Saturday Fun!

I made the snowballs to big, so one snowman turned into two.

Time for new pics!

Kaitlyn and her play-doh

Kaitlyn's awesome snowman. Ok, daddy may have helped a little...haha

A funny for the day

ALWAYS CHECK YOUR CHILD'S HOMEWORK!

(Here's the reply the teacher received the following day)

Dear Mrs. Jones,

I wish to clarify that I am not now, nor have I ever been, an exotic dancer.

I work at Home Depot and I told my daughter how hectic it was last week before the blizzard hit. I told her we sold out every single shovel we had, and then I found one more in the back room, and that several people were fighting over who would get it. Her picture doesn't show me dancing around a pole. It's supposed to depict me selling the last snow shovel we had at Home Depot.

From now on I will remember to check her homework more thoroughly before she turns it in.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Smith

Subway, Eat fresh!

Kaitlyn has always been fascinated with Subway commercials. The "Five-dollar foot long" song is able to catch her attention instantly, and it has been that way since she was very young. Lately, the "Eat Fresh" slogan has made a comeback on Subway commercials, and Kaitlyn has apparently caught on in a big way. The last couple of nights now, she has been known to repeat several times "Eat Fresh". Sometimes it is random, other times it is kicked off by the commercial on TV. Maybe she should be a new representative for Subway! I mean come on, who could resist a cute little 2 year old blond girl saying "Eat Fresh" repeatedly for no apparent reason other than...she can.

History

Whether or not you voted for Obama (I did), you have to recognize and respect the amazing history that was made today when he was sworn in as 44th president of the United States. I am very excited that some day I can tell the girls about some of the events they will learn about in school, from my own point of view. September 11th (which incidentally is their daddy's birthday) and today are so far at the top of the list.

Exciting stuff.

Kaitlyn the stomach bug magnet

So this past Friday, poor Kaitlyn ended up with another (short lived, luckily) stomach bug. I brought her and Brianna to daycare, and just a few minutes after getting home I got a call from Andy. Daycare called him because Kaitlyn just threw up all over the table at breakfast. Actually she hadn't even taken a bite yet. So, we went and picked the girls up. Kaitlyn didn't get sick the whole rest of the day (other than once...umm, out the other end) and recovered quite quickly. SO thankful that it didn't last into the weekend. Poor girl! The whole rest of the weekend, Kaitlyn kept telling us "Puke at Roni's" (our daycare provider). "Yes, Kaitlyn. Yes you did".

So this is Christmas

Okay, so Christmas is long gone now. I know I'm a little late...but better late than never, right?
Just a few pics from Christmas 2008 :-)

Kaitlyn at the daycare Christmas party...not the best pic but you can tell she was tired. She was mighty cranky, too...lol


Kaitlyn and cousin Sydnee, -Christmas Eve in Virginia


Opening presents - Christmas Eve in Virginia


Brianna hanging out with some gifts on Christmas Eve


Opening more presents Christmas morning, once I arrived.


Later Christmas day in Cook


More presents in Cook


Elmo Live!


Spending time outside in Cook


Kaitlyn and I in the snow


Brianna all bundled in the snow...what a cutie!


I can't believe how stinking cute my children are!

Brianna's 4 month stats (vs. Kaitlyn's 4 month stats)

Brianna had her 4 month appointment today and it went well. I thought it would be fun to compare Brianna at 4 months, with what Kaitlyn was at 4 months. They are SO different :-)

4 MONTH BRIANNA:
Weight: 14 lbs, 13 oz (69 %)
Height: 24.5" (50%)
Head: 16 1/4" (53%)

4 MONTH KAITLYN:
Weight: 12 lbs, 4 oz (18%)
Height: 22.5" (3%)
16" (36%)

Just when you think it is cold....

Tok, Alaska
Forecast for Upper Tanana Valley and the Fortymile Country
Updated: 10:08 am EST on January 10, 2009

Today
Mostly clear. Patchy ice fog. Highs 40 to 55 below. Light winds.

Tonight
Partly cloudy. Patchy ice fog. Lows 40 to 60 below. Light winds.

Sunday
Partly cloudy in the morning...then mostly cloudy with scattered flurries in the afternoon. Highs 20 to 35 below. East winds to 10 mph.

Sunday Night
Mostly cloudy. A chance of snow. Lows 20 to 35 below. East winds to 10 mph.

Monday
Mostly cloudy with a chance of snow. Highs 15 to 30 below. Light winds.

Monday Night
Partly cloudy. Lows near 30 below.

Tuesday
Mostly cloudy. Highs near 10 below.

Tuesday Night
Mostly cloudy. Lows near 15 below.

And a very interesting lady that lives in Tok and blogs.

How are we doing?

Well, we survived New Years. Brianna was on nebulizer treatments every 6 hours for a few days, but is now well past that. She is doing much better - just a leftover cough/congestion. Her stubborn fever is gone, her wheezing is gone, and she is not as tired as she was.
Kaitlyn has developed a minor cold, it seems. She had a low grade fever the other morning, and her nose is running like crazy along with a little cough...but it is winter, so what else would we expect? I can deal with minor colds - I'd much rather have a minor cold than what Brianna had.

Andy and I both ended up sick as well, with something similar to what Brianna had. Lots of gross congestion, coughing, sneezing, etc. We are on the road to recovery now too, but still have a few symptoms hanging on. You know how it is...these things tend to hang on for-ev-er!

My dad was released from the hospital this past Monday, so we are happy about that. He was supposed to be released Sunday, but got held back by some chest pain just before discharge. Luckily all tests turned out okay, so he was able to go home Monday.

So yeah..it has been a busy time for us but things seem to be calming down now. The next big thing to worry about it Kaitlyn's birthday party, which will be coming up next month. I better start thinking about what we are going to plan!

Pretty girl

The other day, Kaitlyn found a hair brush. She walked towards me, "brushing" her hair as she moved. When I looked at her, she said "Brush hair. Pretty?" Made me smile and laugh.

Oranges

Kaitlyn LOVES oranges. We have the little Clementine ones, and she sucks whole wedges down like nobody's business.

Our little orange monster :-)

Brianna - ER follow up.

I brought Brianna to the pediatrician today, to follow up from her ER visit on New Years Eve. She has still be wheezing and sounding absolutely awful, choking and gagging on all the mucus, etc. Her oxygen level was a little lower than they wanted to see it, and did not change after giving a nebulizer treatment. However, it did make her sound a little better, and so he figured if I was okay with it, we could go home. But hospitalization was also an option, and I could hear him and a nurse in the hall going over the pros and cons of hospitalization. In the end, he said, it is ideal to keep the baby home unless absolutely necessary because of course people do better being at home where it is comfy and familiar. And she is stable now, but there is no way to predict things - we could be hospitalized, then everything get better right away. And there is no guarantee we won't need to go back in this weekend and end up with her in the hospital. But for now, we are able to be home and just have to watch her carefully. Do LOTS of nasal sucking, and an albuterol neb every 6 hours until she has been free of wheezing forf 24-48 hours. She is on the 4th day of this "cold", and that is about when it will often peak. So hopefully we will see improvement very soon.

This is just the most awful cold ever...Kaitlyn never had one this bad as a baby. Poor Brianna.

Oh and the best part - Andy and I are getting it too. I mean, that is inevitable. But it still is a bummer. I am already in the process of losing my voice.

What did I expect, it is only January 2nd after all. Traditionally, I'm not home free until about a week into January. But on the positive side, my dad seems to be doing a little better, so hopefully that progress continues and he can be discharged within a couple of days!!!

Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers. It's been a rough week, for health reasons and other things going on as well. Take care all!

Happy 4-month birthday, Brianna!

It's January 2nd and that means Brianna is 4 months old! Unfortunately she is stuck with a really nasty cold. She was wheezing and doing so rough on Wednesday night (New Year's Eve) that Andy brought her to the ER. They did an x-ray and her lungs were thankfully fine, but she was still wheezing pretty good so they are having us do nebulizer treatments as needed. Poor baby girl!

Kaitlyn is doing good...her absolute favorite word is "No". But the way she says it is SO cute! She is making huge strides in vocabulary and verbal communication. It is just amazing to me how fast she is developing in this area - it is definitely one of her strengths.

If you know me at all you may know of my "New Year's curse". This year is no different, despite my efforts to remain positive that perhaps finding out we were pregnant with Brianna on Jan. 1st 2008, would break the curse. Instead, my dad is in the hospital with the same condition that in the past (at the same time of year 3 years ago) led to emergency surgery. Brianna was in the ER New Year's Eve. So I will have to look to next year to hopefully, finally have a crisis-free, illness-free, drama-free New Years. Even last year, creeping in the background of our excitement finding out we were pregnant, we were all sick. Kaitlyn with the stomach flu, Andy with a cold, and me with a cold plus a completely lost voice.

Enough of that! I am very excited about what this year will bring - and watching how my little girls grow and start to interact together!!