Bah Humbug!

So, normally Christmas is a wonderful time at our house, but not so much when Mommy is sick.  :(  I missed most of the holiday festivities cause I was sleeping, hoping to feel better ASAP.  So sadly, there are not as many pictures and the standards for the pictures are much lower (when you feel like crap you really don't care if the one year old isn't standing still for the picture).  Thankfully, Matilda and Miranda still seemed to have a wonderful Christmas and were not phased by my illness (but that's nothing new, Mommy doesn't get much sympathy whenever she doesn't feel good).  Matilda was a pro at unwrapping her presents.  Miranda on the other hand was much more interested in what everyone else was doing rather than unwrapping her presents and of course she enjoyed the boxes much more than the presents themselves.  Now comes the fun part, finding room for all the new toys in our house!

Fall Wrap Up as Winter Begins

Well, so much for the theory that I would post more often once I got my new computer!  The end of November was filled with craziness, which I think is now the norm.  For my birthday, I received the gift of having two children on antibiotics (Tilda for a skin infection, Miranda for another ear infection).  However, this was followed by a wonderful Thanksgiving and the joy of watching Michigan beat OSU (FINALLY!).

Miranda had her one year well check...She weighed 19 lbs 9 oz (21st %ile) and was 29.25 inches long (44th %ile).  What made this visit more interesting then those of the past was the building loosing power.  Thankfully it was a sunny day and they could still examine Miranda and the power returned right before we were finished so she could still get her 4 shots (although I'm sure Miranda would have been fine with not getting them).  Miranda is now a pro at walking.  In fact she's almost running and can carry large objects around the house.  She's learning to like chocolate milk, but is having a slight problem with her sippy cups as she likes to hold them upside down when she drinks.  She's still as determined as ever and throws tiny tantrums when you take her (or an item) away.  Right now it's still pretty cute, but I've got a feeling that won't last long!

Tilda is anxiously awaiting the arrival of Santa.  She even asked us to take her to see him this year (Miranda wanted nothing to do with Santa).  She is also in love with The Nutcracker.  We went to see the ballet (or movie as Tilda called it) earlier in the month.  It was just a tad too long for her as she was pretty restless during the second act.  Thankfully, I did not have to carry her out kicking & screaming like some of the poor other parents.  Since we went to the show, Tilda has been carrying around the Playbill and "reading" it every night and during nap time at school.  More recently Matilda has cranked up the imagination and now has imaginary friends.  They don't have names, they're just her "friends" who we have to be careful not to step or sit on (which can be very difficult when you can't see them!).  Last weekend her friends need clothes, so Tilda emptied her entire dresser out.  Too bad her friends didn't help clean up the mess!  Let's just hope they don't get into too much more trouble.

Miranda Mae Turns One Year Old

Last weekend (and this past Tuesday) we celebrated Miranda's 1st Birthday! She seemed to really enjoy her party. I would say the highlight for her was feeding her Daddy her smash cake. You may be wondering why there is a picture of her in her bee costume...the theme of the party was "Sweet as Can Bee," so we figured we would get some more use out of the costume!

Amazing

I couldn't help but be amazed as I was videoing Miranda & she figured out how to get the door all the way open

Fall Catch Up

Here are some pics from the this fall...

Halloween Fun

Halloween weekend was filled with lots of fun and excitement. Friday night we went to "Boo at the Zoo," Saturday the girls had a sleepover at their cousin's house so Mommy & Daddy could celebrate their 5 year anniversary, and on Monday there was a party at Tilda's school followed by Trick-or-Treating. Tilda enjoyed going around the block getting her treats (amazing how much candy a little girl can get in just one block!), but I think she once again had more fun handing out the candy (as demonstrated in the pictures of her sitting in her chair in front of the door). But the most exciting thing of all was that Miranda took her first few steps over the weekend! She now holds her hands out so she can grab your fingers and walk while holding on. Looks like our little beezoo will be walking before she turns one!

Snow White and the One Appendix

Many of you are probably not familiar with this story, it all started on Tuesday Oct 18th....Snow White (aka Matilda) woke up and was complaining of a belly ache. Her mom didn't really believe her (I'm mean she's 3 years old and will usually complain of a belly ache when she doesn't want to do something), but decided to let Snow White stay home from school anyway. That turned out to be a good decision as she threw up a few times in the morning and would randomly cry about her belly hurting. Then her mom realized that Snow White was complaining about her belly hurting only on the right side and would not stand up. So, it was off to the ER after a quick call to the pediatrician. Snow White was very brave. She had to get an IV and an ultrasound and had lots of people pushing on her belly. The whole staff (especially the Pediatric radiologist) was amazed when the testing indicated that Snow White did indeed have appendicitis. So it was decided that she would have to have her appendix removed. However, the operating rooms at the hospital she was at were already overbooked, meaning Snow White would not be operated on till midnight! The doctors did not like this idea and decided to have her transferred to the hospital downtown for her surgery. She enjoyed her special ride in the ambulance to the new hospital. When all was said and done, Snow White's surgery finally began after 10 pm! Thankfully the surgery went great. Snow White was very, very lucky her appendix had not ruptured (which would have resulted in being much, much more sick and a minimum of 10 days in the hospital!). So, by approximately 2:3o am, Snow White and her mom were settled in her room for the night. Her mom was "lucky" enough to sleep on the pull out bed (I mean who designs a pull out bed with a metal bar where people's knees land?).

On Wednesday, Snow White did not have a very good day. She was in quite a bit of pain, didn't eat, drink or want to get out of bed. This resulted in her getting to stay an extra night in the hospital, much to every one's disappointment. However, Snow White started to feel much better in the late evening after her surgeon changed her pain medicine. She even walked down to the fish tank with her mom. She loved watching the puffer fish swim around and around.

Thursday finally came and Snow White was soooo much better! She was able to move around and play in the play room and sit by the fish tank some more. She still didn't have much of an appetite, but then again that's nothing new. Thankfully, she was allowed to go home, but she was now having so much fun she didn't want to leave!

Now Snow White is home and almost back to normal. She sometimes does not want to look at her belly button, but who can blame her? (Although we figured out at the hospital that part of the problem was she thought the cotton ball under the bandage was her belly button and that it had been permanently changed). The new challenge will be "deprogramming" Snow White, as she was treated like a true princess the past few days, but alas that can not last forever.

Now you may be wondering why Matilda has been referred to as Snow White through out this tale...during this whole ordeal, every time Matilda was asked her name, be it by nurses, doctors or the transport team, she respond with "Snow White."