A Snow Day

Just a pretty shot in the snow.

Emma loved the sled.

Cute little butt had been in the snow.

Our dogs look like they are killing each other in the background. They were just having some fun in the snow.

Gypsy is taking it all in.

The spawn of Satan has grown up some.

Those are some big and stinky shoes to fill!

For the first time in 18 years I had to call in to work last night because of the weather. Bo tried to get me to work and ended up turning around and telling me he just didn't think he could get me there. I am a slacker and my coworkers will remind me of it. It felt so weird to be home on a Friday night. I actually had a really hard time sleeping since I'm used to being up.

We have about 5 inches of snow here and it's beautiful. It's the most snow that we have gotten in a really long time and Emma was quite happy playing in it today. It's not a very wet snow so we couldn't build a snowman but she did have fun sledding. I was really surprised since she had such a texture issue with the sand while we were at the beach.

After playing in the snow this morning I spent the rest of the day cooking and baking. I made some banana bread and then baked the Pioneer Woman's chocolate sheet cake and may I say that it is WICKED GOOD. I wish that I had not discovered it and so do my hips. What is it about being snow bound that makes you want to cook?

So that has pretty much been my day. I know that if you are reading this post and you are from the north you are thinking that we southerners are a bunch of sissies, but we just can't drive in this stuff! It's best to stay home and eat cake.

I Know, Let's Torture the Child

Okay, so the Doctor's office called yesterday to say they needed another urine specimen from Emma and that is where our story begins.....


Easier said than done.


The specimen had to be a first morning urine and she was not allowed to drink prior. It just keeps getting better.


We have been working (I use that word lightly) on potty training. Emma has no real concept of what's going on. She likes to sit on the potty and tell me good job while I potty, but she has not mastered doing it herself. She was however very quick to recognize the urine collection bag that I had to put on her this morning and short of calling in the National Guard there was no way I was going to be able to do it by myself. She was kicking and screaming and I can't say that I blame her. We decided to give the potty a try. It was fun for the first HOUR while we read and talked and sang every song that I could think of. The second hour was spent downstairs with Miss Jennifer (her EI teacher) and Miss Susan (P.T.) while Emma sat on the potty and played. Still no urine. So they leave and we continue to sit on the potty and attempt and when she would jump up to run off I would remind her that I was going to put the bag on her and she would return. This little cat and mouse continued for another hour when finally we were both about to go crazy and she was crying and her bladder was distended and she was dribbling urine down her legs and it was making her crazy (ME TOO). She finally had a melt down while sitting on the potty and while I hugged her and tried to console her and not feel like a rotten, horrible, awful mom, she did it. She PEEEEED! It totally freaked her out. She jumped up crying and screaming and I held her while she continued to pee down my legs and hers. Well, isn't that a warm and fuzzy kind of morning to spend with your daughter. I suspect that I have set her back another 6 months on attempting to potty train and if this morning was any indication, I don't care. She can wear diapers until she goes to school. I do not want to go through that again.


So, they have their urine and they had better not ask for another one!


This is Miss Susan, our wonderful Physical Therapist who had her last visit with Emma today. She has been so much help, including taking the urine specimen to the doctor's office for me today so I didn't have to make a trip to Nashville.

Emma was talking on the phone to Nanny while sitting on the potty and listening to Nanny attempt to bribe her with all sorts of goodies if only she would pee.

Thursday Already?

Once again the week has flown by! Am I getting old or what?

Emma and Rory had a play date on Tuesday while poor, patient Melissa attempted to give me instruction on digital scrap booking. I remain lost but willing to try. I know that if I ever figure it all out I will love it and I simply have not been able to find the time to scrapbook. Between all of Emma's appointments, I just can seem to find the time.


Emma and Rory were so cute together. They pushed each other on the tricycle and played in the kitchen and pushed shopping carts with baby dolls. They did have a Frito's episode where Emma "was not sharrrring" according to Rory. It was so cute how she said it. That problem was resolved and they then enjoyed another pack of Frito's.


Tuesday night Ashton had a ballgame where he sat on the bench the entire time. Broke my heart, but I have to keep those things to myself (that's why I'm sharing it with you:) They lost the game and now have one on Saturday. I'm hoping my boy gets some playing time.


Yesterday was spent on the road with therapy appointments and I have to brag on my girl who is doing so well with her speech. She has a LONG way to go still, but is improving every day. I have been told "good job" by her for the last 2 days. No matter what I'm doing, apparently I'm doing a good job:) She has also added the words shower and raining to her vocabulary. Her most frequently used word is "memes" which means pockets. This is an Emma word along with nanoo for poopie and pee. She loves pockets and only wants to wear jeans so she can stuff them full. Just last week she was with Bo at his parents house and was playing at pop's desk. After they left and she and Bo made another quick stop at TSC he noticed that she had her hands in her pockets and he found her to have a pair of fingernail clippers, 2 pairs of keys, a wing nut, a cough drop, and 11 cents. The child had lifted all of those things off pop's desk while Bo was busy. One day this week while changing her diaper 5 batteries rolled out of pocket and Brady said he caught her in Ashton's room about to lift a $5. I suspect he made that up only to lay the blame on her:) So my daughter is a clepto.


Today we had speech and made a trip to Kroger. I am trying to maintain my grocery challenge but it's hard. I did snag some great deals with 5 cups of Stoneyfield Organic yogurt for free and 6 packs of frozen Birdseye vegetables for free. I'm excited about trying a new recipe that I'm sure my men are going to like from the Pioneer Woman's cookbook. She has some amazing recipes and the pictures are beautiful. It makes me want to move to a ranch. If you don't have this cookbook it is worth the money. Oh, the recipe is for steak sandwiches and they look yummy. A perfect carnivore meal for my guys.


Quick update on Emma's doctor's visit....the electrolyte test was within normal limits and Dr. H has referred her case to a pediatric Endocrinologist just to make sure everything is okay. I think my girl just likes to drink a lot and has an overactive bladder. I guess I can sympathise:)

This Ain't No Happy Child

Yes, in the words of Woody (or was it Buzz?), that ain't no happy child. I am referring to my precious little girl who had to endure a very hard morning that involved a plastic baggy being attached to her privates and 3 needle sticks. I bet you are thinking your day hasn't been so bad after all.


Emma is constantly thirsty and in turn, constantly peeing. She had a glucose checked a couple of weeks ago that was okay and now her doctor wants to rule out Diabetes Insipidus which is nothing like Diabetes Mellitus. So the testing for that involves a urine specimen and when you are not potty trained, that is not easy. After collecting the urine he was still not completely satisfied and wanted to do further testing, hence the needle sticks. Did I mention 3 times? Poor kid. I have stuck kids and adults for years and I have to say that I have never in my almost 2o year career had a stronger, more determined patient than our daughter was. I was literally laying on top of her and holding her down while the 2 nurses were attempting to stick her and I could hardly hold her down. She is so strong and so strong willed. I really felt bad for the nurses and I know they hated that she had to be stuck that many times. They were really trying hard. By the third time I was almost to the point of telling them to hold her and let me stick her. I know that would have been terrible, but I knew exactly which vein they should use and when they finally used it the third time, they got it. It's hard when you are a nurse and a mother and I never want to make another professional feel like I'm trying to tell them how to do their job. Believe me, it never makes that person happy. So I try to be patient and quiet and for anyone who knows me, those are not exactly my strong points. But finally, the blood was drawn, my daughter was pitiful, I was vomited on, Emma had to change pants due to a messy urine sample, and that was our morning. Sounds fun doesn't it?


We should have her results in a couple of days and I'm sure that everything will be fine. The really hard part of all of the testing that she has to endure is not having any biological history. A missing link indeed and one that makes it a bit more difficult for the doctors as well as her.


Well, my little pumpkin is taking a nap and I should be cleaning. I am literally exhausted after fighting my little tiger this morning. All of her torture was soon forgotten with the help of french fries and an orange drink, and she seemed to be happy again:

Our Little Performer

Just Too Stinking Cute

2 posts in one day. The sky is falling, the sky is falling!

I just wanted to put these adorable pictures on. This cute little outfit was from Christmas 2008 and she has just now worn it. It was too big then and she won't be able to wear it long, but how cute to this girl look. Thanks Gig!

"I don't know." That is the expression that I get when she is telling me she doesn't know.

"No mommy, I have not been misbehaving."

Another Snow Day! Say It Ain't So

So the great state of Tennessee has been like a deep freeze! All you want to do is wrap up in a blanket and stay in front of the fireplace. I'm not saying that I have enjoyed that too much, but it's what I would like to do.

Schools were closed last Thursday and Friday. Only in the South do they close schools the night before because the weather people are calling for snow. Then you get really excited because we hardly ever get snow and wake up to find that the original 4-6 inches they were expecting turned in to less that 1/2 inch and you can't even build a snowman and it's too cold to play outside anyway! I think I could be a weather person. What other job can you just "predict" things and then just be completely wrong and still get paid for it. Oh, well.


The boys have enjoyed being out of school and were not too happy about going back today. Well, the director of schools must have read their minds because we received the call at 5 a.m. this morning that schools would be closed again due to some remaining ice on the roads. Oh BOY. Remember my post about attempting to eat out of the pantry/freezer this month, well if the boys don't go to school soon my attempt will be just that. They are eating like they just came out of hibernation. For all of you parents with little boys, start saving extra right now! When they become teenagers all they want to do is eat. I'm having to hide Emma's fruit snacks and various other items to keep them from completely wiping them out.


Last week was busy as usual even with the boys out of school. Emma had a doctor's appointment Monday morning with a Geneticist. What an interesting field to be in. She was not too impressed with having her blood drawn but did well overall. We then had our usual appointments the rest of the week and the boys had a friend over that was snowed in for a couple of days. Feeding 3 teenage boys is even worse! I worked Friday night and it was so busy. I was exhausted Saturday morning and was thrilled that we didn't have any plans. Bo made a delicious pot of soup and we stayed home and watched a ballgame and just hung out. I love those types of days!


So that pretty much wraps up my exciting life for the last week! I hope that you are still awake while attempting to read about it.



Okay, so I had some ECB's that were expiring and I had to spend them. Emma and I made a quick trip to CVS Monday while were out and I cashed in on some good deals. My total before coupons and ECB's was $45.40. I had exactly that much in coupons and ECB's and my total after was $4.15 that covered tax. I also got $9 in ECB's to spend next time. Not too shabby.

This is the face that I see all day long. She is constantly wanting to kiss me. Look at those Angelina lips. Are they to die for or what?

"Helping" mom in the office. She was caught red handed rummaging through the trash!

"I love helping my mom"

Checking under the hood to see exactly why her Jeep won't work. That mean old daddy has unhooked the battery!

"Yes mam, I think I see the problem."

Having a late Christmas with Cara!

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Just a few pics of our girl over the last few days. I love this pink dress that Aunt Sissy gave Emma for Christmas. It looks so cute on her.

Okay, so I think she may be giving her dad the finger. But wait a minute, it's hard to tell. He's probably telling her how to drive:)

Look at that face. This kid cracks me up.

So we spent our new year at home with Emma and Anthony (Bo's friend since birth) watching football. The boys went to an all night church outing and lock in and came home this morning looking a bit worn out. They immediately headed for the man cave and have not been seen.

No big plans for today. I have to work tonight and the guys are staying home. I think they may all be ready for a night at home.

Some quick Emma antics...

• She can't stand for us to put our feet on her things. If we prop our feet on her chairs or table, it drive her crazy. She also can't stand for us to cross our legs in any manner at all. She immediately starts to whine and reach for our legs to make us uncross them.
• She continues to have to kiss me no less than 100 times a day. While being pushed on her tricycle she has to stop and give me a kiss when she passes me.
• The Hot Wheels jeep is inside right now and we have the battery unplugged. She keeps going over to it and lifting the hood and looking around in it and slamming the hood back down. She then gets back in the jeep and attempts to start it. She has also been looking underneath it and reaching under and hitting it. She appears to have a mechanical future.
• "Do you want to take a nap, a bath, your medicine....DOE." Very quick response on her part.
• She is a dancer. She loves her new vanity keyboard and is constantly dancing and twisting her behind in front of it. She also loves her guitar and is so serious when she is "playing" it. She certainly has some musical genes.

I have not made any real resolutions for the new year. I find that it doesn't do me much good and only frustrates me. I have been working very hard on becoming more organized (you can't tell it by the looks of my house), but I have been working on new shelving projects thanks to my husband. I cleaned out from underneath the kitchen sink and put in new shelf paper and threw lots of things away. I'm in a toss mode. I just am sick of STUFF. If it hasn't been used in a year or so, it's out of here.

I am going to attempt to make January our "Eat out of the pantry/freezer" month. I am following in the footsteps of Money Saving Mom and attempting to eat up what we have on hand. I really want to save on groceries this month and clean out our pantry and freezer. I know that I will have to buy produce, bread, and milk, but I'm very hopeful to stay away from the grocery and really reduce our spending this month in that area. And while on that subject, I totalled up my yearly savings in coupons and was very pleased with my results. We saved $2491 this year in coupons. WOW! I wish I would have pocketed that and saved it for vacation, etc. That was my original plan at the beginning of the year, but that all goes back to those frustrating new years resolutions:) So a good coupon year and we'll see how 2010 goes.

Well, a certain adorable little girl and her mother are off to take a nap.