Lessons from the boys

 
 
 
Last night Mandy's energy level perked up for about an hour and she used that time to talk her Bubba and Daddy into teaching her how to bat like her big brother. First Kyler tried and when she missed he said "Awww" and burried his face in the ottoman. Next it was Daddy's turn and he set her up while Bubba pitched. It was such a good pitch that it bounced right off the middle of her forehead! She didn't even flinch (thank God for wiffle balls). Her energy was short lived because when she was done she went back to whining and melting down. Anyone who knows Mandy knows that is a sign that she isn't feeling well and her cough and congestion have been going on for 5 days now. Needless to say, I took her to our wonderful pediatrician this morning and sure enough she is in the early stages of Bronchitis.....following in those Goulding footsteps! He gave her a Rx and said to go ahead and give her 2 breathing treatments a day since whenever she starts down this road we end up in the clinic for breathing treatments. With lots of luck we caught it early enough that we will miss the whole high fever and struggle sleeping part of this.

HEAVEN HELP ME...

Tonight at dance class we found out we have been "invited" to dance at three different events this spring. The first at the Easter festival just like Alex. We must pay for our costume by Feb 15th and buy Danskin frosty something or another tights. Yep, I am thrilled. The best part??? Mom's have three choices...stand behind the girls, stand next to their girl or sit in the front row and give "hand signals". Ms Pam said to try it out tonight to see how independent your girl is and mine didn't want my help but wanted me next to her so looks like Aunt Kelly may get her wish with me on stage! Only for Mandy. SCARY! This may just be the motivation I need to lose these last few pounds.

Update on Aunt Carol

Today they tried to induce the condition that caused her to collapse and it was going to cause too much stress so they went ahead with an implant that is like a little defibrillator. Apparently this will give her heart a little shock at the first sign of an arrhythmia. Hopefully she will behave and get to go home tomorrow. I know that would make recovery a little easier for her. Keep your prayers coming and thanks for all of your support and love.

Aunt Carol

As of this afternoon, it looks like the source of Aunt Carol's health problem may be heart related. They will be transferring her via ambulance tomorrow to a hospital where they can run the cardiac tests they need to decide the best step to help her. Please keep praying, I believe that she will be okay but I also know that this is a different problem than the doctor's initially thought they were dealing with. We are sending her family our love.

Prayer request

Today my Aunt Carol, who is also my Godmother, collapsed while getting ready for work as a lifeskills teacher at her local school. She came to on her floor called her daughter and 911. She is currently in ICU. We have little information right now and are asking for prayers for her and our family. She is a wonderful woman with a loving heart and strong spirit. She is the one in the white sweater looking at Todd.

Pearly Whites

Today Kyler went back to Dr. Strolle with his picture (colored for a prize) and his "magic ball" Grammy brought him. The magic ball was so that if he got scared he could squeeze it take a deep breath and be okay. Grandma's think of the best things! He held it in his hand the whole time. He was very brave and earned two stickers...one for being so good with Ms. Carol and one for being so good with Dr. Strolle. They gave him stickers in his goody bag with his new tooth brush and special flosser. I am so proud of him. He said he is going to take Mandy to show her how big kids do it because she will have her turn this summer when he goes back.

While the daddies are away...

The kiddies will play. Tonight since Daddy and Uncle Shawn went with Kevin to go hunting tonight (for hog) Aunt Kelly, Austin, Alex and Gage came over to play. They had a great time tearing up the house (hence the reason I didn't clean today .. tee hee.) Aunt Emma came to play for awhile and Gran and Papa came for a visit on their way home from Cleburne. They even stayed for dinner which delighted the kids to no end. This video clip of Mandy and Gage dancing is just too funny not to post. And so we included some pics of the big kids playing hard too just to show they were enjoying each others company.

Thank God for Stickers!

This week has been a rough week with Kyler...he has given us all a run for our money. Attitude and pushing the limits as much as he could. This is not his normal personality, we tried just about everything. Then we remembered T-ball season is coming and how well stickers worked to help us get him back into going to bed like a big boy when he was smaller and I went back to work from summer. So.....we broke out the stickers again letting him know that when he listened and acted nice he would receive a sticker to put on his calendar and if the calendar is full of stickers then he will get to play T-ball. Apparently it worked! He told me about how good he was today and how he got a sticker for his calendar. Lately it has been him telling me what he got in trouble for today. Kudos to Kyler for stepping up and saving all of our sanity. This week he had been in time out atleast once with Daddy before I got home and today no time outs at all! He was so proud when I got home I got another great big hug and kiss.

Big boy!

Wow, my children amaze me everyday. Tonight Kyler wanted to show me how he can write his letters without tracing and he did a BUNCH of lower case a's tonight. He jumped up and down so proud of himself saying "I did it! Gramma Cindy will be so happy!" He says this because all week he has been giving her attitude over learning ANYTHING new. He wants to continue on what he already knows...so, he did it and we jumped up and down together celebrating and then he gave me a HUGE hug! Now, that is special.
Mandy ofcourse wanted to show off her coloring too so here is her picture. There is a baby in there somewhere if you ask her.

First dance class...

Tonight was Mandy's first Tappin' Tots class. She was too cute. I got pictures of her with her "dance hair" but the class is a Mommy and Me type thing so it will just get to be an activity that we get to enjoy each week together. The entire way there she told me how pretty she is (heaven help me!) She really enjoyed tap and was watching Ms Pam like a hawk so she could copy her. (Ofcourse I was helping her with her left and right) Ballet was a different story, she wanted to run with the other little girl (Mackenzie) around the room, however, she did count with Ms Pam as they did their stretches. They had fun with it though. She screamed at me all the way home because she wanted to stay for the tumbling class that was afterwards. Maybe in a couple months....after she can stay engaged for tap AND ballet. Tee hee.

Sunday snuggles

Kyler and Mandy enjoyed some sibling snuggle time on Sunday after naps! How sweet.

Better late than never...

This weekend Kyler gave Daddy a shave. Here are some pictures of Kyler the Barber! He did pretty good too.

Tappin' Tots

Tonight I enrolled Mandy in Tappin' Tots (a mommy and me). She was so excited! "I dance, I dance!" is all I heard. We start next week and since it started last night we only had to pay $15.00! However, we do need to buy shoes....tap shoes AND ballet slippers. Here we go......off into another adventure only this time a really GIRLY one!

"My binkie is broken..."

Yes, you read correctly! The binkie is broken. Thanks to Aunt Lisa and Uncle Mark for helping us to see how to help a little girl who LOVES her binkie let it go. It worked for Sydney and it is working for Mandy now too. Yesterday when Mandy woke up her binkie was broken! She asked for it a couple of times and when she remembered it was broken she said "throw it in trash". So she did and she let me rock her down for nap time and that was a success and I got her to sleep okay until Bubba woke her up. THat was the challenge because a sleepy almost two year old who "can't find it!" is a little more challenging to get back to sleep. Eventually we did but it was rough. First thing this morning she told Grandma Cindy her binkie was broken and she got cheers so I think we are on the road to success...
Pray for tonight!

Potty trained!

Okay so I may be jinxing myself but I do believe that Mandy is officially potty trained. She has been in big girl panties for over a week now and had only one or two poo poo accidents and no pee pee accidents! The girl even sleeps in big girl panties. I assure you that none of this was my idea and that she is truly a little girl who sets her mind to something and makes it happen.

Happy 100th Bday Mama B!

This afternoon we had a birthday party for Mama Baechtel on the 3rd she turned 100! Wow, is that amazing. I could only hope to look that good at 100.

Surprise Slumber Party

Last night I went to borrow some dishwasher detergent from Aunt Kelly and Alex wanted to come home with me! Talk about making an Aunt feel special. Since I am off, I got to bring her home to sleepover and at the last minute Austin decided to join us. We had so much fun! Kyler was so excited to see them and Mandy really loved playing with Alex! They were up late but slept well (as they wandered one by one into our bed). This morning I awoke to 3 three year olds! All cuddling with me. How much love can you feel? After breakfast we all went to Bouncing Bonanza together, got a happy meal and hit Wal-Mart for groceries. The girls rode in my cart and the boys rode around with Aunt Kelly. Can't wait to see them all for dinner tonight!

Visit from Grammy & Poppy

Today Grammy and Poppy came to play and see all the goodies that Mandy and Kyler got for Christmas. They sure did enjoy showing off all their presents. Occasionally I have to remind them that outside of birthdays they will have to wait until next year for more. Poppy hung my curtain rod and Grammy helped me hang the curtains...MAN...they sure do finish the room. With that color I may even wait 6+ months to paint now! Thanks Poppy.

New year's eve...

Today was a VERY busy day. We went to see all the work Daddy has done at the lease, explore a little and see him work some before we left him and then we ran a few errands to be prepared for tonight. This evening we had a great marshmallow fight with our marshmallow guns Santa brought us all, poor Aunt Kelli and Uncle Steven will have to pressure wash the drive way to get it all cleaned up! We even had a sneak attack on Memaw Betty Sue and PaPaw Jimmy. What a blast. We had a great time breaking in the new year. The kids loved the fireworks we popped off and wanted more after we were out (isn't that always the way?). We made it to midnight to see in the new year and then ... WENT TO BED! Yes, we were pooped.