Always trying to catch up.

Backing up to the last Friday in August...Haylee and I went to Jake's Birthday Party at Brunswick. Haylee had a blast bowling and beat the boys a couple games.

We ate pizza, cupcakes and played a couple games. I can't believe Jake is 9!

Saturday night we had a date night, first time in over 6 weeks (since I hurt my back again). We had dinner at Outback and went to see We Are The Millers. Hilarious movie!

Monday we took the girls to Amazing Jake's since it was Labor Day and no school/work. They had fun riding the choo choo, carousel and tea cups.

Haylee rode the frog bouncer ride too and they played some games. I was disappointed in the quality of food and lack of dessert. I'm not a big fan of that place anymore.

Thursday I took Haylee out of school early because she had to go get 2 fillings. This was her first time getting any dental work (only cleanings) so she was nervous. They gave her laughing gas but she didn't like the needle when they numbed her, she could feel it. She was such a trooper and held real still. The only thing that bothered her was the clamp thing that keep her mouth open. She got 2 tokens to get toys and even got a balloon. She told me in the car she was never eating candy again because getting fillings is no fun.

(her 1st big girl tooth is coming in)

That night I started my PT at Ideal PT. This was part of the treatment Dr. Fedoriw gave me but I'm losing hope. It seems like I've tried everything these past 9 months and nothing works. The inversion table doesn't seem to be doing anything and now I'm out of options. I go back to see Dr. Fedoriw this Friday to see where we go from here. The next step is an injection but that will just cover up the pain, not fix the problem. I'm ultimately gonna need surgery and I figure I might as well get it this year since I'm kinda close to meeting my $5000 deductible. Most days the leg pain is tolerable. I usually end up taking 2 ibuprofen once or twice a day and that works so I can't really complain. It has gotten so much better it's just having constant pain (even if it's tolerable) starts to wear on you. I am thankful for the relief I get and I am thankful it's not as bad as it was just a few weeks ago, that sucked. I am still dreading the 6 hour flight to Maui because sitting that long usually takes a toll on me and my leg gets mad.

This past Saturday my Mom and I took the girls up to the mountains to meet up with Dustin and Hannah who were camping up there.

(typical Haylee attitude)

We were all suppose to go camping but Josh got sick and he wanted to go to his friends baptism so the girls and I just went for the day but it was fun. It was overcast and cool and I love the fresh air. We saw squirrels, chipmunks, cows and even elk and a javelina on the way home.

The girls also caught a baby horny toad which was their camp pet for a couple hours.

Sunday we bought a new car. Our Cruze was just too small. I didn't even know about the Chevy Equinox until I took our car to the dealership to get an oil change and I saw it and it was just about the same price as our car. I'm mad the sales guy didn't even mention it as an option because we would have bought the Equinox 6 months ago. So we now have a 2013 Equinox that is Atlantis Metallic Blue and we LOVE it!!!

We're planning to get a tow hitch installed so we can get a pop up for camping next summer.

This past weekend also brought sickness to our home. Josh has had a cold since Friday and Natalee started running a fever Sunday night. I took her in Monday night and she has strep. That makes both girls in 1 month. I am dreading flu season. Haylee and I are holding strong and trying to fight off all the germs.

Natalee was so sad to miss school yesterday, she absolutely loves school. She gets so excited when she has homework and she wears her back pack around all day.

She likes to pretend she's writing her letters while saying "line down circle around". Cutest thing ever!

Haylee is doing awesome in school as well. Her progress report showed all A's and O's.

Every test she has brought home has had an A except one. I am so proud of her. She never complains (yet) about her hour long homework every day or the fact that she has tons of tests each week (this week she has 9!!!). She has a new BFF named Molly who she coordinates outfits with each day and makes cards and bracelets for.

She can't wait for a play date with her.

Tomorrow is Haylee's first Girl Scout meeting, my little girl is gonna be a Daisy! I am excited for her to be in Girl Scouts, it's such a positive thing for young girls and I hope she'll want to continue in it year after year.

Aside from Girl Scouts, I have decided to start both girls in dance starting in October. They will be going to NuEvolution (formerly Jeanne's School of Dance) and will both be taking a combo class to start out. I started dance when I was 5 and continued till Jr High. Those were some of the best years of my life. I have so many memories of competitions, traveling and performing all over. It was so much fun and I hope to experience that with my girls now.

Next week brings parent/teacher conferences, well checks for both girls and then Friday we leave for MAUI!!!! I can hardly wait. Just praying we are all healthy and that my leg behaves for the long flight!

Vegas {Mom's B-day}

I can't believe it's been a week already since we got home from Vegas, time just keeps on flying. So we had an uneventful ride to Vegas, my Mom, Hannah, me and the girls. I drove as long as my leg would cooperate and when I couldn't stand the pain any longer I let Mom drive, it was a little rough. But we made it there and when we arrived all 3 girls were passed out.

We stayed at a new timeshare resort, Cancun Resorts, and loved it. The pool was huge, they had 5 Jacuzzis, tiki huts with hammocks underneath, water slides, a restaurant and lots of other things we liked. We'll definitely stay there again when we come with the girls.

Since we arrived late Friday, we unpacked and went straight to bed. Friday morning we got up and went straight to the pool. We swam for awhile and then ate at the little restaurant by the pool. We then talked all 3 girls into taking a nap (miraculous) so that we could stay out late that night. While Mom was getting ready I took the girls out to the pool area for a little photo shoot.

 The love these little girls!

We ate dinner at Bubba Gumps since that is Mom's favorite. She ate all kinds of shrimp and then they embarrassed her by singing Happy Birthday super loud!

After dinner we walked all around the south end of the strip hitting all the girls favorite places. We went to M&M World where we watched the 3D movie and bought souvenirs, we went to Coke World where the girls shared a orange float and we also went to Mom's (and mine) favorite, the ABC Store.

After that we went to Circus Circus where the girls played games and won stuffed animals and we all had a blast.

On the way home the girls were delirious. They were laughing at people driving next to us on the strip and saying hi. We didn't get to bed till after midnight and Natalee was up by 7am the next day!

Saturday we had breakfast with Papa Jim and Grandpa Kris and then we headed to the Discovery Children's Museum. We spent 3 hours there and the girls had a blast. They loved the huge castle, pirate ship and the little town that included a Vet, grocery store, Jamba Juice etc.

Again we all took naps so we could stay out late our last night there. And this time we went to the Flamingo to see the birds,

and then ate dinner at Jimmy Buffets Margaritaville where we ordered the ginormous nachos. While we were waiting, the pirate girl on stilts made the girls balloon hats to wear around town.

After dinner we walked to the Bellagio to watch the fountains and then we walked to the Mirage to watch the Volcano.

We decided to end the night on Fremont St. NEVER AGAIN. I will never take my girls there again.

You don't realize just how filthy it is until you have kids with you. I don't think they even noticed the men in thongs and ladies with their boobs hanging out but I sure did. Anyway, I bought my Mom a drink for her birthday and we went into the ABC Store one last time for souvenirs and then we called it a night.

The drive home was perfect. My leg was fine and I was able to drive the whole way home. The girls were really good, it rained on us most of the way and Natalee even took a short nap. The trick was these suckers. Kept them quiet a good hour. Best souvenirs ever!

We hope you had a wonderful birthday Mom!