Pumpkins

We went to Walmart this morning and got 3 small pumpkins. I told the kids that if they napped we would decorate our pumpkins after nap. Regular markers would not work, so we had to use permanent....I made Jake strip down to his diaper! Here is what we created!

All 3

Kendall's Pumpkin

Isabella's pumpkin

Jake's pumpkin (he did not want to be photographed)

It's been a week!

Sorry it has taken me so long to post, but things have been hectic! It all started last Tuesday when Chris was out of town on business. I took the kids to Oglethorpe Mall to run in a few stores and then we ate at the food court. Jake then got sick at 3am! My mom and brother arrived at 6am after driving all night to come down. After mom scared me half to death when she crawled in bed with me (this was the night Chris was out of town) I was up for the rest of the day!

We left for Toby Keith's concert in Atlanta on Thursday. Chris took off the rest of the week and watched the kids for 36 hours while we went to the concert and did a little shopping in Atlanta. We got back just in time for Kendall to get sick that night! Long story short, we have been sick for 8 days and I'm about to climb the walls in my house! I think we are coming out of it! This seems to be the most challenging part of having 3 kids the same age. They all do things together and that equals getting sick together. They don't get sick the same night, we like to drag it out over a week or more! To top that off, Jake and Bella have had hand, foot, and mouth. Aggg.....!

Mom had a nice visit, she LOVES her grandbabies! I'm thinking we might go up there and see them the first of October. I really want to see leaves change and experience a "real" fall!
We start potty training on Friday, I was going to do it Monday, but with sick kids I moved it a week. I will let you know how that goes.

The kids are still acting 2. Jake in particular is a new child. He does things he KNOWS he is not supposed to do, when you punish him, he just laughs! Chris found him the other night behind his chest of drawers, it was caddy cornered between two walls. He was yelling, "get me out of here." I don't know what to do with him!

This is our life!

I just wanted to explain my afternoon. The kids decided not to nap until around 3pm. I woke them up at 4:10 and put on a new diaper and told them they could snack downstairs. This is a typical routine for us, my kids don't nap well and when they do, they fall asleep later in the afternoon. This usually means I have to wake them up so they will fall asleep at night. This routine means unhappy and grumpy kids because they were not able to get a full nap in. We had a busy day today with playgroup at our house, I put out the bouncy house in the living room and they played for a long time with friends. I knew they were tired, but they fight naps!



After we woke up, I came downstairs and started dinner (tuna lasagna...YUM)! While sauteing onions, I lost Isabella. I found her upstairs on the potty. She was inspired to be on the big potty because Emma and Patrick are potty trained and they were playing with us today. This is fine and dandy, but then the other two strip off their diapers and proceed to potty. Therefore, while onions are cooking I have Bella on the upstairs potty, Jake on my potty, and Kendall on the 1/2 bath potty. Kendall has to have the door closed, Bella and Jake don't care. I get the lasagna put together and then found out that Jake clogged up the master bedroom toilet with toilet paper so I have to plunge that. Molly our dog in the midst of all of this pee's upstairs on the carpet. She felt left out and wanted to go potty too! While trying to get everyone in one place so I can get diapers on everyone, Jake is jumping in the bounce house butt naked and Kendall is butt naked trying to get her tike bike up the slide so she can ride her bike in the bounce house....and once again I've lost Bella! If you are under 5 in my house you need potty training, this means the dog too!

Poor Chris, he then walks in the door! Everyone is diapered and we eat lasagna!

Who knows what this week will bring, but I can ensure you it's going to be a wild ride!

Kendall is looking good!

We just received the last blood test results and Kendall is doing much better. Her numbers are not perfect, but are headed in the right direction. We will test again in two weeks! Thanks again for your prayers during all of this.

On another note, our children have reached a new stage. We thought earlier that we had reached the "terrible two's".....we were wrong! Our lovely children have a new personality that Chris and I did not know existed! For example, Jake took a can of cream of mushroom soup and threw it two check out lanes over while were checking out of Walmart this afternoon. This type of behavior is typical now with all 3 thoughout the day! What can one do except just hope this passes SOON! I don't want to have "that" child(ren) no one wants to play with!!

They are still great children and are very sweet, but they beat me sometimes!

Neena

Looking Good!

Kendall was off to the Cardiologist this morning. Thanks to Shara who watched the other two while we rode into town. Kendall once again was perfect during the Echo. The technician was amazed at well she does. Dr. Long came in and said that everything looks good, nothing has grown! He told us to keep the asprin going twice a day and he would see us in 3 weeks. He reminded me that she will not feel 100 percent for at least 8 weeks. I was concerned that she was still tired after playing for a while and she was still pale. He looked at me and said, "remember she had a major disease". Hmmm......as a mother you just want your children to be healthy and happy.

While we were at the doctors office, Shara was able to get Jake to pet her cat! This is a major step for us. He is afraid of all animals, I know funny huh since we have a dog!

This scare with Kendall puts life in perspective, it does not matter what car you drive or if you have designer labels on your clothes. What matters is your family, friends, and health. My heart goes out to parents who deal with a chronically ill child. My mind has been racing since the start of this illness, I can't imagine having to face illness everyday and not know the outcome. We have great doctors who care for us and want to see Kendall get better. We are on our way to being completely healthy. Please pray for those who deal with this daily, from the doctors, nurses, patients, and parents, may they have the strength to deal with whatever may come their way.

We go for more blood work Tuesday.

Tomorrow's a big day!

Tomorrow is our appointment at the Cardiologist. I'm hoping and praying that we will be seen and told that nothing has changed. My fear is the anyrism (I'm too lazy right now to look up the spelling) will have grown. Kendall is doing really well. She tires easily and has to take breaks after playing and her face is still pale, but all in all she is holding her own. She is still on baby asprin twice a day.

The other two are great! They are still concerned about Kendall. Isabella will ask me at least once a day if Kendall is still sick. I think it's great that she and Jake both care so much for their sister. When you think of two year olds, you think all they would care about is themselves and of course their toys that belong to "them", but Jake and Isabella knew when I did that something was just not right. They have been champs since the beginning.

Mom flew home this morning, she will be back in a couple of weeks. I bought her tickets to Toby Keith's concert in Atlanta for her birthday. She is a HUGE fan of Toby Keith so I knew this would be a gift that she would love. We will be away for about 24 hours! Chris will have my brother here to help, but he would be fine on his own!

I will post tomorrow and let you know how it goes! By the way, LOVE the cooler weather. I've been outside with the kids all day, they even took a 2 hour nap!!!