Leftovers!

I think the title is appropriate because I just have a little of this and a little of that as far as updates go.

Wellness check

Today, I took Rachel in for her 4 month checkup and our little tank weighs 14lbs!  The doctor was very pleased with her and said she checked out on all developmental angles.  I felt so horrible that she had to get three shots...and even more horrible that her sister likes to poke the band-aids on her legs!

Hide and Seek

It's been so hot lately and I've had so much to do in our house that we haven't been going out in the afternoons very much.  So yesterday, I thought I would try to play hide and seek with Elizabeth.  She can count to ten and a lot of times, she will cover her eyes and follow the sequence up with "Ready or not, here I come!"  (They play a lot of hide and seek on Sesame Street.)  I told her to cover her eyes and start counting and I would go hide.  So she sat on the couch and covered her eyes with one eye looking out between her pointer and middle finger and started to count.  "One...two...tree..."  Toting Rachel, I tiptoed into Scott and my bedroom and bent down behind the bed.  "...nine...teh!  Rebby or mmmm...mmmmm...I tome." 

I expected her to come running in there since she obviously saw me, but there was silence.  Here began my dilemma.  Do I call out and ruin the game?  Could she be  looking for me?  I look down at Rachel, who was giving me her best toothless grin with throw-up all down her shirt and all down my arm.  Now really, how important was this game and where the heck was the burp cloth?  I wait two more seconds and here strides Elizabeth into the bedroom with a ball in her hand.  She looks at me and says, "Hi mama" and continues on to inspect something on the bedspread.  So much for our game.  I said, "Elizabeth!  We were playing hide and seek and you found me!  Now do you want to hide and mommy will count?"  

"No," she answered and ran off to her room.  Obviously not the competitive spirit as of yet... ha!

Gus

An update on the little dog who adopted us.  With the advice of Jan, I put him on Craig's List to try to either find his owner or a new home.  Through a series of emails, he ended up going home with a very nice girl named Angela, who is a teacher and was looking for a smaller dog.  She took him to the vet, who said he is a year old and still has strong puppy teeth.  She's emailed me updates and he seems to be liking his new home very well.  He goes to the groomers this week and then gets fixed (poor pup!) and she promised to send pictures once he's a new (ahem) man.  

Fun with Rachel

Where's Rachel??

There she is!!

Yay!!

Hey!  Where'd you go??

 

Neighborhood kids

While the girls and I were visiting West Virginia, a little doggie showed up at our house to keep my husband company.  Let me just say that my husband is the biggest sucker in the world for a stray animal.  Both of our cats (Cat and Kitty...no longer with us) were strays and were ours at the word tuna.   Adopting Tina was a result of a poor hurt pup that wandered into our garage in Cowpens that didn't make it.  And we got Butchy after I was having a hard day and Scott took me on a trip to the pound to cheer me up.  So I wasn't surprised that my husband put out food and water for this scraggly little terrier.  I fell in love with him when we came home too...I call him Gus.

Gus stays in the front of our house.  He wandered into the backyard one time this weekend and took quite the shine to Tina.  She denied his Casanova moves and he decided to run back out of the garage from whence he came.  Anyway, I've been feeling bad for Gus and wondering what we should do with him until I saw the kids.  Scott was putting on Elizabeth's pajamas when Butch started barking up a storm. I looked out to see four kids (the oldest one looked about 10) booking it down the road on their bikes and Gus eating the biggest hamburger I've ever seen off a piece of newspaper.  (The same newspaper he stole from the neighbor and tore up in our yard, but that's beside the point.)  About five minutes later, that kids were back with a piece of toast and a cup of food.  They deposit it on the paper and then watch from across the street.  Holding Rachel, I went outside and asked the oldest girl if he was their dog.  She said that he wasn't but that she really liked him.  He had been playing in their yard and they had been planning what to feed him and how to rescue him all day.  The cutest little blond boy with no shirt told me that he would take him if his mama let him.  I told them that I thought he was very nice and would make a really good pet and went back in the house, smiling.  

It reminded me of the adventures we had in our neighborhood on summer days with our bikes...Courtney, Angie, Ashley, Allison, Andrea, Jason and me.  It always seemed that we had some sort of adventure to get into.  One time, we made a cafe out of an old tree trunk and then another time, we were playing in the creek and saw a snake.  Then there was the time that we found this treasure in the Bloss's backyard...which, 20 years later, Chris admitted to planting in the sandbox!  (Pretty smart on her part.  I think we dug for treasure for a straight week!)  I realized that I had no need to worry about Gus - he would get taken care of and this would be a huge task of those kid's summer.  

I think a lot about how fortunate I was to grow up across the street from great friends.  I always had someone to go to the pool with or go outside and play with.  I only hope that my girls can find the same thing.

And just as I hope, there's Natalia.

Natalia is our next door neighbor and is four years old.  She is the cutest little thing with a Columbian accent like her mom with expressions to match.  And she loves Elizabeth.  She comes over all the time to ask if Elizabeth can come out to play and I hate that most of the time, we're getting ready to eat dinner.  You never know what she's going to wear.  One day, she had on a Dora one-piece swim suit with a skirt and church shoes.  I said, "Natalia, are you going swimming?"  She looked at me like I was crazy and said, "No."  She's been to our house in a full princess costume (with Tiara and shoes) and also in jeans and a sweater in 90 degree heat.  

About a month ago, she knocked at the door and I was cooking dinner and had Rachel in my arms and I said, "Do you just want to come inside and play?"  Here she came!  She and Elizabeth played in Elizabeth's room for a good thirty minutes, Natalia being very patient with the selfish play of a 20 month old.  I listened to them and smiled, remembering the numerous times I ran over the hill, across the street to see Courtney.  It's surreal to come full circle.  It's a blessing.

Late Father's Day Thoughts

So I meant to sit down and write this yesterday...on FATHER'S DAY...but we worked the entire day to get Rachel's room set up and the crib ready for her to move in to.  Why you don't hear me shouting from the rafters about getting our bedroom back?  The kid was up FOUR times last night before 1:30.  So I'm a little too tired to shout.  I will definitely let you know when she pulls an all-nighter in the crib.

We weren't able to make it home for Father's Day, but we remain thankful and blessed for the fathers in our lives.  I am fortunate to have two wonderful father-in-laws, Barry and Larry and although the time is little that we get to spend together, it is always meaningful.

Larry attempting to steal a kiss from Elizabeth.

My dad and I were always close, but became a duo once I started getting serious with softball.  I look back now through the eyes of a parent and realize the many hours he committed to helping me achieve a goal may have not been the most ideal, but he took the time anyway.  Dad taught me the value of hard work by "making me" work hard.  I'm so thankful he did.

This is why Butchy loves Grandpa.

  

Now...my husband.  Scott is the best dad I know.  I've never seen anyone be so sad to see Monday morning come because it means he has to leave his little girls.  He works long hours...most mornings, he leaves the house around 4:30 to go workout and doesn't get home until 6:45 or 7:00.  Regardless, he always takes the time to play with both girls and clean up toys around the house.  He is in charge of bath time and cherishes the splashing and chasing of one naked and soaked Elizabeth Rose (who takes off into the living room as soon as her feet hit the floor from the tub) because he knows he won't be able to give his little girls baths for much longer.  

We had a perfect family day on Saturday and took the girls to the Brentwood YMCA pool to go swimming.  Elizabeth LOVES swimming ("sim!  sim!") and was the smallest kid climbing up the water slide on all fours (she takes after her daddy in the fearless department).  Rachel and I chilled out in the shallow end.  Scott volunteered to watch both girls so I could go grocery shopping once we got home and neither one of them took a nap (yikes!).  Instead of mowing grass, he volunteered to help me with dinner, turning on the radio in the background (which we used to do all the time, but not since Sesame Street has taken over our lives).  We had hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill and was just cleaning up the dishes when Tim McGraw's, "All I want to do is watch the wind blow by"  came on.  The song had just come out when we started dating and it always makes me think of him.  He knows this, so he grabbed my hand and we started to sway in the dining room.  The moment was so sweet and perfect and we almost got through an entire verse when we saw a little streak shoot out from behind the couch.  She paused on the rug to look at us, said "poo-poo", and sprinted back to her bedroom.  Scott looked down at me and said, "And just like that, the moment's over," and went in to change Elizabeth's diaper.  

Ah...what a life!  Happy Father's Day!

Big Girl Triumph!

Well, last night she did it!  Elizabeth slept all night in her big girl bed!  We checked on her at 9 p.m. and she was out like a light and we didn't hear anything from her until this morning.  Rachel went all night too, which would have been great, had the dogs not woken me up at 4 a.m.!  Ah well...baby steps!

Catch up!

My sincerest apologizes for being absent - I feel like the past few weeks have gone by in a blur and nap times have not been the most successful.  So I am finally sitting down to update you on my children...best told in pictures, I think.  We had a wonderful visit last week with Susie and Larry and Scott took a four day weekend, so I have been very spoiled with extra hands around the house.  I paid for it this morning though...back to the grind!

Ahh, a moment of good sleep.  Isn't she getting big?  I can't believe she's already 3 months old.  Rachel is a very social baby.  She talks my head off and has a huge laugh.  Her favorite person is her sister.

This was my backseat after getting home from the Y one morning...two sleeping beauties!

I swear, she always looks into something...

Scott and Elizabeth have been working on getting dressed and pulling the pants on over the diaper have proved to be a challenge...even when they are mommy's shorts.

My children always look so cute when they are getting ready for church...until I pull out the camera.  Somehow in the two seconds it took me to turn the camera on, Elizabeth lost a shoe.  

Rachel in the nursery with another Rachel.  Miss Frankie gave her the flower headband after her sister claimed the pink one...we call it her "pretty."

Daddy and Rachel.  This is how we found them when we got back from Kroger the other day.  Elizabeth promptly ran over and woke her up.  ("Baby! Baby! Baby!")  Speaking of Elizabeth talking, everything she says now has an article in front of it.  So in our house we have "a ball," "a bat," "a sue (shoe)"... and now "a bed."

I found this toddler bed at a yard sale for $20 and her Grammy and Grampie bought her the mattress and some Tinkerbell sheets for it.  We need the crib for Rachel (the lightest sleeper in the world who has worn out her welcome in mom and dad's room) and the little dare devil is climbing out of it.  Well, not so much out of it as on it...she climbs up to the top railing and perches there like an owl because she can't figure out where to go next.  I haven't been able to get a picture of this yet, but it's hilarious.  

So far, her record is 10 minutes in the bed at night.  At nap time, she doesn't even last until I walk in the living room and she's sprinting past me.  Then, it's back in the crib.

Oh yes, her Gram also got her silky princess pajamas that were a huge hit.  

Our other big news of the weekend is Rachel's first time in the johnny jumper.  This was a huge hit with Elizabeth and we thought we'd try Rachel in it. She loved it!  The biggest obstacle was keeping her sister from launching her across the room or spinning her to death.  "Sing!  Sing!"  (swing)

Saying bye-bye...always so sad.

And that brings us to this morning...when my baby somehow managed to pull this huge, loud, and light-up toy on top of herself...I'm sure with no help from her sister...

And Elizabeth managed to get mac and cheese on every inch of her face.  Back to reality!