The Bug

[Weak Stomach Alert! Don't read this post if you have a weak stomach!]

I thought we were extra lucky because we had managed to avoid all of the nasty bugs that went around this winter. We had a few colds between the four of us, but nothing too major. Until a few days ago...

Friday at lunchtime Naomi didn't want to eat and I shortly figured out why. She had an upset tummy and lost her breakfast. I thought it was just the biscuits and gravy that didn't agree with her stomach, because she acted completely fine afterwards. She continued to expel any and all food/drink from her stomach throughout the afternoon, but was acting completely normal so I just assumed it was the food she ate that her little tummy couldn't handle. By the time Jared got home from work, her stomach had settled down and she ate her dinner fine.

Saturday morning was uneventful, all seemed well, so we headed up to the church picnic. We had a blast, even though our Home Bible Study's volleyball team didn't win the tournament (I'm not bitter!) and my chili didn't win the cook-off (though I did win it back in 2008! Still like bragging about that:).

Naomi playing at the picnic

After lunch and playing three volleyball games in the hot sun, we headed home and all rested for a bit. I felt crummy with a headache and nausea and spent most of the afternoon on the couch. Before bed Charlotte told me her tummy hurt. She always has an ailment of some sort or another (at least in her head), so I didn't think much of it. But after about 5 minutes of being in bed, she opened her bedroom door and told me she didn't feel good. Then she puked. I rushed her to the bathroom and avoided a huge mess to clean. I hoped that was the end of it and put her back to bed, but she started crying a little while later because she had thrown up in bed. :( So I piled some blankets on the floor in our bedroom for her to sleep in there for the night. But there wasn't much sleeping that went on because she got sick several times throughout the night. Around 4:00 her stomach settled enough for her to sleep till 8:30. She was absolutely pitiful through the night. "Mommy, I don't want to feel sick any more. Can you make me feel better?" Oh, it broke my heart :( On top of that, I was feeling the worst I have in a long time. You know that feeling you have about a minute before you throw up? I had that all night long. Not fun.

Charlotte threw up once after breakfast but has since seemed okay. Unfortunately, the bug has passed on to Jared and he's been feeling rotten all day. I've felt better today, but I think made the mistake of eating too much too soon and now I'm feeling crummy again. At least the girls seem to be feeling better. It's easier to wallow in your own misery when you don't have to take care of sick little ones too.

Naomi crawled onto the couch to give Charlotte a hug. The random hugs they give each other melt my heart.

Charlotte fell asleep on the living room floor this afternoon

Mandy's Getting Married!

My sweet cousin, Mandy, is getting married and we've spent a few weekends celebrating together before the wedding. It's been a blast. The festivities began with a bridal shower I hosted a few weekends ago.

Here's the spread... Mixed greens with strawberries, almonds and creamy poppy seed dressing, chicken satay with peanut sauce, Monte Cristo quesedillas with sour cream, chicken salad croissants, veggies, strawberries & grapes, punch, and cupcakes.

And some of the decorations. Tissue paper pom poms a la Martha Stewart. (Horrible lighting, sorry about that)

"Soon to be Mrs. Scott" banner

Mandy opening some gifts

I printed the RSVP cards on 5x7 index cards and designed them as postcards. The front said, "Mandy loves to cook/So give her a recipe from your book/Breakfast, lunch or dinner for two/When she cooks it, she will think of you!" I also put a note not to say anything about the recipe collection to her so that it would be a surprise. And on the back were the lines for the guests to write their favorite recipe. I bought a plain blue scrapbook album from Hobby Lobby (50% off!), and found an antique handkerchief with pretty crocheting along the edge and a fork and spoon from an antique store. I used a hammer to flatten the fork and spoon, and put them on top of the folded up hankie, and used wire to attach them to the album (through a hole that I drilled... yeah, I use power tools. I'm cool like that). The inside of the album was very plain, with just one or two recipes per page and some cute kitchen-y stickers. It was simple but turned out really cute (or so I think), and I think Mandy really liked it.

Mandy's Nana, her mom (Aunt Diane), and her mother-in-law to-be

As per tradition with my friends, whenever one of us gets married, we spend a weekend down at Disney. We did it before my and Shannon's weddings so I knew it wouldn't be much of a surprise for Mandy to see this sign...
But we didn't give her any details about the weekend so there were still some surprises.

She didn't know we'd be eating at The Wave of American Flavors.

And she didn't know that we'd be busting a move to the Wii Just Dance 2 back in the hotel room.

Mandy has dancing skills.

Me? I don't have dancing skills, but I have lots of fun!

Kristina shaking her boo-tay!

Danielle... Not really sure what to say about this one other than she was REALLY excited about something!

Shannon takes her dance moves very seriously.

We made Mandy get dressed blindfolded. Only she had to get dressed in underclothes. Over her clothes. She'd wring my neck if I showed the rest of the pictures from this game.

This was the view right outside our hotel room. We stayed at Port Orleans Riverside and it was beautiful!

Our whole group: Shannon, Danielle, Mandy, Kristina, and me. On Saturday night we had dinner at Kouzzina, one of Cat Cora's delicious restaurants. The meal was amazing!

I absolutely love these girls and it was great to spend some time with them. We hardly see each other any more, so a whole weekend together was fantastic!

What's Happening

Once again, it's been forever since an update. Rather than trying to fill you in on everything that's happened, I'll give you the short version:

Christmas, Jesus, presents, church, our tenure as nursery coordinators ended (can I get an "Amen! Hallelujah!"), girls growing big, lots of fun, seeing family, times of pulling hair out with attitude of a three-year-old and stubbornness of a one-year-old, Charlotte's talking our ears off, Naomi's not talking with words but saying so much with her expressions. Yup, that about sums it up. Now, on to some pictures...

Charlotte loves to play dress up. This picture of her wearing Ariel's wedding dress makes me want to cry because I know one day she will be wearing a real wedding dress and my heart can't handle that thought right now.

Naomi is getting lots of personality of her own! She's not as strong-willed as Charlotte but still has a streak of stubborn running through her. She likes to dress up, but usually favors a particular tutu with a matching headband. When she wears it, she twirls and dances and it's just about the cutest thing ever. I'll try to get the video uploaded soon.

We took a trip to Hollywood Studios last week so we've now officially been to all of the parks with our weekday passes. We didn't get to do everything there that we wanted so we'll definitely be going back.

Naomi and I had fun hanging out in the "Honey I Shrunk the Kids" play area

Ella, Anson & Charlotte enjoying an ice cream break. The weather was just about perfect the day we went. In the 70s with a breeze almost the entire day. We're enjoying the Spring weather while we have it because we know it won't last long here! Soon it'll be 90s and above with lots of humidity!

We stopped to see Sully & Mike from Monsters, Inc. The kids all ran straight for Sully and all gave him a big hug.

The girls and I said hi to Mickey. Well, Charlotte said hi. Naomi cried and clung to me for dear life. She used to adore seeing the characters, but the past two trips she has not been a fan, though she does love to hug on the stuffed Minnie Mouses (Minnie Mice? What's the right way to word it that implies we have more than one?) we have around here!

A couple weekends ago the girls spent a lot of time outside helping Jared with some yard work. Translation: Jared raked the leaves while the girls played on the swing set. But Charlotte did take a break from all that swinging to traipse through the huge pile of leaves.

The girls are becoming master Twister players.


So there's a snippit of our lives right now. Hopefully the next post won't be two months away!

Happy Thanksgiving (Two Months Late)

We spent Thanksgiving day at my Dad's house. After a HUGE dinner, we played some croquet. Charlotte has croquet skills!

Jared and my Dad giving Charlotte some pointers

Charlotte taking Naomi for a ride in the wagon

Charlotte and Naomi going for a ride. They both loved the wagon!

On the Saturday after Thanksgiving, we had Jared's family over to our house. It was my first time roasting a turkey so I was nervous, but it turned out great. For some reason it doesn't look browned enough in the picture, but in person it looked (and tasted!) delicious.

I love getting out the china! This was the first time we used every place setting (we had 13 adults and 6 kids/babies to feed)!

Mid-meal. Again, a TON of food!

We also got together with my mom's family, but the only pictures I took from that day were when we were playing the Wii "Just Dance" game, and I was given strict instructions that those pictures, as hilarious as they are, must remain private within the family :)

Super Cool Party People!

The girls party (a month and a half ago...) was so much fun. We invited the family and a few of the girls' friends from our home Bible study group at church. With a few friends and our big families, there were a ton of people here! It was a blast! The evening, in pictures...

Cupcakes and chocolate-covered marshmallows

Pom-pom garland

Naomi with her Auntie Mel, Toto, and Grammy

Charlotte, taking it all in... all the people, all the presents!

Princess Charlotte with her friend Princess Averie and cousin Prince James (with a pink scepter, poor thing. Welcome to the house of Girls!)

Minnie Mouse in the house! My sweet cousin, Mandy, volunteered (or maybe I begged her) to dress up as Minnie Mouse. We borrowed the dress from Kelly, a friend of mine from high school, who dressed up for her niece's party. Charlotte was beyond excited to see her favorite character! When she answered the door and saw Minnie there, she just kind of stared with a "Is she really here?!" look on her face. Priceless!

Charlotte, taking pictures with a Minnie camera, one of her presents

Having a blast digging into each present she was given

Naomi having a blast digging into her first cupcake!

Baby's first sugar!

"Minnie, can you believe this is the first sugar they've given me?!"

I'm still trying to get all the cake off her hands

Ella enjoying the cupcakes!

Sweet James with his Mama

Recap

It has been a ridiculously long time since I last posted. (Don't I start every blog post with a similar sentence?) We've been busy around here, as has everyone, I'm sure, with the holidays that came and went in a whirlwind. Jared took off a few days before Christmas and didn't have to go back in until January 3rd, so we had lots of family time. The little ones in the home don't allow for much "down time" so I kept telling Jared that he would be doing cartwheels out of the house come Monday morning. (He assured me no gymnastics were done).

Because it's been so long since I've posted, I've missed a few important events: Charlotte's 3rd birthday, Naomi's 1st birthday, the girls' combined birthday party (we had a celebrity here!), Thanksgiving, and Christmas. I feel like all of these need a post of their own, but I have yet to upload any pictures. And I know a post is hardly a post without any pictures (especially pictures of the girls), so then I just put off posting for another day. And that's how it's ended up being a month a half since I last shared what we've been up to, 'cause I know you're all dieing to know! Anyway, we're here and doing well. And for the grandmothers and those who only come here to see Charlotte and Naomi, I'll try to get some pictures up soon!