More haircuts

Both S and I had our hair cut on Thursday. S went back to Walmart and got a good cut (Peggy is the manager there and did a good job). I went to another salon. Here we are looking fabulous! I don't think we've all had haircuts this close together before. We should get a family picture taken while we're looking well groomed!




Cutie Pie did not get a haircut (although V asked when her turn was) but I thought I'd include a picture of her. Notice her sisters are teaching her how to accessorize with a sequined purse. Where did we find such a perfect sized baby purse? It's actually from Build-A-Bear. The little bows you get for the bears are perfect for kid hairstyles as well. I used them for V's pigtails all the time!

V's haircut

After our very sucessful trip to the gym on Monday, Cutie Pie fell asleep so I decided to take V in for a trim. She was getting pretty shaggy and she wouldn't let me touch her hair so I took her to the Walmart salon. Here is her new look....

Yes, sadly her hair was longer on the one side than the other (serves me right for going to Walmart I guess) but I fixed that tonight. I really like how you can see her face better.


Just for fun here's a before picture of her long hair...

S will be getting a haircut soon as well. School pictures are next week and we need to look our best!

Gym!

A little background....I'm one of those people that really likes to go to the gym. I feel SO much better when I go. It gets us out of the house and the kids love to go play. S was really upset when she started school that she couldn't go to the gym anymore. I've been known to go pretty far to get to a gym. In PA I actually drove 30 miles each way. Yes, I'm a little obsessed.

This summer was really hard on me because I couldn't go to the gym due to C being too young. I just about went crazy with all the long boring days at home. So once school started I was excited to get back into my routine. I only went once and C cried and cried and I had to leave after 15 minutes. I was rather discouraged. Then I had my gallbladder problem so I was out for another 3 weeks.

However, I went on Monday and again today and I was able to stay an entire hour! This is very exciting for me. I'm already feeling much better and I realized how much I missed going. Things are looking up!

Summer Flashback

Here are some pictures from the summer. It still feels like summer here (we're still in the 90's) but alas the first day of fall is fast approaching.

Here's a picture from C's blessing in July. We had lots of family in town to celebrate with us.

We all went to Seattle on July 23rd and L stayed for the week. The girls went to Build-A-Bear and made some new friends. V finally got her own Hello Kitty (she would steal S's) and S got a pink 'kisses' bear.

Just because she's cute here's a pic of C...

The girls took swimming lessons while we were up in Seattle. S was terrified of the water due to an incident last year. We were visiting some friends in NY and S backed up and fell into their pool. She made amazing progress over just one week and was able to swim with her face in the water when the class ended. Now she bobs under water in the tub during her bath. It's so fabulous that she's not as afraid.

V also enjoyed the swimming class. She was swimming all on her own. By the end of the week she was actually jumping off the diving board. Unfortunately the video footage was erased so all I have left are these pictures. (A sad tale- the video tape ended up in my suitcase coming home and apparently the tape was wiped clean when it went through security).

Every year we try to go kayaking. S and V went with Grandpa. As they were pulling out S said (in her best pirate voice) "Arrr mateys. On to the lilly pads." And away they paddled. They were gone for quite awhile, and had a great time.

One last Mariner's game before we headed home. It was Raul Ibanez bobblehead night. The girls got their fill of popcorn, cotton candy and pizza. Yum!

So glad to be back home. 3 girls in the bed and the little one said....

That's the end. Thanks for watching!

Spiderman

V is obsessed with Spiderman, I'm not sure why. The funny thing is that she's terrified of actual spiders. There was a spider in their room and you would've thought one of them was being attacked the way they were screaming. She has been semi interested ever since the third movie came out this past Spring. She likes the commercials for the toys. There is a small plush toy of some kind and of course the web hands that throw spider webs and water.

Part of her obsession also may stem from the Birthday Express catalogs we get in the mail. Whenever one arrives S and V get so excited. They look through it, pull out pages and cherish the pages of the selected party theme. S of course likes the Princess party and now she also likes Bratz. V likes Dora and Backyardigans and now Spiderman. I try to explain that local stores carry all such party paraphanelia (I don't want to order it from a catalog and have to pay shipping) but it's more exciting in the catalog.

Anyway, V wants to have a Spiderman birthday party and talks about it all the time. Her birthday is in April so I have to listen to this for the next several months. I think I can manage that- some plates and cups and even a red and blue cake with 'bugs on top' (as she says).

However, I'm having a bit of a problem with her dressing up as Spiderman for Halloween. I'm not really sure why I'm so resistant to it. I try to be open minded and let them play with whatever they want but I don't really want her to be Spiderman. I don't mind getting lots of dresses and jewelry and slippers to play with because with 3 girls I know they'll get lots of use. But will anyone play with Spiderman? Maybe that's a lame excuse. I just don't know. Any thoughts?

4 months!

Our Cutie Pie turned 4 months old today! At her check up she weighed 13 pounds 15 ounces which is the 50% for weight. She is 25.5 inches long which is the 90% for height. Both S and V were in the same percentiles at the same age. She had to get 2 more combo vaccines. It's great because it used to be 4 different shots, now it's only two.

Yes, that's right- Cutie Pie is sucking her thumb! Despite my best efforts she likes her thumb. She actually pulls out the pacifier and pops in her thumb. I'm not real excited to have to go through this again. S still sucks her thumb at night. Oh well. It's cute for now.

Relapse

We had another incident with V over the weekend. We were at a ward activity and apparently V bit another little girl, her friend, M. I was really upset that she got violent with another child. Not to mention that M's mom took V last Monday when I wasn't feeling good so the kids could play together. Plus she got S from school and brought us dinner. How do I repay her? My daughter bites her daughter. Not good. We made V apologize and she had to sit with L for a little while. V did cry so I think something got through (at least she wasn't laughing). There were no witnesses to the event and there wasn't an actual mark on M but something happened and I'm not happy about it.

This is a line that hasn't been crossed before with my kids. S would defend herself if provoked and would hit back but she never bit, especially in public. I'm not really sure what to do about it. V was fine in nursery on Sunday but I don't know how to stop her from acting so violent. She was acting up again last night at home and when I got upset she just laughed at me. She's going to drive me over the edge, I can tell already.

Better Behavior

V has been much better than she was on Wed. (Of course it helped that she was gone most of Thurs. at pre-school). She was crying and didn't want to go to school but she was fine once I left. When we picked her up she told me she was crying because she misses me and C when she's gone. It was sweet. It almost made up for her antics of Wed; almost.

I think V is still adjusting to being a middle child. Sometimes she wants to be big and wants to do things by herself but other times she says she's little and wants to be a baby. Going to school is still pretty new so I think she's trying to figure out how to deal with all the changes in her life. At least that's what I tell myself to help survive this phase!

V is for Vicious

V is being terrible today! I'm not sure exactly what the problem is but she's being naughty. V likes to disagree, often just for the sake of disagreeing. She had an argument about the color purple with a friend of hers recently. Purple is her favorite color but if she's in a bad mood she'll yell and argue that she hates purple.

Anyway, V has been chasing her older sister, S, around the house growling at her, trying to hit her and trying to bite her. When V sees how scared and upset S becomes V just laughs and continues. V wanted ice cream instead of dinner and when I said no she slammed the freezer. Then she yelled at me while she hit my arm and then crumpled onto the floor when I tried to make her sit on her bed. I can't pick her up just yet (still recovering) so she wasn't really punished for that little display.

I have decided (yet again because I forgot the first time) that 3 is my least favorite age. They're old enough to know better yet still test you. I don't mind the tantrums and shenanigans of the terrible twos as much as I dislike the arguing and defiance of being 3.

School lunch

Today was the day that Grandparents were invited to have lunch at the school S attends. Since we don't have any grandparents close by I went and took V and C. We got lunch at Sonic (they were SO slow today) and met S for lunch. We were a little late due to the slowness of getting the food. A good time was had by all, C enjoyed herself much more when she got out of the stroller. S likes to show off her younger sisters to her classmates.

I found out that when the kids talk too loud during lunch as a punishment they have to sit boy-girl-boy-girl. I thought that was funny. They were pretty quiet today (so we were told) with all the adults there.

Since there isn't much else going on with me recovering, I think I will post some pictures from our summer adventures. The only place I've been is to school and back and that has only been since yesterday.

Small World

We went to the Rangers/Mariners game back on Aug. 24th in Arlington, TX. We dressed C in a pink Mariners outfit (thanks Grandma and Grandpa!) and had lots of fun. As we were sitting there before the game started this guy (in the blue shirt) came down and said hello. Joel is a good friend of L's from high school who lives in Dallas. Keep in mind that L went to HS in a small town in Eastern Washington and his friend was sitting 2 rows behind us at a baseball game in Texas. Crazy.


Below is a picture of the sign I made with my fun new scrapbooking toy. An announcer for the Mariners gives away french fries at every home and away game and this was our attempt to get fries and get on tv. (See here for a story about the fries.) Sadly we didn't get either. Oh well, we had lots of fun anyway.

Rolie Polie

C started rolling over a couple days ago! Now when you put her on her back she flips right over to her tummy. She has preferred being on her tummy since she was born. As you can see she is quite pleased with herself.


Here she is in action......

Football is Fun!

L is a big sports fan and as he was watching Sports Center this morning our 6 year old had the following conversation with him:

S: Why do you like football dad?
Dad: Because it's fun.
S: Strawberry Shortcake is fun.
Dad: (thinking) That's true.
S: Girls like girl things and boys like boy things. Football is for boys.
She walks away.

Poor L, no one to share his passion for football with just yet. Maybe V or C will be interested when they get older. However, S likes to cheer for the Cowboys. Why is that? It's not just to annoy L (although it does sometimes). It's not because we live in Texas (we're still die hard Seattle sports fans). That's right- she loves them for their uniforms. She likes the stars on their helmets, she thinks they're pretty. Oh boy.

Recovering

I had my surgery this morning and all went well. I'm pretty sore and tired but I feel SO much better than I did a week ago. I'd much rather be sore than as sick as I was.

And no- I did not keep my stones. I never even saw them. To be honest I'm not sure that I would to. Good riddance.

Nothing else to report for now. I'll probably be posting a lot over the next few days as I recover. Thanks for all the well wishes!

Stones

Gall stones that is. Who knew such little things could cause such awful pain. I'll spare ya'll the gory details but on Thursday afternoon I had some terrible pain. Worse than being in labor pain (I had V w/o any pain meds so I know of which I speak). I remember muttering something about it feeling like my insides were being torn apart. As I lay on the floor writhing in pain while my hands, feet and even my face went numb I remember wondering if that's what dying felt like. I really wished I would've just passed out. Once the paramedics arrived and gave me oxygen I relaxed a little and the feeling returned.

Long story short my gall bladder is full of gall stones and I need to have it removed- soon. The added bonus of gall bladder problems is that is also causes flu like symptoms so I've felt pretty miserable. I see a surgeon on Tues. so hopefully I can get this taken care of quickly.

Despite all that I feel very blessed. L came home early on Thurs. because I was sick and was here when I had my episode. He was able to call the paramedics and send the kids to the neighbors. My mother-in-law is here visiting and was able to extend her trip to help out. They were able to diagnose me in the ER so I don't have to wait around wondering what's wrong with me. It could have been so much worse.

Never a dull moment, that's for sure!