Brooke Discovered Guitar!

She's wearing a diaper, just so ya know.. shes a 3-year old, she likes to run around without clothes on for some reason! :-P



Most of you know that Arnold loves to play guitar.. and he has been playing for several years now. Well he always said when we had kids that he couldnt wait to teach them guitar one day. he said he wanted to get brooke her own guitar for her 4th or 5th Christmas. well anyway, the other night out of nowhere Brooke said "Daddy i want guitar!" And of course Arnold's face lit up and he looked proud :-P He has one in the basement thats kind of a beat up one but it still works. So he went and got it, along with one of his good ones, that he plays. And he and Brooke sat on the couch for awhile hanging out. Daddy/daughter bonding, gotta love it :) He tried showing her some things but of course she wasnt interested, she just was happy to hold the guitar in her lap :) It was so cute though, and I got a few pics of it. The next day she saw the beat up guitar laying in the kitchen and said "THATS BROOKES GUITAR!!' haha.. and so it begins :)

Girl Scout Kickoff

Hiking outside with my Brownie Troop

Tonight for our girlscout meeting we had a get-together at Sain Recreational Center.. it was a kickoff for the year. We were going to have a cookout and pool party, but it was soo chilly and windy tonight! So we ended up just having a cookout. A policeman came out and talked to the older girls, and we took our Brownie troop down to the creek, and walking through the woods. I was NOT expecting that.. i was wearing flip flops and nearly tripped a dozen times :-P The girls were so excited to be playing outside, and sad they didnt get to swim. I was shocked at how quickly the weather turned cold! Fall is definately upon us! Im happy, because I love Fall.. but im a little sad that the evenings are getting too cool to play outside.. im going to miss taking Brooke and Caleb out to play in the evenings.

Anyway, tonight was pretty fun. Next Monday we just have a regular meeting.. so Jennifer and I will have to decide what we're doing w/ the girls next week (Jenn is my sister-in-law and the other leader of our troop). Im really enjoying this so far.. I cant wait for us to start doing some fun things. Our 1st big trip is planned for next month-- we're going to the Columbia Zoo in SC. We also want to plan a slumber party at the church for the girls.. that will be so much fun! This is really taking me back to my childhood. I had a lot of fun in scouts.. and its fun to see these girls having a good time! Im glad i get to be a part of it :)

My Big 3-Year Old!

I took Brooke in to the Dr this afternoon for her 3-year checkup. The whole way there she kept asking "where are we going mommy???" And i told her she was going for her checkup. She thought i said "ketchup" and she got excited. That kid loves putting ketchup on everything :-P Anyway, we got there and she ran around the waiting room like crazy... 3 year olds are full of energy.. id give anything to have a teeny bit of that energy that she has!

Anyway, we first went to get her weighed. She is 39 lbs now! :-0 They said only one more pound and she'll be able to ride in a booster seat instead of a carseat! But that carseats are safer, so to keep her in one until she really outgrows it or gets really uncomfortable. Then they measured her and she was 41 inches tall!! She is 3 1/2 feet tall! I know that shouldnt be surprising since im so tall, but it still is :-P She is basically the size of a 5 year old! She has the stats! She is in the 95th percentile for weight and off the charts for height. They arent worried about her weight b/c she is so tall! They said taller kids are going to be bigger. And they are happy about how well she eats, shes not picky at all! This kid actually ASKS for salad! We were blessed with a good eater :)

They then took her bloodpressure and shed never had that done before so she was very nervous. She started crying and just acting pitiful. She actually got a high reading for her age. So they did it again at the end of the appt, and it was still high. The dr said it was probably from her being so upset and fidgeting, but just to be sure, shes getting rechecked in 3 months. They also checked her ears, and she passed the test, she can hear fine!

Then we went back to a room. The dr asked her to do a few things, like tell her how old she was, name a friend, identify a few colors and shapes.. and she did it all for her! I was so proud! Shes usually pretty shy around people she doesnt know but she warmed up to the Dr pretty quickly. Then she did an exam on her and checked her lungs, heart, spine and reflexes, and all that checked out good :) Lastly she had to get a flu shot.. in her thigh.. poor thing! :( But she actually did ok! She said OUCH! haha.. she didnt even cry. She was excited about getting an orange bandaid :) And the dr also gave her some princess stickers which kept her busy.

I was just so proud at how well she did at her checkup! I couldnt have asked for it to go any better! Im just so glad shes a healthy and happy little girl! :)

Rachel's Christening

Yesterday (September 27th) we had Rachel's Christening. Its actually called a Baby Dedication at our church. But anyway, Mom and i went shopping at Sears and got her dress.. it was so pretty! Came with the matching bonnet which was cute but kept slipping down over Rachels eyes :-P She would have worn mine, like Brooke did, but she was too big for it! I call her my little chunky monkey :-P Our whole family was there, which was really special. Right after the Christening we took the kids and stayed in the nursery for the rest of the service because brooke and caleb were acting up. The church gave Rachel a gift-- her very own Bible. It was pink, and had a flower on it... so cute for a girl. They also had it personalized with her name and birthday on it, i thought that was so neat! Her Uncle Dwight and Aunt Margaret got her a card and a 14k gold cross necklace, it was so pretty! She'll really treasure those things one day :)

After church our whole family went out to lunch at O'Charleys. Rachel slept thru the whole thing ;-) We always joke that she sleeps through big events-- she also slept thru Arnolds' band playing at the bar last week.. I cant believe she can sleep thru so much noise! But anyway, I had brunch (eggs, bacon and pancakes) and it was yummy! After that we went home and put the kids down for a nap.

All in all it was a great day. I just wished we could have gotten a family pic in front of the church like we did with Brooke and Caleb... oh well.

Rainy Saturday

I wasnt surprised to wake up to another rainy day. Its been raining so much lately! I dont mind the rain but after awhile its annoying because I go stir-crazy.. and the kids hate not being able to go outside and play.

But anyway, this morning Arnold didnt have to work! He usually doesnt work Saturdays anyway, but lately theyve been swamped at work and their boss has been asking them to work some Saturdays. Since he was off I got to sleep in! That was esepcially helpful because the sleeping pill i have to take at night takes awhile to wear off in the mornings, so it was nice to have help with the kids.

And as I expected, after awhile the kids started to get stir-crazy. We had been watching tv all morning and then had lunch, and we didnt know what else to do. So we decided to take the kids to the library for the 1st time! Perfect rainy-day activity, right?? Everyone knows how much I love to read.. i used to go to the library all the time, but I actually havent been to the one thats right down the road from us. Its literally 3 mins from our house. But we live in Hildebran, so of course its a really small library with not a very big selection. But the kids' section was so neat. They had this whole area set up with kids' books, beanbag chairs, toys, and a little table with stuff set out to color. Of course the kids went straight to that ;-) I was looking around at their selection of books and I actually found a new book out by an author I love! I am so thrilled because its still out in hardback and i didnt want to pay $20 to buy a book and probably only read it once. So i checked it out and i cant wait to start reading it. The kids also picked a few books to take home, including a Curious George book (theyre really into him these days) :) We had a really hard time getting them out of there, they didnt want to leave... but the librarian gave them both bookmarks to take home so they were happy about that and that helped prevent a meltdown when we were leaving. I think ill plan to take them back again soon... it would be something fun for us to do throught the week when we get bored. :)

Some of you know that Arnolds' band was supposed to play this afternoon at a Festival in Hildebran.. but they got rained out :( Bummer. I was really excited about taking the kids out to see him play. But at least it got rescheduled for next weekend. So it had better not rain AGAIN next weekend :(

Well anyway, I have no clue what we're going to do the rest of the day. Since its a rainy day im tempted to curl up in a chair with a blanket and start reading my book, but I know Rachel wont let me do that ;-)

"EKP"

Arnold is in a band with some of his friends from work. They call themselves "EKP" which stands for The Eric Kent Project. Eric Kent is a friend from work who is still learning guitar and didnt want to be in the actual band so hes their "manager" lol and they always practice at his house. They wanted him included somehow so they made his name part of the Band Name.

Anyway, theres this place in Morganton called the Catawba Valley Brewing Company.. its this place that looks like a little club and they brew their own beers there. They have a bar, tables set up, pool tables, and a stage where local bands come and play. Thurs nights are Open Mic nights, so EKP decided to call up there and see if they could play.. so they did this past Thursday. It was a big stage and there was some really nice equipment.. and of course it was their first gig, so the guys were pretty excited :-)

This is a pic of Arnold playing.. he had so much fun :)

Anyway, they played 2 sets, one at 6:30, and one at 8. They play classic rock, so they did some Eric Clapton songs, skynyrd songs, Tom Petty songs, etc. They did really well. The people that were there hanging out seemed to like them, too. the last song they decided to do was "Freebird" and Arnold really didnt want to do it because they hadnt practiced it that much.. but they did it anyway. They messed up big time... it wasnt really their fault, their singer was SO DRUNK by the end of the evening it was ridiculous. He was nervous and was just downing beers left and rihgt. I lost count of how many he had, seriously. He forgot the words to the song.. and kept messing them up. They finished the song anyway, but i could tell they were embarassed. Overall though it was great. They said they had fun and thats what matters. They said they probably wont do any more gigs in the future, but i can tell theyre considering it ;-)

deal Family, 2009

About 3 weeks ago we had family pics taken at our church. They were for the Church directory, but we could also order more if we wanted, which of course we did (Note to self: dont do that again..Amy is MUCH cheaper!) ;-) So just wanted to share our family pic. And yes, we all wore blue.. I like us to color-coordinate in pics.. and Ill probably keep it up until the kids get old enough to object ;-)

Randomness from the Week..

I meant to get around to writing some on here this week, but it was a busy week and it just got away from me! So heres a summary of the week :)


Monday morning i had to go in for my weekly bloodwork, to check my coumadin levels. They were STILL low, so they upped me to 10mg every day, at least until my next check. For those who dont know, thats a very high dose of blood thinners, and im at a big risk of bleeding now.. so i have to be careful. I just hope my levels even out again soon. The dr said i could start taking an iron pill to help w/ my anemia, and hopefully help w/ the dizzy spells.. so far it seems to be working :) Monday night I went to my first official Girl scout meeting with my Brownie Troop. My Sister-in-law and I are leading the group. we only have a few girls in our group,but that should be good.. we'll be able to do more things that way, I think. The girls seem really sweet.. and I think we'll have a fun year! Our 1st big trip is planned for next month-- we're going to the Columbia Zoo in SC! :) I think Brooke will be coming along also, which im excited about since shes never been to a zoo before. Anyway, our meetings will be every Monday night and im excited to be doing this because it takes me back to the days when I was a scout myself :)




I never blogged about this, but last Saturday evening we discovered we had a leak in one of our pipes! Arnold heard running water even though all the water was off. It was bad enough that we had to cut the water off to all of the house. He could turn it on for me to take 2-minute(literally) showers or flush the toilet when we really needed to, but otherwise, we were without water. it was AWFUL. We had to buy gallons of water at the store and use them to wash out babybottles and sipcups.. it took almost a whole one just to wash them a few times.. it felt like such a waste! :( Tuesday evening i went out with the Hickory Moms group to MNO at Outback Steakhouse. It was so nice to get away and have a meal w/ some friends! When i got home the water was back on! Arnold and his Uncle Gene had been working on things while I was gone. I was sooo relieved! You dont realize how much you rely on water until you lose it for 3 days!





Wednesday was basically spent WORKING my butt off because i had loads and loads of laundry to do, and a pile of dishes to wash since we hadnt had the water for days. Its amazing how quick that stuff adds up! I also got started packing away rachels 0/3 month clothes that shes outgrown. She had a TON of clothes.. and no, she didnt get to wear every single outfit.. **holds head down in shame** I think i went overboard with the shopping when I was pregnant-- but who can resist cute Baby Girl clothes?!! ;-) I then refilled the closet with her 3/6 month stuff.. she has some cute stuff that I cant wait for her to wear! I love dressing her up and taking pics! Believe me, shes my last baby, so there will be lots of pics! :)





Yesterday evening (Thurs evening) Arnold's band had their first gig.. which was so much fun to go watch, but ill write about that in another blog :)





Hope everyone has a great weekend! :)

Whats Going on Lately?

So as many of you know ive been having bad dizzy spells for about 2 or 3 weeks now and the Drs keep trying to figure out whats going on. Well they diagnosed me with an inner ear infection last week and prescribed me antibiotics for it. They said that could have been causing some of the dizziness. I didnt know that ear infections could cause dizziness.. you learn something new every day!

Anyway, ive finished the antibiotics and was feeling better. So yesterday afternoon I decided to go out shopping for a little while. I went into Babies R Us and bought some diapers, and looked at the Halloween costumes. (BTW they had a turtle costume in Rachels size and i was soo tempted to get it but she already has a costume so thatd just be a waste of money! :( Anyway.. I went to Target next.. everyone knows I love Target. I was looking around in the baby section and out of nowhere started feeling dizzy. I mean VERY dizzy-- i was feeling lightheaded and seeing spots.. and It made me really scared because I was alone. I didnt know if id pass out, because I never have before and so I didnt know what to expect. So i just walked back on out to the van and sat down. I waited for the feeling to pass enough to drive home. I was having anxiety bad by this point and had to take one of my Ativan pills. Anytime i get scared now over something it usually brings on a panic attack. :(


I got home and continued to feel dizzy throughout the evening.. but once the Ativan kicked in i was able to settle down and get some rest. I am anemic and I figured that could have something to do with these dizzy spells maybe, but its just strange that ive been anemic for years and theyve never been this bad before. I went to bed with a little bit of a fever and body aches and I thought I might be coming down with the flu. Today i feel a bit better, just lethargic and laying around alot. I dont think its the flu though, which is good. Arnold went to his band practice this afternoon and the inlaws are babysitting the kids so I can get some rest... which is nice. I just hope I feel better soon!

Big Accomplishment!!

We have been working with Brooke for awhile on the whole Potty thing, but she just didn't seem interested. Then all of a sudden the other day I caught her stripped down naked, sitting on the toilet! She jumped up when she saw me, and wiped and flushed and said ALL DONE! Great huh? Well she hadn't done anything ;-) But at least she was interested-- that's a great sign. Well the next day I was putting Caleb down for a nap and she had gone back to the potty again without me knowing and this time she did something-- she pooped in the potty! (Man i hate talking about bodily functions, but when you re a mom you get excited about things like this! ;-) Anyway, that was her very first time and i was so excited :D The bad news is she had made a HUGE mess.. wont go into details.. but Arnold was the one who cleaned it up :-P Anyway, i just hope she decides to keep it up. Because having 3 in diapers is sooo expensive! Not to mention that its hard keeping track who had a diaper when throughout the day. I cant wait to get her trained and go shopping for big girl panties for her.. she keeps talking about wearing big girl panties, I know shes excited :)

Rachel is 3 Months Old!

Rachel turned 3 months old on Friday! Wow, the time is just flying by! She is the sweetest baby, she hardly ever cries unless she wants to eat or isn't feeling well. And when she does, its more like a whine. arnold calls her our Baby Taradactyl (no clue on spelling! but you know--the dinosaur ;-) because her cries are this funny screechy sound, its hard to explain, but its cute :) She is very sociable and loves for anyone and everyone to hold her.. she smiles the second I go to pick her up out of her bassinet when she wakes up in the morning :)

So far I think shes starting to feel better.. this weekend we slowly started introducing her formula back into her diet. Today was our first try at ALL formula, so we'll see how that goes. But the number of dirty diapers she has a day has decreased, so thats a good sign. :)

Sick Baby...

Yesterday I had to take Rachel to the Dr. I always dread taking my kids to the Dr because it always means a long wait and an unhappy kid :( But anyway, Rachel had been bad diarrhea for the past week or so, and it gave her a rash, and the rash had gotten so bad that it was open sores, and she screamed every time i changed her diaper :( So i called and made an appt. I got the 4:10 appt, and they are always packed in the afternoons, so we had to wait awhile. I sat near another mom in the waiting room and we chatted for awhile about our kids.. I was proud of myself, I usually am so shy but Im starting to come out of my shell more and more as time goes on. She was wearing her ladybug onesie and matching hat that i bought her online at Crazy 8 (they have the cutest kids' clothes, and not badly priced at all!) And she got so many "awwwws" by the nurses.. everyone kept saying "look at the cute little ladybug!"

There is a pic of her in her outfit before we left above.. her hat was still a little big on her ;-)

Anyway, we finally got called back to a room. rachel got weighed and is 12 lbs 8 ozs.. shes my big girl.. she definately loves to eat! :) And they took her temp and it was normal.. said she seemed fine to them, didnt think it was a bug. The dr said it was difficult to pinpoint the reason for diarrhea lots of times.. but that Rachels stomach needed a rest from food... so we needed to put her on a 24-hr diet of just pedialyte. I was already thinking MY POOR BABY.. lol i just knew shed be sad wondering where her food was. Then we were supposed to start slowly adding formula back into her diet and see how she does. I hope it works and the diarrhea goes away, because i dont care to make another visit up there! And i know Rachel doesnt care to either ;-) Also, she said for the rash they usually prescribe this high-powered cream thats made up of 3 ingredients and it costs like $35, even with insurance! :-0 So she gave me the over-the-counter names of the ingredients that are in the cream, and said i was welcome to go get them, mix them, and make our own cream. So i went out last night and did that.. and it still cost us $20 to make the cream and its not that much at all! But if it works, its worth it.

Have to mention what the nurse did-- She was about to leave the room, and said "I guess the baby looks like her daddy, huh?" And i said "yeah... i guess so???" And she said "Because she doesnt favor you at all." Then she just walked out of the room!!!!!! I was speechless. She said it in the most serious and monotone voice ever.. she wasnt joking around at all. I mean.. who cares who my kids look like? They are my kids and i love them! I was pretty offended by what she said. Note: Idont mind my kids looking like their daddy at all! But that woman was rude! Ok.. sorry for the vent.. but I just found that very strange.....

Didnt get home from the appt till around 5:30... and of course the kids were starving by then.. so we just loaded them up and went to Geppettos for dinner. It had been a long time since we went out w/ all 3 kids and did something as a family, so it was fun :)

Fall is Around the Corner..

Wow, i cant believe how quickly the summer has flown by. Arnold and I were just talking about it in bed last night. Although to be fair, I missed a lot of the summer, and wasnt able to enjoy it, due to all the medical things that have been going on with me. But im going to try not to dwell on that, and move on, and look forward to the upcoming season. Fall is actually my favorite season.. I love the air getting cooler, and how pretty it gets outside. I especially love the fall holidays like Halloween now that I have kids. I already have the kids' halloween costumes for this year.. Brooke is going to be a pink monster (hard to explain-- its a cute costume that I found at BRU last year) and Caleb will be a Giraffe and Rachel will be a pumpkin! :) I am excited about taking them out trick-or-treating and to a few church and Hickory Mom events. Im going to try to have a little get-together here at our house, too. The kids love getting together with other kids and playing. i have started putting up my Fall and Halloween decor already... I am a very impatient person, and when i want to do something-- I do it. Haha. :)

Starting New

Since so many people have moved over to Facebook and hardly ever get on myspace anymore, I decided to stop blogging on Myspace and make up a whole new blog. So here is my new blog for those of you who actually want to read it! LOL. I was surprised at how many people were reading my blog back on myspace.. I never found my life that interesting.. but i guess some of you all do, or else youre just really, really bored :)