Twinner cousins? lol

So, my sister had Mackenzie on March 14th. Of course they have their own look, but doesn't she look a lot like Michaela!? Michaela looks like Mackenzie more than her own sisters!

Michaela:


vs.

Mackenzie:


I think it's funny how their mouths are the same in those! lol When I saw that above pic of Mackenzie, I thought, "I know I have a pic somewhere of one of my kids that looks like that." But, couldn't think of what pic I was thinking of or what kid! So, I went on a photo hunt! ha!

Michaela:


vs.

Mackenzie:

Another tooth!

Today Rachel lost her 3rd tooth! It's been one every other month since November. I'll have to take a picture of her mouth and come back and add it to this post sometime when I get a chance. The three she has lost are right together, so she has one permanent tooth part way up, and then blank spaces to either side. When they're really loose, she complains about not being able to eat with it, so it's nice when they come out, but now, she's not going to have anything to bite with at this rate!

A day with Daddy around

So, Brandon took today off of work to work on the yard. Having him around really changes the dynamics of the day! Nothing bad, just different. It was nice to see him though since normally, we don't get to see much of him. :( He worked on digging up the sand the previous owners had put down under their pool. Not sure WHY they put sand there, but we've since gotten rid of the pool since it broke, and we want to plant grass there and we found out last year that grass doesn't grow well in the sand. So, he had to dig it out. He didn't think he'd finish today, but he did! He even got the deck power washed in preparation to paint it wood color. He's going to try and get it painted while we're out of town with my parents. He feels like it was a productive day. :) He's very sore tonight! It was productive for me as well. Yay!

Other than that, same ol' same ol'. Did some school with Rachel, cleaned, had FHE tonight, etc. . . . I'm excited about getting a break from here and seeing my parents! Not crazy about my upcoming drive alone, but we'll manage. My mom has some fun stuff planned for the girls. We leave Wednesday morning. Part of FHE tonight was setting up the Easter tree. I'll have to take and post a pic of it sometime. . . . .We have it sitting on our kitchen table.

Oh, in case I don't post before Friday, I'm gonna be an auntie on Friday! My sister will be having a C-section that day since Mackenzie is breech and refuses to turn. :( I hope all goes well for her! This is my first niece (or nephew) that's actually related to me, so I'm really excited. We all know it's different when it's YOUR niece or nephew coming into the world vs. a niece or nephew by marriage. Although, they're exciting and loved too! Just different. I actually feel like a soon-to-be-auntie!

Rained today :)

We've been blessed with lots of rain this week! It poured or was at least steady most of the day today. There were a few times it let up. Rachel said they had to have their egg hunt indoors today, but oh well! The rain was very welcome, and at least they got to have a hunt even if inside. Unfortunately, I had to drive to Brandon's work today because he forgot his wallet when he left this morning. That was pretty scary, especially when I was driving near home both leaving and coming back. . .seemed to be pouring here, but was more like a sprinkle the closer I got to his work.

Brandon took yesterday off and worked around in the yard to help get our house ready to sell. He was supposed to take today off too, but with rain in the forecast, he asked his boss if he could switch it to Monday so that he could work outside when it's not raining. She was fine with that, so he switched it out. So, I have him home on Monday to look forward to. I've been working on getting the painting jobs I've started finished, and cleaning up the clutter around here.

Been waiting for Alyssa's birth certificates to come in the mail. It's been over two months now since I mailed in the form requesting them. Brandon looked up our checking account this evening, and they cashed our check on January 17th, but never mailed the darn things! They're getting a complaint call from me on Monday! In CA, we just went somewhere and picked them up. . .none of this mailing and hope you get it crap! Makes me not want to have another baby in NC. . .lol. I don't want to have to go through paying for birth certificates we don't get again.

I'm tired and have had a headache this evening from all the little surprises in my day today. Hopefully tomorrow will be better. . . . .

Update from Tuesday

So, we ended up getting a pretty good thunder storm Tuesday night. :) Brandon likes to watch the rain, so he was in and out to go stand on the porch and watch it come down. Normally, I join him, but I think I was busy with something this time. We even lost power, twice. Once in the afternoon when it was just raining, and once near midnight during the thunder and all. With the power out, Brandon didn't think to turn the lights off that had been on before power going out when he went to sleep. So, in the middle of the night when the power came back, I got woken up by the lights coming on in the family room. lol

Tried out the vacuum, and it works again! Thanks, hun! :) Brandon also liked the daffodils in the kitchen. His comment was, "Smells like spring in here."

Bringing the outdoors in!

So, we're supposed to get some storms this afternoon. I sure hope so! But, anyway, I know how storms have been in the past to my flowers, so I cut all the daffodils growing in the back yard and put them in a vase so they can be enjoyed longer. Actually, just plain enjoyed! They're so far away back there, it's hard to enjoy them from the window if they're outside. So, even without the storm coming, I had been thinking about bringing them in and putting in a vase. But, the impending storm that hopefully comes, just helped to get me out there and get the job done! I don't want to chance them getting blown to bits! When I went out there, no storm yet, but it was getting pretty windy already. I really like having them in here. Makes the kitchen cheery looking! :) Looking forward to my tulips blooming in a couple months!

Sweetness!

Thought I'd say a little about the sweet things my girls do. :)

Rachel: This past weekend, she decided to put little gifts under me and Brandon's pillows. :) She drew a picture of her hand, colored it, cut it out. . . .bent down the middle and ring fingers and tacked them down with a little heart sticker so the other fingers were up to say, "I love you." She put one under my pillow and a second one under Brandon's pillow as a surprise for us to find. :) She said someone at school taught her how to make that. Then, she wanted Brandon and I to put something under her pillow in return! lol

Michaela: Kayla loves to mother her bear! She puts Bear into Alyssa's swing, and then turns it on along with the music for it. Alyssa doesn't sleep in the bassinet anymore, but we still have it out in our room. She takes Bear and puts it in there, takes 'blankie' (her beloved blanket that a coworker of Brandon's from CA made for her when she was born. . .she doesn't share it with anyone but Bear and Alyssa!) and covers Bear with it. Tells Bear to go night-night and starts to sing to it! Then, she'll tell me to be quiet because Bear is sleeping! Bear gets 'hurt' sometimes and she'll doctor him up. lol Bear also gets breastfed by Kayla. . . .something Rachel used to do when Kayla was the baby! Some reason my kids think they need to nurse a doll or stuffed animal when they see me nursing the new baby in the family. Michaela also loves to kiss Alyssa's head. From day one, we told her she could kiss the baby's head because we didn't want her getting in the baby's face. So, whenever she sees Alyssa, will ask, "Can I kiss head?" She really loves her baby sister!

Alyssa: I just love getting Alyssa out of her crib in the mornings! As soon as she sees me, her eyes will get big, and she kicks her legs and flaps her arms and gets all excited and coos! I also love her big smiles and cute little dimple. That's about all I'm getting from her these days. . . .but can't expect too much from an almost 5 month old! ha! :)

Brandon: Guess I should say something about my man too! Last night he helped me fold clothes and emptied the diaper champ. :) I have been complaining about my vacuum these past few weeks too. . .it won't suck everything up anymore, and sometimes has a funny smell when running. This morning I found out that after I went to sleep, he took a look at it and said there was a bunch of hair and string stuck around the brush that turns around. So, he cleaned that out for me. We're hoping that does the trick. I still have yet to try it out and see if it works again now. . .will do so later today.

Almost track out!

One more week of school! Yippie! Rachel's last day is March 7, then she has 3 weeks off. She took in 24 plastic eggs with a piece of candy today for the egg hunt at school this Friday. She's excited about that. She thinks that this Friday is actually Easter. . . .lol. They use the eggs afterwards for math somehow.

Speaking of Easter. . . so, I bought a cute little "Baby's First Easter" outfit for Alyssa. Seeing as how she'll be 5 months old on the 9th, I bought a 3-6 month one. I just put it on her, and she's SWIMMING in it! Should have gotten the 0-3. . .wasn't thinking logically, or maybe I was, just not realistically. . .something! It'll be "Baby's First Easter" still this fall. . . .lol. I'm sure it'll fit then if she's anything like her sisters that wore 0-3 till they were 9 months old, and 3-6 until they were somewhere between 12 and 18 months.

The other two are currently in: Rachel who will be 6 on July 7, is in 4T and starting to wear 5T (she's actually starting to grow out of things, and I need to go shopping for her!) she was still in 3T at the beginning of the cold season; and Michaela will be 3 on April 19 and in 24 month, 2T and 3T. . .she's our "big" child. . . . she was fitting into 18 month at the beginning of the cold weather season, but grew out of those by the end of December! Some of the 3T shirts that started out on Rachel's side of the closet in October, ended up on Michaela's side. 3T jeans are finally fitting Rachel around the middle, but they're too short in length now. 4T jeans are long enough, but again, fall off and bother her. I found some 5T slim at Target. . . .WONDERFUL! Long enough without showing the panties. . .thanks Target! :) I think 4 slim would fit her too, but decided on the 5 so they'll last a couple years. :) Now to find some jeans that won't fall off mommy's bum too! ;) I HATE shopping for jeans for myself. . .it's so freakin hard!