She walks!

This is what Adeline did for about 100 times last night at John and Sherry's house. She was SO PROUD of herself and would clap every time she completed a few steps.

And I do not think it is a coincidence that this occurred less than three days after getting her tubes in her ears! In addition to walking, she's also added several words in the last few days.

Prior to tubes:
Mama
Dada
Hey
UhOh


Since tubes:
ball
Grandma
all gone
bye bye

She DOUBLED her vocabulary in two days! (Not that it was huge to begin with. :)

Cow Appreciation Day

My favorite part is how embarassed Adeline looks in all of these pictures!! Come on, daughter! It's FREE chicken! (The looks could have had something to do with the anesthesia...she had just gotten her tubes that morning.)

3 years and 16 months

I thought that I would kill two birds with one stone and do both checkups at the same visit. It sounded like a good idea and I think I even did it last year for Will's 2 year check up. This year was not as fun for Mom. Although the kids were GREAT, keeping them both calm, entertained, pottied, etc. for 1:45 minutes was exhausting for me! The low point was when I dipped Adeline's leg into the potty while holding her during a potty trip for Will. She wasn't very happy with me! Here's the update...

Will
28 lbs (10th percentile)
35 3/4 inches (10th percentile)

Issues discussed included how he runs on his tiptoes. Doctor said it was fine and that it was just a habit - no tight tendons or anything. Also discussed the fact that he hasn't gained weight since December. He's held steady at 28 pounds. We're watching it - especially given the fact that eliminating dairy hasn't totally solved his tummy troubles.

Adeline
21lbs 9.5oz (25th)
30.5 inches (45th)
Head was 75th percentile!

Discussed her tube surgery and the doctor agreed that it was the right decision - her ears were not infected yesterday, but full of fluid. Discussed how her language should improve with surgery. She says Mama, Dada, uhoh and hey. Just yesterday she tried to say "Grandma!" I think she may also say "thaaaaat" when she points to things, but we're not sure.

But yesterday's big shocker was his concern about her not walking yet at now 16 months! Honestly, I had not been concerned because Will was a late walker. But when he questioned me further about her crawling/walking history, I mentioned how she used to drag her right leg behind her when she first started cruising. We laughed about it at the time, but I figured she'd get past it. Well, after looking her over, he said she definitely seemed to have some low muscle tone in her legs! That explained the leg dragging and the fact that she has yet to even stand on her own. She walks behind a walker, but really has to use the walker for support. At first, he was going to refer us to physical therapy but changed his mind to "wait and see" by the end of the visit. Just encouraged us to encourage her walking - which we already do!

Overall, they're quite healthy and on track! And really, I'm not the least bit worried that my spunky Adeline will eventually learn how to walk and pretty much be unstoppable!

First "surgery"

The pre-op nurse made Adeline a glove balloon with a face. She LOVED it...even more than her (ugly) babydoll that we brought as her "comfort item."

We played peekaboo with the baby and she enjoyed that. She generally enjoyed herself the entire time we waited. I was so thankful!

This picture was just as the oral sedative she got was kicking in. They told me it was to calm the babies and make leaving Mom easier - that she would act drunk and then get really sleepy. The other babies around us all chilled in their beds and were quiet or even sleeping. Not Adeline! She was SUPER loopy and cackling really loudly. She'd try to swipe at my face or give me a high five, miss and then laugh her head off. It was hilarious! But she didn't cry when they took her from me, so I guess it worked!

She did great with the "surgery" which literally lasted as long as it took me to go to the bathroom! She cried and fought coming out of the anesthesia, as expected. But we were home by 8:20am and she napped from about 9am to 10am, waking up in a mostly good mood. We can't complain!

Hey Mommy!

Family Fireworks

On the 4th, I got the last two boxes of sparklers at Target. We enjoyed them that night and even trusted our 3 year old. He loved them, but was a little nervous! Above you can see that he would take his eyes off of it for a picture!

He did well and obeyed all of my safety instructions. ;)

(Adeline was already asleep after a slightly grumpy afternoon. She can enjoy them another night, we have a whole box left!)

Museum 7.4.09

This museum seriously never gets old! We always find something else we've never seen. The kids love it and I do too! Adeline wasn't too sure about this owl that was hanging out near the glass.

Will checking out his sister's brain with a stethoscope.

The "paint" area (its water on a chalkboard - great idea!) where Jacob wrote "Doods" and pointed to Adeline. ("Doods" is the shortened version of nickname Doodle which came from Will making rooster noises when we asked him about his sister. Sounds like rooster, right?)

After the trip the museum, we got CFA to take over to Duke where my Dad was for a short stay. (Nothing eventful, just routine maintenance for his heart.) We ate lunch at the hospital and headed home for naps! Fun morning!

7.4.09

On the 4th, we went to the Museum of Life and Science (again - LOVE that membership) but got there almost an hour too early! So we found a fun playground and the kids enjoyed it! Jacob took these pictures and oddly enough they are all of his daughter!?

She sure is cute!

I hesitate to say it, but she may be more photographed than Will is. But he's constantly running around and harder to catch! Adeline isn't far behind though!

Our tomatoes

We planted them a little late and I'm not entirely sure they'll survive. Don't know if they've got enough soil or not...but they're growing! Thanks for the hand-me-down tomato cages, Lollie and Andy. According to my estimations, we should have some tomatoes by mid August. That's not too late, right?

Backyard Pool Party

It took some coaxing, but Will enjoyed running through the sprinkler!

There were some scuffles in the pool - the golf balls are hot commodities!

What a cutie pie (with her golf ball)!

A little sandbox fun, including digging for golfballs.

circa 1990

I was just spending a minute cleaning out old files on our computer and found some old pictures I had scanned. Even though the above picture is one of the most embarrassing of my childhood - I thought it warranted a blog post for several reasons. They are:

1. My headgear - gah. I hated that thing. I had to wear it to school everyday for a year.
2. My glasses - there is no way that today's cute little specs will EVER be considered as ugly as these things are.
3. The flowered shorts.
4. The cutoff shorts that are shorter than the flower shorts.
5. The gameboy that I'm holding.
6. The bugs bunny shirt.
7. Jamie's socks that don't match.
8. The 8,000 bracelets on my arms.

Hilarious!

The Sprayground

Leah found a nice spot to play. :)

Will was ready to go home on the last day. He was wiped out from a week of lessons!

This is Adeline on our last day when I discovered she was coming down with Hand, Foot and Mouth...we may or may not have shared our virus with the Harmon girls...the jury is still out.

Will loves the sprayground at the Millbrook Exchange Pool! Last summer, we met Lisa and Leah at the Millbrook Pool almost weekly to swim in the kiddie pool and play in the sprayground. That was why we chose there for swim lessons...unfortunately we learned the kiddie pool was closed for repairs the week of lessons, so we only got to play on the sprayground. It was nice to do our lesson, eat a snack and then let the kids run around on the sprayground. Even sick Adeline liked it!

Swim Lessons

Will took his first swim lessons last week at the Millbrook Exchange Pool. These are the only pictures I got, as Will spent most of the week screaming. All day Monday through Wednesday he screamed almost the entire 30 minute lesson. Sometimes stopping to do the skill his teacher asked him to. Thursday was improved and he only cried for about half of the class.

These pictures are all from his last day when he decided, all of a sudden, to stop crying, obey his teacher and have fun! He did request to wear a life jacket the last day (they'd all worn them on Thursday) and that may have helped.

The funny thing is that he is NOT at all scared of the water. Prior to the class (and now almost a week later) he could do almost all the skills being taught in the swim class. I think there was simply a power struggle going on for Will. Not being in control and in a new environment...but luckily his teacher recognized this from day 1 and continued to encourage him despire the screams. In the picture below he is "floating" with the help of his lifejacket.

Since the class, he is back to his old self in the water. Floating in the inner tube...jumping in without help and fully submerging before coming back to the surface....swimming short distances..."swimming" with his swim rings on...submerging himself all the way and sitting on the pool bottom...blowing bubbles out of his nose...kicking and "scooping" the water with his arms...climbing in and out of the pool...basically, he's a fish that was stubborn at swim lessons.

Referred

Yesterday I realized (yet again) how bad the "second child syndrome" is. Adeline has ear infection #6. The last one was at the beach and completely out of the blue - no symptoms, besides teething - which I am CONVINCED is related to ear infections in some kids...but no doctor believes me. :) This infection came on the heels of the Hand, Foot and Mouth virus that she picked up last Sunday at church. After her fever from HFM didn't go away and started creeping higher and higher, I realized it was probably her ears.

Sure enough, her right ear looked "good and angry" according to the doctor....with this one, she finally earned a referral to the ENT. I've known all along we'd end up there - her history of ear infections is just way different than Will's. He's had a few - but spread out over 3 years now and always following major colds.

Back to the whole "second child syndrome" part of my post. I asked the doctor if he thought her delayed walking could be related to ears - he said no. (She's almost 16 months and still not walking. Will was 17 months, but a preemie.) He did say that he thought her language could be related...and I was so caught off guard! Her language!? How did he know she had a language problem? We hadn't talked about this ever before!

He asked me how many words she had and I said, maybe four? Mama, Dada, Hey, UhOh....

I thought this was normal. Until he made that comment, which prompted me to look up Will's progress at this age and sure enough - he had more than 15 words (plus signs) at 15 months old. And at the time - I thought he might be a little slow talking...

Just so you know, the doctor did not say that she had a language delay or problem. He simply said that he thought getting tubes in her ears would cause her language to take off all of a sudden where it has been slow coming thus far. She's nowhere near a delay in that area. She clearly understands much and uses many signs. (Still not as many as her brother did though!)

So, she'll go back to the pediatrician on Wednesday for an ear check and another antibiotic shot. Next Monday is our visit to the ENT and we'll see what they say! I'm just glad that sleepless nights and grumpy days will be behind us now!

Pop Ice

I splurged ($2.50!) for a bag of Pop Ice at Walmart. It's been a hit! This was Adeline's first taste and she's hooked.

Speaking of Adeline, she's enjoyed a few more than I'd normally allow - but the poor thing has Hand, Foot and Mouth (and Butt and Legs) disease. Will has had it several times - and hopefully immune now - so I knew what it was with her.

Will's 3rd Birthday Party

We celebrated Will's birthday last weekend at the home of John and Sherry - Will's third set of grandparents. :) They have a great pool in their backyard and it was lots of fun. John and Sherry were fabulous party hosts and a huge blessing to us! There was lots of swimming, eating food (delicious trays of sandwiches from Lowes Foods!) and presents. There were also about 50 balloons. Will loves balloons and requested them, so John delivered. :)

We were glad that ALL of Will's cousins were able to come to his party! First time this has happened! Elijah and Luke came with Aunt Kendra and Uncle Jamie (my brother). Elijah is the one with the mohawk in the pictures! Sarala, Jackson and Sam were here visiting Gigi and Grandy for the week and we were able to plan to the party around their visit!

Here are the pictures! My camera battery died about 20 minutes into the party, so I didn't get all the shots I wanted. Bummer! Anyways...despite the first pic of the album, Will had a GREAT time.

(One crafty note: In one of the pictures, you can see the banner I made for Will. It is like the one I made for Adeline, but with bright colors. I figured out a faster way to cut out all of the triangles for the banner - a rotary cutter! My new favorite craft tool.)

Thank Goodness it was Chick Fil A kid's night!

The Birthday Cake

I love making cakes and cupcakes for my kids' birthdays. Actually, I don't think I've done a true cake since Will's first birthday! Cupcakes are so much easier to serve, especially to kids. This year's 3rd birthday proved to be one of those events where I had so many ideas in my head (cupcakes that look like beach balls on top) but I couldn't settle on how I would do anything. In the end, I ran out of time making up my mind so I went with simple. Cupcakes with sprinkles and a "sand" (not dirt) cake. Here's what I've learned:

1. White cake allows the cupcake liners to remain their true color. I don't know why I always choose chocolate, only to find that our cute polka dot cupcake liners now look mucky. (Adeline's 1st birthday) This year, I went with white and not only did it not stain clothing, but my cupcake liners were vibrant red, blue and yellow! (beach ball - or balloon if you're Will - theme)

I had planned all along to make a dirt cake in this pail. But then I realized that "dirt" didn't exactly go with our pool party/beach ball theme. So for the very top layer (the rest were traditional oreo) I used graham cracker crumbs for sand and died the pudding part blue. The swedish fish were a bad idea - they look like really large red whales. Not to scale in the least.

The process to get the right blue color for my "water" took quite a while. I had regular food coloring, gel food coloring (the best for BRIGHT colors - try it!) and a neon blue. By the time I found the right blue - I think I had used some combination of all of them.

Too bad today is Jacob's birthday and he's not getting a cutesy cake. Sorry, babe! Maybe I'll make one when you turn 30!

Mac n' Cheese

I think she caught more in her bathing suit than she got in her mouth. It seems like just as Will refined his dining skills - Adeline entered the NASTY phase of finger foods. She uses her whole fist and makes large messes that I do not look forward to cleaning up. (Actually, that's not entirely true. My Shark sweeper makes it a little more fun and satisfying to sweep all that food up off the carpet. :)

Will is 3!

Will turned 3 on Friday! It was a normal day for us - me at home with all three kids (ours plus Ava) and Jacob at work. But we tried to make sure Will knew it was his birthday. He got to use the special plate that I painted myself. Jacob wrote him a letter and left it out. He had his first birthday present at the table when he woke up. (It was the aquadoodle pictured above. So far he loves and we do too!)

Later, during lunch, the mail lady stopped by with a package from Aunt Lollie and Uncle Andy. Will was convinced the present was from the mail truck and he yelled (very loudly!), "PRESENT! THANK YOU!" as I opened the door to get it from our mail lady. We loved the cute outfits, Lollie!

That night we had our annual birthday dinner at Chick-fil-a. Today, Grandma and Grandaddy came to help celebrate since they'll be out of town for Will's party next weekend. Will opened the rest of his presents, ate cake and went out to dinner again! The favorite present is, by far, his wooden train set that we got him. He has cried EVERY time it was time to leave the set (for dinner and for bed).

Jacob also got an early birthday present from my parents -a new Wii game! Will enjoyed playing Daddy's game as well.

And not related to his birthday, but Will is doing GREAT with the potty. He only had one accident on Friday and NONE today! He even pooped on the potty today! He even filled up his sticker chart today - after only five days!

Harmon family

Leah cooled off at the air vent. It was classic!

I got to hold Molly for a while during the reception. She is so cuddly and I LOVED every minute.

Cute family of four! The girls matching dresses were made by Mrs. Harmon (That would be Liz, Matt's Mom - not Lisa :) She's good!

Class Matt face and classic Molly face.

Harmon Wedding

She was the cutest and best behaved flower girl I've ever seen! The wedding was outside at an old house up in our neck of the woods. It was so neat!

Cupcake cake. :) You can see they had a little on of their own out front to cut. The cupcakes were delicious! (At least mine was, it was mint icing on chocolate cake. Oh, heaven!)

The bride and her Dad!

Little Molly was technically a little flower girl to - but it was naptime and she tuckered out on Matt's Aunt Carole.

Harmon Rehersal Dinner

Matt Harmon's little sister, Sarah, got married today! We have gotten to know the Harmon family through Matt and Lisa of course and were excited to be able to attend the wedding and help out with the rehersal dinner. Sarah asked Lisa to do the rehersal dinner at their house! It was a big job, but Lisa did great and it turned out SO WELL! It was a PLEASURE for me to help her, especially with the decorations.

I have to comment on the daisies hanging in the window in the above picture. We set up the night before when it was dark out. I did not like the daisies, but we hung them because we knew Sarah liked them. BUT, when I saw the room in the light the next day, they quickly became on of my favorite parts! So cute with the light coming in the window.

Sarah loves daisies and they have a big significance to a Meredith girl. (Sarah graduated from MC this year.)

These are the place card holders that I made. It's basically a tiny terra cotta pot painted white with spanish moss and a clothespin coming up to hold the name card. They were not too hard and turned out well...at least I thought so!

This picture is to give a shout out to Lisa - who LOVES post it notes. I personally witnessed her use HUNDREDS during our four years of college. She would post reminders for me ALL OVER our room. She also learned (from her Mom! Hey, Chris!) to use them to plan out your serving dishes and space for a party. This is one of the serving tables - covered in post its.

Overnight Fieldtrips...

One of the things I miss about teaching the 6th grade is our annual end-of-year overnight fieldtrip. For a few years we took them all to Charlotte to go to Discovery Place and Carowinds. We'd stay at a nice Embassy Suites and the kids had a blast. I really did enjoy the trips (ok - maybe not the year I was pregnant with Will. I gave birth only a week after the trip and I was MISERABLE...but not because of my students!)

The 8th graders also have a yearly overnight fieldtrip to Washington DC. They always have a great time and I've heard great things about the trip. However, of all the crazy things that have happened to us, this takes the cake! Here is what happened this year on the 8th grade trip:

One of our students left their backpack unattended on the steps of the Capital Visitors Center and caused an evacuation! Here is the article about the evacuation. The evacuation has also reached CNN and Fox News - Hilarious! My reliable source tells me that the FBI called the home of this student and questioned the parents! They identified the backpack's owner by the Wake County library book that was in it. I'm sure it is all the kids have talked about this week and I hear Alex is somewhat of a local celebrity now!

Maybe this situation has given a real world application to our constant pleas for students to keep up with their belongings!

I know it may not have been funny to those teachers and chaperones, but I think it is hilarious! (Sorry, Mary! :)

Since we've been gone...

Here is a brief survey of our last few weeks. We've been busy and I've had ZERO time for blogging. So, in no particular order, since May 19th we've...

played with our cousins,

climbed Jockey's Ridge,

learned how to use a tube to float in the pool (Will),

finished this Wiggles puzzle (and a Sesame Street one) 387 times...

had a few grumpy days while battling a double ear infection,

cuddled with "Uncle Bushes,"

fell asleep during "Dare Days" in Manteo and woke up grumpy,

roasted hot dogs with the cousins...

...visited the NC Aquarium in Manteo,

(twice)

played putt-putt on a big mountain,

played on the beach in Kitty Hawk...

....climbed trees,

practiced for our senior portraits,

gotten a new transmission in the van while out of town,

and visited the NC Zoo with our new membership! Whew, it's been a BUSY few weeks. More pictures and details coming soon.

"I Daddy!"

Will is really into walking around in our shoes lately. These are Jacob's work boots and they are heavy!

And this is how Adeline entertained herself while I cooked dinner yesterday. Usually the cabinet is locked, but when its not she heads straight to it! I had to draw the line at sucking on a decorative icing tube.

And since Adeline was sucking on bottles of dressing and such, Will had to as well.

Fingerpainting

Not appropriate for one year olds! You can see Ava was thrilled in this picture. She hadn't even touched her paint yet. (I think she was mad I put her in her booster without giving her food!)

Will enjoyed himself and did great!

Ava did not enjoy herself! You can see how I helped her paint some. She did not appreciate that very much...

And Adeline just ate the paint. Oops - no more fingerpainting with the babies for a while!

Swinging

We tried to sell this old hammock in our yard sale and it didn't sell. So we decided to hang it up! It's been great for all the neighborhood kids and Will asks numerous times a day to swing. Sadly, I had to take it down the other day. The neighborhood kids ("my friends" as Will calls them) kept ringing our doorbell asking us to referee their fights over the swing. (Not in those words of course.) They would not quit ringing the doorbell and three year old Shane will ring it constantly until you come to the door!

When I went out to take it down one of the girls (6 years old - name is Angel) actually pitched a HUGE fit wailing and crying and told me she was going to tell her Mom on me. When I went back inside, Angel actually stood in front of our bay window and cried and wailed for five more minutes before I went back out and asked her to go home. Sheesh! Luckily, I at least know her Mom...I told her that if she told her Mom that I took down the swing, she should be sure to tell her the part when she cried, screamed and pitched a big fit.

This is why I never taught elementary school!!

Not too shabby!

The original ottoman, purchased at Bed, Bath and Beyond about 3 years ago? Maybe older...Do you see all the nastiness on the top? I've tried to get it out, but it won't budge. Time for a slipcover!

My crafting has reached a new level, reupholstering! :) Seriously though, this couldn't have been easier. (I made it up as I went - favorite thing to do!)

I really wanted to do a pattern on the ottoman and now I wish I had. The solid green doesn't have quite the statement I was looking for. I was too afraid of not matching the striped pillows in the back. Actually, the pattern I had picked out wouldn't have gone with the pillows anyways...Maybe I'll make another one! (Oh - and don't tell anyone that the bottom isn't hemmed. I got lazy and it was the selvedge anyways...)

Other recent projects include this tag blanket for Molly Harmon. It was meant to be her Christmas present, but I never got it done and had a hard time committing to a fabric. :) I ended up doing both sides this pink dotted minky. It was super easy and turned out great! And I think Molly even liked it.