Charlotte's Web

We started reading a chapter book to Annabelle this evening. I actually chose "Charlotte's Web" because the Center for Puppetry Arts here in Atlanta has a "Charlotte's Web" puppet show on the schedule from September 30th - October 31st. I snagged an annual membership through Groupon a little over a month ago, so we can get tickets for up to 9 people for $9 (compared to the $16 full price ticket). Of course, the Entertainment book has a coupon for buy one get one, so that is actually cheaper, but I get other perks with the membership, so I'm still very happy with my purchase. We explained to Annabelle that we would attend the "Charlotte's Web" puppet show if we could finish reading the book before the show was no longer in town.


I was pleasantly surprised at how well she listened despite the fact that there are absolutely no pictures! We read two chapters this evening. After each chapter, we discussed the story with her. She joined in on the discussion and even answered most of the questions correctly. She seemed restless after only 2.5 pages into the 2nd chapter (which was only 4 pages long), so I asked her if she wanted to stop reading for the evening or if she wanted to finish the chapter. She wanted to finish the chapter!


Here are some funny things she said in between the first and second chapter.

Mommy: Let's talk a little bit about the story.

Annabelle: I know I like polka dots, but that wasn't part of the story.


This next one was rather random and has nothing to do with the story, but it was rather funny.

Annabelle: I like your beautiful eyes.

Mommy: Oh, thank you, that was sweet.

Annabelle: [whispering] Do you want to say that to me?


Wish us luck with reading our 2nd chapter book ever [to a toddler]! The first and last one I read was "James and the Giant Peach" back in December 2007! It has been a few years. Although, I think it was a lot easier the first time since she couldn't voice her opinion on anything!

Sisterly Love (after 3 months)

I almost titled this "Little $hit," but I refrained. This is what happens when jealousy sets in. The oldest child begins to do some things discreetly to take out her frustrations on her little sister. And, she was busted in the act! Do you see Annabelle pinching her sister's cheek? She started doing this while we were on vacation whenever we took pictures of the two of them together. And, believe me, she wasn't trying to be sweet!

Since then Annabelle has pinched Sophia's toes tight enough to make Sophia cry, and she's been caught pinching her ear as well.


Dear Sophia,

Don't you worry sweet girl! Daddy and I have already promised you that we will turn our heads on occasion so you can get her back for her pure meanness!

Love,

Mommy


Not to mention, Annabelle is acting out in subtle ways to get attention. Why do they crave the negative attention? She slams doors on purpose when her sister is sleeping just to wake her! I cannot tell you how many times I have told Annabelle that if Sophia is sleeping that generally means more time for her, but apparently, she doesn't care!

The joys of raising sisters!

And guess who gets the most attention as it is (even before all of the negative attention)? Annabelle!

The above picture was taken on July 20th at the King and Prince Resort in St. Simon's, Georgia for hubby's annual conference for work.

Fernbank Museum Take 2

Back in April, on one of those days that I thought I was for sure delivering baby #2 (but I didn't), I found an awesome deal on an annual family membership to Fernbank Museum. I think I paid $35 for a membership that costs $85. I was having contractions, but I took the time in between contractions to get my groupon! And for that I am thankful!

We took the girls on Father's Day for the very first time ever. Annabelle really enjoyed the gecko exhibit they have going on, so I've intended to take her back for awhile. So today I took my friend, Kelley, her two kids, Pierce and Adie, Kelley's sister, Michelle, and Michelle's two kids, Sydni and Wyatt. It ended up only costing them for one adult because my membership covers two adults (including myself) and up to four kids. Adie is under three, so she was free. And Sophia was of course free as well.

Annabelle loved the gecko exhibits again. Her attention span quite frankly stinks these days though. I am hoping it is just the age. She spent more time running from exhibit to exhibit than she did looking at the geckos. She does love the computer learning resources though. As soon as she spotted one that she had remembered from our last visit, she ran straight for it. She insisted on wearing her fancy hat again. She wanted to wear it to show Adie because Adie gave it to her for the tea party she had at her 2nd birthday party.

Annabelle adores Adie even though she is 16 months younger than her. So she insisted that Adie needed to hold her hand even though Adie was not that interested. I think she may have actually had something to do with Adie getting upset and sitting in her stroller to cry shortly after this next picture, but I never got a direct answer from Annabelle on it. Perhaps it was just a coincidence. Annabelle is such a loving girl and always wants to hold hands with her friends. She hasn't realized yet that her friends don't always want to hold her hand.

Sophia, much like her older sister, does not like to miss a thing! She had not napped since she woke up this a.m. at 7:45 a.m., and we met everyone at Fernbank at 10:00 a.m. She would get a cat nap in here and there, but she mostly wanted to be held upright. She was a hit with the other kiddos though. Pierce, Kelley's oldest child and the oldest boy pictured below, is such a sweetheart to her. He is so gentle with her. Annabelle may have to fight Sophia one day for his hand in marriage though because he may already have his eye on Sophia! LOL! Here is the gang swarming Sophia while waiting in line for our free hot dogs. It was Free Hot Dog Wednesday as well!

I finally swaddled Sophia after I finished eating my one hot dog lunch. Perhaps that is why I got a massive headache later in the day. I guess being cheap doesn't always pay off when my health suffers, does it? As usual, I think I got a few looks after she had been swaddled, and Kelley and I discussed how she looks like she's in a straight jacket. But, swaddling works and I swear by it since it has worked awesomely with both my girls. Sophia fought being swaddled at first when she was a newborn, but once I figured out the correct way from "The Happiest Baby on the Block," we have been golden ever since! And she slept like a champ after she was swaddled today.

And then we visited a different exhibit geared more for older children, but Annabelle still seemed to enjoy herself despite the lack of age appropriateness and hopefully she learned something along the way. Here she is blowing bubbles while I attempted to teach her about gravity and white light. So if she pipes in one day using the word gravity, you'll know where she got it.

As for the daycare children visiting this exhibit at Fernbank today, do parents no longer teach their children manners and respect for their elders? One child in line behind Annabelle at the bubbles turned to me and said, "Let someone else have a turn now! It is Ethan's turn. Let someone else have a turn!" I, of course, had to put that stinker in his place. Annabelle had waited patiently for her turn in line, and she hadn't been playing for long at all. And, another girl came over and took a wand at one of the centers away from Annabelle and said, "Can I have this now?" I spoke up and said, "No. She was here first."

And here is my little dinosaur!

Here is the gang as we were leaving. Sophia is the only one missing. Look who is tired! She doesn't ever show it though until we set foot in the car, and then it is always meltdown time. Annabelle runs full speed ahead and then crashes. But, she still refuses to take a nap. She did heed my advice and spent a little time alone in her room this afternoon reading books and playing with puzzles for "quiet time" while I tried to rest my pounding head.

Annabelle found some shade under a beautiful pot of flowers that she sat under last time as well. It apparently didn't bother her to take her shoes off and walk bare footed on the hot concrete. Sydni tried to do the same but realized it was too hot for her feet. I suspect it would have probably been too hot for my feet too! In this picture Annabelle is being a goofball. "Cheese! Cheese! Cheese! Cheese!" she exclaimed.

And until our next visit to Fernbank, we have the memories from today! I love being a mommy to these sweet (and sometimes obnoxious) girls!

32 Years Ago

32 years ago today my mother was probably holding me close admiring her newest miracle from heaven. Perhaps she was counting my tiny fingers and tiny toes. Perhaps she was wondering what I would look like in a few short months or even years. Or perhaps she was just sleeping after giving birth only 2-3 hours earlier knowing she needed her rest to deal with a newborn and almost 4 year old in just a few days. I doubt she was dwelling on the pain of labor at this point in the night because she was finally holding that miracle that she had waited 9 months to hold.

32 years ago today my daddy was probably grinning ear to ear because he got that daughter that he never thought he would have. Knowing my daddy, he was probably announcing the birth of his newest baby girl to everyone he passed in the hospital hall even if it was 11:20 at night. My daddy has never met a stranger! Or perhaps he was dreaming that one day he would walk this tiny baby girl down the aisle.

After giving birth to my own children, I look at birthdays completely different. Why is it that so much emphasis is placed on the child? I labored and birthed those girls. They should be buying me presents on their birthdays!

Of course, I wouldn't have it any other way on my own children's birthdays though because their birthdays are definitely a celebration of life. Birthdays celebrate the miracle of babies, and birthdays should remind us to be thankful to God for yet another year on this beautiful earth.

I am thankful to both my parents for bringing me into this world! Thank you for laboring for me Mother! And thank you, Daddy, for putting up with Mother while she labored! :) I can hear my mother laughing now.

To celebrate my 32nd birthday, I had lunch at Journey's End (an all-you-can-eat southern cooking buffet) with my favorite girls, hubby, my parents and Aunt Mable (my mother's sister) and Uncle Loyd. My parents treated hubby and me to lunch, and they had to pay full price for my meal, but I did get a $5 gift card to redeem at a later date because it was my birthday. As usual, our lunch date was an all day affair. I left our house this morning at 11:30 a.m., and I didn't get home until 4:30 p.m. My parents have always loved to find the restaurants farthest from home! Of course, like them, I'll drive miles for a good meal.

Then this evening hubby and I went out to see an 8:05 p.m. movie. I literally have not seen a movie in a movie theatre since the summer I was pregnant with Annabelle. It happened to be the worst movie ever back in 2006. We saw "Idiocracy," and I haven't let hubby down on picking that movie out. It was so bad that both of us thought to ourselves that we should just walk out in the middle of it to catch a different movie, but neither of us ever said anything, so we both suffered through an awful movie.

This evening we saw "Grown Ups." It was either "Grown Ups" or "Toy Story 3," and I chose "Grown Ups" even though I knew absolutely nothing about it. I was just in the mood for a little comedy, and more cartoons wasn't going to cut it for me! We both ended up liking "Grown Ups." It was a pretty funny movie.

Grandmama and Granddaddy watched the girls while we were gone. I nursed Sophia before I left and then swaddled her and placed her in the swing. She was asleep when I left, and she is still swinging and sleeping at 11:59 p.m.

We stopped by the Cold Stone Creamery directly outside the movie theatre after the movie in hopes that they gave away free ice cream on your birthday, but apparently that wasn't the case, so we walked out. I wasn't about to pay $3.29 (I think) for a tiny cup of ice cream when I can buy a whole gallon for less than that!

So all and all I had a wonderful birthday! It was awesome to spend it with those I love the most!

Hubby, Annabelle, Sophia, Grandmama, Granddaddy, Aunt Mable and Uncle Loyd - Thank you all for making my 32nd birthday special!

Just for the record, I still feel 22! Okay, well maybe not 22, but I'll keep telling myself that because it makes me feel younger. Perhaps that is why I still want more kids. Actually that has a lot to do with it. I am afraid to let go of my child-bearing years because then it means I may actually be getting old. Right now I am still vibrant and young. 35 years old will probably hit me the hardest since childbirth is considered "high-risk" for testing reasons at that point in the game.

Speech Therapy Week 1

I am writing this entry in hopes that I will continue to provide an entry after every speech therapy session so that if I ever need to refer back to a session in the future I will have them handy.

One of my good friends is absolutely awesome about blogging on any major event, including all of her daughter's weekly speech therapy sessions. She is definitely an inspiration as a blogger, but especially as a mom! I don't know how she pulls everything together, but she is the mom that never forgets birthdays, always writes very nice thank you notes timely and always responds to e-mails almost immediately. I just wish I could say the same for myself! She loves her little girl more than anything, and it definitely shows as her little girl, Audrey, is one smart cookie. So, here is hoping that I can motivate myself to blog after every speech therapy session as she has done.

Annabelle had her very first speech therapy session with Ms. Andrea this morning. It has worked out well (coincidentally) that Annabelle's speech therapy will be held at a location near my parent's house, so I was able to drop Sophia off with my parents while Annabelle and I went to her speech therapy session.

We had to locate the correct building this morning, so we were running a little later than I would have liked. I was only 5 minutes early according to their clock, and yet again (for the 3rd time), I had to complete paperwork. The same paperwork I have completed at the other two locations for Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. So, Annabelle's speech therapy actually started 5 minutes late. Ms. Andrea ended the session at the end of the hour, so we were shorted a few minutes, but I won't complain this time around. Of course, I don't like paying 10% of $300 and being shorted 5-10 minutes, but we'll deal with that later.

Ms. Andrea led Annabelle and me to the "playroom," and Ms. Andrea told me I could observe from the room next door. The room had a one-way window, and the sound from their room was projected into my room. It was actually quite fun watching her interact from another room.

You never know who you are going to get with any kind of therapy, but so far, I have been pleasantly surprised with Ms. Andrea. Annabelle opened up to her immediately, and she was willing and ready to play with Ms. Andrea from the start. My little girl no longer has fear of me leaving her. My have things changed quite a bit in a very short year. She was reluctant for us to leave her in Sunday School last August, but now she doesn't even blink when we leave her somewhere. That is definitely a step in the right direction towards independence, but it makes me realize that my little girl is growing up way too fast!

Ms. Andrea started off the session by playing the Cranium game, Cariboo, with her. They used a key to open slots based on the card that was drawn. For example, if the card had a color on it, Annabelle had to find a picture that had the same color. Or, if the card had a letter on it, Annabelle had to find a picture with that same letter. Ms. Andrea used the colors and pictures as an opportunity to get Annabelle to speak to her.

While playing Cariboo, I noticed that Ms. Andrea focused on the "L" sound with Annabelle. Ms. Andrea pronounced "yellow" as follows with a strong emphasis on the sounds. She also made it very clear to Annabelle with her tongue movement where her tongue should be placed when she said "low." I think Annabelle got it just by watching her.

yellow = yeah low

Here are some funny things Annabelle said to Ms. Andrea while playing Cariboo and after they picked out some new games together.

"I just learned balloon." - I'm not sure Ms. Andrea knew what she meant by that phrase, but Annabelle was trying to tell her that she just learned to say balloon correctly since we've been focusing on certain words that she pronounces incorrectly.

"I have the party game that Nonnie gave us. Nonnie gave it to me at Molly's house for her birfday." - Again, Ms. Andrea has no clue what the "party game" is, but Annabelle was all too excited about telling Ms. Andrea about the party game. The "party game" is very similar to Candyland except everyone is supposed to win. Of course, Mommy and Daddy have altered that game a bit as that is a little too correct (according to today's standards) for us. In our opinion, there is only one winner.

"Maybe when I get rid of not really loving it." She was telling Ms. Andrea about a puzzle she has that is geared more to younger children (18 months +). It has a fishing pole, and you go fishing for the puzzle pieces. She told her, "I have a fishing puzzle that I wheely wheely love." Then she told her that maybe we could get rid of it later and put it in the attic for Sophia. But only when she got "rid of not really loving it." Ms. Andrea laughed at that one!

After Cariboo, they played the Disney Pretty Pretty Princess game. That was a hit, and she is still talking about it! Ms. Andrea told her they could play that one for a little while, but after that she wanted her to play a specific game. I could tell that Ms. Andrea wanted to focus more on the speech games, but she also wanted to give Annabelle an opportunity to make a decision.

While playing Pretty Pretty Princess, Ms. Andrea focused on the "L" sound, but mostly on the "ng" sound. She emphasized riNG quite a bit. While they were playing, Annabelle's game piece had to pass Ms. Andrea's game piece. Annabelle politely said, "Scuse me." Of course, Ms. Andrea thought that was funny too.

Ms. Andrea pulled out some speech flash cards with pictures on them intermittently while they played Pretty Pretty Princess. She focused on the "ng" in the following words.

writing, playing, walking, eating, drinking, cooking, baking, poking, riding, honking, barking, packing, napping, falling

It is no wonder she doesn't say these words properly. You know, living in the south and all. "What are you doing?" "Nothin." We southerners always leave off the "g" in those words!

Then Ms. Andrea focused on the "Sh" sounds while playing Pretty Pretty Princess. She again used the speech flash cards. She told Annabelle to say, "Shhhh." Then she led into each word.

"Shhhoe," "Shhhy."

"People always say I'm shy or bashful," Annabelle responded after Ms. Andrea said shy. Again, Ms. Andrea got a kick out of that. I think the word "bashful" threw her for a loop. She responded and said, "Well, I don't think you're shy or bashful. Are you shy when you meet new people." Of course Ms. Andrea didn't think she was shy! Annabelle was talking her ear off! Following are the "sh" words that Ms. Andrea had Annabelle repeat.

shopping, share, shine, shore, shoot, shampoo, shadow, shapes, ship, shoulder, sharp

After repeating "shadow," Annabelle had to tell Ms. Andrea all about Shadow and Jezebel and how Jezebel wasn't very nice and Shadow was nice some of the time.

The last game played was a speech therapy game titled Artic Chipper Chat. Ms. Andrea had Annabelle line up clear game pieces on the game board. It was quite fun to watch Annabelle from a distance as she was quite anal, as I suspected. Ms. Andrea watched her, and I am sure she picked up on how anal Annabelle is. She lined those pieces up perfectly!

They never really played the Artic Chipper Chat game, but once again Ms. Andrea focused on the "sh" sound.

shark, fish, squash, sheep, ship

While playing Pretty Pretty Princess, Annabelle asked to leave on her jewelry that she collected to show Mommy. She was so excited to show me. And, like I said, she has not stopped talking about Pretty Pretty Princess. I am quite afraid that I am going to have to buy her that game. My how boring it looks!

After Annabelle's session, Ms. Andrea told me that today she spent more time just getting to know Annabelle. Obviously, she wanted to understand the articulation errors she was making. Ms. Andrea told me that the sounds they (from the initial evaluation) recommended the speech therapist focus on (the medial N, L and ng) were not typical sounds that are typically recommended for a child her age. And, she also mentioned that it seemed that Annabelle already had the medial N down when she asked Annabelle to repeat words with the medial N in them. She mentioned that it may just have been the word they used to evaluate her or she may have already made a lot of progress since her initial evaluation. I suspect it was a little of both. The word they used to evaluate her was "banana." That is a hard word to say since it sort of has two medial "N's." But, she has learned to say banana since her initial evaluation.

Ms. Andrea gave us homework on "Medial N Words" with two or more syllables that we are to practice between now and next weeks session. Ms. Andrea said that next week she wants to focus on the "sh" sound. I was actually pleasantly surprised since the "sh" sound is actually not supposed to be mastered until age 7. So, I was glad that she wasn't going to only focus on the 3 and 4 year old sounds.

Annabelle really enjoyed herself at school. We told her she was going to school today. She was so excited to go, but she told me later that she was expecting a room full of other kids. She didn't seem disappointed, and she was happy with my explanation that she got one on one time with Ms. Andrea without any other kids around.

And, after today's session, she's been really open to practicing the sounds in each word with me. She used to tell me, "I don't want to do that any more." But, as of this evening, it was still fun to her! I hope I am able to find a happy median so that she doesn't get discouraged as she has in the past when I try and get her to sound out the words.

Also, I asked Ms. Andrea if I should consider purchasing some of the speech games she used with Annabelle today. I mentioned that I was afraid to purchase the same ones because I don't want Annabelle to get bored with her if we have the same games at home. She gave me the website where I can find these games, and she told me to check it out and bring a list of any of the games I am considering, and she will make sure they don't have it before I purchase it. The name of the website is www.superduperinc.com. And as Ms. Andrea mentioned, the games listed on this website are fairly expensive, so we may have to make our own!

Empowering

"Just wait until you have two!"

If you have a child, then someone probably has uttered those very words to you. If they haven't, it will only be a matter of time. I think it is a security statement for some. As if they are all mighty and powerful and know everything about raising kids because they have two kids and you only have one. Or maybe it is the "I've got one up on you," feeling. Whatever the case, that statement drives me bonkers.

People forget the challenges of each age because they are dealing with a new challenge that they think is harder. Typically something they've never dealt with before so, yes, it probably is harder because they've never dealt with it.

But, the above statement made me simply cringe at the thought of having another child, especially while I was pregnant, because I thought it would be crazy hard and unmanageable.

I remember feeling anxious before Annabelle was born too. "I cannot do this. I can barely keep myself fed much less another mouth," I would think. But then she arrived, and personally I didn't think it was as hard as everyone made it out to be.

Then she turned two and things got a bit more challenging. And I got a bit more anxious. I think my anxiety worsened when I started potty training Annabelle (the second time) when she was 2.5 years old. I was a nervous wreck the first day I left the house with her to run errands and go grocery shopping without a diaper.

And then I got pregnant. And I'm not going to lie. I was very overwhelmed at the thought of a second child. "I cannot do this," I thought yet again. "I cannot get one child out the door at a decent time, much less two. How am I going to bathe two kids at night?"

But, Sophia was born and almost three months later, we are all adjusting well. And, honestly, being a mother to two is quite empowering. I never knew I had it in me. Granted, Sophia hasn't hit the terrible twos yet, but I think I'll be a bit more relaxed the second time around. My struggle will probably always be with Annabelle because everything she does is new to me. It is just a different age and a different challenge.

We accomplished a lot today, and yet again, I felt empowered. I took both girls with me to get my hair cut and Annabelle's hair cut. They both behaved awesomely!

Just as we walked into the hair salon, I got a call from my OBGYN that I had just called 30-45 minutes earlier. I suspect yet another case of mastitis, so I called them to see if they needed to see me or if they could call in another round of antibiotics. Naturally, as I'm talking to the nurse at the OBGYN, Sophia starts crying because she's hungry and Annabelle knocked a box of the 64 crayons all over the floor. And, then, the hair dresser was ready for us. I kept my calm though.

I nursed Sophia while Annabelle got her hair cut. After Sophia nursed, the hairdresser asked one of the other girls to wash my hair. Off Sophia and I went. Sophia laid on my chest while the girl washed my hair. I just wish I had a picture of her! She was so very curious, and she lifted her head up higher than I have ever seen because she wanted to see what was going on. It was absolutely precious! I love that sweet girl!

Sophia then started to get a little fussy because she was sleepy. So, I swaddled her right then and there and patted her bottom until she fell asleep. They were laughing at me swaddling her, but it worked! Annabelle was a very sweet girl while I got my hair cut too. She was such a big girl and got her hair washed at the salon for the very first time, and she even got to sit under the big hair dryer to get her hair dried. She is going to cost me bundles in a few years! Well, she already does, but I suspect it is only going to get worse.





Everyone commented on Sophia's beautiful highlights. One of the hairdressers actually said, "Those highlights are a hairdressers dream!" Even a hairdresser cannot give someone highlights as beautiful as Sophia's highlights.

After our haircuts, we were off to the dentist office for my 6 month cleaning. When I left, I had called my parents and asked if they'd watch the girls while I had my teeth cleaned. But, Annabelle left her "big girl" behind in the bathroom at the hair salon, so we had to turn around to get it. That took another 15 minutes, and we were already running short on time. Thankfully I was smart enough to pack a lunch for Annabelle and me.

So, we headed straight for the dentist's office. Sophia had to eat yet again when we arrived. Fortunately, we were 20 minutes early, so there was plenty of time to get her fed.

The hygienist told me there was a lady who worked in the office that loved to babysit if I didn't mind if she watched Sophia. She offered the lady's services after I asked if she thought Sophia would be alright just laying on my chest. I immediately took her up on it!

Annabelle behaved herself very well. It is amazing how powerless you feel with your mouth wide open, unable to talk and discipline. But Annabelle acted accordingly. I'd love to pride myself on that one and state that it has everything to do with my mothering skills, but to be honest, I think I'm just lucky! Annabelle has pretty much always cooperated when we aren't at home. Unless of course it is just one of those days. I'm surprised she didn't pick today as "one of those days."

The dental hygienist and dentist both looked at and counted Annabelle's teeth. She warmed up to the dental hygienist very well. She is a little skeptical of the dentist though. The dentist did mention that it appeared she was going to need braces one day. Of course, that comes as no big surprise to me since hubby wore braces, and they would have served me well too.




So I accomplished a lot today and I feel that much more empowered! With the mastitis causing flu-like symptoms (throbbing headache, achiness and exhaustion), I was able to take two kids to the hair salon and dentist, totaling 4 hours from start to finish (11:45 a.m. until 3:30 p.m.). That was quite an accomplishment for me!

For those of you that only have one child, please ignore anyone who ever says, "just wait until you have two." Just take one day and each challenge a step at a time.

Sophia Meets Caleb Again

I am a little partial to babies with hair (for some reason). Are these two not the cutest?

Caleb and his mommy visited us today at our house. This was Caleb's first visit. They both were intrigued with Sophia's play gym. And Caleb came prepared to fight for his space on the play gym mat! Take this Sophia! Hee, hee! It looks like he's having a boxing match with Sophia.

They've grown quite a bit since the first time they met.