Eye Surgery!

Tomorrow morning I am having laser eye surgery...I have worn contacts or glasses every single day of my life for the past 20 years.  It will be AMAZING to have corrected vision.  Please join me in crossing fingers for success tomorrow!  I am so hopeful (and nervous too!) 

Big Photo Update

I've been such a bad blogger lately- we have been CRAZY busy but I have pictures....does that make it better? 

Look at my beautiful girls:

You're welcome. :)

UNhappy Baby!

Poor Audrey is a mess right now.  For the past few days she has been having a tough time- lots of tears and fussing, which is completely abnormal for her.  Well, last night she fussed for almost 90 minutes (off and on) before Paul and I gave up and let her get up.  She laughed, cooed, smiled, etc at us and we figured she was just acting up a bit (she had been in WV with my in laws over the weekend and got a little spoiled, sleeping in arms, etc.)  We tried to put her down and she got SO upset- we're talking inconsolable crying...so atypical for our little girl.  Finally she gave up and we went to bed.


Or so we THOUGHT she gave up.  She woke up, as usual, around 2:30am and I gave her a bottle and put her back to bed.  Paul and I have both been suffering from some insomnia...tons of stress in our lives right now...so I was lying there, not sleeping, when she started crying again.  And again.  And again...until it was 4:30 and we STILL had not gone back to bed (by this point I had sent Paul to the guest room to sleep since he is on call for everything--adults, peds, rehab-- tonight).  I went downstairs and requested a substitute teacher for the morning since there was just NO way I could teach all day if my day started at 2:30.  She finally slept around 5 and I slept with her in my bed...until 6:15, when Emily woke up.  I. Was. Exhausted.!! I never really got anymore sleep and we just got up and got ready for the day. 

In the morning, when I was getting ready to go to work, Jamey called and said that Audrey seemed like she might have an earache (fyi, Emily has NEVER had one, so I had no idea what to look for).  Paul was able to take her in to the pediatrician this morning and she has a slight ear infection but the doctor was mostly thinking this is all caused by teething...apparently poor Audrey's gums are super inflamed and she expects us to see multiple teeth any day now.  Honestly....this is one time it's ok to not be an overachiever, lol!  Although I guess if she gets a few at once it means we deal with this for less time....

At any rate...I am beat.  Just wanted to put this on the blog for posterity's sake...someday we'll look back on this and remember how hard it was to have young children and constantly have interrupted sleep.  But for now...I'm going to bed. :)

3 Years and 5 Months Old!

Emily is getting so big! It is time to try to remember all the fun (and funny) things she is doing right now.  Ready? Go!

- She has memorized most of the stories we read regularly.  She will point to the words and insist that she knows what they say. 

- She has also started inserting, "Said I" into a lot of her sentences....for example, "Mommy, could I have some milk, said I."  It's hilarious!

- She stayed overnight with my in-laws last weekend while we went to close on the new house.  She asked me before we left if Granny and Grandaddy still had her special room at their house. So sweet!

- She 'dislikes' most foods and refuses to try them, even when they are her favorites.  Then she will take a bite of whatever you've given her and say, "Why I love ____! It's so delicious!" So funny!

- She insists on playing Princess/dress up/pretend almost minute that she is awake.  She has roles for us to  play and we are only allowed to do what *she* says we can do.  Makes for some very interesting play sessions, since Paul and I don't like to be told what to do, haha!

- She has taken either a princess doll, Disney fairy, or Little Mermaid figurine to school for the past 4 weeks' worth of Show and Share.  Obsessed much??

- On that same note, she is obsessed with the new Disney Junior show Jake and the Neverland Pirates.  I asked her if she wanted to have a Pirates and Mermaids party this year (we think of these things WELL in advance) and she said, "And a Humans party, too?" (Ariel= mermaid, Prince Eric= human).  So funny!  I assured her that yes, Humans would attend the party.

- She has renamed our dog Cheese, after the mouse in the Tinkerbell movies. Again...obsessed?

- She can write her own name.  Did you just read that?  SHE IS NOT EVEN 3 AND A HALF AND SHE CAN WRITE HER OWN NAME!!  Plus Paul's name PLUS my name, minus that tricky S. I. AM. SO. PROUD!

- When we went back to WV last weekend I visited 2 preschools that I am DYING for her to attend- either one would be incredible so please cross your fingers with me that she gets a spot!!

- She and Audrey will visit the new house this weekend for the first time and I am so excited for her to see her new room, even if it's not completely ready.  She is mostly excited about her new playroom and Home Living area!

- On the drive from WV back to NC last weekend she talked THE ENTIRE TRIP except for about 20 minutes.  It was not good.

- She now wants NOT ONLY a specific show or DVD but will let you know exactly where  she wants you to start it, too.  Can we say controlling?!  She kills me.

- She is always asking me, "Mommy, how is a 6? A 7? A 9?"  What she wants to know is how to show those numbers with her hands....so then I'll say, "OK, a 6 is all the fingers on one hand, to give you 5, and then one more, to give you 6."  Then I will show her, then she'll do it...then she just beams with pride because she can show that number with her fingers. CUTE!

- She is getting more strong-willed (!!!!!) about picking out her clothes.  Honestly...if you catch her somewhere wearing some disaster of an outfit DO NOT look at me.  I don't know how much more fight is left in me!!

- She is officially in love with Audrey.  Melts my heart!  She always comes over and loves on her, holds her hands, etc.  But I did have to laugh this morning- Audrey grabbed a toy and Emily was like, "Mommy! Audrey won't share with me!"  Oh boy...previews of things to come, lol!

Sorry for the pictures drought.  We've been SUPER busy buying a house, getting this one showing- ready, upkeep on this house, working, parenting, traveling, etc.  I promise this month will be better!!! :) :)

6 Month Well Baby Visit

Audrey had her 6 month well child visit today.  Paul took her again because tomorrow I will be out of school for part of the day for my LASIK eval and I couldn't miss that much time (still in the negative as far as sick time goes thanks to maternity leave and all Audrey's illnesses pre-swallow study!)

Her stats:

Weight: 14lbs 13oz (75th%)
Length: Well, we don't actually know because Daddy can't remember!  Last time I send a man to do a woman's job....  I'll measure her tomorrow to find out, haha!
Head Circumference: See "length" above...;)

The pediatrician said she looks good and gave us the go-ahead to start rice cereal and other 1st foods.  She got several shots today but Paul said she was only upset for just a second- not the total meltdown we've had in the past.  She goes back in one month for a flu-shot booster.

I love the look on her face here....like, "Ok mom....bleck!"

Big belly baby!

Tonight we tried rice cereal for the first time.  She loved it!  She did really well and probably ate a tablespoon total.  I guess we'll do the same procedure we did with Emily and will do rice for a little bit (3-4 days) and then do all vegetables for a week each, then all fruits for a week each.  I can't believe it's time for her to be eating solids already! 

Finally...today was Dr Seuss' birthday so I just had to share my getup for school today....I also had to pick Emily up at school and BOY did I get some crazy looks!!

Audrey is 6 Months Old!

I can't even believe we are halfway to Audrey's first birthday!  (But I have to know...are YOU surprised to know that I already have her party things bought?! haha!)

I am stunned at how quickly the time is passing.  She is growing bigger, stronger, and more interactive every single day.  It's amazing to see her develop so quickly now that we have her swallowing issues under control.  I tell Paul ALL the time how it seems like she was asleep for 3 months or something, and has now woken up.  Of course she wasn't really asleep, but due to her aspirating fluid during every bottle she was constantly so sick she wasn't able to do things other babies do.  So I'm THRILLED that she's moving so fast now!  Here's a snippet of what life is like with sweet Audrey right now:

- she is rolling!  Tummy Time is basically a thing of the past- it only takes about 30 seconds or so for her to roll over to her back.  She also rolls to her tummy from her back and I've even caught her sleeping on her tummy too...be still my heart!  I wish she'd just stay on her back!

 

- She is transferring toys from one hand to the other, and constantly has her hands in her mouth.  She grabs at everything (hair, jewelry, clothes...you just better watch out!) It's so cute to watch her grab hold of anything she can and drag it to her mouth. 

- Speaking of her mouth, we're expecting to see more teeth in there any day now.  She has 2 upper incisors that have been through the skin just barely for almost a month now.  Tonight we were looking and her bottom 2 teeth might be next- the gumline was raised and redder than the rest of her mouth.  I know she's hurting- she's been super fussy and hungrier than normal.  Poor pumpkin! 

- She loooooves to play in the exersaucer!  It's amazing to watch her develop a little more every single time she gets in there!  At first she would just look around (overwhelmed!) at the toys.  Now she's grabbing them, turning the pages on the book, spinning the ball/wheel toy, squeezing the plush toys...all in a matter of a couple weeks.  She also has figured out how to spin the chair around in a complete circle.  We have the exersaucer in the kitchen and she watches us cook and move around the room. We love it!

- She continues to adore Emily.  I wish I had a video camera I could sneakily pull out to catch their little moments together- they melt my heart!  Tonight Emily was holding Audrey on the couch and Audrey was just blabbering away to her.  She always stops playing whenever Emmy comes nearby and Emily stops to give Audrey kisses and hugs.  Tonight Emily was even cheering for Audrey as we noticed she was playing with a new exersaucer toy.  Precious!

- She is in size 2 diapers now and is eating 5oz every 4 hours.

- Tonight, given the go-ahead from the pediatrician, we are going to let her try solids for the first time!  We are so excited to let her try rice cereal, even though we know she's not going to like it at all probably.  I can't wait for this big milestone!

That's about all we have now.  She is going to go to WV with us in a couple weeks to close on our new house (Emily will stay here with my in-laws since we'll be painting and stuff and Emily can't shouldn't help with that, haha!) We're looking forward to the closing, of course, but also to having a few days with just our little girl.  Life is good!