October visitors and birthday parties

I started writing this post on the blogger app on my phone, but now the app keeps crashing (booo!) so I'm just going to start over.

Mina on playground equipment at Story Park

Last week and this weekend have been pretty crazy. Mina was not acting like herself (she was lethargic, very irritable and running a low grade fever) at school on Wednesday so we decided to take her to see her pedi on Thursday.  Her Dr. said confirmed that she had fluid in her ear (she’d been congested for a couple of weeks) and that her throat was irritated.  Mina was so sweet to her doctor and even sang a song to her after she let her get a good swab of her throat (which fortunately testing negative for strep).  We started antibiotics that night and by the morning she was already feeling better.  Since the doctor said she was not contagious and Mina was in a better mood, we all got ready for school/work. Unfortunately in the short amount of time it took to get to school Mina’s fever came back so she got to spend the day with Dad.  He took her with him as he went for his liver ultrasound and after that they had a good time at Breadwinners for breakfast.  The rest of the day was spent snuggling. Later that day my dad, stepmom (Pam) and my brother arrived in town.  Since Seth had a softball game we all picked up some Chipotle, ate it at the park, left Seth to finish his game and then took the girls home so they could make their bed time.

Evie wanted to climb up by herself

Saturday the girls had a birthday party to attend (their friend Abby).  Since Mina and Evie had a good night and were feeling well we decided to take them to the party at the Park.  They enjoyed playing with Abby and Karmela.  Since the playground at the park wasn’t crowded, all of the girls got to enjoy interacting with it.  Mary (Abby’s mom) put together a wonderfully intimate party.  She paid attention to all the details and even provided a hand washing station for the kids.  The girls loved that!  Even though Mina was a little clingy, the girls had a really good time.  They had so much fun they crashed for a good couple of hours after we got home :-) Evie woke up before Mina did and got to feed Perry bird a treat when he escaped from his cage.  I'm working on the video of it.  It was too cute - she clearly says “bird” and when she tells him “bye”.  She even does her version of the sign language for bird :-)  I hope to post it soon.

While we were at the party my dad, Pam, and Jared rode the DART to the Historic West End to see the area where I work.  They had a good time running around but had to leave after my dad had a close encounter with a pigeon…

Grandpa Jack and Uncle Monkey tell the girls about their trip to the West End

That evening, my dad, Pam, and Jared looked after the girls while Seth and I went out for dinner to celebrate our seventh anniversary.  Can you believe it’s been that long?  Seth and I had the most delicious meal at 52 seasons and spent the evening reflecting on our time together and all the people that have supported us along the way.  We really do have the most wonderful friends and family!!!

The girls had a good night with my family and went right to bed. Sunday was not as good for Mina.

The girls were happy in the morning so we went out to Cabela’s with my family to let the girls see the fish.  Both girls both enjoyed emulating fish lips and seeing all the stuffed game displayed around the store.  Unfortunately we overstayed our time there and Mina let us know that she was not happy.

Mina (yellow) and Evie (pink) enjoy looking at the fish

So Seth and I left my dad, Pam, and Jared at the store to put the girls down for a nap.   They both slept for a long time, but every time poor Mina woke up she was just not happy.  Since we didn’t want to upset her anymore, but we still wanted to take Pam and Jared out for their birthdays, Seth and Mina stayed home while Evie and I took the others to Babe’s Chicken (believe it or not, it was Seth’s recommendation).

Evie at Babe's Chicken

Dinner was delicious and we all had a good time, but I missed Seth and Mina.  It wasn’t the same without them.   When we got back from dinner, Mina was like a brand new person.  She was so smiley and happy.  Her daddy knows just what to do for a happy Mina.  He gave her a bath as soon as we left and then they ate tons of gnocchi :-)  You should have seen the smile on her face when we got home.  Oh how it made my day!

Moving on into the week - The girls both had a good days at school (even though Evie has become one of the “biters” in class.  She never does it at home, so I don’t know what to do…. The school said that both of the girls have been really happy and social, but at home Mina has still been on the irritable side (and is continuing to pull on her ear).  The antibiotics have made her tummy all wobbly too.

She's got another appointment with her pedi on Thursday for a check up so well hopefully she'll be better before then.   It just makes me realize how lucky we are.  The girls are are so sweet and really only fussy when they don't feel good.  Comparatively they really haven't gotten sick very often.  The doctor reacted in suprise when looking at Mina's chart she noticed that it had been over six months since she'd been in.  Regardless, illness is not easy on any mom and it breaks my heart to see her cry.  I hope I can report back soon with news of sweet smiles from our Mina bean.