Check out my belly button y'all! It's been 3 weeks, and I had my follow up appointment yesterday. All looks well. It's still a bit crusty and swollen, but the doc said it would all continue to heal and be as good as new in no time. Isn't modern medicine amazing?
And here it is! Our Christmas card photo in all it's glory. I thought it was super cute minus Reese squinting, Emma Grace showing her gut, and my random hair that looks weird next to EG's hair. Beggars can't be choosers I suppose... not too shabby... especially for a tripod pic!
Emma Grace here. HOLY SHENANIGANS... today I'm 2.5 years old! AHHHHHHHHHHHHH! The sister and I at 2 and 2.5 years old...
2 years old
LEFT EG
RIGHT Reese
LEFT Reese
RIGHT EG
We went to Rural Retreat for the weekend for Christmas with Grandma, Grandaddy, and Uncle Gary. I think it's safe to say we all had a LOVELY time. :) We'll keep the words short... enjoy the photos!
Here's to Happy Holidays to all... and 3 more rounds. :)
Okay... I'm finally ready to blog about this... (I started blogging about this Friday but wanted to fully think it through before doing so... hence the date of the 16th... I'm actually writing this on the 19th... not that you even care. :) )
Reese was bit at school on Friday.
Pretty vicious huh? This is THREE hours after the offense. Today it's a bruise... not huge, but fairly noticeable. She could care less. :)
I really wanted to make sure I discovered all the facts before I reported on such an incident because I know what it's like to a) have your parenting techniques questioned, and b) have a biter. I hate nothing more than parents who think they (and their children) are holier than thou... prepared to jump on the practices of others... when in fact they haven't been through it themselves, are delusional by the actions of their own child, or just think they are better than you. Being a parent is HARD, and to know that others don't think you're doing if right frankly is pretty devastating. I'm not the perfect mother, but I'm a damn good one who learns from the things I do great and from the things I fail at miserably.
I'm hard on my kids. Not in a "jump/how high?" kind of a way, but in a way that I'm teaching them to be a successful part of society. I could care less if they want to be doctors or artists... major is Astrophysics or Under water basket weaving. I love my kids. I don't always love their behavior, but I love them. And frankly... they will learn to behave themselves. Do they go to timeout, get sent to their rooms, get their toys taken away, egads... even get yelled at... yes, yes, yes, and yes. Do we also talk things through, explain to our kids right from wrong, love our kids, hug our kids, kiss our kids 'til they are embarrassed... yeah... go figure... we do that too.
Truth is Emma Grace was a biter... and a hitter for that matter. She was vicious. I tolerated the biting as long as I could... "no!"... putting her down if I was holding her... nothing was clicking. It wasn't until she bit Reese, that I bit her back. Took twice, and she was over that little adventure. Hitting took more practice. A LOT OF DISCUSSION... she still sometimes hits, but it's more in a playing manner when she gets super excited... STILL NOT OKAY, and we're still working on it. But that's what we try to do... we try to work on things, put ourselves in other parents' shoes before we go on the attack and judge. Something I really think others could benefit from.
So here's what happened... Reese was playing with another child on the playground, went in for a hug, and the girl bit her... on the face. HORRIBLE right? Especially when I find out that Reese seemingly did NOTHING to instigate the bite, nor did she retaliate. That's my girl! However, I know the other child and her mother well, and I knew how EXTREMELY out of character this was. We've pretty much come to the conclusion that it dealt with territorial issues. Both of us have discussed the matter with our children... different ways it could have been handled, other options they have. Reese's faux pas in this whole thing is that she didn't tell her teachers when it went down. We've since discussed with her that any time someone harms her or makes her feel uncomfortable, she's to tell an adult. When we got home from school Friday I drilled Reese. While we make a big deal about hurting others, Reese has been off the last couple of weeks. We have all kinds of things going on here at the house, and she's just been a little rambunctious. I actually had just mentioned it to her teacher that morning wondering how her behavior had been at school. PERFECT! Was the response I got... while that's frustrating for me with her at home... at least I know she's listening and being a great friend at school. I thought FOR SURE she did something first... I would have bet my life on it. And to find out she really was the victim made me feel both relief and horrible. I felt relieved because she is in fact learning from me... it's not okay to be ugly to others. I felt horrible because I didn't have enough faith in her to think she was innocent... when in reality maybe I didn't have enough faith in myself that I taught her to behave herself.
Parenting is hard. No matter how great you think your kid is... they are still a kid, they are naughty, and you still have to teach them... choose to do that... no matter how hard it is. Don't judge other parents/children unless you have the facts... otherwise... in MY OPINION... you just look like as ass. And on the flip side... no matter how HARD you think you have it... it's just as hard for everyone else... it may be DIFFERENT... but it's ABSOLUTELY POSITIVELY NO EASIER.
PS... I love Reese's school... I love love the teachers/director... they handled the entire situation like professionals. Professionals that truly care about each and every child they teach every day. That's rare... we're very lucky.
PPS/PSS... This is not the hormones talking. :)
Rachel here. It's getting to be that time of year again. The time where you reflect on this last year's events... both good and bad. The time of year where you set your goals for the coming year... I've been thinking about it a lot lately actually. I don't know if it's me realizing my life is crazy and only about to become crazier.
In the coming year we'll be listing and hopefully selling our house. The only house my kids have ever known. The house that someone will hopefully fall instantly in love with like we did. The house that I'll miss so much, but that we've simply outgrown. This hopeful selling will result in us, moving, renting, building, and moving again.
Then there is that little thing called a third baby. Which we're so super excited about, but no doubt things will get crazier before they get calmer. It'll be nice to find a new norm. And I'll be happy to have my body back. I'm in desperate need of a glass of wine.
My goals are not to lose weight... not to completely change who I am. Those things never work. While I do have quite a few things I'd like to work on... I think they are all manageable. Small things that can pack a big punch:
~ plan meal calendars/cook
~ get outside EVERY DAY
~ jump back on the preschool train (now that I can function after breakfast)
~ incorporate weekly "me" time... even if it's a warm bath Friday nights
~ get to bed earlier
~ shower/get dressed EVERY DAY... I know I know...
~ don't let others bother me so much... I can't change others... but I can change how I react to them
~ connect w/friends at least once a month
~ allow an occasional lazy afternoon
~ kiss my husband every day
~ listen to more music/watch less tv
~ schedule date night once a month
~ limit computer usage/none on the weekends
I can do this.
Rachel here. The girls, Laverne and Shirley, are officially roommates... as of last night. This weekend we put the finishing touches on their shared space, and we're all thrilled with how it turned out. All of their stuff has always coordinated, so it made for a super easy transition. Right now they are sharing OBVIOUSLY because we'll be adding another person to the family, but since the girls are close in age, I've always hoped they would share a room... grow up together... share secrets. In fact... the new house will have MORE THAN ENOUGH bedrooms, but they will still share a room... until they get sick of one another. :)
Our house is not very big, so it's super important to use all of our space wisely and still make it look plenty big enough for potential buyers. Here is the girls' new closet. All of Emma Grace's belongings are on the left, and all of Reese's are on the right. EG's clothing has pink hangers and Reese's has white hangers. Super helpful when putting clothes away.
It was super important to make sure there was just as much Emma Grace in the room as Reese, so all of EG's decorations have been added here and there the last few months.
The final move wasn't to take place until we had the proper bedding. Luckily Gunner had a set of bunk beds when he was younger, and Dad and Kate wanted them out of their house. :)
Here's what our hand-me-down looked like Friday afternoon.
And then again Sunday night...
The dresser is also divided in half. EG on the left... Reese on the right. 
(All of the random baby doll paraphernalia will be hidden in under bed storage once we begin showing the house.)
Reese's shoes on the right... EG's on the left.
I think they like it. And it took them over an hour and a half to fall asleep last night... even with no naps... little chatty Kathies. :)
Rachel here. I'll spare you all the little Christmas details/decor... but a blog is not a proper blog without a Christmas prep post... so here it goes. :)
Our tree... lopsided, sliding lights that leave huge gaping unlit holes, and ornaments that are constantly being relocated thanks to 4 adorable little hands.
Our snowman refrigerator... thank you Pinterest. :)
And all of the pleasant adventures of BobNewhart. Last year he was extremely well behaved. This season he started of quite the same... and then really began to show his true colors. Truth be told... he's kind of a pest. :)
Riding the nativity camel...
Dyeing our milk... GREEN...
Toilet papering our bathroom...
Sugar snow angels...
SHENANIGANS...
The kidnapping of baby Jesus...
If you click on this picture, you can see the chocolate around the little glutton's mouth.
Receiving a good talking to for all the shenanigans. Why do I feel like it won't work? :)
Rachel here. There are so many little things I've been meaning to blog about and just haven't found the energy to do so... so here it is... and all of it is AMAZINGLY interesting... ahem.
1. EG... my peanut butter and jelly sandwich is ridiculously adorable. She's a little carbon copy of Reese in every way, shape, and form except for her tender heart. If someone other than me reprimands her... she is a melting puddle of tears. Emma Grace loves dress up with what I've decided is an unhealthy passion. She's knee deep in the phase where she completely takes on the persona of said outfit and demands being called by various names... not Emma Grace. :)
She's completely potty trained, and goes naps without a pull up. We tried overnight for about a week and noticed something intriguing. At bedtime EG is a sweater. Her undies and jammies would be slightly damp in the morning but blankets and other things would be spared. We couldn't tell if she was sweating super badly or if she was maybe leaking just enough to dampen her bedtime clothes. Needless to say she still wears pull ups at bedtime and wakes up completely dry for weeks on end, but every once in a while she'll be wet. Not too shabby Emma Grace! She'll soon be 2.5... SAY WHAT?!... and I'll be posting a cute comparison pic of her and her sister at 2.5... stay tuned.
2. Reese... ugh 4 year olds. I would say Reese is ridiculously pleasant 85% of the time. Kind to her sister, plays well, super helpful around the house... a really sweet girl... amazingly creative... I could go on and on. And then she remembers she's 4. The child can be sassy (very mild but still enough to get under my skin... I think the most inappropriate things she's said was "i said... blah blah blah..." with an attitude.), VERY whiny... oh the whining... crybaby whining, she can be VERY EMOTIONAL... and Emma Grace is picking up on it... at times I literally want to lock myself in the room and cry because I just can't take it... she will lose all self control and scream and cry over NOTHING. It'll be intriguing when we have 3 little girls with overly emotional tendencies. And the shrill screaming... I can't even comment... I'm having flashbacks.
As far as her recovery... the child is a tank. She was up and at 'em about 24 hours after surgery... even bending over! Bryan and I would cringe every time she did it. She bounced back quickly... too quickly. Doc's orders... no outside/playground play for 2 weeks. She's been quite unpleasant to live with the last two weeks due to FAR TOO MUCH energy being pinned up in her little body. Today I finally broke down and took her in to school early to play outside... we're 3 days shy of 2 weeks, but heaven help us all if she's cooped up for 5 more minutes. The tape on her belly started falling off this morning, so I just pulled it off. She has a belly button! It's nuts! It's still pretty crusty, so I'll spare a photo for now.
3. Bryan... is beyond busy at work... trying to get some projects done before the holiday season slaps us in the face. He's such a hard worker. We're still working on projects at home, and I know we're both feeling pressured to get them done before our listing deadline... so weekends are pretty packed with house stuff, but we both are keeping our eyes on the prize. He's mainly feeling the brunt because seriously... I can't do too much... mainly cleaning for me. He's been a GREAT help in the evenings when he gets home. Cooking dinner and helping to entertain the kids on my yucky days. I love him.
4. Me... besides issues first thing in the morning... I'm starting to perk up, which is a huge relief. I'm still an awful snacker, but the nausea throughout the day has really tapered off in the last few days... nearly 19 weeks later. Perhaps I'll get some cleaning/organizing/packing done now!
I told you... deep stuff. :)
Rachel here. We had our big ultrasound this evening. After FINALLY getting into the tech's office (1.5 hours late... but we did manage to head to dinner during that time, so it wasn't that bad), we got a GREAT peek at our little Baby Boo. Everything seemed to check out fine from what I can gather... you know how those techs are. There is a slight concern though with the baby's umbilical cord. The tech couldn't see it. Hmmmm... He needed to be able to see the cord in order to find the main blood vessels... or whatever it is they look for, and he simply couldn't find it. He said it can mean many things... some not so great things... and that he just couldn't see it. Basically he thinks the cord was wrapped around in the front of the baby's belly... like a belt. He didn't seem to think there was too much cause for concern, but we DEFINITELY needed to bring it up to our dr. upon the next visit (and probably face another ultrasound)... which isn't for another 5ish weeks... so until then I guess we just hang out????
So anyway... here is our official picture of Baby Boo. At the top of the photo is the left leg... and directly underneath it is the right leg. In the middle... we are sooooooooooooooooooooo LACKING a penis! :) Bryan is in slight denial where as the girls and I are thrilled! Now to come up with a name!
And for the record... the angle of the dangle test... SO SPOT ON! :)
9 weeks...
14 weeks...
18 weeks...
Rachel here. Today I'm officially 18 weeks. We're looking at a "baby" the size of a baked potato or a green/red pepper! Not too much has changed since last besides my waist line. I'm up 5 lbs from the day we found out we were pregnant. At one point I was up 6. The baby is moving like a crazy fetus. I'm still having Rhinitis issues. JOY! Sadly you just get used to it. I'm not craving anything special. If I could though, I'd eat greek spaghetti from The Cellar EVERY SINGLE NIGHT... sadly an addiction like that just isn't in the budget. ;) I'm still beyond exhausted most days... something that I'm sure won't go away until I have no children in the house.... or at least until they are in high school and appreciate the art of sleeping in. Sleeping is getting to be uncomfortable. HA right?! I'm just about half way... so much more uncomfortableness on the way. Luckily my husband is awesome and enjoys sleeping on the couch. During pregnancies he tends to spend the entire duration on the couch... so that I can thrash about and carry on without annoying him. Plus he snores... that keeps me up... then I don't sleep... which means I'm peeing more often... it's just a mess. AND it's great on his back to boot... go figure.
The girls are BEYOND excited about the baby... as long as it's "a baby girl princess." Emma Grace often puts her head on my belly and whispers sweet nothings to it and kisses it. Something Reese never did... she was younger and just didn't get it. Every time Reese gets over a stuffed animal or toy she says the baby can have it. It's cute.
The next appointment is January 9th... after the Sugar Bowl... of course. :) And we have the big sex reveal this Friday... oh the excitement! :)
Rachel here. Today we FINALLY got our family Christmas photo done... and a trip to Santa. Of course I can't reveal said family Christmas photo until we actually have sent them out. I ordered them today... so hopefully you'll have one in your little hands in a matter of 7-10 business days. :)
I do, however, have pictures of Christmas past, which I think are just as fun. Before kids, Bryan and I just sent out normal boring cards... but Reese was our cute factor... who doesn't want a picture with a cute kid in it?
'07
'08
'09
'10
'11... turned out super cute... taken in our backyard... quite possibly the last Christmas card photo taken in this house... not to jinx us or anything. :) AND I'm just now noticing I'm wearing the same sweater as last year... PARTY FOUL!
And trips to see Santa...
Reese '07... 2ish months old
'08
Emma Grace '09... 5-6ish months old
'09
'10
'11
LOVE IT!
