It's a Princess Dance Party, U.S.A

Yes, we have regular dance parties in our house. With 2 girls that love music and love shaking their booties, and a mama that loves to rock out as well, it's inevitable!
I'm so blessed to have 2 girls that enjoy each other so much! The minute one of them gets out a Princess dress up gown to wear, the other one has to have one as well.

I crank up the tunes, and we all dance, until we are falling down laughing. Or, until one of the girls ticks the other one off, and Mama decides enough fun has been had. And yes, we watch out where we are dancing, because often times Treble or Sage wants to get into our dance party, and decides to chew a bone right there in the middle of our dance floor!
It's usually drama filled, as most days and nights are in our house, but it's a load of fun, too. But I will admit, I'm getting a WEE BIT TIRED of listening to the Glee Christmas Album (*ahem, Keifer's favorite of the month*). Oye.
Oh, how I love these 2 angel girls of mine! And how they love each other!

Papa/Nana Lovin'

A few weeks ago, Daddy left town with Uncle for a boys weekend out. So that left me and the girls and the fur kids at home. So of course, I called up Papa and Nana to come and help out with the girls! Of course!

I'll admit, I'm not too ashamed to ask for help when my partner is out of town! Lord knows it's tough enough to parent Keifer when there are 2 of us at home, let alone 1 of us being gone until Sunday night!

As you can see, Keifer was THRILLED with that idea! Before we even got home Friday, she was squealing in the back seat, "Mama, I so 'cited to see Papa and Nana!"
We spent the weekend eating and playing games and dancing and reading. We visited Nana and Keifer's favorite restaurant, The Cracker Barrel, for lunch on Saturday. Keifer took a nap with Papa. Nana napped. Kyla napped. Mama caught up on Modern Family.

After naps on Saturday, we packed up and hit the mall to let out a little steam!
We played in the video arcade, ran around the germ-filled kids playland (of plastic, climbable cars), and Kyla exercised her little legs running away from Papa.
We ate dinner at the food court, and then Nana treated us to some ice cream treats! Keifer picked out the Rainbow something or other- which was flavored as "fruit punch". I personally thought it was pretty disgusting, but she enjoyed it.
It was a super fun weekend and we were all sad to say goodbye to Papa and Nana (*sniff*). Even Kyla stood at the top of the stairs and told them "No, no" as they were leaving.

Until next time!

THE Tubes- a recap

That's right, last Monday (the 17th), CJ and I brought Kyla in for her tubes procedure. We dropped K1 off at our friends' house to have a super fun play date with Mazzy, and took off for the SAME HOSPITAL I had Kyla in. *talk about nostalgia walking into that place, the place she lived for the first 17 days of her life*

I have to say, the staff at the hospital is always very smooth and so kind. At least, in OUR experiences, so that was a bonus. And, walking in with our smiling girl, being doted on my all the staff and strangers, she was truly a joy to be hanging out with.
We were brought to our little "stall" on the surgery floor, and met with a friendly and kind nurse, who told us the same story 2x within 20 minutes about her own twin grandchildren. Kyla really liked her.

She gave us the paperwork to sign, the jammies and socks for Kyla to wear, and brought Kyla over to pick out her very own "boon" (Balloon).
All Kyla wanted to do was look out the window, rub lotion from the shelf on her hands, and jump up and down with her 'boon. Then, the anesthesiologist came in, introduced himself, and told us exactly what they would be doing to our sweet girl during the surgery. Did I mention he looked like he was about 10, making ME at age 36 feel old?

Then, some more nurses came in and gave Kyla a pre-surgery little cocktail to help dry up her nasal and head fluids (if you will). It kicked in and made her very loopy. So loopy she couldn't walk without us helping her.

Here she is, playing with the Ipod her sister covets, giggling and DROOLING all over mama. She was a hoot.

However, the time then came for the surgery to begin. *sigh*. The nurses came back to take our angel girl to the operating room and she had a major meltdown being taken away from me. She actually started sobbing so hard, she had a very delayed reaction in taking that first "gasp" of air when she started crying. Scared me to death. And yes, when she left, I was also in tears. It seems to me, I'm shed MANY tears in that particular hospital.
CJ and I took a quick walk down to get something to drink ( and I found 2 more adorable place mats in the gift shop), and when we got back upstairs, it was a matter of 5 minutes and the doctor came in to tell us she was done with the surgery and all went really well. She went over what they did and told us that Kyla's right ear (the one that is always full of fluid) was full of sticky pus and that they had to get rid of that to get the tube in.

Within another 5-10 minutes, we heard this child wailing and I swear to you, it did not sound like my Kyla girl. It was like an animal howling (I kid you not). I had went into this surgery expecting it to "be a breeze". In and out, quick as can be, with no issues.

Well, we didn't have "issues", but we did have a girl who could NOT shake the meds she was given and was terrified and pissed off and angry and mad and sad and scared. Everything all in one.
And to make matters worse, when they first brought K2 back to us, they only returned her 'baby' to us, and not the 2 lovies we had sent with her for her comfort. The nurse quickly went back, retrieved it, and brought it back.

Poor Kyla didn't know what to do with herself. She had an oxygen monitor attached to her left big toe. The animal sounds she was making? They were made by her attempting to get that damn thing OFF HER TOE. It did NOT make her happy. She didn't want anything to do with anyone talking to her (NO NO NO). No daddy. No movie, NO juice, no milk, no water. No food. Honestly, I sat and cried and just held her and stopped her from getting away from me.

Finally, about an hour and half later (forever!), she finally stopped her animal sounds, and seemed calmer. Literally, within a few minutes of her stopping her screaming, she looked around, and said "ba' which means cup or milk, and she guzzled down a big cup of apple juice with ice.

We were able to leave soon after that, and our happy Kyla girl finally returned. We went to pick up a very happy sissy, who had a memorable play date, and went home to all take naps!

We're hoping and praying this is the end (or close to it) of our ear infections. We've started bathing Kyla with ear plugs, much to her dismay, but last nights' bath was the first time she didn't try to take them out! Other than that first Monday of drama, she's been as happy as a clam (as usual) and is repeating words left and right. It's so very sweet to hear her imitate everyone and try to communicate with us, oh so very hard!

Wordless Wednesday: Contemplating a life in rock, alongside sis

Snow fort fun

Yesterday, I picked the girls up after work. I stripped Kyla out of the snow suit she was tromping around outside it. She got in the car, and picked up her favorite (of the moment) book: Mr.Brown Can Moo, Can You?. The girl loves cows.

So why Kyla was mooing to herself and pointing at pictures.....

I waited a few more minutes to let Keifer finally enjoy the fresh air outside in the snow fort she helped Elaine and her friends make at Daycare.

Sliding down the wall. Apparently she was rolling around in the snow and told Elaine, "I'm having so much fun outside!"

That is so good to hear. Unfortunately, we've had such cold weather, the kids haven't been able to get out to burn some energy off!

Elaine with some of her kids. Baby Goat (Luther Liz's son), Keifer hamming it up, and Mazzy

Afterwards, I told Mazzy's mom I should've left Kyla in her suit and got her pics in there with the group. Then, we could've sent Hanna Andersson a picture of our girls, as all 3 are modeling different snow suits from them!

Christmas Day & more

This was our tree, Christmas Morning, with the presents from SANTA all wrapped and ready to be tore open.

This is the look or PURE JOY on Keifer's face when she opened up her guitar and microphone set.

This is Kyla, clearly not caring that there were presents. What are those? All she wanted to do was turn on the movie Corduroy!

Keifer exploring her new cash register- and yes, Kyla got her own register, as well! That Santa! He knows about everything! We've realized that we have to be careful with the paper money, as we've found out that Kyla will throw them away, crumple them up or heck, just draw on them!

A proud, beaming BELLE at Nana Dian and Papa Dale's house the next day. She was overjoyed to receive such a Princess dress (and Belle doll, the Beast/Prince doll, stuffed Belle,and the hardcover children's book of the story).

Rolling around on a blanket with your face on it is jut too fun! Or, as Kyla put it: "Baby, baby!"

The girls had a jam session with cousin Aubrey

The next day, visiting /celebrating at my brother's house. His girlfriend's son, Wyatt, is Keifer's little beau. They have the exact same birthay (he's one year older) and the same love for Justin Bieber. I'll post some video clips of them acting out/dancing to "Baby" by him (Keifer pretending to be the girl in the video, Wyatt the boy). Ahh, quite the sight. These 2 ran around the house for hours on end, screeching with delight. They adore each other and I love to watch.

OH, an isn't Wyatt's attempts to grow his hair out like Justin adorable?

Three little monkeys, climbing on the couch

One monkey, pretty pleased to do it by herself

Dying to open presents!

Keifer checking out the book that Mama made for Wyatt- it's all about Wyatt and Keifer's adventures together last summer (in photo book form). That's Auntie Steph with Wy-guy.

Whew. We had so much fun. We also got to run over to see a friend of mine and her kiddos, and the girls had a blast! Christmas for 4 straight days in our house! It was insane, and it was crazy, but it was fun. And although I'm glad it's over for the year, Keifer still insists on listening to Christmas songs, especially the Glee Christmas album, and talks about all the things we'll do NEXT year for Christmas.

Pre-Christmas 2010

I wanted to share this with you all in December. DECEMBER. It's now nearing the end of January, but hurray! I finally made time last night to SIT DOWN alone and upload picture after picture to the blog. Yes, I'm keeping up with my pictures on Facebook (so IF you wanna friend request me, feel free), but I find it so hard to upload (aka time-consume) to blogger and then explain things the way I really WANT to explain (and tell).

So forgive me.

So I've mentioned that both my girls are freaked out by the Big Man in the Red Suit (Santa?). Well, every year, our daycare provider, Elaine, has Santa visit her Christmas party. And every year, Keifer has rejected the idea of sitting on his lap. This year was no different. Until........

Papa J. and Elaine were taking THEIR picture with Santa, so K1 decided to hop in and hold on tight to Elaine!

The after effects of this? She decided sitting NEAR him in a chair might just be OK.

And she eventually whispered to him about her dreams to own a cash register and a guitar with a microphone. I have to say,I was beaming about this!

The girls and some of their friends they play with everyday

Is it Rudolph or Keifer? Hard to tell.

And little Miss Kyla, so proud to be wearing that red dress. She loved that there were puppies on the dress, as well as on her tights. Love this child.

The girls had a blast celebrating at Elaine's again. They sang songs, took turns avoiding Santa's lap (except for Brandt!), and each were honored with a gift from both Elaine and Santa! Of course, when my girl didn't receive a cash register or guitar with a microphone, she promptly burst into tears, sobbing on my lap. I felt so bad, but had to explain that this was just Santa's helper and that the REAL SANTA was still coming soon, and I'm SURE SHE WOULD receive the gift she wanted so badly. *Talk about pressure, huh?*.

We all enjoyed some yummy pizza, the parents enjoyed chatting and then it was time to go.

And that, my friends, is the brief recap of the party that we all enjoyed.

Wordless Wednesday: I wanna be a ROCK STAR

Wordless Wednesday: Lovie Hoarder

I just have to add, I'm so glad her choice of "lovies" is her Gerber burp clothes. We have plenty of them and they are easy to find!

TUBES! TUBES! TUBES!

Yes!

Kyla will finally be getting ear tubes placed in her ears a week from Monday. We had her ENT appointment over the holiday break, and there was no fooling: the girl needs them. She's had constant ear infections the entire length of 2010, and sometimes they are full of puss, sometimes just fluid. She's had fluid in her right ear for at least 2 months, and when we had the Audiologist check her ears prior to the ENT meet up, it was confirmed that there is "no movement" in her right ear- meaning that the fluid is not allowing the ear drum to vibrate (um, SOUND WAVES!). The left was OK, and THANK GOD, she did pass her hearing test with "normal" hearing. We'll have her tubes appointment, and then have a follow up with the ENT a few weeks afterwards to double check on how things are going inside that little head of hers.

To say I am relieved is an understatement. I have had a stomach full of knots since the early Fall. Once she hit the "many" mark of the number of infections she had, including a double ear infection in the middle of summer, I knew in my gut she needed tubes. Of course, things can TAKE TIME in the medical field, and I regret that I didn't push hard enough to get this done sooner.

But, in the meantime, she is a happy and somewhat healthy girl, who is picking up things beyond our expectations. She is able to follow directions like nobodies business, and she turning into quite the chatterbox (finally). However, I have noticed she doesn't move her lips often enough to many many sounds, and she has a "tone" to her speech that (to me) sounds like there is a possible hearing loss (even though hearing came out normal)

Needless to say, I'm excited and nervous for the tubes adventure, and I hope and pray that this keeps my girl in better health in the future!

Too technologically advanced too early (and why my girl beats me at exercising)

Keifer has taken a huge interest in using the computer to watch all her movies (CJ uploads them all to our computer). Lately, she's also been taking a huge interest in turning on Jillian's 30 Day Shred, which she has done side-by-side with me on more than one occasion. Its' quite fun to watch her attempt jumping jacks, and huff and puff her way through the exercises. I will give the girl some credit- she works hard and her push ups are pretty good "girl" push ups!

So a month ago, one night, waiting for daddy to come home, the girls were watching Abby in Wonderland, and K1 switched it to *yes* Jillian.

"C'mon, Mommy, let's do Jillian" she said to me.

And proceeded to drop to the floor, and do her push ups next to the chair where they were sitting. Kyla didn't think much of it, but I thought it was pretty darn funny!

And on the humiliating end of this, Keifer turned Jillian back on on New Years Eve and did about the first 10 minutes, telling me she was exercising to "Get healthy". Great idea, K1! I should've been doing that instead of sitting on the couch WATCHING you!

HA!

Yes. I am going to get back on the work out train and fast. I had a back problem- unsure of what exactly happened, but my right low back and right hip (psoas muscle?) were causing me a LOT of grief for a few months which put the kabosh on any attempts at exercise. Then, when it was finally getting better around Christmas time, I did something to my neck and have been having migraines or intense, nasty headaches along with an "out" neck for weeks.

I think I"m finally on the mend, but now I literally have to start from scratch on my exercise regimen. It bums me out, because I was doing really well. And knowing that the gym will be SO crowded in the cold weather (hence, walking 30 miles to the front doors, poo), does NOT appeal to me. But I WILL do it and continue to encourage and teach my girls about having a healthy lifestyle!