We've started reading Coleman a book or 2 in his room every night, all alone (no sister) where it's quiet and he can hear us. It's nice because when Shelby is in the room, she is right up between us and the book, telling us what everything is. She demands attention :) So I know I have really enjoyed doing this with him, and I think Jeff has too. It's amazing how still he sits and how he gives undivided attention to the book, vs. when Sissy's there and she gets his attention. :) Last night, there was a page full of fruits and I said, "Where's the banana?" and he looked for a few seconds and then put his finger right on the banana! He also repeats some of the words very well. He says "Tractor" and "Vvvvvvrrrrrm" when we're talking about trucks.
On my days that I get to work at 6:30, Jeff gets the kids ready and he comes up here to Shelby's school first. He's been coming to my parking lot to get me and let me ride around the campus to her school with them, so I can tell the kids good morning and one of us can walk Shelby into her class without having to take Cole in and out. This morning I was getting Shelby out of her seat and she said, "I love your necklace mommy!" So funny that she noticed it, I don't think she's ever commented on my jewelry before. This morning I was wearing the Honora pearls that Jeff's mom got me for Christmas for the first time. Shelby has expensive taste! :) haha
Here's a link to the pictures we had taken this past weekend. I was very impressed and loved all the pictures they took:
Pictures of my kids
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Monday, February 25, 2008
Dear God, Why?
Why didn't they come with an OFF button? Heeheehee
These kids are wearing us out!!! Coleman is NOT going to be the easy, laid-back second child who just sits there and watches his sister act out. Nope, he's going to join her, and maybe even one-up her. He screams at the top of his lungs any time he wants any thing. Hungry? SCREAM!!! WAHHHHHHHHH!!! AHHHHHH!!! Want mommy to hold you? AHHHHHHHHHH!!!! Want some milk? AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! Need more food? AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! Bored? AHHHHHHHHH!!!! Want something that sissy has? AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! Did someone take something away from you? WAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! Am I attempting to (GASP!) change your diaper? AHHHHHWAHHHH GRUNT SCREAM FIGHT TO GET AWAY!!!!
This is our life these days. A couple months back I really got onto Jeff for finding out he was secretly wearing cottonballs in his ears during those especially loud times, like dinner time. Now I want my own cotton balls. And no, we haven't figured out a way to turn him off. But anyway, he is definitely a little bit of trouble. When he throws his food in the floor and I tell him "No no," he looks me straight in the face, keeps contact with my eyes, and grabs another huge handful of whatever mess is on his tray and chunks it in the floor, all the while watching for my reaction. And I don't even know what my reaction should be!! Tonight when he was continuing to scream in his chair for no good reason, I put my face close to his to shhhush him. He quickly slapped my face with his hand (which was covered in gooey food mess.) When we're at the mall, he genuinely takes joy in bugging his sister, already. He puts his hands and feet all over her repeatedly as they sit in the side-by-side stroller, as she yells for him to stop. And you can tell in his eyes that he's thoroughly enjoying bugging the crap out of her. We are truly in for it.
Shelby is currently yelling at me from her bed. It's 8:35. I should be able to turn her off right now, but I can't find her off button. We've been doing "bedtime" for an hour now. We peed. We brushed teeth. We read books, many of them. We got all the right covers on her numerous times. We are wearing the pjs she picked out. We gave kisses and said prayers. She has tucked her babies in, but I suppose her getting her babies to bed is even a longer process than it is for us to get her to bed. I just went in there again to tell her no more talking. She said, "But mom..." (One of her favorite phrases these days...) "But mom...if I can get my babies to sleep, then I can go to sleep." I told her her babies would only fall asleep if she was asleep. I don't think that worked because she's still yelling at me. hahaha She gathers those babies every night, and lines them up on her pillow, where there's not even any room for her own head. She tucks them all in up to their necks and kisses them. She talks to them and sings to them. She is definitely a nurturer, already. To a fault. :)
And now it is time for me to go to bed. I am working an early schedule 2 days a week now so that I can pick the kids up earlier and have more time with them in the evenings. I work 6:30am - 3pm Tues/Thurs and it has been very nice. Tiring, but nice. A 9:00 bedtime sounds like heaven to me, so I'm off to bed. Goodnight!!
These kids are wearing us out!!! Coleman is NOT going to be the easy, laid-back second child who just sits there and watches his sister act out. Nope, he's going to join her, and maybe even one-up her. He screams at the top of his lungs any time he wants any thing. Hungry? SCREAM!!! WAHHHHHHHHH!!! AHHHHHH!!! Want mommy to hold you? AHHHHHHHHHH!!!! Want some milk? AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! Need more food? AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! Bored? AHHHHHHHHH!!!! Want something that sissy has? AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! Did someone take something away from you? WAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! Am I attempting to (GASP!) change your diaper? AHHHHHWAHHHH GRUNT SCREAM FIGHT TO GET AWAY!!!!
This is our life these days. A couple months back I really got onto Jeff for finding out he was secretly wearing cottonballs in his ears during those especially loud times, like dinner time. Now I want my own cotton balls. And no, we haven't figured out a way to turn him off. But anyway, he is definitely a little bit of trouble. When he throws his food in the floor and I tell him "No no," he looks me straight in the face, keeps contact with my eyes, and grabs another huge handful of whatever mess is on his tray and chunks it in the floor, all the while watching for my reaction. And I don't even know what my reaction should be!! Tonight when he was continuing to scream in his chair for no good reason, I put my face close to his to shhhush him. He quickly slapped my face with his hand (which was covered in gooey food mess.) When we're at the mall, he genuinely takes joy in bugging his sister, already. He puts his hands and feet all over her repeatedly as they sit in the side-by-side stroller, as she yells for him to stop. And you can tell in his eyes that he's thoroughly enjoying bugging the crap out of her. We are truly in for it.
Shelby is currently yelling at me from her bed. It's 8:35. I should be able to turn her off right now, but I can't find her off button. We've been doing "bedtime" for an hour now. We peed. We brushed teeth. We read books, many of them. We got all the right covers on her numerous times. We are wearing the pjs she picked out. We gave kisses and said prayers. She has tucked her babies in, but I suppose her getting her babies to bed is even a longer process than it is for us to get her to bed. I just went in there again to tell her no more talking. She said, "But mom..." (One of her favorite phrases these days...) "But mom...if I can get my babies to sleep, then I can go to sleep." I told her her babies would only fall asleep if she was asleep. I don't think that worked because she's still yelling at me. hahaha She gathers those babies every night, and lines them up on her pillow, where there's not even any room for her own head. She tucks them all in up to their necks and kisses them. She talks to them and sings to them. She is definitely a nurturer, already. To a fault. :)
And now it is time for me to go to bed. I am working an early schedule 2 days a week now so that I can pick the kids up earlier and have more time with them in the evenings. I work 6:30am - 3pm Tues/Thurs and it has been very nice. Tiring, but nice. A 9:00 bedtime sounds like heaven to me, so I'm off to bed. Goodnight!!
Friday, February 22, 2008
Letters and stuff
Yesterday I taught Shelby to spell her name (aloud.) It's amazing how fast she can learn stuff. She told Daddy when he got home "S H E L B Y." I am anxious to see if she remembers it today. Yesterday I was trying to get her to say "Diego" correctly. She says "Badaygo." So I kept telling her to say "Dee A Go." "Diego." She'd say, "Buh. Day. Go. Badaygo." So I kept emphasizing the D.A. She caught on that they were letters I guess, because on her next try of saying it correctly, she said, "W. H. 7. Go. Badaygo." Random!!! It's kind of like when we were trying to get her to say "Nathan" correctly because she was calling him "Athan." We'd say "Nuh. Nuh. Nathan." She'd say "Luh. Luh. Athan." Now she just calls him "Luh Luh Athan" to start with. haha
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Shelby dancing
This video isn't one of the best but it makes me laugh. Shelby was dancing with Tina Turner and the girls at the grammies. You can see on the tv that they were putting their heads down and walking, which shelby is trying to replicate, over and over. She's silly. Later on she said, "I'm Shelby the Dancer!!"
Cole's first black eye
The boy has new bumps, scrapes and bruises on his head every day! Last week was his first black eye. You can kind of see it in this picture- it's his right eye.
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Why Why why WHy WHY???
Matthew's favorite word. :)
Today I spent my day with my 3 sweeties.
I felt like superwoman when they were all actually napping at the same time for about 30 minutes. It's really sad what excites me these days! :)
Just to update everyone on the prayer request I posted a couple of weeks ago. A lot has gone on and changed since then. Jennifer has not been making good decisions and CPS has given custody of Matthew to her parents (and Jeff's parents) for the next year. We don't even know if she's really or still pregnant. Lots of changes for Matthew. It will be a hard year on everyone, but I will continue to pray for Jennifer. She needs to make some major changes in her life if she wants to be a mother to Matthew. Jeff's parents need strength and patience to go through raising a toddler again, at almost 60 years old. Matthew is a strong and resilient kid, but he needs our prayers too. He's been through more than any of us know in his little life.
Today I spent my day with my 3 sweeties.
I felt like superwoman when they were all actually napping at the same time for about 30 minutes. It's really sad what excites me these days! :)
Just to update everyone on the prayer request I posted a couple of weeks ago. A lot has gone on and changed since then. Jennifer has not been making good decisions and CPS has given custody of Matthew to her parents (and Jeff's parents) for the next year. We don't even know if she's really or still pregnant. Lots of changes for Matthew. It will be a hard year on everyone, but I will continue to pray for Jennifer. She needs to make some major changes in her life if she wants to be a mother to Matthew. Jeff's parents need strength and patience to go through raising a toddler again, at almost 60 years old. Matthew is a strong and resilient kid, but he needs our prayers too. He's been through more than any of us know in his little life.
Friday, February 15, 2008
Thursday, February 14, 2008
A trip to Nana's
We went to Nana & Garland's house last weekend. It started out as me suggesting to Mom that we go with the kids, since Jeff was going to be out of town that weekend. So we planned on going, but ended up with the whole family (minus anna :( ) going. It was a great time. I love it out there, it's just so relaxing and comfortable. It's great to chat with the ladies of the family and just chill out for a couple of days. I even got in a couple of naps, and besides Coleman keeping the entire house awake from 4 - 5 am on Sunday morning, it was a smooth trip!
I also got a couple of funny stories from the trip, both involving my "Nutty" Nana (her new nickname because of the incidents!) Both of the stories involve cooking and food, because that's what we do at Nana's. We cook and eat. And then cook and eat some more.
First, she decided to go all out and make bacon, eggs, biscuits and GRAVY for breakfast. It's not often that we get good REAL gravy made with the yummy bacon grease. Tyler and Dad's eyes lit up at the thought of biscuits and gravy. All the other stuff was done and the last step was to throw the gravy together. So Nana took the cannister of flour (which is always to the left of the brown sugar) and added some to the grease. It is supposed to start thickening and she said it wasn't looking right, so she added a little more flour, and some milk. After a minute or 2, the gravy turned all brown and began to crystalize. Something had to be wrong. The problem? She had used powdered sugar instead of flour! Of course, it was Garland's fault (wink, wink) because he had switched the brown sugar and powdered sugar cannisters. But, as my dad pointed out, the flour cannister was right where it had always been; it had never been moved. Those men always have to take up for each other! So we did not get gravy that morning, but the strawberry preserves were great on the biscuits anyway! And of course Nana insisted on making gravy the RIGHT way the next morning, and it was GOOD.
Nana decided to make some cream cheese banana nut bread on Saturday. It was from a magazine, so it was a new recipe and it looked yummy! We had sent Garland to the store earlier with a list, and one of the main things was to get the ripest bananas he could. He came home with some slightly green bananas but they would work. We also had 2 really ripe bananas already, and one was even opened because Millie started to eat it earlier that day and was told to save it for the bread. :) We were all sitting and gabbing in the kitchen (as usual) as she was putting the recipe together. She put it in the oven and after it had been baking for about 30 minutes, I happened to notice that that opened banana was still sitting there in its spot on the cupboard. Then I noticed that there still were a lot of bananas sitting there. I said, "Nana, what bananas did you use in the bread?" and she just stared at me as the realization hit her. Then we all burst out laughing. She had forgotten to put bananas in the Banana Nut bread! Although she threatened to just throw the loaves out, we ate them the next morning and they were seriously AMAZING, even without the bananas. So the new name for the recipe is Nutty Nana's No Nana Nut bread (or something like that!) :)
Here are a few pictures from the trip:
Garland drove around to the front yard in his lawn mower! The kids took some rides. Pure country entertainment! :)
Aunt Millie getting in some weights. 26 pounds.
Garland rode the lawn mower across the street to get the mail!
Brother is heavy!
Sis:
Sissy and Papa G:
Poppy (my dad, I'm so proud!) and Shelby:
Here's Nana and sis:
And of course Nonnie and her best friend, Shelby:
I also got a couple of funny stories from the trip, both involving my "Nutty" Nana (her new nickname because of the incidents!) Both of the stories involve cooking and food, because that's what we do at Nana's. We cook and eat. And then cook and eat some more.
First, she decided to go all out and make bacon, eggs, biscuits and GRAVY for breakfast. It's not often that we get good REAL gravy made with the yummy bacon grease. Tyler and Dad's eyes lit up at the thought of biscuits and gravy. All the other stuff was done and the last step was to throw the gravy together. So Nana took the cannister of flour (which is always to the left of the brown sugar) and added some to the grease. It is supposed to start thickening and she said it wasn't looking right, so she added a little more flour, and some milk. After a minute or 2, the gravy turned all brown and began to crystalize. Something had to be wrong. The problem? She had used powdered sugar instead of flour! Of course, it was Garland's fault (wink, wink) because he had switched the brown sugar and powdered sugar cannisters. But, as my dad pointed out, the flour cannister was right where it had always been; it had never been moved. Those men always have to take up for each other! So we did not get gravy that morning, but the strawberry preserves were great on the biscuits anyway! And of course Nana insisted on making gravy the RIGHT way the next morning, and it was GOOD.
Nana decided to make some cream cheese banana nut bread on Saturday. It was from a magazine, so it was a new recipe and it looked yummy! We had sent Garland to the store earlier with a list, and one of the main things was to get the ripest bananas he could. He came home with some slightly green bananas but they would work. We also had 2 really ripe bananas already, and one was even opened because Millie started to eat it earlier that day and was told to save it for the bread. :) We were all sitting and gabbing in the kitchen (as usual) as she was putting the recipe together. She put it in the oven and after it had been baking for about 30 minutes, I happened to notice that that opened banana was still sitting there in its spot on the cupboard. Then I noticed that there still were a lot of bananas sitting there. I said, "Nana, what bananas did you use in the bread?" and she just stared at me as the realization hit her. Then we all burst out laughing. She had forgotten to put bananas in the Banana Nut bread! Although she threatened to just throw the loaves out, we ate them the next morning and they were seriously AMAZING, even without the bananas. So the new name for the recipe is Nutty Nana's No Nana Nut bread (or something like that!) :)
Here are a few pictures from the trip:
Garland drove around to the front yard in his lawn mower! The kids took some rides. Pure country entertainment! :)
Aunt Millie getting in some weights. 26 pounds.
Garland rode the lawn mower across the street to get the mail!
Brother is heavy!
Sis:
Sissy and Papa G:
Poppy (my dad, I'm so proud!) and Shelby:
Here's Nana and sis:
And of course Nonnie and her best friend, Shelby:
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Monday, February 11, 2008
Yo!
Friday Shelby and I got out of the car at our house, and our across the street neighbor (an older man) was out in his yard. Shelby looked at him and loudly screamed, "Yo! Guy!" He turned around and looked at us. I think he laughed but I can't be sure. At the store she calls the checkout girl "Lady." As in, "Here lady" when she hands her something. I have been trying to get her to say "Ma'am" instead. When we walk up to the park, Shelby always runs up yelling "Yo!" at the top of her lungs to the other kids. I'm not sure who taught her that.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Our day at the Fort Worth Stock Show
I don't think I ever posted any rodeo pictures on here. There are a few cute ones!
Here we are about to go into the stockshow. Which one am I? I think Hog.
Matthew and Shelby's first real carnival ride! I can't wait to take them to 6 flags. Shelby also rode a roller coaster with me and LOVED it. She was screaming "Faster, faster!" She's barely at the 36 inch height requirement. It's time to go have some fun!
More from our weekend:
This is the mess that Shelby and Matthew can make in 2.3 seconds:
Funny:
"You've had enough. Give it back."
Here we are about to go into the stockshow. Which one am I? I think Hog.
Matthew and Shelby's first real carnival ride! I can't wait to take them to 6 flags. Shelby also rode a roller coaster with me and LOVED it. She was screaming "Faster, faster!" She's barely at the 36 inch height requirement. It's time to go have some fun!
More from our weekend:
This is the mess that Shelby and Matthew can make in 2.3 seconds:
Funny:
"You've had enough. Give it back."
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Oh Shelby girl
She is a mess. Some of the few things she's said recently. First, the sweet one:
(As Nonnie was getting dressed and ready for boot camp):
"Nonnie I don't want you to go to exercise, I want you to stay here because you're my best friend."
Now the bad. Remember, she is still only 2 years old.
I was walking through the laundry room in a hurry to leave the house for work. Roxxy got all tangled up in my feet and I said, "UGh! Roxxy, move!" Shelby looked down and looked all annoyed, and muttered, "Fweakin Woxxy." (meaning, freakin roxxy)
Tonight she pee'd in her panties at the dinner table. This was not the first accident today, but was the biggest. And she sat there looking at us as she was sitting in her chair, saying, "I'm peeing." She totally did it on purpose. So I told her she was getting a spanking as we walked into the bathroom. She said, "I like spankins." I said, "You do?" She replied, "MmmHmm. I'm not even going to cry." So I bent her over and said, "Are you ready?" And she said, "Yep." So I spanked her and she didn't cry. The end.
(As Nonnie was getting dressed and ready for boot camp):
"Nonnie I don't want you to go to exercise, I want you to stay here because you're my best friend."
Now the bad. Remember, she is still only 2 years old.
I was walking through the laundry room in a hurry to leave the house for work. Roxxy got all tangled up in my feet and I said, "UGh! Roxxy, move!" Shelby looked down and looked all annoyed, and muttered, "Fweakin Woxxy." (meaning, freakin roxxy)
Tonight she pee'd in her panties at the dinner table. This was not the first accident today, but was the biggest. And she sat there looking at us as she was sitting in her chair, saying, "I'm peeing." She totally did it on purpose. So I told her she was getting a spanking as we walked into the bathroom. She said, "I like spankins." I said, "You do?" She replied, "MmmHmm. I'm not even going to cry." So I bent her over and said, "Are you ready?" And she said, "Yep." So I spanked her and she didn't cry. The end.
Friday, February 1, 2008
Cole's brain
It's Friday! This week has been pretty crazy.
First off, about Coleman's 1 yr doctor checkup:
Weight: 25.2 lb (just over 75%)
Height: 30.5" (right around 75%)
Head: 48.3 cm (90%)
The head thing is slightly alarming. The doctor said that the nurse must have mismeasured it and he went and got a tape measure and did it himself. Three times. All while I was thinking, "WHAT THE HELL???" Nope, the measurement wasn't wrong. Cole's head jumped from being right around 50 to being 90%. Then the doctor says, "Ok, let me paranoy (sp?) you for a minute..." and goes on to explain all this medical jumble that I could hardly follow, because I'm thinking, "Please just tell me everything's fine." At the end of the appt I asked him to explain it again, and he even drew me a picture :) He says that a quick growth like this usually means that there's extra fluid somewhere in the skull, and it could be ok or bad. He says the bad scenario is if the ventricles in the middle of the brain aren't getting rid of fluid properly, and if they're in there in the middle of the brain mass, swelling, pushing the good useful part of the brain against the skull, this is bad. He didn't seem to think this was the scenario, because he said that doesn't happen with kids who will look you in the eye, mimick you, etc. It doesn't happen with kids who are developmentally on track, and Coleman most definitely is. So the other scenario is that there's just extra fluid in the body (all over the body, it just shows in the head b/c that's what they take a circumference of) and that once the soft spot on the skull closes, it will trigger the brain to stop with the extra fluid, and it will be reabsorbed and all will be fine. At this point, if the soft spot were still big enough to use a sonogram and look into the brain, he would, but Cole's soft spot is almost closed, so the only way to see what is going on in there (scenario 1 or 2) would be to do a CT scan or an MRI. Both of those would require sedation. He says he doesn't think he's worried about it at this point enough to put Cole under to look at it. He's just going to see how it measures in 3 months at his next checkup. But OH! I cannot describe the feeling of getting even "iffy" news about your baby like that! My mom asked if the dr. explained what would happen if it was the bad scenario. I realized that he didn't, but I'm glad. He told me not to worry about it, so that's what I'm going to try to do.
Also, Cole has a bad ear infection. He hasn't been extra fussy or anything so I didn't know. And I feel bad. Can't he just tell me when his ear hurts??? Everything else with him is good.
Ok, explaining that brain stuff again just wore me out. I think I might have to update more later. I'll leave you with a pic of my sweeties (a self-portrait by Jeff):
First off, about Coleman's 1 yr doctor checkup:
Weight: 25.2 lb (just over 75%)
Height: 30.5" (right around 75%)
Head: 48.3 cm (90%)
The head thing is slightly alarming. The doctor said that the nurse must have mismeasured it and he went and got a tape measure and did it himself. Three times. All while I was thinking, "WHAT THE HELL???" Nope, the measurement wasn't wrong. Cole's head jumped from being right around 50 to being 90%. Then the doctor says, "Ok, let me paranoy (sp?) you for a minute..." and goes on to explain all this medical jumble that I could hardly follow, because I'm thinking, "Please just tell me everything's fine." At the end of the appt I asked him to explain it again, and he even drew me a picture :) He says that a quick growth like this usually means that there's extra fluid somewhere in the skull, and it could be ok or bad. He says the bad scenario is if the ventricles in the middle of the brain aren't getting rid of fluid properly, and if they're in there in the middle of the brain mass, swelling, pushing the good useful part of the brain against the skull, this is bad. He didn't seem to think this was the scenario, because he said that doesn't happen with kids who will look you in the eye, mimick you, etc. It doesn't happen with kids who are developmentally on track, and Coleman most definitely is. So the other scenario is that there's just extra fluid in the body (all over the body, it just shows in the head b/c that's what they take a circumference of) and that once the soft spot on the skull closes, it will trigger the brain to stop with the extra fluid, and it will be reabsorbed and all will be fine. At this point, if the soft spot were still big enough to use a sonogram and look into the brain, he would, but Cole's soft spot is almost closed, so the only way to see what is going on in there (scenario 1 or 2) would be to do a CT scan or an MRI. Both of those would require sedation. He says he doesn't think he's worried about it at this point enough to put Cole under to look at it. He's just going to see how it measures in 3 months at his next checkup. But OH! I cannot describe the feeling of getting even "iffy" news about your baby like that! My mom asked if the dr. explained what would happen if it was the bad scenario. I realized that he didn't, but I'm glad. He told me not to worry about it, so that's what I'm going to try to do.
Also, Cole has a bad ear infection. He hasn't been extra fussy or anything so I didn't know. And I feel bad. Can't he just tell me when his ear hurts??? Everything else with him is good.
Ok, explaining that brain stuff again just wore me out. I think I might have to update more later. I'll leave you with a pic of my sweeties (a self-portrait by Jeff):
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