Thanksgiving 2009

We decided to go to another parade this Thanksgiving, but this time instead of going to NYC we decided to try Philadelphia's parade out. Here are the pros and cons of Philly's parade:

Pro: Waking up at 8:30 instead of 3am
Walking to the train station instead of driving to the ferry
Spending $12 on a train ticket instead of $4 per person for the ferry plus $100 for the parking ticket we got (I guess we shouldn't have trusted the people who told us not to worry about where we parked our car)
Seeing the floats up close instead of on our tiptoes trying to decide if we were looking at a turkey or Santa Claus

Cons: Not being able to enjoy the very distinct smell that NYC has to offer
Not being able to enjoy the look of the garbage lined streets of New York

Okay so New York really wasn't that bad, actually I LOVE NYC, but this was so much easier and better for the girls.
My parents even came out to celebrate this year with us. Gigi and Madeline were in 7th Heaven. David enjoyed a few great football games with his friends and I really enjoyed not watching any football games :)
To top it all off Tony and Candy did all of the cooking and they made a fabulous meal! Of course I forgot my camera so you'll just have to believe me. It was truly a feast :) Thanks!!

Waiting for the train

Super Grover!

Gigi with her own Dora parade balloon. Gigi was pretty thrilled about this!

Sweet little Madeline was great the whole time.

When Gigi saw this Nutcracker she ran to it and said, "it's just like from the Carebears." The only movie we have of the carebears is a knockoff of the nutcracker...I guess I should have explained things a bit better :)

We finally went to Love park.

I love that Madeline will still fall asleep on the go.

Gigi was so tired that today she fell asleep playing house.

Unorthodox Lessons from Fairy Tales

On Sunday, someone in church spoke about how we should teach doctrine rather than behavior. We have tried to teach Angelique to always tell the truth with strict rules about not lying (behavior). So, on the way home from church, I told her the story The Boy Who Cried Wolf (doctrine). At the end of the story, Bethany asked her, "What does that story teach us?" Angelique's reply was, "Never watch the sheep by yourself."

My Girl

Gigi at a Scottish festival this last summer.

Gigi and I have some pretty consistent battles. Some of the big ones are washing her hair and cutting her nails. She detests both of these activities and lets me know it. Yesterday she surprised me by saying, "I'm not going to whine when you wash my hair. It's okay Mommy I don't mind if you do it." It was wonderful. Later when I went to cut her nails she said the same thing. She even told me that she was going to help Madeline all day, which was true about 80% of the time (not bad at all!).
This evening I had to go to an orchestra rehearsal at the church and so David had to get the girls ready for bed. When I got home Gigi was about to get into bed and she told me, "I asked Daddy to give me a blessing so I can be more obedient for you." I was pretty shocked. Then after we sang to her and put her to bed she asked Daddy to come back for a minute. This is pretty typical, she usually wants him to give her another kiss or to open the curtains a little more or something else to stall for a few extra seconds, but tonight she asked him to help me put the food away and to have Madeline sleep well so that I could get some rest.
I am amazed at how perceptive Gigi is at 3. By herself she decided that she wanted to be a better daughter and sister. She is such a sweetheart I had to blog about this so I wouldn't forget it.

Answer to Prayer

Last Sunday both Madeline and Gigi came down with a bad case of the flu. They seemed to be doing better and by Thursday their fevers were gone. Then Thursday night Madeline's fever came back and she got really sick fast. She would wake up and just moan because she was too weak to cry. She would try to sleep, but would wake up every few minutes coughing. Friday morning David took her to the doctor's office and they found that she had pneumonia and an ear infection. They said that if she got any worse to call them and take her to the hospital. They started her on antibiotics that day. She basically slept/moaned for over 24 hours. (side note: Gigi got started on antibiotics on Saturday night because she started complaining of an earache, luckily she is now feeling much better!)
As a mom it was a pretty scary moment. My girls have never really been super sick before and poor Madeline looked so helpless. I called my mom and explained the situation. She took action. She called basically everyone in my family and told them to pray for Madeline and put her name in the prayer role. David and I prayed over and over for her too. David also gave her a blessing that day. On Saturday she perked up and today she is back to her old self crawling around like crazy and smiling constantly. Tonight she even started saying mama :) (until tonight she has only said dada). I know that Heavenly Father answered our prayers and helped our sweet little Madeline to get better.

I am so thankful for my wonderful husband who skipped 2 days of school to take care of us(I got pretty sick too and was unable to do much for a few days). He took over everything: dishes, diapers, laundry, throw up, running to the pharmacy, etc. He even figured out how to make homemade pizza dough. It turned out pretty good :) Thank you David. I am so lucky to have you!
Also, Thank you Canders for risking your own health to take care of us. We sure love you!!
David and I were talking about Madeline the other night and he said how if we had lived 100 years ago she probably would have just died. I am so happy that we don't have to worry about that. We love our little Madeline so much and couldn't imagine life without her. Here are a few things we love about her:

She's always smiling, no matter the sitaution.

She's quietly curious. She's always eagar to explore, but sometimes get into mischief because she's so quiet. She's pretty good at getting to whatever it is she's interested in.

She's always crawling to us! I love how much she love us!!

She adores her sister Gigi and loves being a part of her games.

Halloween

Sleeping Beauty pumpkin
For months Gigi has been talking about Halloween. Gigi saw the Wizard of Oz last Christmas and since that time has loved Dorothy. Of course this year she wanted to dress up as Dorothy for Halloween. However, when Gigi plans things she figures out every detail. Here is what she came up with :

Gigi- Dorothy
Madeline- Toto
Bethany- Auntie Em
David- The tin man
Candy- The scarecrow
Tony- The cowardly lion
Grandma Parent (she came out for the week)- Glynda the good witch
Monkey monk (her monkey from build a bear)- the wicked witch of the west
all other stuffed animals- flying monkeys

Everyone mentioned above loves Gigi so much that we all complied. (My mom even let me spray paint her hair pink!)
It was a lot of fun coming up with makeshift costumes. My friend Megan helped me make Gigi's without a pattern...experts please don't look too closely :)

In case you can't tell (from left to right) Glynda, Tin Man, Auntie Em, Scarecrow and lion. Bottom: Dorothy and Toto


Isn't my mom awesome? I still can't believe she let me paint her hair pink!!!


Poor David- When I put his costume on I didn't think about eating.


The girls are already fighting over candy (no we didn't really let Madeline eat any..well not much anyway :) )

We had a blast going to all of the fun Halloween festivities, but Sunday night Gigi and then Madeline came down with a fever and cough. Gigi's has been pretty minor, but Madeline has had a fever of 102.3 degrees on and off today. It's so sad seeing my energetic girls so lethargic. On the bright side I actually get to have some snuggle time.