Still playing with the camera

I have had my camera for at least 2 years now - so you would think I would have figured it all out by now. Nope!

Just the other night I figured out I can take black and white pictures without editing once I loaded it - how fun!

Bath Time

Hailey has started doing this funny thing - when she gets really excited she opens her mouth super wide. No sound - just wide open. In the bath she splashes and then has to stop because she gets a bunch of water in her mouth. It's great when I pick her up from daycare and she does it - makes me feel good that she is happy to see me. (yes my own selfish reasons!)

Getting back to the whole bath thing. Hailey is now able to sit in the bath with Ashley - they have such a good time together. It's great to see how they are really starting to bond with the little things they are able to do. Hailey really loves her big sister.

It has started.....

We put Ashley's toddler bed together right before Christmas and we have been very lucky with her not getting out of bed. When she is ready to get up she still calls for us.

Not this morning!!

At 4:15 I am just getting out of the shower, Larry is brushing his teeth....and the bathroom door flies open..."I got up all by myself!" Ashley shouts!!

Oh no!!

Smokey

This morning we backed out of the garage and it was super foggy.

Ashley says "It sure is smokey out here!"

Just a funny way to start our trip to daycare.

Growing girls

Sometimes I will notice something Ashley says or something Hailey does and I realize how much they are both growing. Hailey is sitting up all by herself now - she tumbles over here and there - like she did this morning but Ashley is there to push her up by her head. We had to have a talk that Hailey's head shouldn't be pushed up like that - but she is just trying to help.

I took a picture of Ashley the other night and realized this little girl is growing. She has such a great sense of humor and is still so kind. We went to the zoo this weekend and she cracked us up. We were looking at the reindeer and all of a sudden she says "don't kill them Daddy!" - WHAT?? The funniest part is Larry hasn't even been hunting and has never even talked about it? Of course that was the only time during the day she called him Daddy - she calls him Larry all the time. I told Larry in Target last night that I feel like I am on my second marraige and he is her step-dad! It's pretty funny!

Our Newest Addition

I know what you are thinking - you have read all of my posts and heard how busy I am all the time - so what in the world were we thinking - WE WEREN'T!!

We went to PetSmart to get cat food - yes the cat is still alive much to Larry's dismay - and obviuosly we had hit our heads on the way in and decided "we should get Ashley a fish". Of course Ashley had liked the fish in the tanks and 10 min. later had no interest and was looking at the flippy cat toys. Larry wanted to get a huge set up with a stand and put it at the top of the stairs. I was happy to talk him into a "starter" tank. We got a small 1 gallon tank with a Beta fish - Freddie (yes Freddie we named our fish after you). I am happy to report that I believe this is as far as our fish adventure will go. Larry quickly realized how it can add up with just a 1 gallon tank - so no fear of our house becoming Castle Rock Aquarium anytime soon.

I will admit that it is pretty and calming - and kind of nice to have a pet that doesn't shed, or bark, or need to be let out.

Ashley does like Freddie - just have to keep her from feeding him all the time!

Little Pop culture break...

So I have to admit that I love gossip about the stars and love reality tv - but I try not to make it too obvious. I just have to say that I am very saddened about Heath Ledger - I just read an article about how he just bought a toddler bed for his little girl and it broke my heart. I loved him in "10 things I hate about you". I can't even imagine having to tell his little girl that she won't see her daddy anymore. I guess maybe because she is around Ashley's age and I see how excited Ashley gets when Larry gets home. It really makes you grateful for what you have.

And on the trainwreck side - Can you believe what a mess Brittany Spears has turned into....it's like a Lifetime movie gone bad!!

Night Monster!!

Now that I know Hailey is healthy I have had to face the facts - I created a night monster!! This girl knows how to work me and her favorite time is during the night. Here is how our schedule would go:

7:30 - She is tired - feed her a bottle - rock her to sleep and then lay her down

9:00 - She is craying - wants to finish her bottle and be held

9:30 - Tried to lay her down - she woke up and wants to be held

10:00 - Tried to lay her down - she woke up and wants to be held

Contines for several hours

1:00am - Wakes up again to eat - wants to be held

3:00 - Wakes up again - for no reason - just wants to be held

So I came to the realazation that I have to start letting her cry it out - which I HATE!!! Ashley never had an issue going to sleep - so I never had to do any of this. The first night was HORRIBLE - she cried - I cried (but I wasn't holding her) It took about 1 1/2 hours for her to get to sleep. Last night was a little better she is actually going to sleep and I let her cry at 9 and she sleeps til 11 - I feed her then just because I can't make her go all night without eating (yes, we already established that I am a huge sucker!) Then she slept til 3am - let her cry for about an hour - but it wasn't a big cry. So we have gone 2 nights and I already see an improvement - and I am actually looking forward to getting some real sleep....soon.

Fun Pictures

We had to have some fun while the kids were sick:

Ashley wanted Hailey to sit in her jeep with her - just had to make sure she didn't try to drive off with her.

Ashley is VERY in to make up - since I won't give her any then she decided to make her own lipstick - with a green marker!

Ashley dressed Larry up with some of her earing - and he had to pretend he was grandma!! (He will be so happy I shared this picture with everyone!)

Long 2 weeks

So for the past couple of weeks we have had two very sick kids! It all started on a Friday night - nothing crazy - Hailey had a runny nose and a cough but she was in good spirits. By Monday the cough was pretty bad so I thought I would take her in to the dr. - Double ear infection! Again she never rubbed her ears - no fever - so here this poor girl is in so much pain and she is still smiling! Well then on Tuesday I noticed she was wheezing and I just happen to see a news story about RSV - am I over reacting - maybe? Call the dr. and tell the nurse and she has us come in right away. Larry left work and met us and it was a good thing. Sure enough our little Hailey had RSV - which is a respatory infection that happens in babies and can be VERY serious. Our dr. office is really great. We were there for hours - they gave her some breathing treatments and we watched her oxygen. It actually dipped down to 88 while we were watching it - it should be close to 100. So the next couple of nights Larry and I took turns sitting in our overstuffed chair at night to make sure she kept breathing thru the night - that is the scariest thing of all!! She was a little trouper though and made it thru great. Luckily she didn't have a bad case - couple more trips to the dr. to monitor her oxygen level but thank gooodness we never had to take her into the hospital!
It's over right....oh no!
The very next day Ashley comes down with a fever - WHAT - yes a fever. My kids don't get fevers - which is frustrating because half the time I can't tell how sick they really are - yes for the most part I have happy sick kids! Finally a fever though - make a dr. appointment - oh she just has a cold - her oxygen levels are great so we don't have to worry about RSV. Well on day 4 the fever still has not gone away - back to the dr.. - Double ear infection and prescription cough medicine!! Again she never once rubbed her ears of complained. The dr. even asked her before she checked her ears "Ashley do your ears hurt?" - "No". Happy to say Ashley is doing a lot better - she still has coughing fits when she runs around but she is getting better.
Not to whine myself - but more to say what a great husband I have. In the middle of the girls getting sick - I got sick. Larry was really great about trying to take on two girls who haven't left the house and were climbing the walls. Amazingly enough he is the only one who didn't get sick....hopefully!