A Mother's Love

I think I could write a book on the things you do for your children out of love. The kids went over to Mimi and Boo Boo's to play for a few hours, so I thought I would post on this past week. Turner came down with the croup last Sunday, and after getting over that has been left with a nasty sounding cough and a green nose. Other than Maddie, the rest of the family has not gotten a lot of rest. I have spent most nights up and down with Turner, holding him up on the couch so he could breathe easier, putting him in our bed and letting him lay on top of me, and walking around trying to calm him down.
One morning I got him out of his bed at 4 am, having to use the restroom so bad but not wanting to wake up Kevin. What did I do? I got back in our bed and let Turner wiggle all around on my bladder until the alarm finally went off at 4:45! I was about to die, but Turner was comfortable and daddy slept on-the things I do for love:) Turner HATES his breathing machine. He tolerated it the first few times we used it, but now it will even wake him up from his sleep. He screams, he kicks, he screams some more....Kevin and I will hold him down and put the mask over his face and pray that he isn't bruised when we are done-the things we do for love!
We have been there and done all of this with Maddie Mo as well-except for the putting her in our bed when she was a baby. That was one thing I swore I would never do. I thought it was so wrong, couldn't believe other parents did it, and I sure have changed my tune!! Having a baby that doesn't sleep very well has put us in survival mode, and I simply do whatever it takes to get the most sleep possible. It was much easier to be a "know it all snob" with only one child (who started sleeping through the night at 2 weeks old) in the house. Now that we have 2-I would say many lessons have been learned and I definately see many things differently than before.
But...everything that we do for these 2 kiddos is done out of love and we have been so blessed. I can't believe how different the two of them are and how much more enriched our lives are because of them. A day never goes by where I am not amazed or laughing at the silly things they do. They love each other and we love them with all our being. I am going to get off now so we can go pick up our little munchkins and see what the evening brings!

Fun in the Snow!!

Just wanted to post a few pictures of Maddie and her daddy playing in the ice/snow yesterday. I was thrilled Kevin didn't have to go to work, but am now ready for the roads to clear. It is getting a little old being stuck in the house, but we are keeping the kids entertained:) Little Turner has been sick since last Monday and still isn't 100%, so our little man had to watch from inside. I hated that he wasn't able to join in the fun. Maddie had a blast and is wanting to go out again today. She is coughing some, so we shall see....I really don't want her getting sick next. Hope everyone is staying warm and safe!!

Our little Football Player!

I think Maddie is going to be our little athlete, which she inherited from her daddy and Megs, most definately not me. She loves her basketball goal, playing baseball in the summer, and as of this weekend-playing football with a basketball:) Her daddy had a football game on this afternoon and so he started tossing the ball to her. He sat on the couch and she ran back and forth across the den catching and throwing the ball. She had a blast and was taking a water break every 5 minutes of so. She is quite the catcher!! After about thirty minutes, I put a stop to it due to her cheeks being rosy red, sweat dripping off her nose, and she was so out of breath I couldn't believe she was still going. I will say that her little tail was in bed promptly at 7 and asleep by 7:01:) She and I also had a round about pottying right before, so that could have contributed to her instant sleep-it wasn't fun, I'm glad it's over, but I did win the battle. Our little girl has quite a strong mind and personality-the teenage years are going to be interesting. That post is for another day though. Here are some pics of our little football player.

Turner's Play Time

First of all, over the weekend Turner has taken off with his walking. We have even see him try to run a little bit. It is the funniest thing. It shocks me when I see our little man walking into the kitchen with his sippee in his hand. I can not believe it is already time for him to be walking-time has FLOWN by since we had Maddie 3 years ago!!

I have taken some pictures of some things he does to entertain himself these days. He is quite the destructive one:) I have never put child safety latches on the cabinets in the kitchen. With Maddie, I never needed to. Turner-whole different story, he is Mr. curious himself. I am constantly pulling him away from the cabinets. He loves to open the drawer where the dish towels are and just toss them behind him fast and furiously. I gave him some plastic bowls yesterday and he spent quite a bit of time transfering a wipe in and out of them.

Another love of is-opening the drawers in his dresser and throwing every article of clothing behind them. He then throws himself on top of them and just continues to throw. We spend a lot of time following behind him and putting everything back. The same way with his toy basket in his room. He doesn't really play with any of them yet. He simply throws them all out behind them and then will throw them back in. I am starting to see a pattern. I guess his favorite thing to do right now is to throw things:) Probably not the best form of entertainment-we might need to work on that-maybe tomorrow:)

My Little Talker!

I always feel like I have so much to update-the blog and facebook, that I tend to simply keep up with what we are doing and splashing a lot of pictures around. Tonight, Maddie made me laugh several different times and I realized I rarely document the little, silly things that they say and do day to day. My memory is so bad, I want to be able to look back on this blog and remember everything. So... this year I am determined to capture the silly sayings, funny moments that our family has, and not concentrate so much on our trips to the zoo (although I will include those too:)

What brought on this train of thought? Well, first of all today was a great day!!! By the time I get to work, I am usually a little frustrated and have spent a good part of the morning arguing with Maddie. She is very independent and wants things done her way in her time. We simply don't have time for that, trying to get everyone out the door by 6:30 every morning. And, of course because I am the boss and the 3 year old is not in charge-right? Well, this morning my 3 year old was a little angel. She got dressed when I asked her to get dressed, she ate all of her breakfast without complaining, she let me brush her hair without crying that it hurt, etc.... As we were getting ready to leave, she commented that when she got bigger she was going to use my pink toothbrush and I could use the purple one (for some reason I have two on our bathroom counter). This afternoon I decided to buy her a new pink toothbrush and she was so grateful and sweet, you would I have thought I had bought her a dog! I love the little things you can do that mean so much to them. If only it would stay that way:) I also found a cute pair of pj's that were marked down to $3.50 at Target that have ducks on them. She was thrilled with them and remembered that I have a pair of pajama pants with ducks on them as well. Needless to say, that is what we are both wearing to bed tonight.

On to a sassy remark she made at the dinner table. I don't even remember what we were talking about (that bad memory thing), but I started to say something and she yelled "mommy, stop entraping me!!!" Now, actually she was quite rude about it and we probably should have gotten on to her. But.. she was trying to "interrupt" and it was hilarious the way she said it, and how many 3 year olds know that word and how to use it in a sentence. She is way too big for her britches, but makes us laugh all the same. I do realize that if she ever says this to her sunday school teacher we won't find it funny at all and will wish that we hadn't laughed about it tonight!

One last sweet comment from Maddie. Most nights she wants her daddy to lay with her. It is a rare privelige that I put that child to bed. But she does like me to put her IN the bed. Then I get to leave and daddy lays down until she falls to sleep. We were told tonight that she wants daddy to lay with her because "he is such a good storyteller". It was so sweet and so true. I stink at telling stories, will fall asleep in the middle of one half the time, and don't have much of an imagination. Obviously Maddie has picked up on that and this is why she prefers her daddy at night. I think her daddy is wishing that he wasn't always such a good storyteller:) Sometimes I hear him still telling her stories 45 minutes later.

So, this is just an example of the little things I tend to document from now on. I wish I had started sooner, because not a day goes by that we don't get at least a few laughs, especially from our little 3 year old. Here are some pics in her new jammies.

Turner is officially on the GO!!!

Oh my goodness, we have a walker!!! Turner has been thinking about it for a while now. I thought he would start walking 2 months ago, but he has been content to crawl wherever he wanted to go. Last night we really start working with him and he would take a few steps from me to daddy. Well, tonight I ran to Walgreens for about 15 minutes and when I got home Turner walked halfway across the den. After that, we spent about an hour getting him to walk around. He is pretty shaky, his belly sometimes gets ahead of himself and catches him off balance, but he is walking and we are so proud!!! Maddie started walking the week of her first birthday and Turner's is still 3 weeks away. I imagine he will be all over the place for his party.

He is such a big boy these days and does the funniest things. I think he has watched me all winter long hand Maddie tissues and make her blow her nose. So now whenever we change his diaper, we give him a wipe and the entire time we change him, he blows into it-it is too funny! He has gotten to where he doesn't fall asleep anymore when we give him his last bottle and will let me just lay him down. He will fall asleep on his own and it generally just takes a few minutes, now if only we can get Maddie to do the same:) I am hoping this will make transitioning off the bottle easier. Poor Maddie carried that bottle around until she was two and I am determined to have Turner off of it much quicker. He is our paci man though and doesn't get very far without it in his mouth. We shall see how long it takes to take that away from him!

He can be very animated and babbles all the time and uses his hands a lot. It seems like what he is saying is very important although I have no idea what it might be. Sadly to say, we have not worked with him near as much as we did with Maddie when she was his age, but I think he is doing just fine. I understand the differences between 1st child, 2nd child, etc. much better now. Turner has had no trouble at all though eating regular food. For dinner tonight he had crescent chicken (alot), mashed potatoes (alot), and pears (quite a few). He is so over baby food and will eat most anything you shove his way. For breakfast he enjoys cereal bars, pancakes, fruit, and regular cereal. He still takes baby food at Jene's, but I imagine that will soon be coming to an end.

I love that boy more than I ever thought possible. We love Maddie so much and I was really concerned about being able to love another child as much. Well...that hasn't been a problem and I think it made me love them both even more. They are so different, and yet the best of friends. Maddie loves on him and helps him and he just adores her. We are so blessed to have both a son and daughter and I can't believe our baby is about to turn 1!!! This year has gone way too fast and I look forward to watch all that he will learn this next year. Here are a few pictures of our baby on the go.

Fun Friday

As I have probably mentioned numerous times, I love having Friday's off and being able to spend time with the kids. Yesterday we had a play date with the Holley's. Maddie and Madison play pretty well together and it gave Bethany and I time to visit. Jadon, who is 1 1/2 played with both Turner and the girls, and everyone seemed to have a good time. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera with me, so I didn't get any pics. We left their house at lunchtime and stopped at Sonic before heading home. Turner ate some of Maddie's cheeseburger, banana, french fries, turkey, and carrots. That boys amazes me with everything that he can eat in one sitting. After lunch both kids and mommy were able to take a nap!!!

We woke up just in time for daddy to be home and decided to head to the park. It was beautiful yesterday and it has been months since we have been. We packed up Maddie's bike and she was able to ride on the trail. Turner also went down the slide for his first time and seemed to really enjoy it. He is also on his way to walking, and was doing pretty good just holding on to one of our hands. I imagine this summer we will be spending a lot of time at the different parks especially since Turner will be walking then. It wasn't as easy to go last summer with Turner being so young.

After the park it was time for a celebration dinner-Boo Boo's birthday was yesterday and we all went to Mo's to eat. Maddie absolutely LOVES their "Moo Moo Cows" (soft taco with chicken, cheese, and rice) and ate every last bite. Turner is going to love them as well-he ate a ton of my chicken, some tortilla, and rice. Boo Boo liked all of his presents and had a good birthday night. Yesterday was also Grandmother Frances's birthday!! We hate we couldn't see her, but hope she had a great birthday as well!!

Yesterday was a good family day, and the kids had no trouble falling asleep once we got home. I posted some pictures from the park.

Hectic Sunday!

Well, today was a little on the crazy side and didn't quite go as I had planned (surprise!). Since we had company over last night we had to give the kids a bath this morning before church. I also had to make breakfast for Sunday School which I normally do the night before. The whole family was up and going by 5:30, so there was plenty of time before Sunday School at 9, right? Wrong. The kids both woke up with a runny nose and there was a little green, so I was hesitating in going anyway. Then, when I preceded to burn the muffins, burn the sausage balls, look up at the clock and see that it was already 7:45 and I had yet to take a shower, I decided to call it quits and we would just stay at home. So...Kevin ran to the store and picked up donuts to drop off to our class and came back home.

We don't have many days where we don't go anywhere, and I think we had a pretty good day. Turner ended up taking a 3 hour nap this morning and another 1 one this afternoon, so he obviously was tired and needed some rest. I was able to spend some time painting with Maddie and she and her daddy played his Xbox for a while as well. When Turner was awake he rearranged the kitchen by moving all the chairs and he learned how to climb up on Maddie's recliner and wreak havoc on our blinds:) He also received his first breathing treatment, which was a little difficult to give, but will hopefully prevent him from getting sick. He was starting to cough and I don't want to have to take him to the doctor!

The best part of the day was that I got his pictures taken for his birthday invitation. I can't believe he is about to be a year old and we will be celebrating with a cowboy and horse themed birthday party! I pulled Maddie's rocking horse down from the playroom and the photo shoot began. I got some cute shots and can't wait till the invites come in. More on the birthday planning later.

I hate that we missed Church this morning, but the kids got some rest, didn't have to get out in the cold, and we did enjoy a family day at home.

Evening with the Arwood's

Saturday night we had our good friends, Kelly, Tim and their daughter London over for dinner. We don't seem them nearly enough and enjoyed visiting and letting the kids play. Turner and London seemed to like each other well enough, except for when he was scratching her eyes or pulling at her head:) I don't know what we are going to do with him-he can be so loving one minute and tearing into you the next. It did make me realize how great Maddie has been with him. Kelly commented on how she just lets him pull and tug on her and she never fights back. Poor girl just gets her hair pulled all day long and takes it. Maddie really enjoyed Tim's company and he got a glimpse of his life in a few years. She talked his head off and he spent most of the night with her. Dinner was a little chaotic trying to talk to each other and feed 3 kids at the same time. But we all enjoyed it and I look forward to having them over again. Our kids went out as soon as they left!

1st Post, 1st Dr. Visit of 2010

Well, it's off to a new year and finally off to the pulmonologist we went. We made an appt. for the kids in December and today was our appointment. They both struggle with the croup often and after asking enough questions, our pediatrician recommended we visit a pulmonologist to make sure it is nothing chronic. Thankfully, it is not! Unfortunately though, both kids do have asthma. Tomorrow a home health care will be delivering us a breathing machine for Turner with directions on how to use it. In the future, we are going to try and get the kids over the croup without the use of steroids. That was one our main concerns. At only 11 months, Turner has already had them 5 or 6 different times and Maddie much more than that. It affects their little personality and we hated to give it to them. We will give Maddie her inhaler and do breathing treatments for Turner. This won't necessarily help with their barking, but it will help make sure that they are breathing easy! I hate that they have asthma, but am relieved that it was nothing else.
On a positive note, Maddie weighed in at 31 lbs and is 3 feet, 1 inch tall. Turner was a whopping 21.7 lbs and 29 inches tall. They are both up in height and weight from their last visit early December. I guess the holidays were good to all of us:) We will go back to this doctor in April for a check up, and more than likely just see the Asthma/Allergy doctor after that.
Other than that the new year is treating us well. Kevin and I have a date set for Friday night while the kids go to Mimi and Boo Boo's. They are predicting snow tonight and Saturday we have a dinner/playdate set up with some of our good friends. So, we are looking forward to the rest of the week and I will post more soon!!