The past couple weekends. . .part 2

This past Saturday, September 13, we went to the baby reunion my RE office, Carolina Conceptions, was holding. Man! I've never seen so many sets of triplets and twins in one place in my life! There must have been about 8 sets of triplets, and the sets of twins was about double that or so. The ratio of singleton babies to multiples had to have been about 50/50. I guess that's to be expected though when you attend a baby reunion among folks who need fertility help. Kinda made me start thinking about Alyssa's twin that vanished. :( Although, her twin happened naturally, not the effect of fertility drugs since I need help to STAY pg, not GET pg. It was the first baby reunion they've held.

They had a train for the older kids to ride on, and a bouncy thing. Food, face/hand painting, door prizes. It was a good time. It was really hot though! Some pics:

Rachel and her art:

Kayla getting painted:

Kayla's ladybug:

Getting ready to go on the train:

The train in motion:

Alyssa playing with the music display there:

Gymnastics is a big hit! And tooth number SIX is gone!

The girls LOVE gymnastics! Today was their second class. They enjoy it more than dance. When it's time to go, they both talk about how much fun it is, and how they don't want to leave. Rachel can't wait for next Thursday! Dance classes never got that response, although they enjoyed that too.

Today, Rachel lost tooth number six about one minute before her class started. She was sitting there with the other girls in their designated area. She was rolling around and her knee bumped her already really loose tooth, and it was out! We cleaned it up and while we were waiting for the bleeding to stop, the other girls were doing their warm up. So, she missed warm up today.

Here's some pics of them ready to go this evening before heading out:

This kid either never smiles, or gives a cheesy grin!

Both of them, Michaela is actually smiling nicely in this one!

Sister love!

Rachel's new mouth :)

Going to try something new!

So, the last year and a half the girls took dance. This year we're going to try gymnastics, for two reasons. First, the dance place didn't have classes for both the girls at the same time this year. I had originally signed them up for the homeschool class they could take together on Thursday afternoons, but it didn't fill up enough, so they canceled it. Second, when asking Rachel if she'd rather keep doing dance, or try gymnastics this year, she said gymnastics.

I found a place that looks good nearby, so we're going to check it out next Thursday. If we decide to go with it, they'll both be able to take a class on Thursday nights from 6-7. Michaela in the preschool class, and Rachel in the Beginner 5-7 yo class. Rachel is really excited. Michaela is indifferent. When I ask her, she says, "Ok, I'll try e-as-ties," in a very not so convinced tone of voice. Then, when I showed her the pictures on the web site of the place, and asked her if she wanted to do that. . . .she got SOOOO excited! So, hopefully this'll be good! Michaela sometimes wouldn't participate well in dance, maybe she'll like this better. :)

As far as other extracurriculars go, Rachel will continue in Girl Scouts and will be a Brownie this year! We're also *thinking* of getting an electric piano with weighted keys so Rachel can start piano lessons as well. We'll see. . . .

Alyssa ~ Various things

Yesterday, Alyssa had a doc appointment. The doctor was pleased with her improvement and her weight is now 14 lbs 3 oz. I think she's finally just catching up from March and part of April when she was refusing to eat from a spoon when we were trying to introduce that. Plus, our kids are just smaller than average to begin with from their daddy's side. For their family, being 15-18 lbs on the first birthday is normal. I think Alyssa will safely be in that range on her first birthday. Rachel and Michaela were 18 lbs on their first birthday's. The dr said she has acid reflux, and that's why she is constantly having food come up. Usually, she swallows it back down, only about 1-2 bites worth actually gets lost from coming out of the mouth, if that. She gave her an Rx for Prevacid. I hope it helps! If it doesn't, well, I just feel sorry for Alyssa and just want something to help her, so I'll be sad if it doesn't help.

She can pretty much sit on her own better now. She'll topple over after 5-10 minutes vs. only a few seconds. She's rolling around the room to get somewhere, and seems to be trying to figure out how to crawl. Also, trying to talk. She tries so hard to repeat mama and 'I love you,' but isn't quite there yet. She's also figured out how to jump in the jumper.

Then, at mealtime prayers. . .before we start, Alyssa likes to sit there and whine impatiently wanting her food to be given to her NOW. As soon as someone (usually me) announces that it's time to say the prayer, she'll all of a sudden get quiet and stay quiet until the end of the prayer. lol It's as if she knows somehow. And half the time she'll fold her hands like Michaela does. I think she watches her and copies what she does.

Fizzy dinosaur egg

So, giving the two oldest girls a bath this morning, Rachel asks if we can do one of those eggs that fizz when you put them into the water. It's been a while since we've done one, but we've done them before. Both girls were getting all excited for it. I put it in, and they were scared of the thing! I couldn't believe it. For as excited as they were to have it, I never expected them to be scared of it. They were both crowding on the other side of the tub trying to get away from the fizzing lump, and screaming like a couple of little girls. lol It was truly a hysterical sight! Michaela was concerned mostly of the fact that the water was now turning purple. She wanted me to take her out in order to "save her," but I made her stay in and learn that it was ok. When it was all done, neither of them wanted to pick up the little baby dinosaur that was now reveled. So, mommy to the rescue had to do it! After they saw me holding it, and what it was, they weren't afraid to touch it. Rachel is now doing her reading assignment with the baby dino by her side. . . .go figure!

It's my birthday!

Happy Birthday to me! Happy Birthday to me! :) . . . . . . 31 today!

Brandon took me out Saturday night, got a babysitter and all. That was nice. :) Chose Olive Garden again. . . . Rachel drew me a Happy Birthday picture this morning. And of course, there will be no school today because today is a holiday! ;) I think I'll take the girls to the library later, and do some fun stuff.

Americans got gold and silver on the beam today in the Olympics. . . .finally didn't get ripped off! Guess my birthday brought them some good luck. . . . :) lol

There's one with teeth coming out, and one with teeth coming IN. . . :)

So, yesterday. . . . . a week after Rachel lost her 5th tooth, I noticed that Alyssa is getting her FIRST tooth! :) It's about time! Ten months old, and finally gettin' a toofer. It's still barely visible. . . .just breaking the skin. So, we're loosing teeth and getting teeth here at our house. :) And it looks as though. . . . . .

WE HAVE ENAMEL!

That's a big deal around here since Rachel doesn't have enamel, and her dentist said that it *could* happen again since it's genetic, VERY rare, but genetic. I've been nervous about having another kid with this problem. So, I've been waiting on pins and needles for her teeth to come in so I can see if they're white or yellow. It's looking white so far! Not sure how Rachel ended up with the problem since Brandon and I both have wonderful teeth that never have many problems. I've never had a cavity EVER, and Brandon got his first cavities a couple years ago, none up until then.

Still needing to get a pic up of Rachel and her missing teeth. Our card reader isn't working properly, so I always have to get Brandon to upload them to the computer, and I keep forgetting to ask when he's around. He has some other way about getting them on without the card reader that I haven't figured out yet. :(