Hello!

OK, so I am actually still here. We have had A LOT going on lately, and even though I love blogging, it has not topped the priority list. I have hardly even been reading any of your blogs, much less composing any of my own. So here's a nutshell of our life over the last few months.

1. We have put our house on the market, sold it, packed up all our belongings, and moved.

2. Started new jobs

3. Had my brother's wedding last weekend

4. While all of this madness has been going on, I'm pregnant!!! Of course, it's wonderful news and I'm very excited, but I'm also very sick when pregnant. With Av I wasn't sick until I was 8 weeks, and it lasted until I was about 20 weeks. With this one it started at around 4-5 weeks. I'm 8 weeks now, so we'll see how long it lasts. I can tell you that it has been challenging to pack, move, be a bridesmaid in heels all day while my 2 year old was the flower girl, and do all the normal activities of life while feeling completely cruddy all day every day. The good part is that I know it will come to an end before too long, and the end result is worth it :)

Hope all of you are doing well and hope to "talk" to you more frequently!

Embarassing moment #463

OK, so I'm not actually keeping count of all the embarassing moments, but those of you with children get the idea. Can we really keep count of all those moments. I've already lost track of mine and I only have one child :). As for the specifics of the day....of all places, it was at the OB/GYN office. I love my doctor and he is the best ob/gyn I have ever had. Thankfully today was just a "talk in the office/no exam" day, so I took Av with me. Dr. P was born and raised in the south, but his heritage is Indian. In the middle of our discussion Av blurts out "Mommy, what color is he?" Can you say mortified!!! Av then followed up with a question about one of the pictures on the wall. Since I was dumbfounded I did not address the first question. I don't know if he noticed it or not, and I don't think he would have been offended by it anyway, but OH MY! I can't understand why she said that! She has never made a comment about skin color before today. Oh well, I'm sure this won't be the most embarassing moment by my children, but it was the worst one in a while.

Sorry for the bloggin infrequency lately, I'll give an update on the details soon. I have been so thankful for wonderful and considerate friends this week that have watched Av for me, pitched in with all that I have to get done, and brought me dinner (homemade chicken soup from Darby)! It was wonderful to not have to think about what I would cook tonight, spend time cooking, or clean my kitchen. Thanks so much to my great friends--I love you!

Pumpkin Patch

We got to spend a wonderful Saturday at the Pumpkin Patch. It was a gorgeous, sunny, but crisp, Fall day.

Posing on the pumpkins

"This stem isn't too comfortable!"

Washing hands after the petting zoo

A good squeeze before the hayride

All morning Av asked to ride the "horse" (that was actually a donkey). I thought she would get to her turn in line and not want to ride. There were 2 donkeys and she firmly expressed that she wanted to ride "the red one"-the bigger one had a red saddle. J set her in the saddle and she was all smiles the entire time. She loved every second of it.

I was so proud of my adventurous 2 year old!!!!

My favorite pic of the day. J and Av checking out the corn maze.

BOO!

I love Fall. I love the cool, crisp air and no humidity. I love Fall decorations. I love pumpkin bread and pumpkin lattes. Lately I have been loving all the great blog posts about fall. It makes me want to put on a sweater and sit by the outdoor firepit being warmed by the fire as the sun sets and the night gets cooler. I have been trying to find some fall projects for Av and I to do. I found these pumpkin carving and decorating ideas. All you have to do is print off the stencil design.

This one is my favorite. I think it would be easy enough for Av to do with me and this one we would get to carve and paint. But the following are some others I also thought were cute.

Do you think I could find a pumpkin big enough for a 2 year old :)?

Evidence

So here are the pictures that I promised yesterday in my tired stupor.

This was the view from our patio after earlier yard projects this year. Not so attractive to look straight into our neighbor's house/yard. We didn't plan on clearing out our yard to put in a new fence, only to have our neighbor's do the same to their yard and voila-it's howdy neighbor 24-7.J was at Home Depot by 7 am on Saturday to rent this mean machine for $75. We had to plant 6 trees and 10 shrubs. J's shoulders and this auger had the holes dug in 45 minutes!! If we had to to handle that on our own with just shovels we would still be digging. If you are planning on planting any trees or need multiple holes dug, this is definitely the way to go. Well worth the $.

The lovely holes ready for the new greenery.

The finished product! As for the trees-3 Dwarf Magnolias in the center bordered with a Japanese Cryptomeria at each end. There 3 Lorapetalum (sp?) in a triangle formation of 2 in back and one in front b/t each magnolia (6 total) and there are Pitsporum b/t the magnolias and the cryptomeria. It doesn't completely block the view yet, but they will as they grow. What an improvement!

I'll share some pointers that our local nursery gave us. Plant in odd numbers, as in 5 trees, so that way there is a center that the eye is drawn to in the grouping. Same theory in planting the shrubs in groups of 3-the one in front draws the eye to it. Our biggest DUH moment was that we had already somewhat traced out the beds and placed pine straw months ago....somewhat good planning. We didn't even think to rake back all the pine straw before using the auger to dig-so all that pine straw was buried in dirt and we had to completely redo it. Thankfully we have a good pine straw connection. Not too terrible, but a lesson learned.

I have found that I shy away from gardening b/c I feel I don't know enough about it, but I really enjoyed this weekend. The more I make myself get out there and do it, the more comfortable I am with it. I also helped that Saturday actually felt like fall. It was overcast and cool most of the day-I started out with a t-shirt and quickly changed into long sleeves for the rest of the day!! Bring on outdoor fires and pumpkin lattes!

Happy Anniversary

J and I got married 6 years ago on October 12th. I am very blessed to be married to my husband. To tell him I was pregnant with Av I gave him a little book I made with my "Top 100" best things about J-my #100 was that he would be a great dad. He loved it and I thought I would share some of his best traits. I don't know anyone that works harder than he does, in all areas of his life. He is very loyal, generous, fun, funny, passionate, intelligent, and wise. He makes me laugh {even at myself sometimes :)}. He is almost always the first one to apologize and ask for forgiveness. He is a great dad and Av adores him. J is a fantastic handyman, in fact, we have only paid to have something fixed on our house twice, J has done all the rest of it (which is a lot since our house is almost 60 years old). He is a man of integrity and loves God. He is more thoughtful than I am. He is very intuitive and picks up on the nuances of people and life in general that I don't even notice. He's a great husband and father, and I am a better person because of him.

We celebrated our anniversary this weekend by working ALL weekend on house projects!! We are both sore and exhausted (more on the project on another post). Thankfully my mom kept Av all weekend for us, so even though we worked the whole time, it was just the 2 of us. We headed to Mom's house 2 hours late today. We were supposed to eat dinner with my fam, but we missed out on that. Our anniversary dinner was 2 quarter pounder's from McDonald's on the way to Mom's.......and I have to say, it was great.

I would add a pic, but it's 1 am, and as mentioned earlier, I'm exhausted, so it will have to wait for another day. Sorry about the infrequent blogging, I'll give you the why soon.

Tumble Dry Low

Laundry didn't bother me so much when I was single, but now that I have a husband and child it's a different story. I used to wait and only do laundry once a week or (gasp) every other week. I would wait until a had a full load of each category-whites, colors, delicates, towels, darks, etc. I dreaded when laundry day arrived because it would take ALL day! This picture epitomizes the feeling-buried in laundry. Notice the hand reaching for freedom-too funny (or is it too real to be fuuny?).

This summer I had an epiphany after spending time with my MIL. I realized that I don't have to be so uptight about washing clothes. I can just have a delicates and towels load, and then wash everything else together on cold! I also don't have to have a full load since I have a front loading washer. What a relief! Now only I do a few loads once or twice a week and it hardly takes any time. It is so much better taking it a little bit at a time instead of letting it get to the point that every basket I have is overflowing with dirty clothes and I spend my entire Saturday washing, ironing, folding, and putting away clothes.

I do have one other new trick that has saved time and effort. Instead of unloading the clean clothes into a basket to sit and wrinkle, I now take the clothes out the dryer and immediately fold/hang them and put them away-which only takes about 20 minutes. This way I don't feel surrounded by piles of laundry and it significantly cuts down on ironing. To tell the truth I have always done minimal ironing, but J likes this method much more! Another way to "lighten the load " of ironing (are you groaning at that pun) is to use fabric softener. J actually taught me that one. This is more like what my laundry room looks like now. Definitely not as stylish, but it is clean, organized, and free of piles of clothes! Happy washing and share any tricks of the trade you might have!

Pictures courtesy of Flickr

Check Yes or No

I need help with, well, many things, but today it will be limited to my haircut :). For the last 8-10 years I go through cyclical phases. I grow it out long, get tired of the long hair, whack it all off to about my chin, keep it short for a while, and then grow it back out again. I guess this has a "the grass is greener on the other side" aspect to it. Now that it's been long for a while I feel like it's in my way, I usually pull it up by the end of the day, and since my hair is fine I feel like it has "stringy tendencies." Of course when it's short I enjoy it...until I decide like I actually like my hair better when it's long, and then have to go through the awkward growing out phases. Below I've posted some pictures of both styles. Sorry to fill this post with pics of me-I'm having trouble with the decision and I need outside help. It's long now, but I'm quite close to taking off multiple inches-what do you think?

Phase I-Long

Phase II-Short

Phase III the middle/grow out phase

[The above shot is in in the hospital the morning Av was born-can't you tell by the "it's 5:30 AM, get this kid out of me!" look on my face?]

Forget about this McCain/Obama thing, I need votes on my hair :) PLEASE!

Wii Wii

I realized that I posted about J giving me a Wii for my birthday, and haven't updated you on what fun it is. He got the Wii and the Wii fit. They are both so much fun. I can completely understand why physical therapists use them. So far, I have kicked J's tail in boxing every time we play (I don't think he likes that very much). We even got Av in on the fun. At first it scared her when we were boxing and saying that we were "punching" each other in boxing. J gave Av a controller and told her to "hit" me. Well, Av took him seriously, walked over, and punched me on the leg. We had to have a little explanation, and then I think she got the idea. Here are some pics. Av is, of course, in dress-up.

School Days

I realized I haven't shared anything about Av's first day of school. She has loved it and she is blessed with 2 wonderful teachers. Here are some pics from her first day-these were the best that I could do. Does anyone have any pointers on getting 2 year olds to look at the camera and smile :)?

She was ready with her cup of milk and her book. "Where are we going Mommy?"She wasn't quite sure about these kids."Are you in my class?"

She finally warmed up a little bit.

balance

Just wanted to let all of you know that I have not gone into a spiralling depression over losing Allie. I went back and read some of my posts, and thought "maybe I should pull myself together more before I blog the next time I'm that emotional." I'm not normally overly emotional, so that was pretty melodramatic for me. I even felt somewhat guilty being that upset when others are going through hurricanes, sickness of their childern, etc.

We did tell Av when she asked about Allie. We told her that Allie was too sick for us to help her, and too sick for the vet to help her, so we had to give Allie to God. Av was upset and cried that she couldn't see Allie anymore, but she has done well since then.

Thanks everybody!

Heartache

Is that an awful post title for this? That's all that I could come with today. We did put Allie to sleep this afternoon. {For earlier posts with the history go here and here} When we took Allie to the vet he drew blood off of her abdomen, which meant she had internal bleeding from the tumors and it was only a matter of time before she would be gone. We decided to put her to sleep then instead of waiting it out and keeping her in pain. Our vet was so gentle and respectful, which made it easier. They placed her on the exam table, gave her an injection, she fell asleep within 20 seconds, and moments later she was gone. I felt like Sally Field in "Steel Magnolia's" when Julia Roberts dies--watching Allie's last moments. last breaths, last flutter of her eyelids. Then the vet left J and I alone with Allie for a few minutes, to pet and hug her one last time. I was an emotional wreck. I asked J at one point if I had mascara streaked all over my face. His response was that I didn't have any mascara left anywhere.

We knew that we didn't have much longer with her, but I didn't think it would happen this quickly. I am thankful that J and I were both there with her today. We took Allie while Av was home napping (with MIL at home). Av hasn't asked about Allie yet-why she's not here. I'm not really sure what we're going to tell her. Will Av remember Allie when she's older? How do I explain death to a 2 year old? We haven't ever talked about heaven with her. Do I tell her that Allie is with God? I don't think I actually believe that, so would I be lying to my child? Ugghh. Anybody have any suggestions? I'm also wondering how our other dog, Lily, is going to respond to this.

She really was the most incredible dog and I will be shocked if we ever have another dog as wonderful as she was. Thank you so much for your prayers and kind words. Being able to blog about this has really helped me these last couple of weeks. I'm also thankful I'm writing it down to preserve these moments. Thanks again. Go hug your pets, take them for a walk, and show them some love!

Man's Best Friend

J and I are leaving in about 30 minutes to take Allie to the vet, and I'm really worried that Allie won't be coming back home with us. Today has been terrible for her. She seemed fine this am. She got up, ate, went outside-the normal routine, but since then she hasn't really moved. All she has done is lay on the hardwood floor to stay cool and she is panting heavily.

We decided it was time to go the vet. J and I discussed what options the vet is probably going to give us. This, of course, made me start crying. We were in the kitchen and I didn't want to upset Av, so I just buried my face in J's chest. Av is too perceptive for that and immediately noticed my shaking shoulders. She asked "Mommy are you sad?" I realized she had climbed out of her chair to comfort me when I felt her little hand rubbing my leg. I tried to pull myself together and turned to her. She had her arms outstretched and asked "Momma, do you need a hug?" I picked her up and she nuzzled her head into my neck and gently patted my back and said "Does that make you feel better? You'll be alright." After a few moments I set her back down. She reached out for my hand, walked me back to the table, and had me sit down next to her chair. Then she climbed into her chair, took my yogurt and started feeding it to me. Her gentleness warmed my hurting heart.

How can my 2 year old sense my pain and how to comfort me? She is incredibly silly, stubborn, and independent, but those traits are matched by her sweetness, gentleness, and empathy.

Well, we have to head out to go to the vet. Please pray. I'll let you know when we get back. Thank you.

Toddler Theology and Vocalulary

I have not been so good about blogging lately, and I definitely have been lacking in adding pictures. Today {since I know some of you are only here for an Av update} I'll try to be better. Av really says some hilarious stuff and if I don't record it here, I will quickly forget it.

We are trying to "introduce" Av to God and making sure Av knows He is in all part of our life. We pray, read her Bible, try to find teachable moments during the day, etc. She is taking it in, but I think sometimes a few wires might get crossed. Tonight Av decided that she would pray before we ate dinner. Here was her prayer

God is good.

Lord, we tank you for dis day.

Let Jesus pray,

Amen.

I think this was a combo of "God is great. God is good. Let us thank Him for our food." and more freestyle prayer of "Lord, thank you for our day, thank you for our food, in Jesus' name. Amen."

Av's Bible has pictures in it and she has decided that every man with white hair and a white beard is Moses, and every man with dark hair and a beard is Jesus. Daniel, Jonah, Elijah, David, are all Moses to Av. John, Paul, Peter-they're all Jesus.

Some of her other funny words

Brestast Translation: breakfast

Hippollamas Translation: Hippopotamus

Helitractor Translation: Helicopter

Lillypops Translation: Lilly pads

Gumanola Translation: Granola

The pictures are from yesterday at the park with our friends Reed, Paige, and Morgan.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

You can decide where the following items fall into the above categories

>Played at the park for hours with some cool moms and their kids
>Since we live in south Alabama, you might have thought we were actually in the Amazon it was so hot and humid outside
>We all left the park red faced from the heat and soaked in sweat
>I got to have quiet time to myself for the day's Bible study
>I went to the gym for an hour during Av's nap
>Between going to the park and the gym I felt hot and sweaty all day long
>After I got home from the gym, J asked if I had just gotten out of the shower.....umm, no, my hair is just so greasy that it looks wet. Definitely not my most attractive moment.
>Yes, I did take a shower after that
>My house is clean
>All the clothes have been washed and put away
>We ate leftovers for dinner, so no major mess to clean up in the kitchen
>Av has been sans diapers during nap time for over a week now
>Allie, overall, seems to feel OK. She even brought her tennis ball to me to play with her last night
>I ordered a pair of Chaco's for my birthday (thanks Dad!) and the UPS man brought them yesterday! (If you want a pair they're on sale here-$60 and free shipping. Normally $95)
>Av is so excited about her dress-up that she slept in it last night-without the shoes. When she woke up this AM she immediately asked for her Sleeping Beauty shoes and has been wearing them all morning.
>After I already had my cart half-filled at the grocery store, I realized I had left my wallet at home on the kitchen counter
>I have a life insurance physical in 30 minutes

That's the last 24 hours in a nutshell.

Thank you so much to all of you who have left comments, called and emailed about Allie. Your kind words of support and encouragement have been so comforting to us.

Gifts

J and I try to be fairly low-key parents when it comes to gift giving. Thankfully, between gifts and hand-me-downs from friends and family, we don't often buy clothes, toys, etc for Av. I would have to say Av's favorite playtime activity might be dress-up. She has a whole tub of dress-up clohes in her room, and I think I have only purchased one of those outfits for her. Her current favorite is Sleeping Beauty. Av has already told me that wants to be Sleeping Beauty for halloween, and she had a complete melt down recently at a friend's house when it was time to go home and she had to take off the Sleeping Beauty shoes {her favorite dress up item-shoes}.

J and I decided maybe we could actually get a pair of shoes for her. At first I looked on Ebay-and found a new pair for $0.99, but then decided to just go to the store for them. We went to dinner first at a Japenese Hibachi steakhouse-and Av LOVED it! The fire tricks, flipping eggs around, cooking right in front of her, the food-it was one of the best eat out nights we have had with her. After dinner we let her know we were making a special trip to the store....just for her shoes. This is the only time I ever remember taking her someplace to get something just for her. We found a package with a dress, shoes, a purse, and a crown for only $15. She was so excited that she carried the box, even though it was almost as long as she is, out of the store "all by herself."

While we walked out, J and I were as giddy as she was b/c it gave us so much joy to bring such happiness to her. I couldn't help but think of the gifts God has already given me, and other gifts He has prepared for me, and that He too pleasures in giving these gifts. How much more joy, on His part and ours, is experienced with gifts that are eternal instead of a pair of plastic shoes?

Matthew 7:9-11

"Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!"

Allie

She was J's first blonde and his first love. J says it was love at first sight when they met 12 years ago. She is his best friend. She is our beloved labrador retriever.
Today our vet told us she has metastatic cancer and, at best, she may be with us for 3-6 more months. I can't even write this without crying right now. I know that everyone loves their dog, but honestly, Allie is the best dog I have ever seen. I feel I can say that {somewhat} unbiased since I can't take any credit for how fantastic she is-J had her for 5 years before I came into the picture. One of J's family's friends actually offered J over $5K (yes, that's thousands) for Allie. J kept Allie and knew he had the better end of the deal.
Allie has been with J through highs and lows. She has given birth to champion puppies (best in show in California). She helped raise and train the other 7 dogs in our home and our families' homes. She is fiercely loyal and protective. At the end of my pregnancy with Av, when we had finished the nursery, Allie starting sleeping at the threshold of the nursery, as if to guard it. On another instance she and J were camping at the family farm. They were walking through the woods and spooked a coyote that charged J. Allie immediately defended J and attacked and killed the coyote.
Even though she is fierce, she matches it with her gentleness. She has allowed countless children to climb on her, ride her, pull her tail, and look in her ears. We even have a picture of our nephew, when he was a toddler, pulling her eyelid open to look into her eyes. Allie just continued to calmly rest on the floor while Samuel inspected her.
She has survived pancreatitis, attacks from other dogs, a coyote fight, a very traumatic birthing experience (she only had 6 puppies, but they were so large the vet had predicted she would have 12), and many other experiences I could continue to ramble on about, but now it is coming to an end.
She is more than just a dog to us. She is our friend and companion. She is Av's playmate. She is probably the best dog we will ever be blessed to be around.

If you have a pet in your home, give it a hug and some special attention today. Sorry to be so somber, but this is the outpouring of my heart today.

Timing

We have had two breakthroughs this week that have certainly improved life with a 2 year old. The first is using a timer. Av is one smart cookie and has learned the art of stalling. Our bedtime routine is a good example. We always take Av to the potty before nap and bedtime. Av figured out that she could sit in bathroom reading her books to prolong going to bed. Recently she has stayed in there for over 20 minutes! Last week we implemented use of a timer. Now I put her in the bathroom and let her know that I'm starting the timer. Now she knows that she has to hurry up in the bathroom or putting her toys away or finish reading her books. I think it is also helping her comprehend concepts of time. The timer is my friend :).

The second, and more exciting milestone, is that Av has took naps, yesterday and today, in her underwear-no diaper!!!! Av has been potty trained for almost 6 months, but still wearing diapers during naps and at night. Yesterday, right before nap time, Av asked if she could sleep in her panties. Of course I was thinking "No Way! This will end up terrible, I just washed all of her bedding this morning. She'll wet the bed and wake herself up, then be awful for the rest of the day since she didn't nap....." Against my better judgement I went along with it and I am so glad that I did!

Sorry if this is trivial and boring news to many of you, but in our house this is exciting stuff! I really shouldn't even be at my computer right now. We're going out of town tomorrow, it's 10 pm and I still need to finish laundry, pack, clean the kitchen, vacuum, and probably mop the floors-whew!

On another front, I think my husband has a crush on the Republican vice presidential nominee :).

Happy Birthday to me!

Don't I have a great husband!! J has always been a better gift giver than I am. I was expecting some sewing supplies, but instead I got a Wii and a Wii fit! Very exciting. I'm sure that J is going to enjoy my present as much as I am. I really hope that the yoga on it is good. Yoga is my new favorite workout. I'm thinking Av might even join me. I don't think I shared this when it happened, but sorry if I'm repeating myself. My normal yoga DVD is 1.5 hours long. I only had 10-15 minutes left on it a few days ago when Av woke up from her nap. I paused the video, got Av out of her room, and set her up with some yogurt so I could finish my yoga. I looked to my right a few minutes later and Av was on the floor with me trying to do the yoga positions. Seeing a 2 year old try to attempt yoga positions was the highlight of the day. Now she occasionally strikes a pose and announces that she is stretching and doing yoga.
I better run, in the time that I downloaded the picture and posted this J has opened the box, hooked it up the TV, and is playing with it. I can see this is going to be a "what's yours is mine" gift :).

Lessons Learned

1. ALWAYS check the pockets in your pants before you wash them. I am normally neurotic about this, but got in a hurry today and forget to check one pair. Of course, it would be in my new white J Crew pants. I put my vitamin for the day in my pocket as I was running out the door a couple of days ago. Obviously I forgot to take the vitamin that day. The whole front of my pants were a lovely yellow-orange color when they came out of the dryer. Thankfully, Shout and my Clorox bleach pen saved the day and the pants are fine.

2. Av is learning how to use her feminine charm. Yesterday we decided to spend our afternoon at the pool. Av was playing with one of her friends in the pool and her friend asked Av who her best friend is. J had just walked up to us and Av affectionately looked up at him, batted her lashes, and said "Papa." I think his knees actually wobbled. Can you say "wrapped around her finger?" Girlfriend knows where her bread is buttered.

Beat Down

Whew, what a day. If we had tequila in the house I would consider bypassing the margaritas and going straight to shots. I think Av's goal today was to see how close she could get to the line and if she would actually get in trouble if she crossed it. We had to go through many "corrections" and even multiple types of corrections. I knew it was bad when the lady behind us in the check-out aisle at Wal-Mart shared advice she had once been given-- that children have bad days sometimes, just like the rest of us do. Part of me was encouraged by her words, and part of me was embarrassed.

Seriously, when do girls start experiencing PMS? In the bedtime routine alone, Av had multiple breakdowns. She burst into tears when we put her toothpaste away after brushing her teeth! Last night we had an owl in yard and we went outside to listen to it "hoot"-{all of you Chi-O's out there would have loved it :)}. Tonight, after she was in the crib with the lights out, she started crying again b/c the owl flew away and we didn't say "goodnight" to it tonight.

All I can say is, I'm thankful that tomorrow is a new day, and God's mercies are new every morning.

If you need a good laugh today, like I did, go read this post from a pediatrics resident.

Are Contacts Edible?

Av and I joined my mom and a few of her friends at the beach for a girls weekend. We had a wonderful time and Av ate up the attention since she was the only child there. We enjoyed the pool, the beach, and sitting on the porch drinking coffee in the mornings. Mom knows Av is fairly obsessed with dress-up and ,being a good grandmother, got Av a new outfit-dress, crown, jewelry, and shoes! Av had stripped and changed into her "princess dress" within 15 minutes of arriving at the beach. She even wore it to the pool.

Av and Mom, below Av and her pool friend, Maggie

The following is the real story of the post and what produced the best laugh from the weekend. Mom and I shared a bedroom, but since Mom is a gracious host, she gave the master to 2 of the other girls. Our room didn't have a bathroom in it, so Mom's bathroom bag was in the master bath. Saturday night Mom needed to take out her contacts, but the girls in the master had already gone to bed. Mom didn't want to wake them, so she just put her contact in glass, but as we were going to bed, couldn't remember where she put it....the following occurred

11 pm Sun. Mom asked if the glass was on the nightstand, I didn't see it there, Mom figured she left it in the kitchen

6:30 am Mon. Everybody but Av and me left to go to a conference

10:30 am Mon. Av pointed out an empty glass (the same kind of glass Mom's contact was in) on the kitchen counter and said "that glass has yucky water." I had no idea what she was talking about since it was empty. We had margaritas out of those glasses the night before and I wondered if she had somehow tasted leftover margarita.

2:00 pm Mon. Mom came back from the conference and found the glass she had used for her contact. Turns out it was on the nightstand, but behind a lamp-which explained why I didn't see it Sun. night. Oh, and the glass was empty!

We put 2+2 together and came to the conclusion that Av drank Mom's contact and saline solution! She hasn't been sick yet, so I guess everything is fine!

Crazy

I put Av down for a nap 1.5 hours ago and she has been singing/talking to herself the entire time!! I hope she falls asleep soon, b/c we have to be somewhere in 2.5 hours!

A Day in The Life

When you have two 2 year olds and a three year old together for hours, lots of activity ensues! Two precious friends of Av's, Morgan and Page (Darby's girls) came over on Friday, and what a great day we had!

The girls played Ring-Around-the-Rosie

Then went to the swingset

Rode bikesAfter all the outside play, they had to come in and cool off by standing over the vents!

Once inside, the girls "helped" with my to-do list. Morgan vaccuumed, Av mopped, and Page went grocery shopping.

Then they discovered a fun game of me "sleeping" on the floor behind the sofa, and they would jump up over the back of the sofa to roar/yell and scare me to wake me.

Then the girls "killed" a tiger and an alligator (toys), but there were significant injuries and we all had to be rushed to the hospital (aka-the sofa). We all had broken legs and I lost one of my legs in battle. Morgan had the most significant injuries. She broke her head, hair, eyelashes, ears, nose, cheeks, teeth, tongue, lips, throat, neck, tummy, shoulders, elbows, arms, hands, fingers, fingernails, back, legs, knees, toes, and feet. Right when I thought we had fixed everything she lost her vision and was unable to open her eyes. Thankfully Av and Page concocted a miracle elixir in the playroom kitchen and, after 5 doses of it, Morgan was able to see and open her eyes!

As you can tell, it was an eventful day. We hope to do it again soon!

PS-I tried to add more pictures, but either blogger or my computer is freezing up when I try to do so! Frustrating.