December 19 = Ear Muffs Day

Malia and I might have had Chick-fil-a for breakfast this morning.  Maybe.

Aunt Debby sent us some Christmas presents today!  I put the wrapped ones away like a good adult but the ear muffs were not wrapped so I let myself cheat on those.  Malia was happy about it.

This came home in Liam's bookbag today- how cute is he?!?!

Here's my world:

We went to the gym and I was in disbelief about how big this 14 week belly is... some people haven't even told people they're pregnant at this point- I do not have that option, my body tells people for me :)

December 5 = Chickfila Day

Malia and I went to Chick-fil-a for breakfast this morning because, why not?

September 22 = Big Mess Day

We started the day off the right way- Chickfila breakfast.

But later that night, we weren't doing so well.  Also don't worry about the fact that Malia's wearing the same shirt she was wearing yesterday.  I could tell you I washed it last night but I would be lying.

Anyway- I had to take a video of the mess I came downstairs to in the amount of time it took me clean up a mess that had been made in Liam's room:

You can hear him say "not cool."  That's right Liam.  "Not cool."

And here's my sweet girl trying to clean up the mess that she may have helped make:

September 17 = Kinder Farm Park Day

Zachary had Rover watch last night at the academy so he spent the night there and then had a breakfast this morning so Daps, Grandma and I took the kids to Kinder Farm Park.  It was so nice outside and the kids had so much fun!

After the park, we grabbed chickfila to take home and met Zachary there for lunch before Grandma and Daps had to leave.  And while they were heading south, Alexandra was heading north!  We are going to the Cowboys v. Redskins game tomorrow.  A little under seven years ago, Alexandra and I went to a tattoo parlor and she got her first tattoo and I got my cartilage pierced.  So now that she wants her second tattoo, she's decided to do it up here so I can be with her for the second one too!  The same guy who did my XIII a couple months ago, did her new sun.

April 21 = Tick Day

So this morning started with getting the kids up pretty early for them and taking Liam to the CDC and taking Malia to Walter Reed.  She had a follow-up from her EEG scheduled.  Everything was fine on the EEG but as the first doctor was doing her exam, I noticed this mark on her arm.  At first I thought it was a scab but I looked closer and it was a tick!  We tried to get it off but it's head was burrowed in there pretty far so I asked the first doctor to get the other doctor quickly and get this thing off of her!  Dr. Dennison found some tweezers and got it off but it was a stubborn little thing.  I'm going to email Dr. Modi about it and see what he wants me to do but Dr. Dennison thanked us for adding some excitement to his day!

After Malia's appointment, I grabbed some chickfila on the way home because that's what I always do on the way home from Walter Reed.  I got Malia her own kids meal and was trying to give her some food but she was asleep.  Eventually she woke up about 10 minutes before we got to the CDC and had just enough time to finish her lunch.

I dropped her off the CDC and then headed to my own appointment.  I've been so tired lately and while anyone that I tell that to responds with "Well you do have two kids," I'm nervous something else is going on.  So I decided to go to my primary care doctor and ask to get some blood work done.  I went through the checkup and explained what was going on and she thought it was a good idea so she ordered some tests that required five vials.  I texted my parents and brother in our group text that I was waiting to get the blood work done and my dad responded "I'm holding your hand."  Melted my heart!  The first stick was no good- no blood came out- and for some reason, the stick doesn't bother me that much but knowing that no blood is flowing freaks me out.  So I got really light headed and nauseous so they had to wait a while before trying again.  But the second try was a success and I survivied!

October 17 = New Kitchen Day

Today was our full day with Grammy & Gramps.  We had to go to chickfila of course- it's Gramps' favorite and the kids love it too.  They did a great job with their chicken nuggets and french fries!

 But then Gramps kicked it up a notch and got a milkshake and generously shared.

Later, we stopped by toys-r-us and Grammy & Gramps bought the kids a kitchen!  When we go to the gym, the kids go straight to the kitchen.  Liam goes straight to the kitchen at the CDC.  They love it and now they have their own.  The only problem is they're probably going to fight over it but what better way to learn how to share?

Gramps' and Liam's favorite place to be:

April 7 = Chickfila Date Day

It's Tuesday so it's another Chickfila Date Day.  Liam did really well with all his food but he also did really well with his chocolate milk!  He wanted to hold the bottle himself and I was hesitant to let him but I thought- what's the worst that could happen?  He could spill milk on himself.  So I let him hold it and he drank 3/4ths of the bottle all by himself!

And Malia sat in her stroller and looked pretty.

March 24 = Stay out of the House All Morning Day

Liam woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.  This happens sometimes- I go in to get him up and I can tell I probably should have a waited a few more minutes... or hours.  Regardless of our mood, we have to go to speech and PT so we had to get moving!  He ate a good breakfast which put him in a better mood.  And here's Malia who is always in a good mood-

 And Liam showing genuine love for his sister.

Malia has been staying awake during Liam's appointments recently- that used to be my reading time but now it's turned into Mommy/Malia time which is totally fine.  But today, we went back to Liam's appointment time being Malia's nap time and my reading time. 
 

I am currently reading Amy Poehler's hilarious book, "Yes, Please."  I took a picture of this quote and sent it to Zachary to show that breast feeding is no easy task and that I'm not the only one that thinks that.  But it's all worth it.  Well depending on what you read but I tend to ignore any articles that say breastfeeding isn't all that advantageous.  Selective reading.   Excuse the profanity- I don't use profanity but sometimes it helps get a point across so I can appreciate it from time to time.

 Liam tends to behave better in the car or when we are out somewhere so going home wasn't really appealing to me.  So we ran by Chick-fil-a and had one of our lunch dates.  Malia was still sleeping so I got to give Liam all my attention.  This is him putting his chicken nuggets in the cup holder on the stroller.  Why?  I don't know.  But I wasn't stopping him from doing what he wanted to do.

He did so well drinking his chocolate milk out of the bottle!

Malia woke up like this.  There's a new trend going around- "I woke up like this."  I'm apparently old now because I have no clue what any trends mean and I don't get half the jokes on the late night television shows- so out of touch.  But people take pictures of themselves in the morning and let everyone know that's how they woke up.  Well this is how Malia looks when she wakes up and she's beautiful.

Liam was still in such a good mood so instead of heading home and making him take a nap which I knew he would not want to do we headed to the new town house.  I just wanted to see what the ride from his appointments to the new place was like and then we would ride from there to our current home which is right across from the Naval Academy so I could see what Zachary's ride to work would be like every day.  Then I snapped this picture to send to my parents to show them how close the visitor parking is to the front door!

 We made it home and Liam went down for his nap but now Miss Malia was wide awake so she played with Joey a little bit.  He is such a good cat.

January 31 = I'm Running out of Names Day

We had a pretty normal day today- We went to the grocery store, chick-fil-a, Malia & Liam had naps and I got a lot of organizing done.  Marley and Joey enjoyed Malia's pack 'n' play for one of the last times- since Malia's sleeping in her crib pretty regularly, we're looking forward to getting it out of our bedroom so our room is back to being our room- not Malia's room- even though I must say I miss her sometimes in the middle of the night.

January 22 = Turn 27 Day

I've been thinking I was already 27 for the past few months- so now I'm right.  Zachary wished me a happy birthday and headed out- I thought it was a little early for him to leave but didn't say anything.  He came back about twenty minutes later with a carrot cake cupcake and flowers!  Liam shared my cupcake with me and Zachary put the flowers in front of the kitchen sink where I happen to spend a lot of time.

 

When he got home from teaching he took us to chickfila for lunch at the mall and I got a cookie- their cookies are so good.  I also got cards from Zachary and the babies.  Then we came home and he didn't have long before he had to head back to GWU.  But what was super exciting is that my neighbor, Anne, had invited Liam, Malia and I along with two other neighbors- one of which has two kids- for dinner.  She didn't know at the time that it was my birthday so it was a welcomed surprise that I got to have dinner with friends on my birthday since Zachary had class.  So we headed over there and had a delicious dinner- she even made chicken nuggets for the kids which Liam loved and Malia even had a few peas.  And then she brought out a strawberry cake she had bought for the occasion!  So sweet!  I brought home a slice for when Zachary got home but Malia decided to have a taste.

Then we watched some of our favorite show, The Newsroom, and went to bed.  Nothing terribly exciting but a good day complete with love from family and friends and lots of sweets- exactly what I wanted!

December 15 = MRI Day

When Malia was in the hospital for her seizures, before they discharged us, we had to get a routine x-ray.  When they got the results, there was an abnormality- one doctor said there was a space between two of her ribs on one side.  Another said there was a mass and scared us pretty badly and then a third said that there was extra space between the two sets of ribs.  So we had no clue what was going on but we were glad to be getting an MRI to check out what was going on and get some answers.  I wrote about Liam's MRI experience a bit ago and this one was similar- no milk after 4 a.m. and Zachary and Malia had to be in Bethesda (45 minutes away with no traffic) at 7 a.m.  The anesthesiologist got stuck in traffic and was very, very late.  Zachary spared me from most of the details but they ended up having to put the IV in her head but he said she did pretty well with it.  They told him the same thing they told him with Liam- that when she came back from the scan, they would give her two hours to wake up and if she wasn't awake by then, which she probably wouldn't be, they would have to wake her up to make sure everything was fine.  Like her big brother, Zachary heard her chattering on the way back to the room instead of being knocked out like the doctors expected.  The initial results showed nothing to worry about- who knows how three different doctors had three different opinions and apparently none of them were right.  But we are just thankful everything is fine and that our baby girl is healthy!  While Zachary and Malia were in Bethesda, Liam and I had a normal Monday.  I took him to preschool and got some child free shopping done- much, much easier that way.  Then I picked him up and we had a long overdue Chick-fil-a date, just the two of us!  We came home and he got a nap and Zachary and Malia came home soon after that!

Waiting for the anesthesiologist to get there.

Nothing like a mommy/son Chick-fil-a date

She makes everything look cute!

Resting after a long, tough day with her praying teddy bear they gave her at the hospital

June 25 = Try Ice Day

Chick-fil-a dates with Liam are one of my favorite things in the world.  We don't have any super close to us so I try to work it in when we have to be somewhere that is a little closer.  Conveniently for me, the office we go to for Liam's physical and speech therapy every Monday and Wednesday is less than half a mile down the road from one.  I get a 12 piece chicken nugget meal so we can share the chicken and then Liam gets a fruit cup, or if we have lots of fruit and I remember to bring him a fruit cup, we might share a chocolate chip cookie.  Usually he drinks out of his sippy cup but pregnancy brain mommy forgot to bring one so I got him a kids cup of water.  He didn't love it so I finished the water while he was in therapy but there was a lot of ice left.  He loved it!  And remember chick-fil-a has the tiny pieces of ice so he wasn't biting them and they weren't a choking hazard :)

Even when he was reunited with his sippy cup, the ice eating continued.