Monkeys, Moms, and Good Deals

And, not in that particular order. This morning as I was drying the girls off from their bath, they began running around making making noises (Sid is getting awfully good at this). I managed to coax them into sitting still for one moment while I took a picture. These towels are a favorite of mine. I sometimes marvel at how we as parents often enjoy our childrens toys more than they do. It was right around chrismas time that I went on a quest for new towels. They just HAD to be frogs or monkeys. I have no explanation for this other than it is simply the way it HAD to be. Well after almost a month of searching I found them. I probably could have found them in a fraction of the time had I known where to look. It is well worth it to watch them running around acting crazy after bath time!

Yesterday Kevin and I scored some incredible deals. We hit the doorbuster sale at JCP (and had coupons on top of that). I managed to get a very cute pair of $65 shoes for the bargain price of $15. Kevin scored a really nice pair of slacks and a sweater for $20! Wow does that feel good. I have always said that "if" (correction: "when") we win the lottery, I will still bargain shop. It is the satisfaction that I love so much.

Now for some "not so fun" news. My mom has been VERY sick! I have spent all afternoon organizing junk drawers in an attempt to keep my mind and hands busy. While I am doing that, my sister is sitting with my mom and dad in the emergency room. This whole crazy thing started last Sunday when my mom got the flu in the worst way. She was sick until Wednesday unable to keep anything down. Then she had a day and a half of recovery, then sick again. My mom never gets sick. I can count on one hand the number of times she has been down and out. Finally at 1pm today, my dad called my sister and said they were going in to the hospital. My mom said she was a 10 on the pain scale. My mom used to be a nurse in oncology, so she knows how to use the pain scale and a 10 is insane! So here I sit, helpless, worried and trying to keep myself busy. I am really hoping that she has just become so dehydrated that things are not functioning properly. That is any easy fix - right? Either way, I hope we hear something soon. And, I hope my mom starts to feel better and her pain goes away. She will always be my mom and I will always be her daughter. Yes, that is obvious. But, it is interesting how that relationship and everything that comes with it never changes. To this day when I am sick, I wish for my mom to be there to hold me. Right now, I wish I was there to hold her!

Speedracers.

This afternoon has been so nice. We decided to get the girls out on their bikes. Kendall is getting REALLY good at riding her new bike. She has figured out that pushing backwards causes her to stop. She has even pedaled herself up some small hills.

Sidney is trying her hand at the tricyle. She is going to be an old pro before too long. It felt so good to get out in the crisp, clean air.

It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.

Some of you may have heard me adopt this motto when referring to parenting a toddler. It is the most rewarding and most frustrating experience I have ever had. Sometimes these two extreme emotions can occur within a five minute span of each other. In my experience 18 months - 2 1/2 years is the toughest of them all. Many people have told me "just you wait". But I do not want to think that far in the future. Besides sometimes naivete is a real sanity saver.

Sidney is just entering this black hole and UGH. As Kendall would say "Here we go". One minute I think "wow what a perfect child". The next minute I am thinking "where did this holy terror come from"? We went through it with Kendall and survived. Now we are embarking upon this lovely period with little Sid. Today was one of those experiences. We decided to go to Applebee's for lunch. She wanted up, she wanted down, she wanted in, she wanted out, she wanted juice, she didn't want juice, she wanted chicken, she didn't want chicken. Get the picture. I was exhausted by the time the meal was over.

To Sidney's credit it was a bad move on our part to make the decision to go to lunch today. She is not feeling well at all. The girl has had pretty good luck in the sickness department. But yesterday she started getting sick. We drug her around shopping all morning and she was a champ. Yet we pushed our luck on lunch. Selfishly, we were squeezing in every last opportunity for fun as I am leaving town this afternoon.

I remember one distinct incident in Kendall's black hole stage when she decided that library story time was a great time to take all of her clothes off. Yikes! So here begins a year of unpredictable, crazy behavior. Just pray that I keep my sanity. To all my mom friend's who have little ones, I wish you the patience of a saint, the strength of a gladiator - and have no shame - because we have all had "those moments" when you want to crawl under the nearest clothing rack and hide!

Can you believe that this angelic little face could be anything but perfect? It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.

Winter Games

It is that time of year, when the girls are itching to get outside. Fortunately the days are getting longer and the weather is getting nicer. Kendall has been asking to go outside each evening when we get home. All of their pent up energy has inspired their own interpretation of the winter olympics. For the first event we had "Island running", followed by "Highchair Crawling".

I was lucky enough to catch them loving up on their Daddy. This is a very frequent occurrence in our house. But usually kevin is protesting when I pull out the camera. This time - not so much. WooHoo!

Family Picture Day

This post is seriously picture overload, so bear with me. Today we attempted the impossible - a family picture. It is nearly impossible to get both tots smiling at the camera, while still smiling ourselves, appearing completely undistracted. We managed to get one picture that accomplished that. The rest are just too cute to pass up, even if not perfect.

Loved this one below, however Kendall was showing off Dora. Glad I noticed that!The next one was toward the end of the shoot, so Sid was done. It is quite interesting how getting pictures with kids can be. I distinctly remember Kendall's 18 month pictures. Nightmare. We could not get her to sit still for anything. Every time I would walk out of the frame she would follow me. In the end, they turned out pretty cute. But the experience was not so fun. In contrast, the other night I got Sidney her 18 month pictures and she was completely cooperative. So I was feeling pretty confident that today was in the bag. WRONG! Sidney was her true 18 month self. Busy, busy, busy! It was fun anyways.

Here are a few pictures of the girls that the photographer decided to take. After all we were there, dressed up - why not?

Thank you Kevin for being such a trooper. I know "you'd rather be fishing". And Grandma's do not worry, we got you plenty!

It was one of those days...

Look at a stone cutter hammering away at his rock, perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred-and-first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not the last blow that did it, but all that had gone before. ~Jacob A. Riis

Some days, I feel like I am on the one-hundredth blow:)

The Week in Review

Where to begin? It has been an exciting week in the Strong household. Here is my attempt to catch everyone up beginning with LAST weekend. I think I will start with this adorable picture of Sid. It is so hard to believe how fast she is growing up. Wasn't she just a teeny tiny baby? Now she thinks she is a bigshot that can sit at the table and color. WOW!

Aliens and Eggheads

Last Sunday while Asher was over, he and Kendall ran smack into each other knocking both of them on their behinds. As I watched the event unfold, I ran over to see if they were okay. Asher started to say "I don't feel good. I am hot." Then I looked at Kendall and she had this E.T. baseball sized lump growing on her head. Needless to say I started freaking out and yelling for Kevin to come. Long story short everyone was alright. Asher did not pass out and Kendall had a black and blue head for the next 8 days. I had no idea that a forehead could get so huge. It is no surprise that I am NOT in the medical profession, as events like these totally freak me out. To both my fathers and Kevin's utter annoyance, these types of situations usually cause me to break out into uncontrollable laughter (I think it is hereditary).

The Grandparents Were Here!

This was the highlight of the week. Friday morning I picked my parents up from the airport and the girls got to spend the whole day alone with Gram and Pop while I had to go back to work. Jealous! It was really great though. It is awesome to see the girls snuggle up to them. It amazes me how much little kids instinctually know who their family is. They only see their grandparents a handful of times each year. But even as babies, they automatically had that special relationship.

Shopping, the Library and Starbucks

Friday night while the guys went to the basketball game, mom and I took the girls shopping at the mall. It was a lot of fun. We tried on lots of jewelry, ate lots of chocolate and generally had a blast. Here are the girls packing their purses for the big shopping trip.

Then Saturday afternoon while the guys went fishing (do you sense a trend here?), the ladies went to Starbucks and to the library for awhile. We are a wild bunch indeed. Kendall absolutely adores the library as she gets to click away on the computer. Sid on the other hand prefers to climb up and down the pint sized chairs. Meanwhile mom and I got caught up on all of the latest gossip.

Superbowl Sunday

My parents were here for the Superbowl along with Bill, Lorain and their kids. Katie and Kendall got all dressed up for the big game.

While Sid decided to play it low key with the boys...

Black Monday

Similar to Black Sunday, which is the Sunday after Thanksgiving when all of our family goes home, today was Black Monday. We dropped my parents off at the airport on the way to work (and daycare). It was so sad to see them go. Kendall decided to mark the occasion by throwing up on the way to Rebecca's. Darn that motion sickness. So here we go, off to another week and back to work to rest :)