Florida Vacation - Part 1

It has been a little over a week since my last post because we have been enjoying a much needed family vacation. We spent a full week in Fort Walton, Florida on the beach. It was so nice. The weather was awesome never getting above 92 degrees with low humidity. It was the first time the girls have been to the beach and seen sand. They LOVED it. Lexyn is definitely part water bug! Brittyn had a blast sitting on the edge of the water and playing with a bucket and a shovel. Neither one of them minded the sand at all. Because we did so much, and took 1000's of pictures, I am going to do several posts dividing the pictures out.
This first post is of all the fun water, waves, and sand time we had.

Fair warning, LOTS OF PICTURES BELOW!!!!







Gamma and Brittyn playing in the sand.



The girls playing with their buckets. Lexyn wanted Brittyn's bucket every time. She really just wanted to dump the water out. We made many trips to the water to fill our buckets.







Lexyn waving



playing with my girls



walking Lexyn down to the water



Lexyn wanted so bad to let go and walk in the water by herself. She just wasn't able to keep her balance from the waves.



Daddy and Brittyn



Excited Lexyn



Brittyn and her bucket



daddy and Lexyn enjoying the water



Ben and me, notice the clear water. It was so pretty and clear, and a blue green color.



Gamma and Brittyn playing in the sand. Brittyn would fall down in the sand a lot when she was walking down hill to the water, so she found it easier to just scoot on her booty. Notice the long booty path behind her!



Ben got to enjoy a few scuba dives with my dad. That is his favorite part, to see the under water life. In this picture he is holding a sea cucumber.



I love this picture. Brittyn and daddy looking at the water.

Again, daddy and Brittyn looking at the water.

Lexyn and I playing in the water.

Brittyn was so excited to be standing in the water by herself at the pool.

Brittyn and I enjoying the water.

Lexyn and I

Brittyn and daddy

Our family of 4 standing in the water, with our condo in the background.

Me with my girlies

So, so cute! Lexyn's little foot prints in the sand.

Sorry for so many pictures, but I just couldn't pick out a few. I did actually narrow it down to this many!!! We had a great time, and the girls did really good to be out of their routine and surroundings. They even did pretty good on the drive down and back. Thank goodness for DVD players in the car.

Up next, our attempt at posed pictures many different times!

Lots of Swinging and Sliding going on

In October of last year some of our good friends from church gave us a LittleTikes Castle swing and slide fort. Last weekend Ben and I cleaned it up real good and moved it into their playroom. It has been too hot to go swing on our swings outside so now we have one inside. They absolutely LOVE it, and have been playing their hearts out on it. They have figured out how to climb the slide and then turn around and slide down. Lexyn can even climb into the swing and turn around and holler at us to push her. The girl has to be part monkey, she climbs everything. In therapy they have been working on boundaries which has helped them in realizing where the surface ends before falling off.

The fun that is had in a box!

The other day I emptied out a Pampers diaper box and set it on a shelf in the girls playroom. My into everything daughter (Brittyn) found it and pulled it on the floor. They both kept crawling in and out of it, so my mom started pushing them around. They absolutely LOVED it.



Oh the things you have to do to get 2 faces looking at the camera with smiles!!!!

Lexyn

Lexyn is somewhat pitching a fit because she isn't in the box! They are not very good at this taking turns and sharing thing.

Yes, Lexyn did spot Brittyn with her tongue out and she started trying to grab it. They are so fun to watch together.

Cute pics

I have some cute pictures I want to share. The girls are getting more and more fun everyday. They had a blast riding this toy and then figured out how to push each other on it.



Lexyn and me

Lexyn pushing Brittyn

Brittyn's turn

Lexyn's turn

Daddy rocking his girls. Evening bottle snuggle time after baths is special for all of us!

Lexyn's first haircut

Today Lexyn got her first haircut, at 14 months old. The back of her hair was growing very uneven, so I decided it was time to shape it up and make it look thicker. I was planning on holding her in the salon chair because I figured she would throw a fit and of course not sit still, well I was wrong. She sat on the booster in the salon chair and never moved. My friend Anna cut it, so part of it could be that Lexyn knew her pretty good. She wore a cape and held two clippies to keep her entertained. It only took like 2 minutes but she did great. She was too grown up sitting in a salon chair! It looks really cute now, straight and thicker looking, like she has a little bob haircut.

And the finished product!

By the way, she is doing so much better. All the salmonella symptoms have passed, and she is feeling so much better and even back to herself again.

Salmonella Indeed

The nurse called this morning letting me know they finally got the results back from the stool culture. Lexyn does indeed have Salmonella. In a way I am relieved to know what she has and not be worrying about finding a diagnosis. Lexyn is also doing lots better. She only had 2 bad diapers yesterday and only 4 on Saturday so I think we are hopefully coming to an end on that part. As far as the Salmonella it is what caused the blood in her stools, and most likely what caused the high fever. The symptoms last for 7 to 10 days (this is day 9) but she will be contagious for a while. The only way it is contagious is through the stool, so washing hands really well after diaper changes and cleaning the changing area is the recommendation for not spreading it. The Salmonella lives in her intestines so she can test positive and be contagious for up to 6 months. They said to keep her hydrated and let her eat whatever she wants to help gain back the half of pound she lost, which is not good when you only weigh 15 pounds and 13 ounces at 14 months old! I am suppose to take a diaper in to be retested when we go for her 15 month check up in September. That will give us an idea of where she stands. We aren't sure where she got it from could be a number of possibilities; eating of restaurant tables, or rawhide dog bones, or touching dirty stuff at stores or restaurants. But we do not ride in shopping carts without our cover on and we do not sit in restaurant high chairs without our covers on so those are not likely.
Since the girls AGG blood count has been real low since birth I have tried to somewhat be a germ freak because they are likely to catch everything, but I try not to be too bad. However, now I will probably be way too bad! I don't want to take any chances of getting this again.