Caught and NOT!!!

What do you mean I wasn't supposed to play with the chocolate bar???? You mean I'm going to go to time out after you take my picture....I don't understand.....

Mary Ella is still working her way through her Halloween candy. She loves the chocolate bars. She picked one out after several minutes of searching for the perfect one (her mother's daughter for sure). I told her she needed to go to the table and eat it. I retreated to my bathroom to clean the sink and about 5 minutes later I heard "Mom....Mom....Moooooooom! I'm stuck, I have chocolate all over my hands!" I quickly wiped my hands dry and searched for her. I soon realized she was in her room. I opened the door and made a poor attempt to maintain composure when I saw the look on her face. GUILTY!!!! What does any quick-minded mother do? I said, "Don't move," and I went to grab the camera. She was utterly confused as I usually grab the camera in an attempt to capture the "joy" of the moment, not the moment before sentencing.

What do you mean you are going to put that slimy stuff into my mouth? I'm supposed to swallow it....I don't understand...

Well, after 8 1/2 months of only ingesting milk, we attempted to introduce rice cereal. Ummm, it didn't go over too well. Due to the colitis, we are having to take things real slow. I have since attempted squash and tried bananas today. I get one response....gag, gag, cough, cough....SLAP the spoon away. Not exactly what I had in mind. We have been at this for two weeks and still can't get the spoon past her lips. So, I have had to put my occupational therapist hat on again and we are having "feeding therapy" sessions three times a day. We shall see.... We go to the gastroenterologist next week for a check-up.

We did it!!!!

Well, Scott and I had the big Thanksgiving meal at our house this year and it was all served at 1:45 pm! Somehow we were able to pull it off with some planning. I have a new-found respect for our parents who have done this for years. I guess the torch was ready to be passed as my mother didn't show up until 20 minutes before the meal (with a cocktail in hand). She did bring her sweet potatoes and contributed to the groceries (a big help). We broke out the china (some of the plates still had stickers!). After all was said and done, Scott said "well, that was actually fun!" I agreed. That evening we noticed some of our more enthusiastic neighbors had their Christmas lights up, so we loaded the kids in the wagon to go take a look. Mary Ella was overflowing with excitement as Addy sat in quiet amazement. Time to kick off the Christmas season!

The next day we watched the LSU game (GEAUX TIGERS!) and then my mother offerred to take BOTH of the children back to Houston for the night. I thought, "Is this for real????" I reluctantly agreed as I still have a little trouble letting go, but knew the night alone was probably needed. Scott and I felt a little lost in our home as we both found ourselves wondering around the house without children to chase after. We soon settled and Scott watched as many "bang bang, shoot'em up" movies as he could as I cleaned out Addy's closet. It is amazing how fast projects are completed without frequent interruptions! We went to dinner, sipped wine and talked. We discovered it was the first time we had been to dinner alone since Addy was born (she's almost 9 months!). The time spent together was needed and cherished and Mary Ella wanted to stay with Noami (my mother) instead of coming home! MMMmmmm, maybe we need to take advantage more often!

Hope you all had a blessed Thanksgiving too!

A little independence

We've entered a new season of independence. Addy Scott has now enthusiastically begun to feed herself and I can clean the kitchen at the same time.....WOW! Notice the tears. She hears the bottle shaking and all of a sudden there is a moment equivalent to a national emergency

Dislaimer: DO NOT attempt this at home. Only licensed, professional wrestlers can perform the above stunts. Who said girls aren't active?????? Just when I am about to redirect Mary Ella for being too rough, Addy belly-laughs out of pure enjoyment. MMmmmm, how do you walk that fine line? That is one answer I don't have yet, along with many others.

Notice the face paint....I picked Mary Ella up from her Thanksgiving feast at school. She was displaying the face art proudly and would not let me wash it off...oh by the way, she has discovered make-up and loves to come show me her "pretty lips". Again, another fine line I'm not sure about....

Eating Again

After 4 months on the "elimination diet" (No dairy, eggs, soy, nuts, fish), we have decided it best to leave our Addy Scott on the Neocate formula. Sure I had a couple of days of cheating when she was on the Neocate a month ago, but now it is "for good". It got to be difficult trying to decide how everything I ate would affect her GI system, especially since she relapsed despite my "cave man diet". Although I should be relieved, it was still a difficult and sad decision to make. After all, I loved having that down time with her every 3-4 hours and the Neocate is like making a nice car payment every month, but I know in the long run she and I will be better for it. So now, I'm eating every piece of processed food trying to put the pounds back on (I never thought I'd have this problem!). We are looking forward to introducing solids in the next week....at 8 1/2 months. I imagine it will be a humorous event, so stay tuned!

Halloween fun!

Mary Ella giving Addy Scott and extra hard squeeze (doesn't she look pleased???). Mary Ella loved trick or treating and even remembered to say her "thank yous" without too many reminders! Of course all the candy ended up dumped on the floor and I'm still unsure of how much she ate. She was shoveling it in as fast as she could.

Addy Scott's Baptism

We made a quick trip to Shreveport, LA this weekend and had Addy Scott baptized by our precious pastor Sione Tu'uta (He is from Tonga). He told our precious story about the many prayers we lifted up as we prepared to begin a family and was touched to see us standing there now with two precious little ones. I really thought Addy would get scared by his size and being handed over to a stranger, but the Grace of God touched her sweet spirit and she just looked at him in awe like she knew what was happening. He showed her the cross on the altar and lifted her up with a silent prayer while standing there. It was amazing!