Olivia-isms

From the mouth of my babe:

Olivia hopped up to the table for her hot dog lunch and exclaims, "Now that's what I'm talking about...MUUUUSTARD."

Then a few minutes later I get this request, "Can I have a pickle? A giant-normous pickle? The best pickle ever?"

Who knew pickles carried so much weight around here???

And finally- after leaving a fresh brown trout in the tank she asked me to come and look at what she just did and mutters to me, "diarrhea."

I replied, "that's not diarrhea honey."

She then boldly states, "Only when our tummies have really really throw ups do we get diarrhea." She's four and already understands the ramifications of diarrhea. Poor kid.

Where's Ava?

I know I put this child to bed. She's buried herself.
With her babies.
And now she's back in business.

Poofy Heads

Today we went on a stroll through the neighborhood and we met a old man who had some extra lemons from his tree. We filled our pockets and happily strolled along with aspirations of making lemonade. We chatted and sang songs. We searched for pennies. We even found a few poofyheads on a nearby neighbors lawn so the girls both plucked them from the ground and made a wish. I didn't have my camera with me at the time but here's a reenactment of them blowing their poofyheads and making a wish. Olivia wished for "her friends" and blew out her poofyhead. Such a sweet girl.
Ava whispered quietly while blowing, "I wish for my daddy to come home." I almost cried. She looked so serious and truly meant it. God I love them.

And here's the best part...

Right after that we passed a house around the corner from ours. I saw a few people standing there but didn't give it any thought. We were gabbing away when I finally heard the woman yelling, "Ma'am...ma'am." So we walked back and she asked me if we lived around here and I told her, "yeah, a few houses down.."

And then she said, "this is my daughter Sofia and she needs a friend."

Coincidence?

I think not.

Sofia is 3 and perfect for Ava and Olivia. I told her all about Liv's preschool and that Ava will be going next year so she is going to check it out. We exchanged phone numbers so that we can get together in the mornings and the girls can play, or we can take them to the park, or just out for walks since the girls and I usually walk somewhere every day.

Who'da thought wishing on a poofyhead would be the wish that instantly came true? Had I known this, I could have brought my lotto ticket with me and blown out my own poofyhead.

Sisters

Sisters are amazing especially when they get along. And they teach each other how to read.
But sometimes they want to play a one-person game it it's gets boring to wait for them.
So they part ways and play by themselves.

New Camera

Got the new diggs but haven't had a chance to upload any photos. These are two pics I shot while messing around with the different settings.

Ava's new hamster that she is proud of naming Mr.Squigglesketty.... sketty- after her favorite food- Spaghetti...
Little Miss muscles

Odds and Ends

Some random pictures taken on the cell phone. This was Ava's first trip to the ER.
The next two pictures are of the marshmallow men the girls created at B&N after their reading group.

This was Olivia's first day at dance class.
The girls hung out with Ronald...

Painting

Between caring for the double ear infections (Ava), shuttling to and from the hospital, taking Liv to and from school and dance, administering the inhaler every few hours, Dave staying late at work the past few days, trying to maintain somewhat of my sanity, and painting the entire bathroom for the last 2 full days while the girls are playing at my feet- I AM SPENT. DONE. Cross me off the list and consider me done for.

I liked the color Ava picked for my bathroom though. We went to store and I gave her the choice of blue or green and she choose green. I pointed her in the direction of the green cards and she randomly picked a card and said, "I like dis one mommy." Okay. It's pretty and tropical and makes me feel like I woke up inside a travel magazine of the Bahamas. So I'd say Ava did good. I'd even take a picture or movie with my fancy new camera but I am so friggin' exhausted that I just don't want to. Sigh. On top of everything, Olivia is bouncing off the walls like she was shot in the ass with hyper juice and she won't leave Ava alone. Every few seconds she makes her cry which made me have to get off the ladder, discipline her, go back up the ladder, begin again and then --- wait-- there it is--- the scream from Ava that Olivia has just struck again.

All I want to know is where is my damn nanny??? I'm starting to loath her.

Today being Saturday I was hoping to finish the ceiling of the outer bathroom and finish my project so that I could do some other stuff on my list but alas, Dave brought work home with him. Oh goodie. It feels like a weekday.

I still have my entire bedroom yet to paint and the slider door frame in the kitchen from when my dad did the remodel. It's not going to be pretty around here trying to work with the girls asking me twenty questions and picking at each other but I will get finished at some point I guess.

If Only

Ava walking out of the bathroom yells, "Hey Olivia, peepee just came out of my crotchy!"

Olivia yells back, "that's awwwwesome Ava."

If only my life were that interesting.

And in other news...

I have been ordered around so much today by Miss A and Miss B that I think this is what it must feel like to be a man.

On our way from dropping off Olivia at school and taking Ava to her follow-up appointment a friend handed Ava a belated birthday present. Ava's eyes lit up as she removed the paper from the bag that was concealing a most coveted zhu hamster. Well that certainly made going to the doctor a whole lot more fun.

Ava's O2 has reached 100%. Her ears are still infected but should look and feel better within a few days. Her wheezing is still present but better. She's on her meds for a few more days and other than that, she's great. So great in fact the doctor had left me a message when I got home that her surgery was moved up from April to March. St. Patrick's Day actually. It seems like we are just killing the holidays this year.

So now I need to go make some phone calls and re-schedule all of the pre-surgery appointments we had to ones that would actually occur before the surgery. More phone calls...ugh.

Love Day

Yesterday Olivia whispered sweetly in my ear, "today's love day. I love you mommy." I replied, "I love you too Olivia."

Yesterday felt like anything but love day. Ava and Dave had been MIA since 10:30 AM. I had no idea what the chest x-ray showed. I couldn't get a hold of Dave once they were given an exam room and as the hours kept ticking away so did my thoughts of , "Oh God, what is happening to my baby?"

FINALLY at 5PM they arrived home with donuts and scratch offs. Because that's what good Daddies do when their kids are sick. They feed them donuts. Right Dave ? :) Priorities...

They also came home with a double ear infection for Ava, a O2 reading of 96 (getting better), more antibiotics and medications, and thankfully NO pneumonia. They thought she might have had it in her left lung but she didn't so they wanted to make sure what was in there didn't turn into it so now she's got some super meds to ward off the cooties.

Today she looks better. Her eyes are fine. Her face turned red again after the Prednisolone but after about an hour it went away. She's eating from the steroids just fine. She's in an excellent mood and was given the option of what she wanted to do today and she requested to stay in bed and draw. So she did.

She and Liv had breakfast in bed after Liv sprang out of bed sometime after 9AM. They watched cartoons all morning. I showered them both one at a time, combed their hair, gave them a quick trim in the back, blew their hair dry, put on some soft clothes, and plopped them right back into the bed. They ate lunch in bed and followed it up with a nap for Ava in her room. It was an exhausting day let me tell you.

So we are off to linger in bed and recuperate since tomorrow we have to get up and take Liv to school and go back to the doctor for a follow-up exam. I am hoping Ava's ears look better and her lungs sound decent.

Till tomorrow...

Valentine's Day ER

This weekend we have spent 2 of the 3 days in the ER. Ava is there again today with Dave. She's been x-rayed and hopefully will be seeing a doctor soon. They left at 10:30 AM. It's 2:45 PM now.

Friday night we were there for 5 hours. She got a sudden fever around 7 PM, complained of a side pain, cried a lot, and was recommended to go to the ER. Her O2 level were 90 with a high fever upon arrival. After several hours of waiting, finally some Tylenol and Motrin the fever went up higher and then finally broke but her O2 stats never changed. The doctor tried to rush us out, the nurses I guess split at midnight, and we were given a bunch of meds and sent on our way.

Saturday she seemed OK. My dad was doing a remodeling project with Dave in the upstairs bathroom and it was dusty in the house so we decided to go out for awhile. We went out to lunch and shopped for clothes for an hour. We drove home and on the way Olivia said her belly ached and Thank God for the barf bag I carry in the car because she threw up A LOT. What the F*** is happening??? (Ava was doing OK still, taking her medication like a champ, still breathing hard, but otherwise OK. ) My poor Olivia was sick too now and I was starting to feel like we were in a circus.

And then there's today... Happy Freakin' V-Day. Ava woke up, ate breakfast, took her meds and then looked like someone punched her in the face. Her eyes were red underneath like they sagged. Her breathing was raspy again and I told Dave just to go back again and let them know what was happening. She did have a scooter accident last weekend where the stupid neighbor kid rammed her with his hot wheels and she went flying in the air like a crash test dummy. I thought for sure she had at least broken her teeth but she sat up just fine and still wanted to play. Since then I've been concerned that made this breathing thing isn't cold related but rather maybe she broke a rib or something. So Dave was under strict orders to tell them what happened and to have them check her ribs too...just in case.

Last I heard she was x-rayed and given a breathing treatment while waiting for a room. I'm waiting to hear the results of the x-ray and to see if she will be coming home soon or if I need to go up there and switch places with Dave. My parents went back home so only one of us can be there at a time.

Till Later...

Photo Interrupted

We had a snafu over the weekend (during the middle of Ava's 3rd birthday party) where my magnificent camera that I coveted like a small child (enter sobbing here) hit the tile kitchen floor and was broken beyond belief. Thankfully most of the birthday pictures were already taken and the rest were covered with a cell phone camera so it wasn't the worst cast scenario but it did suck beyond belief.

And here's where the story gets good... My brand new spiffy camera (far superior to the dead one) will be here next Wednesday. Cnet rated it one of the top 10 in cameras and after finding a similar one at BBuy that I was going to get that actually would have cost me $140 more I am completely satisfied. The cnet one has more of the features that I wanted and a lithium ion battery with a charger so I don't have to deal with AA batteries dying on me all the time. So for a week we will be photoless or perhaps we will shoot a few with the web cam but most likely the photos will return in a week.

Superbowl Winners

A tribute to my husband who's from Louisiana and loves the Saints.
This is my dad and Dave's food fest on the couch as they watch the big game (note my husband's favorite TV tray and his watchdogs).

The Party

Was Successful... and the birthday girl's lights went out!!!

Daddy Day Out

Builder Ava made this fancy car holder at the HD with her dad.
Olivia made one as well and pounded her own nails.
Then Daddy took them to meet Clifford while I prepared for Ava's birthday party.
Ava's loving Clifford.

The Birthday Girl!!!

Can you say, "Happy Birthday" because Ava looks pretty darn happy to me. Every year we go to the same restaurant to celebrate her birthday. The waitresses were kind enough to sing happy birthday and bring her a bowl of ice cream. As you can plainly see- Ava is ecstatic. Here's my birthday girl the moment she woke up on her 3rd birthday. She is happy to not be 2 anymore and therefore NOT a baby.
Olivia took it upon herself to snap our picture. Just what I needed, my picture taken right as I woke up in all of my glory.
Here's my fancy birthday girl and big sister ready to hit the streets and go to breakfast.
Tammy came along as she was part of the group last year.
My angels doing what they do best- loving each other. Happy Birthday to my big 3 year old girl. You will never have to be 2 again. That was a big issue yesterday and now it's over. We are so proud of you. You are getting more and more independent every day in every way. Your biggest milestone right now is that you have begun to wipe yourself after using the potty, you get yourself out of bed at night and use the bathroom at some mysterious hour without waking us, and you take off and put on a fresh pull-up. Most people would not be impressed probably with something like this but to me it was the last thing I "had" to do for you as a baby and now you can do it for yourself. Amazing. My babies are pony- tail wearing, hip hop dancing, big bike riding girls. It seems like yesterday I was sitting in that hospital bed looking at your plump little face imagining what you'd look like as a child. And now I know and you're perfect. I love you cake-a-roonies!!

Height: 391/2 in
Weight 38 lbs

The Birthday Month

We've been so busy these last few days I have hardly had the time to blog. First, this must be the busiest month for birthdays. I think every family I know has at least one person with a January birthday. Every weekend we have gone to a party. This past Saturday it was for a neighbor turning 3. The party was fun and the girls enjoyed themselves like usual. We barbecued afterwards and had a neighborhood block party.

Sunday was the topper- Dave turned the big 3-9.


Yip, that's him waiting for his chocolate cake to cool down long enough to be smothered in chocolate frosting at 9:45 AM.
And his lovely cake devouring helpers finally rolled out of bed around 9:30 AM to eat their breakfast and be just in time to eat his cake. Yes, this must be love to be baking a cake for my husband so early in the morning. Was there ever any doubt? No, I love him... all 39 perfect years of him.

Ava turns 3 this Wednesday so now the preparations begin for her birthday party this weekend... I think after her party we are done for awhile. Hopefully.