Spring is Here! (Picture Post)

Couldn't get one of Avie with Daddy. But doesn't Ella look a lot like Kelly? I think they are even pulling the same face!

More Sacfrices. Eh, I'll live!

That's a little cheesy. Well, maybe even a LOT cheesy because I made it. I couldn't find any other Sacrifice Motivational pictures, so I found my own picture and my own quote!

Anywho! There is a meaing behind this quote, I'm not just a weirdo. We all make sacrifices. I've come to find that being a parent, you have even more sacrifices. Go figure right? Don't worry, I'm not completely clueless and just finding this out now. I've just realized that I will have to make more to make my day to day work.

As some of you know, I'm currently working 4 days a week, 35 hour days. Which it's been fine, especially with Kelly out of work. But I find myself sick with worry now that he is back into work. Will our schedule work out? Since I only work 4 days (I only have babysitters for 3 weekdays) I'm working 9 hour shifts. That is a long time. Especially when you are watching 10 month old twins. I'm usually getting off around 6:30 or 7. And even though Kelly's schedule is flexible, it's also unknowing. He works until work is finished. He like to leave early, just in case and we can't guarantee that he'll get off before me and be able to pick the girls up at a decent time.

So what do we do? How do we fix this? I guess, Andee will work Saturdays too! I know, I'm crazy. I don't know what I've set myself up to do. I'll now be working 5 days a week, 35 hours. I'll be working every Saturday and Sunday, which is 16 hours, and then 3 weekdays at 6.5 hours. I figure, the less hours I work during the week, the better. This way I can get the girls to the babysitter at a decent time in the morning, but be home before 5 so they aren't watching them forever.

May will be my test month. We'll see how it works. Yea, I may miss out on Saturday activities, but I get off at 3. It's not like it's an all day thing. But we have to make sacrifices!! This has to be mine. Will it be hard to go back to 5 days of work, yes. But it will be so nice only working 6 1/2 hour days during the week. SO NICE! But 10 hour babysitting schedules? I mean come on. That's tough! Plus, Kalie AND Erica are taking their only day off during the week to help me out. Do I really want them to waste the entire day watching my hellions? No, I don't! It makes my stomach turn to know that they are going out of their way to help me out and it isn't very flexible. I mean, I can barely stand watching the girls all day long on my day off and I'm their mother!

Again, BIG THANKS to my family!! Erica, Kalie, Mom, Dad & Nancy for your willingness to help us out. I really can't thank you enough. You all are absolutely amazing!!

I'll keep everyone posted on how it goes. I'm hoping this works out. But if it doesn't, we can always adjust starting June. That is another great thing about my job is that they are amazing when it comes to schedules and they are so understanding.

Here's another one. I love my family!!!

10 Months.. I'll get to it!

So the girls are now 10 months old! (March 30th)

I can't believe that I'm already starting to plan their 1st Birthday Party! Time flies!

I'll post about 10 Months soon. Erica has been wanting to take photos of the girls for some time now and I'm hoping we can do it soon! I'll post then!

P.S. Ella, unfortunately, didn't make the Top Ten for Baby Idol on 97.1ZHT. But no worries! I still think that my girls are the cutest ever!

Vote for Ella!

I'm sure this won't be the first contest I enter the girls in, but I need your help!!

Please visit http://www.971zht.com/pages/babyidol11/ to cast your vote for Ms Ella Rae! Once you're there, go to VOTE NOW and select #319! You can vote once per email address, so if you have more than 1, go for it!

I know what some of you may be thinking... "Jeez, Andee! Why only Ella? Isn't Avie just as cute?" Why yes, she IS just as cute. In fact, because of that reason, the radio station thought I sent in two pictures of the same baby. Although Avie's was adorable, I can't help but LOVE this picture. Erica took it one day while we were just hanging out. It's perfect!

Spread the word!! Voting goes until April 4th when the Top 10 will be announced. If we make the Top 10, voting begins on April 5th and ends April 7th. I'll keep everyone posted! Grand prize is Lifetime Store Playset and a San Diego Getaway!

Thanks to all in advance!!!

Our Ella Rae

Today was Ella's appointment up at Primary Children's for her head. Just a brief overview if you don't know, Ella's right ear is more forward on her head then her left. At their 9 month appointment our pediatrician had the impression that maybe Ella's head had fused wrong and it may require surgery. So she referred us to the Plastic Surgery Clinic at Primary's.

Luckily, it was a short trip!! Dr Siddiqi came in, looked at Ella's head and said she was fine. Our pediatrician was wrong, her head didn't fuse wrong or developed uneven. It is actually a result to her flat spot. Ella favored one right side of her head when she slept but her head began to round out so we didn't worry. However, that's when we noticed her uneven ears. The Dr said that it was too late for a helmet and unfortunately there isn't much we can do about it now. We just have to wait for her to grow out of it. She too old to try and maneuver her head while she sleeps, because she'll just move it anyways. The Dr did say that there is a chance that her ears will remain uneven but that it's normal for people to have asymmetry. We won't notice it once she gets some more hair on that head. So NO SURGERY!

Am I upset about the $35 copay that basically went down the drain? Maybe.
But am I glad to have some peace of mind knowing that she is okay? YES!!

Driving home Kelly and I had a moment of thanks. It's amazing at how you forget how lucky you are sometimes. I don't know how many time I can say it, but I'm so happy that I have two healthy, beautiful baby girls. I plan on enjoying every moment of their childhood, because it seems to be going to fast already!

Ella had a very exciting day today! Not only did she have a trip up to Primary's but we noticed her right eye was watering a lot and red. GREAT! Pink Eye!! So another $25 copay and $5 for her drops. Expensive day for Ella! But I guess it was inevitable. My nephew Jesse had it, then Kelly got it. I'm sure it's only a matter of time before Avie gets it. We're home now sanitizing all toys and may make a laundromat run so we can wash their sheets, blankets and pajama's. I can't wait until we have a healthy household!!

Lesson of the day: Don't forget how lucky I am for all of the people in my life. Especially my baby girls!!

Avie & The Mirror

Make sure you check out her reflection!! She is so adorable!

| 9 Months |

please forgive the orange faces... carrots stain!

Avie Joy

18.8 lbs - 52%

28 in - 67%

Head 18.1 in - 94%

Ella Rae

17.9 lbs - 34%

27.5 in - 49%

Head 17.9 in - 88%

They BOTH:
- Army crawling like crazy. We've started barricading them in the living room with pillows and turned over chairs. We need to purchase some gates.
- Located the DVD rack!! What is it with babies and DVD racks?
- Starting to pull themselves up on to everything, more comfortable on their knees.
- Waving! They don't do it all the time, but mostly with Bye Bye.
- Holding their own bottles, so nice when you have to feed them by yourself.
- Two beautiful bottom teeth! They make their smiles that much more adorable!
- Getting better with sippy cups. I'm hoping to have no bottles after 12 months.
- Starting to experience new foods! (non baby food) Fruits and Veggies, Cheese, Yogurt.
- They love to talk! Da Da is the only specific thing we hear, other than rambling.
- Both have learned to do raspberries! It's so cute to hear when they are playing.

They both seem to be learning and developing the same. If one starts to do something new, the other follows shortly. I think Ella being able to clap is the only thing that Avie can't do. And Avie does her little coughing thing. But yea, they pretty much learn from each other and learn quick. Great Doc appointment, which leads me to the next info.

Ella's head. It's mishapped. No, well it's uneven. The left side of her face is bigger than the right. More noticeable in the cheeks and ears. Also, when you look at her from the back, you can tell her ears are lopsided and from the top of her head they aren't even. Anyways, the Doc recommended seeing the Plastic Surgery Clinic at Primary Children's to get a diagnostic. From what she said, her head isn't flat so a helmet wouldn't help. She thinks it has more to do with how Ella's head fused together. I'm hoping it's more so like "she'll grow into it" then, "she has to have surgery." I know it probably wouldn't be a major surgery, but I've been lucky enough with my girls so far that something big like this would kill me. I'd worry way too much about her!

In other news, I'm happy to say that I nursed these girls for 9 months! I can't believe I was able to do it that long. Okay, yes... we did add formula in at about 6 months just because I wasn't producing a ton. But hey, I'm proud non the less! I knew it had to come, I wanted to at least try and go for the full 12 months, but with the girls new teeth, they loved to bite! I know I've said it before, but omg hurts like hell! Plus, not only were they biting, but they were viewing my nipples as more as toys than a food source. Grabbing, pinching, flicking and biting. Not the best time for me. It hurt for the first couple of days, but I just wore a really tight bra and that seem to help. I actually didn't need to pump out any and I think I've been okay. I still getting really hot sometimes, but other than that it was fairly easy to stop.

In other news: Kelly goes back to work in a couple of weeks and he couldn't be more excited. He's getting a little stir crazy couped up in the house and playing Mr Mom. We are still going to look for other employment for him since Reagan isn't what he wants to stay with. But the plan is for him to work his butt off this summer (they can make good money) and then maybe go back to school in the fall. We are thinking more of a trade school, like ITT Tech or something. I'm absolutely loving work right now, only because there is a new training class in. I absolutely love back up training!! It's so much fun and I hope to one day go full time!

Other than that... not much more to report. The next month will fly by I'm sure. My little sister Jessica is getting married, so I'm sure we'll have loads of fun things to keep us occupied! Much love to all!

A nice change of pace @ work!

Like the girl in the picture above... work has been a bore! It can get really tiring when you are doing the same thing day in and day out. Talking about the same situations with all owners, them complaining about yearly fees and no availability, it's hard.

But that's all about to change! Well, not really. I'm still going to be a Vacation Ownership Advisor (VOA), but I will have a few things that will break up my work week.

-Webinars
-IDEAS Committee
-Back Up Trainer

Webinars: Once in awhile, I'll be working on an online Webinar. I'll be on an online chat with Owners that are listening to a presentation. Basically to answer any questions that they may have during the session.

IDEAS Committee: This isn't a huge one. But I represent my team on the committee. The committee is just as it says. I gather ideas from my team about anything then take them to the committee who then decides on which ideas are good enough to take to corporate. At least that's what I think it's all about. I haven't been a member before, but we are meeting together next week.

Best of ALL! Back Up Trainer: Every time there is a new hire class, I'll be in there 2x a week helping out with any questions. They don't have classes all of the time, so it may only be a couple of times a year. But when I work only 3 weekdays, it will be awesome to have a break for 2 of them. Plus, I love helping others.. teaching. I mean, I always wanted to become a teacher, but was never motivated to go through with it. And I figure that I'll most likely be with Marriott for awhile and I would love to become a full time trainer one day, so this gets my foot in the door!

I am happy to report that I did work my 4 days last week!! Okay, well I did leave a little early on Wednesday because we had a WIC appointment.. and I left an hour early on Friday because it was so slow. But hey!, I'm just glad I made it to work those 4 days!!! Baby steps remember! One thing at a time! There is a new hire class staring on Monday the 28th, so hopefully getting in my full work hours won't be as bad for awhile, since I'll have a break 2x a week.

In other news... I think I'm done nursing. About a month ago, I started nursing only for morning and night feedings... but the girls aren't very nice anymore. They seem to bite me almost every time I try. They seem to online bite me during the night time feeding. Why, I don't know. But I'm terrified to even attempt to nurse now, so I think I'm just going to stop. I thought I would try again tonight, but Avie bit me. Worst thing EVER! We'll now have to buy a couple of extra cans of formula a month, but luckily WIC helps out with most of it.

That's pretty much it for now! Kelly is still home, no seizures since his last in December, so with Dr approval he should be back to work late March, early April. I can't wait for him to get back... he's starting to get cabin fever and it's driving us both nuts. Girls are great, we have their 9 month appointment next week so I'll be sure to update with stats!! Gotta get to bed! Work early tomorrow and then off to the Family Oscar Party!

Two Milestones!

The girls are getting so big and each day they surprise us with something new.

For the past few weeks, both girls have learned to wave Hi/Bye and they've both started to army crawl, Avie a little more then Ella. I finally decided to get them on video.
They're pretty cute!

Ella Waving!



Avie Army Crawling!

[ Flash Dance ]

Look at 'em, already playing charades! Pretty good right?!

They'll both be dancers... Avie will just prefer to dance around a pole! :P