On the catwalk

I've been so tired this past week and a half. Or thereabouts. The girls have shifted their habits again and we've been experiencing more good nights than bad but all it takes is one bad night to mess me up. That happened the Thursday before last. I basically was awakened at 4:00 in the morning and then took the equivalent of a short nap before having to roll into work. I may have cried.

In an effort to catch up on sleep, I took an hour and a half nap yesterday morning while the girls were at school.

But that's not what this post is about. Last night, I asked Allie if I could take some pictures of her wearing the Easter skirt. Here are the results:

(So it appears that we have some 3T items that need to be retired.)

Last night, I was able to join four of my friends from high school for dinner. I snuck out after we tucked the girls in. It was funny because Rich mentioned to them earlier in the day that I was going to see my friends and they flipped out saying that I wasn't allowed to go anywhere at night. I told them that Rich was making it all up. It was a fun night out and I was back home and in bed by 11:15. How life changes...

Finished!

I whipped up Allie's Easter skirt this afternoon. I wanted to jazz it up a bit but this was what she wanted. I spent some time last weekend cutting out fabric for her skirt and Anna's skirt. Grammy has been helping me out - she made a peasant shirt for Em to wear under her dress and a shirt for Anna. She didn't know that I had cut out fabric for Anna's skirt and sewed a skirt to match Anna's shirt. (Anna's being Anna so who knows if she'll wear them on Easter.)

I have plans tonight so the rest of the photos will have to wait until later this weekend. I tried to fire off some quick photos of Allie actually wearing the skirt. I should have known better...

(Anna and I discussed designs for a summer dress earlier today in my sew shop. Hopefully, she doesn't change her mind. I feel bad that I didn't sew any of her Easter clothes. Although, she doesn't know that. We didn't tell her who made the Easter clothes.)

Disney photography AND A VIDEO and some camera talk

Okay, so I'll post the video stuff first in case you have no interest in anything photography or Disney related. You have to go to Rich's blog (I know, I know - so hard to click on a link.)

Click here to watch Emily's debut as a director. This video cracks. me. up.

I have been terrible at responding to emails. TERRIBLE. I received the following question in an email from Melissa and I thought that others may be interested so here it goes.

"I'm wondering if you have any photography tips for Disney...what lenses would be most useful, any accessories that are especially helpful, etc. I have a Nikon D80, 50mm f/1.8, Tamron 28-75 f/2.8, and a kit lens w/ variable aperture that I don't use very much. I'm planning to buy a Speedlight in the next few months. I'm thinking about renting any other lenses I might need."

Okay, you are off to a great start with the 50mm and the Tamron. You could go on vacation to Disney with those two lenses and be fine. I actually think I only used my 35mm lens when we went. (I didn't have my wide angle lens at the time.)

As for renting lenses, I personally would go with a wide angle or a faster prime. Here are some suggestions:

• Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8
• Nikon 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5
• Sigma 30mm f/1.4

If you are going to be photographing fireworks, you will need your tripod. The one positive to having kids in strollers is the ability to throw your gear into the storage baskets. That being said, I would seriously consider the possibility of really photographing fireworks with little ones. I've decided that I'm not even going to make the attempt this year so I won't be lugging my tripod (or Rich's hockey bag or golf bag) with us.

You should consider what you will use to carry around your camera, lenses and/or Speedlight. I have a Jo Totes Rose and while it's a nice bag, my broken back was even more broken by the end of that trip. Even after I shoved it in the stroller basket whenever I could. I'm looking into purchasing a Lowepro backpack for longer outings. The Jo Totes is good as a purse type camera bag but not a lug your camera and some lenses around for the day type of bag.

If you are interested in Disney photography, be sure to check out Disney Tourist Blog. Amazing photographs. He frequently photographs with a wide angle and a fish eye.

There's also the Disney Photography Blog.

I hope this helps!

Now I'm going to answer Laura's questions from yesterday's comments:

"I was wondering what type of camera you have? Right now I only have a little cheap one, but I'm planning on saving up for one like yours (well, the same sort of quality.) It would probably take me a while, though, because I am still at school and don't have an incredibly well-paying job, so I was wondering what sort of price they are?

Sorry for all the questions, but I just totally LOVE your pics! (AND your girls!!)"

First off, thank you for the compliments! I shoot with a Nikon D7000, which costs $1,200 new. So, yeah, not a camera a beginner would want to purchase unless said beginner has excess cash. I really only know Nikons but you can't wrong with either a Nikon or a Canon. There are other brands that are good too but I've heard that you will be more limited when it comes to lenses.

Because I only know Nikon, I would recommend a D5100 for beginners. If you want to save a few bucks, try to find a used one from a reputable dealer. There are many folks out there who upgrade quickly. (I just found a D5100 refurbished body on B&H's website for $540 - to give you an idea of price.)

Have a good night, everyone!

The last day of summer

Well, March has decided to show us whose boss this week. I pulled my Uggs and Michelin Man jacket back out of the closet yesterday morning after shivering through my Monday commute. Early fall is definitely my favorite season but summer is right up there too. I'll take hazy, hot and humid over freezing cold with sleet blowing in my face any day.

The forecast for last week had our warm temperatures ending on Thursday, which was a bummer considering that my day off was Friday. I had three almost back-to-back meetings on Thursday but when I did find some time to walk around the block, it wasn't as warm as I thought it was supposed to be. (Sometimes the ocean air cools off the area of Boston where I work.)

Friday ended up being a perfect day weather-wise. The air was warm and the sun felt so absolutely wonderful on my Vitamin D deprived skin. It wasn't hot at all and any trace of winter was gone. After lunch, I brought the girls outside to play in the yard.

OMG! THERE'S A BUG!

Allie acting.

Acting while running.

And then the perfect day ended. I had the worst day I have ever had with Anna. She tested the waters at lunch by trying to eat animal crackers left over from school snack instead of her real lunch and then asking for dessert. Yeah, I don't think so. She eventually realized that she wasn't going to win and ate her lunch. There was no yelling or crying involved. Just her asking, me giving my answer and then eventually ignoring her requests for a cookie. This was not the issue.

She started off misbehaving outside by pulling Em's dress with her teeth and then taking Little Lion and not giving him back. She wouldn't listen to me and the situation reached a point where I was afraid that she was going to hurt herself or one of her sisters. After I took Lion from her to give back to Em, she started hitting me. That's when I picked her up and carried her into the house. She knew that I was as mad as hell but yet she continued to try to go outside all the while alternating between laughing and crying. Hysterically.

She eventually calmed down and was fine for awhile but then she started right back up around the time I needed to make dinner for them. This time, she insisted that she needed the book that Em was reading to her buddies. Seriously? We have 500 books in this house and you need that book? So she started pinching and biting Em. They know that we don't tolerate that type of behavior in our home.

She wouldn't stay on the couch for a time out and she knew that I was beyond pissed off. She even told me that she didn't like when I was mad. I don't know why that wasn't enough for her to just stop.

And then she was fine. It was like a switch was flipped and she was perfectly fine.

After we had both calmed down, I sat with her and told her about when she was born and how I had asked the nurse to bring her over to me in the operating room so that I could see her. She was wrapped up in a blanket and the nurse was holding her a certain way because of the boo boo on her back. And then I told her about how I would hold and rock her in the NICU and the nurses would tell me that she knew that I was her mommy because she was more relaxed. I cried and Anna buried her face into my lap.

For the love of God, I wish I could figure out what is going on with her. Rich says that maybe this is how she is dealing with stuff. With her frustrations and fears. If I take a step back from this child who is fighting against me, I see a brave little girl. But she's still afraid. She's a little kid who has to go through stuff that not all little kids go through. She's a little kid who asks if I'll hold her hand during her medical procedures. Why does life have to be so freaking difficult sometimes?

(I'm just scratching the surface here with this. There's so much more....)

To not end on a negative note, here are some more pictures from that day.

Allie's alone time reading to Elmo. I loved being able to open the front door and flood the house with light. How nice to not have to use my Speedlight.

(Anna)

We went for a walk down the street when Rich returned home.

I love this picture because Anna's laughing. I just want her to be happy.

Acting while eating.

Rich, in case you were wondering...

why the bathroom rug is full of baby powder...

Em had stinky feet and insisted on coating them with baby powder which she had done the night before by herself without making a mess. Well, while I was brushing Allie's teeth, Anna joined the baby powder party.

I should have learned my lesson by now but I haven't. You allow kids to do something once and they think that it's okay to do it whenever. Like baby powder for alleged stinky feet. (I didn't smell so I can neither confirm nor deny the smell.)

(I know and they know that breathing in those particles is a no no. This was an isolated incident. The fact that I even have to type this is absurd but I know that there's someone out there who wants to leave a comment regarding the negative consequences of using baby powder.)

Are we at Disney?

We attended a 50th birthday party for one of Rich's brothers last night. The party was originally planned for Friday night and the girls' awesome cousin, Jen, was scheduled to babysit. But then the party was moved to Saturday night and Jen wasn't able to watch the girls so we brought the girls with us. The party was really just a sit-down dinner at a restaurant (nothing fancy) for family.

As we were pulling out of the driveway, I overhead the following conversation amongst the girls:

"Well, where are the bags?"

"They're in the back."

I didn't find that too odd considering Rich had packed pajamas just in case we were out later than expected and Anna's stuff. When we pulled off of the highway onto the exit ramp, Allie asked us if we were going to Disney. Rich and I chuckled. "But where's Grammy?" I asked. Anna said that we were on our way to pick her up.

We are still trying to plan this vacation so they have heard "Disney" mentioned more than usual and I have told them that they won't know when we are going. Kind of funny that they thought a birthday party was the cover-up.

As we were buckling the girls back into their car seats after dinner, Allie asked, "Daddy, is that a hotel over there?" It was. "Are we at Disney?!" No, sweet baby. She was making me laugh though looking out the window like she didn't quite believe us. (She's also a good actress.)

Not only do the girls choose their own outfits, they also tell me how they want me to style their hair. I can make suggestions and Em (and maybe Allie) will sometimes go along with it. Anna has been Anna lately and is not happy with any hairstyle. Here's how she styled her hair for the party.

Emily, who agreed to wear two low braids.

And then Anna moved the headband so it looked like she had a toothache.

I do have to say that the girls were extremely well behaved at the restaurant. They colored, ate and hung out. We were there for just over two hours and didn't tuck them into bed until an hour and 15 minutes past when they usually are asleep. That's not to say that we aren't paying for it today. The girls slept slightly past when they normally wake up (we are talking 6:30 - 7:00 here) but Rich and I both lost almost two hours of sleep during the night because Allie was having issues.

Early bedtime for adults tonight.

What we wore

Friday morning preschool.

(Emily)

(Anna)

And just because I love a good scowl.

(Allie) LOVE the pigeon toe stance. She's a natural!

I took this picture because I thought it was hysterical. And yes, those are capris.

#reallifefashionblogging

This will be our third summer with those Hello Kitty dresses. Remember when I bought them for the girls?

Thank goodness for the Berenstain Bears

For some really odd reason, the girls become quite upset and irrational when Rich and I have meetings at their school. Especially meetings with their teachers. It's not like they're troublemakers or class clowns so go figure. Well, we wanted to attend a parents only kindergarten orientation one night this past week and when the girls found out, Emily had a break down. Seriously, Em? Over K orientation?

I decided to change my strategy and waited until the day of before announcing that Rich and I had to attend a town meeting, just like in the Berenstain Bears book. I even offered the babysitting services of Mrs. Grizzle but the girls decided that they wanted Grammy to stay with them.

I quite honestly (and naively so) thought that you registered your kids for kindergarten (they are already in the public school system), mailed in the required health forms from the pediatrician, brought your kids in for one orientation and that was it. Oh, no no. There's health interviews and proof of residency and birth certificates and placement testing and me obsessing over how pick up/drop off is going to work because Anna is not going to be able to walk that far.

It's kind of weird to think that my kids will be in school every day next year. A piece of me wants to hold onto them and not let them go. Change can be good but change can also be difficult.

Speaking of irrational. Due to the wacky warm temperatures this week, I pulled out spring/summer pajamas for the girls to wear. Unfortunately, our house lot lacks shade trees and the bedrooms can become quite stuffy. Here's Emily when she found the pajamas I had placed on the end of her bed for her.

Seriously, Em? Over pajamas?

May in March

Well, tomorrow is supposed to be more like July in March but I still haven't posted some pictures and such from a few weeks ago. This was the day we took Anna to her urology appointment. It was slated as the first warm day of the season with the prediction of record breaking temperatures. And while it was warm, it was, unfortunately, very windy, and by mid-afternoon, the cool air had started to move back in.

On the way home from the hospital, Anna and I stopped at Target to purchase a birthday gift for one of her classmates. We also ate a lunch of pizza and breadsticks and then rushed home (rush, rush, rush) so that we wouldn't be late for gymnastics.

Okay, I would love to sneak into the gym and photograph my kids because this shooting through a dirty window is just not working out for me. Because it was warm outside, they had opened all of the doors, which caused reflections and glares off of the windows. Plus, I've figured out that the best place to photograph them is when they are on the balance beams in the big gym that run parallel to the window. Well, they didn't use those balance beams this day.

(Allie)

(Anna)

This time, I paid attention to all of the other kids and their cartwheels. Allie and one other older girl were the only ones who could turn decent cartwheels. Allie's body type is definitely one of a gymnast. Some of the girls in the kindergarten class have super long legs - you can tell that they are going to be tall - and they couldn't keep those long legs straight.

(Allie)

I did smile (okay, maybe it was a bit of a smirk) when I realized that the daughter of the mom, who I suspect made a comment about me taking pictures back in December, was just learning to turn cartwheels. She's in the kindergarten class and one the coaches was really working with her on it. #imagymnasticsmom.

After gymnastics, the girls wanted to play in the driveway. They are really into playing outside this year, which is a bit of a relief for us adults. We like to keep them active and tire them out.

(That's a giraffe.)

(Emily)

(Allie #imasuperstar)

Thoughts

I've had so many thoughts whirling around inside my head this past week that it's been difficult for me to concentrate. I possess slightly obsessive traits (okay, Rich tells me that I have OCD and I do but it is obviously very mild - except for the bagel incident) and so when I have an idea or something is going on, it's all I can focus on.

After we tucked the girls into bed last night, I ran (1.75 miles thankyouverymuch) and then ate dinner (Caesar salad with chicken.) Rich and I cleaned up the kitchen and I spent some time looking through my pictures from when the girls met their new baby cousins, who are twins. I uploaded some of those pictures online for friends and family to see and then started to think about a blog post. I usually don't have to think about blog posts.

I was going to post some of the "triplets meet twins" photos but I felt like I had to write something catchy to go along with it because posting a few snapshots isn't going to be interesting to anyone, especially when those snapshots aren't technically correct. I'm still obsessing over the pink hue and snapshotiness of the pictures from the post with Emily's dress. I was just too tired to care at the time but now it's bothering me. (In case you didn't know, I'm a perfectionist too.)

So now I'm just going to continue to babble.

I can't even begin to tell you how much I love this warmer weather. Rich and the girls are enjoying it too. It's been nice to have outdoor time and not freeze. Although, flowers from our bulbs have started to bloom (a month early) and I guess that isn't good for them in the long run if temperatures drop back to where they should be.

Conversations with the girls continue to blow my mind (Allie asking me how Abbey died) or make me laugh hysterically. This is what Em said to me the other day. "Little Lion had diarrhea once and it was gross." She overheard me repeat it to Rich and added, "He had just eaten 15 pancakes!" (I am purposely not focusing on the death conversation.)

Good sleep continues to come and go in cycles and we have been at a low point lately with kids waking up at all hours of the night. Emily was absolutely exhausted the other night (time change + a ton of outdoor play) and was asking to go upstairs to bed. "I'm so tired. All my animals kept waking me up last night." (In our house, the girls refer to their stuffed animals as buddies or simply animals.)

Do you know what my response was? "I know, Em. My animals kept waking me up last night too. Did you know that Daddy and I have three animals?" She was kind of laughing but kind of not.

Every night, Anna says, "Sleep in my bed," as I'm tucking her in at night. My reply is always the same. "Okay, I'll see you in a bit. Mommy and Daddy need to go eat and clean up." Every morning, Anna says, "Did you sleep with me? Why didn't I see you?"

"Because you were sleeping, Anna."

It's kind of a joke now between us. Although, it isn't very funny when she comes storming into my room at five o'clock in the morning and insists on sleep with her hand on my throat.

The girls' birthday party is next month and whenever they hear me mention party favors, they spew out all different types of items that they want to give to their friends. And you know that if these favors aren't approved by them, they will flip out. I don't even know where to begin so I haven't been thinking about it. I've had other, bigger fish to fry. I can tell you this much though - the girls won't know anything about them. Magically, a box of party favors will appear at the end of their party. (Last year, I was able to score little note pads and stickers on super clearance at The Children's Place outlet store.)

And last, but certainly not least, our Disney vacation. After certain events last week, we came to realize that when we were planning on going was probably not the best time to go. We (well, really me) have been scrambling to come up with a time frame that works - there is Rich's school, the girls' school, work and family events to schedule around. Plus, I don't want to go when it will be super busy.

So now that we have agreed upon a new date to begin our vacation, I have less time to sew custom outfits for the girls. I'm trying to decide on whether or not to hide the clothes from them. The vacation is going to be a surprise - they know that we will be returning but they don't know when and they won't know until we are almost there. They also know that I will be sewing for them - they have already started to help me design some dresses.

That's all.

The chickie dress

I finally finished Em's Easter dress. Allie says that she wants a skirt (she picked out purple bunny fabric) and Anna is being completely indecisive (Anna being Anna) so I decided to start with the dress just in case Allie and Anna change their minds.

There are little chicks along with Easter eggs on the fabric.

The weather has been wacky here so who knows what it will be like in 3 weeks but she most likely will have to wear a shirt of some sort under the dress. I'm not even going to deal with that right now.

The back. I should have straightened out the edges of the overdress but you get the idea.

Once I start I project, I obsess until I finish it. I always think that this dress isn't that bad to sew but it is. Last night, I told Rich that I had about two hours left. I can laugh at that statement now. I didn't finish until two o'clock this afternoon. Granted, I wasn't just sewing but it still took way more than two hours.

Emily freaking loves this dress. She was running around with it on and I even brought her outside for a mini photo shoot, which was a fail because she was running in and out of the shade and spinning around. She wiped out in the grass so I brought her in and asked her to change so I could hang the dress up. We were getting ready to leave the house anyway. Oh, the tears. She told me that she wanted to wear it for the rest of the day. I told her that after Easter, she can wear it whenever she wants to.

Silly faces.

(This is the feliz dress pattern from the book Sewing Clothes Kids Love - which can be found on Amazon. It is somewhat difficult so be warned if you are new to sewing.)

When I grow up

One of the lines on Allie's Star of the Day poster for her to fill in was "When I grow up, I want to be ________________. She told me to write the following:

1. A gymnastics girl on tv
2. A teacher
3. In shows
4. A mommy

For the past six months or so Anna has said that she wants to be a big sister, one who is not a twin or triplet. I'm not sure if she means with the Big Brother/Big Sister organization or what but sure, Anna, you can be a big sister. To someone. Well, technically she is already a big sister to Emily. By about 40 seconds or so. She had me fill that in on her Star of the Day sheet too.

Emily's class hasn't participated in the Star of the Day program but Em's list consists of being a doctor, a dentist, a teacher and a mommy. Although, after we've been around a crying baby, she leaves the mommy off of her list because crying babies are too loud. Tell me about, Em. Tell me about it.

Rich and I have both had some pretty crappy work experiences in our careers and if it has taught us anything, it's to allow our children to pursue their dreams and be happy. Now, this doesn't mean living off of Mommy and Daddy and hanging out with your friends. It means that maybe they don't end up with typical office jobs. Maybe they don't end up working for the man.

I would imagine that their generation is going to be more demanding of employers anyway. Change has begun and presumably will continue. Although, I can only hope that the entitlement issue that's occurring with some of these young kids (those in their 20s for those of us who aren't) will go away. When I first started working, I had to bust my butt and prove myself in order to move up. Everyone did (mostly.) Some have a different attitude regarding what working hard means these days.

The world is yours, little loves. Maybe one of you will be a fashion designer or a runner or a gymnast or an actress or an author or a ballerina.

GONE SEWING

As usual, I have much to blog about but a mini absence is necessary as I fervently create Easter outfit #1 because Easter is just over 3 weeks away. ACK! I made some progress today but Rich and I have both realized that when the girls are in school, you really only have 2 hours to yourself at the house. You have another 15-20 minutes to yourself in the car and believe me, I use that time to listen to MY music.

I was a teenager in the '80s and I clearly remember people older than myself who insisted on listening to music from the '60s or the '70s and I just couldn't understand them. Why do you want to listen to that when we have this totally awesome new music? Like New Kids on the Block! Do you know how you can tell when you are old? When you turn on the radio and you have no idea what you're listening to and you really don't care to even find out.

So, yeah, today I listened to a nice selection from 1994 to 2000.

Okay, I want to post a quick running update. I am up to 1.5 miles - that's per run, not in total. When I ran Wednesday night, I didn't realize that Rich had left the treadmill on a slight incline until about a half mile into my run. It was definitely more difficult to run like that but I left it because I knew I was getting a better workout. I now feel a little bit of an ache in my right knee, which could be from the weather or from pretending to be Growly, the angry dog or from running on an incline. I might drop back down to 1.25 tomorrow to see how it feels.

I found another great (old school) running song on my old running mix CDs. Shimmer by Fuel.

Let's talk about vocabulary. Although the girls can't read just yet, they quite often use big words. For example, last night Anna used transform. "And now this is going to transform into a boat."

I asked her for the definition of transform and she told me that it meant to turn into something else. Today, she was using the word object and gave me the correct definition of "a thing."

I wanted to test her even further. Back in November, Anna learned what a cornucopia was at school. We haven't discussed this in months. I asked her today what cornucopia meant. Here is her exact answer. (Exact because I sat down and typed it out after she said it.)

"A horn shaped basket that you put stuff you are thankful for in."

Hopefully, I'll be back tomorrow with a finished dress. Tonight, Rich spotted the back piece of the dress, which is full of ruffles, laying on the ironing board and said, "Oh, that's going to be cute." It's going to be totally awesome!

More little kid stuff

* The scene - I'm sitting at my desk at work. Bob, an analyst, is standing in my cubicle as we discuss a work related matter. My cell phone rings. It's the school nurse. I excuse myself to take the call.

Here's my side of the conversation as heard by Bob:

"Yes. Hi."

"Yes."

"Yes. Back at the end of last year."

"No. I think she may be nervous about being back to school after vacation."

"She may also have to poop. She could be confusing the feelings."

"Okay. That's sounds fine."

"Okay. Thank you."

Bob has an infant son. My advice to Bob - "This is what you have to look forward to."

* The girls are close to being able to read. We work on sounding out letters and sometimes I spell out a simple word and help them sound it out.

Mommy - "Allie, what does B-A-T spell? Sound it out."

Allie - "B-ah. B-ah. Ahh. Ahhh."

Mommy - "That's a good start, Allie. Now the T. B-A-T."

Allie - "T-ah. Tah. Bah. Ah. Tah."

Mommy - "Yay, Allie! You are so close. What does it spell? Keep sounding it out."

Allie - "TRUCK!"

Okay, so we're still working on it.

What really matters

Anna finally had her twice rescheduled renal ultrasound and urology appointment last week. If you aren't familiar with big city hospitals, allow me to explain our usual experience. Appointment slots are double booked so we end up waiting and waiting and waiting some more and then Rich and I start sweating it out because we need to go to work and now it's an hour past when we said that we would be there. And then it starts getting close to lunch time for the little ones so you keep feeding them crackers and hope that you don't run out of snacks.

Amazingly, this was the smoothest set of appointments we've ever had, which figures since it was my day off from work. We had only been in the waiting room for about five minutes when they called us early for Anna's ultrasound. I was nervous. Really nervous. You never know when a problem is going to be discovered. That's why she has these ultrasounds.

The ultrasound started off well. The technician was young and kind. She easily found Anna's right kidney and began to record the images. She was comforting and told Anna how great she was doing. And then she moved over to the left kidney. It seemed to me, the non-medical professional, that she was having some difficulty and the images looked different to me.

Anna followed her requests to move, didn't fuss and was very well behaved for what was a slightly scary thing for her but the tech stopped telling her how well she was doing. After what seemed like forever, she finally moved to Anna's bladder and then took images of the kidneys from Anna's back. The first round had been from her sides.

We know the routine. When the tech finishes, she leaves the room to check with a doctor, who decides if the images are adequate. If there is a problem, the doctor returns with the tech to take more images. When the tech left, she said, "I'll be right back," which to me implied that she would be returning with a doctor. I held my breath.

But no. She returned to tell us we could head up to see the urologist. I felt a little queasy.

We were about 25 minutes early for our appointment but yet, we were called in to see the urologist a few minutes after we arrived. Unfortunately, we believe that he is close to retiring, which doesn't make me happy at all. I sincerely trust this man. He pulled up the ultrasound images and pointed to the first one. "See this kidney. This is a beautiful right kidney."

And then he pulled up another image. More breath holding. Afterwards, Rich told me that he was expecting the doctor to say that something wasn't right with Anna's left kidney. That he was setting up a comparison.

But no. Both kidneys looked great! Thankyouthankyouthankyou.

Little peanut was weighed (for an increase in her ditropan dosage) and she's up to 29.8 pounds.

So we are going to keep on keeping on. (We have a referral for another GI specialist.)

What really matters.

When Daddy calls...

(Allie)

(Emily)

(Anna)