Preschool, Memorial Day, Baby Update...And Grandpa

Wow!  Preschool, Memorial Day Weekend, and an update on our little baby that's growin' in my belly!  I'm behind again in updating, but that's no surprise.  May is still here and May is still busy! 

Yesterday, we spent our time at St. John's Hospital while Grandpa Curry underwent Triple Byspass Heart Surgery.  Surgery went well and now we can look forward and pray for a speedy and uneventful recovery.  I can't wait to watch him heal and discover how much better he is going to feel.  With his heart working better than it has in years, he is going to be filled with so much more energy and life.  The human body amazes me!

Makayla has finished up her very first year of preschool!  I can remember the first day I sent her - I was somewhat emotional, trying hard to hold back the tears - but, by the end of the year, sending her off to school and watching her learn and grow had just become a part of our life.  It's been a joy to watch her grow, mature, and learn. 

At her end of the year program she was given a certificate.  She was "promoted" from one preschool class to another.  She was so proud of her certificate that throughout her program she kept standing up, yelling out Mason's name out into the audience, and holding her certificate high above her head to show him.  She was proud!...and it made me smile to know how excited she was to share her moment with Mason!

We had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend, spending time relaxing and having fun with friends and family.

We had a yummy dinner at one of Kevin's favorite restaurants, The Burgery Barge, followed by a beautiful night on the Peoria Riverfront listening to our favorite band JammSammich.  We had a great night with some amazing friends, family, and co-workers!

We kicked off our summer by spending a couple of days at the waterpark, swimming in the backyard, and watching a Peoria Chief's baseball game.

At the waterpark, Makayla got to go down the "biiiiiiig waterslide all by herself with daddy"!...and that's exactly how she says it - all by herself, with daddy!

And my boy Mason has no fear.  The exact opposite of Makayla!  He loves the water, he loves swimming, and doesn't mind at all if he goes underwater OR if the water is freezing cold!  He laughs when he is splashed and cries screams if we take him out of the pool before he is ready.

Below is Mason swimming in the backyard and playing with a ball - his favorite things to do! 

 We celebrated a friend's birthday at the Peoria Chief's game this past weekend!  It was hot, sunny, and fun.  Makayla got her face painted like a princess and Mason ate a few cups of ice.  The kids waved their American flags (which was on the news) and enjoyed watching the mascot (a dog) dance on the field. We had a couple of hot, sweaty babies on our hands when we left the game, but the heat didn't seem to bother them as much as it bothered me! 

We had another visit with the Dr yesterday to check on baby and everything sounded great!  Heartbeat was in the 150's, I gained weight, had to get blood drawn, and as hard as I tried, I couldn't pee in a cup (but spent the rest of the morning running to the bathroom every 3-4 minutes).

Knowing that this is my third and last pregnancy, I want to embrace every part of it.  This time around, I am going to take pictures of my growing belly and with help from the kids, we're going to create a cute little timeline of pictures.  Every so often, we'll take pictures like the ones below.  Makayla will hold the "weeks" sign and Mason will hold the "days" sign. 

It was very difficult to get any decent pictures with both kids, but I think that is part of the fun of this.  Mason wasn't too interested in holding up his sign, so Makayla decided she would take over in the second picture.

...16 weeks, 4 days, and growing!
The human body amazes me!!

My Tears And Mason

Have you ever loved something so much it made you cry?

...Mason's laugh.

It had me crying.

The other night, I was rocking him in the darkness of his room (because I can still do that) and we were both loving it.  I dipped my head down to kiss his hand and out of the quietness of his room, he let out a quick belly laugh.  I whispered "I love you, Mason".

A minute later he reached his hand up and rubbed his fingertips along my lips, and again, he let out a giggle.  This game kept going on for about five minutes - from the soft sweep of his fingertips along my lips to his sweet, sweet laugh filling his room.

Mason and I holding each other, rocking in his rocking chair.  Just me and him, in the dark.

I couldn't help but let the tears fall.

His laugh.  I would die if I didn't have his laugh. 

Without my children's laughter, my heart would die.

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And when I'm not busy rocking my baby in the dark (crying like a mother),  I'm admiring his little boy actions and LOVING the discovery of the type of person he is becoming.  He is growing more and more into his own person every day.

• Mason loves gum and popcorn.  He chews gum like a champ and devours popcorn like he hasn't eaten in days.  The child scares me to death.  
• He loves to repeat his sister!  Almost anything he can do that she does, he will.  He loves to apply lipstick, turn in circles, and repeat her words.  The other day, she was walking around the house practing the word "yellow".  She kept saying "Lello" and trailing behind her was a little voice saying "lello, lello, lello".  And just as Makayla says "bum" for "gum", so does Mason.
• But as much as he likes to repeat and follow in the footsteps of his big sis, he is also becoming more and more independent.  He loves to walk the stairs upright like a grown man.  I rarely let him do this and beg him to crawl up the stairs, and most of the time he just laughs me off and continues walking right on up the stairs.  Along with his independence is trying to take off his own shoes and trying to climb in and out of the bathtub without any help.  Like I said, the child scares me to death.

Mason is an an amazing little boy.

He's handsome, smart, and full of laughter.  He loves to be tickled and trucks are his favorite toys.  I love him to pieces and cannot kiss him enough!

It's a joy watching Mason and Makayla grow and I can't wait to have their baby brother or sister join them in the journey of this life!

Makayla's Moments

The month of May has been and will continue to stay overwhelmingly busy!  I even turned down going to a Cardinal's game this month because I didn't want to add one more thing to the calendar.  Yikes!  

As we go through our days, my kids are non-stop making me laugh and are constantly amazing me.  And with each act that leaves me in awe or each word that leaves my jaw dropped, I tell myself that I need to go write that down...and then I never do.  So, this morning, I am going to try to remember a few things that Makayla has done this past week that is worthy to remember.  Then, within the next couple of days, I'll write down some things that my little Mason has done recently that makes him so very awesome!

• Makayla asked daddy "If you mix your poop and pee, does that make your diarrhea?"  It makes total sense, doesn't it?!  Luckily, she was satisfied with just a simple "No".
• You can call it exhaustion from pregnancy or exhaustion from life in general, but at the end of the day, I'm drained.  Completely worn out.  Last week, I was putting a puzzle together with Mason.  It was a puzzle with animals and we kept repeating the names of the animals over and over again.  Every time I got to the "giraffe", I had a little twinge of confusion.  It didn't really look like a giraffe and I didn't feel right calling it a giraffe, but I could not figure out what else it could be.  Finally, about the fifth time of repetition, Makayla finally said "Mommy, that's not a giraffe.  That's a horse."  Duh.  The puzzle we were doing was made up of farm animals!  Why would there be a giraffe mixed in with the farm animals?!...and WHY couldn't I figure that out?!  It was a scary moment (and somewhat embarrassing), but I'm blaming it on the "exhaustion".
• Grandpa Allen got to take Makayla on her end of the year field trip to the Children's Discovery Museum followed with lunch at Monicals.  Then Grandpa and Makayla spent the rest of the day together - shopping at Lowes, visiting grandma at work, going to Wal-Mart, reading books, riding the four wheeler, and digging for worms.  We still have the worms.  It was a special day.  Just Makayla and Grandpa.
• Makayla is making progress on writing her letters.  Here's her name! -



She's smart.
She's pretty.
She's funny.
She's my daugher.
She's Makayla!

13 Weeks, 4 Days

I think baby wanted us to get a little sneak peak in at him/her today -

OR baby was just preparing us for the excitement he/she will be bringing to our lives!

We went in for our regular checkup today. 

Pee in a cup, check my blood pressure, and listen to baby's heart beat.

Everything was going great until Dr. tried to find baby's heart beat. 

He couldn't find it. 

He kept finding my heart beat, but never the baby's.

He kept trying and as he kept tyring, my heart beat became faster and faster.  Every time he came across my heart beat he had to grab my wrist to compare it with my radial heart rate (just to make sure it was definitely my heart beat and not baby's).

After a long, excrutiating 5 minutes, he finally said that he thinks everything is alright but that we need to do an ultrasound. 

He thinks everything is alright?! 

I was 13 weeks.  Why couldn't he find a hearbeat?!  Of course, the worst came to my mind and I immediately began praying/meditating/calming/ - I knew that whatever was to come, we could handle it.  When you're a pregnant woman, to come 13 weeks,  you've come so far. And to think for even a split second that it's gone and done - it's enough to take your breath away...

I was very scared and very nervous.  With tears in my eyes, I laid down on the ultrasound table.

The ultrasound tech and Dr were very calm, very soothing, and very positive. 

As soon as she put that probe to my belly, you could see that little baby jumping around everywhere!

*sigh*

*breathe*

That little stinker!

So, we've come 13 weeks and 4 days.

and we have a very active baby with a heart rate 156 beats/min.

It definitely took me all morning and a little nap to recoup from all of the excitement and stress at the Dr's office this morning!

So Fresh From God...



Makayla after applying her eye shadow...

Charles Dickens once said "It is not a slight thing when they, who are so fresh from God, love us".  I love it.  So Fresh From God. 

And sometimes, I find myself repeating that quote over and over again in my head...but just adding on to the end a few of my own words.

It is not a slight thing when they, who are so fresh from god, love us...

...and want to wipe us. - Yes, if you're a mama, you know how exciting it is to go to the bathroom alone. Tonight, as I was going to the bathroom, Makayla asked me if I went poop or pee.  I told her pee and she took some toilet paper and told me "Okay.  I will wipe you".  Of ourse, I didn't let her wipe me.  I thanked her but told her that I was a big girl and could do it by myself.

...and end every single day looking like a tattoo addict. - Mason thoroughly enjoys covering his entire body with stamps and markers - every.single.night.  I could just throw the markers away, but what fun is that?  I'm convinced that he is surely learning something from covering his body in art.

Between my wiper and tattoo artist, Makayla and Mason are continually making me smile and reminding me of how incredibly blessed I am.  I can't even begin to imagine how much more exciting life is going to be at the end of this year.  Going from a family of four to a family of five is going to bring us more joy than I can possibly dream of.



From Dinner to Believing In Miracles, And Every Song In Between

For dinner tonight we had pancakes and scambled eggs. We ate in the living room and watched Max And Ruby. After dinner, the tornado hit.

The kids got crazy, baskets of toys were dumped, tents popped up, tunnels were built in the hallway, balls were bouncing, clothes came off, this mom laughed, and the music came on.

And the music came on…

“Sweet Caroline” blared over the stereo echoing off of the walls and wood floor. Mason was laughing uncontrollably and Makayla was spinning circles in the kitchen - carefree…“Haaaands, Touching haaaands, Reaching oooout, Touching meee, Touching yoooou, Sweeeeet Caroline, Good times never seemed so good”…Yes, Good times never seemed so good.

Then, I started singing along to “I Will Survive”. Sounding just like Gloria Gaynor, I belted out “First I was afraid, I was petrified”…and you could totally tell my kids were petrified. I think. I don’t if they were scared of my singing or freaked out because I was so good.

Then it was time for “Ice Ice Baby”. Makayla tried the entire song to form a gangster sign with her fingers while Mason stood, grinning ear to ear, beating his hands to his thighs with the beat. The boy impressed me. He definitely doesn’t get his rhythm from his mama. I was in band and could play the flute beautifully, but for some reason, have zero rhythm outside of the flute. I’m the person in the crowd clapping OFFbeat from everybody else!

I tried to slow it down a bit with number 5 on the CD - Israel Kamakawiwo'ole’s version of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”. You know, that beautiful island version that always makes me teary-eyed because it’s that one song I played for Makayla when she was in my womb. But no. The little ones were not up for “slowing” it down.

So we quickly moved on to…

Jason Mrazs “I’m Yours” (It’s Our God Forsaken Right To Be Loved)

Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” (That Makayla HAD to sing all by herself)

OAR’s “Hey Girl” (Allowed for a quick reminiscent moment of my high school years)

Rick Springfield’s “Jessie’s Girl” (Had Mason “snapping” away. Sooo not the snapping song, but he was concentrating so hard with his little fingers)

A couple Zac Brown Band songs (That made me feel so good)

…And we ended our crazy escapades with Mason walking the obstacle course of toys, gates, and tents while Makayla and I played catch (with her catching the ball every single time causing her to beam brightly), listening to Hot Chocolate’s “I Believe In Miracles”…and yes, I do believe in miracles!

You Wanna Know What I Love

The other night Makayla was sitting on Grandma Allen's table putting a puzzle together.  After every piece she placed, she smiled and clapped her hands together. She was excited and happy with each step of the way, not just with the end result. When I see her do things like this, I can't help but wonder how much better this world would be if adults carried on even the tiniest bit of these characteristic from childhood.

I also love how much Makayla loves her brother.  When Mason and I take Makayla to school on Tuesdays, we always have to enter the doors by pushing the automatic handicapped button.  What makes me smile is when Makayla says "Buddy, you can push the button this morning"!  As much as Makayla loves to push the button herself, she always lets Mason do it.  And when I try to talk Makayla into letting herself push the button, she always tells me that it's alright - Mason can do it, he loves to do it.  And what makes me smile even more is when Makayla gets mad when another kid pushes the button before we can.  Why does it make me smile?  Because I love to watch how mad she gets that somebody took that away from her brother and then I love to watch her "calm" Mason down, as if he was upset.  She tells him that it's alright and we'll wait for the door to close so he can push the button.  I love how much she cares about making Mason happy and I love how good it makes her feel to let Mason do the honor of opening the doors for us when that is something that she loves to do so much herself.  She's a good girl.

And you wanna know what else I love?

I love that Mason has to hug me and cuddle me and bury his body into my arms when he is getting in trouble.  Whenever I have to scold Mason or be stern with him, he'll immediately begin crying, run to me, and hug me.  I love it.  I love how it's his sweet little way of saying "I'm sorry, mommy".  I love that he is so sensitive.

 

What I also love (and hate) is our exchange of good-nights.  Every night, after tucking him into bed, as I walk out his door, he'll sweetly cry out "byyyyyye" and when I look back I see his little hand waving in the air by the glow of his night light.  Oooooh, it makes me want to cry.  I love it because I love the sound of his tiny little voice and I love that it's his way of telling me good night.  I understand.  I'm leaving so he thinks he should say "bye", just has he has learned over the past year...but geez!  There are only so many "good byes" a mother can take at bedtime.  It's time we start working on "night night"!

There are so many things I love about each of my kids.  They are two individuals that bring more to my life than I ever thought possible. 

Cat Baths

 Last night I was laying on the floor in Makayla's room admiring Mason as he was applying Makayla's lipstick to his face/cheeks/nose/chin.

I looked behind me for Makayla and she was up on her bed, in only her underwear, LICKING Rascal. Vomiting up all over the floor, I frantically asked her what she was doing. She looked at me as if I was crazy and said she was giving Rascal (our cat) a bath.

Tsk Tsk. I thought she knew better than that...

After scaring the daylights out of her and telling her how disgusting it is to lick a cat, I couldn't hold my laughter in.

...and I'm still laughing about it today.

Ray Of Sunshine

Coming in at 2.5cm long and a heart rate of 175 beats/min, baby is due to join us on November 9th!

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You Are My Sunshine...

and I can't wait to add one more ray of sunshine to our lives!

Babies will make love stronger, days shorter, nights longer, bankroll smaller, home happier, clothes shabbier, the past forgotten, and the future worth living for.

Easter 2012

Happy Easter!!

What a beautiful day we had!

• In the days leading up to Easter, we participated in several egg hunts and tried to get used to the Easter Bunny.  We had a lot of fun with the egg hunt, but no such luck with the Easter Bunny.  I don't blame the kids, though.  The Easter egg hunts have been fun to watch this year.  Mason woud run for the first egg, pick it up, and put it in his basket.  He'd look around for us and start telling us about the "ball" that he had.  At that point, he'd be done with the egg hunt.  He would sit down and play with the egg, aka ball.  He's satisfied with his one egg.  Makayla, on the other hand, runs wildly around until you remind her that she needs to pick up the eggs. She'll finally bend down to pick up an egg, shake it vigorously, and put it in her basket.  She'll take her time with each egg to make sure there is something in it before she puts it in her basket.  She's also the kid out there that finds the broken ones and stops to put them back together.  She's definitely not competitive, yet, when it comes to Easter egg hunts.
• Today, we enjoyed a great church service with our family.  We then headed out to a cookout at Grandma and Grandpa Allen's for lunch and then went to Grandma and Grandpa Curry's for a traditional Easter dinner with ham, potatoes, and the fixins'.  We're blessed to be able to spend Easter with our families.  The cousins got to have another Easter egg hunt together at Grandma and Grandpa Curry's -  Makayla was getting eggs for Kyleigh, and Kyleigh was getting eggs for Mason.  It made me smile.
• The Easter bunny left Makayla some Cry Baby (filled with extra sour flavor crystals) gum.  If you like things sour, check it out!  I put a piece in my mouth as Makayla was going through her Easter basket and, of course, started going into convulsions and rolling on the floor.  I couldn't finish it and had to clean up a puddle of saliva and tears after I spit it out.  Seeing that it was horrible, Makayla immediately said she wanted to play a joke on Grandpa Allen and give him a piece in church.  So...we brought some gum to church.  Of course, grandpa didn't want any gum - but grandma, Aunt Nina, and cousin Holly did!  And like I said, I recommend buying and sharing some Cry Baby gum to find the humor in this story (but be sure to find some with the extra sour flavor crystals).  Makayla then wanted to share her gum with Kyleigh and Kole...and Aunt Jenny and Gage.  Thanks to Cry Baby gum, we had an abundant amount of laughter today - the type of laughter that brings tears rolling down your cheeks.  And what makes it even a little funnier to me is that Makayla is the one who wants to play this joke on people by giving them her gum, yet she makes the statement "I want to break the Easter bunny's hips for bringing me this gum".  I, of course, was shocked at what she said and told her that is not a very nice thing to say at all.  I asked her where she heard that from and she told me that the Easter Bunny taught her to say that.

Not only did we have a wonderful weekend with our family celebrating Easter, but I volunteered some time raising money for Relay for Life.  Our team had a bake sale and sold rib-eye and porkchop sandwiches at our local grocery store.  Those who know me, know I don't really "bake", so I had a great friend from Fudge-N-Things donate some yummy fudge to put in our bake sale.  Is that cheating?  I don't know, but what I do know is that we raised over $450 just this weekend and that's what is important!

Let the resurrection joy lift us from loneliness and weakness and despair to strength and beauty and happiness. ~Floyd W. Tomkins