Happy Valentine's Day

The girls and I made valentine cards for their friends in their classes. They turned out pretty good. We pasted these pictures to colored card stock paper. A little glue, candy and a lot of glittery fun later we had some pretty neat cards that the girls were so proud of. We put those other "store bought" cards to shame. :o)

Madison LOVES Casey. Here they are sharing hugs and kisses.

Skate-o-riffic reward

A reward for a job well done at school. Another fun filled day at the skating rink! We are so proud of Skyler...not only has she been getting great grades and conduct at school but she also got a special award given by the librarian, "wonderful library manners"!! She has also been really helping me keep her room (including making her bed by herself) and play room clean. I am so blessed to have such a good little girl. Taking a much needed drink break...skating for hours can make a kid THIRSTY!

Madison tried her hand or shall I say feet, at skating. She did as best as can be expected of a 3 year old on skates. :o) She was better on the carpet that the actual rink. She was good at keeping her feet together while I held her between my legs with my hands underher arms and skated. We could go pretty fast that way. Now my back is killing me. :o)

Rude at a beautiful wedding

Have you ever watched your children while they were having a good time and inadvertently completely ignore the people around you? Even the ones who were talking directly to you? I find myself doing that often and feel so very rude. But you know....my kids are my blessings and I LOVE to see them when they are happy. Last night we went to my cousin Jesse's wedding and that is what I caught myself doing over and over...how could I be so rude at a wedding?? I was watching Madison have the time of her life as if no one was around or watching her...she danced and danced some more. To have such peace with not a care in the world....no worrying about how you look or what people might be thinking about you must be so wonderful. If only us adults could enjoy that same feeling!!!Jesse and Joel's wedding was beautiful and Jesse was such a gorgeous bride!A little known fact is that I introduced them... I was hoping for a little shout out during the reception, which didn't happen, but they can make it up to me by naming their first born after me. HA! Congratulations Jesse and Joel....I wish you many years of happiness!!!

Weddings, especially sweet and romantic weddings make me think about how happy I am and how much I love my husband. Babe, you may not be perfect but you are perfect for me. I love you more today than ever.

And, I love these girls! :o)

Team Name Needed?!

A few friends and myself are trying to raise the required money to walk the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer in Houston April 4-5. However, in the mean time we are working on getting a team name. Any advice??? Here are some ideas that we have so far.
The Pink Ribbons
Hike for Healthy Hooters
Breast Buddies
The Jogging Bras
Marching Mammaries
Bosom Buddies
The Pink Mafia
High Heels for Hope
Our Cups Runeth Over
The Rack Pack

Is she really 3 already???

Is she really 3 already??? I can't believe that my baby is 3. Happy birthday Madison!!! We love you so much.

Madison's 3rd birthday went great! This is what she insisted on wearing before the party started. I finally talked her out of the hair and skirt though...(thank goodness) :o)

Carleigh and Madison decided to play dress up and the "dress up hair" had to come back too. They were so cute.

I would never...

I would never let me child wear her "dress up" clothes to dinner nor would I ever let her sit on the counter and lick the bowl after making blueberry muffins. I am so not one of "those" moms!

No place like home (again) / Smarty pants

There is NO PLACE LIKE HOME!.....especially my BED!!! So, it seems my fear that Madison was getting dehydrated was correct. At the pediatrician on Monday he informed us that she needed to be hospitalized for a while to get her over this hump. We were admitted Monday thinking it was going to be a 24 hour visit and we ended up staying for 3 days! she was pretty dehydrated, running a fever, hurting and just not eating or drinking. They gave her fluids and steroids and she seems much better this afternoon. We are both glad to be out of that hospital. No more 9pm, 1am, and 5am visits from nurses or beeping machines for me PLEASE! Oh and as I have mentioned before "mommy beds" in hospital rooms are soooo NOT comfortable!
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On to my use of "smarty pants" in my title.... Skyler has really impressed us all in her schooling. She got her report card today and she has been getting real grades. She got...

95 Reading (Expected reading level is 10 and she is reading at a 17!!!

93 Language

94 Math

95 Science/Health

96 Social Studies

Exceeds Expectations Comment in EVERYTHING.

There was even a handwritten sticky note from the PRINCIPAL in her report card that said...

"outstanding grades Skyler! Love Mrs. Craft!!!" We are so proud of her, she has totally earned another trip to the skating rink. WAY TO GO SKYLER KEEP IT UP!

This weeks up's and down's

This past week has had ups and downs. One minute it seemed as though Madison was starting to feel better the next she would down and out again. She has been doing a lot of crying, a lot of sleeping and wanting to be held almost all the time but she has been a real trooper. She wants to be held to fall asleep which is something that we have not done for them since they were little babies. This weekend it seemed as though her throat was not hurting as much as it was in the beginning but I think she was getting pretty dehydrated. She has not been eating or drinking much and even giving her the pain medicine has been a drop down screaming and crying struggle. To get her to drink I was begging, then bribing and then resorted to threatening with having to go back to the hospital and get a shot (fluids) and I think that one finally worked. She has really been trying to drink today which still wasn't much. She had maybe 1/2 cup of water and 1 cup of Pedialite COMBINED throughout the day. I even give it to her in the middle of the night but mostly she only takes tiny sips. I am keeping a close eye on her though since she has lost a lot of weight. She is a week shy of 3yrs old and was 29 lbs the morning of the surgery and now is about 24lbs. Almost 5 lbs in a week. I am still worried but I think she finally started to make a turn around this evening.

One afternoon she thought she heard the school bus so she opened the door. It was not the bus but she wanted to wait for Skyler outside. She was still pretty sickly and it was a bit cold outside so I let her keep the door open but stay in the house. In a few minutes she was laying on the rug, so I got her a pillow and blanket.

When Skyler's bus got there I grabbed my camera, took a picture and noticed Madison didn't move. So I stepped around to look at her face and saw that she had fallen a sleep. Poor thing didn't even get to see Skyler get off the bus.

AH...here is that smile that we have been missing, it seems as thought it was finally starting to come back this evening.

As for Skyler, she has been doing great at school and we could not be more proud of her. Skyler is one of the friendliest and happiest little girls I know. She can seriously make friends anywhere. she just has that type of personality...it's hard to explain...maybe the future class president??? It is a bit strange sometimes...for instance we were sitting in a restaurant the other day and sitting very close to the bathroom. We could see the doors leading into the girls rest room and she had to go so we let her go by herself. A few minutes past and seeing a few people go in and out, I decided it was time to go see what was going on. As I got up here here she comes walking hand-n-hand with another little girl. She said "Mommy, this is my new friend, can she come over to play? Or to Madison's birthday party? Her birthday is February 9th...right after Madison's." HA! She cracks me up! Who makes friends in the bathroom??? And how did you find so much information out in the short bathroom "meeting"? Did she interview the girl??? :o)Skyler blogging...she doesn't get to do it often but she LOVES it and is so proud of herself whens he does.

A Scout's Honor

It seems that my husband has decided to "let" his project/toy have a blog. When time and money allows Schuyler has been working on an International Scout. For those of you who have no idea what a Scout is (like myself before he got one) you can click on over to it's blog. AKA Rusty. http://www.ihscout.blogspot.com/

Out With the Bad

Happy Madison the night before her surgery to remove her tonsils and adenoids. We tried to prepare her but didn't tell her about the pain, so she was a little clueless. It was nice to see this smile as long as we could.

Not so happy Madison the morning of her surgery in the waiting room around 5:30am

Loopy Madison after her "cocktail" to relax her before they took her back.
Sad, pitiful, and disoriented Madison in the recovery room after the surgery, trying to come out of anesthesia.

Finally... in our own room. She was having trouble keeping her oxygen levels up so they had oxygen by her to help when she was sleeping. (she freaked out when they tried to put the mask on her) She was also having to breath through her mouth since the removal of the adenoids blocked up her nose.

Doesn't she look tiny in this room and bed?

She woke and had a red Popsicle, and tried to watch a movie...

She was still very groggy and nauseous from the anesthesia and the pain medicine so the movie didn't last long.

Poor thing, if she was awake she was crying or throwing up. When she was asleep her oxygen levels kept dropping so we would have to wake her a little, which she hated. They think it was partially due to her sleep apnea, the swelling in her throat making it hard to breath and the anesthesia still in her system.

We are home now and things are a little better today. She is still in pain but not crying uncontrollably like yesterday when she was doped up and groggy. She has eaten a little including soup, Popsicles and mac-n-cheese. (Some stay down) Poor thing has been through a lot and we are just trying to keep her happy and comfortable. They say that day 3 and 4 will be the worse since the numbing medicine in her throat and back of nose from surgery will wear off and she will feel it all. Thank you for all of the phone calls and texts of concern in the past 2 days.

Bad Tonsils and Adenoids!!!

Tomorrow is the day....the day that Madison has her tonsils and adenoids removed. I am a little apprehensive about it because of the fact that we have to cause her pain to make her better, even though I know it is for the best. I am really struggling with how to prepare her for the surgery. I don't want to scare her but I have to somehow tell her what we are doing and why. Trust me... she will ask...she will ask a ton of questions and she will be scared and clinging to me like no ones business. She isn't that comfortable with doctors and I am sure this will make it worse. So we will see. Her and I will be at the hospital until at least Wednesday as they want to keep her for at least 24 hours to observe her due to her age and sleep apnea. I will update my blog as soon as I am able to.

Prayers Needed for Baby Brandon

Please keep my nephew Brandon in your thoughts and prayers. He has been sick for a month or so now and last night they admitted him into the hospital with bronchitis, possible pneumonia, double ear infections and a nasty virus. All of this combined has caused him to lose a lot of weight. He is about 13lbs....almost 4 lbs behind Brianna his twin sister. (they are about 8 mo. old)
***UPDATE***
He has full blown pneumonia, is pretty sick and will be in the hospital a while.

Sick January

Madison has had a fever running, cranky causing, sleep effecting week lasting sever sinus infection that she is fighting with antibiotics, which she has to kick before her tonsillectomy on the 20th. Skyler seems to have gotten sick with I fear strep (again). She is headed to the Dr. today, I wonder if we can get a two-for-one on the tonsillectomy?!?! Even the dog is sick! Seems she may have gotten Kennel Cough last weekend at the dog park. She has an appointment this evening. MAN...GIVE ME A BREAK!

And my poor nephew is sick again as well. Poor little guy has been sick for what seems like a month with the same stuff! I hate to hear that he is so sick...he is so little.

Starting out 2009

We wish everyone a Happy New Year. We welcomed in the New Year with fireworks and BBQ out our neighbor's house. Here are some pics of the girls watching the fireworks.

Well, it seems as though we are going to start this year out a little hectic. Here are a few things going on this month.

Schuyler takes a week long business trip, hopping from state to state in the company jet.
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Skyler has some dentist appointments now that she has lost a tooth and the new one coming in is not coming in correctly.
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Madison will have her tonsils removed, consisting of a pre-op visit, surgery that we have to be there at 4am for, holding her for a minimum of 24 hours afterwards for observation because of her age and her sleep apnea. (Have I ever mentioned how much I "love" sleeping in hospitals!?!) She is not allowed to return to daycare for at least week and will take 2 weeks to fully heal. Then a few follow up visits.
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Madison will be 3 January 31st and we are planning a moonwalk party.