LO's 4th Birthday Party -- 1 of 2

Today we celebrated LO's 4th birthday with a fun firetruck-themed party at the house. It was so much fun to see her (and Chase) play with their cousins and families they don't typically get to see very often. Both of the kids had a blast, and I loved the fact that it was MUCH more laid back than my typical parties for the kids (meaning: I didn't have to do as much work!).

She has another birthday party on Monday (her actual birth date) at ((gulp)) Chuck E. Cheese's. She'd been asking to have a party there and I finally gave in this year. I'm actually looking forward to it--at least the parts that I don't have to worry about (decorations, food, entertainment, clean-up, etc.)! It should be a lot of fun!

I'm still not sure I believe this little baby girl of mine is turning 4 years old. But I sure hope the 4s are a MUCH-NEEDED improvement from the 3s. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that her behavior and attitude somehow find a way to get at least a tiny bit better!

Here are some pictures from our day of celebrating. Enjoy! :)

The cake. Mommy made it. My first attempt at one of those "character/shaped" pans. Not too bad but BOY did those red stars take some time! LO oversaw the entire process from about 2 inches away and provided excellent directions (and feedback) for me... :)

The birthday girl! You can't see her birthday shirt very well, but it has a firetruck on it, a number 4 on the pocket, and says "Fire Chief" in a funky, girly font under the truck. My plan is that one day I'll make a quilt for each of my kids from their birthday shirts.

Hilarious! One of LO's cousins was spinning her around and around in the living room. I'm not sure, but I think she was enjoying it at least a tiny, little bit...

It's not a party until Chase has a meltdown of some kind of proportions. This one wasn't epic, but definitely enough to command the attention of everyone in the room.

I'm not sure Chase is a fan of those party favors LO is blowing into his face.

 

 Money! Money! Money! Thanks, Gram & Pap! :)

Believe it or not, one of LO's cousins is hiding under all that tissue paper!

She's very focused during the gift opening. It's serious business to a 4-year-old!

Wait--what's this? Chase is happy again! Ah yes, my sweet bipolar little boy. Good thing Gramma & PaPa gave LO a singing Toy Story birthday card to keep Chase happy and entertained!

He really likes that card!

My little goofball. MAN I love this kid!

My beautiful little fire chief... very pleased with her new fire station play set!

Singing and birthday cake time! Love her smile in this one. For someone who loves the spotlight, she still gets a tiny bit embarrassed with the focused attention almost 20 people!

Make a wish, sweet girl!!!

Just to be clear: hubs and I have taught LO how to eat. This fact is evidenced by the photo below. When it comes to cake and other baked goods/sweets, for the times when we do actually use a fork (rather than our fists), we do in fact attempt to fill every empty space in our mouth with as much cake as possible in one fell swoop. That's our girl! Notice Chase is watching intently and taking pointers of his own.

Super firefighter girl to the rescue!!!

We're looking forward to party 2 of 2 on Monday night! Will post pics of that one in another blog post next week! Thanks for tuning in! :)

Healthy Bites: Do-It-Yourself Microwave Popcorn

Do you read Lisa Leake's blog, 100DaysofRealFood.com? If you don't, you have no idea what you're missing! Her blog is full of healthy, whole food recipes and snacks, and let me tell you -- they are GOOD! Whole-wheat banana pancakes, whole-wheat waffles, whole-wheat biscuits... the list goes on and on! ((I just noticed my insane carb addiction -- ha!))

Recently Lisa posted a little popcorn trick that I was quite skeptical of, but I finally decided to give it a try and boy am I glad I did! It's super simple, so economical and absolutely delicious!

I've always been one to purchase microwave popcorn, and always look for the "light butter" kind because I'm just not a fan of greasy popcorn. I never put that melted butter junk on my popcorn at the movies, either. In fact, I typically smuggle in a small Ziploc of microwave popcorn from home -- Shhhhh! Don't tell!). Imagine my surprise when I learned how simple it is to make it yourself!

Here are the instructions, taken directly from 100DaysofRealFood.com!

Ingredients

• ¼ cup popcorn kernels, preferably organic
• Brown paper lunch bag
• Optional: Melted butter, oil, and/or salt

Directions

1. Pour the kernels into the brown paper bag.
2. Tightly fold over the top three or four times. No tape or staples are necessary.
3. Put it in the microwave and start it on high for 3 minutes and 30 seconds.
4. Listen for the popping to slow down to 3 or 4 seconds apart at which point you will take it out of the microwave. This usually happens for me around the 3 minute and 15 second mark.
5. Pour popcorn into a bowl and drizzle with melted butter or spritz with olive oil and then sprinkle with salt. If you don’t use oil or butter the salt won’t stick.

Yield: Approximately 3 – 4 servings

Seriously?! How simple is that! My goodness this stuff is tasty! And check it out! Only 100 calories for about 5 cups of freshly popped popcorn! I sprayed a light spritz of canola oil (didn't have a sprayer for my olive oil) and topped with a pinch of sea salt. Seriously, like a pinch. That was all it needed and it was fantastic!

The Dentist!

I feel kind of vulnerable exposing such a shocking truth here on my blog... but I just took my almost-4-year-old daughter to the dentist... for the very first time.


((insert gasp of shock n' awe here))


I know, I know. Is it normal to wait until almost 4 before taking a child to the dentist for the first time? Probably not. We had wanted to do it sooner, but I guess it's safe to say the past 2 years have been a bit chaotic for us. So we finally added her to our dental plan back in January, and it's taken me 7 months to get my act together!

I'm happy to report Little Miss didn't have a single cavity (yay!) and got a glowing review from her hygienist and the dentist himself, Dr. M. I was very pleased to hear that, but I think more than anything, I was absolutely SHOCKED at how amazing she did!

I scheduled her cleaning at the same time as mine, thinking I'd go first and let her watch and see that it doesn't hurt, it's fun, etc... She sure showed me because she wanted to go FIRST! Wow! I figured even with her going first, she'd probably get uncomfortable during the process and I'd have to switch places to let her calm down and see that it's possible to get through it. But no! She was an amazing little trooper and I couldn't have been more proud! I was worried for nothing! In fact, I even had a second dentist appointment lined up for the following week at a pediatric dentist office with all the fun, wacky, craziness thinking she'd do better in a kid-friendly environment. Oh, ye mommy of little faith!

Here are a few shots of my big girl! I still can't believe she'll be 4 in less than 2 weeks! ACK!!!

Healthy Bites: Tomato & Roasted Red Pepper Soup

I was NOT expecting to love today's Healthy Bites meal idea as much as I did. If you're a fan of the Roasted Tomato & Basil Bisque at Mimi's Cafe, you'll LOVE this delicious Organic Tomato & Roasted Red Pepper soup from Trader Joe's! It has a tiny little bite to it, and I topped mine with some freshly ground pepper for even more heat. It. Was. Delish!

I enjoyed 1/2 cup of white grapes and a large bottle of water along with my soup. Check out this healthy breakdown!

 

And just for comparison purposes, check out the stats on the aforementioned Roasted Tomato & Basil Bisque from Mimi's Cafe! The same serving size has a whopping 258 calories and 20 grams of fat!!

Serving Size	8 fl oz
Calories	258
Calories From Fat	182
Total Fat (g)	20
Saturated Fat (g)	10
Cholesterol (mg)	57
Sodium (mg)	902
Carbohydrates (g)	14
Dietary Fiber (g)	1
Sugars (g)	13
Protein (g)	2

Hello?

Hey, folks! My name is ((mom2lo)) and I've been neglecting my blog.

Okay, now that I've admitted it, the next step is fixing it, right? Right. Things have been a bit busy this summer and I just haven't been able to make the time to blog. Here are a few of the things we've been up to (and/or have coming up soon)...

• I've revolutionized (?) my diet. I completely eliminated soda about a month ago and it's been great. Of course I expected to see the pounds just melt away, but obviously that hasn't happened. I've also started making healthier food choices for myself and my family. This has been awesome! The kids are adjusting rather nicely, which is a blessing. I've put myself on an 1,100 calorie "diet" per day, and have had almost NO PROBLEM staying at or below that number. I never knew it would be possible! I'm eating whole foods (fruits and veggies for snacks and with almost every meal), lots of whole grains and drinking water almost exclusively. I used to drink MAYBE 8 oz. of water per day. Now I'm drinking about a gallon a day or more. Crazy! I've also started an organic body cleanse just to rid my body of build up toxins from eating junk foods for 30-something years. I'm hopeful after 14 days, I'll see a big difference and will feel awesome!
• I donated blood yesterday at hubs' office. It was awesome! It'd been far too long since I've donated (ashamed to admit since before I was pregnant with LO!) and I was so glad to get in there and get it done! I'm hoping to try to donate more regularly (every 8 weeks) since I'm O-, which is very much in demand these days. It feels so good to give back!
• LO's 4th birthday is a week from Monday. This year I'm doing two parties for her: one at home with family and one at ((gulp)) Chuck E. Cheese's. We finally gave in. This will be her first birthday party NOT at home and the first time I won't have control over every single detail. I'm not too nervous about it. I mean, really, as long as there are games and cake, the kid will be fine. I know she'll love it! My biggest challenge is the fact that she's asked for a Firetruck cake. Ya. So that ought to be challenging time-consuming fun. Anybody got any tips, ideas or suggestions? I'm all ears!
• Chase is doing super awesome! He's getting so big and independent -- and tall, too! He's about up to LO's neck! Crazy. He loves to play outside, anything involving water and finding quiet time for himself (when his sister isn't growling, yes growling in his face. We have a trip to Charleston next week for a follow-up with his ENT. They'll recheck his hearing and make sure there's no fluid in his ears. I'm hoping that everything looks great! He also has an outpatient procedure scheduled while we're there. Please keep him in your prayers! I'm sure he's gonna do great! :)
• I'm also deep into the planning of the Palmetto Hearts Pediatric Cardiology Reunion in Charleston on September 17th. Invitations have been created, ordered and shipped. Now I'll have the fun of mailing 300 invitations... Haha! I'm excited about the event. I know all of the heart families from across South Carolina look forward to this event every year, and I'm honored to be the one planning all the details and fun! It's exciting and awesome but sure takes up a lot of my time! I still try to fit in fun trips for the kids and outings to the pool each week. Otherwise, I'd be stuck behind this here MacBook and on my iPhone 24/7 making all the arrangements!

Guess there's not much else to report. We're just enjoying our summer. I'm trying to disconnect myself from the virtual world a bit because it's just not healthy and it's not the message I want to send to my kids. I don't want them growing up thinking life revolves around the Internet. I want to get out there and enjoy it with them! So please don't be offended if I'm not posting as much on here or if you don't see me active on Facebook or if I'm not commenting on blogs. I just want to enjoy my REAL family and not waste time on virtual things! :)

Here are a few pics of my little water boy from the other day. Hope you all are enjoying your summer with your families!

Healthy Bites: Chicken Salad Sandwich

Today's Healthy Bites post can be used for lunch or dinner -- whatever your fancy! I really love this meal and it has been my go-to lunch for several days over the past week. Check it out!

1 slice Great Harvest Honey Whole Wheat Bread

Six Bread & Butter Pickle Chips, diced

1/4 cup Light Mayonnaise

1 can Chicken Breast

This is my super simple chicken salad recipe. Drain the canned chicken, add the diced pickles, mayonnaise and some pepper and VOILA! It's done! And this makes enough for at least 5 half-sandwiches. I serve it on Great Harvest Honey Whole Wheat bread (thanks for the recommendation, 100daysofrealfood.com) so I only make 1/2 sandwich for a meal... those whole grains keep you full! I eat this sandwich with a side of fresh fruit or vegetables and a big ol' glass of water.

It's divine!!

Now, are you ready for the best part? Check it out!!!

Um, only 286 calories? I just burned that plus 15 more by walking on a treadmill for 45 minutes. Sweet! And notice we're looking at less than 5g of fat and over 16g protein!

Good stuff!

Healthy Bites: Kashi Go Lean Crunch

I'm embarking on a new lifestyle change. I am trying to eat healthier and get more active. From my excessive research, I've found these are the two ingredients in losing weight (YAY!) and being healthy (not taking "magic pills" or using an "easy button" -- apparently neither exist).

One of my biggest challenges has been finding healthy meals that are easy and delicious, using ingredients I tend to keep on hand at home. I figured as I find healthy meals and snacks, I will share them with you in case you're looking for new, fresh ideas for your own diet (and I don't mean "diet" like the "four-letter word" kind -- more like the "what you ingest every day" kind of diet). I think I'll call 'em "Healthy Bites."

So without further ado, I will introduce you to my yummy breakfast from this morning:

1/2 cup Kashi Go Lean Crunch Cereal

1/2 Diced Banana (this works well for me since Chase eats the other half!)

1/2 cup 1% Milk

This was a super easy, quick and delicious breakfast! It was surprisingly filling and held me over perfectly until my late morning snack: 1/2 sliced apple -- the kids ate the other half.

Check out this breakfast's stats:

Did you see that? Only 180 calories, less than 3g of fat and almost 10g protein! Now that's impressive!

I hope you found this healthy breakfast idea helpful! I'll be posting breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack ideas as I come across them and hope you will find a way to incorporate these fresh, healthy ideas into your day!

Holiday Pics

I hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable 4th of July weekend! We had a great time with family! Here's a recap in photos...

Fun in the pool!

My beautiful girl, enjoying some holiday boating!

She loves the lake!

Pretty girl!

Smiley face!

A beautiful sunset after a wonderful day with family!

This handsome fella enjoyed the lake, too... as long as Daddy held him and kept him safe!

Fireworks at church last night. The kids loved the glow sticks!

Fireworks!!

Ooooooh!

Ahhhhhhh!

What our little man did during the fireworks... fell asleep half-way through the show!
Granted it was 2 hours past his bedtime. :)

Happy 20 Months!

Somebody just turned 20 months old. Any idea who?

That's right! It's this guy!!

Happy 20 Months to my super sweet little man! I can't believe you'll be TWO YEARS OLD in only four short months! You are such a fun boy and bring so much joy and laughter to your daddy and I. You are walking perfectly, except for the occasional parking lot fall (although I think that's because you have some secret agenda to hold onto that boo-boo on your right knee and prevent it from ever healing). You are learning more and more each day and continue to surprise us at what you know. You love quietly flipping through books when your sister is otherwise occupied or away from home. Your jabbering is becoming quite hilarious these days! I know you're so close and will start busting out complete sentences before we know it! See what I mean?

We're still working on expanding your palate to enjoy foods other than bananas, breads and cheddar cheese, and it's been a bit of a challenge! Mommy's trying to eliminate processed foods from our diet but you just haven't found a love for any fruit other than bananas, and let's not even mention vegetables! I hope this a phase you'll grow out of, although I thought that same thing when your sister would only eat PB&Js when she was younger (and unfortunately that's still her favorite, although she's broadened her tastes and will try new things... sometimes).

Your temper started out being pretty cute and somewhat comical, but now I'm not so sure. I don't understand why you get so very upset when mommy or daddy tell you "no," and I definitely don't think it's necessary to find the nearest surface (coffee table, couch, wall, oven door, refrigerator door, dishwasher, cabinet, sliding glass door, dresser, entertainment center, ottoman, etc.) to pound with your hands and your head. I gotta think that's a pretty painful way to react to being told not to throw your snack on the floor... Anyway, I certainly don't blame you for your little quirks and think after all you've been through, you're welcome to throw a tantrum or two every now and then (did you catch that? one or two... every now and then... not every day!). :)

Sweet Chasey-poo, I love you more than I can express and I'm so grateful that God has blessed us with 20 amazing months with you, to get to know you and love you more and more with each passing day. I can't fathom why God chooses to take some sweet ones home while giving us the incredible fortune of having you by our side. That is one question I'll be sure to ask God when I get to Heaven. All I know is to be grateful. To shower you with love and affection. To care for you the very best way we know how. And to enjoy each and every second with you because we know we're not promised tomorrow.

Happy 20 months, sweet boy! I love you bunches!!!

Burn Notice - Oh, yeaaah . . .

If you're not busy tomorrow night, you need to catch the season premier of Burn Notice on USA.

Let me give you one good reason why. Meet Jeffrey Donovan, who plays the lead character Michael Westen:

Okay, so that should totally be reason enough to tune in, right? Riiiiight... But because I'm a team player and like to keep all my blog readers happy, here's another pic, this time including Fiona, Michael's on-again, off-again girlfriend:

Finally, here's a little clip of Michael Westen in action. Enjoy!

This Thursday at 9pm on USA. Watch it!

How's This for a Post?

So here's my post for today:

Chase bumped my laptop onto the garage floor this morning, thus rendering my hard drive a worthless chunk of metal and what-not. My new hard drive is being overnighted and shall be installed moments after its arrival by yours truly (hard drive replacement #2 for my beloved 4 year old MacBook).

Dumb, idiotic shoulda-known-better lessons for the day: Don't wait a month in between Time Machine backups, and don't leave your MacBook on a kid's chair that sits less than a foot from the ground with a 20-month-old within its reach and not think that (A) he'll knock it over because he's a boy and that's what he does or (B) it won't destroy the hard drive falling such a short distance onto a concrete floor.

That is all.


Posted from my iPhone (obviously)

Monkey Fun!

Last week, I took the kids to Barnes & Noble to play with the Thomas train table and look for some new books. They always love the "freedom" they get when I allow them to wreak havoc in the Children's Area (haha! So maybe I still keep a pretty good eye on them so they don't turn into "those kids" you see whose parents actually let them run wild). While they were playing, I happened to notice this adorable little monkey bag by Skip*Hop:

I couldn't pass it up! Granted, we already have this super-cute monkey backpack from Pottery Barn Kids, which I totally love (imagine Chase's name on it, not James')...

...but it doesn't have a single pocket, and I'm big on pockets when it comes to a diaper bag. The Skip*Hop bag has a huge front zipper pocket AND a mesh cup holder on the side. And the little banana zipper pulls? Totally took the cute factor over the top! I'm just so glad to FINALLY (after almost 4 years!) be devoid of a traditional diaper bag in lieu of this cutesie little backpack. Oh, and I put it on Chase and made him carry it for a few seconds (it was kind of heavy!) and it was the Cutest. Thing. Ever.

I just love that boy!

Mishap of Epic Proportions

Tuesday was a VERY big day for me. For one thing, it was my very first time visiting this wonderful establishment:

I was so excited to visit TJ's for the first time! I have to say the store was smaller than I had expected it to be, but it was lined with a TON of goodies! There were so many healthy, organic, preservative-free and whole foods available in this place and the prices were way better than I had expected. I only picked up a few items on my first go 'round, now knowing that it'll take me months to try all of the different TJ's products. I can say that I am in LOVE with their organic strawberry preserves, organic corn chips and organic tomatillo & roasted yellow chili salsa. :)

So the other thing that happened that made Tuesday a very big day for me was my Mishap of Epic Proportions. I was standing in the parking lot, trying to get Chase out of his car seat while LO was milling about when I attempted to put my iPhone in my back pocket. It inadvertently got away from me and went flying towards the pavement. I wasn't too concerned because, honestly, I've dropped the thing a zillion times. I just always take a deep breath and say a little prayer before picking it up. I was beyond mortified to see what I saw when I picked it up:

Heavens to Betsy! It was shattered in the corner and had two long cracks running across the screen. I didn't have time to deal with it at the moment; I just shoved it in my pocket and moved on with my TJ's shopping excursion. Once we were inside, I called the at&t store, which happened to be located right across the street. I took another deep breath, said another quick prayer and told the guy what happened.

He told me it would be $199 to replace it.

((insert sobbing here))

I was beside myself! Especially considering it had only been 10 months since my previous iPhone loss (which ended in a pure victory for me!). I couldn't believe it. Hubs wasn't gonna be too happy with me. I called him at work and explained what happened. Surprisingly, he took it very well! Yay!

So Wednesday morning, the kids and I loaded up and headed to the mall to visit our local Apple Store to see if maybe they would feel differently than at&t and perhaps let me get away with something (anything!) less than $199. A very nice young lady approached me and confirmed I had the 10:10 am appointment, and I proceeded to tell her about the mishap. She was sympathetic and most likely saw the tears welling up in my eyes as I told the story. She confirmed I had all my data backed up (which, of course, I did!) and went ahead and replaced my phone. She said they typically charge $199 (a NEW one actually runs over $500, so the $199 is actually a discount, although it certainly doesn't feel like it), but she was going to replace it for free.

((gasp!))

What a blessing!

A friend of mine mentioned the screen cracked on her husband's iPhone and he was given a replacement for free, but I certainly didn't believe I'd have that kind of luck! But boy was I surprised! And thankful! And grateful! And relieved!

So within hours from the Mishap of Epic Proportions, I had gone to my trusty friend, Amazon, and ordered a new case for my iPhone. It was delivered 24 hours later. Here's what's interesting to me. The kids have an iPod Touch. Before I gave it to them, I bought an Otterbox Defender case for it because, really, you can't trust young kids to take care of expensive electronics, and this mack-daddy case was sure to keep it safe from their errant drops, throws and spills.

See? It's a big ol' (filthy) case:

Mommy has learned a new lesson over the past 48 hours. Mommy can't be trusted to take care of expensive electronics, either. So that new case I ordered from Amazon for my iPhone 4?

An Otterbox Defender:

Now my sweet iPhone 4 is tucked away safely and securely within the confines of this massive yet aesthetic case.

Oh, and I should mention... that friend of mine whose husband's iPhone was replaced? Well, she has an iPhone, too. And she told me she dropped it in a parking lot, then watched TWO cars run it over. The case was banged up, but the phone? Pristine! Guess what case she had on it?

An Otterbox Defender!

So here's hoping I can make it more than 10 months before inadvertently ruining yet another iPhone!

Ahhh, Workout!

I am happy to report that yesterday, I survived my very first 20-minute workout with the one and only celebrity trainer, Jillian Michaels...

...via my new iFit card!

So we have this wonderfully amazing brand new treadmill that has been collecting dust in our bedroom for months now. It's literally been used 2 or 3 times. Awful, right? So I ordered one of these nifty little iFit cards that goes into our treadmill and has Jillian Michaels performing the role of Personal Trainer for your workout. The card controls the incline and speed on the treadmill, and Jillian walks you through the program, including little quips of encouragement and support.

My first workout was 20 minutes long. It was a hard 20 minutes! The speed never went past a measly 3.4 mph, but GOOD LAWD she upped the incline to 7%! Now, if you're like me, if WHEN you use your treadmill, you use it for--get this--walking! In other words, I get on it, turn it on, and start walking. I'll increase the speed in slow increments until I'm ready to pass out, but girlfriend don't never touch that incline button! I mean, really. I just want to walk. I don't want to hike Mt. Everest. So why bother with the incline when you can get a healthy walk in on level ground instead?

But apparently our friend Jillian is a BIG FAN of the incline. I am NOT looking forward to my next workout, but I figure I can do just about anything for 20-30 minutes. And it's not killing me (though it may seem like it at the time); it's actually making me stronger and (hopefully) leaner in the process.

Each iFit card contains 24 workouts that are increasingly difficult to keep your body challenged. I think the goal is to complete a workout 3x per week for 8 weeks. To be honest, I'm scared of trying workout #2. But at the same time, I'm not blind. I see that my middle section, thighs (and can assume butt) have all put on some serious poundage over the past 6 months. I notice my clothes aren't fitting the way they used to. I sense that my energy level is in the toilet. I've got to get in control of two things: (1) Food and (2) Exercise. A good friend of mine shared a wise, motivational message he received from a dear friend of his: if you can't muster up the drive and determination to do it for yourself (meaning to work out and be healthy), then DO IT FOR YOUR FAMILY. That makes perfect sense to me, and I'm gonna give it my very best! And now, I have all of you to keep me accountable! :)

Welcome . . . Back??

So I haven't been blogging much lately. Have you noticed? I can't really pinpoint an exact reason why. I think in a way I felt like technology was taking over my life and I had little to no say in the matter. I was drawn to tweet the latest cute pic of Chase, check in on Facebook to see what my friends and family are up to (since most of don't have real-time relationships anymore) and had a tiny, nagging feeling that I HAD to blog whether I felt like it or not. So I've taken a little technology break and have told my Facebook page, my Twitter account, and this here blog WHO IS IN CHARGE (if you aren't following me, it's me. I'm in charge. Of my technologies. Got it?). Anywho, I've decided I don't hate blogging and in fact I've actually missed it a bit. Everyone knows good blogs are updated daily, so I'm gonna try to get back in the habit. Besides, this all started out with me sharing about a dining experience gone terribly, horribly wrong, and really, if you guys have stuck with me with my rambling commentary on raw meat, then surely you're still interested in what is going on in my world these days! ;)

So let's see... Here are a few of the latest updates from our little world...

Chase is doing wonderfully following his ear tube surgery last week. He's much more attentive, seems very interested in watching our mouths when we speak, and has picked up new words like "on" and "in" and "bye" -- making me one very happy and proud mama! He's so very smart and continues to amaze me every day. I am so grateful to have him in my life and am beyond blessed that he's doing so wonderfully health-wise. God is so very good!

I am very excited to share that I have recently taken on a volunteer position with Palmetto Hearts, a non-profit organization serving South Carolina families affected by Congenital Heart Defects. I have taken on the role of Director of Community Programs, and am so excited about meeting other heart families from across the state! My biggest task is planning our annual Pediatric Cardiology Reunion in Charleston, SC on September 17th. This is where our heart families from across the state get together along with the surgeons, doctors, nurses and other staff from the Pediatric Cardiology department at MUSC Children's Hospital for an evening of fun, games, food and fellowship with each other. I'm so excited to be responsible for putting this event together -- from start to finish -- and am hoping for a VERY successful event! Because of the additional time and attention required to serve in this role, I regrettably had to resign from serving alongside several wonderful heart mamas through Sisters by Heart. They are amazing and are continuing to make a positive impact in the heart community. Please continue to lend them your support!

LO will be FOUR next month. FOUR, people! I am amazed (she was 10 months old when I started this blog, and that seems like just yesterday)! Sheesh. I am also VERY hopeful that we will leave the Tyrannical Three's in the dust and that FOUR will be the start of new and improved behavior. Seriously. I cannot tell you how awful the past several months have been when it comes to disciplining her and attempting to get her to listen and behave. It's been an uphill battle and we've been losing them week after week. Good thing is, we haven't lost the war! I know as a parent it can be very difficult to handle the daily struggles of bad behavior, enforce discipline all while trying to instill quality character traits like honesty and compassion. I know I need to do better about being patient with her and always remember she's not even 4 years old yet, and not to get angry or frustrated with her. But it's hard. I really enjoyed the "Have a New Kid by Friday" method I tried a few months ago, but WOW was it ever difficult to stick to! It was a parenting style radically different than my own, but I think it's worth revisiting. I've also pulled out "The New Strong-Willed Child" by James Dobson and am hoping to glean some wisdom from this best-seller as well.

There are lots of other things going on, but I think I'll leave it at this for now. Stay tuned for more tomorrow!

Also, thanks for your patience with me and for not abandoning me considering my lack of recent blogging. I'm doing this because I want to (not because I feel like I have to) and because I truly value the input and support I receive from you through your comments.

All Good

Just a quick update to say that Chase did amazingly well for his appointments and procedure at MUSC this week. He had the tubes put in first case on Wednesday (started at 7:30 AM) and we were discharged by 9 AM. Coming out of the anesthesia was pretty hard on him this time around. All of his other procedures (i.e., two heart surgeries and two heart catheterizations) required deeper anesthesia (obviously) so he was kept "under" and comfortable for several hours afterwards. This time it was different. It was more important to be sure he was stable and breathing well than to keep him comfortable (unfortunately). So this meant that when we were called back to see him in recovery, his anesthesiologist (whom we LOVE dearly) was trying his best to comfort Chase, to no avail. Mommy took over, cuddled up with him and tried to get him some juice. He still was NOT happy or comfortable. They ended up giving him some morphine for the pain, but didn't want to put him out with anything stronger than that if they could help it. I was having a hard time getting him to relax and BOY is that kid strong! He was arching his back and flailing in my arms -- it was all I could do to keep him from falling off my lap! But luckily we were able to get him to relax and calm down, without having to give him anything stronger than morphine and some Tylenol.

We were on our way home after relaxing at the hotel for about an hour or so, and had an uneventful trip home. I've had the joy of putting drops in his ears 2x/day for 3 days following his procedure, and (not surprisingly) he's been incredibly awesome with allowing me to put the drops in and hold him on each side for 5 minutes afterwards. I flipped out a bit yesterday morning when he woke up because he had a lot of dried blood outside his right ear. Then I put him in his chair while I got breakfast ready, and noticed him digging in his right ear with his finger, which was then covered with fresh blood. ACK! It kept bleeding slightly for about an hour, even with cotton balls in his ear. I spoke with MUSC and they assured me it was normal to see some bleeding for up to 2 days following the procedure, so that helped me relax a bit. Plus I haven't seen any other problems since yesterday morning and today they both look great!

Of course he's been back to his happy, adorable little self since a few hours after the procedure. It didn't take him long to bounce back and hubs and I feel like we've already seen some improvement. He seems more interested in conversations and is starting to improve some of his sounds. I hope it continues and we see more and more improvements in the coming weeks/months.

Thanks to those of you who lifted us up in prayer for Chase's procedure and our travel to/from MUSC. We appreciate the love and support that the blogging community provides to us throughout our journey.

My sweet little loves...

Pictured above: Chase, Monkey, Beary, LO and Corrina Shorrina

A Scheduled Visit and Procedure at MUSC

SOOOOO... if you think about us, say a little prayer for Chase this week. We'll be heading to MUSC for Chase's ENT appointment with Dr. H (the same doc who did his two bronchoscopies post-Norwood, whom we really like) for a second opinion about having tubes put in. If she agrees tubes are needed, the procedure is already on the schedule for this week.

I asked Chase how he felt about another surgery at the hospital...

Not a fan. Who could blame him?

Here's the background story:

Chase started Speech Therapy about 2 months ago. About a month or so in, his ST asked if Chase had ever been tested for fluid in his middle ear. I thought, um, the pediatrician looks in his ears at each of his well visits, so I guess so?? But she said there's a specific test, called a tympanogram, that checks for fluid in the middle ear. She was thinking it was possible Chase had this fluid issue because typically when little ones aren't able to repeat sounds and specifically aren't saying any consonant sounds (P, B, C, etc.), a lot of times they have this fluid in the middle ear that gives them "underwater" hearing or "swimmer's ear," making it difficult to distinguish sounds. We were heading in for his 18 month check-up the following week, so I made sure to ask for the test. No surprise, our pediatrician (whom we don't really like) was unable to administer the test (she ended up having her nurse attempt it since she didn't know how to even use the thing, also to no avail) and we were sent away with a referral to a local ENT.

We went to the ENT, had the tympanogram completed, and it did in fact reveal fluid in Chase's right ear. I was quite stunned! This child has never ONCE in his life been treated for an ear infection. He's never ONCE exhibited the signs or symptoms of an ear infection. The ONLY "problem" we've noticed has been his slight speech delay. So the ENT doc comes in (for the record, he's 212 years old), checks his ears, agrees with the findings from the tympanogram, and sends us on our way with a prescription for an antibiotic and tells us to return in 2 weeks.

Fast-forward after 2 weeks of meds, we return to the ENT. Well, Dr. Dinosaur looks in both ears and says there's still fluid in both ears ((both?? I thought it was just the right one 2 weeks ago??)) and says he wants us to repeat the tympanogram. Super. After waiting with both kids for another 30 minutes, we were able to knock out the 13 second test (literally), which again only indicated fluid in his right ear only, and wait AGAIN to see the doc. He comes hobbling in and announces, "Gotta put tubes in!"

((sigh))

I said, "Seriously? Is that really the next step? Two weeks of antibiotics and now tubes? Is there anything else we can do??" Obviously I wasn't keen on the idea of putting Chase through another surgery with general anesthesia, no matter how "minor" or "routine" it would be.

His response: "We can do nothing. I guess that's something."

Seriously. I almost hit the floor. How cooperative and helpful, right? Geez. He started talking about getting the procedure scheduled, blah blah blah... and I interrupted him and said if anything is going to be done, it would not be done here. I turned to his nurse and told her she needed to contact Dr. H at MUSC and schedule an appointment with her for a second opinion.

So that's where we are. Of course I realize putting tubes in is a quick procedure, but it DOES require general anesthesia, which you know is not our favorite idea when it comes to our Top 10 Things to Put Chase Through (as if he hasn't already been through enough!).  We also have another consult scheduled while we're at MUSC with another department about another procedure we have been contemplating. We plan to ask lots of questions and just "wait and see" how we feel after that consultation to determine if we want to move forward with the additional procedure or not.

But for now, the plan is most likely to put tubes in our little man's ears one day this week.

So that's that. Prayers are appreciated.