1st pair of shoes!

Crazy, huh? You're probably thinking, what the heck? 13 months old and have never had a pair of shoes before?

Nope.

The way I see it.. kids don't need to wear shoes before they are walking. Plus, they shouldn't really wear shoes when they are first starting out either. If they were walking outside or in public, it would be totally different but it's winter here and there is no reason for them to be walking outside of the house. So we've saved our money till it was really necessary and that time has come.

The main motivator was the fact that it's freezing cold outside and both girls have decided that they do not like to keep socks on...ever. Not even for a second. It was getting ridiculous putting 4 socks back on constantly while we were out and about running errands.

Here are their new shoes. Size 5!



Addison showing them off





And now she is whining because she feels as if she can't walk anywhere, so she just stays in one place and whines.



Samantha walked around for a bit and seemed to like them but then resorted to crawling again





And then worked at taking them off





Samantha can now take them off easily in the car while we're running errands. Hmmmm...

update to the update of the ER visit =)

The girls had their follow up appointment on Friday to finish their well baby visit. I brought my 13 year old sister Kellie along with me to help. She didn't have school on Friday (scheduled day off) and Joshua also joined us (school was canceled due to cold weather)

We ended up having to wait an hour to be called back. This is highly unusual for our doctor. She apologized up and down and said that they have a ton of people to see because of what is going around. The girls were so well behaved as they usually are in public (thank goodness!)

She checked Samantha out and everything looked great. Both girls got 2 shots. They administer them at the same time so it's a quick poke and then its all over. They both cried for a second and once I picked them up, they were done.

Sooo.. we are all set until March, when they have their 15 month well baby appt.

update to ER visit

I called our Dr. this morning to make a follow up appt. Our dr. isn't in again till Friday, so we made an appt for her then. The receptionist said this was only for Samantha. She said that we can talk to the dr. at that time and figure out what to do about the girls well baby visit that we were unable to complete.

Fast forward to about 10 mins ago...

Our dr. just called and asked how Samantha was doing. Which, by the way, she is doing fabulous! She said after consulting with the ER dr. and the peds department, they have come to the conclusion that she did NOT have a seizure and she simply got worked up, held her breath and passed out (which is what I thought from the beginning). They said there would have been more signs afterwards that would have pointed to a seizure, such as being tired or completely lethargic. Samantha had none of those. After I was able to calm her down, she was walking around the office and playing with the magazines while we waited for the paramedics.

WHEW! Even more relief. The dr. also said to bring in Addison so we could finish their well baby visit. She isn't going to charge us for our visit on Friday and just bill insurance as if it all happened on one day. Good news there too! Save us having to pay double co-pays (or is that quadruple co-pays? lol)

well baby visit and a ride on an ambulance

We just got back from the hospital. We had the girls 12 month well baby visit. They were scheduled last month but ended up having that really bad virus.

So today we go into the doctor and they both got weighed (on the big scale now! ..sniff sniff) Then the dr. came in and we started with Samantha. I held her on the table and our dr. was looking in her ears and checking her eyes, mouth, heart..etc. Then she had me lay her back to check her stomach and crotch area, as usual. As I lie her down, she started crying really hard (she is terrified of strangers) and she completely stopped breathing. Her mouth was open because she was in the middle of crying and her face got super red. She wasn't taking a breath. (she does this sometimes but always snaps out of it in like 2-3 seconds) After about 10-15 seconds she was starting to get a little blueish and the dr. picked her up and I kept saying "is she ok?" over and over again. Then Samantha went limp in her arms. I was freaking out.

The dr. said "get Sherry" I opened the dr. and yelled to get Sherry (the medical assistant) she came running in (I was bawling!) and she told her "call 911, Samantha just had a seizure" Then I started REALLY freaking out.

The dr. gave Samantha back to me. She had come back to and was crying. I tried calming her down but she was pretty worked up (and so was I) and the dr. kept saying over and over again that she was fine but that she wanted her checked out for peace of mind and that she probably would have sent her home after a bit but I was so distraught, she had to send her in to calm me down.

The paramedics got there and I got on the gurney with Samantha on my lap. Dusty took Addison home and had his mom come over to watch her so he could meet us up to the hospital. She was totally fine in the ambulance and was talking and acting normal. The paramedic said he wasn't going to touch her though (unless really needed) because she gets so worked up with new people, especially if they touch her.

We got into the ER (btw.. we were in that same ER exactly one month ago with her) The dr. came right in and I told him the story of what happened. I said TO ME.. it looked like she was crying so hard that she stopped breathing and then passed out. I said I was shocked when the dr. said she had a seizure. He started doing an exam and wanted me to lay her back and she started crying really hard again and stopped breathing for a split second and I picked her right back up again and she calmed right down. I said.. sorry, I am shy about this all now. He did the exam with her on my lap. Said she looked great and they would call our Dr. and ask again what happened and confirm she thought it was a seizure or not. We stayed for 3 hours and were released.

That was TERRIFYING!

I know some kids do this and will tantrum and such till they pass out. Its just so terrifying to watch.

We call our dr. tomorrow to be seen again, as a followup.

I swear they are bottomless pits!

I'm including Joshua in that statement too. I swear my kids have not stopped eating the past few days. Shortly after each of our meals I hear "Mom, I want a snack" .. um, seriously? We just got done eating! I always ask if he wants a second helping of food because I expect to hear "snack please" and he always passes on more food and claims he is full. Okey dokey.. but why do you want a snack 15 minutes later then?!

Our after dinner dessert tonight was carrot cake. It was so yummy. Joshua gobbled it up and asked for another slice. I told him that he had had enough sugar and needed to get ready to jump in the tub. His response was "Oh.. so 4 bites of cake and 2 raisins is enough?" What a little smart butt. I can't blame him though, I know he got his smart mouth from me. The fruit definitely doesn't fall far from this tree =P

The girls have been eating machines too. For breakfast they shared 3 waffles (eggo size) and a banana and were still begging for more. They also had a full sippie of milk each. I gave them cheerios to snack on and that held them off till nap time. For lunch they had a chicken sandwich and goldfish and some organic fruit thingies. Shortly after that they had more cheerios and then some baby food mixed with milk and bananas. Then they had a small piece of carrot cake and then more cheerios and then they ate dinner awhile later. After I fed them dinner, I got myself a plate and sat on the couch to eat and they both ran over to me and begged for more. OMG.. they ate half of my plate of food too!!!

I half expect them to be a couple inches taller when I get them out of their crib in the morning. Hopefully they'll sleep in a little bit from their full bellies.

I need to go grocery shopping again....

Graco.. love or hate?

I received this really cute Graco swing for my baby shower. The girls loved it. We stopped using the swings when the girls were 6 months old. This swing was still in perfect looking condition. I ended up selling it to my best girl friend. She had a little girl about 10.5 months after I had my girls.

The motor on the swing apparently had had it's day because it was acting funny at her house. It would run for a few minutes and then just stop. I got online and was about to order a new motor and decided I would call Graco instead. I didn't want to shell out the $30 to replace the motor without at least trying to get Graco to make it right. The swing had only been used for 6 months, it shouldn't be dying already. (and yes, we tried fresh batteries =P )

The guy at Graco quickly said "it's the motor and shouldn't be dying already, I'll send you a new one free of charge" AWESOME... I thought.

I received the new motor about 2 weeks later. Everything seemed great for a couple days and then the swing would stop moving after a minute or two. Ok.. ridiculous! Did they send me a used motor? So.. I call Graco again. The lady was very apologetic and said that she would send me another motor 2 day air. SWEET... so I thought, again.

I received the new motor 2 days later and took it over to my friend's house. Again, everything went well for a couple days and boom! the dang motor stopped AGAIN! By this time, my friend has washed her hands of the swing and wants to buy a new one. I don't blame her. I made things right with her and gave her a jumperoo I had that is still in great condition.

I decided that I'm not giving up with Graco. They WILL make this right with me. I am taking the swing back from my friend and calling Graco again. This time, customer service wasn't as nice as before. The lady I spoke with 20 questioned me. How big is the baby? Where is the swing located? Do you have carpet? Do you push the swing to get it started and then turn the swing on or do you turn the swing on and then give it a push? Besides the baby's weight (9.5lbs) apparently "I" am doing everything wrong. According to her, swings aren't meant for use on carpet.. ok, are you kidding me? I should also be pushing the swing and then be turning it on. Ok, whatever lady. I'm sure THOSE were my problems. (roll eyes)

So today I received the 3rd motor. Crossing my fingers that it works well now. I plan on keeping the swing here because I will be babysitting my friend's little girl 4 days a week starting in 2 weeks.

Back to the title of this blog entry, do we love Graco because they are willing to send me motors free of charge or do we hate them for sending me duds? LOL