New Car!!

We officially have our new car. It's a 2009 Chevy Traverse. It's bigger than the Blazer which had become undersized for our family and frequent trips to Wisconsin and Michigan. It also has more power, same towing capacity, and better fuel mileage. We've driven it quite a bit in the last three days and are very happy with it. We were originally going to wait until next year to purchase a new vehicle (the Blazer would have been 10 years old) but couldn't pass up the great financing offer of 0% for 72 months!

Our Summer Vacation

So we just got back from our annual week at the lake in the U.P. of Michigan. This year because of our schedules we were actually there about 10 days. The ride there was pretty uneventful. We leave later in the day, stop for dinner, then drive into the night and the girls sleep. We have found this is the best way to travel with young kids! This is the first year since having Addison that we haven't had her in a pack-n-play in our room. So Payton finally has a roommate. They each have a twin bed there and it actually worked out quite well. They of course would whisper and giggle for a while until we finally went to tell them that it was too late to play and that they needed to go to sleep. It was sweet how they got along!

The girls had a ton of fun trying all sorts of different things. This year was the first time was attempted getting them on the tube and they loved it! They love floating around in the water so much that one morning the four of us just floated out on an inflatable island and soaked up the sun! It was a great vacation for all of us. Brian and I even got away one night to go out to dinner and see the new Harry Potter movie. Although the theater we went to was a disappointment. The movie itself was great, but the theater we remember going to in high school is SO run down. I don't think we will be going there again! Brian had bought a remote controlled boat before we left, and he got a lot of use out of it! The girls really enjoyed it too, especially Addie. The way back we decided to stop at Amy and Mark's to visit for a couple of hours, and of course about 5 minutes from their house (it is about half way into our drive) Addie got car sick. Yuck! So after about 10 minutes on the side of the road we were off again, and thankfully she didn't repeat that the rest of our drive. We got back home aobut 12:30 am. It always is nice to be home!

Brian and I also visited my cousin who works at the local Chevy dealer... long story short we are getting a 2009 Chevy Traverse delivered to us next week. More on that to come!

Addison's first fish! My dad put the worm on and as soon as it hit the water Addison got a bite and pulled it right in. That little Barbie fishing pole was put to good use!

Payton LOVED the tube. She made Addie go first, but as soon as she got on and started going she kept yelling "FASTER! FASTER!"

Brian and Addie getting ready to take off in the tube!

The girls feeding the fish ducks at the lake. There were 7 fish ducks that slept on the shore and every time they saw the girls coming down the lawn they came right up to them looking for more food. This obviously isn't something that they usually get!

Payton's Day

Today Payton was busy! She started the day going on a field trip with her class to Dairy Queen. She usually doesn't go on Fridays, but she heard about the trip for ice cream, so off she went. I picked her up around 12:30 and then we were just home for the afternoon. After dinner Payton and I met a friend of mine and her son to see Ice Age 3. This was the first trip to the theater for Payton. She was so excited just walking up to the building it was so cute. She was just giddy when it started. She loved the seats, the red lights lining the walkway, the "big TV", the projector, all the people... She did end up in my lap as soon as the big dinosaurs showed up, but she did just fine. Brian told me to get popcorn and candy and do the whole thing. So we snacked away. My friend Erin's son had never been to the theater either and he loved it too. We were so surprised actually that the evening went off without a hitch. We got home around 8:30 and Brian had pitched our tent in the backyard. Payton has been begging for weeks to camp out there. So tonight is perfect weather and we decided earlier in the week that it was time to try it out. So they are out there with about 10 books Payton picked out, all their blankets, flashlights and Payton's favorite stuffed bear. Brian took the laptop and a book as well. We will have to see in the morning how it all turns out. It will be interesting to see if she makes it all night! We will have to see...

Our Fourth of July

We spent the holiday weekend with my sister Nicole and her family at their cabin in Crivitz, WI. Well, their cabin is currently being built and Brian really wanted to go and help out. So he was able to help Jason knock off some of the work and we were able the camp for the weekend. By day 3 I will say I was doing much better with the camping thing, but it took me about a day to get over the kids being grubby and constantly being after Addison to make sure she wasn't getting into anything she shouldn't. Guess i am a hotel kind of girl. Ha!

On the actual fourth we went to the beach. Payton was always timid with the water, but this time she walked right in up to her chest. She lost her footing once and fell down. Brian scooped her up right away, but she did go under. She couldn't have cared less. It was nice to see for once that she didn't totally freak and get out of the water. Addie was loving all the attention from our nephew Nick. He didn't leave her side the entire weekend. We went to see some fireworks that night. Addison fell asleep on the car ride and we let her sleep until about an hour before the show. Those girls had the time of their lives with their cousins and glow sticks while we were waiting for the fireworks to start. Once they started Payton cowered in Brian's lap, she was spooked after someone behind us shot off a bottle rocket. Addison was ooooing and ahhing the entire time. So funny how different they were!

When we were getting to leave on Sunday for home our niece Elizabeth was begging for Payton to stay and Nick was asking for Addie to stay! It was so cute.

Busy Month

June has been so busy for us! Our month started with our 10th anniversary. We had already celebrated back in April with our long weekend in Door County, so the actual anniversary was pretty low key. Just dinner out with the girls. That same weekend we had 2 friends from college visit with their families. It rained that entire weekend, and with a house full of kids that can be tough. But we made the most of it and had an awesome visit.

The next weekend my parents came down for a college graduation, and were able to spend a few nights with us. The following week Brian's mom flew out to see the girls (and us too I guess:)). Payton and Addison love all the attention from their Grammys.

This weekend my sister Valerie and her husband visited. Valerie is pregnant with her first baby and made a haul at our house! We were able to give them quite a few things to use for their baby. We also made a trip up to IKEA and the Mall of America.

Things will slow down a bit for us in July until our trip to the lake in MI. We are looking forward to that trip too. This summer is a lot different than last due mostly to the fact that Payton and Addie really play well together and love to be outside playing in the yard. It makes life a lot easier now that they like to play with the same things. And the newest thing is Payton can finally pump her swing all by herself. She is very proud of that (as are Brian and I). We put a new glider on our swing set that they can swing on together too. We usually have a yard full of kids, and their parents. Always an impromtu get together at the Stewards!

Wednesday Night Storms

So we were outside playing with our neighbors on Wednesday night when the tornado sirens sounded. It was overcast, and dark clouds were rolling in, but that happens so often that we were surprised to get inside to hear that we had a tornado warning for the next 45 minutes. I did convince Brian the first year we moved to MN that we needed an emergency weather radio. Boy has that thing come in handy.

Brian had to go to Minneapolis to pick up his mom from the airport so he left shortly after the warning expired hoping to miss the next batch of storms. And of course while he was gone the satellite went out... I turned on the computer to check the radar again as the sirens started again. Our weather radio was alarming saying that there was a tornado on the ground 6 miles west of Owatonna moving east. Yeah, we live in Owatonna! Off to our "hideout" under the stairs. I have a big beanbag chair and "tornado kit" back under the stairs in our basement storage room. So there we sat, the girls and I... I had the computer on live radar, the weather radio right next to me, and the girls looked totally freaked out! We got ping pong ball size hail, that I swore was going to break a window, and 1 1/2 inches of rain in about 2 hours. The tornado missed us and all ended up well. My girls did awesome listening to me and staying put when I asked (for once!). While we were in the thick of that storm Payton looked at me and said "Is it almost over Mumma?" I said it was almost past us and we just needed to sit tight for a little bit longer. She than said "This storm has really ruined my night!" How cute is that!? I really needed that at that moment!

Here they are hunkered down in our "shelter" after the storm had passed.

Big Update

I started a new job this week. It is with a start-up company which was put together with people I used to work with. There are some risks of course, but the guys in charge have done this before and were pretty successful so I feel pretty good about the situation. In short, I'll be working on the same wireless broadband product I worked on a year ago. I think this will be a better fit than my previous job. Technically this will be the fourth company I've worked for in the past four years...all in the same building!!!

Trials of parenting a 2 year old...

So last week Brian and I wanted to get Payton a bigger bike with training wheels, so I got the girls together on Friday and we met Brian at the store after he got off work. I usually have a snack in my purse for Addie to get her to stay with us. We didn't even get to the bikes before I had the snack out and Addie was happy as a clam. Not to last long though... Turns out Addison loves to shop and didn't want to leave. Since Brian and I had 2 cars with us and it was raining we each took a girl and were headed to the doors and it became apparent Addison was going to cause a scene. She runs, screams, writhes etc.... all to avoid leaving the store. I could see Brian wrestling with Addie all the way to his blazer. Payton and I made it into my car and she asked me "Why did Addie have to go with Daddy?" My response was "Because Daddy is stronger than Mumma!"

Our Anniversary trip!

This June 5th is our 10th wedding anniversary! We have been thinking of planning a trip for while. Earlier this year we decided to go to Door County, WI for a long weekend. I mentioned it to my sister Nicole and she begged to take the girls. So we let her pick a week that worked for her, which happened to be last weekend.

We stayed at a Bed and Breakfast for the first time. It was a 130 year old Victorian home that had been converted into 7 guest suites. It was awesome! They were able to keep that Victorian feel while still adding modern bathrooms and whirlpool tubs. And a hot delicious breakfast brought to our door every morning was a luxury I could get used too! For anyone that has not been to Door County it is a peninsula on Lake Michigan. It is full of little towns on the water and state parks. We shopped, walked, and ate a ton. And we even caught a movie. We haven't gone to the theater together in about 2 years! It was just perfect, fun and relaxing. Not to mention the fun that our girls were having at auntie's. We bought them a couple of things to "lure" them out of her house. They never want to leave. And I don't think there is anything better than the look on our daughters faces when we walked in the door after being gone all weekend... we missed them too!

Our Weekend

We were to Duluth the past weekend to visit our friends Mark and Amy and their kids. It is SO nice they live so much closer (about 3 hours). Our kids all play so nice together and Payton did not want to leave. It was so cute. And it is so nice to just hang out with Mark and Amy!!! Thanks guys for the fun weekend!

And while we were busy having fun with the Wolcotts our neighbor had rented a de-thatcher (sp?) and de-thatched our entire lawn (along with 5 other houses on our street). And the best part was that he even cleaned up all that mess! We came home to a great looking yard and didn't have to do any work! Gotta love that "Minnesota nice"!

We couldn't believe it...

We went out to dinner tonight (my parents are in town) at an Italian restaurant. We got a salad and an appetizer to start. Payton was happy with the bread to start, but Addison wasn't thrilled about it. She was much more interested in our appetizer, fried calamari. She kept saying "bite! bite!". I looked at Brian and said "Should I give her some?" He shrugged his shoulders and said "Try it." I think we were both thinking that it would immediately be spit back out. She is a great eater, but calamari? Well, she LOVED it! We were all in shock of that one. She kept asking for more until it was all gone. Give her a cookie and she refuses it, give her fried "squid" and she will gobble it up. Go figure.

Payton

Before....


and after.


Yes, that's daddy putting beer in the fridge in the background.

Addie turns 2! And boy have we been busy!

Okay, so I am a bit behind on the blogging thing. We have been crazy busy around here... Addison turned 2 on February 20th and we celebrated by meeting our families at a hotel in WI. The kids got to swim in the pools and boy did our girls have fun. We had to drag Payton out of the pool! We all had a lot of fun, and the girls did awesome.

Addie had her 2 year pedi appointment and she is still running 85% for height and 93% for weight. He words are starting to pick up. Our favorites are Mummy, Daddy, Paypee (this is what she calls Payton), up-ah (this is how we know she wants to be picked up), and help me. She is still a bundle of energy and we are constantly running after her. She loves to steal toys from Payton (while Payton is playing with them) and proceed to run as fast as she can away from her. Her favorite toys are her My Littly Ponies, her baby dolls and Elmo. And anything she thinks she could climb on she will. This especially includes her Daddy if he lays down on the floor. The girls love that.

Last week both girls were plagued with the stomach bug. Payton started with it first and Addie soon followed. We had 2 days of quarantine and constant cleaning on my part... but Brian and I never got sick. Thank goodness for that!

The past weekend our friends Amy and Mark came down with their kids. Amy and I took Payton and Olivia to Disney on Ice in Minneapolis. It didn't start well with Payton when the first scene had some fire special effects. She cowered in my lap for most of the first act saying "I DON'T like fire!" Then during intermission she says to me "Mumma, I want something to eat. And it looks like a rainbow." Of course she saw the snow cones when we were walking in. So Olivia and Payton endulged in that and wow, were they chatty on the ride home!!!

We also finally bought a Nintendo Wii, which we had been talking about for months. We stayed up way to late with Amy and Mark playing that and then with the time change we were quite pooped by Sunday night! But that time change has worked in our favor with the girls. They have been sleeping later in the morning. Today Payton woke up at 7:45! If only Brian and I could sleep that "late"!

No pugger!

We decided to take the pacifier away from Addison last night. We weren't sure how it would go since she sleeps so well with it. But she doesn't get it any other time and she naps at daycare without it (she does get it for naps at home). We put her to bed with it since she was too wound up to just go to bed. I took it way once she was sleeping. She woke up crying around 11 and I got all setup to spend the night on the floor...pillow and blanket. She cried pretty hard for about 5 minutes then just snapped out of it and relaxed. I held her for a few more minutes then laid her in her bed. Waited until she was asleep then I went back to my bed. Didn't hear from her the rest of the night!!! She woke up the usual time in the usual way...6:15 banging on her door, but not crying for her 'pug'. Let's hope today's nap and tonight go at least as well.

Addie's Bedtime

Addie's bedtime usually consists of putting her in bed and then having her gently rattle her door a few minutes later. This happens once or twice on a usual night. If she's being a stinker then it's several times. Well, tonight she is being a real big stinker. Not only is she rattling the door but she was playing with a nightlight. We moved the nightlight then a little while later we thought we heard her closet door moving. I went to check on this and when I opened the door she was nowhere to be seen. She had gone into the closet and closed the door!
It's bedtime...why aren't you sleeping?!?

WOW Payton...

So as you all know Payton is in the 4 year old preschool room at the girls daycare. She has been doing very well in there. Her teacher sent home flashcards to work on her phonics because she could see that Payton was really excelling with her letters and sounds. Because this really is a kindergarten readiness room they split the room to work on different things and the kids that are starting kindergarten in the fall are put into reading groups. Payton will be put into a reading group next January because she will be started kindergarten in the fall of 2010 because of her late birthday. Well.... her teacher pulled me aside this afternoon when I picked up Payton and said that Payton has really been doing exceptionally well on her phonics. So much so that she would like to put her into a reading group! She feels that she is ready and that she really is more advanced than the rest of the kids in her group. We are very proud of her! She said that she will just gradually introduce this to her, but she thinks she will be fine. Nice job Payton!

Not much

Facebook has been taking up a bit of Tina's time lately (a bit of mine as well) so the blog hasn't gotten any attention.
Nothing too exciting going on lately. Most of our snow is gone since we've had 40+ weather with rain and lots of wind. I'm sure we'll get hit with at least one more below zero snap and a few inches of snow before winter officially ends. It has been nice not having to bundle the kids in the arctic explorer gear every time out of the house.

Sickos

I think whatever Addie had last week she passed on to me. I've felt like crap all week. Finally went to the doctor yesterday and she was convinced that I had Strep after looking at my throat. The rapid test came back negative so I should find out the results of the culture today. She prescribed antibiotics anyway and I've had two doses now and don't feel much better. At least the chills have gone but all other symptoms remain. Tina's started feeling ill yesterday and went to the doctor today. Her rapid strep also came back negative. Don't know what we have, but it sure does suck.

On a happier note Payton was telling me she saw a skunk the other day on her way home from daycare. I asked was it running. She said "no...it was still. It was sitting...I think it was pooping." That made my morning better.

Addie Updates...

Well, she is finally over this! On Tuesday I got a call at work and had to leave to pick her up at daycare because she had a 103 temp again. I had a long talk with our pediatrician that afternoon and she really calmed me down so I could be reasonable about this whole thing. Unfortunately Addison is more likely (than a child who has not ever had a febrile seizure) to have one again. She did talk with me about when I need to bring her in if it should happen again. We do have a follow-up appointment next week to recheck those ears and just make sure that Addie is totally better. She has been fever free for 2 days now so that is a HUGE relief to us, and everyone that knows and loves our Addison. Brian and I feel so thankful and blessed for all the hugs, phone calls, and thoughts/prayers that have been given to us. We truly appreciate that.

On to happier things, since Addie is back to herself and I had some time yesterday I decided to get the toddler bed out of storage and assemble it. Brian and I had talked that we really should just get it in her room so she gets used to it being there. With Payton we had a crib and a bed in her room for what seemed like forever! She was so excited to see that little bed she climbed right up and started to bounce. Payton got in on that action too;) At nap time we walked into her room, she climbed right up there and quickly fell asleep. I was shocked! Last night same thing. She slept through the night too, first time this week! So we are on a roll. Lets hope it continues.

Payton is SO happy that Addison is feeling better and is back at school. She said to me today "Mumma, when Addie was sick at home I missed her!" Isn't that sweet. Funny though, because they are in different rooms at school. But they do see each other in the lunch room. I had a meeting at work today so the girls had to go to school this morning, and Fridays are show and tell day in Payton's room. The letter today was E. Payton brought her book "Ella the Elegant Elephant". She was so excited to show her teachers and friends! I love that! So we are a pretty happy bunch right now. If it would only warm up! Brrrrrr......

on the lighter side...

Tina covered the serious stuff in the previous post so here are some moments we will gladly look back on from yesterday.

Tina falling in the snow. Damn, I missed it! I did notice her covered in snow when she got to the car.

Payton did awsome! She quickly put her jacket and boots on so we could get her next door. She grabbed her blanket, bear, and a pillow(?) and was ready to go when Tina go home. She was a very good girl at the neighbors. Fortunately she was watching a moving down stairs when Addie had her seizure.

Addie's little orange hospital gown. Very cute even though she was sick.

They pricked Addie's finger to draw blood. She barely winced at that. Started crying when they squeezed her finger to get the blood. Screamed bloody murder when they put the bandaid on! We let her scream for about a minute then took the bandaid off. Instantly stopped crying! She only cried half as hard when she got the antibiotic injection. I guess she really didn't like that bandaid on her finger.

Best of all...Addie being herself last night!

Frightening moments...

Today was one of the most frightening parenting moments that Brian and I have had... I will start with yesterday... Addie fell on the ice. She hit her butt and then her head. She was wearing a thick hat and a thick hood and she seemed to recover fast. The screaming didn't last too long.



Midnight... Brian and I woke up to Addie vomiting in her crib. The first thing out of Brian's mouth was "She fell today and hit her head..." "I know Brian, but Payton did have a stomach bug a few days ago. Let see what happens." She was restless all night and didn't vomit any more. At around 6:30-7am we gave her some Tylenol because she seemed quite warm.



10am She vomits again, but isn't too concerned with it. We had attempted some apple juice. I left for a meeting...



12pm Brian texted me that she vomited again, and was snoozing. She seemed warm, but wasn't keeping anything down, so tylenol wasn't an option.



12:30 my cell phone rings and as soon as I saw the number I knew there was trouble at home. Brian is quite upset and at first I honestly didn't hear what he was telling me... Addie was having a seizure... I asked where she was and asked him to get her on the floor and just make sure she wasn't injuring herself. As I was saying this I was running out of my meeting to the car.



I called Brian about 30 seconds later and asked if it was over. He said it was. So I asked him to call our neighbors to come and get Payton so we could get Addie to the ER. I then called my friends in my meeting to tell them the scoop. I honestly was glad that I wasn't home because I really would have had trouble staying calm if I had been there. Needless to say that Brian was quite shook up about it.



Payton safely delivered to the neighbors we were off to the ER. Here is some comic relief for you, as I was running through the front yards I totally wiped out 2 times. I was head to toe covered in snow. Too bad Brian didn't see me... it must have looked hysterical. Brian had Addie in the front seat of the car and she didn't look too good. She was moaning and listless.



Once at the hospital we get Tylenol (her temp was 102.4) and as we wait for the temp to come down we are talking to the MD and she said that this is not the typical febrile seizure, and because Addie had fallen yesterday we should check a few things. They had got a pink wagon from peds for us to walk Addie around the first floor of the hospital. She finally fell asleep in that wagon about 3pm or so. She stayed asleep through her head CT (which came back normal). Her labs were normal and her temp was finally down to normal. So we finally left the hospital about 4:30pm after getting a prescription for Zofran for the nausea and a shot of antibiotic for her ear infection. Of course. The doctor didn't want to do oral antibiotics because of her upset tummy. She did drink some pedialyte while we were there. They think that although her temp wasn't super high it probably climbed quickly which caused the seizure.



Since we are home she has drank more, peed a bunch, and ate some applesauce. Brian and I will be setting our alarm to be sure she doesn't spike that fever again tonight. Thank goodness tonight she seemed to be more the Addie we know and love. We had AWESOME care today and we were so grateful for that. It was quite scary... but everyone we came across in the hospital today really got a kick out of our little Addie in her little orange hospital gown!

Christmas Photos, as promised!

Happy 2009!

Our Chirstmas this year was spent in Negaunee with the Korby and Steward clan. It was a busy and crazy week... but we survived. We ended up in Urgent Care on Christmas Eve with Payton who is still taking antibiotics for a double ear infection. I will have to upload photos at some point, but Payton got her coveted Baby Alive Goes Potty from Santa (which my neice decided to feed macaroni and cheese and salami because the doll kept saying "feed me! I'm hungry!"... Thank goodness Payton noticed it that evening. After a couple of bottles of water and "surgery" with some tweezers and some time on her potty, Baby Alive was as good as new!), she also got all her Barbie TheDiamond Castle dolls and a ton of other gifts! Addie's favorities are a new doll stroller from my mom, a little doll with a crib and clothes from Grammy Betty, and her aquadoodle from Santa. I will say that Santa was VERY smart in getting extra "pens" for that aquadoodle. There would be a war in our house if he didn't!

On the way back from Negaunee we stopped at Amy and Mark's in Duluth to see their new home (gorgeous!) and had dinner and more gifts as the girls played with their kids. Payton didn't want to leave. We left at bedtime and the girls slept the whole 3 1/2 hours home. We love it!

We spent New Year's evening at Sheila and Jamie's eating, drinking and being merry! We were home by 9pm to put the girls to bed (again, they fell asleep in the car and went right to bed when we got home) and we watched Mamma Mia! (one of my Christmas gifts) once home... I just love that movie! It is so fun! Today we took all the Christmas decorations down and are finally getting back to normal around here. Other than the fact that Brian had the day off from work!

So that is our last few weeks... Photos coming soon! Happy New Year everyone!

Dear Santa,

So last year Payton asked for a certain gift just a few days before Christmas and Santa could not find it. And she was really sad about that... So this year we started early and she has her top 4 requests. Baby Alive goes potty (oh joy!), bendaroos (yeah right, we gave that request to Grandma), baby Cinderella (not sure what that even is), and Barbie The Diamond Castle Liana and Alexa barbies, oh and she requested the "boy Ian Barbie" from The Diamond Castle as well. She received the boy Barbie (she says that it is Jeremy) for her birthday, but in the movie he is a twin, hence she wants another one..... Addie is really easy still, she loves just about anything. This will probably be the last year she will not request anything specific. And she will not be disappointed either... We keep trying to tell Payton that Santa can't bring her every toy that she sees on TV. We hate Nick Jr. for those commercials! Addie and Payton did receive a Barbie house from us, and they got that last weekend (we are in the UP for Christmas). Brian keeps saying to me "Tina, I just really don't want to play with these girl toys!" Well hun, you had better quit doing those fun voices you do when you play with the girls! They just eat that up!

Rudolph..

so the red nosed reindeer is a major favorite in our house. We have the DVD, thank goodness! Addie will grab my hand and start jabbering (a lot of the time she just rambles away and we have no clue what she is saying!) and then will proceed to drag me over to our entertainment center. I will say "Do you want to watch Rudolph again?" Her answer is to scream with delight as I get the DVD in. The she dances around the living room clapping and jumping until it starts. Then it is silence for about 40 minutes. LOVING Rudolph! Addie is not a big TV girl, so this is quite different for her!

Trying something new...

So Payton has really been struggling to be good in school the last 2 weeks or so. This week we had not so great reports on Monday and Tuesday. She is acting defiant with her teachers, not listening and basically being naughty! We are quite concerned about it, although her teachers assure me that this is normal and that she certainly isn't the biggest handful they have. They just wanted to be sure that we were all on the same page as to where to draw the line with Payton. The Christmas program is tomorrow night and they actually have a lot of kids out of sorts with the holidays coming. I am really hoping that she is just overwhelmed with all of our holiday festivities. Last week we were busy every night! Anyway... first thing to go is TV. She loves to watch a show when she gets home from school, which is good for us to so we can make dinner! Monday and Tuseday she was TV free. You should have heard the fuss... until she realizes that she has a ton of toys she can play with. So we brainstormed and we now have a calendar in her room and are rewarding her with a sticker when she has had a good day. This reminds me of our "potty chart" we used to have before she was potty trained! Anyway on Wednesday I had called her teacher during nap time to see how she was doing, and good job girl! She was doing "excellent". So Payton ran into her room when she got home to put a sticker on her calendar. So far so good.

On a sidenote, our children have finally been initiated into the macdonald's playland... We went last night with a couple of friends. They couldn't believe that we had never set foot in our MacDonald's before! We rarely eat fast food, and if we do it is convience and we go through the drive through... How are we going to get away with that now?! Guess we had a good run anyway!

What is going on?

Last night Brian and I encountered a situation with Payton that just blew us away... We spent Thanksgiving in WI with my family and returned last night. Brian and I were busy unpacking and Payton asked if she could color. She got this Tinkerbell coloring set. It has several eraserable markers and pages that you can just wipe off and recolor. She loves it, but we don't want Addie getting her hands on it so we keep it up in Payton's closet and she asks us when she wants to color with it. We set her up at her table and chairs in her bedroom and shut the door so Addie would stay out. I think you all know where this is going...

She opened her door and called for me to come and color with her. I walked into her doorway and noticed some green marker on her green walls... "Why did you do that Payton? You aren't supposed to color on the walls!" She then said "I was drawing a picutre." Simple right... When I grabbed a cloth and got into her room I noticed that there was red and brown marker all over her white chest of drawers (this was my grandparents chest that Brian refinished for Payton's room). "The furniture Payton! You know that it is not okay to draw on the furniture!" At this point Brian came into the room and Payton started to whimper. Then I noticed the blue marker on her curtains... dry clean only blackout curtains... "The curtains too Payton!?" Now the crying started on Payton's side and the questioning started from us. "Where else did you color Payton?" We were SO shocked that she did that we didn't even know what to say to her! Needless to say the markers are now gone for quite some time. She is not happy about that. It did come off of everything. Thank goodness for washable markers! We still have no clue what possessed her to do that.

Then today we ran to the grocery store. We don't always go together (actually we almost never go as a family), but decided what the heck. Lets do it. We were in the bakery area when I heard Payton say "These are so squishy!" She was poking her finger into a bag of rolls... ARGH!

I can't believe...

that our new ticker for Payton as the number "5" on it!!! How did that happen:)?

Payton's Party...

So, does any child like it when you are singing "Happy Birthday" to them? I had a castle cake made for her from a sister of one of Payton's teachers... I turned out beautiful!

Well, we had a huge turnout. We had about 14 kids (I think) and several of the parents stayed as well. I must say that Payton's "My little Pony" castle was a HUGE hit. Of course all the kids trashed her room, but they sure had fun playing in there! Even the boys couldn't tear themselves away from her castle! This year it was SO much easier to get them all to focus. And as predicted my sister Nicole was a huge help with the games (we played hot potato and dropped clothes pins in a jar). Is it bad that we cheated to get Payton out? ha ha! I didnt' want her to win a prize. She got a ton of gifts! And with my sister Val, mom and my friend Dawn thrown in we were able to get all the cake and juice out in record time! Highlights for her gifts would have to be "Littlest Pet Shop" from her friend Claire and her Mariposa Barbie. Did I mention that she go 3 Mariposas that day! We were able to return one and I sold the third to my friend Amy to save her a trip to the store for Olivia. So it worked out well. She got "Sleeping Beauty" from my parents and she has watched it several times. I hadn't seen it in YEARS so it was fun to watch it with her! I will have to take a picture of her with some of the dress up clothes she got from my sister Val. She was all dressed up last night and said to me "Mumma, you be the boy and ask me what my name is!" So when I asked she ran off, deliberately dropping one of her "glass slippers". I am thinking that she really loves Cinderella!

Our Thursday

Well yesterday started with our 30 minute drive to our pediatrician. We actually made it on time and Payton didn't have to go potty when we got there! Payton weighed in at 34 pounds (40%) and she is 39 1/4 inches tall (50%). So that is nothing new! Then I find out that they are doing the kindergarten shots at age four, plus I wanted her to get a flu shot... a whopping 5 shots! The good news was that our pedi did not want to have Payton go to the lab. We are just going to up the vitamin to a whole on every morning now that she is 4. She really likes her vitamins so that is good. Anyway both the girls have been suffereing with a cold/cough. Payton does have an ear infection to boot. Addie was clear lungs and ears (finally!). So after the exam in came the nurse with all 5 shots for Payton and Addie's flu shot. We started with Addie, who just gave a little whimper. Then came the thrashing and screaming of Payton. She climbed right up on the exam table and sat patiently. Then we held her down and after the first one she screams "I don't want another poke Mumma! Tell her I don't want another one!" She just screamed. After all our lab draws and shot in the past this one was by far the worst. I almost cried with her. She cried the whole way to the pharmacy and then whimpered most of the day, "I want my Daddy!". So sad. She was just pooped last night. I am SO glad that it is over and now, other than her flu shot, she will not need any vaccines until she is in middle school! Thank goodness for that. She is not likely to forget this one!

Payton is 4 years old!

Our Payton turned 4 on Monday. I was feeling nostalgic all weekend! On her birthday we had our neighbors over for dinner (one of Payton's favorites... spaghetti and meatballs) we opened some gifts and had her "birthday brownie". Payton loves cake, but only will eat the frosting... Some of her favorite things are playing dress up, playing barbies (she LOVES Barbie in The Diamond Castle), Tinkerbell... She is a totally girlie girl!

She is having her birthday party this weekend. My parents, my sisters and our friends are all coming over to celebrate. I asked Payton who she wanted to invite and she told me 5-6 kids from her pre-school class. So I thought that sounds perfect. Well, I didn't think about our neighbors that she plays with, our niece and nephews.... Basically we are going to be a three ring circus on Saturday. EVERY kid we invited is coming. Payton even asked for a few of the boys in her class! We are having about 15 kids here with parents and family. Thank goodness my sister Nicole will be here to help. She has 3 kids and knows how to get everything organized. It is going to be fun! Photos will be coming soon!

Payton is now in the 4 year old pre-school room and she seems to really like it. We bought all her school supplies and she carries her backpack to school every day. When I ask her how her day was and what she did instead of "I don't know", she actually tells me things that she did. Our little sweetie is growing up! We go for her 4 year doctor's appointment tomorrow and I am praying that her hemoglobin and iron studies will be normal. She has been taking half a flinstones vitamin every day for a year and last year her numbers were much better. I want to keep up that trend!

Certified Reliability Engineer

I studied for the better part of a month and every night for the last week. Plus I had taken several classes over the last 3 years. All that for the ASQ CRE(American Society for Quality Certified Reliability Engineer) exam. The test was 4 hours and 150 multiple choice questions (open book, fortunately). I had taken several practice exams and had passing scores, but there wasn't much margin. So I knew it could go either way. Well it went the way I hoped...I passed! I spoke with the proctor after the exam and he thought the CRE was the toughest exam ASQ offers. There are quite a few statistical calculations to do but not a lot of time to do them. Perhaps there are more ASQ certifications in my future such as the Certified Quality Engineer, but I'm not ready to commit to anything just yet.

My new guilty pleasure...

Most of the people that know me know that I am an avid reader... I have recently (the last 8 months or so) joined a book club here in town and have been reading even more. I love my book club, not only because it is a fun group, but it is SO nice to read a book that I may not have read if it wasn't the book of the month. So when I noticed the Goodreads.com link on Kelly's blog I looked into it. So after encouragement from Kell, she describes it as "facebook for avid readers" I decide to sign up. Hopefully that wasn't a mistake. It looks like it is going to be truly addicting:) All you readers out there should check it out!

Our Dancing Queens

As Brian commented in my previous post our girls have been loving the ABBA CD lately. I saw Mamma Mia in the theater with some friends and loved it. A friend of mine gave me the ABBA Gold CD and we have been listening to the songs in the car. Now Payton will request it. And after about 5 seconds at the start of each song (on random mind you) she can tell you what the name is! It really is the cutest thing!

Here are couple of cute photos of our divas:)

It is the middle of October already!

Well, we have been super busy the last couple of weeks. Brian has been busy studying for his reliability engineering certification exam. I am so proud of all the time and effort he has been putting into it. So proud that I actually told him last weekend that I would get the girls ready and to bed every night this week so he could study. What was I thinking!? The test is tomorrow, so then we can get back to our normal routine around here.

We have been to the pumpkin patch this month. We did pumpkin painting, jumping in the leaves, a mini haunted house, spooky path through the woods, and a corn maze while we were there. Our Payton lead the group (my girl's night out group met there with our families, so there was about 20+ of us) through that maze like she a pro. She loved those leaves too. Addie just loved wandering around and playing on the swingset.

Last weekend was homecoming here in owatonna. I took the girls to the homecoming parade. It is a BIG deal here. The parade lasted an hour and we came home tired and with my purse loaded with candy. Oh joy... That night we brought Addie to our neighbor's house to play and we took Payton to the homecoming football game. Football is a pretty big deal here too, so we were anxious to go. We met friends there. We actually ended up sitting where a lot of families from our daycare were sitting. Payton has a boy named Nils in her class that she always talks about. Well, he showed up with his family and Payton and Ava just started yelling "NILS! NILS! NILS!" Brian, Dawn and I just laughed our butts off. They would not leave the poor kid alone. Mind you that he did come up to see the girls (they are all 3 years old) and was back and forth throughout the game. Oh boy, it starts early doesn't it?! ha ha The only disappointment of the night was that the marching band apparently does not do football games. This was news to us. It was HOMECOMING! After talking with a few friends it turns out that none of the schools around here have their marching bands participate at the games... Brian was really fired up about that one. What is the marching band for it they don't march at the games? So that kinda stunk. But we did have a fun night.

Addie seems to be coming down with something. Today she had the sniffles and a temp around 102. Did I mention that she wanted me literally touching her ALL DAY LONG! She got a dose of ibuprofen and is now sleeping. I am praying that she has a good night. I have to brave gymnastics in the morning with both of them. Brian usually stays home with Addie. Sunday we are off to Rochester to get the girls photos taken. Hopefully Addison will be feeling better by then and Payton will not catch whatever it is!

Just have to figure out how to use it!

Well, I have had my Motorola Razr for 2 years so it was time for an upgrade. Not only do we want nothing in our house Motorola, but Verizon has incentives to upgrade. I have been hounding Brian that I wanted a phone that has a nice organizer/calendar so that I don't have to tote around my calendar and a pen. I tried to use my razr for this, but it just stunk so I really wanted a phone that did that better. First we looked into the Blackberry, but I didn't want the web importing and emails coming to my phone constantly and I could not renew my contract without that. So scrach the cute Blackberry pearl, in pink... Anyway we settled on the Palm Centro. The only bad thing is that I could not get it in my color (it only came in a midnight blue), so we will have to get a case for it. It came today and I am anxiously awaiting Brian to come home and activate it for me... I am good once it us up and running, but that is his thing. I did add a bunch of appointments into that awesome calendar today though! Sadly I have got into texting, so that qwerty keyboard is going to come in handy!

Trials of parenting a 3 (almost 4) year old...

Miss Payton has been in fine form recently. For the most part she is the cutest little thing... she will help Addie if she wants something, or keep her away from anything she shouldn't have, playing SO nice and quiet by herself in her room, singing, dancing around the house with Addie, going to bed like a good girl.... And then the fiesty, independent Payton trys to make us run for the hills! Dinner time is always a trial with Payton. She is a good breakfast and lunch eater, but dinner she could do without. The girl has never been into eating, and to get her to stop what she is doing to eat with us is like pulling teeth. She us up down, up down, around the kitchen, running around the living room, saying "I'm not hungry.", "I don't want to eat too much.", or the favorite it "I want to give you, daddy or my sister a hug and a kiss first.' ARGH. This we can almost deal with if we have hours for her to finish her dinner. She eventually will eat it, but she wants to take her sweet time doing it. We have attempted all the tricks in the book, and have gotten nowhere. And don't even get me started on the sassy mouth... What do you do when that sweet little face gets all scrunched up and says to you "NO, I DON"T WANT TO!"... Tonight we had a time out and she was getting more and more mad and loud at me because I was staying totally calm and just talking with her. Do we have a teenager living in our house or a 3 year old... We sorta skipped those "terrible twos", but seem to be making up for it now. I want her to be her own person, but geez what a pain in the @#$ it is:) We keep telling ourselves consistency, consistency, consistency... But any of you with kids out there know how difficult that can sometimes be!

Matt Millen is Gone!

The Lions finally got rid of general manager Matt Millen. The Lions are as stinky as ever and his management ability was obviously no good. Not sure what will happen next but don't count on the Lions suddenly becoming competitive.

Hooray for Addie!

Addie went on the potty for the first time yesterday! She woke from her nap at daycare dry so her teacher put her on the potty (they usually try to do that with every diaper change) and she actually went! We are FAR away from being potty trained,but this is a fun development!

You HAVE to check out our link "It's Lovely! I'll Take It" if you havent' already. A friend of ours came across this blog, and it is hysterical!

What a Sweetie!

Last night after dinner I was going into the laundry room to switch loads... Payton was just hanging on to my leg. This is a big thing for Addie to do. Addie wants to be LITERALLY touching either Brian or I at all times. I remember Payton went through that stage as well. Anyway, Payton was just holding on and I said "Payton, why are you holding on to my leg so tight? I just need to finish what I am doing." Her reply was "I have to Mumma, I just love you so much!" After that I scooped her up, forgot about the laundry, and gave her a thousand smooches!

Our Labor Day...

It started out great for me, maybe not as fun for Brian! I was off on Friday afternoon with 8 friends for a girls night. We went to a casino/hotel about 45 minutes from here. We ate, gambled, swam and stayed up way to late. I was so proud of myself. I don't remember the last time I was up at 3am without one of my babies in my arms! My one friend designated everyone to a room dependent on if they snored or not... I was in the "quiet" room, but even so I was so tired on Saturday! Brian had his first night (he has picked up the girls and got them fed and to bed many times alone) that Brian had totally alone with the girls. The all had a great daddy daughter night. Although they were all thrilled when I got home around noon Saturday!

Saturday night we were to a BBQ at our neighbors. The girls were having a good old time running around with the other kids, and parents... The both got to sleep a little bit later than usual, but we were up and to church on Sunday morning. Payton starts Sunday School this coming Sunday so we wanted to be sure we knew where to go and showed her where she would be. The great thing is that the little girl down the street is in her class and her only friend that is not a girl from daycare. Payton does not like boys at all, unless it is one of her Papas or Daddy. Other than this little guy. We think it is because they are "thumb sucking buddies". But either way it is a good thing that he will be in her class. And we found out that one of my friends is going to be her teacher this year. So that is fun.

Monday we had a picnic with friends at a local park and then they came back here and their daughter, Payton's best buddy Ava, and our girls all climbed into our inflatable pool in the backyard and proceeded to totally wear themselves out! I think all the girls took a good nap that day!

That and about 7 loads of laundry is our weekend in a nutshell. Whew... glad we are back to the old grind. I guess fall is on its way... we are a high of only 70 for the next week...

Crazy week...

My parents were here last week for about 5 days or so. The Steele County fair was in town, and in Owatonna that is the BIGGEST thing of the year, so we were able to make it down a couple of times. Payton and Addie both got a pony ride. Payton keep yelling "giddy-up!" and Addie yelling "WEEEEEEE". They were so cute. We met friends there and Payton and her little sidekick Ava rode quite a bit of rides. This is the first time Payton rode anything without Brian so it was nice. They had a ball. Although at the petting zoo Payton begged to feed the animals... one big slobber from a kangaroo (I think it was) she was DONE with that. "Can we stop now and go wash our hands?" she said! That's my girl!

This week Brian was crazy at work, I usually am too. Addie has been suffering from a little cold, the rest of us have allergies. I took her for her 18 month appointment yesterday and of course she has another ear infection. This winter will be the true test. If she suffers even half as much as last year we will be doing tubes. Our pediatrician said she will send us there pretty quickly if Addie comes in the winter with ear infections. She is growing like a weed. She is 95% for weight and 80% for height. Payton got on the scale and she weighs 33 1/2 pounds. I think Addie was 29 pounds yesterday. Too funny. All is perfect with Addie's development. I always have to go through a list of questions (can your child drink from a cup, can your child walk, can your child stack 3 blocks...) about development at their age. You stop answering the questions (they are yes or no) at 3 nos. I got to the end of the list and Addison only had 2 nos. So nice job baby girl! It took a while for some of the gross motor skills to come, but now she is giving our Payton a run for her money!

Olympics Rant

I figured I wouldn't watch much of the olympics since I'm not that interested much of the events. But, out of curiosity I had to check it out from time to time. Of course the only time I have to watch seems to be during "prime time". NBC shuts down programming on the other stations carrying the olympics so you are forced to watch whatever is on NBC. The first 4 days the olympics were on the only sports I saw were swimming and volleyball. That's it. Coverage hasn't gotten much better but at least they've moved on to some new events. My suggestion would be to not air an event unless it's for a medal. Stop showing all the preliminary rounds. That way a greater variety of events can be covered.

And don't even get me started on the announcers.......

Addie is 17 months old!

Well, our Addie is 17 months old! It just seems so strange that we have another little girl running around the house. Although Addison is still our baby, she is quickly growing out of that stage! She loves food, playing on the swingset (she can climb up the big slide!), throwing balls around the kitchen, brushing her teeth, wrestling with Daddy, and she LOVES to find fun places to hide her toys. It is not uncommon to find her toys in the washer (it is a front loader), dryer, drawers, cabinets, and really anywhere she can reach. We always get a laugh when we have to empty the washing machine before we can use it!

Her words are coming along too. Although it may be a while before she says Payton! Her every day words are Mumma, Dada, nite nite, nana (banana), baby, and she is so cute when she tries to say please and thank you! We just love her little language. A lot of which right now is just babble!

This girl really knows what is going on too. She still sleeps with her pacifier and a little blanket. We will tell her "Addie, go put your bun bun (her little blanket has a little bunny's head on it) and pugger (our word for pacifier) in your bed. And there she will go and shove them through the slats of her crib. Last night I had her pjs and a diaper on the ottoman in the living room and I asked her to bring me her clothes. She grabbed the pj's and her diaper and walked right over. That is strange because she does not like having her diaper changed lately! She has a stong will though. She knows when she is doing something she shouldn't, but when we say "Addie, please stop that honey." She will just starting doing whatever she is doing faster in hopes to get more time in before we pull her away from it! This really frustrates Payton when it is the TV controls Addie is messing with! Payton and Addison really have started to play together. Although usually that involves Payton dictating the play and Addie following along. Payton will get mad when Addison is done, but that baby with just get up and move on. No worries for our Addie!

Oh dear...

Well, I have officially become an eBay junkie. I realized that I had WAY too many books. Several of them are series. So on I went to put some on eBay. When I got my first bid I was just giddy! It is just crazy. I never realized the world of "junk" that people are trying to sell! No wonder it is such entertainment!

Top 5 CDs

So, I'm in Michigan for work and am trying to kill some time this evening while sitting in the hotel. I was thinking about my favorite CDs and was wondering if anyone else knows what their top 5 CDs would be if they could only keep 5. There's no particular order, just music that I could listen to over and over if they were the only CDs I had.

Here's my list

• Radiohead - OK Computer
• Pearl Jam - Ten
• Natalie Merchant - Ophelia (I bet you didn't see that coming)
• Pink Floyd - Delicate Sound of Thunder (Live double album)
• Del Amitri - Promotional compliation CD I got at winter carnival at Tech. It looks like Hatful of Rain: The Best of Del Amitri has some of the same songs.

Honerable mention:

Metallica - ...And Justice For All - This was one of the first two CDs I ever bought. The other was Great White ...Twice Shy -Both with ellipses, how weird!

Def Leppard - Hysteria - I think I wore the tape out

Bob Seger - Greatest Hits

Athenaeum - Radiance

There isn't anything too new but I don't listen to music the way I used to. Plus I think that its harder to find an entire CD that you want to listen to. A song or two there, but not the whole CD. Case in point: I just bought the Weezer Red album and other than Pork and Beans and Troublemaker I don't think the rest of the CD is all that good. I've only listened to it a couple of times so maybe I'll learn to tlike the rest of it. I really liked the Blue album.

I'll probably come up with a few more honerable mentions once I get home and look at what I have.

Vacation to the UP, and our busy week

Well, we were in the UP at the lake for the week of the fourth of July. The girls each decided that it was time to get a stomach bug and each took their turns on different nights. Addison was first and she vomited from about 7pm until 4:30am. We were SO exhausted that next day. Payton was a little quicker moving past the vomiting, but she was up every hour for quite a while. She didn't bounce back as well. The day after she woke up sick she just laid on the couch and watched TV. She didn't even ask for food or drink and she didn't ask to go outside either. We had to force her to take sips of juice and water. Unfortunately that was one of the best weather days we had.

But the girls did enjoy the boat regardless. No kicking and screaming from Payton this year. She was begging to go for a boat ride. She even went into the lake with Brian a couple of times. The water was quite chilly, so we were quite impressed. We went to see my parents who were camping nearby as well. We went to a parade and Payton got a TON of candy. She loved that, until the fire trucks... they were a bit too loud for her.

This past week Brian had off before he starts his new job tomorrow, so we (really me) decided it would be the perfect time to finish our landscaping. We had done the front and one side of the house 2 years ago. The local nursery drew up a plan for us so we just basically finished around the back of the house, around the deck, and along the garage. Between the both of us we got most of it done. We just need to put a couple pavers in, landscape fabric and then next weekend we will have the rock delivered. It looks SO good. I will get out there and take photos soon. Brian did a lot of work this week. And only one minor sunburn:) He also put steps off the back of our deck. It is just awesome!

Payton is also doing swimming lessons every night for the last week through this Thursday. She is really doing well too. So with vacation, the yard, swimming and smooshing some time in with friends we are quite tired! I have been working a lot more recently too to cover vacations at work. I don't mind, but our house was suffering. I spent yesterday morning scrubbing the place down. And don't even get me started on the laundry!

The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly

Let's start with The Ugly...

Tina got braces today. She's not too happy about it, but she's been even unhappier about her teeth lately. Fortunately she only needs to have them on for about 3 months...not too bad.

By the way, she's the one that came up with the name for this post. I personally don't think they're all that noticable.

The Bad...

I'm getting laid off from Motorola effective July 4. We found out officially last Tuesday but heard rumors about a week before. This wasn't a complete surprise but nobody really thought it would be this soon. They're getting rid of about 85% of the engineers in Minnesota...28 out of about 40 in my location. That will mean our office will be closed in the next month or so and the remaining people will have to commute to the city. I've been searching for jobs for the past week and a half and haven't found a whole lot in our area. I had one interview a few weeks ago at a company in the same city I work now but that's it so far. I've also been looking in Wisconsin and there are a few more opportunities around Milwaukee, but relocating isn't high on our list. Fortunately I get 8 weeks of severance pay and medical benefits through September.

The Good...

The one interview I had has paid off! Its another Quality Engineering job which is just what I wanted. The pay is a bit less so I think I'll have to casually keep looking but I'll only consider jobs that are just right. For awhile there I was thinking just about anything sounded good. They want me to start on July 14 which is perfect. We'll get back from the UP on the 5th and then I'll have a week off. Plus I get the severance pay from Motorola!

I was starting to get a little nervous but fortunately things have worked out!!!

Girl trouble...

Well, our Addie is FINALLY cutting her top front teeth! She is still sporting only her bottom 2, so we are happy to see more coming in. She has been really cranky with these ones. They have been tough for her.

Payton came home from Daycare with a fever and she said her ears hurt... Brian took her to Urgent Care and she has a double ear infection... Poor baby. Hopefully Addison will stay healthy! Usually she is the one sick. It has been a couple or years since Payton has had an ear infection. Hopefully she recovers fast.

Oh, in case you didn't hear...

THE RED WINGS WON THE CUP!!!!

Desktop

Sonja came up with posting her desktop, so i thought i would do the same. I realized looking at some of the things on it that they are kinda funny. Here's my work desktop. I'll have to explain some of the icons in detail...




I know the background is boring. I got a new computer in Februrary and just never changed it. I used to have a great picture of the clear blue sky and palm trees from our Jamaica vacation a few years ago.

Relex_Anal... an unfortunate truncation. It should be Relex_Analysis.

Yes, I have a "Stuff" folder.

I don't use iTunes as much as I used to. My phone (Motorola Razr V3i) has iTunes on it so I use it to sync my music. I used to watch podcasts but not much time for it lately.

2007_US.pdf is our benefits book. I keep it handy because the insurance keeps trying to screw me so I have to reference it A LOT!

Att139514...these are pictures I put up at the beginning of a meeting while waiting for people to show up. See below... I suppose I could get rid of them now...I especially like the candy one.

IMG_0666.JPG is another interesting picture. We have a WiMAX device that connects to the USB port. It is a little bigger than a USB memory stick and has bigger "shoulders" so its a tight fit into some slots. It also has an adapter which allows it to fit into these tight slots. This is a picture of the box it came in. We got quite the laugh on this. The thing is you hardly notice it when the device is in the box. See pic below....

Mouth troubles...

Well, this weekend we experienced our first bleeding, run Payton to Urgent Care, fiasco. Payton was bouncing on her bed, fell and hit her mouth on her headboard. I heard a thud and then a horrible scream... I ran into her room as blood was pouring out of her mouth. Brian was in the shower so I ran in there, with Payton and told him to hurry up, Payton was bleeding. I think that is all I said... He flew out of there as I was trying to assess the damage. It was bleeding so much I wasn't sure where it was coming from. I felt all her teeth, they were all strong. Then I saw the gaping hole in her lower lip. The out side of her lip was already bruising and I honestly could not see how deep it went. So I grabbed some ice as Brian got his and Payton shoes on and off he went. The doctor told us that it didn't get past the mucus membrane, which is good, so it would heal great without stiches, just give her lots of popsicles. Thank goodness for that. Now Payton has been showing EVERYONE her lip. Today it looks a lot better. The swelling has gone down and it looks like it is going to heal nicely. Too bad that sucking her thumb doesn't seem to bother it. That would have worked out nicely:)

On to my newest thing. I made an appointment with the orthodontist last week. I had a retainer in college that I never really followed up on (I had it to straighten out my front teeth on top) and I have noticed that my teeth are looking "off". So I wanted a new retainer to straighten them up again... Yeah right. Basically the roots on 3 of my teeth up top are all "jacked up" and I am going to go for metal (thats right, METAL) braces on 8 teeth on top to straighten those teeth. I am going to do metal because they will straighten them the fastest. The estimate that the orthodontist told me was in about 3 months they will be straight then I can do a retainer for a few months all the time, then only at night. I can't believe that I am 32 years old and getting braces for the first time. I called Brian after that appointment and told him that I didn't think I could do it. He basically told me that if I didn't I would always wish I would have and he didn't want listen to me B$%&# for the rest of his life. ha ha! I am getting them put on at the end of the month. Just in time for vacation! ARGH!

Addie turns 15 months!

Well, time is just flying by! Addison turned 15 months old this week. She decided to bring it in with a bang. She has really decided that walking is the way to go. She can walk around our island in the kitchen (it is approx. 6x3.5 feet). She has this silly grin on her face the entire time. She will try to go fast too, especially if you are watching her. Payton loves to take Addison's hands and "help" her to walk. Addie seems to enjoy that. We will have to try to get that on video. Today we went for her well baby, 3 immunizations and 2 attempts for blood later, we were back in the car. Addison's stats are weight 27 1/2 pounds (95%), height 31.5 inches (75%). She has thinned out a lot in the past few months. I notice that her clothes are easier to get over her chubby legs:) She still has that blond hair and her eyes are light brown/blue. They haven't yet decided which way to go. She only has the 2 teeth still! When they finally come in that is NOT going to be pleasant! She had a complete blood count and iron studies drawn again today. We have been doing iron drops twice a day for the past 3 months. Her iron today was 100 (that is normal, at 12 months she was only at 11) and her hemoglobin is up to 10.3 (that was 10.1 at 12 months). So her hemoglobin is still not were her doctor wants it to be, but since her iron is SO much better we are going to switch to a multi-vitamin with iron once a day. Hopefully that will keep her going up:)

School Referendum

We had a vote today for a school referendum to build new elementary and high schools. The existing High School was built in 1921 and has some capacity issues along with antiquated systems and the particular elementary school in question is very overcrowded. There has been much debate about this issue in the paper. Every day for the last few months the "readers write in" portion of the paper has had many people either a) complaining that the new schools aren't necessary or too extravagant or b) stating the facts about why now is a good time for the new schools. I had to stop reading them because the stuff people were writing was ridiculous. Somewhere along the link someone referred to the new high school as being too elaborate and called it a 'Taj Mahal'. I saw the same artist renditions and it looked like any high school. I guess this guy would prefer the high school to be in a pole barn. I have a feeling that it won't pass because too many people don't care enough about having a good learning environment. We both voted 'yes' today but we know a few people who have young kids that voted 'no'....I don't get it. It will add a bit to the property taxes of course, but for us it will be about $40 a month...well worth it for the kids. A new school is inevitable, but it won't be any cheaper if we wait until the economy is better.

Update: It didn't pass.

Mother's Day

Well, Happy Belated Mother's Day to all you mothers! We had a really great day... Brian made us a huge breakfast/brunch. I got some beautiful flowers and cards of course. When we were in Chicago a few weeks ago I was out shopping and I called Brian and told him that I just bought myself my Mother's Day gift. He knew I was shopping and I think his exact words were. "Where exactly are you?" I was at the Coach store feeling giddy about buying my first real Coach bag. (I have several knock off designer bags) So I bought a pink one of course! So anyway I have been using my Mother's day gift ever since. And and still giddy about it!

We are going to Mackinac Island with Brian's family in June and are staying that the Grand Hotel. The girls are will be with my parents. I was in search of a new dress. I must have tried on 50 dresses in the past month or so. I finally found one on Sunday. Thank goodness. We had Payton and Addie with us of course and Payton needs to learn the rules of the fitting room. Everyone walking by does not want to see Mumma half naked!

Before we left the mall Brian brought Payton to the bathroom. They were gone a long time and finally Brian came out and said that Payton would not go. She kept saying "there was a big poop Mumma! I want the bathroom with 2 potties!" She wanted the ladies room of course. So I took her in with me... Have you ever been in the bathroom and heard a mother try to shush her child because she is being embarrassing? Well, as soon as the stall door shut Payton was yelling "There was a big wide poop in there Mumma, and it was dirty! It was a M & M poop!" Well, no wonder she wouldn't go with that in the potty right?! She said "someone didn't flush that poop Mumma!" The more I tried to tell her to quiet down the more animated she got. I am sure I heard a chuckle from a few stalls down! She finished up and when we got back to the car I asked her what a M & M poop was. She looked at me and said "I think I saw some orange!"

Big Girl!

Addie took her first steps on Thursday! She only took 2 steps, but we weren't helping her at all. She does great holding on to only one of our hands... It is only a matter of time now. It did take Payton a month or so to be totally on her feet and no crawling. When Addie decides to take off, there will be no stopping that girl! Good job baby girl!

Our Vacation

Okay, so I still haven't figured out how to get photos off the new camera (although I haven't really tried either:)). But I will definitely get on that soon.

Last week we had a vacation, of sorts. Brian had to be at Motorola in Chicago for the week for a training class so we devised a plan to drive to my sister's in Appleton and leave the girls with her and I would join Brian. We started our trip horribly. Addison was getting over a stomach bug, but seemed better so we started off late on Saturday. We were doing great. Then about 30 minutes away from Nicole's house Payton said she had to go potty. We pulled off and as I was walking in with Payton, Brian was getting Addie out of her carseat for a little stretch and I hear "TINA, Addison is throwing up!" Still in her carseat of course. I finish with Payton in the bathroom and then Brian and I strip down Addie, thank goodness it was warm out, and we wiped her down and I brought her in to get her dressed again and Brian wiped down her carseat. YUCK! Since we have been in this situation before we now travel with a large cup with a handle to throw in front of the girls if they are going to be sick. So we are finally on our way, and Addie is relaxed. Not even 5 minutes later Payton says "My tummy hurts. I think I ate too much food." I asked her if she was going to throw up and she said no. She is good about telling us when she is really sick. I gave her the cup to hold and told her if she thinks she is going to throw up to put this cup in front of her mouth. I no sooner turn back around in my seat and I hear her... of course the cup is nowhere near her mouth. Until I push it there while she finishes and Brian pulls over, again... Now Payton is getting stripped down on the side of the road and getting new clothes on. They both then sleep for the last 20 minutes of our drive. Payton did get sick once more that night and didn't eat for a day or 2. But that is over. THANK GOD!

We had planned on driving to see Brian's Grandma in Milwaukee on Sunday and then I would go back to my sisters for a couple of days with the girls so I could babysit our nephew. Brian ended up going alone. I felt so bad. It would have worked out perfect and his grandma hasn't seen Addison yet... but we couldn't throw them back into the car the next day. Brian did have a nice visit though.

Sunday night Addie screaming and whimpered all night long. I had maybe 2 hours of sleep that night. She had a fever as well. Because I was nervous it was her ears again, this is how she always acts when it is her ears, I took her to urgent care of Monday. She was all clear from the doctor there, but he warned me she could change in a matter of hours with her history and to bring her back it that behaviour continued. That night I let her cry herself to sleep (about 5-10minutes) and she slept all night. I left to meet Brian on Tuesday evening when Nicole and Jason got home from work. Both girls were little angels for them and Payton did not want to come back home with Brian and I that next weekend.

Brian had his class all day and I shopped. Then we were able to have a nice dinner each nice and just bum around. It was AWESOME! I shopped a ton, and I didn't break the bank either. And it was so nice to just take our time at dinner and enjoy it. This was the first time we left Addison overnight. Our drive home was nothing like the drive there. Payton played in her seat, and we didn't even have to turn the DVD player on! Now that is something!!!

Time Waster

This has been occupying all of my free time the last couple of days.

http://arcade.itch.com/games/random-defense/

Change in routine...

We are all doing well and finally healthy again (knock on wood)! Addison has really take off with her crawling and now when she pulls herself up (which is constantly) she will just let go and stand there waving her arms. We don't think that she realizes that she is standing all by herself. She is climbing on to anything short enough to push her way into. She loves the cabinet in her bedroom for that. She is still sporting only 2 teeth, but major crabbiness and even more drool have moved in. So maybe she will break a few more soon.

Payton went to the dentist this week. She had already gone before, this was just a 6 month cleaning. She is SO into scrubbing her little teeth. She is getting really good at it. She spits it well, we just have to get her to figure out how to rinse now! That has turned out to be tricky. So now she has a new toothbrush from the dentist and wants to brush even more. Good going girl!

We are slowly trying to introduce the idea that she doesn't need to suck her thumb any more. She will ask, "can I suck my thumb Mumma?" We have promised her ear piercing if she quits. But she has these stick on earrings that make that one not as appealing to her. She has been BEGGING for me to paint her fingernails. We told her not until no more thumb. That may be the thing that will eventually does it. She will come up to us and say "see I am not sucking any more... can I have some polish?" She is so cute. I have been trying to paint my nails more lately so she will get envious!

Next week I am changing my work schedule temporarily to help our department while we train a new employee in. So I am going to be adding some half days. Hopefully the girls do okay with it. I told work that I am willing to do it for now, but I have to get to daycare by noon or so. Payton's class starts getting ready for nap then. If I don't get there in time she will have to wait in the office for me. She will think she is in trouble!!! Addie really has no schedule in the room she is in. She just makes her own schedule. In June she will move up to the toddler room! I can't believe our girl is going to graduate the baby room! Time is really flying by!!!!

Update on Addie

Addie is progressing. she slept much better last night and her cough has got a little better. She does still have little coughing fits, but they are getting farther and farther apart. She is still "rattling" at night. I can hear her from outside her bedroom door. Her nose is running constantly, and with the drool she leaves a wet trail wherever she goes. Needless to say I am going to spend today cleaning, while she is napping of course!

She is now pulling herself up on EVERYTHING. I moved her crib mattress down to the lowest position this morning...

Rough night.... and morning....

So our Addison has had a little cold and cough for several days. She was restless at night, but normal as always during the day. Over the weekend we noticed that at night she was started to sound congested, but quickly cleared when she was up and around. Monday night she was very restless and we were up a lot, no fever, and once morning came she was the same old Addie. Tuesday her teacher said she was coughing a lot (she hadn't been coughing much at all during the day, only at night), and last night she was coughing and crying all night, still no fever. In the middle of the night Brian and I decided that she needed to go to the doctor today. We were going to go to the lab to have her blood drawn anyway, so I brought her in this morning. When we got there she was crabby, and you could hear her wheezing. So after the lab and a chest x-ray we had our answer. She has pneumonia on both sides. Her pediatrician showed me her x-rays and her lungs are just scattered with fluid. So we are on an antibiotic and nebulizers for the next few days and we will go back in a week to be sure she is getting better. She got a neb in the office and it did make a difference. She won't nap well today. I feel so bad for her, she sounds terrible. Her doctor told me that we caught it early enough that we should see a difference in the next day or two...

Snow on Easter?

My parents came to celebrate Easter with us. We got about 6 inches of snow on the 21st. It was insane. I know Easter was early this year, but my birthday also fell on the weekend (the only time in my lifetime my birthday will be Easter weekend) and last year we were in the mid-seventies! Payton and I got out there and built a snowman. It was thick wet snow. We also shovelled the driveway, well I did most of the work, but she did have her shovel! We were out there quite a while making snow angels and having fun. Today the snow is almost entirely gone, and we will be getting another 4-6 inches tomorrow!

We went to the Easter egg hunt at church again this year. And this year I remembered to bring the Easter baskets. Payton wasn't the shy little girl any more. She was running after those eggs so fast I only got a couple photos! Addie obviously wasn't as into it. We did make it to church for the Easter service and both girls did AWESOME. We made it though the entire service, Brian had to take Addie out with about 5 minutes to go, but that wasn't a big deal. We went to brunch on Sunday, and Brian and I were able to go to a movie. My parents watched the girls. Brian let me pick because my birthday was Saturday, so we saw "The Other Boleyn Girl". We were the only ones in theater. It was a decent movie. I enjoyed it, and Brian didn't hate it. Mom and Dad went home on Monday and our normal life began again...

What a change...

So our Addison decided enough of this only moving on my butt thing. She is pulling herself up a lot more, and now the fun rolling during diaper changes has started. She has started a little crawl too. She does usually do her scoot-hop thing most of the time, but it is amazing how physical she is now. Her poor little legs are always rubbing the floor when she is scooting and her skin is SO dry. I try to lotion her up a couple times a day, but it isn't really working.

I put out twin bed frame into Payton's room last week. She was nervous about her new bed being too high when we first brought the twin mattress and box spring into her room, so we just put them on the floor. It has been driving me crazy!! So her bed is up for now (we have to sand it down and paint it white still). It looks so nice in there. Finally the little girls room! We brought her to the store and had her pick out new sheets and comforter... I was leaning towards Hello Kitty, but she wanted Tinkerbell. It matches her room great, so we got it. She LOVES sleeping up in the bed with Tinkerbell. And finally I have under bed space again! I have a under the bed storage box that I put all her artwork from school in, but it has been taking up space in her closet. And Payton has finally realized that she can go to the bathroom on her own and not wait for us to come too. She just goes in there and climbs up. If we ask her if she needs help (she needs help with #2) she usually will say, "I don't need your help Mumma, I can do it by myself". And she has started to actually want to get herself dressed in the morning. BY HERSELF! Oh joy!!!!

Just in time...

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned to Brian that we should really lower Addison's mattress in her crib. It was still at the highest position. She really isn't pulling up, and she wasn't even getting from her back or belly to a sitting position yet. I did move move it down and not even a week later I walked into her room and there she sat. That's right... she got to a sitting position for the first time. Lucky timing. I have to pat myself on the back again today. I knew she was close to pulling herself up, which is really why I moved it down in the first place. Just now I tried to get her down for a nap, usually it isn't too difficult, and she just kept crying. I went in to investigate, and there she STOOD grinning at me!