Pretty Nails

Yesterday Gabby brought over a birthday gift for Nadia, which consisted of the shirt, hat, and purse shown below (from Gymboree). Ian has been seen wearing the hat as well as the purse. In fact while we were at the playground this morning he picked it up and hooked it over his elbow and carried it around the playground. It cracked me up! I also painted Nadia's toenails and fingernails this morning. I had intended to do that last week so they'd be pretty for her birthday and birthday party, and I just didn't get around to it. There was too much going on with Fairytale Dance Camp, swimming, etc. I don't think I've painted her nails in 6 months! I need to do it more often than that.

Three Quotes

Here are three funny quotes from Nadia that I want to record for future laughs:

1. I picked up a tissue from Nadia's bedroom floor to use on her nose (as it appeared unused to me), and she exclaimed "No, it's broken!" (Translation - used) LOL!

2. On Sunday afternoon coming home from the Family Fair at church she said, "my pants are salty." Translation - there were cookie crumbs on them. LOL!

3. On the way to the pool today Nadia said, "I want to swim with little Joe!" I bet the 18 year old lifeguard wouldn't be too wild about that nickname, lol! She got it from a VeggieTales episode about Joseph.

Last Joint Appointment

Ian and Nadia had their second joint "well child" doctor appointments today. Last June this happened for Ian's 6 month/ Nadia's 2 year, and today it was for Ian's 18 month/ Nadia's 3 year. For about 2 weeks she's exactly twice as old as he is (18 vs. 36 months old). From now on his well child visits will be in December, so their appointments won't be joint any more. We were there for 1 hour and 40 minutes. Our visit included Nadia's first vision and hearing tests. She didn't seem to understand how to do the hearing test. The nurse wanted her to raise her hand when she heard a beep in one ear. The vision test she did well the first few rows, but I never see her squint so I think it was more about her age than a vision problem as to why she didn't come out as 20/20. It was also her first time having her b/p checked since she was in the NICU. Her b/p was fine. She's 36 inches tall, which I already knew from her visits to Knoebels. Her weight with a shirt, skirt, and bathing suit on was 34 lbs. This put her at the 26th percentile for height and 80th percentile for weight, which naturally gave her a high BMI. I'm going to be more restrictive regarding how many times a week I let her have a treat (ex. a cookie or a pudding or fruit snacks). Last night she surprised me by picking green beans over corn on the cob. Not that she likes green beans. She seems to have forgotten she LOVED corn on the cob the last 2 summers. She just assumes by default that she doesn't like foods that aren't sweets. Sigh.

Ian received 2 immunizations today, and the doctor gave me orders (at my request) for blood work to test him for various allergies. Since we were already at the doctor's office so long today, I decided to take him to the lab at the hospital another day this week when we're headed to the pool. They weighed him with a wet diaper and clothes on, and he weighed a little over 25lbs, which would put him at the 35th percentile. However I'm guessing he's closer to the 25th percentile (where he's been for the past 6 months) if he was weighed with only a dry diaper on. They said he grew 2 inches in the past 3 months and that his head circumference grew 1cm (to 48cm), which puts him at the 54th percentile. His length had been at the 33rd percentile at 12 months and 18th percentile at 15 months. Today he was up to the 36th percentile. It makes me think the length measurement at 15 months probably wasn't totally accurate. Nadia's last immunization was at 18 months, but her first several appointments were at a different clinic. It turns out Ian will have one more at 2 years before he gets a break from getting shots for a few years.

This afternoon the mail carrier brought us three packages - all for Ian. One was his room darkening shade. I hope that helps because I'm not crazy about him waking up at 5:30 every morning. In fact getting up that early for the last few weeks plus all the festivities this past birthday weekend had pooped me out to the point that I went to bed at 8pm last night, right after I put Nadia to bed. Another was his Prevacid (shipped from England). I saw on the paperwork that his GI doctor already gave them a refill. Had I known that, I would have ordered 6 months worth at once because that would have been cheaper than 2 separate orders. However, I am grateful to know that it will be easy to get the refill in 3 months. The third package was the Singulair from Merck. YAHOOOOOOOOOO! They sent (for FREE) 3 month's worth. PTL! He had gone without for one week as we had used all of the free samples the Allergist gave us.

I actually had called Merck this morning and they said it was in the mail. I had the Rx with me and was going to fill it at Walmart today if I didn't get good news from them that it was en route. The Allergist's office called this morning to say that our insurance company has asked them for additional information regarding Ian's need for EleCare. I'm still praying they'll agree to cover it as it costs us at least $200 a month. I also called AstraZeneca to check on the status of our application. They said we were deemed ineligible! I wrote a letter to appeal (as they told me to) as their denial was based on last year's income even though I had submitted documentation from my university that I'm on unpaid leave, and this year we'll make less than half of what we made last year. I faxed the letter today and called in his 3rd refill at Walmart (it's $175 per box). I'm praying we'll start getting some free before I need to get his 4th box. It's frustrating because I started the application process for both meds on the same day. If one had been slower than the other, I wish it had been the other way around as Singulair is MUCH cheaper than Pulmicort. I am grateful though that we have enough Prevacid and Singulair on hand now for 3 months, and I'll be able to get 6 more months of Singulair for free with just a simple phone call. Whew. Hopefully soon I'll be able to say the same about the Pulmicort. I really, really, really, really wish PSU offered Rx drug coverage for their grad students. I'd gladly give up the vision and dental insurance in exhange for Rx drug coverage!!!

A Special Sunday

The slide at church

The birthday celebrations concluded yesterday, but the special events for the weekend did not. This morning we went to the 8:00am service at my "old" church because Tim Zimmerman and the King's Brass were in concert from Indiana. I opted for the 8:00 rather than the 10:45 service because our church was having a Family Fair at 3:00pm. By attending the 8:00 service I was able to put Nadia down for her nap at noon, which meant we were able to attend more of the fair. The concert this morning vwas outstanding. I had Nadia join me for part of the concert. It was also wonderful to see people I haven't seen in awhile, such as my former pastor. My friend Cheri, whom I haven't seen in a long time also went to the service with me before she went to her church service. I sit by  myself 99% of the time at church so it was nice to sit with someone this morning. I mowed while Nadia napped. It had only been 5 days since I had mowed, but it looked like I had gone a lot longer than that. The kids and I had fun at the picnic at church this afternoon. Nadia loved throwing water balloons and jumping on the inflatables. Ian enjoyed running through the grass and playing on the playground.

Nadia wearing 2 birthday gifts - new dress and new dress up shoes

Climbing up the slide is hard work!

Water balloons are fun!

Inflatables are also a lot of fun!

3rd Birthday Celebrations!!

When I opened Nadia's bedroom door at 7:30am, I serenaded her with the happy birthday song. Then I made chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast at her request. After dressing her in a Cinderella dress, she opened up her presents from us. I discovered the dress was a little too big, so I changed her into another princess costume before taking her to ballet. Paul had gotten her a Dora birthday card, and the gifts I purchased and wrapped for her included 4 Hermie & Wormie dvd's, a Larry apron, a bank, 2 t-shirts (Olivia and Dora), a book she can write in to teach her the alphabet, Fridge Phonics, a tiny American girl doll (Ruthie!), and a kit for making sock puppets. I then took her to her fnal morning of Fairytale Dance Camp.

When her ballet class was over three hours later, the four of us went to McDonald's for lunch. Nadia enjoyed her Happy Meal and enjoyed climbing in the playland. I took her to McD's soon after her first and second birthdays, and she wasn't big enough to enjoy the playland those times. She's a growing girl! On our way home we stopped at a dollar store so that Nadia could pick out 3 mylar balloons ($1 each). She picked out one of Elmo, one with three Disney princesses, and one with Mickey, Donald, and Goofy. Paul also blew up 3 VeggieTale latex balloons. The kids are both really enjoying the 6 balloons!

Shortly after Nadia woke up from her nap, I took the kids to a fire department carnival in a neighboring town. Paul and my parents joined us just a few minutes after we arrived. Nadia enjoyed riding the rides!

This morning after eating breakfast, Nadia played a game (one of her birthday presents) with Grandpa while I went to a few yard sales near our house. Then the 6 of us headed out to Hoopla's for a game of mini-bowling and a tour around Petsmart. After lunch and some time on the trampoline, Nadia took her nap.

While she was sleeping Paul's parents, grandmother, and nephew arrived. After she woke up, she opened up a few more presents before we had dinner. She had requested spaghetti and chocolate cake. I also served garlic bread, corn on the cob, and green beans with almonds. Aunt Millie and Uncle Al joined us while we were eating and brought a long a delicious cake and some vanilla cupcakes for PopPop and Daddy (who don't like chocolate). Nadia enjoyed more time on the trampoline and playing outside with Shawn until all our guests left. She then watched one of her new dvd's before heading to bed. It was the first tv she had watched in a few days (which is a great thing in my opinion).

I'm very, very tired, but I think my sweet girl had a very special third birthday. Actually, I think we all had a lot of fun! Her life is absolutely worth celebrating!! I hope you enjoy the pictures. I took a LOT the last two days! Believe it or not I was very selective in which ones I picked to post here!

Our Three Year Old!

We talk about Noah every single day. I wouldn't advise giving Nadia a book that has any whales in it.
She is Almost completely independent with going to the bathroom. A year ago she had just recently finished potty training. Accidents are now a thing of the past. She has gone to the bathroom 100% independently a few times recently, but most times she still asks for help with getting pulling her clothes back up after she's done.
Some new experiences she had over the past year include gymnastics, Fairytale Dance Camp (ballet), and Vacation Bible School (which she still calls CVS).
She's often heard saying, "Isn't that special!" or some variation that includes the word "special".
She has an excellent Auditory memory. She can recite the lines to VeggieTale movies (I don't just mean the songs) and many, many books. It isn't very difficult to teach her to memorize a Bible verse.


She loves to Read books. Some of her favorites include Clifford, Curious George, Olivia, How do Dinosaurs, Fancy Nancy, nursery rhymes, Berenstain Bears, Llama Llama, Madeline, and books by Sandra Boynton.
She still has beautiful blue Eyes, but her hair has turned darker over the past year. Her hair is still blonde, although it's no where near as light blonde as Ian's.
You just Never know what new word she's going to use. Last week she asked me if Madame Blueberry is a character. I had no idea she knew the word "character." She pronounced it 100% correctly.
She has a nap almost Every day. I put her down sometime between 12pm and 2pm, usually at 1pm. She is in bed for at least 2 hours.
Every single day she goes through quite a few tissues. I think she must have allergies also because she sneezes and has a runny nose all year long.


When she gives Ian a hug and Kiss goodnight, she usually says (of her own initiative), "I love you." This melts my heart every single time.
She now really Enjoys whispering. This can be a useful skill at times, but I can't hear whispering due to my hearing being about 20 decibels worse than what is considered normal. It's not a problem when we're at home and I can read her lips, but it gets really frustrating when she whispers to me while we're in the car as I can't read her lips when she's behind me!
She Never wants to eat any vegetables. Hopefully that will improve over the next year as well as her willingness to eat more foods served for dinner. Her favorite meals right now include any form of pasta (except for tuna noodle), pizza, and hamburgers.
She doesn't like it when Ian calls her Nana. I guess she's too young to appreciate how special it is that his first real word (not babbling) was her name. She always corrects him and says, "It's Nadia."
She wants to drink milk at Every meal. Every once in a while we make her drink some water. She loves milk!
She's very interested in Directions. She's always asking which way we need to go to get to a certain destination. When my mom was taking her to the park 2 weeks ago, she corrected my mom when she made a wrong turn. Grandma took the advice of her two-year-old granddaughter. :-)

I love to listen to her pray. In addition to thanking God for her family, friends, pillow, stuffed animals, etc. she also has been saying "Thank You for you too." She often talks about God and wanting to see Him in Heaven.




June 2010 - 24 months old

I hope you enjoyed this year in review through pictures!