And the hand me downs continue...

Here is Kate on Valentine's Day of 2007 before school. She was just about to turn 5 years old.

Here is Savannah today! She is almost 4. She is very excited to be wearing her sister's old dress.

I am loving the fact that I can now go shopping for Savannah in my attic, but it is very strange to see these clothes come back out four years later! :) Reminds me of much less chaotic times when Kate was the only child and no one needed surgery or to have their teeth extracted :) :) ahhh...the good ole days :)

Boredom!

It's been a long week and this morning Mike is teaching Sat School so I am just laying low with the kids attempting to relax. If you have ever been alone with a cranky, teething baby and two bored girls, you know that relaxing isn't maybe the best word to describe it.

This is what happens when you have bored children:

Yes, those are garage sale stickers and no that's not the price - you can have any of the three individually or as a group for any number of hours any day of the week free of charge! :)

7 months

Since February is a weird month with only 28 days and since Owen is having surgery on Monday which is the last day of the month, I thought I'd go ahead and do his seven month picture and posting early.

At Owen's last doctor's appointment he weighed 20 lbs 5 oz! He doesn't skip any meals that is for sure!!! This month Owen began teething! Man he chews on anything he can get his hands on. When Mike or I go to kiss him or touch noses, he almost always tries to bite onto our nose or chin! We can feel the two bottom teeth emerging under the gums, but they haven't come through yet.

Here he is trying to bite his stuffed bear! This was the first month it was actually a little difficult to get his picture. 

Owen is now sitting up - for a second - on his own and is beginning to be aware of people he doesn't know. He is slowly sleeping longer through the night (from about 9 or 10 pm to about 6 or 7 am). It's been a long time coming but it's really nice to not be up at 4 or 5 am on a daily basis. Unfortunately, now when he wakes up at 6 am he stays up and he likes to use this early hour to perfect his screeching! It's kind of cute during the week when I have to get up and get ready, however on Sat morning it is just straight annoying!!

Lucky for Owen he has a killer smile and a very mellow personality so he gets away with a lot!!!

The last seven months have been overwhelming and exhausting, but they have been a wonderful time to spend with my beautiful baby boy!!! I can't wait to see what the next months and years hold for our family and for my sweet little man!

Savannah's Tooth and Month End Stats

Here is Savannah's tooth before we went to see Dr. Negron again:

And here is her tooth after:

That's right! Exactly the same!!! She sat and was very good for the x-ray which showed that the tooth separated at the fracture point and was slowly falling lower and lower in the gum, which you can see in the picture. Dr. Negron wanted to extract the tooth since it is obviously not healing. She sat and was cooperative for the nitrous gas and even allowed the numbing shot in her gum. But when it came time to pull the tooth - Savannah clamped her jaw shut and refused to open up! So we sat, and we talked, and we waited, and I threatened but at the end of the day she won! She still has a tooth! And now I get to take her to a dentist that will actually sedate her and have him remove it. That's right folks - ANOTHER APPOINTMENT!!!!

That being said, let's see how my 29 days and 9 appointments actually ended up. Owen had 1 injection appt, one 6 month check up, 4 additional dr appts due to his ear infection and cold, one appt for pics, and surgery on Monday. Savannah had one ER visit, two dental visits, and 2 visits to the dr to have stitches removed. And Kate had one blood work appt, one dr appt, and one orthodontist consultation. Grand Total = 16 appointments in 29 days!!!

I guess the silver lining is that it's almost over, we managed to all survive, and I only have 5 known appts in March!!!

A New Toy

This was a shower gift that Mike specifically requested. We have had these jumpy seats with previous foster kids and they always provide hours of entertainment!

Here is Savannah "gently" attempting to get her brother to look at the camera! :) Oh Vannie!

His feet barely touch the ground and he's not real sure what he's supposed to do in there, but he doesn't complain...and eventually he'll figure it out :)

Thanks Grandma!

Thanks Grandma for the new outfit! I totally thought it was going to be too big for him right now, but once again I was completely shocked by the chunkiness of my son!! He looks like a sumo wrestler! And the outfit fits great. Thankfully the pants are still a tad loose so we may even get a couple months out of them :)

And here are the shoes that I bought for him on clearance! I couldn't get his fat feet into the 6-12 month size so these are 12-18 months. I thought they were so cute and seeing as he wears a lot of brown and blue I thought they'd work great! Apparently only Kate, Savannah, Owen and I like them. Daddy turned up his nose at them! Did I mention they were on clearance?!?!?!?

Pay Back

So after months and years of their Daddy doing all kinds of jokes and pranks on them (lately consisting of the kitchen sink sprayer), the girls finally decided that it was time for a little pay back! While we were at the store, Kaitlyn suggested that we buy water balloons. Then on the way home, she brought up the idea of hiding out in the tent and waiting for him to home and ambush him. I personally loved the idea! So Kate and Savannah filled up the water balloons and hid them in the yard.

I expected Mike home at 3:00 so I took the girls out to play in the yard so we'd be ready. There was a bad accident on 441 and he didn't make it until after 4:00 so by the time he got home they had gotten bored and gone over to play with the neighbors. I am not sure if it was Kaitlyn making a bee line for the balloons or me running for my camera that tipped him off but he was on to them pretty quick and unfortunately for Kate he had a half full cup of water in his hand!

Kate threw a couple and missed and then got soaked with his cup of water!!! Savannah never even made it to the stash of balloons before he got to her!! It was a noteworthy effort on their part but there is definitely room for improvement!

Savannah Update

Since our trip to the ER last Sat night, Savannah has been racking up the doctor's appointments! She saw the dentist on Tuesday afternoon and we got great news. Of the three teeth that she knocked loose only one was actually fractured. Our dentist recommended that we wait a month and see what happens to the fractured tooth. It may heal on it's own or it may turn dark and have to come out. So it's a waiting game.

Here is Savannah after the stitches came out. I purposely scheduled her appointment in the afternoon on Thursday so that Mike could take her. I was not up for another round of screaming and restraining. And of course, the lip wasn't totally healed so I had to bring her back this afternoon. Man was it a spectacle. It was the ER all over again minus the blood and the papoose. She howled and kicked and screamed! It required me holding down her hands and laying across her legs, a nurse holding her head, and then the Dr. to actually cut the stitches out. Three adults to subdue one 3 year old!  And then five minutes later she had a lollipop in her mouth and was singing as we waited for the elevator.

All in all, she looks much better. It's amazing how the body heals! Our Dr. said that she will have a scab for a while and then we just have to be careful because sun exposure will cause the area to discolor. Sunscreen is the name of the game for her for a while :)

And just for fun, here is Kate in her new shirt that we just bought! She is excited because she has decided that she's going to wear it to the beach! I wish I was as excited as her about getting into summer wear! Yikes!

Valentine's Day

So for Valentine's Day this year, Mike and I decided to treat our kids to a gift each. They have been really good and patient and helpful the last few weeks. Savannah is behaving in preschool, Kaitlyn is making great grades, and Owen is trying hard to sleep better for us!

Since Kate had school Monday, we decided to open gifts on Sunday while Nana and Papa O were over for a visit.

The family got MarioKart for the Wii and the girls each got a steering wheel and a foam picture frame and decorating kit to do. Owen got a CD player so he can listen to music in his room while he drifts off to sleep.

Today Savannah and I decided to make Valentine cupcakes for the family. What fun that was!!!

Owen kept his eye on us and the icing very closely!!!

Stitches!

Ok, so we all knew this day would come. I really did expect something like this to happen at some point. My daughter is a beast! But even when you know it is going to happen, it really doesn't make it any easier. My poor baby Savannah had to get stitches.

We took the girls to the BK play place to get out a little energy since it was too chilly to take Owen to the park. They were having a great time playing, going up and down the slide. I told Mike about 10 more mins and we were outta there. Then it happened...a loud boom and then really loud screaming. I think she screamed louder this time than when she fell down the stairs, although I suppose it could have been echoing off all the plastic!!! The worst part was that she was all up in those little tubes and we couldn't get to her or see what was wrong! When we finally saw her, we knew it was bad...to the ER - again!

Savannah it seems fell off a step and landed on her face, biting through her lip and cutting her gum open. Man did that girl bleed! The doctor said she needed stitches and that three of her teeth had been knocked loose. My girl is a freak about her face being touched by doctors and hates needles so I tried to get them to numb her or sedate her or something but they couldn't. So wide awake and WITHOUT any pain meds, they stitched her up. They actually had her wrapped in a papoose so she couldn't move. Oh, it was terrible. She kept screaming and then she'd stop and ask, "Mommy, can I get out now?" Mike had to hold her down and I attempted to keep her calm. In total, she got 4 stitches in her lip and we've got to go see a dentist about her teeth. I am really nervous they might have to come out.

I have to say I am really not surprised at what happened, she's always been rough and tumble, but I just can't believe that all the times she's fallen - at the park, down the stairs, off her bed - she has always gotten up and pretty much walked away without issue. This time she really did a number on her poor face. I just hope it doesn't leave a scar!

 Now she keeps asking to look in the mirror and then she whimpers and says, "my teeth hurt!"

Mission Impossible

Because Owen is having surgery on the 28th the doctor stressed to me the importance of him not getting sick two weeks prior to surgery. At first, I figured I had it made since I don't work and the only place he really goes is to the the church nursery. We decided to take turns going to church the next three Sundays so that he doesn't get exposed to any germs. It sounded like the perfect plan!

This one task is now what I consider mission impossible. Monday Owen started to sound a little congested. Tuesday he was coughing and having a little runny nose. Wednesday he was all snotty and crusty and miserable, had a barking cough and didn't sleep at all. Thursday he coughed so hard he vomited two times and started pulling on his right ear. So I got him into the doctor. He has croup and an ear infection!

He started his first round of antibiotics and a steroid to reduce the inflammation in his throat. I just hope he gets better fast so we don't have to reschedule his surgery.

Preschool on a Rainy Day

Here is Savannah! Ready for preschool on a rainy day! This girl loves rain more than anyone else I know.

It's probably because she has so many cute accessories and because she doesn't have to brave the rain just to go to Wal-Mart and get groceries today!

A New Fear

I used to be able to run the vacuum cleaner in Owen's room while he was asleep and get no reaction...lately things have changed. Here he is while I vacuumed Savannah's rug.

He worked himself into such a tizzy that the spent the following 5 minutes burping up all the air he inhaled while screaming!