Priceless birthday memory

My kiddos made this birthday the best one yet!

I baked a cake this afternoon. Lily helped lick the bowl and beaters. She waited patiently ALL day for a bite of this cake. I let the kids ice the cake and then add sprinkles.

Leia had recently woke up from her nap and this was her expression when she saw the cake!!

Priceless!

Let's celebrate!!

It's Monday, and It's my BIRTHDAY!!!

I have hit the glorious milestone of 30!! Wowza! Staying all night is not the thing for me. Leia "partied" all night...it was a teething party :(  She is trying to cut all 4 top teeth at once.

But it's my special day and IT WILL BE FABULOUS!

Currently, our van is in the shop since it was making a funny noise on the way to school this morning. Lily's highlight of the day was watching the tow truck guys come pick up our van and take it away. Since we didn't know what was causing all the racket, and it sounded like a belt had broken. We thought it best to not drive it to the dealership but to just have it towed. Thank you, God, for incredible parents who insist on my having AAA. I have free towing!! Sweet!

Now, I'm wondering if I should make my own cake...I think Lily would have a wonderful time decorating it. Well, Kota would, too. Now, to see if I have everything and icing. I know I have sprinkles...they are Christmas sprinkles, but sprinkles are sprinkles, right?!

2012 Graduate

Here's my little boy...he's just not so little anymore. 

Kindergarten graduation is less than a month away. And here's my handsome graduate :)

I'm so very proud of him. He has done amazingly this year. Always great report card grades and he has a desire to learn. I remember when he read his first book, "Go, Dog, Go".

He's growing up and ever so quickly.

teething causes me to ramble

I hate teething!

I know it's something that HAS to happen...but couldn't the process be ALOT less stressful on baby and Mommy?!

With teething comes drainage, runny nose, upset stomach, and vicious diapers...resulting in super cranky baby, and a terrible diaper rash. 

The house needs to be cleaned...but Leia is on the move. I'm almost tempted to put Swiffer pads on her to at least get her help with the cleaning. She follows me from room to room now and her crawling could be a win win for me :)  Wonder if I can pull it off?

As you can tell, this momma has random thoughts that range from here to there and all around. 2nd cup of coffee is on my to-do-list along with wash bottles, switch the laundry, clean the kids' room, and attempt nap time with the girls. 

Baby Einstein never really worked for the other children, but for Leia, it's our life saver (I should say sanity saver). And you know, the big kids will sit down and watch it with her, too. So....another win win  :)

Thoughts

a few randoms:

-parking garages make me feel SO tall
-Hearing Lily sing along with Veggie Tales makes me smile
-Evening walks with the family make the long day worthwhile
-Dinner from my neighbor reminds me there's still kind people in this world
-Popsicles make the day AMAZING!
-Teething reminds me to keep Tylenol and Motrin stocked

All things happening

Lots has happened since the last posting.

• Lily finally saw the neurologist
• Leia started crawling
• And super baby Leia is now pulling up

 Lilyann waiting to see the neurologist

 Eating "Kai Lan" food....what she calls Chinese food :)

 She's crawling!!

 She was supposed to be sleeping but she figured out how to stand up!!

Lily neurologist appointment went well. Every child is allowed 1 free seizure. After the 2nd seizure is when they start the diagnosis process. If Lily can continue on without any more seizures for 6 months, her percentage of having one drops to 30%. After a year, it drops back down to the 3%..which is what's normal for everyone. We all have a 3% chance of having a seizure. We were prescribed some emergency anti seizure meds just in case Lily has another seizure and it lasts longer than 5 minutes. 

4 years ago

Happy 4 year post surgery anniversary to Lilyann!

I tend to forget about her heart surgery til she takes off her shirt and I see her zipper. She will now tell you that the doctor gave her that zipper when he fixed her heart ♥

Pray for us tomorrow. We are headed to Dallas again to see a pediatric neurologist...hoping to get some answers about her seizure.

Monster Baby starring Leia

 Look at Monster Baby...Up on all fours, doing her "Crawl". It's crazy and amazing all at the same time.

Do you see the princesses all lined up in front of Leia? the kids were playing Attack of Monster Baby. :)

 The kids think it's hilarious that "Monster Baby" sat on the princesses.  But Leia didn't care what she was doing, she was in her own little world.

As happy as can be...for these few minutes.

Teething has hit it's peak with us. She is working on her top teeth or more. So, we haven't seen the smiley Leia for awhile :(  So happy for a happy baby :)

a few hours after this scene, Leia took off crawling/one-leg-dragging across the floor for my flip flop and of course, a power cord. She's mobile now.

6 month appt for Leia

Here's Leia 6 month check up stats--> 16 lbs 15.6 oz (so, 17 lbs with clothes, lol) and 26.5 inches tall. She is in the 70th for weight, and 75th for height.
Dr said she is doing good. I can feed her more baby food. And that her only having 4 oz of bottle at each feeding is okay..and wanting to eat every 2 hours is normal (UGH!)
But she says the up every few hours at night is not common. It could be from her teeth or maybe a cold. But her ears, nose, throat, chest, all sound and look fine. If the runny nose doesn't go away, it could be allergies (shoot me NOW!). And another reason why she might be not sleeping as well...she could have hit the separation anxiety phase and just really want her mommy.
Dr says she is progressing great...super active for her age. Great sitting up and attempting to crawl. She thinks she'll be pulling up by her next appt (9 month checkup in July).
Oh! and she did a recheck of Lily for me since we finally finished all the antibiotics...Lily has a bit of fluid in one of her ears, but everything else is good.

And here's a picture of all 3 kids. This was us camping out in the hallway during our Tornado Warning on Tuesday night. This was hours after the tornadoes hit the Dallas area. So glad nothing touched down near us...but thankful for all the rain.

Easter pictures debut

It's that time again...Spring time and let me tell you, it's hitting us hard. Wonderful spring time allergies *achoo*
I'm thinking as long as we get regular rains to wash the pollen away, it might be okay...but I continuously have the itchy throat, drainage, runny nose, oh! you get the picture.
We took this past Saturday to take our Easter pictures. And here's a few for your enjoyment.

The big kids

Leia, Dakota, and Lily....forgive the pacifier, Leia's a bit cranky. She's teething again or has a cold or it's allergies...who knows...but I do know that she is super cranky for now.

Look at super baby! I put her in the basket to hopefully get a cute shot and she decided NOW was the time to try to stand up on her own. She nearly flipped the basket over. We ended up moving the basket to the ground. Leia is growing so fast! 6 months old tomorrow. :)