Valentine's Day party & pies

We dropped by R's MDO class this morning for the Valentine's Day party. The week started off rough, so I hadn't even planned on taking him, but Alexee's well and he wanted to go so we did. He took a bag of Scooby Doo valentines. Some of the others brought cards & candy tied up with cute ribbon and computer-printed to/from labels, etc. I'm kinda over all that though, and life is much less stressful that way. I was just happy to have remembered to grab the box of Scooby valentines on Wednesday--two whole days early!

Alexee likes to go to R's classroom. She helps herself to markers, paper, toys, snacks, etc. Rhett was sweet about sitting with her.
Her Aunt Kala got her this dress for her birthday--she looked so sweet!This is R and his friend, Thea. He talks about her a lot--she's really cute. She looked at me and said, "Your belly is really big. Is there a baby in there?" I told her that before long Rhett would have a new baby brother (then we can really crash school parties)!
These were the valentine sacks they'd made. Rhett said, "These are so big I could get a giraffe for Valentine's Day."
Mrs. Susan snapped a picture of us:
R & his teacher:
Showing one of his crafts:

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And it's time once again for the annual Valentine cherry pies. This was my first time to make pie crusts using the new dough mat (don't know the official name of it) that I accidentally received from my sister's Pampered Chef party. It was with my order, and I asked Mic if it belonged to someone else, but it remained a mystery.....sooooo, I decided to keep it. It's the best thing ever--I love it! It's way easier than my small cutting board with a bumpy texture that I've tried to use for pie crusts in the past. It even has circle measurements for making certain size crusts.


Well, the oven timer went off and they smell good...off to try a piece.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Gymboree sale & monogrammed cuteness

Heather called me a few days ago to tell me that Gymboree is currently having a big sale. I'd hoped to be finished with my doctor's appointment in time to stop by there yesterday, but that didn't work out. However, Lane's parents came through town this afternoon to see the kids, so I was able to go today (thank you Grammy & Bobba). It was refreshing to see all the spring colors in the little girls' clothes--they had lots of bright, cheerful things (I guess I was in a "yellow" mood today!?). Crosby got two cute little sleepers, one with baseballs, one with elephants. Rhett got shorts and polos. I especially love the light blue one because his eyes look extra blue when he wears this color (just like Lane's). When I got home, the kids met me at the door and were excited to see that I had something for them. They both stripped down in the living room and started trying on things to show Grammy & Bobba--it was funny!
Lane had a late night of studying for a test, so I picked up Chick-fil-A and dropped it by his office for him on my way home from the mall. Then I stopped by one more store to pick up two items I'd left for monogramming:

1) C's suitcase that Mo & Granddad gave him for Christmas--we're all ready for trips now!2) And his stocking--we're ready for Christmas 2009 (actually, I'm FAR from ready for another holiday season), but I'm glad to have this done so it will be ready when I unpack the boxes from the attic next winter.
And more personalized goodies...this sweet package arrived in the mail today from my friend, Heather. I just loved it all: a receiving blanket, onesie and bib. Thank you so much, Heather! I can't wait for him to use all of these things. Not long now!

Life's back to normal

Ahhh, for now we are virus-free around here, and life is back to normal! I was so happy to see Alexee play and eat today...it had only been 5 days, but it was a loooong 5 days. They both went to MDO this morning. I told A's teachers about her being sick and asked them to please call me if she was miserable being there. I had a doctor's appointment though, so I was really hopeful that she'd be fine staying. Her teachers are all so sweet. Mrs. Barb said that they had 4 teachers today, so she'd just sit and hold her if needed--she's wonderful!!! I was out of my appt. in time to pick them up early, so I did, and they said that she'd been just fine. I went by the office to pay dues today and overheard two other moms talking about how terribly ill their children had been. One mom said her little girl had to be hospitalized and she hoped they never had to go through that again. Whatever it was, it was a bad bug...I hope it's out of circulation very soon!

The afternoon was more like usual around here (except Alexee took a 3 hour nap--that's not normal, but I guess she's still trying to regain her energy). Here they are at the bar at lunch time. Alexee was giving Rhett a kiss and telling him a secret. Her secret telling was a new thing. It was so funny to listen to her try to whisper. Rhett and I couldn't keep from laughing because of course we had no idea what she was trying to tell. It was cute though.
Rhett was sweet to look at one of his favorite Curious George books with her. They are going through the alphabet identifying animals/objects.I'm so thankful that this sweet face is happy again!
Here they are watching a cartoon and snacking before A's naptime.
I bought a little wooden valentine at Hobby Lobby for Rhett to paint. He doesn't really like to draw or color very often, but he likes using the paints and paint brushes.
Rhett played outside for a while, even though it was extremely windy today. At least the temperature was decent. Bogart played outside with him, but got muddy and dirty from all the rain we had yesterday. Soooo, we gave B a bath this evening. The kids love giving him baths. They both had cups and were trying very hard to help. I was soaked--so was the floor--by the time we were done, but we got him clean.
Then for the part Alexee really loved: using the hair-dryer on him so he wouldn't get matted up. Bogart didn't think it was nearly as fun as Alexee did:
Fighting over the hair-dryer:
See who won!

A virus

I haven't posted in several days because we've been busy dealing with a very unpleasant virus around here. In my last post I mentioned that Alexee had (what I thought was) a stomach bug. I wish it had just been that because those are usually a quick 24-hour thing. She's been a very sick little girl since Friday night. She threw up on me at McAlister's Friday evening, during the night, and then all day Saturday. Sunday morning I could tell she had fever as soon as I picked her up out of her bed. It was 102.6, so Lane took her to the Children's after-hours clinic that morning. The doctor there told him it was likely Adenovirus (the gastro-related type), and could last 5-7 days. She continued to throw up (plus other issues that were even less fun) all day Sunday and Monday. She didn't have fever yesterday morning, so I thought she must be better, but we had another full day of the bug. She was finally willing to eat just a few bites today--for the first time since breakfast last Friday, and she's kept everything down. She's been very fussy and only wants to be held, so that's what I've tried to do every moment that she's awake. I'm very thankful she was able to eat a little today, and I'm hopeful that she'll feel a lot better when she wakes up in the morning.

This picture was yesterday. :( She looked so sad--it just broke my heart. Her little lips were discolored and her eyes looked so weak. I think she's probably lost a couple of pounds. Her color is a lot better today though.
I'm sure that Sonic cherry-limeade isn't exactly pediatrician-recommended, but I stopped to get Rhett and myself one after picking him up from school today so I got her one too--just in case she wanted a drink. She only took a few sips, but I was willing to try to get her to eat or drink anything. I was so worried about dehydration and lack of any calorie-intake for 5 days.
I wouldn't wish this virus on anyone! So far the rest of our family has stayed healthy--please say a little prayer that we continue to be so lucky!

On another note, I noticed tonight that the baby countdown on the right says 53 days to go. It truly seems like JUST last week that I was excited to see it go under the 100 day mark. I don't know where those 47 days went, but if the last 53 go as fast (and I feel sure that they will...or faster!), then I need to get in gear! Lane plans to paint the to-be office this weekend, then we can move things out of the current office (to-be nursery) and start getting everything set up and organized. Maybe I'll have some progress pictures to post after the weekend.

A hint of spring

We had a beautiful, warm day here today--it was so nice! A little reminder that spring is just around the corner! Rhett and I spent a lot of time outside this afternoon. He rode his Big Wheel, bike, scooter, climbed the Japanese Maple tree, filled up his water guns and had me time him running from our mailbox to the neighbors' box (in his cowboy boots). I enjoyed sitting on a blanket in the sunshine, writing a few letters, looking at a new magazine that arrived in the mail today and watching Rhett play.





Unfortunately, sweet Alexee didn't get to play outside today because she came down with the stomach bug last night. :( She was napping while we were outside. When she was awake, she wanted to be held. She fell asleep on my lap even after her nap, which she hasn't done since she was probably 3 weeks old--she NEVER sits still long enough to fall asleep anywhere except her bed. I felt so bad for her. I pray she's much better in the morning. She was uncomfortable all day and couldn't even keep liquids down.

Healthy girl, exciting mail

I took Alexee in for her 2 year check-up yesterday morning. No shots necessary this time--hooray for that! She's a healthy girl, for which we're very very grateful!

Her in the waiting area at the pediatric clinic:Getting herself dressed after her check-up. She didn't want help.
When we got home, we found two exciting packages on the front step. One was a birthday gift from Mo & Granddad since they were not able to come to the party on Saturday. It was in really cute paper that I almost hated to unwrap!
But I'm glad I did because look at this precious little dress! I wish it was Sunday so I could dress her in it for church! I don't know if you can tell in the photo, but the little smocked part is cherries.
The other package was the monogrammed pillow shams that we ordered for the spare bed in C's room. I'll post pictures once we get everything in order...right now the house is a MESS as we try to rearrange and get organized for the nursery.

Officially TWO

What JOY this little girl brings to our lives! Happy Birthday, Alexee!

Here she is when she first woke up this morning. We went to her room and sang "Happy Birthday" to her.The kids had MDO this morning. We left a little early to go pick up pink sprinkle doughnuts for Alexee's class for a birthday treat. Here's Rhett, ready to go get doughnut holes for breakfast. I love his sweet smile:
Here they are after school. Alexee's teacher said that she fell out of her seat during snack time and scratched up her nose. :( She'd already bumped her nose the night before when she fell down outside. It was sore this afternoon--she kept pointing to it and saying "nose". :(
Tonight we did our traditional kid-birthday dinner at Purple Cow. Alexee was actually kind-of grumpy and didn't really seem to have fun...
...until the purple ice cream and candle arrived, then she was fine! Here she is blowing out her candle. I was trying to keep her from catching her hair on fire.
Trying to hold up two fingers:
Rhett ordered chocolate ice cream for his dessert.
I love this birthday girl!
She somehow got ice cream on the bottom of her shoe??

When we got home, she opened her gift from us (well, R opened it--she watched from the rocking horse).

2nd birthday party!

I'm having trouble publishing the whole album of birthday party pictures, so I'm going to post just a few here and do the party album as soon as possible. I have a call in to tech support, but he (Lane) is currently watching the Superbowl. :)

Alexee's party was fun. I love thinking about her party and planning the invitations, cake, buying flowers, etc. I guess she was too excited about the party to take a nap yesterday (not what I'd planned for), but she was in a great mood and seemed to thoroughly enjoy her big day!

Sadly, the terrible ice storm in north Arkansas prevented my parents and grandparents from coming here, so we really missed them (they have been without power for a week tomorrow). Having a birthday event this time of year (in Arkansas) will always face potential weather problems...it iced the night before Alexee was born, too! We were so happy to have Lane's family and my sister & her family and A's friend, Lindy, though. Thank you all for coming to celebrate with us.

I promise to post more photos soon, but here are just a few of the table and the birthday gal:
(I liked the Strawberry Lemonade Punch--see 1/29 post for recipe--and others seemed to like it too. Warning: it will stain white tablecloths though!)

Blue Cake Company did a red velvet cake with cream cheese icing and a fondant fairy and fondant polka dots to match the invitation. I thought it turned out cute, and it tasted great!
I also ordered vanilla cupcakes with strawberry icing:
Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Alexee........

Happy Birthday to you!