We’ve dedicated ourselves to keeping the girls busy with activities this winter that being ice-skating and swimming lessons. The girls love doing both and are really showing progress. Annie is actually starting to swim with her face all the way in the water for more than a half nanosecond, so I definitely call that headway. Annie also got to move up to level 2 for ice-skating next session. The ice-skating instructors are really strict this year with a new program in place and are making sure that each child can successfully do ALL the skills taught in the current level before moving to the next level. Mimi was told she should stick with the same level because (surprise, surprise) she doesn’t really listen well and do the techniques that teacher wants her to do. This is actually good because there is only one more level for her age group, so we’d be stuck with no classes for Mimi to take after that class. Both girls have been told they should repeat the same levels for swimming, but I’m fine with reiterating the skills that they’re not that great at anyway.

The point of bringing this is up is because we’ve been trying to make it to as many open swim and skate sessions as possible to help the girls practice their skills (usually once a week for both). When we go swimming together Violet also gets the opportunity to slip into her suit and swim around with Ma and Pa. Annie wasn’t really interested in the water as a baby and let us swim her around without much excitement. Mimi, on the other hand, just plain hated swimming until she was about 2-3 years old. I wasted money on an infant/toddler swim class for Mimi once, and she screamed during EVERY SINGLE CLASS FOR THE ENTIRE TIME. I ended up not attending the last few sessions because I was so embarrassed. Vi is a completely different beast and immediately took to the water and can’t stop moving once she hits it. Take a look for yourself. I’ve never seen anything like it. Is she Esther Williams reincarnated?

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgHl3O-xpdQ

Ok, so I apparently have to explain who Esther Williams is because Mike just said to me, “Who’s Esther Williams?” {Am I the only person from my generation who loved watching old movies as a kid and can name most actors/actresses from the 30’s, 40’s, 50’s, 60’s?} Esther Williams was an actress from the 40’s, 50’s, and 60’s but was just as famous for her swimming abilities. She even swam the English Channel and set other swimming records. Many of her movies revolved around her swimming prowess and were known as “aquamusicals” and featured synchronized swimming and diving.

Annie isn’t having such a great weekend. She’s sick. Again. Yes, again for like the 5th or 6th time this winter. She’s been plagued with coughing and wheezing fits, and no amount of inhaler puffs, breathing treatments or other medications we’ve pumped into her are doing anything to halt the non-stop coughing. Vi and I stayed home with her from church today. I texted Mike multiple times asking is there anything I could do to JUST STOP THE COUGHING. It was really starting to drive me nuts. I’m not trying to be the insensitive mommy, but it could literally drive someone mad to hear someone cough every 2-3 seconds for days on end. Annie will probably have to miss yet another day of school tomorrow and possibly visit the doctor, too. At least Sadie tried to comfort her.

Violet has been certified to be a half-year-old baby and is on track for her milestones and size. At her doctor’s appointment last week she weighed in at 16 pounds, 4 ounces and was 26 3/4 inches long both of which chart at around the 50-60th percentile. Violet’s favorite mode of transportation these days is rolling over from one end of the room to the other and can do so with much swiftness. It occurred to me that I’ve been neglectful with the camera lately, so Vi and I did a quick photo shoot while the big girls played outside. It had to be quick because Vi got pretty fussy and wanted to feed and nap shortly after. Please note that the mustache is coming in nicely (this is what Mike refers to Vi’s strange cowlick in front).

Vi isn’t quite able to sit up on her own, but I was able to get a couple of shots of her sitting up before she toppled over. Why do all my babies roll over and almost crawl before they could sit up whereas it seems other babies sit up before they even roll over?!?

Violet loves getting put down on the floor so she can roll over and can really pull herself up high during tummy time.

This face was a first, and I’m glad I captured it. Too funny!

And had to include a smile. I don’t know if you can tell in the picture, but Vi has a way with her tongue. That baby can curl it in the strangest ways like I’ve never seen anyone do. Do I see a future talent (her daddy would be proud)?

In other news, Lucy approves of the new kitty.

And in other other news, they built a Monkey Joe’s in our town. Essentially, it’s an indoor playground that is full of bouncy houses. My cousin and his wife have one in Atlanta and take their kids there all the time. My Kenosha friends and I always thought we needed a place like that here since it’s too cold or snowy for playing at the park for 5 months out of the year. We finally got our wish and tried it out with the Johnsons last week. I don’t know how much time we’ll spend there because it seems every other family in Kenosha has thought the same thing as us, but we may stop by once in a while.

Ever since I’ve met Mike he’s raved about how great buffalo meat is and eats it any chance he can get his hands on it. Fortunately for him, many restaurants now offer buffalo burgers as an option. Mike’s passion for buffalo meat has even crossed over to obsession with talks of having his own buffalo herd one day. I just smile and nod but know that I’ll not let it happen. I’m not opposed to Mike getting ahold of some buffalo meat for us, but I just don’t want the live animals living within 50,000 yards of my front door.

So Mike got to fulfill part of his dream this past weekend. He and his friend, Chris, headed west to Buffalo, SD (how appropriate) to get themselves a buffalo to bring back. I won’t say how they obtained the animal, but I will say that they got what they wanted and by legal means. ‘Nuff said. I don’t have many details about the trip because Mike had very little cell phone access/signals, and he just returned from his trip late last night. However, Mike asked that I posted some pictures. Here you go.

This looks cold and reminds me of the last time we went to SD. Please tell me why Mike so is intent on living there?

Lucy got to go on the trip, too. She needed a break from us girls. Ha!

The author of a blog I keep up with from time-to-time recently found herself dreadfully plagued by head-to-toe hives. My heart reached out to this poor woman because I can somewhat relate to what she’s been going through, although not as nearly as awful as her. During my college and teaching days, a span of about 3-4 years, I was suddenly afflicted with a case of hives all over my body. After a few weeks of dealing with them and not seeing any signs of them going away I finally went to the doctor who promptly prescribed me Allegra, an anti-histamine, to take daily. It was a miracle because the hives disappeared within a couple of days. I had no idea what caused the hives, but the Allegra sure did the trick. One day I foolishly thought it’d be okay to stop my daily doses of anti-histamine medication and found myself with head-to-toes hives again. Back onto the medication I went. I took that stuff daily for about 3 to 4 years with periodic and unsuccessful cold turkey experiments, but I finally found I could stop taking the pills. I never really did find out for certain what caused the hives, but I’m pretty sure it was the laundry detergent I had been using. (Now I’m a Tide girl, through and through.) The reason I think this is because there have been a few instances where I did laundry at other people’s homes and used a non-Tide brand and later found myself itchy all over. This happened as recently as last April after visiting the Smiths (sorry for calling you out, Jenni) and was suffering itchy spells for a couple of days when I finally realized that I was wearing clothes that had been washed in Gain (I think) while at Jenni’s house. If I discover the mishap early enough and rewash those clothes, then I can usually avoid ever getting hives and cure the itchy spells.

Anyway, what is the point of this post, you ask? Evidently, I am being oppressed by hives. Again! After not having hives in over 8 years! I can’t help but wonder if these are sympathy hives for the unfortunate woman I mentioned earlier to remind me physically what she is going through. Why now? What did I eat, use, breathe in, absorb, or touch to cause these awful and itchy welts?!!!? After a few days they seem to only be getting worse. Ugh! Now what? I thought I’d snap a few pictures just to give you an idea of what I’m dealing with.

On my arms. Let me tell, it’s really quite difficult to snap close-ups of your own limbs.

On my stomach.

On my legs.

I have hives on my back, too, but tell me how in the world does someone takes a picture of their own back?

To brighten up this post, I’ll leave you with a recent pic of Mike with the girls.

Yesterday was a snow day and kept the girls home all day. I didn’t really have anything planned and was almost tempted to just stay in p.j.s all day, but I motivated myself to get dressed and go to the gym. Besides, it gave the girls a couple of hours of activity and joy at the indoor play area. Driving back and forth was not fun though. In the afternoon was swim lessons, and I kind of hoped it was cancelled because it had been snowing non-stop all day. Again, I got us all packed up and headed out into the fluffy world and took the girls swimming. It seems odd to think of swimming when it’s so cold and snowy outside.

Then today Annie only had a half day at school. She came home and immediately wanted to go outside to play in the snow. I was all for that, but it was lunchtime. I gave into her as she decided to stay in her gear and eat a quick lunch. Mimi ate quickly, too, so that she could follow her sister outside.

After all this time away from school I ask myself why I don’t just homeschool these girls. I can’t imagine much is being taught to Annie with the numerous sick, snow, and half days away from school. I’m just sayin’.

I’ve been accumulating pictures of Mimi, so I thought I’d dedicate this post to her. Afterall, it was her birthday this week, too.

Last Tuesday was Pirate Day at Mimi’s school. Mimi was not in the least pleased to dress up as a pirate (including tears). I should’ve just let her dress as her normal Mimi self, but I felt like it was my duty as a preschool mommy to make sure my kid participates. I must say though that this girly house is not well-equipped with pirate gear. All I could come up with was a ruffly, knit shirt, jean capris, white tights, and a bandana.

I have to say that Sadie is probably the most patient cat I’ve ever met. This is what I found the other day while Mimi was eating lunch. Is she perhaps using Sadie as a napkin?

While cooking dinner the other night I thought it would be easy to just feed Violet in between busy cooking moments. Violet takes very long to eat and is always so distracted by her sisters during dinner. Mimi snuck in and started feeding Violet and actually had better luck than me to get her to willingly take bites. I think I’ve found a permanent job for Meems.

Also notice that Mimi is wearing the same shirt in the past 2 sets of pictures. It’s Annie’s “birthday” shirt from a couple of years ago. Mimi asked if she could wear it for her birthday. Mimi insisted on wearing it 2 days in a row, and I relented. But I put down my foot when she begged to wear it a 3rd day.

Last night was the annual fish fry at the Catholic elementary school where Mimi’s preschool is located (they aren’t officially affiliated though). The school has the preschool kids participate in their musical program. I still get a kick out of a school fundraising event making beer and wine available to the guests.

Here’s Mimi singing with her fellow classmates. It was nearly impossible to get a semi-decent shot of her. The flash didn’t reach far enough, and not using the flash resulted in blurry/noisy pictures. Oh, well.

Annie, Daddy, and Violet enjoyed the festivities eating fried food and tasty treats. Well, Violet was more than happy to just chew on a plastic spoon.

How was your week?

Once again I’ve gotten a little behind on posting to the blog, but it’s taken me until today to finally feel like things are normal around here again after the past couple of rotten weeks. Anway, on with the post.

I can’t believe it, but my little Mimi is 5! She’s almost a kindergartner. It’s just not possible that I can still remember like yesterday when I gave birth to that sweet baby and watched her grow too quickly into the very strange girl she is today.

That wrinkly and tiny little infant.

Eventually turned into such a chubby and delightful baby.

Then into an undeniably loud and screechy toddler that we still adored.

And finally into a still loud, weird but lovable kid (who maybe likes to fib and pester a bit much).

We decided to celebrate Mimi’s birthday one day early because it was kids eat free night at our local eatery. The Johnsons actually were the ones who invited us, but we took over the show and turned it into an impromptu birthday party. Afterward we all headed back to our house to indulge in a Coldstone Creamery cake and open a few birthday presents.

First off, Grandpa Indiana sent some more AG stuff that Mimi really needs including Sugar the dog and a bed/food dish set for Sugar. Thanks, Grandpa! Mimi was really thrilled to receive these and got Sugar all set up in bed right next to her this evening.

The Johnsons definitely know my girls. A lifetime supply of flavored lip balm and a Strawberry Shortcake hippoty hop will definitely get used all the time. Even though I told you guys not to get anything for MImi, we still really appreciate the thought and time you put into her gifts. Thank you for celebrating with us!

This picture cracked me up because of Alex’s hair.

I actually consider the gift bag that the Johnsons put Mimi’s present into to be my present because it’s sooo cute and is a “green” bag that can be used over and over.

And now for some CAKE!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MIMI! WE LOVE YOU!

The thought never occurred to me for the past 6 years of mothering little girls that we’d end up getting sucked into the American Girl world. Not even when I saw other families with little girls knee deep in it. I didn’t look negatively at those people; I honestly just didn’t think about it. My childhood was filled with Barbie Dolls and Cabbage Patch babies, and the fact that these products are still on the market and popular only allowed my brain to rest upon visions of my little girls playing with those toys. Man, was I way off, or what?

Grandma Indiana had been wanting to take the girls to the American Girl store since she moved to Chicago this summer, but I thought it made more since to wait to go until they actually owned dolls. Annie was all geared up to visit the store as soon as we got home from NC, but Grandma decided to take a trip down to FL putting off the much anticipated visit to the store until yesterday. Let me tell you, it was worth the wait. My mom and I decided to make a day of it including brunch there. The girls were beyond excited and couldn’t stop talking about it until we finally arrived. Rather than keep rambling on about it, I’ll just start with the pictures.

We started the day with brunch. As you can see the cafe allows the dolls to attend the brunch as well with their own seats and tea cups and saucers.

Since Mimi’s birthday is this week we decided it would be appropriate to celebrate it during our meal. They even brought out her own cake with a candle.

Violet was a good sport throughout the entire trip with only one or two fussy spells. She eventually fell asleep in the stroller.

It is amazing how much these American Girl doll creators have put into the whole concept. The outfits, accessories, hobbies, books, movies, and even furniture. You can find just about anything for a doll in this place.

Does your doll need to get her hair done? Apparently, the 20-something people in line needed a new do’ for their dolls.

Has your doll got a boo or boo or other physical problem? Well, the doll hospital has got you covered even dressing your doll in a hospital gown during her visit.

Head on over to the shoe section, if you feel your doll is in need of some new footwear.

Have you found that your doll has bad vision? Well, the spectacles section has got you covered. Plus, pick up a pair or 2 of earrings while you’re there.

Of course, we had to get a picture of all of us in front of the Kit and Ruthie section. It’s not that great of a picture because we asked a passerby to take the picture, and she seemed to be in a hurry to hand the camera back to me.

Each historical doll had an entire section dedicated to her. Just to give you an idea, here’s what they had for Kit Kittridge.

As you can see, someone could easily go bankrupt if they purchased even a fraction of what’s offered in this store. I tried my best to keep the girls from wanting everything in the place, but we did let them pick out a couple of outfits for their dolls (including ice skates) and t-shirts for the girls. I figured this will probably be our only visit to the store, so we might as well splurge a little. I am glad that the girls finally got their wish of going to the store. Thank you, Grandma, for making that dream come true for them. It was a wonderful and dreamy day.

Another interesting thing happened on the way to the store. I was warned by the AG operator while making brunch reservations that some kind of construction would be going on from 7 to noon and would cause some noise and the parking garage to be closed. I didn’t think much about it until we tried to get close to the store for parking and discovered that several blocks surrounding the store were closed. It wasn’t until we were driving around the back a few blocks away that we saw a helicopter loading up what looked like a large, stainless steel box with windows and lifting it up that we figured out what was going on. After finally finding a parking space a couple of blocks away and walking up to the store we were told by a police officer that we couldn’t cross the street for a few minutes (even though we could see the entrance to the store). The police officer looked up to point out the helicopter and said they were lifting new elevators up to the top of a building dozens of stories high. I wasn’t able to get a picture of the helicopter in action lifting one of those monstrosities, but here’s a quick snap I got of the helicopter afterward.

I know I’ve been remiss in updating lately. This week has been frenzied with just about everyone sick all week. Mike and Annie both caught Mimi’s stomach bug. Mike didn’t actually get barfy, but he’s not been able to eat much all week since last Saturday. He’s still not feeling great after almost a whole week. Annie got sick Sunday night and provided me with lots more loads of laundry to do. Good times. Annie and Mike also got a bad cough. Annie even had a fever and was out of school pretty much all week. She went back to school yesterday, but then today the school was closed for the end of the quarter. So that means that she went to school one day this week.

On top of all that Mike finally had his surgery for making it so that we get no more Annies, Mimis, or Violets. It’s been a mixed bag of feelings for us, but we decided 3 kids is plenty for our family. Mike’s been having to stay in bed since the surgery, and it’s driving him nuts. But it caught up with him today (also because of his cold), so he’s back in bed taking a snooze right now. I’m sure he’ll be feeling better by the end of the weekend.

Violet is getting better about eating her vittles, but she still isn’t real thrilled about taking the cereal. She’s figured out how to spit it out which was cute at first, but not so cute after 2 days of it. Have a look for yourself and tell me that this is not cute in the least.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQI-Npba1J4

In other news, we apparently have a monkey living with us. Mimi has quite a fascination for grooming her little sister. The old-fashioned, monkey way. Mimi especially likes to pick out Violet’s “ewwies” from her toes while I nurse her. Weird kid.

Yesterday brought on some real drama. It all started with Mimi telling me she was struggling with going #2. I could hear her working so hard to get things moving, but she wasn’t having any success. It was right around lunchtime, so I told her to just try to eat and that it might help soften things up down there. I gave her oranges and water as well in hopes of doing just that. She took a few bites but soon made her way back to the bathroom to do another grunting session with no success. All of a sudden she came out to the living room and leaned onto the leather ottoman and proceeded to barf up what seemed like 2 days of meals. Apparently, she was confusing the feeling she was having in her belly with needing to go #2. Thinking back I realized that Mimi has never really been sick to her stomach, so it must have been a completely new feeling for her. Poor thing!

I was hoping that maybe she just ate some bad food and that this would be the only vomiting with which I’d have to deal. Boy, was I wrong. I won’t go into any gross details, but let’s just say that 3 loads of laundry later and a lot of hand sanitizing/washing made for an exhausting day yesterday and all of last night. The good news though is that Mimi is back to her old self today and ate breakfast with the same gusto as usual. Now let’s just pray and keep our fingers crossed that the rest of the household won’t get pukey:\