Private Lesson!

Nadia looked really cute in her leotard and dance skirt this morning. Two other girls were wearing leotards today, and one of them also wore a black one like Nadia. The teacher posted 7 pictures from today's class on Facebook. Sadly Nadia was only in one of them. The children were doing leap frog. As was the case with VBS (aka "CVS"), the first thing Nadia talks about is what they had for snack. The teacher asked the girls to come to class tomorrow dressed up as either a princess or fairy. Nadia has several princess dresses. We'll see which one she picks to wear tomorrow. I told Christine (the teacher) that tomorrow is Nadia's birthday. I thought it would be special if the class sang happy birthday to her tomorrow.

After ballet we went to the pool. There was one woman sunning beside the pool, but we were the only ones in the pool. We started in the kiddie pool, and then Joe (a lifeguard) came over and asked Nadia if she wanted to go in the big pool. He took her in without her inner tube and pretty much gave her a swimming lesson. He worked with her on going underwater, kicking, and using her arms. She was able to swim very short distances on her own! I then put her inner tube on, and he had her swim the entire length of the pool! From 1-5pm they have two lifeguards on duty (from 10am-1pm and from 5:00-8:30pm they only have one guard on duty). Well the guard coming on duty at 1pm showed up at 12:45 and for the next 30 minutes Nadia had two lifeguards (brothers) who were playing with her. They were throwing her up in the air, having her stand on their hands and lifting her up high, taking her underwater, having swimming races, etc. She had a blast with these two teenagers! It was really kind of them. I played with Ian first in the kiddie pool and then in the big pool. Around 1:15 some other people started coming in so the lifeguards had to get out of the pool and sit in their chairs, so we left at that point so that I could get Nadia back for her nap. They charge $10 for a 30 minute private lesson. I felt like we got a free on hour lesson today! Nadia will be taking group lessons at another pool in a couple of weeks. Today we discovered there are definite advantages to having the pool to yourself. It was in the low 80's so I was really surprised that we were the only ones there. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me at the pool today.

P.S. For those who are interested (aka the Grandmas), I added a picture of the 3-4 year olds at VBS to this post.

Go, Go, Go!

Ian loves to run around our dining room table. Who knew the dining room could be a race track? He laughs while he runs. When he does this during speech therapy, Christine says "Go, Go, Go!" On Tuesday Ian started saying "doh doh" while running. She said that many children this age substitute the "d" for a "g." He said it again yesterday while doing laps around the table. His other "words" at this point would be "nana" for Nadia, an "a" sound for Larry the cucumber, and sometimes he makes an attempt ("lo") at "hello" when playing with a phone. His favorite thing to vocalize is "eh." I hear that about 5 million times a day, lol. I am glad though that he's starting to make some progress. I can't wait until he says Mama in a purposeful way.

The pictures in this post are from out session at Walmart on Monday. The good news is that what I spent at the studio and on-line came to less than $25. There are ways to get prints for a good price at Walmart, you just shouldn't buy many at the studio. I though these first 2 were really good of Nadia. There were 11 poses online, but 3 of the ones with the 2 kids together weren't worth posting here because Ian had his eyes closed or something like that.

Can you believe this dress is size 4T? She still wears mostly 3T, but some 3T dresses are too short for her now. She's growing up too fast!

When I saw it was raining when I got up with Ian at 6am, I decided to ask Paul if he'd take Nadia to ballet en route to school (although it's a little out of his way) because the weather wasn't conducive for Ian and I to hang out at a playground. Ian has been waking up around 5:30 almost every day. Yesterday he slept until 6:30, which was greatly appreciated although I still woke up at 5:30 out of habit. He cries for about 2 minutes and then is quiet until about 6am. I am not sure if he goes back to sleep or plays in his crib for 30 minutes. His room darkening shade was shipped today. Hopefully that will help. His case of Elecare arrived yesterday. The rain is supposed to clear up so hopefully we can still go swimming after I pick Nadia up from ballet.

Can I just say that I never grow tired of looking at pics of my kids. Ahhh what sweet blessings from the Lord they are!

Ian and the Gecko

At 18 months of age Ian already has a favorite outfit. It's only been very recently that Nadia has started to show a strong preference for what she wears. If I allowed her to, she'd wear her princess nightgown or her denim skirt (which she refers to as the skirt with the flowers on it) EVERY day. She definitely prefers skirts to shorts. I've learned to only buy skirts that are "skorts" with shorts underneath because she hasn't exactly learned how to be modest when wearing a skirt. I had noticed that Ian enjoys pointing out animals that are on his clothing. If it's a lion, he'll point to it and say "roar." I learned today that his favorite is the outfit pictured at left that has geckos on it. He had a total meltdown (huge tantrum) when I took it off to put on his swimsuit at the pool. I didn't figure out why he was upset until he started removing things from the bag and brought this outfit over to me. The first thing he did when we got home was reach into the bag and hand me the shirt for this outfit. This is definitely his favorite outfit! I'll make sure not to have him wear this on days we are going swimming.

Nadia wearing her favorite "sparkly" sandals.

I went to a few yardsales this morning after dropping Nadia off at the dance studio. I bought a box of 100 cookie cutters (letters, numbers, and various other shapes for Christmas, Valentine's Day, etc.), a kid's dictionary for when the kids are older, and a Dora plate for Nadia. Then I took Ian to a playground we hadn't ever been to before. He had fun. After I was nice and sweaty, I took Ian to the pool, and then about an hour later we went and got Nadia and brought her back to the pool. Nadia was bummed that she wasn't wearing a leotard. One other girl did wear a leotard today. I'll let Nadia wear one tomorrow. I was suprised that we had the pool to ourself for part of the time since it was in the 80's today.

Fairytale Dance Camp!

Today Nadia had her very first ballet lesson. I signed her up for a four day camp from 9-12 that started today. During this camp the 3-5 year olds do ballet and other creative dances, color, play games, have a snack, and listen to fairytales in storytime. The music for dancing is themed to fairytales. On Sunday Paul's parents gave Nadia an early birthday present - her first pair of ballet slippers. She has been looking forward to these ballet classes sooooooooooooo much! If she really enjoys it this week, I will likely sign her up for ballet classes again in the fall in addition to gymnastics. Unfortunately those lessons are from 5-5:45 pm, which is normally when we're eating dinner, but if she really likes ballet then we'll eat dinner at a different time once a week.  I wish I could be a fly on the wall and watch Nadia at her dance camp! Ian and I came back about 10 minutes before the camp ended today. That was a mistake. Ian really wanted to join the girls on the dance floor, and Nadia wanted to come out to be with me. I wanted to see a few minutes of the class, but I'll try to show up as close to 12pm as possible the next three days.

Taken before camp this morning; she told me she was "doing ballet."

Ian and I will be having 12 hours together this week. I'm going to spend some time going to yard sales tomorrow morning. Today we went to CVS, a health food store, the playground, etc. I should have brought a book to read as Ian fell asleep in the car around 10:30. I'll bring a book tomorrow! At the health food store I got some almond milk yogurt for Ian, which cost $2 per serving whereas usually I won't pay more than 50 cents for one yogurt. They had coconut milk creamer but not yogurt. I noticed that they had rice milk and almond milk. Those aren't cheap, but they're not as expensive as EleCare. I'm going to ask the doctors about that. Ian liked the yogurt, and it had little bits of peach in it, and a month ago he would have gagged over that, but he was able to eat it this time! Ian loved playing at the playground. The highlight for him was being with the ducks. There were LOTS of ducks including some tiny baby ones. Ian was laughing and laughing with delight while walking with the ducks. A woman gave us a slice of bread to feed them. Fun!

Nadia was the only one wearing a leotard today, but all the kids had ballet shoes. I guess I'll just have her wear play clothes tomorrow. We went swimming right after her class was over. I pushed her nap back a little (put her down at 1:45). That worked out well because then she was asleep for half of Ian's speech therapy session. The water temperature was the same as it was the last couple of times we went to the pool, but the air temperature was warmer so it felt much better.

Don't Settle

As you might recall, my opinion of our last photo shoot was that we got some "acceptable" photos. None of them wowed me, but it definitely wasn't a total bust either (both of those scenarios have happened before). Taking the kids to a studio for a photo session is stressful and tiring for me. I give them baths, pick out what they're going to wear, get them dressed, try to keep them in good shape in terms of their hair and clothing, and of course hope and pray that they'll smile and cooperate with the photographer. It's hard enough doing a photo shoot with one toddler, but it's even harder with two toddlers, especially as Ian just wants to RUN. So I just bought some prints last time and didn't plan to head back to a studio until December. However when I went to put the new 10x13 of Nadia in the picture frame in the family room, Paul said he didn't want me to hang the picture. He said that #1 he didn't like her bangs (they needed to be trimmed - that last photo shoot was supposed to be for Ian not Nadia) and #2 he wanted a picture with a great smile. He said he really wanted me to try again.

I decided to go to Walmart today because the photographer did a GREAT job with Nadia's 2 year photos last June. Our membership card was due to expire on the 26th so I wanted to go before it expired. Well Jennifer again did a great job. Paul was right. If I could go back in time, I wouldn't have ordered as many prints from Sears. I shouldn't have settled. Even though it's exhausting to do a photo shoot, it's worth it to try again until you get really good pictures. I only spent $13.77 at Walmart today, but I'll be using coupons and ordering more online although I did get a 10x13, 8x10, two 5x7's, 8 wallets, and four 3.5x5 prints for $8.47. The reason I tend to favor Sears is because their prints are FAR cheaper, but I have learned some ways to get them for a reasonable price from Walmart. Rule #1 is to not buy many from the studio. The photographer at Walmart is better at getting Nadia to smile that is for sure. Ian was still very uncooperative. Hopefully he'll do better in December for his 2 year pictures. Maybe my sister will be able to get a good one of the two of them in August or October.

At the swimming pool today one mom came up to me and told me that she thinks my multitasking skills are impressive. Well taking the kids to the pool is still not a piece of cake (it would be oh so much easier if Ian liked the "boat"), but it's become a million times easier now that Nadia is somewhat independent in her inner tube. Have I mentioned I love being a stay-at-home mom lately? Well I do. I love going to the playground and the swimming pool with my munchkins. I am very grateful #1 that the Lord has blessed us with two precious children and #2 that I am able to spend so much time with them. Thank you, Lord!

I discovered today that jumping on the trampoline can be quite a workout! I think that has now been added to my daily exercise routine in addition to my 40 minute walk (round trip) to the playground. Nadia wanted me to jump longer than I did. I am sure my stamina will increase over time.

Alexis put her hair in braids on Saturday night while we were on our date.

Can you tell she was saying "cheese"? I prefer a nstural smile, but I wanted to show off her new swimming skill!

Daddy doing what the clown told him to do at the circus.

Happy Father's Day!

I had been planning for awhile of ways to make this weekend special for Paul. I had Nadia make him a card, and I also had made him a photo card on Shutterfly as well as a coffee mug that featured several pictures of the kids. I ordered 3 of those and gave the other 2 to my Dad and father-in-law. I also bought him 4 cans of cashews, which he loves but doesn't get very often. I also planned some special activities for the weekend. Here's a summary of what we were up to the past 2 days.

Saturday morning I took the kids to the swimming pool. It's good Paul didn't join us because the water was chilly. It was a momentous occasion though because it was the first time Nadia was brave enough to swim around the pool by hereself (while wearing her learn-to-swim tube trainer). Previously she'd cry if I let go, but yesterday she just totally took off and was swimming the entire length of the pool by herself. I was sooooo proud of her! Since Ian doesn't like to be in the "boat," it's very helpful that Nadia can be more independent as it's hard to hold both of them in the big pool for an hour. On the way to the pool I used a coupon to pick up Paul's favorite breakfast bagel sandwich for his lunch later tat day. On the way back home I stopped at Dunkin Donuts a second time to use another coupon to get 6 donuts. We rarely buy donuts, and Paul loves vanilla cream ones. He had one last night and the other for breakfast this morning.

Around 4pm we headed to the fireman's parade in our town. We didn't make it to the carnival this week because of Nadia having VBS Monday through Friday and our date last night, but the parade was fun. Ian absolutely loved seeing the fire trucks, ambulances, tractors, etc. Nadia couldn't care less about the vehicles, but she loved picking up the candy those on the floats threw to her. She collected quite a bit of candy! The Skittles were her favorite.

After feeding the kids dinner, Gabby came over to watch the kids. It was our longest date over the past 18 months. Usually we're gone no more than 3 hours, but last night we were gone for 5 hours (which made the date more expensive, but it was worth it). We had dinner at TGIF. I was bummed as they aren't having their dinner specials any more that include an appetizer and a dessert. The food was good though. Then we saw a musical - "Annie Get your Gun" at a community theatre. We were in the front row. The actors were inches from us. It was very enjoyable although we didn't get home until about 10:15pm, and I was exhausted. It was the first time that anyone other than Paul or I put Ian to bed for the night, and it was the first time we had a babysitter other than a Grandma put Nadia to bed.

I ordered a room darkening shade last week. I am hoping it arrives asap as Ian has been waking up between 5:30-5:45 every day. Nadia had been doing better about sleeping through the night, but last night she was up from 2:35-3:50 asking for a tissue every few minutes. Going to bed later than usual because of our date plus being up with Nadia for over an hour during the night and then getting up with Ian at 5:45am meant I was very tired thsi morning.

Ian's cathether came out this morning after the church service. One woman in choir is a Physician's Assistant. She use a sterile suture removal kit that she brought from her clinic. Ian didn't like the process of having it removed, but I have to think he's glad it's out of there. I know I'm very glad it's gone. I need to send the surgeon two pictures tomorrow - one of Ian's privates and one of the cathether. I am not sure why he wants a picture of the cathether, but he asked for one. I purchased another case of EleCare on eBay today. One case lasts about 15 days. The last time I paid $128 for the case (if you order it from the manufacturer directly a case costs $250). Today I got a case for $101. I'm going to call the insurance this week to find out if they're going to cover this medical food or not.

Paul was in the show!

Paul's parents and nephew joined us this afternoon. They reassembled Nadia's trampoline while Nadia was napping and then we all went to a circus about 1 mile from our house. Ian paid more attention to the circus than Nadia although both kids were losing interest by the end (it was 90 minutes long). I'm sure they'll enjoy it more when they're older. Nadia loved riding a pony during the intermission. Hopefully Paul had a special Father's Day. I also talked to my dad on the phone, and I'm looking forward to seeing him at Nadia's birthday party this weekend.

End of her 1st VBS

There was a program that started at 8pm tonight. I am not sure how I was supposed to know about it. I had been arriving about 10 minutes early each night to pick Nadia up a little early since it was going past her bedtime. When I arrived tonight the program was in progress. They were reviewing the Bible story from each night (Elijah when I came in) as well as each night's song. They were displaying various pictures from the week. If the kids had performed during the program I would have been really bummed to have missed it. It would have been nice to see the photos though. I stayed for a little bit of the program, but when they started reviewing the story of Jonah I had a feeling Nadia was getting scared. She was so I took her home. I am sure the program lasted well past 8:30, and they were having refreshments afterward. That would really have been a late night for Miss Nadia if we had stayed the whole time. They gave each child a photograph of the Preschool class mounted on cardstock. How sweet! I am thrilled that I now have a picture of Nadia from her first VBS. There are about thirty three and four year olds in the picture. The VBS was for ages 3-12. Three other moms who bring their kids to the same preschool story time on Fridays at 11:00 brought their kids to the same VBS. We saw each other at the library and VBS today!

Several of the leaders at the VBS told me tonight what a delight Nadia was this week and that they hoped to see her again next summer. Music to a Momma's ears! When Nadia prays she now expresses her gratitude to God for Himself (ie, thank You for my friends, my family, and for You too). She often asks me what God is doing in Heaven and tells me that she wants to go to Heaven to be with God. She's definitely become more interested in spiritual things lately.

Paul watched Ian from 6:30-7:30 every night this week (unless a diaper needed changed during that time span). I used that time (since Nadia was at VBS) to work on the accreditation report for my university. I made a lot of progress! I am now glad I agreed to do this project. I wasn't sure at first if I was biting off more than I could chew, but it was in fact feasible for me to do the work. I can't say I did much housework though this week. I need to get back in gear with my MoMo chores (that's the abbreviation the author uses). I have gotten in a routine of clipping the kids' nails every Wednesday. At least I can check one box off, lol!

The preschool library program resumed today. They had taken a few weeks off in between the end of the school year program and the summer program. There were a lot more kids there today than there were during the school year. Two other families in our little neighborhood were there. Both of those moms are school teachers so they aren't usually able to come. Today in both instances their husbands also came along (one family has one child and the other has two). We had to leave before the craft time because Ian had another leaky diaper. I keep remind myself it's coming out on Sunday morning. I have been changing his diaper far more often than usual, and I still can't seem to keep his clothes dry. Today he wore three different pairs of shorts and one pair of pants. The last one was the only one that wasn't sabotaged by a leaky diaper.

The weather wasn't good for going swimming today, but it is supposed to be warmer tomorrow. We dropped a few more things off at the consignment shop and then went to the mall to use a few coupons. I bought the kids a few things at BonTon and JCP. I spent $31.54 total for 2 pairs of shorts, 1 pair of pants, 1 skirt, 2 dresses, and 1 jean jacket. One of the shirts had Dora on it. I managed to buy it without Nadia noticing. I'm going to wrap it up as one of her birthday presents. Today I let her see the VeggieTale cups, napkins, and plates that I got her for her party. She was so excited! Actually Ian loved looking at them also. Ian had a total tantrum while we were shopping at BonTon. He's at the stage where he doesn't handle not getting what he wants well At All. Thankfully this phase doesn't last forever. :-)

The allergist said today that on June 23 I should cut back Ian's Pulmicort to 2 times a day. He's getting it 3 times a day right now. I've run out of the free samples of Singulair. I am hoping Merck sends some soon otherwise I'll need to go fill the prescription. I'm also hoping that AstraZeneca sends some Pulmicort soon as I only got one box (30 ampules) last Saturday. The allergist wanted to see Ian within the next 2 weeks, but the next two appts he had available at the office closest to us (which is 2 hours away) didn't work for us as Nadia has ballet camp on the 24th and Ian already has another doctor appt (psychologist) on July 7th. Delaying his next allergist appointment until July 14th doesn't bother me at all. Today he had one episode of projectile vomiting, but it was the first time that happened in 10 days. Singing wasn't as effective today because evidently he's not really keen on potatoes (which I pulverized in the Magic Bullet). The good news is that I weighed him, and he's gained almost one pound in the last week! He's up to almost 25 lbs. WOOHOO! He no longer gags on applesauce. On the one hand I get really excited by that, and then on the other hand I think about 12 month old children who can eat a hamburger, and my 18 month old still can't eat even a Cheerio. But still, we are making progress. I'm still praying he'll be eating table food by December, but that goal might be unrealistic.

It's Important

1. It's imperative to sing while feeding Ian. I haven't bought the special yogurt yet (need to go to a different store that carries it), but I have tried feeding him before he drinks his EleCare as well as after he drinks his EleCare. It turns out the method we've been using (drink, eat 5-6; bites, drink, 5-6 bites, etc.) is the best. However the trick to reducing the crying is for me to sing. This works even better if Nadia also sings along with me. He finds that even more amusing.

2. The most important part of VBS is snack time. I have asked her a million questions about what she's been doing each night. The most detailed report is about the snack, which was a cupcake with strawberry jam on Tuesday night. I can see why she didn't elaborate about yesterday's Bible story because it was about Jonah and the whale - her biggest fear in life. Ian has had a blast playing with the craft they made. The big fish was a paper plate with a fin attached (which Nadia colored), and they cut a ltitle slit in the plate and put a plastic spoon in it and put a face on the spoon to represent Jonah. Ian loves it, and it's been good practice for his fine motor skills to work on putting the spoon in the slit.

I wonder what they're thinking.

3. It's important to change a baby's diaper more frequently when a catheter is involved. Ian has been wearing a few outfits a day either because the catheter has been pointing in the wrong direction (I'm getting better at that) or because his diaper has leaked. It seems that one small area gets too soaked with a cathether whereas with a diaper a larger part of the diaper gets wet and thus it isn't so prone to leaking.

4. It's really important to have the time when no diaper is under Ian be as brief as possible because that catheter seems to drain at least a little every time. I wish they had given me a cap for the catheter like the first urologist did. What a mess.

5. Even if I'm putting Nadia to bed later than usual, it's still important to follow our usual routine. About an hour after I put her down last night she woke up and started screaming at the top of her lungs that we hadn't prayed. Then after we prayed she reminded me I hadn't read to her either. So tonight and tomorrow night even though she'll be coming home after the time she's usually in bed, I will pray with her and read to her before putting her to bed. Lesson learned.

6. It's important to consider students with special needs when designing an online course. A student who will be taking one of my online courses starting on July 6 let me know today that she is deaf. I had planned to do the synchronous class sessions from home (via my webcam), but I don't think that will work. I need to find an interpreter. I'm guessing I'll need to conduct this session from campus although I had originally planned to do it from home.

Last Mommy & Me Class

Starting next week Nadia will be old enough to join the preschool gymnastics class. Parents get to sit and watch that class, which will make it oh so much easier to keep Ian out of trouble if he's all I need to focus on during that 45 minute class. Although it was very comfortable in the gym today as it was only in the low 70's outside, I'm sure it will be warmer on other Wednesdays this summer, which is why we're going to take a break from gymanstics. Since we were going to the pool right after gymnastics today, I had her wear her bathing suit since it's not that different from a leotard. The weather wasn't really ideal for swimming, but it was warmer than it had been the previous two days. Normally I absolutely adore being outside when it's in the 70's, but I'd prefer it to be in the 80's if we're headed to the pool.

FedEx delivered the replacement parts for the trampoline today. This means we should be able to relocate the trampoline from the garage to the back yard in the near future. Nadia will be glad to be able to jump at home since she won't be jumping on the tumble track at the gym for 2 months.

Love

Nadia has been using the word "love" a lot lately. For example while she was making a birthday card for Gabby on Sunday afternoon she kept saying "She will love it." Today at the playground she told me "I'll love you forever and always, Mommy."

Another thing she has been saying a lot lately is "xyz is so cool." For example a girl in the neighborhood is also attending the VBS (she's 4 years old). She told me today "Madeline is so cool." Neither Paul or I use the expression "so cool" so I'm not sure where she picked that up.

I learned today that Nadia now finds porta potties to be repulsive. What a relief!!! Last summer she loved them and wanted to use it every single time we went to the playground. In fact the rule last year was she was limited in using it only once a day, LOL! I let her use it for the first time this year today, and she didn't like it. Yahooo!

Ian is still screaming whenever I feed him. Karen (OT) suggested today that I call Dr. Williams. After talking to both of them, the plan is to #1 separate feeding solids from drinking EleCare in case his vexation is over his "milk" being taken away and #2 try to only feed him foods he seems to favor to see if he's crying because he doesn't like the taste of things like peas. I'm to stick with just fruit the next few days and either make some pudding with the EleCare or buy some yogurt made with coconut milk. Dr. Williams said the only way we can know for sure if he's still in pain or not would be to do another scope. I think if I tell the allergist he's still screaming, he'll up the dose of Pulmicort again. I'm trying to see if we can reduce his crying some other way.

We've had a 30 degree drop in the temperature. It is lovely weather for going to the park (60's), but I'm glad it's supposed to be around 80 tomorrow so we can go to the pool, as we haven't been since Saturday.