enough already!

so we (zane and i mostly) definitely got swept up in all the negative that was going on with our family. but we've turned a corner. and now it's time to reveal all the good that was happening in between the cracks. our two girls, two (of the three) girls next door (at the sand table) and the little girl on the other side of us. all together in our backyard one of the days it was so nice last week. looking so forward to them all growing up together and hopefully being friends! our little girls are becoming better friends every single day. it's AWESOME! especially when they conspire against me and make an already cute picture even cuter ;) sunshine. couch. snuggle bunny with her baby. heaven. again, the snuggle bunny with her baby. she loves to have her baby sit in avery's chair and sneak up to give her kisses. dada's turn with snuggle bunnies :)

another monday...

another fever! avery was off yesterday, had a low-grade fever, but motrin perked her right up. woke up this morning with a higher temp and not herself at all. got her into the drs this afternoon. double ear infection, we now have FOUR bottles of amoxicillin in the fridge! luckily, nola is finishing up her round, so there won't be too much confusion for long ;) poor girls :( and poor zane. he's still hacking and sniffling. WE ALL NEED A BREAK!!!!

tumble-tot

our little gymnast!!

super (BAD) moon!

so i'm going to blame all the happenings around here on the super moon a few days ago...everyone being sick, my dental disasters, my parents car accident, crabby moods all around, snow on the first day of spring, now nola's double ear infection (which has her MISERABLE to say the least), and me falling, while holding nola, on my into the drugstore to get her prescription. i busted up my knee, tore my pants (my favorite jeans darnit), but somehow nola didn't get hurt. my mama bear instincts must have kicked in and held her close to me...what a disaster things have been!

here's to the beginning of spring, and an end to all the ickiness!

the only good...nola's snuggliness has surpassed all previous levels and she was content to pass out on my shoulder the entire morning we were out, and now has passed out in our bed...i'm sticking close by because i can :)

bye-bye buppa!

so exciting around here. a week ago we wrote to the "buppa fairy" (pacifier fairy) to tell her that avery was ready to sleep without her buppa and wanted to give it to a little baby that needed it...avery's has seen a few books and shows with the tooth fairy and took interest. the timing worked out perfectly!

the buppa fairy wrote back--if i can always remember the wide-eyed awe on avery's face when she saw the letter, i'll be complete- and on saturday came by to collect avery's buppa and leave a present in its place. somehow avery had asked for a sleeping bag, which was perfect because we bought one for christmas and with all the other presents, didn't give it to her and were waiting for a special reason.

she got the sleeping bag, was ECSTATIC (i was sedated and about to leave for the dentist, but i have a vague vision of her getting into the bag and saying that we could carry her like a baby), and that was that.

kind of. saturday night she woke up 3 or 4 times, asking for various things and not really settling until after 1 or 2am. but she did it. she slept without her biggest crutch (in 3 1/2 years!!!) and to celebrate, we went out on sunday and she got to pick out a barbie toy.

and last night?! not a peep! i can't believe how easy it's been. she's still said (before nap and bedtime) "i want my buppa. i love my buppa!" in a really sad, pathetic voice, but it's gone. and she knows that. it worked!!

damn teeth.

excuse me if this post is poorly written. i'm still under the influence of some sedatives :)
the week and a half that i've been missing have held a toothache, dentist #1, a worsening toothache, dentist #2, tears, an appointment for 2 fillings which should have fixed the toothache, not remembering much of anything from 6:15 am that morning until 2 in the afternoon when the drugs wore off, a few hours of bliss because i finally felt better, then agony when the toothache flared back up even worse, and finally ending the saga today with a root canal and more sedation, that, because of a stupid piece of bread that i ate, didn't really knock me out, just made me sleepy and relaxed.

all is good for now though. i'm feeling the best i have in days and days (that's probably the advil still talking-, and i'm so looking forward to a good nights sleep--the first in well over a week!!

so. that's where i've been. zane's been working insanely at work, and he's a bit sick (maybe a cold? maybe bronchitis?). the girls are insane too, but in a goofy, cute, demanding kind of way. hopefully things will be getting back to normal soon!

it's spring tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

nemo's on...

so i have a few minutes :)

nola had a cough and fever on monday. she took a 4 hour nap, went to bed early and slept through the night. she woke up completely fine on tuesday.

last night, avery woke up 3 times. she felt hot, she asked for medicine, she said she was sad. i went back to bed after getting her medicine and told zane that i wouldn't be surprised if she was getting sick.

sure enough, temp this morning and a teary eyed wake up as she said "well, i think i feel a little bit sick." she also said her head hurt and i asked if she bumped it. she said "noooo! it hurts inside." perhaps our first headache that we're able to talk about?

either way, i'm DONE with winter. i want colorful spring clothes. and open windows. and rainboots. and a newly painted living room. and germs to go away and stay away :) please and thank you.

edited to add:

thankful for medicine that takes away some of the ickiness...first time she smiled all morning :)

too much

there is just too much to be done during these days and not enough time or energy!

but. this weekend was essential for filling us up with a little motivation and rejuvination. we played OUTSIDE. took walks. splashed in puddles. held hands. had dance parties. looked at a front yard with NO SNOW and smiled. splurged for a good dinner take-out. slept in until 6:40!

now it's back to reality :)

before i get back to starting the day, a few things i want to remember.

*on thursday, i was exhausted from class the night before. the girls and i were on the floor coloring and i put my head down to rest. i asked avery if she wanted to rub my back, mostly kidding. she came over, started to rub my back and sing "twinkle little star" (part of her bedtime routine). nola came over, started to rub my back and tried to sing along, mostly singing "taaaar, taaaah". i told zane i'm pretty sure it ranks in the top 5 best moments of my life.

*on saturday, the girls and i were upstairs playing and needed to get downstairs to start lunch. nola tried to open the gate on the stairs and avery stepped in and finished the job. she turned to nola and said "i'm the big sister and i help my little sister!" :)

*yesterday morning we were leaving for a walk and zane said something to me about the girls taking a bath later and if we could use lots of soap (the dr advised we not do bubble baths often/at all because nola was getting irritated). i said yes and avery got excited and asked if we were taking a bath. zane told her "later. but mama said we could do lots of soap." avery looked up at me and said "mama, you're the best mama in the world!" i scooped her up and told her she was the best avery marie in the world and she had made my day :)

*i went to the library to get some things for school and ended up talking to the childrens librarian. after a few minutes i found out she's currently in the simmons school library program and we realized that we're in the same class this summer. small world.

*i don't know if i mentioned that nola is finally putting words together!! she's definitely a lot less chatty than avery was, and had been getting really frustrated when she couldn't tell us exactly what she wanted. now she's figured it out :) it started with bye-bye...dada. then bye-bye...mama. soon it was "more...pahcorn?"

i'm pretty sure there was more, but i need to chug my coffee before the girls wake up...

long time coming!

MEMA'S VISIT!!!!!!



sorry, mema, for taking so long to get this together!! hope you like the pictures :)

another set of BFFs