What A Girl Wants!

What are the things every girly girl loves?

Shoes:

Purses:

Accessories:


The Phone:

Boys:

A Few of My Thoughts ...

We are having a ROYAL fussy pants day today in this household. The whining is at an ever increasing level and I am feeling like I time warped back to the early days when the girls first came home and Madelynn had bad colic. Today it isn't so much one baby, but both. For instance Morgan cried forever this morning and then I put her down for a nap and Maddy woke up from her three hour nap in a great mood but as soon as she realized I wasn't going to hand over my chicken salad sandwich she started a tantrum and has been going ever since. Combine this with Maddy who is now into everything, especially if it is a cord plugged into an outlet, and I am one worn out mommy. Since today feels like a Monday (because yesterday was the Memorial Day holiday) I figured I would just make it easy on myself and belt out some random musings.

1. It has been really quiet here in blogland. Blogging has taken on this whole new thing for me. I was intending to keep this as a journal and somewhere along the way I changed my mind and started writing more to please an audience. So then when I write something funny and no one comments I feel a sense of dissapointment and even some shame. Like I have emarrassed myself by putting myself out there. I wish more of my family and close friends would take the time to comment or send me an email and say "hi" every now and then. I started this to keep them updated on the girls and now they know everything that is going on with us but I never hear from some them anymore.

2. I have misplaced my journal from the NICU. I was going to look through it and maybe even post some of the things I wrote while there and now I can't find it anywhere. I know it is around the house somewhere but where? I will keep looking.

3. Maddy started really talking up a storm this weekend and she is such a daddy's girl. She has been clinging to him all weekend and today when he left for work she went and sat by the toy box by the front door and said "da da da, my da da da da, daaa eeee" over and over. Later on after her nap she woke up and was in her crib standing up on the side saying "da da da da da" It was so cute.

4. I am not really into controversy. I like things to be even and fair and civil. But have you seen Madonna! Has she gone MAD! I just saw her picture in the new People magazine on a mirrored cross with a crown of thorns on. That is so revolting to me as a Christian! I honestly just find it sad that she would feel the need to do something like that!

5. I sent Maddy to her room just now for the first time ever. She has been whining for an hour at least. She finally broke out in full on tantrum and even as I sat there trying to remedy it with this toy or another bottle of milk, she just kept screaming. I got frustrated with her and just took her to bed. It has been five minutes and I haven't heard a peep from her since I laid her down. I think she is really tired today for whatever reason.

6. Sometimes I want to use my blog to really vent, to just go off and get it all out there, but I can't because I passed my blog address out to everyone I know so they could check on the girls whenever and I don't want to ever hurt someone's feelings if they by chance read my post that day.

7. I still haven’t replaced my cell phone. I decided to wait until the first, to get a new one. I can still check my messages on it though, so if you need to reach me and the home number is busy or William doesn’t answer, just leave me a message on my cell and I will call you back.

8. I wish I could go on a vacation right now. Leave out tonight and be gone to the beach for a week at least. I need some quality time with my family. William was off yesterday, so we had a three day weekend but it wasn’t enough. I just want to get away. Away from this house. Unfortunately we are one) broke and two) William used up the last of his vacation days a couple of months ago when we had that really bad stomach flu.

9. Tonya, my blog friend, is just the best! We post comments on each others sites daily and we email each other too sometimes but I really appreciate her candor and her friendship. I appreciate all of my blog friends. Being a stay at home mom is a great job and I know that if I was working again I would really miss being home with the girls everyday. There is no place on earth I would rather be than with them, but I am SO lonely sometimes. Today is one of those days! It can be so isolating, especially with two children. It is so much work to pack up two babies. It is already so hot now outside and the girls get heavier to lug around everyday. During RSV season we went nowhere with the girls and as soon as spring hit I was so excited about the possibility of getting out more often, but alas, I am still here stuck in this little house. I have tried to take the girls outside at least once a day for fresh air and sanity. It has helped a lot but I really need to connect with other adults. People that I love and that are in my life normally, even William doesn’t understand how isolating it is. Some of the people in my life should make more of an effort I think. I am willing to pack up the kids and pack up the car seats and strollers and meet them wherever whenever but still some of them can‘t find any time to fit us in. They are just too busy. Funny, they weren’t too busy to do lunch or hang out before the girls arrived. And anyway, I don’t think it is the girls that keep them away now. Maybe it is me? Maybe I am boring now or all I have to talk about is the kids? I don’t know, but I really miss it. I miss them. I miss having my own social life. Sorry to rant, thanks to those friends and family members who do make an effort and haven’t forgotten about us in these last few months, you are the best! :)

10. Still no baby, Beth went to the doctor today and he had said if she had dilated anymore or Aubree wasn’t cooperating in any way, we would for sure have us a baby, but Aubree (with her crush on Dr. Gray - see Beth’s blog) is doing well and so we still have no new pics of a baby to post! We are getting closer though and will probably have a new little girl to spoil within the next week! So keep your eyes out for some adorable new baby pics. I have my camera loaded with new batteries and ready to go at a moment’s notice :)

Gotta go let the dog out, cuddle with my Morgan bear and check on Maddy (who is still quietly sleeping since I put her down earlier) There is a bug flying in my face too and it is driving me crazy. Sorry if I ranted more than I raved today. Maybe later I will post some cutie pie pictures I took of the girls and have been saving for you. If you get a second please drop me a line and say “hi”. I could really use the *hugs* today and a caring comment. Not feeling my best obviously!

Looking for a Laugh?

My intention was to post this on Friday but somehow I got busy with family stuff. So here you go: Looking for a laugh? If so, look no further because this is hilarious! Friday Maddy and Morgan were playing on the floor in our living room and Maddy being that she is learning to pull up, tried to use Morgan's face to push up off of. Morgan was not to happy about this and promptly started screaming. So I separated them and put Maddy in the playpen with some toys and left Morgan on the floor. I was down on the floor playing with Morgan and taking pictures when Maddy started trying to pull up on the sides of the playpen. I snapped a couple of Maddy in her attempts. The funny part is that she is so tiny and can't really get a good reach to the top of the pen so she would reach and fall forward and lean into the mesh. She discovered that the mesh felt funny against her mouth and tounge and kept leaning into it to lick it. It made for some pretty silly faces :) See below:



I usually only post the cutest pictures I've taken of my girls, but these were just too funny to keep to myself! Happy weekend! Happy Memorial Day!

You Tell Me!

I thought it might be fun to do a comparison post. I found some old baby pictures of me and wanted to see what you thought when you compare my pictures with the girls pictures. Can you see any of me in them? I will try to add a photo or two of William too, but we don't have any of him as a little baby. He was in orphanages and foster care as a child and we don't have very many baby pictures of him.

The above picture is of me at 9 months old. The picture below is from the girls first professional photos taken at the end of March. Isn't it funny how our mouths are all open :)

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The above picture is of me and my Nana. She died two years ago this June and I have missed her everyday since :(
I think I look like Morgan in that picture.

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Above: I think Maddy definitely got my nose and ears. How funny!

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These are of William. Not very good quality so you can't get a good idea. I think overall Madelynn looks the most like her daddy in the face, but Morgan definitely got his ears and nose :)

Please No More DRAMA!

Okay so if you know me, you probably already know what a dork I am! Wanna hear about the latest dumb thing I've done?

It has just been one of those weeks and I honestly think God has a good sense of humor when it comes to my life.

I'm sure you haven't forgotten the LONG drawn out story of how I couldn't get the new pool put up and how I spent the ENTIRE day trying to get it up on Tuesday right? Well scroll down if you need a refresher or to to see a picture our lovely oasis.

Well, yesterday Beth came over because her mom had a doctor's appointment and didn't want to leave Beth alone way out in the boondocks where she lives with Adam running around. Beth is supposed to be on bed rest as she is now 33 weeks pregnant and having some trouble. So anyway, Tim (William's son, Beth's husband) was at work and her mom, who lives with her, had a dr's appointment, so she brought Beth and Adam to my house. For a while we just played in the floor, me and three babies and Beth lounged on the couch. Then we decided it might be relaxing for all of us to get into the new pool and cool off.

First I stripped Maddy down, changed her into a swim diaper, lathered her up with sunscreen, put her suit on her and placed her to the side. Then I repeated these same steps with Adam and then again with Morgan. Then I changed into my suit and some swim shorts, grabbed a bunch of towels, my phone, and some water toys. I took Beth and Adam out first and helped them into the pool. Then I went back inside and got Maddy and Morgan. Beth brought her DVD video camera over and wanted me to take some video of the fun. I turned some switches and thought I had the camera on and started recording. I recorded for a while before I realized I hadn't really turned the camera on. By this point Maddy was trying to eat the grass and Morgan who I had layed on the ground was starting to fuss. So I turned the camera on for real, took about 15 seconds worth of video and put it down. Grabbed my kids and climbed into the pool. It was really nice. I bought this cute little float and I put Maddy in it. She liked being able to put her feet on the bottom of the pool and get around. It acted as a walker type of contraption. I held on to Morgan. At some point Beth took Morgan and Maddy was floating beside her. So as we sat there talking and having a nice relaxing time watching the kids play in the water, I felt something against my leg. I thought it was just another water toy floating by but when I reached down to grab it I realized it was in my pocket. "OHHHHHH NOOOOO!" I said. "OOOOHHHHH NOOOO" I cried out. By this point Beth was freaking out thinking somebody was coming up behind her with an ax. I reached in my pocket and pulled out my cell phone. I held it up to show her. In the display part there was a line of water sloshing around.

Now this bright idea to get the girls a pool to play in for the summer has turned my life upside down. I NEED my phone. I mean we have a phone line in the house but I mainly use it for our dial up internet. I can't leave the computer on and the internet up all day like I usually do without having my cell phone available. No one calls our home number, I don't even think people know that number. Well if you need to get ahold of me in the next couple of days, you will have to call my home number or leave me a message on my old phone and let me call you back.

I am hoping to have a new phone by tomorrow or Saturday. So just email me if you need the number to use in the meantime.

I am so crazy. I am starting to think this swimming pool idea was not the brightest one I've ever had. I was smart in school. I made good grades, but ever since I had the girls I can't concentrate anymore and I make silly mistakes here and there all the time. I joke that they must have removed half of my brain with my C-Section. I hope I get it all figured out sooner rather than later.

Madelynn Grace - Then and Now

On Tonya's blog she asked everyone to do a Then and Now Post. Here is mine:

THEN:

Maddy was 2 weeks old in this picture. She had just had surgery on her intestines and had a colostomy bag. She weighed 1lb. 8oz. at this time.

This was the first time I ever held her in my arms.
She was almost a month old in this picture.

NOW:

Morgan Gabrielle - Then and Now

THEN:
Morgan was 2 weeks old in this picture and weighed 1lb. 9oz.
She also had just had surgery on her intestines and had a colostomy bag.

The first time I ever held Morgan she was 5 weeks old.
Look at how tiny she is here. She was so light that I remember that it felt
like I was mostly holding blankets.
NOW:

What a Day!

Okay so we all remember the wonderful photos and moments from Saturday. Lazing the day away in our brand spankin new NEON orange baby pool, that William bought. Oh those were the days, right? Well here is THAT pool today.
If you look closely you can see that my three ring pool is really a two ring pool. The top ring busted after only two, count them, two uses! Yep. I was sorely dissapointed in it.

So what is any good mommy to do? Go buy another, sturdier, Bigger, better, pool right? Right! This time I went ahead and spent a little more money on a pool that we all could fit in and that looked like it would hold up for more than two uses. In fact, my mom once had a pool exactly like this in her backyard that lasted us an entire summer.

Okay, so here is why I am just now posting for the day and it is 7:19pm. I spent the entire, THE ENTIRE, day putting this pool together. When I got home from Walmart I handed the quite heavy box to William and instructed him to go blow the thing up with his air compressy thing. My plan was to have him blow it up and then after he left for work at 11am I could fill it up with water and it would bake in the hot sun all day. Then the water would be the perfect temperature for two babies and one mommy this afternoon.

Well after like two minutes William comes back inside and says the compressor thingy won't fit the holes on the side of the pool and he had to get ready for work and I would have to just wait till tomorrow when I could go back to Walmart and buy an air pump for it, unless I wanted to try to blow the thing up by mouth? He was in a less than friendly mood because he was running behind in getting ready for work and it was really hot outside. I got the quick impression that he just wasn't really in the mood to help me with my BIG dilema for the day!

So after I helped him finish getting ready for work and kissed him goodbye, I put the girls down for their morning nap and headed outside to survey the damage. The first thing I noticed was that their were four holes! Two large ones about the size of cap on a coke bottle and two small normal ones with the plug thingy, you know just like the regular things you blow something up with. So I brought out his air compressor. Hooked it up to the extention cord and sat on the ground ready to figure this all out. The sun was beating down hard. It was hot and my eyes felt like they were cooking. The whole pool was layed out neatly (I had done that before he left for work) I found three coke bottle looking caps and figured that those must be needed to plug the big holes to use the little holes. I figured William hadn't see the little holes because they were sort of hiding. This must be why he said our compressor wouldn't work, right? SO, I put the caps on the big holes, there were three caps, one for a spare I guessed? I put the compressor valve in the first little hole, plugged the second hole and went inside.

I checked on the thing off an on for the next THREE hours and it still wasn't blowing up correctly. So I sat back down in the grass and pulled apart the layers to see what was going on. When I did this I saw a third coke bottle hole and third small hole. Duh! No wonder the thing wouldn't blow up. It was leaking all the air I was putting in out of the third big whole. Maybe by now in my LONG story I have lost you. Here is a picture I took after I finally got it blown up. You can see the six holes here:

So I after I plugged this hole, I went back inside and waited a while longer. Brigitta and her sister Linnea showed up to visit the girls and I went back outside to see what was up with the pool. Mind you it was now 3pm. I went out the back door and there sat my uninflated huge swimming pool. The compressor was humming and pumping but it made no difference, for whatever reason the stupid thing was NOT blowing it up. I guess William had been right after all and this pool was going to require a different kind of air pump. WHY hadn't I just listened to him to begin with? I asked Brigitta if she would watch the girls for a little while while I ran to my mom's house to borrow her air pump that she uses when camping. She said sure, so off I went.

When I got back, I plugged up my mom's pump and stuck it in the hole and viola the whole stupid pool puffed up with air in like two minutes flat. The WHOLE POOL WAS INFLATED IN TWO MINUTES WITH MY MOM'S PUMP! TWO MINUTES! TWO! I had spent FOUR hours trying to do it with William's pump and it took TWO MINUTES with her pump! I was kicking myself for not having gone over there to get it to begin with.

Okay so this is only HALF of my story. Time is 330pm. If you will remember I wanted to put water in the pool in the morning so that the water could heat up over the course of the day. Yesterday Maddy and I got in the orange pool and she turned blue because the water was freezing from the spicket. Now it was 3:30pm and the sun had already gone over the spot of the pool and the shade had set in. Being that we had spent so much time working on this stupid pool AND that I was wringing wet from being outside in the heat I was determined that Maddy and Morgan and I would get in the pool THIS afternoon. Since I couldn't count on the sun to warm the water I had to improvise.

I called William at work and asked him how to syphon warm water from the tub to the pool out back. He said it would be easier to use the kitchen sink and go out the back door and down into the pool. I being clever like I am didn't listen to the part about going out the back door. So instead we stuck one end of the hose in the kitchen sink and the other out the kitchen window and into the pool. Brigitta and Linnea helped me. Brigitta went outside to suck on the end of the hose and Linnea stayed at the sink holding the hose under. We tried and we tried and no matter what we really did, nothing worked long enough to fill up the pool. I called William back after about an hour of trying dilligently to get the water from sink to pool. His first question was "Do you have it going out the back door?" "No" I said "it's going out the window" "You have to use gravity to syphon water Mandy" he said "OH" I said. I informed the girls in our change of plans. We switched the hose around and ran it out the back door and voila it worked! The water started running from sink to pool ... ever so slowly.


Let's just say that TODAY was an adventure. I learned a valuable lesson: Sometimes William is smarter than me and I should listen to him. Sometimes it is okay to not be so stubborn and try to do everything MY way! By the time we got the water in the pool to a usable level, the wind was blowing and it was just too cold to get in the pool and play. I wasn't hot anymore but I was extremely tired from the whole ordeal. What a waste of time. I could have just filled the pool up with the hose the regular way, waited till tomorrow for the sun to heat up the water and avoided all that extra work.

Oh well, we had fun laughing at Brigitta's blue lips from sucking on the end of the hose. We had fun laughing at ourselves trying to figure it all out. In the end it all worked out just fine, but lets just say that if this pool busts tomorrow the girls will NOT be getting a new pool anytime soon :)

Here is a picture of our new oasis! Lovely isn't it? Can't wait to get in it ... tomorrow :)

Update on Morgan

So far she is doing well. She hasn't had a fever today but we have been giving her Tylenol every four hours religiously. William stayed home today with us just in case she needed to go to the doctor, but we didn't end up taking her.

Thanks for all the prayers and well wishes. I will let you know if anything changes :)

Four Things ...

I got this quiz from Casey's blog. Tonya has done it as well. So I will give it a go. I am tired tonight so I don't know if my answers will even make sense.

Four jobs I have had in my life:
1. Optical Technician at JC Penney Optical
2. Nanny
3. Placement Assistant at Youth Villages
4. Title Clerk for TruGreen Chemlawn (Service Master)

Movies I would watch over & over:
1. How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days
2. Gone with the Wind (reminds me of my Nana)
3. National Lampoons Christmas Vacation
4. ?

Places I have lived:
1. Bartlett, TN
2. Owensboro, KY
3. Atlanta, GA
4. Bristol, TN

Four tv shows I love to watch:
1. Top Chef
2. Project Runway
3. The Apprentice
4. MythBusters

Four places I have been on vacation:
1. Destin, FL
2. Gatlinburg, TN
3. Cozumel, Mexico (on a cruise)
4. Orlando, FL

Four websites I visit daily:
1. I visit all of the blogs in my link section daily
2. BabyCenter.com (but not daily)
3. Walgreens and Target.com (visit regularly to shop or order pictures)
4. Pogo.com (William and I play games on this site regularly. I like ShuffleBump)

Four of my favorite foods:
1. Right Now I have a thing for Taco Bell soft tacos - don't ask me why?
2. McDonald's Ice Cream
3. Doritos Salsa Chips
4. Funyons

Four places I would Rather be right now:
1. Deep asleep. I am really tired tonight.
2. Destin on the beach with William, the girls, my mom and Scott. Fun!
3. In a big swimming pool, warm enough that girls could get in too!
4. With my extended family. I really like it when the whole family gets together.

Four songs that make me cry:
I won't be able to think of four but,
1. I Will Be Here - by Steven Curtis Chapman - usually a wedding song but I sing it to the girls all the time and I think it applies.


After you've read this delete my answers and fill in your own.

Poor Baby :(

Morgan woke up in the middle of the night with a fever of 101.5. We started giving her Tylenol. She got much better throughout the day and had no more fever, so we skipped her last dose because she was napping. William just brought her to me and she is red hot with fever again. Her temp is 101.4 now. The strange thing is she has no other symptoms. She isn't coughing, no runny nose, both girls have had one "loose" diaper today but that isn't entirely abnormal. I don't know if she is sick from the cold that I have had or something else. I just hate this for her. :(

Please keep Morgan in your thoughts and prayers tonight. Hopefully she will get better with just the tylenol. If not we will probably go to the doctor's office tomorrow.

Splish Splash in The Baby Pool

Today we decided to grill out hotdogs and blow up the baby pool. When the girls woke up from their naps, we put them in their swimsuits and took them outside for a swim. They had a blast. Maddy even crawled around in the pool and sat against the side without support. We were really nervous that she would go under but she did well. William had to finally get in the pool with Morgan. She just isn't strong enough yet to hold herself up like that, but regardless she still had a fabulous time. Now both girls are worn out and are ready for another nap :) Here are some pictures from their adventures!






I had already put this post on the blog and I was sitting here at the computer admiring what perfect babies I have and I started thinking about when they were born. I think the second day they were here I went up to Morgan in her warming bed and watched her laying there so tiny and sick. I leaned over to her and I promised her that one day she would come home with me and she would sleep in a big fluffy crib and in the summertime I would by her a big kiddie pool and we would play and splash to her hearts content. I also promised her a pony, but don't remind her of that one. Now looking at these pictures I realize our dreams are fullfilled. We did it. We are home, we are safe, we can be together all the time now. Wow! What an amazing feeling. Being their mom is the best thing that has ever happened to me! I am so greatful to God for this chance, what more is there to say!

Photos on Friday

Here are some pictures I took today of the girls. Sometimes when I get my camera out, I don't realize how many pictures I am actually taking until I load them onto the computer. There were so many cute ones from today that I figured I would post some of them here and tell you what everyone was up to when I took them ;)

Maddy and Morgan today after nap time. Morgan says "Oh, Hi mommy!"

"Can we get up and go play now?"

Maddy chewing on her fingers while intently watching the BackYardigans.
Morgan sees a toy she wants and goes for it!

Jenny, sitting by the door, watches the girls play!

Just for Fun!

Here is a list of questions I found on someone's random site. Thought I would answer them for fun since I don't have anything else to write about today. Then if you read these and are a regular blogger then answer them on your site too. Tonya, Maggie, Beth, Casey, ect. only if you want to of course!

1.Grab the book nearest to you, turn on page 18 and find line 4.
The nearest book was King Long Shanks by Jane Yolen. Line 4 says "And then they smiled simultaneously and at the same time." This is a children's book Charla brought over for me to read to the girls.

2.Stretch your left arm out as far as you can.& catch air?
No I caught the back of my cell phone cover. My phone is dead AGAIN and the battery is charging.

3. What is the last thing you watched on TV?
I watched Sponge Bob this morning with William and Maddy. The last program I really paid any attention to was Top Chef last night on Bravo.

4. Without looking, guess what time it is?
6:10

5. Now look at the clock, what is the actual time?
6:34 p.m. (I looked not to long ago, so this was kinda cheating)

6. With the exception of the computer, what can you hear?
My dog snoring, traffic from the road. The girls are taking a nap :)

7.When did you last step outside? What were you doing?
This morning I went to get groceries at Walmart.

8.Before you started this survey, what did you look at?
On the computer? Um the site where I found these questions. And all the other blogs in my link section. I check those daily.

9.What are you wearing?
Green tshirt and shorts

10.When did you last laugh?
Probably when I was on the phone with Drew. I can't remember. If not then, then probably yesterday maybe.

11.What is on the walls of the room you are in?
Pictures and a mirror. I'm in my living room.

12.Seen anything weird lately?
Not really. I was trying to think of something really funny to put on here, but I am drawing a blank.

13.What do you think of this quiz?
I didn't read it before I started it and so now I am thinking I live quite a boring life.

14.What is the last film you saw?
Derailed. It was pretty good. I didn't think I was going to like it, but it was pretty good. And even though I kinda figured it out before the end, I still liked it. We rented it on Pay-per view, we had a free coupon.

15. If you became a multimillionaire overnight, what would you buy?
William would say an island. I guess I would just buy a house with a swimming pool and lots of land for my family to live on.

16.Tell me something about you that I don't know.
That is hard. Some of you know me really well and some of my blog friends don't know me personally at all. Ummm ... I am an only child. Wow, I am pretty much an open book to my family, so it is hard trying to think of something to tell them that they might not already know. I am afraid of the dark and can't watch scary movies because I get to wrapped up in them, no matter how absurd, and then I can't sleep for days. My immediate family still makes fun of me because "Signs" scared me so bad I wouldn't go outside at night for about a month (we do live on a farm people :)

17.If you could change one thing about the world, regardless of guilt or politics, what would you do?
I would eliminate ALL crime.

18.Do you like to Dance
Yeah, if I am at home cleaning or with the girls alone. Not in public, too much stuff jiggles these days. Have you seen that jello - jiggle when you wiggle commercial, yep that's what I mean.

19. Imagine your first child is a girl, what do you call her?
My first children were girls: Madelynn Grace and Morgan Gabrielle

20. Imagine your first child is a boy, what do you call him?
Carter

21.Would you ever consider living abroad?
Probably not, unless it was a tropical island that was safe from Tsunami's and Hurricanes.

22.What do you want GOD to say to you when you reach the pearly gates?
Welcome, My good and faithful servant!

Let me know if you post this on your site and I will be sure to read your answers :)

Rambling On ...

Wow. I seemed to have stirred quite a lot of people with the last post. I will try to keep it calmer tonight :)

Today I went over to Beth's house to take care of her and Adam. See Beth's Blog in my links section. I posted on her website for her since she is technically supposed to be IN the bed. (She is sneaky and gets up and down some) I left the girls home with Brigitta our babysitter. She is great! She is very responsible and seems to be really fond of both girls. I feel comfortable leaving them for a few hours with her.

I still feel pretty crummy today. My nose is running less but my head is still full and the dizziness is making me slightly nauseated. I skipped the DayQuil today though as I didn't want that drugged feeling to occur since I knew I would be driving.

There's really not that much to post about. Maddy is getting really good at sitting up on her own and is even so talented now that she is able to throw a full on tantrum while still sitting.

Oh, I know what I can tell you. This morning, Maddy was pulling up on the armoir in the living room. William was in the room with her and Morgan and I was ... I was in the other room I guess. Anyway, she fell and bonked her little head on the door of it and now has a little bruise on her forehead. This is her first bruise caused by falling. Her first bruise at all, if you don't count the ones the IV's made in NICU. William and I both felt bad. He reminded me that there will be plenty more over the years as she learns to walk and run, ect. I know, I know. But it really hurt my spirit that my little moo had a bruise on her perfect little head. I gave her some tylenol and then I held a cold teether to her head in hopes of keeping it from swelling. She is fine now.

Don't you hate how your fingers get orange when you eat cheetos! I hate that. Why do they have to be that orange color anyway.

Well I guess I will go now. Since my baby is pitching a fit and I have orange cheeto dust all over me. Till tomorrow ...

Stop Playing Favorites

What a smart baby!

I always feel like when I say one is smart I have to say the other is smart in the same sentence. I mean I think they are both brilliant, but why do I feel compelled to say it at the same time? I want to be fair? Or is it that I'm afraid if I mention one is smart or beautiful or ect that you might think that I favor that child and don't feel the same way about the other. Well, whatever. They are both smart and perfect and beautiful to me!

Maddy is now officially sitting up by herself. She goes from laying to sitting up to crawling. She is getting faster and faster every day. Morgan is crawling all over the place and although she is not quite doing the same physical feats Maddy is, she is doing better with her verbal and fine motor. Maddy is brave. She sees something she wants across the room and she is off like a rocket towards it. Morgan, on the other hand, thinks things through. She contemplates how to get there before going for it. It will be interesting to see if these patterns remain the same as they grow up.

I think sometimes people, even close family and friends, want to compare the girls. I think they pick one or the other and it has a tendency to come across as favor of one over the other. Usually this favor lies with Morgan. Since Morgan is the cuddlier baby, she is still a baby baby and she is typically quieter than Maddy, I think people tend to want to bond with her more. Maddy is always moving. She only cuddles when she is sleepy and usually that is reserved for me or William. She whines more and her cry (as I have described before) grates on your nerves more. Here below are some examples of comments I have heard in relation to my girls:

Not to long ago we went to a family dinner. One of the family members was standing around wanting to hold one of the babies. I really didn't want her to have the babies at all, but she was hovering. Over the course of the afternoon she ended up with Maddy. It was hot inside the house because there were so many people there. I went outside with Morgan to sit on the porch. This family member came out of the house and looking over at Morgan made this comment: "I don't like THIS ONE (meaning Maddy), I want to hold THAT one." Those were her exact words people. I went inside, got William and made him come get Maddy. I am pretty sure she didn't even know their names. Why else call them "this and that"

This isn't the only time comments have been made.
Another family member mentioned while holding Maddy, "Oh, I KNOW which one this one is" At the time Maddy was fussing.

One of our therapist calls Maddy "Meanie Weanie" and another calls her "Wild Woman"

I'm not mad at anyone about this, I just think its kind of unfair to start labeling my children now. Who knows if Maddy will grow up to be "impulsive" or "dramatic" I am seriously afraid that if this child grows up being seen as the "bad one" or any other labels that people want to come up with, she will have low self esteem. I don't want that for her or for Morgan. I want them to both feel completely loved, equally by ALL the people in their lives, especially their family. I want her to feel nurtured and appreciated and I want to let them become whatever it is in life that brings them happiness and fullfillment. She is a baby people! I truly believe that if they were not twins, I wouldn't hear half of the comments that I do. People would automatically think every new thing they do is just magnificent, and personality wise there would be nothing to comment on because there would be nothing to compare them to.

Anyway, I will get off my soap box now. I don't know where all this came from anyway, I was planning on writing about how yucky I feel today and how I didn't really feel like writing. I went through my recent pictures and was planning to put a one liner up and post a picture. And this is what I got instead.

I'm delusional from DayQuil (which did in fact make me drowsy and a little sick to my stomach) So just ignore my rantings. A blog is a place to rave and RANT sometimes right? So there ya go! See you tomorrow with something happier hopefully :)

Monday Blah's - 10 Random Thoughts

I am not feeling good tonight. My throat is killing me and my nose is running. My right ear hurts too. Since I don't really feel like posting tonight, here are 10 short and random thoughts ...

1. Maddy is sitting up by herself now. I just looked over and she is sitting straight up in the play pen playing with toys. Earlier she was in her bed (I had forgotten to lift the side rail) and I went in her room and she was trying to stand up in the bed. When she saw me she plopped back down with a face that said "You caught me, Ma"

2. Two times this weekend, I went out to eat with someone and ended up getting my entire meal for free. Yesterday at Dixie Cafe and today at Chili's because they brought out the wrong food and then we had to wait FORRRREVVERRR for them to bring it back out and by that point we had to get it to go because Melissa had to get to work. Not fair to have to pay for something you will have to microwave later to eat.

3. Beth is now officially on complete bedrest. She went back to the hospital last night for more contractions, they released her and she went to her OB today and they are sending a home health nurse out to her house tomorrow to hook up a monitor to her and start an Terbutaline drip thing (I'll know more later) So her baby shower is off and I think she said her doctor is giving her steroids this Thursday and planning to Csection her at 34 weeks if she makes it that far.

4. I wish William was off tomorrow. Or for the rest of the week. This weekend we ran around so much and lately I feel like we don't have a lot of time to be together, alone or with the girls. Everything is always rush rush rush. I think this coming weekend I just want to hunker down at home and not do anything.

5. Did I mention that my ear is hurting.

6. Maddy Moo and her Daddy. I love her socks like this.
7. Picture of Morgan in our new umbrella stroller. Daddy took her for a walk out to our veggie garden this weekend. It was sunny.
8, 9, & 10. Honestly, William just pulled up and I feel like I am getting sicker by the minute. I think I am just going to call it a night and go to bed. So instead of 10 random thoughts, lets just make it 8 random thoughts :) Night everybody.

Happy Mother's Day

This was my very first Mother's Day. It was a great weekend (with the exception of the baby scare - see previous post, but even that turned out wonderfully). Friday night was the Mother's and Daughter's Banquet at our new church. I took the girls to the dinner after asking Brigitta, our new sitter, to help me while there. It was really nice. Everything was decorated beautifully and the men of the church had cooked a four course dinner for us. Here are some pictures of that.





Saturday my mom and Scott came over and picked up the girls and kept them overnight. Then today after church we picked them up and went to lunch with mom and Scott for Mother's Day. We went to Dixie Cafe in Bartlett but it was not good. We ended up getting all of our meals free because the service was so terrible and the food was cold. After we ate we took the girls home and got ready for evening church. We just got home. Overall I would say that the weekend was very good. Not very restful, but still a very good time.