Vacation Bible School....

Tonight Grace started Vacation Bible School @ St. Joe. Its this entire week from 6-8 p.m. every evening. She's been so excited about going, but when we got there (the gym) & she didn't know anyone you could tell she was a little nervous. Then in walked Jillian Antel - Carla (Boring) Antel's daughter, Grace does gymnastics w/ Jillian. When Grace saw Jillian there she got a HUGE smile and ran off to join the group. When we picked her up she had so much fun - it was so sweet!!!!

Going to the "pool w/ a playground"...

The "start" of my vacation -- I'm sooooo EXCITED!!! I'm thinking I could chuck my job & do this all the time... I am sooooo IN LOVE w/ this new life!!!

Today we met Jess & Ella at the Aquatic Park (aka: the pool w/ a playground, as Grace likes to call it). Matt had taken the girls last week when he was off & they loved it so we decided to go back. The water was nice, the day was hot & it wasn't too crowded until we got ready to leave.

The pool is perfect for both Eva & Grace b/c they have the zero depth entry so Eva can sit in an inch of water if she wants or walk out till its up to her chest. She's very brave when it comes to the water. She loves to put her face in & blow raspberries. She would also go out until it was chest level & then bend her knee's, taking note of how the water would get higher... she thought that was funny.

Grace & Ella had fun running around playing w/ Grace's pool ball, & playing in the fountains. I even took Grace down the HUGE water slide a few times. We would have gone more but the girls ran into Jayden Tackett & wanted to play w/ her some.

After playing for several hours we headed home for naps - Grace needed to get her nap in so she could go to Vacation Bible School in the evening *this whole week from 6-8 p.m. @ St. Joe.

Day w/ Dad...

Aww.... it's killing me! Matt's home w/ the girls this week while Brenda is on vacation & all I want to do is go home to spend time w/ them too!!! I know I'm awful - but I feel like such a little kid... "can I go... can I go too!!! please!!!!" But it looks like they are having so much FUN! I'll get to have my time w/ them next week - but then Daddy won't be there:-(

They are just TOO CUTE!!! Thanks for sending me the pic Daddy - you rock!

The water might run out...

Grace is just too cute, bless her heart! I've been working on being "Greener" - it was actually my one and only New Years resolution, I figure even baby steps make a difference. So I've been trying to teach Grace good habits that will help the environment. One of which, is to turn off the water while she brushes her teeth. Of course she wanted to know "why" - I tried explaining, but that was only followed by "why" again, so I went the easy route and said, "b/c the water might run out". That seemed to work for her! She's done a great job turning the water off too!

So this evening I was rinsing a cup out, doing two or three things at once - had the water running, was meaning to turn it off but wasn't quite fast enough for my little four year old mind, when Grace said, "Mommy, you have to turn the water off - it might run out!". It was so sweet! I couldn't have been prouder of her, she had been listening! What a gem!!!

Moments of Grace...

It was sooooo cute! While Eva napped I worked on changing the sheets. Grace of-course wanted to help me, so I let her work on getting Daddy's pillow in the pillow case (hard task for anyone!). I was trying to do two things at once - go figure right! So I was changing the sheets while cooking a grilled cheese for Grace's lunch (& I wonder why my cooking isn't the best??). When I ran down stairs to pull her sandwich off I said, "come on Gracie".... no Gracie, she lagged behind. So by the time I had everything ready & I'm hollering, "Gracie...." she finally shows up like 5 minutes later. And I have to say, I feel bad but I was thinking "what was she up to now" assuming she was in to something. She then told me she had a surprise for me & I needed to shut my eyes! So I told her to eat her lunch & I would go upstairs. When I walked into my room, what I saw nearly broke my heart... sweet little Grace had spent the last 5 minutes working to finish making my bed. Breaks my heart w/ pride just writing it! The comforter still laid on the floor (but its quite heavy), but she got both pillows in the case & all of the decorative pillows up on the bed - it was just too precious!

I hurried downstairs & covered her little face in kisses!!!!

I'd planned on taking a pic, but Daddy got a nap in before I got my camera out:-)

Poor little Eva...

Poor little Eva, just yesterday she was at the ear doctor & now she's running a TEMP! Ugh! Just when you think things are going to start getting better. I just wish she could tell me what was bothering her - I'm left wondering, is it her ears? Or maybe she has what Ella had? Or could it be b/c she's cutting teeth? It all feels like such a guessing game. Not to mention over the next 24 hours her temp only seemed to rise. As soon as the meds approached their renewal time, she'd start getting a temp about an hour before like clockwork. In the evening her temp got up to 102.7 - poor baby!

Eva's appointment w/ the Ear Specialist...

Eva's appointment w/ the Ear Specialist... Today we met w/ Dr. Fang to discuss Eva's on going ear problems - both infections & fluid on her ears. We had to wait forever to get a room & then it seemed like even longer once we were in the room (which was even harder b/c there was less space, and no toys there) but both girls seem to manage. Dr. Fang was worth the wait though, very personable & worked well w/ Eva. He said she still has fluid on both ears, the last time she was checked for fluid was a month ago at her 12 m apt (5/2).

He said the fluid in addition to causing ear infections also delays walking (& was shocked she was walking as well as she is b/c her balance is probably off). In many cases, day before the surgery the child can't walk & w/in a day of having the surgery they can walk - yes, it has that big of an impact! Additionally, although she can hear & probably understand us everything she is hearing is muffled - try putting your hands over your ears, that's how things sound to her. He said her speech should become clearer once the tubes are in.

So for Matt & I its an easy decision - we're putting tubes in. The procedure is very minor, no shots/IVs - she'll receive gas & be out 5-10 minutes while they insert them. The worst of the "cons" are 1) she could still get an infection (however if she gets an infection after tubes, she should actually have drainage come out her ear - yes - gross! but informative; 2) when the tube is removed or falls out the small opening may not close completely - this happens in a very small number of cases, if it did occur they would stitch it shut; 3) not something he mentioned, but I've heard it from others -- the tubes could fall out before we want them to and we may have to have them re-inserted. I think the most difficult part of the procedure for Eva will be after midnight the night before she can't have any liquids or food to eat until the procedure is complete. Luckily b/c of this they do the smaller children first thing in the morning - Eva falls in this category.

She's currently on the books to have her tubes inserted on Wednesday June 18th - however if they have a cancelation prior to then they will notify us so we could move the date up.