Monkey See - Monkey Do

Okay, so a while back Grandma B was over babysitting the girls while I hid upstairs in my office and worked. During her babysitting time, Grandma decided to "fix" our red Sit-N-Spin. Not that it was really broken or anything, she just simply took the top apart, placed a Kleenex over the speaker and put it back together ... now the once blaring rock-n-roll music that emanated from the speakers is a pleasant muted rock-n-roll sound. The point of this story is that, obviously Miss Madison was awake and watching Grandma "fix" the toy. The reason I am guessing this (and confirmed it with Grandma) is that she has known where to find the screwdrivers since the toy was fixed. Well, tonight, I snuck upstairs to have a moment of privacy and use the potty without an audience (I was gone about two minutes) ... in that two minutes, Miss Madison retrieved the screwdrivers, held a class on Sit-N-Spin repair with her sister and this is what I came down to find:

The Teacher (notice the concentration & the tongue):

The Student (still learning the appropriate hold):

Grandpa will be proud, both in that Grandma can use a screwdriver AND that Miss Madison is passing on the skills she has learned while spending quality time with Grandma ... :)

Hugs & Love -

Amy

Meet Squirt & Drip

Yup ... Grandpa B struck again ... Drip and Squirt are the newest "Mucus Jr." plush to be added to the girls ever growing collection of mucus dolls ... Thank you Grandpa ... I am at a loss for words ...

Finger Licking Good

Can you say Bw3 BBQ Chicken Wings, Fries & Ketchup??!!?? We decided since it was nearly 80 degrees out yesterday, that we would stop and have a bite to eat after our shopping trip to Target and Home Depot before going home to play outside. Just to clarify ... Alyssa's mess is from her favorite vegetable ... KETCHUP ... yes just plain ketchup. Madison on the other hand, actually tried the wings ...

We got to spend some time outside enjoying the beautiful weather ... I am so glad for warm weather again!! Now, we just need that grass to turn green to make everything official and put another winter behind us. I can't believe we were shoveling over a foot of snow just a couple of weeks ago!! Here is a picture of daddy and the girls out in the yard:

Today is mommy and daddy's 6th anniversary ... where the heck does all the time go??!! It seems like just yesterday we were standing on the beach in Jamaica saying our vows, sun tanning and kicking back a few island beverages. Despite struggling with infertility for nearly 3 1/2 years of our six year marriage, we made it though, love each other despite our flaws and are completely blessed and fortunate to have two beautiful little girls cement us together for life. I am a truly lucky woman with a beautiful family and the best husband in the world ... Happy Anniversary Sweetie ...

Love & Hugs -

Amy

Where's Rocket??!!

Here are the girls checking out their new "Little Einsteins" pajamas ... We asked them where "Rocket" was and rather than pointing out the enormous one on their bellies, they both started doing yoga poses to point out the small "Rockets" on their bottoms:

We are very BIG Little Einstein fans in this house. Even though the program is geared for ages 3-6, the girls still love it, love the classical music and enjoy participating in the adventures. The pajamas they are modeling in these pictures are actually the "boys" version with Quincy, Leo & Rocket. Just wait until the "girls" version with June & Annie show up in a few days!!!

Finally ... Just for fun ... My "babies" now at 18 months (Alyssa & Madison):

My "babies" then at 2 months old (Madison first, then Alyssa):

And, yes, to those of you familiar with the Fisher Price Papasan Chairs, we are getting a lot of mileage out of ours!!!

Love & Hugs -

Amy

Getting Back into the Swing of Things

Well, I know it has been a very long time since my last update. Things are finally starting to get back to normal around our house. I *think* we are finally all on the road to recovery after two bouts of the flu in addition to head and chest colds shared by all.

We have been very busy around our home. Grandpa B has been over helping us finish our basement. We had an unfinished basement and will now have a brand new office/guest room for mommy and huge closet for daddy to hide all his "paperwork" in so mommy doesn't have to see it any more!! We will also have an additional bathroom room, storage room/utility area and a new family room. This will free up mommy's existing office upstairs to give the girls their very own toy/play room!!

Friday evening we all went out to dinner at Mancini's with Grandma & Grandpa B as well as Terry & Lori. We all had great filets and got to catch up at our home afterwards with lots of espresso martini's ... I am still a bit afraid of a cup of coffee three days later.

Saturday brought us and the girls to Christian's 1st Birthday Party!! The girls flirted their way through crowd and had a great time playing with Christian and all his new toys. Their favorite part of the day was the hellium balloons that Aunt Tammy sent home with them from the party. They have become their favorite toys. Here is a picture of the three amigos although trying to get three kiddos under age 2 to cooperate with a picture is tough!!


Saturday night the girls got to spend the evening with Grandma & Grandpa B while mommy and daddy snuck out to a "date night" to the theater. We got to enjoy "The Merchant of Venice".

Sunday mommy and the girls headed off to yet another party ... our friend Heather's baby shower. She is due next month and the girls had lots of fun ... even despite digging up one of Heather's house plants and spreading the dirt all over themselves and Heather's carpeting ... good grief. Now I ask you ... do these look like troublemakers to you??!?!!

Hopefully Heather and Dusten will invite us back again someday so we can try to redeem ourselves ... :)

So, I apologize for the extended absence to all my blog followers, I promise now that we are all feeling better, I will be back to pounding the keys with updates again!

Love & Hugs -

Amy

A Day For Mommy & The Payback ...

Yes, mommy finally got a chance to use her "Day at the Spa" gift from daddy and the girls from last Mother's Day (yes 2006) ... My mother joined me for the fun and it was a very nice, relaxing day. Unfortunately, as we all know, anytime mommy takes a day for herself, there is always a pay back ...

What was the payback you ask ... well how about waking up the next morning to a vomiting child, covered with it from head to toe, and then let the diarrhea kick in. If that isn't enough for you, now have daddy get sick. Still not enough you think, well let's add Miss Madison in a couple days later and if that still isn't enough of a payback for you ... add in me by the end of the week.

So, I have been missing from the world of blogging for so long as our entire family has been ill with various stages of the flu for the last week and a half. I will spare all of you the intricate details, but I will say that this round of flu put little Miss Madison in the ER for about four hours to receive IV fluids and nausea medication as she was very dehydrated. I swear there is not much worse in the world then having to watch doctors and nurses poke and prode your child and then to have assist in holding her down to have a IV line placed in her hand. Fortunately, she forgave me right away and slept though most of the rest of the ER experience while the fluids were administered.

I am happy to report now though that we are all on the mend other than a cold that mommy and Alyssa seem to be sharing, nice way to follow up the stomach flu ... good grief.

Due to the illnesses, not much has been happening in our house other than details of the sickness that nobody really wants to hear about ... lets just say mommy had gone through 7 outfits for herself and uncountable pajamas for the girls one day at the worst of it. With all that hopefully behind us and few less visits to the doctors and ER's, we hope to back in the next few days with some fun updates!!!

I think it will be a long time before mommy decides she deserves a day to herself again ... geez ...

((Hugs))

Amy