Ballet & Tumbling

Kaitlin has been going to a Ballet & Tumbling class through the local parks & rec. Wednesday was her last class and parents were able to come and watch. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera so these pictures/videos were taken on my phone and are not great quality. It was quite entertaining and Kaitlin made some very funny expressions while she danced!







Here are a couple of videos. One is of Kaitlin doing somersaults and the other is her doing frog jumps. They were running out of time, so the girls got to choose if they wanted to do bunny hops or frog jumps. Kaitlin does excellent frog jumps!

Kaitlin's 4-year Checkup

Well, it's a month and a half late, but I thought I needed to post about Kaitlin's checkup this year. She measured 39 inches tall and weighed 32 pounds. I was so excited that she finally hit 30 pounds! The doctor said she looked great and had no concerns. Kaitlin had to get a couple of shots and took them like a champ. Of course, the nurse and I had to team up to get her out from under my chair, but she did great once we got a hold of her! She didn't even cry! Later that afternoon, Kaitlin decided to celebrate her health by cutting her hair!! She was so proud of herself! (By the way, she does not have a head injury in this picture. Kaitlin feels it necessary to put a band-aid on every minor bump or scratch. It does add some drama though!)



Although she's never had a visible reaction to peanuts/peanut butter, Kaitlin has always had a strong aversion to anything with peanuts in it and we wondered if she might be allergic to them. Keven and I wanted to know for sure so I discussed it with the pediatrician and she agreed that it would be a good idea to get her tested. I took her to the allergist a couple weeks after her checkup and discovered that our suspicions were correct. So, we are now an epi-pen carrying family. I don't think her allergy is severe, but it is definitely stressful. We have to think about things differently. I think we are also fortunate that she doesn't like anything with peanuts so we don't really have to worry about her eating it.

I usually just do Kaitlin's pictures at the same time we do Ethan's, but this year our photographer/friend, Heather, was having a mini-session for girls called Tutus & Tiaras right around Kaitlin's birthday so I decided to get some special 4-year-old pictures taken. Kaitlin had a ton of fun at her special photo shoot (no Ethan, no family pics, just all about Kaitlin) and Heather got some amazing pictures of her! I had such a hard time decided which pictures to get because they were all so good! This is just one of the beautiful pictures:

Halloween

We had a great time Trick-or-Treating with the kids this year! We had some friends over for pizza and went with a group which is always fun. We also had a sweet college student come over and hand out candy so that Keven and I were both able to go trick-or-treating.

Kaitlin was very excited and was asking all day if today is the day to go trick-or-treating. She dressed up like a princess and I have to say, she was the most beautiful princess I've ever seen!! She is in a Cinderella dress, but she has never seen the movie Cinderella. MomMom and PopPop took her into the princess shop at Disney World to get a dress and that is the one she chose! I guess we need to rent the movie soon so she knows the story of Cinderella! She had a really fun time trick-or-treating with her friend Bryce. They would hold hands walking between houses and race to the doors. It was really cute!

We decided to dress Ethan like a monkey for Halloween and he loved it! He wore his costume to Trunk or Treat at our church on Sunday and had a great time! Tonight, when I said "let's go get your monkey costume on" he ran into his room and started signing "hat." It was very cute! I got Kaitlin's dress on her and told her to stand in front of the china cabinet for pictures. When I was done, I put Ethan's hat on him and he ran over to the china cabinet (without being told to) for his pictures. He also enjoyed trick-or-treating. At the first, he wanted to go inside every house! After a few houses, he got the hang of it and was excited to go up to every door.

Here are some pictures. I hope you enjoy them!

Party Time!

Kaitlin had a very fun Monsters Inc. Birthday party today. It took her a while to warm up to all the people, but she finally perked up after having some cake and seemed to have a good time. She opened all her presents and she handed out goodie bags. She even thanked everyone for coming when she gave them their bags.

Kaitlin's Birthday

Wow! Today Kaitlin turned 4 years old! I can hardly believe it has been that long since she was born. She has been anticipating her birthday for a couple of weeks and woke up a couple mornings last week asking "Am I 4 today?" We put a sticker on her birthday on her calendar and marked off all the days until her birthday. That definitely helped her understand.

Kaitlin has also been anticipating the arrival of family for her birthday party. She's been especially excited about having a sleepover at MomMom and PopPop's hotel. They were supposed to arrive on Thursday and Kaitlin started packing her bag on Monday. She did a pretty good job: pajamas, clean panties, books, Crocs, and a blanket. We had a little talk about how when her cousins Sarah and Robbie are here, she is going to want to stay at home and have a sleepover with them at our house. To that, Kaitlin responded that Sarah and Robbie could come to MomMom and PopPop's hotel too! She even added extra pajama pants for Sarah and one of Ethan's pajama tops for Robbie. What a hoot!

Kaitlin has had a little trouble understanding that her party was not going to be on her actual birthday. Apparently, in one of the shows she watches, they had a surprise party for someone because yesterday she told me that when she came home from her swim lesson today all her friends would be hiding in our house and would jump out and yell "Surprise!" I explained that we would celebrate her birthday as a family on Tuesday and her birthday party would be on Saturday. I'm not sure she was too happy with that answer, but she seemed got over it.

Overall, I think Kaitlin had a great day celebrating! She started the morning by opening up her new big girl bike! Then, we played at Frog Legs (an indoor inflatable place), had lunch at Moe's, played at home, went to swim lessons*, ate dinner at Provino's and then opened more presents! We decided to let Kaitlin open some family presents today since she will be getting more presents at her party on Saturday. Here are a few pictures.





*I have to brag on Kaitlin here. She has been going to swim lessons all summer and is finally swimming all by herself. Her teacher told me on Thursday that she had a breakthrough day so today I hid and watched. Kaitlin was swimming all by herself for about 10 feet at a time. I never get to see this because when I take her to the pool, she just wants to swim with her Puddle Jumper.

New Masthead

OK, I finally updated the masthead with current pictures of the kids and animals. Actually, it is the same picture of the cat, but he hasn't changed much (although, I think he may have lost some weight from running from the dog). Sadly, Harley was removed, but now there is a picture of Samson. This, plus a beautiful and loving wife, is my life. It is a nice image to reflect on this Father's Day. I am blessed.

Pickin' Berries

We decided to go pick some blueberries yesterday at a local farm. At first, I didn't really think we were going to pick much because Ethan kept wondering over to the greenhouse nearby, but I finally got him to stick near Kaitlin and me while we picked berries. He spent most of the time taking berries out of my bucket and either throwing them on the ground or trying to put them back on the bush. As you can imagine, he got a little frustrated when they wouldn't go back on! Kaitlin had a good time picking berries and hiding from me in the blueberry patch! We didn't really get a whole lot of berries, but it was a fun time!

One Week with Samson

Well, we have now had a yellow lab puppy for one week. And I haven't killed anyone. Yet. Last Saturday, Keven and I drove to Douglasville, GA to pick up our newest family member, Samson. We were pretty much smitten with him after about 5 minutes (yes, we). Those who know me, know that I was very much against getting a puppy (and I still am), but Keven talked me into it. I gave him some conditions that I never really thought he would agree to or keep, but he did. So we have a puppy. He is an adorable handful and I know that he is only going to become more difficult as he gets bigger. After one week, Samson is already losing his fluffy white fur and getting in the coarse, yellow fur of a lab. They do grow up fast!


A few things about Samson, the puppy:

• After spending the first 8 weeks of his life outside, Samson has had a taste of air conditioning and loves it. He does not like to go outside.
• Samson is not a big fan of his crate and he lets us know it!
• When he realizes I am trying to get him outside, Samson lays down. Then he runs away when I try to pick him up.
• Samson's newest hobby is tormenting Simba.
• He quickly discovered his two favorite sleeping spots: behind the toilet in the kids' bathroom and under my desk. Much to his dismay, he has been banned from the playroom and can no longer lay under my desk. I'm actually a little sad about that too. I kind of like having the little guy at my feet. :(
• From day 1, Samson knew that Ethan was not his biggest fan. Any chance he got he was next to Ethan, sniffing, licking, and knocking him down. Ethan doesn't seem as bothered by him now.
  

Messages to Heaven

I actually posted this last week, but the post has disappeared for some reason. I guess blogger was having some issues, so I'm reposting.

Kaitlin is always asking questions about Harley and why he went to heaven and wanting to know if we can go visit him in heaven. Since she always points to balloons in the sky and says they are going to heaven, I thought she might like to send Harley a message via balloon. She colored this sweet picture of herself hugging Harley and I wrote a note to Harley on the back of it for her. It was so sweet and I got really choked up! I wanted to include Ethan so I printed out a picture of Ethan and Harley and wrote my own note on the back of it.


It's a little hard to read Kaitlin's message in the picture, but this is what it said: Dear Harley - I miss when you lick my hands and my sucking thumb. I wish you could come back. I wish heaven would make you unsick and throw you back down to our house. I love you, Kaitlin.

It is both fascinating and frustrating to see how children process things like death. It has been almost 10 months since Harley died and Kaitlin still talks about it all the time. I sort of thought that getting a new puppy would eliminate the Harley talk, but it hasn't. Every time Kaitlin tells someone about her new puppy, she tells them about Harley too.

Happy Easter!

Here are some pictures from Kaitlin and Ethan's Easter Egg Hunt. Kaitlin was sick again this year so I went to church to serve while Keven stayed home with the kids. I was very upset that Kaitlin wouldn't be able to wear the new dress I made her to church so Keven dressed her up in it for the egg hunt. And of course, he put Ethan in his matching outfit. Kaitlin was running around so much it was hard to get a good picture of her!


For some reason, the snaps on the dress don't stay together very well, so her dress kept coming undone. You may notice in some of the pictures that it looks like it's falling off and that's because it is. I guess I need to make a few changes on the dress so that it doesn't fall off of her when she wears it in public!

Ethan's 15-Month Checkup

Poor little Ethan had a rough morning yesterday. It started out by him falling and hitting his mouth on the edge of the train table. It was one of those moments when you see that your child is about to get hurt, but you're too far away to prevent it from happening. His poor litle mouth was full of blood and I know it must have hurt. He recovered from his fall just in time to head out to the pediatrician's office for his 15-month checkup and yes, shots. Ethan weighs 22 lbs, 11 ounces and is 29 inches long. The pediatrician said he looks great!

After his exam, Ethan had to have two shots. One of them was the dreaded MMR. I agonized over this shot when Kaitlin was little due to the theory that it causes Autism. We talked to our then pediatrician who reassured us that this was not the case and we decided to go ahead with the shot. I cried more than Kaitlin did. Boys also have a higher rate of Autism so some have wondered if the shot effects them differently. More worry. I realize that the research leading to this theory has been debunked, has not been replicated, and the doctor who led it, is losing his license, but that little seed was planted and there is still worry at the back of my mind. He was waving "bye bye" at Chick-fil-A last night and I take that as a good sign!

Making Pancakes

Making Pancakes

Six year old Brandon decided one Saturday morning to fix his parents pancakes. He found a big bowl and spoon, pulled a chair to the counter, opened the cupboard and pulled out the heavy flour canister, spilling it on the floor.

He scooped some of the flour into the bowl with his hands, mixed in most of a cup of milk and added some sugar, leaving a floury trail on the floor which by now had a few tracks left by his kitten.

Brandon was covered with flour and getting frustrated. He wanted this to be something very good for Mom and Dad, but it was getting very bad.

He didn't know what to do next, whether to put it all into the oven or on the stove and he didn't know how the stove worked!

Suddenly he saw his kitten licking from the bowl of mix and reached to push her away, knocking the egg carton to the floor.

Frantically he tried to clean up this monumental mess but slipped on the eggs, getting his pajamas white and sticky.

And just then he saw Dad standing at the door. Big crocodile tears welled up in Brandon's eyes. All he'd wanted to do was something good, but he'd made a terrible mess. He was sure a scolding was coming, maybe even a spanking.

But his father just watched him.

Then, walking through the mess, he picked up his crying son and hugged him, getting his own pajamas white and sticky in the process.

That's how God deals with us. We try to do something good in life, but it turns into a mess. Our marriage gets all sticky or we insult a friend, or we can't stand our job, or our health goes sour.

Sometimes we just stand there in tears because we can't think of anything else to do. That's when God picks us up and forgives us, even though some of our mess gets all over Him.

Gardens are not made by sitting in the shade. -- Rudyard Kipling

We had one of these moments at our house this afternoon. I heard a noise from the dining room that sounded like something falling. I started to head that way and asked Kaitlin if she was OK. She said she'd had a little accident. When I got to the dining room, I saw her standing next to the shelf with my snowglobes on it crying. Next to her on the shelf was a broken snowglobe. She has always loved to look at the snowglobes and listen to their music. She's been told at least a hundred times not to touch the snowglobes and to ask for help if she wants to listen to them so I know she was expecting to get in trouble. She looked up at me through her tears and sobbed, "I broke it." I couldn't even be mad at her. I went over and gave her a hug and she wanted to know if I had two pairs of them. She was so upset! I noticed a little blood on her cheek and realized she had cut her finger on the broken glass so we went to the bathroom and cleaned it up and put on a band-aid. Then I put Ethan in the Exersaucer to contain him and Kaitlin on the couch (with strict orders to stay put) while I cleaned up the broken glass.

First Haircut!

As much as I hate to admit it, my little man is growing up. He got his first full haircut a couple weeks ago when MomMom and PopPop were visiting (PopPop trimmed around his ears before Christmas). We were very surprised at how quick and agile PopPop was while giving a very tired and grumpy one-year-old a haircut!






Here is the final cut; and he doesn't seem to be upset with PopPop at all!

"Just" a virus

I don't usually use this blog to vent, but I'm really frustrated this week because Kaitlin has been sick. She has had a fever since Saturday night. At first, it was just a low-grade fever, but when she came to our room at 2am Sunday morning, I quickly determined that it had increased since bedtime and sure enough, when I took her temp, it was up to 102. Now, I try not to be one of those parents who takes her kids to the doctor everytime they sneeze, so I waited until she had had a fever around 102 for two days before taking her in (this was the pediatrician's recommendation). Of course, by the time we got to the pediatrician's office, her temperature was 98.9 (with Tylenol) and she was bouncing off the walls. The doctor checked all the normal stuff including her lungs (for RSV), ears, and throat and didn't find anything wrong. So, he tested her for the flu. When that came back negative, he tested her for strep throat, just in case. When that came back negative he said "she probably just has a virus." I've heard this before, usually when she has had a low-grade fever for two or three days and it always bothers me. "Just" a virus? Really? Some viruses are very dangerous and I understand that it is difficult to diagnose every random virus out there, but I do get frustrated when my child's condition is minimized to "just" a virus. The flu is a virus, chicken pox is a virus, and then there is rotavirus. All of these are viruses serious enough for vaccines. In fact, the majority of the vaccines that my children are required to have for school, are to protect against viruses. So why is it that if the virus can't be specified, it is "just" a virus? I've come to the conclusion that this is what the doctor says when they really have no idea at all what is wrong with my child. Honestly, I wish that one of those tests he did on Kaitlin had come back positive so that we would know what we're up against and have some idea how to treat it. Instead, we just have to wait it out and pray that this fever goes away soon or that some other symptom pops up and gives us a clue what we're up against.

Sweet Siblings

I put on a video for Ethan while I was making dinner this evening and Kaitlin insisted on sitting with him on the bean bag chair to watch. It was too cute and super sweet!

 

 

Ethan wasn't really watching TV and smiling, he started smiling when he saw the camera - what a ham!

Ethan's One Year Checkup

I just came home from Ethan's 1-year checkup. He weighed in at 20 lbs, 14 oz and is 27 ¾ inches long. The doctor said he looks great and wasn't concerned at all that he isn't walking or using a cup yet. Ethan has had a couple incidents when he cried so hard that he couldn't catch his breath and his face started to turn blue. This freaked us out a little, but the doctor said it's actually very common for babies to have breath holding spells and eventually they grow out of it.

Here are a couple pictures of Ethan with his lion and zebra taken on January 15. It's getting harder and harder to get him to lean back and be still! He has learned to rock the chair by himself and just wanted to keep rocking himself.

Ethan's Birthday

Wow! What a great birthday celebration for our little Ethan. I still can't believe the little man is 1! My mom, sister, niece and nephew were able to make it into town despite the icy weather in Atlanta last week. It means so much to me that they drove all this way to celebrate the life of our little man, Ethan. Kaitlin had a really great time with her cousin Sarah and was very sad to see them go this morning. Robbie and Ethan aren't really ready to play together just yet, but I'm sure they will be good friends just like Kaitlin and Sarah! Here are some pictures from the party.

Toomer's Corner

Everytime the Auburn Tigers win a football game, it is tradition to roll the Oak trees at Toomer's Corner in downtown Auburn. So, as you can imagine, after winning the 2010 BCS National Championship last night, there was a lot of toilet paper in those trees!! And there was also tp all down the streets. We couldn't make it to Toomer's to help roll the trees, but we were able to stop by this morning and take some pictures to celebrate the big win. Kaitlin was hungry and grumpy and did not want her picture taken so we had to sneak it. Ethan was tired and grumpy so he wouldn't smile for any pictures. We actually all have Auburn clothes on, but it was way too cold to take off our coats!

Sharing??

A very rare occasion when Kaitlin actually shared one of her toys with Ethan.