all better

We are all better here. Just in time for a little mini vacation. We are heading to Hot Springs, Arkansas in the morning with the whole fam! Can't wait. I'll post pics when we get back. Until then here are a few from our week at home.

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We were bored so I decided to straighten Gracie's hair. WOW... she looks likea different girl! I also never realized how thin her hair is. I guess the curls make it seem so much fuller.

A cute curly hair pic from after church.

Grace washing her car... we had just gone and washed mommy's car.

Just a cute one of little miss Emmy.

OH and last weekend my mom babysat the girls and we went out on a date with my 2 best friends and their significant others. We are a cute clan huh. It was super fun to get dressed up and go to a nice dinner and then dancing!! I can't remember the last time I had so much fun. We decided it has to be an annual thing!

pox pics

Here are a couple pictures of little Miss Emma's chicken pox. You can click on the picture to make it bigger, but they are super hard to see in the pictures and most of them are in her hair and diaper area, so can't really get those. As of this morning I counted around 70, so it seems like she is going to have a pretty mild case. (A bad case is 400-500!!) Amen for mommy. I don't think I could have handled a full blown case. She seem a bit itchy and uncomfortable, thus a little fussier than normal, but overall seems to be handling it all very well.

For those that have asked, yes we are pretty sure that I gave the chicken pox to her. Rememember a few weeks ago I told you I had shingles (which are doing MUCH better and nearly gone). Well I probably gave her the chicken pox before I knew what it was and wasn't covering it. Since chicken pox takes 11-23 day to show up it makes sense. I feel terrible because I really thought we were in the clear, and we exposed so many kiddos this past week. Thankfully most everyone has either had the vaccine or the chicken pox. We even got Grace her chicken pox booster yesterday (normally they get it at 4), just to give her a little extra boost of immunity. My pediatrician said 2 is a terrible age for the chicken pox b/c they can't stop the scratching. So we were all for the shot.

Thanks for the sweet thoughts. Hopefully this is the last of our medical drama.

Chicken Pox

Yes, Emma has chicken pox :(

She got up on Saturday morning and there they were in all their glory... just a few... but they started multiplying as the day went on. She still only has about 30 pox or so, but apparently the chicken pox lasts 7-10 days. Yeah!

Thankfully she hasn't been far from herself. Just a little fussier than normal.

Oh and on another note, Emma is sort of crawling... just about a foot or so, but she is definitely moving. What is is store for us next? So much excitement these days!!

pretend

We play pretend a lot these days. Grace is always wanting to do what mommy and daddy do... whether it be fixing a broken toy or cleaning the dishes... she is there being our little shadow.

One thing she has learned is how to feed her hungry baby. She has actually been doing this since shortly after we brought Emma home from the hospital, but this was the first time I was able to capture it on camera. Well this morning when I saw her grab her baby and ask me for the boppy I knew what she was up to so I grabbed my camera.

I'm sure she will hate me one day for posting these pictures, but I couldn't resist. She is getting breastfeeding lessons early!! Funny how her baby must be eating from her belly button?!

playdate

Emma (5 mths), Grace (2 1/2), Averee (5 mths), Grayson (1 yr), Grace (1 1/2) and Kenzie (17 mths)

They look terrified because there was 5 of us mamas trying to get them all to look at the camera... well they were scared not to! Next time we will work on smiling :)

my little bear

Emma has been getting on all 4's for a couple weeks now, and sometimes she even gets on her toes and looks like a little bear. Maybe she will do a little bear crawl soon?! Here is some pictures I've snapped over the last few days. I've tried to get some video, but seems every time I try she just does her little swimming thing.

She normally just gets on all 4's and sometimes rocks back and forth. This morning she did pick up one hand to grab for a toy, but did a little face plant when she lost her balance!

I can't believe crawling is just around the corner. I'm hoping it isn't too soon! I already have trouble keeping up with Grace.

2 1/2

My little girl growing up so fast. 2 1/2... how did that happen?

Half way to 3! 3 sounds so grown up and so close to kindergarten. I know its still 3 years away, but I know its going to be here before we know it.

Grace is every bit of a 2 year old these days. She loves to defy her parents by saying "no way"... with a little attitude I might add. She is constantly telling us "I do" or "you go away mommy". Such an independent little one.

She has no fear when it comes to swimming. She is actually doing really well. But we can't leave her for 1 second near water. She will jump in and start swimming, but she is still use to someone being right there to help if she needs it. This past weekend Adam's cousin wife (did you follow that) was saying her girls wont even put their face in the water. While I do sometimes wish that Grace was a little more fearful of the water, I'm thankful that she loves it. Maybe she will be the next Micheal Phelps. :)

I've also learned that Grace is slightly pigeoned-toed (is that how you spell it?). Apparently, those people are the fastest runners. And boy would I believe it. That girl can run! I need to start working out more so I can keep up with her.

Grace is talking more and more each day. While I still worry about her pronunciation, she is putting more words together and saying new words daily. Sometimes I have no clue what she is saying, but she gladly repeats herself over and over again and when I finally say the right word she smiles and says "YEAH"... in a very excited Grace voice.

Grace's favorite things to do are coloring, painting, playing with playdou (really any art activity), play outside (we really need a swing set!), pretend, read books (Pinkalicious and If You Give a Pig a Party are her favorite's right now) and anything with mommy or daddy.

She loves to sing songs, especially to her sister. Patty Cake, The Wheels on the Bus, Twinkle Twinkle (or tinkle tinkle) Little Star, the Itsy Bitsy Spider, Jesus Loves Me, and the alphabet song are a few of her favorites.

She is (for the most part) potty trained!! We had a few bumps in the road the last couple weeks, but she is doing much better. Still wearing a diaper during naps and bedtime, but she has gotten up several times from a nap still dry! So hopefully that isn't far behind. Woo Hoo!! Oh and still working on poop on the potty... that is about a 50/50 thing! I guess we'll get there eventually.

While some days she does drive me crazy and I could very well throw her out with the trash, she really is super sweet loving and fun 2 1/2 year old. We love you little miss pris!

Here is her new latest Princess Leia look. Her hair is actually just in pig tails, but since she has curly hair it just curls up and looks like little buns! I love it though.

Does anyone else wonder what to title their posts from time to time. So this post will have no title since its going to just be about randomness.

We will start with a cute one of Grace. Riding her cousins bike with a baseball helmet on backwards... and in her pjs.

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We headed down to Austin, TX for a fun weekend with Adam's family. We had a little family reunion with lots of yummy food and great company. Grace had a blast playing and swimming with her cousins and Emma was sweet as always. Here are a couple pics from the reunion. Hopefully we can do this every year.

Here is one just hanging out...

Swimming... it was an awesome pool!

And Grace watching the big kids jump in the little kids jump house. They were a little wild!

Oh and we also celebrated my neices 13th birthday... look at this yummy ice cream cake!
And here is a cute pic from the drive home. I have the girls sitting next to each other and they love it. Emma usually just watches Grace!

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Last week when I had just Emma, we went over to a friends house to play and her little girl wanted to decorate Emma with stuffed animals. Can you find Emma? Super cute huh!

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Also, thank you to everyone for asking about me. I'm feeling much better! My belly button is healing nicely and really just a bit sore to the touch. I am already able to eat more foods and not feel bad later! YEAH! The shingles are doing better too. I had a bad day last week, but since I've been pumping those pills into my system it has gotten so much better! Just a little pain every so often (not constant like it was) and itching, but nothing I can't handle. It's funny b/c I'm so boring when it comes to medical stuff. Which is good of course... but its just weird that all that happened at the same time. I'm just glad to be feeling better. Now I can have fun with my girls.

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And last but certainly not least. We went our friend, Grayson's, first birthday party. Here is a pic of some of the girls with their little ones. Grace, Emma and I are on the bottom right. Happy Birthday Grayson!!

And a sweet one a took at the party... my little baby getting so big!

Well off to catch up around here... or maybe just go watch the olympics! :)

5 months

It's already here. My little Emmy is 5 months old!

And who couldn't be more excited than the big girl herself...

(notice the bow in her hair!!)

This month has been full of changes. You are no longer being swaddled. You are trying to sit and crawl. You are finally getting on a little napping schedule (typically 3 naps a day). You are thinking about eating cereal... so far you will do good with a few bites then you're done. You giggle and smile from ear to ear when we sing you songs like "Patty Cake"... your current favorite. You love holding onto your feet, especially when they have shoes on them.

In so many ways you are still the same. You still wont take a bottle. You are still sleeping through the night from usually 9pm to 7am (with the occasional time we have to put the paci in your mouth). You are still taking a paci and your mom is ready to throw them out the window! And you still adore your big sister.

I'm guessing you weight a little over 15 pounds these days... trying to catch up to some of your friends. :)

And I had to include this one... you were so happy... hanging from your hands... not so smart since your sister dislocated his elbow just a few months ago! But you girls are so cute!

Happy 5 months baby Emmy!

shingles

Yup, I have shingles now.

I had heard of it, but really had no clue what it was. I guess if you have ever had chickenpox (which I did when I was a child), then the virus still lives within you dormant and can reactivate during different times particularly when you are stressed or your immune system is weekended.
I think I got it b/c of the whole gallbladder business. I guess it was stressing me more than I realized.

I've noticed these bumps on my back about 2 weeks ago, but thought it was just a bug bite. Well I had noticed that it was sort of itchy and starting to spread around my side. But again with the whole gallbladder thing I didn't really pay much attention. It didn't really hurt I just thought I got bitten by some weird bug. Anyway, I saw my cousin Sunday night (who is a nurse) and asked her. She said to go to the doctor. I did and its shingles.

Here's the kicker... anyone who has NOT had the chickenpox or the chickenpox vaccine (like my 5 month old baby girl) could get the chickenpox (not shingles). Lovely. My doctor didn't seem too concerned and told me to just to make sure it was covered up while I was nursing. I called my pediatrician just to double check and he said it was okay too just to cover up the area. But what about the last 2 weeks it has been there (from my back to side) I know Emma has surely touched it! But he asurred me that unless she litterly rolls around in it, she should be fine. So that is good news for anyone else that I see that hasn't the pox or the vaccine. My doctor even said they if they have kids that get shingles they send them to school if it is in a place that is covered by clothes like mine is. That's good.

The even more frustrating thing it that my doctor said there wasn't much he could do since I was nursing. I guess then normally give antiviral meds and he wasn't so comfortable giving those so I got a steroid shot (in my rear!) and some steroid cream... which is NOT helping the itch. But I'm calling the doctor back today b/c the pediatrician said the antiviral med is the same one that they would give to Emma if she got the chickenpox. He said if I take it, it will go to my milk but wont harm her... which I confirmed on Safe Fetus (a great website for pregnant or nursing moms that aren't sure if a drug is safe).

So this was probably way more info than you ever wanted to know, but I just had to get it out. Come back later for some sweet 5 month pictures of Miss Emmy!!

ps... I'm feeling pretty good from my surgery. Almost back to normal. :)

one baby

Wow are things different and QUIET around here with just one little sweet nearly 5 month old baby girl.

Like I said in my last post, Grace is off on a trip to the beach with her Mema and PopPop. We have seen pictures and its seems like she is having a blast. Plus her 2 older cousins are with her... she never gets to hang out with the big kids so I think she is soaking up every minute of it!

Back to things at home...

its so quiet. A very weird quiet. Emma in general is a pretty calm and quiet baby.

Adam and I keep saying how we don't ever remember things being this quiet when it was just Grace and us. Grace came out of the womb loud.

Anyway, I'm really just rambling about nothing. Just wanted to thank my in-laws for taking our sweet bubbly Grace. While we miss her like crazy, its been a nice break for me to get better and have a little time with our sweet little baby.

And since every post is better with a picture... here is one taken last week...

I'm home

It's wonderful to be home and out of that hard hospital bed with the terrible pillow.

Why didn't I bring my own pillow?

If you don't know me... I'm super picky about my pillow.

The surgery went really well. A little longer than planned b/c the doctor decided to the procedure a new way... through my belly button. I guess he has been removing people's gallbladder through 3 incisions (this is the way most people I know have had it done). But he said I was a good candidate for this new procedure. And I'm glad b/c one cut sounds better than 3.

Emma did great. I fed her before the surgery and my mom was able to hold her off for nearly 6 hours. Emma of course didn't take a bottle (stubborn little thing), but was surprising pleasant. We talked to 2 different anaesthesiologist and they both said I could feed Emma as soon as I was up for it. They gave me the same anaesthetic that they give to mom's that have to be put under for a c-section. So every feeding my mom just brought her up to the hospital. It couldn't have gone better.

Grace is with my in-laws. I met my mother-in-law on Wednesday. This couldn't have been a better place for her. Grace will be with them till we meet them on Thursday in Austin. (We are going for a family reunion!...so hopefully I'm feeling good by then!) This is the longest I've ever been away from her, but I know it is best for her to be with them having fun so I can rest and heal.

Thank you all again for your thoughts and prayers. I really feel pretty good. Just very sore and tired. I honestly feel like I did 10,000 crunches... a few too many! And my shoulders and neck are very achy from the gas they put into to blow you up. I think once that is gone I will feel more comfortable.

Why was I so scared to do this? I guess I can say that now that it is over.

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In other news... my nearly 5 month old daughter is trying to crawl!!! Just really scooting and rolling everywhere, but I'm not sure I'm ready for this. I know how much my life changed once Grace got mobile. Why is she in such a hurry to grow up?