"Christmas" morning at the Townsends

Well, while Christmas actually fell on Saturday this year, our Christmas was on Thursday.  We were trying to leave town to visit family and Santa decided that his items would not be able to fit on our sleigh.  We were hoping that Syd though she'd be celebrating Jesus' birthday 3 times instead of one.  Cali wouldn't know any different.  Needless to say, seemed to work!  Smiles for Syd all around.  Especially when she realized Santa had brought her the big girl panties and a puppy Pillow Pet she had asked for!  Afterward, Daddy wanted to take all for a nice Christmas breakfast and mommy and Syd fell down in the icy parking lot at Sunshine House.  She busted her head pretty good and mommy felt awful.  Fortunately she was fine and still happy about seeing family and what Santa had brought her!

SNOW!

Well this is actually not the first or the second snow of the year for us.  But it's the second since fall of 2010 started!  Syd was about to go bonkers in the house so dad took her out to play in the snow.  Cali was still sick so I stayed with her.  Temperatures were really supposed to start dropping so we figured we would get her out before they did.  Syd and daddy built snowmen.  One was supposed to be Cali and she was the other.  She calls them her friends on the video.  It was a great time for her!

Croup

So Cal has the dreaded croup.  Syd had it at about the same age but I don't remember it being this bad.  We took her to the ER on Saturday night at around 12:30 am (actually Sunday morning).   She woke up and she couldn't even catch her breath to cry which scared me so I took her on to the hospital.  I am so glad I did.  The doctors and nurses there said I did the right thing.  They were all so kind and helpful.  She had to have 1 breathing treatment and a shot of steriods.  Then they wanted to monitor her for a little while.  We couldn't stay too long because snow and sleet were moving in and we didn't want to be on the road.  After a while, they gave her another treatment (epinephrine) and let us go home.  She also had to be on an oral dose of steroids.  She seems to be better but we took her to her regular doctor today in the blizzard just to be sure.  He thinks she's doing great and we will continue to do the steroids at home.  Not a fun time to be out on the roads though.

Girls Night

I wanted Syd to see the Nutcracker Ballet that Studio K puts on here in Boone.  I knew that last year she might be a little too young but thought she'd be up for it this year.  We had two things going against us: weather and time.   Weather was moving in and I knew we'd have to see an earlier weekend show that didn't start until 8:00 pm.  That's just past her normal bedtime so I wasn't sure how it would go but we planned it anyway.  Daddy stayed home with Cal so she and I could go.  She had an incredible time.  She loved every minute.  At the intermission, one of the older girls named Victoria came and talked to her and showed her how to stand on her toes.  She also got to see her friend Kennedy in the show.  They made it snow inside the auditorium which she found fascinating.  We had to leave a little before it was over just because it's 2 hours long and she was exhausted.  On the way out, I asked her how she liked it and she says I want to do that again mommy.  I say maybe you can be in it next year.  To which she replied, but mommy, I don't have a tutu!  Too funny!

Mocker

One reason not to have the television on at dinner time:  Hearing a commercial in the background of our dinner conversation, commercial is saying "Call Now!"  Immediately after I hear Syd saying, "Call NOW!  Call NOW!"  No more tv at dinner!

Flu Shot

So we had prepared Sydney Cate for her flu shot.  I had told her mommy had her ouchie and that she and sister would have one too.  We talked about how it might sting just a little but then it would be ok.  Even told her that she would be really excited to pick out her stickers once she was finished.  We get into the room and the nurse tells us she can now do the flu mist.  Agh!  Good for everyone but now we've pumped her up for the ouchie. Needless to say, everything worked out fine and she got to watch sister get her ouchie.  After, Cal got her bandaid and Syd needed one as well except that it needed to go under her nose!

Halloween 2010

Unfortunately Sydney Cate was sick for the first big Halloween to remember. But she really wanted to try so try we did. This was also the first year that she was able to go class trick or treating in Administration offices on campus. She had so much fun. She'd never seen that much candy at one time! Good thing we got all of the trick or treating in early this week, otherwise the costume would have sat in the closet unused!

Crawling

Baby Cali is crawling now. It's only taken a few days for her to go from combat to full hands and knees crawl. I believe she's actually better at it than her big sister was. Now we are in trouble because she is in to everything. Parents on alert. Next up, baby gate for the stairs!

Swinging

Baby Cali tried out her first swing today on the REAL swing. She had big sister to show her how. They had so much fun together. Cal wasn't sure at first and then she got the hang of it. Of course, she didn't go too high!

New Job

Mommy has a new job with Watauga County schools! We are so excited for her. Now she will be able to spend more time with us and have a much better drive in the mornings and evenings. Not to mention, she will be in a better mood at the end of the day. We are so proud of her!

Paci

Well, my intention has been to keep the blog updated. Oh well. Since my last post, my sweet Sydney Cate has grown into a big girl. She officially gave up the paci. We waited until things with Cali settled down and we returned from our trips over the summer. It was about a week of mom and dad "sweating" it out but she handled it really well. She would ask for it mostly at school and a little a night. So proud of her! Now if we could only get rid of the diapers and move to big girl panties!

4th of July!

We had a great visit with Jeff and Leilani. Friday we dropped the kids at school and went on a hike to Hebron Rock Colony. Haven't been there in a while and forgot how treacherous it was but really beautiful. Saturday we had a cookout with the Mohrs and celebrated Derek's birthday. Then off to the fireworks in Boone. Sydney Cate was quite scared at first but then really liked them. Cali was not liking the noise at all. We sat in the car and she was still screaming. Needless to say, we were all exhausted by the time we got home. Sunday was church, naps (yay!) and then goodbye to Jeff and Leilani. It was so much fun having them here. Will try to post some pictures later. Now to enjoy some rest for the day (hopefully)!

Vacation Bible School

Sydney Cate has been to her first memorable VBS. She can tell you about how Peter was freed from jail, how she wouldn't get on the ship with Paul and how the snake bit him. She can also sing alot of the songs. Especially one called Hallelujah. It's exciting to see her talking about God's word and praising Him. And so sweet. Tomorrow is the last day and hopefully we will be singing the songs from it for months to come. We bought the CD! Cali will take her last antibiotic tomorrow for her 2nd ear infection of her very short 4 month life. We will take her back to the doctor on the 8th to have her checked again. Developmentally she is progressing seemingly much faster than her sister. She is already grasping and holding objects and is able to hold a friendly conversation with the ceiling fan. Her sister loves to continue looking for her toe cheese. And will probably keep doing so until we can find something else to distract her.