I got dehydrated . . .

Not sure how it happened since I am usually pretty obsessive about fluid intake and I always have my big honkin' water bottle with me. I think I was just not very thirsty today and forgot to drink. I had what I mistakenly thought was a sinus headache that got progressively worse throughout the day. By this evening I was in some serious pain. Lee said it is a "meningeal sign" headache from dehydration. So I have been pushing fluids tonight. Feeling some better now, but I still have the headache if I bend over or move around certain ways. Mariele has been nursing a lot. I guess she has been taking fluid out of me faster than I have been replacing it.

Sweet smelling play dough!

Analese's current issue of Highlights magazine has these instructions for making sweet smelling play dough. If you click on the photo and make it big, you can see the instructions.



First we took 2 cups of water, 2 tablespoons of oil and one cherry kool-aid unsweetened drink mix packet and mixed it together in a bowl:




Then we mixed together in a pot 2 cups of flour, 1 cup of salt, and 4 teaspoons of cream of tartar:






Then we dumped the bowl mixture into the pot mixture and stirred it all around:



Then I cooked the mixture over medium heat. I understand why this step number 4 is for adults. Besides the fact that the stove is involved, this step takes some serious muscle! It thickens up and gets very hard to stir. That is when you know it is ready. I plopped it out of the pot onto some wax paper to cool:



Then I kneaded it and it quickly became this smooth and awesome play-dough! The texture is just unsurpassed! You just don't get the same pleasing texture with store bought play dough. And this play dough smells awesome! It smells just like cherry kool-aid, and it has the most beautiful, vibrant color. And it is GREAT fun to squish in your hands! I'm telling you, Lee and I were revisiting childhood with this play dough! We gave Analese a rolling pin and some cutters and she had GREAT fun:

Really is one of her favorite lounge spots!

Conversation with the Hubby . . .

First let me say that after having Mariele, Lee kicked my butt a little about getting out of the house with both girls. He told me that I had to go grocery shopping with both girls some time and that practice would make perfect etc. Well, here is the dialogue that we had on our walk last night:

Lee: I think we should all go to your hair appointment with you tomorrow so that Mariele is not too far away from you if she needs to nurse.

Me: That's a great idea!

Lee: I just don't know what exactly to do with the girls for 2 hours while you are getting your hair fixed.

Me: Wal-Mart Supercenter is right across the street. Let me email you the g-store list and you can do the shopping.

Lee: (incredulous) I can't take two kids to the g-store and shop from a list!!

I think he popped that statement out before thinking! I reminded him that the Baby Bjorn is, in fact, adjustable, and he carried Analese in it a lot when she was a baby.

Uniquely Mariele

When Mariele was born, she looked alarmingly like Analese. So much so that I thought I had given birth to identical twins 32.5 months apart. As Mariele is growing, she is developing her own unique features and expressions and personality. She is such a good and easygoing baby (more so than Analese was, not that Analese was bad, she was just not quite as easy as Mariele). Mariele only cries when she wants a little help going to sleep. For her daytime naps sometimes she likes to swing while she listens to her ipod playlist. That makes her very happy and contented. She never cries in the middle of the night. She makes little hunger grunts and I pick her up and nurse her. She is an extremely happy baby. She smiles and grins at us all the time! Just this morning she was majorly flirting with her Daddy at breakfast. I cannot imagine life without this miraculous gift that God has blessed me with. She just fits right into our family as if she has always been with us. Here are some pics I took this morning while we were watching Analese's dance class. Although they are camera phone pics, they do show a true representation of Mariele's expression and features. She does bear a sisterly resemblance to Analese, but she is very uniquely Mariele and she is beautiful and gorgeous and I love her so much that my heart goes pitter pat just looking at her:

More Wordless Wednesday

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