Just an update

Tomorrow is Madelyn and Pierce's birthday party. My parents came up today and brought MORE presents for both of them. This really is a never ending birthday celebration for Madelyn. Next week, we're have another party for our kids and our nieces at JD's brother's house. The four grandchildren have birthdays ranging from Feb. 21-Mar. 21, and we're trying to make it easier on the grandparents.

Not much has gone on in the last week, which is why I haven't posted. Pierce was diagnosed with strep throat. We got this diagnosis because I took him to the doctor for a very bad looking and persistent diaper rash. Turns out, strep bacteria can grow in the nether regions as well as the throat. They took a culture from both his throat and his bottom and they came back positive. Fortunately, he didn't seem to feel badly and was displaying no other symptoms.

Madelyn is learning the letters in her name. I've tried working on this with her for a while, but she has said to me more than once, "I don't want to do this anymore." Her teacher has had a bit more success. She definitely knows "M" and now recognizes it on pretty much everything. "N" poses a bit more of a problem for her, and I guess it is a little confusing because "M" and "N" look and sound so much alike. I've tried teaching her "D", as has her teacher , but she can't quite get it down. And for some reason she loves saying "B", so if she sees a letter she doesn't know (which is most of them), she just says "B".

JD and I are both well. We're glad his schedule hasn't been too hectic this winter, and he's been getting home most nights in plenty of time to put the kids to bed. That makes us all happy! I'm thankful that he works so hard and still makes us his priority.

Some have been asking, and I promise I haven't forgotten about birthday pictures. I'll try to get them posted by the end of the weekend. I've been waiting to get pictures of the party before posting the link to the album.

Madelyn is 3!

I can't believe I have a 3-year old! We're having a progressive birthday celebration this year. Madelyn's official birthday party is March 1, but we had a small celebration with just us today. I also took cupcakes to school today so that she could celebrate with her school friends there. I've decided that I'll just combine all the birthday pictures and put them in an album that I'll link to later, but here are a couple of videos. One from this morning and one from her "party" once JD got home from work.

Play Date

I've had these pictures for a couple of weeks, but I'm just now getting to them.

The Three Amigos

What's going on out there?

No play date is complete without a delicious lunch of PB&J.

Mommy, come quick!

This sentence in a panicked voice from an almost 3-year old is not something a mother wants to hear. We were trying to get out the door this morning, and I had to run upstairs to put on my shoes. Pierce has not shown a ton of interest in climbing the steps. I knew he could do it, but it certainly has not been a favorite past-time of his. Well, I heard Madelyn yelling "Mommy, come quick!" as I was in the closet slipping on my shoes. In my head, I'm thinking, "Madelyn, I told you to stay downstairs with Pierce." As I bolted out of my room, I saw Madelyn holding on to Pierce's foot, and he was less than an inch from taking a dive down the steps. From what I could gather, Pierce bolted up the stairs after me, and Madelyn was in hot pursuit after him. He then decided he would go back down the stairs head-first. I really need to enhance my efforts to teach him to safely go back down the steps.

Happy Valentine's Day!

A video just for you! In case you have trouble understanding, here are the lyrics:

A valentine for you
To cheer you when you're blue
Heigh-ho, the derry-oh
A valentine for you.

I'm mailing a hug
To send you all my love
Heigh-ho, the derry-oh
A valentine for you.

Also, Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad!

Can you hear it?

I promise he's saying "Baa"!

Ice Day

The weatherman said temperatures would rise through the night and we would have a switch to rain. It was supposed to happen around 8:00 last night, then 10:00, then 3:00 this morning. I think the switch finally occurred around 9:00 am. Traffic around the metro area was abyssmal last night, as the freezing rain started around 3:00 pm. Just in time for the first wave of traffic . This time last week we had a high of 75.

Anyway, this is what we awoke to this morning:

11 months

Pierce is now 11 months old and as sweet as he can be. The church nursery workers love him because "he's always happy and never cries." While I can assure you that he does cry, Pierce really is a very happy baby and usually only cries when he's tired, Madelyn has hurt him (but it was an axsick), or he's hungry. I've resorted to taking non-action pictures of him in his booster seat since that's the only way to strap him down. He makes car/airplane noises when he plays with those toys. He likes to "walk" holding our hands or using his push toy. He "talks" on the phone and loves to share his food. Sometimes after pulling himself up, he will let go of whatever he's holding on to and stand, keeping his balance for a couple of seconds. I'll post a video of this later and hopefully you can hear it, but he will say "Baa, baa" when you sing "Old McDonald had a sheep" to him. Sometimes I think he says "Ma ma" and "Da da" like he understands the meaning, but sometimes I'm not so sure. He will sign "please." Oh, and he has 8 teeth.

He finally figured it out...

I think he navigated pretty well, considering the mess the place was in after play group.

On the way home...

Madelyn: Mommy, I need a tissue.
Me: Hang on. Here you go.
Madelyn: Thanks. Ewww. Mommy, I need help.
Me: What's wrong, sweetie?
Madelyn: I had a boogie.
Me: Did you try to blow your nose?
Madelyn: No, I tried to eat it.
Me: Ugh, Madelyn.
Madelyn: I didn't like it. I tried to get it out.
Me: Of your nose?
Madelyn: No, I put the tissue in my mouth to get the boogie off my tongue.

Madelyn singing

There's a really long pause in this one, as neither of us could think of a song for her to sing.

The second song is "Joy to the World", but I have no idea what she is saying through half of it.

Pierson is sooo big

Please excuse my whiny, nasaly voice...

January pictures

are posted here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/cmtaliaferro