Finances

Dearest Blessings~

Joshua, you made it in your toddler bed until 12:30am(ish) this morning.  Then, you got up out of bed and cried as you walked up to our bed.  :-P  Grace, you then woke up at 4:21am.  Daddy changed your diaper and then I nursed you.  I continued to hold you once you fell back asleep.  You woke back up at 6am.  I took you into the play room.  You played in your swing and did some tummy time.  I ate a little cereal and then I read as I nursed you.  I'm reading a book about finances and retirement .... not that I'm anywhere near the age of retirement, though you two probably think I'm geriatric!  But, it's never too early to start planning.

Plus, finances have been on our mind recently since we're refinancing our house to lock into a low interest rate.  I wonder what the housing market will look like when you all read this.  It took a nose dive a few years back when the market crashed.  I'm sure you all will read about it in future history books!  ;-)  We're locking into a 4.5% interest rate.  What are the rates for you all when you read this?  

Anyway, since we've been talking about budgets recently, daddy and I also opened up a college savings account for each of you today.  Woo hoo!  You two are going to college!  ;-)  Once we set them up, I turned to you both and said, 'You're going to be a Tarheel!'  Joshua smiled and Grace gave a little cheer!  It was cute!

I think daddy and I are pretty good with finances and a budget .... daddy especially is!  He has his Master's in Business Administration (MBA) from Yale.  ;-)  He set up a budget for the house and we've stuck to it pretty well.  For example, for this current month of July, we only went out to eat two times!  That really saved on our budget .... and we're healthier for it I'm sure.

Grace, you poor thing .... you've had the hiccups all day.  Even when I nursed you, you continued to hiccup.  :-P

We made a pizza for lunch.  It started to really thunderstorm as we were all downstairs.  So, we ended up putting movie on after lunch in the playroom since it was wet outside.  We watched 'Singin in the Rain' .... which was an appropriate title for our current weather.  I can't complain though .... it made the day cooler (low 80's today) and we needed the rain.

Once the sun came out, we ran some errands.  We went to the pet store and picked up a special kind of litter for the cat.  It's suppose to help with picky cats who don't use the box.  I hope it helps!  He pooped outside the box again this morning!  While we were there, Joshua had fun looking at the dogs, fish, gerbils, and other animals .... Grace, you were sleeping.  ;-)

We went back to Lowes to pick up a bigger ceiling fan for the play room.  We measured and we can fit a 70" fan up there.  They had a nice one yesterday when we went, but today it was gone!  What?!  Who else would have grabbed a 70" ceiling fan in 24 hours!  Oh well!  As we drove off, we got caught in a heavy thunderstorm.  I had to pull the car over since it was so heavy.  Once it let up, we tried a second Lowes and they were out of the ceiling fan we needed too!  Ugh!  It just wasn't our day for a fan.  :-P

When we got back, I did a quick pump as Joshua ate some hotdog for daddy.  I felt a little sick this evening, but started to feel better once we met Grandpa Mike at the burger place near our house .... Andy's Burgers.  Mimi's out of town, so we just met up with Grandpa Mike.  Joshua, you ate some french fries to add to the hotdog that you ate at the house prior.  Grandpa Mike talked to us about finances too and we told him about the college funds that we started for you two.  As we were leaving, we placed Joshua in Grandpa Mike's car and had him pretend like he was driving it.  ;-)

This evening we all relaxed in the playroom before bedtime.  Daddy read us some Bible stories and I nursed Grace to sleep.

Sleep tight you two!

I love you both!  :-)

~Mommy

Errands And Chores

Dearest Blessings~

Whoa little lady!  You slept in this morning!  You didn't get hungry until 5:30am!  Daddy changed your diaper since I was in some pain from not nursing you earlier.  Then, I nursed you.

Grace, you stayed awake after our 5:30am nursing, so I took you downstairs for a pop tart (for me, not you) and then we went upstairs in the playroom as the boys slept.  I did some reading and you did some tummy time.  

Once people were up for the day, we ran some errands.  We all went to Lowes, Shane's Rib Shack for lunch, and then Target.  We got some groceries, door stoppers for the house, weather stripping for the attic door in the bonus room (we're slowly trying to improve the house), and a new litter box for the cat.  We've only been living in this house for a year and we've already made a lot of nice changes.  We've painted two bedrooms, placed new floors in the upstairs (3 bedrooms and a hallway), changed different door handles and door stoppers .... we have several house projects that we want to get done which will take time.  Daddy and I like projects though, and they can be fun too.  :-)

Joshua, you tried some chicken, BBQ, mac and cheese, and fries at lunch!  You also had a boost drink.  Yummm!

After our errands, I changed both your diapers and outfits.  You two were really sweaty when I took you out of the car and I had the air on the third setting and the backseat fan running.  It's just so hot out!

We all did some afternoon chores around the house:

-set up the new litter box

-changed 11 door stoppers (we had to change them because Joshua likes to break the 'springy' ones and take the white end caps off of them)

-vacuumed bonus room

-swept bathroom floors and vacuumed

-organized and cleaned kitchen and downstairs

We had music going while we were working and you two played.  :-)  Grace, you had a HUGE soupy poop right before dinner!  It was all over your outfit, you, and the blanket.  I changed you and then you had a bath.  Joshua ended up with a bath today too.  Grace, your hair was so fluffy afterward!  It was adorable! 

We had a great dinner this evening!  We made some turkey filets, potatoes, and veggies .... Joshua ate some turkey, hotdog, and potatoes!  :-)  Woo hoo!

Relaxed upstairs this evening and did some things on the computer.  Looked at some ceiling fans to put up in the bonus room.  The one that's up is too small.  We can easily put a 70 inch one up .... right now it's only 52 or 54 inches.  :-P  I bet that would really cool the room off!  :-)

Daddy changed all the air filters.  We've been changing them every 3 months, but we may try changing them every 2 months.  They get dirty fast and if we change them more often then cleaner air will flow.  Also, daddy added some extra weather stripping around the attic door in bonus room.  Hopefully this will help prevent warm air from coming in and cold air from going out.

It thundered with some lightening this evening.  Daddy read us some Bible stories again before bedtime and then he cut Joshua's nails once he fell asleep.  I was nursing Grace.

Sleep tight you two!

I love you both!

~Mommy

Just Unplugged

Dearest Blessings~

Little Grace, I woke up in pain again this morning.  You didn't wake up until 4:45am.  I quickly changed your diaper and then nursed you.  :-P

I tried you on rice cereal again this morning.  I mixed one tablespoon with one ounce of mommy milk.  I don't think you really got much in your mouth.  :-P  Most of it ended up on your bib, hands, and bumbo seat.  Ha!  This was only our second.  We haven't been practicing it like we should have.  Actually, the pediatrician said that we could wait until you're six months if we wanted.  The mommy milk is doing just fine.  :-)  But, I figured we'd start practicing you on a spoon since Joshua has a harder time with it.  

Joshua, you ate 1/3 an apple sauce container for me during your snack time.  Then, you took down a boost.  I baked some potatoes while we were downstairs.  And, I did some laundry as the day went on.  We were pretty productive.

By 10am, it was 78 degrees upstairs and 83 degrees downstairs.  We stayed upstairs even though it was still warm.  You two helped me steam sterilize the pump pieces before we went upstairs.

By noon, it was 79 degrees upstairs and 84 degrees downstairs.  Hummm, I wondered when the AC man would come.  Joshua ate some hotdog and gold fish for lunch.  

By 1pm, it was 81 degrees upstairs and 85 degrees downstairs.  It was 98 degrees outside.  Yuck!  Then, there was a knock at the door!  The AC man came by 1:30pm.  He took a quick look outside and came in so apologetic!  He had unplugged something on wednesday when working on our upstairs unit that effected our downstairs unit!  He was so sorry, but I was so happy that nothing was broken!  I thanked him and he was thankful I wasn't mad!  :-)  Ha!  We had a discussion about the HVAC system in general.  We might have them come out in the fall just to check our full system in general.  We know there's a rusted pan that needs to be replaced.  Also, we'd ideally have a 2 zone system for the upstairs and have the play room on it's own zone.  It's about 500 square feet on its own!  Anyway, the downstairs had dropped 2 degrees after he left.  :-)

I took some photos of Joshua going up the stairs today as Grace was napping.  I also swept and vacuumed the downstairs.

Joshua, you took a late nap at 3pm!  I cut Grace's nails and then I nursed her as he slept.

Joshua, you ate some eggs with us for dinner!  Woo hoo!  After dinner, we all went to the grocery store for some quick essentials.  No one had any milk!  :-P

Daddy read us Bible stories before bed time.  Grace, you did not want to go to sleep last night!  It was after 11pm before you fell asleep.  I couldn't keep eyes open.  I wish I could nurse you while laying down, but I can't since Joshua sleeps in our bed.  There's no room.  :-P  So, I have to sit upright every time I nurse you until you're done.  

Tomorrow is saturday!  Woo hoo!  We can spend the full day together as a family!

Sleep tight you two!

I love you both!  :-)

~Mommy

5 Months

Dearest Angels~

Happy 5 months Grace!  You're growing up too fast!  I can't believe it's been five months already since I was in the hospital having you.  And, Joshua, that makes you over 21 months!  Wow!  Time is flying by with you two!  Promise me you will stay cute and adorable!  ;-)

Today is also cousin Julia's birthday.  It's a big one for her .... she turns 30!  Whoa!  ;-)  Of course, daddy and I are a little older so you two must think we're geriatric! 

Grace you must have known it was a birthday celebration .... you slept in this morning!  You didn't wake up until 6am!  I was in some pain from not nursing you when you finally woke up, so daddy changed your diaper so I wouldn't leak through my shirt.  :-P

It was 76 degrees upstairs when we woke up this morning.  Daddy called the AC guy and he's coming back tomorrow to check on the downstairs unit.  I hope we don't need another capacitor.  :-P  When we got home from work, it was hot downstairs registering 85 degrees and tolerable upstairs registering 81 degrees.

You two had fun with Penny.  She did some story and music time with you all.  Joshua, you're still throwing hard toys at people.  Whenever it gets really bad I give you a 'pop' on the bottom.  I hope you learn soon not to throw things.  :-P

Guess what .... I got an award at work this week!  Well, it was actually a certificate, but I'm calling it an award.  ;-)  It was recognizing my 'hard work and dedication' to the organization for the past 5 years!  Go me!  :-)  I brought it home to show you all.  

Daddy relieved Penny a little earlier this afternoon .... she's going on a weekend trip with Mimi to New York.  You two were playing with daddy when I got home.  And, I had about 13 ounces of mommy milk to freeze this evening.  Yippie!  :-)

We all slept under fan again in the master bedroom .... with the fan running at full speed.  While we were winding down for bed, daddy read us some Bible stories and Grace did some adorable giggles!  It was so cute!  I'm going to miss your little giggles when you're older.  You and your brother have the most innocent giggles, laughs, and smiles!  I love them!

Tomorrow's friday and the three of us will be hanging around the house waiting for the AC man.  He won't come until the afternoon though.

Sleep tight little ones!

I love you both so very much!  :-)

~Mommy

Hello

Dearest Blessings~

Wow!  Grace, you stayed sleeping in your bassinet when I put you down last night .... and you didn't wake up until 5:30am!  I still didn't sleep well though, since I was on the loveseat with no mattress.  I woke up a few times stiff (I was ironically too long for the loveseat to really be comfortable), but it was still nice to sleep a little bit more than usual.

I had another interesting drive to work today.  One of the roads, Durant, was blocked off.  I don't know if it was a wreck or what.  I had to turn around and take a different way into work.  I was late, but it wasn't too bad.  ;-)

Penny had fun with you two today.  She said that Grace really loves to play with her toes!  And, Joshua, you stacked 5 blocks for her!  Way to go!  You all also had music and story time together.  :-)

The AC guy came today while you all were at the house with Penny.  We had a new capacitor placed for the upstairs unit.  Our unit doesn't run that efficiently since the bonus room was added onto the house over the garage in 2005.  Ideally, our system would be replaced and we would have two zones upstairs .... one just for the bonus room.  

So, the upstairs progressively cooled down, but the downstairs started to act funny once he left.  It slowly started getting warmer and warmer.  Daddy was really warm when he got home and had to lay down.  It was 'tolerable' upstairs under the master bedroom ceiling fan (daddy increased the speed), so we all slept under there this evening.  Joshua, you noodled between us and Grace was in her bassinet.  

We also relaxed in the bonus room for a little bit before bed.  It was ok under the fan, but still warm since the hot air from downstairs was rising.  

Daddy brought the cat to the vet this morning for his blood work.  He apparently put up a good fight even under sedation.  :-P  His labs came back normal and everything was checked as healthy.  He could stand to loose one pound however.  :-P

Joshua, I spoke to Gigi on the phone this evening.  I had her on speaker so you could hear her and I swear you said the word 'hello' to her.  Even daddy looked over thinking he heard it!  Gigi said hello to you and I'm almost positive you said it right back to her!  Good job little man!  :-)

Tomorrow I head back to work and daddy is going to call the AC man back to check on our downstairs unit.  I hope nothings broken, but it sure is warm down there!

Sleep tight you two!

I love you both!  :-)

~Mommy

Living Downstairs

Dearest Miracles~

We all woke up at 1:40am this morning .... well, except Joshua.  :-P  I nursed Grace and daddy checked on the upstairs.  It was registering 86 degrees up there.  It was after 2am when Grace was done, so I continued to hold her.  She then woke up crying at 4:36am.  I nursed her again and then sat upright on the loveseat.  I ended up putting you back in the bassinet slightly before daddy had to get up for work.  I was so tired.  When daddy left for work at 7:40am, the upstairs was registering 84 degrees.

It was fairly tolerable in the bonus room this morning since the windows were open and it was cooler outside and inside at that time!  I nursed Grace up there as Joshua played.  It was a nice change of scenery since we've been stuck downstairs for the past day.  I was getting a little stir crazy from just being in the living room.  :-P

Joshua, you had your OT appointment this morning and saw Mary Beth.  Kim was on vacation, so you didn't see her.  You had a good OT visit though!  You didn't throw any of the toys and you stacked blocks for her.  She worked with you on the big swing and ball for your balance.  Also, you played in the rice and bean bucket for the different textures.  Mary Beth was really impressed with you today and noted some really good improvements!  Yippie!  :-)

Lunch, however, was not successful.  I made some cereal with applesauce mixed in it and some whole milk.  Joshua, you didn't eat one bite!  Ugh.  You did drink a boost, so I guess that's something.  But, you cried and cried with the solid food.

We had a lot of music and play time downstairs since it was too hot upstairs when we got home.  Oh, Grace, you're growing out of your '3-6 month' outfits.  You're too long!  We have to put you in outfits with the '6 month' tags on them since you're taller.  You're not even 5 months yet!  :-P

Grace, you helped me check the mail once Joshua fell asleep for a nap.  We also checked upstairs and it was 85 degrees.  It felt like we were in a sauna.  :-P

Once daddy got home, Joshua did eat a little better.  He ate some hotdog for dinner!  Woo hoo!  He wouldn't eat lunch for me earlier, but at least he ate some dinner.

This evening was spent at the vet's office.  We took the cat in for a physical.  He got his rabies up to date, but that's all they got done.  He didn't cooperate.  Daddy will take him back early in the morning so they can sedate him for a full examination and blood work.  They did give us a few recommendations on what to do about the litter box.  If things don't change by Labor Day though, we may have to find another house for the cat.  We've already torn up the carpet upstairs, and now the downstairs carpet is ruined.  This can't keep continuing.  :-P

Upstairs was unbearable this evening, so we all slept downstairs again.  Did I tell you all that it actually registered 90 degrees upstairs at one point yesterday?  We called Penny to let her know.  I bet you all will stay downstairs tomorrow too.  The AC people should come tomorrow to take a look.

Sleep tight you two!

I love you both so very much!  :-)

~Mommy

No A/C

Dearest Gifts~

So, last night I put Grace down in her bassinet after 10pm.  I changed her and was nursing her by 12:45am this morning.  :-P  You were up again, little lady, by 4:30am.  Daddy changed you so I could nurse you, but you kept waking up when I would put you down.  It was hard for me to stay awake when feeding you.

Once people were up for the day you all helped me prepare the crock pot for dinner.  We made a chicken and rice soup.  I also got a pump in for Grace's milk supply for wednesday and thursday.  We were all back upstairs with teeth brushed and playing before 9am.  :-)

We worked on the back bedroom this morning.  I swept the floor and vacuumed the rug.  Then, I dusted the fan and put in on a higher setting.  This bedroom had Joshua's toddler bed in it earlier, but since we moved it into our bedroom I was trying to make this room a smaller playroom since the bonus room gets so hot during the day.

Oh, Joshua, you bumped your head on the couch upstairs this morning.  :-P  You cried and I ended up rocking you.  You had a little bump on your forehead. 

It ended up reaching 82 degrees upstairs before 11am.  It was 92 degrees outside.  So, I moved everyone downstairs for the day.  We took apart the living room to make it a playroom as well.  ;-)  I vacuumed all around (even the fireplace), organized some things, moved one of the loveseats to the dining room to make room for some toys and Grace's swing (which I moved from upstairs), brought down extra diapers and wipes for you two, and put some folk CD's on as we were working.  :-)  I was tired once we were done.  ;-)

Joshua, you almost ate an entire container of apple sauce for me during your mid morning snack!  Woo hoo! 

Daddy called the vet and the cat has an appointment for tomorrow evening.  We're going to see what can be done to alleviate this litter box issue.  The cat is still pooping in the study and I still see Joshua, every now and then, run over to the box to throw a toy in there.  :-P

When Joshua went down for his nap, I checked on the crock pot and brought some instruments downstairs.  It was registering 87 degrees up there!  Then I did a second pump and nursed Grace.  I didn't want some of the acoustic instruments to get damaged.  I also brought some electronics downstairs.  I guess our air conditioning is officially not working.  Great timing!  :-P

We had some thunder this afternoon, but it didn't rain until 5:45pm.  I spoke to Gigi briefly during that time.  She was going to a memorial service for a friend who passed away over the weekend.  She was the drama teacher at the elementary school I use to go to and where Gigi taught music.  So sad.  :-(

Joshua and I went through his little prayer book today.  We went through all the pages and he correctly identified at least one thing on each picture page!  You're such a smart guy!  I'm so proud of you!

It was 90 degrees upstairs when daddy got home.  We ended up setting up the living room for us all to sleep there.  We took the mattress out of the loveseat and put it on the floor for daddy and Joshua.  I slept on the loveseat with Grace near me in a little bassinet.  Daddy will call the air conditioning place tomorrow.  I hope we can get on their schedule soon.  I'm sure they're busy this time of year.  :-P  We brought more things downstairs that we didn't want in that heat.  There was no point in taking a shower since we start to sweat just walking up the stairs into that heat.  :-P  Ugh! 

We'll see what's it's like tomorrow.  I'm glad Joshua has an occupational therapy appointment tomorrow morning because I was getting 'stir crazy' just staying in the living room and kitchen all day! 

Sleep tight little ones!

I love you both!

~Mommy

New Tooth And Fluffy Hair

Dearest Miracles~

Grace, you were up at 2:40am noodling around in your bassinet.  Daddy changed you and then I nursed you.  I held you after and then put you back in the bassinet.  You woke up again at 4:30am.  I didn't change you this time .... I just picked you up and started to nurse you.  I was so tired I couldn't keep my eyes open.  I continued to just hold you this time until 7am when you woke up again.  I took you downstairs and ate a quick pop tart.  I had you play next to me as I pumped.  :-P

Joshua, guess what .... you're getting your 13th tooth!  It's your lower right primary canine .... tooth #R!  :-)  How exciting!

We all did lots of chores this morning:

-vacuumed rug and swept master bedroom
-swept master bathroom
-dusted ceiling fan in master bedroom
-vacuumed bonus room
-took apart and moved Joshua's toddler bed into master bedroom (we'll see if he sleeps in there better if the bed is next to us)
-will make nursery into second playroom since bonus room gets so hot

It reached 100 degrees again.  Ugh!  We kept moving you all from the upstairs to the downstairs so you all would remain cool.

Mimi and Grandpa Mike came over for lunch today.  Grandpa Mike has been out of town for the past two weeks so he wanted to see you all.  He noticed that Joshua was making more verbal noises.  We told him about his positive Bayley test this past week.  

We all played afterward as daddy worked on the home budget and refinance documents.  Did I tell you all that we're refinancing our house?  I think I did.  Anyway, we need to send some documents to our loan officer by wednesday.  Oh, we're doing better with our home budget this year than last .... plus, we're  even putting some money into savings!  Go us!  :-)

Daddy grilled steak for dinner and hotdogs for Joshua.  Joshua, you didn't eat well today.  I wonder why.  You fought us with all the meals.  I pray you eat better tomorrow.  

You both got baths this evening .... Grace, you had some really fluffy hair afterward!  We usually spike your hair up in a mohawk for fun, but your hair was too fluffy this evening!  ;-)

Daddy went over Joshua's alphabet book several times this evening.  Joshua never took a nap today and ended up falling asleep in the bonus room at 7:30pm.  Daddy put him in the toddler bed,which is now in our room.  I was nursing Grace.  Joshua, you woke up from your bed at 9:38pm crying.  Daddy and I were only one foot away from you talking.  Grace, you had just fallen asleep in my arms.  Daddy tried calming Joshua to put him back in his toddler bed but he cried.  He ended up noodling into our bed.  

Before Joshua woke up, daddy and I were talking about the cat.  He's getting frustrating with the litter box and attacking, at least my, feet at night.  Daddy's going to take the cat to the vet this week to see if there's anything that can be done.  If not, he may need to go to a different home for now.  We'll see what the vet says.  

Tomorrow is monday!  We have no appointments, so we can play all day together!

Sleep tight little ones!

I love you both!

~Mommy

Bowling

Dearest Angels~

Whew .... we were up early this morning!  Grace, you woke us at 2:20am noodling around in your bassinet.  Daddy changed you and I nursed you.  

Once everyone was up for the day, we made a trip to Target for some groceries.  Grace, you fell asleep as I walked around with you in the carrier.  Joshua, you ate two chocolate chip cookies that they had out at the bakery!  You took them down fast too!  Perhaps we need to bake some cookies for you!

It was super hot today.  It reached at least 101 degrees this afternoon .... it could have been more.  I'm sure with the heat index it was well over that.  :-P

We headed over to see my coworkers at the bowling alley by 12:30pm.  They had pizza out for lunch and reserved lots of lanes for us.  People from all the medical sites were there, not just dental.  Of course, everyone wanted to hold you two!  You all are always the stars.  ;-)  We had a lane to ourselves, so we added you two to the list of players.  Daddy bowled for Joshua and I bowled for Grace.  Joshua, you got a strike (with daddy's help of course!).  Grace, I'm sorry to say I wasn't much help to you.  I'm not a great bowler.  You and I got several gutter balls, but we at least hit some pins in every frame!  :-P  We ended up leaving after about an hour when you two got fussy.  We declared daddy the winner even though we didn't get to finish our game.  :-)

Once we got home, we prepared the crock pot for some cheesy potatoes with veggies!  Yummy!  Then, we played upstairs for a little bit in the play room.  It got hot, so we quickly came back downstairs.

We ended up organizing some things while downstairs.  Joshua played and Grace did some tummy time and rolled for us.  

Joshua, you were very frustrating with your eating today (besides the two cookies).  And, you threw another toy in the litter box this afternoon.  Of course the cat wasn't much better .... he pooped in the study again.  I swear if things don't change we might need to move the cat to a different home.  I don't want you all growing up in a house with cat poop everywhere and toys constantly in the litter box. 

Daddy helped me organize somethings that we aren't using around the house.  I took some pictures and put them online to see if we could sell them.  We also started another 'Good Will' pile.  We found two teapots to sell and my old Olympus camera that I haven't used in a while.  We'll see if we get any nibbles online.  It would be great if we could make some extra money to put into savings.  :-)
 

We all relaxed upstairs after dinner though it was still warm.  Joshua ended up playing with no shirt on since it was cooler that way!  Plus, he spilled some water on himself and his shirt got all wet anyway.  :-P

Tomorrow's sunday.  It's suppose to be hot again, but I'm sure we'll find a way to have fun together as a family!

Sleep tight you two!

I love you both!

~Mommy

Relaxing Day

Dearest Joshua David and Grace Elizabeth~

Little Grace, you were up at 3:40am hungry.  :-P  I changed you and then I nursed you.  I could barely keep my eyes open.  :-P

Joshua, you did pretty good this morning.  You ate half your bowl of cereal for breakfast.  I wish you would have eaten more, but half is still pretty good for you.

This morning we had a lot of music time.  While I had some CD's playing for us, I loaded some more photos onto the laptop.  Then, I backed up the laptop so we wouldn't lose anything.  :-)

We did some chores downstairs since it got hot upstairs.  We steamed sterilized the pump pieces and I swept the kitchen floor and vacuumed the living room.  I called the pest people to take a look at our kitchen.  A guy came out (Scott) and put some ant goo down around our sink.  Hopefully that will take care of our ant problem.  We've only seen a few other creepy crawlies since they came in June.  :-)

Grace is now using the vibrating teether.  Joshua has learned a valuable lesson .... use it or lose it!  ;-)  We got the vibrating teether to help Joshua with his food avoidance issues.  Now, Grace is beginning to teeth, so I let her play with it.  :-)

When Joshua went down for a nap, I nursed and played with Grace.  Once she started to snooze, I closed my eyes as well.  ;-)  It was a pretty relaxing day! 

When daddy got home, we had breakfast foods for dinner.  Joshua even ate some eggs!  Woo hoo!  Since it was still hot upstairs, we stayed downstairs a played a little longer.  I was also able to cut Grace's nails.

Tomorrow is saturday!  Yippie!  Guess what we're going to do .... we're going bowling!  My work is having an employee appreciation day so we're all going there for some food and fun.  You two have never been bowling before.  It's been at least 6 years since I've been myself!  ;-)

Sleep tight you two!

I love you both!  :-)

~Mommy

Wreck

Dearest Blessings~

Grace .... you go girl!  You slept in your bassinet until 6:15am!  Wow!  I think that might be a record for you!  I woke up earlier with some pain.  So, I went into the nursery and pumped!  I was still able to nurse you before I left for work.  :-)

My work day started out interesting.  There was a wreck on the beltline so I got stuck in a lot of traffic.  Needless to say, I was late to the office.  I called a few people to let them know that I wouldn't be there at 8am though.  Only one lane (the far left one) was open for traffic.  

You two had fun with Penny today.  Joshua, you apparently took a very long nap this afternoon!  Before your nap, you two went to the park and had music time.  Penny said that you all danced too!  :-)  Joshua, you played with some stacking blocks and stacked 4 right on top of each other for her!  Yeah!  I didn't ask her how long it took you to knock them all over.  ;-)

We all played together once daddy and I were home from work.  I was able to freeze 6 snappy containers of mommy milk for Grace!  Wow!  I'm estimating there was at least 18 ounces of milk in there!  :-)

It was hard for me to breathe today .... I just kept sneezing and sneezing.  I took some medication before I left for work.  I hope I'm not coming down with anything.  :-P

Tomorrow's friday!  Woo hoo!  Since we have no appointments we'll be able to play together all day long!

Sleep tight you two!

I love you both very much!  :-)

~Mommy

Ants

Dearest Miracles~

Wow Grace, you slept in this morning!  You didn't wake up until 5am for a nursing session!  Woo hoo!  Daddy changed your diaper and then I fed you.  I actually asked daddy to change you because I woke up in pain from not nursing you earlier.  I was leaking through my shirt so I woke daddy up.  :-P 

We had a busy day at work today.  I didn't even get to eat my lunch until almost 2:30pm.  I also needed some tylenol late in the day.  I don't think I drank enough water and got dehydrated.  

You all had fun with Penny while daddy and I were gone.  You all had story, art, and music time.  You also played on the screened in porch in the sand box and water table.  Penny has been helping Joshua learn to take one goldfish cracker out of a bowl at a time and not grabbing a bunch and throwing them at once.  He started to do this for Penny today and for daddy this evening!  Woo hoo!

Daddy had a soccer game after work, so Uncle Brennan and Aunt Katie got to watch you two until I got home.  They ordered pizza for us!  :-)  You all got to visit and play with them for a while.  :-) 

I noticed that we have ants in our kitchen this evening.  They're around our kitchen sink and dishwasher.  It's been so hot outside that I'm sure they're coming in to find water.  I might have to set up some traps though.  I moved all your bottles and sippy cups from the counter and sprayed.

Daddy got rained on at the soccer game.  There was a fluke storm where he was (it never rained near the house).  He usually doesn't have his phone with him on the field, but he had it this time in his bag.  Unfortunately, his bag got soaked so the phone died.  :-( The good news is that phones can be replaced and no one got hurt.  The bad news is that daddy didn't back up his phone recently (it was Uncle Brennan's old phone so daddy only had it a few weeks) .... therefore, he lost all his photos and videos of you two.  :-(  Those, unfortunately, can't be replaced.  However, we still have tons of pictures and videos of you both, so all is not lost.  :-)

Tomorrow's another work day so Penny will be here again.  :-)

Sleep tight you two!

I love you both!  :-)

~Mommy

Smart Guy

Dearest Blessings~

Woo hoo!  Grace, you stayed sleeping until 5am this morning!  Plus, you slept in your bassinet!  Gigi changed your diaper and then I nursed you.  Joshua, you and I slept on a futon mattress on the floor.  Gigi slept in a twin bed next to us.

Joshua, I woke you at 7am so we could make it to our 8am appointment at Wake Medical Hospital to the Special Infant Care Clinic (SICC).  Gigi  helped give Joshua a sippy cup as I did a quick pump before we left.

The point of today's visit was to test Joshua's development at his 'corrected year and a half' age.  The child development specialist was Jim Helms and he completed a Bayley Test on Joshua.  This tested his Cognitive and Language development.  Here's the break down:

'The cognitive scale looks at how your child thinks, reacts, and learns about the world around him.  Toddlers are given items that examine how they explore new toys and experiences, how they solve problems, and their ability to complete puzzles.

The language scale has two parts.  The receptive part looks at how well your child recognizes sounds and how much your child understands spoken words and directions.   Toddlers are given items that ask them to identify pictures and objects, follow simple directions, and perform social routines such as wave bye-bye or play peek-a-boo.  The expressive part looks at how well your child communicates using sounds, gestures, or words.  Toddlers are given opportunities to use words by naming objects or pictures and answering questions.'

The scores ranged from 1-19 with a score between 8-12 being considered average.  Joshua, you scored a 10 for the cognitive part.  You scored a 14 in the receptive language part and a 5 in the expressive part, which we anticipated.  You were 22 lbs 6.5 ozs today.  You're 21 months 3 days with a corrected age of 18 months 19 days.  :-)

The neonatologist was actually pretty impressed at your scores .... especially the high 14!  She knows your expressive language will follow soon.  She recommends speech therapy, which you're already in.  She complimented daddy and I for being proactive in your development!  Woo hoo!  You're such a smart guy!  Of course, we knew that!  :-)  

Some of the tests that Jim had Joshua do was to stack blocks together (he stacked 5 blocks on top of one another!) and put six wooden pegs in holes while being timed.  He did that three times!  Jim asked me, 'Is he always this fun?' and I, of course, said yes!  ;-)

You got discharged from the SICC, but I'm sure we'll see some of them in the future when we visit the Intensive Care Nursey (ICN) nurses over time.  As we were leaving, Joshua fell and bumped his head.  One of the nurses gave me a little Green Bay Packers teddy bear.  :-)

Yesterday, for got to tell you, Lois said to Joshua, 'Point to the fish' in a book.  Joshua got it right and then went to the aquarium in the kitchen and pointed to the gold fish!  Again, you're such a smart guy!

We got back to Gigi's before 11am and ate lunch and visited.  Grace had a fun time with Gigi and Uncle James.  I loaded you all up and then headed back home.  We were home by 2:30pm and stayed downstairs since it was hot upstairs.  Joshua napped on a pillow as I nursed Grace.  I changed everyone's outfits and diapers when we got home since people had sweated in the car.

We got to visit with Aunt Katie for a little while.  She brought over some toys and sippy cups from a friend.  One toy had balls that you're suppose to put in a boat .... Joshua just threw the balls around.  :-P

We were all excited when daddy came home .... we missed him last night!  We all got to relax this evening as a family.  :-) 

Oh, I almost forgot, Joshua woke up with several big bug bites .... two on one leg and one on his face.  We put some lotion on the ones on his leg.  We'll see if they go down.

Tomorrow's another work day.  I know you all will have fun with Penny!

Sleep tight you two!

I love you both!

~Mommy

Not Nice

Dearest Blessings~

We were up early this morning.  I changed and nursed Grace at 2am.  She fell asleep at 9:30pm in the bassinet last night though!  Good job little lady!  I held you once you fell asleep after the 2am feeding since I was so tired.  Then, you woke up hungry at 6am.  Daddy changed you and then I nursed you.

Once everyone was up and ready for the day, I loaded you all up and we saw my work people this morning.  I had to get a second round of TB testing since mine expired while I was on maternity leave.  Everyone wanted to hold you two!  We stayed for a little bit and then headed back home.  We rested and played for a while before we had to head back out for Joshua's therapy appointment.

We saw a 4 year old walking out of therapy as we were going in.  He looked like he was closer to 3 years old.  His dad said he was three months early!  You two boys smiled at each other!  What a blessing you all are!

Joshua had his speech therapy appointment with Kim today.  I rescheduled it for today since we'll be at the Special Infant Care Clinic (SICC) tomorrow morning.  The neonatologists want to see Joshua at his correct year and a half age.  I brought in mashed sweet potatoes, which I made yesterday, and he ate a good amount.  Kim is off next week, but when she returns she's going to evaluate your speech more.

When we got home, everyone needed a diaper change and outfit change (everyone was hot from the car). At this point in the day you two had been loaded and unloaded from the car twice, and we still had one more place to go later this afternoon.  :-P

We went upstairs and Grace did some tummy time.  I put a toy out for her to play with .... it spins the alphabet song.  Joshua came by to play with it too.  It was really cute to see you two both spinning the toy.  But, after a while, Joshua picked up the toy (which is larger and heavy) and threw it right at Grace's head before I could block it.  I was so mad and Grace started to scream so loudly!  I immediately popped Joshua on the bottom several times and held Grace to calm her.  I told Joshua that what he did was not nice and then he started to cry and wanted to be held.  I held you two for a little bit until everyone was calm.  Joshua then went about playing and I nursed Grace.  :-)

We headed over to Gigi's after in the afternoon.  Since Joshua's appointment is at 8am tomorrow morning at the hospital, we're going to spend the night at Gigi's house which is right around the corner.  Gigi is taking tomorrow off and will watch Grace while I'm at the hospital with Joshua.

Joshua, you finished your cereal from this morning and ate a little bit more than one entire hotdog for dinner!!  Wow!  I was so impressed!  You didn't eat any sweet potato though, but you had some earlier with Kim.

We had a Gigi concert this evening.  Did I ever tell you all that Gigi is one of the most naturally talented musicians you'll ever meet?  Well, she played some songs on the keyboard for us this evening.  It was fun!  :-)

We watched some of the movie 'A Bugs Life' this evening before bed.  We didn't finish so that we could get you two ready for bed time.  Everyone was sleeping a little after 10pm.  We missed daddy .... we left some notes for him at the house before we left though.  We'll see him tomorrow after work.

Tomorrow's a big day with Joshua's developmental screening!  I know he'll do well!

Sleep tight little ones!

I love you both!

~Mommy

Heart Breaking Loss

Dearest Gifts from God~

Joshua, you woke up from your toddler bed at 1:30am.  I was still holding Grace so daddy went to pick you up.  We haven't been that great at putting you in your bed at night.  You usually fall asleep in our bed and then we're so tired we leave you there.  :-P  We'll try to get better at moving you so you get more use to it.  And Grace, I had to hold you all night so our bed was pretty crowded.  :-P

Grace, you woke up at 5:30am to eat, but you were noodling around off and on before then.  I was just too tired to pick you up.  :-P  Don't worry, you weren't crying.  If you were crying I would have gotten up faster.  :-)

I stayed awake with you afterward since you didn't want to go back to sleep.  I ate some cereal downstairs with you as you played.  I checked my email and loaded more photos on the laptop as you did tummy time.  You fell asleep during your tummy time, so I pumped next to you.  When I was done, you were still napping, so I laid on the couch for a little and rested.  Daddy and Joshua came in as you were napping and woke you up.  :-P  Daddy took the both of you downstairs for breakfast as I continued to rest.  :-)

Daddy grilled corn on the cob for lunch while I made more mashed sweet potatoes for Joshua.  However, he didn't eat them.  I'm bringing them in for speech therapy with Kim tomorrow so I hope you eat them then.  I changed your appointment from tuesday to monday because you see the neonatologists at Wake Med on tuesday.  Mary Beth isn't there on mondays, so we won't see her this week.  But, we'll see Kim tomorrow.

We did some laundry and Grace did a lot of tummy time.  Daddy did Joshua's brush exercises and joint compressions.

By 2pm, Gigi, Grandpa Jim, and Uncle James came over.  Today is the championship World Cup soccer game for the women!  USA is playing Japan!  We dominated this game for the most part, but Japan got some goals to send it into over time.  More goals were scored in over time to send it into penalty kicks!  Wow!  That was exciting!  However, we suffered a heart breaking loss at the end of the penalty kicks .... Japan ended up winning though we had the much better team and played better.  How sad.  I was bummed the rest of the day.  :-P  The World Cup is every 4 years.  The men played last year, so we'll see another World Cup in 3 years for them.  We'll see the women again in 4 years. 

Daddy read us Bible stories before bed .... one was the story of Joshua.  I've read the 'Book of Joshua' to Joshua before.  I need to be better at reading Bible stories to you all.  Will you all help me remember?  We need to schedule Bible story time.  These days some times slip right by me with all the other things that we do around here.  But, Bible stories are important and should be a priority.

Sleep tight you two!

I love you both!

~Mommy

Better Eating

Dearest Joshua David and Grace Elizabeth~

Well, I cheated .... I admit it.  I was so tired last night that I didn't try to put Grace down.  I just leaned back and went to sleep holding her.  :-P  She woke up at 3:45am hungry.  Daddy changed her diaper and then I nursed her.  

When we woke up a second time, I brought her downstairs and she helped me prepare the crock pot before the boys woke up.  We were making a three cheese chicken with noodle recipe.  I had to prepare the pasta and cut up the veggies before putting them in the crock pot.

Daddy tried to mow the lawn this morning and hit a rock.  :-(  The mower got bent up and daddy had to bang it with a hammer.  It didn't start back up so he came back inside.  Daddy's not having good mornings recently .... remember his car didn't start yesterday!

So, once we had showers, we piled in the car and went to the fair grounds for the Kids Exchange.  Joshua and I went back in January.  They have one about every 6 months or so.  It's one of the biggest consignment sales of children things in the area.  That's where I got Grace's swing from.  :-)  I got a backpack diaper bag and Grace got a cup for when she's older.  It matches one that Joshua has.  

The sale started yesterday, so a lot of things were picked over.  It was still crowded though.  We didn't stay long.  Maybe I'll stay longer at the next one to get clothes for you all.  Right now, you two have clothes from family and friends.  Remember how we swapped out some of Joshua's clothes for girl clothes for Grace?  I still need to go through Joshua's dresser and upstate his clothes.

We ate lunch out at Q Shack BBQ.  Joshua's been there before.  He surprised us all with his eating too!  He ate some mac and cheese, sweet potato fries, and hush puppies!  Woo hoo!  I nursed Grace while we ate.

We bought a new battery for daddy's car afterward.  Daddy replaced it and the car started again!  Yippie!  The lawn mower worked when we got home and daddy got to mow.  I stayed in with you two and swept the kitchen and vacuumed the living room.  Afterward, I organized the new diaper bag and daddy gathered things together for our loan officer.  We're going to refinance our house to lock into a historical low interest rate of 4.5%.  I wonder what the housing market will look  like by the time you all read this? 

Grace had some cute real giggles this afternoon!  I got a video of it.  Joshua hit her a few times, but she kept on giggling!

We had our crock pot meal for dinner.  Joshua ate some chicken, pasta, and corn!  I was so impressed!  I said to daddy, "A crock pot success" and we gave each other a 'high five.'  Joshua then started clapping and I started clapping!  Then, he gave daddy a 'high five'!  It was so cute!  I'm so happy you had a good eating day today!  :-)

After dinner, it was still pretty early, so we walked up to the park.  We stayed out for about 40 minutes.  Joshua walked up the stairs at the park by himself without holding on to anyone and without crawling!  He was such a big boy!  He also went through the play ground tunnel following daddy!  He went down the slide and played on a swing.  I held Grace in my lap and we played on a swing.  She eventually fell asleep.  There's a sandbox at the play ground and Joshua had fun in there too.  Once we got home, Joshua and Grace both had baths.  :-)

Tomorrow is the World Cup championship!  Grandpa Jim, Gigi, and Uncle James are coming over to watch!

Sleep tight you two!

I love you both!

~Mommy

Rice Cereal

Dearest Miracles~

Guess what happened this morning .... Grace stayed sleeping when I put her down in her bassinet last night and I didn't have to hold her!  Plus .... Grace didn't wake up until 6am!  Wow!  I was in pain from not nursing or pumping and started to leak through my shirt, but you slept so I couldn't complain much!  :-)  Daddy changed Grace and then I nursed her.

This morning, Joshua helped me sterilize the pump pieces and run some laundry.  We did sheets and pillow cases first.  Then, we ran you all's laundry.  :-)  Grace fell asleep during a tummy time session.

We also had some music time upstairs.  I put a new CD on and we ended up listening to 5 CDs!  :-)  We stayed in the play room most of the time because daddy ended up working from home for his half day.  His car wouldn't start this morning.  It needs a new battery!  Good thing it happened when it did and not when he was out and stranded.  What a blessing.

However, Joshua threw something two different times at daddy's coffee mug while he was trying to work downstairs.  :-P  So, I tried to keep you all in the play room as much as possible and out of his way. 

While we were playing, Joshua did the cutest thing.  We were playing with a monkey while I nursed Grace.  I tried to make a monkey noise (oo oo ah ah) and Joshua smiled, held the monkey, and went 'ah!'  It was so sweet!

When daddy got 'off' from work, we watched the Japan vs Sweden soccer game.  Japan won so we play them for the championship on sunday!  Go USA!  The last time the USA women won the World Cup in soccer was in 1999 in penalty kicks!  Germany has won the last few times.  They were eliminated by Japan this year, though I felt a little bad because Germany is hosting it .... and I'm part German.  :-P

This afternoon we went to Target for some things.  Then, we came back here and made tacos for dinner.  Joshua didn't eat much all day.  I boiled some hotdogs this evening and he ate a little bit of one and then a lot of gold fish crackers for dinner.

Grace, you tried rice cereal for the first time this morning!  I mixed one tablespoon with one ounce of mommy milk!  I don't know how much you actually ate since a lot ended on your bib.  We'll keep trying.  :-P  The good news is that you had no food reactions during the day.  :-)

Also, you're starting to play with your feet more.  It's so cute.  If you're on your back, you'll put your feet up in the air and grab them with your hands.  I've also seen you try to put your toes in your mouth.  :-)

Oh, and I almost forgot .... if we say to Joshua, 'Give Grace a kiss' he'll lean over and touch his nose to the top of Grace's head!  It's so adorable.  :-)  He then smiles and giggles.  :-)

Tomorrow is saturday so we'll get to spend the whole day with daddy as a little family!

Sleep tight you two!

I love you both very much!  :-)

~Mommy

Redish Brown

Dearest Joshua David and Grace Elizabeth~

I held you, little Grace, last night until 4:20am.  You were quite squirmy at times when you were sleeping, so I didn't sleep much.  When you woke up at 4:20am, daddy changed your diaper and then I nursed you.  I've noticed that you like to grab my shirt when you're nursing.  Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere.  ;-)

You two had fun with Penny as usual.  She took you all to the park for a little bit.  You had music and story times.  We ran out of size two diapers, so Grace was in size three diapers (the ones that Joshua wears) all day.  We probably won't make it to the store until tomorrow, so you might be wearing the threes for a little bit longer.  :-P

Aunt Katie and Uncle Brennan came over and saw you two!  Uncle Brennan returned Grandpa Mike's lawn mower and then they visited with you all.   :-)  I'm sure you two entertained them.  :-)

Grace, I have a confession .... I think your little tree is a goner.  :-(  Remember how (Great) Aunt Pops gave you a little European Cypress tree when you were born?  Well, I replanted it and I've been watering it, but it's now turned a redish brown color.  I'm so sorry.  I'm not that great with plants.  Penny tried to cut it back to see if it'll grow some more.  If not, I'll go out and get you a new one.  It might have been the soil that I used, or the excessive heat recently.  Either way, I promise to place it and try again.  :-P

I had a late meeting after work.  I got home around 8pm.  I missed you all so much!  The meeting was our annual benefits discussion, but the CEO also talked to us about 'cut backs' in the organization.  We've had to respond to the existing down economy by cutting hours for certain employees across all the medical sites.  Each site had one or two people whose hours were cut.  We're having one dental assistant cut her hours and our hygienist is going to half time.  It's rough times, but we'll all get through it.  

I was leaking through my shirt when I got home and saw little Grace!  I nursed her as we watched the second half of the USA vs France soccer game.  USA won!  Woo hoo!  We're in the finals and we play the winner of the Sweden vs Japan game.  They've already played, but we haven't watched that game yet.  

Tomorrow's friday and daddy's working only a half day!  Woo hoo!

Sleep tight you two!

I love you both!  :-)

~Mommy

Loose Outlet

Dearest Precious Children~

Well, I had to sleep with a squirmy 15 pounder on my chest from 11pm last night to 2:50am this morning.  :-P  Daddy changed Grace's diaper and then I nursed her.  I don't know what's going on right now that you have to be held all the time in order to sleep, little lady.  I hope you grow out of it soon because my back can't take much more of this.  I slept with you on my chest again afterward because I didn't want to chance you waking up again.  :-P

I ended up putting you down at 6am when my work alarm went off.  You woke up so  nursed you once more time before leaving for work.  

You all had fun with Penny.  You all walked to the park in the morning before it got hot out.  Then, you all had music, story, and tummy time.  

Work was pretty uneventful today.  I saw one patient right at 8am and then the rest of the morning I was in CPR training.  I was up for renewal along with 6 other people from the other Wake Health Services medical sites.  Don't worry .... I passed!  Woo hoo!  I got done a little earlier than we thought, but I didn't have any other patients scheduled until after lunch.  So, I was able to catch up on some progress notes that I was behind on.  Now, I believe I only have 13 'open' notes.  ;-)

We had a sales representative come in to talk to us during lunch.  She was a 'fast' talker and pretty biased on her product.  But, she brought us lunch!  Yippie!  I always like a free meal!  ;-)  Ha!

It started to storm while I was at work.  We actually lost power at the end for a little bit, but we had just finished seeing patients.  You two listened to the rain and thunder at home with daddy.  You two also had story time with daddy before I got home.  He read you two stories and then you all had music time.  Joshua, you discovered that you can remove at least one of the electrical outlet covers!  Yeah, great child proofing!  :-P  The outlet is loose, so we need to go around the house and see how many we need to replace.  :-P

This evening we all watched the first half of the USA vs France World Cup game.  They played earlier this morning, but daddy and I recorded it since we were at work.  We know who wins, but we still wanted to see it.  It was late when we started, and we were all tired, so we only saw half.  We'll finish the rest of the game tomorrow after work. 

Grace, you did cooperate with me this evening on one thing .... your nails had gotten pretty long and sharp so I trimmed them back.  You like to squeeze and grab me sometimes when I'm nursing you, and your little nails were beginning to hurt.  :-P

Tomorrow I have a late meeting at work, but I'm going to rush home as fast as I can to see you all!

Sleep tight little ones!

I love you both!

~Mommy

Late Nap

Dearest Miracles~

Grace, Grace, Grace .... you were fussy again last night and wouldn't sleep.  :-P  I held you to get some rest around 10:30pm.  I was back nursing you by 12:45am.  I was exhausted.  :-P  After 1am, I leaned back again in bed holding you because I was too scared to put you done.  I thought you would just wake back up again.  :-P  I was up nursing you again by 3:45am.

Once everyone was up for the day, we headed over to Joshua's therapy appointments.  Daddy made Joshua some oatmeal (read oatmeal and not the toddler kind) to use with Kim.  We wanted to try something chunkier.  Joshua, I think you ate one bite total.  I got it to your lips a few times, and the rest of the time you hit the spoon away.  Ugh!  Back to the drawing board.  :-P  I guess it was too chunky?  We're going to go back to the toddler oatmeal and pureed foods.  I showed Kim how you eat a gold fish cracker.  She said you had some good tongue movements pushing the food from one side of the mouth to the other.  Yippie!  :-)

You did well with Mary Beth for your OT appointment.  She noticed your haircut!  I told her I trimmed your hair when you fell asleep the other day.  It's not even, but it's not in your eyes and face anymore.  Ha!

We were back by lunch and Grace was crying as I tried to eat something and feed Joshua.  After we quickly ate, we went upstairs to nurse Grace and rest for a little bit.  I put a CD on for music time.  Grace, you had tummy time and Joshua and I had pillow time.  I took the cushions off the couch and put them on the floor.  I rolled Joshua around on them and we crawled all around them to get toys.  I was trying to imitate the big pillows that Mary Beth uses during your OT appointments.  :-)

We went downstairs by 2:30pm.  It reached over 100 degrees today so it got hot in the play room over the garage. 

Grace, you took a little nap during a tummy time session this afternoon downstairs.  Joshua helped me with the dishes and with making my lunches for the week.  I also did another pump, so we should have enough mommy milk in the fridge for Grace for tomorrow.  :-)

We went over Joshua's ABC book over and over.  He's still not 'saying' the words or letters, but if I ask for him to point to something, he can do it.  You're so smart little man!  :-)

Joshua took a very late nap today!  You never acted tired all day and didn't sleep in the car to or from his therapy appointments.  I gave him some dinner around 5:30pm.  He finished some cereal from this morning, had some sweet potato, hot dog pieces, a few bites of pasta, and then a sippy cup.  Once he downed the sippy cup he fell asleep in my arms!  It was 5:45pm!  I let him sleep until 7pm, but then I woke him so he'd go to bed later. 

Daddy had a late soccer board meeting.  Once Joshua woke back up (or once I woke him up), we went upstairs.  It was still warm, but not has bad as earlier in the day.  Daddy home by 8:40pm and helped get everyone to bed shortly after.

Tomorrow I head back to work.  Penny will be here to play with you all!  I'll rush home as fast as I can!

Sleep tight little ones!

I love you two so much!

~Mommy