Whoa! Whaaa??

This is happening, people.

Soon.

Just don't tell the kids...




Posted from my beloved iPhone

Unhealthy Obsession

I'm not sure when a pregnancy craving turns into an unhealthy obsession, but we need to talk about these:

Breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, bedtime snack... I can't stop with the crazy Sour Cream & Onion potato chips! Seriously, I eat them to the point of almost making myself sick. That's just not right.

My other go-to obsession these days is this:

Super healthy, right? Ya, so it's like pure sugar diluted in water, but it's oh so yummy! I could seriously exist on this combo of chips & lemonade...

Weird, right?

My Birthday Boy!

I cannot believe this handsome little boy of mine is THREE! We've had a fun birthday weekend and it's been such a joy to celebrate the amazingness of this sweet little miracle of mine!

On his actual birthday (yesterday, 10/26), we started the day with birthday pancakes! He wasn't completely awake yet, but was cooperating considering there was chocolate milk involved...

A yummy blueberry birthday pancake for my 3-year-old!

Sorry for the bad lighting, but here's my big boy, ready to blow out the candles on his pancake!

We enjoyed a fun (albeit busy) Friday and enjoyed a little family pizza party for dinner. Chase was able to open a few gifts from Mommy & Daddy before bedtime.

This morning (Saturday), was PARTY TIME!!! We had a yummy spread of food and some cute decorations, which I forgot to take pictures of (doh!). Chase opened his presents, and unfortunately our camera was on a crappy setting so all of them turned out ridiculously blurry and totally unusable. FAIL!

I was able to get a pic of his birthday banner I made, though. I love that I can swap out the Thomas images to reuse the banner for future birthdays.

After presents, it was time for cake and ice cream! We prepared to sing to the boy and he assumed the following position (LOL!):

Silly boy!!!

Yay! Singing is over... time to make a wish!

And blow out the candle!

Yummy cake!

So here's a little pic of the cupcakes. Chase requested chocolate cupcakes and I paired them with a delicious vanilla bean buttercream. Apparently they were a hit! Unfortunately my lack of sweet tooth these days means I didn't try one myself, but I think they sure were pretty cute!

I also made some fun water bottles but again, forgot to take pictures of them until after the party. But here are some empties!

So fun and so cute!

After the party it was, of course, nap time! Yay! All four of us took a nice nap before heading over to our neighborhood's fall festival in the pool parking lot that is literally across the street from our house. The kids got to dress up in their halloween costumes that mommy made for them!

LO the unicorn and Chase as Mickey Mouse!

I thought it was hilarious to see LO try to bob for apples... although I think that unicorn horn might've held her back a bit.

Not to be outdone by big sis, Chase took his turn at the bobbing, although he was much more interested in using his hands since the biting part turned out to be so tough.

All in all, it's been a wonderful weekend of celebrating this special miracle that God brought into our lives 3 years ago. I can't help but think of all he's been through and how he's had to fight over and over again to be here with us and I can't thank God enough! We are so truly blessed by this child!

I never want to forget all he's been through and I've reminded myself again today by watching the dedication video I put together for him that shows the journey we've been on. He is a fighter, a miracle and my very own hero.

Happy 3rd Birthday, Chase! I love you bunches, sweet boy!

HAPPY 3rd BIRTHDAY, CHASE!

HAPPY 3rd BIRTHDAY, CHASE!

We are so very grateful to have our son with us and not a day goes by that we don't thank God for His hand of healing and protection on our sweet boy. I am still beside myself that we have been blessed with this kiddo in our lives and that we're celebrating his 3rd birthday TODAY! I'm so in love with this boy and am blown away by his incredibly amazing awesomeness!

As I make the last few party preparations for his big celebration tomorrow, I can't help but think about his birth and the unbelievable first few weeks of his life. He's been fighting to survive since he entered this world and he is so very strong... he's my hero and a living, breathing miracle walking around in front of my eyes! His birth was obviously so very different than LO's, and I wanted to take a moment this morning to reflect on what my family experienced during his first week of life.

Also, I wanted to say THANK YOU to those of you who have loved us, supported us, cared about us, prayed for us, and been there for us during this tumultuous journey God placed us on. Without your love and support, I just don't know where we'd be, so THANK YOU!!!

---

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Some Updates... Finally!

Whew! What a week it's been! My sweet baby boy arrived on Monday and our lives have definitely changed dramatically! I fell in love with my Chase at first sight! He's perfect! I'll write the labor/delivery post eventually, but right now I'll let you know what's happened since his big arrival.

After Chase was born, he was whisked away to a stabilization room so the NICU staff could get a line put in his umbilical cord and do all of their standard tests.


They finished with me in the operating room and took me back to my labor room to recover. About an hour or so later, the NICU team brought Chase to my room so I could see him for the first time.


I also got to hold him for about 15 minutes!


It was pure bliss!!! I was so happy to finally hold my precious son in my arms after getting to know him over the past 9 months. I wanted to let hubs hold him for a minute or two, but I just couldn't let go! Before I knew it, they had to take him up to the PCICU to get him settled.

Later that night, we got to go up to the PCICU to see him. He looked so beautiful!



On Tuesday, we were told that they wanted to intubate Chase (put in a breathing tube) not because he was having trouble breathing, but because he needed help balancing levels in his blood (Note: I don't have a medical degree so I'm sure I sound like I have no clue what I'm talking about, mostly because I don't).

Basically he had too much lactic acid in his blood and putting in a breathing tube would help him with this. They also put in an ng tube (it goes through his nose into his stomach) so they could give him some nutrition directly into his stomach. It was really hard to see him with the tubes in and not be able to see his cute little cheeks! But knowing it was what Chase needed made it a little bit easier for me to accept.

Wednesday they told us they'd want to take Chase to the cath lab to put in a PICC line in his arm. The reason he needed this was so they could give him better nutrition through the PICC line than what they were already putting in through his umbilical line. It was planned for 2nd case this morning, which we were told would be around 10 or 11 AM. Imagine my surprise when hubs' phone rang at 8:15 AM this morning with a call from the PCICU requesting our authorization to do the procedure. Apparently the 1st case canceled and we were moved up. This meant Chase went into the cath lab around 9 AM and we weren't there to see him before the procedure! I was heartbroken, but I knew he was in good hands. I checked in later to find out how he was doing, and he did a great job! When we got to the hospital to see him after the procedure, he was still completely sedated, but he looked so good!!! It's hard to see him laying there, not able to move, but I loved touching him and whispering to him that I was there with him!

Hubs and I met with one of the surgeons last night, Dr. Hsia. We discussed the surgery schedule and were told that Dr. Bradley, the surgeon we originally wanted to do Chase's Norwood surgery, would be out of town Thursday through Monday, returning on Tuesday of next week. This means the earliest he could do Chase's surgery would be Wednesday, November 4th. The typical "comfort level" for performing a Norwood procedure is within 7 days from birth. The other option we have would be for Dr. Hsia to do the surgery. Ultimately it came down to timing, which we looked to Chase to determine what would be best. Based on his "numbers" (essentially they are playing "mother nature" by trying to keep his numbers at a safe level), it seems as though it'd be better to do his surgery sooner rather than later. There are two main reasons for this: 1) One of the medications he's on (Prostaglandin) that's used to keep his PDA open, is essentially "marinating" his tissue, meaning the longer he's on this medication before surgery, the more difficult it will be to operate because the tissue will be very soft and pliable; and 2) His body is pumping more blood to his lungs than to the rest of his body, meaning his vital organs (brain, heart, etc.) are not getting enough oxygenated blood. Obviously he needs to keep these organs safe and prevent any permanent damage, so the sooner we do the surgery, the better.

Hubs and I decided it would be best for Chase for us to go ahead with the surgery on Monday morning. He'll be taken back around 6AM and should be finished by 3PM. The good news is I'll definitely be able to hold him Sunday night and/or Monday morning. WOOT! The bad news is I'm so very scared! I can't even put in words how hard it is to know I'll be handing my newborn child over to a surgeon to save his life! Please be praying for us as we prepare for this extremely difficult day! I know God is in complete control and is working out His will for Chase's life before our very eyes!

3 Years

First of all, THANK YOU to everyone for the well wishes regarding our little announcement earlier this week. It goes without saying that we are extremely excited! I'll post more details soon -- I promise!

But for now I wanted to share a little glimpse into our lives from 3 years ago. We were preparing for a trip to Charleston as we awaited the arrival of our son, Chase, who was prenatally diagnosed with a complex congenital heart defect (CHD) called Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS). He would require surgery within his first week of life, a second surgery around 4 to 6 months and a third surgery around age 3 to 4. It was an incredibly difficult time for us as we looked into an unknown future, not knowing whether our son would survive.

I only wish I knew then what I know now -- our miracle son would be celebrating his 3rd birthday!!! It's so hard to believe after all we've been through that we'd be where we are today! We have been so blessed by this sweet boy of ours and I cannot praise God enough for bringing him into our lives!

---

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Not-So-Inspirational Saturday (Sorry!)

It's amazing how much can change in less than 24 hours. It seems like I was in a good place yesterday. I knew what was ahead of me for the weekend -- packing, preparing, finishing up the "to do" list before heading to Charleston. I was starting to get that anxious/nervous feeling as it seems our journey is just a few steps away!

Then late last night, I found it difficult to motivate myself to start getting things done. As I lounged on the bed watching hubs pack up his clothes, I started to get overwhelmed. A feeling came over me that I truly haven't dealt with up to this point. It was an emotional response that's been buried in the depths of the back of my mind for so very long:

I don't want to do this.

I don't.

When I should be overjoyed at the pending arrival of my baby, I'm instead filled with uncertainty.

When I should be packing a simple hospital bag for a day or two, I'm instead packing my entire closet, LO's clothes -- even her bed! -- and several months' worth of things!

When I should be looking forward to holding my precious newborn baby in my arms, I'm instead resentful of the fact that I won't get to do so for who knows how long!

When I should be thinking of a brief hospital stay before bringing my baby home to our family, I'm instead concentrating on how to handle sending my baby with a medical team to open his heart up and perform an 8 hour surgery.

When I should be installing an infant car seat a week or so before my due date, I'm instead wondering if I'll even have the joy of bringing a baby home in that car seat at all.

When I should be worried about bringing home a newborn, getting him onto a schedule and trying to find the time to sleep AND do laundry, I'm instead worried about the countless weeks/months I'll be leaving my baby in the hospital at night, traveling to and from the hospital and splitting my time with my 2-year-old at a temporary home while my heart is aching for my precious son who will be fighting for his life.

When I should be excited about LO meeting her baby brother for the first time, I'm instead overwhelmed at the thought that he might not survive through all of this, and I have no idea how to make a 2-year-old understand that her baby brother is in Heaven and won't be coming home with us.

I don't want to leave the comfort of my home.

I don't want to pack almost every belonging into a box and drive 4 hours away from my family and friends.

I don't want to be forced to make a new home for my family in another city during an already tumultuous time.

I don't want to fear the outcome.

I don't want to fear the unknown.

I don't want to lose my son.

Yes, I fully realize God is in control of our circumstances and He has a perfect plan for my family's life.

But I'm still human.

I feel emotions.

I have fears.

But I will continue to look to Him to lift me up when I'm down.

To give me the strength I need with each new day.

To provide healing to my precious son.

To see my family through the most difficult time in our lives.

He is good. And He loves us. And I know He will help me do what has to be done over the next several weeks. I'm so grateful for his faithfulness. I'm so blessed to rest in Him, even when I'm feeling not-so-inspired.

A Message from LO & Chase

The kids wanted to share a little something with y'all today:

A 'Lil Check-up

Thursday we had the joy of taking a family road trip to Charleston for Chase to have a follow-up appointment with his ENT doctor concerning his ear tubes we had put in last year. The trip was uneventful and the appointment itself was probably one of the quickest of its kind! While our appointment time wasn't until 1:45 PM, we made excellent time traveling to Charleston and, even after hitting Panera in N. Charleston for lunch, we arrived at MUSC Children's Hospital by 1:00 PM. We decided to head in early in hopes that we'd be seen early and get done early, and it worked out very well, even with his big sister in tow this time around.

We did the initial screening with the nurse and were pleased with the results. Chase is up to 32 lbs. and 39" tall! His o2 sats were around 88, which is really great! Luckily they didn't need his BPs so we were able to get through the screening without much crying.

See?

Dr. H had her resident check him out before she came in to see him, and the resident was not able to get a good look at the right tube, but was able to verify the left tube was still in place. Dr. H came in shortly after with the same findings. She said there was a bit of wax in the right ear that blocked her view of the ear canal, so she used one of her fancy "skewers" (that's my word for them, not hers btw) to remove an embarrassing amount of ear wax from the boy's right ear. Once that was out, she could clearly see that the right tube had already fallen out. So we're half way there! We'll go back in 6 months for our next follow-up to check and see if the left tube is still in place or not. Good times!

Next month, Chase has his 6-month follow-up with his local cardiologist on 11/13. For some reason, both hubs and I have the "parental intuition/feeling" that he'll give us the ol' "see ya in another 6 months" scenario since, other than his weight and age, there are no other factors that indicate Chase is ready for his final scheduled heart surgery, the Fontan. Typically we should start to see a decrease in his oxygen saturation, a significant decrease in his energy level, and an increased blueish tint to his lips and nail beds. Like basically to the point where he just doesn't have the energy to even climb up the stairs at bedtime. We're definitely not there yet. Although it's impossible to plan/control/schedule anything relating to our son's heart and his upcoming surgery, hubs and I are both assuming it will be scheduled for late Summer 2013. NOT something we're looking forward to, obviously, but something we've always known would be in our future and definitely something we're looking forward to being on the other side of with our strong and amazing little fighter of a son.

Remember Me?

I can't believe it's been almost a month since my last post.

((hanging head in shame))

It's not for a lack of content to share with you guys... things have been nothing short of INSANE lately! There's so much to talk about, from school volunteering (can you say new PTA website, Facebook page management/advertising, fall festival planning, computer lab volunteer, reading to the class... the list goes on!) to work to family activities to play dates to church to house improvement tasks... Whew! And of course we can't forget hubs' birthday this weekend and Chase's 3rd birthday (whaaaa?!) in 2 weeks. Lots to do around here!

I promise I'll try to post more frequently from here on out. There are some fun and exciting things happening in our little piece of the world and I look forward to sharing some of it with you all soon (still top secret as the kids don't know yet, but can you think of any fun places with the initials "DW"??). YIPPEE!!!!!

But for today, I want to share some thoughts that have been pretty heavy on my heart lately. It's something we're all guilty of, whether we want to admit it or not. Not sure how much of the Bible you guys have read, but there's a resounding theme regarding judging others, and it can be summed up in a single word: don't. It's that simple. Take a look at a few of the scriptures I've provided below that I've spent time praying and meditating over during the past couple of weeks.

Matthew 7:1-5: “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye." 

Luke 6:37: “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven;" 

John 7:24: "Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.” 

James 4:11-12: "Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?" 

James 4:12: "There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?" 

Romans 2:1-3: "Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God?" 

Ephesians 4:29: "Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear."

Tough Job

When LO attended a local private Christian school for K3 and K4, I served as the "Room Mom" both years and absolutely loved it! I'm passionate about communication and made sure my parents were aware of all of the activities happening in the classroom as well as the various volunteer opportunities available for them to serve. These parents were always on the ball, happy to sign up to help in the classroom, send in items for class parties, etc. My job was Room Mom was fun, relatively easy and a great way to learn which parent goes with each child. ;)

Fast-forward to LO's first year in public school for Kindergarten. I'm serving as the "Room Mom" for her class again this year. We have 21 students, which would mean we have 21 parents/guardians to participate in the classroom.

Yet I'm about to pull my hair out!!!

We have a need for a simple computer lab volunteer. They help turn computers on. And maybe help the kids "point & click" on the right thing during the class. It's a 30-minute obligation.

I've had ZERO parents sign up (besides myself and my co-Room Mom). ZERO.

Seriously? For Kindergarten?? This is the kids' first year of "big school" and I can't get a single parent to sign up to help in the computer lab?? I understand not all parents have the stay-at-home flexibility that I have, but come on. It's like using ONE LUNCH HOUR EVERY OTHER MONTH to volunteer and help out in your own kid's classroom. Is that seriously too much to ask?

Apparently.

This is so frustrating. I have another classroom program (reading to the kids!) that needs volunteers; again, only myself and my co-Room Mom have signed up to help. The sucky thing is you can't bring younger siblings to these volunteer programs in the classroom, so I have to make arrangements for Chase each time I go to help with the computer lab or the reading program. It's a bit of an inconvenience but I don't mind doing it occasionally. Only since there are NO parents interested in helping in their child's classroom, I'm gonna need to do it a LOT more frequently than occasionally.

GRRRRRRR!!!

This is NOT what I signed up for! I just cannot fathom how parents are so disinterested in helping in their child's Kindergarten class. I get that parents work, parents are busy, etc. But the most frustrating part is NONE of them even bother to respond to my emails! Not even just to tell me they work and aren't able to help. That'd be nice to know and so appreciated! But it's frustrating to keep contacting my parents and get ZERO responses from them.

I guess if this is what it's gonna be like, I'll be sure NOT to sign up for this in the future. I just hate that parents' lack of involvement cause parents like me (who love to serve!) to give up and walk away from the opportunity to make a difference in their child's class because they can't get parents to reply to a simple email, to just communicate with me!

Ugh. Thanks for letting me vent. Hopefully this will improve as the school year continues, but I'm not gonna hold my breath.

Seriously, though. What am I missing? What am I not understanding? I'm all for working parents to dodge the bullet of volunteering if they truly can't get away for one lunch hour every other month. And I get that some stay-at-home parents may have younger siblings they can't make alternate arrangements for so they'd be able to serve. But is it really too much to ask for parents to RESPOND to me to let me know this?? I feel like I'm taking crazy pills!!!

Ugh. The End.

Marbles

I am SO. STINKIN'. PROUD. of my sweet LO! She has grown up so much over the past few months, and I can hardly believe she's now a full-time elementary school student who can ride her bike without training wheels and actually listen to mommy & daddy sometimes!

I'm not sure if I had written about it on the blog much lately, but LO has had some significant behavior issues over the summer. She wasn't listening, wouldn't do what she was asked to do, had a very negative attitude (especially when being disciplined) and was just overall not the sweet little girl I once knew.

One date I was lamenting to friend about LO's behavior problems, and that dear sweet friend of mine suggested I try a system she was using with her 5-year-old son. Marbles.

Yes, marbles.

She uses a system of marbles to reward good behavior. Essentially, if the child does something (anything!) good/nice/thoughtful/kind/etc., they earn a marble! If they do anything opposite of those behaviors, they lose a marble. Once they reach their goal of marbles, they get a special reward/prize. My friend uses 25 as her goal... we started with 10. ;)

I wanted to introduce LO to the system and allow her a smaller goal so that she could (hopefully) reap a reward quickly and see the benefit of earning marbles and behaving. Those first 10 marbles were quite a process! It was gain one, lose one, gain another, lose another. Honestly I was being VERY generous and giving her marbles for the simplest thing just so I'd have some to take away later, because I KNEW I would be taking some away based on her behavior pattern. It was crazy and I thought it'd never happen.

But it did!!!

She finally earned 10 marbles and was able to reap the reward she had set for herself: a family trip to Chuck E. Cheese's! We went to dinner at Outback (that was for mommy & daddy) and then went to CEC (for LO), and it was a wonderful night! We talked up how awesome it was that she had behaved well enough to earn 10 marbles, trying to encourage her to keep it up. The kids had a blast and I'm ashamed to admit I only captured a few pictures of the kids together on a roller-coaster simulator ride.

After the success with 10 marbles, I upped the ante and made her next goal 12 marbles. Of course we let her choose that reward again, which was a trip to Brewster's for ice cream (quick and cheap -- mommy like!). I noticed almost immediately that she was able to earn at least one marble per day rather consistently, which was a HUGE improvement from slowly gaining/losing/gaining her first 10 marbles. She started being super easy to wake up in the morning (at 6:40 AM - gasp!) for school, did her morning routine without complaining, had "green" (i.e. good) days at school, started being nicer to her brother (this one was HUGE!!!!!) and would do her evening routine without too much grumbling. Let's just say she earned her 12 marbles in about a week! Shocker!! I was so impressed and proud of her!

So tonight we loaded up in the car after dinner to hit Brewster's for a big fat ice cream reward! Again, we made sure to talk about how great she's been doing, what a big helper she has been, how proud we are of her, etc. She really enjoyed her special dinosaur sundae, complete with sprinkles and eyeballs... ;)

I love the pic of her and Chase on the bench talking. Chase had already downed his ice cream cone by then but they had a pretty good conversation about who-knows-what. I love these kids!!

After our ice cream trip, I let LO know that her next goal was 15 marbles (I'm trying to ease her up to 25 so this doesn't end up being so expensive with all of these rewards!) and asked her what she wanted as her next special prize. After some discussion, she landed on a trip to a local amusement park complete with go carts and arcade games.

DONE!

I'm so happy that this little girl of mine is back to being her sweet, thoughtful, lovable self! I'm so glad the marbles reward system is working so well for her and us! I highly recommend giving this a try if you're desperate for a way to improve your child's behavior and listening skills! It worked for us! :))

LO's Big Surprise!

Hello out there! Yes, it's been quite some time since my last post, and I do apologize for that. Things have been quite hectic around here since LO started Kindergarten last month! The great news is she's really loving her new school and she's adjusted incredibly well to her new routine. Mommy, on the other hand? Notsomuch. I haven't seen 6:30 AM on my alarm clock consistently for probably over 10 years! So this has been a big adjustment for me, too! But I must admit I'm really LOVING the special Mommy/Chase time every day while LO's at school. Things have been a bit busy lately since I've taken on several new roles with LO's school, but I'm hoping that'll start to even out a bit as the school year progresses. I've taken on the school newsletter, which is published four times per year. It's called a newsletter, but at an average of 13 pages per, it's a bit of a novel in my mind. ;) Additionally, I am serving as a Room Parent for LO's Kindergarten classroom. This is a LOT to take on at the beginning of the year, but I'm very excited about it! I loved doing the newsletter because it gave me an automatic "IN" with so many of the school's staff, from the librarian to the principal to the counselor and more! I know me, and if I didn't have an "in" with anyone, I wouldn't have had the courage to introduce myself and get to know the people that will be helping care for and teach my sweet girl. I'm also managing the school's Facebook page and am serving on a committee that is putting together our annual fall festival in October. Whew! It's been a busy 3 weeks! Add work, family and other commitments to that, and it's a wonder I'm able to function these days! ;)

Those of you who follow me on Twitter may have already seen this video when I tweeted it yesterday, but since I like to chronicle cool happenings with the kids on the blog, I wanted to make sure to post it here as well. Here's the backstory: About 2 weeks ago, we purchased a Balance Buddy to put on LO's bike to help her learn to ride without training wheels. Since she wasn't a big fan of learning to ride without the training wheels, we were hoping this little device would help give her the confidence she needed to get the hang of it. It's basically a little extension on the back of the bike that allows an adult to hold on and run along behind her to help her keep her balance.

I busted it out for the first time about 2 weeks ago for all of about 5 minutes before both of us were too frustrated to continue. Hubs tried it with her maybe once or twice since then for a few minutes each time, but the balance thing didn't seem to be coming too easily for her.

Fast-forward to yesterday... I had been sick in bed all weekend, but I managed to stumble out of bed and head outside to see my family for a few minutes, and was SHOCK N' AWED by what I saw! Hubs had spent about another 20 minutes with LO using the Balance Buddy, and the girl was OFF! She was all over the parking lot across the street from our house, making amazing turns, speeding her way back and forth like you wouldn't believe!!! I know I couldn't believe it! It's like it just "clicked" for her and all of a sudden, she was on her way! I seriously was amazed at how fast she was riding and how much control she had over that bike. Whoa. This girl never ceases to amaze me!!!!!

Check it out!

First Day of Kindergarten!!!

Whoa. I cannot believe I just sent my little baby girl to "big school" for her very first day!!! I'd like to state for the record that it is currently 8:40 AM and I have not yet cried a single actual tear, although it's definitely still pretty early. ;)

Last night we were able to do all of our prepare-for-the-first-day-of-school stuff, from picking out her outfit, to painting her fingernails, to planning her lunch. For the most part, I was pretty much prepared and ready to get this day rolling bright and early this morning.

I was up at 6:10 AM to get ready. I was downstairs cooking LO's special first-day-of-kindergarten breakfast, which included blueberry pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon and chocolate milk.

She was quite pleasant to wake up (nothing like her mommy!) and came bounding downstairs for breakfast. Even with both of us being extremely quiet, to my amazement, Chase came down less than 2 minutes later. No biggie! This worked out for us today, so he enjoyed a yummy breakfast alongside his big sister.

While LO was getting dressed and ready for school, I packed her lunch, exactly to her specifications:

• PB&J (shocker, I know)
• Carrots
• Cucumbers
• Apple Slices
• Yogurt (not pictured)
• Juice

I'm beating myself up right now because, while I remembered to include a sweet note in her lunch, I forgot to add a cookie in there to surprise her with an extra special treat on her first day. #mommyfail

After she was ready, we went outside for some first day of Kindergarten pictures!!

I can't believe how big this girl of mine is!

Let's flash back for a moment, shall we? Here are last year's first day of K4 pictures:

Cool stuff!

And let's not forget the first day of K3:

She's so totally the same but yet so totally different! It's insane how fast time flies... it's totally true what they say!

Anywho, back to our day... After taking pictures out front, we all loaded up in the car to head to school. Luckily we got there waaaay before the craziness and were able to get a quick parking spot. Hubs and Chase waited in the car while Mommy and LO went in (but not before a few more pictures in the parking lot). I let LO lead me to her class and she was greeted immediately by one of her teachers. She was so so so much different than Monday at Meet the Teacher when she hid behind me, clinging to me, unable to speak or make eye contact with her teachers. She's really warmed up quickly and I'm so very proud of her!

I took a few more pictures in her classroom before heading out. Ain't she purdy??

Before I left, the students were all asked to sit at the tables, so I snapped one more pic...

As you can tell from this last one, she was tired of taking pictures. In fact, she said exactly that just seconds before I snapped this pic!

Haha! I'm so glad we had a great morning and she did such a great job with her first day of Kindergarten. Today should be interesting as it is the start of an entirely new routine for the kids and I. Since Chase was up and eating breakfast bright n' early, my plan is to feed him lunch around the same time LO will eat hers at school (11:30 AM), then put him down for a way-earlier-than-normal nap at 12:30 PM. I'll need to have him up and ready to get in the car to pick up LO by 1:45 PM (yes, I'm that crazy mom that wants to be one of the first ones in the car pick-up line) as school gets out at 2:30 PM.

I can't wait to hear all about LO's first day of Kindergarten and I also can't wait to see how Chase handles his new routine today. I'm really looking forward to having some fun mommy/Chase time now that she'll be at school every day. There's a lot of good stuff happening and I promise I'm doing my very best to embrace it -- without tears!

HAPPY FIRST DAY

OF KINDERGARTEN, LO!!

MOMMY LOVES YOU BUNCHES!!!

Beach 2012!

Last week we took a much-needed family vacay to Pawleys Island, just south of Myrtle Beach. It was an awesome trip that also included my sisters, nieces/nephews and mama! Good times!!

I've shared a little photo recap of our trip below for those of you who are still reading this ol' blog of mine! ;)

First up on any road trip? Movies for the kids (including headphones to keep things quiet for mommy & daddy) and m&m blizzards from Dairy Queen for all!

Our first night in Pawleys Island we hit up a local pizza joint/pub for some delicious eats. We had a simple cheese pizza and a pepperoni stromboli. YUM-O.

After dinner it was time to head next door to the Piggly Wiggly (yes, we're in the South, folks), for some groceries we'll need during our stay. I can tell you with complete honesty that I've NEVER EVER EVER allowed the kids to ride in one of those car carts pictured below, but since we were on vacation, I knew I could let them get away with it (without them expecting to do so every time we go to the store in the future). They had a blast with daddy speeding them up one aisle and down the next, and even thought it was hilarious (as did I) when daddy knocked over a display with the cart as he zoomed past it. LOL!

Our first day on vacation also happened to be one of my sisters' birthdays, so we celebrated with cake! As you can see, she was turning 6, and since I'm 3 years younger than her, I guess that makes me 3! ;)

Thursday was our first day on the beach. Ah, glorious sunny skies! The kids were beyond stoked and I couldn't wait for some relaxing sunbathing.

The kids were super excited about the water, and I was so impressed with both of them! LO was not a big fan of the waves on our previous beach trips, but she jumped in with no fear this time around! Chase had a great time, too, and wasn't worried at all about those waves, either!

Later that night we went out for dinner at a total tourist trap. It was supposed to be Margaritaville, but the wait was -- seriously -- 3 1/2 to 4 hours. Are you kidding me!? Anywho, we ended up at Planet Hollywood instead.

I opted for the rack (yes, an entire rack!) of ribs, with a side of sautéed veggies to balance it out. ;) Ha! The fun part was that my 21-year-old nephew got them, too, so it was a bit of a challenge to see if I could finish them since there was no question that boy could put down some food! As expected, he tore 'em up quicker than I ever could've dreamed!

After dinner, we drove over to Broadway at the Beach for some nighttime fun! I loved the Wonder Works building because it's upside-down. We never went inside and I still have no idea what it is... but it was pretty cool regardless.

The kids did fun stuff like ride the carousel...

...ride the train...

...and fly a plane!

I also made them pose for a photo with a really creepy bunny statue, because I'm just that kind of mom. See how stoked LO was??

Friday we all slept in and didn't really get moving toward the beach until the early afternoon. Hubs, the kids and I were the last ones to get ready after everyone else had already walked down to the beach. We were sunscreen'd up and ready to go when hubs suggested we wait a few minutes after checking the weather. We're VERY glad we did.

Here's a pic my sister sent me from the beach. It was too late for them to make a run for it once this "pop up hurricane" rolled in...

Hubs drove to get them since it was about 1/4 mile from the house to the beach, and they were straight up SOAKED, being pelted with raindrops as they tried to hurry back to the house. The poor things! The weather didn't really cooperate so we didn't end up at the beach on Friday.

We did go out to eat and ended up at a joint called Quigley's Pint & Plate. There was a bit of a wait for a party our size, but I think it was worth it! I hooked myself up with the fried pickles appetizer and my VERY FIRST experience of Chicken & Waffles! They were sweet potato waffles and were served with a sausage gravy, and OHMYGOODNESS people. These will NOT be my last order of Chicken & Waffles! Amazing!!

The plan on Saturday was to start early and get to the beach before any storms had a chance to ruin our fun. But lo and behold, these were my kids at 9:30 AM!! Still zonked! (Hubs was out cold, too!)

After we all finally got moving, it was beach time! Here's my handsome fella catching a lift on the walk to the beach.

We were able to get lots of time in the sun and sand!

Chase took plenty of snack breaks. ;)

As did his big sister...



But like a sudden pop-up storm rolling in, so was this mess that Chase turned into...

As you can imagine, it was about time for us to pack up and go! But not before I was able to take a pic of my sister's LifeProof case for her Droid!

Haha!!! She's been debating between an iPhone or the Samsung Galaxy III (gag) but I think my LifeProof case might have put her over the edge... especially when I could take pics of one of her kids like the one below.

After the beach it was time to clean up and pack up. We had a great trip and the kids had an amazing time playing with their cousins and enjoying the beach. It was only a matter of time before this was happening on the way home...

We had a super great time and it was just what we needed as we start to say good-bye to summer and hello to LO's first day of Kindergarten, which is just around the corner!