Saia work party

Last weekend Matt work had a Christmas party at a co.workers house. It was a potluck type dinner & "Santa" made an appearance after dinner for all the little kids. I was not sure how JaCee was going to react when Santa opened the door to come in, but she did great! She was SO shocked. The first thing she did was run up to Santa & say, "Santa! I have been so good!" It was really cute. She did talk to him & wave, but she didn't want to sit on his lap.



Santa coming in the door



Hello Santa, nice to meet you!



Watching Santa leave




Bye Bye Santa



Before we left for the part we tried to take a few pictures of the family.



Morgen's eye surgery

For a few months now (too long for me to admit & still feel good about my mom status) Morgen's left eye has been watering. I talked to her pediatrician about it at her 15 month check up & she said treat it with pink eye drops for 2 weeks & if it doesn't go away, we need to get her to see a specialist. I think I knew all along surgery was in the works...so I was procrastinating. So we went to a special eye Dr. who dilated her eyes & did a full exam --- to determine her tear duct was blocked and she needed surgery & probably a little stint like device (clear piece of spaghetti is how it was described to me) to keep the tear duct open. The surgery was at Sacred Heart. She did pretty good, really. The worst part of little kids surgery is when they wake up. They scream & scream un.controllably. When Morgen woke up...it was not good. She was trying to pull out her IV & pull off all the wires monitoring her vitals. She cried so hard, she threw up. Poor little thing. She finally went to sleep for a while and when she woke up she was better. We came home, she took a long nap & by the evening she was back to herself.

They gave Morgen a "happy drug" ... we wished we had the video.camera...she was sooo happy she wouldn't stop smiling!

Visiting Santa at the mall

I took the girls to the mall to see Santa last week. I wasn't planning on them getting pictures taken with Santa or anything like that. I was just hoping to let them "see" him without crying hysterically. (Like JaCee did last year). Too my surprise they walked into the Photo are and said HI to Santa. They talked to him & JaCee even asked if she could touch him. Morgen hid behind my leg, peeking around it from time to time....but there was NOO crying.



They were both falling backwards as the same time





They are waving HI to Santa



Playing with Christmas lights

I got the idea off PINTREST...I was hoping for better pictures, but I would assume you probably need one of those 2,000.00 camera's to get the right lighting affect.

1st snow of the year

Hot Chocolate was served promptly after they came in from the cold!

October, Breast Cancer awareness month

Late in September, I found a lump in my breast. I am only 34, this shouldn't happen to me. I was taking a bath & found it by total accident. I don't believe in real "accidents," I believe I felt it for a reason, but I was not on a mission to do my monthly breast exam is what I mean. The 1st thing I did was go into total denial. Ignore it & pray that tomorrow it isn't there & you only felt a fluke. But on day 2 and day 3 it was still there, I knew it wasn't good. I made an appt. with my mid.wife, who referred me to have an ultra.sound and a mammogram. After both of those were conducted, the radiologist said she believed I had what was called a fibroadonema. This is just a fatty tumor that is very very common & does not require surgery. Although, she wanted me to have a biopsy just to confirm the diagnosis. So I had a biopsy the next week. I would rather give birth again than go through that. Matt passed out & almost did when it was over. They numbed me, but you can still feel everything, so to speak. After taking 4 needle biopsy's of the tumor, they implant a small marker so this lump with show up as "dealt with" in any future mammograms I might have. Do you know what an 8 inch titanium needle with a marker on the end of it feels like? And the sound a titanium marker makes when it is being dis.lodged from a titanium rod? It's a TERRIBLE noise. And a weird feeling to not be able to really feel the pain, but know & feel the vibrations in you. So that was all done. Another mammogram was done to make sure the marker was in place. (I didn't even want to think about the fact of what might happen if it wasn't in the right place). Then we had to wait for the biopsy to come back. (In the middle of this nightmare going on, I got an abscess in my tooth & needed to have a root canal done. I will always remember this because I was numb when I came home & called the breast center to get my results. The results were in & this tumor was not fibroadonema! It was a a phyllodes tumor?? The nurse said this isn't a big deal either, but we do want to take this out so the DR will call you to schedule surgery. I immediately got on the computer to see what this tumor was about. Scary. I cried & cried. The Dr called & brought me back down. I had a benign tumor (or so we hope), that is relatively small, actually there is 2 of them but they can't tell if they are connected or not until they remove them via surgery. So surgery was scheduled for 2 weeks out. That was last Friday. I had surgery & now I am waiting again, for more results. There is a chance the biopsy could come back something different than the tumor is. And they also did not biopsy the 2nd tumor, so we could be dealing with something different than the 1st tumor. All very scary & I am holding my breath & praying until I get the results this week.

So the month of October has been a complete blur to me. I do know that it was/is breast cancer awareness month. I am reminded everywhere. Our house has always been big supporters of breast cancer...we do the walk every year in remembrance of a good friend who was about my age with 2 little girls that lost her life to breast cancer 3 years ago. I will continue to support the cause, only now
I know some more deep thoughts & emotions that go along with the fight.

Also in the middle of these appointments, Morgen had her 1st dentist appointment. She did great. She let the Dr. examine her teeth & brush them too. JaCee had her check.up at the same time & didn't fair so well. She has terrible baby teeth. They are so soft & break so easy. She has 2 teeth that have broke to the gum line & the DR wants to put crowns on them. I have put this on the back burner as this requires sedation, etc and I'm not ready for all of this until my ordeal is (hopefully) over.

I will be so happy tonight to end with some trick. or treating & bid farewell to this October. I am praying for a much better November.

Here are the 2 little rays of sunshine that brought a smile to my face every day of the month, regardless of how sad or scared I was....

Strike a pose

Trying to get Morgen to "strike a pose!" She thought we were crazy...

Just before gymnastics class

Striking a pose ... together...

Morgen my Ham! She ran away from me & jumped in the bathtub before I could get to her. Then laughed...I had to get her smile, she was SO proud of herself.

JaCee 3.5 ~ Morgen 19 months

These two are getting SO big so fast! I thought I better do a little update on both of them.

JaCee's in school... and she LOVES it. She is also doing gymnastics & loves that too. She looks forward to both all week. She is very motherly. She helps Morgen with everything, usually saying something like, "Oh lovey ... do you need help?" I can't say JaCee has hit any terrible stage. JaCee's personality still is very reserved and shy. She is a mini.me. Her favorite thing to do during the day is play with her babies. She dresses them, changes them & loves to put them to bed, covering them up, etc. It's cute. Her favorite cartoon is Caliou. She hasn't asked for Barney for a while & I have to say I'm glad. Barney was getting a little old. She is really looking forward to Halloween & trick or treating. She has started wanting to lay in bed before nap & bedtime & read stories. She reads them to herself, from memory. It's cute. She loves to change clothes during the day. No less than 5 times a day. She is into matching what I am wearing. If I have on boots....she needs boots on. If I wear a scarf, she needs her's on. She just grew like a week the past month. I bought her some boots in August for the school year & she put them on a couple weeks ago & they were too small. That's the beauty of having a little sister, so now they fit Morgen. JaCee is wearing 4T pants (with adjustable waist) 4 or 5T shirts. Size 9 shoe. She is 35lbs.

Morgen. She is potty trained now, for the most part. Once in a while we have a random accident, but she is going really well. She is talking like a mad woman. I love it. Her tongue moves in all kind of funny directions & sometimes I understand & sometimes you don't but it's SO cute when she does talk. She is still a ham! Her personality is bigger than life. She knows she is being funny & does things to make you laugh. She loves bath time, is a pickier eater than JaCee is. (Although you wouldn't know it by looking at her. ha). Her hair is still very very curly in the back, but straight on top. So I'll be curious to see what it turns out be like. She started sleeping in a big girl bed about 2 months ago and I have turned her "nursery bedroom" into a big girl bedroom. It was bittersweet painting over the pink walls. I remember being pregnant with JaCee when I helped paint those walls. I need to take some pictures & post of her bedroom. It matches her style. Red & white with a little black, polk.a.dot. I love it. It's very cheery & happy, just like her! Her personality tends to be more carefree & happy, just like her daddy! =) She is wearing size 3T pants & shirts. Size 7 shoe. She is 28 lbs. (Yes that is only 7lbs lighter than her sister).

My greatest joy is listening/watching them play together. JaCee loves playing Mommy. She told me it's called sleep time. She makes a crib of some kind to put Morgen in. Morgen lays down. Then I hear JaCee tell her if you get scared, just cry for me. With in minutes, I hear Morgen..."Wahh-Wahh" literally that....Here comes JaCee, Oh are you scared? You can come sleep with Mommy. They play this same scenario in every room of the house on any make believe bed they come up with. The 1st time I hear them doing this I almost cried. Morgen loves to color & draw a lot more than JaCee. I will often find Morgen in her bedroom on the floor coloring. JaCee would rather push her baby around in the stroller.

1st day of preschool

In September JaCee started preschool. It's 2 day's a week for 2 hours & 15 min. I LOVE LOVE LOVE her school. JaCee loves it more than I do. Every day she asks if she gets to go to school today. She just giggles & laughs & tells me how much fun she had today when I pick her up. She brings home a little project they did in class every day. When we get in the car & I ask what she did...she usually says I don't know. But if I ask what they had for snack --- she knows exactly what they had.

The hardest part of school is Morgen is lost. I did not expect that. She's so independent, but when JaCee's not around, she doesn't know what to do. I do enjoy time for just Morgen & I though. It's a nice break. There are a few hours of the day that the girls play really really good together, and after breakfast is one of them...now though, JaCee is gone to school so Morgen is ready to play but her partner in crime is missing.

JaCee is going to the pumpkin patch next week with her class. I can't imagine twenty-two... 3 year olds, car seats & all. Bless those teacher's hearts!

Pig out in the park & Spkane Indians game

Our annual trip to pig out in the park. But this year...JaCee did some of the rides & Loved it!

At the girls 1st Spokane Indians game.

Otto the Mascot at the game

Denise and Morgen

JaCee on the airplane rides

It's no fun when your too short for the rides

JaCee's 1st ride on a roller.coaster. She is one brave girl! She loved it~

Mommy & Morgen