Easter Weekend

Good Friday: John had the day off!!!! The Tokar's were in town, so we played with them in the morning. The girls play so well together. It was fun to see them together again. The boys stayed with the girls while Kate, Margo, Martha and I went to lunch at Stone Mill (YUM!). John and I spent the rest of the day moving furniture, taking apart beds, etc...... The girls are officially sleeping in the same room and we have a playroom. John said he will never take apart/put back together our crib, so there is no moving them out. Emma is still having some issues at bedtime, but overall they have done great.

Saturday: I went to Georgia's baby shower in the morning and then rushed home in time to get everyone to the egg hunt. The church where Emma goes to preschool was having a community wide Easter Egg Hunt/Picnic at Wilson Park. We met up with the Elleman's, John's parents, Grace and Luke at the park. We got there just in time for the egg hunt to be over, but luckily there were some extra eggs for us to use to have our own hunt. The kids played at the park and we ate lunch. It was really fun. After naps, we headed over to the Hannon's house to eat dinner with them and John's parents. It is always fun with the cousins!

Easter Sunday: We went to the 10:00 service at church with the entire family and Todd! Sam taught at Community Worship and it was really good. As many times as I have heard the Easter message of resurrection, there were some new lessons I learned this year. They also played the video "Sunday's Comin". If you haven't seen this, you must watch. I had chills up and down. We came back to our house and had a BBQ lunch with lots of extra yummy stuff. Granny and Uncle John met us over here for lunch as well. Everyone left and we put the girls down for naps and quiet time. I took a nap as well. We did the girls' Easter baskets from us after naps and then went on our own egg hunt in the backyard. It was a Easter filled with family and friends.
Most of all, it was a great reminder that we have a Savior that not only died on a cross for us, but rose again so that we might have eternal life.

My Little Picaso's

We got the watercolors out this morning and it was really fun. It is always less trouble than I think it will be. Emma started painting while Brooklyn was eating breakfast and B was watching very closely. B has done many art projects at school, but I have never actually painted with her. (I know, bad Mom) She finished eating, but I left her in her highchair. I taped down some paper to her tray and loaded her paintbrush. (and reloaded and reloaded and reloaded many times) As you can see, she was so happy. Her picture turned out pretty darn good. Emma made about 10 pictures and had a lot of fun too.

The girls are officially sharing a room now. I'm sure there will be more blogs to come on that. We switched them this past weekend and so far it has gone well. All that to say, we now have a playroom and my vision for a wall full of their artwork can begin forming. These pictures will add to the display.

Claire's First Visit North

We got the privelege of having my sister and Claire come stay with us for a few days this week. They needed a change of scenery and we wanted visitors! Claire did great on her first road trip north. She slept like a champ and my sister owes it to the miracle blanket (for all of you expectant parents out there). Brooklyn and Emma really enjoyed having her here, but they didn't understand why she had to sleep so much.
My sister also brought her two dogs with her. As much as Brooklyn enjoyed Claire, I have to say that the dogs were her favorite part. Belle does not pay as much attention to her as Molly and Maggie do. This picture of our dogs was taken a few years ago, but I love it. I thought I would post it.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Ready for Summer

Emma came up to me this morning and asked if we could swim in the blue pool in the backyard. (that means our little plastic baby pool) I tried to explain that it was 51 degrees outside and it was way to cold. She just said, "I want it to be hot, so we can swim."
I told her she could put on her swim suit and swim in my bathtub with Brooklyn. She thought that was a pretty good idea as long as I didn't have to "wash" her. I have to admit, it was pretty fun. Not only for Emma, Brooklyn and me, but also Belle.

Thank you Sydney, Ryley and Lucy!

We love our "Best Bunnies" t-shirts. Thank you for thinking of us all the way in Texas. We can't wait to play with you girls sometime soon!
Love,
Emma and Brooklyn

Jon and Kate Plus 8

Do any Mom's out there watch this show? You must give it a try. If you have a DVR or Tivo, record it and watch while you are folding laundry at night. It makes my job as a Mom seem a bit easier after watching this woman with 7 year old twin girls (not for sure on the age) and sextuplets that are 3. Can you imagine?
As I was laying in bed on Monday night sick and watching the first episode, I was wondering what she does when her kids get sick and pass it on to each other. Sure enough, the next episode was ALL of them getting the stomach flu. It took 2 weeks to get everyone well. My "woe as me" attitude got a little bit better.
I think Jon and Kate's marriage is very healthy and the way they interact is great. I think they are Christians from a few things that have been said. Kate is so organized. Wouldn't you have to be? The show reiterates to me that God gives you only what you can handle. Obviously, he knew that I was not up to the task. (never speak to soon, right?)

Update

My last blog ended with me thinking that Emma was on the verge of pink eye. She woke up Sunday morning perfectly fine. She is still a little congested, but no eye stuff. Brooklyn woke up with fever. By the middle of the day, she was forming eye goop. Brooklyn went to bed at 6:00 on Sunday night and woke at 8:15 Monday morning with her eyes completely sealed shut. Tears actually came to my eyes when I walked in her room. It was horrible. I thought about documenting with a picture, but trust me, you did not want to see that! I was able to get B into the doctor at 9:45. John graciously stayed home on Monday to help me out since I wasn't feeling good. I love our doctor so much. We actually drive much further to see him, but it is worth it to me. He knows us and that is nice. He walked into the room and looked at me and said, " Do you have pink eye?" I said "probably". He gave me some drops! He said that a lot of the time ear infections cause pink eye. The same bacteria or something like that. Sure enough, B had really bad double ear infections. I told him that she had been sleeping at night really well. She is now on meds that will hopefully clear her eyes and ears.








I went down hill fast yesterday. I made myself an appointment this morning. Emma went to school, so B and I went to the doctor. Good times taking your 17 month old to the doctor with you. I have another sinus infection. At least they can give me an antibiotic for that. Hopefully we are on the mends! I took the girls outside for a little while today and that actually did me some good.
Thank you for your emails and phone calls to check on me!

Just the Bad

Okay, I retract my blog from yesterday. Having sick kids stinks! Day 1 was kind of sweet and cuddly and today has been painful and whiny. Brooklyn is actually a bit better and over her fever. I thought Emma was over her fever, but still very congested. It came back around 5:30 this evening along with goopy eyes. I feel pink eye coming by morning, if not before. Brooklyn napped for only 45 minutes today, so I put both of them in bed at 6:15. That might be a record, but I figured with "springing forward" tonight that it was really 7:15. They were exhausted. I am too.

Emma did wake up a bit ago and was yelling, "I want Brooklyn!" How sweet is that? I went in there and she said that she wanted B to sleep in her room. She didn't want to be alone. I told her that as soon as the two of them could get better that we would move them in together for good.

All you medical people out there, what do I do if Emma has pink eye and I can't get to the doctor until Monday? She is already complaining about her eyes and they are just goopy and watery. I have a feeling they might be glued shut the next time she wakes up. So sad. Sickness stinks! Did I mention that my throat is killing me and I have a slightly runny nose? Also, have I mentioned how many times I have washed my hands or put sanitizer on today? Sorry for the complaining. John is not here, so you guys are my sounding board.

The Good and the Bad

Let me preface this blog with the statement that no Mom would ever wish sickness upon their children, BUT there are some good things about kiddos being sick.


The Good:
1. They cuddle with me.
2. They take naps.
3. They are still, instead of constantly in motion.

The Bad:
1. They hurt!
2. They whine.
3. They can't do much for themselves.
4. They look pitiful and feel horrible!
5. You can't go anywhere.

I had a feeling last night that both Brooklyn and Emma were on the verge of getting something. Emma is rarely ever sick, so she has really been thrown off with the congestion. She had a hard time sleeping last night and just keeps screaming that her nose hurts. Brooklyn is snotty, which has been kind of normal for her this season. BUT, to top it off, they both have fever. To top it off more, we were supposed to go to Little Rock this weekend to see my family and the Tokar's. That is not going to happen now. Sad! Both of my girls are napping right now which hasn't happened in a few months. Emma is past the napping stage. I should probably make use of this time and do some project that is lying around, but I just want to nap too.

Snow Day Part 2: Sledding and Movies

After a long night, the girls and I slept in until 8:45. It was nice! We ate breakfast and then I called Amy (my sister in law) to see what they were up to for the day. I was hoping they were going to go play in the snow and we could join them. They were heading over to the hill at Lake Fayetteville to sled, so we joined them. Most of the snow had melted by the time we got there, but the grass was still slick so we got to go a few times before packing up. This was B's first time to sled and she LOVED it. I hated that John was not here to play with us. It would have been much more fun!

We left there and went to the Hannon's for lunch and for the kids to play on their little hill in their front yard. It still had snow on it, so they got to sled some more. After lunch, we headed back home for B to take a nap. Grace came with us and watched Annie with Emma and me.

We love that we live so close to this part of our family. Since we have been married, we have never lived more than a minute from the Hannon's. (John's sisters family) They are building a BEAUTIFUL new house right now and are going to be moving about 3 minutes away from us. Can you believe the nerve of them to move so far? It has been really fun getting to watch the kids grow up together. Their ages are not the same, but they still all play together so well. Such a blessing. Now, if we could get my sister's family to move here, that would be icing on the cake.

Snow Day Part 1: Slumber Party

John is out of town for the week, so with the scare of all the snow, we decided to pack up and go to the Elleman's house for the night. I figured we wouldn't get much sleep, but it would be a good memory. I was right.
We didn't get over there until almost 8:00. I laid Brooklyn down and she went to sleep fairly well. Emma, Davis, and Carley helped Aaron make cookies. Allyn and I sat back and took pictures. It took quite a while to get Davis and Emma asleep, but finally they crashed. About 2 hours later, Brooklyn woke up. I was in the room with her and once she realized that, it was over. She just wanted to play. I tried for over an hour to get her back to sleep and at 1:30 AM, I packed us up. B was disturbing the whole house and I was tired. (this is strange b/c she normally sleeps great in new places)
The snow was just starting to come down and I figured if we were going to try to get home, now was the time. I got Emma out of bed and we headed home. It was snowing really hard at that point. We went slow and made it safely. The good part of all of this, was that the girls slept until 8:45 this morning. (I did too!)
Allyn and I have been best friends since 1st grade and we lived about 2 blocks from each other growing up. We spent MANY snow days together. It was fun to make a snow memory with our kids!
Part 2 of our snow day is on my brother in laws camera. Once he sends me those, I will post our fun sledding/movie day with our cousins!