Lollipops

After church our pastor always stands outside the church and holds a basket of candy for the children to take a piece. Morgan has learned this routine and eagerly gets in line for a piece of candy. Today she ended up picking out a strawberry lollipop. She started sucking it in the car but with her little mouth almost the whole pop was left when we got home. She decided she would share with RJ for one lick... but one lick wasn't going to be enough for RJ! He followed her around mouth open hoping she would stick that lollipop back in his mouth for another lick or two. She was very nice and shared with him! Mmm... sharing germs. She offered me a lick but I pleasantly declined! What makes kids happy!

Puzzles & a Happy Little Guy!

Morgan was so proud of herself! She was able to put this 24 piece Mickey puzzle together by herself without an ounce of help from anyone! She concentrated so hard, and it was amazing to watch her brain think out loud as she looked at each piece trying to find the colors first to match up, and if that didn't work she turned the piece around trying all sides! She doesn't quite understand that the flat parts always go on the outside, but somehow she is still successful! My little girl just keeps observing and absorbing!!

RJ was feeling so much better today! Still a little clingy but he was so much more content today, played, and ate! It is amazing what medicine will do for you!! (And I am NOT a big medicine fan! But when you need it, you need it!)

Momma (and MeMom) know best!

RJ has been fighting a cold for at least two weeks (probably more like three weeks) and this week he has gotten even more fussy. I tried to blame it on teething, but his appetite has decreased and he was just acting miserable. So on Thursday with the urge of MeMom Daddy took RJ to the doctor for a 2pm visit. Verdict? No ear infection! What? No ear infection... I really thought there would be an ear infection...hmm... then what is his problem? Daddy brought him home and RJ went down for a 3+ hour nap. RJ never takes that long an afternoon nap! Something must be wrong... YUP... he woke up with a 101 fever. Urgh! He was a sad, miserable, in pain little guy! He barely ate supper, and what he did eat he ate while being hand fed on my lap. He went to bed with the help of Motrin and slept off and on for the night. He woke up with a 102.7 fever. I was already at work when he woke up and Daddy was heading to work. Grandmom was coming over to watch the kiddos. What to do... Now I really think it is an ear infection, what to do... do I leave school and take him to the doctor AGAIN? I called the doctor and they said yes I would have to bring him in again. yiyiyi... I was hoping for a script! They said they were pretty full in the afternoon so the latest appointment they could give me was 11am. (It was 9:45 at this point). What was I going to say? I took it! I went and told the secretary that I was leaving (why did I even come to school?), jumped in my car and sped home, picked up the babe, and sped to the doctor. Got to the doctor a few minutes late but were taken almost immediately! Doctor came in and looked in both ears. Double ear infection! RJ had lots of gook in his eyes and the doctor said that the gook was being pushed out by his sinuses attached to the ear infection. Really docs? He had no signs of an ear infection yesterday?! Less than 24 hours ago? Urgh... At least we get medicine now so his misery is almost to an end... this time! Lots of cuddle time today!

Snow-weathermen-SNOW!

When you predict snow we rarely get it or it gets diverted another way... when you don't predict snow or call it a passing 'snow shower' roads become dangerous and accidents pile up everywhere! Did I mention there were 13+ accidents on the turnpike between Lansdale and Quakertown (ok can't take the turnpike to work), oh and 663 was closed between the turnpike and Rt. 309... really can't go that way now... I don't dare go down windy, twisty, hilly Allentown Road, so back way to Rt. 309. "Smooth sailing" if you consider going extremely slow until I heard on KYW that there was an accident at Unionville Pike and Rt. 309... my turn-off road was about 1/2 mile before Unionville Pike crosses Rt. 309. Think I'd be ok... NOPE! The back-up started right before the Souderton exit and when I say we sat and sat and sat, then creeped, then sat, and sat and sat then creeped.... My usual 25 minute ride turned into an hour and 15 minute ride to work. Yuck!!! I am thankful that no one hit me, I did not hit anyone, and I remained on the road. I'm still wondering if the areas surrounding my house own a salt truck!! Thank goodness my ride home was harmless... go figure barely a flake left on the ground.... I LOVE snow WHEN I don't have to drive in it!

oh... and thank goodness I didn't have the kids with me!

DO IT BY MYSELF BEHIND MOMMA'S BACK

Watch out... Morgan is on the loose!

She has been slightly devilish the last few days!

On Tuesday night the kids and I were playing in the playroom and Morgan wanted to open a new toy. I told her it was too late, but tomorrow she could open it... she didn't like that answer. She disappeared for a few minutes and came back holding a pair of scissors in her hand. She then took the toy she wanted opened and was going to attempt to open it herself. No... I put a stop to that! RJ and I kept playing and Morgan stomped off with her toy (still in the packaging) into the family room. A couple minutes went by and she didn't return and I heard an 'eery' silence. The silence only a Momma can hear! I ran into the kitchen to find Morgan sitting on a chair with her toy (still in it's packaging) on her lap and her holding the handle of a long sharp knife stabbing at the toy (sitting in her lap). AHHHHH! Oh my, thank goodness she was ok! She hadn't stabbed herself YET, I'm so glad I got that Momma intuition! I explained to her what a bad idea she had chosen to do and then she went into time out! I have to admit I gave her a swat on her bottom, she could have really hurt herself! AND she has been told many times before that only adults, Mommas, and Daddies can touch knives. (She could have gotten VERY hurt!) The block of knives needs to be moved to a place little hands can not reach, even when standing on a chair!

I would never have thought Morgan would do that... what you learn after it happens! Mischievous three year olds... and what they teach us!

Chompers!

Are we getting teeth or not?! RJ still only has his two front top teeth and one snaggle tooth on the bottom. He has been drooling and irritable, and not eating like himself!! Are these teeth coming or what?! I hear the later you get your teeth the stronger they are.... he is going to be able to bite through a diamond at this rate!! *wink*wink*

Sitting together!

My sweet kids watching a little TV and reading together!

They love their chairs!!!

New Game

This continues to be a new game! Emptying the cabinet and hiding inside... hopefully this game doesn't last too long. Until it ends Morgan will continue learning how to clean up when the fun and games is over!

Hearing better yet?

Today was a long, tiring, but wonderful day! Up bright and early to get to the Surgical Center (Wellness Center in Doylestown) by 6:30am. RJ did not sleep well all night, up every hour or so grunting, complaining, or crying. Teething + cold = difficult sleep! So every time I got myself relaxed again not thinking about Morgan's surgery and just about asleep RJ made some more noise. Got everything organized to take to Grandmom's (who RJ would visit during Morgan's surgery), got a change of clothes for Morgan ready (just in case), and a bucket and towels (hopefully won't need). Then it was time to get Bubba up. He was actually awake at 5:20 when I went in to wake him up and nurse him. Poor Bubba! Nursed him, got him in the car, woke Morgan up and got her in the car. She requested her milk, but sorry kiddo no food or drink until after your surgery! Got to the Surgical Center right on time and we filled out all the intake forms. Morgan and I were taken back to get ready for her surgery (while Daddy took RJ to Grandmom's). She got into a cute little hospital gown with Looney Tunes characters all over it. She isn't old enough to know who the Looney Tunes are yet so she said, "Look Momma... a yellow bird (Tweety), a lion (Taz), a cat (Sylvester)." Cute and sweet! She looked so cute in her gown and in the big 'bed'. The nurse covered her legs with a white blanket. Morgan was so well behaved the whole time! She was VERY compliant and did everything the nurses asked her to! She listened to the anesthesiologist and smiled at everyone who came to say hello to her. The cat seemed to have got her tongue... but she gave her little shy smile to everyone! (She was the only patient that early in the morning so she had a good ten people milling around her, of course mentioning how cute she was, and especially how well behaved she was!) They put a blood pressure cuff on her arm, heart monitors on her back, and put a finger clip on her finger... not sure, to check heart beat maybe? She was so sweet, letting everyone do whatever they needed to... then came the juice. It was about two tablespoons of liquid in a little cup. she needed to drink it all. It was to make her whoosie... "drunk like". She took one little sip and refused to drink anymore... so she got wheeled away wide awake, holding baby Lacey (puppy dog MeMom bought her for her surgery) surrounded by three or four nurses, two anesthesiologists, Dr. Nesi, and maybe some other people... all I know is there were a lot of people taking her back! She gave me a kiss and then got wheeled away without an ounce of verbalized fear or a tear! (What a brave little girl!!) No lie from the time she was wheeled away to the time the Dr. came out to tell us she was done it was less than fifteen minutes! I was shocked and amazed! I knew that it was an easy and fairly quick procedure but I didn't realize it was such a quick process! Dr. said that a lot of liquid came out and that the surgery went as planned. Whew, thank goodness. Then we needed to wait for "Sleeping Beauty" (her favorite Disney princess) to wake up. I think it took longer for her to wake up then the surgery itself took! She was a little pail when she woke up when the nurse offered her cookies and soda she beamed from ear to ear! Soda?! and Cookies?! for breakfast?! She wasn't going to give that lucky deal up!! She ate one cookie and drank a few sips of soda over 20 minutes and was ready to eat the next cookie when we stopped her and got her dressed. My slow eating daughter could have been there all day eating 4 cookies! We took the rest with us! She was given a clean bill of health by the nurses and the anesthesiologists! Off we went to pick up a prescription at the pharmacy for ear drops and then home! We were all pooped! Daddy went to bed when we got home, and two hours later both kiddos went down for naps. I stayed up because I didn't want a kiddo to wake up and wake up anyone else. Even though I was tired I forced myself not to sleep! The kiddos each took almost 4 hour naps and then went to bed early! Long day, but can't wait until tomorrow to see how Morgan is hearing!

Morgan-Tubes

I'm very nervous for my baby girl! I haven't blogged about it before because I didn't want to look like I was obsessing... but I have been obsessing in my own little mind! Whole long story in a shorter long story... The week between Christmas and New Years I couldn't handle Morgan saying "What" one more time! It had been growing worse and worse and at this point she was saying 'What' to almost everything said to her! We also had this conversation one night in her bedroom:

"Momma, turn on my fan please"
"Your fan is on sweet pea"
"But Momma I can't hear it"
"Morgan it IS on, I promise"
Then with tears streaming down her face she said, "Momma, I can't hear it"

After that conversation (that broke by heart) we proceeded to feel that the fan was on (a new nightly ritual ever since). Wednesday December 30th I called the ENT (directly without calling my Pediatrician, I new this was a problem!!). I called the ENT that put tubes in my ears many times when I was a wee-little one. I must have sounded panicked enough that I got an appointment that Monday the 4th (less than a week later!). Mentioning I was a Speech Language Pathologist may not have hurt either!

Went to our appointment that Monday. (Let I mention I saw no other patients there when we got there or when we left, I think they really did create a new appointment for us!) We went in and Dr. Nesi said yes, I see lots of fluid. He then said sometimes kids say 'what' to test their parents (to which comment I bit a hole in my tongue and just smiled, because he was the expert...but I KNEW something was wrong!). The Audiologist then took us back to the booth and did a full battery of tests on Morgan's ears. Her tympanic membranes (the part that is supposed to move extremely rapidly to transfer sound waves) was moving very sluggishly she said. During the speech recognition test where -10dB to +10dB (decibels) is average Morgan heard in each ear at 40dB! Yikes!! (Spelled correctly for you Aunt Megan). When the doctor saw the results from the Audiologist he said with those types of results he would fit us in within the next couple weeks as soon as possible for TUBES. The SLP in me popped out and my brain started thinking "hearing loss could lead to articulation errors and therapy. If you can't hear the sounds correctly, you obviously won't be able to say them right..... NO!!" So the wait began (oh - ps. she can't have a cold when she gets the operation, good luck with that one!). We were finally told last Monday that she could be put on the schedule for Wednesday the 20th and to call at 3:30 the Tuesday before for the time. Doylestown Hospital here we come... or so we thought...

So all this time I did not do any research because I didn't want to see all the scary things that could happen to 1% of the cases... because I knew in my brain that 1% would be Morgan... and more fear would occur! Although rationally I know that the tubes surgery is very routine and quick and easy, but still... it's my baby and she will be going under!

This afternoon came and everything went bonkers! Dr. Nesi's office called and spoke to Daddy. The hospital would not work with them and said that the earliest time they could give Morgan for her surgery was 1:30 (moved up from a 4pm start). It would be one thing if it was an adult waiting until then... but really? A three year old who is not allowed to drink or eat anything when she wakes up? Come on! So they called the Wellness Center in Warrington. I thought the Wellness Center was just a big gym (by driving by it) but it is actually half gym, half Surgical Center where they do mostly athletic surgeries. They could fit us in in the morning so after I did some research and found out that everything would be the same as the hospital I opted to go ahead and do it at the Surgical/Wellness Center. Ok... arrival time is: 6:30am! Yikes, that is early!

So now I just need to wait... I know it will be ok... I know it will be ok...

Swimming!

Today I had off for MLK day so I got to take Morgan swimming! I always hear about what she has done but I never get to see it first hand! Today I actually got to see my little girl in action! I think she shied away a little bit because I was there and she thought she could get away with it...but she still did a great job! She jumped in a few times, she blew bubbles, floated on her back, kicked her legs, bobbed up and down, used a kick board and swam around! Way to go cutie!!

I took RJ in for his class right after Morgan's class instead of taking him at night which made my life a lot easier! MeMom took us to the mall so I could get my new watch sized and to get lunch (at the crazy busy mall!). It was insane how crowded it was!

Nice morning and afternoon. Back to work/reality tomorrow...

Dad's Christmas Party

Today was the postponed Dad's side of the family Christmas party. Today instead of snow it was pouring rain. Blah...

It was a nice gathering. Several people were unable to make it because of the change but all who were able to make it enjoyed one another's company!

It is amazing how many little ones were hanging around this year! There was one 5-year-old, two 3-year-olds, three one-year-olds, and one almost one year old! (7 little kiddos!) Our family is really expanding! Morgan enjoyed playing with the older kids and the younger kids.

This was the 70th anniversary of the party so we replicated what they ate for the first party... sliced ham (theirs was in water in a can) and fried chicken (theirs was Kentucky Fried Chicken), and German potato salad.

It was a very nice afternoon despite the weather!

Next year the family party will be taken over by either my mom and dad or us, we were volunteered, but we wouldn't mind, we really do have the space!

First cousins and their spouses (above)

(below) All us kids...

Just call us carpenters!

Morgan and Deklan that is!

Today we went over to Uncle Cameron's and Morgan and RJ got to play with Deklan and AJ! Morgan and Deklan had a lot of fun playing almost together, but definitely parallel playing! AJ did her own thing and RJ did his own thing... but they all seemed to have fun! AJ at one point tried to comfort RJ! It was adorable... silly RJ I just left the room for a second to get my camera!

At lunch I offered a new food to Deklan and AJ (hard salami) and it was enjoyed by all... Uncle Cameron go out and buy some salami! MMMM!!! Everyone ate great... it seems that all kids like to make their parents liars! They eat what they would never usually eat when surrounded by other kids!

I had a great visit with Cameron and we must keep these visits up for the kids!

Santa AKA RJ

Before Christmas I could not locate a box of Christmas oriented things (that was at my parents house last Christmas) anywhere!! I looked high and low at our house and everywhere at my parents house and still couldn't find this missing box... the box had our stockings in it, present labels in it and other stuff... couldn't remember what else... So needless to say we went out and bought new stockings for everyone because that was the most important thing missing!

Morgan wanted to get out Valentine's day decorations out tonight so I went downstairs to the basement in hunt of the Valentine's Day bin full of decorations. During the adventure I came across a bright blue bin and wondered what was in it... did you guess? Yup, all my Christmas stuff that was missing! Now, why in the world would I put Christmas in that color bin?! Yiyiyi. We found this cute Santa outfit that I had bought on clearance last year for RJ to wear this year. We put it on him so we can say at least he wore it once, but I have a feeling I will be dressing him in it a few more times. (Shh, don't tell Daddy) He just looked so gosh darn cute! With full attire from hat (which he wouldn't keep on his head) to elf slippers! So cute!!

(ha... Valentine's meets Christmas)

Chairs and Deflated Balloon Fun!

Tonight was a little bit rough! They were at the sitter today and RJ choose not to take a nap all day. The sitter attempted but all he did was cry when she tried and he was in a good mood when he was awake. Hmmm... interesting kiddo! Morgan said she took a 'rest' which means no nap for her too... so starting after we got of the car one or the other of my beautiful children was fussing... fussing... waaaa.....waa...

Who knew that a deflated balloon could be so much fun and be fought over by two children? Gotta love it! So why do we have all the toys in our playroom if they would just be happy with one deflated balloon to share? Tried to bring a second (deflated) balloon into the picture, but neither of them wanted that balloon... Oh to be young again! After I offered the second balloon the balloon fun died down and they sat and read books... I'm so glad they both love books already... hope their love of reading keeps up! Morgan will now sit down and 'read' the book out loud to herself and RJ turns the pages and looks at the pictures!

It is 8:15 and both kids are in bed sleeping! Wahoo! I think I am going to curl into bed with a book and see if I can read at least one or two pages before falling asleep before 9pm... ohhhh... I can't wait!

Muffin Anyone?

Anyone want to share muffins with RJ?
He told me they are delicious!

One last look...

One last look at our beautiful tree...

Daddy says the Christmas season is over today so tree comes down... the other decorations will come down.... soon, not today!

Fox?!

What? No... not a fox in the backyard?

Oh...yes... actually two foxes in the backyard! Yikes!

ps....Daddy looked it up and said it is mating season right now!

Camping Anyone?

Morgan saw the tent in the garage, asked Daddy to put it up and he obliged... The kids absolutely loved it! We kept it up for several days! It was fun to crawl in and play and then crawl out! They also read books together in the tent! It was adorable! It is still so neat to watch them play together!