Gotta keep it in perspective...

This week's just been a bit of a "down" week for me. Anyone else feel that way? Spring break when you don't get a spring break is just not fun. My bible study was cancelled, I had no bunko, no playdates, no class meetings, no projects of any kind. The only time I left the house this week was to go shopping. And not fun shopping. I did get to see Ashley & her baby for a few minutes. It's just too hard to get out and do anything with all three kids. We went on a disastrous walk down the street one afternoon.
We were supposed to go to the lake last night where Nathan's parents were camping, but then it was supposed to rain so we didn't go. We were going to go to Garvan Gardens today but saw that it was going to be a little cold so we switched that. Then we decided to go to the lake instead, until we were reminded how cold 40 degrees is. Not fun. Plus Nathan had (or got to) go out a couple of evenings, which just makes my day with the girls that much longer. The only highlights of the week was seeing our friends Andy & Liz last night. They came over to visit for a while, which was a good "pick me up".

I know that I need to keep it in perspective. Everyone's fairly healthy, we have lots to look forward to, and I will soon be complaining about how much I have to do. God has been very good to our family. Which leads me to the next issue...

I also have been very burdened for a lot of other people lately. I know that I just need to pray for them and do what I can for them, then give it to God, but it's hard for me to do that "turning over" part. Every time I hear about sick babies or babies dying or broken marriages and people with financial troubles, I really carry it around with me. Maybe I'm supposed to be doing more? Like I said, it's been a down week.

Here's a little bit of cheerfullness - aren't the pigtails so cute?!

Miscellaneous Happenings

One other thing I wanted to accomplish while Kaleigh was gone was to get some pictures of Avery & Alexis. We did a photo shoot & I ended up with a few good ones (out of many).
The second one just captures them both perfectly. I have a feeling Alexis will be picking on Avery their whole lives.










I also got to some garage sales and found some beautiful smocked & Strasburg dresses for the twins. They don't exactly match but they will coordinate. I got 6 pairs of shoes that looked brand new. I also found a bunch of clothes for Kaleigh for $1 a piece, including some bathing suits, 2 cheerleading outfits and another smocked dress. I also found a set of sheets for Kaleigh's bed that match her bedding for 2.50 (including pillowcases).










I sold two smocked preemie outfits on ebay. We bought them new for $10 each and sold them for $30 total after Avery & Alexis wore them a couple of times. Not bad. It made me laugh that the lady who bought them emailed me & said they were for her heirloom reborn dolls! Then I got to researching those dolls. Serious business!

Kaleigh came home! She wanted to play outside. We disagreed about what she should wear. She won.

Project Completed!

Many of you who know me may have noticed that I'm not very good at following through on projects. Well, I am happy to announce that I finally completed something that I have been working on since my pregnancy with the twins. These are the letters to hang in Kaleigh's new room. The last step is to actually hang them. . .












And, I actually completed a new project that I just started yesterday! I wanted a bow hanger for Kaleigh's room. The ones on ebay are $20 and I just can't pay that right now, so I found some things at WalMart and made this one for about $7. It may not be as cute, but I saved $$ and I can brag that I made it myself. I noticed after I painted it brown that it looks a little like a football, but I'm hoping with all the bows hanging off it that you wouldn't notice that.










The reason I'm able to get all this done is b/c Kaleigh is gone with my parents for about 5 days. It is amazing how little work the twins are compared to their 3 year old sister! It doesn't hurt that they still sleep about 7 hours during the day. I'm determined to make the most of this time. Since she's been gone I've done those projects, listed some things for sale on ebay & craigslist, cleaned, and rearranged the LR furniture with Nathan. I still have many more things I want to do. I'll let you know how that goes!

Sickness

We've been dealing with a lot of sickness around our house lately. Surprisingly, it's not the two preemie babies who have had it worst, it's my 3 year old who has been really healthy up till now. We are spending a lot on doctor copays. It's been about 3 weeks since Kaleigh got RSV. She had a temp of 103.5 and a bad cough. She never got completely over it but was a lot better, then Monday I noticed a lot of gunk coming out of her eye. Pink eye. Then yesterday she threw up, and last night was running high fever again. We will be going back to the doctor later today.
In the meantime, Avery got the cough, but never got full blown RSV, thanks to the Synagis shot. She did have a slight ear infection and had to take antibiotics. Alexis got the same thing a few days later. We had to go out of town so I never took her to the doctor. They are both still congested but not bad. My mom predicted correctly that Alexis did not take it as well as Avery. She is definitely the more emotional one so far. But what I love is that one minute she will be fussing, then I will lean down & talk to her and she smiles like this









We went to Missouri over the weekend to visit family. It was a good trip and I'm glad we went, even though the babies made it a little stressful. Here is a picture of Kaleigh with her cousins Andrei, Ashley & Angelica. They are so sweet. I really wish we lived closer so she could spend more time with them.

Deal of the Week

I went to Walgreens today and got all of this for $9 total! At least it will be after I get all my rebates back. Most of it was free. How's that for a deal? In case you can't see, it's two packs of diapers, a 12 pack of double roll toilet paper, 3 shampoos, conditioner, hair gel, 2 pain medicines, allergy medicine, toothpaste, gum, and 2 air freshener systems.
Many thanks to Lisa, Tara & others who helped make this possible :)

I liked the guesses on the picture of Kaleigh. It was kind of a trick question. Unless you've heard me talk about it, you would never know that I found Kaleigh "picking Avery's toe jam". I know - gross, right? Nathan brought up toe jam one time and Kaleigh is a little bit obsessed with it.