To pierce, or not to pierce

Emily has been asking almost daily about getting her ears pierced. Every time I tell her - it's like getting a shot in your ear, are you sure you want that? It will hurt. She then asks, "will it bleed?" I respond "just a little." Then she says yes, she wants a shot in her ear. She wants to look like a princess.

In case you reading this and don't have little girls, Disney makes a ton o' money on this princess business.

After the "shot" appointment in the car:
"Emmy, do you still want to get your ears pierced?"
"No," she said still sniffling.

I gleefully jumped up and down for joy in my head. Thank the Lord. I don't have to worry about that for years to come. Maybe until she's 13. Because you know the shot at 11 will have the same effect.

Then later that week:
"Mom, when can I get my ears pierced?"
"Em, don't you remember that shot? I didn't think you wanted your ears pierced anymore."
"But Ariel has her ears pierced."
"Yeah, but didn't it hurt to get that shot?"
"A little."
Those were so not cries of a "little" pain.
"So you want to get a shot in your ear?"
"Yes," she said smiling hugely.

She forgot. In 2 days. 'Sigh'

Emily & Abby's Check-up

So, the girls had their checkups last week, complete with four shots. And they can't stop telling people they had to go potty in a cup. Complete strangers too - can you imagine some of the looks they (I) get? They thought it was so funny. What isn't so funny is trying to position yourself without touching anything in a doctor's office bathroom, while holding a cup in the same position for 10 minutes x 2 waiting for your daughters to potty. I was a contortionist that day.

We started off with Emily since she is the oldest. So she is 37 1/2 inches and 35 lbs. All my kids are shorties, and every time the doctor does the percentile thing (Emily is in the 5th percentile - I am just happy she is on the charts), she says, "well mom and dad aren't that tall, so I'm not concerned about it." And everytime I correct her by saying - "we're not THAT short." I am 5 ft 5 inches. When did that become short? James is a few inches taller than me, and I know it's not like we can slam a basketball or anything... but sheesh.

Onto Abby - my more petite girl. She is a whopping 33 lbs, but she is a half inch taller than Emily at 38 inches. I thought she was taller, but she always walks on her tippy toes so it's hard to tell. The doctor also checked out her face and does not think it's broken. Whew. She thinks it's some sort of calcium buildup (that occurred during the healing process) that will be with her anywhere from a couple of months to years. She said she has seen one on a kid that the parents elected to do plastic surgery on after six months, but that was with a leg. I would be weary about doing that on her face - just having surgery alone and then scars and such. That is not an option now at all. We're just going to keep an eye on it for awhile.

Then came the really fun part - shots. Oh how I do feel sorry for the girl that has to go second. She has to witness the terror and screaming of the first child. That child was Emily. Poor thing. At least Abby didn't see it coming and it was over fast. Emily had to dwell on it and she was crying right along with her sister. Needless to say it was a battle getting her on the table.

The good thing is that was the last set of shots until they are 11. Their feelings were hurt, but they calmed down and got stickers for their ordeal which somehow made things much better.

But perhaps the worst part of the visit was a conversation with Austin - after seeing a ton of babies in the waiting room.

Austin: "Mom, I have a good question."
Me: "Oh, yeah. What's that?"
Austin: "I know how babies come out, but how do they get put in your body?"
(He knows he came out of my stomach, which is truthfully where he came out).
Me: "Uh, that is a good question."
Me: "Uh."
Me: "Hmmm."
Me: "Well God puts them there."
Austin: "How does he get them in there?"

Thinking how to respond to that.... the door opens, doctor walks in, and totally saves me. Seriously. Like right out of a movie. I really haven't thought about having that discussion with my kids. I mean he's only 6 years old. Thankfully he hasn't brought it up again.

Looks like Austin and James might be going on a camping trip soon.

The Six Million Dollar Ducky

I waited a few days to work on ducky to see if someone miraculously found the same duck somewhere. No such luck.

This is the new ducky (nice foot placement):

Since I only have a travel size sewing kit, ducky has some new scars that are purple, white, and black.

This is my daughter's reaction to her duck:

I wasn't surprised. I just might have had something small to drink that night - maybe a few adult beverages out by the pool. When I gave it to James to tie the knot at the end (I could not for the life of me figure it out), he took one look at the duck and started cracking up. I guess ducky's leg wasn't where it was originally. This morning I realized it did look somewhat "off." At first glance she knew it too. No foolin' that girl.

But things did get better. After her initial reaction she dragged it with her everywhere just like the good old days.

Abby and ducky - together again.

07.04.09

Happy 4th of July to everyone!

Date the Declaration of Independence was approved: July 4, 1776 (although legal separation from England happened on July 2nd).

233 years later families all over our nation are still celebrating this holiday... I love history - it's always been fascinating for me. And I feel so blessed to live in this country. I remain optimistic that our country will pull through all of our current challenges. Americans always have found a way through tough times. God bless the men and women who keep us safe - and our ideals in tact.

Usually we quietly celebrate Independence day at home with our immediate family - sitting by the pool, cooking a few hot dogs, etc. For whatever reason, we decided that it was really important this year to get out of the house. Whether it's the war, the economy, tension across the world, or the wave of deaths in Hollywood - we just felt like honoring the flag this year.

We started out our weekend with a b-day party. My friend Merideth, who I think might be the oldest friend I still talk to - well her twin boys turned 5. It was right after I saw her boys for the first time that we became pregnant with twins. Something in the water I guess. We celebrated her boy's birthday at good ole Chuck E. Cheese. It's kind of like Vegas for toddlers. What happens at Chuck E. Cheese, stays at Chuck E. Cheese.

Jayson, Austin, and Justin being silly for the camera.

Austin with the "big cheese" himself. Emily knew he was a mouse, Abby thought he was a big rat.


Saturday morning we headed to Round Top, TX (population of 77 according to the sign) - home of the oldest 4th of July parade west of the Mississippi. This was their 158th annual parade and it was really cool. There were a lot of floats, classic cars, civil servants and local business people that participated in the parade - and most of the people were throwing loads of candy to all the kids. It was really funny - the excited kids looked like pigeons going after feed. After every toss, you'd see a cluster of kids - ours included.

We didn't bring any bags, so our kids filled up our "chair bags" with their booty.

Abby got lots of candy, but she was really interested in acquiring more bling.

Looking for diamonds, or maybe just making sure no sugar has disappeared.

By the way, our drought continues - and it was almost 100 degrees when the parade ended, and we were definitely feeling it!


"But there's still a few pieces of candy in the road. What do you mean we need to stay on the grass?"

On the way home we stopped and picked up some home grown tomatoes, watermelon, and cantaloupe. There is nothing I enjoy better than fresh tomatoes... I eat them just like apples. Yum! We actually made BLTs for breakfast this morning!

Later in the afternoon we went over to my friend Cathy's house and enjoyed some good BBQ with some good company. We then headed to a local church that had a huge firework display, including FREE hot dogs, snow cones, ice cream, popcorn, etc. Props to their church - they really put on a fantastic show! Good times! (By the way, Emily is absent in the picture below - she was having a slight diva moment. Nothing a snow cone couldn't fix.)


Austin and Nathan getting ready for the big show.

Emily is always riding on her daddy's shoulders

and telling "secrets" to us.

Waiting for the show to begin

and waiting for the show to end.

God bless America!

Poor little ducky

If you've been reading my blog for the last couple of months, you know I am not the most domestic gal. I seriously do try. My cooking has been getting better and I am finally used to being a SAHM, which is good because it has been more than a year now. And as far as sewing... not exactly my thing. I don't even know if I should admit when a button falls of, James (and on occasion my mother) will sew it back on. Eeks. I really admire those women who could sew anything - curtains, pillows, clothes, etc. Well now I have to give it a try. Me. Who would rather throw away an article of clothing than attempt to fix it.

Why, you ask? You see, Abby has had a little stuffed ducky since birth. I think it was meant to be a sponge, but it quickly became her special friend she cannot live without. I know I have tons of pictures of her and this duck from when she was small, but this is all I could find... from last October.

Sometimes even Saffron needed to be comforted with ducky (and blanky).

Well let's just say somewhere between Houston and Colorado, ducky suffered a small injury - no thanks to Austin. Somehow one of his legs was torn off in a tragic "accident."

I promised my sobbing daughter I'd fix her ducky when we got home, knowing full well ducky would never look the same again.

This isn't the first of ducky's injuries. In the past, an eye or tail, or something has fallen off. Luckily I had Ms. Rona, who watched the girls while I was working, here at the house and she would fix everything.

Now it's just me. And now it's not just a leg.

So just because I wouldn't mind taking the easy way out... if anyone knows where to buy this exact same duck, PLEASE email me. If not, I will be sewing a duck tonight and trying to explain to my precious (and very particular) daughter that it is the same ducky she has loved all these years. Wish me luck folks.