Bug Hunting and Daycare

I love hearing my girls tell me their plans for the future.  For a long time, they had plans to marry Daddy and we would all still live together.  Then it changed to where they would both live in Disney World and we would be able to visit them there:

M:  "Mommy, when you were little, did you want to live at Disney World?"

Me:  "Yes, I'm sure I did"

C:  "Well, why don't you live there now that you're a grown-up if you wanted to when you were a kid and grown-ups can live wherever they want to live?"

Me:  "Good question...wanna move?"

Then a couple of days ago, Chloe told me that she was going to be a bug hunter when she grows up and that if she marries Caden or Safeer (2 little boys from her preschool class) she would still be a bug hunter; but if she marries Spencer (her bug hunting buddy from preschool---this is also the little boy that said he saw her underpants one time she wore a dress to school which has made her paranoid...she now wears shorts with all her dresses) she and Spencer would bug hunt together everyday and she would send her children to daycare.  

Too funny...she is a child like no other...

Mother of the Year...again

On Father's Day, we had Kevin's Dad and stepmom and sisters over for dinner.  Things were great, but Mia did something (I can't remember now) but it was one of those things where I could have easily over looked it, but to be consistent in discipline, I sent her to time out.  Well, I was in and out from the back deck helping with dinner and back inside visiting with family and after awhile I thought, "what is that sound?"...it sounded like soft crying.  Then it hit me...MIA!!!  I had completely forgotten about her in time out and it had been close to an hour!  I felt horrible and ran to her and she was still sitting on the bottom step by the front door and was crying saying, "you left me here for hours!".  She can't tell time yet, but little did she know that she was close to being right!  Poor thing...she did say she forgave me, so that's good.  I just couldn't believe she stayed in that one spot!  What a good girl.  

My twins...figuring it all out

I have never met a child that has more self esteem than my Mia.  When I drop her off at school or the gym, she is off and playing before I can even say goodbye. One time we went to eat at Saba by Emory and she and Chloe were asking about the buildings down there and I told her that it was a school you could go to if you wanted to be a doctor like Dr. Jan (their pediatrician).  Chloe said, "I want to go to college there so I can be a doctor when I grow up."  Then Mia pipes up and says, "I'm not going to college because when I grow up, I'm going to be Barbie Island Princess."  Typical...

She definitely has her "moments" where she can be bossy with Chloe and it has pretty much always been that way.  She is the typical first born child, even though it was only by 2 minutes.  I crack up at least a couple times a day at the things that she says or does.  She is very in to being the princess/Mommy/pet owner/"one in charge", etc. when she and Chloe (or other kids) play.  I finally told Chloe that it is her turn to be the princess.  She does not always have to be the prince/daughter/cat etc.  She goes on to tell me that she is fine with being the prince.  I told her to step up and be the leader and not the follower and she is telling me that she wants to be the follower, that she wants to do what other people want her to do...NO!  What do I do?  She is on her way to being a total people-pleaser...I am that way in certain situations and it is not the best way to be.  It has taken me a good 34 years to stand up to things (usually) when I don't want to go along with whatever.  I mean, I am no doormat, but I definitely tend to be quiet to other people's "squeaky wheels."  So, when I see this in Chloe, I want to change it immediately.  How can 2 children (twins even!) be so different personality-wise?  To her credit, she does "fight back" when something really bothers her, though.  

Chloe is the most by-the-book child.  She only sees black and white.  She asks permission for EVERYTHING.  It is great, but can be tiring, especially when she asks the same thing twice or 3 times because she thinks I'm not listening and she may get in trouble for doing something when I said yes, but wasn't paying attention.  That one can drive me bananas.  She is my little Mother Hen and I have a feeling that these character traits in both girls will help them as they get older.  I think that being separated in different classes in elementary school will be tough at first, but I think it will give Chloe a chance to shine.  Then in middle school and high school, I doubt that Mia will get away with anything "questionable" with her Moral Compass around!  

Here's looking forward to the next few drama-filled years living in a house of all girls!  Poor Kev...

Father's Day

Yesterday was a great day to celebrate the Dad's in my life...we went to church as a family (the 1st time I've been in almost a month because of being out of town for 2 weekends and having a sick baby last weekend...I missed it!  It was so good to be back...great worship music and great sermon on taking correction and not being "stupid"---check it out on buckheadchurch.org)

After church, we had lunch with my Dad...my Dad is the greatest.  He is so kind and he is incredible with my girls.  They love playing with him and climbing all over him.  

Yesterday afternoon Kevin's Dad and family came over for dinner.  Shannon had sinus surgery on Friday, so she wasn't able to make it and Ryan is in the islands for a wedding (poor thing), so he missed it too.  We had a really good time and I love seeing Mia and Chloe jump all over their Papa Doc.  They have so much fun together.  

Needless to say, with all of our Dad's so close, the youngest Daddy if the group can get "lost in the shuffle" of celebrating everyone else---the same thing always seems to happen at Mother's Day too---so we usually celebrate Kevin (and myself at Mother's Day) on a different day other than the actual holiday.  We are planning a camping trip this weekend for Kevin's Father's Day.  Wish us luck...whether we bring the baby or not is still up in the air.  I know she (and we) will sleep better if she stays home with a Grandma, but I really don't feel like pumping the whole weekend.  We'll see...

If you want to know a few of the reasons I love Kevin and think he is amazing (as a Daddy and Hubby) check out the posts labeled Day, 1, 2, etc... from the end of April and beginning of May for our 10 year anniversary.  

Make the drive to Scottish Rite

After being up with Quinnlan last night with her fever at 102.9, we decided to make a visit to see Dr. Jan this morning.  Quinnlan has strep AGAIN!  When Jan came in and told me, I began crying in the doctor's office.  I am so frustrated!  Just to vent for a minute...the ER docs felt NO need to run ANY tests Friday night?!?!?!...if they had run a simple throat culture then (when I told them that she has already had strep twice since April 26th), she could have started antibiotics that night and been feeling better by yesterday!  Poor baby has had to deal with this fever and feeling horrible all weekend, not to mention how it has affected everyone else in the house (namely me, Nurse Betty).  Children, and especially babies, don't have a voice to complain.  That is what breaks my heart.  Jan said her throat looked "terrible"...was there NO sign of this on Friday night?  UGH...

This is the 2nd time we have had an issue with Egleston.  When we went in April for the same high fever, they said her throat was red, but "babies rarely get strep" so they decided to do a urinalysis instead (catheter and all)...even when I told them then that both her older sisters had had strep in the past week.  Of course, the urinalysis came back fine and they sent us home and said check with my pediatrician the next day if she still had the fever.  She immediately did a throat culture then and it was her first case of strep throat.  So, this is the 2nd time I have had less than stellar care at that ER.  If this has happened to me twice, how many other children has this happened to???  OK enough venting, but I had to get it off my chest...

My advice to all parents:  Make the drive to Scottish Rite.  

Cabin Fever and a sick baby

Well, my sweet baby girl is sick.  

I could tell that she was coming down with something when we were at the beach last week...being cranky and not sleeping well, etc.  But on Friday, she woke up from her morning nap with a fever of about 100.9.  I thought, "no big deal" she's probably teething and I gave her some Motrin and went about my day.  By supper time, it was up to 103.1.  I wasn't too concerned because she was happy and squealing with excitement when her sisters played around her.  I just assumed she had caught the virus I had.  I called Children's Healthcare to ask about what to dress her in for bed (warmly or not so much).  They were concerned about her fever and had our pediatrician-on-call call me back.  He seemed to feel some urgency to have her seen because of the possibility of a urinary tract infection.  So, I wake her up at 9:30pm and load her in the car to take her to Egleston's ER by Emory.  It is now POURING down rain and I HATE driving in the rain, much less driving at night in the rain.  I get to the parking deck and begin to pull in and hear this loud bang.  I thought it was thunder, but it actually was the van topper (still on there from our trip home from the beach) nailing the top of the parking deck...nice.  I was so embarassed and frustrated because of the weather and the time of night.  So, I drove all the way back home and had Kevin take it off the top of the van (all the while praying that Kevin doesn't get struck by lightening while doing it!).  Then we finally arrive back at Egleston around 10:30pm.  

When I have made past trips to ERs (with Quinn, Chloe and Mia...lucky me) I am always amazed at who I see, or should I say, who I don't see there.  I mean, I walk in with a sick child that looks, at that point, like she really doesn't feel well, and I don't see any other "emergencies".  I expect to see broken bones or really sick-looking children, but it is usually just like the regular pediatrician's office sick room.  Anyway, I guess as I'm paying my $150 ER co-pay, I am trying not to feel like I am somehow paying for other people's free care.  OK, enough about that...

When we finally saw the doctor at 12:15am, she didn't want to run any tests.  She just said she probably caught my virus.  Really?!?  Where's the urgency about the UTI?  Not that I want my child to have to go through having a catheter (again) for a urinalysis, but isn't that the whole reason we came down there in the first place?!?  So, we go home and she is still running a fever...it hasn't been above 102.5 today, so things are looking better, but she just looks like she feels crummy.  Poor thing.  

So, I have been here in the house for about 48 hours straight (except for my 10 minute trip to Publix this afternoon for a couple of things)...when our babies are sick, they just want Mommy, and I'm ok with that, but it can be exhausting.  

Oh, and she began eating finger foods last week at the beach.  She was eating pretty much tiny pieces of whatever we were eating.  Now, she is boycotting all food except for those little Gerber Puffs.  They are pretty much like eating air.  At least her diapers don't stink anymore...they are basically like newborn, breast-milk only diapers...I guess she's just not hungry.  But, I hope I am not creating a hard habit to break with those Puffs!

I just pray that my baby girl feels better very soon.  

Last day blues...

I feel like a completely different person since my last post.  I have no idea what kind of flu I had, but it really kicked my tail.  Maybe it was the Swine Flu?  Who knows, but I am almost 100% and now little Miss Quinnlan is feeling a little under the weather but I think she may be on her way to recovery as well.  She slept really well last night and had 2 good naps today.  The past couple of days have been rough for her...poor thing.  She is happy as a lark though!  I saw an interview with Billy Ray Cyrus and Miley Cyrus where he was asked where the name, Miley, came from and he said that she smiled all the time as a baby and they called her Smiley and then it was somehow shortened to Miley.  This baby could be called Miley...she is the smiliest baby (is that a word?) I've ever met!  Maybe she'll be a mega-Disney star one day :)

So, it is last day at the beach...boohoo.  I'd stay for a month if I could.  This condo is where Kevin's grandparents retired and since their death, Kevin's mom and Aunt share it.  I am so thankful when I get to "tag-a-long" with Kevin's mom and come down for Spring Break or in the summer.  Every other year we have a family vacation with Kevin's family and this year we rented the condo next door to "Gram's place" and when everyone went home last Saturday, the girls and I stayed for a few extra days with Sheila.  It has been great.  Mia and Chloe are little fish in the pool!  Chloe had no desire before this week to put her head under or swim without her water wings, but one day we forgot them upstairs when we went to the pool and she started jumping in and going under by herself then she started swimming with her head under water!  It has been amazing to see how big they are from one year ago!  The part I will miss the most is the gorgeous gulf sunset each evening.  It just doesn't get any better than feeding Quinn and putting her to bed and sitting on the porch and watching Mia and Chloe running around by the water as the sun dips below the horizon.

We are planning on heading home tomorrow afternoon and driving halfway to Valdosta and then driving the rest of the way on Thursday morning.  It breaks up the drive and makes it easier on Little Miss Q especially.  

Here are some more pics from the week:

view from the porch

Chloe waiting on the sunset

Mia loves building sand castles

Vacation!

I can't believe that I am on vacation with Kevin's family and I am sitting in silence. When we go anywhere with my in-laws, it is a constant party/noisy/full of fun atmosphere. It has been...but now it is quiet. Everyone is out to dinner and I am alone in bed with some flu-like virus...ugh!

Here's how it all started...this is kind of long, but I am just writing all that we have done so far...

We decided to drive to Florida on Friday afternoon and we arrived in Belleair Beach at 2am. Once we got everyone settled in and convinced that, no, it was not morning, and we were not going out to the beach to play (Mia's looking for her goggles and Chloe's looking for her swimmies), it was 3am. Of course, sweet Quinn wakes at 6:45am and is ready to eat and ready to GO! So, I got the baby out of the pack-n-play and gave Kevin several "stink-eyes" as I'm changing diapers and he is still snoozing away (why don't men ALSO have mammary glands?!?). Saturday was a blast even through the fog of sleepiness. We had a great family dinner out front by the beach...Kevin cooked some amazing fish out on the grill~

cousins---all girls! (Mae, Chloe, Quinnlan, Katherine, and Mia)

best friends

Quinnie and Grammie

Sunday morning, the boys went to Homosassa to fish (Sean's graduation present from all of us) and we got the girls (Sheila, Shannon, Katherine (3), Mae (1), Me, Mia, Chloe, Quinn, and Monica, Ryan's girlfriend) all packed to go to Disney! We arrived at our hotel, Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort, around noon and one of our rooms was available, so we went to it to change clothes and go to the pool. The room wreaked of cigarette smoke...yuck! We called the front desk and they assured us that they would bring an air purifier and not spray air freshener in the room. We all went to the pool and had lunch and a great time swimming and playing. One funny thing that happened was when I took Mia and Chloe up on this castle looking thing that had steps and I didn't realize that there was a water slide that was in it that ran into the part of the pool that was 4 1/2 feet deep. So, we're walking up and thinking that we'll get to the top and be able to look down on everyone. I am turned around talking to Chloe when I turn back around, I see Mia jumping onto the slide and ready to go! I knew that if she went down the slide, she would not be able to swim at the bottom and no one was waiting for her so I ran up and pushed these two boys out of the way and barely made it to jump behind her to go down the slide and into the water. I am up to my neck in the water and we both have water up our noses, but my little girl is safe...sigh...except that now Chloe is standing on the side of the pool screaming for me because she doesn't know where we went! It was pretty scary, but everyone was (thankfully) ok.

Mia---aka Fearless Frannie

Chloe loved the Kiddie Slide---much safer than the other one!

When we went back to the room, it literally smelled like a trucker's bathroom---they definitely used air freshener...if that's what you want to call it. Sheila called the front desk to complain and they moved us to 2 different rooms and comped one of the rooms---nice!

We basically had about 45 minutes to get ready for dinner at that point, so we rushed out the door to catch the bus to Downtown Disney.

The girls were all dressed in their Princess Finest. Too cute.

We ate at the Rainforest Cafe which was pretty cool and we walked around and the girls picked out one prize each from Grammie. Chloe chose the same prize she got 2 years ago when we came to Disney...a stuffed animal of Baby Simba from the Lion King. Mia chose a Princess Project-and-Draw toy where you can trace pictures of all the princesses.

Monday, we woke up bright and early ready for a magical day at the Magic Kingdom with about 50,000 of our closest friends and neighbors. :) It was crazy, but we had fun...when we came 2 years ago and our girls were 2, I think we rode maybe 4 rides (if you count riding Small World twice), they just wanted to play on the playground in Mickey's Village. This time, though, they were ready to go (and wait in lines) and we were able to ride a few more. We saw a great song and dance production in front of Cinderella's Castle and the parade was a lot of fun!

Mae, Monica, Chloe, Mia, Katherine, Quinnlan and Grammie

The 3 Mouseketeers

Chloe and Mommy watching the princesses dance in front of Cinderella's Castle

"So, what's so great about this place? I just get to ride in the stroller all day!"

Mia loved Ariel's Grotto where she could play in the water

Mia "enjoyed" her Mickey Mouse ice cream bar while watching the parade

Chloe cooling off with a popsicle during the parade

When we finally left the park, everyone was exhausted. We weren't 10 minutes on the road back to the condo when my girls looked like this (video):

I felt a little "off" the night we arrived back at the condo, but just chalked it up to a crazy day at Disney. Then Tuesday morning I still didn't feel right, but I went to the beach and pool with the fam anyway and we had a good time just playing all together (the boys came back Tuesday morning).

Chloe loves running on the beach---Baywatch style

Mia building sand castles

Daddy and Quinn

Ryan and Monica

My family

Will, Mae, Shannon, and Katherine

Sweet Pea and Mommy

When I came in after lunch to put Quinnie down for her nap, I realized how bad I was feeling and it didn't get any better by going to bed at 8pm either. So, Kevin took me to the Minute Clinic at Walgreens this morning and they said it looks like a flu-like virus and so I've watched When Harry met Sally and My Big Fat Greek Wedding by myself and I've been drinking lots of fluids and taking Tylenol for the headache/body ache and sore throat. I have been having a little pity party as I watch my in-laws (Shannon and Will's family) out on the beach after sunset playing and taking beautiful pictures (you know I love a good photo-opp!). Hopefully it is a short bug and I'll be ready to be out and about tomorrow or Friday. At least I'm catching up on some rest, right?