I'm alive, I promise!! Gosh, with hot weather here now, and the kids, and everyone being sick for a while, the time has just flown by. School will be out before I know it, and then I will have even less time. We are all doing well. We went through a phase where everyone (except Daniel and Maddie) had a bad cold, which I honestly think was strep, but thankfully, it has gotten better for everyone. Gracie still has tonsils the size of baseballs, and I still have a bad cough, but the fevers are gone, and I am happy for that. We had to buy a van. It is not new, it's a 2000 Ford Windstar. Our van died on us a few weeks back and we had done nothing ubt sink money into it for months and things just kept going wrong, so it finally came to that point where we had put more money into it than it was worth. Now we get to deal with a car payment....yuck. But I really like the van, and it does good for us. I really liked my old van, it was just so "us". I loved everything about it. But we said good bye to it and Gracie screamed all the way home after we bought the new one. She wanted our old one back....

Chandler is doing real good. He was put on some new medication and it has really helped to level out his mood and control the outburts and hand biting, etc. I am so happy we finally found something that works. His walking has improved so much, he walks everywhere now, and I swear he looks like he wants to try steps, but I am just not ready for that one. He had musical at school that he was able to participate in two weeks ago and it was so cute. It was a sea creature theme and he laughed through the whole thing. It was nice to finally see him participating in school activities. This was his first program.

Gracie is fine, she is spending most of her time outdoors now that the weather is so nice. She is so independant that she never needs anyone, which is good at times, but sometimes I miss my little girl. We are completely potty trained now, thank God! In some ways it was easier than I thought it would be, but we still hit a few rough spots, but I guess that is to be expected. She seems to be proud of being able to wear big girl panties, so we reward her with cute new ones every so often. Her favorites now are "Over the Hedge" and they have skunks all over them.

Maddie is well, she is really growing, and finally putting on some weight She is still very small, but she is growing! I had her at the WIC office on May 2nd, and she weighed 9 lbs 7 ounces. Her little face is finally filling out, and she is just now starting to get rolls on her legs. Her eyes have changed from the dark blue grey to a very deep brown. I am so happy that she has brown eyes. Actually she is a carbon copy of what Chandler looked like as an infant. Only much smaller. She had her 2 month checkup on May 16th and she weighed 10 lbs 2 ounces and was 21 1/2" long. She got 4 shots, 2 in each leg, and she did pretty well with them. I gave her Tylenol for two days to help her out. I hated seeing her have to get them. That is one part of motherhood that never gets any easier. We also got a good report that she has really good muscle tone. We always look for that because of Chandler's problems, and thankfully, she is showing no signs of any problems. She is a really strong little girl. She has great head control and is already pushing up when you lay her on her belly. It is so fun to watch her exploring everything. She found herslf in the mirror the other day and let out the cutest giggle. She smiles so easily at everyone and seems so curious to read peoples faces. She is really maturing qucikly. I just wish she would stay a baby for a lot longer.

I am doing okay, I am still having trouble with the baby weight. I still have only lost 10 pounds since I had Maddie, and it is getting really frustrating. I've been taking long walks in the evenings, with the kids and Daniel. We walk all over the place, looking at the cows and spying on spiders and bugs and sometimes if we're lucky we see frogs. Each evening Gracie wants to go explore new things. And God knows I need to get out of the house by then. I am able to fit into some of my pre pregnancy clothes but ot many. I have had to buy new shorts ad pants, and even some shirts. I still have a 5 months pregnant belly, it is so sickening. I am really not disgusted with the number that I am at, just where the weight is sitting is bad. It is all in my belly. I have a donut around my waist and I hate it. I will try and post some pics of the family soon. I got some good ones over the Memorial Day holiday, so I will try and get them up soon. Oh, and I spoiled myself with a new tattoo on Memorial Day. I may just have to post a picture of that too. It's on my lower back, right now it is just black and white, but eventually I will have it colored in. My brother is a tattoo artist so I can just stop by there anytime I want it colored in. I am really happy with it. It hurt like hell, but I guess it was worth it.

Thats about it for us. I just wanted to report on how we're all doing since it has been so long. I miss everyone.

I posted a few new pics on the baby site!