Buddy and Swimmy

I finally took the camera to basketball but only got a few pictures. Cade is on the red team #66.

They are getting much better and Cade even scored 2 baskets and had a lot of rebounds. He is having fun.

Saturday night we went to dinner at Chick Fil A and then went to Petland. Petland is like a petting zoo, only better. We went to look at Beta Fish because Cade is wanting a fish again. Story about that with the pictures of the fish at the bottom. They have Petland set up where you can pick up any animal, a bunny, ferret, mice, gerbils, birds, dogs. It was a great way to spend a Saturday night.

The kids were loving these little bunnies. Maddi and Cade tried to convince us to let them put their money together to buy one. Where would we keep a bunny?

Even Emalyn loved those little bunnies.

Then we got to hold a little Shih Tzu puppy!

Someone loved that little puppy!

I don't think she knew it was like Cocoa, but she knew she wanted it.

Emalyn was so proud.

Little shih tzus are so ugly, they are cute. Looks like a gremlin! Love it!

Cade wanted that puppy too. We told them before we went in, we were NOT buying a puppy, so don't ask. They knew that and understood, but they still asked for that puppy. Maddi ended up crying and said she doesn't think she should go back in that store because it's so hard to see all those puppies. She wasn't being bratty or mean, she just had a moment where it was too much for her and her little heart. We told her she should never work in a pet store because she would take them all home with her each night.

The whole reason we went was for one Beta fish, for Cade. Look who else came home with a fish! Maddi used her own money to buy a tank and a fish.

Meet Swimmy, Maddi's fish.

Here is Cade with Buddy. Yes, Buddy, again! Cade first had a Beta fish named Buddy 5 years ago after Maddi got Cocoa. He has since had many other Beta fish, and they are always named Buddy. Many times, we replaced "Buddy" without Cade knowing that Buddy had died.

Cade has been asking for another fish since his last one died. Brett was tired of the upkeep of the tank and wasn't ready to deal with it again. This last week at school, Cade disected an owl pellet. One night before bed, he was telling me how cool it was and asked about things I've disected. I told him about the frogs, starfish and cat. He asked if I killed the cat and I told him how the cat was put to sleep or some other reason and then they were used for disecting. He asked what putting to sleep meant. Then he started crying and said that he thought I put Buddy to sleep because I was tired of him. You see, last time when Buddy died Brett thought it would make Cade too upset to know he died, so he wanted to replace him without him knowing. Buddy was dead for over a week and Cade never noticed. One day he said he wasn't eating anymore so Brett told him he would take Buddy to the vet. We ended up telling Cade that the vet gave Buddy some medicine but he didn't make it. Now all of a sudden, Cade thought I put Buddy to sleep. I don't like lying and always just wanted to tell Cade "your fish died, deal with it" but Brett wanted to protect his feelings. I finally came clean and told Cade the whole truth how Buddy had been dead for over a week but he never noticed and that we never took him to the vet, etc. So all week he's been telling us he'll take care of the fish, change the water, etc. He even said he'd buy the tank and fish himself. I do think he's ready for the responsibility, so we bought the boy a new tank and fish. We'll see how this goes!

This, That, and the Other

I've got some things to catch up on!

Cade had his last swim meet of his season last weekend. He did AMAZING! He beat his times in every event, including droppoing 11 seconds in the 100 free. He ended up scoring the most points for all 8 and under boys. It was so nice for him to have an activity throughout the winter to keep him in shape and let him burn some energy and it was a bonus that he did so well and got some recognition. Now we're trying to decide if he's going to do the long course season and if he does do long course, will he continue long course along with baseball and summer swim team? Makes me tired thinking about having all 3 things going on at once.

Last Saturday night, Maddi went to a birthday party for her friend, Kate, from dance. Kate has "Beiber Fever" so they went to see the new Justin Beiber movie. Maddi was not a fan of Justin going into it but after seeing the movie, she might have the "fever". Kate's mom said Maddi and Kate were squealing quite often during the movie.

All the girls at the party.

Monday was President's day so the kids had a day off of school. We had a dr. appointment for Maddi and then Brett took Emalyn home and I took Maddi and Cade to an indoor water park.

Cade was waiting for the big bucket of water to fall on him.

It was a small water park, it only had two slides, but the lines weren't long at all to ride the slides. They slides were so fun and the lifeguard suggested we ride the tube slide backwards and that was the best! It was nice to spend time with just Maddi and Cade. I can't remember the last time it was just me and the older two kids. We finished off the day at Sweet Tomatoes for dinner, one of their favorite places because of all the desserts!

Other things I've missed out on posting, Maddi's Valentine Party. It's always fun to attend the parties and see the kids at their craziest.

My sweet girl!

Maddi with some of her friends.

This is the class playing "stack the hearts". They had a minute to stack up conversation hearts as high as they could. The kids loved it. We also played a few round of Valentine Bingo. It was a fun party.

After the parties, it was time to check out all the candy and valentine cards. Good thing Emalyn has no idea what all that candy is. She thought it was fun to look at and carry around.

Maddi and Cade thought it was fun to look at but they thought it was more fun to EAT it!

Other things this month:
*I backed up into our neighbors boyfriends car. I was in a hurry one night and heard a crunching sound but thought it was a pile of ice/snow. Cade yelled "Mom, you're hitting that car!" I was like, "WHAT, HOW?" Then I looked in the screen with the camera on my car, and sure enough I hit their car. It never even beeped at me, but I really never use that camera. Perhaps I should. The car was parked in the street and the sad part is, I was in a hurry to drop off the kids at a friends for AWANA so I could go teach my class, so I called them and left a message that I hit AJ's car but would be home after 7:00 and could talk to them then. He never called us, so we called them a few days later and the guy doesn't even care and doesn't want his car fixed. Really? Thank you! Nothing was wrong with my car, but his bumper was cracked and needed replacing. I. must. slow. down. and. pay. attention!

*This last week was one of our toughest with Miss Maddi. We went back to her doctor Monday and got the results of her teachers and our surveys for ADHD. Her classroom teacher showed significant behaviors of ADHD, and ours showed mild. We decided to try her on ADHD meds to see if it would help her focus and have more success at school. Ever since it was mentioned that Maddi might have some attention issues, she has talked about having trouble focusing while at school. She tends to do this, like the self-fulfilling prophecy (it's part of her anxiety). She was on meds for 3 days and it was AWFUL! She was a basket case, crying and so sad and saying she didn't feel like herself. The only good thing that came of it is that it showed she clearly is not ADHD, but rather, her anxiety is still causing her from reaching her full potential academically. So, we have increased her anxiety meds in hopes that it will help her to relax and not worry so much about her school work. It breaks my heart to see Maddi so sad and to watch her struggle with school. She's actually doing much better academically than the first of the year. She recently graduated from speech and that's exciting! Anyone that knows Maddi knows she has a heart of gold. She says and does things that amaze me. At AWANA the other night, they were buying things with the shares they've earned. Maddi used her shares to buy something for a special needs girl who wanted something she didn't have enough money to buy. It brought her more joy to make that girl happy than to get something for herself. That's just how she is, so selfless and kind.

*Emalyn had a stomach bug Thursday. It was so strange. She didn't eat much dinner and then I was doing dishes and she walked over to me and coughed a bit and then threw up. Luckily Maddi and Cade were home, so they held her while I cleaned it all up. She continued vomiting for 3 hours. It was so sad, she would vomit, her eyes would roll back and she's sleep for a bit until she would vomit again. I just held her in the recliner because I didn't want her vomiting in her crib and laying in it. At around 9:00 p.m., she woke up and tried to grab my water from me. I hadn't given her anything to eat or drink for fear that it would just come back up. I figured it was time to give her some liquid even if it just made her sick again. She drank 1 1/2 cups of juice/water and ate a banana and then ran around like she was fine. I put her in bed at 10:00 p.m. and she slept all night and never got sick again. Friday she had a slight fever and didn't have an appetite all day. She's slowing getting her appetite back and is feeling a little better each day. Poor baby.

*I think it's safe to say, I'm ready for March. February was cold and dreary and just not the best month. Come on March and come on warmth!

Dance, Swimming, and a Half Birthday

This was quite a busy weekend, and Emalyn was all smiles, ready for it to begin! Saturday morning, Brett and Cade left at 11:30 for a swim meet. It was a home meet and we had to volunteer, so Brett was a timer. Cade had an awesome meet and got first overall for 8 and under boys in the 50 breast and 100 IM on Saturday!

Maddi and Emalyn were playing while I was getting all the things ready for Maddi's first dance competition of the season. These two girls were very happy.

I found 3 pacies in the diaper bag when I was cleaning it out. Emalyn never really took a paci but we tried to get her to like them. She's not sure what to do with them.

What are these things?

Maddi showed her what to do with them. I love the look on Emalyn's face.

Emalyn just didn't quite figure those pacies out, but she had fun playing with them.

We go to the dance competition at around 2:30 on Saturday. While Maddi was getting her hair and makeup done, Emalyn was fighting off the boys. This little boy, Brendan, is 2 1/2 and he's the younger brother of another dancer. He has always been quite interested in Emalyn but they haven't seen each other since last summer. He kept trying to touch Emma or hug her but she wanted nothing to do with him. He finally got a hand on her. He is so cute and sweet, maybe one day Emalyn will want to play with the poor guy.

I have hardly seen any of Maddi's dances this year and we had only received one finished costume prior to the competition. It was a big surprise to see what the costumes and dances were going to look like. I saw sketches of what their teacher wanted them to look like but the lady sewing them had so many to sew she wasn't finishing them early enough to get rhinestoned and sent home. It was really weird to pack for a competition when all we had was the make up and shoes. This is Maddi with her teacher, Lindy, and her friend, Emily, in their Cookie Time costume. This is a dance with the older girls and Maddi and Emily. It's cute, but it's more fun than difficult.

This is their small group lyrical. There are 4 "little" girls this year and Maddi loves these girls. She has a great time with them at dance. From left to right, it's Maddi (10), Kate (8), Emily (9) and Jayden (10).

This is their petite jazz costume with their teacher, Miss Jamie. The song is Cuban Pete and it's a fun dance with lots of energy. I got a lot of these pics from facebook from people who took them with their phones, so they aren't the best quality, but they are pictures!

The 4 petites with Lindy and Jamie (they are sisters) after awards. They got High Gold in both dances and got 9th overall for lyrical and 7th overall for Jazz.

After the group awards, Maddi had her solo. She's doing a musical theater solo to "Paris Holds the key to Your Heart". She did a great job and we were so proud of her. She got high gold and didn't make it in the final 10, but there were over 30 junior solos. I'm not really liking her costume. The sketch looked really cute and then the lady sewing had too much to do so they simplified it and I don't think it looks much at all like they had originally planned. Not a fan of the boa and the headband. I'm debating asking them to take it off. I never saw this costume either until that night and her teacher was sewing the boa on while she was waiting for her turn to dance.

Brett and Cade came straight from the swim meet and actually got there in time to watch all of her dances. I am so happy that Brett is so supportive of his kids and goes out of his way to watch them and cheer them on.

Maddi and Emily are both doing solos this year and Emily and Jayden stayed to watch them. Actually, almost the whole company was there to watch them and cheer for the two of them. There are only 26 girls in the whole company and they are a close knit group. They stayed late on a Saturday night just to support their fellow dancers, even though they had to be back at the competition to dance themselves early Sunday morning. I get frustrated with the time and money dance takes, but times like that make me realize it's all worth it. Awards were done at around 10:15 and Maddi and I headed home and got to bed after 11:00.

We were back on Sunday by 9:15 a.m. so she could dance in their jazz line called Gorgeous. These are the little petites, but it's the whole company in the dance.

This was the only costume we got a few weeks before the competition. It's one of my favorite costumes this year too. They did great, got a platinum and 6th place overall large groups in the teen category.

Little Emalyn was a trooper again hanging out at dance for a few hours. She actually napped on my lap for about an hour so that was very nice. When she woke up she spent her time playing with her baby.

We let Maddi stay with another family while Emalyn and I went to watch Cade at the swim meet. Maddi enjoyed her time with her friends watching the older girls in her company compete. She seems so happy and carefree in this picture as they were going out for lunch.

I din't get any pictures of Cade swimming, I only had my camera phone, which isn't that great. However, I got a few of baby sister passing time between events. She loved walking back and forth on this drain. She, of course, had her baby and cup with her the whole time.

Such a sweet baby girl, always taking care of her baby doll! Emma has a little cold right now and I'm sure she's not feeling so hot but that didn't stop her from enjoying her weekend watching her brother and sister do what they love. The swim meet his weekend was really small so it was over within 2 hours, so that was nice. We had some time at home so Emalyn could nap and Cade got to play with a friend.

Later that night, we picked up some dinner and dessert to celebrate this big brother's half birthday!

I can't believe Cade is 8 and a half years old! I think I finally remembered why we celebrate half birthdays. It's because Cade is an August birthday, he never gets to celebrate his birthday at school, so he has always taken a birthday treat on his half birthday. I think it started with is 2 year old preschool. He is such a good, sweet boy and I couldn't love him more!

15 Months!

Miss Emma is 15 months old! Some days she acts like a terrible two year old. Yikes! Where did my sweet little angel go? She can still be as sweet as can be, but she can also let you know she has an opinion. Good thing is that she's pretty stinkin cute and we are all pretty much in love with her and we often find humor in her little fits.

This Magna Doodle is a newfound obsession. Problem is that someone has to hold it for her or she gets really upset. So, we hold it for her. Spoiled much?

She is quite the artist if I may say so myself.

Sunday her Daddy was the slave that held the Magna Doodle for her all day.

A very determined little girl.

Some other things she's pretty much obsessed with include: her baby doll (I just ordered another one online in case we were to lose her baby or if it falls apart when I wash it. It's really dirty and needs to visit the washing machine), the tv in our car (I drove Brett's car without a tv last week and she screamed blood curdling screams for the entire trip to and from dance because there was no tv on), things with lids (water bottles, tupperware, body spray), books, and food (baby loves to eat, can't wait to see her stats when we visit the doctor. She pretty much eats her way through the day).

Check out her curly hair. After her bath it is crazy curly and her daddy has nicknamed her Bozo because she looks like Bozo the clown. After she sleeps on her hair it's not so crazy with curls. Her hair is actually pretty long but it curls up so much it looks rather short. It seems like the curls are only at the ends so I wonder if they will only be baby curls?

Teeth! Look at all those teeth. She has all 4 molars, 4 top teeth, 3 bottom and the 4th bottom one is almost in. I miss her gummy baby smile, but she looks so cute with all those chompers too.

She has so many funny faces she makes. She has recently learned to fake laugh. Cracks us up.

Another funny face. I couldn't catch her smile on camera today. Still not really talking, only says momma and dadda. Dadda is so sweet like Daaaa Daaaa in a really airy voice and momma is like mom,mom, mom, mom in this deep voice. Dad is pretty much her favorite person right now. She is making all kinds of other sounds but they aren't words. She has been signing for "more" and last week learned "please" and "eat". She'll even put "more" "please" together. How can you say no when she goes over by the M&Ms and screams "mmmmmaaaa" and then signs "more please"? Cuteness!

She understands everything. She points to her hair, nose, hands, feet, belly, teeth, tongue and eyes (she blinks her eyes, doesn't point). We are having so much fun with her when she's not asserting her opinion. Ha! She makes us laugh all the time. She is a very lucky little girl that has a family that adores her. You can stop growing up so fast. Okay baby girl?

Update from doctors visit this morning: Height - 32 inches, 90th% and Weight - 24lbs. 3oz., 75th% He said not to worry that she only has 2 words. She'll start talking soon. He also not to worry about her bowleggedness and turned in feet. He says they'll correct themelves. She got 3 shots, which she did not enjoy in the least, but she's a healthy baby!