Obsessed with Tic-Tacs

In desperate need of toy to calm Charlotte down I grabbed the nearest thing I could find...a box of tic-tacs!  She took quite a fascination with them.  She hasn't let those puppies out her hands!  I can totally see the thought process in her mind...."if I keep chewing on it I'm sure mom will let me have one!"

Swim Lessons 2011 -- Lily

I planned swim lessons a bit differently this year.  I decided that I needed Lily to take hers a bit later in the day so that I would be guaranteed time to get up, get everyone dressed, and most importantly to get Charlotte fed.  Also since Lily was doing Safety Town this year we had to wait to do swim lessons until the 2nd & 3rd session.

Lily is in Level 2 again this year.  She technically passed it last year, but her teacher suggested she repeat it so she could get a bit stronger.  Lily has a new teacher who so far I am quite pleased with.  She is a middle aged mom, who interacts well with kids.  In general Lily is doing great, she is working hard and I can see her improving.  

Lily does get a big to ambitious though with her swim skills.  She feels like she can do anything.  Two days ago she got the reality that isn't true.  I'm not 100% what happened, but here is what I "think" happened.  Lily was swimming on her noodle when it got away from her.  Not sure if she was messing around on her, but I don't think she was.  So she floundered in the water, and of course she was in water that was over her head.  She apparently called for help and the lifeguard jumped in and pulled her out.  Not sure why the teacher wasn't in the water with the class but she wasn't.  The lifeguard had a talk with Lily about staying in water that isn't over her head.  Russ and I talked to her later too.  This hasn't made her fear water but she is listening a bit better about going into the deeper water.

Now a few pictures:

Sitting and waiting for her turn.

One of the few times she was sitting there like she was supposed to be!

Allie being so patient and waiting for sister to be done.

Me and Allie getting bored so we took some pictures of ourselves.

{See our hair color is the same!}

Charlotte WIDE awake when she was supposed to be taking a nap!

Lily floating on her back.

She has officially mastered this...two years ago!

Now if only she could move in the water!

Three Year Checkup -- Allie

I was less than thrilled to be seeing another doctor so soon after Lily's visit, but this was set up long ago so we went anyway.  I was gearing myself up to have Allie hanging all over me and crying during the appointment, but to my surprise she didn't!

Things started of swell with Allie marching out of the exam room after the nurse to get weighed in and her height checked.  I didn't have to go with her.  The nurse was pleasantly surprised and called Allie a "big girl" which Allie beamed at.  Her stats were:

Weight: 30 lbs -- 75%

Height: 37.5 -- 50 %

Allie stayed in a pleasant mood even when the doctor arrived.  She giggled  nervously a few times but in general was happy.  The doc cheecked her stats and said her weight probably wasn't quite as high {percent wise} as the nurse quoted.  He also declared Allie well rounded in height and weight.  He of course checked her over and when looking at her ears declared they looked perfect!  I always let out a huge sigh of relief when I hear this since she had such a problem with ear infections when we first moved here.  He looked at her strawberry on her eye and declared that it looked much smaller to him!  Yippee!

Then came the unsettling news.  He was looking at her hands when he found another strawberry.  I had never noticed it before and he showed me how it was raised and pink.  He declared it shouldn't be a big problem since it was on her hand but we should keep an eye on it.

Shortly after we started heading out to the car.  Allie was walking behind me on the sidewalk when she declared, "Momma I got a strawberry on my hand!"
Me: "Yes dear"
Allie: "And I ate it!"
Me: "What?!"

I whirled around and Allie showed me where the strawberry had been.  It turns out she had a leftover piece of strawberry from lunch on her hand and she ate it.  She sure had the doctor fooled with little piece of strawberry!  I laughed and laughed, and couldn't stop even when we were in the car.  I'm sure when we got to the doctors next time for Allie he will certainly be amazed at how fast her strawberry disappeared! LOL!

Lily's Kidney's: Part 1

 Today was the day.  I was super nervous, but I tried not to be for Lily's sake.  We{me and the girls} were heading to the big city to start the process of getting Lily's kidney's tested.  I was overly prepared with information to tell the doctor about Russ's family history of kidney problems.  I made him pester his parents for information so that "just in case they asked" I would know the answer.  

The trip up went relatively well since Charlotte and Allie were both exhausted from yesterday, and fell asleep a few minutes into the ride.  My nerves were in check until we passed the hospital were I had Charlotte.  The rode narrows and there is a metro along there as well.  With tall buildings on each side, the traffic getting heavier, and me not knowing where I was going I started to panic a bit. Taking a deep breath I randomly chose a parking garage and entered it.  The girls started getting scared as we wound down into the dark underground parking garage.  Image my relief after parking that I discovered I had actually chosen the correct parking garage!

We rushed inside to find a potty just to discover that the one on the first floor was being cleaned.  We headed up to the floor we were supposed to go to and found an open one there just in the nick of time.  We checked in and waited for a bit before being called back.  Lily got her height and weight checked and she also had to give them a "sample"  Guess I shouldn't have made her go bathroom before going in.  Again we waited...and waited...and waited.  The girls were bouncing off the walls being contained in a itty bitty exam room.  At one point the girls peaked their heads out the door and I was poking my head out to grab them when Lily very loudly proclaimed, "Where is my doctor?!"  Just so happens the doctor was heading in to the room next to ours and turned in a brusque manner, "I'll be there shortly"  Embarrassed I jerked the girls back in the room and shut the door.

Awhile later the doctor came in and proceeded to ask why we were there in a very confused way.  I explained the situation and she started to ask a few questions about Lily.  I tried to insert more information about Russ's family but the doctor dismissed it by saying that family issues didn't matter.  WHAT?!  Of course it matters!  I again tried to tell her about Russ's family and she blew it off.  By this time I was completely grumpy and exasperated.  She asked about Lily's potty training problems because this is a sign of reflux.  She asked how old Lily was and I told her 5 almost 6 to which she replied never mind reflux is apparent earlier than that.  Really?!  How would I know what reflux was like I'm not a doctor?  She finally declared that we needed to get an ultrasound and VCUG done on Lily's kidneys to see if there were problems, and that we should have done that first instead of schedule an appointment.  At this point I about started screaming at her because we  had TRIED to set that up but her scheduler wouldn't let us.  She insisted that we needed to see the doctor.

I asked the doctor to explain what the VCUG was.  She started explaining how they would put a dye in Lily, and then would take pictures of how her system emptied.  The dye is a concern to us since Russ, his brother, and his mother{?} are allergic to it.  Russ wanted me to bring that up with the doctor so I did.  To which I got the retort, "Well things have changed a lot since your husband got tested"  By this time I got snotty and said, "Really, I didn't know things could change so much in seven years"  I'm not sure if the doctor was startled by my tone of voice or the statement, but she started back tracking.  "Oh well I don't really know that much about the dye...how old did you say...well you'll have to talk to the techs....etc"  Finally I was done with the doctor after that.  I seriously never want to go back to her, but since she is referring Lily for the tests I have to.

The receptionist was supposed to get us an appointment all set up, but five phone calls and 15 mins later she couldn't get a hold them, she gave us the papers to do it.  Nice of her huh?!  Leaving the building, and getting out of Houston was a bit insane because I had forgot to look ahead of time where I would need to go.  After a few white knuckle moments in heavy traffic, and getting on the toleway once I finally made it to the familiar 288 and it was smooth sailing.

We have the ultrasound and VCUG set up for August.  So until then we wait....

A sad little girl...

We had the wonderful opportunity to have mom and dad visit for the past week and half.  The girls enjoyed so many different activities with them.  But I know for sure the activities were just a bonus and they really just enjoyed having Papa Joe and Grandma Lala to be around.  How do I know? 

Welllll....it began by me driving mom and dad to the airport.  Lily was bouncy and happy at first.  As we got closer and closer to the airport she got quieter and quieter.  Mom then began to talk to the girls about how she would miss them but how happy she was that they had done so many things together.  I think at the time SHE was trying to convince herself to be happy and not cry.  Lily agreed with her and said she had fun.  Then it was time for mom and dad to get out of the car.  We waved goodbye and then headed off down the exit ramp.

I turned on some music and Allie and I started jamming out.  Then I heard the sobs.  I was confused at first until I looked in my rear view mirror.  Lily was bright red from crying.  I turned off the music and we had a talk about how she missed grandma and grandpa.  It was sweet {but so sad} to see her missing them so much.   After a few assurances that we would see them again at Christmas she calmed down.  

As I focused back on the road my mind wandered to when Lily was younger and we saw mom and dad every month.  How I wish things were still like that and visits didn't have to be so few and far between.

AIA Sandcastle Contest

A friend posted on her blog last year about this really cool sand castle contest her and her family went and saw.  It was near us so I logged it in my memory for our family to attend this year.  Two days ago Russ and I were discussing  fun things to do with the girls for the summer when I remembered this sand castle contest.  I quickly looked it up and found out it was today.  PHEW!  We found out when it was just in the nick of time.

Here is a little info I dug up about the contest:

For over two decades on the first Saturday of June, teams of architects, designers, and engineers have taken their tools to East Beach in Galveston for what is considered one of the world’s largest sandcastle competitions. The Houston Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) has been organizing this competition every year since 1986.

This year over 60 teams have their eyes and shovels set on winning the prestigious Gold Bucket Award. Firms begin months in advance generating ideas, developing designs, and assigning duties. On the day of the event the teams, stretched along the beach front, meticulously sculpt their piles of sand and work non-stop for five hours. 

The judging of all sculptures is rated on originality of concept, artistic execution of the concept, technical difficulty, carving technique, and utilization of the site. In addition to the Gold Bucket, best team t-shirt design, best team signage, best costume, and public favorite. 

At the end of the day, everyone goes home with memories of a great day at the beach filled with fun, sun, sand, and sea.

Our trip to the contest started with us traveling an hour along the coast to get to Galveston.  It was sooo beautiful to see the ocean and also see the beautiful beach houses along the way.  Arriving at the venue we got ourselves all prepared to go see the sandcastles.  We didn't think a stroller would work on the sand{which it would have} so Russ put Allie in a backpack carrier and I strapped Charlotte onto my front in her Snuglie.  Lily has reached the age where she gets to walk, she felt pretty bummed out about that.  Our biggest concern was how we were going to keep Charlotte from getting burned since she can't wear sunscreen yet.  We had brought a hat for her and then I had the ingenious idea to put my nursing shield over my head and wrap it around her body!  Best.idea.ever!!!!

We got a few strange looks walking around but I don't care.  I'm slowing getting used to the stares because our family is getting "big" in most peoples terms and you don't get too many people who do activities with their kids either. So we get stares for that reason.

We walked up and down the beach looking at all the sand castles.  Lily still claims she didn't have fun {because she had to walk} however ever time we ask her about the day she claims she had FIVE favorite ones.  Allie enjoyed being able to see everything for once, and Charlotte spent most of the time sleeping.  Russ and I enjoyed our time as well.  Russ was dubbed the photographer for the day and got some really fun pictures of our favorites.  I must warn there are a lot of pictures....just saying.

The Tangled sandcastles were favorites of the girls...

Angry birds was a common theme throughout.  Russ enjoyed playing the game on a friends iPhone so he captured a few pictures of ones he liked.

How appropriate is this?  Right now we are paying about $3.65/gallon!

Quite a few Houstonians are mad that none of the shuttles are coming here.  This was one of many sandcastles about the injustice of that.

King Midas...This was one of the winners.  It was soooo detailed!

Lily loved seeing the minion from Despicable Me riding this shark.

Russ and I were in awe of how detailed this one as well.  It looked exactly like it had come right out of the movie!

Another Tangled sandcastle. The sign representing their sandcastle was soo cute!  And check out Pascal and Maximus!

 If I remember right this was the winning sandcastle.  The whole thing was just amazing to look at.  I really liked the dragon the best.

Allie enjoyed this one because it had "her monkey" in it.  Really it was just a depiction of King Kong.

More angry birds....

This beaver was interesting.

Angry birds again!

Read the title that tells just how mad everyone is over the shuttle.

Our how family was in AWE over this one.  We are huge Mario fans.  The girls had a hard time seeing Mario since he was distorted but the instantly saw Bowser by the castle.

The title "Kung Fu Sand-duh" left me giggling for quite some time.

The penguins from Madagascar.  I liked how the one was dressed up as a NASA pilot.

 Russ had to explain this one to me.  I thought Snoopy was a rabbit for a long time.  I finally saw and wanted to smack myself on the head for being such a ditz.

A fun castle.

Anyone every seen the Food Network show Cupcake Wars?  This one was based off of that show...I assume.  The cupcakes are having a war over the cake.  It made me laugh.

Russ liked the mask on this one.

Another Space Ship reference.  The four cities each were depicted by a Hungry, Hungry, Hippo. This one looked just like the game!

This Venice Beach sandcastle was Russ's favorite.

 Russ couldn't get a terribly good picture of this, but it was a Pac Man game.  It looked so real that even Lily knew what it was as soon as she saw it.

We only spent a few hours looking at these, but it was such a fun family activity.  I can't wait to go back next year! 

Yum-Yum!

Some one has been enjoying their applesauce and rice.  She's been enjoying it a little bit too much.  Charlotte enjoys putting her fingers in her mouth to help swallow her solids.  She gets a tad bit messy when doing this. As I feed her I try to wipe her face down a bit, Russ on the other hand lets her stay messy all the way to the end.  This was one of her worse days, but boy did she enjoy eating her food.