Balance....

These kids are so silly. Abby started doing this balancing act on her own in the toy room. Then 2 minutes later Maddy comes into the kitchen holding the books and repeatedly asking me to put the cup on her head. She LOVES imitating her big sister.

Happy Mothers Day!!!

Happy Mother's Day to me! 

Mike got me this cute "flirty" apron and sent it while he's been away!

Abby of course had to be the first to try it on and pose. I think it will be a bit more flirty on me!

Self-portrait we took for daddy this morning! Best I could do with one hand to get all three of us in the shot.

 We spent a wonderful day at the beach, the weather was near 80 and breezy. As you can see, Maddy even passed out at the end. We were there 4.5 hours and the kids played and played! We met friends there, so they all played together nicely in the sand & water.

HAIRCUT for raggedy Maddy!!!

This little girl was in dire need of a haircut! And like her sister, did not appreciate battling me with a brush everyday! So.....off to the hair salon we went this morning for her 1st Haircut!!

She was a GREAT patient little girl and stayed very still. The results are FANTASTIC!!!!

No more tangled hair for these girls this summer. 

Daddy is the only one sad to see the long locks go.......but that's because he is never on hair duty!!

Oh well, it can always grow back. I think she looks great, and kind of like her big sis!

(And I saved some locks for her baby book!)

 Ta-dah!!!!! Clean cut, beautiful little 2-1/2 year old girl!!!!

Mothers Day Luncheon

Abby's class had a special Mother's Day Luncheon at their school today!

So I brought us lunch and we sat to eat with the other moms/kids!

Then I got my gift!! A cute bag full of fun "Abby" things.

1. A cute paper teapot that reads:

"I'll try my best in everyway

To make sure you have 

A Happy Mother's Day.

But sometimes when you 

Get frustrated with me

Relax and have a 

Cup of tea"

 

And inside the teapot is a bag of tea to make!!! She asked to share it with me because she 'loves tea'....

 

2. A cute bound book of "Totally Terrific Me" where they asked the kids questions and wrote down the answers for them! She says she likes to eat pizza & meatballs. Favorite colors are yellow, red & blue. When she grows up she wants to be "a mom"!!!! Awwwwww

 

3. And I got a cute hand painted (by Abby) potted plant to keep! 

 

Oh the memories. She really loved our special time together.  

Sisters Sharing

Per Abby's request I made them pancakes for breakfast the other night! We do it every now and again for fun!!

And as usual, they fought over who got to mix the batter. Well they finally started taking turns, and it turned into a 5 second stir each where the whisk barely even met the bowl, then they would pass it back and forth saying "Here sis....." and "Thanks sis".....OVER AND OVER. Finally I had to tear it away from them to actually MAKE the pancakes! 

This kid.....

This kid is one odd duck!! We take a day to go to the botanical gardens with a bunch of friends.....she doesn't go near any water fun, except she finds a warm puddle......and sits in it for a while!

 

My LOVE BUG!

We love this little girl!

(Thanks to Pics By 2Chicks Photography for the great photo)

"I see you too"

Maddy is ALL about talking now. She still whines here and there, but it is getting to be less and less as her vocabulary grows! Seriously just in the last 2 week's that Mike has been gone, her span of words and phrases has SKYROCKETED!! 
Her favorite thing to say when she's pointing a flashlight at you...."I see you". Here's a short video (yes I know its sideways.....I always forget :))



Some of Maddy's new words/phrases that she says voluntarily everyday now:
*Airplane 
*Blue water (referencing the pool)
*Waffle, Cereal, Orange Juice, Muffin
*Rocketship
*I do peepee on 'da potty
*I take a bath
*Lets go mom
*Love you mom
*Thank you sis, Thank you mom
*Hi guys
*And an even bigger surprise, she now says hi to all her friends she sees. So when we go to a friends house, she says "Hi Jack, Hi Grace, Hi Casey"! She NEVER did that before and now its all the time!
*And tonight reading a Dora Explorer book, she named all of Dora's friends: Tico (squirrell), Benny (bull), Isa (Iguana). Never done that before either.......
*And I've caught her lately counting in order from 3 to 10.......not on que, but its happened repeatedly.

Each day brings something new!


 

Big Girl Skin Tests

Look who got a hair cut!!!! 

I gave in (to her requests and my frustration with battling her knotty hair EVERY day) and we cut her hair short again!! I forgot how cute and put together she looks with it short. LOVE IT!

 Today we had our second visit to the asthma/allergy doctor (last month was to do breathing tests to figure out the problem with her persistent coughing due to activity; SOLVED for the meantime with some basic preventative oral meds) Not a single cough in a month.....fingers crossed it lasts!!

Then we returned today to do skin testing for environmental allergies as well as to confirm/eliminate her allergy to penicillin.

 I had to prep her arms (both sections on each arm, top and bottom) this morning with numbing cream and wrap them in cellophane two hours before the dr's visit. This was to minimize the pain from the scratch/needle tests.

Here is an example of what her arms looked like post-scratches. There were 60 scratches (30 on each forearm)

Then on the bicep area, she had needle punctures where they deposited a small bubble of other items to test for, including the penicillin.

Everything came back normal (THANK GOODNESS!!!!) And even the Penicillin came back fine......HOORAY for that. He even gave her an oral dose of Penicillin just to double check, but said if the skin test is negative, that proves 98% of the time to be accurate. Hopefully we are in the clear and can use "real" meds next time she has an ear infection.

She was a CHAMP through it all, and only cried during the needle parts, because a little blood came out of each poke afterwards, so I think it was more mental anguish from seeing it, then true pain.

Glad that's behind us......

Maddy-Mommy time!

 

Its not often that I get one on one time with Maddy getting my full attention, so its nice to capture the memories!! Week before last we had our playgroup at the local petting zoo farm and she sat on a pony for a brief moment (before crying her eyes out after I ripped her off the little guy because her mean mommy didn't pay for the pony ride....we had to leave to go get big sis!) Bonus!! My friend Janel was there to take photos so I'm finally in one!!

 And this week while Abby was at school one day, we met some friends at the beach!

Gorgeous weather and a great visit to our favorite spot. She wanted to be all wrapped up in her new bunny hooded towel!

Girls Just having FUN!

 The girls and I have been busy keeping busy while Mike's been away......2 more weeks to go!!

And nearly everyday Abby requests I take pictures of her to send to him.....here was her photo from yesterday! And then Maddy at the park swinging/smiling! I asked her at the park if she was my little monkey and she said "Uh huh"! LOVE being able to communicate with this little girl finally!

Water Fun!

I was watching my friend's daughter Akenna today, and after naps they had some good 'ol hose fun!

Abby loved doing the squirting and Akenna loved getting soaked!! Good combo!

Love this shot!

Just a TUTU in the sandbox!

Cool in Shades

Obsessed with eye wear!! And protected too!!

She barely fits!

She is getting BIG! The Dora couch is nearly outgrown!!

Duck!

 I was watching my friends' kids last week and the ducks came by for a swim.

They loved watching the duck peck its butt......any reason for some 2 and 4 year old's to say "butt"!!

Trix are for silly kids!

Arrrrrrrggggg!!!!

Okay so I apologize in advance for the crappy photo, but this is all a drunk friend could provide at the end of our fun outing last night!!! Note to self.....take photos early when people are sober!!

At least we sort of captured the moment....you get the idea!

Anyhow we attended a pirate themed Strike Group event last night and we knew in advance that most people were serious about dressing up. The Admiral and his wife were totally decked out in pirate attire, and he highly resembled Johnny Depp! Long dreadlocks, open chested ruffled shirt and all!

So we did our best to dress ourselves. I sported a pirate hat (borrowed from a friend's son) and Mike got a last minute pirate scull wrap and eye patch from a party store! So it worked!!

Another great night out!!

Beachin' It! Start of Summer 2012

It was officially beach weather last weekend! So we headed to our favorite spot to let the kids dig and play in the sand. Next time we go we will for sure be in swimsuits!

I was not the only one with this idea, as the beach was pretty busy! The water was FREEZING but there were a good handful of kids playing in it!

 I should come up with a nickname for Mike's new work Blackberry.....because it comes with us EVERYWHERE now too! So you can do work at the beach...who knew :)

My Beauties!!

Okay, so I am one VERY VERY lucky friend. 

I have the most talented friends (Danielle & Janel) who have an eye for photography and love using my kids as test subjects! They finally started their own business......"Pics by 2Chicks Photography" so I guess now I have to fork over the cash for their awesome services.......but its well worth it!

They used the girls to practice on at the park near our house yesterday for an upcoming Spring photo session they are doing next month.

Obviously the results are PRICELESS! Now to decide which to frame/enlarge first????? 

 These two are my favorites of Abby! My hands forming a heart around her and then her leaning on the chair below..... Just perfect!

 Maddy kept wanting to steal the spotlight during Abby's turn, so we prompted them to kiss....it worked!

 

 Maddy has matured so much since our family photo shoot last August....she was hamming it up in front of the camera yesterday! The pigtails were an added piece of character for her!