A Year of Change

As this past year ends and the new one begins, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on all the changes that we experienced this last year.

For instance, this is the first year of my marriage that I have gone an entire year NOT pregnant! That, ladies and gentlemen, is a miracle. Ok, so it also probably has something to do with my having a tubal ligation done at the same time as my last c-section, but either way, it's been a nice change.

My husband has been home for most of the last 6 months! That's been a big change.

And we've moved from Texas back to Florida, where everything we knew had changed as well! The city is growing. And our church's dynamics changed -- more younger couples and many of them new parents!

Kairi has gone from a toddler to a very vocal 2 1/2 year old.

Alex has gone from being a tiny newborn to a full-fledged walking toddler! (Now, if we could just get him to talk on a regular basis.)

My marriage has changed as well. For the better I believe. We are taking the time to put each other first and spend time together just the two of us.

I have read a few books this year! That's a change from the last.



There are seriously so many other changes that I can't even begin to list them all. And overall, I think that they have been for the better. This year hasn't been easy, but it's been worth it. So as I enter the next year, I'm going to cling to the promise that God has been reminding me of this entire year "Just trust me. I'm taking care of you." I'm going to remember the good that's been done in my family. And I'm going to enjoy having a figurative fresh start to rededicate my energies towards taking care of my family and myself.

Kairi Cuteness

A couple of cute Kairi stories for the morning.

1. We have been getting up way too early this week. Combine that with Alex still not sleeping through the night, and I feel like I'm dieing. To help myself survive, after I dole out bananas, cereals bars, and cups of (Silk)Milk I turn on Noggin, shut all the other doors in house to limit the kids to the living room area, and then curl up on the couch and doze. Kairi will frequently shout to Alex through my morning nap "SSSHHHHH! MOMMY SEEPIN'!"

This morning it happened a little differently, though. I sat down on the couch trying to decide if I could make it through the day without a nap when Kairi shouts "Ready Mommy? Ready?!? Lay down!" As soon as I was laying down she pulled Brother's newest piano over next to the couch and began to sing while playing it "Go to sleep Mommy, Go to sleep Mommy, Go to sleep Mommy, Close your eyes Mommy, Go to sleep!".

Ten minutes later she woke me up to sing me back to sleep again. And again. And again.


2. Yesterday during Alex's morning naptime (which I'm afraid is about to cease), Kairi started looking for him. Of course hearing his name shouted through the house woke him up. I went in to cuddle him for a moment and lay him back down. He was more than willing to go back to sleep. UNTIL Kairi burst into the room, grabbed his brand new toy truck, and ran out of the room saying "Come on Fruffer! Let's share da tuck! VRooom! Share da tuck! VRooooooom vroooom vrooooom! Hurry Fruffer hurry! Share da tuck with me!"

Yeah, Alex didn't go back to sleep.




She's cuter than should be allowed. :) Even when she's not helping at all, she's adorable.

Despite my eyeshadow being all over her face.....

Isn't this a beautiful picture?

Pictures and Videos

Some I tried to post before and couldn't. Some are from yesterday. And there may be one or two random ones thrown in there. :)



Help! I'm stuck:













The Christmas Presents -- Daddy manned the camera while Mommy helped with presents!














Merry Christmas!


Twinkle Twinkle Little Star


Jingle Bells!

Yesterday ...

Yesterday was my 3rd anniversary. I had fully intended to write a sweet post about how much I love my husband and our life together. And that post will come -- eventually. But instead I spent the day cleaning up puke and diarrhea. The whole family had it.

Today we're all physically spent. Tired and dehydrated and achy, but our stomachs are calm. So today I'll spend the day sterilizing everything and running the errands I had intended to run yesterday, so that tomorrow still comes off without too many problems. I just have to gather the energy to get it all done. Wish me luck!

Our Christmas Tree

***Blogger is not cooperating.***

There were supposed to be Christmas tree pictures here, but as blogger isn't letting me upload them, and since photobucket takes forever to upload pictures as well, I'm going to call it a night. They'll get added whenever I find the time.

In the meantime....CHRIS IS HOME! YAY!!! So go enjoy time w/ your loved ones as I'll be spending the evening with mine.

He'll be back in 5 days....

I was recently reminded of a concept that is very important to Chris and I. Our marriage comes before our children. We both believe it is important that we model affection and love for our children. We want them to grow up knowing what a healthy marriage looks like so that they are are more likely to have one themselves. Part of modeling that for our children, is to make time for each other, to spend time talking and truly enjoy each others company. We never wanted to stop "dating". Despite being married, our courtship doesn't end. We need to make time for each other, time without children so that we can talk and laugh without worrying about being interrupted or summoned to another room because a child is screaming in their bed.

Here's the problem with that. How do you find time to be alone when you have two children two and under, and you live 1400 miles away from most of your family? You rely on your "new family" -- your church. If you know me at all, you know that I hate asking for favors, and I've had to do it all too often in my life. So if I can avoid it, I do. And I continue to avoid it until I feel like I'm at a breaking point and have no other choice. I'm not saying that this is a good trait -- it just is the way I am. And unfortunately, I have had to face this situation way too many times recently. Add that to the fact that I know exactly what my kids are like every single day -- I would rather not inflict that on an unsuspecting friend. So I have been extremely hesitant to ask someone to watch the kids in order for Chris and I to go out together. Because of these traits, until last week Chris and I had gone out twice alone since I was about 7 months pregnant with Alex. A reminder, he's 13 1/2 months old now.

When I was 7 1/2 months pregnant, Chris and I went to dinner and a movie while the Macon's watched Kairi. They were always very good about volunteering to care for her, despite the fact that she probably screamed the entire time. She was a fussy baby. Any change in her routine bothered her. And nights were the worst. So I was very grateful for the breaks. Especially being that pregnant. One night after Alex was born, my grandmother stayed home with Kairi while the two three of us went to a movie. Alex slept through the movie, but he did come with us. Chris then deployed. He came back in June.

Fast forward to October 2-- a year after our last date, Jenny stayed at home with the kids while Chris and I went to dinner and a book store. It was a good night. And we really enjoyed it. But it didn't take any stress off our relationship. Two months later I can recognize that we really didn't know how to talk to each other any more. It was as stressfull as a first date! I know that I was as jittery as I was on our "first date".

Last week we had no choice, we HAD to have a babysitter for 4 days in a row. One of those days we didn't spend alone as we had Alex, but the other 3 days we had plenty of time together. The first night we didn't do a ton of talking, but by the second and third nights things were great.

I have thoroughly enjoyed talking and spending time with my friend again. It's not that he was ever NOT my friend. But when the world revolves around your children, it's hard to not allow your marriage, your friendship, to fall through the cracks. Even when you plan for it to not, you have to make a conscious decision to talk, to spend time together, to get away. Chris and I are going to be doing this more often...at least once a month.



Yesterday I dropped him off at the airport to fly out to see his parents. I'm fairly accustomed to him being gone for anywhere from a couple of days to a few weeks at a time. But this time it's different. Maybe it's because I know he's in a spot where he can communicate with me. More likely, it's because we enjoyed our time together so very much. I just wasn't ready to give it up quite this soon! I'm anxious for him to be back home. I miss him. He'll be home Monday, and I can't wait!

Tuesday night, before he left, he gave me my anniversary/Christmas present because he was afraid that it was too big and I would need it adjusted. It's not so I don't. Here's what he gave me. (And before you see it, know that he got it on an AMAZING sale, and used a Sears gift card that Heroes at Home gave us to buy it.)


Pictures enlarge when you click them.



It's a sterling silver 1 ct diamond bracelet! Didn't he do well!?!

A few more pictures and a short update

Alex and Lauryn playing together -- They adore each other!




Miss Lauryn!





That's it picture-wise for now.


This week has flown by! Thank you for all your prayers, thoughts, and phone calls about Alex. After his surgery he was a little grumpy but is now completely fine. It's nice to see him respond to my voice and to know that he can hear me! Now we just need to work on the responding when you're being spoken to thing. He's good at ignoring me.

Thursday night was so much fun! Chris won an IPod Shuffle and the kids had a blast with Kate, Heath, and Carter. We have such good friends here! Chris and I really did need our time together. It was great to be able to complete a conversation without being interrupted by a screaming child, or a child crawling on top of one of us, or one child hurting the other. We really do need more of those evenings to how much we love each other. :) The party itself wasn't a ton of fun, but spending time with Chris was, and that made it worth it.

Friday night was great as well! We thoroughly enjoyed spending time with friends. Chris was part of a quartet that performed and we have not stopped hearing compliments on his voice. Again, it was great to get to spend time sans children where we could complete thoughts -- not to mention have entire conversations! Kathy stayed with the kids at our house and has no idea how much we appreciate her having volunteered to do so!

Saturday night Kathy must really have been looking for torture because she volunteered to keep our kids that night as well. We went to a "A World of Christmas" at Creekside Christian Church. It was such a great experience. They had 3 life size areas set up that looked like a village from Germany, Ghana, and Mexico and at each place they talked about Christmas in that country. Afterwards they had a musical/drama in which a friend of Chris' from work was singing. It was really good! I was very impressed with how well they did. The story focused around a boy that had lost both of his parents. It got Chris and I talking on the way home. Something we had discussed but not set in stone before was what would happen to our children if something were to happen to us, or to happen to one of us while the other couldn't immediately be there. (Like I end up in the hospital or worse while Chris is overseas.) We finally made a plan. The biggest part of that plan is that we have asked Micah to be they're godfather. We're going to draw up legal documents that give him full parental rights should something happen to both of us or to one of us while the other is unavailable. We completely trust his judgement to make good decisions for our children and to make sure that they are brought up in a Christian home -- whether that means that he be the person that cares for them, or simply places them in someone else's home until he feels that he can care for them, we know that he would make the best judgement call. And he wouldn't care about offending someone in our family when it came to putting the needs of our kids above all else. It was so hard to pick someone, because there are soooo many people in our family that I know would open up their homes to our kids. And we are going to talk to Micah more in depth later about the decision and who else we would want considered if he felt that he couldn't keep them himself. But if definitely feels good to know that we have a plan in place and are going to make it as well-documented and legal as possible so that there are no "Oh dear, what do we do now?" if that situation ever occured. Just as a side-note, we're also asking a couple here in Jax to take care of them should anything happen until Micah could arrive and make arrangements for the kids. They will also have (limited) custodial rights to care for the little ones. They will help Micah make the decision as they know our children so well as they live here and see them every week.

Yesterday the kids had fun at the Children's Christmas Party at church! Kairi spent most of the day coloring her Christmas card for the elderly at Avante Nursing Home (where our church ministers) and didn't even notice Santa. We were a little nervous about the party since Santa was going to be there since we aren't "doing" Santa. (The kids will still recieve presents, they just will always know that they're from us. But don't worry, I won't allow them to ruin your child's Santa fun.) But since Alex is too young for it to matter and Kairi had no clue that Santa was even in the room, it wasn't a problem! Instead, after he left I took my kids aside and gave them presents from Chris and I. We all really enjoyed ourselves. But I left my camera there, so until I get it back, you'll have to go without new pictures!

I hope you all have a great day today!

Surgery Update and Pictures

I'm going back to the previous post tomorrow and am captioning those pictures.


Alex's surgery was today and he did great! His right ear drum was crusted over with blood and mucous, and his left ear with just mucous. The doctor got all of it off, and said that that should clear up his hearing! YAY!

He did fairly well with the entire procceedure. He was grumpy and clingy today as he was recovering from the anesthsia, but by the time he went to bed he was in a good mood. :D







Come on, Mommy. Let's go. I wanna get out of this place. NOW.



Ooo...This floor is slick. I can do the splits. See?!? (He went much farther than I could imagine being comfortable before he stopped and ran off giggling.)



Too many nurses keep running by my room. I'd rather stay close to blankie and Daddy.





Dr. Wohl scared me by trying to make me laugh before surgery. Daddy tried to calm me down, but just barely succeeded.



Coloring always takes my mind off doctors' offices!





The nurse carried me back to the OR.



When he's feeling better tomorrow, I'll snap some smiling pictures!

Pictures -- Round 1

I have lots of pictures to upload. I'm sure you're thinking it's about since there are no pictures on my whole front page.... BUT I've been busy. And I'm still too busy to sort through them all for you. So here's the first glimpse of the day. I'm sure I'll be back a few times throughout the day/night to share some more.

Alex on all fours -- a rare sight these days




Kairi's pretty smile



This was last year's Christmas dress! See how much she's grown!!!



Yes, that would be lipstick on her face.



She was angry that I made her hold still for a picture.


Yup, still angry.



Kairi and Carter! See how much they adore each other!

Mystery Solved

Kairi's hair almost always looks greasy in the back. I could wash her hair 3 times a day and it'd still be greasy.

Anytime I sit down at the computer desk, Kairi runs over to me asking for "hands" also known as lotion on her hands. I have watched her rub it into her hands several times, but it's been a while since I've insisted on watching her. Today I turned around just in time to find her rubbing her "hands" into her hair instead of her skin!

Mystery solved. And just so you know, that lotion is HARD to get out of hair, but very conditioning.

Things my daugther said today:

I hewo Mommy! *Began running in circles.* I wescue! Wescue! Wescue!


Mommy! I tired. Sleep? YAY!


I a kigah! ROOOAAARRR! Kigah! Kigah eat Mommy! ROAAR! YUMMMMM!


Ribbit! Ribbit! Kairi a petty frog.


Yay! Eat cheese! Mouse eat cheese! Mommy!!!!!!! I a mouse!


Wiggle in you chair Mommy! Wiggle wiggle! Dance dance! Mommy! You not dancin'! DANCE!


*In the most serious of voices* Mommy. Awix nasty. He nose nasty. He mouth nasty. Mommy, his body nasty. Wash he. Now. (His nose was running, he was drooling, and he was covered in the food he was eating at supper.)

Kissing BooBoos

I remember when I was little thinking that those children around me that needed their booboos kissed on a regular basis were stupid. I couldn't understand how kissing booboos helped. A "booboo" (which I remember thinking that just the word was strange) either needed medicine or wasn't bad enough to whine about. Kissing it certainly was NOT going to help. And my mother never catered to the idea that she could kiss it and make it magically better. Instead, I remember countless lectures on the number of germs in a human mouth, hearing about how dogs and cats have cleaner mouths than people (I think that this was to discourage kissing, btw), and hearing how kissing a "booboo" would really only make it worse not better.

I also remember as I grew believing that I would NEVER kiss a booboo. The idea was preposterous. And then I had Kairi.



My daughter is a drama queen. There's no two ways about it. She will lightly tap her hand against the door and then cry as if it was broken. This being the same child that has given herself a knot on her forehead from dancing on the hearth, but not blinked. It all completely depends on how much attention she is already receiving. Recently (just over a month or so ago)someone told her that she had a booboo on her hand. I have no idea who, although I'm fairly certain it was someone at church, and I really don't care who it was that said it either. What I do care about, though is the OBSESSION with booboos. I already mentioned her noticing my "booboos" on my stomach. She also notices booboos on Brother, on Daddy, on toys, on dolls, on random strangers in Publix that have birthmarks on their face.... She notices them.


If the booboo happens to belong to her, though, she has a meltdown. Within moments tears are pouring, her chest is heaving with sobs, and she is shoving said booboo in my face. It could be the same booboo that she showed me 10 minutes ago, doesn't matter as long as it's a booboo, she's in a panic. The ONLY thing that calms this girl down is to hold whatever appendage has been hurt and then to kiss it. That calms the tears and sobs. Ask her if she's ok, and between sobs "Yes, I fine" will escape her lips. And she will hug you, and then walk away letting the sobs slowly die out on their own. You can prevent said meltdown if the very instant she notices the booboo, you grab her and kiss it and tell her it's all better, but if you're late in noticing, beware.



Today after preventing several meltdowns in a row (4 which concerned the same booboo), I got to thinking about the things I do differently now than I ever thought I would. I love kissing booboos and making them better. Even if I do think the entire time about the number of germs in my mouth (ThankyouverymuchMama). And there's other things I love to do that I never thought I would. I never thought I'd enjoy formula feeding, but I did with Kairi. And then after her I never thought I'd enjoy breastfeeding, but I loved it with Alex. I never thought I'd be passionate about the kinds of cleaners in my house, but I am and I really do enjoy finding new alternatives to keeping my house clean. I never thought I would enjoy sewing and crafts, but I do. I never thought I'd cosleep with a child, but I wouldn't have traded a single night I got to sleep with Alex for the world. I have so many "I never thoughts" that I'm proud that I at least allowed myself a chance to try them.

Especially because I will forever treasure this time when kissing booboos truly makes it all better.

I'll be around again, eventually...

The next two weeks are going to fly by. This week is going to be spent preparing for next week. Before the 8th, my house needs to be spotless, all the meals for the next week need to be planned out and prepared for as much as possible, I have to buy the kids' their Christmas outfits, and I need a dress for 3 parties/events. I also have to finish lining up babysitters for the next week.

And then, the madness begins.

8th: Alex's pre-surgery physical, ear recheck, and flu shot.

9th: Between 3 and 4 we'll be told what time Alex's surgery the next day is going to be held at. Then we have the Life Group's Christmas party. It's being held at Kate's house. We'll put Princess to bed there and leave her there that night.

10th: Kate will take Kairi to whomever's house she will be spending the day with. We're close to knowing who that will be, but nothing definite yet. Alex will have surgery. That night is church, but we'll decide how the family's doing that afternoon before we all head out there.

11th: Ship's Christmas party. Looks like Kate to the rescue again, because she just volunteered to keep them as late as we need her to that night. Semi-formal event held in a ballroom. I need a nice dress.

12th: Church's Christmas party. Formal event. Wearing the same dress as I did at the ship's party. Chris is singing in a quartet. Kate and I are discussing a possible skit.... We'll see. It's a child-free event, so we're trying to arrange childcare to be held at the church so that we can all go. Otherwise, they'll find that most of the young adults can't attend -- we all have kids!

13th: Chris is taking me to dinner and then to a musical. We still need childcare for this night as well.

14th: Chris has duty.



So as you can tell, unless we have things perfectly prepared for that week, life's going to fall apart! Wish us luck in getting ready for the holiday whirlwind!


ETA: As of this morning (the 1st), Chris will be out of town until Friday. Leaves again the following Monday, and comes back that Tuesday. Any one else want to throw some more into this week?

Alex saw the ENT

Alex has temporary mild to moderate hearing loss caused by the multiple ear infections. There's quite a bit of fluid on his ears. We will have tubes put in his ears on the 10th. After that, he should regain his hearing and make a full recovery! We suspected that he had muffled hearing. He barely responds and just is not speaking. The only time he babbles is when he doesn't have a cold (which is near never). I was shocked to hear the words "hearing loss" but not about what caused it. And I'm thankful that it's not permanent.



He also has moderate reflux. We're treating it w/ prevacid solutabs.

Can you guess?

Name that child:

Alex Update

I had Alex checked out again today because he just wasn't acting much better.

He has a double ei. The worst yet. He received 2 shots today and was prescribed a medicine that's so new on the market that TriCare won't pay for it. Luckily, he had samples for us. He's meeting us at the office tomorrow morning to check him out again.

And we have to see an ENT because Alex needs tubes.

Thankfully, Chris made it home just in time for the appt. And I will spare you the details of most of it, b/c it involved a lot of crying from a baby and Mommy near tears because of Alex's discomfort. Dr. Weiss does his best, but it still hurts and that makes Mommy want to cry.

I'm happy that we're on the road to get him better. But I want to cry at the thought of tubes.

:(




EDIT: Saturday, November 22
Alex's left ear is clear! His right ear is still yucky, but thank God for progress!

Several more serious updates....

I've been avoiding writing these, but I need to get them down before I forget to altogether. I'll include a cute story at the bottom of the post to make up for it. ;)


1) "The Pain"
I saw the doctor on Friday, the 14th. The same day that Chris' ship set out of a week long "cruise" so I was praying for good news that wouldn't take much adjusting to.

I have markers for Epstein-Barr Virus. It's related to mono somehow. When you get mono, you get EBV or something like that. In any case, in rare cases EBV can cause severe joint pain. And after the acute case is over, the pain will come and go but never completely leave. I blamed it all on my brother b/c he's the one that gave me mono when we were younger. ;D

I am taking Celebrex (and had been for 2 weeks before the appointment) to help control the swelling in my joints, and will experiment with other joint pain remedies until I find something that works.

Anyway, it's been wearing me down, and really affecting my mood as well as my energy level. I'm happy in some ways for this diagnosis as it's not something as severe as Lupus or RA as both were on the list of possibilities, but it's also frustrating because there's not much to do with it.

I've begun taking Move Free (thank you Mama!) and will be adding tart cherry extract to the list soon to supplement my medication. Hopefully one day soon I can say that that day was a truly "pain free" day!



2) Alex was diagnosed with what "might be" an ear infection Monday. It was red and obviously irritated, but there was no fluid in the ear yet. The key word being yet. Due to his history, chances were REALLY high that it'd turn into an EI. So we started treatment Monday.

Today he's still unbearably grumpy, dizzy, and pulling at his ears. We're going back to the dr tomorrow. While there we're also going to discuss the terrible rash that the antibiotics gave him. Poor baby fights me over diaper changes now where as he has NEVER done that before.


3) My landlord has raised my rent. It's not worth what she's asking. We're moving. Hey, that was an easy one! ;) Seriously, I'm happy about this for the most part. It means that we'll have a chance to save some money. I think we're looking at base housing so that'll be good too. I am sad about losing our fireplace. But at least we'll not be dying every month!




Ok, the funny story.... Hmmmmmmmmmmmm. Lemme think. Here's one to make you smile.

Kairi has quite an attitude at times. For being only 2 years old, she certainly talks back like a 12 year old. Today it started after lunch. I told her to throw something away. She told me no. I insisted. She SLOWLY complied. And then it came.
"Mommy, say thank you Kairi. You welcome Mommy. See? Not hard."
Yes, that came from my daughter. And, yes, I am smiling because as frustrating as that was at the time, it is now funny. She perfectly mimicked my tone of voice in saying it as well.

The "smartness" continued this evening as I was getting children ready for bed. Right before I began to pray with Alex I told Kairi to go to bed. She made it clear she didn't want to go. I laid Alex down and went in her room to get her ready for bed. There I was told:
"Not yet Mom. YOU go bed. Not me. NO."
She went to bed. "Mom" won.

You know it's time to Potty Train

When your 2 year old takes off her diaper and presents it to you saying that it's a stinky mess. She's done it twice in a row now.

We've been doing a little bit of potty training up till now, but I think it's time to really hit it hard.


Thank goodness she doesn't know how to take her jeans off yet. I can at least put those on her for now and expect the diaper to stay.

Princess Shoes

Yesterday I ran to Target to buy more diapers for Kairi.

While there I decided that I needed to buy the kids the shoes. Alex no longer has any that fit (other than one pair of sandals) and Kairi needed black shoes to wear w/ her winter dresses.

First I look for Kairi, I find a style I love, but the 6 1/2 they had it in was almost too small, and no 7s. While I was still searching for a 7 in it, my mom called. Kairi suddenly yelled "Pincess Shoes!!! Mommy! Look! Pincess shoes!!! Pincess shoes!!!" Every one in hearing range turned around to look at her. My mom heard her. I whipped around to see what she was talking about. There were red sparkly shoes on the rack. And apparently they were princess shoes. I decided that we would NOT be getting them b/c where in the world was she going to wear red sparkly shoes? My mom decided that Kairi had to have them though. She's sending us $12 to reimburse us. In the end, the other pair of shoes she got were black sparkly shoes, b/c it was the only black pair of dress shoes that were in a size that'd fit her. In my mom's defense, she started naming all the dresses in Kairi's closet that would go w/ the red shoes and once I thought about it, there are more than I originally thought.

And then I looked for Alex. I wanted soft soled shoes that looked like real shoes. They had converses for $15. They're soft soled and REALLY cute. (I still haven't found hard soled shoes that will work for him besides sandals though.) And when I bought them, I got a free $5 gc from Target. Which the cashier was nice. She immediately rung up everything up to that point, I paid it. And then we rung up the diapers and Alex's onesie separately and paid for that so that I could use the gc on some of it.

I may go back after I get paid Monday and buy another pair of them in a larger size so that he has ones to wear when he outgrows the 3's. Oh, and Kairi wanted me to buy the black sparkly shoes that matched hers but in my size. She told me that they were Mommy-pincess shoes.

I Quit!

You had a glimpse of Kairi's most frequent pose in Alex's birthday pictures, but here's a reminder:



She makes that face with her arms folded and declares for the world to hear "I QUIT!". She most frequently "quits" when she's told that she can't have what she wants to eat for supper. Here's how this evening's dinner went:

K: Mommy, No. I wan pie.
M: No pie. Eat your supper.
K: I QUIT!
takes a small bite of her food after scowling for a few minutes
K: Mommy. Pie, now.
M: No pie.
K: I QUIT!
M: Fine, go to bed.
K: NO! I QUIT!
M: If you're going to quit, then quit in your bed. Otherwise, eat your food.
K: No, Mommy.
takes another bite
K: Mommy, where pie? I wan pie.
M: Kairi, you're not getting any pie. Eat your rice.
K: I QUIT!
Mommy ignores.
Kairi takes another bite.
K: Mommy, it no good. I wan pie.
M: Kairi. There is NO pie. Stop asking. Take a bite of spinach.
K: NO! I QUIT!
takes another bite of food
M: Kairi, if you say that you quit one more time you're going to bed. Got it? Good.
K: Mommy, no bed. No tired. Mommy, I eat.
M: Good job Kairi.
K: Mommy, pie peez? Pate empy ... see?
Mommy looks over to see an empty plate with food scattered all over the table.
M: Kairi, you are not getting pie. You are not done with your food. Eat your food or else go to bed.
K: I QUIT! Mommy, I go to bed.

She's in bed. She did not take herself there as she implied she would, but Mommy insisted.


I don't know where either the pie or the quitting obsessions started. I do know, though, that when she decided that her enchiladas were pie Thursday, that I allowed her to continue to believe that they were. She ate them, and that was the important thing. I also didn't correct her when she declared her breakfast pie yesterday morning, or her grilled cheese for lunch today. So what makes something worthy of being called pie? Most days she loves swiss steak (our supper this evening), but it certainly didn't qualify as pie....

If you have my phone number....

Call me.

I can't find my phone. I need to find my phone. Chris isn't home to call my phone for me. He won't be home for over a week. I need it before he'll be back.

Thank you!



And yes I feel ridiculous posting this, but it's that important.

I'll update when I find it again.



***EDIT: Phone's been found! THANK YOU!***

The things my daughter says

I love listening to Kairi talk. She astounds me every day. It's hard to believe that a year ago today I could barely understand her. She had maybe 20 words in her vocabulary.

Moments ago she ran up to me holding a turtle we bought for her at the Dallas Aquarium.
"Look Mommy! It's a turtle!"
Now, turtle doesn't exactly sound right, but such a good try!



My favorite, though, was last night when she announced:
Mommy! I a pincess!
You're a princess?
Yes, Mommy, I a pincess.
Are you Mommy's princess?
Yes! And Mommy pincess. Kairi and Mommy pincess!
I'm a princess too?!?
Yes Mommy! You pincess. Kairi pincess! Like spider pincess. (Miss Spider's Sunny Patch -- watch the princess episode and you'll understand)
And then we talked about how princesses are nice and loving and take care of other people. Princesses share and help everyone they know.



She talks constantly. And I love to listen to it. *sigh* :) What a wonderful way to spend my day.

The Boy Just Can't Get a Break

Alex has had a cold for over a week now. He's been snotty, and grumpy, and sleepless. At first I thought it was related to his shots, but within 2 days I realized that it was a sickness that we were all getting. The rest of us feel crummy as well, but it's not been as bad for us as it was for him. The worst part was that he couldn't breathe at night, so he wasn't sleeping. I have his mattress elevated on one end at all times because he's obviously prone to this. I can not begin to count the number of times he woke up and just couldn't go back to sleep. It's been a long couple of weeks.

Then it happened, he had a full night of sleep! HURRAY! That was Monday night. Last night it happened again! TWO NIGHTS IN A ROW -- I'M IN HEAVEN!!! He still had a snotty nose, but it wasn't as bad so I was satisfied that he was getting better.

But this morning he woke up in a terrible mood. Very unlike him. Even with double ear infections he's in a good mood 90% of the time. I got him a cracker and cup of juice and set down to check my email when it happened. He vomited. EVERYWHERE. I got him cleaned up, my newly steam cleaned floor mopped up, and calmed him down. That's when I noticed it. He was burning up. Temped him and yup, he's running a fever. *sigh* My poor baby. Will he ever be NOT sick?

Alex's 1st Birthday Party!

Uncaptioned pictures.
They're clickable again.

Lauren and Kairi both received presents as well.


First remember,
in the hospital:


first day home: