Marriage...

For those interested - Bryan and Erin will be "tying the knot" on May 10th!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

DISNEY BOUND!!

I just booked our first family trip (minus Sarah) to Disney!! I am just GIDDY!! We go Jan. 25-29! We are flying, too, which is another happy! This trip has been in the planning stages for a year or more, so I'm so excited to actually have REAL DATES to go! We aren't telling Beth until a few days before we leave!! YIPPEE! I'm planning to book a time at the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique for Beth to be get all dolled up (and maybe me, too!) and that will be the same day she gets to go to Epcot to the Princess luncheon! Think she'll dig that??

Torticollis

I was diagnosed with VIRAL TORTICOLLIS a week ago, after dealing with HORRIBLE neck and upper back pain for a few days in Lexington (I literally couldn't turn my head and any movement at all hurt like the dickens!) I'm taking some hefty Motrin and muscle relaxers now (only at night), but, I'm really not getting a lot better. They even tested me for menongitis (eek -scary!), but it was negative, thankfully! So, I'm stuck with a sore, stiff neck for now. Its really a pain in the a$$! The doc wants me to cut my muscle relaxers in half and take them during the day, too, to see if that helps! I hate taking "those" kind of prescriptions - the ones that make me feel so "out of it." I even hate some allergy medications for the same reason. I just don't like feeling so out of control of my own body.

What is torticollis?
Torticollis, also known as wryneck, is a twisting of the neck that causes the head to rotate and tilt at an odd angle.

Torticollis is caused by irritation to cervical nerves, which results in spasm of the neck muscles. In addition to vigorous movement or injury, torticollis may be caused by the following:
sleeping in an awkward position
anxiety
neck muscle injury at birth
burn injury
any injury that causes heavy scarring and skin shrinkage
neck muscle spasm
herniated disc
viral or bacterial infection

What are the symptoms of torticollis?
The following are the most common symptoms of torticollis. However, each individual may experience symptoms differently. Symptoms may include:
neck muscle pain or pain down the spine
inability to turn the head, usually holding it twisted to one side
spasm of the neck muscles
awkward position of the chin

The Apple Orchard and Pumpkin Patch!

We FINALLY made it to the Apple Orchard today...and what a let down. I don't think we'll go back. Only AFTER purchasing apples I ASSUMED were grown there, I learned that they were bought in from somewhere else because the April freeze killed most of their apple blossoms. I could have gone to Walmart and bought the exact same apples. Geez. So anyway, we let the girls play in the corn pit and that was interesting. It had some foul odor that was just awful, so we scooped them out of there and went to pet the farm animals. Okay - so they had two goats, 4 piglets a calf and an older calf and two gineau pigs (at a petting zoo?) and three ducks...none of which looked healthy, but they entertained the girls for a few moments. After about 45 minutes, we were outa there....overall, it wasn't a great experience. SOOO, we decided to stop at the pumpkin patch, the same one that Beth's nursery school class goes to, on the way home. It was SO much better....cleaner and the animals looked nice and healthy and there was more to do. But, as luck would have it, I ran out of "space" on my digital camera and didn't get many great shots at the Pumpkin Patch. Oh well. We were there for about 1 1/2 hours and then went to eat dinner at DQ (of all places!) . Both girls were in bed by 7:00! Day well done!

Beth at the Orchard:

Sarah at the Pumpkin Patch:
Sarah feeding the nice fat cow at the Pumpkin Patch:
Beth and Sarah going through the hay maze at the Pumpkin Patch:

Sarah ...18 months old.

Sarah is 18 months old now.....so we went today for her 18 month check-up and guess what - she's still little! Big surprise, I know! She's 21 1/2 lbs and 31 1/2 inches tall. That is how big Beth was at her 12 month check-up. Everyone always asks why Sarah looks so much younger than Beth did at this age...well the answer is she is just SMALLER! Plain and simple! The doctor says she will catch up - no worries! I don't think he ever met my grandmother Honey, though! She was a TINY woman....maybe Sarah is taking after her?? That would be a good thing! Sarah is doing everything she is supposed to be doing at 18 months and saying MANY more words than the "norm" at this age. I'd say I can understand between 30-40 words if I actually wrote them all down. Now, I'm not sure ANYONE else would understand all those words, but I sure do! She's still spunky, fiesty and energetic! There's no slowing her down!

Ky Horse Park - Then and Now

In 2004 when we took Beth to her first UK game in Lexington, we also made a stop at the Kentucky Horse Park that Sunday morning before heading home. She loved the statues and running free and getting her "horsey" (little stuffed horse she STILL sleeps with), but HATED the real horses and was terrified of them. This time around - 3 years later and with a little sister in tow - she LOVED them and even rode a pony! That's BIG, believe me! Of course, just like everything else that is different between the two siblings, Sarah LOVED the horses an she was just fascinated. It was like de ja vu - we did a quick tour of the park and then played on the playground and JUST LIKE IN 2004 - it was MELT DOWN time when we left the playground to go eat. Beth had the meltdown..not Sarah! MAJOR MELTDOWN! Sarah had a few tears, but she was just plain hungry!

So - take a trip down memory lane with me - Beth at the Horsepark 2004 vs. 2007....

And Beth vs. Sarah at Horse Park - each were exactly 18 months old when they went:

BETH:

SARAH:

Do you see a theme here? The PLAYGROUND? It was perhaps the highlight of the day! I wish both girls had been in a better mood to capture some GOOD pictures. We DID manage to get a FEW....

So, exactly how many HANDS tall are my girls? It appears that Beth is just a tad over 11 hands tall and Sarah...well....Sarah barely made the chart at 7 hands tall!

HEY LOOK - EVERYONE is SMILING!!!! (even the horse!)
I LOVE THIS PICTURE:
There are LOTS of other pictures I could post, but I'd bore you to death with pictures of beautiful horse and horse country and my beautiful daughters in the middle of the beautiful horse country! Okay....just one picture of pretty Kentucky horse country...

The rolling hills...the spralling white fences...totally Kentucky! Love it!