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26 APRIL 2006All I can say for my absence is Snappy Chic is really taken off. Man, I didn't realize this thing keep me busy, but I can barely keep up. I've also still got web design projects in the works, too. I need to improve my time management skills because it seems that therea aren't enough hours in the day. It's all fun though. I definitely wouldn't trade this in to go back to work full-time.
Now my mom is visiting us for the week. Mike and I are actually going to venture off for a few days by ourselves to DC again. My mom will be left alone with the girls for a few days. Good luck, Mom:)! Mike is going to be a best man in a wedding while in DC and we'll get to finally see the house we're renting in person. I'm very excited about this! If time permits, we may do some site seeing around DC. We didn't get a chance to see all the Smithsonian museums during our big trip there in 2004.
Have a great week! And HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAD!! We miss you!
02 APRIL 2006I've finally come to the realization that life will never slow down. In the past, I kept kidding myself with thinking that once a certain project was complete, then I could finally relax. Ha! That day will never come. I did get to take a nap yesterday, however. It's the first time I've done that in ages. My body just can't take these late nights of staying up until dawn anymore. About two weeks ago, my system completely crashed. Mike and a couple of friends kept asking me if everything was okay because I was not myself. Then one night I went to bed at 8:00 p.m. and decided to not stay up past 11:00 p.m. anymore. I've only had one relapse where I stayed up until 2:00 a.m., but I promise I'm back on the wagon.
Shortly after Julie's departure, Mike's buddy, Tiger, came for a weekend visit. I must say, Annie absolutely loves "Uncle Tiger". She still asks for him. The boys spent the weekend fishing. One day with a guide and the other day by themselves. They caught fish each day and had delicious fried trout for dinner on Saturday night. The boys returned home tired, sunburned, and grinning each night. I'm glad that Mike had that opportunity so soon before he becomes a slave to endodontics. You can view some of the pictures from their adventure on the Fishing/Hunting page under "Fishing in Jax - Mar 2006". In other news, we sold our house. It happened in less than a day! We listed the house on a website designed for members of the military selling their homes by owner. A half hour after listing our property, we received an email aking to schedule a showing. Then the next morning I received a phone call from a former neighbor/playgroup friend inquiring about our house. She said flat out, "I want to buy your house." It was pretty much a done deal from that point on. We did have to show the house to one other family in the meantime while waiting for the official paperwork to get drawn up/signed/etc. A sign didn't even need to be put out in our yard (even though Mike bought one already). The home we will be renting once we move to DC has been found and secured (with deposit money, that is). It's actually on the opposite side of Bethesda than we had been searching for in the past. I happened to come across it on the same site we listed our own house. I hesitated at first but decided to give the owners a call. I'm so glad I did because it turned out to be the perfect home for our situation. It's 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, a "chef's" kitchen, and so much more. They also have a German short-haired pointer which means they completely understand our pet situation! The other big plus is that this place has a pool. I'm very excited about the idea of having my own pool all summer long. No more packing the girls and the whole house up in the van in order to go to the pool.
Have a great week!
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Easter
week was spent with my parents in Indiana. The girls adore their
grandma and now Annie asks for her regularly. We had a busy week
while there. Mike and my dad went up to northern Indiana to fly
fish for the day and spent another day golfing and yet another fishing
again. A few visits to the park really satisfied the girls and a
visit from an old friend from dental school and his family also
made the week fly by. Speaking of the park, I can't say enough about
it. The playground had every gadget imaginable to keep the kids
busy. I hope that we can find one half as nice in DC. On Easter,
we went to a wonderful and very filling brunch. Then later that
day, the girls got to have an Easter egg hunt at my parents' house.
Annie understood the concept a little more than Mimi, but Mimi enjoyed
herself, nonetheless. The whole week wasn't all fun and games though,
Easter night brought illness to Mike and Mimi. They both found themselves
vomiting (Mike especially) profusely. It was a very undesirable
few days to follow. Fortunately, the plane rides home were quick
and without incident. Annie and I dodged the bullet somehow (even
though Mimi managed to aim and land her vomit on me several times).
The
grls are the same. Mimi has added a few new words to her vocabulary
and can identify a couple of body parts. She says, "aah"
when asked about her teeth. It's so cute! Speaking of which, she
has 2 new ones (her upper laterals) making the count 6. Annie still
loves to be a ballerina. My mom and I made her a tutu yesterday
that has yet to be removed from her body. Mimi wanted to wear a
tutu, too. So my mom tied a few strips of tulle around her waist.
Poor Mimi seemed satisfied with that result. Mimi still loves to
scream and Annie many times will join in on the entertainment. How
enjoyable for anyone with a 5-mile radius. 
A
few weeks ago, my friend, Julie, came to visit. She was here for
almost a full week. We had a blast. Days of shopping, talking about
the good ol' days, or just giggling made the time fly away. We also
took a tour of USS North Carolina which is a retired a battleship
docked down in Wilmington, NC. It was very interesting to be able
to see an actual ship that was used by the Navy. We took lots of
pictures and you can view some of them on the 
Oh,
the girls, where to begin. Annie is growing up so fast. Her language
skills have improved so much. I can easily sit and have a conversation
with her and understand most of what she says now. It's also nice
for her to be able to express herself now versus throwing a tantrum
to get her way (Mimi has gladly taken over that role). We've been
working on potty-training again without success. She's definitely
ready but is refusing to go potty outside of her diaper. How do
I know that she's ready? Hmm, well, when she gets a diaper and the
wipes ready before she even tells me to change her diaper, then
I think she's ready. I understand that it's just a matter of me
taking the diapers away and following her around until the deed
needs to be done to put her on the potty immediately. I am happy
to report that Annie will eat most foods that we give her now. When
she was younger it was so discouraging to watch her refuse almost
everything we tried to feed her. Occasional struggles occur, but
we manage to get Annie to eat what she needs to survive. Annie's
latest obsession is to be a ballerina. Whenever she wears a dress
she twirls and says, "I'm a ballerina." It's so darling!
Before I forget, check out the latest pictures of the girls on the
Mimi
is officially a toddler now. No more baby food in the house! Even
though she's only got 4 teeth to her name, Mimi eats pretty much
whatever we eat. And no complaints from her either. That child will
eat just about anything I set on her tray. It's such a relief to
not have to go through the pickiness that we went through with Annie.
Mimi is very steady on her feet now. She's discovered the joys of
terrorizing her big sister. If Annie's got it, Mimi wants it. And
if Mimi doesn't get it, then everyone suffers. Mimi still has that
awful scream that she'll let loose when not getting her way. I thought
Annie's screams from toddlerhood were horrible and piercing, but
Mimi has her beat by a mile. I hope that this stage ends quickly.
Mimi got her first sunburn the other day. I took the girls to the
park a couple of days this week. Of course, I didn't put sunblock
on the girls because it's not summer yet (duh!). I had Mimi in the
swing and noticed her little arm getting red. I decided to go home
after that. Sure enough the next morning, Mimi's arm was still red.
It has yet to develop into anything more than redness. From now
on, I will be applying sunblock to the girls before any outdoor
activities (even though Annie probably will never sunburn). Mimi
is just as tireless as Annie and has turned out to be quite the
opposite from what I had predicted her to be (calm and shy). She's
a keeper though!