curiosity killed the.........dryer?

Carter is a very curious kid. He likes to climb, he likes to cram things into places they don't belong, and he likes a good challenge. Lethal combination.

Case in point: THIS was found in our toilet a couple of months ago. After a few weeks of constant toilet problems, Brian finally had to take apart the toilet to find out what the problem was.



And then today he put his blanket, shoes, two pair of my shoes, three balls, a cup and two cars into the diaper pail in the garage. I couldn't find my shoes all day and then knew there must be a stash somewhere when his favorite blanket went missing. Why did you have to choose the nastiest place on earth, Carter?

And THEN I put a load of clothes into the dryer, turned it on and it made an awful thud and stopped. Oh, great. So we were scrambling to find a neighbor to take our clothes to when I remembered pulling carter down from the top of the dryer earlier that day and thought maybe he had done something to it. So Brian took apart the back of the dryer and found two rubber gloves, a couple of socks and one of Abby's mittens - all which he had shoved down the lint trap.
Thankfully the dryer survived the attack.

Needless to say, he's keeping us on our toes.

oh, really?

who's da man?

Two weeks ago we lost Carter's last pacifier, (and I don't mean "lost," we really did lose it) and he he's been paci free ever since. It was tough the first 10 days or so because he would wake up multiple times in the night, but he's done good the last few days and he doesn't even ask for it anymore.



It's so nice to see that smile all the time!

nature walk

Doesn't Abby have the GREATEST smile?!

And here's a couple of "the lip."

a pleasant mistake

Sometimes photography mistakes make beautiful images anyway. My focal point was off in this picture (see how the grass to the left is in focus) but there's just something about this image that I love, despite its flaws.

Go on over to my photography blog to see more from this shoot.

contentment

Abby had her four-year well visit yesterday and it was pure insanity. Brian watched Carter (thankfully) and I refrained from giving a lot of information to Abby about where we were going because I knew If SHE knew she would be a basket case. So we drove up to the doctor and she immediately started chanting "I don't want to hurt me". And then when the nurse called us in she went ballistic. The nurse couldn't get anything done and our conversations were drowned out by moaning and screaming. And I had to pin her down to take off her clothes for the exam and then hide the clothes in a high cabinet. That really set her off and she crawled in the corner beside the exam table, hugged her knees and screamed bloody murder for 15 minutes while we waited for the doctor to come in. She was like a caged wounded animal and it was very strange and sad to see her so scared. And there was nothing I could do.

When the doctor came in it was more screaming and talking over the screaming while he tried to exam her, but then he told her he wanted to look in her ears. She immediately stopped crying pulled off her hearing aids, let him look in her ears and nose and then started screaming again after I put her aids back on. At least she feels safe with a doctor looking in her ears.

And if it couldn't get any worse, when they gave her the shots it was like sheer terror. Poor little girl. I hope she doesn't get sick any time soon cause there's no way she's going to let us set foot in that doctor's office for a long time.

BUT then as we were getting in the car after this whole ordeal, she said, "Mommy, I had fun at the doctor. You have fun at the doctor?"

??????????!

Anyway, here's a picture I took with Abby and Cousin Ben at Grandmas house the other day. I love this picture. They look so happy and content without a care in the world. I am so glad we have so many cousins that live so close together and love each other so much.



Oh and her stats are:

Ht. 42" - 90%
Wt. 39.4 - 75%

I was watching the nurse measure her and I think she was a little off on the height. I think its more like 41.5." But I guess that's still pretty tall.

my happy happy song

I would say that Don't Stop Believin' by the Glee Cast is my current happy song, but that would be an understatement. For some reason that song makes me wanna get up and sing and dance in the isle like Aunt Gladys at a holy rollin' pentecostal revival.



Okay, maybe not. But I have busted out on the treadmill a time or two.

And while I'm on the subject, I lu-u-u-v Glee. Lurve it!

rusty

We pass by this old truck almost every day and I always tell myself that one day I'm going to photograph it. Well when it started dumping snow on us the other day I decided it was about time.

our snow family

This is what we did on Friday.

As you can see, my snowman had a fatal crack, and toppled over soon after I took the picture. Carter and Brian's lasted a little longer, and last time I checked today, Abby's snowgirl is still standing. You go girl.

honey child,

WHERE did you get that lip???

That's just unnatural.

anyone? anyone?

Anyone want some professional pictures of their kids in a field of snow?

After school today at 3:30.

15 minute session
for $15
5-7 high-res. pictures on a disc.

Come on, how often does it snow like this? Take advantage of it!

Location TBA, but it will most likely be in the Sage Creek or Creekside subdivision.

Bundle your kids up in their cutest!

Call me at 214-316-0161 if you wanna.

poor little abby's mouth

It's almost healed, believe it or not. But the last few days are the ugliest.

Number one comment I got all through my childhood... "Hey, you've got chocolate on your lip."

Shut up.

thank you

We have the greatest family and the bestest friends in the world. Thank you all for your friendship and support. ...and the meals, phone calls, flowers, emails, fuzzy socks, babysitting, prayers ... for everything.

Miscarriages are the worst, but you have all made it easier to bear.

So grateful for you all.

lucy moment

Sometimes I feel like I'm in an I love Lucy episode, standing in the kitchen with spaghetti noodles exploding all over me and Ethel and every square inch of space when Desi walks in and says, "Lucy, you got some 'splaining to do!"

After spending almost an hour on the phone with Med-El last night and countless emails and phone calls with our Med-el rep and Audiologist this morning, we got a replacement implant overnighted to us.

And then I get an email from anther rep. later that said, have you tried this.....?

Well I tried it, and it worked. One stupid little cord turned the wrong way.

All this struggle, one full day of Abby not hearing, all because I had a cord turned the wrong way. Not to mention the great lengths that they went to to get a replacement for us asap.

And to make it worse, I was going through the big box of stuff they send you and discovered that I didn't need to buy $50 worth of disposible batteries for the back-up battery compartment, the only one I thought we had, and stress about changing batteries every couple of days. Because lo and behold, I found a spare rechargable battery compartment in all our stuff.

If I would have just gotten the lost implant replaced a month ago like I should have, oh, and if I would have actually looked at everything in the box, oh and if I would have paid more attention to how we were putting the implant together, none of these shenanegins in the past 24hrs would have happened.

Oh, the life of a CI mom.

not starting off so well

Abby's only (currently) cochlear impant died on us this morning. I've troubleshooted to no avail. It's dead as a doornail. Not having an implant scares me. I hear Med-el's repair turnaround is speedy. Here's to hoping.

Abby also won't wear her hearing aid because she says her ear hurts.

Abby ALSO has a tummy ache this morning and hasn't left the couch. Not normal.

So with a deaf/ear aching/tummy hurting girl, me and she are just gonna stay home from church today.

*sigh*

ten things about carter

*He's been such a sweet boy lately. He's actually been the "good" kid for the last few weeks with Abby going through a grouchy teenager phase.
*He has some major attachment issues. He LOVES his pacifier and blanket and goes everywhere with them. When we let him.
*His receptive language is great, but his expressive is falling behind. And it all has to do with the blasted pacifier. We understand how vitally necessary it is to get rid of it, but its easier said than done. Especially for me because I hate fighting that battle. Maybe its ME that has the pacifier attachment issue. :)
*He loves Curious George.
*He would rather drink juice all day than have real food. Constant battle.
*He's a speed demon on his bike and thinks its fun when I have to chase after him to get him to turn around.
*He and daddy started this thing where they say Hi-Yo! in a deep voice back and forth. So cute.
*He can swing himself on the big kid swing.
*He likes to wear this hat when he goes outside to play. It's a size 6 months and was meant for me to use in photoshoots, but he's stretched it to size and claimed it as his own.
*Loves to cuddle with Mommy. He's been my therapy this past week.

control

There have been several times in my life where the Lord has taken my life in a completely different direction than what I had planned. Times that have left me feeling completely out of control. Most of those times were filled with pain and growth.

This is one of those times.

But I've survived every one of those trials, and my life is fuller and richer because of the things that I have learned.

So I can do this. Again.