In April

Abby has been a little off these last few days. I'm not sure if she is still hurting or if it is from being sick but she is very weepy/clingy/sad and can be quite naughty. The sad/weepies make me sad though. Bedtime & naptime have gotten very hard. She criiiiies when we lay her down for naps and you have to pry her arms from around your neck so that you can lay her down. "Hold you, hold you, hold you" she says over and over again. It took me a few minuets to understand that we ask her "do you want me to hold you?" ..."yeeess" Therefore she was telling us that "hold you" meant "hold me" This is a new thing for us.... she normally doesn't like to be held....

She was afraid of trains the other day and wouldn't play outside... so I took her out with me and we watched them. She used to love them.... Then today she was afraid because she heard a plane.... again something she used to love. I try to reassure her but she gets very worked up about it. I'm not used to the afraid Abby! Of course speeds, dangerous drops and burning hot objects are still fair game as far as she is concerned so we have to watch out for that!

I feel torn as a mom though... because she is so NEEDY right now.... which would be fine except that I have two other very NEEDY little twinkies in my house and when I'm alone things can get a little out of hand. Every bone in my body hurts... I feel like I just run and run and run and run and give... till I'm not sure I can go any more. And now as I sit and write I feel like I should have done more.This afternoon they were all crying... but I just had to lay down on the couch for a few moments.... things got better after Tom came home and we went for a walk, grilled hamburgers and went to the park. She had fun... we will have to go more often now that it is getting nicer out! The walks must be helping, I've lost 10 pounds in the last month! not sure where it went but it was nice to step on the scale and see that.

K&K are really pushing up on their hands now and can scoot around the floor. They aren't 'crawling' but through means of scooting 360 and rolling they tend to get where they want to for the most part. We will need to get a baby gate up sooner than later! The sounds they make are really cute too. Kiley's is very wet and Kara is very coooooey. In fact I woke up to her coo at 7am this morning... it wasn't a good night and the morning was far too early! I really love snuggling with them... but on that note they are sleeping and I need to be. I'm too tired to stay up this late any more!

Take a moment... to smell the dandelions

It's 12:18... I'm still up because Kara went to sleep, Kiley fell asleep around 11pm and Abby woke up screaming at 11:30 and I just now got her back down. I'm not sure if she had a bad dream but the way she was screaming and having just had a 103 temp yesterday and a stomach bug I had to check on her. I tried to get her to eat a few crackers, just in case she was hungry but she still won't eat really. Hopefully her appetite will return tomorrow.  She was very scared and sad and when she was sitting in her booster chair at the table I asked her if she wanted me to hold her (she was sniffing sadly) she went "yees" very sweetly and sadly.

What's an extra hour of sleep when I can hold my Abby instead... she felt so small tonight....

She brought me my first flowers from her today... they were the heads of dandelions but they could have been roses... and I almost missed it. I almost told her to find Daddy and show him the flowers. How quickly sometimes we get caught up in the things we 'need' to do. Maybe sometimes we just need to take a moment and smell the dandelions. I put them in an envelope and marked it, dated it and sealed it. I may be crazy but I'm saving them... they are special.

I love being a mom...

Over the rainbow....

There are several things that I have learned from having kids..
 1) It IS possible to blow bubbles with your nose using  a bubble wand
2) You really CAN cry until you throw up
3) Dog food is fascinating and apparently tastes better than an apple strudel, sausage or whatever we had for lunch
4) Never stand down wind from a sandbox
5) Shoes- like socks- have a tendency to run away when you are in the biggest hurry to get out of the house
6) You can survive on very little sleep, for a very long time

There are many many many more things that I have learned in my experiences as a parent. I'll try to keep writing the more interesting ones. Spring has arrived and brought with it 40mph winds and temps in the 80s... the temps I don't mind but the wind? Ach! It makes playing outside difficult even if Abby still likes it. We finally decided to get satellite... I really debated this and part of me doesn't want to get it yet. If we could get a super limited plan of HGTV and ESPN for $5 a month and no equipment fees I would totally do it. BUT I can't really deny Tom the football draft and other hours of game coverage... we went without it for 3 years so I suppose we did pretty good considering. Too bad they don't have a Sesame Street channel. Abby loves watching her Elmo & Abby birthday DVD.... we 'watched' it 3 times yesterday. I can't remember if I mentioned that I talked to her OT about our carseat escape troubles... she was going to talk to some other people who deal with that issue and let me know what they suggest. I'm to the point where I could take her down to the fire station and get help. We have her carseat covered in duct tape and she still manages to slip out.

Speaking of which...I had a feeling the antibiotic she is on wasn't working... well now I have a feeling that it is not only working but she is reacting to it. Her stomach, back and thighs have a rash on it. When I gave her a bath tonight I noticed it. I feel a little bad that I didn't notice it earlier but I will certainly be giving the doctor's office another call tomorrow morning. Poor thing, I hate that she suffers because I don't catch onto her signals. I knew something was bothering her but I assumed it was because of her runny nose and such. I can only hope that she doesn't ever get anything too bad without me noticing!

On a more positive note... K&K are both really working on sitting up now. Outside of the squished tummy position they are getting to the point where they can almost support their weight sitting. I have a sneaking suspicion they are teething. Kara has really been drooling and munching on my fingers. Wow hard to believe they are 5 months old already! Where does the time go? I can really tell them apart now with their different looks and personalities. It's funny how that works but Kiley and Kara have a very different smile. Kara's is a mouth wide open, tongue hanging out smile and Kiley's is a little squinty eyed smirk. Kara loves having her tongue hang out and she also loves to clutch at my hand/wrist when I change her diaper. We were having a lot of screaming issues these last few nights but I've discovered that after a little Tylenol the screaming stops and they finally settle down enough to sleep. Hence the possible teething explanation.

The girls are both rolling about but no signs of crawling as of yet, Kiley likes to scrunch her little bottom in the air in the attempts to get some leverage but she never gets far. They are also tall enough to stand up in the rainforest bouncer. I HATE that they arch their backs so bad... it has caused them to 'jump' out of their saucer chairs twice now (Kara) the first time Kara just recovered and kept playing but the 2nd time she scared herself. Now they get buckled in.

My photography niche is really starting to pick up. I wonder how long I can continue to do this as a hobby and at what point I will need to get a business license. It is nice to feel like I am contributing even if it isn't a lot after the money I have needed to put into my equpiment and props. (Everything either made or bought on clearance but still adds up!) It is really exciting though!

Well I think this is goodbye and time for bed.... I've killed two wasps today and Tom one... I would really like to find out where their nest is so I can get rid of it. I told Abby that they were owey bugs... I'm hoping that keeps her from bothering them. Because you know she would... It's raining pretty good here and the lighting is fun to watch. I love Spring....

Do Do Do

It's been awhile I know. Lately I've been so sleep deprived and busy that I just didn't make my way to the blog...

What we've been up to: We just got home this afternoon from Tom's parent's place. We went down there to visit his aunt and cousin that were flying in. It was a good weekend, the driving trips weren't AS tough as they could have been and the girls behaved for the most part. The first night K&K were very upset and it took a loooong time to get them to stop screaming. Abby loved all of the attention and as always loves visiting her Grandma and Grandpa D. This morning we even got the chance to visit a beaver dam that is out near their place. I got some cute pictures that I'm sure I'll get up sometime. Right now I'm drowning in pictures after doing Two... yes TWO photo sessions yesterday. They both went great and now I'm attempting to get the pictures all edited so I can send out the cds. But I digress....

K&K I went to Hobby Lobby this afternoon while Tom took Abby to her therapy appointment. Wow are they getting heavy!! I put Kara in the carseat on top and walked around with Kiley. They were so cute talking and laughing at eachother. I can't wait until they do more of that! Of course by the end my arms were aching and Tom called to let me know they were done so it was good timing. They decided to go for a walk as they were waiting for us and when I found them Abby and Tom were watching squirrels play by the side of the road. Abby waved and said goodbye to the squirrels as she got into the van.

Speaking of which ... Abby is an escape artist and is VERY difficult to keep in her car seat. I'm looking for ideas on how to keep her in. The duck tape didn't work. I don't know how she does it but I can't keep the harness on her shoulders. At least the lap belt part is still staying on. I just don't like it because it feels so unsafe to have her half buckeled! Are there any products out there that make it so they can't get out?? My toddler cannot be the only one who has done this before.

We did pick up a grill today too. And he's cute too! I wanted to name him Sparky but I'm not sure what Tom thought of the name. We made hobo burgers (or foil packs) tonight and oh wow were they fabulous. Amazing what the difference was between our old grill and this new one that cooks infrared style... (don't ask me how it works) Though our old one was free... and it did it's duty well. Anyone want a free grill?

After supper we went out for a walk and Kara rode in the Beco (as she has lately, she hates car seats) and Kiley rode in the stroller while Abby sat in the wagon. We have to look very entertaining to those of you out walking around town or peeping through the windows. It certainly isn't hard to miss us!

Abby is LOVING her brand new backyard. The swingset is up... the sandbox is full and there is so much to do and to play with. I taught her how to swing on her tummy since she can't quite get up on the swings to sit on them yet. It's made life a lot easier for me because now she can 'do it' herself. (I do it!) The other day it was so cute because she was sitting in the sandbox with her toys and she had this little octopus mold ... thing. But she apparently thought it most resembled a baby and was rocking it, putting it to sleep. She even gave it rides on the swing... then later I looked and she had two of them. It's amazing how often she can't have just ONE baby but she wants to have TWO. I can't imagine why...

Well midnight knocks on the door once again.... time for me to skidaddle. Night!