Smart and Funny...a force to be reckined with!!!

I know this isn't a "real" post, but I need to get to bed and I wanted to share this before I forgot.

Today Alli and I were asking Alana what letter various words started with. She was doing fairly well with that, but got bored with it sooner then we did. She decided to move on to naming the different sounds animals make. I decided to throw her a curve ball and ask her what sound an octopus made. She hesitated for a second, and then replied, "Hi, I'm a Octopus!". Alli and I laughed hysterically. She became embarrassed. To cover the embarrassment up, she blurted out:

"Octopus start with 'O'."

She's 2 1/2.

Keep her in your thoughts...

My sweet Gracie is going in for surgery on Monday morning to get a lump removed from her forehead. They think it is just a cyst that needs to be removed, and is probably not life threatening. However, it would continue to grow if left alone. I'm starting to get anxious about it. I'm not too worried about the procedure itself, it actually seems to be pretty minor, but I'm worried about her going under anesthesia. She'll be in good hands with the pediatric surgeons at Mary Bridge hospital in Tacoma. Still, if you could keep her in your thoughts and prayers between 8-9am on Monday morning we'd really appreciate it. I actually have a lot to write about, and hopefully a day will present itself when I have the time. Gracie is officially mobile, and I can't bring her into the computer room with me anymore or she gets into Grandma's stitching stuff. She was eating thread even as I typed that. You can see the cyst in this picture if you look over her left eye there. Mom has all the recent pictures on her laptop; this one is about a month-and-half old and the cyst has grown a bit since then. I don't have time to get a more recent one, but I will try to post a before and after soon.

First Time With Hardanger....

They're kind of hard to see, but these are my first attempts at doing hardanger. The middle one has a speciality stich I had never done- the ones that look like butterflies. I think I'm hooked. I doubt I'll be doing anymore plain cross-stitching anytime soon. I've been cross-stitching since I was twelve or thirteen. I'd done some ribbon embroidery and some kloster-blocks for one of my mom's designs before, but this is this is the first time actually cutting and doing the lace stuff (sorry, don't know the correct terminology at the moment). These designs are by my mom's http://thelaceythread.blogspot.com friend, Thea of Victoria sampler. (I'll have my mom show me how to do the link thing the right way later).

New Pictures of the Girls

I love matching dresses on little girls!

It's Official!

I'm going to be an auntie!!! They just got the heartbeat on ultrasound, so now I can feel safe telling everyone. Chris and Alli are expecting their own little one in December! I'm so excited!!

Fun at the Zoo

We went to the zoo a couple of weekends ago. It got up to 83 degrees that day! Thought I'd share some of the pix.

They Couldn't Be More Different....

This already happy baby is even happier when eating:


Mmmmm....Carrots!!!





This one would rather sleep then eat:


Actually, she really is just THAT stubborn.

She was not going to eat the last bite that we asked her to eat. Even if it meant being there all night. She fell asleep waiting us out.

Drumroll Please.....

Gracie is allergic to:







milk.....









and peanuts......







no soy!!!!!!
Which means I can wean. No more stupid pump!!!! (Unless we have another, and that one cannot nurse either) I can give her soy formula when she's out of breastmilk. Yay!!!!! I wish nursing would have worked out with her, but I'm going to be so happy to have my body back and not have to pump anymore!!!

Alana at the Children's Hands On Museum

She had so much fun!!!!

Double Ugh.

I have gotten really sick of pumping. A half broken pump and two cases of mastitis made an already terrible process into a grueling one. I decided that I was going to quit. I got down to just pumping twice a day. Last Saturday, Mom, Gracie, Lizzie, and I were out and about and stopped off at Shipwreck Beads (Alana was with her other Grandma). I had decided to pack formula and a bottle because I didn't have any freshly pumped milk to take along. I figured Gracie would have to have it sooner or later anyways (she has been eating what I am still pumping and the surplus that I had pumped that is in the freezer). While Mom was in line to pay, I went out to the car to feed Gracie the formula. She chugged down almost all four ounces before I had a chance to even burp her. As I pulled the bottle away from her face, I realized that she had horrible welted hives on her chin. "Great," I thought. "I'm going to have to keep an eye on that, we might have to get her to the hospital....." No sooner did I think that then she began vomiting foamy formula all over the place. Okay, we definitely need to get her to the hospital now. Mom was coming out of the store just as I was taking over her clothes and saw that she was covered in hives, and her breathing started getting raspy....We tried to drive to the hospital, but Gracie was vomiting too much to put her into her car seat. We had to pull over and let the medics come and get us. They gave her a shot of Benadryl, and took her to the hospital to be monitored. Luckily, she didn't need an epi shot. "Probably an allergic reaction to the milk in the formula," they said. "Continue breastfeeding, and get her to the pediatrician first thing Monday morning." Okay. Went to pediatrician on Monday. She said to continue breastfeeding until one year of age. I asked her about soy formula. She said that most children who are allergic to milk are allergic to soy as well. I took her to the lab for allergy testing, and I'm still waiting to hear what all she is allergic to. If she is allergic to soy as well it means that not only do I have to continue pumping (I so do not want to), but I have to cut out milk and soy from my diet as well. Along with anything else she might be allergic to. Double Ugh. I'm chomping at the bit for the call...

Hope Everyone Had a Wonderful Easter!

Gracie was dedicated yesterday-here are some of the pictures...Alana did an Easter egg hunt, but I forgot to take still pictures since I was video taping. Here are the eggs she collected though! We had to move the hunt inside, because the weather was horribly rainy and windy all day. Seems like it's like that every Easter around here. Max gets back from the island today, so we waited on the Easter ham for him to get home. I'll be making that tonight. Yesterday I made stroganoff instead (a family favorite). All in all, it was a very quiet holiday, except for Alana being wired on candy of course (she very rarely gets candy). I hope everyone enjoyed their Easter!

Gracie Lynn

Gracie had her 4 month check up the other day. She weighs 11 pounds 14 ounces, and is 23 1/2 inches long (the 13th and 20th percentiles respectively). She is such an observant baby, always wanting to be seeing what you're doing. If you're reading, she leans over so she can see too. If you're eating, she watches intently. The doctor suggested that she might be ready to start on some cereal, so we gave it a try, and she did remarkably well. Alana did much worse after several attempts at 5 1/2 months.
I believe she is cutting her first tooth. Her fingers are always in her mouth, she is constantly drooling, and she's congested...but I've been wrong before.
I got some stretchy purple fabric for a wrap to ease the arm pain from constantly carrying her because she is such a mamma's girl. I'll have to get a picture of her in it to show you. It's so much more comfortable then the carriers you buy. http://www.mamatoto.org/ has instructions on how to make wraps, and how to use them. I love mine.

It will never cease to amaze me....

...On what grown men will sulk about. I like football. I think that Brett Favre was an amazing quarterback, probably one of the best of all time. I admire his devotion to his team and his game. He retired today. I think he deserves it, and good for him.
My husband, on the other hand, has been sulking around all day long. He woke me up this morning with the annoucement. Knowing what a serious matter this would be to him, I clutched him to my chest while he wimpered for a good 5 minutes. I thought this would be the end of the matter. I thought wrong. He acts like his best friend just died. Now, you say, he must be just goofing around. No. He is serious. Everyone around him knows he's serious. So serious, in fact, that it is incrediably comical. All you can do is laugh, to the point of tears, while he explains to you that he has been watching the man since he was nine. Since he was nine!! He has been playing for 17 seasons he says, and played 258 consecutive games....consecutive games!!!! He played hurt, broken bones it didn't matter. When his father died, he played in a game the day later, and played his heart out. Why don't you understand?!?!?!? My husband, who doesn't even have his daughter's names tattooed on him now insists that he must have Brett Favre's jersey tattooed on his back. He has been playing Madden 2007 all day with the screen frozen on Brett's face while Chris Daughtrey's "It's not over" is playing on the X-box. All day long. He caught part of sports center, where Brett was explaining his retirement over a voice message. I tried to turn it off, and he screeched, I just want to hear his voice!!!!!! Apparently, March 4 will always be Brett Favre day in our household. We will mourn the loss. If we ever have a son his name will most certainly be Brett Favre Rheinhardt.

Science is Fun!!!

Liz and I had fun with this experiment for science!!! We were able to get the bubble to 18 inches in diameter. Alana liked it too! If you want to know how to do it, let me know, and I'll send you the info.

She Did It!!!!

Alana Jo- aged 2 years, 3 months is officially potty trained!!! After a very stressful first two days, she became a pro at it. She even is doing her best to not go while she's sleeping!!!! She runs to the potty first thing in the morning. I'm still keeping pull ups on her just in case, but I don't even have to prompt her anymore. Here is a pic of her first potty, and a pic of the potty princess herself in the pretty gown her grandma smocked for her.

I might be seeing less diapers soon?!?

Today we are potty training. I'm scared, and she's ecstatic. It'll be nice to not have to change diapers for two anymore, but I'm not looking forward to the race to the bathroom for a while...or the mistakes. If anyone has any helpful hints on what to do about nights and when in public please let me know. I'm planning on using pull-ups for now, until she gets the underwear during the day thing down. Ugh. Who knew it would be so nerve-wracking? Oh, and I'm keeping it a surprise from Max. He won't know until he gets back from the island on Monday. Hopefully it will be fairly well established by then. He'll appreciate the extra sixty dollars a month not spent on her diapers, I'm sure. I'll keep you updated on the progress... Here's some pictures of her pulling her big girl panties and pants on after an attempt earlier this morning.

Who's the Boss?

What happens when two first borns have a first born? They end up with one bossy lady, that's what. :) Lizzie, for the past few weeks had been jokingly telling Gracie to "shut up" when she was fussing. Alana, of course, picked right up on that, and had been telling Gracie to "shut up" as well. Neither my husband or I really approved of a two-year-old telling people to "shut up", and we quickly reprimanded her. She even had a few time outs to help her remember that we didn't approve of her saying that. We told her that she should ask people to "be quiet please" instead. Lizzie was also reprimanded for setting a bad example, and she has been working really hard at not saying that around Alana. This was all going fine until the other day, and Alli was teasing Lizzie. Lizzie had no come back, so she fell back on the typical "shut up" in response. Alana whipped around, pointed her finger at Liz, and in a very stern voice said, "Shhh....We don't say that, Izzy (What she calls Liz), we say be quiet!!!!!!!" We just about died laughing, and Lizzie quickly apologized, of course. Alana has also been caught several times wagging her finger at her toys and putting them in time out.....I'm a little concerned at what poor Gracie is going to be put through growing up- I thought I was bossy when I was a kid! I think Gracie might be in for more than what I put Alli through... We'll have to work on her with that. :)

Happy Valentines Day!!!

Oops!

I forgot my password to blogger. I don't have the same email as I did when I set up my blog two years ago, so I'm having to start over because there seems to be no other way to get into my old one. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Let's see.....We'll start with Max. He still likes his new job, I think he really enjoys working with the boys. Unfortunately, the commute just wears on him. He is looking into getting on with State Farm, but if that doesn't happen, we'll be moving up North still as planned in the summer. I hope he can get on with State Farm.

Alana is a very busy two year old. She'd probably be potty trained by now if it weren't for my laziness. I just have a really hard time dropping everything to run to the potty only to find that she didn't make it in time. Of course, then she wants to sit on the potty for a half hour trying to go, so she can get her sticker on her "big girl" sign, and is usually not able to because she just went. This is all very hard to do when you are homeschooling and have a baby who refuses to be put down for very long. Alana is almost desperate to be a big girl. She loves taking care of her "baby" along side mommy. She can actually put a perfect diaper on her dolls. With no help either, she's never asked once. She loves helping mommy and grandma with the household chores and taking care of her sister. She's such a sweetheart. Even if she is addicted to Dora. There are sometimes when we have to have "no Dora days"...she isn't very well behaved those days. Oh well, I don't like her watching TV that much anyway. I can't wait for the summer when I can send her out to play when she gets tired of her toys.

Gracie is a thinker. She's very serious most of the time. It takes some work to get her to smile, but man, when you do, it's breathtaking. She's a momma's girl. She doesn't like to be put down very long and gets antsy when others hold her sometimes too. I love that I got my cuddler, Alana never would cuddle. She has had a lot of trouble with acid reflux, so she can get really fussy and spit up a lot if everything isn't done perfectly. Breast feeding was not a success again with this one. I had to give up and give her a bottle mostly because of the reflux- she would spend most of the feeding spitting milk back at me and had trouble staying latched because of it. So it's me and the old pump again. I hate it. I really do. I can't in good conscious quit though, when I have the milk to give her. Her, and about 2 other babies. We have a freezer full of milk....and I dump alot too. I should take a picture of the freezer one of these days. She'll be able to get breastmilk for at least another month after I dry up at this point! She is an amazing sleeper. She'll sleep a good 10-12 hours a night. If I wasn't having to get up to pump because of how uncomfortable I get, I could probably get a good eight to nine hours of sleep before Alana wakes up. I get about seven to eight on a good night now.

And now on to my news. I officially quit working at State Farm yesterday. I am now a stay at home mom. *doing a little dance*. It's so weird to know I won't be going back. It's a little sad too. I'll really miss some of the people there, and I've been working (except for when I was full time during the school year in college) since I was 16. I love being home with the girls though. I wouldn't give it up for anything. Lizzie and the girls keep me very busy, and I am NEVER bored. In fact this is really about one of the first chances I've actually had to write a post. It's Saturday, so no school, and both girls are down for a nap...At the same time!!!!!! I also am trying to get back into working out. While I am already below my pre-pregnancy weight, I still have about 13 pounds to go to get back to what I was before Alana. I look like I have more like 25 to go though, the weight gain mostly in my gut. Ugh. That's mostly it for me though. Most of my excitement in life is because of the kids....and I love it. If only I can talk Max into another one.... ;)

My Archives are Here....

Due to the fact of having to start a new blog, if you would like to see my archives from my previous blog, please go to this link:

Diaper Days 2