Well Look Who the Cat Dragged In....

Is "Blog Abandonment" a punishable offense?  I have no clue what has happened to the last month and a half or so since I last posted!  Things here have been hectic and non-stop to say the least.  I don't remember being this frazzled when I was teaching before my 4 year "sabbatical" but then again I have doubled the number of kids I had back then and now two of them are in elementary school.  Mama is WIPED OUT!!!!!  I absolutely love my job though and I have a great class.  First grade is so awesome :)  It's strange though to be teaching the same grade that one of my own kids happens to be in too.  Even though we are in different school districts we have the same reading series and Abby's class is one week ahead of my class in the book so we talk about the stories alot.

We have had a break from sports for the last month or so but Max has started practice for basketball and Abby will start swimming lessons next month (at the indoor pool...obviously).  Lucy is LOVING her preschool and Ruby has adjusted very well and knows the names of all the kids in her class and her teachers call her the "Little Principal" because she likes to make sure the kids are following directions and if one of the kids takes a cup or pacifier that doesn't belong to them she will take it back and give it to the right child :)  Yeah, her teachers call her their "helper"...I think that's a nice way of calling her "bossy".  Oh well, she's the oldest in the class and won't ever have that status at home.

Speaking of Miss Ruby...guess who turns 2 on Tuesday?!?!?!?!  I can't believe it.  My parents got her a big girl bed for her birthday/Christmas gift and we'll be making the transition from crib to bed over the Christmas break.  Part of me is fine with it but another part of me gets teary eyed thinking about getting rid of the crib and the "baby" stuff.  To think that part of my life is over is tough even as I am excited about the future.  It may have something to do with the fact that I am staring the big 4-0 right in the face and that my 30's was a decade of getting pregnant and having babies.

Well, it's late, and I'm wiped out due to the stomach bug that took up residence in our house this past week ;p  I will try to do better about posting.  We have one more week of school then it's 2 weeks off!  Maybe I can catch up then.  Don't give up on me yet...PLEASE :)

Catching Up with Max...

Okay, I can't get caught up all in one post so I'll take it kid by kid :)

Hey there Max...what's up with you?

So far Max has been loving being at his new school (he moved up to the Elementary school...3-5th grade) from the primary school...K-2nd).  He loves his teacher Mrs. M and currently his favorite subject is South Carolina history.  He recently had to do a project where he had to make a model of SC and show the 6 different regions.  He also had to pick one of the regions and do a brochure/pamphlet/poster on that region telling about it's characteristics, major cities, and places to see/things to do. 

We decided to make the model out of rice krispie treats.  I made a double batch and then poured it out onto a board and molded it into the shape of SC.  I think I got it pretty good.  Then we colored icing into 6 different colors and I outlined each region and Max spread the icing into them.  It turned out really cool and wouldn't you know it...I FORGOT TO TAKE A PICTURE!!!!!  I emailed Max's teacher to ask her if she could do it for me before the class ate it and she said she would but I haven't seen it yet.  If I get it I will certainly post it :)

Max has also been playing flag football this fall.  He was REALLY into it this year and John has been so excited at seeing Max out on the field.  He called me from one game to tell me that Max looked like a real quarterback out on the field and that he was taking a leadership role out on the field trying to direct his teammates on where to block :)  This was the year that he could choose between flag or tackle and John and I made the decision to have him play flag because we weren't sure that he was ready for tackle...now we're sure!  Max would put his arms up to block another player and the kid would run into him and fall down!  Also, Max would run the ball and was so fast he wouldn't have anyone around him sometimes.  I watched him run for a touchdown from one end of the field to the other during one game! 

He had his last game yesterday and at the awards ceremony afterwards his coach gave each of the players an award based on their skills.  Max got the "Lightning" award because of his speed.  The coach told everyone that Max had a bright future ahead of him and that he never liked to let Max have the ball on the first or second down because he knew they'd be playing defense again right away :)  We have a bit of a break now and then we are on to basketball season ;p

Max has also joined Cub Scouts this year and is loving it!  We got him his uniform and he and John went on their first Cub Scout campout a couple of weekends ago.  They had a great time :)

One thing Max has had a tough time with though is going to the afterschool daycare.  He gets picked up from school by their bus and does his homework there and has a snack and plays outside.  It is a great place and the people are very friendly but Max has started having anxiety issues.  He started worrying that something was going to happen to me and he couldn't stop thinking about it.  We had a rough few weeks where he would sob uncontrollably in the mornings before getting on the bus and then would cry at school because he was worried about me.  He told John and I that he was afraid if something happened to me he'd be alone.  I emailed the guidance counselor at his school and she has spoken with him one on one and he is now going to her once a week for about 40 minutes for a small anxiety/stress group.  It seems to be helping...we keep praying that it does.  Also, at the afterschool program they have been wonderful in letting Max stay in the smae room with Abby (they split them up K-2 and 3-5).  Since they have let him do that he has been doing much better as well.  He still asks if I can pick them up early though.

Another thing I have done is to talk to the school psychologist and his teacher (and the other people on the "team") about possibly having Max tested for dyslexia.  He has had some of the more classic signs for a long time and I had been told many times that he would outgrow them by the end of 2nd grade.  He hasn't and is showing some other signs as well.  I looked up what the characteristics of dyslexia were and found a list of 37 of them on the Dyslexia website.  It said that most children with dyslexia would exhibit about 10 of them from time to time.  As I went through the list I highlighted the ones that pertained to Max.  He hit about 25-27 of them or parts of them.  I was told by the school that it is a medical diagnosis so we'd have to go through his pediatrician for that but they reassured me that he is NOT showing signs of a Learning Disability (I didn't suspect that anyway since he is on grade level for reading and above grade level for math).  I'm glad I met with them though because they did say they would keep an eye on his progress to make sure he isn't stalling or falling back.

Finally, since I have started back to work we have really gotten serious about having the kids take on some responsibility around the house.  We are adding them in increments until they can do them without being reminded then we'll add another.  Right now Max is supposed to take care of getting everyone's drinks for dinner, rinsing the dinner dishes, and packing his lunchbox (supervised and helped by me).

So, that is Max...all caught up :)

Happy 40th!

Dear John,


     Happy 40th Birthday Sweetie!  Wow!  The BIG 4-0.  I guess I am married to an old man now huh? :)  Seriously though, I met you when you were 28, I can't believe how fast those years have flown by.  We have definitely been busy during that time too.  Getting married and having 4 kids has certainly been a journey.  I'm glad I have been on this journey with you.  It's had it's ups and downs but we've stuck together through it all.  We've learned so much about each other and there is so much more to learn.


     I love you John.  More and more with each passing year and each new gray hair (yours...I haven't found any yet :)...)  I look forward to spending MANY more birthdays together!


All My Love,
Staci

I'm Here...

Hi!  I'm still here...barely.  I feel buried under a mountain of laundry, dishes, lunch boxes, homework, school work, sports, kids (my own and my 18 first graders), Cub Scouts, daycares, and my van (since I am in it quite a bit).  I have so much catching up to do here but I have so much sleep to catch up on as well.

I'll post more later...hopefully on Wednesday.  We've had a birthday (Lucy's 4th), an Anniversary (mine and John's 10th!) and a VERY IMPORTANT birthday coming this Wednesday...someone in this house (not me) is turning 40!!!!!

One thing hasn't changed around here.  Lucy STILL wakes up multiple times a night so I am STILL not getting enough sleep.  I am looking into resolving this sleep issue soon...as well as her behavior issues...more on that as the story develops...

Good night everyone!

Been Kinda Busy...and an Allergy Update!

Just when I had the good intentions to start making time to blog more I went a got a job!  Last Wednesday I got a message from the principal of a local elementary school saying she really wanted to interview me for a 1st grade position at their school.  I interviewed Thursday morning and got the call 6 hours later that I got the job!!!!!

I have been at home for the past 4 years so needless to say the past week has been absolutely NUTS between finding the best possible childcare/preschool for Lucy and Ruby and an after school program for Max and Abby (I am not at either one of their schools and even though we could transfer them to my school we decided to let them stay at their schools with their friends). 

Ruby and Lucy were going to be able to start at their school this past Tuesday so that left me with figuring out what to do with Max and Abby.  Thanks and a big SHOUT OUT to my awesome sister Shea and my awesome in-laws Jack and Charlotte for agreeing to keep our two older monkeys up in Charlotte.  I drove them up Monday evening and drove back the same night since I had to go to work in my classroom on Tuesday.  Looooong night ;p

Lucy has taken to her new school wonderfully but Ruby is having a very hard time and has consequently screamed and cried herself hoarse.  She does calm down some during the day but will start crying periodically and doesn't really eat much while she is there.  Thankfully she does take about an hour long nap otherwise she'd be done for!  I know it will take time and her teachers are great so they are letting her do what she needs to do to adjust.  It breaks my heart and I wish we'd had time to get her adjusted more slowly but I had to report officially yesterday and we had Meet the Teacher tonight!

Okay, gotta go clean up the kitchen then head to bed.  I have to drop Ruby and Lucy off at school between 6:30 and 6:45 tomorrow to go to professional development meetings by 8am ;p

*****ALLERGY UPDATE*****

Got a call Tuesday afternoon from Ruby's allergist's office.  She is definitely allergic to peanuts but thankfully it is a mild allergy but we have to keep the epi-pen handy.  She is also definitely allergic to dogs (showed up on the skin test).  The blood work also showed positive for allergy to egg whites...she can have fully cooked eggs in cakes and cookies but no scrambled/fried/etc. eggs or anything where the egg may not be fully cooked.  He wants to do an "egg challenge" in the office in about 6 months to see how she does.  Also, what I had feared with all of my kids actually came true...Ruby is allergic to CATS!

We have 2 cats so I was sad when I was talking to the nurse about it.  She said that they have never told anyone they had to get rid of their pets.  She suggested just keeping Tai and Chi out of Ruby's room for now and see how she does.  The cats are 15 and 14 years old so it would be heartbreaking to have to find them a new home (if we didn't have a choice then we'd certainly pick Ruby's health over anything else) so I am glad we don't have to resort to that.

Reserved Parking...

You know how when you spend a lot of time at a certain place it can begin to feel like a home away from home?  Well, for the past couple of weeks that has been our pediatrician's office ;p  Last week I had Ruby there twice due to her high fever and sore throat, which got worse after I took her in on Monday so I took her back on Wednesday.  She thankfully started feeling SO MUCH BETTER Wednesday evening...just in time for John and the kids to get back from Charlotte :)  So much for all the projects I had hoped to complete while they were gone!

Then Sunday night Max started complaining of ear pain and drainage.  Abby had a case of swimmer's ear so we used some of her drops on him.  This was NOT fun and from past experience (using the drops after his numerous ear tube surgeries) I expected I'd have a fight on my hands trying to get them in his ear...Max met my expectations and beyond!  I got him into the pediatrician's office on Tuesday because his ENT didn't have an appointment available until next Thursday.  He was diagnosed with a "bad case" of swimmer's ear.  The Dr. prescribed drops which would require 4 drops TWICE A DAY.  I was tempted to ask if I could just drive Max downtown twice a day for the next 7 days to let the Dr. do it.  I didn't want him to think I was a coward though so I didn't ask ;p

The funny thing was, when I called to make the appointment for Max, the receptionist took his name then she got quite for a second and said, "You are here ALL THE TIME!"  She mentioned the two appointments the week before and then the appointment I made for Max.  I said, "Yeah, and I'll be back Monday for Abby's 6 year check-up".  She laughed and told me I might as well bring a pillow and just stay...I did ask if I could get a reserved parking space right out front though :)

The drops have been a nightmare and he has been on round the clock Motrin for the pain and swelling in his ear.  I had to call the after hours nurse Tuesday night because Max just couldn't sleep at all through the pain and the Motrin was wearing off about an hour before I could give him another dose.  He also started running a fever.  The wonderful nurse (they are the nicest ladies when a frantic parent calls in the middle of the night...I've never felt like I was bothering them at 3 in the morning when they would have to call me back) said it would probably take 2-3 days before he really started feeling better. 

I was driving Max around last night from 1-1:30am because he woke up in a lot of pain (and he tends to yell and scream through his pain) and he wasn't due for another dose of Motrin until 1:30.  He was able to get back to sleep right afterwards though and only fussed a couple more times before sleeping until 7:30 this morning :)  Ironically, my child that had the worst case of swimmer's ear is the same child that won't even put his head underwater at the pool ;)

Of course in the meantime Lucy had woken up and I found her in our bed with john when Max and I got back from our "road trip".  I went to sleep on the living room couch and caught some Z's for about 30 minutes before she woke up yelling and crying for me...yes...daddy was RIGHT THERE NEXT TO HER!...so when I got my tired body up the stairs I found that she had wet the bed ;p  It was one of "those" nights!  Good thing for me I had a job interview at 9 this morning!

FRUSTRATED!!!!!

I am so frustrated.  John took Max, Abby, and Lucy up to my mom and dad's house this morning on his way to work so I could take Ruby to her 8:30 app't at the allergist.  After about 10 minutes of frantically searching for my keys (Max had put them in his duffel bag when he unloaded the car for me Wednesday night) I got Ruby up and we headed out the door.


Once we got in the exam room the nurse came in and I mentioned we were there to go over the results of the blood work.  She left and came back a few minutes later and said Bad News.  The lab that we went to had cancelled the order because they told her (just this morning) that there was something wrong with the sample.  Don't you think someone at the lab would have thought to pick up the phone and call the Dr. who ordered the labs or me (they had my number) to let us know this?????  NOPE!


The nurse had to call the lab this morning when she didn't see the results in the chart.  She was trying to get a hold of someone at the main lab to find out what happened to the sample and no one called her back while we were there.  So, I had to take my baby girl BACK to the lab and have her go through the stick all over again.  Obviously, since the "sample was bad" we were going to have to do it anyway.  I am not upset that we had to do it again because things happen, mistakes are made...I get that.  What I AM upset about though is that the lab dropped the ball and didn't pick up the phone to let us know so I went through all the motions and had to sit in the Dr.'s office for nothing.


The nurse said this time she will call us when the results come back rather than us having to go down there again.  This was the 3rd Dr. app't that Ruby had this week between 2 visits to the pediatrician for her fever and sore throat and then the allergist.  If she sees another stethoscope anytime soon she might lose it ;p


So for now we don't have any more answers...sigh... I just want to know what we need to know so we can move on to whatever we have to do for her.  Patience Staci, patience.

Back to the Allergist

I know it's been awhile since I've been here...no excuses except I've just been trying to keep my head above water during this crazy summer. 

I am taking Ruby back to the allergist tomorrow to get the results of the bloodwork...I'll post the details tomorrow.

Happy Birthday Sis!

Just want to wish my little sis a Happy 36th Birthday!  Wow Shea...before you know it you'll be as old as me :)  Hope you have a wonderful birthday today and I am sorry we can't be there to help you celebrate :(

Just One of THOSE Days...

You'd think it was a Monday the way this day is going so far...


So, I can't remember if I mentioned it here or not but over the past couple of months Ruby has had two instant reactions to peanuts/peanut butter.  I had been purposely keeping her from anything with peanuts due to her eczema and knowing that food allergies sometimes go hand in hand with eczema.  I just didn't want to chance it.  Her reactions weren't bad but she broke out in hives both times and both times Benadryl did the trick.  She also had an episode where a strange dog licked her on the face and within minutes she had hives/red welts covering her face and her eye was beginning to swell shut.  Benadryl did the trick then too (I had also called the pediatrician's office so I knew what else to look for in case the Benadryl wasn't going to work).


My "Mommy's Intuition" has been working overtime lately and although the pediatrician recommended waiting until she was 2 to do any allergy testing I figured I'd just do it anyway...normally I don't mind surprises but being surprised by another food reaction is not something I want to deal with again.


I took Ruby to a great pediatric allergist this morning.  Dr. B is the ONLY name that I kept hearing while talking to various parents about it.  The skin testing was performed and she came back positive for peanuts AND dogs!  Eggs are also a possibility because she HAS had a reaction to eating scrambled eggs in the past.  She can eat things with eggs in them (i.e. cake) and doesn't break out in hives but the Dr. pointed out that if her eczema were to flair up within 24 hours then that could also indicate a food allergy.  We have been working overtime the past week or so in getting her eczema under control because she had some bad areas so I don't know if it was related to something she ate or not.


We have to go in for blood work tomorrow and we'll go back to the Dr. on the 29th to get the results and get more education on peanut allergies.  The Dr. also said that since she has eczema AND food allergies that her chance of developing asthma at some point is about 50%.  I'm trying very hard right now to process all this.  For the time being the Dr. feels it would be best to have an epi-pen handy so I have the prescription for that I have to get filled.  He also suggested using Zyrtec instead of Benadryl only because it lasts longer.  He said it would be a good idea to give her a dose about 30 minutes before we go to visit someone with a dog (i.e. my parents and both of my sisters!) We are also avoiding eggs whenever possible (cake or waffles would be okay).  The Dr. said we would do an egg challenge down the road to see if she outgrows her reaction to that.


So, THAT was my morning.  My incredibly TOTALLY awesome mom kept Max, Abby, and Lucy at work with her this morning because I had heard it might get rough during the testing.  So after I picked them up and we stopped off to say hi to daddy at work we came home to a HOT HOUSE! 


Our downstairs a/c unit is apparently on strike!  While the heat index outside is sitting at about 100 our downstairs is currently a toasty 83 ;p  I tried what I knew to do and now I am waiting on the a/c guy to come.  I called at 2:20 and the lady said he could be here between 1 and 5...then she laughed and said, "Well, he obviously won't be there at 1"...glad she had a sense of humor...she's probably sitting in a nice air conditioned office :)


On top of that my husband is doing battle with the company that "fixed" our foundation last summer.  We noticed the cracks in our garage wall were getting bigger so we put in a call.  The guy "E" who originally came out and "sold" the product came out and took pictures and said the crew would call to come out and fix it.  Call never came and so after I had called for 2 months the crew came out and apparently one of the piers was installed in the wrong place and they would have to call "E" and he would call me to tell me what would have to be done.  2 weeks went by without a call from "E" (are you noticing a pattern here?) John finally got ticked off enough to step in and raise some cane :) 


After several phone calls from John and more from an employee at the company calling on "E"'s behalf, "E" finally showed up on our doorstep yesterday.  He said the crew had put the pier in the wrong place, not where he told them to put it.  I guess he forgot he had given me a copy of his drawing which indicated where the piers were to be placed...they put it exactly where he marked it to go...the WRONG spot!  "E" told me the crew was in the area at another site and that he would have them come over as soon as they were done and take care of it.  Huh...they didn't show up.  Either he "forgot" to tell them or he has no right to alter their schedule...no one called or anything.  I would have thought after all of this that "E" would have called me (as good customer service) to make sure the crew had shown up...nope.


John has had enough and when we stopped by his office today to say hi he was on the phone with the president of the company (who had no idea any of this was going on) and demanded some answers.  We had no problems getting them out here last summer when they were getting $1600.00 out of us...now that they have to correct a mistake THEY made we are getting the run around.


Okay, sorry...had to vent and get that out.  WOW, okay, I was going to take some pics to go with this post and my camera battery died...I'm just gonna crawl in my bed and pull the covers over my head!  I'll do a picture post soon!

Our 4th and a Face Update...

We had a busy but great holiday weekend!  The kids had their final swim lesson on Friday afternoon and although all 3 of them need to stay at the same level next go round they all have come so far!  Before this Lucy never would have even walked to the deep end of the pool much less JUMP IN!  Max never would have jumped in either but he did too.  Abby is more of a daredevil and even jumped in off the platform.  She is the one who is more serious about taking more lessons and becoming a swimmer.


I wish I had some pictures of the lessons but I had Ruby to watch while we were there so I couldn't take my eyes off her long enough to get a picture.  She would have been the one to walk right into the pool!


Max was supposed to have a tournament this weekend for the travel baseball team but it got cancelled because they didn't have enough teams to participate.  His coaches cancelled practice for the weekend too...it was a much needed break from baseball ;p


Saturday morning was spent cleaning, cleaning, cleaning.  since my kitchen was as spotless as it was going to get John went and picked up Chick-fil-a for lunch :)  John's parents arrived at about 1:00 for a visit.  They took us to Outback for dinner Saturday night and it was SO YUMMY!  Even better than the food was the fact that all 4 kids behaved SO WELL!  Max has long since stopped ordering off the kids menu so he had some bread, a big chunk of bloomin' onion, a house salad with thousand island dressing, a 1/2 order of baby back ribs, french fries, and a few pieces of my steak.  He ate every bite and there wasn't a bit of meat left on the rib bones.  What are we going to do when that kid becomes a teenager?  YIKES!


Sunday morning we just hung out around the house and after John's parents left he headed to the pool with Abby and Lucy.  We had planned for all of us to go but Max was having some pretty serious behavior issues (talking back, pitching fits, lack of respect for his sister's stuff) so after telling him he wouldn't be able to go to the pool if he kept up the attitude, he kept it up so he stayed home with me and Ruby.  He wasn't happy about it and it was hard on the rest of us but the boy has got to learn that his actions have consequences and if we don't follow through then he'll just get worse.

Never Saw it Coming...

One of my favorite pictures of John...I just love this handsome guy :)

This past Saturday John decided to do his workout in the afternoon since we were all going to a friend's house for a party that night.  Since the kids were up he figured he'd workout in our room so there would be fewer interruptions...and questions..."Daddy, what are you doing?"  "Daddy, why are you doing that?", etc.  He was using resistance bands with a P90X workout.  The bands go through a loop with a ball attached to it that you put over the door and then close the door.  Normally we had done this workout in the living room and used the garage door for the bands.

To make a long story short, John was using the bands when the door came open (on it's own...nobody opened it) and the bands came flying at him.  The hard plastic ball and the loop (made from the same material as a dog leash) hit him on the face.  I rushed him to an urgent care center where he ended up with 14 stitches to close up 3 lacerations from his upper lip to his nose.  He also sheared a large part of the skin off the right part of his nose.  They did a CT scan of his face to make sure his nose and any other facial bones were not broken.  They also did a chest x-ray because he had some large red welts on his upper chest from where it looked like the bands smacked him.

Scans/x-rays were all good and we left with a prescription for an anti-biotic (he got a tetanus shot) and percocet for pain.  Towards the end of the visit he started complaining about one of his bottom teeth hurting.  The CT scan didn't show any fractures but he thought it felt loose.  We called our dentist on Sunday and he told John to come in on Tuesday morning so he could do individual x-rays of the teeth.

Monday morning he woke up with some swelling in his face that was new and under his right eye looked like a bruise.  I took him to our regular dr. and she put him on a steroid to help the swelling in his face and his upper lip which had swelled pretty badly right after he got hit and didn't seem to be going down.

Tuesday morning he went to the dentist on his own and called to say that the tooth was indeed fractured and he was going to have to go in for a root canal at 1:00 that afternoon.  During the root canal it was determined that the tooth itself was broken and could not be fixed so it had to come out.  He'll have a post inserted and a new tooth constructed by our amazingly awesome dentist.

Another appointment he had Tuesday afternoon did not go as well as he had hoped either.  The dr. at the urgent care recommended he consult a plastic surgeon to make sure his nose was healing properly.  The urgent care made the appointment with a dr. they frequently recommend.  The guy was a complete jerk and made John feel worse than he already did.  For a plastic surgeon he had a horrible bedside manner and acted like he had never seen anything like it.  He even told John it was good that he mainly talks to clients on the phone and doesn't meet with them face to face!  JERK!!!!!  Obviously this guy just makes his money off elective nose jobs and butt lifts, etc.  Every other dr. John had seen about it had said that it looked like it would heal just fine and there was no infection.  This guy tried to tell him that the skin looked dead and infected...sorry but that's a bunch of bull****!  He also told John he would ONLY recommend this particular cream and how convenient was it that he sold it in the office...for $100 bucks!!!!  Of course after he practically scared John out of his wits John bought the cream.  I told John he would NOT go back to that idiot and I would find him another plastic surgeon to consult with and to remove his stitches next week.  He's got an appointment next Tuesday morning with a wonderful dr.  I called "bad dr.'s" office and cancelled the appointment he had made for next Tuesday.  The lady asked if I wanted to reschedule and I said no, he was going to see a different dr. So ;p on you meanie dr.!!!!!  I would have loved to give the woman an earful of what I thought of that dr. but it's not her fault her boss is a jerk so it wouldn't have been fair to her. (Can you tell I am just a tiny bit ticked off???)

John stayed home Monday and Tuesday and went back to work yesterday.  As expected he has been upset by the whole thing but I keep reminding him about what he said when he was waiting to get his stitches...It could have been much worse because if it had hit him about an inch higher he WOULD have broken his nose or a little to the left or right and it would have gotten him in an eye.  Having the swelling all but gone now has improved his outlook considerably and now if I could get the nagging doubt out his head about his nose (that the stupid idiot moron numskull dr. put in his head) then he'll be good to go.  He can't wait to start back up with the P90X workouts (minus the resistance bands that we threw in the trash!) but wants to wait until his nose has healed up more and he gets his stitches out.  I told him I still think he's a hottie :) 

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to all the Dads out there!  I hope today (and everyday) you know how much you are loved and appreciated :)


To my Father-in-Law, Jack ~  Thank you so much for being such a positive role model in John's life.  Thank you for raising him to be a good and loving husband and father.  I see a lot of you in John...his love for being in the yard and growing things and his love of maps are just a couple of those things.  Thanks for being such a great Grandpa too :) I hope you have a wonderful day and know that you are loved.


To my husband John ~ Thank you for being the best daddy to our zoo precious babies.  You have been a hands on dad from the beginning and I truly appreciate all your hard work.  Thank you for being their protector, provider, coach, co-disciplinarian, role model, jungle gym, teacher, and friend.  I could not have picked out a better father for my children, I am so glad that God chose you for me to share this crazy roller coaster ride wonderful journey with :)  Thanks for taking our kids on bike rides, to the beach, to the pool, to the playground.  Thanks for teaching them to ride their bikes and being excited about doing it.  Thanks for teaching them about God and what it means to love Him.  Thanks for being excited about showing them the alligators in the pond, the hawks flying over head, beautiful sunsets, deer playing in the backyard, fire trucks, flowers/plants starting to grow, and every golf course that we happen to pass by :)  Thanks for wanting our kids to be the best they can be and for helping them get there.  Here's to your 9th Father's Day...


To my Dad, Joe ~ Words can't begin to express how much I love you and appreciate everything you have done for me.  You taught me so many things and continue to do so.  You taught me to work hard and not to give up or be afraid of it...or to be afraid of the ball hitting me :)  You taught me to do it right the first time and to make it count (and to completely erase my mistakes on my paper or to get a new piece of paper and start over!).  You have taught me to think for myself and do for myself.  You pushed me to do better because you knew I could.  I probably didn't appreciate it back then but I do now :)  You made so many sacrifices for us and never complained (well, maybe to mom but we never knew!) and even when you were out to sea when Shea and I were young, we always knew you loved us and we couldn't wait for the day you came home.  Although you would never let us "help" in the kitchen we learned so much from you (my family appreciates the love of cooking I got from you). Our "Super Dad" could mow the lawn, cook dinner, and balance the checkbook all at the same time :)  I am so proud to call you my dad and I only hope I can pass on all that I have learned from you to my kids (if Max wants to eat when he moves out I better teach him how to cook!)  Thanks for being my coach, thanks for painstakingly decorating my birthday cakes, thanks for providing us with wonderful opportunities, thanks for providing for us, thanks for listening, thanks for loving us!  I hope you have a wonderful 40th Father's Day!!!!!!!!!

Ruby's Housekeeping Service

Ruby had a small bowl of Cheerios as a snack this morning.  She spilled it all over the floor (typical).  She came to me saying "mess".  I asked her if she would clean it up and she picked up the empty bowl and "ran" into the living room saying "Otay"!


Now, you'd think since she took the bowl with her that she was planning to pick up the food and put it back into the bowl.  Ha!  She had a better idea :)

Yep, bent right over and picked the cheerios up with her mouth!  Also, did you like the little dance right there at the end?  Crazy kid.

I tried to get her to pick more cheerios up and she decided to mix in her own brand of yoga with her cleaning.

Good thing I don't pay her any money for housekeeping.  She does get to keep what she picks up though :)  I think it will be a while before she can officially open her own housekeeping business...maybe she can learn to use a vaccuum first?

P.S.  Sorry for the poor quality on the video...I was using my cell phone :P

SHE DID IT!!!!!

Guess who FINALLY made it to the 20 lb mark?  

Yep, our little Ruby not only hit the 20 lb mark (just in the past 3 months) but passed it by 1 lb 12 oz!!!!!  At her 15 month checkup she weighed in at 19lbs 13 oz.  I was SURE this time would be something like 19lbs 15ozs :p  Just because she has started walking/running since then and doesn't have a huge appetite...also because she's a stinker and would just do something like that :)


She had her 18 month checkup this morning...
weight 21lbs 12oz - 20th percentile
height 31 in. - 20th percentile
head circumference 19 in. - 85th percentile


Yeah, still our "Tiny Genius".  The dr. was very pleased with her growth over the past 3 months.  He mentioned that it had seemed like she had slowed down/stopped for a little while but she has picked back up and he has no concerns.  I did mention an incident that occurred at one of Max's ball games where a dog licked her on the face and she broke out in welts in that area within about 5 min.  His first words to that were that she could have a possible dog allergy.  She's been around dogs though and never had a problem so I'm not sure.  I am more convinced than ever though that we need to get some allergy testing done on her as soon as they will do it.  I don't like scary surprises!!!!!


Now I have to get her in for a checkup with the dermatologist...she is still having some flareups of the eczema and the ointment helps it as well as the Cetaphil cream I use on her but the tops of her feet don't want to clear up.  I know it's the shoes so I only put them on her when we are going somewhere and I know she'll be walking...otherwise she is barefoot.  I can't put socks on her though or her feet would melt in this heat!


Sweet girl and we LOVE her to pieces!!!!!

Adventures in Teeth Cleaning!

All I can say is...I am glad THAT is over!

Yesterday Max, Lucy and Ruby had an appointment to get their teeth cleaned.  It was Lucy's 3rd or 4th time (they all kind of blur together) and Ruby's first appointment EVER!

Max did great and got a SUPER report from the dentist.  I was not able to be near Max during his cleaning though because I was busy on the other side of the room wrestling a screaming banshee consoling a terrified 3 year old on my lap.  She refused to lay on the table AGAIN...so I had to hold her in my lap and lay her backwards so her head was in the hygienist's lap.  I told the lady she must have drawn the short straw that morning because she ended up having to do Ruby's cleaning as well :P

Lucy also had to get her first set of x-rays done.  For this she was fine!  While we waited for the Dr. to come and check for himself the hygienist decided to go ahead and do Ruby.  It was everything I expected it to be.  B.A.D.! 

There were quite a few comments about how strong she is...this is while I was holding her hands down and trying to keep her from vaulting herself off the the head off the table.  She was moving so bad that the hygienist nicked her top gum with the scraper (I was wondering why they would use such a sharp instrument on a thrashing toddler but that's just me I guess).  While she was holding a piece of wet gauze on Ruby's top gum to stop the bleeding, the hygienist went ahead and brushed Ruby's teeth.  Let's just say that I am glad that this experience did not make her hate having her teeth brushed :)  She held on to her new toothbrush for the rest of the visit and only screamed one more time...when she had to lay back down for the dentist to look at her teeth.

The good news of Max's visit was met with the bad news that Lucy and Ruby BOTH have very crowded teeth just like their big sister Abby.  Lucy's x-ray showed that the two top teeth on either side of the front teeth are coming down rotated.  The dentist said that she still has time to grow but there isn't a lot of room in her mouth right now.  He said Ruby's look more crowded than Abby's...great. With the amount of $ we have already spent on Abby's mouth this was not what I wanted to hear.  I see lots of braces in our future...

I had grand plans to take a picture of Ruby at her very first dentist visit but it's hard to hold a camera...much less take a picture...when you are wrestling a very angry toddler...oh well.

"Take Me Out to the Ball Game"

Well folks, if anyone needs to reach me this summer I will be at one of various baseball fields.  Abby has started t-ball practice and will have games on Tuesdays and Thursdays through the middle of July.  Max is playing machine pitch here in our town's rec league (same as Abby) and will more than likely have games on Mondays and Wednesdays...to be ADDED to the Travel league he is playing on in the city's rec league.  He will have practice for that team EVERY. SINGLE. FRIDAY. and SUNDAY through the middle of August.  The only time he won't have a Sunday practice is when they have a tournament that weekend.


Tournaments will require travel and consist of 2 games on Saturday and 2 games on Sunday.


And of course, every parent wants their child(ren) to be out of the house as much as possible during the summer well rounded so we will top it off with swimming lessons and a week of VBS (which will coincide with swimming lessons for 2 days so I'll have to pick them up early from VBS to get to the pool in time).  Try to get some schoolwork in with all that so they don't forget too much during their "break" and I'd say we're going to be pretty busy!


Poor Lucy and Ruby have to just tag along to everything.  Lucy will be doing swimming lessons with Abby but she's too young for any of the other sports yet and she can't do VBS until next year :(


Just because I don't think I'll be getting enough exercise (or sweating enough during the middle of the day games) I have started doing P90X again.  John is doing it too.  We have to stagger our workouts though because we do them at night and past experience has shown that as soon as I start a workout, Lucy one of the kids will wake up fussing.  It's nice though to have a workout buddy in the sense that we are both in a lot of pain right now ;p  John turns 40 in October and I will be 40 in February so I think we both want to be "Fit and 40" and not "Fat and 40"  :)  I figured since I spent a great deal of my 30's either pregnant and gaining weight or giving birth and trying to lose the baby weight that I should enjoy a fit body in my 40's...right?  I'll probably never see my 20's body again but at least I have 4 beautiful kids to show for all the stretch marks!


Wow...off track...anyway...I'll be going out to the ball games but I won't be buying any peanuts and Crackerjack!!!!!

Kid Night

Ha!  It's not as if every night isn't kid night already anyway.  Since yesterday was the last day of school and today was a pretty good first day of summer vacation (thanks to awesome neighbors who took 2 of my kids off my hands today :) )...I thought we could have a little celebration for all the hard work the kids did in school this year.


I picked up pizza for dinner and as a treat bought a 2 liter bottle of Sierra Mist Natural (the kids ONLY get sodas as a treat).  I also picked up a movie and some popcorn and movie candy.  Dinner has been devoured, showers/baths done, now it's MOVIE TIME :)


We might have to make movie night a once a week summer tradition :)  Have a great weekend everyone!!!!!

A Barrel Full of Monkey...Cupcakes?

Some call me a glutton for punishment because I will jump at the chance to make a cake or cupcakes for a school party.  I LOVE it :)  I started out making my kids' birthday cakes and I am now getting into the cupcake craze (thanks to my mom).


Anyway, I posted last week about the ocean/sailboat cupcakes I made for Lucy's class.  I made these cupcakes for Max's class party today.

I searched for "Monkey cupcakes" on the internet and found the idea and ran with it.

It was perfect because Max's teacher has had a monkey theme in her classroom all year.

Looks like a Barrel Full of Monkeys...heehee!

Since the majority of the class made or exceeded their goals on their end of the year testing she allowed them to have a "You Can't Do That At School" party.  From the time the first bell rang until 9am they ate nothing but junk food, watched movies and played video games.  At 9am they headed outside for a water balloon fight (I filled about 100 of those little buggers last night after making the cupcakes!).

The teacher played a couple of games with them using the balloons then allowed them each 2 balloons, lined them up shoulder to shoulder and told them as another part of their reward they could throw the balloons AT HER!  That's a brave woman :)

After they did that (most of them bounced off her and splatted on the ground) they were able to throw them at each other.  I was somewhat nervous when she lined them up to throw at her because she had them with their backs to their parents.  I kept thinking she was going to tell them to turn around and throw them at us :)

Max decided he wanted to stay at school and ride the bus home (it was a half day today so they dismissed at 10:30).  Lucy, Ruby, and I headed down to Abby's class because they were having a water day too.  By the time we got down there though the class had just come back inside and having their snack.  We hung out for a few minutes and Abby decided to leave with us because she has "done centers all year" and didn't care to do them today.

Tomorrow is another half day and the LAST day.  I'll go back in the morning to take Max's teacher her gift from the class and take pictures of Max and Abby with their teachers...another tradition I have carried on from my childhood...pics with the teachers on the last day of school.

Lucy's Last Day in 2K

Our little Lucy finished her first year of preschool today :( 
Two more years then she'll be heading off to Kindergarten...the time is going to fly and I am trying to hold on to every second I can!

They had a little party and I wanted to make a "summery" themed cupcake to celebrate the beginning of their summer vacation.

I put them on a tray with "sand" (crushed graham crackers) and although they aren't in the picture I put a couple of little umbrellas around the cupcakes.  I was remembering my dad's words..."Presentation is 90% of cooking".

Close-up

Since the first day of school Lucy has taken "shy" to a whole new extreme!  She barely spoke to her teachers or "her kids" as she calls her classmates.  She wouldn't even say goodbye to her teachers when I would coome to pick her up.  Abby was the same way when she was in 2K but she grew out of it a lot earlier than Lucy.  Lucy was also the oldest in the class (she turned 3 about 2 weeks after school started) so I kept trying to tell her that this was her chance to show her stuff and be the oldest.  Didn't work.

Everyday I took her to school I would ask her if she was going to talk to her teachers that day.  Her response was either "I don't know" or "Probably" ;p  Have I mentioned I think she is our most stubborn hard headed kid? :)

The past couple of weeks Lucy FINALLY did it!  She started talking to her teachers AND playing with a couple of "her kids".  Thanks Ms. Jennifer for all your patience and love for our little Lucy.  You helped bring her out of her shell (it probably seemed more like a tooth extraction!) 

I will always be grateful for your TLC with her.  I wish you could have another month with her now that she's opening up...then again, I don't want to shatter any illusions you have of her...HA!  You'll have to check on her next year in her 3K class and see what she's doing with her hair :)  She's gone from about 15-20 hairclips to 6 braids...no telling what her sense of style will come up with next (oh yeah...and the boots)!

Lucy and Ms. Jennifer

8 year stats...

Really quick because I have to get dinner started...
Took Max for his 8 year checkup today...YIKES!


Weight... 76.4 pounds...94th percentile
Height... 55in (4ft 7 in)...97th percentile


Had to take him yesterday to get some new clothes!  Dr. said his height and weight are proportional but that he's a big boy for his age...NO KIDDING :)


Dr. also mentioned that it's important for him to get lots of fruits and veggies and water at this age.  I told him it wasn't a problem for Max, he usually goes for that stuff first :)  Dr. said he could definitely tell max was getting plenty of nutrition :)


Just for kicks I looked up a "Height Predictor" online and the two results I got from two different websites say about 6'2" or 6'3" by age 18.  I predict he'll be wearing his dad's clothes by the time he hits middle school ;p

Our Littlest Twinkletoes and other Ruby stuff!

Not one to be outdone by her older sisters, Ruby also loves her some country music :)  The girls were listening to "Mean" by Taylor Swift on the computer and Ruby decided to let the music move her!  I crack up when I see her moving her mouth like she's trying to sing :)

   So tell me...do YOU think she's got rhythm?


By the way, just some random Ruby stuff since I'm here and talking about her anyway :)

Ruby's first trip to the strawberry patch.  
I don't think she was quite sure what to do with it :)

- She no longer wants anything to do with baby food! I've been trying to get her onto "regular" food for awhile now but she just used the food I put on her tray as projectiles.  All of a sudden I was trying to feed her some baby food one day and she turned her nose up at it.  Now the challenge is to get a variety of good stuff in her during the day!  Another challenge is getting her to keep her food on the plate and not dump it all over her tray. 


- I know I am slack about posting but she has been walking since April 11th (2 days before she turned 16 months...she'll be 17 months tomorrow)!  I had every intention of posting about it and a short video of the morning that she took her first steps on her own but now that she's on her feet and can reach a lot more stuff I am busier than ever ;p  I just tried to post the video but I keep getting an error message that it doesn't want to upload ;p

Hanging out in the dirt at Max's birthday party.

- Ruby is such a funny kid with a HUGE personality!  She is talking up a storm now and is picking up all kinds of new words.  Communicating with her is getting so much easier :)  Her favorite thing to do right now is to say, " Mom, mom, mom, mom"  when I say, "yes, Ruby?" she will either "tell" me something in baby language, say "Hi" and give me a big grin, or blow a raspberry at me.  Then she does the same thing all over again about 3 or 4 times.  She stopped at the playroom door the other day and pointed into the room and said, "mess".  I asked her if she made the mess and she said, "No" and turned around fast and walked away.  I guess she didn't want to clean it up...stinker.


- She is getting teeth ALL THE TIME!  I swear her mouth drips like a leaky faucet all day long.  She has her first dentist appointment next month so we'll see how that goes :)  

Being cheesy :)  See the drool on her dress?

- I guess she is going to grow up to be an artist.  She is the only one of all 4 of our kids that has decided it would be fun to draw all over the walls and doors!  Abby and Lucy aren't as vigilant about keeping the crayons/pencils/markers/chalk picked up and out of Ruby's reach as they should be.  She has colored the carpet in the playroom a pretty shade of blue chalk, the side of the bookshelf has some kind of ancient hieroglyphics on it now, and the door to the playroom has some abstract art done in a lovely shade of neon pink highlighter.  Mr. Clean's "Magic Eraser" has met it's match with that one!


-Art supplies aren't Ruby's only means of artistic expression.  The other day Ruby brought me a wad of toilet paper that she had so lovingly unrolled from the new roll in the bathroom.  The trail that followed her was still connected to the tube in the bathroom.  When she handed me the wad in her hand I asked her what she was doing with it.  Her response?  "I poop"...then turned and walked away!


I may be too old for this :p

Lucy is "Stuck Like Glue"

Lucy is a HUGE fan of country music! Her current favorites include Reba, Lady "Anavella" (Lady Antebellum), Taylor Swift, Darius (Rucker...but he has elevated himself to a one name star in Lucy's eyes), Keith "Urvan" (Urban), and Sugarland.

Anytime one of her favorite songs by any of these artists comes on the radio Lucy lets loose. I got some video of her in the kitchen earlier dancing to Sugarland's "Stuck Like Glue" (which is tied with Reba's "Turn On Your Radio" and Taylor Swift's "Mean" for her all time favorite).

For some reason she likes to lip sync :)

Lucy also had gum in her mouth at the time...;p

An Amazing Experience!

This afternoon our family headed to the beach for one of the most amazing experiences. The SC Aquarium was releasing loggerhead turtles back into the ocean after having taken care of them in their Sea Turtle Hospital (click on sea turtle link to go to the hospital blog to see pics and info on the turtles released today).

There was a HUGE crowd on both sides of a long path down the beach into the ocean. Some of the turtles had to be carried down to the water and a few of them kept stopping as if to say they weren't too sure about going back :) They all made it out into the ocean though and it was so neat to hear the clapping and cheering from the crowd as each turtle caught their wave and swam out to sea!

sorry about the weird stuff from my camera...not sure what was going on ;p

We were actually standing IN the ocean to watch and I had a tough time seeing the turtles up close until one of the little ones that started swimming close to where we were decided to take a left instead of going straight. He came through the line of people and started heading back for shore! One of the hospital (turtle hospital that is!) volunteers was following him and caught him as he was right next to my leg! She picked him up and he smacked my leg with his flipper!!!!!

If I hadn't been so shocked and if it hadn't happened so fast I would have been able to get a picture up close and personal. The very nice people that were in front of us (and had a front row spot) allowed Max and Abby to stand between them so they could see everything. John and I took turns holding Lucy and Ruby. Lucy giggled everytime she saw a turtle :)

I am so glad we took our kids to see this! Other than seeing loggerheads and other sea turtles swimming in an aquarium tank they haven't seen them like this.

8 Years

Up until I was 31 I had many names...

daughter, sister, wife, friend...but...

8 years ago today my life was changed forever...
At 3:29pm I met my son for the first time and I haven't been the same since...

He was a big boy weighing it at 8 lbs 13 oz and 20 inches long. Although I had gotten plenty of experience in holding babies and changing diapers, etc. from years of babysitting and helping with my baby sister (I was 13 yrs old when she was born), this was the first baby that would ever call me "mama" and even though hearing it about a hundred times a minute several times a day from any or all 4 of my kids...it is still the name I cherish the most.

Max

My first born.

My only son.

You hold a part of my heart forever.

My dreams for you have not changed from when you were born (even before that).

I want for you to love and honor God. Have strong morals, a kind, giving, and compassionate heart. I want you to be a good role model for your sisters and others. I want you to enjoy life and see the good in others. I want you to find something you are passionate about and do your best at it. I want you to go to college (preferably Clemson...heehee!) and give it 110%.

MUCH later...I want you to fall in love, get married, and start your own family. I want you to be a good dad...just like yours :) I want you to know the feeling of playing ball with your kids, watching them ride their bike for the first time, take them to their first day of school, and say prayers with them and read stories at bedtime.

So, I'm not asking too much am I? :) Max, I love you with everything that I am and I pray every night that I can be the kind of mom you need to become the kind of man God wants you to be.

You make me smile

You make me laugh

You make me wonder

You make me want to be a better me.

Happy Birthday sweet boy! Don't grow up too fast please?

***Okay...not sure what is going on but Blogger wouldn't let me change font size or anything so I don't know how it's going to look ;/ ***

Party post coming soon!

We had Max's party today at the county park. Wouldn't you know it??? My camera battery died after a few random shots so I didn't get one of the cake...that I worked my tail off to make. I did have my video camera and can make still photos from that so as soon as I get some sleep tonight and can get the video uploaded (or is it downloaded???) I'll do the post. Hopefully tomorrow!

His actual birthday isn't until Thursday so...GASP!...I might actually get two posts in the same week...GO ME!

Still here!

I have a couple of posts I am working on...mostly in my head but I am still working on them ;p Once I get a minute (or more) to sit at the computer without constant interruptions from little people asking for snacks, drinks, to play the Wii, or tattling on each other than I'll get them on here.

**Coming Attractions**
A HUGE milestone...
Easter/Spring parties at school...
Strawberry picking...
Walk on the beach...
New glasses...

Be back soon...

15 Months...a little late :)

Hey everyone! Guess what? I'm 15 months old!!!!! WOOHOO :) I am doing so much and really keeping my mom on her toes...

One of my favorite things to do is climb. I can climb in and out of this chair all by myself. Pretty cool huh? One day I climbed up to the second step so my mom and dad put the gate up to block the steps. That's okay though. A couple of Fridays ago I waited until my big sister Lucy forgot to close the gate back up and I climbed almost to the top...then I came tumbling down.

Scared me but scared my mommy more! She thought the gate was closed. When I started acting funny and I threw up my mommy rushed me to the dr. He checked me out and I was fine but I had a small bump on my head from when I hit it on the gate at the bottom of the steps.

Speaking of the dr. I had my 15 month checkup the Monday AFTER I fell down. Are you ready for this?...

~ I weighed in at 19lbs. 13 oz. (10th percentile...up from the 3rd at 1 year).

~ I am 30 1/2 inches tall (50th percentile...up from the 25th)

My mom just can't believe that I haven't hit the 20lb mark yet! I don't know why she wants me to, that just means she has MORE weight to carry around :)

~ I'm just now outgrowing my 12 month clothes and I'm comfortable in 12-18 months clothes.

My petite size has nothing to do with not eating enough though. I will chow down on baby food but I do tend to be a bit picky about table food. Some days I like it and will eat 4 fish sticks and other days I don't want to have anything to do with it...unless it is a cracker...heehee! My favorite snacks include goldfish crackers, Ritz crackers, Gerber Graduates Yogurt melts, and pretzels.

I am also still dealing with my eczema. If mommy doesn't use my steroid cream on me for a few days I start breaking out again. She only puts it on the rash areas though and then slathers me with Cetaphil cream ALL OVER (I get this stuff every night)! It has been a rough couple of months with the pollen and everything, I've had a nasty bug/virus/crud since the beginning of February that turned into a sinus infection at one point and now I have an ear infection. My mommy took me to the dr. again last Friday because she found some swollen lymph nodes in the crease of my leg and the dr. said it was because of all the germs I've been fighting. Good thing mom took me though because she didn't even know I had the ear infection!

Eating isn't the only thing I'm stubborn about. My mommy and daddy have been waiting since I turned one for me to start walking. I keep hearing them say that Max, Abby, and Lucy were all walking on or before their first birthdays...HA!

Why should I? When I look up at them with this cute face they can't resist picking me up :)

I LOVE to push this toy around though and will walk around all day with it. I have thrown mom and dad a bone from time to time and walked a handful of steps just to see the claps and cheers I get...then I sit on my bottom and crawl away...I love messing with them :)

Speaking of messes! I can and do make my share of them around here. My mommy calls me a human tornado sometimes. My favorite things to do include

• 
  
  opening the bottom file cabinet drawer and pulling out all the papers in there and watch them fly!,


• 
  
  unrolling a whole roll of toilet paper when someone forgets to close the bathroom door,


• 
  
  pulling ALL the toys out of my toy basket and books out of my book basket and flinging them behind my back,


• 
  
  taking the magnetic letters off the dishwasher and throwing them across the kitchen floor,


• 
  
  pulling all the wooden puzzles out and throwing the pieces all over Abby and Lucy's room,


• 
  
  and my newest...opening my bottom dresser drawer and pulling out my clothes to throw on the floor and then crawling into the bathroom when Max, Abby, or Lucy is in there and pulling all the bathtub toys out of the basket...

...notice a theme? THROWING!!!!! Oh yeah, I also like to ask for my cup of milk only to take one drink then fling the cup to the floor to make a loud crashing sound :)

Another favorite...pulling all the nicely folded baby wipes out of the container so my mommy just has to give up and stuff the big ole wad of them back into the box before they dry out :)

I am growing and my family loves me SO MUCH! I can already tell I am going to get away with lots of stuff around here but I mean really...could you say no to this face? :)

I'm off to see what other kind of mess I can make!

Love,

Ruby