TBT: When James Met Reese in 2012

I didn't know how James (17 months old at the time) would respond to meeting Reese for the first time.  But I never, ever thought it would go like this:

T plus 5

It has been an...interesting 24 hours.

The highlights:  

• I'm still pregnant.  Scheduled to be induced tomorrow morning, which will likely be the case since this in-no-hurry-baby-boy doesn't want to come out!
• Last night we had the pleasure of taking James to the ER.  He's had a cold/cough/congestion for about a week now, but his cough got much, much worse.  When he went to bed he could hardly catch his breath from coughing every other second.  He gagged/coughed/threw up a couple of times from coughing fits.  My nerves were shot.  I needed sleep.  He needed sleep. EVERYone needed sleep. We tried taking him outside in the cold air, a few albuterol puffs, Vick's vapor rub on his chest, a hot, steamy shower, and propping him up in his bed. Nothing seemed to make a difference.  We called a few urgent cares about 8:45pm, but nobody was open past 9 pm.  So we headed to the ER.  Man, that place was PACKED.  James' vitals were all good (O2 sats, temp, etc).  They did a chest X-ray to rule out pneumonia.  It was clear.  His ears and sinuses looked good. No infection there.  So they sent us home with a cough medicine and honey recommendation.  We were home around midnight.  Wrestled James to get the cough medicine in him and put him back to bed.  After some minimal coughing, he fell asleep and stayed asleep for about 7 hours.  Today he is in good spirits, coughing here and there and overall seems okay. And we're looking forward to having a baby tomorrow!  And feeling really grateful we didn't have a baby last night after our ER visit!

                          

First Day of Kindergarten

Let me tell you about our first day of drop-off at Kindergarten.

I feel like these pictures tell the story well.

1) The outfit.  James REFUSED to wear what I picked out for him today. He insisted on wearing this outfit so that people would know he's the big brother and not a little kid. Sure.

2) The blanket.  This blanket is his beloved. Don't even think about him sleeping without it.  He needed the blanket-comfort for the 5 minute ride to school. (The blanket stayed in the car, btw, it did NOT go into school.)

3) The forced smile, reddened eyes.  All summer long James was excited about kindergarten.  He talked about it almost every day. He couldn't wait to go. Now, the day of, and he most definitely did NOT want to go anymore.  The idea was nice, but the reality?  No bueno.

He was tearful most of the way to school.

"I don't wanna go."

"I miss memaw."

"I don't want to go without you guys (mom and dad)."

Due to all his summer excitement and anticipation of this day, I figured he would be fine (no tears) and I would be a mess (lots of tears) at drop-off.  The fact that he cried all the way there made it way, way, way harder for me.  I held it together as we parked and walked in together.  The parking lot was nuts, for the record. The closer we got to his classroom, the more composed James became and the harder time maintaining composure I had.  He went right in the classroom, found his seat with the teachers help and sat down.  His kind teacher invited me in, but I didn't go in the room.  In every piece of pre-kindergarten communication from the school they stressed the need for QUICK GOODBYES on the first day.  Don't linger, they said. So. I didn't.  I paused for a moment to see if he would look back so I could wave, but he didn't. I hurried away and fought (unsuccessfully) tears as I walked out of the building.  I had passed other moms on the way in that looked like I felt, a blubbery mess.

It is HARD to take your first born to school!  And leave them there ALL DAY.  For the first time, today, I've suddenly become a fan of homeschooling... (Lest I alienate the homeschooling community: I'm fine with other people homeschooling, just never considered it for my children.)

Stay tuned for the afternoon report from James about how the day went!

AFTERNOON UPDATE:

After a quite sizable car pool line, I picked up James after school.  His teacher put him in the car and said he had a great day.  She said he did fine, no tears, up until recess when he had a little emotional moment. She said it was brief and he was fine after that.

James was all smiles as he got in the car.  He reported more of the same, that he had a good day and that he only cried a little bit. And that it was too hot outside at recess. And that the teacher was "happy at him." (translation: nice to him?? happy WITH him??) And he ate some of his lunch, but not all of it.  And he didn't sleep at rest time.

I feel...relieved. He sounds like he had a good day and that going back tomorrow won't be the worst that's ever happened to him. For now, I'm glad he's home!

Kid Questions

James is 5 years old.  Reese is 3.  The questions they ask on a daily basis are comical, inquisitive and thought provoking.

"Why don't houses have bones?"

"Do ants kiss?"

related:  "Why did God make ants mean?"

"Are my teeth shiny?"

"Why is there a baby in your belly?"

"Why is your hair sharp?" (on my legs...maybe a few days after not shaving...)

My mom was recently explaining to James about how his green bean plant (pictured with Reese above and James below) will produce flowers and then green beans.  He said "I hope it grows a green apple!"

Summer Fun

Suburban Jungle Cat is Suburban

The Nursing Process

According to The American Nurses Association,

"The common thread uniting different types of nurses who work in varied areas is the nursing process—the essential core of practice for the registered nurse to deliver holistic, patient-focused care."

The nursing process is composed of the following parts, illustrated by my kids in pictures...

Assessment

"James, there's seems to be a problem with my car. It's not working." - Reese

"I believe you're right, Reese." - James

Diagnosis

"I'd recognize that problem anywhere...obviously you've got a case of Risk for Impaired Mobility r/t improperly functioning vehicle going on." - James

Outcomes/Planning

"Based on our assessment and diagnosis, Reese, we'll set some measurable and achievable goals for this situation.  I find that easiest to accomplish when I consult my cat." - James

Implementation

"Let's try this, Reese!" - James

Evaluation

"Iiiiiii don't know if this is working, James..." - Reese

Plan of care modified, if needed



"That didn't work at all, Reese. Scrap that idea, let's take the sports car instead..." - James
"What a splendid idea!" -Reese

What is UP with James??

1)  James (4 years old) has been having some issues since May 2015 with vomiting and dehydration, requiring three hospitalizations in five months. In May, his CO2 was 11 on the admission BMP after 24 hours of vomiting.  In August, it was 9.  In September, after only 4 hours of symptoms, it was 16 (surprisingly low for how short-lived his symptoms were.)

2) This earned us an appointment with a metabolic geneticist (wha??) to see if he has some sort of metabolic disorder to explain his frequent bouts of vomiting.

3) Today we had that appointment with Dr. Schroer of Greenwood Genetics in Charleston.  What a great man.  He was kind, thorough,  and interacted with James at his level.

4) The result of our appointment today: no new diagnosis. He shared several things that they've ruled out, the names of which I cannot tell you because I've never heard them before and couldn't begin to spell/say them now.

5) What I do remember Dr. Schroer saying:  Each time he has been admitted to the hospital, James has had ketones in his urine.  His lactic acid levels in his blood have also been slightly elevated.  These things could be correlated or might not be.

6)  Dr. Schroer is running a few more tests on the blood still available from James' last hospital admission (9/14/15).  He is also checking for ketones and other things in a urine sample from today (9/29/15).

7)  Dr. Schroer is supposed to be mailing us a typed up version of everything he told us today. *phew* He will also call us in a week or so with the rest of the results.

8) James did great during this appointment.  Although he 4-year-old-whisper-asked "Can we leave now?" about five minutes into the appointment, he hung in there for the duration.  Thankfully, there were no "booboos" (no blood drawn).  Only a urine sample, which he thinks is fun to provide.  Yay for peeing in a cup!

9) Scott and I had plenty of opportunity to ask questions, but weren't entirely sure what to ask...

10) Scott googled some of James' symptoms before we went to Charleston today.  WebMD told him James has Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome.  Dr. Schroer mentioned this to us as a possibility as well.  (Dr.) Scott now feels completely validated in his google-diagnostic abilities and is accepting new patients.  CHEAP.

11)  No, none of the doctors involved in James' care to this point have mentioned anything about allergies.  He never has any skin issues with his vomiting (hives, rashes, etc).  He doesn't have diarrhea with the vomiting.  Each doctor has said "never say never," but that he is not presenting like a traditional allergy case.

12)  Yesterday and today James has had a low grade fever.  No vomiting, thank goodness.  Yesterday he wouldn't eat for most of the day, which stressed me out.  I was waiting for him to throw up once and then we'd be off to the doctor/probably hospital.

13)  That's all I know for now.  Making this post a numbered format gave the illusion of organized information.  I apologize for the false advertising.

14)  Thank you to each and every one of you who prayed for us today.  I felt notably stressed prior to today.  During the appointment I noticed my body language:  leaned back in my chair, arms draped on the arms of the chair, hands unclenched.  In a word: relaxed.  Not tense.  I completely credit the Lord himself for easing my nerves and helping me be present, attentive and not anxious.  Thank you praying folks for your time today.  (Scott doesn't know how to be anxious, so this wasn't an issue for him. He's so laid back...)

15)  After the doctor's office, we had some fun.  We headed over to the USS Yorktown air craft carrier.

James felt right at home sitting in a cockpit. 

*boop*

Scott briefed us on our mission.  James approved. Momma on the other hand got a wee bit claustrophobic during our briefing and had to jet-set on outta there to the flight deck so she could BREATHE.

Anyhow...we'll keep everyone posted on what we know...whenever we know it!

Ok To Wake!

If there are small humans in your house that get out of the bed crazy early and come into YOUR room, waking you up, this genius invention may be for you...

A few weeks ago, I bought James an "Ok to Wake" clock off of Amazon.

The idea is that the parent sets what time it is okay for the kiddo to get out of bed.  When the clock reaches that time, it turns green.  You teach your child that green means go!  Before it is time to wake up, the clock is yellow:

When it's okay to get out of bed (or leave the room), it turns green:

Prior to bringing this lovely invention into our home, James' wake up times kept getting earlier and earlier.  He used to wake up around 7:30 am.  PERFECTLY reasonable.  Then it was 7 am (quasi reasonable), then 6:30 (too early), and when he came in our room a few mornings at 6:10 am (FOR THE LOVE...), we decided to do something about it, before it moved into the five o'clock hour (insanely early).

After researching options like this, ordering it online and waiting for it to arrive, I gave James the clock as a present.  He loved it.  He carried it around all that day.  We talked about how the clock was yellow, but in the morning, before he gets out of bed, he has to wait for it to turn green.  I set the clock time to show him the yellow vs green colors.  (we're still learning colors)  That first night, I reiterated the instructions.  The next morning, I was eager to see what happened.  Of course, at 6 something, he comes barging in to our room, carrying his new clock-best-friend.  I asked him if it was green yet (it was not).  I gently reminded him that he needed to go back in his room until it turned green.  He hung his head, so very sad, and went back to his room.  You should've heard the excitement in his voice when it did turn green.  He busted out of his room saying "It's green! It's green!"  

The next morning, he stayed in his room until it turned green.  I would say MOST mornings since then (almost a month now), he has waited for it to be green.  I set it for 7:10 am.  I realize he isn't necessarily sleeping until 7:10 am, but at least the rest of the household can get a few more minutes of sleep while he waits for "green means go."  

This clock also has a nap timer on it.  Every day at nap time, I set the nap timer for 2 hours.  He needs to sleep/stay in his room until it turns green (after 2 hours).  Sometimes he takes a while to fall asleep and then sleeps right through the green time.  After a set amount of time, it turns back to yellow.  You can adjust this time.  I make it stay green for an hour, just in case he sleeps for a while.  I like those features, both the nap timer feature and that I can tell it how long to stay green.

Why I think this works for us:

-James is 3 years old (almost 3.5).  If he was a two year old (like Reese), I don't know if this would work or not.  Reese is still in a crib, though, so no leaving the room unassisted for her...yet.

-His personality works with this.  Some kids are going to do what they want to do, no matter what. 

-He is not night-time potty trained yet.  He still sleeps in a diaper.  If you have a child who leaves the room to go potty at night or early in the morning, I don't know if this would work for you. 

This gadget has allowed Scott, Reese, and I to get a little more sleep, which really benefits the whole family. :)

Have you found a gadget or some technology that has improved your quality of life??

**This is not a sponsored post.  I purchased this clock.  It was not provided for me to review.  All opinions are my own.**

God Made Dirt and Dirt Don't Hurt

I better believe that saying...at least after yesterday...

James, Reese, and I were moseying around the backyard yesterday seeing what there was to be seen.  As we strolled around the trees, we noticed a plethora of these creepy creatures:

from http://www.flightsofwhimsy-ece.com/2012/12/summer-and-cicadas/

There were at least five of these empty shells on each tree trunk.  We walked around each tree and brushed them onto the ground.  If I had to name that game, I'd call it "flick it" or something, because that's what we did.  Keep in mind, I never touched one of these suckers.  Not once.  James was carrying a toy with him.  He used said toy to flick the cicada shells to the ground.  So James never touched one either.  Reese, however, is a different story.  She boldly grabbed them with her bare hands.  Ew ew ew.  If we were keeping score in our game of Flick It, she would've definitely won for the most cicadas flicked.

She is woman hear her ROAR. This picture isn't from yesterday, but it shows her personality well...

After that game ended and all the trees were ridded of their ghostly  freeloaders, we moved on to attempting to weed one of our flower beds.  I put on gloves.  James put on gloves, but didn't touch the dirt.  He just wandered around the yard marveling at his gloved hands.  Reese opted out of gloves and dove hands first into the dirt.  Raise your hand if you're surprised.

I made a little bit of progress.  Not a lot, but a little...

See how there is WAY MORE grass/weeds/green stuff on the left, inside the "flower bed" than there is on the "grass" side, on the right??  It's shameful, really.  What can I say...I'm not a yard work person.  As if I need to tell you that after sharing that photo...

I would've made more progress (possibly) except for how helpful Reese was.  As I was bent over pulling weeds, she managed to get a handful of dirt projectiled through the air in the exact right fashion that a whole lot of it ended up in my below-the-belt undergarments.  NOT COOL Reese, NOT COOL.  I reprimanded her for throwing dirt and continued on my quest.  I figured I could handle a little dirt in some awkward places.  That's what showers are for.

A few moments later, having not heeded my stern instruction, Reese launched another fistful of dirt at me, this time it hit my head and upper body, a fair amount miraculously ending up in my above-the-belt undergarments.  This was the last straw for me.  Apparently having dirt in my underwear was okay, but DIRT IN MY BRA and in my hair was just too much.  I fussed at her again and dragged all of us inside for baths/showers.  James looked confused, appropriately so, since he was the only clean one of us at that point.  

I share this story so that years from now, when Reese wants my help raising a mess-loving daughter of her own, I can point her back to her own childhood and snicker, just like my mom is doing now...

Just Another Day

As I sit here typing, my skirt is half damp, half dry.  My kids are talking to themselves in their beds, hopefully heading to sleep soon.  And I'm trying to remember to laugh at myself (and my life).

Let's back up...

Sometime in May, I think it was, I received a work email stating the need for me to make an appointment with Employee Health to have blood work drawn by August 28th.  Maybe your work health insurance is similar?  If you jump through some extra hoops, you get a major discount on your insurance.  For me that discount is $30/pay period, or $780/year.  I can think of a lot of things I'd rather do with that money than give it to my health insurance company.  Keep that figure in mind...$780.  One of the hoops is having blood work done through Employee Health.  In May I thought "Oooooh I have plenty of time to get that appointment done before August 28th!"

You can guess where this is going.

August comes and I haven't made that appointment yet.  Last Friday (August15th), I got another work email stating that day was the last day to make these type appointments for blood work at Employee Health.  I immediately called them.  It was 5:02 pm.  The vmail message I reached said they closed at 5:00 pm.

Dangitall.

I left a message anyway.  Over the weekend, I emailed a lady in Employee Health as well, hoping for the best.  (skipping a few parts of the story here for brevity's sake)  Appointment lady emails me back and says be there at 9:30 am on 8/20.  They will try to work me in around other peoples' appointments.  (translation: be prepared to wait)  But hey, woohoo!  I have an appointment!  $780 Here I come!

I decided to take my kids with me.  Not because I love sitting in waiting rooms with a 3 year old and a 1 year old, but because my parents have already done a LOT of babysitting this week and I thought they could use a break.

Also of note, I have to fast for this appointment.  No breffiss for me.  Bummer.

This morning (appointment day!) I got up, dressed and got the kids up and dressed and fed.  I packed a to-do bag with some toys, my ipad, a couple of diapers, and an almost empty container of wipes. I don't know for sure if they were done eating or not when I plucked them from their chairs and tossed them into their car seats.  Off to the appointment we go!

9:19 am we pull into the parking garage.  9:20 am, while making our way to a parking spot on the 3rd floor, I hear Reese throw up.

WOMP WOMP WAAAAAAHHHHHMP.

"Mess! Mess!" Reese squeals. "Where's Reesey's bucket?  Where's Reesey's bucket?" James exclaims.  (I give him a bucket to throw up in when he gets sick.)  Since Reese is rear-facing still, I can't see the mess, but I can imagine I'm about to have SO.MUCH.FUN. when we pull in to park.

I wanted to just turn around and go home.  Forget the appointment.  Forget the 10 people I'd bothered (part of the story I skipped) to make this appointment happen today.  Forget the $780.

But I couldn't.

I was determined to make it.  I'M GOING TO GET MY BLOOD DRAWN TODAY DANG IT.  (perhaps I was hangry?!)

After parking, I grabbed my meager stash of wipes and head to Reese's side of the car to assess the damage.  She holds her hands up "Mess."  I said "Yep, you're a mess.  We'll fix it."  To keep you from throwing up as well, let's just say the volume of material on her wasn't so terrible.  Her shirt was soaked, but the entire car seat wasn't, thankfully.  The content of the material?  Bacon.  So much bacon.  I wiped up what I could, using up all my wipes.  I prayed nobody would poop during the next little while.  I put Reese in a stroller, hoping to minimize her interaction with anyone else and contain her messy self.

About that time, a coworker (#1) walks by and says hello.  I immediately told her Reese threw up so she could keep her distance.  She told me Employee Health was a zoo right now, so best of luck to me.  Oh yay.  Fun fun times.

With my sights set on $780, I walked towards the building, one hand holding James' hand, the other trying to drive the stroller while holding a wadded up pile of bacon vomit wipes, eyes peeled for a garbage can.

Found a garbage can, and proceeded on to Employee Health.  I don't even know what time it was at that point.  To be sure it was after 9:30...

Trying to open the door to Employee Health was challenging because of a) the stroller I was pushing and b) the crowd of people inside the waiting area.  Holy Moly.  Here comes me, my faintly-bacon-smelling stroller child, James and I...hoping to find a spot in the waiting room.  At this point I was reeeally hoping a lot of things:

1) Reese doesn't throw up again.

2) Reese isn't really sick, but maybe just car sick, so I'm not exposing everyone to some vomit bug, because $780 or not, that's just RUDE to everyone around me.

3) That we aren't in this place for hours and hours waiting.

4)  That nobody notices the bacon smell.

In the first 20 minutes, Reese has asked to get down 50 times and I've gone through all the toys I brought in our bag.  I busted out the ipad for them to watch a show.  Two seconds after their show started, they call my name as well as three other names.  They took us down the hall to another waiting area.  At least there were less people in the next room.  We waited maybe 15 more minutes before they called my name.  The appointment lasted 10 minutes or so.  I got weighed (yay!  who doesn't love getting weighed!), blood pressure taken (114/64...hypertensive for me...I blame my stressful morning), and blood drawn, all with Reese and James watching attentively.  I think James (and his constant motion) made the lab tech nervous.  She got him a chair to sit in, probably hoping that would keep him somewhat contained.  I agreed with whatever she wanted to do.  The last thing you want is a nervous lab tech right before they stick a needle in your arm...

On our way out of the waiting room, we bumped into coworker #2.  She was super sweet to my kids.  I didn't want to announce to her (and the rest of the room) that Reese had thrown up and probably she didn't want to touch her.  Thankfully she just patted her head.  That was probably safe.

We scurried back to the car to make our way back home where there's a bathtub and cleaning supplies and clean clothes for Reese.

At home, I fed them a quick snack and put them in the tub.  They proceeded to have an absolute blast splashing each other.  They made the biggest bath-mess I've ever witnessed in their short lives.  The kinda mess where there seems to be as much water IN the bath as out of it and the tile bathroom floor is down right treacherous to walk on.  This is where my drenched skirt came from.  It was collateral damage.

Now they are in their beds...hopefully asleep by now...  I've disassembled Reese's car seat to wash the cover.  Hoping there's no more vomitousness in my immediate future...

After all this, I better have met the criteria for the $780!!

James is THREE!

We celebrated James' third birthday over a few weeks time.

There were presents:

(clothes modeled here)

There was cake:

James had cake too, of course, but didn't make this glorious of a mess, so Reese earned the photo op.

There was singing:

In retrospect, we could have let him get a tiny bit closer to the candles.  Maybe next year.

There were friends and family that helped us celebrate James in South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia.  Lots of love for this guy across the tri-state area.

James is into cars (McQueen!), trains (Thomas!), tractors and trucks (no cartoon names come to mind immediately).  We're just getting started with potty training.  His favorite foods are non-real-food items such as nutrigrain bars, chips, and cookies.  

He's an introverted quiet type-guy.  (Is that redundant?)  

He loves to "fwim" (read: swim).

He has an affinity for his blanket, especially the tag on it.  Or actually, tags on anything.  Shirts, towels, etc.

Based on the number of times in a day it happens, I have to assume James enjoys crying.

He just moved into a "big boy bed" (twin mattress on the floor).  And when I say "just", I mean today.  He's slept in it a few times here and there, but we just rearranged rooms and put Reese (in a pack and play her whole life) into his crib in her room.  No turning back now!

James, you're a great kid!  We're lucky you're ours!

Columbia Life: A Day at the Park

And by "day" at the park, I mean "hour", just to be clear.

We headed downtown to check out Finlay Park here in Columbia, SC.  It was chilly out (40's--that's chilly to us, balmy to some of you), but definitely tolerable.

Reese is still working on the whole walking-thing.  She requires, shall we say, "assistive devices."  During our time there, she walked at least a half of a mile.  She's napping now.  She may sleep until tomorrow morning after all that exercise.

Wow that's a lotta purple she's wearing.  Who dressed that child?? (cough cough me)

Memaw and Pawpaw appear to be Reese's security detail here.  The Colonel is ever vigilant.  Thankfully the Colonel is not too proud to push a stroller with a hot pink blanket in it.

James enjoyed three different sized slides.  A small, medium and large one.  He would go down one, stand up and say "Again?!"

There were some shady, shady characters (pictured above) at the park.  Thus the need for the security detail.

Do you ever feel like you're just watching life pass you by?  Reese does.

When you find yourself in that situation, be sure and invite others to join you as you watch life pass by...

Come on down for a visit!  We'll take you to some of our new favorite places!

Adoption: How Do I Answer The Question About How Many Kids I Have?

I'm in a new job which means getting to know new people.  Very common questions I ask and get asked:

"Do you have any kids?"

"How many?"

"How old are they?"

Maybe this is a ridiculously easy question for you to answer.  Maybe it isn't.  Maybe you had a miscarriage and you don't know how to answer.  For me, this question isn't particularly hard to respond to, it just usually involves me giving the asker more information than they thought they would get.

Whenever someone asks me how many children I have, I answer this way, usually all in one breath so there is no room for questions until I'm done:

"I have three kids.  My first child I placed for adoption when she was born, so I'm not raising her.  She is 9.5.  Then I have a 2.5 year old son and a 1 year old daughter."

People respond in all kinds of ways to that information.  I give a lot of grace here because I know they were not necessarily prepared to hear what I just told them.  I don't know how other birthmothers respond to this inquiry.  I just know for me, in my circumstances and how I feel about it, it feels wrong not to acknowledge Chloe in my "kid count".  To me, it feels like a way to honor her.  If I only said I have two kids, that would be dishonoring her.

My first day in the NICU, my preceptor (Courtney) and I had this very conversation.  She asked me how many kids I have.  I answered how I usually do.  I had my hands in a baby's isolette (incubator) at the time.  As I answered, though, tears started welling up in my eyes.  I was mid-sentence about how since I moved here, this is the first time in her life that we haven't been in the same city (generally speaking) as each other.

Side note:  since I'm a verbal processor type person, a lot of times I don't know how I'm feeling about something until I start talking about it.  The words come out of my mouth and it is only after the fact that I have a new revelation about the inner workings of my heart.

This was one of those times.  I didn't realize it was weighing on my heart until I said it out loud and had TEARS in my eyes.  I talk about adoption, Chloe, the whole scenario, all the time without crying my way through it.  And then in this instance, out of the blue, TEARS.  I blame unpredictable momma hormones.  I apologized profusely to Courtney.  Bless her heart.  She's going to be afraid to ever bring up the subject of children again!

I think part of what upset me was that I miss Chloe.  Although we didn't see each other frequently, we both knew we were there, available.  Also, it breaks my heart for her to think that I left her.  Does she feel this way??  Aw geez.  More tears.  I hope and pray she doesn't.

Her parents are so awesome.  I'm grateful every day for them.  I know they will help Chloe through this transition, as they have helped her through every phase of her 9.5 years thus far.  I pray that God would grant us all wisdom and discernment about how to care for one another during this stage.

I will continue to let inquiring minds know that I have three precious children.

Well, until I have four! No, I'm not pregnant.  Just sayin...

Snow Day 2014

South Carolina doesn't get snow very often.  When it does, we have to make the most of it!  The news said we got between two and four inches.  Seems about right from what we saw.  When James saw the snow for the first time, he said "Uh oh.  Boken."  Everything that is NOT as it should be to him is 'broken' or "boken" as he says it.  Definitely the white-coated world outside his window qualified as "boken!"  

We played in the snow for about thirty minutes.  James had fun walking around in it.  He refused to wear gloves, but didn't seem to mind the cold. (It was about 35 degrees.)  Reese on the other hand, wanted to touch the snow until she did and realized it was COLD.  She started crying and didn't stop for ten minutes after we went inside.  Her poor little hands were so red and cold!  We don't own a snow shovel (because why would we??), so instead of shoveling our driveway, I swept it with a broom and used a rake to get the icy parts.  Fun times!

We had some hot chocolate.  Scott made us some yummy cookies.  All in all it was a good day.  Hopefully it will all melt away tomorrow.  This stuff is really annoying to actually have to live with on a daily basis.  I don't know how so many of you do it!

The backyard.

James needed snow tires or chains or something for his car.  He kept saying "Stuck! Halp!"

One of two snowmen creations of Scott's.

Reese testing out the snow, skeptically.