Pillows

The Pillows are coming!! Yea, our first friends to come visit us in North Carolina. The weather looks like it is going to be great, and Ashley is excited to see Max. And I can't wait for Audrey and Ava to meet each other.

I will post some pictures tomorrow, now it is time for bed after a busy, busy week. Wish me luck, I am going to DMV tomorrow to take my written driving test to get my North Carolina license. I know, it's about time.

Conversation

So this was the conversation at dinner the other night:

Ashley: "Mommy, are you wearing underwear?"
Me: "Of course sweetheart."
Ashley: "Mommy, is your underwear up your butt?"

I might have said her bathing suit was up her butt at one point, so I guess this one can be blamed on me.

Polka Dots and Teeth

Ashley has this favorite dress she loves to wear....it is blue with white polka dots on it. My Mom bought it from Land's End. It is nice and loose and she would wear it every day if we let her. Well, she actually can't wear it to school anymore since she can't keep it down. She keeps pulling it over her waist, or even higher over her head. We keep telling her to keep her goods to herself, but she doesn't care. So now she can only wear it when she is going to be at home. Let's hope this isn't a precursor to her future career as a stripper......

And now for the big news - Audrey has her first tooth!! I brought her home from school and put my finger in her mouth and sure enough, it was there. I thought she might have one because Sunday night she was up every 1/2 hour until I gave her some Tylenol. Yea for Audrey!!

No pics today, I am at work and don't have access to my pictures...

Faith

The lady who said she would rent our house backed out at the last minute after we pulled the listing off. What is it with people? Does "good faith" not mean anything any more? Sorry, just had to vent.

Happy Belated 50th Birthday to my Mom!! Sorry, I should have posted that Friday. Bad daugther.

The girls are doing better, Ashley's nose is okay and Audrey's cough is going away. My guilt for Ashley falling down the stairs is getting worse, though. I just keep seeing her fall. Let's hope she doesn't remember this when she gets older. I guess the guilt more stems from me yelling at her prior to the fall about not napping. I lost my patience and I shouldn't have. Like I said in the earlier post, if I could start yesterday over, I would.

So tonight, our neighbors had a huge inflatable water slide out. Fearless Ashley went right on down it, over and over again. She was having so much fun. Then she had to pee and ran in the house, slipped, fell and banged her head on the hardwood. Then at bath time, she hit her head on the faucet. I think that's three times, and she's done.

Stairs

So it finally happened, Ashley fell down the stairs. Luckily, it was the back stairs that are carpeted. But at the bottom of the steps is hardwood, which she hit with her face, mainly her nose. If I could start this day over again I would. She wouldn't take a nap, so we were in the process of going downstairs to watch a movie (and hopefully have her fall asleep watching it). She was about 3 steps down when she turned towards me (I was holding Audrey) and then she started rolling down, eventually going most of the way down face first. She is fine, she had a pretty bad bloody nose, but other than that she is okay. So the rest of the day was shot as she was completely tired from all we did this weekend. It is 7:00 pm and she is in bed, hopefully going to sleep soon. And Audrey is coughing and coughing and coughing. She isn't running a fever, but she definitely doesn't feel well. And no pictures tonight, Ray stole my computer and all the pictures are stored there. I hope everyone else had a better Sunday!!

Beach

The beach was awesome - it was only two hours away, public parking with bathrooms, and a wide beach with plenty of sun and sand. Ashley of course had a blast and wanted to spend most of her time in the ocean. I just got tired of lifting her over the waves, again and again. But it was fun. We made it home just in time for a huge thunderstorm to hit.

Ticks

Ashley had two ticks on her tonight. She told me she had "bumps on her butt" so I finally look and sure enough, two ticks were there. So of course Ray thinks he has twenty on him :).

Ashley and I are going to Wrightsville Beach tomorrow with Julie and Jordan. It is only a two hour drive from our house, and that beach supposedly is a lot like the Outer Banks in that the hotels are few and far between and lots of beach houses. I am excited just for the day off and to spend some quality time with Ashley. Of course I feel guilty leaving Audrey behind, but next year she can join Ashley and I on all of our adventures.

Practice makes perfect

Well, Ray picked up a very old, very used bassoon today for me to try. Needless to say, it wasn't even close to the one I played in high school. It was missing some keys that I was used to and some other stuff I won't bore you non-band geeks with. So I may be stuck with my clarinet playing for a while which I don't mind.

Ashley was up at 5:30 this morning. So she was really tired tonight. And come to think of it, so was Audrey. They were both wiped.

Here is a picture of Ashley being a band geek like Mommy, playing her "trumpet".

Tired

Go Canes!! Yes, a team from a state where it really doesn't snow much won the Stanley Cup. And this is one excited town. There was a parade tonight in downtown Raleigh and supposedly streets where shut down last night after the game so that people go storm the streets. And Ray and I are tired from staying up and watching it.

Happy Anniversary Ray!! Today is our 8th anniversary. I totally expect to renew my vows in Disney for our 10th...details to follow :).

The first picture is Audrey hanging out in her room. The second is from Family Movie Friday nights, and that is Ashley eating while watching a movie.

Together

Audrey really gets a big kick out of her sister now. Ashley will be doing something she's not supposed to be doing (like jumping on the couch) and it will crack Audrey up. She will laugh and laugh and laugh.

Ray came home early today to cut the grass. He called me to tell me he went looking for the dead snake and it was no longer in the backyard. We assume some dog or other animal came to take claim to it. Or at least we hope so.

Snake

First of all, Happy Father's Day to all of those out there - I hope you had a great day.

So Ashley was out on her playset, and Ray and I were about to join her. He went to carry one of the deck chairs down when I saw a tail of something go under the deck stairs. I wasn't sure if it was a snake or a lizard since I only saw a little bit of it. Well, I guess there was a lot of it, as Ray saw a huge black snake. He ran and got Ashley and literally went around the neighbors house to get to our front yard. He went back to the deck through the house. After consulting his Dad and deciding that he wasn't going to do anything, I went to get some neighbors to help. Right down the street were 3 guys, one of who had just moved in. I could totally tell they were hestitant to come kill a snake, but Steve grabbed a shovel and they all headed to our backyard. Steve eventually killed it with his shovel after asking Ray what he should do. It was pretty funny. Other neighbors have seen a big black snake so let's hope this is the same one!

Pictures

Sorry, but I won't be posting any pictures tonight. Blame Ray - my "scrapbooking" and computer room is a mess, and I can't seem to get off the couch to go download any pictures. But at least I am writing!! And speaking of writing, I am trying to get posted on some other websites - specifically one about working moms. I have to submit a 300-400 essay of sorts, so we shall see. I would love to be able to share my experiences with a lot more people.

And for those that care - it's Bond Week on American Movie Classics, so I have been forced to watch these ridiculous movies each night. Ray loves Bond. And speaking of movies Ray loves, he has always liked the movie Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. So when I found out the Broadway play was coming to Raleigh, I bought him and I tickets for our anniversary (it's next week, and it's been 8 years).

The girls were pretty tired tonight, we had movie and let Ashley eat dinner in front of the tv. She polished off everything we put in front of her!! I think if we had liver, she would have eaten that too. And then we gave the girls a bath, nothing out of the ordinary except that we seem to always forget to give Audrey a bath. Just don't call child services. It had been a week since Audrey had seen the bath tub, but she smells wonderful now.

Fit

So Ashley told Ray and I yesterday, "you get what you get and you don't pitch a fit". We are assuming she learned that from her absolutely wonderful teacher Ms. Courtney. And we really like that saying!! Then last night she was watching the hockey game with Ray (I was at a Melaleuca party at a neighbors, and no, I did not sign up) and someone on the TV must have said North Carolina. She said "that's where I live, North Carolina." She is learning fast!!

Cindy bought Audrey a Bumbo seat. They did not have this when Ashley was her age. Basically, it helps Audrey sit up. And she loves it. If she had it her way, she would sit up all day long. She even tries to sit up more in her car seat. And she is rolling over more and more each day.

Eyebrows

Yes, my kids have eyebrows. And a lot of them. Since moving here and meeting lots of new people, I have gotten the comment about their eyebrows more than once. Of course they also compliment their beautifully long, curly eyelashes as well (thanks to my side of the family), but still. I am fully aware I will be spending a lot of money at the spa for waxings.

Electricity

Sorry for not having a post last night, but we had some pretty bad thunderstorms in our area that resulted in us losing power at about 9:00 pm. It came back on a couple of hours later, but continued to storm throughout the night and into the next morning.

My visit home was good, Gracie's birthday party was fun. I just wish I had more time to hang out with everyone, but hopefully next time. I only had to stop once on the trip home for a bottle and peepee break which was nice.

We are looking forward to our visit from Grandpa and Grandma Fuzzy and Crazy Uncle Mike this weekend!!

ByeBye

First off, band practice was FUN!! It was so nostalgic of my former music days that the first piece we played brought tears to my eyes. Yes, I am one big sap.

Secondly, I will not be posting tomorrow or Saturday night. I am going back to Virginia to visit family, celebrate my Mom's 50th birthday and celebrate Gracie's 3rd birthday. I will see everyone this weekend!!

So can you tell which one is Ashley and which one is Audrey???

Playset

One condition of moving here was to have a playset built. Well, here it is. We found a great guy who builds modified Heritage Playsets, and he has been great to work with (and considerably cheaper than most). There are still some missing pieces (a glider swing and a hatch cover for underneath the hut thing), but Ashley plays on it all the time. And tonight we went playset hopping. Most of the neighbors have playsets as well. We ended up spending most of the evening on Hayden's playset and meeting more new neighbors. Kelly was the Dad and Cantalina was the daughter who turns three in July just like Ashley and will probably be going to Ashley's school. They left all of their extended family in Austin, Texas (a recurring theme on our street) and are excited to be here.

Bad Monday

So I was driving to work and I was about to drink my yogurt drink. I normally drink the Stonyfield Farm ones which have a screw on top and then aluminum foil covering the hole as well. I was sitting at a red light and screwed the top off. Then the light turned green, and I was going, I started to shake the drink like I always do. Well, I guess they stopped putting the foil on them because yogurt went EVERYWHERE, including my hair and all over the van. Needless to say, I had to drive home and change.

Happy Birthday Matt (again!!)

Peas and Carrots

Happy Birthday Adrienne!
So Ray told Ashley today that her and Audrey were like "peas and carrots." Ashley said, "No Daddy, I don't want to be peas or carrots. I don't want to be food." Then at lunch, for some reason I said "holy crap". I then heard, "Mommy, what's holy crap?" I just didn't answer her....
More pics from the strawberry farm.

Multi tasking

So the definition of multi-tasking would be what I did today - feeding Audrey a bottle while trying to get Ashley to go poop on the potty. And remind me to tell Ashley she owes me $20 when she gets her first job. When she didn't poop and I put her down for a nap, she called out a few minutes later and said she had to go, totally just because I was bribing her earlier. I bet her $20 that she didn't have to go, but I let her try anyways. And now she owes me.

The picture of Ashley and Ethan is from strawberry picking we did a couple of weeks ago. And I will never be able to eat store bought strawberries again....

Audrey's Stats

Audrey had her 4 month appointment today. Yes, I know it is a little late, but we had to wait until we had health insurance. Nothing like tempting fate by not having health insurance for the last month and a half.

She is of course over the 75% in all the categories just like Ashley was. She is 13 pounds, 12 ounces (75%), 26 inches long (95%), head circumference of 16 3/4 inches (90%).

Last night Ray and I were downstairs watching tv when we heard a thump from Ashley's room. Ray said it sounded like Ashley was out of bed, so upstairs I went to go see what was up. I opened her door, and she was laying in bed. "Mommy, I fell out of bed." I asked her what happened and she said she was trying to get her Care Bear (the purple one from Grace, her current snuggle buddy at night) and she fell out. I asked her if she hurt anything. "Yes," she replied, "my butt."

More pictures from our Memorial Day weekend at the beach......

Where's the Basement?

A couple of weeks after being in our house, Ashley asked us when we were going to move the basement here. I explained that we didn't have a basement in North Carolina, but that she has a great new playroom. That seemed to satisfy her for the time being.

Last week, one of the many times Ashley was trying to poop on the potty, I decided to make it a little more interesting and painted her fingernails and toenails. Ray wasn't too happy with me for doing it, but it was cute. I just hope that stuff isn't toxic because she pretty much ate all the nail polish off of her fingernails over the next couple of days.