3 doctor visits in one day

avery had her first dentist appointment yesterday, i forgot to bring my camera, so the nice nurse took this one and emailed it to me. avery did great! we practiced saying "ahh" and opening her mouth on the way there, and when we got there, she yelled "ahh" really loud just like we practiced. it was pretty funny. good news: she has no cavitites. funny news: she is missing a tooth on the bottom, and it's genetic b/c tatum is missing the same one! you know on your bottom teeth you are supposed to have 4 teeth in the middle (between the "fang" teeth), well she only has 3. i asked the dentist if she would have 4 adult teeth there and he said probably not. she will probably just have 3 on the bottom. ha! thankfully it's on the bottom where it's not noticeable. anyway, she did a great job!

i also went to the dentist yesterday and was suprised that i had no cavities either! i was sure i had at least 3 or 4, but i don't! yeah!

i also took tatum to the pediatrician yesterday b/c she is still puking and has fever. he said the strep has cleared up and her ears look perfect, so he thinks she's developed some kind of virus. so he gave us some anti-nausea medicine that should help her stop puking. he said she is underweight now. she was 20lbs. 13 oz last week. now she is 20 lbs. 5 oz. she lost a whole half-pound in less than a week! poor little thing! thankyou, my sweet friends, for praying for her. i'll keep you updated.

today is avery's 3 birthday! i'm bummed to be at work right now, i wish i could be with her. but it's TAKS week so i must do my job. anyway, nana is in town to help celebrate. she gave avery a really cook shaker mp3 player and some fun art supplies. avery LOVES them! we downloaded alot of her fave songs (disney, veggietales, and david crowder) onto her shaker and she knows how to switch songs and turn it off and on. i got her a barbie doll and some new markers & sketch pad, but i'm going to give it to her tonight. what a blessing these 3 years have been!

adorable defiance

avery's latest statements:

1. "mama, Jesus doesn't want you talking to me like that."
2. "tatum, you MUST learn to obey me!"
3. "i am the adult, mama. you are the child. i'm in charge."

the above statements were all said by me at some point this week, and she quickly figured out how to twist them around and use them to her advantage. the guy who wrote "shepherding a child's heart" (it's a great book) didn't give any advice on what to do when your child tries to "shepherd" your heart!

poor tatum, she was feeling better on wednesday and thursday. then last night she woke up at 2:30 am screaming. she was burning up and i could tell she felt horrible, so she and i slept in the recliner the rest of the night. don't know what to do for her, she puked again this morning too. poor thing. i'll call doc again on monday. only problem is i'm feeling kindof horrible too, but mom's aren't allowed to get sick, so i know this isn't really happening. i guess i better start popping the vitamin C. my mom is coming for a visit this weekend, thankfully. what perfect timing... God is good!

strep!

i just took tatum to a new pediatrician, who i really like. our family doctor has been seeing our girls since the beginning, and while i really like him, i usually have to wait 3 days to get an appointment, and when you have a puking baby, you need same day service!
so i got a recommendation from a friend, called the new guy and got an appointment the same day! why didn't i do this a long time ago? i don't know. anyway, tatum has strep. poor thing, she puked all weekend and had a little fever, but i kept thinking it was just teething. i don't take my kids to the doctor very often, partly because they are pretty healthy, and partly because i just think it will do thier immune systems good to fight stuff off themselves. that's my theory anyway. but i'm glad i took her this time! we got an antibiotic and i hope it works quick. i am tired of cleaning up puke!

my little trooper (or puker)!

we had a fun day trip on saturday. we took the girls to zube park where they give FREE train rides on their miniature steam engines. it was really fun. we decided to make it a regular monthly outing. for anyone in houston, check out hals.org for the run dates.


then we went to the new outlet mall right up hwy 290, about 15 minutes from our house! it was awesome, we were so impressed with the layout, the merchandise and the kid-friendliness. there is even a playground in front of the nike outlet! and there are little 50 cent rides everywhere. we never actually put 50 cents in, but avery likes to get on the horse/airplane/bus, etc and pretend. great for when one of us wants to shop in a store and the other stays outside with the kids.

then we ate some yummy mexican food at a new place nearby, alicia's mexican grille - we definately want to go back. we are big mexican food fans, if we had lots of money and didn't care about our health, i think we would eat it every day. avery can put down a bowl of guacamole or salsa with the best of 'em.


this was sunday after church. i know i am cruel but i still put avery in these little panties i got as a gift when she was a baby. i think it's because i had some with "melanie" on the butt when i was a little girl and my parents took blackmail pics of me sleeping in my little panties, so i feel the need to continue the tradition. just so you know, tatum has a pair the same size which she wears over her diaper and they fit tatum just about perfectly. so needless to say they are TIGHT on avery's little bum, but they are so cute!

7 random things

i just got tagged by my good buddy jennifer at very full quiver to post seven random things about me. so here goes:

1. when i was little (3rd grade-ish), i dreamed of being in the olympics as a track & field star. my mom can confirm. jennifer lived out my dream, partially, as a track & field star at texas a&m. :)

2. my freshman year in college, i rode my bike twice a week to donate blood plasma. i made $35/week and there are still small holes in both my arms where the needles went.

3. i had two major bicycle wrecks on campus at texas a&m. the horror still haunts me. one was late at night... i tried to jump a median on university drive at an angle, and i was laid out all over university drive. thankfully there were no cars coming. the other wasn't as exciting, i just crashed into another bicycler.

4. speaking of wrecks, i've also been in 4 car wrecks. two were my fault, two weren't. i know the Lord has a plan for my life because i'm still here.

5. i ran the 2006 houston marathon, a feat i will never even attempt to duplicate. but i am so proud of that accomplishment.

6. i am a bookworm. if i could read all day i would. i prefer brainless novels, but i also read the occasional educational book. what i am reading currently: "emma" by jane austen, "shepherding a child's heart" by tedd trippe, and "free and clear" by howard dayton. loving all of them.

7. i dream of being able to sing. truly dream of it. i sing to my kids endlessly. they don't understand keys and pitch and tune. i don't either. i think in heaven, we will all share in what a wonderful feeling it must be to belt out a song at the top of your lungs and have it sound beautiful! AHH, i can't wait!!!!

okay, i dont' have 7 friends yet, so i am tagging the friends i have:
slabic family
learning to love
living for later

you can participate or not. if you do, here are the rules:
1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.
2. Share seven facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag seven people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

tatum is 11 months!

it's hard to believe my baby will be ONE in a month! and my big girl will be THREE in a couple weeks. they bring so much JOY into my life. sometimes quickly followed by pain.
yesterday i was laying on the floor resting... tatum crawled over and got right up in my face and i thought she was just being silly, then she leaned in and took a big bite of my cheek! i almost cried it hurt so bad. advice: whatever you do, teach your baby to take a pacifier! avery's teething was never this bad b/c she always sucked the life out of her paci. i didn't force tatum to take a paci, and i regret it now!


speaking of my big girl, i was so pleased with avery's participation in her gyminicrickets class at the Y this week, i must share. the first couple months of class, she mostly watched the other kids and wandered off in her own little world. i don't think it was because she was being bad, i just think she didn't "get it" yet. well, i'm glad to report i think she is finally getting it. on monday, when they kids were supposed to be lions, she crawled like a lion. when they were supposed to find a color on the parachute, she found the right color. when they walking on the balance beam, she actually waited her turn and walked on the beam. i was so proud of my little gymnist b/c i could tell she felt so big and so accomplished that she was doing what the other kids were doing.

avery on the balance beam

she found the color blue on the parachute (and is hogging the ball, i might add)

about to do some kind of roll :)

so at school yesterday one of my students, we'll call him reggie, asked me point blank, "how do you know God is real?". he says he is an athiest. i am embarrased to admit, i was so shocked i had no good answer for him. i stumbled around saying something, but when he left my room i felt like i'd blown an opportunity God gave me. so last night i asked God what to say and i asked Him to speak through me. so today i found reggie again and we had a good talk about God and faith. i don't know and don't need to know if it made an impact or not, but i am glad it did give me a chance to be more bold about my faith to one of my students. i feel the Lord showing me that i am called to be a missionary at my school. it's not just a job, it's a very ripe mission field. please pray for reggie and for me to take better advantage of the opportunities God lays before me.

what a week, part 2

in response to yesterday's complaining, there are alot of good things in my life:
1. brian's baseball practice got rained out yesterday, so he came home early, and i took that as a sign from the Lord that I should go get a pedicure. so i did. i met a nice lady there who was going on a girls' trip to fredricksburg this weekend, and i told her to be sure to stop by comfort and go to bygone days. she wrote it down and said she would.
2. i got over myself and took 2 children to the grocery store yesterday (before i knew brian was going to be home early), and i'd like to say it went smoothly, but it didn't. it strengthened my resolve to never again take 2 children to the grocery store. but i did get some things to put in my pantry/refrigerator.
3. it's friday and i have some fun things planned this weekend. a playdate tomorrow morning, a baby shower for a good friend tomorrow afternoon, and perhaps a visit to the new outlet mall down the highway at some point.
4. gigi offered to keep avery for the day today, so it's just me and tate.
5. i ran again last night. although it hurt, i feel SO remarkably good. every muscle from my neck to the arches of my feet ache, but it's wonderful feeling. belle has enjoyed our runs immensely. poor dog barely ever gets out of our yard anymore, so if nothing else, i feel like i'm doing something nice for her.
6. several of my students decorated their tests today. i told them i'd give extra credit to the best drawing. one girl wrote "mrs. k rocks" in her funky graffiti writing, one drew president nixon, one drew the jungles of vietnam with bombs killing the vietcong, and one just drew a big smiley face. i love those kids.
7. we paid off one of our credit cards this week. praise the LORD... we have been working so hard to get out of debt and I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
8. i quit working at the YMCA last week. it was just too much trying to juggle two jobs. i loved it there, but one job is enough right now.
9. i decided to withdraw from several summer opportunities that i had initially thought were good ideas. i still think they are good ideas, but not for me. i need to stop saying "yes" to everything everyone asks me to do.
10. the Lord is teaching me to relax, stop worrying about what people think and enjoy my life as it is right now, instead of always looking to and hoping for the future. easier said than done, but definately worth the effort.

what a week!

okay, i just need to vent about my week. here's the rundown:
1. i haven't been to the grocery store in two weeks because i refuse to go with two children, and every time it's just me and one child it's either raining or that child is too fussy to deal with the store or i don't have enough time. so our pantry/refrigerator are empty with no hope in sight.
2. two of my students got out of jail this week and came back to my classroom. both on assault charges. one of them got out of jail at 7 am and was in my 1st period the same day. the other one tried to pick a fight the second day she was in my class. needless to say, i was sweating. it's a little scary when you know without a doubt you are powerless to stop two kids from fighting if they really decide to go at it.
3. tatum has learned how to work me. yes, she's teething, but i give her teething tablets, tylenol, bottles of warm formula, i rock her, what else can the child want? she cries like she's being branded or something. today after i tried everything, i just put her in her crib and let her cry herself to sleep. am i a bad mother? well, i don't know, but i knew i would go nuts if i didn't have some peace. so now it is quiet and she is sleeping soundly.
4. yesterday i explained the legacy of president nixon to my class, how he was a good president but he will only be remembered for the watergate scandal. i compared it to president clinton... he may have done a few good things, but he will only be remembered for sleeping with an intern. one of my students raised his hand and said " i really don't see what the big deal is... he only slept with ONE other woman." that is the moral quality of our young ones today.
5. last night, i decided to start running again. for the first time since november, i ran. it felt so good, but i hurt so bad today. i think i'll do it again tonight.
6. i need to go pick up avery from MDO, so i'll have to think of something positive to post later.

Bluebonnets

saturday we went out to hempstead for our annual bluebonnet pictures. we were a little late this year and the bluebonnets weren't as thick as usual, but they were still beautiful. the yellow flowers were really pretty too. anyway thought i'd post our previous years pictures as well, so here's avery almost 1 year old.

avery almost 2.
here's the pics from saturday. avery is almost 3 and tatum is almost 1.

my parents came in for a visit this weekend. my mom brought me this picture of the girls in their easter dresses with my parents. i love this one.

Godtube link

if you read my first post, i mentioned the Lifehouse Everything drama on Godtube. there's a small link over on the right side of this blog. you can click on it and watch it now.

how-lu-la

tatum, a.k.a. "stinky britches", has recently begun standing up on her own (2nd picture) but only when she doesn't mean to, like when she's watching avery or the dogs and forgets that she's on her own two feet. it's funny when you see your own kid every day you don't notice how grown up she is, but looking at these pictures, especially the first one with her long legs, i can't believe she's so big! she's already eating table food, she can "gimme five", and her laugh cracks me up every time... it's the best laugh i've ever heard!

so avery & i made easter cookies a few days ago... yes i know easter was two weeks ago. anyway, we've been saying "Jesus is alive.... Hallelujah" alot and avery's version is "Jesus is live...how-lu-la." she's usually very articulate and pronunciates her words so precisely that we make fun of her, so it's really interesting to me that no matter how many times i pronounce "hallelujah" for her, it still comes out "how-lu-la". we've also been memorizing ephesians 6:1 (children, obey your parents.....) with her and she can say the verse perfectly but the "ephesians" comes out "feseesions". does this type of bible verse brainwashing work? we don't know but we thought it was worth a try. :)