We're Safe

Thanks to all of you who were concerned about our wellbeing, due to the Oklahoma Blizzard! Just a quick update (since on this trip we will rarely have internet access)- we ended up stuck in a hotel in Tulsa on Christmas Eve. We couldn't make it to Enid until C'mas afternoon. We are safe and sound, but it sure was a doozy of a winter storm! Thankfully, we decided to be safe and not chance it...and we're very glad we did. Odds are we would have been stranded, and with two babies, that would have been awful. It was a very unconventional Christmas, but we're grateful to be safe, and we're with our family now. Will give a full update when I can. Thanks for your prayers and concern! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

The Gift of A Child

Last night, I was watching The Nativity Story. I was struck with thoughts about how difficult and challenging it must have been for Mary. We often think of how amazing it must have been to be the chosen virgin who would carry the Christ child. I never really contemplated the idea of how scorned she must have been. For all intents and purposes, she really could have worn a scarlet letter. To everyone around her, it must have seemed as if she were carrying a child illegitimately. In the movie, her family and friends, and Joseph, at first, were all terribly disappointed with her and ashamed of her obvious indiscretions. It's so odd thinking that one could be so very much in the center of God's will, and yet so very shunned by their loved ones. Thankfully, God was gracious to enlighten Joseph through the visitation of an angel, who explained the situation. It's an awfully far-fetched idea: conception by the Holy Spirit...but the ONLY way for the Messiah to begin his life on earth.

The other thought that I've often had in the last few weeks is the gravity of Mary and Joseph's situation as the parents of Jesus. I can't even describe the immense love that I have for my children. If someone told me that I had to willingly give up my child, for the sake of a world of lives at stake, it would be heart-wrenching. Of course, this must have been the case with Mary, who watched her son grow, and love, and heal and teach...and then also to be mistreated, beaten, and nailed to a cross. The despair is inconceivable to me. Blessed was Mary among women...but what a heavy cup.

Of course we must remember that God, the father...felt all of those things. Only, He felt them in proportion to the enormity of His love for Jesus, which was obviously greater than anything that we could ever imagine or feel. God gave us his ONLY SON. Now that I have children, the fact of that statement means so much more to me. And I am overcome with gratitude that I, and that you, and that this world full of people meant enough to the God of the universe, that He gave us His son...the way, the truth, and the life.

Today, we leave to spend Christmas with our families. We will enjoy precious moments and make memories. But at the heart of everything that we do, and what we hope to instill in our children more than any other aspect of this season...is gratitude- for the gift of a child born to a virgin in Bethlehem so long ago...our precious saviour. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Christmas Crazy!

Hey guys! Just thought I'd post because they've been so sporadic lately. Of course, it's such a busy time of year. Right now I'm trying to do about twenty things at once because we leave (hopefully) tomorrow after Aaron gets off (early) to start our annual cross-country Christmas adventure. I say hopefully, because a front is coming through today, which is supposed to bring storms, hail, snow, etc. We're under a severe weather advisory for tonight. It's supposed to snow Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and perhaps the day after. This would all be lovely...if we weren't supposed to be traveling tomorrow night. Now, if it's just a nice snow...no worries. The Pilot is big and heavy and has 4-wheel drive. If it's a blizzard or icing or hailing...well that's another story. Since, as my husband is quick to point out, weathermen are mostly just guessing anyway, we'll wait and see how it actually turns out. Obviously, we'll do whatever we have to do to stay safe. But, hopefully, we'll get to go.

We're supposed to drive to Enid on C'mas Eve. We'll be with my folks for Christmas Day and Saturday, and then we'll drive to Norman on Sunday to spend the night with our pseudo-family...

brief pause while I de-glitter my son. He managed to rip a ribbon off of the tree. The ribbon with the most glitter, mind you. He was pretty much covered head to toe, and mouth with silver glitter. Lord! I only decorated the top-half of the tree (which looks...um, interesting) but he managed to get to a ribbon.

...okay our pseudo family, the Lees. Then Monday we'll drive the rest of the way to Goliad. We'll be down in Tx for the week, because I'm giving a bridal shower for my friend, Veronica, on Saturday, the 2nd, in Houston.

So, today, my list includes, cleaning, ironing, finishing a little laundry, two bags of moose munch, wrapping, and packing and packing and packing. Good times. Well, I don't think we'll have much internet access while we're gone. Aaron's g'ma disconnected her home internet, since she's at the apt. now.

Here's the driving lowdown:
Thursday 4 hrs to Enid
Sunday 2 hrs to Norman
Monday 8-9 hr to Goliad
Friday 2 hrs (just me) to Houston for the shower
Saturday 2 hrs (just me) back to Goliad
Sunday 12 hrs back home

Obviously, we love our families very much! Pray for traveling mercies and happy babies. :-)

Family Christmas Photo Shoot

We took these pictures while we were down in Goliad for Thanksgiving. Many of you have seen a few on our Christmas card already...or on facebook. I've added a few that my friend, Sarah, edited really nicely at the bottom and the one that is our header. Aaron's dad, Jeff, took the pictures. Enjoy!

Yes...we're still here!

Sorry I've been MIA for a week. I just realized how long it's been since I've posted. Two words: Angel Tree! I am our church's coordinator for the Angel Tree ministry this year (along with my good friend, Jessica...who we also help head up the young adult group with...and who's husband has been our "leak consultant.") Anyways, this project has taken up countless hours of planning, projecting and organization.

If you are unfamiliar with Angel Tree, here's a summary. Churches, the Salvation Army, malls, etc...sponsor Angels every year at Christmastime. It is a ministry of Prison Fellowship, which allows incarcerated parents to give a gift to their child/ren through the help of outside sponsor/donors which have taken an Angel tag off of a tree at a church, mall, etc. It's a way for relationships to be kept, rekindled, and reconciled between these prisoners and their children. And it's a way for these children, who often don't live in the best conditions (due to the fact that a parent is in prison) to have their needs met more readily.

Step 1 was contacting the 20ish families that our church was assigned...to confirm their participation and to find out what toy and practical gift items the children would like to receive.
Step 2 was actually setting up the tree with the tags, and collecting the gifts brought in by our church donors.
Step 3 is hosting the party where we love on the families and distribute the gifts to the children.

The party is this Wednesday, the 16th. If you're reading this, please say a prayer that every family that we are serving is blessed by the love of Christ through us. Our hope is not only that they are happy with their gifts and a fun evening...but that they meet the Savior of the world and the reason for this season, if they haven't.

So...we are finishing up preparations for what is turing out to be a pretty large event. I just tallied a final headcount this morning, and it looks like we'll have around 115 adults and children. Aside from making sure everyone is fed, we'll also have a program consisting of some of our church kids singing, a Nativity craft for all the children while the Christmas story is read and an interactive legend of the Christmas Stocking. The Angels will receive their gifts and a Bible, and their caretakers will receive a gift bag as well. We will be serving 15 families and 28 children.

Once this project is complete, I'll have a lot more time to blog! :-)

Elf Spotting

Thanksgiving in Goliad

This year, we drove down to Goliad, TX for Thanksgiving with Aaron's family. We broke the drive up on the way down...but drove it in one day on the way home. We got to Goliad on Wednesday afternoon. We enjoyed an awesome Thanksgiving day with our wonderful Texas family. We had lunch at the Goliad Club, hosted by Aaron's grandma, Florine. There were probably close to 50 in attendance. It was neat because we got to meet Alec and Emma's twin cousins, Cooper and Collin, for the first time. Their other cousin, Cira, was also there. Alec and Emma are almost 20 mos old. Cira is 14 mos old and Cooper and Collin are 13 mos old. You can see the "Baby Patch" pictures with all 5 of them. Wow! There's something in the water, I guess! Afterward, the kids and I took a nap back at g'ma's house for almost 3 hours. Then we went to Aaron's other g'ma's house (Abuelita) for dinner. We all had an awesome time with all of the family, and definitely ate enough to last us a while.

Friday, Aaron's parents and brothers watched Alec and Emma while we did a little shopping in Victoria. We didn't get up for Black Friday...but we did battle crowds none the less. Also got to meet up with my good friend, Jenny, and G'ma Florine again in Victoria for a little while. We had BBQ at his Aunt Linda's later for dinner...but not until I forced us all to take "Christmas pictures" in front of G'ma Florine's house. You see, G'ma has moved into an assisted living apartment since her several back surgeries, and is planning to put her beautiful and historic old home on the market in the new year. This makes me sad, because it is a gorgeous plantation style Southern house and Aaron's family has made many wonderful memories there. In fact, I think he spent every single Christmas morning there as a child. We would love to buy it and make it our own...but I don't know that there are any IT positions open in Goliad! I wanted to have pictures of us as a family outside the house. The kids were super cranky and in desperate need of a nap by the time we got home from shopping, but we had to do it then because it wouldn't be light out after nap. So, Grandpa took some pictures of us out in front of the house and of the kids walking around the yard. I'm glad we have the memories...even though they didn't really want to cooperate for the family shots. I will post some...but I'm debating on whether to wait until after the Christmas cards go out!

Saturday after breakfast we hit the road. We made a stop in Houston for a few hours to see Tia V, and to try on my dress for the wedding and have it altered, and to have Emma fitted for her custom made dress. I know! What other little girl gets a dress custom made just for them? We hit some traffic heading out of Houston and a little congestion heading up I45 to Dallas...but nothing bad! We left Goliad at 9:15am and got home at 11:15pm. What a day! The kids were troopers. I don't blame them for getting cranky. It stinks being in the car that long. I just try to keep them entertained with books, music, dvds, food and hopefully...naps!

If you are reading this, I hope that you had a super Thanksgiving spent with family and friends. We have so much to be thankful for. We are so blessed!

At the club

With Uncle Alex

The Baby Patch- Alec trying to "sneak" off

Alec with Uncle NuNu (Andrew)

Pooped and parched at the end of a long day

5 Cousins

Emma, Collin, Alec, Cooper, Cira

All of us with Grandma Florine

At the club

My silly Alec

Emma and Uncle Alex

Alec and NuNu

Sleepy babies!

The Beginning

Yesterday, we bought potties at Walmart. Alec has a white and green one, and of course, Emma's is pink. From what I've read on potty training twins, it's advisable to have two potties. So, that's what we did. I'm starting VERY slowly. I don't want to dive into this wholeheartedly just yet because they aren't really ready. They aren't aware of needing to peepee yet. They can tell us if they are pooping or have a poopy diaper...but I don't think they are able to communicate the urges yet. (Sorry if this is freaking out people who don't have to deal with the "output" of others on a daily basis!) Also, we are making three trips to TX between now and the end of February. There is no way I'm going to get serious about this until those trips are out of the way.

But anyway, I thought a good place to start (pre-training, if you will) is just to have the kids follow me to the potty, watch me do my business, and start associating the words we use with what Mommy is doing. This morning, all I had to do was say, "Mommy has to go use the potty," and they followed me right into the bathroom. Right away, Alec pulled up the lid to his potty and sat down (we're just keeping our clothes on and learning that the potty is a place to sit to do our business for now). Emma soon followed suit. I was pretty pleased with pre-training lesson 1. :-)

Elf Yourself Videos

Okay, the two videos below are different. I've been wanting to do this for a while, after seeing versions with some of my friends. This is hilarious and totally entertaining to me. Hopefully, you'll get a good laugh too. Aaron's comment "umm...we all look normal, but Alec is totally white!" I'm pretty sure it's lighting, but he is my pretty pasty boy!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Headpiece Take Two

With flowers all the way around.

Big Shoes to Fill

Self explanatory! :-)

Flower Girls' Headpiece

Last night I worked on a flower girl headpiece for Emma...for Tia V's wedding. I glued the last little rhinestones in place this morning. Here are a few pictures. Reminds me of all of the headpieces and costumes I worked on for WAB...usually this time of year in preparation for Nutcracker. :-)

V~ let me know what you think. I only bought one base headband and made this one. Wanted to get your approval first. If this looks good, I will buy the other headband. I already have enough floral leftover to make the other one.

Hat Hunt for Veronica

Here are some pictures of Alec in his black velvet newsboy cap. Tia V has been dying to find him one for the wedding (the one that came with his suit is ridiculously small). Found this one at the Children's Place for under $4.00. Sweet! Here ya go, Tia...he even "cheesed" for you. :-)

A Little More Cheese, Please!

Hey everyone, I know it's been almost a whole week since I've posted, and I know you're itching for pictures or video or something. I've just had A LOT on my plate lately. This morning I caught a little bit of video of them playing in the foyer. I didn't even prompt them to say "cheese!" They just did it as soon as they saw me bring out the camera. At one point I think Emma says "love you" and then she repeats after me either saying "sorry" or "outside" because I told brother he couldn't go out the front door. Enjoy!

Happy Birthday, Uncle Alex!

Happy Birthday to YOU!
Happy Birthday to YOU!
Happy Birthday, Uncle Alex!
Happy Birthday to YOU!...and many more!!!

We love you, uncle! Have a super day! We can't wait to see you at Thanksgiving!

XOXO,
Alec & Emma

Happy Birthday, G'ma Wanda!!!

Today is G'ma Wanda's birthday! We wish we could be with her to help her celebrate, but we will be heading down to TX soon for the Thanksgiving holiday. We can't wait!!! We love you very much, G'ma and are sending you lots of hugs and kisses!!! Have a super day!

XOXO,
Alec & Emma :-)

Halloween Weekend

For some of you, this post will be disappointing. We didn't dress the kids up this year for Halloween. I know...gasp! Alec and Emma were both feeling puny for most of last week, and I wasn't convinced that they'd even feel well enough to take part in any festivities. So, I held off on buying costumes. But the other thing was that we were only planning on going to the Multiples Club Fall Festival anyway (for maybe an hour or so) because we didn't want to take them to Aaron's work trick or treat (too much exposure to other kid germs- there has been a TON of swine flu up here) when they were already kinda feeling bad AND I don't think they're ready for trick or treating. They just want to run anywhere and everywhere and don't want to be held...so that might have been tough. So, we just went to the Fall Festival because they were feeling okay (no fever...just runny noses) and they looked cute dressed as normal kids. We will do the whole big deal next year when they actually care about it and will remember.

We did have a rather busy weekend, however. Friday night we took some friends out to Monte Ne Chicken- a family style all you can eat fried chicken joint. Saturday we went to the gym and did the Fall Festival thing. Saturday afternoon we played, napped and Mommy cleaned and made some yummy fall food for another couple of friends that came over for dinner (Carmel Apple Pork Chops, Butternut Squash, French bread and Walnut Chocolate Chip cookies). Jess and I worked on organizing Angel Tree for our church. We made out the tree tags and prepared our master list of children to sponsor. That night, Alec was climbing across the couch and as Aaron was pulling him down, Alec managed to kick me HARD with his heel in my left eye. It still feels scratchy and hurts. It folded my contact in half over my eye and broke some blood vessels. I had to try so hard not to cry. Man...that kid has some strong legs.

Sunday, we enjoyed the extra hour that morning. The kids were able to get a nap in before church, which made the morning and afternoon much happier. When we ate at Lin's Garden Chinese buffet afterward, they weren't falling asleep at the table, so that was nice! We were a little annoyed that Lin's charged us for two "under 3" buffets. $2.75 each. They've never charged us before. We paid it though, because I felt like they totally at $2.75 worth of food each.

Sunday afternoon during playtime, both Alec and Emma managed to get a busted lip. Twins...they have to do whatever the other one does! Alec was wearing Daddy's coat and tripped and couldn't catch himself with his arms and face planted into the carpet, but his teeth busted his lip. Then later, Emma fell down in the foyer on the tile and did the same thing. They both bled profusely...looked like they'd lost teeth or something. He drooled blood on the rug and she drooled blood on a couch pillow. It made for a fun afternoon! They're fine though...and it didn't take long for the bleeding to stop and for them to get back to playing. Took longer for Mom to get the blood out of the pillow!

From the hours of 2am to 4:30am, Emma had issues. She woke up fussy, because she'd lost her paci (fell out of the crib on the floor). I gave it back to her and she was fine. Half hour later she was crying harder. I went in and cuddled her for a little while, but she didn't want to go back down. We laid on the couch together for a while, and she was happy until I tried to put her back to bed. Ended up bringing her to our bed, but she tossed, turned and kept sitting up awake. I don't think she felt bad. I changed her even though she wasn't really wet. I think she just had a little case of insomnia and didn't want to be alone. Finally, I did put her back down and let her cry it out. I think we finally all fell asleep around 4:30 or 4:45. Needless to say...I ignored my 5:45 run alarm. I figured she'd sleep late since she missed two plus hours of sleep, but nope, wide awake before 7:30. I'm still recovering, and so is Daddy. Luckily, Alec slept through the whole thing. Twins!

Thankfully, they are napping now. So, when this post is up, I'm going to go do my devotion...if I don't nod off. :-) Hope you all had a Happy Halloween!

Children of the Corn

Happy Autumn!

Freedom!

This is one of my favorites!

Sweet bear! Look at how those eyes sparkle!

Mommy showing them how to be goofy with corn stalks!

"Sweeping" the floor.

Emma pretending to do some manual labor.

Seriously, you want us to sit still for a posed picture?

Just gimme a minute, Dad.

See, I told you I'd get it.

This looks like a good one.

I don't know. It has a few spotty patches.

Today we went to the Right Choices Corn Maze and pumpkin patch in Southwest City, MO. We'd gone twice with our church Young Adult Group, prior to having the twins. Last year, we passed, since they were so young. This year, we thought they'd have a blast running through the maze, and they did! It was a great way for them to run off some energy. We just let them lead the way. We made a few circles, but we did make it out the actual exit...which is pretty good for us.

It turned out to be a gorgeous day today. It was sunny and in the 60s. I was prepared for frigid weather because yesterday was in the 40s. I'm glad it ended up being mild. It was just the picture of fall beauty, and our drive out to the maze was fantastic. All of the trees are in their prime color right now.

At the Manning Farm, the kids also got to see some farm animals (pigs, goats, chickens, cows) and walk through the pumpkin "patch." They really enjoyed exploring, and we got some great pictures and video. Aaron shot this one walking backwards as the kids were walking through the maze. We've watched it about a thousand times already.

I know that I promised pictures from OU/TX weekend, but we couldn't find our camera last weekend. Dave and Kathy took some pictures, and hopefully...they'll send us some so we can share.

Off to Norman We Go!

Today is "take two" of a trip to Norman that we've been planning since the summer. We usually go for Labor Day, but as you may recall, Alec and Emma ended up with hand, foot and mouth viral infections, and so we stayed home. A very good call. But we decided to try to reschedule for OU/TX weekend. It shouldn't be super out of control in Norman, since the game is in Dallas, and all of the super hard core people will be there.

Our best friends/family aren't going to Dallas...so we are looking forward to hanging out with them. The Lees (Dave and Kathy, Josh, Claire and Nora, and Kyle) are our "Norman family." They were our surrogate family while we were in college, since both Aaron's and my parents lived in Victoria, 8 hours away. I met Josh in Music Appreciation first semester of freshman year...before Aaron had transferred from Victoria College. (He stayed in V-town a semester to get some classes out of the way on the cheap, and also to work 3 jobs to save up more money so that he could afford to move up to Norman with me.) Let's face it...out of state tuition bites! And he's the one that made it out with zero debt... Thanks to a fund that his g'parents had set up and his indomitable work ethic!!! But anyways, back to my story.

So, Joshy and I hit it off rather quickly because he reminded me a lot of Aaron (I know that sounds wierd...but don't read anything into it.) He was a guitar player and loved all the same kind of music. We would converse about Stevie Ray Vaughan and Counting Crows, and I would tell him about how as soon as Aaron transferred up, they were going to be great friends. Aaron did transfer up in January, and Aaron, Charlotte (my roommate, and the other friend we'll be seeing this weekend because she's back at OU for her graduate degree) and I were basically adopted by Josh's family. We love them all dearly, and are looking forward to a really fun weekend. We'll post pics when we get back!

Freedom

Last week, we reached a new milestone. I can't remember which day it was exactly, but both Alec and Emma have known for a while how to escape from their barricaded living room play area. I think they've just humored me by staying inside. But finally, last week, they decided that they were through with the charade. Alec escaped by lifting up the old octagon, which is now a glorified toy box, and just walking right past the ottoman on stilts. Emma dragged the toy lawnmower up to the ottoman and used it as a boost to climb up over the top. The rather funny thing was that Alec, as he was escaping, turned around to look straight at me, as if to say "Mom...it's time. We're done with this." And just like that, they were free.

For a few days, they pretty much had their run of the main living areas. I close and lock the bedroom doors to keep them out of there, since opening doors poses no problem for them. They were fine in the kitchen, for a little while...until they started going after the plants, the dog food/bowls, and all of the stuff in the cabinets. I have cabinet babyproofer thingies that we still haven't installed, because we never let them in the kitchen to play...until last week. But the new setup is that we put a gate in the doorway from the formal dining room to the kitchen. So...Alec and Emma have the whole west side of the house to themselves, and Cookie gets the kitchen and our bedroom. This is a doable situation, for both the kids and the dog and Mom. The only thing that poses a big pain in the rear is the fact that we have an exposed wall with a huge leaky gaping hole in our dining room. The root of the leak still has yet to be found, and we can't fix the wall until we fix the leak...so now the dining table and chairs are barricading the demo site. Ugh. I almost want to put an ad in the paper. "Hefty reward to anyone who can find our leak...after wall remains dry for a full year."

In other news, I recently joined the NW Arkansas Mothers of Multiples Club (NWAMOMC). They hosted a huge consignment sale this weekend. I didn't get to go check it out until Saturday (the last day of the sale) but that was great because everything was 1/2 off. So...I hit a super jackpot of clothes for Alec and Emma for super cheap. I got the most adorable Christmas dress for Emma, and tons of Fall/Winter items for both kids. I was stoked! I know lots of mothers who either cringe at the thought or refuse to buy second hand for their children. Well, I'm not that mother. When you have kids and see how very little they actually wear their clothes because they grow so darn fast, you come to realize that it's really okay. Plus, it's ridiculous to pay full price for something that your kid is only going to wear a few times. And the things that I've bought through consignment or had given to me by friends have always been in super condition. I fully plan on actually being a consignor at the Spring sale that the club hosts. Most of the other moms made several hundred dollars, and the club as a whole made over $8500 on the sale in three days!

18 Months Old

Wow! On Sunday, my "babies" turned 18 months old. I guess they are officially at the toddler stage now. I can't believe that it's been a year and a half since they were born. The time certainly flies.

We had kind of a lazy Saturday. I went to Zumba class in the morning and then got groceries while the kids napped and Daddy played PS3. Then we all had lunch and went to Sam's. We found a counter height table that we love for the breakfast nook...but it looked like they were out...except for the display. We'll have to go back anyways because it won't fit in the Pilot unless we take out the car seats and lay both back seats down. Later that evening we watched OU bring it and then lose it to Miami. Why do they do that to us??? Why??? At least Arkansas beat Texas A & M. That gave me a little bit of consolation.

Sunday, we went to church, of course. It was "a lazy Sunday" because neither Aaron or myself were scheduled for worship team, and we didn't have to teach Kids' Church either. So, we got to take it easy. We were scheduled to have an all church excursion to a corn maze in SW Missouri at 3:30...but the weather was cold and rainy, and so it was cancelled. I think they're going to reschedule for 2 weeks later...but we'll be in Norman visiting friends for OU/TX weekend. OU: you have 2 weeks to work your butts off in practice so you can take your "A game" to Dallas. Don't disappoint me!

We spent the rest of the afternoon just being cozy indoors. I did some housework and Daddy played with the kiddos. We watched the Cowboys play, and again, were disappointed!

But back to the reason for this post. My babies will be TWO in 6 months, and that is unbelievable. They are growing and I can't do anything to stop them. I guess I just have to try to soak in as much babiness as I can, while I can!

10 Stack

Here is a picture of the awesome 10-high stack of blocks that Emma made yesterday. Alec makes them quite often too. In fact, I counted an 11-high a few days ago. It just always seems like the towers get demolished before I can get the camera. Both of the kids are pretty coordinated.

Emma actually escaped "the pen" today. I'm pretty sure she flipped over a box and climbed on top of it to scale the ottoman and get out. She came parading into the kitchen with a big huge smile on her face. Then she wasn't too happy when I put her back in the living room. But I stayed around to have a dance party with them, and all was well. I had honesly only gone into the kitchen for a moment. They're smart kids. I won't be able to keep them contained forever. But as long as I can convince them that they can't get out of the living room...I will. :-)

This afternoon I had to take Emma to the ped. She has had two blister-like sores in her diaper area for about 5 or 6 days now. I've tried zinc oxide and Neosporin. Nothing has cleared it up. It's getting worse and spreading. I was concerned that it might be staph and that's what the doc thinks it is. I'm still trying to decompress from the visit because the appt. was at 2:40pm and the doc didn't enter the exam room until around 3:20-25ish. Usually, Aaron and I always take the kids to the doc together, or one of us will stay home with the well child. One on one is the best possible scenario. But today that wasn't an option. He had a full day of meetings, and tomorrow wasn't looking good either. I wanted to nip this in the bud, so I sucked it up and took them.

We take them in in the stroller when we have to go solo. The trick is to get them to be entertained in the stroller. I can't handle running after two toddlers in the waiting room. Then, when we were waiting in the exam room for what felt like an eternity...I finally let them out to walk around. It was okay...better than screaming to get out of the stroller (and screaming because as soon as they saw the room they thought they were going to get shots). But after 20 mins of trying to block the door, the cabinet doors, the computer, the sharp corners of the bar top, and the electrical chord to the ear light thingy, I thought I was going to go ape. I finally put Alec back in the stroller (the lesser of two screamers), and let Emma stay out because she'd have to be examined anyway.

Finally, the doc came in and spent 2 minutes checking her out. We got an Rx for a strong topical antibiotic and were told that if that didn't work, we'd need to get an oral one. That sounded great, until I got the bill for the stuff at the drug store. $78!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And that's with insurance covering part of it. All I have to say is, Emma is totally worth it, and staph is not something we mess with around here. We have a healthy fear of that stuff...but dang, it's like I'm rubbing gold on her bottom! So, that was our afternoon. They're napping now, and I need to go start dinner. I'm done venting. :-)

TREES!

The retaining wall my sweet husband built. I need to pull some weeds...

but you can see the Snow Fountain on the end.

Red Dynamite Crepe Myrtle

A view of the west side of the front yard. You can see the new maple tree in the foreground.

Autumn Fantasy Maple

Japanese Red Blood Maple-

planning to do a new garden back here with bushes and flowers, maybe some bulbs too.

The Japanese Maple from the porch.