Isaacisms...

I realized that it's been awhile since I've put some "Isaacisms" up here. This kid talks like a 4-5-year-old. It is rare that we don't understand what he says, as he speaks with great fluency and clarity. We are constantly surprised by his cleverness and his keen awareness of feelings...mostly his, but many times others as well. Here are just a few examples from the past week or two...

After being told for the third time to lay back down for his nap, he exclaims, "I'm frustrated....because I don't like to sleep."

Getting into the van, Isaac saw one of the large poles from my photography background stand that had slid under his seat. He asked what it was, and I told him it was a rod. He thought for a minute and then very concerned, he asked, "How are you going to spank me with THIS?"

Kevin and I were having a rare heated discussion while driving in the van with the kiddos. It wasn't a major deal, but we just got excited as we were talking. When we got quiet, Isaac asks from the back seat, "Guys, what are you doing?" I smiled, and said, "We were talking, sweetie." To which he replied, "I heard you talking, and you were talking loud. And I didn't like that. When you talked loud like that, it made me feel...sick." We hid our laughter at his innocence. And I asked what he meant. He said, "It makes my belly feel sick when I hear you talk loud like that. I don't like it." Bless his sweet heart!! :) We had the whole adults-have-arguments-sometimes-and-it's-okay-because-we-love-each-other-and-we-work-it-out-with-respect talk. SO precious.

If I have to ever raise my voice in the slightest to get his attention, he says, "Mommy. I think you scared me when you did that. And that makes me sad. It makes me sad when you scare me like that."

And he is also ALWAYS dialoguing about what he's doing and/or thinking. Here's an example from this week:

As I was carrying him into my mom's house, he started talking about the toy he had in his hand, "Nana's gonna ask me what's in my hand. And I'm gonna tell her it's my ring. And then she's gonna ask where I got it. And I'm gonna say from home!"

He has also really been into telling stories lately. He'll make up something and then end it with, "And THAT'S my story!" I think we can thank his favorite TV show for that one! (Super Why)

He has started saying, "That's ridiculous!" to certain things, as in when Kevin disciplined him the other day!! :)

He's also been saying, "OH MY GOSH!" a lot lately. :( Not sure where he got that one!

Potty Time!

Potty training updates

Isaac: More or less completely poop-trained. (Can I get a hallelujah!?) But showing pretty much zero interest in letting us know when he needs to pee. He will even say, "Hey mommy...I'm peeing in my pull-up right now!" UGH! He goes pee on the potty throughout the day (before and after sleeping usually)...any pretty much any time we put him on the toilet, he does go. But he just doesn't care at all about paying attention to his cues and letting us know. Hmmmmm....

Naomi: I cannot believe that I actually have anything to report on with her (given that she's not even 17 months old!). But just yesterday, she walked up to me with a funny look on her face, patted her little bottom, and said, "Poo-pee." To which I replied, "Do you want mommy to change your diaper?" She nodded frantically and RAN over to the changing table saying, "Yeah, yeah, yeah!" Sure enough...she had just pooped! :) Then while at the doctor's office this afternoon, Naomi found a little step stool. She ran up to it, yelling, "Potty, potty, potty!" I acknowledged that it kind of looked like a little potty chair, and asked if she'd like to pretend and sit on it. She promptly scooted her little bottom onto the stool, smiled really big, and said, "I pee-pee!" as she patted the front of her diaper. She did this over and over...and was so proud of herself! She is showing SO much more interest in this than her big brother at this time! Craziness! :)

Pumpkin Patch!

I took the kiddos on there first hayride at the pumpkin patch with their aunts (my sisters, Jessica and Kristin). It was a little chilly, but it was a great time! Here are some photos from our day:

Sweet Baby Girl

She lays her head on my shoulder. Exhausted. The heat coming off of her body almost hurts my skin. She's not feeling well...my baby girl is sick. There are many parts of my job as mommy that I love...and if I'm being completely honest, many that I don't. :) Having sick children, especially when they are weak and burning with fever, is one of the hardest things. I just feel SO helpless to help them. I would give anything to have them be instantly healed. But being sick is just one of the not-so-fun parts of being alive. We live in a world of germs and illness, and I cannot protect them from every little thing. But at least with each little (or big) cold, their little immune systems are getting stronger! :)

I took Naomi to the doctor today. She's had a strange rash on her leg and has been saying "owie" and crying when we wipe her diaper area. Then when she started in with the fever, I decided it was time for her to be seen! :) Good news is that the rash is probably a random allergy to something and hydro-cortisone should do the trick! Her diaper area looked just fine, too. She is probably nervous about the wiping ever since they had to catheterize her last month. :( Poor thing! And the fever? We have no clue! Probably the start of a nasty virus that's been going around.

The only bummer thing we found out was that she had lost weight since her appointment with the GI doctor 2 and a half weeks ago. I was SO thrilled that she had gotten over 19lbs at that appointment (19lbs, 1oz). But today, she was 18lbs, 15oz. I know...it's only 2oz...probably not a big deal. But for a little girl who is already below the 2nd percentile, we'd prefer to see her weight going in the opposite direction. I know some kids are just little...and that's not a problem. I think the problems with Naomi are that she started out on one growth curve, but has completely fallen off. She also still pukes after eating from time to time. She eats A TON, yet never seems fully satisfied. She also seems to have a possible allergy to rice. We aren't TOO worried, as she is developing just fine otherwise. We just want her to be 100% healthy...and have a hunch that she's not. She'll be having the endoscopy this coming Wednesday, and hopefully we'll have some answers after that. If that test comes back showing that everything looks great, then I think we can just conclude that she's just going to be a little peanut (who happens to vomit after she eats)! :) Actually, I think we've isolated her vomiting to instances in which she has consumed some sort of rice product, so we may be good to go if that's the case.

Test Post...

Just a quick post to test photo sizes...

Quick little update...

Naomi is doing MUCH better. After a visit to the orthopedic surgeon, it was determined that she must have pulled some muscles in her groin. It took her a few days to finally start using that leg and walking again. She is back to her spunky self! :) She spends most of her days following Isaac around, and when he's not around, you'll hear her constantly asking, "Where's Isaac?" It is SO cute!

I am a little surprised that she wants to be around him so much, given how ugly he can be with her. We are really struggling with his almost constant rudeness. He just gets SO moody. We pray over him every day and I hope with all of my heart that this is just part of his "terrible two's" phase. He totally has moments of sweetness. Don't get me wrong. Like when he wraps his arms around me and says, "I'm giving you a hug because I love you so berry much, mommy." :) I know there is a sweet little boy inside this kid! I just wish we saw more of it these days. He is severely sleep deprived (ever since switching to the big boy bed), and I just think it's really taking a toll on his body and spirit.

After a few weeks of preschool (in the two's room), Isaac has been moved up to be with the 3-5-year-olds. He is thriving there and although he doesn't enjoy being dropped off at school, he never wants to leave when it's time to go! :) He is quite the social butterfly and is acclimating really well with that group of kids. And I am happy that he's in an environment where he is able to learn and not get bored! :)

Anyway...more to come...hopefully sooner than later! :)

Craziness...

I still haven't made time to post our photos from our Disney, which was almost a month ago now! UGH! We've had so much going on these days. While on our vacation, we found out that our pregnancy loss was not just a miscarriage, but it was a partial molar pregnancy. Most people have NO CLUE what this is. If you're interested in the details, you can Google it! ;) Basically, it CAN be serious...to my health. Tissue starts developing that shouldn't be (much like cancer). The first place it usually spreads is to the lungs, so I started with having to get a chest x-ray. Then I've been having weekly blood draws to check my hormone levels. Once they return to negative (which they are), I have to get three negatives in a row and then I only have to have monthly blood draws for a year. And here's the kicker: we've been told that we are not supposed to get pregnant for 12 months! UGH. The reason is because they would have no way of monitoring if the tissue began to spontaneously develop...and if it did and metastasized to other parts of my body while being pregnant, we'd be in a situation of having to choose to save my life or that of the unborn baby. The treatment if the tissue begins to to regrow is chemotherapy and has a fairly good prognosis. The odds are in my favor, though...as it is highly unlikely that any of that will actually happen.

Naomi has been seen by her pediatric gastroenterologist, and is schedule for an endoscopy in just a few weeks. We are hoping to figure out if there is a reason that she is still not gaining weight, but is always hungry, eating A TON, and then randomly throwing up after some meals. Hopefully we'll get some answers.

We also had yet another trip to the ER this weekend. This time was with Naomi. As she was going down a fast slide with daddy at a park, her little shoe got caught on the slide and jerked her leg back really fast. She was inconsolable for a very long time. I knew that something was really wrong, as I could not get her to calm down. As the day went on she did get better, but still would not walk on that leg. Per recommendation from her pediatrician, we took her to the hospital. The x-rays showed no fractures or major dislocation, so that's a good thing! We are planning to contact her orthopedic surgeon this morning to let him know what's going on. It seems like the pain is in her hip (and it's the same hip that had the dysplasia)...but it could also be a groin injury. We still have no idea!

Sooooo....all that to say...things have been a little crazy. All of this stuff is also still hugely unresolved. We are in a season of waiting. Maybe one of these days I'll put up some of the photos from our trip! :)

Isaac's first day of school!!

So today was Isaac's first day of preschool! Though he is smiling in these pictures (taken before we went), he was telling me all morning that he didn't want to go. UGH. Then as the director of the school was walking him out to the van, he yells, "I didn't like my school, mommy." I tried to encourage him and said, "I'm sure there was something that you liked about it." To which he replied, "No, I didn't. I didn't like my school!" I smiled at the director as she turned to walk away! I hope his little attitude changes soon, or else he's not gonna be such a fun student! :( But at least I have some adorable photos from his first day! Check them out...

Naomi's 15-month stats...

height: 29 inches
weight: 18lb11oz
head circumference: 17.75 inches

She is doing great on all levels, EXCEPT her growth. She was on a good growth curve until she began eating solid foods. And since then, she keeps dropping lower and lower. She is just under the 3rd percentile for weight, and around the 10th for her height. So the doctor collected a urine sample (via catheterization...NOT fun), and we made a quick trip to the hospital for LOTS of blood work. They are most concerned about the possibility of celiac disease. I have NO CLUE what's up with her. I just know that she's a little different. She will NOT drink milk. She throws up when she eats certain foods, for no apparent reason. And she gets really cranky after eating others. But overall, she eats VERY well. She can sometimes have a bloated belly, which looks funny on such a tiny little thing. She's also very hyper-mobile, meaning that her joints bend WELL beyond the normal range of motion.

Anyway...I'll update when I know more about the results from the blood work. It would be nice to at least have some answers to this mystery. But if all comes back normal, then perhaps we just have a little lady! Who knows...maybe she's destined to be an gymnast!! ;) Hehe.

Here's a list of some of her current words (though I may be missing some, as she's adding to them daily): mommy, daddy, isaac, nana, papa, doggie, ball, bite, bike, mine, shoes, eat, cup, owie, outside, nigh-night, no, kiki, yeah, baby, banana, more, go, bubble, water, and phone. And she's signing: more, please, and all done

I guess I should blog about this too...

I've been living with a little secret for the past month or so. At the end of July, we found out that we were expecting again. We were SO excited, as we have been trying for several months now. We were planning to wait until we confirmed that it was a viable pregnancy (by seeing/hearing a heartbeat) before sharing the news with EVERYone. But sadly, this little one didn't make it very long. We went in around 7 weeks, and the ultrasound showed that we were two weeks behind...which I pretty much knew was impossible. But we still had hope, and went back for another ultrasound a week later. So I would have been just about 8 weeks along, but it showed virtually NOTHING growing inside my womb. The yolk sac had just about disappeared. We are heart-broken. There is nothing quite like being filled with such hope and joy when finding out that there is a new little life growing within...only to have it ripped away. *sigh*

I had a D&C this past Wednesday, and am recovering quite well. Still feeling a bit crampy...but I'm managing. I have good days and bad days, emotionally. But we are not discouraged and look forward to trying again. I guess I'll just have a host of little angels to welcome me when I die! ;) Since this is our third miscarriage, we are technically eligible for genetic testing. We are still undecided as to whether we will go through with it or not. Part of me likes the idea of having some answers, but then another part of me just wants to be thankful for the two little miracles that we DO have...and just forget about it! :)

Anyway...just thought I'd take a minute to share a little about what's been going on with us.