Three

Little man, you are one quarter of the way through your first year.  What's new, my little three monther?

You are our strapping young man.  I'm guessing you weigh around 14 pounds now.  You have completely outgrown the newborn clothing and are about to outgrow your 0-3 month things.  You wear size 2 diapers that hug the adorable rolls on your legs.  You even have the cutest little double chin.  If this trend continues, you will be the same size as your youngest sister by the time you're a year old.

You have such a sweet natured personality.  You love to talk to people.  The first time I dropped you off in the nursery at church, you conned the sweet ladies into holding you and playing with you when you should have been taking a nap.  You are such a little flirt.  My absolute favorite thing is when you see me and your eyes light up while your mouth curls into this adorable little half smile.  It is precious!  You tend to be quite a content little man.  Usually, you only fuss for one of three reasons: hunger, fatigue, or boredom.  The toughest time of the day unfortunately coincides with dinner time.  You seem to have a thing about me being able to sit down and enjoy a meal.  I'm going to savor our time together, though.  Soon enough, you'll be sitting at the table eating along with us.

You are a strong little guy.  You have excellent head control which is necessary since you love to flirt with the ladies.  You are constantly pushing and flexing your legs and abs.  I fear this means you will want to crawl and walk before mama is ready.

You still enjoy hanging out in the sling.  One of the reasons I enjoy baby-wearing so much is that you are incredibly content while snuggled up in there.  I took you grocery shopping last night, and you were happy to people-watch while we strolled around the store.  Maybe you like it so much because you get so much attention.  People just fawn over you while I carry you around.

I suppose that is what has developed over these past few weeks.  Please enjoy this video.  It is one of my favorites for obvious reasons.

Oh, how I love this sweet little man!

Some Days

Some days, parenting is really hard.  You know those days where you put your two year old on the potty and wait and wait and wait for her to use it.  You finally let her up after an unsuccessful half hour, and within five minutes, that same two year old tee tees all over the floor.  sigh

But, then you have days like today where you realize how blessed you truly are.  See, we were out late last night watching fireworks at our local park.  The girls didn't get into bed until close to midnight.  Stinky, tired, yet overstimulated girls out way past their bedtime.  You can imagine the fun we had putting on pajamas.  You know how as an adult, if you go to bed late, you sleep in?  That doesn't apply to my little ladies.  They were both up at the usual hour ready to be fed, clothed and entertained.  Thankfully, the little gentleman slept in.  I managed to occupy them all morning, kept them entertained and fed, and even got them bathed.  I'm sure this seems like no big deal to most people.  Truly, on a normal day, this would be cake.  But, for those of you who may not know me in real life, I'm pretty sure I'm the inspiration for that mattress commercial with the grumpy mama bear.  'Nuff said!

Anywho, the little ladies were almost finished eating lunch when the little gentleman realized that he had failed to interrupt this meal.  (My babies have all had a knack for knowing the exact moment when you sit down to eat.  That is the exact moment that they realize they are starving. STARVING!)  So, I told my little ladies to finish eating, put away their plates, and go to rest time. I was off to nurse little man in the comfort of my own bed. I had no doubt that they would obey, but what I didn't know would happen absolutely made my heart burst.

See, we have a video baby monitor in the girls room.  It gives me great peace of mind having it because it is necessary to check in on baby ninja while she plays in her room.  (After all, she earned that moniker for a reason!)  After they finished eating, Cora and Carys both traipsed into their room where I can hear Cora talking on the monitor.  She takes baby ninja, puts her in the bed and reminds her "Okay Carys, it's rest time!"  She heads over to the closet and turns on the fan.  Before she leaves, she calls out, "Have a good rest time!"  Very gently, she closes the door and headed to the guest room for her rest time.  And, then, my heart melted into a big gooey puddle.

She just amazes me, y'all.  I feel like we walk a fine line with her.  I want her to care enough for her siblings to watch out for them.  But, at the same time, I don't want her to feel as though we expect her to parent her siblings.  For the sake of her sibling relationship, I don't want her to be a bossy pants.  But, I also don't want her to feel like she can't step in and be a leader when the situation calls for it.  Regardless, I'm going to count this as a small success and file this away in my mind for those parenting days that are less like today and more like the first scenario mentioned above.

I can't help but think of Hebrews 12:11.  No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful.  Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.  Normally, I consider this verse in the context of how the Holy Spirit shapes and trains me, yet how apropos it is to this parenting journey as well.  Parents work so hard to shape their children, and we don't always get to see the fruits of that labor on a day to day basis.  But, then, you get that tiny glimpse of how you are training them to become the creature that God created them to be, and it makes cleaning up endless puddles of tee tee worth it.

I am so blessed!

Wordless Wednesday

5

Good golly, Cora!  You're 5!  You're school-aged?!  Inconceivable!

What's new, Coco-loco?

I'm not sure exactly your height or weight, but you are around 36 pounds and 38 inches.  Like your sister, you're a skinny little pickle.  You accidentally put on a pair of Sissy's shorts the other day (sized 18 months), and if they hadn't been scandalously short, you could have worn them quite comfortably.  Is it wrong for me to be jealous of your amazing metabolism?

You are supremely excited about school.  You have told everyone that you will be in kindergarten and that your school is Classical Conversations.  I hope this enthusiasm conveys when we actually start school in a couple of months.  Academically, you are definitely ready.  You know all your letters and have the sounds down pretty well.  You get a little confused with /y/ and /w/, but most others are down pat.  You can count to 39 without help.  You need a little bit of assistance remembering what comes after the 9s, but if I remind you, you will count all the way to 100.  You can create an AB pattern, and you notice other patterns as well.  We will work on more complex ones this year.  You definitely have a solid foundation to build upon.  My only concern is how you will take to the structure we will have to implement.  We are both accustomed to doing what we want, when we want.  Having school every day will be an adjustment for all of us.  

Your motor skills are progressing.  You can write your name, and you can draw pictures.  You love to draw people, rainbows and the sun.  You still have some difficulty gripping the writing implement, and therefore, your penmanship is a bit wobbly so to speak.  But, it is definitely getting better.

You are a social butterfly.  I'm convinced that you have never met a stranger.  You love other kids and adults alike.  Just yesterday, you informed a random parent at church, "My birthday is tomorrow, and I'm going to be 5 years old."  Much to your daddy's dismay, you adore one of the neighborhood boys.  He's a few years older than you - I'm guessing he's 8 or 10.  And, in your oh-so dramatic fashion, you informed me today that you really miss Morgan.  I'm pretty sure your father will need one of these in the next 10 years or so.

You still love dinosaurs although you have branched out in your interests.  They range all over: princesses, animals, the food guide pyramid, planets, sports (currently baseball and basketball), Spanish, music, and on and on.  Speaking of music, you share your dad's proclivity for techno.  I'm sure it warmed Daddy's heart the other day when you asked if he could play some more Deadmau5.  

You still tend to be a very picky eater.  We have been much more diligent about making sure you try the food that is given to you.  After all, this mama is not a short order cook.  You have discovered that you do in fact like some more things.  Your new foods are tortellini with peas, hot dogs, carrots, and cereal with milk.  

You continue to take gymnastics.  Recently, though, you told me that you wanted to take ballet class.  Your gymnastics ends in August, so after swim lessons, you will get to choose whether you will take a dance class or continue gymnastics.

You are an amazing big sister.  You are incredibly sweet to Carys, and you absolutely adore little Jackson.  You love to make him laugh and smile, and he returns the affection in spades.  You are a blessing to them and to us.  We love you and are so proud of our crazy girl!

2 1/2

Carys!  You're 2  1/2!  Everyone tells new parents how quickly time flies when you have your first kid. What they don't tell you is that it speeds up exponentially for your second!

What's new, little pickle?

You are still a tiny little thing.  I'm not sure of your exact height or weight, but you wear 18 month clothes comfortably.  I'm guessing you're around 23 lbs and 32 inches.  We will find out for sure at your well check in a couple of weeks.  

Despite your size (or maybe because of it), you are a feisty little thing.  Once you get an idea in your mind, you are not deterred by anything - including logic and reason.  This includes surprising feats of daring.  It seems that you must learn the hard way that not all furniture is a suitable jumping off point.  You consistently have bruises, but that does not deter you.  I love your ability to get right back on that horse, so to speak.

You have become quite the conversationalist.  I was pretty sure you were going to be the strong silent type, but it turns out you were just holding back on us.  You have the cutest little voice.  Very tiny and high pitched unless you are angry. Then, your voice is not so tiny!  Your conversations crack me up.  You mostly speak to me about food.  It goes something like this:

(Me in the kitchen trying to sneak a snack without you knowing)

Carys: What dat, mama?  Whatchoo put in your mouf?

Me:  (sighs and names said food)

Carys:  I wanna twy dat!

You see, I was trained by your pickier sister and am unaccustomed to having to share!  You do enjoy trying new things.  You love carrots and cucumbers. You love strawberries, blueberries, bananas and yogurt.  And, you'll eat most anything I cook for dinner especially if it is on my plate.  You could have the exact same thing on your plate, and yet you insist on eating mine.  I should start putting my food on your plate!

Speaking of your elocution, you have quite an extensive vocabulary, and you are able to speak in long and complex sentences.  You still struggle a bit with your articulation, and therefore, we sometimes have to ask you to repeat yourself many times.  Thankfully, I am told that the sounds that you are struggling with are totally normal for your age.  

You love to sing.  You warmed my heart the other day when I heard you singing a Casting Crowns song over the baby monitor.  I love when you and Sister sing together.  It won't be long before you will be in the children's choir, too.  

You adore your big sister.  I'm not sure how your going to handle it next week when Sister is at VBS all morning.  You've really only been apart from her once, and you spent most of those couple hours asking, "Where's Shisher (sister)?"  It was so sweet and so heartbreaking all at the same time!  You gave her the biggest, sweetest hug when she got back home.  

You're mostly ambivalent toward your little brother.  You have, however, taken to mothering Perdita and the other animals and babies.  (And, yes, you are still totally in love with that little pup.)  I can no longer keep diapers on the changing table because you will take them to put on all your animals.  You love to give a bottle and to feed the babies.  It's very cute.  

We just love your sweet and complex personality.  I can't wait to see how you grow and change over the next six months!

Two

Little buddy is two months old...

Shut up!

I know!

I can hardly believe it, myself!

We have ourselves in a nice little routine at this point, so even though the days can sometimes seem tough, the weeks rapidly slip by.  What's new Baby Jack?

You are my chunky little thing.  You have gained another almost two pounds since your last weight check.  You are up to 11 lbs, 8 oz (40th percentile).  You are 3 lbs, 9 oz over your birth weight.  You are 21 inches (5th percentile).  This cracks me up because on paper, it would seem that you are a chunk.  But, you are still quite a skinny little guy. No adorable chunky rolls for me to squeeze, yet.  Your head measures 41 cm (95th percentile).   Giant brains!

You are a social butterfly.  You have been cooing and giggling for quite some time.  You love to talk to people, and you have the sweetest little smile.  I love when you give me your open mouthed grin and show off your dimples.  You love to have a conversation right after you eat.  You will smile and coo at me as if I am your absolute favorite person in the world.  (I'm pretty sure I am!)

You hold your head up very well.  You really like to look around and see what's going on.  You do love to be held up by my shoulder.  But, you also love to lay across my arm while I hold you.  You're just a sweet little cuddle bug.

So far, you are pretty laid back.  You have your little routine that you like to stick with, but you are content to hang out in the sling if we're out and about.  In fact, the sling has become my best friend since usually, you will fall asleep pretty quick once you are snuggled within it.  (Forgive the picture; It's harder than I thought to take a selfie with a DSLR while wearing a baby in a sling.  Little man was just on the verge of getting seriously irritated with me!)

You survived your first trip to the beach.  This sums up your enthusiasm for it.  You slept through the pool; You slept through the beach; You slept through the aquarium.  But when you weren't sleeping, you were cuddling with your grandparents.  I don't think you minded missing out on the attractions.

I guess that sums it up!  You are our sweet little buddy.  We can't wait to see how you grow and change over the next month!

Cora's Kidisms: Brutal Honesty Edition

Cora just naturally possesses a very tender heart.  She very rarely says anything ugly or mean-spirited.  And, to my best recollection, anything untoward she has said has never been directed at any person or thing.  She has an innate ability to be genuinely happy for another person's good fortune and achievements.  And, she is very quick with offering praise.  Believe me when I say I am not mentioning this to brag about my superior parenting.  Far from it actually.  She most certainly did not get this tenderness from her mommy.  I pray often that I don't do anything that would ruin this trait in her.  All that being said, witness a conversation that took place as we were looking at pictures of our family the other day.

Me: (to John)  You look really good in this picture!
Cora: (turns to John)  Dada, you look good! (turns to me) Mommy, you're wearing a blue shirt.

le sigh

At least she is honest.

Carys' Kidisms: Language Explosion Edition

So, Carys is talking up a storm.  It was like the switch flipped over night.  I was a little worried about her because it seemed to take her so long to start talking.  She's kind of stubborn like that, though.  Not sure where she gets it from...

Anywho...when Carys did begin talking, her articulation was (and still is) very muddled.  I brought it up with Dr. Mitchell because I was concerned that she couldn't hear us well.  We were referred to the audiologist just to make sure everything is hunky dory.  Knowing how well Cora handles such things, I was a little wary of how this was going to pan out.  Fortunately, Carys did swimmingly with the hearing test.  Her hearing seems a-ok.  But, because nothing can be simple when it comes to my little drama mamas, the visit with the ENT was awful.  All he wanted to do was check her mouth for any physiological issues that may be inhibiting her articulation.  All she had to do was open her mouth.  Yeah, no.  Not gonna happen.  Little missy clamped her mouth shut so tight that I don't think even dynamite would open it.  le sigh  Naturally, we did not get the all clear from the ENT, but I guess we can revisit that if her articulation doesn't improve with age.

All that to say, we are still working on clear pronunciation and speech.  Fortunately for us, this does not keep our little chatterbox from expressing herself.  Her vocabulary is actually quite large for a not yet 2 1/2 year old.  It's just that for the most part, I am the only one who understands her.  Still, she makes me smile when we have a conversation.  For example, when you ask her who she is, she wrinkles up her nose like a little bunny and exclaims "Shishy!" (That's Sissy in Carys-ese.)  Once I asked her, "Are you crazy?"  She creased her sweet little angry brow and exclaimed, "No! I Shishy!" I couldn't help but giggle.

From what I've noticed, Carys has the most difficulty with hard c's, hard g's and r's.  So, for example, if you ask her what is her name, she will say "Tawys."  Or, she will say "tootie" instead of "cookie" unless it is an oreo.  Apparently, oreo and cookie are mutually exclusive terms.  Yesterday, I told her that if she's through with the cookie, then throw it away.  She responded in her sassy, little two year old voice, "It not a tootie. It a ayo (oreo)!"  Mmmmkay!

One of Carys' favorite things to talk about are her bodily functions, specifically passing gas.  (Yes, we are that family.  Fortunately, Jackson will fit right in!)  She will grin and tell you, "I doot (toot)!"  She will also point out if anyone else does.  Apparently, some of the grandparents learned this fact the hard way.  There are no secrets in toddler world!

Needless to say, we're enjoying her charismatic, comedic personality now that she's more verbal.  I'm sure she's going to provide much blog fodder in the future!

One

Little man is one month old...already.

I just have to let that sink in for a moment.

Wow!

Anywho...what's going on, little buddy?

First and foremost, you are in a decent night time routine.  (insert Hallelujah Chorus here).  You usually go to bed around 10:30.  You wake up once around 2, and again around 5:30.  This is a pleasant change from your youngest sister who felt like she needed to wake up about every half hour to hour.  Mommy appreciates this!

You weigh a little over 8 lbs according to our most recent weight check.  Like your sisters, you seem to have a very efficient metabolism.  At four weeks, you were only 4 oz over your birth weight.  While I appreciate the fact that you are light as a feather when I carry you in your carseat, I really want you to be our big strapping boy.

I will say, though, that you seem to be on the upswing as far as weight gain.  As I have recently begun an intense course of study at the prestigious Google School of Medicine, I was able to recognize your tongue tie and get it taken care of.  That was not a particularly pleasant experience for either of us.  You will not remember it, but I certainly will.  shudder After your frenotomy, you seem to become a lot less frustrated while eating.  I'll take that as a good sign.

Now that your tongue has a full range of motion, you smile all.the.time.  You've always been a pretty social baby, but now you are so much more expressive.  You love to show off a big toothless grin when  someone holds you and talks to you.  You have occasionally even cooed and gurgled in response.  You even giggled a little bit today.  It makes this mama pretty happy.

Just like everyone predicted, you are my little cuddle bug.  You love to nestle your head right against my shoulder.  Usually, your little face is pointing at my face.  You will snuggle and stare at me.  I hope you don't grow out of this too quickly!

You are still in that newborn stage where you need to be held most of the time.  You will tolerate short stretches of time in the bouncy chair or on your play gym.  But, for the most part, you prefer to be in someone's arms.  Thankfully, you love to be in the sling.  You try and try to stay awake, but you always fall asleep since you are snuggled up next to my heart.

You are adored by your biggest sister especially.  She always wants to kiss you and talk to you.  She even sings you sweet lullabies when you cry.

This picture makes me giggle.  You look a little frightened at Sister's attention. If she doesn't smother you with sisterly care, you will definitely grow up and appreciate her affection.  

We are so thankful that you are our little man!

So, A Lot Can Happen...

...in almost three months.

As you can see, I am terrible about keeping New Year's resolutions!  We haven't exactly been bumps on stumps for the past few months, but for some reason, I've had major blogger block.  I'm working through it.  Seems like it might require intensive therapy, but the sleep deprived nights I'm having may inspire more productive late night internet usage.  I guess we'll see.

I digress...

In much more interesting and important news, as of Wednesday, our family is now a party of five. Little Mr. Jackson Josiah decided to arrive in dramatic fashion on April 10th.  (Clearly, with his flair for drama, he will fit right into to our little zoo!)  It was a crazy whirlwind of events to get him here to say the least.

We started the process with a power outage at around 10:30 on Tuesday night.  Apparently, there was a pretty bad accident where a car completely took out a power pole.  Because I have a bit of 'princess and the pea' syndrome, I couldn't sleep without my a/c, noise maker, security alarm, etc.  Thankfully, the power came back on about 3 sleepless hours later.  It didn't really matter, though, because just about an hour later, my water broke!  After calling Auntie Linda to come stay with the girls, we headed in to the hospital.

Everything was pretty routine for a while.  There was some concern when we got there that little man was breech.  But, a quick ultra sound confirmed that he was actually in position, but just very high up.  So, we labored as usual.  My goal was just to get to the point where I could have my 'spinal miracle' as John called it.  Soon enough, though, it all started to get a little crazy.  My contractions refused to become regular, so protocol is to administer pitocin.  But, little man refused to tolerate the pitocin, and his heart rate would dip dangerously low and recover very slowly.  The nurse would turn off the pit to make Jackson happy, but then my contractions would taper off.  Big time labor catch-22! Then, when it was finally time to push, little man hated that even more.  Hearing his heart rate dip and seemingly stop on the monitor made my blood pressure and heart rate skyrocket.  It was nerve wracking to say the least.  Both my labor nurse and doctor commented on how many gray hairs this little guy was giving them.  After a few more minutes of little man giving everyone heart palpitations with his antics, my doctor determined that the best course of action was to go ahead with a c section.

Oy!

Honestly, folks, that was my absolute worst fear.  I was terrified to have to have surgery.  I am so thankful for John whose first thought and action was to pray for us.  I know that people like to say that God doesn't give you anything you can't endure.  But, especially after this scenario, I must say I disagree.  While I did make it through this, it was because God carried me through it.  I am confident that I would be a mess without His loving hands upon me throughout.

The craziest part was that the drama did not stop once we arrived in the OR.  Little man kept up his heart rate shenanigans, so my doctor had to begin the procedure before even John could get in to be with me.  Then, when she tried to get him, he actually squirmed away from her.  On the second try, he flipped breech!  Little man was born feet first at 4:04 pm on April 10th.  He came into the world screaming his sweet little head off.

Music to my ears.

Weighing in a 7 lbs, 15 oz and 20 inches, let me present Jackson Josiah.

Drama!

(We wouldn't have it any other way, though!)

We've been home from the hospital for three days now.  The adjustment is not easy, but it's so worth it.  We adore this little guy, drama and all!

Running

Sometimes I can hear a song a thousand times before the meaning really hits me.  And, then when it hits me, it's that awesome moment of clarity, a powerful a-ha moment.  I've mentioned before that I'm not the greatest singer in the world...though after watching the latest American Idol auditions, I'm certainly not the worst either!  But, I do love to sing.  And, I find that a lot of worship music really speaks to me in a way that often just hearing a message does not.  On Sunday we sang Forever Reign.
(Oh) I'm running to Your arms
I'm running to Your arms
The riches of Your love
Will always be enough
Nothing compares to Your embrace
Light of the world forever reign.
And, I started to visualize what it would be like to actually run to Jesus' arms.  You know, to literally run to the arms of my Savior.  It's hard to imagine what kind of joy you would feel.  Suddenly, I was thinking about my sweet babies.  I love that feeling of coming in the door after being away and hearing little feet running and little voices shouting my name joyfully.  I can barely put my things down before I have two little torpedoes barreling toward me.  John doesn't even make it through the door anymore.  Cora has learned to recognize the sound of his truck pulling into the driveway.  As soon as he turns the truck off, she and Carys shoot out the door rain or shine to greet him.  It's not that their day was terrible or that they had spent the day anxious for his return.  It's more so that at that moment, they recognized something was missing.  Something special.  Something safe.  Something that provides and protects.  Something loving and kind.  And, at that moment, all they know is the need to be in those arms.  Nothing is going to keep them from those arms at that moment.  I remember one time when Cora was around 2 years old.  John had to be away for some training; we hadn't seen him in a couple of weeks.  When he came through the door, she could not get to him quickly enough.  She buried her head in his neck and just hugged him as tight as her tiny little arms could manage.  When I tried to hug the both of them, she quite literally just pushed me away.  She was not about to let anyone or anything interfere with her being in his arms.  You see, while she was there, she felt secure and complete.

It's not that John and I don't get a charge out of that kind of devotion, too.  One of my friends told me once that having children is like having your heart walking around on the outside of your body. Isn't that the truth!  Honestly, I had no idea the kind of aching love that you feel for those little selfish, egocentric, helpless and needy, yet in every way amazing creatures.   Having my children scramble to see me after I've been away is pure joy.  It is almost unfathomable to think that God in heaven feels the same way - except, in that case, it is not He who has been away.  He is constantly there; I am the one who thinks I need to do it on my own.  The really fantastic part is that when I recognize that I can't, I don't have to wait for Him to pull in the driveway or come through the door before I run to Him; He is always close.  He is always there with mercy, grace, security and love.  He is constant.  And, even more than that, He feels joy when I draw near.  Imagine that!  The Creator of this universe feels joy because of me!  It begs the question of why I feel I must ever be away?  Well, I'm human, and I'm stubborn, but I hope that one day I will recognize that the security of that embrace is more than anything this world has to offer.  Until then, I guess I'm going to keep on running.

Art

This past weekend was a little touch and go for me.  Apparently, I am highly allergic to the world around me (at least in its current season).  For those of you who are unfamiliar, in this part of the world, it is cedar season.  If you've never heard of cedar fever, please take my word and count your blessings.  It's not necessarily a painful affliction, but it is the type of illness that makes you want to punch yourself in the face just to get some relief from the itching and burning.  It looks like claritin will be my new best friend until late February.  sigh

Cora was being super sweet and took it upon herself to draw me a get well picture.  This was her masterpiece.

Y'all, I was so excited.  For most 4 1/2 year olds, this picture would be no big deal.  But, for my little girl, this was nothing short of a masterpiece.  One of the manifestations of Cora's sensory processing disorder is a motor skill delay.  So, the fact that she actually drew me a picture (of a rainbow - see the colors! :D ) is really exciting for me.  I love the fact that she drew straight, strong lines.  John helped her with writing my name, but everything else was all Cora.  Go girl!  I'm looking forward to more art soon!

{Way Back Weekend} It's A...

When we first told Cora that she was going to be a big sister for the second time, her response was something to the effect of "Ya, you have baby Carys in your tummy."  We had to clear that little misconception up pretty quickly.  Still, she insisted that her new sibling was definitely a girl.  In fact, she named the baby "Jewel."  She was completely adamant about it.  In fact, when we asked her what if baby is a boy, she did reply with an enthusiastic "That would be great!  But, it's a girl!" People, she had me believing....

Then, we went to the anatomy scan.  Yup, we're pretty certain that this little baby is in fact a....BOY!  What a shock!  Even John was a little bit taken aback.  I think Cora had us both believing that we only make girls.  We're pretty excited, though, about meeting this little man.

I will admit that I had a bit of a panic attack thinking about having a boy.  My formative parenting years have been filled with girls.  But, it recently occurred to me that this must be the same type feeling that John went through when we found out Cora was a girl.  And, John is an amazing dad.  That gives me great hope that I can rise up to the challenge of being a great mom to a boy.  Thankfully, God gives me my children as babies so that I can grow into my role as a parent.  I'm sure when little mr. Jackson (middle name tbd) gets here, these worries are going to seem so silly and unnecessary.  Can't wait to find out!

{Way Back Weekend} A Birthday Treat

Cora's 4th birthday very neatly corresponded with the release of Brave.  So, it seemed that Cora was meant to have her first theater experience for her birthday.  To make it even more special, we invited one of Cora's oldest friends, Eliana, to join us.  And, if you're going to a movie for your birthday, you must have some popcorn.  Am I right, or am I right?!

Cora and I really enjoyed the movie.  In fact, Merida and Cora share a lot of similarities.  I was thankful when she received the dvd from Mema and P-pa for Christmas.

After the movie, we had a ladies' lunch with Ms. Susy and Eliana.  Unfortunately, we waited a little too long to try to get a couple of pictures of the girls.  This was the best we could manage.

Such happy campers!  From this picture, you would think that we just fed them spinach and made them clean their rooms rather than wining and dining them all morning.  It was a fun day even if the picture speaks otherwise!

Two Year Well Check

Today was Carys' two year well check.  I learned my lesson to not schedule well checks before Christmas when Cora was 6 months old.  Vaccinations + holiday mayhem = a difficult holiday all around.  And, yet, I was still dreading having the appointment.  I think I may still be a little gun-shy after Cora's memorable 4 year appointment.   Blessedly Cora was invited to some friends' house this morning, leaving me to take Carys by herself.  (Thanks, Rose Marie, Ruth, Erin and Vivi!)  It turns out that Carys was actually current on all her immunizations (sans the flu shot which we do not do).  So, that was an unexpected bonus.  Pretty much everything checked out as normal even her weight.  (Whew!)  She is up to 21.5 lbs and 31 inches, still clinging to the 3rd percentile.  However, her BMI puts her in the 15th percentile.  I'm not sure how that works, but I'm happy that Dr. Mitchell was happy with her weight.  Bebecita did manage to gain 3 lbs since her last well check.

I did have one small concern that I mentioned to Dr. Mitchell.  Sometimes, I'm fairly certain that my background in early childhood education and child development may put unnecessary thoughts in my mind. Nevertheless, I would rather take care of a problem now than wait and have a problem progress.  Anyhow, I have mentioned before in ye olde blog about Carys' speech or sometimes lack thereof.  Though she is a little chatterbox now, her articulation is a bit of a concern for me.  I can probably understand about 80% of what she says, but I am with her all.the.time.  I don't think most others can understand her nearly as well.  My concern is that she's not hearing properly.  I know she can hear.  She responds to her name and to questions.  She can follow complex commands, but  she seems to have some atypical patterns of speech (at least from what I can tell).  For example, she often substitutes several different initial sounds in words with the /d/ sound.  (e.g. 'deemas twee' for Christmas tree; 'Denny' for Penny).  I worry that perhaps there is some sort of issue inside her ears that makes her hear differently.  Dr. Mitchell was not overly concerned, but suggested that we visit a pediatric audiologist simply to make sure that everything is hunky-dory in those sweet little ears.  Most likely everything will check out just fine, but I'll be thankful for the peace of mind.  Then, the best news of all will be that she is in the clear until her next well check.  Praise be to God for our healthy girl!

Resolved

I'm usually not one to make New Year's resolutions.  It's not that I necessarily have something against them; it's just that I feel like I shouldn't have to wait until the beginning of the year to make a change in my life. Furthermore, it's like I have some sort of psychological block specifically against New Year's resolutions.  I just can't seem to keep them up. However, this year, I do have one specific idea that I'm going to work hard to maintain.  This blog is basically my online baby book for the girls - really, it's more like my love letter to my children.  So, my goal is to stay current with this blog.  And, to stay current, I have to get caught up.  In other words, you may see a lot of flashbacks interspersed with our current happenings.  Look for our "Way Back Weekend" posts to find out what we've been up to for the past six months.  Now it's out on the interwebz...hopefully this small measure of accountability will keep me current.  After all, this mama's love still grows!

Road Trip!

This year was our year to spend Christmas with John's family.  We decided to take the big journey up to Virginia to see John's brother and his family.  As we refuse to do plane trips due to a certain fateful red-eye from Alaska to Texas, this meant ROAD TRIP!

Folks, I have never been more thankful for John's technological (dare I say it) genius!  Witness a sample of the arrangements from within the car.

That is just a small sample of the wiring John finagled.  Here is what he wrote about it, "For the trip, I installed a new head unit, mainly to connect all of our smart devices (was really tired of the fm modulated junk), hard wired an inverter to the battery, decorated the luggage rack with led Christmas lights, installed radios to communicate with my small caravan, bought BT headphones for the kids to listen and play with their iPad/DVD player, installed sat radio, while using my phone as a wifi and using navigon on my iPad for navigation.  But, probably the highlight of the tech trip was pushing Carys' movies from my iPod located up front to the DVD player in the back so we don't have to get out of the car or stretch over the backseat to change movies." So, umm, ya, he did....that.  Between that and the large box full of a variety of snacks, the actual driving was pretty easy - especially considering that this 3000+ mile round trip involved a 2 year old and a 4 year old. The main limitation was that we had to stop for lunch pretty much exclusively at restaurants that had attached playgrounds.  I'm pretty sure that I'm not going to eat McDonald's ever.again.

Once we arrived in Virginia, Josh and Amy had a house full.  6 adults and 5 kids, 5 and under.  It was like contained chaos, but the kids had a blast.  The neat thing is that for a short time every year, all of the cousins thus far will stair-step as far as age.  Dawson is 5; Cora is 4; Audrey is 3; Carys is 2; and Ryan is 1.  

This is the best picture we could get of the 5 of them.  Like herding cats, folks!

It was so much fun listening to the kids playing together.  Surprisingly, we had very few problems, especially considering that the kids only get to see each other once or twice a year.  The main difficulty was getting the kids to go.to.sleep!  The three bigs had a slumber party every night, and it was pretty hard to rein in the giggles coming from their room.  Though, if that is the worst we have to deal with, we are pretty lucky!

Our drive home was quite an adventure.  We were blasted with the very southern tip of the huge winter storm that graced the Northeast.  It took us 12 and a half hours to get from northern Virginia to our hotel in Knoxville, TN.  I am pretty sure that a very valid way to increase this completely Southern girl's total trust in God is to spend 12 and a half hours in the car driving through 500 miles icy snow and sleet.  Thankfully, we arrived safely. The next two days were much less eventful weather-wise, thankfully!   Nevertheless, we were so happy to have arrived back at our house on Friday night.  I'm fairly certain my bed has never felt so comfortable!

All in all, it was a lovely trip.  We are so thankful to have had the opportunity to spend it with family.

Two!

Honestly, I can't believe that I am typing this post.  Has it really been two years since you made your surprise appearance in San Antonio?  It has been an amazing couple of years, baby ninja.

So, Carysita, what's new?

You consistently live up to your 'baby ninja' moniker.  You are quick, and you are quiet.  You refuse to let your diminutive size affect your abilities.  So far, we have found you in the bathroom sink (you stacked up two stools to get there), on top of your dresser (you used the drawers as a ladder), on the picture window sill, and on the kitchen counter.  You have now learned to climb up on to mommy and daddy's big bed, so we pretty much have to keep most of the house closed off.  Baby ninja strikes again!
 
You are a little chatterbox.  Your language has exploded over the past month or two.  You have a very large vocabulary, though often Sister and I are the ones who understand you best.  My favorite words that you say are:
peezpah (pizza)
ahrigh (alright)
deemas twee (Christmas tree)
tickiepoo (ticklepoo - a bedtime ritual)

Speaking of speaking, you are a little jokester.  You love to tell knock-knock jokes - well, more accurately, you love to tell one specific knock-knock joke.  And, you can tell that interrupting cow joke with the best of them. You are definitely an enthusiastic comedian.

You also love to sing.  You  can sing the ABCs, Twinkle Twinkle, Old MacDonald, and Jingle Bells, though they are mostly only recognizable by the tune.  You love to sing along with the radio, too.  Your favorite song right now is 'I'm Alive' by Peter Furler.  It's a fun little duet when you and Sister sing it together.

You recently graduated to a toddler bed when we removed the front rail of your crib.  More on that to come.

You are obsessed with shoes.  You love to walk around in anyone's shoes.  In fact, you recently got your feelings hurt when you found out that it is not okay to walk around in other kids' shoes at the playground at Chick-Fila.

You love to watch lah-eee (Wall-e).  On our recent road trip (more on that to come), you watched Wall-e probably three times a day while we were in the car.

You call most animals by their sound.  Our preferred supermarket has large pictures of farms and cows up on the wall.  Virtually every time we pass by the pictures, you yell out "The moo! The moo!"  Your other favorites are "the neigh" and "the woof."

You are a very enthusiastic eater.  You like to try new things.  Surprisingly, you don't mind spicy.  Recently, you convinced daddy to share his sandwich with spicy mustard and pepper jack cheese.  It must be because of the Mexican food I ate right before I went into labor!  Some of your other favorites include cheese, yogurt, steak, fruit, cucumbers, and rice, not to mention kid staples such as chicken nuggets, goldfish, macaroni, and cheese pizzas.

You are our sweet and sassy little girl.  Your eyes shine with a little bit of mischief which makes it hard on mommy and daddy when you are being a bit naughty.  But, you always brighten our lives with your fun personality.  We love you so very much sweet bebecita!

Parenting Fail #24785

If you have been reading this blog for really any length of time, you probably know about Carys' constant companion, Perdita.  

 Perdita made the Christmas photos....

 Perdita made the bluebonnet photos...

And, of course, Perdita goes to the emergency room with us.  

Folks, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that 'Dita' as Carys calls her, gets pretty nasty.  In the past, I refused to be responsible for washing the poor thing.  I did not want to have to deal with the drama.  But, yesterday, I decided to bite the bullet and wash her.  (She's been washed before, by the way, just not by me!)  Now that we have a front-loader washer, Carys loves to put things in there.  (She may or may not have attempted to climb in herself...)  So, I gathered all of the girls' laundry, put it in the washer, and then asked Carys to put Dita in.  She was having no part of that.  But, being the stellar parent that I am and having decided that today was the day to give the poor pup a bath, I grabbed her (Dita, not Carys), threw her in, and shut the door.  

 You can imagine how well that went over.  

I blame pregnancy hormones.

Carys spent the next long minutes sobbing while hugging the washer window.  And, this heartless mama did nothing while Dita spun round and round.  

Actually, I did do something.  I attempted to bribe distract her with her other favorite things.  apples, protein bars, cheese, sister's toys, the phone...

I finally got her interested in The Lion King.  

She seemed to handle the time okay with the movie on to distract her.  But, rest assured, she was not about to forgive me so easily.  After I pulled Dita out of the dryer all fluffy and warm and after Carys gave her the once over, chewed on her ears a little and gave her kisses, she punished me by promptly sticking Dita's face in Penny's water bowl.  Touche, mon petite pickle.  I shall now fully relinquish the dog washing responsibilities to John.

Of the Many Phrases That Involve the Number 3

Three Musketeers?

Third time's the charm?

Three day weekend?

Three Stooges?

None of those seemed to fit...

But, in case you haven't heard, we have a little announcement.  Looks like we'll be keeping up with three little ones come Spring.  This picture is a couple of weeks old.  I am a little over 12 weeks along, allegedly due in April.  I say allegedly because all of my little ones decide to come before their  doctor estimated due dates.   We'll see if this little one decides to continue the trend.  But, I'm definitely thinking to not travel anywhere starting in March.  No more surprise out of town births for this mamacita!