OOPS!

Leighton wanted a tent, so I helped her make one using a blanket and table.

She spent several hours playing in the tent 'sleeping'.

A little while later, I heard pages turning inside the tent. I asked her what she was doing. She replied, "I am reading a magazine." I looked inside and sure enough she was reading a magazine.

I asked her what her magazine was about, thinking it was Family Fun or Better Homes and Gardens. Both of them had come in the mail this week. She said, "It is about ladies and makeup." She lifted it up and ........

I quickly traded her for the Family Fun!

Even more dangerous now that she is reading.

Hansel and Gretel

Well, only Gretel. Instead of bread crumbs Jensyn leaves puke stains. Dee spends nearly every night on his hands and knees cleaning up her trail.

Oh, how I hate builder beige carpet.

This is all in about 10 minutes. YUCK!!

THANK GOODNESS FOR OXYCLEAN!!!

She even gets the carpet when she is swinging in her swing!

I can't wait until she grows out of the GERD.

Just For You Grandma Doll

Or anyone else who wants to see more pictures of the girls. (If you want them bigger, just click on the picture)

Jensyn rolling over to get to me.

Jensyn chewing her favorite toy.

Cute little Jensyn (much cuter without the toy in her face-thanks, Leighton)

Carly's hair and the cat


Leighton's hair

Carly all ready for bed-freshly washed and dried hair.

Leighton ready for bed. Washed and dried.

Jensyn peeking out of her crib.

It's her new trick. She rolls over to the side and pulls the bumper down to see what's going on.

Smiling at Sissy.

Smiling at toys held by Sissy.

Not happy at the flashing camera.

Carly posing for you.

Leighton posing for everyone.

Old picture, but thought you might like to see how they spend most of their day.

(In jammies and on the floor)

New Hairdos

Check out the girls' new dos. Thanks Britain!!!! You Rock!!!!!

Carly from the back. She looks beautiful, she said so!

She does have the best hair and eyebrows in the family.

Back view of Leighton. This is the cutest cut on her. When I put her to bed tonight, she told me that she was going to check her hair every morning to make sure it was still beautiful. She is very excited to show it off to her friends.

Girl Scout Cookies

Oh, how we love our Thin Mints.....

5:00 p.m.



5:01 p.m.
(Yes, I gave Jensyn a TEENY TINY crumb of a thin mint. Most of it is on her face.)



5:03 p.m.

Thank goodness I ordered 5 more boxes. Shhh! Don't tell the girls!

The Endless Pit That is My Baby

Jensyn turned 7 months last Monday. This baby can eat! She finished the following in less than 3 minutes; 2 (yes, two) jars of baby food, and at least 10 corn puffs. She then slowed down to another 20 puffs in 5 minutes.

The only remaining evidence that a meal was consumed. Note the determined gaze as she reaches for more puffs.
Notice the death grip, evidenced by the white fingertips. You can barely see the puff. After above food was consumed, she screamed when NOT presented with more! I tried to post a video of the scream but Blogger is taking WAY TOO LONG to upload video. Sorry!

Knock Knock

I take Carly to horseback riding lessons every Tuesday. Without fail, she wants to tell knock knock jokes. They start out funny and very quickly end up as follows:
Carly : Knock Knock
Me: Who's There?
Carly: (Insert food item of your choice; banana, ice cream cone, pbj)
Me: Above food item Who?
Carly: Above food item smashed into your (insert body part; hair, face, nose, foot).
Carly: Hysterical Laughing
Repeat ad nauseam

After weeks and weeks of listening to this, trying to convince her that it is NOT hilarious, teaching her other knock knock jokes (which she says are BORING), even turning up the radio (she just gets louder) I have resorted to this:

Carly: Knock Knock
Me: Any of the following; Come in, it's open. I'm in the shower, come back later. I just bought from the kids down the street. Nobody is home. And my favorite - complete silence- I tell her I didn't hear the door.
Carly: Not funny mom.
Repeat ad nauseam

It's like Christmas all over again!!!

I took some advice from another mom and took away half of my kids toys.

WWWHHHAAATTTT!!!!!

Let me finish. They then trade the remaining toys for the new ones that you took away. My kids really enjoy these new toys, they act like they have never seen them before. Another great benefit to this method is a CLEAN playroom.

Note the empty spot on the shelf. They traded babies and paraphernalia for ..

a kitchen set.

When they tire of a toy they can just trade Mom for a new one. The only problem is...........

Mom can never find the toys!!

This is actually a new year's resolution for me. Since we are DONE (Yes, Mom I said DONE) having kids, we can get rid of the tons of baby stuff. I have set a goal to have the attic clean and organized by June. We would like to finish it into storage and a bedroom for Jensyn. As you can see from the picture, that is pretty much impossible right now. Hopefully by putting it out there, I will be forced to keep this resolution.

A Trip to the Dentist

We took the girls to the dentist today.

Before we left, Carly said 'I will be brave, I hope!'

Dee decided to come, since he doesn't have much to do after he has done his daily search for a job. He reported to me that sitting in the waiting room of the dentist's office is BORING. Like I wasn't aware. However, I use the time to catch up on my Star, People and other such indulgent rags.

Both girls had a great check-up. Carly will have to have more teeth pulled next time, but no cavities or other issues.

Leighton loves the treasure box and the Princess toothbrush.

Carly and her treasures from the wonderful treasure box. ( I must add this after a comment from my mom: Carly's hair did not look this bad when I took her to the dentist. As we were leaving the mall, she said she was cold. She put her coat over her head and wiggled around underneath it the entire way home. Hence, the absolutely crazy hair. I am actually a little offended she would think that I let my child go out like this. She taught me better!!) And like any other responsible parents, afterwards, we took them for... ice cream.

You know who you are..this is for you

Expectant mothers waiting for a newborn's arrival say they don't care what sex the baby is. They just want to have ten fingers and ten toes.


Mothers lie.


Every mother wants so much more.

She wants a perfectly healthy baby with a round head, rosebud lips, button nose, beautiful eyes and satin skin. She wants a baby so gorgeous that people will pity the Gerber baby for being flat-out ugly.


She wants a baby that will roll over, sit up and take those first steps right on schedule (according to the baby development chart on page 57, column two).


Every mother wants a baby that can see, hear, run, jump and fire neurons by the billions.

She wants a kid that can smack the ball out of the park and do toe points that are the envy of the entire ballet class. Call it greed if you want, but a mother wants what a mother wants.


Some mothers get babies with something more.





Maybe you're one who got a baby with a condition you couldn't pronounce, a spine that didn't fuse, a missing chromosome or a palate that didn't close. The doctor's words took your breath away. It was just like the time at recess in the fourth grade when you didn't see the kick ball coming, and it knocked the wind right out of you.


Some of you left the hospital with a healthy bundle, then, months, even years later, took him in for a routine visit, or scheduled him for a checkup, and crashed head first into a brick wall as you bore the brunt of devastating news.


It didn't seem possible.

That didn't run in your family.

Could this really be happening in your lifetime?


There's no such thing as a perfect body. Everybody will bear something at some time or another. Maybe the affliction will be apparent to curious eyes, or maybe it will be unseen, quietly treated with trips to the doctor, therapy or surgery.


Mothers of children with disabilities live the limitation with them.


Frankly, I don't know how you do it.


Sometimes you mothers scare me. How you lift that kid in and out of the wheelchair twenty time a day. How you monitor tests, track medications, and serve as the gatekeeper to a hundred specialists yammering in your ear.


I wonder how you endure the cliches and the platitudes, the well-intentioned souls explaining how God is at work when you've occasionally questioned if God is on strike. I even wonder how you endure schmaltzy columns like this one-saluting you, painting you as a hero and saint, when you know you're ordinary. You snap, you bark, you bite. You didn't volunteer for this, you didn't jump up and down in the motherhood line yelling, "Choose me, God. Choose me! I've got what it takes."


You're a woman who doesn't have time to step back and put things in perspective, so let me do it for you. From where I sit, you're way ahead of the pack. You've developed the strength of the draft horse while holding onto the delicacy of a daffodil. You have a heart that melts like chocolate in a glove box in July, counter-balanced against the stubbornness of an Ozark mule.


You are the mother, advocate and protector of a child with a disability. You're a neighbor, a friend, a woman I pass at church and my sister-in-law.


You're a wonder.


-Lori Borgman

Show and Tell for Grandma and Grandpa

Wednesday is the 100th day of school. Carly had to bring in 100 of something glued to a piece of paper. She made a rainbow out of cereal.

This is the dreaded Family Culture Cube. Carly got a S+. She was very happy. Dee was happy with his grade, too.

Another view of the cube. (This time without the basket of junk in the background.)

Leighton wanted in on the show and tell for Grandma and Grandpa. This is a picture of her and her snowman.

And another picture of her and her real snowman.

A Valentine's Card For You!

I don't usually laugh at my children's attempts at drawing, coloring or other artistic things. This however, made ALL of us laugh. This is a Valentine's Day card that Carly made for me. After she had drawn the heart (yes, it is supposed to be a heart), she said, 'Oh, Mom its not a Valentine's card its a Bum Card!"