The "Stress Reliever"

I was given a wonderful gift from Jon and Rachel (my bro and sis-in-law) for my birthday. It was a gift certificate to a local spa/salon. I actually got to put it to use today (2 months after my birthday!) After looking through the endless options of pampering, I chose the "Stress Reliever" which is a massage that focuses on the back, neck and shoulders. I thoroughly enjoyed it. The only part that I wasn't too fond of, was when it ended.
Thanks guys for a great present!

Another little update:
If you remember, about 6 months ago, Jocelyn ended up in the ER due to fatigue, being incoherent, unable to walk or talk, blue lips, etc. No diagnosis worth any value was made that day, but we thought in the back of our heads that she may be hypoglycemic. We tried to let her eat more frequently, even allowing her to snack just to prevent it from happening again.
Unfortunately, it happened again!
Last week, while I was home on spring break, she had some of the similar symptoms. She slept in until 9:15 (while normally waking up at 7) and preceded to drink 2 full sippy cups of water, 1 of milk, 2 waffles with strawberries and syrup and yogurt, all in a matter of about 10 minutes. She then fell back asleep on me. After 45 minutes, I forced her awake since I was a bit worried. I noticed again the blue lips and the extreme fatigue. She had a hard time holding her head up, and her eyes tended to roll back into her head unless I kept yelling her name to keep her awake.
So, I took her to the medi-center.
They checked her out and gave me a diagnosis of "rt. ear infection."
So, I said, "ok, fine, she has an ear infection. I will give her an antibiotic. But, don't you think it a bit odd that she needed to drink SO much SO quickly?"
They agreed that maybe there was reason for concern. So, to make me happy, they checked her blood glucose level. After all of the food and milk, it tested "62." That made me wonder how low it was when she first woke up! So, today we had to go to our regular doctors office for a lab draw. They did a hemoglobin A1C to see an average of her blood glucose during the past 3 months.
The results: 46!
Did I mention that 46 is the AVERAGE! To me, that tells me that there has been plenty of times that it has been lower than 46!
To be honest, I still don't know a good number that it should be at, other than, "46 is low."
(I didn't actually have an appointment with the Dr. today, only the lab draw, that is why I don't really know what anything means.)
We have another consult next week to see where we will go from here.
Anyone know anything about any of this?

My silly girls!

Jocelyn threw up in her bed last week and woke up crying. We went in there and of course we had to strip the bed, bathe her etc. Jenna watched as everything went down. The next morning when they woke up, I went into their room and turned on the light. Jenna hopped out of her bed and ran to Jocelyn's crib. With great excitement, she shouted, "Good girl Jocie! You didn't grow-up! We don't grow up our peas!"

On that same note, Jenna also refers to "throw-up" as "burping." Don't ask my how she got that though. But she has mentioned before that Jocie "burped" in her bed.

Jocelyn tries very hard to be polite. She says please and thank you and if you are in her way, she says, "booze-me."

The girls were eating bagels for breakfast. After Genevieve finished hers, Jocelyn got full and tried giving the rest of hers to Genevieve. "No thank you Jocelyn, I'm fine. I'm healthy."

Jocelyn has become quite the picky eater and has not been doing well with fruits and vegetables. She asked for a snack and pointed to the pantry, hoping for fruit snacks or a cookie. I told her, "Jocelyn, you may not have anything out of the pantry. You can have grapes or a banana."
From the other room, Jenna pipes in, "those are your choices Joc!"

Spring Break Fun

Although the weather has not been cooperating, I was determined to get to the park to let the girls run and play.

Cousin Caitlin with her static hair from the slide

"Mommy, mommy, I would rather you just hold me than play with the other kids on the super cool toys in the freezing cold wind!"

Classic picture from behind

Genevieve is my brave girl.
"2 years old don't go down on their bottom, feet first. They must go head first on their back!"

What? Is Sam actually petting that dog?

Our friends Josh and Ruth came and stayed for a night and Sam couldn't have been more impressed with their dog! Although I am not a huge fan of dogs that size (small), I will admit that he was a very low-maintenance, well-behaved, easy-going dog! No offense though guys- he isn't as cute a a great dane! :-)

Jocelyn is now at the age where high chairs are no longer cool. In fact, she won't go near it with a 10 foot pole. She is a big girl and insists on eating at an actual table with the family. The problem is, she doesn't much care for the booster seat that I attached to her chair. This is 1 of the maybe 3 times that she will allow us to put her there to eat. You may think that the head-first fall of the chair without the booster would teach her that she is not big enough, but you are wrong. She may only be 1 years old, but she is determined to do exactly what her sister does. And yes, I have already asked her the most cliche question: "Jocelyn, if Jenna jumped off a cliff, would you?

Look Jocelyn! It's Elmo!


You lookin' at me?

(Look past the bruise below her right eye, or the one above her left eye, to see her beautiful blue eyes)

Jocelyn- the talking acrobat

Sorry about the quality of the video. Just look past it and you will see a stinkin' cute kid!

Beware: Loads of Pictures!!

Sam and I made it home from Mexico safely and we were greeted by 2 cheerful, giggling, smiley girls! We had a great time, but really missed them A LOT! The report was that they did exceptionally well and Jenna only broke down crying for us one day. Apparently, Jocelyn had no clue that we were gone, (sad huh?) and Jenna only wanted me when she got in trouble, as if maybe I would say that it was okay for her to throw her toys at Mikayla's face?!

The pictures will tell you how our stay was: (and they are in no order except the one that Blogger uploads them in.)

Here is Sam and Mandi having to take the "backseat" since Frank and I both easily get carsick.


Seattle Airport-waiting for deparute: Sam is...excited...or caffeinated?


Sam and I wishing that our surroundings were actually the resort we were staying in. This was a Palace that we walked through and gawked at. Maybe one day when we are rich and famous...


The beach from "The Palace"


Mandi and I in costume experiencing the Mexican culture


Frank and his buddy. They look a little alike, don't they? (Just jokin' Frankie!)


Tulum beach. Blue sky. Turquoise water. Palm trees. Need I say more?


The Mayan Ruins at Tulum


Tulum from a distance


Why are we posing here, and not swimming down in the water? I don't know.


More fascinating Ruins


Back at our resort beach (which wasn't a Palace, but was definitely nice!)


Awwww. The beauty.


The little Love-birds!


This is basically what we did...all day long.


Oh yes, and this too! After having kids, I forgot how nice it is to read things other than, "Caring for Your Toddler" or "Raising them Right" etc. I and never read at home with a Strawberry Pina Colada sitting next to me!


We took an all-day excursion to XCaret, which is a natural, fresh-water, water park/zoo. This is an area that we snorkeled through. It was beautiful. Most of it was dark, and under caves. Truly amazing, but then there were areas that were open and where light could shine through.


A fresh-water beach at the same park. The large building is a restaurant. We laid out at this beach towards the end of the day. It was very relaxing!


Our friend-a large Iguana!


Sam had fun playing with the colors on our camera, and I love how this one turned out.


Part of the park that we snorkeled through.


Sam sitting in a Mayan Throne...wearing Hawaiian swim shorts...fitting huh?

Mandi and I eating our invisible food in a Mayan Hut. Hey Mandi...your legs look a little red!


We had an amazing vacation, but we are glad to be home to our girls!
A HUGE thanks to Amy and Nate, for moving into our house and acting as a "mother and father" to Jenna and Jocelyn. Also to Juliana for being the "big sister" and helping with all the teeth-brushing, clothing, feeding, etc. And to Isaiah and Mikayla for playing with them.
Another HUGE thanks to my parents for stepping in when Amy needed a break, or when she had 4 different places to be at once, with 5 kids! Thanks for keeping them overnight and spoiling them rotten!
And one last HUGE thanks to Sam's parents for putting their fair share of baby-sitting time in as well! And, not only that, I came home to a remodeled pantry...a wonderful birthday surprise! :-)

Kid's Castle

I took the girls to Kid's Castle this morning at Gymnastics Plus. For those of you who don't know, it is a big jungle gym with slides, rope ladders, spongy stairs, ball pits and more. I have been considering doing Jenna's 3rd birthday party here and wanted to make sure that she would enjoy it. And enjoy it she did! She even made some friends there. She was really brave in going through it without me, but she also enjoyed just playing in the ball pit with Jocelyn. Jocelyn was a lot more apprehensive, but not unhappy. She just preferred to stay with me on the outside. She went down one slide and it completely freaked her out. Jenna was right there to comfort her though! They were very cute!

Some Pictures

Dancing the night away...

My little "Mohawk"



The girls with Mikayla



Mikayla showing the girls how to get their hair wet