Big News...

We had some very astonishing and exciting news on Monday....we will soon be a family of 5! That's right Maddi is going to be a big sister again and Cade will be a big brother. I'm still in shock mode but the kids are so excited so it's helping me get excited. They have been busy making pictures for their new baby brother/sister.

We made a trip today to Build a Bear so the kids could make something for their new sibling. They decided on a monkey so a boy or girl would like it and they named it Monkey Baby. When the kids put the hearts in the monkey they had to make a wish for themself and a wish for the new baby. I don't know what Maddi wished for because she has been wishing for a baby every time she's made a wish for the last few years. They have been so sweet and made the sweetest comments about the new baby. Cade said that we are really good parents and that's why God is giving us another baby. Melts my heart.

Of course Maddi is hoping for a baby sister and Cade wants a baby brother, but I am just praying it's only one baby. Maddi did tell me that she has only wished for twins a few times so hopefully that wish doesn't come true too! We go Monday for our first appointment to find out when this baby will arrive and make sure everything is progressing ok.



More updates on the newest member of our family coming soon....

Spring

The holidays around here seem to be a really big deal, even St. Patrick's Day. People have leprechauns that visit their houses and even at school they have leprechaun sightings. A leprechaun named "Hank" came to visit us on St. Patty's day. He left a note in the laundry room that led them upstairs to the guest bedroom that led them to the basement for another clue that led them out back and then back upstairs to their bathroom and finally back to the laundry room for a little treat. They were beyond excited that a leprechaun visited them.

Maddi had another dance competition and she did really well again. Here she is with her friend, Valerie. We were in Iowa for the competiton and we were very happy that they have Chick Fil A there.

Here she is practicing their tap routine.

Cade doesn't exactly enjoy Maddi's dance competitions, but there is usually some fun in it. This time there was a Shriner Circus in the same building that Maddi's dance was in. Maddi and her buddy got cotton candy and they got some for Cade too. That made him able to endure watching the rest of the dances!


Sunday morning before we headed back to Illinois we went swimming at the hotel. Cade got to swim twice on Saturday in between Maddi's dances but he was excited to get to swim with Maddi this time.

Maddi and Daddy enjoying the pool.

The kids are on Spring Break this week so Monday we had fun decorating cookies. My friend Leslie sent us a package of prebaked Easter shape cookies with icing and sprinkles, etc. It was such a fun activity because it took almost no effort on my end.

Here's Cade with one of his cookies.

Tuesday of Spring Break I had to teach 2 group fitness classes and Maddi had two doctor appointments. Since the kids were so great through it all, I took them to Chuck E Cheese. Cade won two free ice cream tickets so he and Maddi bartered tickets for ice cream and they both enjoyed an ice cream sandwhich.

More spring break fun coming up....

This too shall pass?

Here we are again Friday night with Maddi sleeping in the hall. Notice this time she has made her own pallet complete with pillow. She looked like she was quite comfortable sleeping there but she was right outside of Cade's door so if he were to wake up in the middle of the night she would be smashed. Once again I had to carry her back to bed and clean up her pallet. I am hoping this is one of those things that with time will pass. I just don't understand why she doesn't just lay her head down and call it a night. I guess I'm very lucky that I fall asleep within .02 seconds of my head hitting the pillow.


The rest of the weekend was very nice. The kids played outside most of Saturday and Sunday. We went to a friend's house for a first birthday celebration Saturday night. Our kids were the oldest ones there and I have to say both of them were so great with the little kids. Maddi was reading books to a 2 year old and then he was attached to her hip all night after that. She is just so kind and nurturing and kids really take to her. Cade was so great too and so patient, even letting a 2 year old girl beat him up with a balloon and jump all over him. It's so fun to see Maddi and Cade interact with younger kids.

Friday Maddi had an asthma attack at school jump roping and although she did her inhaler it didn't seem to help. She wasn't wheezing but she couldn't stop coughing. We went for allergy shots after school and they wouldn't give her the shots but she saw the allergist and we found out she officially now has asthma too. Lovely. So she is now on oral steroids as well as doing breathing treatments a few times a day for the next week. So far the steroids don't seem to make her as crazy as they do Cade, so that's a bonus. How did we have two kids with asthma when Brett and I don't have it? Supposedly if you nurse your babies they won't get allergies, eczema and asthma. Yeah, right. Didn't work that way in our house! At least now we know she does have asthma and we know what to do for her.

Picture coming soon, but it's official! Cade is now taller than Maddi! This day has been a long time coming but Maddi has kept a half inch or so on Cade and now he's hit another growth spurt and he's got her beat in height. So now he's taller, heavier, and has bigger feet, but she'll always be older!

Maddi and Sleep

Sleep has always been an issue for my Maddi girl. She sleeps like a champ once she's asleep, unless she's sleep walking, but going to sleep is just not her thing. She fights it tooth and nails and this has been going on for over 8 years. When she was a baby we'd rock her and rock her until she was really asleep and then we'd ever so gently lay her in her crib and pat her back to make sure she was really asleep and then we'd tiptoe out her door only to have her wake up screaming at the top of her lungs as soon as you hit the doorway on the way out. She seems to have separation issues because when she she was 3 or so we would have to sit in a certain chair in a certain spot in our living room so she could see us and then eventually she'd drift off to sleep. Which leads me to explain the pictures above and below....

We tucked her in and she read a chapter of her book like most nights and then when she got up to turn off her light she came downstairs complaining of something or another (she comes up with random things to get out of bed) and we sent her back up to her room. Fast forward 10 minutes or so and who appears in the living room? Maddi girl again with some other random reason why she's out of bed. I told her to get up in her bed and if she comes out of her room again she can't watch Dancing with the Stars on Monday. She stayed up later on Monday to watch with me and she asked if she could stay up each Monday if she would stay in her bed and not get out. I thought that was a great idea, but apparently she meant she'd only stay in bed Monday nights after watching the dancing show because she got out of bed Tuesday night too. So fast forward about 2 hours...I went upstairs to dry my hair and then Brett came upstairs saying "Pam, come check this out" I was a bit freaked out when I saw my Maddi girl curled up in the hallway outside her door sleeping. I guess she wanted to feel like she wasn't alone in her room so she came out where she could see the foyer and probably hear Brett and I talking so she felt like she was with us. Oh, I can't wait to hear her explanation in the morning!



Cracks me up how her hair is covering her face. Yes, the kids are still wearing footies here. Spring came for a day or two and now we are back to winter cold and winds. Wind chill around 2 degrees most of the day. Anyone want to come visit? It's lovely here this time of year!

Weird Wednesday

Here are some weird/random things: This picture above is of our dove that visits us. It will hang out in the window above our front door from time to time. Usually for several days in a row and then it's gone again. My mom has convinced me that it is a sign of peace and we are lucky to have the dove visiting. It's still a little odd to feel like we are being watched by a bird all day.

Warning: the next picture is pretty creepy....








This my friends is Cade's "shark" tooth that was extracted Monday. It's the craziest, creepiest thing I've ever seen. Cade was very nervous but he was a champ and did so great letting them pull it out. This is the same boy who freaks out having to get his throat swabbed for a strep test so for him to let them pull his tooth out is/was a HUGE accomplishment. (he seems to be not so brave like his mommy) It was another time for me that I had to put my big girl pants on and pretend like I was handling it all just fine when really I wanted to turn my head and vomit. I don't enjoy going to the dentist myself and I certainly didn't enjoy watching him get shots, or seeing them pull and yank on the tooth, or watching them drill holes in the tooth (it was so round the pliers couldn't grip the tooth). Of course I didn't enjoy seeing all the blood once the tooth came out and it sent chills up my spine when the tooth just kept coming out because it was so HUGE! It's at least an inch long. Nothing like kicking the kid when he's down. He still feels lousy from being sick this weekend and then we took him to get a tooth pulled out. He asked the tooth fairy to leave the tooth for him so he could take it to school and show his friends. They thought it was really cool.

He still doesn't feel well, but I'm hoping once he gets off the oral steroids , today, he'll feel more like himself. He's been so irritable and weepy and whiney and not himself all week. Seems like the oral steroids do this to him. I guess they are helping his lungs but it's not helping him feel good. Poor guy.

Brett and I spent the morning driving down our street looking for our trash cans. The rain finally stopped yesterday but now it is insanely windy and cold again and our huge recycling cart (filled with recyclables) was blown 5 houses down the street. One trash can was on the other side of the street 6 houses down and the other one we couldn't find. The school is at the end of our street and there is so much trash all over the grass and playground at the school. I'm sure most of our trash from our recycling is now on public display at the school. I'm not good about shredding things and just throw it in the recycling. I think now I might be a little better about shredding so when all of our trash gets blown all over the neighborhood it's not on public display. Why does it always seem to be the most windy on trash day? It's a common problem to have to dodge trash cans as you drive around because they get blown all around.

edited to add:
Don't know why I titled this "weird Wednesday" because this all happened on Monday and Tuesday....

Rain and Rest

We had a very wet and rainy weekend and it worked out perfectly because Maddi and I were playing nurse to Brett and Cade all weekend. Cade left school Thursday around 11:00 a.m with a fever. We took him to Walgreens and they put him on an antibiotic for an ear infection and his head where he busted it open months ago at recess is/was infected because he keeps picking at the scab. He still had fever by Saturday and his asthma was in full effect. We went to his pediatrician Saturday around lunch and he is now doing the nebulizer every 4 hours and is on oral steroids for 5 days. He didn't specifically diagnose Cade but mentioned it could be the flu or pneumonia. Things get real bad real quick with asthma but the steroids and breathing treatments are definitely giving him some relief.

To help the time go by doing the breathing treatments Maddi and I took turns playing Connect Four with Cade. Maddi was such a great little mini nurse as we cared for the boys in our house all weekend.

Here is our other patient, Mr. Brett himself, not too thrilled to be getting his picture taken. He is recovering well and is getting better each day after having a little procedure (starts with a v...) on Friday morning. He has been a great patient and by Sunday he was actually pretty self sufficient and helping take care of Cade too.

Every time I get Cade out of the bathtub I am amazed at how big he is growing, especially his feet! I measured his foot to mine and he's about to have the same size foot as me. He is 6 years old! I wear a women's size 8 shoe! I guess big feet run in the family so I should expect it, but I'm not ready for my baby boy to have "man" feet!

The rest of this week will entail even more doctor appointments for the McDonald family. Monday afternoon Cade will have his "shark" tooth extracted. He is less than thrilled about this. Say a little prayer that all goes well with that. Maddi has an appointment Monday evening and then she'll go to the dermatologist Tuesday afternoon. Then later this week I have to take Cade back to the pediatrician to make sure that his lungs are all clear. I have read just about every magazine in circulation right now with all the time I've spent at different doctor's offices lately.

Warm...relatively speaking

Wednesday was a warmish day for us. It was in the mid 40s and it's sad, but true...we think 40 is warm. Since it was such a "warm" day and all the snow has melted the kids finally got to enjoy some time on their bikes. They were having a blast because they have not been able to ride bikes in a very long time. Since the beginning of Novemeber, I think. As you can see, they both have grown a ton and need new bikes! We knew they were getting big for their bikes last summer but, wow, they have grown like crazy and now they look somewhat silly.



Cade found a stick and was whipping the stick as he was riding. I have no idea what he was playing but I was impressed that he can ride with one hand. He wasn't always the most coordinated on the bike, or anything else for that matter.



Thursday it is going to be even warmer at a balmy 56. The kids and I are excited because we are going to walk home from school tomorrow. Come on spring....

Dance

Here is my baby girl with her biggest fan, her dad. My baby looks so grown up with that makeup and costume on. This is a shot of part of the group in the dressing room before their Macarena dance. You can see she is dancing with some older girls, but she is certainly holding her own.



Check out this leap! Maddi had her first competition for this year on Sunday. This was her first year to compete a solo and these pictures were taken during her solo. Pretty amazing, huh? She was beautiful and did such an amazing job. She got the highest catergory for score and she got 2nd place in all solos age 8 and under. She also got first runner up for the Miss Petite contest for her solo too. Way to go Maddi! We are so proud.



This is flexible Maddi doing a ponche in her solo. Her other group dances did very well too. They got the highest score category on all them. Their tap dance got Most Entertaining Small group, 2nd place in all small groups age 9-12 and KAR kids (an invitation to dance in New York). The large group jazz got 4th overall in large groups and their lyrical got 2nd place overall in large groups, KAR kids, and a special award for Spectacular Staging. It was a great start to the competition season.




Other than dance this weekend, we had fun running errands, etc. as a family. We ate at Uncle Julio's and got our fill of yummy Mexican food. Maddi even had a flour tortilla with her fajita because we found out she doesn't have Celiac Disease. Yeah! We'll still keep her gluten free other than the occasional splurge because it does seem to help her eczema. That's all for now....