Oh Gosh

I think I might say this a little too much, because my 2 yr old mimic is saying it all of the time now. And when I just looked at how long it's been since I posted, I definitely said, "oh gosh!" Because no matter how many times I vow that there SHALL be a weekly Bub's Life post, life interferes in the most weird and insane and lovely and wonderful ways. Since my last post, we have:

-Continued to get the new house into shape-- I'm finally decorating the girls' rooms and got my branch back up in Maddie's room!

-Played lots of dress-up :)

-Had fundraiser walk for Avery's school... little chilly but a great time and big success!

-A little bumblebee gardening with Nana

-Working on carnival fundraiser for the Lewis family (also fantastic success BTW)

-Had a few doctors' appointments (more on that later)

-Also not pictured: many runny noses, some big fevers, a briefly stolen car (yes you read that right), a few new toddler tantrums, Mommy cutting her finger open, lil'bub getting to practice walking independently again (finally!), lots of fun play dates AND wrapping up all renovations on the new house (not decorations-mind you). 

It's been a crazy month... like all of the other ones! Can't wait to share costume pics :)

Team William

In late July, I posted how my heart was full after watching my sweet Avery taking steps independently in a walker. If you read that post, you know that lil'bub's physical therapist, Eda, has been instrumental in this milestone. She's worked tirelessly and been our greatest cheerleader. The very evening that we took the video of Avery walking, Eda's husband's doctor called him into the hospital to run some tests. The next day he was given a diagnosis...brain cancer. Out of nowhere. After surgery, they discovered it was stage 4. We are all still in disbelief.  He has already spent more than a month in radiation, fighting this with everything he has. William has his whole life in front of him! Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers.

Now I would love to invite you to help me help this sweet family! On October 26th, I am helping to host a Fall Carnival benefiting this family, as the medical costs are already overwhelming. I have been absolutely blown away by how quickly people started donating their time, money and support to make this an amazing event. Your kids will have a blast! And the silent auction has just become out of this world. I'd love to see you there! I'll be the one trying to tear my 2 yr old away from the pony rides! If you'd like to donate in a different way, visit www.teamwilliamlewis.blogspot.com.

Day in the Life

I've wanted to do a post like this for a long time. A way to remember what my days were like while the girls are still little bubs! It just so happens that the day I recorded (Monday) was one of my RARE days that both girls are in school/MDO, so it's not exactly the most typical of days. Also the only weekday that Avery does not have a therapy session at home. Still a day in the life! Here we go.

Wake up 7:40am, hear one or both girls on the monitor. On closer inspection, Avery is just barely waking up and Maddie is sitting in her crib singing, "Twinkle, twinkle" to her dollies and crib animals. Makes me smile.
8am I have both girls downstairs and I'm running around the kitchen making breakfasts. Maddie wants pancakes to dip in applesauce, which is a new thing. I like it because she sits there awhile, which allows me time to feed Avery and give her meds.
8:15am I let the girls watch an episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse while we wrap up breakfast and I finish packing their backpacks.
8:40am I run in my room to get dressed. I've perfected the 2 minute get ready. As usual, no time for makeup :/ Also per usual, Maddie is in my closet trying on shoes. I convince her not to try the platforms and tell her to go find her own shoes, we've got to leave!
8:55am Fifteen minutes go by in a flash. I'm buckling the girls into their car seats 5 minutes later than I want (every morning). Maddie looks adorable in a sunshine dress and Avery has her signature bow ponytail :).

9:10am I run (carrying) Avery into her classroom. Sweet girl gets a hello song from her teacher which gets big smiles. Hugs and kisses and I'm back out the door.
9:30am Maddie and I arrive at MDO and start to walk in her classroom. Like last week, she gets a little nervous and asks,"hold you?" I pick her up and hug her and talk about what a fun day she's going to have. For the first time ever at drop-off, she starts crying and doesn't want to go in. What in the world? Fourth day jitters? One of the teachers takes her from my arms and I try to act brave! She's still crying when I start to leave. I stop to listen and she stops crying within a minute. I peek back in and she's playing on the floor with some toys. Little stinker!
10:00am I'm back home and my tummy is grumbling big time. I do the dishes from breakfast and notice the dishwasher needs to be emptied. Ugh. Too hungry to focus so check the pantry and find some cereal. Stale. Then I spot some Pirate's Booty. Not breakfasty but don't care anymore! Stale. Geez louise. Mental note to clean out pantry. Spot some cookies and have a breakfast of champions...
11:00am-12pm Wait for the pest control guy to show up. I absolutely love living among huge oaks and pines and a little wildlife, but the pest part is not so fun. Meanwhile, I work on setting up software to do a video chat with a world health organization that wants to interview me about being an advocate for my daughter's health issues. See myself on camera and add go to the salon to mental to-do list.
 1pm OMG I only have an hour before I have to go get the girls! Quickly have to choose whether to A) put away a million loads of laundry piled in den B) continue organizing the study C) do some SugarBee work D) screw it all and watch Orange is the New Black, my new (totally wild) show on Netflix. Shockingly, I choose A. Maybe because I'm blogging about today ;) Just enough time left to heat up some lunch. Also: the girls have way, way too much clothing.
2:15pm  Walk into Maddie's classroom and she is sleeping like an angel on her nap mat. Teacher tells me she had the best day ever. LOVE! Pick up sleepy girl and fold her into car seat. "Go see Nay-nee and go home?" she asks. "Yes, love," I say, "we're going to get Avery and then go home."
3:00pm Home with girls and both want a snack. We do juice and raisins. I let Avery relax and watch Mickey Mouse while Maddie and I go upstairs to her room and play. She's so into dress-up right now, especially hats. One of her faves is this pink bonnet that I wore when I was a baby. Cracks me up.

4:30pm I spend 30 minutes on the phone with Memorial Hermann trying to set up a yearly renal ultrasound for Avery but it's proving difficult. And someone is trying to get my attention. "Ice cream for dinner?" Maddie asks. I laugh at her. "Daddy will be home soon, we'll have to ask him" I tell her. 
5:00pm I sit down and start this blog post while Mike plays with the girls. One minute later: "where are ya mom? are youuuu?" is what I hear from the other room. It's hard to resist so I give up and go to play. We color for a little bit and then I have time to blog a bit more.
6:00pm We make quesadillas for dinner. And when I say "we," I mean Bub the hub. Because he's a sweet daddy bub who knows I need time to work on this blog post. After dinner we veg on the couch together. Girls are sleepy! (so is mommy)

7:30pm Girls asleep. Hubs and I watch Boardwalk Empire (one day late) because it's a fantastic show. Although a bit violent. And I do miss Margaret. Still awesome.
8:30pm I do card work on my laptop on the couch while Bub watches another show. It takes me awhile to return emails and start some new projects. I also check Facebook and my celeb gossip sites. :)
10-11pm Take a shower and get in bed, finally. Sleep comes fast these days. I'm exhausted all over again just writing this ha!