16 SEPTEMBER 2005

The wrath of Ophelia left us with no damage or harm. I did have to collect debris from the yard throughout the night such as the wheelbarrow and several 50 gallon tree buckets. (Yes, tree buckets. Mike insisted on hanging on to them after we planted our trees.) The grill also brought about some drama when it crashed on the deck causing all us girls to jump. Mostly I was just annoyed for having to stay indoors for more than 24 hours. What made it worse was that I had a bit of a stomach/intestinal bug the days leading up to Ophelia’s arrival. Consequently, I was not up to shopping for hurricane supplies before it was too late. We were prepared enough though had we found ourselves without electricity or water. I even filled up a bathtub with water. So we are all safe and back to our daily grind.

There are only about 5 days left until Mike’s arrival. He and I are going nuts waiting for these last days to pass. Mike is very bored with literally nothing to do. The replacements are now on post and no longer need Mike’s crew to do any dentistry. He is just passing his time exercising, calling home, checking email, exercsing, hanging out with the guys, exercising, eating, and sleeping. Now I’m just preparing for his return getting the house ready and doing last minute things that should’ve been done 7 months ago:P

My mom is long gone (from Jacksonville, that is). I know that I’m quite behind in updating the site, but I thought I would still mention my mom’s visit. It was nice to have a little more help with the girls before I have a full-time husband again. We managed to get all the bathrooms painted which was really my goal while she was here. Those ferns that I had planted and hung on the porch are now dead. It’s actually kind of not my fault. The one that had fallen during the storm on Annie’s birthday just wouldn’t recover. Well, the other death probably is my fault. I never claimed to have a green thumb. Anyway, the girls and I had a lot of fun with my mom here. Annie’s new nickname for her grandmother is “Boo-Boo”. If you knew my mom, you would understand. I’m sure “Boo-boo” was glad to get back to her own “kids”, Rudy and Tiger. I guess Tiger, her Yorkie puppy, has turned out to be quite a handful. They now call her “Lemmy-lu” meaning she’s a lemon.

Annie has been making great strides since my last update. Her biggest accomplishment is that she now sleeps in her big, girl bed. We made the transition shortly after my mom’s departure. I’ve only had to lock her in her room a couple of times during naps, but other than that she’s had no issues. She’ll even get herself up in the mornings and come get me out of bed. That’s the greatest part! A few times this week, she even asked to take her nap. Annie’s vocabulary is expanding each day, and she is slowly putting together 2-3 word sentences. She really surprises me with how many words she actually knows and can say that I never spent time teaching her. She loves to point out the numbers and letters she knows when she sees them on various media such as the milk carton or remote control. Annie had her 2-year appointment on Monday. For some reason since Anne was around 9 months, she’s developed a fear of doctors/nurses. I had to hold her screaming/flailing body down anytime the doctor or nurse tried to examine her. It’s funny how as soon as the doctor handed over a sucker, Annie was suddenly as quiet as a church mouse. We did manage to get her weight and height at 23 pounds and 32 inches tall which puts her in the 5th to 10th percentile. She’s so small, but she’s happy and healthy.

Mimi is very much on the go now. Yet she’s still not completely crawling. She will constantly get up on her hands and knees and even crawl a couple paces but will eventually give in to her ability to “army crawl”. At one point while on her hands and knees, she somehow landed on her bottom in a sitting-up position. Speaking of sitting up, she can do that fairly well, too. Mimi seems to like her new sleeping arrangements. No complaints from her so far. We’ve got a pretty good system worked out now where she goes to bed at 7:30 p.m., wakes around 6:00 a.m. for a nursing session, goes back to bed until around 8:30 a.m., and then gets her official breakfast around 9:00 a.m. Mimi is enjoying life right now getting bigger each day and never shies away from a good meal. Her demands do sometimes outnumber the supplies, although we manage to come to a happy medium most of the time. Mimi is also very intrigued by her big sister. She loves to watch and laugh at her much of the day. It gives me a break at times. Annie has been really gentle and loving with Mimi for which I’m so grateful. Annie is even (sometimes) willing to bequeath “her” toys to Mimi in order to keep her happy. Check out the most recent pictures of the girls on their September album.

Well, this may be the last update for a while since we will probably be busy with Mike once he returns. I will try to give a quick update of the homecoming as I’m sure many of you are curious as to how Annie will react to Mike, what Mike looks like, etc. Thanks for all your support and love during this hectic time in our lives. The family and friends we have are really what got us through this. Talk to y’all soon!