Misc Pictures

Here are some pictures of the girls. They were playing with the newspaper making costumes one day, had their faces painted, visited a dairy farm and the firehouse.

National Night Out

Here is a picture of the girls in the fire truck at National Night Out. Our development invites the police and fire department to come and the kids love it. This picture is very similar to the one that was in the local paper.

Nana and Papa

Saturday the girls spent the night at Nana and Papa's house. Shannon and I had an afternoon and night together. The girls had so much fun. They love going to their house and just hanging out and playing there. They had a special treat because Auntie Tania was also there. The girls are surrounded by so many people who just love them and we are so grateful for that.
Thanks Nana, Papa and Auntie Tania for watching the munchkins and for allowing us a night off. We love you all very much.

p.s.....congratulations Tania and BJ on your house!!!!!

Slivers

Abbey had another sliver on Sunday. So if anyone heard her screaming and thought I was hurting her, she was totally freaking out about me even looking at the sliver and not wanting me to even touch it. She becomes very irrational and literally freaks out. She was in the bath when she told me about it and I tried to persuade her to let me look at it because the water will help make the skin softer. She thought for some reason the water would make it go away so she freaked and was screaming and crying uncontrollably. She wouldn't listen to me when I was talking to her so I ended up yelling to get her attention. I hate when that is what it gets to. The whole time I was trying to look at it using my hands just to get a look and to see if we would have to do something major to get it out. She was even holding the tweezers!!!!!! Finally I remembered an article that I had read where someone suggested using oral-jell to numb the site. We didn't have that but had chloraseptic spray so I tried that. She thought that was okay. I am not sure if that worked or what but I was able to get it out. If the slivers are small, usually we just let them go however this one was getting a red spot around it.
Daddy always thinks that they should have shoes on outside and when this happens we remind them why they should be wearing shoes!
Afterwards of course, Abbey had to wear a band-aid (3M only) and walk around with a limp everytime someone mentioned it. Oh the drama!

Night Time Issues & more

After one night of Abbey sleeping in her bed all night, we had another night of her getting up. I think that she may be having night terrors though. The past couple of nights she wakes up crying, disoriented and sitting on the edge of her bed. When we go to comfort and hold her, she is very out of it-almost sleeping. She has no recollection of why she is crying. We "woke" her up the Wednesday night because we were trying to find out what was going on and she was happy to see daddy but she couldn't tell him why she was crying.
Last night at 3:00 am, she got up to use the bathroom (no one listens to mommy that they have had too much to drink before bedtime) and then wanted to sleep with me. When I said no, she started crying. Ashley ended up awake! Thankfully we got them back to bed without too many tears. It is frustrating because we cannot seem to figure out what is causing this new thing.

Ashley is doing great with her hearing aid. She is so proud to show it off. She actually woke up today with a headache. This is the first time that either of them have ever had one. She got her medicine and was very cuddly this morning but now is doing much beter. She is in her glory coloring right now.

Tomorrow afternoon and night the girls are going to Nana's and Papa's! Yipee!!! They adore their grandparents and that is great. I want them to have a great relationship with them because it is so important to have them in our lives. I am very lucky that I have such wonderful in-laws. I am one of the few that can actually say that I get along very well with my in-laws. I am very blessed about that. Shannon and I are going to have a "date" night.

Today I am going to try and take a picture of Ashley with her hearing aid. I haven't done that yet.

Night Time Terror

So for about a week now Abbey has been having troubles going to bed. First it started out that it was too dark in the room. It has progressed to her now crying before bedtime and us buying two bright nightlights for each side of their beds along with the other two nightlights. That is right everyone, we have 4 nightlights in their room. We also are keeping the shades tilted so the natural light comes in. So for Abbey this has been working somewhat. She still cries and gets a bit panicked before bedtime however Ashley now cannot fall asleep. She has been staying awake in her bed. Last night I think she finally fell asleep around 9:30 (they are in bed at 8:00). She will come out a few times and check in with us but she usually is just laying in her bed. We have caught her out playing in her room. Last night she wanted her bright nightlight shut off and I think that is what finally helped her because now it is too bright for her.
So besides the initial fear of going to bed and all of the shadows....Abbey has joined us in bed everynight. Not just once....sometimes it is 3-4 times! Mind you this is not conducive for mommy and daddy to get a good night sleep. Last night Abbey also woke up just crying but couldn't tell Shannon what was wrong. She was out of it.
I was up working last night and Shannon had gone in to check the girls before he went to bed. He had checked on them before he had come down to kiss me goodnight and then went back up there and all I heard was "Abbey????Abbey???Where are you?" So that is enough to send any parent in a panic. Guess where she was....in our bed. She walked out to our room, climbed into our bed and was sleeping in my spot. That was just the start of the multiple trips into our room. I finally gave up on her sleeping with me last night out of pure exhaustion. I slept in the middle of the bed/mostly on Shannon's side and he slept with his head off the side of the bed. Abbey had half of the bed to herself!
We try talking to her and reassuring her that there are no monstors. We have light for her to see. We are getting very frustrated. We told her no more getting out of bed and sleeping with us. HELP!!!!

Parent's 40th Anniversary

August 9 would have been my parents 40th wedding anniversary. I remember celebrating with them their 25th anniversary. The picture on their 25th Anniversary shows all of us kids together with mom and dad. They were married in Watertown, South Dakota.

Not a day goes by that I still don't think of them or that I don't miss them. They say that time heals but it doesn't ever heal the spot in your heart where you miss someone. You learn to adjust and to go on without them.

The biggest regret that I have is that they never met the girls. I know that they are here in our hearts and are with us in spirit but that isn't the same. I wish that they were able to see them,play with them and talk to them. I wish that they had a relationship with them. That is being selfish only because that means that they would be here still and I wouldn't miss them.I would take selfish anyday over not having them here.

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad. I hope you can still feel the love and know that you are missed every day.

Farm City Day and Bon Fire

Yesterday was a busy day. We took the girls to the Farm City Day. It is a great way for us city folks to see how a working dairy farm works. I have to say this is the first year that I really learned something that I didn't know. The silk strands that are on the corn on the cob-each kernal has their own strand of silk. If the silk is missing then that kernal of corn would be missing.
The girls had a hay ride and a pony ride in a cart. The got to see the animals in the petting zoo and pigs and cows of course. We also got ice cream too!
Afterwards we headed to our friends the Duncan's house. We had a wonderful bbq with great food and conversation. Abbey and Ashley love playing with thier girls and they all get along so well. They were outside playing and enjoying the fresh air. We had a bon-fire and roasted marshmellows. The girls would have eaten more s'mores if we would have let them but two was enough.
By 10:00 they were both exhausted. They went to sleep in the car and then let us get them ready for bed. It was a fun day.

Hearing Aid

Today Ashley received her hearing aid. She was not happy at all when we went to the doctor's office. I am not sure what she was thinking but Dr. Amanda did a great job getting her to calm down, play with the hearing aid and then letting Dr. Amanda put it in. When it came time for mommy and daddy to "practice" putting it in and out, Ashley didn't want to take it out. She hasn't tried to remove it or play with it so that is a good thing. She keeps telling me that she can now hear better and speak better!
We are so proud of her!

Various Pictures....

At Como Park Zoo.

This is the day they tried to get daddy to take them to the park and "marry" them.

Playing in the sand at Nana and Papa's. Fourth Of July Fireworks-an hour past our bedtime!

Quiet Week

After spending a whole week being sick, we had a fairly quiet week last week. This weekend was spent doing things around the house and grocery shopping. I love shopping but was very frustrated at the Hudson Wal Mart and ended up driving to Stillwater to finish our shopping. I still love going to Aldi's and finding great deals on food there. It is so afordable and the quality of the food is very good.
We had a playdate with Sophie from preschool. The girls had a blast and kept asking when we could do it again. We went to a new park/playground in the Washington County park systems. The girls were able to swim in real lake water with fish. Ashley didn't like the seaweed.
Shannon and I continue to keep up on our marathon of "House". We started watching a few episodes this spring and got hooked. So we rented all of the seasons through Netflix and are now in season 3. It is a good show.
The girls and I ran into Mrs. Beedle while out shopping today. Abbey kept talking which is a surprise because they are both so quiet.
Our neighbor had their baby! A beautiful baby boy: Brett. He was 9 lbs and 2 oz. I visited with them on Saturday. He is very cute.
I can't say who but another very dear friend of mine is also pregnant. I have to wait one more month before I can say anything (of course with her blessing). They are so deserving of this awesome thing. They are going to be great parents! Prayers for a healthy and safe pregnancy!
My Uncle Dan had a mass removed from his lungs that was 4cm. They were able to remove all of it however they did find cancerous cells in his vessils. They can't see the oncologist until another 4-5 weeks so please continue to keep him in your prayers.