Valentine's Week: Day 2

Today, the girls got glow sticks, with a tag that said "You make my heart glow."  I meant to take a picture of the girls with their glow sticks, but I forgot.  They did seem to really like them...for about 10 minutes or so!

I told Audrey that she could pick one person to give a Valentine's treat today.  She picked her friend Cael.  When I asked her what she wanted to give Cael, she said she wanted to go to the dollar store and pick out a boy toy for him.  So that's what we did!  She picked out a Batman magic towel that starts small and grows into a hand towel when you get it wet.  She also made him a card.

We took the gift to Cael's house tonight and gave them a call first to make sure they were home.  Amy shared this picture of Cael anxiously waiting by the window for us to get there!

I meant to take a picture of Audrey and Cael while we were there, but obviously I stink at taking pictures these days.  Plus, I was distracted by the fact (and the smell) that Amy's house was about ready to burn down!  Thankfully we smelled the pan burning on the stove before it actually did start a fire.  And thankfully, my sense of smell is starting to return to normal so I could smell the burning pan on the stove.  I still don't feel great, but surely normal health will return to me soon!!

Valentine's Week: Day 1

My plan is to give the girls a little treat each morning until Valentine's Day.  I saw the idea here and thought it was fun.  Except fourteen days of valentines seemed a little extreme (even for me!), so we are just doing five days.  The original post has free printables you can print for each gift, but I decided to just use some of her ideas and make my own tags for each gift.

So this morning, when the girls came downstairs, they saw this box of Lucky Charms sitting on the table.

 I never buy Lucky Charms (even though I do enjoy eating them) because both girls only eat the marshmallows and nothing else!  So it was a special treat for them, getting to eat marshmallows for breakfast.

I am a firm believer that it is better to give than to receive, and I would like to see my girls believe that too.  So, each day this week, we are also going to take a gift/treat/card to someone else. 

Today, I made these cheesecake stuffed strawberries to take to our neighbors.   They were easy to make and pretty yummy too.

I packaged them up in some plastic Ziploc containers from the dollar store, then topped  them with a free printable valentine from here.  They looked cute!

The whole point of this activity was to 1. be kind to our neighbors and 2. teach the girls that it is fun to give gifts and receive nothing in return.  Well, lesson #2 totally failed.  At both houses, they loaded up the girls with candy!  This is Isla's half of what they got today.  I think Audrey got even a little more than this.  Seriously...we just went to two houses and they weren't expecting us!

 It was like Halloween.  All the girls learned was that when you take treats to the neighbors, then you get candy!

On a side note, I put Isla's hair in pigtails today for the first time.  She just barely has enough hair.  She looked really cute.  And she hated it.  She screamed the whole time I was putting them in, then she continued to scream after I put them in.  I'm not sure if they were hurting her or if she just didn't like her hair feeling different.  So, I took them out and won't be trying pigtails again any time soon.  But of course, I took a few pictures before I took them out!

Also, Audrey had six ponytails in her hair today!  When I told her that i was putting six ponytails in her hair, she said, "Mom, no!  Then I will look like a monster!"

Coming Up: Valentine's Week

I love to celebrate holidays.  I love giving gifts and making creative treats and crafts and foods.  Valentine's Day seems like the perfect holiday for doing those things, but we have never really celebrated Valentine's Day around here.  The past two years we have been preparing for a big trip to Florida around Valentine's Day, so we didn't have much time to be festive.

This year we are (sadly) not going to Florida, which means we have plenty of time for Valentine's fun!  I have lots of ideas, so I think we are just going to make it Valentine's Week rather than just Valentine's Day.  After being sick for the past week, I need something fun to look forward to around here!

So stay tuned for some valentine fun on the blog this week...starting tomorrow!!

February 8

I went to the doctor this afternoon.  She prescribed me an antibiotic and a nose spray.  I plan to be feeling better SOON!  

February 7: Valentine Pictures

Sorry it's been quiet around here this week.  I'm pretty sure I have a sinus infection, based on the fact that my nose is full of green snot and my face is full of pain and pressure, and I'm pretty sure that my head could explode at any moment.  I've been trying all the home remedy treatments that I know of, but I'm thinking it might be time for a trip to the doctor.

I did get my camera out today to take some pictures of the girls for their valentines.  It wasn't ideal, because it was dark and cloudy outside so the lighting was not good.  And it was right before Isla's naptime, so she wasn't in the mood to cooperate.  But we still got a couple of cute shots.

February 4

Good grief, it feels like my head is going to explode.

And I can't taste anything.  I'm trying to eat because I'm hungry, but it is just miserable to eat and know what it is supposed to taste like and not be able to taste it.  I guess I should be eating lots of healthy vegetables that I don't normally like since I can't taste them.  But I just can't bring myself to do it.

Sorry for the complaining, but it's all I've got for you tonight.  I did write a post for my book blog today.  So go here to read my review on the zombie romance novel I just finished.

February 1: Update from the Doctor

Isla was quite the charmer at the doctor's office this morning.  She was showing off her shirt and her shoes and her smile and her toys.  She marched around the halls like she owned the place; it was pretty cute.  From the receptionists to the nurses to the doctors, she had everyone talking about her!

I liked the endocrinologist, and she talked to me for a long time.  It was helpful to hear more details about what could be going on with Isla.  A few things she mentioned:  short stature (meaning that she is just going to be short because that's the way she is!), constitutional growth delay (which means her growth is slow now, but it should pick up and then she might have delayed puberty but that's about it), growth hormone deficiency, hypothyroidism, and celiac disease.  She mentioned a few other things, but based on her physical examination, she didn't think those things were a possibility.

The best part of our morning was getting an accurate measurement of Isla's height.  Last week Isla was measured at 30.1 inches and 31.2 inches at the same appointment.  At the office today, they had a special measuring table with a board against her head and a springboard at the bottom that moved up against her feet.  Once they put the board against her feet, she really couldn't move and she was lying perfectly straight...therefore it appears to be an accurate measurement.  They measured her twice (by different people) and both felt that 30.7 inches was the correct measurement for her.  30.7 inches puts her in the 6% for height.  That makes her curve on the growth chart go up just the slightest bit. 

The doctor gave me the choice of whether I wanted to have them run tests today or whether we wanted to wait a few months and see what happens with her growth curve.  A part of me just wants them to go ahead with the blood work, so we can have a definite answer on this and move on!  But from the way everyone talks about it, it sounds like the blood work is fairly extensive.  And I hate to do all that unless we feel it is completely necessary.  I'm not feeling that it is necessary at this point.  So, we are going to give her some more time to grow.  More waiting...my favorite!!

We will go back to the endocrinologist in May, right before her second birthday to put one more measurement on her growth chart and see what happens with the curve.  We are hoping that the slight increase in growth that she just recorded will continue over the next few months!  If not, then they will probably run all the tests on her.

Also, later this afternoon, we met with someone from Early Intervention to get set up for a speech evaluation.  After giving Isla's medical history to the endocrinologist this morning and then again to the EI worker this afternoon, I feel like I have been talking about her health all day long!