Mother's Day

I had a lovely Mother's Day! I got to sleep in until 8:30 when Rose woke up to pee (3 days dry in a row! And she's not even 2 yet, and this isn't the first time she's had multiple nights in a row where she's woken up dry!). Dave made me breakfast, which included some leftover breakfast potatoes (which were still yummy), eggs with peppers, onions and cheese, and bacon. Big, thick slices, from mostly organic pigs that I actually saw while they were alive. We ate right after Lacy woke up at 10:30. Yes, you heard that right. Girlfriend likes to sleep in. Lacy and I showered after breakfast, and when I got out it was already noon and time to get packing! We quickly got the girls dressed and ready and headed to church.

We had a nice program at church, which I didn't witness, because Rose was a total mess from being so tired with having no nap! So I took her to the Mother's lounge, but the chairs were occupied, so there was no chance I was going to get her to take a quick snooze. I barely made it back in to the chapel to lead the closing song! We received some delicious truffles from the men, and then we took the girls to their classes. We snuck out early, but Lacy had time enough to make me a nice card and give me a couple gifts from Primary.

This is a cute little jewelry box (lined with purple felt, of course) with a picture of her in her China dress.


Lacy and Rose both contributed on making this bag. I think it's hilarious that they got the date wrong!


And the card that Lacy dictated... very typical Lacy letter.

Here's the beautiful hanging basket I got on Thursday for an early Mother's Day gift.


After church, we went to my sister's house to enjoy salmon and conversation (if you could hear it over all the yelling from the nine children who were there). It was not only Mother's Day, but also Mark's birthday, my just younger brother, who was actually born on Mother's Day 28 years ago. Happy Birthday, Mark. We all had a nice time. I'm sure there will be photos posted on my family's blog later. We took a bunch and had a really fun time with it.

And a couple pictures from Saturday. We went to wooden boat days (or something like that) down in Olympia with my sister's family. The kids enjoyed making their own little wooden boats. More pictures have been posted on my sister's blog.


The finished product

It's on!

Rose's dental work has been pre-authorized now, and assuming everything else goes as planned, we will have two kids going in to the Surgery Center on Wednesday. Dave is planning to take that day off to spend time helping me take care of the kids. I guess I have to work really hard to make sure the house is spotless (for me) before that day so I can focus on helping my little kiddos get well. I've rearranged the girls' gymnastics schedule so they can attend Tuesday instead of Thursday, since I doubt at least Lacy will not be up for gymnastics yet.

Speaking of which, we had it again today. It was a lot of fun for Lacy anyway, and Rose did marginally better. We'll give it another 6 weeks or so before we throw in the towel! She just won't do most of the stuff in the obstacle course, and won't do balance beams. She likes the opening exercises, the trampolines, and today showed interest in the cube pit. Lacy loves her class, loves her teacher, and loves everything about gymnastics! Except, she doesn't follow directions well or pay attention to the teacher. She's a bit of a space cadet at times, but I've been accused of the same so I'm sure she gets it from me. Lucky kid.

We had a busy day today, running errands all morning after gymnastics and taking a break at home. We went to the bank to iron out some problems we'd had with the way they set up our accounts, tried for the fourth time to pick up the 11-drawer tool box we have a raincheck on, and went to the coop for a few groceries.

I've been making an effort to conserve gas. I deliberately don't drive anywhere for at least two days a week, and the effort is paying off! I just switched to the second gas tank today, and I filled up almost two weeks ago! Usually I'm halfway through the second tank already, and running on fumes by Monday morning. Go me!

Today Dave surprised me by coming home early! He actually got off around 3:15, but said he was on a break when he called asking some questions. Around 3:40 he called back updating me about our plans tonight and said, "Gotta get back to work!" I didn't realize that "work" was getting my mother's day present ready! He came home with a gift certificate for a haircut, a manicure/pedicure treatment, a card from him and another card from the girls, and an absolutely beautiful hanging potted flower. It's now hanging by our front door. Gorgeous! What a wonderful guy I married. Hopefully I can get him something awesome for Father's Day. Anyone have any ideas? He had the girls come out and "sign" the card, and Lacy delivered it to me. It was so sweet! He figured he wouldn't have time to do this any other time, so he'd better get it done now!

Tonight we went to Charlie's Safari. It's kind of like Chuck E. Cheese's, only 1,000,000 times better. It's locally owned and operated, and is just absolutely wonderful. It has a bunch of bounce house type things, a toddler play area, a huge play center that is like a good McDonald's PlayPlace on steroids, an indoor basketball court (like, 1/8 court), laser tag, arcade games, pizza, and mini golf. Rose liked the toddler area and the Helicopter bounce house and original bounce house, and Lacy liked both the bounce house slides. We will be going again sometime in the future. It's around $8 a kid over age 2 (and they charge for the under-2 set as well) but parents are free, at least for the bounce house/play areas. Mini golf and laser tag are additional. Anyway, tonight was a preview night for the vendors, and Dave's really good friend Tom installed the fire suppression system in the kitchen and invited us to come along. We're glad we did! We were out late and the kids got to bed way too late, but we had such a good time.

Afterward, we exchanged Dave's boots for a new pair. He got the kind of boots he really wanted, and he'll probably be happy with them. Work boots are sure expensive! I hate spending $100 for boots every couple of years! But, he has to have them, and he needs good boots since he's had some foot problems recently. Thank goodness for a good podiatrist!

Tomorrow is another busy day. I'm going to go to Costco to pick up a few things, but before that I hope to get a little cleaning done around the house. Then maybe we'll play at Leslie's house for a while, and go home later that evening. Dave is going fishing tomorrow night, so we won't see him until after bedtime. Saturday I'm hoping to go to my midwifery clinic's annual mother's day picnic. I don't know what I'll make for that yet.

I'd better get to bed! Three people are snoring in my room and it really ought to be four. Actually none of us should be snoring as it is disruptive of sleep. Hopefully Lacy won't snore anymore after next week. I can't believe she's having surgery. I'm totally having second thoughts on whether this is necessary surgery or not. At least my surgeon is my bishop, so I'm feeling a little better about it. I doubt he would recommend an unnecessary surgery to a member of his ward. Or, at least, I hope he wouldn't!

Say YES to your kids!

Sometimes, as a parent, our kids ask us things. Things we don't want to do, for whatever reason. Maybe we're not in the mood. Maybe we don't think it will be good for the child. Maybe it is dangerous. Whatever reason, we say no. A lot.

My sister wisely told me that for some of those things one of her sons asks her, she will say yes now instead of no, and his attitude has changed dramatically. I thought she made some really good points, and I decided to try to say yes more to my kids.

Tonight, Lacy has been restless. She has everything on her checklist checked off for bedtime, so she has no real reason to stall us, since everything is done. But she can't sleep. And it's disturbing Dave, who hasn't gotten much sleep this weekend, on account of helping a friend of ours pass an inspection this morning. He worked until 2 am last night, after working a 60 hour work week, and then continued working this morning around 10 until almost 5. She was making a lot of noise, thrashing around, and being disruptive for Dave. She kept asking for things. I kept saying no. Then I thought of what my sister had told me. And I changed my attitude a bit

"Mom... can you say a prayer for me to have good dreams?" (keep in mind, we've already had family prayer and she's said her own personal prayers).

"Okay." I say a prayer, naming specific things that Lacy would like to dream about.

"...and rainbows!" Lacy interjects. "And doggies!" So I add those requests to the current prayer in progress. I finish the prayer. "Thanks, mom. Now I'll have good dreams. Can you snuggle me for a minute?"

"Yes. But just for a minute. I have a few things I have to do." I crawl into her toddler-sized bed, and we snuggle for about five minutes. She tells me a few secrets. She talks about nice things, and asks me some questions. I don't tell her to be quiet, I just let her get it out.

"Okay, Lacy, just another minute and I have to get out."

"Why?"

"I have to pick up some things. We made a mess today, and I want to pick up a little to prepare our home for home blessing hour tomorrow." That's what we call the regular routine cleaning that happens once a week.

"Oh. Can I get in your bed tomorrow when Dad goes to work?" I agree, and we snuggle, I kiss her goodnight and get out of bed, and wait for her to fall asleep so I can get some tidying done. In the meantime, I write this blog. I left the room about ten minutes ago, and she is now breathing loudly. I expect in a couple more minutes she'll be snoring loudly. See what a few yeses can do?

Hold that thought...

What a surprise! More drama in the dental department! Rose's preauthorization for underoing general anesthesia was denied! The letter says, "The Medical Review Department has determined that medical/dental necessity is not supported by the clinical documentation provided. The Trust will need clinical documentation which supports the medical/dental necessity of facility fees for dental caries, including a comprehensive description of all dental procedures to be performed. Therefore, based on teh available information and Plan provisions, your request for pre-authorization of benefits is denied. This determination can be reconsidered upon the receipt of th above information." The letter talks about appeals processes and that we have the right to initiate a lawsuit if the appeal is denied. I'm not sure if submitting the information is an appeal, or just a continuation of the initial request. I've never dealt with this before. I'm really, really hoping they don't want x-rays, because we don't have 'em. She will be getting x-rays while under general anesthesia.

Hopefully this can all get straightened out quickly, because I don't want to delay her appointment. This has gone on for too many months now, and I'm done with it. I'm considering sending them this picture and asking them if that is enough:

But it doesn't show her two molars that need work. One needs extensive work, the other needs a minor repair. It's almost exactly the same as Lacy's teeth, but at a more advanced stage of decay. I'm considering major changes for my next baby:

*No juice or soda. Period.
*Brush teeth twice a day from the day the first tooth pops out of the gums
*Vitamin D supplementation from birth
*Fluoride supplementation from 6 months
*Nightweaning between 12-15 months
*Teaching to fall asleep without nursing from one or two months, so it can be a habit when teething begins
*Better diet during pregnancy, and no more tandem nursing (no more close together babies!)
*Better diet during nursing, especially calcium-rich foods and calcium supplements.
*Xylitol daily during pregnancy and while nursing, and added to child's diet after solid foods are started

So those are a few thoughts. I realize why Rose's teeth are so much worse than Lacy's now, and it's because I inadvertantly nightweaned Lacy around 14-15 months, her teeth appeared later than Rose's, and my diet was improved during pregnancy because I wasn't running after a toddler or nursing.

Going under the knife

Both girls will be receiving General Anesthesia on May 14th. Rose will be having her teeth fixed, and Lacy will be having her tonsils and adenoids removed, and tubes in her ears. They are both going to go in to the same surgery center, so it will be a fun day for us. Dave will likely take the day off work, but if he can't for some reason, my sister Leslie has offered to help us out with the post-op stuff. We'll be eating a lot of ice cream and juice that day, I gather.

Gymnastics

We had gymnastics again today. Lacy loved it. Rose had her first class and, well, she didn't really know what to do with herself. I think it is a bit advanced for her. We'll try it for a month or two, and if she doesn't start getting it, we'll dis enroll her for a while and just focus on Lacy for a while. Lacy has shown improvement even from just going twice. This may be her thing. I hear from some very reliable sources that it can get very expensive (in the thousands per month even) so I don't know if we can handle having her in gymnastics competitively. But for now, it's teaching her balance, coordination and helping her to become strong.

Afterward we visited Leslie and her brood, who were all home from school today due to well child visits. We hung out, nobody napped, and now everyone is falling apart. Dave is out fishing tonight, so we're going to eat in a few minutes and then we'll start the bedtime routine. Hopefully they'll be in bed tonight by about 7! That would be lovely. We'll see.

And a Lacyism... Lately she's been doing the whole "Close your eyes! Ok, now OPEN YOUR EYES!" thing, but she doesn't really get it. She'll say, "Mom, close your eyes. Open your eyes. (very excitedly) I'm going to gymnastics today!!!" Like closing my eyes and opening them again makes the statement so much more exciting!

Marriage

I almost forgot this part. I need to post really fast so I can go to bed. Anyway, Lacy is obsessed with marriage. She always puts on an "agent" ring and her wedding ring (in the right order, I might add) and talks about being married, who she will marry, her wedding, having a flower girl, etc etc etc. She says she is going to marry her 2nd cousin, Jonathan, who visited us recently. She tells us ALL THE TIME that she is going to marry Jonathan. Yesterday, Dave overheard her, in a singsongy voice, saying, "Jonathan and Lacy, sittin' in a tree, K-I-S-S-T-N-V."

Oh yeah-- it's Tuesday. We can watch TV again.

So, TV free week is over and it was a great success. In fact, instead of automatically turning on the TV at Rose's nap time, now I ask Lacy what she wants to do while Rose goes to sleep. For the last couple days, she hung out and waited for me. This evening she finally remembered that TV free week is over. So today she kept asking to watch "Joy To the World," her favorite movie. I think tomorrow she'll probably remember that she's allowed to watch TV again. Darn, I was hoping we could get out of the watch TV while I nurse Rose rut. At least we got a week and a half out of it! And I know we can get by without TV in our home, if it came down to it. I really appreciated Dave's support during last week. He normally comes home and watches TV, but last week he waited until the girls were asleep to turn it on. Thanks, Dave, you're awesome.

Lacy's quite the mama lately. It's very sweet. She is always playing with her dolls, or pretending that she's the mom and I'm the daughter. And she calls me Jessica a lot. I don't know why. Before it was Rachel. And her baby is almost always named Bella. I think for her birthday I'm going to sew a bunch of doll clothes for her. I think she'll like that. Anyway, the cute thing about this is that she is always nursing them and putting them down for naps. They always take naps on the big bed. Because, according to Lacy, babies pee on the potty and sleep in the big bed. That's her experience, therefore all babies do that. She knows, in theory, what cribs and diapers are for, and pretends to be a baby in a crib sometimes, but I think it's one of those "they have a crib and use it sometimes but it's not the baby's bed" type of a concept. That's how I was with bottles when I was a kid. I had no idea that some people didn't breastfeed. It was a total shock to me when I became an adult and found out that this wasn't something everyone did. Seriously.


On Saturday we went to the Procession of the Species, a very unique Olympia parade. It was so much fun! Lacy got a dog poop flower (a "dog" was on a walk and "pooped" a flower barrette). They gave it to the kid next to us, who didn't want it, so they gave it to Lacy, who looooooved it. She's a huge fan of flowers. In fact, I never knew how beautiful a dandelion was until I had children. I get daily bouquets of dandelions now. But I digress. We went last year as well. I plan to attend every year I can. It is so fun. Unfortunately Dave was working so he couldn't go with us.

Lacy's poop barrette

The monkey tree was really cute. There were lots of fun "animals" at this years procession.

After the parade, we had a sort of impromptu bar-b-que. It was going to be at Kurt's house, but Turner fell asleep so we had it at Leslie's instead. The girls had fun, but I was trying to keep Rose from falling off the balcony the whole time. Lacy just jumped on the trampoline for hours and had fun. While we were there, Dale gave Lacy a cute little Chinese dress that he picked up in Chinatown in LA. It is so cute! She wore it to church on Sunday. I should have gotten pictures, but I'm a bad mom and didn't do it. Sorry.


Sunday was pretty uneventful, other than Rose falling off the stage at church. She cried for probably 10-15 minutes, and was not acting like herself all night. We almost took her into the emergency room, but so far we have had exactly 0 trips to the emergency room and we didn't want to break our record. Well, that's not the real reason we didn't go (obviously). We checked her for signs of concussions, kept an eye on her all night, and determined she was totally fine, just probably had a little headache from the fall.

Yesterday I went to Costco and Fred Meyer. I spent way too much money. I just stocked up on some groceries and got gas, and by the time I got home I was $300 poorer. I've been making an effort to combine errands and drive a lot less, with an ultimate goal of not driving at least 2 days a week. After shopping and naps, I took the girls to the neighborhood park (walking distance! Bonus!) because they can't play in our yard and it was a beautiful day. Our grass is just starting to come up, so they really have to stay off it as much as possible. Lacy and I did plant a bunch of seeds on Monday, though, and we're really hoping they come up! I'm praying no more freezing temperatures! I had just transplanted some starts when it froze that very night! Darn weather.com-- you were wroooong! Liars!

And today. I really should blog every day, or close to it, because the kids do so much stuff and I don't want to forget any of it. They're so fun. Today was an at home day, so I did some chores around the house and we hung out. Later we got a little stir crazy, so I took the girls on a walk and they played at the park again. I brought home some huge dandelion bouquets and have them in water. I've been really worried about Rose's speech, since she only says about 50 words, which is on the low end of normal for her age. She doesn't pair words together, and she doesn't call herself by her name. She does sign a lot, though, and after making an effort to really listen carefully, I discovered she was saying a lot more than I thought (originally I was thinking she had about one or two dozen words, tops). Today she called herself WOSE! And I think she's just an artistic person and doesn't really need to speak. She sings constantly, though. She's almost always humming, or singing some gibberish words to some indeceipherable tune. It's very cute. Mark my words, she'll be my musical child.

Here are the girls after the trip to the park yesterday. The double stroller is so big and bulky I don't like to take it much anywhere unless they're both going to be in it for a while. I like Lacy to stretch her legs and walk as much as possible, but she gets tired on the way home, so I let her climb in the stroller with Rose.

To Market, To Market

Today we went to the Farmer's Market to check it out and pick up a few things. I met my friend Emily there with her kids. There was live music there that we all enjoyed. Lacy and Wynnie danced (ballroom-style, but without much rhythm), and Lacy introduced herself to vendors. At one point, she said, "Hi! I'm Lacy. And this is my husband Danner" (Emily's son). Emily and I cracked up at that one. I came home with some seeds for beans, some swiss chard, collard greens, asparagus, and an apple each for the girls (free at one of the booths). Oh, and some dahlia bulbs. $2 for a big bag of them. Sweet!

As soon as we came home, Rose went down for her nap. So Lacy and I started gardening! I've almost finished up the front yard, and after Rose woke up, we transplanted some starts and planted some seeds. I'm really excited to watch them grow. We had a nice, busy day today, and I'm tired. Gardening is hard work!

I'm GYM GIRL!!!!!

Today was Lacy's first day of gymnastics. I had been wanting to put her in some sort of organized sport or dance for a long time, but I wasn't sure what type to put her in. I decided on gymnastics after talking to a gymnastics instructor in my ward. This will help her learn coordination, and she'll have more chances to socially interact. Lacy is naturally quite shy, so I like to expose her to other people when I can. Usually we go to story time, and she always has her class at church, but lately I felt like she needed something else in addition. Regardless, I feel like gymnastics will be a good base for her, to prepare her for whatever athletics she wants to participate in. Plus, it was during the day, and most dance classes are in the evenings. I'm not ready to give up our evenings yet. Lacy was so excited when I told her we were signing her up, and this morning when I told her we were going to gymnastics that day, she literally bounded out of bed and got ready. She wore her purple leotard, with her panties that stuck out of the sides. I'm not sure how other kids manage to have their panties stay in place, but she was the only panty-shower in the group. At first I thought perhaps it was due to her lack of bottom, but my sister informed me that isn't the case, as her juicy-bummed daughter had the same problem as my Lacy.

Can't you just see the excitement resonating from this girl? She was soooo excited, and had such a good time! They did a lot of things, and the gym had tons of fun stuff in it, in addition to all the advanced gymnastics equipment you see in the Olympics. Personally, I could never do gymnastics because the chalk they rub on their hands makes my skin crawl. I had to do gymnastics when I when to JFK and I hated that stuff. Yuck. Anyway, I watched Lacy running around, and tried to corral Rose at the same time, who kept asking to nurse, but I kept turning her down. Poor girl. Next week we will participate in the toddler parent-child class, and hopefully that will keep her from being too bored! Another mother suggested I put in a movie for her, but we're observing TV turnoff week, and I didn't want to break it when we've done so well all week! After class, Lacy was happy and excited about going next week. She loves her teacher, who called her Miss Lacy. She usually loves the adults in a group, and says her primary teacher is her best friend. I did notice that Lacy's demeanor is very different from the other children in the class. Lacy is quiet and kind of spacey, not very rambunctious and not a lot of energy. I'm thinking it may be due to lack of sleep (but not for lack of trying to regulate her sleep-- I think it's an airway anatomy thing and we're seeing an ENT about it next week). But I could be wrong (it's happened before-- once or twice).

I love this picture. Lacy is turning into GYM GIRL, ready to save the day from evil villains trying to rid the world of panty-showing clothing! By day, she is Lacy Lovely, a mild-mannered preschooler, carefully observing the world around her, ready to change into her alter-ego, GYM GIRL, any time the world needs saving!

Rose is ready to go, too. I've actually been worried about Rose's speech development, and she seems behind compared to where Lacy was at this age. So, I read up a little on speech delay, and I'm convinced she's within the realm of normal, especially considering she uses sign language a lot, too. I started writing down the words she knows, and after 30 words I realized that she knows a lot more than I was giving her credit for. She probably has a regular vocabulary of 5o words, expanding daily by one or two words, at least. At that rate, I won't be surprised if she catches up with her sister in a year! Not only that, she is very good at communicating, and Lacy speaks a lot for Rose, so she doesn't need to talk as much as Lacy did.

Lacy fell asleep tonight like this. Hi-larious. I took the book away after she was like this for, oh, an hour.

Better get to bed. Last night I was asleep at this time! That's what you get when you stop watching TV and reading trashy celebrity gossip websites (shame on me) and mind-numbing (but oh so fun!) bulletin boards!

Check out that winning smile!

Here is Lacy's tooth a few days ago. This one you can see the decay on the side tooth there, but you can't see the molar decay. The first picture is a little fuzzy, but trust me-- it's so much better than it was before.

Today was the big day! Lacy's dentist appointment. It's been about a year since the decay was first diagnosed. It's a miracle that Evil Dental didn't pull the darned thing before they dropped us. Thank goodness her appointments kept on being canceled! I dropped off Rose at Leslie's house, and after a few minutes we set off to the dentist's office. First thing they did was weigh her. She is 31 pounds (and 40 inches tall, on the nose!). A couple minutes later, they gave her the juice (medicine to make them all woozy). It didn't seem to affect her much, because she kept playing. Mostly she was playing baby and mother. There was a doll there, and she got very creative with the play. She would nurse the baby and put her down for a nap a lot. I was so proud! After about an hour, we were taken back (the hour is for the medication to take effect- they were not running behind at all). They put some bubble gum stuff on her nose (nitrous oxide) and put a pulse reader on her finger, and the dentist did his work in only about 10 minutes. There were other people there when we got there, waiting for their turn after they drank the juice. The dentist didn't have to wait long at all between patients. It was all very smooth and smart. Evil Dental-- take note. This is how you can avoid a back log of 3 month appointment waits. They would schedule one of my kids for an hour, and nobody else would be scheduled during this time. So she would only be able to see about 8 people a day, depending on how long the procedures took. I estimate that our new wonderful dentist can see between 25-50 people a day with the way his appointments are set up. It was so great seeing how efficient he was. And GOOD! You can't really tell because the picture is kind of fuzzy, but her teeth look great!

Rose had to copy her sister's smile. And that front tooth that is all chipped and broken? That was repaired by Evil Dental. Twice.

One of Dave's favorite times of the day is when he can read to Lacy. They started reading My Father's Dragon. Dave says it is weird, but it came highly recommended. I say give it more time. Lacy and I are reading Charlotte's Web and we just finished Little House in the Big Woods.

We had a hail storm yesterday. This is during the storm. Plus you can see our completed back yard. We love it!


And this last picture I included because I love Rose's expression.

A conversation with Lacy

Mom, who I going to marry?
I don't know, Lacy.
Mom, I'm going to tell you a secret. (whispers in my ear) I'm going to marry Jonathan.
Your second cousin that was just visiting us?
Yes. What's his last name?
It's XXXXXX, just like ours.
XXXXXX? N as in Nancy, D as in David?

I guess my sweet pea listens to me a lot on the phone! Our last name (which I don't like to use on my blog for personal reasons) is difficult for most people to pronounce and spell, and it often sounds like I'm saying something else even if I spell it out, so I always give them a reference point for the consonants in my last name.

.........

I had the bright idea today to take the kids to a violin concert! Two of my nephews were performing, so I took them, and they did a great job! Unfortunately, my kids didn't do so great there. Lacy reminisced about her daddy daughter date to Rapunzel, which took place in the same theatre as the concert, and informed me that her daddy built the building (he did help with certain aspects of construction of that building, but I think Lacy has the idea that her daddy built the whole thing by himself). But Rose didn't want to sit still, and just climbed up and down stairs and made lots of noise. She would sit still for longer periods of time for Leslie, but then would want me again, and wouldn't stay for more than 3o seconds in our seat.

After the concert, I took Lacy and Rose shopping at Toys R Us to prepare for the upcoming TV free week. I wanted to get Lacy some really cool stuff to do while I put Rose down for a nap, that she is only allowed to play with during that time, so she will not want to watch TV. That's the only time she ever watches TV anyway, so it's not really a big deal to give it up (for her). It's going to be harder for me, since I will be going "screen free," other than minimal computer usage to check and update blogs and email and bills. But I digress. We were pretty much done shopping, and walked by the dress ups section. Lacy is a HUGE fan of dress ups. There was a particular dress she HAD to have, and I'm not one to buy her things when she begs and pleads for them. She's already spoiled enough, I don't need to add to it! Anyway, she had a big tantrum in the middle of the store, and I wasn't able to calm her down. I ended up scooping her up, football style, and taking her out of the store kicking and screaming. I got a lot of sympathetic and "Glad it's you not me" looks from other customers. I completely ignored her on the way home, since she was still having a giant tantrum, and I won't egg her on by acknowledging it. When we got home, I put her in time out, on her bed, and she wasn't allowed out until she was calm. That seems to work the best for her. After a while she was finally calm, but had a couple more mini-tantrums later that day. Lovely.

I clocked out about 5 o'clock today. Unfortunately Dave didn't get in until 6:30, so I did my best to keep going until Dave got home. Thankfully, the girls adore their dad and try to emulate him in every way possible. His homecoming is the highlight of their day. In the following pictures, they are wearing his bandanas. Don't they look deliciously adorable in them? Especially Rose, for some reason, I just want to eat her up.


Lacy pretending she had a mustache

We ended up having a BBQ tonight with our friends Emily and Bill and their four kids. It was at our house, which is a switch since their house is much larger, but it was fun. Lacy loves playing with them, and they totally trashed the play room (which is fine since I can't even count how many times Lacy's assisted in trashing their rooms!). We had steak and salads, and Dave cooked up some scallops we ate as an appetizer. Ice cream for dessert. They were over until 9:30, which was fine since the kids' sleep schedule is totally screwed up anyway. Lacy crashed soon after they left, and Rose didn't until 10:30. She likes to nurse to sleep, but then wakes up immediately if I put her down. Then I have to rock her to sleep. After TV free week is over, we're working on her bedtime routine! I actually might work on naps first, then consistent wake up time, then bedtime. I'm not sure. All I know is, she needs to get on a schedule or Mama is going to go nuts. Her inability to sleep coupled with Lacy's stall tactics (MOM! I have to pee! MOM! Daddy forgot to brush my teeth! MOM! I need a drink of water! Etc, ad nauseum) is making me a candidate for the mental hospital!

Houseguests

We had Dave's cousin Rick and four of his children spend the night with us last night. They were a great family and I'm glad I got to meet them! They are in town because their oldest, Hannah, is in regionals for a debate tournament. I'm hoping she kicks some serious booty and makes it to nationals! The last time Dave saw Rick and Hannah, she was still a baby, and was an only child, so it had been a while! With Rick and Hannah were Jeannette, Jonathan, and Nathanial. My kids adored their second cousins. So much so that Lacy's excitement got the best of her, and she was awake until 11 last night, despite being put to bed hours earlier! Regardless, we were grateful to get to spend time with family, and hope to meet his wife and other two children sometime in the near future.

Rick celebrated his 40th birthday today while they were at our house, and unfortunately I realized after they left I forgot to wish him a happy birthday! So, if you're reading this Rick, I hope you had a great 40th! I was thinking it, but I never said it!

I managed to get a couple pictures with the kids, and just one with Rick and the girls, that didn't turn out too well because of the dual light source.



Who knew that all I needed to entertain my kids was to get the glass repaired in my truck? On Tuesday morning, Dave drove to work in the truck (unusual for him, but I had to get the car checked out at the dealership that day). There was already a crack in the windshield, and a bird hit it, and it cracked all the way up, right through his line of sight. He absolutely couldn't drive around like that, lest he get a ticket, so I called Safelight Auto Glass right away for an appointment, and they came out to my house to repair the glass. The girls were absolutely fascenated with the whole ordeal. When it came time to pay, I said to Sean, our installer, "Bet you didn't know you were performing today!" The girls watched him from an open door, and at least Lacy sat there the entire time while I folded laundry. I managed to get a picture or two of them being entertained by the glass man!



And one more of cutie Rose, taken by Dave's cousin Rick this morning!

My cute girls

I love how much they love each other. Most of the time. Here they're sitting on their box playhouse. They love to climb up it all the time, and tap dance on the roof. That makes me crazy, but so does a lot of things they do! At least they're friends!

Today I got rid of my Doc Martins. I wore them almost every day in high school after I got them for my 16th birthday. Ah, memories. Well, when I wore them, I put in rainbow shoelaces, but those broke off so long ago. I donated them to Goodwill, but I had to take a picture for memory's sake. I briefly considered taking a picture of me wearing them, but we were already late to our appointment at the doctor's office, so I opted to just take a picture and donate them. I'm almost sad I got rid of them, but I don't think I've worn them even once since I got married almost 8 years ago, so what's the point in keeping them any longer?
Today we went to the Apple Cider Mill. It was so much fun! The weather was great, and we had a lot of fun! Here is my nephew Cooper with a goat sniffing him, or maybe he's trying to eat him. I'm not sure.
Here is the goat and one of her kids that were born that day! It was very exciting to see such a new life in front of us.
The peacock decided to show off for us! Beautiful!

Rose and Turner, being cute for the camera.We had such a good time. Lacy was in 7th heaven, looking at all the cute baby animals! There were so many different animals to look at-- ducks, guineas, peafowl, rabbits, goats, sheep, cattle, chickens, and a pig! They have gardens and a field for crops and lots and lots of animals. And apples are only $.89 a pound there everyday! And they're GOOD! Plus the cider and freshly made donuts are a big bonus. After we had wandered around looking at all the animals, I bought a dozen donuts and a bag of apples and some raspberry apple cider. I shared the donuts with all my sister's kids (she brought all 6 of them, and it was quite a riot!) and with my kids. The spring flowers were blooming and the animals were all new, and other than the misbehavior of several children (I'm not naming any names here, but you know who you are!) it was a glorious day!

Cute Randomness

OK, first the not so cute, because I promised pictures of our yard...

This is when they first started.





Break time!
The topsoil...

And that's what the yard looks like now. I wish you could see the whole thing at once in a photograph. It looks so much bigger than it did before. The down side is that our fence broke. Dave expects the contractors to fix it, though.

The rest of the pictures are just random cute pictures, all from this month. In my clothes (and Dave's tie)

Rose with my friend Emily's daughter Esme (she's 4.5 months old, born on Thanksgiving!)

Rose, reading to her doll

Dave and Lacy, chillin
Lacy and I both nursing our babies at the same time
Silly pants head girls
I love this face. So innocent. She's such a sweetheart.

We started reading Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder this week. Lacy loves it! I thought maybe she was old enough for simple chapter books, and I was right! She will sit there and listen and is so interested in Laura and her Ma and Pa and sister Mary and baby sister Carrie. I've got to figure out what else to read her when this is done. I've been told by a very reliable source that the next books in the series are probably a bit too much for a 3 year old. I have no idea what else to read her! Any ideas? I love that my kids are major readers!

We're also participating in National TV Free week, the 4th week of April. It's going to be hard! I rely on TV to entertain Lacy while I put Rose down for a nap. Generally, that's all the TV she gets for the day (between 30 minutes and 1.5 hours, depending on how difficult Rose decides to be that day!). I've got to get a lot of fun ideas for things that she can do independently while I work on putting her sister down for her nap! Also, I will be participating, but I'll also participate by having screen-free week. So, no surfing the internet for me. I have allowed myself to update this blog, my family's blog, check email, and complete necessary transactions online. Other than that, I will be off the net. Dave is thrilled. I'm not, but it's a goal and I'm going to do it.


Got to get to bed! I'm trying to be in bed by 11 every night. I've already failed tonight, but I can still make it by 11:30 if I hurry!

Hi, I'm Dave

said Lacy this morning when she first got up. She wasn't dressed, so after she got done with breakfast, I told her she needed to get dressed for the day. "I'm a boy and I wear boy underwear, not panties."

"Well, we don't have any boy underwear. So you need to pretend they're boy underwear, OK?"

"OK," she replied in her lowest "man" voice, "I want princess underwear. Yes, those ones." Her voice is still as deep as she can get it.

"Now we need to choose a shirt. Which one would you like."

Still in her low voice, "The flower one."

"And how about your pink boy stretch pants to go along with it?"

"OK."

She later went on to say that she "goes to work" and her work is fishing, and that she had a headache (a constant refrain of Dave's).

And WAIT till you see what we've done with the yard! I'll post pictures later! Maybe on my family's blog, but I'll try to post today!

I just had the best conversation

...while cleaning up puke from my darling little Lacy. She has a very sensitive reflex, so when she has a cold, sometimes puking ensues. This time, it didn't require a bath, but it did require a change of sheets and pajamas. While I was cleaning everything up, we had a great conversation about, well, nothing, really. We talked about when Santa will be coming next, so then I explained to her the concept of months, and told her each of the months. When I said July, her face lit up, "Like my birthday!" Then she had to ask about all my sister's kids birthday months. I was surprised she knew right away what month Rose was born in. Then we talked about how much we loved each other. Me: "I love you as big as the sky!" Lacy: "I love you as big as the UNICORN!" Dave started saying this game with her and said "I love you as big as the universe," but of course Lacy has no concept of the universe, so she took something that she does understand the context of. Plus, she's somewhat obsessed with unicorns at the moment.

Even with Dave's heavy work schedule, he's been doing a lot of yard work lately. I've been trying to help him out, so today the kids and I spent a couple hours outside, the whole time I was raking or picking up branches and putting them in a pile, or spreading bark around the garden (we didn't get nice garden bark, it's actually the bark that fell off our wood that we have for burning. So it's in huge chunks, like 6"x15" pieces). The girls have their outdoor boots that I'm getting them in the habit of taking off as they come in the house. Hopefully this will keep the mess to a minimum in the house. Maybe I'll buy them some crocs for the summer, because I wouldn't want to be wearing hot rain boots all summer long!

Alas, I'd better go to bed. Lacy just really made me happy and I needed to blog about it. She's such a little sweetie.