Firsts

Baby Ellie has her first cough and runny nose. Yes, baby has her first cold. We had a rough night last night, but she just got up from a nap and is smiling and hiccupping, but when she sneezes, you'd better watch out. Her cough is small and cute, but pitiful.

The Muffin and I are also sick and I'm trying to decide about sending her to preschool for the Thanksgiving feast tomorrow. I spend lots of time trying to decide whether or not she should go to school even though I know that someone was there sick last week. The Muffin told me that as certain child was at school with a cough and a yucky nose. As a former preschool teacher I put so much thought into the whole thing. Of course, The Muffin has been bouncing off the walls, but she sounds bad when she talks and has a little runny nose and a slight cough.

What's worse than having a sick child????

Having two sick children.

Needless to say, my thoughts turn to all of the parents out there who have really sick children.

Even more braking news...

Baby Ellie brushing her new tooth!

I'm a horrible mother. I forgot to report on The Muffin's big accomplishment from yesterday. I was so excited about Baby Ellie's tooth, that I forgot.

The Muffin wrote her name all by herself.

In my defense, it happened very early yesterday morning. And it happened on the Magna Doodle. How sweet is that!? I took a picture for Big Daddy because Muff is ready for the diary (or diarrhea as she calls it) that he promised he would buy her.

It's been a long road to get to this point.

I bought an ABC book for The Muffin's first Christmas and we read it all.the.time. She quickly learned/memorized what words went with what letters and then around the time she turned two she recognized all of her letters. I realized this when we were in line at The W.almart and she said, "Oh, an 'R', look". I acknowledged the "R" that I didn't see and continued doing whatever I was doing. Then I heard The Muffin say, "E-S-T-R-O-O-M-S". The cashier and I looked at each other in amazement and I realized that my baby new her letters!

She began to draw shapes, smiley faces and occasional write letters, but refused to practice her name. When she would practice it, she would get so upset because it wasn't "right" or "perfect". So...yesterday was a huge milestone. The best part was that she did it while she was alone in her room and I didn't even prompt her to practice.

M-a-g-g-i-e!! It needs a little work, but practice makes perfect!!

I could go into details about another disappointment with her preschool, but I'm not going to do that today. And by the way, she is scheduled to be enrolled in the other preschool for September of 2010.

And it doesn't end there! All three of us girls have runny/stuffy noses and the concrete guys are here. Looks like will be going through tissues and possibly playing in wet cement today. The fun never ends around here!

Breaking News!

The day started out EARLY and not very well. Luckily, something changed after Storytime at the Library and The Muffin's mood improved. She was dressed (not in a play dress) to go to the grocery store, but we had a long rain shower and Nana called to say that she'd go to the store tomorrow. Muff was devastated, but it all worked out for me. She decided to get the "furry brown blanket" and we cuddled on the couch until naptime. Muff went to sleep and Ellie woke up. She ate and cuddled with me and the brown blanket on the couch until she drifted back off to sleep.

After The Muffin's nap we loaded up and went to Nana's. Muff and Ellie stayed there while I went to get groceries. (My alone time for the week is an hour to get groceries!!) When I came back, my mom had some big news for me. It seems that Baby Elie has her first tooth! It wasn't there this morning, but we've been working on it for a while.

So...she sits, she stands in my lap, she rolls and now she has a tooth. My second baby is growing up way too fast!

And The Green Grass Grew All Around

This post is overdue because we've had "Emerald City grass" for a while. Of course, we still have a nice to-do list for warm weather, but right now, we have green grass and pansies and bulbs in the ground just waiting for Spring.

The Funny Life

The Muffin has kept me on my toes today! She started the day off by st.ripping down and declaring that she would wear the same dress that she wore last night for "Dancing With The Stars". (We're going through several wardrobe changes a day, so I really didn't care.) I reminded her that the "dress" was a jumper and she would have to wear a shirt and tights underneath today since we had errands to run. She said she'd wear just the "dress" and we could stay home. A few minutes later she said she'd wear the purple shirt, her new pink socks and her black Dorothy shoes (Because Dorothy wore black shoes before she wore ruby slippers) and we could run errands after all. I decided not to fight a battle over tights and shoes, but reminded her that the jumper had chocolate brown in it and that her brown shoes would be a better match. Needless to say, she wore the black shoes.

Here are a few pictures from Monday night.

The Muffin prefers to be as close to n.aked as possible, so again she's wearing the jumper minus a shirt underneath. Baby Ellie had sweet potatoes for dinner and got a little on her shirt and pants, so she's just wearing her underneath onesie, a diaper, socks and her Babylegs, because I was too lazy to completely dress her.

The Muffin spent a little time with Big Daddy looking at "pistols, guns and rifles" (so she said) before playing a matching game on the computer. Notice the difference in the way they are dressed! Big Daddy and I are always fully clothed and Muff wears as little as she can get by with.

I washed a load of cloth diapers last night. This morning they were dry and I just threw all of them in the chair since the diaper basket was already full of clean diapers. I left the room to get the inserts and came back to find this:

Looks like B.arbie has a new place to sleep...on Ellie's nice, clean diapers!

The Good Life

I'm already looking forward to the weekend which is a rarity for me! Since I became a SAHM almost four years ago, I'm not that excited about weekends. Big Daddy always has things to do and I do my usual...laundry, cooking, dishes and taking care of the kids with a side of extra family time, (can be a good or bad thing) church and maybe going out to eat. I'm pretty much living the life that I've always dreamed of ( being a SAHM to two sweet girls) but it's not always glamorous.

This weekend is going to be special because Big Daddy is taking The Muffin to see a production of The Wizard of Oz. I'm sure she'll critique it to pieces because it won't be like the "real Wizard of Oz", but I know she'll love it. I decided to stay at home with Baby Ellie so that we didn't have to leave her with my mom or sister. It will save us the cost of buying another ticket for the play and maybe it will give me an excuse to take Muff to the circus in February.

Big Daddy is also buying a new gun. I could go on and on about why we really don't need another gun, but I figure it will come in handy if there's a revolution or something like that. He's supposedly selling a gun too, but we'll see if that really happens. I'm sure he'll buy me something pretty at the gun show like...a holster, maybe, or ammunition. He's thoughtful like that.

If The Muffin is going to a play and Big Daddy is getting a new gun, you're probably wondering what Baby Ellie and I will be doing that's special, right??? We may try to wrap a few Christmas presents just to get them out of the way and maybe go shopping or take a nap or something exciting like that. We are also having an extension added to the driveway, so maybe we'll do our handprints in wet cement. Of course, that will depend on when the concrete is poured. We'll most likely just hang out at home and eat sweet potatoes while making silly faces and kissy noises at each other. Those three things just happen to be some of our favorite things to do!

The days start too early and the nights are long and sleepless, but I'm sure this is the good life.

The Weekend Review

The Muffin drew a family portrait. (I have no idea why it's sideways.)

This sweet little girl woke up every three hours during the night for some attention. She's worth every bit of the sleeplessness, but I'm SO tired of it.

The Muffin & Big Daddy window shopped at a candy store.

I wore Baby Ellie in my ring sling, while carrying my big Vera B.radley Baby Bag, holding The Muff's hand and drinking a Tall Non-fat Cafe Mocha from you know where and walking through the mall. Big Daddy was trying to get a picture of Ellie rubbing my coffee cup, but got this in stead.

We also took all of my mom's grandchildren to have a Christmas portrait taken, bought a few gifts, had lunch at P.anera again, waved at Santa, went to church and celebrated my sister's birthday.

Visiting Baby

This is what was waiting for me & Ms. K when we arrived in A's hospital room yesterday! Baby T weighed in at 6 pounds, 9 ounces and was 18.5 inches long. Even though she had to be delivered a few weeks early, she's doing great and didn't need oxygen at all.

Of course, K and I stood outside of the hospital and jumped up and down while hugging for a few minutes before we went inside! We were so excited to be together again. When we arrived in A's room it was all that we could do not to jump in bed with her for a group hug, but Baby T needed her Aunties to hold her and love on her a bit. It's funny how one of us was in the bed a few hours after a c-section and we just talked, talked, talked and didn't miss a beat. K, A and I all had to have rushed c-sections with our first babies, so it was nice to hear what a pleasant experience A had this time around with everything being planned and Baby T coming out healthy.

When I left The Muffin at Nana's house, her only request was that I bring A, K, and Baby T back with me and that I take a picture of this:

This is the infamous nurse picture that stands at the entrance to labor and delivery. The Muffin is still asking why I wasn't being quite in the "Quiet Zone". I tried to explain that sometimes when you're in labor you make noise, but I'm not sure she gets it.

Three

I have Cousin Callie for part of the day and Maggie & Ellie are loving it! So far, we've had pancakes, played My Little P.onies and A.merican Idol. We've looked at pictures from our old house and of Ellie's birth. And I've managed to clean off our 2GB memory card, move 400 pictures to disks and make plans with my mommy friend K to visit Ms. A in the hospital tomorrow. This having three girls thing is crazy! There are ponies and B.arbies and girls squealing every single time I turn around!

I can't wait to get my hands on Ms. A's new baby girl tomorrow! Ms. A and I were trying to get pregnant at the same time. She was the first person that I told (in person over the phone) and she was just as happy as I was! My only regret about getting pregnant with Ellie is that A wasn't pregnant too. She went through several rounds of C.lomid before finally finding out that she was expecting. I have prayed for this baby so much. A has a septated uterus and has had numerous miscarriages in the past and having her little boy C (also known as Maggie's future husband) was such a miracle. She had a difficult pregnancy that involved weeks of bed rest and then he was born early and not in good health. After a long stay in the NICU and lots of therapy, he's a rough and tumble three year old! This pregnancy has not been uneventful, but I'm praying for a normal c-section delivery tomorrow. K and I are beyond excited to see each other, our friend A and "our" new baby.

Of course, my main reason for going to Sanford tomorrow is my midwife appointment with Peg. I admit, I'm excited to see her. It's funny how you spend all those weeks of your pregnancy going to the doctor and then you have the baby and you no longer have to go. Peg saved The Muffin's life and I would have definitely had a c-section with Ellie if she hadn't been the attending midwife. She knew that I was adamant about trying everything possible to have a VBAC and she made sure that the doctor gave me every chance.
And in other news...Big Daddy and I are sure that we aren't ready for baby number three, but we're also sure that we can't rule out a baby number three. When/how do you really know that you're finished having babies??? If you know the answer please tell me. Looking at this little baby-body makes me think that three wouldn't be enough!

Christmas Came Early

My mom called last night and said that she and my dad were coming over. I didn't know it, but they were delivering my Christmas present. They bought me the sofa table that I had my eye on. They are so sweet and I'm not sure what I'd do without them. Now, if I could just figure out what to put on my new table!

Then, I found out about this deal from a fellow blogger for 50 free photo cards. (And if you're signing up as a new customer you also get 100 free prints!) Needless to say, I called my mom and had her bring over Maggie and Ellie's Christmas dresses and we had a quick photo shoot. The girls (including Callie) are having professional Christmas portraits taken this weekend, but I wanted a shot of them together in their little dresses for our family Christmas card.

I wanted to share this because if you're like me, your paycheck is small...or non-existent. While I always do some sort of photo in our Christmas card, I often narrow down the list of people who will receive them to save on the cost of pictures and postage. This year, I'll be able to send them to lots of people and I may even have a few left over! We spent quite a bit of money on preschool pictures this year and we will have very few to share with friends and family, so this will be a nice way to share Maggie & Ellie in their Christmas dresses.

And speaking of Baby Ellie...I think we're going to get through our sleep troubles. I should point out that I'm so concerned and trying to be proactive because The Muffin had sleep issues. "They" say that good sleepers aren't born, they're made. We'll see. So far things are going well. :-)