bitter sweet

This past weekend we made a quick trip down to Austin.

My sister-in-law, Christee, starts Chemo this week and we wanted to hang out with her before things got started.

We did find out that it is Stage IIIC - which is MUCH better than Stage IV, but we still need lots of prayer!! Also, since she is going loose her hair very quickly she decided she would rather have a celebration and shave her head vs. it coming out in clumps one day too soon. So we had a party!! It was super fun and great to meet all their friends. She has an awesome support system down in Austin and thankfully Adam's other brother lives there too! We wished we were closer, but we are planning to make trips down there more often. Here are a few shots of the fun.

Some before pictures -

The Dugan clan -

Todd & Tricia, Paul & Christee, Adam and I

Before

Kaitlynn helping cut her mom's hair.

A little mohawk!

bald and beautiful!

Christee sporting her one of her many new scarfs - doesn't she look so cute?!!

footies

I love when the weather turns cooler and I can finally put my littlest daughter in little footie pj's. There is just something about them that makes me feel like I have still have a baby. One last winter of footie pj's then on to separates - otherwise potty training would be even more difficult.

ps. I can't thank you enough for the prayers for Christee. Please keep praying! This is going to be a long hard battle, but we know she can beat it with God by her side!!

prayers

I have a big request. My sister-in-law (Adam's brothers wife) Christee, has a big road ahead of her. Last week she was diagnosed with Stage 3 (possibly Stage 4) breast cancer. She is only in her 30's and has 3 kids and has much to live for - so we need all the prayers we can get. This week please pray for Christee and her family and the news they have been given. Please pray that it is not stage 4 as the chance of survival at the point goes way down.

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers!!

rain rain

It's rained for 6 days straight now.

And while I normally love a rainy day to enjoy the indoors, I might very well go crazy.

Adam's out of town so getting out with two small children in the rain is tough. The girls are going stir crazy. We normally spend at least an hour or two outside a day.

Plus its putting a damper on my running schedule.

The only positive about all this rain is my super cute new shoes I have to wear. They are AWESOME - and green :) You totally need to try out Privo's if you haven't already. Thanks Hailey for telling me about them! I love 'em!!

Oh and I have to add that I got them on Amazon for $31 - tax, shipping and all!! Bargan since they retail for $80+!

Hoping for nicer weather this weekend so we go to the Balloon Festival!

Emma's half birthday!

Emma is now our big girl at 18 months!

At least that is what she thinks.

Honestly, I really wonder/fear what kind of pre-teen she is going to be?!

Emma is definitely our strong-willed child that knows what she wants and isn't stopping till she gets it. However in the same breath, she is sweet and kind and always ready to blow a kiss or give a high five!

She loves to do anything that means we are going - loves to go shopping (for a bit), loves to go the park, loves to go for rides in the car or a stroll around the neighborhood, she loves to go to the pediatrician, and loves to hang out and play with friends at their houses of course (new toys!). She just loves to be on the go.


Emma is really into pretend these days - playing with her baby dolls and putting them "night, night" or feeding them their bottles or even taking them for a stroller ride around the house - she loves it! She also loves playing house and with her little kitchen.

She is a great little sleeper - typically sleeping from 8:30pm-7:30am and usually takes a 3 hours nap after lunch.

Emma loves books as well. Well, she really just loves to pull every single one off the shelf and thumb through them. She has gotten into bedtime story time most. We all cuddle up in Grace's bed and read a couple books every night. She loves being in her sister's big bed. I suspect that we might have to move her to a big girl bed before we know it. She just loves it!

She also went pee-pee on the potty for the first time over the weekend!! I pulled out one of our little potty's and started putting her on the potty before bath time. Grace actually did the same thing about this age, but we have no plans to potty train till sometime next Spring/Summer - after she is 2.

Emma is also a little shatter box. I don't know exactly how many words she says but its a lot. I would say a good guess is that she is saying around 100 words. She tries to repeat nearly everything we ask her to and some things we don't. :)

Oh and I've almost forgotten - I think her hair might be starting to get curly. It's just doing this cute little flip up thing in the back and I love it. Maybe it will be curly like Gracie's hair?? Or maybe just a little body. Can't wait to see!

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Emma's 18 month stats:
Height - 32 inches (61%)
Weight - 22.2 lbs (18%)
Head - 19 inches (90%)

Emma actually lost weight from 15-18 months... just seeming to get taller and leaner. Thankfully she only lost a few ounces (which could have been b/c of what she ate) so the doctor wasn't worried at all.

The doctor did say she is way ahead with her language development. He said its pretty common for kids with siblings, but its super exciting for us. :)

Happy half birthday baby girl!! Until then stay little - your daddy and I just love this age!

first day

Today was Grace's first day back at preschool. She was so excited and ready to go meet her new teachers and new friends.

As always, she walked right in and said "see you later". I know she is going to have a blast, but why does she have to make leaving mom seem so easy!

I'm so excited to see what she learns and what new adventures this year brings.

(And of course Miss Emma had to have her picture taken too!)

annoying...

So is it just me or is anyone else not feeling the blog lately?

I've always felt like I was doing the blog so that one day my girls would have a little record of their lives - well lately I just haven't had a lot to talk about.



Until today that is.



Okay so picture you are at the grocery store just shopping away and you notice that you cut someone off with your cart. You know this happens - its just apart of grocery shopping. So you quickly move and apologize over and over until the person you cut off says no problem or don't worry about it.



Well today I was asking the customer service desk a quick question and a lady was trying to get her cart through this little walk way and my cart was in the way. Well I didn't know it. But of course as soon as I realized that my cart was in the way I quickly pulled it out of the way and said "OH I'm so sorry". And the lady looks at me, with the meanest look EVER, and says "whatever". I was dumbfounded (is that really how you spell that?)!



I was being honest. I really didn't know she was trying to get by.



So I said again - "No I'm really sorry." - probably should have just ignored her, but ouch - is anyone really in that big of hurry at the store.



So she storms off to shop and a lady that worked at the store apparently saw the whole conversation. She came up to me and told me that it wasn't my fault and b/c of the displays it was narrow walkway and I was being very nice.



So there you have it mean lady.


Moral of the story - when you accidentally cut someone off or someone cuts you off always say "excuse me" or "I'm sorry" - something!- it makes people like me feel better. :)



****Check back later this week for Emma's 18 month post and Grace's first day of school!****