Bizarro Thanksgiving

Because my mom's recent foot surgery requires that she be completely off her feet for 8 weeks, she was not able to do Thanksgiving like she normally does.  (When I say "normally,"  I mean doing EVERYTHING by herself, with maybe a little help from us on setting the table and cleaning up afterwards.)  Bummer, but no sweat...my very gracious sister-in-law, Ashley, volunteered to have it at her house!

BUT THEN...they day before Thanksgiving, late in the afternoon, Ashley got a call from the pediatrician saying test results had come back positive for whooping cough for one of her children.  OK...SWEAT!!  Whooping cough is extremely contagious and VERY dangerous for infants, so we had to make the tough call to stay away from their house and do Thanksgiving without them at mom's.  SO INCREDIBLY SAD!!

And that's how Bizarro Thanksgiving began...

Thanksgiving Day, instead of Mom making everyone breakfast in the kitchen, everyone started off the morning visiting her in her bed.  Wierd.

Brady brought home his new "friend," Valerie, that none of us had ever met before.

Hi Valerie, nice to meet you, could you dig out the Thanksgiving tablecloth and then set the table?  Thanks!

Dad, Nat, Brady and Valerie and I prepared the Thanksgiving feast with Mom directing from "her spot" in the living room.  (Although, I admit, I was MIA lots of the time taking care of Chandler...feeding her, putting her down for a nap, etc)  This is mom's "this is a really strange way to do Thanksgiving" face.

The guys took care of the kids.

And mom's wheelchair became part of the regular living room seating.

It was a chaotic "all hands on deck," total team effort to get it done.

And then we were all finally able to sit down and enjoy it while most of the food was at least still luke-warm. 

Despite all of the bizarro-ness of Thanksgiving, we were able to squeeze in some fun play-time.

Brooklyn in the bounce house.

Lawson and I dancing in the kitchen.

Chandler playing on her mat

Hudson playing on her mat

And there was lots of bonding...

This was Brady's first time to meet Baby Chandler

And then of course, it just isn't a real Thanksgiving without some great post-turkey naps!

Although we greatly missed Landry, Ashley and the Giblets, it turned out to be a pretty Happy Thanksgiving and I think this face sums it up best:

Hope yours was a happy one!

Girls Rock!

My mom recently had surgery on both feet and has to stay off of them for 8 weeks!  So my sister and I planned a trip to Texarkana to surprise her.  Our plan was just to make it a fun girls weekend, run errands and help mom get some things done around the house, and to hopefully give my Dad a little break for the weekend since he has been her full-time caregiver.

Eddie kept Brooklyn all weekend by himself (Thanks Eddie!!), but I'm just not ready to spend an entire night away Chandler yet, so she tagged along, too!

Mom and Natalie didn't seem to mind!

Natalie and I spent some time in the kitchen getting some future meals prepared and frozen.

We got most of her Christmas presents wrapped.

And we had fun just hanging out watching girly TV shows. 

My Dad was in the room during part of this TV time and asked, "Is this WHOLE SHOW just about wedding dresses???"  Hilarious!  He normally would have sports on TV, but allowed us to have control of the remote for this special weekend (although I know it was killing him).  Thanks, Dad! 

Natalie and I were delighted to have the opportunity to serve our Mom becaue of all that she has done for us!!

"Her children rise up, and call her blessed..."  Proverbs 31:28

Get well soon, Mom!!

 

3 Months Old!

Who does she look like?  We have no idea!!  What do you think?

She's got blue eyes and a heart-shaped chin.

And cheeks that are impossible not to kiss!!

Her hair? 

Well, depending on the light might look brownish, redish or blond-ish.

It's a little thicker around the edges and a little thinner on top.

And then, she's got that classic completely bald spot on the back of her head from being on her back all of the time.  Let's just say, her hair is not her best feature right now.  =)

She's very alert these days and has really mastered holding her head up.

And she actually seems to like a little tummy time. (very un-like her sister!)

She's gotten pretty chatty and has a very loud voice!!

She's overall pretty happy and content, but her downside is that she doesn't like to nap!

She'll often do 7-8 hour stretches at night, but will often only take around 40 minute naps during the day.

She's very cuddly and ADORES Brooklyn!

She takes Brooklyn's rough hugs and firm kisses in stride and every once in a while, you'll catch her just staring at Brooklyn and smiling.

YEA 3 months!!

p.s.  She'll probably be rolling over soon...she's really starting to dig her heels into the floor and raise her body off the ground and even gets onto her side occasionally.

Brooklyn and School: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

The Good



Brooklyn LOVES school!!  When I drop her off in the morning, she gives me a big hug and pretty much walks in by herself (sometimes with a little nudge from behind), but never cries or makes it any more difficult for me than it has to be.

They start off their day with a color sheet

This next picture really cracks me up.  I don't know if you can see it or not, but there is a little twinkle in her eye that is clearly telling me she is about to do something wild.  =)  I'm  guessing she's about to pull out every crayon in the box.  The child next to her is probably her best buddy at school, Hudson.  The teachers say they really like to play together.

Then they play on the playground.

with Hudson again

Does this sweet face look like the face of someone who could terrorize her teachers???

Oh...just wait until we get to the bad and the ugly.  =(

After play time is snack time

Then, Circle Time/Bible Story time

They say that sometimes she runs and hides under the table during cirlce time until one of the teachers goes and gets her and lets B sit in her lap...they are not sure why.  But here she is participating.

Then they do a craft

Towards the beginning of the year, the teachers said she would just tear up whatever craft they were working on, but now she actually does the craft like she's supposed to!!  YEA B!

Then on to "Centers."  I really have no idea what that is, but I know that they did have a fireman/firetruck come one day and an EMT/ambulance come one day.

Next up:  Music Time and this is her FAVORITE!!

(but apprently not for the little boy sitting next to her =))

Then Lunch

This was on pizza day and she's actually eating it.  They said she wouldn't eat it until they cut it into squares for her...are you getting the picture that she may be a little high maintenance?  =)

After lunch, they have story time.

Sitting by Hudson in the picture above and below.

After story time is naptime...and this is where we get to "The Bad."

So, my biggest concern with putting Brooklyn in Mother's Day Out has been naptime.  I just could not imagine her laying on the floor (on a mat, course), surrounded by other children and being able to sleep.  I mentioned my concern to several other mothers and they said that they had the exact same concern about their children, but it is amazing how it just works out.  Despite their encouragement, I still just COULD NOT envision Brooklyn doing this.  Then, on "Meet the Teacher" Day, I told the teachers that this was my only concern.  The teachers reassured me as well.  They said that last year on the first day that none of the students slept, but by the end of the year, they were all taking naps, but 1.  (When I came home and told Eddie this, his response was that Brooklyn would totally be "that 1."  This particular program does not accept children until the age of 2, so all of the children would be learning how to nap this way together.  At last, I felt like their was hope.  Surely, if all of the other kids could learn to do it, so could she.  I WAS WRONG!!

Her poor teachers have tried patting her to sleep, scratching her back, moving her to a room of her own, bringing in a special crib just for her, giving her books, giving her a sippy cup, giving her baby dolls, etc, etc, etc and nothing has seemed to help.  They have gotten to the point where naptime makes Brooklyn ANGRY and she SCREAMS!!  They are way beyond trying to get her to nap.  At this point, they would settle for her just being QUIET during naptime because not only is she disrupting their class, but several of the other classes around them that are also trying to nap.  CAN WE SAY MORTIFIED?!?

And now to THE UGLY!!

It has gotten so bad, that Brooklyn has now been officially KICKED OUT OF NAPTIME!!!  Yes, you are reading that correctly.  The teachers are now through with trying different ways of dealing with Brooklyn and I'm now required to pick her up after lunch so that everyone else can sleep.  =(  Seriously???  KICKED OUT???

Anyone want any parenting tips from me?  =)

Poor Chandler, I'm finding the noiseiest  and brightest room in the house now and making her learn to take naps on the floor on a napmat so that I never have to go through this again!!  I'm totally kidding...kind-of.

If you are waiting on the happy ending to this story, I'll let you know if there ever is one.  But for now, that's the wrap on my STRONG-WILLED 2-year-old and school.  I'm praying that this will one day just be something funny to look back at and laugh about.

p.s.  She still is an amazing napper at home.  It is never a fight to put her to bed.  In fact, often, she comes and gets us and tells us that she is sleepy and wants to go "night-night", which is part of what makes this situation so bizarre.