Alexa is now two weeks old; she had been a little fussy at night and likes to stay up a lot at night or wake up every hour to eat. Then, all of a sudden, she was screaming incessantly in pain.
It was immediately obvious to Tim and to me that she is not tolerating her the milk protein in her formula, even though we started her out on lactose free. We called the dr at 3:00 a.m. and switched her to the expensive formula, Nutramigen, that JoElle was also on. Her dr calls it "liquid gold" b/c one small can costs $26 ( a large can of other formula costs $21-23).
Sunday night was not any better, Alexa screamed all night and I had to hold her the entire time. I got about 2 hours of sleep, not all at once.
The Dr. informed us on Monday at Alexa's 2 week visit that it can take up to two weeks for her to get back to normal because the lining of her stomach was stripped away and it will need time to reform. It's going to be a long two weeks, Tim goes back to work on Tuesday.
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Friday, February 29, 2008
Our precious daugher is here!!!
Alexa was born last Friday, February 22nd, 2008 at 2:46 p.m. She weighed 7 lbs 5 oz and was 19 inches long. I can't believe she was so small!! She has a head of black hair which is straight right now, not sure if it will be curly like JoElle's??
The delivery was a piece of cake this time around! It only took me 16 minutes to push; I only had to push through 4 contractions. The nurse started yelling at me "STOP PUSHING!" and then called for the Dr (who was in the hallway waiting for us to be ready for him to deliver). I thought something was wrong, but instead it was just that she was about to come out without the dr in the room. It seemed like it took Dr. Atkins an eternity to get ready to deliver her, and I didn't push through the next contraction but by the look on his face, she was almost born! I told him "I was not pushing!" and he told me "Continue to not push then" A few minutes later she was born.
The Dr. held her up and said "Look how little she is!" The nurses were saying she is not little! But compared to JoElle, at 9 lbs, she was very small! Dr. Atkins told Alexa "You gave your mommy such a hard time"
I was so excited that it was such an easy delivery this time, what a blessing!!
Alexa is such a calm baby; she loves to sleep. I can't believe a baby can sleep this much. I know it is normal, but JoElle didn't sleep very much when she was born and she was so sick from the milk that she cried in pain all of the time, Alexa falls asleep eating!!! She is so precious and beautiful, we love her so very much!!!
As for me, the only problem I had was that the anesthesiologist accidentally messed up my epidural and gave me a spinal tap instead, he went a little too far past my epidural space and put a hole where the spinal fluid is. Then he had to do my epidural two more times b/c it fell out the second time. I immediately started having a headache, but it wasn't as bad as everyone said it would be if it were a spinal headache, so I didn't think it was a result of the spinal. Then the neck pain kicked it. I was wondering why only 16 minutes of pushing would give me such a horrendous headache, when 2 1/2 hours of pushing with JoElle did not, but I just figured that is what it was. I was in so much pain that night from my neck. On Saturday the pain continued and the nurse was telling me she thought it was from the spinal, but my sister wasn't so sure and neither was I. By Sunday morning it was obvious. I stood up to pick Alexa up to feed her only to be knocked back down flat on my back by the headache pain. We got another anesthesiologist to see me and he did a blood patch, where they take your blood and stick it in your spine to clot up the hole. It seemed to work pretty well.
I felt great on Monday , but that night the pain came back and I couldn't take care of Alexa again. All day Tuesday and Wednesday I couldn't even sit up, let alone take care of the baby. So Tim has been doing all of the baby care. He has been wonderful!I did go back to the hospital on Wednesday to have a second blood patch, and I had to lay flat for another 24 hours. I am now feeling better and I am hopeful that it worked this time.
The doctors were in my spine 5 times since last Friday and I am really really sore. Plus I am scared that the blood clot will come loose again...
Please pray for continued improvement for me so I can care for baby Alexa! It was so very hard not to be able to take care of her, I couldn't even hold her because I had to lay flat, she didn't like laying flat!
The delivery was a piece of cake this time around! It only took me 16 minutes to push; I only had to push through 4 contractions. The nurse started yelling at me "STOP PUSHING!" and then called for the Dr (who was in the hallway waiting for us to be ready for him to deliver). I thought something was wrong, but instead it was just that she was about to come out without the dr in the room. It seemed like it took Dr. Atkins an eternity to get ready to deliver her, and I didn't push through the next contraction but by the look on his face, she was almost born! I told him "I was not pushing!" and he told me "Continue to not push then" A few minutes later she was born.
The Dr. held her up and said "Look how little she is!" The nurses were saying she is not little! But compared to JoElle, at 9 lbs, she was very small! Dr. Atkins told Alexa "You gave your mommy such a hard time"
I was so excited that it was such an easy delivery this time, what a blessing!!
Alexa is such a calm baby; she loves to sleep. I can't believe a baby can sleep this much. I know it is normal, but JoElle didn't sleep very much when she was born and she was so sick from the milk that she cried in pain all of the time, Alexa falls asleep eating!!! She is so precious and beautiful, we love her so very much!!!
As for me, the only problem I had was that the anesthesiologist accidentally messed up my epidural and gave me a spinal tap instead, he went a little too far past my epidural space and put a hole where the spinal fluid is. Then he had to do my epidural two more times b/c it fell out the second time. I immediately started having a headache, but it wasn't as bad as everyone said it would be if it were a spinal headache, so I didn't think it was a result of the spinal. Then the neck pain kicked it. I was wondering why only 16 minutes of pushing would give me such a horrendous headache, when 2 1/2 hours of pushing with JoElle did not, but I just figured that is what it was. I was in so much pain that night from my neck. On Saturday the pain continued and the nurse was telling me she thought it was from the spinal, but my sister wasn't so sure and neither was I. By Sunday morning it was obvious. I stood up to pick Alexa up to feed her only to be knocked back down flat on my back by the headache pain. We got another anesthesiologist to see me and he did a blood patch, where they take your blood and stick it in your spine to clot up the hole. It seemed to work pretty well.
I felt great on Monday , but that night the pain came back and I couldn't take care of Alexa again. All day Tuesday and Wednesday I couldn't even sit up, let alone take care of the baby. So Tim has been doing all of the baby care. He has been wonderful!I did go back to the hospital on Wednesday to have a second blood patch, and I had to lay flat for another 24 hours. I am now feeling better and I am hopeful that it worked this time.
The doctors were in my spine 5 times since last Friday and I am really really sore. Plus I am scared that the blood clot will come loose again...
Please pray for continued improvement for me so I can care for baby Alexa! It was so very hard not to be able to take care of her, I couldn't even hold her because I had to lay flat, she didn't like laying flat!
Friday, February 22, 2008
Several posts...
Alexa Danielle is here!
She was born Friday, February 22nd, 2008 at 2:46 p.m.
Alexa weighed only 7 lbs. 5 oz. and is 19 inches long!
Alexa_Feb_ 2008
Dear My Baby Alexa, I love you with all of my heart. I can't wait to see you tomorrow. I know that you will be beautiful just like your mommy, and big sister. I love you my little girl.
Love,
Daddy
February 19th, 2008 To Alexa Dear Alexa,I can't believe you are almost here! I can't wait to "meet you", I know you are pretty much out of room in my belly! I am just as uncomfortable as you seem to be all the time! You move a lot, you love the sound of your big sister's voice and the sound of the bath tub. I keep wondering what you will look like? Will you look like your sister? I can't help but think you will look like her, but like yourself, too! Your room is very pretty with pink everywhere, I know you will like it! So many people are eager for your birth! I know your Daddy can't wait either, he is a little worried that you won't know his voice, but I know you will know him as soon as you hear him talk to you! I love you, Alexa! Love,Mommy
February 18th, 2008 39 weeks... 4 days to go!This pregnancy is drawing to a close....I am so relieved because I have been so sick the entire time.JoElle is very anxious, I am very anxious, Tim is very anxious. They have both been helping me with so much around the house. Again tonight JoElle asked me why Alexa is not out of my tummy yet. We are trying to keep her schedule consistent this week until Thursday, when Tim is off and it will be our last day as a family of 3!At school this week JoElle is learning about pets; she told her teacher she doesn't have any pets, but Uncle Aaron took her to the zoo!One of her best friends, Sandra, did something at school she wasn't supposed to do, so JoElle apparently spanked her. Sandra told Ms. Carrie, I did (whatever it was) and JoElle spanked me. She wasn't upset that JoElle spanked her. Crazy kids.Last night, JoElle couldn't go to sleep, so we were watching Rachel Ray's 30 Minute Meals around 10:00, and she told us she doesn't like boys cooking, she only likes Daddy's cooking! (and she added that she likes Mommy's cooking too). Last week, JoElle wanted to ride with Daddy after we got something to eat, we were in separate cars because we had a dr appt that Tim had met me at. When we got home I asked her why she wanted to ride with Daddy, and she told us "Because I love Daddy!"
Feb. 15th, 2008 JoElle spent the night at Granny'sThis is only the second time in her life, but JoElle spent the night at Granny's and Grandad's! Her cousins were over there and we went over because JoElle wanted to see Granny and when she heard that they were staying the night, she wanted to as well.Tim and I couldn't believe she actually stayed! She asked the next morning where we were and asked Tim when he picked her up why we didn't stay the night. She did great though.She has been super clingy to Tim and to me lately, so I was suprised she wanted to stay away from the house!At school lately, she has been up to her same silly antics.Some of the things she has done lately at school:-she painted her face and arms blue and told Ms. Carrie "Look, I'm a blueberry!" - she put soap and water in her hair after nap time because she needed to fix it -she got upset with the director when the director told her they needed to give her crackers instead of pudding (due to the lactose); she told Ms. Suzanne "NO! My mommy said I could have it!" (JoElle was right, I told her she could start eating milk products at school) - she tells Ms. Carrie at nap time " I can't calm down!" (in a crazy, deep voice)
February 8, 2008 (almost) 38 weeks
We set a tentative date to induce: Friday February 22 nd (in two weeks!). I am excited that this is FINALLY drawing to an end, I am so tired of being nauseous all the time and throwing up every day..... plus on Monday I hit that point where I cannot sleep at night because I can't get comfortable sitting down, laying down, whatever.
I told JoElle her sister will be born in two weeks, if not earlier. She told me "I want her to come out now!" She has been very patient with how long it takes for a baby to grow, it probably seems like an eternity to her. JoElle is very excited to be a big sister and she loves to look at all of the baby's gifts. She loves all the baby clothes; she was telling me the other day "how cute" this dress was for Alexa, and every time she puts on a piece of clothing that no longer fits, she tells me "this is for my sister now."
Earlier this month, the Dr. reduce my work hours to 32 per week, and this has helped me out tremendously; some days I don't come in to work until 10! JoElle has learned to sleep in late, 'til 8:15 or later. If she does wake up earlier, I tell her to get her milk out of the fridge and then she asks for me to turn the t.v. on so she can watch t.v. in the bed with me.
So, now we are just counting down the days.......!
January 19, 2008 JoElle's Birthday Party!
JoElle celebrated her birthday today with her friends and family. When we first got there, it was only her, Peyton, Madison, and two friends from school. They ran around like crazy and had a blast! Her best friends from school were there, Sandra and Zoey.
Mr. Jeremy had them tell their names and do a trick and they did flips and jumps for him. All the kids love JoElle's teacher. We didn't have to do anything because the kids were listening to Mr. Jeremy and having fun. Even Madison (she is just over 1 year old) was walking around and playing. They loved bouncing on the Jumbotrak and clibming all over the place.
JoElle didn't look very happy when we sang to her and she didn't want to blow out the candles after what happened the other night at home (she burnt a small piece of her hair, but thought she burned her eye!) As soon as we sang she asked "Where are my presents!??"
Her cousin Isaiah was trying to give her a hug when her best friend Sandra was standing there and she grabbed JoElle and told Isaiah "NO! She's MY best friend!" Sandra is very prtoective of JoElle.
At the end of the party, they sang in a circle, JoElle, Zoey and Sandra sat right in front of Mr. Jeremy and I could hear JoElle singing very loudly "If Your Happy and You Know It"
Thanks to everyone who came!
January 17th, 2008 JoElle's 3rd Birthday
JoElle turned three today and she was very excited! I had to work a few hours, so when she got up, Daddy made a huge deal out of her birthday and sang to her. But she asked him "Why isn't anybody coming to see me?" so he took her to see Grandad.
We attempted to take her to two different Japanese hibachi grills, both were closed; we drove all the way to Dallas to Benihana to find out they were closed for renovations. The whole time we were driving, she was singing and making up silly songs. We settled on Cuba Libre since we were in the area; she liked the way the restaurant is decorated, she told us "This place is cool!"
Later we made cupcakes together and she blew out her candles. She accidentally burnt a small piece of her hair and it really scared her! She also had her Little Gym class; it was the last of the winter semester, so they got to show off what they had learned. It was cute watching her, she was a foot or two shorter than the other kids, who are 4-5 years old.
January 17, 2008 JoElle is 3!
JoElle now weighs 28.5 lbs (she gained 4 lbs this past year) and is now 35.5 inches tall- almost 3 feet! (about 2-3 inches, since they now measure her standing up, the spine is compressed versus when they measure kids laying down like before). She is obviously petite, she is in the 10th percentile for weight and 25th percentile for height. (dr vist was Jan 22, 2008)
January 12, 2007 Dry all night
We ran out of pull ups last night and so we figured we would let JoElle go all night in panties. We probably should have done this a long time ago, but we were too lazy. Since I am not getting any sleep now anyways, the baby kicks me all night long...we figured, why not?
So, this morning she was (for the most part) dry. Her sheets were completely dry, she was very excited about this and pointed it out to Daddy. JoElle has been fully potty trained since she turned 2 (so basically for a year), but we never really tried night time.
She was born Friday, February 22nd, 2008 at 2:46 p.m.
Alexa weighed only 7 lbs. 5 oz. and is 19 inches long!
Alexa_Feb_ 2008
Dear My Baby Alexa, I love you with all of my heart. I can't wait to see you tomorrow. I know that you will be beautiful just like your mommy, and big sister. I love you my little girl.
Love,
Daddy
February 19th, 2008 To Alexa Dear Alexa,I can't believe you are almost here! I can't wait to "meet you", I know you are pretty much out of room in my belly! I am just as uncomfortable as you seem to be all the time! You move a lot, you love the sound of your big sister's voice and the sound of the bath tub. I keep wondering what you will look like? Will you look like your sister? I can't help but think you will look like her, but like yourself, too! Your room is very pretty with pink everywhere, I know you will like it! So many people are eager for your birth! I know your Daddy can't wait either, he is a little worried that you won't know his voice, but I know you will know him as soon as you hear him talk to you! I love you, Alexa! Love,Mommy
February 18th, 2008 39 weeks... 4 days to go!This pregnancy is drawing to a close....I am so relieved because I have been so sick the entire time.JoElle is very anxious, I am very anxious, Tim is very anxious. They have both been helping me with so much around the house. Again tonight JoElle asked me why Alexa is not out of my tummy yet. We are trying to keep her schedule consistent this week until Thursday, when Tim is off and it will be our last day as a family of 3!At school this week JoElle is learning about pets; she told her teacher she doesn't have any pets, but Uncle Aaron took her to the zoo!One of her best friends, Sandra, did something at school she wasn't supposed to do, so JoElle apparently spanked her. Sandra told Ms. Carrie, I did (whatever it was) and JoElle spanked me. She wasn't upset that JoElle spanked her. Crazy kids.Last night, JoElle couldn't go to sleep, so we were watching Rachel Ray's 30 Minute Meals around 10:00, and she told us she doesn't like boys cooking, she only likes Daddy's cooking! (and she added that she likes Mommy's cooking too). Last week, JoElle wanted to ride with Daddy after we got something to eat, we were in separate cars because we had a dr appt that Tim had met me at. When we got home I asked her why she wanted to ride with Daddy, and she told us "Because I love Daddy!"
Feb. 15th, 2008 JoElle spent the night at Granny'sThis is only the second time in her life, but JoElle spent the night at Granny's and Grandad's! Her cousins were over there and we went over because JoElle wanted to see Granny and when she heard that they were staying the night, she wanted to as well.Tim and I couldn't believe she actually stayed! She asked the next morning where we were and asked Tim when he picked her up why we didn't stay the night. She did great though.She has been super clingy to Tim and to me lately, so I was suprised she wanted to stay away from the house!At school lately, she has been up to her same silly antics.Some of the things she has done lately at school:-she painted her face and arms blue and told Ms. Carrie "Look, I'm a blueberry!" - she put soap and water in her hair after nap time because she needed to fix it -she got upset with the director when the director told her they needed to give her crackers instead of pudding (due to the lactose); she told Ms. Suzanne "NO! My mommy said I could have it!" (JoElle was right, I told her she could start eating milk products at school) - she tells Ms. Carrie at nap time " I can't calm down!" (in a crazy, deep voice)
February 8, 2008 (almost) 38 weeks
We set a tentative date to induce: Friday February 22 nd (in two weeks!). I am excited that this is FINALLY drawing to an end, I am so tired of being nauseous all the time and throwing up every day..... plus on Monday I hit that point where I cannot sleep at night because I can't get comfortable sitting down, laying down, whatever.
I told JoElle her sister will be born in two weeks, if not earlier. She told me "I want her to come out now!" She has been very patient with how long it takes for a baby to grow, it probably seems like an eternity to her. JoElle is very excited to be a big sister and she loves to look at all of the baby's gifts. She loves all the baby clothes; she was telling me the other day "how cute" this dress was for Alexa, and every time she puts on a piece of clothing that no longer fits, she tells me "this is for my sister now."
Earlier this month, the Dr. reduce my work hours to 32 per week, and this has helped me out tremendously; some days I don't come in to work until 10! JoElle has learned to sleep in late, 'til 8:15 or later. If she does wake up earlier, I tell her to get her milk out of the fridge and then she asks for me to turn the t.v. on so she can watch t.v. in the bed with me.
So, now we are just counting down the days.......!
January 19, 2008 JoElle's Birthday Party!
JoElle celebrated her birthday today with her friends and family. When we first got there, it was only her, Peyton, Madison, and two friends from school. They ran around like crazy and had a blast! Her best friends from school were there, Sandra and Zoey.
Mr. Jeremy had them tell their names and do a trick and they did flips and jumps for him. All the kids love JoElle's teacher. We didn't have to do anything because the kids were listening to Mr. Jeremy and having fun. Even Madison (she is just over 1 year old) was walking around and playing. They loved bouncing on the Jumbotrak and clibming all over the place.
JoElle didn't look very happy when we sang to her and she didn't want to blow out the candles after what happened the other night at home (she burnt a small piece of her hair, but thought she burned her eye!) As soon as we sang she asked "Where are my presents!??"
Her cousin Isaiah was trying to give her a hug when her best friend Sandra was standing there and she grabbed JoElle and told Isaiah "NO! She's MY best friend!" Sandra is very prtoective of JoElle.
At the end of the party, they sang in a circle, JoElle, Zoey and Sandra sat right in front of Mr. Jeremy and I could hear JoElle singing very loudly "If Your Happy and You Know It"
Thanks to everyone who came!
January 17th, 2008 JoElle's 3rd Birthday
JoElle turned three today and she was very excited! I had to work a few hours, so when she got up, Daddy made a huge deal out of her birthday and sang to her. But she asked him "Why isn't anybody coming to see me?" so he took her to see Grandad.
We attempted to take her to two different Japanese hibachi grills, both were closed; we drove all the way to Dallas to Benihana to find out they were closed for renovations. The whole time we were driving, she was singing and making up silly songs. We settled on Cuba Libre since we were in the area; she liked the way the restaurant is decorated, she told us "This place is cool!"
Later we made cupcakes together and she blew out her candles. She accidentally burnt a small piece of her hair and it really scared her! She also had her Little Gym class; it was the last of the winter semester, so they got to show off what they had learned. It was cute watching her, she was a foot or two shorter than the other kids, who are 4-5 years old.
January 17, 2008 JoElle is 3!
JoElle now weighs 28.5 lbs (she gained 4 lbs this past year) and is now 35.5 inches tall- almost 3 feet! (about 2-3 inches, since they now measure her standing up, the spine is compressed versus when they measure kids laying down like before). She is obviously petite, she is in the 10th percentile for weight and 25th percentile for height. (dr vist was Jan 22, 2008)
January 12, 2007 Dry all night
We ran out of pull ups last night and so we figured we would let JoElle go all night in panties. We probably should have done this a long time ago, but we were too lazy. Since I am not getting any sleep now anyways, the baby kicks me all night long...we figured, why not?
So, this morning she was (for the most part) dry. Her sheets were completely dry, she was very excited about this and pointed it out to Daddy. JoElle has been fully potty trained since she turned 2 (so basically for a year), but we never really tried night time.
Monday, February 18, 2008
Four days to go!
Wow, we are getting closer and closer!
Last night I was having painful contractions, but not bad enough to go to the hospital. They lasted for several hours, then completely stopped. And, I am still pregnant!
I guess my body is practicing for the real thing on Friday!
Today was President's Day, Tim had the day off since the bank is closed. He took JoElle to daycare and we ate out together alone. We also did a little shopping at Target. It was very nice to spend time just the two of us. We don't get to do this often. In fact, Friday night, JoElle spent all night with Tim's parents, so we even had an entire night and morning off!
JoElle told her teacher that Mommy and Daddy are both picking her up, so she was excited Tim could pick her up, and I was with him.
We put up a ton of laundry today, trying to get the house ready for a new little baby and all of the chaos that goes along with it!
I am still sick, but what can you do, only got a few more days now....
Our small group from church has set up days to bring meals by after Alexa is born, so we are excited to have their support; plus my sister is going to come over after we deliver and go grocery shopping for us to stock us up! We are very blessed to have all the support and love that we have. Tonight, Tim's parents brought us by some beef stew and cornbread to eat on for the next few days. JoElle was excited to see them at our house and was showing off for them!
Last night I was having painful contractions, but not bad enough to go to the hospital. They lasted for several hours, then completely stopped. And, I am still pregnant!
I guess my body is practicing for the real thing on Friday!
Today was President's Day, Tim had the day off since the bank is closed. He took JoElle to daycare and we ate out together alone. We also did a little shopping at Target. It was very nice to spend time just the two of us. We don't get to do this often. In fact, Friday night, JoElle spent all night with Tim's parents, so we even had an entire night and morning off!
JoElle told her teacher that Mommy and Daddy are both picking her up, so she was excited Tim could pick her up, and I was with him.
We put up a ton of laundry today, trying to get the house ready for a new little baby and all of the chaos that goes along with it!
I am still sick, but what can you do, only got a few more days now....
Our small group from church has set up days to bring meals by after Alexa is born, so we are excited to have their support; plus my sister is going to come over after we deliver and go grocery shopping for us to stock us up! We are very blessed to have all the support and love that we have. Tonight, Tim's parents brought us by some beef stew and cornbread to eat on for the next few days. JoElle was excited to see them at our house and was showing off for them!
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Several posts...
Christmas Day 2007
JoElle so sweetly asked me "Mommy, when is the baby going to get out of your belly?? I want to play with her NOW!"
She is very excited about having a little sister and can't wait! She tells me all the time she is going to take care of her, not me. She is going to feed her at night, change her diapers, and hold her. We have explained that she has to do it with us, but she doesn't like that idea, after all, she is a big girl and can do it herself...
Christmas 2007
We had a wonderful Christmas holiday; JoElle is at a great age to really enjoy all of the sights and sounds. She loved looking at Christmas lights and plugging / unplugging our Christmas tree. JoElle doesn't like Santa Claus and she doesn't "believe" in Santa. One night she was asking me if Santa is in her heart, like Jesus, and I had to tell her no, he is not real, he is just for fun. She is ok with that because she didn't want him to come visit us anyways (I never mentioned the part about coming down the chimney, I figured it would terrify her and we are already having problems with her vivid imagination at night!)
She opened presents for what seemed like forever on Christmas; we were all exhausted by the time we were done! Then Granny and Grandad came by, she was so tired we had to open presents for her. Then Nana came over...it was crazy busy!
We visited cousins Peyton and Madison later on Christmas. As soon as we got there, Peyton started telling us how Santa brough him a truck and ate all of his cookies an milk! They had a blast playing together as always.
Thanksgiving 2007
We had a lovely time at Peyton's house, where we ate lunch and played with Peyton and Madison. After Aunt Ana put Madison down for a nap around 2:30, JoElle turned to me and told me "OK, I'm ready to go to Carrie's house now." I guess she was bored with Madison down for a nap!
JoElle was feeding Madison chips; Madison loves to eat like JoElle. Peyton and JoElle were funny interacting with Madison, they kept telling her she couldn't have things and when Madison was headed for Tim, they both ran to him and got on him! They didn't even care before Madison wanted him.
We ate dinner at Unlce Billy and Aunt Carrie's house, Elena was already asleep, she was tired from the day. But JoElle got to play with Isaiah. They have fun playing together.
November 24, 2007
Baby Alexa was kicking a lot, and I normally tell JoElle "your sister is kicking a lot!"This time she looked at me, paused, and the asked me, "Does she want out?"
Aaron, Tim and I were cracking up, but she was serious :)
JoElle was singing a new song she learned at school, 5 little monkeys swinging in the tree, along came the alligator, teasing the alligator you can't catch me, no you can't catch me, the alligator snapped him right out of the tree; complete with hand motions and everything! It was very cute. She is learning so much in her new class.
Oh yeah, can't forget that she came home this week telling me Sandra is not her best friend anymore. When I asked her why, she told me because Sandra put leaves in her hair. Her new best friend is now Bubba.
November 25, 2007
JoElle and I were driving to the store when she told me, "Jesus was born for me."
She is very excited about Christmas this year! She loves the Christmas lights and decorations, but doesn't like Santa. She tells me she is scared of him. Yesterday, she asked me if Santa was in her heart (like Jesus), and I was forced to tell her he was just pretend. I have found it very hard to lead her to believe in Santa Claus, since she is asking so many questions about Jesus and God. I want her to believe in Jesus, not Santa!
JoElle has been wanting to go to "Big Church" every Sunday, so I have been taking her when Tim is singing in the choir, so she can see him and enjoy the music. She loves to sing to God, she has a kids praise CD that she knows just about every word to!
After our Advent service, we met Nana and Uncle Aaron at Campo Verde, where they have thousands of Christmas lights up inside and really great Mexican food :) We had a great time, then Nana came to the house and we put together a gingerbread house; we got really messy and it was fun.
We put up our Christmas tree today and JoElle was able to put the ornaments on, even the glass balls with hooks. She told me "I will be carfeul, Mommy" and she was!
Tonight, she also asked me why my belly button was so little, guess it is shrinking, wonder if it is about to pop out on me??
October 30, 2007 Fall Festival at School
Today JoElle had a Fall Festival at school that I went to. They had a ton of games set up in Fellowship Hall and they won candy and prizes. Walking out, JoElle walked with Kylie with her arm around her little friend.
I stayed for a little while in her room and she and Elena were fighting over me. JoElle was saying "MY mommy" and Elena was saying "My Megan!" JoElle wanted me to take her with me to eat and wanted to go nap at home, she really didn't want me to leave. But, she loves her afternoon teacher, Ms. Shanessa, so she stayed with her.
At the Little Gym tonight, JoElle told them her name and my name like usual at circle time, but then when Mr. Jeremy asked her to give him high fives, she told him "No, I'm a princess!" She is doing awesome at gymnastics. She can do a backwards roll all by herself and can pull herself up on the bar and hang upside like a monkey! She is very good at hanging upside down by her knees and she gets into this position all by herself. JoElle can swing really well and walk the balance beam (when she has enough confidence!).
October 18th Art Frenzy
JoElle is in an art frenzy right now, she spent all of last Saturday doing art at the table, gluing things, cutting paper, and coloring. Every night she goes straight to her art supplies and goes to town. It's great! She went through two glue sticks, a bottle of glue, and an entire package of construction paper in one week.
October 15th, 2007
JoElle told me that Landon C. in her class is her "baby and I take care of him so nobody hits him!" She is the leader in her class and feels like the protector of the little ones. She loves to tell on her cousin when she is not doing something right!
Landon and her have been in the same classes for over a year and they have become really close. They hang out, play with each other, and are very silly together, like her and Gavin were when he was at her school.
Logan (the red head) loves to tickle JoElle and she giggles like crazy. He also likes to swing her ponytail. She thinks that is funny, too.
JoElle also told me she put Landon R. in time out for hitting :)
August 2007 Some of the cute things she says...
JoElle talks up a storm, but here are some of the things she says that I love so much. It is mostly the WAY she says it, she has great emphasis and intonations....
"Wait to me, Mommy!!" ---she means wait for me
"No, I'm a big KID" ---rather than a big girl, can't call her that anymore!
"I want some tan tan lotion" --sun tan lotion...
"This is my pack pack" -- backpack
"I need to take a bath, my tummy hurts, it makes my tummy feel better" --- she thinks your tummy has to hurt to take a bath, my fault, my tummy hurts all the time these days!!
"I don't know, I can't tell" ---if I ask her a question that she doesn't know
"I want to go higher!" --when somebody is throwing her up in the air
"Do it again!" -- same as above!
"I want some more chocolate milk please!" --enough said...all the time....
The one that drives me insane- "WHY MOMMY?" and it never ends!!!!! Ahhhhhhhhhh
August 8th, 2007 Sickness strikes
After being out in the sun, I got a fever blister/cold sore on my lip. Then, about a week later, JoElle starting running a really high fever, so I had to keep her home from school. The next day, she was sent home from school with a fever and that afternoon, she ran into the living room after brushing her teeth with a look of horror. Her gums were gushing blood all over her shirt. It took two washclothes to make it stop bleeding. Needless to say, we were worried about her and she couldn't eat for over a week. All she could consume was chocolate milk. Even applesauce made her gums bleed.
She finally showed me that she had sores inside her mouth on her gums and lip. So, we finally figured out it was from my fever blister. Aaron looked it up online and found that the first time you are exposed to the virus that causes fever blisters, you run a fever, have bleeding gums, and no appetite. We confirmed this with her pediatrician over the weekend via telephone call. The only thing you can do is give Tylenol for the pain and fever. It lasted about the full 10 days, then she came down with a nasty cough.
A little cough medicine and mucinex did the trick after 5 days or so. She is feeling better, but her 18 month old shorts are now falling off of her... I can't keep shorts on her, she is so skinny! This sickness didn't help any. She is 2 and 1/2 and is still wearing 12 month to 18 month old shorts. She can even fit into a 9 month old skirt still! It's crazy because when she was a baby she was huge and was ahead on clothing sizes. Once she started walking (around 9-10 months) she slimmed down a lot!
JoElle so sweetly asked me "Mommy, when is the baby going to get out of your belly?? I want to play with her NOW!"
She is very excited about having a little sister and can't wait! She tells me all the time she is going to take care of her, not me. She is going to feed her at night, change her diapers, and hold her. We have explained that she has to do it with us, but she doesn't like that idea, after all, she is a big girl and can do it herself...
Christmas 2007
We had a wonderful Christmas holiday; JoElle is at a great age to really enjoy all of the sights and sounds. She loved looking at Christmas lights and plugging / unplugging our Christmas tree. JoElle doesn't like Santa Claus and she doesn't "believe" in Santa. One night she was asking me if Santa is in her heart, like Jesus, and I had to tell her no, he is not real, he is just for fun. She is ok with that because she didn't want him to come visit us anyways (I never mentioned the part about coming down the chimney, I figured it would terrify her and we are already having problems with her vivid imagination at night!)
She opened presents for what seemed like forever on Christmas; we were all exhausted by the time we were done! Then Granny and Grandad came by, she was so tired we had to open presents for her. Then Nana came over...it was crazy busy!
We visited cousins Peyton and Madison later on Christmas. As soon as we got there, Peyton started telling us how Santa brough him a truck and ate all of his cookies an milk! They had a blast playing together as always.
Thanksgiving 2007
We had a lovely time at Peyton's house, where we ate lunch and played with Peyton and Madison. After Aunt Ana put Madison down for a nap around 2:30, JoElle turned to me and told me "OK, I'm ready to go to Carrie's house now." I guess she was bored with Madison down for a nap!
JoElle was feeding Madison chips; Madison loves to eat like JoElle. Peyton and JoElle were funny interacting with Madison, they kept telling her she couldn't have things and when Madison was headed for Tim, they both ran to him and got on him! They didn't even care before Madison wanted him.
We ate dinner at Unlce Billy and Aunt Carrie's house, Elena was already asleep, she was tired from the day. But JoElle got to play with Isaiah. They have fun playing together.
November 24, 2007
Baby Alexa was kicking a lot, and I normally tell JoElle "your sister is kicking a lot!"This time she looked at me, paused, and the asked me, "Does she want out?"
Aaron, Tim and I were cracking up, but she was serious :)
JoElle was singing a new song she learned at school, 5 little monkeys swinging in the tree, along came the alligator, teasing the alligator you can't catch me, no you can't catch me, the alligator snapped him right out of the tree; complete with hand motions and everything! It was very cute. She is learning so much in her new class.
Oh yeah, can't forget that she came home this week telling me Sandra is not her best friend anymore. When I asked her why, she told me because Sandra put leaves in her hair. Her new best friend is now Bubba.
November 25, 2007
JoElle and I were driving to the store when she told me, "Jesus was born for me."
She is very excited about Christmas this year! She loves the Christmas lights and decorations, but doesn't like Santa. She tells me she is scared of him. Yesterday, she asked me if Santa was in her heart (like Jesus), and I was forced to tell her he was just pretend. I have found it very hard to lead her to believe in Santa Claus, since she is asking so many questions about Jesus and God. I want her to believe in Jesus, not Santa!
JoElle has been wanting to go to "Big Church" every Sunday, so I have been taking her when Tim is singing in the choir, so she can see him and enjoy the music. She loves to sing to God, she has a kids praise CD that she knows just about every word to!
After our Advent service, we met Nana and Uncle Aaron at Campo Verde, where they have thousands of Christmas lights up inside and really great Mexican food :) We had a great time, then Nana came to the house and we put together a gingerbread house; we got really messy and it was fun.
We put up our Christmas tree today and JoElle was able to put the ornaments on, even the glass balls with hooks. She told me "I will be carfeul, Mommy" and she was!
Tonight, she also asked me why my belly button was so little, guess it is shrinking, wonder if it is about to pop out on me??
October 30, 2007 Fall Festival at School
Today JoElle had a Fall Festival at school that I went to. They had a ton of games set up in Fellowship Hall and they won candy and prizes. Walking out, JoElle walked with Kylie with her arm around her little friend.
I stayed for a little while in her room and she and Elena were fighting over me. JoElle was saying "MY mommy" and Elena was saying "My Megan!" JoElle wanted me to take her with me to eat and wanted to go nap at home, she really didn't want me to leave. But, she loves her afternoon teacher, Ms. Shanessa, so she stayed with her.
At the Little Gym tonight, JoElle told them her name and my name like usual at circle time, but then when Mr. Jeremy asked her to give him high fives, she told him "No, I'm a princess!" She is doing awesome at gymnastics. She can do a backwards roll all by herself and can pull herself up on the bar and hang upside like a monkey! She is very good at hanging upside down by her knees and she gets into this position all by herself. JoElle can swing really well and walk the balance beam (when she has enough confidence!).
October 18th Art Frenzy
JoElle is in an art frenzy right now, she spent all of last Saturday doing art at the table, gluing things, cutting paper, and coloring. Every night she goes straight to her art supplies and goes to town. It's great! She went through two glue sticks, a bottle of glue, and an entire package of construction paper in one week.
October 15th, 2007
JoElle told me that Landon C. in her class is her "baby and I take care of him so nobody hits him!" She is the leader in her class and feels like the protector of the little ones. She loves to tell on her cousin when she is not doing something right!
Landon and her have been in the same classes for over a year and they have become really close. They hang out, play with each other, and are very silly together, like her and Gavin were when he was at her school.
Logan (the red head) loves to tickle JoElle and she giggles like crazy. He also likes to swing her ponytail. She thinks that is funny, too.
JoElle also told me she put Landon R. in time out for hitting :)
August 2007 Some of the cute things she says...
JoElle talks up a storm, but here are some of the things she says that I love so much. It is mostly the WAY she says it, she has great emphasis and intonations....
"Wait to me, Mommy!!" ---she means wait for me
"No, I'm a big KID" ---rather than a big girl, can't call her that anymore!
"I want some tan tan lotion" --sun tan lotion...
"This is my pack pack" -- backpack
"I need to take a bath, my tummy hurts, it makes my tummy feel better" --- she thinks your tummy has to hurt to take a bath, my fault, my tummy hurts all the time these days!!
"I don't know, I can't tell" ---if I ask her a question that she doesn't know
"I want to go higher!" --when somebody is throwing her up in the air
"Do it again!" -- same as above!
"I want some more chocolate milk please!" --enough said...all the time....
The one that drives me insane- "WHY MOMMY?" and it never ends!!!!! Ahhhhhhhhhh
August 8th, 2007 Sickness strikes
After being out in the sun, I got a fever blister/cold sore on my lip. Then, about a week later, JoElle starting running a really high fever, so I had to keep her home from school. The next day, she was sent home from school with a fever and that afternoon, she ran into the living room after brushing her teeth with a look of horror. Her gums were gushing blood all over her shirt. It took two washclothes to make it stop bleeding. Needless to say, we were worried about her and she couldn't eat for over a week. All she could consume was chocolate milk. Even applesauce made her gums bleed.
She finally showed me that she had sores inside her mouth on her gums and lip. So, we finally figured out it was from my fever blister. Aaron looked it up online and found that the first time you are exposed to the virus that causes fever blisters, you run a fever, have bleeding gums, and no appetite. We confirmed this with her pediatrician over the weekend via telephone call. The only thing you can do is give Tylenol for the pain and fever. It lasted about the full 10 days, then she came down with a nasty cough.
A little cough medicine and mucinex did the trick after 5 days or so. She is feeling better, but her 18 month old shorts are now falling off of her... I can't keep shorts on her, she is so skinny! This sickness didn't help any. She is 2 and 1/2 and is still wearing 12 month to 18 month old shorts. She can even fit into a 9 month old skirt still! It's crazy because when she was a baby she was huge and was ahead on clothing sizes. Once she started walking (around 9-10 months) she slimmed down a lot!
Monday, August 20, 2007
Several posts...
August 20, 2007 13 weeks (just over 3 months)
I had my second Dr. visit today, routine stuff, no weight gain for me over the past 4 weeks due to all the sickness I am having. Blood pressure is great, plus I got to hear the baby's heartbeat again (we heard it 4 weeks ago at our first appt when they did the sonogram). It was great, 175 beats per minute, which is good. My belly doesn't seem to be growing very fast, so it's kinda weird!!! I think I felt a kick last night, but it is so hard to tell this early on.
JoElle was hugging Tim and me a lot last night and giving prolific kisses to Daddy! She also hugged the baby (my belly!) and gave the baby kisses. She is such a sweet child!
She got into my prenatal vitamins today and poured them all over the counter. She didn't swallow any...she knew they were mine.
JoElle loved the clouds tonight. She was talking about the different colors the clouds are at sunset and she exclaimed "The clouds are beautiful!"
Besides princesses, JoElle loves the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. She has most of the intro memorized. She walks around saying "Coming up next on Playhouse Disney!" It's funny! She loves "Toodles" which gives Mickey his tools when he calls for them.
JoElle's cousin Elena will be attending JoElle's school starting next week and JoElle is really excited! She told me Aunt Carrie was at school today (she went up there to enroll Elena). She kept smiling when I told her Elena was going to her school next week. They will be in the same class together. It will be lots of fun for them!!
One of JoElle's best friends since she was 8 weeks old (Trinity) is no longer at her school. Her parents had to take her out. JoElle looks forward to seeing her every day; they share things with each other, like little trinkets and treasures they bring to school to show each other! I hope Trinity comes back soon, it's sad to lose such a dear friend.
Hmmm, what else? Cousins Peyton and Madison came over on Saturday and Peyton wanted to spend the night!! He went to a b-day party first and kept talking about going to "Jojo's house." JoElle is real interested in Madison, who is almost walking now. JoElle tried to hold her in her lap, but Madison moves so much now, it didn't really work! Peyton wanted JoElle to play with her in the playroom, but she wouldn't go, so I told her she was going to make Peyton sad. So, from then on out, he kept telling her "You're going to make me sad, Jojo, come with me!" And then she would!
June 14th, 2007 Happy 3rd Birthday Peyton!
We hope you had a wonderful birthday! You are special to JoElle, she loves you dearly.
Love you!
Aunt Megan, Uncle Tim, and Jojo
June 14th, 2007 Staying in her bed, finally!!
JoElle finally is staying in her bed again at night! For the past 6 months, since she turned 2, JoElle has not slept in her bed all night. She always ends up in our bed, scared. Last night she stayed in her bed. She is so proud of herself, she will tell me in the morning "I stayed in my bed ALL night!" and she is just beaming with excitement! Even when we have to put her back in her bed, I praise her.
Other quirky things about JoElle: she loves lipgloss, princesses and painting her toenails and fingernails. She loves having friends come over, especially new friends! She loves parties and loves to sing Happy Birthday. JoElle keeps asking for Christmas to come back and for the Easter Bunny. She constantly reminds me that the Christmas tree is in the attic. She LOVES to pick mint! JoElle likes to shop, she will not hesitate to tell me she wants to go shopping at either a)Target b)Walgreens (she likes to buy medicine for hersel!)
JoElle likes to water the plants outside and pick out new flowers to plant. She is now reading books to herself, making up the words, oh yeah she LOVES to dance, her dancing is more "grownup" if you will because she likes to watch "So You Think You Can Dance" on t.v. and she imitates the dancers. She still loves gymnastics and is great at forward rolls/ flips. She can now do the balance beam all by herself and can ALMOST flip by herself on the bars. She is really strong, really skinny too! But has an endleess supply of energy. We had to ask her teachers to wake her up from naptime an hour earlier than the other kids just so that she can go to bed at her normal bedtime, 9 p.m. She was starting to have trouble going to sleep and was staying up to 10 or 11 p.m., even with a busy day at school or at home with us/ being out and about. It is working right now, but I imagine she will be a night owl like me sometime soon.......
Her best friends at school are Trinity and Sandra. Sandra loves JoElle!
JoElle tells her teachers that she can't drink milk at school, she tells them "No, I need water, I can't drink milk" and she will ask them if they try to give her pudding, "Does that have lactose in it? It hurts my tummy" and if they tell her yes, she will tell them what she can have instead. I like to tell her that she is a smart cookie, she likes that!
JoElle loves to go to Starbucks with me, she gets iced water (she can't drink anything there, she can't have soy milk either) She loves to hang out inside Starbucks with me and at home, she makes me iced mochats (this is how she says it!) out of water.
Sometimes, if I am stressed out, she will tell me to go to Starbucks! What a wonderful daughter :)
June 7th, 2007 Interesting prayers: out of the mouth of babes!
JoElle is offering some intersesting prayers! One night, she prayed for mommy, daddy, like normal, and also for her baby sister! Keep it mind, she doesn't have a baby sister! She is really wanting a baby sister or brother. She calls her baby dolls her baby sister!
Also, she started to pray "to not be scared" her words. She is scared of monkeys, bears, dinosaurs, and monsters outside. So, she runs into our room nightly. Sometimes more than once a night. But, now she is telling herself, out loud, "I'm safe in the house"
Daddy and JoElle will banish the monsters and other animals and this seems to make her feel better. She will also do this for her babies so that they are not scared!
May 28, 2007 JoElle plays with Trinity
JoElle was excited to have so many people over for Memorial Day. She got to see Trinity again, it has been a long time since we got together! Her parents, Natalie and Anthony, brought her. Tandi and Fred came over, my brother and also Nana. We had a full house and she loved it!
Trinity and JoElle played with bubbles, JoElle's coins, her shoes, and they jumped off the recliner over and over. Oh yeah, can't forget how they ran around the living room shouting "Tiptoe, tiptoe!"
May 27, 2007 Peyton's house
JoElle woke up this morning and asked Daddy, "Can I go to Peyton's house?"
When we got to Peyton's house, Peyton was so excited, he ran around the house! They had fun playing and yelling. They completely destroyed his play room, too. It was so much fun watching them have fun together.
May 17th, 2007 God made the sun
The sun was setting and it was one of those orange and purple sunsets. JoElle pointed to the setting sun and exclaimed, "Look at the sun! It's beautiful! God made it."
She expressed such an awe for God's hand in creation that it brought tears to Tim's and my own eyes.
Isn't it wondeful to see God's creation through the eyes of a little one? Just remember how special little children are to Jesus. In fact, He instructed us to be like little children in order to inherit the kingdom of God!
The next day, we saw birds flying around as we drove to school. This time JoElle pointed to the birds and explained to me, "The birds are looking for food." I asked her, "Who feeds the birds?" and she replied, "God feeds the birds."
May 26, 2007 Visit to the cemetery
JoElle, Uncle Aaron, and I visited Grandpa's grave. It has been 5 years somce JoElle's Grandpa (my dad) went to be with the Lord. I showed JoElle where he is buried and also explained that he is in heaven with Jesus.
I also showed her my brother, Travis', grave right next to Grandpa's and my grandparents. JoElle helped me to pick up flowers to leave. She ran around barefoot in the beautiful St. Augustine grass. She likes all the statues and walls with relief scenes from the Bible. She liked the Last Supper and a statue of Mary holding baby Jesus. She told me "Mommy, I want to give Jesus a flower" so she left a flower at his feet.
May 5th, 2007 Mayfest
We had fun at Mayfest today! JoElle painted a house (with real paint!), decorated some musical instrument with glitter, made spin art, ate a corny dog, and danced!!! She liked dancing to all the music.
JoElle has developed a fear of a bear in our backyard. She has a HUGE imagination like her Daddy. She thinks there is a bear outside. Sometimes she is just kidding, sometimes she really believes it!
She tells me she got bit by an alligator, too.
The other day in the car, I was laughing out loud, and JoElle asked me, "Mommy, what are you laughing about?" which made me laugh harder :)
April 7 and 8th Easter 2007
WOW! It was freezing today, literally. We had snow flurries all day Saturday. I couldn't believe it! JoElle, Uncle Aaron, Daddy, and I enjoyed Eggfest at our church to celebrate Easter, and it was quite cold. JoElle still had fun picking up Easter eggs, riding a train, and seeing animals (she doesn't like touching them).
I had my second Dr. visit today, routine stuff, no weight gain for me over the past 4 weeks due to all the sickness I am having. Blood pressure is great, plus I got to hear the baby's heartbeat again (we heard it 4 weeks ago at our first appt when they did the sonogram). It was great, 175 beats per minute, which is good. My belly doesn't seem to be growing very fast, so it's kinda weird!!! I think I felt a kick last night, but it is so hard to tell this early on.
JoElle was hugging Tim and me a lot last night and giving prolific kisses to Daddy! She also hugged the baby (my belly!) and gave the baby kisses. She is such a sweet child!
She got into my prenatal vitamins today and poured them all over the counter. She didn't swallow any...she knew they were mine.
JoElle loved the clouds tonight. She was talking about the different colors the clouds are at sunset and she exclaimed "The clouds are beautiful!"
Besides princesses, JoElle loves the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. She has most of the intro memorized. She walks around saying "Coming up next on Playhouse Disney!" It's funny! She loves "Toodles" which gives Mickey his tools when he calls for them.
JoElle's cousin Elena will be attending JoElle's school starting next week and JoElle is really excited! She told me Aunt Carrie was at school today (she went up there to enroll Elena). She kept smiling when I told her Elena was going to her school next week. They will be in the same class together. It will be lots of fun for them!!
One of JoElle's best friends since she was 8 weeks old (Trinity) is no longer at her school. Her parents had to take her out. JoElle looks forward to seeing her every day; they share things with each other, like little trinkets and treasures they bring to school to show each other! I hope Trinity comes back soon, it's sad to lose such a dear friend.
Hmmm, what else? Cousins Peyton and Madison came over on Saturday and Peyton wanted to spend the night!! He went to a b-day party first and kept talking about going to "Jojo's house." JoElle is real interested in Madison, who is almost walking now. JoElle tried to hold her in her lap, but Madison moves so much now, it didn't really work! Peyton wanted JoElle to play with her in the playroom, but she wouldn't go, so I told her she was going to make Peyton sad. So, from then on out, he kept telling her "You're going to make me sad, Jojo, come with me!" And then she would!
June 14th, 2007 Happy 3rd Birthday Peyton!
We hope you had a wonderful birthday! You are special to JoElle, she loves you dearly.
Love you!
Aunt Megan, Uncle Tim, and Jojo
June 14th, 2007 Staying in her bed, finally!!
JoElle finally is staying in her bed again at night! For the past 6 months, since she turned 2, JoElle has not slept in her bed all night. She always ends up in our bed, scared. Last night she stayed in her bed. She is so proud of herself, she will tell me in the morning "I stayed in my bed ALL night!" and she is just beaming with excitement! Even when we have to put her back in her bed, I praise her.
Other quirky things about JoElle: she loves lipgloss, princesses and painting her toenails and fingernails. She loves having friends come over, especially new friends! She loves parties and loves to sing Happy Birthday. JoElle keeps asking for Christmas to come back and for the Easter Bunny. She constantly reminds me that the Christmas tree is in the attic. She LOVES to pick mint! JoElle likes to shop, she will not hesitate to tell me she wants to go shopping at either a)Target b)Walgreens (she likes to buy medicine for hersel!)
JoElle likes to water the plants outside and pick out new flowers to plant. She is now reading books to herself, making up the words, oh yeah she LOVES to dance, her dancing is more "grownup" if you will because she likes to watch "So You Think You Can Dance" on t.v. and she imitates the dancers. She still loves gymnastics and is great at forward rolls/ flips. She can now do the balance beam all by herself and can ALMOST flip by herself on the bars. She is really strong, really skinny too! But has an endleess supply of energy. We had to ask her teachers to wake her up from naptime an hour earlier than the other kids just so that she can go to bed at her normal bedtime, 9 p.m. She was starting to have trouble going to sleep and was staying up to 10 or 11 p.m., even with a busy day at school or at home with us/ being out and about. It is working right now, but I imagine she will be a night owl like me sometime soon.......
Her best friends at school are Trinity and Sandra. Sandra loves JoElle!
JoElle tells her teachers that she can't drink milk at school, she tells them "No, I need water, I can't drink milk" and she will ask them if they try to give her pudding, "Does that have lactose in it? It hurts my tummy" and if they tell her yes, she will tell them what she can have instead. I like to tell her that she is a smart cookie, she likes that!
JoElle loves to go to Starbucks with me, she gets iced water (she can't drink anything there, she can't have soy milk either) She loves to hang out inside Starbucks with me and at home, she makes me iced mochats (this is how she says it!) out of water.
Sometimes, if I am stressed out, she will tell me to go to Starbucks! What a wonderful daughter :)
June 7th, 2007 Interesting prayers: out of the mouth of babes!
JoElle is offering some intersesting prayers! One night, she prayed for mommy, daddy, like normal, and also for her baby sister! Keep it mind, she doesn't have a baby sister! She is really wanting a baby sister or brother. She calls her baby dolls her baby sister!
Also, she started to pray "to not be scared" her words. She is scared of monkeys, bears, dinosaurs, and monsters outside. So, she runs into our room nightly. Sometimes more than once a night. But, now she is telling herself, out loud, "I'm safe in the house"
Daddy and JoElle will banish the monsters and other animals and this seems to make her feel better. She will also do this for her babies so that they are not scared!
May 28, 2007 JoElle plays with Trinity
JoElle was excited to have so many people over for Memorial Day. She got to see Trinity again, it has been a long time since we got together! Her parents, Natalie and Anthony, brought her. Tandi and Fred came over, my brother and also Nana. We had a full house and she loved it!
Trinity and JoElle played with bubbles, JoElle's coins, her shoes, and they jumped off the recliner over and over. Oh yeah, can't forget how they ran around the living room shouting "Tiptoe, tiptoe!"
May 27, 2007 Peyton's house
JoElle woke up this morning and asked Daddy, "Can I go to Peyton's house?"
When we got to Peyton's house, Peyton was so excited, he ran around the house! They had fun playing and yelling. They completely destroyed his play room, too. It was so much fun watching them have fun together.
May 17th, 2007 God made the sun
The sun was setting and it was one of those orange and purple sunsets. JoElle pointed to the setting sun and exclaimed, "Look at the sun! It's beautiful! God made it."
She expressed such an awe for God's hand in creation that it brought tears to Tim's and my own eyes.
Isn't it wondeful to see God's creation through the eyes of a little one? Just remember how special little children are to Jesus. In fact, He instructed us to be like little children in order to inherit the kingdom of God!
The next day, we saw birds flying around as we drove to school. This time JoElle pointed to the birds and explained to me, "The birds are looking for food." I asked her, "Who feeds the birds?" and she replied, "God feeds the birds."
May 26, 2007 Visit to the cemetery
JoElle, Uncle Aaron, and I visited Grandpa's grave. It has been 5 years somce JoElle's Grandpa (my dad) went to be with the Lord. I showed JoElle where he is buried and also explained that he is in heaven with Jesus.
I also showed her my brother, Travis', grave right next to Grandpa's and my grandparents. JoElle helped me to pick up flowers to leave. She ran around barefoot in the beautiful St. Augustine grass. She likes all the statues and walls with relief scenes from the Bible. She liked the Last Supper and a statue of Mary holding baby Jesus. She told me "Mommy, I want to give Jesus a flower" so she left a flower at his feet.
May 5th, 2007 Mayfest
We had fun at Mayfest today! JoElle painted a house (with real paint!), decorated some musical instrument with glitter, made spin art, ate a corny dog, and danced!!! She liked dancing to all the music.
JoElle has developed a fear of a bear in our backyard. She has a HUGE imagination like her Daddy. She thinks there is a bear outside. Sometimes she is just kidding, sometimes she really believes it!
She tells me she got bit by an alligator, too.
The other day in the car, I was laughing out loud, and JoElle asked me, "Mommy, what are you laughing about?" which made me laugh harder :)
April 7 and 8th Easter 2007
WOW! It was freezing today, literally. We had snow flurries all day Saturday. I couldn't believe it! JoElle, Uncle Aaron, Daddy, and I enjoyed Eggfest at our church to celebrate Easter, and it was quite cold. JoElle still had fun picking up Easter eggs, riding a train, and seeing animals (she doesn't like touching them).
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Several posts...
March 2007
JoElle is still doing so great without pullups (except nighttime, I really don't feel like taking her to the potty in the middle of the night right now...)
She has developed a few fears; she is scared of thunder, seems to be a little scared of the dark, sometimes is scared of being alone in her room at night, she was scared to swing at Aunt Ana's house, scared that dogs will bight her....
JoElle's ability to formulate thoughts is amazing to me! I love to ask her why when she tells me things, and a lot of the time she will tell me "because.......(fill in the blank).
I can't even begin to describe the things she tells me, but she uses complex sentences of 6 or more words, uses verb tenses very well and personal prounouns correctly, too.
The other night, she was scared by thunder, but she still prayed for thunder, rain, and the frogs. (We have toads in our pond, it's mating season and they croak all night long...)
JoElle counts to 10 (usually skipping 6) and then counts past to 13, skips over 14,15,16 and picks up again at 17, all the way to 20! It's funny listening to this. She recites the entire alphabet, she can carry a tune very well. She loves to sing "Twinkle, Twinkle," she knows every word and has the note right :) Some other fave songs to sing are "Halle Halle" (you know, "you're love is amazing, steady and unchanging..."
The word "NO" resonates from JoElle's mouth daily. It drives me nuts, so she does it even more...I finally put her in time out a week or so ago for saying "no" to me in such a nasty manner, over something really simple I asked her to do. She cried hard in time out, especially when I saw that she had her purse and I asked her to give it to me. But she is being nicer.
Tim tells JoElle all the time to "be nice to Mommy" and I hear her telling herself this out loud all the time! I am also working on "listening AND obeying Mommy," which is working quite well actually.
The past few weeks, JoElle and I have been enjoying Saturday morning breakfast together. So far, we have visited I-Hop and La Madeline. The other day in the car, she told me she wants to go to Madeline, and I couldn't figure out what she was telling me, finally it dawned on my she was talking about La Madeline. She has a great memory for details.
JoElle likes to pretend that Peyton is here with her, he is kinda her imaginary friend, even though he is real!
We visited the Water Gardens in Ft. Worth this month, she loved it there.
JoElle still attends the Little Gym. She is learning so much there; she is very athletic (from Daddy), she can do the splits, she runs fast (I can't run fast enough to catch her sometimes), she can do the balance beam by herself, but she doesn't have the confidence in her ability yet, she is great on the bars, she pulls her toes to the bars by herself and loves to swing. She can almost flip while hanging from the bar. She is still working on forward rolls.
JoElle enjoys having Daddy read the Bible to her at bedtime. She loves praying for her friends and family every night and loves to go to church. JoElle loves to sing worship songs.
She knows the words to so many books by heart and is begining to identify letters and words in writing.
The other day, JoElle told me Grandpa (my dad) was in the car with her, when I asked her what was he doing she told me "Sitting in my chair!" I love her imagination, and I can't help but smile because I really don't talk to her much about my dad unless we are looking at a picture of him, so I know he is here with us, some way some how (you'll have to ask God about this kind of stuff when you meet Him one day, since, as a human, I can't explain these things and I don't try to either!)
Februray 27th No More Pullups!!!!
So, JoElle was dry all night two nights ago, then she wore panties to school and had NO ACCIDENTS all day! She went to the potty whenever she needed, and also held it at Chick-Fil-A (she demanded to go there before we went to work out at the Y) and then at the YMCA she also held it.
She finally had an accident after bath because she was too busy washing her hands (which she does for hours on end, probably 25-50 times a day) and didn't want to stop.
Today she played at the Little Gym with no accidents there either.
JoElle has been in panties for two days straight and tonight chose to go to bed in them, we'll see what happens! But at least in the day, she is out of pull-ups!! I am excited!!! FINALLY ! She has been potty training for about 7 months now.
February 25th, 2007 Happy Birthday, Daddy!
We surprised Tim for his birthday by telling him Nana's car broke down and she had Peyton, so we went to pick her up and everybody was there to surprise Tim at Texas Land & Cattle. It was fun!
JoElle got to play with all her cousins; the three of them (Elena, Peyton and JoElle) were playing outside while we waited for the food. They got up on the bench outside and JoElle started telling everybody walking in "Hi!" so then Peyton started to chime in and they harrassed everyone as they walked in! Then Elena helped by waving hello to everybody.
Some little girl was leaving in the parking lot and JoElle yelled to her "Happy Birhday!"
In the middle of dinner, JoElle started singing "Happy Birthday to Daddy!" It was so precious!
That night when we got home, JoElle helped me make brownies for Daddy, she likes to mix up the brownies. Then she licked the bowl clean and had brownie mix all over her face and arms. We sang Happy Birthday to Daddy and then JoElle blew out his candles for him!
JoElle couldn't fall asleep, so I gave her a book to read in her bed, her face just lit up! She fell asleep reading; when I checked back on her, she had put the book back in the basket and fell asleep with her feet hanging off her bed, she couldn't quite make it into bed all the way without falling asleep!
Feb 24th JoElle has a new room!
JoElle moved to the front bedroom today, she wanted to move her bed in there, so she helped Aaron and me move her old toys into her old room and move her bed into the "purple" room. It is much bigger and she now has a walk in closet where she can reach her clothes hanging up. She loves her new room!
February 13th, 2007 The Little Gym
JoElle is loving her Little Gym class on Tuesday nights and so are we! She is learning so much, tonight, for the first night, she actually stayed on the red mat during group time instead of running to the equipment; I am so proud of her!
She really likes her teacher, Mr. Jeremy. He is great with the kids and teaches them so much. She is getting even better at the bars, she can pull her toes up to the bar and hang. She can't quit flip on the bars yet, but she is close. JoElle is almost brave enough to walk on the balance beams alone, but she still insists on having Daddy's hand (or mine!)
Tonight JoElle prayed and thanked God for the Little Gym and Mr. Jeremy! So sweet! On the weekends, she asks to go to the Little Gym, a few Sundays ago, she wanted to go and when I told her they were closed, she said "People, go open the doors!" hehe
February 13, 2007 Something to make you smile.....
Her new teachers like to write on her daily sheet: Something to make you smile.....
Here are some of the recent ones:
2/13/07 JoElle singing Happy Birthday to her biscuit. (this one is very funny because JoElle loves to sing Happy Birthday to everything and everyone!!!)
2/12/07 JoElle keeping her pullup dry (all morning, all the way until after naptime at 2!!!)
2/1/07 JoElle playing with the new boys.
1/31/07 JoElle doing flips on the carpet.
1/29/07 JoElle with shaving cream in her hari :)
1/29/07 JoElle playing in the mud and NOT getting dirty :)
February 12, 2007 "I love you mommy!"
After school/work and working out at the Y, JoElle and I were both starving, so we stopped at Chick-Fil-A. While we were standing in line, JoElle hugs me, looks me in the eyes and tells me "I love you, Mommy!"
Doesn't that just melt your heart???
February 12, 2007 Stats: 24.5 lbs and 33.5 inches tall
JoElle went to the Dr for her 2 year old checkup, she is in the 25th percentile for weight and 50 percentil for heighth.
2 new teeth, her 2 year old molars FINALLY broke through on the bottom, they have been budding since she was 18 months old, and they seemed to have been bothering her for longer than that!
Her doctor asked me if she throws tantrums and I told her no, she never does, she just starts crying; her dr. said she isn't sure what to make of that, thanks JoElle for throwing in something different on us....
Her doctor also asked me if she says at least 20-30 words, and I looked at her and told her, "yeah, she can say that many in about 1 minute!"
All JoElle could talk about was wanting a sticker since she knows she will get a sticker at the end... only one shot when they are two, for Hep A. They also take blood, everything is good. She doesn't have to go back to the Dr. until she is 3!
Feburary 8th, 2007 Her friend, Bubba is looking for her
Bubba's mom, Yvonne, told me this morning that last night, Bubba was asking her "Where's JoElle? Is she at church?"
He was really concerned about where she was :)
Bubba and her have been friends since JoElle was about 11 months old, they are finally back in the same room together, he is almost 3 (I think in March) so he will probably move up again soon!
February 5th, 2007 Ft. Worth Stockshow and Mommy's Birthday
We took JoElle, Peyton and Madison to the Ft. Worth Stock Show on Saturday. My sister, brother and I grew up going to it every year to ride the rides, since we grew up in Ft. Worth and got a day off from school to go.
JoElle and Peyton were so excited to be there together. As soon as we got out of the car, JoElle was asking "Where's Peyton???" Then we walked into the cattle barn and she kept exclaiming "It's stinky in here!" Oh yeah, she was in panties ALL DAY there, from 7:30 in the morning until we got to Aunt Ana's house around 4:30, with NO ACCIDENTS!!! Wow, I am impressed.
Back to the Stock Show, they were holding hands, making silly noises, dancing to the country music, and saying "poo poo" over and over, since it was all over the ground!
In the horse barn, JoElle told the horses "No more accidents, horses". I was cracking up!!!
They kinda liked the petting zoo, Peyton fed the goats and giggled. JoElle made me hold her because they were "hurting me!" They really weren't, but she insisted that they were.
JoElle wanted to ride an adult ride, but she isn't even tall enough for the kids rides!!
As for my birthday (on Friday Feb 2nd) Nana offered to babysite JoElle, she fell asleep in Nana's arms watching the Good Night Show on Sprout network, right at 8:45 p.m.!
JoElle sang Happy Bithday to me! It was very precious. Daddy made a card for me and gave me beautiful pink roses and a whistling monkey. Very cute!
JoElle is still doing so great without pullups (except nighttime, I really don't feel like taking her to the potty in the middle of the night right now...)
She has developed a few fears; she is scared of thunder, seems to be a little scared of the dark, sometimes is scared of being alone in her room at night, she was scared to swing at Aunt Ana's house, scared that dogs will bight her....
JoElle's ability to formulate thoughts is amazing to me! I love to ask her why when she tells me things, and a lot of the time she will tell me "because.......(fill in the blank).
I can't even begin to describe the things she tells me, but she uses complex sentences of 6 or more words, uses verb tenses very well and personal prounouns correctly, too.
The other night, she was scared by thunder, but she still prayed for thunder, rain, and the frogs. (We have toads in our pond, it's mating season and they croak all night long...)
JoElle counts to 10 (usually skipping 6) and then counts past to 13, skips over 14,15,16 and picks up again at 17, all the way to 20! It's funny listening to this. She recites the entire alphabet, she can carry a tune very well. She loves to sing "Twinkle, Twinkle," she knows every word and has the note right :) Some other fave songs to sing are "Halle Halle" (you know, "you're love is amazing, steady and unchanging..."
The word "NO" resonates from JoElle's mouth daily. It drives me nuts, so she does it even more...I finally put her in time out a week or so ago for saying "no" to me in such a nasty manner, over something really simple I asked her to do. She cried hard in time out, especially when I saw that she had her purse and I asked her to give it to me. But she is being nicer.
Tim tells JoElle all the time to "be nice to Mommy" and I hear her telling herself this out loud all the time! I am also working on "listening AND obeying Mommy," which is working quite well actually.
The past few weeks, JoElle and I have been enjoying Saturday morning breakfast together. So far, we have visited I-Hop and La Madeline. The other day in the car, she told me she wants to go to Madeline, and I couldn't figure out what she was telling me, finally it dawned on my she was talking about La Madeline. She has a great memory for details.
JoElle likes to pretend that Peyton is here with her, he is kinda her imaginary friend, even though he is real!
We visited the Water Gardens in Ft. Worth this month, she loved it there.
JoElle still attends the Little Gym. She is learning so much there; she is very athletic (from Daddy), she can do the splits, she runs fast (I can't run fast enough to catch her sometimes), she can do the balance beam by herself, but she doesn't have the confidence in her ability yet, she is great on the bars, she pulls her toes to the bars by herself and loves to swing. She can almost flip while hanging from the bar. She is still working on forward rolls.
JoElle enjoys having Daddy read the Bible to her at bedtime. She loves praying for her friends and family every night and loves to go to church. JoElle loves to sing worship songs.
She knows the words to so many books by heart and is begining to identify letters and words in writing.
The other day, JoElle told me Grandpa (my dad) was in the car with her, when I asked her what was he doing she told me "Sitting in my chair!" I love her imagination, and I can't help but smile because I really don't talk to her much about my dad unless we are looking at a picture of him, so I know he is here with us, some way some how (you'll have to ask God about this kind of stuff when you meet Him one day, since, as a human, I can't explain these things and I don't try to either!)
Februray 27th No More Pullups!!!!
So, JoElle was dry all night two nights ago, then she wore panties to school and had NO ACCIDENTS all day! She went to the potty whenever she needed, and also held it at Chick-Fil-A (she demanded to go there before we went to work out at the Y) and then at the YMCA she also held it.
She finally had an accident after bath because she was too busy washing her hands (which she does for hours on end, probably 25-50 times a day) and didn't want to stop.
Today she played at the Little Gym with no accidents there either.
JoElle has been in panties for two days straight and tonight chose to go to bed in them, we'll see what happens! But at least in the day, she is out of pull-ups!! I am excited!!! FINALLY ! She has been potty training for about 7 months now.
February 25th, 2007 Happy Birthday, Daddy!
We surprised Tim for his birthday by telling him Nana's car broke down and she had Peyton, so we went to pick her up and everybody was there to surprise Tim at Texas Land & Cattle. It was fun!
JoElle got to play with all her cousins; the three of them (Elena, Peyton and JoElle) were playing outside while we waited for the food. They got up on the bench outside and JoElle started telling everybody walking in "Hi!" so then Peyton started to chime in and they harrassed everyone as they walked in! Then Elena helped by waving hello to everybody.
Some little girl was leaving in the parking lot and JoElle yelled to her "Happy Birhday!"
In the middle of dinner, JoElle started singing "Happy Birthday to Daddy!" It was so precious!
That night when we got home, JoElle helped me make brownies for Daddy, she likes to mix up the brownies. Then she licked the bowl clean and had brownie mix all over her face and arms. We sang Happy Birthday to Daddy and then JoElle blew out his candles for him!
JoElle couldn't fall asleep, so I gave her a book to read in her bed, her face just lit up! She fell asleep reading; when I checked back on her, she had put the book back in the basket and fell asleep with her feet hanging off her bed, she couldn't quite make it into bed all the way without falling asleep!
Feb 24th JoElle has a new room!
JoElle moved to the front bedroom today, she wanted to move her bed in there, so she helped Aaron and me move her old toys into her old room and move her bed into the "purple" room. It is much bigger and she now has a walk in closet where she can reach her clothes hanging up. She loves her new room!
February 13th, 2007 The Little Gym
JoElle is loving her Little Gym class on Tuesday nights and so are we! She is learning so much, tonight, for the first night, she actually stayed on the red mat during group time instead of running to the equipment; I am so proud of her!
She really likes her teacher, Mr. Jeremy. He is great with the kids and teaches them so much. She is getting even better at the bars, she can pull her toes up to the bar and hang. She can't quit flip on the bars yet, but she is close. JoElle is almost brave enough to walk on the balance beams alone, but she still insists on having Daddy's hand (or mine!)
Tonight JoElle prayed and thanked God for the Little Gym and Mr. Jeremy! So sweet! On the weekends, she asks to go to the Little Gym, a few Sundays ago, she wanted to go and when I told her they were closed, she said "People, go open the doors!" hehe
February 13, 2007 Something to make you smile.....
Her new teachers like to write on her daily sheet: Something to make you smile.....
Here are some of the recent ones:
2/13/07 JoElle singing Happy Birthday to her biscuit. (this one is very funny because JoElle loves to sing Happy Birthday to everything and everyone!!!)
2/12/07 JoElle keeping her pullup dry (all morning, all the way until after naptime at 2!!!)
2/1/07 JoElle playing with the new boys.
1/31/07 JoElle doing flips on the carpet.
1/29/07 JoElle with shaving cream in her hari :)
1/29/07 JoElle playing in the mud and NOT getting dirty :)
February 12, 2007 "I love you mommy!"
After school/work and working out at the Y, JoElle and I were both starving, so we stopped at Chick-Fil-A. While we were standing in line, JoElle hugs me, looks me in the eyes and tells me "I love you, Mommy!"
Doesn't that just melt your heart???
February 12, 2007 Stats: 24.5 lbs and 33.5 inches tall
JoElle went to the Dr for her 2 year old checkup, she is in the 25th percentile for weight and 50 percentil for heighth.
2 new teeth, her 2 year old molars FINALLY broke through on the bottom, they have been budding since she was 18 months old, and they seemed to have been bothering her for longer than that!
Her doctor asked me if she throws tantrums and I told her no, she never does, she just starts crying; her dr. said she isn't sure what to make of that, thanks JoElle for throwing in something different on us....
Her doctor also asked me if she says at least 20-30 words, and I looked at her and told her, "yeah, she can say that many in about 1 minute!"
All JoElle could talk about was wanting a sticker since she knows she will get a sticker at the end... only one shot when they are two, for Hep A. They also take blood, everything is good. She doesn't have to go back to the Dr. until she is 3!
Feburary 8th, 2007 Her friend, Bubba is looking for her
Bubba's mom, Yvonne, told me this morning that last night, Bubba was asking her "Where's JoElle? Is she at church?"
He was really concerned about where she was :)
Bubba and her have been friends since JoElle was about 11 months old, they are finally back in the same room together, he is almost 3 (I think in March) so he will probably move up again soon!
February 5th, 2007 Ft. Worth Stockshow and Mommy's Birthday
We took JoElle, Peyton and Madison to the Ft. Worth Stock Show on Saturday. My sister, brother and I grew up going to it every year to ride the rides, since we grew up in Ft. Worth and got a day off from school to go.
JoElle and Peyton were so excited to be there together. As soon as we got out of the car, JoElle was asking "Where's Peyton???" Then we walked into the cattle barn and she kept exclaiming "It's stinky in here!" Oh yeah, she was in panties ALL DAY there, from 7:30 in the morning until we got to Aunt Ana's house around 4:30, with NO ACCIDENTS!!! Wow, I am impressed.
Back to the Stock Show, they were holding hands, making silly noises, dancing to the country music, and saying "poo poo" over and over, since it was all over the ground!
In the horse barn, JoElle told the horses "No more accidents, horses". I was cracking up!!!
They kinda liked the petting zoo, Peyton fed the goats and giggled. JoElle made me hold her because they were "hurting me!" They really weren't, but she insisted that they were.
JoElle wanted to ride an adult ride, but she isn't even tall enough for the kids rides!!
As for my birthday (on Friday Feb 2nd) Nana offered to babysite JoElle, she fell asleep in Nana's arms watching the Good Night Show on Sprout network, right at 8:45 p.m.!
JoElle sang Happy Bithday to me! It was very precious. Daddy made a card for me and gave me beautiful pink roses and a whistling monkey. Very cute!
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