Road Trip

Road trips...I always seem to need a vacation after returning from a road trip. Especially our annual Spring Break trip to Arkansas where we drive 12-13 hours straight through the night on the way and way back...whew, poor Andy;) We always start off the trip with adrenaline but by the time we leave, adrenaline can't be found anywhere...he must have jumped ship with all the tornadoes and storms we had in Arkansas this week...Since adrenaline couldn't keep up with us, we decided that we could break up the return trip into two days. That way we all get rest and return home in better moods...HA! Those were famous last words! We should have NEVER stopped...nobody got sleep and we were even more cranky  upon arrival in Farmville. Whew, what a trip! But I must say, we did enjoy our trip while we were there:)

Kendall, our self entertaining child. We all heard this noise and went into the bedroom to find Kendall playing with the door stop. It was hilarious!! She was soooo intense about it:)

 We took a trip out to visit Andy's dad in the cemetery and change out his flowers. Here Alley is helping out.

Kendall...I wont say whether she helped or hindered...I'll let you decide;)

Afterwards we went to feed the ducks at a nearby pond...apparently none of the ducks were hungry...what's up  with that?!

my determined duck-feeder....they WILL eat....

We all gave up and went to the playground to lick our wounds...I think it worked

oh I loooove swinging...

Kendall working on her baby-care skills

um, yeah, that's definitely not helpful Kendall...no licking or biting the baby

We had a fun and early Easter morning. The girls were excited about diving into their Easter baskets...okay, Alley had a small clue but Kendall was clueless and looked at us like, what in the world is this?! Still, they caught on fast and enjoyed seeing what the Easter bunny left.

Alley wearing her new ears:) Maybe she will hear better with these...in my dreams, right?! ;)

Kendall and her new set of ears

cheesy girl

"buuuuup-pppy" did I ever tell you that this girl loves her some puppies?? EVERYTHING, and I mean everything, she likes she names a puppy. She's hilarious:) Imagine walking in her room first thing in the morning and her pop her head up over the bedrail and yell "buuuupppp-pppy" right in your face.

Daddy and Alley reading/listening to the book Mimi and Papa sent - I think we heard this book a gazillion times while in Arkansas...she loved it!

sharing...did I just catch those two sharing and actually get it on camera...say it aint so! Let me have a moment to soak this up....

Alley showing off her new Easter dress

Daddy and his girls

classic picture, Alley trying to keep Kendall down and Kendall fighting to escape

the family...can I tell you how hard it is to get a decent picture of the whole family??!!! Oh and I am sure it wont get easier...

big momma and her babies...

Alley hunting for eggs after church

Kendall watching Alley and carefully calculating the moment when she can steal the eggs from her

gotcha...now Kendall, who's bucket is that? 

going for a ride in the fabulous wagon...yes, everyone needs a wagon, it subdues all problems

look, we even picked up another baby...Alley helping out with her younger cousin...she kept saying, I'm gonna help mommy with Mary Cate like this....

sharing again...oh man, Jesus definitely did return from the dead;)

Alley helping again

We had a wonderful trip and thoroughly enjoyed spending the time with extended family. Now if only we could have brought family back, not the horrible weather!

Projects

...and I have a lot of them going on at once. It's become an obsession, a healthy one, but it's still consuming. I can't get enough of it:) I just finished two different dress projects for the girls. The first project, which has taken the longest, is the smocked dresses I was making for Easter. They are done, with 5 days to spare...whew! This was the first time I smocked it all on my own and actually made the dresses from scratch. Um yeah, sewing a bishop dress (let alone 2!!) is not an easy first smocked dress to do.  My grandmother, a home economics pro, was a wealth of knowledge and I definitely couldn't have done it without her guidance!! Here is the finally product:)

Both their dresses...

it's on super small blue checked fabric and the butterflies are two-toned pink. 

closer look

even closer:) Dress #1

Dress #2

I mentioned before that I had several projects going on at once...Not only did I just finish 2 smocked dresses, but I also finished two more reversible dresses. I tweaked this pattern as well and made it a button closure at the top instead of ties. I have yet to follow the pattern completely...maybe one of these days I'll follow it;) But for now, it's fun to experiment and make it your own. Here is the final product.

This is the reversible dress, only one is pictured, but I made two:) I just loooove this fabric!!! I have enough left to make a little bubble outfit for baby #3...can't wait!!

The other projects I'm working on are knit sundresses for Alley and Kendall, plus a matching bubble for baby #3....and a knit, long dress for me that I can wear pregnant and afterwards. I will post pictures as soon as I complete them:) My next smocking project is for the fall (yes, I'm totally giving myself ample time to complete this 3 dress project!!). It's an adorable EI-EI-O pattern with farm animals...its just too cute. Anyway, I'm going to be trying out another style of smocked dress on this go-around. Keep your fingers crossed;)

Tubes

Today Kendall got tubes put in her ear...let's all breathe a sigh of relief! Oh I can see a happier, ear infection free future:) Our sweet little mess has been quite sick lately, as I am sure you read in my last post, and we were unsure she would be able to go for this scheduled operation. Low and behold, despite being seriously sick last week, she was completely, and I mean completely, healthy! Can I get an AMEN! Wow, so off to Richmond we went for the glorious tubes.

Alley had gotten tubes when she turned one, so we knew how wonderful those teeny, tiny colored tubes were and we couldn't wait. We woke up bright and early and headed off to see the surgeon. Kendall, in her sweet little way, charmed the socks off of every nurse and doctor there. She flirted with the anesthesiologist (who seriously couldn't have been older than 26!!!), and when Dr. Hickman came in, she walked right up to him and grabbed his leg in a big bear hug and laid her head on his leg and sucked her thumb. Can we say precious!! I really wish I had gotten a picture of that, but I'm not one to bring a camera into surgery;) Maybe next time I should...no, no, no, I take that back, there better not be a next time!!! Kendall was all smiles and snuggles with the anesthesiologist when he came to take her away as well. Let's just say she knows how to pick them;)

We proceeded out to the waiting room and had just finished texting our family to say she had gone back, when Dr. Hickman came out to say they were all done...wow, I had forgotten how fast it really was! We went back to see her and by the time we got out of the waiting room, she was back to her normal self. She had a super quick recovery and was back to her charming self in no time. Of course it helped to have Mimi, Papa and Uncle John around to get attention from;) And boy did she soak it up!

Okay, side tracking a bit...remember I said I didn't have pictures from Kendall's hospital stay...well dad reminded me I could text them to his Blackberry and he could e-mail them to me...so, viola, I've got pictures;)

Check out her paddle! She finally found her thumb with that big contraption weighing her hand down

sleeping with her glorious thumb

her hand/paddle was too heavy to stay in her mouth once she drifted off...hilarious;)

Fun in the sun

Kendall was finally cleared to go back to school, but while she was out, she milked her time for all it was worth;) On Monday she spent the afternoon with Mimi and Papa at their cabin. I honestly think this child was born outside. She is completely obsessed with being outside. Periodically throughout the day, she will grab her jacket, throw it on her head and go lean against the door saying, "pup-py, me-ow". She is the happiest when outside:) Of course, after the winter we had, who wouldn't prefer to be outside enjoying the beautiful weather?!! 

Here are some fun pictures Mimi took of Kendall enjoying her"sick days" outside;)

 waving "hi" while eating watermelon...or is that a raised hand saying I want more now...please;)

"soooooo big"

relaxing in the hammock with Papa...doesn't she look laid back?!

Look at the camera? What?! There are too many things out here to look at!

When you can't get into the hammock, Papa's arms will do..."swing, Papa, swing" ;)

I'm just glad to have my happy, nature-loving explorer back! Bring on Spring!

Our crazy life...

I think those three words sum up what has been going on in our family this past week. I sit here at the computer trying to put my thoughts into words while I let my daughter brush my hair for the day. Yes, I didn't brush it and am letting her do it. I also spilled my drink a few minutes ago and she told me I needed to clean it up and not bring drinks into the living room because that's what happens when you do....I think I might have even let her pick out my outfit today, I'm not telling though! Oh yes, this just sums up our life at the moment.
Let me paint the picture for you...imagine being confined to a small room (say an 8x8 or less) for three days and nights with an active really sick 1 year old and nurses coming in and out every 2 hours...sleep?? What is that??!
The craziness all started when Kendall entered her third week of having a double ear infection. None of the medications worked so the poor girl had many rough nights of little to no sleep ( you know what that means too, we had little to no sleep as well). Finally, after going to an ENT and setting up a date for surgery, we thought we'd be in the clear. Whew, things must be looking up right?! It can't get any worse then this...famous last words....Wednesday we called the pediatrician with an issue of possible dehydration and that Kendall's hands were turning blue and purple. She told us to go straight to the ER because that needed to be checked out. In my mind I thought that if it was dehydration, she'd get an IV and we'd be able to go home by evening. Besides, she was acting so happy, friendly and very active...NOTHING could be wrong. Ha! That is when we found out she had pneumonia, RSV, another double ear infection and was dehydrated. So off to the pediatric unit we went. We were released Friday with GAZILLIONS of meds in the hopes that something would help her get over all this crumminess. The funny thing about this whole adventure is that Kendall was amazing. She had the IV put in her thumb-sucking hand (for real, who would do that?!!!) but after she got over being ticked off about that, she happily played, sang, and charmed the socks off the nurses and doctors. The nurses dubbed her the "happy weezer". They say they get two kinds of kids...those lethargic, cranky, not-so-seriously-sick kids....then you get the happy, playful, charming seriously sick kids who they say are happy weezers...that was Kendall all right:) I took several pictures of Kendall while in the hospital, but I can't post them because I don't have a fancy phone that does anything like that;) So, just imagine Kendall in a hospital gown with a huge paddle on her hand  hiding her IV needles, hanging out in the hospital crib jumping up and down and saying bye-bye to anyone who walks in and out of the room. She was a pill;) I am just glad we are home and hope all the meds work so we don't have to go back...whew! That is why our life is crazy...we have entered the recovery stage now.
Oh, Alley is now reading the prayer book...I think she knows we need some help and direction;)