Fun with Shannon

We love when Shannon comes to visit us and she is here until Wednesday! YIPPEE!!

Madeline and I haven’t been to Ray’s Splash Park since Audrey was born, so with an extra set of hands we went swimming for the morning!

I do believe this was the only picture where we caught Madeline in a half smile.

Audrey did fabulous on her first trip!! She loved the water and even tolerated us dunking her quite well. (It’s never too young to get kids used to the water!)

Madeline, as always, loved her pool time too and fell in love with the lazy river this trip. That’s my girl!!

She became annoyed with me taking photos when she was trying to play with her friend Lilly.

After swimming at Ray’s we ALWAYS go eat lunch at IKEA! Madeline ate her typical ton of meatballs… no joke… she ate 13… plus noodles, plus yogurt.

We did our typical playing with all the toys before heading home, but today Audrey got to play too!!

At home Madeline took full advantage of a new person to read books to her. And I got to cook dinner without little hands and feet in my way… WOW that was different!

It’s guaranteed to be another fun day tomorrow!!

Eye Troubles

We had been home from church maybe a half hour and Madeline walked out the french doors onto the deck to join us for lunch, tripped, and fell face first into one of our metal patio chairs.

Of course she cried but on first glance I saw nothing wrong with her, so I held her on my lap and let her cry on my shoulder. Then I noticed blood on my shirt. A quick check of the mouth, always my biggest fear, and then I saw blood all over her eye.

***Oh how I wish my sister could have been here. The thought of an eye injury of any kind sends her over the edge… so Rachel, this blog post is really for you. ENJOY!!***

After seeing it was a nice clean cut and making sure it didn’t actually go all the way through her eyelid, Mark and I voted that the most they would do at the doctor was glue the cut shut. After telling Mark he COULD NOT super glue our daughters eyelid… we did some checks with her on her vision with the other eye covered and we went to get it cleaned up.

The cleaning it with alcohol didn’t go so well, but the Neosporin seemed to make it stop burning, so she was much happier. And to assure all was well she got a candy heart, her favorite since Valentine’s Day, and she was good to go. (Good thing I bought a ton of those on 75% off at Target last week!!)

Here’s the injury after it occurred…

And here she is tonight before bedtime….

Definitely a nice bruise setting! I have a feeling we are in for a rough accident prone childhood with this one— her middle name really should have been Grace. (And for the record, she is just like her mother!)

Picture Window

Madeline is obsessed with sunrises and sunsets and this is why:

The giant east facing window on the landing. It is a perfect frame for a beautiful sunrise over our garage.

Mark, being the awesome dad and husband that he is, lets me sleep in EVERY morning and enjoys some one on one breakfast time with the girls before he goes to work. It is a very rare occasion that they miss this routine beauty together each morning. (It’s an even rarer event that I get to see it with them… I dragged my butt out of bed this week to get a picture of them… but don’t worry, I had no trouble falling back asleep as soon as I was back under the covers.)

God’s wonders are all around and all too often I pass them by without so much as a thought. I am thankful each day for the sweet little girls that remind me with their words and actions to slow down and take it all in.

Mixed Feelings

While I definitely WANT to enjoy beautiful spring days like today—I have mixed feelings that revolve around two thoughts that I have.

1) It’s still February. NC has a history of COLD weather (and some of our biggest snows) in March. My flower bulbs are coming up already and I just know are going to freeze because they are up too early. (I’m a little attached—I’ve spent 4 years strategically planting thousands of bulbs and they are GEORGEOUS!! I just want them to last. See HERE or HERE.)

2) If this warm weather is here to stay and we don’t have another cold system come through—it’s going to be 90 degrees by May 1st and I HATE hot weather.

So… what’s this “glass half empty” kinda girl supposed to do?!?

Remind myself that I have no control of the weather and allow my little one to enjoy one of my first daffodils because I’m pretty sure that even if left alone, it’s not going to be around long!

(I love the progression of these photos… I can almost taste the daffodil just looking at her expressions!)

Happy Weekend All!! Enjoy this weather while it lasts. Even with my petty thoughts, I’m certain that God has it all figured out! :)

Hair Bow

To anyone else this may look like the number eight…

but to Madeline this is the number “hair bow.”

Teaching her the letters was a BREEZE… numbers, not so much! Is this typical for kids? She knows 0, 1, 2, mommy’s favorite (4), and hair bow (8). And that is after MUCH work on my part.

After we did our number practice today, we did an activity that she much preferred… pom pom sorting. She did it by size, by color, into different containers, using different utensils.

When I asked her to count them with me she said… “All done with pom poms, can I have a snack?”

So the hair bow saga continues…

I Spy

Over the last  month or so, as Audrey has gotten more and more independent, I have become more focused on the activity time I have with Madeline. There are tons of great blogs and websites out there for toddlers and I have become quite fond of 1+1+1=1 – which also links you up to hundreds of other great resources!!

Here is one of our latest projects that Madeline LOVES… her I Spy Bottle!

 

Plastic bottle… fun little objects… rice filler… couldn’t be easier!! The red and purple things in the muffin papers are dry alphabet/letter noodles that I dyed using food coloring.

I will change the objects out every so often, but this is going to be a road trip toy for sure. It keeps her busy looking, learning, and talking for quite some time and that is a GOOD THING!

Eat Your Heart Out

I can always tell how my kids are feeling by how they eat. Today I am happy to report that Audrey is feeling better and back to eating her favorite things!

Greenbeans! Who doesn’t love them?!

She shoves them in by the handful!! Just like Madeline used to--- LOVE IT!

Violet

As long as she keeps her mouth shut she looks normal. But since she tends to keep hers open most of the day, Audrey is definitely looking a little color crazy. It’s Gentian Violet treatment for thrush. And it is working like a charm!

I am all for using homeopathic remedies and this is one that the pediatrician highly recommended, so we went for it.

While Audrey is a little purple, and Madeline laughs hysterically every time she sees her mouth… it will only last 3 days. Let’s hope the flu is ready to go by then too!!

Quarantine

** Disclaimer: This post involves breastfeeding and probably TMI. Consider yourself warned.**

If there was a place to put it on my resume I would, but there isn’t, so I’ll just tell you, I am a professional breast feeder. I breastfed exclusively until one year with Madeline and am aiming for the same with Audrey. Both my girls have been excellent at it and I’ve NEVER had any problems… UNTIL this past week!

All week, I’ve had incredible pain—I assumed it was Audrey adjusting to solid foods and possibly her getting teeth—but no such luck. A white blister appeared on her bottom lip and as I inspected further it was on her gums. Easy diagnosis for me, she has thrush, which in turn means I have thrush. I’m not sure how painful it is for Audrey, but I know for a fact I’d rather deliver another baby with no pain meds than have the horrible breast pain I’m having. I’m convinced my nipples might fall off at any moment. (See, I warned you, TMI!)

Of course by the time I figured out she had thrush it was Friday evening and too late to call the doctor about it. I assumed we’d make it till Monday and we might have… except… she started throwing up on Saturday night.

This continued ALL day today. Evidently she doesn’t know her mother very well yet, but I have a very limited wardrobe and by lunchtime today she had thrown up on 3 of my outfits, and 5 of hers. I must say, she gives NO warning!

The earliest doctor appointment I could get was 2:45—I laid around and held her much of the day—thank goodness it's Sunday and Mark and Madeline could go about their normal routine at church.

At the doctor she confirmed it was indeed thrush and said I’d need to head to the doctor tomorrow to get my own treatment but went ahead and wrote Audrey a script. Then she started checking out the throw up thing. She was convinced because she had no other symptoms that it was just a stomach bug, but ran a test for the flu anyways. SURPRISE… it’s the FLU.

After a trip to Target to get all our meds, we are home and I’ve changed clothes once more. Madeline adores her sister and doesn’t understand why she can’t love all over her. So, we’ve put Audrey in quarantine. Here they are in their bedroom… kinda. Audrey is in their bathroom.

Madeline brought all her toys over in front of the door so Audrey could watch her, it was pretty cute.

So, anyone who needs anything from the Blevins’ family this week…leave a message and we’ll get back to you… we are in quarantine. We will hope to contain the flu to just Audrey, but I’m not sure how that is going to go considering she is just now in the early stages. I’ll be heading to the doctor tomorrow, probably in a mismatched outfit, and hoping they can give me a quick fix because I surely have no time to be dealing with my boob issues. Prayers would indeed be appreciated as we get rid of all these cooties!

Strenuous

Hard to believe that we’ve lived in Gaston County for almost 6 years and until this year we’d never done any kind of hiking/exploring at Crowder’s Mountain.

A few weeks ago we went with our friends Paige and Mike and did the quick loop around the lake with the girls. Madeline walked almost all the way and this was the day I accidentally put two right shoes on her feet. (Oops!! She has two of the same pairs of shoes and I grabbed both right foots.)

When I was up in Hky this week when my dad was in the hospital, Mark took Madeline and the dogs to explore another trail.

That led up to today, when we decided it was time to actually see the views from Crowder’s Mountain. Because my husband is a great motivator and a “glass half full” kinda guy, he convinced me to do the Pinnacle Trail to explore the western part of the park. It was marked as a “strenuous” trail and then we added some fun with a 7 month old and 2.5 year old. Mark kept saying we could turn back anytime, but he forgot that once I start something, I’m gonna finish it. (Our personalities are sometimes a bad combination like that!!)

Madeline walked about half of the 3 mile uphill hike. I was quite proud of her. She had a lot of fun exploring the trail. Carrying sticks, rocks, leaves, looking for animals, and just being silly. I love the imagination kids have when they are in the outdoors!

Here’s Audrey, doing what she does best!!

Where’s Waldo?? Madeline got tired and sat down while we kept walking. She kept saying, “I’m too busy” or “Too hard” or “Just a minute.” Eventually she got up and kept walking, she knew better than to think we were going to walk BACK to get her.

FINALLY! At the top. Gorgeous views and Madeline earned her goldfish crackers.

 

We usually get a pretty decent family picture, not definitely not today. This was our best attempt.

This was the most exhausting 3 mile hike I have ever done -- and I have hiked all over the US -- carrying all kinds of camping gear-- even in the Grand Canyon. I do believe it is a whole different ballgame when you are doing it with kids!

And on that note, I’m pretty sure we WILL be doing more hiking, but I may do some better trail selection next time!

Daddy Date Night

I am a huge fan of the monthly Charlotte Parent magazine. A few weeks ago I saw the ad for the Children’s Theater performance of If You Take a Mouse to School. This series of books is one of Madeline’s favorites, so I looked into it and decided to get 2 tickets so it could be a daddy date night. 

She has been pretty excited about her date to the theater for several days. And I am so glad she LOVED it as much as I thought she would.

Here they are when I dropped them off curbside for their performance.

Mark took my camera with them and did a great job documenting her first trip to the theater.

He said she sat on the edge of her chair the entire time and didn’t make a peep. I was so proud of her and so glad she enjoyed it. She told me all about it on the way home tonight.

She is officially 2.5 today and what a fun thing I have to add to her scrapbook documenting the day!

Don’t think Audrey got left out… we all went to Madeline’s favorite restaurant before hand, IKEA. Audrey ate her first IKEA meatballs tonight. I do believe we are in trouble, she loves them as much as Madeline!! (Madeline has been able to eat 10+ meatballs since age 1!!)

We had a fabulous evening together- and apart- and are looking forward to the rest of our relaxing weekend together.

Furry Friends

George and Eleanor LOVE the age that Audrey is  because it means lots of great snacks for them! Like Madeline always has been, Audrey is glad to share, especially if she is sitting on the floor.

Today Audrey was extra happy because when Eleanor would come in to steal a cheerio, Audrey could grab her head and hug her. Her laugh and smile were adorable!

After George saw Audrey grab Eleanor’s ears, he was out. He decided a snack wasn’t worth it.

And this is one happy baby that loves her puppy dogs!

Book Worm

Every Wednesday is library day for us. We’ve been going for toddler story time for almost 2 years now and Madeline always enjoys it.

Today, however, was an EXTRA special day. When we were getting ready at home and I asked Madeline if she was ready to go to the library, she responded with a question of her own. “Can I get a library card today?”

She has never mentioned wanting one until today, and I’ve never asked her about wanting one although she has seen me use mine and has heard Ms. Cristy at the library talk about them before.

Today was the day. After story time she got her very own library card.

Here she is with Ms. Cristy, our favorite library lady. Doesn’t Madeline look proud of her new card?!

I decided we would start by checking out three books today. She had a hard time picking which ones she wanted to take home but finally decided and took her choices to the counter, where she presented her card for the first time.

She even got a bag to carry all her books.

She has recently finished learning her alphabet letters (except H, R, and X—which she doesn’t seem to like) and is starting to recognize words already. Before long I won’t be reading to her anymore! She is growing up before my eyes, and while that is a little sad, I’m glad to celebrate this “milestone” with her today.

Heart Trouble

 

While it indeed isn’t the Valentine’s Day topic I’d like to be blogging about, it’s how our day went.

I got a call at about 5:30am from Mom that they she was in the ER with Dad, he woke up with chest pain. After a quick call to my sister in Raleigh, Audrey and I packed up and headed to Hickory to see what was up.

When I arrived, Dad was still in the ER doped up on morphine, but for those of you who know my Dad, he was his typical crazy, good spirited self, so that was indeed GREAT news! We got him moved up to a room and Rachel and Lucas arrived.

Here he is throwing around his “I love you” signs for Valentine’s Day. This was after Rachel and I got a few other gestures for taking his picture and overall just harassing him. See, he really is feeling better, although he is very bad at sign language, these seem to be backwards, or he loves himself.

By early afternoon mom and dad needed a nap, so we left them at the hospital and took Audrey and Lucas out for lunch. We had forgotten how nice it was to have kids that couldn’t walk around. (Isaac is in Raleigh with Brian, and Madeline is home with Mark.)

It’s rare that the two of us to pick where we eat without husband influence, so we went to a favorite Hickory classic -- Homer’s -- The Windy City Grill. It’s been since high school that we’d been there, oh the memories! We definitely enjoyed our hot dogs, burgers, and fries.

 

We even ran into a good family friend, Terry Hollar. Okay, his picture was just on the table advertising his business, but nonetheless it was good catching up with him over lunch. HAHA!! If anyone sees or talks to Terry, tell him we just told them to add our lunch to his tab.

Here we are having our picture made with Terry.

Homer’s is a first for Audrey and Lucas, they even beat Madeline and Isaac to this adventure. See, second kids sometimes do fun things too!! Audrey ate her first hamburger bite at Homer’s, but in this picture she’s just trying to eat Lucas’s head.

Oh… wrong type of Butt?!? Love photo opportunities like this.

Back to the hospital….

They are keeping Dad overnight to monitor him and continue to check his blood levels. All of his EKGs, blood work, and other tests have come back perfect so far, indicating no signs of problems with his heart. Praise God! He has some family history of heart issues, so they are being cautious and checking everything out before sending him home. If all looks good in the morning they will send him home and allow him to do an in office stress test, otherwise they might have to do a catheterization.

We are praying that all is still looking good in the morning and they can move on to checking other causes for today’s episode like, severe acid reflux, which he has never had before, but has been known to cause similar pain in others. Who knows, but we are thankful for the good news thus far!

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Other Notable Stories from the Day:

1) As being taken into the ER….

Dad: If anything happens, you have until the 17th to cancel the family stay in Charleston and get a full refund.

Mom: What makes you think we’d cancel. We could take you in a cookie jar!

2) Dad: I had it all planned to get the cars inspected and get the new registration stickers today. (Mondays are his day off. But don’t worry dad, I watched the babies and Rachel took care of it all for you. Now that BIG issue won’t have to worry you anymore!)

3) As the doctor was about to explain dad’s testing options… I said, “Well your first option is they could put you down.” The four of us laughed… the doctor… not so much!

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So, while the day dealt with diagnosing and fixing dad’s physical heart, I can tell you for SURE that there is nothing wrong with what is IN all of ours. PLENTY of LOVE to share and go around. Next Valentine’s Day, maybe you could just ask us to come and visit, Dad. It would have saved you a lot of trouble!

But in all seriousness, we are blessed and thankful that all is well at the end of the day… we are indeed reminded that GOD is in control…  and we thank all of you for your prayers and concerns that were voiced to us today. WE FEEL LOVED!! Happy Valentine’s Day!!