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21 MAY 2006I can't even begin to explain how busy we are around here. The closing on our house is finally over. Now we are just renting the house back from the new owners until it's time to blow this popsicle stand. Our move is less than 2 weeks away. I have a feeling it's not going to be the smoothest 2 weeks in our history. Mike is pretty stressed out about making sure that he exits Camp LeJeune properly. I'm stressed about trying to get as much work done now so that I can take a break from Snappy Chic and web design until we get settled into our new house. See below for Mike's current obsession. He acquired the lady slipper orchid during our last visit to DC.
During all this craziness, we have been enjoying life. We've been to the beach twice in the past couple of weeks. The first trip was a tutu photo shoot on the beach. The girls had a blast splashing around and ruining their homemade tutus. The second trip to the beach was a quick one to get some family pictures. We managed to fit a little fun in that time, too. Daddy and Annie flew a kite together. It only got caught in a tree once (of course, I got yelled at for that one). On Saturday we went to Raliegh for a youth temple trip. That was an enjoyable experience. I'm glad we got to do it before we moved from North Carolina. Hopefully, we will be able to visit the DC temple while living there. We've already seen it while driving on the beltway.
I have to be honest and admit that I may not get a chance to update again before we move. I will certainly try to at least one more time. Have a great week!
03 MAY 2006I know it's a little late, but I updated the girls' April album with Easter pics and some more recent ones. They were all taken in April, so I thought it appropriate to put them in there. However, some are repeats from below. Notice the girls' new aprons. I couldn't resist getting them. Annie got to use her's for real last night when she helped Daddy make home-made ice-cream. Enjoy!
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!
12 MARCH 2006
These next few weeks will be busy. On Thursday, my best friend, Julie, is coming for a short visit. Her husband surprised her with a ticket this past weekend. Julie and I are both very excited to get a few days to hang out. We’re wishing for nice weather because we have plans to go to the beach one day and then to Wilmington another day. I’m going to be frantically cleaning this place until Julie’s arrival. It’s amazing how filthy this place gets because of two small children. The weekend after next, Mike has a friend coming into town. The first week in April, Mike's mom is coming for a visit. For Easter we're all going to my parents' house for a week. At the end of April, we have a wedding to attend in D.C. and will also continue our house-hunting. My mom is traveling here during that time to stay with the girls while we're in D.C. How fun for her. Have a great week!
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The
girls' 
Mimi
is quite the toddler. Having a big sister around really is a blessing
for her. Those girls will keep each other busy for what seems like
hours. Unfortunately, if I'm not paying attention at all times,
then their "work" can turn into the demolition of my home.
Now that Mimi can climb on chairs and such, I will catch the girls
many times together up on a chair getting into mischief. Mimi's
vocabulary is expanding. Some of her recent new words include: baby,
night-night, dog, cat, hot dog (well, it sounded like she said when
we were eating hot dogs today). Then the other day while we were
in the van, I heard her saying, "ashes, ashes, dah!" every
few seconds. I'm assuming that she was trying to sing "Ring
around the Rosy" which we do almost daily. She's almost adept
at climbing down the stairs unassisted, but she still needs more
practice before I'll leave the gate unlocked. I get the feeling
that Mimi has a passion for dancing (more than Annie did at this
age). She's always the first to be wiggling her little body when
a catchy tune is playing. Mimi also continues to be a WONDERFUL
eater!! Her 15-month doctor's visit revealed that she is 21.8 pounds
and about 30 inches long. 
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!
We
are being teased with summer-esque weather. You would think it was
July around here, heat and humidity that's almost unbearable.
Both of the girls have curlier locks than usual due to the humidity.
Yes, Annie's hair is even curlier, and Mimi's is now curly. I do
not expect this nice weather to last though. My friend, Julie, reminded
that when she came lown last year in late April, it was chilly.
We'll see. I long for the days of going to the beach. Hopefully,
this year there will be two daughters enjoying themselves immensely,
no eating of sand, no babies crying to get picked up constantly,
no huge umbrellas to bring for newborns to sleep under, and a mother
who can relax. Annie's all ready for summer, too. We bought the
girls each a bathing suit with interior life-vests. Annie pranced
around in her bathing suit this morning. What a goof!
Annie's
is as silly as ever. She talks like it's nobody's business. "Where's
insert name here? and "What is this?" are two sentences
I don't care to hear to anymore. She's has also quickly learned
the phrases, "get out of there", "get out here",
"come over here", and "stop it" which she uses
interchangeably on a regular basis (to my dismay). Annie also likes
to introduce herself to the moon, the boat, the van, and other inanimate
obects. At night, she will say, "Hi, moon! I'm Annie."
I don't know where she acquired that habit, but it's cute, nonetheless.
One neat thing Annie has picked up is that she will now count objects.
She came to me the other day with 2 old cell phones that are now
toys and said, "Mommy, I have two phones!" At that moment
I realized it's time to start working on counting objects with her.
Annie already has friends that she asks to see almost hourly. Her
best friend is Kendall, but she calls her “Tendall”.
When those girls get together it is non-stop running and screaming.
We're having lots of fun these days watching Annie grow into quite
the kid
Much
has been happening with “Wipe” (Mimi) these past weeks.
Mike asked Annie what color Mimi is the other day, and she responded
with “wipe” (her word for white). Both of the girls
have a cold, but Mimi also contracted hand/foot/mouth disease. I
don’t know how it is that my girls keep getting these illnesses
usually only common to daycare children even though the girls don’t
go to daycare. Very strange! Mimi will be fine though; it’s
just one of those illnesses that look much worse than it feels.
She now has four teeth and is off baby food now. Pickiness has set
in though. Fortunately, she is not quite as bad as Annie. However,
Mimi is picking up on many of Annie’s quirks. If not getting
her way, Mimi will throw tantrums. It’s actually pretty cute.
She lays on her belly, head-butts the floor, and kicks out her arms
and legs. Mimi is also very curious and gets into everything, same
as Annie. I think they both might have some special radar that alerts
them of open cabinet doors, unlocked stair gates, non-toy items
being left for their reach, etc. I never get a moment’s rest
around here anymore. Annie has been teaching Mimi her tricks, too.
Thanks to Annie, Mimi now knows how to push stools or other climbing
devices to taller items in order to explore higher ground. Another
strange idiosyncrasy of Mimi is that she makes this awful noise,
kind of a screech, that is audible to all of Jacksonville and maybe
even as far as Wilmington. There no rhyme or reason to when she
might let loose with the deafening sound. We still love her though,
and we’ll probably keep her. Check out the new pictures of
the girls in their