Off to see the Wizard...

This weekend we had plans, and thankfully we were healthy enough to follow through! Leah LOVES, not loves, but LOVES the Wizard of Oz, so we were super excited to see that the Little Theatre in Sullivan was putting on a production with their Children's theatre. I booked the tickets back in early February for Mom, Cynthia, Macy, Leah and I to attend. I'm so glad we went.

The entire ensemble was "children" probably ranging in age from 5-teens and they did a fantastic job...Dorothy was fantastic and The scarecrow was phenomenal. You could tell that these young artist put a lot of time into this and it showed. The costumes were fantastic too...especially the "munchkins" so bright and colorful. Leah watched with wide eyes and a big smile on her face the entire time. During intermission the ladies sitting behind us commented on how much she seemed to be enjoying the show...I was just happy that she wasn't belting out the tunes right along with the music.

When the show was done, Leah HAD to get her picture taken with Dorothy...but you can tell she got a little shy when it came time for the actual photo. My Leah, Shy??? I could hardly believe it either. It was so much fun. We can't wait for the Theatre's summer series to start. We already have our tickets for Pinkalicious in June, How I Became a Pirate in July and The Princess and the Frog in August...it's sure to be a good time.

It keeps going and going...

Whatever virus has attacked my family is clearly in the same family as the Energizer Bunny, because this thing just won't quit. I believe it started with Mitch. Fifteen days ago he complained of a sore throat which turned into a cough and so on. Then Leah was struck down with the cough that sent us to the doctor for a quick swab to check for Whooping Cough. The fever that followed was horrid, and by Tuesday Bug was down. My little Kiersten never got the cough that Leah had but her fever just wouldn't let go. She was happy to just lay in her room and catnap off and on all days. There were days she wouldn't even come downstairs until 2 or 3 in the afternoon. And by Thursday even I had succumbed to the cough.

I have to say that if the girls were half as miserable as I have been than they were total troopers through this bout of illness. And maybe it was a good thing that they had the fever to keep them lethargic and in and out of sleepiness. Yesterday (3/25) was our first fever free day in 11 days, YIKES! I've been going stir crazy, but at the same time don't want to leave the house with sick kids. All four of us still have a dreadful cough, and Mitch says he still has a sore throat. So help me, his has lasted 15 days...I can't be sick for another 10 days...I'm tired enough now that the third trimester is looming. The pictures below are a familiar scene from the last 2 weeks. Leah comforting Kiersten on the couch, or vice versa...and even Daddy needed to get in on some napping when he would get home from work. Please virus, leave us be!!!

Whoop, Whoop!

Whoop, Whoop...and not the good kind!!! On Wednesday night Leah was coughing quite a bit while she was sleeping. On Thursday morning though, she seemed fine. Thursday afternoon was a different story and by Friday morning my girl was SICK! I called the pediatrician and they said to bring her in right away...that there had been reported cases of Whooping Cough in the Public Schools. We loaded up and went to the pediatricians. When we arrived they put a mask on her and took her back VERY quickly. She was a little disturbed having to wear the mask and didn't understand why she had to wear a mask...to make matters worse the doctors and nurses were wearing mask too. They were all exposed already and were finishing up 2 weeks treatments and didn't want to be exposed again...who can blame them. They were very concerned because her cough sounded like whooping cough. They asked me TONS of questions, and gave her a thorough work-up. With her history of breathing problems and the fact that she used to be good friends with a nebulizer, they decided to give her a breathing treatment to see if she improved at all. They didn't notice much change so they swabbed her for Pertussis. She did not care for that at all...a large Q-tip up the nose is probably not anyone's idea of fun.

We got home and the cough got progressively worse, she couldn't breathe and was coughing so hard that she was throwing up. I was getting really nervous, so Mitch left work early ran by the pharmacy and came home to help me out. We quickly used the inhaler on her and the coughing got much better and she could breath. What a relief! But later in the evening the fever hit. For about 36 hours she had a temp ranging from 102.5-104.2, fun stuff! Poor Leah, and poor Kiersten too. She couldn't understand why her playmate couldn't play. While Leah laid on the couch and struggled Kiersten would bring her a blanket. "Here Sissy, have a blanket. Here Sissy, have a pillow. Here Sissy, you snuggle my lamby." It was quite precious and she kept telling Leah to feel better. Mitch made the mistake of telling Leah that she had a "Bug" So several times Leah has cried that she doesn't want to have "bugs" or "spiders" in her tummy and that she wants the bugs to "get out." Now we are working on explaining it as a germ. This morning she cried "I just want the germs to get out." My poor girl, it's so hard when your baby is sick. Mitch and I are both feeling optimistic that her Whooping cough test will come back negative...she seems to be on the mend. Thank God!

Addendum: On Tuesday the Bug got the "bug". Thankfully she has been faring much better than her big sister. The cough isn't as bad, and the fever isn't as high...but it's sure hard to get her to sit still...silly toddler!

On another note, I am now 26 weeks and 3 days pregnant. I'm starting to get uncomfortable even though I really am not that big yet. I had a check-up this past week and the doctor said that I am measuring small but I know that means nothing. Baby's heart rate was good and I have another ultrasound scheduled for March 28th. The third trimester is just around the corner. The girls, and I are all getting a little anxious to find out if this little on is a girl or boy!

The Birthday Bug!

Last weekend we had a "SMALL" birthday party for Kiersten. I am one of those parents who feels like my kids don't need to have a big party for every birthday...but at the same time I didn't want to just let the day pass. Kiersten LOVES "Wow, Wow Wubbzy" so that was the theme I used. I took one of the invitations to the new Cookie shop downtown and they created the most adorable cookies for us! I made some Lemon Cupcakes and Mitch prepared some pulled pork BBQ and we had a little lunch party. My mom brought fruit salad and pasta salad and we were set.

My parents, Matt, Cynthia and Colby, Ellen, Laura McCleary and her two kids came, along with the Hunts. It was small but FUN! Before the party started and we were getting things set up and ready Kiersten kept saying "I can't wait!" and "I'm so excited!" And when the kids arrived you couldn't contain her excitement. She was telling everyone "Happy Birthday!" and "I'm two"...she had been practicing that one. We let the kids play outside for a while. We were so lucky to have a nice day with warm temps in the low 60's. We fed them a quick lunch and then they were off, out the backdoor again for some more outside time.

Of course birthday cake time was super fun, and super messy :) Kiersten was so excited to have everyone sing to her and she blew out her number 2 candle like a pro. She clapped and cheered right along with all her party guest. Then it was time to open gifts. Even though there were only a few people in attendance, she had received quite a few packages in the mail. She had so much fun opening them all. She would tear one open and then move right on to the next. It was so much fun. I think she was sad to see all her friends go once it had ended but she cheered up pretty quickly once she realized that she got to go home with Papa and Gigi for the night. She grabbed her bag and headed out the door with no hesitation. Told me goodbye, blew me a kiss and was off on her adventure. That's my girl!

Yesterday we had her 2 year old physical. The nurse was laughing so hard at all the funny things that Kiersten had to say...she was telling all sorts of stories. Our pediatrician was so impressed and commented that Kiersten has a very advanced vocabulary for 2. She is so smart! She weighed 28 lbs 4oz, which was in the 65th percentile and was 35.5 inches which is the 90th percentile. There were no concerns...she's perfect, but we already knew that!

Planting the Seeds

The other night Mitch took the girls shopping and they bought all sorts of good stuff to plant in our garden. I have NO experience gardening at all, so I am excited to see my girls learning something new that they can carry into adulthood with them. Last year Mitch did a garden in the backyard and it was plentiful. The girls loved it. We mostly had tomatoes, Zucchini, Squash, Butternut Squash, Jalapenos, Cucumbers, Carrots and Pumpkins. We tried green beans but the animals got to them and he got the groundwork laid for some asparagus. This year we are doing all of the above and adding a few more things. Leah specifically wants Banana Peppers...so why not?!?!? Mitch also has plans to rent a tiller and double the size. We have plenty of land back there so again, why not!?!?!? I'm looking forward to all the good stuff that will be coming into my kitchen and the girls certainly are too. They already are getting excited about it, and love to go back and "play" in the garden while Mitch takes measurements and makes plans.

Today she is 2!

My sweet Kiersten is two years old today. And we started the day off right. Leah and I went into her room singing "Happy Birthday" first thing this morning. We had breakfast, dropped Leah off at school and then went and did a little shopping. We aren't "actually" celebrating Kiersten's birthday today, but I wanted her to have something special...so we picked out a frosted cake donut, WITH SPRINKLES, at the Wal-Mart bakery for her to enjoy. And boy did she enjoy it! Of course her idea of enjoying it is to pick off each individual sprinkle, then lick off all the icing and then eat the actual cake part of it. It took her forever, but she sure enjoyed it.

After picking Leah up from Preschool we had another special treat in store. We went and met Daddy at Dairy Queen for a top-notch lunch. The girls love to have their hot dogs and you can't beat the free ice cream come that comes with the kids meal. It was certainly just as good as birthday cake, which she will get this weekend.

My baby is growing up so fast I can't even begin to tell you all the things that she says and does. Like counting to 20 for instance. This one was new to Mitch too. We count the stairs everyday in and out of St. Paul's taking Leah to and from Preschool. She knows a handful of shapes and colors and of course her ABC's. She can identify lots of letters too and loves to say "K is for Kiersten!" She is a master at the iPad...and has become a pro at the game Memory. She is even getting into Candyland these days. Most of all I love that she is still as snuggly as ever. Sometimes she will just climb into my lap, put her arms around my neck and give me the biggest hug and kiss. I love it, and hope she doesn't give that up anytime soon. She has her 2 year physical next week, so we will see how she is measuring up but no matter what they say she is perfect in absolutely every way. Happy Birthday, my sweet bug...love you so much!

In like a lamb

The weather the past few weeks has been unbelievable!!! The girls have been playing outside daily, sometimes for hours. The temperatures have been high...like in the 60's, already. I love it! Mostly they love to jump on the trampoline. They love to play on the slide/climber combo, and just play in general. It's probably about time to get some sand for the sand table and some sunscreen too. I just know that Mother Nature is going to pull the rug out from under us at least one more time before spring comes...this has been too good to be true, but for now we are enjoying it.

I got the girls some wellies. I had been sending them out in tennis shoes and they were always caked in mud. They love the wellies, and they are so easy to keep clean. I throw them in the sink and clean off the mud super quick. And I don't have to worry about the shoes being dry for their next outing. Only trouble is, as much as the girls love them...I can't get them to keep them on. I remember having the same trouble with Leah back in New Jersey. I figured by now, she knew well enough to keep her shoes on but apparently I was wrong. Three times today I went out and put Kiersten's boots back on, but they always ended up cast aside again. I think we are going to be buying a lot of socks in the near future.

Tomorrow is the big day...My snuggle bug is gonna be TWO!

Truffula Trees are what EVERYONE Needs!

Catch! calls the Once-ler.
He lets something fall.
It's a Truffula Seed.
It's the last one of all!
You're in charge of the last of the Truffula Seeds.
And Truffula Trees are what everyone needs.
Plant a new Truffula. Treat it with care.
Give it clean water. And feed it fresh air.
Grow a forest. Protect it from axes that hack.
Then the Lorax
and all of his friends
may come back.

-Dr. Seuss

We, along with every other family in America, went and saw "The Lorax" this weekend. This was Kiersten's first movie. Well, techinically she went to see the Muppets back in December with Gigi, but wasn't feeling it so cut out about halfway through. This time she was excited, REALLY excited! She couldn't wait to see it. Probably because we read the book all the time and we can recite most parts of it. It was fun to watch both of the girls reactions. they were so smiley, and were actually reciting parts of it when they could. Mitch just happened to snap this picture of Kiersten when she was making her "OH MY GOODNESS" face. She loves to put both her hands on her cheeks and say Oh my goodness, and it's pretty funny. She loved the popcorn too! At one point I think she was going to help herself to the gentlemens next to us. He had the jumbo refillable bucket, LOL!

Leah was super excited to see this movie. She had been asking for weeks to go see it. And then this week at school they celebrated Dr. Suess' birthday and read his books all week long. We even took our copy of the Lorax for Leah to share with her classmates. She sat so well through the movie and was so well behaved. When we got home we were eating dinner and Leah kept talking about how she was going to plant some seeds in our back yard because "Truffula Trees are what everyone needs." It was a great movie for us to go see...our first movie as a family of four. The girls loved it, and I can't wait to do it again.

"My Cupcake Bed"

So the upstairs renovations are DONE! This weekend Mitch and I worked hard to get Kiersten's new big girl room finished. Everything had finally come in, the dresser was painted and she was ready. The first picture is the before...when the room was Leah's room with the queen bed and a dresser that took up most of the room. We put the twin daybed in there and everything fits so nice. And Kiersten loves it! She keeps saying "I sleep in my cupcake bed." So Friday night (3/2) we let her sleep in there for the first time. It was tough!!! I was just NOT ready for my baby to NOT be a baby anymore. She didn't cry at all but I thought I was going to. She went down great, no problems and slept until 8 am. That's my girl...she loves to sleep, and it doesn't matter where. And in the morning she stays in bed, plays with her animals and reads her books until we realize she is awake. Just love her so much...can't believe in four days she will be 2!!!

Nothing in Particular

Not a lot has been going on here this week. We were so happy for Daddy's return on Monday. He spent the weekend visiting Ryan in Salt Lake City. Leah is adamant that someday she is going to go visit Ryan with her daddy. And they will take her skiing because you can't wear shoes on the mountain only skis...and they will have to help hold her up. Don't know where she comes up with this stuff but we roll with it. The holding her up on skis part sounds vaguely familiar to the ice skating event back in December. Anyway, the girls MISSED their daddy. They are both so attached to him and that is not a bad thing.

On Monday I took Leah to dance at Richland, which she still loves. They are practicing their routine for the spring concert and surprisingly, Leah is doing really well with it and seems to actually remember it, YAY! After dance we headed to Tuscola. We met Gigi at Denny's for lunch and then went to the outlet mall for some shopping. First up was shoes. Leah got two pairs for summer and Kiersten didn't get any, I wasn't real happy with the selection so we moved on. We were walking into Carter's and Gigi says to Leah "Let's see if we can find you an Easter dress." to which Leah replies "How 'bout I get two dresses?" Such a bright girl, and it sure made me smile. Mom always buys the girls summer clothes for their birthday, and Winter clothes for Christmas. We did pretty good and Leah and Kiersten both got 2 dresses and a few other cute things. Even found one pair of sandals for the Bug. Kiersten's birthday is in ONE week so she won't have to wait long for her loot. Leah on the other hand has to wait until May, but she talked Gigi into sending one dress home with her and then proceeded to wear it for 2 days.

I attached two pictures of the girls, because who wants to read a blog without pictures??? We got the American Girl catalog the other day, and you should have seen Leah oohing and aahing over all the stuff, even Kiersten got excited about some of it. Leah thinks her American Girl dolls need more clothes. She is quite the Diva. But it was funny to watch. In the other picture I like to refer to Kiersten as Leah's mini-me. For most of the weekend if Leah was in her Snow White dress, Kiersten needed to be Snow White too. You can't tell because they are covered up by blankets but little Bug wants to be just like Big Sister. They dressed alike and when Leah wanted a pillow and blanket to watch "Mulan" Kiersten had to have a pillow and blanket too. Aren't they cute?!?!?!