Girls r' Growin'

Tired

1. MD at 6 months

2. Gidget... fell asleep WHILE putting the ballet skirt on! Partier

3. Gidget wanted to go to work and so she got dressed in Daddy clothes.

4. Bath time together! It's great! Time is flying by.

At first I was slacking in the Blog department because I was so busy... by choice that is. Since that January post I've been busy... sleeping. Not an activity I'd prefer in comparison to my many other options. For the past 2 months I've only felt "rested" or rejuvenated after a day of 13 hours of sleep- over half my day!

So, a couple weeks ago I had a period of complete comfort/awakeness/normal-dee-jolliness. I'd nearly forgotten it and the comparison to the day before and the day following were eye-opening to me. So, here was the day:

10:30pm-6:00am: sleep

6:30-8:00am: sleep

9:30-12:00: alone (clean, sleep)

1:00-4:00pm: sleep

Total Sleep: 13 hours

The 6 1/2 hours after my nap I felt GREAT! I still kept it easy, but was all around genuinely playful and silly without thinking about it. Y'know what I mean? I turned on the music and danced with the girls without thinking it would be a fun activity for them. Gidget and I had fun playing Candyland together and it wasn't just because she is so cute to watch. Basically, I did a lot of the same things, but it was all different for me. And Why? Because I got a long night's rest, a three hour nap, AND I'll grind my teeth as I admit that my girls were at the neighbors for a few hours- during which I cleaned and then rested for a 90 minute period.

Oh, problem solved, right? Reality. The next day I got my normal 2 hours of nap time (abnormal for avg. mom!!) and was pushing myself to do things as usual (don’t wanna be bored, not from self-pressure). I'm enjoying my days regardless of my weariness, don't get me wrong! However, I re-tasted my natural normal day enjoyment after so much sleep. Hard to explain.

So, anyway, with that being said, you can understand when I say that I force myself to have a very short to-do list... play with the girls, sleep, cook. Cleaning/Order doesn't even come in there very well- David's jumped in. I am noticing that I can slip in a few extracurricular activities every once in a while, throws some personal excitement in there for me... that is how I'm sitting here and typing right now (although nervous with each minute I'm losing of nap time). I made some new hair things for my girls the other day and got so excited that I was actually able to do them (I haven't touched that dept for a long time).

Other than the latest sleepiness which is accompanied by poor memory, things are going well. My daughters are hilarious! Gidget makes MD laugh harder than anyone can. MD has just started crawling and is as independent as Gidget (for the most part… she is a bit more attached to her mommy if she sees me and isn't in my arms.) Ah! I want to go on... but I only have 45 minutes of sleep left (hopefully that much)!!

Oh, I had an early brain check-up at UCLA last month and got a copy of my latest MRI. It is interesting to see the before surgery and after surgery photos of my brain. Now you see it... now you don't! Look at the top right corner of my brain.

October '09 in January '10

Family got together for MD's blessing. We have a fun sandbox/pit in the backyard (which we dug in our first few months of moving in 5 years ago... thinking of how fun it would be for the kids to someday play in it. Precious). We had Wilsons, Jason's crew, Jimmy's crew, Scotty's crew, Grandma McKe, and a visit from the Doughmans!! In the top left corner the kids are holding their certificates for their art. The pink pick is of a wall in Gidget's room that I've been playing with in my head for a long time. I have fun looking at it. :)

With hours of help from my handy friend Jasmine (check out http://forgetmeknotstreasures.blogspot.com/) I was able to actually (mostly) follow a pattern and make MDs blessing dress. I made a few changes so that it could be like Gidget's dress, which was mine when I was blessed (Gidget's pic is the last one of the bunch). Made it all the more sentimental. To add to sentimental value: Grandma McKe got the material, I used Grandma Brady's ribbon, and I used MY Grandma Phil's lace! (Jasmine, what do you think of the bonnet?)

These are photos taken by Lori Sheets. THANK-YOU! We took a fun trip to Newport Beach with my mom and so I gave Lori a call. Here's her info: http://lorisheetsphotography.com/

OH! And I got my haircut! Remember how a good chunk of my head was shaven in April '08? Well now it is all even... this is how much my hair grew over 18 months. Kinda slow, if you ask me. All good though.