knock knock jokes

Reagan is picking up the torch from Brennan - telling Knock Knock Jokes. She is getting pretty good at the delivery of a few of them. The best part is that she routinely makes up her own. I'm not sure they always make sense, but it is fun to listen to her tell them and see how her brain is working. Plus, it gives my giggle box a little exercise. I love laughing with her.

Eating pizza

I just watched Maddy eat an entire piece of pizza. Really?

Mouse on the mouth

Reagan and Joseph had a bounce-fest in the basement at my parents house. Neither kid won, but Reagan got a bloody lip and a bruise on her upper lip. Nice.

Pointing

Maddy is pointing like crazy. She points at everything that she talks about. It cracks me up. She's been doing it for a while now, but the fact that her little index finger goes with her mouth is funny.

Pooping on the toilet again

We tend to bath Maddy every night after dinner. A few nights ago, Jim decided he was tired of her pooping in the water. He lifted her up to poop on the toilet and it worked. Tonight was night number four. :)

Maddy's teeth

Apparently she is getting five teeth at once. Maybe that is why she has such drainage lately. I don't know, but it is nuts. Her left and right top molars have popped through (not the eye teeth, but the next ones back). Her bottom right molar and front right tooth have popped through and her bottom left one is just about ready to pop through. This is nuts.

Jack in the box

Today, Maddy turned the crank all by herself to make the Jack in the box pop. I couldn't believe it. She would never let me help her. I guess she watched enough to figure it out. Very cool. She was so happy every time she did it that she did a little jig when it popped.

Shutting doors and other odd things

Maddy has a thing for shutting the doors in the kitchen - the fridge, closet and cabinets. I don't know why, but she loves it. She will get really mad too if you don't let her close the door when it's open. I find it cute that when I open the fridge that she will run over to the fridge and bounce up and down laughing. It is very odd but funny.

She also has a strange fetish for q-tips and shoes. I'm not sure what it is, but she will go for these items and carry them around endlessly.

Kicking and throwing the ball?

Maddy is throwing the ball with the dogs this morning. It's so cute. She will pick it up and then throw it to them. She does throw it pretty well considering she's only one. :) But it's hilarious to watch her do it. She is actually trying to get some distance. When she does, she gets excited and runs over to it. Sometimes she'll stand there and kick it. Cute.

Pooping on the toilet

Maddy pooped on the toilet tonight. Apparently she started grunting while Jim was giving her a bath and he whooshed her out of the tub and sat her down. She grunted and did the deed. He heee

My little grown up girl

Reagan is getting so grown up. I can't stand it. :( Where did my little girl go to? Last night, we picked out her outfit for PJ Day at school. She wanted her frog PJs and her frog stuffed animals and her frog hair clippy and her princess socks. Check. She laid them all out on her blanket with frogs on it before bed so she knew exactly what to put on in the morning.

She woke up this morning and was so excited about the whole thing. She said "do I get to put on my PJs now"? Yes dear. She got dressed on her own (including her striped pants for warmth).  When she got dressed, she said "and I did it all by myself". Yes you did baby. You did. Sniff sniff.

Dressing herself

Maddy is doing her best to dress herself completely. I am not sure if she is watching Reagan and wants to do what her big sister is doing or what. But it is hilarious. She actually leans over to get her clothes and tucks her head as if she's putting on her top. She will make all the right motions to put on her top and pants. Cute. She'll even grab her shoes and then undo the velcro and try to put them on too. So funny.

Maddy's a brut

I got a call from Rita today. "You might want to come get Maddy". :) Apparently she had fallen and gotten a pretty nasty bruise on her head. She had a crash collision with another child at day care and she had a really good knot on her forehead. Since I had just taken some pain meds, I was a little concerned about driving to get her. Once I got the picture, I knew I had to go.

Apparently, when Maddy wants something, she gets it. Rita explained that she had just put snack down and this other little boy had a toy she wanted. She wasn't sure which one was the driving force, but she was MOO-VIN' towards the target - that boy. She mowed him over, crashed into him knocking their heads together and ended up on top of him. Woo hoo Maddy won. :) Not really.

Anyway. She is fine, but even 12 hours later the bruise is gross.

New words

Maddy has some new words lately. While she is absolutely the queen of babbling, she is really starting to expand her vocabulary. Some good ones are: shoes, cup, milk (maa maa), Juice (duce), Mom (mamaaaaaa).

She is really good at communicating lately. When you ask her to do something, she often knows what you are talking about. My favorite answer is the "head-nod". If you say "do you want to", she will nod her head yes and then go to where-ever that item usually happens.

Tonight, we were playing in the bathroom with her toys and the door chime rang. She looked up at me immediately, then looked towards the door and then looked back at me. I said, do you want to go see? she nodded her head yes and then took off.

Four molars

Really? Maddy's back teeth are coming in. Actually one is already in. I was waiting on the front bottom two to fill in. I guess she had other things in mind.

Finally dressing herself

Reagan is officially dressing herself now. She can and is finally willing to do it. She's been able to do it for some time, but she's been wanting to dress herself more and more lately. I love it.

Tonsils out - Day nine

I guess today was the best day I've had so far. I made it through the day with only a two hour nap. I napped when Maddy did - although Reagan was playing with me during my nap. LOL. I did have to do it at half speed, but I held up. I took my meds half as much and just felt better all over. I still have white patches in my throat and my tongue is killing me. I think my tongue feels worse than anything else.

But regardless of the pain, I gave up on "soft foods". I had a shake for breakfast, cereal for lunch. I then begged Jim to take mt to the local Greek restaurant. Yum. I got my Greek salad. I could only eat part of it, but man was it worth the pain.

Maddy's got a cough

Maddy started with a cough a few days before I had my surgery. She's still not over it. How frustrating. It's been 10 days officially and she still has it. I guess she is going to the doctor on Saturday.

Stuff to carry

Maddy loves to carry stuff around, especially things that are clearly not hers. Today she wanted my shoes. She went to my bedroom door and fussed until I opened the door. She apparently had something on her mind. She then went into the bathroom and waited at my closet door inside the bathroom. Hmm. What did she want? She got in there and giggled. She played in there for a bit while I used the bathroom. I checked on her when I was done. She had my gym shoes. Really? She got those huge things and just carried them around for about 30 minutes. I'm not sure which was funnier - the desire and memory of the shoes, or the fact that she carried them around so long.

Tonsils out - Day eight

Today was pitiful. I've been sick to my stomach on and off since surgery, but today was the absolute worst day of it. I got to the point where I was on the couch crying because I couldn't sit up or lay down. I was just miserable. I didn't take pain meds from 9:00 am until about 4:00 pm because the nausea was so horrible.

My dad called me in the early afternoon to check on me. I was crying. He was worried. I believe my mother showed up within an hour. She was standing over me just watching me sleep and cry. She figured out I was probably stopped up. Ugh. Nice. This is where the story, while gross, gets kinda funny.

My mom suggested an enema. :) I agreed it would be the easiest way to determine if she was right. (aren't moms usually right). Anyway, she told me she'd run to the store to get some "supplies" and she'd be back. She didn't want me to do the procedure without her in case I got sick. So I waited. I crawled up on my perch and waited. I slept I think. I woke up to some really horrible television show with some obviously flamboyant individuals on it. That didn't help my mood any.

When she got back, she pulled my med out of the bag and some other things to try - stool softeners, gingerale and a GIANT enema. She said "they now have super size". Wow that scared me. The normal size doesn't thrill me any. I couldn't imagine using that size. It was HUGE!

Needless to say, I said I'd use the smaller one and proceeded to go take care of it.  As much as my mom's been there in all my uncomfortable positions, this one was not one I wanted help. I kicked her out and waited. Didn't take long. It worked - that's all I'm saying.

I crawled back on the couch and told my mom to go so I could rest. She was already having to manage my life for me anyway. She was doing so much.

While I was laying there, I wondered if I had thrush. Just something else to think about. I went into the bathroom and tried to brush the "stuff" fof my tongue. It didn't work.I had bulky white stuff on my tongue and it hurt to swallow. All the pain meds had masked my tongue pain. Because I hadn't taken them all day, my tongue was killing me. Odd. I called the doctor and explained the tongue patches and pain. They said "yep, it's thrush" and called me something in.  Now what.

Anyway, my mom was right. By this evening, my stomach had calmed down. I felt better. I took pain meds around 6:00 and then 10:00 pm - more for my tongue than anything. I'm up and Jim's in bed. I'm eating ice cream to keep the tummy calm and will then take a stool softener. Hopefully that will work.

Tonsils out - Day seven

One week today. It's Thursday. I was able to do more today. It's like I got over the hump. I'm still taking meds about every 5 hours. I have been able to put Reagan to bed the last five nights. Tonight was the first time I couldn't read to her. My throat hurt way too much. I'm not sure why. Just odd.

Note: Still have some seriously gross white patches. Now they are on my tongue and I can't get rid of them.

uh oh

Maddy has figured out how to open the dog crates. I think I'm in trouble now.

Taking off her shoes

Maddy loves to take off her right shoe and sock. She gets mad and just takes them off. I asked Rita today if she does that at school. She confirmed that she does, but only when she's mad. Hmmm. Just like Reagan. :)

She knows

Maddy is getting really good at communication. She tells us when she's hungry - she will walk over to her chair and ask to get up. Sometimes, we will actually ask her if she wants food (with sign language) and she will nod and go to her chair.

If I tell her that someone is "home", she will immediately go to the garage door and wait patiently.

If I need to go potty, I ask her to go with me and she just goes. She's so funny about it too. She gets a fit of giggling when she's going with me.

Tonight I asked if she wanted to go to bed while I was holding her. She nodded her head yes. Sigh. So smart.

Tonsils out - Day six

Well, I've slept all day again. For some reason, I'm sleeping a ton. I'm guessing my body is just recovering still. Duh. The white patches are still there. My tongue, I've noticed, is covered in white stuff. Actually, it just stays covered in stuff that I ate. I thought it was the ice cream, but maybe it's not. Hmmm.

I also seem to be able to go a bit longer without pain meds. That doesn't mean too much. It still hurts. But during the day, I can go longer. Is that just because I'm sleeping?

Tonsils out - Day five

This sucks. Day five is just as bad as the fourth day. I'm not sure what it is. But for some reason between 2 or so and the early evening, I am in so much pain and discomfort that it's amazing. Hopefully tomorrow will get better.

White patches still there.

Tonsils out - Day four

So today was a tough day. I woke up feeling very rough. My throat was on fire and pulsing. I wasn't as bad as the day before because I basically stayed up all night drinking liquids. But I was so tired from staying up that it kicked my butt the other way. So there is no way to win basically. Stay hydrated, but need sleep. Hmmm. Hard thing to figure out.

So Jim took the girls to school today and my mom came up to sit with me. I basically slept all day. Every hour, my mom woke me up to drink and/or eat something. I was so drained from not sleeping that I actually missed my alarm a few times. Glad she was there or I might have missed my pain meds time. :)

I heated up dinner. Whoops. That kicked my butt. By the time Jim got home, I was sitting on the couch with an ice pack on my neck. I should have thought of that earlier in the day. It really helped.

I was hoping to put Reagan in bed, but my throat hurt too bad to read to her. Bummer. She was happy that I could snuggle with her. Me too.

Needless to say, Day Four was tough. Sleep helped. Lots of fluid. I

Tonsils out - Day four

So I started Friday, the 9th, as Day One. I'm not sure if that is right or not, but that is how I did it. Today, day four, is a tough one. It's not that I noticed too much different. I just couldn't get off the couch. I slept all day. My throat was more sore than normal. I just couldn't get comfortable.

Today, my mom stayed home with me while Jim went to work. She wanted me to sleep. So I kept the TV off an literally did that. I woke up around 2:00 pm and I was in so much pain that I couldn't stand it. Water didn't help much. It lasted until about 6:00 pm.

Jim got home iwth the kids and, for some reason, after the next dose of pain meds, I seemed to be okay. Just odd. I have a ton of white patches all over my throat. It's kinda gross, but I am anticipating that I will have a few rough days ahead. The doctor said Day three - five were tough. That is when the scabs come off.

Tonsils out - Day three Part 2

Today sucks big time. It was rough all day. Thank goodness the kids went to church. I was able to relax most the morning. I woke up with a horrible swollen feeling in my throat. It hurt to breathe, talk or swallow. Nice.

We had missed my meds by 30 minutes in the middle of the night, but really didn't think that it would effect me that much. Maybe it did. Anyway, I slept in Reagan's room and decided that was a bad idea. I was very conscience of not waking her up which meant I didn't wake up to drink water all night. I won't be doing that tonight at all.

I did make a few mistakes today. There is a reason why the doctor said to sit on my butt for a week. Yep. I did a little much today. I heated up dinner (not more than 5 minutes or so on my feet) and played with Maddy some. Mistake. It hit me like a baseball bat. I was knocked down so fast it made me dizzy. I just didn't get it. I've been down really ever since.

So lesson learned for tomorrow. Sit on my butt! :) Yea ha.

Tonsils out - Day three

It sucks!

Tonsils out - Day two

So today is Day Two. I couldn't sleep last night at all. I ended up taking a few naps during the day. That helped me quite a bit. I was not as diligent earlier in the day with my water and ended up having some dryness and trouble swallowing. Ugh. Once I got back on the water basically all the time, I have been fine. I could even yell at Reagan when she was so restless.

I can definitely tell when my medication is wearing off. About 3.5 hours, I am looking at the clock because the water doesn't seem to work as well.  I also had a mistake tonight on food. I was holding Maddy on my lap while she ate goldfish and a few fell on her lap. I picked one up and just threw it in my mouth and started chewing. I stopped as soon as I realized I was not allowed to eat crackers. He hee. I spit it out in my hand. Jim said "you can't eat those". Just a habit. Love those goldfish.

I am starting to wonder if my request to not use Hydrocodone because of my concern about my Codine allergy went unheard. I am so stinkin' itchy it is amazing. My face is so flushed I feel like I sat out in the sun too much on a hot summer day. It is bright red. Jim stood in the bathroom with me tonight so I could take a shower (in case I was wobbly) and when the water hit my face, it felt like ice cubes.

When I got out of the shower, he asked me if I had been scratching my back. It looked almost blistered from the amount of scratches. We used a hypoallergenic lotion to see if that would help me any. If I am not better tomorrow, I am calling the doctor. I am 15 minutes away from my evening dose and my throat is starting to hurt a bit. Ick.

I did notice this morning that I have some white scabs forming in the back of my throat. That is good. Healing is starting. :)  I'm also noticing that it doesn't hurt as much on the sides as it does on the top. I'm also a tad challenged to drink straight up water. It feels like it gets caught.

Tomorrow is day three. So far, it really hasn't been too bad. I've been tired and worn out, but in general feel fine.

Tonsils out

Today, I got my tonsils out. I thought I would take over this blog to record my recovery a bit. I did the wrong thing - I read online prior to my surgery and scared the tar out of myself. I actually did fine.

I had prayed for my fear to be removed - it was. The only thing I was flipping out about was getting an IV in my hand. I hate that. An IV anywhere else, I'm okay with. But I've had many bad experiences with that process and was not looking forward to it.

Needless to say, the doc put me to sleep via gas and then did my IV. Thank you for that. I had an interesting "coming to" but other than severe itching (because gas leaves your body through the skin for the first 24 hours), I was pretty good.

I woke up out of the meds and couldn't go back to sleep. They kept trying to get me to, but I just wanted to see my husband. :) 

The whole process was about three hours. I got to the Medical Center about 9:40 am and we left before 1:00 pm. I was home and on the couch soon after that. I took a nap before Jim went to get the girls. I was fine when they got there. I think Reagan was really happy to see me - I think she was worried about me.

Guzzling water was the best advice I was given. Keep it moist and it will heal faster and feel better overall. Very true. I set an alarm just to make sure I stayed on track with water my first 24 hours. We'll see how I do tomorrow. Tonight, I can't sleep. I'm sure its the anesthesia.

To my family

I have been blessed by God with a husband and three wonderful girls. Two of them came naturally. One from marriage. I love them all quite differently.

Reagan, my first love, is such an awesome blessing. She is bright, smart, funny as heck, silly, girly and daring. She lights up my world and keeps me going all day and all night.She is a mama's girl all the way. She can drive me crazy because she just can, but I smile inside because I know how much fun she is having. There is not a second that goes by that I do not thank God for such an awesome kid.

Jordan is the oldest. She is growing up quite nicely and is becoming quite a young woman. I'm proud of how much she has grown and I am excited to see what God has for her.  She is starting to find her way and I just hope and pray that I can be a positive influence for her. I just hope she knows that I am always on her side no matter what.

Maddy is my last. She is a super sweetheart. She's a daddy's girl all the way, but loves her mama. She's smart, inquisitive, sweet and loving. I am constantly amazed at what she does every day. She is such a bright light and a gentle soul. She loves everything around her and she loves her family. She will lead the way. 

I pray every night for God to care for these girls and to keep His hands on them. They are and will be such wonderful girls, ladies and women at all points in their life.

To my husband, you are best friend and I am lucky to have you. I am glad you are with me and I can't wait to see what crazy stuff we get to do for the rest of our lives. We are never bored. We drive each other crazy. But I love you always.

Smacking my hand

Maddy has started moving and/or smacking my hand when she doesn't want me to do something. I wonder where she gets that from. I must ask the daycare to see how they handle things.

Tonight in the tub, I had my hand on the faucet. She smacked it (gently) and then looked at me like "move it mama". I moved my hand. She smiled and immediately put her hand on the faucet to steady herself.

Maddy is hilarious

Maddy tonight was playing with the ceiling fan remote. It was the old remote that no longer worked. She started clicking it and looking around. Nothing happened. She did it again and looked around. Nothing happened.

She got so frustrated that she threw it (on purpose) and it broke!

Wow Maddy. :)

Reagan is reading

Reagan's reading is really starting to take off. She's been working really hard on her sight words. She is learning how to sound words out. So now, at night, we don't just read books. We get one that she can work through and then we read a snuggly book. I'm so proud of her that she's reading. :)

Bathtime for Maddy

I finally got used to giving Maddy a bath. When Jim went out of town (and she puked), I was forced into a situation where I had to just do it. Now, it doesn't scare me anymore. Actually, the cool thing is, she is really careful in the tub now. She loves to walk around the tub - she does not like to sit much. She will hold on to things as she moves around though. She will hold onto the faucet, the wall, the soap dish. She will hold on to just about anything to steady herself.

I'm amazed that she does that.

Mommy - Daughter Day

I decided since I was having surgery that it might be a good idea to have a fun day with Reagan. I wanted to give her a fun memory to think about while I was on my back for a bit.  Anyway, we went to the Children's Museum. We got downtown about 10am. It was snowing. She's so stubborn - she didn't want to wear a coat. So we ran in to the museum in our fleece jackets. I, of course, made her pose for a corny pic in front.

We did everything they had to offer. We did the ball area (or ball pit as I call it), we did the make believe area. She pretended to be a vet doctor, a server. She played the drums and all sorts of other cool things. We built things. She drilled things and threw pretend rocks into the pretend quarry. We played in a castle and ran races on the ramps. She got to see Santa and the awesome train display and even played in the maze.

We were there for five and a half hours. She wore me out. But we made such an awesome memory, just me and her. See the best part is I didn't just take her - we played. We played all day. She pretended, but I was right there with her. I love being a kid. She didn't even seem to mind me taking pictures all day. ha ha.

I love being her mommy.

Hurdle position

Why does Maddy always sit in the hurdle position? Most kids sit on both knees or both legs out. She almost always sits with one leg out and one leg back. Just odd.

Sickie baby

This morning, I went to get Maddy up and as I approached her door, I could smell vomit. She was sitting in a pool of puke. She was happy, but she was sick. So I thought it might have been the fish from the night before since she seemed happy and had no fever.  She got a bath and clothes.

I remembered Em's family had a bug go through their entire family. So I gave her a bottle like normal and waited. It didn't take long. She spit up just a bit. Not much, just a bit. So I figured I was good to go. Another quick sink bath and new clothes.

Within another ten minutes, she came walking into the kitchen towards me and just started projectile vomiting. It just came out as she walked towards me. She puked about three times and finally sat down in a pile of curdled milk from her belly. Eww. Needless to say, she was really sick. Not fish - sick.  Reagan was a huge help, although a little scared of Maddy touching her. She brought me a towel and paper towels to help me clean up and then ran away completely.

I then called mom to come help (which she did - Thank you mother!) and then got the steam cleaner to get the vomit off the carpeting. I got Reagan to school and then grabbed some pedialite before heading home to rescue my sick mother and child.

Needless to say, she's home with me today. She's happy, but a tad week. Very wobbly. She actually walked over to me on the couch with her blanket and wanted "up". She climbed in my lap and drifted off to sleep while we were watching Baby Einstein. Sweet baby.

New shoes

I picked the girls up from school early to go to my doctor's appointment and then go get some new shoes. By the way, Stride Rite is really expensive, but worth it. Needless to say it was a sad day. My little girl, Maddy, is now in BIG girl shoes. Sniff sniff. The sales lady asked if she had started walking. When I answered, "oh yea she's all over the place". She said, "well then she's here in this section now" and pointed to the next level up. Sniff again. I told her no. She said yes. I said I wasn't ready, she laughed and basically said too bad. Sniff again and again. She's a 5W. What? Wide? Okay that's weird.

Anyway... after we put them on her and checked the size, she let her go. Maddy didn't know what to do. She was trying to walk, but it was like watching her walk through poop. She'd take a step and then lift her foot as if to go "what the heck?" She did that several times and then just took off like a mad woman. That was it.

So on to Reagan. She actually did really well today. She was so excited about getting new shoes, I didn't have much prodding to do. She got new sneakers and new church shoes. Oh yea - they are total bling shoes. She's now a size 11 or 12. The shoes we got were size 12, but they lady said 11 I thought. Hmmm. Sigh.

My girls are getting bigger.

Wednesday nights

Reagan loves church. Every night, she asks if she gets to go to church. Tonight was the night. She got so excited. I just love seeing that kind of joy when my kid goes to church. Makes me feel good.

big girl shoes

Maddy got big girl shoes today. sniff sniff.

Whoah

Maddy was sitting in her chair tonight and leaned forward a little bit too much. After pulling herself back up from a potential fall, she said "whooaa".

I want that!

Tonight, we were hanging out in the basement - letting the girls just play. I sat down at my computer and within 30 seconds, Maddy let out a shriek. A really loud noise. I turned around to figure out what she wanted. She was standing at Reagan's easel and was pointing at the eraser on top. She just smiled and made her happy noise. Guess she got my attention.

Princess overload

Reagan is really getting into her dressup stuff more and more lately. Tonight, she got completely decked out for her friends - Brent and Braydon. It was really cute. They came over. They all ran to the basement. She got dressed for the occasion. I'm so glad we have a bunch of that stuff.

I think tonight's outfit had a tiara, headband with a HUGE bow, tutu and tons of bling. Love it.

I want that!

Tonight, we were hanging out in the basement - letting the girls just play. I sat down at my computer and within 30 seconds, Maddy let out a shriek. A really loud noise. I turned around to figure out what she wanted. She was standing at Reagan's easel and was pointing at the eraser on top. She just smiled and made her happy noise. Guess she got my attention.

Noises on my hand

Tonight, on the way home from school, Maddy was making a fart noise. She had turned her hand over and was blowing on the back of her hand. Every time I'd turn around she would stop and look at me like "what mom?". Geez

Moving stuff again

I'm impressed with my daughters strength. I know she likes to move stuff, but she just moved Reagan's plastic and bulky easel across the basement carpet. That can't be easy to do for a one year old right?

Product of routine?

Maddy crawled up into Mimi's lap and grabbed her bottle to start drinking it right at about 5:30 pm. I cracked up because we sit down around 5:30 pm every night and she sits in my lap while drinking her cup of milk. I love it. Guess she found a way to have her snuggle time.

Coloring

This morning, I wanted to do something with the girls while we were hanging out. Coloring sounded like a great idea. Reagan immediately started making some kind of picture which got hung up in our front window. Maddy started coloring and got so excited once she got her first crayon. She giggled and danced the entire time. She'd squat down and pop back up all the while coloring on her piece of paper. Too cute.

She called out for "lello" and reached out her hand as if to ask for it. So I gave it to her. She colored and colored. Once she was done with her page, she actually picked up the paper and flipped it over. I was amazed that she knew to do that.

Moving stuff

Maddy loves to move stuff around. I'm not really sure why, but she does. We can be in the basement or up on the main floor - she will move anything that is about 10 times her size. :) She started with kitchen chairs. By the way, they are not easy for an adult to move. But when she puts her weight into it, she can actually move one completely to the other side of the eating area. All by herself.

FIrst official temper tantrum

Maddy has a quick temper - we know that. The funny thing is that we've seen  bits of her temper on and off for a little while now. Tonight, she threw her first official tantrum. I mean - throwing herself on the floor, legs kicking and crocodile tears and the whole bit. It was awesome!

Yea. The bad thing - Jim and I just looked at her like nothing was going on. It didn't stop her from doing it, but we got a kick out of it all.

I think she was a little shocked we didn't "fix it" right away. She stopped.

Yellow?

Maddy says "lello" for yellow now. Sometimes she can actually spit the right word out. Odd, but so cool.

Talking more

Jim and I have both noticed that Maddy is talking alot more now that her head is clear. It's nice. She just babbles all the time in the car. She is actually attempting more words. I think he latest one is Papa (not sure which grandfather she is talking about, but it fits all of them).

Some of her newest words are:
Papa
Mimi
Nini (still Jordan)
Mama (flat out clear)
Dadda (clear)
Dog (dggg)

Drinking from a tumbler?

I picked Maddy up a tad early today. When I got there, she had just finished snack. I was promptly informed that she was no officially drinking out of a cup and that I should let her do that at home.

I am seriously not sure of what magic they have at that school, but tonight she about drowned in milk. Why? I dunno. She didn't drink out of a cup for me. Hmmm. Something about school - they seem to be able to get my kids to do all sorts of stuff.

Kid is smart

Oh no... Maddy is too smart. She saw Jim and I giving the dogs commands today. Ya know - sit, down etc... She walked over to Carson and held her hand (palm up) to him. She, of course, could not speak to him. But he knew that he must obey. His look was priceless.

That thing my poop did

I noticed yesterday evening that Reagan had some "back-end issues". So I told her that she would not be able to have juice for dinner or breakfast because of that. Tonight, we were on the way home and she said, "hey mom, you know that thing that my poop did? do I have that anymore?"

Too cute.

Boots

I take the girls to school every morning. It's nice. We all get up, get dressed, eat... blah blah. A normal routine. When everyone is ready to go, I go to my room (with them both following behind) and get dressed. Normally, in the mornings before I wake them, I get my bra on. This morning, I didn't.

Back to this morning -  I walked into my closet and took off my robe and then my night shirt. Reagan looked up, with "wonder in her eyes", and said "Mommy, I can't wait to have big boots just like you". I looked down at her and said "God love ya honey!" and then silently thought, I will never hear that again.

It gets better...

She then reached into my bra area and pulled out one of my bras. She said "mommy, this is huge. Can I wear it?" as she put it on her body. Again, I looked down and said "sweetie, you can do whatever you want".


Needless to say, I was laughing my butt off inside. I thought I probably will never, ever hear those words uttered again. Sigh... and just think, if she actually saw a woman that had big boobs. She might flip out completely. :)  I hope I made you laugh.

Missing my parents

Tonight, my dad dropped by after the KBC. He came to the door about 7:45 pm. Maddy went with me to answer the door. When she saw him, she threw her arms back and made a bee-line straight to him. When she reached him, she put her arms around his legs and just leaned in giving him a hug. So sweet. He picked her up and she just hugged on him. I think she missed him.

I called to Reagan. She came running.


they missed their grandparents. i did too.

Playing Peek-a-boo

Last night, Maddy woke up at 2:00 am. Nice. She was not in the mood to go back to sleep either. I took a bottle up thinking that she'd drink some and then go right back to sleep. Nope. She wouldn't.

We did every kind of coaxing possible. I even got to the point of saying "put your head down sweetie" and she would. She knew what I was saying. She'd lift her head up and just gaze at me. Then she'd smile. I'd say "put your head down" and she'd throw it down. Too cute.

Every once in a while, she'd look up and smack my face and giggle. She'd get such a huge grin on her face. I'd try not to laugh. But when I did, she'd laugh too.

The last thing that got me was Peek-a-boo. She pulled her blanket up and covered my face.  Then she'd babble something and then pull down the blanket. She was playing Peek-a-boo. Totally cute... My heart just melted.

Flash card woman

Maddy is starting to LOVE her flashcards. When I would do them with her before, she never really thought much about them. Lately, she's been walking over to the bin and pulling them out of the box. Then she will sit quietly in the corner and just go through them. Most of the time, if no-one goes to sit with her, she will play with them and then walk away after a while. But she loves it when we read them to her with the sounds.

Eating fun

Maddy might be the messiest eater I've seen. She gets literally everthying all over her. She finds new ways to get things into her hair and her diaper. I haven't figured that one out yet. Yesterday, she and Reagan decided to paint her highchair with popsicles. Nice. Today, she's spewing grapes everywhere. At least I don't have to peel them anymore. :)

Maddy just nodded her head

She just nodded her head YES! Whoah!

Wow Really?

Reagan just told Jim, "I can't concentrate when people are talking".

I think she just told him to hush up in a very nice way.

Tag

We bought Reagan a Tag reader. So far, she likes the games only. She apparently loves Spiderman, not Princess stuff. Who would have figured that one out. No way. That's okay. As long as she tries it, I"m good. I think this could be a cool thing to help her learn how to read.

Watch, she'll be the one kid that learns the traditional way. Oh and Spiderman over Princesses? Huh?

Oh Maddy

Today I took Maddy back to the ENT. Ugh. He took one look at her ear and said "it's green in there. not that's not normal." I felt better about obsessing a bit. They took a culture and decided to send it off for evaluation and sent us home with more meds and ear drops. It could be a few things. 1) medicine-resistant bacteria (yea team) which could mean that she gets either a pic-line for a couple weeks at home or new meds. 2) regular infection which could be new meds and removal of adenoids etc...

I'm hoping for...

Happy Halloween

I hope everyone had a safe and happy (and of course, candy-filled) Halloween.

Hanging out in the chair

Madelynn has found Reagan's chair. She loves climbing up into the chair and hanging out. She has even gotten so daring as to stand up in it. She just sits there and crosses her legs like a little lady. Darling.

Angel has wings

...and daddy's feet. Jim showed Reagan one time that he could make her fly by putting his feet under her hips and lifting her up in the air. My brothers use to do this to me - I loved it. I'm sure that she loves the feeling. She begs Jim to do it. It's so cute!

Reagan is a monkey dress as Cinderelli

I left today to go to a baby shower. I put Reagan's Cinderella outfit in the dining room. Actually, I hung it from the chandelier so nobody could get to it - the baby or the dogs. Apparently, Reagan found a way to get it down. She announced to Jim that she was able to get her costume down all by herself, but "I didn't climb on the table."  I wonder how she go it down without climbing on the table. ha ha

Maddy is on the loose

Maddy is moving every where. She is not stopping at all. She has walked around the entire first floor a few times tonight. It's hilarious to watch her. Her little shoulders go up and down as she moves across the floor. When she falls, it's controlled. She'll fall part of the way down and stop herself. Then she'll get back up again and just keep going. Every once in a while, she will turn around to look... just look. It's cute.

Lovey girl

Maddy is such a lovey girl. She loves to snuggle and kiss. Today, she chose different people (or dogs) at different times and would go over to them and love (lean over an snuggle) on them and then give them a kiss. She's my lovey girl.

Horsey

I actually recorded Maddy getting right onto her little horse this morning. It was so cute. I had just happened to grab my camera off her dresser when I saw her moving towards the horse. I turned on the video thing just in time to catch her climbing on... with no problem I might add.

Cubbies

Reagan loves Cubbies. She came home again tonight singing the songs and just as happy as can be. I love listening to her go on and on. It's nice that she sings church music. Such a relief that she enjoys it. When I dropped her at my parents house tonight, she said "mommy, don't forget to give me a kiss goodbye". Before I left I said "have a nice time" and she said "of course I will".



Sniff sniff, where did my little baby go?

Smarty pants

Today, Reagan's teacher returned from her medical leave. She apparently does like her quite a bit because she was barely interested in saying goodbye to me this morning. She went straight over to her and just talked and twirled and talked and spun. It was adorable to watch her interact with her.

She is definitely the more serious of the two teachers. She has a hard exterior, but I know she is well qualified to teach my daughter. Sometimes those are the best teachers.

The cool thing - when I was leaving. There was a mother (that I hadn't been thrilled with in the past because I felt she was snooty about her kid) that had asked about Reagan's "after school activities". I was a tad puzzled. She offered up that her daughter was in gymnastics after school. When I said she was a little young, she seemed confused.

When I told her she was only 3 (almost 4), she was shocked. She said she would have never guessed she was that young. Guess my kid is keeping up with the rest... (where's the hippo?)

Peeing on the floor

Maddy has finally peed on the floor. Jim gave her a bath and delivered her to me in a towel in the bonus room. I, of course, plopped her right down on the floor next to Reagan to play on her Little People toy. She squatted. Jim came in and he said, "you'd better pick her up, she might poop on the floor". So I picked her up. She had peed right there. Nice.

Maddy's wheezing

Maddy has been on another round of antibiotics and a higher dose of a steroid. While her ears are better, her cough and breathing are not. It is so frustrating. I watch her - she is so happy all the time. But she struggles to breathe at times and I don't get it. Why isn't the medication working for her?

I guess I'm calling the doctor again tomorrow.

Feet bigger

I just realized when I was looking through pictures, that Maddy's feet are bigger than Reagan's were at one year. Funny huh? In Reagan's one year pictures, she had a pair of super cute black patent tie shoes on. I've already had to put those away because they were too small... 6 weeks ago. He heee.

Hungry Hungry Hippos

Reagan has gotten totally infatuated with the game "Hungry Hungry Hippos". It actually is quite fun to play. But man is it loud. Very loud. And when games are loud, so is my daughter. :) I do love watching her competitive spirit come out playing this game. Very aggressive. Perfect for her. ;)

Reagan got dressed

Reagan got dressed all by herself this morning. She put on her dress and almost her tights by herself. So proud. She put on her shoes, but hey were backwards. I'm counting that.

My Cinderella

Tonight, Reagan's school had their Fall Festival. Reagan was so excited to dress up like Cinderella. She had her hair done, her Cinderella dress shoes and her beautiful dress on. I was actually able to take a few pictures. Jim took her over to the school and walked her around to the various rooms. They had different arts and crafts and, of course, handed out a share of candy and little toys.

She came home and was so excited. I love seeing her glow.

Walking fast

I'm trying to figure out why Maddy walks with her tongue out. She motors along really well. I am so afraid that she's going to fall and bite her tongue. :)

Walking fast

I'm trying to figure out why Maddy walks with her tongue out. She motors along really well. I am so afraid that she's going to fall and bite her tongue. :)

Maddy's latest words & other cool things

Since I probably haven't written them down in a while, I thought I'd write down Maddy's vocabulary.

Mama
Dada
Baba
Doo (dog)
Duuu (go there)
Nana
Jordan (yes)
Reagan (yes)
Gigi
Eeeeeee (stop)
Book (bboouu)
Ball (baaa)

She is obsessed with pictures and lights now. She wants to always look at the pictures in the kitchen.
She is able to pick out most in the pictures.
Me, Jim, Jordan, Reagan, herself, Mimi, Papa, Papa C, Papa T, Gigi etc...
So cool

Shopping?

Reagan and I ran over to Target today to grab a white t-shirt for class tomorrow. Since I hadn't had any luck finding her a coat, I thought I'd try there and let her try it on. We found out quickly that she is still in toddler sizes there. Good.

We wandered back to find a coat and she picked one out that she liked. Next, she said, mom I want to shop. Uh really? Yes she did. She said "I need clothes" and off she went. I said honey, you're a 5T. So she went and found every 5T item they had and pulled it off the rack. I was cracking up. I went from needing a single shirt and maybe a coat to spending $200 in clothes. What the heck happened to me?

One-year old appointment

Today Maddy went to her one-year old appointment. She's now officially one. :) She had the shots. She screamed and cried for several minutes. She fell asleep on the way to daycare. Nice.  I can honestly say that this round of shots was the toughest yet. With Reagan, I didn't know what to expect. She also did pretty well. Maddy doesn't do well with shots at all. And this time was no different. I actually thought about taking her home and cuddling with her the rest of the day because I felt so guilty. Sigh...

The news is - she's in the 94th percentile for height and 88th percentile for weight. Nice. She shot up 2.5 inches in three months. I'm impressed. I knew she had a growth spurt, but man did she grow like a weed.

Tooth #6 folks

Yes - it's poking through... She's been really fussy lately. When I looked in her mouth, I could see the whole tooth about ready to come down. It was already through the gum. Wow!

Welcome Madelynn

Hi Everyone,

As some of you know, our little bundle of joy came a tad earlier than expected. I went in to have my last appointment on Wednesday morning this week and found out that my fluid levels dropped fairly low. The ultrasound tech looked at me and said "you are going to have this baby today".  The doctor came into the room and confirmed what she had said. He asked me to go home and get my bag and the go straight to the hospital. He'd meet me there.

 

I went home, grabbed my bag and Jim and took off to the hospital. My day from that point on became a blur. Everything went so fast that I still feel like I'm catching up to the events.

 

In the end, Madelynn Ashley was born at 3:04 pm on October 13th. She was full breach (or feet criss-crossed). She weighed 7 pounds and 2.3 ounces and was 21.5 inches long. She is beautiful. :) I know I'm a tad partial, but she is.

 

The last few days have been so busy here at the hospital. We've had a steady stream of visitors and have been quite busy learning how to keep up with a newborn again.  Jim has been great - he's done about every diaper so far. :) We are tired, but have been blessed to have some great nurses here that have really helped us out.

 

We have taken some great pictures and should get those posted and out to everyone in the next day or so.

 

Thank you for your prayers and well wishes.

 

We are blessed!

My little girl is one today

I'm so excited to say that my little baby girl is one today. She was brought into this world with a bang and she hasn't stopped since. Her original due date was October 21st, but the doctor had scheduled her c-section one week before. The morning of the 13th, I went in for my routine visit and they said "today's the day". Wow!

So one year ago today, we were blessed with a little baby girl. She is perfect in every way to me. She's happy, sweet, snuggly, smart, inquisitive and impatient (which I love). She's stubborn about everything and so hard to get dressed.  She loves to look at pictures and loves her family. She is just such a huge blessing to me every day.

I love my Maddy girl. My hootie. My sweetie. I hope one day she will understand how much she means to me.

Cubbies rocks

Reagan LOVES Cubbies at church. It's so cute. She bounces on the way in and bounces on the way out.  She sung all the songs to me tonight after she got home. I loved listening to her sing to me. It just makes my heart happy.

Sleeping

About a month ago, we started a new bedtime routine with Reagan because we were struggling so much to get her to sleep. Not to bed - sleep. So we put some classical music in her room and I started working with her to learn how to relax. It is definitely an skill. She fought me for a while, but now I think she's starting to get it.

We cover her up and read only when she is still and calm. It works most of the time. Sometimes she just can't unwind at all. Those nights I just walk out and not worry. But most nights, she will relax. I was really encouraged tonight when she asked me to read and rub her back. She's starting to get it.

I'm hungry now

Maddy started getting fussy tonight about 7pm. I told Jim that she needed to get "moving towards dinner". She kept fussing until we got her in her seat. Once we put her in her highchair, she clapped and giggled. Guess she was hungry.

Kissing

My girl is just figuring out so much stuff at once. She is so snuggly. She leaned over tonight and just gave me a kiss. It's so cute. She doesn't make any noise. She actually leaned in with her mouth and then sat on my cheek until she pulled back. Awwww Maddy loves Mama.

Maddy is walking

Showing no fear everyone. She is walking. She does so much better when she stabilizes herself on a table or chair before she starts walking. When she pulled up tonight on the coffee table, we called to her. "Walk to mommy or daddy". She would! She'd walk right to us, no matter the number of steps. I think her max tonight was 5 or 6. But she was so much more stable and confident.

The other funny thing is that she does not want to sit. She wants to walk or move. I tried to pick her up and carry her. She got so stinkin' mad at me. It was funny. She did everything she could to crawl out of my hands. As soon as I'd put her down, she'd giggle and start moving. Love it.

Moving to Milk

We moved on to milk today. Starting half and half.

My daughter eats like a dog

We all went out to eat tonight to Bob Evans. Maddy is starting to enjoy the table food options now. She scarfs up just about anything we put in front of her. The funniest part is that she tends to eat like a dog. She will lean forward, when her hands are full, and eat straight off the table. It's hilarious to watch.

Diaper size 5

Diaper size five? Really?

Next up

Maddy took five steps in a row. Holy cow. Now what. It's about the right timing as Reagan too. He hee like sisters.

Two steps

Maddy took two steps by herself today. I put her down and she stood up. Then walked two steps and fell.

Words

Maddy is starting to mimic what we say. Most of the time is some version of her cooing and chattering, but today she said Reagan and Jordan both. Wow!

Tooth #5

Maddy now has five teeth. Oh My!

Playroom with Sean

Tonight, we went over to Paul & Emily's house to hang out for dinner and playtime. It was probably the first time I let Reagan just go upstairs on her own to the playroom with Sean. It was more out of pure laziness than anything, but she was fine. Emily walked them upstairs and locked them in with the gate. They played HARD. It sounded like elephants were going to come through the ceiling. But they had fun.

Maddy and Lily played together in the kitchen while Emily put dinner together. At one point, the two little ones crawled out of the kitchen, down the hallway together and just turned around to "look". I leaned over to Emily and said "oh, we are going to be in trouble". They had done it together. They must already have their own communication. It's cute.

Maddy is also trying harder to walk. While there, she did some little leap/fall/walk thing from the coffee table to the couch. I keep waiting for her to just go for it. Not yet.

Park

The girls love to go to the park! Tonight, we took both girls up to the park to play and run. We put Maddy in the stroller and made Reagan walk. She hates to walk, but loves to get there. Maddy kicked and cooed the entire way there. She loves the stroller.

Reagan is getting really good at the hanging bars. She's starting to attempt to walk across the monkey bars. Tonight, she actually hung by herself and tried to move across to the next one. I was proud. She will hang forever on one bar, but has yet to start to move across. I loved it.

We both took Maddy around the park for a run. We actually thought that she would fall asleep, but she didn't. She had her eyes wide open and was taking everything in.

After getting home, Maddy was very anxious to walk. She's getting really brave. She has started to throw/walk herself from object to object. When she lands, she looks up and just giggles. SO cute.

Church

Reagan asks me every day "can I go to church?" I love it. She was so happy tonight when I said that it was Cubbies night and she could go. She had an awesome time. She loves to go and sing and do all the activities. It's such a good program. I'm loving it.

Piano girl

Maddy is my little piano player (and stair climber). Every time we go to the basement, the first thing she does is crawl to the piano. She climbs up and starts tickling the ivories! I love it. She always reaches up and then turns to see if I'm looking. So cute. Eventually, she will start making noises and pointing as if she is asking to "get up".

I usually pick her up and she then will slam her hands onto the keys and just giggle. I love it.

Maddy is better

Maddy slept through the night. Finally. I'm so happy because that means that she is finally on the mend from this crazy infection and croup thing she had. She got a shot at the doctor yesterday as a "boost" to the meds she is already on. This is her second round of medication plus the croup. Ugh.

Anyway, she looked good this morning. I actually had to wake her up. Yea! She was happy to see me. She ate most of her bottle. She didn't cry when I put her in her seat. She looked happy to be at school. It's the first day I didn't worry about her all day.

Tonight, she was great. Still a bit tired, but she's still healing. She was happy all evening. Her ear was draining not as badly and her cough was so much better. I'm so thankful she's getting better.

Stuff I love

Reagan is really growing up a lot. It's funny - I don't write every day here, but it seems when I sit back to review in my mind that I can't account for all the cool things she does. The funniest thing she's done lately is her story telling. She has gotten to be such a dramatic story teller. She's very colorful and loves to use combinations of words that most of the time make sense, but not always.

The latest thing is her new family - her step family. At first, we thought it was just a new set of parents. But it was come out that she even has a step-jordan, maddy and even step-reagan. I believe she even has a step-neighbor family and some others. It's funny to listen to her talk about them. I remember when my neice, Sarah spoke this way. So funny to listen to their minds work. I love it.

She also loves to sing. She will just burst out in song while riding in the car or before bed. She'll ask me if I know a song and when I tell her no, she will just start singing as if she is teaching me. Most of the time, it is around love and friendships with her. She sings about how much she loves me and her sisters. So sweet.

My favorite catch phrase of hers is "Quit it out". It's a combo of cut it out and quit it. Love it. She also likes to tell me to "keep it up" and "i'm not laughing". Man she really is a mirror isn't she.

When I look at my girl, I see this little baby still. She is my baby. I love watching her grow, but honestly can not believe that it's been almost four years since I've been blessed with such and amazing child. I love her!

Walking

I think they practice walking at school with the babies. Maddy gets so excited when we "walk her" between us. JIm and I started sitting on the floor and encourage her to walk between us. She had started walk/falling towards large objects this weekend, so we were helping that process along. She just starts giggling when we do it. It's awesome to watch.

Tonight, she walked a few steps on her own. I'm still waiting for her to do it literally on her own - but man is she close. Yea Maddy!!

Still sick

Poor Maddy can't win. This morning she woke up and she was worse. Her cough kept her up all night and her ear was, quite frankly, disgusting. It was draining some crazy yellow/green stuff that was crusting over. Ewww. We called the doctor and they said to bring her in. Fever, ear nastiness and the horrible cough should have all been better by today.

Jim picked her up and got her to the doctor. They gave her a "booster" shot to help her along and a new ear drop to try. If this doesn't work, they suggested we go back to the ENT. Good news I hope. I'm really hoping that this helps her get better. She seemed to go to sleep a bit easier tonight. I also haven't heard her cough. Crossed fingers.

Jordan

She said "jordan" folks! Jim told me that she had said it to him when he picked her up. She didn't repeat it, of course, during the evening. But later, she was cuddling with Jim and he said "say Jordan" in a high voice. She did!! HOLY COW!

Maddy just tried to walk

Over the last several days, I've watched Maddy take one step and then fall. I've watched her fall towards an object (person or thing). And, I just now watched her hurl herself towards the Dora Dollhouse in the living room. She walked two steps in a falling motion and landed with a BIG thump. How cool is that?

Writing and reading

Reagan is always trying new things. She has started to carry around a pen and paper so she can write down new words and draw pictures. It's so cute. TOday, she brought a crayon and paper in the car and just kept asking me how to spell things. She'd listen to the letter sounds and figure out most of them.

At night, when we read, she's starting to pick out her sight words. Just amazing. I really want to get her a tag reader. I think she'd teach herself how to read. She just amazes me every day.

Climbing stairs like crazy

Maddy loves to climb stairs. Actually, she likes to move. She does not like to sit still for any reason. Well, unless she is sick. But even then, she gets really grumpy when she's held too long. We finally opened up her activity center to sit against the wall. She likes it much better now. She doesn't like to be in her walker or other things that confine her too much. She will, but just for short periods of time. It's kinda funny to watch her. She changes too quickly.

Maddy loves pictures

Maddy loves to look at the pictures in the house - especially the ones in our kitchen. She will crawl over to the wall with the pictures, point up to them and start talking "da... da..." She wants to be picked up so she can look at them. So cute.

When she gets picked up, she analyzes them so closely. It just cracks me up - what is she studying? But if you ask her who's who, she can point to everyone up there. Love it.

Croup

Wednesday night, Maddy seemed to have some more trouble with her cough. This morning,she seemed worse and she's been on antibiotics for ten days. It seems crazy that she's worse, but she is. So I left work early to take her dispite people telling me "she's fine".

The doctor told me she had croup and he was happy I listened to myself. She really was not doing well. He told me to watch her and if she got worse to bring her back and start steroids. Sigh... guess who can't go to school on Friday. :(

Nini

We've figured out that when Maddy says "nini", she means Jordan. She loves to look at the pictures in the kitchen. Every time she sees Jordan, she says "nini". It's so cute.

Am I a dog?

Maddy like to carry things in her mouth. Tonight, she was upstairs int he bonus room and she keep pulling lincoln logs out of the bins and putting them in her mouth. I had Jim pull them out but they kept appearing in her mouth. Eventually I giggled because she seemed to pull them out of thin air. Where did she get them?

Balance Queen

Maddy was a balancing queen today. She did more balancing and posing today than I had seen yet. She is getting so close to walking. I'm a tad excited for her.  She also seems to love to go upstairs. If we are in the basement, she will go for the stairs and will go upstairs to the bonus room every time. She loves playing up there.

Having fun

Woo hoo. Reagan slept for 10 hours straight. It is awesome! She woke up in a good mood and had a fantastic day all day. No fits, no craziness. We went to church in the morning and  she had a great time. She made a mobile about the first days of creation. "God made the sun, the moon and the stars". It was cool. She told me all about it when I picked her up.

When we got home and ate lunch before we went up to the park. Mom and Dad met us after a while. We all had a good time. After that, they took her home with them while I ran an errand. After that, I picked her up and we went home. She got to play outside with the neighbor boys.  She played hard with them. She and Braydon were messing with a measuring tape and ended up breaking it. Nice. I laughed and was a tad embarrassed. They didn't seem to care much.

One thing I noticed. When Reagan sleeps well, she eats well too. She ate a huge breakfast (for her) a solid lunch of fruit and cheese (and donuts) and then had a good dinner (fruit, cheese, orange juice and pizza). I'm impressed.

Piano

Maddy loves the piano. She will now crawl over to the piano at a moments notice, pull up and start to play. Today, she grunted until we put her on the piano bench. She played there for a while and then started to crawl up on the keys. She actually pulled herself to standing on the keys (like Jerry Lee). She stood there and moved her feet around. Yes I got a video and a picture because it was way too cute.

Standing up

Maddy is standing up on her own now. Sometimes she will even bounce up and down without holding on. She actually tried to take a step this morning and fell right on her face. She just looked up at me like "you didn't catch me mom". I think I was so shocked she tried that my reaction time was a tad slow. :)

Mising colors

Reagan is starting to really discover colors. She is trying to mix all sorts of colors together. She would mix two together and run over to tell me her new discovery. I loved it. She would get so excited every time she'd come over to tell me something new.

Giving daddy a kiss

Tonight, Maddy gave Jim a kiss. It was adorable. He said, "give daddy a kiss Maddy" and she leaned in and put her lips on his. Sooo cute. I love it.

Who will win?

So, tonight, Reagan decided to test my will. She figured out very quickly that I was not kidding when I told her what I'd do. She threw a tantrum so bad today that she threw up on the couch in the basement. Tonight, she started again and she lost her pillow pets and her entire bookcase. Whoops.

I've now rearranged everything in the "library" or loft to make room for her books. :) We'll see how well she will handle that in the morning.

Maddy was up

Maddy pulled a good one on us last night. She woke us up at 3:30 am. She started stirring and just didn't seem to get back to sleep. So I got a bottle and went upstairs to find her standing up in bed. Nice. She was so happy to see me. I'm figuring out that her noises don't necessarily mean the position of her body. ha ha.

Anyway, I got her up, changed her and gave her a bottle. She went back to sleep after a bit and so did I. I woke up at 4:30 am and put her down. She instantly woke up and didn't want to be in bed. So I picked her up again and she fell asleep until about 5:30 am when I tried to put her in bed again.  She woke up again.

So I took her downstairs to see Daddy. She kindly woke him up and he took over. She never went back to sleep. At one point, I woke up to Maddy making noises in our room. I opened my eyes and it seemed as if she had crawled in our room and was just talking. I kept thinking that Jim would surely come in the room and get her - right?  ha ha again. He WAS in the room changing her diaper.

Needless to say, I grabbed my ear plugs and covered my head. I went back to sleep fast and was woken up by the lovely daughter. She was smacking my head under the blanket. Jim had put her next to me and was laughing at her attempts to wake me up. Sigh... 

I love stuffed animals

Maddy LOVES stuffed animals. Every time she sees one (especially her bunny), she crawls over to it and smashes her face into it. It cracks me up. She loves to snuggle.

Bed time was crazy

Bed time was crazy tonight. Reagan seemed fine until we had to push her towards bed. Then she seemed to get feisty. It was interesting. I am not sure what it is about going to bed, but she really doesn't like it. She was really tired though - she fell asleep pretty fast after reading books.

Matching game

Reagan is getting really good at the Memory Game. Tonight, we played in the bonus room and she beat me. I wasn't paying attention to try to help her, but she still did great. I was impressed how well she remembered things. We started with five pairs. She got bored with that. She pulled out six more pairs and wanted them in the mix. She won against both my mom and me. :)

My favorite part of my day

My favorite part of the day is waking the girls up and spending my mornings with them. I love being able to snuggle with Reagan some and hanging out with her. She's a little grumpy when she gets up, but she wakes up fast and is ready to go... as long as she has a few snugglies in tow.

Maddy usually gets up before I can get to her. She is so happy by the time I get to her that I think she might bounce out of her bed when I see her. She typically is standing up and giggling and talking when I walk into the room. She smiles to big and reaches out to me. It just makes my heart melt. Ahh mornings.

Once we get wrapped up, I get to drop them both off to start their days. It's perfect because I am also almost always home by the time they get home from school with Jim. I love it.

Maddy's first school pictures

Maddy got her school pictures back today. She had them taken a couple weeks ago and they are just darling. I can't believe my baby is old enough for school pictures. :)

Playing the piano

My mom came over tonight to play with the girls a bit. We hung out in the basement for a while. Of course, my mom went to the piano and started playing some suzuki music for the girls. At one point, she had Maddy and Reagan up on the bench with her playing the piano. Reagan was trying her best to show Mads how to play with her fingers. Maddy wanted to just smack the keys. They were both happy. My mom was thrilled. I took pictures.

Grandparents Day

Today was Grandparents Day at Reagan's school. Both of my parents and Jim's dad showed up for her event. They did crafts and got to watch her do her dance class. I had sent six pictures into school with her. They used them to decorate a poster board with cutouts and other things. It was awesome.
And since my mom was there, the entire thing was captured on film. :)

Maddy's first snuggly

I bought Maddy two snugglies so she would quit taking Reagan's (and making her mad). Jim said when he showed them to her, she giggled. She grabbed them and immediately pulled them to her face and snuggled with them.

Hello Kitty

This weekend, I bought Reagan and Maddy matching Hello Kitty tshirts. This morning, I showed them to Reagan and she giggled with delight. She was so excited to wear Hello Kitty and to be dressed just like her little sister. I love it! :)

Will she walk?

Maddy is so close to walking. She is cruising around on everything she can  - tables, wall, toys you name it! Tonight, I almost had her walk away from the fan in the hallway. She had a look on her face that she might actually do it. Then she giggled and sat down. Ahhhh. I was hoping she would at least drop her hand. So close.

Writing her letters and numbers

It dawned on me tonight as Reagan was proudly writing her letters and numbers for me. She's only been in her new class for a few weeks and she can write all her letters and numbers very well. She's able to do so much in such a short time. What a smart kid.

She told us before her first day that she wanted to learn how to read and write. I know she's working on her sight words too. She is well on her way.

I can't wait to see how far she's grown by the time she is four!

Sleepy sweetie

Tonight marks the third night in a row that Maddy could not settle down and sleep. She cried out about 11pm tonight and just sounded so pitiful. We went upstairs to get her and she had a sad sleepy look in her eyes. Poor thing. She wouldn't go back to sleep, so I brought her down to the living room and finally got her comfortable on my lap.

She eventually dozed off. I must admit, it was quite nice holding my little girl. She's so snuggly. I just hope she starts to feel better soon.

I love stairs

Maddy was in the basement with me tonight and she made her way over to the stairs. She looked back to make sure I was coming and started to climb. She got up to the top and saw the was door shut. She grunted as if to tell me to open it. I laughed and pushed open the door.

She climbed the rest of the way to the top and stopped on the rug with the dogs. She turned around in about a minute and started climbing the second set of stairs up the top floor.  She climbed all the way to the top and smiled. I think she was happy she got upstairs.

Sleep over again

Tonight, I tucked Reagan in bed and said "go to sleep". I knew she wouldn't, but we are trying to get her to learn to settle down and go to sleep. I went back into her room a little while later and she was packing her overnight bag. She was packing for my parents house.

"I'm packing for Mimi and Papaw's house," she announced as she proceeded to put her toy car in the bag. I said "not tonight" and continued to put her back into bed.

I giggled that she wanted to go hang out with my parents again. She loved her time with them. I think it gave her a way to feel special - just her and them. It made me smile.

BIg girl shoes

Maddy got big girl shoes today. I took Reagan to Stride Rite tonight and asked for them to size Maddy too. They took me right to the early walker area. These shoes were adorable. We picked her up a pair of these shoes and she seemed very happy with them. She didn't seem to kick them off at all. My little girl is getting bigger. :)

Getting Bigger

Today, I figured out that Reagan is getting BIG! I can't stand it. She's wearing a size 4 (perfect fit) and a size 11 shoe. Um, yea. I figured out during our shoe shopping trip that she LOVES sparkles. I'm not sure that a big surprise, but she just lit up when she had the blinky shoes on. Too cute. Then she wanted to wear her princess shoes out the door. So she had on this pink skirt, white shirt and silver princess shoes. :) Love her.

Maddy and sleep

Last night, Maddy got up at 2am and didn't get back into her bed until 530 am. Ugh. I laid on the couch to listen just in case she settled down. She didn't. I went upstairs armed with a bottle. She was soaked through her diaper. So we changed that and then I gave her a bottle. Then, of course, she wanted nothing to do with bed. I held her for a while. After about an hour of her dozing in and out, she woke up and wanted another bottle.

So at 330 am, she drank another bottle. Wow! All of it. Again, she didn't sleep well. Every time I moved to put her in bed, she woke up. Needless to say, I held her til about 530 am. At that point, I was so tired, I wasn't too worried if she woke up on me. I needed to go to bed.

I let her sleep in til 730 am. I was thankful for the 2 hours of sleep.

Wonder if she is growing?

First sleep over

Tonight, Reagan is sleeping over at my parents house. We went down early this evening and had pizza with them and took off when Maddy started to get tired. I have to say, it is really weird not have her at home. I miss putting her to bed. I like snuggling with her. Oh well. I hope she has a great time with them. It will be a great experience for her. My little girl is growing up.

Daily pictures

I think I've given up trying to get both a standard daily standing and face shot for Maddy. For the past few weeks, I can't get her to stay still on the couch. So instead of having the two girls to compare on the couch, I'll have to figure it out. I am still getting her face and body shots, but just in very different places in our home and lighting. Oh well. It will still be awesome to have that daily view into her first year.

Cubbies

Reagan loved Cubbies tonight. I was a little apprehensive leaving her at church, but she walked into the room tonight and didn't even turn around to say goodbye. It broke my heart a bit, but at the same time I was happy that she was that comfortable.

When Mimi brought her home, she was glowing. She had her Cubbie package and a tambourine that she had made. She was singing and dancing around. She loved it. Ahhh. I'm so glad my little girl loves church. It makes me smile.

11 Months today

Maddy is eleven months old today. It just amazes me how fast time flies with this little thing. She is such an amazing baby. She is happy and funny. She loves to laugh and play. I love her more and more every day. I've been blessed to have this wonderful child in my life.

Windows

Maddy has a fascination with windows. She crawls to every window she can find and look out. She will often rap on the windows and loves to look outside when the dogs our outside. She'll grunt and make her noises as if she's talking to whatever is outside.

Up and up and up

Maddy is just amazing me. I keep expecting her to let go and walk. I am not sure she's quite ready to walk, but nothing would shock me with Maddy. She just does stuff - makes big leaps in skill quickly. So I'm crossing my fingers. either way, she's moving and shakin'

She's gotten into a habit of going behind the chair in the living room to visit the toy boxes. She crawls over the dog pillow and rolls around there for a bit before making her way over. Once she does, she pulls out toys and looks out the window. It's cute.

Tantrums galore

The past three mornings, Reagan has had horrible temper tantrums. She refused to go to soccer on Saturday. She was out of control She kicked and screamed and was just difficult to handle. I eventually got her to her room on Saturday. Sunday, she had another fit. This morning, it was another really bad one. She was out of control. I actually had to hold her legs to keep her from kicking me. Not to mention trying to get her dressed...

It was horrible. I felt bad but how do you handle that if you don't have a way to just let them cool down. Sigh...

Anyway. I did talk to her. She eventually came to me and spoke to me about being "sorry". She hugged me and said she was really sorry for acting up and being mean. I know she thought about it.

My friend said she was testing me. Sigh, she's never done this before with me. It's hard.  I love this little girl and she is so stubborn. I hope our efforts tonight will improve her ability to handle stress. We just didn't put up with the meanness.

Trying to walk

I'm starting to wonder when she is going to walk. She reached out for my hand and barely held on as she took a few steps. I was impressed. She didn't teeter or fall down. She was very steady. She's advanced quite a bit in the last week. She keeps trying.

Pro at the stairs

Maddy is now a pro at the stairs. She not only is good at it, she is really fast. Tonight, she crawled from our fireplace to the stairs, climbed all the way and went into the bonus room. It was if she had purpose - she was crawling right for the little piano. It was so weird.

My little artist

Today Reagan decided that she wanted to draw... on herself.

Another Saturday alone

And I think I'm losing it. This is the second summer in a row that Jim's schedule has been taken up by Boot Camps and Summer Swim League for Jordan. Last year both "seasons started in May and went through September". Jordan's swim season only last until late-July, but Jim's boot camps went through the whole summer.

My parents helped me quite a bit last year - my dad giving up golf on Saturday mornings to help me since I was pregnant with Maddy. They were not happy because they were under the impression the season for boot camp was only eight weeks. After an entire summer of them giving up their life to help me, they said the couldn't do that anymore. I don't blame them. I was grateful for their support during a tough pregnancy.

This year, Jordan's swim season started in May. Jim's boot camp started the first weekend in May. If he's not gone supporting Jordan at a swim meet, he's gone all morning (from 9am - 12:30 pm) every Saturday plus his time to "get ready" after he returns.

This week marks the 18th week in a row he's been gone. I'm going insane. I work at a very stressful job and my kids are not quiet. So by the time I get to Saturday, I could use a chance to unwind myself. It's never an option. He just leaves.

As much as I love my girls, and would do absolutely anything for them, I'm tired of being the only one around for them. I need a break and deserve one. We spent a bunch of money on soccer only to not have his support. Frustrating. Needless to say, we didn't go this morning because of the massive fit that she threw and I just couldn't take any more.

I wish...

Maddy likes toast

Maddy sat down with Jim this morning for breakfast and proceeded to eat his apple and toast. At one point, she had a huge piece just hanging out of her mouth. When Jim went to take it away, she was sucking on it. I guess she likes the taste of butter.

Nail is gone

Maddy's nail on her big toe has been a little concerning for a while. Over the last few weeks, her nail looked like it had been banged up pretty badly or infected. The doctor wasn't too worried about - he said just to watch it. So we did.

Today, we picked Maddy up from school and Rita had cut her nail off. She said that it had gotten snagged on something and pulled it back from the nail bed. She said she didn't have a choice but to cut it off because it was causing her pain. I was glad.

When Jim brought her home, I noticed that the other piece of her nail was in a place that she could still snag it. So I had Jim hold her down so I could clip it off. The good thing is that she has another nail underneath the damaged one. She wasn't too happy about the process, but it's much better now.

More teeth? and a weird toe.

She looks like she's getting more teeth. Her gums look swollen and are hard. I'm wondering when she's going to have more pop through.

I've also been watching her toe. I keep waiting for her big toe nail to either pop off or flake off. It's gross! I can't tell if there is another nail growing underneath or if it's just going to come off. Ugh. Driving me crazy. At least it doesn't seem to bother her.

Labor Day 2011

Today was really nice. We all hung out in our pjs as long as we could. Jim and I both got out for a run in the morning and just kicked around. Maddy was up and around quite a bit. I've noticed lately that she sticks a ton of stuff in her mouth. Not only does she bite everything, but she stuffs a lot into her mouth at once. She also carries her toys around in her mouth. So when she plays with something and she wants to go somewhere else, she puts the toy in her mouth and just starts crawling. I'm hoping that she will stop that once she starts walking. Fingers are crossed.

No need for sleep mama

Tonight, both younger girls decided that they did not need sleep. Maddy typically goes to bed by 8:30 pm. Tonight, was the second night in the row that she wasn't interested in sleep. I'm thinking it was because my parents showed up and she was just too excited to go to bed. Either way, she was up until 10:00 pm again.

Because of this awesome un-sleepy time, my whole family was able to watch the fireworks together. All in all, not a bad tradeoff. :)

Biting

She's a biter folks. I'm convinced that she is going to be a biter. I just hope I can change this course. Oh no.

I have watched her quite a bit lately - she loves to chew. The first thing she does is stick something in her mouth. She'll crawl over and bite on the table and will move to bite something.

Tonight, she didn't want to go to bed. She leaned over and bit my shoulder because she wasn't being held right. Ugh.

Walker butt

My parents taught Maddy how to walk under our kitchen table last night in her walker. This morning, she stood at the side of the table and waiting for us to move the chairs. Once we did, she giggle and started motoring through. Love it.

Move away from the...

Maddy was down for a nap and Reagan had run upstairs to play with the girls. Reagan was looking over the railing, but was right next to Maddy's room. Jim shouted up to her "move away from maddy's room, she's sleeping". So she moved about six inches and kept talking. Jim said "farther Reagan". She moved again and said "is this far enough". Wow! I laughed. Jim just gave me a look and said "you are not helping me". Nope I wasn't. It was hilarious. He had to specifically tell her "move all the way to the bonus room.

She then ran back to the bonus room.

Patty Cake

Maddy likes to play pat-a-cake. Tonight, my parents were watching her while I worked out and they'd ask her to play and she would immediately put her hands up to clap. I love it.

You smell like poop

Reagan was going to bed and let out some gas. I mentioned that she smelled like poop - "Reagan you smell like poop!".

She immediately quipped back - "Mom, you smell like poop!"

Nice

LOUD

Maddy makes all sorts of LOUD NOISES. Oh my. She squeaks, squaks and hollers all the time and for absolutely no reason. She loves to shriek to get your reaction. It's hilarious.

Clapping

Maddy has gotten the hang of clapping. She knows that when you cheer for her, she should start clapping. Tonight she did something cute, as always, so we started clapping and said "yeaaaa Maddy". She just lit up. Her face got so bright. She smiled. She started giggling and then she started clapping. It's just way too cute.

Motoring around

Maddy is so good at plowing around the house in her walker now. She often will crawl over to it and stand up next to it as if to ask to take it out for a spin. It's cute. She just looks over, grunts and smiles as if to ask.

She is so happy to be mobile. She just doesn't stop. She'll roam by the fridge in the kitchen and pull stuff on the side of the fridge. She'll carry it around with her as she travels through the house.

Maddy loves avocado

Tonight, I got home from Reagan's music lesson and Jim was feeding Maddy. She was eating everything he put in front of her and she was a mess. She had eaten a half of an avocado, a banana, an entire container of meat sticks and some other random things. Holy cow. Her face was covered with a mix of green and brown and she was sticky. Wow.

By 8pm tonight, she was ready to go to bed. We had her in the exersaucer while we ate and she looked as if she was falling asleep while she was playing. Poor Maddy. So I got her bottle and took her upstairs. She was asleep in minutes.

Last violin lesson

Tonight was Reagan's last violin lesson for a while. I had made a decision last week that I was done battling her to practice with me. She's fully capable, but has no desire to do it. She does great in the lessons, but then that's it.

The nice thing was the Ms. Wan was a great teacher for her. She seemed to be just the right blend for her. When I spoke to her tonight, she was not surprised. She seemed perfectly fine with it and suggested we wait until she turns four. So we'll approach music again next year.

Ah well. At least she tried. The cool thing - she can play Twinkle Twinkle fairly well.

New foods

Maddy loves table food. All you have to do is load her tray up and she will scarf it down in a matter of moments. Most of the food actually lands in her belly too. It's just amazing to me. We've tried all sorts of things - most of them she likes.

She loves meat sticks, fruits and cheerios. Tonight, we tried avocado. It was a huge hit - she ate four whole slices (probably close to a third of a whole one). I was impressed. I do remember Reagan not being fond of them. But Maddy just ate them up and asked for more. Love my little hungry girl.

Bottle and routines

Maddy has moved on in the last little bit. One significant item is the bottles. She's now down to five bottles a day. A big change, but the school finally embraced this change as I asked. The funny thing is now she is more than ready for a bottle at 5:30 pm. If I don't pick her up from school, the second she sees me, she starts fussing and crying.

She wants me and she wants a bottle. My girl is getting big.

Breakfast and Yes Mom

This morning, I asked Reagan to come to the table to eat dinner. She looked up and said "okay mom" and came to the table. Really? What happened to my daughter? :)

First day of PreK-2

Today was Reagan's first day in PreK-2. This is the step before kindergarten at her school. Sigh. I was fine. I was actually excited until I started talking to her teacher. She said "we're getting her ready for next year" and my heart sank. Ugh. Next year my baby girl will be in school potentially. Wow. Where did the time go? I can't imagine her being old enough for that. But she is.

I told the teacher her deep desire to learn how to read. She said they were really focused on reading and writing this year. Good. She's asking every day. Guess I'll be making a trip to the library this weekend for some easy readers.

I actually teared up today.

Rash on her legs

Tonight at mom and dad's house, I noticed a rash on Maddy's legs. It was on her chins and it seems to be a reaction from the carpeting. Her skin was much rougher there and I have started to wonder how sensitive her skin really is. I'm hoping with some cream and tlc that it will be just fine.

Drum set

I just went upstairs to check on Reagan. I kept hearing a "clicking" or "tapping" noise and couldn't figure out what it was. So I opened her door and apparently she had set up a drum set in her room. It was made of Dora books and lincoln log pieces. She had a book set up at every corner (probably 10 of them) and was just going to town. How do you get mad at that?

I just turned on the video camera and made record of it. After she was done playing her song, she gave me the salute! I love it.

When I asked her to go to bed, she told me she was too busy. Yes, yes she was. :)

Awesome creativity at almost 10pm. :)

I want to read

Reagan has said it before to me, but tonight, she told her Daddy she really wanted to learn how to read. :)

Fourth tooth already

Here fourth tooth is popping through this morning.

Ride to the park

Tonight I took both Maddy and Reagan to the park in one stroller for the first time. Maddy did quite well considering she had never ridden in the stroller like that before. Reagan held onto her hand. We walked all the way to the park, both kids got out and ran around great. When we first got there, Mom and I put them in the swings. Maddy just giggled out loud. She loved it. Reagan wanted to swing next to her sister.

After the swing set, Maddy crawled around and pulled up on all sorts of stuff. Reagan ran around and did her usual stuff - played on the rings, slides and climbing things. After about 30 minutes, it was time to pack up and head home to make dinner.

I got a nice little workout as well. Pushing 60+ pounds in a stroller was hard work. :)

Papa's birthday and Ice Cream

Today was my dad's birthday. After dinner, we met him over at the new Greaters for desert. The girls were thrilled. Quite frankly, so was I. Maddy was already pushing her limit with her energy level - she was ready for bed by the time we got there.
We ended up appeasing her with ice cream. Boy that was interesting. I gave her a bite of mine - whoa. She loved that. (that is probably an under-statement). Jordan gave her a bite of hers. Ha ha. Maddy grunted until she got more. Then Jim gave her some of the black raspberry chip. Ha ha! That was it. She was over the top in love with ice cream. Woo hoo.

Maddy and grass

Maddy apparently has my sensitive skin. We put her down in the grass tonight and it took all of 30 seconds for her to start fussing. When I looked, her legs were getting red. Ugh. Poor thing. She likes the grass, but probably just reacts to it.

One of the boys brought over a really big dried leaf. She love it. When she grabbed it, it crunched. That made her laugh. She kept squishing it in different places and she just had a good time doing that. When she got tired of the leaf, she wanted to stand up and walk.

Umi Power!

We went outside tonight to kick the ball around with Reagan. It took five minutes for her to realize the neighbors were outside and she could hang out with them. :) So we did. We walked over as we usually do and interrupted their nice evening. They never really seem to care.

Reagan and the boys were playing outside. At one point, I heard one of the boys yelling at something. I'm not sure what. But I turned to hear her say "Umi Power!" and she was off - running with her hand in the air like a super hero.

okay.

Fox and the Hound

Today, Jim picked up "The Fox and the Hound" at Sams. While standing in line, the cashier handed it to her. She looked at the cover and said "Ohh the Fox and the Hound, I love this".

We were stuck on how she knew what movie it was.

Contraband in her room

Jim and I are sitting on the couches and out pops Reagan from her bedroom. Why? Because she has something in her room that she is not allowed to have.

Interesting. Neither Jim nor I have been in her room for an hour or so. How she got it into her head that she was not allowed to have it is beyond me. I am not even sure what it is. I guess I should go look. :)

Sleepy girl

We took Maddy out during her nap time thinking she'd just nap in the car. She did. But when we got her in the cart at Sams, she kept putting her head down as if she was sleepy. It was so cute. She'd lean over and put her head on the backpack. When that stopped being comfortable for her, she folded her arms and put her head down.

When do babies learn to do that?

Cruising maniac

Whenever Maddy decides to start walking, we are going to be in serious trouble. She is so mobile it just amazes me. I can not turn my head for one second and expect to see her when I look for her. She gets up and down on things quickly. Tonight, I was watching her at the coffee table and I got up to grab something off the counter and she had followed me into the kitchen area. I was amazed to see her hot on my heels. Wow kiddo!

Clapping

Maddy loves to clap. You can actually tell her to clap and she will. Tonight, we were cheering for her after she fell to prevent her from crying and she clapped with us. It was so cute. She just sat there and smiled while she clapped. Love it.

Ms Attitude

Wow, I have my hands full with Reagan. She is so head-strong and smart. I have a hard time knowing how to handle her at times. She processes everything that is said and done around her and she incorporates it back into her speech and mannerisms. I laugh because I realize how much she mimics me. I am horrified at times with what I do. :) She's the perfect mirror of what she sees.

I used to get mad because I was told I got my "looks" from my mother. Reagan gets her "looks" from me. It is no wonder.

Go fish

Jordan taught Reagan a new game today - Go Fish. She loves it. She played with her for over 30 minutes today. Anything that is a matching game, she loves. I think she may have created a card monster.

Reading

Reagan has been asking to read more lately. She keeps telling me "but mommy I can't read that and I want to". I keep showing her sight words, but I don't think she is learning fast enough. Interesting to me.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Violin

Reagan is doing great with violin. Today we had to go to the teacher's home for her lesson. Reagan did great. She played and followed along with her teacher very well. I was so happy. I even got video of her playing along.

Hopefully next week she will keep doing better.

Sippy cup already

We tried a sippy cup about a month ago and Maddy didn't seem that interested in it. Jim gave her a sippy cup with formula on Saturday and she took a little bit from it, but not 100% interested in it.

Last night, she was up all night. Every time she got up, she drank a whole bottle. So after 8 bottles in under 24 hours, I thought I'd try a splash of juice in a sippy cup.
She loved it. Wow!

Going to the doctor

Maddy went to the doctor today. She's got a bad cough and seems a tad "off". She also has a dinged up toe. The good news is that the doctor said her ears looked good, but that she probably had a cold. So he gave us a script and said to give it to her towards the end of the week if she was worse.

She got worse. I took off at 6:30 PM to get my hair done. Jim called at 7:15 and said she had spiked a fever of 102.5 and that she was miserable. He called my mom for hep and I hurried home as soon as I could.

We gave her meds and she is still restless. I'm hoping that she sleeps all night.

Maddy's toe

Maddy's toe is messed up. Poor thing. We noticed her nail a few days ago - it was "bunched up" toward the cuticle and an off yellow color. Today she seemed to be favoring her foot by walking on it sideways.  The closer I looked, it seemed that her nail is actually separated from the back of her nail bed and had bled a bit. I'm wondering if it will fall off. Guess I should take her to the doctor on Monday.

Maddy's got her third tooth

Maddy's top left tooth is through the gums today. Happy 10 month bday kiddo.

BIting

Well, I've said for some time that I think Maddy will have a biting issue. Tonight, she leaned over an bit me. I was shocked. Is this my little girl? Yep, and she's going to be the one that gets kicked out. :)

I peed

Tonight, we hung out with our neighbors. The kids played and the adults hung out. Part way through the night, the kids were playing with bubbles. I was in and out of the house taking care of Maddy. I looked up while I was feeding Maddy and realized that Reagan's pants were soaked. I thought it was odd. When I asked her, she said "I peed" but she said it like she was kidding, so I blew it off on the "bubble accident".

Later, I was in the house putting Maddy down and in comes Reagan and Jim. She had peed. Wow.

What he told me later was when he realized that her pants were soaked, he asked her quietly why. Her answer was loud and bold! She stood there with her hands out to the side and leaned into her answer "because I PEED DAD!"

nice

LIttle Maddy

She is almost refusing to eat baby food now. I think her school is spoiling her too much with real food. Reagan was so happy to eat whatever we'd give her - I'm not sure what to feed Maddy. I guess I'll be doing some research this weekend to figure out what kind of foods to make for her.

Moving up?

The admin at Reagan's school stopped me this morning to see what we were going to do with Reagan in the fall. Huh? I was told she would not move up. But she said "she's ready and all of her friends are moving up". Oh.

I hadn't thought about it. I figured she'd stay in the same class until kindergarten. Hmmm. So I actually got excited for her. I asked Jim and he said "yep, move her up". So I guess she is.

My little girl is growing up way too fast.

Final field trip for the summer

Today Reagan actually got to ride on a TANK bus. I didn't think it was the big of a deal, but all summer she's been wanting to ride the school bus with the other kids. When I dropped her off at school, she seemed excited. When she got home, she didn't say a word.

Walking and cruising

Maddy almost refuses to be held or be confined in any way. She wants to be down on the floor to move about the house freely. It's funny to watch her go. She'll just start to lean over and try to get down. Since she's started to crawl with her belly up off the floor, she's gotten so much faster. I can't just put her down and walk away. I have to literally watch her to make sure she doesn't get into anything crazy. I wonder when she'll walk.

Aunt Annie's

Mimi took Reagan on her field trip to Aunt Annie's today. Mom picked her up at school a tad late - the bus had already left (early). She met the rest of her class at the pretzel joint and got her into her apron. I had no idea what they were doing, but got this really cool report when I called my mom after lunch today.

Apparently, this place has school trips for kids of all ages. They bring them in, put them in aprons and show them the ropes. They kneed dough, roll it out and make their pretzels. Really? I wish I would have taken her now! I was jealous the second my mom told me that.

Anyway, apparently Reagan was cool with everything until they told her to put her hand in the dough. She wanted nothing to do with it. Ha. My mom made her put her hand in. She got so upset that she didn't dare make her put the second one in. Finally her teacher said to "let her go" and she could get cleaned up. That made her happy.

She did get back into the game when she could roll out the dough and make her own pretzel. She was excited about that. Once that was done, they kids got to grab a slushy and hang out on the sidewalk waiting for their pretzels. She got cinnamon and sugar (of course) and a blue slushy.

She hung out with our neighbor boy quite a bit. I think she's smitten with him. It's cute. It was enough of a "thing" that my mom made special note of it to me today. Awww.

Nursing

Okay. This may be too much, but I have to blog. I miss nursing terribly already. It's only been a day too. Dumb. I thought I didn't have any milk. Turns out I do. I tested my theory after I got done working out and I sent some straight across the room. Hmmm. Should I rethink this? Sigh...

Reagan's finally getting it

She is finally getting the whole violin thing. After two months, she seems pretty adjusted. It's funny, the other teacher never clicked I guess. She learned stuff, but never liked going. This teacher she loves! She always wants to bring stuff and she always wants to impress.

Today I feel like we started to turn the corner a bit. She seemed a little more focused. We struggled with her less. She seemed to want to be there. She actually played and seemed generally interested. She never once uttered the negative words "I don't want to." That right there is a huge thing.

By the tine the lesson was over, she actually hugged her. It was so sweet. Ahhhh. Not only that, but when I realized she had lasted the entire time, I thought I was going to cry.