Waddle

Waddle doesn't have too many new things going on. His vocabulary is increasing daily. He tries to say about half of the words I ask him to say and sometimes he repeats something out of the blue. He only says one syllable from most words, but he is learning. He makes us laugh all. the. time. I hope these pictures make you laugh too!

^He is trying to say "cheese"

^After Widdle took pictures holding up three fingers, Waddle wanted you to know how old he is!

^Have you ever seen a cuter guy in cowboy boots? He will either be Woody or Rex for halloween.

Someone turned 3 around here

Having a three year old in the house is a little crazy. I can hardly believe that it was nearly four years ago that I found out I was pregnant. While I was changing Widdle's age ticker over I nearly cried at the idea of him being on his way to four, so I decided that I just think of him as just turning 3 for as long as I can!

Widdle is such a sweet boy and brings so much love, joy and laughter to our home. He always has a song to sing and rarely knows all of the words. (just like his mama) Some of his favorite things these days are jumping on the bed, eating lollipops, riding his bike or tricycle, wrestling his daddy, playing peek-a-boo with Piddle, tickling Waddle and Piddle, helping me cook.

Upon turning three, Widdle has picked up some new responsibilities around the house. He now puts all of the utensils away, brings me and helps empty the small trash cans, sets the table, wipes off the table, puts his clothes away, "makes" his bed and sounds the "poop" alarm in the back yard. He is working hard and playing hard. Just the way a boy should be!

I'll have to tell you about this cake another time. Ugh!

Roll Over Beethoven

Piddle has had a couple of adventures over the last week. She tried oatmeal for the first time. Her review seems to be that she thinks is silly for a little while, then yucky. She wasn't quite sure what to think of the first bite, then she would squeal with delight as the spoon came towards her. After 5-10 bites she was done. She has hardly eaten any cereal since. I've tried her a couple of times, but she seems to be fine without it. To be honest, it's a little easier to care for her without the cereal. I will be more persistent with it shortly though.

Piddle's other new trick is rolling over. Last night she decided that she could get her arm out and she could travel around our small living room. She was content for an hour or more to just roll around on the floor and check out what everyone else was up to. She can put her paci back in her mouth and being able to roll over helps her find it. Hopefully this new skill will benefit us during the night!

Our little lady is very strong and will probably be sitting up soon. I can hardly wait!

Eye Surgery

Widdle had Strabismus surgery yesterday. (I finally learned the word!) We have noticed his eyes alternating drifting out for a while. I have taken him to several doctor's appointments, we patched his eyes for a couple of months and the drifting and heavy blinking picked up greatly over the last several weeks. With the move coming up and Widdle getting older, we felt we should go ahead with the surgery. Albert's mom came in to watch the littles and Albert and I took Widdle to the surgery. I don't know what we would have done without Granny being her. She is such a huge blessing. When we first got to the surgery center everyone was pretty relaxed. Widdle was excited to see Dr. T. He always gets to play a lot of games with him. He had no idea what was really coming. We talked to him about the surgery a little, but he is too young to understand "they are going to cut the muscle off of your eye and move it back a little. This will help your eyes." While we did tell him that, he just couldn't be expected to really get it, so he was happy to be there. There was another little boy in the waiting room waiting for his brother. This gave Widdle a little playmate while we waited. When his name was called, Widdle chased the nurse back to the pre-op room. He was a great sport through all of the pre-op procedures. The nurse told him that his temperature and heart rate were perfect. He enjoyed wearing the silly gown and the grippy socks. He sat in Albert's lap for all of the little tests and my stomach twisted. I just didn't really know what was coming. Dr. T came in and gave us an idea of what to expect and how to care for him after the surgery. The anesthesiologist came in and briefly told us what would happen. Then a sweet nurse let Widdle ride in a wagon and off he went.

I said "I love you" about ten times and teared up. I am still thankful that I did not break down into tears as they pulled him away...... that came later. The whole time we were sitting in pre-op I questioned if it was too late to cancel the surgery. Was this really what he needed? Along with every other question imaginable flooded my mind. As soon as they took him back we went out to the waiting room. Albert went to get breakfast and I read a bit. I felt OK. Once Albert got back I checked the time and started getting anxious. About 15 or 20 min. later the nurse called us into the consultation room and we waited for the doctor. Dr. T came in and said Widdle did great. He hoped right up on the table and played all of their games, got a little nervous as he drifted off to sleep, but it went well. Everything looked as he expected and our little guy should be waking up soon. Now, he might be angry and if he is they will call you back quickly.

They called us back quick. I was certain that our little guy would be laid back and groggy. Boy was I wrong! This was the beginning of the worst part for me. I did not have a clear picture of what "angry" looked like on my little boy until I saw the nurse restraining his arms and him screaming his desire to rub his eyes. Even we could not settle him. Albert held him and held one arm down while I held the other arm and tried to sooth him. I felt terribly helpless. Widdle screamed and cried and begged me to let him rub his eyes. He didn't want anything to touch him and he really only wanted his daddy. He held his eyes shut tight. I cried, he cried, we were a mess. After two doses of morphine Widdle calmed down a bit. Just enough that the nurse felt that getting him home was our best option. She took the IV out....... that was bad, then took us over to another area. I offered Widdle some apple juice and crackers. He held one cracker for a couple of hours and ate another cracker. Once he calmed down enough to drink the apple juice, he sucked it down. By now it was about 11:00 a.m. He had not had anything to drink or eat since 8:00 p.m. the night before. After 5 or 10 minutes we left. Albert rode in the back to keep Widdle from rubbing his eyes. He only tried to open his eyes a couple of times. This seemed to only frustrate him more. He rested to rest of the day and had a couple of fits of discomfort. Albert went to T@rget to pick up a couple of things. We gave Widdle acetaminophen and ibuprofen all afternoon and evening. It seemed we were able to keep the pain and discomfort under control. Widdle slept on the couch and Albert slept on the floor beside the couch.

This morning we had a different child in our home. He woke up happy and was able to see a lot better. He was not so sensitive to the light. He ate breakfast and wanted to play. My heart took a deep breath and we enjoyed the morning. We all went to the post-op appointment and Dr. T said our little man looked great. He has a slight over correction, but hopefully this will even out over the next 4 weeks. We have another appointment then and hopefully we will only need re-checks every 6 months or so after that.

I am so thankful that my God knows how things will go long before they happen. He knew long before Widdle was born that he would undergo this surgery. He also knew long, long ago, way before I was a mother, that I would question every decision I made for my children. He gave me the greatest gift of my Savior, Jesus Christ and the peace and comfort that can only comes from Him. God has also blessed me with an amazing husband who has learned how to take the reins when I need help the most. What an amazing God we serve.

Labor Day

This phrase takes on a whole new meaning when you've labored a child! Every day has a large dose of "labor" thrown into it. A friend posted a link to another ladies blog and she laid out the number of hours and pounds of human she's labored. I laughed and thought I should figure up my stats. They won't be too great since Waddle had a speed delivery, but here they are:

Hours in labor: 23 (6 for Widdle before a c-section, 4 for Waddle- first contraction to deliver..... don't be jealous! :) and about 13 for Piddle, I think I was only in active labor for about 4-5 hours with her though)

Pounds of human: 23 lb 10 oz.

So, what are your stats? I know some of you will blow me out of the water with the hours in labor. To be honest, I'd rather have the least number of hours! Happy Labor Day.

Blog Pause

It has been just over a month since my last post and the delay has been for several reasons. One big reason my posts have been so scarce is a war within. I really want to be totally honest and raw with people and especially our Christian friends. I just don't think this is the place for that though. I'd rather talk and split the wounds open in person, on the phone or through an e-mail. But I have a hard time holding back the whole truth when I'm typing. I'd just rather not hide things, but not everyone who reads this blog REALLY knows me. So some of the things I write might not come across right or give a wrong picture of what I really mean. I guess the war is that I feel like I need to keep it pretty surface, but I don't really want to.

We've also been extremely busy! In the last month we've gone on two short trips and one LONG trip. We also have a trip planned for September, one possible trip for October and a move November 2nd. For a family that almost never travels, we've been on the road a lot!

When we went to Florida, our long trip, we found an amazing house. We work out the details and have a contract pending on it. We are hoping my mom and dad will be able to close on the house a week early and have the carpet replaced before we get there. It would be a much easier and quicker job without all of our stuff in the house!

I will try to keep up better over the next few months. I feel like we will have A LOT going on through Christmas, then things should taper off. We'll just have to see. In my sunday school lesson I've been studying idleness and have been greatly convicted. Though I often have something to do, I am not sure that I am always doing the thing I should be doing. With that, I am off to take the clothes out of the dryer and put a new load in.

In Christ,

Robin