Happy 1st Birthday Cousin Halle!

Exactly one year ago today Cousin Halle graced us with her presence. Auntie C and Uncle P are busy celebrating today. We are busy wishing we could be there to witness the mess of little fingers eating cake. Enjoy every moment Auntie C because you’ll blink and she’ll be getting ready for kindergarten.


In other news, we had a busy weekend. We are all exhausted. Flower seems to be coming down with a cold. Friday we ran errands and took Flower back to the dentist so he could check her front tooth. It’s doing fine. Saturday the girls had a sleep over at Nana and Papa’s while Dear Husband and I went fishing/rafting with some friends. Today the Thunderbirds were in town so we had a picnic at DH’s office, which is very close to the airport. We had great seats and didn’t have to battle the crowds. I snapped a ton of photos but thought these were noteworthy.

Wildflowers

As I mentioned earlier, we spent last weekend at Great Grandma C’s. A lovely time was had by all, except Keilie dog of course, but I’m sure she’s forgotten about the little poisoning incident by now.

GGC always plants a wonderful mix of wildflowers in her backyard and the girls love them. I’m not a great photographer, or even a photographer at all for that matter, however I did manage to catch a few shots I wanted to share with you.

Just an Observation

OK, I’ll admit I am a fan of the show Jon and Kate Plus 8. I think it is mostly because I am in awe of anyone who has multiples, let alone two sets. The show gives me a small glimpse into what life might be like with multiples. I’m not going to ramble on about the Gosselin’s current situation because you can read the tabloids.

I did want to share this article, however, because there is one line in it where the author points out something that occurred to me just last night as I was reading Snow White to Princess at bedtime. "Look at Walt Disney cartoons: It's always the wicked stepmother and the hero father." I have been reading Walt Disney stories to Princess for over four years. Last night was the first time it occurred to me how similar most of the story lines were. That’s it. I have no point, just an observation.

Doggie Update

We are still a happy family of five. Keilie Dog spent the afternoon at the vet. Her blood work looks good. Her clotting rate was 12 (normal is 11-18, the lower the better) so we were happy to hear that. Dear Husband said the girls are probably going to attend a 2 year college since this dog is costing us a small fortune.

The Dog with Nine Lives

For those of you who don't know this already, 1/2 cup of hydrogen peroxide with a warm water chaser makes a dog vomit almost immediately. Don't ask why I know this.

Pre-Weekend Update

Things are looking up around here. In case you were wondering Princess is feeling better. No emergency trips to the bathroom in 18 hours. We're busy packing this morning. We are headed to Great Grandma C's this afternoon for her surprise 80th birthday party. Auntie A is flying in for the weekend.

Saturday we'll make a short road trip to attend an annual memorial walk with Auntie A and Uncle L. Back to GGC's Saturday night to visit with all the out of state relatives. Home on Sunday. At least that's the plan. We'll see who gets the stomach bug next.

An Early (or Late) Visit from the Tooth Fairy

I’m sure you think this is going to be a post about Flower’s front tooth but it’s not. Flower still has both of her front teeth. Yes, one is a little gray, but it’s still intact and that’s the best we can hope for right now.

This post is actually about Princess. Monday after her doctor appointment we stopped by the library on the way home to pick up some books. Princess chose a book about a little girl named Jane who had a loose tooth but didn’t want to lose it. It’s actually a good story if you have a little one who is starting to lose their teeth and not thrilled about it. If you’re interested I found it on Amazon Jane Vs. the Tooth Fairy.

Daddy left early this morning for his annual office fishing trip and on the kitchen counter was the contents of his pocket….a huge pile of change. Princess was thrilled when she spotted the change and immediately asked if she could have it. When it comes to change lying around the house I figure, finders-keepers. I told Princess it was all hers but she must share it with Flower.

Princess and I went upstairs to wake Flower up and give part of the money to her. As Flower was stuffing her riches into her piggy bank I noticed Princess was in our bedroom rearranging the pillows on my side of the bed. She doesn’t know I saw her but I’ll bet the tooth fairy made a special visit to our house this morning.

Round Two

Daycare called me at work about an hour ago. Princess was on the potty all morning with diarrhea. We're home now preparing for round two. Need I say more?

There are no words….

….to describe our weekend. Dear Husband summarized it best last night after the girls went to bed and we were sitting on the couch. “This weekend sucked.” It really wasn’t bad every minute, just a few really, really bad minutes and of course, those are the ones still fresh in our mind.

Flower woke up around midnight last Thursday with a tummy ache. I hoped it was something she ate but at 7:00 am Friday morning she was standing in her bed calling for me. There was a stench coming from her room. You guessed it, diarrhea. We stuck close to the bathroom for a couple hours and she seemed to be better. The rest of the day we took it easy and played outside.

Saturday morning Flower still had a little diarrhea and Princess limped into our room crying. She told me her leg hurt and itched on the inside and her body wouldn’t let her scratch her leg bone. I wasn’t completely awake yet and I didn’t understand what she was trying to tell me. When we got up I saw a hard, red slightly swollen area on her leg and arm. DH and I poked around and figured she must have been bitten when she was outside the previous evening. I applied some prescription crème left over from a similar incident last summer and forged ahead.

We had a birthday party to attend for Sweet Boy Saturday afternoon. Flower was better by late morning but we didn’t want to share our good fortune with Homestead so Flower and DH went to Nana’s while Princess and I went to the party. Princess had a blast at the Adventure Zone (large climbing gym with a pool of balls) and is thinking about having her birthday party there.

DH called just as we were leaving the party and was going to pick up dinner on his way home. Princess and I headed home. About 15 minutes later I get another call from DH. His voice was a little frantic and Flower was sobbing on the background so loud he couldn’t hear me. This made my blood pressure skyrocket and I was yelling back into my phone (as if that would help). DH was finally able to hear me and Flower was sick. Puke everywhere. They were in the drive thru. It wasn’t pretty.

I won’t go into the gory details but let’s just say DH scooped handfuls out of the car seat and I emptied her shoes when they got home. It really wasn’t pretty. After we got Flower cleaned up she appeared to be feeling much better so I mistakenly thought we were on the downhill slope.

Sunday morning DH got up early and went fishing. The girls and I hung out again. Flower’s stomach seemed ok so I was hopefully we’d be ok on Monday…until Princess showed me her arm. Her leg was better, or at least the same. Her arm was not. The redness and swelling had gone from slightly larger than a golf ball to softball size or more. It was warm to the touch and tender. I’m not a doctor but this made me worry. DH got home at noon and I called the doctor. I knew he was on call this weekend and I really wanted to talk to our doctor. (insider info from Homestead) His nurse told me to get to the clinic ASAP so Princess and I dropped what we were doing (eating lunch) and headed to town. The doctor confirmed my suspicion that her arm didn’t look good and prescribed some heavy-duty antibiotics. We also have to go back and see him this afternoon.

We spent the afternoon on the couch watching movies and relaxing. DH started dinner and Flower’s tummy took a turn for the worse. Again, I won’t go into the details in case anyone is reading this over lunch, but I will say I lost count on diaper #5 about 30 minutes into the marathon. Flower’s bum looks like a tomato even after the soda bathes. We finally got around to dinner. Nana and Papa stopped by to say hi. I was cleaning up the kitchen and Princess came to tell me something. All of the sudden I can feel something wet splashing up on my feet and legs. Dose #1 of the antibiotics was all over the kitchen floor and fridge and Princess was a mess. Did I mention our house already had a residual diarrhea smell? Now we can add vomit to the aroma. Nice.

So more bathes, more antibiotics, yada yada yada, and we finally got everyone to bed. I called work to tell my boss I wouldn’t be in today. Oh yeah, and one last call to our doctor to make sure more redness and swelling wasn’t cause for a trip to the ER. By some miracle everyone except me (Did I mention my cough came back so I had to refill my antibiotics yesterday also?) slept well last night. I have my fingers crossed Flower is past whatever took over her tummy and Princess keeps her antibiotics down. So far so good.

Are You Sure This Is A Dental Office?

Two weeks ago yesterday Flower fell down and hit her two front teeth on our wood floor. Her teeth were pretty sore for a few days but we thought everything would be fine and really, there isn’t much we could do anyway. A couple days ago one of her front teeth started to turn a little gray. I spoke to our dentist two weeks ago and he assured me she most likely didn’t do any damage to her permanent teeth and to call him if anything changed.

This morning I called our dentist to tell him her tooth is turning gray and he referred us to a pediatric dentist in town. The only pediatric dentist in our region I was told. I called the pediatric dentist and they had me bring Flower in at noon. It was quite the experience. Completely different from any dental appointments with Princess.

The office was wild….as in jungle wild. Murals on every wall, movies playing everywhere you look (including in the ceiling above the chairs), video game stations in the waiting room, two huge fish tanks with colorful fish and bright, cheery dental assistants. It felt more like a carnival than a dental office. To tell you the truth, it was sensory overload for me. Flower, however, loved it.

Flower sat still for an x-ray and didn’t hesitate at all when the dental assistance asked her to come back to one of the animal theme rooms. Flower played with the chair and looked all over the kid friendly room. By the time the dentist got to us Flower was completely comfortable in the chair and didn’t mind one bit when he raised her up, tipped her back, and poked all around in her mouth.

I learned Flower has a crossbite but will mostly likely out grown it in a couple years. Her front teeth are a little loose so we have to go back in two weeks for a quick check to make sure they tighten up. The x-rays showed her root wasn’t completely straight but it may have been that way before her fall. We go back in 6 months for another x-ray to see how it’s doing. The dentist said there is a 98% chance her tooth will eventually lightened up to it’s normal color and fall out normally in a few years but we’ll have to wait and see.

I was so proud of how well Flower did today. She followed instructions and wasn’t afraid of anything or anyone. Maybe it was the atmosphere; after all, we were dealing with professionals. I think Flower really enjoyed her dental appointment. Flower sat still in the chair and let the dentist examine her teeth which is way more than Princess has done in any of the four dental appointments she has had to date. I like our dentist but I’m thinking I might take Princess to the new dentist for her next checkup and see if she enjoys the experience as much as Flower.

June 6th

For my readers who don't live in Big Sky Country, it's snowing and 36 degrees right now. Just so you know....

Flower Girls....

....and Daddy.

An Identity Crisis

As you know Flower is potty training. A couple minutes ago I asked the girls to head upstairs for their bath and this is what I heard.

Flower "I wet."

Me "Flower, I thought you just went potty and you were dry."

Flower "I dry."

Daddy "Flower, you don't know what you are."

Flower "I FLOWER!!!"

Good Morning Merry Sunshine

Mornings around our house can be a little unpredictable. Some days everyone gets up and going without any crying, whining or complaining. Today was not one of those days. It wasn’t a bad morning per se; it just wasn’t one of our best mornings.

Over the last two and a half years Princess has had clothing issues. I’m sure I’ve mentioned that Princess won’t wear anything that….well….fits her. She doesn’t like her clothes to touch her so last summer she only wore sundresses. That was fine until winter rolled around and a sundress and flip flops would get you frostbite, and probably a visit from the child welfare people too. Princess has come a long way in the last year and with a little coaxing and bribery she has been wearing some new summer clothes lately but that’s a whole other post.

Morning with Princess is a crap shoot. She either wakes up very pleasant or very grumpy. There doesn’t seem to be any middle ground. I have yet to figure out how to make our mornings cheery so I just grab a cup of coffee and go with the flow….to the best of my abilities. Princess picks out her clothes before she goes to bed so theoretically all she has to do is get up and put them on. Today that didn’t work so well.

Normally Princess wakes up about 15 minutes before Flower which gives me time to help Princess get going. Today the girls woke up about the same time and Princess was not ready to start her day. From the bathroom Flower and I could hear growling and groaning coming from Princess. Flower looked at me and asked “What wrong Princess?” to which I replied “Princess is grumpy this morning.” Flower jumped off the potty and trotted into see Princess. I could hear Flower ask Princess if she was grumpy. This evoked another growl from Princess and a “NO!” Flower came back into the bathroom and informed me that Princess was not grumpy. I’m not sure Flower understands the true meaning of grumpy…..

Ideas...anyone?

We are attending the wedding of a high school classmate this weekend. It is the second marriage for both of them. They both have kids. They combined households last year. They are not registered anywhere. I need a gift. So far all I have come up with is a picture frame, pilsner glasses or wine glasses. I'm sure everyone other person attending the wedding is thinking the exact same thing.

We Had Fun, Fun, Fun!

Princess and I headed to Phoenix to visit Auntie C, P and Cousin H last weekend. We had a blast and will be recovering from the heat and activities for a while. We flew down on Thursday and back home yesterday. Flower, Daddy, Nana and Papa had a fun filled weekend of bathroom demolition at Great Grandma C’s. I’m pretty sure Princess and I got the better end of the deal, even if it was 100+ degrees in Phoenix.

Our weekend went something like this.

Thursday – Head to airport 90 miles north. 10 minutes from home Princess began to ask “How much farther to the airport?” and continued to ask every 3 minutes until we arrived. Princess navigated airport security like a seasoned traveler. The TSA lady looked over her boarding pass, asked Princess her name, and then asked her if she knew where she was going. Princess gave her this look like “Duh, you’re the one holding the paper!” but she replied “Phoenix” very politely. The TSA lady looked a tad surprised and didn’t know what to say, and let her through security. We boarded the plane and Princess couldn’t quit smiling. Her grin grew as the plane ascended and she must have told me how much fun she was having a million times. I sprung for the kiddie snack pack which was actually pretty good. It had more stuff to eat than we wanted and it came with a cookie she could color with special markers and then eat. We arrived mid afternoon, went to Auntie’s C’s place and then out for pizza.

Friday – Up at 5:00 AM (we didn’t adjust to the time change very well) and off to the zoo. I’m going to take this opportunity to brag about Auntie C’s bargain hunting skills a bit. She found out it was free admission with a Fry’s card so we saved $36 at the gate. She also found coupons in the phone book for free rides on the carousel and a customer appreciate coupon for the Rain Forest Café. When it was all said and done we saved over $50 on Friday and didn’t have to pay for anything at the zoo except the giant snow cones. BTW-that was the best $2.99 I spent all day because in 100 degree heat you can’t beat a snow cone the size of your head. I think Princess enjoyed the snow cone more than the animals. Friday afternoon we hit the mall for some shopping. As we were walking across the parking lot Princess looked at Auntie C and asked “It’s so hot, how do you live here?” I was thinking the exact same thing. That night we went to P’s softball game and met some of Auntie C and P’s friends and relatives.

Saturday – Slept in until 5:40 AM and then took off for the downtown area to ride the Light Rail. Princess loves trains so we took a little ride through Tempe and back. Then we headed to the Children’s Museum for a couple hours of madness. We grabbed a late lunch and back to the house for some time in the pool. We thought about going to the theater (one of my favorite musicals was in town) but the tickets were sold out so we went to an early movie and then a graduation party to round out the evening.

Sunday – Auntie C drove us to the airport bright and early and we headed home. Princess bought a stuffed elephant and gummy bears for Flower and she couldn’t wait to get home and see her little sister. We beat Daddy and Flower home by an hour so we had time to unpack. We spent the rest of the day lounging on the couch and turned in early.

I asked Princess what her favorite part of the trip was and she said playing with Cousin H. When we were reading stories last night she was a bit emotional because she misses everyone. I guess that just means I’ll have to start looking for cheap airline tickets again…..