The Girls

I love the fact that I can call Annalee and Grace "the girls." What a blessing! Here are some sweet pics of them.

Public Service Announcement

Alright ladies,
this might be too much information for you to handle, so you may want to skip on by 'What the Beck' today, but since this is my online journal of my life I think the recent story needs to be documented.

Two weeks ago today I had an i.u.d. placed as my birth control. I had the same one after having Annalee, so I didn't even think twice about my decision because the first one worked so well. On Saturday night I started having severe pain and knew right away that something wasn't right. After calling my doctor's office that night and finding out that my choices were to leave a message to be returned Monday morning, or to go to the emergency room, I opted to wait and see since the pain had started to subside. I had pain off and on all weekend, but by Monday it was better. Then on Wednesday it started getting worse again so I called to make an appointment with my doctor for last Thursday.

I went in, was examined and they couldn't find what they were looking for, awesome. They sent me down the hall to have a sonogram and the sonographer couldn't find it either. Remember, this device is supposed to be in my uterus, and it's M.I.A at this point! The look on the doctor's face was priceless, she couldn't believe her eyes. At this point they order a CAT scan to be done on Monday to find out where it could have gone. They keep asking me if I was sure that it hadn't fallen out...umm, pretty sure I would have noticed it if it did!

On Friday before going to the zoo, they call back and want me to come in ASAP for an abdominal x-ray to make sure it is indeed somewhere in by body. Come to find out, it is...but we don't know exactly where.

I come in on Monday for my CAT scan, the results come in later that day and it has infact migrated out of my uterus and into my abdominal cavity. Super. The doctor wants to see me the next day for my Pre-Op appointment...that's right, the only way to retrieve it now is through surgery.

So, yesterday at 12:30 I headed to the hospital for my first surgery of my life. The nurse has to ask a million questions about my health and my answer to all of them was no. Finally, she asked what I was there for and I had to tell her the ridiculous situation. Luckily it was only a laproscopic procedure (a small incision in my bellybutton for the scope and another small incision to remove the device), but I still had to have general anesthesia and the whole bit.

I was able to come home last night at about 9pm and I am doing good today, just a little sore. The biggest pain of it all is having to pump and dump my milk and give Grace formula because I didn't have very much milk stored up. I only have to do that for a few more hours though.

The moral of the story, read the fine print and be prepared to be the 1% that this type of thing could happen to. Needless to say, despite my good experience with the first i.u.d., we won't be going that route again!

Just for fun

Just for fun
we had another cake for Papa's b-day!


Just for fun
we went to the circus for Uncle Jeremy's birthday.


Just for fun
Caleb and Annalee pretended to go night-night in JoJo's bed.


Just for fun
Annalee played Barbie's half-naked.


Just for fun
Grace and Ken had a little heart-to-heart (thanks to big sis).

Just for fun

JoJo is making Annalee an adorable dress.

Just for fun

the girls watched Sesame Street while Mommy got dressed.

Happy B-day Papa

Papa turned 55 today! Happy B-day. We celebrated with taco salad and chocolate cake, yum! Annalee woke him up this morning with a homemade card. She was so excited to give it to him and then she took it back. That girl. Grace just loves being in his arms...she usually falls asleep when she gets there. We love you Papa.


We also had a fun day with Summer, Elijah, and Judah. We found a new indoor playground at a mall that we don't usually frequent. It was really big and super fun for the kids, but a little crowded.

2 months already!

Why are we moms so surprised that our babies grow so fast? Isn't that their number one job right now, to grow? But yet, each week or month I continue to be amazed at how big my girls are getting.

Grace's 2 month stats and highlights:

• 11 lbs 12 oz
• still eating every 2 hours during the day
• sleeping 6-7 hours straight at night and then another 2-3 after that
• continues to be a rock star baby! she's pretty predictable and easy going
• smiles up a storm
• starting to coo and "talk" to us (I'm trying to get it on video, but I have to act like a moron in order to get her to do it and I'm not ready to share that side of myself with the www yet.)

That's about it, exciting right?

Here's some examples of those sweet smiles...big sister is so funny!!

Love this sweet face!

Potty Humor

I'll post pictures soon, I promise, but I have to share a funny story.

Tonight we were all standing in the living room talking and I thought I heard Annalee. I went into the kitchen to listen to the monitor and the next thing I know she is running by me with the biggest grin on her face yelling "I tee tee'd in the potty!" Important things to know; she had already been put to bed-at least 30 minutes prior, she took off her own diaper and pj pants and went in the potty and then put her pj pants back on-no diaper though, she made her way down a flight of stairs to share her good news.

This is not the first time it's happened, the other 3 times have been when she is supposed to be napping...one time is was #2 and we were lucky enough to have her bring the potty with her to show off her achievement.

While I am super proud of her for A. knowing when she needs to potty and B. actually going to the potty to do it. I am a little frustrated that she waits until bedtime or naptime to decide to be so independent in this area. Afterall, she has managed to pee in the middle of the kitchen twice now.

Oh the joys of potty training.

Today

Today...
Grace took a 4 hour nap
Annalee is wearing big-girl panties
I fell asleep during storytime...mid sentence

I definitely had to try to find the positives today since it didn't start out so great. Annalee woke up earlier than usual, Grace's morning schedule was awry to say the least, we had a major boo boo from a fall off of a stool, and mommy was generally frustrated all around. After a Chic-fil-A run and some afternoon naptime/quiet time...we are good to go.

Monkey See, Monkey Do

I knew it would happen, and it did. Annalee just nursed one of her baby dolls.

Slippin' and Slidin'

We had another great 4th of July this year. We spent the day with friends eating, swimming, and riding the longest slip and slide in backyard history...100 feet! The guys were pretty proud of themselves for making such a great slide. That evening we had dinner at one of our favorite restaurants and then went downtown to see some fireworks.

Just for fun...here's Annalee on the slide last year!

And, of course, this is what Grace was doing most of the day.

We celebrated Uncle Blaine's b-day that night too.

What We've Been Up To

Here's a picture walk of what we've been doing lately....

playing dress up at our friend Mallory's

cooking in our play kitchen

hanging out with our JoJo

making tents for our "friends"

having fun with our buddy, Elijah

What has Grace been up to you ask?

Well...a whole lot of this...


and working on her smiles!

Real Tea Party

Annalee is quite the connoisseur when it comes to tea parties. She has a mini set to use with her barbies, a pink set to use with her baby dolls, and a real tea cup and saucer to use on special occasions to drink her juice (usually with JoJo, it's way more fun!).

Well, yesterday she got to experience a real tea party at a tea room! I wish I had my video camera to capture the pure bliss when the waitress brought out a little tea cup and pitcher filled with pink lemonade just for her. She was such a little lady and drank her "tea" without any trouble. She even got to enjoy some ice cream in a tea cup! Thanks for a fun day JoJo!

Happy Father's Day to Micah

Micah and Annalee were in heaven this weekend. They spent all day Saturday swimming at the lake with Justin and David. This was her first time at a lake and she loved it! Yvette was in and out of the water, and Grace and I spent most of our time in the shade. We had such a great time with friends eating and being lazy. Thanks guys!

One Month

Grace is one month old. How did this happen! She is the sweetest baby ever! Here are some facts from our first month of life (once again, mainly for my own record keeping!)

• stats: 10lbs even; 22 inches long
• eats every 2 hours during the day and every 3-4 hours at night...hence the gaining of the 2 pounds in a month!
• belly button fell off at 2.5 weeks...not a moment too soon!
• loves to sleep on her back, all swaddled up, between her wedges
• is gaining more head control every day....she can hold it up on her own for several seconds now
• I think her eyes are going to be blue like big sister's, but they are still too dark to know for sure
• she is usually a little fussy from 8-9 at night, but other than that she's not much of a cryer...unless it's time to eat.
  

Randoms

Yesterday I put my hand in a huge booger at Banana Republic. Not mine and not on purpose.

Today Grace had her first blowout...it was at Target...and it was all over JoJo. Yes, I have a picture, but I've been forbidden to post it. :)

It's been so long since I've had a shower that when I went to take one tonight I actually forgot which knob was hot and which was cold. Not kidding.

Annalee kept her pull-up dry all day today and tinkled in the potty at least 5 times! I guess I'll start potty training. Yikes.

My Sweet 2 1/2 Year Old

Annalee is at such a fun age these days. She's a hoot. She's also been such a sweetie toward her baby sister. It's been a joy to watch her interact with Grace.
I love the way she says sandwich...scranwhich.
I love the way she has to give everyone night-night kisses before bedtime.
I love the way she sings bibbity-bobbity-boo (I'm trying to get it on video!).
I love how excited she gets to go to the zoo, go swimming, go to the library, see her friends, ect.
I love just love her for being her!

Mom of the Year

I'm sure this won't be my last entry for the mom of the year contest, but yesterday I managed to dump at least 12 ounces of Dr. Pepper right on top of Grace as she sat innocently in her car seat. I know you are jealous of my mom awesomeness.

Busy as a Bee

Hey guys,
It's me, Grace! I thought I'd give my mommy a break and update the blog for her. I've been super busy the past two weeks. Apparently it doesn't matter if you are a newborn around here, they just stick you in the car with the rest of the crew and off they go! Check out all of the fun stuff I've done so far!


Chillin poolside at my cousin Katie's swim party.





Watching my silly big sister. It's going to be hard to keep up with her crazy antics.





Did some more chillin with Daddy




I met mt great-grandmother, Nanny and my Peepaw.

I also met my Uncle Josh

I went to my first concert! It was some wacky guy at the arboretum.

I went grocery shopping (this was actually my very first outing!)

I fell in love with my swing...thanks for letting me borrow it David, I think my parents really like it too!

Grammy gave me my first sponge bath at home. I'm still waiting for my pesky umbilical cord to fall off. Annalee doesn't like it either...she calls it sneaky.

I also went to my first Ranger's game, church, and a couple of restaurants. I'm growing like a weed and Mommy and Daddy think I'm pretty cool.