Little Mia Growing Up

Our little girl is growing up.  We went out to the NorthShore Mall this afternoon and ended up at a store called Icing.  Mia picked out the earrings she wanted, some pink cz studs, she sat confidently in the chair and prepared herself.  All morning or rather, all week she had been talking about this event to everyone we ran into.  A friend at gymnastics this morning told her it was no big deal and it didn't hurt at all.  Angelina was a little more truthful when she told Mia that it actually did hurt, just not that bad.  When all was said and done she was super proud of her new pierced ears and her fancy pink earrings.  Angelina was a  really good friend and stood by her side holding her hand the whole time.  At one point Angelina said that all Mia's nervousness was making her stomach hurt too.  

Just after the piercing.  You can see how proud both girls are of Mia.

Right before the piercing, Mia was starting to really get nervous.

Ahhh, ignorant bliss.  Just as she sat down before the reality sunk in that she was about to have permanent holes stapled into her head.  

Warning:  This video may cause anyone who loves Mia dearly to have mild discomfort as they watch this sweet little baby try so hard to be brave and get her ears pierced.  I will add that her father and I had no part in talking her into doing this.  It was completely her idea and I told her repeatedly up until even after the first ear was done that she absolutely did not have to do this.  

One of My Favorite Things Mia Says Right Now

Instead of saying "You've gotta be kidding me."  Mia says, in a long drawn out tone - "You gotta be serious!"  She doesn't know why it's so cute or funny, but I love it and I hope she doesn't stop anytime soon.

Thank Heaven For Good Friends

I had my mom's group at church this morning and I was just telling them how tired and stressed I have been with all the different junk going on right now as we were talking about prayer requests and such.  Well, Osheta decided that she was going to bring me dinner tonight to take a little bit of the weight of the day off my shoulders.  So, tonight right about 6 o'clock she shows up with home made pot roast, a bag of green beans, fresh bread, half a roasted chicken from Whole Foods, a super yummy cake with frosting from Whole Foods, beautiful, cheerful, yellow flowers, a card and an organic family magazine she picked up at Whole Foods as well.  It was so nice to not have to deal with dinner after the weekend we'd all been through and it really made me appreciate the blessing of having good friends when I live so far away from my family.  Osheta doesn't read the blog, but I'll say it anyway...THANK YOU OSHETA!!!  

Stop Me Up

Oh, those lyrics are "start me up"  not "stop me up"  huh?  Well, if the Rolling Stones had dealt with the massive horrible diarrhea that Lennon has had for the last two weeks they might have sung a different tune.  The poor guy has been vomiting sporadically for the last two weeks with constant diarrhea and in the last couple of days his vomiting has increased tremendously.  Every time I think he is finally getting better, he takes a turn for the worse.  I even took him in Friday afternoon for his 18 month check up and he seemed to be getting better so I didn't really make a big deal out of it.  Then the next morning he threw up and was up all night the following night throwing up every half hour or so.  Sunday he seemed to be doing a little better, but then he thre up several more times today.  I've been trying to keep him on the BRAT diet (bananas, rice, applesauce and toast)  and the pediatrician yesterday said to definitely steer clear of meats and dairy, but tonight at dinner he was finally showing signs of regaining his appetite and we were eating roasted chicken and he was begging for it so we gave him a little bit.  Hopefully we won't regret that decision in a few hours.  

At his check up everything was good.  He weighed 27 lbs and 7 oz and I can't remember how long he was.  Maybe 31?  I'll have to ask them the next time I'm in.  I had so many other things on my mind at his appointment that I forgot to write down his stats.  

Both kids are in bed now and I'm about to watch House and Heroes and finish folding the mountain of laundry that has piled up due to the vast number of outfits that have been puked on in the last couple of days.  I think I changed clothes six times saturday night.  Anyway, signing off for now.

the Horton lover.

Lennon loves HORTON HEARS A WHO the movie

HE IS LOVING IT! he loves the puff ball girl.

he laughs like this...HAHAHA! and i love it too!     

by: Mia

Little Literary Man

Lennon insisted on being read the first three chapters of Machiavelli tonight before bed.  He actually took it off the shelf handed it to Shelby and protested bedtime until after the third chapter - at which point he stood up, took my hand and we headed back to his bedroom.  

Hmmm...where did that gene come from?

Will post a picture later.

Mia's New Band "The Disney Christians"

Adoo, Adoo, Adoo!

Show Me The Love

Here is a picture from last Valentine's Day along with some current photos to show how much our little babies have grown in the last year.  Enjoy...and try not to cry...and come and visit us soon!!!

Lennon and Mia last Valentine's Day

Mia with her new "best friend in the world"  Sophia who we met at the library and now see pretty regularly on Friday afternoons at the Malden Public Library.  Here they are enjoying some pizza inside the ticket booth at Malden High School.  Sophia's dad is the head of a non profit organization called Healthy Malden Inc.  This night they were putting on an event called Rock Againts Violence Event or RAVE for the high school kids.  Sophia has a little brother who is Lennon's age.  

Lennon just being sweet and saying "cheese"

Mia and Lennon sharing a pair of Mia's pajamas.  Lennon thought they were awesome because they have a "fish" and water on them.  He is completely obsessed with all things water, or "adoo"  as he calls it and he chants "adoo, adoo"  many times each day.  He likes for me to tell him all the different animals and people who drink or swim in water.  He tells us that our plants and "mau"  (that means Angel)  both need water.  

Friday night Mia and I got to go see Disney On Ice down in Boston, and it was right across from Shelby's office, so we got to park for free!  I got super discounted tickets from a friend from church so it wasn't that bad at all.  We did end up buying a $10 snow cone though.  Ohhhh Disney.  Thanks for charging us more for a cup of ice than for tickets to see your show.  We basically considered it Mia's Valentine's present, but I thoroughly enjoyed it too.  The show was called Worlds of Fantasy and included Cars, Little Mermaid, Lion King and Tinkerbell.  For the Cars section there were actual cars driving around on the ice.  It was pretty cool.  The whole show was great and it made Mia want to take ice skating lessons again.  Saturday morning we all got up together and had eggs, sausage and freshly baked chocolate croissants.  Yummy!  Well, Lennon didn't get the chocolate part, but we did share some of the croissant with him.  Mia and Shelby got The Princess Bride on DVD for me as well as a really nice smelling three layer candle and Mia picked out some chocolates and a cool, green plant for Shelby's desk.  She said she just thought he needed a plant at his office.  

Best thing Mia said about Disney on Ice:   "I don't understand how those cars were driving around on the ice because the only thing heavier than a car is a house.  Oh, and the Earth too."  Later that day she also decided that trees might also be heavier than a car as long as it wasn't a baby tree.  

Lennon is sick again.  He just can't seem to keep his poor little lungs clear.  We have a doc's appointment on friday for his regular check up and I'm going to talk to him to make sure it doesn't concern him at all that Lennon seems to get respiratory stuff so often.  It seems like he's been sick about every other week or so since October.  Maybe it's just part of living in a cold climate and he's a baby or something.  I don't know.  I am angry again at that stupid Cambridge Birthing Center that I was going to at the beginning of my pregnancy when they tested me against my will to see if I was a carrier for Cystic Fibrosis and then told me that "yes"  I was a carrier when I never wanted to know that in the first place.  I know they already tested him and it would be much worse and more obvious if he had that, but still because of that every time he gets a cough I sort of panic in the back of my mind.  Nice work Cambridge Birthing Center.   

Party Without a Cause

Tuesday afternoon when I picked Mia up from school, I decided that we were going to have a party.  With the news of Shelby's potential lay off and certain decrease in pay I was feeling less than cheery, but wanted to compensate by making the evening extra special for the kids.  I let Mia choose our menu - Amy's Organic Pizza's, fruit kebabs, green beans and ice cream.  As soon as we got home we started blaring music.  The music of choice - Barbie Diamond Castle Princess.  Mia and Lennon both love gettin' down and grooving to those tunes.  We danced around the kitchen and living room while the pizza's cooked and we assembled the kebabs while we caught our breath.  Lennon was in his high chair for most of this time, but was thoroughly enjoying laughing at both of the silly girly dancers.  After devouring our dinner we played a never ending game of chase- tag- sock tag- leggy tag, new rules every five seconds tag.  If you have never played a game of tag with Mia be forewarned.  She changes up base on you constantly depending on what she is nearest to when she needs a refuge.  All three of us had so much fun and didn't stop laughing and running and dancing for hours.  Shelby finally arrived home and we had determined that when he got home we would turn on the movie we checked out from the library, The Polar Express.  Lennon was completely exhausted, but seemed slightly interested in the movie, probably just because of the "choo choo."  After Lennon went to bed we pulled out the ice cream for the rest of us.  Shelby, Mia and I cuddled in front of the tv and watched some more of the movie. 

The whole idea really worked wonders.  I had almost forgotten our impending doom.  And then Shelby told me that his pay would not be reduced nearly at all and we are hopeful that he will keep his job for the time anyway.  Just putting the whole idea out of my head and focusing on playing with the kids and having a blast was a great idea.  I'm so glad we had our party.  No matter what happens we will always be able to let go and just enjoy being a family.

 

mia and lennon love each other!

me and lennon  love charlie brown the movie.    we always snuggle each other.  

I miss jax so mach that I cry. to; my family and jax

Charlie Brown and The Blankie Blues

Mia has pretty much memorized the entire Be My Valentine Charlie Brown dvd.  She has watched it just about every day I think since we received it from Granmommy a couple weeks ago.  I will have to post her impression of Lucy throwing a fit.  It's pretty hysterical.  It's really been pretty entertaining for me and Shelby too.  I had no idea how clever that show was.  Lennon doesn't really seem to care if it's on or not.  The only thing he will really pay attention to at all is Baby Einstein Neighborhood Animals, which he refers to as "Doddie", or Elmo in Grouchland.  We've seen a lot of "doddie"  in the last couple of days since we've been doing the breathing treatments for his cough.  He seems to be almost done with it now.  I didn't even do a treatment tonight because he seemed so well.  He LOVES taking baths with his "sissy" and he loves the Elmo faucet protector.  She has really been hamming it up for him lately and he just laughs his head off.  This afternoon while Mia was still at school I made the mistake of taking Lennon down with me to throw some laundry in.  The mistake was letting him see me put his blankies into the dryer.  He didn't protest at the time, but as we started to go back up stairs and he realized we weren't bringing the blankie back up he got pretty upset.  For about the next 20 minutes he stood by the gate off and on asking for his blankie.  He has a sign for it and he calls it "bank."  I tried my best to distract him, but finally had to break down and just grab his slightly damp "bank" out of the dryer.  He was quite happy to be reunited with his precious blankie.  

Lennon's newest word is happy or "appy."  He sort of chants it as I'm bringing him a favorite snack or we're starting a favorite activity.  This of course, makes me about the "appiest"  mom around.  He definitely has bad days/weeks, but I am seeing more and more of his giggly, happy, explorative side these days.  

I'm meeting with Mia's principal next tuesday to discuss taking her out of school.  I am nervous just because whenever I'm up there I automatically go into being in school mode and I feel like that is my principal or something.  I know, it's weird.  What can I say.  I already got yelled at by her teacher so I'm a little worried about what the principal is going to have to say to me - some crazy Texas lady who wants to pull her kid out of their fine schools in the middle of the year.  Oh well.  We'll see.

Lennon's First Popsicle

We made some popsicles with plain yogurt and fresh fruit.  Shelby tasted them and found them  pretty sour, but the kids seem to love them.  The best part is they're home made and have zero sugar in them.  

It's a blustery, snowy day here in Malden, MA.  Lennon has a nasty respiratory virus and we're going to have to give him breathing treatments every 4 hours.  He feels horrible, but is being super snuggly.  We're pretty much stuck in the house because the snow is coming down so hard and Lennon is sick so I don't want to get him out in it.  We're managing with lots of tv and snacks.  Homemade popsicles, cheese bunnies, and did I mention lots of cuddles.  Snowy days are perfect for lots of extra cuddles.

Mia and Lennon curled up and snuggling in front of their new Charlie Brown Valentine's movie from Granmommy.  Mia is taking very good care of her poor sick little brother.  

At long last ---(well, just a day late)  Mia's new do!

We think she looks at least a year younger.  She said it was a big hit at school and everyone said they like her better with bangs, which she said made her happy with her decision.  

Mia gets her bangs.

today february  2 I got bangs! I went to snip its! from: mia