Doughnuts For Dad

During November the kids at the preschool put on a Doughnuts for Dad performance. They sing songs and then get to present their Dads with gifts and eat a doughnut breakfast together.

Our drawings of Daddy.

We Are Big Sisters!

The girls baby sister was born on Wednesday and they are proud big sisters.

All You Need Is Love

The girls are in school 5 days a week in the mornings and Mommy is still job hunting which is harder than I thought it would be. Have had 4 interviews in the past 6 months for so but no offers. I just have to keep remembering that God has a plan for us and His plan so far has made me the mother that I am today and is growing my children with integrity.

 

I am just taking this time to continue reveling in my children as they grow and prosper. There is no better feeling than knowing that I could be there for them emotionally and physically each day even though we don’t have much and we struggle daily with the financial aspects of life. I can’t give them a big house with a playroom full of toys and their own bedrooms. Nor can I give them exactly what they want to eat each day or feed them all organic foods but I know that even if we lived in a one room apartment eating peanut butter and jelly three times a day that they would know my love and devotion for them.

Homework

 

I know what you must be thinking right now. “Homework?!? But they’re in preschool!” So before we panic let me start out by saying that any homework that the kids get is completely voluntary. The girls are a little behind with their writing due to it taking awhile for them to decide on a dominant hand (mostly LadyBug) so their teacher made up some practice sheets to help them with writing their names.

They think that they are so big having homework to do just like their big cousins and sit studiously at the table pretty quietly. Since they’ve been working on it their sheets their names are actually mostly legible!

Hannah aka Butterfly

Hannah is more artistically minded and we (their teacher and I) have found that to help her with her letters if you describe each letter as an object to draw instead of a letter to write she does much better. So her a’s are circles with a little tail, her n’s are little rainbows and her little h’s are rainbows with a stick on top.

Hailey aka LadyBug

Hailey does not do as well with her letters yet. I think it is because she thinks to hard about each one. My favorite one is her i’s. They are a small stick with a circle sitting on top. Her e’s are phenomenal though. How she got those down so easily and the a’s escape her makes me giggle.

Our First School Photo

 

The photographer came to the girls preschool to do photos. She was nice enough to do one of the both of them together for us as well. It came out beautifully!

A Little Modeling Before School

 

First Day of School

I haven't had internet access lately so I'm really behind. I'll do a full post for the first day but for now I'll leave you with this photo.

 

 

It’s hard to believe my girls are already four and off to preschool. I was a little worried about how well they would get up and ready on the first day but they surprised me and did well. They got up and dressed pretty quickly and were extremely excited to get out the door. Butterfly only let me get one decent photo before we left the house. She was a grump and refused to give me a good smile with one exception. Although, it isn’t the traditional first day of school photo it works for me!

We met Daddy at school and were the first ones to class. They got time to really explore the room and meet their teacher (whom I LOVE!) without vying for attention.

We are lucky that they already knew two friends from class. Our friends are another set of twins we’ve known from near birth. In their class they are one of four girls in their class of thirteen! I was a little worried about the boy to girl ratio but when they go out to the playground they go with another class which has more girls so they have been able to make more girlfriends.

We absolutely adore their teacher and can not believe how much they are already learning.

Summer Ballet

 

Here is the video from Butterfly’s summer ballet camp recital.

Cheer Camp

 

LadyBug doing her cheering. The previous day she had a dermatology appointment and they had to blister a few warts that were under her arm so she wasn’t moving to well. I felt so bad for her because she had been doing so well but when they went to show us she wasn’t really able to do it. I was so proud of her for trying to hard though. She burst into tears right afterwards from the pain.  

H2Mommy’s Bag O’Fun

Here’s a fun little meme I found on a blog I follow. Show us what’s in your purse! Most women with children use their purses as a a first aid kit, diaper bag, trash can and snack bag and it needs to be cleaned out. Go through your purse and show up what you have.


My purse is a Spartina 449 that I am obsessed with. I am looking into getting a Kindle cover from them as well. Their patterns are adorable! The purse itself is medium sized but it can really hold a lot of things which is wonderful. It has two cellphone sized pockets inside and one large zipper pocket.

My wallet is a no-name brand I picked up for two dollars in the clearance bin at Target. It holds more than I should ever have to take with me and if it had straps could double as a small purse in and of itself.

I always have hand sanitizer with me. I literally buy them and bulk and keep them attached to my purse with their nifty holders. Being a fan of all things sparkly I absolutely had to have the one with my rhinestones on the side and glitter in the holder.

The large zip pocket in my purse is my portable pharmacy. I carry allergy meds, nasal spray, kids Tylenol and my eye drops. I always find myself running out of one or the other though and it normally happens the moment I need them too.

In the bottom on my purse floating around I have my very own beauty salon, stationary store and mailing center! I keep a small hairbrush and several hair ties and clips for the girls and I because we have some crazy hair that requires taming on multiple occasions a day. My “good” make-up stays in my purse as well for touch ups. I keep chapsticks, my twelve hour lipstick from CoverGirl which I love and my MaryKay mascara. Normally I don’t wear much more makeup than that with the exception of concealer under my eyes on days where I didn’t get enough sleep. I always have to be careful when I go to grab lipstick because a lot of times I’ll grab on of the four to seven pens, pencils and crayons that have decided they live in my purse. I can never say I am without writing utensils. I wish I didn’t but I have a few bills in my purse that need to be paid as well. Boo!

Let of not forget the ziplock bag of tokens, gift certificates and tickets from the kids bounce house place. You never know when you’re going to make a random trip to to bounce.

Last but not least would be my Kindle and my Droid Incredible which I did not get a photo of. But believe you me, they do not leave my side...ever!

Check out the original link at Just Like Peanut Butter

Butterfly Broke Her Wing

We had our first broken bone in the house last week. On Thursdays after dance class we, normally, go to eat with Doodle for supper. We get out of dance around five o’clock and head to her house and wait for her to get home from work. The girls are there often and make themselves right at home as soon as they walk in.
They had both been playing in their room for a little while and they came out to the living room and started dancing. Once their song was over they both climbed up onto the sectional to “welax”. Right after I got a call from my Mom saying she was on her way so I told the girls to go clean up and get their shoes on so we could be ready when she got home. They both stood up onto the couch and held hands. *There is where is all goes bad.* Butterfly went to jump off of the couch while her sissy went to sit down and scoot off. As Butterfly jumped down her sister was, on turn, pulling her backwards and she was yanked sideways as she jumped.
I just so happened to be taking a photo of them as they got down and it caught her right as she landed on the floor.

I can't believe I got this photo and I wasn't planning on sharing because it just breaks my heart.

She landed right onto her elbow and she instantly starting screaming bloody murder. LadyBug ran to me and we both rushed over make sure she was okay. As soon as I saw her arm I knew it was broken. It started swelling immediately, she refused to move it and just continued to cry and cry.

Luckily Doodle walked in right after it happened and took a look at her. She’s a nurse who has worked in pediatrics for over twelve years and she agreed that it was probably broken. I grabbed the phone and called the girls Daddy, told him was happened and had him meet us at Urgent Care.

We got seen extremely quickly and they did a few x-rays of her arms. They did one on each arm to compare. Children’s elbows are very difficult to examine because most of the “bone” is has yet to turn from cartilage to permanent bone and some types of elbow fractures don’t show up on an x-ray. The doctor told us that often the only sign of a broken elbow is swelling of the “fat pads” located in the elbow. After her x-rays were examined her showed us that she had a whole lot of swelling of the fat pads and they were going to treat it as a break and send her to be reevaluated with an orthopedist the next day. She was put into a soft cast and instructions to call the orthopedic office first thing in the morning.

 
The next morning I called right when the office opened to try and get in with the doctor. The orthopedic center has a history of being difficult to get into so I jumped right on it. Luckily they are usually good at pushing younger children to the front of the line at the fracture center and we were able to get in first thing. After the doctor reexamined her and her x-rays he agreed that she did indeed have a fracture and needed a hard cast.

She, of course, picked out a hot pink cast and was pretty mesmerized with the entire process. LadyBug was our photographer for the event and got home pretty good photos! 

This hot pink cast deserves two suckers!

She is pretty proud of her pretty cast but refuses to let anyone sign it. Honestly, she doesn’t seem to notice it’s there unless it gets in her way. There has been a little trouble with putting clothes on and going potty. She is also having to miss out of swimming lessons which she isn’t too pleased about but besides that she’s been business as usual.

Long Lost Family

 

I am excited to have found out that I have a long lost cousin! I do not know the details or how and why he was “lost” so to speak but I am sure glad I can now add him and his beautiful family in my heart. I have only known of his existence for a few years and always wondered in the back of my mind where he was and how he was doing.

From the time I was born I had three cousins on one side of the family and we are all girls. I grew up with them in my life as well as my two Aunt’s. We were never particularly close but they were all always in my life and I have wonderful memories of them all through my childhood. As time went my one Aunt and cousin moved to another state and we lost touch for awhile. With the help of Facebook we’ve been able to keep in contact which is wonderful.

I believe that my Aunt was able to find her son through the internet as well. She told us all this week and when I heard the news I was so excited for both of them. I know it will be a long road for them to get to know each other and for him to grasp all of this “new” family he has but I am happy to welcome him with open arms.

Me and My Mommy–Wordless Wednesday

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Lady Troubles–Part Deux

My appointment and test results went exceedingly well. Although I am so very glad that there seems to be no “real” problems I wish I had gotten an answer that was definitive. All of my hormone levels are in normal range (including my thyroid which has been a source of trouble with several female family members) and my pieces are parts are all normal sized with the exception of my uterine lining which was on the thin side due to my excessive menstruation. My GYN seems to believe that I am not ovulating correctly and that my hormones, although in the normal ranges, are firing at the incorrect times. 
She has put me on Doxycycline to help relieve any inflammation that may be occurring due to the constant menstruation. I am also going to continue to track my periods using an ovulation calendar and also starting after my next period ends to use an ovulation predictor test to see if I am in fact ovulating which is a concern if we would like more children. I am also going to continue taking my prenatal vitamins and I am going to start taking an herb called Vitex which can help regulate your menstrual cycle.
The biggest concern for me if am not ovulating is that there is very little in terms of things correcting the issue to be able to conceive without it being extremely expensive and a last resort (IUI or IVF) or having an extremely high risk of having multiples again (Clomid) due to the release of multiple eggs per cycle. Although I would not mind having twins again and know my chances of having another set are already higher than most women but putting myself in that position to possibly have natural quads scares me! If I release multiple eggs and each splits into identical twins I’d be one broke and busy women. Stephen is scared enough with the idea of having another set of twins much less! That being said if it comes down to it and I am unable to conceive without medical intervention I would be okay with that too. I have two beautiful daughters whom I couldn’t be happier with.

Lady Troubles

*Please be aware that since moving the website I will be trying to base more posts about my life and my experiences as a mother. This is no longer just a blog for news of the children but my own personal blog.*

 

I will be going to the doctor today to get my results for tests I’ve had to do the past few weeks. I’ve been having more issues with my reproductive organs lately and we’re looking for answers. I have not been ovulating and have been menstruating non-stop for nearly five months now! Before that I hadn’t had any menstruation at all for about six months. I am not only worried that it is something serious and that one of my previous issues have returned but I am also worried about how that is going is going to effect my ability to have more children when we are ready.

Starting from the time I hit puberty at 13 I’ve had problems with my cycles. My periods were always extremely irregular with made me a nervous wreck a majority of the time at school because I never knew when it would start. It’s every girls nightmare to has an accident at school! At 16 I was put onto low dose birth control pills to try and regular cycles and help with the pain that I had with menstruation. The pills never really helped much and my periods were still pretty irregular and the pain I experienced were increasing.

About the year after I started the pills I was diagnosed with ovarian cysts which explained why the pain I was experiencing was getting worse. This diagnoses was confirmed after I had to have surgery to remove my appendix when I was attacked by appendicitis. The doctor had to search around my abdomen for any pieces that were floating around after my appendix ruptured and located the cysts and noticed that one had recently ruptured. Since we now knew why I was I was in such pain I was switched to a higher dose birth control pill to help curb the creation on the cysts. The higher doses of hormones help to not only regulate menstruation, stop ovulation but also helps keep cysts from forming.

Several years past, I was 20, and I started to have more pain that was in a different location. After running a few tests the doctor was pretty certain that I had endometriosis and suggested that she go in and do a laparoscopic surgery to check everything out and remove any endometrium she found. When she got in she was able to find some endometrium and removed it. Roughly a year after my surgery I became pregnant with my girls and things seemed to adjust themselves out after their birth.

Everything was fine until last year when my periods started to become irregular again. Over the past few weeks we have done blood tests, cultures and a (very intense) ultrasound to try and get some ideas as to what it going on. Right now she is thinking that it will more than likely be one of two things, my hormone levels are extremely off or that there is some physical issue with my organs. I think the worst part of all of this is that I don’t have insurance and have not had any in nearly four years. I’ve already paid a ton of money for all the tests to be done. I am, of course, praying that it is just hormonal because that would be a much easier thing to fix. If there is something else wrong I may have to have surgery again and if I have to have surgery I may have a nervous breakdown. I will let you know what happens when I get home.

Summer Camp

After our final performances of the week.

This past week the girls attended their respective summer camps. It was the first time they have been separated for any length of time and as much as I knew they'd be fine I couldn't have known just how well. They've never truly been apart and I was nervous for them but they proved to me that they are stronger then they look both emotionally and physically.

Butterfly went to ballet camp with about seven other little girls. Normally in a "twins together" situation she is the most outgoing, pretty bossy and is normally the first to speak to new people but alone it was a different story. She was relativity quiet the entire week and I honestly believe that because she didn't have her sissy there, as a crutch to show how everyone else how she can dominate her, that she didn't know that to do with herself. She was also the smallest (but not the youngest) in her class which I don't think helped her. As the week went on she come out of her shell a little bit and really learned a ton.

LadyBug on the other hand shined like a star all week long! Her personality exploded as did her skills as a tumbler. She was both the youngest in her class by a year (the oldest being seven) and the smallest in terms of stature but you would have never guessed it seeing her run out to meet her new friends. I was a bit shocked at first but I am so glad she chose to do cheerleading by herself.

Fourth of July

 

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Day Camp

The girls have been having a blast at camp. It's only day two and they were literally jumping out of the door and racing inside! The theme for the week is Fairytale Princess and I couldn't have picked a better one. They've played dress up, made bracelets, danced, painted, and had a hula-hooping contest all just on day one! I can't wait to see what they have done today.

Our First Swimming Lesson

The girls had their first official swimming lesson at the YMCA today! They are the only girls in their class of seven kids but it didn't deter them one bit.

The first lesson was a quick one with a little "pool orientation" to begin with. The teacher walked them around the pool and explained the life guard, the lap lane and where the shallow and deep ends are. The girls grasped all that pretty quickly and then they moved on to the actual lesson. They started out practicing their kicking on the side of the wall. The amount of water flying was phenomenal! Then they blew bubbles and then, one by one, the teacher counted to three and put them completely under water. Ladybug did not appreciate it AT ALL! She jumped out of the pool and came and wiped her face with the towel. As soon as her she did though she walked right back over and got back in the water. Butterfly wasn't too happy about going under either but she got over it quickly and by the end of the next bubble blowing practice she was holding on and putting her entire face in.

Did I mention that this entire time I was sitting in the 110 degree straight up sunshine and about to burst into flames because I was so hot. A few kids came with their grandparents and they all took up every single chair (not with bodies but with bags and things!) that was even partially shaded by an umbrella. I looked like I had been in the water too after it was said and done.

After a little kick boarding and practicing using their arms it was time to go.

We'll be back again every day this and next week!