Tony, the dishwasher and the brownies

"Tony, I am going to my mom's with Sophia. When I get back I will load up this dirty stuff (the things in the sink and some on the counter) and I'll wash them, unless you feel like helping..." Hint: Load this stuff and wash it!
I guess he half heard what I was saying.. he responded, "You got it babe. What do I feed Troy for breakfast?"
I gave him a breakfast bar for Troy before running out the door with Sophia to have breakfast and go to mom's to pick up some awesome toys and clothes that she bought for the kids. We had a great time, just me and Sophia. I love it when we are able to get away just the two of us.. it's so fun. Sophia savors every minute of it too. She wants me to hold her, she loves having my undivided attention. She's so sweet.
We got back home with the van literally filled to the roof, to find Tony and Troy outside washing Tony's car. I unloaded all the goodies from Mimi and I went into the kitchen hoping that Tony got the hint and all that stuff was clean in the dishwasher or even better, maybe he put it away. The first thing I noticed was the green light on the dishwasher indicating that whatever was in it was clean. Then, I noticed the counter... filled with sippy cups, bottles, pacifiers, glasses, and dishes.. just as it was before I left- ok, I need to clean the kitchen, he didn't get the hint- but what did he wash? What was clean?
One bottle and a coffee mug. Really, he loaded... one bottle and a coffee mug and ran the dishwasher. Like my grandma always says,
"He's just mere man."
I have to give him credit though, he did make the best brownies I have ever tasted tonight after dinner. I made the dinner, but he did a great job with the brownies, the secrets out... I'll never make brownies again! Tony has a new job in this house.
Maybe he'll even wash his dishes that he uses- oh wait, he's just mere man, I guess I'll settle for his delicious brownies.

Have a good weekend...

Well, I have strep throat... Sophia has strep throat. Troy is hanging in there, I am hoping his immune system is staying strong. I am so thankful for good doctors.

I'll tell you what. I am a nervous ninny about the economy. What a scary time in our country and what a frightening time to have small children. As a parent my main concern is my sweet children and I am so scared for their future. The future of America.

I am not using this blog as a place for people to post their opinions but just a blog asking us all to unite together to pray for our country and our leaders.

In your prayers this week... regardless of your political stance, our country needs prayers. Our leaders need strength, knowledge, and understanding. God Bless America

Update on mom and grandma

I just wanted to give an update. Thank you for praying and your emails of concern.
Grandma went home today. They did not do open heart. She is too high risk and has some drug allergies that would complicate surgery. I went and saw her today before she was discharged. She was in good spirits and said she was going to "live the rest of my life, however long I have left." It was nice to go see her. I went while the kids were in school and it was nice to visit just the two of us. The kids are such a distraction.
Mom, well, she ended up having pneumonia. She is in the hospital and will be there until at least Friday. She is going for chest xrays and breathing treatments. She is doing good though. I went and saw her today too. She and grandma are in the same hospital so that made things easy. She is doing good. My mom is a busy person. If she wasn't in the hospital laid up in a bed she'd be working and going nonstop. She doesn't know her limits so I am glad they have her stuck in the hospital. She is healing and getting some good rest. She is already planning to be back downstairs on Monday (she works in the operating room).
So, that's that.
I have a nasty head cold, again! It hit me this afternoon, fever and all. I am just hoping Sophia and Troy stay healthy. Believe me I am pumping them full of vitamin C and yes Mich. I'll be heading to the health food store tomorrow for your secret virus remedy!
Hope everyone is having a good week.
Again, thanks for the prayers. God Bless!

Happy Tuesday

The kids spent the night with my mom Saturday. Tony and I went and saw the movie House Bunny... stupidly funny. It was cute though and in a ridiculous way it did have a good message. I kept the kids home from school yesterday because I wanted to spend sometime with them after they were gone overnight I missed them. This was only the second time that they have both spent the night away. I also wanted them to catch up on their rest. Troy though, that kid doesn't stop! Before 830am he had made a huge mess in my bedroom... consisting of a plastic cup, water, chocolate sauce, 3 spoons, and a fork (don't ask!), it was a mess! Then while I was cleaning he got it to a package of cotton balls and decided that he should drop them into the dog crate. UGH! By 11am I was asking myself WHY I decided to let them stay home! Sophia took full advantage of it though... asking me, "mommy, can I just wear my pajamas all day and lay in your bed and watch TV?" My little teenager. She would have laid in there all day if I would have let her. We ended up going out to the mall with my friend and her son, so that was fun. Then kids played together at the house for a bit. It ended up being a nice day. I was pretty tired though. I just feel like being tired is becoming a constant state around here! Have I mentioned that Sophia loves Jon and Kate Plus 8, she asked me the other day if Leah could come over to play.
Troy has turned into a sneaky little thing. Yesterday, Tony and I were in the kitchen talking and I saw Troy out of the corner of my eye- he walked over to the table and grabbed a cheeto off of the table took it in his tiny hand and jetted across the room out of the kitchen, into the living room, behind the couch and shoveled that cheeto into his mouth... what a sneaky little cuss. He peeked from behind the couch to see if I saw him. I was looking at him, he smiled at me. He knew he was caught. This morning the kids were outside playing on the patio. The grill is on the patio and the kids know not to go near it. It was a rule that I strictly enforce. Hot or not they don't go near it. They are pretty good about it. Sophia is great. I don't trust Troy though. I was watching him and he would walk near it and look at it then toddle away giggling. I knew he was thinking about touching it. I turned my head and watched him out of the corner of my eye. He walked over to it, looking back at me. He put his hand inches away from the grill and then I turned my head and he put his hand down and walked away acting like he wasn't up to anything. Walking away laughing to himself. He is so funny. He stood by the water hose (that he isn't supposed to play with) and just looked at it, looked at me, then looked away acting like he wasn't up to anything. It's so funny he thinks he is being sneaky and it's totally obvious. He looked out the screen and then reached his hand to grab the hose while acting like he was looking out the screen... "Troy" I said... he walked away laughing clapping his hands.
Sophia has ballet tonight, she was thrilled about that. When she was at soccer on Saturday I caught her numerous times on her tippy toes twirling around. She doesn't seem to trilled with soccer although she is happy when she is there she is more of a cheerleader. After their game she yelled "everyone did a great job today", during the game she was standing on the field hollering "everyone we brought snacks today, so when we are done playing we can all eat, there's enough for everyone!" Tony said she a true sanguine (if you don't know... more on that later). Tonight will be fun.
We have some sickies in our family right now... my grandmother is in the hospital awaiting to see if she will need open heart surgery. I just got a call a few hours ago that my mom who works at the hospital is in the emergency room with a 104 fever and severe headache... I am waiting for a phone call on that. She had gone to work this morning and almost instantly started feeling terrible and they took her over to the ER when she felt so weak that she couldn't walk. They are doing blood work and hoping that she just has bad viral infection or something. Prayers would be appreciated!
Hope everyone is having a happy Tuesday!

In loving memory. God Bless!

In memory of Landon John Weatherby. www.caringbridge.org/visit/landonweatherby

Mitochondrial Disease Awareness Week - September 21-27, 2008 Disease affects 1 in every 4000 people. Mitochondria are tiny “engines” that live inside our cells and they are responsible for converting food and oxygen into energy. When the mitochondria aren’t working properly the cells don’t get enough energy to live, and they begin to die. Many parts of the body can be affected by deficient Mitochondria including the liver, kidneys, eyes, digestive system, brain, and the heart. Mitochondrial disease is not a simple disease, it can affect any organ, it is progressive, and to date has no cure, but with awareness comes power, and a cure.

Love you Tami and Paige

Friday-playgroup and doctor appointment

Today was another busy day. We had playgroup this morning, today was "ice cream sundae day". I think Sophia enjoyed the ice cream more than anyone, she has such a sweet tooth. They took great naps today, playgroup is great for naps. Especially Troy he loves running around with the other kids. I am in awe of him. He is so physical. He wants to do just what his sister and her friends are doing. There are some other little ones there and he loves all the kids but he follows the older kids all around and laughs at them and just enjoys watching. Soccer is tomorrow and it is getting hard to keep him off the field. He will love it when he is old enough to participate in things like that.
Sophia had a doctor appointment this afternoon. When they got up from their nap we went over to the pediatrician's office. Sophia has been having trouble with her right eye again. When she was a baby she had a blocked tear duct and continued until she was two and right before we were going to the procedure to fix it, it went away. It was clear for about 5 or 6 months and has been giving her trouble again. Now, since she is 3 we went in and they put her on drops for 10 days to clear up any infection that might be in her eye because she rubs it constantly then we will go to a pediatric opthomologist in about 4 weeks for a follow up and to possibly schedule the procedure. Our doctor said he thought it was a partial blockage but it still needs to be taken care of just because of the infections that they can get when they rub their eyes. The tears are also irritating the skin under the eye... needless to say it needs to be taken care of. She is going to fight these drops though- ugh!
He also is going to help us get a second opinion from another neurologist. I think they are going to send her to another hospital too. I told him about the 'episode' on Monday and he said that it defiantly sounded like something that needed attention and he was very happy that I was willing to get a second opinion. He documented it as a 'possible seizure?' saying that he didn't know for sure what was going on with her but knew that it wasn't normal behavior. I was just glad to hear someone agreeing with me. The way she can be so 'out of it' one minute and so fine the next always confuses me and causes me to second guess myself.
After the doctor we went and visited my mom at her work. She is an RN and Sophia loves going to the hospital to see my mom. She feels so at home there.. LOL. We ate dinner in the cafeteria. Funny, our out to dinner trip was to eat hospital food. haha
Well, I have to run- soccer tomorrow, then the kids are going to spend the night with my mom so Tony and I will have a break! Don't yet know what we are going to do, but I am trilled to have some alone time with him. <3
Hope everyone has a great weekend!!!

Episode on Monday afternoon

Typing so I don't forget so I can tell the doc, when we see them next time.
"Episodes" that's what I am calling them these days. I don't even know if they are seizures... I am sure it is some type of neurological activity but I just don't know. So many different types of seizures... some seizures we still don't realize they are seizures... so episode is a better word for me, still.
Monday the kids went to school and had a great day. They came home and I gave them their baths, "disinfected" them and they took naps. When Sophia got up she was fine for about 20 minutes. Then she said she had to go potty. I took her to the bathroom and when she was done.. almost instantly she got glassy eyes, not fixated, just glazed over and she started mumbling. It was hard to understand her and she didn't make much sense. Similar things have happened before. She was afraid. When this has happened in the past it is always a fearful response. She said that she was scared and wanted her daddy. She kept slurring her speech but it was clear enough to make out her words. She was saying something about being scared of fire, Jack Be Nibble, and wanting her daddy. She stayed close to me as I was cleaning the kitchen. Troy was eating a snack in his highchair. She sat on the floor by my feet. We called Tony and she cried saying she wanted him to come home. She told me she was scared of Jack Be Nibble, I know she knows the nursery rhyme. I assume the fire was the candlestick from the rhyme? I was telling her that it was just a rhyme. It wasn't consoling her, but it made me feel better. I got her to lay on the couch. About 30 minutes after it began, as quickly as it happened, it stopped. She sat up and in her normal voice with her normal sweet brown eyes she said "I feel all better now mommy."
I wish there was a better explanation for all of this. We will go to a new neurologist within the next few weeks for a second opinion. During all of this I called our neurologist's office, I spoke with the nurse who said "it doesn't sound like a medical emergency, just document it and tell the doctor when you come in next time". Well, I know it wasn't life and death- but my initial response was; let's bring her in and see what her brain is doing. I guess it doesn't work the way we want it to. Don't want to forget this one though. My sweet girl. She doesn't let it get her down... she doesn't even seem to remember it. We went out to dinner that night and she chowed down on cinnamon-sugar pretzel bites from Pretzel Maker on the way home. <3

Our Tiny Controller

Yesterday I had the kids spending some time outside. Troy was playing with his football and Sophia was coloring with some sidewalk chalk. Sophia got out the Barbie Jeep and wanted Troy to ride in it with her. Tends to be, in the afternoon Troy needs a break from his sister. In the morning they play so well together. Troy just lets her be the boss. By the afternoon he wants to play with his cars, his blocks, and not be bothered with Sophia trying to control him or his toys. Thus, going outside is a great afternoon activity for them. Sophia wanted him to get into the jeep so badly. She would go and pick up his football and put it in passanger side in the jeep so that he would have to go over and get it. When he would reach in for the football she would try and push him into jeep. He would turn around with his ball and run. She was hollering "Troy!!" After a while she realized that she wouldn't be able to force him into the jeep. Everything is a learning experience. She started very gently and kindly talking to him saying "come on Bruder, let's go for a fun ride in my jeep." Troy wasn't the least bit interested. Standing at the side of the driveway, he kept tossing his ball into the grass and reaching picking it up and tossing it again. He would look over at Sophia and smile. I swear he was thinking, 'I am not going to get in that jeep, I am not doing what you want me to do'
(sounds like most men). Sophia knows Troy loves wheels. She smarted up and excitedly says, "Troy, look it's a wheel." His head quickly turned to see what she had. She was bending over the jeep turning the wheel back and forth smiling at him. She got him! He walked over and got in on the driver side. I buckled him in and he was turning the wheel back and forth. He can't reach the peddles so I was wondering how they were going to get anywhere. Like a true little woman- Sophia let him sit in the driver side, yet it was her feet on the peddles and her hands controlling the wheel. Although, Troy was grinning ear to ear thinking he was driving she was indeed in control. My smart little woman. <3

Disinfection

Before my "disinfection blog" pictures from Saturday's soccer game...

This is not new information but I am a bit of a germaphobe. Not so much a germaphobe but I am afraid of the kids being sick. I hate nothing more than having a sick child. Especially, Sophia, I feel so helpless when she is sick. So on edge, just waiting for a seizure. With her epilepsy, when her immune system is down she has a higher risk for having seizures. Thus, my germy phobia...

The kids are in school two mornings per week. When they come home I feel the need to bathe them as soon as they get home. Typically, I pick them up before lunch time. I bring them food so they eat lunch in the car so they don't fall asleep. My kids love sleeping in the car, which is great when we are going on long trips- not so great when I need to get 5 minutes from the grocery store to the house and they fall asleep and then refuse to nap the rest of the day. It's those dang, comfortable, Britax carseats. Usually, they eat good and Troy starts fading as we pull into the subdivision but I am able to wiggle is feet long enough to keep him awake until we get home. Sophia pretends that she is falling asleep just for laughs. She turns her head to the side and closes her eyes and says 'look mommy'. What a stinker. When we get home it is so funny how the kids know the 'routine' they go and sit on the gym mats by Tony's workout bench, they wait for me to take their shoes off. Sophia sometimes tries to get hers off, normally she waits for me and says "I can't get them off". Then, they go in the laundry room (the dirtiest part of our house) and take their clothes off... then they run naked into their bathroom to get in the shower. It's so funny that they know right were too go. Today when I got them bathed and dressed and ready for their naps, Sophia asked me "Mommy, are we disinfected now?" OH- my poor child. I have ruined her. :)

My New Do/Sophia's first soccer game

Wednesday I went and got my hair done for my birthday... whoo hooo! I like it but I am still getting used to it. I feel like I have to match my hair with my clothes though ;)

My sweet girl. Naturally she is a ballerina- not such a natural soccer player. But she did seem to have a good time. She said that the boys don't share though. I don't think she quite understood why they were all going after the ball and not sharing it. It was sweet. I didn't get any pictures but I video taped the game. I am going to try and get Tony to put it on youtube and I'll link it. :)

It was hot as heck today! I think it was around 94* during the time of her game. Troy loved being outside but he got a little fed up with not being able to go on the feild. Both the kids were HOT! My mom, my sister, and Aaron also came to support her at her first game. I love having family close. Sophia loved that her Mimi, Auntie Lana, and Aaron came to watch her. Sophia's love language is quality time so things like that mean the world to her. Tony is going to try and get the day off next week so he can come watch. Speaking of quality time Tony is going to spend the entire day with the kids. Sophia is so excited about her special 'daddy day'. I think he is going to take them to Sea World. Where am I? Oh, I am going SHOPPING with NO kids! For the first time... in I dont' know when. This is my birthday present from Tony. I am going to a special event at Ann Taylor Loft.. my favorite place!! To make it even better, Starbucks is catering it! It's like a special event just for Holly!! I am very excited. For my birthday Anne Marie sent me a gift card to American Eagle so lucky me!! I'll go there too. I love that the kids are going to be spending special time with Tony. I am hoping we can do more "daddy days", it's so differnet when I am there and when they are just with Tony. Children need to know that their needs are cared for and it's so important for them to have security in both parents. When we are all together I naturally take over and it's great when Tony can be with them and take care of them. Tony is a great daddy and the kids love him. You can tell when they have had time with daddy that the bond is even stronger than before- especially with Sophia, probably her age. She adores her daddy.

OK, well, now that I have gotten off on another parenting rant- I am going to take my stinky, sweaty self into the shower before the kids get up from there nap. :)

Sick, Busy, Birthday Week

I guess I wrote on Tuesday about Sophi's birthday and our sickies.. well, for my birthday (which was yesterday) my kiddies gave me their germs. I had been feeling it coming on for a couple days and then for my birthday it came! :) It's ok, I feel alright. As a busy mommy of little ones there isn't much time for me to feel sick. I am resting now while they are napping. I do hear Troy moving around in his crib. Maybe he will settle back down though.
My wonderful family with all the illness and business in our lives they did try and make my birthday a great day. I woke up too Tony and Sophia singing Happy Birthday to me holding a big apple fritter with a pink candle stuck in it. Tony laid Sophia down on the bed with me, she said "Happy Birthday Mommy, now I can eat your doughnut with you?" If there is one thing Sophia loves, it's doughnuts. My goal was to get Troy up and go to the grocery store. I did get to the grocery but it didn't happen as quickly as I would have liked. Troy has learned how to flush the toilets and he thought that would be a great birthday present for me... also getting a hold of a gallon of water and dumping it all over himself and the laundry room floor. I guess he thought a birthday swim was in order as well. We did get to the store though.
A little tradition I started with Sophia and continued this year with Troy... I buy birthday balloons for the kids on my birthday, I don't know why I do this but I do and it's fun. I let them pick them out and they say 'happy birthday' but I let them keep them. So- we bought a purple and green birthday balloon for Sophia and a camo balloon for Troy. They loved it. Sophia told everyone in the grocery store "this is my balloon for mommy's birthday". I love thinking about when she is 17 and Troy is 15 and giving them a balloon on my birthday. HAHA...
I bought myself a cake and some Stouffer's chicken and cheese enchiladas to make for lunch. My sister came over and we ate. Tony's mom joined us from next door, that was nice too. It was a little celebration while we quietly talked and ate while the kids were napping. Then Aaron came over to tell me happy birthday and give me an excellent gift - Starbucks gift card!! He knows what I like! Tony was supposed to have class last night but he ditched to spend the evening with me. It was quite the surprise- he bought me a cake, he was feeling guilty, he didn't know I bought one for myself... the funny thing- he bought me the same cake that I had already bought for myself... it's that funny!? He said, "I just looked and picked the one I thought you'd like best" - CHOCOLATE!! :) We were asleep by 9.. this cold is kicking my butt. The kids make me feel like such a whimp. They handle it so well.
Anyhow, despite the head cold.. it was an excellent birthday.
Tomorrow is Sophia's first soccer game. At this point both the kids are up calling my name and we are going to head to Target to get shin guards for those precious legs :)

Sickies

Wow! What an exhausting fun weekend we had.
It was wonderful. It went pretty well as planned, with a few Sophia 'moments' to make things interesting.
I'm pooped! The kids are pooped! Actually, my sweet babies are so tired that their little immune systems are struggling. I took them to the doctor today. Troy had some asthmatic episodes last week and they carried into the weekend. Luckily, only at night.. but poor kiddo. The pediatrician said he had an upper respiratory infection, but that he was sounding better than before. Troy's little respiratory system is so easily compromised with colds, they go right to his chest. I guess he is predisposed to asthma- I have pretty bad asthma, my dad did... the list goes on. Sophia has the same cold but no chest congestion, she has never really had respiratory issues. Which I am convinced is God giving me a break, the child deals with enough. We just hope she doesn't get a fever, that is almost a guarantee for her to have a febrile seizure. So far she is doing good. I am pumping her full of orange juice. Kids are so resilient. She went to her 'ballerina school' tonight and danced like nobodies business! I love seeing her in ballet. She really loves her little class. Someone tonight called her a 'chatter box', they were so right! She just talks and talks and talks... I hope it doesn't get her in trouble. I talked to her about it tonight and she responded, "Mommy, my teacher's wub (love) talking to me." Troy is working on two more teeth. He was walking around tonight with his sock in his mouth. I went to put it back on his foot and it was all bloody, his poor tooth was bleeding. He's such a little trooper, I didn't even realize he had another tooth coming through. After this one pops through he will have eight teeth. He has turned into such a biter now though. He bumped his head on the wall this weekend and turned around yelled and then bit the wall, there are four little teeth marks there now. I was shocked, I almost didn't believe it! Glad he didn't bump his head on me. :)
Well, I have been pumping the airborne, which I strongly believe in, but I need to get some rest, I am sure my sickies will have me running tonight.
Hope everyone is having a great week.
Laters!

Ballet Pictures

Pictures of my little ballerina at 'ballerina school'

This Crazy Week... update

It has really felt like this week was never going to end.
Tuesday night was ballet.. and what fun that was. Sophia was such a little peanut. She was a head shorter than the next smallest girl. She was so good. She listened to her dance teacher. She was so obedient, so excited, and had soo much fun. She really surprised me. Sadly, something is up with my camera and I can't upload the pictures!! I don't know what's going on but the pictures are precious and worth a thousand words. Troy on the other hand did not enjoy 'ballerina school'. He fussed and I had to take him outside a couple of times so he could walk around. I am going to have to try and not bring him next time, I felt like I missed a lot of her class because I was busy chasing Troy. I wish Tony didn't work such long hours. It would be so nice to go to dinner together and then take her to ballet together. Oh well, nice dreaming.. I am thankful for his job though.
Troy started getting asthmatic on Tuesday night, Wednesday he seemed fine but then had a hard time as the evening came. Thursday he did good again. He got a bit wheezy last night but it didn't last long. I hope he doesn't have problems with it this year. Last year it seemed like breathing treatment after breathing treatment. Tuesday, Wednesday, and part of Thursday, he was irritable and wasn't able to rest much from his medicine but he popped back and is having a great Friday. He slept good last night.. played great today at playgroup. I hear him coughing a bit on the monitor now... he goes to the doctor on Tuesday, we will see what he says.
Oh, playgroup... we host playgroup every Friday at our house. Each week is themed and today was Color Day. It was so sweet to see all the kiddies wearing their favorite color. The mommies too. :) I love playgroup days. Sophia was a bit cranky but she is our emotional girl. Tomorrow is the birthday day! I hope she can pull herself together and have a good day.
Tonight we are going to the "meet the coach" meeting for soccer. Soccer starts next week and she is pretty excited about it. She has been asking me since Wednesday, "when are we going to meet my coach?" I bet Troy will enjoy going to the soccer games, way more than going to ballerina school. At least he can run around the grass while she is playing.
Well, the birthday weekend is upon us- I am sure I won't have much time to blog this weekend but wishing you all a Happy Weekend! Hope everyone has a good one.
OH- guess what else! When everyone left from playgroup. I was putting Troy down in his bed and closed his door and ripped half of my toenail right off my toe! I was so looking forward to painting my toes while the kids were napping. LOL :)

Birthday Time!

These are pictures from Sophia's second Birthday Party.

Daddy and Sophia
Mommy, totally about to pop- 4 weeks before Troy was born, I was holding my friends daughter, Gracie.
My beautiful girl on her birthday. With double ear infections, you never would have known.

This is the week leading up to Sophia's fabulous third birthday. Her birthday is Monday, but we will be having a weekend filled with activities for a princess. Starting Saturday morning all the girls in our family (I mean all of the girls, my mom, Tony's mom, my aunt, my cousin, my grandma, my sister...) are heading out for a princess morning where our little princess will get her to wear her princess Cinderella dress, get her hair, nails, and glitter makeup done by her own Fairy God Mother... she is thrilled to say the least. Then all the girls will have lunch together. Upon arriving home we will have Princess Cinderella and Prince Charming cake and ice cream. Daddy and Troy have the job of decorating the dining room while we are gone, think they can handle that!?

Then, Sunday my mom has bought tickets to go see a special Disney Princess show. Sophia's cousin, Gracie is going to go with us, and I thought Sophia was going to hop out of her princess panties when I told her that news, literally. She loves her cousin, Gracie. Gracie is my brother's four year old daughter, she's a sweetie and Sophia adores her.

Not finished yet- Monday I will be bringing a Dora Cake and the biggest Dora balloon I can find to her school. That part is a surprise though.

If you can't tell we love birthdays around here.

This is how I see it... once a year, one day (maybe three days) out of 365 days per year you can make your child, yourself, your spouse, anyone know how important, how special, how adored they are. I love it! I want birthdays to be memorable.

This wonderful occasion also makes me think back at the past three years. The past two birthdays... her first party was an extravaganza we had three kiddie pools, sprinklers, all kinds of fun stuff in the yard and a ton of people over for a rain forest themed party. Each kid got a beach bucket filled with snacks and toys to take home. She had pink and purple glitter cupcakes made by mommy and Aunt Lana; remember the one who lives in an ant hole?

Her second birthday was beautifully decorated with pink and white balloons, we had a DJ come with kids music and bubble makers. It was awesome! I am thinking about using him for Troy's birthday party this year. It was so fun. The kids who came got to take home little ceramic animals that they painted at the party. Everyone loved the DJ!! It was great. We ate pink cake with white icing. It was so much fun. I am so looking forward to making memories like this for Troy, who will be one on October 18th.

Not only is it time to celebrate their life... but their birth! Not an easy task bringing a baby into the world. Even harder to raise them.. let's bask in the celebration of every year.

Let's also pray that last year's birthday seizure doesn't repeat itself. The morning after her party she had a seizure that ended us in children's hospital. I hate to remember that but we will take the good with the bad and lucky for us we have plenty of good.

Oh- and tonight is the first night of ballet. We are celebrating with mac-n-cheese and chicken sticks for dinner, then bathes, then off to ballet! You will be hearing about that tomorrow! :)