photobombed!

So 2 Fridays ago we left the girls for the first time ever overnight w/ nona so we could have a date.  I haven't gotten dressed up in I don't know how long.  I bought a new dress and was wearing my cute hot pink sandals I never get to wear b/c they are highly uncomfortable.  So I wanted a picture.  I tried, with a timer, but this is literally the "best" I could do :)

recovering

Baby sister seems to be recovering so well!  She was back to normal as soon as we got home after her surgery.  The only time she freaks out is when we have to change her bandage.  And when I say freak out, I mean FREAK OUT full blown meltdown like we've never seen before.  I guess she was traumatized when she went into surgery :(  She starts crying as soon as she sees me cutting up the strips I have to put on her face :(  It takes daddy and I both holding her down to be able to do it.

Today I had to put her earrings back on.  I had to remove them for surgery, no metals allowed.  But I've been putting off putting them back on b/c it's not her favorite thing and I didn't want to upset her.  Today I decided to put them back on before the holes closed up.  It took about 10 minutes, she had a horrilbe meltdown.  It was awful!  Again, both daddy and I had to hold her down.  That's when we realized that they must have had to hold her down before putting her under when she went into surgery.   breaks my heart :(  In a way I'm glad I wasn't there to see that.  But in another way, I wish I could've held her until she went under... Thankfully and hopefully she won't remember any of this soon!!!!

Post op update

This morning baby sister had her surgery.  We woke up early and headed to the hospital.  We waited in the waiting room for about 30 min or so.  I was so worried b/c her surgery was scheduled for 9:45 and that meant a starving child for 2+ hours.  But she did great.  After checking in and changing into her gown, getting her stats, filling out paperwork, we headed back into waiting room.  Daddy did a great job entertaining her.  

At 9 am we were called back, I held her as we walked and then I realized that's where we'd hand her over.  I held the tears.  We went into a room with a portable crib.  We hung out, more talking to nurses, met with the doctor, more questions, met with the anesthesiologist, more talking...  The whole time she snuggled up to me, like she always does when she's scared, head buried on my chest.  As time progressed so did my anxiety.  2 very sweet nurses came in to take her.  They talked to her, made her laugh.  We then had to choose wether or not to sedate her before going into the OR.  After being told her recovery would be harder if she were sedated, we decided against it.  Which meant she'd be fully awake when taken from my arms into the OR.  It was SO hard, but I knew it was best for her.  As they prepared to take her, I sat her on the crib.  I was nervous that she and I were both going to start crying.  Thankfully she was excited about riding in the bed with wheels, so she never cried.  We stood and watched her as they took her.  She did a great job, didn't cry.  I held it together.  Watching her being wheeled off felt like my heart left my body. :(  I have no idea if she cried once in there, honestly I don't want to know. 

After leaving her, the surgery would take 30 minutes.  There's a CFA downstairs in the hospital, so hubby and I went to grab some breakfast.  I was trying hard not to have a breakdown.  When this woman w/ 2 small kids stopped us and asked if we could please feed her kids for her b/c she didn't have any money.  So we took them to CFA with us.  Talking to them was a nice distraction.  Once we sat down to eat (the family didn't sit with us) I told hubby he needed to distract me b/c I was about to lose it.  My phone rang, I had a text.  It was nona sending me a picture of my oldest helping her plant a tomato plant.  Perfect timing!  

After about 20 min we headed back upstairs.  The doctor came to talk to us, everything went great.. After about 10 minutes a nurse came and got us.  This part I hated b/c I wanted to be there when she woke up, but they don't allow it.  We were taken to the back where she was sitting w/ 2 nurses.  She of course was having a meltdown.  I held her and cuddled her.  She had moments of calm and moments of hysterics.  After about 45 minutes or so, we were on our way home.  She was finally herself once we were outside.  Poor baby was just over all the strangers touching her!

We came home and had a popsicle. :)  She did SO good today I am so proud of her!  She has 1 big stitch and several steri strips on her chin.  The doctor expects us to keep it all there till next thursday.  Ha!  She's already taken out every single steri strip.  Thankfully the stitch is still there.  I've already changed her steri strips 2x today.  It'll be a fun week. lol 

All in all, we are so thankful it's over.  Thankful everything went so well.  We had a lot of people praying for us and we definitely felt it!  From a calm hungry baby to an uneventful surgery, it was all because of God!  

Tomorrow

I sit here, catching up on some shows and thinking about tomorrow.  We dropped off big sis with nona earlier tonight, she's spending the night.  It's SO hard to be home w/ out her.  We spoke on the phone and she sounded so grown up all of a sudden.  She was cracking me up on the phone.  I miss her so much!

Tomorrow we wake up early to take baby sister for her surgery.  We are praying that #1 everything goes well and she can have her surgery and #2 that everything goes well with her surgery.  I'm dreading the fact that she has to go through this, but so looking forward to finally having that thing off her face.  The dermatologist said it was a cyst, but the plastic surgeon and pediatrician don't agree w/ that.  So hopefully we'll find out what it is once it's removed.

I love my girls and am so thankful I'm their mom.  I am blessed for sure!!! I will be so happy once tomorrow is over and I have them both in my arms again!  

Tuesday Adventure

Our Tuesday started out normal, in the morning the girls had a doctor's appt and we were home around 11.  We sat in the living room together and I heard it.  Crying.  I knew that it was the sound of kittens.  So I went outside and found 4 little kittens hidden under the bushes, scared and hungry.  I got a bowl of milk for them and of course my daughter HAD to see them so I took her to see them, then we came inside.  For the rest of the day we could hear their cries.  By about 5 or so I decided to put them in a box with some blankets so they could warm up.  Hubby got home around 6 with a bottle and a dropper so we could try to feed them.  I wrapped them each in a blanket to feed them w/ a dropper.  They kind of ate, but none of them were overly interested.  They were more scared then hungry.  The girls of course were in love instantly. lol

By nighttime we had no idea what to do w/ them.  They were cold and lonely.  We decided to put them in the garage to keep warm.  They were crying and nothing was calming them down.  I finally picked them all up (all 4) and held them all on my chest, and rocked them :)  They were their calmest at that point.  Oh so sweet!  They licked me and purred.  It was the sweetest moment for me w/ them.  I fell in love.  But we knew that we couldn't care for 4 kittens.  They were so small.  We called the emergency vet and one of the workers said she'd foster them and care for them until they could be adopted out.  So at midnight I drove them there.  But not before waking up big sis to say goodbye to them.  We just knew if she woke up in the morning to find no kitties she'd be heartbroken.  We explained to her that they were going to be taken care of there.  She handled it SO well!

When I handed over the kittens, it hurt.  It felt like I was leaving a piece of me w/ the vet.  It may sound silly, we only had them for a few hours.  But I fell in love w/ them.  I know we did the right thing b/c we have no idea what to do with 3 week old kittens.  But man, I wish I could've kept them all. lol  I am a sucker for kittens.  I told the girl that I'd like to check in on them and she gave me her number.

The first thing big sis asked for this morning was to go to the dr to see the kittens.  And when baby sis woke up, she asked for the "ditty'' which is her word for Kitty. lol

So thankful to have been able to provide those little ones some love and praying they find good homes!

Juicing day 3- and other stuff

Today is day 3 (last day) of my all juice detox.  Let me tell you, it got rough yesterday.  By dinner time I was STARVING and just wanted to quit.  Thankfully hubby was encouraging and I behaved. lol  It didn't help that I made one of my favorite dinners for the fam, chili.  I went to bed early, with a headache.  So much hunger!
Today I woke up hungry and discouraged.  UNTIL I stepped on that scale, 4 pounds lighter! :) I also lost inches and it feels so good!  It feels so good that my clothes fit bigger now. So I push on, finishing today.

Starting tomorrow I will continue juicing for lunch and most breakfasts.  But I plan on eating dinner.  I can't cook for the family and not eat. lol  And I don't want to live my days being hungry. :)

For other news, today baby sister had her pre op appt.  Her surgery is set for Thursday and daddy and I can't wait!  We are nervous and anxious and just want it done!  Can't wait till my baby's little face is back to normal.

Date night

On Friday we left our princesses with their grandparents overnight for the first time.  We had planned it for about a week, and as the days flew by, I got more and more nervous.  I hate being w/out my kids.  But I was also looking forward to a night out.  

So we left them Friday night and headed out to Alhambra.  That's a place where they put on a show and serve dinner.  We saw a musical, Crazy for you.  Now I will say I am not a fan of musicals, but this one was so good and entertaining.  I was not bored at all.  And dinner was so good.  I tried split pea soup for the first time and it was so good!  It was unusual to have a grown up dinner where we weren't interrupted or dealing w/ whiny kids. lol  

Going to bed was weird, I kept looking in the girls room and seeing their empty beds. :(  I was worried about baby sister, it took nona a while to get her settled down.  

Saturday morning we woke up and tried a new place close to our house for breakfast.  We had biscuits and it was so good!  It was raining all morning, ruining our plans to walk around the area.  So we ended up at Target. lol  

We picked up the girls around 1 and came home.  Having a night w/out the kids was easier than I thought, in general.  It's hard to be w/out them, but it's also a nice break.  It makes coming back to them very sweet. :)  It is nice to just have that time w/ hubby and it feels like you're dating again.  :) 

Juicing

For a while we've been talking about juicing.  We ordered a juicer from amazon and it arrived on Friday.  I decided to go on a juicing diet for 3-5 days (we'll see how long I last).  Once those days are over, I'll be replacing at least 1 meal (lunch) with a juice.  I'm hoping this will help me with several things:
1. lose weight
2. control migraines in a more natural way
3. have more energy
4. be healthier in general

Yesterday we went to the produce store and bought some produce.  Our first juice was apples, celery and carrots.  The first sip was good, but then it was too much.  The taste of celery was strong and it made it hard to drink.  So we juiced some oranges and I added it to the first juice.  It was much better!  Next time I will use less celery.

This morning I started my juice diet.  Breakfast was hubby's creation: orange, cantaloupe, grapes and some kale.  Really good.  I'm excited to see what happens.  I'm also excited that the girls LOVE the juice.  I will be able to hide some veggies in their fruit juices. :)  The only problem is that to make a juice takes a lot of produce, and that can get expensive.  Though it makes me happy to have everyone "eating" healthier.

Several of my friends have been juicing and have spoken highly of it.  So I'm excited.  We'll see what happens.

shopping trip

This morning I had to run a few errands.  I had 3 stores to go to, all on the same long stretch of road, but none next to each other.  Shopping trips with the girls always reminds me of going shopping w/ my mom and sister.  I have fond memories of those days and I hope my girls will too.  Though today I hope they forget some of the moments, because I lost my patience a few times :(  Trying on clothes w/ a 4 year old asking a million questions and a 1.5 year old wanting to eat everything in her diaper bag leads to a stressful mommy....Anyways, I was able to get a few things for everyone, all in all we had a good and exhausting morning.

I took them to the $1 to choose a treat.  Look how grown up baby sis looks!

 She chose a flying horse :)  She hasn't let go of it all day!

She loves her sister's backpack, so I finally found one her size today at Ross.  And for less than $5, it was perfect!  They had a few different styles, I let her choose and just as I knew, she chose the butterfly :)

little biker

About 6 weeks ago we bought big sister her first bike.  She was apprehensive at first, but after a few rides, she is a pro!  We try to go on a family walk more often now, baby sis in her stroller, big sis on her bike.  She loves going fast. lol  Daddy did such a wonderful job teaching her how to ride, I'm so proud of her!!! 

Isolation

A few days ago we made the decision to keep baby sister in isolation until her surgery date (April 25th).  Why you ask?  Her first surgery date was Dec 24th and we were there, getting her prepped when they heard her cough they cancelled it.  I was so angry for so many reasons, but I knew it was for the best.  She was then scheduled for the end of January, but after her pre op appt with her pediatrician, it was decided best to postpone it to Feb 28th.  That week, we reschedueled it again, all because of colds and allergies.  The surgeons office decided to give us 2 months to recover.  In that time period, we saw the allergist and he came up with a game plan.  So, so far we are a go!  In less than 2 weeks my baby will finally have her surgery and finally get that dumb whatever it is off her chin (the surgeon isn't even sure what it is).

There has been a lot of sickness going around our church, which even though I hate seeing my kids sick, it is what it is... But for the next 2 weeks, I need the girls to remain healthy.  SO we are avoiding places w/ kids. lol  Today daddy stayed home with her from church while big sis and I went.

Seems a bit overkill, but we've been waiting for 4 months for this, she's had this cyst on her chin for 6-7 months.  So I will do what I can to get this surgery done.  

rough night

Last night was a night like no other.  At about 11:30 I started getting ready for bed.  Hubby had settled into his office for a night of work on his commissions.  I started hearing big sister crying.  I went into her room twice, calmed her down and came out.  The 3rd time I went there she was fully awake and complaining her ear hurt.  I gave her some tylenol.  Within minutes she was still crying.  At this point daddy and I had gone in there a combined total of 5-6 times.  We then decided to put her in our bed until she was ready to go to her bed.  It took me about 40 minutes to calm her down, and at about 12:30 I finally got her calm enough and we both fell asleep.  At a bit before 3, I was awakened with her punching me in the face.  She is a rough sleeper.  She woke up and said she wanted to go to her bed.  A few minutes after she went to her bed, she was still crying.  Daddy and I both went in there 2-3 times, but she was unconsolable.  At this point, she had woken up her sister.  Poor baby sister, just sat up, and waited until I approached her crib.  She then reached up for me.  I rocked her, kissed her and laid her back down.
I don't recall all of the night, we were awake from 3ish to about 5.  At this point we had had about 2 hours of sleep.  The only thing that had calmed big sis at this point was sitting on the couch with daddy and watching My little Pony.  Sounds bad right?  lol  We were desperate.  She's never been like this before.  So I dozed off, then at some point I heard her calling for me and I came to sit with her.  We cuddled and then she said she was ready for her bed.  We all laid back down at 5.  She was still crying, moaning, having a meltdown about her ear.  We couldn't sleep.  So we brought her back to our bed.  After some cuddles with mommy and just talking, she calmed down some and fell asleep.  Finally we slept.  About 2 or so hours later she woke up, once again in pain.  To be honest, I was kind of out of it at this point, daddy dealt with her.  All I know is that we woke up at 9:40ish this morning, I saw her cuddled w/ daddy.  I thought "great now she sleeps" lol..
I had to rush to get everyone ready, we had an 11 am appt for baby sister's allergist.  On the way I called the peds and made a 1 pm appt for big sis.  It's a 20-30 min drive b/t both offices...

So our morning was seeing the allergist, grabbing a quick lunch at zaxby's, running to see the peds.  All in very little sleep.  I have been fighting a migraine all day.  Thankfully after we got home, both girls took a nap, I was able to sleep for about 30 min.  But we've done nothing else but relax.  Daddy gets off work at 8 tonight.  sigh... I'm ready for bed. lol
Oh and big sis has a very bad ear infection.  This is only her 2nd or 3rd one in her 4 years of life.  But she's never acted this way with being sick.  I really hope she gets relief from the meds the doctor gave her...

On another note, eating out with a gluten free/dairy free child is almost impossible.  So far, only Moe's has met our needs.  Zaxby's supposedly had 1 dish in the menu that was gluten and dairy free, but after lunch, baby sis' legs broke out in a rash, so I highly doubt they were right on that.. Next time I'll just go to Moe's...

waiting at for the dr

not feeling well- back to dieting

Back in February I decided it was time to lose the lingering 10 or so pounds I've been wanting to lose for so long.  My main goal is to lose the "baby" pooch and shrink my ever growing derriere lol  Gotta love the way your body "settles" after having kids.  So I started doing MyfitnessPal, counting my 1200 calories daily.  Exercising anywhere around 2 hours a day.  I did lose 3 inches in my waist and 3 pounds.  In the 30 days I did the 30 day shred, that's all I lost.  I was discouraged.  I took a week break. Then I started getting migraines again.  So I stopped.  I was never motivated.  Between the migraines and the side effects from the medication, I just wasn't up to exercising.  I stopped dieting and just ate as I pleased.

On Sunday I decided new week, new beginnings.  The migraine meds I am on makes me super lethargic and "numb".  So I stopped taking them this week.  I felt useless as a person and as a mom.  Nothing was getting done.  With that, I've gone back to counting my calories.  The working out, I will not obsess with as much, 2 hours a day was overkill and did a number on my arthritic legs.  So my goal is to work out around 1 hour a day, if I do less, then so be it.  As long as I get at least 30 min a day I'll be happy.

My goal is to do a Jillian Michaels work out daily. I have 2 videos I want to do, but there is no way I can do both.  For 2 reasons, #1 I don't have time to spend 1 hour on videos, #2 my body can't handle those intense work outs for 1 hour. lol  SO I will be doing the killer buns and thighs video and ripped in 30 days.  I will do them every other day.  The goal is at least 4 days a week of the videos (so 2 days of one and 2 days of the other).  If possible I'd like to do 6 days, but we'll see.  On top of that, I'll continue my 30-40 min on the stationary bike and 10-20 on my stepper (the stepper is killer on my knees so I take it slow with it) daily.  So those are my goals.

I don't want to obsess with working out.  When I started working out I got obsessed.  It's all I could think about.  I HAD to lose the weight and was willing to do whatever I had to.  That did not work out well for me, and exercising became my idol.  So now it'll be something that I do, but again, only 1 hour a day, if that.

Anyways, I'm excited to see what happens, if anything, at least I'll be in shape. lol  I don't have any real diet plans.  I just count calories, eat smart and drink 64 oz of water a day.  That part is HARD! lol  But doable.

We'll see what happens.  Right now I am praying that I can be migraine free without all the meds.  I can't handle the side effects anymore.

our non vacation part 2

Daddy took Wed-Fri off last week, so that along with the weekend gave us a 5 day vacation together.  We were supposed to go on a trip and do several things as a family.  BUT baby sister had a fever and a rash all week, she had some kind of viral infection.  She was sleeping 14+ hour a day and made the thought of a vacation impossible.  Everything we tried to do locally failed.  I finally told hubby that this is just what God had for us, to stay home together and relax... On Saturday, we thought we'd go to Sea World on Sunday, but when we put the girls in bed baby sister still wasn't herself so we decided to stay home.  God is sovereign over all!  We stayed home on Sunday and wouldn't you know it, big sis came down with 102+ fever.  She's still fighting a fever today.  Poor girls, we've never had sickness last this long in my house.

I bought a new video game for our Ps3 and big sis has been enjoying playing it.  She gets to play with daddy and sometimes mommy gets to play with her too :) Here we are sharing the loveseat and playing together.

With all our vacation plans canceled, we decided to take big sis to Disney on Ice.  We ended up making it a mommy/daughter date and it was so nice to just have her to myself.  When the show started I asked her if she wanted to sit on my lap, her little face lit up with a loud "yes" :)  She was not cooperative for a picture, here she is eating her m&m's.. 

Very excited to see a giant lego carriage :)

All in all our time off together was very nice.  Not at all what we had planned, but we all got lots of sleep and time together. :) 

Our Easter

For Easter we went to church, daddy sang in the Easter choir so we both went to both services.  Daddy took our girls home after he finished singing during the 2nd service, mommy stayed to work in the nursery.  I came home and I was able to set up the girls Easter baskets on the coffee table while daddy entertained them (I wanted to wait till after church b/c our morning was so crazy).  After that I went outside to hide their Easter eggs and we did our annual Easter egg hunt.  It was so fun to have baby sister join us this year.  At first she kind of looked at me like I was crazy to ask her to pick up plastic eggs.  But once she figured out there was stuff inside them and it was meant to go inside the basket, she really got into it.
She started her fever that day at church, but for the most part she was herself.  We had dinner at 5Guys, mommy didn't want to cook :)  Then we walked at the park and came home.  It was such a nice day as a family.

I am so thankful for my family!!! 

Mommy and her sweet girls :)

I am blessed for sure!  These beautiful girls light up my life!

Their Easter treats.  Mommy went a little buying happy.  I just love buying them special treats :)

 Going through their treats...

 Sisters looking for eggs in our annual egg hunt.

Really getting into it... 

All done with our egg hunt.

our non-vacation

Daddy took Wed-Fri off so we could go to Sea World and have some family fun.  But alas, baby girl has had a high fever since Sunday.  On Thursday we saw the dr b/c of the fever and rash all over her body.  Doctor said it's viral.  That on top of the rainy weather put a damper on our plans.  So we've been home, doing nothing really.  Daddy was bummed that our plans failed but I told him that this was just the way it was supposed to be.  Nothing is beyond God's control.  So we will finish our week staying home, doing a bit of nothing. :) 

With daddy home I've had extra time just to snuggle my sickie while he entertains big sis.  She goes from happy to miserable, to cranky to happy again.. I can't wait till she's better again.

 Big sister has super long hair.  I've been wanting to style it different ways.  I spent some time watching you tube tutorials and learned to French braid.  She looks super cute in her pigtail french braids. :) And I did have to bribe her to get her to sit still.

 On Monday we had dinner w/ the family.  Baby sis had a low grade fever but was acting herself so we went.  We were able to get a family picture.  

I have some cute Easter pictures to post but I'm being lazy. lol  I took a LOT of pictures on Sunday. lol During our non vacation we also went to the beach to watch the sunset.  It was nice, but baby sis wanted nothing to do w/ it.  She wanted mommy (only mommy) to hold her the entire time and refused to walk on the sand... 

Oh how I love her!!!!

Since baby sister's birth, any 1 on 1 time with big sister has been minimal.  I try to enjoy every minute I can get with her.  I love it when I can get extra cuddle time with her and I love when she asks for me b/c she is such a daddy's girl..

On Sunday we went out to dinner and she crashed on the way there.  I carried her to the restaurant and just held her until she woke up.  Then she still wanted to be on my lap.  I love it!

in 4 months I'll have a 2 year old!

20 months ago today I met a beautiful little girl I had been carrying for 9 months.  She stole my heart in a way I never thought possible.  I still remember our first nights together, alone in the hospital.  We cuddled all night and day long and it was the sweetest time, just the 2 of us.  Here we are, 20 months later and we have the girliest little girl.  She is my shy one, my cuddle bug who loves to snuggle with mommy.  She is such a mama's girl (always has been).  She has been falling in love with her daddum daily and it is so sweet.  She asks for him through out the day while he's at work.  

There are certain times during the day that all she wants is to snuggle with her mama.  I love it!  She still gets angry if her sister gets near me, but we're working on it :)  At least now she is happy in her daddy's arms if I have sister. 

 This pretty girl is in a size 18-24 months clothes.  She's in size 5 shoes, size 4 diapers.  She is still struggling with a rash through out her legs and bottom.  We have switched her body wash to gluten free, she's in a gluten and dairy free diet and now we're changing brand of diapers we use.  It's been a hard road to figure out what she's allergic or intolerant to.  But hopefully we'll have it figured out soon. 

 This sweet face and smile MELTS my heart.  I love her to pieces!  I really never thought I'd love another daughter like I love my firstborn, and then this little one was born.  So thankful for the past 20 months with this sweetie.

Her middle name is Agape (both girls have Greek middle names) and it fits her perfectly.  She's the most loving and cuddly little thing.  She's slowly coming out of her shell with certain people and it's so sweet to see.

This little girl will spend all day dressed like this.  She changes her shoes a million times a day and will try on any shoe she can find. lol