Boo!

State Fair

This weekend was the last weekend of the North Carolina State Fair. I got to go twice. Once last night with my BFF Joyce.. and once this morning with my family.



Joyce and I spent some time looking for Funnel Cakes that were made without eggs or dairy.. no dice. Poor Joyce. We went and had some Krispy Kreme instead.



This morning we took the babies. They got to see all sorts of animals. Margot was very cautious around the goats.



A good time was had by all. More soon.

Tutus

Twin baby girls in tutus, excited to see that their daddy is home.



Twin baby girls in tutus, within our reflection.



Twin baby girls in tutus. My heart overflows.

Margot is feeling much better... in case you couldn't tell.

Margot

I am taking our tiny little girl to get tubes put into her ears tomorrow morning at 6:15am. This chronic ear infection has survived the nuclear bomb of antibiotics for a couple weeks now and after her 3rd round of tummy destroying meds, the ear nose and throat doc said tubes were a must to relieve the pressure in her little ears. She has been such a trooper through all of this. I just hope I have her courage when I hand her over to the nurse tomorrow morning at the Surgery Center. The procedure only takes about 15 minutes but I have a feeling it is going to feel like 5 hours to this mommy's anxious heart. The fact that I can't be with her when she falls asleep upsets me to no end. Oh well... it's the second most common procedure in the country and I know she will feel so much better afterward. Shoring up my courage tonight. How pathetic is that? I'm not even the one going under the (very tiny) knife! My own sweet mama is here, spending the night so she can be here in the morning to keep Ada company while we are gone and help tomorrow while I help Margot recover. They say by the evening we won't even be able to tell anything happened to her. As common as this all is.. we would still appreciate your prayers for tomorrow.

Boone

..smiling babies in the kitchen..



...making chocolate chip cookies with Mama on a cold and gray day..



..a small girl in a pink shirt helping to make said cookies.

Boone is friends who greet you on the porch when you arrive after 10pm with sleeping babies. It's friends who hug you tight and help you set up your twin cribs .. help you put your babies down to sleep in their own room..that they let you stay in while they camp out in the guest room.. it's friends who share their homemade dinner with you after they have helped to unload your car.. friends who prepare the most delicious food imaginable.. who make pancakes with bacon in them for breakfast.. who keep a hot pot of coffee going at all times.. who stay up after all the babies have gone to bed to drink a few beers, talk passions, and kick your tail at Wii. Boone is familiar belly laughs and comfortable silences. A place where Oliver can run free and chase field mice. Boone is our haven. We love you guys.

Twilight

This evening we went for a walk as we often do after the girls eat dinner.



Before we went for our stroll, we decided to explore our little piece of world outside the front door.







The fading sunlight made their curls and eyelashes glow golden.



Ada struck out on her own and we watched with fascination to see which path she would choose.











Her first fall leaf and she was so excited she wanted to share it with me. The thrill. The thrill of being here to witness another human beings firsts.. first discoveries.. first looks..



Cautiously she tripped towards me along the sidewalk.



With reckless abandon she scuttled toward the open road to discover the curb, the street signs, the house in the distance. I held her sister close as I watched Stephen head her off, keeping her safe from dangers that do not exist in her tiny world. I whispered that I would always hold her close, as close as this moment. I will remember this moment.

Photo Jumble From the Surprise Visit

Surprise

This is a bit late but we have been sick and teething around here. Almost two weeks ago now (wow can't believe it has already been that long) I flew Stephen's brother, David, out here for a surprise visit. He was surprised.. even though it doesn't really look like much on the video.



I also conspired with Stephen's dad for he and Mary to visit the same weekend. So Stephen didn't know that anyone was coming. Mary didn't know that David was going to be here.. Larry, David and I were the partners in crime. It worked out pretty well, even though Mary got suspicious and even brought David a scarf just in case he was here :) I forgot to open the lens cap for the first little bit of this video.. whoops.

I love putting things like this together. It was so perfect because David flew in on Thursday during the time that I normally go grocery shopping so Stephen had no reason to suspect anything was up when I drove away that evening. After David arrived, we ate the pizza that Stephen made for dinner and were just hanging out (watching Thursday night NBC goodness) when the doorbell rang and there were Mary and Larry. The girls were so excited to wake up the next morning and see Uncle David with Grammy and Grandpa there to greet them. We need to do this sort of thing more often.

...where to begin..

Today has been just the worst day ya'll. 

First off let me start off by rewinding to yesterday afternoon. Margot and I were tickling Ada, who was standing next to us, when she (Ada) bent over double with giggles and knocked her head on the leg of a chair nearby. I heard the bump and said "Ouch! That must have hurt baby girl!" I reached to help her up and when she turned to face me there was blood gushing from her head. She was screaming, I grabbed her up and ran for a paper towel. Called Stephen and let him know he needed to get home right away. Was about to Google directions to Wake Med when I thought I better check with the pediatrician to see if they could possibly stitch up the 1/4 inch gash on her forehead (right between her eyes btw). Turns out they could! We all headed for the doctor at 6:30pm and Stephen took Margot to the store to get some milk and other necessaries. Ada and I stayed to get stitched up. The doc on duty decided to use Dermabond instead (sorta like super glue) so as to reduce the appearance of the scar. I had to hold her down with another nurse while they irrigated the wound - gut wrenching. Then it took 4 of us to keep her still while they actually did the .. gluing. Heart breaking. I was a tattered mess when we walked out into the waiting room to find Stephen and very concerned Margot waiting for us. The girls smiled and called/reached out to each other when they caught sight of each other. So sweet. We all headed home chuckling at how un-shocking it was that Ada got the first stitches. 

This morning I was awakened by some pitiful cries. I thought Ada's little cut must have been aching. I went in to give a little comfort and instead found that it was Margot with a nice ripe temp of 102. Oooooo-Kkkkkkk. Call Katie and tell her we can't keep Josie today (unless she is ok with her being exposed to whatever we have). She is a super hero and finds a sub sitter. Done. Margot is acting super sick and uncomfortable - feeling at the end of my rope I called for back-up. Mom to the rescue!!!! Mom took a day off from school and came to rescue us with some good Nana lovin'. I hadn't planned to take Margot to the doctor, but I quickly changed my mind when I noticed her shrieking every time I came near her left ear (plus her temp spiked to 104.5 after I gave her Motrin so..) It was so awesome to have Mom here to play with and snuggle Ada since Margot was listless, not really eating, and did not want to be set down. Mom stayed with Ada while I took Margot to the doctor. Here's where it just goes downhill fast. Dr. Bo confirmed she had an ear infection in her left ear. Wanted to take some blood to make sure she didn't also have a virus thing going on. When he came back into the room I knew something was wrong. He said he was concerned about her white cell count. It was 25.5K. Healthy folks have a count of 6-7K and sick folks have one of 14-16K so you can see why he was concerned. Gotta do some things to rule out other issues. First, does she have flu. They stuck a swab up her nose - that was negative. Next, need to test for a UTI. I had to hold my baby down while they inserted a catheter to get a urine specimen. Horrific. No UTI. Next stop, the hospital to have blood drawn for a blood culture. Sigh. Went to school to pick up Stephen. We both held her hands and legs while they drew blood from her tiny vein. They were wonderful and our tired little bunny was such a champion. After it was over, she snuggled into Stephen's shoulder and we headed back to the doctor to get a high dosage injection of antibiotics to treat whatever is going on until we have the blood culture results. She cried so hard as we held her down.. again..while she got her shot at the office. She was finished. Finally. She collapsed into her father's embrace and fell asleep on his shoulder. Safe at last. 

It has been a long day. We are still on edge. We won't know anything from the culture until at least 48 hrs (or so we have been told). She goes back tomorrow for another shot and Stephen is staying home with us tomorrow. Thank you, Mom for coming to help us today. Thank you, everyone, for your prayers. Please pray that this is just some crazy virus. We have been told that whatever "has ahold of her" is no joke and is super contagious. Please pray we can keep Ada from catching it. That we can stay healthy as well. I hope I can sleep tonight. I am trying really hard not to let my mind go nuts. 

In the kitchen

We spend the evening in the kitchen. Our sweet Ada has a wretchedly horrible diaper rash as a result of 10 days of antibiotics. She could hardly stand to be held or sit in her car seat this morning. We slathered on the diaper cream at nap time but to no avail. Thus we found ourselves spending some naked time gated in the kitchen. Margot got to keep her diaper but forfeited her outfit in case of accidents. 

Stephen put on "The Iron Giant", grabbed our favorite Wheely Bugs and some plastic (easily sterilized) toys and we settled in. Margot is seen here watching Uncle Ricky on Conan. 

I took a 5 minute video of the adorable diaper-less moments, as well as lots of naked baby shots. However since the internet abounds with nasty perverts, these are for family and friends' eyes only. This one seemed ok though. Here is our patient busy  with her Wheely Bee.  

Here's another PG snapshot. I think she really enjoyed being so unencumbered. 

We had one peepee incident and yes.. she did slip in it.. yikes and ewwwwwww all at once. She also did a little poopy but we saw it ... er... emerge and were able to catch it before it landed so.. all in all it went much better that I had expected. It was interesting to see that she does not just peepee a little here and there but went all at once just like a big girl would do. Not sure what this means but I am taking it to mean that her little bladder has grown substantially and I have already started turning my brain towards the potty training days. I like to get a head start. 

We called the pediatrician and got some special cream for her little bottom so hopefully it will be better very soon :( Nothing makes me feel more like a horrible mother than seeing my little girl suffer with diaper rash. Antibiotics.....grrrrrrr. 

Evening

Stephen went to a concert with a friend tonight. Right after he left I started getting a migraine. I took the girls upstairs to play with our milk container blocks until bed time.



Much to my delight, Margot has become extremely attached to her "soft". She won't be a baby much longer.. my heart melts when I see her snuggle her blanket and that pacy bobbing up and down.






Ada was having trouble building the wall she was attempting to construct.. Margot kept putting the blocks back into the block basket.



Someone needs a Mommy snuggle.



Happy to oblige, sweetness.



Another one? Absolutely.



Pretty colors.



Margot bumped her head on ..something... again...






Daddy recently taught us how to "give five"... Ada giving me a high five..



Margot gave more than one..



When you ask the girls "Where is your tummy?" this is their response.



Hatching a block.



Ada changes her point of view.


We were having so much fun I almost forgot what time it was. PJs were donned and each girl grabbed their respective pacys and "softs" and we headed to the rocking chair for a book or two.. or .. eleven.. yes.. we read eleven books tonight. The reading list included the stack of books next to the chair and everything within arms length.

Reading List:

"The Carrot Seed"
"I am a Bunny"
"The Boy With a Drum"
"Corduroy"
"The Snowy Day"
"Big Bagel, Little Bagel"
"Good Night, Gorilla"
"The Cat In The Hat"
"Blue View"
"The Very Happy Hen"
"Mommies Say Shhh!"

It hasn't been that long ago that I couldn't get through one book with these wiggle worms and now.. eleven? I would have loved to have kept going but alas I just couldn't reach anymore without getting up and upsetting our cozy cuddle.

My migraine seemed to hold off with it's full intensity until I finished reading. Now it is steadily getting worse so I'm gonna sign off.. just wanted to share my peaceful evening.