izzy and abby

cleaning off the camera

These are pictures left on my camera from the time we spent at Mamaw's house until our trip to the park tonight. 

Mary came to visit over Mom's birthday/ Mother's day and the girls enjoyed pestering her.

I love this picture!

Isabel visiting with Aunt Jean.

The girls and I had lunch with Aunt Pat and Aunt Jim.  You can see my almost 6 month belly!

Notice how Abby is rubbing the back of mom's neck?  She does that before she goes to sleep.

Abby likes swinging.

Izzy shows off her missing two top teeth.

The reason we worry Abby might have an under bite.

Izzy works the camera.

swimming backwards

Last week was our first week back at swim lessons.  Something has happened to Izzy over the summer.  She loves to go to the pool, loves to be in the water, but she is terrified of swimming.  Last summer, I had her almost floating by herself and jumping in to my arms and kicking around the pool on her noodle.  This morning I had to pry her fingers off the side of the pool so she would even go out with the instructor.   She does noticeably better when I am in the pool with her, but will barely participate with her swim class even under severe threat from me.    I guess we will be spending a lot of our evenings paddling around the pool this summer, trying to get her to be comfortable in the water again.

We took both girls to the pool last night.  Mike kept Abby in the baby pool mainly and I had Izzy in the main pool.  Abby LOVED it.  She couldn't get enough.  She wanted to get under the water fountain and get sprayed and didn't mind getting her whole head wet.

On a side note, before we went to the pool yesterday, we found two bad ticks on Izzy.  I have been traumatized by those ticks and couldn't sleep from running my fingers through my hair.  YUK!   Izzy gets so many ticks on her in the summer. 

ordering

Izzy is on this new kick that she wants to order for herself when we go to restaurants.  It started when we were at Mom's house and went to Panera Bread.  I asked my usual question, "grilled cheese or peanut butter jelly?" and she said "You tell the lady what you want and I will tell the lady what I want."  She ordered a peanut butter jelly and lemonade and proceeded to eat my bread and drink Abby's milk.  Maybe she didn't realize that when you order your food, you have to eat it.

A couple of nights ago, we took the girls to a noodle place that everyone likes.  They will add tofu to your order (great for me) and the girls split their mac and cheese.  Izzy went to the counter to order with Mike and Mike didn't know she wanted to order for herself so he ordered the mac and cheese before she got a chance to.  She proceeded to have a mini-meltdown at the restaurant which was only calmed after the mac and cheese arrived.

After dinner we ran some errands and went to a friends house to play (Mike went straight home after grocery shopping).  On the way home, Izzy started talking about how daddy had hurt her feelings by ordering for her.  I asked her if she thought daddy loved her (she said yes) and if daddy would ever do anything to hurt her knowingly (she said no).  Then I explained daddy made a mistake and when people make mistakes we forgive them.  She said "I guess you are right" which still cracks me up.  When we came in, the first words out of her mouth were "I have to talk to daddy about this" and she proceeded to tell him he had hurt her feelings, etc.  It is so cute and so grown up.  I love that she is starting to think about things and talk about her feelings.  So sweet.

picture post

Much more interesting than me blabbing away!  These are not in order.

Abby opening her Easter basket.  Is it just me or does her hair look red in this photo?

Abby riding her truck (backwards).

Izzy with her two fabulous teachers on the last day of preschool.

Izzy made a little nest for herself while she was sick.

Izzy showing off her lost tooth.

The summer crazies

I have been in summer "vacation" (no teaching, but still doing research) for about 4 weeks now.  I took a one week work trip to DC and another trip to TN with my mom for a few days.  This week, we have been having swimming lessons for Isabel in our neighborhood pool and next week my summer students begin.  The summer crazies have arrived.

All is mostly well with the kiddies.  Isabel still continues to struggle to figure out how to be a 5 yo.  She has started asking questions like "Why do you get to boss me around?  Why can't I be my own boss?" which I struggle to answer.  At one time, she was such an easy kid to discipline, a harsh word would have her melting into a puddle on the floor.  Now she is talking back, asking questions, pestering non-stop.  I have tried to explain to her that parents know what is best for children and it is our job to keep her and Abigail safe and sometimes she might not be able to see why we are making her do something, but there is a good reason.  As you can imagine, her logic hasn't progressed to this stage yet.  We are to the point of taking away toys from her and putting them on the top shelf of our closet until she does xyz. 

Abby is a stinkerpie herself.  Last night Isabel's tea set was strewn all over the floor and when I told Izzy to pick it up, she said "Abigail made this mess, not me!"  And I believe it, Abby isn't happy unless she is playing with the big girl toys.  Abby is so different from Izzy.  I don't know why I am continually surprised by this, but I am.  When we were at my mom's, I put Abby on the floor while I signed my credit card slip at the front of a restaurant.  She was maybe done for 10 s and my mom and Iz were standing right there.  All of the sudden, mom says "Where's Abby?"  I drop everything and start going through the restaurant.  She is all the way to the back to the place making friends with the other diners.  Iz stayed right with us all the time and had major "stranger danger".  Abby has no problem leaving my skirt tails and joining other people's families.  I have decided it is time to break out the leash (something we never used with Iz).

Baby is doing fine.  I am feeling a little better,  but I caught a cold at mom's house and haven't gotten over it yet.  I have another doctor's appt in 10 days, I am anxious to see if my iron is any better.

baby doing ok

We had a fetal echocaridiogram yesterday and there were no apparent signs of a heart defect. We had the same test with Abby and her test came out clear too, so it only brings us a modicum of relief. At least they didn't find anything big wrong. We have to go on thinking and hoping that this baby will be just fine.

I am doing ok with the diabetic diet. I absolutely hate it, but whatever, I can do anything for 15 weeks. It is so hard to find vegetarian meals that are high enough in protein, especially when we eat out. And I am already sick of peanut butter and nuts and cheese and eggs, I have at least one serving of each of them a day. Oh well. My blood sugar was a little high for the first two days on the diet, but now has settled down nicely and is in the right ranges.

I hope the iron levels are also improving, I will know at my next doctor's appt. I feel a little more energetic, but that could be because I am actually get full nights of sleep lately (thank you Abby!) The doctor changed my iron meds as well and this new one is supposed to be the latest and greatest thing.

Abby has been playing with my phone a lot lately and I just noticed this morning, she must have added a contact number. "AJ" has the number "2" (which is also a speed dial for Mike's cell).

We are getting all scheduled up for the summer. I have signed Izzy up for two weeks of VBS, one at the church where she went to preschool and one at the church our neighbor's attend). I also signed her up for two rounds of swim lessons and will add a third if she isn't swimming after those two rounds. Either she learns to swim or we stay in the baby pool all summer long, I hope it is the former. I signed Abby up for infant swim lessons too, I am really looking forward to them.

pregnancy

This is my third pregnancy.  You would think I would have learned something about pregnancy by now, but I haven't.  This will also (probably) be our last pregnancy.  (My mom would interject here with "PROBABLY???")  I keep telling myself to enjoy every sensation, the first kicks (magical), the expanding belly magnet (cute),... and that is where the enjoyable stuff ends.   I have not been enjoying this pregnancy, and now that I look back on my others, I find a few common themes.  Swollen feet.  Night wakings.  No energy.  Constant bad mood.  Reflux.  Diabetes.

When I see mom with a lot of kids (something like 17) I always wonder how they manage while they are pregnant.  If they have 16 kids and are pregnant with number 17, life doesn't stop for them.  They must have found a way to live and be happy and go about daily tasks without focusing on their expanding belly and all the issues it brings.  I, my friends, can't do this.  I am wallowing in this pregnancy.  As happy as I am to be pregnant, as excited as I am to meet this wee cub, and as much as I want her to stay put for the next 16 weeks, I also just want it to be over. 

our little vampire

Izzy lost her other front tooth yesterday and had lost a side bottom tooth a couple of days ago.  She looks a little like a vampire with her front teeth missing and her side teeth extra prominent.  We have lost 5 teeth total now (and recovered 3!)  She is getting better about spitting them out when they fall.

Yesterday was "Mommies and cookies" at izzy's preschool.  It was very cute, Izzy made me several little presents and was very proud to show them to me.  After we had cookies (Izzy ate hers, then ate mine too) they sang a song, something like "I'm gonna mail myself to you".   I spent a good while talking to Izzy's teacher and getting an update on Izzy's progress.   I was happy to see that her writing is in line with the other students.  The teacher told me she didn't hug the other student (something she does while playing at home that we try to curb) and that she made excellent progress since the beginning of the year in her ability to sit and pay attention.  I was happy to hear it and feel good about sending Izzy to full day kindergarten at elementary school next year (we had also considered sending her to a half-day kindergarten at the same church).

I received some bad news yesterday at my doctor's office.  I failed (spectacularly!) glucose test so back on a diabetic diet I go.  My anemia is getting worse.  The baby seems ok though.  We are getting our heart scan next Monday. 

snaggletooth and swine flu

Izzy lost one her top teeth yesterday!   It has been very loose for a couple of days (to the point it was hanging lower than the other tooth) and we kept reminding her not to swallow it when she felt it come out.  (She wouldn't let us pull it.)  Well, she swallowed it which makes us 1 for 3 of her lost teeth recovered.  She has been singing a little made up song today about "Losing my baby tooth, now it is in my tummy!" 

We have had a few people with suspected swine flu in Northern AL.  They canceled school last week for two days and just announced that our school system will stay shut for 2 weeks!  It doesn't affect us greatly, but Izzy's preschool follows the school system so she will be out too.  Basically she goes back in time for her final party.  I can't imagine they will lengthen the preschool year, but they may, who knows.

We are struggling with Isabel's discipline lately.  She is being too rough with Abigail, sometimes by accident, sometimes on purpose.  Sending her to the corner isn't as effective as it once was.  Today she got sent to bed for 30 minutes for intentionally hitting and knocking down Abby, then while she was in the corner, she slammed a door where Abby had her hand, barely missing her fingers.  She doesn't seem to respond much to the discipline, but is crying a lot at other, seemingly meaningless events.  Today we went to a mexican restaurant for lunch and ordered her a bean burrito which she refused to eat.  We told her no snacks or treats at home since she didn't eat her lunch and she remained adamant that she didn't want it.  Afterwards, though, she started asking if she could eat her lunch now.  I told her we left it at the restaurant which brought her to the point of hysteria.  She kept saying we should have put it in a box and brought it home and asked if we could go back to the restaurant and get it through crocodile tears.  Ai, ai ai.  I thought we wouldn't have these types of scenes for a few more years.

Happy Birthday Big Girl!

I have to admit, I have suffered quite a bit of "mom guilt" with Isabel's birthday parties in the past.  When we first moved to Huntsville, the night of her  birthday, we went out to dinner with two of our friends, no other children in sight.  The following year, we had a backyard party where the adults far out weighed the kids (I think 3 other children attended.)  Last year, we canceled her birthday party due to Abby's illness.  Finally, this year, I can put all my mom guilt aside and rest assured she has had a proper childhood birthday party (with children!)  This was the scene in our backyard yesterday:

They delivered it at 8 in the morning and she was out bouncing and sliding with the neighbors until 11;30.  We made her come in and rest before the party started.  Around 2 her guests started arriving and they pretty much stayed in the bounce house until cake time (note the pink, sweaty cheeks):


(Not pictured are Jacob, William and Ethan M.)  Even Miss Abby had a good time, though she was confined to the walker in the patio most of the party:

After it was over, we laid in the hammock and Iz "told me a story about it" (her favorite phrase of late):

She had a great time.  I did too, but each passing year makes me even more aware of how quickly she is growing up and how few years we have left where we will even get to attend the party.  The cliche is completely true, they grow up way too fast.

Here is my annual look back at Izzy through the ages.

Birth:

1 year old:

2 years old:

3 years old:

4 years old:

5 years old:

I love you big girl.  You will always be "my baby" to me.