Grant's First Day of Pre-school

It's official, Grant is now going to school!  He has been asking for months when he was going to get to go to school.  Well, today was the day!  Grant was so excited this morning.

Erin, not to be left out, went and got her backpack and lunch box too!  Poor girl!  She thought she was going to school too.  

Just after I snapped this picture Grant said, "Mommy, no more pictures!"  Uh oh...is he already embarrassed by me?  Or was he just ready to go?  

When was dropped him off at his class he went right in without hardly looking back.  Erin, as I had figured, was not happy when we left brother at school.  She cried and fussed all the way to Chick-Fil-A.  She was so mad at me for not letting her stay with her buddy!  After some, chicken mini's, chocolate milk and some loving from mama, she was all better!  Then we went shopping!  Boy, it's so much easier to shop with just one kiddo! 

When we went to pick Grant up his teacher told me that he had great day!  I was so proud of him!  He told me that they had circle time, played on the playground, he traced his name with a red marker, and put stamps on a big piece of paper.  Sounds like a fun day!

That's One Tired Girl!

I just walked into the living room to find Erin fast asleep!  

St. Petersburg Beach

Stephen and I went to St. Petersburg this past weekend.  He actually won this trip from the local talk radio station (the one I never listen to because I'd rather have music on while in the car).  It was just what we needed.  We have not taken the time to go anywhere, just the two of us, since Grant was born.  He will be four in a couple of weeks!  I didn't want to leave him when he was a little baby, and we'd had six years of just us before he as born.  Then Erin came along seventeen months later and I couldn't leave her, she barely took a bottle when I was at work (much less a whole weekend)!  So, when Stephen won this trip it was the perfect opportunity to take a break and enjoy ourselves for the weekend.  The kids are older now, and much easier to handle, and with baby #3 on the way I know we won't be going anywhere without the baby for at least the first year.

So Friday afternoon, we packed up, dropped the kids off at Stephen's parents' house, and headed south to St. Petersburg!  We stayed at the Tradewinds Beach Resort.  It was nice, but I think we might just be spoiled a little.  Like any beach resort, it was crowded.  We are used to our little condo complex at Blue Mountain Beach, which is never crowded.  Also, the beach was nice, but you can't beat the Emerald Coast, which, in my opinion, are the most beautiful beaches around!  

Friday evening we enjoyed a nice quiet dinner and went for a walk on the beach. We went back to our room with full intentions of going back down to the beach to take pictures of the sunset, but I got lazy and didn't want to go back out.  (I'd been up at the crack of dawn to take my glucose test and then came home and cleaned the entire house before we left.) We could see it from our balcony and it was beautiful.  The sky was clear and it cast a pink and orange glow across the sky.  

Saturday morning we were up early, as usual.  (You know I can't even sleep in on vacation!)  Our trip included breakfast every morning in one of the resort's restaurants.  Breakfast began at 7 am, so, we were down there at seven ready eat.  We were the only ones there...no one even came in while we were eating!   After breakfast we headed to the beach!  We spent the morning relaxing in our little cabana, swimming and picking up seashells for the kiddos.  

After lunch, we went back to the beach.  It rained a little, but we stuck it out and the rain didn't last long.  We both fell asleep for a little while, then we went looking for more shells for the kids.  The tide had gone out and there were a bunch of little conch shells, with the conch still in them.  We don't get these on the Atlantic Coast.  A local couple saw us checking the little guys out and told us that they boil them and make soup out of them!  (Ok....we don't eat seafood, let alone conch/slugs : )  They told us how to clean them out of the shells and Stephen wanted to take them home and get the shells.  I made him put the conch in the back of the truck on the way home, and I am still leery of it.  I told him he's got to boil them outside!

After a delicious dinner Saturday night, I was determined to get some beautiful sunset shots.  Well, I shouldn't have put it off Friday night.  Saturday evening it was cloudy.  These were the best I could get.  Oh well, they are still pretty!

Do you see the storm on the right side?

The clouds kept moving in, but I like how the light was reflecting on the water.

Stephen

26 weeks!

We had a nice time, and enjoyed having some time to relax.  We owe a big thank you to Stephen's mom and dad and my mom and dad for watching the kids while we were gone!  (My parents had them Saturday night)

PFAPA Syndrome

Today Erin had a pre-op physical appointment with her Pediatrician for her procedure next week.  Last night, she began to run a fever....again.  As I have mentioned before, Erin gets sick frequently.  Every, two to four weeks we have the same symptoms: high fever (102  up to 105 at times), red and inflamed throat, and swollen lymph nodes.  These symptoms last for about 5-7 days and then she is back to her normal self.  This has been going on for over a year now.  We have been quite frustrated by this.  First of all, no one likes for their child to be sick and to suffer.  Secondly, she doesn't sleep well when she's sick.  I spend those 5-7 days getting about 3 hours of sleep a night. (This really gets old fast!)  We have taken her in repeatedly to her doctor when she gets sick.  They have always done a strep test....which comes back negative.  The resulting diagnosis: fever virus!  Ok...I know children get fever viruses, but this frequently?  It also has always struck me as odd that Grant, who is just 17 months older than Erin, has never contracted the so called fever virus.  The doctors would just tell me that he has more immunity to these things because he is older.  I didn't buy it, and I had just about given up on our Pediatrician's office, until our visit today.

I decided before we went in that I wasn't going to make a big deal out of the fever.  I was so tired of the same diagnosis, and quite frankly felt like they weren't taking me seriously.  (Even though this is the second time Erin has been sick with her usual symptoms in 6 weeks)  When the nurse was taking Erin's vitals I warned her that she was running a fever again and that it was her usual routine.  When the doctor came in she questioned me a bit about the fevers and Erin's history.  When she left to fill out Erin's paper work, that the Opthalmalogist needed, she was gone for a while.  When she came back in she had a diagnosis : PFAPA Syndrome.  I had never heard of it, but after she explained it to me, I knew it fit.   It feels good to finally have some answers to Erin's mystery illness.  Most children grow out of it by school age, but some do not.  It also explains why no one else was getting sick.  (This always bugged me because I was sure that one of us would catch this every now and then.)  Now, I guess, we will monitor her for treatment.  Most of the research suggests Prednisone, which doesn't cure the fevers, it just cuts down the time the child has the fever.  (I'm not sure if I like the idea of Prednisone.)  They have also seen promising results with Tonsillectomies.  If she doesn't outgrow the syndrome this may be an option for her.

It's August Already?

Where has our summer gone?  As usual, time is flying by and it's already August 11th!  I am feeling a bit overwhelmed at the moment.  We have so much going on in the next few weeks.  I haven't really blogged about this pregnancy much.  The truth is, time just keeps sneaking by me.  When I was expecting Grant I spent hours planning his nursery, making lists of all the "essential" baby things that I would need, and reading up in various books on each stage of pregnancy.  When I was pregnant with Erin, I had a little less time to contemplate these things.  Now that I am expecting our third baby, my time is limited and I have told myself that I have plenty of time to get things in order before the baby arrives.  Somehow with the arrival of August I am starting to panic a little.  Now, the baby's not due until Thanksgiving, and I have a little over a 100 days left until my due date, but I feel a bit unprepared.

I went to the doctor on Monday.  I hadn't seen my doctor in 12 weeks!  He is in the National Guard and was away from the office for several weeks.  During this time I did see a midwife once for a quick check up, but a lot of time passed by due to some cancellations, on their part, of my appointments.  I wasn't worried, and everything seems to be fine with this baby and pregnancy.  The biggest problem was they missed scheduling me for another ultrasound.  I have been waiting and waiting to see if we can get a clear view of this baby.  I would really like to know ahead of time if we are having a boy or girl!  (The ultrasound tech was leaning towards a girl with our last ultrasound, but we really didn't get a clear picture. Nothing was obvious either way.  She doesn't have the best track record with us.  She told us Erin was going to be a boy!)  They couldn't get me in for an ultrasound until September 8th.  By that time I will be 28 weeks and I will have about 12 weeks to prepare for the baby.

So what do I need to do?  I was planning on doing some sewing for this baby.  Both Erin and Grant were born in warmer weather, so most their newborn and 0-3 months clothing won't work for this baby unless we have a very warm winter.  A Christmas outfit for church is at the top of my list. I would like to monogram some items for this baby too.  Which means we would have to have settled on a name.  If, by chance, this baby is a boy, I will need to make some new bumper pads for him.  (Grant's bumper pads had his monogram on them).  I know all of these things can be done after the baby arrives, but honestly, I know I am not going to have the time.

So what I am going to do in the meantime?  I am trying to sew a lot for Erin.  I am starting with her fall/winter wardrobe and I am hoping to get some items made for next spring too!  I love to sew and I have a more free time now to do it.  Also, I am going to try to put up some freezer meals.  I have never tried this before.  I think it will help during those first few months when the baby is fussy during those early evening hours.  It never seems to fail that babies seem to fuss and cry between right when it's time to get dinner on the table!  (I don't know why I didn't think of this before I had Erin)

What's going on in the next few weeks around here?  Stephen and I are getting away for the weekend without the kids!  Stephen won a trip from a local radio station for a weekend stay in St. Petersburg at the Tradewinds Beach Resort!  I couldn't believe it and it couldn't have come at a better time!  We celebrated our ten year wedding anniversary in May, but decided not to go away for the weekend because we had taken the kids to Disney earlier in the month.  We have never left the kids like this, but we definitely need some time away!   Stephen has been going to school as a full time student on top of a very demanding job, and other obligations.  I have been trying to hold down the fort here!  We are looking forward to some relaxing time on the beach and quiet, uninterrupted meals!

The week we get back Erin has a little outpatient surgery scheduled.  It's not a big deal, but it's still a surgical procedure.  She has a wart that has grown on her lower eyelid.  It's gotten quite large and her doctor referred us back to the pediatric ophthalmologist that she saw last year.  He is going to remove it for us.  It bothers her  and other children are starting to mess with it, which makes her mad.  He said it would be best to go ahead and take it off before more warts start to grow.  If we waited he would have to excise a larger area of tissue.  So they will put he to sleep and surgically remove it and she will be left with a few sutures.

The following week Grant starts pre-school!!!  He is so excited about starting school.  He is just going three mornings a week and will be in the three year old class.  He misses the cut off here in Florida for VPK by ten days.  (He's going to hate it when he finds out he is in the three year old class!)  I think school is going to be good for him.  He needs a little independence and some time being with other children.

I hope I haven't bored you to tears....just writing down some things that are on my mind!

The Georgia Aquarium

Monday morning we were up bright and early and on the way to the Georgia Aquarium  What an awesome place!  We took Marta into downtown.  Grant thought that was cool!  I enjoyed not having to deal with the Atlanta rush hour traffic.  The aquarium was busy even though it was Monday morning.  I got a few pics, but I don't think they are as good the pics I took on our Girls Weekend back in December.  The aquarium was not as crowded that day.  We explored each exhibit and crawled through all the tunnels.  I was so sore the next day!  I don't have any pictures of the penguin exhibit, but they had tunnels underneath it and little bubbles where you could pop up in the middle of the penguins!  The kids loved it!

This is my favorite photo from the day!

Gatlinburg

After sleeping in on Tuesday morning we decided to visit Gatlinburg.  If you have been to Gatlinburg you know how crowded the little strip can be and it was hopping!  We made our first stop the candy store.  I couldn't wait to get some salt water taffy!!!  I ate an entire box almost completely by myself.  (I sort of wish I had bought more!)  Grant and Erin talked Mimi into a treat for them as well.  Grant chose a train which had a few pieces of taffy attached.  (He found the only train among a bunch of cars)  Erin chose a lollipop!  

We strolled down the street stopping in a few stores.  Gatlinburg is made up of many pancake houses, airbrush t-shirt shops, tattoo parlors, mini-golf/go cart race tracks and haunted houses.  Needless to say none of those places interest us.  Dad did, however, find a store that sold garden gnomes and found a Mrs. Auburn University garden gnome to match his current gnome.  I wish I had taken a picture of her.  I will be sure to take a snapshot of the pair next time we are over at their house swimming.

After about an hour or so Erin had fallen asleep mid-lick on her lollipop.  She must have been one tired girl!  Once we had seen all there was to see went back to Pigeon Forge.  Dad and Stephen went to a muscle car museum while mom, the kids and I tried to do some shopping at the outlet mall.  Our shopping trip was not successful.  We had to return later in the week without the children to try to attempt any serious shopping.  The stores were already filled with fall/winter clothing and with that kind of weather not hitting us here in Florida until December I wasn't in the mood to buy anything.  I did find out that Grant now has an opinion on what type of shoes he wants to wear.  I purchased him a pair of new shoes that I ended up having to return because he did not like them.  He only wants light up shoes....loud, tacky light up shoes.  I don't mind them for playtime, but he seriously needs some more, shall we say, neutral shoes for nicer occasions.   We are still trying to find him some tennis shoes that we both like : )

Cades Cove

Wednesday morning we went to Cades Cove.  It is such a beautiful place.  We saw deer every where!  Unfortunately, no bears.  Erin cried big crocodile tears every time we got back in the car because we didn't see a bear.

21 weeks!

Clingmans Dome

Thursday morning we visited Clingmans Dome.  I actually visited Clingmans Dome when I was in 9th grade.  We hiked a from Clingmans Dome to Silers Bald and back on a band trip.  I need to did up my pictures from that trip.  My band director was a brave man to make 80 people hiking all day long.   (Maybe he was just smart and new it would tire out those Jr. high students.  Keep them busy and keep them out of trouble!)   It was a great trip!

We left early to drive up to Clingmans Dome.  It's a beautiful drive through the Great Smokey Mountain National Park.  When we arrived it was crisp and cool on top of the mountain.  We quickly warmed up as we started the half mile "climb" to the top.  The half mile took a little bit out of some of us...Grant included.  He sat down to rest on every bench on the way up.  Erin rode on Stephen's shoulders the entire way up!  

Our view on the way up!

It was a cloudy day, and we were in the clouds by the time we reached the top of the mountain.

They say on a clear day you can see up to 100 miles away!

Mom and Dad

We stopped in the gift shop and picked Erin up a bear.  She was so happy and a little pacified. since we had yet to see a bear!

Cataract Falls

Thursday afternoon we took little walk down to Cataract Falls.

The park rangers had a information on some of the local trees.  Grant and Erin called them clues and were quick to spot the next one.

Family picture time!  Don't we look cute?  It was so hot.  Grant went shirtless for the hike due to his getting his shirt wet while washing his hands.  If you know Grant, he goes a little crazy if anything gets wet or dirty.  I didn't bring him a change of clothes so this was my solution.  Erin's hair was a little wild from the humidity and we left her bow in the car.  I love little mountain streams.  It reminds me of camping in the mountains when we were kids.  I think as soon as we pulled into the camp site us kids were off to wade in the creek.  There's something so refreshing about that cool mountain water!

Grandfather Mountain

(***Before too much times passes, I need to blog about our recent trip to the mountains.  I'm going to try to do it all today, but for continuity sake I am starting at the end of our trip.)

On our way home from Pigeon Forge, we decided to take a detour to Grandfather Mountain in North Carolina.  The little detour ended up being a little farther out of our way than expected, but we throughly enjoyed the trip and saw some beautiful sights on our drive.  Grandfather Mountain is a privately owned mountain that has hiking trails, animal habitats, gardens, camping and picnic areas and a famous "mile high" swinging bridge.  I took the picture above after crossing the bridge.

There we are...a "mile" high.  Dad, Stephen, Grant, Erin and myself walked across the bridge.  Mimi had other plans and found herself a bench to sit and wait on us.  She's not to fond of heights.  Grant tried to encourage her by singing the "Try Again and Try Again" song, but she wasn't giving in to our pressure.  

On top of Grandfather Mountain.  I would love to see this place in the fall!

The guys....

Papa held Erin right on the other side of the bridge.  He figured it would be safer to stay there rather than try to carry her on up to the top.  Stephen had Grant, and I had to take care of myself (given that I am pregnant). It was a little tricky climbing to get to the very top, but we pressed on : )

The family in front of Split Rock!

The highlight of the trip for Erin was seeing a real bear!  That's all she wanted to do the entire time we were in the mountains.  I was relieved not to see a bear in the wild, but this guy was just fine!  She was one happy girl!