"HAM!!"

Hi Everybody! It's been another busy week around here. I think it will be easier if I go day by day, starting with last Wednesday. Before we get started, here are three of our family pictures. Out of order, sorry!

After Hadley's first soccer game

This past Sunday, April 18th

Our Easter picture

These next few pictures are just cute or funny or both
Wrestling before Bed


Best Friends writing on the chalkboard

Kami at the game on Saturday

I love this picture. Her smile is contagious!

Two Happy Girls

Last Wednesday we tried the Mud Pie Maker again. It was a beautiful warm day so I let the girls get their suits on and go crazy. As you can see in the pictures, they ended with a water fight.

On Friday morning, the parenting class at Rochester High School invited 2 and 3 year olds to come to school and play. I took the girls, and Hadley and Brooke had a pretty good time. Of course, it was a little intimidating walking into a room with 25 high schoolers. They played with play-doh, cars, puzzles and balls. It's was so interesting to watch these high schoolers and wonder if I was like that when I was their age.

After leaving the school, we headed to Decatur to the zoo. I was impressed . If you have never been to this zoo, I would definitely recommend it. It didn't hurt that we were practically the only ones there. We saw monkeys, zebras, kangaroos, camels and peacocks. Brian says I am raising our girls to be sissies, but let me ask you all. Should birds be able to roam free at the zoo? My answer is no. They had peacocks, ducks and chickens just walking around like they owned the place. Obviously it isn't a problem or they wouldn't let them be loose, but it makes me very uncomfortable to have this big bird staring at me. Brooke was already afraid of the chickens, Hadley is now afraid of peacocks and Kami really didn't care. They also have a really nice playground right outside the zoo area. I think the girls had more fun playing than they did at the zoo. We stopped for ice cream before heading home, where all three girls fell asleep in the car. Brooke slept comfortably for one hour without her vent. Just thought I would mention that.

About the next few pictures... They had this big rock on the playground. Without telling, asking or saying that she was going to climb it, Hadley took off. She climbed all the way to the top and was so proud of herself. Granny -- I bet you are freaking out looking at these! :)

Saturday morning we took the girls to the Rochester High School baseball game. Brian isn't coaching this year and I could tell he was biting at the bit to get out there. It's pretty obvious that he misses it. Although it was nice to see them play, I'm pretty sure the girls and I won't be invited to the next game. I don't think Brian saw much of the game. It's hard to concentrate on anything when you have three children, especially when the two biggest don't want to sit. We tried occupying them with snacks, but our food was gone by 4th inning.

Brian had to grab Brooke more than once. She was infatuated with the water bottle on this bike.

Saturday night we had a cook-out at Grandma and Grandpa Tweryon's. We cooked hot dogs and roasted marshmallows over the fire. It was actually pretty chilly so the fire felt pretty good.

Brooke loves her cousin Ellie and giving her hugs.

Last night, a helicopter landed at the fire station in Rochester. The girls walked over and were able to sit in the helicopter and meet the crew. The firefighters were so surprised to see Brooke without her vent! I will admit that I felt quite a few emotions seeing the helicopter. The last time I was even remotely close to one, my baby was in it; and not just for a tour or a quick picture.

Hadley's Hoorays: I love asking Hadley what her hooray is for the week. This week, Hadley says "I can drive my jeep better than I could last year!" Part of this is true. She can push the gas pedal better than she could last year, but her steering needs a little work. She runs into trees, fences, you name it. Our goal is to get her driving well enough so we can decorate her jeep for the Fourth of July parade. We shall see. Hadley has also told me that I can live next to her when she gets her own house. Do you think she might change her mind by then?? :)

Brooke's Blessing: Last Thursday, Brooke had her big IFSP meeting for Early Intervention. Her therapists are all very pleased with her progress. Here is our plan for the next six months. Physical Therapy will decrease to twice a month. This is a good thing. Brooke continues to get stronger and weekly therapy just isn't needed. As much as I would love for Sue to come every week, it's just not necessary. Language will continue twice a month. Brooke actually had language this morning and Sarah said that Brooke is talking more today than she was last week. Brooke will start getting Occupational Therapy again. Erin will come once a month to work with Brooke and show me what I can do as well. She wants to make sure that Brooke is prepared for starting Pre-school (cutting, holding the paper when you write, using both hands to complete tasks etc...) When you look at delays, Brooke does not have any areas that are delayed enough to qualify her for therapies. When it does come time to look at Early Childhood or Pre-K at Rochester, she might not qualify. It might be that she will receive Speech and Language on a weekly basis but will not go to school full time. All of her reports will be sent to Rochester in six months and we will go from there. I can't believe how far she has come. I forgot to write this last week when I was talking about our trip to St. Louis. We were sitting in the hallway waiting for Brooke's blood gas when two of the doctor's Brooke had walked by. One was a first year medical student and the other was a resident. They were absolutely amazed at how good she looked. "She's walking? She's talking? She doesn't have her vent?" It was way cool! Brooke starts a new speech therapy program on Wednesday of next week. We are going to take her to Koke Mill instead of having someone come into our house. She seems to eat better when she is not at home, so we will see if this works. On Sunday we were at Bill and Patti's for lunch and we were having ham. Brooke said she wanted ham so we gave her some before we actually started eating. When we were getting ready to prepare her plate she kept saying "ham." We were asking her if she wanted anything else with her ham. Do you want cottage cheese, potatoes, cheese? She answered no to everything and finally yelled "HAM!" in a quite frustrated, give it to me now kind of voice. I guess she likes ham!

Kami's Kudos: I am thankful that Kami is still in one piece after this week. She has been squeezed, sat on, pushed over, bit and she's still smiling. I seriously feel like I can't walk to the kitchen (and if you know our house, you know it's not that far - see story below***)before hearing "Mommy, Brooke is __________!" You fill in the blank. Poor Kami is rarely left alone and she's taking it all in stride. I keep telling the big girls that one day she might be bigger than they are and just might get even with them.

**We were talking about walkie talkies this morning at breakfast and I told Hadley that Daddy had a set somewhere and we would look for them. She then starts telling Brooke that she can talk to her and "if I get lost in the house, you will be able to find me!" I don't know how she thinks she is getting lost in this house, but she will have the walkie talkies just in case.

So those are the stories of our busy week. We don't have a lot planned for this week but I'm sure it will turn out to be busy. Have a great rest of the week.

Get The Ball, Hadley!! Hadley, Get The Ball!!

Hadley had her very first soccer game last Thursday, and it was entertaining to say the least! She was much more eager to play than she was at practice. Although she was dissappointed that the team shirts weren't pink, she was ready to go. By "go," I mean, go out on the field and talk to her friends. Each child plays two quarters per game. The first quarter Hadley played defense, and the third quarter she played forward. We had to remind her that she was playing a soccer game and that she actually did want to kick the ball. I am laughing right now as I type this. The look on her face was priceless when the entire team was chasing the ball and we were nicely yelling at her to GET THE BALL! I know we aren't supposed to say much but for crying out loud at least try to get the ball. Of course, I have the classic pack pictures where every player is trying to get the ball, regardless of their position. I had forgotten what it was like to watch 3 and 4 year olds play soccer. It's priceless. I also forgot to write this last week about practice. Hadley kicked the ball into the goal and it went through a hole in the net. One of the little boys on her team told her she broke the net, and she comes crying to me because she was afraid she was going to get in trouble for putting a hole in the net. So sensitive! I'm pretty sure it'll be a while before her kick has enough power to create a hole in the net! After her game, we went out to dinner with Nana and Papa, Grandma and Grandpa, Ellie, Uncle Brad and Aunt Devin.

Here she is right after getting her shirt.

Getting ready to start the game

Playing in the grass (yes the game is going on)

These are our forwards, the ones who are supposed to try to score a goal :)

Yep, don't think any goals were scored this quarter :)

After shaking hands with the other team

I will do another post tomorrow with stories of the rest of our week (we have a lot to share). I just figured I would post these pictures first.

An End In Sight??? and Big Soccer Girls Can...

Hello blog readers! So the week is half over and I'm just now updating the blog. My girls have decided that on any given day, at least one of them doesn't need a nap and on this particular day, NOT ONE of them took a nap. It made for a very long day. I'm just thankful the weather has been beautiful so we can spend most of our days outside. Right now, Brian is trying to corral one very tired Brooke and get her ready for bed (with little success, I might add). We've had a pretty busy, but exciting week around here.


Last Monday, we celebrated Hadley's half birthday. We started celebrating her half birthday the year Brooke was born. With Brian's, mine and Brooke's birthdays all being in March, she was feeling left out.


Brooke's Blessings: We had an appointment in St. Louis last Wednesday. Brooke did great. Her test results were great. Her lungs sounded great, and we got even greater news! The doctors have given us the go ahead to start unplugging Brooke during her naps. We will start slow just like we did in December and see how she does. So far, she has done OK. I will admit that I am much more cautious about this wean than I was her awake wean. As of today, she has gone about 30 minutes total and then I plug her in. I said I was starting slow. I want to make sure she gets good rest so she can be her active little self during the rest of the day. Brian and I were talking last night about how active she seems lately. She is very funny to watch and is becoming quite animated. We have Brooke's big IFSP meeting Thursday. It's her six month review and I'm anxious to see what her therapists recommend for the next six months. Here is Brooke with one of our very favorite nurses, Linsie. Brooke's phrase of the week has been "oh no." She uses this phrase the same way she uses "uh oh" but we are hearing "oh no" more lately. If she is in another room and starts saying "oh no," you better move quick. I'll try to get a video of her saying it this week. It's pretty stinking cute.



Hadley's Hoorays: Hadley is a big soccer girl now and big soccer girls can do lots of things, you know. Did you know that big soccer girls can unbuckle their car seats, open their yogurt container, and do their own hair? Oh yes, we are reminded every day that Hadley is a big soccer girl and doesn't need as much help as she used to. Sniff! Sniff! Let's talk about soccer practice. Her first practice was last Tuesday and didn't go so well. She didn't want to play when we first got there. She was waiting for her friend Britton. Well, Britton's mom texts me and says she has the flu and won't be at practice. Oh boy. After sitting out for the first 15 minutes, Hadley finally decided it was OK to play. They practiced dribbling and shooting goals and she was doing pretty well until it came time for the scrimmage. Hadley got upset and declares that "everybody is kicking the ball away from me. No one will play with me!" We have our first game on Thursday. We've been trying to explain what will happen, but I think she is just going to have to experience it herself. It should be very entertaining. Oh, and did I mention that Brian is the assistant coach? Thankfully he is just the assistant and not the head coach, which was a real possibility. They needed coaches desperately and Brian and I were going to take a team or Hadley wouldn't have been able to play. Brian says he is going to say a special prayer in church to thank God that he isn't the head coach. Here are a few pictures from her first practice.

Kami's Kudos: Kudos to Kami for being one of the happiest babies I have ever been around. And, even more kudos for being my happy baby! This girl is smiling 90% of her waking hours. I think my face would hurt from smiling so much. I have a video of her laughing. I'm sorry if her laughing is drowned out by my laughing and Hadley's laughing. Hadley was hitting Kami's tray with an Elmo balloon and Kami thought it was hilarious. Kami's 2nd tooth popped through this week, but it's Brooke we're having to worry about with biting. For some reason she has started biting. She bit me last week, and got Kami on her finger. Where did this come from?






We went to a wedding on Saturday. It was a beautiful day and the girls had fun playing with Ellie and the other kids. Ellie was the flower girl and was sitting at the front of the church. We were sitting in the back and Brooke was being noisy. Ellie heard Brooke and was calling for her from the front of the church. Needless to say, both girls were accompanied out of the church to the gym so they could be as noisy as they wanted. We left Kami with my mom and dad. We didn't think she would mind.





Nana and Papa Blade got Brookie a Mud Pie Maker for her birthday. We took it to their house on Sunday so the girls could play. Lesson #1: Mud pies should be made on swimsuit days so you can easily hose the girls off. We learned our lesson. Both girls ended up in their underwear/diapers by the end of the day.



Brian has Thursday and Friday off this week. We think we are going to head to Decatur on Friday to go to the zoo. If it decides to rain we will try the children's museum. Have a wonderful week. Enjoy the beautiful weather and do something fun!