Blustery Day

It started of as a CRAZY morning. Kate woke me up at 6am. Then Jeff's alarm (mind you, he is out of town, so all the more frustrating!) went off around 6:30. Then at 7am Kate wanted to go out - again. I decided I might as well get up at that point!

So, lucky for me, I was up and showered by the time the kiddos woke up -- Ryan at 9, and Julia at 10. Yup, no kidding. Crazy, huh? (She is a bit under the weather).

All is well, we are getting ready to go to gymnastics, and Ry goes out to get in the car and opens the garage door. I have made some warm milk for Julia and sit her in the chair in the family room while I run up and get my shoes on. I come down, and she is no longer sitting in the chair. I fly into an absolute panic. (Well, panic for me..I actually think fairly clearly during actual crisis time). I run outside, and ask Ry where Julia is. (I am assuming the worst...that she's walked out the door). He just looks at me. I run to him and grab his shoulders and kneel down to his level so he knows just how serious this is. "Where is Julia? Have you seen her? Did she walk by you?" He points in the front yard. Oh my, my heart sinks as I go running around the front of the house and don't see her, all the while, thanking God I dressed her in a bright red today. I run to the side of the house and look down the fence line. No wandering baby. I run back towards the garage, and debate if I should bang on my neighbor Laura's door for a fast tag-team effort (I know she is up and home, because she called me just 30 minutes prior to this), and if I should just run into the house and dial 911 and having them surround the neighborhood or something. (Um, because that is logical?) I run in the house, screaming her name and she doesn't respond. I am now really starting to panic. My baby is missing. All my fault. Oh my gosh. PANIC. I am yelling her name, in a very loud scared tearful voice and she hears my stress and begins to cry. I can't even begin to tell you how happy I was at that moment. You know where she was? Right by the chair I left her sitting in. On the floor. Like, a foot from where I'd left her..I just couldn't see her, because the couch was in the way. Thank God!!

Then, we were off to gymnastics and then lunch with friends at MacDonalds playland. Fairly uneventful as those two activities can be! =)

Driving back in the neighborhood, I see all this siding in the road and look over (it is really windy here today) and see the side of a neighbor's house coming off. And it seems the more that blows off, the more it "unhooks" the rest of it. So I pull the car over and run up to their door to tell them. This college -aged guy opens the door, and I tell him and we walk around the side of the house to see it...and another piece goes flying over our heads. It was nuts! Looks like something out of a movie or something, with siding stuck even in the trees!

Then I jump back in the car and pull up to our house and see our glass storm door barely hanging on...with closer inspection, the wind has pulled it out of the doorframe! YIKES!

I feel like we are Pooh living in that Blustery Day book. =)

Heart Cookie Baking

Getting crazy with the fridge magnets. =)

Ry proudly mixes up some red icing.

Julia is working on purple.

Soooo tempting!Some serious YUM.

Our new pet...sorta

Yes, this is a rock. A rock sitting on my countertop. On purpose. It reminds me I am a mother of a B-O-Y! A "special" rock, that has been for a ride in the car today, transported in a pocket, and very carefully and purposefully carried in the house despite my questions. Oh, and the rock had to "watch" us eat dinner tonight. I want to throw it out, but I am afraid he'll ask questions in the morning! What's a girl to do?

Chatter from the little people

Ryan: Mommy, look at me! I am a goofball!
Julia (copying): Mommy, goofball!

Julia is putting on a Ryan's shoe.
Ryan: Look, Mommy! (pointing). Julia is going to take that shoe for a walk!

We are going to dinner. I run in a restaurant to see what the wait is, and Jeff and the kids stay in the car. I come back out, shaking my head "no".
Me: 1 hour wait. That won't work.
Ryan: That's right, we are hungry in this car!

Me: Ryan, come here and put on your shirt, please. I have ironed it for you.
Ryan (as I am buttoning it up for him): Thank you, that is really nice, Mommy!
(Seriously, did I hear him right!!!!? YIPPEE!)

Ryan sneezes in the backseat of the car.
Julia: Less you, RyRy. Less you Ry!
Ryan: (looking out the window, ignores her).
Julia: (louder) Less you, RyRy!! Less you, Ry!
Ryan: (annoyed) Baby, I am looking out my window!
Julia: (louder yet) Less you, RyRy! Less you, Ry!!!
Ryan: Thank you, baby sister.
Julia: Ur elcome, RyRy.

Dinnertime conversation.
Daddy: Ryan how did your secret sack go at school today?
Ryan: Well, I don't like the girls. Just the boys.
Daddy: You only like the boys in your class?
Me: What about Bubba and Morgan? Mrs. Kelle told me that Morgan said she was your girlfriend!
Ryan: Well, ok Bubba. But not Ellery.
Me: Who?
Ryan: Ellery! She cuts in line and talks too much.

Wednesdays With Grandma & Papa

The kids spend the afternoon at Grandma and Papa's house. Looks like they had some fun, festive playtime today, according to the photos Grandma posted!

Ryan Andrew (4 yrs)

Julia Claire (23 months)

Stitches & Seams by Gwen

For Christmas, Julia was gifted the absolute sweetest little pillow from her preschool teacher, Mrs. Gwen, whom she adores. (That embroidery is done by hand!!!) Today, I learned that Gwen has a website for her creations, and I wanted to share it with you! Please visit Stitches & Seams by Gwen. She makes some custom darling items for affordable prices. I only wish I'd known about her before we ordered Julia's bedding!

Poor Baby!

(This pic is from a photo shoot we had this weekend...a little "blooper" that seemed go along with this post. I will post more pics from this shoot later when we've got more time...)

We have NOT been sleeping around here. For WAY WAY too long now. (You might even remember a recent post about the nightime nightmare here!) Poor little Julia has been battling fluid in her ears now for just what seems like forever! She acts fine during the daytime (except sleepy!), and at night when she lays down and the pressure builds, all chaos breaks loose. (Anyone up for an overnight nanny position?!)
We have been to our pediatrician 2-3 times and the ENT 1 time in the last month. We are headed back this afternoon. Good times. I heart co-pays. NOT.
I have been managing this "ok" for a few weeks now. If you have seen me recently, it's probably been sipping a Starbucks and/or DietPepsi Max! Saturday night I nearly had an overnight breakdown. I mean, really. Fortunately, as much as my husband pretends to not know what is going on in the house all night long, he picked up on my distress. He took over caring for Miss Julia from about 4am on through the rest of the night/morning, holding her up to relieve the pressure and even sleeping on her floor. Thank you!!!
Say a little prayer for our cutie...hoping for better news from the Dr. this afternoon!

Celebration and Superbowl Sunday

Today we had a celebration luncheon for Glammie (and Papa!) who made Executive Director of Premier Designs Jewelry! Mom started working with this company years ago with the intent to pay for this huge jewelry kit and then get out (a perk with 4 girls in the house at that time!) and she had so much fun she never stopped working! CONGRATULATIONS!

After stopping by for a bit at our neighbor's house for a Superbowl/Baby Shower party, we headed to Uncle Patrick & Aunt Crystal's house. We had fun watching the 3D commercial!

Princess Tea

I was so excited when Julia and I were invited to attend a "Princess Tea"! (This seemd like one of those perks for moms with girls, and a first real girlie program for Julia and I!)

(A very tired) Julia and the Disney Princesses...

Julia, Allison, Sarah and Lexi with the princesses. I was so excited they invited Julia for this fun event! The poor child mostly gets dragged along to all of Ryan's activities and doesn't really have her own "friends" yet, so it was so sweet for the "older" girls to let us tag along!

TGIF!

We had a fun Friday playing! I pulled out some toys the kids had received as Christmas gifts that we hadn't opened yet and they had so much fun playing with their "new" toys! Then Grandma and Grandpa Schuette came by for a visit. The kids L-O-V-E jumping on Grandpa's back and taking rides around the house. (Yes, it does make me a bit nervous!!!) Grandpa seems to love it too though, so let's hope for no falls!

Bacteria, Anyone?

Dear Health Department:
My son found the above bottle this morning hidden under my bed. This picture does not even do justice to show some of the organisms and bacteria we seem to be growing here at our little lab. See the top part? All fuzzy up inside there. Yummy. Anyways, should we all come down with something crazy from breathing in these vapors, I wanted to have this documented. I immediately threw it out in the trash, so that's where you can find this "evidence" if necessary. It particularly scares me that our family (uh, excuse me, my husband's) dog, who is normally not picky about what she chooses to eat/chew on (her personal favorite is Little People and DVDs) didn't seem to be interested in this goodness.
Sincerely,
A mom who apparently has inflated pride about the cleanliness of her home!

Sledding

"

Jeff was SUPER excited to bring the kids sledding this year. Actually, to bring Ryan sledding. However, Julia doesn't like to be left out and she wanted to go to, so I "got" to go along on the trip to our local park since we thought it might be difficult for Jeff to supervise the two of them. (And because I was putting my foot down that Ry is too young to go down the hill by himself! I mean, seriously...that just sounds like an accident waiting to happen! I think only a dad would consider sending his barely 4 yr old down this hill by himself. The part you see here in the background is not even the steep part!)

Would you believe I trek the camera up this big hill and the batteries are dying as I try to take a pic?! So here is a (bad) shot of Jeff and the kids. Julia decided to stay up at the top with me, and Jeff and Ry went down. Ry did not like his first trip down (snow flew up in his face), he said "cool!" about the second trip, and then I went down with him...probably not nearly as fun since I am a safety-freak with out-of-control sports and had both hands and feet dragging the entire way..and it was still too fast of a ride in my book!

Julia did one small portion of the hill with Daddy, and she said, "I ant to go again! Again!!" but before Jeff could climb back up the hill with her she saw the merry-go-round and was distracted.

The kids had TONS of outside play time today...we did this between when Daddy came home from work and our small group came over tonight, and they played outside with me this morning, and Ryan again with Grandma/pa this afternoon!

Oh well, if my opinion counts, we've had enough sledding fun for this year. =)

Wednesdays With Grandma & Papa

Fun news! Grandma started a Wednesdays With Grandma And Papa blog!

I know that the kids will cherish looking back at this someday (they already enjoy the photos!) and seeing all the fun memories from their childhood!