Crickets

Did you know that it is nearly the end of June?  That can't be right.  When I look back at my blog, I see the last post was in February.  So it cannot possibly be June already.  I could make all sorts of lame excuses about time flying by and such, but really, I think I just got bored of blogging.  Sorry folks.

So what has happened in the last 4 months?  Hmm.  Well, Annabella started speech therapy to help with some of her word pronunciation.  She's been going for a couple months now, and I'm definitely noticing improvement.  Not only that, but I think she likes talking more now.  She initiates more conversations and will talk about her friends at school.  She's also virtually stopped the wordless wailing she used to do, and will now usually tell us what's wrong.  Now that she's speaking more, we're getting more and more of the funny child logic.  A couple nights ago she was playing with the syringe we use to give her ibuprofen, and she called it boo boo sauce.

Genevieve has started morphing from my sweet little baby into an independent toddler.  She wants to do everything herself, and will throw pretty epic tantrums when she doesn't get her way.  Sadly for her, she is our second child, and her tantrums don't really phase us.  She loves loves loves to tattle on Bella.  Last night Bella drew on the television with a crayon.  We asked them who did it, and Genevieve said "Bella draw, Bella draw" over and over again.  She also loves to tickle us.  It's hilarious; so we laugh, which makes her think it's working so she does it more, and then we have to fake laughing.  It really is cute though.

My house is almost never clean now.  Every time we put in the effort to clean it (which really is pretty frequent), hurricanes Annabella and Genevieve come along and I wonder why we bother.  They love to dump the toys out of their cubby boxes and then sit in them to make trains.  It's a good thing they're so adorable.  (Refer to exhibit 1, below.) 

Jason and I are doing well.  We celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary by staying at a fancy hotel and getting a fancy meal.  It was my first night away from Genevieve, which was hard, but definitely nice.  The girls made welcome home signs for us and hung them on the door (with help of course) for when we got home.  So sweet.  Jason and I will also celebrate our 10 year dating anniversary this Friday.  I can't believe it's been that long.  

I'm sure there's more, but I gotta gets back to work.  Here's hoping I manage to update again before 4 more months pass.

Success

Genevieve is cranky after her surgery, but fine.  We almost never give her juice, but they recommended giving it to her after her surgery to keep her hydrated, and she's drinking it like it's her job. 

The doctor said her adenoids were enlarged and appeared to be infected; so I feel like we made the right choice.  Hopefully she'll stop getting so many sinus and ear infections now.

The doctor also replaced both of her ear tubes.  He said that the hole was slightly larger after taking them out; so he had to use a different shape tube.  He said that a lot of doctors actually use that shape tube to start with though; so it wasn't really a bad thing.

I hope this all was worth it and that she enjoys a long period of good health.

Adenoids and Tubes

My Vieves has to get one of her ear tubes replaced and her adenoids taken out.  Her surgery is tomorrow morning, 8:30am.  My poor little baby :(

All dressed up for Christmas

Three of my favorite four girls, all dressed up for Christmas.

My big girl loves dresses and skirts, but she HATES getting her hair done
and will rip it out almost immediately.  SIGH.

Mom, I am so over getting my picture taken.

Pia, my niece.

2012

I can't believe 2012 is here already.  And not only that, but today is my, ahem, 29th birthday.  

I'm hoping it's a lasting phase, but I'm camera happy again.  I think I've gotten better, and I'm at least somewhat happy with a bunch of the shots I've gotten of the girls recently.  

This first one has G's face slightly out of focus if you zoom in, but I think she looks adorable anyway.

I think this one captures A's sweetness.

Neither of these pictures have been edited at all.  These are the original JPEGs that came out of the camera. My recent frustration with my pictures is really that I'm not good at post-processing them.  I see the shots that our professional photographer friend has taken, and they are awesome.  And I know that some of that is  due to his mad photoshop skills.  He manages to make the skin tones look right while making the other colors pop and everything look crisp in a way I love.  I honestly think that some of my recent pictures have a lot of potential.  So I've signed up for a photoshop class.  I'm excited for it.

Hopefully this will mean I do a better job posting pictures to the blog as well :)

75

My Grandpa would have been 75 today.  I still can't believe he's gone, and I still miss him every day.

Birthday Wishes

I've been asking Annabella what she wants for her birthday off and on for the past couple of weeks.  Invariably, she says something about food.  The most recent:

Me:  Annabella, what do you want for your birthday?
Jason:  Do you want cookies or cupcakes or brownies? (she'd been oscillating between those choices)
A:  Brownies
Me:  What else?
A:  Ice cream
Me:  Yes, we'll have brownies and ice cream, but we have to have something else.  We can't just eat brownies and ice cream.
A:  Brownies and ice cream and brownies.
Me:  OK.  We'll have brownies and ice cream and brownies, but we have to have something else.  How about pizza?  Or hot dogs?
A:  No, I want brownies and ice cream and brownies.
Jason:  How about spaghetti or pizza?  (we often have to repeat options at this age)
A:  No, I want brownies and ice cream and brownies.
Jason:  How about bunnies and cheese?  (bunny-shaped macaroni and cheese)
A:  Yes.  Bunnies and cheese and bunnies and brownies and ice cream and brownies.
Me:  Okay.  Well that's what we'll have then.  Bunnies and cheese and bunnies and brownies and ice cream and brownies.

You'll never guess what she asked for for breakfast this morning after I sang her happy birthday :)

I think it's safe to say she's looking forward to dinner tonight.  Here's hoping she likes her presents too.