Sweet Girls

Here are a couple of shots from the monthly photo shoot. I didn't realize until after that Ashleigh had food (I hope!) all around her month. Thank goodness for Photoshop.




Took Abby to the dermatologist this morning and got some prescription medications to clear up (hopefully) her ezcema. One of the meds is something similar to Benadryl, but stronger, according to the doctor. He said it should "help her rest" at night. I don't know if he could tell how sleep deprived I am or what, but I wanted to tell him I'd come back and give him a hug if it knocked her out! To say she hasn't been sleeping well lately would be an understatement. Lately, 5 hours of sleep scattered through the night is a "good" night's sleep. 3 hours is an average for me. I'm feeling a little zombie-like. It's worse than her newborn days!!!

Both girls are over their little stomach bug--I hope. I'm tired of all those unexpected surprised!

this & that

Here are a few shots of the girls on Labor Day. Everyone always comments on how happy Abby always is, smiling all the time-but why can't I capture that on camera? People will think she never smiled as a baby! And it's been awhile since I shared any photos of Ashleigh with her hair down & halfway fixed! She was thoroughly dirty from playing with sidewalk chalk, but I still think she's cute!



These photos are to demonstrate the size of my children. The photos are cute in and of themselves. BUT Ashleigh's friend Jordan is about 2 years older than her. And she's a normal size child--look how tall Ashleigh is next to her!! And Abby...those cute little PJs she's in? They are size 24 months!!! Do you see how well they fit??? She's still wearing some 6-9 month stuff in her regular clothes, but in sleepers forget it! I think they're going to be tall like their daddy.



Now for anyone who watches the Travel Channel: There's a show, I think it's called Bizzare Foods with [host's name]. Kenneth watches it some. And a few nights ago, they were on the coast in Louisiana, Mississippi & Alabama. I was horrified that the guy was eating raccoon and oppossum in Mississippi!! YUCK, GROSS and YUCK some more. EEEWWWW. Not only have I never eaten those things, I didn't know people ate those animals. Like chitterlins weren't bad enough. And NO, I won't try those either. Nor will I eat frog, turtle or mountain oysters. Or regular oysters. If you don't know what mountain oysters are, don't ask. I wish I didn't know. OK, enough of that.

About 2 am after another bout of Ashleigh being sick in the middle of the night, we got in "Daddy's" recliner to watch cartoons. I didn't want to have to fiddle with the DVR every 30 minutes until she went to sleep, so I tuned in to Sprout-the PBS kids channel-because I knew nothing innappropriate would be on there. I'd never seen the Teletubbies or Boobahs, Boombahs, whatever they are. I might have been deliriously tired, but I'm sure that the people who make those shows are on drugs. Aging hippies doing acid maybe, I don't know. But Ashleigh LOVED it. A little too much because not only didn't she go to sleep, but kept wanting to talk about what was happening.

WHAT!!!

No way it's been a month and a half since I last blogged. Man, time really does fly, I suppose.

Things are the same as ever. Too much to do, not enough time. Want to be thin, but apparently not badly enough, because I'm not. My babies are growing and seem to be more adorable every day. I know it seems impossible, but it's true! Not that Kenneth and I don't get a little frustrated with them from time to time, but that's all part of parenting. Right? ; )

Since I really don't have anything of interest to say, I'll resort to my usual: PHOTOS!
Ashleigh loving "Baby Abby":


We can either hope her fashion sense improves, OR that she will be a trend-setter:


That's right! In the south we all learn to operate heavy machinery before we turn three. (I'm joking, for anyone reading this who's a little dense.)




She's already practicing mothering skills...if she'd just put that energy into face washing and hair brushing...


Her aunt and uncle gave her this little toy phone for her first birthday and it's still one of her favorites!


A couple of shots from our "6 Month Photo Shoot." Hard to believe she'll be 7 months old Saturday!!! And she is trying to crawl. She wiggles, rolls and squirms everywhere now, but she's to that phase of getting up on her hands and knees and rocking front to back. She'll be racing around in no time!



Couldn't resist getting a few shots of this! Looking cute and eating dinner was just too much to take! She had to nap before bathtime.


Hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend. Ours was pretty good. Aside from me ruining a tire by running over what we guess was pieces of a broken toilet Friday evening. Saturday, the girls and I did grocery shopping, which totally wiped me out; Sunday we were all pretty worthless and Monday we had lunch with some "new friends" as I explained to Ashleigh. A girl I graduated high school with has moved to town with her family and she got in touch with me. It's really cool to get to know her, her husband and daughter because we didn't really hang out together in school. Now I think we'll be good friends. Funny how time changes things, huh?

Guess What?

Just realized I hadn't posted to let you all know:
Ashleigh had a piece of foam larger than a quarter in her nose!!! Oh. My. God. It looked like she'd taken a huge (for her) bite out of a pink Nerf-type ball, then shoved it up her nose. Aside from the fact we don't let her have anything foamy like that because she bites, tears and makes a huge mess of it, like a puppy, I can't imagine how or why she'd put it up her nose! So far the pediatrician couldn't even see it! The ear, nose & throat doctor, Dr. Ryan Simmons, was awesome with Ashleigh. He was even getting me prepared to have a procedure done in the hospital. Then he saw it, and out it came! And you couldn't even tell by looking at her that anything was in there. Mind-boggling.

Aside from that, all is well. Things at home and work are wonderful, except for finances, but isn't that always the case? The girls will be on different health insurance at the end of the month and on a cheaper policy, which will help a bit.

Enough of all the gab, here are some pics of my beautiful babies:

Pretty Little Girls

Can't believe my baby was 5 months old Sunday! Oh, and she rolled over for the first time on July 3rd!


Ashleigh loves ponies & horses. This is her with Lanie's horsey at their house on July 4th. I swear she was smiling when I took the photo!


These were taken Father's Day weekend; that's my Daddy. This was my favorite of them, maybe because he looks so happy! Most everyone says Abby looks like him. His response is usually that she has more hair.


That same weekend, Ashleigh got in the pool with my parents. I decided just to hang out with Abby and take photos. Imagine that!


And I thought toddlers were messy! HA!!!! When she was about finished eating, she took the spoon from me, and I decided it was a good time for a photo.


Today, Kenneth is meeting me and Ashleigh at the pediatrician's office. We thought she had a cold, but over the course of a few phone calls, the doctor has decided she has shoved something up her nose. (I'll spare you the gory details!) We catch her doing stuff like that all the time, so I don't doubt it. Wish us luck, this will be horrible!

Also, on a sad note, we don't have a cat anymore. Last week, I took Abby to the doctor (too bad I don't get a frequency discount!) and mentioned some scratches on the back of her head. They looked terrible. We weren't seeing her usual pediatrician that day, and the one we saw said the cat must have done it. I was surprised because the cat doesn't get near the children. But we couldn't believe she'd done it to herself. So Kenneth bought a flea collar, moved his food, etc. to the patio and put him out. After several hours, he was gone and we haven't seen him since. He irritated the crap out of me sometimes, but I sure do miss him. And it seems like now everywhere I turn people are talking about cats!!! But he still had his claws and was quite the hunter, so maybe he's just out "cattin' around." I sure hope so....

Conversation with a toddler

This morning, as I was applying my makeup, Ashleigh said something to me about growing up. I didn't quite catch it, she was mumbling.
JT: Oh, you want some makeup like Mommy?
AT: Yes! I want to grow up so my booty will get bigger.
JT: ooookaaayy (laughing, of course.)
After I applied some makeup:
AT: Oh thank you, Dr. Mommy, thank you for doctoring me. My booty is getting bigger already! See?
and she turned around and shook her booty for me.

Where do kids get this stuff? I'm beginning to worry that she has a fixation with her butt, though. Several months ago, she started telling us she had thorns in her tail! (Which she did not, by the way!)

Have a great weekend!

Yes, I'm still here...

Well, things have been busy and with my aging computer & crappy dial-up internet at home, I just don't have the patience (or time) to do anything online from home.

Many things have been going on though:
::Celebrated wedding anniversary number 13, actually left the kids with Rachel and went out. Very nice.
::Moving right along with Ashleigh's potty training. Starting to see some real progress there, I was starting to really get discouraged.
::A few weeks ago, Kenneth decided it was time for Ashleigh to go to bed in her room by herself. I told him that he had to be in charge of that task, I couldn't do it. Well, he did it! Within a weeks time, she went from crying (wailing) and carrying on to actually telling us she wanted to go to bed in her "big girl room." We still have to spray the room & her with the "No Scaries" spray, AND she still gets up in the night and comes to our room, but we're getting there.
::Abby is trying to roll over, but hasn't made it all the way yet. She is cooing and making all sorts of racket! Such a little darling and so good natured. We've been blessed with a very laid-back baby. She can throw some fits, but it doesn't happen too often, thankfully.

Here are some photos:

Abby's 4 Month Photo


Ashleigh at 2 and a half


Abby's first cereal. And if you think this is funny, you should see the video!


Ashleigh's Crazy Hair! This is what can happen when Kenneth has the girls most of the afternoon. But you know what? I love it! Not the hairstyle, necessarily, but the fact that Kenneth plays around with her hair. And he can fix it nicely when needed.

Another Month Almost Gone

Can't believe that it will be June soon. Next month, Kenneth & I will celebrate our 13th wedding anniversary, Abby will be 4 months old and Ashleigh will officially be 2 and a half! YIKES!!!

Things have been crazy busy at work at home, but in a good way. Well, all the housework can be overwhelming at times because while it's important to me to have a clean home, time with my family is more important. Kenneth helps out, so it's not too bad.

My first Mother's Day as a mother of two was quite nice. Nothing too over the top or anything. Got a really pretty necklace and a few other bits & pieces from the girls. Visited my family Saturday where this photo was made:


Abby was 14 lbs. 9.6 oz. Wednesday at her check-up. How can she seem so big yet so small? Ashleigh seems more grown up every day. STILL not potty trained but she's making progress. Slowly but surely. Just too slowly and not enough "surely" for me. BUT I am taking a more laid-back approach to the potty training because if we push too hard she'll resist out of spite. She's too much like her Mama and Daddy in that area! Abby is sleeping very well. I've even started this week not giving her a bottle right before bed. I feed her, give her a bath and after she's lotioned up and snug in her PJs, I put her in her crib, turn on the mobile and turn out the light & close the door on my way out. And she goes to sleep! All by herself, no tears involved. I am determined not to make the same "sleep mistakes" I made with Ashleigh. She is still in the bed with us much more often than not.

We actually have some plans Memorial Day and I'm quite excited about that. One of Kenneth's co-workers (Michelle, his "work wife") invited us to grill out with her family that afternoon. The kids will play in a little kiddie pool. Ashleigh will LOVE that!

Oh, and I know the change to my header is a little iffy, I just really wanted to see if I could use an animated gif for a header. Now that I know I can, I'll see what I can come up with....let me know if you have any ideas!

Happy Memorial Day weekend!

Market Street & Milestones

Milestones first! Can't believe Abby was 3 months old Tuesday! And it continues to amaze me how different she and her sister are. Abby sleeps much better, but Ashleigh was holding her head up better by this age. Kenneth fussed at me for comparing them, but I'm not comparing them in a "your sister is better than you" kind of way. And honestly while their personalities are quite different, I think Abby sleeps better (and in her bed) because she's been laid down to sleep since she was born. Ashleigh wasn't. And Ashleigh was able to raise her head and chest up off the floor because she got plenty of tummy time. Abby hasn't been getting much at all. But I'm working on that...


Last weekend was the Market Street Festival in Columbus. Kenneth stayed home with Abby and Ashleigh and I headed out to meet Dora. Ashleigh was so excited, it was almost impossible to get a "good" photo of them.


Next, we went to The Commercial Dispatch booth for a little painting. Since she sees me painting quite a bit and always wants to help, she really loved this! This is when Kriesten met up with us. She is my friend Evie's daughter. She got to play big sister to Ashleigh and I hope she had a good time.


Funny story about this pony ride. For Ashleigh, it was a pony sit! The man put her up there an would back away when I got my shot set up so it would just be her and the pony in the photo. Before they started walking, she started crying for me. I went in and tried to get her to stay, but she was having none of that. She rubbed the pony's head while I was holding her, but she was not getting back on it! Me being the photo & scrapbook crazy person I am, was fine with that. I had my photos and I wasn't going to force her to ride. Then the nicest thing happened: they gave me my money back! That's always a good thing, right?


After this, she and Kriesten went in the petting zoo and rode a little swing-type ride. The we left, Ashleigh drank too quickly and threw up in my truck. But I won't go into details on that!

Let's Compare

I've been meaning to post the girls' hospital photos for a while, and finally remembered to do it. It's just fun to look at them side by side. It's also how funny these photos look nothing like them. And when I say that, I don't mean as compared to now, because that's pretty obvious. I mean they didn't look like that in the photos we took of them at the hospital on the same day! I've always joked that these photos are almost always horrible, but you just have to buy them!


Even more amazing to me is how much Ashleigh has changed! I think she'll be the person that nobody can tell their baby pictures are theirs. Wonder if Abby will change as dramatically...


That's about all for today...Kenneth and I have the crud, AGAIN. Abby has a bit of a runny nose and Ashleigh is over her runny nose and going wide open, as usual.

WEEKEND PHOTOS

Took some photos of the girls Saturday morning and like how they turned out.






Had a birthday party Sunday afternoon. Ashleigh's first skating party and Abby's first party ever. Ashleigh skated from one end of the rink to the other after telling me to "let her do it!" meaning I didn't need to cramp her style by holding her hand; then sat down, took the skates off and told me she was finished. She liked the big pit of balls much better. And Kenneth also got several cute shots of Abby in her little crown. This probably isn't the best photo of them overall, but something about her expression just draws me to this one.



Had a good weekend, but Monday was interesting. In a bad way. Abby started shreiking and wailing right after I got to Diane's house to drop her and Ashleigh off. I stayed awhile and thought I'd gotten her calmed down, but I wasn't 10 miles away before I was called back home. I took her to the doctor and she couldn't find anything wrong with her. And I'm really not a freak-out-over-nothing type person, not even when it comes to my babies. This was some serious screaming going on. Worse than when she had thrush and that was horrible. She's cried more today, but not as bad. Wish us luck!

Little Things...

Sometimes the smallest things make me feel good. Things like:

: Waxing my eyebrows
: Buying new lipstick
: Buying new eyeshadow
: Having my nails freshly trimmed and painted-all nice and neat!
: No dirty dishes in the sink
: Hearing Ashleigh laugh
: Seeing Abby smile
: Joking around with Kenneth
: Having my Mom come visit
: Getting a call from Kenneth during the day just to see how I'm feeling
: Wearing a comfy t-shirt and PJ pants
: Getting a few uninterrupted moments to read or watch tv
: New songs on my MP3 player
: Painting
: Prozac (gotta be honest!!!)


What are some little things that make you happy?
Have a WONDERFUL weekend!!!!

Cutie Pies

Here are a few pics of the girls from this past week:




I love my babies!! I just can't get enough of them. (OK, maybe I can when we're all tired and cranky, but you've got to take the good with the bad, right?)

Here's a little bit of truth I've found the past few weeks. Isn't it Murphy's Law that anything that can go wrong will? Well, when you are a parent of small children, it's a little different. When you are pressed for time, anything that can go wrong will. The more time-crunched you are, the more things go wrong. HOWEVER, if you allow yourself an extra 2 hours, EVERYTHING will go smoothly.

I have a great husband

{Note: Last night was much better than the one before. Crying and whining was minimal-and none from me! That's always a good thing.}

Kenneth is home with the girls today, that lucky duck! Even if they can be a handful, I'd rather be home with my babies. But there is a benefit for me to him being home: the laundry should be done! It's mostly clean and dry and just needs to be put away.

The first day he kept the girls he told me (and my coworkers) that he didn't know how I did it, meaning keeping them all the time and not losing my sanity. And then cleaning, cooking, etc. too! But he doesn't hesitate to take time off to keep them when needed. This is a really good thing considering I don't have any paid time off left & he has PLENTY.

He helps with the girls baths (well, Ashleigh's-I haven't asked him to handle a slippery wiggling baby yet! He vaccuums, straightens up and even made dinner one day last week.

When we've talked about things before, he's admitted he should do more and I'm not going to pretend I don't agree. But, I also know that he does more than many husbands/daddys do. For example, he picks the girls up every day and has them by himself for an hour or more every day.

He's a good Daddy and that means everything to me. I couldn't stay married to him if he weren't. And being a good Daddy is part of what makes him a good husband.

Love you sweetie! (If you ever read this)

And no, I don't want anything!

Not so great...

but doing better.

Quick recap of last night:
Started out pretty well, but went quickly downhill within an hour. After dinner, Kenneth left the house to work on a project and I started trying to get a few things done around the house. HA!!! Abby was fussy. OK, not so bad-that happens. Ashleigh was very high maintenance last night, probably partly because of a nap that lasted only 20 minutes yesterday. I finally gave up on trying to accomplish anything, so I tried to just console Abby and watch a little tv. Hard to do with a 2 year old trying to climb you like you're a mountain. All the while singing/talking VERY loudly. By 9pm, I was just about at the end of my rope. Did I mention my sinuses are all messed up, I'm still VERY tired and I had a headache?

I turned out the lights, put Abby in bed, Ashleigh in bed with me-with instruction to be still and quiet, I didn't care if she slept or not! About the time Abby decided she would NOT be ignored, Kenneth got home and I told him to "get her" and very shortly after that, I was blissfully asleep.

Tonight's plans are for things to go much differently that last night! Hope Kenneth feels like helping with everything, because we're going to be busy bees. I just cannot stand for my house to be in disarray. And man, is it ever in disarray right now.

Wish us luck!

Easter Weekend

Well, it was really cold this weekend, not exactly "Easter weather." Especially since last week we've had highs in the upper 80's! Hard to get used to highs in the 40's just a couple of days later. Had a really nice visit with my family though. Got to see almost everyone, which was a nice change. I ate way too much, but that's OK. I'm "back on the wagon" this week and hopefully with the help of several new workout DVD's (courtesy of my sister, Cory) I'll start dropping this excess padding. I sure hope so because I'm not feeling too happy with myself these days-appearance wise.

Here are a few pictures of the important people from this weekend:

My sweet girls in their matching dresses that "Mommy Dale" bought them. Ashleigh's hair was just a mess Easter morning! But that just adds a little humor to the memory, right?


There sure were alot of eggs for just Ashleigh and Jayden to hunt! We'll be stepping on plastic eggs for months, I'm sure...


I decided this would do for Abby's "2 month" photo. Yes, I'll be doing photos of Abby each month on the 8th, just like I did with Ashleigh. Maybe for her 3rd month I'll get a really good one with her eyes open.

Over a month?

Has it really been over a month since I posted? I just can't believe it's been that long, but apparently it has been.

This is the end of my second week back at work. : / It's nice to get out of the house more and have more adult interaction. Not long before I came back, Kenneth said he'd be glad when I came back to work because we'd have stuff to talk about! As far as being back at work, I pretty much fell back in like I never was gone. Everyone seemed happy that I was back and it's always nice to feel needed!

Of course, now the housework is starting to pile up. I do a little each night, but it's almost 6pm when I get home. There's dinner and baths for the girls and you know I have to fit in some time with all the family! I try to sneak in a few tv shows a week (Thank God again for DVR!) and I try to be in bed by 9pm. Needless to say, my evenings fly by.

The girls are both doing well. Abby will be 2 months old Sunday! And Easter is also my Mom's birthday. We're going up for the weekend, so wish me luck. I'm always nervous about spending the night away from home with little ones. It puts us both out of our comfort zone. And Lord knows, it's going to look like we're moving with all the stuff I'll pack. And there's the little matter of the Easter Bunny coming to see them at "Papaw & Mommy Dale's" house. But I think I have that figured out too. It will be fun.

Ashleigh is just as cute as ever. The things she says and does are an endless source of amusement for us. And an endless since of frustration. Pretty much everything is a battle with our strong-willed little 2 year old. BUT I'm currently reading "Happiest Toddler on the Block" by Harvey Karp. If it helps me as much as the "baby" version, our lives will get much easier pretty soon. I should have finished it by now, but it's hard to find the time! (I can't imagine why)

Photos!

{See another post below!}

My sweet little Abby. Photo taken by Angela Jett:


LOVE this one of the girls. Also taken by AJ:


Ashleigh and her cousin, Jayden:


Took this one of Abby a few days ago:


One of my all time favorites of Ashleigh, also by AJ: