1-800-GRANDMA

What do you do when your 2yr old daughter has strep throat and feels horrible, your 1.5 month old has a fever and cold, the 2yr old starts throwing up, you start throwing up and you feel like the world is crashing down??? 1-800-GRANDMA!! So I called my mom and told her all that was going on and she asked if I wanted her to come. She was going to come for Thursday and Friday that next week anyways- but we needed her then! So she packed her bags and came!! It was such a blessing to have her here all week! Izzy loved spending time with Grandma and getting presents. Piper loved being held, jumped and rocky-byed. I loved not hearing Piper screaming, being able to play with Izzy, eating dinner with Tim & Izzy, taking naps, getting a massage, hanging out with my mom and more! My mom has such a servant's heart and really helped so much!!! I am kicking myself for not getting more pictures but here are a few I got.

Super cool hat

When my mom is here Izzy likes eating cereal with milk like a big girl. SHE WILL NOT DO THIS IF MY MOM ISN'T HERE!!!

I love how happy she looks

Thanks so much for coming mom! It helped me tremendously!!!!!

Farewell Shelby & Madison

One of my good friends Shelby is moving away..... we had a farewell playdate this past week. I am gonna miss this crazy momma!! She is always full of laughs and funny stories. I don't know why all the crazy things happen to Shelby but I LOVE hearing about them! Thank God for blogs, email, texts and telephone calls because I will definitely be using them to keep in touch! We took the opportunity to get a group shot!

I love this one with the kiddos!

My girls....

I love my two daughters!! Piper is doing much better with her colic/gas/reflux issues :) She is smiling and cooing alot and crying alot less! We have begun to see a pattern in her sleeping and eating which is awesome! She usually takes a 3 hr nap which usually coincides with Izzy's nap giving me some much needed time to rest, blog, email, sleep...... do chores (hehe-not really)! She sleeps about 6-7 hrs at night starting at 8pm so I am getting a little time with Tim and a long stretch of sleep which makes me feel closer to human! Anyways- life is getting into a routine for us and I think I just might be able to swing this two kid thing:) Izzy is a great big sister and loves Piper so much! She is very patient and is helping out by patting Piper's back, giving Piper her paci if she loses it and is crying, telling Piper to calm down and rocking her in the car seat or bouncing her in the bouncy seat. I love to see her talk to Piper and give her kisses. So here are some pics of my two girls!

Doing good with Tummy time!
Silly face :)

"napping" with Piper

Tim's mom gave Piper and Izzy these adorable matching dresses.... aren't they cute??

Giving Piper a kiss

Christmas

Better late than never! Here is how Christmas went for us this year. Mommy of the year (that is me) gave Izzy her first ever dose of probiotics on Christmas Eve. Everything seemed to be going ok.... we went to the 4pm Christmas Eve service and when I went downstairs to get Izzy from the nursery- she was being held by the nursery supervisor outside her classroom. She told me that Izzy had thrown up minutes before :( Poor little girl- sick on Christmas Eve! She was acting fine so we went home and changed clothes. We were supposed to be having dinner with the Wilson's- that insisted we still come- figuring Nathan had already been exposed in the nursery to Izzy. We got there and Izzy threw up again...... so we came on home- with manicotti! THE WILSON"S ROCK! Izzy went to bed early and we enjoyed a little time alone before crashing ourselves. Izzy was up at 4:45 on Christmas morning. Tim got up with her and took her downstairs while Piper and I slept. When we got up we went downstairs and tried to get Izzy to open presents. By this time- about 8 or 9ish she was already exhausted and still not feeling great. So she opened a couple of presents and then said " I am all done- I wanna watch TV" You can't argue with a kid not wanting to open presents. Piper was sleeping in the swing so Tim and I opened our presents together while Izzy watched TV :) Izzy hadn't thrown up anymore and I was convinced it was a reaction to the probiotics so we went ahead and packed up our stuff and headed to Kinston. It was an AWESOME trip there. Piper slept the WHOLE WAY and Izzy slept most of the way and happily watched the DVD player the rest of the way. It was great for Tim & I because we actually got to talk and hang out which we hadn't gotten to do in awhile with the newborn and all :) We enjoyed time with my family and Izzy got to open lots of presents. She was more tired than normal all weekend and actually took 2 naps both days we were there!! But she didn't throw up any more and had a great time! OK here are some pictures!

The one present she opened...

Presents from Grandma and Aunts and Uncles

Piper slept through all the present opening again!

Izzy and Piper with Penelope- my oldest brother's daughter

Doesn't Izzy look like a proud big sister??

It was a great Christmas and we are so thankful for our family!!

Bye Bye Paci

Izzy said bye bye to her paci this past friday night and hasn't looked back! We took her to Build-A-Bear and let her pick an animal. She picked a polar bear and put her paci inside. She picked out a cute pink shirt for her polar bear and off we went. When we got in the car she asked for her paci and we reminded her she put it in the bear. She held the bear and really has only asked for her paci a couple of times since then. She is talking ALOT more and singing all the time. She has amazed me with how smart she is and how many songs she can sing. I am going to try to video some and will post when I get it! Bedtime hasn't been an issue either! I am so proud of our big girl!!! Thank You Jesus for helping this to go as smoothly as it has and thanks to all of you who prayed for her/us! YAY IZZY!!!

How I am dealing with colic.... or whatever this is

So for those of you who don't know..... Piper is a little fussy. OK sometimes ALOT fussy! So we have determined she has colic, or gas, or reflux.....who knows. Anyways we are trying to find ways to help her & survive.

These are catnip & fennel drops. I found out about them through a mom at my MOPS table. They have helped alot with the acid reflux. She isn't spitting up anymore and doesn't seem to have the painful "silent reflux"
This is mylicon- gas drops. They seem to help with the gas and help get the yucky taste of the catnip and fennel drops out of her mouth.

This is a margarita.... it seems to have helped ME the most! Katie took me out for a much needed break and I had a few of these..... went and had a pedicure and just spent time without kiddos for awhile. Thanks so much to my hubby for letting me go and keeping the kiddos... and sending me text updates :) Thanks to Katie who took me out... and got me home in one piece. It was great to have some "Mommy Time" and regroup!!!!!!

Snow Day!!!!!!!

Yes we actually had a decent snow day! It started right around lunch time so we bundled up and headed outside to play a little before nap. The kiddos (and mommies) were so excited! We tried to catch it on our tongues and ran around like crazy :) We went on in and when we woke up from nap there was a big blanket of snow and it was still coming down. This was the first time Izzy has actually PLAYED and enjoyed the snow! I loved watching her explore it and have fun!

Eating huge chunks was one of her favorite parts! A family that sleds together stays together!

Go Wilson's Go!!

All the kids we were playing with..... BIG kids Izzy calls them :)

I started rolling down the hill instead of sledding- you get really dizzy but it is tons of fun. Pretty soon the kiddos joined in....

Me & my honey :)

Izzy and Daddy

I told you she enjoyed it! We are hoping this is not our only snow of the winter! We really had a blast and are awaiting more :)