Red, White, Blue and pink?

Charli and I have Conjunctivitis aka Pink Eye.  Let me tell you, Charli is a brave soul.  She (with minimal fight) has let me put drops in her eyes 4 times today.  2 drops per eye 4 times a day for 3 days. That's a lot for me, much less a 2 year old!

Why is it that kids get sick on weekends and holidays?  I know my parents have many a story of being out of town and we get sick and need to see a doctor.  Charli and I were at the Minor Med this morning for 2 hours. Two hours of waiting to see a FNP for literally less than 2 minutes.  And guess what? It's exactly what I was sure it was!  There was no way I was paying an additional $30 to see her for 2 minutes.  If Charli has pink eye and I have irritated, watery eyes too- what are the chances that mine isn't pink eye? Slim to none, I'm thinking.  So, 2 hours down. We're both hungry and feeling crappy and we have to go to the pharmacy.  Thankfully my consolation is that we use the Target pharmacy and I always have a happy feeling going to target. ;-)  We get there and they say it'll be 15 minutes, despite that the Minor Med was supposed to have called/faxed in the prescription.  We wait.  Come back and the pharmacist says that the co-pay on on the drops is $50. What the heck. She asks if they gave me a coupon. I say no and my dislike hate for the minor med escalates.  She says she will call and see if they either have a coupon or if they can prescribe something cheaper.  After another 20 minute wait, they change the prescription to a $4 bottle of drops.  Much better.  Now I love Target more and hate the Minor Med more too.  

We leave, drops in hand, and though it was not how I planned on spending my Memorial Day morning, I'm thankful that Brandon can handle Claire while Charli and I are most contagious.

The rest of the day was pretty chill.  Brandon and I got out in the yard during the girls' nap and weeded the beds, watered, trimmed some bushes, and sprayed for bugs.  I made Taco soup, gave the girls baths, and caught up on some DVRed shows.  I'm going to bed early and hoping my eye will feel better in the morning!

Day 16

Last day in Cali. Had another fun morning/afternoon with the Murray Fam. For dinner we picked up CPK to have at the hotel with the Davis Fam + Sam. The kids had a blast playing, swimming and playing some more and us grown ups had fun chatting. (and the dads/uncle Sam swam with all 4 kids) Also Rachael and Justin blessed us with a big bag of hand-me-downs. We both agreed that God so faithfully provides for all of our needs. We loved ending our trip on such a fun, high note :)

I was bad at taking pictures today again. :/ I stole these couple from Rachael's Facebook.

We are READY to be back home. I miss my family, cooking, letting the girls play on a floor that I know is clean, drawers (vs suitcases), my church, friends at home, our backyard, my piano, my bed/couch, etc (of course these are not in order of importance). We're praying for an uneventful trip home tomorrow! Memphis here we come!

Claire is 8 months!

Today Claire is 8 months old.  We couldn't love her more and her personality is so fun to watch emerge.  She is a ham. She has been nicknamed "Smiley" by a few people and it is so true.  She loves people, attention, being jiggled/bounced/danced with etc.  If people are around, she is likely completely content and tries to get everyone's attention with her grunts and squeals.  She says "dadadadada" all the time when she sees Brandon and I'm pretty sure she said "doggie" the other day too.  She loves to eat and is much more aggressive to get food than her big sister ever was.  She will gnaw on an apple for an hour, she loves most of her baby food (but not banana or applesauce, weirdly), and can already drink out of a straw.  She loves her sister and thinks everything Charli says is the funniest thing she's ever heard.  It's a joy to watch our little girls love each other.  We are so thankful for both our girls.  It's a blessing to be their mommy.

Day 15

Back to Anaheim cause Bran has to work again tomorrow. Today we rested, swam and had cheesecake factory 1 last time. Char was exhausted when we got to Anaheim from Bakersfield; she couldn't stay awake waiting for her daddy to pick up lunch. After nap she swam and made friends at the pool.

Baby Ham

Sleepy Girl

Charli loves making friends

Day 13-14

Bakersfield cont. with the Hathaways. We enjoyed seeing Uncle Daryl, Aunt Delana, Daniel, Lil, Gwen, Lori & Briana.

I didn't get hardly any pictures while juggling the girls. :(

Charli loved blowing bubbles with Grandma and Grandpa. Claire was a ham as usual.

Char received lots of gifts from her great grandparents, including bubbles, which she thoroughly enjoyed.

Day 12

We spent the morning/afternoon at the Hathaway's again. Dinner with the Contreras clan.

Day 11

Drove to Bakersfield, spent the afternoon and dinner with Grandma & Grandpa Hathaway, and spent the night with Uncle Tony (who lives in Grandma Mary & Grandpa Charlie's old house.)

Day 10

Today was a restful day.  Most people would think that kids who have a really big day will then sleep really well that night.  I've found that for babies/kids on a schedule - that is not the case.  My girls woke up at their normal time 7am, rearing to go.  We just played in our hotel room for the morning, then took a walk to the outdoor mall to meet Brandon. (He was working again today.)  We had lunch with him and returned to the hotel for afternoon naps.  Brandon worked some more and me and the girls napped for a couple hours.  It was so nice to rest today!  After naps we headed to downtown disney.  We've been on the lookout for a Mulan doll that matches the set of princesses that Charli already has.  We have yet to find it- my best bet will probably be online.  We bought a set of princesses for the bathtub instead, and (my ulterior motive) Claire can play with them because they are big and rubber- great for gnawing on!  For dinner we met an old friend from CBU, Marco.  We ate at the Rainforest Cafe and caught up with him.  Then me and the girls returned to the hotel and Brandon and Marco decided to go catch an Angels baseball game. (It's no Dodgers game, but I think he had fun nonetheless!)

Day 9 = Disneyland

Get ready for picture overload.  We cannot even express how much fun it was taking the girls (mainly Charli, of course) to Disneyland.  She was thrilled beyond her wildest dreams to meet the princesses, Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, and Pluto- but MOST of all- Belle.  Brandon and I were practically high-fiving when we found Belle for Charli to meet. Mission accomplished.

Charli's day was complete after meeting her favorite princess, Belle.

The 3 of us on It's a Small World

I think Charli looks so grown up here.

Meeting Mickey

Meeting Goofy

Meeting Pluto

We were the last ones to grab a quick picture with Mickey- the only character Claire met. I think her face is saying, "what the heck is this?!"

Our 4 - the first of probably many Disney vacations in our future

The first ride we rode- I remember riding this ride (in orlando) with my mom when I was 3 years old.

Meeting Tiana

Meeting Minnie

Meeting Ariel

Meeting Cinderella

Claire was a champion stroller rider/napper.

Charli rode and walked about half and half.

Sweet Love

Riding the Circus Train

Charli and Tori had fun together

Riding a Bug's Life

My fav pic of the day- love Charli's beautiful smile while watching the parade 

A full day wiped this big girl out.

Day 8

Brandon worked all day. Charli enjoyed painting and then watching cartoons. Then Tiffany & Selah came over and we walked to the nearby outdoor mall. Claire napped in the stroller... First time ever! We at California Pizza Kitchen for lunch, yum! Then we came back to the hotel to put all 3 girls down for naps. Brandon got done mid naps and let us go to the pool/hot tub alone. We had fun. Then the girls woke up, we ate the hotel's free dinner and we took the big girls swimming. It was a great day :)

Day 7

Had dinner at Pat's like old times with the Eddy's and Goad's.  Then we stayed that night with the Goads. So sweet to spend time with them. Then we went to church at FBC Norco, a church so very dear to our heart.

The Goads

The Murrays

The Eddys

The Mooneys

Day 5

Visited with an old friend, Mindy, and met her little boy, Levi.

Claire loves to "gum" all fruits- especially melon.

Had a birthday lunch for Tiffany at Cheesecake Factory. Yummy!

Our family of 4 at the cheesecake factory.

Drive to La Quinta, saw Tony, Michelle, Tori & Xander, then for dinner ate yummy Mexican food, and stayed at a really nice hotel and Charli swam like a fish!

Charli couldn't get enough swim time in the desert. The water was warm and the weather was warmer!

Not too bad of a view from our hotel room!

Day 6

Breakfast with Larry & Julie Gatlin and Tony. (FORGOT TO TAKE A PICTURE! boooo)

Afternoon visiting Aunt Kazi and cousins Ron & Robbie in Beaumont.

Brandon with the girls and his Aunt Kazi. (Her late husband is Uncle Charlie, our Charli's namesake)

Typical faces on my girls. HAHA

Brandon leaving his beloved desert.  Hopefully we can come back again soon!