Wordless Wednesday: Baby Gap

Eva's Test Results...

Everything came back normal!! Which is excellent, the neurologist said everything looked completely normal. I feel like maybe it was a one time thing. I really hope and pray it never happens again BUT at least I will be mentally prepared if it does and it's really nice to know that Eva really is a very healthy little girl. As frustrating as it is to not have a reason for her seizure it is such a blessing to know that she checks out with not one thing wrong with her body.

Thank you everyone again for all of your prayers, they were all truly felt by our little family.

WebCam in action

So my friend Jennifer double inspired me to get a web cam because her kids talk to their grandparents on it all the time...they even watched them open their Christmas presents(how cool)!! I've been wanting a web cam forever now but I really want our kids to have an actual relationship with Jeremy's mom and dad. And I know it will take both our girls some getting use to but it will catch on and I am so excited for it! Here are some first pics of Elle talking to her Grandma Brower(Eva was spending the night at grandma's house[my mom]).

Of course my little ham was more interested in me taking some pictures of her...she's always got it turned on for the camera.

I love that second pic of her smile. Just like this sweet, innocent little girl.

PJ's from Grandma

My mom bought the girls some blanket sleepers, I think this will be the last year Eva can actually fit into anything 5T. Her and Elle look so cute when they coordinate, I love it.

Doesn't Elle look like she's a toddler in this pic?!? They grow up way, way, too fast.Watching TV, a good favorite past time of sisters.

Eva's all natural curls.
Elle's always trying to get away.

Awww, so sweet.

Our Dear Prophet

Our dear prophet President Hinckley passed away yesterday. We were all so surprised at our house and didn't know how to even take it in at first. He is the only prophet I have ever known and so wise and such an amazing man.

I think our daughter Eva had the best take on everything.

I told her, "Eva, I have some sad news...President Hinckley died yesterday."

she sort of just looked at me so I asked her, "Are you sad? Are you OK?"

and she said,"Well...he's with Jesus, right?"

and I said, "Yes, that's right." And then she just kind of looked at me like, Why would I be sad then? She said,"OK, he's with Jesus."



So sweet, even though I know she will barely remember him as she grows up, he had an effect on her life, he was her first prophet.

Oregon is SO sad sometimes...

After a mere 1/2 inch of lame snow school has been canceled ladies and gentleman. The people in the Midwest are swallowing their vomit in disgust. It's sad, but I can't complain because I loved having snow days when I was in school and it only happened like twice...or something, it wasn't often. The good(nay great) state of Oregon does justice for school age children everywhere.


Next up are some pics of Eva and I's righteous day in the snow(we totally ditched Elle in her play pin in front of the TV with some Cheerios...when you have more than one child it's a delicate balance for a mothers attention...and lucky for me, Elle can not protest, plus I actually think she enjoyed the alone time...I should note that we were in the front lawn and I checked on her every 10 minutes or so).

So early that day(that day being yesterday...Friday) Eva had been asking me to go outside and it has been very very cold. So this is our convo:
Eva: "Mommy, can I go out side and play please?"
Me: "Ummm....(trail off to not cause tension)"
-7 minutes later-
Eva: "Mommy, I want to go outside and play."
Me: "Eva, it's too old out side." (We walk over to the closest window and I head towards opening the blinds)
Me: "It's probably raining and yucky...See...(as I open the blinds I am shocked by the falling snow)
---I then whip my head to see Eva's reaction...it's a gleeful smile and a sure knowledge that she will be going outside to play---
Me: "Oh my gosh, it's snowing!"
Eva: "YAY, it's snowing, can I go out now?!"
Me: "Yes(big sigh), let's get ready."
=======Thank you, no applause necessary=======


Thus leading to this picture, Eva ready for the snow. Her snow pants that we bought 2 years ago(and by "we" I mean my mom) were waaay too small, and she has no snow boots...so her rain boots had to serve the purpose of snow protection.



Yes, your eyes are not deceiving you...that is how much snow it takes to get school canceled in Oregon, hellooooo.







Yeah, I really don't know...we'll just chock it up to being 4.

I thought this pic of the steam from the roof of our duplex was cool. Eva asked if the house was going to die...I'm assuming she thought it looked like it was on fire. I of course told her the house would be fine.



This is our sad little snowman. The snow was not wet enough to really do anything with(at least that's what the neighbors said, I of course know zip about the snow) so I tried for my daughter to make her the snow man she so desperately wanted. What she's giving me is a pity smile so I don't feel like a bad parent.



Here he is. It's interesting to note also that as much as she begged me for him...I believe 2 hours later she came out and whacked it into nothingness...I of course was heartbroken and she did say sorry..apparently my sad attempt wasn't enough to save him. I wanted to watch him slowly melt away...sick, I know.

Well, that's pretty much our adventure. Elle was surprisingly content the whole like hour we were playing. When we came inside she ate and took a nap.

Happy Snow day too all! And please let it melt soon and become spring...amen.

WebCam

We got a webcam this weekend so if you want to see us lets us know, we have Skype!

Friday Fantasy Shoe Day: Little Girl Addition

Inlight of recent events I've been thinking a lot about my oldest daughter and how much she has changed my life in all of the best ways possible. She is amazing and strong and makes my world so, so wonderful.
Since she is slowly(but surely)starting to appreciate clothes and shoes I thought I would dedicate my Fantasy Friday to little girl shoes. Of course they will be pricey...it's not fun if they aren't. Some of them aren't that expensive but when you think about the fact that they will out grow them within 6 months, then yes they are way too expensive.
Onward:

Since it snowed here yesterday and Eva and I went out to play in it I browsed the boots section and low and behold I came across these snow boots named, Cold Front II, and They. Are. Adorable. As much as I hate the 'Brats' dolls and all of this like chunky looking crap they make for girls nowadays, these boots are beyond cute and with the cotton candy pink color, soooo girly! I wish I had them to put Eva in today but alas, her rain boots will have to do double duty. Cold Front II are $34.00.




Next is this snappy little sneaker that have these sweet lights. It used to be only boys had light up shoes and then they made them for girls but the lights were red...barf. This hot pink number is so cute and with all the little foil and sparkle accents it is beyond girly, especially with the Maryjane design and side daisy. This 'Kelly MJ' is $44. For the classy girl who likes to look good in her Sunday best...or any day of the week we have, 'Joanne.' All though Joanne is a 45 year old woman's name and does not remind me of a little girls shoe in the least this shoe has style. I love the patent with the side swirl design on top and the little gem details are what really make this shoe so chic! Joann will run you $40.

Little girls(even my tomboy)love sparklies. And this shoe is so bright and fun, with the ballet look and little bow, it's the girl version of a mommy's ballet flat, that is so in right now. This shoe is known as 'Glenda' I'm thinking this is in reference to the Good Witch of the North(Wiz of Oz ref.) b/c if it's not these people need to come up with some waaaay cuter names. So fun, this would be so cute with some boot cut jeans, right?! Glenda is a mere $28.
Now I am a big fan of little girls in boots. It's adorable. The first pair of boots I ever bought Eva were these tan suede Ugg inspired boots with sheep wool lining, so adorable. So when I saw these boots known as the, 'Missy boot' I had to post them. These are so my number one must have...if I had money to burn on shoes. A sweet suede upper and side zipper and an age appropriate heel(which is so hard to find in bigger sizes). The 'Missy' also comes in black. So hot with jeans tucked in or with tights and a skirt, me likey. Missy is $54, me no likey that.

May as well go on to my next boot. This is the 'Zaynah Boot' and that is a much more appropriate name for a girls shoe, am I right or what? I mean yes it's not a real name but at least it's funky and fresh. JUST like these boots. I love everything about these shoes. They will make your little girls outfit come alive! The flower and vine details are amazing and all leather uppers, nice. I love the turquoise and the pink together, such hot colors. This boot also comes in another color combination, a darker brown with green and the flowers are also different accented colors. Lucky for you Zaynah is on sale(woo hoo) for $29.99! I don't know, that's pretty good if your kids in a slower phase of growth...It's just b/c I'm obsessed with girl boots that I would even consider...and then I snap back into reality(and by me I mean my husband snaps me back into reality).
Last but not least, as much as I hate the sneaker you have to buy them, they make the most sense. I mean your kid IS a kid, she's going to want to run and play and be all crazy. That's what they do for like 94% of their time(the other 6% is on timeout). So I saw these sneakers and I loved them! Such cute colors first of all, pink, silver and light green(on the website they are known as begonia, silver and lime...but whatever, we get it) so adorable for a sneaker, not just boring white, blehhhh. The design of it is all about fun shapes and details. This sneaker gets an A+ from me! Oh and by the way, you will die when I tell you how much they are. This sneakers name is 'SuperBall 13'! It's like an arcade game. Well SuperBall is wait for it....wait for it...$65! I know, right? Like I spend that much on my own sneakers?! I do like that it's lace up. Almost all shoes now are Velcro, which I love, don't get me wrong, it's just that I haven't had the opportunity to teach my child how to tie her shoes and I don't think I will unless I can hunt down a pair of sneakers that actually have laces. Too bad for me when I find them they wont be this cute, I'm sure they will be white...but only white long enough for me to tie them to Eva's feet and within 3 minutes they should easily be gray, scuffed and serving their ultimate purpose. All these shoes are brought to you via http://www.striderite.com/.

I hope you've all enjoyed the fun girl shoes, I thought something different would be just that...different. I've had a different week where I really have refocused what's important in my life, it sucks that something so scary and traumatic had to happen to make me realize the better person I would like to be but, that's usually how it goes, right? You "wake up" when something major effects your life. I've definitely woken up and our family is a lot closer than it was, we've bonded in a way that I never imagined and a new perspective of what family really is has overwhelmed both Jeremy and I. I love my family so much and I am so grateful for everything that I have. Enjoy your weekend with your family's.

Thank you so much everyone!!

Here's Eva on Tuesday before she went in to get the IV tube out. She thought it was soooo cool because she looked like she had a broken arm. She wanted to show all of her friends.

She had to sleep on that thing all night, it has a plastic board around back to keep your arm straight, she did really well with it. The board came out a few times and when I put it back in she thought she was an expert at it and thought then when we went to the doctor that she could take out the board and probably the tube too. It told her to leave it to the professionals...they need to feel special. She was ok with that.
Here's where they stabbed her foot too. The ER nurses had a really hard time finding a vein, they really poked her. :(

And her one request? Chocolate milk and a lot of it.

I really appreciate everything everyone has said and your prayers are truly felt at this time!

Eva had her EEG yesterday. Like I mentioned before they had me keep her up two hours past her bedtime...which was a piece of cake. Eva is a night owl just like me and we borrowed some movies from one of our neighbors and stayed up a little past 11:30pm watching them...I had to convince Eva to go to sleep...she has no problem staying up. I decided that we should camp out in our living room that night so we didn't disturb Elle at 4am! Yikes.

So Jeremy set the alarm and came down and woke us up. Once Eva was up she was fine. All I could think of to keep her occupied till 9:30am was game after game. So we played balloon volleyball for a while. Then we did jigsaw puzzles...by 4:40am I was like...what in the heck am I going to do till 9:30am!! She played play dough, we played memory...then by 6:30am I finally resorted to TV, even though I knew it would probably make both of us sleepy. Not that I wasn't already completely sleep deprived...because I totally was/am. Anyway, I started falling asleep soon after the TV came on and Eva did well till about 7am and she started to nod off. So I tried talking to her to keep her up but all she kept saying was, "I just need to lay down." I decided to play balloon volleyball again, she was really tired but by 8am she got a second wind and the only hard part after that was the car ride. I was like slamming on the brakes to whip her back and forth...which she thought was pretty funny. I was blasting Queen as loud as I could...along with talking really loudly, singing annoying songs and keeping it cold in the back seat. She was not happy with me, lets just leave it at that.

Once we got there we learned a little more about what she would be doing. The EEG is a test that measures and records the electrical activity of your brain by using sensors attached to your head and connected by wires to a computer. They needed her sleep deprived so that her brain was under stress, and all the tests they did while she was hooked up were to stress he brain out to see it's reaction. She had to look at a strobe light(which she did not like at all, she mostly squinted and rubbed her eyes), then she was supposed to blow on a little windmill so she would kind of hyperventilate but she refused she was getting really upset and whining and pushing it away and the more I asked her to just try once the more mad she got, lucky for me it was the only time in my life, ever, that they were happy with her reaction because it was making her mad, it was kind of part of the test to make her irritated. So if you ever want to feel good about your kids throwing a fit in public, just remember that if they were hooked up to an EEG machine the doctors and technicians would love it...you can tell that to any gawkers, "The doctors love it when she/he throws fits like this..it's so good for her/his brain." That should get the gawkers to walk away...or call DHS, but by that time you should be done shopping.

Anyway, after that I had to get her to relax completely and then fall asleep...which she did, then I had to make her mad again by waking her up just enough to open her eyes and then have her fall back asleep again...which was really easy because Eva never wakes up the first time...I just tickled her which made her really mad and then she just fell back asleep...again the technicians loved it, the said,"Perfect" when she scowled at me with anger for waking her. It really makes you feel good when you get complemented on how upset your child is getting, it's a little bit of a parental ego boost.

The worst was actually all the gooey junk they put on the little tabs to stick to your head. So gross looking. Eva looked like she had a colony of lice and maggots that took up residence in her hair, the looks we got were priceless. Plus the marked up her head with this red wax pencil and they taped one tab right under her eyes, which really irritated her and they had to have the sticky tabs on her chest too...taking them off was kind of like a band aide and that did not go over well at all...a lot of crying.

This is her crazy face to go along with her crazy hair.So gross looking right? Some old people gave us some weird looks as we were leaving the hospital...I actually kind of enjoyed it.

Anyway, she did really well and then I took her to Old McDonalds(that's what she calls it) she ate a "hefty" kids happy meal(that's the one that has more than 4 chicken nuggets) and came home and crashed for about 3 hours. We wont know the results till next Tuesday, around there. She's doing so well though, completely herself.

I'm starting to be a little less paranoid about leaving her alone. I don't want her to pick up on me watching her like a hawk..I want her to feel normal and like everything is normal.

Last night was the first night in a couple days that she slept in her bed. She didn't wake up till 9:40am! Woo hoo! I'll put some pics up of the past few days.

Some more pics of the gooey hair globs. It actually wasn't as hard as I thought it would be to get out.

You can see the red spot under her eye were the taped wire was...that's the one that really got her crying, just anticipating taking it off she started crying. Poor baby.
This is Eva looking devastated by her bruised up arm. It was really red and sensitive because they really taped it up since she was trying to pull everything out once she woke up.

Ewww, a close up. She's such a trooper.

Thank you again everyone for all your prayers and we'll keep you updated as soon as we know anything.

Here's one more pic of Elle, she's been really sick the past week or so. The day Eva had her seizure we actually went into their pediatricians office to get Elle checked out. So here's Elle looking sick and she's also sporting a super cute ponytail that Eva and I gave her.

Our scary night at th ER with Eva

We had a very scary Monday night. Our sweet daughter Eva experienced a seizure and it was so scary. That's the only way I can describe it. She didn't have the type of seizure where you have convulsions, she had the type where you're very vacant in the eyes, almost like a vegetative state. It was the scariest thing in the world to see the light leave my daughters eyes, she just wasn't there.

At first we thought she was just really tired and kind of sleep walking. I picked Eva up and put her on the couch and as I kept talking to her I decided the best way I knew to snap her out of it was to put Elle on her belly and I knew Eva would swat at her and tell her to get off. Elle kissed her and drooled on her and even swatted her in the face but Eva hardly even blinked, that's when I knew that she wasn't sleepy that there was something wrong.

I put Elle down and grabbed Eva's hand and told her to squeeze it and she did nothing, she just was staring off.

Then I screamed for Jeremy, I picked Eva up and realized that she had wet herself. I screamed for Jeremy again(he was right in the middle of an online timed test) he ran down and went across the street to our neighbors house to get my friends husband to help give Eva a blessing...as soon as the blessing was over I knew that I had to pull it together for Eva if I was going to get through whatever was going on. So Jared(our neighbor) took Elle back with him and his family, I hurried and grabbed Eva a change of clothes and her jacket and wrapped her in a blanket and got into the car. As we were driving we were praying over and over; Eva was very limp and drooling a lot, my whole arm was soaked. Right before we got to the hospital her eyes were rolling a little and she was grunting a lot I wasn't sure if she was breathing anymore, I was getting as close to her as possible making sure she was still breathing, I even blew air into her mouth once. As we pulled up(of course the ER was under construction and the normal entrance wasn't accessible) we jumped out of the car and one of the ER employees parked our car for us. Jeremy did call the ER and let them know we were on the way. The doctor said that she was out of her seizure and that she was in this very sleepy state that was common after a seizure. They started getting her hooked up to oxygen and other things and I just talked to her the whole time, I told her what was going on and what everyone was doing. Jeremy was able to call my parents and they were on there way.

The nurses had a really hard time getting one of her veins(just like her mom) and every time they poked her she reacted and the nurses said that that was a really good sign that she was responding. Throughout this time she was making noises...rhythmic grunting, she sang a little, and made odd crying sounds. It was so scary to see her like that. I went with her when they did the CT scan and an X-ray they ran tests on her blood and it was all normal. About two hours had passed since the seizure and the doctor said it wasn't good that she hadn't been awake yet or showing any real signs of activity. Right then Jeremy got down in her ear and told her to wake up in Spanish, and then my mom told her that she really need to wake up and within a minute she started crying, her cry, it was Eva crying. She pulled the mask off and wanted to know what was in her arm. She really started to pull at things and get things off. She cried out for me and they were the sweetest words I have ever heard. Just hearing her cry was such a glorious feeling. I tried to calm her and let her know what was going on, she was very confused and scared. Unfortunately they had to do a catheter after she had woken up and that was so hard. She was just so brave. All she wanted to do(once she could form her words) was "go to grandma's" Once we were released from the hospital Eva and I spent the night at grandma's house and daddy stayed home with Elle so Elle could get a decent nights sleep.

They decided to keep the tube of the IV in her arm just in case we had to come back since they had such a hard time getting it in. When she woke up Tuesday morning she was just bursting with energy, she was so happy to be at grandma's and she was very hungry. She loved that she had the little splint and bandages around her arm, she thought she had a 'broken arm' and she wanted to show all her friends how cool it was.



All the doctors could tell us is that some kids just get seizures and sometimes it's a one time thing, sometime they have them a few times and just outgrow them with age. I almost wanted there to be something that set it off so then we could have something to fix...that's the natural man in me I guess...but there was nothing, no infection, no fever, nothing. We're going tomorrow to the pediatric neurology specialist and he will be doing a EEG scan. We'll be able to learn a little more about a week after that when the results are in.

Please just pray for us, every one's prayers were really felt last night, I know so many of our family members were praying, and Jeremy's mom was even able to call the temple and get Eva's name on the prayer list. We needed those prayers so much and they really worked, it all came through right when we needed it to.

Thank you so much for all of your love and support.

We'll keep you updated as soon as we know anything. For the EEG tomorrow we have to keep her up 2 hours past her bedtime(which should be easy, she's such a night owl) but then I have to wake her up at 4am!! And keep her awake till her appointment at 9:30am, they said they like them to be sleep deprived.

Hopefully tomorrow night Jeremy and I can get some sleep.

The differences in our lives since last night are already so prevalent, my very independent daughter is being watched like a hawk...which I never do. I let her do pretty much whatever she wants, she's such a responsible 4 yr old...seriously. I didn't even let her nap alone today, I couldn't.

She's just so precious. All of our children are, our families and friends. It was just so scary to think that I may never hear her say my name again, or here her laugh, or speak. That thought was more terrifying than anything I've ever known.

We love all of you, keep us in your prayers.

Love, The Browers.

Memories.

We just recently got a bunch of our old pics from our old computer transferred onto our new computer. Jeremy and I were looking at some old pics of Eva, it doesn't seem like it was that long ago but, it feels like forever.
Enjoy our gorgeous daughter:

Kids.

Eva and Elle are both sick. Last night Elle refused to go to sleep. Every single time we layed her down she screamed. We let her scream...we picked her up...we rocked her...we fed her...we gave her medicine. Nothing worked. Finally Jeremy got her to sleep in between us, I think that lasted an hour.
Then I got her to sleep on me in Jeremy's lazy boy for 2 or 3 hours, I'm not sure how long it actually was. It was extremely uncomfortable for me though...my neck is killing me. Then she woke up again and I fed her again and she went to sleep in her crib...finally, of course this included screaming but she actually fell asleep that time. I got 2 more hours of sleep and then she was up again.
I've already been to the Dr. I guess a lot of kids are getting walking pneumonia so I thought I would make sure it wasn't that, she's had this wet cough since last Wednesday.
Anyway, she's fine, just a regular cold. Great...that means I don't get to take any drugs home. And the doctor's advice? Don't let her fall asleep anytime in the afternoon to guarantee that she sleep tonight...that will be so much fun. I should have asked him to go ahead and stop by this after noon and see how much fun that's really going to be. He assured us that he remembers sleepless nights and being up all night with a crying baby...yeah right.
I think once your kids are out of that phase you totally block it out...it' just like the potty training, once your kid is in underwear you don't even recall what diapers are.

It's Friday Already? Bettye Muller = Fun, Fresh....I can't wait for warm weather.

I can not believe that's it's Friday already...where does the time go? (It's rhetorical...I don't actually care or want to know.)

So as I realized it was Friday at 11:17am I remembered that since I was sitting at the computer I may as well do my shoe blog for the week.

As I was sifting through names of designers things were looking rather grim...all the fun names had ugly shoes that I would never wear, so why would I post them? Then I came across Bettye Muller and her shoes were the first ones to put a smile on my face. These are all fun bright shoes...you can almost smell the watermelon, cut grass and hear kids running and laughing while you're slowly getting tan on a nice June day. Ahhh, June, how I long for you. Onward:

Spring has brought me such a nice surprise, Popcorn popping right before my eyes! Ahhh, magical lyrics for this more than exhilarating shoe! This shoe just makes you want to smile...and sing the lyrics to cheesy primary songs. Unfortunately for her, her name is Casino...which I guess could be a reference to an old lady from Florida wearing crazy floral prints and so tanorexic she can hardly pull down the handle to her slot machine...but I'd like to see that old bird workin' these...hardly.

This shoe is so cute, so hot and if you're between the ages of 23-36 you could rock the crap out of this shoe. (sorry, for anyone not in my age range but high fashion shoes do have age limits, I can't see a 40 something pulling this look off and I can't see a 20 year old pulling this off without looking slutty...these are the facts.) 'Casino' has a 3 1/2 in snake embossed leather heel w/ a 1/2 in platform. And yes she is spendy, $415.oo! Hellooooo.

Next we have 'Ritz' with a 2 in heel and a deco floral design all in 100% silk, yum. This shoe is so fun and flirty and soooo wanting a sundress to pair with it. Your feet will love you no matter if this shoe is comfy or not, these are notice me shoes and they will get you noticed for all the right reasons. Note, these are for any age woman, young and old can make this work but only if you have $275.oo yeah, that's right.

Now as much as I love a good trend and fashion in general, the Gladiator sandal trend leaves me scratching my head...for the totally over the top Gladiator style statement I say, "Nay" BUT to the slight gladiator with the right outfit I say, "Yay" slash, try it if you're brave and ask a girlfriend before you walk out the door.

So this is, 'Baccarat' I really don't know what to say about the name...enough said. This is the hot trend for spring and I think that I could pull this sandal off with the right clothes. I love the little reflective metal mirror ornaments on top(another hot trend) and the simplistic nature of the shoe itself. Some of the Gladiators are sooooo over the top. I think this would looks so cute with a white bib shirt un-tucked(see short sleeved white button-down for example of a bib at http://www.shadeclothing.com/) paired with slate blue bermuda shorts or dark denim bermudas. That look would make these shoes rock. Well darling Baccarat is a mere $420... if only.

The last few shoes aren't exactly screaming warm weather...at all BUT I liked the look of them and it gives you a good idea of Bettye Muller's style. Next up is 'Bamboo Zebra' not real original if you ask me, but whatever. I love the rounded toe and I also love that it's not 4 inches of heel that I can't handle, this is a simple 2 in kitten and is made almost entirely up of printed haircalf(please do not ask me what that is b/c I have no idea, I would assume it's calf hair BUT it says "haircalf" so talk amongst yourselves and decide) and the other 3% is leather, yeah baby. It's girly and sophisticated...that's hard to pull off. Little Ms. Zebra is on sale for $279.99, I know, you're floored at the savings.

I like this next shoe, it's kind of on the verge of being matronly like ages 40 and up BUT I think it has a little flair that a young chic woman could pull off. Ladies, this is "Warhol" in honor of Andy I'm assuming, and who doesn't love him! To be honest this shoe is more up my alley, something that I could walk in, and it looks rather comfy and it does have that creative flair about it; being leopard print and made with the haircalf again...this is more realistic Sunday morning me. Plus, I could totally rock this with a white button down and a black pencil skirt...I mean come on, I am a ward librarian. Warhol is also on sale for $272.99.

"Russo" is made of a patent leather heal and straps but is 90% boucle which gives this shoe total edge and some major sex appeal. It definitely exudes a certain amount of glamour. I also love that the bottom of this shoe is a really rich deep purple...such a hot color right now. 'Russo' is on sale for $245.99 but with a 3 1/2 in heel an 1/2 in platform...can you really resist...well you probably can but it's worth it...I mean come on, all of these shoes are made in ITALY! Yum-my!

Last but not least I am reminded that it is still winter(deep sigh...blended with uncontrollable sobbing) and I have put up this super cute boot. So chic and girly AND trendy...Bettye Muller I love you(even if you do spell Betty weird). This my friends is "Birkin" and she is so "in" it's ridiculous. Not only is she in the shade of winter(grey; for those of you who aren't paying any attention...at all, it's grey!) she has the slouch AND a super hot detail of a simple bow. 100% suede and a 1 in built in wedge, she'll give you minimal height but a maximum fashion statement. I really do wish I had $398.99 to blow and yes, that's on sale.

I do have some sad news to report, my staple shoe, my tan suede fur lined boots are in shoe heaven(or now in the back of the closet b/c I haven't thrown them away yet...it's just too hard) they have lasted a good 3 years and they will be sorely missed, they kept my feet warm in the winter without socks, I loathe socks, and the looked great with jeans tucked in and out...it was the best shoe ever especailly b/c I didn't think they'd last more than a year...they knew I needed them, I loved those shoes...now my feet are cold, so very, very cold.

R.I.P

Tan Furry Boots

2005-2008

Diaper Changes

Once your child is potty trained you seems to forget about these things that once ran your life...diapers. You pity the people still dealing with them and it kind of all fades away how to really do a diaper change...well for me at least. About a month after Eva was potty trained(this was back in August of 2006) I just assumed everyone was potty trained and that it would be oh so long before I had to think about diapers again.

Now when Eva was born I changed a lot of her diapers, Jeremy was a bit intimidated by the process but he got more and more practice and was a pro before long.

When Elle was born, I was the intimidated one. I don't think I changed one of her poop diapers till she was like 3 or 4 days old! (I know, it's a miracle in its self that I pulled that off)

I just felt a little intimidated by it...and I also didn't feel like it, let's just be honest.

There are also stages of diaper changing that I completely forgot about until Elle reminded me these past few weeks.

At first they are so docile and limp changing is a breeze, of course they usually don't like the coldness of it all, so you go as quickly as you can. Then, they are more alert and changing a diaper is more fun, kind of like a little one on one time. They smile and grab for you, so cute.

Then there's the stage I'm in now...they can move. A lot. Changing a diaper and not getting poo everywhere is a talent and it takes an immense amount of speed, precision, and skill. I don't like this stage. It's hard to figure out how to grab your child's attention long enough so they hold still long enough for you to get all the poo off. Bleh.

Handing her a toy doesn't always work, she likes to chuck the toy and then go after it(like playing fetch with herself), a lady told me to sing to her...I haven't tried it yet but that's not really me. I did try yelling. Like, "ELLE hold still for just a second!" and then she looks at me and starts arching her back like, "Yeah, that's my name lady but I'm busy trying to get away from you so please don't disrupt me again." I'm almost positive that's exactly what she's thinking.

Eva helps sometimes buy talking to her or dangling things around her but mostly it's usually more distracting.

I like the stage where they are toddlers and know that they don't want to have poo or pee in there pants anymore so they hold still let you do what you're going to do and then go off playing again. That's a good stage, right before their old enough to actually start potty training and right before you begin the holy terror of potty training.

A day in the life part 2

Yes, this is indeed the same day a few hours later...yes my children are still in there pajamas and yes they remain in them most of everyday.

So I was in the kitchen or upstairs for something. And Eva went on and on about how her Elle were birds. She really wanted me to come and see that they were birds, so of course being the wonderful encouraging mother that I am I hurriedly followed her into the living room.
Those are Cheerios. In this case the Cheerios are bird food. Namely Eva and Elle's bird food. Eva had made a "cage" with everything in our living room to surround Elle(genius) so she couldn't get away and also to create the ambiance of being in a cage(duh).
This is Eva showing me what it looks like when birds eat bird food. And Elle totally zoning out to this new baby program we got...of course notice the next picture when she realizes that I have a camera in my hands.
Then she sprinkled Cheerios everywhere. To be honest, I wasn't even upset. She was playing nicely with her sister, Elle was totally loving that she was surrounded by food and they were having so much fun together. Isn't that what this sister bond is all about? I wouldn't know I have a stupid brother(j/k).This is a close up of Elle's face when she realized that I had a camera. Come on, what a HAM! I don't want to say she's going to be a high fashion model but I think that between Eva and Elle I could retire when I'm 45 years old off royalties of their pictures alone.

This is a day in my life. I love being me.