My Brown Eyed Girls

Surprising Josh!

2010-10-14T00:49:00.000-05:00

As I mentioned before Josh was on call the day I had my “for fun” ultrasound, on call meaning he doesn’t get home the next day until about 1. My ultrasound was at 11:45 and he started texting me about 12:45 wanting to know the sex of the baby. I didn’t want to tell him the big news over the phone, so I kept putting him off.

With my family in town we had already made plans to meet up at the Magic House in St. Louis that day after I was done. So we headed over there, my mom calling family and sharing the news the whole way. We had lots of fun until about 5 o’clock, and since it was rush hour we decided to just hang around and have dinner. Poor Josh had been sending me messages all day long! I was so mean, I wouldn’t tell him a thing, except for he would have to wait until I could see him in person. He kept guessing, being silly saying things like you’re going to be the next octomom.

After dinner we went to Babies R Us. I wanted to find two little outfits to wrap up and give to Josh when I saw him. I got the cutest little newborn size sets, one that said little sister & one that said little brother. I put them in a gift bag along with the pictures I had from the ultrasound. I was glad to have the pictures and DVD because I knew he would be skeptical without proof.

I got to the hospital about 9 that evening, and had to wait for him to get out of the emergency room. I handed him the gift bag trying to contain my excitement. He opened it and pulled out the little girl outfit, and was like it’s a girl!? I said keep looking, and then he pulled out the little boy outfit. He looked confused for a minute, and then started smiling REALLY BIG. I said yes, it’s two, TWINS!!! He was thrilled, probably a lot more than I was at first. He said I wondered if it was twins, you were being SO WEIRD. I was surprised he wasn’t questioning me more, so I told him to look at the pictures. He studied the pictures and was like yep that’s definitely two. Then I think it really hit him. He looked very serious and said, “This is going to be expensive!” I was like no kidding, I’ve been thinking about it all day! About then Josh was called back to work, and I went home to “try” to sleep.

Surprise, it’s Twins!!

2010-10-07T14:28:00.000-05:00

At this point in my pregnancy my obsession was switching from worrying about miscarriage to finding out what the sex of the baby was going to be. I had family coming to visit during my 16th/17th week so I was determined to find out early before the typical 20 week ultrasound. I found a place in St. Louis called Expectations Ultrasounds that did a Monday special for $60. Josh of course thought it was ridiculous that I couldn’t wait until my insurance covered ultrasound, but I proceeded to book the appt. anyways. Since I was SO determined Josh decided that he would take a look himself and just see if we could tell what we were going to have.

So at 16 weeks I went back to the clinic on Josh’s lunch break for an ultrasound. Once again I had the girls with me and they were very excited to see how much the baby had grown. Josh however was not having any luck finding the gender of the baby. He kept saying things like, wow the baby is just all over the place. He had the ultrasound probe up way high looking at the baby, and then he would have it way low still looking at the baby. I even asked if it was normal for the baby to be up so high, because I thought it was weird for being so early on. Let me just say that Josh neither has nor wants a future as an obstetrician. The ultrasound went on for about 25 minutes. The girls were done, and I was too. Josh finally gave up, mentioning that he was no good at ultrasounds. In his defense, the machines they have in the clinic are SUPER OLD and the picture is TERRIBLE!

A few days later my family was in town and I went to my ultrasound at Expectations. Josh was working on-call at the hospital, so I brought my mom and the girls along. Expectations was really nice. There was a couch for the family and a big flat screen TV on the wall for viewing the baby. Right away the ultrasound owner started asking me lots of questions about my pregnancy. I was starting to get worried, and finally just asked exactly what she was trying to tell me. I just remember hearing the words, “There’s Two!” I thought, two what!?!? Then she started pointing out the two heads, and it just sort of hit me. I felt my heart beating up in my throat, and my eyes immediately filled with tears. I actually thought I might pass out! Very quickly my mom was by my side squeezing my hand bringing me back to reality. I looked over to the girls to make sure they knew was going on. I think they knew, but didn’t really start to get excited until after we were talking more about it later.

The $60 ultrasound special was only supposed to take 10-15 minutes with only 1-2 pictures of the baby, but the owner was so nice, she continued on for about an hour! I got about 10 pictures and a DVD of the whole thing. After I was convinced that it was really twins, we started looking for the genders. First we found a girl! I was happy but then I started thinking, “Poor Josh, it’s going to be twin girls!” Then we found the boy! Although I would have preferred two of the same gender, I’m very excited to get one more time to shop for the girly things, and so excited for Josh to finally get a boy.

Next up, breaking the news to Josh, and hopefully I'll figure out how to add some ultrasound pictures....

The Twins! First Trimester

2010-10-05T21:42:00.000-05:00

Since the last time I updated my blog was in June, I think I’ll just start at the beginning…

We found out we were expecting baby #3 in April. It was a planned pregnancy but it still took awhile to really sink in that we were REALLY going to have another baby. I figured I would have at least a few months to get used to the idea before we actually got pregnant, but it seems that Josh and I are very fertile people.

At about 12 weeks I insisted that Josh squeeze me in on one of his clinic days to check on the baby because I still hadn’t been to a doctor. I went over lunch with both girls, and he quickly found one baby on ultrasound with a good heartbeat and that was that. The ultrasound lasted about 5 minutes. We were both happy and we went to lunch.

At 14 weeks I finally saw my doctor. It was a very uneventful appointment. I didn’t get a dating ultrasound, but I wasn’t too concerned because I was sure of my dates. I did get to hear the baby’s heartbeat, and was scheduled for another appointment at 17 weeks.

With that rapping up my 1st trimester let me say a little about how I was feeling and how it may have been different than my other pregnancies. I was really tired, I had food aversions, and I didn’t really feel like eating (I lost 15 lbs). My sense of smell was in overdrive often times making me nauseous. I felt a lot of bladder pressure, and starting have migraines about twice a week. Everything I felt was pretty much normal except for the “low” feeling causing the bladder pressure. I just attributed that to the fact that it was my 3rd pregnancy and things were stretched out. The migraines were also normal for me, but the frequency of them was much worse. With this pregnancy I would start to get a headache at night, then it would continue all the next day finally winding down late in the evening. With my other pregnancies I would get a migraine at worst once a week. All in all I felt it was a typical first trimester, and had no clue I was about to get a big surprise.

Strawberry Pickin

2010-06-23T22:32:00.000-05:00

We’ve had so much fun going to Eckert’s this past year! Late spring we took the girls to pick strawberries. It was very warm that day, but we still had lots of fun. The girls dove right into picking berries: white ones, green ones, rotten ones, and occasionally a ripe red one. They sort of lost interest when they realized we didn’t want any of white, green, or rotten ones. We were there towards the end of the season so you actually had to look for the red ripe ones. That wasn’t a problem though because they then turned their attention to eating the strawberries. Allyson would at least pick the ones she was eating, but Anya was so lazy she just ate right out of the basket.

After we got our fill of picking, we headed back to cool off and get some free ice cream courtesy of Eckert’s. They had lots of carnival type rides out for the kids to do, but since we had Daddy along we just stuck to the free stuff. I had gotten free pony ride coupons for “liking” Eckert’s on facebook so we headed to that area. Anya hoped right on, but Ally refused. After a couple of tries with Ally, Anya ended up with two

pony rides. We quickly checked out the other animals and then headed home back to the air conditioning. It was a fun day, and I think we’ll be back to pick peaches soon.

The Ditch

2010-06-23T17:42:00.003-05:00

We are renting our house here in IL and have been really pleased with it overall, but there is one big problem in the backyard. We have a sort of ditch that runs along the back fence. The ditch keeps getting deeper every time it rains when the water runs through carving it out. The ditch itself really doesn't bother me that much; it's the water that remains standing in it for weeks that does. Poor Josh really struggles with it when trying to mow, and practically has to weed eat the whole back section. The problem of the ditch continues down the whole line of houses on the street. It's quite the sight when it rains and the water floods down the line like a river. I've heard a couple of explanations from the neighbors about why we have this problem. One person said the drainage pipes underground have come apart causing the problem, and another person said it's because our houses were built on an old mining ground and the area is settling. I have no idea, but it starts with us and seems to be the worst here, the first house on the block is unaffected. Take a look at the last hard rain...

Our Backyard

View of the Neighbors

It gets wider through their yards, but doesn't seem to remain standing for long.

Meet Clyde & Dale

2010-06-18T20:34:00.003-05:00

One of the things the girls really enjoy is stopping to visit the Clydesdale family that lives close by our house. The horses live in a barn off the main road that we take to get to our house, so we drive by them nearly every day. It has been sort of a thrill for the girls to spot the horses each time and see if they are out & what they are up to. Last summer it was just Clyde & Dale as we called them, but this spring much to our excitement Clyde & Dalene had a baby! The baby is so cute, a little boy. Pablo the Donkey moved in this spring too, he’s a wannabe Clydesdale according to the owners. When we visit the horses, Anya likes to climb right up on the fence to pet them; Ally prefers to stand back, usually trying to crawl up my leg if they come close.

Water Fun

2010-06-17T15:49:00.003-05:00

Bubby Bath

2010-06-15T23:30:00.001-05:00

Ally loves her bubby baths!

The Y

2010-06-07T23:27:00.012-05:00

We’ve been busy with the Y this spring/summer. We finished up Ballet class, Anya’s 2nd session & Ally’s 1st. They both make cute little ballerinas. Anya had a love/hate relationship this time with the class. She never wanted to go (just lazy/tired I think), but then always did well once we were there. It was a drag getting her there though . Ally was just the opposite, always excited to go, and then 10 minutes into the class she wanted to go home. I think for her is was just more of attention span thing, because this time the class was huge which made for a lot of waiting. Anya is ready for a more advanced class now, but I think we’ll wait until fall to discuss if she wants to continue.

In April we started swimming lessons. I enrolled both girls in pre-pike, the very beginner level, since we had never done any sort of formal lessons before. Anya was thrilled to be going to the pool every week! Allyson just went along. Although now that’s it’s all over Ally talks about swimming lessons all the time, so I think she was really having fun. During the lessons they wore floatation belts which I was glad for, especially for Allyson. She really has just started to be able to coordinate her movements while wearing a life jacket. Anya did quite well and is starting to swim on her own now without any sort of floaty help. She is still very apprehensive about going out on her own, which is probably my doing because I’ve always insisted that she wear a life jacket & preached to her about water safety. I’m pushing her & myself now to let go and see what she can do. They both passed, Ally to Pike & Anya jumped up to Eel, so I’m going to enroll them again in July at the outdoor pool.

Both girls are currently playing T-Ball through the Y. Allyson just turned 3 in March you know, so I’m not quite sure what I was thinking when I signed her up for an organized sport! I think it’s just that I don’t want her to be left out being the 2nd child and all that sometimes I overcompensate. This is Anya’s first time playing T-Ball too and she’s 5. Anya's been kind of hot or cold with the whole thing. Some days she’s excited to go to T-Ball, others she complains that I signed her up. I feel like I can’t win with her. Ally was really excited to start T-Ball, but once again she doesn’t really have the stamina to finish it through. I have to stay with her a lot of the time to make sure she’s doing what she’s supposed to be doing. They've had their first few games now and it's so cute watching all those little ones so proud to hit and ball & then just standing there forgetting to run. It's been crazy, but fun!

Bikes, Trikes, and Ouch-EEEs

2010-05-03T21:34:00.008-05:00

It was a beautiful evening so we took the girls out for a bike ride after dinner tonight. Ally took off like a rocket, pedaling really fast. Usually she's much more timid, but I think she was trying to keep up with Anya. Anya was already headed down and around the cul-de-sac.

Anya is continuing to ride her smaller bike, the bike that I finally broke down and bought for her. She had a bike already, one that fit her just fine, but she was always too scared to ride it because she thought it was too big. She's doing well with her new smaller bike, and tonight said she was ready to try her bigger bike again. Maybe we're one step closer to riding without training wheels, although I don't think I'm ready for that drama yet.

Back to the bike ride...We had only been out for a few minutes when poor Ally turned too sharp & crashed. We cleaned her up, and to our surprise she wanted to go back out again. This was the face she made the whole time though, and she barely pedaled enough to go anywhere. It ended up being a pretty short ride.

The last few weeks

2010-04-19T16:25:00.006-05:00

I noticed this morning when I was on blogger that my last post was two + weeks ago! I can't believe it's been that long already. We've had a couple of "Major" things happen in the last few weeks. The most major is that Josh is now Major Hartman! I just love the Major rank, because it's so fun to say. He had a short ceremony at work, followed by some major cake eating with his colleagues. Ok, I'll stop now with the major stuff now.

Not quite so major (just one more), but still big, Ally got her ears pierced when we were in Kansas City! She was so excited! She picked out her favorite color blue for the earrings, then got very serious when they started to prepare her ears. They pierced both ears at once and then she screamed, tears streaming, for about 5 minutes. It was bad, a MUCH bigger reaction than when Anya had hers done (also at age 3). She finally got calmed down when she got outside, and then she was all happy again. She loves to look at her new earrings in the mirror, and says they're BEAUTIFUL!

Happy Easter!

2010-04-04T23:25:00.002-05:00

Conversations About Easter

2010-03-29T13:19:00.004-05:00

I was asking the girls if they knew what Hosanna meant after church yesterday. I was expecting Anya to answer, but instead Ally answered, "Jesus loves me." I thought that was a pretty good answer for a 3 year old.

Then today I was discussing Easter with Anya and she said,"I believe in Jesus, & the Easter Bunny too. The Easter Bunny comes in the night and fills my basket." Then Ally chimed in, "Yah, Jesus loves me and so does the Easter Bunny." Then Anya proceeded to say, "If I don't sin & I listen to God, I'll get LOTS of candy in my Easter basket."

I guess they are sort of getting the message about Easter. I think I'll keep working on it though.

Great Wolf Lodge

2010-03-23T21:20:00.010-05:00

Over the weekend we went to The Great Wolf Lodge in Kansas City. When we left home the sun was shining and it was 68 degrees. When we got to Kansas City, well that was another story...brrr cold! Kansas City ended up with about 6 inches of snow!

We met my brother & his family at the lodge. Here's the girls, Emilia, Anya, Ally, & Ella. They had such a good time together. Ally loved loved loved Emilia, maybe a little too much a times.

This is the clock tower in the lobby where they have story time. Ryan took Emilia while we did some more swimming in the evening. I guess the moose talked.

Check out these really huge antler chandeliers!

The lodge had a great snack shop with lots of yummy treats.

We stayed in a room called the kid cabin suite. The girls loved their private cabin and bunk beds. The guys loved that they had their own TV since the big KU game was on.

Ally brought a couple of her favorite books to read.

Cuddle time with Daddy!

Anya & Ella being silly at dinner. The restaurant at the lodge was decent, but the waitress was just "swamped" so we didn't get great service. She wasn't really swamped, she was just bad.

Emilia enjoyed the restaurant too.

The water park was pretty big, even bigger when the outside part is open. There were 3 huge tube slides, 3 or 4 other slides off the club house structure, and 3 kiddie slides. The big girls spent most of their time either on the slides or swimming in the big pool. I spent most of my time with Ally in the "hot pool". She loved bobbing around in the hot tub. The only thing the water park was missing was a wave pool. It would have been perfect then.

Anya warming up on the kiddie slides

Ally was timid at first on the slides, but when Emilia showed up she told me, "don't catch me so I can show the baby." Show Off!

Miss Mia (as Ally would say)

There were snakes in the pool! I guess that's better than snakes on a plane, right?

We had a great weekend. We went to the T-Rex restaurant when we first got to KC on Friday, but no one had a camera with them! It's a pretty cool place to eat, and with all the roaring going on the kids can be as loud as they want. The T-Rex is in an awesome outdoors outlet mall called Legends. It wasn't the greatest weekend for shopping with the snow and all, but I was still able to squeeze a few stores in on Sunday while Josh entertained the girls at Cabela's. The girls were so exhausted from all our fun that Ally fell asleep in the shopping cart there. I can't even remember the last time that happened. It was the perfect mini vacation!

Relapse

2010-03-16T22:36:00.002-05:00

Ally has been pacifier free since around the 1st of November. We had a little paci party, and the paci fairy came to visit during the night and brought her a Mickey Mouse blankie & stuffed animal. She took it really well, so well I wondered why we hadn't tried before (really I know why-because I wasn't ready to give up my instant cure all).

The last few weeks though she's regressed. First she found a paci in the bottom of the toy box and was so happy. She carried it around everywhere. I just watched her for awhile letting her have her fun, but then she put in her mouth so I took it away. She threw herself down on the floor, and threw a huge fit. She got put in timeout and that was that.

Then during nap a couple of days ago she was throwing yet another fit (anyone see a pattern here?) and started asking for daci (paci). I was a little thrown because she hadn't asked for one in such a long time. I quickly reminded her that she had her Mickey blankie now.

So today the girls were outside playing, and I look out to check on them and what do I see? Ally walking around with a pacifier in her mouth. She had found it outside so I know it had to be dirty, but she didn't care. Gross! Hopefully this will be our last incident for awhile. I thought I had thrown all the pacifiers out, but it seems she's squirreled them away!

Anyaisms

2010-03-16T22:29:00.005-05:00

Anya has a few words that she can't seem to keep straight. I'll correct her, and then a minute later she'll say the same thing again. Like...

Blizzard = Blister
Restaunaunt = Restaurant
Inspired = Expired
Pomegranate = Poinsettia ( I don't understand how she could mix these two up)
Goose Goose = Couscous (she knows the difference now but she still says it because she thinks she's funny)
Handitizer = Hand Sanitizer
Shampoo = Shamu (She hasn't made this mistake in awhile)
Lip Chap = Chap Stick (I think I actually say this one too)

She also always uses the number 161 for anything she thinks is a lot, and names every new doll/animal she gets Gabriella. She's been branching out more lately with the names though.

Ally's big one is that she can't say the word hungry, it comes out sounding like tired for some reason. So I always have to warn anyone that watches her that she probably is really hungry, not tired, even though she just said she's tired. If you don't get it right she gets really mad (at least she does at me). Ally also can't say Grandma, it sounds like Diya. I know what you're thinking, and yes, she's going to need speech therapy!

What We've Been Up To

2010-03-12T21:03:00.005-06:00

We've been having a fun week with the grandparents. The weather has been a little all over the place, so we've had to plan our outings carefully. Monday we had a chilly picnic at the playground, and froze grandpa to death. We made it up to him with a trip to Cabela's on Tuesday, it just happens to be at an awesome outlet mall so everyone was happy. Grandpa watched the girls at the playground in the mall while mom & I shopped, and somehow he got swindled into a train ride, a carousel ride, and a snack at cinnabon. Luckily we rescued him before he went broke.

Wednesday the weather was beautiful so we went to the zoo. The zoo here is really nice and free (as long as you don't do anything extra). All the animals were out enjoying the sun so we all got to see our favs. Ally was excited to see the monkeys, and Anya the stinky penguins. That evening we went to Disney On Ice at the Scott Trade Center. The show was awesome! Just about every character you can think of was there, Ally got her Mickey Mouse Clubhouse characters, and Anya got her princesses. Poor Josh was on call, and I really missed him when I had to carry a very tired Ally out through the sea of people.

Ally was not happy at all that a butterfly landed on her hand. After she shook it off, she demanded, "Get me out of here!"

Today we went out for lunch at Imos pizza - it was not good at all. Then we took the girls to Monkey Joes, and out for ice cream at Maggie Moos. I'm not sure what we're doing tomorrow, Anya is going to a B'Day party in the morning and then maybe fishing for Grandpa. Sunday I'll have 2 very sad little girls when all the fun is over & Grandpa & Grandma have to go home.

All About Ally

2010-03-08T22:42:00.006-06:00

In honor of my sweet Ally's birthday today, I'm going to go into way too much detail about my child.

If I had to describe Ally in one word it would probably be spunky. She's full of life, joy, and orneriness. From the moment she was born, she has been a handful. She finds ways to make messes that I never thought was possible. As much craziness as she brings into our lives, she also brings us so much joy. She's got that silly little grin, and gleam in her eyes that always makes me smile & wonder what she's up to.

She's quite the talker, and some days it really wears me out trying to keep up with her constant chatter (plus trying to figure out what the heck she's saying). She's a mommy's girl, always has been, but also loves roughhousing with Daddy. She adores her big sister, and wants to be with her constantly.

Ally is a nurturer, so sweet & thoughtful always finding ways to take care of people. Whenever she gets a snack she always gets one for Anya, and when Anya is crying for whatever reason, Ally will run and get her a blankie or animal to love on - it's so cute.

Ally's favorite shows are Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Curious George, Max & Ruby, and Olivia. She just really started to watch TV a couple a months ago. She loves to be at home, and likes playing in her kitchen & being outside getting dirty. I like to say that her favorite things are all B's; Balls, Bubbles, Babies, & Balloons, and that if you have those things she'll be a happy girl.

I feel so lucky to be Ally's Mama, and I thank God for blessing us with such a beautiful little girl.

Happy Birthday Allyson Elaine!

2010-03-08T21:14:00.001-06:00

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Too Cute Not To Share

2010-03-01T23:21:00.000-06:00

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The Band

2010-03-01T19:13:00.002-06:00

Happy Casimir Pulaski Day!

2010-02-28T22:16:00.003-06:00

Tomorrow is Casimir Pulaski Day- in case you didn't know. It's a strange holiday celebrated in Illinois, so that means no school. That's okay though, I'm getting tired of the morning preschool rush. I'm so dead when Anya starts Kindergarten next year. I think I'm going to look for a school that starts at 10 a.m.

This week should go by fast. I've put off shopping for Ally's party, so I'll need to go buy her Mickey & Minnie decorations. I'm planning on making her cake, and ambitiously picked out a layer cake that uses fondant for the decorations. I hope it turns out - I've never used fondant before!

My parents will be here sometime on Friday. They are taking the train again so if they make an early connection in KC they'll be here at 1:30, if not they won't get here until 9:30 p.m. I sure hope they get here early, because last time they were late I thought my mom might never come back.

Saturday night Anya's preschool is having a fundraising dinner & silent auction. It should be lots of fun, I just wish I had money to bid on some of the items donated. Maybe they'll be something that no one else wants so I can get a chance win!

Another Birthday!

2010-02-23T21:38:00.006-06:00

We've got another big birthday coming up soon....Ally will be 3, March 8th! I've been thinking a lot about my baby girl, and trying to come up with a special present for her big day. Anya & I have been trying to talk Josh into giving Ally a puppy for her birthday, but we're not making any progress so I think I'll give up on that idea. We might get her a cardboard playhouse that she can color all over. I really like this one the best, but it's small (maybe more suited for a 1-2 year old) & more expensive. This is the other one I'm looking at... it's a lot bigger, but not as cool looking. What do you think?

Pairs Skating

2010-02-18T18:10:00.003-06:00

Anya's ice skating obsession is strengthening with each night that we watch the Olympics. She is now frequently asking me when she can take lessons, and proclaiming that she will be a professional ice skater when she grows up. Ally is probably the cutest though, trying to imitate what she sees on TV. I got a video clip of the girls watching the Olympic pairs skating competition. Ally was "skating" and Anya, not wanting Ally to get all the attention, quickly joined in. The clip is a little long, but if you are patient there is a lift at the end you won't want to miss.

Ash Wednesday

2010-02-17T23:32:00.004-06:00

Ally was a real handful tonight at the Ash Wednesday service. She made several announcements that everyone sitting around us probably heard. The first was, "when's Anya's turn," (said very impatiently while waiting for Anya's club to sing) and the second after they sang was, "lets go bye bye now." I had to break out the m&m minis to quiet her when she discovered we weren't leaving. Then she was very mad when she got ashes put on her forehead. She announced "I don't like that man," and "wipe that off now." She finally settled down after I showed her the mark was like a cross. I guess I should have thought to prep her ahead of time. Really she was cracking me up with her comments, especially I don't like that man. She's such a character.

Valentine's Days

2010-02-17T22:07:00.003-06:00

Friday was Anya's Valentine's Party at school. I made heart shaped jello jigglers for the snack. The kids devoured them! I made two batches thinking I'd have leftovers to take to Ally in her Mom's Day Out class, but the kids just kept asking for more (one boy had 4ths). The party was fun, but wild. We strung heart shaped marshmallows onto licorice strings to make bracelets, had a relay race carrying spoonfuls of hearts across the room, and played valentine picture bingo.

Anya's best preschool pal Ella

B-I-N-G-O

Cute Girlies

The Loot

Saturday morning we took the girls out to celebrate at Build a Bear (a tradition I was dumb enough to start). I told them we had too many animals (plus we're broke), and that we were just going to pick out outfits this time. Anya was a little disappointed, so I agreed to let them stroll their animals into the mall. It was super cute, but not the best idea on a busy Saturday.

They had lots of fun shopping. Anya wanted everything, and had to be frequently reminded not to be greedy. Ally was very easy to please, and seemed happy with the first thing she picked.

Ally's Love Bug

Anya picked an outfit for her unicorn (4 shoes!), but Penguin had to come along too of course.

Saturday night Josh & I got to have a date night. Although not too exciting we did have some good Chinese food, and Josh was kind enough to let me do a little shopping at the Galleria while we were in the area. Sunday he was on call, so I had the little valentines all to myself. Ally was sick- puking, so it was a very low key day. I did manage to make some heart shaped sandwiches & pancakes though. Anya thinks I should make everything heart shaped now.

Bunk Beds!!

2010-02-10T15:02:00.003-06:00

I've been debating for awhile on what to do about new beds for the girls. Ally had the crib that we had converted into a toddler bed in her room , and Anya was still sleeping in the toddler bed in her room that we bought when she was 2. They both still fit in their beds, but I thought it was getting a little silly to have a 5 year old in a toddler bed. Our other problem was that they wanted to be together at night. Which was fine, but Ally insisted on sleeping in a sleeping bag next to Anya's bed. So we had one kid on the floor, and the other "big" kid in a toddler bed!

That's when I decided to look for new beds. After debating about bunk beds vs. a trundle bed, and driving Josh crazy, I decided we needed bunk beds. Well we got them, and so far things are going very well (knock on wood). We haven't had any problems with anyone climbing all over, or falling off. Ally just usually goes up to kiss Anya good night and that's all. We took the crib down in Ally's room, and she now has the toddler bed just in case we need some separation.

Here's some pictures of the very happy girls in their new beds!

Ice Skating

2010-02-08T22:19:00.004-06:00

Over the weekend we met some friends at the St. Louis Mills outlet mall for some lunch, shopping, and ice skating. Ice skating was Anya's idea. She first started talking about it after watching a Max & Ruby episode where they flooded the yard & made an ice rink (she of course wanted to do the same). Then she saw figure skating on TV and was hooked. She wanted an outfit for herself, and one for her penguin from Build a Bear. So Saturday we decided to indulge her fantasy and get a little shopping in too!

Josh and I figured out it had been about 12 years since we'd been ice skating! It felt like it too when I stepped on the ice. I could barely keep myself up, much less support Anya. We made it once around and I thought well that's it let's go, but Anya kept at it. Josh took her, and by the end she was going around by herself. I was very impressed that she didn't quit because she fell down a lot. She's already talking about going back.

Ally loved it too, but never really got the hang of it. I was trying to help her skate, but she wouldn't put any weight on her feet so it was like carrying her (all 32 lbs) around the ice rink. Poor Josh killed his back taking her around "again" & "again"! I felt bad that I didn't help more, but I was afraid I was going to kill us both. It was lots of fun though, and we will definetly go back.

Buddies

Brynn & Anya

The Dentist

2010-02-08T17:22:00.002-06:00

The girls both had dentist appointments today, and it was Ally's first time! We found a cool pediatric dentist nearby that seemed to make the girls very happy. The office lobby was painted in an underwater theme, and they had those funny carnival type mirrors on the wall. They also had an awesome "Nemo" aquarium, and video games too. The dentist chairs were in bright colors with lots of fun decorations everywhere. Sorry I forgot my camera. :(

When it was our turn they took both the girls back without me! I was a little apprehensive about Ally, but tried not to show it. They came out a few minutes later to assure me they were doing fine. After they were all done I got to go back to discuss the appointments with the dentist. I guess Ally was really good & cooperative. She had an excellent check-up, and will go back in 6 months. I'm pretty disappointed that I didn't get to be there or even get a picture of Ally's first dentist appointment. I guess next time I'll take my camera and just pretend it's the first.

Anya on the other hand had another cavity! That makes her 3rd. The hygienist said that her brushing was really good, so I'm not sure what else to do for her. I'm afraid she can blame my genetics for her rotten teeth (or maybe her sweet tooth, also inherited from me). BAD MOMMY! She was also very well behaved & "mature" according to the dentist. Of course the minute we stepped out of the office she turned back into her normal whinny self. I guess I should be glad she can at least control herself for other people.

Anya's Party Part 2

2010-02-07T23:16:00.006-06:00

Our first kid party at the YMCA was a success!! I think we had about 23 kids show up, and several parents stayed too. Anya was on cloud nine! The cake turned out beautiful, and tasted yummy too. The cookies my mom & I worked so hard on turned out great, until we packed them up to move them & the plastic stuck to the icing! We used gel icing for the eyes & lips and it just wouldn't set up. We at least we had the top layer that still looked pretty.

The kids had a blast playing together on the foam playhouse structure, and with all the toys. Then after cake & ice cream they got to go to the bouncy house in the gym. The party was only 1 1/2 hours but it was just enough time to keep everyone happy. I was really pleased with the party, a bit exhausted, but Anya's beaming smile made me forget about all that.

Anya's Birthday Part 1

2010-02-07T19:44:00.008-06:00

Anya Elizabeth Hartman is now 5!

I know I'm a little late blogging, but oh well, late is better than never, right?

We celebrated all day on her actually B'Day, the 28th. The day started with heart shaped krispy kremes & chocolate milk for her special school snack. Then later lunch at Arbys. That evening she wanted to go out to eat at the Texas Road House (they have cinnamon butter & yummy rolls). She really enjoyed that bread & butter! Then she got to sit on the special birthday saddle while they wished her a Happy Birthday. She also got a chocolate sundae and was kind enough to share with her sister. After we got home it was time for presents & chocolate cupcakes. It was a wonderful day!

The Birthday Girl

Grandma's Girls
(Grandpa had to stay home & plow snow)

Anya on the Texas Road House Birthday Saddle
YEE HAW!

Ally's Un- Birthday Present
I'm hoping I haven't started something with this Un-Birthday thing. It's just hard for a 2 year old that doesn't understand when it's time for her birthday (and I'm a sucker).

Sisterly Love

Penelope got some new duds & a house!

The All Important Snuggie From Uncle Ryan & Aunt Karen

Happy Birthday To You Anya Bear!!

My Cuties!

2010-01-26T14:14:00.002-06:00

I love this picture of Ally!

Nothing really to blog about, just thought I'd share it with you all.

Of course Anya's a cutie too!

Have you met our doctor?

2010-01-25T22:46:00.003-06:00

Meet Dr. Penguin

Just leave a comment if you want to get his info.

Grease is the Word

2010-01-24T20:56:00.003-06:00

Thursday night I went to see "Grease" at the Fox Theatre in St Louis with some of my MOPS friends. The Fabulous Fox Theatre is really something. It was built in 1929 in grand style with intricate gold carvings everywhere.Unfortunately they don't allow photography inside the building, but you can see some pictures from their website if you're interested.

Taylor Hicks and Ace Somebody from American Idol were the big draws in the show (sorry I think I only saw seasons 1 & 2). Ace played Danny, and Taylor was Teen Angel. They both did great. I was surprised at how talented all the actors were. We had $35 seats which put us up pretty high, so high that we needed binoculars to see details. We sat behind a row of older ladies that were clearly Taylor Hicks fans, because as soon as he came on stage their binoculars were glued to their faces. It was pretty awesome.

After the show we went to the Chocolate Bar. It was a chocolate lovers dream, well dark chocolate /coffee favored loving chocolate lover that is - i.e. Karen. I actually like milk chocolate, and I wasn't feeling very brave, so I ordered a cheese platter. It was smokey maple cheddar cheese that started off tasting good, but ended up leaving me with a stinky cheese feeling. The joke of the night was the moscato I ordered, it came in this baby wine glass that was ridiculously small. It was very good, but not 4 sips for $7 good. You'll have to excuse me, I don't get out much.

I'm so thankful to have found such a great group of ladies in my MOPS group! It was a truly memorable night.

Party Time Is Almost Here!

2010-01-23T22:31:00.003-06:00

Anya's Birthday is on Thursday, the 28th. She'll be 5!!! I've been busy planning her party. It's a big one, well bigger than our usual family one, so it's a big deal for me. She has talked me into inviting all her preschool pals, a few MOPS kids, and then our regular Air Force friends as well. It should be around 26 kids, ? parents, and hopefully my parents will make it too.

We are having it in the children's center at the YMCA on Saturday. I chickened out of making the cake, and ordered one from a MOPS friend that has a cake business. It was way more than I thought it was going to be, so I hope it's fantastic. I'm going to make frog prince shaped cookies to serve as well, so I won't totally be off the hook.

Now all I have to do is patiently answer Anya when she asks for the millionth time how many days are left until her party!

Our Pet Possum

2010-01-20T22:56:00.004-06:00

Saturday night after dinner, Anya came into the kitchen and said, "There's something on the back porch, and it's not Taft!" She seemed alarmed so I went to look, and there was a possum!! We all just stood there quietly watching the possum hang out with our cat. Taft and the possum just looked at each other like it was no big deal. I think they've met before, maybe a secret romance.

I was trying to get a picture so I kept getting closer to the back door. I thought the possum would just run away, but he didn't. He was determined to get our cat's food. I wasn't happy with how my pictures were looking through the glass so I carefully opened the back door, and stuck my camera out to take some shots. That silly possum was not scared of me one bit. Check out my pics...

Banana Crumb Muffins

2010-01-17T18:14:00.003-06:00

Here's a link to the recipe for some delicious muffins I made this morning. I added 1 tsp of vanilla as well. The recipe says it will make 10 muffins, but I was able to get 12 large muffins out of mine. Enjoy!

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Banana-Crumb-Muffins/Detail.aspx

Kitty Extensions

2010-01-09T22:15:00.003-06:00

I'm probably the only one who thinks this is funny, but when I came across Anya's cat wearing a hair piece I nearly died laughing. Not only because Anya is so crazy, but because it reminded me of Kate Gosselin's new hair extensions. Only I think the cat's hair looks a little better than Kate's.

You better watch out....Santa Claus is coming to town!

2009-12-15T13:45:00.002-06:00

Santa Claus might not be coming to our house this year. I have two children that are probably on the naughty list after the recent stunts they have pulled.

Let's start on Thursday, while the girls were playing in the basement, Anya decided to give Ally a bath by herself. On Friday, Anya used a red marker on her lips as lipstick. On Saturday morning they climbed out the window to go outside and play. Yes, I know this is reflecting poorly on my parenting, but please judge lightly-it's not always this bad at our house (can I blame it on the weather?) I can't think of any thing especially naughty on Sunday, but yesterday Anya poured out all the salt & pepper in the shakers into a big pile on the table. Today I found the girls playing in my make-up, all my brushes had blush on them and my foundation was dumped on the floor!

I'm not sure how to end this post, except to just say, don't be surprised if you hear I'm in the mental ward. These girls are driving me CRAZY!!!

Turkey Day!

2009-12-07T13:13:00.003-06:00

Here's some pictures from our family's Thanksgiving.

Although I missed my family, it was really nice to stay home for a change.

My Pumpkin Pie with a Finger Print (Pretty Sure it was Ally)

Easy Fudge

2009-12-06T22:26:00.003-06:00

My version of Easy Fudge...
Start out with a pan one size too small (because you're too lazy to wash the right one), then boil over the marshmallow goo, burn a finger, set smoke alarm off, wake sleeping child, then to finish it off - knock a cup of chocolate chips onto the floor. Sounds easy huh?

Here's the recipe, I guess it's pretty much fool proof since it turned out for me.

2 c. Sugar
2/3c. evaporated milk
1/2 c. butter
1 c. mini marshmallows or 12 big ones
pinch of salt

Mix together and cook to a rolling boil, then boil for 5 minutes stirring constantly.
Remove from fire, and stir in...

6 oz. milk chocolate chips
1 t. vanilla
1 c. chopped pecans (optional)

Pour into well greased pan, then patiently wait for it to set up. Enjoy!!

Oh Ally!

2009-12-04T22:04:00.003-06:00

Where do you keep your crackers?

If you're at our house, look no further than the magnet on the refrigerator.

Looking for the new Mickey Mouse ornaments you just bought?

Check the fridge

(the girls helped put away the groceries)

Salt & Pepper Shakers?

You'll find those on the floor in the laundry room.

I guess that's why I can never find anything!!

Black Friday

2009-11-24T17:54:00.002-06:00

We are staying here for Thanksgiving, and Josh is on call Thanksgiving day (that means working at the hospital until Friday around noon). Am I upset about that? No, not really. We are going to have our big Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday - no biggie.

What I am upset about is the fact that he won't be home until Friday at noon, and then who knows what kind of shape he'll be in. What's the big deal about Friday you ask? It's Black Friday!The Super Bowl of shopping!! I've been training all year!

I've been sweating about it for days, trying to come up with someone to watch the kids. I need a babysitter starting about 3 a.m. Well I'm afraid I'm out of luck, so I've come to the conclusion that the kids are coming with me. Not at 3 a.m. of course, what kind of mother would do that? But I will probably take them out once they get up around 8 a.m. or so.

Have I lost my mind? Maybe. A worker at Wal-Mart did get trampled last year, but that was at store opening. We'll be there way after the initial rush, and the girls will be safely contained in the shopping cart happily feasting on all the snacks I'll be bringing (one can only dream).

Last year while out shopping on Black Friday, I commented that I can't believe people actually bring their kids out shopping on such a crazy day. Well, I promise to never judge people like that again. I'm not sure if I'll really take the girls out before Josh gets home (I will, who am I kidding. I've already got stuff on hold at Gymboree that has to be picked up by noon), but don't worry I'll get out sometime on Friday - I won't let my family down.

My Little Turkeys

2009-11-23T22:29:00.004-06:00

Anya modeling her drumstick headband she made at school today

Ally really is my little turkey.

A not so great picture of Anya's class singing at their Thanksgiving Feast last week (notice Anya in the middle of all the short kids)

I thought this was so cute. It's made from a painted coffee cup, and has tea light in the bottom.

Pilgrim Josh

My girls ( I think Ally looks so grown up with her headband)

Anya with her best buddy, Skeeter

Potty Training (Reader Discretion Advised)

2009-11-17T10:44:00.004-06:00

I knew it was too good to be true when Ally started potty training with a 90% success rate. It's gone from great, to good, to basically nothing. This morning I asked Ally if she had to go potty, and she said yes, only to find out it was too late when we got to the bathroom. Then just 10 minutes later, she pooped in her pull-up! I really think she does better wearing panties, but after 3 or 4 times dealing with BIG poop messes I'm done with that. Yesterday she comes up from the basement toy room without her pull up, announcing she's pooped. My eyes got big, but I tried to remain calm hoping that maybe she actually pooped in the potty. No such luck -either she actually pooped on the floor or just took her pull up off and it fell out. The worst part was that she tried to clean up, making a bad situation much worse. I know this is a gross post, sorry I guess I need to vent.

Preschool Update

2009-11-13T13:37:00.005-06:00

Anya had her parent teacher conference last Thursday. I was expecting to hear all good things, since I hadn't heard otherwise, and it was all good. Anya can recognize almost all of her letters (she gets M/N & I/T mixed up), she is great with numbers (I guess she can count higher than the teacher wants to listen to), she is writing her name (although it's still backwards a lot of the time), she listens well & follows directions, and best of all she is kind and plays well with everyone (not falling into the little cliques). She does however have some speech problems (r & s mainly) that will probably have to be addressed in Kindergarten. I was surprised to hear that her speech wasn't normal - I thought she just talked like a little kid.

Her class has been working on learning the books of the Bible, so far she's up to Daniel (that #27 by the way). I have really appreciated how the school has combined learning the basics along with learning about Jesus. Anya is also learning her letter sounds as well as the sign language for that letter, and then a little saying about each one. A goes like this...(make the A sign) A says Ahh, A says Ahh, Noah built an ark, Ah Ah Ah. It's very cute. Ally has also caught on, she knows the letters/signs A & B (working on C). I wish I had put Ally in 2 year old preschool, but that's another story. Here's some of Anya's artwork, and a video clip of the books of the bible...

This is a dove in case you can't tell

I thought using the animal crackers was super cute

The farm animals, I was really impressed with the toilet paper roll cow.

Check out the the version of the books of the Bible Anya is learning on You Tube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixMvFdeo-F0

A Trip To The Mall

2009-11-09T14:30:00.003-06:00

I took the girls to the mall after preschool today. It was going to be a quick trip- just lunch & one return. Well I haven't quite figured out this mall completely yet, and was surprised when we walked in that I hadn't parked where I thought I had. I was trying to strategically park where we could avoid walking by the train & carousel ($2 a ride!).

I made my return, and we started towards the food court. I forgot all about the pet store right outside of Macy's, and of course the girls noticed and begged to see the puppies. It was past lunch time, but I said okay anyways (the girls would really LOVE to have a puppy, but that's another story). I'm trying to get them out of the store, so I walk out into the mall a little ways hoping they'll follow. I look back to see if they're coming, and right at that moment I see Ally pick up a little dog biscuit from a display and put it in her mouth!! I'm thinking GROSS, and oh great I have to pay for that, all at the same time. Ally spits it out on the floor before I can even get to her, and we make a quick exit.

We finally get to the food court (after a bathroom stop), and all is well (except for the girls eating most of my pizza - I didn't guess right on how much they would eat, I never do). Then the talk turns to Santa Claus being in the mall. Yes, the mall is in full Christmas mode already! The whole walk through the mall Anya has been dragging behind, ooohing & aahhing over the Christmas decorations. The girls were being good so I agreed to let them go take a look at Santa, I didn't think they would really want to sit on his lap or anything.

There is no line for Santa so we walk right up. Anya is hiding behind me, and Ally starts to cry. I tell Anya to go ahead, and I'll watch with Ally - Anya won't budge. Anya wants to go, but not by herself. So I go to see Santa too, with one kid clinging to my neck, and the other clinging to my leg. Anya perks up, and tells Santa she wants about a million things, and Ally peeks out to say Mickey Mouse. I was pleased they both talked, and they were pleased with the paper elf hats & coloring books Santa gave them.

I'm thinking okay, we have to go, it's almost nap time. We make it back upstairs (not a small feat in a mall with 1 broken elevator), and Anya wants one more look down at Santa. My patience is running thin, but I say go ahead. She drops her coloring book down through the rails, and she starts to melt down. I was ready to forget it, but this nice lady is holding it for us while we come down. I CAN'T go all the way back to the elevator, so I ditch the stroller at the top of the escalator, and head down with Ally. In my haste, it didn't occur to me that Anya might need help getting on the escalator too. I'm half way down with Ally, and Anya is at the top freaking out. I talk her into stepping on, and down she goes screaming the whole way. Boy, do I feel like a bad Mom. On the way back up the escalator while carrying 72 lbs of girls I think, I really hope my stroller is still there.

The moral of the story is.....There is no such thing as a quick trip when you have kids.

Silly Girls

2009-11-06T09:22:00.004-06:00

Josh lost his stethoscope again (his first one was "stolen"), so we had to buy another one (they aren't cheap). Anyways, he got it yesterday in the mail and had it out testing it on the girls. He listened to Ally's heart first, and while Anya was waiting for her turn she said excitedly, "I hope my heart is beating too!" Then Ally insisted that Daddy listen to her bee-bo, he obliged of course. Such silly girls!!

Halloween Fun

2009-11-03T23:42:00.004-06:00

Preschool Party

2009-11-03T23:22:00.003-06:00

Anya's Preschool Party

The kids wearing the owl masks they made, and ready to trick or treat the church offices.

Decorating Cookies

Ally was lucky enough to get in on the action.

Yum Yum!!

Anya working on stringing a necklace

Pumpkin Bowling

The pumpkins took some pretty hard hits, but they all survived.

Fall Festival

2009-11-03T22:16:00.004-06:00

We started our Halloween season at the Fall Festival on base this year. It was chilly, but we still had lots of fun. Anya dressed up this year as Cleopatra, a.k.a. "Egyptian Princess", it's all about the princesses at our house. Ally was Minnie Mouse. She really wanted to be Mickey Mouse, but I convinced her Minnie was the way to go. Ally is leaning towards the tomboy side, but I'm leaning back the other direction trying to keep her girly. We'll see how long that lasts!

There was a costume parade at the festival.

Anya won 2nd place!!

My sweet Minnie!

This is the robot that beat Anya out of first, and $25 cash.

It is pretty cool though, huh?

Anya proudly wearing her 2nd place medal!

Blogging Blahs

2009-10-04T22:23:00.004-05:00

I've got lots to blog about, but haven't really felt like blogging much lately. Too much T.V. maybe?

A week ago my parents came for a visit, and Josh had the week off! It was great fun, but also tiring. They left last Sunday, this week has gone by so fast it seems like they were just here. I have lots of pictures, so if I get motivated I'll post more on the subject.

This past week we went to a great B'Day party at Chuck E Cheese, had dinner with friends, went to church on Wednesday, I had a room mom meeting at preschool, Josh was on call Friday, and this afternoon we went pumpkin picking. I'm sure lots of people have a much fuller schedule, but I seem to be busier than usual.

Ally started potty training this week! She's been doing pretty good, about 50/50 now. Today she went to the bathroom all by herself, and when Josh went to check on her, she had pooped in the potty already! Anya was a tough one to train (we probably started too early & pushed too hard)! Ally's been excited about wearing panties for awhile now, but I haven't been ready. I think I'm still a little traumatized from our experience with Anya. I've definitely been desensitized - got a mess, I'll probably only gag (not throw-up). I'll keep you updated on our progress.

I almost forgot one of the main reasons I haven't been blogging. My computer got knocked off the table while my parents were here and broke! I won't say who did it (mom), but I should confess I left the cord strung across the floor in a major walk way. Luckily she didn't kill herself, and it was just the screen that broke. I was pretty worried about all the pictures I have saved (and not backed up). I got it fixed, but it was in the shop for a week and a day. We have another computer, but Josh doesn't share well.

Which brings me to another subject.... My husband needs a WarCraft intervention!! That's all I'm saying, because anything else would not be nice.

Aloha Gurrieris

2009-09-17T22:42:00.006-05:00

Our friends Dawn & Tony Gurrieri left Scott AFB last weekend to start the transition to their new base in Hawaii. It was amazing that we were at the same base even if just for a couple of months (which most likely won't happen again). Dawn is my best friend since kindergarten and Josh became friends with Tony at the Air Force Academy. Now they're married and have an adorable baby boy named Luke! Hopefully we'll be able to visit them in Hawaii, maybe for our 10th anniversary next summer! That would be cool, but I don't think I better get my hopes up.

The night before they left we went out to eat at a cool old fashioned soda fountain place. Tony's mom was in town to help with the move, so we got to see her again too. She was Josh's sponsor mommy while he was at the academy.

The girls introducing Luke to a little topless coloring.

Dawn and Little Luke (8 months)

Anya loves, I mean really loves Mrs. Gurrieri! She has ever since we visited them last summer in Denver. It only took her about an hour before Anya started calling her Grandma.

This was taken when both Mr. & Mrs Gurrieri were visiting over Labor Day. We had a cook out at our house, and had a great time! Josh's 10 year Academy reunion is next summer also, so hopefully we'll make it back to Colorado and see the Gurrieris then.

Apple Picking

2009-09-17T20:28:00.004-05:00

Anya's preschool class went on a field trip today to Eckert's Fun Farm. The primary goal was to pick apples, but there was lots of other things to do too! Anya's friend Ella rode with us, which of course both my girls loved. We rode a wagon type ride out to the trees and each child got a sack to fill with apples. Ally was funny, she just picked an apple and took a bite. I grabbed it and tried to wipe it off at least, but she didn't care.

After apple picking we went back to the main area where there was a petting zoo, pig races, corn maze, barn show, play areas, and little stores to shop/eat at. We spent lots of time there, and ended up staying for lunch we were having so much fun.

I definitely want to go back soon. During October the pumpkin patch is open, and they have haunted hay rides at night (maybe a little too scary for a 2 & 4 year old). Also on the weekends they have little carnival type rides that are open, and horse & camel rides too.

Ally's First Day

2009-09-14T22:12:00.003-05:00

Ally went to her first day of Mom's Day Out on Friday. She was so excited that she got to go to school too like big sister. She was proudly wearing her backpack and tried to stuff it full of blankets and pacifiers. When we got to school it was a different story. She was so sad and didn't want mommy to leave. I left her standing there all pitiful holding her blankie. I felt really terrible, and nearly cried on the way home. When I picked her up that afternoon she was high as a kite! Anya had joined her, and they were both bouncing off the walls. I felt bad for the teachers! Hopefully this week Ally will remember how much fun she had, and won't cry when I drop her off.

Tumbling Teddies

2009-09-14T19:32:00.004-05:00

Anya & Ally had their first tumbling class at the YMCA tonight. Anya did pretty great for it being her first time to ever do anything like that. She was asked to do somersaults all the way down the mat, and she took off like it was a race. She was trying so hard she stood right up on her head!

Ally was so cute trying her best to understand and do what the big girls were doing. She was the youngest and could pretty much do everything that was asked, but she would not stay with the group! She kept running back and forth to give me hugs (which was very cute & irritating all at the same time).

The teacher was pretty awful. She barked orders at the kids, not explaining things very well. She told a bunch of preschoolers to run a lap (they have no idea what a lap is) without any further explanation. I guess I just expected someone that was great with kids, with a more loving demeanor.

I'm debating about dropping the class. The teacher wasn't all bad, she knew what she was doing at least. Ally is really too young, but it's hard to always take Anya and leave her behind. I also didn't like that there were 9 kids in the class, instead of the 6 to 1 ratio that was advertised. As a plus another mom I've met is taking her kids too, so it's sort of a social event for me. But overall I was very disappointed with Tumbling Teddies, so I'm going to have to think about if it's worth my money.

First Day of School Pictures

2009-09-13T23:24:00.002-05:00

Anya Elizabeth & Allyson Elaine

Anya's new teachers,
Mrs. Stricklen & Mrs. McCraven

Ally looking cute.
Ally wasn't happy at all leaving Anya at school. I took her to Sam's Club, and couldn't believe how much better behaved she was minus Anya. Or maybe it was that it is just easier with only one kid, and I could focus more attention on just Ally.

Anya had a great first day!
She LOVED school and couldn't wait to go back. We went to DQ for an after school treat.

Can you believe how much they both have grown!!

This was taken almost exactly one year earlier. I miss those baby faces.

Three Springs Preschool & Mom's Day Out

2009-09-01T20:58:00.003-05:00

Anya starts preschool in one week! Tonight was open house, and we met the teachers. I'm very excited about her new school. It's at our church, which is great because we know a few people already and the girls are comfortable there. She'll be going M, T, Th, F from 9-11:30. Anya's class is called the Frogs, and they have so many cute frog decorations for the classroom. Each day they have Jesus time and will learn the Lords Prayer & the books of the Bible. Anya can't wait to get started and didn't want to leave (neither did Ally - we'll see how that goes on Tuesday when we drop Anya off).

Ally will get to go to Mom's Day Out on Fridays from 9 to 2, so she's not completely left out (Anya will go to Mom's Day Out too after preschool on Friday). The nursery at the church is also open on Monday mornings during preschool, and I can drop Ally off whenever I like (not free/$10 each time). It's nice to have that though just in case I need to go to the dentist or whatever & can't get in on Friday.

I'm excited about preschool & MDO starting, now if I can just manage to get out of bed everyday and get there on time!

Happy Birthday Josh!

2009-08-31T15:30:00.004-05:00

Josh had his birthday on August 28th. He was on call that night so we had a little party for him the day before. We went out to eat at the Texas Road House, and then ate cake at home and unwrapped presents. Josh is now 31!

The girls were so excited about Daddy's birthday, so I tried to include them in everything. They helped make the cake, an Italian cream cake. The first thing I let them do is unwrap the butter. Ally got one end opened, and then took a lick! The cake baking pretty much continued on that way, I said "Don't Eat That!" a lot. Then I let them help wrap the presents, and make cards for Daddy. They had so much fun, but honestly, I had a huge headache! Here's a video of the girls singing Happy Birthday (sorry my camera doesn't take very good videos).

Shanty Town

2009-08-29T12:59:00.002-05:00

Residency

2009-08-25T22:30:00.005-05:00

We survived the first month of Josh's residency! It went really well. The worst part was Josh not having any time to help with the moving in stuff, which is still not done. Oh well! The days are long with the girls, but they have been good for the most part. Anya misses Daddy at dinner time, and told me once that Daddy should teach me how to make money so that he could stay home. I wasn't sure how to take that suggestion. It will be nice when she starts preschool and gets a little more social interaction with someone other than mommy. This month Josh is on OB inpatient with call every 4 days, same schedule as last month. He has to deliver 30 babies by the end of his first year - so far he's got 4. He wanted some Crocs before he got started with OB, so he would be able to hose his shoes off if needed. Gross!

I love cooking...not really, but I'm trying

2009-08-25T18:35:00.000-05:00

Our budget has gotten a lot smaller with his last move, so we've been trying to cook more and eat out less. It's been really hard not eating out as much, and we're still not very good at it. It is getting better though. I have found that cooking dinner for my family more often does make me feel like a better mother/wife. I have also been planning meals, which has made grocery shopping much more productive. With that said here is my meal plan for the week......yes I know it's Tuesday :)

Sunday - Mexican casserole, black beans, chips & homemade guacamole

Monday - Josh is on call, so it's girl's choice - usually mac & cheese with fish sticks or pancakes & scrambled eggs

Tuesday - smothered steak, buttery potatoes, green beans

Wednesday - chicken stir fry w/ rice - we might make fortune cookies if I can find the recipe

Thursday - Josh's birthday a day early - his choice eating out

Friday - on call night - frozen pizza

Saturday - grilled chicken, corn on the cob, couscous

Sunday - sweet & sour meatballs with rice & sugar snap peas

Anya's New Do

2009-08-21T16:33:00.003-05:00

Anya got her haircut on Tuesday after her shots. I told the lady to even up the back to match the sides, like a bob I said. Well when it was done it was wedged up short in the back, and then angled down longer in the front. A very big girl hair cut! I was in shock for most of the afternoon, and could not stop gawking. Josh's mouth hit the floor when he got home, but I think he's recovered. It is very cute, and she seems to really like it.

Poor Babies

2009-08-20T19:39:00.005-05:00

Tuesday I took Anya to get her immunizations up to date before she starts preschool. She got 2 combo shots, one in each leg. She did excellent and did not even flinch. Wednesday we met some friends at Chuck E Cheese, and she was still going strong, no sign that she had even gotten shots. By late that afternoon her left leg had a red swollen spot, and she was complaining that it itched. Today the spot was huge taking up a good portion of her thigh; it was red, swollen, and hot to the touch. Of course I couldn't get an appointment on base so I had to get a referral for the urgent care clinic.

Today I really missed my doctor's wife privileges I had gotten accustomed to at McConnell. At McConnell Josh could have just looked at it, and had another doc put in the prescription. Then he could have just brought the medicine home with him.

Back to reality, she was prescribed two antibiotics, one in case of a staph infection, and another to cover all other infections. Then we had to go to base to get the prescriptions filled. It was a long afternoon.

This all wouldn't have been so bad, except for Ally is coming down with a cold, and woke up with a low temp. She was very whiny, and needed to be home taking a nap. I could barely get diner on the table before she crashed. I should have just put her to bed before diner because she only took a couple of bites. Did I mention Josh is on call tonight? I really hope I don't end of taking Ally to the doctor tomorrow, and repeating today.

A whole lot of naked

2009-08-19T19:45:00.005-05:00

I was looking through the pictures I took last week, and noticed that Ally & Anya were mostly naked in at least half of the pics. I admit I don't like to dress them until we are ready to leave the house. Ally especially will get her clothes dirty in a matter of minutes.

Ally practicing somersaults, she hasn't made it over yet

Coloring "ON THE PAPER"

I have had to use the magic eraser twice recently for coloring offenses.

Anya helped Ally put on panties, and they were both very proud. I went along and let Ally try panties for the morning, but two puddles later I made her put a diaper on.

My window washers both take their job very seriously.

I give them a spray bottle of water, and they enjoy cleaning lots of things.

It usually looks worse when they're done, but they are so happy I don't mind.

Corn and a Bib

Wrestling -

They are so funny when they wrestle, usually Anya will lie down & tell Ally to wrestle her, and then she just laughs as Ally sits on her head or whatever. I tried to explain to Anya that she is supposed to try to wrestle back and pin Ally down, but that didn't end well, so we're back to the old style.

My Movie Kick

2009-08-13T23:55:00.002-05:00

So I've been on a movie kick again. I discovered a Red Box at the grocery store near our house, and it's been aiding my habit. We also have netflix, but I'm more of an instant gratification girl so I prefer Red Box. Netflix is really more of Josh's thing, because he's a blu-ray snob. He's set up a que on netflix for Anya though, and she loves getting movies in the mail! The bad part is she already watches too much t.v., and it's hard to find time for a movie night all together. Plus Ally won't sit still for a minute, and usually is all over me the whole time. Anyway, here's some of the movies I've seen lately.

Changeling - Not a bad movie, but not my favorite, the pace was slow

Gran Torino - I was totally surprised by this movie, it rocked

Confessions of a Shopaholic - Very Cute, I could see myself a lot in this movie...scary!

Seven Pounds - I liked it, a bit predictable, but I didn't care.

17 Again - I really liked this one, light hearted, funny, & Zac Efron is HOT. This movie makes me want to watch High School Musical.

Night at the Museum - Very entertaining, not too scary for Anya (I wasn't sure). We're going to watch number 2 when it comes out on DVD.

Faith like Potatoes - Good Movie, I cried a couple of times.

Madagascar 1 & 2 - Funny kid's movie. I love that Josh thinks the penguins are so funny, and I like to Move It, Move It.

Our New Pool

2009-08-10T18:32:00.003-05:00

The girls had a fun time this afternoon playing in the water. They filled up the empty sand box with water, and made themselves a little pool. They can spend hours outside just playing with the water hose.

Bubble Trouble

2009-08-06T21:59:00.003-05:00

Anya & Ally were outside playing with bubbles this afternoon, so I went out to watch them for awhile. I took some pictures of them playing, then went back inside. A few minutes later I went out to check on them, and Ally had dumped bubbles on her head! I expected a little bit of a mess, but not bubbles in the hair. She says proudly, "I'm washing my hair."

2009-08-05T21:34:00.003-05:00

Before -

The playsets in a million pieces!

After-

Thanks to Daddy, the girls can get outside and play!!

(Do I seem a little too excited?)

Grandma & Grandpa's Visit

2009-08-04T22:56:00.003-05:00

Grandma Naomi and Grandpa Joe visited over the weekend. We celebrated Naomi's birthday, did some shopping, and took a trip to see the Arch. The girls loved Grandpa Joe, it was the first time they had really spent much time with him. The Arch was cool, but we didn't get to take the trolley to the top. It was pretty busy, and we should have reserved tickets online. We went to the Galleria in St. Louis, I could seriously get into trouble there. They had Gymboree's upscale store, Janie and Jack, like Gymboree isn't expensive enough! There was also a Bare Escentuals store, my all time favorite makeup. We got to have dessert at the Cheesecake Factory too, something I don't think we've done since we lived in Maryland. I don't know if anyone else had fun at the mall, but obviously I did. Anya is already asking when Grandma & Grandpa are coming back.

The Birthday Party!

Grandma & Grandpa

Anya & Ally at the museum under the Arch

Our New House

2009-08-03T23:37:00.010-05:00

Lots of people have asked how I like our new place, and most of the time I say it's nice without going into any details. Well, here's what I really think.....

I Like-

The floor plan - it's been great having the laundry on the same floor as the bedrooms, it's also nice to have the master bedroom completely separated from the girl's rooms -they don't drag their junk into our room, and I like the fact that there's not so many stairs.
The windows - There are lots of windows looking out to the backyard, so I can easily keep an eye on the girls while I do my housework. The blinds on the window are also cool, they can come down from the top to let in light without losing privacy.

The laundry room - it's an actual room, not a hallway. I'm in love with my new gas dryer, we've had electric for so long I forgot how fast clothes could dry!

The basement - it's much larger, and finished much nicer than the basement we had in Derby. It has a bathroom, something we didn't have before! Josh is in love with the wet bar, he finally has a place for Mr. Beer. I love the storage space - actually more than we had before which was a lot (we need it though, because the garage stinks).

The mail box - it's so much fun to have a mail box right in front of our house, the girls go out everyday to check for mail.
The girl's bathroom- bigger with two sinks, no more fighting over who goes first.

I Dislike -

Bedrooms - smaller sizes overall

Master Bathroom - our bathroom before was huge, so it's hard to compare, but this one is narrow with a small shower. It also has a not so great blue rose wall paper border, the owners were kind enough to leave the matching shower curtain though.
Master Closet - smaller, no room for my beloved vanity table.
The garage - Also hard to compare because he had an enormous garage before, but this one is a small two car with no shelves for storing anything. Josh's truck won't fit.
The kitchen - it's actually very similar to what we had just not upgraded. The whole house throughout could use some updating with the lights & fixtures. The floor is linoleum, the counters are green laminate, and the whole kitchen including the eating area is wallpapered with an ivy, red daisy, and plaid combination paper.

The Dining Room - there's not one
The Fireplace - it's electric, just flip a switch
The carpet - on the main level it's pretty dirty looking, and the color is too light for a family with kids and pets.
The backyard - no pool, weird drainage ditch problem running along the fence, small deck with no patio for our lawn furniture
The porch - small, no room for our wicker furniture

The neighborhood - although nice & quiet on a cul-de-sac, I miss the pond we had in Derby, and there's no community pool.

So that's the list, I think we're pretty lucky to have found this place, even with all the little things I don't like. The location is great, just five minutes from church, five minutes to Anya's new preschool, five minutes to shops & restaurants, 10 minutes to base, and 20 minutes to the hospital. The house is also $200 under our housing allowance, we actually stayed within our budget for once!!

Jon or Kate Plus Eight?

2009-08-03T22:59:00.002-05:00

Tonight I watched Jon & Kate Plus Eight, it was the first episode aired since they announced their split. I felt conflicted watching their show. I don't believe they have actually had the kid's best interest in mind, and I was very disappointed in how quickly they chose to divorce. In my opinion they sacrificed their marriage & family, for money & possessions. I bet if they asked the kids which they would rather have, a big house with a pool, or a tiny house with their family all back together, they would chose the latter of the two. Even though I don't agree with the choices they have made, I'll probably still watch the show. I know this is deep stuff. :) I asked Josh what he thought, and he simply said Kate is a B----, and Jon is an immature idiot. Leave it to a man to put it so eloquently.

What do you think this is?

2009-07-30T11:00:00.002-05:00

Anya painted this picture at summer camp last week. When I went to pick her up, I thought wow it's a turkey. It's not a turkey.

We found a new church, and they were having 3 weeks of summer camp for preschoolers! We got in on the last week, the girls went on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 9-1. The theme was farm animals.

This was Ally's picture, if you look closely you'll see pigs under the mud smears. The girls both transition to new things so easily, when we got to church they both just took off to their classrooms. I hardly had a chance to say goodbye. I just kind of stood there like okay now what, but I quickly regained my composer, and promptly headed to the mall!

Monkey Joe's

2009-07-27T16:56:00.002-05:00

Yesterday we went to Monkey Joe's with some new friends. I had no idea what Monkey Joe's was when we moved here, but I do now and can see us spending lots of time there. It's a really nice, clean, HUGE, inflatables indoor playground. The big bouncers have climbing walls, obstacle courses, and slides. There are also separate bouncers for kids 3 and under, which is great. Unfortunately I forgot to bring my camera, but take my word the kids had a blast. Ally was timid at first, and only stayed in the smaller kid area, but soon she was bouncing along the big kids. Anya stayed close to her new friend Brynn, climbing the walls & sliding down the tall slides. Hopefully next time I'll get some pictures.

Josh's Schedule

2009-07-26T23:44:00.003-05:00

Josh is finally getting started on his first block of internship tomorrow. He's been in orientation for about a month. A block equals a month, and his first month is FPIS, Family Practice Inpatient Service. He'll be on call tomorrow which means he goes to work around 6:30 a.m. and gets off the next day at noon. Hopefully he'll be able to get some sleep at the hospital. Josh will be on call every 4 days, so Friday he'll be on call again. He gets 4 days off this month, a Saturday, a Sunday, and full weekend (Saturday & Sunday). Next month is also FPIS, so it will be the same schedule. I don't remember what's after that, but it's something outpatient with no call.

After Josh graduated from med school in 2004, he completed an internal medicine internship in San Antonio. This year is going to be sort of a repeat of that for him. For me I think it's more of a first, because I don't remember the last one very well. We had Anya in January that year, and I was very wrapped up in everything BABY! I guess that was good, because I was don't remember the schedule being that bad. He had 10 months of inpatient(on call) medicine that year! This year he'll only have 7 months, but he's looked ahead and is on call for a lot of holidays/birthdays. Christmas and Thanksgiving are decided by a lottery system, so we'll see what we get.

Skeeter Cat Is Home

2009-07-26T23:33:00.002-05:00

I just thought I'd update to let you all know Skeeter has come home. He was gone about two days. I have no idea where he went or what he was doing! We need to get him a tag in case he wanders again. I wish Taft (our other cat) would wander off, but no such luck. I know that's terrible, but that cat spits up more than a baby. She also poops on the floor right in front of the litter box!! We think she's about 12 years old, so one can only hope the end is near. Now I feel like a bad person, great!

Oh Where, Oh Where, Has Our Skeeter Cat Gone

2009-07-23T13:56:00.003-05:00

Our best cat, as Anya calls him, went out last night, and hasn't come home yet. Anya is very concerned, and has spent much of the day outside calling for him. At lunch today she told us that Skeeter was probably out on the street looking for fish. Josh said why would he look for fish on the street? Anya proceeded to tell us about the fish stands on the streets that the cats set up. Then she remember that Skeeter didn't have any money, so she was concerned again. Later we're supposed to go for a walk "on the streets" to look for a cat fish stand, and to inquire if any cat has seen Skeeter.

When we moved to San Antonio Skeeter went out wandering a couple of times, and once was gone for two weeks. I really hope he comes home soon for Anya's sake, and for mine.

Tonight's Dinner

2009-07-22T22:31:00.003-05:00

What Anya had for dinner....
Chicken
Goose Goose
Banini
Green Beans

What the rest of us had....
Pork Chops
Couscous
Zucchini
Green Beans

What I hate about moving....

2009-07-21T14:12:00.002-05:00

I have a beautiful runner with no place for it to run. I have dining room table, and all the decorations that go with it, and no dining room. I have decorations for above the kitchen cabinets that are all too tall. The curtains in Ally's room are a foot too short. The list goes on and on.

The Neighbors

2009-07-19T22:15:00.004-05:00

Meet Rutt & Tuke!

These two huge Great Dane dogs live next door with their mommy Petra. Luckily, they are very friendly dogs. Our yard is fenced but on the sides it drops down low, low enough for the dogs to hang their heads over if they want. At first the girls were curious about the dogs, but every time they barked they would run inside. They are very very loud dogs! I didn't know what to think about the dogs. When we finally met Petra, she formally introduced us to Rutt & Tuke, and now I'm actually enjoying the new neighbors. Anya is always checking to see if the dogs are out, and goes out to talk to them when they are. She loves all animals. Here's some info about Great Danes if your interested.

Friends & The 4th

2009-07-09T21:19:00.007-05:00

When we found out we were moving to McConnell 4 years ago, I was excited to be close to one of my oldest friends, Marla. We stayed at the Beagley's house when we first got to town from San Antonio, and last week was full circle as we stayed with them again before we left for St. Louis. Anya was in heaven when Michelle's (Marla's Sister) girls, Avery & McKenna, came over for a sleepover the last night we were there. We all also got to take one last dip in our pool, and had a great time swimming together. Thanks Marla for letting us stay with you again, we'll miss you guys!

Marla with Reese, McKenna, Avery, & Anya

Ally would not get out of the pool to join the picture.

We spent the 4th in Kansas City. When we got to town we checked into our hotel, and then went off to find some ice cream. Later that evening we headed downtown to see the fireworks display. We actually ended up at a smaller show at LeaWood Park that we heard about on the radio. They had all kinds of inflatables for the kids to bounce on, a little train ride, carnival games, food, and live music. We all had a fun time. Anya wanted to do all the bouncy things, but Ally was not so sure about the big kids. They did have one bouncy ship that was only for 2-5 year olds that Ally loved. It sprinkled on us off and on the whole night, and was only around 70 degrees.

The next day on our way to our new home we visited some friends in Columbia, MO. We saw the Cunningham's new house, and went out for lunch together. It was good to catch up with another Air Force family venturing down the same path that we are on.

Ally, Anya, Drennon, and Dalton.

Our trip went really well, it was so broken up that Ally hardly had time to fuss! I wish we could travel like that all the time.

Moving Out & Moving In

2009-07-07T11:04:00.008-05:00

Moving out was a little stressful. Most of the stress could have been avoided if I would have planned ahead, and packed up things we were taking with us ahead of time. Instead I scrambled at the last minute grabbing things here and there, making myself crazy! My mom was so much help with the girls while I did my last minute errands, etc. I would have been dead if she hadn't been able to come. We did have one problem, the "brown beast" a.k.a. the couch in the basement would not fit up the staircase. The movers wouldn't take it out the window (which is how it got down there in the first place), so we are one couch short now.

The moving in went much smoother. Since Josh had already been staying in our new house, he had cleaned everything, so I didn't have to do any of that. Yeah for Josh!! All I had to do for the move in was sit and check off the box numbers as the movers carried them in. The girls went to daycare on base while the truck was being unloaded. They had to get up really early to go with Josh when he went to work, and then he picked them up on his way home. Daycare was a first for us! I was worried about them, but they had a blast with all the other kids. Now I just have to unpack the 259 boxes that are piled up all over the house.

The girls pretending the packing paper is a pile of leaves

Taft likes the paper too

Good Bye Big Beautiful House

2009-07-02T08:40:00.004-05:00

We'll Miss You!!

Day Two of Packing

2009-06-30T15:26:00.002-05:00

I set up the tent for the girls to play this afternoon, they were getting a little bored with the packing. Ally's room is all done, except for her bed. She was concerned about her stuff, but I explained that it was all packed in the boxes, now she's saying "my boxes" and patting them. Anya has been super wild, I guess that's her reaction to the move. They packed up the kitchen today, so it's been a little inconvenient. I guess we'll be eating from now on, so it's not all bad. :) When the packers are done for the day I'm going to take the girls swimming, so they should be happy. Now I have to figure out what to do with all the stuff they won't move. Watch out Marla, here we come with all our junk!

VBS

2009-06-25T18:29:00.004-05:00

Anya is going to Vacation Bible School this week at Woodlawn UMC. She has been loving every minute, and comes home full of excitement. Yesterday when I picked her up she was chanting L-E-T-S-G-O Let's Go, Let's Go. I'm not sure what that has to do with the bible, but she says it now constantly. Today I asked her how to spell Let's Go, she looked at me like I was crazy, and said I can't spell Mommy. I tried to explain it to her that she was already spelling L-E-T-S-G-O, but she informed me I was wrong and it's L-E-T-S-KEO.

Ally is heart broken that she can't go to bible school too. I feel bad for her, and have been trying to do fun stuff with her to make up for it. She asks me about a million times each night, "Where's Anya." I'm taking Ally to the new Dillons Marketplace in just a few minutes. It doesn't really sound like fun for a two year old, but I'm going to let her push one of the little carts. She'll have a blast, but it won't be much fun for me I'm afraid.

The schedule for VBS is 6-8:30. It's been so hard for me to be organized with food on the table in time to get there by 6:00. Then with it not getting over until 8:30 it makes bed time late every night. I'm tired of doing bed time by myself, it takes twice as long without Josh. I'll try to remember to take a picture of Anya when I pick her up tonight to go along with this post.

Moving Update

2009-06-23T21:47:00.003-05:00

Our house is now off the market! We're renting it to the new flight doctor that is coming to McConnell to replace Josh. I haven't met him, but his wife is a really lovely person from New Orleans, and they have a 9 month old baby girl named Madeline. It would have been really great to sell the house, but we're just glad that a nice family is going to be here taking care of things for us. It would be amazing if we could return to McConnell in 3 years, but who knows what is in store for us.

As far as the move goes, it's finally happening on Monday. This move has seemed to drag on and on! The packers will be here Mon-Tues-Wed, and then they will load the truck on Thursday. We should hopefully have our stuff by the 6th or 7th. Josh can't come back during the week to help, but thankfully my mom is coming on Sunday to entertain the girls. Josh originally thought that I would just take care of everything, and then drive with the girls by myself to St Louis. I figured he would be coming back to help me out. So after a lengthy discussion about whether a $250 plane ticket was worth it or not, he will be flying in on Friday to make the drive back with us.

Now we just need to decide where we are spending the 4th of July. If everything goes smoothly we could be in our new empty house by then, or we might make a trip out of it, and spend the 4th in Kansas City. Knowing Josh we will just keep driving. I like to stop about every 2-3 hrs, we drive each other crazy!

Father's Day

2009-06-22T23:49:00.004-05:00

We all met at home for Father's Day weekend, and spent some wonderful family time together. On Sunday we ate lunch at the newest Buffalo Wild Wings, and then Josh loaded up a lot more stuff + the cats, and headed back to our new home. He's been living bachelor style with a card table, air mattress, and camping chair. Poor Guy!

Anya's Modern Art

2009-06-22T17:34:00.003-05:00

I walked by Anya's room this morning and something caught my eye, so I backed up to take a better look. She had created what I call a hanger art sculpture, with a paper crown thrown in the mix. Take a look...

Too Busy To Blog!

2009-06-21T20:41:00.002-05:00

Seriously I'm not too busy to blog, I've just been spending my evenings watching movies. So far I've seen Taken, Marley & Me, Bride Wars, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Yes Man, Atonement, Smart People, Revolutionary Road, He's Just Not That Into You, Hotel for Dogs and the 3 Bourne Identity movies. Yesterday for a Father's Day treat Josh and I watched Step Brothers. I'm not sure what's next, anyone have any suggestions?

Two Houses Too Many

2009-05-28T10:48:00.008-05:00

Josh's house hunting trip to St. Louis last month was a success, we will be renting a place for 3 years starting June 15. I haven't seen the house in person yet, but it looks pretty good in the pictures. It's a 3 bed/3 bath ranch style home with a basement. It's a little smaller than our house now, but I'm looking forward to the new layout, and not having so many stairs to deal with. Not all the houses he saw were great, one he viewed had so much clutter it was hard to walk around. When he got to the bedroom there was cat poop on the floor! Why would you show your house like that? Josh said he thought an alcoholic lived there because there were bottles of tequila everywhere. Here's the list of pros and cons he emailed to me after he saw the house...

Pro's: Ranch

Con's: Crazy cat lady house

I couldn't make it through the whole house

Funky smell

I needed shots once I left

Noise from the interstate

The kitchen minus the tequila bottles

I'll post some pictures of the house we are renting when we move in later this month. Josh didn't take any pictures of it, because there were lots on the website. Josh starts his family practice residency at Scott AFB (just southeast of St. Louis) on June 8, so he's leaving Sunday. The girls and I are staying for a while to take care of the house while it's on the market, and to visit Rolla one last time before we move further away. The moving company is coming June 29 whether the house has sold or not, and then we'll be off to our new home!

This Week

2009-05-07T21:49:00.006-05:00

The fun stuff...

We visited the animal shelter for fun. The girls love to do this, and never want to leave. Ally squealed with glee watching the baby kittens play. They both also love to watch the ferrets play.

We love to play Guitar Hero as a family. I thought Josh was such a dork for requesting this game for Christmas, but it really is fun to play. The girls both have little play guitars , and they will get out their drums too, and make a band. Ally usually just dances. Anya is learning to play on beginner, and is proud when she doesn't get booed off the stage.

We found this little bird nest in the fern hanging on our front porch.

Anya wants to check on the eggs everyday now.

The girls both had check-ups at the pediatrician's this week. They are both healthy happy girls, which I already knew. Ally's rash is much better, and hardly shows up at all in photos. She did get it on her scalp which is pretty yucky - think bad dandruff. Both girls are 90 percentile for their height and 75 percentile for their weight. Big girls! Anya refused to pee in a cup, even after I demonstrated. Geez! Ally refused to stand on the scale, and had to be forced down on the baby table to be weighed. The visit wasn't terrible, but not great either. Ally kept saying 'I scared," so I felt bad for her, Anya was just being a brat.

I had to go to the dentist on Wednesday. I had to get 2 crowns, and a wisdom tooth pulled. No fun! My jaw is still sore, and so is our bank account.

After much deliberation we decided that Josh was going on a last minute house hunting trip Friday and Saturday in St. Louis. He will be looking at several rental houses that we've been eyeing on the Internet. I really wanted to go, but decided it was best for the girls if we stayed home. They are still catching up on sleep from our vacation. If we all went we would have missed Anya's preschool singing in church Sunday, and I would have had to get someone to teach Sunday school.

I almost forgot the best part of the week, the homeowners association is making us redo our brand new $7000 roof, because we used the wrong shingle color. I don't know if I've mentioned this saga, but we have been pleading with the board for awhile now, and legally we are stuck. At this point it's just another lesson learned the hard way. My advice for anyone who lives under a homeowners associations rules, read the contract very thoroughly before you even think about making any changes to your home.

Disney World

2009-05-04T09:34:00.003-05:00

We got home from our Disney vacation on Saturday evening. We had so much fun, and although we were all really tired, I would have loved another day or two there. We have so many pictures I don't know where to start. I think I'll work on that later. :)

On Saturday when we arrived we checked in at our condo, and then went to Downtown Disney to shop & eat. I wanted to buy Ally a princess costume to wear on the day Anya was going to the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique. I intended to get her Snow White, but she had her own ideas. She went straight for Tinker Bell, and wouldn't let go.

Then next day we had breakfast at the Magic Kingdom with Winnie the Pooh and friends. The food was really good, and Anya loved the characters and took pictures with all of them. Ally on the other hand clung to Josh in fear, and would play possum pretending to be asleep. We spent the whole day at the Magic Kingdom riding rides, seeing shows, watching parades, and finally seeing fireworks.

Monday we slept late, and went back to the Magic Kingdom in time for Anya's Princess Makeover. Anya took being a princess for the day very seriously, and was very careful not to get dirty. Later we headed over to Epcot for our dinner with the princesses. We got out Ally's costume, and she refused to wear it. Kids!! Anya was star struck at dinner, and totally believed that it was all real. Ally was even scared of the princesses!

Tuesday we went to the Animal Kingdom. We went on a safari, saw some great shows, had a really yummy lunch at the Tusker House, and scared the kids to death at a Bug's Life 3D movie. That night we went swimming at the pool.

Wednesday we went to Hollywood Studios and spent the day seeing shows mostly. Josh got in a really cool roller coaster, and we had lunch at a fun 50's diner. The girls also loved playing at the Honey I Shrunk the Kids play ground. We went back to Epcot in the evening to see the Nemo stuff, and eat at Germany.

Thursday we went back to the Magic Kingdom, and then to Disney's Typhoon Lagoon water park in the afternoon. The girls had a love/hate relationship with the wave pool. They had a blast until it would knock them down. That night we went to Mickey's Backyard Barbeque at the Wilderness Lodge. I was expecting the characters to put on a show, but it was more of a country dance hall kind of thing with the characters dancing with the kids. The girls loved it.

Friday we had breakfast at the Polynesian resort with Lilo, Stitch, Mickey, and Pluto. The resort was beautiful, and it felt like we were in Hawaii. The food was really good too! By this time Ally had gotten used to the characters somewhat, and could say Mickey, but she still wasn't taking pictures with them. After breakfast we went off to Sea World. The girls loved the dolphin show, and we fed sea lions. I think Sea World might have been Ally's favorite park. That evening we had dinner at the T-Rex restaurant at Downtown Disney. It was such a neat place for kids, and they even had a Build a Dino store like Build-a-Bear.

It was such a fun vacation. We all had our moments of meltdown, some more than others, but I think we made a lot of really great memories. Sorry about that Ally, I promise we'll go back when you are older!

Vacation

2009-04-25T00:27:00.003-05:00

We're Off to Disney World!! Hooray!!! See you in a week. :)

Chuck E. Cheese Playdate

2009-04-19T21:19:00.003-05:00

Earlier this month, the girls and I went to Chuck E. Cheese to meet one of Anya's preschool & Mom's Day Out friends for a play date. Anya was so excited to see her buddy, Madeline, outside of school. The girls held hands and were so cute together. I already knew Mady's mommy from the spouses club, so we had a nice time catching up too!

Pretty Girls!

I like the way they all look so serious, yet none of them know what they are doing.

Ally really likes whacking things, so this game was perfect for her. She also had enough coordination to put the tokens in the slots this time, so she taught she was really cool.

Maddy and Chuck,

yet another character my girls want nothing to do with!

Randomness

2009-04-18T23:38:00.002-05:00

Anya & Skeeter

We have two cats, a boy named Skeeter, and a girl named Taft. Anya adores her cats, especially Skeeter Weeter. She is so excited when he sleeps with her. Tafty is not as nice, but will tolerate the girls. Anya keeps their bowls full of food & water, and loves to play with them. Ally loves the cats too, and can say both their names. Our neighbors have a cat that sits in the window, and Ally announces proudly "White Cat, White Cat" every time she sees it.

The girls in their sweaters our family friend, Pat Trahern, bought them.

Anya's Pet Dinosaur

Anya got an egg at Cracker Barrel that you put in water, and then in a couple of days the dino hatches out of it. She absolutely loved it! She would check on it several times a day, and got sooo excited when it started poking through. Now that it's out, she's been carrying it everywhere in her purse, and sleeping with it. She got one of these eggs awhile back from Grandma Naomi that she was also crazy about, but the dinosaur/lizard disappeared one day. Anya was sad, but truthfully I threw it in the trash. The lizard had lost it's tail, and the skin was sloughing off everywhere. I'm afraid this new "pet" is going to meet the same fate soon.

Ally's Obsession

Ally brushes her teeth probably 6 times a day. Every time she gets near the bathroom, I start hearing "eeth, eeth, eeth," and she persists until I get her toothbrush out and let her brush her teeth. It all sounds cute and harmless, right? It is until you realize that you've spent 3o minutes of your day standing there waiting for the ritual to end. She must have a drink too, which usually results in a wet shirt. If I say no, then I must endure high pitched crying for probably as long as it would have taken to just let her brush her teeth. When she's not brushing her teeth, she's washing her hands. She's not even potty trained, and I think she's in the bathroom more than anyone in the house.

Easter Day

2009-04-17T11:31:00.003-05:00

We had lots of fun on Easter at my parent's house. First we opened Easter baskets with the girls, they loved the chocolate, then we got dressed up and went to church. After a big lunch, Ryan & I hid the eggs(clues inside) for the annual treasure hunt. It was rainy and cold, but we went ahead and had the hunt outside anyway. The kids had a blast finding their treasures, and the little ones had their own area just to hunt eggs - no clues. After all the fun, it was time to pack up and go back home. Just like last year, we all passed around an Easter bug. It started with Emilia, Saturday night puking, and as we were leaving Ally threw up. It was not a great trip home to say the least! The boys all got sick Easter night, and into the week. We really lucked out with only Ally catching it.

More Fun With Eggs

2009-04-16T23:16:00.003-05:00

My sister-in-law, Karen, is much better at writing interesting posts than I am, so I'll just let you read her blog about dying Easter eggs. Just click on her name if you want to, I have some pictures to share though. :)

Ally's eggs.

Anya was really proud of her eggs, but I didn't get a picture :(

Ally did great with the eggs, but couldn't keep her hands out of the dye.

Anya Elizabeth

You can kind of see Ally's rash in this picture, I thought it was looking better,

but today she was bright red again.

Hunting Eggs in the Rain!

2009-04-16T22:40:00.004-05:00

Even rain can't stop the tradition of going to the Morton County Easter Egg Hunt, it was pretty cold too, but we still had fun. The bunny was there taking photos with the kids, but once again my girls wanted nothing to do with him. He tried to give them a little toy, but I couldn't get Anya unstuck from behind me, and Ally had her face buried in my chest. This does not bode well for our character meals at Disney.

Ally racked up on the egg hunt though, and got 5 really nice prizes. Anya was too slow in her group, and only got a few eggs- no prizes. Ally shared with her big sister, so it was all good. All the kids got to take home a kite.

The lovely weather

Ally scoping out the eggs

Hunter and Ally

Anya & Ashton

The Boys minus Chandler

Ella and the Easter Bunny,

Emilia stayed home

Fun at Grandma & Grandpa's House

2009-04-16T22:27:00.004-05:00

Grandma Apple, Ashton, Ally, & Preston making yummy sour cream cookies

Ally & Hunter blowing bubbles, see the wand in her mouth

Anya's favorite seat in the house

Ella & Ally playing the the rain

Preston and Anya having fun with a whoopee cushion,

that's Preston's farting face!

Preschool Easter Egg Hunt

2009-04-16T21:58:00.008-05:00

Anya's preschool, Jack & Jill, held an egg hunt the weekend before Easter. It was lots of fun, they had carnival style games set up, and snacks for the kids. The hunt was divided into 3 age groups, 1-2 years old, 3-4 years, and 5-6 years. The girls both got lots of eggs filled with candy. The Easter bunny was also there, but neither of the girls would get near him, Ally wouldn't even look his direction! Grandma Apple was visiting, so Anya also enjoyed showing off her school.