Soccer

Soccer sign ups were today.  I've only been waiting about, um, 10 years for this.  I can't believe I'm going to get to watch my Ella play soccer :)  I'm not going to mention the fact that she isn't super excited about it.  She said she doesn't want to get sweaty.  Whose kid is this?!  I told her we'd try it out for one season and if she doesn't like it, we won't sign up again.  I may have to wait for Sadie to be my soccer player.  Ella is muuuuch more excited about gymnastics and ballet.  Which is ok with me too.

So, Ella has been having some strange stomach issues for the past year. She would randomly throw up a couple of times a week and she quit eating all of her favorite foods. We went to the emergency room last August because she was having severe pain and passing some blood. The doctors at the local hospital did a CT scan, but didn't seen anything abnormal. Well, it was the worst experience ever. The people who happened to be working that night either don't have kids or were just trying to see how bad they could torture us. Ella had to drink some barium and the guy who was going to do the scan brought it into the room in a measuring-type cup, handed it to Ella and said "here, drink this. it tastes awful, but you have to drink it." And then leaves. I almost followed him out the door and slapped his face. I mean, can't we at least get a princess cup or an umbrella or something?! So after bribing, encouraging, singing, dancing, drugging, and eventually threatening we were able to get her to drink some of it. It seemed like the trip to the emergency room was worse than the pain in her stomach. So fast forward a few months and we got to see a specialist at Texas Childrens. After talking to me for a while, we decided to just wait it out and see if she had anymore symptoms. Well, she did. So a month ago, we took Ella to have a colonoscopy. I was so worried about how she would do. The prep for a colonoscopy is awful anyway. She doesn't like juice or soda. All she drinks is water. Well, she did great. It was hard for her, but we were able to do all the prep with unsweetened iced tea. Although, she was WIRED at night after drinking a gallon of tea during the day :) I fasted with her because I felt so sorry for her after her second day, which hard her confined to a liquid diet. She even told me the liked chicken broth and asked that I make it again for her one day. She must have been hungry!!!! She did wonderful during her test. She was nervous about the IV and threw up once she heard they were going to have to give her one, but we had a fantastic nurse who did an amazing job with her. The first nurse blew out her vein the first try and then he came in and saved the day. We went back to the procedure room with her and the anesthesiologist put something in her IV and within about three seconds she was out! She looked so peaceful sleeping there. But the GI doctor told us that everything looked wonderful. We were looking for polyps and he didn't see anything, which was a huge relief to me. I am so grateful that she's ok. She still complains of random stomach aches, but we haven't seen anymore blood since a few days before the procedure. The doctor said to think of it as a "nosebleed" but for your colon. Still doesn't seem normal to me, but I am also not a doctor and I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt that he is smarter than google! I'm so thankful for doctors and modern medicine. I was wreck thinking about all of the different possibilities and scary scenarios. We did a lot of praying for my sweet girl. Ella and Sadie are so precious to me and give me such joy.

Ella's daddy is her superhero. He takes such good care of her and is so protective. I love him so much. He's definitely the strong one.

After she got her spirits back, she and I went to get pedicures. It was her first real pedicure. She was so cute. She leaned over when they were scrubbing her feet and whispered to me "they are doing all the mommy stuff this time!"

I keep feeling like I'm living in someone else's house.  I just can't seem to get unpacked.  Last week, I made TONS of progress.  And then we started seeing a bunch of spiders and a few roaches and even a mouse (that ella asked if we could keep as a pet).  The house was vacant for two years, so I guess we started stirring up all the creatures.  So I called the exterminator and he told me I needed to empty out ALL of the cabinets....Um, I'm guessing he didn't realize that I had just finished putting everything IN the cabinets literally the day before!!  I could kick myself for not having him come out when we first bought the house and it was empty.  But I've almost got everything put back in the cabinets.  I just wish I could get to the point where I could hang up pictures of my beautiful children and husband......necessities first I guess.  We don't have nearly enough furniture (or funds) so we're making do.  I think once I get some of the more personal things unpacked and put up, it will feel more like home.  But for now we can sleep, shower, get dressed, cook dinner, and watch TV.  Survival mode!  :)  But we love the new house and we're (slowly) making it home. 

Ellabell:
Pol nailish - :)  Nail polish.  She also still calls her forehead her headboard.  <3
Swirlnado - She likes to call tornados swirlnados because they can "swirl you up".
She loves loves loves to help me clean.  Give that girl a bleach wipe and she's good to go!
She is dropping her nap.  She hardly ever naps anymore, but she's to the point now where she is a great helper and I enjoy the couple of hours the two of us get while Sadie's napping.
Caillou is still her favorite show.  (Although she has just recently decided she likes Good Luck Charlie...makes me a little sad since it isn't a cartoon)
The Chronicles of Narnia (all three) are her favorite movies. 
She's sort of excited about soccer, but she'd rather take ballet.
She also looooooves superheroes.  Batman is her favorite.
Ella is starting to come out of her shell.  She is much friendlier to people she doesn't know.  Instead of giving them some strange "i don't trust you and don't even think about it" look, she'll smile and wave or say hi.
She is also an AMAZING big sister.  She loves Sadie so much.
Ella cannot wait to go to kindergarten because then she won't have to take a nap.  I, on the other hand, am nowhere near ready for kindergarten.

Sadiebug:
You-mah-me:  You're mad at me.  She says this a lot when she has to go to time-out.  But she's also smirking when she says it....that girl is something else.  "No Sadie, I am not mad at you but you cannot climb up on the table and attempt to juggle knives"..... haha, i'm sure she'd try if she could only reach them!
Sadie LOVES to do anything she isn't supposed to.
She is also the funnest, most lovable kid when she wakes up.  She is usually up before 6AM and she is such the morning person.  She is fully-rested and in the best mood.
She loves her "mankie" (blankie) and teddy.  We hardly go anywhere without them.
Sadie loves her paci too.  We were way more concerned with not letting Ella have her paci if she wasn't sleeping when she was that age.  Now, whatever keeps Sadie from throwing a wall-eyed fit!  We love the paci.  :)
Sadie's favorite show is also Caillou, which makes things easy since they both like the same show.
Sadie loves her big sister.  She watches and studies everything Ella does.  She is figuring out the world from her big sister's example.
She will also talk to anybody.  She loves chatting it up with strangers...anybody who will listen.
Sadie loves school. Loves, loves, loves school.
We still can't go out to eat.

These girls are my heart.  I am constantly coming up with new ideas and better techniques from all the blogs and articles I read.  I think I'm slowly getting the hang of this!  :)

 

Easter at Nonnie's :)

And this one was just for fun!

Through the eyes of a child

My sweet girl. She is so beautiful, on the inside and out. I want to share a conversation with my sweet girl from yesterday. I never want to forget this moment in time. We were eating a quick dinner at Subway before going to church for our Maunday Thursday service. Josh went to change Sadie's diaper, so it was just Ella and me sitting at the table.

Ella: Mom, did Opa die?
Me: Yes, a long time ago. When I was just a little girl.
Ella: How did you know he died? Did you go see his body?
Me: Yes
Ella: Like we went to go see Nanny's body?
Me: Yes, just like that.
Ella: I miss Nanny. I wish we could see her today.
Me: I know baby. Sometimes we miss the people that are in heaven. And it's okay to miss them.
Ella: But she was a grandma. Grandmas don't die.
Me: They do. Everybody has to die one day.
*At this point I see these big tears starting to well up in her eyes as she's come across some sort of awful realization.
Ella: Mom, does that mean you're going to die?
Me: One day baby, but not for a long time.
Ella: When you're a grandma?
Me: Yes, baby when I'm a grandma.
Ella: I don't ever want to grow up.
Me: Why don't you want to grow up?
Ella: Well, I want to grow up to be a big kiddo like Alley and Cane, but I don't want to grow up to be a parent.
*She starts getting really concerned again.
Ella: But if everybody else grows up and I don't, I will be all alone.
*By now, I'm crying. Thinking in my head...no, racking my brain on how to make this better. How do I keep my sweet girl from thinking everyone she loves is going to die and leave her here by herself.
Me: Well, Ella one day we all get to live in Heaven together. We're all going to die here on Earth, but we get to go to Heaven.
Ella: So you mean we'll be alive in Heaven?
Me: Yes.
Ella: Ohhhhh, I get it now!
Then she looks up to the ceiling and I hear her quietly say:"God, I think I do want to grow up to be a parent. But I still don't want a baby."
She looks over at me and says "I just told God that I did want to be a parent, but no baby" as if I didn't hear her a moment ago say it already. But to her, she was speaking to God, not me. So she had to turn and tell me too.
And I just smile through the tears streaming down my face. One of my biggest fears is losing one of my children and I hate having these conversations about death with her. Because even the thought of her dying is too painful for me to deal with. But through this little conversation with my daughter, I was able to also come to a slightly closer understanding that God is going to take care of us.

Josh comes back from what seems like an excruciatingly long absense to find Ella bubbling and bouncy again while I'm wiping tears from my eyes and he's trying to figure out what happened while he was gone.

Once I had regained my composure and we were driving to church I was able to turn around and explain to her in very real terms how amazing it was that this very weekend almost 2000 years ago Jesus died on the cross JUST so that we could all go to Heaven and be together again with Him. Had he not died on the cross for us, we would not be alive together in Heaven. Very cool.

*Side note: Ella does not want to have babies. After Sadie was born, she was asking me lots of questions and I told her that you have to get a shot when you have a baby. So she decided that she no longer wants any part in being a Mommy. So, then I told her that she doesn't have to get a shot, but she's no fool. She said that having a baby hurts too. So she asked me how to make sure she doesn't have a baby. I told her that she just needs to tell God that she doesn't want to have any babies since I'm at a loss for words to a then 3 year old who wants to make sure that never happens! Every once in a while, I will hear her whisper out to God when she thinks I'm not paying attention: "God, I don't want a baby" just as a reminder to Him. :) I still hope she changes her mind one day.

And here's a quick snap of my Sadiebug. She was mad at me for taking a picture. This seems to be the picture I get out of her most of the time these days. This or one of her flailing around on the ground in mid-fit. :)

Stories

When I was little, my dad was out of town traveling a lot. He was a truck driver, so he spent a lot of time gone. But when he was home, he was home. My dad is a master storyteller. He used to always tell me stories about two raccoons named George and Willy. They were always getting into some kind of trouble. I remember one time George got his tail bitten off by an alligator. As soon as the story was over I would beg for another one. My dad had this way of making you hang off of every word. The stories would just suck you in. So since we have had the opportunity to live here while we're waiting for our new house, my girls have gotten to experience story time with my dad. Although his stories now are about Princess Ella and Super Sadie and they are good. My dad has not lost his abilities in the past 25 years. Here are some fun pictures lately. We have been having fun out here in the sticks. :)

Uprooted

So we finally sold our house! We closed on February 10 and have been living at my parents' house ever since. It is such a relief to not worry about mopping, dusting, picking up every tiny thing every day. It was a whirlwind of a move. We found out on Monday that we had to be out by Thursday, and we got it all put in a storage building, just the two of us. Josh and I are a pretty awesome team. :) we had quite a few repairs to make and we got it all done. But I will say that I have been feeling a little uprooted lately. It's hard to be in a place where nothing is yours and I know my mom doesn't care and is so happy to have us here, but I constantly worry about making sure we aren't in the way. We are very excited to move into our new house, which we just got cleared to close yesterday! Yeah! So we close march 9th-ish and will have a few things to fix before we can move in but it will be fun. The house is an older house and it's kind of like a blank slate for us to get to work with. I'm talking kitchen remodel, bathroom remodels, new floors, paint, all sorts of fun projects. If only our bank account could keep up! The girls are so excited about the new house. We started to get cold feet about the house so we went and looked at a second house that had been updated and didn't need repairs and the minute Ella walked in, she told us she didn't like the house. We didn't care for it much either. It was a great house, but it just didn't feel like it could be home. So our awesome realtor (Aunt Denise) took us back to the first house and we all knew it was the one for us, even ella. So here we are. I am so excited about our new adventure with my three favorite people. Life is pretty sweet.

Big Girl Sadie

Sadie is steadily growing up. It's crazy. I feel like she grew up so fast before I even realized it was happening. It seemed like between 0 and 20 months with Ella, it was slow and almost leisurely (although I wouldn't have said that at the time...hindsight is 20/20). I realized last night that I was already 8 weeks pregnant with Sadie when Ella was 20 months old. We haven't really even thought about having our third child yet, but back when she was born we wanted to time it the same. I guess time just snuck by without us even noticing.

Sadie started preschool last Wednesday. She did amazing. She cried for just a moment, then went to her teacher (Miss Kim, who was also Ella's first teacher) and then stopped crying. I took Ella to her classroom and by the time I walked back by Sadie's room, she was intently playing with a Mr. Potato Head. I thought Friday was going to be brutal now that she knew just how long she would be a school that day. Nope. She didn't even cry a little bit. She stuck out her bottom lip, but never cried. Today, Josh said that she put on her backpack and held Ella's hand as they walked to class and she went right in. It's amazing. I am so thankful that this has been such a smooth transition. And so far, she hasn't come home with any awful illnesses. Maybe being at PCCare her entire life has built up some immunities.

And in other big girl news, last Wednesday after Sadie's first day of school we put her on the trundle bed in Ella's room and she has done marvelously at sleeping in a big girl bed. We can hear Ella and her giggling and talking to each other as they fall asleep. She gets up a few times every night, but she'll walk into my room saying "Mommy" and I'll walk her right back to her bed and she goes back to sleep. I haven't had to stay up with her at all. And the best part??? Josh and I FINALLY have our own room back! We don't have to go downstairs in the middle of the night to use the restroom and we can brush our teeth in our own bathroom at night instead of in the guest bathroom. We can take showers in our own shower without waking up the baby...the list goes on and on. It's awesome.

So maybe we'll enjoy this new found freedom before we start thinking baby number three. Although 30 is steadily creeping up on me.........