We had a few stressful hours today...

Yesterday we had our tea party with Daddy then decided to head to the zoo. While we were there, L told me she had a sore in her mouth that really hurt. I could see it. It looked like she bit the inside of her cheek (and I know that hurts). She wasn't herself and even told me she didn't feel good. I asked what was bothering her she said her tummy and her cheek. She took a bit of a nap in the stroller (and the car once we left). We did a little bit of shopping (she seemed fine) every now and again she would comment on her mouth. We played outside for awhile as Daddy grilled out for dinner. Everyone seemed okay. We had dinner and everyone went to sleep pretty quickly. 

Shortly after falling asleep L started talking in her sleep (this hasn't ever happened) then she got the chills. Both signs of something bad to come. L woke up around 9:30 running a fever. A fever is bad in any event, but especially bad because we were supposed to go to her second cousins 2nd birthday party the following afternoon. What was I going to do??? I decided not to worry about it and see how the morning played out. 

L woke up this morning running a fever and I knew I was going to have to make the phone call that we couldn't go to the party. I gave L some ibuprofen and kept an eye on her. She was playing fine and acting pretty normal. I had no idea what was causing the fever! As the morning went on, I remembered my sister saying there were going to be a total of 4 kids at the party. The birthday girl, my 2 girls and one other kid (we didn't know who it was); after remembering this, I thought we HAD to go! If we didn't go, there wouldn't be anyone there for the Birthday Girl! My husband agreed. I was trying to get in touch with my sister to let her know what was going on. My sister called at 11 (the party was at 1:30), she started to tell me she was throwing up the night before, she felt dizzy, had an intense headache and her ears felt like they were on fire. She was so upset that she was going to miss her granddaughter's birthday party. I didn't have the heart to tell her we weren't going either, since the girls were playing good and acting okay, that's when I decided we were for sure going. 

The other thing that was in the back of my mind that made me decide to go, was my brother in law. He is handicapped and needs help getting in and out of the house/and his truck/and his wheelchair out of his truck. I knew if my sister wasn't going, that he wasn't going to be able to go either and it was silly for both of them to miss it! I told them I would stop by, pick him up and I would take care of him. That I could handle my girls and help him too. 

It was 65 degrees yesterday and today 32 degrees.... As I went outside to start my car and let it warm up, it was sleeting. For something "FUN" to do, if the weather was like this, we would normally postpone whatever we were doing! There's no reason to get everyone out in bad weather if it can be avoided! I called my husband to get his opinion. I didn't want to go! I didn't want to get the girls out in the weather. My sister was sick and she was helping my brother in law get ready; I hated to call again and say we weren't coming but if more bad weather was coming, I wasn't going to risk it! My husband looked at the weather system and we decided I would go ahead and go. If things got bad, we were going to be near my sisters house we could stay the night there (but stay away from her with her being sick)... 

My girls are so good. I told them the weather wasn't good and I needed them to be quiet for me so I could concentrate. I was a little nervous about crossing the bridge, but it was alright. The drive wasn't horrible, but I everyone was still driving a bit slower than normal. Once we pulled into their driveway, L said, "Mommy, I talked a couple of times. I just couldn't help it. But I was quiet most of the time!" She's so funny! 

The drive from their house to Chuck E. Cheese was a bit slushy and slick. Once inside, the weather was all forgotten and everyone had a great time!! I'm really glad we were there for the birthday girl. The 4th little one was suppose to be there was 3 months old. She wouldn't have had anyone to play with. I'm sure she wouldn't still had fun... but still. The rest of the day was so much better. I just felt bad for my sister missing out, I know she was so sad about it. The girls had a great time, the birthday girl had a great time. The weather got a little better while we were there. It warmed up to 38 and it was just raining. As I was putting the girls jackets on them when it was time to leave, I noticed L felt warm. The girls took a back as soon as we got home. They were tired. L did't have a fever, I was surprised because she felt so warm! We ate dinner, brushed our teeth and laid down. M was tired from playing. I could see it in L's eyes that she didn't feel good one again... I checked again and her temperature was up once again. 100.8 Not horrible, but still a fever. 

My girls blew through 80 tokens in a few hours, ate good, danced, played games, and had a great time. A bad decision for going maybe. But it meant a lot to my sister and my brother in law that I helped him out and made it possible for him to go.  A bad decision and a good deed. 

Birthdays with two so close in age

M's second birthday was in December. She seemed to really understand what was going on. She knew we were going to Chuck E. Cheese for her party (and she was so excited), she knew she was going to get presents, family was coming because it was HER DAY! She loved looking the different cakes and picking out which one that SHE wanted. This WAS HER DAY COMING UP, AND SHE KNEW IT!

L on the other hand (although she is older), it had been ten months since her birthday, so she didn't quite understand "get it". We did our best explaining that HER birthday was coming up, that she would have all of the same things happening! She would have her party, family would be coming to see her, she would get to pick her cake and what she wanted on it. I told her I was also going to give her two options and that she would be able to pick where she would have her party. She was getting excited for this! I think talking about her party at the same time was helping.

It was the day of M's party. Things couldn't have went any better! The party was suppose to be from 11-1:00, and it was over at one (but we still had tokens left, the girls and myself ended up walking out of the door at 3:00). Of course the fun wasn't over, at that point we were going home to the presents that M had unwrapped and now it was time to play.

Something we really haven't ever experienced was things being "MINE". L was excited about the presents as well and couldn't wait to play with everything and there were plenty of new things to go around! As excited as L was, I explained to her that it was M's birthday and when I would open something, I would hand it to M to get to play with it first, then they could share it. This was reasonable to us and seemed to be going okay. Until these words came out of M's mouth, "That's my present," she didn't want L playing with anything. I then explained to M that L was born before her and there were a lot of toys that are here that belonged to L before M was born and that L shares everything with her so nicely. I named some of her favorite toys, told her that they really belonged to L and how would she feel if she wanted to play with them and L wouldn't let her because they were initially L's presents. M then understood and things seemed to once again be okay.

Things were okay on the toy and sharing front, but off and on throughout the day and evening, L would bring up her party, she would tell me that she wanted to go to Chuck E. Cheese, just like M did. She wanted a Tinkerbell cake, just like M had. I don't know if she just had a good time and wanted to "make sure" that her party was just as fun, or what the reasoning was. I told her, if those were the things she wanted for her party, that would be perfectly fine but we could make the final decisions once her birthday was getting closer.

Towards the middle of January we started talking about themes etc. She was getting excited that HER DAY was coming. She made the decision to go to Chuck E. Cheese and she chose a Madagascar theme for her cake and things. We talked about all of this often (she was excited and brought it up several times a week). With this, M started talking about it being her birthday. Explaining to a two year old that her birthday had past and now this was L's day, over and over, was tiring (and not always easy). She became territorial of her presents again, not wanting to share. I explained that L would be getting things for her birthday and asked her how she would feel if L didn't share things with her. We had this conversation often.

Daddy and I decided the girls didn't really "need" anymore toys. With Christmas and M's birthday having both just passed. We decided to get something BIG that they would be able to use for quite sometime! We decided on a 14' trampoline with a safety enclosure. We bought it and it was put away (waiting for warmer weather).

We were having L's birthday party on Sunday, February 17, 2013 and the Saturday night before, I started thinking... L is very smart and doesn't forget a thing! When it was M's birthday, she paid attention to EVERYTHING and pointed out many times that she wanted her party to be just like M's. I started talking to my husband, saying that M came home with all kinds of presents and L has a trampoline. A trampoline (that she knows she's getting). A trampoline that is sitting in the shed in the backyard, that she's not going to open at her party and she's not even going to see until the weather is warmer. I told him the presents that she was going to open from family (I knew what everything was) and what she would be bringing home. I'm not saying in the least that any of this is about the presents, but at the same time, I didn't want my baby to be disappointed with the few things she would be bringing home and remembering ALL THE THINGS that her sister came home with. She turning 3, she's not going to understand that trampoline is in the shed... He agreed and after I got the girls to bed that night I went power shopping. I did not go crazy. But I got several small things that I knew would make her happy! She had a good amount to open and she came home with presents, she was happy! Her party was so fun and a big success!!