The Alli and Ruby Show

Our girls are triple-threats: singers, songwriters, and painters.
I think we should pitch a show to the networks. It will be much more entertaining than Bob Ross.

PS- Alli is talented, but I drew the flowers she is painting in this clip.

vandal sandals

Sometimes you just can't find the perfect shoes... you know, strappy sandals with jewels.

I guess if you can't find them, make them...

Perfect.

post-birthday-party-nap

Sucker in hand. Mask on face. Goody bag on lap.

Zonked out.

Life is good.

Swooning and such

Just last week I was thinking I haven't posted a good story in a while...

Things have been busy around here. We got an offer on our house! We are hunting for a house.
In the midst of all this craziness, last Thursday I wasn't feeling very well. My stomach felt angry, so I didn't eat much or drink much. I went to bed and tossed and turned, I was hot and sweaty. I didn't sleep well.
June woke up and 4am. Hungry. I went downstairs to feed her (her room is on the second floor, ours is on the third). As I sat in the rocking chair nursing June, my ears started ringing and I got hot and cold and really sweaty. I knew something wasn't right, so I quickly put June back into her crib. She wasn't happy about that. As I walked out of her room, I passed out, falling mouth-first into the banister rail just outside her door.
The loud wack woke Andy up. He came running to see who had broken into the house.
I was laying on the floor in the hallway not sure of what had happened. My mouth hurt. I felt weak. After a minute, I got up and went to the bathroom. Still not feeling well. As I was washing my hands, I collapsed again.
I remember laying on the floor and Andy telling me that he was calling 911. The tile floor in the bathroom felt so cool and good. The ambulance was coming and my mind was swirling with thoughts like, "I need to get dressed," and "Who will watch the kids?" and "I don't want to go in an ambulance, but I can't make it to the car," and "I need some deodorant"...
The paramedics arrived. They asked a bunch of questions and I don't remember much of that. They carried me downstairs and out to the ambulance on a stretcher-chair-thingy. In the ambulance, they helped me onto a gurney board and they put a neck brace on me and hooked me up to an IV. Oxygen too.
This was the same ambulance that followed President Obama around Chicago just hours before. Same EMTs too. President Obama had dinner at a home just one street over and a few blocks down from us... practically our neighbors! Anyhow...
Andy called our neighbor who promptly came over to stay with the girls.
The emergency room experience was long and boring. I was at the hospital until late in the morning. I got 2 liters of IV fluid... and that perked me up. My teeth hurt. My lip was throbbing and huge. I had a bruise on my shoulder and knee.
When I got home, I looked in the mirror to check out my mouth. My teeth didn't chip or break, but there are white fracture lines through the two front teeth... like they are shattered and waiting to crumble. (Have I ever mentioned that is one of my worst nightmares?)
I was able to get into the dentist on Saturday. He said not to worry too much. He can't do anything until they break. Or if they die and turn brown.
Very comforting.
Luckily, you can only see them if you are looking for them in the right light, up close.
They didn't show up much in this picture...


But the fat lip is pretty obvious.
I am feeling much better. Totally fine... except my teeth still feel a little weird, but maybe it is more the fear of them crumbling than anything else... and my lip is still extra plump.
But the moral of this story is STAY HYDRATED!!! The combination of virus, not eating or sleeping well, sweating and nursing did me in.

Sea World San Diego

When we were in San Diego, we all went to Sea World.  It is a big place.

"Hmmm.  Where to first?"

The first show we went to was the dolphin show.  We were early for the show, so we got good seats... in the splash zone. 

Did you know they instruct the dolphins to make giant splashes... aimed at the spectators? 
What is called when animals are mean to people?  People cruelty?
The first splashes came and Ruby and June suddenly didn't like the show anymore.  June is small enough that we could cover her pretty well.  She was ticked off though.

"Get me out of here.  I don't trust those dolphins one bit!"

Can you see the tears!?  Uncle Adam did his best to shield Ruby from the onslaught of water.

The next show was better (less wet)... some sort of Cirque-du-Soleil-ish water show... with amphibian people-aliens... that were very strong.  And weird.

Of course we went to the Shamu show too.  Our seats were at the top of the splash zone.

When the orcas came out, Ruby slipped off of her seat and hid herself under the bleacher.

Once the splashing was done (and we were still dry), Ruby came out from hiding and enjoyed the show.  June really liked this show... lots of clapping.


The kids enjoyed the rides... Jen and Adam too.


By the end of the day, we were all a bit tired.


What's that?  June's first sip of soda!  (Daddy is holding her and administering the sugar.)
June can sip through a straw very well(especially when something sweet comes out!).

The Tooth (of lack thereof)

The toothfairy came to our house last night!

After a long week of wiggling a very loose tooth, Alli finally lost it!  Actually, the tooth wasn't lost... it just fell out while she was eating a hot dog yesterday.  Calls were made to grandparents right away.  We made a special tiny envelope for the tooth and left it under her pillow.  Sure enough, the toothfairy came!  Alli got fifty cents and a tiny notebook and tiny paint set.

Check out her new smile!

That is a big girl smile for sure!

beaches

In California, we explored different beaches almost everyday.  From the Silver Strand on Coronado Island to Oceanside, we hit all the best beaches. 


It's hard to say which was more fun: sand or surf.  Alli ran straight into the water and was soaked from the first instant.  Ruby liked to flirt with the water... get a little on her toes and then run away.  After an hour or so, her curls would be just barely moist.  June got her toes in the ocean... it was cold.   Alli and Ruby loved digging in the sand and building castles and getting buried.  On Coronado Island, Ruby spent nearly an hour drawing pictures in the sand.  If she didn't like how it was going, she erased it by smoothing the sand back down.  She covered a huge area on the beach with her drawings: big heads with arms and legs coming right out of them.


June spent much of her beach time parked next to her cousin Lily in the shade.  The sound of the ocean must have relaxed her, because she took good naps at the beach.


Apparently, the ocean also relaxed Andy and Grandpa Utah.


We found lots of interesting things on the beaches: a living sand dollar, clams (even a BIG one), sand crabs... other sea creatures that I don't know what they are called... 

Ruby also found lots of "treasures" like rocks, shells, garbage, old forks, coins, bottle caps, popsicle sticks...  Her curls got brighter in the sun and her skin turned golden (even with SPF 55!). 


Andy dug a great big hole.  Huge.  Eventually the waves came and erased it with a few passes.


Andy thinks I'm hot in my swim suit. 
Beach vacations rock!

the clapper

I will break from the vacation-catching-up-posts to tell you that June had her 6-month check-up today. She is 25-3/4 inches and weighs 15 pounds. She is a tiny little thing.
Tiny and easy going.
And very loud.
This little lady likes to make noise. She has a pterodactyl screech... not an angry noise, jsut a noisy noise. She also claps her hands (audibly) and pounds her arms and legs on the floor. She babbles and laughs. She blows raspberries (especially when she has a mouthful of baby food). She has a voice and demands to be heard.

And we love to listen.

we only draw on paper

I really should know better than to let my kids be when they are playing quietly... really quietly. This little video is from our trip to Utah. Grandma Utah commented about how quietly the kids were playing and a few minutes later Alli came running to me yelling, "Mom! Mom! Ruby drew all over herself... (pause)... WITH A PEN!"
Gasp.
Ruby's body was covered with doodles. Even the bottoms of her feet had drawings.
Not just scribbles... she had drawn a rocket, babies, moon, raindrops, candy, sunshine, people...
Though I do not approve of her actions, I was highly entertained. Ruby is creative. And prolific.
My favorite part of this clip is Ruby's look at the end. Truly sorrowful... or maybe "am I in trouble or what?!"

FYI- Vegetable oil erases ball point pen off of skin pretty well... just dab some on a paper towel and rub the affected area.

three years old

Ruby turned three while we were on vacation.  Her birthday got stretched a little... we gave her a present before we left (so we didn't have to take it with us), and on her birthday we went to a carnival where Grandma Utah was painting faces, on the next day we celebrated Ruby's birthday with a family party (Great-Grandma Norma was there and cousins and aunts and uncles), and the day after that we celebrated with little cousins at Jungle Jim's!  Yes, three days of partying!  It is good to be three!

for sale

We have been busy getting our house ready to sell... that is a huge understatement, but I'll spare you the details of packing and cleaning and other un-fun stuff.  Click here to see the fruits of our labor.  If you are interested in a home in Lincoln Park... a great location... give me a call and I will refer to our wonderful realtor.

Besides getting our house ready, we have spent the past three weeks in Utah and California (with a few brief hours in Arizona and Nevada).  I didn't blog while we were gone, so stay tuned for some mega-updates in the next few days.

And now for the first "ketchup" update...

(drum roll)

Alli has her first loose tooth!

I don't know if I am quite ready for this.  I got a little misty-eyed when she discovered the loose tooth (front bottom right).  My baby is growing up.

More to come...