Seven Months

Elise Mae is now seven months old and she wants you to know what she's been up to.

She can now pull up in her pack n play and crib all by herself. She LOVES pulling up on the couch, chair, and her play tables, but she often forgets she can't stand by herself and just lets go. SO, someone has to be right by her. (Dad has to be reminded because he loves to let her stand there and say, "She is doing it by herself." THUD)Elise says "da-da" all the time but can also say "ma-ma" and other babbles. The person that gets the biggest reaction from her is Amelia. Amelia can simply walk in the room and Elise starts going crazy to get to her and laughs the whole way. She is crawling everywhere and is hard to keep up with. It is much harder now to manage the two girls than when Elise wasn't mobile and adventurous, but it is so fun to watch her grow and explore.

She is teething, but we've got no pearly whites yet. Her favorite toys seem to be all the big girl toys that Amelia plays with, particularly puzzle pieces and dolls with hair. We keep trying to redirect her to her own, but we have another girl with a seemingly independent spirit. Yikes, lol.

Elise is a decent eater. She won't eat any greens as of yet, but does well with the other foods we've tried. Sweet potatoes, squash, carrots, peaches, apples, and bananas. The girl is WILD about Gerber puffs and Mum-Mums. She loves apple juice out of her sippy cup, but hasn't figured out how to hold it and tip it up herself yet.
It is wonderful how the Lord brings you another child and your heart immediately makes room for them and you struggle to remember the times that they weren't a part of your family. And, it is amazing that you can have another child so closely following your first and still not learn your lesson on holding them while they sleep. Oops.

Elise,
You have already taught me many lessons of patience, faith, beauty, and love. I am so thankful for your huge smile and deep dimples. I love snuggling with you and holding you an extra long time before I "try" to lay you down because I cherish that time we have together, just the two of us. Thank you for keeping Mommy on her toes. It is so fun to watch your personality develop and see the love you have for your sissy. Happy Seven Months my little Buggy.

Shop Til You Run Out of Money

OHMYWORD. It has taken a lot of thinking before talking, biting my tongue and looking at the big picture to keep from breaking down during this ridiculous summer virus rampage that has taken over my house! Amelia finally is on the mend and then I get it! Sore throat, stiff neck, body aches, fever, the whole nine yards. Thankfully Barbara pitched in the afternoon I got it and Mom took Amelia the next day. All I could think was, what if I reinfect her or pass it to Elise? Little tiny bug has escaped with just a runny nose at this point. To top it off, I have had to stop nursing due to my meds and I'm super sad about that and have hard as a rock melon boobs. Hiss grr scratch. I need to be asleep but these medicines are giving me cotton mouth and making me wide a w a k e.
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On to the shopping trip. Seriously. We didn't drop. That wasn't it at all. We just ran out of money. Our Branson shopping trip had been planned, rooms had been booked. I need to stop right there. The rooms at Hilton on the Landing were so gorgeous. I snuggled down in that bed and that sleep was perhaps the best 30th birthday present ever. So, thank you so much to Kim and Jamie for that present--it was heaven for a very tired mom.

Ok, so all was planned in advance and then Amelia got sick. I'll skip all the mumbo jumbo about me almost backing out and I went ahead for the second day. All was going well Saturday and then Ross lets me know Elise has a fever as well. Breakdown ensued. Turns out it went down quickly and was just teeth. Thanks to Dad for stepping up as a superhero that whole weekend and helping out with a very sick girl. And Mom came back like Saturday night in order for me to stay. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Here was the theme of the weekend:
We laughed so hard. And shopped hard. I'll download more pics soon. Some highlights:

- Kim's tortillas falling out of her "heavy" napkin into her bra/lap
- Mom's inability to pronounce tortilla
- Kaci's millions of bags and spending freeze
- My scary shorts
- Shelb's masterpiece braiding ability and fashion show
- Steph's list and coupons

My favorite quotes:
"I thought your milk dried up when your baby was like a month old."
"You work hard for the money, get one in every color."
"Where are we on the lisssst?"
"How much would you pay for this?"
-"My bra fell down and I almost flashed you. Do you want me to flash you?"
-"Your new purse smells like...period."

I could go on and on. FUN times with cousins. Can't wait until next year.
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And becaue I know you are missing their faces, here is Amelia doing a treasure hunt. (She found a clue!)


And here is Elise doing a little work on her laptop.

I need sleep. Thank you Mucinex D for creating a wide-eyed person at almost midnight.

Sicky Update

A few of you have emailed or sent messages asking about the girls. Here are some tidbits.

Amelia awoke with almost 103 fever this morning. WHAT? She was almost completely better yesterday. Another trip to urgent care and she has an ear infection and is on medicine. Still coughing and snotting and makes this mama sad-ola. This is the longest she has ever been sick. Seeing her shaking with that fever is more than I can take.

Elise has a runny nose and cough now too. I knew it was coming. I've (we've) tried so hard to keep them apart, but it is tough.

Mom came up today to save me. Thankfully, Meme was at Jen's and came over this morning to watch Elise so I could get Amelia in the doctor as soon as the doors opened. Mom stayed all day and I could sob thinking of how grateful I am.

I'm tired. Really tired. Ross has no clean underwear. My hair has turned into dreadlocks due to no shower in an unmentioned number of days.

Remember the count the blessing thing? Still counting. There are a ton even in this weeklong stretch of tissues and coughs and crying and doctor visits and medicine and copays. A ton. Thanks for praying for my babies. Keep it up.

Be back with some pictures and fun SOON, I hope.

Checklist

Amelia with croup- check
Trip to Urgent Care- check
Fever for five days- check
Sad and sleepy mom- check
Even sadder little girl- check
Teething Elise- check
Being held all night- check
No blogging- check

I snuck in a trip to Branson for my birthday weekend thanks to Ross, Mom, and Dad all pitching in big time. That post is coming. So fun. Tonight Amelia is fever free, but still coughing. Elise has been up four times crying in the past hour and a half. Hoping one of her little teethers comes in soon.

Dozing on couch until she is up again- check.

You Aint Seen Nothing Yet

Happy Birthday Party To ME! (okay, us). Steph and I had our annual joint birthday party. This is one of my favorite things about my birthday--the fact that Steph and I always have a double family party. Just ANOTHER thing that makes us besty friends.

Amelia was tickled pinkkk about the party. Mommy and her girl. And Mommy's two girls.
And when Ingrid arrived and was even more thrilled that Ingrid is now walking!! It was so cute seeing her toddle around. This hug sums up the love, ha.
Hubsy pulled off a mega surprise. As I have mentioned, Ross isn't the best at getting gifts. He over-analyzes and puts too much pressure on himself and waits until the last minute and, yeah, he struggles. I thought I was diving into a box that would contain a gift card or a book--his go to gifts. Imagine my surprise when I pulled out a zip line voucher! I was so pumped. Can't wait until we go.

The surprise didn't end there. I pulled out the rest of the paper and there was an IPAD TWO. Are you kidding me? No pictures because Ross stopped taking pictures because he was so excited. I still have no words. We have never discussed getting an iPad--ever. You know, other than the occasional those are so cool. It was an awesome surprise and I can never say that he doesn't get good gifts. Still in shock :)
I got a gorgeous ring and scarf and Tanger gift card and other wonderful birthday goodies. Isn't opening presents so fun? Steph and I have wanted a Coldstone cake forever, but they cost a million bucks. We got lucky and scored TWO this birthday. Thanks Mom and Dad--they were delish.
I love when everyone comes to our house! I almost let one small -turned large by me- incident ruin the night, but I reigned it in. Amelia threw a fit and I should have just let it go in front of such a big group and addressed it later. Filing that in my discipline for dummies notebook. Which is coming in another post.

Yippee for fun gifts- surprise gifts- huge gifts and turning 30.
Yahoozle for feeling 20, but having the blessings of 30.

Chin Up

I was so happy to head to Elise's checkup (minus the shots of course) to report to our doctor what the MRI and CT had shown. She hadn't gotten the report and was waiting on our update. However, the mood took a turn when she picked up on a heart murmur that seemed pretty strong to her and said we were going to need to get an ECHO done at the cardiologist. Another test. Sigh. Even though the rest of the appointment went well and Elise was weighing in at a healthy 16 pounds, I just was so upset. Her shots went fine (even though she cried the hardest this time) and she doesn't get any more until she is a year old. But, I couldn't shake the test. A test on my baby's heart? After one on her brain? TOO MUCH for this mom.

The test came and went. I didn't even blog about it or talk about it. Just wanted to pretend it didn't exist. She did wonderfully during the test and it was quick and painless. The results have me a bit puzzled. "Patient could have bicuspid aortic valve with increased velocity. Follow up in two years." So, does she or doesn't she? That is the question. We are kind of getting the runaround, but Ross is making some calls Monday and I will update you.

On top of that, the neurosurgeon called yesterday and recommended an eye exam be set up for August. I began to lose it. My attitude hasn't been the greatest and I vowed today to turn it around. These are just trials we are going through and I know what the word says. Give the glory to God. I need to give thanks for all the blessings we have amidst the rough patches of countless tests and questions and doctor bills. Because we are called to.

And because I have much to be thankful for. A big rain shower came up right after naptime and Amelia said, "Oh my word, I have to get my umbrella." I thought it was hysterical, so I let her get out there in the rain. The sun came out and there was just a sprinkle or two left coming down, but she had the most wonderful time. Blessing.

Thankfully, my friends came up for a fun birthday dinner and night out. I had planned on pouting through some of it (told you my attitude stunk) but I just couldn't. We had so much fun and tons of laughing-- as usual. We ate at Hu Hot, went to TJ Max, and to Cheddars for dessert. A wonderful evening that came at the perfect time. Blessing.

So, anxiety, please get the heck out of my way. I have really been struggling with some fear and anxiety lately. It stinks and even though I have dealt with this all my life, it comes in waves and I'm in the middle of one. Praying it moves on because I've got some blessings to count.

Happy Birthday Steph!

Steph's not much for gush and since it is HER birthday, I will try to limit the overflowing amount of gush I have for her.

Happy Birthday to my built in best friend. Everyone knows that Steph is my favorite person to be around--it is no secret. I've felt this way the moment that chunky, slanty eyed, black headed baby entered this world. She was my baby sister and I immediately needed to start teaching her things. And I am sure I did teach her a few things along the way, but she has taught me many more.
She teaches me about unwavering faith, determination, forgiveness, unconditional love, and encouragement. She has taught me about fashion, cooking, and decorating. She has taught me that it certainly is worth a try to stay calm.
And so, by nature, she is a fabulous teacher to her wonderful students. They are loved and adored and she is, in turn, loved and adored by them. She juggles it all: wonderful wife, inspiring teacher, patient and devoted mother. She goes to bed late and gets up early. Steph teaches me to limit my complaining. She rarely complains about much other than not having enough time to watch all her shows :)
Stephanie Michelle,
From backyard swing sets, to dorm rooms, to delivery rooms, you have remained the one steadfast friend that I knew would be there. The one it was impossible to royally tick off. The friend that would for sure RSVP. The person that totally understood me. From secret crushes to first dates to wedding aisles, you have been my favorite person to dish to. The one I told things I thought were crazy, just to have you verify. Thank you for all of this and for the joy you bring to all my life. I hope you have a very happy day.