So, the ONLY snow we got was early January. Malinda and I ran into Sam’s Club to buy some party stuff for Kiera’s birthday party and when we walked out, it was FULL ON BLIZZARD CONDITIONS. Sideways blowing snow, TONS of it. Huge puffy flakes. There was just enough of this 2 hour snow to cover the ground and by the next morning there was nothing left. THAT was our Winter. Right there, one evening, for two hours. Winter over. The end. Here comes spring.

So anyway, since we have had such wonderful temperatures, Zoey has been able to play outside for extended amounts of time lately and she is LOVING it. The girl will wander the back yard for hours, as if she has never been out there. Pulling hand fulls of grass, playing with wood chips left over by a tree stump we had ground up last summer, going down the slide, playing with toys, chasing the dog. She loves the outdoors and is very Tom Boyish when it comes to that.

Kiera, however, is still not walking and I can’t let her outside. The backyard has rocks, dog poop, dirt, WOOD CHIPS.. All things she would LOVE to add to her list of Things I Will Eat. She stands at the window, watching Zoey play outside, yearning to be out there. Hurry up and walk kid and you can go out there!

Kiera turned 1 on January 19th. We had her party on the 14th. She is such a sweet baby girl. She has had 7 teeth for about 3 months now. She says “dada” mostly, SOMETIMES “mama” and her new word is “Buh!” which means BOOK! She loves books and doing anything that her big sister asks her to do (within reason, obviously) (and by asks I mean DEMANDS). Kiera is my big girl, she is currently 24lb 7oz and 30.5″ tall. Her weight and height are both in the 90th percentile and her head is ALMOST in the 90th. The doctor thinks she will be about 5’9″! Crazy.

Zoey is doing great. McBossyPants is her usual nickname, and attitude. She loves to order Kiera around because Kiera is still at the age where she actually does what big sis tells her to. I’ll be interested to see how things are a year from now ;) Zoey is talking up a storm, new words and phrases every day. She started using “I” and “Me” correctly. She is getting tall and skinny. I think she is around 30-32lbs currently. We just turned her car seat around to forward facing a week or so ago and she loves it. She can see everything now, kick Mommy’s seat and see what kind of treats Mommy and Daddy are (or were, I should say! Darn!) sneaking in the front seat. No more secret ice cream consumption!

I set out to learn to crochet, for the second time (Tried in 2010, it was an EPIC FAIL) around and this time it clicked! I’ve been crocheting since early to mid December and I’ve been having so much fun. I really, really love it and it feels great to have a hobby. I made a baby blanket for a dear friend, a baby blanket for my cousin, a baby blanket for a family friend and I’ve made Kiera a blankie for her crib and Zoey a blanket. I’m working on a blanket for myself and a cupcake scarf, currently.

This is the blanket I made for Zoey. It took FOREVER. Hours and hours and hours of work. Tiny stitches, LOTS of them. I finally finished it last night, after about a month of working on it off and on. I really love it and I hope Zoey does.

This is the blanket I made for Kiera. It’s a small “blankie” with lots of holes in it. Thinking safe for crib sleeping, here. It’s so soft and cuddley. The perfect size for my little monster. I make something bigger for her when she gets around Zoey’s age :)

Kiera is doing great. We started her on Prevacid about a month ago and it has helped her acid reflux tremendously. We have to open the capsules and dump the little granules into her mouth then quickly give her the bottle so she can drink it all down. It’s not that bad but sometimes it’ll gag her a little. I don’t know WHY my children have such weak gag reflexes (they’re BOTH pukers) but they do. Kiera is a little over a week away from turning 5 months old and the child is already taking 8oz bottles! I called my pediatrician yesterday and we are now introducing cereal into her diet. So far she has had a couple of tablespoons and seems to do pretty well with it. This girl is the definition of Chunky Monkey lol! She is getting really good at holding her head up. She LOATHES tummy time so we barely ever do it. She would much rather either be standing (with assistance, of course) or sitting up. Not a fan of laying down for long periods of time.

She is starting to love her Bumbo seat, which makes it easier for me to get things done or feed her the cereal. She is starting to laugh a lot, which I just love. She still loves seeing Zoey and she will laugh and smile at Gene or I, as long as we have an “Who can make the biggest ass out of ourselves” contest in front of her. She has Thunder Thighs and her general girth is… GIRTHY. But her little ankles and feet are so skinny. I know she has a neck but I have yet to find it. Her cheeks are too much for my heart. She is VERY high maintenance. She wants to be entertained during the day time and doesn’t want to be in one position for too long. She needs constant attention and it feels like I am CONSTANTLY feeding her. At night you feed her and lay her down wide awake at 8:30 and she goes to sleep on her own. She doesn’t get up until 8 or 9 AM. So even though she wears me out on most days, I can’t complain because HELLO SHE HAS SLEPT 12-14 HOURS AT NIGHT SINCE SHE WAS 8 WEEKS OLD! Her gums are all swollen, especially the canines and I am always seeing little white nubs/spots at the surface. She is drooling constantly, everywhere!

Zoey is great. Talking more and more every day. Starting to repeat a lot of things we say (Um, we better start watching ourselves!). She is such a big helper with Kiera. She gives her a paci when she cries, she helps feed her, she brings her toys and blankies. She takes her diapers to the trash can for me. She brings me clean diapers. She is just generally a GREAT big sister. While she is helpful with her and I know she loves her, she is also a very independent kid and usually just does her own thing. Plays and talks and plays and talks and plays. Movies and cartoons don’t really keep her attention for very long anymore like they used to. She’s too busy for that stuff! She is best friends with our dog, Emma.. She plays with her ALL THE LIVELONG DAY. Well, she DID.. She messed with Emma’s bad leg a couple of nights ago and Emma snapped at her. I think she either bit or scratched her eye. It’s been red for a couple of days.. So now I am keeping them separated when I am not in the room to supervise them. Emma was just defending herself the only way she knows how, she wasn’t being viscious and Zoey was just playing and despite me CONSTANTLY correcting the way she plays with her and teaching her to be gentle with the dog, it was bound to happen. I’d like to say she learned her lesson but this morning I caught her messing with Emma’s leg again. Gah!

Gene is well. Working and taking care of two kids and we have no time to breathe sometimes. But we love our girls and wouldn’t change a thing. I’m personally having some struggles. I think maybe either PPD or a birth control pill dosage that isn’t working for me.. Not sure. Right now I am trying to help myself with herbal supplements and other things before resorting to seeing a doctor and possibly getting on some real medication. Last week was a downright miserable week for me. I was in pain in so many ways. It was emotional, physical, mental. It was awful! I cried a lot, I lost my temper, I yelled, I cried more. I’m working on it. I’m working on myself.

Sooo… I’m really trying to keep up with this thing. I want to. I want to post about all of the fun we are going to have this summer. Pictures pictures pictures! I have not been very good about taking my camera out, due to the issues I’ve been struggling with lately.. but I am hoping things will lighten up and I can get back to myself and get my life back.

Let me remind you all why April is so insanely crazy in my family:

April 6 – Gene’s birthday
April 8 – Dad’s & cousin’s birthday
April 12 – Wedding Anniversary & Aunt’s birthday
April 13 – My birthday
April 14 – Zoey’s birthday

That’s a LOT of cake and birthday dinners in a two week span. Which also means after Zoey’s party on the 16th, we’re going to have to start a hardcore diet and exercise regimen. After I sit on the couch for an entire day and RELAX after all that has just happened. My goodness, what a busy time!

for Gene’s birthday on April 6th, we went out to dinner at Kona Ranch, a Hawaiian grill place in OKC. Yum yum, it’s one of my favorite places that we don’t go to very often! We went back to the house afterwards and had plain cheesecake (his favorite) and gifts! My sister and her boyfriend got Gene and I tickets to Warped Tour in Dallas this summer! She even worked it out with my Mom to stay with the girls for two nights. I’m so excited!

for my Dad’s birthday we had a cookout, that my Dad himself cooked. It was delicious! We had his favorite layered chocolate cake.

On April 12th, we went out to dinner for my birthday dinner a day early with my family because my Sister had to work on the 13th. We went to Mimi’s Cafe, my favorite restaurant! We went back to my Mom & Dad’s house for cake and presents. My sister made the cutest princess cake for me! My Mom & Dad so graciously got Gene and I a dual gift of a 64GB Wifi+3G iPad! My sister gave me the CUTEST purple rubber gloves to clean house with that have adorable cupcake fabric embelished, some adorable measuring spoons, a cute little japanese doll figure and a hilarious car air freshener. The 12th was also my wedding anniversary!

On April 13th, my actual birthday, my Mama brought me Sonic for lunch and hung out with me and the girls for a couple of hours. Hubby took me and the girls to a Chinese buffet for dinner and I was way too full to have any leftover birthday cake. I didn’t pick up toys (Hubby did) and I didn’t touch the dishes. We sat on the sofa in a food coma and then went to bed. It was a great day!

Today, April 14th, my beautiful little girl is turning 2! I can’t even believe it and I’ll have a whole post about that later. I gave both girls a bath this morning because with how busy we’ve been lately, we just haven’t had time to do it in the evenings. My Mom is bringing Zoey a Toy Story cake this evening and then we’re taking her out to dinner at Cici’s for pizza because it’s her favorite food ever. We’re going to come back to our house afterwards for cake and presents.

Tomorrow, the 15th, my husband is taking off work and we’re going to have a fun filled day with Zoey to celebrate her birthday as a family. Not sure what we’re going to do just yet.. but definitely something FUN! Saturday the 16th is Zoey’s birthday party. We’re having a Toy Story themed party at the park with cupcakes and pizza.

Sunday, the 17th.. a day of REST. We will sit around the house in a food and cake coma and wonder how we made it out of this week ALIVE!

Now, I gotta go.. The news just broke in saying that they expected a tornado outbreak in the county I live in over the next hour. They keep saying the biggest threat is to the east and I consider myself to the West.. but I am still scared to death nonetheless. I HATE tornadoes! I love thunderstorms but when they turn tornadic I tend to freak out. I also hate that I am home alone with the girls while my husband is at work. Wish me luck!

This is Zoey’s big birthday gift from Grandma, Grandpa, Mommy & Daddy! It’s a swingset that has this little “play house” area with a slide. It’s small enough that Zoey can play on it now but big enough that it should last until at least 6 years old.

Gene and I slaved 4 (FOUR!) hours putting this thing together. When we did the big “reveal” to her? She didn’t want anything to do with it and seemingly didn’t even NOTICE this huge monstrosity in our back yard. Kids! So she has been scared to death of it and would never go farther than the first step on the ladder.

As you can tell by the picture above, only almost two weeks after we’ve had it, she FINALLY got the courage to go up herself and she was hooked!

After she would climb up, she would sit at the top of the slide with a look of PURE joy on her face. I mean, you can’t even put words into this kind of innocent happiness.

Wheeeeeeeee!

I sat in the chair on the patio and watched her go down the slide and then go back up the ladder, only to go back down the slide again… about 30 times in a row. She would sit down at the top of the slide and wait for me to count to three… “1…. 2….. THREEEEE!” and she would laugh hysterically and push herself down the slide. At the bottom she would hop up on her feet and run as fast as she could towards me and collapse in my arms only to turn around and run back to the structure and do it all over again. THIRTY TIMES. AT LEAST.

To be a kid again! To have all of that excessive energy and find absolutely happiness and joy out of such a simple task. We could all learn a thing or two from these little kids.

She wouldn’t put her “Nacks!” down. She carried them everywhere. Girlfriend loves her snacks. Today she had oyster crackers in her snack trap, which she absolutely loves!

We’re both looking forward to many summer time lunches on her little picnic table this year.

Girlfriend can rock the 1980s leggings and pigtails.

She kept bringing me Emma’s dog toy so I would throw it. And then she would laugh HYSTERICALLY when Emma would run after it and bring it back. It’s the small things in life. But isn’t it always with kids? I love how easily amused they are at very mundane every-day things that we adults sometimes take for granted.

Mommy may not be very good at making them straight or creating a perfect part in her hair, but she sure can make it look cute!

What an absolutely amazing and beautiful little person. I love her so much and I look forward to a fun summer together!

The white blooms on these trees are absolutely beautiful. When you drive around town, you can see them everywhere and they are stunning.

The blooms are short lived. It’s so windy in Oklahoma that as soon as a strong spring wind storm or thunderstorm blows through, you’ll find the ground covered in white flowers. The trees eventually sprout very beautiful, big green leaves.

Can you believe such beauty can really cause such misery? I just LOVE these trees. The white blooms, the vibrant green leaves in the summer time and most of all, the absolutely beautiful, almost perfect pear shape they maintain. I’ll keep my allergy & asthma medication and tissues close by and admire these beautiful trees while they still have white blooms on them because these things do not last long at all.

Zoey absolutely LOVES her “owww-errrs” (Flowers) :-)

Here are some photos from our weekend:

Now that she has Grandchildren, she can have even more fun doing this. So, for Valentine’s Day this year, Zoey got a little basket with goodies in it and one of the items in the basket was this plastic heart shaped container of M&Ms. This was the very first time Zoey had ever tried an M&M and needless to say, she loves them!

Now, there is no way I was going to let her have the entire bag of M&Ms. So, Gene has started putting two M&Ms in the heart container and then hiding it somewhere in the living room amongst her toys every evening after she has gone to bed. So when she is playing the next day and stumbles across it, it is a HUGE surprise!

This morning it was sitting on top of her play kitchen and it didn’t take her long to find it. “Oooooh!!” she exlcaimed as she found it. She grabbed it and ran to me, “Peeeeeasee!” meaning that she wanted me to open it for her. I told her she knew how to open it herself and so she climbed up on to the sofa with me.

She opened it up, knowing what was going to be in it but still surprised nonetheless. Oh, to be a kid again!

She has this bad habit of holding the two M&Ms in her hands for a long time, so we’ve banned the blue ones. Blue M&Ms melting in a toddler’s hand means blue mess EVERYWHERE. Dear M&Ms, YES THEY DO MELT IN YOUR HAND. STOP LYING.

Needless to say, Zoey was so happy to get her little surprise this morning. I said “Is there a surprise in there?” and she said “Piiiiiies?” So cute! Honestly, I am jealous that she can be so excited over two tiny M&Ms. If it was me, I’d be wondering where the rest of the bag was!

I changed our bed linens and the dirty ones are in the dryer as I type. Does anyone else find changing bed linens a big chore? It feels like SO much work. I just love slipping into bed on clean bed linens though. I always make an effort to shower RIGHT before bed on Clean Linens Night. I also cleaned/dried/put away our laundry and I cleaned out a big portion of my clothes and put a bunch away to donate and trashed some others. I’ve just done a lot of picking up crap all over the house tonight and that alone feels like a BIG chore.

Having time to myself is something I am slowly but surely working on. I haven’t talked about it but I had a panic attack, my first one ever, a couple of weeks ago and it really scared me. I think all of the mess I’ve dealt with ever since Kiera’s crazy birth had finally caught up with me. It’s amazing how much better I am feeling these days, both physically and mentally but I have caught myself with early signs of a panic attack coming on and have to work hard and focus to get control. Editing and posting pictures of my girls is something that ALWAYS puts a huge smile on my face.

Today we just hung out around the house, didn’t do anything big. We took the girls outside for a short while but it was just too chilly to stay out long. I took a few snap shots of the girls.. I just love them so much! Every single day I catch myself staring at them and admiring their beauty. Every single little feature.

Zoey’s big, almond eyes. Her pouty and pink lips that pucker so perfectly that I find myself begging her for kisses on a daily basis. Her cute little nose and puffy cheeks. Her short and stubby fingers and her short and chubby (and I mean CHUBBY!) feet. Her stubby and crooked toes (thank Grandma for that one!). I cannot get over how absolutely perfect she is.

Kiera’s small and dark almond eyes. She looks at me with those glossy eyes and I am lost in love. Her flat nose, just like Daddy’s. Her cheeks are most definitely puffy and I love to kiss them. She has a wider mouth with smaller lips that sit right on top of the cutest little indented chin I’ve ever seen. Right below her chin is another chin, which I love JUST as much as the first one! Her hairy ears just make me giggle and I often find myself stroking them. She is perfect in every way.

These are my girls and I can’t imagine my life ANY other way. I cannot believe how lucky and blessed I am to be THEIR Mama.