Hey guys, I have had a great run on Blogger, but it's time to move on. I have created a new blog at Wordpress and am hoping to be able to do more fun things over there. Everything has been exported so you should be able to see all old posts over there and all new posts will be posted over there in the future. Click here to link to it:
http://g-ratedlife.com/angelle
These are some things I want to be able to remember about this age with Erin...
* How she will cling to your leg and say "uppy" when she wants to be held
* How when she counts she always says "one, two, sick" (six)
* How she is like a vulture when she sees food, she always has to share yours even if she just finished eating
* How she chases and tackles Ally all day everyday
* How she loves to do anything physical (climb, jump, push)
* How she will tell you "kishes" or "huggies" and then give you one
* How when I leave her in her room at nap/bedtime she says "Bye, Mom"
* How, if Mike is the one to get her in the morning, she gets into bed with me and gives me a big hug first thing, then asks to "wash (watch) a show" then says "'mote pees (remote, please)"
I know Mike already blogged about this, but I wanted to tell it too in case you don't check Mike's blog. Last night he called me into the craft room where he and Leah were playing around on the Paint program. He said, "Watch this," and he wrote H-A-T on the screen. Leah spelled it out first, then proceeded to say the sounds for each letter. It took a few tries to blend it together, but without help from us she figured out it said hat! Next we did frog, but I think that was too hard (the F-R blend AND the unusual O sound), but she got the next one, pig. It was pretty exciting.
I have to say though, I attribute a little of it to this new DVD we got called Letter Factory by Leapfrog (they have it at Target for $10). I was at the bookstore the other day in the children's section and I overheard two women talking. One said that her son had been watching this video and within a week was sounding out small words. So we ran right over to Target and picked it up. Leah has watched it twice and already is understanding letter-sound relationships. The next DVD in the series is the Talking Words Factory, which teaches them how to put sounds together to make words. In fact, this pack may be your best bet as its got the whole series plus Math Circus. It got absolutely fabulous reviews. I highly, highly recommend either the pack or the first DVD to see how it goes. I wish I had seen the pack before I bought the first one by itself.
Mom's Night Out (MNO) was a blast last night. I made the Tokyo Tuna (we never buy tuna so it will be fun to eat something unusual) and I won the door prize of a dessert. I chose Key Lime Freeze. After the event, about 8 of us went across the street for a glass of wine and chit-chat. I really got to know about 3 of the moms and liked everyone I met. I am definitely looking forward to more events with this group.
Leah has had a low grade fever since yesterday afternoon. She is staying home from school today and will hopefully make a full recovery by tomorrow afternoon so she can attend a classmate's birthday party.
So I will have to tell two stories here to get to the point of the post.
#1 - I have been looking for a local mommy group to join for about a week now. I finally found New Mommies of South Charlotte Playgroup 2 days ago and promptly joined. The first event I could attend is scheduled for tonight, a Mommy's Night Out! We are meeting at Mr. Food no-Fuss Meals and we are having a food & wine tasting AND we get to bring home an entree all for $10! So I am excited about the opportunity to meet some new people, but for some reason I am nervous like this is a first date. Will they like my new haircut? Is it going to be cliquey or will they accept a new member readily? The pressure...
#2 - I went to the dentist today to have a cavity filled. Of course they numb you up good so my entire lower right jaw was numb. I was starving on the ride home so I decided to eat the apple I brought, I would just chew on the other side. Everything was going smoothly until I felt something weird on my lip. I looked in the mirror and saw that I had chomped down and the inside of my lip was all skinned and bleeding a little. Now two hours later, I have a fat lip.
So here is where the two stories converge. I have a fat lip to take with me to the Mom's Night Out. Yeah, I'll have to say, I gave myself a fat lip. Nice to meet you.
What do you guys think? You can't really see my color because I took this in my bathroom and the light stinks.
I forgot to update with Erin's stats from her 18 month appt on Friday. She is 24.6 lbs (55%) and 31 inches (25%). Her head is 47 cm. She is pretty much on target with all of her developmental things and WAY ahead in the area of communication. Her peed did tell us something interesting though. Erin has dysplasia abdominal muscle. Basically the muscle in the center of her stomach running vertically is weak. When she goes from laying on her back to sitting, you can see a vertical football-shaped muscle protrude as her stomach muscles contract. The dr said that she will have it all her life, although it will strengthen and get smaller with time, and it will not affect her in any way. Very strange. I had never really noticed it before. Maybe that's why it took her so long to roll over or go from laying to sitting up.
Also she did have an ear infection again. We are finally on Augmentin and are seeing a big difference this time around. She is sleeping well at night and napping well. So we are all happy over here now.
So, you guys, Stacy and I went to the Raleigh Regional this past weekend and watched Open class and above. It was sooooo bittersweet. To have something be such a HUGE part of your life, then to just drop right out of it is a strange feeling. My sophomore year of college I marched UF's marching band in the fall and Paradigm Winterguard in the spring. So weekends were at games or rehearsals from August until April. I LIVED school and guard that whole year. Then I did Paradigm the next two seasons which, if you know anything about winterguard, means I was at rehearsals every Sunday and once a month the entire weekend again from August until April. I also marched my last two years of high school. So from '95-'00 I was a guard junkie. And then... nothing. I went to a few shows for the next year or two, but I wasn't performing anymore. Performing is like a drug, it is a high like no other. And I don't have any other way of feeling that any more and no prospect of it either. It is a tough pill to swallow. Made me a little bit sad to realize that is well and truly behind me.
I have spent the last two days making Rice Krispie Treats for all of Leah and Erin's classmates and making cards for their teachers. Thought I'd share how everything came out.
A few weeks ago, we started a new weekly tradition of Family Movie Night. We decided that on Friday nights, I would make something for dinner that we could eat on a blanket in the living room (or we would order in). Mike and I would pick a movie Leah had never seen and we would all watch together. It helps to expand Leah's repertoire of movies (Tink and Cinderella were getting old) and we are doing something together. Erin of course doesn't actually watch. She runs around and hugs us and lays on top of us. It's pretty cute. Anyway, just wanted to let you guys know about our fun new tradition.
PS We are going to Durham this weekend to hang with the Wrigleys and Stace and I are going to a winterguard show!!! So Family Movie Night will be in the car this week. :)
* The other morning in her crib, Erin was singing "Sue-pah Leah" (SuperLeah after Super Why!) over and over.
* Erin runs up to you when you are standing up, hugs your legs and says, "Hi Mommy." So freaking adorable.
* This morning I sneezed and Erin said, "Bess you, Mommy" and then repeated it when I asked, "What did you say?"
* The phone rang this afternoon and Erin said "I gegit" (I'll get it)
For some reason, for the last month I have not slept through the night. Almost every night, one kid or the other wakes up and needs something. Last night it was both of them an hour apart. And then on the nights that no one wakes up, I can't sleep. I wake up every hour it seems like. It is getting beyond frustrating.
I think Erin got used to me going in to her because she was sick and now expects it. So tonight I am breaking that pattern. No going in unless I think she has thrown up (which is unlikely). She can just cry it out and learn that nighttime is for sleeping. Maybe once she sleeps through the night consistently again, she will stop waking up at the butt-crack of dawn.
I am So tired in the mid-afternoons, then by 7 or so I am wide awake and can't settle down until after 10pm. So going to bed early is not going to help. Maybe I will take Tylenol PM one night and let Mike handle any emergencies.
Leah was not RIDING a snowboard. Mike's snowboard hangs on the wall in the music room. She was tugging on a little string hanging from it and it fell on her face, right between her eyes. Mike thought it would be funny to write it like she was actually snowboarding. Maybe she will in March!
Here is the info on my second born:
1. WAS YOUR FIRST PREGNANCY PLANNED? Yes
2. WERE YOU MARRIED AT THE TIME? Yes
3. WHAT WERE YOUR REACTIONS? Excited, more surreal than the first time
4. WAS ABORTION AN OPTION FOR YOU? This question is ridiculous for me
5. HOW OLD WERE YOU? 28
6. HOW DID YOU FIND OUT YOU WERE PREGNANT? Peed on a stick during our CDS Progressive Dinner because I wanted a glass of Sangria (I didn't get it)
7. WHO DID YOU TELL FIRST? everyone who was there when they saw my face coming down the stairs
8. DID YOU WANT TO FIND OUT THE SEX? Oh yes!
9. DUE DATE? August 17, 2007
10. DID YOU HAVE MORNING SICKNESS? Not really
11. WHAT DID YOU CRAVE? ice cream, especially rocky road
12. WHO/WHAT IRRITATED YOU THE MOST? going up and down the stairs
13. WHAT WAS YOUR CHILD'S SEX? Girl
14. DID YOU WISH YOU HAD THE OPPOSITE SEX OF WHAT YOU WERE GETTING? No, I was scared to have a boy.
15. HOW MANY POUNDS DID YOU GAIN THROUGHOUT THE PREGNANCY? 50
16. DID YOU HAVE A BABY SHOWER? A small CDS one
17. WAS IT A SURPRISE OR DID YOU KNOW? I knew
18. DID YOU HAVE ANY COMPLICATIONS DURING YOUR PREGNANCY? nope
19. WHERE DID YOU GIVE BIRTH? Presbyterian Hospital-Matthews
20. HOW MANY HOURS WERE YOU IN LABOR? 29 hours
21. WHO DROVE YOU TO THE HOSPITAL? Mike
22. WHO WATCHED YOU GIVE BIRTH? Mike and my mom
23. WAS IT NATURAL OR C-SECTION? Natural
24. DID YOU TAKE MEDICINE TO EASE THE PAIN? even better epidural than the first
27. HOW MUCH DID YOUR CHILD WEIGH? 7lbs 11oz
28. WHEN WAS YOUR CHILD ACTUALLY BORN? August 13, 2007
30. WHAT DID YOU NAME HIM/HER? Erin Audrey
31. HOW OLD IS YOUR FIRST BORN TODAY? 1 1/2
This was stolen from Facebook. I don't like to put too personal of stuff on there for people I knew a million years ago to read. So you want to participate, feel free.
Here you go mommies - a different kind of survey for a change - it's all about your first born!
Let's see how much you remember!
1. WAS YOUR FIRST PREGNANCY PLANNED? Yes
2. WERE YOU MARRIED AT THE TIME? Yes
3. WHAT WERE YOUR REACTIONS? Scared, excited
4. WAS ABORTION AN OPTION FOR YOU? Not on a planned pregnancy
5. HOW OLD WERE YOU? 26
6. HOW DID YOU FIND OUT YOU WERE PREGNANT? Peed on a stick at Stacy's house the week of her wedding
7. WHO DID YOU TELL FIRST? Mike & Stacy were waiting downstairs
8. DID YOU WANT TO FIND OUT THE SEX? Oh yes!
9. DUE DATE? May 19, 2005
10. DID YOU HAVE MORNING SICKNESS? Not really
11. WHAT DID YOU CRAVE? milkshakes and cereal
12. WHO/WHAT IRRITATED YOU THE MOST? my sciatic nerve
13. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CHILD'S SEX? Girl
14. DID YOU WISH YOU HAD THE OPPOSITE SEX OF WHAT YOU WERE GETTING? Oh no!
15. HOW MANY POUNDS DID YOU GAIN THROUGHOUT THE PREGNANCY? 50
16. DID YOU HAVE A BABY SHOWER? yes, several
17. WAS IT A SURPRISE OR DID YOU KNOW? The first in N.O. was a surprise. I was barely pregnant but I wouldn't be back there until after the baby was born, so they threw me one anyway.
18. DID YOU HAVE ANY COMPLICATIONS DURING YOUR PREGNANCY? nope
19. WHERE DID YOU GIVE BIRTH? Helen Ellis Memorial Hospital
20. HOW MANY HOURS WERE YOU IN LABOR? 41 hours
21. WHO DROVE YOU TO THE HOSPITAL? Mike, Stacy was in the back seat and my mom was following
22. WHO WATCHED YOU GIVE BIRTH? Mike, Stacy, my mom
23. WAS IT NATURAL OR C-SECTION? Natural
24. DID YOU TAKE MEDICINE TO EASE THE PAIN? Thank god for epidurals
27. HOW MUCH DID YOUR CHILD WEIGH? 6lbs 11oz
28. WHEN WAS YOUR CHILD ACTUALLY BORN? May 17, 2005
30. WHAT DID YOU NAME HIM/HER? Leah Cathleen
31. HOW OLD IS YOUR FIRST BORN TODAY? 3 1/2
We finally had no drama today. Erin was not sick, she napped 3 hrs. Leah watched Tinkerbell while I napped. She said that she had a headache a lot of the day and a tummyache at times. Don't know what that was about. Hopefully she doesn't get that stomach bug tonight.
We loaded up and went to the mall this afternoon to buy Leah Crocs with the fur lining because she HATES socks. I mean writhing, fit-pitching every time I ask her to put socks on. She claims they feel funny. So I thought maybe with those Crocs she wouldn't have to wear socks as often. And I got a pair too at buy one get one 1/2 off. We played at the playplace, then went to Toys R Us to buy Ian's birthday present. I did not have a stroller the entire trip but Erin did SO well at the mall. She stayed close and listened when I talked.
All in all, much better day. Thanks for listening. :)
As I am sure you can ascertain from my last post, last night was straight from hell. Leah woke up coughing at like 9pm, but she fell back asleep before I could get back upstairs with her warm juice. Then at 1:30 Erin woke up throwing up (BAD, all over her bed and onto the floor. Her room reeked of vomit all night) and continued to throw up every 1/2 hour until 4:30.
At 4:45 just when I was dosing back off for the first time, Leah comes into our room claiming she has to pee. When she has to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, she usually comes into our room so she doesn't wake Erin up by using their bathroom (so sweet). Anyway, I hear her in the bathroom quietly crying to herself, so I go in to check on her. She says, "I don't ever want to play in the pile of leaves again." What? "Or on Daddy's ramps." I have no idea what she is talking about, so I bend down to comfort her and I see dried blood smeared from her nose all the way to her left ear. Her hands and her jammies have dried blood on them. I started to freak out a little but she said she wasn't hurt. Her nose looked full of blood so I had her blow it. There was quite a bit of blood and some was a little clotted so it came out in big globs (TMI, I know). When I tried to wipe her hands, she started freaking out and talking about splinters. I think she was dreaming of when we took her splinter out and thought that is what I was doing. It makes sense with the not playing on the ramps, because that's how she got the splinter to start with.
Anyway, she was scared, so she climbed into out bed for the rest of the night, which is a SUPER rare occurrence in our house because I usually don't get any sleep with her there. She always crowds against me and somehow wedges her elbow right under my shoulder blade. But I managed to sleep a little before I got up to call and tell Laurie Erin wouldn't be going to school today.
I want a nap!
I think God may be trying to tell us something. We started thinking about having another child, and BAM Erin gets an ear infection. We say, "OK, we can deal with that," then BAM Leah starts her night coughing again. We say, "Bring it on, what else?" and BAM Erin is throwing up. So maybe we should not be having another? Is this God's way of politely saying get the heck out of Dodge? :) I apologize for the incoherency of this post but it is 2:30AM and I am waiting to see if there is another bout of vomiting before I try to fall asleep.
Ha ha, some joke, God.
This was the conversation at lunch today:
L-I am feeling guilty in my tummy.
A-Why, honey?
L-I think I have the croaks in my throat again. (this means her throat is tickling)
A-Why does that make you feel guilty?
L-Because croaks are guilty.
I think we need to have a vocabulary lesson.
I wanted to write this on here because I am using this as my journal so I can remember milestones for my kids. The last 3 night have been nuk-free over here. Mike didn't give it to her the other night. Because she was so stuffy, it was actually harder to breathe with it in. And it hasn't come up again since then. It is amazing that both girls were so easy to break of nuks. I wonder what other thing will be tough to deal with because of that. :)
I am much better today. Everything went well yesterday (except I took Erin to the dr instead of going to the gym - more on that later) so I feel accomplished. Leah and I did an art project and we played outside a bit in the afternoon. So the schedule did its job.
Last night Erin finally slept through the night after going to bed at 6:15. BUT Leah woke up crying incomprehensibly at 11:30 (I had just fallen asleep) and then woke up for the day at 6am. Mike was like, "And you want another one? Then we'll have one more reason to wake up in the night." But it goes through cycles, there were like 2 weeks where they both slept all night and woke up at 7:30am everyday. It was awesome. So we just have to get through this cycle to get back to good.
I took Erin to the dr yesterday because she had been waking up in the night SCREAMING and could not be comforted. I was worried that the new prescription wasn't working. But her ears are almost back to normal, so I think we deduced that she may have had a night terror. I was not prepared for that, but it figures that Erin would get them.
Okay, that is it for today. I am not getting on here until bedtime again. I think not having the option to be on the computer makes me happier about the time I spend with my kiddos.
PS Congratulations to Min & Nicole on the birth of their baby girl! We hope to hear more soon. Lots of love!
I was cranky again yesterday, even after that enjoyable Saturday night. But I think today I will force myself not to be by following my schedule. You can't be cranky if you are feeling a sense of accomplishment. So today I will clean up upstairs, vacuum up there, and change all the sheets on the beds AND I will play with Erin while Leah is at school and play with both girls this afternoon and NOT GET ON THE COMPUTER OR READ the whole time. You won't hear from me again until after bedtime.
Reading is really what does it. Once I pick up a book I don't want to put it down and apparently I get cranky if I have to. I have always kinda known that about myself, but it has been getting worse lately. Maybe it's because I hardly ever get to read anymore and I am resenting it. I used to always read a little before bed, but not I am either too tired or I stay up too late reading and am super tired the next day. I guess I will have ti put reading in moderation on my schedule. I think I may have a scheduling problem, is there a meeting I can go to for this?
Erin is still not herself. She is waking up at night and in the morning crying. That is not like her. She has been on a new antibiotic since Saturday morning since she wasn't getting better on the other one. But I don't see her getting better on this one either so I am calling to talk to her doctor today. Hopefully we can get her back to normal soon, the lack of sleep is not helping anyone.
