Saturday, January 31, 2009

A tale of two siblings

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It is a very rare treat that Molly sleeps later than Gabriel. When this does happen it means that Mommy and Gabriel can have their own fun. We do love Molly but she does rather enjoy being the center of attention. Yesterday, Molly slept about an hour later than Gabe because she chose to play in her room for the first part of nap. We had plenty of time for some fun.

What can be more fun than playing in the warm laundry...


Mmm... smells so soft and clean...
What a crack up!
Mommy had some pretty hilarious jokes too. A few were a little lost on Gabe...


When the laundry pile was no longer fun then there were plenty of opportunities to harass the squirrels...

play a quick game of peek-a-boo...
and eat some toilet paper when Mommy carried the laundry back to the bedroom...
Unfortunately, the bathroom is right across from Miss Molly's room and our little sleeping beauty did not appreciate the disturbance...

Sooo pretty. Such a "restful" afternoon...

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Invention Convention

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I love inventions! Especially, when I discover them. I am still completely disappointed that my million dollar idea was recently discovered by someone other than me. Even though- it really was my idea first. - can you tell I was a second child or what?
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About 9 years ago I decided that it would be hugely beneficial to have a key with a light on it so you could see your key hole in the dark. About 10 months ago, Kelly came home with my invention that he had bought at Home Depot for $5.99. It is now my house key and I have to say it was a great idea. Unfortunately, every time I use the key I am a little bit angry- perhaps I am still pouting.
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Oh well, back to my new discovery. My front porch is great! We are the only house on our street that has a front porch with room for a bench. I love wrap around porches and would LOVE one down the road so a porchless home just would not do. Molly and I have always enjoyed reading books on our front porch while we wait for Kelly to come home from work. We bring a big ole' stack of books and sit and snuggle on the bench. Oh how life has changed with Gabe. Gabriel is much more enticed by the plants and the steps and the occasional bugs that it is really difficult to sit and read books on the porch now. He is too much on the go and I am constantly trying to keep him off the stairs.

Last week when I was sweeping out front I thought that I would try an old gate we have to see if it would stretch across the stair opening. Lo and behold... it does!


And all parties win... (pardon my frozen to death/water deprived flowers)
Now if only it would warm up again so we could go and play outside...

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Lovely braids

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In case you haven't noticed really neither of my children look all that much like me. They have Mommy facial expressions and both sport my lovely childhood gap- but definitely no mini-me here. When Molly was born it was like looking at a baby girl version of kelly with a little more hair and monkey toes. She definitely inherited his hair.

I am going to be the first to say that Molly's hair is a mess. She is the product of what happens when a stick straight haired person births a curly girly. I am learning. It has been a slow and rocky start but we are slowly making gains. Conditioner just might be a godsend which is funny because I really can't use that much conditioner at all! We can now master ponytails, bows, clips, hairbands and just recently...

BRAIDS!!!!!

Yes, they are tiny braids but braids just the same. For the first time ever- Molly's hair is allowing me to do something I know how to do. When you have had a life time of drill team you know how to make a quality braid. Molly was ecstatic! Can't you tell? Too bad Kelly didn't take a picture of my face because I know that it looked just like this...
Don't know about the new shrug smile she has going but this moment might have been the first time I COULD SEE a resemblance between Molly and my childhood pictures. HOORAY!

Now the braids will only work if her hair has been deep conditioned, is dripping wet, and it is a cloudy day on a Thursday where the barometric pressure is just right. Got that...only Thursdays- :)

I'll take what I can get.
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Monday, January 26, 2009

Ice Cream Day

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If I were to make an ice cream flavor for today I would call it: Xopenblockoberry fever. Let me explain...
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XOPENEX-
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We took Molly to the doctor today. She was quite the little superhero. I think that my favorite moment was when we pulled up out front and Molly exclaims from the back seat: "Yay! Dr. Sue's house- time to play." Why is it that your child is always the most energetic and perfect image of wellness the minute you pull in to the doctor's? Luckily, even a happy Motrin infused Molly couldn't fool our doctor.
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We found out that Molly does not have the flu or pneumonia. She was having labored breathing though so I am SO happy that we went in this morning versus afternoon. Molly had a breathing treatment at the doctor's to stop the wheezing and chest retractions. There is still a chance that Molly could have RSV or the parainfluenza virus but because of her age the risks are so much less... we just hope that Gabe can stay strong. We have diagnosed Molly with Nasty virus type A. We have a follow up appointment Weds and are on breathing treatments with Molly's "princess mask" every 4 hours. So far she has just about completely lost her fever and sounds SO much better. Thank you so much for you well wishes for Molly girl!
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BLOCKS
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The rest of the day was spent at home. I really think that we pulled out EVERY toy that we own. Even toys that are under the bed-thank you Molly for finding them all.
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(If you read the fine print for side effects to Xopenex you will find that hyperactivity is listed. Kelly has decided the nebulizer perhaps might be a the most expensive crack pipe available. As I write this Molly is talking to a sheet of toliet paper in bed.)
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For Christmas, Santa brought the kiddos these big cardboard blocks that I thought seemed AWESOME. Apparently to Gabe they were awesome and delicious. It took me about 10 minutes to extract a piece of cardboard block wedged in the gap in his teeth...his poor inherited Mommy gap. At least my children will never need braces and will have plenty of fiber.
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BERRY
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When it is cold and rainy outside the only logical thing to do is to bake a blueberry pie. I mean it isn't like I had more important things to attend to such as keeping my son from eating blocks or something. I am not complaining though- after a day like today a sweet treat is a MUST.
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FEVER
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We've got it. Cabin fever to the MAX. Now that Molly's true fever is down and she is fueled by steamed crack we need SPACE. This cold weather did not help with that at all. I think that we are all just a little twitchy.
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So there you have it. Our day. Our flavor: Xopenblockoberry fever. I think that one scoop was more than enough.

Sunday, January 25, 2009

It's getting hot in here.

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It is now Sunday evening and the fever is still sticking around for Miss Molly which means a nice visit to Dr. Sue is in store for tomorrow morning. Molly spiked a fever on Wednesday night, had one pretty much on Thursday, no fever Thursday night to Saturday night and then back up to 103 consistently since Saturday night. UGH.

There are several possibilities. My vote would be for just a normal cold that will pass soon. When Molly was 14 months she had early stage bacterial pneumonia and she is acting VERY similar to that so let's hope we are not heading that direction. I REALLY hope that this is not RSV- for Molly but also for Gabe- he is still under that 1 year mark so that is a bit scary. We have tried to separate them initially but Gabe has a sneaky way of finding Molly the second we look away...

So tomorrow we will know more. If you happen to be in dire need of someone to pray for- we're here ready to fulfill your need. Specifically, we would love prayers for healthy children and ABUNDANT sleep. These past few nights have been a little LOooooog.

I really think that once we have the appointment set tomorrow I will feel much more relaxed...

Hopefully Molly will too...


Stay tuned.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Welcome to Texas

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Texas really is such a unique place to live. Where else do you have rolling hills, oceans, lakes and deserts all in one state? You have two six flags theme parks, the best state fair EVER, and by far the best collegiate opportunity as a LONGHORN.

But taking all of this into account I think that my most favorite part of Texas has to be the weather. I am not kidding. In case you didn't know this- watching the weather is my most favorite part of the day. The more dark and ominous the better. LOVE the inclement weather preferably on channel 8 because in my opinion, they have the best graphics (their cloud clip art moves across the screen). I LOVE it when the doppler radar shows all the RED surrounding Dallas. Please don't take this to mean that I like all the chaos that comes out of storms... oh no, that is horrible. I just love the anticipation of a storm.

Where else in the lovely ole US of A can you wake up in winter, go throughout the day in Summer, go to sleep in Spring and then wake up in winter again? All in the same day. I don't think that I have ever seen anything like it. Today's high was in the 80's. Saturday's high is not supposed to be out of the low 40's. So if you have a lot of winter clothes but can't part with those flip flops...never fear- come to Texas.

Unfortunately, this roller coaster weather system we have has played quite a toll on my allergies this year. I have never had Dallas allergies before. I know it making a lot of people sick. To be honest- I wasn't all that surprised last night when Molly woke up with a toasty 103.4 temp. They have just been too healthy this holiday. But much like the weather, Molly had her own cool front come through today and was back to her normal self. Looking for a jump in temp this evening though- after all- it is Texas.

A little fever didn't stop her fun. Bring on the shorts and flips... well, for a couple of hours at least.


Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Priceless

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Number of hours the TV was on yesterday morning: 6 hours!!! (not normal)
Number of toys that I pulled in the living room to keep the gang entertained: at least 30
Length of time it took to get the playdoh off the hardwoods: 25 minutes
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An opportunity to spend all morning witnessing history with the next generation: priceless
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*** such an amazing experience yesterday to witness such an incredible time in our history regardless of anyone's political affiliation. Molly was quite taken with Ms. Franklin's hat- so much that she went and put on all of her hats and danced around the room. Gabe liked it when everyone cheered. He would start to cheer too. Hopefully, you had a chance to see it too.***
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Hooray for changes!

Monday, January 19, 2009

Walking with her feet.

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I have to say that I am a little disappointed at the enormous decline in my blog posts this new year. I think it might be time to make the first amendment to a new year's resolution. Did you know that you could do that? I believe that if you are perhaps a little over zealous in setting VERY lofty goals for the new year then you have until Feb 1st to make some minor adjustments. Whew. Still time.
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In other news. Nonnie, Molly and I enjoyed our fantastic "girls only" trip to San Antonio this past weekend. I was co-hosting a baby shower in SA for "Aunt Balissa" and baby Jude. The trip was great. I have to admit that I was a little nervous on the outcome of the weekend when the guest of honor was in the ER all Friday with chest pains. I am so glad that she felt well enough to let us stay with her and celebrate her upcoming arrival to the MAX. The extra time with uncle Chris was just icing on the cake!!! Great food, great company and great party- what more could you ask for?!! Can you believe that I took only 1 picture the ENTIRE weekend? I know- who am I? So, as soon as I get back some fun pictures from Ms. Ana I will post them for the world to see!
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Gabe and Kelly had fun on their "boy only" weekend too! I hear that there was some great amounts of pizza consumed, dinner with the family and a fantastic trip to the park. Kelly is such a super dad!
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Speaking of parks...Molly would like to tell you about her favorite new thing to do at the park. I am going to hand the key board over to Molly.
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"halfsghrturwtlajkrngfajklhguerhtuhrajlghsfjgheruthreihtaklgdetruiothearihtgfrgierhtuoaerhougt-=jgterlmjjjjjjjjjjjjsfnetjyrjke"
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translation:
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"Wow. I am such a big girl. Not only am I completely potty trained now- you got that? Wow. I now can swing all by myself on my stomach like a 7 year old. I like to call it 'walking with my feet.' This just might be my coolest trick ever. I think I might swing like this for the rest of my life. You should try it too"


"I would also like to take this opportunity to show you my "crazy face". I like to practice it all the time. In the grocery store, in the car, on the playground- pretty much every waking hour. It is my most favorite face right now and I think it is about the funniest thing ever. Gabe does too. What do you think?"


The perfect face for a crazy may day.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Forensics

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Take down the yellow tape....




Call off the Forensics investigation...no outline of a body tape necessary...

It has been determined that this is "crime scene" is actually a new stall tactic for going to bed known as...the dead man tactic.

This case has been closed.

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Our little Orphan Annie

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You can bet your bottom dollar that today is the perfect day for a Gabey post. After all, he survived a Gabriel size trauma.

Today was the first meeting of the new year for the Lake Highlands Early Childhood PTA and since becoming more active in my neighborhood was a NY resolution it was rather clutch that I attend. So kids in tow...we were off.

I had scheduled for the kids to play in the nursery while I attempted to dive right into Lake Highlands Mommy life.

I dropped Gabe off first in his room. Lots of babies and tons of toys. I set him on the floor and he just sort of sat there soaking it all in. No biggie. Then we were off to Molly's class. We walked in and I feel these five little icicle fingers reach up and take my hand. She was a little nervous. After a couple minutes of hanging out with her and introducing her to "fellow-bow-headed-two-year-old- girl" I was off. Crisis averted.

The meeting was great. I actually knew several someones there by chance which is very much indicative of life in Lake Highlands. Until... about 45 minutes in to the meeting this lady came up to me and said "We need you in the nursery- your child is inconsolable." Instantly I head to go retrieve Molly.

But wait...

I round the corner to find this guy...

sobbing these big boo-hoo tears and looking like he has "Bee sting face AKA Renee Zellweger face" He was not very pretty and VERY sad. When he saw me he started crying out MAMAMAMAMA. When I picked him up he had the sloppiest saltest kiss just for me. Kelly has decided that Gabe had an orphan Annie moment and thought that we were never coming back. So, Gabe enjoyed the rest of the meeting with me but mostly enjoyed eating Molly's forbidden goldfish from her left behind snack trap cup.

The funny thing is that if Molly had been in his class he would have been just fine. This is the first form of separation anxiety we have EVER seen from Gabe. Truth be told today was the FIRST day in his life that he was ever left in the care of someone that wasn't family. Hmm... might be time to expose him a little more...

Don't you worry though- Gabe has recovered from his traumatic day...
And is right back to his sneaky boy ways...

perhaps just a bit more in love with his mommy and his sister though because we have definitely had some extra Gabe kisses.

Monday, January 12, 2009

From like to love.

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Well, I think it is now official that Gabe and Molly have completely transitioned from the like to love phase. There is no turning back. At almost 1 year old our little boy is here to stay and Molly is quite okay with that.

In the past several weeks we have noticed a big change in Molly and Gabe's dynamic. I mean they have always been interested in the other and definitely managed to overstep boundaries before resulting in an cry fest but now it is somewhat different.

They have become inseparable. Now please note that I have four siblings...I know that this emotion is fleeting so we will soak it up why we can.

Two weeks ago we were at a park. This little girl came up to Gabriel and tried to pick him up. Gabe wanted to explore the playground equipment and was feeling a bit bothered with this stranger. From the top of the slide whooshes a miniature blur of crazy hair. She picks up Gabe and tells the other little girl that her "Gabey does not want hugs please".

Yesterday Gabe woke up from nap and was having some great alone time with his daddy. Gabe wanted on the ground so Kelly obliged. Minutes later, Gabe preceded to tear down the hall and throw himself in to Molly's closed door to open it and wake her up. Molly thought it was a great surprise...not so much daddy.

Today, I rounded the corner to see Molly in the middle of pinching Gabe's arm for sucking on her baby dolls foot. She knows that this is ground for an instant time out. Molly meltdown... so what does Gabe do?


Talks to her under the door for the whole time-out of course. Those tears quickly became laughter and the threat of time-out was now transformed to a game.
From the sound of it a very silly game. Probably not the best way to reinforce her time-out but a really sweet moment...

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Gabey Grahams

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So I tried a new snack out on Gabe today and he ate it like it was his last meal.
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Here is the recipe if you would like to try it:

Gabey Grahams
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Take 1/2 cup of crunched-not-crushed graham crackers (non-honey kind)
Mix it with 1/4 a cup of Cheerios
Add a handful of blueberries or raisins
Add a 4 oz. container of yogurt to the mix (I used yobaby for the whole milk)
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Gloosh it together and put it on the tray.
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I don't know that any recipe should ever have gloosh as a direction but I thought it was the perfect word description.
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Sounds gross but apparently the snack tasted great...





I am going to try baking it for like 5-7 minutes and see if will sort of caramelize in to little cookie blobs- that way Molly could enjoy it too without a spoon. I'll let you know how it goes.

Monday, January 5, 2009

Backwards Day

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Did you happen to know when National Backwards Day is? Do you even know what a backwards day entails? Molly does. Let me catch you up too. Backwards Day is every January 31st. This really explains all the backwards people I know born on this lovely date - hehehe Lauren, just seeing if you read the blog.
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Please don't even begin to think that I know random things like this normally- I do have a love affair with Google. On backwards day the theme is obviously to do everything in reverse or perhaps in a different way. For example. Eat breakfast for dinner. Now we do this quite often at the May household (like even last night *gasp*) so that one may not be so special for our children. Who knows, maybe this backwards day we will pretend that we drive in London...don't worry, I am mostly kidding.
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Our Molly girl decided that January 31st was just a little too far off for her liking. In her opinion, backwards day should be moved to January 5th. So to make a point, Molly decided to wear her pants backwards (and buttoned) and you bet those panties are also on not only backwards but inside-out as well. What a change-up Molly.
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Pardon the headless horseman shot (my camera was just out of batteries and I only had one picture attempt)

Now I know that this was clearly just an early celebration of backwards day and in NO way a defiant moment of terrible two. My Molly defiant? NEVER! I really wish I could have taken a picture of her facial expression when after two hours in backwards world I informed her it was time to return to forward living. Not nice.

So this January 31st just be like Molly and wear your Jasmine panties inside-out and backwards. Really, who will even notice?

Saturday, January 3, 2009

Austin Adventures

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We are back from a wonderful escape to Austin. Why is it that sometimes you just need to get away for a little bit to feel more like yourself? Raul, I don't think that you will ever understand the gift you gave to us by opening up your home for the May family.
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One invitations and we were ready to take to the road.


It is amazing how quickly a bachelor pad can become family extravaganza. Raul, I know that you are probably not breathing because the kids are in fact eating spaghetti on the floor of your new apartment...I promise...it looks just like you left it. And yes, Molly is eating on your toolbox.


There was plenty of room to spare!

Molly added her own flair to the bathroom...

Our Austin road trip was all about relaxation. Kelly and I had an opportunity to just go through daily life like we lived in Austin. What day is complete without a trip to Zilker.


This park xylophone just might be the best invention ever!!! No matter how loud you bang on it the sound of beautiful wind chimes resonates...


Molly and Gabe had their first trip on the Zepher... Best $1.75 train ride EVER! Right after this picture was taken Kelly was stung by a bee. Another first for Kelly at Zilker.


A little bee didn't stop our fun!


It was a warmer weekend but by no means a hot weekend. In fact, while at Zilker a little cool front blew in. It definitely didn't stop these hard core people from swimming in Barton Springs. If I had so much as jumped in I think that I would have gone right to the bottom... Molly thought it looked like the best "bath" ever.


A day at Zilker is perfect for a picnic. Here is our cutie eating her cutie!


Good food was had by all.


Molly especially liked feeding the birds.


And then chasing them once she had lured them all together.


After Zilker it was time to visit with friends. Remember that cute pregnant lady I referenced?


She looked GREAT! Molly had a lot of time to whisper some secrets to baby Jude and feel his little kicking toes...


Later on that day, we met our favorite people at Hadley's rockin' salon for Gabe's first haircut.


What milestone is complete without some video footage...



Dinner at Hula Hut was SOOOO yummy! This was the first time that we didn't have to wait two hours for a table. Pretty impressive for a party of 10. We had so much fun kicking back and visiting... and watching Nina fight off the crazies.


Full days of fun make for some VERY sleepy children. We had some great together time at the apartment.

The boys handled the dishes while Mommy and Molly took a break.

Our final day in Austin was spent eating lunch with Meagan and Stuart on the capital lawn. Raul, I am a little jealous that you can walk to all these great places. Molly was quite taken with the "princess castle"




The rest of the trip was spent with an awesome nap, visit to see the peacocks (Molly dubbed silly birds) and a delicious trip to EZs where you bet we used our college IDs for that good ole discount.

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Such a great trip and not the least bit exhausting... well... perhaps a little tiring for some.

Such a great Austin adventure!