to the dance straight from work (on a casual Friday) so he wasn't dressed up; but I think he looks hot of course! :)So cute! Both our girls LOVE to dance!!! I love to watch them dance around the living room! They are so cute and so serious about it! I love how hard they concentrate on each move they create! I love when they show me a move and then another and another and they are all practically the same! But boy am I proud of EACH one!! I love their creativity!

I set up my stuff to take pictures of the girls with their Dads which we will then use for a Father's Day gift...I know, planning ahead! :) So proud! So I had to test out my settings and here are my cute testers!

This was at the end, I realized I wanted to get some of BOTH the girls with Chris, but Lucy did not want to cooperate and Sadie was being a SPAZZ!!! Seriously, they are such fun girls! I love to look at pictures like this that aren't perfect, because that is how life is! THAT is why I love them so much because they are their own person and I love every bit of it!

Gotta LOVE this picture! How silly is Sadie!?! She totally makes me laugh!

That was our girls first experience with a Daddy Daughter Dance! We all had a great time and I was glad to have it over by the end of the night! It had been a LONG day! I was bummed too because I made in-door s'mores and I didn't even get one!!! Luckily I had a little end piece as I was cutting them up and putting them on a plate. But boy was I craving one when I got home that night...and still am for that matter! :)

Saving

Last Wednesday we decided to skip our usual playgroup date with friends and run errands as we had a few things to get done. Most importantly on our list of to-do's was finding Easter dresses for the girls. With Sadie being so opinionated about what she wears, I needed her to be there and approve, so that when the time came to wear it, I would have a little more leverage with MAKING her wear it. :)
Sadie does NOT like dresses (for the most part) and said she wanted a skirt. I looked at Gap quick last weekend when we were at the mall quickly, and they didn't really have anything. Especially since I had to find a dress and a skirt that went together. Nobody really has Easter skirts! So I searched online a little bit and found a couple of options. I went to my first choice and was in luck. They had the dress for Lucy, and after trying on the skirt for Sadie, we realized we would need the bigger size, which they didn't have. Urrrrggh! They called and found one at another store, YAY! The skirt would be on hold until the following day. So we continued with our plan of going to Costco.
After a couple potty trips, lots of shopping, one injured Lucy toe - after Mommy ran the shopping cart over it, and a hot dog and a slice of cheese pizza, we headed down to Daddy's work to say a quick hello, and drop off something to him! Then we figured we could be really quick and go get Sadie's skirt since we were half way there already. We figured the precious strawberries and blueberries would be okay in the car for just a little extra time...not too hot outside. So we ran down to the other mall, to get Sadie's skirt.
(I must say, a positive about Lucy not taking naps anymore is we can get so much more done in a day! Seriously, all those errands would have taken me at least 2 days! )
The girls were getting a little bit done with running errands. As we were pulling up to the mall Sadie asked if we could get an ice cream. I asked her if she brought her money. It back fired, she had! I figured we had done a lot and they had been really good girls, so we could ALL use an ice cream cone. So I said we could stop at McDonald's on our way home. I love their vanilla cones!
As we got out of the car I realized Sadie had her dollar in her hand (which I was informed a few days before, that it was given to her from one of her Grandma's while she was here visiting and Sadie has been holding onto it since, with me unaware of it's existence) As I took a closer look at her dollar, I realized the bottom quarter of the dollar was missing.
"Did you tear your dollar?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"I wanted to save some for me!"
Avoiding laughter, I told her "That was a great idea, but it doesn't work that way. We can't tear dollars or they won't take it. But we could tape it together when we got home!"

I thought it was so sweet that she was ready to pay for every one's ice cream but wanting to save a little for later! What a good girl! I could learn from her! :) She is so cute!
After getting Sadie's skirt and remembering some cute little cardigans that would match perfectly from the Gap and getting those, we hurried to the car. The girls were having a little bit of a struggle holding it together those last five minutes. (Lucy wanting to cuddle and Sadie wanting new shoes).
As we got in the car Sadie said, "Mom, I think an ice cream cone will cheer me up!"
"I bet!" :)
We were in desperate need of an ice cream cone and a refrigerator! So I drove fast! Luckily, we made it in time for both!
AND we were able to successfully tape the dollar back together so it can sit safely in Sadie's wallet! It was a good day!

Maternity Pictures!

So I have always been jealous of maternity photos of people. I hate that I haven't ever had them done. We tried to do some quick ones the night before Lucy was born but to no avail! So this time I told Chris he was going to have to take some real ones for me. He was stressed and nervous about it. I think naturally he has a good eye for photography. I am always impressed when he'll just snap some pictures of the girls. He always gets some great shots. But with this situation he was a little intimidated. I had set everything up, lights, metered etc. But I am just so particular with what I want. So I would tell him what angle and what to focus on, and he would take about 10 pictures and then I would make sure there was at least one good one. Sometimes it took a few tries, but after it is all said and done, I am so happy to have them and I think Chris did an amazing job! He never ceases to amaze me!
I did this shot of a friend a few years ago. I LOVE it and had to do it! Chris got me this book when we were very first dating! We were going to be apart for Christmas break and he had gotten a present for me to open each day we were apart! So SWEET! Some of the presents were cute and romantic and some were fun things relating to him, like a deck of cards since he grew up in Vegas. I loved it and was so excited to open a present every day. This book, by far was my favorite though! I love it and I love how HUGE it is. We now get to read it to our sweet little girls!

Chris was making fun of me when we did this one because I was "SO serious!" But I love it!

These little booties were knitted by Chris' Grandma Jean. I LOVE them and am so excited to be able to use them again!

YAY! I have cute maternity pictures!! Chris you are amazing and I love that you are always so willing to help out! You always put up with my crazy requests! :) But most of the time they are so worth it!

Blogging Hiatus

I know, I know....I have been a horrible blogger! Things have just been really crazy around here. Well, I guess not too crazy; but crazy for a pregnant Mommy of two silly girls! By the end of the day I am pooped and don't really want to do much of anything except watch TV and cuddle with my cute hubby! But I am finally changing my ways! :)
Sadie is doing SO good after her surgery! We had a rough few days, but by the Wednesday after her surgery it was like someone flipped a switch and she was instantly better! It was nice! But those first few days were difficult! She refused to obviously eat, or DRINK anything! She didn't pee for almost two days! Finally she did when I was on the phone with her Doctor, asking how long I let this go before we take her in for an I.V. It was scaring me! Her little face was just so sad! She had huge sunken in bags under her eyes and everything! I don't think it was so much of the pain factor as to why she wouldn't drink, but more so that it made her spit up yucky flemmy stuff from her throat healing. We went through so many boxes of tissues and wipes with her laying on the couch and spitting things up into them! After every drink she would use about 5 tissues to wipe up. And have to wipe her mouth for everything! Chris finally bought some baby food and pedialite and would spoon feed her and use a medicine dropper to give her a bunch of pedialite. It was rough! I spent over 3 hours once trying to get her to drink ONE Capri Sun! And still she hardly touched it! It took a toll on me as well! By the end of those days Chris really came home and was BOTH of our heroes! Her medicine was absolutely horrific! And she was such a trooper with taking it! I was so proud of her! I know she hated it so much, but she would suck it up and just do it on her own quickly! She is such a big girl and handled everything really well. We are so glad to have her back to her normal self! :)
It was so cute because she kept wanting popcorn but I told her that it would probably be too scratchy on her throat. The Wednesday that she instantly felt better, she requested it and so we figured we would try it. I told her to just have one piece at a time and chew it up really well. She had a bite and excitedly exclaimed, "It doesn't hurt Mom!!! I am ALL BETTER!!!!" Like popcorn was the final test!
We are glad to have this over and done with! I really think it will be so much better for her now! She is sleeping so much better and is more content to go off and play by herself, which she didn't do very often before. She doesn't snore and more...and I mean at ALL!!!! We can hardly even hear her breathing! She has snored ever since she was a baby. It's always been kind of nice because you could tell when she was asleep! Plus I could hear her snoring from the other room so I would know she was okay! :) So it is taking some getting used to!

So, back to the beginning of February, before we went missing! Grandma Christy and Grandpa Bob spoiled us and came out for a visit for Lucy's birthday! We had such a fun time with them - as usual! Daddy and Grandpa got to go golfing one of the days and the girls got to shop and play! This was taken Sunday morning...hanging out in jammies before church! Watching a movie and cuddling with Grandma and Grandpa and enjoying goodies from Lucy's party the day before! I love this picture because it is so real! Messy hair and all! THIS is what my girls look like most of the time and I LOVE it! Especially Lucy! She is my Pig Pen!

Sadie got all of Grandma Christy's stuff on and was having fun playing! She even has on some of her nylons! :) Look at that pose! Just like Grandma Christy, right!?! :)

Grandma is the best story book reader! Both the girls could sit with her and read for hours! They love it! We went to the library to pick out some books on getting your tonsils out. She would sit and listen to every word!

Sadie had red day at school the day that Grandma and Grandpa left. She picked this out and I though she looked so cute! Plus she even let me DO her hair. Usually she likes to brush it and the she will pick out a head band and put it in. Sometimes adding a clip in there too! :)

Lucy with her "reindeer" from Grandma and Grandpa. Seriously, she is obsessed with those figurines! I don't get it! She LOVES them! She makes them bonk heads and jump like on Bambi.

Awww! What cute girls! They really do love each other so much! I love it! They have so much fun together!

So there you go! Was it everything you dreamed of plus more!?! :) Don't worry, I will be better as I do have lots to blog about! Including belly pictures that Chris took of me!!!! Yay!!

Recovery

This morning was a morning we have been counting down the days to for about a week now. Not in excitement but with a little bit of hesitation. Sadie braved her first surgery. She got her tonsils and adenoids removed at the crack of dawn. We had to BE AT the hospital by 6:00am! I don't usually function that early in the morning....I guess I was barely functioning this morning. I had a few moments of "am I going to throw up or pass out?" I am sure my nerves were contributing to the feelings. Sadie was "excited" that we got to go in "the middle of the night" since it was still going to be dark. She wasn't so excited about it this morning when I woke her up.
While Grandma Christy was here, we went to the library and checked out some books on getting your tonsils out. They have been her favorite the past few days! She will sit and listen to ever word. We packed Sadie's back pack just like the little girl in the book. Sadie wore her jammies to the hospital but wanted to wear her "comfy clothes" after - just like the book. It was very nice to reference the book once we got to the hospital. Checking in, getting her bracelet, putting on the robe, the funny paper slippers the doctor wears. She did SO good. We waited in the waiting room for a while. She brought her Happy Dust (glitter that her teacher made for her separation anxiety) and she put on hers and Daddy's Happy Dust while we were waiting. When we got back in the room we met with a few different nurses and doctors. We discovered that I wouldn't be able to go back with her until she was put under. She was upset about this but was so brave too. We talked about how I was going to wait right there until she came back. I was so proud of her! The anesthesiologist was so nice and singing her songs. He asked her what her favorite princess was and she said Belle, so he was singing Beauty and the Beast. It was so sweet. We talked about what the gas mask will smell like once she got back to the operating room. I told her to remember so she can tell Daddy. She later told me it smelled like strawberry and bubblegum!
The actual procedure took about 45 minutes. The Doctor said her adenoids were about as large as her tonsils! Which were huge! Seriously, her tonsils normally look like the worst sore throat I have seen. But then when she is sick they almost swell shut! So we are glad that they are gone! She will do so much better.
When she woke up after the surgery the nurses gave her some morphine but I guess she is allergic because a rash started spreading up her arm from her IV. So she had to WAIT while the nurse went and got something else to give her. She was squirming in pain! It was so sad! She was still out of it a little too so everything was exaggerated...her IV in her hand, the blood pressure thing on her leg, the heart rate monitor on her finger - everything. She kept saying, "there's bumpies in my throat!" "Can you take the bumpies out?" "I want the bumpies out!" It was so sad. Everything we did, we convinced her to do by letting her know that it will help get rid of the bumpies. A few minutes after having the medicine, she relaxed enough to fall back asleep and get some well needed rest! It was so sad to see her in pain! I am so proud of her for being so strong!
We went and picked up Lucy from a friends house and got Sadie's medicines. Then we went home to rest a bit. After Sadie rested a little bit and got accessorized she said she wanted to go to Krispie Kream. We NEVER go there so I figured she REALLY wanted to go and a donut would be pretty soft. So we packed up in the car and went. We also stopped by Daddy's work fast to drop something off to him and Daddy was aching to see Sadie. When we got to Krispie Kream Sadie was adamant about what she got and she wanted lots! But then we sat down to eat it and she wouldn't touch a thing. She started feeling yucky so we went home. It was a good lesson for her to realize that she needs to take it easy. She was even wanting to ride her scooter outside at home earlier. Crazy!

Crazy girl wants to eat EVERYTHING and wants to have it set out right by her. She wasn't able to eat or drink anything after midnight so she is hungry. But then when it comes down to actually eating it she isn't sure about it. Poor girl! When she got home from the hospital she wanted a Popsicle and was falling asleep with it in her hand. I took it from her so she could sleep and she freaked out. So cute.

I've got quite the little helper to keep Sadie company. Cute little Missy is being so sweet to her. I think she can sense that she isn't feeling well. When we got home Missy would not leave her alone. She was licking around the bandage from her IV and everything. So sweet. She is quite the cuddler and Sadie is loving it!

We are so glad Sadie is doing so well and can't wait for her to feel better and not keep getting sick! Without all the snoring she will sleep better too! Her voice might change a little too. So we will see! But we can't wait for her to be back to her normal cute and crazy self!

Lucy's Birthday!!

I can't believe Lucy is already 3! She is SO much fun and such a joy! She loves to be silly and make us laugh and I love it! She is my rough and tumble kid that is ALWAYS dirty! Seriously, I don't know how her face always gets so dirty! Some days she will look like she hasn't had a bath in a month and has been living in the wilderness. Just a solid layer of dirt! I don't get it...but I love it! She loves to quote movies and will randomly remember a part in a movie and start telling you about it and how silly it is! She totally gets the funny parts too. I love it! Here she is on her birthday morning! It is tradition to make pancakes with your name spelled in it. I always mess up at least once, so then I have to eat the rejects! You can't really see it in the picture, but it is there and it is pink!

One of Lucy's loves is animals! She LOVES them! From real live ones, to little plastic figurines...she loves them! Whenever we go to someones house who has a dog or something, she constantly talks about the dog for days and wants to go back. Zoos and farms are her favorite! She has no fear. She carries little plastic animals around with her everywhere! I can't tell you how many plastic animals are in the bottom of my purse! So for her party this year we thought it would be perfect to have a Farm Party! Here are some pictures we took for the invite.

Family - I know I usually send out an invite for you to see, but I don't think I am going to get around to it this year. Sorry! But here is a picture so you can see. They are supposed to look like barn doors, then you open them to view the info.

We were SO excited to find a traveling petting zoo in our area! So we had a petting zoo and pony rides for her party! She was SO excited! When they animal trailer pulled up and they started unloading the animals she came running and squealing and said, "A duckie and a goat, and a pony, and a bunny come to MY house!?!" She couldn't believe it and was absolutely thrilled!!!

She could have stayed out with the animals FOREVER! Some of her friends went inside to play after a while, but not Lucy! She was in heaven!

She had to run over and get some Daddy loves in all her excitement!!

Of course our sweet babysitter Bekah came! She is the best! We absolutely love her! And her Mom saved the day! Just as she was dropping Bekah off, Chris came over to me and realized neither of us had ever picked up the cake! HeLLO!!! We were blocked in the garage and couldn't leave so Bekah's Mom, Lorraine, went and got it for us!!! She is the sweetest! Seriously, last year we totally forgot to get Lucy a cake until the last minute and got something crappy. Next year Lucy, we will remember! :)

Look at this sweet face! I just adore her!

I just want to squeeze these girls! My, do I love them to much!
Seriously, I want this goat! How cool is that!?! He just sat there too!

We were lucky to have Grandma Christy and Grandpa Bob come for the fun! They had 2 day old chicks in that little bucket! Lucy loved them and got good at petting them with only 1 finger! I was surprised the chicks survived that many 3 year olds!

I didn't take many pictures of the surroundings so here you go!

She is so expressive when she opens presents. I love it! But she instantly wants to play with it. She is too funny. These elephants were and still are a HIT!! We all had so much fun! She was thrilled with the animals and we were so glad to see her so happy! We love you to pieces LuLu! You mean the world to us and we can't imagine life without your sweet smile!