the plague hath cometh

...to the Sluys household. Like seriously people, I had a temp over 104 (got sick of waiting for the beep and pulled it out at that point). Haven't had that ever, I don't believe. It's like the cold/flu of death. Naturally, not much has been going on here that is worth writing about over the past week, as we're all sick, but today I felt a little bit better and decided to update the blog like I told mama I'd do a week ago, with new pictures of my girls. Andie Lucie just had her half-birthday after all, and that is a big reason to celebrate! ...and she did, too:A (sideways...why does this sometimes happen?!) picture of my little lady gnawing on a champagne bottle. I was in the kitchen chatting to Jeff and didn't even notice right away! Pretty funny girl. Hope this isn't a sign of things to come...Later, we went to dance class.
We also painted our nails:

...and took naps (well, one of us took a nap, and someone else got to go to tumble class, and then one unfortunate person got stuck doing dishes):

and then we took some more photos, just for fun:

...and having some fun after dinner...
...and then we brushed our teeth, read stories, and sang songs:
NIGHT-NIGHT!!!! (as we say here)
(sorry about the badly rotated photos)

Laundry

(Note to my mama, and others, if interesed: I fixed the comment thingy, so you can comment without an account now, yippee! So give me some love. Not sure how that happened)

It seems like no matter how often I do it, the laundry always piles up. I pat myself on the back for doing such a great job, finding the bottom of a seemingly-endless pile of clothes, and then whaddaya know, the pile's about the same size as Mt. Fuji in what seems like a day or so. Isn't it amazing how, when you are a mom, you will do anything for a little time to yourself? I know today I was so annoyed and just feeling really harrassed: All I wanted was to be able to do the dishes, fold the clothes, and take a shower. Seems reasonable right? Sometimes it seems as if our children have been sent here to test our patience or something. It's just maddening, really. I was thinking today, this is RIDICULOUS. All I want to do is the darn laundry- not even mostly MY laundry! I wish the kids could understand how this was complete nonsense, I mean really, going through my head is, "I just want to put away the d@#! clothes. I want to put away YOUR clothes, clean up YOUR mess from breakfast, and make YOUR bed. In peace!" If someone offered me that deal- you leave me alone and I'll do all your chores- I'd be saying, sweet, I think I'll catch up on my reading/TV. It's amazing how your desires can go from going out and having fun to just wanting to be able to clean the house. But as I was putting away all the clothes, going as fast as possible because the baby started fussing after I hung up just 2 shirts, I had to smile. I love looking at those little itty-bitty onesies with teddy bears on them. I love Aili's little tinkerbell undies. I love dirty blankets that just smell like BABY (you know, my breast milk most likely, spit up on it). Really, I've got it pretty good. I mean, in 10 years I'm pretty sure that the underwear I'll be washing won't have tinkerbell on it. And the shirts won't have teddy bears. My girls will have "big girl" clothes, and there is a possibility that every time I do the laundry, I'll end up terrified when I see exactly what they're wearing udner those clothes, and doing a load of laundry may necessitate a rather unfortunate conversation about what is and what isn't appropriate attire to be wearing, etc, etc.
I think maybe I'll start working harder to teach Aili to do her own laundry.

Japan

I think we should all take a minute and say a prayer for the people of Japan. I can't even imagine how terrifying that earthquake, and the resulting tsunami, must have been, or how people who don't know if their relatives are ok must feel. (I have an uncle who lives in Japan who is, thankfully, unharmed). I went to Japan back in 2003, and visited Hiroshima and went to the Kobe earthquake-simulation center. Both times, I cried. (Yes there were all these Japanese people there, laughing and talking, and then there is me- the American girl- crying) I'd post some pictures if I could, but Miss Andie Lucie's wanting to nurse so I have to be quick about this. Let's just say that pictures of Japan after the earthquake were so awful it stayed with me for quite awhile. I've been in a couple of big earthquakes myself, in California, but I can't imagine dealing with all the disaster resulting from this quake. Their country has been through quite a bit of tragedy so I think we all should hug our loved ones a little bit more today and just be grateful.

Sisters

Can I just say how incredibly excited I am to be raising sisters? Especially ones that already seem to adore each other? I feel so blessed.
I always wanted a sister when I was younger. I felt like I was missing something for a long time. I don't know when exactly it was, but I came to the realization that I have everything I need. I DO have sisters, the fact that they're not from the same mom and dad means nada. Lisa and Desiree are my "sisters," and I could.not.be.more.lucky! I don't make friends real easy. I don't even have *that many* friends. I don't collect them on facebook like they're candy or something. In fact, my dear friend Lisa is the only one who comments on this blog with any regularity (other people claim to read it, but never comment...why is this people? Oh well.) I'm not really sure why this is- I consider myself to be a social person, I love people, and the friends I do have, I keep. I'm also very loyal. I don't have "falling outs" with friends. To me, 'tis better to have a few GREAT friends than lots of acquaintance-friends, so I am lucky. So, as Lisa stated in HERE, we totally plan to be marriage-related through our kiddos, Toby and Andie Lucie. Why Andie Lucie and not Aili you ask? Well, we don't want anyone calling her a cougar ;-) Don't you think they would make adorable babies? See, Look:











Don't take my word for it, though. I had a little fun morphing their images into a baby-maker software thingy. (No I am not insane...really) Now, you have to ignore the overlay on the baby's face, I think it's because Andie's wearing a hat in the picture I morphed, but other than that isn't this baby CUTE?Well, you get the *general* idea. Adorable babies indeed!

Let's Have An Edamame-Eating Party, Shall We?

Here she is learning the proper etiquette for shelling and eating edamame- LOVED it. After the baby went to bed, she and I stayed up and played- edamame, movies, fun. Baby Andie: Loves playing with Aili's cheer class poms, and "napping" in Aili's version of a stroller- she likes to load her up with toys and drag her around the house in a laundry basket.





Cheer Class- She likes the trampoline and tumbling the best. Andie Lucie likes to cheer her on!