In my last post I said I would add some pictures of the Christmas trees. Even though Christmas has now come and gone, I have a little time to do just that. Once I finally got the tree decorated, I pretty much quit. I never did finish Christmas decorating. I do have a lot of winter decorations with snowmen or snowflakes so I will put more of that out once I take down the tree.

Ready or Not.... It's Coming!

I am slowly getting into the Christmas spirit. I do not enjoy the time it takes to decorate everything for the little time it is up. Part of my problem is I have accumulated so much stuff over the years I can't possibly put it all out. I do not like to decorate for Christmas before Thanksgiving and this year I got a late start for a few reasons: 1. Thanksgiving was a week later this year. 2. We were out of town the entire weekend for Thanksgiving. 3. I started taking down harvest decorations and shifting to Christmas/Winter the Monday after Thanksgiving but could not put up my tree until this past weekend as I had to wait for my parents to come help fix the lights on it.
The first year we were married we bought our first and last real tree. We have had an artificial tree ever since. It was not the wonderful sunshiny experience some make it out to be. So we never did it again. Our first artificial tree was one of those awful trees where you had to put in every single piece of the tree. The thing was enormous and I think I was allergic to it. It always made my hands and arms itch! About 3 or 4 years ago we bought a really nice 3 piece pre-lit tree. My mom (who does not believe in artificial trees) says it is the closest one to looking real as she has ever seen. It was a lovely tree - until the lights started going out on it. Last year my parents replaced all the lights on the entire topper. By the time Christmas was over last year, at least 8 limbs of the large bottom section's lights were blown out. I bought a light fixer gun at Menards that amazingly fixed 5 of the blown out sections. 3 are still out. I said, let's put the blown out sections towards the back and call it good. We will fix it next year. At this point, by the time I get it decorated, we will be gone more than we will be home to look at it. And we don't have any plans to have anyone over (besides babysitters - no offense :)). I now have 4 gifts under the tree. Shelby won't be very happy if she finds her name only on 1 and Morgan's on the other 3. In my next post I will have some pictures of the trees - 3 in all. The girls each have a 4 ft tree in their rooms.

More Funnies

I haven't posted anything for a while because I have been mentally exhausted and had no desire to take the energy to post. So I have been jotting things down on sticky notes for this post. This is another one of those posts of funny comments by my peanut gallery. I have decided to focus on this kind of "funny" stuff and not all the naughty stuff. A few of these comments would not make any sense without some kind of additional info so hang in there.

SHELBY -
- It's just so hard to be good
- My goal today will be to stay off the naughty chair
-I'll go to bed, but it will cost you

I ran into a store to pick up a new video camera I saw in a sale ad. I left the girls in the car. When I came back Shelby (who wants a camera so bad) is having a pretend phone conversation with Noah and I hear her say,
- I need a camera before my life comes to an end

Coming out of her school one day, the mom of her classmate Owen (whom Shelby adores) asked me where I got the sweater she was wearing. I told her Cute As A Button (the second hand clothes store for kids). She said that was her daughter's sweater. I told Shelby that sweater used to belong to Owen's older sister. So she says to Owen,
-Owen, you need to be my friend because I am wearing your sister's sweater

MORGAN-
-Hear that sound Mommy? My tooters. :)
-She holds her pony tail with her hand out in the wind like her hair is going to blow off her head

Shelby and Morgan were playing dress up and Shelby introduced them. She said I am a Princess and this is Little Red Riding Hood. Morgan walks up to me and sticks out her hand to shake and says,
-Nice to meet you

Follow-up On Morgan's Fall

A week or so ago I took Morgan to see her pediatrician for a follow up from her fall down the stairs. He didn't seem too concerned that she had any injuries currently or that anything would be a problem in the future. He did say she probably had a minor concussion and those do not show up in CAT Scans. Speaking of which, my mom called me the other day and said the hospital had called and said Morgan's Scan was inconclusive because they didn't really get a good enough reading to find anything. Well, it is pretty difficult to get a 2 year old to lay still for such a test and that was with me and the nurse holding her down! And I agree, she doesn't have anything wrong with her back. Considering when you hold her she painlessly bends herself in half backwards or still hangs upside down like a monkey on the trampoline. The girl has amazing tolerance for pain!

An Answer for Abby

If you have been reading my posts, back in August you read that my cousin Abby's husband of 4 months died unexpectedly when he drowned in a lake. The initial autopsy showed the cause of death was not drowning but they did not know what caused his death. After further testing they were able to find Derek had a heart defect that killed him as he was swimming back to shore to fish. I hope for Abby's sake having a "medical reason" is somewhat helpful in her attempt to find closure after the tragedy.

Baby, Elby, Shelby

When Morgan first started talking, she called Shelby Baby. If you asked her what her sister's name was, that is what she said - Baby. It was cute and we thought maybe that would be her special name for her and continue to call her that even when she learned how to say Shelby. I am not sure if Shelby ever got used to Morgan calling her that. So many times I would have to remind her that Morgan was talking to her. She never quickly responded when she called her Baby. Well it didn't stick. Baby eventually became Elby. Usually what you would hear is, "Hey Elby, Hey Elby" until she got a response. Just recently Elby has turned into Shelby. And sometimes she will repeat me and say, "Shelby Girl" which is our "love" name for her. If she isn't feeling the love, she will ask you to call her that. And since the girl gets herself into plenty of trouble, I try to make an effort to call her Shelby Girl whenever I am not upset with her.

Comments from the Peanut Gallery - Part 2

This is the second of many posts I'm sure I will make of comments the girls make. Today I noticed Morgan moved from saying "What?" when she doesn't hear or understand to "What did you say?". And this is the conversation between the two of them on the way to pick up pizza tonight:
Shelby - "Turn it up. I can't hear it."
Morgan - "Open your ears." (Serious as can be. No idea how funny she was).
Shelby - "You make me the laughing stock of the neighborhood." (Line from Charlie Brown movies).
Fun times.

Blog Facelift

I haven't changed my background to the blog since I found the polka dots on the Cutest Blog website. I decided to go out there tonight to see what they had for Thanksgiving which wasn't a whole lot. The one I decided on I copied from my friend Traci's blog. When I first saw hers I loved it because I love polka dots and those flowers. So when I saw it as the only option I liked on the Thanksgiving choices I decided to pick it too. Thanks Traci for sharing!

Misc Morgan Moments

Some random thoughts about Morgan-
- In a previous posting titled Morgan Pickles, I shared her new found love for Bread & Butter pickles. The other day she ate the rest in the jar and she is aware we are currently out. I was dressing this evening for a Ladies Tea at church and she said I was going to the store to buy pickles. When I got home she was out in the garage and again she said I needed to go buy pickles!
- Tuesday after dropping Shelby off at gymnastics to meet Nate, Morgan and I headed to the second hand clothes for kids store. Since all Shelby likes to wear is skirts and dresses, Morgan is starting to request the same. Besides church, I never put Shelby in dresses because I like to be comfortable and that is how I dressed her. Not until she was three and could verbalize her opinion on what she was wearing did I start buying her almost nothing but dresses and skirts. So, in the 2T hand-me-downs for Morgan, there are no play clothes in the skirt or dress category. So we went to check out what we could find at Cute As A Button. They also sell used toys and Morgan claimed for herself this small stuffed chair shaped like a dog. It is small, almost the size of a foot stool and they sit on what would be the top of the dogs back if it was standing up. It was $7.99 so we brought it home. The girls said it was their pet and that alone was worth my $8 since that is the closest thing they will have to one! Last night the dog had to sleep in the corner of Morgan's crib and this morning when I asked her what the dog's name was she said, "Puppy Aaron Metzger". That was funny because if you ask her the name of a baby doll she names them all Baby Doll.
- Another thought or two about this dog chair. I knew when I bought it there was going to be a problem because they only had 1. Morgan has truly claimed this chair as hers and Shelby is none too happy about it. Not that we need two of the thing but some days 2 of anything makes life more quiet and pleasant around here. In one of the rare moments Shelby has had to sit on the dog, she had it in front of the TV. And when Shelby is watching anything on TV, she is locked in. Morgan came running through the kitchen straight at her and as she tackled Shelby right off the thing she yelled, "That's mine"! Sorry Shelby, but that would have been quality video material.

Trick or Treat

Halloween 2008 = great weather & great fun. The girls had fun this Halloween. Hopefully it will not remain Shelby's favorite holiday for long. She is good at living in the moment as they say. She puts all her energy in what she is currently doing and then has a melt down when all good things come to an end! Shelby had fun handing out candy to the trick or treaters and would tell them, "don't eat too much or you will get a tummy ache". She needed to keep telling her sister that because all Morgan wanted to do was eat piece by piece as she received it. (And all this time we thought she had milk in that belly of hers. I think it is candy!) Shelby came up with a fun song (with my help of course) for our friend Seth the major CUBS fan:

TRICK OR TREAT

THE CUBS SMELL LIKE MY FEET

GIVE ME SOMETHING GOOD TO EAT

No trick to that jingle it's the sad truth!

The Cold Pumpkin Patch

Our trip to the pumpkin patch was a cold one this year. Shelby quit shivering long enough to pick out some pumpkins. As you can see in the picture of her sitting on the pumpkins it was not much fun. Last year we didn't even have coats on it was such a nice day. That day in WI we were out in up to 40 mph wind and spitting snow. Next year we will have to go a little earlier and most likely will have nicer weather.

Dance Fever

Shelby loves the dances involved with wedding receptions. A few weeks ago as we pulled into the parking lot of the reception site she yelled, "Time to dance!". She was disappointed to find out you have to eat before the dance starts. Since she is currently dancing on my couch doing one of the dances she participated in, I thought I better post something. There are some pictures as well as a few videos. The pictures turned out OK because of the flash but the video is a little dark. Shelby is wearing a brown dress with polka dots and a bright red face from her efforts. Morgan has a brown dress on and was able to dance despite her fall the night before.

Blessed By God's Protection

The girls and I went back to my home in Wisconsin over the weekend for the final wedding of the year (#6). Over the past 5-10 years my parents have added a garage with rooms above it onto their house. The new staircase is hardwood and is unfinished. The side rails at the top of the stairs are not in place. We have spent many nights there and the staircase has not been a problem - until Friday night. We were upstairs getting ready for bed. So many things could have prevented the accident like just going to bed. I took the time to pick up a big stuffed animal at the end of the bed and Morgan decided to come stand next to me. I didn't even think about it but before I knew it, she took a step backwards and went over the edge of the staircase! She fell about 5 to 5 1/2 feet and landed flat on her back/head on one of the hardwood stairs. Then she tried to sit up and ended up rolling down the remaining stairs and stopped at the bottom face down. It was about 10:30 pm and my mom and I decided to take her to the hospital to have her checked out. While there she threw up all over me, herself and the floor. After the nurse and doctor checked her out she fell asleep while waiting for a technician to come do a CT scan of her head. She woke up before the test but did pretty well considering. She fell asleep again while waiting for the results to come back from a Madison hospital. Finally the results were in and she showed no internal head injuries. We headed home and got to bed about 1 am. She had no bump on her head and so far only 1 bruise on one of her hips has shown up. My aunt who is a massage therapist suggested I have her checked by a pediatric orthopedic doctor to prevent future problems (like migraine headaches). I am going to do that soon. Shelby was upset and I thought she was thinking Morgan's fall was her fault. I reassured her it wasn't and she said she was just sad because she was hurting. My dad said after my mom and I left with her for the hospital Shelby asked, "Is she dead"? Thankfully because of the good Lord, she's not dead and did not get seriously hurt. The whole thing could have turned out so differently.

God Help Us!

God Help Us!!! At the end of this day that is about all I have left to say. I think in other posts I have told you readers about Shelby and her love for kissing on boys. Also in other posts I have said how Morgan is just a Monkey See Monkey Do kind of girl with her big sis. After church and during lunch Morgan says, "Me kiss Auggie in my class". Oh brooooother! Not sure I am going to survive this. I thought girls became aggressive at the Jr. High stage - not 2 & 4!

More thoughts about Morgan. Shortly after her kissing announcement the meat on her taco fell off the corner and she says, "Oh for Pete's Sakes". I think that is my favorite yet least favorite part of raising kids -hearing them learn how to talk. It is fun to hear them use new words and phrases. It is frightening to hear your words coming out of their mouths or some of the comments they make in public (see previous posts).

In September at church she moved out of the nursery and graduated to Toddler Church and Sunday School. Last week in the car on the way home I can hear her signing and recognized the Open Shut Them song for quieting down for prayer. And just like her sister when you ask any questions her answer involves snack time.

And as each day comes and goes I can see my little girl growing and her sweetness disappearing and the sassy, naughty two's coming out. The last 2 days she has not taken a nap. She has been getting out of her bed and coming downstairs. Today while the rest of us were snoozing (Shelby in her room, Nate in the recliner & me on the couch) she played by herself in the toy room. I am not ready for her to be doing this. Again, God help us!

Timeout!

Friday after Shelby had been home from school for a bit, she says, "I'm mad at Ms. Judy". I said why? She said, "She put me in timeout". I calmly said, why? She said, "I hit Joel on the back". I said (still calmly), why? She said, "He was making fun of my play dough shapes so I hit him on the back". If you are wondering how I could remain calm with her admission of being put in her first timeout at school I will tell you, NOT SURPRISED! I knew it was just a matter of time. I'm sure it wasn't her first and unfortunately probably won't be her last. I don't think I have to worry about her being the quiet student that gets passed by by everyone else. I just hope I don't have to worry about her being the bully. :(

Too Many Weddings Perhaps??

As my fifth of six weddings of this year approaches, I have to wonder if my daughter has been to too many. Three of the six are family (one still to come in 2 weeks) but Shelby & Morgan have attended the other two with me. When you combine all these real weddings with fairytale love stories in these Disney movies, the girl has one thing in mind - getting married. I think in another blog I mentioned she was marrying the neighbor boy Carson. She loves to kiss him on the cheek. We have already had several conversations about who the boys in her world are that are appropriate for her to kiss. I don't think it is sinking in. The other day when I was picking out her clothes for the day she was going on about needing a wedding dress. Besides kissing Carson, there is a boy her age named Carter at church who I am convinced is scared to death of her. Whenever he sees her coming he starts backing up. God help him if he ever finds himself backed into a corner! She calls him sweetie cakes and smacks her lips like she is kissing him. Unfortunately for him, they have been placed in the same Sunday School class. When I went to pick her up this morning I informed Carter's mom of Shelby's latest activities with her son. She heard her saying, "Goodbye sweetie cakes". The look on her face was I think fear for her son! I can't blame her. I am sure it is shocking to know that at four your little boy (their only child) is being pursued by an overly aggressive four year old girl! I guess that is another weekly reminder - leave Carter alone!

She's Too Young, I'm Too Old

Morgan's debut in gymnastics training has been cut short. I've decided to take a break at the end of this first session and hold of until January or maybe even until she is 3. In fact, we left 10 minutes early 2 weeks ago, didn't even go this past Tuesday and don't plan on going next Tuesday which will be the end of the first session. It wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't for the fact I have to participate with her but she would rather run all over and try to make her way to the trampolines which is always the final activity of each lesson. I think 2 year olds are capable of sitting in Toddler Church or Sunday School which she is doing now that she has graduated from the nursery, sit to read books, color or watch a video. But when it involves physical activity it is hard to get them to sit and wait for instructions for each event before running all over. One of my moms favorite things to say is "Kids are for the young". In this case I would have to agree.

Disobedient But Honest

Today shortly after putting Morgan down for her nap, she started yelling about wanting her Bitty Baby's backpack with her clothes in it. I went up and told her she could have it after her nap. I am not a big fan of letting her have things with straps in her bed for choking reasons. When I went up to get her after the nap she had the backpack in her bed. I asked her how that got in there and she just kind of smiled. I immediately figured her big sister had something to do with it. It is amazing how sisters can help each other out to be naughty but are not always willing when you ask for them to help the other. I asked her if Shelby put that in the bed and she said No. Another amazing thing about Morgan. If I had been dealing with Shelby she would have blamed it on Morgan. After asking her again she admitted she put it in there. That means she climbed out of her crib, got the backpack and then climbed back in the crib. I was impressed by that considering the last time she climb out she made her way downstairs. This little one is quite something.

Bunny Gets A Bath

Morgan's lovey is a pink bunny. Since Shelby was a passy abuser Morgan was never given one. She never took a liking to her thumb either. She received this pink bunny as a baby gift and as new it was soft, bright pink with long ears, legs, arms and body. Long and skinny and she holds it around the neck. It wasn't long after she decided to chew on it that this cute bunny became known as "stinky bunny". Also she only chews on its ears and arms but never its feet. Bunny has had many baths but Morgan has never been involved in the process. Well today she helped me get bunny ready for her bath which is done in the wash machine. Morgan put her in the delicate garment bag, zipped it up and put it in the washer. Then she went out into the other room and put her hands over her eyes like she couldn't watch. It was too cute. Bunny survived another bath and spin in the dryer in time for bed tonight. When Morgan was telling daddy about it Shelby had to add, "Bunny took a ride on the Ferris wheel". We have a front load washer so it does spin like a Ferris wheel so she was right on (as usual).

Comments from the Peanut Galleries

We often say it took Shelby a while to start talking but once she did she has never stopped! She has quite a vocabulary and knows for the most part how to use more difficult words (for a 4 yr old) in the right context and with the right expression. Thus the idea behind this posting.
- To really get a good laugh you should hear her on a pretend telephone call. I wish I could get that on video or recorded somehow. She is really good at the disgusted reaction when the person on the other end doesn't appear to hear correctly. The scary thing is listening to that gives you a pretty good idea of how you sound on the phone!
- Tonight before I went to Bible Study she came in from the backyard with some flowers she had plucked. She said they were for the wedding. What wedding? I asked. The wedding where I am marrying Carson (neighbor boy).
- Tonight after Bible Study I was trying to grab her to get her focused on bed. She was going on about something while running around and then when I grabbed her hand she said, "Wanna dance?". I thought Nate was going to choke. He said she is so quick with what she can come up with. I said ya she is quick with just about everything except what she should be doing. He was still chuckling about it 3o minutes later. Another reason for this post.
- One of her favorite things to say these days is, "Here's the deal". I always tell her I don't make deals with 4 year olds!
I could go on and on with this one but I must save some space for little sis. She like her sister is quite a talker. When she went along to Shelby's open house for preschool the teachers asked how old she was because she could talk better than some of the 3 year olds they get in class. It is fun to sit back and see what things she has picked up from Shelby.
- Shelby usually has to have tomorrow's clothes picked out before bed. Tonight after I put Morgan in bed she said she needed her gymnastics suit out for tomorrow.
- Picking up on Shelby's "Here's the deal", Morgan doesn't say that but this is exactly what she is doing. She says things like, "I eat pineapple and I go to bed". That is what she said tonight. Her deals always have to do with nap time or bedtime.
- Today when she and I came out of Sears you could smell restaurant food. She said, "What is that smell?" I said, "food". She says, "McDonald's food"? Why are their little minds just stuck on those golden arches?
- Last week she was sitting with Nate and a Steak N Shake commercial came on . She told him, "We go there in your car to get lunch".

Well I could go on and on but I want you readers to keep coming back for more so I will wrap this up. If only we could always have RECORD going to capture all this.

The Secret Pooper

Morgan. In other posts I have told you about some of her pooping issues. Lately, whenever she disappears into the toy room and is rather quite I ask her, "what are you doing in there?" because I know she is standing in the corner pooping her pants. Her excuse these days is, "I'm hiding from my daddy". I have mentioned before the girls hide when they hear dad come home at night. When it is 10 AM or 1 PM - bad excuse. Long time hiding if you are waiting for daddy. Get your lazy stubborn self into the bathroom and poop on the pot kid!

More Pain!

More pain today but not so much physically. Our wash machine that we bought in 2003 needs to be replaced. The cost to fix the one we have is almost double the price of a new one! As they say, "When it rains, it pours"!

About the pain I did have with the kidney stone. It is like it was just a bad dream. That is what I keep telling people who ask how I'm feeling. Like it never happened! I'm so thankful I live in the time of modern medicine because once I got some drugs in me it never hurt again!

Dying? No - But It Sure Felt Like It!

When I woke a little before 6 this morning my right side was very sore. I thought maybe I slept on it too long but since we sleep in a water bed that doesn't usually happen. It wasn't long and I was feeling nauseous and like I really had to go to the bathroom. The only problem was I couldn't go to the bathroom and soon I was looking into the bottom of the toilet. I vomited 3 times at home before heading to the ER and once after I got there. After making a few phone calls we got the girls squared away and off we went. Heading to the hospital I was reminded of the delivery of my 2 girls. I entered through the ER since I went in during the middle of the night both times. And I have always heard kidney stone pain is the closest thing a guy is going to get to labor pains. And that is how I felt going there. The pain I was in and the pressure I was feeling like I wanted to push a baby out was all too familiar! The only difference is the baby you bring home is worth the labor but I can't say the same for the 3 mm stone I collected during my first potty break once I got home. I have to take it in for evaluation but hopefully I am 1 and done with kidney stones! I called my roommate from college Traci who gets kidney stones like the common cold and told her I somewhat understand how she was feeling that night I laid in bed with her and rubbed her back and listened to her vomiting echo through the dorm bathroom. And all these years later I now realize my rubbing her back did absolutely nothing for her except maybe some moral support. And she usually has to have her stones blasted to be broken up to pass or have them removed. When I parted ways yesterday with my sister-in-law Jill she said she couldn't wait to see what the next Blog posting would be. I never would have guessed this would be it! And last but not least, thanks to my hubby who cancelled his haircut, took me to the ER and sat with me, listened to my pain filled babbling and cries for help he couldn't give me and he didn't even use his Blackberry (well - today did happen to be his school's switch over for email and he couldn't and they also don't want you using cell phones in that part of the hospital). :) But seriously, he did tell me on Saturday this week was going to be one of his busiest since school started so I do appreciate his willingness to take most of the day off.

Nothing New.... Just Some Thoughts

Since it has been a week I thought I would just leave some thoughts about the girls. Shelby is doing good at school. Her biggest challenge is sharing the next door neighbor boy with the other students! She is used to monopolizing him when they play together. He has some friends from last year's 3 year old class so she has to get used to that. I got there early to pick her up one day last week. Her class soon came out to play so I sat back and watched. She didn't want to share Carson with the other kids on the tire swing so she went off to do her own thing. It wasn't long and she spotted Ethan who was playing by himself collecting lady bugs. She convinced him to play with her. I think that is what she likes - 1 on 1 focused playing. It seems she prefers the boys. I think because most girls can't keep up with her and the boys can. She likes the challenge. :) Her teacher told me the other day she was the only one who responded "Good morning, Judy" when she greeted the class. Everyone else just said "Good morning". Thankfully the next door neighbor Claire offered for her to come play while I take Morgan to gymnastics so I don't have to deal with the meltdowns. Now I just have to convince Morgan she can't stay to play with Carson and Henry she has to go to gymnastics. If it isn't one thing it is another around here!

And Morgan. She wants to do everything Shelby does except for go on the potty. I can't totally blame her. I haven't put too much effort into training her. I have washed up the panties but I am taking advantage of the convenience of diapers. Last Sunday she was playing in the toy room (the corner behind the rocking chair is her "pooping spot"). Nate was at his office, Shelby was still napping and I was working in the living room. She had been in the toy room for a while and then came out to the living room. I asked her what she was doing in there. The answer, "Pooping my paints. I called my daddy and he come home to change me." Well good luck with that. The girl loves to chew bubble gum. We ate breakfast out this morning with some friends and she got a piece of gum at around 10:30. She just went down for a nap at 2:00 and I had to make her throw the gum away. She was still chewing it! And if you open a can of pop...... sprint race! She will come running as fast as she can. It doesn't matter how far away she is she can hear that. It's too bad they don't hear as well when you are saying, NO!

Jr. Painters

My mom asked me if I had included any pictures of the girls helping paint their toy room in my recent posting. I realized I hadn't done that. They begged and begged to help and finally Nonny allowed them to paint on the last blocks of painting day 1. So here are some photos of the helpers. They actually did a pretty good job and stayed on the blocks they were supposed to.

This is the result of the hard work. I told Shelby she didn't have to take a nap that day but she crashed with dad in the chair. They were nice and cozy until daddy felt something warm and wet on his leg. Since Shelby didn't plan on napping she didn't potty before crashing. So tinkle, tinkle on daddy! As they say, "When you got to go, you got to go"!

Morgan's First Day of Gymnastics

Today was Morgan's first day of gymnastics. Here is a picture of the little miss in her suit. Let me tell you - worse than labor pains. I told Nate I would rather deliver another baby than do today again. First of all, Shelby. Let's just say she is having a hard time accepting the fact that little sis is going to participate in the same activity as her. She had issues from the time she got out of bed. She was going to look ugly in the clothes I picked out for her. And then Morgan put on her new leotard. And then when we got to gymnastics she found out Morgan's teacher is Miss Kelsi. Miss Kelsi was Shelby's teacher at the end of last year that she really liked. She was always impressed she could sing the theme song to ScoobyDoo since she too was a fan. And I guess she didn't believe me that she couldn't have a snack at gymnastics if she didn't eat her breakfast. So big time meltdown when I didn't have one for her. Thankfully Nonny Mary was here to take her outside for some fresh air. I have to participate with Morgan so Shelby is going to be waiting along the side by herself. And then Morgan. I don't know how old long it will be before she understands that gymnastics does involve some grace. She had no interest in the stretching. All she wanted to do was hang upside down by her knees at the bar and jump on the trampoline. Once she got to the trampoline her goal was to jump as high and hard as she could and then fall down. We couldn't get her to understand the whole idea is to stay on your feet. With her I wonder if we would be better off just skipping gymnastics and go straight to trampoline training! I guess I shouldn't have been surprised since lately her favorite thing to do is jump to the floor from the top of Shelby's bed or her toddler chair at the table which is as tall as a highchair seat. Hopefully things will get better as each week goes on.

First Day of School

Today was Shelby's first day of Preschool. She did good. Just a little extra crabby afterwards. Hopefully it will take only one day to convince her she really needs to go to bed at night and we aren't just making that up to be mean parents. It was not unusual that I had to wake her this morning. While she was laying in bed she said it was hard to sleep with her stomach grumbling all night. This is what she had to say, "My stomach grumbled and then it said Errr like a chipmunk and then grumbled some more". I didn't see any point in asking her how she knew what a chipmunk sounded like. As you can see in the pictures Morgan has her bag and is ready to go to school too. She has always been in the pictures with Shelby so I have to take one with her and then say OK now just Shelby. She is good at stepping aside. Fortunately the next door neighbor boy is in her class. I tried to take a picture of her in the classroom. She was looking at the camera when I started but before the picture was complete she turned her head to see where Carson was playing at. When the picture was done she took off and we didn't even get the chance to say see ya later! We were rocking after we got home and I asked what her favorite part of school was today she said, "The cheese balls". Snack time, why of course!

A Facelift for the Toy Room

I haven't posted much lately because all of my free time for the past 2 weeks has been in redecorating the girls' toy room. Sometime after Shelby turned 1 and all of her toys seemed to be accumulating in our living room, I decided to make the formal living room we didn't really use into the toy room. The room had the original wallpaper from when we moved into the house almost 11 years ago. It wasn't horrible but terribly boring for 2 little girls. I tore off the paper myself and then my mom came over the weekend to paint. I think after we painted Morgan's bedroom in 2 tones of purple with 3 inch stripes we would never do such a thing again. But never say never. The girls now have a true girly pink gingham toy room. Here are some photos:

I still have a few things to finish. New curtains, lamp shade, I want to put pink polka dots on the PLAYTIME letters & I want a strip of cork board to hang above the wall shelves to display some of their church & school work. I hope the pictures show the true color of pink. It is not an overwhelming shade or even Pepto pink. Shelby was afraid if I painted the room pink her dad would not go in it again to play. That's funny because after 4 years this is the first "pink" in our house outside of clothes. When we found out Shelby was going to be a girl, that announcement alone was enough to freak Nate out. So I knew there was no way I could do her bedroom pink. Funny thing about that is the room was pink as a spare bedroom before I painted it yellow for Shelby's new room. And then when Morgan came along and yet another girl, I still didn't go pink. She got purple. And their bathroom is yellow & purple. So what other choice did I have for girls than to go with PINK?! And yes, daddy said he would still go in the toy room - even if it is pink!

The Energizer Bunny Needs Charged

We call Shelby the Energizer Bunny. She keeps going, and going and going and doesn't seem to wear out. Well the bunny crashed after a big day yesterday. She always asks at night what the next day is and what we are going to do that day. I told her we were going to the doctor for her school physical (where she received 4 shots), then to her preschool open house and then we had AWANAS at church after naps. Her response was, "That's too much for me". I guess she was right. When I checked in on her before I went to bed this is what I found:

The bunny couldn't even make it to the bed! And rest she needed. As I type this at 9:30 am I hear her just getting up.

A Life Too Short

The reality of the situation hasn't quite sunk in as I just got the phone call from my mom saying my cousin Abby's husband Derek drowned in a local lake back home today. Abby is one of the 3 cousin's married this year I wrote about in a previous blog. She was the first one of the three married back in April. Her wedding was the first major family event after our grandpa died. She babysat the girls when I returned home to attend the funeral of a great aunt in May or June. My grandma is so upset she can't even call my aunt and talk to her at this point. Last weekend he sat just 2 seats away from me at the reception of the next married cousin. Those newlyweds had joined Abby and Derek at the lake today. Married 4 short months and your husband gone. I can't even imagine, don't want to imagine.

Free Birth Control

Seriously, if you are on the fence as to whether or not you are ready to have kids, I invite you to come over. My kids will help you decide. My apologies to our friends and newlyweds Seth and Jenn. Now they didn't stop by to make any future family decisions, but luckily for them they couldn't stay long before they had to move on. So much for a quick but nice visit to catch up. Shelby had to get all nuts and have a fit. I thought she wanted to go out front so she could see other kids so I said no. She finally came back and said she wanted to go out there so she could show Seth and Jenn how fast she could ride her bike. So, we went out. But the bike demonstration quickly came to an end when she saw the neighbor boys and she started messing around. They like to play Peter Pan. He is Peter and she is Wendy. Well graceful Wendy tripped over her own foot and scrapped her knee on the cement. The reaction was one of someone who perhaps jumped off the roof. 45 minutes later as I type this, things are better but every now and then I still her a painful OUCH. And when dad gets home soon, I am predicting another meltdown. So S&J, hopefully our next visit will be a little more pleasant.

Morgan Metzger or Morgan Pickles??

Not long ago Morgan decided she really liked Bread and Butter pickles. I had bought a small jar of "snackers" - the ones that are cut in small circles. After she had eaten a bunch of them Nate asked her if her name was Pickles? She would say, "No, I Morgan". She thought it was OK if we called her Morgan Pickles and not just pickles. This has been going on for several weeks now. We have also been working on getting her to say Morgan Metzger. So last night as she was heading off to bed, Nate asked her what her name was. She said "Morgan". He said, "Morgan what"? She replied, "Morgan Metzger". I was impressed because that was the first time she had said it without you telling her to. That wasn't the answer daddy was looking for so he asked her, "What is your other name"? She said, "Morgan Pickles".

Find Me..... If You Can!

When Nate comes home at night, the girls play hide and seek with him. As soon as they hear the garage door they take off running and hide. Usually in the same place, under the dining room table. He plays along by taking some time to find them and looking in places he knows they are not hiding in. And they always start giggling and give themselves away. Tonight when daddy got home, the girls had just gotten out of the tub and I am working on preparing Morgan for bed. Shelby takes off running to hide. I really did not pay attention to where she went. Nate does his thing and starts out looking in the usual places. She is not hiding in any of them. He looked all over. I looked all over. Seriously, we looked for about 10 minutes. There was no giggling. We were starting to get concerned. If it wasn't for the fact the door was locked and I would have heard her go out, we were beginning to think she went out the front door. Finally I hear a cupboard door close and I said, "Shelby is that you?". Out she comes laughing and so proud of herself. She had hid under the bathroom sink! We checked that bathroom 2 or 3 times. She was mad after her dad turned the light out and disappointed he didn't check in there again because she wanted to scare him! So parents, if you can't find your kids anywhere, don't forget to check under the sink!

I Do, I Do, I Did, I Do

The girls and I returned yesterday from a trip to Wisconsin for yet another wedding. I had 3 cousins getting married this year and one who had a reception to celebrate the private wedding she had last year. Two of those cousins are from the same family. They also had a sibling graduate from high school in May. Scary thing for me the graduate was the ring bearer in our wedding! Busy year for Aunt Christy's family to say the least. When my grandpa died in January, his obituary listed 12 children, 48 grandchildren and 32 great-grandchildren. I believe the # of grandchildren is complete but I think it will be amazing to see the # of great-grandchildren when all is said and done. The youngest grandchildren are in second or third grade so it will be a long time before they start having kids. So one more wedding in October and that should be it for this year.

Still Here......

I'm still here. I don't have much to say but just wanted to check in. I have been busy replacing the entertainment center in our living room. I got tired of looking at the eye sore the old one had become. We got it for a wedding gift 12 years ago and it was falling apart. Not only that, but it really seemed like the focal point of the room and I didn't like that. Because of the room's dynamics, I wasn't able to do exactly as I wanted but am satisfied with the end result. One of my goals was to open up the window that sits behind the TV. Up until about 4 months ago when I replaced the curtains, you would hardly know the window was back there and it has a small window ledge. It is our only window with any detail. Speaking of windows, we are getting new ones! Our old ones are so bad I can't wait to have windows I can actually open and turn off the air on these cooler days. Only problem is I have to wait until around October to get them. You know you're getting old when...... you get excited about new windows!

Team Work Equals Double Trouble

I have just returned to the computer where I had been making some changes to this blog. I had to take a break to correct a bedtime situation. While sitting on the couch watching the Cardinal game and messing with the blog I think I hear a little extra chatter coming from the monitor that is in Morgan's room. I put Morgan to bed and she has always been 100 times easier to get to bed than Shelby ever was or still is for that matter. She may fuss or even cry some nights but she always settles down quickly. Lately she has been more whiny and says she will miss me or complains that her room is too dark. I went upstairs to find exactly what I thought - Shelby sitting in Morgan's chair reading Morgan stories while she is standing in the corner of her crib. Shelby's explanation was "She was crying!". So what! is what I had to say. It would be nice to think Shelby was genuinely concerned for her crying sister but it was just another way to put off going to bed for that night owl!

Temporary Fairy

This morning Shelby came downstairs as Alice the Temporary Fairy. But she is not Alice she is just Shelby. I have plans to write about her being "Just Shelby" some day. That is her response to you whenever you call her something. She says, "No, I'm just Shelby". She made me the duchess and plans to make her dad a horse when he gets home. These are things Alice does in the book Alice the Fairy. Cute book. Thanks aunt Jill for introducing it to our family.

Mommy Morgan

Morgan has done a few things lately that just shows how much she is growing up. On Saturday she was helping me make pancakes. While measuring out the powder I was counting as we dumped. After I said 7 she continued with 8, 9, 10! I was shocked. And just a little bit ago before nap time she was playing with her baby doll. I thought she was spending a lot of time in the bathroom. She came out and said, "baby needs changed". She had the clothes off her doll and had her laying on the living room floor (that is where Morgan gets changed). She has a toy doll jar for Baby Creme and she is taking creme out and putting it on the baby's butt! That is what she was doing in the bathroom for so long. She was taking some of her skin creme and putting it in that jar. Now if she would just show some more smarts at pooping on the potty instead of hiding behind the chair in the toy room!

Dreams Do Come True

Today we attended the wedding of our former babysitter Jenn and our friend Seth. Seth played Jr. High baseball for Nate in his first years at Gridley. After leaving Gridley we lost contact with Seth until the winter Shelby was a baby. He came by to plan an internship with Nate's summer team. Jenn and Seth grew up in Gridley and attended the same church all their lives. So we did not introduce them or anything but they did attend the girls' baby dedications and birthday parties together. I dream pretty much every night. About 2 years ago I dreamt Jenn and Seth got married. I never told Seth about the dream but did tell Jenn. In fact I think it came up a couple of different times. In both conversations Jenn would laugh and say "That won't happen!" Well, on April Fools Day this year Seth called to see if he could come by to say hi to the girls. When he showed up he had Jenn with him and they were holding hands. Jenn asked Shelby if it was OK if she married Seth! At first we were convinced it was all an April Fools joke. But today their wedding proved it was no joke and Dreams Do Come True! At least mine and I guess Seth's too. For a wedding gift we got them a picture frame and had it engraved Dreams Do Come True. Congratulations Seth and Jenn!

More Comments from the Peanut Gallery

I forgot to add in a previous post one of Shelby's comments. The same day she asked the gal in The Limited if she was a boy or girl, she responded to a sales lady in another store who asked how they were doing with "Not good. My mom doesn't love me". Thankfully she was too busy to hear that answer. That has been one of her latest things. If you are giving Morgan too much attention she will walk off with her head down and a sad look and say "You love her more than me". Or if you punish her or won't let her do something she will say, "You don't love me".

Also, what I didn't mention about the gal in The Limited is she is African American. What I feared she was going to ask that day was "Why are you that color?" I am afraid the day will come when that dreaded question comes out! Thankfully she doesn't recognize that difference yet and hopefully she never will. I thought perhaps these words from a favorite book called God Loves You has helped: You can be dark or you can be light. You can be shades of the day or the night. Whatever your color, it suits you just right. God loves you just as you are. Something else that will help my kids learn to overlook the differences of others is the cousins they will soon have from Ethiopia who are being adopted by my brother and his wife. Soon our family pictures will show shades of the day and the night and they will already know God loves us just as we are!

Shy? NO WAY!

The girls and I were in the Limited store today. Keep in mind they only sell women's clothing. While waiting in line to return a shirt, Shelby decides to ask another shopper who is clearly female, "Are you a boy or a girl?" Again, luckily they were not offended and laughed. I said it could be worse she could have asked you what color of underwear you have on and if she can see them! The lady said that would have embarrassed her!

Convertible Cutie

Ever since Shelby has noticed convertibles on the road she thinks we need to get one. Sadly at this time in my life I would prefer a minivan. Well she quickly solved that dilemma - mommy can have a minivan and daddy can get a convertible! I hate to disappoint her but this Barbie Jeep at Nonny Mary's is the closest thing to a convertible she is going to get to.

Morgie, Morgie, Morgie

Some of my previous posts have been about Shelby and her crazy habits. Well little sis Morgan has plenty of silly qualities of her own. That girl can do amazing things with her tongue which is hanging out of her mouth most of the time. You can get a good laugh by just watching her walk. She doesn't watch where she is going so anything that might be in her way becomes a hazard. She doesn't step over or around, rather she trips, falls or hits her head on whatever is in her way. Most of the time she just picks herself up, dusts herself off and off she goes. She is a pretty tough cookie. For example, Shelby and Morgan stayed with Grandma Mary when we went on our anniversary trip. When we came back I noticed a big scab on Morgan's elbow and knee. No one knew what had happened. No big deal. Morgan has more scratches and bruises on her that you really have no idea where she got them. A few days later I asked Shelby what happened. She said she fell down in the driveway. I said, "Did she cry"? She said, "No". So that explains why no one knew. She didn't make a fuss so they probably didn't even notice. Her latest crazy attitude is what sparked the idea for this post. The last few days when I go get her out of bed in the morning she has a fit if I am still wearing my pajamas. She says, "Mommy clothes" with a little whine, pout and crabbiness mixed in. The first few times I changed my clothes and went back to get her. This morning I wised up. I left and said I would be back when she was ready. Next time PJ's and all she was happy to see me. :)

A side note about Shelby - as I mentioned before, she is not shy about much especially little boys. There is a boy across the street and down a ways who rides his bike by our house. Last night she is out there in her Minnie Mouse dress and pink kitty rain boots (a site itself) and she is determined to get to this boy. He has somehow managed to avoid her previous attempts to meet him. (I think he is scared of her). She steps out on the sidewalk to block his way. She put her arms out and spread her legs out and said, "He's not getting through. I am the stop sign." When I told her to get out of the way she stomped off muttering something but what I did catch was, "I'm not marrying that boy." Well thank God for that!

Sorry this post was so long but sometimes there is just a lot to say about these 2!

Friends Will Come & Go.....

This summer I have stepped out of my comfort zone to take the girls to the park a lot more than in the past. I prefer the park in the early spring before the kids get out of school so there is limited contact with other children. :) Shelby on the other hand does not feel the same as her mom. That girl will make a new friend every time and will cry every time as we leave the new friend behind. I will finally have to tell her that we live in a big town and chances are she will never see some of these kids again. Not exactly what she wants to hear but that is the reality. For the past year our next door neighbors had their 2 year old grandson living with them while his mom was on active duty overseas with the Army. The girls played with him a lot and I got to know his grandparents. Devon is now back with his mom and next Saturday his grandparents are moving to the Boston area so chances are they will never see him again. As I thought about it I realized growing up in a small town my closest friends were my cousins and also not many of my classmates moved out. Not until HS graduation did we part ways and I have little contact with most of those people. Then on to college where I made more friends and though we parted ways it seems the Christianity factor keeps us connected much more than my HS friends. But I have come to realize raising my kids in a bigger city, this is will be new for me too. Here are a few pictures from Devon's grandparents going away party last night.

12 Years & Counting.......

Tomorrow (July 20th) will mark our 12 year anniversary! We don't have anything big planned but a quick trip to St. Louis to watch the Cardinals play the Brewers and a hotel stay. It may seem odd that I would be the one to suggest such an event to celebrate our anniversary since our day to day life revolves around baseball. But a few things make these type of baseball games special. First of all we will be going without kids thanks to Grandma Mary. It is so nice Greenville is on the way and just down the road from St. Louis. Also, when we were dating in college we would make trips to the ballpark. And as strange as it may seem, some of our quality time as newlyweds was spent on quite, sunny Sunday afternoons in Gridley edging the high school baseball field together. I also helped rake the field after Gridley ball games since that team required long speeches after games and I knew more about field work than they did! Another interesting tidbit of our relationship includes Cardinal baseball. The summer before my sophomore year in college (we started dating in November of that school year) Nate swears he saw me at a Cardinal game. When we started dating he told me that and I said not me. I must have a twin because I was not in St. Louis at any point during that summer. Nate first noticed me in a class we had together the previous year but we were both involved in other relationships. Seeing that girl that summer and assuming it was me got him thinking when we returned to school that fall and the rest is history! So a trip like this is a reminder of our beginning and simpler days before kids and serious baseball coaching jobs.

God Bless The Sister-in-Law

When I started this Blog I didn't think I would have a whole lot to say and never thought I would have 2 posts in one day! But if I don't post this stuff as I think of it, chances are it won't ever get done. As mentioned in an earlier post we spent the weekend with Nate's family. I enjoy spending time with Jill my sister-in-law because I can really learn from her. She is a natural with kids and handles difficult children well. I can pick up some tips with dealing with Shelby just by watching her work with her own kids. This picture I included of Jill with all the kids around her just shows her in her element. If I had 5 kids standing that close around me I would get the shakes but not Jill, this is where she loves to be.

It is interesting how God gave me 3 sister-in-laws who are trained teachers of young children. So I have the opportunity to learn about handling children anytime I am with family. I think teachers are born with a love for children, probably the biggest reason for their choice of career. I however was not born with that quality, thus the reason I knew in the 8th grade I would not be a teacher and a decision I do not regret today. :) So thanks Jill, Dana & Sarah for your patience & love that I can learn from.

The Upside of Kids

I wanted to share some things about Shelby that makes me laugh and I suppose that balances out those times I really feel like tying her upside down to the ceiling fan. (Unfortunately she would find that to be fun). 1. For supper last night I had made some lemonade. Nate said "This is some really good lemonade." Shelby says, "Yeah, it really hits the spot." Nate almost choked on his supper. Times like this is when it is hard not to laugh at what she says. Unlike some of those things I have written in previous posts. 2. This summer she has really gotten in to catching fire flies. She had been putting them in small containers with lids but no holes for air. Aunt Jill gave each of the kids the best gift at the party - bug catching containers complete with nets for catching, tweezers for torturing I guess, and a lid that allows breathing. The container has a string to hang around your neck. Perfect! She was out last night and caught herself quite a few. I said she had to let them loose before she went to bed. After putting Morgan to sleep I stopped by her room because things did not sound good. She was having a meltdown because she wanted to keep the bugs as her pet. Her dad informed me she also wanted a dog and cat and believe me that will never happen - at least not in my house. 3. Today I found her putting letter magnets over her cousins' pictures on the refrigerator. It's just too painful for her to look at them right now. She just wants to be with them so bad. :(

Time With Family = The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

This weekend we headed to Missouri to celebrate our nephew Trey's second birthday. It was nice because Nate was able to join us and with his schedule he isn't always able to do that. Nate's brother has three kids: Drew - 6, Reese - 4 (couple months older than Shelby) and Trey -2 (couple months younger than Morgan). Shelby especially loves hanging out with these guys. With Reese she plays dress up and other girl things and besides just being fascinated with Drew and all he can do she does her best to keep up with him. And in reality she is wired a lot like Drew. They are both stubborn and are challenged in the listening category! It is clear that Shelby has a lot of her dad's personality as his brother says living with Drew reminds him of growing up with Nate. We went to the Magic House and to a good pizza place with them on Sunday. All that was the good. But the bad and the ugly is the result of staying up late, getting up early, skipping naps and all the fun coming to an end and going separate ways. I feel bad for her because she truly loves being with people, especially family. We are fortunate to live in the middle of both sides of family but the distance does not exactly put us close to any of them. Some of my best childhood memories are growing up with my cousins and I feel bad that my kids will not have that same experience. I guess we will have to make the best of opportunities we have to be together and make an effort to do so more often!

The Truth Comes Out

Yesterday for lunch I cooked hot dogs on the grill & we had some chips or as Morgan calls them ips. If we ate all our hotdog we could have a frozen Strawberry treat in a bowl that I found at Sam's Club. Morgan ate some of her ips but was not interested in the hot dog. Of course she wanted the Strawberry treat especially since mom and sister were eating theirs. I kept telling her she could have one after she ate the hot dog. She tried to get her sister to eat it and even me. I finally decided to warm it up in the microwave and let her sit in the toy room and watch a movie hoping if I left her alone she would eat it. It wasn't long and both of them came running out saying she ate her hotdog! I don't know if it was mental exhaustion or the heat, but I didn't question it at the time. Morgan finally gets her Strawberry treat and after a big mess it is naptime. After reading to and rocking Morgan I put her in bed. Once she is in she says, "Baby ate hotdog." (Baby is what she calls Shelby). So it becomes clear to me that Morgan didn't eat her hotdog, her sister did. When Shelby wakes up from her nap I say to her, "I have a question for you and I want the truth. Who ate the hotdog?" I could tell by the look on her face before she said anything what the answer was. Finally she says, "Morgan ate one and I ate the rest". If they are already pulling tricks like this at 2 & 4 I can only imagine the things I need to be watching for as they get older!

Another fun moment with the kids, NOT!

I had the girls with me as usual and we were at the J. Jill store. Shelby had already completed an interview with a sales lady. Luckily she is a grandma and was not insulted when Shelby asked her if she had any grandchildren? The lady is obviously a "young grandma" because by looks she could have gone either way. As we are waiting in line Morgan starts calling the sales lady behind the counter, "stupid lady". Luckily we were back far enough and with her 2 year old pronunciations, I don't think anyone heard or understood her but I did! And then Shelby the one who doesn't miss anything asks a young sales lady with a big gap between her front teeth, "Did you loose a tooth?" Fortunately she was nice enough to laugh and I don't think she was offended. At birth, parents should be given a button that will open up a piece of the earth so it can swallow them at moments like these!

Kids:Ya Got to Luv 'Em......or

Kids: Ya Got to Luv 'Em or they just might embarrass you to death! Shelby loves to chatter and ask questions. She especially likes to do this to lucky (or not so lucky) sales clerks in stores. Although some, if she is in the mood, get her not so pleasant scowl. Last week we were in Ann Taylor Loft to buy me a dress for upcoming summer weddings. Shelby became well acquainted with sales clerk Megan by playing the game "20 questions". With that purchase I received a coupon that was good starting today. We returned to buy a purse and earrings to go with the new dress. Well Megan was working again today and Shelby doesn't forget much (except the important things). After a lot more chatter she decides to ask her, "What kind of under ware are you wearing today?" I think Megan was so surprised she didn't know what to do except answer her! So of course, what else would Shelby's next question be but, "Can I see them?" Come on kid you are killing me!!!

Out of commission

A friend of mine emailed me and asked if I was going to post anything to this blog? My reply was I warned everyone in my first blog that there might not be very many postings. I have been spending most of my "free time" from the kids napping myself. I have not been feeling so good. This morning I went to the walk in Dr. for the second time in 3 weeks to be treated for poison ivy. I had gotten rid of most of the first breakout but woke up yesterday and could just feel it on the entire left side of my face. By the end of the night my eye was swelling shut. So today he gave me a steroid shot in the arm and another pack of pills for the next week. He also gave me an anitbiotic for a sinus infection. The space below my nose is chapped, cracked and bleeding from blowing it so much. The over the counter meds I was taking for that really wipped me out. So, I have been pretty lazy. The energy I have had I spent reading others' blogs instead of updating my own. So here you go Kimberly - not real exciting but at least an update to what I have been up to!

One Big Party!

Last Saturday we had Shelby's 4th birthday party & Morgan's 2nd birthday party all together. I was worn out after all was said and done! The two of them opening gifts at the same time was just like Christmas morning. I didn't get to write down anything they got as they were going. I barely was able to take pictures and some video. Just like on Christmas, we had to sort through the garbage to find the gifts on the bottom of the pile. I have never seen two people get so excited about what is on a card (if you only knew your gift could have stopped there!) or excited about what the picture is on the outside of the box you packed the gift in. They constantly have to be reminded to keep opening. Their gift is not the Christmas Tree lights that originally came in that box. Funny thing is they get excited thinking it is. Also, to only be 4 again and not care who sees your panties when you disrobe in front of all of your guests to put on that new Minnie Mouse dress you have been dreaming about. And there were firsts that daddy never thought he would see - like their first Barbie Dolls! I think there will be lots more of unbelievable firsts for a daddy who had only 1 brother, all boy cousins but 1 girl and spends a majority of his time with baseball players. But for now we will just keep him clueless - I think that's best for everyone. :)

Introduction to Blog life

I thought I would try this blogging thing out. I have several blogs of others that I check regularly, but always thought I don't have very much excitement in my life that would interest anyone. Some are very regular in their updates and others are not, so I decided there would be no pressure for me to post something everyday or even every week for that matter.



I chose "close to normal" as my blog title because I live in Normal, IL and that is as close to normal as I am going to get! Especially in this season of life as a stay at home mom. :)