Dr. Checkups & A Memorable Grocery Store Visit

Today, I took the kids to the doctor for their 3 and 4 year old checkups and for their preschool physicals. Brady weighed in at 59.1 lbs and is 39 1/4 inches tall. Anabelle weighed in at 38.1 lbs and is 40 1/4 inches tall. Brady weighs a whole 20 pounds heavier and is only 1 inch shorter than Anabelle!! When the nurse was taking Brady's blood pressure, she put on the young kids blood pressure arm band, but as Brady's blood pressure was being taken the velcro broke free. His arm was too big for the little kids arm band, so the nurse had to put on the big kids arm band and that worked! :) They both got their finger pricked for a lead test too. They did great and are two healthy kids! Now they are all ready for preschool! They will even be in the same class so that will be nice.

After the doctor's visit, I took the kids to the store in town, and let me tell you...it was an experience!! I let the kids pick out quite a few snacks and yogurt drinks. Anabelle was an angel, but Brady was a little devil child. I bet the girls at the store are still talking about him! Towards the end of my shopping trip, Brady got stubborn and wouldn't come with me and Anabelle to the cash register, so he stood off to the side. As I was being rung up, Brady took off down an aisle and Anabelle stayed by my side. After I was done being rung up, I left my cart full of groceries at the front of the store and told Anabelle to lets go find Brady.

As soon as Brady saw us coming he took off running, so Anabelle and I finally caught up to him and he wouldn't come with us. So...I picked him up and carried him to the front of the store while carrying my 50 lb purse...not an easy task! As I was leaving the store, I was holding my 59 lb, crying, kicking, three year old AND trying to push my cart full of groceries with one hand. Everyone in the store was probably thinking he was such a little brat (he was then, but he really is a REAL sweetheart!!). A high school boy who worked at the store followed me out and told me that he would take my cart (probably because he saw that I was having a difficult time! :). I was so grateful that he helped me out!

When we got to my car, I got the trunk open and the boy loaded my groceries up while I tried taking care of Brady and calming him down. Yeh...it didn't work! At one point he was laying down on the parking lot and would NOT get up. I had enough. I picked him up, put him in the car and locked the door so he couldn't get back out. I wasn't even able to buckle him in his carseat! It's a good thing that we live just a couple of blocks down the road from the store! I was just glad to get home! He finally calmed down after his favorite cup of strawberry milk and is currently playing, laughing with his sissy and daddy in the living room while I take a break to blog in the family room.

So...forget about all that talk about terrible two's....it's the terrible three's ALL THE WAY!! I have found this with both of my kids and have had friends agree to this through their own experiences!!

Toilet Flushing

Monday night Brady had to go potty, so like a big boy, he went into the bathroom by himself to take care of business. He was in there for quite awhile. When he came out, I asked him what he was doing in there. He told me that he flushed his sucker stick down the toilet. I told him that he should never flush anything down the toilet like that because it will break the toliet. I was just glad that it was only a little sucker stick!!

Tuesday night, Brady was in the bathroom going potty again. When he was done, he was running around the house bare butt. I let him go for awhile, but when it was time for dinner, I asked him where his underwear were so that we could put them back on. I looked all over the house for them...in his room, the laundry room, the living room...everywhere! When I was in the bathroom looking for them, a light bulb came on. I headed straight for the toilet and lifted the lid up. Sure enough, there was his underwear in the toliet stuck at the bottom. Good thing they didn't make it down after he flushed them!! I fished them out and once again, reminded him a bit more sternly that he should NEVER flush anything down the toliet except for three things...potty, poopy and toiliet paper!!!

There has not been anymore flushing incidents this week, so hopefully he is out of that "phase"!

Having Fun at "Party In The Park"

After being homebound for awhile during Anabelle's recovery, I decided to take the kids to the Party In The Park yesterday. We had a good time!

When we first got there, we watched the magic show, and then Brady bounced in the "bouncy," but Anabelle didn't want to. After Brady was done bouncing, both kids weighed in for the tractor pull. After weighing in, we saw Strawberry the clown. She made both kids a balloon. Brady originally wanted a yellow monkey but changed his mind to a heart after seeing a couple of girls in front of him get one. Anabelle wanted an orange kitty cat.

Once Strawberry the Clown was done with the balloons, it was tractor pull time. Anabelle kept telling me she didn't want to do it, but when her name was called, she went up there and sat on the tractor and rode it. Since Brady is a little heavier, he was in the next group. He rode the tractor when it was his turn but was really upset after he was done because he didn't go very far.

Some pics of our day!

"Cotton Candy!"

Anabelle's two favorite things...The Color Pink & Candy!!

Brady having fun bouncing in the "Bouncy"


More fun!


Brady originally wanted Strawberry the Clown to make him a yellow monkey, but he saw a couple of girls in front of him get hearts, so he wanted a heart too! :)

Anabelle's first try in a kiddie tractor pull.

She went 7 ft something. She was in the up to 45 lbs group.

Brady's first try at a kiddie tractor pull.

He was in the 45 - 65 lb group. He was by far the youngest kid in the group!

He went a whole 10 ft something and cried when he got off because he "didn't go too far away."

Canadian Idol - HILARIOUS!!!

I saw this clip when I was watching TV today and thought it was HILARIOUS, so here it is for you all to see.

She was a contestant on Canadian Idol.

Enjoy! It is too funny! Poor Girl!!

"I missed you too Honey"

Every day when I pick the kids up from daycare, I tell them how much I love them and how much I missed them.

Brady just has the cutest response! I recorded this clip a couple of weeks ago.

My kids just melt my heart! :)

Everything Is In Bloom

We have lived in our house just over five years now, and ever since then, we have been busy planting flowers, bushes, trees, and plants to make our yard look nice. We have done so much work to our yard. It is just so nice to see all of the blooms and to know that all of our hard work has really paid off!

Here are some pics of our yard:

This picture was taken in the spring while the tree was in bloom. It is Anabelle's tree...planted in the summer of '04.

I just love the smell of lavender!

My favorite...the Hibiscus bush

This is the only bush/plant that survived from the previous owners...I call it the Gangbuster Rose Bush

I planted this blue flower last summer. I'm surprised it came back after the hard winter that we had.

This is the "flower garden" that the kids and I planted back in May. They are planted under Anabelle's tree in the frontyard. We had so much fun!

My Little ROCKSTAR

A couple of weeks ago Anabelle put her daddy's shades on and posed like a little ROCKSTAR..

She just cracked me up!

I just can't wait until she gets her spunk back again!

Anabelle's Recovery

It has been a week today since Anabelle's surgery. The doctor said that it would take three weeks before she would be completely healed. I have been off of work since last Wednesday and will be going back to work on Monday, so it has been really nice being home with the kids. After having a week and a half off, I'm not going to want to go back!

Her recovery is going great! There were days where she would just be bouncing off the walls and other days that she would just be sleeping all day. When she tries to clear her throat, she has a really hard time because she doesn't want to cough too hard in fear of hurting her throat, so that has been the biggest obstacle during her recovery. A couple of times she has come close to vomitting it up. Another thing that has begun is bad breath from the healing process. In fact, she just came up to me and told me that Brady said something stinks, and she told me that maybe her breath is what Brady is saying is stinky. :( I told her that it is okay and that it will go away in a couple of days.

Her voice has also changed for the time being. It is a little higher pitched and sounds a bit muffled. She has complained of neck pain, which is another side effect of the surgery that should go away with the healing process.

She has been on two medications...one is Tylenol with codeine that is to be taken every four to six hours as needed to tolerate the pain and the other one is Amoxicillin for 10 days, twice a day. She is starting to not take as much Tylenol as she had been because I think the pain is starting to subside a little bit, which is good.

Her diet the first couple of days consisted of fluids, popsicles, "kids yogurt", jello and pudding. A few days after the surgery she wanted a chip really bad after seeing them on our dinner plates. I told her that she couldn't have one yet because it would hurt her throat. She kept on begging and begging, so I caved. I let her have one of my mom's chips. I told her to chew it up in a bunch of tiny pieces. As soon as she put the chip in her mouth and began to chew, she smiled the biggest smile. It was true happiness! You should have seen it. My mom and I just laughed hysterically! But that wasn't even the funniest part. As soon as she ate the chip, she sighed the biggest sigh of relief..."Ahhhhhh". We laughed harder than we did when she put on her smile. She was just so darn happy to get some real food! I will never forget that! It was the funniest thing!

She has done MUCH MUCH better than I had anticipated! I am just so glad that the surgery is over and that she is doing so great!

She has been such a little trooper!

Great Visit With My Mom

Last Tuesday night, the night before Anabelle's surgery, my mom flew in to stay with us for a week to help me out with the kids. It was so nice to have some one on one time with her as I don't get that much. The kids loved having her here just as much as I did. She was such a BIG help!! The list of things that she did just goes on and on. She also watched the kids for us Saturday night, so that Jason and I could go to the beach club's 50th anniversary party to watch some awesome fireworks and listen to a great band with some friends of ours.

Each night, when everyone was asleep, her and I would sit on the couch and talk while snacking on our favorite cookie. We also had visited quite a bit of family when she was here so it was really nice to see everyone.

Thanks for everything you did mom! We will miss you!!

Here are some pics of when she was home...

Anabelle a couple of days after her surgery...

My Mom and Brady

My Mom reading to Anabelle


Me, My Mom, Brady and Anabelle

Brady, Ashley, my Mom, and Anabelle

My brother, Danny, and nephew, Drake

Spiderman Brady

Anabelle's Tonsillectomy & Adenoidectomy

Wednesday was Anabelle's big day to get her tonsils and adenoids removed. It has been scheduled since May and has finally come and gone...thank goodness!!

We had to be at the surgery center at 9am Wednesday, so Jason, Anabelle, and I headed out about 8:30 while my mom and Brady stayed home. My mom flew in Tuesday night and will be staying with us for a week to help me with the kids. (Thanks Mom!!!)

When we got to the surgery center, Anabelle was telling us that she was going to stay awake during the procedure. She asked us if the doctor was going to take her tonsils out with tweezers. :) She had to get a little hospital gown on, and then they took her away.

I was worried all morning hoping that everything would be okay. I made myself sick just thinking about it so much. The procedure took about 30 minutes to finish. The doctor talked to us after he was done to let us know how everything went.

Everything went fine. He said that her tonsils were just HUGE and that her adenoids were big too, but not as big as her tonsils were and that we should see a dramatic improvement in her breathing in about three weeks after everything is all healed.

Once we were done talking with the doctor, we were taken to Anabelle where she was in recovery. She was still sleeping and would open her eyes on and off, but she was pretty much out of it. At one point, she started coughing so much that she puked, and I caught it in my hands. She started crying on and off. I just felt so bad for her. Here she was thinking that she was going to stay awake while the doctor just took her tonsils out with some tweezers, and here she was knocked out feeling terrible probably wondering what had just happened to her in this strange place and wondering why she was in so much pain.

The nurse brought her a popsicle and a cup of water. Once she ate the popsicle and drank some water, the nurse took her IV out. She was released at 12:00 noon. She did great when we got home. By the end of the day, she was playing outside and having grandma push her on the swing.

That night, she woke up around 1:30 in the morning in pain, so I gave her some more of her pain medication. We stayed up and watched Cinderella. She is currently laying on the couch sleeping. I am just glad that it is over!

Grandma has been busy making pudding and jello, and Anabelle has been loving her "soft" diet. Brady is loving it too! :)

Here is a pic of Anabelle after we got home with her Get Well gifts...a really soft puppy dog from Grandma and Papa, a beautiful flower bouquet from Grammie and Papa, and a dolly from mommy and daddy:

She was such a little trooper!!


As I write this post, Anabelle is sleeping away.......my sweet baby girl

Tuckered Out From A Day With Grammie

This is what the kids looked like when I pulled up in our driveway yesterday afternoon after spending a day with grammie. It was a fun day. The kids were so excited to see their grammie. We spent the day playing outside, walking down to the creek, going up and down the stairs, playing in the toy room, and eating lunch and the yummy Jello that grammie made.

While we were outside, Anabelle was teaching grammie many different "exercises." On the way home, Anabelle was crying and I asked her what was wrong. She told me "I forgot to show grammie this exercise." Then, I seen her leg lift up threw the rearview mirror. It was cute...so grammie...next time, Anabelle will need to show you that one! :)

Brady had a little accident in the toy room while we were playing. He threw one of the dolls that just happened to be a glass doll, and it shattered to pieces. He looked at grammie with such a sad little face and told her "Forry." My little man is so forceful with everything that he does that I have to remind him to be gentle! :)

The Little Campers

Last Saturday, we went out to the beach club to Mike and Alicia's campground to hang out with everyone and to watch the fireworks. Jason brought out his four wheeler too, so we took a fun ride while the kids played at the campground. They played on the playground and in Braxton and Ava's little tent.

Here is a cute pic of the little campers:

Anabelle, Brady, Braxton, Ava, and Drake, my nephew. Drake is in the orange. Everyone always says that they can tell Drake and Brady are related. They are both big boys! :)

The rumor was that $80k was spent on the fireworks. Everyone thought this was crazy, but after watching the show, I think they really did spend that much. They were awesome fireworks! It seemed like the whole show was a grand finale. Anabelle and I both had the same favorite firework..."golden sprinkles" as she calls it. ;)

Brian and Heather's 4th of July Party!

After we got home from the zoo, the kids took a little nap, and then we were off again...to my brother, Brian, and Heather's 4th of July party.

When we got there, we ate. They had so much great food....and deserts!! All of my brothers and their families were there, so it was really nice to have all of us together to celebrate the 4th!

The kids and I boarded the hayrack ride that Danny was giving on Brian's tractor. Brady just loves tractors, so he was just loving it! And, Ronnie followed behind us with his gang in the golf cart. We took a ride around town.

When we got back, it was time for the fireworks. Ronnie, Brian, and Danny all went into the field by Brian's house and lit them off. They were some really good fireworks! There were other people lighting them in town too, so we saw a lot of them going off.

After the fireworks, all of us sat around the fire. Brady fell asleep while I was holding him just like he had done the night before sitting around Alicia and Mike's campfire at the club. He must like the warmth of the fire and the cuddle time with his mommy! :)

Anabelle and Jason were running around playing so much that Anabelle was sweating!

Some pics of our 4th:

Eating the YUMMY food!!

Best Friends...me and Stacy!

My niece, Alexis, and Anabelle....cousins

Me and my bros!

My brothers...Brian, Danny, and Ronnie

Ronnie, Sharon, and Danny just chillin!

The fireworks

Mommy and Brady doing sparklers together

It was a great 4th of July!

At the Zoo for the 4th!

Yesterday, we went to the zoo with our friends, Stacy and Keith. The weather was great, and there wasn't too many people at the zoo because of it being the 4th of July, so it was really nice. We had a great time.

Here are some pictures of our fun day!

Brady and Anabelle brushing a goat

This gorilla looked so funny...it was night night time for him

The peacock opened up its feathers...it looked so pretty!

All of the kids under a misting tent

Anabelle, Kyra, Kaylee, and Brady eating their ice cream snacks. Brady and Anabelle just love the Sponge Bob ice cream snacks with the gumball eyes!! I indulged in a Snickers Ice Cream Bar. :)

The girls

Our family

...headed home now...for my brother Brian's 4th of July party!