They're just so stinkin' cute!

I was really trying to get a good picture of the two of them. It was beautiful outside and they were both pretty cheery.

Alas, no. Look at the attitude oozing from Joanna here:

Same shirt, but I think this was a few days later. :)

Sittin' on the porch of Gran's apartment.

I can usually just get one of them to look/smile at a time. Joanna gets fed up and leaves or Natalie starts to cry. As soon as one of them doesn't have bug bites on her face, we are going to have their pictures taken! Everytime I DON'T get a good one of the girls, I remember WHY I pay people to do it!!

Cute things:

-Joanna has one pair of footie PJs that she wears when it's chilly. Yesterday she decided the footie parts were "jammie shoes." Ha! Then, when I went to check on her before heading to bed, I discovered she was wearing her tennis shoes over them. I took them off.

-This morning, I decided to snuggle with Natalie in bed after feeding her instead of trying to put her down. Feeding her, then putting her back in the crib hasn't worked for the last couple of weeks and she and I are both exhausted. Anyway, I decided sleep in some fashion was better than none for us, and it was bliss. At about 5 till 8 (!!!), I was awakened with the sound of some kind of rustling by the bathroom. There was Joanna, holding a baby and a blanket, sitting on a step stool. She showed me her tie shoes, back on her feet. Sadly I had to wake Natalie up at that point. She'd crawl right off the bed when she woke up, and she didn't stay asleep through the transfer to the crib. We were all so well-rested though, it was wonderful!

I'm thinking it's because she's been under the weather for a few weeks, but this no-sleep Natalie is not fun! She's been regularly waking up and staying up at 5:30am. Then she squeezes in a 12 minute (I might be exaggerating a little -- make it 30, max) nap in the morning and another after lunch. Ick ick ick!! She's been a beast (for Natalie, anyway). Today was sooooo much better. She had two decent naps (probably 40 minutes and 1 hour) and was a much happier baby today. Sleep makes all the difference. I was happier too, having gotten to sleep in. Even though she was very snotty today, she was in much better spirits than she has been. I may just have to give in and snuggle nap for a few more days... you know, for Natalie. :)

After leaving my mom's apartment the other day, Joanna stalked a duck.

Football Game

We all decided to hit the local high school football game Saturday night.

It was actually a little chilly -- yum!
Joanna LOVED it!

I think Natalie did, too.

Joanna's tapping her hands to the beat.

She enjoyed watching the band and the dancers.

A lot.

Anna shared her pom poms with us. Natalie's a regular cheerleader, don't you think?

We sat with the Vandenberges (whose big brother is in the band) and the Beasleys. We left after half time to get the girls in bed, but I'm sure they would have loved to stay for more!

More conversations

Joanna: What's that?
Me: It's honey. (I was making tea.)
Joanna: What's it do?
Me: It makes things sweet.
Joanna: Oh, so it won't hit.

HAHAHAHAHHA!!!

Almost the end

Next Thursday will be Joanna's last Thursday at MDO. She'll still going on Tuesdays though, so it's not really the end. Since Natalie doesn't have a spot on Thursdays, it's pretty ridiculous to find something to do with her and drop off Joanna at the church. I still haven't fleshed out our permanent plan, but it involves getting a sitter to watch both girls for a few hours on Thursday while I finish up work for the week. My mom was off all the Thursdays in September and the first couple in October (YAY!!) and that worked out very well. Last week, I brought Natalie up to the church with me, but it really wasn't fun for either of us. This week I skipped Bible Study on Wednesday and got things done early, except for a couple of things I finished up today. I'll probably do something similar next week. Then in November I'll start paying a sitter to watch the girls on Thursdays. Fortunately it will be Gran! She has most Thursdays in November off, and is happy to take my money to watch the girls. :) There are definitely going to be times she won't be able to do it, so I need to work on getting a back-up plan. I'm looking forward to both girls being in the same place. Natalie is, too, although not in so many words. She and I had a pretty lovely day bonding, but I could tell she really missed her sister! Poor thing is a pretty happy baby, but I think Joanna has spoiled her rotten with lots of attention. She'd cry like I was hurting her everytime I walked out of her sight today or put her down on the floor. Silly girl.

When I went to pick up Joanna (who had again, not napped), I saw this on the table outside her classroom:Apparently Joanna is going to be blue for Halloween. That's either very silly or very sad. I wonder if she meant the color or the emotion...

Ranting, a little

Antibiotics
Yogurt
Cranberry juice
Lots of water
Salt water to gargle

I have a sore throat that's not strep (thank goodness!) and is getting a little better every day. I also have a bladder infection (sorry if that's TMI). The doctor first thought I had strep and a bladder infection, but there are no broad spectrum antibiotics I can take right now! I'm allergic to the penicillans. When I was a kid, I got hives from Augmentin, and nobody wants to risk anything worse happening now. Many meds are also unsafe for nursing babies, so I guess that takes out any others I'd be able to take. He also didn't want to throw two specific antibiotics at me because that's a sure-fire way to get a yeast infection (ick!) and who wants to be taking TWO antibiotics?! Anyway, he did a strep test and found it negative, so my swollen tonsils are likely just from drainage and junk. That's good -- I can just treat my symptoms. I'm supposed to be upping my fluid intake a bunch for the bladder infection, but it's hard to swallow!

I feel a little like I'm falling apart. I know it could be so much worse, but I think my immune system has taken a major hit this year. Before this spring, I had probably taken antibiotics once, maybe twice since I was a little kid. Since this spring, I've had FOUR ROUNDS of antibiotics. Seriously?! So my goal now is bulk up my immune system again. I'm think regular massages, pedicures, and girls nights out are the cure for that, right?
:)
Thanks for listening to me complain a little. I feel better.