Thursday, August 4, 2011

Recap!

Wow, I’ve really slacked off lately! I’d like to say that it is just because we have been so overwhelmingly busy and not because I’ve been lazy, but it’s sort of a combination of both. I’ve actually been really sick for about a week so that’s where the lazy comes in. However, the past month or so has been really crazy too. We’ve had injuries, vacations, softball tournaments, out of town visitors, and a certain someone turned 9 MONTHS OLD…how the heck did that happen so quickly? It’s been a wild ride and we’ve enjoyed every second of it, but I’ve just had no time to sit and blog about it. I’m seizing an opportunity right now…while the kids are with Nanna and Poppy and I should be resting...

I’ll start with the injury…I was sure that Collin would be the first child in our family to have a bloody injury, but Maddie beat him to the punch! While dancing around on the couch to some catchy Fresh Beat Band tune, our little Mads lost her footing and fell smack dab into the edge of our end table. Her mouth caught her fall…in fact there are teeth marks on the table to prove it! The poor girl bit all the way through her bottom lip and pushed her upper front teeth up into her gums. Mommy was almost home from work when I got the call that she had fell…and let me tell you, that is a phone call no mom ever wants to receive. I couldn’t tell who was crying (actually I think both kids were hysterical) but it was one of those cries where you know something is seriously wrong. Daddy took her in for an emergency dental visit. She healed up fairly quickly and we are hoping she won’t lose any of her teeth, although there is a good possibility that at least one will have to be pulled at some point. Within a week, she was pretty much good as new and now (a month later) you can hardly tell anything ever happened. Kids heal so darn quickly…thank GOD!

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Just three days after Maddie’s fall, we made a trip down to Orange County for the 2011 Firefighter Olympics hosted by Newport Beach Fire. We stayed at Gramma and Grampa’s house…the kids love it there, although they were a little bummed Gramma and Grampa weren’t around :-( We had a wonderful time (as always) hanging out with all the fire families. The kids had a blast. Maddie played with all the big kids and Collin sat in the dirt. Pure bliss! We made a couple trips to the beach while we were there and even made a stop at the Irvine Spectrum to ride the Ferris Wheel and Carousel (Maddie’s fave). We had a wonderful time at hospitality night at Newport Dunes. Mommy and Collin danced the night away in the sand to the awesome 80s rock band. Mads made a trip to Disneyland with Uncle Andrew and Auntie Katie. The guys won the gold medal this year and daddy played great. It was a wonderful little getaway!

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The following week, we had a visit from Chris’ sisters, Carsyn and Sheridyn, from Colorado. We went back down to OC while they were here to hit the beach and go to the OC Fair. Madeline was in heaven with her aunties here to play with her. She sure is crazy about those girls! The weather could not have been more perfect for their visit and everyone got a nice tan. What a wonderful visit with two wonderful girls :-)

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In the middle of all of this craziness, our little guy turned 9 months old! I still can’t believe it…he’s growing up way too fast! He still only has two teeth, but doesn’t want to eat any baby food so we feed him whatever we are eating, just cut into tiny pieces. It sure makes outings a little easier now that I can make both the kids turkey sandwiches for lunch and don’t have to worry about baby food. He is standing on his own for longer periods of time now and I’m sure he’ll be taking his first steps soon. He still drives us crazy with his obsession over the stairs. We can gate off the staircase, but the entryway of our house is marble and Collin’s favorite place to hang out is on the steps in the marble entryway. He’s taken some pretty good falls on the steps and has the bruised forehead to show for it, although he still insists on playing there. Yesterday, I bought a plastic play yard to keep in the living room so I can lock him up when I am cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, etc. I’m going to say it is probably the best thing I have ever purchased because I can completely fence off a portion of our living room so that Collin can’t get to the entryway. I’m sure Collin would freak if I actually used it like a playpen, but it’s serving it’s purpose they way I have it set up now, so we’ll keep it! At 9 months, Collin can say “Mama” and “Dada” and he knows who is who…I actually think he tries to say “Madeline” on occasion…it sounds kind of like “Maadaaa” and he usually yells this to his sister. He is really starting to aggravate her and wants to be right in the middle of everything she is doing all the time. Since we went to the fair, Madeline’s dolls frequently play fair and she takes the time to line them all up precisely in little dollhouse chairs and whatnot which are the rides (super cute)…anyway, Collin always manages to sneak over to where she is playing and destroy her little fair setup and she gets sooooo upset. Anyone who has been to our house knows that their playroom is humongous…Collin has plenty of space to play with his own toys, but he only wants to be where Maddie is and he wants to play with whatever she has…I honestly didn’t think this would be a problem so early on.

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Despite all the craziness, I really think we are the happiest we have ever been. I feel like our family is complete. The kids sure keep us busy…and frequently they drive me crazy (especially when daddy is working long stretches), but that is life and the challenging times really make you appreciate the fun times. Kids are only little for such a short period of time and you really need to enjoy these precious moments because time flies by and before you know it, they’re all grown up. I kind of just want my kids to stay like this forever…although if we could cut out the tantrums, that would be nice :-)

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