Case in point: other than a few episodes of Curious George with Mary and Lila and the new episode of Grey’s Anatomy this week, I haven’t really watched TV since Christmas.  But, I haven’t blogged either.  You win some, you lose some.

I have plenty of pictures and stories to share, and I plan to get to that all eventually, but for now I’ll leave you with a brief run-down of the last month before I go finish my current book:

-Kevin’s parents came the weekend before Christmas and we did lots of fun things with the girls (sledding, gingerbread houses, Christmas movie).  This was definitely the most fun Christmas we’ve had with them yet because they really understood everything this year.

-Mary and Lila love the idea of Santa but are terrified of him in person.

-Mary and Lila have rechristened themselves Rapunzel and Belle.  They also sometimes go by Ariel and Sleeping Beauty.  In other words, Christmas 2011 was sponsored by Disney.

-My parents bought my brother Andrew a new pug for Christmas.  He named him Clyde and that dog is so freakin’ cute!  Lila got particularly attached to Clyde when we stayed at my parents house for Christmas, and about once a day she’ll randomly say, “I miss that cute little doggie named Clyde.”

-I went wild with my hair again and got bangs on New Years Eve!  I love them.  Mary and Lila were a little less thrilled, but one of my students wrote me a note on the first day back from break that said I was the prettiest teacher she had ever had.  So, I say bangs are a win!  And experimenting is a win.  After having had the same hair for years, in the past year I’ve gone straight, then red, and now bangs and I love the change.

-Mary and Lila have been to the doctor a collective 5 times in the past month.  Sinus infection.  What we thought was another sinus infection.  Pneumonia.  Ear infection.  Allergic reaction to penicillin on Christmas Day (that was a fun one!).  Other than Lila’s lingering cough, they are healthy again just in time to go back to preschool and catch the plague.

-I have lots of fun plans for 2012.  I’m not calling them resolutions because that word sounds more like work than fun!  Off the top of my head, here are three of them:  go on a hot air balloon ride (never have!), run a sub-7 minute mile (current average pace 8:30), and buy a pair of red shoes (no explanation needed).

-My children are the cutest, funniest, silliest, most precious things to ever walk this earth.  My husband loves me unconditionally.  I am damn lucky to be living this life!  

Happy New Year!

Seriously, Kirsten.  Get your act together!

The truth is, I’ve actually had a Halloween post written since November 1st.  I just never got around to going through the photos, making my choices, and uploading them to the blog.

But now that I have a report card deadline looming on the near horizon, you’d be amazed at all the random things I’m getting done around here.  Because ANYTHING…cleaning out my purse, vacuuming the lampshades, organizing my sock drawer, furminating the dogs…ANYTHING is better than doing report cards.

So here’s that Halloween blogpost!

Another Halloween has come and gone…I can’t believe it was the girls’ 4th Halloween!  As 1-month-olds they wore brown fuzzy bear suits and we trick-or-treated at our next door neighbor’s house.  As 1-year-olds my parents came over and we went to a handful of houses in our neighborhood at 4 in the afternoon.  Last year, as 2-year-olds, we went to my parents’ neighborhood and the girls went down the street and back.  They kind of understood what was going on and they were happy to get candy, even though they had never really eaten any candy except for a few M&Ms here and there.

This year was different.  It’s like we’ve crossed the threshold from babyhood to “kidhood” and they TOTALLY got it.  They were excited to dress up, carry their pumpkin buckets, walk up to strangers’ doors all by themselves while Kevin and I watched from the sidewalk, ring the bells (slight problem there…they both wanted to ring each bell, so we were the annoying “repeat ringers”), and say, “Trick or Treat” and “Thank you, Happy Halloween!”  Then they would turn to us with the biggest smiles on their faces.  Seriously, pure joy.  They would RUN back to the sidewalk shouting, “Let’s do it again!  Again!” and race to the next house.  We left our house at 6, just as it started to get dark out, and spent about 30 minutes going around our neighborhood.  At every house Mary and Lila got loads of compliments on their adorable Thing 1 and Thing 2 costumes, and then people peered out to the sidewalk and saw me in my Cat in the Hat costume and we got another round of compliments.  Poor Kevin never got a chance to change out of his work clothes so he told Mary and Lila that he was dressed as a “Corporate Stiff” which, to our amusement, Mary repeated a few times.  We came home in time to eat dinner and M&L helped us answer the door and hand out candy.  All in all, a perfect Halloween.

I am so thankful for my family.  My daughters, husband, parents, siblings…they make my life complete.  And my wonderful friends who keep me sane.  And the fact that Kevin and I have jobs, a home, and everything that we need to live a happy, comfortable life.  What more could you ask for?

Other things I’m thankful for…pecan pie.  And my gym membership, made necessary by things like pecan pie.

I’m hoping to be a better blogger in December.  No offense, but not for you (whoever is out there reading!) but for my own selfish reasons.  I love looking back over the past 3 years to see how Mary and Lila have changed, and to remember their little nuances and personality quirks.  The girls also love seeing pictures and videos of themselves, and I’m so thankful that I’ve recorded stories (sweet and silly) to share with them one day.  We’re sure to make LOTS more good memories throughout this holiday season and I can’t wait to record them here!

And yes, despite the lack of photographic evidence, we did celebrate Halloween and Thanksgiving.  I’ll get around to posting about those soon.  But for now, the couch, my book, and a slice of yummy pecan pie (thank you, Pioneer Woman!) are calling my name.

p.s.  Did I mention that I’m a redhead now?!

As of my last post we thought Lila was on the mend, but it turns out she wasn’t over her illness yet.  A few comments on that post suggested roseola, but our doctor didn’t think her symptoms fit that diagnosis because her fever persisted after the rash came, which isn’t normal.  And she had diarrhea (sorry Lila…someday that might embarrass you!) for 10 days prior to the fever and then once the fever arrived she didn’t go at ALL for 1 week.  Then the rash came while the fever was still raging.  This all brings us to Friday, mid-day…she threw up.  This new symptom, coupled with her lack of pooping, prompted a 4th trip to the doctor’s office.  After hearing her history and examining her abdomen, the doctor said she had most likely had an initial virus that caused the diarrhea, then contracted a secondary virus after that because her immune system was weakened.  As an afterthought, the doctor felt her neck and throat (even though she had already had a strep test earlier that week) and was surprised by all the lymph nodes she found.  Side note: we had taken Lila to the doctor back in September because a lymph node appeared out of nowhere one day and all we knew was that there was a lump the size of a pea on her neck, but the doctor assured us that it was just a lymph node and that she was probably fighting off some infection.  But on Friday, the doctor was able to feel several of them and said, “I’d feel better, and I’m sure you would to, if we did some bloodwork just to make sure this isn’t anything to be worried about.”  Then she left the room and Lila and I were alone, waiting for the nurse.

The whole point of the blood test was to make sure there was nothing to worry about.  So what did I immediately do?  Worry!  That wait was probably the longest 10 minutes of my life.  A thousand worries passed through my mind.  Could it be some serious illness?  Cancer?  Will she be okay?  What will we do?  What will happen to us?  Lila wasn’t feeling well at all and was laying in my arms with her eyes half closed, whimpering and moaning.  So I did all that I could.  I held onto her as tight as I could and sang to her and rocked her.  I held back my own tears because I didn’t want to scare Lila.  I also didn’t want to cry because crying would be admitting to myself that something could be seriously wrong.

The blood draw itself made me even more worried because Lila didn’t even blink an eye.  She was so out of it that she let a complete stranger wrap a rubber torniquet around her arm, jab her with a needle, and take 2 vials of blood.  There was a brief moment of whining when the needle went in but that was it.  The nurse even commented, “Is she always this mellow?  What an easy patient!”  I wanted Lila to complain.  To fight back.  To get mad.  Something, ANYTHING, that resembled her usual self.

Friday night was a long night.  The nurse said we would hear from them with the results in the morning, so all we could do was wait.  Coincidentally, I had already been waiting for some test results all day.  My National Boards scores were supposed to be released on Friday morning,but due to technical problems with their website they kept delaying it all day long.  Up until I got the call from my mom that Lila was puking, I was all up in arms about the late score release and just going about my work day like usual.  But the moment my mom called, and I knew that Lila was exhibiting another new symptom, National Boards completely escaped my mind.  I stopped checking their site after Lila’s doctor appointment on Friday because I could only worry about so many things at once.

On Saturday morning the phone rang and I saw our doctor’s office on my caller ID.  I swear my heart skipped a beat or two.  I answered and braced myself for the worst while hoping for the best.  The nurse said that her test results were fine and there was nothing out of the ordinary.  The relief I felt when I hung up is hard to describe.

I gained some serious perspective on Friday.  My National Boards scores seemed so insignificant after hearing that Lila was healthy (well, sick with some series of illnesses but healthy in the broader sense of the word).  We had a peaceful day on Saturday and I fell asleep watching TV on the couch that evening.  I woke up at about 12:30 am and realized I hadn’t checked the National Boards site all day.  “What the heck,”  I thought, “I might as well give it a look before I go to bed.”  And I logged on, still in that weird half-sleep stage where you can’t see straight, and it took me a minute to register what I was reading…I had passed!  I felt satisfied, and glad, but it was really overshadowed by the relief I felt when I heard that Lila’s bloodwork was normal.  What had seemed so important to me on Friday morning didn’t seem so important after Friday evening.  While I’m glad that I passed, I would have survived if I hadn’t.  But if Lila’s test results had been bad?  My world would have fallen apart.

After this weekend I think Lila is finally on the road to full recovery.  With the help of Miralax (a white powder that we dissolve in her drinks), she’s started going to the bathroom again.  She’s also eaten fairly well all weekend, and while she still asks to be held and snuggled a lot more than usual and has been sleeping more than usual, her playful personality has returned.

When we go around the table this Thursday to share what we’re thankful for, I know exactly what I’m going to say.

“Let me take your temperature.”

Mary has been taking everyone’s (and everything’s) hampsetter the past few days.  Hers.  Mine.  Kevin’s.  Lila’s.  Pearl’s.   Morris’s.  She even took the temperature of the wall.  Coincidentally, all of the above have the same hampsetter…5.

Her obsession with the thermometer has most likely stemmed from my obsession with the thermomemter…Lila came down with a high fever on Thursday and is just now recovering, so I’ve been obsessively taking her “hampsetter” every few hours for the past 5 days.  Fevers scare the crap out of me.  These little kiddos just get so HOT when they have a fever, and the high numbers on the thermometer scare the you-know-what out of me.  104 degrees?!  She’s going to burst into flames before my eyes!

We’ve had 2 doctor appointments and 1 visit to urgent care with Lila.  She refused food for nearly 4 days and was hardly drinking any fluids, so dehydration was our (and our doctor’s) main concern.  Then yesterday she developed a rash all over her torso.  The doctor is certain it’s just some unidentified virus.  Thankfully, as of today Lila seems to finally be on the mend.  In fact, today was the first day I’ve seen her play since Thursday morning.  When I realized that I teared up a little bit.  Seeing my Lila laying listless on the couch for 3 days, or holding her in my arms and hearing her constant moans of discomfort, or watching her refuse all food, EVEN CANDY AND ICE CREAM (yes, I was desperate to get something into her little belly!), or waking up to her raspy cries in the middle of the night…it’s torture for me to see her like this.

A funny story from Sunday night…Lila woke up at about 3 am crying for water.  I jumped out of bed, got her a cup of water from the kitchen, and headed to their bedroom.  Normally she stays in her bed and when she’s crying, so when I opened the door the last thing I expected to see was Lila RIGHT there in front of me.  The funniest part about it all was that she was wearing a pair of jammies from Old Navy that have a glow in the dark skeleton painted on them, and it was pitch black and I wasn’t wearing contacts or glasses and I was still kind of half asleep…so it looked like a glowing skeleton floating in the air!  Well, I wasn’t half asleep after that scare!

Here are a few pictures of Mary and Lila at the park last weekend, before the Big Sick.  I hope that she’s well enough to go back to the park this weekend and that we just put this whole thing behind us!  (This all assumes that Mary will stay healthy…fingers crossed…)

::as I type this, I realize it’s entirely possible that pumpkins are a fruit, not a vegetable…they are used in pie, after all.  I’m just too lazy to type it into the google search bar that’s ALL the way up in the corner of my screen…::

We’ve spread out our pumpkin activities to maximize the fun.  Last weekend we cleaned the pumpkins with a hose (fun #1!) and then decorated the smaller ones with stickers (fun #2!).  This weekend we scooped out pumpkin seeds (fun #3!) and carved pumpkins (fun#4!).  Who knew you could get so much entertainment out of a few gourds?

Tonight, on Halloween Eve (I’ve been assured by my 3rd grade students that this is an official holiday and therefore no homework should have been assigned over the weekend), Mary and Lila are soundly asleep with visions of costumes and candy dancing in their heads.  I’m excited to take them trick or treating tomorrow because they really enoyed it last year even though they didn’t totally understand what was going on.  This year they’ve been much more aware of all things Halloween (pumpkins, witches, ghosts, costumes, candy) and are looking forward to trick or treating tomorrow. I figured I’d better throw this pumpkin post with it’s 10,000 pictures up tonight so I’d be caught up on October (never mind that I still have posts from June, July, and August waiting to be finished).  This way I might actually get a Halloween post done ON Halloween this year!  No promises though.

(I don’t know why I used 18,000 parenthesis in this post.  Maybe I should just try making separate sentences next time.)

Mary and Lila liked those pumpkin cut-outs so much that I couldn’t bring myself to get rid of them…so I got creative!

Also, Lila has a big scrape above her left eyebrow.  You actually can’t see it in most of the pumpkin patch pictures because she never, ever, EVER looks directly at the camera for me.  And if by some fluke she actually does turn her face to the camera, her eyes are usually closed or there’s a big pile of hair blowing across her face.  Here’s a look at her boo boo (notice the averted eyes and ponytail in the mouth?)…I’m hoping it’s healed before our family pictures which are coming up in a few weeks!

And no, Mary didn’t do it .  Lila was trying to open some kind of toy and managed to wound herself in the process.

Here are M&L at the pumpkin patch!  Hard to believe that this was our 3rd year bringing them.