Hangin' with the Hudson's

Guest Blogger

2011-09-29T17:28:00.000-05:00

Today I am having a guest blogger. The Picker's and our family attended the same church for a few years before we moved. Right before we moved they were in the process of adopting their 2nd child. They adopted him from Ethiopia. Now their family has grown even more when they adopted another child also from Ethiopia. I admire their hearts and that they take action for what they love. If you can't help at this time with a donation then please be in prayer for this to reach as many people as possible.

Thank you so much Linsey for allowing me to post on your blog about a subject that is so important to me.

Over three years ago, my husband and I began our journey to adopt our son from Ethiopia. And since that time, God has been filling our hearts with an overwhelming love and passion for the people of Ethiopia. We returned a year after our first adoption to bring our daughter home. After arriving home with her, we knew we had to do more.

We have been so blessed to team up with other adoptive families around the U.S. and with Lifesong for Orphans. Lifesong is doing some amazing work through a small nursery school that they support in Adami Tulu, Ethioipa. You can read more about Adami Tulu here.

Last year, we, with five other families, raised over $40,000 to build a new building, restroom facility, and gate at the Adami Tulu school. In August, we got to return to Ethiopia to see the new building. We had an amazing trip, and have absolutely fallen in love with Adami Tulu. You can read more about our trip here and here. The school is changing the lives of so many vulnerable children in the area by offering them a wonderful education and two nutritious meals a day.

We've returned home with the knowledge that we have so much more to do in Adami Tulu. So we've agreed to continue our work with Lifesong by raising funds for another school building on the Adami Tulu campus. This will enable the school to expand to include 1st and 2nd grade. More details will be coming soon, but we're anxious to get a jump start on fundraising. We know that this project will cost at least $50,000. But, for these sweet faces, we'll do anything!

We are very excited to announce our first fundraiser for our next phase of the Adami Tulu project: another Aspen Giveaway!

Our Aunt and Uncle have, once again, generously donated toward our fundraising efforts. Only this time they've offered us not one but FIVE stays at the Hyatt Grand Aspen.

Any one of these November stays might make a great early-Thanksgiving get together for you and some friends or family!

We will begin the giveaways today and draw winners on October 15. To enter, donate $20 by clicking the link for the stay that you're interested in. For every $20 you donate to Lifesong for Orphans, you will get one entry in the drawings. By the way, 100% of your donation will go to our work in Adami Tulu.

Here are some details and pictures about the Hyatt stays:

Hyatt Grand Aspen has complimentary continental breakfast, a pool and hot tub, fitness center, fire pit, daily room cleaning and nightly turn down service complete with chocolates. There is even a little hut by the hot tubs where you can hang your robes to keep them warm for you! The hotel is within walking distance of lots of shops and restaurants in Aspen.

The retail value of each stay is approximately $2,500.

To get to Aspen, you could fly into the Aspen airport. The hotel will pick you up and, since everything is within walking distance, you can go without a car during your stay. Or you could fly into Denver and rent a car to drive to Aspen. Or, of course, you could also just drive to Aspen.

Hyatt Stay Giveaway #1:

Sat.- Sat. November 5-12 (full week stay)
Studio Unit (Like a nice hotel room with small kitchenette.)

To enter the drawing for Giveaway #1, donate to Lifesong for Orphans here:

Hyatt Stay Giveaway #2:

Sun.- Thurs. November 13-17 (five days/ four nights)
Two Bedroom Unit (Two Bedrooms and Bathrooms, Kitchen, Livingroom, Dining Room, Washer and Dryer, etc.)

To enter the drawing for Giveaway #2, donate to Lifesong for Orphans here:

Hyatt Stay Giveaway #3:

Sun.- Thurs. November 13-17 (five days/ four nights)
Three Bedroom Unit (Three Bedrooms and Bathrooms, Kitchen, Livingroom, Dining Room, Washer and Dryer, etc.) Maybe a family could do an "early Thanksgiving get together" in this one.

To enter the drawing for Giveaway #3, donate to Lifesong for Orphans here:

Hyatt Stay Giveaway #4:

Tues.-Sat. November 15-19 (five days/ four nights)
One Bedroom Unit (All the things a two bedroom has but only one bedroom and bathroom)

To enter the drawing for Giveaway #4, donate to Lifesong for Orphans here:

Hyatt Stay Giveaway #5:

Tues.-Sat. November 15-19 (five days/ four nights)
Two Bedroom Unit (Two Bedrooms and Bathrooms, Kitchen, Livingroom, Dining Room, Washer and Dryer, etc.)

To enter the drawing for Giveaway #5, donate to Lifesong for Orphans here:

Just imagine, you could win a stay in Aspen, just for donating $20. What a deal! Plus, you get to be part of this amazing project to help these precious kids in Adami Tulu.

If you are unable to use one of the stays, you could donate your entry to a friend, or minister, or someone who could really use the time away.

Help us raise money to expand the Adami Tulu school and spread the word about our giveaway. Please repost on twitter and facebook! Thank you!

Chloe Bug

2011-09-13T13:57:00.000-05:00

Chloe is 2 1/2 years old
32 pounds
37 1/2 inches tall
Loves to play dress up in dresses or as a superhero
Is a wonderful sleeper!!!!
Has an attitude of a 13 year old
Will kiss and hug you all day long as long as it is her idea
Very strong willed
Loves her brother(tries to give him kisses but he will run away)
Likes Woody(our dog), but if she doesn't want him to touch her she will scream and say him licking her hurts! Drama, Drama!
She will play grocery store all day long while wearing high heels
Loves almost any show or movie, but Dora or Little Einstiens is her favorite
Outdoor girl, sandbox or swinging

Loves to play playdough and painting
knows her ABC's
Can count to 10
Does not like to be away from her mommy
loves to shop
makes lots of faces, some funny , some serious, and some mean

She has something unique...a geographic tongue. When she was a baby the doctors and nurses kept saying she had thrush and now that I know she has geographic tongue, I know for sure she didn't have thrush.
Has eczema, but hasn't had as many breakouts since we started using an over the counter cream.
Knows the letter S
Draws all the time in a notebook
will "text" on one of her 3 cellphones

Chloe is such a hard headed but sweet little girl. I am so glad I get the chance to stay home with her and watch her turn into a beautiful young lady.

Preschooler!!!!

2011-09-07T20:16:00.000-05:00

Liam started preschool on September 6, 2011. He was so excited and couldn't wait to get there. Joe and I took him to his classroom and said goodbye. He said bye and that was that. I didn't cry(I know shocker for anyone that knows me). There wasn't a need to cry, I saw how happy he was to go to school. Liam only goes till 11:45 so it isn't a long day, but just enough for both of us to get use to him being gone. While he was gone Chloe would "text" Liam, when he got home he ask her what she had been doing and she said texting you! His response was "silly sister I can't bring a phone to school!" hahaha The only time I teared up was when I walked past his room and it was still clean!!! No legos or guys laying around for me to step on. As soon as he got home and ate(because he was starving) he played for a little while.

The first picture he colored was the school bus. I didn't believe he did this by himself because he would only use markers at home because using crayons hurt his arm. haha But today he came home with the birds so I know he really did do these on his own. His teacher even wrote beautiful on his paper! His favorite thing about school is recess!! They have a memory verse they are to learn and he has already learned it Genisis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. Also they are working on "I i"...he already knew that would but not the sound so it makes me proud of what all he is already learning. Chloe is getting one on one time with me now, which is just what we needed so I will do a post on her in the next few days.

Liam at 4 years old

2011-08-02T22:55:00.000-05:00

How to spell his name, LiAM-this is how he writes it
Can count to 20
Knows all his shapes
Knows all his colors (his favorite color is orange)
Loves to use sissors
LOVES to do workbook pages (dollar tree has the best ones)
Can recongized 12 of the alphabet, A,B,C,E,F,I, K,L,M,O,S,X
Gets himself dressed everyday (working on picking out clothes that match)
Very creative , He rights his letter for the day in a notebook and then draws a picture of something that starts with that letter. Then Joe or I will write the story and song he makes up about whatever it is he drew.
Can write any letter as long as you show him
Can recognize 1,2,3 (I haven't spent much time with numbers yet, so this is probably lacking b/c of me)
Loves all things war, battle, guns, bows and arrows, blow guns, superheros
Can swim all over the pool without help
Does a great cannon ball
Handstands in the pool
Treads water really well and floats on his back forever!
Shark week is on this week and he is loving every second he gets to watch
We go to the library every week and he still loves doing this. We have done this since he was 6 months old.
Momma's boy
Tells us he loves us and needs hugs all day long (that one is making me tear up b/c I won't get those for 4 hours during the day, not sure how I will handle this.)
Favorite food is Chicken nuggets and ranch dressing
Favorite drink is still strawberry milk. Every morning and every night. He would drink it all day long but milk is too expensive, I would need a cow to keep up with as much milk as he wants.
Will help Chloe with whatever she needs (unless she is messing with his battle then he gets angry with her and we see a side of him that is awful)
Doesn't require to much displine , spankings don't work so timeout it is.
Still will not sleep in his bed all night, we can't figure it out. He has to many nightmares.
LOVES, Loves when the laundry is still hot from the dryer. I just sit it on top of him!
Still uses an inhaler, but during the summer we haven't had to use it everyday since he is inside so much.
Hates to wear his eye patch and will turn into a different kid while wearing it. This week has been much better , but he Hates it so much.
43 pounds
43 1/2 inches
size 5T clothes
size 11 or 12 shoe depending on the brand (we were going through shoes every six months because his foot would grow so fast, finally it has slowed down. I think this is the longest he has worn a pair of shoes.)
One of his favorite things to do is go to workouts with his dad. He will workout with all the football players, well he throws a medicine ball around and does some drills, but LOVES this.
Will tell you he wants to play football and tackle the players.
When he plays playdough he always plays like he is a chef. He will cook you pig and fish...everytime. One of his other favorite shows is Iron Chef.
One of his famous sayings is "that's what I'm talking about!"

I am sure more will come to me later, but right now that is all I can think of. Liam is the most kind little boy I have ever met. Seriously he is. Also has this wit about him that stuns me sometimes. I know he is going to love preschool , but I will miss those 16 hours a week he isn't with me. This is getting us all ready for when he goes to Kindergarten next year. Time sure does fly!

July

2011-07-31T15:33:00.000-05:00

I haven't done a post in almost 2 months and there have been great things happening here in Clinton for our family. But first we have throughly enjoyed our summer and season passes to Silver Dollar City. The kids have met Dora and Diego and Shaggy and Scooby Doo.

These pictures are from today. I needed some updated pictures of the kids side by side, so I can remember. I use to hear moms say(before I was one) they couldn't remember this or that of when their child did some milestone. I always thought "wow, how can you not remember something so important." Well now that I have been a mom for 4 years, I totally understand. I can't remember half of what I thought I would be able to. Last week we had a few things come up that we are excited about sharing. I haven't worked since we left Bryant 2 years ago, but someone needed a sitter while they went to college two days a week. So I am going to be watching a nine month old on Tuesday and Thursdays. Then we decided to let Liam go to Preschool! Our neighbor is the director and Kindergarten teacher there so we ask a few questions and they still had a space open. He will start after Labor day and go Monday-Thursday 8 to 11:45. I think he will do great there and this will give Chloe and I some time just us two On Monday and Wednesday for a few hours. So that is our exciting news. Joe is about to start back up all day with football and we have really gotten spoiled to having him around a lot this summer. Liam got good news at the eye doctor a couple of weeks ago. His eyes are getting better so we are to continue the eye patch until October, then reevaluate. I will do a post soon on what all Liam knows before school starts and see how he grows and learns while in preschool. He is really excited about learning but also making more friends! Chloe is just being a girly girl with wearing dresses, play high heels and jewlery. But she can hang with her brother and dad in the rough department. Everything is going great right now with Woody. No accidents or chewing on any furniture so this is wonderful to me! haha it is the small things, right?

six year anniversary and Liam's 4th birthday

2011-06-08T17:32:00.000-05:00

Liam had Landen spending the night with him already so on Thursday, June 2nd we invited his best friend Brodie over to play and enjoy the day with us. They all had a great time, but Liam still had more birthday festivities coming up. On Friday we headed down to Bryant so my parents could watch the kids while Joe and I had a date for our 6th anniversary! I can't believe it has been that long. We went to Shoguns and shopping for Liam's presents. Then we enjoyed a night at the Crown Plaza in Little Rock. Joe had it as a surprise, but he knows me well enough that if I didn't get to say goodbye and goodnight to the kids I would had been a nervous wreck. It was nice to get a goodnights sleep, but my one request for hotels would be to put all the couples up on the top floors and kids below them. They were running up and down the hall all night and early in the morning slamming doors. So annoying! There were earplugs in our little complimentary bag, but I didn't need to use them.haha. Saturday we enjoyed the lake with my moms side of the family. My grandparents rented two houses on Lake Quacita so we stayed most of the day and Liam had a family party. My family really went all out on all the special things he loves. Sunday we went to Sin-Sin in Benton so he could meet the chef. Joe's parents took us there and he loved it. He loves Chinese food just like his daddy! We really enjoyed seeing everyone. After that we went to see BeBe(joe's grandmother) she is in a nursing home rehab because she had surgery on her hip after she fell about a month ago. While we were there an elderly lady just was going on and on to Liam about him coming to see her and hugging him. He didn't mind it one bit. Such a tender hearted boy. I really hope he stays this way forever. Those little ladies love him!!! Happy 4th Birthday Liam!!!!!!!!!

Summertime!

2011-06-08T17:10:00.000-05:00

It has been so hot that we have been to the neighbors pool 1000 times already. The kids love it and so do I . We had Landen last week so he got to enjoy swimming over there with us.

Shaving Cream fun!

Memorial Day

Watercolor facepainting

Bike rides!!

Flower Girl and Ring Bearer

2011-05-16T20:31:00.000-05:00

This Saturday Joe's cousin's daughter got married. She requested our kids be in the wedding. I was really nervous they wouldn't walk when it came time, but they did. Chloe was hesitant at first but threw her flower petals down the first half of the isle and forgot to the second half. Liam did wonderfully. It was great getting them dressed up and seeing them in a wedding. Here are some pictures from the wedding. My camera's lens was a little dirty and I didn't realize it. I guess that is what happens when you have two kiddos who play with your camera.

While we were down for the wedding our niece decided to be baptized! Claire the one dancing with Chloe. Joe had the honor of reading out her accomplishments and why she choose to be baptized. We are so proud and so glad we were there to witness this decision!!
We have been busier than ever because we added to our family on Wednesday. Our kids hate dogs, but Liam has been wanting one?! So KK and PawPaw James said they would buy him one for his birthday. We went to petfinder.com and looked for a puppy who would be small. There is a town called Leslie that is about 20 mins from us and they had a lot of dogs and puppies. So we saw this one and Liam wanted him. His name was Scotty then Liam called him Sharky but the neighbors have a schnauzer named Buzz so they thought it would be cute to name him Woody. Like from Toy Story. Buzz and Woody! Chloe hated him at first, but now loves him and so does Liam. He is a great fit to our family.

He is part mini schnauzer, pomerainian, fox terrier. He is a great puppy. Doesn't bark much, loves to take naps, only had a couple of accidents! Pretty much stays right with us without using a leash. Hopefully we can train him and he will continue to do this well.

A real pirate

2011-05-09T21:31:00.000-05:00

For the past month I have been doing "preschool" with Liam. I noticed when he colors, looks at shapes or the alphabet he will rub or close his left eye. I would ask him why he was doing it. First he didn't realize he was and then as I would mention it to him he would say because it was hurting. I made an eye appointment and prepared him for this and that but not for the drops they had to put in his eyes. Chloe went with us and was trying to help her big brother out. He was having to cover one eye and tell them what picture he saw. When it came to his right eye covered and left eye uncovered he couldn't tell you what they were! Chloe picked up on that and started telling him what it was!! hahaha the doctor got a little tickled. I was having to hold out from two emotions. Laughing and crying. I know it is not the end of the world that he has a problem with his sight, but it wasn't something I thought he would have a problem with. Thankfully we have caught it in time to work with a few therapies. He has what is called intermittent exotropia. It is the opposite of cross eyed. His left eye gets tired and his brain will just let it go off to the side. So he will use a "pirate" patch 2 hours a day , 3 days a week. They encouraged me to do school still and let him play his gameboy for the time left after school. Last week we did this and he did ok. A few times I had to correct how he was positioning his head. He would turn it instead of looking straight on. Today he did well but his eye got so tired and was really bothering him so we only did and hour and 30 mins. I know he will get use to it and it might take the rest of this week for him to really understand how it will help. One other thing we do is having him watch a pen or pencil tip. I did this and showed Joe how Liam's eye would go over to the left instead of in. It is a strange thing to see. We will do this until July 6th then go and reevaluate everything. Back to the drops...his eyes had to be dilated. Joe nor I had ever gone through this so I really didn't know what to expect. He hates things in or close to his eyes. Very sensitive to light and water getting close to them. They said this is normal for his issue. Anyway after holding him with my arms wrapped closely around him they got the drops in....he was SCREAMING! I promised him a toy from Dollar General and he calmed down pretty fast. All and All it was a good visit and now I know just how he is seeing things. When they told me the patch was one way of trying to correct it, I knew what to tell Liam so he would be on board with this idea. I told him he could be a pirate just like he has always wanted. This worked and they let him pick the color. So him having some control of the situation made it a little easier on him. Lastly this is a decorative piece that KK gave me and we have dubbed this the treasure chest. So the patch has a home where it will not be lost somewhere in this house.

My Handsome Little Man

2011-05-03T20:47:00.000-05:00

Liam and Chloe will be in a wedding on May 14th. She will be flower girl and Liam the ring bearer. I don't know how they will do but hopefully it will go smoothly. The bride is very understanding in that kids will do what they want or don't want to do at any given moment. Mine are pretty shy around a crowd so we are going to practice and practice some more. ha. I looked everywhere for Liam a black suit. The best looking and cheapist was from Walmart online. We had a mix up with her dress so it hasn't come in yet but when it does I will post a picture of her in it. He was excited when it came in. Here are some pictures of my handsome little man.

Names and Horses

2011-05-01T23:27:00.000-05:00

Liam has been writing his name for a while and I don't remember if I have documented it on the blog. Here is what he wrote one day a month ago. A few days ago he wrote "thank you" on a thank you card and then the next day "mom "and "dad" . I am so happy with the progress he has made and thankful that I got to be the one to teach him something he will use for the rest of his life.

This is my nephew Landen's. We had the pleasure of keeping him a few days a month ago and my mom ask that I work with him on writing his name. One day we were at the park and I got him to spell his name within 10 mins just with a song! I was one proud aunt and he was so happy!! He will still sing it or yell it when I get to talk with him on the phone. The next day we worked on the letter A and he would write it upside down like a V. so since the song helped so much and quickly we gave it a try with writing an A. Up the mountain, down the mountain, across the mountain. It might sound crazy but it totally worked and he wouldn't stop writing A's!!!! He was so proud and I was impressed how quickly he caught on. So since he already knew how to write an L , I decided if he wanted to continue to try N. Up the rollar coaster, down and back up...he got that one as well. So hopefully he will be working on it and will be able to write his name soon.

While he was here we went to the lake 3 times and they played in the water. It was freezing but they are crazy and didn't care! They had a blast and wore themselves out. Speaking of wearing themselves out here are some sweet pictures of my sweeties after a long day of riding their cousins horse and watching our last softball game of the season in Cave City.

Isnt' this funny? She feel asleep with her glasses on and upside down!!haha ohhh and he belly hanging out of her shirt. she was not a happy camper after we got home.

She was pantless because the sand they were playing in was really wet in one spot and totally soaked her jeans.haha. I thought it was to cute.

Silver Dollar City

2011-03-27T21:02:00.001-05:00

Last weekend we headed to Branson with the kiddos and cousin Claire. We stopped at Coursey's to enjoy a little snack of the best meat and cheese.

When we got to Branson we went to our hotel to check in and then go eat dinner. Red Lobster. The wait was about 30-45 mins so the kids were entertained by the live lobsters. Liam and Claire touched the tail, but Chloe was not having it. haha! Shopping was next on the list of things to do and ice cream. Sunday we woke up and headed to Silver Dollar City. Joe had never been and I haven't been there in many many years. The first thing on the agenda was to get the kids wristbands. If they are lost then our cell number is on it, their height so the people running the rides don't have to measure them everytime. Chloe was 35 6/8inches, this turned out to be a sad sad thing. Liam and Claire wanted to ride a small rollercoaster ,but Chloe didn't which was fine. So Liam's first ride ever was a rollercoaster and he LOVED it!!! Smiling the whole time ready to go to all the other rides.

Next ride was the teacups. Chloe was so excited she could hardly stand it. Well the man looked at her wristband and said sorry she has to be 36 inches. She cried and cried and kept saying "ride teacups , my teacups." behind my sunglasses I was tearing up. It broke my heart to see her so upset about the rides. Anyway we cut the wristband off and just waited in lines to see if they would measure her at 36 inches and all of them did. Her first ride was the elephant ride.

Claire rode the big pirate ship with Joe and clung to him. It was cute and funny.

We went to the little kid section next and they could all ride those rides as well and loved every minute of it.

We had a light lunch and plenty of bathroom breaks. We all rode one ride together (I can't remember the name) Chloe and Liam were a little scared during it because it is dark. Next Claire was brave enough to ride Thunderation, which is a big rollercoaster. She closed her eyes and was clinging to the bar. I loved being there with her for her first big rollercoaster. I was one proud Aunt Linsey. She rode it again with Uncle Joe. While they were riding some water one with Liam , Chloe and I enjoyed some pink cotton candy and a pickle. We shared with them of course. Then we all had a funnel cake!!! So good. I can't wait for all the other times we go and make special memories and enjoy wonderful food.

New Decor!

2011-03-23T14:37:00.000-05:00

Chloe was still loving her crib, but she is potty trained and this just seemed to be the next step with her. So on Monday March 21 she got a big girl bed. Auntie Shan had the bed and KayKay had the matress and box springs. We bought the bedding with some birthday money from GG. The Wednesday before I painted her room with some paint I happened upon at Walmart that someone didn't want so it was a gallon for $5!!! That is all I needed. Here it is.

I still need to add an aqua lamp and more pillows to her room, but majority of it is done and she is loving it. Tuesday we went in to get her up and she was up dancing and doing cheers in her bed!!hahaha so silly. Last night she woke up around 1am because she has some drainage and a cough from allergies.
The next change was to our bed. Our bedding was older and worn down so Kaye gave us some she had in an extra bedroom. I LOVE it!! such a nice change.

The living room is the biggest redo. We gave Shannon her couch, ottoman, and chair back for Lucy's new room and so Kaye gave us 2 chairs, couch, side table, cocktail table , and lots of accessories. I am loving this cozy room. We counted how many people could fit comfortably in our kitchen , living and dinning room and it was 20!!! That is crazy! Liam is so funny and the words out of his mouth when I ask him if he likes it and he will say "this is KayKay's house."

The dinning room was next so she gave us her dinning room table with 6 chairs and a mirror for this room. A few extra pictures were on the wall , but Joe liked it a little more without.

And lastly the kitchen . The only thing that changed in here was adding some decor to the wall and 2 barstools. The kids LOVE them.

I can't believe my house is this beautiful. Thank you Kaye, Shannon, James, Lucy , and Claire for all your hardwork and stuff!!! We love you all!!

Do not read if you have a weak stomach!!

2011-03-08T19:41:00.000-06:00

There will be no pictures of this post and you will be thanking me.haha!! Chloe has been potty trained since before she turned 2 ,but still wears a pullup at nap and bedtime. Usually she wakes up dry,but sometimes she doesn't. Well today Liam and I were just watching something on the tv waiting on her to wake up from her nap. I heard her and went it to get her. I opened the door to something so horrible. A stinky cloud of poop smell. I knew that she probably pooped in her pullup, but I was not prepared for what I saw when I turned on the light. Pullup on the floor,dry, a pile of poop in the middle of her bed, she used the pooped as "lotion"(her words) so it was on her legs, hands, hair, and arms. I started gagging and she somehow only had touched her bed once with it so that was a blessing? I don't know if that was really a blessing but after what I had to clean up on her I am saying this is a blessing. ha! I rinsed her off in the sink, which she thought was a blast!! Then she went straight to the tub and only after I started to wash her hair did she start apologizing for the use of poop as lotion. Then I had to tackle the bed,sheets, stuff animals. In the mean time Liam has been running around saying he could smell it all the way in the living room and making noises when you smell something bad. She is clean now and bedding is all ready for me to put it back on the bed. I don't know if I will ever walk into her room with the ignorance I had today. I just thought this only happened to my cousin and her twins, but not my kids!!!! I will never laugh, well not for a long time, at another poop story. I learned my lesson.

Names

2011-03-02T22:16:00.001-06:00

Liam has been able to spell his name since he was 2 and when he turned 3 we started learning his letters for his name. He recognizes them and has been writing his name for a while now I just haven't docummented it yet. We were enjoying the day one afternoon and he wanted to write his name and Chloe's. I wrote hers out and he wrote it below mine. I am so impressed at what all kids can do and pick up on so quickly. It truly amazes me.

And this is not a "good" picture of bug but this is her goofy side that I never get pictures of!!

Last week Chloe started this horrible cough which quickly turned into a runny nose and fever. It only got up to 102,but that was enough for us. Monday was cough, Tuesday was cough and nose, Wednesday afternoon started the fever, so Thursday I took her in and they swabbed her nose and I heard them say positive for flu while they were out talking out in the hall...I felt like a failure as a parent. I never know what to do with immunizations and other precautionary medical matters. Last year I got them a flu shot and Liam ended up having an asthma attack later that day. They said it was not caused from that, but I really didn't want to take my chances. Well the year we chose not to get them a flu shot they ended up with the Flu. Type A. Thankfully the nurse practioner got Chloe on Tamiflu and told us to use her inhaler as often as every 4 hours. By that night her nose was already drying up and her cough was a little better. Friday she had a temp of 99 and was much better and wanting to play instead of just watch tv. By Saturday she was back to normal, but her nose started running again. I really think it is just allergies now. On Sunday Liam started with a cough.....and by Monday at 1 he was running a temp of 100. I made the appointment, took the kids and yep Flu. Tamiflu for him now. Thankfully when Joe lost his job 2 years ago we were able to get AR Kids so the kids copays are only $5 for Tamiflu, which I hear is expensive otherwise. He has been fever free since yesterday at midnight. I am hopeful that Joe and I won't get this but we will see, neither of us received the shot either.

Happy Valentine's Day from the Hudson's

2011-02-13T22:28:00.000-06:00

I mailed out their Valentine Card to the grandparents, great grandparent, aunts, uncles, and cousin's the other day and now everyone has got their so I can post this picture of my love bugs. Hope everyone has a Happy Valentine's Day!

Kansas

2011-02-01T17:50:00.001-06:00

On Thursday Jan. 27th we left for Kansas for a short vacation/softball convention. Joe and his assistant coach in softball saw this convention and wanted to attend. After lots of suggestions thanks to Amanda the kids and I were ready for our vacation. We left around 10:40 and got there by 5pm. Checked into the hotel and then drove to eat at the T-Rex Cafe. It is at Legends Mall and the kids, Joe, and I really enjoyed it. When we first walked up you could her roaring or growling(whatever dinosaurs do) and Chloe was scared. She warmed up about it after she saw it was fun and fake stuff. We sat in a clam booth so the kids had a lot of room to get their wiggles out. The food was really good and the prices weren't to bad. I would recommend it for anyone who has children that like dinosaurs or aquariums. Here are some pictures of this part of our trip.

These last few pictures were an extra that you have to pay for , but they had a blast. Dinosaur fossils were under the sand and the kids got to brush off all the sand to uncover the fossil. Then there were computers that they could play on. We had every intention of letting them do a build a dinosaur(like build a bear),but each found a different thing they wanted. Chloe ended up with a pterodactyl straw for $3.99 and Liam with a dinosaur egg that will hatch after 12 hours of being placed in water for $3.99. Joe and I didn't complain about them wanted something so reasonable!!haha

This is what Liam saw after we let it sit in water overnight.

On Friday before Joe had to be at the meetings we took the kids to Monkey Buziness. It is just like a Jump Zone but our kids haven't ever been to one. They have been at some friends birthdays that had these inflatable slides and bounce houses and Liam loved it after he got use to it. Well here he was so happy and immediately started sliding and jumping. Chloe didn't know what to think and mainly stayed in the toddler area with little slides. They had fun for about an hour and half.

Our sleeping arrangements since Chloe has packnplays was 2 double beds and of course they did great. They are too cute and growing up so fast.

I didn't take anymore pictures :( They went swimming in the indoor pool twice. Liam still loves swimming and Chloe had to warm up to it so she just stayed on the steps most of the time. We ate at Red Robin which is wonderful. Central Arkansas needs one!! The atmosphere there is very kid and family friendly. Each child gets a balloon!! Which is a big hit with our kids. We also ate at Shoguns one night, that everyone loves. We got way to full and sadly didn't have a fridge in our hotel room so leftover were thrown away. Ugh. The rest of the time Joe was gone the kids tried to drive around using our Garmin, but it would take an 8 mile trip almost an hour because it would go through the town. So when we finally made it to one destination the Wonderscope(like the Wonderplace) they were closed due to maintenance on the place. We tried to go to a movie, but would not have had enough time before Joe was done for the day. So they settled on a new toy from toysrus which I couldn't find:( So Target was very obvious and we made our way over there. The trip was great and everyone enjoyed themselves. At least when we go back someday I will know the area a lot better!! And since it was school related all of Joe's meals were paid for and our hotel for 2 nights which was a blessing. On our way home we decided to stop in Branson(since it is on the way) for some Olive Garden and Disney Store for one more toy!! Sadly it was closing time so I didn't get to shop,but really didn't need to. OHHH while we were at Lengends in Kansas they had an OldNavy and my mom had mentioned a huge sale going on...I had a $50 giftcard. I ended up with 9 shirts, 2 pair of pants, Liam got 4 shirts, Chloe 2 shirts, Liam shoes, and 5 gifts that I can't say on here. All that was less than $50 !!!! I was so happy. The most I paid for an item was $4.00 for corduroy pants.

More Snow Days

2011-01-21T15:09:00.000-06:00

Early Thursday morning we received 2.5 inches of snow. What that means is school is out again. And of course Friday it is still out. The school district is so spread out that it is just unsafe on many roads, but not the main ones or the highway. So here are some pictures from yesterday while we played in it for a few hours in the morning and right before dark.

We are going to our old rent house this afternoon to do more sledding, so I will have more pictures and maybe some video later.

The rest of Chloe's Birthday

2011-01-12T23:12:00.000-06:00

The cake was made by Liam and myself, but I iced it way to early and have zero artistic ability so it is just a yummy blob of cake. It is something Liam and I did last year so I really wanted the tradition to continue.

Present time. She got one baby doll from Joe's parents and one from my parents. Great minds think alike!!!

2 Princess crowns- one from my parents and one from the Parish's (best neighbors ever), one Eloise book, 2 Fancy Nancy books, one barbie, some "lips" chapstick, playdoh cake maker kit, and a lady bug bean bag chair. OHH and 2 outfits but one is a summer and one is going to have its own post because I have to take lots of pictures in it. Too cute!

This was last year, sadly I didn't take a picture of Liam eating icing this year, but he did! haha some things never change. And I hope they don't!!!

Happy Birthday Chloe! We love you and can't believe you are 2. You are a very very special little girl with a great big heart. Can't wait to see you grow, just wish it wouldn't fly by so fast. Oh and update on potty training is...............she is done with diapers forever...well till she is 80 or so.haha. Really she was ready and only sleeps in a pullup at night. 90% of the time it is dry when she wakes up. Also as long as she isn't busy watching a show she will get up and go on her own!!!! I am so proud of this accomplishment.

Chloe is 2

2011-01-12T14:40:00.000-06:00

It seems like we just had her 1 year old birthday at Larry's Pizza, but it has already been another year. She is 2 . My baby is 2!!!!! I will post more pictures later and show all her gifts from everyone and her cake that Liam and I are making.

What Liam does all day,everyday!

2011-01-06T14:18:00.000-06:00

When I had a boy I just knew he would want to play any sport since his parents are both very athletic! j/k

I have zero athletic talents, but his daddy does. The only sport I know Joe is not good at is bowling. While Liam plays football, baseball, basketball, and soccer this isn't his favorite thing to do. Liam loves , loves , loves "battle guys." Any war; Civil War, Gettysburg, Revolutionary War , and so forth. He will play all day long doing something "battle." Joe had a Gettysburg set of soldiers, horses, houses, cannons, and horses. Liam plays in our bedroom floor everyday. When Joe was younger he use to play a game with coins. You would throw the coins and try and hit the bad guys. Well after he should Liam that we have all played that with him. Some are really good at it (Liam and Joe) and some aren't so good (mommy and Chloe). But he likes to cheat some. It really is funny how he cheats. If someone knocks his guy down then they are healed by God immediately. I am glad he is aware that God is the ultimate healer, but I just think it is funny that he found a way around his guys dying. If he isn't playing battle guys then he is looking at Joe's war books or playing war with friends and cousins. While Preston and Landen were here this week that is all they played. I heard a few of their conversations. Liam would say he was a German and Preston would say well we are Americans, but Liam was only wanting to be German at that time. Honestly my 3 1/2 year old knows more about wars or battles than I do. History was my least favorite subject in school , I am more a science and math kind of girl. I don't know what Liam will be when he grows up, but it looks like he could be a General is some type of military group. Well that is what he says when he is playing war.

Looking back at 2010, but looking forward to 2011

2010-12-31T19:00:00.000-06:00

Some days go by so fast and others so slow, but I really can't believe another year has past. Here is what our 2010 looked like. Can't wait to see what is in store for our family for 2011!!!

January

Chloe turned 1 on January 12th

Feburary

We bought this house!!!

March

Went to Branson with MeMe and PawPaw!

April

Fishing with PawPaw and MawMaw

Emily's 4th Birthday

Cute pictures of my babies

May

Swimming with our favorite neighbor. And Liam learned to swim and jump off the diving board!!

Pigtails!!!

June

Liam turned 3 on June 5th!

Florida family vacation in Destin

July

Played in mud.

Dentist for the first time.

August

Made silly faces.

September

Made Grandparent and Great Grandparent's day cards! Because we love them so much!!!!

Liam started Awana's!

Cheered on the Clinton Yellow Jackets

October

Made shirts for the zoo!!

Went to the pumpkin patch with family

Trick or treated at GG and Grandy's

Gave GG kisses!!!!

November

Visited Mrs. Claus in Branson

Branson with PawPaw and MawMaw

Decorated ornaments

December

Potty trained

Loved each other

Had a wonderful Christmas Eve with MawMaw and PawPaw

Opened presents together at MeMe's and PawPaw's

Celebrated Daddy's 27th Birthday

Went to Blanchard Springs Caverns

Right now our family need your prayers. My Grandma(GG) is so precious to our family and has the flu, but has had a rough time with it so she is in the hospital getting some medical care. I have the best parents in the world and they love my grandparents more than anyone I know. Please pray for them as well as well as the rest of the family. I know they have to be exhausted ,but they are such great examples to my brother, sister ,and I . I never want to deal with sickness but that is part of life and sometimes life is hard and tough. Just pray!!!!

Joe's 27th Birthday

2010-12-27T21:24:00.000-06:00

Yesterday was Joe's 27th Birthday, we went to Western Sizzlin for lunch because we were told it was free on your birthday, but nope it wasn't. It was good and the kids were pretty good. Then the kids took a nap and I made a cake. We enjoyed spaghetti and then some coconut cake. I must say it was delicious. Happy Birthday Joe. We love you!!

Christmas 2010

2010-12-27T20:53:00.001-06:00

On Thursday, December 23 we decided since the weather was calling for sleet that we didn't want to chance not making it down to Bryant, so Santa came here early. Liam woke up around 6, but was still sleepy and didn't notice what was in the living room. He went back to sleep with Joe and I and then around 8 ish we got up and went to see what they got.

They loved all their gifts. And Liam only mentioned that he wished he had a castle 2 times. I told him that gifts weren't the reason for Christmas and he said "My attitude just changed." haha. So we packed up and went to Joe's parents house for the night. They opened their gifts and I can't even name them all!! Chloe got baby dolls and a crazy amount of clothes. Liam got lots of "guys" pirates, GI Joe, Nerf Gun, and tons of clothes. They spoiled Joe and I as well. But their big gifts were BICYCLES!!!

We then went to my parents house for Christmas. The kids got guitars and 4-wheelers!!! We all are spoiled from every side of the family.

Next was to Auntie Shan's house and I forgot to take pictures until the end, so I got 7 of the same 5 people. haha.

We spent the night with my parents and santa came there also. The kids got pillow pets. Chloe's reaction was the cutest. She saw it and raised her arms in the air and said "pillow pets" so cute! They have slept with them ever since and I might be jinxing myself but they have been sleeping through the night in their own beds till 8 or so!!!!! That is the best Christmas present that I am hoping last the whole year. We went to my Grandparents to enjoy more present exchanging and a wonderful lunch. No pictures from Christmas. Shame on me! We came home after that and have enjoyed the slow pace of Clinton.

Day 2 and 3

2010-12-10T14:24:00.000-06:00

Day 2 and 3 have been uneventful and she is still doing well. She had 2 accidents yesterday before nap and as soon as she woke up from nap. I didn't hear her waking up and she soaked her sheet. The only time she really doesn't like to potty is for Joe. I have no clue why but she doesn't want him to help her which makes for an interesting fit. Yesterday a friend told me to try vinegar to clear up Chloe's rash. So I did 1TBLS of vinegar to 1 cup of water and would blot that on her bottom and air dry. On a few spots it was cleared up by this morning but most of it was still there. But I now know to use that first if she starts to get a rash again.So anyway I took her in today to the doctor just to make sure it wasn't some kind of infection and she thinks it might have a little staph infection and yeast,but the over the counter cream wasn't working.With her eczema it makes her skin susceptible to anything. So now she has a prescription of bactraban(?) and some yeast cream. I can already tell a difference in the 2 applications today. Yay!! She told me I could still do the vinegar solution in between applications. Oh and while at the doctor she ask to go potty and did and before we left needed to go again and then we went got home after picking up her meds. So far the only accident today was while we were picking up Liam at his friends house she came running out saying " I peepee and I don't like it" haha. It might take a while but I am loving not having to buy diapers!!! This weekend will be a test because we are driving to Bryant tonight and birthday party and football banquet so I am taking her plenty of outfits just incase.

Potty Training

2010-12-08T14:57:00.002-06:00

For the past few days Chloe has had a weird diaper rash. She says it doesn't hurt and she never complains, but bumps on her bottom just can't be comfortable. So I decided to let her air out yesterday until nap time. She did go pee pee in the floor quite a few times so at nap I put her diaper back on and that was that. Today however she still had it and I ask her if she wanted a diaper, she did, so after a few mins after eating breakfast she said "pee pee, no diaper" So I took her diaper off which was still dry and she walked into the bathroom and peed!! I thought okay this is just a fluke but we will go with it. If I ask her to go she says no she doesn't need to ,but if it is her idea well then she will go without problems. She has had 2 accidents today so far and one was a tiny dribble and she immediately went to the potty and finished and the 2nd was a big puddle(she was watching max and ruby). I needed to run to the post office(we really need drive through post offices)to mail my school books off and to the gas station for some gas. I ask her to go before we left...nope so I figured she would have an accident while standing in line at the post office, but much to my surprise she didn't so I went ahead and got gas and went home. When we got home she said "potty now"(NOW is her new favorite word by the way). I took her and said she got a prize this time since she waited until we got home and told mommy. A baby candy cane was the perfect treat for her, Liam( b.c he is being very patient with this process), and mommy for not putting a diaper on the diva. ha ha! They played outside and she came in and went straight to the potty and nothing,but she tried on her own before nap time. We shall see how well she does after nap and when daddy gets home.
*Updated: She was dry after nap and went pee pee for all of us!!! Then 3 hours later went again. She really is doing great. Joe baths the kids at bath time and she did a little poop,but he put her on the potty and she finished so now we know she knows what to do with that as well. Liam would gag when he was potty training ,but she doesn't care. One funny thing she is doing is ready or looking at magazines. Whatever she needs is fine with me...and the rash is still there so I am very puzzled as to what caused it. I am taking her in on Friday if it hasn't cleared up any. Any suggestions are appreciated!!

Thanksgiving week

2010-11-28T15:00:00.000-06:00

I can't believe this, but I didn't take any pictures on the day of Thanksgiving. Thankfully I have an Aunt who did so I will get to see how the kids have changed from year to year. We just were so busy with family get togethers that pictures never crossed my mind, well not until we were all in our pjs and going to bed. Oh well. My parent's wanted all the grandchildren to come over to decorate their outside "Christmas Tree" so all the parents got to have a date night. Here are some pictures of the kids having fun in the leaves before the party started. They had a blast decorating the tree, eating ice cream, reading/listening to the Grinch, and they each got a stuffed animal of either the Grinch or the dog( can't remember his name).

Joe and I ate at Outback with some giftcards we have accumulated and then went shopping to finish up our lists. I am happy to say I am done with the exception of two gifts!!! It feels so good to spread the money out over many months so you can get everyone something that they will appreciate. I also got all the presents for all of the December Birthday's. Friday after I went to the grocery store we decided to let the kids paint their own ornaments so we could start that tradition just like my parents did in our house. On Saturday we decided to get out the Christmas decorations and decorate. I will have to take a picture of our tree tonight since it isn't completely decorated. I don't do a fancy tree anymore b/c I want the kids to be able to enjoy the ornaments on the tree if they feel like they need to play with them. Chloe has a tree in her room and then we decorated outside a little.

When we went to Branson with Kaye and James she bought tons of clothes for the kids. Well this week she gave me some of them. Chloe has 3 different outfits on in these pictures and they are only part of what I have. I am so excited to play dress up in some really cute clothes. I don't splurge on the kids clothes since they grow out of them so fast but she did just that for us. Our family really appreciates our parents , they care about our children more than you can imagine. So glad we have caring family members.

Pictures

2010-11-14T14:11:00.000-06:00

My family was looking to cute today after church so we decided to take some cute pictures.

November so far...

2010-11-13T16:24:00.000-06:00

We haven't been doing a whole lot around here since it is still football season. I don't think I have mentioned how good the Clinton Yellowjackets are doing, but they are currently in the playoffs. We won our conference for the 2-4A with a record of 9-1!!!! I am so proud. The kids love going to the games and cheering for the Yellowjackets. Liam does most of the chants, but the other day he was doing one while playing with his little football guys and was saying "Defense, Line it up" instead of "Defense Fire it up" Chloe will yell for Joe the whole game first she will start out by cupping her hands around her mouth and yelling "Dad, DAd, DAD," if he doesn't turn around, which he won't because he can't hear her or take his eyes off the game then she will say "Joe, JOe, JOE!!" It is the cutest thing ever. Well she does a lot of cute things:

She now has to carry her blanket around which is called "canny blankie" because it is a blanket with candy pictures all over it and she has to have it wrapped around her like a cape. Carries her "monkey" that she got in June from Lexyn and Brittyn's birthday party.

When she wakes up from her nap in the afternoon she is a grouch so I started sitting with her on the couch and watching a cooking show until she perks up. What we watch is Paula Deen and as soon as she sees her put that butter in she will say "butta" in a real deep voice it is hilarious I will try and film it soon. Liam is very quick to tell her that it is called "BUTTER"
When she dances , which is a few times a day she will swing those arms around and get down and do this booty dance. I don't know how much longer that will be funny , but for now she is innocent and as cute as can be.
Loves to watch shows just like her brother. They both LOVE movies.
LOVES gum...she can chew gum all day long and when that one looses flavor will spit it out and ask for some more "num"

In just 2 more months she will be 2!!! I can not believe it. I still can't decide what to get on her cake but right now it is Dora or Blues Clues...do they even do Blues Clues anymore? Oh that is something else she does that I need to video...the "think" song on blues clues.

We went to Branson last Saturday with KayKay and PawPaw James and on our way Liam just out of the blue said "I want to go turkey hunting!" Um where did that come from we have no clue, but then he made an even crazier statement which made Joe and I think of Ryan R.(Angie if you read this I think you know why we thought of him) "I hope we don't see a T-Rex!!!" We laughed so hard that he was thinking about seeing a T-Rex. I guess that is something guys think about and what to be prepared for, Right Ryan? haha Anyhow so we go shopping and out to eat...Thanks Kaye and James we had a great time!!!! Then we went to Bass Pro Shop to see Santa and his workshop. Well guess what Liam got to do while he was there? Turkey Hunt! One of the fun things they could do is shot a red ryder bb gun...which was a lazor one and shoot at animals...one was a turkey. We thought that was great that he got a chance to make one of his dreams come true. Thankfully we didn't see any T-Rex in Branson!!

I will hopefully take some pictures of the kids soon and post them on here but for now here are some from Halloween( Liam was a ninja and Chloe a cat), James' 70th Birthday, and Branson.

PawPaw James' 70th Birthday

Pumpkin Patch

2010-10-16T23:04:00.001-05:00

Today we went down to Benton to go to my nephew Beckett's 1st Birthday , but before that we went to a pumpkin patch with Joe's side of the family. The kids had a great time, but it was so dusty they all have snotty noses and coughing. Chloe ended up with 2 pumpkins b/c Auntie Shan and KayKay and PawPaw couldn't tell her no. haha spoiled rotten

Cubbies

2010-09-15T20:36:00.000-05:00

Liam is in Cubbies now and it is the sweetest thing. I love hearing him say memory verses and talk about Jesus all day long. His first week he learned his verse the first night it was "God loved us and sent his son." We would ask him who is God's son and his response was Jesus and would talk for a long time about what Jesus did for us. This week it took him till yesterday to learn his verse "While we were sinners, Christ died for us." He wanted to say Christ died on the cross...which is true but wasn't the verse so Joe made it into a song and he learned it quickly. They talked about sin tonight so I ask him what sin is and he said " disobeying, Like when you say wash my hands and I don't" Smart little boy and nothing holds him back like it use to. I am so proud of who he is becoming even at this age. I pray he always loves and talks about Jesus proudly. Tonight he got his vest, book, and bag. He is glowing with pride.

20 Months

2010-09-13T13:54:00.000-05:00

Chloe turned 20 months yesterday! I can't believe she will be 2 years old in 4 months. I might want to start thinking of party ideas for her. Anyway today I took her to the health department to get her stats and two shots. She only cried for a minute but they gave a coupon for free ice cream and she was happy then. They gave Liam one as well just because he was so good at the visit. I took them after we ate a good lunch and they each had about 4 licks before throwing them away...good thing I didn't waste any of our own money. So here are her stats today:

Weight 29 1/2 lbs
Height 33 1/2 inches
I looked it up on the growth chart at home and she is about 90% on both of those. I have come to the realization that Joe and I make big babies!!!

Changes

2010-09-11T16:14:00.000-05:00

Changes are going on in our house hold. Chloe is talking up a storm, well as long as she is around the house. Any other time she says "uh" for everything. It drives me crazy because I know they she can say any word. Some of the words she says that are so precious are "wady" for water and "num" for gum. She can say everyones name in the whole extended family which is so cute. I am very thankful for being able to stay at home with my kids. I suppose we could have more money and bigger and better things but I would be missing so many opportunities with them. She is still a huge mess with an even bigger attitude. Usually the only time we have to get onto her is when she is standing up in a chair or stroller. Her response to us saying sit down is "NOOO" in this whinning tone. I put her in time out one day for it and she kept getting up over and over and saying "spank bobo" so I did. Now when she is doing something wrong we spank and this does have a small affect on her attitude. Anyway so we are learning to deal with her personality and how to let it shine in a good way. Now onto Liam. He started AWANA's tonight. He knew his memory verse which was "God loved us and sent his son" it is so sweet to hear him talk about God and Jesus. I think this interaction with other kids will be a wonderful thing for him. When I dropped him off Cubbie the bear was there waving at the kids. Liam wasn't scared and walk right up to him and high-fived him. As soon as we walked in he gave his 50cents and walk off from me...without saying good bye. I almost cried...silly I know but just to know that he was already comfortable there eased my heart. There are lots of wonderful women there,but we only know 2 of them at this time and one kid. I am very glad he isn't scared to embrace new/unknown territory. When we picked him up he said he had the best time and that his "Aunt Susan" came to check on him. She is our neighbor across the street. He loves their whole family. Always ask about all of them. And has to sit with them at ballgames. Joe's football team is doing really well so far, I hope it keeps going this way. We really enjoy watching him coach and those boys play. I am finishing up my associates degree this semester so I think it is about time to figure out what I want to be when I grow up. haha. Here are some pictures of the kids from the past few weeks.

swallow study # 3

2010-08-07T19:32:00.000-05:00

Chloe had her third swallow study on August 5th at Children's. Since May we haven't been thickening her liquids b/c she wasn't gulping, red, watery eyes, or choking. So I thought for sure that she had outgrown having to use any thickner. I was wrong. She did improve and is just on the nectar now which is better but not on thin liquids. They weren't upset with us doing thins since it was summer and less viral things going on but told me to put her back on it for 10 more months. He really feels like she will outgrow it by 2 1/2 or 3 years of age. We will see. The only thing I hate about going into clinics or hospitals is b/c of all the illnesses that are highly contagious. The reason I say this is b/c my kids stay home with me and haven't built up their immune system so everytime we come home from the doctor they end up with something. Liam has had asthma attacks, croup, and RSV. Chloe has had RSV and fever viruses. This visit was no different. We came home yesterday and she slept so good but by noon today she had spiked a temp of 103. I hate that helpless feeling of my kids feeling sick and wish it was me and not them. I am sure Liam will get it by the end of the week but maybe not. I will probably have to take her in by Monday if it isn't any better. I HATE high temperatures that spike that quickly. UGH!!! She has taken 2 naps today and has been acting better but not eating or drinking that much which is concerning if you know my daughter. She eats and drinks anything and everything.

Not much going on

2010-08-01T14:52:00.000-05:00

There hasn't been a lot going on here. Lets see...a couple of weeks ago Liam had his first dental appointment. He did great. I had noticed his front teeth were getting stained and wanted to make sure we didn't need to do anything different besides just brushing. It is more than likely from his inhaler he does 2 times a day. He does have a cross-bite that they will continue to watch and within the next few visit will let us know if anything needs to be done to correct it. They were so impressed with how still he was. Never had they seen a 3 year old boy sit still and follow directions like he did. I was one proud momma. Here is a picture of him before we left.

Last week I started working with him on recognizing his letters. He can match colors, shapes, numbers, and letters but doesn't recognize them by themselves...well some but not a lot. So I thought it was a great time to start teaching him. Well he quickly caught on and learned A,B,and C last week. We have noticed for a few months now that most of the time he is "reading" or looking closely at something he closes one eye or rubs them. So I am going to make him an appointment to see if he need glasses or what we need to do.

Here are some cute pictures of the kids when we were trying to keep them cool outside in the blazing heat. They decided mud would be the best cooling down method.

Yep she is picking that nose...Liam is saying"eww stister"

And the rest of the pictures are from today because I needed some newer ones of the kiddos for the grandparents to look at.

My Happy Chloe

Sweet Liam or "Bubby"

This is how still she is. ha ha

Joe was trying to entertain them so I could get some pictures of them together and smiling!!!

Next they did their funny, silly, crazy faces...Chloe has many of them...Liam has one

And the last picture is because Liam wanted to see a picture of him riding on Daddy

I can't believe my kids are this big already. I like to compare what they look like this year vs last year , so here it is

She is taller, darker, and so much more hair!!!

So handsome...he doesn't look like a baby or toddler anymore!

Liam swimming at OneTrueMedia.com

2010-07-15T09:21:00.001-05:00

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Chloe is 18 months well on the 12th she was!!!

2010-07-14T14:57:00.001-05:00

I have just not been motivated to do this blog and today I finally decided I should or I would forget everything. Chloe turned 18 months on Sunday!!! I can't believe she is getting closer to 2 than 1 . So I don't know her stats other than weight since we just had her weighed at the "pinkeye" appointment. She was 29lbs. I am guessing around 32 or 33 inches since she comes up to Liam's shoulder. If she would stay still long enough I might could measure her myself ,but she doesn't sit still unless she is asleep and still is rolling around in there. I just had Joe measure her and she is 33 inches. I love this age . She is learning something new everyday. My favorite thing she is doing right now is motioning to Joe or I to "come here" it is so sweet. If we don't then she comes and grabs some article of clothing and makes you come here. ha ha. I just looked up his 18 month post and they are about the same on everything except puzzles. She doesn't care for them like he did. But pretty much the same size of clothes and diapers.

This was her a year ago.I can't believe how much she has changed. I love her so much!!!

Pink eye!!!

2010-07-14T14:37:00.000-05:00

Chloe got pink eye last Tuesday. I can only assume we caught something in Florida or in the Hattisburg pool. Ha ha. Her eyes were just running and every 30 mins or so I was having to wipe them. It wasn't to bad but since my kids have never had it I went ahead and took her in to make sure it wasn't just an allergy. No it was pink eye. Eye drops 4 times a day for seven days. We ended up only doing it for 4 days and 2 or 3 times a day but they cleared up within the first 12 hours so I thought well Liam won't get it then. Wrong. His eyes started this Monday and so I had eye drops left from her episode with them and started treating his. Thank goodness this wasn't a bad case and that we caught it early on. Now everyone is on the mend.

Florida 2010

2010-07-14T14:18:00.001-05:00

On June 25th we left to go on a much deserved beach vacation. My parents, brother's family, and two of my sister's boys went also. We knew with 6 kids and 5 of those in carseats that it might take a while to get there. So we opted to drive to Hattisburg, MS since it is halfway or a little more. My dad had to work for a few more hours, so my brother's family and our family went ahead of them. Left at 10:30 and made it by 4:30. We stopped one time for gas(I think) and one for food. The kids did great. Vittoria and I went to grab some dinner for the family while the guys had the kids at the pool. This pool was very murky but you could smell the chemicals so I assumed it was clean and they just didn't get the right chemistry. Oh well the kids had a blast. Julian showed Liam that is was okay to jump of the side of the pool and so since then Liam has been doing that. Landen and Preston rode up with my parents so they arrived around 8 or so and played with our kids some more. They did not want to get out when it was time. Anyway so we decided to leave around 9am the next morning , so everyone went to their own rooms (moms was across the hallway and matt's was next to us) We all slept really well after the car ride and swimming. I was having this random dream about being able to hear one of my nephews calling for me and crying for their mom...when I woke up it was 5:45a.m and I could hear someone outside our room crying for their mom and calling "Aunt Linsey" I was so out of it and couldn't get our door opened b/c Joe had locked it up top and I didn't know it. I ended up figuring it out and having to shut the door completely on Julian. He was shaking and crying asking where his mom was. I noticed their door was opened a little so decided to see if they were in there. I turned on the light and no one moved...so I said "HELLO?!" and they all sat straight up and were so puzzled as to why I am in their room with Julian who is crying. Anyway he was fine and we all learned a great lesson about locking the chain lock at the hotels. We all ate a free breakfast the next morning and were ready to leave around 9:30am . I can't remember how many times we stopped but it wasn't to bad and made it into Florida around 1:30. Mom and Dad treated all of us to lunch at the Back Porch in Destin. Ahhh it was so good. Then it was time to go to our condo which was back a few miles in Ft. Walton. We got there and the place was amazing. 3 bedrooms, 3 bath, huge kitchen, huge "playpen" back verada, and washer and dryer in the room. The view was incredible. We hurried down to the beach so the kids could play while dad and mom went grocery shopping for one day. Liam and Chloe loved it. Liam had been before but he was only 1 so I am not sure how much he really remembered about that trip. Chloe was in my tummy when we went so she had never seen the ocean. Of course the pool was the biggest hit as usual with most kids. Liam learned to be brave by watching his other cousins. Not only was he jumping off the sides ,but started doing flips!!!! I was blown away with how fast he was doing things. So all week it rained off and on ,but it keeped all of us from getting sunburned so that was a blessing. Between 6 kids and 6 adults and no sunburns that was a success in my book. On the last day we had sun the entire day. Chloe had woke up around 5:30 so I decided to go walk the beach with her and watch the sunrise. I took my camera down with us b/c I needed to take a picture of a name in the sand for someone who was being taken off life support that day. We have known Brady since I could remember (he was our neighbor in Bryant) for many many years. So I took the picture and ask God to please let me find a big shell so I could send it home to his family and I was in awe of what I saw in the distance at that moment. I don't have a picture of it but it was the biggest shell I have ever found...bigger than my hand. It brought tears to my eyes and still does. So after Chloe and I got back up to the room mom said lets go get donuts for everyone and take a few pictures of Chloe at the beach in a dress that her MawMaw had bought her. Even though she was cranky we still got a few really good ones. She never went to sleep that day until around 2 in the afternoon, but was in a great mood so I guess it really didn't matter. So that day Joe and I stayed on the beach until 4 and then got ready to go out to dinner just the two of us. We went to Pompano Joe's and had a great dinner and then went to get some ice cream. When we got back a storm was about to blow through but ran into all the family and my mom told me Liam really needed to show me something in the pool. So he and I ran out there and guess what he was doing? Swimming underwater with his eyes opened. Landen and Preston showed him how. I was so impressed. He kept telling me that Julianna was going to think he was so brave(she is our neighbor here , he swims 2 or 3 times a day at their pool). Before we left for Florida he wouldn't go under unless he came up crying and now one week later he was doing everything they could. We left Saturday at 5:30am so we could make it home by dinner. We did around 5pm so Joe , the kids, and I stayed and played and ate dinner and then around 8:30 left to drive to Clinton. It took me about a week to recover from the trip but we had a great time and made some great memories. Here are some of the pictures from our trip.

Playing Catch Up

2010-06-08T23:52:00.000-05:00

Saturday Liam turned 3 and we had a huge turnout here in Clinton. Last month he wanted scooby doo and monsters , but I ask him one more time if he was sure that is what he wanted and well he wanted Knights. So Joe and I made the invitations...which I don't have a picture of right now. We made him a castle out of 4 cardboard boxes with doors so you could crawl around the whole thing.

Each boy got a sword, mask, and shield

The girls all got swords and princess hats.

Emily and Katy...Em wore her hat all most the entire time!!!

They all got to slay the dragon pinata which took forever to bust. Myself, Joe , and finally my brother all tried but it just wouldn't bust. Matt finally did it. The kids got gold coins and candy from that. And for slaying the dragon they all received a trophy with their name on it.

We had hotdogs and chips and of course cake. It had a picture of a dragon on it, but I forgot to get a picture of just the cake. Oh well.

Next was present time. He got lots of iron man stuff!!!

I can't believe that he is already 3 but he seems so smart and witty for his age. He amazes us everyday with what comes out of his mouth. He will just tell me how good of a mommy I am for no reason. Or give hugs and I love yous out of the blue. I just love him to pieces. Liam is a wonderful brother to Chloe and will do anything she needs or wants him to do.

Today was my 26th birthday! Yesterday Joe had taken Chloe with him to drive around Clinton while Liam and I took a nap, she took an early one, anyway they found the clothing store that sells designer jeans. I have never ever owned a pair b/c they are to expensive and I can not justify that denim should cost $200 or more dollars. Well he told me I had to go and just look b/c the prices were not bad. I went and bought 2 pairs for $27.50 each and a pair of capris and a maxi dress. I have been wanting one of those dresses since they came out ,but since I am so tall they never come past my ankle and I would look like I had a high water dress on. She had an extra long one in the shop which was the perfect fit and color. I just love it!!! so I thought that was my birthday gifts but I was surprised with a necklace with Chloe and a picture of a little girl on the charm...they didn't have a Liam . And cupcakes from the new bakery in town. Then we just relaxed all day. And everyone took a 2 hour nap...so refreshing. Then as I was fixing potato soup our neighbor came over to bring me a gift. It was a bath set from bath and body works. So of course I used some of it tonight and it smells wonderful. Thanks Parish family!!! Oh back to last night , I went as a sub for a ladies Bunko night. It was so much fun. I met quit a few new ladies.

Last Friday was our 5 year anniversary!!!!! I still can't believe we have been married that long. It seems like it should only be a couple of years. Our neighbors watched our kids while we went an ate mexican . We left them at 5:40 and we back in 45 mins maybe less. It didn't take long to eat when you aren't having to say "eat your food" "sit down please" .... We are celebrating when we go to Florida in a couple of weeks. We are still trying to go even with all the oil spill stuff, but the lady who is renting out her condo to us will give us a full refund if the oil is there before we go. I keep hearing that it is not only bad in general but for asthma patients. Liam has been able to stop his flovent for over a month now so we are trying to keep from having to put him back on it...I know we will in September but a few months without it has been great.

Also Chloe had her first ear infection last week. We have been doing LOTS of swimming everyday even a couple of times a day. Chloe loves her swimmies and actually swims with her butt up and loves to go under...Liam doesn't care to go under but will hold his breath. He swims with a turtle shell that we can take a layer out when he is ready. His swim is more like walking ,but when he concentrates he can get somewhere fast. Back to the ear infection...she was running a fever for 24 hours and at one time it got to over 103 which she has never ever ran a fever over 101 so I was really concerned. The next morning I took her in and sure enough it was a deep ear infection. Antibiotics and 48 hours later no fever and happy as can be. She just has a rash every once in a while so I think that is due to her medicine. The nurse did say that is was not from all the swimming, so I was glad to hear that she could still go play in the water.

He is almost 3!!

2010-05-06T21:48:00.000-05:00

Liam reminds me multiple times a day that he is almost 3. He lets me know what he would like for his birthday , usually after commercials he lets me know he would like this or that. And the cake has to be a monster/scooby doo cake that is strawberry. I am sure Harp's will have exactly what he is wanting. Anyway he is such a sweet , loving child that I am so blessed to have around me everyday. Sure he ask a LOT of questions ,but he is just learning. Here is a conversation we had the other day:

Liam- "Mom why do we have bones?"

Me- b/c that is the way God made us, if we didn't have bones we would be mushy

Liam- Well if I didn't have a jaw then I would talk like this (while he is clinching his teeth)

Me- that is very true, how do you know this

Liam- I don't know

He is just so curious, but I want to give him the correct answers so thank goodness for the internet.
Right now we are working on his address and name. He can now spell his name. Yes it is a short name but people he is not even 3 . And the address he just couldn't remember the number but could remember the street, city, and state. So our neighbor is a kindergarten teacher whose has 3 older kids and she taught him a song. And he knows it now!!!! In just one day. Today I have had a hard day b/c my Grandy is in the hospital and they weren't sure what was going on with him. He already has tons of medical issues but all of a sudden his eyes went wall eyed- instead of crossed they go opposite directions. So they did an MRI and we learned the results a few hours ago. He had an acute stroke in his brain stem, which from what I have heard and read isn't promising but who knows. We will know more tomorrow, none of us want him to suffer and we know he is going to Heaven , but it is still hard. Anyway Joe was at a school banquet and I was trying to keep it together ,but just could not keep from crying and praying out loud. Liam looked at me and just walked over and hugged and hugged me, wouldn't let go until I said I was okay. It is still bringing tears to my eyes. I told him why I was crying and he said Grandy will be okay b/c the doctors will help him and I told him that he might go to Heaven very soon and he said "well he will be great there mom" So true , so true. Glad I have such a well rounded son. Chloe just wanted to yell at me for not hugging her too. ha ha. On to Chloe now, she is almost 16 months and saying more and more words. While Liam was learning his song she started saying "My name" and "hot" when she touched a chair that the sun had warmed up. One thing she is loving right now is playdough. She could carry that around with her all day long. Oh and if she sees a pair of her shoes laying somewhere she has to put them on or will scream at us ,but wants to go outside as soon as they are on those feet. I love that they both love to be outside all day long. Makes for much better sleep at night. Speaking of sleep I better get some rest. Hope everyone has a great Mother's Day .

A robin

2010-04-26T13:38:00.000-05:00

This is what is waking us up at 6:30 every morning for over a week now. It hits our bathroom every morning for some reason. One morning I was taking a shower and heard this noise that sounded like fingers runny up and down my window...I thought I was going to have a heart attack. Then I saw wings and thought well maybe it is a bat that was a little confused, but then I saw it was a robin. For what ever reason she is doing this I wish she would stop. Not only does she do this but also anytime the kids and I are outside she is squawking at us and dives every once in a while. We haven't seen her nest and so I know it isn't because we have bothered her babies so if you have any advice on how to get her to quit I would appreciate it. Okay well any advice that doesn't include hanging something infront of the window or killing it.

My classes are almost done so I have 2 more to take and I am done with my associates in science. Right now I have a 3.9 not including my classes from this semester which should be 2 A's but who knows until the end. I was taking World Lit and loved it. The only part I didn't like was having to meet a word count on my essays. I don't like to just write words so I usually would turn my work in with 100 less words, still making a B . And speech. Ugh...I dreaded this class since I was entering college. I am not a public speaker and even in small groups I get redfaced and nervous...I don't know why but always have and suppose I always will. So when I told Joe I wanted to finish my associates I had to face my biggest fear in school. But I did it online which helped me tremedously. You could choose to go in the class on certain dates to do your speeches or film them with 5 adults in a public setting. I choose to have people I know listen to my speeches. Thanks to all of you who listened to those speeches. I know some of you are like that doesn't count but it does and built my self confidence with speaking a tad more.

Here are some cute pictures of the kiddos from yesterday after visiting a church up here. We are trying churches out again since flu season is over. Hopefully we will know which church our family is suppose to be a part of . Chloe went to play during church worship and sermon but Liam wanted to sit with Joe and I . Well he was bored after the singing and ask 1000 times if he could go play with two of his friends. We told him he could next time but this time he was going to stay and listen since that is what he chose at the beginning. We went and ate chinese buffet after church so Liam has some sweet and sour sauce on his shirt but other than that the pictures are cute. Oh and Chloe's snotting nose- allergies.

That was his "model" face

These next few are of Chloe a few mins ago when she fell asleep on me. Her fist are always like that while sleeping which is just like my mom and I. So sweet.

Pretty much the whole month of April

2010-04-23T00:11:00.000-05:00

Where to start? Um Easter I guess. We went down to Bryant for Easter and the kids had a blast going to church and seeing all our family and friends.

Okay so I have a funny story. Well funny to me anyway...all the nephews were at church on Sunday and it was a little crazy with 7cousins all sitting together. Well Julian(My brothers 3 year old) wanted to sit a row up from us so the Landen (My sisters 3 year old) and Liam sat with him...during the prayer I hear Julian saying "dog poop, dog poop, poop , poop, poop" I look up to tell him to shh and try not to laugh and see Liam praying- which melted my heart . Then we go home and Joe goes to the playroom and listens to what the boys are saying. Julian and Landen are saying "Peepee, poopoo" over and over again and Liam is just laughing away...so I guess the boys were saying toddler curse words, but they were entertaining themselves so no harm done.

Chuck E. Cheese's was the day before Easter. Liam had been begging to go and have his birthday there but the kids had never been so when friends of ours had their twins birthday there is what the perfect time to see if I could really handle having his birthday there. Keegan and Dane turned 5 which is probably the perfect age for a party there so they can run around a little less guarded ,but we stayed right with our two. They both LOVED it. Neither one was scared of the characters in fact miss Chloe danced...she was the only one! So we will go but just not have a party there anytime soon.

Next was Liams check up for WIC. Yes we do WIC please no judgement on this. With Joe the only one working we have to have some help with our groceries. It was first b/c of Chloe's formula but after she was off of it we still qualified and I can't say anything bad about having the help. At first I was so embarrassed to be getting any kind of help from the government ,but soon I quit being so uptight about it and relaxed and accepted that we needed this. Our kids needed this or I was going to have to get a job somewhere which meant putting the kids in daycare. I am not against daycares by any means but I WANT to stay home with my children for these few years that I am able to. Okay back to where I was going with this was he had his weight and height measured.

39" and 35pounds

he is almost 3 so she showed me the growth chart and he is finally coming down out of the 90% and into 70ish. They didn't have to test his blood but he was prepared just incase they were going to.

Then on Saturday we went to Emily's 4th Birthday party in Little Rock. She is the little girl I use to babysit. I miss her so much I can hardly stand it. She was beautiful and growing up so fast. Liam loved seeing her and Katy(Emily's almost 1 year old sister) and Chloe was glad to be there to eat , eat , and play. My daughter can put away some food when she wants to sit still long enough. Emily had a princess party so we got her some princess puzzles and swimming goggles. We hope to see them some more this year b/c one time isn't enough for us.

Then it was just to pretty to sit in a car and drive back to Clinton so we drove to Joe's parents house. Actually to the lake at their house so we could go fishing. We dropped Chloe off with my parents and picked up my nephew Preston. PawPaw James catches hundreds of fish when he goes so we just knew we would be having fish for dinner....nope. Liam is the only one who caught one. It was just the wrong time of day. Oh well Liam got to get out on the water in the boat so he was happy.

and yes he is wearing a pink barbie lifejacket but it doesn't matter does it? We are just glad he had it for safety reasons. Don't make fun of him!! ha ha

Lets see we always go to softball games during the week...they are not winning them but improving some and the attitudes of the girls have changed a little so this is easier for Joe to deal with. Girls just have so much drama compared to boys so he is just getting practice in before Chloe has to much and he wouldn't know how to handle it. Now he should be an expert on teen girls....ha ha yeah right. Their attitudes change every 5 seconds. We still have fun cheering them on and can't wait till next year!!!

It is midnight and I can't think of anything else except what creature keeps waking us up everyday around 6:30 and it isn't one of our children...can you guess what it could be?

Springtime

2010-04-01T14:54:00.000-05:00

Wow this weather has been gorgeous. I had promised Liam that we would go find tadpoles or a frog at the pond or river or lake so after no luck last night we decided we would go to the lake which is only 10 mins from our house. It was breezy but they didn't care. Enjoy the pictures...can't wait to go back next week!! And we didn't find any frogs or tadpoles so if you see any save them for him please and we will come pick them up...I have even looked in ditches and can't find them.

Spring Break

2010-03-30T23:23:00.000-05:00

Last week was Joe's spring break, well for 3 days since they were making up 2 snow days. Anyway on Tuesday after he got off work my parents and nephews came up to go to Branson. We were treated to a night at Grand Country Inn and the water park. Well my nephews loved it ,but it took Liam about an hour or so to warm up to the kiddie side. Chloe was just acting strange I think she was overwhelmed with all the people and noise. So around 9:30p.m we decided since none of us had dinner that we better go eat somewhere. First of all none of us realized how late it really was but when you are on vacation it really doesn't matter does it. My kids go with the flow most of the time. So we found some diner to eat at and then went to bed. Except Chloe didn't want Joe to hold her and would scream if he tried or if I laid her down. I had to hold her a specific way...arms stretched out all the way infront of me and her laying on her back. I think I am pretty strong most of the time but holding a 27 pounder like that didn't last long and then finally she just let me lay down with her and my arms were underneath her belly. CRAZY!! They all slept till 8 or so which was great. We ate donuts and then split up for a few hours. Joe, my dad, Preston, Liam, and Landen all went to the dinosaur musem. Here are the pictures from that.

Mom, Bo, Chloe , and I went shopping at Carter's and Croc's. I got Chloe 12 outfits/dresses , Liam 4 shirts and a huge dinosaur floor puzzle for 140, I added up what I would have spent at a local store that carried carters and it would have been 255 so I did really well. That is what I tell myself at least. ha ha. We all met up at the other mall and did a little more shopping. Disney store, Fossil, and Stride Rite. I got the kids 2 pair of shoes a piece b/c they were having a buy one get one 50% off. They carry wides for my childrens feet. Chloe loved wearing wider shoes and is now walking more than crawling...not sure if it was the shoes or just the practice. Then it was lunch at Shorty Smalls and driving back to our house. We stopped at Coursey's to get some wonderful smoked ham, turkey , beef jerkey, they were out of the smoked cheddar. I was really sad. And we had a good time playing outside and eating our sandwhiches before they had to go back home.

Then Friday Liam and I went down to Bryant so I could attend a Girls Night Out party that my friend Cindy was throwing. She had a rep from "Thirty-one" and "Premier Jewlery" come out. It was a fun time and so nice to chat with some women I didn't know or haven't seen in a long time. While I was there Liam and his MeMe went to see "How to Train a Dragon" I can't tell you how many times he ask to go see it before it was even at the theater. He loved it!!! He told my mom after the movie was over "that was a fine, fine show" ha ha ha!!! that kid cracks us up. She also got a real live bunny after they got home from Branson so Liam was playing with her. "Easter FuFu " is her name and she is so cute. Chloe and Joe had some bonding time and of course she was fantastic for him but as soon as she saw her momma and bubba she went nuts on us and had many many fits. Oh well at least she was an only child for a little while.

Sickies

2010-03-22T15:27:00.000-05:00

This swimsuit is a very small 2T with a razorback on it, just a little snug for this Chloe bug!!!

I just thought we were over all the sickness. I was WRONG!!! I suppose with Joe being a school teacher and the crazy weather we have had this just make sense for us to get sick again. I think mine is allergies because I haven't had any fever, but Joe has had a low grade for a few days and then this annoying cough. Liam told us yesterday a few times he didn't feel so good, but continued to play and had no fever. Well at 2am he woke up crying and coughing. Thank goodness we are on the daily inhaler because I KNOW we would have been in the ER just like every other year when the weather changes. So I took his temp and it was 102 and he was coughing. So I gave him his inhaler again and some Ibprofen and within seconds he threw up mucus!!! Exactly what we go through twice a year. His fever was instantly gone, so I have no idea how in the world that happened but the medicine didn't even get in his system. He wanted Dr. Pepper since he couldn't have milk, he drank some and then watched some tv with me and was fine and snoozing by 3am. I on the other hand couldn't go back to sleep because of the show that I was watching, River Monsters, wow I am never going swimming anywhere again. The fish that are in these rivers are gross, huge, and maneaters. Ahhhh....anyway Chloe just has a runny nose,but last Thursday we had to visit the doctors office because she decided to get in our recycle bag and put her fingers in a olive can...I saw it happen and yelled at her to not do it, but of course she pulls her fingers out and slices two of them. I immediately get queasy and get in mommy mode and take care of them, but after 5 mins of cool water and pressure they wouldn't stop. So I call the doctors office and ask if I should bring her there or ER and they weren't busy so we went there. She kept squeezing her fingers just to see the blood, I think, anyway after we took those bandaids off and washed her hands better it was clear that the blood was stopped and already sealing up . So the cuts weren't as deep as I thought,but we did get a prescription for bactraban? and some new bandaids. Also Chloe is walking 50% of the time now which is a huge improvement for her. I made sure Joe and I quit holding her when just walking around and made her hold one finger to build her confidence after a friend told me that is what her girls did. She wouldn't walk on the hardwoods but today started so I think it is safe to say her pigeon toes won't hinder her walking anymore. She walks with one arm up and one half way. I am trying to go through our pictures to put some up because it is just to funny but I can't seem to find one that captures it, I will have to do it after she wakes up from her nap. Anyway Joe's school is on Spring Break Wednesday- Friday since they are making up a couple of days from all the snow days, so if everyone is feeling well we are going for the day to Branson with my parents and my nephews. Lots of shopping for Chloe some clothes and Liam shoes. Then to a little amusement park for some fun. Hopefully we will get to go and I will have lots of pictures to show you guys.

She was laying down like she was sunbathing but as soon as I took the picture she sat up.

Swingset

2010-03-15T15:56:00.000-05:00

I had ordered a small swingset for the kiddos and on Thursday in came in to walmart. So I loaded up the kids ,went in , got the guys to put it in the car, went home unloaded it, and put it together by myself!!! It only took 2 hours and was so worth me putting it together without help. Joe and I don't always get along really well while putting things together so much less of a headache. Chloe helped for an hour and then it was just me and Liam because she had to take her nap, but when she got up she was loving it. We got her a pink swing and guess who is loving it more than her? Yep Liam!! He is so silly. I don't think I say this enough but I really do have the best 2 year old ever. He is always helpful and very seldom is he mean to his sister. Now Chloe as a 2 year old who knows what that will look like!!! She is a crazy one year old,but can be sweet if she really wants to. I just realized as I was putting up these pictures that Liam isn't in any of them, that was because he decided to go watch a show- which means take a short nap, but he doesn't want to admit he is tired.

And then some of Chloe and two new outfits for this summer. They are so cute. One is from Smith Caldwell in Benton that Auntie Shan got her and the pink one I bought at TJ Maxx that looked almost identical to one I saw in Chasing Fireflys magazine, but was like only $12 instead of $80. I love a bargin especially a really cute one.

In this picture she is doing the Little Einsteins thing, where they pat, clap, raise their arms as high as they can...she loves that show and we didn't know she could do this until she just started doing it the other day. I was amazed that she did it all in order like she had been rehearsing it.

Overdue Pictures

2010-03-08T12:38:00.000-06:00

So I finally got to take pictures of the house right after I cleaned it. As soon as the kids and Joe came in from outside, it was destroyed again. Oh well at least I got the pictures.

Long week

2010-03-05T14:35:00.000-06:00

Last week and this week have been long weeks in this house. Chloe is doing great now, but Liam got it as of Monday...so coughing and gagging has been going on here. Lots of inhaler treatments, ibprofen, tylenol, juice....not a whole lot of eating on their part, but I am sure they will eat us out of the house before to long. Matter of fact Chloe's appetite is back and she is eating anything and everything. We moved into our house and everything is going great. I have the house in order and when I am ready to take pictures then there are toys or dirty clothes in the picture. It is suppose to be nice this weekend so while the kids and Joe play outside I will get pictures of it for the blog. I have to say how much I love the sandbox...yesterday we went and picked up a couple of bags for it. I have it on our back deck so I can somewhat contain the kids and if it is wet out then they can still play in it without getting to muddy. And I order a small swingset from walmart that we will get in the next week or so , I think this will help with all the cabin fever we have had from the winter and sickness. Also we got CABLE for the first time in almost 3 years. I am loving the food network but hate it b/c it just makes me hungry!!!! Ha ha. Joe is officially a school bus driver and the girls played their first few softball games. They won 3 out of 4 so far so hopefully I will update on more wins than losses. So hopefully I will update with pictures in the next few days so you can see our house. Enjoy the weather!!!!!!!

RSV!!!!

2010-02-25T15:18:00.000-06:00

I hated to hear that word today when I took Chloe in for a sick child appointment. It really happened over night it seemed. Remember last week we went to Children's, well I guess that is where we picked it up at and her body has been invaded. On Sunday she had a slight runny nose, I thought"hmmm ...could be that all her molars are trying to come in?" , Monday Joe was out of town in Virgina for his Uncle Jerry's funeral- I wish I could have gone with the kids but now I see why that would have been a bad idea- there was 21 grandkids there so we could have infected all of them and I didn't want to do that . We will miss him so much, but know he is happy in heaven!!!! Anyway so Tuesday she was cranky and snotty. Wednesday Joe came home , we had to sign the paperwork for our 2nd house!!! And she started coughing, coughing hard and throwing up. So Wednesday night she got her first fever : ( ( I think this is her first maybe not) it was only 100 but it is still a fever....she didn't sleep from 11pm till 7 this morning. Joe and I took turns sleeping for a couple of hours and when we weren't sleeping we were holding her. She had rubbed her face raw!! It looks like she had been skiing for days...so I took her in at 8 this morning and they checked her pulse-ox which was 97 so that relieved me a little but then after hearing her cough they wanted to do a swab for RSV and x-rays for pnemounia. She screamed the entire time!!! Anyway so now she is on an inhaler and she is to use her steroid cream for her face so she doesn't get a staph infection. Please pray that she feels better fast. I hate that I can literally do nothing to console her. Worst feeling as a mom (yet). Liam has been a trooper the entire day. I gave him instructions as to when the movie went off that he needed to shut the computer and lay down on my bed and rest...he did exactly that. I am very thankful for such a helpful 2 year old. He is so worried about Chloe it is heartbreaking! Please pray for her if you will. I know a lot of people are but I am trying to not worry but it isn't working. We are moving on Saturday with the help of some of Joe's football players so mom has offered to watch Chloe for me . Then maybe she will be rested up to enjoy her new house.

Surprise Party, Chloe's follow up swallow study

2010-02-19T00:09:00.000-06:00

Preston's Surprise Party was the past Sunday. His birthday was in January but everyone was so busy that we all couldn't find a day to have just him a party so mom had a brillant idea to do it a little later and surprise him. Well it was so funny when we all got together to "eat" . Mom brought out the cake, which was a ding dong cake, and we started singing Happy Birthday and he was singing too...he didn't know to who but he was still singing...finally he got the clue when mom brought the cake over for him to blow out. It was so cute. He is one of the funniest , wittest 8 year old that I know. He can make me laugh all day long. Here are a few pictures of his party. Happy Birthday Preston we love you!

Now on to Chloe's follow up swallow study. I really had my hopes up that she would have outgrown the aspirating, but she hasn't . They asked which flavor I thought she would want to drink. Flavor of Barium? I told them either one, chocolate or fruit punch was fine but to try fruit punch first. She threw a huge fit, which isn't out of the ordinary, but they pulled out some bubbles and this calmed her right down. But then you have to try a different consistency so then she would get mad b/c they took her drink. It was a neverending cycle for a few mins. I was a nervous wreck because I am use to her drama queen self but some people aren't. Well the techs and doctors were fine with her doing this, I guess they are use to it . During the first few sips she didn't and I was so excited but then they went to nectar and she did a big aspiration...they said it was a delayed cough also. So I got to watch it again outside the room and sure enough it went right into her airway . I know how lucky we are they we caught this as early as we did and that she hasn't had any respiratory issues, but I really had different expectations of this visit. Now we are going to have to repeat this cycle in 6-8 months to see if we can get her down to at least nectar consistency. Her ENT doctor mentioned that this could go until she is 2 or 3 so not to be disappointed if that happens. I am just very glad that she is able to have milk instead of having anymore GI problems so one down one to go. They did mention that she does sound a lot better, not as noisy of a stridor. The only time I really notice her stridor is when she is really concentrating on something or sleeping. Anyway she has made big strides since her first few months of life and I am thrilled at how much she is doing and learning. Just yesterday she started saying "cookie" as plain as can be. "Thank You" "Uh Oh" "Bubba" "Hi there, Hidey, Hello" are what she will say to anyone who is walking in the room. It is so funny"."Kitty Kitty" "dog" "ahhh"-when I brush her teeth. "on" , "no no no" while pointing her finger. Still taking steps but not really what I call walking. she will not walk to Joe or I only her bubba or toys or strangers like she was at children's today. Oh and will climb on anything and everything. Her babydoll stroller that she got for her birthday is her favorite toy to climb on. I think she thinks she can fit in it. haha yeah right. Her weight today was 26 pounds 3 oz. and she was 30 1/2 inches so she is getting taller and staying about the same with her weight. If anyone knows someone whose child is on Pregestimil we have 4 cans I would like to give to someone. We just don't know anyone on it. Let me know if you do or we will donate it to our doctors office.