Pictures From Regan's School Parade

Of course, Addison didn't want to keep her hat on.

Regan's Parade Part Two

Regan's Parade - Part 1

I got a flip video camera, and it is great. It is small and fits into my diaper bag, and it doesn't require any tapes. I taped Regan's Mardi Gras Parade at school today. They pulled them around twice, so I got her from both sides of the street. She seemed a little overwhelmed, but I think she had fun. And she got the baby today. The last baby of the king cake season at school!

Parades

Matt had a bachelor party on Saturday night, so I took the girls and met some friends at a parade. I was a little nervous about taking them to a parade by myself, but I figured it couldn't be worse than being at home with them by myself after having been couped up for several days due to bad weather. It turned out that it was much better to go to the parade. It wasn't crowded and it was barricaded, so I didn't have to worry about Regan getting run over. Addison did almost get smacked with a bead that was thrown by Alli Landry. After that, I moved her further back and stood in front of her. Both of the girls did really well. Regan was particularly fascinated by the dancers and told me that she wants to be a "parade girl" when she grows up.

On Sunday Regan and I drove to New Orleans and met Aunt Carla for a parade. We later hooked up with Meredith and went to Whole Foods and to Starbucks. It is a long drive for a one day trip, but it was well worth it. We had a lot of fun. Regan always loves to see Meredith. Next year we are going to have to go for the weekend, though.

Regan's Parent - Teacher Conference

As expected, nothing exciting came out of Regan's parent - teacher conference. She knew everything they asked her. She counted to 29 this time, which they were impressed with. Last time she only counted to 10. She can actually count to a 100, but gets confused at the 10 marks. I am impressed that she said 29, because she usually says 20 10. They also said that she is very detailed with her show and tell. She gets up and would talk forever about whatever she brings. I said I think she talks to hear herself talk. The teacher kind of laughed and said that she does, but that it is good. All in all, we stood outside in the cold longer than we were in the conference (the conference before us ran a little over).

Visit

Matt's brother came to visit with Quinn and Reid. It was a really nice visit, and I thought that the kids did really well. The Meche's also came over to play and all of the kids played really well together. Quinn slept in the room with Regan and they were only up until 11:30. Which I thought was pretty good. The only bad thing is that we still have a monitor in Regan's room so that she can call us to go potty. So, when they started playing with the vanity it sounded like the moniter was on the vanity. Even though it is actually across the room. Quinn pooped out first and told Regan it was time to go to bed. But Regan is a night owl like me. Quinn kept telling Regan to go to bed and stop talking. So, Regan would stop talking for a minute and then she would ask Quinn a question like.... "Do you like princesses?" And Quinn would answer the question and then Regan would start talking again. But she eventually did go to sleep. I thought they would be up until the wee hours of the morning, so I thought 11:30 was good. Regan was exhausted yesterday, though. She took a nap and she went to sleep pretty easily last night.

Addison's Physical Therapy

I took Addison to Physical Therapy on Thursday. She hadn't been since November. She has little to no interest in walking and is afraid to stand without holding onto something. But she tolerates a lot more from the therapist than she does from me. So, the therapist and I decided that she should go every week until she starts walking. Which will hopefully be soon, because she doesn't want me to hold her but she doesn't want to walk. It is especially challenging at dancing, because I don't want her to crawl around on the dirty floor. So, I am stuck holding a squirmy baby for an hour.

Regan Got the Baby

Matt picked Regan up from school today and was a little concerned to see a note attached to her backpack. But he soon realized that it meant that she got the baby in the King Cake. All of the classes have been having King Cake for snack during the Mardi Gras Season. Regan has been keeping me up to date on who gets the baby everyday. She is very excited that she got the baby today. Now I have to go buy a King Cake for Friday.

Addison's Length Check

Addison grew 3/4 inches. So, he doesn't want to send her to the Endocrinologist yet. I have to bring her back in a month to have her measured again.

Regan's Swim Lesson

Regan started swim lessons today. She really enjoyed them, and they said that she did really well for her first day. I'm not sure if they knew that she had had them before, though.

In other news... Addison stood by herself for a second this evening and even tried to take a step until she realized that we were not holding onto her. I think she is scared to do it. She likes the security of hanging on to something, but I know she can and will do it eventually. She has also started to purposely drop things. We have a giraffe toy that you put blocks in its mouth and it makes a little sound. She loves to put the blocks in it and looks at you like you can clap for me now. She loves to clap and put her hands up for touch down, but likes to do it more on her own terms than on command. She will clap if we start singing patty cake and she tries to do the spider motion when we sing the itsy bitsy spider. But the funniest (to me) thing that she does is if you ask her to give you a kiss, she gives you her cheek for you to give her a kiss.

We Got Her

As some of you may know, Regan has been driving us crazy lately with the Strawberry Shortcake Toys at McDonalds. She wants to eat there morning, noon and night. All because she wanted Orange Blossom and Blueberry Muffin. Well, today I looked online and they do not have a Blueberry Muffin. But they did have an Orange Blossom. So, I called all of the McDonalds in town and finally found one with an Orange Blossom. The only other one that we didn't have (of the ones that they have) was Rasberry Torte, and I got her while I was there. Regan has promised to stop asking to go to McDonalds for a while. At least until they have a new line of toys that she likes.

Addison - Croup

Addison has croup. But she only has the cough. The pediatrician says that everything else looks good. She is on an oral steroid for three days and we are running the humidifier.

She still has not grown. They are giving her a couple more weeks and then we will probably be referred to a geneticist and an endocrinologist.

Regan's Allergies

I took Regan to get her allergies tested today. Unfortunately, she is allergic to year around things and she is highly allergic to cats. He said that she is allergic to a lot for a three year old and that she probably won't grow out of it. He did say that her allergies are worse in the winter. She might eventually have to have an inhaler but for now he is putting her on Singulair and Zyrtec with breathing treatments as needed. But he said that if she is doing well in the Spring we can wean her off of the Singulair for the summer. He did say that some exposure to Cat's is okay, but day to day exposure is not recommended. She doesn't have any food allergies except for Strawberries. Apparently it is a food that does something to the cells in your body and makes people itch. So, she won't go into anafalactic shock if she eats them..... but they do make her skin itch.

The things that she are allergic to are Cats; Tree pollens of Maple, Sycamore, Ash, Oak, Red Cedar, and Cottonwood; Grass Pollens of Bermuda and Timothy; Mold Spores of Hormodendrum; and Weed Pollens of Mixed Ragweed, Kochia and Marsh Elder.

Washington D.C.

We just got back from visiting family in D.C. It was so much fun. A good mixture of relaxation, sightseeing and family time. Addison was a little fussy due to being off of her schedule and she was not to sure of my aunt and uncle's dogs. She really didn't like them at first, but tolerated them by the end. We got to meet my cousin's baby who is just adorable. He and Addison competed in a cutest baby contest, but neither would concede the title.

While we were there we went into D.C. twice. Once for some sightseeing and then to go to the National Zoo. For the sightseeing portion we attempted to go to the Natural History Smithsonian, but it was a mad house. We managed to eat some lunch and see the Hope Diamond and that is about it. The girls did not want to stay in their strollers and with the crowd we were afraid of losing Regan. So we went on the "Washington Mall Death March" as my uncle calls it. Sorry Uncle Sam for any permanent damage we might have caused to your hip. After seeing some of the sights, Matt says that he now feels like a full fledged citizen.

We went to the National Zoo on the last day of our trip. My cousin's were nice enough to brave the cold and go with us. I think it might of been the highlight of Regan's trip. We saw a Panda for the first time ever, and we commemorated the event by buying a stuffed Panda to add to the large collection of stuffed animals that we already have. Regan is our resident animal lover (Addison wants nothing to do with them) and I think she might have found a kindred spirit in Chad. They watched the Gorillas together. The Gorillas were eating their lunch which consisted of a healthy diet of grass. So, Chad asked Regan if she eats grass. Which she replied with "Well, (she starts every sentence with "well" these days) sometimes my sister picks grass and puts it in her mouth (which is true.)" So, Chad says do you eat grass. And she says....no, I eat big girl food.

All in all it was a very nice trip. Oh! I forgot to mention that we also met Betsy's boyfriend Ryan (he does exist). He was very nice to drive out with Betsy and have a family night of gambling (Aunt Carla gave us all a dice game for Christmas) and red beans. It was even nicer of Betsy to drive out because; being the young, traveling, non married chick that she is she had flown in that day from a turnaround trip to the liberty bowl. But, of course, she had to visit with her godchild who rewarded her with a wary look.

As I was saying, it was a great trip. Even with getting up at 4:45 this morning to catch an 8:30am plane. Which I actually recommend for traveling with small children. The plane was not full, so we had an extra seat next to Matt. And both girls took a nap.

Christmas

We have been out of town, so I am a little late posting this. I realize that Regan's pile is way bigger than Addison's. It is an understatement to say that it is much easier to shop for Regan than it is for Addison. And I figured that I could get away with it this year. She didn't seem to mind.

Christmas PJ's

Regan is very excited for Santa to come tonight. She finished making candy cane reindeers with my mom. She wanted to make sugar cookies again, but I talked her into tollhouse cookies for Santa. And we are leaving carrots for the reindeer. We just put Addison to bed, and now we are going to go drive around and look at some lights. Then it will be off to bed, so that Santa can come.

Regan's Best Friend

Regan loves Mc Donald's (which she calls Old Mc Donald's) mostly for the toys, I think. We went today and she played in the play area. They were playing music and she was dancing. It was very cute. Then she climbed up on Mc Donald's lap. Luckily I had my camera with me.

Puddles of Fun

The kids were using the bike as a sprinkler. Only in the south can you play in puddles in December.

Addison's 1 year well visit

Well, our little trouble maker has not grown in length since her nine month appointment. They are not to concerned about it, because her head is as big as ever. They said the most important thing is her head growth. But I have to take her in in a month for a length check.

Here are her stats:

Weight: 20 lbs. (35%)
Height: 28 in. (18%)
Head Circ.: 18 3/4 (98%)

Addison's Birthday Parties

We had a small party for Addison in Lafayette and a small party in New Orleans. And we went to a party inbetween for Quinn. We have been very busy, and I am glad it is all done. Planning a birthday during the Christmas Season is hard.

It is funny how different two children can be. For Regan's first birthday she wanted no part of the smash cake. She still doesn't really like sweet stuff or having dirty hands. She is much more of a salty girl.... like her mommy. Addison is the complete opposite. She enjoyed both of her smash cakes. The first one was a cupcake and she put so much of it in her mouth I thought she was going to choke.

Nutcracker

I took Regan to see the Nutcracker ballet this evening, and she did really well. The intermission through her off a little bit. And by the end she was ready to go. But we made it through the entire performance.

Cookies

We baked and decorated sugar cookies today. Can you tell what Regan's favorite color is?

Swinging

The couple of evenings ago we were outside playing on the swingset. I ran inside to get something and I told Regan to stay with her sister. I came back and she was swinging her sister.

Regan's First Tea

Georgina and I took the girl's to their first tea today. It was really cute, and they really enjoyed it. They had a Ms. Clause, a Snow Princess, Santa Clause, a Snow Man and a Rudolph. As you probably guessed, Regan liked the Snow Princess the best. She took two pictures with her.

Decorating the Christmas Tree

Tonight we let Regan stay up and help decorate the Christmas Tree. It was an experience. She started unwrapping all of the ornaments while Matt and I were busy putting the lights on the tree. Which is fine, except that most of our ornaments are breakable. Only one broke in the process, which is pretty good....I think. She didn't quite get the concept that you have to put the ornament far back on the branch. But all in all I think she did well for a three year old.

Visit to Santa

I don't think I will be using this picture as my Christmas Card this year. Although, I think it's kind of funny and cute. They had a fan blowing on Santa to keep him cool. If you were wondering why Regan's hair is blowing back like that.

Picking out a tree

Regan could not wait to go pick out a Christmas Tree, and now she can't wait to decorate it. We are hoping to decorate it tonight. If for no other reason than so that she will stop asking us. Our tree is the one right behind Matt and Regan. I think it is a little fat, because as Regan says..."it pulls my hair when I walk by it."

Addison's Physical Therapy

We went yesterday for Addison's Physical Therapy appointment. They are very happy with her progress. They gave me some exercises to work with her on cruising, balancing and walking. They said that as soon as she starts walking they will release her, and they think it will be before she is 15 months. We go back again at the end of January.

Goofy Golfing

One of Meredith's friends came over to visit on Saturday and we all went goofy golfing. Everyone minus Dick and Matt who had an "important" football game to watch. They volunteered to stay home with Addison. We lost Regan's coat at the mall ealier that day, so she had to wear Matt's. It was a lot of fun. We helped her with the first shot and then she would do the other shots. The funniest thing was when the ball was to far away from the hole, she would pick it up and move it closer. I am not the best with hand eye coordination and I have a hard time not hitting the ball to hard. There was one ball that I was having particular trouble with and Regan said "just hit the ball in the hole mommy." Regan got two hole's in one that I helped her with and she got the ball in the snake's mouth that I helped her with, too. She got a free pass for getting the ball in the snake's mouth.

Thanksgiving

We went to Florida for Thanksgiving. We had a really good time. We don't get to spend a lot of time with my family, so it's always nice when we get the opportunity to. Regan had what Matt had while we were there, and I have had it for the past two days. Not fun. Matt was nice enough to work from home today. I was barely able to take care of the kids yesterday, and this morning I felt even worse. By this afternoon I was feeling a lot better, and I am all but recovered this evening. Addison seemed to be starting with it today. We will see how it goes.

Park

So, we usually go to the park on Friday's to meet our playgroup friends after school. There is not much for Addison to do; because she doesn't walk, slide and until today swing. I have been trying to break her in little by little with the swing. I didn't have a lot of hope because one of my friends has a four year old who is just starting to like swinging and I have another friend who has a two year old that hates to swing. Well, today Addison loved swinging. She was laughing the whole time. Love it! I also love how she is looking at Regan like "what you talkin about willis." in the second picture.

We were on our way to New Orleans today to go to two birthday parties this weekend and stay for a few days before we headed to Florida. Well, we were concerned that Regan was in the beginning stages of pink eye and Matt wasn't feeling well. We were halfway there and Matt wanted me to take over driving and that is when I made the executive decision that we should head back home. When we switched drivers I thought about asking Regan if she needed to potty, because we were at a place where she could have gone. But I didn't, so we ended up pulling over on the side of the road and letting her tee-tee in one of Addison's diapers. It was lovely. I called the pediatrician on call and he called in some drops for me. He said she should be fine by tomorrow, but I still don't want her around a lot of kids for a few days. It was a good thing we came home, because as soon as we got home Matt was very sick. So, we will see how they are feeling tomorrow and re-evaluate our plans. The whole way home Regan talked about how she wanted her eyes to be blue again. She also told me that going to Avery's party and seeing Cinderella would help her to feel better.

Regan got pushed on the playground at school today. I think she would have told me, but I only know for sure because I went to drop off chicken nuggets at school today for their Thanksgiving Feast. Normally I would have left them with the secretary, but a lot of people were coming in behind me to go on tours of the school. Regan hasn't had issues of separation anxiety for a while now, so I thought I would take the opportunity to be the cool parent who brought the chicken nuggets for snack. I probably should have just left them with the secretary. But I am glad that I got to hug her and wipe her tears.

I hope to take and put up a picture for Addison's eleven month tomorrow. A few days late, I know. What can I say....I have two kids.

Pictures from Chapel

For your child's birthday you can dedicate books to them for the library. Today was a little boy in Regan's class birthday. Regan's teacher is the one at the microphone and the lady with the guitar is her music teacher.

Addison Crawling and Shaking Her Head No

Addison's favorite thing to do is to shake her head no and wave. Regan said yeah to everything when she was a baby, and I think Addison is going to say no to everything. She even kind of says no no. It's cute now, but I am sure it won't be forever. She is crawling all over the place and I tried to get video to prove it. But she had a one track mind to get to the lamp cord.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1581285266409738010

Weekend

Friday night Matt and I went to an auction for Regan's school. The owner of the company's children go there, too. He bought a table, but was unable to attend. So, we got to sit at the table which was really nice. Saturday Matt went hunting for the first time at a company sponsored hunt. I think he had fun, and wants to go next year. My only rule is...no gun's in the house. The girl's and I went to a birthday party. And after naps we went to the mall. It wasn't to bad. The only hard thing was trying to fit the double stroller in the restroom when Regan had to go potty. I had to go, though. We are having beach pictures made over the Thanksgiving Holiday's, so I needed the right dresses for the girls.

Chapel

Addison and I finally made it to chapel at Regan's school. They have it every Wednesday morning and parents are encouraged to attend. It was really cute. It reminded me of chapel at camp. Next week I will bring my camera and post a picture. Addison was really happy to be there, so I think we are going to try to go more often. Regan seemed happy that we were there, too.

The vegetables aren't going so well. Regan is not so easily deceived. I made her the grilled cheese yesterday for lunch with the pureed sweet potatoes. She told me that she did not like it, that she wanted a square piece of cheese. Addison and I ate one. It wasn't bad, but the texture was a little off.

Eating Healthy

In an effort to get Regan to eat vegetables, I bought the controversial cookbook deceptively delicious by Jessica Seinfeld. Tonight I tried out my first recipe of pasta covered with pureed squash, and Regan ate squash for the first time since she was a baby. Granted it was not very much, and we had to bribe her with a princess snack to even get her to try it. All because I didn't have the right kind of pasta. Even though I let her pick out the pasta at the grocery store. But I still feel that it is a step in the right direction. And a step up from last night when I bribed her with french fries to get her to eat some carrots. Tomorrow I am going to try grilled cheese with pureed sweet potatoes and chicken nuggets with pureed broccoli. Addison had the left over pureed steamed squash and loved it. I think I will start doing this for her more often. It was so easy. I also gave her some pureed sweet potatoes that I prepared in advance for the grilled cheese. It was a little thick for her, I think.