Thursday, April 30, 2009

My Girls are Growing!

Things are changing here. Both of the girls are growing so fast and learning new things and making me smile every day!! I have decided I was tired of Cailin stinking up the bathroom with her little potty. She was getting big enough to use the regular potty. If she wanted her potty seat lid, that was fine, but the potty part was going to be put away. She was fine with just the big potty and a step stool. This week she must have tried growing on me. I am not sure who told her that was allowed, but she did it anyway!!! She surprised me one day when she told me she had to potty and I found her on the potty without a step stool. Great job big girl!!!
Malia had her ear tube placement on Wednesday. She did great. We got to the surgery center at 8am. I filled out some paperwork and then we went to wait our turn. There were lots of errors on the pre-printed paperwork that had to be corrected and so that took a while. We were called back to the pre-op area and given the first bed as you walked in. The curtain was kept open, so we could see EVERYTHING that was going on! Malia loved it since she is such a people person. An x-ray technician walked past and Malia thought it would be fun to play peek-a-boo with her. I think we were told “what a cute baby” about a bazillion times… seriously… I’m not exaggerating on this one!!! One of the nurses came over and told us that Dr Walker wants all of her patients to get a toy. Malia picked a blue beanie baby bear. She played with it for a few minutes, and then started playing with her monkey instead. They both got tossed to the floor by Malia, then picked up by daddy, then tossed to the floor by Malia and picked up by daddy… over and over and over and over again! It was a bit funny! The nurse anesthetist came and introduced herself. She was Jen. She handed Malia a bubble gum flavored mask. We had about 20 minutes to play with the mask before they took her into surgery. This was good because it got her used to the mask. She was chewing away on it. Sometimes the squishy part that molds around her face was in her mouth, Sometimes, the part that the hose hooks onto went into her mouth. She put it on the bears head, and laughed and laughed… then it went onto the floor for daddy to get. (Are you seeing a pattern here)? Jen came around 9 to take Malia to the surgery suite. Jen carried Malia while someone else pushed the bed. They asked to take her monkey in with her for the surgery. Chris and I moved to the waiting room. We were there for a grand total of 15 minutes before Dr. Walker came out looking for us. She let us know that her right ear was still infected, but she got it all cleared out. She told us they would call us back in a few minutes to get her.
Before dr. walker was back in the surgery area, they called us back. I could hear her crying in one of the recovery rooms. She was sobbing inconsolably. They told me to sit in the chair in the corner and they passed her to me. She instantly stopped crying and put her thumb in her mouth and just cuddled. After about 5 minutes, they said to offer her some juice. She sucked it down!!! Then she got annoyed with the probe on her finger that was monitoring her oxygen saturation. She pulled it off. They ended up putting it back on her toes instead. She also had two monitors stuck on her back that she couldn’t reach.
By 10:00, she had drank about 3 ounces of strawberry/raspberry juice and was calm. They told us that we could get her dressed and we were done for the day. It was time to go home. That was fast!!!!
We came home and Cailin was excited that Malia was home so soon. Malia came inside, ate and then napped. When she woke up, she started crawling… FORWARD. Then she quickly started PULLING UP ON EVERYTHING as well. This means she was also able to get into everything as well!!!! I am so glad she is feeling better.

Grandma was here and brought the girls each some toys. Malia got a set of Disney princesses and Cailin got a princess watch, a charm necklace and a shirt that changes color. While we were in the hospital, I know Cailin was playing with Malia’s princesses, which is fine. That night, I asked Cailin where the princesses were. Here’s the conversation:
Where are the princesses at?
Oh, I don’t know.
I know you were playing with them today, where did you put them when you were done?
They went for a train ride.
They did? Did they have a great time?
Yeah! (With excitement).
Well, where did the train take them? (I was expecting an answer of to the kitchen, in the bathroom, or under the table, no such luck).
They went on the train to the doctors.
Well, where’s the doctor’s at?
Matter of factly “Springfield”.
I thought I was going to die laughing. I found them later under the shelves in the laundry room.

Cailin has also mastered her alphabet! I would like to take credit for teaching her, but she really took a liking to the Leap Frog Letter Factory movie. She watched it oodles. She can recognize all of her capital letters, and tell me what sound they make. She can write the letter H as well. I am not sure yet if she knows her lower case letters yet... but we will start on that this week. I am so proud of how much she is learning!!!!

Thursday, April 9, 2009

The Biggest Bon Fire Ever

It was a typical day yesterday, April 6, 2009. There was a nice breeze blowing outside and it was a brisk 54 degrees. Cailin was napping and Malia just finished snacking. She slept really long for her nap since she was sick. Her ears are still giving her a fit. On a side note, I can’t wait for 2 more weeks when she gets the tubes in her ears!! Around 430 in the afternoon, I hear a light knock on the door. It was neighbor bob. I asked him what was up. He is a bit out of breath and says he has been hollering for over an hour and a half for help. It is 54 degrees… all of my windows are closed. I didn’t hear a thing. I asked if everything was okay and what did he need help with.

He just pointed for a second and says “your field is on fire” What?!?!? I look to my left and see a good part of my field black and singed, as well as a HUGE fire burning around it. My initial thought was HOLY SH____... I put Malia on the floor in the front room and did a quick scan to make sure nothing she shouldn’t have was in reach. Since she isn’t crawling still, I was fine. Grab a few toys and toss to her and head out the door to the garage. The phone rings. It is Amy. I would love to talk to her, but there is a big fire. I tell her I will call her later. I moved the car, threw the water tank onto the 4-wheeler, and found the battery was dead. Crap. I can’t kick start it. I have tried, but it just doesn’t work for me regardless of how easy Chris says it is. I threw the water tank onto the lawn mower and started moving it towards the well pump to fill the tank. Bob brought his truck over and we tossed the tank into the back of the truck. After the tank is filled, bob takes off heading towards the back of the property, the direction the fire is spreading. I didn’t realize right away the sprayer needed to be attached to a battery to operate. Bob gets the idea we can dip 2 bath towels into the tank and fight the fire with wet towels. I am watching the fire… it got about 5-10 feet closer in about 2 minutes. I hollered for Bob that he needed to move the truck because the flames were getting closer. I hollered again, but nothing.

I moved away so I could get out of the smoke a little bit and started to cover my mouth with my shirt so I wasn’t breathing in as much of that stuff. I’m glad I keep my phone in my pocket. I had assumed that Bob had already called for the fire department. BIG mistake. I asked and he said no, he was trying to take care of it himself. ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? A FIVE ACRE FIRE Vs. one man with a WET TOWEL beating it down… gee, who do you think will win this one? I called 911, and then stayed back away from the fire. I told bob I had to go to the road to direct the trucks. I called Chris knowing he was on the soccer field. I left the following message. “Hi sweetie, it’s me. Bob was an idiot and had a fire on a windy day and our field is on fire. I called the fire department and they are on their way”. Since the fire wasn’t near my house, I wasn’t too concerned yet. A bit pissed, but not really concerned. I ran in the house and Cailin had woke up. She was playing with and talking to Malia. I was glad. They were both happy. I told Cailin that fire trucks were coming and I had to go show them where the fire was. She said okay and was going to play with Malia. I am sooo thankful my girls are easy going and get along!!! I start walking up to the road to watch for the trucks to arrive. While I was doing that, I called Amy back and talked to her about bob’s stupidity. I had to talk to someone to calm my nerves down. These were BIG flames… in MY YARD! I heard the sirens, and then they left. I was thinking oh crap; they got lost finding my house! Ha. Later I found the guy turned the sirens off to hear the radio. They got to the house and I pointed them in the direction. I told them if they had to drive over the sand box, I didn’t care. They didn’t have to. We had three brush trucks which were basically 4wd trucks equipped with a tank of water and a pump. Then there was an engine, which was there just to refill the brush trucks with water. It took them about 2 hours to put everything out. I started taking pictures once things calmed down and they had most of it under control. When it was time for them to leave, they told me to keep an eye on our old tree that was hit by lightening. It was still smoldering really well. They said if I see more smoke than what was there now, to call back. Do I call a local number or call 911 again. They said they would respond pretty quickly if I just called 911 again. About an hour and a half later, I had to call them back. There was about 3 times as much smoke, and I could see some flames about ten feet away from the tree. Here we go again… 3 more brush trucks, the engine didn’t come this time. They kept hosing down the tree, and then decided it would be best to cut the tree down. This is about the time Chris called me back from the soccer fields. His first question: “is that old tree still standing”. Not for long. It took about an hour for them to cut the tree down. While they were here, they found another hot spot in the woods and really soaked that down as well.
The fire fighters are familiar with Bob. He has had 3 houses burn down. He apparently has done this kind of thing before with fires getting out of control in the yard and others fields. He just inserted a wood burning stove in at his new house. Something tells me the firefighters will be out to visit again soon! I just can’t believe that Bob was trying to fight this on his own. Anyone have any marshmallows?

Here are some pictures of the excitement.


Cailin watches the fire through her "telescope" to make sure no one gets hurt.



This is the "BIG ENGINE" they sent to refill the brush trucks


This is the big dead tree. It is no longer standing.


Some shots of the active fire. There are flames on the left side. BUT this is after they have done MUCH WORK to get the flames down.












Such sweetness for a stranger!!

I talk to my daughters all the time, however, I will be the first to admit that I am not always sure how much they understand in life. Today, Cailin taught me just how much she understands, and how even a three year old can have the most compassionate of hearts.
I use face book to keep up with my friends. I noticed a friend of mine posted a comment on a picture of a little girl who was in the hospital for some reason. The little girl looked close to the same age as Cailin. I asked my friend what was the story with the little girl. She told me that it was her friend from high school and her daughter. The daughter was just recently diagnosed with AML leukemia. My heart instantly broke. She gave me the link to a website called Caring Bridge. Sarah has her own pages on there to keep family and friends up to date. I read their story. I wanted to cry. Mom is about the same age as me, and Sarah is only 2 months older than Cailin. She has to have 8 months or so of chemo. I can’t imagine how Cailin would react if she had to spend that much time in a hospital. I don’t know how they are doing it. The great thing though, is that they have the utmost faith in God. Every journal entry seems to be praising God for bringing them this far, it doesn’t seem like they are asking why us… I sent mom an e-mail to let her know her daughters smile caught my eye on face book and that I would continue to keep them in my prayers. I asked mom what Sarah’s favorite color was and she told me green. I am going to make her a headband with different shades of green and white. Cailin saw the little girl’s picture on my computer screen and asked me who that little girl was. I told Cailin that her name was Sarah and she was the same age as Cailin. I told Cailin that Sarah was pretty sick and had to stay in the hospital to get better. I asked her if she would like to get Sarah a coloring book and crayons and we could mail them and she could play with them in the hospital. She says, “No mom, actually, I think she wants a little pet shop instead. It will make her feel lots better to play with them”. OH MY GOSH! When did my little girl get to be so sweet and caring? I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised. When my mom was out, she had a cough. Every time mom coughed, Cailin would ask “you otay ranny”
We were in Wal-Mart and I took Cailin to the little pet shop pieces and asked if she wanted to pick one out. I showed her the ones with just the single animal, and Cailin tells me that Sarah really wants the bubble bath set. Just like the bubble bath set that she had. (There is a set that has a monkey, kitty and puppy in a bath tub. The monkey has bubbles on its head. There is a vanity, toothbrush, soap, hair dryer, shampoo bottle, perfume sprayer… lots of little pieces). Cailin told me this is the best one because it had 3 different animals, and lots to do. She told me that it will make her sooo happy and make her feel soo much better.
She brought tears to my eyes!! We went to church and she was telling everyone that she got a little pet shop for Sarah who is in the hospital so she can feel better. She can’t wait to get it in the mail. I hope we can brighten this stranger’s day with a little pet shop and a head band. I know they have touched my life!
Sarah, this is for you. Feel better sweetie. Maybe one day I will get a chance to meet you!!!

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Prejudice towards the letters

Cailin and I have been working on the alphabet lately. She has been working on it for about two weeks and has gone from not knowing what a letter is, to being able to sing the ABC song. She can tell you "A says AAAhhh, B says buh, and P says popcorn". It makes me smile. She sang the ABC song last night perfectly. She didn't slur the LMNOP like a lot of people do! Today, she was singing over and over on the way to MOPS, but she was leaving off WXYZ. When I tried to remind her of those letters, she would cut me off and tell me she was singing by herself. I asked her what happend to the last 4 letters. Her reply, "I don't like them anymore". I guess you can skip the letters you don't like anymore.

Say a prayer for Malia

Tomorrow we go to see Dr. Walker about Malia's ears. Poor malia has had infected ears since January 15th, 2009. That is a long time for an ear infection. She feels rotten, and lately she isn't sleeping. Today I actually took a nap because I am not sleeping at night because she keeps waking up. I have a feeling we are going to ahve to discuss adnoids taken out as well. We have an appointment at 1:45 tomorrow. Cailin is going to play with Miss Erin while Malia and I have our appointment. Wish us luck!!