Catching up...

That's really what this vacation is all about. Catching up and then maintaining. So far, uh, not so good, but I am most certainly enjoying my time off. I figure I will relax and enjoy the girls fully through New Year's Day and then get down to business. So though the house looks like a toy store blew up in my living room, family room, and foyer, it will just have to wait.

As you can see, we are back in business with a new camera, and oh, do I * heart* my newest love. But THAT is a whole other post.

This Christmas was truly magical. The girls understood so much of it this year--the preparations, the gifts, the giving, the receiving, spending time with family, and celebrating His birth. They are also starting to make some connections about God, Jesus, heaven, life, and death, which is so interesting. They also are understanding emotions in ways I never thought possible for 3 year olds.

When watching the movie Up, they saw the mommy was sad and wanted to know where the baby was that they were preparing for. When I explained the baby died and went to heaven to be with Jesus, they understood why the mommy was sad..."because she didn't have her baby anymore." When the woman died in Up, Mia said, "She went to be with Jesus, right mommy? But the man is sad because he is all alone now." Then we talked about how people die and go to heaven, but they stay in your heart forever. We also talked about how death is forever, but that one day we will all be together again in heaven.

Juliana was very touched by the holiday ASPCA commercial. You know, the one with the Sarah McLachlan and all of the homeless, abused animals? Oh my. We can't even watch it around here anymore and if it comes on, we have to turn the TV off immediately. Juliana was brought to uncontrollable tears by that commercial, the very first time she saw it.  All she could say over and over and over was, "But the doggies have no homes...they are so, so sad...they need me." We tried to console her, saying that the doggies would have homes very soon, but it did nothing. She cried and cried for hours, I kid you NOT. And for the next few weeks, anything that reminded her of the commercial, would ensue a bout of tears and the the saddest little broken voice repeating over and over, "But mommy, the doggies have no homes." Oh do I have an animal lover on my hands, BIG time.

As you can tell, the girls are such little people now. They have such grown up thoughts some times, it amazes me. We have their school photos and they even look like big girls now. Oh, so, so hard on the mommy heart. But I will say, I love the little people they are becoming. Of course, they have their moments...like when Mia has taken a whole jar of calendula cream and covered herself from head to toe, or when they have "painted" each other's fingernails with pink marker, or when they have written all over mommy's paperwork, the floor, the cabinets, and miscellaneous furniture (thank God for the magic eraser I tell ya'), or even when Juliana comes to me with poop in her hand saying, "Mommy, I have poop!" Yes, they have all of these moments and MORE, each and every day. I mean, what else would I be doing?

But seriously, these moments, while they drive us absolutely crazy and make us count to 10 a LOT, are sprinkled amidst so many other moments that melt your heart. Like when Juliana is falling asleep, rolls over, grabs my face in her hands, smiles, and says, "Mommy, I love you sooooo much," or when Mia wakes me up in the morning and proceeds to give me a 10 minute monologue about anything and everything, in the happiest of voice because the first thing she realized when she woke up was, "Yay! Mommy you get to stay home today!"

Oh, do I love these little girls so. :)

P.S. More pics to come tomorrow...I still have Christmas Day with our families, our ride on the North Pole Express, and the girls with their new "rides"...

Christmas Morn...

The wonder of Christmas morn...

...a new helmet,

...princess stationary,

...a magical unicorn,

...new markers,

...so much fun to be had,

...with things that make unexpected noises,

...make-up brushes like mommy's,

...the feel of new crayons,

...and thee coolest trike EVER!

I just LOVE that Santa doesn't wrap presents...:)

The Night Before Christmas...

Santa's little helpers hard at work...

Cookies for Santa...

Reindeer food for the, well, reindeer...

Sprinkling the magic oats on the front lawn...

Brrrrr, need some jackets...

After all, it's 50 degrees...

Now off to bed, my sleepyheads...

Been bit...

...by one (or two, or three, in my case) nasty bugs and haven't been well since Halloween...that's nearly 3 weeks of being just plain SICK. Now, clearly I am feeling well enough to update, so I'm on the mend. :)

AND I certainly hope so after 3 stinkin' weeks! And yet...I still have the aches, the chills on and off, nasal AND chest congestion, difficulty breathing, a nagging cough, a runny nose, post-nasal drip and a scratchy throat (with one sexy voice if I might add). How could I be blessed with so MANY symptoms? Well, it began as the flu (the pig? I don't know), then as I was just about to start feeling better...I got slammed with a cold...and just when I thought that was getting better....oh, wait...it's not getting better. Just worse now that a sinus infection is looming. Needless to say, I'm beat, tired, exhausted...and tired of being sick. Just done.

And in this time frame? Little Miss Juliana decided to potty train herself. Now, if you remember, Mia was trained in about a week, day and night, at the beginning of July at 35 months. Juliana decided to wait until 38 months...or as my mom says, "what was supposed to be her third birthday." How it went down, is actually quite cute and in the truest Juliana fashion.

Sunday morning, the 8th, she walks out, fever, nose running, and taps me on the shoulder (I'm laying on the couch, half asleep, barely hanging on myself).

"Mommy, I want to wear big girl panties."

My response, "Okay...go get them and put them on."

Which she does.

I tell her to keep them dry and to tell me when she needs to go pee-pee. An hour later, I see her zoom past me on the couch, yelling "I gotta' go pee-pee! I gotta' go pee-pee!"

And she DOES. Just. Like. That.

Of course, she picks the busiest time of the year, in addition to when we are the sickest. But, I have always been a believer in letting a child lead you. So I followed her lead and 1 1/2 weeks later she is only in a pull-up at night. She's not having accidents and goes potty pretty much solo.

I'm just so incredibly thankful that the process hasn't been horrible with her. And now, as promised when BOTH were potty trained, Gymnastics or Ballet classes are going to be added to their week. They are just over the moon!

As for everything else...status quo. Not much can go on when everyone is sick. The girls are doing just fabulous in every way possible. They are at SUCH a fun age and our conversations are nothing short of hilarious. I should be keeping a book of quotes from them. Maybe I'll do a post on that! Hhhhmmmm. Still without a camera and that simply will NOT do for the holidays. I just hate having to buy another, knowing just when we do...the other one will turn up, because that is how things work around here. But there is so much to capture with these two and I just don't want to miss any of it.

We are looking forward to the holidays...though I can't quite believe they are upon us already. Where did 2009 go? We went on a window shopping trip to TRU to check out tricycles...not your "baby" trikes, but the big girl ones. We have them all picked out for Santa and the girls cannot wait to tell him what they want for Christmas when we visit him at the North Pole...only after a ride on the North Pole Express. We just can't wait for this little excursion.

Well, two sleeping girls (an odd thing around here since napping is a 50-50 crap shoot on any given day)...better pay some bills before my princesses wake up and want to play!

We're still here...

...just very busy!

...also in mourning...uh, our camera is M.I.A. and we truly have no idea where it is or where it might be. We've searched everywhere...sigh. We even just recently had half of our house's carpet steam cleaned, so we're sure it's not in those rooms. I suppose there is a remote possibility it is in one of the remaining 2 rooms, but I don't think so. We've looked high and low, inside, outside, you name it...it's just gone. I think we're mostly just trying to ignore the fact it was a very expensive camera with a brand new lens and memory card totalling $$$$....OUCH...not to mention the photos that were needing to be uploaded. Sigh again. We've been trying to use our little point and shoot when absolutely necessary, but it's awful. Then there is the camcorder and while it takes decent stills, it's still NOTHING like our other camera. Big SIGH. Crying silent tears here...:(

Girls are off to bed early tonight...maybe I can post a little more later.

Baby Mikels is HERE!

I don't know any of the details (which I cannot wait to hear), but Baby Mikels arrived last night at 8:12pm, weighing 4 lbs., 1 oz. and 16 inches long. They are still working on a name, but I'm sure it will be just as beautiful as she is.

Mom and baby are doing great. Baby girl is in the NICU on room temp and room air. She is intubated, but will have the tube removed this morning...if it hasn't already been removed.

I know Devon and Rob are just thrilled beyond belief to have their little girl here, safe and sound. Congratulations to the Mikels family, especially the NEW "Big Sister", Miss Riley Belle! Lots of love to them all...:)

Some prayers...

I just got an email from Devon (hadn't heard from her in a couple days) and was a little worried when I saw her FB status about "hoping the contractions will stay away for 6 more days." It had me wondering. She is in the hospital on 3mg of magnesium sulfate, but is still having contractions 2-3 minutes apart. She has one steroid shot down and I'm guessing has been taken off the Lovenox due to eminent delivery. At this point I am guessing her doctors are just trying to buy as much time as possible to give Devon enough time off the Lovenox (blood thinner) and time to get both steroid shots in for the baby.

In her words, "probably having baby today."

Please send your prayers her way. Devon is 31 weeks, 2 days and while that is almost 2 weeks later gestation than when she had Riley and in all likelihood that baby girl will do great, it's still almost 9 weeks early. I know we are all anxious to meet this little miracle girl, who is truly heaven sent...but we want her to enter this world peacefully, landing safely in her mommy and daddy's arms.

Love you Devon my dear...praying, praying, praying for you, for baby girl, for Rob and Riley!

3 Year Well-Check

And the stats are in!

Juliana

Weight: 24 lbs., 4 oz. - 1%ile

Height: 35 1/2 in. - 16%ile

Mia

Weight: 29 lbs., 0 oz. - 32%ile

Height: 36 1/2 in. - 37%ile

Today was the girls' 3 year well-check and all was...well! They are doing great and Dr. S just loves the girls to pieces. When she saw them walk into the exam room she couldn't believe what big girls they were! The girls chatted her ears off calling her, "Doctor" and asked about everything she was doing. Dr. S and the girls even did some "ballet" together...arabesque, bouree, 1st through 5th position...too cute (have to thank the Booby Bird Ballet episode of the Little Einsteins for their recent interest in ballet).

But all in all, it was a very routine well-check. We talked about the tumor on Mia's back and although it continues to grow with her, it still is proportionately the same size that it was two years ago. Since it does not bother her or appear to affect her motor skills in any way (that we know of), we will continue to take the "wait and see" approach. I'm a little torn though...part of me wants a second MRI just to know MORE about it. BUT, in the same breath, I don't want my baby to have to be put under general anesthesia unnecessarily. AND, knowing just how hard it is to find a vein on these girls, I don't want to watch a team of nurses take 8-10 attempts to get an IV started on her...EVER again. You would think it would be something you get used to after having a baby in the NICU for 3 months with IVs on every limb, but...you DON'T.

Which brings us to the vaccination part of the appointment. Dr. S said her good-bye and in walked the nurse. I felt horrible, like I was keeping this HUGE secret from the girls by not telling them what was about to happen next. Mia wanted to go first, so up she hopped on the table. I laid her down and the nurse had me hold her arms across her chest and a shadow (nurse in training) held her legs down. Mia looked up at me with a big smile...and my heart just crumbled. In a last minute effort to prevent Juliana from watching what would be coming, I told Robert to take her for a quick walk outside the room. And then they came...one right after another, Hep A and the flu shot, in her thighs. Poor thing just whimpered and cried with such hurt and pain. I scooped her up and walked outside, while Robert walked the next unsuspecting victim in the room. Mia quickly pulled out of it when she looked down at her thighs, tears streaming down her face, and saw two Band-Aids...a pink soccer ball bandage and a Dora the Explorer bandage. Mid-cry she says happy as can be, "Oh! Look at my band-aids! It's Dora and soccer balls...and there's a little bit of blood coming out, too. Wow Mommy!" So I wiped my own tears and told her what a big girl she was. Then she asked, "Why did the doctor pinch me?" I explained they weren't pinches, but rather shots of medicine to make sure she doesn't get really sick. I think she got it.

In the meantime, I am waiting for the big scream from Juliana...which never happened. Well, that's because she was holding her breath while crying. Poor thing! She, too, pulled out of it pretty quickly when Dr. S offered them stickers from the sticker box. Oh to be a kid again when a sticker or two could make everything right with the world!

My only other concern was Juliana's weight. I mean, come on, at 3 years old she weighs as much as most ONE year olds. But, she is following her own little curve, right at the bottom of the chart and although its at the bottom...the curve is exactly as it should be.

And that's pretty much it! The girls will celebrate their birthday this coming weekend with family...a little late, but hey...who doesn't want TWO birthday celebrations when you are this age?

Happy 3rd Birthday J & M!

I really cannot quite fathom that it has been three years since the whirl-wind of events that would eventually lead to Juliana and Mia being born, late one Sunday night in August of 2006, at just 27 weeks, 2 days gestation. I can still hear their little kitten cries as they entered this world...just 2 lbs. and change...barely longer than their Daddy's hand.

For years, THIS was the birthday we looked to...the birthday where they would hopefully be fully caught up to their actual age. We hoped, we prayed, and these amazing little girls overcame. Today they are beautiful, thriving, living miracles. I will forever stand in awe of their strength and their spirit--how they could go from this...

...to this.

Sure, I hoped...but I never knew for sure how things would turn out. Juliana and Mia are and always will be the answer to a prayer we prayed many a night and many a long drive. I thank God each and every day for the gift of them, knowing full well that there are far too many people out who are still waiting for the answer to their unending prayer.

My sweet little angels...Mommy and Daddy love you more than words could ever say, more than we could ever show, more than you could ever know. Happy birthday my Mimi Bear and Juji Bear!

Status Report

Well, the girls are just doing fabulous with preschool! I am well aware it could simply be the "honeymoon" phase with tears still to come, but for now we are loving that our girls are more than thrilled to go to preschool on Tuesdays and Thursdays and ask about it all of the days inbetween.

One yucky side-effect, they are already sick with their first cold. It hit Mia on Saturday and Juliana last night. I haven't broken it to them that they cannot go to school tomorrow and am just praying they are well by Thursday for their birthday at preschool! That would be crushing, I'm sure. We are pretty certain at least one little boy was contagious, but not yet visibly "sick," in their class on the first day, when that same little boy sneezed green boogies all over Robert on the following Tuesday. So yes, it begins. We do have to watch colds very carefully with the girls as they can quickly go south on us and land them in urgent care and/or the hospital for breathing treatments and steroid shots. For now, my two little sickies are sleeping soundly in mommy & daddy's bed for a midday nap, humidifier on high, with Tylenol and Motrin keeping the fevers down. So glad it's not a workday for either Robert or myself after a very rough night with little to no sleep.

As for me, the school year is off to a very busy, but good start. I have Back to School Night (on their birthday, no less) I am preparing for and a district presentation to my fellow Kindergarten teachers on the new Math Adoption in a couple weeks. After that, things settle in and quiet down...we hope. My Kindergarten class started at 34 students (VERY boy heavy) and tomorrow will be whittled down to 20 little angels (this is a stretch, but I'm going to try to stay positive and hope it holds true), 14 boys and 6 girls...so still very boy heavy, but obviously better than it was.

The girls' birthday party is quickly approaching and some good-byes to the sippies, P's, and pull-ups (for Juliana). I am scheduling their first dentist appointment, a pediatric optometrist appointment, and then there is their 3 year well-check next Thursday.

Another start in a few weeks, Little Church on Sundays. Robert and I are sooooo looking forward to attending church in peace, while they attend Little Church. Should be another exciting milestone and we're hoping they do just as well with it as they have with preschool.

I'll leave you with a cute little shot of them on Jammy Day at preschool last Thursday. Love them so!

The Big Day

My sweet girls...

I love this little face...

Love those eyes...

Juliana, Daddy, and the Monkey in the Box...

Mia already into the play-dough...

Two silly girls...

One happy family...

How we left them...in the Cozy Corner with their three teachers!

What's this? A mid-day blog post on the ACTUAL day of the event...with pictures even? Shocking, I know.

But hey, that's what happens when your little angels come home exhausted from a wonderful first day of preschool and go straight to their bed and pass out within minutes of their little heads hitting the pillow, leaving me with another couple hours to myself...Thursdays are my new best friend. :)

So yes, the day went great, from start to finish. The girls were so excited to be there, in fact, when Mia woke up this morning, her first words to me were, "I'm so excited Mommy to go to preschool today. You are going to go shopping and to the gym and I'm going to play. Then you'll come get me." We had been talking this day up, so they would know the routine and we tried to do everything humanly possible to ease their anxiety. Well, it seemed to work because they were absolutely fine! No tears at all, not even a hint of sadness. They were immediately sucked into the classroom and all of the fun activities and Robert and I left at about 9:15 as they started their community time in the Cozy Corner.

We kissed Juliana good-bye and she went to sit down with the kiddos. Mia was already in the middle of the Cozy Corner and I tried to squeeze in to where she was to say good-bye, but she was certainly not worried about ME. I tapped her on the shoulder and said we were leaving and she didn't even so much as LOOK at me! How about that! Here I am, trying to ease their anxiety, following all the rules, making sure I say good-bye and don't sneak out and they couldn't care less!

We just left. And that was that.

My stomach was in knots for the next two and half hours. I cried on the way to Noah's, where Robert and I shared a bagel and much needed "us" time. That was nice, really nice, but of course all I was really thinking about was, "When is my phone going to ring? Are they okay? Did they get that we were LEAVING and not coming back for a few hours? Did they even notice we left? Are they crying NOW?" I was good though and made only one phone call at around 10:00 to let the teachers know that Mia had regressed a bit in potty learning and is now forgetting to tell us...just to make sure they remind her to go. That was it though. Really, it was.

So I toodled around town, ran errands, and checked my phone every 30 seconds for a missed call or voicemail from the preschool...but there never was one. Go figure.

At 12:00, we picked the girls up. The report? Mia apparently LOVES to paint. Well, we knew that, but they didn't. One of the activities today was to paint their hand and then put their handprint on the bathroom wall. They did that...and then Mia continued to paint...her arm, her face, her shirt, etc. She then decided to use the paper on the easel and was apparently there for a very long time per the director.

Juliana had a good day as well. And actually, there were tears from her as we were leaving. You see, this girl of mine has a love for animals, but also a serious shoe fetish. She loves to dress up in her fancy Little Mermaid shoes at home and wouldn't you know, she honed in on a box of dress up shoes this morning when we were dropping her off. In an instant, off came her shoes and on went the Little Mermaid jellies that the preschool had. She wore them the W-H-O-L-E day. Well, except for playtime in the indoor gym area. So naturally when we were leaving she wanted to put the Mermaid shoes back on. Sigh...what's a girl to do? We had to pry them away from her and that's when the tears started flowing. The director mentioned to me as we were leaving that someone had donated the shoes a while back and they wondered if anyone would ever fit into them, because they were so teeny tiny. Well, clearly they were meant for Miss Juliana's infant/toddler size 6.5 (barely) feet.

It was a perfect fit...the shoes and the school. So, so thankful the day was a good one.

And now my tummy feels a whole lot better. :)

What We've Been Up To

...potty learning, which Mia had down within a week (even for naps and nighttime) and Juliana couldn't give a rats patooty about (and almost three weeks later, still shows no interest).

...a lllllooooooonnnnnngggggggg road trip to Arizona to visit Robert's Aunt Sharon and Uncle Al.

...a trip to Las Vegas for Robert and I for some reconnecting, relaxation, and renewal.

...day trips to the beach scattered here and there.

...evening swims in the pool and watching two little swimmers in the making (mama's girls, ahem, thank you very MUCH).

...loving having Daddy home E-V-E-R-Y-D-A-Y for the past three weeks (and sad to know that he goes back to work next Wednesday...big sigh here).

...enjoying my summer vacation, but wondering where the heck it went since I go back to work on August 3...another BIG sigh here.

...praying, praying, PRAYING for Devon, Rob, Riley, and their Sweet Baby Girl every minute of every day.

...collecting, cleaning, tagging, and prepping tons of baby and toddler equipment, toys, clothes for a consignment sale in August (note I said tons...that means a LOT, but not everything).

...trying to hold it together knowing my babies start preschool in three weeks...GULP.

...trying to hold it together knowing I will be thirty-FIVE in a couple days...GULP.

...planning the girls 3rd birthday party at the end of August...GULP.

...and pretty much not doing all of the organizing I had planned to do while on vacation, oh well, nothing new.

...just living life and loving every minute with my three loves.