Oh, wow. It's been awhile. I was talking with my mom today and telling her some of the funny things the girls were up to and she said that I better be writing this stuff down. Then I remembered why I started this blog in the first place!

Anyway, life is crazy now that I'm back at work full time. I wake up around 5 am and am at work around 7 am. Finley is now 13 months and is on whole milk. No more nursing, sigh. She is a great eater, though- will eat most anything you put in front of her and act like she hasn't eaten in days. While we're fixing dinner she'll follow us around and open her mouth and say, "Ah, ah, ah!" wanting us to give her pieces of food. Sometimes she'll sign "more" when we remind her to. She'll also sign "milk" if she wants milk sometimes. We didn't really push the sign language and still don't do it that much, but we should. Finley's not near as verbal as Peyton was, so signing would be a help, although we understand what she wants just fine. Finley's also walking now and we bought her her first pair of shoes- little two-tone pink shoes, size 4 1/2 wide from Stride Rite. I think Tim's already concerned about the money he's going to be spending on the three of us girls when it comes to shoes! Finley also likes to color with chalk on the chalk board and lately wants to turn the lights on and off whenever you'll hold her up by the switch.

Peyton is less than two months away from turning 4! I can't believe how time has flown. I like to look back at her baby pictures and try to remember how she was. She's still a feisty red-head. She has been giving us a glimpse into the teenage years recently. One of her favorite sayings right now is, "You're making me worse and delicate!" She says this when we tell her not to do something. She also gets into everything so we're trying to teach her not to touch other people's things. It's not going very well. She's definitely our challenge right now- always active and head-strong. If we can make it until she's an adult, she'll turn out to be a great woman! I have to remind myself that children are a blessing from the Lord!

Our house is finally getting over the sickies. Finley had a sinus infection, Peyton had a stomach bug that we later found out was strep (rapid test was negative but the culture was positive) and I had strep throat as well. So, three of us are on antibiotics. There's stuff going around, but I hope we don't get anything else for a long time!

Okay, that's all for now. I'm going to go switch laundry and then try to get to bed! I'll try to get some pictures up on here and Flickr- Amy's wedding, the girls, etc.

The end is coming...

I'm so sad. We're going to stop breastfeeding soon- probably this week. Not sure. I get teary-eyed just thinking about it. But, in all honesty, I don't want to use my twenty five minute lunch break to pump like I did all last semester. I also don't want to keep taking the supplemets that are causing my monthly visitor to be so erratic. BUT- I'm really going to miss my Mommy and Finley cuddle time. I got Tim to take some pics the other day and I'll get him to take some more. I feel like I should do something special for the last time, but not really, kwim? It's an odd feeling. I've had a love/hate relationship with breastfeeding anyway- milk supply issues, excruciating pain for pretty much the first 10 weeks and then pain sporadically at other times. But, I believe in breastfeeding and that it's what is best for my child. So, here we are at 12 and 1/2 months old getting ready to stop. I'm sure I'll cry...

Our Week

Girls! We have had so much fun this week. I am amazed at how much both of you have grown and how you interact with each other. I always wanted a sister growing up and never had one (although I have a realy close friend that is like a sister!). I hope you two stick together always and love each other as much as you already do for the rest of your lives. I can see how you adore one another while you are making silly noises at each other at the dinner table, when Peyton, you help Finley get a toy or her paci if she can't do it, when, Finley, you laugh at anything your big sister does. You two are precious!

This week we had fun while Daddy was at work! We played hard, we were active, and we got to do new and exciting things. One of those things was finger painting with chocolate pudding. You both loved the chocolate paint. Peyton, you were afraid of getting too messy, but Finley, you went to town! It was straight into the bath for both of you!

Busy

As you can imagine, summer for teachers is prime time for travel. We''ve made two trips to Dallas and one longer trip to Phoenix this summer. I can proudly say that I've taken both girls on an airplane by myself! Not an easy feat, but worth it to get priceless 4-generation pics with my grandmother who is 88. I've also worked some around the house(need to do much more), and spent a lot of time watering the yard since we haven't had any rain in a long time (like 1 out of the last 38 days, maybe?).

The girls are wonderful. Peyton is going to church camp one day a week and loving it, although she was the only one who freaked out about having quiet time and having the lights turned off. She got to go for a walk with one of her teachers instead so everyone else could have quiet time. We start swimming lessons with her next week. I think she'll do great- she loves the water and has been swimming without any floatation help recently. She just needs to learn the strokes. She is potty trained during the day and has learned how to pedal and steer so she can ride her big girl bike. She is learning some bible verses by memory and is also doing better with coloring, drawing, and tracing. Her favorite letter to draw is P, of course. I'm so proud of all that she's learned recently.

Finley is growing like a weed. She's in 6-12, 12-18, or 18-24 month clothing depending on what it is. She is standing on her own for a little while until she realizes it, crusing around on all the furniture, and crawling fast. She is a decent eater, and loves flavor- some things like green beans she won't eat plain, but if it has any kind of sauce on it she'll gobble it up. She still loves her cloth diapers, too!

I start school again in a few weeks, so I'm going to try to make the best out of the rest of my summer!

Oh Wow, that's blue!

Hmmm... Guess I need a new blog layout so all my pictures don't come out looking blue!

Testing 2...

Aha! Done. Gee, I'm so proud of myself. Now, off to go into Finley's room and calm her down for the 4th time- it's been 10 minutes and she's still screaming. I think next time I'll wait 15. She's got to re-learn that being put down for a nap isn't so bad...

Testing...

I am trying to learn my way around blogging, lol. We'll see if I can add a pic...

School's Out!

Yay! Title says it all. I do have to work next week Mon-Wed, but there won't be any middle school kids there, so that's a plus. I'm going to bring the girls up with me on Monday and see how that goes. I just don't want to pay for a sitter anymore! My friend Misty, Eric's wife, will be bringing up their two kids as well. Eric is the guy I work with for those of you that don't know. Our kids are pretty close in age. Cara's 8 months younger that Peyton and Micah is 3 months younger than Finley. I'm looking forward to trying to get the house organized this summer. We're also hoping that Tim can get some work as an insurance adjuster over the summer. I want to take a photography class this summer, but choosing the right one is turning out to be a challenge. So, we'll see what happens with that. For now, I'll just keep practicing on my kids!

Movie Night!

Miss P went to her first official movie tonight. A 5:00 showing of Disney's new movie, UP. It was a cute movie- more involved than I thought it'd be from the previews, but very cute. We had shown Peyton some of the trailers for the movie and when those scenes came on in the movie, she really perked up. Tim had to take her outside once and talk to her a little bit as she wanted to wander out the aisle and up the stairs. Luckily, there weren't that many people there.

In other news, Finley still has this nail issue. I need to do some more research, but so far we've stumped the pediatrician and the dermatologist. :( I told Mom I think she has the "Second Child Who Has the Weird Medical Issues Syndrome". Anyway, whatever it is has now spread to her toenails- both of her big toes are now starting to get discolored. We're supposed to call the dermatologist back in about a week- not sure why we're waiting and not running more tests, but we'll see. If she gets noticeably worse in the near future, we may get another opinion. One of our neighbors suggested taking her to an allergist, so we may look into that.

Let's see. The last day of school is next Thursday for the kids, Friday for the teachers, so that'll be good. I actually have to work until the 10th, boo. But, it'll be more relaxed, so that's good. I'm looking forward to a summer of no work, time with the kids, and with Tim. I'm also ready to get the house clean! I cleaned the kitchen really well yesterday, but you wouldn't know it by the way it looks today.

All for now. There's a pillow with my name on it!

"Normal" Monday

I am not sure how to define "normal" but I suppose, in some weird way, that this is a "normal" Monday. Sure, I missed work. Sure, I had to take Peyton to the doctor to get the glass in her foot looked at. Sure, Finley is newly intrigued by the doggie door. But, yes, I suppose this is a normal day. Life with two kids is crazy. It's constant change, and I'm learning slowly how to hold on for the ride. Tonight's mission: two kids in bed by 8:30 so I can finish the baby bib I'm knitting, clean some house, do some laundry, and get in bed at a reasonable time myself. Wish me luck! :)

Daddy's Home!

Peyton is old enough where she knows when Daddy's coming home from work. It's very cute, and at times gets a little old. At dinner, she was saying, "My Daddy's coming home" about every 4 minutes. Sometimes it's a question, other times it's a statement. So, you can imagine, expecially if you have kids, that it gets kinda old after about the 20th time she says it. One thing's true, though- I've never seen a girl more in love with her daddy.

Finley enjoyed dinner as well. She's now 9 months and we're giving her more "table food". Tonight she tried macaroni and cheese and cooked spinach. She loved them both- ate tons of the mac n' cheese. She's a little piggy! Peyton ate pretty well and then wanted the "cookies with sparkles" as she calls them- the pink and white circus animal cookies. Oh, so yummy...

Now, it's wind down time. I am going to work on editing some photos and then maybe I'll knit a bit, and then it's off to bed. At the rate I'm going with the shorties I'm making, it'll be winter before they're done!

First Entry

So I've decided to start blogging. There are several reasons behind it: easy for family to keep up with us, a written "history" so I don't forget about all the little things the girls do, and as an outlet for me. I like to write, and I love to take pictures. Hopefully this will let me combine the two and share that with others.