I was so terrible at keeping up with the journal these past few months.  I'm not even going to attempt to go back and figure it all out (blushing).

September 23 - Megan woke up again this morning begging for the umpteenth time that she wanted her ears pierced so after we picked Ryan up at the airport we went to the nearest mall in Bloomington and got them done. She cried for a minute when they did it but as soon as she saw the sucker they were going to give her she stopped. Ha ha.  I was so proud of her.

She's not cooperating very well on letting me clean and turn them, though.  I didn't think she'd fight me on this one.  sigh.

Kylie was very upset that Megan got them done. She said it was because she didn't like the fact that her sissy cried for a second when they did it, but I really think it's because she wasn't brave enough to get it done and her little sister was. I tried to tell her it's ok she doesn't get them done and she can do it when SHE is ready - that Megan was ready and that was why we did it. I still felt bad for her.

September 20 - Kylie was kissed by a boy today!  She came home saying Jake kissed her on the bus.  That he was her hero, was nice to her, did everything for her, and that they were made for each other.  SIGH.  Oh boy!  We are in trouble now.

September 15 - Flower girl duty

September 14 - Flower girl rehearsal

September 13 - Megan finally started back up in occupational therapy again.  We finally got the insurance issue settled after almost a year.  Grrrr.  She did well today, but Ms. Arina said that she'll have to re-evaluate her before she can give us advice on Megan's sensory issues.  So it will be several weeks before we start to get tips.  Megan will go over week for awhile.

August 24 - Kylie's first soccer game

August 23 - Kylie's first day at Pre-Kindergarten and riding the bus was today. I was a nervous wreck last night.  She had to get on the bus and everything. Of course mommy met the bus at school and watched her get off the bus and go into the school.  She didn't see me at the school and doesn't know I did that, but I just had to. Then Ryan and I drove to the sitter's at 11 to watch her get off of the school bus.  

For us this is a HUGE deal, Kindergarten won't be. Mainly because she's at pre-K at the same school she'll be for K and the bus won't be a new thing next year.

This is all so freaky to me. To be getting her on the bus every morning, for her to be going to school where Ryan and I did. It's just strange. Not only that, but she started soccer this week. The girl is in soccer, swimming, and art classes at the Y. Then Megan is in two classes at the Y so Tuesday, Friday and Saturday are chaos for us.    

I just can't believe how much Kylie is growing up. I'm a bit worried she'll be bored in pre-k, but because of her birthday she didn't make the K cut-off. I expressed my concern to the teacher about how Kylie is reading and that they won't do that in pre-K.

Oh and I got in trouble by the teacher. I got a note sent home to me.   It was because I put a folder in Kylie's bag so she could keep her paperwork all nice and neat in there (the anal side of me). I was told the folder was not on the list of supplies and not to send it to school anymore. Well PHOOEY on the teacher! So now her papers are going to be all messy by the time she brings them home.  

August 21 - First soccer practice

July 4 - 8   Kentucky Lake Trip (4th of July) at Big Bear Resort in Tennessee

June 30 - Kylie's dance recital

June 29 - Kylie's dance rehearsal

June 2 - Kylie got her dance recital pictures done today. The actual recital isn't until June 30. I took her to my hair stylist early this morning and had her put her hair up in a bun. I wasn't going to attempt it with all that curly hair. Of Course it didn't take long for Kylie to jump all over the place and get her hair looking a bit more worn, but she looked cute. I can't wait to see her at the recital!

May 14 - Kylie is going to be a flower girl!  My cousin, Alicia, is getting married in September and asked us this weekend if Kylie could be the flower girl. I was THRILLED of course.  I can't wait to see Kylie in a flower girl dress :)

May 11 - Kylie's been practicing for some time and finally last night you could hear her snap her fingers. She was so proud. It wasn't real loud like if I was to do it but she's getting louder every time. She was completely tickled pink and so was I.  It made me wonder at what age I started doing that.?.

May 10 - This morning the girls and I were getting ready to leave for Terri's.  I was putting Megan's shoes on and told her how pretty she looked today with her pig tails.  She said "mommy looks pretty, too".  I about cried.  That was so precious.  I love how they can be so sweet.  I try to remember those moments when they are being ornery. 

May 9 - On the way home from ballet last night Kylie asked me if I had ever been at a hospital before.  I told her that yes I had, that both her and Megan were born in a hospital.  Kylie's jaw dropped in shock and she replied "Ahhh, I thought I was born in our living room."  I told her that she was in fact born at the hospital not the living room.  She then said "well did I come out of your tummy?"  I told her that they had to cut her out of mommy's tummy because she didn't want to come out.  Her reply was "yeah because I screamed don't take me out, I want to stay".   Ha ha.  She is so funny.  We've talked about how she was born, but sometimes I think she likes to hear me say it. 

May 1 - I so badly want my girls to be girly-girls.  Well, at least one of them.  That is surprising to me since I was always a tom boy and to an extent still am.  I mean, I'd be more girly girl if I had more time to spend on myself, but I don't so I'm an "as-is" kind of gal most days.  

ANYWAYS, what I wanted to really talk about is how excited I was this morning that Megan let me put her hair in a ponytail.  Most days she fusses and makes me take it out.  She usually lets me put her bangs in a pigtail to keep it out of her eyes, but doesn't let me do anything else to her hair.  I got her dressed in a cute little skirt outfit, put her hair up and then stood her in front of the mirror.  I told her how beautiful she looked and how she was my pretty little princess.  You should have seen the sparkle in her eyes, the smile on her face.  It was if she understood what I was saying (which I'm sure she does) and actually believed it.  I am trying to make a point, and have since my girls births, to let them know how beautiful they are no matter what.  I have issues with that, myself, and that was because I was never really told that growing up and well, I have a hard time taking compliments now.  I don't want the girls to have a complex with how their bodies look or any part of them.  I want them to know they are beautiful just the way they are.  That look on her face was enough to make me very happy. 

I took her in to see Sissy and she told Megan how beautiful she looked, too.  This made Sissy want to get all dressed up and beautiful looking as well.  Much to my surprise Kylie let me put her hair in pigtails.  Oh I was so excited!  Yes, I know I'm easily excited.  Ha ha.  She looked so pretty - she really does look cute in pigtails/ponytails.  I told her how my mom used to put my long hair up all the time and I'd do that for her if she wants me too.  She says she does, but I bet money that as soon as she got to Terri's she was pulling those things out.  Ha ha.  Both my girls have sensitive heads because they are always complaining that it hurts when their hair is up.

So for one moment, well more like one half hour, I had two beautiful girly-girls on my hands.  Their hair was done up, they had pretty little dresses on and cute shoes, walking around with their purses and they were CLEAN!  Ha ha.  I tried to get pictures.  I did get a few.  I didn't get any good ones, though.  They were not cooperating for the camera. 

April 28 - This morning the girls wanted to dance after breakfast.  So I turned on the radio and recorded them being silly and dancing.  They just make me light up.  I know some days they can really drive me crazy, upset and beyond tired, but it's moments like this - the dancing - that puts the smile back on my face and makes me realize I need to remember these times when I'm stressed.  Easier said than done most times.  I later watched the recordings of their dancing and laughed.  They are so precious.  Other times they are purely devils, ha ha!

Megan seems to be going through a stage I'm not exactly fond of.  She whines and cries all the time.  She constantly wants to be held, too.  I thought maybe it was just me since I'm gone some in the evenings, but she does it to Ryan too.  Also, I've noticed her doing it with my parents and Terri has mentioned she's doing it there.  I really wish this stage would go and FAST.  My patience grows very thin for it and I try so hard down deep inside to deal with it, but it's very hard and stressful.  This too shall pass, right?  Ha ha!  Have I said how much I despise that line?  I know it will pass but until it does I'd really like my sanity to stay intact.

The girls and I planted flowers today too.  I got a gorgeous picture of Kylie planting flowers.  It really captured the moment.  She just loves to do everything and I need to realize that.  I'm such a perfectionist that at times trying to let her do things like plant flowers on my deck can drive me bonkers if not done right, ha ha.  I know, I have issues.  I did try to let her do it her way, but of course the anal side of me was fixing them after she was done (blushing).

April 23 - Kylie simply amazes me. I don't know what I'd do without her innocence, her pureness, her beauty.  

Kylie has always loved the stars and the moon. She's fascinated with them to almost an obsession. Friday night the girls were lying in bed watching a movie before they sleep and I went in and asked them if they wanted to sit out on the deck with me and look at the stars and moon. Of course they jumped out of bed immediately. We sat on the deck looking at the stars and Kylie said "mommy they are glowing angels." I said "what?". She said "the stars are just angels glowing in the night". OMG! I teared up right then and there. I asked her where she got that from and she said "I don't know. They just are, mom".  

Booga keeps asking me for a telescope.  I guess one day I should do that.  I have never looked through one myself and it would be fun to do that with her and learn all about the stars together.  I should do that and get a book on constellations.

Then yesterday she wanted to water the garden (before we even planted it, lol) and as she opened the patio door she said "Look out world here I come". Ha ha! Ryan and I just started ROLLING. It was so funny. We are not sure why she wanted the world to notice, but it was hilarious.

Just the things that come out of her mouth - they just amaze me.

April 17 - We visited friends this past weekend for their son's 3rd birthday party. Kylie and Ethan played all weekend long together. After his birthday party, Ethan's parents asked him to go around and give everyone hugs, kisses and thank you for the gifts. Kylie waited so patiently for her kiss, but you could tell she was getting antsy. All of a sudden he gave her a kiss, hug and said thank you for the gift and my daughter immediately fell over with her eyes rolled in the back of her head saying "Ahhhhhh! I think I'm in love with that boy". It was as if she was seeing stars!  ROFL!

Oh my! What am I going to do with that child?  Ha ha.

We also got news that Kylie was accepted into the school system pre-K program.  We were a bit disappointed because we sent a letter to the principal asking them to consider Kylie for kindergarten this fall.  We were denied that request, but I was still happy she'll get to attend pre-K.  I know Kylie is excited as well.  She has wanted to go to school for some time now.  I just pray that she'll get to attend the morning pre-K class.  If so, then pooka and I will be able to send Kylie on the bus ourselves.  Kylie will then get off the bus at Ms. Terri's house.  If she has to attend the afternoon class, then mommy won't get to see her get on the bus at all.  Wahhhhh!  Yes, that makes me cry.  I wish I had some way to convince the school that Kylie should be in the morning class.  Ha ha.  Oh well, out of my control.

April 8 - Happy Easter.  Kylie was so excited this morning.  She woke up at 6 am and came in to tell us the Easter Bunny came to visit.  Since Megan was still asleep I convinced Kylie to climb into bed with us and wait until 6:30 or so.  So she did.  She squirmed the entire time in bed so I didn't get any sleep - ha ha.  At 7 am Megan still was not up so sissy and daddy decided it was time to wake pooka.  So they did.  The only thing Megan cared about was the little chocolate Easter bunny that she demanded to be opened and then ate.  ROFL!  Kylie was excited about the roller skates and wanted them on right away. 

Eventually we got dressed after devouring the candy.  Oh, not me.  Ha ha.  I wanted to get Easter pictures of the girls in their dresses but neither one of them would cooperate for anything.  Needless to say I don't have one decent picture. 

After that we went over to Heidi and Adam's for lunch and an Easter egg hunt.  Megan, of course, decided to nap during the hunt and when we woke her up to participate she didn't want to cooperate.  Kylie gladly gathered all her own goodies as well as her sister's.  I got to hold Dave and Vanessa's little beauty.  I felt baby fever for sure.  She's beautiful.

Eventually we ended up at my parents for dinner.  Between my parents and Doris the girls got so much stuff it seemed like Christmas all over again.  It was an exhausting day for sure.

April 7 - Megan used the potty all by herself 3 times today. Twice to poo. Each time she went in there on her own. I had no idea where she had gone until she came in without her pants on, saying she poo'ed and you could see she hadn't wiped yet. Ha! She dragged me in there just to see her poo in the potty.  The 3rd time I was in town. Ryan said she came into the living room naked and dragged him to her bedroom. She had apparently peed on the floor in her closet.  I guess it was an attempt, right? Ha, ha. Yesterday she pulled down her diaper and peed on the floor as well as poo'ed on the floor. Sigh.  So I'm looking at the bright side that she at least used the toilet 2 times today.

April 6 - The girls and I were at the mall on Friday to visit the Easter Bunny. Megan had fallen asleep before we got a chance to see him so we walked around and did some shopping. We went to Macy's where I wanted to look at bras and while we walked passed the lovely colored displays of bras Kylie said "Oh mommy! Look at all the beautiful colors of bras! I can't wait until I can wear all these beautiful colored bras. (which at that point I giggled)...."Mommy, I can't wait until I have breasts to fit into these beautiful colored bras".  OMG, I was rolling! Daddy, of course, did not find it as funny as I did.  

Kylie and Megan got their picture taken with the Easter Bunny, but Megan only let one decent picture be taken.  Ha ha.  One look at that bunny and she cried her little eyes out.  Ha ha.

April 5 - I keep thinking one of my girls is going to be more "foo-foo" girly-like. Right now it seems like I'm raising boys!  Ha ha.  Megan will probably be the girly one. This morning as I was getting all three girls (my niece stayed the night) ready I asked Kylie to go get her hair brush so I could brush her hair. She replied with "Mom, I'm just going to let my hair be wile-y  today. The Easter Bunny wears his hair like that, so it's ok if I do to. No one will think I look like a monster - they'll know it's just wile-y today."  LOL! That kid cracks me up on how she justifies things. I've tell her often that her hair looks wile-y that she's going to scare people like a monster does if she doesn't brush it, hence why she said what she said. Hee hee. She has no care in the world as to what she looks like when she leaves the house.  I hope that one day changes.  Well, I want her to be her own person and not care what others think, but the anal side of me really wants her to look matched and dressed decent.  Ha ha!

March 27 - I knew I didn't know a great deal about fashion, but Kylie told me this morning I need help! Ha ha. I put on a new dress this morning, a cute black dress with a white ribbon and a cute pair of high heels I absolutely LOVE. Anyways, Kylie looked at me this morning and said "mom, ballet flats would look much better with that dress than those heels would." HUH? LOL. I was cracking up! Course she was right, but I'm wearing the dress for work so the heels would dress it up more than ballet flats would.

My little fashion girl. This is coming from the little girl who wears purple pants, orange shirt and red socks! Ha ha.

March 19 - This morning was Megan's 2 year visit. We discussed her weight and her lips turning blue a lot more again. She's in the 25% for height/weight. Dr. L wants to do a weight check in 6 months to make sure she's not falling off charts as she only gained 1 pound this past year. She's 23 pounds with clothes on, had eaten a bunch of hash rounds and finished a juice box. Ha ha. She's 33.5 inches tall. Dr. L basically said as long as she stays the same on the curve which she has since 12 months then we'll be fine. He said she's just going to be a 5'8" / 5'9" 110 pound model, just like all women want to be. Ha, ha! I agreed that would have been nice.  

We have to continue to document her "blue" spells as well as her choking fits and come back in 6 months to discuss whether we are going to seek further treatment. He said her heart sounds fine so he doesn't think it's an issue. My girlfriends had me worried this weekend because they think I should see a pediatric heart specialist about it and proceeded to tell me a story about a lady they knew with a girl like Megan who is now not alive. Wah! I was so angry at them for telling me that - had me freaked out all weekend long. Grrr.

All and all a good visit.

March 17 - Happy St. Patrick's Day!  Today was Megan's 2nd birthday party.  She did not want too cooperate with opening presents, but loved eating her cake.  She played with the kids and had a lot of fun.  It was a good party. 

March 16 - Today my pooka turned 2 years old.  Wahhhh!  Where is the time going.  Since she is still so tiny, I really do think of her still as a baby not a toddler.  I guess that's good.  Some days I'm really sad that I am not going to have another baby and so having Megan stay a baby a little longer is good for me. 

We spent the afternoon with sissy and had a lot of fun, just the three of us.

February 28 - Ryan is notorious for teaching the girls things that they probably shouldn't say, lol. His newest one with Megan is "Whassup Yo!". Megan loves saying this when he asks her to, but of course I can't get her to say it on command. The way she says it is so cute. She says "Whassup Boo!" She just can't get the Yo! down. It was so hilarious because she was in a pink furry coat that was way too big on her, with a Cardinals ball cap on backwards and carrying an oversized purse walking around the house repeating "Whassup Boo!" ROFL! While I'm not crazy about the not-so-appropriate sayings they are funny. Hee hee.

In the spirit of the upcoming baseball season our house is gearing up to root for the Cardinals, OF COURSE! Ryan taught sissy (Kylie) when she was younger to say "Yay Cardinals, Pee-u Cubbies". So I've instructed sissy that she's in charge of getting Megan to say that by the time the Cardinals have their first home game. LOL! Not sure if sissy is up for the task so I may have to help her a bit, but we will succeed at making Megan a Cardinal fan. That is despite the fact that step-MIL and her family are HUGE Cub fans.

GO CARDINALS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

February 20 - Is it normal for 4 year olds to be adding already? Kylie shocked me the other day when she said "Mommy, I know what 2 + 2 is, it's 4". So then I started asking her what 5 + 4 was, etc, etc.  As long as you hold your fingers or hers up so she can count, she was adding away. Our sitter has been working with her on this as well.

I feel like this child is going to be so bored by the time she gets to kindergarten. Maybe kindergarten is different than what it used to be, who knows. I despise the fact that she has to wait until next fall to go.

February 6 - Some days (when they aren't acting up) I think how awesome it is to be a mother and how even more awesome it is to have two beautiful little girls. They can be such a joy, when their horns and tails aren't sticking out. ROFL.

Kylie has never really been coordinated enough to dance well. She dances like her father. I've discovered that my little dancer will most likely be Miss Megan. She is hilarious to say the least. As many know, my favorite thing to do is dance. I LOVE to dance. So of course I do it around the house often, lol. The girls join me in my fun.

This morning before leaving for work and the sitter Kylie wanted to show me a ballet dance she's been learning at ballet school. So I turned on the radio and "Two of Hearts" by Stacey Q. Before Kylie could even do a ballet move Megan was bouncing up and down like "HEY! This is the best song ever!". OMG, I was about ready to pee my pants. So we all proceeded to dance around like it was the best song ever. I swear an adult can only get away with being that stupid when they are around their children, lol.

I'm so lucky to have two cute little dance partners. It was getting quite lonely dancing by myself since Ryan can't bust a move. ROFL.

February 5 - Ok, I've really wanted to document the little things the girls say that just make me roll so this is a good place as any.

This morning I was talking to my sitter about how Kylie (my oldest, 4) was acting this past weekend. I was telling Terri how she was being mean to her friend this weekend. Kylie proceeded to jump into the conversation and say "Relax mom, keep it on the down low". Um, where in the heck did she come up with this from?

Also, this morning Megan (22.5 months) was being her usual defiant self and so I put her in time-out. Usually she gives me this dirty look and points to me saying "mean mom". Yeah, where did she get that one from? SIGH. Ryan thinks it's funny though, so as long as he laughs she'll continue to do that. Anyways, when I put her in time-out this morning I proceeded back to what I was doing and since I wasn't in clear view she looked over at Ryan, gave him a dirty look pointing her finger and said "MEAN daddy!". ROFL. Ha ha, he deserved it. Of course he didn't do anything wrong, but I was laughing so hard anyways.

These kids are going to keep me young just by making me laugh all the time.

February 2 - Megan pooped on the potty for the 1st time!  YAY!!!  She tells us she has to go pee and poo all the time so we'll sit her on the potty but she never goes.  Terri finally got her to go, although I think it was all by surprise.  I sure hope she trains faster than her sister did.  Kylie trained fast, though, but it's my wishful thinking to get out of diapers sooner rather than later.

January 16 - I had a long weekend with the girls due to Martin Luther King's Birthday on Monday the 15th.  We had a great day.  Both girls acted very well and I didn't go into my usual tizzy.  Hee hee.  Kylie got a Barbie movie over the weekend as well as a Princess computer game.  She has had so much fun with the computer game.  A funny about the Barbie movie - We let her stay up late Saturday night watching the Barbie movie.  It was about 11 pm when she came running into the living room all bright-eyed and very excited.  She told us how great of a movie the Barbie movie was and proceeded to tell us about it.  Ryan and I never saw that look on her face before, that very very excited look, well maybe once before.  It was very cute and we were amazed at how much she's really getting into princesses in general.  It amazes me when she starts singing a song from Little Mermaid with a soft voice and knows a lot of the words.

Kylie may not dress to match, but she likes to dress 'pretty' wearing girly clothes and shoes as well as jewelry and such.  Is she going to be a girly girl?  I never thought so until now, but only time will tell.  I always thought Megan would be my girly girl, and I still think this, but Kylie might surprise me.  She doesn't like to refer to herself as just a girly girl.  She makes it known that she's a wee bit of a tomboy as well.  Ha ha.

Megan - ah Megan.....quite the little terror this weekend.  She managed to take two pots that Kylie was growing strawberry plants in and put the dirt everywhere throughout the living room and laundry room.  It was absolutely a MESS!  I swear she did it in seconds flat!  Then her (and her sister, ahem) decided to take the Styrofoam from the desk Ryan was putting together and tear it into little pieces all over the living room.  I swear Megan is a terror!  She just loves total destruction and won't stop til everything in this house is destroyed.  What am I going to do with her?  If she doesn't destroy it, it goes into her mouth, ears, eyes or nose.  She is such an oral child.

Kylie was never this way as a child, no where near as bad as Megan is.  You can't turn your back for a nanosecond with Megan.  With Kylie we could trust her as if she was an older child.  In some ways it's good Megan still seems like a baby to me.  That way I get that baby stage a bit longer.  In other ways I want her to act more like her sister did at 21 months; want her to talk more; do more intellectual things, etc.  I know, be patient Karen.  Patience is not a virtue I've been given, for sure.

Megan's smile and ability to laugh constantly is contagious, though.  She is the happiest baby when she wants to be.  She's very sassy and smarter than she wants us to believe.  She studies everything.  I wonder if she's going to be an engineer when she grows up, just like her daddy?

January 8 - Ryan set up our old Dell computer in the living room for Kylie.  She was very excited to be able to play on the computer.  We've sort of held out letting her use the computer often as we don't want her focus to be solely on that.  She did also get a Leapster for Christmas with several educational games and she enjoys that as well.  I'm afraid if she spends too much time on it then I will need to limit her access.  Only time will tell.  She is pretty good with the computer, too.

January 5 - Well, 2007 is here!  I'm excited about this year.  The girls are getting older and starting to play together, although they can fight well too.  LOL.  I hope to see them outside this spring/summer playing at their playground together, having fun with their John Deere Gator, and planting in the garden.  I think 2007 has a lot of exciting things in store for our family and I can't wait to see what they are.

The girls spent their first New Years Eve with Papa and Grandma Bosie.  Ryan and I actually got to go out for the first time in 4 years to celebrate the new year.  We had fun and the girls had fun with their grandparents as well. 

Megan is talking more than ever.  Some things you can understand and some you cannot.  She still likes to scream and point to what she wants, which can be very annoying and frustrating for all of us, but we are working on it.  It's really weird because she's not like how Kylie was at this age.  She doesn't like to sit and let you teach her things.  Things I was teaching Kylie at this age such as numbers, alphabet letters, colors, shapes, etc Megan just doesn't seem to comprehend or even care to learn.  I hope this is a phase and she'll start getting interested soon.  Kylie was just so far more advanced at this age (21 months).  I try not to compare the two, but it's hard.  You want the very best for your children and when one isn't doing things the other did you start to worry....A LOT!  The speech pathologist we saw in December assured me she's doing well and some things she's advanced at for her age, such as holding objects and pouring things.

Kylie is such a sponge.  She soaks everything up around her.  She is constantly asking questions and once you answer one thing the questions continue on and on.  Kylie likes to ask about how she was as a child, what we liked about her, what she did, etc.  It's so cute to tell her those things and see the expressions on her face.