Happy Visit

Amanda has had her first official visit to the dentist. I was worried about her laying back in that big chair with that big light shining down on her and having her freak out. But she did wonderfully!! She listened and did what they asked of her and even walked out with a few new stickers (which we even use at home for bribes) - a big success!!

She is cavity free at this time and apparently her spacing looks good for when she gets her adult teeth later on. She even sit through letting them brush on the fluoride. YIPPEE!! I was such a proud Mommy as I watched her get checked out and she was so well behaved. I am slowly coming to terms with the fact that our baby Amanda has gotten to be quite the big girl.

Our Mini Me's

Well, my hubby and I are the proud parents of two beautiful girls (if I do say so myself). Since the day they were born we've been looking at them and deciding which parts of them look like each of us. We can see each of us in both girls, but each of the girls definitely resembles one of each of us - our Mini Me's. Amanda has my smile and eye color and Taylor has Daddy's eyes and cheeks. See for yourself.

Chris as a little guy, playing in the fireplace

Me, after a bad haircut I had performed on myself

(Mom was REALLY happy about this one!)

My Little Beauties

Me

Daddy and Amanda

My Latest Toy

I know that lots of people out there are in love with their ipods, but I'm not one of them. I've heard some mixed reviews of them, so I have gone other routes when choosing my devices. For Christmas, my wonderful hubby wanted to get me a new mp3 player to replace my Sony Walkman bean - it still works great (he uses it when he works out - even though it's pink), but the website (SonicStage) that you used to purchase new music was shut down a few months ago. Anyway. . . he couldn't get the new mp3 player that I wanted, so he got me a gift card. In early January I was finally able to acquire my NEW Sony Walkman. I was so excited! Fast forward 6 months - by the end of June, I was on my 3rd, yes 3rd Walkman. I had sent it in for repair on two different occasions, just to have them send me a new replacement instead of repairing it. By the time the 3rd one went kaput on me, I was done with it! I was able to return it to the store for a full refund. YEAH!!

I shopped and shopped for a new mp3 player. This time I was going to make sure that I got something that had gotten great reviews, but I didn't want to spend a lot of money on it. I love my electronics, but I'm really not much of a techie. So. . . I purchased a Creative Zen. I've only had it for a few days now, but so far it has been wonderful!! I highly recommend it. I can put pictures and videos on it. It has a built-in radio. It even has an organizer on it (which I have yet to get set up and use, but anyway. . .) It's great!! So, if anyone out there is looking to buy a new mp3 player, you should at least check this one out - it's worth it!!

Alright, that's the end of my shameless promotion of my new toy. I need to set up my new organizer and (hopefully) get myself organized.

What Makes Me Smile. . .

I can barely remember what life was like for me before having my girls. I know that I spent a lot less time cleaning. . . I could sleep in on the weekends. . . I could have phone conversations without the "Look at me, Mommy" interruptions. . . I carried a small purse instead of a big diaper bag. . . My memory was much better back then. . . and assorted other things. But what really makes me smile on a daily basis is my girls. They love to play and smile, and no matter what kind of day I'm having, seeing their little faces always seems to make everything better. Now, I can't imagine life without them. Maybe they'll brighten your day, too.

Spring Cleaning

Every once in awhile I get a "wild hair" and I just clean. This time though, it's different. I'm getting projects done that I've been wanting to get done for quite some time. I have been painting some furniture that has been in desperate need of some TLC for years. One item is an old hutch from my mom, which has served many, many purposes in it's time. I had previously painted it, but now the color is a tad off (YIKES!!) from the current decor in the house. So. . . I'm painting again. Of course, when you take on such a project, you have to empty the piece of furniture before dragging it out to the garage to paint it. Which means, everything that was so neatly hidden away in the hutch is now strewn about through the kitchen, dining room, living room, etc. for everyone to see. (cringe) You know the saying - "you have to make a mess to clean a mess". We are living proof!

We've also been the VERY proud recipients of some beautiful hand-me-down furniture from my in-laws. This is totally great, except for having to carry all the heavy stuff into the house and moving all the yucky stuff out that we had before - not so great. Other than that, it's been great.

So, between new furniture, old furniture, and painting furniture, the house is not lookin' so good these past few days. I'm motivated though. I've got some of the ladies coming over on Friday (yes - THIS Friday), so I absolutely have to be put back together in some fashion. Who knows - maybe everything will be hidden in the garage. (For those of you coming over, please don't ask to see the garage when you get here. ) : )

And of course, I'm trying to accomplish this whirlwind task while caring for a (almost) 3 year old and a (almost) 9 month old, as well as the husband and the dog. Wish me luck - I'm off to clean and paint!!

Progress

Well, the yard is really coming together. We've been feverishly working on things to make it liveable in the backyard. A couple of weeks ago we had our curbing installed, I've planted some plants and shrubs. . . and yesterday the sod arrived. The three of us (myself, hubby, and (almost) 3 year old Amanda) spent a good part of the afternoon laying sod. When we stopped to take a break about halfway through, Amanda decided to show us just how happy she was. She ran around the yard singing "Graaaaasssss, Graaaaasssss". I never thought a toddler would be so excited about getting the grass put down. It made me feel that she had somehow been deprived for the past 9 months without it. We were all very proud of our hard work yesterday, and it has definitely paid off. We are just that much closer to being complete.

Fish Medicine

As previously mentioned, my little ones have not been feeling up to par this week. Yesterday was no exception. When we got up for the day, I noticed that Amanda was wheezing. I had her stay in the bathroom with me while I showered, hoping that the steam would do her some good - but it didn't help, so I called the pediatrician and somehow was lucky enough to get an appointment early in the day. We went to our appointment and sat in the waiting area for our usual 15 or 20 minutes past our appointment time, and of course whenever Amanda would cough, you could feel the judgemental eyes upon you asking what kind of mother takes their sick kid in public?!?! Well, the kind that are waiting to see the doctor. : )

The doc checked her out and said that she would classify it as a viral infection "gone bad". She said that she wouldn't classify it as asthma yet, because it is the first instance. But of course, in my heart, I know that it probably won't be the last. When Amanda was just a newborn, the pediatrician told me that she had eczema, which is associated with asthma - so it's no surprise that asthma may be on the horizon for our little Amanda. Besides that, there is a family history, so. . .

Well, the doctor prescribed nebulizer treatments for Amanda and told me that we needed to do the treatments every 2 hours for the next 2 days - even at night. Yikes!! My precious sleep was doomed. We sat in the exam room and did a treatment right then, and I have to say that I was pretty proud of Amanda - she sat still and did an excellent job. They've made the nebulizer a lot easier to use for kids than the "old days". I remember when my mom was sick with asthma and emphysema and had to use the machine - it was gigantic. Anyway. . . the mask for kids now is a little fish face, so convincing her to wear it was a whole lot easier.

So we have spent our afternoon. . . and evening. . . and night. . . and morning. . . doing treatments - pretty close to every 2 hours. Amanda has always been good about taking medicine (sometimes asking for it even when she's not sick, since nowadays they make it all taste so good), so she calls it her "fish medicine". Whatever works, right?

I know that I'm not the only mommy in history to have to do late night/early morning nebulizer treatments with their kids, but it doesn't really make it any easier. I also know that there are mommies out there dealing with much worse illnesses for their kids, believe me, we've had our share. We've had her in for an emergency visit at the clinic (when she fell on a hardwood floor and we thought maybe she had broken her nose). . . the emergency room when she was having, for lack of better words, seizures. . . Children's Hospital in Seattle a few times for EEG tests. . . and of course lots of bumps and bruises. Somehow God always gets us through with a healthy girl in tow. I have faith in him that he'll do the same for us this time, too. I'll just plug along with the prescribed treatments and leave the rest to him, isn't that what I'm supposed to do?