Girl's Night

Yesterday afternoon I started talking to Nicole about having a "Girl's Night", just Nicki and mommy. She was very excited. So, she helped me put Hannah to bed a little before 8:00...and she got to stay up with me. Of course, we first had to wash the dishes and clean up from dinner. However, Nicole was incredibly helpful! It was fun. After clean up was over, the fun began.

First, we blew Nicole's hair out straight and then styled it with the curling iron.

Then, I let Nicole pick out the polish, and we painted. Yep...our toes!

Nicole painted hers first.

Then she painted mine.

I then painted her fingernails. As we were sitting on the floor waiting for them to dry, she kept reaching over and hugging me saying "My friend mommy, my friend mommy" She says this occasionally, but last night she said it over and over. She was having a blast. Once our polish was dry, we set up camp in the living room and watched the last half of Mary Poppins. We laid on the floor watching the movie, eating popcorn and cookies. It was so sweet. Nicole had a great and so did I. The night topped off with Nicole getting to sleep in my bed. It's great to get to spend time with her like that. I look forward to many many more special nights with her...and one day Hannah.

And, for those of you dying to catch a glimpse, here's a picture I took of myself on my cell phone.

Well, my mother -n- law dared me....

to cut it short (after I got the ok from dear hubby of course). Yes ladies and gentlemen (um...probably only ladies on here except dad and "gramps"). I got my hair cut last night. My dear mom cut it for me, and I really love it. I can't post a picture though because I don't have a camera...so you'll have to wait a few days. Maybe Friday.....

If you're dying to know, you can click here for the picture we went by. And here is another style of the same cut. What do you think? See ya'll soon.....

kisses and fun

I tried posting some of this yesterday, but for some reason it wasn't working out very well. So, enjoy this little update.

Hannah has started blowing kisses. It's so cute. Here's a little video.

Here are some cute pictures from this weekend.

I don't think Nicole looked only two in this outfit...she's so cute.

I loved these two pictures of Nicole and her daddy...they are two peas in a pod.

Hannah had spaghetti Saturday night for the first time. She loved it. Of course there was more in her lap and on her face than in her mouth.

Have I told you before that I love my family? Well, I do...they are the best!

CVS Update

I took the girls with me to CVS this morning because they were FINALLY offering some good items with ECBs. Well, It was a great, and disastrous trip. Disastrous first...

I was in the diaper aisle trying to find more pull-ups in Nicole's size. Hannah was sitting in the cart (you know, where the baby sits) and Nicole was walking beside me. While the cart was still, she decided she was going to stand on the side of the cart (feet on the bar below and hands on the basket). Well, CVS has very small shopping carts, so the weight of Nicole made the cart tip over. I couldn't catch either one before the cart fell. Both Nicole and Hannah hit their heads (very hard) on the shelving units. The cart was on top of Nicole and I couldn't get it up or Hannah out of the cart. They were both screaming, and I was finally able to pull Hannah from the cart, but I couldn't get the cart up on all four wheels. I was finally able to push it off Nicole, and as I do this, a sweet lady who was on a different aisle and heard the crash came running over to help me. She had a little girl between Nicole and Hannah's ages. I was very shoock up and both girls had large red areas and marks on their heads from hitting the shelving. After a few minutes, both settled down and they were fine! Praise God! I just sat on the floor with tears in my eyes for a couple of minutes. I don't think I could stand up. It was scary. I took them over to the pharmacist and asked him to look at them and teach me signs of a concusion or anything else I should look for. They looked fine, and now, just a couple of hours later, their little head boo boos are gone. They were fine after about 5 minutes....but I believe I have just now stopped shaking. Whew....it was intense, but they are both ok. So, I thank God for that! I carried Hannah for a while, and eventually put her back in the cart, only to find a moment later that she had almost slipped out of the cart through one of the leg holes. Our CVS cut the straps off the cart to hold the babies in!!!!! So, I held her the rest of the time.

So, with my super safety goggles on, we continued on our CVS excursion (only because it was clear that both girls were ok of course). I purchased $52 worth of stuff, but I only spent $8.00 out of pocket, used 10 ecb and earned back 20 ecb. Looking back, I could have done better, but I was still pretty shook up (and it's hard enough to think right when the kids are ok, let alone when some catastrophe happens!).

FYI...GREAT CVS Money Maker. See the Neutrogena facial bar. It's $2.99. The deal this week is buy 2 Neutrogena products and receive 10ecb. These bars are not pictured in the ad, but they work. So, I bought two bars (rounded to $6) and I earned $10ecb back.

Thanks for bearing with me through the story, and for not judging me to harshly. These things happen, and this is why the label on the cart says not to let your kid ride on the side. I'm really thankful for the lady who came over to check on us. It was sweet of her and I needed someone at that moment I think.

The Great EsSkate Photos

Hey Ya'll,
Here are some photos from the skate last weekend.

This was one of the "big bridges" that scared me to death to go down.

Katie and I before the event on Sat.

I have the yellow jacket around my waist

All the skaters, waiting around. You can barely see me. I am in the middle, with my yellow jacket on. You can see my friend, Katie's, hot pink jacket and blue helmet

Katie and I eating after Saturday's 15 mile skate.


Linda, Me, and Katie during one of our breaks. We all skate together on Saturdays.

A blog of pictures

Hannah found herself a little seat, right on top of the play-doh container



"Praise the Lord' we all shout as Hannah raises her hands. It's quite a fun game. See Nicole's little hand up too. They like to play this together.

Awe....she's sweet...isn't she?

No Papa, you may NOT have my applesauce

These are a few of my favorite things....Nicole Loves Loves Loves to watch the washer and dryer at my mom's house. Isn't that funny?

The Baking queens. I like this picture, I think it's sweet.

No words to describe how this makes me feel.

Hahaha...cuties

Hannah is lovin life in on this swing. This might be a new favorite.

Beach Night

Last night we went to the beach. As (almost) always, we missed the sunset. I guess you can tell we are locals when we are walking ON the beach when everyone else is walking OFF. Hannah was not thrilled with the sand, or the ice cold water. Nicole was giddy all day long about the thought of rolling in the sand. She had a blast. For a full 30 to 40 minutes, Nicole ran around, laughed, jumped, and played. Oh, I just think one of the most amazing things in the world is to watch a little girl play with absolutely No inhibitions. It's precious and brings much gladness to my heart. I love it!

We don't have many pictures because 1. Hannah was not smiling much and 2. the camera battery died. Here is the best of what we have.

Mommy, Me paint my own toenails...

This morning I was taking care of Hannah (diaper & clothing change). I knew Nicole was in the "green room". I yelled out to her a few times, and she obediently answered. I didn't really listen to her reply, I just figured she was playing in her kitchen. When I was done with Hannah, I went looking for Nicole. As I rounded the corner, a look of confusion, then shock, then uncontrollable laughter swept over me.

Nicole found my make up bag, with my bright red nail polish and decided it was time for a pedicure. She painted her own toe nails. It was simply one of those "you gotta laugh" moments. She was so very proud of herself too. And, I can not believe this, she did not get a single drop of red paint on the sofa!!!! I am shocked. We went in to show daddy, and we've all been giggling since. It's pretty funny, but the point has been made that she is not to paint her own toenails again. But, we can laugh today:-)

Here's a picture in case you couldn't see the video.

I made it!

So, I skated 45 miles total. 15 miles on Friday night, and 25 miles on Saturday. It was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed the skate. It was slow (not a race). We would skate a few miles and then stop, re-group, get water and bananas, then go another few miles. I'm not sure why it was like this. I'm thinking it was for the police escorts. Either way, it was fun and a long way to go. I feel good, my legs are just a tiny bit sore today, but nothing to bad.

I did not fall, Praise the Lord, but I did cry the whole way down the big tall causeways (if you've ever been on a cruise out of Miami and you remember the bridges...that's what I skated up and down. It was pretty terrifying blading down the bridges. I called Jeremy crying when I got to the bottom because I knew he would help be breathe again, hahaha. I was safe though...just scared. Isn't it weird that I will jump out of an airplane, but rollerblading down a bridge terrified me. What a weirdo:-)

Well, I'm hoping to be able to post pictures soon that my friend took. She hasn't sent them yet. I need to go to bed. Good night:-)

The Great eSkate

Today I am going to Miami with my friend Katie to skate in an in-line (rollerblading) marathon event. We will be skating 15 miles tonight and 21 miles tomorrow. It's actually not quite as far as I first thought. I am excited but will miss Jeremy and the girls. They are staying home. It will be a fun time though. I'm looking forward to skating, eating and reading in the room (and sleep of course)

Look how cool I am in my skating clothes and protective gear. I went for a quick skate last night. I did 4 miles in 2o minutes. Not to bad I think. I'll post pictures next week of the event if I have any.

*Pray for me as I drive over on the alley.

*Pray for me as I hang out with Katie...we don't know each other well (and mom, you know how I get when I'm around someone for too long!)

*Pray that I actually finish, this sounds like a long way to skate for me

*Pray that I would be protected and safe

The Mommy Dance

Tonight I performed several different renditions of "The mommy dance". You know what this is, slyness of an undercover detective, acrobatics like a dancer, slowness of a sloth all with the goal of getting a baby to sleep then slipping out of the room before they know it. You know the dance, and probably do it too. There are several types, all performed to different music, such as whimpering, screaming at the top of the lungs, painful cry, and the most difficult of all, silence. yes, silence is perhaps the worse because you must keep your own beat, and pray there is nothing on the floor that a slipped foot will hit. Occasionally your performance is disrupted by another person's noise, yes, the other...usually older child. It is most difficult to integrate the other child's music into the song of silence. All you can do is freeze your dance, in hope the babe will sleep.

What on earth am I talking about? Hannah is such a crummy sleeper! It's so hard because I know what she wants...ME! She wants me near. She is fine if I am next to her bed, touching her back, but the moment I walk away, she simply looses it. How on earth did I create this in her? Or did I? I have done everything I know of to help her learn to sleep. I really don't mind waking up, that's not the point. I will go on tomorrow and A-OK fine. I haven't been up all night, just an hour or so. I'm just bummed that she is still not a good sleeper.

And....tonight Nicole actually woke up with the crying. Or should I say, After. This was frustrating because she was wide- awake. She's so sweet and cute, "Mommy, me take biiiiiggg nap". She's so proud, only for me to squelch that and tell her she needs to go back to bed. She got up two more times until I *think* I've convinced her to stay in bed (of course purely through guilt...I pretended to be her dog crying, wanting to go back to sleep, but I can't because Nicole is out of bed, hahaha. I wonder how long this will work). *edit* It didn't last long...she's back up again. OK...now the big threats are coming out. No more Mrs. Nice mommy...

Every attempt to put Nicole back to sleep forced me to continue the dance. Every crack of my bony feet and sound of my toes sticking to the floor threatened to awake the sweet, sort of sleeping babe, and force me to perform all over again. For now, it seems, they are both back to sleep. It's 5 and I'm suppose to "wake up" in 30 minutes. Do I dare go back and lay down? Perhaps.

But, I will say this....I love my girls. I love the way Hannah snuggles into me when I pick her up. I love how cute Nicole looks in the dim light of morning with her messy hair in her face. I love the way Nicole smiles with pride after sleeping (almost) all night. I love the way Hannah instantly stops crying when I pick her up. I am so blessed. I love my life. I love my family. I wouldn't trade them, or any part of them, for anything in the world....not even more sleep.