still saying "Happy Thanksgiving"

Well, I woke up this morning to Isabella talking as usual. I get her out of bed and it's still dim in her room because of her window shade so I didn't notice anything interesting. I got her a bottle as usual and she drank most of it. As soon as we got up off the chair she throws up everywhere! I make it to the hallway to get in the towel closet and she throws up again, I make it halfway to my bedroom to holler for Peter to help and she throws up again! By now our house is really stinking on this wonderful, beautiful, sunny Thanksgiving morning. So, I'm thinking....maybe it's the milk. Although it doesn't expire until next week it might still be bad so I threw it all out. I had to give her a bath because she smelled. After her bath she had a funny look on her face. I thought "oh no" here it goes. She throws up and throws up as much as she possibly can yellow bile from the deepest part of her stomach. With her face turning red and her laying right on me just puking away. Finally Peter says, have you checked her bed to see if she threw up last night? Of course I haven't, why would I think about that right now. So I ran into her room and sure enough she had puked ALL night. There was throw up all over her sheet in her bed. I just started crying because I felt so bad that I hadn't known she's laying in puke all night. She never once cried so how was I supposed to know? By now we've gone through 5 outfits and cleaned everything we can clean. Definetly need our carpets cleaned now. She's sleeping right now so I'm hoping she got it all out of her system when she wakes up. This is the first Thanksgiving where I've gone nowhere. Seems kind of weird to be home, but I'm just making the most of it. Just made myself a sandwich and some mac' n cheese out of a box! My Thanksgiving lunch :) Hope yours has been more enjoyable than mine. I think tonight may be an early to bed night for all of us.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everybody has a blessed Thanksgiving. I was reading in Parents magazine about how a mom has a routine with her 3 year old at night: first they read a couple of books, sing two songs, and then tell each other some things they are grateful for. They did this every night of the year. I hope to do the same with Isabella when she's a little older. Children these days just don't seem to appreciate the beauty of life (colorful trees, the wind blowing their hair, the stars at night). Even teaching Kindergarten I can see how early children develop this sense of under appreciation for the things around them (the things that don't cost money). Appreciating life doesn't mean we always enjoy every moment of it. I had to take Isabella back to the doctor yesterday to find out she had pink eye in both eyes. And she had to get the other half of her flu shot. Not fun. What I didn't realize would be the worst part is getting the drops IN her eyes. Let me say NOT FUN! Most of it just runs down her face and into her eye lashes. I just hope it gets in there somehow. Even through all the doctor visits and myself not feeling up to par lately, I am still so thankful and grateful for everything in my life. Every moment that passes is one I'll never get back again. Sometimes that can be a good thing too. No matter where you are in life, be thankful. I once heard "The angels stand in awe of us on earth. For all they know is God. They don't know what it's like to live on earth and trust in an invisible God. They respect us for that." What a thought to think about. I guess this goes with the verse in the Bible that talks about it is more blessed to believe in God and not have seen than to have seen and then believed. There's always a reason to be thankful. Mainly because we have a God who loves us unconditionally. Love, love, and Happy Thanksgiving.

Too long!

I can't believe it's been almost a month since I posted. If you only knew what I've been up to lately you'd understand why I haven't posted lately. I wasn't able to go on vacation this past year so I've kind of made up for it these past 3 weekends. Three weeks ago Peter and I took Isabella to Gatlinburg. We had so much fun visiting the Aquarium, Dollywood, and shopping in Pigeon Forge. It was a little chilly, but Isabella did great! Peter and I have never taking her on any type vacation together as a family so this trip was extra special to us. We bought an ornament at the Christmas store with all 3 of our names on it. That's one of my favorite places in Pigeon Forge. Dollywood was absolutely so much fun! It was cold by the time we finally made it out there, but that didn't stop us. I put Isabella on the little kiddie rides and she loved them! It was so cute to see her ride rides.


She loved the duck pond, the bumble bee ride, and the little piggy ride. We also had a lot of fun at the aquarium (way overpriced though!).


Here's just a few pictures of us around Gatlinburg.




After this trip I had a ladies retreat the next weekend. I was so pumped because I hardly know anyone except the ladies that work in the nursery and I really wanted to meet new people and connect with them. Shannon, the nursery director that had the birthday bash a few months ago, roomed with me that weekend. She's so sweet and I just really loved getting to know her. Isabella has had such a hard time in the nursery (with little bullies) and Shannon never hesitates to make it better for Isabella. Here's a picture of us at the retreat. I wish I had taken more, but I forgot my camera when we went hiking. This was at Barren River Lake Resort and it was gorgeous outside with all the trees. Later one night we had a 70's-80's room where some of the ladies dressed up as their favorite rock star of the decade. I got my picture with Kathy Wills, a friend that I also teach with at MCE. We had a blast and she looked halarious with her pink hair. As you can tell in this last picture I was FORCED to sing rock star song?! Not my thing to get up in front of a bunch of girls I don't know and karaoke. But whatever, they will never remember it anyway. At least I hope not :)


So, on Friday of the retreat (our retreat is from Thurs.-Sat.)Peter calls me and tells me Isabella is throwing up!! She's never, ever thrown up and now when I'm out of town she does! OMG, what was a mom to do? Thank goodness my mom came over to Peter's rescue and helped get her cleaned up since they both had throw up all over them and she was screaming so Peter couldn't put her down. Not fun for daddy, huh? I decided to stay since she only did it once. I got home Saturday afternoon and she was ok. Not acting herself, but not terribly sick. Sunday was a different story. She woke up and whined all morning. This is not like her at all. She wimpered and just layed around and had a fever, so I thought I am not waiting another day. Mom picks us up and we all go to Urgent Care in Rivergate and wait an hour until a nurse comes to tell us we probably should go to an ER! Not fun to hear that, so off we go to Vanderbilt ER. We wait for about another hour and finally see a doctor in pediatrics. They started sending all patients to the 8th floor for pediatrics if the ER is completely full and it was. The doctor checks her out and all her symptoms and says she has an upper respiratory virus and there's NOTHING they could do for her!! UGGHH! None of us were happy when we left, except that she didn't have to have blood drawn or stay overnight . Thank goodness! Needless to say she's still coughing up a bunch of phlegm and has a massive runny nose, but all in all, she's ok.

The next weekend (which was this past weekend) Isabella and I went to Chicago! Mom took us girls and our girls. There were a total of 9 of us that went. Mom, Me, Isabella, Amanda, Tessa, Jennifer, Alyssa, Elizabeth, and Heather. Our main purpose of this trip was to go to American Girl and have dinner and shop! Thanks Arles for suggesting this trip for all us girls! We had SOOOO much fun! Here's pictures of Isabella's first airplane ride. She did an amazing job! Tessa and her did great there and back. We couldn't beleive it.



After we left the airport we rode in a limo to the Hilton. That was an adventure in itself. But we got there and everything was fine.



That night we went to the American girl store. I've never been in one until this weekend. Gigi (mom) bought Isabella a Bitty Baby and and outfit for the doll for Christmas. I bought the table chair and a teaset for her. The dinner was so much fun. Isabella kept giving her baby a drink out of the tea cup. So adorable! Tessa, Heather, and Alyssa also got dolls. So sweet!


Ok, I've been posting for about an hour now so I'll come back and finish it later. See you soon!

Ghouls at Grassmere

I really don't like the word "Ghouls", but it was definitely fitting for the decorations at the zoo. I really wished they could make it more little kid friendlier. Some of those Halloween decorations were just not meant for little bitty ones that are big enough to be scared by it. Like Tessa, poor thing. She did really good while we were there, but I'm sure some of those costumes and decorations probably scared her a little. If I were 2 it would scare me! Anyway, Isabella was a little too oblivious to really understand the scarey stuff. She had fun just looking at all the flashing lights and playing the games. We went into the tent where they had mini bowling and she kept interrupting other kids bowls. It was halarious. She loves balls! So as soon as she saw it she took off. In fact she yelled "balls!" and went straight for them. Christmas gift idea from Santa? Oh yes. Anyway, I took a before and after picture of my niece Alyssa (in the middle), Tessa (on the right) and Isabella ( on the left). They were all smiles when Mom and I loaded them up. Needless to say by the time we got there (about 35 minutes later) this was the outcome. Quite funny huh? Definetly too long in the car. That was quite an adventure for mom and me. We will not forget that one!

MCE's Pioneerfest

Madison Creek had their 1st Pioneerfest today. It is a fundraiser we did this year to get new computers purchased for our classrooms. Amanda took Tessa and I had Isabella. Amanda wanted to get Tessa (and herself) out of the house to have some fun. I'm so glad she did! We went to McDonald's to eat first before heading over there. Once we got there the girls were so giggly and excited they couldn't stand it. Isabella did her silly deep belly laughing and Tessa just laughed at her. They got to jump in the big blow up bouncys, pet chickens and ponies, and play games. You can imagine what their favorite was, the bouncys! They loved it. Tessa was unsure of it at first but then she warmed up to it. Amanda got some cute pictures of me taking Tessa and Isabella down a huge jumpy slide! I didn't post them on mine, but she probably will on her blog site. After the outdoor festivities we headed into my classroom and let the girls play in the chairs and in the loft before heading home. It was really chilly out there today, finally feeling like real Fall weather.

Much better day

Well, today was a much better day for both Isabella and myself. She got to spend the day with daddy and a break from mommy. I think the two of them need this time together to bond. She tends to cling to me if we're both around so I like it when the two of them are together while I am at work. Her legs don't seem to bother her too much. I could not believe her measurements: She only weighs 19 lbs-7th percentile and her height is 68th percentile. She eats but never gains any weight! She's so tiny but the doctor says she's not worried about it. Thank goodness. Well, I made dinner for Amanda and Greg and we all went over to their house for a while before going to the pumpkin corner to buy pumpkins. Harrison is getting so big! He's adorable. It's so amazing how fast babies grow. He's a good little boy. Just sleeps, poops, and hangs out. (Sounds like all male species huh ?! j/k) Tessa was a good girl too. Her and Isabella played and played. Isabella did not feel like taking pictures. All she wanted to do was play with the kitchen. So, she's not in this picture.

After leaving their house we went to the pumpkin corner at the end of Center Point. I was so excited to see what Isabella would do with all those pumpkins and decorations. She definitely takes after her daddy. I thought she would be scared of some of the scarey things, but she wasn't. She just stared and talked to them. Some of those decorations were really creepy. But we all had such a great time and it was a really nice night to pick out pumpkins.

Pitiful Day

So I've been on my Fall break from school and needless to say I'm exhausted! Not much of a break I guess. Isabella, poor thing, has not felt well the past 4 days and today she had her 15 month shots. I wasn't sure if she would get them since she had a fever over the weekend. The doctor ordered a finger prick to make sure her blood count was ok and it was. So after getting her ears cleaned out (to check her ears-apparently she has the most wax build up ever!) and then the finger prick, she was NOT a happy camper. She screamed and sobbed what seemed like forever. So the doctor comes back in and says her blood count looks great so she can have her vaccinations. Here it goes, the scream from you know where, 3 shots! Oh it was the most pitiful thing I've ever heard. I've not cried at one of her appointments yet, but today I almost lost it. We both had had enough and I barely remember anything the doctor told me. It seems I always have a ton of questions to ask the doctor but after the screaming I just can't think straight and I never seem to ask them. Oh well, I guess I'll be making a phone call tomorrow. So, it's 7:44 right now and I just put her down for bed. She was lying on the kitchen floor with her blanket and her "pooh" (our word for pacifier) face down on the floor. That was my cue to get her to bed. Maybe Peter will have a better day with her tomorrow than my past 5. :)