ballerina

She's been waiting for this day for a long time.

Waiting. (practicing). Asking her Mommy, "Is today the day?"

And finally the day came when her Mommy said, "Yes! Today IS the day!"

Serious endeavors require serious fuel.

Healthy nutritious breakfast?

Check!

She might have her big sisters hand me down ballet shoes, but rest assured she's chock full of her own unique "spunk" ...

           

And (naturally) her signature "Ariana smile."

  

As any professional ballerina knows... it's straight to the bar.

 And, as any gentleman knows, you oblidge the lady who wants to dance...

And in due time, he'll learn that it's the gentleman, and not the lady, who asks,

"May I have this dance?"

And, from the mouth of the ballerina, it was worth the wait and became "the best day" of her whole life.

And THAT deserves a sticker.

A splash about Christian, a pinch about hemangiomas & a dash of Ariana

Though she likes to call herself the "big sister"- the truth is Ariana isn't really that much bigger than her little brother who's 3 years younger. The "baby" of our family is quite a big boy! I think his head might actually be bigger than his sisters and at his 9 month check up today, I found out that they also weigh nearly the same.

The other thing I found out at the Dr. today was that they have a new experimental drug they are using for hemangiomas. I actually did not find this out at his Dr. appointment- I found it out at my Dr. appointment that Christian and I attended just before his. We had back to back appointments this afternoon- different Dr.'s, different clinics, different streets-  within a mile of each other and timed one right after the other. Not bad!

First stop was the dermatologist for me where she proceeded to biopsy 2 spots of possible basal cell carcinoma. I won't hear until next week, but I'm not too worried about it as basal cell is not as serious as something like melanoma. As a matter of fact, I was told today that at some point, every single person will develop basal cell if they live long enough!

Anyway, the first thing the dermatologist said was, "I know you're not here for Christian," but I want to mention to you a new cutting edge treatment they are using for hemangiomas using topical Timolel. I already knew that using Beta blockers (strong drugs traditionally used for treating heart problems) has an amazing effect in shrinking infantile hemangiomas. Totally unrelated - but something they discovered by chance a couple years ago. However, what I didn't know was that now they are using a topical beta blocker - (the topical Timolel she referred to)-  given topically through an eyedropper to treat superficial hemangiomas (like Christian has- the kind that does not go deep into the skin) with huge success, without the systemic (and possibly scary side effects) of oral beta blockers.

So, back to the dermatologist. She told me to call Christian's Dr. (he's treated by a specialist in town) because she actually knows him (it's amazing to me how many Dr.'s - who practice completely different specialties- know each other!) and to relay the message and see if he wants to explore that route.

Now, I'm not exactly sure if I want to explore that route- considering that it's experimental and all- but I was intrigued enough to at least leave a message for Christian's Dr. to call me to discuss. So, we'll see what his thoughts are and go from there.

I know it may seem strange to others, but in all honesty, his hemangioma is something we don't even notice. I think what will actually seem strange to us is when someday his hemangioma has completely disappeared. Though, I realize it won't happen overnight- but gradually over the years.

Though Christian has something different than many other kids - we don't see his "flaws" when we look at him. We only see him. And that which makes him different, also makes him... well, HIM, in our eyes. The absolute ONLY reason that I would even consider speeding up the process of shrinking his hemangioma is so that, for his sake, he is not left with too much scarring or repair work needing to be done to the skin on his nose. The whole reason they even suggest shrinking it faster (as opposed to letting it go away on his own) through the surgeries and possible meds is because the skin on the nose is so thin and not very forgiving and doesn't leave a whole lot of "wiggle room" for something like plastic surgery. OK, I'd better stop typing now... visions of Michael Jackson's nose are now dancing around in my head and I'm scaring myself.

Another (much more fun way) that he's different is that he seems to be pretty advanced with his motor skills. He is a fire cracker! So fast!! He's racing up stairs, standing now- on his own- and starting to walk with a walker. When he's not practicing those new moves he's ripping around the carpet. I happened to have my camera close by the other day when Mike was trying to work out in the living room. In between push ups he found a little visitor smack dab underneath him!

And while his little "assistant" was not very effective in assisting him in push-ups, he was extremely effective in making his Daddy smile.

And last but not least, I had to include pictures of what I witnessed to be both very funny and very reassuring. If you remember from about a year ago- with the trouble we had with Ariana eating (or not eating I should say), you'd understand why.

But for those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about... Ariana went through a period of about a year and a half where she lost interest in eating. She gained no weight and it was a huge, major deal around here. LONG story short, things turned around and for the last year she's been an eating machine. She'll eat any and everything we put in front of her and she asks for food all day long. Though normally I would find that annoying, coming from her it's music to my ears.

On this particular morning, she woke up with a hunkering for eggs and oatmeal. So eggs AND oatmeal she got. She decided to put them next to each other and apparently couldn't decide which looked better so she asked for 2 utensils and ate both... at the same time.

Ahhhh. Life is good.

Being a Princess is serious business...



It takes lots of time... patience...



And attention to detail.



And a few mid afternoon naps -



to catch up on my beauty sleep!

There are a few things that every little girl needs to do on her birthday...

Take a birthday phone call from Grandma (in your best dress up costume, of course)...



Count up your presents. Stack them up high!



Open them...



Make a wish and blow out the candles on your cake...

And eat it!!

Don't let this picture fool you. Even though baby boy is not wearing any clothes, that does NOT mean it's warm around here! In fact, I actually threw a winter coat on Grace as we headed out the door this evening for gymnastics.



Nevertheless, babies are always cuter in their bare skin. I took a few pictures of my little guy. These are not at all the best shots- but I had to post them because they show him practically taking off crawling. Cannot believe how strong he is! He's barely a month old and is not only consistently keeping his head up, but actually prefers to be in this position.

When I took these pictures below, he was even scooting himself by pushing his back legs. He even moved a couple inches! Because he was such a big baby at birth, is so big now and doing so many "big baby" stuff so early (holding his head up, smiling so much) I feel like I missed that little newborn stage! In a way it's a little sad- but, at the same time, it is so fun to interact with him and smile and coo back and forth with him.



Even though the "au natural" look may be for the baby, my little girl isn't having it. No messing around for her. She's already preparing for winter.

Hats?

Check.


Gloves?

Check.


You can never be too prepared!

My little Artiste!

There she sat at the kitchen table,



All by her lonesome, but as happy as can be. Concentrating on making her masterpiece...



She sat for nearly an hour. Painting... painting... and painting some more.



... My little Artiste.

My girls...

... they may be 4 years apart, but they have so much fun. They are constantly together.



And they love each other so very much.



I'm a proud Mama of my little girls!!

And, just because I thought my 'littlest' girl looked so cute while she was concentrating on drawing her picture- I had to snap this picture and throw it on here, too.

... my little "artist."

Twinkle Toes

A few days ago, I took my girls to the shoe store to find some good, sturdy, outdoor shoes for them to play outside with.

The first mistake I made, was turning my back.

I turned away for a moment to check out the shoes and within seconds, Ariana had spied a pair that she fancied, put them on and was utterly and madly in love.


The second mistake I made, was trying to take those shoes off.


Being the practical Mama that I am, surely nothing other than what I came for (sturdy outdoor shoes) would do. Besides, we are in a recession and all. So, I pried those shoes off her feet after a while and


major
meltdown
ensued


Now- those of you who know me- know that I'm not one to give into a temper tantrum. So, I did NOT put those shoes back on. But, ladies, I do have a heart. And to see how much she adored those shoes, I could not leave the store without them.

They are far from sturdy...




But one could argue that they might be practical (good for stylin around the house, looking good while lounging around reading books).



But, one thing is for sure, they are most certainly fit for a princess!

"I'M the PRINCESS!"

If I had a dollar for every time I heard that out of my 2 year olds mouth, I'd be a rich lady. I have no idea where she got this notion. Though we adore our little girls, we don't necessarily adorn them with tiaras and lace the way some little girls parents do. Of course, you'll see the occasional bow in my daughter's hair, that is true. But nothing ostentatious.

Nevertheless, somewhere along the way, my 2 year old decided that she's 'the princess!' and it's something she likes to remind us throughout the day. Lately, she's been demanding to wear fancy costume gowns when we dress in the morning. And there she goes, about her day, dressed like Cinderella- just relaxing and reading books like any princess would do, natch!



And if I don't give in to her "diva" demands to wear a gown- I will usually give in and allow her to wear a comfortable dress. Though generally she insists on tights to compliment her outfit...



Different day... different dress.



I think I can still find a smidgen of "tomboy" somewhere inside there (notice playing trucks with Dad). But even if she's going to play with cars, she's not about to do so without a dress on!



And for those rare occasions I deny her a dress, believe me- she will FIND a way to dress up and "princess-ize" her outfit...



Because, there is just no mistaking it...

She's the Princess!

ramblings...

Peek-A-Boo!

I see you!

___________________________

In all honesty, I have nothing interesting to post about. My kids are feeling better- but, unfortunately, the weather is not cooperating. So, inside we sit. Playing peek-a-boo. Or, all right I'll admit- watching a tv show here or there...

Really- I just took a bunch of pictures of Ariana and thought that some of them were cute so I'd post them.

However! Even though I don't have anything interesting to say today- I thought I'd share with you something beautiful I read in my daily flip calendar. I have Stormie Omartian's "The Power of a Praying Parent" calendar and every day there are beautiful words of insight.

This one I read a couple days ago, especially touched my heart....

"Parental love is often the means by which children actually open themselves to God's love and come to understand it early in life. That's why from the time our children are born, we should pray, "God, help me to really love my child the way You want me to and teach me how to show it in a way he/she can understand."

What a precious reminder of how vital our role as parents is in these little one's lives.

Happy Friday!!

Angela

I gave up... for a while

I've definitely slacked before on my blogging, but never for this long! I guess the month in Florida came and went by so fast. And then... of course, the three day drive home. Somewhere between 28n04, 80w34 and 44n48, 93w32 Ariana contracted what I believe to be influenza. She stopped eating on Sunday- the last day of our trip, and pretty much ate only 2 bites of avocado and one string cheese for the next 5 days. Likely due to her 104 fever that she endured for nearly five days straight. Add that to the fact that we already greatly struggle with keeping weight on her, and it was- to say the least- a bit of a stressful first week home.

But- that really only brings me up to Thursday, February 5th. Because she was better by then and I had nothing other than (you know, the daily, typical chaos of life) to stress me out. I think I figured that I lost the 2 blog readers that I had. So, what was the point.

But! Then, I remembered, the real reason I started this, and am doing it, is to keep a journal for the kids and to print it out in book form... thank you, Blurb.

So- I am back.

I do have one request- if you are reading this, and ever think of it- please keep my little Ariana in your prayers. She is very small and hasn't gained an ounce in over a year. Thankfully, she's put on a little bit of height- but her weight gain is just non-existent. They have run every conceivable test- and every serious and worrisome "possibility" has been ruled out. But she needs to start eating more and for those of you who have (or have had) a TWO year old, you know how well it goes over when you try to "make" your toddler do anything. I have had to be very creative in what I am feeding her and in trying to load in extra calories (toddler "formula" sprinkled in dinner, anyone?? real butter slathered on everything? yummm) but it seems to be making a bit of difference. I have been encouraged the last week because- thanks to prayers- she seems to have had her hunger reignited. She has been eating great and, because I am tracking all of her calorie consumption, I am thrilled that her calorie consumption is sky-rocketing from a previous typical intake of around 600 calories a day... to over 1,000 calories. HUGE answer to prayer.

If she ever pops into your mind- I ask that you join me in praying that she will feel hungry, eat fast and furiously and that we will see REAL progress in the next 30 days. I asked the Dr. for one more month before we send her to the feeding clinic at Children's hospital.

Blessings!
Angela

JUMP!

*notice, ladies and gentlemen, the toesies have lift-off.

little girls and being the baby...

A few nights ago, I was sitting in the living room and was absolutely started by a blood-curdling scream from the bathroom. It was a shocking and terrifying sound and I knew immediately it was Grace.... "Mommy!! Mommy!!!!" I bolted up the stairs and tried to open the door- which I found to be locked. "Open the door! Open the door!!" She unlocked it, still screaming. As I opened the door, expecting to find her in a pool of blood- or something horrifying, or even worse- I instead discovered her clutching her bottom lip, crying her head off, jumping up and down with her eyes fixated in the mirror. "My tooth is loose! My tooth is loose!!"

Oh- heavens to Betsy- you would've truly thought the sky was falling!!

But, being that this was her very first loose tooth- I just held her close, chuckled and told her how exciting it was. After she calmed down, and let me convince her that it wasn't going to hurt- she really felt like she had conquered the earth. "I'm a big girl now, Mom!"

And I have to admit... my heart sank a bit- though I continued to smile and assure her that yes, she was, indeed- a big girl.

For some reason- this milestone affected me more than others. I'm not sure why. After all, it's just a tooth! But it seemed to signify so much more than that. Like the very last straw that tied her to her baby/toddler and preschool years. Now, just one tooth loose... but I know it won't be long- it will barely seem like I blinked an eye and she'll have a mouth full of permanent ("adult" gasp!) teeth that will seem much too old for my "little girls" mouth. But, after all, I will then be forced to finally admit that she really is no longer my little girl.

Oh, my... what the lose of one little baby tooth can do to a mother!!

So- fast forward 2 days. While brushing her teeth, out popped the tooth. As uneventful and painless as I had promised her. And, just as I had assured her- she did NOT swallow her tooth- which seemed to be her greatest fear.

Last night, she reminded me, yet again- "Mom! I'm a big girl, now! See?!?" And she struck a pose and I grabbed my camera. Forever immortalizing her very first "toothless smile."



Excuse me while I wipe a few tears... sniffle sniffle.

Well, in other news. At least I have this other little munchkin that I like to call my baby girl. My friend, Jena, reminded me the other day that I referred to her as "the baby" in my blog- which didn't strike me as the least bit out of place until I remembered that she is, after all, 2 years and 3 months old... a far cry from a real baby- but the closest thing I've got. So- she will remain, "the baby"- and considering her miniature stature- it might be for several years to come ;)

Speaking of "the baby" I found a pair of big blue eyes peeking at me from across the couch. It was a bit surprising- a tad bit creepy- and then mostly just funny. I laughed my head off (and, of course, grabbed my camera) to capture "the baby" in all her humor and glory... tucked in a laundry basket, of course. There is nothing this girl cannot make fun....