A very scary story (dun dun dunnnnn)

Early this afternoon while Madi was taking a nap and Kimber was playing happily I went to take a shower. I left Kimber in the living room playing and turned the TV to the baby channel so that she would be entertained for the time I was in the shower. I left the door slightly ajar so that if Kimber needed me she could easily come in. I think it was around the time I had suds in my hair I heard this CLUNK..... CLUNK..... CLUNK.... I was terrified! What could it possibly be and it was coming closer and closer and CLOSER! CLUNK..... CLUNK..... CLUNK..... Then the door swung open and it was Kimber wearing one of my clunky sandals. It was so cute. She had her foot slipped into the shoe and was walking around.
(By the way in case you didn't catch it I wasn't really terrified I just said that for affect.)

Two very different little girls

Everyday Brett and I see the differences between Madilynn and Kimber. For instance Madi does not like to be tossed up in the air or spun around by her arms. Now Kimber on the other hand loves to do those things. Madi wasn't into climbing up things and getting into scary places but Kimber is. Madi has always used her right hand and Kimber is looking like she is going to be a lefty. At the same time they have a lot of similarities too. They both love shoes and dolls. They both love to wear jewelery. Getting into Mom's purse and taking everything out is also a favorite of both. We are so blessed to have them in our family. They keep life interesting and we learn new things about them everyday.

Thanks for reminding me!

I asked Madi to put her shoes away in her room and when she came to pick them up in the kitchen she said, "Thanks for reminding me Mom!" She is so considerate for a 3 1/2 year old. Brett and I always tell her how impressed we are with her. It's funny to hear her use the things that we have said to her back to us. She tells me all the time, "Mom I'm so impressed with you!" That's my little sweetie.

My baby ate it!

You know how in school the oldest excuse for no homework was that your dog ate it? Well, we don't have a dog so explain this.

If Kimber finds a piece of paper, or a piece of mail in this case, within her reach she usually puts it in her mouth. This actually happened a few months ago but I just found the photo in my computer file.

You Are My Sunshine...

Madi loves for me to sing to her when she is going to bed. She asks for the Sunshine song and Twinkle Twinkle song. If at all possible I need to get her on film singing You Are My Sunshine because what she thinks the lyrics are crack me up. This is what I hear her singing.
"You are my sunshine my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are GRAAAVY!"

Tumbling For Tots

For the past six weeks Madi has been taking a tumbling class at the YMCA. I think she had a lot of fun doing it especially since her good friend Payton was in the class too. After the classes Madi would talk about the parachute and she would twirl around and kick her leg up high in the air. They learned how to do somersaults (even though Madi already could) and walk on a balance beam. Madi has hardly been shy a day in her life but for some reason she started this little act when I went to drop her off at the class. She would turn to me and say, "I want to stay with you Mom." or today was, "Where's Pay Pay (Payton)? I kind of think that she started doing this because she saw some of the other kids crying when they were being dropped off. Last week Madi's friend Claire was crying and didn't want to go into the class so Madi gave her the sticker that she got in the ER and Claire then was brave enough to go into the class. Then today when Claire got there she didn't cry at all she just went right into the class it was great but then there was Madi being silly. Soon enough though Payton arrived and Madi felt a little better. Today was the last class and before they all escaped I took a quick picture of the kids with the teachers. I don't know who all of the other kids are but Payton is the fourth from the left (in pink) then Claire and Madi. Before we left to go home Madi gave her teacher a hug and her teacher said to Madi, "Did you tell your Mom what we did with the shoes?" Then Madi jumped up and down and said, "We put them in the parachute!" Then they both giggled. It was cute! I guess they put all the shoes in the middle of this parachute and all the kids held an edge and then popped the shoes up and down. I'm guessing that it was great fun! I'm just glad that Madi had fun and she and I even made some new friends. It will be interesting to see if Madi wants to take tumbling again when there is another class in September. It was just fun to see Madi making new friends and having fun.

Madilynn quotes

The other day Madi was sitting at the counter eating a sandwich and I was standing on the other side gobbling up my food and root beer as quick as I could before Kimber woke up. I accidentally let a little root beer burp slip. Madi giggled and I made a frowny face then she says, "It's ok. I burp sometimes too." She didn't want me to feel bad for making a mistake. She is such a sweetie!
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One day after Madi's tumbling class we went to Subway and picked up some sandwiches. Before Brett gave Madi her "Roast Beast" sandwich he took a bite to what Madi said, "YOU'RE WELCOME!" With so much attitude I can't do it justice in writing. Sometimes they say stuff that just knocks you right off your feet and that did. She is so funny!

Ouch x's 2

Our regular daily schedule is to have lunch around noon and then off to bed for a nap right around 1:PM. Today that is what we did. I put Madi down for bed but Kimber wasn't quite ready to go for a nap yet so she was playing in the living room. While Kimber was playing I thought I would take the full recycle bin out and empty it in the garage. When I got back to the kitchen door Kimber was standing right in the way so I couldn't get in and she was close to the top of the stairs. I picked her up by her left arm and right away she started crying. At first I thought she was just mad that I moved her out of the way but when my attempts to get her to calm down weren't working I knew that there was a little more to it. I went and woke Brett up to tell him that Kimber's arm was hurt and I thought I should take her to the doctor. I wanted to brush my teeth before I left so I had Brett hold Kimber while I went into the bathroom. Just after I put the tooth brush in my mouth I heard Madi scream and cry out really loud so I ran into her room. She was laying on the bed and I noticed that her pillow was missing it's pillow case. I asked her what was wrong and she said, "I hit my head!" When I looked closer I saw that she had a huge bump on her forehead that had a red line down the middle. It looked like it was about to split open. The pillow case that was missing was on the floor, I found out later what that had to do with Madi's accident. I picked Madi up and ran her to Brett then ran back to the bathroom to wash my mouth out. Brett was getting up and putting some clothes on so that he could help me. He at first just wanted to keep Madi home and put ice on her head which is all they ended up doing in the ER. The bump on her head had me so worried I told Brett that I just felt better about taking her in to have it looked at. Haven't I said before that I have learned my lesson about taking kids to the ER when it's not completely necessary. I guess I'll never learn but I'd rather be safe than sorry. Head bonks scare me since they can be serious without you even knowing it.
So back to Kimber, we all l0aded in the car which ended up being very painful for poor Kimber. I felt so bad that I had caused her to be in pain and I didn't know what to do to help her. When we arrived at the ER Madi wanted me to hold her while we were being checked in at the desk. She went about charming the ladies behind the counter she was completely herself so I wasn't too worried about how she was just the sight of the huge bump on her head made me nervous. They got us in the room pretty quickly. The nurse took the girls vitals and then left us with the remote so we could watch TV. Brett was sitting in a chair holding Kimber and I was sitting on the bed with Madi leaning on me so she could watch TV. Kimber just laid in Brett's arms very still. She usually sucks her left thumb but since it was hurt she had her fingers on her right hand in her mouth. She wasn't talking or smiling she just stared straight ahead. I got her to look at me and I almost had her laugh but she just really wasn't in the mood. When Dr. Holcomb came in the room she looked Madi over and asked us a few questions like has she thrown up or did she loose consciousness. She asked Madi what happened and Madi said, "Well, I had the sheet (pillow case) on my head and I couldn't see and I bonked my head on the bed." So that's why the pillow didn't have the case and the case was on the floor. Then Dr. Holcomb went over to Kimber and immediately knew what was wrong. She tried to put me a ease by saying it happens all the time and very easily. She said that it's called Nursemaid's Elbow or Radial Head Dislocation. She then put her thumb in the bend of Kimber's arm and closed Kimber's arm up towards her shoulder. I thought that she was still accessing the injury but she was putting Kimber's arm back into place. Kimber screamed and cried for a minute then the Dr wanted Kimber to use the arm. I kept digging into my purse for things that I knew Kimber would go for. First I handed her my phone which Kimber took with her right hand. Then I handed her my keys. The Dr had to step out of the room for a minute so while she was gone Brett and I kept working with Kimber to get her to use her arm and she finally did. It was so amazing! Instantly Kimber was back to her old cheerful self it was like night and day. She started waving her hands and laughing it was so cool. The nurse that had helped us before came in and told me that the dislocation like that happens a lot. I mentioned to her about how Kimber was now just acting like normal and she agreed that before Kimber was way subdued.
When the doctor came back in the room she told us to just keep an eye on Madi and that if she throws up once that's ok but if she does it twice to bring her back immediately. She said with Kimber that we should just follow up as needed but she should be completely fine. Madi's tumbling class was in a couple of hours so I asked the doctor if we should just skip it and she said that Madi should be fine. So Madi went to tumbling class with a huge bump on her head but she was just fine.
After we left the ER we took Brett home so that he could go back to sleep since he had to wake up and go to work in a couple of hours. I'm just so glad that he went with me. I would have been a complete wreck if he hadn't been there to help me.
I always try not to lift Kimber by just her arm but after this happened I noticed how many times I end up holding her by one arm. If we are walking together and she falls I end up holding her by one arm. I am so paranoid about pulling her arm out of socket again. I'm just glad that her arm was fixed so easily. The doctor said that it doesn't even show up on an X-ray.
Having to take one child to the ER is scary enough but having both of my kids get hurt within minutes of each other was something else all together. I just feel so blessed that Kimber's arm or Madi's head bump weren't more serious. I was sitting there in the ER thinking that we were going to take Kimber home with a cast on her arm or that I had broken the growth plate in her arm like had happened to a friend of mine when she was young. I was also sitting there thinking, "What is going to be the third thing that happens?" It seems like bad things always happen in threes. I guess the third thing would be my glasses falling apart that night and I had to drive home in my sunglasses when it was getting dark. Whew!! I really don't want something else to happen to us.
When I took this photo the swelling on Madi's bonk had gone down a lot. I think that it even looks worse now (a few days later). Poor little one.

My Favorite Recipes

I've been thinking for awhile that I should make a blog of all of my favorite recipes. Mostly so I can have them all in the same place and get them ready to be in a book. Well, today I finally did it. I thought that it would be fun to share my favorites and if anyone else would like to share a recipe it could kind of become a recipe trading blog or something. I am definitely not the best cook but when I find a yummy recipe that we all like I hold onto it. So I figure if I find something that works maybe someone else would like it too or not. Anyway, if you wanna check it out let me know if you like what you see and if you make one let me know how it turned out. The blog address is http://nummyyummyfood.blogspot.com/

She's a walker!

Kimber has been tempting to walk for probably a little over a month or maybe even more. Well, let me get a little more technical about it. She has been holding onto furniture for a really long time. She started walking behind her little walker stroller just after her birthday (March 24th). She started taking steps on her own around Brett's birthday (June 24th) and she finally started walking all by herself June 29th right after her doctors appointment which is funny. At the doctors appointment he was a little concerned that she wasn't walking yet. Well, I guess she heard that and jumped right into action. Here are some pictures of her progress. She sure loves to walk.

The Snakey Woods

A couple of weeks ago we (Brett, Madi, Kimber and I) were all sitting on the front porch when we heard something moving in the bushes next to us. Brett looked a little closer and saw a snake! Ahhh!! The girls are always playing right by there! Brett took the snake out so we wouldn't worry about it. A few days ago Madi and I were outside and I heard her call the bushes the Snakey Woods. If you have ever seen this show you probably know what she is talking about.

She is so smart it totally is the Snakey Woods!

McGaha visit

My little sister Beth and her family stopped to see us this last week. The McGaha's RJ, Beth, Kyle (8) and Bryen (4) oh and the puppy Jax (7 months). They just sold there house in Missouri and are on there way to Montana then Utah then California which is where they will live. My brother in law RJ is in the Navy so they have moved around just a little bit the last few years. I think they lived in Missouri for two or three years but before that they lived in Iceland. My nephew Bryen was even born there. What a cool story that will be when he gets older. Then before Iceland they were in California so now they get to go back.

It was so fun to see them the last time I saw them was at my niece Tiffany's wedding which was June of 2007 so it's been a little while. They had their dog Jax with them who is a very well behaved yellow lab. The first night they were here Beth and I took Jax for a walk after we got the kids in bed of course. It was so nice to go on a walk just Beth and I, we left RJ home with the kids. I can't remember the last time that Beth and I just hung out like that. I'm sure most of the time when we were little I was usually torturing her I'm sure she's forgiven me for that... Right! She always talks about the time when I got the canning handle's (I'm not sure what they are really called) out and I rolled them up her nose. Ewww!! I was such a meanie! It was nice to just walk and talk with Beth. I don't know that we really even talked about anything important just being silly.

After dinner the first night we went to get ice cream at the Blue Bunny Ice Cream Parlor. It's really fun and set up like and old time ice cream parlor. Madi and Bryen shared the Super Hero sundae, Kyle got a hot fudge sundae. The Super Hero sundae had pop rocks on top and they even gave the kids what was left in the package. They had a lot of fun with that. We even let Kimber try some pop rocks. She didn't really give us any reaction like we thought she would but I think she liked them. If you can't tell in these photo's the Super Hero ice cream is bright blue.

(Please excuse the quality of these camera phone photo's)

The next day we took the kids and Jax to the Ice Cream park that is just down the street from us. The boys thought it was very cool. They played for a while and then it was time for lunch. After lunch Brett was up from bed, he had to work while they were here so we had a few hours with him in the afternoon and then it was time for him to work again. Of course we had to pull out Guitar Hero and let Beth try it out. I think RJ had played it before but didn't know if he liked it. I think he got pretty good at it while we were playing. Kyle played the drums and he did really good. The drums are probably the hardest part so we were all impressed. Beth sang and Bryen helped. It was great fun. I think we must have played too hard because poor RJ got a migraine and had to go to bed. We all just hung out and watched Bolt with the kids then Brett had to go to work.

That night after we had eaten dinner we went outside to play. The fireflies come out around 9:00PM so we were having fun watching them and catching them. Kyle at first was just catching them in his had then I got him a jar and I think he ended up having twenty something in there.

Beth just kept telling me that Le Mars is like Leave it to Beaver or Pleasantville. It really is a nice little town. It's really quiet and people are really nice here. Beth even said that if they could pick anywhere to live they would probably live here. What a sweetie!

The McGaha's were all packed up (in their two vehicles) and ready to go by 7:00AM the next morning. They wanted to get to RJ's parent's house in Montana that night so they could spend July 4th with them. It was a lot of fun to have them come stay with us. I'm so glad to get time to spend with my nephews to get to know them better since we've lived so far apart for so long.