Little Artist(s)

Today was another stay at home day! I had high hopes on at least making it to Elizabeth's Little Gym class, but decided instead to give Katherine one more day to make sure she's over HFMD. I thought that I would at least make a trip to the PO to mail a birthday present to my step-sister, Vivi. The weather had other ideas. It was not exactly the best for going out with girls today. It was pouring rain off and on most of the day and we even had a few tornado watches and warnings. I think we're all going to be glad to get out of the house tomorrow!

This morning when I turned off the TV I noticed that the girl(s) had successfully added smudges to the screen. I didn't give much of a thought to it until a little later in the day. After the girls went down from their naps, I looked up from my laptop and saw a lion on the TV. That's right the girls smudged what looks like a lion on our TV. I'm fairly certain that it was Katherine's handy work since she was really into a movie that was on the other day and drooling profusely (thanks to HFMD). I don't even remember the name of the movie, but it was one about a Lion (and no it wasn't the Lion King). Keifer Sutherland was the father Lion's voice. Anyone know the name of the movie? After many attempts to get a decent picture of it, I finally think I got one. I'm sure it was just some random smudges, but it really looks like a lion!

Hand, Foot & Mouth Disease (HFMD)

I guess we can't avoid all of the childhood virus'. Katherine came down with Hand, Foot & Mouth last week. Unfortunately, there is not much that can be done for it besides Motrin and a lot of holding. It was so difficult to see my baby sob continuously. For those who aren't familiar with her personality. It is rare for her to even run a fever or act sick when she is sick, so you can just imagine how hard this week was for me. Then add that it is highly contagious so we were house bound for the rest of the week (I'm hoping that today will be the last day of our quarantine). The good news is that she's finally got her appetite back and her fever is gone! She seems pretty normal today. Now we just have to watch and hope that Elizabeth doesn't get it. It's been a rough week for her, too. She, of course like any big sister, was a little jealous of all of the extra attention that her little sister was getting. Usually it's the other way around.

Along with having HFMD, Katherine started using a new word. She's started to say, "omma." We are thinking that is might be "more", but I'm starting to lean towards it meaning Momma. Maybe since her throat was hurting this week she dropped the leading M. We'll be watching to see if "omma" sticks around or goes away with HFMD.

Next week will start my adventure at the YMCA. I just can't seem to get into a normal workout routine at home and with free child watch I should be able to finally get back to shape. I'm looking forward to it since several of my girlfriends already have memberships. There should be a lot of support and motivation there. Although, I'm the one with the longest journey back to my pre-child figure. YIKES! It certainly could be much worse. My goal is to run in the 5k Race for the Cure (usually in October) and to follow that with a half marathon (13 miles). You'd think I've completely lost my mind, right? I hope that will be followed with Dennis and I finally putting a trip to some magnificent peak(s) back in our travel plans. I would love to hit each of the ones (Everest base camp, Mt. Kilimanjaro, and Machu Picchu) we've considered, but that's not going to happen unless we win the lottery (which we rarely play).

A Quick Catch Up!

Usually our Christmas card contains a letter giving everyone an general run down of what we've been up to over the last year. That didn't happen this year. I'm hoping that it will resume next year time permitting. So the idea of this is to let those who we aren't in contact with on a regular basis during the year know what's been going on in the Frambes household. I'm sure that there will be a lot of things missing, so if you have any questions please leave me a comment and I'll answer it.

This is our 5th year in Charlotte, NC and it looks like this will continue to be home for quite some time. Dennis still works for Time Warner Cable (16 years now!). I am still staying at home with the girls. Although, I was bitten by the go back to work bug it just doesn't make sense right now. Maybe in a couple more years. Katherine turned 1 in January and Elizabeth will be 4 in June of this year.

Elizabeth is finishing up her second year in preschool. This year she was in preschool at the church that we attend and loved it. She'll be continuing that next year. She also has speech therapy 2 times a week. She is also wrapping up a year of Little Gym (precursor to gymnastics and dance). We won't be continuing that as she's lost interest in it. I think we'll be trying swim lessons this summer and maybe soccer. Elizabeth is a tomboy and loves cars, trains and planes.

Katherine is a crazy 15 month old. Her and Elizabeth are certainly opposites. Katherine loves dolls and all things girly. She is also a climber. After she took her first steps at 11 months she was set on walking more and more every day. There was no going back to crawling for this little girl. She talks a million miles a minute. I wonder where she gets that from (certainly not me!). At 15 months, she clearly says, "Hi Grandpa (or Grandma or Momma or Dada, or Sizzer(her version of sister), or Bandit dog)", "How are you?", "I'm fine.", "I love you.", "Thank you.", "All mine"(Thank you Elizabeth and Lazy Town!) and the list of not so clear, but recognizable phrases, songs and words is huge! She can mimic the ABC song to about H on a consistent basis. You say it she repeats it (which is not so good some times). She loves peek-a-boo, bath time, and to be tickled. She's now to the point where she's no longer allowing Elizabeth push her around and take toys away without protesting or putting up a fight. She's a smart cookie that has quickly learned just how to get her big sister into trouble. The one thing that we are still working on is sleeping through the night. That has certainly taking it's toll on everyone in the household.

Both girls keep us on our toes and give us plenty of entertainment! Parenthood has certainly been quite an adventure thus far and we look forward to many more adventures. I am hoping that I'll be able to capture some of adventures here to share with all of you. Enjoy!