Photos of the cutest cubs in the world!

Signal to let Mom know it's time for a diaper change:


Woe is me:


Watching for Daddy:


Daddy's home!!:


I know it's fuzzy, but too cute to not post:


Our little work-horse:


Suffering from cabin fever and wanting to be outdoors:


Our precious little man:


Our future meteorologist. Zach LOVES watching the weather reports:


Rather than using her fork Emily has opted for the full hand-shove technique at lunch time:


So sweet and handsome too!:


He fell asleep in Mommy's arms. I cherish these moments!:


A rare moment. Emily Bear snuggling with Mommy for a little nap:


She even put her arm around my neck! These moments don't happen often enough!:

We are homeless and we're happy about it....temporarily.

What a week. We are officially homeless....or between homes...or apartment dwellers, not sure which term I feel like picking today. We closed on the old house on Wednesday. What a relief to have that over with. We definitely know how lucky we are that we found a buyer and at the perfect time. They could have easily bought a newer house for less money in our neighborhood, so we are counting our blessings. That night I treated myself to a celebratory margarita at Mi Pueblo with some friends. We jokingly call it our "scrapbooking meeting". Ironically because none of us scrapbook, but it was brought up in conversation and just stuck. So now I tell Steve I have a scrapbook meeting to attend and he just rolls his eyes at me.

It finally started raining on Wednesday afternoon, several days after my knees began to let me know that it would be raining soon. Stupid knees. They are great indicators of a weather change, much to my dismay. I'm too stubborn to see a Doctor for it even at Grandma Bear's constant urging (I love you Mom!). I'll try to squeeze it in between later and never.

Zach had a therapy appointment on Thursday. Although it went much better this week I am still a bit aggravated by the whole thing. I had to take Emily with me but this time I was smart enough to put them in their stroller. I was determined to keep them contained. I even fed Zach in the stroller which is the main reason I think this session went better. He didn't have to sit in that little wooden chair which automatically induces a thirty minute screaming session. I was most irritated with the fact that while I was feeding Zach, the therapist was busy playing with Emily. HELLO!!!!! I'm here to get help with Zach!!! Emily was perfectly fine playing with her toys on her side of the stroller, she didn't need to be entertained. UGH. This morning I called the ECI program in Denton County. The therapist comes to your home so that the child is in his own surroundings and I have a feeling that will work much better for us. Plus it's a flat monthly cost share based on our income so it will actually be cheaper than paying our $40 copay for each visit.

Our Thursday play date was cancelled due to the weather. It was supposed to be at a park that I have not been to yet, but word has it that it is gated so it would be a little safer for the cubs to run around and easier for me to keep an eye on them. I'm looking forward to trying it out as soon as the weather improves.

Steve brought home a rhinovirus this week. Isn't it nice of him to share with the rest of the family? It's either that or allergies, but I have been mopping up noses for the last day and a half. I'm feeling pretty lousy myself. I declared today a PJ day and the cubs and I remained in our jammies most of the day. We were stuck inside due to the crummy weather (what happened to our 70 degree temps from last week??) and the runny noses anyway.

Emily now calls for Zach by yelling "ACK". When I tell her to go get her brother, she turns and yells "ACK". NICE! She also repeats me when I say "uh oh" except she's a little lazy with it and it comes out "uh uh". Close enough I guess. For now anyway. Good thing she's cute.

Steve is supposed to work both days this weekend (of course) so we have nothing planned. We are supposed to do our final walk-through for the new house on Monday so I'm looking forward to that. It just puts us that much closer to moving day!

Parenting classes

I am not too proud to admit that I have signed up for parenting classes. They start on April 6th and are on Mondays for 8 weeks. You may be thinking that with my little angels how could I possibly need parenting classes?!...HA! Let's see which of the sessions I need most....

Session 1: Handling Misbehavior Without Breaking a Sweat (This one runs a very close second.)
Session 2: Teaching Kids to Listen...the First Time (Ding Ding Ding...we have a winner!)
Session 3: Avoiding Power Struggles
Session 4: Limits Create Happier Parents, Happier Kids, and Happier Families
Session 5: What to Do When Your Kids Leave you Speechless

I'm looking forward to learning new tactics for dealing with the cubs' temper tantrums and selective hearing. Best of all, it's free! Where do I sign up???

Things that happened in between fevers....

Tuesday night was my monthly LCMOM meeting. We had dinner and a white elephant gift exchange. I always enjoy getting out for an evening. The Doctor had given the "all clear" for Zach to attend his therapy session on Thursday even though he still had the lingering fever. She said as long as he wasn't exhibiting any other symptoms it should be ok. One of the moms from my LCMOM group graciously invited Emily over to her house while I took Zach to his appointment. Emily played with Kim's boys, Nathan and James, while I sat with Zach in his therapy room while he screamed at the top of his lungs for 30 minutes. Emily obviously got the better end of the deal. This was the worst session yet. Last week he managed to eat his yogurt in the middle of all the screaming. This week was nothing but screaming. Except he would stop screaming if you put a toy on the table. Of course afterwards he ate his yogurt up in the car without any problem. So frustrating. On Thursday night I went to dinner with the girls from THC. We went to Rio Mambo for mexican food and a nice strong Margarita. A desperately needed Margarita after that therapy session. My dear friend Debbie invited us over for lunch on Friday. She took time off for the week because her daughter was out of school for Spring Break. Sydney is seven and just the most beautiful little girl...Debbie is going to have her hands full when those boys start knocking on the door. We spent most of our visit outside. I'm glad it was pretty outside because I was very nervous that the cubs would break something if we stayed inside. The cubs are very curious and have to touch everything. On Friday evening we took the cubs to the Cotton Patch for dinner. It is pretty loud there and even with all the noise I think Zach's squeals were still the loudest. He loves to hear his echo even when the rest of us don't love it so much. Matt and Beth Ann came over on Saturday. It has been too long since we saw them last. We all went over to the old house together for one last look. It was a bit sad. I remember being so excited when we first bought the house and now I am so excited to sell it. I actually gave my keys and garage door opener to Steve today so he could give them to our realtor for closing. Closing is scheduled for 1:00 on Wednesday. Zach did impress me this weekend by trying some new foods. He ate a Pringle potato chip. It sounds silly to blog about that, but it really is huge for him. It was only one half of a chip and it took about 10 minutes, but he ate it on his own and that's all that matters to me. On Sunday he actually put a Mum-Mum (a rice cracker...Emily loves them) in his mouth. He didn't really eat any of it, but he put it in his mouth numerous times. Even Steve had to admit that it was exciting to see him do this. We had Taco Bueno for lunch on Sunday and Zach gobbled up his refried beans. I even added some sour cream just for the added calories. Last night I made chicken with pasta for dinner and he tried some of the pasta too. He has learned to push things out with his tongue if he doesn't like it. This is huge progress because before he would try to swallow it, gag, and throw up everything. I'd much rather he spit it out than throw it (and everything else) up.

Saturday Monday night fever

Last Monday evening Zach came down with "the fever". "The fever" was 103.4 when we called the on-call Doctor. Our instructions were to continue medicating him and call in the morning for an appointment if the fever persisted. Zach was extremely fussy. He wanted to be held, but when I held him he would squirm and was never able to get comfortable. So I'd put him down and he'd cry to be held again. Tuesday morning "the fever" was still here, so I called and was told that our Pedi was out for the day. Not a big deal except none of the other Doctors in the office accept our insurance (BOO...HISS!!). Our options were to take him to the urgent care clinic (No thanks) or wait until Wednesday morning. After our last urgent care experience I decided that we would wait for a Wednesday morning appointment with Zach's favorite pediatrician. Tuesday afternoon I thought "the fever" had finally broken. His temp was down and he was playing like it was any normal day. We decided that if "the fever" stayed away, we would just cancel our appointment, but on Wednesday morning "the fever" was back up to 102.2. Just great. I loaded the cubs up and headed for the Doctor's office. The fussiness was back. He screamed when we tried to get his weight and when the Nurse tried to take his temperature. Our Doctor came in and checked his ears, nose, throat, and listened to his chest and said that she couldn't find any reason for his fever. I thought maybe it was due to his teething, but she said it would be very unusual for his fever to get that high from just teething...there had to be something else going on. She decided to do some lab work. This was my first experience with Zach getting his blood drawn. Steve always handles this, but I guess I forgot to mention that I was by myself with both Emily and Zachary, and this was not going to be fun. The following five minutes seemed like five hours but she finally got what she needed from Zach's poor finger. The results came in that afternoon....everything was perfectly normal. However, we still had "the fever". We had "the fever" on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. By Saturday morning "the fever" had finally broken. FINALLY. No more waking up in the middle of the night to give him medications. And then, when I thought all was good, on Saturday Emily screamed and cried all night with "THE FEVER". UGH!!!!!

Our little exhibitionist.

I put Emily in a casual little dress this morning. Isn't she adorable?



Apparently she didn't like it too much, because during her "naptime" she unsuccessfully tried to take it off.


I'm sure you'll also note her cheesy grin. Every time I aim the camera at her, she squints her eyes (I guess she's anticipating the flash), gives me her toothiest grin, and says "eeeee". She drops everything to give me this look. I'd rather catch her regular and much cuter expressions, but all I'm able to capture is her "eeee" face.

New casa progress

Every Monday the builders call to give us a report on what's happening at the new casa. They usually call Steve but he's been so busy at work that we have asked them to call me instead. Today's report was full of all the little punch-list items that need to be taken care of. The big news is the carpet is being installed on Friday. The carpenters will be working on trim details and the painters will be in this week. Our final walk-through is tentatively scheduled for the afternoon of March 30th. The best news of all: we are still on target for our April 3rd closing date! Woo Hoo!

Moving forward

So far so good on the sale of the old house. The date that the buyers could terminate the contract without reason has passed. Steve is finishing up the minor issues that the buyers want fixed. He has managed to bring most of the boxes down from the attic and move them to storage. I think we have enough Christmas lights to decorate the whole neighborhood. Just wait until we have our first Christmas at the new house, we will be the beacon of light that all airline passengers will be able to see as they are flying above. The appraisers are scheduled to come out early tomorrow morning. I am so excited to get this house sold. What a huge relief it will be to not have two mortgages at the same time.

There isn't much to catch up on this week. Last Sunday we took the cubs to the park to enjoy the spectacular weather. Can you believe that we left earlier than planned because it was just too hot?? After the park we visited with our friend Donna who was here from out of town.

Monday night was GNO with Deb and Kristi. LOVE LOVE LOVE those raspberry margaritas. Monday was also the last day of our spectacular weather. The rest of the week was cold and rainy and we have been cooped up since. I think the cubs and I are experiencing cabin fever. We did venture out on Thursday for Zach's therapy appointment. While it did not go as badly as the week before it still did not go very well. I feel like I am watching dollars go down the drain here, and at a particular time where we don't have much money to waste. I'm going to give it a few more sessions and then I might contact ECI (early childhood intervention). They are much cheaper and perform therapy at home where the child is more comfortable. I think the major problem with Zach's therapy is that he's not comfortable. He starts screaming as soon as we put him in the little wooden chair. After his therapy we went to Paradise Pond. Major mistake on my part. The cubs acted horribly and I was so embarrassed that after the third temper tantrum I gathered them up and brought them home. Zach even refused to walk out with me, so I had to carry them both to the car in the yucky weather. UGH. Paradise Pond is supposed to be a fun treat. It's a real beating for me because it is so hard to keep an eye on them at the same time. They are usually at opposite ends of the building, and Zach won't stand still for a second. I don't really enjoy it, but since they (usually) do, I suck it up so that they will have a fun time, but I don't think anyone had fun at our last visit. Maybe we'll have to skip it next week.

The weather is still crummy and we are still stuck inside. When will we ever see the sun again??

The week in pictures

Zach at the park last Sunday:


Emily at the park:


Woe is me:


Mesmerized by Sesame Street:


Checking out the back yard at the new house:


Emily snagged the latest edition of Golf Magazine before daddy did:


The latest fashion in footwear:


Twin Elmos:


Emily devouring a piece of pizza:


Zach examining his piece of pizza:

Old house new house

Yesterday afternoon (around 4:30) we finally received a list of items discovered at inspection that the buyers want repaired. There were only six things and they were all pretty minor, but it extends their right to "walk away" until March 12. UGH.

Also yesterday afternoon I received a call from our builders telling us that they were needing to push back our closing from the end of March to April 10. That wasn't really a problem until I contacted our loan officer to double check our expiration date on the interest rate we locked in on Friday. Our great rate expires on April 4! Figures. So I call the builder to let them know and to see if there was any way we could close by the 4th, so he agreed to shoot for April 3rd. If we can't close by the 4th we'll have to settle for the rate at that time, and who knows what that will be?!

I received our final price addendum over the weekend and it was off by $48,000 dollars. Not to mention that one of my deposits was missing. I kindly sent it back with the correct figures and told them to review it again. I think I need to be medicated. This mess is stressing me out!!

Making up for lost time

Since we were sick last week and had to cancel most of our activities, we certainly made up for it this week.

On Tuesday I took the cubs to register for PRESCHOOL. I have heard that this preschool can be difficult to get into. The doors opened at 8am, you were given a number, and then registration would start promptly at 9am. I was number 14. We waited for over an hour before our number was called. Emily was fussy, Zach was noisy, and I figured they would take one look at us and send us on our way. I sat down, the Director asked me what classes I was needing, and I held my breath. They offer two programs. The half-day program which is from 8:45 - 11:45 and the full-day program from 8:45 - 2:30. Both programs are two days per week. I wanted the half-day program simply so I wouldn't have to worry about someone trying to feed Zach. My preference was Monday/Wednesday, but would obviously take Tuesday/Thursday if it were the only class still open. When I told the Director my preference, she opened her book, and said the magic words "you got the last two spots". WHEW!!! We got the last two spots for the entire two-year old class....and we got the days I wanted. Thank goodness, because if she would have told me that there was only one spot left or no spots at all, I think I would have broken down into tears right there at her table. My second choice preschool had already had their registration a few weeks prior so I gambled a little by waiting. For once things went my way.

Tuesday night was my last board meeting with my MOMs group at Buca di Beppos. I had volunteered to do the secretary duties that night since Jennifer was unable to attend. Note to self: never volunteer to do things that I already know I'm not good at. I felt a little like being back in college, 1.5 hours of note-taking. I was starving and wanted to eat and by the time I finished my Italian Margarita, who knows what I was writing. Poor Jennifer is going to have to type up my notes and submit them for approval. I sure hope she can muddle through them and make sense out of it all.

I took my muddled mess of notes to Jennifer on Wednesday and the cubs had a play date with her twin boys. It was a pretty morning and we spent some time with the foursome in the backyard. Her boys are so cute and they are talking so well...we need to hang out with them more so the cubs will learn to talk too. Nothing like a little peer pressure.

Thursday morning the inspector came out to inspect the house. We accepted an offer and now have a contract pending. WOO HOO! They have until midnight tomorrow (Monday) night to submit their request for additional repairs or back out of the contract completely. I am holding my breath and watching the clock. So far we haven't heard anything, so hopefully no news is good news. I talked to our realtor on Friday and she agreed that the best thing would be to hear nothing at all and then we will push forward to closing on March 25. So today Steve is emptying out the garage and the attic and moving everything out to storage so the house will be completely empty and ready to transfer to its new owners. Part of me is a little sad. It was the house we first brought the cubs home to, and I'll miss their nursery. It was my favorite room! Now they will have their own rooms at the new house with much more space to play, but you never forget bringing them home the first time.

Thursday morning was also Zach's first feeding therapy appointment. Our copay is $40 per visit, each session lasts 30 minutes, so I paid over $1.00 per minute to listen to Zach scream. All I could think of was that I could do this at home for free. Needless to say, his first session did not go well. He HATES the little booster chair and he screamed almost the entire time. Plus I had to take Emily, so she was a huge distraction. She wanted to be in the middle of everything, she wanted to play, she wanted to eat, and she stuck her fingers in Zach's food. That was thirty minutes of my life that I don't care to repeat. I ushered the cubs to the car, finished feeding Zach, who by the way eats like a champ in his car seat, and took them to Paradise Pond for some fun time. They played for an hour and half and took a nice long nap after we returned home.

Saturday was "Girl Day". Kelli and I spent the entire day together doing what girls do best. Mani/pedis, lunch and shopping. Dad kept the cubs, and I left right after breakfast and came home right before bedtime. I had a ton of fun and it was so good to do things without my two shadows in tow.

This morning I am trying to adjust to this ridiculous time change. Not my favorite time of year, I hate giving up an hour of sleep.

We have landscaping and it includes a SOLD sign!

The builder has finally put up the SOLD sign. All this time there has been an 'available' sign posted.

We also have landscaping. Unfortunately it is a standard package so we didn't have any say in what they planted, but I don't think it looks too bad.




The master bath...not yet painted, but the shower has been installed.


We now have appliances and granite countertops.

Summing up the week with one word.

One word can sum up last week here at Cub Central: SICK. What a week. Zach came down with an upper respiratory infection, which he so kindly shared with me, and we were both miserable. I'm not sure how I managed. Steve came home early on Wednesday to take little man to the Doctor for me. Unfortunately there are no antibiotics for this mess, so we just have to let it run it's course. I know little man probably felt as poorly as I did. It was such a roller coaster, I felt horrible in the morning but by the evening I would feel better. The next morning I would feel worse with yet another issue. I think it pretty much attacked everything from my shoulders up. Sore throat one day, earache the next day, then a dizzying headache the day after that. Finally, it ended up with a sneezing fit that seems to have lasted for days. It was DREADFUL. New day, new pain. Thank heavens we are feeling better now. Poor little Emily almost escaped the dreaded germ-monster, but I'm afraid she wasn't so lucky either. She started coughing yesterday afternoon, and then I think she handed it off again to Zach. So the cycle repeats. Because of the dreaded germ-monster, all events last week were cancelled. I was supposed to have a GNO (girls' night out) on Wednesday and Zach was supposed to have his first feeding therapy session on Thursday....I had to cancel it all. Hopefully this week will be much better.

Update from the weekend with Grandma and Grandpa Bear

Last Friday afternoon we loaded up the cubs and drove to visit Grandma and Grandpa Bear. The road trip went pretty well but after two and a half hours in the car I was just ready to get there. We played inside for a while (it was too windy to play outside), ate dinner, and put the cubs to bed. On Saturday Grandma and Grandpa Bear cub-sat for us while Steve and I ran some errands. We went to an Estate sale for my Grandparents, had our taxes done (so exciting), and went to lunch at a Chinese restaurant. It was nice to have some time without the cubs tagging along. I think they had a fun time without Mommy and Daddy too. Grandpa Bear let Emily play with a keyboard and I'm sure that entertained her for quite some time. She's quite the little pianist. On Sunday we drove home. It never seems like our visits are long enough. We were really impressed that the cubs slept pretty well in their pack and plays. Much better than our previous visits. Unfortunately they won't be able to sleep in them much longer, the cubs are just growing too fast.

A weekend at Grandma and Grandpa's -- in pictures

Road trip:


Emily, totally relaxed with her snacks:


Future pianist:


Taking a moment to smile at her audience:


Relaxing with her feet up:


Don't squeeze the balloon too hard:


Zach, giving the future pianist a little advice:


Intermission. Emily finally let Zach have a turn:


Empty boxes are the BEST!:


Our cute little man:


The obligatory Baxter photo:


Night-night time in the pack and plays:


On the way home, exhausted from the weekend:

Cub Central -- in pictures

Look Mom, no hands! Zach is a lazy drinker:


Emily - decorating her bib with her yogurt:


Our girl has curls (good thing since we cut all of Zach's off):


Profile of the cutest little girl ever:


Sitting Indian-style:


Mom loves those captivating blue eyes and those long eyelashes...I think he was mad that we made him get out of the bathtub:


The cutest little guy ever:


Puzzle time:


Our cubs working together: