I’m So Glad When Daddy Stays Home

A couple weeks ago Billy had his spring break. Now a lot of people think that whenever the kids are out of school Billy doesn’t go to work….WRONG! Any days Billy takes off are his vacation days. He is employed by the church, not the school district (which I love by the way). Billy worked the first couple days of the week and took Wed, Thurs, and Fri. off. The girls LOVED it!

This particular day was spent just chillin’ at home. The days are beautiful right now and the girls had a blast washing the car and getting wet.

Playing Babies

This is my post. That’s it. It’s 10:45 p.m. and I have 2 babies still awake…now I’m “playing babies:”…ha

Breakfast and 2 Little Girls

Ryan and Dani love circle bread (bagel) with cream cheese. I had to snap this cute picture of them snugging in the blanket while eating breakfast one morning.
Breakfast in the Blair home is different from what I ate growing up. I remember almost always eating cereal for breakfast every morning. I still love cereal and a bowl of Total is what I usually eat every morning (since I discovered it’s high nutrition content it’s what I’ve eaten ever since I’ve been pregnant with Ryan). For Ryan and Dani it’s usually circle bread, kids cliff bar, fig bars (they have these fig bars at Costco and Ryan LOVES them), fruit, cereal, and pancakes/waffles.
Dani and Ryan make waking up so enjoyable…although it would be nice if Dani slept past 6:30 sometimes...the girl is too used to waking up early on preschool days. Oh I wish she would sleep in a little on the other days...I sure would love it. 
On a side note, I’m still doing the wellness challenge. It’s definitely a challenge, but I’m sticking with it. I think the hardest thing is no sugar and no eating past 8 pm. I love to snack and eat a bowl of cereal in the evening…it’s hard, but somehow I cope. 

Blister, Rashes, and a Fever

The sickness continues at the Blair home. I can't stand it. I don't even know where we've picked up all the sickies...oh wait, I have a husband who teaches seminary and interacts with close to 200 students a day.

Now I have a confession..it's not even a bad confession. I am a germ phobe. I hate germs. I do everything possible to prevent illness. My children go to their well child check-ups exactly when scheduled. They get the recommended flu shot every year. I love their pediatrician...and as a side note, he has a pretty fond interest in Billy's job too...it's so funny. Whenever we come home from the grocery store, park, church, etc. they immediately wash hands before playing with toys. My preschoolers wash hands when they first arrive and after snack. And for the most part, we stay really healthy. We rarely get sick. That's why when this streak of sickness has been going on it's been driving me crazy!

I felt just about 100% yesterday and was looking forward to the rest of the week and us all feeling good. Yesterday afternoon at about 4 I was getting ready to load up the girls and head to Costco for some much needed grocery shopping (Because of the flu I hadn't been to the grocery store since last week). It was then that I noticed a blister like thing under Ryan's left eye. I'm no dr., so I called the girls dr. to get some advice as to what I should do about it and if I should be concerned. They asked if I could be there in 20 min. for her to see Dr. Mike. I immediately left for the dr. Dr. Mike came in and within 30 sec. said she had strep. He then pointed out several other key signs of strep: her whole face looked kinda swollen, she had a rash all over her neck, tummy, and behind her ear. Her tonsils were slightly red. She had a rash in the front on her lower abdomen (looked like a bright red band). AND she had a fever. Goodness, I felt stupid (although he said the rash appears suddenly). I was grateful I followed my motherly intuition to take her in. We caught it early so she hasn't ever been in a lot of pain and the rash itself is not contagious...it's simply a sign of strep I guess. She started amoxicillin last night and today the rash already looks a lot better. The fever is gone too. I'm so grateful for Dr. Mike and his medical expertise...and good medicine.

Now, to keep Billy, Dani, and Me from getting it. I'm hoping by tomorrow we're all feeling better so we can enjoy the weekend! On another note, today I treated myself and am using my sugar day...I ate some cookies earlier and about to dig into a danish Billy bought at Costco yesterday...I think I deserve a little something sweet for all the not so sweet things that have been going on this week.

Ryan’s Birthday! 2/23

1 sick day turned into 2…it’s hard to feel better when you have 2 kids and a husband is works everyday. But, today I’m feeling almost 100%. So, onto Ryan’s special day!

Ryan turned 4 almost a month ago. She was so excited about her big birthday and I was giddy too…I love seeing the excitement and happiness on their faces. Ryan was extra happy because her Grandma Donna and Grandpa Pyper were here for her birthday party. Since both sets of grandparents live in CA, it’s rare to have them around for birthdays and holidays. We love when they come to visit.

Along with cousins and grandparents here, we also had our neighbors over. Our friends the Burnham's also helped celebrate. L-R: Ryan, Madilyn, Eliza.

Everyone teases Ryan about what “scary” toy her daddy got her for such and such. A couple Christmases ago it was a monster guy thing. This birthday included these sharks and killer whale. Ryan has loved learning about animals and has taken to sharks (She loves Soul Surfer movie) so this present was very appropriate and gladly received.

To counter her “scary” toy she got a Disney princess wardrobe set that includes Disney princess dress up for: Cinderella, Belle, Jasmine, Rapunzel, and Ariel. She loves it!

The cake she hand picked out at Costco.

Dani: THE GIRL LOVES BALLOONS!

My sweet Ryan…totally exhausted after a long day of fun! Ryan is such a sweet little girl and so smart. She knows all her letters and the sound each makes (with exception of 3-4). She is a good big sister to Dani and great helper to mommy. She is still by far a Daddy’s girl. I love you so much Ryan!

Sickies

So technically today is a free day for me because I'm sick! I avoided getting sick all winter, but, it struck me today and it doesn't not feel good. I don't remember the last time I had the flu...it's been a long time. It all started last Friday with Ryan throwing up all over the bathroom floor. Saturday was spent mopping all my floors (90% of my home is tiled so it's a big process). I felt great Saturday night having nice clean floors and a clean house. Sunday went about normal. Monday morning I was working out and near the end of my workout Dani wakes up crying hard. I thought she had lost her bite (pacifier) and/or had a bad dream. As I walked near her bedroom there was a horrible stinch and to my horror there was vomit all in her bed...not fresh vomit....dried in her hair vomit. The poor girl must have thrown up in the middle of the night and didn't cry because I didn't hear a peep from her all night. I felt so bad that she had slept in that nasty smell all night long. After getting Dani cleaned and all her bedding washed my sister's kids showed up. It's their spring break this week so I had all 3 of them from 8-4. The day went well...Dani had a couple BAD blowouts in her diaper causing 2 more loads of laundry (1 during nap time). But no more throwing up and just a very low grade fever.

I was really looking forward to Billy coming home and some relief from my hectic day. Billy came home alright...home and straight to bed because he felt sick. At 11:00 that night I finally had the house picked up, kitchen cleaned, preschool prep ready, and I went to bed.

Today I woke at 6:00 (I get Dani up early on preschool days so she'll nap during preschool) and instantly didn't feel 100%. I managed to get through preschool and even dentist appt. for me and Ryan (we made them 6 mo. ago and I didn't want to reschedule). Billy has been awesome and let me sleep and lay on the couch all evening. So that's that. I'm going back to the couch....and hoping that I feel a lot better tomorrow.

What’s Cookin’?

Here are my little sous chefs? Ryan has always loved to cook and well, Dani…she loves to do whatever Ryan is doing so she’s loving it too! This particular night we were making Shrimp Enchiladas. I love that almost every time I step into the kitchen and start pulling items out of the fridge and cupboards Ryan will almost always ask what I’m cooking and if she can help. She then proceeds to get the little white stool we have in the bathroom so she can stand a little higher. This day included aprons and the black toy box pulled over to act as a stool for both girls.

Dani is 18 mo. and really starting to be able to play with Ryan. Ryan is so good to her and I love watching them play together. Definitely one of the best things that make my heart happy. 

Ryan was coloring with highlighters before this; hence the pink streak across her face.

Dani Girl…AKA Bun Bun

We watched my sisters kids about a month ago while my brother-in-law took my sister out for her birthday. Dani loved coloring!

Dani cookin’ up some food. She’s such a cutie face. We bought her these bunny slippers (clearance find) and she loves them….and I love watching her walk around the house.

No post yesterday...Don't worry I'm not off track...yet. I did a little commenting on facebook and counted that. Today, no pictures, nothing fancy, simply a post as part of the Wellness Challenge.

Today I used my sugar day AND my junk food day to splurge on some chips that looked tasty at lunch. My sweet hubby Billy even planned a fun night: Skyfall movie and he got all the ingredients for a super tasty smoothie treat using our Vitamix (I got it a week ago and absolutely love it...had a Blendtec but it was a big fat lemon...that's a different story). Ryan has a cousin over for a slumber party involving watching Wreck It Ralph. It couldn't be better...until Ryan said she had to go potty and ended up hurling all over the bathroom floor. We honestly think it was something she ate, but still, what a pain, right in the middle of my beautiful evening. It's now cleaned and sanitized with a lovely scent of Lysol and pjs are in the washer.

I'm determined to have my special treat...as soon as I take another shower for the day...let's hope nothing else happens.

Ryan’s a Sunbeam!

My sweet Ryan girl is a Sunbeam now! I love seeing all of Ryan’s developments, but getting big…we’ll it’s hard. I love her being little and snugging with her. I love that she still comes into our room in the middle of night and wants to sleep in our bed. I know these moments won’t last forever so for now, I’ll take them and cherish all of it. Dani isn’t in nursery yet and it’s a shock, but I’m totally ok with it. Nursery means getting big. I love my 2 little girls! Ryan’s loves her Sunbeam teacher (doesn’t hurt that it’s her friend’s mom).

Dani will go to nursery for the 1st time next week. She’s all ready. She knows where the door is and that Ryan went there and there are toys, snacks, and it’s a lot of fun.

Ryan in her cute dress she got from Grandma and Grandpa Blair.

I'm Back...Wellness Challenge

Where have I been? I'm sure you're wondering that right? For Christmas I decided to turn part of my blog (it has 4 years worth of posts and made for an extremely big book...actually you can't even make books that big) into a book using blurb.com...loved the site and my book turned out awesome! I spent many, many hours editing, pasting, adding more personal detail than what I share on here, and creating this book of memories.

After Christmas, well...I had gotten so behind that it was overwhelming to start and then facebook kinda took over, kids take 100% of my time, and it got pushed way down the list.

Flash forward to now. I have a preschool parent who I've become friends with that invited me to do a wellness challenge with a group of people. It's intense. Yesterday was day 1. The challenge lasts for 12 weeks. You have an opportunity to get 10 pts. per day for doing the following:

1. drinking 48 oz. water
2. workout 45 min.
3. eat 2 servings fruit/veggies
4. 1 journal entry (hence blog time again)
5. 15 min. spiritual reading
6. No soda/alcohol/junk/fried food
7. No food after 8 pm
8. Personal goal
9. Express sincere gratitude for your spouse
10. No Sugar

Yesterday was hard. I consider myself a pretty healthy person. I don't eat a lot of sugar to begin with...but when you can't, you crave it that much more. That jar of M&Ms on my counter that a student gave me for Valentine's Day is so tempting. Ryan and Dani's snack bags of oreos, chips ahoy, nutter butters, and teddy grahams are tempting. I love to snack in the evening...I love cereal.

It's hard, but I'm determined to finish and finish on top. $20 to do it and whoever wins gets the money pot. This is something to challenge myself and money wouldn't hurt either. So, everyday I will be updating this blog with some type of post.

For now, that tall glass of water is calling my name :)