Wonder Woman

I don't mean to butt in here, in front of Christa's excellent post about our recent escapades, but I wanted to take a moment on this Valentine's Day and tell her thanks for all she does, 'cause she does a lot. Depending on how much you know about our lives right now, you may or may not know that I'm gone a lot...this is...uh...I forgot what codename she uses for me on here...Hubby! Yep, it's me. What with school, work stuff, church callings, and my recreational activities...which she refers to lovingly as an 'addiction' or at best an obsession. And with 2 growing girls at home she has a lot to do. And I know I don't tell her often enough how much she means to me, and how much I really do appreciate what she does. So, thank you...um...codename....I'll just call her Pretty Eyes. Thank you Pretty Eyes for being you. For being Banana's best friend, and M's sweetheart. Thank you for late night feedings, and all the bedtime stories and sing-a-longs. Thank you for nightly meals and clean clothes. Thank you for a living room that's clean and free of toys...oh wait it's dirty again already, no wait she's got it clean again. Oops more toys...no it's clean! Well you get the idea. Thank you for evening prayers, and meal time blessings. Thank you for a family that's on time for church each Sunday. Thank you for time to run, and play bball, and lift, and bike, and swim, and canoe, and compete in race after race... Thank you for giving me a reason to get up and do my best each morning. Thank you for 2 beautiful girls who I hope each day grow up to be Moms like you...and I can see it in Banana already. Thank for giving me a best friend, and Eternal Companion. Thank you for smiling through it all. Thank you Pretty Eyes. I love you so much, and I promise to do so much more each day to make sure you always know that. Siempre, tu Amor.

Too Much Of A Good Thing?

It seems like we have had non-stop festivities going on at our house. The past week has been packed with lots of presents, lots of treats, and a lot of spoiling. Banana's birthday was great, and I couldn't have asked for it to go any better. I was kind of ok really emotional for a lot of the day. Three years old just seems like such a giant leap. Suddenly she's doing little girl things (like being so caring with her sister, playing pretend a ton, giving me more attitude...). I enjoy almost all of it. It's hard not to laugh at her when she gets sassy with me. She's so dang cute when she does it. I need to start writing down the hilarious things she says more often. My favorite at the moment is when she informs me that she's "confused about this mommy." She usually tells me this when I have asked her to clean or eat or do something to help me before she starts playing. Way to play the dumb blonde card already :)

Anyhow...by the time her birthday party hit last night I could tell that she was pretty burnt out. She had a lot of fun, but didn't get into everything as much as I thought she would. It's nice to just be able to relax now and not stress about parties, and making sure everything is perfect for her.

We got her this copier that we thought would be incredible. It's not. We're taking it back. So much for the perfect gift...

She was excited about her chocolate chip birthday pancakes. Grandma W. made them for her over Christmas and they have become a staple in our house.

Of course she requested Maggie Moo's for lunch. How can we turn down a request for ice cream? We got ours just in time, because the power went out right after we ordered. She was not impressed with that. But LOVED her sprinkle ice cream.


Just like when they sang to her at Red Robin she got embarassed when everyone sang to her at her party. Poor girl takes after me.
Banana and her favorite friends (minus a few). She loves these guys!

This is the only bite she took of her cupcake. She just licked the frosting off the rest of it. Did I mention she's a frosting junkie. Gets it from her Grandpa T.

Thank you to EVERYONE who made it such an awesome birthday for her. Especially Grandma T. We have LOVED having her here and are so sad to have her leave in a few days.
Have a very happy Valentines Day!

My Banana

Happy Birthday My Sweet Girl. I love you!

We love Grandparents!

We love having visitors! We really really love having Grandparents come! Hubby's parents and littlest sister came for a visit last weekend and it was tons of fun. Banana kept them busy the whole time. We attempted to go to Chuck E. Cheese for her birthday party...but we pulled up on Saturday afternoon, saw a line out the door and left in a hurry. There was no way I was waiting in line for an hour just to go inside and try and have fun with 5 million kids running around. Lucky for us Banana saw all of the people there and instantly decided she didn't want to go, she wanted to go to Red Robin. There was no arguing with that request. She opened some presents from her grandparents and aunt, and one from us. We weren't surprised one bit that she loved the ones from her grandparents a lot more than the one from us...

She is on a serious Barbie kick right now, and Diamond Castle is her favorite movie. This particular barbie sings the songs from the movie...here's to hoping the batteries wear out sooner rather than later :)
And her "lady in pink" computer they got for her. It is pretty cool. She can't put either of these toys down. Thanks Grandpa and Grandma!

Not so patiently waiting for her mac 'n cheese...
Finally food!
Miss Em enjoyed her oh so nutrtitous lunch of fries.
We thought it would be a great idea to have the waiters come to sing to her for her bday...This is what she did the whole time. She wouldn't even look at them she was so embarassed. But she did enjoy the sundae!


After lunch we headed to Galena where they are staying so we could swim and hang out. It is GORGEOUS. I can't wait to go back in the summertime.
Grandpa and Aunt K left on Monday but Grandma is staying until this coming Monday!! We are SUPER excited. It has been so nice to have my MIL here. She is an awesome lady! She's helping with my first sewing project and I am proud to say that I now know how to work my machine :)
Banana's bday is tomorrow, so I'm sure you'll hear from me again soon.


Em and Grandma


Playing with Aunt K.
I made these cute crayon necklaces with the girls. It was so fun, and so easy!
The valentines cards she made for dad and Grandma. She's only a little excited about it...

Five Awesome Years!

I just wanted to say Happy Anniversary to my awesome hubby. I am so lucky to be married to him. I have loved every day of the last five years and look forward to so many more! I Love You!


And these are the gorgeous flowers he surprised me with!



We are getting over the sickies still at our house. Em is doing much better. No more fever, and all signs of her uti are gone. She has a bad cold now, but I'll take that any day over a fever. I hope all of my friends are surviving this crazy week...the sickness seems to be everywhere. Hang in there!

So...

I think I lost my sanity sometime between three and four a.m. last night. If you happen to find it let me know!
It's been a crazy week. Em started getting a fever on Sunday and we assumed it was because she was teething...It kept getting higher and higher on Monday, and that night it got up to almost 105. To say I was freaking out is an understatement. I'm super grateful for Hubby and his calming influence, and his knowledge about medical things. We gave her a blessing and soon after she fell asleep. The next day her temp kept rising, then falling , so I called the doctor. She told us to keep an eye on it for another day so we just let it run its course because a fever isn't necessarily a bad thing. Once again that night it spiked up super high and I was ready to head to the ER. But she fell asleep pretty quickly so I thought it was better to let her get her rest. Tuesday...was not a good day. Her fever was still there and not dropping. In the early afternoon Hubby was changing her diaper and noticed some not so normal stuff going on. We called the Dr and he got her in right away. After a not so pleasant visit that involved her having to get a catheter, and me crying hysterically they told us to sit and wait a day or two for the results. They called this afternoon and it's a uti. And ear infection. Fun stuff! It's so heartbreaking to see her hurting. She's going to see her chiropractor tomorrow and I am so grateful for that. And even more grateful for a husband who has learned so much in his schooling. It has blessed our lives so much already.
I'm trying to get our house in order for my in-laws to get here on Friday!! We're so excited. They will be here to celebrate Banana's third birthday!! I promise some fun pics soon!
Hannah's bday invite, and our fun calendar for February I digiscrapped.

Fly Like An Eagle

I love the weekends. Even though I don't get to sleep in anymore, I still enjoy not having to worry about anything, and just being able to take it easy. We had a lot of fun this weekend doing some neat things with the girls. We spent a lot of time outside because it was so NICE. I couldn't believe it when we walked outside and it was almost 40 degrees. It felt like summer time. I found this cute idea in one of my parenting magazines to paint the snow. You just fill up some squirt bottles with water and food coloring and go paint! Banana had a blast. Actually we all did. Miss Em loved hanging out eating snow, and the rest of us went crazy with the paint. I'm sure it's something we'll do several more times over the next few months.
On Friday night we went and watched our friend/Banana's boyfriend Randy play in a hockey game. He plays for Palmer and it was exciting to go to a hockey game. We haven't been to one since we were first married and I forgot how fun they were. Our friends the Walls joined us and a great time was had by all. Our friend Kyle offered to come and sit with the kids later that night so we could go out on a date. So sweet of him! We went with the Walls to Granite City for some dessert and it was so yummy!! They are great friends and HILARIOUS people.


We also went down by to the river to watch the eagles. It was Banana's favorite thing to do last year and we weren't disappointed. We saw quite a few in the trees and even a couple flying around. I wasn't quick enough to catch any pictures of the eagles so I took some cute ones of the girls.


We're working all morning and then we're off to church and a fun supebowl party!! I can't wait for all of the delicious food and to spend time with awesome friends!! Have a very happy Sunday!