Think Green!

I LOVE St. Patrick's Day. And no, it's not for the beer or the goofy shamrock glasses that people wear. St. Patrick's Day is awesome to me because my absolute favorite color in the world is GREEN! Now brace yourselves, fellow Bulldogs. My favorite color is not only green, but it's (gulp!) Thatcher Eagle green- otherwise known as shamrock or kelly green. Andrew (who is from Thatcher) gets a total kick out of my disgust for his school's color, yet my love of the color itself. Strange, I know. I am happy all day long on St. Patty's day- just thinking green can do that to me.

I love the 17th of March because I can wear my disturbingly loud green shirt proudly for all the world to see (without looking totally cuckoo). And I must admit, I love to find new & interesting ways to serve strange green food to my family. This year we went really tame. Just corned beef & cabbage (those old Irish staples- yum!) for dinner, with green lemonade & green Jell-O for dessert. For breakfast, Mommy was too tired to get up & cook green eggs & ham, so the kids had to settle for green milk & every single green Froot Loop that I could dig out of the 2 boxes I had on hand. Served in green bowls, of course, with green spoons. Hey- the kids got a kick out of it, and next year I'm sure that I'll be more creative. Next year I won't have a baby getting up 3 times a night!

I do need to share the success I had doing Emma's hair all fancy for the big day. She loved it, and I was shocked at how well it stayed in all day. I'm actually getting quite comfortable at this hair thing, and Emma no longer doubts my ability to accomplish these fancy 'dos.So I hope that your GREEN DAY was as fun as mine. Think green- it'll brighten your day too!

My CRAZY Kids! Part 1

Part 1: Jack

One Busy Little Baby!

In the past 2 weeks, this little guy has discovered a whole new set of exciting things about the world:

Hey, what are these things attached to my legs?

And I don't have to just LAY there like a lump! If I wiggle just so.....
I can see the world from a whole new perspective! (I know, it's the beginning of the end for his baby-hood. From here on out he's going to be a big boy. Tears.)

And look what the world looks like from here! WOW!

I love this little guy!

My CRAZY Kids! Part 2

Part 2: Frank

Ladykiller or Little Stinker?What a little heartbreaker! Every time Frank goes outside to play, he comes back in with some lovely flowers & a "boo-tiful" rock for me. I used to think that he would just grab random rocks & bring them to me, but I caught him last week analyzing a whole pile of pebbles to find the best one for Mommy.And then, just when I think he's pretty much perfect in every way, he does something like this:Yes, those are cinnamon rolls that we had made for some friends. I love how he didn't use just 1 finger to scrape off the frosting. Not this sugar-holic kid! He used his whole hand. What a crack-up! And no, we did not deliver them, we had to eat this pan ourselves. (Bummer)

But just so you know, I still do think that he's pretty much perfect in every way!

Luv ya, Snugglebug!

My CRAZY Kids! Part 3

Part 3: Emma

Fashion Challenged or Fashion Forward?

This little girl LOVES to look pretty. And granted, I am certainly no expert when it comes to lookin' good, but sometimes I wonder about her.....
Obviously she thinks that when it comes to clothes, the brighter, the better! I think she might be onto something here. Who ever said that camo & bright purple don't match? Maybe she'll be a famous fashion designer someday.This picture cracks me up. It's like she chose 1 item of clothing from every drawer in her dresser (with her eyes closed) & put them all on together.

I KNOW I've seen supermodels with hair that looks just like this!

I vote for fashion forward! Luv ya, girl!

Bestest Buds

Frank has decided that Jack is his #1 buddy. I've gotta say- these 2 are hilarious and oh-so-adorable when they get talking to each other. I only hope it lasts through the growing up years! Frank has taken it upon himself to instill a love of cars, trains, and anything else that moves in Jack. Jack is learning fast, but doesn't quite appreciate them as much as Frank thinks he should. Of course, nobody loves cars as much as Frank!

Oh, my sweet boys!

I've been meaning to blog about this for the past week or so, but it's been so hard to deal with that I've intentionally been putting it off. But, since I've received some calls from people wondering how we're doing, here we go!
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Well, it's officially been confirmed that Jack does indeed have a mild hearing loss in both ears. Unfortunately, the experts don't know what caused it, & they can't do further testing for another month or so. At that point, he'll get a CAT scan, an MRI, and possibly some blood work to try to determine if whatever's wrong can be fixed. We're not very optimistic about that, because most people that have a hearing loss never find out what caused it. However, for the time being, we're goin' with the flow & doing what needs to be done to ensure that he'll be right on track when he starts to speak. And that means hearing aids.

Doesn't he look thrilled?

I have been dreading this for the past month or so. And yes, I did cry a little. But overall, the whole process was as painless as the good folks at the Arizona School for the Deaf & Blind (ASDB) could make it for us. They have an early childhood intervention program, and they'll be working with us for the next 3 years to make sure that Jack doesn't fall behind in his language skills as he grows.

Jack was a little teary-eyed, too.

I have to admit that they're not anywhere near as bad as I thought they'd be.

See? He's wearing them in this pic.

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I think that the folks at the ASDB thought that the improvement was going to be a lot more drastic than it has been. So, on the one hand, that's good! He was hearing almost everything before. On the other hand, it's depressing that he has to wear these hearing aides when his hearing loss is so mild. Since he got them, we've mostly just noticed him turning his head to sounds or voices that are coming from across the room. It's nice to know that he's hearing everything now, but also comforting to know that he wasn't missing all that much before.

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Hopefully this will get less hard as time goes on. I'm told that attending the parent support groups & being with other people that deal with this will be helpful, although I still am having a hard time with the idea that my son will be "different" from now on. I'm afraid for him- how he'll be treated by other kids, how he'll be viewed by others, and most of all, that he won't feel "normal" as he grows.

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But we perservere, and once we get used to this, I'm sure something else will come up. That's life, after all, isn't it?

What Rules?

Good parents know when to break the rules, and Andy is most definitely a good parent.