Not Much Going On...

...But I thought I would just check in to say Hi. I really don't have much to report except that we have had quite a bit of unexpected rain. It started last night...the weatherman had just said there was a 10% chance of rain tomorrow (which means today) so then we shot off the TV and went to bed. The second we lay our head down, it started pouring rain for about 30 minutes. Then this morning I woke up to major thunderstorms about 6:00 am that lasted a couple of hours. Then this evening it started again. It was still almost 100 degrees today. Hot AND muggy...nice!

Spent the evening decluttering for the cleaning lady tomorrow. That's always fun. But Ash is getting MUCH better at just doing it when she is told rather than fighting us every step of the way. It's quite nice. It's a big change from the days when I would tell her to clean her room and her reply was "the cleaning lady will do it". That was so horrifying to me! We had a major "talk" about that...this was probably 1 1/2 years ago.

Anyway, that's about it for tonight! Oh, hey Kevin...why haven't you come to get your haircut?

Sleep Tight!

Happy Monday

I sure hope you all had a great weekend! Ours was pretty good. I got a bunch of laundry done on Saturday and straightened up a bit. Went grocery shopping. I ended up watching Nicki and Gannon for about 5 hours so their Mom and Dad could ride the motorcycle...their 1st babysitter backed out at the last minute. Ashleigh enjoyed them being here. Then we played poker that evening. Brian and I came out ahead by about $7-$8, so that's good.

I didn't leave the house at all on Sunday, which was kind of nice. Both girls took a nap at the same time and slept for like 3 hours...perfect opportunity for me to indulge in a little nappie, so I did. While we were napping, Brian rode down to his Mom's for a little while on his motorcycle. Me and the girls don't go down there much anymore because whenever I ask Brian if he wants us to go with him to visit, he says he would rather take his motorcycle. It's a good way for him to get a ride in and visit his Mom at the same time.

I've been planning Ashleigh's 5th birthday party. We're going to have it at Leapin' Lizards. It's an indoor bounce house place that has a 4-story playscape, giant slides, etc. Looks like it should be a good time for the kids. They even have a little arcade area. I'll keep you posted how it goes. I still need to make goodie bags for the guests and let them know which "theme" we want. Ashleigh keeps changing her mind. Her 1st intuition was "Princess" but she had that last year so I was trying to show her some of the other ones. Then she wanted "Hello Kitty", then "butterflies", then, well, you get the picture. I just want it to be perfect for her, and I'm sure she'll be happy with anything as long as she gets a goodie bag. The girl lives for goodie bags. When she makes up a song, it always has "goodie bags" in it. Too funny!

Ashleigh went over to Nicki and Gannon's house today. She had a great time and of course got McDonald's for lunch. I have a feeling Cathy spoils her a tad, but that's okay. I'm glad they got to spend some time together before school starts. Speaking of which, I saw on the sign at the elementary school today that "Meet the Teacher" night is August 21st. I'm nervous to find out which teacher she gets. I only had 1 recommendation for a teacher and that was to NOT get one of them (I won't mention names). So I decided to let fate take over and not request 1 teacher over another. What is meant to be, will be. I pray that she gets the right teacher to help her flourish and grow as a student. Ash will barely be 5 when school starts (her birthday is the 11th and school starts the 25th) so I worry about her keeping up at the same level as the other kids. I am sooo glad we sent her to pre-K, however, we will not hesitate to hold her back in Kindergarten if it is warranted. I pray that it isn't.

Addy has cut 2 more teeth yesterday or today for a total of 5 now. She's a tooth making machine! They don't seem to bother her too bad. More drool, a little bit more fussiness, but hardly noticeable. That's my good girl. I have an observation/comparison between my 2 girls: When Ash was a baby and it was nap/bed time, she would say to herself, "Oh, I'm in my bed, I need to go to sleep now". Addy says to herself, "Why am I in my bed? I must cry for a while to let them know I am in here by myself". Very interesting the personality differences in these 2 girls. I love both of their unique personalities very much!

Well, it's 8:50 and I better go give Ash a bath...she definitely played hard today. Sleep Tight!

Telecon From HELL

I had a conference call earlier today and it was disastrous on my end! I had tested my mute button with Brian before it started. Well, after being on mute for a few minutes it got all fuzzy and all I heard was dead air. I thought it was the conference call telephone system because it’s one of those with a call in number and when you get on, the computer introduces you. So I called back in and they are all talking like nothing happened. That’s when I realized it was my phone. So of course the darn phone introduced me AGAIN. So then I use the mute button on the handset instead of the base…same damn thing happened. So I had to call in AGAIN!!! They probably thought I was crazy! Then someone’s cell phone rang loud…they probably thought it was me, the crazy lady. Then Brian came in to pick up a package he needed and as soon as he left Addy started crying because she wanted him to stay…keep in mind, I can’t use my mute button…so I had to close the office doors on her…I could still hear her, so I had to just put the phone down and go put her to bed. Then the unthinkable (WARNING, TMI coming up!!!)…I had to go #2 sooooooo bad! Like painfully bad!!! I did what I could (i.e. letting air out, shifting my position, etc) but it had to come out. I just knew if I left the phone in the office while I went, someone would ask me a question or they would talk about the site I needed info on, so I took the phone with me praying it would not make the “explosion” sound, because keep in mind, I can't use the mute button or I'll get disconnected!! I got so lucky there, it was nice and silent…until my bladder decided it needed to be emptied too…I couldn't stop it. I just know you can visualize me wrapping a hand towel around the mouth piece! Oh well, hopefully they thought it was someone else! Yeah, right, I'm sure they knew it was crazy lady. Also, someone’s dog was barking really loud in the background…they probably thought that was me too. Oy Vey!! Yes, high ranking Air Force personnel were on this call. Oh, to top it off, toward the end of the call, someone dismissed himself and the telephone system said "so and so has left the meeting". So not only did it introduce me each time, yes, it announced that I'm an idiot!!

It's 10:35 and I finally finished working about 20 minutes ago. I have to meet a deadline tomorrow, but I also have to go get my stitches out. Busy, busy today!

I better get to bed! Sleep Tight!

Hey Peeps

I really don't have much to report today but thought I would check in. I've just been real busy with work, doctor's appointments, and staying cool. As both of my sisters have reported, it is like 250 degrees outside and it is a bit challenging to stay cool. To be honest, the heat does get to you after a while, but I do handle it much better than my sisters.

I rescheduled Ashleigh's appointment with the ENT from today until next Thursday. Both Brian and I were just too busy to take her. I know, bad parents. This is still from her ear drum rupture from last summer...it is not completely repaired, but as long as it shows improvement, she won't have to have surgery. If he sees that it's not getting better before it is healed, he will want to patch it. But so far so good and her hearing tests have steadily improved as well. Geesh, we're over a year dealing with this one! I pray Addy doesn't require as many trips to the ER as Ash has!

Went to Circle S tonight with the sisters and their families...12 of us. We're a growing group and the Harris' nephew, Tyler, is in town. I am quite full at the moment!

Ashleigh and her cousins, Peyton and Sydney, went to PopPop's today for a day of swimming and playing with some other kids. They had a GREAT time and PopPop even got Ash to eat a hot dog. That in itself is a miracle. I've never had luck getting her to eat a hot dog. The girl is just not much of a meat eater unless it is in chicken nugget or hamburger form.

Man, I always think a thousand things to blog about during the day, but I always draw a blank when I sit down at the computer. What's up with that?

I think Addy will be crawling soon...she gets up on those knees now. She needs a little more strength to hold up that "hefty" body and then that girl will be on the move.

Oh something funny...We were watching Big Brother on the DVR when we got back from dinner and when Steven got evicted Ash came up to me crying saying, "I don't want to watch Big Brother anymore" and I said "Why Ash?" and she said "because they are making Steven leave". That girl is so emotional sometimes and I thought it was so cute that she got sad for him. I don't know where she gets that from!

For all of you travelers out there...my sister Rae Carol has started her own travel agency. She'll be doing it on the side until her client base grows large enough to do it full time. She has always had a passion for planning trips, getting cheap fares, etc. So please, if you are traveling anywhere, please give her a shout, it doesn't cost you anything in most cases and she's really good at it! Good luck, RC!!

Man, Hurricane Dolly is still going strong and it's been on land all day. It looks like we won't see any rain from her. Surprise, surprise!

Addy Update

I didn't want to worry anyone since I told you we had to take Addy to the Pediatric Cardiologist, so I'm giving you an update. She had an echocardiogram this morning and it showed that her VSD (hole) is still there, but it has gotten smaller. She had another smaller one in another wall of her heart at birth, but it has completely disappeared. So this is all good news. The VSD is still presenting itself as a slight murmur but there is nothing to worry about. We don't have to go back for another echo for another 2 years and she shouldn't have any problems. I truly appreciate your concern for our daughter and I am just so thankful that she is a healthy baby!

Other than that, I stopped and bought lunch on the way home for the doctor. RC was nice enough to watch Ash while Addy and I went to the doctor, so I wanted to buy her and her clan lunch. We had Taco Casa...YumYum! Then worked the rest of the afternoon in a very busy and frantic way.

Cooked Enchiladas for dinner. They turned out pretty good. It's one of the few things that Ashleigh will eat that I make.

I had Brian check out my stitches (7 of them) tonight to make sure everything looked okay because they are a little sore. And Ash said the funniest thing, "Mommy has spiders on her back". We tried to explain to her that they are stitches like she has had before, but the girl has such a spider phobia, she wouldn't go near them. Too funny!

That's all I've got tonight folks, Sleep Tight!

Another Weekend Gone

Saturday started out in Grapevine meeting Kandice for Ashleigh's 5-year old pictures and Addy's 6-month old pictures. We met at the Botanical Gardens in Grapevine. I had never been there before but it is so beautiful. I'm always so anxious to see the pictures, but I know I must be patient. They always turn out really good because Kandice is just an awesome photographer! It'll be at least 2 weeks before I can view and share these pictures. The girls behaved pretty well. Ash is at this age where she just wants to smile cheesey and be silly. And of course she was paranoid about the spider webs, even though there wasn't any. We started at 9:00 and it was already so very hot. They had a water fountain that Ash wanted to visit every 3.5 minutes. Addy smiled nicely and sat up pretty good. I was paranoid that she would fall, cry, and thus ruin the rest of her pictures, but all was good. I would like to go back out when we have more time to just look around.

I took a pretty good nap after we got back while Brian was on a service call in Bedford. He was on-call this weekend and worked a good chunk of the weekend, especially today. 5 hours this morning in NRH and another 2 hours this afternoon in Arlington. Anyway, Saturday night we went to IHOP with the Harris'. We're such the party animals. Brian was craving breakfast for dinner. After that we went to The York's for a last minute decision game of poker. Thank goodness Brian won last hand so we broke pretty much even.

Today was rather uneventful. Like I said earlier, Brian worked most of the day. Well, I had to work too. I probably worked for about 5-6 hours. I have a deadline for tomorrow morning, so I had to finish a procurement package for Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. I should have finished Friday, but the 2 doctor's appointments put me a little behind.

Of course, Big Brother was on tonight. Here are a few random observations so far for the beginning of the season: Jessie likes himself WAY too much; Jessie has WAY too many muscles; I was glad to see Brian go last week - he thought he was so smart and had the house under his control; One word - Renny - I don't quite know what to say about her - very eccentric, loud, obnoxious, but seems like she can be sweet and compassionate - but talks about her adult son WAY too much; So far I do like Ollie, Dan, Keesha, and 1 or 2 others that I don't know their names yet; There are some feisty house guests this season, it should be good! Stay Tuned.

Tomorrow I have to take Addy to the Pediatric Cardiologist. I think most of you know, but just in case you don't, Addy was born with a Ventricular Septal Defect or VSD. It's not an uncommon birth defect and we are fortunate that Addy's is very slight. It was found by her Pediatrician while we were in the hospital when he heard a murmur. It is literally her blood "swooshing" through a hole in her heart which is located in the wall between 2 chambers. They said it should repair itself by the age of 3 and if it doesn't, it should not cause her any trouble whatsoever or affect her lifestyle in any way. Tomorrow she will have an echocardiogram (sonogram of the heart) to see if the hole has gotten smaller. When the Doctor was 1st telling us about her condition, it was so overwhelming and scary. My 10 hour old baby has a hole in her heart?!?! But we have been reassured it is not a big deal and she will be fine. They better be telling me the truth, because I HAVE to hold on to that.

Look below at a post I did this morning showing off my beautiful niece, Brittany. She is a Senior this year...Boo-Hoo!! I can't believe she will be going off to college in a year!

Lizzy wants me to pet her so bad, so I guess I better go give her some love. Have a GREAT week! Sleep Tight!

Brittany

So I've told you I want to be a Photographer when I grow up. My niece, Brittany is a Senior in High School this year so she needs senior pictures. She is having the "official" cap and gown, etc taken through the school, but we thought we might be able to save the Harris' a few bucks by trying to take the fun ones our self. We did our 1st session on Friday and here are just 3 of the 86 pictures I took. I may need to re-edit a few, somehow I cut her head off at the top without realizing. Our next shoot will be outdoors at either the Grapevine Botanical Gardens or the Little Chapel in the Woods at TWU.

Let me know what you think of these.







Have a GREAT Sunday!

P-A-I-N-F-U-L

I don't have much to say tonight except that Dr. Cook hurt me today, he hurt me bad! I had that "pea" sized cyst removed from my back today. Well, it ended up being "lima bean" sized. Apparently, since the skin on our backs is naturally tough, cysts grow down into the tissue. Opposed to like your face where it grows out because the skin is soft and flexible. So the "pea" we felt was just the tip of it. He gave me 4 lidacaine shots to numb it which hurt like a mother f&%$ing b&%$h. But then the deeper he got, the more I was feeling it. He said "I know I'm hurting you because I see your toes curling"...THEN STOP!!! This went on for like 30 minutes. The sensation I had was like a pair of tweezers pinching chunks of skin off over and over. He still wanted to remove my mole on my belly and I about wimped out on that one, but he assured me it wouldn't hurt like the back did. He was right, just one lidacaine shot (very painful) and the rest I didn't feel. But to top it all off, since it was considered in-office surgery, my co-payment doesn't apply, it has to go toward my deductible. And since they couldn't predict how much the insurance company would pay, I had to pay the whole thing up front...$400. Give me a break! Thank goodness I have left over hydrocodone from my c-section for situations just like this. He said take Advil or Aleve...Yeah, right, that'll work. Anyway, back there next Friday to have the stitches removed. I have no idea how many there are and Brian won't remove the bandage yet to look. He said he will on Sunday.

Anyway, Sleep Tight!

So Sleepy

I did not sleep well last night and by 5:00 am I gave up and just laid there in bed. Needless to say, I am quite sleepy today and am ready to hit the hay. One problem...I haven't watched Big Brother yet...Brian is watching Scare Tactics (and yes, most of you will know how fitting that it that Brian LOVES that show!!) and he won't let me watch BB yet. Bummer, I guess I'll be up a while because I won't be able to sleep knowing I have BB DVR'd without watching it. I couldn't watch it live because I was at Wal-Mart doing some grocery shopping while Ash was at Vacation Bible School. After dropping her off, we went to Texas Pit BBQ with the Harris'. Brittany even went! She only spends time with us when she's hungry. Too funny!

Speaking of Brittany, she is watching Ash a couple days a week until Band Camp starts on August 1s (I think). She started today and they made puppets, played basketball (for a short while cuz it was too hot), and played doctor with Britti being the patient. PeyPey was there too because they were both supposed to go to Dad's but Dad got sick and was throwing up. Brittany will watch Ash and Addy after she gets done with Fitness Camp while I go to the doctor to get a pea sized cyst removed from my back. If I'm fine after that little procedure, I will stop be Leapin' Lizards to see if it is suitable for Ashleigh's birthday party on August 9th. My baby will be 5 on the 11th. I can't even believe it.

Lawn guy came today...I love the way the lawn looks after a fresh cut!

The cleaning lady comes tomorrow, thank goodness because I don't even want to put Addy on the floor in it's current condition.

Oh, I finally get to watch BB, that's my cue to end for tonight. But 1st, here are a few pictures.

This one is funny because Shasta LOVES Addy and vice versa and despite my best efforts, they are always on the blanket together.




These are my favorite pictures that I took:

Sleep Tight!

Doctors, Bible School, & Such

Wow, it doesn't seem like it's been 4 days since I posted last, but I guess sometimes living life just gets in the way. We've been pretty busy over the weekend and today. On Saturday I went shopping to pick out some dresses for the girls for their photo shoot next weekend. Jessica was nice enough to come with me and her husband, Jeremy, was even nicer to watch not only his 2 kids, but my 2 kids also. I anticipated us only being gone like 3 hours at the most but we were gone like 5 1/2 hours. I couldn't believe it. We were just having no luck. We started at TJ Maxx hoping to find some cute Polo dresses...found some cute stuff for Addy but nothing for photos. Then to lunch. Then to Children's Place...bought Ash an outfit (the one in the new slideshow), but nothing for photos. Then to Bath and Body Works to re-stock the soap for the house. Then to Dillard's...bought Addy a couple of dresses, but nothing for photos. Then to Macy's...score!! I haven't been to Macy's in ages and figured I wouldn't be able to afford anything there, but they were having a really good sale! I decided to go with all white sundresses...they are not identicle, but just different enough to make the photos perfect....I hope! Addy's was $14 and Ash's was $11. And the dresses at Dillard's were like $10 and $12. I bought Polo and Nike at TJ Maxx for $10-$15. In fact, one of the Polo dresses I bought at TJM was $15, and we saw the EXACT same one at Dillard's for $35. Just crazy! I had never been to TJM before, so I'm glad Jessica suggested it, I really liked it! Unfortunately, we learned that Polo doesn't make clothes for girls in Ash's size range anymore.

Ashleigh started Vacation Bible School yesterday evening. It goes through Thursday from 6:00 through 8:30 in the evening. I didn't expect it at all but she cried when I dropped her off. When we showed up and were getting out of the car she said "I'm sad that you won't stay with me" and "I'm nervous that you're making me stay". I'm not sure what triggered it, because even on the 1st day of pre-K she didn't cry and she's really been outgoing lately. But in the end, she was fine and the teacher said she didn't cry after I left. AND she had a good time! So all was good. And today, there was no problem at all. Peyton and Sydney are also going to VBS but they are all in different classes since it goes by age.

After we got home this evening, we were watching "The Mole" and the contestants were having to bungee jump and Brian said "I would never bungee jump". Ashleigh said "I'll bungee jump with you Daddy, and you won't get a boo-boo, but you will get dizzy but then you won't be dizzy anymore and I'm a little nervous but we will be okay, Mommy is that bungee far away?" It's so funny to hear her "think" out loud. Also she has been saying things "dissapooint" her lately, but it comes out as "stusapoint" or something like that.

Both girls had their check ups today with Dr. Benzick. They both did really good. Ashleigh is 61 pounds (99%), 45 inches (93%), and perfectly healthy. Addy is 19.4 pounds (96%), 27.5 inches (96%), and head is 18 inches (99%). This compares with Ashleigh at 6 months at 20 pounds, 27 1/4 inches, and head was 17 1/4. So they are pretty even. He was very pleased with Addy's development thus far and happy with her 3 healthy looking teeth...yes, another one broke through the other day on the top. I raised a concern that a few people on separate occasions have brought to my attention that she won't look at them. she ca be right in front of you but she looks to the side, even if you keep turning her towards you. He said he's not worried about that because at the 9 month check up is when he asks about making eye contact. As were talking about it, she was intently focused on my watch, so he said it is completely normal if she isn't interested in making eye contact. I did get sad when Addy was getting her 3 shots because Ashleigh got real sad and was tearing up and upset that her sister was getting hurt. Ash has a lot of empathy and can be a very caring little girl.

My goodness, it's 11:00 already, I must go to bed. But 1st I'd like to wish my friend, Meredith, a VERY Happy Birthday today! I hope your day was GREAT today!

These photos are a couple of my favorites that I took, let me know what you think! Sleep Tight.

p.s. I tried uploading the photos but got an error 1, 674 times...I give up for now!