Nice Weather

The news each morning has said our temps should be in the 50's, so in an effort to stay sane I have loaded up the girls each day and headed out for a walk. Munga got a new stroller that we get to use, Braelyn can stand or sit and get in and out on her own, so nice. It has been pretty cold but they are both so happy to be out that they don't seem to mind. I bought the hat and mittens Berkley is wearing on clearance, then I left them in the cart, and Kevin had to drive to Shopko at 9:00 at night to get them. After putting it on I realized it was already too small! And yes Berkley is in pj's in all the pics but that is only because they are so warm, and keep their feet and ankles covered. I changed her into clothes as soon as we got home (at least one of the days). Braelyn dug through the hat box and came up with her own outfit. I thought it was actually pretty cute on her.

Munga got out the jumpoline before they left and both girls have spent hours laughing while they jumped.

I finally got around to getting the dollhouse my Dad made for us out for Braelyn. She has been so thrilled and has loved bossing her Barbies around, making them take baths and sit down for dinner.

I also FINALLY got to cleaning out the girls closets. I did this before fall, but it is amazing how quickly they grow out of stuff. I found a whole load of summer outfits that Berkley didn't wear, probably because I couldn't see them. And I filled 2 rubbermaid bins full. My girls have so many clothes it's a shame that there are some days they don't get out of pajamas.

We hit IHOP's free pancakes yesterday. Just wanted to say it was great! We walked in and right to our table, they had the pancakes out in about 3 mins and she kept our drinks filled! Such a fun way to get out of the house and have some pancakes. thanks for the idea Tay!

Whose Children Are These?

Has anyone's husband ever made the mistake of asking what exactly it is that you do all day? Well maybe some of your days are like mine:

We do our own make-up,
throw a fit if we have to be anywhere by a certain time,
feed ourselves, and then
use the rest of the pudding in the cup to do our hair!

And here is what happens when Mom reaches her limits!

Berkley is now nine months!

Here are the stats-

Height: 28"- 60% Weight: 20 lbs 4 oz- 75% Head: 46 cm- 90%- Lots of brains

Her favorite food is: anything she gets fed except green veggies- they make her cry

Her favorite person: Big sis Brae

Her favorite toy: Black and white stuffed dog Grandma Roberts gave her

Her favorite thing to do: try and stand by herself and talk to the ceiling fan

She sleeps through the night about 4 days a week, but has a hard time staying up until eight, she hates to nap and wakes at the littlest sound, she will roll over only if she has to and has no interest in trying to crawl. She cries huge alligator tears if anyone walks by her without picking her up, even if she is the middle of eating in her highchair. She loves to wave and always looks like she is trying to fly. Still no hair, and so we can't tell the color, but I'm still hoping my Grandpa's sent me a redhead. We love our little Buddha!

In with the new year, out with the tonsils. . .

Cuddling with her best bud "Boaz"

I couldn't resist the open gown bum shot!
Mom was more nervous than she was

All ready for surgery
Reading stories to her animals on the way home, such a sweetie!

Braelyn has had a snoring problem for awhile and she was so loud we could hear her through two closed doors, and a few months ago she started wandering at night. She would come in my room, or we would find lights on in the bathroom or the kitchen. I started thinking that she was probably waking herself up because she couldn't breathe and then would think it was morning and get up to see what was going on. She also seemed to be sick a lot, and it wasn't ever just a cold, it was double infection and strep and croup, and it always 2 or more rounds of antibiotics to clear up. So after a month of doctors visits and medicine I asked for a referral to an ENT. Someone suggested I video tape her while she slept so that they could see how the degree of sleep apnea, and I felt horrible when i watched it, because she would toss and turn and then just go quiet and jerk like someone was choking her. We saw the specialist and he just looked in her mouth, said her tonsils were a 4+, which means they were touching each other and the back of her throat, and said she would be a great candidate to have her tonsils and adenoids taken out. We scheduled the surgery for the next week. I was so nervous leading up to it. I always liked assisting these surgeries when I was at the surgical center, because they were easy and quick, but I remembered how sad it was to see the little kids in their gowns, looking so tiny on the table. It is so different when it is your child, and I was so worried that I had made the wrong decision deciding to have this done. Braelyn was wonderful when we got there and they gave her a little stuffed lion. Braelyn's best friend the past six months has been an imaginary lion named "Boaz" so she was thrilled. She was so friendly and happy that all of the staff kept popping in to say hi and say that our nurse was telling everyone how cute she was. She went right with the OR nurse when it was time, and then we waited. The surgery went quickly and the doctor said it went well. Braelyn had a terrible time coming off the anesthesia and it took four of us to get her IV port back in after she had ripped it out. I couldn't stop the tears, because I couldn't help her, but then after two doses of morphine didn't calm her down I figured we would just have to wait for it to wear off. I told the doctor I was nervous that she would be allergic to the pain medication because her dad is, and Braelyn scared him so bad, he just gave me two prescriptions and ran out of the room! She recovered really well and we only had to force her to take her medicine twice. We just had her follow-up and the doc said everything looks great, and there is no more snoring! I'm so grateful that we have access to the modern medicine that we do, and feel very lucky that our quality of life is increased because of it.

Braelyn turns three

Braelyn turned three on the 17th, and we had so much fun celebrating all week! I think I always get a little sad when she turns older, so I try and string out the parties for as long as possible. We started the day of her birthday by going swimming, and she loved going under the water, and even went down the big water slide. We went to dinner that night at the Mayan, which was a terrible idea on a Saturday night, but after about two hours we finally got a table. We couldn't even see the show, so Kevin convinced a waitress to move us to a better area, and both the girls loved watching the flamethrower.

The next night we had family over for cake and ice cream and asked everyone to dress up, like it was a royal ball. Everyone was such a good sport, and really played up the princess theme, and Braelyn loved seeing everyone in costume. Taryn came down the stairs in a pink eighties prom dress, and I laughed so hard, because Braelyn thought she was so beautiful. I wonder if this is how her little imagination sometimes pictures things, and now it was real. She got so many fun presents, and despite having more stuff than I knew existed for little girls, she is still very grateful and so excited for every little thing she gets. I had ordered her a princess cake, and I really hate store bought cakes and enjoyed making and decorating the cakes for her other birthdays, so I wasn't too thrilled about not having time to do one this year. When Kevin picked up the cake, it wasn't the right one. The other cake design had been discontinued, so the girl just decided I would like this one. I thought this design was tacky, but it had princesses so Braelyn was happy, and it tasted really yummy, so it turned out fine.

The next week we had a party for Braelyn's friends. Little kid parties tend to be a lot of work, but she loves to see her friends so I hoped they would have some fun. It is a hard age to keep entertained, because they are all at different levels, and have such different likes. The activities I had planned didn't really go over well, but they got to play together, and of course enjoyed the cupcakes and bubbles!

It was a fun week, and I really love having a three year old. Braelyn is so full of life, and makes me laugh everyday. She loves everyone with such exuberance, and is really trying hard to be a good girl and she makes me so happy. I'm lucky to have such a great kid!