Again???

I am sick.......again! I now have the FLU! It sucks! Thankfully I feel like I am on the road to recovery now. My fever is down, I only hack up 1 lung (instead of both) about 4 times a day (compared to like 20), and my energy level is coming back. When I got sick 2 weeks ago I thought that was bad enough. Then when I got sick this time all I could think about was wishing it would be like 2 weeks ago. This flu thing hit me hard, but in a different way. It wasn't like the last time I had the flu 10 years ago, but it was hard for other reasons. All my symptoms hit at once, unlike my last sickness where one day I had this symptom, the next day was something different, but at least it wasn't all on the same day.

So this go around here's what happened. The girls and I took a trip to St Louis this past weekend. My parents were buying a new car up there so I offered to go along, just in case their trade in didn't make the trip. So my parents bought the car and returned home the next day. The girls and I stayed at my awesome friend's house for the weekend. When we returned home Monday evening, I told Marcus I just didn't feel well. I just assumed that i was exhausted from the weekend and the drive. So i left the girls with him and took a bath. But it kept getting worse. He went to work and I put the girls to bed and climbed in my bed at 7:15. I was EXHAUSTED! Tuesday morning we woke up and I took Kaylee to school and headed to Kindermusik with Ainslee. As I was pulling into the parking lot I got a call from the teacher saying the entire semester of classes was cancelled. GREAT! PERFECT! So we went to mom's house for lunch and nap. Mom and I picked up Kaylee early from school and went to get our allergy shots. All day I felt myself getting weaker and weaker, the cough started to consume every minute of my life. it was bad, I felt like my brother was sitting on my chest. We all came home and I made dinner. After I put the girls to bed I went to sleep early again. Wednesday i barely made it off the couch. My fever started to rise, and I knew I had to make another doctor's appointment. So Thursday morning I was back at the doctor's office (for the 3rd time in 2 weeks!!!) 2 weeks ago I was certain I had the flu, but i didn't, and this time I was certain it wasn't the flu and it was. Goes to show what I know. Because of my horrendous cough and the sound in my lungs the doctor decided to give me a breathing treatment. I sat there for 15 minutes breathing in this gaseous stuff through a tube, and after about 10 minutes I felt it happening. I took a few breaks from the treatment to see if I could stop it, but it was inevitable. I made my way to the bed (I was previously sitting in the chair) and began to hyperventilate. I was so weak I couldn't even call for help. Thankfully my breathing treatment was over and the nurse was coming to check on me anyways. She immediately called for help and after about 30 minutes I was nearly back to "normal", well flu-stricken "normal". They wouldn't release me to drive, so I had to call Marcus to come get me. He, thankfully, had taken the night before off work, and taken Kaylee to school for me that morning and Ainslee to her new Kindermusik class, then he came by to get me. He got me lunch, brought me home, put me in the bed, went to get my meds, and jumped at my every demand.
This time, unlike last time, I actually have an appetite. I WANT to eat, it is quite strange. I think that has helped speed my recovery, along with all the rest I've gotten. I was able to get 12 hours of sleep last night after taking my cough syrup. My doctor warned me it might make me drowsy......and it did! The sleep has done my body good. Today I feel better, not 100% but definitely better! My parents, once again, have come to my rescue and helped with the girls. This time my mom isn't quite feeling well either so my dad has taken on most of the work himself. I am SO THANKFUL! I will most likely get the girls back tomorrow, and we can begin again. I sure hope that this is my last sickness for the next 10 years. The sad part about it is i typically don't get sick like this, and if i do it is like once a year. I hope and pray that the girls evade this sickness as well. I am a little nervous about Ainslee, I fear she might be coming down with something, pray pray pray its NOT the flu!

Here's to hoping for a HEALTHY 2011!

Kaylee's Birthday

to protect our privacy I cut off the bottom of the invitation which basically was just our address and phone number

We had Kaylee's birthday party 2 weekends ago, after being sick all last week, I am just now getting around to posting about it. When asked (MONTHS ago) what she wanted for her birthday all Kaylee said was to stay in a hotel. I thought at first we would try to have a SMALL swim party at a hotel. But living in the fabulous area of the US that we live, that just couldn't happen. So we decided instead to throw Kaylee a party at the house. This is the first non all-family party for either of our children. I am new to this children's birthday party thing. And you will soon learn ALL the mistakes I made! My friend (ok more than one of my friends) kept telling me I must have been smoking crack the day I decided to invite like EVERYONE! I cant tell you exactly how many of those cute little invitations went out, I can tell you that it was a few too many! I had no idea that when people get children's birthday party invitations they actually COME! We have had MANY MANY parties at our house over the years, and this was by FAR the largest percentage of people that has ever shown up, as in like DOUBLE the percentage of our other parties! We had like 20+ children in our house, plus all the adults to go with them, which was like 25-30. It was mass chaos/craziness, it was a mad house! So much so that we forgot to even sing happy birthday to the birthday girl!.........ooops!

Here are some of the pictures from the craziness

another one of my "out of my mind" decisions, to have the children decorate their own cupcakes

one of the creations

Ainslee eating hers with a spoon

she realized quickly her hands where much more effective

Then she tried the "hands free" approach

Some of the moms thought my idea was not great, so they made their children's cupcakes for them.

Then we had to figure out where all these kids would sit while they ate their cupcakes, they pretty much figured it out by themselves........whenever they could find a space!

And here are all the gifts, after about the 3rd child who walked through the door, I wished I had put "no presents" on the invitation. This picture doesn't show all of them, it was taken after she had already opened like 6 gifts.

she sure enjoyed opening all those, and even let Ainslee open a few for her too!

It wasn't that I was completely unprepared for the party. I had multiple games ready, and ideas on how to entertain the children. But I never thought about the parents. Most of them just came and either sat down on the couch (or stood in the living room) the entire time talking to each other. Not many of them even ventured up stairs to see what their children were playing up there. It was like they dropped them off and went "off duty". Don't get me wrong we didn't have any crazy behavior from the children or anythings, we didn't even have a single broken toy, a few injuries YES (nothing serious). It just didn't go as I had thought, we will definitely be changing our strategy for the next party, not sure what yet, but something different! It was fun, I wish I would've been able to socialize more. I feel like I say that after every party though. Oh and another thing I learned from the party was that I am SO glad I have the children I have! I have seen all different types of children, and I am glad they are just the way they are!

Sickness and Thankfulness

Don't be fooled by my recent surge in blog posts the past couple of days. I actually wrote them all one night (and the next morning) earlier in the week. Before I came down with this crazy sickness that has left me completely helpless. Monday I woke up with a slight cough that I knew wasn't going to be a good situation. It had that "sick" taste to it, that sounds weird but there is a distinct difference in my "sick" cough and my just regular 'ole cough. I just knew it was going to turn in to more than a cough. And I was right. Tuesday evening I was sitting on the couch with Kaylee looking at some of her baby pictures (which is her new favorite past time), all of a sudden I began to ache. And it got worse and worse by the minute. It was setting in F.A.S.T!!! I went into our room where Marcus was getting ready for work and immediately he told me I didn't look good. I told him I was about to put Kaylee to bed and then I was going to bed myself. And that's what I did. That night I got ok sleep, throughout the night I ached I ached in between my toes, I ached EVERYWHERE! But then Wednesday morning I couldn't move. I couldn't get out of bed, I could barely sit up. Kaylee came in to our room with her new doctor kit that she got for her birthday and wanted to "listen to my heart" and "check me out". I would've cried laying there not being able to care for her, but I couldn't, I didn't have the energy. She played nicely on the floor in our room while we waited for Marcus to get home, and Ainslee still soundly asleep. Once Marcus got home he stayed awake doing various things around the house and getting the girls' morning started, while I slept some more. I knew he had to sleep so I got up and went to the couch, hoping if I was in a central location I could at least look after the girls. I realized quickly that was not going to be an option. So I called my mom. She dropped everything and came out to the house. She came in to find me helpless on the couch while the girls played upstairs. She joined them and I went back to bed. I stayed in bed all day, and finally she decided it was best if she just took them home with her for the evening. Well that "1 evening" has now turned into 3 nights. I am still running a fever, which was topped out at nearly 102*. I NEVER get a fever, like never EVER!!! So for me to have a fever that high, is like normal people having a 102*-103*. And then for me to have it for multiple days, I knew I was sick. I didn't plan on going to the doctor, because even if it was the flu (and I was certain it was) what would they do for me? But when I woke up Thursday morning and tried to call out for Marcus, and nothing came out of my mouth I knew that something had to be done. My throat was so swollen no sound could be made, and if I was able to squeak some sound out it was minimal. I had Marcus call my doc and make an appointment, and I began getting ready to leave. After nearly 2 hours in the doctors office, a 1/2 gallon of blood, strep test, and flu test later, the doctor confirmed that I most likely had a bacterial infection. He suggested a shot in my arse, I hesitated, but in the end I got the shot.......AND the oral antibiotics. He told me it was still best if I wasn't around the girls, especially when my fever was still up. So my mom offered to keep the girls ANOTHER night! I was so thankful, and I really felt like I was on the road to recovery. But then Thursday night came, and I couldn't sleep, it was the worst night of the sickness, by far! I woke up this morning and STILL had my fever! I called my mom for an update on the girls and she insisted that I was in NO condition to care for them. So she has offered to keep them yet another night! I am beyond thankful! and appreciative! I have no idea how we would've survived without her help! I have tried to focus on resting and getting better. I miss the girls terribly, but I know that i HAVE to get better! It has definitely been nice being able to focus on me and my health, knowing that the girls are cared for and happy. And I, for only like the 3rd time in my life, have been completely selfish. I haven't done anything except rest. The house is falling to pieces around me, and that kills me, but I know that I need to get better, so that comes first! So here i sit down 6 pounds in 3 days, have only eaten 2 bananas, 1/2 cup of applesauce, a tiny bowl of soup with crackers, and a piece of corn bread since dinner Tuesday night. And I haven't even eaten anything today. Through all of this I sit here being thankful, thankful I am alive, thankful for the health of my babies, thankful for MY health (the rest of the 350+ days of the year), thankful for the help I get when I need it most, thankful for a kind, loving, caring, compassionate husband, and thankful for family. I am so abundantly blessed and I am THANKFUL for every single bit of it.

Kaylee's Christmas Program

Kaylee's MDO puts on a Christmas Program each year. My expectations this year (being her 1st year in the program) we LOW really really LOW. I didnt think Kaylee would sing, I didnt think she would even stand up there, and I thought she would be distracted by everything the entire time. Well, I was right about 1 of those. She was mighty distracted the entire time, but she participated, sang, and stood up there for the whole thing. It was such a wonderful thing to watch! I was so proud of her!

here she is as she walks in and takes her place on "stage". BTW I have no idea what happened to my fat little baby, she is growing up and stretching out, and is a skinny little thing now. Oh and listen for Ainslee's voice in the background frantically trying to get kaylee's attention "sissy, sissy, sissy."




Please ignore the child that is crying in the background, it was one of Kaylee's classmates that wanted to have NOTHING to do with singing in front of strangers. But instead of realizing and accepting this, the mom just kept trying to put her up there next to Kaylee. I was so mad that most of my videos were ruined because of her screaming and then her being stood next to Kaylee while she screamed her head off (I spared you those videos). I guess I should be more compassionate. But this little girl was OBVIOUSLY not going to participate no matter what bribes the mother tried, so why ruin everyone elses experience. (just call me a grinch, but I was upset by this)






After the program, during the reception, Santa came to visit. Ainslee wanted NOTHING to do with him, and sadly this was our only visit to Santa this year. So these grainy pictures are all we've got. Ainslee clung on to me as tight as she could as i approached Santa, I couldnt even pry her off me to put her on his lap

So i just stood in the picture too

Then my dad had to be a funny guy

Christmas Morning

They were SO patient Christmas morning, we didn't even open gifts until about 2 hours after they woke up! It was fun and relaxing to be at home, making OUR family memories together. I LOVED this day!

I think Ainslee has learned the "Chandler" smile from Kaylee

Auntie Crista and Uncle Harry really spoiled these girls ROTTEN this year! Here is one of the things they got, a chef's costume.

The entire time we opened gifts from Crista and Harry, we were Skyping with them so they could share in the gifts they gave. It was so fun!

Then it was time for the big reveal upstairs. Kaylee happily tore down the sign that has kept them out of their playroom for the past 6 weeks.

Then the sign got stuck on her sock, so Ainslee helped her out.

Their first look at the room

Kaylee was THRILLED!

Ainslee was thrilled too, but she is much more cautious than Kaylee

Kaylee jumped right on the ladder

Then she checked out the reading area (I still need to get some comfy seating in this area)

Ainslee went to all the "old" toys first. She LOVES that baby stroller and all baby accessories!

Then we broke out the paints.....

After ALL THAT Christmas fun, we napped. Then Amma Rita came over to celebrate some more.

Ainslee got a new purse loaded with lots of goodies, pretend keys, phone, lip stick, makeup mirror.

And then there were more dress-up clothes

At one point Kaylee was in a dress-up dress, on the play phone, AND drilling the table. Talk about some multitasking

Then we played some Candy Lane, while Ainslee made us a snack

THEN, nearly 2 hours late, we ATE! Not only did we lose track of time, but there were a few "set backs" in the meal prep. The biggest was the BIRD that flew into our house. I'm still not quite sure if he wanted to warm up inside or if he thought he could get a bite of our fabulous meal. He was in the house for about 15 minutes, and it went something like this........Kaylee laughing/freaking out excitedly, me freaking out and screaming my head off every time the bird flew to a new location worrying how much poo I was going to have to clean up, Ainslee watching everything very intently mostly focusing on what big sister is doing, Rita trying her best to help out but stay out of the way, and Marcus trying to be a "bird wrangler" and basically yell at me for freaking out so bad. It took him about 4 trys to actually capture the bird, but he did so successfully and released him back outside. It was so much excitement that we didnt even take any pictures.

I served spiced carrot-apple soup, fried turkey (courtesy of my dad), green beans with caramelized shallots, perfect potatos au gratin, and corn bread stuffing (I added extra herbs and wild rice to this recipe). The entire meal was DIVINE! Too bad Ainslee had to miss it! She was pooped and asked to go to bed without even eating dinner.......poor baby.

And for dessert we had another PW favorite, caramel pumpkin cheesecake. I made ours GF and just used regular graham cracker crust. This is a recipe EVERYONE should try!

We had such a perfect Christmas! I LOVE my family, and I cherish these memories! Marcus was able to take a few days off after Christmas so the extra family time was even better. I cant wait until NEXT Christmas!

Reindeer Food

Christmas Eve, before we went to bed, but when it was still light outside, I took the girls out to sprinkle the reindeer food in the front yard.

Kaylee sweetly led her little sister up the hill "so the reindeer could find it better". And YES they are still in their jammies

Kaylee let Ainslee throw out the first handful, she can be such a good big sister (some of the time)

Kaylee sprinkling the food ever so gently at first

Then she moved on to more of the "toss it" technique

Then it evolved into full blown throwing of the reindeer food

And I am proud to announce their hard work paid off.........Santa FOUND our house!

Christmas Eve

I have been meaning to post about our Christmas, which was undeniably the most fabulous one yet! But i have been putting it off mainly because I just haven't had time to go through all the videos and pictures yet. So I decided not to wait any longer and just share with you what Ive got. Christmas Eve was celebrated at my parents house. My sister had a stomach bug, so she was confined to upstairs. But that didn't stop us. The girls had a blast opening gifts, and eating Christmas dinner (they both stuffed their faces and probably ate as much as I did!).

Ainslee LOVED the necklaces........she wore them the entire night!

We draw names for gift giving at my parent's house. This year we bought for 1 person, and had a dollar limit for the gift. My little bro had us and he came up with a very clever thing for our gift. He planned out a mini scavenger hunt for us. He hid clues around the house (and even outside), and we had to follow them to get out present. It was such a cute idea, the girls LOVED it. He made sure to include them, here is one of the clues Ainslee had to find in my brother's hat.

Kaylee LOVES playing with John's iPod, so one of the clues was on his iPod. Kaylee had to find that one, while Ainslee supervised.

Kaylee got a hold of the camera and snapped this one of my mom and me.

Mom made the girls a few dress-up clothes to add to their box. Here is one of the skirts

My mom also gave the girls HER mom's old jewelry box. I just hope they dont distroy it. So far they have been so careful with it.

My Jobs

Lately I have felt like I am adding more and more to my plate. I cant even imagine if I had to actually "GO" to work each day! I have always said that being a stay at home mom is a TOUGH and under appreciated job. But now, nearly 4 years into it, I have learned that being a working mom just doesn't seem possible! I have the utmost respect for all the moms (and dads) who are able to hold down a job outside the home, as well as raise their children, I know I couldn't do it! Recently I have felt like having a job outside the home would be "easier". Over the past 4 years, I have successfully added many titles to my name including:

1. Mommy cook
2. Mommy plumber
3. Mommy electrician
4. Mommy carpenter
5. Mommy doctor
6. Mommy chauffeur
7. Mommy maid

1. I haven't been performing this one to the best of my ability as of late, and I really don't have a good excuse for that. I do hope that I get out of my self proclaimed "cooking funk" and start preparing some proper/nutritious meals.

2. I never imagined myself as a plumber. But after the bathtub repair, and the dishwasher installation, I added this title to my name.

3. This came from installing the dishwasher too. Did you know that a dishwasher doesn't come with a plug? You have to manually connect the black, white, and green wires and secure them with wire nuts........CRAZY! Im just glad I got them all right on the 1st try!

4. This is due to my work upstairs as well as the microwave installation which required a bit of "tweaking". Upstairs has been a bit of a fiasco. First we missed the studs when attempting to attach the green board to the ceiling. I had to climb up into the tiny attic crawl space (no less than 15 times) above the playroom ceiling and attach 2x4's to each of the studs so that we would be able to get the board attached and cover up all the holes we had made in the ceiling. It was quite a feat!

5. The girls have been under the weather lately. I have been dealing with, coughs, colds, fever, sniffles, etc. And since I made the decision over a year ago to completely cut out all unnecessary meds for the girls, I have been dealing with the sickness with my good old fashion home remedies. The sock treatments have come in REAL handy, and have worked like a charm again. Kaylee was able to kick her cold in a matter of days and is doing just fine. Ainslee has been a bit different. Hers didn't get quite as bas as Kaylee's, as in she never got the 103* fever, but hers has lasted longer. And i know that this is because I was unable to do all her treatments at the beginning of her "sickness". She spent the night with my parents, and therefore missed 3 treatments in a row. Anyways, we are back on track now and she seems to be doing much better.

6. I feel like the chauffeuring has begun already! Play date here, play date there, Kindermusik, school, story time, gymnastics........we log lots of time in our car! Oh and have i mentioned we are still driving around in the Jetta. My car has yet to be out of the shop for more than a week since like November 20th. It has been a crazy ride, but hopefully we will be transferring all our "stuff" back into it soon. I will say that this car switching business has definitely saved us a buck or two in gas.

7. I am seriously beginning to wonder why I even fold laundry. Also I am throwing around ideas in my head of self cleaning floors (not really but the idea sound AMAZING!). I feel like my work is never done!

I'm sure that there are many more "titles" i have collected over the years, but along with the notoriety comes a price.........my memory. HA! I cant remember a darn thing anymore!

Kitchen Makeover - part 2

A few days after I finished the microwave the dishwasher sitting in the dining room began making me antsy again. I read up on the installation process and it didn't seem too difficult, so I began prepping it for installation and uninstalling the old one. I cant remember what part i got stuck on, but i had to go wake Marcus up again! I really wanted to just have it all installed before he woke up, but I just couldn't juggle it all. So Marcus came out and helped me for about 45 minutes or so, and then after he left for work I completed the installation.

we haven't peeled off the protective plastic yet, and if you lived with 2 Tasmanian devils you wouldn't either. LOL We are just trying to protect it as long as we can.

The inside is so much bigger than our old one! The top shelf raises and lowers to accomodate different size dishes. It has the plain front, with the buttons hiden on the top, it has many more options than the old one too. I love it!

And here's the big one! We had to call in the "big guns" to help us get this one through the door. Long time family friend of Marcus's mom, who happens to be a retired GE employee, so he knows a thing or 2 about appliances. He graciously came and helped. He removed both the fridge doors, as well as the freezer drawer. This not only lightened the load, but also made it possible to get it through the door. And in a matter of 90 minutes we had this big ole beast resting snuggly in our kitchen.

I am more than thrilled with the new appliances. They are all MUCH bigger than the old ones. I cant believe all the space the new fridge has to offer. The only downside I have found so far, is the ice machine. It doesnt seem to be keeping up with our demand. Hopefully we can figure something out to remedy this.

The bottom drawer is yet to be filled. I just need to get off my butt and transfer all the food. Then we can get the old one out of the kitchen

I did a little research on the cost of these appliances. I went with the "middle of the road" pricing and found that we saved $1300 bucks! PLUS we have already sold our dishwasher and microwave, which has helped. We are currently trying to decide what we are going to do with our old fridge (which is in perfect working condition!). I have had one person already express an interest, but no concrete deal is in place as of yet.

I am still in awe of how this deal landed in our lap, and I am so thankful! I cant believe Christmas is just around the corner