I was brave and took both girls for their check-ups today.  I was thinking when I made the appointment that it would be easier to have them both done at the same time, but as the time grew nearer, I was wondering if I had made the right decision.  Overall, it went well.  And the best news is that they are both perfectly healthy.  The doctor was happy to see Lorelei literally running now.  He's still checking her hips and legs, but he expects them to be just fine.  And, as figured, they are both giant children... in the 90th percentile for their height.

Ainsley got three shots.  I think this was the first time that she really knew what was going to happen.  She started screaming and fighting with the nurse.  I had to physically hold her down.  The nurse felt so badly, she kept giving Ainsley toys for making it through such a "traumatic" thing.   Ainsley took full advantage of that, and kept turning on the waterworks.  Lorelei got one shot and barely cried. 

We will be getting our downstairs hardwood floors refinished.  I made the arrangements today.  They won't be coming until May 7, so that will give us plenty of time to finish all the painting we want to get done before they come.  I'm excited.  The floors need some major work.

It's supposed to raining here over the weekend, so I'm not sure what we'll be up to.  I hope all of you have a wonderful weekend, rain or not...

 My baby, little Lorelei, is 18 months old today.  How can that be?  She can't possibly already be that old.  They grow so fast.  She's a different girl now that she's finally walking.  She's much braver.  She's climbing, going down slides all on her own, getting into things...  She's going to be a lot of fun this summer.

The week has gone by quickly with nothing really going on.  We spent some time outside, got our lawn cleaned up and put down grass seed and fertilizer yesterday.  Today it is raining, so hopefully it will all take root and we will get a nice green lawn.  I can't wait for to see some green again, on the lawns, on the trees, in the flower beds...  Spring can't come quickly enough.

My grandfather had his pacemaker put in yesterday.  He is doing well, and is supposed to be coming home today.  I'll be calling later to check on him.  My mom said he was feeling good right after the surgery, so that is a great praise.

I asked Ainsley if she wanted to take ballet again or a music class.  She chose music, so we went to her first class today.  Ainsley has always been very musically inclined.  She was singing before she was really talking.  She could sing her alphabet and the B-I-B-L-E by 15 months, so I think this will be really good for her.  Our town has such great classes for very affordable prices.  I am very thankful for that.  Right after the class she was already singing all the songs she had learned today.

Well, that's it for us.  I hope everyone has a great weekend.

God has been so good to us.  Our closing went very well.  We even got a little bit of money back.  We were very thankful because this whole process has cost more than anticipated. 

I was thinking it was anti-climactic as we just came right back home to the same house we've lived in for nearly five years.  I made dinner here, we played with the kids, put them to bed, just like any other normal night... nothing had changed.  But then I was thinking how great it was that we don't have to leave the only house my children have ever known, the house where we made our first family memories, the place where I brought newborn babies home, spent Christmases, birthdays and all kinds of everyday days.  I don't have to pack up all of our things, pay for a moving truck, get my children adjusted to a new home and new surroundings.  God really does have our best in mind.

Now that it's ours, I'm trying not to be overwhelmed with all that needs to be done here.  Thankfully, there is nothing that NEEDS to be done, if you know what I mean, no pressing problems that have to be rectified immediately.  There's just a lot of cosmetic things to be changed.  We have been planning all kinds of things we wanted to get done for literally years, so now that we can do them, it feels like we want to get them done immediately.  We're trying to pace ourselves and just tackle one thing at a time.  We just have to keep reminding each other of that.

It was kind of a bummer of a weekend.  Ainsley was sick with a stomach bug, so we laid low for most of the weekend, waiting just in case someone else caught it.  Lorelei did yesterday.  As I've written before, stomach issues and I do not get along.  Thankfully, Lorelei got sick while Josh was here, so he could help clean up.  And an even better praise is that she's totally better today. 

So far, the week has been spent getting caught up on cleaning OUR house.  Josh and I have been making that "joke" all weekend... first night in OUR house, first dinner in OUR house, you get the idea. 

God is good.

I've been thinking of this today as it is Good Friday.  And I think I thought of it mostly because of what happened to Lorelei yesterday.  She cracked (and I do mean cracked, the sound was awful) her head on the corner of a little table in our living room.  An area above her right eye was bleeding and swollen.  I got sick to my stomach because of the blood.  I don't handle blood well, anyway, but throw in the fact that it is my baby bleeding, my child I love so very much, and it's nearly impossible to handle.

We always talk of what Christ did for us as a sacrifice.  And it was; He paid the price for our sins.  He willingly died to take my sins, MY sins away.  But how often do we focus on the fact that God made a sacrifice, too?  He chose to allow His Son to die.  He saw His Son bleeding, beaten, betrayed.  I know this is assigning human feelings to a deity, but have you ever thought about what that must have been like for God, to witness that?  I remember when I lost our baby, how it hit me one day right between the eyes, that God had also lost a child, He knew what I felt.  Now, I've pretty much known my whole life that Jesus was God's Son and that He died for me, but I had never really given it the kind of thought I should have, He GAVE UP His Son, allowed Him to die, for me, FOR ME.

Thankfully, Lorelei is fine now.  Her eyelid is a little swollen and red and she has a little scab, but no permanent damage done. 

I pray all of you have a wonderful day reflecting not only on the sacrifice, but on the new life, the resurrection we will celebrate on Sunday.

Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift.

Happy First day of spring everyone!  I am so longing for warm weather, green grass and the smell of my lilac bushes.

With this being Easter week, I've been trying to talk to the girls about the real meaning of Easter, that it's not all about eggs, candy, bunnies and baskets.  Of course it's going over Lorelei's head, but Ainsley is really starting to understand and soak in the things of God.  Of course, we also do the secular fun things, too.  We'll be coloring Easter eggs sometimes this weekend and they will both have an Easter basket, but what's most important is that they know Sunday is Resurrection Sunday.

Yesterday, my friend Amanda called.  Amanda's the one with a newborn.  She needed to get out and I had her come over to my house for a few hours.  It was a bit chaotic with all of the little ones running around, but we had a nice time anyway.  Ainsley is fascinated with baby Weston.  She's naming all of her babies Weston and she talks about him a lot.  Lorelei just doesn't want mommy holding Weston, otherwise he's just fine.  Since he was only 5 pounds at birth he's still teeny tiny at nearly two months old.  I loved hearing those little newborn noises.

We've started the American Girl journey in our house.  I had found the first book in the Samantha series at a book sale a few years ago.  So, with Ainsley now being four, I decided to see how she would do if we read a chapter book.  Each day we've been reading a chapter before she has to lay down for rest time.  She's been remembering what happens in each chapter and she's been enjoying this mommy and Ainsley time.  Yesterday we finished the book and she was eager to read more.  I debated about just checking them out at the library, but I decided (and my husband convinced me) to just buy some off ebay.  So, we're getting the whole Samantha set and the whole Molly set, hopefully very soon in the mail.  I'm enjoying reading them again, too.  As they were just coming out when I was growing up.

And here is my new haircut.  I am still getting used to it.  Yesterday I straightened it and was not thrilled with it, but today I just used my natural curls and I like a lot.  And it's easy.  What mom doesn't love an easy hairstyle?

We have been so busy over the past week with our trip and Ainsley's birthday, that I will have to do several posts to cover all of our goings-on.  I think I will start with her actual birthday.

We had a very busy day.  We had our baking class in the morning, then we came home to decorate her birthday cake.  A few months ago I found a Care Bears cake pan for a few dollars at a favorite discount store. 
Ainsley had been waiting and waiting for her birthday to use it. 

I am quite the novice cake decorater, but I was pretty happy with this, and more importantly, so was she.

After the cake decorating, we had to go to ballet.  While at ballet I realized that with the snacks at the baking class and all the frosting taste-testing we had forgotten to eat lunch, so being the nice mommy that I am, I took her McDonald's.  We ate and the girls played in the indoor play area for a bit.  Josh met us there and then we went to the library.  Our library gives away free books on children's birthdays, so she had to go get her free book.  I also let her pick out a movie and when we got home, I made her lie down and watch it for awhile to have a little rest time. 

Josh's parents came over for birthday dinner, cake...

... and presents, of course.

The favorite of the night, a new baby doll complete with everything you need to care for your baby.

The only problem, we need two.  This gift was also little Lorelei's favorite.  I have been breaking up fights over this poor baby for days.

Ainsley also loved her new nightgown.  Dora as a ballerina... what could be better???

Friday was a beautiful day and we took our first walk to the park of the season.  Spring fever has definitely hit me!

That night I had to cover the Flashlight Easter Egg Hunt in the town center.  (I love how all I write about now is fluff stuff, no stabbings and shootings for me anymore.)  Whenever I cover stories and also take my kids, I never take pictures of my kids doing anything.  But I did get one... Ainsley got to sit with the Easter Bunny.  Lorelei was too afraid to go anywhere near that giant furry thing.

On Saturday, Josh and I took Ainsley out by herself for lunch and to Toys R Us to spend a gift card.   Today we spent at church and resting.  Ainsley ran into Sunday School saying, "Hey guys, guess what?  I'm four now!!!" 

That was quite the birthday weekend for her, don't you think?

I'll have pictures of our trip to Chicago in another post this week.