My Valentine

This Valentine's Day I need to brag on my husband--
--I need to! He's so wonderful to me each day of the year, and this week exceptionally so!

I'm not good at buying myself stuff, I either do without or return 90% of whatever I get for myself. I love to give things to others, but I just don't do well getting things for me. But recently I've had some needs and wants, and my amazing husband has gone out of his way to provide those things. He's so generous and giving--and I don't mean just because he got me "stuff", I mean because he thought of me, my needs (and wants), and gave of his time/energy/finances to make it possible for those things to enter my world!

On Wednesday, after the kids' dr appointments, we went to TJ Maxx. Still on my hunt for the perfect diaper bag/purse (go HERE for that post), I browsed the handbag section with amazingly low prices! We narrowed our choices to 2, but neither of us were sure which would work out best. I don't only have to carry diapers & food for Josiah, but since Kyleigh's so limited in diet I often have to carry snacks & such for her, so lots of stuff. Chris suggested we buy both and at home we'd put our items inside and see which worked best. Seriously, he bought me 2 amazing bags to choose from! One was a tall tote, one was separated into 3 large compartments which would function well as a purse (having a real place for wallet, keys, etc rather than digging to the bottom of the tote for everything like I do now!). Both accomodated my needs, and were approx. same price, so I chose the one with compartments--a fabulous Nine West bag--great quality & cheaper than Walmart diaper bags!
What a steal!


I've needed a flat iron, too, but didn't want to just by any ol' cheap-o one...I've already acquired one of those. It does basically nothing for my hair, and that's sad 'cuz I have straight hair! Well, it's not curly or permed or anything, but it's become more wavy since Josiah was born, and since I keep it a short-to-medium length, it flips all over the place and annoys me so I have to keep getting it cut. Chris has shown interest in me growing it longer, so I knew a flat iron would help me keep my sanity during that process. But good ones are expensive, right? Sometimes the CHI can cost up to $200...but since I found one at 74% off, I got to order it and we called it my Valentine's Day gift. We don't really celebrate the heart-filled holiday, but it seemed like a good excuse for spending the money (oh, how I cringe at spending money on anything for me!). And since it arrived yesterday it was perfect timing!. Check out the difference in a quick 5 min. once-over on my wild hair:



Ya know the saying, "It's the thought that counts"? It's so true, I'm appreciative that he put so much thought into my gifts! He even gave me a V-Day card this morning before leaving for work! This is noteworthy because we typically don't celebrate this day, plus for any occasion he buys cards at the last-minute (like the day of!) and he was proud to tell me he'd had this card hidden for a week! LOL And even though we haven't celebrated Valentine's since we were engaged, I also had something planned for him. He's been wanting to store more music on his pda but has a tiny memory card, so I ordered him a 2-pack of 4 GB memory cards (8 Gigs...that should do the trick!). But sadly, it's arriving late so he won't get the gift until next week. Oh well, I'm sure his upcoming vacation will be a good distraction--
he works so hard and sooooo deserves the break!

Sharing Is Caring

This is a silly home video of my silly kids and silly hubby. Everyone was 'sharing'. Kyleigh would give Josiah an alphabet/number flashcard, and he'd hand it to Daddy (sitting on the bed above). This stirred up laughter, so then Kyleigh wanted to share with Daddy, too!

I ♥ my family

All Done!

One of Kyleigh's favorite phrases to say/sign is, "All done!",
and today she had a great occasion to exclaim it!


Today we had to take both kids to the pediatrician for their booster shots. Kyleigh's come in contact with soooooo many needles in her 2 years that she's not a fan of her medical appointments. She's also protective of Josiah, and not a fan of his medical appointments either! This morning's appointment went well, though, and we were
extremely proud of how well both kids did.

I didn't get any photos of the actual needle pricks (which I typically do during their appointments for the first year). None of Kyleigh, as she's obviously past her first year; plus I picked her up to view a mural (aka 'distraction') while the nurse quickly stabbed her thigh! She cried and said,
"Solly, I solly", which is toddler speak for, "Sorry, I'm sorry." Sometimes she says sorry to apologize when she feels she's done wrong, and other times she says it to say that someone's hurting her (like when I'm brushing her hair and snag a tangle, she's reminding me to say "sorry" when it hurts!). We assured her she'd done nothing wrong and the sweet nurse apologized for hurting her, plus gave her a cool sticker to help coax the return of her smile.

No pics of Josiah's needle prick either, as it was just a quick booster shot, not a real pediatric appointment. Plus, the nurse poked JoJo (being held on his daddy's lap)
as I was consoling KyKy.

I did, however, get photos of our happy kids as we left the office! Kyleigh was so excited, as the nurse told her that she needed NO MORE SHOTS until age 4! That's 2 years...she's had enough poking and prodding in the past two, so as parents Chris and I were tremendously thrilled for her! There was cheering and clapping, Chris and I both started to get teary-eyed -- this was wonderful news for our tiny princess.


Josiah cried for only a couple seconds. He was mostly stunned and/or offended by the needle prick surprise from the otherwise kind nurse, but then he was totally fine. He was done being upset before his big sister, who'd gone first!
Siah's such a strong little man!

Hopes For This Week

This week I hope:

*that the clothes I ordered online for Chris fit well so I don't have to make any returns---AmAzInG deals!

*that the CHI flat iron we got at 74% off will work perfectly
(I ♥ SAVING!)

*that the flat iron keeps my crazy hairdo tolerable so I can grow out my lovely long locks again (per hubby's request!)

*I don't break another toe or burn another blister into my finger as I've done this weekend ~sigh~

*that our already tidy house gets a phenomenal
"Spring Cleaning", for I love a good overhaul!

*that I finish my list of things to pack & prepare
for our upcoming vacay

*that I'll stay focused on my Bible study & stay ahead!

*that I'll cut back on the caffeine that's kept me going
(crazy week = amplified caffeine-intake!)

*that we'll squeeze in some fun family time--I don't know where we'll steal that time from, but I hope it happens!

2 Cute Dates Friday Night!

Yesterday was one of those days where things were just a little off, ya know? Neither of my kids napped very long (which is very unlike them!), their eating schedules were totally wacky, and every time I tried to get them ready to leave the house, something came up.

Someone called.
I changed the infant's diaper.
The toddler got halfway dressed then played hide & seek.
As I dressed the infant, he dirtied his fresh diaper.
When I grabbed for a new diaper, the infant crawled away.
I then finished dressing the toddler, minus shoes.
I fixed up the infant and finally managed to
get him tied down safely buckled into his car seat/carrier!
I got shoes on the toddler, and out the door we finally went!
*I mention all this because it's such a contrast from the kids' typically mellow ways in conjunction with my typically efficient efforts--it must have been a full moon or something 'cuz these two were all over the place!

Since others were out enjoying the day as well, we arrived at a halfway-crowded park, but fortunately people started heading home within minutes and there was no wait for swings! We didn't stay long, as the sun was trying to set and I didn't want to be a target for after-dark creeps in the park!

This was Josiah's first big boy swing at the park, and he enjoyed it! He wasn't as giggly as I'd anticipated he might be, but he surely smiled and had fun! Kyleigh had a blast, as usual! Hopefully our nice weather will continue and Daddy will get to join us for some slides and merry-go-rounds soon!


"Look Mom, no hands!"

Such an adventurous spirit!
When she wasn't being a dare-devil, Kyleigh kept a close eye on Josiah, making sure he felt ok in the big boy swing!

Josiah was fine, he had fun!
Me with my 2 cute dates on Friday night!

Highs and Lows This Week

I didn't get around to posting "Highs and Lows" last week.
For those of you so riveted and captivated by my blog entries that you were sitting on the edge of your seats last week eagerly awaiting my recap--so sorry! Since that was likely nobody, I'll move on now...

Low for the week:

Migraines are back. I've been nauseated, had nose bleeds, and lost vision in one eye for short interludes. The multiple vision-loss experiences, though temporary, were scary.

High for the week:

We are getting a break later this month--leaving town and enjoying some family time. We don't get away often,
so this will be a real treat!

Holding Hands

Like my kids, my brother and I are 18 months apart in age (however, in our situation he's the older bro and I'm the younger sis). I've heard stories of our infant/toddler stages, during which we apparently held hands and enjoyed one another's company. Somewhere after that stage, though, he and I didn't always like each other too much until adulthood!

KyKy and Siah are such opposites--she's independent, he's anything but! Kyleigh enjoys teaching her brother to use toys (even if he's already a pro at the particular toy, she tries to teach anyway, plus she teaches him to movements like 'shake', 'twist', etc) and loves helping him any way she can
(like earlier today when he was too lazy to
hold his own sippy cup, she held it for him!).

They're also similar in some random ways, though. I have found some old pics of Kyleigh playing in similar ways to Josiah at approx. the same age...here are some photos of each at about 7 months old playing "phone". They both luv it when we use the real phone to call Daddy at work or they sometimes leave surprise messages for Auntie Milla or Grandma & Grandpa! Notice they both balance the phone on their shoulder? They learned multitasking from Mommy!

(KyKy playing "phone" 7 mo)

(Josiah playing "phone" 7 mo)

Kyleigh and Josiah like each other soooo much, and every single time they're buckled into their neighboring car seats, they hold hands. It's so sweet. I don't remember that stage with my bro...I only recall the poking and pushing and yelling which caused our parents to react with a harsh glance to the backseat of the car in conjunction with the threat of,
"Don't make me come back there!". Sure, someday I could be shooting behavior-correcting glances toward my kids in the back seat, but for now I'm just jealous that I must drive and can't "come back there" to sit between those lovable kiddos!


If we had a third child, they wouldn't all fit in one row of car seats, so I guess we'd then have to have a fourth child so they could hold hands two-by-two. Is that a good reason for me to have 2 more kids??? Maybe not! But seriously, if you saw their yummy sweetness, you'd think it, too!
I hope my kids will be holding hands forever!