I didn't expect to have this conversation...

After preschool, McKenzie and I were playing on the floor together. Out of the blue, she started asking me questions about her body. Apparently, my three year old is anxious to get boobs, wear a bra, and feed a baby! Heaven help me!

Since she's still so young, we kept the conversation pretty basic. I told her that it's important for her to eat right, exercise and get lots of sleep so that one day she can become a woman too. She was intrigued by the thought that she could become a grown up woman, and wanted to know if boys could do the same thing. I explained that boys become men like daddy, and girls become women like mommy, which made her giggle with joy. Not wanting her to focus too much on it, I told her that she didn't need to worry too much about it because she still had lots of fun things left to do while she's still a child. Horrified, she stopped and yelled, "I'm not a child! I have hair! I am a mammal!"

Smell my miracles!

We've been enjoying a lot of outdoor time this week while the weather has been so nice.

On Tuesday we went to a farm to pick fresh asparagus and to a nursery to pick up some tomato and pepper plants. And yesterday we mucked out the flower beds, mowed the lawn, fixed a broken vent on the camp trailer, and (as much as I hate to admit it) finally took down the Christmas lights from our roof. The girls have absolutely enjoyed the fresh air and are loving the freedom spring has provided them.

Yesterday, McKenzie also helped me plant some dahlias and cana lillies for my mom. We had one of my all time favorite conversations:

McKenzie: I like to plant flowers!
Me: Me too. It's nice to get outside, isn't it?
McKenzie: Yeah. I like the sun. (pause) We're planting miracles, huh mom?
Me: (laughing) MIRACLES?
McKenzie: Yeah, I like to plant miracles. Then we can watch them grow! Just like Ruby!
Me: Ruby? From your tv show?
McKenzie: Yeah!
Me: Oh, sweetheart, Ruby planted marigolds! That's a type of flower.
McKenzie: Yeah, we're planting miracles, too.

I don't normally care for marigolds (too smelly!) but, needless to say, I don't think I can resist planting some this year!

First Word!

I'm sure you are not going to believe me, but Allison has started talking!

On Friday, I was eating a banana, and she was trying to get to it. I'd give her a little taste and say "banana" and after a few bites, she started repeating. Of course it was "anana", but I was shocked. I thought it was cute, but didn't quite think it counted as a first word.

But that night we put her in her high chair while we ate dinner. She kept eyeballing the food and crying out "ANANA! ANANA!" I hadn't yet told Cris about what I heard her say earlier in the day, so I was surprised when he told me that it sounded like she was asking for a banana! Then I started to wonder if she really was talking. We decided to see what happened the next day.

Sure enough, she kept it up! After work, I got out a banana, and she piped up right away. "Anana!" So, I decided to call it official! First word: April 17! She was 6 1/2 months old.

Now the word has changed to "nana" and it pretty much means "feed me"! So cute!

..........

Oh, and if you are wondering if I am feeling bad that her first word wasn't the traditional mama or dada, I'm not. I think it's incredibly fitting. First of all, food is her first love. She makes no attempts to hide it. I'm sure she'd dart into any strangers arms should he be holding a baby spoon.

Secondly, McKenzie didn't quite get it right either. Her first word was "mama", but thats what she called her daddy!

Feeling Thankful!

Yesterday was Allisons cardiology appointment at Primary Childrens. I had been dreading going since they had warned me that she'd need to be sedated for an echocardiogram. But, when we got there, they hooked her up to the EKG and the results were good enough they didn't need to go through with the echo! The doctor listened to her heart and said that there is still narrowing of the pulmonary valve, but its very mild. And the big surprise.... they don't need to see her until she's two years old! After that, they'll do an echo at 3 years old, and follow ups every three years from then on! Last visit they had told me that we'd need to be seen every 4 months for the rest of her life, so was I shocked! I had planned on being at the hospital for four hours, but it was only 20 minutes! I'm feeling very relieved... and very thankful!

The Soundtrack Of A Clean Bathroom

Today Allison went down for a real nap. Not one of her usual 15 minute cat naps, but a good, out for the count nap. AND McKenzie finished her lunch and ASKED if she could take a nap! At the same time! What the?! That left me with... what do you call it? FREE TIME! To like, actually get stuff done!

I had been lamenting over the sad state of my house, so I decided to dig it and get it cleaned up. I don't mind cleaning, but have to encorporate it with some good tunes. My zune mp3 player was dead, so I went to the bookshelf in our bedroom where we keep a lot of our CD's. I'm looking through it: Kansas, America, Skid Row, Bob Dylan, Guns and Roses, White Snake.... all Cris' music. I finally found Andrew Lloyd Webber. Perfect! But, when I opened the case up, it was empty. Ugh!

I can't say for certain, but I am pretty darn sure my husband hid it from me. A few weeks ago, I popped it into the CD player during a family house cleaning spree. McKenzie and I had a good time singing and play-dancing along to the Phantom of the Opera while we cleaned, but a very large vein was starting to pop out of Cris' forehead. As soon as I stepped out of the house to empty the garbage, my cd had been replaced with Bob Dylan. And I immediately turned off the music and ended the cleaning session. No matter how clean my house could have been, it was not worth the torture of Bo Jangles.

Somehow, all of my cd's end up getting packed up and sent down to the basement. Now, I'm not accusing anyone, but I know that I'm not doing it. And since there's a locked gate at top of the stairs, I'm pretty sure it wasn't the kids.

So, as I'm thumbing through the the stack of cd's, I come across the 1996 Grammy Nominee CD. We're talking: Seal, Hootie and the Blowfish, TLC, Alanis Morisette (angry Alanis, not the poetic one as of late) Brandy and Boyz II Men. Oh the memories!

I remember being in 8th grade, listening to this cd in my room while playing with my hair and make up. It was one of the first cd's I ever owned, and I totally thought I was cool. I'd sit and daydream about high school and boys and all sorts of foolish teenage girl stuff. Oh my.

So, here I sit, scrubbing the toilet and rocking out to Gangsta's Paradise. Honey, if the girls start quoting Coolio, it's not my fault. Blame the casper who keeps hiding my music! :)

Alli Poodle Monkey Bum

My dear, sweet little girl. Has it really been half a year already? Time seems to have flown by, but at the same time, I can't begin to imagine our lives without you. I have loved getting to know you and watching your personality develop.

Generally, you are a happy, easy going girl with lots of patience... until you see food. You love to experience new tastes and textures, and tend to protest loudly if the food isn't being offered to you fast enough. As soon as you smell dinner cooking, you make sure that the whole house doesn't forget about you.

One day, we decided to let you have a taste of a pickle, just to watch your expression and were surprised to see that you absolutely loved it! However, every time you taste mashed potatoes, you scrunch up your face like I'm feeding you something terribly sour. You are always surprising me like that.

You are getting very good with your hands, learning to pick things up, twist them and play with them. You always find a way to grab hold of my earrings, or yank on your sisters hair. But, the two of you have learned to play together, too. I started to cry the other day as I was driving while I listened to the two of you laughing together. You'd coo and babble, McKenzie would talk back to you and the two of you would break out into the biggest fit of laughter, over and over again. I hope the two of you continue to build a relationship of love and support for the rest of your lives.

You still aren't sleeping through the night yet. I know you could do it (because, you've proved it a few times) but I think that you love to cuddle so much, an entire night is too long to go without being squoze tight. I love the quiet time we get to spend together in the middle of the night. You are always so happy to see me; when I pick you up, you bounce in my arms in a little celebration! You have the sweetest coos when you talk to me at night - so soft and tender. Then, you doze off to sleep so softly and peacefully.

You have some of the most gorgeous eyes, just like your daddy. Everywhere we go, people stop to admire how big and beautiful they are. I ask that you keep them big and open - be aware of different experiences, new people, and change. Try new things, expand your horizons and explore. Remember that we love you and we will always be there for you, our beautiful, happy, sweet little girl.

They're going to cut my baby!

The night before last, McKenzie was up all night screaming. Mom diagnosis: double ear infections. Why these things never show symptoms until after the doctors office is closed, I'll never know! I think the nasty little germs have a stopwatch. They all gather around and chant "Insta-care closes in: 3... 2... 1... and ATTACK!"

I felt so bad for my poor little girl. She wiggled and writhed in pain. We gave her pain reliever, decongestants, put cotton in her ears, got out the heating pad. I tried everything I could remember doing as a child, and couldn't give her any relief. She would climb up on my lap and beg me to make it better, but when the relief never came, she'd run to her dad and do the same thing. Such a frustrating feeling when you can't help your own child.

I thought I had heard something about putting warm oil in an ear, but wasn't quite sure, so I turned to the handy internet. (What would I do without it?) I found three home remedies. Number one: put urine in her ear. Call me crazy, but I wasn't about to try it. A) sounds messy B)GROSS! C) infection + urine does not sound like a good combination. And I think that something that comes out of a body, probably came out for a reason and shouldn't go back in. Scratched that off the list.

Number two was warm olive oil. Again, it sounded a little messy, but I would have tried it, had it not been for option number three: hydrogen peroxide. I dipped two q-tips in the peroxide and put them in her ears. She didn't like it much, but after 30 seconds, she pulled them out and told us it didn't hurt anymore. She climbed in bed and didn't make a peep the rest of the night. I am totally adding that to my mommy book of tricks!

In the morning I took her to the doctors office. Just as I suspected, two ear infections. Pretty bad ones, in fact. Somehow, him saying that made me feel guilty, but I keep reminding myself that there were absolutely NO symptoms before she went to bed. Whatever I need to do to cope, right?

The doctor also checked out her throat. She normally has HUGE tonsils, but I had been noticing them getting bigger lately. I kept checking her for fever, sore throat, anything that might raise a flag, but nothing did. The doctor told me that they were getting too big, and he wanted them out. I asked if there was any infection or problem with them, but there's not. Just big ole tonsils - tonsillar hypertrophy. Something my mother in law tells me is a Dew Family trait. (THANKS, DEW FAMILY!)

The doctor worried that should she get an infection, the tonsils will swell to the point of completely blocking her airway. EEK! So, we've scheduled appointments with our first ENT. Tonsils should be yanked the first part of May. I still have mine, so I'm a little unsure what to expect. So, tell me, how bad will it be?

Vacation: The last few days

We spent the last few days on the boat enjoying some relaxation, taking in some shows, playing some games, and playing with the kids. McKenzie loved playing with the kids program the last few days, even if she refused to go the first few days. They played games, did crafts, had parades and parties, watched a circus and even played on a jungle gym. She was in heaven!

On Saturday, we got off of the boat in Los Angeles by 8:30am and rented a car (our flight home wasn't until 7pm) We had been looking for a place to waste a few hours that would entertain the kids. My brother suggested Knotts Berry Farm, and since I could get discounted tickets through my work, we decided to give it a try.

It took us a while to figure out there was an entire kids section (we wandered around all of the other rides first, telling a very sad and emotional McKenzie she was too small for each of them first. So sad) but once we got there, McKenzie loved it. She didn't have much sleep the night before and had a very busy week, so she was a little (okay, a lot) cranky. But we did manage to have a good time.

Her favorite was a big maze that had a bubble room in the middle of it. She came out drenched in bubbles and had to deal with wet shoes the rest of the day!

She also loved the bus ride. I took her once, but daddy had to ride at least 6 times!
And of course, a scrambler type ride.

After having such excitement and emotions, our ride home was not nearly as peaceful as the way there. Allison was exhausted and slept from takeoff to landing. McKenzie whined, argued and cried the ENTIRE flight home. Both mine and Cris' nerves were frazzled, and I'm sure a few other passengers as well. You could probably have heard us coming! To all of my fellow passengers, I am sorry. We tried our best! And considering the length and type of the trip, one meltdown day wasn't too bad, I suppose.

Anyway, it was a wonderful vacation. I loved being able to spend so much time with my family, my parents and my brother. Thank you mom and dad for the wonderful gift, we'll remember it forever!

Puerto Vallarta, part two

After we got back from the excursion (which I am told, made us rather smelly. Sea Lion poop?) the girls and Cris and my dad had just finished with their naps. We cleaned up and wandered off of the boat to see the city. Most of the attractions were a decent cab ride away, and after our Mazatlan experience we decided to just hoof it near the port. This city was much cleaner, modern and very nice. Heck, there was even a Wal-mart and Sams club next to our ship!

A view of our ship, the Norwegian Star

After all of McKenzies pirate talk all week, when I saw a guy dressed like one, I begged him to take a photo with us. You can't really see it, but he had the creepiest contacts in!

All tuckered out after a long day