Stroller Strides, Park Picnic, Zoo and Derby!

Goodness, we need a weekend to recover from our weekend!

On Thursday I took Madeline to Stroller Strides. A friend of mine is opening a franchise here in Louisville so she practiced on Danielle and I. Hudson and Madeline thought it was hilarious that Danielle and I were singing and working out around them.

I had hurt my foot earlier in the week getting off the couch (because I'm 30) so I hadn't been to Pure Barre all week.

I felt like this all during class.

Because I was lazy all week I turned it on during Stroller Strides.

I'm the one flying up the hill in the pic. Hilarious.

After the class, we let the kids play at the park.

On Friday morning, tia and I took the girls to KGA for Open Gym. 

Sydney patiently watched sissy do the rope and then she HAD to do it.

She LOVED it. 

Friday night we got pizza and ate in one of the Norton Commons Parks with Rolfe and Soley.

Sydney and Mya laughing at each other in the wagon!

Saturday I took the littles to the zoo with my parents.

This girl was feeling extra sassy!

They have a very cool Lego exhibit with all kinds of Lego creatures. 

Getting a boost to see the elephants.

Maddie desperately wanted to ride the train even though there was a long line. So, I got the girls some dippin' dots while we waited. 

Sydney refused to take a picture. She just kept stealing ice cream.

Fun morning!

After a rest, we headed to Kyle and Danielle's for the derby. Maddie had no clue what the derby was but she picked her horse by his outfit. (Obviously, she chose pink.) And, her horse came in second! 

She was JAZZED cheering him on. 

Best buddies!

Sunday, we did church and lunch after.

Chris was getting on Sydney because she was hanging over the table trying to get the attention of the people who were sitting being us. She was laughing at him.

This girl. 

I am pretty certain that she will be my first kid to break a bone. She's so brave. Scares me to death.

Then, there's this one. Who is begging to wear make-up (no, but I do allow a tiny bit of lip gloss on occasion), paints her own nails and refuses to wear tennis shoes. Because, she thinks she's a teenager, I guess.

Love my kiddos!

Life Lately

Life lately has been....a bunch of sickness it seems! I am washing my kids hands AROUND THE CLOCK in hopes of phasing this crud out of my house!

Sydney's diet, sleeping and behavior are pretty much back to normal, but she's still got a little junk in her lungs. We've been doing a few breathing treatments to clear her up. She actually really enjoys Mr. Seal and even holds her mask now.

Super daddy. He's got a head cold here but he let me go for my GNO this week. We went to Wild Rita's (loved it!) and then had ice cream after at Comfy Cow.

 When dinner isn't enough time, you have dessert! Love these girls and celebrating life's milestones with them. Next up: Carla gets married and Lauren runs a marathon!

Mercedes got her diploma and framed it.

 

I got the water table out yesterday and the girls played in it forever. I mean seriously over an hour. Considering my kids are able to color, do stickers, paint, play blocks and play kitchen all before 9 am on most days, this was a real treat!

Notice Stella sprinting away here. Maddie kept shooting her with her water sprayer. It was hilarious. Stella loved the attention.

And a couple of pics I forgot to post last week. When Sydney was at the hospital Maddie had some 1x1 with her grandparents and made the most of it!

Our little Sydnado makes it kind of difficult to block build...she just likes knocking them down and then laughing. So, Maddie got a good tower in this day!

And, my dad sent me this from a few weekends ago.

 

Hard to say if the girls favor each other yet. The no hair thing makes it impossible. :) Sydney girl...WHERE IS YOUR HAIR?! I typically don't think they look alike until I look at Madeline's baby pictures. Then they kind of do. We will just have to see!!

Happy Derby Weekend!!

Daddy Runs Another Mini-Marathon!

Chris ran his second mini-marathon in 6 months this weekend. He ran 13.1 miles (half was in the rain) and did awesome!

It was gross out so I didn't take the girls with me. My neighbors joined me and we met up with Danielle to cheer on the runners. We had made posters on Friday so we held up the posters and shouted for the guys as they passed. He's in all black here at the 9th mile marker. I didn't get his running partner, Dave, in the pic. They shaved more than one minute per mile off their time from October. 

Daddy is already planning his next race--he's a running machine!

On Friday, I took the girls to the science center at Madeline's request.

The girls had a great time!

Sydney is obsessed with water fountains. Which is probably why her body is obsessed with croup. EW.

We are SO CLOSE to getting her all the way in a bubble. She works on her technique every time.

Friday night we went to the Great Balloon Race with tia. She was in her element at Bowman Field. This is where she flies out of, so she is here a lot. She also passed her written portion of her Pilot's License test on Friday. BIG STUFF. Now she has her oral component and I will have a sister who is a pilot. (CRAZY, right?)

 Maddie was very into the balloons. Sydney was very into her yogurt. 

Group shot!

This is the plane Mercedes flies the most. Next up: 747's! 

Saturday, daddy had his race in the morning. We went to church that night and came home with some friends to celebrate the mini. Pizza party!

I had a great picture of the two runners - I thought - but it came out blurry when I looked at it. Boo.

Sunday we did some errands.

We ran into Hudson at Lowe's!

Then grabbed some Qdoba!

Then, we let the littles burn off steam.

Sunday night we grilled out with nana and grandpa! Yummy.

What a great weekend!

I spoke too soon.

I thought we had turned a corner on our little sick Sydney. We had a great weekend! Monday morning she woke up at 5:30 crying. This is unusual for her because she's my late sleeper. I went in her room and she had some serious breathing issues going on. She was also croup coughing. We got her calmed down and she was still doing this really weird high pitched whistling breathing. I got dressed and took her to Kosair. 

We were taken straight back and she was given a diagnose of croup (again) but this time with stridor. 

 She was pretty happy so it was weird that she was breathing so funny. The ER doc was concerned and said she had to get a breathing treatment of Racemic Epinephrine. (For moms of nebulizer kids, this is not Albuterol....totally different). IF her stridor rebounded within 2 hours we were going to get admitted downtown.  

She took the oral steroid and then was given the breathing treatment. And trust me, she made the respiratory therapist WORK for that treatment. She was kicking and screaming and the "four minute" treatment took about 20 minutes.

 After the breathing treatment, she was MAD. But it was amazing. Her stridor was completely gone. We were under observation for 2 hours (we watched Aladdin on tv and snuggled) and there was no rebound so we got to go home!

She's been coughing a lot (not croup cough) and hasn't been eating like herself, but overall she's been pretty good. Some fussy moments but honestly I've been surprised at how quickly that medicine improved things. And no fever! Weird, weird. The ER staff told me they have seen some back to back croup cases and some kids just get it more than others. Madeline has never had it! My kids are so different...they even get sick differently! 

Tuesday night, Chris was out with a client so we did a little trampoline jumping.

 Tia bouncing Maddie up and down. 

On stay-at-home-mama day, the girls painted their nails. 

 Maddie loves painting her nails. It's a bit messy but all of the polish she gets on her skin washes away pretty easily. I tried to do Sydney's feet for her but she demanded she do it. I gave her a little q tip with some paint on it and she thought it was so fun being like Maddie. 

Maddie had dance on Wednesday so the girls had a little play time before.

Sydney loves swinging!

Weekend Recap: Pottery Painting and a Group Hug

We kicked off the weekend with a big girls outing on Friday AM. Little Sydney went to nana's and Maddie and I headed out with tia, grandma, great-grandma and aunt Cheryl.

We started with lunch outside on Main Street at Manny and Merle.

Because there is nothing we love more than fresh guacamole and tacos!

We got a little silly while we waited for our food.

Next, we headed to Louisville Stoneware for Paint Your Own Pottery. We had a great time! We donne some art smocks and then picked out our pieces. Maddie got a bowl and I picked a flowerpot. She picked out her colors and got to work.

 

 We were all laughing, talking, having fun and Mercedes was very seriously just painting her flower pot. It's hard to see her drawing here, but suffice it to say, she will have the best piece once they get fired.

Once Maddie painted her bowl, I had her paint her hands and put her hand prints all around my flowerpot. After we painted, we all took a tour of the factory and got to see how the pottery gets made, starting with the rocks. It was actually really interesting. We get to pick up our pieces next week, and I can't wait to see how they turn out.

It was a long fun day!

 

 Sydney had a great day with nana and grandpa! 

On Saturday, Chris met up with his friend Dave for a 10 mile run. He's running in the mini next weekend and has really been training hard. While he was out, I was playing battle of the wills with Sydney. She insisted on eating her breakfast like this.

Every time I told her to sit down she laughed. Goodness, she's fiesty. I do love her spirit, even if it scares me.

On Saturday night, we went over to Dan and Sherri's house for a cook-out with them and Megan and Jon. It was so much fun. Rolfe, Soley and Maddie played and played and played. They ran around until they were red in the face. 

Taking a break for dinner!

I looked down and saw Jalen and Mya sharing a chair. They were so cute.

At one point, Sydney's shoe fell off and Jalen tried to help her with it. They worked on it for a solid ten minutes but couldn't get it. So sweet.

The kids had so much fun playing together and us parents had great conversation and fun too. Before we left, Rolfe shouted "GROUP HUG!" and the three big kids hugged. I loved it.

Sunday morning, we headed to church and did some errands after. The girls at the Cabela's fish tank.



It rained pretty much all day Sunday so we primarily hung out at home.

We painted some noodles and plan to make necklaces and bracelets tomorrow. I gave Sydney a paint with water book but she wasn't having any of that. Since Maddie had real paint, she had to have it too. She wound up with a painted belly and face. Fun times!

Another Day, Another Ear Infection

Sydney has an ear infection. I could actually see it without my otoscope. We were at lunch with my mom and sis and I noticed she had some dried gunk outside of her ear. So I went to peek inside and, plain as day, there was an ear infection oozing out. A quick trip to the ped (I'm thinking about asking for a bedroom in the office FOR REAL) for confirmation and a prescription for $200 ear drops. That's with insurance, people. 

 

 Playing in the waiting room.

She had no symptoms because the tubes were working, draining the fluid out. No fever, and was a happy camper. That's not say she wouldn't have developed more pain, so ear drops it was. We have had our share of ear infections but I'm so grateful the girls tubes seem to be working to minimize the pain they used to get with them. Maddie is down to just one tube, but seems to be on the end of ear infections. Praying for a healthy summer!

Since Sydney had no symptoms we had spent Wednesday morning playing. We were killing time before a store opened and wound up at a park.

Maddie totally didn't have practical shoes on but she played hard anyways!

WORN OUT!