Graduation

I can't believe the end of the school year is already here!

Since it was his last year of preschool, he had a graduation ceremony.

I was in tears the whole time.

I can't believe that we are done with preschool. 

And now both of my kids are in elementary school.

What will I do with myself next year??

Should I get a job?

Hmmmm, probably not.

I will just make myself available to volunteer in the classroom as much as possible!

I have noticed that I am very reluctant to let Caden grow up.

With Ciara, I am excited to see her take the next step, but I would like to keep Caden young for a little bit longer.

If time travel were possible, I would love to revisit the days when my kids were babies.

Rough Week

The plague has descended upon our house.

It all started last Friday with Ciara.

She woke up feeling not so great, so I let her stay home from school.

She got progressively worse throughout the day, with stomach pain, fever, and congestion.

Everyday, I thought she would get better, but she didn't.

She missed school on Monday as well.

Tuesday, she finally went back to school, even though she looked quite pale.

And lo and behold, Wednesday Caden came down with the same thing.

Ciara's also made a reappearance Wednesday night (they both woke up and threw up all over).

Thursday morning we had an appointment with an ENT.

I considered rescheduling, but being that it took me 8 weeks just to get an appointment, I wasn't going to give up my visit!

So I woke up the kids at 6:15 (the appointment was at 7:30, but it takes 30 mins to get to the hospital, and another 30 to navigate through the huge place to find the office).

I also gave them each a mixing bowl to carry with them at all times in case they got sick again.

So we trudged through the hospital, puke buckets in hand, to meet with the ENT.

Everything was fine at the appointment.

Ciara has some hearing loss (not permanent) due to fluid in her ears.

If it doesn't clear up in 6 weeks, we will put tubes in.

Anyway, we made it home, and both kids have been feeling pretty badly.  

Ciara has been not sleeping due to noises she hears.

She says she hears footsteps in her head all the time.

I tried explaining that she is just hearing her heartbeat (because of all the fluid in her ears) but she still thinks that someone is coming to get her.  

She wakes up crying multiple times per night with nightmares about this.

And she gets freaked out because she gets dizzy every time she shuts her eyes (another side affect of her ears).

I hope that we can make it the 6 weeks, and that it was actually resolve itself.

And to top it all off, I whacked my head extremely hard on the washing machine yesterday (don't ask me how).

Rocky thinks I need stitches, but I am still hopeful that it will just heal.  It seems to have stopped bleeding, but it is really hard to see because my hair is in the way.

Either way, it is just painful.

Could we please have one, healthy, accident-free month? 

Finally, Ciara's Birthday!

I love looking back at all these pictures!  What an adventure and joy you have been, Ciara.

Wait, Where Is My Hard Drive?

So this is supposed to be a birthday post for Ciara, but Rocky has taken the external hard drive.  That is of course where all the pictures are kept.  So I guess her post will have to come a little late!  

Sorry, Sweetie!

Instead, I will now impress you all with pictures of our painted living room and entryway.

I hung pictures too!

I am just so thrilled to have actual pictures hanging on my walls again.

Here are the befores:

The first picture of the hallway doesn't show the bright mustardy yellow color.  

and the living room was a stripey wallpaper, not actually pink.

Here is what is looks like now:

As I am comparing the pictures, the new ones looks kind of dismal.  

That is because it is raining.  

It really hasn't stopped raining for about a month now.

I will have to take more pictures when the sun in shining.

What Are They Thinking?

I am a little behind the times, but I just couldn't NOT write about this.

Abercrombie and Fitch has been all over the news lately for their padded, push-up bikini top.

No, it is not for adults.

Aimed at girls ages 8 and up, they created a push-up top, which has since been removed from their website.

They do, however, still have some tops (like the one shown below) on their kids site described as having a "removable pad."

This is one of the reasons I am so grateful to certain children's clothing retailers, such as Land's End.

This is what I want my daughter to look like while in a swimsuit.

Still like a kid, not a kid that looks like she is just a really short 17 year old.

I am not completely against bikini tops for girls.

But I know that even without the padding, there is NO WAY that my daughter would ever wear that triangle top. 

I am pretty sure that A&F can't show any kids wearing their suits because it could be considered child pornography.

  So, THANK YOU to all the retailers who keep kids dressed as kids.

Land's End is one of my favorites, basically because they have leggings that go with just about every dress, and all their skirts have shorts sewn into them.

Since I have a daughter who prefers dresses and skirts to just about anything, this has been a life saver.

They also have a great overstock section, where everything is always on sale.

I also enjoy Mini Boden and Tea Collection, but they tend to be a bit pricier.  

If I had the money, I would be shopping their as well.

Here is the news story I found regarding the push-up top:

The Birthday Boy

Instead of writing about how wonderful my son is, I thought I would take you on a picture journey of the last 5 years:

 He is still happiest with 2 spoons and 2 bowls of food in front of him.  We introduced him to the buffet style restaurant a few years ago, and he still prefers that style of restaurant to all others.  

Today, I let him pick a special place for us to eat lunch, and he picked the China House Buffet.  For his special birthday dinner, however, he picked salad for us all to eat.  

Happy  Birthday!

Ugh

I was going to write a post dedicated to Lands End.  

I wanted to thank them for allowing me to dress my children in clothes that let them be kids, and let them look like kids.

I have found that some places like to make children look like miniature teenager or adults.

Anyway, I had it all planned out.

And then another illness.

Ciara has another ear infection.

That makes 5 since the middle of December.

Now we get to see a specialist.

Unfortunately, we can't get into see the ENT until the middle of May.

I hate waiting.  I really just want this taken care of.

I also hate the fact that she has had 5 different antibiotics.

I was under the impression that as children got older, their ear infections would be less and less.

Why is she getting them more and more?

And Caden still had fluid in his ear, but it isn't infected.

Give it another week, and we will probably be back in to see the pediatrician.