It REALLY is more fun to give than to receive...

Growing up one of my favorite childhood memories was that of our Christmas morning routine.

My sisters and I would awake very early and rush to the family room to see what Santa had left for us while we slept. We would then rummage through our stockings, each sort our presents into piles and spend time shaking and analyzing what might be in each of the many packages Santa had left for us. Once the sun came up, we were allowed to wake my parents. But in my Father's bid to torture tease us, he had this whole routine where he would stretch and yawn for what seemed like hours before budging. Then of course we would have to bring him coffee. And just when we thought we were going to begin opening presents, my Dad would suddenly have a craving for a cookie. My Dad would prolong his morning routine until us kids were bursting with excitement. Only then were we allowed to begin opening presents. As much as we may have acted otherwise, my sisters and I loved this little game.

Who among us does not have a favourite childhood memory of waking up on Christmas morning? A tree that somehow seemed larger than life, presents flowing from beneath its branches and perhaps the wonderful smells of a turkey roasting in the oven. Now try and picture your life void of those memories, try and picture being a child who might not get to know those sights, those smells, that overwhelming, uncontainable joy when Santa's existence is indisputable?

For many children, they do not have to imagine that - they live it.

This year, we have "adopted" a family for the the holidays through our church's affiliation with South Street Ministries. Our adopted family consists of a single mom and her four young children. When the mom approached South Street Ministries for help with Christmas, she was very reluctant to ask for much because she did not want to seem “greedy”, she just wanted to make sure that her kids each had a present to open on Christmas morning. When a family seeks help from South Street, they are asked to complete a Christmas list. The initial wish list the family submitted was somewhat heartbreaking…the 5 year old boy asked for a stocking as he has never had one before, the 3 year old asked for shoes, another child wanted a blanket.

Santa, carrying a sack full of toys and a stocking for each child, accompanied us to meet the family this week. With the help of family and friends we were also able to gather two carloads of used toys, clothes, blankets and household items for the family. The children were ecstatic to not only meet Santa for the first time, but also so thankful for just the used items we brought. The 8 year old girl was literally jumping up and down she was so excited as she came across a Hannah Montana shirt among the clothes we brought her.

We have also collected dozens of new items we are wrapping that will be waiting for the children when they awake Christmas morning. I hope that THIS Christmas will become a favorite childhood memory for our adopted family.

Spending time with those kids jolted me out of my comfort zone into an unfamiliar setting, but I left feeling very good about myself. It's amazing how giving a little to others can be so rewarding for the soul.

Yes, I do have a point to all this. I am challenging everyone who reads this to do something for those less fortunate this holiday season. Whether you donate unneeded household items, give money, volunteer your time, there are many ways to get involved.

Are you a parent reading this? What a great opportunity to teach your children compassion. Together as a family you could decide on a way to help someone else. Maybe your good thing is anonymous. Maybe that family in need doesn't need to know you left the basket of goodies on their porch or put that gift certificate in their mailbox.

It's almost selfish. Why? Because it will make you feel good. It really is more fun to give than it is to receive.

Happy Holidays,

P.S. Thank you to all my special blogging friends for your prayers, kind words, and emails. Kyle spent four days in the hospital on oxygen support,and is at home doing much better now. He ended up having pneumonia, and with his lungs already compromised, it hit him quick and hard. I apologize for not posting an update. The weekend Kyle got sick was the same weekend we adopted our family…losing almost a week's time with Kyle sick and in the hospital really put us in a time crunch. Anyways, thanks so much for the thoughts and prayers and I am sorry for my lack of updates.

Prayer Request

Kyle was admitted to the hospital yesterday. What started out as a cold took a turn for the worse on Sunday night and Kyle’s breathing became quite labored. We took him to his pediatrician first thing Monday morning, and she called an ambulance to transport him to the hospital.

Kyle was admitted to ICU and it was soon discovered that he has some sort of infection in his lungs. Yesterday was spent running all sorts of tests to determine what type of infection he has, which will then let the doctors know how to treat him. So far his influenza and RSV tests have come back negative; we should have the results for the remaining cultures tomorrow.

We are hopeful that Kyle will be moved out of ICU and into a regular room sometime today. The next step will then be to start weaning him from oxygen support. Kyle has to be off of oxygen for 24 hours before they will consider releasing him.

In addition to blood work, vitals, etc., Kyle is receiving steroid breathing treatments every other hour to help open up his airways. While these have helped a ton, it also means he has had very little sleep. Kyle has a nasal cannula (breathing tubes) taped to his face/nose, an IV in one arm (which he has pulled out twice) and a blood pressure cuff on the other arm, heart and respiratory rate leads attached to his chest, and a pulse oximeter hooked up to his foot. The poor guy is covered in wires and does not like it one bit. It’s impossible to try and explain to a 21 month old that they are helping him get better, so he is spending a good amount of time trying to pull off the various contraptions. It breaks my heart to see him so miserable.

Please say a prayer, not just for Kyle, but for the other children here at the hospital as well.

.

Leaning on Him,

Rules of Dating...According to 3rd Graders

Let me start by saying that I do not allow my daughter to date. And she won't be dating for a LONG time.

We do however live in a wonderful neighborhood filled with lots of kids.

During a recent neighborhood bonfire, the upcoming Donut Man concert at our church was mentioned. I was going to be taking Madison and her friend Sophia, but we had two extra tickets. Ahem, I can not imagine why Joe did not want to go? A couple of boys Madison's age overheard and expressed interest in going with us.

As these kids have socialized together since preschool, this really should not of been a big deal. But suddenly, it became clear to me that this playdate was different.

While Madison and her friend feigned annoyance at the prospect of going somewhere with, gasp, BOYS, their non-stop talking about the big day betrayed their true feelings.

Really, that was all they seemed to talk about. They even went so far as to type up a list of rules for the boys:

The rules actually start off pretty reasonable and respectable. No touching -a rule I hope she always adheres to where the opposite sex is concerned. Be nice, say please and thank-you.

With the introduction of "do not talk to us in public", the rules went down-hill from there.

Thinking that the poor boys must have been hurt by this note, I was all set to make Madison apologize when we picked them up for the concert.

Apparently the boys were unfazed. They jumped in the car and promptly starting burping, as they smugly declared that "burping" was not on the list of rules.

At least they are learning early how bossy women can be.

Happy, Happy Birthday

Well actually, Madison turned nine last week. However; I have never been one to be on time.

My Dearest Madison,

As I sat down to write about your 8th year, one word kept coming to mind. Blossom. Blossomed. Blossoming. Well, technically those are three words, but you get the idea.

You have blossomed so much over this past year.

When you were in kindergarten, you received poor marks in music class. Not because you could not carry a tune, but because you were to shy to participate in class.

During our Parent-Teacher Conference, your kindergarten teacher said while you were an excellent student, you were shy to the point that she feared if something was wrong, you would be to bashful to let her know. And that is exactly what ended up happening. On the last day of school, you broke your finger during a relay race. But, you did not tell anyone. Instead, you suffered silently until you saw a close friend of the family that happened to be volunteering at school that day.

While you were in First Grade, your baby brother was born 1000 miles away from home under circumstances that were stressful for our entire family. Soon thereafter, I contacted your teacher to see how you were coping with things at school. Your teacher was not even aware, nor was any of your friends at school, that you had just become a big sister.

Fast forward to the 3rd Grade. When Daddy and I arrived at your conference this year, your teacher knew every little detail about your baby brother.

You have blossomed in so many ways….

During your 8th year, you received the Stolion Award.

This past summer, you not only wrote and starred in a play with your friends. But you went door to door selling advance tickets to the play. You then took the proceeds from the ticket sales and bought refreshments to sell during the play, hoping to increase your profit. Quite the business woman already!

Although you have only been in 3rd grade for a couple months, it has been a fantastic year for you so far. You have been honored with a “Raccoon Award” for kindness and responsibility. Your teacher also chose you to receive Student of the Month/Principal’s Luncheon for October. When nominating you, Miss Alexander had this to say about you: “Madison is an ideal role model for her classmates. She is always willing to help a friend or a teacher. She is extremely trustworthy and takes the responsibility to make sure her classmates are doing the right thing. Madison is committed to going above and beyond when completing assignments. Madison has a positive attitude and constant enthusiasm for learning."

You have been elected as mayor of your 3rd grade class. This feat is significant because in order to be considered you had to write and give a speech in front of your whole class.

And perhaps the most telling sign of how you have blossomed this past year. You have been chosen as one of the local winners for the PTA Reflections Program in the category of Dance Choreography. My little girl, who just a couple years ago was too reserved to sing along with her classmates, choreographed and performed a dance in front of her entire class.

To say I am proud of you would be an understatement.

You are compassionate, feisty, imaginative, sensitive, sassy and absolutely spoiled beyond rotten, and you, my dear, are the apple of my eye. You make every day better.

I am honored to call you my daughter. I am not only a lucky mommy, but I am a better person for knowing you. May God continue to watch over and bless you.

All my love,

Mommy

HELP ME!!!!!

As you know by now, I won a spot in the Hot Blogger Calendar.

When I first won, I thought I was a marketing genius. I wrote one of those tacky chain email things and sent it to about 30 of my IRL friends. An email asking them to vote for me AND then send the email to five of their contacts, who would send it to five of their contacts and so on and so on. You know the kind, where there is a plea at the end. Mine was "This woman has not had a vacation without her husband or kids in almost 15 years. Please don't be the one to stop this email chain!"

Anyhoo, I smugly thought I was quite brilliant for garnering almost 900 votes, enough for a spot in the calendar. Until I started really thinking things through.

Of the 12 female bloggers chosen, at least four of them have modeled professionally before. I on the other hand am only 5'1 and could not smile or act natural in front of the camera if my life depended on it. I am so bad at smiling on demand that last year when I had to renew my drivers license, I stuck my tongue out at the lady as she took my picture. Seriously. I figured that my picture was going to look awful no matter what, I should at least try and make it look like I took a bad picture on purpose. Apparently sticking your tongue out during your drivers license picture is not allowed, so the DMV lady made be do it over. And as expected, the picture is the worst.

Alas I put my fears aside and began making my travel plans. I booked my flight and the hotel. I was really excited for my big trip. But as it got closer, I still had not heard many details about the shoot and then I learned that about half the bloggers would be doing their shoot remotely. And despite making this video showcasing why I could use some grown-up time, I started getting nervous about leaving the kids. While I was away, I would miss Madison marching in a parade. And then she was given the opportunity to cheer at Kent State University, which I would also have to miss. And Kyle...I've never left Kyle over night. Could I really leave him for 3 days?

So a couple days before I was set to leave, I panicked and cancelled my trip. Instead I am doing my shoot remotely here in Ohio.

Which brings me to the point of this post. My shoot is coming up and I have no idea what to wear. We were told to wear "whatever you feel best/most comfortable/sexiest/prettiest/most flattering" in. For those that already had their shoot, there was a wide range of outfits worn. Everything from a snowsuit to jeans to sexy cocktail dresses to legwarmers.

To be perfectly honest, I'm most comfortable wearing my Victoria's Secret PINK sweats. However, seeing as this is the "Hot Blogger" calendar, that is probably not the image they are going for.

Which is why I am once again asking for your help. What do I wear???

I have it narrowed down to the following outfits. As you'll notice, there is a lot of black. It is my hope that black is slimming.

#1 A pair of black pants and a vest.

#2 Peach top and jeans. The jeans I would actually wear with this top were in the washer, but you get the idea.

#3 Same peach top, but with black skinny jeans. These are skinny jeans, however, in the pictures they look like leggings from Lindsay Lohan's closet. Only a couple sizes bigger than Lindays' pants.


#4 Little black dress.

#5 Another black dress. This is where Madison became bored of taking my pictures and had me posing. Told you I have no business in front of a camera.

#6 Black and red top with black pants.

#7 Same outfit, but this time I'm posing all chic and sophisticated. At least in my mind that is how I pictured it would turn out.

#8 Black and red top with jeans. I really know how to shake things up, you know by changing the pants and all.

So, what should I wear? Pretty please leave me a comment letting me know which TWO outfits you like the best. Or, should I scrap them all and start over? PLEASE HELP!

Thank you!!!

A Letter from "TF"

Madison lost her first tooth in kindergarten. She was so excited! Until she put her tooth under her pillow and discovered the next morning that this thing called a Tooth Fairy - a total stranger - had actually come into her room in the middle of the night...when she was all alone, violated her personal space and then took her tooth. This near brush with death was hardly worth the money left behind by this thing called a Tooth Fairy.

And, I have to admit, if you look at it from her from her point of view, it is kinda creepy.

So, soon thereafter when she lost her second tooth...she did not even tell Joe or I. She had been hopeful if she kept it to herself, that crazy fairy would not come. Of course, if your daughter is missing her front teeth, it is next to impossible not to notice! To appease her fear, we convinced Madison that Tooth Fairy's do not just visit at night, they will come anytime of day. So that afternoon, we put her tooth under her pillow and then went out to play. When we checked back a few hours later, low and behold her tooth was gone and in it's place was money.

She was finally able to relax about the whole Tooth Fairy situation and enjoy loosing her teeth. And boy did she loose some teeth! During kindergarten, Madison lost EIGHT teeth. Most of that year, she looked like a Jack-O-Lantern with the odd tooth here or there.


Seeing as how she was loosing teeth left and right in kindergarten, Madison went almost three years without loosing another tooth. She has matured a lot in that time.


While now she is still not quite comfortable with the Tooth Fairy visiting her room at night...She did set up a bed with her American Girl doll outside her bedroom door. And she put her tooth, along with the following note, under her dolls' pillow:



She is obviously feeling more comfortable in her relationship with the Tooth Fairy - she even had the nerve to ask for more money! By the way, I felt the Tooth Fairy was being more than generous in leaving $10.00 in the past. But, being the astute business person that she is, Madison requested more.

To which the Tooth Fairy replied:

Dear Madison,

Thank you for your note. My name is “The Tooth Fairy” but my friends call me “TF” for short. Over the years children have given me other names such as Flossy, Winkle, Sparkles and so many more. I don’t mind at all if you want to give me a special name. But I’ll always be the Tooth Fairy. If you want you can just call me TF. If you have a special name for me, please leave me another note to let me know.

I do not have a picture with me, but, what do I look like? I am not tall and I am not short. I have nice skin and nice hair. My eyes are very pretty and I have an enchanting smile. Sometimes I wear my wings, and sometimes I do not. If you close your eyes and imagine what I look like, you just may be able to see me looking back at you. When I was just the youngest fairy, I learned that children’s laughter made my wings move faster.

I will leave you $15 this time. But please keep in mind the amount of money I have to give for teeth changes all the time. I can sometimes leave more money, other times I have to leave less. There are several secret and loving adults that have a lot of money. They give money to me so I can trade it for your lost teeth. One time I had such a generous donation to Tooth Fairy Land that I was able to give out $100 for a very special clean and white sparkling tooth, but I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to do that again. Please remember that loosing a baby tooth really isn’t just about getting money. It is about the magic you share with your friends and family. It is about the magic moment you realize you are getting just a little bit older. Be sure to always remember this time and to cherish the people you love and that love you the most.

Love Always,
TF

Madison immediately noticed that TF's handwriting looked very similar to Mom's. I quickly pointed out the the Tooth Fairy writes in all capital letters, something I never do. Luckily, that explanation appeased her.

I'm amazed at the wonder, joy and unconditional belief that a tooth fairy actually exists. But I'm sad to realize that this utter innocence will not last much longer.

Isn’t there some way that we can slow down this growing up business?

Toddler Time

Kyle started walking last week! Which officially makes him a toddler. He was into EVERYTHING before, I can only imagine the fun we're about to have!



Sorry about the poor video quality...I'm not sure what happened when I uploaded it to You Tube.

Although we are obviously so proud of Kyle, this milestone is a little bittersweet. I already miss my "baby" boy.

Maybe I need to start putting a bug in Joe's ear about having a third baby? You know, since we had such an easy time with this one and all!

Preemie Adventures

Matt, owner of Red Sparks is starting a new preemie segment on The Playpen entitled “The Preemie Adventure – Then and Now.” The series will feature a picture of premature infants at birth, along with a photo of the child at present day and a brief story from the parents describing their personal experiences with preterm birth.

He has chosen our story to kick-off the series. Here is the article and pictures that I submitted:

During a family vacation to Disney World, I was diagnosed with Preterm Premature Rupture of the Membranes (PPROM)...which is a fancy way of saying that my water broke VERY early. I was 22 weeks pregnant and was told that there was very little chance that the baby would survive.

We were devastated as they went over the statistics. My due date was still 121 days away. We had a 90% chance that the baby would die in the delivery room. If he beat the odds and survived, it would almost surely be with severe disabilities and a very poor quality of life. We were even offered medication to speed up the “inevitable”.

Thankfully, I lasted almost two weeks on bed-rest, which gave the baby some much needed time to develop further. At 24 weeks and 5 days, Kyle was born weighing 1 pound 6 ounces. Again we were warned that his chances of surviving, let alone leading a quality life, were not good.

We were devastated when we saw how small he was. And it was not a tiny, cute little baby kind of small. He obviously was very sick. Despite all the problems on the inside - things like his lungs and heart not being developed - we were struck by how different he looked on the outside. One of his eyes was still fused shut. His skin was transparent and covered with hair. Even his ear lobes had not yet developed cartilage and just hung there.

You will hear many parents of preemie’s state that their NICU stay was a rollercoaster ride and this description is so true.




During Kyle’s 119 days in Florida Hospital South’s NICU, while he had some good days, he also endured heart surgery, 69 days on life support/ventilator, Cytomegalovirus (CMV), anemia, bilateral hernias, Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia (BPD), Chronic Lung Disease, bilateral renal calculi (small kidney stones), jaundice, aspirations, Respiratory Distress Syndrome, 3 bouts with pneumonia, hyperglycemia, 11 blood transfusions, high blood pressure, numerous infections and Stage 3 Retinopathy of Prematurity requiring Eye Surgery.

Thanks to many answered prayers, today Kyle is a happy and healthy 18 month old (14 months adjusted age). He is the happiest baby and loves to be the center of attention. He is close to walking on his own and is adding new words to his vocabulary weekly.

If there is one remnant of Kyle’s extreme prematurity, it is the slow rate in which he has grown. Although it is finally starting to get better, since the day we left the hospital we have received comments on Kyle’s small size. An automatic question of strangers seems to be, “How old is your baby?” When he weighed 7 pounds and I would answer that he is six months old, people would look at me like I am crazy. Kyle is now almost 19 pounds, which considering his start in life, is amazing to me. Still, I feel like I always have to defend his small size and am looking forward to the day that he is actually on the growth chart!

We had a great appreciation for Kyle even before his prematurity because I had such a difficult time getting pregnant (he is an IVF baby), so even his conception was nothing short of miraculous to us. But everything now is even more precious to us and we take nothing for granted. We have learned some valuable lessons through this trial and we’ll never be the same. When I look at Kyle now, it is hard for me to imagine that he once weighed just 18 ounces. I am amazed by the accomplishments he has made, he truly is our miracle baby. "This is the Lord's doing, it is marvelous in our eyes." Psalm 118:23

I think this series is an excellent idea! When Kyle was in the hospital, I would scour the Internet for information on preemies. While I was able to find a lot of medical based information, there was nothing like this "Now and Then" series. This may seem callous, but as parent looking at Kyle when he was just one pound, I wondered if he would ever look "normal".

Anyways, if anyone is interested, The Play Pen is looking for other preemie parents to submit stories.

Shameless Plea...for YOUR vote!

A few days ago, I found out that I had been nominated for this Hot Blogger Calender. Well, me and about 500 other bloggers. I did not think much of it, until I heard what the prize was.


A trip to New York for a real photo shoot! Complete with make-up artists, stylists, a DJ, photographers and...adults!


Convinced I had no shot of being one of the 12 lucky ones chosen for the calender, I decided to have my own photo shoot right here in Ohio. So, I enlisted the help of my personal assistant Madison who took care of everything.

Take a look....





I have to admit...toilets, puke and Barney were not part of the sophisticated photo shoot I had envisioned. Which is why YOU should vote for me. So then I can really go to New York, for a glamorous photo shoot in the Big Apple.


Have I convinced you? Well then, see over there on the right, where it says "Hottest Female Blogger". Over there...on the right. See it?


To vote for me, scroll through the list of nominees (I am about two-thirds of the way down) until you come to "Blessings From Above". Double click and it should say "Voted Successfully".


The voting polls are open until midnight on Sunday, August 31st. There is only one vote per computer. But it you feel like I deserve more than one vote, feel free to pass these instructions along to your mailman or mother-in-law.


Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!

UPDATE: I made it!!! Thanks so much to everyone that voted. Especially to all my IRL friends who – despite how embarrassing it probably was - sent the request to vote to their coworkers at the various hospitals, schools and/or businesses in which they work. And great big thanks to OHMommy who posted my video on her blog and even emailed it to someone in Africa. Seriously, she sent it to Africa!

Back to School, Back to Blogging

Yikes. It has been over three weeks since I have last posted.

I never really had aspirations or even a desire to start a blog. But I did start one, completely on a whim from my hospital bed. In the beginning, the purpose was solely to keep everyone up to date on Kyle's health and to post specific prayer requests. That was easy and did not take much thought.

But now, with Kyle healthy, and the purpose of the blog no longer there, I have really struggled with what to post. As a result, I have debated whether or not to even continue with the blog, or in what capacity.

I've worried about who I am writing the blog for. There are some people that check in just for updates on Kyle. There are others that I have met through the blogger world that probably really don't care how many teeth my baby now has. I have begun worrying who my audience is and how I can please them.


Ultimately, I've decided that I am going to write this blog for Madison and Kyle. So that someday, when I am gone or old and senile, they will have a keepsake from me. So that if their spouse ever asks them, "were you dropped on your head as a kid" (like my husband asks me on a weekly basis) they will know the answer. Starting this week. Back to school for Madison, back to blogging for me.

As this is sort of the end if summer, I thought it would be appropriate to give a shout out to two special young ladies who became an important part of our lives this summer.

First, my cousin Elanor was in town from Australia for a few weeks. She is an absolutely gorgeous girl that is full of spunk. Madison idolized her and has been trying to act sophisticated by talking "Australian" like her older cousin. You know, using words, like lollie and fairy floss.


Elle and I would have had a blast had we actually been able to go out sans kiddos during her trip. Well, scratch that. I would have had a blast. She would have probably felt mortified hanging out in a club with her cousin who is 15 years older.

Last but not least, Amy, a young woman from church who was home from college for the summer babysat Kyle and Madison while I was working. She was awesome. If there was any way I could have convinced her not to go back to Grove City College for her senior year, that she would have a much better life babysitting for us, I would have tried. I never could get up the courage to give her the pros and cons of poopie diapers and puke, instead of say, her sorority.

At any rate, Elanor and Amy, we miss you both so much already. Our summer would not have been the same without you!

Oh, and to go along with my new blogging attitude....I've got a new blog-lift. You like? Hilary designed it for us. She is a dream to work with. If anyone is in need of a blog makeover, she is your girl.

Beach Bums

We've just returned from Hilton Head. What an incredible place!


This was our first road trip as a family. You see, all of our other vacations we have flown.


In a way, this trip was reminiscent of my vacations from decades ago. When my family would all pile in the station wagon for road trips. It was the late seventies, early eighties—before car seats and seat belts were all the rage. On long drives, my sisters and I rode in the back, seats folded down, unbelted amidst piles of blankets, pillows, toys, books, and discarded shoes.


Just like trips of decades gone by, Madison and I played the license plate game. Although this trip we also had a DVD player and an awful lot of texting going on as well. And thank God - no station wagon.


And Madison's favorite part of the vacation? The twelve hour drive to and from Hilton Head. Go figure. She thought driving somewhere through the middle of the night was just the coolest thing ever. We lucked out with Kyle also. He fell asleep soon after our trip began in Ohio. And did not wake until we arrived in Hilton Head in the morning. We were so thankful!


Okay, I digress. Hilton Head was an absolutely beautiful place.


During the day, we spent every possible minute at the beach or the pool. My favorite kind of vacation!
















During the evenings, we went out for yummy dinners with the two other families we were vacationing with.



Madison lost a tooth while we were on vacation. Big news to an eight year old! Especially an eight year old that has not lost a tooth in almost three years.

And speaking of my sweet, innocent, eight year old daughter. There were several pictures of this dude on my camera:

Nobody I know. Apparently my sweet, innocent, eight year old daughter thought he was cute. So she took several pictures of him. I am in so much trouble when she is older!

It was the perfect summer vacation. Kyle fell in love with the ocean. Madison fell in love with crab legs. And I fell even more in love with my family.

Wordless Wednesday

We're in Hilton Head and having a blast!




By the way, Operation Baby Fat is not going well at all this week. Unless sand has any caloric value?

Luau Time

As you've probably gathered from my lack of posts, this blogger has been a little lazy and lax about posting. I wish I could say I had some fabulous excuse for my laziness, but the truth is I've just been enjoying summer with the kiddos.


But alas, I am FINALLY getting around to posting about Kyle's party.




We had such a wonderful time! Almost 100 of our nearest and dearest joined us for a luau.


The kids seemed to have a blast and really got into the theme.




The adults seemed to get into the island spirit as well. My Mom won the prize for best tropical dressed:

Of course I'm only teasing! Just trying to provoke a comment from my loving Mother, since she still reads the blog but has not commented since forever.

Anyways, back to the Luau. We had barely finished with the Limbo when the torrential downpours started.

So we had to "sail" inside:


Okay, that was a very poor attempt at a joke. But, I just loved this picture of Kyle and needed an excuse to post it.

Once inside, we sang "Happy Due Date" to Kyle and let him dig into his smash cake. For someone that refuses to eat most days, he certainly enjoyed his cake:

As always, Joe was looking HAWT:

And I owe a HUGE thanks to Kyle's Godparents, Terry and Leanne.

I was so busy playing hostess during the party, I did not have time to take any pictures. They surprised us with all these wonderful photos of the party.

I especially like these two of Kyle and Madison:

Despite the rain, it really was a wonderful party and the perfect way to celebrate all that has happened over the past year.

Happy Independence Day!

Hope you have the loveliest 4th of July possible!




A little flashback from last years Fourth of July...

Despite being almost five months old, Kyle was still not big enough to fit into newborn sized clothes.

So, Madison dressed him up in her Build a Bear clothes.

I am pretty sure someday Kyle will not be happy that I let his sister dress him up in doll clothes!

Happy 4th of July!

2 Corinthians 3:17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

Unhappy Birthday

The day Madison was born was one of the happiest in my life. Her birth was just like the movies. Well, except for the 51 hours of labor before she was actually born. Joe cut the cord and the doctors laid Madison on my chest. Immediately after she was born, right there in the delivery room, Joe and I spent time cuddling and admiring our baby girl. With a full head of hair and big blue eyes, she was the cutest baby ever.

Madison at five days old:



I cried tears of joy. Instantly Joe and I went from being a couple to a family. Life was perfect.

The day Kyle was born, on the other hand, was the worst of my life.

After my water broke at 22 weeks during our family vacation to Disney, I had been placed on bed rest in a hospital 1000 miles away from home. And I was okay with that. We were just so grateful that the doctors had been able to stop my labor.


At this point, I had been on bed rest for two weeks without any signs of labor being immanent. With people praying for us around the country, I was optimistic that I could last on bed rest for a couple months. But, the doctors had warned me that at some point labor would come, and it would come quickly. I however, was not prepared for just how quick they meant.


On February 20th, at a little after midnight, I got up to use the restroom. I did my business then laid back down in bed. It was only then that I realized something was terribly wrong. I literally could not put my legs together because the baby was falling out of me.


I frantically screamed for a nurse. She took one look at what was happening, and paged the delivery area to prep for an emergency. While this was happening, I grabbed my cell phone that was next to the bed and called Joe to alert him. The time on caller ID said 12:08am.


I was whisked down the hall and into the operating room which was full of people who were preparing for the delivery. The doctors discovered that it was actually the sac that was holding Kyle and his feet that were falling out of me. While Kyle's chances at survival were not high to begin with, with him being breech the doctors felt he certainly would not survive a vaginal delivery. So, the decision was made to try and push him back inside of me and then deliver him via c-section.


Kyle was born at 12:48 am. When he came out it was not as if you could hear a cry (the doctors later told us his lungs were the size of a lima bean) and everyone is happy and declares "it's a boy!" Instead the NICU team was there waiting and they went into overdrive trying to save this little life. Not knowing what his state was at birth, I just kept yelling "Is he alive???" until someone finally told me he was.

While I was being sewn up, a neonatoligist came to speak with me and let me know that they would do everything medically possible to give Kyle a chance at life, but there is only so much that can be done.

Until anesthesia wore off, which took a couple hours, I was not allowed to leave the recovery room to see the baby. During this time, I just laid in a bed all by myself and cried. I was so worried that Kyle would die before I ever got a chance to meet him.

In the meantime, Joe flew down to Florida. When we were finally able to go see Kyle together, we were shocked at how small he was. And it was not a tiny, cute little baby kinda small. He obviously was very sick. Despite all the problems on the inside - things like his lungs and heart not being developed - we were struck by how different he looked on the outside. One of his eyes were still fused shut. His skin was transparent and covered with hair. Even his ear lobes had not yet developed cartilage. I've never saw anything like it, but his ears just sort of hung down like Dumbo's. (Sorry Kyle, as I am sure you will read this someday!).


Kyle at five days old:




Unlike the day Madison was born, there was no cuddling and family bonding done with Kyle when he was born. In fact, it would be 69 days before I was even allowed to hold him wrapped in a blanket like a newborn.

Kyle was a fighter and after 119 days in the NICU, we were allowed to take our precious, healthy baby boy home. THAT day was one of the happiest of my life. I cried (okay I bawled) tears of joy as we made our way to the car with Kyle.

And it is THAT day that I want to celebrate.


Madison and Kyle the day he came home from the hospital:




When Kyle's birthday 1st birthday came around this past February, it just did not seem right celebrating with a big party in Ohio. So instead we headed back to Florida for a quiet reunion with our NICU family.

But, it has now been exactly one year since Kyle came home from the hospital and we are celebrating the occasion with a HUGE party for family and friends this weekend. And I couldn't be happier!!!

Mommy and Me Trip

Well Kyle and I survived our trip to Orlando together! In fact it was FABULOUS! It was just the two of us since Joe was attending a friends bachelor party in Las Vegas, and Madison flew out with him to chaperone stay with her Grandparents and Aunt Katie who live in Vegas.

Kyle did wonderful on the plane and it ended up being a breeze getting through the airport with him by myself.

Look mom, our plane is here!




On Saturday, Rylee and her mommy came to our hotel to swim. I was a little apprehensive about how Kyle would do in the pool. Memorial Day weekend we went swimming and Kyle hated being in the water.

I think having Rylee around must have helped get him acclimated to the water because he ended up loving the pool. In fact, we were able to get some swimming in everyday of our vacation and Mr. Kyle was a little fish in the water.





After swimming, the kiddos played. It was very cool to see them interact with each other. They have come so far since this time last year when they were both still in the NICU together.



Sunday was the NICU Birthday Party sponsored by Florida Hospital. It was awesome to be reunited with the amazing staff that took such good care of Kyle during his hospital stay.

Kristin (in the middle) was one of our favorite nurses...



Kyle with his Level 3 NICU neighbor...



And his Level 2 neighbor...

During the party, Kyle played in a bounce house with Rylee...


Bowled an (almost) perfect game....



Met his first clown...

And even did a little dancing...


It was a GREAT party, well worth traveling 1,000 miles to attend!

I debated whether or not to take Kyle to Disney, but ultimately decided that I just couldn't miss not taking him when we would be so close. And I am so glad I did! Seeing Kyle smile and wave at Mickey Mouse made it all worth it.

We arrived at Magic Kingdom just as the doors opened. Although I am NOT a morning person, I love being at the park early as you can walk on just about any ride with no waiting.



I have to admit, I was a little anxious about traveling by myself with Kyle. This does not sound very nice, but sometimes you just need a little break from a baby. Kyle and I would literally not be out of the same room as each other for five days. Would I go crazy?

As it turns out, this was such a special time for Kyle and I to bond. As Madison was an only child for seven years, I had lots of "alone" time with her. After the success of this trip, I am going to try and make it a priority to spend special one on one time with both Madison and Kyle. Maybe Madison and I will take a trip to American Girl Place later in the summer...

We caught up with special friends, played in the sun, went to Disney, laughed together a ton, and came back relaxed and refreshed. All in all, our trip really could not have gone any better!

Wordless Wednesday...

Dear Daddy and Madison,

Hurry home from Las Vegas. I miss you both so much!

Love,

Kyle

Orlando Sentinel

Kyle and I are in Orlando, FL and having a blast! Can't wait to tell you all about our trip, but that will have to wait until we get in home.


In the meantime, thought I'd share the following article that ran in today's Orlando Sentinel:


Florida Children's Hospital reunion in Orlando celebrates preemies

When Jennifer Kupiec's water broke in a hotel room just 22 weeks into her pregnancy, her Disney vacation took a frightening turn.

"My family was a thousand miles away," the Ohio woman said.

And then after her new son was born, the doctors at Florida Children's Hospital said his chances of survival were not good.

But yesterday, Kupiec, 36, held her healthy 15-month-old son, Kyle, at a reunion for former neonatal intensive-care patients and their families. The safari-themed party at Orlando Junior Academy -- complete with a moon bounce, crafts, clowns and a disc jockey -- gave patients and their families a chance to share their stories and reunite with their former doctors and nurses.


Kupiec flew in for the event out of appreciation for the care her son received. In February, they also visited the hospital for Kyle's first birthday.

"It just didn't seem right celebrating in Ohio," she said.

The hospital hosted a similar reunion six years ago. The plan was to host one every year, but the hospital never had the money. This year, hospital officials made sure to free up $5,000 for the party, plus an additional $2,000 in donations.

"We wanted to tell the families, 'Hey, we still care about you,' " said Wanda Perara, administrative nurse manager of the neonatal intensive-care unit.

Since the unit opened in 1983, it has treated nearly 11,000 babies, most of them premature. But full-term babies born with life-threatening diseases also are taken in.

Neonatologist Jim Rawlings said he has bonded with many of his patients and their families.

Dr. Jim Rawlings visits with former patients Kyle Kupiec and Rylee Davis

during a reunion Sunday at Orlando Junior Academy.

"They're going through one of the most trying times in their lives with a recently born critically ill baby," he said. "Anyone who offers them help and care will have a special place in their hearts."

Doctors and nurses also said they often made friends with the tiny patients.

In one case, that bond has lasted two decades.

Tranica Hardy, 20, came to the reunion with her former nurse, Anna Daverman, who is now her godmother. Originally from Cocoa, Hardy lives with Daverman in west Orlando. Hardy wants to go to school in the area and eventually work in neonatal care, paying forward the help she received.

"I like it," she said. "I think it's really cool to take care of babies."

Hardy was born prematurely in Texas after 26 weeks' gestation and was transferred to Florida Children's Hospital three months later. Her heart and lungs had not fully formed and she had trouble breathing. Daverman took care of her every day that she worked for 15 months.

In addition to former patients getting reacquainted with doctors and nurses, spontaneous reunions popped up between families that had babies in the same unit. The Kupiecs joined three other families they recognized from the hospital.

Kyle and John Michael Chicarelli

In the group was Kristie Chicarelli, 36, of Eustis, who came with her 16-month-old son, John Michael."We thought it would be really rewarding just to see other babies and share stories," she said.

Her story, she said, was harrowing: she got sick with cholestasis, a liver disorder, and had to deliver John Michael by emergency Cesarean section 29 weeks into her pregnancy.

"When he was born, he wasn't breathing," she said. "They didn't say 'boy,' 'girl,' anything. They just said, 'Time 5:23,' and took him to the NICU. I didn't see him for another hour and when I saw him again he had tubes everywhere."

John Michael spent 38 days in intensive care and is now in good health, Chicarelli said.

"We call him terror on two feet," she said. "He's into everything. We just feel so blessed."

Stolion Award

Warning: Parental bragging ahead...

At the end of each school year, the Stow Lion's club sponsors an award for students that have enriched their community and school by adhering to the following ideals:

• Respected by others, good personality, honest, fair.


• Accepts responsibly, does work promptly and efficiently, trustworthy.


• Respects authority, knows the rules, abides by the rules.


• Does more than required, dependable; or


• Has shown unusual improvement in any one or more of the above qualities.
  

The teachers pick one girl and boy to receive this award. The whole school gathers for the awards ceremony and it is a surprise as to who will be receiving the award.

Guess who was chosen?

Madison!!!

This is what the teacher who nominated Madison had to say about her...

"Stolion Awards are given to those students who demonstrate excellent character and who go 'above and beyond'. I have had the unique opportunity to have Madison in my class for two years, when most teachers will only have her for one. I consider myself extremely lucky to have had the opportunity to watch her grow and flourish during that time. She is an amazing kid with amazing character. She gives me her best effort with each and every task. She is respectful, fair, and responsible. She is a good citizen who cares about the classroom, her peers, and her teachers. "

When she got home from school, as a reward Daddy took her out to get an Ipod. At 1 inch by 1 inch, these things are tiny! And to imagine they hold 250 songs. Technology sure has come a a long way since my day when a Walkman was considered cool...and compact.

Madison, I could not be prouder of the special little lady you are growing up to be. I love you so much!





"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as if you were working for the Lord, not for men" Colossians 3:23

Random Ramblings

The super sweet Amanda did a random thoughts post earlier in the week, and I really liked it. Since it seems I have a whole lot of nothing to say, I thought I would try it.

Here goes....

Kyle had an eye appointment to follow-up on his ROP, which had mostly cleared by his last appointment in September. Other than some slight scarring from his surgery, the doc said Kyle's eyes look great. He would like to see us again in a year, but only as a precautionary measure. While we were in the waiting room, Kyle was quite the social butterfly. If he did not have someones attention, he would literally grunt (sounds kind of barbaric, huh!) at them until he had their full attention. Once he had it, he would laugh and reward them with a HUGE smile. He was a little cutie.


Kyle LOVES to be outside. If Madison goes outside to play, and Kyle is not "invited", he'll sit by the door and cry until we take him outside. While he loves to be outside, he will not touch grass. He seems to have some strange fear of grass for some reason. This little quirk has actually served us well...during Madison's games he won't crawl off our blanket!


Boys are mischievous and apparently it starts early! Kyle is into everything. When Madison was a baby, she was content to sit and play with her toys. Kyle on the other hand, loves to go exploring. He is always going through the cupboards and has even crawled INTO the cupboards on occasion. If he can crawl somewhere, he goes. If there is something to explore, he will. We have even found him in the bathroom licking the toilet. Yuck, I know.


Yesterday Kyle learned to climb the stairs. I'm sure we're in for even more trouble soon!


Things on the eating front are going so-so, and Kyle's weight is sitting steady at 17 pounds. Some days he eats like a champ, others it is a struggle to get him to eat anything. Our challenge right now is that Kyle is beginning to prefer table food. That is actually a good thing, but the downside is that it takes him forever to "gum" his food. Where before he would consume a container of yogurt (120+ calories) in a few minutes, now it takes him the same amount of time just to eat one french fry. Seems silly, but we celebrate each calorie or bite of food that goes in Kyle's mouth.

Next week Kyle has his quarterly evaluation with a physical therapist. His last one did not go to well, so we are praying for a favorable report this time. I am (cautiously) optimistic though, as Kyle has made great strides in his gross motor skills over the last couple months. Hard to imagine that just three months ago he wasn't even rolling over yet. Now, he is crawling, pulling up on everything, and even climbing the stairs.

Kyle and I will be taking a trip together in the near future. More on that later. But, my question to you all...How in the world do I get through the airport with Kyle by myself? It's not the flying part that has me nervous. But after our plane lands and we get our luggage...I will have two suitcases, Kyle's pac-n-play, a carseat, my laptop, and the diaper bag. And of course Kyle in his stroller. I have no idea how I am going to manage! I figured that I could get one of those "Smart Carts" but I can't remember if those have a place for Kyle to sit. If that's the case, I'll be fine. I can just fold Kyle's stroller up and add it to our pile of stuff on the cart. If there isn't a place for Kyle to sit on the Smart Cart, I'm not sure what I can do. Any suggestions???

I'll leave you with some random cuteness...

Movin' On Up

Kyle is obviously at risk for developmental delays. The doctors have warned us of this since the day he was born.


We have been very proactive in doing all we can to help minimize any delays Kyle has. Two months before his due date, our little two pound baby began physical therapy.


I have always tried to give Kyle every advantage to help him succeed.


The furniture in the room where our family typically gathers is not very conducive to babies climbing, and specifically, learning to pull up.


As such, I have bought Kyle a collection of toys that are sure to encourage him to pull up. I say that I bought these for Kyle because, each time I come home with another, Joe rolls his eyes at me. But, I tell him these toys are just so fabulous, they are sure to entice Kyle to pull up so that he can play with them.


Well, this week Kyle finally pulled himself up for the first time! And, what do you think he used?


Maybe this musical Leap Frog toy....



Or this fun little play house....




This scooter from Grandma and Grandpa looks like lots of fun...

And this Fisher Price toy is sure to get him going. It even has convenient handles to help him pull up...

Surprisingly, none of these did the trick.


Instead, Kyle crawled over to the couch where the cat was laying. Grabbed hold of the cat's tail, and hoisted himself up.



Disclaimer: No cats were harmed! In fact, the cat just laid there without flinching while Kyle "hung" on.

Perhaps this is the Lord again reminding me that I just need to have patience.


In my defense, now that Kyle has practiced on the cat, he is using the toys to stand with.

"Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer." Romans 12:12

Busy Bees

We have been so busy lately, I have barely had time to feed my blog addiction. Madison is involved in so many activities right now, and it seems they all overlap in May. Most nights we are going to not just one, but two different events with her. Last night it was soccer followed by a softball game. Tonight it is Brownies, followed by an Art show at school. Ughhhh...I am looking forward to summer break!

Last week was especially busy as in addition to her regular events, Madison had cheerleading tryouts for Stow Youth Football. I was quite nervous as this is the first time she has ever had to try out for a team. I am so happy to report that Madison made it!!! She would have been devastated had she not. Cheerleading is something she loves and works very hard at.

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Madison and Joe went to a Father Daughter Dance last week. I wish I had a cute story or antidote about the dance to share with everyone, but as I was not there, all I have is a photo of them before the dance:

I was at home with my own "date" for the night. A pretty cute one if I do say so myself:

Well, just a quick post to let you know I am still alive! I'm off to go observe artistic masterpieces created by second graders. Good times! :)

Operation Baby Fat

Kyle is the most CHILL baby ever. The most easy going of dudes, but try to give him a bottle and he will bat it away (with remarkable accuracy) and go on a hunger strike for as long as he likes.

Our attempts to fatten him up just were not working. For almost three months, Kyle did not gain even an ounce.

We've tried enticing him with lots of goodies. We've tried tempting Kyle with ice cream, fresh fruits, every baby food imaginable...but he is unimpressed.

The doctor said we can't make a baby eat more. But, we could make what little he does eat count more.

So, we had to fool the little guy, and Operation Baby Fat was born.

Upon the advice of Kyle's specialist, for the past couple weeks, anything we give Kyle is LOADED with calories.

We're adding Carnation Instant Breakfast powder to his formula. We're adding heavy whipping cream to his baby food. We're even melting butter and adding it to his food. Mashed potatoes? Yummy. But add some cream cheese and butter to the potatoes...yummy and fattening.

And so far, it is working! Since we began Operation Baby Fat, Kyle has gained a little over a pound.

Right now, Kyle is in the 60th percentile for height. For his weight, he is not even ON the chart. At 17 pounds he is still a skinny mini.

But, at least we are beginning to see progress.

Tagged

The adorable Kendra from a Superhero, Princess & Monkey tagged me for a meme. The tag is to post six uninteresting things about myself and in turn tag six others to do the same.


I'd imagine you're all quite eager to read more uninteresting stuff about me, so here goes.......


1.) Growing up I was very into softball. I was a pitcher and selected to play on several All-Star teams. And we were very good actually. During my career playing, I won several state championships and even made it to the World Series one year.

2.) I am ALWAYS late. No matter what. I hate this about myself (as does my husband).


3.) I puffy heart my neighborhood. There are tons of kids Madison's age. I've made some awesome friends. Joe is always hanging with the other Dads. We've taken a couple of adults only trips with our neighbors. This summer we're heading to Hilton Head with two other families from our neighborhood. We've outgrown our house, but love the neighborhood so much I can't bear to move. I am trying to talk Joe into building a house across the street from where we live now, but so far he thinks that idea is "ridiculous."


4.) I wear heels EVERYWHERE. Even at home around the house. I'm very self conscious about my height and can't stand to be without the extra lift I get from heels.


5.) When I was 31, I was baptized as an act of obedience and a symbol of commitment to the Lord. Growing up, my family did not attend church or pray together. I always believed in God. But, I did not have a personal relationship with Him. About six years ago, a friend invited me to a bible study. In preparation for this study, I began reading the bible for the first time. Immediately I felt a sense of peace and my life has not been the same since.


6.) I have a very annoying habit, in my head. If I hear a word, I try to figure out what other words I can spell from that word. For example, from the word "Bread" you can also spell: bar, bad, bed, red, bear, ear, are, dare, bra, read, beard. You get the idea. And did you notice that I didn't mention any two letter words? Oh, no sir re. That would not be challenging enough for my little head game!


Here's who I am Tagging:


Carey @ A Woman's Prerogative
Mandy at The Gratton Grapevine
Krissy the Firecracker Mom


If you want to play:

• Link back to the person who tagged you.


• Post these rules on your blog.


• List 6 uninteresting things about yourself.


• Tag 6 random people at the end of your entry (or like me, only three).

Fro Me To You: Happy Birthday Sis

Kristen at We are THAT family is hosting a blog carnival and she has asked me to join. The carnival is called Sincerely 'Fro Me To You and the idea is that on Thursdays we'll share some flashback pictures and anecdotes.

Today is my sister Niki's birthday, so I am devoting this post to her. Niki is younger than I am by only thirteen months, so as you can imagine we were very close growing up.

We went through everything together...

Like when we complained one time to many about having our hair brushed. My mom promptly took us to get these lovely bowl haircuts...

Niki is on the left, our little sis Dawn is in the middle, and toothless on the right would be me.

We got wear such chic and sophisticated outfits together...

We received our first pair of Jordache jeans together on Christmas morning in 1981. Jordache jeans to a fourth grader? Best. Christmas. Ever.



We both got braces on the same day....



And we shared a love of BIG hair and BIG prom dresses...



It would have been cool if people thought we were twins since we were so close in age, but unfortunately for me, no one ever thought that. Instead, they always thought SHE was the older one. Niki has always been at least a few inches taller than I am (now she is about 5'8 and I am 5'2). Growing up I used to get so bummed about this.

“Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all.” Proverbs 31:29

Niki, you have a heart of gold. I am so proud of you and thankful to have you as my sister. I love you and I hope you have the happiest birthday ever.

Much Love,

Jennifer

20,000!

Yesterday we reached 20,000 hits since adding the Site Meter counter. Now I know for some superstar bloggers, 20,000 hits is a day in the life, but for me, I am thinking it is pretty cool!

Who would have thought that this rambling post written from my hospital bed last year would turn into this blog? A blog so thought provoking that it has been changing lives all over the world?

I kid, I kid. But, seriously, when I wrote that first post I had no idea if anyone would ever read it; we were just trying to cut down on all the phone calls to our hospital room! Apparently people were interested enough to keep reading, because here we are, 156 posts later.

We can’t have a 20,000th hit celebration without pictures! But since I have not taken any pictures recently, I thought I would share a few of my favorites that have been posted on the blog over the past year.

Now these aren't necessarily the BEST pictures, but they all represent something special.

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This was Kyle's first picture. One I am ashamed to admit that I would not post when Kyle was first born. The poor guy looked so pitiful and hopeless. Seeing Kyle like this, it was easy to understand why the doctors did not think he would make it. (Look at Kyle's arms, they are thinner than the nurse's finger)

But, seeing the above picture of Kyle taken in February 2007, and comparing it to this picture of Kyle that was taken in February 2008, makes me realize what a strong, amazing little fighter he is...

Madison wanted so much to be a big sister. Obviously under the circumstances, Madison could not partake in big sister activities in the typical fashion. But she did not let that stop her. Here she is reading to her little brother. And although Kyle weighed less than two pounds at the time, she would read to him with as much warmth and animation as if he was a pre-schooler hanging onto her every word.

When Kyle was almost three months old, he was finally deemed stable enough for Madison to hold him...

This picture was taken with Dr. Lugo shortly before Kyle was discharged from the hospital...

And this picture was taken with Dr. Lugo when we came back to visit...

And of course, I must include a picture of Rylee and Breanne, without whom my four month stay in Florida would have been so lonely...

Hitting 20,000 visits got me to thinking. Who is reading this blog???

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I totally respect your right to remain anonymous, but, I’m always curious who’s reading.

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If you've been looking for an excuse to make a comment, or introduce yourself, or tell me that you loathe me, consider yourself formally invited to speak up. Introduce yourself!

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I puffy heart you all. Lurkers delurk... that means you Michelle, Julie, Leanne and whomever else might read this blog but rarely ever comments. So leave me a comment (or I might have to post embarrassing pictures of you drinking "milk!").

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And, do we have ANY family that still reads this blog? Dear, sweet Great Aunt Sandra, whom I have never even had the pleasure of meeting, comments on almost every post. Are there any other family members that still pop in every once in awhile?

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Thanks for a happy 20,000! Lurkers? Delurk!

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God Bless,

.

Jennifer, Joe, Madison and Kyle

GNO

This weekend, Madison and I enjoyed a girls night out with a couple of our nearest and dearest friends. Leanne is a great friend and neighbor, who also happens to be Kyle's Godmother. Her daughter Reese goes to school with Madison.

We got manicures....



And pedicures....


I went with a sassy red, while Madison opted for maroon and gold since they are her school colors....


Afterwards, we went to TGI Fridays for dinner. While there, being the mature Mommy that I am, I discreetly told the waiter that it was Madison and Reese's birthday. They were a little confused and embarrassed when the Friday's staff came to sing them Happy Birthday...


Thankfully, the girls sat there in stunned silence and did not rat me out! All was forgiven though, when they realized their embarrassing song came with "birthday" ice cream...

Afterwards we made prank calls and tee-peed a cute boys house. No. Not really. We ended the evening by seeing the movie Baby Mama. Which by the way, is a decent movie, but something I would recommend waiting to see on DVD.

All and all, we had a great girls night out!

Much Love,

Jennifer

Progress...

I have been a bad, bad blogger. Spring is in the air and for the first time in months we are able to play outside. I have been out with the kiddos every day. Granted, most of our time "out" is spent watching Madison's soccer games or softball. But, we can spend time outside none the less.

We met with Kyle's Developmental Specialists last Friday. We have been meeting with them every other week since the fall. Each session, they ask what new things Kyle is up to. For months, all I had to offer was, "Oh, he got a new toy. Does that count?" or "New, look at this adorable NEW outfit he is wearing!" I always got the feeling that was not the response they were looking for.

Well, this past session, I had lots of new things to share. Just since our last meeting, Kyle began rolling over, crawling, clapping his hands and waving hi and bye. Yep, that's my boy! It felt so good to finally have something to share and they were quite pleased with his progress as well.

Oh, and Kyle learned all of the above while cutting four new teeth. He cut two teeth on the bottom in December, but since then, NOTHING. My overactive imagination actually began to think well, when he was born his heart, lungs, eyes, nerves, skin, even his ear lobes, weren't yet developed. Maybe he was born so early somehow his top teeth never had a chance to form. Silly Mommy! I think the Lord is trying to teach me some patience, as that is definitely not a virtue I was blessed with.

Ages and Stages

What word starts with the letter F and ends with UCK? The answer would of course be a FIRE TRUCK. No, this is not my idea of a good joke. It was however a joke that was written on a class mural by one of my fourth grade students during Sunday School recently. A class mural about “Daniel in the Lion Den” that each teacher was supposed to proudly display in her classroom when the kiddos finished it.

About 6 weeks ago, I switched Sunday School classes, leaving my beloved Second Graders (whom I had been teaching since they were 4 years old) and instead began teaching Fourth Graders. The class is mostly made up of boys and they are wild. On my way to teach my first class I was so excited and I prayed that the days’ lesson would reach the heart, lives, attitudes and actions, of my students. On my way to class the following weeks, I simply prayed to get through class without crying. I was out of my league.

Then my dear little Kyle came in and saved the day. You see, he is going through an awful case of separation anxiety. I would leave him in the nursery while I taught. Kyle was distraught without me, and three weeks in a row I ended up being paged to the nursery to come get him. The second he laid eyes on me, he would stop crying. Meanwhile, while I was getting Kyle, the rowdy fourth grade boys started a fire in the rest room one week, and another time they broke into the communion wine. No. Not really. Just trying to add a little excitement to my posting. But, it was obvious it was not going to work with Kyle’s newfound separation anxiety issues. So, this past week I was moved from the fourth grade classroom and I now get to serve in the nursery where my sweet baby boy is. I love it.

At eight years old, my daughter on the other hand is completely over any separation issues she may have once had.

She does not have school today. Typically this would be the ideal time to get some quality one- on-one time in with her. When I offered to take the day off work so that we could hang out or go shopping, she politely declined. I was shocked. I mean come on, I’m a hip, cool mom. Or at least I thought. Madison is now at the age where she’s rather hang out with her friends.

She may not want to hang out with me now during the day, but at night she sneaks into my bed to cuddle. Such an in between stage. I hold onto every single moment I can ... she's growing so fast.

When you’re a mom you’re supposed to give kids "roots and wings" but secretly I think we always hope our kids will never stop wanting and needing us. So for now, I am going to revel in Kyle’s separation anxiety…and try harder to figure out how to be the hip, cool mom to Madison.

On the move...

Kyle officially started crawling last week! He is so curious and into everything. I love this stage...I think babies look so adorable crawling and Kyle is no exception.

With this new skill, Kyle has turned into Mr. Independent. He is constantly crawling out of rooms to go exploring. Needless to say, we've had to baby proof the house. One of the funny things we've caught Kyle doing is crawling into Madison's room to look at the chandelier hanging from her ceiling. If you recall last month when we took the kids to Florida, while Kyle liked Disney enough, it could not compete with the huge chandelier in the hotel lobby. This kid is easy to please.

Much Love,

Jennifer, Joe, Madison and Kyle