Dress Rehearsal

Mary Ella's dress rehearsal for Halloween and Addy Scott attempting to eat the camera! Addy Scott's first tooth finally broke through yesterday! No wonder she's been chewing on EVERYTHING in sight. Notice the drool on the chin.

Some things don't make sense

As I have been able to settle back into a routine and our version of normalcy, I began to look around and see the things I love that don't make any sense. I'm not quite sure why God made us mommy's this way, but I know many other mom's will agree.

1. You don't mind getting your hair ripped out by little hands, in fact, you usually laugh when it happens.
2. I actually like the "middle of the night" mommy calls because its nice to have that quiet cuddle time and to know you're considered safe.
3. Its kinda fun to play "guess where the baby is?" when you've turned your back for not quite five seconds and they disappear.
4. Being willing to forgo the cherry limeade so that your child can have a milk shake...just so you can see the excitement on her face when you walk in the door with it.
5. Changing diapers because that's where you play the games to make them sit still and are at your silliest.
6. The "why" questions that don't stop and actually help me come out of my fog most mornings (along with the coffee).
7. Smelling baby breath
8. Seeing tiny finger prints on my windows.
9. Finding little surprises around the house like plastic bugs in my bed or magnets shoved into the tiny slit in the TV (no wonder the TV's been acting up lately!).
10. Last but not least....Slimy kisses!


In my previous life (before children), these things probably would have gotten on my nerves, but now they are precious gifts. Don't get me wrong, we have our "not so glorious" moments when I wonder if I'm really cut out for motherhood or I beg the children to go to bed early so I can have some quiet time. Fortunately, those moments are temporary and I usually come to my senses pretty quickly (the kids still go to bed early though).

Breathing Again

So...I should be typing up Addy Scott's poop diary (yes, I said poop diary) for the GI doctor as she has now been on Neocate for three weeks. It doesn't seem like it has been that long....God is so good! I really expected it to go very slowly, but here we are. Once he analyzes the "progress" we should have an updated plan. YIPPEE! Therefore, I am breathing again. I didn't realize how chaotic I was on the inside until I took a look around my house. Why is it that my house is a direct picture of what is going on in my head? All of a sudden the clutter became overwhelming and I am feeling empowered enough to do something about it. If you want to know how I'm really doing, come to my house. You'll know if I'm telling the truth or not :). Mary Ella even noticed that I cleaned her toilet saying, "thank you mom for cleaning my potty. That's really nice." Wow, someone noticed! I've always admired a clean bathroom with a bleach smell (maybe too much information), so I guess some things do rub off! You would think since I've been home for the last couple of months my house would be spotless....Not so.

By the way, we have reached day 21 without chicken pox for Addy....another BIG praise and another reason we can breathe again. We can actually return to civilization! Even the most enthusiastic mom needs some adult interaction and conversation every once in a while.

Addy's new trick

Addy Scott's new facial expression. I think she is imitating the look on my face when I have to "save" her in the middle of the night. She only stood up once last night, so I think we're making progress :).

Scott's Birthday

Mary Ella had fun planning her Daddy's birthday party. We got balloons, made him a cake with sprinkles (Mary Ella's idea), and My Little Pony coloring book pages were hung (also Mary Ella's idea). She met him at the door saying, "We made you a birthday party". It was so sweet!

Chicken Pox????

OK, so no one ever told me that even though a child has the chicken pox vaccine, they still have a 20% chance of getting the chicken pox. Well, Mary Ella is one of the 20%. The day after Addy Scott's scope, I noticed bumps and thought she was getting a rash. So I called Dr. Dad and he said, "That looks like the chicken pox." Blah, Blah, Blah....we went to the doctor and yes, chicken pox was the diagnosis. The doctor told me I needed to keep Addy Scott away from all pregnant people and immunosuppressed (SP???) people for 21 days. We've been like caged animals in our house since virtually everyone I know is pregnant or has young infants. Finally, Mary Ella was able to to return to school this week (Praise God!) and no Addy Scott has not come down with it (14 days and counting).

Addy is doing great on the Neocate. I will spare you the details, but we know she is healing and continues to thrive. She is now pulling up to standing, if only she could figure out how to get down! We've been getting those fun, middle of the night "help, I'm standing and I can't get down. What have I done?" cries. Hopefully she'll become more secure in the near future.