Fear

I have discovered that one of the hardest things for me to do is to voice my ideas, thoughts and feelings.  I think it's because I fear rejection, criticism, being judged etc.  The question is, how do you let go of that fear and speak what's on your mind?

A busy couple of weeks

Okay, to bring things up to date I will start with last Thursday. I had to go to parent teacher conferences for the girls. First was Claire's teacher. She told me how wonderful Claire is doing and how smart she is. She can read over 300 words, and they only expect them to maybe know 100 at the beginning of first grade. She is so eager to learn and is just a sweetheart when it comes to helping out her classmates. Her only criticism was that Claire is too much of a people pleaser and perfectionist. She gets so upset with herself when she can't do something exactly right or if she feels she has upset the teacher.

Next up was Madeline's teacher. She had fantastic things to say about Madeline. She did say that Madeline is very much a fact person, and that can make some of the lessons a little difficult for her. We are trying to get her to think outside of the box more. The teacher told me that Madeline writes incredible stories, and I have to agree. I read one of the stories she wrote using her spelling words, and it was amazing work for a third grader. One of her stories made the wall outside of the classroom for everyone to see. No other stories were out on the wall except hers. I'm so proud of her. Maybe we have a little author on our hands.

After the conferences it was time for Madeline to go to her Brownies meeting. We were to make cookies for the firefighters as a thank you for everything they do. The girls then made cards thanking them. We all piled up in a couple of vans and surprised the firefighters at the station down the street. They were shocked. The girls all stood together and said thank you, handed them the cookies and cards. It was all so sweet. The firefighters were amazing. They were so sweet to the girls. They explained all about firefighting and about the truck and what all of the knobs and hoses were for. The girls got to go inside the truck and the station house. Some of the girls got to try on the fire hat. They were all so excited about everything. Oh and a bonus to the whole visit was that the girls earned a patch for touring the fire station. It was all really cool.

Over the weekend Madeline had to finish a project on a plant or animal that lives in one of the habitats of Georgia. Madeline chose to do the coyote. She did all the research and poster making herself. I take that back. She let me glue down some stuff and paint the coyote. Her idea was to take a stuffed animal that she had, it was a small husky dog, and paint him brown like a coyote. She then cut off some white hair of another stuffed animal and put some red paint on it and around the coyotes mouth. She then had me glue them to the poster and she made trees with facts about the coyote on the tops of the trees. You can see it in the picture up top. She did an amazing job.

Okay, moving on to the next week. Claire lost a front tooth Monday night. She came running into the living room saying, "While I was trying to sleep my tooth started wiggling a whole bunch, and I'm afraid it will come out while I sleep!" She started begging Michael to pull it out. Michael did because he was afraid it would come out in her sleep, she's a tooth grinder, and she might choke on the tooth. He yanked it out and she started laughing and dancing around the room. She was way too cute. So now she has no two front teeth. I told her she looked a little weird, and her response was, "Yeah, but I'm a cute weird!" I said, "Yes, that you are." She is so stinking funny. Well, the tooth fairy came and left her $3. The next morning she told me that she saw the tooth fairy. I said, "Really? What did she look like?" Claire said, "She has brown curly hair, brown skin, wings, a crown on her head and a beautiful pink dress! And I really wanted to reach and take the crown off her head, but I thought that might not be too nice." I breathed a huge sigh of relief and said, "She sounds beautiful." "Oh mommy, she really is!", is what Claire replied. She was so excited to be able to run to school and tell everyone.

Madeline was unfortunately sick Monday and Tuesday as was Maxwell and I. Oh, I forgot to mention all of the rain we got over the last few days. Places were flooding all over. It was awful. They even canceled school on Wednesday. When I told the girls school was cancelled they started planning a party. They said, "Oooh, we can have popcorn, play the Wii, watch a movie! Yay!" Too funny!

Well today was Claire's 7th birthday. She asked me to make tie-dyed cupcakes for her classmates, and I have to say they turned out pretty good. They could have been better, but I say that about anything I make. The kids loved all of the cupcakes and she enjoyed sharing them. When she got home Michael took her on a date to eat Mexican food. She felt so big and grown up. When she came home Madeline had a present she had picked out for her earlier in the week. She opened the gift and they ran off to play with her new toys. She also received a card from Great Granny with $5 inside, a card and gift from Granddaddy, and Mamaw sent a beautiful princess dress and cape for her party and Halloween. It is gorgeous. She also sent some stuff for the party! I can't wait to share the party pictures with you all.

I am sure there are things I'm missing, but I will post again soon. It's late and I'm getting tired, so forgive any typos please.

Night all!

Today

Okay, today will be a good day. I'm using the power of positive thinking today. Hopefully it works. I just hope the rest of the family is in the same mindset. Wish me luck today!

Open House and Giveaways

I have stumbled upon this awesome site! She is having an Open House and a bunch of great giveaways! Check it out! http://www.pleasant-home.com/ She has tons of giveaways if you are interested in cool fabrics.

My Adventure with Maxwell

This week Maxwell decided life was a little too calm around here, so maybe he needed to mix it up a little. I went shopping at Kroger just to pick up a few things. I did not plan to be out long, so I really didn't get fixed up or anything. Also because Maxwell had had a bottle before we left I didn't bring any with us to the store. Well, as soon as we get into the store the thought crossed my mind that I really needed to buckle him when I put him in the front of the buggy. Of course I ignored this thought. I proceed to put him in the buggy and go about my shopping. I turn away from him for a split second and hear gasps and screams and a horrible thud. My baby has fallen out of the buggy onto the hard tile floor of Kroger. My heart sank. The sound of him hitting the ground was horrible. I scoop him up. He was crying, but not hysterically. I was more hysterical than he was. I had a group of people around me trying to find out if he was alright. The manager of Kroger immediately called the paramedics and brought me a chair to sit on so I could wait for Maxwell to be checked out. He was one of the kindest men I have met in quite some time. At this point Maxwell is looking around wondering why people are staring at him. The paramedics get there and ask a series of questions. They say he seems fine, but he really needs to go to the ER to be checked out. The paramedics ask if I would like for them to take him or would I like to drive directly across the street to the hospital. I decided to take him myself seeing as how the ambulance would cost around $1000 to literally go across the street. By now it is 5:30 p.m.

Now I'm at the ER with Maxwell. Oh, I forgot to mention that I had Claire with me too. None of us had eaten dinner at this point, and remember I didn't bring any bottles. This was supposed to be a quick trip to the grocery store. After we are there for about an hour we finally get to go to triage to check his temperature, get the whole story on why we are there. We are sent back out into the waiting room. Maxwell proceeds to vomit twice. I'm scared to death and we are both smelling like vomit. Claire is fidgety and constantly saying I'm hungry. Another hour later I decide I need to call someone to come and get Claire. It was 7 p.m. at this point and she had school the next day. Oh, and as she mentioned about twenty times she was hungry. I called my stepmother since I knew she would be on her way home from work and passing by soon. She gets there and takes Claire to eat and go home. Maxwell is hungry too and getting really fussy. Luckily the lady behind the desk gets some graham crackers for him. I then realize he needs to be changed BAD. I proceed to dig around in my diaper bag to find not only did I not pack bottles, I didn't pack diapers either. I had to ask again for a diaper, and again luckily they have one.

I want to take a moment to say that I think it is freaking insane the people that use the ER as a doctors office. I don't understand these people or why in the world they are seen before a baby that has fallen about 4 feet, bumped his head on a tile floor and vomited twice. These people were bringing their children in after school to get flu swabs and strep throat test. The supposed sick kids were walking around, laughing and goofing off like they were completely fine. INSANE! end rant.

Now back to my story. Maxwell is finally called back at about 8 or 8:15 p.m. The doctor comes in and checks him out. He tells me he needs to get a CAT scan. We are taken back to a room to be scanned, and I'm told I have to strap him down to a board. I understand why, but it was just heartbreaking. He looked like a little burrito. I had to hold his chin still while he went in and out of this machine. He was bawling his eyes out the whole time. We go back to the room to wait on the results. As we are waiting I start reliving the whole incident. I still can hear the thud when he hit the ground. If only I had followed my initial instincts and buckled him in properly. It's all my fault. What if there is bleeding on the brain? What if I have to walk out of here without my baby? What if he is brain damaged? The doctor comes in as I'm crying. He stops in the door way and says, "What are you doing? I was going to give you good news. Why are you crying?." I told him why, and he tried comforting me with the whole it happens to a lot of people, you aren't a bad mom, yadda yadda yadda. I know it's supposed to make me feel better, but I still have a twinge of guilt. The doctor told me he did have a concussion and that I would need to wake him up at two in the morning to play with him and see how he was doing. We finally got to leave the ER at around 9:15 p.m. It was a long, long day at the ER. When I woke Maxwell up at 2 a.m. he looked at me like I had lost my mind completely. Anyway, Maxwell is fine, not even a bump. He has the tiniest bruise I have ever seen. He sure does know how to bring excitement to this family.

In conclusion, I think that I will always feel a little guilty and continue to relive that moment over and over, at least for a while. I can tell you one thing I have learned from this whole experience. I will always follow my first instincts no matter what. Oh, and always be prepared for the unexpected.

It's been a while.

It's been a while is an understatement. I wanted to apologize for the lack of posts. I am currently in the process of moving to a new website. Also, life with two girls and a rambunctious baby boy is quite busy to say the least. I promise to try to be better.

I will let you guys know when the new site is up and running.

Introducing Maxwell Preston

Boy has it been a while since I updated this blog. I have been a little busy as you can see.

Okay, on to the big news. Maxwell Preston was born November 14, 2008. He was 8lbs 12oz, 20in. long. It was a pretty rough birth, but we made it through.

He is by far the sweetest, most laid back baby I have ever seen. He only cries if he is hungry or needs a diaper change. I adore this little boy. The girls are absolutely in love with him too. Claire is constantly kissing his head and wanting to hold him. Madeline is a little more stand offish, but I think it is because she thinks she might break him. :) She loves to help go get diapers and such.

Anyway, my little man is calling, so I must go!

I will update soon. (I hope.)