Our Weekend in Pictures

Getting hydrated in preparation for the pool

OK, I'm ready to go! Can we please go to the pool now??

Now Momma, now!

J teaching Av how to do a maniacal laugh. "Mwah-ha-ha-ha!"

Side note: Can anyone tell me why I'm staying up until 1 am most nights lately? I'm driving myself crazy and yet I continue to do it!

Nonsense

IQ2dddfyuffgivgkkhsaasat\uyt bhhaaa2BBaglk;'
cvbjkll;\
\hhhhhhgfffrffffhgh45edZZZZZZVVFDCCC cxvuip[ugbnc x b b,m m ;el;3l3klk
HUYSEGUJEcrqraddddd77taNK
'FFF bvhbhhjh,jfqqqqaqqqwwwwwwwff
ujhhtdiuhibuy m

Av wrote this post. It was an excellent synopsis of the Shorter Catechism...unfortunately she can't spell. Wish you could have heard it ;)

What's an Uncrafty Mom to do?

1. Dye Easter eggs in June! Av loved coloring eggs so much at Easter this year that I decided to buy a bunch of kits. I couldn't pass them up at 35 cents a piece on the clearance aisle the week after Easter! She's very into being a helper, so she enjoys the entire process.Av's way of dying eggs is placing the eggs in one color and then sticking them in other colors. By the end of it the yellow bowl was looking more like grayish-brown. She had fun making quite a mess. You'll notice the green bowl in the first picture is almost empty after is was knocked over.Thankfully, her left sleeve was the only casualty of the night :).

2. Play-Doh, play-doh, and more play-doh. Benefit-she does know her shapes well now. She also likes to make animals.....and then dissect them. Maybe she'll be a vet one day. Here she is making a midline incision on a turtle :). I promise I didn't show her how to do this, but I have to say it made me proud of my little bit. Pretty good technique for a 2 year old. She might even be able to give a few pointers to some surgeons out there. Don't worry, only kidding.

Backfire

Av is "normally" a fantastic sleeper. No fight to get her to sleep-we go to her room, I put her in the crib, turn out the lights, and shut the door. She does sometimes happily entertain herself for a while before falling asleep by talking to her stuffed animals {or herself :)} and singing. Well, yesterday was not a "normal" day. After she had been in her crib for over 2 hours vacillating between talking and crying and only ~30 minutes of quiet I went in her room to get her. She was hysterical and I have no idea why.

She calmed down after a few minutes and I tried to put her back in crib. Right back to hysterics. I broke down and offered to lie down with her in the big bed. Again, "normally," the only time we lie down together the only sleep that happens is a game. She likes for me to pretend I'm sleeping and after a few seconds loudly exclaims "Wake up Mommy!!" That is what I was fully expecting to happen. Instead she quietly cuddled next to me in the dark. All this was dandy until the drifting off into slumber.......since I was the drifter. That little stinker waited until I was asleep and stealthily maneuvered around the bed rail and out of the bed. I woke about 20 min. later to Av and the dogs bounding into the room and Av loudly closing the door behind them. Who knows what she was doing outside her room. What she was doing inside her room is evidenced above--emptying the individual wipes containers from the box in her closet. She then opened all of them and removed the sealing sticker. I was just relieved that all she did was open them instead of pulling out all the wipes!

Moral of the story: watch out for those crafty kids out there!

For those of you that read the earlier post, Hannah Grace did very well in surgery and, hopefully, they were able to remove the majority, if not all, of the tumor. She will be in ICU for a few days and soon begin chemo.

Little Ones

If you are reading this and think about it today, please pray for a 2 year old girl named Hannah Grace. She was recently diagnosed with a brain tumor. She has already undergone multiple surgeries and her biopsy has come back that the tumor is malignant (cancer). She is in surgery today at Children's Hospital to try to remove as much as the tumor as possible and they are expecting it to last 6-8 hours. She will soon begin chemotherapy and radiation. You can read about her here. I can't even begin to imagine what she and her family are feeling and experiencing right now. Please pray for her healing, wisdom for the medical staff, and the comfort and peace only God can give. Thank you.

Psalm 77:13-14

Your ways, O God, are holy.

What god is so great as our God?

You are the God who performs miracles;

you display your power among the peoples.

My 2 Front Teeth

After this incident Av's left front tooth looked like it was slightly knocked back, so I decided it was time for Av's first dental appointment. At first I wasn't too nervous about what the visit would entail...until she woke up this morning. What a grouch! Does anyone else out there think their 2 year old already experiences PMS? Thankfully, activity and getting out of the house typically cures her funk.

I definitely recommend going to a pediatric dentist. We didn't even have to sit in the waiting room. We were taken straight back to a play area where Av quickly let go of my hand to head for the toys. Her dentist (Dr. Kristen Crowder) introduced herself to Av by coming and sitting on the floor with us and the toys. Av warmed up to her immediately. We had to move to the chair next. Av wasn't too excited about the actual exam-cried and tried to hold her mouth shut,. She perked up right after it was over and thoroughly enjoyed the stickers and new pink toothbrush! We were told she did well for her age, overall her teeth look great, but the front tooth is knocked back a bit and could become discolored. At least it isn't a permanent tooth.

For those of you with young kids wondering when you should take them to the dentist-today was just an exam, no cleaning/instrumentation. That part begins at 3. I guess if we hadn't had the coffee table incident I could have waited until she was 3 to take her. Happy teeth cleaning everyone!

Wheeler Dealer

Lately I've enjoyed reading other blogs so much that I'm forgetting to write on my own! Maybe I should ditch this whole medicine thing and find a way to blog as a job.

I was hoping to post some pictures from the beach trip tonight. I got the camera out, excited to see the pictures, only to find there are no pics from the beach. J wasn't with us at the beach the 1st part of the week. I was sick and coudn't exactly be in the water with A and also take pictures. I left the camera with J for the rest of the week, but it apparently stayed right in it's little travel bag the entire week! Pretty weak on both of our parts. I'll definitely take lots of pics on the next trip.

On another front, Av has apparently passed negotiating 101. Last night we were eating dinner at a friend's house. Av didn't eat much dinner and therefore, was told she couldn't have any peaches for dessert. Her response? "But I would like them!" Oh, so simple, my mistake :)
We went to the pool after dinner tonight (fearless-walked right into the pool while I was still setting our bag on a chair, later climbed out of the shallow end to try and jump off the wall into the deep end, and even asked to go down the slide into the pool). At 7 pm I told Av we were going home b/c the pool was closing. The brought great protest. I explained "It's getting dark and they have to close the pool." Av followed back with "No, Mommy, they need to OPEN the pool!" There are many more examples, but you get the drift. I wasn't quite prepared for this at 2, maybe 5, or even 12.

Completely unrelated-has anyone seen the new Indiana Jones movie yet? I feel like I have to go see it, but I've heard it was a major letdown.

Back from the.....

Beach! We have been at the beach this past week and unfortunately I was sick for about 1/2 the trip. I felt like my body was staging a coup. The first 1/2 (sick part) was with J's family-13 of us! I love his family and am so blessed to have such wonderful in-laws. I spent the rest of the time at the beach with my college roommates while Av and J stayed with the fam.

One of the highlights of the week was Av absolutely loving the water. She wanted to jump in the water the second we got to the beach. I am so thankful we went ahead with swim lessons before the trip. I saw such a jump in her confidence in the water. While in the ocean she hung out on her own in her round floatie-enjoying the waves, kicking, splashing, and trying to chase her cousins. In the pool she would swim to the stairs with a little push, jump off the edge of the pool-even the deep end, and even purposely go under water! I am very proud and excited for a summer in the water.

Lots of unpacking to do! Hope everyone had a great week. Glad to be back in blogworld.