Is she REALLY 3???

Last Monday was the 100th day of school...yep, the day when the 100day projects are due!  I received fair warning from Connor's teacher, and was under the assumption that Aiden's teacher was okay with no 100 day celebration.

Still....we procrastinated until Monday morning!

My creative Mommy gears kicked in, and I found 100 coke can tabs...yes, I drink that much soda pop...and I sewed them onto a piece of paper to make the body of...

TIN CAN MAN!!!

It was 7:35, and I was yelling at  gently telling Connor to, "Hurry and pack your lunch so we can get to the bus on time!" 

 He didn't pack his lunch. 

So, I did...

PB crackers, a juice container, a M&M kudos bar, and prepackaged Ritz crackers...Connor was in heaven watching me throw lots of junk in his lunch box! 

It was 7:40, and Aiden said, "I need a hundred day project too!"

Determined to make it to the bus stop on time (7:56), I threw beans into baggies, 100 to be exact, and he drew...

BEAN BOY!!!

We rushed off to the bus stop and made it on time!

Next...Lydia's 3 year appointment...

She measured  39 inches, the 90th percentile for height...

and 32 pounds, the 50th percentile for weight.

The doctor said she's tall and skinny...perfect!  (I guess Mommy's not so perfect!)

While we waited for the doctor, I looked at Lydia's new boots and said, "Lydia how about we count the HEARTS on your new boots?" I was attempting to distract the girls from all the intricate doctor tools they were so desperate to touch, keep them from the chairs that were their own personal mountains to climb, and to make the computer they so sweetly broke the last time we were in appear invisible to their angel eyes!

Lydia yelled at me, "NO...I DON'T WANT TO COUNT THE HEARTS!"

Okay...

The doctor walked in moments later and assessed Lydia on all fronts...

She spoke with Lydia and said, "Lydia can you count yet?"

Lydia said, "Ya (and she points to her boots)...I can count the STARS on my boots!"

I'm thinking, I guess the doctor can put a big red X through the category SHAPES, she obviously doesn't know that!  BUT...she counted to 12 for the doctor, and as the doctor listened and told me that Lydia is basically the size of a 4 year old, she exclaims, "Is she almost 4? When is your Birthday Lydia?"  She went on to talk about how smart Lydia is, and how we will have full hands with her!

The doctor assessed Lydia's knowledge of her body parts...

She pointed at her nose, her cheeks, her knees (which she had to force the jeans up to show the doctor her little knees), and when she was asked where he MOUTH is, she pointed at me, her MOM!

As she begins her physical assessment of Lydia, I place her on the examining   table, and the doctor says, "Let's see Lydia, do you know your colors?"

Of course, Lydia said "Ya" and went on to call pink "reel", white "....", and blue "grilln".  I laughed as the doctor assured me that it's totally normal for her to not know her colors, and if she did she was going to start assessing her knowledge of the Presidents of the USA.

(I decided to withhold the fact that I was teaching my 3 year old son presidential facts 5 years ago!)

SO the doctor starts to look in Lydia's ears with an otoscope, and she says, "Lydia, what's your favorite thing to do at home?"

Lydia nervously stated, "Play with my ears!" 

Now, you see, the doctor knows I am a PICU nurse, and my husband is a NICU and Peds specialty nurse as well...we talk about out jobs all the time, so when it came time to listen to Lydia's heart, you best be sure Lydia should have pointed to her heart when asked by the doctor, "Lydia, where is your heart?"

Lydia, without hesitation, opened her mouth as wide as she could, took her right index finger and stuck it in her mouth, pointing at her....

heart???

I was doubled over in hysterical laughter at this point, enjoying my favorite well visit amongst all 5 of my children!

When all was said and done, the doctor told her that she would be getting a shot today...she said, "Okay!" as cheerfully as she could!

After her shot, the tears poured endlessly along her little red cheeks.

She was offered a band-aid, and to my surprise she screamed until I removed the band-aid that was placed to comfort an "owwie".  Then it hit me...she had ironically played with a dozen band-aids she found that morning, as though they were just stickers...

She was officially boycotting band-aids once and for all....because when you get a band-aid, it means you really get an owwie!

Maya shocked the doctor as she said, "I wan milk!" while the doctors head was turned in the opposite direction!  When she turned to see the girls, she came to realize Maya was talking, and with a look of disbelief said, "That was Maya???  You guys really are in trouble!"

Lydia cried inconsolably, and on the way out the door, she said, between sobs and tears, "I want mozzarella sticks and a soda!"  We made a Sonic stop...and everyone was happy as can be! 

Lydia's Three...and Sweet as Can Be!

Our little princess turned three Friday!  Three years ago, I delivered her into her Daddy's hands in the middle of a hallway with the ones who adore her most frantically throwing towels, calling 911, and trying to keep kids away from the natural, but almost frightening sight to young eyes!  It was a night to remember...a night given to us in grace after the loss of our son...a night when we heard and felt the Lord reaching out to us through the tiny cry of our baby girl.

Now Little Miss Lydia is three...and sweet as can be!

Her first Birthday request was to have Mimi (my Mom) at her Birthday party.  Mimi is in Mexico! : (

We had cupcakes for breakfast!  The boys were overjoyed when I walked into their room and delivered the announcement that they better get their behinds out of bed if they want cupcakes for breakfast before school starts.  I have never seen my boys hop out of bed so fast...I should do this more often!

Each child presented their treasure! 

 With tired eyes of course!

Oh ya...we had donuts too!

 I dressed Liddy in her new clothes from Christmas time...

And let her dig away at the treats! 

 We braved the winds and went to eat lunch with Aunt Sunny and the cousins at McD's!

 We went to the park...and did her favorite thing (which is my favorite thing too!)...

 I embraced the reality that I do have a triplet...just 2 and a half decades too late!

 And then I watched her brave the big slides alone...for the first time ever!

 When we got home, she changed into her jammies and we all waited patiently for Daddy to come home.

 With her binky close by...we are working on that!

 Daddy arrived with pizza and cake...and we continued our day of yummy delight and indulgence!

 She explored her cake...and allowed me to frugally reuse the striped bag that Aunt Sunny packaged her puzzles, shirts, socks, and purse in.  I also used a bag that I received gifts for her three years and 2 weeks ago on the night of her baby shower.

 Lydia actually practices blowing out the candles before the candle was lit and the song was sung.  She blowed several times and then said, "I can't do it!"  She then looked at Connor and said, "Connor can do it!"  As Connor pretended to blow out an unlit candle, she looked confused, disappointed, and frustrated as she exclaimed, "Connor can't do it!"  I laughed and let her know that the candle has to be lit before you can change it by blowing at it!  She understood only after she blew out a lit candle in one little breath!

 She opened a card Daddy got her that sang a pretty tune from Tangled...we ended up dancing like ballerinas to the song repeatedly through the course of the night.

 Can you see the delight?  She LOVED the song!

 Everyone loved the smurfette house...graciously saved from a late Christmas order.

 When she got through her big striped bag, she pulled out a box.  She lifted it up high in the air, and with eyes as wide as we have ever seen them, she yelled out, "A BOX!!!"  When asked what it was, she excitedly said again, "A BOX!!!"  The boys helped her open it, to reveal her new boots, to which she said, "MOMMY'S BOOTS!"  She was so happy to receive a box, and even more happy to open boots for Mommy...

This is the gift I have in Lydia!

When she found out the boots were hers, she was happy as well...

 She put them on right away....

The following day she woke and immediately placed them on her feet...only after she placed her new socks from Aunt Sunny on!  She also walked around with her new hot cocoa pajama bottoms on her head, giggling and claiming, "I am a lion!" 

 Daddy loves his little girl!

 We tried so hard to call Grandma Fultz with our face time feature...but had no luck...

 So we face timed Daddy instead!

He was a good sport!

When I laid her down to bed, she whimpered.  I told her "It was such a good day honey!"  She said, "It was a good day to call Grandma Mommy." (She wanted to see Grandma so bad.)  Every time I told her Happy Birthday, she would repeat, "Happy Birf-day Mommy.  I love you so much!"

We are so blessed to have Miss Lydia in out lives!

Maya's yearly VCUG

My poor baby woke on a chilly Wednesday morning, confused as to why she was only able to drink juice...no milk, no food, just juice.  She cried and cried, and there was nothing I could do to explain her pretty little tears away.  I held her and prayed for time to pass a little more quickly...

Over a year ago, we found out that Maya has urinary reflux into her kidney; this problem causes her to be on antibiotics every day to prevent an infection of her urinary tract or kidney.  1 in every 100 children are born with this problem...the good thing is that most children grow out of it and are able to stop antibiotics and never face the question of surgery to save their kidneys as they get older.

The bad thing...some children do not grow out of it and must stay on top of the problem diligently in order to save their kidneys.

Maya's first VCUG was when she was 7 months old.

Now, she is 18 months old, and that gave her a ticket to conscious sedation to ease to discomfort and memory of the procedure.

Daddy held his baby girl before while she received her nasal Versed.

She became pretty loopy within minutes...comfortable enough to watch the bubbles that Miss Lydia and I blew as they inserted a catheter for the procedure.  She sucked on a sucker the whole time and nearly chocked from the saliva building in her mouth.

The procedure took about 20 minutes, and I held her tight on the way to the car.  She flopped her head back, laughing all the while...still loopy from the versed.  Within an hour she started to get cranky...and as I very well see in the PICU with my little patients, the meds became annoying to her.  When we got home, she couldn't walk or even sit unassisted in the bath tub.  Every time Daddy's arm let her go, her little body slid into the water like she was lathered with oil.  She slept with me for 3 hours, it was heaven!

Unfortunately, Maya's reflux is still there...same as it was.  We are praying that next year the problem will have corrected itself.  For now, we have a good doctor treating her, and we are loving every little piece of our sweet Maya Ruth!

30 Years For Daddy!

Daddy dear turned 30 a week and a half ago.  I worked Friday night but set out to make it such a special weekend for him...and you can see how we all joined in on making it a year to remember!

The kids loved the icing...all 3 different flavors we used on his cake!

 They literally all joined in and made it a challenging cake to complete!  They were so thrilled be helping me and learning math concepts as we cooked!  It was fun!

And there comes a point when you throw your hands in the air and say, "Have at it!" 

On Saturday morning, I was driving home from work and had the grand idea to make it a Birthday weekend, not just a day!  So, I stoped at Steve's favorite donut shop, picked up the donuts, and texted him a quick note to let him know that this was the beginning of his Birthday weekend!

Aiden got to work making him a crown..."fit for a king", as he would later say. 

We prepared the gifts and adorned them with 30 chocolate kisses!  I think I ate half of them by the end of the weekend!

 I actually tried to make his Birthday dreams come true and asked him to take the afternoon for himself on Saturday to go get his long awaited road bike.  For years now, he has talked about cycling and buying one of those awesome sleek bikes....I made that happen!  No better way to close the third decade and step into the 4th than with a bike that helps him achieve his goals!

On Sunday morning we dropped the kids off at church...

Yes, I said we dropped the kids off at church!!!

And I took Steve to PF Chang's for lunch!

Is that considered a sin??? :)

While there, we received our fortunes.  He got August (my birth month), and I got Winter (his birth season).  Can you say we're quite the match?

We had too much cake, and too many brownies...but the kids loved it! 

Daddy got a couple new outfits... 

Some new shoes.... 

And lots of love! 

Happy Birthday Daddy...we all love you very much!