Welcoming Spring!

Today was the first day the girls were medicine-free! No breathing treaments, no fevers, no tylenol... Of course, after the whole week of Gabbi going crazy during bedtime and staying up for two hours and realizing the albuterol makes her hyper we decided that was it. So we were all better just in time to head to Fountain City Park and welcome spring! The first time we've been out in a week! Here are a few pictures from our day:

**after publishing my post I realized that only half of some of the pictures show up. if you click on the picture it will bring the whole thing up in a new window. don't know why it's doing this? any tips?**

Gabbi's first request was to feed the ducks.

Sweet girl didn't even notice that the ducks really weren't hungry. Not a single duck swam up to us like the usually do. They probably were full since I'm sure every other two-year-old in Knoxville wanted to feed them today too.

I love this. Gabbi's interpretation of "tear it up" is "tear it in half" then throw it in the water.

It's funny how Gabbi has "friends" everywhere. As we were walking up to the playground she asked "am I going to play with my friends?" :) She met this sweet little girl on the tire swing.

I think she is absolutely gorgeous.

So big on the "big girl" swing!

"YOU wanna picture of ME?"

Catie's first time swinging!

My other gorgeous girl showing off her new teeth!

We're so creative.

The only way to end a day like today is with ice cream! We asked Gabbi where she wanted to get ice cream (just to see what she would say) and after thinking for a moment she said "the red house". Smart girl. She's talking about Bruster's, of course!

Don't worry, Catie-bug, you'll get ice cream soon.

THE END.

Great way to end our week and send our girls off to Nana & Poppy's this weekend in Louisville. I'm going to miss them in this empty house. But Dustin & I have some serious spring cleaning/ renovating to do to this place. If we're super productive, I may post some picture of our work.

Love my beautiful girls :)

My sick babies...

It has been a rough couple weeks here in our neck of the woods! About a month ago, Catie got a nasty cold, but it wasn't anything too serious. Quickly afterward, Gabbi came down with a cough too. Hers wasn't nearly as bad as Catie's. I'm typically not the kind of mom who takes her kids to the Dr at the first sneeze or cough, but RSV has been going around our circle recently and it is the LAST thing I wanted Catie to get. Babies are sometimes in the hospital because of it. I just have this vision in my mind of her not being able to breath, or being dehydrated, or worse... I just do NOT wan it! So I called the Dr and he tested her, and she was fine. There colds wore off since. Then within 10 days they graciously gave their illness to Daddy. I thought it was looking good for me to not get it, since I'm super woman and everything. Dustin was wiped out for a few days, ended up going to the walk-in clinic and paying 60 bucks for them to tell him he'll be better in a few more days. He was. Then it seemed as if there was peaceful in our house for a few days... the calm before the storm. I had the worst sore throat and cough I've had in a long time. I haven't been so miserable in so long. So two Sundays ago, it was my turn for the walk-in clinic. The verdict, bronchitis. The following Tuesday, Gabbi was running at 102 fever in the middle of night and we took her to the ER because I decided to panic. The verdict, URI/ Bronchitis and he gave her an antibiotic... the did nothing. Thurday morning Catie began coughing again and Gabbi still wasn't ANY better, we couldn't get her fever down. So Friday at Gabbi's "recheck" they were both diagnosed with RSV.

My worst nightmare. The only thing is, I really didn't freak out. I almost laughed... it's just our turn.

This winter, Catie hasn't been in the nursery at church at all. We rarely put Gabbi in there either. I've been trying to keep them away from all the germs and illness that pass around since all children their age decide to put everything in their mouths. And no one has yet mastered "cover you cough". I wash Gabbi's hands like crazy. I give her orange juice every morning, thinking this is going to "strengthen" her immune system or something... Ha. I have no control. I think I do... only... I don't.

My children could never see another child face to face and be hibernating all winter and if the Lord wanted them to have RSV they still would. It's that simple. I need to as forgiveness for thinking I could keep them safe. I can't. They are His children that He is letting me "borrow" and He is the ONLY One that can protect them. It's almost a huge relief when you look at it from that perspective. Trying to keep two babies from any pain or illness or injury is an exhausting job! I have no control. Hallelujah!

Skating Adventures.

Yes. It's been almost a year...
A lot has happened within the year and to recap everything would mean our dinner would probably not get on the table tonight. Hopefully with every post over the next few weeks, I'll recall something that's happened this past year. That's my goal anyway.

So, right now, I'll begin with the obvious.
On September 1st of last year, we had a beautiful new addition to our family.

Caitlin Hope Haddock.

The adjustment was hard at first. Especially on sweet Gabbi girl, who wasn't so sweet on the "idea" of Catie. She loved Catie, but didn't love having to share Mommy & Daddy.
Catie is now 6 months old, and we can't imagine life without her. Neither can Gabbi. I love how close in age they are and pray they will grow so close as the years go by. I imagine them being the best of friends.

The Olympics were this year and I think I enjoyed them more this year than I ever have. Of course, my favorite event to watch was figuring skating. Gabbi enjoyed it too, and although she didn't hardly stay up to watch it, what she did catch she loved. My favorite part of Gabbi watching figure skating was being able to watch her mimic the skaters. She'd spin around in circles in the living room, run and jump and attempt to spin while jumping, and then go on to grab her foot, holding it in the air and yell "I'm skating, watch me!"
Of course, the only logical next step was to take her to the ice chalet off Kingston Pike. We could have a prodigy on our hands, right?? The next Michelle Kwan...



Well, maybe not. But it was a lot of fun. I couldn't help but laugh when I traded in Gabbi's boots for the rental skates. The girl handed me the next to the smallest size skates they had, and without a doubt the tiniest ice skates I could ever have imagined. They were so cute! (If you can imagine "cute" ice skates) My favorite part, though, was Gabbi calling the "zamboni" (for those who don't know, that zamboni is the large machine that cleans the ice) the "macaroni". When we were leaving she kept saying she wanted to "see the macaroni again". Silly girl.
After ice skating, we ventured to the one and only Chick-fil-a. What better way to end the evening? We've grown to love chick-fil-a... mainly because with Gabbi's allergy it's the cheapest place we can eat out. Our options are pretty limited.

Well. Nap time will soon be over, and I haven't done a thing I was planning on. My chores await :)