Tuesday Tidbits

We're learning that Ashley is easier to handle, and generally all-around-happier if she has the chance to eat smaller meals throughout the day. It's no secret that mealtime with Ash is more of a battle than anything else. You have to coax every bite into her mouth, often times withholding her favorite part of the meal until she's eaten something else. Lately she's gotten better at verbalizing when she's either hungry or not so much, and I've noticed mealtimes aren't so frustrating. A few times during the past few weeks she's only ate part of her dinner, and then asked for either more dinner or a bowl of cereal later in the evening. It's not ideal, but it seems that a handful of smaller meals works better for Ashley than the conventional 3 meals a day.
Doing laundry with Natty Kat is nearly impossible. She likes to grab an article of clothing, shout who it belongs to, race away with the shirt/sock/undies/etc. and hide while she attempts to put it on. It makes the simple task of sorting clothes problematic.

Happy Memorial Day

I wanted to pause to take a second to remember to thank and pray for our servicemen and their families. Won't you join me?
Happy Memorial Day; enjoy your day off but don't forget to stop and remember the reason. And may God's greatest riches fall on those that protect us, and the families that miss and love them so.

Indian burn

Remember when you were little and you used to give your friends/pesky older sister/enemies Indian Burns on their arms? Or maybe you were unlucky and received instead of gave? Regardless, the girls twisted my arm SO hard last week that I wondered where they learned the art of the perfect Indian Burn.
Turns out when the sun shines and the mercury lingers close to the 70 mark, Ashley and Natalie assume it means back-deck pool time. And they twisted my arm until I complied.
I think the official temp read was 71, but who knows what the water coming out of the hose was. I do know it was chilly enough that I added a few pots full of hot water from the kitchen faucet. I waited anxiously for chattering teeth and giant goose-bumps, but they never appeared. Instead I found ginormous smiles, ear-piercing laughter and unmeasurable happiness.
After the Little Dip's little dip, I stuffed them into their (adorable-if-I-do-say-so-myself) matching PJs and we hit the front yard for downhill rolling, bug catching and sunshine soaking.
Not a bad evening!

Pool pllllllllllllllllllllllllllease, Mommy? Splash splash Natty Kat and Ash Couldn't be happier if we tried Rolling down the hill Look out cause here comes Midget Little explorers
"I'm gonna make my scary face, Mommy!"
Best sister shot I could get
Picking rocks from the driveway
Eating rocks; just as much fun as picking rocks Fill'er up!
See how happy she is here to have a bucket on her head?
So how come when she was 9 months old, she wasn't as thrilled?

Just a couple of crazies

We typically start our mornings with hugs...
...goofy smiles...
...piggy-back rides...
...tumbles...
...and general mayhem

Confusion

Jake took Ashley to her ED follow-up appointment yesterday afternoon and after reading the report and the culture results, according to her pediatrician, it appears Ashley did not have a UTI.
HUH?
I'm not sure exactly what was going on, all I know is that Sunday she was sick. If nothing else, the Zofran tablet she got in the ED was enough to calm her body enough to let her relax and drink some much-needed fluids. And for that I'm grateful.
She's off of the antibiotics and well on her way to her normal, crazy, energetic, nonstop self.

Mother's Day 2011

I wouldn't trade being a mother for ANYthing. Besides Jake, there is nothing else in the world that gives me such happiness. I don't always do what's right, popular or smart, but good thing is my girls love and adapt and learn with me.
Ashley and Natalie are so wild and crazy and full of zest that I really never know what I'm going to get, and even though it makes me nuts, I absolutely love it. Their spirit is unmatched. Their laughter is music to my hears. And their hugs let me know God thinks I'm doing okay. I'm so blessed, so loved and so happy. Happy Mother's Day to me!
We had a nice little gathering of the masses at our house on Mother's Day - yummy lemon spritz cookies (my gift to me), homemade pizza (thanks, Jakey!) and salad (thanks, Sissie!). The day was absolutely perfect.

Spritzing out the tasty cookies
Mother's Day flowers to Mom from Sissie and Ray Ray
Guess which cookies Ashley decorated?
Spinning with Nana
Jake's pizza-making rules: "I do everything but Riane has to roll out the dough" Apparently the rolling pin intimidates him :)
HONK!
Ashley's personal pizza - she rolls out the dough, spreads the sauce and cheese, sprinkles the olives...
...and then eats it all by herself
Fine looking group
I wanted a shot of my girls in their "Mommy's Silly Monkey" shirts...this is the best I got
Me and my happiness-makers
1-2-3 FLY!
I love my family. My family loves me. It's a good balance.
The whole fam-damly
Snazzy
A perfect end to a perfect day - cuddles with my Wild Things

Back to the ED we go!

Maybe it's her love of the 'bracelet' (AKA ID hospital band) or her craziness for latex glove balloons and stickers, but I wound up back in the Emergency Department with Ashley Sunday night.
I know, I know. How can this be true?
After spending Sunday vomiting (I lost count around the 20th time she spewed), it was clear Ashley wasn't getting better, and was on a bad road to dehydration. I consulted with our own personal medical staff (AKA Aunt Angie, World's Greatest PA and Aunt Shawnaynay, World's Greatest RN), and came to the conclusion that 1. no amount of Pedialite was going to get poor Midget through and 2. we're so blessed to have such exceptional, loving and smart ladies in our family.
So just before 11 pm Sunday night, I loaded Ashley up in the car and drove her in. Unlike our last trip (just 17 days prior), I was able to drive the speed limit and not scan the road for cop cars. :) Even the ED Admission lady remembered my little sickie. Now that's saying something!
Before I go on, in case you're wondering: yes, Ashley was wearing matching PJ's this trip unlike our trip on May 5th, but it didn't matter as this time she was given a hospital gown (the same print as what Natty Kat wore for her surgery back in March). And yes my make-up was still on and I had time to make myself a bit more presentable this time around since I wasn't drugged up on allergy medication. :)
As fate would have it, a friend's husband was the ED doc that would be seeing Ashley. Dr. Shaver was so incredible with her and listened to her ramble on about nothing and everything. After I gave him a run-down of her symptoms, he performed his exam and ruled out an appendicitis (thank goodness) and decided to test for a urinary tract infection (UTI). In the back of my mind I was going "A UTI? No way Jose. She hasn't displayed even 1 of the 'classic' symptoms". When they test came back positive, in the back of my mind I was going "Aaaaaand that's why you're not wearing the scrubs and white doc's gown, Riane. Let the medically smart do their job and you do yours as Mom, and nothing more!".
NOTE TO SELF: Convincing your Zofran-medicated, upset, tired, cranky and sick 3 year old to pee into the collection hat while the crazy psych-hold screams profanities in the room next door is a situation I wouldn't wish on anybody.
Because Ashley had been throwing up so much, they were apprehensive to give her oral medication, which meant she'd be getting her first dose of antibiotics via 2 shots; 1 in either leg. They were at least smart enough to get an extra nurse and give the shots simultaneously, but Ashley was still not a happy camper. All she kept saying was "Ow! That's sharp! Why you nurses poking me? That's not nice! Mommy, I feeling better. Why they poke me?!" I was laughing through my broken heart at her continued spunkiness despite the previous 15 hours.
After about 4.5 hours we were discharged and sent on our merry way. We were both exhausted and in need of a good, long, sound sleep. But, as luck would have it, both girls woke around their normal time Monday morning, so it was overly-tired and sleep deprived Mommy to work! Lucky for me Jake stepped in and let me sleep in until 9 am, which I will always love him for!
At this point I'm sick of the McMinnville Emergency Department and would be happy never to visit again. Twice in a year, let along 17 days, is plenty for me thank-you-very-much!

Checked in and changed into my snazzy hospital gown
Tired, sick and overall not happy
I just wanna sleep, people!

Gonna be a great day...

...because my morning started with these little rays of sunshine!

Midget is so proud of the plant she got a few weeks back from her MOPS friends - too bad we have no idea what it's going to be! She says it's going to be a red, orange, green, purple flower!
Desperate for Mommy to take a picture of me too, I stood here and said CHEEEEEEEESE loud and long until she finally broke down and snapped a shot
Mommy look at me in my new dress!
No way you can be blue when these rainbows are around!

World's Best Looking Birthday Boy

Well Jakey, here we are celebrating your 31st birthday, our 10th birthday celebration together.
Want to know a secret? I'm crazy for you. You've given me a life that I thought only existed in my dreams. Sure it's had it's ups and downs, but we've ridden the roller-coaster together. We held on tight during the loopty-loops, buckled down during the endless climbs and laughed ourselves crazy during the screaming downhills. You're the only one I'd ever want to ride it with, Jake.
We've got 2 absolutely amazing, beautiful, talented and energetic girls who adore you almost as much as I do. There are so many things I want for you, but mostly it's to know that you're loved, appreciated and honored. Year 30 brought some gray times, but I can already tell year 31 is going to be a banner year.

I love you, Sexy! Happy birthday!

Poking through

Would you believe it? At 17.5 months Natalie finally has 2 more teeth poking through. Just when we wondered if she was bound to have 5.5 teeth for the rest of her life, here they come!

Uh oh, Mommy!

Lesson learned...
When Ashley volunteers to carry in a sack of groceries, make sure it's not the bag that contains chips. She's like a young colt; still growing into her feet. So when she trips and falls on the bag of chips, not only does it make chip-dust, it also blows the end of the bag out and vomits chips fragments all over the floor. Lesson learned.
Silver lining? Midget and Natty Kat were more then happy to snack on chips picked off of the floor.

Seeing spots

Have I ever shared my total love for freckles?

Getting Angel Kisses

Genius

Check out the picture Ashley drew last night, all by herself, of Minnie Mouse. Little Miss Smarty Pants. PS She was cruising in her undies as she'd just spent an hour splashing in the pool. Another naked pic of Ash - are you surprised?

Minnie Mouse- complete with hair bow
And just in case that doesn't convince you she's extra-super smart, check out this picture she drew of Aunt Jean a few weeks ago.

She's still trying to get things 'to scale' because Aunt Jean's nose is nowhere near that big!

Senseless

Here's a collection of pictures that makes no sense at all. Sometimes I click pictures just to click. I can't help myself.
Love. Laugh. Photograph. :)

Still recouping for her ED visit - poor Midget
Cheesy grin
Ashley loves Mommy
Natalie loves Mommy
Sharing a bit of my peanut butter with Natty Kat