Raising Three

A New Journey

2011-08-15T19:05:00.000-04:00

Today starts a new journey for Lil Bit. She went to her first day of Kindergarten. We had taken her last Thursday to find her classroom and meet her teacher, Mrs. K, so she was somewhat prepared. So this morning Baby J took half a day off from work so we could both take her to school. Traffic wasn't as bad as I expected. We got a spot to park and made our way into the school. Lil bit was holding my hand and the closer we got to the front door the tighter she was holding on. When we got inside Mrs. K told us to take Lil Bit to the classroom to put her backpack in her locker and then come back to the foyer to go see the playground. After going to the classroom Lil Bit didnt want to get in line. There were 3 girls in line and we introduced them to Lil Bit and they scooted over so she could stand in line by them. We said our goodbyes and out of the school Baby J and I went. All I can think is how time has flown. Really seems like this child was just born!

Baby Girl turns 4

2011-06-14T20:30:00.001-04:00

Preschool Graduation

2011-05-13T20:33:00.000-04:00

Santa!!!

2010-12-16T22:45:00.001-05:00

2010-12-15T11:52:00.003-05:00

I just got home from taking the girls to the ENT. Well Baby girl had a a followup appointment and Lil Bit tagged along. After a little kicking and a lot of crying Dr. N saw Baby girls ears looked great! While we were there Dr. N says "Wow Momma! is your neck always that big?" And the rest of the conversation goes like this... Me: well today it does seem a little swollen but I just had a radiation treatment about 6 weeks ago for hyperthyroid. Dr. N: Ooohh! And how long have you had that? Me: About 9-10 years. Dr. N: And they are just now doing something about it? Me: For a couple of years I was prescribed PTU but for the last 3 years I have taken nothing. Dr. N: Hhmm So how have you been feeling? Me: Most days, ok. But then there are days that I am very tired. Dr. N: I hope all goes well for you. We have a family friend that is in her early 20's and she had this as well. She was a college student attending on scholarship. She gained a lot of weight and then lost some weight and then she gained some more weight. She was so tired and weak that she started missing classes. Her hormone levels were like a rollercoaster, up and down and all over the place. She ended up losing her scholarship over this. It has now been about 3 years and she is finally leveling out. Me: O wow! Well I'm glad she is finally feeling better. I hope to not go thru all that. I go to the doctor next week to get my levels checked so i guess we'll see. During this conversation Baby girl has gotten out of my lap and Little Bit was now sitting with me. So I ask if he had a minute could he check her right ear. She has been saying it was bothering her. So he kindly looked for us. Little Bit is very good at the ENT. You see she has practically been raised with people looking in her ears for either infections, followups, hearing test, or check ups. This time was no different. She was very good. Dr. N said the tube in her right ear was still in place and the ear drum looked good although had considerable scarring. As for her left ear the tube was angled and appeared to still be in tact but he could not see past the tube to the eardrum. He also mentioned she had titanium tubes and had asked when and where she had them put in. I told him she has had them a little over a year and had them put in at Children's. I also asked if he knew of any headway for correcting enlarged vestibular aqueduct. Unfortunately he said no. But I will continue to ask in hopes that one day there is a fix! So the girls got suckers to go and I dropped them off at daycare so they could join class time, lunch and nap. I can't wait to pick them up. Tonight we are going to see Santa or as Baby girl calls him "Sanda". After Santa they have open house at dance class and we have invited my Mom to come watch with us! I LOVE watching my girls dance! I think I will go take a nap now to prepare myseld for tonights events! And I know I haven't mentioned Peanut lately but he is doing fine! He is ready for Christmas. He has been lifting weights in off season football and he is getting so big. AND so handsome! If I had to guess he is probably about 5'6" so that would make him bigger than me!!! Man how time flies. Seems like that kids was just born.

Cupcakes

2010-12-11T21:56:00.006-05:00

Today we made cupcakes.....

Are they done yet???

Then we decorated them.....

And ate them!!!

Soup!!!

2010-12-09T21:01:00.003-05:00

Here in Arkansas we have a lil German restaurant located in the small city of Altus named Wiederkehr's. It is a peaceful drive off the interstate thru yards and yards of grape vineyards. The restaurant is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and for years has been voted "Most Romantic" and "Best Ethnic" by the readers of Arkansas Times magazine. Baby J and I go there every year for our anniversary. I love that place! I usually order petite sirloin, with German potatoes. MMMMMM my mouth is watering! Every meal is served with a a loaf of bread, salad and soup. This restaurant should be known for its soup! It is like no other! I was given this recipe by a co-worker and thought to myself, there is no way this could even be close to the real thing but it actually is! So I wanted to share it with all of you! I do believe it is missing something, I just can't figure it out. So if you know, be sure to tell me! Here it goes....

4 Tablespoons Butter
1 small onion chopped
4 or 5 Beef Bouillon Cubes
6 Tablespoons Flour
5 Cups hot water
salt & pepper
Swiss Cheese
Melt butter in saucepan. Add onions and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly so mixture does not scortch. Blend in flour. Then add water and cubes. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Adjust seasonings to taste using salt & pepper. For thicker soup use less water. In each serving bowl put about 2 tablespoons shredded Swiss cheese and pour hot soup over it.

I only use four cups of water, 5 bouillon cubes and not quit that much flour. This is the closest thing to Wiederkehr's soup I have ever had! Hope you enjoy this recipe and let me know if you find the "missing" ingredient!

Love of my Life

2010-12-05T16:33:00.001-05:00

Another Day, Another Dollar

2010-12-02T22:33:00.003-05:00

Thank goodness it is almost weekend. It has been a long week for some reason. I worked today and at lunch went to eat pizza with some friends. We went to a new restaurant we have here in town called Larry's Pizza. I was shocked to find out I had to pay $9.41 for a pizza lunch buffet! The pizza was good but I only ate 4 pieces...a pepperoni piece, deluxe, veggie and chocloate chip piece(which by the way was heavenly)! I know, I'm a piggy! But for that price I want a whole large pizza. Needless to say I won't be eating there very often. Tonight was the city Christmas parade. It wasn't as long as it normally is...it only lasted about 45 minutes. It also wasn't near as cold as it has been in years past. It was around 45-50 degrees. The kids really enjoyed it. Now it is nearing 10 o'clock and I am exausted!

Thanksgiving

2010-11-25T18:11:00.001-05:00

After Baby Girl was born I decided to start a tradition of our own and start staying home on Thanksgiving. You see at the point I realized I have 3 kids....a 10 year old, 2 year old(who does not like to ride in the car) and a newborn, I no longer wanted to pack a bag of clothes, bottles, pacifiers, formula, diapers, wipes, Tylenol(you never know), and snacks. And not for one kid but 2! My parents went to NWA to be with my Grandparents. My little brother was scheduled to work today so he wasn't able to go with our parents. He got off work at 3 and came to eat dinner with us! The girls were so excited! Baby J and I got home from work last night and cut the onions and celery needed and boiled eggs. This morning he had to work till 11:00 so I got the stuffing started and deviled eggs made. We finished all the cooking together and had turkey, ham, stuffing, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, gravy, macaroni n cheese, black olives, rolls, and deviled eggs. After dinner we all watched the movie Santa Paws. After dinner settled we had a bowl of French vanilla ice cream and apple pie. Peanuts favorite of the meal was the turkey, while Lil Bits favorite was the deviled eggs and Baby Girls was the stuffing. Hope you guys had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Follow up

2010-11-17T18:33:00.002-05:00

It has been 2 weeks now since my treatment. As of last night my thyroid started to swell. Tonight it is swollen to point it has been hard to swallow. I called the clinic and they have prescribed me Prednisone and Prilosec to reduce the swelling. I have an appointment tomorrow with the doc so he can check it out. I was really hoping for all this to be simple and go smoothly. I do believe that this can easily be taken care of and I can carry on from here!
Update:
Just got back from seeing Dr. N. My blood pressure is good but my weight is up about 5 lbs but....I do have on boots and a jacket so I'm sure that is why :) The swelling has gone done some but not completely. He did say swelling is normal but usually not to the point it effects swallowing. He said to finish the prescriptions and come back in December. So I guess all is good. After my appointment I treated myself to lunch at PF Chang's and then stopped at Rue 21 and bought a new watch! So ya I'm good now!!!

Awesome!

2010-11-16T11:23:00.003-05:00

Peanut made honor roll in his first nine weeks of Jr High! We are soo proud of him. His football team finished the season undefeated (10-0) as well.

He also plays the trumpet in the band which received perfect scores at the past marching contest! Way to go bub!

Radioactive Iodine I-131 treatment

2010-11-14T13:30:00.006-05:00

It has now been 12 days since I have received the radioactive iodine I-131 capsule. That should make me around 31% radioactive still. The first 7 days I did not get to see the kids at all. (Children are more susceptible to the radiation than adults.) I spent most of those days sleeping. I was sooo tired and nausea. Thankfully the last couple of days I have felt really good. Day 8 I picked the kids up from daycare, gave them quick hugs when we got home and then spent the evening in the bedroom. At that point I would still have contained @ 56% and didn't feel comfortable being around the girls yet. Baby Girl had a very hard time. She stood at the door and cried most of the night. Since then I have spent a little more time with them everyday. I have yet to hold them and rock them like I want but I should be clear of radiation by this Friday...or so I understood. So Friday night will be spent with lots of hugs and rocking!
The purpose of this treatment is for my overactive thyroid - hyperthyroidism. The thyroid is a gland in your neck that produces hormones that regulate all aspects of metabolism and the chemical process of converting food into energy. Since my thyroid has been overactive, it has produced to much hormone, accelerating metabolism. This dose of I-131 is absorbed into the bloodstream and carried to the thyroid gland, where it destroys the gland. I have an appointment with my endocrinologist in December. At that time, I will be prescribed a replacement hormone based on the level of hormone(if any) shown in my bloodwork.
I pray for little to no weight gain in this process. I hope for this to be the cure so I can live to have a long healthy life with my family.
Have you had this treatment or know of anyone that has? How did it go?

Trick or Treat!

2010-10-31T16:16:00.001-04:00

Happy Halloween from Dorothy and Supergirl

Happy Birthday Lil Bit

2010-09-18T10:29:00.005-04:00

Little Bit is 5 years old today
When people ask how old you are, you quickly tell them you will be 5 on your next birthday.

You wear a size 4T.
You wear a size 9 1/2 shoe.

You are 3' 5" tall.

You love headbands. I use to always put your hair up, pulled back or in a pony tail, with a bow. That is no longer allowed by you. Headbands are now staple items.

You enjoy playing with your dolls and barbies. Not necessarily playing dolls with your sister tho. You sing to them, make them talk talk to each other, line them up and read to them and play school.

You still attend the same preschool you have since you were 4 months old. You seem to enjoy it there. You say you have have a boyfriend but your daddy says that is not allowed!

You have come a long way in your speech since last year. I am so proud of how well you are doing.

You love to eat McDonald's. Some days it hamburgers with sprite and some days it chicken nuggets with Hi-C. You also enjoy just about any junk food you can get your hands on but you also could put away a whole 6 pack of Danimals(yogurt) if allowed.

You LOVE to sing and dance. This is your 2nd year in dance class. This year your sister has joined you in class. Your favorite song is This Little Light of Mine and All The Single Ladies(Beyonce)!

You are usually always smiling although you do throw a fit from time to time. You fight with your sister more often than I would like but if she is not around you miss her greatly.

We all love you dearly. I cannot scoop you up enough times a day to kiss those sweet cheeks of yours!

Photo Contest

2010-05-25T18:36:00.001-04:00

The winners of the photo contest have been announced! The kids didn't place in any category :( But thank you to all of you who voted!

VOTE!

2010-05-18T21:51:00.002-04:00

It is time to vote! Go to www.ewingphotography.com Click on the annual black & white contest. The kids are in 4 different categories. Baby girl is in the 13mo-2yr, Little Bit is in the 3-5yr, the girls are in the sibling category together and peanut is in the 9-12yr. They are #3836. Please vote once per day per email address! Thanks a bunch! Results will be announced May 25!

Vegas - Day 1

2010-05-09T09:24:00.003-04:00

March 31 Waiting to be picked up at the airport
On the strip
Dinner at Toby Keith's bar

UPDATE

2010-05-02T19:13:00.003-04:00

Happy Valentine's Day, Happy St Patrick's Day, Hope you had a good Spring Break, and Happy Easter. Now I think we should be all caught up! Since I last wrote Peanut had a birthday and turned 13! Yes I am now the mother of a teenager! That has been very hard for me to believe. Baby J and I spent a week in Las Vegas for my birthday. We spent most of that time eating and sleeping! I will have to write a post on that later. Now we are preparing for Mother's Day as well as the next pageant. Followed by Little Bit's dance recital and Baby Girls 3rd birthday. I promise to do better in keeping you informed!

Pictures!!

2010-01-15T08:34:00.000-05:00

Well actually no pictures in this post but the girls are going to have thier pictures made this morning to be entered into a photo contest. You will have a chance to go online and vote for them in a few weeks. When that time comes I will let you know the website with more details! Off we go for pictures!!!

What Are You Doing?

2010-01-06T20:26:00.000-05:00

Little Bit had been in the bathroom longer than I thought she needed to be so I yelled "what are you doing?" The response was "I'm poopin" So after a few more minutes I thought I should go check and this is what I found....She had been into Mommy's makeup!!!

Dancin, Dancin, Dancin

2010-01-06T12:18:00.000-05:00

Little Bit has her first Ballet class tonight!

My Favorite Stuff

2010-01-03T12:11:00.000-05:00

I have let Peanut barge in on my blog...so here it goes!

My Favorite Stuff
Hobbies
Skateboarding, playing football and video games
Teams
New York Giants and LSU Tigers
Athletes
Rob Dyrdek, Eli Manning, Danny Way and Peyton Manning
Bands and Singers
Michael Jackson, Offspring, Metallica, Aerosmith, Linkin Park, Tenacious D, Tupac, Ludacris and Sean Kingston
Tv Shows
Family Guy, Robot Chicken, ICarly, King of the Hill, Andy Millanakus and The Clevland Show

For Christmas I got:
DC shirt and beanie, Battleship game, Skateboard, Titanic movie, MP3 player, Reflex XBox 360 game and Skate2 and an extra controller

More cake!

2009-12-23T12:20:00.002-05:00

This was the 4th cake I have made. It was for a church Christmas potluck.

This was the final class cake. We learned to make roses.
This I made for our family Christmas dessert!

CAKE!!!

2009-12-14T17:24:00.001-05:00

About 2 weeks ago I started taking a cake decorating class. I have always wanted to learn this but never had time. There are four courses and each course has four classes. Course 1 covers the basics. Learning how to make icing and ice a cake without getting crumbs in the icing along with some different techniques. Monday is my last class. It has been fun and I can't wait till February when Course 2 begins! For each class we bring a cake to decorate. Here are the cakes I have made so far.
1st cake - Football

2nd cake - Grapes

3rd Cake - Clowns

I realize these clowns are headless and heres the deal...I had made the cake and then went to Hobby Lobby to buy the clown heads and they were out of stock. So I went to WalMart and they do not sell them there. I decided to go ahead and eat the cake since it would probably be stale before I would find the clown heads!

Christmas list

2009-12-05T08:11:00.000-05:00

I got this idea from Alexis over at Where He Leads Me, I Will Follow. She posted about her Christmas list and I thought I'd do the same.
There are so many things I want for Christmas and they are all way out of the question but I just thought I would let you know.
I would like one of these... Although my Palm Centro works just fine
I would really love to go to this concert with Baby J... But would need a babysitter
I would love to have a bigger house... Although the house we have keeps us close
More of this... Would help lots of things!
There are a ton more things I would like, but as long as I HAVE this... along with with our health...I have everything I NEED!
Merry Christmas!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-29T17:36:00.007-05:00

We had Thanksgiving dinner at our home this year. Just our little family. We ordered a smoked turkey and made all the rest ourselves. We had turkey(of course), mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn on the cob, deviled eggs, cream cheese filled celery, stuffing, cranberry, mac and cheese, banana pudding, pecan pie...I think thats it.

Yes my daughters do not have shirts on...therefore no chance of stains. And yes we did choose to use paper plates and plastic cups...therefore less to clean, after all it was just us!
Friday I attended Black Friday shopping!!! I was at WalMart at 4:30AM! I picked up a basket at the front door and made it half way thru the store and realized I need to ditch the basket! It was way to crowded! I found what I was there for(I would tell you but they are presents) wrapped on a pallet surrounded by a crowd! So I joined the crowd for the wait. At 5 o'clock they announced it was time to shop! I got what I needed off the pallet and moved on for other great buys! As I was headed for the checkout a lady(carrying two 3 ft tall baby dolls) stopped me to ask where I had found something she saw in my basket. I advised her where I got them and told her I thought they were all gone. Now, this lady put down her two baby dolls and took off. I stood there for a minute trying to decide why she put the dolls down. I looked at them...one was blonde, the other red head. PERFECT!!! I didn't see her anywhere so...you guess it...I put the dolls in my basket and proceded to the checkout! All the while thinking I said no more baby dolls! BUT we dont have any 3 foot tall baby dolls so I figured, Why not? WalMart was all I tackled but Black Friday shopping was definatly an experience.
Saturday we went to Bentonville to see my family. My Granddad took us to the Walton Museaum. It was nice but would have been better had we not had the lil ones. It was so good to see all my aunts, uncles and cousins. And the girls had a great time on the piano!

Hope you had a wonderful holiday weekend as well!

New Moon!

2009-11-21T08:11:00.000-05:00

I debated all day on what time to go to the theater. I knew there would be die hard fans that had probably camped out there. I wanted to see the movie but not spend alot of time in line. So Peanut and I got in line at around 4:00.
The box office opened at 6:30. The first showing began at 7:00. After an hour in line we realized we needed dinner. So Baby J brought Peanut and I Pizza Hut pepperoni sticks. We finally had tickets in hand at 6:55 for the second showing which began at 9:40.
Now we had 3 1/2 hours left till the movie started. After you purchased tickets you had to be in line again for seating. So after 7 hours at the theater, Peanut, my mom and myself got to watch New Moon on opening day! Our local theater should REALLY presale tickets!!!!!

Recovery

2009-11-09T12:38:00.001-05:00

It has been nearly a week since Little Bits surgery and she seems to be doin ok. She has complained several times since Friday that the back of her neck hurts and has had a low fever off and on. I called the nurse in the ENT clinic and she advised me to check to see if she was having trouble moving her head around. She seems to sometimes have trouble but most of the time not. So the nurse said to just watch her. Stiff neck is a sign of infection where the adenoids were removed. She will go to daycare tomorrow. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers. They are always apreciated.

Now we know!

2009-11-03T19:26:00.004-05:00

As I mentioned before Little Bit had her surgery Tuesday. Here is how the day went...(these were my status post from facebook)
8:44 - on the interstate
9:49 - We're here! Now mask or no mask? hmm
10:02 - We're checked in and waiting. And they were out of mask so that took care of that decision. Now we are watching the fish swim
10:47 - headed for CT. She is still awake so we'll see how it goes
11:18 - She did it and they gave her a Barbie! Now she just got goofy juice and a stuffed pig for drinkin it. Then movin on to gas!

11:31 - They just took her to the OR. I have eye makeup on and WILL NOT cry!! Why is this so hard? We've been down this road before Should see her in recovery in 30.
11:54 - she's done...waiting to see the doc and then go see my baby! oh I forgot to mention she got to pet the therapy dog before her scan! She loved it!
12:11 - hope she wakes up happy. What are the chances?
12:32 - STILL waiting Come on and hurry up already!
12:39 - going to see her!
1:18 - she was cranky for bout 30 minutes. Now watchin cartoons, eatin a popsicle...still little high from morphine

1:58 - she just got off iv and finished 2 popsicles
2:09 - she is going to be discharged!
3:40 - aaahhh she threw up! yuck!
We talked the doctor and he told us that she had fluid in both ears. So it is good she had tubes put in. Her CT scan showed she has enlarged vestibular aqueducts(EVA). Here is what I googled on EVA.

Vestibular aqueducts are narrow, bony canals that travel from the inner ear to deep inside the skull. The aqueducts begin inside the temporal bone, the part of the skull just above the ear. The temporal bone also contains two sensory organs that are part of the inner ear. These organs are the cochlea, which detects sound waves and turns them into nerve signals, and the vestibular labyrinth, which detects movement and gravity. These organs, together with the nerves that send their signals to the brain, work to create normal hearing and balance. Running through each vestibular aqueduct is a fluid-filled tube called the endolymphatic duct, which connects the inner ear to a balloon-shaped structure called the endolymphatic sac.
A vestibular aqueduct is considered enlarged if it is greater than 1.5 millimeters in size, roughly the diameter of the head of a pin. If a vestibular aqueduct is enlarged, the endolymphatic duct and sac usually grow large too. The functions of the endolymphatic sac and duct are not completely understood. Scientists currently believe that the endolymphatic sac and duct help to ensure that the fluid in the inner ear contains the correct amounts of certain chemicals called ions. Ions are needed to help start the nerve signals that send sound and balance information to the brain.
So when it is enlarged it allows brain fluid to mix with the ear fluid and that has caused damage to the nerve in the tube. Thats my understanding of it anyway. It cannot be corrected and the studies I have read show that it can progress to a profound(total) loss. Not what we wanted to hear but there are worse things to have! She is scheduled to go back in 5 weeks for follow up test, so we'll see how that goes.

Halloween is here!

2009-10-31T21:38:00.003-04:00

This morning we dressed the girls in their costumes and headed for the downtown fall festival.
Little Bit was a witch and Baby Girl was a spider charmer. After 3 hours downtown we came home for a nap. After nap we trick or treated the neighborhood and then stopped by the baptist church for their trunk or treat. Then it was time for Grandma and Papa's house. Grandma had chili for dinner and all kinds of goodies! The girls spent the night with them and Baby J and I got to go out! We dressed up too!
Baby J was a baseball player and I was Tinkerbell. What a great day! I love Halloween!

Halloween Time

2009-10-29T12:14:00.007-04:00

This morning was the Halloween party at daycare. The girls have been so excited for this day to come all week.
They wore old costumes...Little Bit was a Tiger(costume from last year) and Baby Girl was a sailor(Little Bits costume from a couple of years ago). Here is a picture of Little Bit with a couple of her friends.

They both brought home a big bag of candy and now can't wait to trick in or treat in a couple of days!

Mud Bowl

2009-10-27T12:49:00.000-04:00

Last night was Peanuts last football game of the season. The weather was around 60 with a light rain. The field was muddy! You could hear the sloshing of the field as the players ran! My mom watched the girls so Baby J and I could go watch the game together under the umbrella. I wish I would've taken my camera. Peanut made a great play that would have made an awesome picture! He stripped the ball from the other team and recovered the fumble. Not only that he jumped up holding the ball high in the air with excitment on his face. His team WON 18-6. We are sad football has come to an end this year but next year will be here before we know it.

There was a farmer....

2009-10-22T20:29:00.000-04:00

had a dog. And Bingo was his name O. B-I-N-G-O B-I-N-G-O B-I-N-G-O And Bingo was his name O.
Baby girl has learned to sing this and has sang it delightfully all night long!

Trip to Children’s

2009-09-24T19:40:00.003-04:00

Little Bit had an appointment at 12:30 in Audiology. We arrived ~~promptly~~ at 12:28. It has been almost a year since we’ve been there so I could not remember which hallway got us to the check-in spot. So maybe we were a little late. We had to have Chick-fil-a for lunch! Another hearing test was done and completed with the same results as always. We then had an appointment with ENT. The doctor we saw (Dr R) there has had the most information we have gotten to date. He told us based on her past hearing test he believes she has a sensorineural hearing loss, which unfortunately cannot be corrected (in her left ear, her right ear is good). He did, however, tell us that he does not feel like it is a total loss. So basically if you yell, she will hear a whisper. So she has been scheduled for a CT scan to verify what Dr R thinks is actual. He says she has a small amount of fluid in the ear that he feels like could be affecting her hearing therefore she will be having myringotomy (tubes placed in her ears). This will be her second set of tubes. She got her first set shortly after her first birthday. She will also have an adenoidectomy. Adenoid removal is now routine with a second set of tubes but Dr R thinks this will help her from being so snotty and hackin and coughin ALL the time (which is SO NOT pretty). Sometime after (maybe January) these procedures are done, she will have a hearing screening again. This test will determine if she has better hearing without the fluid and if so she may be a candidate for a hearing aid. So that about covers our trip to Children’s. Sorry no pictures. I know post are always more exciting when there are pictures. I promise to try harder on that!

Another day off

2009-09-21T20:49:00.005-04:00

The morning started off ok. Baby J was off to work and Peanut off to school. I dropped Baby Girl off at daycare. Little Bit and I were off to the clinic. She has not had a hearing test in nearly a year so that needs to be done as well as we have never got that test that has told us exactly why she can’t hear…. like bone deformity, nerve damaged etc? So she was seeing the general practitioner in order for her to get a doctor referral to a specialist. She weighed 31 lbs. She did really well until they had to take blood. You ask why blood draw? I forgot to mention that her therapist has noticed that Little Bit shakes a lot (although I don’t notice it so much at home…in fact maybe twice in the last 4 months). So the blood draw was to check her lead and sugar levels along with a few other things I can’t remember. Little Bit was a lot more cooperative than I thought she would be. It only took three of us…me to hold her down, one nurse to hold her arm and one to draw the blood. They gave her two stickers and we were on our way. We stopped at the donut shop to have chocolate donuts together. We left the donut shop in time to go see daddy at work on his break. Then it was home to get a couple of hours cleaning done. We then went to pick up lunch for us and daddy at Wendy’s. After lunch…you got it…naptime! Peanut had a football game at 6:00 so we made an attempt to take everyone.

After about 25 minutes in the stands we had run out of skittles and Sprite and both girls needed to go to the bathroom. Why is it everywhere we go we have to check out the bathrooms???? So I packed them up and we went to Grandma and Papa’s house for short visit until the games was over. After the game we had dinner, which was about 8 o’clock (so NOT good for the body). What a long day! Is anyone else exhausted?

Here We Go Again

2009-09-11T22:07:00.001-04:00

Maybe I should have titled this – What I Did on My Day Off! Anyway, Today started with little sleep due to Little Bits coughing. She started coughing around dark last night and could hardly sleep herself because of it. Good thing I had already made her a doctor’s appointment. Sara (Little Bits speech therapist) had said on Wednesday that Little Bit kept saying her ear was hurting. That is something I don’t like to mess with when it comes to her so I had made the appt. We got to the clinic right at 8:15 after a quick trip for donut holes. As we sat in the waiting room Little Bit kept telling me “Hey Mommy! The car is outside”. She really did NOT want to see the doctor! There were about 4 or 5 other patients in the waiting room. An older couple, a kid with what appeared to be a hurt leg, some lady that looked fine, a boy that looked fine, and a man. Then there was Little Bit….hacking, sneezing, whining and wanting to leave! This was the first time I have been to the clinic and felt like people were looking at us like – Oh my gosh, what does she have! Stay away from us! Which is probably how I usually appear to be looking at them, just not this time! The nurse called her back to be weighed and she would not let me put her down. So the nurse suggested we weigh together (which was 142 lbs if you were wondering) and then I weigh separately. Together weighing was fine but then there was still the need to put Little Bit down so I could weigh alone. The nurse pulled her off me kicking and screaming as I hurriedly jumped on the scale to weigh by myself. So weighing was done and we were directed to a room. Little Bit had no fever, so that was good. As we sat and waited in the room, Little Bit kept reminding me that the car was outside and she was ready to go. When the doctor came in he checked her ears. Little Bit was good for this, I believe because she has been raised having her ears checked and I was holding her! Dr. B said her left ear was good and her right had a little fluid but not enough for antibiotic. Yes, she is snotty and whiny but her breathing sounds good. He wanted to check her throat since her brother was just diagnosed with strep throat on Wednesday. I had to hold her arms and head while the nurse held her legs so Dr. B could look in her throat, all the while her turning red, crying and yelling (with mouth closed) He did get a peek though….enough to say she doesn’t have strep! So we ended up with Robitussin with codeine. Little Bit got to pick out a Princess sticker and out to the car we went and she was happy as could be. I spent the afternoon cleaning house….did the dishes, swept the floors, cleaned the bathroom, cleaned the grout in the bathroom tile, washed a load of clothes, balanced the checkbook, paid some bills and then time ran out!!! I had a hair appt for 3 and needed to go to Walmart for groceries before the kids got home. So that I did (with Baby J). By 5:00 I was finished at the salon and headed to pick up the girls at daycare with my new short blonde hair. We got home in time to eat some McDonalds and get ready for the high school football game at 7. Peanut and I went to the game to watch my brother at halftime in the band. We got home from the game around 9:15 to help daddy put the girls to bed. To bed we thought…but…they wanted a snack so we ate some grapes or gaps as Baby Girl calls them. Then we were all off to bed! WHEW! What a day!

Out of the mouths of babes

2009-08-29T18:03:00.003-04:00

Sometimes the kids sound so cute when they pronounce words wrong. Here are a few of the things that my kids have said.

Peanut (Although he doesn’t say these things anymore)
Cooba = school bus (He loved to see cooba’s)
Fag = flag (Hey Mommy! Look at that big fag!)
Donimoe’s = Dominoe’s (He just got this one straight about a year ago!)
Chick-a-fil = Chick-fil-a

Little Bit
Crina = Christina (It’s not Tina Baby Girl! It’s CRINA!)
Chokey = chucky (She named one of her baby dolls this)
Carcoons = cartoons
Mack-a-moni = macaroni
Bayball = baseball
Tana Tana = Hannah Montana

Baby Girl
Bobo = bubbles
t.b. = t.v.
Mi hee = Misty (One of her teachers at daycare)
Ankees = Yankees

I know there are more but dad-gum-it, I can’t remember them! I have got to do better at writing things down! So what cute things do your kids pronounce wrong that you would like to share?

Things I am passionate about

2009-08-08T16:23:00.000-04:00

Hhmmm Where to start
March of Dimes
Most of you are probably aware that the March of Dimes Foundation is a charity that is dedicated to improving the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality. Since two of my three children were preemies, I very much believe in this program.

Early Childhood Special Education Intervention
This is a program that provides services to children ages 3 - 5 with disabilities.
Their services are activities designed to enhance the development of the preschool child and provide experiences in one or more of the following areas: talking, seeing, hearing, learning, walking, behavior. A child may be eligible for special services is he/she is experiencing difficulties which interfere with normal development in these areas: speech/language, vision, hearing, motor skills, behavioral/social skills, self help skills, problem solving skills, cognition/readiness skills. These services have helped our family a great deal and it is my goal to make more families aware of this program.

My Family
I love everyone in my family and would not be who I am today without each and every one of them.

And first and foremost God
For He is my source!

Pageants
I love attending, judging and competing in pageants. Little Bit has many titles.
Just to name a few, Morrilton's Best Infant Ms 2006, Little Ms Independence 2006, and below Ms Infant Arkansas 2006

Baby Girl has not been in as many pageants but was Little Ms Spring Splendor 2008 and Rsvl's Our Diamond Infant Ms 2007. Below is a pic of Baby Girl at the Spring Splendor 09 pageant. She returned for crowning and I was there to speak about Early Childhood Spec Ed.

I have competed in two pageants.

Mrs Jingle Bell where I got 1st runner up

(me and my brother Aaron)

And Mrs Arkansas International

Evonna and I at rehearsal

Tina, myself and Julie

Baby J and I before the pageant
I did not make the top 5 at Intl but did receive the People's Choice Award.

American Heart Association
I have been a Go Red for Women supporter for almost a year now and have learned so much. Did you know many women die each year because they don't know heart disease is their No. 1 killer? Share the facts that heart disease is largely preventable and even the small, personal choices women make can help them live, not die.
Intl contestants and American Heart Assoc Luncheon

Locks of Love
Locks of Love is a public non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children in the United States and Canada under age 18 suffering from long-term medical hair loss from any diagnosis. Little Bit donated her hair!

So these are a few of the things I enjoy. Tell me about your passions!!!

3 post in 1

2009-07-29T22:34:00.006-04:00

Last week we attended VBS at a co-worker/friend's church.
This is Little Bit with her new friend Allauna doing crafts.

I LOVE it here! This girl loves her some church! She learned about the the burning bush and the plagues.

Little Bit and Allauna

They put cardboard over the stairs to make a slide and ALL the kids loved it! I even went down a time or two.

I know, that picture is out of focus but it was all I had of the slide!
Even though this wasn't our home church, they all made us feel very welcome. Peanut got to go Tuesday-Friday and even took some of the neighborhood boys! Baby Girl went Monday.....what at a tornado! She saw it as a lot of room to run and giggle and thats exactly what she did. That is until snack time.....she was still for that. She loves her some food! Cathy tried to contain her in a little playroom, but Baby Girl was not liken it! Hopefully next year Baby Girl will be better.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Last weekend I took Baby Girl and Peanut downtown and took their pictures too! I wanted to get a picture of each of them to frame.
Baby Girl

Peanut

This is why I took each of them separately....if they had all gone together, one of them would have gotten away!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Last night 7th graders (oh my gosh - just as I typed that I realized my baby is going into 7th grade!) were scheduled to pick up their football gear. Peanut must have tried on every helmet they had to get one that fit! I took this picture of him opening his lock to his football locker. I wanted to get one of him standing by his locker with the door open so you could see his gear inside BUT I was told "MOM I know people here!" so...I put the camera away!

Favorite Kid photos

2009-07-29T19:00:00.002-04:00

I missed the favorite kid photo blog hop but here are my favs anyway!
Little Bit

Little Bit - do you see the pageant girl comin out in her!

Baby Girl

Peanut and Little Bit

OK Your right these are not nearly all my favorites, just my favorites that were already saved on my computer!

I love taking pictures!

2009-07-19T21:01:00.004-04:00

Today Little Bit was the subject. We went downtown and took a few pictures.
#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

#7

I can't decide which one is my favorite. Maybe #4 and #6. What do you think?

Football Camp

2009-07-18T19:47:00.000-04:00

Friday morning Peanut went to Twister football camp.

Clap it up!!

Getting player autographs

What cost $50.01 and takes 4 hours??

2009-07-11T18:43:00.001-04:00

*Warning: Not for the weak* Any guess'? Friday night, right before we walked out the door to go eat dinner, Baby Girl swallowed a penny. It was not an easy swallow. She choked it down followed by a couple bouts of throwing up. After about 20 minutes I thought she would be ok BUT then she threw up again. So I was afraid it might be stuck in her throat so off to the ER we went. We sat in the waiting room about 3 hours before we got sent back for an xray. By then it had made its way to her stomach. After about another hour to see the doctor we were told that if she gets fever or has lots of pain to bring her back otherwise just "watch for it to pass". YUCK!! If it doesn't pass by Monday she has to go back for another xray to see if the penny may be stuck somewhere! 4 hours in the ER with a $50 deductible and $.01 in her belly....thats what cost $50.01 and takes 4 hours.
*UPDATE*
She passed the penny! Apparently it takes 46 hours. I am thankful that this can now be put to rest. I REALLY did NOT want to have to take her for another xray!

Happy Independence Day!

2009-07-05T19:59:00.001-04:00

This morning started early. It started at the Lil Ms & Mr July Blast Pageant. Nope nobody competing this time! I was judging. There were 54 contestants which is a great turnout! I love pageants on all sides! Competing, judging or just being part of the audience. (Pageants are whole other post I'll have to tell ya bout later) After the pageant I returned home to help Baby J gets the girls to nap. When nap time was over we packed up and went to my parents. Mom had made spaghetti. This is Baby girl hanging out in the kitchen waitin to eat.
After dinner we went outside and did few fireworks. I took Lil Bit outside to throw some poppers but she did NOT want to be outside. So she hung out here in the window to watch.
I took Baby Girl outside and she threw two boxes of poppers and did not want to go back inside when it started to sprinkle.
We packed up around 8:45 and headed for the towns big firework display. After EVERY boom Lil Bit would announce "Ooohh my favorite!"
It wasn't the best 4th of July we've ever had but still a great day with the family!

Tryin out MckLinky!

2009-06-30T14:41:00.003-04:00

Enter your link and see if this works! While your here become a follower as well!!!

It's Hang Out NOT Play!

2009-06-29T21:10:00.001-04:00

That's what Peanut told me Friday. We were talking about his friend Noah coming over and I said "Yes, We need to call Noah to come over and play" I was quickly corrected with "It's NOT play, MOM, it's hang out!" Oooohh How 12 years have gone by so quickly. He will be a teenager in a short 8 months!

Speaking of play....We went to my cousin Chase's 3rd birthday party and they had a big slide. Little Bit, surprisingly jumped right in. Whereas Baby Girl wanted nothing to do with the slide. I could not find Little Bits swimsuit so she enjoyed the water in a tshirt and shorts.

The hose on the slide was leaking and created a puddle which became Baby Girls personal water hole. She had a BLAST just running back and forth thru that water!

Band camp is now over. *Note to self* Peanut should stay on campus next year.....driving back and forth to pick him up was killer. They played 4 songs on their Saturday concert and did a great job!

Yesterday Little Bit and Baby Girl spent about 30 minutes outside in their pool and loved it! I realize now why I could not find Little Bits swimsuit for Chase's party.....As you notice above....Baby Girl is wearing Little Bits swimsuit so it was actually Baby Girls that was missing at the time!!! OOPS! Baby Girl looks rather silly in this photo but a least they BOTH are wearing a swimsuit!

Happy Father's Day!

2009-06-21T20:39:00.006-04:00

Happy Fathers Day to all you Daddy's
Especially
MY Daddy!

And My Hubby!!

Thanks for all you do
Love you guys

PRAY!!!

2009-06-18T17:57:00.002-04:00

Please pray for Stellan (MckMuffin). He has been having several bouts of SVT and he is now being taken to the ER. You can visit their website for updates www.mycharmingkids.net

Baby Girl Turned 2!!!

2009-06-16T14:18:00.012-04:00

Wonder how many 2 year olds have a 3 day party? We started off with lunch at El Chico's followed by a trip to Playworld.

Baby Girl's friend "Tina" came with her brother and sister. Baby J's friend Kyle, and his wife and two children came to play as well. Lil Bit's friend, Addison, came so that she would have someone her own age to play with. After about two hours of play I was exhausted! When we got in the car they too realized they were tired!

On Sunday (her real birthday) we went to Grandma and Papa's house.

Grandma made a red velvet cake.

We had dinner of chicken, rice, corn and salad. Grandma and Papa gave her a baby doll named Liela (which she calls Tina), a baby stroller and playpen. She absolutley LOVE them!!!

Monday (her legal birthday), I took cupcakes for her class. The teacher wiped most of the icing off but after Baby Girl ate half her cupcake she asked for more icing. So much for that trick!! And of course when one kid in the class got it, so did the rest!

Now, this doesn't sound like much in writing but they had fun and it plum wore me out!

Just Because

2009-06-09T18:01:00.002-04:00

SISTERS!!

Summer is here!

2009-06-08T21:28:00.007-04:00

Summer is here and the trips have begun. We started the summer with pageant night at a Twister arena football game. Little Bit absolutly loved it!

Next we travelled to Texas and hit Six Flags. After about four hours at the park, a VERY heavy rain came. We put on our ponchos and waited around for about 30 minutes and then decided to go clean up and go to Red Lobster! YUM!!! On the way out of the park Little Bit and I jumped in every single puddle. We had a blast! The boys may not have been so happy because they only got on two rides before the rain shut them down but we did get to play lots of games. And Baby girl...she was with her Grandparents. I didn't feel so bad leavin her since she got to go to Virginia Beach last summer while Little Bit stayed with the Grandparents. The next days weather was SUPER HOT! We headed to Texas stadium for the Ranger Vs Yankees game. We are huge Yankee fans! AND Yankees WIN 11-1 !!!

Next up for the summer comes VBS for Peanut and Lil Bit followed by band camp and football camp for Peanut. And somewhere in there a trip to a water park and who know what else! Stay tuned for all the excitement.

A little more detail

2009-06-06T10:24:00.009-04:00

Not only do I like to hear pregnancy and delivery stories, I also like to tell mine. So here we go.
Peanut was a good pregnancy for the most part. From about 2-4 months I had morning sickness. Daily!!! At 32 weeks and 4 days (to be exact) I went into labor. I was at the Ms Tech Pageant with Baby J's friend Russell. Baby J was sick and decided not to go. I had a lot of contractions at the pageant. Even Russell joked, "Am I gonna have to take you to the hospital?!" Being my first pregnancy I thought it just must be gas! When the pageant was over I went to the bathroom and had a lot of bleeding. (TMI maybe...sorry) My first thought was I had to get Baby J. I struggled up three flights of stairs to get to his room. Ya I realize now it may have been easier to just call him but in time of shock you just don't think straight! He and his friend Nathan carried me down and off to the hospital we went. I stayed in the hospital 3 days trying to stop labor when they realized my water was leaking. At 6am on the 4th day they broke my water. I was soooo not ready for this. I cried alot.....he can't come out yet, it's not time! He was born by emergency c-section at 8:12pm and weighed 3lbs 6oz. I did get see him before they rushed him to the nursery but would not get to hold him for days. He stayed on Oxygen for the rest of that day and most of the next. On the 3rd day I was able to get wheeled to the nursery to see him. Oh my gosh! He looked like a little bird!!! He skin was not fully developed and was somewhat transparent. He had wires all over him and I could just not believe this was real! Anyway he only lost 4 oz which is very good. He was a very tough cookie. By the time he was 3 weeks old he had reached 4 lbs and we got to take him home!!! That is home with an Apnea monitor. At about a month old his monitor alarmed. I did everything I had been taught to get him going again....and nothing worked! So I called 911. As soon as they answer he starts to cry! He is soooo grounded for this! I was a nervous wreck! He had a monitor until he was almost 9 months old. Currently at 12 years old he is about 5 feet tall and 90 lbs and healthy!
So that was baby #1
Little Bit was definitely a different pregnancy. I was sick all the time and losing weight. I continued to go to the doctor and be told it was just bad morning sickness. At 4 months pregnant, I weighed 88 lbs. I looked terrible to say the least! On several occasions I had to go to the clinic for and iv for dehydration. I could keep nothing down. On top of that I started to have high blood pressure, tremors, and heart palpitations. They finally discovered I was suffering from an overactive thyroid. After several medications, I was back on a good track by 5 1/2 months. Now, she was a scheduled c-section because the hospital we have here requires you to continue to have c-sections once you've already had one. I disagreed, but my only choice was go to another hospital which we did not want to do. We arrived at the hospital having very good contractions. Without thinking I directed Baby J to drop me off at the front doors. I'm surprised the doors were open...it was just shortly after 5 am. There was a Barney Fife security guard at the door. He said ma'm you must go to the ER. As I continued to walk toward the elevator, he repeated himself, yet a little louder. I said NO I am going to labor and delivery! He said, you must go thru ER. NO! I will go thru this elevator. Baby J had gone to park the car and about the time I got to the elevator door he was there with me. Barney (the guard) had realized I was not going to ER and called L&D. When the elevator door opened there was the nurse with the wheelchair. I was prepped for surgery. Everything was ready, we were just waiting on the anesthesiologist. But wait....here she comes! And we had been at the the hospital less than 20 minutes. She was born VBAC 4 Weeks early weighing 4 lbs 13 oz. We stayed at the hospital 3 days for jaundice. When she was four days old the pediatrician called to tell me there was something wrong with her blood work and she need to be seen right away. I freaked out!!! When the results came in they showed she had traces of the medication I had been taking in her blood. Apparently they passed thru the placenta. After three blood draws over the next couple of weeks her blood was free from the medications and she was fine. Fine that is with the except she kept failing her hearing screening. Like I said in my previous post she has unilateral hearing. She has received some speech therapy and as of now is almost up to speed.
And that's #2
Baby Girl was so easy in every way! I expected her delivery early as her siblings but she was hanging on for the long run! Again a c-section was scheduled. My water broke at home, Baby J drove like a maniac to the hospital. In the car he called the hospital to have them waiting with a wheelchair to get me to L&D. At the ER door was a very young man waiting for me. I got in the chair and directed him to hurry. Baby J went to park the car. It was just me in the wheelchair whimpering and the employee in the elevator. The nurses were waiting for me in the observation room. I said oh no...there is no observation, she is coming!!! I was stubborn and would not get out the wheelchair! Baby J finally arrived and convinced me to get up. And the wheelchair boy....look terrified!! I changed into a gown and the nurse checked me....and yelled....the heads coming!!! Uh huh...told ya so! I was immediately taken across the hall to delivery. The doctor was not there yet so the nurses delivered her. From the time my water broke to the time she was delivered was exactly 21 minutes!!! She was born weighing 6 lbs 5 oz!
Now...it was 11:57pm when she was born. Baby J and I talked about it at the time. When we got our paperwork it said 12:00am which made it the next day. I argued that this was wrong and was sturnly told SHE WAS BORN at 12:00!!! Therefore the birthday discrepancy.
When she was 2 weeks old exactly I had just fed her and while burping her she spit up. That's what babies do, right? But this was very thick, mucousy. She appeared to be having trouble so we got that sucker thing they give you at the hospital and sucked her nose and sides of her mouth. It wasn't working. She was struggling. We decided to take her to the doctor. Before we got to the end of our blog she was doing a very weird breathing thing. I called 911 from my cell and explained the happenings to the dispatcher. Less than a half a mile from the house I noticed her mouth and feet were turning purple. The dispatcher said you must take her clothes off and start CPR. NOOOOOO I can't! (Remember my baby was just 2 weeks old and I was a little hormonal and emotional). The dispatcher says Yes you can. So I have her clothes off about the time we hit the grocery store parking lot we had prepared to meet the ambulance at! I jumped out of the car with my limp daughter and gave her to the paramedic. He put her on the stretcher and she started to cough. By this point I am crying hysterically. He said mam she is coughing so she is going to be ok. They took us to the ER (Which was my first and I hope last ambulance ride) where we stayed for a few hours so she could get oxygen since her readings were low. She too should be grounded for this!
So now ya have it. That's how all my babies got here! Now I wanna hear your stories!!

And the rest is history!

2009-05-31T18:49:00.011-04:00

Thought I would start with telling you a little about my family in case we've never met or we have just been out of touch for a while. Hmmm...where to start. I am married to my college sweetheart...Baby J. He got that name for being the younger twin. We have three beautiful children. Peanut is now 12 years old. He was born 7 weeks early weighing 3lbs 6oz. He is now as big as me and you would never know he was a preemie! Our second, Little Bit is now 3 1/2. She was born 4 weeks early weighing 4lbs 13oz. She is finally starting to grow!!! She failed her newborn hearing screening at birth. At 5 days old the test was repeated....failed again! At two weeks old, another repeat test with repeat results. We took her to Children's Hospital to have the test done again! It was then she was diagnosed with unilateral hearing. She is deaf in her left ear but has good hearing in her right. More on that later. And our youngest, Baby girl will be 2 in a couple of weeks. She was actually delivered VBAC 6 hours before our scheduled C-section. She entered the world at 6lbs 5oz. In case you are wondering, all of our children got their nicknames in the hospital by their nurses. I work as a Finance Manager at a car dealership. Baby J works for a company that manufactures engine components. I think that is a good start!!
Picture from Nov 2008

Blog

2009-05-23T18:06:00.000-04:00

I finally have a blog. Bare with me while I try to figure this all out!