Goodbye Noodle....

It's been an emotionally trying week. My sweet Sammy girl stopped eating on Monday and held on until the wee hours today. Dave says she held on so I'd only have to be sad on one day. Sammy passed away on the 6th anniversary of the date we lost Ashlyn. 

My sweet husband fed the kids and put them to bed last night so I could spend a final few hours with Sammy. I held her in the recliner and monitored her labored breaths for four hours last night. When I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer, Dave and I made her a bed and placed it on the floor beside my bed. I fell asleep for a few hours and when I woke, at 4:00 AM, she was gone. 

I am tremendously thankful that I got to spend her final hours holding her and that she passed peacefully at home. 

Rest peacefully, sweet Sammy girl. We already miss you tremendously!

Beach with the Bryant's

Liz and Jeffrey brought Kendall down and had a sleep over for JD's birthday. We hit the beach Sunday morning. JD adores "his Kendall"and told me he's going to keep her for the rest of his life!

I have a photo of him just like this from a couple of years ago. He loves to watch the water wash the sand from his hands...

JD's Scooby-Doo party

5 years old... Well, not officially until Wednesday, but we had the party yesterday. It was not without mishap (one kids little brother threw up all over my kitchen, another's little brother had a door slammed on his finger and had to go to the ER for stitches) but it was lots of fun. 

We wrapped kids in toilet paper and they pretended they were mummies. We strung Fruit Loops and Scooby-Doo dog tags to make Scooby collars. We even had a piñata!

But most of all, JD loved his cake....

More pics to come when I upload them from my camera. 

Cousins!

Taken this past Easter when Kent visited from TX. Just now getting around to editing them....

Mr. Mischief

Two days before his 5th birthday party, when I'm supposed to break out the fancy camera and take a bunch of cute photos of him, he does this to his hair. I sure hope Ms. Maria is working tomorrow morning during Tropical Storm Andria, and can do something to fix this, because he looks kind of silly!

Chicken Bone

Bedtime conversation with my sassy little girl went a little something like this:

Allie: (touching her ankle) Mommy, it's hard right here

Me: yep! That's called a bone. 

Allie: yeah. It's my chicken bone!

Me: chicken bone?!?

Allie: *nods, smiling*

Me: I thought it was your Allie bone....

Allie: it is my Allie bone, mommy. But sometimes it bees my chicken bone!

It's hard to argue with that....

The latest and greatest...

So it's been two months since my last post. So much for the once a week post, huh? We have been so busy!

My new job is going great. I love the people I work with and the work that I'm doing. It's getting crazier by the day as we inch toward the first day of school (August 22). The kids have adjusted amazingly well to me being out of the house, and Dave is doing an incredible job with them. They have been out of school for the past two weeks... I'm sure he's ready for them to go back on Wednesday!

We recently went through a round of ear infections for the kids. JD's was a double! His tubes had fallen out of his eardrums (they're supposed to do that within a year) but were just sitting in his ear canal. So Dave had to take him to the ENT to have them removed. Luckily he was able to just pluck them out and JD said it didn't hurt or tickle or anything! We are having a bit of a mystery issue with Allie. Her nipple is bleeding again. Remember when it did that a couple of years ago? Well, it started again about a month ago. Her pediatrician is pretty stumped. We've had an ultrasound of the breast, it was normal. He consulted a pediatric endocrinologist who asked him to check her prolactin and thyroid levels and they're both normal. Now we will go down to MUSC to see the endocrinologist on the 28th because he doesn't know what else to do. It's definitely not normal and it's definitely not anything our doctors has ever encountered. It doesn't seem to bother her too much. If I try to touch it she pulls away but doesn't seem to bother her otherwise. I'm just nervous enough about it, though, that I want to exhaust all non-invasive tests before I "just keep an eye on it".....

So, on to more fun topics! Allie is in the thick of the two's, which, for her, aren't too bad. She's now 100% potty trained, has moved in to a big girl bed and has given up her binky. Lots of big steps in the last two months, huh? She's done so well. She hasn't asked or cried for her binky at all. Not even once! She doesn't settle down to go to sleep as easily anymore and has been skipping some naps, though, so we will have to work on that. She loves to draw and sing and has even started drawing people, complete with hair! She's also very addicted to her daddy right now and she hates to have her hair combed..... she's an independent little girl and likes to do things herself, which we encourage every chance we get!

JD amazes us these days with his vocabulary. Sometimes it's like I'm talking to an adult. He has his first "buddy" since moving to Pawleys. Jack is his best friend. They are exactly alike... they even have the same favorite color: orange! What little kid likes orange?!? I was also amazed to find out that Jack also likes to "hook things up" just like JD does.... and the strangest thing? Jack is short for John David! JD is starting to play a little more independently but, if left alone too long, finds mischief. Last week he and Allie were playing in their rooms. Dave was in the kitchen. My mom went upstairs to see them. JD had placed a step stool (the one in the bathroom that they use to wash their hands) on top of Allie's dresser. He would then climb onto the dresser, stand on the step stool and jump to Allie's bed.... all boy! And here's another funny story from last night... we had dinner at a local restaurant with some friends. As we entered the restaurant, Dave made JD stand to the side while Allie and I went through the door and told him "always let ladies go first". Later JD had to go potty so I took him to the ladies room. He had his pants halfway down and I said "I think I'll go potty too while we're in here..." With that, he pulled his pants back up and said "girls go first, mommy!" It's good to know that he actually does listen from time to time!

So what's in the near future for us? School starts and, now that Allie is potty trained, they can stay for lunch and nap until 2:30. I think Dave is pretty excited about that as he's been busy getting Emerald Leaf going. He is working on getting his general contractor's license. He has to go take a test so, the kids being in school will allow him study time as well as time to get the website up and running, etc. I think Dave and I will take a little mini-vacation for our anniversary in a couple of weeks. My parents offered to keep the kids overnight so I think we'll go to Charleston for a night.... and that's about it!

I got it!!

OK, so here's my quick blog update for this week. I'll get pictures up soon, I promise.

I go the job! This past week I accepted the position of Administrative Assistant to the Director of the new Coastal Montessori Charter School that will open it's doors this fall.

25-30 people applied for the job and they interviewed 6 of those people. I, along with one other person, was called for a second interview and the next day they offered me the job, paying me what I asked and with full benefits!

The application/interview process was long and interesting but I don't think my return to the work force could be any better. I'll still be doing administrative work, which I'm good at, but without the stress and long hours that I was working before. Not to mention, my kids will attend this school in a couple of years... so I couldn't be more excited!

It is a new school so student files need to be created, classrooms need to be filled and the administrative office needs to be put together so I will start work on July 2, 2012.... and Dave will be a stay-at-home-dad. I know he will do a great job. The kids are kind of "mommy-addicted", though so they might have a tough time adjusting at first but I think it will be good for them to get more used to Daddy helping them out with more things.

So that's my update. Stay tuned for pics from visits from our various family members..... there have been a lot of them!

Oh My!

How neglected my poor little blog is..... I probably don't even have readers anymore! But, I plan to catch up slowly because, while I initially started this blog so family and friends could stay up to date with us (ha!), I also print it out by year as sort of a journal.

Anyhow...A lot has happened since April. That was two months ago! So much family has visited, so many "new house projects" completed and I've even started my own photography business. Add to that the fact that I have a job interview this afternoon (more on that later) and JD's 4th birthday party is this weekend.... it's no wonder the blog has taken a back seat.

But no more excuses! I have WAY too many pictures sitting on our server doing nothing.... I know y'all are dying to see them! I'll try my best to do one post, complete with pictures, per week.... starting next week (come on... job interview, two different sets of family in town, birthday party.... too much going on this week!)

:-)

Easter

Easter in the new house was so much fun! Luckily the Easter Bunny stuck to the driveway while hiding the eggs because, at that time, we had a large yard of dirt!

The evening before we dyed eggs, which the kids LOVED. When they woke up they had fun hunting inside for their baskets, which had all kinds of cool stuff in them, and outside for the eggs that they dyed the night before.

After hunting for eggs and obtaining a sugar high it was time to dress for church and head out the door. After church we went to my mom's house for lunch and then to the neighbor's house for the annual mini bottle hunt.

After that we were pretty much wiped out and just relaxed the rest of the evening until collapsing into bed.  Here are several pictures from the day.

Dave helping JD with his very first tie

Easter Party!

Luckily, Merv and Angie were in town during JD's school Easter party. I made a few dozen cupcakes for both his class and Allie's and we spent the entire morning at the school hiding eggs and watching all the cuties run around with sheer joy on their faces. JD's class is so stinkin' cute!

Ready.....Set.....GO!!!

They're off!

This is JD's friend Hayden. He is the teacher's son!

JD seems to have found a treasure under the fort!

Make that lots of treasures!

From what I'm told, all the little girls love JD.

goofy boy loves to swing

I wonder why he all of a sudden decided to sit nicely for a picture... he usually runs!

I think they spotted an egg that they missed....

Checking out the loot

Allie wasn't left out... she got some loot too!

Happy Spring!!

What a mild winter it has been here in SC. In fact, I don't really feel like we even had a winter... which is just fine with me!

Spring came early this year. The azaleas even bloomed early!. I managed to get a few pics of the kids in front of my mom and dad's azaleas one morning before school. They were in a good mood and I didn't have to chase them around too much.

Along with Spring comes Easter parties!  I'll have pics of JD's school Easter party soon.... and, of course, pics from Easter Sunday too!

Hello!

Yes... I'm still here!

Since moving in to the new house we have been SO busy. In fact, I think that there's enough to be done to keep us busy for the rest of our lives!

So what have we been up to you ask??  Well, Dave's parents were in town for 3 weeks and so much help! I can't even remember what all we accomplished while they were here, they did so much. I know I gained some closet shelves, which is HUGE, but I still need more in order to put towels, etc away. Don't worry, we didn't make them work the entire time they were here. We also did stuff like go to the beach and go out on the boat!

Yeah... fun!

So since they left we've been putting together a large garden (LOTS of shovelling and raking). Tomorrow we will start planting!! Dave and Jeff (our builder) worked hard and got rid of the burn pit and gigantic mountain of dirt in the back yard and now we have what looks like an actual yard. But that's not all! They also built a "pump house" today to house not only to house the pump for the irrigation well but also the electric controls for the irrigation system that will be installed in the next week or so. And after that???  GRASS!! Lots of grass! Which means cleaner kids and floors. I can't tell you how much dirt and sand I sweep off of the floor each day. Not to mention what falls out of the kids shoes and clothes! A yard full of dirt and two preschoolers is not a good mix!

Past those BIG projects, we've ordered blinds for the upstairs rooms to keep it cooler up there in the afternoon and I've also started working on curtains and other decorative things like pictures on the walls, etc. There are just not enough hours in the day!

The best part of the new house? Having room for friends and family to come stay with us! My brother Merv and his family will come in from GA this weekend and stay a whole week. In our house! I'm so excited to have family be able to stay with us...... Look forward to lots of pictures of our friends and family this summer!

JD's first dental exam!

We had a family dental appointment last month. I talked it up as I was putting JD to bed the night before and he was actually excited about going when he woke the next morning. He's been with Dave and me on a few occasions just to watch so it was vaguely familiar to him.

We told his teacher about his appointment because I would have to pick him up early from school. So Ms. Niki read a book about the dentist to the class that JD seemed to enjoy. He talked about it in the car all the way to Conway!

So they called Dave back first and we all went. Both kids climbed on him while he was getting his teeth cleaned so they could see what the hygienist was doing. Both were very, very interested.

Next my hygienist came to get me so I left Allie with Dave who was almost done and took JD in with me. He asked LOTS of questions as I was getting my teeth cleaned. About half way through my cleaning, his hygienist came for him. I was a little nervous because you just never know how he's going to react to a new situation but he did great! He followed the hygienist to his own little room, hopped right up in the chair and opened his mouth! The dentist came in and told me how great JD did. Allie didn't have a cleaning, she was just there for observation, but both kids left with a goody bag filled with toothbrushes, dinosaur flossers and a few toys from the treasure chest!

After the dentist we took the kids to lunch, headed to the old house so I could get some cuttings from Ashlyn's Butterfly Bush. They enjoyed throwing rocks into the pond one last time... then we went and got new shoes and a chocolate shake from Chick-Fil-A!

Allie's 2 year stats

So whew knew that it would take 6-8 weeks to get a well-visit with the pediatrician when you can take a sick kid within the hour?!? I mean, don't get me wrong, I definitely appreciate being able to get right in when the kiddos are sick but 6-8 weeks? Really??

For this reason, we just now had Allie's 2 year check up. She's doing great. Dr. B once again commented on how sweet she is... but we all knew that! Let's get to the good stuff, shall we??

She now weighs 25 pounds which puts her all the way into the 25th percentile (she was in the 9th percentile for a long, long time) and she is 34 1/4 inches tall which puts her in the 75th percentile (up from the 66th percentile last time). So our tall, skinny girl had a growth spurt! All I can say is, I hope she keeps this metabolism for a long time!

Right now her favorite thing is to draw. But not with a crayon, no.... our feisty little girl likes to "write my name" with a pen or pencil! She'll scribble a bit, hold it up and scream "I write my name!!!!" over and over again. She also likes to draw circles and she's pretty good at it! The one thing that surprises me, though is that she doesn't grip the pencil in her fist like most kids her age... she holds it properly! Any time she sees a pen or pencil she demands that we let her write her name. I had to fill out some change of address forms at the pediatricians office so, of course, she had write her name too. Here she is drawing a picture for Dr. B as we waited for him Look at how she's holding that pen!

The other interesting thing from her doctor's appointment:  Her heart whistles! The doctor kind of freaked me out at first. He listened to her heart for a very long time and kept coming back after checking her lungs. He laid her on her back and listened again for a long time. Finally he sat her up and told me her heart makes a whistling sound but when she lies down it goes away completely. He wanted to make sure I knew and understood that not only is it nothing to worry about but it's actually fairly common! He did warn me, though, that if I ever had to take her to the ER or another doctor that they might try to tell me she has a heart murmur.... but I should ignore them because that's not what it is! I came home and told Dave that she has a happy heart... so happy that it whistles!

So she gets smarter and smarter. She sings her ABC's, not perfectly but she's trying really hard! She counts to 10, she knows a lot of her colors and she loves school. We are a little stumped though. She has started talking about "Pee Wee" at school and says it's a friend. Her teacher has no idea what she's talking about and neither do we but if you ask her what she did at school, she'll say "Play Pee Wee"...??? An imaginary friend maybe??

She continues to be 100% a Daddy's Girl. She absolutely adores Dave. She also continues to do absolutely everything that she sees JD do. She loves him so much and they still give each other a kiss and hug in the morning before they go to their separate classes.

She's adjusting to the new house okay. I put the bed rail back on her bed yesterday and she slept through the night for the first time in a week. I think it will stay! She loves to ride bikes on the enormous driveway and play in the dirt with JD. She also thinks she's big stuff being allowed to go up and down the stairs by herself! She has also started using the potty a little bit. She will wear her Minnie Mouse panties for hours at a time without an accident and she likes getting two Reese's Pieces when she's successful. Looks like it's time to actually potty train our girl and say goodbye to diapers altogether!

So that's it! That's Allie's update. She's getting bigger and bigger. She's cuter than ever. Especially now that she's talking so much! Dave and I are so incredibly blessed by this little girl!

So Much!

The excitement of the past few days is quite overwhelming.

On the 17th we all woke up knowing it was the day to say goodbye to Kent, Sarah and Jasper. They're moving to San Antonio, TX. I took the kids to school and headed to the house to help Dave work on the road widening project. Jeff, our builder, arrived and informed us that he had the inspector coming out to look at the other little things that didn't pass inspection the last time so I busied myself getting the house ready and then went out and helped Dave smooth the road. In the back of my mind I was hoping that the inspector would see that we had made an effort to comply and, even though the road wasn't quite finished, would possibly, maybe pass us..... NAH! This is Georgetown County and the inspector had about zero personality. Nothing is that easy!

The inspector was driving in as I was driving out to get the kids from school. I brought the kids home and fed them lunch at my parents house. Jeremy (my cousin) and his girls were there hanging out with Kent before he hit the road..... As I was making sandwiches my dad came in and said Dave was on the porch and wanted to see me.... i walked out and he handed me a piece of paper. All I saw was the word "PASSED"!  We passed our final inspection! We finally, finally, finally  were allowed to move in to our house. I literally screamed as I jumped up and down on my parents' front porch!

Inspection Type: Final
Inspection Status: PASSED!

FINALLY!!!!!

After the excitement wore off we said our goodbyes to Kent, Sarah and Jasper (and Merv too who came from GA to drive out to TX with Kent and the dogs.... but we'll see him again in about 6 weeks). It was hard. I've never lived more than a few hours from Kent but I know that he's very excited and this will be a great thing for him and his family. Before they left they asked me to snap some pics of Jasper for his half birthday (he turned 6 months on the 15th). I think I got some good ones....

Just look at that chunk! Who could possibly resist.... my babies were skinny so I quite enjoyed snuggling this squish for a week before they left!

Baby toesies are the best!

When I set out to edit this pic my intention was to just smooth the skin. Half way through the editing process I stopped. I don't normally leave my photos this fuzzy. I usually like a nice crisp photo but the dreaminess of this just captured me. I think it perfectly captures the relationship between a mom and her little one!

So that night we slept in our new house as a family and the next day we sold our old house! We got a full price offer about a week after listing it. We have the most awesome realtor in the world! So we close on March 16 and then the past year will be nothing but a memory! The last 6 months were a bit tough. With Dave living with my parents (I'm sure that wasn't easy for them or for Dave) and me living in Myrtle Beach with the kids, doing the single parent thing during the week... then every Friday I would pack a suitcase and head to Pawleys with the kids for the weekend. It was A LOT of packing and unpacking! But all totally worth it.

Our last visit to our old house (see the For Sale sign??)... we're gonna miss that little house!

I think I walk around the house with a perma-grin now that it's complete and we're in. I love, love, love my new kitchen, especially the convection oven. WOW! What a difference that makes! Meats are juicier, cupcakes are moister and fluffier. I was skeptical at first but now I'm a believer!

The kids are getting used to it. Allie keeps falling out of her bed because we wanted to try it without the bed rail but it's going back on today. I'm tired of going up and down stairs all night to tuck her back in. JD sleeps through the night but getting him to actually go to bed is difficult. He's stalled until after 9:00 PM for the past 2 nights and has been a clingy, grumpy, whiny mess in the mornings. So we're thinking about cutting out his naps... which have also become a struggle. So what's worse? Taking a nap, going to bed too late and grumpy in the morning or no nap and becoming a disaster around 4:30 PM and then praying that we are able to retain our sanity until 7:30 PM when he will go to bed easily?? That's a L-O-N-G three hours, folks!

As with anything when it comes to little ones, it's all a guessing game and once we get used to one routine they change it up!

So that's what we've been up to! Lots and lots of stuff amid the unpacking process..... Oh! I also took Allie for her 2 year well visit and JD to his first dentist appointment... those get their own posts, though!