We spent a lot of time outside today! The kids were having a great time playing together and their little imaginations were running wild! I love to sit back and watch/listen. Part of today's play included putting a baby to sleep (a rock that they named "Sweetheart") on our porch. They even sang to it. It was so hard not to laugh but I kept it in because I didn't want to distract them! So cute. :)

At one point I got this picture...I can only imagine what they were talking about - it looks like it was something serious! :)

I can't believe it has been a week (almost) since Addison and Fischer's birthday. Time is already flying for this year too!

So, last Wednesday, the kids woke up to find cards on the table. They opened their "mail" then ate their breakfast. Addison requested cinnamon rolls, and she patiently waited for them to finish so they could eat.

Then they got to open their first present of the day...but not until Daddy was out of the shower. So, they stood outside the door and yelled "Daddy!" until he got out. Lucky for Scott, he was smart and locked the door because I know they would've barged right in to tell him to hurry up. They were pretty excited. :)

Fischer got a cool dog guitar, which makes his Uncle Chris very proud.

Addison got a cat piano complete with a microphone,  so now they can have some serious jam sessions.

Scott had some work to do that morning so the kids and I hung out up the in play room. We relaxed and watched some of their favorite shows. Next up was lunch at our favorite chinese place, Miyo's. Their food is very fresh and the kids always eat their weight in vegetables when we are there, which is always nice to see. They also love the fish tank in the waiting area so they had fun telling the fish that we were there for their birthdays. :) Addison even did her best fishy-face for the fish.

Of course, we had to have a fortune cookie after our meal.

After lunch, we had a couple of quick errands to run before heading to our final destination - the zoo!!! One of our stops was the Children's Hospital so we could drop off all of the donations from the party! Instead of gifts for the kids, we asked for donations again this year. We got some good stuff (and the kids still got awesome gifts too!) and the director at the hospital was so excited.

Finally it was zoo time!  Our first stop was the Icee stand - Fischer picked blue and Addison picked purple. They even shared some along the way - it was really cute. :)

We stopped to rest for a minute and I realized it was the same exact bench we fed the kids on during their first zoo trip ever at 9 months old!

Then we headed to ride the ponies! Fischer had ridden a pony before but Addison hadn't so I wasn't sure if she would actually end up riding or not. But she went first and didn't even ask for me to walk around the loop with her. Such a big girl! Their pony's name was Spooky. The helmets were a little big. :)

Fischer waited patiently for his turn and had a great time!

Next we rode the train, then the carousel.

The kids did get to take a little nap on the way home...

When we got home, we relaxed for a little bit since the kids didn't get a real nap. Then they opened a couple more presents - a small kite for each of them (which didn't work out so well but they had a great time pulling them around the yard) and some new jammies.

Then we had a yummy dinner of shrimp, fish and asparagus, and leftover birthday cake, after singing Happy Birthday of course.

Then we headed up stairs to finish up presents - Addison got a jewelry box, and some puzzles. Fischer got a shovel and a "rocket launcher."

I think they had a great day, and I enjoyed being able to spend most of the day together as a family!

We are trying to stay busy around here while Scott is gone. Yesterday we ventured to Target and PetSmart, where we watched fish, cats, dogs and birds. Oh, and rats. Which were apparently Addison's favorite part but she kept calling them "meece." It took me awhile to realize she was talking about "mice" which were really the rats.

Today we went to visit some friends in Rock Hill! The kids had a great time playing and got out a lot of their energy. It was a great day to go since it was cold and rainy. Addison got to play dress up, and even got to wear a tiny wedding dress. She was so excited! Fischer got to play with "swords" with another little boy and has been asking all afternoon where Nick went.

Over the weekend, Scott and Addison took a trip to the library. She loves going and picking out new books. They came home with the movie Milo and Otis, so I put that in tonight and made some popcorn. We had to turn the movie off after about 20 minutes because Addison just couldn't handle the cat being in trouble and the fact that animals were chasing it. And neither one of them would stop asking questions.. "Where's the dog? What happened? What does she want? What's he doing? Is he ok?" And on and on.

While we were watching and eating popcorn, Fischer looked at me and said "Mommy, I was so nervous!" I asked him what he was nervous about and he said "When I got married at the farmhouse!" I have no idea where this came from, but I asked him who he married. He said "A crab! It kept grabbing me!" Then he went back to talking about something else. While this was going on, Addison got up to go throw some popcorn seeds away in the bathroom. After realizing she had been gone way too long I went in to see what she was doing... she was playing with the seeds IN the toilet - hands in the water and everything.

Good thing it was almost bedtime at that point. Can't wait to see what tomorrow has in store with these funny little 3 year olds. :)

February has been a busy month, and it isn't over yet! This week, in particular, has been quite busy. This morning, the kids got to take cupcakes to school to celebrate their birthdays! They seemed to have a great time and said the cupcakes were good. :)

We picked them up a bit early because Addison had an appointment with the ENT today. Scott brought Fischer home and got him settled with Dianne, and then met us at the appointment. On the way, Addison and I got to have a little lunch date at Wendy's. :)

After some waiting (what else is new?!), we were finally called back. First, Addison had to do a hearing test, similar to the one they do with newborns. She seemed a little uncomfortable during the test (I think it was just a lot of high pitched beeping in her ears), but let the girl finish what she had to do. Unfortunately, she didn't pass the test for her left ear. This is most likely due to the fluid that was there and will be retested in April. After that, Addison was more than happy to pick some bracelets and a toy out of the treasure chest.

Next, we went into another room where we did a lot of waiting. A nurse came in and asked a bunch of questions (is Addison in daycare, does anyone in our home smoke, does she use a pacifier, has she been hospitalized, etc...).  Eventually a nurse practitioner came in to examine Addison. She first talked with Scott and I for a bit and then she looked at Addison's ears. She said there was some fluid in each ear but neither was infected (yet). She also said some other words that I don't remember but basically said one ear looked like it would feel like when you are on an airplane and there is a lot of pressure. This is most likely due to the fact that she just had an ear infection in that ear.

After some more talking, she decided it would be a good idea to take a look at Addison's adenoids. To do this, she inserted a long camera into Addison's nostril... this was not fun. Scott had to hold her head and I had to hold her arms down. Absolutely awful. And she was NOT happy... but as soon as she removed the camera, Addison stopped crying and got to take another trip to the treasure chest. :) The nurse practitioner said that her adenoids are larger than average but not the biggest they've seen, which could be contributing to her constantly running nose.

Finally we discussed tubes, which we were expecting to be brought up. She said Addison is definitely a candidate for tubes. She said by doing tubes, her ear infections should be drastically reduced. And if she does get another one after tubes, it would be easier to treat. She also mentioned removing her adenoids, which would be done at the same time.  So, because of all this, we had to meet the doctor that will be doing the procedures.

We waited some more. Seriously, did they not realize we had a THREE year old in the room with us!? Anyway, he finally came in. He answered a lot of our questions and reassured us that this is the right thing to do. He also said that while they are in there doing the tubes, they will look at the adenoids again and determine if they need to be removed. Ultimately, Scott and I will get to choose but he will be able to better tell what needs to happen during the procedure.

So, after 2 hours and 3 trips to the treasure chest, we were done. Addison did so well considering that we were in a tiny room with a lot of equipment she wasn't allowed to touch. So now we wait until March 9, which is when we are scheduled for her tubes.

I'm glad the appointment is over and we now have a plan in place.

Here is Addison sitting in the "special chair" in the room...and yes, she is big on mixing patterns - today she went with a floral dress and polka dotted tights. She's trendy like that. :)

Happy 3rd birthday to my "babies!"

We had a fun-filled day that I will write about soon.  Right now I have to go ice some cupcakes for them to take to school tomorrow in order to celebrate again! :)

Here they are today at lunch, telling each other happy birthday. I love this picture!!

As I mentioned, yesterday was our 8th anniversary! Scott and I had a great dinner out and came home to two sleeping children - thanks to Jim and Dianne! :)

Yesterday afternoon, Addison and Fischer's friend Rylan came over to play. Fischer and Rylan had a great time together and they were hilarious to watch. During their snack of popcorn, as she was curled up next to him on the couch, he was more than happy to share with her - at one point he even took half a piece of popcorn out of his mouth and gave it to her. Sweet, right!?

They got to go on a tractor ride... Addison was more than happy to sit on Daddy's lap while Fischer and Rylan rode together in the back.

Then we headed inside and they had a good time playing.

We look forward to playing with Rylan again soon!

We had a busy weekend! Addison and Fischer's 3rd birthday party was on Saturday, and we had family and friends in town for that. I will be posting about their party soon!

Today I wanted to wish Scott a Happy Anniversary! I can't believe we've been married for 8 years!!! We are getting to have a date night tonight so I'm excited about that! Good thing because things are about to get  (or stay) quite busy around here... including 2 separate trips to Japan for Scott in the next month.

Here is a picture from our 5th anniversary, 2 days before Addison and Fischer were born. I let myself off of bedrest for about 15 minutes to enjoy the delicious meal Scott cooked. I had been craving a salad with crab meat on it for weeks and he made that along with steak. Sadly I was sort of in pain throughout the whole meal, and couldn't eat much since the babies were taking up all of the room in there, but it was still delicious and a nice way to celebrate our last anniversary as a childless couple! :)

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Addison and Fischer had a party at school today - they brought home lots of goodies and cute little valentines from their friends!

When they got up, they had little treats waiting for them. They each got some new jammies, new undies (always exciting!), little bottles of ketchup (Fischer's most favorite thing right now), stickers, and a few other small things. They also got cute little gardening rakes that Scott picked up for them!

I was thinking about their first Valentine's Day... they were almost a year old! One of their favorite things was chomping on pizza crust if we happened to be at a pizza restaurant. So, we decided to go to Pizza Hut for lunch that day so they could chomp away! Romantic, right?! Here they are before lunch that day:

We might as well make it a family affair - all 4 of us are now on antibiotics. But hopefully this means we can finally get rid of whatever this is instead of passing it back and forth!

Because of all the sickness, I keep forgetting how close we are to Addison and Fischer's birthday! It's less than 2 weeks away - I can hardly believe it. Their party is planned for a few days before their actual birthday so I'm not sure what we will do on the actual day. They don't have school that day so I need to come up with something fun to do!

We finally got a call about Addison's ENT appointment, and we will be going there on February 23. At least they were nice enough to make it the day after her birthday! That's also the day they get to celebrate their birthdays at schools so I'm sure it'll be great fun to take a sugared up 3 year old to an appointment like that.  Oh well! :)

Anyway, it looks like we'll be taking it easy this weekend and trying to rest and finally get healthy. I hope you all have a great weekend!

Here is a picture from last year's birthday party - how is it possible that an entire year has already passed?!

3 years ago, I broke my bedrest rules and headed to Bi-Lo with Scott to do a little grocery shopping. While it was nice to get out of the house, I definitely had many more contractions than usual that night as I was hooked up to the contraction monitor. Oops! Luckily the kids didn't end up coming the next day or I might have felt a little guilty! :)

I really wish our pediatrician's office had some sort of frequent-visitor program. Or "pay 10 copays, get 1 free." Something! We have been there so many times since November and we have to pay $30 each time. Ouch.

Anyway, we were back there this morning for Addison. She started running a fever yesterday, along with a very runny nose and nasty cough. She told me her ears hurt, which isn't shocking to me anymore. She continued to have a fever all night, so off we went this morning. Sure enough, she has an infection in her left ear.

The doctor is referring us to an ENT, so I'm just waiting on the phone call from them to schedule the appointment. The first appointment will be a consultation/2nd opinion, but the outcome will most likely be tubes. At this point, I just want to hurry up and get it done because I'm tired of pumping medicine into their little bodies! Speaking of that, the doctor went ahead and rechecked Fischer's ears this morning since we were there. Monday he had an infection in his left ear and now it is in both ears. He's only had 4 doses of his medicine so far so hopefully it kicks in soon. It won't surprise me if he ends up at the ENT soon too... maybe they'd give us a Buy 1 Get 1 deal?! I'm always on the look out for deals.... :)

So, we are taking it easy around here again today. No school for the kids tomorrow - we are going to all be a little stir crazy very soon I think. Hopefully we'll have nice weather this weekend so we can get out and do something fun!

I should have known that it was too good to be true... we hadn't been to the pediatrician in over a week, and the latest visit was just for a recheck of ears so it wasn't an actual "sick" visit.

Our luck ended today. :( Fischer started coughing last week, and over the past few days his cough has gotten worse. His nose has started running and on Saturday he had a fever. So today I took him to the doctor. He has an ear infection in his left ear and an upper respiratory infection (a bad cold).

He hasn't been himself today so I'm hoping tomorrow is a better day for him. I hate when they are sick and there isn't anything I can do to make them feel better. He started his medicine tonight and we will have a lazy day tomorrow (no school!). Unfortunately I'm not feeling great either, so I think the lazy day will do us all some good!

You know my little (29 pound) man doesn't feel good when he's actually sitting still and I can get a non-blurry picture of him! He was happily playing with his Leapster in this picture as we waited on the doctor to come in.

Last Friday, I had to take Addison back to see the doctor to make sure her ears were all clear. The doctor just wanted to make sure that once she finished her antibiotics, her ears were actually fine and nothing was still lingering.

Fischer got to tag along this time. Luckily we had the 2nd appointment of the day so we didn't have to wait long. In the waiting room, they had a great time staring at the 6 day old baby that was there. I'll admit, I stared a lot too. :) He was so cute and tiny - I couldn't even believe that Addison and Fischer were even smaller than he was. They are so big now! Addison was 28ish pounds when they weighed her.

I still think that pediatrician's offices should line their walls with rubber. I don't know about other kids, but mine get a weird burst of energy when we get there - even when they are sick. So when they are healthy, you can imagine how it goes with both of them in that tiny little room. They had a good time on Friday - and I've given up trying to keep them off the floor, out from under the chairs, etc... Gross, I know.  Anyway, at one point, they decided they were going to hide from the doctor and surprise him. So here they are, hiding...

The doctor came in, checked Addison out and said she looked great. So now we know that her ears actually do clear up when she takes medicine. Hopefully these ear infections stay away now. When Addison's turn was over, Fischer started saying "check me! check me!" Dr. Finch let him hop up onto the table and get checked out too. It never hurts to make sure things are all clear! He looked great too. And Fischer even got to listen to his own heartbeat, which he loved.

Afterwards, I treated them to a doughnut at Krispy Kreme and then we headed to the park for a little while. They enjoyed using this picnic table as a stage!