maintenance day and stuff

My computer just finally got restarted after a major overhaul and back up. I had like 6 gigs of pictures from 2005. Luckily I have my own "geek squad" living with me. It was getting really slow. Probably still need some more RAM. I mean, I almost had to go upstairs to use my PC instead of my laptop in the kitchen! Oh no!

The Tahoe got inspected, new seal of some sort and something else done today, can't remember. So the girls and I have been riding around in Phil's car today. They love it! It's weird to me to drive a little car, but it definitely gets better gas mileage. Even though it does use premium gas! That sucks! I also took it to the beach over the weekend. You have no idea how fast you're going in that thing. Good thing I used the cruise control. Also, it's very hard to park. I can park my Tahoe much easier than the Acura sedan, haha. The turning radius is just not as good. I need to be up high and SEE! Anyway, off on a tangent.

I got a hair cut and finally Phil is getting a hair cut. It's pretty bad when the girls start playing beauty shop on Daddy. I love Heather my hair lady! She had me in and out of there snappy today. It's super to have the girls in school at the same time so I can do things like that w/out having to inconvenience someone else. Ahhh.....it's great. I feel so lucky to be able to do that!

Random things to say: I love Jon and Kate plus 8 and General Hospital. I can't wait for some One Tree Hill and Cashmere Mafia this week. I can't wait also for the other shows like Grey's Anatomy to come back on after this darn strike!!
I'm selling some stuff in a consignment over at the airport mall/outlet center in March. It's very exciting and I can't wait to see how much $$ I make off of it, after all, it goes directly into MY account. It's a lot of work though! A lot of sorting and tagging, etc. Not to mention the drop off on Saturday. That's going to be interesting from the way the "rules" look.

Sydney has really gotten into using her letters lately. Therefore....so has Mollie! Sydney is really into talking about what letter starts words, and stretching out sounds, spelling short words, etc. I'm very proud. She's just so big all the sudden! When I pick Mollie up there is a 15 min. gap before I get Sydney in the building next door. So we either sit outside or in the car and she eats lunch that I hopefully remember to pack her. Today she wanted to know what letter all this stuff starts with. Basically repeating what Sydney said on the way to school. I think she thought she was cool even if she had no idea what she was asking. She does know: M (for Mollie), S (for Sydney), D (for Daddy), L (for Lindsay), T (for Travis), N (for Nancy), C (for Chase), G (for Gramma), A (for Ava), H (for Haley and hugs), K (for kisses), and Y (in Sydney's name I guess). And O (doesn't everyone know O?)

Wow! That got long. Norm's sitting here staring at me (the fish in case you haven't read that part), I've already talked to him enough today. So gotta go!

the weekend

Everyone survived the weekend! Holly and I had a great time. Shopping, good food, sleep, pedicures, etc. We also got to go in the beach house and take some pics.
The girls were great for Daddy who kept them pretty busy. The low was probably when they both were up by 5:30 Sunday morning, haha, but he took them to church at 9. I was very proud, even if his motive was to kill time!

funnies

I love that I can write things on here then look back and remember them. I try to be good at taking pictures for my scrapbook, but don't often the little things that they do or say.
Today Mollie came downstairs saying there was a monster upstairs. She's really into monsters. She's not really afraid of them, but pretends that she is. She pretends that her seahorse on a stick hobby-horse thing that Daniele and Cameron gave her for her birthday is a dragon monster. So anyway, Sydney hears her and goes running to the stairs saying "don't worry Mollie, I'll save you! Let's go get the monster Mollie! I'll get it! I'll save you!"
Mollie also learned how to do a roll by herself yesterday. She is always watching Sydney tumbling and she watches her gymnastics class. But she was having a hard time getting that little body over. Yesterday she finally figured out how to get her momentum into a roll all by herself and was very proud. She flipped all around the upstairs hall and her room. It was so cute.

This weekend I'm going on my beach trip with Holly. Holly and I haven't been anywhere together over night since high school! We usually have an outlet shopping trip twice a year, but we didn't go in the Fall b/c we were so busy with football, she was on call a lot as a nurse, and I didn't honestly need anything:) Phil's coming home from work around lunch time so I can go ahead and leave. I really can't wait! Holly's kids have been constantly sick for a while so she can't wait to get out of there. And well, I'm always ready for a little trip away! I'm going to try very hard to not spend too much money, will get to go see our new beach house again, and we're going to try to go see a movie and get a pedicure or something relaxing. Ahh...
I think the thing I'm most looking forward to is sleep. I really think sleep is one of my top 5 favorite things in my life. Even if I wake up at 7 or 8 at least it will be b/c I woke myself up not b/c I heard "moooommmmmyyyyyy, I'm awake! Let me out! Come get me! Where are you? I'm hungry!"
The girls are looking forward to all their "special sneaks" they have planned with Daddy and I'm so happy to say that they'll be fine and I don't have to worry about him taking care of them or knowing what to do. I know tonight they're going to dinner with Nancy and Travis and Chase. I think tomorrow has Chickfila and milkshakes on the agenda. Lots of nuggets and pizza this weekend!

a few pictures

We went for a walk on Monday, it was such a nice day. Sydney rode her scooter.

Mollie and Chase (she took her clothes off, sorry)

Chase and the baby Janets...(don't ask, yes, they're both Janet, yes, it has to do with Gramma...) And guess whose baby is the naked one? See above!

last few days

We've had a pretty busy last few days. Monday we actually stayed home all day (which is rare) and had a house guest... Chase! His daycare was closed for the holiday so he hung out with us. He's such a cute little bug. Feeding him bottles is so strange sometimes since Mollie was so anti-bottle, haha. And he's such a funny eater. He turns his head around all the time and you have to chase his mouth around with it. It's fun to snuggle him though and the girls love having him around. I'm so glad that the little cousins will get to grow up together. I told Nancy he was trying to get me to watch him more b/c he was so good!

Tuesday Sydney was out of school for a work day, but Mollie had it b/c she missed on a snow day when Sydney just had a delay. So her MMO made it a weather make up day. So Sydney and I went to a play date at our friend Tracy's house with our Wed. baby steps playgroup. It was chilly out, but we played out side, the kids played t-ball, and we had a pizza lunch. They were hilarious playing t-ball. It was so cute. But Sydney didn't run the bases which was EXACTLY what I did when I was little. My mom was the coach and had to run the bases with me. I was the 3rd base coach though so she ended up helping me with the high-fives. Then we picked Mollie up, gave her some pizza, and had some good naps. Oh and Nancy and Travis came back over for dinner since I had made a big batch of soup and then they went to visit some friends who had just had a baby. And why anyone would not want Chase around I'm not sure, but the hospital didn't, so he hung out with us again for a bit. Phil finally got to play with him some more. They're tight now. He takes a pacifier so Phil was quite comfortable. Mollie was also anti-paci!

Last week Sydney didn't nap Wed. or Thurs. and I was so afraid she was dropping her nap. I know I'm spoiled that she even continues to take a nap at 4, but hey, we're hanging on for dear life. She has slept every day since Friday though. Until today....ugh, which is odd b/c Wednesdays are one of our busiest days. She has gymnastics at 9:30 on Wed. then we meet our playgroup at Planet Child until around lunch time and about half the time we go out to lunch. Today we went to Bean and Bagel right around the corner from our house. It was good despite several order screw ups today. Anyway, we ate with my friend Jennifer and her kids Matthew and Lindsay. They're some of our favorite people to hang out with. Matthew and Sydney had MMO together last year and are in the same class this year--that's where we met them. Lindsay is just a few months younger than Mollie and they will be together in the 2's MMO next year. Jennifer invited us to join their Wed. babysteps playgroup last year and it's such a fun group of people. Matthew and Sydney are really tight and even got "caught" kissing during circle time at school.
ANYWAY, Sydney would not take a nap today, grrr...but after naps we met Nancy and Chase at the mall b/c Phil is out with clients and Travis was coming home late too. We did a little looking around, rode the carousel and had dinner at the food court. I got the girls home and gave them baths and got them right into bed! I am exhausted!

Tomorrow the girls have school and I am going to my ENT to try to figure out if my allergies are bad already or if my sinus issues I've had since Sydney's birthday are still not better. I've had 2 antibiotics and steriods since then and still am having issues. So I'm thinking it's allergies at this point. My adult-life-long sinus/ear/allergy story would be a blog within itself, haha.

Beach!

So, we unofficially have a second home again! But this time it's not a rental in Cary, it's a beach house! Along with my sister Nancy and Travis and Chase. Our family beach house. And hopefully one that a lot of other families find nice for their family and their money this summer, haha. It's in the Cherry Grove Area in N. Myrtle Beach, SC. We love it down there. It's on a channel off the waterway. We'll hopefully be closing at the end of March.

I'm going down with my friend Holly for a quiet friends (a.k.a shopping) weekend so we're going to go by and take some more pictures to share.

We're so excited!

routines

Okay, I just wanted to post this too b/c most people think it's hilarious. Our elaborate routines to get Sydney to go to sleep! We haven't always had to do these things, but well, she's a manipulator, haha, and I mean that in the most loving way possible.

Nap:
She sleeps in our room. Bathroom door has to be all the way closed, no gaps, she checks. Ceiling fan must be off. She sleeps on my side, but with Phil's pillow. Has to have her hair in a ponytail. And she always changes her clothes into shorts and a t-shirt. She sleeps with the sheet, no blankets. Either her bunny and blanket, or her Cat Webkinz thing. You just never know what she might pick. She has to have her sound machine. 5 hugs and 5 kisses. She's been wanting me to read in the bed until she goes to sleep, but I have to nip that one in the bud! Anyway, we want this nap thing to happen as long as possible so....\
Oh! And she used to have to change back into her pj's but somewhere along the way that changed. I used to use that for "behavior management". If she was acting up she got the "do you want to sleep in your clothes for your nap today???" HAHAHAHA

Bed time:
Potty, brush teeth, Pj's, powder on her butt (apparently it sweats), sound machine up a little bit louder, journal or book, 3 songs, prayers, God blesses...door all the way closed, light all the way off (whatever that means) except for night light. Oh! And she pulls the sheet all the way up, but her quilt must be folded down at the top. And then half the time she gets back up to turn her sound machine up again or put on socks or put on new pj's if her butt's sweating again, HAHAHAHAHAagain.

All Mollie gets are books, prayers, in her bed. Good night. FOR NOW!

weekend wonders

We had quite a busy weekend. We spent all of Friday morning at Hopper's House, an indoor play place, then the girls had a babysitter that night and we went out. I'm really glad our babysitter has common sense b/c Sydney tries to be SO convincing about what she thinks she can do! Luckily I had told Krystina no candy, no bathing suits, no changing clothes period until PJ time, HAHA! B/c Sydney tried all of the above.
Saturday morning we ended up all going to the gym together, home for lunch, then down for early naps b/c we lucked out with tickets for the NCSU/Clemson basketball game. The guy who owns our Chevrolet place (that Phil does all the computer stuff for) called and asked if we wanted 4 tickets in the Lexus Champion Club or something like that. Plus a parking pass. Basically it involved getting anything free we could have wanted and the girls got to wear fancy green plastic bracelets which they were excited about. And they got to wear their Pack sweatshirts that we spent a fortune on during football season:) It was fun, they were very good, got to eat some Goodberry's ice cream, and actually paid a little attention to the game while they watched for the "Wolfie-dog" and his "wife" (Ms. Wuf).
Then Saturday evening right after the game (yes we're crazy) I took them to a birthday party for 2 brothers who are in their classes at preschool. It was at Hopper's House (again) from 6-8. That place is so fun, I love it. I wish we could afford to go there every day. It's $7.50 a kid though to play which means $15 for us. So definitely not more than once a month for us. Especially on my new allowance, haha:)
This morning my aunt Pam was in town so she came over while Phil went to play golf with JR and the guys. Nancy and Chase came over too and I got to snuggle with Chase some.

It was a busy weekend, but nice. Last night Phil and I just hung out and watched HGTV for a while, saw way too many infomercials and talked about home improvements. It was inspiring. But we won't be doing any of those things soon if our newest asset comes through. I'll have to update with that later when it's a deal. Maybe I'll at least get some new kitchen rugs! But probably not new hardwoods!
Oh, and my sister Courtney has had the flu. Hope you feel better!

Valentines and stuff

We had a good Valentine's day yesterday. The girls both had parties and did valentines in their classes. I took Sydney to a Valentine glamour party thing at Snip-Its, which is a kids hair cut place. My cousin Laura signed us up and we took she and Chole. It was okay. A little disappointing, it just didn't seem as "fancy" as they had made it out to be. But anyway, they got to dress up in princess dresses and did crafts while they waited for their hair to be done and nails painted. Sydney waited a very long time, as did Chloe, but they were very patient. I think the highlight was Sydney getting glitter in her hair. She really liked that. It had said on the form that snacks and drinks were included. Yeah, so at like 5:10 they bring out some fruit snacks, cupcakes, and juice boxes. Right before dinner. Which I normally don't care about, whatever, it's a special occasion, but they could have done that at 4:30 when we got there and the kids were trying to figure out these weird crafts! Oh well, Sydney had fun and Daddy came home early so that he and Mollie could have a special sneak. They got ice cream at Cold Stone and went to Borders to look at books, a favorite of theirs. Don't even have to buy them, they just like to look!

We came home and had a nice crock pot dinner, Daddy had gotten all of us roses and cards and stuff. And me a little surprise.

We're going out tonight and have a babysitter. Going to eat cheap, have a few drinks, and spend more on the babysitter than our date! Oh well!

Meet Chase

He's probably going to be a very prominent figure in our blog. He's such a little stud. Sydney and Mollie's baby cousin. He does have parents, Nancy and Travis, who used to be popular. But now it's all about the little man. Here he is in his "lock up your daughters" shirt.

Norm

We have a new family member.

Norm.

Aunt Courtney and Uncle Cameron weren't able to make it to Sydney's birthday party due to the blizzard of 2008 and the fact that the engine blew in their car. Saturday night we had a bit of a family gathering. Phil and Uncle Travis were gone all day scoping out beach houses so Nancy and Chase, Courtney and Cameron all came over and Gramma and Grandpa were already here for the weekend. Courtney and Cameron brought Sydney a beta fish for her birthday. Of course Norm was equipped with a tank, 2 fake trees, a bridge and decorative rocks. We were all a bit nervous about Norm, not knowing what we would do if he kicked the bucket or something, haha. It's our first pet. Well, thank goodness for Gramma's insomnia. She got up at like 5am Sunday morning and noticed that Norm was no longer with us! So she stuck him up under the bridge. When Sydney and Mollie got up we told them that Norm was sleeping. (Did you know fish are nocturnal, haha? Norm was for a day.) Mollie is all about this fish. So as they wondered when he would wake up we anxiously awaited the 10am opening of Pet Smart which is luckily right around the corner. Mom and I went to get bagels from Panera and came home with them and Norm II. Dad took the girls upstairs to play while we made the switcheroo. Norm II is red just like the first Norm. Cameron named him after Norm Sloan by the way, an NC State coach from a while back. Anyway, here are some pictures of the Norm experience!

our new blog

Well, my new blog. I don't think Phil will even check it often, much less post to it!

Here are our girls, Sydney and Mollie. We like to call them Sydney Lu and Mollie Moo. Not sure how much longer we'll get away with that. But it's cute and they're cute.

Sydney is 4 going on 14 and getting sassy. But she's very sweet also and is really getting comfortable in her world. I think it's hard for her to balance still being just out of toddlerhood yet trying to be big. She's always concerned with where we're going to go when she wakes up in the morning and what we're going to do after her nap. She goes to preschool 2 mornings a week and will go 3 next year. She's quite the girly girl and is really into changing her clothes as many times a day as she can get away with. She wants her hair to grow longer and wants to know when her next birthday is going to be. She just had one in January!

Mollie turned 2 in December. She absorbs everything Sydney does. She talks our ears off and we're amazed by things she says sometimes. She has a great sense of humor. She goes to Mom's Morning Out 2 mornings a week also, at the same time as Sydney. She loves it so much. She is also deep into the "terrible 2" phenomenon. With Sydney it happened closer to 3, but I guess with the 2nd one it happens a little sooner b/c they're learing so much from the 1st? Not sure. We're going to be venturing into potty training soon. She seems ready part of the time, but we need to dedicate some serious time to it.