I'm going to do this in at least 2 different posts maybe more, because there's a lot to this seemingly never ending story. So here it begins.  These past two weeks has been very difficult, scary and exhausting.  Saturday (4/05/14) or if you want to get technical,  Sunday (4/06/14) at around 1 a.m. I woke up to the strangest yelp/scream coming from Lilly.  I jumped out of bed and threw open her bedroom door to find her- what I thought was sleeping.  Her back was facing me so I couldn't see her face. I was just going to turn around and go back to bed but I had this feeling that I needed to check her out more thoroughly.  I walked over to her saw her eyes halfway open and she made this sort of spitting noise.  I grabbed her,  called for Chris and he threw on the lights and saw she was completely blue!
I thought she was choking,  maybe from throwing up or something to that effect.  So I ran to my phone and called 911.Chris had her on his lap in the living room trying to get her to breathe but her teeth were clinched so tight.  There was this moment while I was telling the 911 operator Lilly's info and when I had gotten to her date of birth (that night was 4/6 her birthday is 4/10) this realization came over me like a tidal wave: I literally thought for absolutely sure that this was the last time I'd see my sweet baby girl alive.  I thought she wasn't gonna make to her third birthday in 4 days.  This was it. We we're losing her.
I was hysterical.  I wish I had been more calm,  but I'm just being honest.  I was terrified.

The paramedics arrived very quickly and she started breathing again and the blue color that took over her body was slowly fading away to a pale sightly pinkish tone. By then she was in my arms again and we were trying to get her to open her eyes or cry or talk. I just remember thinking do something Lilly,  please, anything! . Finally she just started crying! It took what it seemed like an eternity for her to open her eyes.  Then they asked her if she knew who was holding her. A sweet scared and hoarse voice muttered "mommy".
It was the sweetest thing I've ever heard and it had me sobbing.  The medics decided it seemed as if she'd had a seizure and that she needed to be taken to the hospital.  I carried her to the ambulance and Chris and Leah followed behind us.  During the ride to Primary's she was returning to the Lilly I knew, asking questions about where we were going and where her daddy and sister were. 

When we got to the hospital they asked Lilly if they could help her off the stretcher and onto the bed. She promptly told them in her feisty Lilly way, but still polite enough "No, I will do it by myself! " . They really got a kick out of that.  Our brother in law,  Brandon was sweet enough to come all the way up there to take Leah to his house.  Lilly seemed to be doing fine and then out of nowhere she just vomited.  They gave her a stuffed piggy and a nice green and white polka dot blanket. I'm gonna back track a bit: when the medics had taken her temp,  it was a  very low grade fever of 99.0 . She hadn't been sick at all. She was absolutely fine and dandy that whole day-- that whole week!
The reason I mention that is because the Dr told us she thought it may have been a febrile seizure. She did say that it was odd that her temp was that low since febrile seizures typically start at least at 102°. Hers was 99°. She told us to make an appointment with the Neurological fast track clinic asap and sent us on our way.
I'll be posting the rest later.

Don't you dare touch Lilly's boo boos

So we're at my parents house when Lilly falls and cuts her knee.  It's bleeding and naturally she's crying.  I'm holding her and my dad comes over and jokingly touches her leg, and she loses it and exclaims "what are you doing?! I have a boo boo!" he thinks it's hilarious and he does it again. This time she says so calmly but in a warning tone "don't touch my boo boo or I will bite your finger!".

I was dying!  We all were just laughing and she was wondering what the heck we found so funny. The best part was when Chris asked if he could hold her and she said " no I will bite you." Hilarious.  Chris looked over at me and said "yep.  That's your daughter." I'm so glad she is!  😄

Oh, fine.

Lilly's new phrase she likes to use whenever I ask her to do something she doesn't want to do is "oh fine!". I have no idea why I love it so much,  but I do!
She's growing up too fast!

Sick sick sick of being sick.

So, I've been sick since the 26th and I want to be so incredibly over with it already.  First it was stomach issues and then I got bronchitis and now I'm dealing with the sinus bs.  I'm done!  Leah's break from school has basically been wasted and I feel awful about it.  This is exactly why I dread making any plans.  Something always  comes up! 

I'm supposed to drive my mother around so she can (meaning me) do her errands, but I just can't pull it together.  The past 4 nights I've not been able to actually fall asleep due to the discomfort and coughing, until around 3 a.m. and my sweet girls are early risers so there's that to add to the pot!

I know I'm just a bundle of happiness and optimism!  It just makes every day to day task seem like Everest (alright, that comparison is a teensy bit dramatic and inflated ).  The tree is still up (the decorations have at least been taken down, mind you ) and despite my best efforts, the sink is disappearing under the ever growing pile dishes that just won't "go away". Sigh.  It really could be much worse. I know this.  This is just not how I would have liked to start off the new year. 
C'est la vie!

New Years 2014

Despite having horrible stomach issues lately, especially the weekend after Christmas and getting bronchitis,  our New Years Eve was actually kinda nice. I wanted to have family over for dinner and play games, but of course that fell through. (insert sad face)
But we had fun with our little family (happy face). We played a bunch of games and just spent the night together enjoying each others company. Isn't that what the holidays are for anyway?

Lilly lasted until 9:30 which was pretty impressive considering she hadn't had a nap all day.  Leah stayed up with me and Chris until midnight. After she was done banging a pot with a spoon (my mom used to let us do that every New Year. Not sure if others do that or not but we loved it. ) and then right after, she turned to us and asked if she could go to bed!  Haha haha! I love her so.
                      Happy New Year!

Here's hoping 2014 is a helluva lot better than 2013!

The girl's pictures

They turned out beautifully! I love them! It was actually a really great experience and we had a lot of fun . We got frozen yogurt afterwards and then went home and watched a movie.  It was a hectic but great day!

I can't believe how fast time goes by.  It's a cliche, I know but it's absolutely true!
We just finished Christmas (it was such a crazy hectic holiday season! ) and we're about to usher in 2014.

I'm here in bed recovering from a stomach bug. Chris was working all day so it was basically me on the couch watching my girls play.  They are such great girls!  They have the occasional fight- usually over Lilly taking or ruining something of Leah's or Leah invading Lilly's personal space.

But they usually play so well together.  I really lucked out with them!  We had their pictures taken yesterday and I was so worried about how Lilly would do but we were all very impressed how well she took directions and the fact that after 2 hours she never even complained.  They both did so good!

They make me laugh and melt my heart.  When I was in the bathroom throwing up (tmi -sorry ) they both - at different times-said to me "I hope you feel better mommy" how sweet is that?!  I'm a very lucky momma,  that's for sure!