D's Antics/Sayings

I keep meaning to write down some of the funny things that the kids say. Well D seems to always be quick on his toes in responding and he's been responding a lot with Christmas nearly here.

So we have the presents from Aunt Amy under the tree and she does a beautiful job in wrapping the kids gifts all in different cool wrapping paper. So the Spongebob present (D's) has a big rip/tear on on side but you can't see what the present is. So I call D down and ask if he opened up a gift. His response "I was just getting a jump start on the opening" and "there wasn't a good ripping spot".

The other morning, Brad stayed home with the kids while I went into work and I covered D back up with his blanket before I left. He rolled over and with his eyes still shut he says "I had the best dream". I tell him to go back to sleep and when as I was leaving he says "I dreamed it was Christmas". He is so sweet.

Speaking of Christmas, we'll be having our talk with the kids tomorrow night about the "Christmas J Ruined". In case you have forgotten, this involves the Christmas that I got a really nice, unexpected bonus check the week before Christmas. So we had bought J and baby D all kinds of great gifts and I believe we got all the spy toy stuff we could find (J was really into this - age 5), including the spy toy remote control, listening device, grabber, thing. It was cool. Well about 2a, a sweet, excited, little boys comes into our bedroom and says "Mommy, come see what Santa brought me". Half asleep, I'm thinking he went downstairs and saw everything well he started naming things that were wrapped and it clicked in my head. Brad and I went down the stairs to find every present unwrapped and paper all over the place (including most of D's gifts as well). Needless to say, I cried a lot, ok the entire time I spend re-wrapping gifts. The next morning, J proceeds to tell me "Can you give the gift there with the nerf gun and than the one with the spy pen, etc, etc, etc". I believe I cried the whole day. Well anyways, he was 5 and that was than, but we do NOT want a repeat with any of the other children, so we will be repeating this story again tomorrow night as well as next year on the same night. Oh, we had a great punishment for him too - but we'll talk about that later.

Snow!!!!

We have snow down here in NC. About 4-5" of snow and the kids are all outside having fun. It's already starting to melt as it's beautiful outside today. The sun is blinding, it's so bright. Brad took some pics about 1a this morning - he said it was really bright out than. Me, I was passed out upstairs fast asleep.

Well we're down to the last few days till Christmas. The kids are excited as they are out of school now. J's going over to a friend's house on Monday to play and D is ungrounded from video games so we know where he will be for the next couple days. I'm supposed to be giving Brad a Christmas list and I really don't know what I want. I guess I better start working on that list. And start making some hot chocolate for the kids.

Surgery Results

We are finally home - we actually were released early this morning, but we came home and slept. The surgery was successful in the terms that the hole is closed in AB's mouth. They did, however, have some complications. The tissue they had wanted to use was too scarred too use so they instead had to tissue from the front of the hole which left the bone exposed and additional pain for AB. They also had a difficult time with the stitching using the longer lasting stitches - these are to last for 4-6weeks instead of the ones that dissolve in 7-14days. She was able to do every other stitch with the longer dissolving stitches so we'll just have to wait and see how everything goes. The poor thing is doing ok - she spiked a temp at the hospital and they had a difficult time getting her heart rate to a normal rate but she finally came around. She's so hungry - she tried to eat last night and was in too much pain. We had some creamy chicken noodle soup and she's scarfed it down - so she's either feeling better or was too hungry to care. Either way, we're happy she's eating. She will be on a soft food diet for 2 weeks and the last time we knew that the hole had opened was on day 15. Please keep praying!!!!!

Surgery Again

Ok - we're here again. Yes, it's Alyssabelle's third and hopefully last surgery for her cleft palate. We have been cleared for surgery tomorrow and are expected at the hospital at 9:30a. She's in good spirits today but I'm dreading about 10a tomorrrow when she still can't have any food or drink.

They are not going to use the permanent stitches as I previously mentioned due to increased risk of infection. Instead they are going to use longer dissolving stitches. The ones from the last surgery last 7-14 days and the ones they are using tomorrow will last 4-6 weeks. She will still be able to feel them with her tongue so we'll have to watch to be sure she's not "feeling too much" with her tongue and none at all with her fingers. I also spoke to the doctor about her having difficulties urinating after the last surgery. They were bringing in the catheter when she finally went. The doc believes it was the medicines that caused her the problems - the nurses kept giving her pain meds and I believe she was just scared. They were trying to get a doctor back there to authorize more pain meds as they had given AB all they could when they let me back there. I was able to get her calmed down without any more meds but no way was she letting me go after that. Hopefully, this time will be a little better in that regards.

So I've gotta go pack up and I still have Xmas presents to ship. As long as it's not next day air, I think we'll be ok. Sorry if anyone receives presents late.

What a Week!!!

Well it's been a great week. First, I have to say Happy Birthday to hubby and I hope he and we get to celebrate many more birthdays to come. He really is such a good man, father, and husband!

I did get some great deals on Friday - very exciting. It didn't seem to be as crazy as it has been in the past - Wal***t was much more organized until 5a came and all the shrink wrapped pallets were opened - it did get crazy than. I only had one cart rammed into my heel so that was pretty amazing. Dan went with me for the first time and he got both things that he wanted. I am a little disappointed that I didn't get the card table that I wanted - I didn't think it would go fast so I went to other items first and missed out. I also missed out on a gift for AB but she's got plenty. I actually had to take items back for D as I had way too much for him and I already got his b-day present. I think all the kids are going to have a great Christmas this year and I really didn't spend as much as I thought so I'm super happy!

Next weekend is Girl's Shopping Weekend!!!! I'm a little disappointed as D won't be joining us this year - it's always a little sad when my little men decide that they don't like to shop anymore. I've enjoyed having both of them with me when they were little and going on these types of trips. I guess they are growing up. :( So this year it will be mom, Amy, AB and myself. Nina had to bail out on us due to work messing up her schedule but in this economy she can't complain. We'll have to get her a little something special.

My Fav Week!!!!

It's my favorite week of the entire year. I LOVE BLACK FRIDAY!!!!! I am so excited just thinking about the deals and lines and excitement - ahhhh!!! There's a lot of online deals this year but as you can see by how often I update this site that I'm not an online person (unless it's character mahjong or checking the bfads site). I know I've already driven Brad about crazy but I can't help it. I'm trying to figure out how early the papers will be delivered at the store so I can get my grubby hands on the actual ads (even though I already know what's inside - thanks bfads). I do have to say that I'm ecstatic this year because I got the inside scoop before the family (family means mom and sis) on the Wal***t ad. I have something specific that I'm picking up at B*** B** and I have to be at least the 21st person in line so we'll be there early.

Here's to happy shopping!!!!!

Lisa

Sickness

I mentioned before that I detest illness - who doesn't. Now AB is sick. After seeing the doc today, we're giving her the albuterol treatment 3x a day, the budnesonide 2x a day and some antiobiotic 1x a day (3, 2, 1 - all better now). Hopefully she'll get better quick.

On better (or worse) news, I owe J $25 for his grades. He got straight A's. He's only got 3 more report cards to go to get his new game system. We told him last year that if he got straight A's on all the report cards than we would buy him a new game system - he didn't make it last year but he's working hard on making it happen this year. D also got a great report card. He got all S's and one S+ and one S-. He's doing so well at kindergarten!!!!

I guess I need to sign off and upload some more pics on sna*fish. My sister is going to seriously hurt me if I don't get these pics from J's fumble/touchdown uploaded. Wait until she has kids some day!!!!!!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween and a big thanks to everyone that gave my children enough candy to stay up for a month straight. The kids, Brad, and I all had a lot of fun despite some rain. We met up with a co-worker and his daughter to have dinner and than it was off to the fun part. Believe it or not, we did get the children to eat a little. We had to threaten them with no candy - but hey, what's a parent to do on Halloween. J was dressed as a Hotdog - I'm not joking here. I've had enough weiner and bun jokes from him to last a couple years. He had a lot of fun with it though. D was dressed a Bumblebee from Transformers and I think he knows everyone - every house we went to it seemed like he was saying hi to so and so. Our little social bug. AB was dressed as Abby Caddaby from Sesame Street and she had the most fun riding in the wagon, I believe. The rain held off until the end which was wonderful but even with the rain it wasn't cold. All in all it was a great night and as a benefit - an extra hour of sleep (don't forget to turn your clocks back tonight). Hope everyone had a safe and fun Halloween this year!!!!

Fall Festival

Tonight was Fall Festival and D was the lucky kid. That kid knows everyone at school and he's only in Kindergarden. How does this work????? D also won the cake walk 4 times - I made him start giving his prizes to friends. It got to the point that won of J's friends was upset that he hadn't won yet and J tells him "Come with me - we'll win you something" J than proceeds to grab D and off they go. D wins on the first try and tells Max, "What do you want???". Tonight, he had the luck. Also, I put a bid on a craft basket, on D's class ceramic project, and J's class ceramic project. Well I got outbid on J's (that was the one I really wanted because he's in 5th grade and I haven't gotten his class project) but I did win the craft basket and D's class project. It was a lot of fun.

Carowinds

Last weekend, we all went to Carowinds theme park and to the Boo Fest. We had a great time despite a slightly chilly weather. The boys rode many rides together and AB got to go on some of the kiddy rides and they all had fun. No waits for the rides which was fantastic. Brad took the little ones over to the Boo Fest area where they had games, hay maze, karaoke, shows, trick or treating, etc while J and I took to the rollercoasters. We rode the Night Hawk, which is an amazing ride, and I literally thought I might die and I do believe there was a look of terror on J's face as well when we first flipped over and were facing the ground. Basically there's a vest harness that goes over your chest and bar that rests just above your knee. It lays back and than you're off backwards laying down up a hill. You than go head first looking up slightly down the hill and than you flip over so you're facing the ground and the ride really begins with some loops and what nots. Anyways, it was a lot of fun and we rode that one several times. All in all, it was a great time and I'm glad we went.

AB

Ok, several things. First, I thought I would be able to handle people asking if AB was my daughter or "did you adopt her" and such questions. I'm tired of it. I'm tired of being asked "Are you her babysitter?" or the other day when some lady came up to us saying "Is she yours - I saw her running around and didn't see her parents anywhere (Brad was 2ft from her and she was running around playing with D)". The hardest part is that a lot of these questions come from kids. And I can't be upset at kids - after all they're just curious and none of them have meant any harm; but I'm tired of explaining that yes, I'm her mommy. Last week, AB fell off the swing and I ran to her to make sure she was ok and to brush the dirt off of her and these girls about 11-12 yrs old came over to also be sure she was ok and stared at me like how dare you help this girl when you're not her mom and where's is the this girl's mom. After waiting for an answer that I didn't give, they eventually asked if I was her mom. I told them yes and that she was going to be ok and thanked them for their concern - they waited for more of an answer and I was too tired to give out an answer. Maybe it's just been a long couple weeks.

Keeping on the subject of AB, we are back to working on potty training. At daycare, she goes with the other kids and sits on the potty and sometimes goes when the teachers tell her too but she doesn't go on her own. I sat her down last weekend and told her that she was going to have to use the potty. I told her and named all of her friends and all of our family members and we and they all use the potty and she needed to use the potty too. She than proceeded to ask me why? Why, well I don't know why we all just use the potty. Anyways, I told her that it was icky to go in her pants and that it gives her sores on her bottom. I don't know if she bought all of that but she told me ok and has been using the potty. Was it this simple???? Why didn't we have the talk several months ago????

Next Surgery

Well we are finally scheduled for AB's next surgery (hopefully last). We're on the calendar for December 16th - just before Christmas (poor child). We're praying for no asthma attacks prior to the surgery as we really need to get this one in before the end of the year for insurance reasons. We also got her in the early start program through the state for speech therapy - she's to start that next Wednesday. I'm really hoping the speech will help her out - she understands everything that we're saying but we still have a difficult time understanding what she's saying. So I'm really happy that we're finally moving on this and getting her the help that I think she needs.

The boys are doing well - fighting more than usual, but they are brothers. Need some prayers for Brad's mom who is in the hospital right now having a procedure done. She's been in the hospital since Wednesday and is looking at several more days of stay. I know she must be bored out of her mind and in need of rest that doesn't come at the hospital with nurses popping in every hour or so.

I believe we are over the flu and the only victims were D and Brad. So that's fantastic. All that OJ and vitamins must have been good for something. I can only pray that once is all that it comes into this household. Well I've got a house to clean and everyone has disappeared. Funny how that always works out when it's cleaning time.

The Flu

I detest the flu - who doesn't???? We've been very fortunate over the years in avoiding this pesky virus; but it has struck. Poor Dylan started out with a temp of 103.6 so we went to the ER where he was diagnosed with the flu. There was no mention of the H1N1 but I heard that they can't say that's what it is without testing him - they did not test him for the H1N1. At any rate, here we are Monday still battling a temp. He seems to be feeling better though - still a cough and his ear hurts. Brad has also wound up with it. The rest of us are drinking lots of OJ, taking vitamins, and praying a lot. So here we are on Monday and he's still running a temp. Just now, it was 100.6 so we're doing better but I'd really like to get this virus out of our house. Hope everyone else is doing better.

Updates

Well so far the school year is going well. D is having a pretty good time at Kindergarten this year and is having some difficulty in learning how to raise his hands before talking, but who doesn't!!! He's doing very well on his reading and schoolwork though. He's also playing soccer this fall and dad is coaching again. I think he's having a good time with it - having more fun just playing with his friends than soccer but as long as he's active and having fun that's all that matters.

We've celebrated our 1 year forever family day with AB on 10/7/09. She has blossomed into such a confident little girl over the past year. It's hard to remember how insecure she was when we first brought her home. She still has some issues but she's come such a long way! We do have another surgery for her cleft palate that we'll be going to Wake Forest on Tuesday to schedule. I'm also very excited that they are going to start her in speech, hopefully next week. She's such a trooper - and yes, she knows that she's the baby.

J is having a great time at school and sports. After the CVYSA soccer fiasco - he decided to play rec tackle football and we are so glad. He's having a great time at football and he's doing great at school as well. We've noticed that when J does well in sports and is having fun at it, it follows him at school and at home. He won school vice president a week ago and had to give a speech in front of the student body and he did GREAT! All of the kids did great as speaking in front of that large of a crowd can be very intimidating but all of the kids were great. He also has straight A's right now. J is doing fantastic at football and is having a great time - the kids all seem to get along the coaches are fantastic, I can't say enough good things about what is going on with J right now. At the game on Saturday (mom, Amy, Dan, Nina and our crew were there to watch) J caused a fumble, got the ball, and ran it back for a touchdown that wound up being the game decider. It was great to watch and I'm so happy for him.

Kids

Sunday is AB's 3rd birthday and the first b-day that we get to celebrate with her. I'm so excited for her and for us. She's really coming along despite the health problems. When we were going through the adoption process I would sometimes worry that I wouldn't love her as much as the boys or that she wouldn't love us. I love her so much, as much as I love the boys and I know that she loves us too. She's OUR daughter in every sense and I can't imagine life without her - she's so precious to us. Such a gift from God. We had her dr appt yesterday with the cleft doctor and she too was disappointed about it opening back up again. She's not convinced that the steroids from the asthma attacks are the cause for the opening. She thinks she may have a condition in which she is a slow healer. They may have to use permanent stitches for the next surgery and take them out after 6-8 weeks. We'll have to wait until the next appt and go from there. Fortunately, we are almost to the 2 week mark with no asthma attacks - so that's great.

The boys are coming home today and will be here tomorrow. I'm so excited - I do miss them a lot when they're gone. It's been so quiet around here. They'll liven the place up again. They both sounded a little homesick on the phone last night but I think it's good for them to go and visit and continue to create that bond with their relatives despite the distance. It's also good for Brad and I, however, this time Brad has been working nonstop. I can't wait to see them and hug them again tomorrow.

Athsma

Well - it was quite the weekend. First, on Friday we had to take J to urgent care as he had strep - again. Saturday started out pretty well. I went in and got a little work done before everyone got up and than AB and I went and did a little shopping (she loves to shop), and than everyone got wet on the slip and slide outside - including dad. It was a lot of fun and I was able to get a lot of pics. AB seemed to like it after she went down several times. D and J were racing each other as we had 2 set up side by side.

Around 8:30p Sat night, AB started wheezing really bad and was breathing very hard and was coughing and having difficulty breathing. So after giving her an antihistamine with no results, I took her to the ER while Brad stayed home with the boys. A steroid and 3 breathing treatments later, we came home at 2a with a diagnosis of asthma. I do have to say that the ER took her back very quickly. We waited so long because they wanted to make sure she wasn't going to have another attack.

Today, we saw her regular doctor and he prescribed a nebulizer for her. On the brighter side, the surgery from the cleft palate seems to still be holding. I feel like we're past the critical point on the cleft palate surgery but the steroids will slow the healing process. And I'm still paranoid about making sure the hole stays closed and "no more".

Sunflower Update

Ok - I mentioned earlier about the sunflower from Beginner's day for Kindergarten and the plant from preK. The plant from the preK class died, despite our best efforts. The sunflower seed was going very well. So well, we decided several weeks ago to plant it. There was a big "to do" about this and we picked a good spot, dug a hole, put in some "good" soil, put the plant in and began to put the dirt back in around the plant. However, DAD accidentally snapped the plant at the base of the stem and we tried but in the end it didn't work out. So being the good parents we are, Brad immediately went and bought some more sunflower seeds and planted them.

Here comes the other explanation. We found some baby bunnies burrowing in our front yard shortly after birth. The kids, Brad and I have been watching the bunnies and the mommy come back to them and they seem to all survive despite the family of baby foxes across the street. Yes, you read that right. Well the baby bunnies eventually left the burrow in the front yard and have been hopping around the neighborhood trouncing through gardens and eating sunflower seeds. Yes, they left our garden alone but instead have eaten the sunflowers.

We simply cannot win and I'm afraid that Dylan just may fail his first Kindergarten assignment. Dear Lord, please help our children and plants.

Crazy Woman!!!

I have officially title myself "Crazy Woman" - I can't stop feeling AB's nose to see if fluid is coming out when she eats or drinks indicating that a hole is opening up. Every time she takes a drink - here I come; who knows what she thinks of me now. I'm so scared of it opening up and her having to go through yet another surgery. Oh well - I guess we can all be a little psychotic from time to time.

Anyways went back to work today and AB is staying at home with Uncle Dan. She cried for a bit but than settled down and watch LOTS of Dora. I came home and found a puzzle out, AB's dolls, and she had necklaces on - so they must of had some fun today.

2nd Surgery Update

Well the 2nd surgery went better than the first, in my opinion. The only problem we had was her going to the bathroom. Apparently, the anesthesia can have some effects on your bladder and this time it affected AB. She went the bathroom before we left on Wednesday at around 9a and didn't go again until after 2a the next morning. She was in excruciating pain and kept telling me she had to go but never did. They came in at around 1am and did an ultrasound which showed that she had enough fluid to hold a pop can and her abdomen was hard. The nurse tried some tricks to no avail and AB just kept screaming and crying. The nurse had to call the doc and we knew that a cath was the next step. AB seemed to like me rubbing her abdomen so I kept at it and she finally fell asleep and as they were bringing in the cath she went potty. What a joy!!!! Never thought I'd be so excited about some pee. Her mouth still looks good on the inside 4 days after surgery and she doesn't seem to be in a lot of pain. Last night was rough on her though and she kept moaning like she did when she first came home with us. They also had a really tough time calming her down after surgery and they called me back. During the first surgery, the called me back and I just kept talking to her; this time they wanted me to hold her. They told me they gave her the maximum dosage of morphine and I think she was more scared than in pain. After I calmed her down she was fine. She did however have a fit when they wanted me to put her back in the crib to take her to the room - she told everyone that it was not going to happen that way. They brought around a wheelchair and I held her while they wheeled us into her room. Did I mention how stubborn she is lately????? She is definitely part of the King family!!!!

The boys did great with Uncle Dan and I think they had a great time with him for the couple days. And we did not get a call from the school which means that J passed his EOG's. Guess this means, he's done with school for the rest of the year. Have I mentioned lately how much I love this whole EOG thing. Yes, we have a week and a half of school and my son is going to be doing nothing but watching movies and having end of the year parties.

Memorial Day

First and foremost - we cannot start the day out without stopping to pray and thank our soldiers - those that are here with their families, those who are out protecting our country, those that have too many memories from wars past, and those that are in heaven with our Lord. Thank you for all that you do.

Well the surgery date is in 2 more days so I'm hoping that the weather clears up and we can have a wonderful day off and enjoy this last day before the surgery and EOG's. I hate the fact that AB has to have the surgery again and be in any kind of pain. I know it's in her best interest but it doesn't take away the fact that she has to go under and that she's going to be in pain again. So far it's been a good weekend. On Saturday, AB and I went to a jewelry show (against daddy's wishes) and than to a b-day party for one of AB's friends from daycare. AB went on her first slip and slide at the party. The first time she went down - she had a blast. A look of total joy on her face; it almost made me cry. The second time - the water went up higher and she got a direct hit of the water and after that she was done. She had fun with her friends though. She's such a sweetie. Yesterday, AB and I went shopping while the boys and dad went to the dollar theatre to see a movie. AB and I had a lot of fun - she got a Dora nightgown, Dora hat, and Dora swimsuit. She really loves Dora (hint, hint - her b-day is next month).

The boys had a lot of fun at the movies with dad. They went to see "Race to Witch Mountain" with the Rock. Apparently, when the boy transports himself out of the car and the SUV's crash into him - D shouts out to a silent movie theatre "I want to be that boy". Apparently, the theatre erupted into laughter over D's comment. Dad also got them popcorn and such they were all very happy.

The big news from the weekend is: D's first sleepover!!!!! Yes, D had his first sleepover at the neighbor's house and apparently they did nothing but play video games. If they did anything else - D doesn't remember it. I can't get anymore out of him except the games that they played and how he had to leave and wanted to play another game - let me tell you that he was there before 5:30p on Friday night and didn't come home until 12:30p the next day and he was upset because he had to come home. I think it's safe to say that he had a good time.

I also ask that everyone say a little prayer for J this week. He has his EOG's (end of grade testing) starting Wednesday. I really dislike these tests because it doesn't matter how he did all year long it only matters how he does on the test on whether he passes to the next grade. Brad and I think J will do just fine as he's made the honor roll all year and does well on his tests. However, he is feeling very pressured and is worried that he won't pass. He didn't do well on a practice reading test, but when the teacher sent him with the assistant he got a 100% - so he's just very nervous about the test. Also, once the test is over and they have passed - they are pretty much done for the rest of the year and are having parties for the next 2 weeks. Drives me crazy!!! Personally, I think the grades all year long should indicate whether they go to the next grade and not one test - but I'm not in charge. So say a little prayer for J that he'll be confident and do well on the test.

Happy Mother's Day!

Well the day is winding down and it's been a pretty good day. I have the best family!!!! AB did my hair and pretend makeup last night, but she's a little too young to understand what mommies day is. D made me the most awesomist drink cozy decorated with his handprint and in my favorite color - yellow. J is now a little too old to be making things at school for mom but he is still the sweetest 10yr old. He has been working in coherts with my mom in making me my mother's day gift - a photo book and mousepad. This morning, he also got up early, cleaned off the table, picked up the living room, swept the dining room and kitchen, and brought me a bagel with cheese in bed this morning. Again, I have the greatest kids.

I don't want to leave hubby out. In his defense, as with most families money has been tight for us so I didn't want him to spend money that we could use on bills so instead he made me my favorite meal and put AB to bed so that J and I could spend some quality time watching a movie and playing cards. And he and D got to go to the "man store" and have a little fun too. All in all it was a great day!

Happy Mother's Day to my mom as well! Love you!

Mother's Day Wants

What do I want for mother's day. I feel guilty many times that I'm not spending enough time with the kids, which I think most mothers feel guilty about. There's so much to be done around the house, homework to ensure is done, yelling and nearly pleading for rooms to be cleaned, dates with hubby (I've forgotten what those are by the way) and you know ladies - all that comes with being a mom. Still I feel guilty - even more so with 3 kids. So this is my mother's day want list for this year.

From Hubby - my favorite meal, chicken roll ups!
From J - A movie and card game
From D - him to show me how to play mario kart on the Wii
From AB - to have my hair and nails done (ok only feet on the painting)

Beginner's Day

Well D is officially signed up and registered for Kindergarden. He's very excited. During the "Beginner's Day" otherwise known as "Kindergarden Roundup", Dylan was able to plant a sunflower seed and take home. His assignment is to take care of the plant and take pictures to bring in when he starts school in August. Considering we are not great caretakers of plants - this should prove to be a tough assignment. Don't believe me - a few weeks ago, D brought home a plant from preK to take care of for the rest of the school year. I came home from work and apparently our cat, Price, had taken it for a chew so we put it up a little higher. I watered it, put it near sunlight, etc, etc, and it was still dying. We bought a small planter for it, planted it, put in some miracle grow plant food, and still it died.

I do have to say that the sunflower is growing and it's still alive and it's been 6 days!!!! Between all five of us taking care of it - it may live.

Happenings

Not much going on except some beautiful weather. J is heading to Grandfather Mtn next week for the school field trip and the whole class seems to be excited. Either that or they're excited about school finishing up. D also has a big week coming up. He has cap and gown pics and beginners day for Kindergarten. He's very excited about going to Kindergarten but he's not as excited about the reading - we're going to have to work on that. AB has the easy route - nothing but being her cute little self. She had her first b-day party to attend today - Miss Abby turned 3. AB still has difficulties in crowds and children of her age. She gets scared and unsure of herself.

Brad and I are still plugging away at work and our house needs a major cleaning as well as the yard. We're in the last games for soccer so once that dies perhaps we can get some of the housework done.

Tarheel Nation

Ok - one of my co-workers got tickets from J and I to go see Tyler Hansbrough, Danny Green, and Bobby Frasor from the UNC Tarheels in the Carolina Barnstorming Tour at Appalachian State University. We got there an hour and half early and still did NOT get autographs. J was pretty upset about this as he was really expecting to get an autograph. But he told me the next day that he was really glad we went and he had a lot of fun. We also got some GREAT pictures!!!! We happened to get some great seats higher up but we got to go down and take pics and we were right behind them - it we both reached out our arms we would have shook hands. It was a lot of fun!!!! Thanks Kim!

Dr. Visit

We had some wonderful news from the heart specialist this past week with D. D has a lot of inconsistent PVC's but they are all coming from a benign area in the lower right chamber of the heart and it's not interfering with the function of his heart. This means that his heart is not overworking from the condition. From the holter, they also discovered that when D is active the condition or PVC's stop. Basically his heart overrides the "wayward" cells. The dr. doesn't expect the condition to ever go away but he doesn't anticipate that it will ever get worse. They're going to monitor just to be sure that it doesn't get worse, but we're told that it would be rare for it to worsen. In the meantime, D is free to be a normal child and do whatever he wants to within mom's limits.

Science Olympiad

Yesterday was the Science Olympiad for J. It was a lot of fun!. J was in Time Machine first. This is the Rube Goldberg like device. I'm proud to say that for 2 years in a row now - J, his friend Jordan, and Brad took first place. I have to include Brad as he's the one doing the work with the kids. Next event for J was Mystery Engineering. They had a few supplies and he and his partner had to build something that would let marbles roll down. J thought they did really well but they only mentioned 1st, 2nd, 3rd place and he didn't take any of those places. The last event was a spur of the moment event and J and his friend Jordan did science password. I have to say that I knew this was a bad idea as I had seen the 2 of them do blind basketball and that was pretty hysterical - but we made up some notecards for them to practice throughout the week. Basically, partner A is given a science word and has to give partner B only one or two worded clues. Partner B has to than guess the word. If partner doesn't know the answer, he can say any word to get another one or two worded clue. Let me say that the words were very hard and they got zero words. Let's just leave it at that.

Overall, we had a lot of fun. We weren't expecting the first place in Time Machine either as there was a lot of great machines there. I think it boiled down to following the directions to a T. The directions were very specific and Brad and I had read and re-read 100 times to make sure the kids were following all the rules. We also got the machine to go on the first try!!! Posted to the left is a pic of J and J with their 1st place device.

D updates

I've delayed on posting about D's test results from the holter ECG, because mainly I've been in shock. Thursday it hit me driving back to work and I have to thank my friend, Brandy, for letting me vent for a little while. We found out Tues afternoon that the 24 hr testing showed lots of PVC's and inconsistencies - not what we were expecting or hoping to hear. I really wasn't expecting this. We are scheduled to see a specialist in electrical pathways down in Charlotte on April 7th. We'll see what happens than.

Kids Songs

Ok - while I'm thinking about I want to write down the songs that I made up for each child when they were little. I had to think back to remember J's song as I haven't sung it to him in a long time. D's song, I still sing occasionally to him and we're still going strong on AB's song.

J's Song:
I Love You. I Love You. Let's get up and play.
I Love You. I Love You. Let's play catch today.
I Love You. I Love You. Maybe we'll get some ice cream today
I Love You. I Love You. Let's get up and play.

D's Song:
I Love you in the morning.
I love you in the evening.
I love you, I love you - all of the tiiiiimmme.
Bum, bum, bum. Cha, Cha, Cha.

AB's Song:
Baby Belle, Baby Belle
I love your dark hair and chocolate eyes.
I love your sweet kisses and hugs all the time.
Baby Belle, Baby Belle
I love you, yes I do
Baby Belle, my Alyssabelle

Always Something

I guess in the midst of dealing with AB and her "special needs" I haven't thought about the boys being sick or having "special needs" as they appear healthy. Unfortunately, last week at the boy's yearly physical - the dr. detected a heart murmur in D. Our dr was very encouraging and I tried not to worry as much about it. Wednesday, we had an appt with a pediatric cardiologist and the great news is that the heart murmur is what they call an innocent murmur and structurally his heart is fine. Unfortunately, during the EKG they detected an irregular heartbeat. I still don't really know what all this means. We went home with a holter ECG (portable heart monitor) for him to wear for 24 hours so they can determine if its a "consistent" or "inconsistent" irregular heartbeat. Is anyone else as lost as me???? Apparently - a consistent irregular heartbeat is a "low serious" abnormality whereas an inconsistent irregular heartbeat is a "high serious" abnormality and requires further testing. Also, D's heart is smack dab in the middle of his chest directly under his breastbone - not common but not unheard of either (fortunately no issues associated with this).

I have to say that the dr was great and she was wonderful with D. Why do they have to say "low serious" and "high serious" - isn't serious, serious???? I don't understand. Basically, what I do understand is that I know nothing. And another thing, while I'm at it, what 5 yr old complains of chest pains. The dr kept asking us if he was complaining of chest pains - he doesn't like swimming class now, why, does its hurt? I don't freakin know if it hurts - I thought he was just being a typical 5 yr old and didn't want to do the swimming strokes - now I don't know. Than let's follow up with "do you have any questions". I have no freakin clue what you said - I just found out my son who has always "appeared" healthy and active now has a heart problem and I just found out 2 minutes ago - no, I have no questions. Someone please calm me down.

"Several deep breaths later". OK - I'm not a bad mom. A few hours later, I came up with a whole bunch of questions and when we turned the portable monitor back in, I left the questions with a nurse asking her to have the doctor call us to answer our questions. I guess I was in such shock and still am that I just didn't know what to ask or where to start at. I don't want to overreact but I also want to know what we're dealing with as well and know what to look for. It's going to take a week or so to get the results back from the 24hr monitoring and we should know more than. Till than - it's just worrying for me.

Updates & Surgery

Well first off, I need to say congrats to Brandy and Jerry on the recent wedding. We had a blast at the wedding and reception. The kids all got out and danced and had a great time - even J was dancing.

Well we have AB's next surgery date scheduled. It will be May 27th. Hopefully this one will take and it will be the final one. Also, on a brighter note, we've discovered that AB looooves Strawberry Ice Cream.

We did however have both boy's yearly physical's yesterday and it was discovered that D has a heart murmur. We are going to have an ultrasound down locally with a pediatric cardiologist to be sure that it's nothing serious. We're trying not to worry about it right now and just waiting to see what the ultrasound says, but I guess it's normal for mom to worry. It if was me, I wouldn't think much about it - but with it being one of my babies I just can't stand it and wish they could have done the ultrasound the same day so we would know for sure.

Happy Birthday Boys!

Happy Birthday J and D!!!!! Both boys had a great time at their bday parties despite the persistant cough and the snow.

I'm not sure if the adults or the kids had more fun at J's party. We had a UNC/Gaming party and played 5 minute mini games from 7p to 1a every hour for UNC prizes. The 3 legged race that resulted in one team purposely running into another team was quite hilarious and the Blind Basketball at 10p was almost more than I could take in laughter. All in all, I think J had a great time and he's now a pre-teen. I can hardly believe that my baby is 10 years old now. I remember him being 2 years old and putting VeggieTale VHS cases on his legs and saying "Look Mommy".

D had a StarWars/Darth Vader b-day party at the Dock play place. Unfortunately, it snowed - this is a rare occurance in NC. This resulted in many people canceling but his 2 buddies and his friend from school still came and he loved his Darth Vader cake. We also played lots of games, went on the bumper cars and Grandma bought dipping dots ice cream for everyone! I think he had a lot of fun too. He also loved his games that he got for the Wii and he won a toy water gun from the game playing so that was "pretty awesome" too. He's also now a big boy at 5 yrs old and the best part is he loves that mommy came to his school and had lunch with him. He can also do all the morning neccessities by himself now - since he is 5.

Well I'll post some pics later tonight or tomorrow from the parties. Definitely before we leave Thursday AM for Brandy's wedding this weekend.

Anniversary

Brad and I celebrated our 6 year anniversary on Saturday. For our anniversary, we went to 2 basketball games, grocery shopping, argued with children about naps, had other children over at our house, and did laundry. On a positive note, I saved the housecleaning for Sunday and one of the 2 basketball games were a win (the other was a 3pt loss), and did get a little girl down for a nap. Oh and we did have lunch together on Friday - that was nice; we even got a free appetizer!!! Our 6 yr anniversary also marks that we have been living in NC for 6 yrs now - we have really met some wonderful people and friends in the past 6 years.

For our 6 year anniversary - I'm going to give you 6 reasons why I love my husband

1) He can always make me laugh
2) He tickles me when I tell him not to
3) He still loves me despite the added 15-20lbs
4) He helps me clean the house
5) He helps give the kids bath
6) Yesterday, he explained the simple machines to me for J's project

I love you hon!!!!

Blows my mind

It truly amazes me how people learn and calculate in different manners. J has always computed his math problems in a different way than myself; but it struck me the other night that I honestly CAN'T compute in the same way. J uses the "rounding method" He's always used 5's or 10's to round and than add or subtract to get answers for large digit addition and subtraction problems and he can spit them out faster than I can use the calculator. He's now on 3 digit division and he uses the same method of rounding. The funny thing is when I showed him how I calculate the problems, he was amazed that you could do it my way and he even had me use the calculator to ensure I had done it correctly.

AB's Happenings

Ok - I've really slacked off on updating everyone on AB as she's had a lot going on. First off, she did really well with the surgery but it has split apart in the middle and we are going to have to redo the surgery. The dr wanted to wait 3 months to let her heal and than we have to go back in and she'll have to reconnect the part that split apart. This means we're still waiting on speech therapy, by the way. On to some good news, she is really doing much better with Brad. This morning she wanted to stay with Brad and not go with me. She's still preferring me very much in the mornings, but other than that she's doing great with Brad and is really starting to bond with him.

She's also doing really well at daycare and is playing more with the other kids and participating without encouragement. She's also very much into dancing. Everytime she hears a song she starts dancing - it's the cutest thing. She's also talking more and more. She is now trying to sing Old McDonald.

All in all, I think she's adjusting really well and I can see improvement from just a few weeks ago. She also follows D everywhere. She really loves her big brothers. She got upset this past weekend as we went to the park and D had his scooter and she didn't have one. I see one in her near future.

D's Happenings

D is still loving preschool and is very excited that he has a birthday coming up in the next couple weeks. We're planning a party at Hickory Dickory Dock and he can't wait. He told me that "all his best friends will be there". By the way, just about everyone that he meets is his best friends - he doesn't even know all their names.

Also, I'm a bad mom and have now twice in a row have missed the swimming sign up. I swear the Y sends me out the happenings a week too late every time. I'm determined to catch the March sign up so keep your fingers crossed and say a little prayer.

Also, I want to note that I think I put 3 cups of sugar instead of 1 1/2 cups of sugar in the kool aid the last time I made it. I went to make some more tonight and where I always keep the 1/2 cup measuring device was a 1 cup one. I remember thinking "boy this seems like a large 1/2 cup". I swear I'm losing my mind and my children are very hyper and happy due to it.

J's Happenings

Well we are just about finished with basketball and we have our first soccer game for the spring season this weekend. J has been having a hard time with the soccer practices and the other kids on the team this winter, but just as Brad predicted once the games started (preseason game 2 weeks ago) he loves soccer again and wants to try out for next year. We'll see what happens.

He's been doing basketball this season and he's having a great time with it. We had a nail biter of a game this past weekend as they won by 1 point. They played really well and they just seemed to make just about every shot they took. J, I think, enjoys stealing the ball more than he likes making a basket so once again we are playing a lot of defense in sports. I think defense is his calling.

He's doing well in school as well. But he was a little disappointed as he thought he was going to make the all A honor roll this past marking period and he had one B - we have one more marking period left in the school year and he's shooting for the straight A's again.

Finally a new post

Ok - so a friend of mine said a month ago why don't you join Facebook. Hello - I can't even keep this site up to date let alone a social network. Well I'm going to try and do better on here.

Brad and my anniversary is this Saturday - 6 years; how the time flies. Big plans - let's see soccer game in Winston and than a tournament basketball game here in town. Brad's working on my brother to watch the kids on Sunday evening so we can catch an early dinner together.

Well I'm going to do a separate update post on all 3 of the kids so here goes. Hey, I might even put up some new pics tonight too - aren't you all so proud of me.