Happy 4th Birthday, Noah!

Happy Birthday to the sweetest little boy in the whole wide world!

Mommy and Daddy love you so much. Have a great birthday, Bugaboo!

Noah's First Field Trip

Noah went on his very first field trip (which he had to ride the bus for) on October 13, 2009. The K-3 class went to May-Lan Tree Farm, not too far from the school. It poured down rain the day before, so up until the last minute, we were not even sure we would go. The rain finally stopped the day before. The field trip was a go. Thanks to a suggestion by one of the other moms, I took Noah to Target and purchased a pair of rain boots for Noah to wear since we were told that it would be pretty muddy. (Thanks, Bridget!!)

We were on our way the next morning. It was still a little misty outside and pretty foggy. Oh, and did I mention, cold? Anyway, once we arrived, we all piled onto the wagon for the hayride. After the hayride, the we all went through the maze, which we were a little disappointed in (see picture). Next was the "bat cave." This actually wasn't a cave at all. It was merely a greenhouse tent with plastic bats hanging from the ceiling. The kids enjoyed it, though, and learned a little about bats. Next was the inflatable slide that looked like a huge inchworm. Noah freaked out when we came to this part and decided not to do it. It was not really a big deal. He was not the only one, but wouldn't you know it that when it came time to move to the next area, he decided he wanted to do it. Because all of the kids had their turn, we were not able to go back so that he could slide. This prompted one of his classic melt downs and it just got worse from there.

We moved on to the farm, which Noah was not too interested in. They really didn't have many animals. The pig was about the only interesting thing there. We also did Alligator Alley. This consisted of different raised obstacles the kids could walk over and on the ground were some of those alligator yard ornaments. It was kind of cute. By the time we got to pick a pumpkin and have snack, the melt down was in full force. Of course, Miss Jennifer explains that Noah does not normally act like that at school. To that I replied, of course not, only when Mommy is around.

Once snack was over, I thought we were on the mend. Noah had calmed down enough to drink his juice pouch. We then moved back toward the front of the farm and proceeded to take class pictures. Of course, my kid is not in any of them due to his tantrum.

It was time to board the bus and once on the bus Noah was great. Had to see that coming, right?

Happy 7th Birthday to Makenna

I know I say this every year and will probably continue to say it until the day I die, but where in the world does time go? I can't believe that my baby girl is a whopping seven years old today. She's not a baby anymore, not even a toddler or pre-schooler or even kindergartener. She's a kid and a big kid at that.

Well, no matter how big she gets, she will always be my baby girl. I love you, Makenna. Hope you had a great birthday!

First Day of School...Round 2

Noah had his first day of school on Monday, August 24, 2009. He has returned to SFBCDC and is in the K-3 program this year. His teachers are Mrs. Jennifer and Mrs. Dodie.

Have a super year in preschool!
Mommy and Daddy love you!

First Day of School...Round 1

Makenna had her first day of 1st Grade on Wednesday, August 19, 2009. She is at Mauldin Elementary School again this year and her teacher is Mrs. Jones.

Have a great year, baby girl!

Summer Vacation 2009

What did we do for Summer Vacation? Not much. Most days were pretty lazy and we did a lot of staying at home. As most of you probably know, I work from home, so the kids spent most days just hanging around the house. They caused a huge amount of racket with all of the fighting...I mean, playing...with each other. I had grown accustomed to the quiet around here, so this was surely an adjustment.

We did head down to Litchfield Beach for a few days in July. We usually stay at the Litchfield Inn, but this year decided to try the Litchfield Beach Resort. We stayed in the Bridgewater Building, which was right on the beach. We also had a huge pool and lazy river right in front, which the kids absolutely loved.

Last weekend, we made a shopping trip up to Charlotte where my sister lives. The kids were excited to see Kirstin and spend a little time with her. We did, however, decide to visit the new Ikea store, which was fabulous. Makenna now has some new ideas for her room. Heaven help us! I will have to keep everyone posted on this subject.

It is now the end of August and time to get back into the swing of things.

Kindergarten '08-'09- A Look Back

Field Trip to the Fire Station

Just before school let out, Noah went on his very first field trip. Here is Ms. Julie's and Mrs. Kathy's K-2 class at SFBCDC.

Sleep Walker

A little background...

When Makenna was about 4 years old, we started noticing something about her. She sleep walks!!! It started out as a minor thing...getting up in the middle of the night, opening her door, closing her door and going back to bed. Over the next few months, it progressed into somewhat intense night terrors. She would wake up screaming at the top of her lungs. I would rush to her to make sure she was okay and the look on her face was always the same...blank stare, but screaming hysterically at the same time. We would try to talk to her to try and calm her down, but nothing worked. We basically had to just hold her until she snapped out of it. At first, it scared me to death. I didn't know what to do, but as time went on, we figured out how to handle it. Thankfully, this has completely come to an end...the night terrors, that is.

Even though the night terrors are behind us, Makenna still continues to sleep walk on occasion. She hasn't done anything that she could get hurt doing, or hurt someone else, for that matter. This was our experience the other night. Mind you,the sleep walking is not that funny, but on this occasion, I couldn't help but laugh...

Keith works at night, so I'm here by myself almost every night with the kids. Makenna got up and came into my room and proceeded to my side of the bed like always. She was wrapped up in her blanket and whimpering a little, but no big deal. I told her to go back to bed and she proceded to turn around and do just that. After a minute or two, I decided to get up and check on her. Her bedroom is right across from mine and when I opened the door, I noticed that it was a little lighter in the hall than usual. Makenna had gone back into her room and turned her light on. Now, sometimes she gets up and turns the light on and goes back to bed. So, I opened the door so that I could turn the light off and I found her standing in the middle of her room. She had taken her nightgown off and threw it in the floor and was desperately trying to put on a pair of panties. The funny part was that she already had some on and was trying to put on yet another pair on top!!! After calling her name a few times, she woke up and I took the second pair of undies from her, put her nightgown back on and put her back to bed. The next morning, she didn't remember a thing about it. When I asked her, she looked at me like I had three heads!!!

Makenna, I know that when you're all grown up and read this, you will probably be a little embarrassed, but I couldn't help but tell the story. No matter what, I still thought it was kind of cute.

Mr. Smarty Pants

Keith arrived home a little earlier from work this morning and decided to ride with me to take the kids to school. As we had dropped Makenna off and were headed to pre-school to drop Noah off, this was the conversation in the car:

Noah: "Mama", "Mama"

Keith: "Yes, Noah. What do you need?"

Noah: "No, Daddy...I talk to Mama."

We still have a hard time with Noah due to his speech issues, but there was no mistaking what came out of his mouth on this occasion.

March Madness

This month has proven to be somewhat maddening. Here's what we've been up to...

The month started off with a snow storm. Yes, a snow storm in March. When all was said and done, I think we ended up with almost six inches. This also resulted in two days out of school and a two hour delay the third day. This was actually the first time Noah had really seen snow and understood what was going on. This is our front yard as the snow is falling on Sunday night, March 1, 2009.


Of course, we all know that living in the South, you never know what kind of weather we're going to get. We had the snow storm and the very next Monday what did we do? Noah and I went to the zoo in short sleeves and Crocs with no socks. I think it was even warm enough we could have worn shorts. If this isn't March Madness, I don't know what is!



Finally, the Tooth Fairy paid yet another visit to our house. Frankly, I'm tired of him showing up. Just look at her! In total, we've lost 7 teeth! Thankfully, there are no more visits, other than routine cleanings, looming in our future.


Talk about a crazy month!!

Surgery Day

Preface:

When decidingn to have children, all I could really think about was how much joy they would bring to our lives. It's funny how we imagine what our kids will look like, their personalities and what we will teach them to do. Never once do we think about the difficult times that we as parents will have to go through, and obviously, not every parent's journey is the same. Keith and I recently experienced one of those tough times and I'm glad to say that we made it through, but that feeling that you have when something is happening to your child and there isn't much you can do about it is something I don't wish on anybody. Here's the story...

We were recently at the pediatrician's office...again...to have Noah's ears rechecked after yet another round of antibiotics for ear infections. He's had several, but I wouldn't necessarily say they were excessive. However, there were times when Makenna would be at the office and our doctor would check Noah's ears, just because we were there. Sure enough, there was more than one occasion in which Noah had an ear infection and we didn't even know it. Over the last year or so, we've also noticed that Noah's speech is just not quite up to par for a three year old. Becuase he's with me all day, every day, I could understand a good bit of what he was saying, but everybody else around him couldn't. Our pediatrician suggested we have his speech and hearing evaluated and recommended an organization that would do that for us. I called and the waiting list was approximately six months. So, we wait. In the meantime, the doctor decided to refer Noah to an ENT, just to make sure there wasn't something else going on. I took him to see the ENT and sure enough, he spoke the words I was dreading to hear...Noah needed tubes in his ears and his tonsils and adenoids removed. After evaluating Noah, the ENT felt as though this was a major contributor to his speech issues. So we schedule surgery.

We were scheduled to arrive at the hospital at 6:00 a.m. on Monday, February 9. They told us to just bring Noah in his pajamas and to bring whatever toys he would like. We were all set and comfortable in the pre-op room. When it came time for the nurses to come and get Noah, the crying began...for both him and me. He looked at me with this "mommy, who are these people and where are they taking me" kind of look. At that point, I was a mess.

Surgery lasted only about 30-40 minutes. The nurse came to get us and take us back to the recovery room. As soon as I turned the corner, I could hear him. The noise that was coming out of my son was nothing like I had ever heard out of him before. The poor little thing...you could hear the raspiness in his voice and the more he cried, the more his throat hurt. You could just tell. He had an IV in his hand and a heart monitor on his foot and he was just miserable. The pain that I felt seeing my precious little boy in that much pain and misery was completely unbearable. The nurses were having to take care of me just as much as Noah. We were finally able to get some pain medication in him, after having to wrestle with him (he's a strong little thing) and he finally calmed down. We got settled in the post-op room and for the next three hours, he was in and out of sleep and I don't know how many times we watched Horton Hears A Who.

We are now two and a half weeks post-op. We made it through. It's amazing how resilient kids are. The next morning he woke up with a sore throat, but after a dose of meds, he was good to go the rest of the day. Needless to say, I think the whole thing was much harder on me that it was on him. Our ENT said that he had so much fluid built up in his ears and he just couldn't hear very well at all. Sure enough, his speech is picking up and we're able to understand more and more every day.

The Concerns of a 3 Year Old

Yesterday afternoon, after a three hour typing session (I work from home), I was finally able to take a break. Noah ate his lunch and I cleaned up the kitchen and put in a load of laundry. One of the best parts of my day was about to take place...sitting down on the couch with my lunch and getting my daily Young and the Restless fix. Noah was in the playroom watching cartoons and enjoying one of his favorite things...a sucker. All of a sudden, little feet are running down the hall as fast as they can. He entered the den and the shear concern on his face was nothing like I had ever seen from him before. I spoke to him, but he completely ignored me. I watched for a second and then realized what he was up to...he climbed up in the big arm chair in our den and proceeded to stand up so that he could see in the mirror. He stood there for what seemed like an eternity studying himself. Still without saying a word, he climbed down, made his way over to me and just looked at me with the funniest look on his face. Then he says..."Mama...my mou...is boo!"

Don't we all wish we could sometimes go back to a time in our lives when our greatest concern is what color the sucker is making our tongues?

Tooth Fairy

So, the Tooth Fairy finally made his first visit to our house over the Christmas break. (For any of you who are familiar with The Santa Claus movies will understand why we refer to the Tooth Fairy as a he.) The Lord decided to evoke his sense of humor on us and blessed Makenna with a few "teeth issues". Let's start with the bottom...most kids lose the two middle teeth on the bottom first around ages 5-6. Well, one of Makenna's bottom middle teeth was fused...yes, I said fused, to the tooth next to it. This would be a tooth that children don't generally lose until around ages 7-8. Needless to say, this was a problem. Not only that, but when you looked in Makenna's mouth, you could see her big girl teeth already coming in behind the baby teeth. In comes the dentist. I was dreading this with all that is in me. Makenna, of course, had no idea this would be happening. We told her that Dr. Jen just needed to look and see if everything was okay. Thank goodness the dentist uses gas to sedate the children, although it may have been better suited for me or her daddy! Before she knew it, three teeth were missing. Piece of cake!! There were a few tears shed, but I have to admit that they were mine and not hers. And even with all of the pacing, Daddy was unable to wear a hole in the carpet of the destist office, much to their relief.

As I said previously, Makenna was blessed with teeth issues...plural. On to the bottom. Makenna feels as though she is extra special becuase God gave her an extra tooth on the top. Count the teeth in your mouth. How many teeth are between your canine teeth? Four right...not for Makenna. She actually has five and this is crowding her big girl teeth. Right now, her two top middle teeth and the extra tooth ar loose. Hopefully we can get her to wiggle one or two out before we have to make another trip to the dentist. I'm not sure she would be quite as cooperative.

Anywho...the Tooth Fairy did come by in the middle of the night and replaced Makenna's three teeth with $3.00, which for Makenna was the most important thing anyway.

Merry Christmas 2008

Gingerbread House

Here are a few pictures of the Gingerbread House that Makenna and I built at Kindergarten this year. I went to the school to help the class and had so much fun.