MINIVAN!

We finally did it!  We now own a minivan!  I honestly didn't think that I would be this excited about it, but I can't tell you how much we have NEEDED and wanted this car.  Though it's not brand new ('08), it's new to us!  I wasn't crazy about the 'ocean mist' blue color of the van, but when the sales guy said he would throw in the DVD player, we were sold!  We've had it for just a few days now and it has already changed our lives.  Seriously.  Our car payments went down significantly as well as our insurance (who knew mini vans were so safe?).  I love that.....the doors open with a push of a button (on the key!); the back windows have built-in sun shades; above the rear-view mirror is a bubble mirror in which I can see the entire car; the dvd player came with cordless headphones; it has an auxiliary plug so I can listen to Pandora in the car (!!); that it seats 8 people and it has an outside temperature gage on the dash (it's the simple things).  We are going to put a lot of miles on this car.  Can't tell you how good it feels knowing that we can comfortably go on a family road trip any time now!  Woo hoo!

Valentine's Day

The day before Valentine's Day, Dr. M and I were like "is Valentine's Day tomorrow or the next day?"  Needless to say we've been busy lately and perhaps needed a little holiday to focus on the love we all share.  V Day was on a Thursday this year...it started out like any other week.  The kids and I ran by the grocery store to grab some snacks on our way to the La Leche League meeting where we played and chatted with our friends and got home just in time for lunch.  As I was preparing lunch, I realized that I didn't have my phone!  Moment of panic.  I grabbed some snacks, loaded the kids back into the car and we re-traced our steps...first the LLL meeting (no phone) and then the grocery store...   Apparently I had left it in the cart, in the parking lot and a (very nice!) store employee found it and turned it into customer service.  I was SO thankful!  While everyone napped, I started dinner...homemade corn chowder (a surprise for Dr. M).  I told him that I would cook dinner if he took care of dessert.  He surprised me with homemade bread pudding and whisky sauce.  Ah-mazing!  We exchanged cards and spent the evening snuggled on the couch...eating, relaxing and talking....simple.

The kids enjoying a care package from Grandma K (and Grandma M)!  E used the stickers to make a Valentine for school.

Sibling love on Valentine's Day morning (still in our Jammies).

20 Months!

Little H is 20 months now.  What a sweet little thing she is.  I love this little girl so much.  I know she's growing up so fast and I really want to cherish and remember all the little details of her 'babyhood'.  Seems like I don't remember her as an infant.  I'm lucky if I remember where I left my car keys.  The weeks seem to fly by and with each one, my baby is growing up.  I LOVE:  her blonde curls; her beautiful blue eyes; the sweet little gap between her front teeth; her mischievous smile; how she watches her brother's every move; how hard she tries to communicate; the way she says "yeah" when she really wants something; the way she plops down on her beanbag to watch TV; how she sucks on her two middle fingers while simultaneously sticking playing with her bellybutton; her wild bed head in the morning; her soft little giggle; how she hugs and kisses the dogs; her sweet eskimo kisses; her fearlessness and willingness to try anything and go down the slide all by her little self; her obsession with shoes, purses and mardi gras beads; I love how she brings a smile to strangers faces.  I could go on and on...I love this little girl.  She's truly amazing a such a light in our lives!

Sick of being SICK!

This season has been a doozie!  In the past two weeks, we have been to the pediatrician's office three times.  In the past 6 weeks we have all been sick, sick, sick.  And I'm sick of it!  We started off the year in the ER with little H and the stomach flu that we all ended up catching.  Once we got over that, the kids cam down with a fever (and more puking) a week later.  Then we all came down with a serious cold (green snot, cough, sinus pressure) that hung around for weeks.  Even the two little girls I've been watching caught it!  The cold finally turned into croup for for little H.  It was so hard listening to her 'bark' and gasp for air all night.  She was so congested, which finally turned into a terrible double ear infection (her first ever), so the doc prescribed amoxicillin.  Yesterday was day 7 on the medication and she woke up with an itchy, red rash all over her body.  Turns out she's allergic to the antibiotics.  Good news is that just a couple doses of Benedryl and she's back to her spunky self.  Actually, we're all starting to feel 'normal' again, which feels good...but I'm also keeping my fingers crossed (and lots of hand sanitizer in the diaper bag).

SNOW DAY!

SNOW...in Alabama!!  It was beautiful!  We got a "winter storm warning" early that morning (I have to admit that I was skeptical).  It had been raining for days. Seriously, like 4 inches in 4 days, so snow was a very welcome change.  By mid morning small flakes were falling, but melting when they hit the saturated ground, but it kept falling and actually began accumulating.  The kids were ecstatic!  E was running from window to window, dancing and pointing.  H wasn't quite sure what to think, as this was her very first time seeing snow.  She giggled and fed off of her brothers excitement.  So, I bundled the kids up and we headed outside (E said we "have to have mittens on to play in the snow", no clue where he got that!).  We caught snowflakes on our tongues, kicked through the grass and tried to make snowballs, thought there wasn't much on the ground at this point.  The grass was lightly covered and it was starting to fall faster, so the kids got cold quickly.  By the time we were done eating lunch, it was really coming down!  Huge, beautiful, snowflakes, so quiet and soft.  By this time I couldn't even see the grass and it was still coming down!  Dr. M came home early, as classes were canceled for the remainder of the day, (until 10am the next morning) and he wanted to play in the snow with the kids.  He and E built an awesome snowman (that E appropriately named "Frosty").  Dr. M said students on campus were worried about the snow and calling it a "blizzard" and "white out".  I don't think the city owns a snow plow, but put a little sand on bridges and overpasses.  We only got a few inches of snow, but I could hear sirens all day, assuming that these southerners don't know how to drive in this weather.  The snow tapered off by 3pm and stopped by 4.  The sun even came out and started melting it by 5.  By the time we went to bed, very little was still on the ground.  The next day was a beautiful, sunny, almost 60 degree day and all the snow was gone by Noon.  Almost as if it never even fell.  Guess that's how it works down here.  Beggars can't be choosers...I'll take the wonderful snow day we got and look forward to it's return...in 2-3 years :(

19 months!

Little miss Harper is ALL of a 19 month old toddler...running, laughing, climbing, fussing and babbling!  She's a handful, that's for sure, but she's so stinkin' cute!  This little girl is sassy.  She's not saying a whole lot, but will do whatever possible to get her point across...pointing, "ah, ah, ah"ing, yelling and climbing.  She's very busy these days keeping up with her brother.  She still insists on doing whatever he is doing, which includes using the potty (yay!).  I have the feeling she's saying more that we think she is because we just can't understand her.  She clearly says mama, dada, bull, shoe, sock, nana, nose, elbow, eye, hair, diaper, okay and "heyago" (here ya go)...among other things.  She knows a handful of body parts and can point out things in her books.  Her 11th and 12th tooth just came in (next to the middle bottom ones), but she still has a pretty big, CUTE gap between her front teeth.  Her hair is getting so much longer and, honestly, a little out of control.  I have no idea how to tame curly hair.  Her bed-head is a serious blonde afro some mornings.  Lately she's been demanding to wear a bow in her hair, which helps the taming process, but it's still pretty funny.  She's a cutie!  Her eyelashes are super long and eyes are still a beautiful, clear blue.  She's still underweight, but growing in height well.  At her 18 month well-check (which happened to be just a couple days before she turned 19 months) her doc recommended that we do some detailed blood-work on her to check for things like, Crohns, inflammatory bowel  disorders, Celiac's and other issues that may be causing her slow weight gain.  She's still taking reflux medication, but we've been cutting back on it recently.  Her favorite food right now is bananas...like a whole one a day.  She's obsessed!  Lately her appetite has been great and her mood and spirit has also been great!  I know she's feeling better and loving life.  She's a super sweet girl who still loves to snuggle.  She still sucks those two middle fingers on one hand, while the other hand is in her belly button (she's a little obsessed with belly buttons in general, not just her own).  She's one sweet little girl!  I'm going to include her 18 month stats here because she was so close to being 19 months:

18/19 Month Stats:

Weight - 18lbs 12oz

Height - 31.5in

National Champs...again!

Well Bama did it again!  They are the BCS National Champions for the second year in a row.  This is their third title in four years and 15th total!  Apparently this is a big deal.  Dr. M is relishing in the fact that he works at the number ONE football school in the nation (second, only, to his Jayhawk basketball, of course).  Since the game started at 7:30 pm, we decided to have a couple friends (our neighbors) over here to watch the game.  We put the kids down early and enjoyed the snacks, beer and company while we watched the (not very exciting) game.  We even celebrated with a little champagne!  ROLL TIDE!

New Year's Eve, birthday and the ER...

That's right...H and I spent over 53 hours in the hospital, on New Year's and New Year's Day.  When we got back from our Atlanta trip, H seemed to be doing better.  Her spirits were up and she hadn't thrown up since that morning, but things went downhill quickly that night...and the next morning she was even worse.  She couldn't keep anything down.  The afternoon of the 31st (my 35th birthday) we decided to take her into the ER.  She was dehydrated and just wasn't herself.  This was our FIRST trip to the ER (for either child) and our very first experience with the stomach flu!  To our surprise, after a bag of IV fluids, they admitted us for the night, for observation and more fluids.  Dr. M and E visited us that night and brought my birthday presents and a piece of cake....but I could tell Dr. M wasn't feeling 100% either.  That night, he got what H had...stomach flu.  The next day, he was feeling better, but I started feeling bad and by that evening, I too, was throwing up.  On top of everything, H still wasn't back to normal, so they decided to keep her for a second night.  The good news is that it turned out to be just a 24 hour bug for Dr. M and I and E never caught it!  Poor little H...it was so sad seeing her with her IV splint and in her little hospital gown.  She was so sweet and so sad.  Thanks to our wonderful friends and neighbors, we had three nights of soup waiting for us when we got home on the 2nd.  This season, in particular, seems to be a bad one for the flu...I'm hoping we stay healthy for the remainder of the winter...

ETA: After all the birthday and hospital talk...I realized that I didn't even take time to reflect on the past year.  What a year it's been!  So many 'firsts' for both our kids...H turning into a toddler, E into a little boy, me into a true 'home maker' (I kinda like it!) and Dr. M into the family support.  Moving into our new home, expanding our friendship circles and truly settling into our life here in the south.  2012 was great in so many ways, but also brought with it grim news in the form of cancer to two very loved family members and two adored pets.  I guess that's the ebb and flow of life...each year has it's ups and downs and unique memories, but the "C" word is really hard to hear and something we won't forget.  I'll admit, however, that Dr. M and I have resolutions to...lose weight, cut out sugar, join a CSA, buy a minivan, visit more state parks, go camping, drive to missouri, visit the beach, start running again, plant a garden and do some serious landscaping in 2013...we're two weeks into the year and I can tell you now, we haven't done one of those things yet....but we WILL, I promise :)  The start of the New Year also means that I will begin "working" for the first time in over three and a half years.  I'm babysitting a couple of my friends babies three to four times a week.  Not exactly my dream job, but the extra income will be nice and I'm happy to be able to help out my dear friends.  We have an amazing family, amazing life and amazing love between ALL of us.  I know 2013 is going to be absolutely AMAZING!

Atlanta

A couple days after Christmas the four of us packed up and headed to Atlanta to see Grandma and Grandpa D!  It's just a short 2 and a half hour drive from here, so the kids slept and Dr. M and I had some time to chat.  That afternoon we did a little shopping at Ikea and then hit the hotel early (the kids think staying in the hotel is soooo fun, we had to allow a little wild time in the room before bed).  The next morning we met Grandpa at the hotel early, took the MARTA (Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority) train to downtown Atlanta.  E thought the train was SO much fun, especially when we went in the tunnels.  Apparently we weren't the only ones to plan a trip to the Georgia Aquarium over Christmas break.....it was PACKED!  I mean crazy packed!  We managed to squeeze our way through the whole place, seeing the 4D movie, the dolphin show and petting the stingrays.  It was amazing!  E was in heaven.  His face was glowing the whole day, which was long, but the kids were troopers.  After a dip in the hotel pool, they were ready for bed! The next day we met Grandma's sister and her husband (Aunt Carolyn and Uncle Jean), opened presents, visited the school where she works and had lunch together.  That afternoon, when we got back to the hotel, H began to feel sick.  She threw up in the room and had a fever.  We met everyone for dinner, but she still wasn't feeling well.  She did okay that night, but got sick again the next morning as we arrived at Trader Joe's (we stocked up!) on our way home.  Poor little H hasn't ever been that sick...(more about this in the next post).  It was so good seeing Grandma and Grandpa D, we hadn't seen them in about 9 months, so it was a much needed trip!  I have a feeling we'll be heading back to Atlanta in the near future, now that we know how close it is (we need our TJ's fix after all!).

Christmas (twice!)

We were very fortunate to have Santa visit us TWICE this year!  Once when Grandma K was here and again when Grandma and Grandpa W came see us.  Seeing the kids' faces light up at the glowing tree and packages twice was priceless.  E really got into it this year.  This was the first year I think he actually understood the whole 'santa' thing and he loooved opening the "number boxes" (advent calender) each morning.  On Christmas Eve we even sprinkled "reindeer food" on the lawn so Santa could find our house and left cookies, milk and a carrot out (for Rudolf).  He was really into the Christmas TV shows, lights, decorations and stories this year.  We had so much fun with this.  Harper just wanted to do whatever her brother was doing, so if he was excited about something, so was she.  She was very good at opening gifts on her own (if E didn't beat her to it) and loved all the excitement...the toys, the snacks, the music and lights.  This was our first Christmas in our new house.  I had fun decorating with what I called "thrifty decor" - going to the christmas tree lot and getting free tree clippings which I placed on the mantel, made a wreath out of and placed all around the house.  We decided not to decorate our (fake) tree this year and actually placed it on an end table to keep it out of reach of little hands, which worked perfectly.  As always, the fall and holiday season seemed to FLY by this year!  I love this time of year and try to savor every smell, sound and twinkling light despite how quickly they are all gone.  We stayed busy with all sorts of activities and went to the city nighttime Christmas parade, the old-fashioned Dickens festival and friends holiday parties.  I even had a girls night and cookie exchange over here!  We also went caroling with the neighborhood kids, which was a very magical and emotional experience that I know we are all looking forward to next year (we love our neighborhood!).  E was a very handsome shepherd in his school christmas performance this year and did such a good job singing!  Dr. M and I made it out for a much needed date night and went ice skating by the river and a drink.  The four of us even went to a candlelight church service Christmas Eve.  It was a magical Christmas with our family, friends and kids.  So many amazing gifts, thoughtful and beautiful cards and time with friends and family....until next year....

Merry Christmas to ALL!!

Doctors...(cardio update and vent!)

I'm so sick of doctors.  I'm sick of them telling me there's something wrong with my little girl.  I'm sick of them referring me to another specialist to have another test run at another office. The cardiologist, ophthalmologist, allergist, pediatrician and now a geneticist?!  Immunizations, weight-checks, blood testes, ultrasounds, new medicines and lots of hypothesis. All because she's petite...."there must be a reason." Our recent visit to the Cardiologist (bi-annual visit) prompted all this hostility when he suggested we see a geneticist to see if H has some sort of "syndrome" linking her petite size with her heart abnormality.  Seriously?!  He then proceeded to comment (and laugh!) about how small she looked in comparison to me (being so much taller).  Really?  She's a BABY!  Idiot.  Ugh.  Deep down my mom-gut is telling me that this little girl is perfect, that she doesn't have any type of "syndrome" but that her food aversions are caused by her silent reflux.  The one thing all the doctors seem to be brushing off.  Though I think it's being controlled, I can still hear it coming up into her throat and she's constantly congested and coughing.  Some days she eats very little and only eats a few bites all day.  She refuses alternative milks, but I'm so thankful to still be nursing her!  I have no idea how small she would be without the nutrition she's getting from my breastmilk.  No one seems to take her reflux seriously, the doctors seem to blow it off and though I keep pointing it out, no one seems to see it as cause for concern or the possible root of all of this.  SO, in January, at her 18 month well-check, I'm going to request that we see a GI specialist.  Yes, I know that means seeing another doctor, but I feel like this time it would be worth it.  I'll keep you posted, I'm just a little frustrated about all of this.  Dinner is a constant struggle for us, blanketed by and overwhelming sense of anxiety.  Everything I have read about establishing a positive relationship with eating and food says that parents are responsible for putting the food in front of the child and the child is responsible for putting the food in their mouth.  Sounds simple, but when your toddler is spitting out everything, crying or simply soothing herself by sucking on her fingers at each meal, you can't help but stress out about it.  I found a lot of things I could relate to in this blog entry I found.  The truth is that her weight is on the low side, but her height is very average.  So, the bottom line is that she IS growing.  She's so smart, creative, driven, strong-willed and SO beautiful.  She's our little girl and we thinks she's PERFECT!  I just want to hear, for once, that a doctor thinks so too...

They gave her a little "hospital gown" to wear and I have to admit that it was pretty stinkin' cute!

Turkey Day!!

Despite this being our first Thanksgiving without family, the 4 of us had a fun making it our own (and perhaps starting some of our own traditions!) and spending it with other local families.  Our holiday began the Friday before at E's school for his Thanksgiving Feast.....(Dr. M was in Chicago for a conference Thursday thru Sunday and E was out of school the following week). H and I went early to help set up for 24, 3-year-olds to feast on all sorts of homemade goodies...it was chaos!  There was so much food, so many messes and oh so many kids crammed into the hallway near E's classroom (group meals like this are a food allergy moms nightmare because you have no idea what's in the foods!).  The kids enjoyed it and I loved the little "Native American" outfits the kids were wearing (E was so cute in his little paper sack vest!).  After eating, the kids enjoyed Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving cartoon (E was super excited to sit next to his friend Mae and H loves hanging out with the big kids).

The following week I spent most of Wednesday cooking and preparing food, so it felt good to get out and enjoy the beautiful weather Thursday morning.  It was in the mid 70's and possibly "shorts" weather (seriously!).  We met some friends at the local dog park for some exercise (for us and the dogs!).

 That afternoon we went to a friends house for Thanksgiving dinner.  I brought homemade rosemary olive oil rolls, cranberries and stuffing.  It was a "potluck" style meal, so between the 4 families attending we had a pretty amazing meal.  After which, Dr. M decided to play a friendly game of chess with one of the 5-year-old guests.  

We decided to stay home on "black Friday" and, honestly didn't spend a dime.  We just relaxed, worked in the yard and ate leftovers.  Saturday, however, was the last home game of the season, so we packed up the kiddos and headed to the quad for bounce house fun.  The weather, however, had turned overnight and it was a very chilly day - perfect for football!

So, that afternoon we had about 12 adults and 10 kids (under the age of 5) at our house to watch the game, eat chili and drink beer!  It was so much fun.  I loved the chaos and so many of our friends being together.  We've never really had a house large enough to host this kind of event, so it was fun to do for the first time!  Roll Tide!

17 months!

This little girl is growing up TOO fast!  She's almost a year and a half old and is no longer a baby, but truly a toddler, talking, walking, opinionated, sassy, snugly and  fearless.  She's one little fireball, that's for sure.  If she wants something, she'll let you know!  She demands nursing sessions by pointing at the chair in the living room and saying "nzzz" (nurse) to me and insists on accessorizing with shoes, purses and hair clips at her own free will.  She's also figured out how to climb up onto the coffee table and the bench in the kitchen (stinker!), like her brother.  She loves to dance (esp to the Umizoomi intro song) and loves to imitate anything her brother is doing.  She loves him and thinks he's the greatest thing in her world right now.  E was a blankie fan (still is), but this little girl sure loves her stuffed animals.  She points to them when I get her out of her crib and insists on carrying it around.  She snuggles them and kisses them "mhwaa" and even gives them to the dogs to cuddle.  She can point to her body parts, like nose, ears, hair, mouth, arm, etc and loves to point to mine too.  She isn't talking a whole lot, but tries so hard and is very good at following directions and clearly understands us.  After switching her reflux meds two months ago, she's like a different baby - eating SO much (yogurt, cheese, anything!) and happy as can be!  Such a big difference - AND she's been gaining weight!!  She's still tall and skinny (about 19 lbs and 30.5 inches  at her 16.5 month weight check), but climbing the growth chart.  She's the cutest thing I've ever seen.  Seriously.  That face and those sweet, blue eyes and curly hair.  She's melts my heart.  I love this little lady.  I love being her mom and snuggling her every single day!

Halloweeeen!!

This may be one of my favorite holidays of the year....and this year was particularly wonderful because I feel like it was E's first "real" Halloween.  I think he got the concept, picked out a costume, was excited about pumpkins, candy and even trick-or-treating.  H, of course, just wanted to do whatever her big brother did, so she enjoyed it too.  Halloween was on a Wednesday this year, and the weekend before it was homecoming, so we were super busy for almost 7 days straight!  Sunday afternoon we ran around town buying last minute supplies to make the kids' costumes and spent that evening actually MAKING them ourselves...

Here's H's "Lil' Pumpkin"costume!  I made the tutu, by tying orange and glitter tulle on a band of elastic (pretty simple, really) and added a ribbon.   You might remember the onesie and leggings from this post.

 Dr. M and I made E's "Planet Earth" costume by cutting out continents from green and white felt and gluing them to the blue shirt and pants (also simple).  My fave was Australia on his little tushy :)  Did you notice the little red heart on T-town? 

He insisted on being Planet Earth.  I bought a cute dinosaur/lizard costume that he was excited about for, oh, 30 seconds until he realized what I was trying to do and demanded to be Earth!  He actually wanted H to be Pluto, me to be the Sun and Dr. M to be Mars....maybe next year?

 Halloween events began on Monday night with a community trick-or-treating event on campus.  All the sorority houses on "sorority row" open their doors to little ones and their families for a safe, fun night.  They have games and tons of candy.  There were easily hundreds of people there - it was crazy (and cold)! 

The DZ house!!!!

Tuesday evening we carved two pumpkins and, of course, roasted the seeds (Dr. M's fave).  The kids got a kick out of scooping out the "slimy" seeds and strings.

 Wednesday morning was E's Fall Party at school.  The kids all wore their costumes to school, played all sorts of fun games inside and out (it was a beautiful day!).  H came with me and loved being a big kid with E's class. 

After snack, we went for a hayride around the nearby neighborhood (H and I went too!).  E was glowing the entire time, he thought it was SO cool.  I loved seeing him interact with his peers.

 After a snack and hayride, we hit the bounce houses - E could hardly wait!  Even little H got in!

...then to the playground...

...and finally everyone took a break to enjoy some pizza and juice.

 That night we met up with our neighborhood friends and kids to go trick-or-treating.

There were SO many kids (we love our neighborhood)!  It was so much fun chatting with neighbors and seeing all the kids run from house to house.

Even little H got into the excitement.  She was so cute!

We decorated the house with some spooky spiderwebs and window clings (thanks, Grandpa!) and, of course, our awesome pumpkins :)  What a fun night!

Happy Halloweeeeeeeeen!!!!!