Mother of the Year? Maybe next year...

Well, I don't think I will be awarded Mother of the Year anytime soon. Working from home, I can get pretty focused on my work. That's not a good thing when Gracie is being mischievous. The other day, she was being very quiet. I enjoy that, but that is actually not a good thing. The only time she is quiet is when she is into things she shouldn't be. I looked out of the corner of my eye, & there was Gracie, climbing the stairs -- with SCISSORS in her hand!!! She turned, smiled at me & said, "hi".

Then on the same day, she got into the cabinets in the kitchen. Why is Walmart ALWAYS out of the cabinet locks when I try to purchase them??? Gracie came walking over to me and generously offered me a can of Raid ant spray. Gotta love her, even though she's trying to kill me with heart failure!

Our family finally joined the world of Wii users! We now have a Wii & a Wii fit. It is the most fun we have had in so long. We play it together every evening & it helps us get active as well as laugh & enjoy the time together. Doesn't that sound silly? It may, but it has brought us together every day for a fun time. I highly recommend the Wii fit! It is definitely a wonderful & fun thing to do!!! Ronnie amazes me with how good he is at the yoga exercises. That is the part that I am the worst at.

Mom & Dad took a ton of pictures of the kiddos, & I wanted to share. Thanks to Mom, Dad, & Sarah for the pictures on this blog...

A Day at the Park

We spent the day with Grandma & Grandpa & Aunt Sarah 2 weeks ago and had fun at the park & water park. I'm a little behind on posting! I have said this before, but Gracie is so much fun to watch when I am not constantly telling her no. I love to watch her little eyes explore things & take off running to get into mischief. Tonight Ronnie & Gracie were playing together very well & she likes to snuggle brother & tickle him. He can antagonize her at times, but she certainly defends herself & often instigates trouble by hitting him in the face. We are trying to teach her not to hit, but she really enjoys pushing the envelope! I have lots of pictures to post & will try to start blogging more frequently. Enjoy the pictures!

I love this picture of Ronnie pushing his sister in the swing!

I should have been a doctor!

I just got a call from the Prime Time Urgent Care Center. Ronnie does have strep even though the original test was negative. They sent his test out to a lab & the results came back positive. Poor guy. He's in the moaning phase of his sickness. He slept on the bottom bed of his bunk bed tonight because he couldn't climb up the ladder. He's pitiful. Pray this goes quick. Gracie has screamed ALL day. I'm trying to hard to remember that she's sick, but she cannot be consoled. If I'm holding her, she wants down. When I put her down, she flails on the floor & screams. The only thing I can do is walk around with her. It's so tiring & I'm totally exhausted. She usually sleeps well at night, but she it's 9:30pm & she has already been awake once. Not a good sign...

I had family in last week & we were on the go the entire week. So, I'm glad to be getting back to normal so we can all rest & get better. Onto to cheerier subjects, I want to put in some pictures of our activities with my cousin & her daughters...

Ronnie at an Indians baseball game!

Cousin Kim (middle) and her girls Kayla (left) & Yvonne (right)

Gracie smiling for LeeAnn

Grandma & Ronnie looking into the sun!

Cousin Kim trying to get Gracie to go to sleep

Off to School & Strep Throat???

Ronnie has had his first week of kindergarten. He was extremely nervous because there would be "big" kids around. Turns out he made 5 new friends on his first day & 6 on the 2nd day. Quite the social butterfly, I must say. He seems to like it, but isn't overly eager to go each day & really looks forward to the weekend. I hope he starts to enjoy it soon. When the bus driver came to his stop, I was standing there patiently, waiting for my little bugger to get off the bus. After 3 kids got off, the bus started to pull away. Then the bus driver stopped again & motioned me to come up to the bus. He asked me, "Are any of these yours?" He was pointing to 3 little boys in the front seat. I quickly claimed Ronnie & off the bus he came. It was comical.

Friday night at 1:30 am Gracie woke up with a fever. I gave her some Tylenol & she seemed okay. At 4:30 in the morning, she woke up screaming. She felt extremely hot & I went to get her some juice & put her in bed with me. She began shaking uncontrollably & then when she would stop, she would scream as if she was afraid. This went on multiple times and really freaked me out. I took her to the ER & was told she had an ear infection & strep throat & probably suffered febrile seizures which are caused by a really high fever. It was probably one of the most frightening experiences I have ever been through. She was so helpless and sick. So, poor little Gracie is having her first illness. Ronnie woke up with the same symptoms (no seizures thankfully). I took him to the urgent care center & he tested negative for strep, but they told me that the test is often negative until 48-72 hours after symptoms begin. I never wait that long because he has had strep more times than I can count, so I usually know right away if he is getting strep. Fortunately, they think it's strep anyway & gave me some medicine for him too. I guess this is another fun part of having 2 children. I have their medicine labeled in the fridge so I can make sure not to mix them up! :) Pray for a quick recovery so I don't strangle myself due to sleep deprivation and anxiety.

Ronnie picked his Big Brother shirt for day 1 of school.

Off to school
Off the bus!Brother & Sister with Strep Throat

Kindergarten Bound

Ronnie starts school in less than a week! I still cannot believe he will be in kindergarten. He's not very excited about it & is nervous because there are "big" kids in the same school. We registered yesterday & we will get to meet his teacher on Monday. I bought his school supplies & back to school clothes (superhero t-shirts were a must!).





I took him to the dentist yesterday. The dentist told me that because he had a high fever as a baby & was on antibiotics for extensive amounts of time, his teeth are graying & causing decay. He said it couldn't be prevented with good brushing. Poor kid. He suffered through so many sicknesses & now his poor teeth have to be sealed & he has to go under gas & everything. I just felt so sorry for him, but he was brave & didn't seem to mind visiting the dentist.





Gracie is starting to talk. She picks up the phone (my old cell phone) & whispers, "Hi". She gives me a big toothy grin when she is on the phone. She's such a girly girl already! She's starting to eat better now & is finally taking a sippy cup, but she still totally prefers the bottle. Any advice on how I can get rid of the bottle would be greatly appreciated! I haven't downloaded pictures in awhile & I'm having problems getting them to load today. I'll try to upload some soon...