Tomorrow is the first day that either of my babies has to undergo surgery. Wow. I'm a little overwhelmed. I've never had to have surgery, so why my baby? I haven't thought about it until today. That's probably a defense mechanism. Right? In the pit of my stomach is ... I don't know ... a knot?
Sigh. I'm not looking forward to tomorrow. Not one bit. I'm second guessing all the decisions I've made up until now. I know that this is a "standard" surgery, but that doesn't help my mind, my heart, anything. Should I have done the sleep study instead? Should the tubes go in? Should the tonsils come out? I wonder if I should have put this off one more month until Spring (and all the flowering plants that go along with Spring) are gone. Maybe Sophie failed her hearing test because of pollen? Could be, right? What if she snores like a 400 lb man because she's allergic to our dog? I dunno. That seems silly since the snoring is somewhat new and we've had our dogs forever. Still. Should I have done allergy testing? That's something I did not think about. Deep breath. Stop second guessing.
So tomorrow ... we have to wake sweet Sophie at 5:15 am. She has to be at the surgical center at 6:30 am. Surgery is at 8 am. It's only supposed to be 30 mins. I wonder if in that 30 mins I'll panic like never before, or I'll hold it together. I wonder if I'll be strong enough to go back to the surgery room with her while they put her to sleep. I've been warned that watching your child be "put to sleep" is overwhelming and knee-weakening. I hope I can stand up, stay strong, and hold Sophie's hand during this. I have a feeling John will have to step in. Just a little worried right now with the thought of Sophie being "put to sleep" and "going under the knife."
In preparation for tomorrow, I've been telling Sophie about her surgery, about the potential pain, about the hospital, and about the food she'll be able to eat for more than a week. I threw the food in because it's popsicles, jello, pudding, applesauce, etc. and I totally thought she'd be into that part of the process. I thought that might ease her mind. She seems fine with all this. Erin, a very good friend and the mommy of my Godson, told me to dress Sophie in pjs so she'd be comfortable. She knows all about this because Jeffery had tubes and then this surgery so basically he's been under twice. I took Sophie to Target the other day and let her pick out pjs. Of course she picked out cupcake pjs. They are cute and green and her good luck pjs. In fact, I washed them and I just heard the dryer go off. Time for me to get her stuff ready for tomorrow.
I let Sophie sleep in our bed tonight. Wait, I always let her when she walks in the room in the middle of the night. But, tonight, the difference is I put her to sleep in our bed. Love that baby!! Please say a prayer for her ... and me! We need it.
Showing posts with label sophie. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sophie. Show all posts
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Sophie's Surgery
It's NOT today. It has been brought to my attention that I did not change the date of the surgery that I originally posted. The surgery will be Monday, April 5. The day after Easter.
Holly - thanks for asking about Sophie and checking on us :-)
Holly - thanks for asking about Sophie and checking on us :-)
Monday, March 15, 2010
Tonsillectomy, Adenoidectomy, & BMT
That is what sweet little Sophie is going to have done March 23. Poor baby.
We had our appointment with the ENT today. Sophie was less than cooperative, but that's another nightmare - I mean - story. The dr. listened to what I had to say about the snoring and my description of her breathing. Then he asked a ton of questions about hearing loss in my family. He examined her ears, throat, and then felt her glands. Then he sent us for a hearing test.
From here on out, don't quote me. I was trying my best to pay attention and listen to the dr. but Sophie was not making it easy. Sophie had a lot of fluid in both ears, the left was most concerning (I think). He said that she didn't have an infection in the ears so antibiotics were not needed, but there was a lot of fluid just hanging around in there that hasn't drained. He explained to me that what happens is if the fluid from the previous ear infection doesn't drain it builds up and when a new bacteria, virus, etc. enters the body it can infect the fluid in the ears and wa-la a new ear infection occurs. The cycle is on repeat if the ears don't drain. As a result of so much fluid, Sophie actually failed her hearing test in both ears. Apparently the left ear was so bad she really couldn't hear anything. Her right ear came close to passing, but close isn't enough and she failed in that ear too. I was shocked to hear this. I can whisper the word "candy" in my bedroom and she'll come zooming downt he stairs in a matter of seconds asking where the candy is. No lie! lol I felt horrible that she failed that test, I can't imagine going around on a daily basis with muffled hearing and not realizing the difference or realizing that could be fixed. I ask her and she never says anything about her ears hurting or that she can't hear. This made me very sad.
In Sophie's case, the infections can occur even faster because of her tonsils and adenoids. Sophie's tonsils are very large at 3.5 on scale of 1 - 5 with 5 being the worst. It's very likely that her adenoids are just as large if not larger and when they get infected the infection pushes up through the ear canal into the ears and an ear infection occurs. The size of her tonsils and adenoids are directly related to her poor sleeping, snoring, and possibly her recent attitude that needs to get changed -- yet again another story, sorry.
Dr. Hermann believes that Sophie has sleep apnea as a result of her tonsils and adenoids being so large. He asked me to explain the snoring and breathing patterns. Sophie's snoring can only be explained as sounding like a 300 lb man in a super deep sleep. I'm not kidding nor am I exaggerating. You can ask anyone who has witnessed her sleeping. One time we were at Tara's and Billy, a friend of the family and probably 40 years old, decided to go to bed early and fell asleep on the couch. Sophie and Justin were playing in the family room, but decided they were going to sleep too. Sophie hopped on the couch and Justin slept on the floor. Billy said he heard snoring and couldn't figure out who it was and then realized that sound was coming out of a 32 lb 3 year old little girl. He was astonished. Seriously! He tells the story and I can't stop laughing because it's so funny!! I think he had to find a room to sleep in because she was keeping him up! Anyway, while she is sleeping she does this weird breathing thing where she sounds like she is trying to catch her breath. Like she is trying to breathe through her nose but can't because it's too congested so she pauses and starts breathing through her mouth. I think that is sleep apnea. I have to do some more research on the specifics of sleep apnea, but from what I have previously read I know it can cause the child not to get enough deep REM sleep.
Dr. Hermann actually confirmed this and pretty much said that Sophie probably isn't getting enough of the right kind of sleep, which would cause her to be restless and irritable (she's not listening at school - but maybe she can't hear!), cranky, tired, and unable to focus later in the day. That sucks. I feel so sorry for Sophie. I'm just so glad I finally brought her in. Who knew that snoring could be an underlying problem for so many things?
Dr. Hermann gave us 3 options:
1. Try a nose spray like flonase. This has a success rate of 10% - 15%. I think it can help with the flaring up in the nose/throat, etc and help the passage way open so she can breathe better.
2. In conjunction with #1, we would move on to a sleep trial where they would watch Sophie sleep, record her apnea, and then move on from there. I failed to ask what the treatment for this is if we don't do #3. I think the answer is if the apnea is bad enough we would move to #3 anyway.
3. Tonsillectomy and Adenoidectomy - This is what you do when #2 and #3 don't work. Success rate is 90%. There are some side effects to the surgery - sore throat, bleeding, and sinus infection. But the apnea would mostly likely be cured and breathing would regulate. This should help with bacteria in the throat and the adenoids and would lessen infection in the ears. However, #4 may also be needed.
4. BMT (or ear tubes). I told the dr. Sophie had 4 - 5 ear infections in 6 months. She never really had them before, this year was the first year of repeated ear infections. I hope I didn't have the number wrong. I'm now thinking it might have been 3. It's confusing because every time she had one, Tripp got one, then she got hers back, repeat. So she may not have had as many as I first thought. Four or five could have included some of Tripp's infections. I've called our pediatrician to verify. But, regardless, she has so much fluid in her ear that it's causing hearing loss so Dr. Hermann said it would probably be best to do the tubes while he was doing everything else so as not to have to do another surgery. He did say that if the fluid drained before her surgery, he would rethink placing the tubes.
Based on the severity of her sleep issues, the size of her tonsils and adenoids, and the less than stellar % of the other two options working, we've decided to go with options #3 and #4. I'm worried, like any mom would be with anestesia involved, but I'm sure she'll do fine. Recovery doesn't sound fun except, of course, for all the popsicles that she'll get to eat. I'm sure we'll manage and I have a feeling Sophie will get pampered by her Aunt Tara. Aw, my sweet baby girl is going to have surgery. That's crazy to me because I've never even had surgery! Wish her luck and say prayers that all goes well on the 23rd.
We had our appointment with the ENT today. Sophie was less than cooperative, but that's another nightmare - I mean - story. The dr. listened to what I had to say about the snoring and my description of her breathing. Then he asked a ton of questions about hearing loss in my family. He examined her ears, throat, and then felt her glands. Then he sent us for a hearing test.
From here on out, don't quote me. I was trying my best to pay attention and listen to the dr. but Sophie was not making it easy. Sophie had a lot of fluid in both ears, the left was most concerning (I think). He said that she didn't have an infection in the ears so antibiotics were not needed, but there was a lot of fluid just hanging around in there that hasn't drained. He explained to me that what happens is if the fluid from the previous ear infection doesn't drain it builds up and when a new bacteria, virus, etc. enters the body it can infect the fluid in the ears and wa-la a new ear infection occurs. The cycle is on repeat if the ears don't drain. As a result of so much fluid, Sophie actually failed her hearing test in both ears. Apparently the left ear was so bad she really couldn't hear anything. Her right ear came close to passing, but close isn't enough and she failed in that ear too. I was shocked to hear this. I can whisper the word "candy" in my bedroom and she'll come zooming downt he stairs in a matter of seconds asking where the candy is. No lie! lol I felt horrible that she failed that test, I can't imagine going around on a daily basis with muffled hearing and not realizing the difference or realizing that could be fixed. I ask her and she never says anything about her ears hurting or that she can't hear. This made me very sad.
In Sophie's case, the infections can occur even faster because of her tonsils and adenoids. Sophie's tonsils are very large at 3.5 on scale of 1 - 5 with 5 being the worst. It's very likely that her adenoids are just as large if not larger and when they get infected the infection pushes up through the ear canal into the ears and an ear infection occurs. The size of her tonsils and adenoids are directly related to her poor sleeping, snoring, and possibly her recent attitude that needs to get changed -- yet again another story, sorry.
Dr. Hermann believes that Sophie has sleep apnea as a result of her tonsils and adenoids being so large. He asked me to explain the snoring and breathing patterns. Sophie's snoring can only be explained as sounding like a 300 lb man in a super deep sleep. I'm not kidding nor am I exaggerating. You can ask anyone who has witnessed her sleeping. One time we were at Tara's and Billy, a friend of the family and probably 40 years old, decided to go to bed early and fell asleep on the couch. Sophie and Justin were playing in the family room, but decided they were going to sleep too. Sophie hopped on the couch and Justin slept on the floor. Billy said he heard snoring and couldn't figure out who it was and then realized that sound was coming out of a 32 lb 3 year old little girl. He was astonished. Seriously! He tells the story and I can't stop laughing because it's so funny!! I think he had to find a room to sleep in because she was keeping him up! Anyway, while she is sleeping she does this weird breathing thing where she sounds like she is trying to catch her breath. Like she is trying to breathe through her nose but can't because it's too congested so she pauses and starts breathing through her mouth. I think that is sleep apnea. I have to do some more research on the specifics of sleep apnea, but from what I have previously read I know it can cause the child not to get enough deep REM sleep.
Dr. Hermann actually confirmed this and pretty much said that Sophie probably isn't getting enough of the right kind of sleep, which would cause her to be restless and irritable (she's not listening at school - but maybe she can't hear!), cranky, tired, and unable to focus later in the day. That sucks. I feel so sorry for Sophie. I'm just so glad I finally brought her in. Who knew that snoring could be an underlying problem for so many things?
Dr. Hermann gave us 3 options:
1. Try a nose spray like flonase. This has a success rate of 10% - 15%. I think it can help with the flaring up in the nose/throat, etc and help the passage way open so she can breathe better.
2. In conjunction with #1, we would move on to a sleep trial where they would watch Sophie sleep, record her apnea, and then move on from there. I failed to ask what the treatment for this is if we don't do #3. I think the answer is if the apnea is bad enough we would move to #3 anyway.
3. Tonsillectomy and Adenoidectomy - This is what you do when #2 and #3 don't work. Success rate is 90%. There are some side effects to the surgery - sore throat, bleeding, and sinus infection. But the apnea would mostly likely be cured and breathing would regulate. This should help with bacteria in the throat and the adenoids and would lessen infection in the ears. However, #4 may also be needed.
4. BMT (or ear tubes). I told the dr. Sophie had 4 - 5 ear infections in 6 months. She never really had them before, this year was the first year of repeated ear infections. I hope I didn't have the number wrong. I'm now thinking it might have been 3. It's confusing because every time she had one, Tripp got one, then she got hers back, repeat. So she may not have had as many as I first thought. Four or five could have included some of Tripp's infections. I've called our pediatrician to verify. But, regardless, she has so much fluid in her ear that it's causing hearing loss so Dr. Hermann said it would probably be best to do the tubes while he was doing everything else so as not to have to do another surgery. He did say that if the fluid drained before her surgery, he would rethink placing the tubes.
Based on the severity of her sleep issues, the size of her tonsils and adenoids, and the less than stellar % of the other two options working, we've decided to go with options #3 and #4. I'm worried, like any mom would be with anestesia involved, but I'm sure she'll do fine. Recovery doesn't sound fun except, of course, for all the popsicles that she'll get to eat. I'm sure we'll manage and I have a feeling Sophie will get pampered by her Aunt Tara. Aw, my sweet baby girl is going to have surgery. That's crazy to me because I've never even had surgery! Wish her luck and say prayers that all goes well on the 23rd.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Cherish Every Moment
A friend of mine posted a link on Facebook the other day about a little girl named Layla Grace. She was asking for prayers for Layla Grace and her family. I followed the link and started to read the blog. I realized as I was reading that the little girl, baby really, was dying as I was reading. My heart ached as I read her blog. It still aches today, because I was right, she passed away the morning I read her blog.
Life can be unfair, we all know that. But cancer in a 16 month old baby? How is that fair? How can that happen? This sweet little girl just turned two in November and lost her battle with cancer yesterday. I spent the majority of yesterday crying for her and her family. Thinking of my own Aunt and Uncle and cousins who lost a child and brother to a rare form of Leukemia when he was just a young boy. I tried to put myself in Layla Grace's mom's place, but my mind would not let me go there. It would not let me imagine what it would be like to lose Sophie or Tripp. I'm thankful for that, I don't want to imagine it. I pray that her family can find solace in faith and God and the memory of their precious daughter. I pray they can continue to live some sort of normal life. I always pray that Layla Grace's two sisters can adjust to life without their precious baby sister. I don't know how the family will move on. The only way I can see is that they believe Layla Grace is in a better play with Him and that they have felt an enormous outpouring of love and support from people, most they don't even know.
Tonight when I was putting Tripp to bed, I rocked him for literally 15 minutes. That may not sound like a long time, but it is. Tripp likes to have his books read to him, rock for a few seconds, and then wants to go to his crib. That's the way he likes bed time to work. He even points to his bed when he's ready to lay down. He must have known I needed the extra time with him tonight. He allowed me to rock him, he cuddled up into my neck and under my chin, and fell asleep. My sweet baby gave me extra cuddles tonight when I needed it. He even sat on the couch and watch a little tv with me tonight which is a rare, rare thing for him to do. And Sophie, my girl. She came in to Tripp's room while I was rocking him and asked me to put her to bed tonight. It's not unusual for her to want me to put her to bed, but to actually come in to Tripp's room, ask me if she could wait to go to sleep until I could put her to bed is out of the norm. I was happy to hear she wanted me and of course I put her to bed. Daddy started her bed time by reading books. When I was finished with Tripp I went to her room and sang songs, more than normal, told her several stories and rocked her for a long time. I told her I loved her and that I am so thankful she is my daughter.
I should do all that more often. We all should. I say this to myself and time passes and life gets busy and I start the awful thinking that I wish the kids would behave or I wish they'd take a nap or sometimes I think I wish they'd go to bed a little earlier because I just need a break or I'm tired. Selfish is an understatement for those feelings. I feel guilty for feeling that way, but I realize it's just part of being a mom, we all have our limits, and we never say those things in vein. The best moms feel that way at times. Well I've decided that's not fair. I'm going to do my best not to get caught up in being tired. I'm going to remember how lucky I am to have my children in my life, to have them healthy, and to have them at this stage where they want my full attention. It won't last forever and I'll probably find myself back in here sooner rather than later wishing my babies wanted my attention. I'm going to remember to cherish every moment I have with my babies. They are my life. I can't imagine it without them and I pray daily that I never have to.
I'll continue to pray for Layla Grace and that God help heal her parents and sisters and the rest of those lives she touched. If anybody reading this would like to read her blog, you can find it at Layla Grace
Life can be unfair, we all know that. But cancer in a 16 month old baby? How is that fair? How can that happen? This sweet little girl just turned two in November and lost her battle with cancer yesterday. I spent the majority of yesterday crying for her and her family. Thinking of my own Aunt and Uncle and cousins who lost a child and brother to a rare form of Leukemia when he was just a young boy. I tried to put myself in Layla Grace's mom's place, but my mind would not let me go there. It would not let me imagine what it would be like to lose Sophie or Tripp. I'm thankful for that, I don't want to imagine it. I pray that her family can find solace in faith and God and the memory of their precious daughter. I pray they can continue to live some sort of normal life. I always pray that Layla Grace's two sisters can adjust to life without their precious baby sister. I don't know how the family will move on. The only way I can see is that they believe Layla Grace is in a better play with Him and that they have felt an enormous outpouring of love and support from people, most they don't even know.
Tonight when I was putting Tripp to bed, I rocked him for literally 15 minutes. That may not sound like a long time, but it is. Tripp likes to have his books read to him, rock for a few seconds, and then wants to go to his crib. That's the way he likes bed time to work. He even points to his bed when he's ready to lay down. He must have known I needed the extra time with him tonight. He allowed me to rock him, he cuddled up into my neck and under my chin, and fell asleep. My sweet baby gave me extra cuddles tonight when I needed it. He even sat on the couch and watch a little tv with me tonight which is a rare, rare thing for him to do. And Sophie, my girl. She came in to Tripp's room while I was rocking him and asked me to put her to bed tonight. It's not unusual for her to want me to put her to bed, but to actually come in to Tripp's room, ask me if she could wait to go to sleep until I could put her to bed is out of the norm. I was happy to hear she wanted me and of course I put her to bed. Daddy started her bed time by reading books. When I was finished with Tripp I went to her room and sang songs, more than normal, told her several stories and rocked her for a long time. I told her I loved her and that I am so thankful she is my daughter.
I should do all that more often. We all should. I say this to myself and time passes and life gets busy and I start the awful thinking that I wish the kids would behave or I wish they'd take a nap or sometimes I think I wish they'd go to bed a little earlier because I just need a break or I'm tired. Selfish is an understatement for those feelings. I feel guilty for feeling that way, but I realize it's just part of being a mom, we all have our limits, and we never say those things in vein. The best moms feel that way at times. Well I've decided that's not fair. I'm going to do my best not to get caught up in being tired. I'm going to remember how lucky I am to have my children in my life, to have them healthy, and to have them at this stage where they want my full attention. It won't last forever and I'll probably find myself back in here sooner rather than later wishing my babies wanted my attention. I'm going to remember to cherish every moment I have with my babies. They are my life. I can't imagine it without them and I pray daily that I never have to.
I'll continue to pray for Layla Grace and that God help heal her parents and sisters and the rest of those lives she touched. If anybody reading this would like to read her blog, you can find it at Layla Grace
Monday, March 8, 2010
Week of Excellence
I'm not sure if I have mentioned here that Sophie is taking gymnastics, but she is. She was in ballet but one day she just decided on her own that she wasn't going to participate in ballet any longer. In fact, her ballet teacher went to get her out of her class to bring her to ballet and Sophie told her in so many words that she didn't like ballet and that she wasn't going to do it. And that was that.
Sophie is in gymnastics now and really seems to be enjoying it. She is enrolled at Gymnastix which is just down the road from our house. They do all kinds of fun things: balance beam, the bars, trampoline, floor, etc. It's super cute. She has had some issues with paying attention and staying on track, although I have seen a huge improvement since day one. She likes to skip the rotation her teacher has set and skip the line and go to the apparatus she likes best, even if it's not her turn. She definitely likes the bars and the trampoline best.
This week was "Week of Excellence". Today each child was awarded their own medal and recognition for completing their session. This was Sophie's first session. I think she's so adorable in her little leotard. We are so proud of her. It was special to be there today to watch her do her "recital" and receive her first gymnastics medal. Congrats Sophie for being such a gymnastics superstar!
Sophie is in gymnastics now and really seems to be enjoying it. She is enrolled at Gymnastix which is just down the road from our house. They do all kinds of fun things: balance beam, the bars, trampoline, floor, etc. It's super cute. She has had some issues with paying attention and staying on track, although I have seen a huge improvement since day one. She likes to skip the rotation her teacher has set and skip the line and go to the apparatus she likes best, even if it's not her turn. She definitely likes the bars and the trampoline best.
This week was "Week of Excellence". Today each child was awarded their own medal and recognition for completing their session. This was Sophie's first session. I think she's so adorable in her little leotard. We are so proud of her. It was special to be there today to watch her do her "recital" and receive her first gymnastics medal. Congrats Sophie for being such a gymnastics superstar!
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Snoring
Sophie snores so loudly. She's snored for as long as we can remember, but it has gotten progressively worse over the past 6 months. So bad that I made a doctors appointment to have her checked out. There is no way that a 32.5 pound 3.5 year old's snores should rock the house and echo throughout.
The doctor thinks Sophie's tonsils are too large and give her a narrow passage way from which to breathe. She wasn't sure about her adenoids. She referred us to a children's ENT. She felt like there is a good chance that Sophie's tonsils will need to removed at the very least. But she really couldn't say for sure. She said that they are very conservative with doing that surgery these days, unlike when we were kids, but that Sophie's tonsils may just be too large.
While we were there, the doctor noticed that Sophie had some fluid in her ear. It was clear so she wasn't too worried about it. She did say that her throat was red so she did a strep test. That came back negative, thank goodness. I didn't think she had something like that because she hasn't had a fever. She spiked a fever one day last week and threw up a few times and a similar thing happened the week before. But both episodes lasted only a few hours. Well, as we were getting ready to leave she did one more once over of Sophie. She saw that Sophie's right gland was pretty swollen. She decided to take a blood test. The test revealed a white blood count of 18,000 and 10,000 would be normal. Doctor thinks that maybe Sophie has some kind of bacteria virus in the works, quite possibly tonsillitis, so she put her on antibiotics.
So what a day! Go in for a quick check to see if we have an issue because of the snoring and leave with a round of antibiotics, possible tonsillitis, and an appointment with a children's ENT. Well, at least it snowed today and Sophie had fun playing in it! Pics from that to come later.
The doctor thinks Sophie's tonsils are too large and give her a narrow passage way from which to breathe. She wasn't sure about her adenoids. She referred us to a children's ENT. She felt like there is a good chance that Sophie's tonsils will need to removed at the very least. But she really couldn't say for sure. She said that they are very conservative with doing that surgery these days, unlike when we were kids, but that Sophie's tonsils may just be too large.
While we were there, the doctor noticed that Sophie had some fluid in her ear. It was clear so she wasn't too worried about it. She did say that her throat was red so she did a strep test. That came back negative, thank goodness. I didn't think she had something like that because she hasn't had a fever. She spiked a fever one day last week and threw up a few times and a similar thing happened the week before. But both episodes lasted only a few hours. Well, as we were getting ready to leave she did one more once over of Sophie. She saw that Sophie's right gland was pretty swollen. She decided to take a blood test. The test revealed a white blood count of 18,000 and 10,000 would be normal. Doctor thinks that maybe Sophie has some kind of bacteria virus in the works, quite possibly tonsillitis, so she put her on antibiotics.
So what a day! Go in for a quick check to see if we have an issue because of the snoring and leave with a round of antibiotics, possible tonsillitis, and an appointment with a children's ENT. Well, at least it snowed today and Sophie had fun playing in it! Pics from that to come later.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Kids Say the Darndest Things!
Sophie has been saying some very funny things lately. You know, those type of things that you read in magazines that make you spit out your milk while you are reading because you can imagine what that mom felt like as her kid says something crazy to a stranger? Sophie is turning into quite the little comedian. Obviously she doesn't know what she is saying is funny, but it is. I've been meaning to write a list of the things she says, but I keep forgetting. I'm going to make this my master list and update it when she says something that I feel like I must remember. I can't remember anything other than what she told me a few days ago, but it's classic. I'm sure John thinks so anyway!
1. Tripp was pulling Sophie's hair and the conversation went like this:
Me: Tripp, don't pull Sophie's hair. That's naughty. You'll have to go to time out if you do it again. Say you are sorry to your sister.
Tripp: Hugs Sophie, but I notice his hands are clinched in fists.
Me: Unclenching Tripp's fists. Great. Tripp! You actually pulled Sophie's hair out.
Sophie: He pulled my hair out?
Me: Yes!
Sophie: Starts crying. Mommy! Tripp is going to pull all my hair out and then I'm not going to have any hair and I'm going to look like daddy!!
Me: Awesome!! John, did you hear that!! She's crying because Tripp pulled a little hair out and now she thinks she is going to be bald like you.
Me: Still laughing as I type this!!
1. Tripp was pulling Sophie's hair and the conversation went like this:
Me: Tripp, don't pull Sophie's hair. That's naughty. You'll have to go to time out if you do it again. Say you are sorry to your sister.
Tripp: Hugs Sophie, but I notice his hands are clinched in fists.
Me: Unclenching Tripp's fists. Great. Tripp! You actually pulled Sophie's hair out.
Sophie: He pulled my hair out?
Me: Yes!
Sophie: Starts crying. Mommy! Tripp is going to pull all my hair out and then I'm not going to have any hair and I'm going to look like daddy!!
Me: Awesome!! John, did you hear that!! She's crying because Tripp pulled a little hair out and now she thinks she is going to be bald like you.
Me: Still laughing as I type this!!
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Happy Mommy Moments
The small things in life are sometimes the best. These little moments happen from time to time and I definitely need to do a better job at recording them. Yesterday was a nice moment for me.
John picked Sophie and Tripp up from school while I finished working. He swung back by the house to pick me up so we could take the kids to the park. When we got to the park I unbuckled Sophie from her car seat and picked her up out of her seat. She gave me a huge bear hug - legs around my waist and arms around my neck - and said "I missed you today mommy" and then squeezed me with a big hug. Gosh do I love these moments. I think these are what parents live for!!
John picked Sophie and Tripp up from school while I finished working. He swung back by the house to pick me up so we could take the kids to the park. When we got to the park I unbuckled Sophie from her car seat and picked her up out of her seat. She gave me a huge bear hug - legs around my waist and arms around my neck - and said "I missed you today mommy" and then squeezed me with a big hug. Gosh do I love these moments. I think these are what parents live for!!
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Happy Halloween!
What a great Halloween! I really, truly enjoyed Halloween with the kids this year. I've enjoyed it every year, but mostly because I loved how cute the kids looked in their costumes. This year was fun because the kids actually enjoyed Halloween.
Halloween was actually a week long this year starting last Sunday. We went to trunk-or-treat with the Mallory's at Drew's sister's church. That was cute. People decorate the trunk of their cars and hand out candy. Tripp was a little nutso walking from car to car, but all-in-all it was fun. Kids got a lot of candy!
Tuesday night we went to Kroger for their trick-or-treating Halloween party. It was a little lame, but I do give them props for trying. It was raining pretty bad and everything was inside. My guess is that they set some things up outside on a normal night. They had a haunted house that went through the deli freezer. Justin was scared and wouldn't go through. I carried Tripp and Anthony held Sophie's hand all the way. It was cute. Older kids were screaming through the haunted house. The actors (um, employees) did a good job not jumping out and scaring the little kids. When we were at Kroger today grocery shopping, Sophie asked if we could go back into the freezer lol She has a good memory! They also did some face painting, decorate your own cookie, and gave out candy.
Friday was trick-or-treating and Halloween party at the kids' school. They had a ball! Since the parties were at different times depending on the classroom, I went up and hung out with Sophie for her Halloween party and John went up for Tripp's party. The kids really loved having us there. So much so that I had to bring Sophie home with me at lunch. She was crying and carrying on and I couldn't bare to leave her. She took a nap and I worked. They also got to walk around to the different classrooms and trick-or-treat in their costumes. It was very cute!
Finally, the real thing today! The Mallory's came to trick-or-treat with us and to watch the UF vs UGA game. I won't say who won (Go Gators!!!) so not to tick off my UGA friends, but I was a happy camper. It was hard to get the guys away from the football game and it was getting late (and Tripp was oh so ready to go!) so Holly and I started off with the kids. The guys met us a few minutes later. It was a little bit chilly, nothing like the cold weather of Halloweens past. Not only was it chilly, but it started to rain. It rained earlier in the day and stopped so I thought we would be in the clear. Nope. It started pouring rain just before we left. Some kids and parents just kept trudging through the rain for candy - actually some parents came to the door with bags while their kids sat in the car (really????) - we waited for the rain to slow. It did. We took off.
Marly, Sophie, and Tripp had a great time! I wish we had gotten some video of the night. I need a new camera for that. I lost my little video camera. This was Tripp's first Halloween as a walker. Last year we pushed him in the pink car and Sophie was very hesitant to walk up to doors. This year Tripp thoroughly enjoyed walking from house to house, up the stairs to the door, and getting the candy (and grabbing more if the opportunity arose!). Sophie loved every minute of the attention and playing the big sis, let me walk first role. Tripp was in awe of the older kids in costumes. He was priceless tonight, it was like he was in his element. And, Sophie. Sweet Sophie. She just wanted the candy. Candy, candy, and more candy ... and sneaking a piece to eat here and there ... that girl has a sweet tooth! Marly is like a pro. She went house to house, getting her candy, walking down the steps, and moving on to the next house. Well-behaved as always! Sophie and Tripp always enjoy their time with her. She's like another member of the family.
All-in-all this was a fabulous Halloween. The kids loved it and I loved it. Oh!! Wait!! I didn't mention the costumes. Tripp was Spiderman with muscles. It is honestly one of the cutest costumes I have ever seen. In the beginning he wouldn't put the mask on, but by the end of the week he was an old pro and kept the mask on for us. All the parents who saw him loved the costume! I let Sophie pick out her own costume this year. She picked a pink Spidergirl costume that was super cute. That's why I picked Spiderman for Tripp. Well the costume didn't fit well and had a hole by Tuesday so I purchased a new costume for her. She wanted to be a butterfly. I was looking so last minute for a costume and just could not find a butterfly so I settled on a fairy costume that had big wings .... or so it did on the cover of the package. What a sham. When you see the costume, you won't see any wings ... that's because they are so small you can't see them. They're there, they're behind her back. I was so annoyed by that. Of course, Sophie didn't seem to mind. She loved her star light wand and her light up skirt. She was happy with her pitiful butterfly costume. Marly was Little Mermaid. She had a red wig, not sure where it went. She was adorable and the red wig was a hoot!!
Halloween 2009 was the best yet!
Halloween was actually a week long this year starting last Sunday. We went to trunk-or-treat with the Mallory's at Drew's sister's church. That was cute. People decorate the trunk of their cars and hand out candy. Tripp was a little nutso walking from car to car, but all-in-all it was fun. Kids got a lot of candy!
Tuesday night we went to Kroger for their trick-or-treating Halloween party. It was a little lame, but I do give them props for trying. It was raining pretty bad and everything was inside. My guess is that they set some things up outside on a normal night. They had a haunted house that went through the deli freezer. Justin was scared and wouldn't go through. I carried Tripp and Anthony held Sophie's hand all the way. It was cute. Older kids were screaming through the haunted house. The actors (um, employees) did a good job not jumping out and scaring the little kids. When we were at Kroger today grocery shopping, Sophie asked if we could go back into the freezer lol She has a good memory! They also did some face painting, decorate your own cookie, and gave out candy.
Friday was trick-or-treating and Halloween party at the kids' school. They had a ball! Since the parties were at different times depending on the classroom, I went up and hung out with Sophie for her Halloween party and John went up for Tripp's party. The kids really loved having us there. So much so that I had to bring Sophie home with me at lunch. She was crying and carrying on and I couldn't bare to leave her. She took a nap and I worked. They also got to walk around to the different classrooms and trick-or-treat in their costumes. It was very cute!
Finally, the real thing today! The Mallory's came to trick-or-treat with us and to watch the UF vs UGA game. I won't say who won (Go Gators!!!) so not to tick off my UGA friends, but I was a happy camper. It was hard to get the guys away from the football game and it was getting late (and Tripp was oh so ready to go!) so Holly and I started off with the kids. The guys met us a few minutes later. It was a little bit chilly, nothing like the cold weather of Halloweens past. Not only was it chilly, but it started to rain. It rained earlier in the day and stopped so I thought we would be in the clear. Nope. It started pouring rain just before we left. Some kids and parents just kept trudging through the rain for candy - actually some parents came to the door with bags while their kids sat in the car (really????) - we waited for the rain to slow. It did. We took off.
Marly, Sophie, and Tripp had a great time! I wish we had gotten some video of the night. I need a new camera for that. I lost my little video camera. This was Tripp's first Halloween as a walker. Last year we pushed him in the pink car and Sophie was very hesitant to walk up to doors. This year Tripp thoroughly enjoyed walking from house to house, up the stairs to the door, and getting the candy (and grabbing more if the opportunity arose!). Sophie loved every minute of the attention and playing the big sis, let me walk first role. Tripp was in awe of the older kids in costumes. He was priceless tonight, it was like he was in his element. And, Sophie. Sweet Sophie. She just wanted the candy. Candy, candy, and more candy ... and sneaking a piece to eat here and there ... that girl has a sweet tooth! Marly is like a pro. She went house to house, getting her candy, walking down the steps, and moving on to the next house. Well-behaved as always! Sophie and Tripp always enjoy their time with her. She's like another member of the family.
All-in-all this was a fabulous Halloween. The kids loved it and I loved it. Oh!! Wait!! I didn't mention the costumes. Tripp was Spiderman with muscles. It is honestly one of the cutest costumes I have ever seen. In the beginning he wouldn't put the mask on, but by the end of the week he was an old pro and kept the mask on for us. All the parents who saw him loved the costume! I let Sophie pick out her own costume this year. She picked a pink Spidergirl costume that was super cute. That's why I picked Spiderman for Tripp. Well the costume didn't fit well and had a hole by Tuesday so I purchased a new costume for her. She wanted to be a butterfly. I was looking so last minute for a costume and just could not find a butterfly so I settled on a fairy costume that had big wings .... or so it did on the cover of the package. What a sham. When you see the costume, you won't see any wings ... that's because they are so small you can't see them. They're there, they're behind her back. I was so annoyed by that. Of course, Sophie didn't seem to mind. She loved her star light wand and her light up skirt. She was happy with her pitiful butterfly costume. Marly was Little Mermaid. She had a red wig, not sure where it went. She was adorable and the red wig was a hoot!!
Halloween 2009 was the best yet!
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Yellow River Game Ranch
Gabby and Jason and their 3 beautiful kiddos (Haylee, Mya, & baby Jace) were here visiting from North Carolina over the weekend. Gabby and Tara have been best friends since junior high school back in their Florida days. I love Gabby and her family and I always look forward to their visits.
We needed to get the kids out of the house and take them somewhere fun. It literally had been raining for like a week. As you can imagine, a house with 6 kids (8 if you include Anthony and Summer) is just crazy. Tara suggested that we go to Yellow River Game Ranch. It's a bit of a hike to get there since it's all the way down by Stone Mountain, but it was a fun trip. All types of different animals just roam around and eat out of your hands. Except for Tripp's hand - he didn't share much. He wanted to eat the food himself instead of sharing with the animals. No worries, it was carrots, graham crackers, and animal crackers. It looks like all the animals are behind fences, but they aren't.
The big animals - the puma, buffalo, pigs, bears, goats - they were caged, but the rest were not. So what was left to roam? Hmm .. deer, chickens, peacocks, squirrels, turtles, rabbits. I guess there were less free-roaming animals than I realized, but just the fact that deer were hanging out with us was cool. Especially the sweet baby bambis! The place was stinky, but pretty cool. For the most part, the kids were really good. Tripp kept trying to go under the rails and through fences, but what else was to be expected? I should also note that we were there right smack in the middle of nap time so towards the end the kids were antsy, but did much better than I expected. They all had a very good time and we made some nice memories. It was truly a nice family day!
Sweet little baby deer.
Sophie and Daddy feed a big deer.
Tripp is snacking ... shouldn't he be sharing? I love this picture so much! Notice the deer in the background licking his lips. Hmm ... what would taste better, the carrot or Tripp? lol
Notice that Tripp is eyeing the carrot. lol They had fun feeding the deer. The deer were so gentle and friendly. They followed us down the trail for a while. Pretty neat.
I didn't know you could actually feed a squirrel. Don't they carry rabies? Eek! Cute anyway.
These donkeys were begging for food. They weren't neglected, I promise!
Staring at the tall goat in amazement.
Tripp finally decided to share "his" food.
Interesting nursery lol
Well hello there Mr. sheep!
This is what you call a feast!
As Sophie was running away from the bear cage she said, "I'm not scared!" Yeah, ok. lol The bears were cool. We were throwing apples into their cages and they were catching the apples right in their mouths.
All the kids
We needed to get the kids out of the house and take them somewhere fun. It literally had been raining for like a week. As you can imagine, a house with 6 kids (8 if you include Anthony and Summer) is just crazy. Tara suggested that we go to Yellow River Game Ranch. It's a bit of a hike to get there since it's all the way down by Stone Mountain, but it was a fun trip. All types of different animals just roam around and eat out of your hands. Except for Tripp's hand - he didn't share much. He wanted to eat the food himself instead of sharing with the animals. No worries, it was carrots, graham crackers, and animal crackers. It looks like all the animals are behind fences, but they aren't.
The big animals - the puma, buffalo, pigs, bears, goats - they were caged, but the rest were not. So what was left to roam? Hmm .. deer, chickens, peacocks, squirrels, turtles, rabbits. I guess there were less free-roaming animals than I realized, but just the fact that deer were hanging out with us was cool. Especially the sweet baby bambis! The place was stinky, but pretty cool. For the most part, the kids were really good. Tripp kept trying to go under the rails and through fences, but what else was to be expected? I should also note that we were there right smack in the middle of nap time so towards the end the kids were antsy, but did much better than I expected. They all had a very good time and we made some nice memories. It was truly a nice family day!
Sweet little baby deer.
Sophie and Daddy feed a big deer.
Tripp is snacking ... shouldn't he be sharing? I love this picture so much! Notice the deer in the background licking his lips. Hmm ... what would taste better, the carrot or Tripp? lol
Notice that Tripp is eyeing the carrot. lol They had fun feeding the deer. The deer were so gentle and friendly. They followed us down the trail for a while. Pretty neat.
I didn't know you could actually feed a squirrel. Don't they carry rabies? Eek! Cute anyway.
These donkeys were begging for food. They weren't neglected, I promise!
Staring at the tall goat in amazement.
Tripp finally decided to share "his" food.
Interesting nursery lol
Well hello there Mr. sheep!
This is what you call a feast!
As Sophie was running away from the bear cage she said, "I'm not scared!" Yeah, ok. lol The bears were cool. We were throwing apples into their cages and they were catching the apples right in their mouths.
All the kids
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Blessings
My sweet baby girl is going to be 3 in just about two months. I cannot believe it. I know that every parent goes through this and thinks "how can my baby be 'insert age'" I've said this about every 6 months for each kid. I love that they are growing up and that they are becoming so fun and learning so much, but at the same time it's so sad to see them becoming independent (and sassy) and growing. Time goes by so fast and I wonder if I appreciate the time I have with my kids enough. I think I do, I hope I do, but I'm going to try and appreciate it even more. Some days I wonder how I was blessed with two such sweet babies.
Sophie is so full of love and happiness, she truly enjoys her life. She smiles about everything and boy do her smiles go on forever. She has such a beautiful and contagious smile! Her innocence is so sweet. She loves her daddy more than life itself. She loves me, too, but as soon as daddy appears it's like I'm not even there. It doesn't bother me, though, because she gives me my time too. I love that she has that bond with her daddy.
Tripp is so full of energy! Boy is he full of energy. He is into anything and everything. He's very curious and very interested in what's going on . He is strong and stoic and serious. When he laughs, he gives belly laughs! His laugh is also contagious, but for different reasons that Sophie's. First, it takes an act of God (or a lot of tickling) to get Tripp to laugh. But when he starts laughing, he doesn't stop. He giggles, snorts, runs out of breath, and then laughs like he doesn't have a voice. It's the sweetest sound I've ever heard. He truly loves me, but he also likes his daddy time. He loves to be outside and loves to throw and hit balls. He also likes to spot small items, in the grass for instance, and stand over them and point and grunt. He's learning how the world works and you can see it on his face. The ladies love his hair and he's getting more handsome as the days pass.
This post is really just a reminder to me to count my blessings every day for I have so many in my life.
Sophie is so full of love and happiness, she truly enjoys her life. She smiles about everything and boy do her smiles go on forever. She has such a beautiful and contagious smile! Her innocence is so sweet. She loves her daddy more than life itself. She loves me, too, but as soon as daddy appears it's like I'm not even there. It doesn't bother me, though, because she gives me my time too. I love that she has that bond with her daddy.
Tripp is so full of energy! Boy is he full of energy. He is into anything and everything. He's very curious and very interested in what's going on . He is strong and stoic and serious. When he laughs, he gives belly laughs! His laugh is also contagious, but for different reasons that Sophie's. First, it takes an act of God (or a lot of tickling) to get Tripp to laugh. But when he starts laughing, he doesn't stop. He giggles, snorts, runs out of breath, and then laughs like he doesn't have a voice. It's the sweetest sound I've ever heard. He truly loves me, but he also likes his daddy time. He loves to be outside and loves to throw and hit balls. He also likes to spot small items, in the grass for instance, and stand over them and point and grunt. He's learning how the world works and you can see it on his face. The ladies love his hair and he's getting more handsome as the days pass.
This post is really just a reminder to me to count my blessings every day for I have so many in my life.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Infant Swim Lessons
Sophie & Tripp have been taking infant swim lessons for 2 weeks. These aren't the typical lessons, these are the survival swim lessons. The class basically teaches the child what he or she should do if he or she falls in a pool. The classes are only 10 minutes each per kid and only one kid is in the pool with the instructor at a time. Kids learn the following in sequence:
- To hold their breath underwater
- Swim with their head down
- Roll onto their back to float, rest, and breathe
- Roll back over to resume swimming until they reach the side of the pool, crawl out or be rescued by an adult
- To perform these self-rescue skills first in a swim diaper, then while fully clothed
When the Sophie & Tripp started the classes they knew nothing, they couldn't swim or float. Wow, it's amazing what has happened in just 2 weeks, in just the first day even. In just day 1, both Sophie and Tripp could swim a few feet to their teacher. A few feet doesn't sound far, but in a 10 minute time frame, they learned to swim a short distance with their head down and eyes open. In 2 weeks they have both learned to hold their breath under water, open eyes under water, swim a short distance, float on their backs, and roll back over from a float to resume swimming.
The first day of class Sophie screamed, the panic kind of scream. I was warned by a few people that this might happen. Tripp, on the other hand, laughed. Laughed! He laughed at basically being dunked and let go of in a deep pool of water when he had no idea what to do. Michelle, the Instructor, actually said that Tripp is only the second child she has ever taught to laugh. Well that's my crazy ass kid for you. LOL The second day Sophie was really excited about "swimming" but when she got to class she cried again. So did Tripp. Again this is typical. This is also why the classes are only 10 minutes. A lot of water and air can get in the belly and cause gas among other things so that lessons are short. Kids also can't eat or drink in the 2 hours preceding class (this is an entirely separate ordeal for the kids). Anyway, on the 2nd day Sophie was crying but in the midst of it would say to Michelle, "I want to swim now." It was pretty funny!
I've learned not to underestimate my children. I think they can do so much more than they are giving credit for. A little patience and guidance certainly goes a long way. Sophie actually loves the swim part. She doesn't like floating at all and it's a bit of a struggle to get her to float, but she can do it. She also did an excellent swim - float - swim sequence today. She swam to the steps! Tripp is an amazing floater. That kid can float for at least 10 seconds. Michelle said he has a buoyant bottom so sometimes it's hard for him to roll all the way over or swim under the water but he does it and he does it well. I'm pretty amazed by him because he is so young and is doing everything perfectly. I'm feeling much safer about having the kids around a pool. I really am!
I took some pictures at the end of last week. I'll take some at the end of this week too. But you can see that they can swim and float. I'll post the pictures in a separate post. Pretty dang amazing!
- To hold their breath underwater
- Swim with their head down
- Roll onto their back to float, rest, and breathe
- Roll back over to resume swimming until they reach the side of the pool, crawl out or be rescued by an adult
- To perform these self-rescue skills first in a swim diaper, then while fully clothed
When the Sophie & Tripp started the classes they knew nothing, they couldn't swim or float. Wow, it's amazing what has happened in just 2 weeks, in just the first day even. In just day 1, both Sophie and Tripp could swim a few feet to their teacher. A few feet doesn't sound far, but in a 10 minute time frame, they learned to swim a short distance with their head down and eyes open. In 2 weeks they have both learned to hold their breath under water, open eyes under water, swim a short distance, float on their backs, and roll back over from a float to resume swimming.
The first day of class Sophie screamed, the panic kind of scream. I was warned by a few people that this might happen. Tripp, on the other hand, laughed. Laughed! He laughed at basically being dunked and let go of in a deep pool of water when he had no idea what to do. Michelle, the Instructor, actually said that Tripp is only the second child she has ever taught to laugh. Well that's my crazy ass kid for you. LOL The second day Sophie was really excited about "swimming" but when she got to class she cried again. So did Tripp. Again this is typical. This is also why the classes are only 10 minutes. A lot of water and air can get in the belly and cause gas among other things so that lessons are short. Kids also can't eat or drink in the 2 hours preceding class (this is an entirely separate ordeal for the kids). Anyway, on the 2nd day Sophie was crying but in the midst of it would say to Michelle, "I want to swim now." It was pretty funny!
I've learned not to underestimate my children. I think they can do so much more than they are giving credit for. A little patience and guidance certainly goes a long way. Sophie actually loves the swim part. She doesn't like floating at all and it's a bit of a struggle to get her to float, but she can do it. She also did an excellent swim - float - swim sequence today. She swam to the steps! Tripp is an amazing floater. That kid can float for at least 10 seconds. Michelle said he has a buoyant bottom so sometimes it's hard for him to roll all the way over or swim under the water but he does it and he does it well. I'm pretty amazed by him because he is so young and is doing everything perfectly. I'm feeling much safer about having the kids around a pool. I really am!
I took some pictures at the end of last week. I'll take some at the end of this week too. But you can see that they can swim and float. I'll post the pictures in a separate post. Pretty dang amazing!
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Pretty little ballerina
I'm sorry, but Sophie you have got to be the most beautiful little ballerina that I have ever seen. OMG you are so darn cute I can't take it!
I enrolled you in Creative Moments & Dance through your school and you started on Wednesday. I had Marilyn take pictures of you since I wouldn't be able to see how cute you would look all dressed up. I'm going to have to sneak in and watch one of your classes. You look like you are having such a good time! Marilyn said you were really cute when you were trying to find your spot in line. The teacher put little pieces of tape on the floor to mark where you were supposed to sit and you would spread your legs open, hang your head between them, and scoot backwards until you got to the tape and then plop your bottom down. She said you were just so darling.
You seemed to really enjoy the class. When I picked you up from school I asked you if you had a fun day. You excitedly exclaimed, "I did ballerina Mommy!" You melt my heart! Oh, and you actually have to wear a leotard, ballet shoes, and tap shoes. For some reason, you were the only one that day dressed as a ballerina, but it's required and I made sure you went looking your best. You're a ballerina now, you've gotta look like one too! :-) From the looks of it, you and one other girl from your actual class (Sophia) are by far the youngest in the ballet class.
Wish I could have seen you on your very first day of ballet!!
I enrolled you in Creative Moments & Dance through your school and you started on Wednesday. I had Marilyn take pictures of you since I wouldn't be able to see how cute you would look all dressed up. I'm going to have to sneak in and watch one of your classes. You look like you are having such a good time! Marilyn said you were really cute when you were trying to find your spot in line. The teacher put little pieces of tape on the floor to mark where you were supposed to sit and you would spread your legs open, hang your head between them, and scoot backwards until you got to the tape and then plop your bottom down. She said you were just so darling.
You seemed to really enjoy the class. When I picked you up from school I asked you if you had a fun day. You excitedly exclaimed, "I did ballerina Mommy!" You melt my heart! Oh, and you actually have to wear a leotard, ballet shoes, and tap shoes. For some reason, you were the only one that day dressed as a ballerina, but it's required and I made sure you went looking your best. You're a ballerina now, you've gotta look like one too! :-) From the looks of it, you and one other girl from your actual class (Sophia) are by far the youngest in the ballet class.
Wish I could have seen you on your very first day of ballet!!
Monday, May 18, 2009
Cold Hearted Snake
by Paula Abdul ... apparently, Sophie really likes this song. She started busting a move to it when it came on the other day. She kept asking me to dance with her, but I had to grab the camera instead. She was so funny. She was saying "mommy, do this" and shaking her booty to the right. Of course she wouldn't do it on camera (smart girl LOL) even though I kept asking her, but she did hop up on the ottoman and dance ... I thought to myself, "oh God, she is certainly taking after the girls in her family" LOL
Enjoy!
Enjoy!
Thursday, May 7, 2009
My little Sophie bear
Tonight we had major meltdown with Sophie at bedtime. We had gone on a family walk and Sophie wore her new flip flops. Soon after John put them on, she fell and scraped the top off her foot. It was yucky and bloody so as soon as we came back from our walk, I, being the good mommy that I am, decided I needed to clean the boo boo with peroxide. I told Sophie that she was going to have bubbles on her feet and that it might tingle, but that the peroxide would clean the scrape. Well holy moly, the screaming and crying that came out of her because the peroxide "hurt" was something you would expect if I was beating her. I thought she would be happy if she got right in the bath, but that was worse. John had to bathe her very quickly. She cried the entire time. She cried when we got her out of the bath until I put her band aid on. She's really into band aids. Anyway, she actually likes when I sing to her, so I was singing to soothe her. I made up a little song. She loved it so much that she made me sing it for no less than 15 minutes. Here's the song:
I love my little Sophie Bear
She's my favorite girl (tickle her back)
I love my little Sophie Bear
She's my favorite girl (tickle her back)
In the whole wide world! (tickling legs and belly)
As you can see, the song really isn't anything earth shattering, but she loved it. Giggling the entire time I sang it and then saying "do it again mommy, do little bear" when I was done. She's so silly and good-natured, I love it! I also love that she loves when I sing to her. I've always been able to soothe Sophie by singing and I'm glad to see that is still the same. She's so sweet.
I love my little Sophie Bear
She's my favorite girl (tickle her back)
I love my little Sophie Bear
She's my favorite girl (tickle her back)
In the whole wide world! (tickling legs and belly)
As you can see, the song really isn't anything earth shattering, but she loved it. Giggling the entire time I sang it and then saying "do it again mommy, do little bear" when I was done. She's so silly and good-natured, I love it! I also love that she loves when I sing to her. I've always been able to soothe Sophie by singing and I'm glad to see that is still the same. She's so sweet.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Thomas the Train
Sophie is really in love with trains these days, especially "Thomas the Train." We bought her and Tripp a train table a few weeks ago and they both love it. So when Holly told me that she was taking Marly to see Thomas the Train along with Natalie and Graham I knew we had to go with her. Thomas was going to be in Chattanooga for two days, this past Friday and Saturday. I checked into it and the day and time that Holly had tickets for were sold out. This was a no go for us this time around. Boo! Thankfully Drew stepped up and gave up his ticket so that Sophie could go. What a great guy! Unfortunately, there was only one ticket so John and I could not go, but Holly didn't mind and offered to take Sophie without us. She's so sweet and always thinking of others.
It wasn't a hard decision and we said that Sophie could go. I was definitely nervous about Sophie driving in a car without me for such a long distance, but I knew I shouldn't worry. I trust both Holly and Natalie and I knew Sophie was in good hands. We dropped Sophie off with the girls and off they went. Their first stop was Chick-fil-a for lunch then to the train museum. Holly said that all the kids loved Thomas and the train ride they got as well. Here are some pictures from Thomas.
It wasn't a hard decision and we said that Sophie could go. I was definitely nervous about Sophie driving in a car without me for such a long distance, but I knew I shouldn't worry. I trust both Holly and Natalie and I knew Sophie was in good hands. We dropped Sophie off with the girls and off they went. Their first stop was Chick-fil-a for lunch then to the train museum. Holly said that all the kids loved Thomas and the train ride they got as well. Here are some pictures from Thomas.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Big girl, Big bed
I guess it's official. We have a big girl now! We finally bit the bullet and transitioned Sophie to her "big girl" bed. We actually did this more than a month ago. The first night she slept in her big girl bed was March 17. Wow, that actually is only a little over a month ago. It seems like it has been months since we did this.
John and I have gone back and forth for months about when we should transition Sophie and how. I was the hesitant one, opting to put it off until later. I couldn't imagine getting up with a baby multiple times in the middle of the night and then possibly with Sophie, too. So we decided to wait to transition her until we got Tripp sleeping through the night. Tripp did that much earlier than Sophie did, but I chose to keep Sophie in the crib until she asked for a bed or outgrew the crib. Why rock the boat? LOL
It was a hard decision to transition her. After all, she was sleeping so soundly in her crib. She loved her crib. She would tell us during the day it was time for her nap, that's how much she loved her crib. I worried that it would be much harder to get her to lay in the bed once she figured out that she could get out of the bed and play. But I realized that at 2.5 years old, she was probably ready for the transition. Sophie's crib actually converts to a toddler bed and then to a full sized bed. Since she was 31 months when we transitioned her, I suggested that we just move her into a bed and skip the toddler bed altogether. What's the point of going through two transitions at this age? So John and I went mattress shopping. It was pretty fun! We purchased her mattresses and waited for them to be delivered. In the mean time, I agonized over the perfect bedding for her. To John's amazement, I didn't get the one Sophie "needed" from PB Kids since it was so expensive, I got one that I thought was just as nice, but cheaper. I really like her quilt because it has several pretty colors, is girly, but not too girly, and can grow with her. It doesn't necessarily have a theme, so when we get sick of the theme she has now, we can just change the wall color and decorations. Much easier than change bedding and decorations! Of course, we haven't decorated yet. I plan to paint the wall a light shade of blue and Erin is going to paint some nice, whimsical designs on the wall. Not sure when that will happen, but it will.
Here are some pictures of Sophie in her bed on her first night. Look how little she looks in the big bed! :-)
John and I have gone back and forth for months about when we should transition Sophie and how. I was the hesitant one, opting to put it off until later. I couldn't imagine getting up with a baby multiple times in the middle of the night and then possibly with Sophie, too. So we decided to wait to transition her until we got Tripp sleeping through the night. Tripp did that much earlier than Sophie did, but I chose to keep Sophie in the crib until she asked for a bed or outgrew the crib. Why rock the boat? LOL
It was a hard decision to transition her. After all, she was sleeping so soundly in her crib. She loved her crib. She would tell us during the day it was time for her nap, that's how much she loved her crib. I worried that it would be much harder to get her to lay in the bed once she figured out that she could get out of the bed and play. But I realized that at 2.5 years old, she was probably ready for the transition. Sophie's crib actually converts to a toddler bed and then to a full sized bed. Since she was 31 months when we transitioned her, I suggested that we just move her into a bed and skip the toddler bed altogether. What's the point of going through two transitions at this age? So John and I went mattress shopping. It was pretty fun! We purchased her mattresses and waited for them to be delivered. In the mean time, I agonized over the perfect bedding for her. To John's amazement, I didn't get the one Sophie "needed" from PB Kids since it was so expensive, I got one that I thought was just as nice, but cheaper. I really like her quilt because it has several pretty colors, is girly, but not too girly, and can grow with her. It doesn't necessarily have a theme, so when we get sick of the theme she has now, we can just change the wall color and decorations. Much easier than change bedding and decorations! Of course, we haven't decorated yet. I plan to paint the wall a light shade of blue and Erin is going to paint some nice, whimsical designs on the wall. Not sure when that will happen, but it will.
Here are some pictures of Sophie in her bed on her first night. Look how little she looks in the big bed! :-)
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Success!
Sophie has been a rock star potty trainer! We finally decided to get serious about potty training and I'm so glad we did. We are at a point where I would like to document success. Potty training success!
I read something a long time ago that said if you want to potty train quickly to forgo using diapers or underwear on the toddler who is training. So I decided to try that route a month or two ago. Sophie thought it was really funny to run around as "naked butt." She would laugh and dance around and sing "naked butt" LOL! I only did it for a day or two before putting pull-ups and underwear on. I don't care how weird that sounds, it worked. Before we did naked butt, she would have accidents when she was wearing her underwear, but since the experiment she has not had one accident at home.
Anyway, so although she's pretty much been potty trained while at home for the past several weeks - since I posted the last post about potty training - she wasn't really potty trained at school. She would go on the potty once or twice per day while the rest of the time she would just go in her pull up. One day I realized that she was probably not using the potty at school because she had a pull up on. I guess she considers the pull up as a diaper and not underwear, so the connection for her is to treat it like a diaper. I decided the best way to fix that problem was to send her to school in underwear. Just cold turkey - no diapers, just underwear.
I spoke to her teachers and they said that at some point that is what all parents do. They advised me to pack a bag with a lot of pants and underwear. So I promptly took myself to the store and bought Sophie a bunch of underwear. Up until that point she only had 3 pair. I never thought shopping for my 2 year old's underwear would be fun, but it was! She looks so cute in her little underwear and there were a ton of designs to choose from. I immediately bought the Elmo underwear because for some odd reason she is in love with Elmo (we don't even really watch much Elmo!). I also bought hearts and polkadots as well as princesses. Wouldn't you know, she started clapping and cheering for Elmo and Abby! LOL It was so cute. I guess I could call this a really neat "mommy and daughter" moment.
We've been sticking to the plan and sending Sophie to school in underwear. We've been doing this for about 2 weeks now. We let her pick which underwear she'll wear at the beginning of the day - it's always Elmo! LOL Each day has progressively gotten better. Each day that I pick her up I immediately check her out to see if she's wearing different clothes. Sure enough, she always is. Last week she had 2 accidents on M, T and 1 accident on W, Th & Fri. Weird thing is the accidents were poopy accidents more recently and that is something she's never done at home. On Friday we bought Sophie her own little backpack to carry her spare clothes/underwear to school in. Yesterday was her first day taking it to school. I don't know if that was her lucky charm or what, but she didn't have an accident yesterday. She went all day without pottying in her pants. YAY!! Same with today. Two full days of no potty accidents.
We are experiencing potty training success!! Yay Sophie, we are so happy and proud of you! I know there will still be some accidents here and there, but you are really doing a great job. I can't believe my baby girl is using the big girl potty! I have taken you in public also. It wears on my nerves because you using a public potty is just yucky to me, but we deal. You do great, even though you touch everything. Ew. Anyway, I love you baby! We are so proud of you!
Here is Sophie on her way to school yesterday with her good luck charm (her Strawberry Shortcake backpack!)
I read something a long time ago that said if you want to potty train quickly to forgo using diapers or underwear on the toddler who is training. So I decided to try that route a month or two ago. Sophie thought it was really funny to run around as "naked butt." She would laugh and dance around and sing "naked butt" LOL! I only did it for a day or two before putting pull-ups and underwear on. I don't care how weird that sounds, it worked. Before we did naked butt, she would have accidents when she was wearing her underwear, but since the experiment she has not had one accident at home.
Anyway, so although she's pretty much been potty trained while at home for the past several weeks - since I posted the last post about potty training - she wasn't really potty trained at school. She would go on the potty once or twice per day while the rest of the time she would just go in her pull up. One day I realized that she was probably not using the potty at school because she had a pull up on. I guess she considers the pull up as a diaper and not underwear, so the connection for her is to treat it like a diaper. I decided the best way to fix that problem was to send her to school in underwear. Just cold turkey - no diapers, just underwear.
I spoke to her teachers and they said that at some point that is what all parents do. They advised me to pack a bag with a lot of pants and underwear. So I promptly took myself to the store and bought Sophie a bunch of underwear. Up until that point she only had 3 pair. I never thought shopping for my 2 year old's underwear would be fun, but it was! She looks so cute in her little underwear and there were a ton of designs to choose from. I immediately bought the Elmo underwear because for some odd reason she is in love with Elmo (we don't even really watch much Elmo!). I also bought hearts and polkadots as well as princesses. Wouldn't you know, she started clapping and cheering for Elmo and Abby! LOL It was so cute. I guess I could call this a really neat "mommy and daughter" moment.
We've been sticking to the plan and sending Sophie to school in underwear. We've been doing this for about 2 weeks now. We let her pick which underwear she'll wear at the beginning of the day - it's always Elmo! LOL Each day has progressively gotten better. Each day that I pick her up I immediately check her out to see if she's wearing different clothes. Sure enough, she always is. Last week she had 2 accidents on M, T and 1 accident on W, Th & Fri. Weird thing is the accidents were poopy accidents more recently and that is something she's never done at home. On Friday we bought Sophie her own little backpack to carry her spare clothes/underwear to school in. Yesterday was her first day taking it to school. I don't know if that was her lucky charm or what, but she didn't have an accident yesterday. She went all day without pottying in her pants. YAY!! Same with today. Two full days of no potty accidents.
We are experiencing potty training success!! Yay Sophie, we are so happy and proud of you! I know there will still be some accidents here and there, but you are really doing a great job. I can't believe my baby girl is using the big girl potty! I have taken you in public also. It wears on my nerves because you using a public potty is just yucky to me, but we deal. You do great, even though you touch everything. Ew. Anyway, I love you baby! We are so proud of you!
Here is Sophie on her way to school yesterday with her good luck charm (her Strawberry Shortcake backpack!)
Monday, February 16, 2009
Perspective
Last night I was reading a friend's blog and came across her post about a separate blog about a little girl named Cora Paige. I found this blog just after I had posted in our mom thread about what a nightmare dinner time is around here. Let me back up.
For some reason between the hours of 5:00 and bedtime all hell breaks loose around here. I fondly refer to 5:30 as the "witching hour." Sophie generally cries to be picked up by whoever is cooking. It makes it extremely difficult to cook. She doesn't stop and sometimes really goes into hysterics. Tripp used to be as bad, but now that he is mobile (crawling, walking) he is better and will generally play by himself for a few minutes. If dinner isn't on the table by 6:00 we are in trouble. I am not joking!
Dinner starts off like any other family dinner. We put food on the plates, cut up kids food, let them eat. No more than 5 minutes into dinner, Sophie starts getting out of her seat and wondering around. Sometime she wants to feed Tripp, but usually she wants to run around like a crazy girl. It takes a lot of patience to try and get her back in her seat and eating. Eating is a different story. She used to be good at it, but she's entered that toddler stage of always wanting one thing - like chicken nuggets. Ugh. Meanwhile, Tripp is eating his dinner like a good boy but is finishing up. He's a pretty fast eater. When he is done eating he starts throwing food to the ground and banging his head against the highchair. I don't know if this is dangerous, but it sure seems like it is. He thinks it's funny, but it scares the crap out of me. So now we have Sophie crying/screaming because we are making her sit in her seat and Tripp banging his head on the highchair. John and I haven't even started our food yet. It's a nightmare. I hate dinner time these days. After dinner everyone returns to the angels they are. It's really weird.
So back to the blog I mentioned above. Here I am complaining about dinner time and then I read the blog. My life is so good. I have these two beautiful, healthy, amazing children who I love dearly - and who love me - and I have husband who is so helpful, so wonderful, that I really cannot put my feelings for him into words. And then there are families out there dealing with the tragedy of losing a child. It makes my "nightmare" dinner so trivial compared to the nightmare of burying a child.
I felt like such an idiot after I read that blog. This sweet family of 3 were so happy - Mommy, daddy, and 9 month old baby Cora. Cora was just a month younger than Tripp. She was sick with her 3rd ear infection, which is not really uncommon, so they went to the drs. They mentioned 2 other weird symptoms that they had recently noticed and left that appointment with the terrible and tragic news that their daughter had cancer. I cannot even imagine. Just thinking about this again is bringing me to tears. Tears of sadness, anguish, disbelief. How can a little 9 month old be diagnosed with stage 4 cancer? This has got to be one of the worst fears of a parent.
I read this blog just before bed last night and could not sleep. To be honest, I cried uncontrollably and eventually cried myself to sleep. I cried for the family, for the baby that lost her life so early, for me because I lost perspective on life, and for the thought of losing my children one day. Being a mother is the best "job" I have ever had, but it is also the hardest. I am so thankful for so many things. The blog put my life in perspective and made me remember how good I really have it. I've learned that as a parent you are constantly walking a fine line - do you discipline this time or let it slide, do you bargain with this to get that, do you ignore this behavior so you can "pick your battles" and discipline a worse behavior later? I just don't know.
Last night at dinner all Sophie wanted was to sit on my lap and eat my food. This is recurring - she always wants my food instead of hers (even if it's the same) and she doesn't want to sit in her seat. She usually wants to eat then take a break and play then come back and eat ... this could go on for an hour if we let it ... or she simply ones to sit on daddy's lap. Whatever it is, she doesn't want to sit in her chair and eat. We really want her to sit and eat dinner. We don't want to foster a bad habit by allowing her to get up and down at dinner. So we put her back in her seat. If she won't stay, we assume she's done and take the dinner away, unless she says otherwise and gets in her seat to eat. That's how the "experts" say to handle this behavior. However, now I wonder if I should just let her sit on mine or John's lap? How many more years will this go on? Probably not forever. Is this issue really that big a deal? She'll grow out of this stage I'm sure. I think Cora's parents would say to me that I'm lucky to have a baby who can sit on my lap and to cherish this time even if it's not the behavior I want because I don't want to look back one day and wish she were here to sit on my lap. You know? I know I can't think like this every time Sophie does something we don't like, but I can put it all in perspective. I'm blessed with the life I have and I need to remember that. I need more patience and I need more perspective. I certainly gained the latter from Cora's parents. Even after the loss of Cora, they remain strong, thanking God for the short time they had Cora and for using her life positively - affecting people like me and families all over. I know God works in mysterious ways, but it's so hard for me to understand how he works through a baby like this. I know this baby is with God and that's about all that makes me feel at peace with this.
So for now I'm going to remember to be thankful for all the time I have with my babies. To give them even more kisses and hugs and tell them I love them even more than I already do. I'm going to read that 12th book to Sophie when I put her to bed, even though I tell her only 3 or 4 books and after each one I keep saying only 1 more. I'm going to nurse Tripp another few weeks because that is special bonding time for us. I'm going to hope and pray that dinner time becomes less chaotic and try to deal with it with patience until that time happens. I'm going to remember every day how wonderful my life is and that I have the two sweetest babies on this earth. I will remember how blessed I am and I will continue to thank God for that. And, to the sweet family who lost Cora, I will pray for you and for her. I'm truly sorry for your loss. You have reminded me how special life really is and that time with your children is the most important thing in life.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Atlanta Botanical Gardens
I took a ton of pictures. Here are my favorites.
All of the pictures with the brick wall and water feature were taken in the courtyard where we had lunch. The kids really loved this area. There was the prettiest little rainbow that spanned the length of the water. Here is Tripp checking out the rainbow.
Justin and Sophie checking out the water. Notice the rainbow to the left of Justin.
I took this picture when Justin all of a sudden decided to plop down in the middle of the walkway because there was a rock in his shoe. I don't know why I thought this was so funny. I guess because every single person in our group stopped to watch what Justin was doing. Even Tripp was watching!
Cousins and best friends!
Such a sweet picture of Justin. He's normally moving or making faces while playing so it's rare to capture him just chilling.
Summer really loves the kids. She is always ready to help me with one or both of them. This particular day, she was all about Tripp and he loved it! I've never met an 11 year old girl who loves babies this much and truly wants to spend time caring for and playing with them.
All the kids - big and small - loved the slide! They could even see their reflection.
My sweet little man standing up. He is growing up so fast!
One of the many beautiful sculpture/ornamental objects in the garden.
Sophie loving on the girl statue.
Hanging out with Mr. Frog. I told Sophie I was taking this picture for Pop Pop and she actually sat still and smiled for some of the frames.
Tripp poking his head out of the cave (with help from Summer).
There was a really cool tree that was low to the ground with a ton of branches. Justin made good use of it and climbed up it.
Look who I caught being silly - a butterly and a dragonfly a/k/a Sophie and Daddy :-)
Um, I don't even know what to say about this picture. My sweet little angel, my handsome little man. I just love him!!
Sophie hitching a ride with mommy.
The 3 Muskateers!
I think I have the cutest kids on the planet.
Tripp crawling his way up to the top of the 3 story treehouse.
Sophie likes to feed Tripp. Here she is sharing her Goldfish with him. She's very sweet with him and she's starting to act like a little mommy.
Here is that fish/bug thing I mentioned in earlier post. Not sure exactly what it is, but it's cool. And if you look just beyond this sculpture, you'll see some of the buildings that are Downtown. Like I said, this is a little piece of heaven in the middle of a big city.
Tripp's turn to hitch a ride.
The family together at the end of a perfect day at the gardens.
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