Dentist... Take 2

Monday- Kaelin had to go for round 2 at the dentist. She did AWESOME. She is such a big girl. Todd went with her this time since "my condition" did not allow for me to be in the room with her.

I got there right as they were finishing up her tooth so Todd could get to work and I could take Kaelin to Chick-fil-A for a milkshake.

This took procedure was the worst of the two teeth. This one was equivalent to a root canal- YUCK! This was also the last thing (thank goodness) that she has to have done. This took had a cavity that had gotten out of control, so they went in to deaden the took, fill it, and basically it becomes a space holder until her big girl tooth comes in (around the age of 12).

This procedure was a little longer than the last one, so Kaelin spent more time with the Nitros gas. She was still a little (lot) loopy when we left. In this picture, she is just spinning around in circles in the dentis office- why.... who knows?

She was such a great patient that she got two tokens to spend in the little toy vending machines. She chose two bouncy balls. She is showing off the bouncy balls as well as her pink nose that she had to wear while on the nitros. They let her take her nose home since this was her last procedure.

After all was said and done, we headed to my office to pick up my bag that I needed for a meeting, then we were off to Chick-Fil-A for the milkshake. She was starving by this time, so she just sucked that milkshake down while the feeling came back to her mouth. Then she plowed through her nugget meal. So, you can see that she is perfectly fine by now.

Cookie Lookie

Thursday was a big day for Kaelin. She got to go up to her school for "Cookie Lookie". She got to meet her teachers, Mrs Christy and Mrs. Christine. She also got to meet her new friends that she will spend the year with.

So if you are asking... What in the heck is "cookie lookie"? Well.... it is where you get to eat cookies while you "lookie" around at the new room, friends, and teachers. It is kind of a way of bribing the kids into coming to the room and being happy.

While this was going on, the parents got to go sit in the chapel and have a parent orientation:

What to pack/not pack in your child's lunch...

What kind of shoes to let your child wear (tennis shoes, which we are very limited on because they are not stylish enough for us)

Where to drop off/pick up your child

When to send/not send your child to school

Etc...

Kaelin posing for the camera (I tried to get her to stand there without the sassy pose, but she insisted that was how she wanted her picture taken).

Cheese... (yes, that is lip gloss in her hand- it is like an American Express... We don't leave home without it)

In the classroom, no tears, so I guess she likes it or the cookies were enough to mask her dislike.

It is official...

Macie has a middle name. It is not any of the middle names we listed as options.

Drum roll, please.....

Macie

Lynn

Hicks

Why Lynn?

It does sound a little more countryfied that I would have normally liked, but it sounds cute. And... it is my middle name, Aunt Debbie's middle name, and goes well with Kaelin.

So, when they bring out the birth certificate, we now have something to put on it.

Better yet, monogramming... here I come.

Baby Shower

Last Saturday, Aunt Debbie and Mamaw threw Macie a very beautiful shower. We had several great friends and family show up. Everything was absolutely wonderful. We are truly surrounded by people that love us and that we love. We are so blessed.

Kaelin really had a blast. In fact, she wore herself completely out. She took a 3 hour nap when she got home. She is such a cute little hostess.

These are the yummy cupcakes (that I won't tell you how many I ate)

These are the delicious cookies (again... I won't tell you how many I ate). So, we really did have more than just cupcakes and cookies (at least other people ate more than that). We also had my favorite punch, that I drink until I get sick. We had two different kinds of quiche and fruit. But the only thing I seemed to get a picture of where the cupcakes and cookies- you can totally see where my priorities were.

Kaelin opened all of the presents, after all, she is convinced Macie is her baby. Poor Macie, she does not know what she is in for. I am sure I will find her in the baby doll stroller, baby doll carrier, and baby doll bed.

This is Macie and Kaelin's first matching outfit. I am all about matching outfits. Todd said "since we are having another girl, we should probably be set on clothes since we still have most of Kaelin's clothes"... My response "yes, but they are not matching outfits, so I should just probably buy new ones for each of the girls".

A picture frame that says "Sisters"... aaahhhh

Kaelin still opening up presents and loving every minute of it.

Kaelin had to get her picture made with every single item in every present. Here is a pacifier.

Here is a teether... (get my drift... every item in every bag)

Kaelin said "Oh... this one is big, I better stand on the table so I can get everything out of it"

After presents, my little hostess went and put on an apron, then walked around to everyone and took their order: cupcake or cookie. She had a little pad that she was writing on- the problem is, she can't write, so I don't exactly know how she knew what to bring each person.

Besides the cake balls, I also had little bags of pink M&M's to give out as Thank You's. I ordered some adorable little stickers with Macie's name on them and "Thanks for coming!".

My morning view

This is what I walked outside to this morning.

There were 4 baby deer and two mommies eating my grass, dead plants, and morning glories. I guess they needed a little breakfast this morning.

One thing I always pray is for God to show me his glory, most days he does, some days I must have had my eyes closed because I missed it. You could look at this as "OMG, they are eating up my yard" or "thank you God, I see it".

They stood there long enough for me to open my car and get my camera out. They just looked at me as though I had seriously interrupted their breakfast and they were just wanting me to leave so they could get back to what they were doing.

Cake Balls

If you are hungry for something easy and delicious... cake balls are your answer (at least they are my answer).

They also make good party/shower food.

I (with Aunt Debbie's help) made these for Macie's baby shower. They were part of my guest "Thank you's".

Recipe...

Box cake mixed (any flavor) - cooked according to directions

can of icing (any flavor)

almond bark (chocolate or vanilla)

Bake a cake according to the box.

When cake is done and it has cooled enough so that you can touch it (don't let it cool completely), crumble the cake up into a pan.

Add a can of cake icing to the crumbled up cake. Mix it up.

Take a melon ball scooper or use your hands and make little 1 inch balls out of the mixture. Put them on a cookie sheet, cover, and refrigerate for about 2 hours (this is the key to them staying together).

Melt the a couple of blocks of the almond bark. I melted it in the microwave in a measuring cup, then put the measuring cup in a pan of warm water on the stove (this helped it stay melted). If your almond bark is too thick (mine was) add about 1 teaspoon of vegetable or canola oil to the bark.

Using a slotted spoon and a regular spoon... spoon the melted almond bark over a cake ball. Place on a cookie sheet, covered with parchment paper. I took some extra icing, put some pink food coloring in it and wrote "M" on each cake ball.

** You can do any combination of cake/icing flavors. These are the ones I used:

Chocolate cake with German Chocolate icing

Vanilla cake with butter cream icing

Strawberry cake with strawberry icing

Just so you don't think I am overly creative, I got the idea for cake balls from Kelly of Kelly's Corner Blog www.kellyscorner.blogspot.com. Go to her recipe section.

Letter to my smoke detectors...

Dear smoke detectors,
I know you have the best intentions of saving our lives and we really appreciate your reliable services. However, when you are in need of a new battery, could you please beep between the hours of 7:00 AM and 10:00 PM. I have yet to have one of you abide by this simple rule. You always decide to alert us to your battery request around 2:00 AM.

There is really nothing more annoying than being awakened by the constant beep... beep... beep... every 30 seconds. You finally force me to get out of bed, wake Todd up (who evidently can sleep right through the beeping), go find a battery, and have Todd change it out.

Trying to go back to sleep after all of the commotion is the difficult part. Even the dogs get a little annoyed by the ruckus that you have caused, then they decide it is play time rather than sleep time, since they are already up.

So, from now on, could you please refer to a clock before asking for a new battery. Of course, we are happy for the service you provide, but a little courtesy is also appreciated.

Sincerely,
Your sleep deprived home owner.

Baby Dedication

Last Sunday (yes... more than a week late)...

Baby Hadley had her baby dedication. Isn't she just the sweetest baby you have ever seen?

Her baby dedication announcement

The adorable plate that Kristen set out near the baby book. This plate reminded me that at one time I had this same plate (from Southern Living), but for the life of me, I have no idea where the plate has walked off to.

Kristen, Jeff, and Hadley

The entire crew... Jeff, Kristen, Pace, Annie Kate, Kole, and Hadley. (No wonder Hadley is such a good baby, she has her brothers and sisters around to help out).

The baby dedication was really good, but the cookies were even better. They were picture worthy.

More cookies... I might have spent a little too much time near this table.

Kristen Time...

Last week (yes, I am just getting around to posting this), I took the day off. Kaelin and I went to the Cheesecake Factory (YUMMY) to meet Kristen and baby Hadley.

Of course, Kaelin could not show up empty handed. We had to bring a baby, baby stroller, baby bag, purse, and who knows what else.

Kaelin, Aunt Kristen, and a sleeping Hadley. Hadley slept nearly the entire day. She was making up for the previous couple of days. Kaelin kept peeking in to see if her eyes were open. I think Kaelin thought Hadley was going to be able to play with her. She did not realize that at 3 months, there is not a lot of playing that goes on.

We had a great visit. It was nice to have a day off and have such an awesome way to spend it.

Macie Update

I am 29 weeks and 2 days pregnant (and look ever bit of it).

Macie weighs 3 pounds and 6 ounces right now (how they can tell this is still amazing to me). She is a little on the healthy side. Most babies weigh right around 3 pounds at 29 weeks. Macie has a little extra "junk in the trunk". I guess the Blue Bell has done her good.

Kaelin went with me to the doctor on Monday. We got to see a 4D image of Macie. The image is pretty cute, but it is really still kind of alien looking to me. The doctor kept asking Kaelin "do you see the baby" and Kaelin kept saying "no, not really". Kaelin kept thinking we were going to see a real picture of Macie and that she would be dressed. Kaelin kept asking me what Macie was wearing.

Dentist Update

So, yesterday, I had to take Kaelin to the dentist for her first cavity filling appointment (one of two appointments). I really should have taken my camera because she was an incredibly brave little girl (in an absolutely adorable outfit).

We arrived and I could tell she was getting very nervous. She kept asking about 1000 questions, which told me that her anxiety was increasing. We went back to the room and she began just acting totally silly. She would fall out of the chair, slide on the floor, etc. She was doing anything she could to keep the dental hygienist at bay. Finally we got her up in the seat, they brought her a teddy bear, and began going through the process of what was about to happen.

Then...

Kaelin told me she wanted me to stay in there and hold her hand....

The sweet little dental hygienist kindly broke the news to Kaelin and I that I was not going to be allowed to stay back in the room due to "my current condition". The gases would be bad for the baby.

Yikes.... we were not prepared for this. I had already promised Kaelin that I would hold her hand and be there with her the entire time. There was no time to get Todd on the phone and for him to arrive before they started. They put the pink nose thing on her, to begin with the nitrous oxide (or however you spell it).

So, Kaelin and I both put on our "big girl panties" and dealt with it. I went into the waiting room. I heard her start screaming. By the time I got back there, they had her settled back down, so I did not interrupt. I just went back to the waiting room with big 'ole tears in my eyes.

Shortly after that, they came out to tell me that she was done and was just breathing the fresh oxygen for a little while.

She had done great, they gave her some prizes and sent us home. Her mouth was numb for a couple of hours and it was quite humorous to hear her talk about it. She told Todd "Daddy, I have a piece of numb in my mouth". I guess she thought it was a tangible item. It was pretty cute.

Todd has scheduled himself to be at the next appointment in two weeks, that will ease her mind (and mine).

But... after all was said and done (and a Chick Fil-A chocolate milkshake), it went great.

Latte Time

Today is "Just the girls" day. I took the day off work (yipee)!





Kaelin and I are going to visit Aunt Kristen and see her new baby, Hadley.





But first...





Kaelin and I are having Latte's. (yes... you read correctly) Even Kaelin is having her own latte. She loves lattes (which I attribute to all of the Starbuck's I drank when I was pregnant with her).





She just had a small latte... because she would be bouncing off the walls all day long.





In case you were wondering... we are using our new espresso machine to make lattes. That is probably the best $ 7.50 I have ever spent. In fact, 1 1/2 trips to Starbucks has the machine paid for. (but I can't say that I have given up 1 1/2 trips to Starbucks yet, I will one day though)

After latte's... I think we will go out for a little shopping, then lunch with Aunt Kristen, then home for a nap.

Sounds like a perfect day.

The Little Ladies Tea Party

The other day, Kaelin was invited to a "Little Ladies Tea Party". This is sooooo up Kaelin's alley. She got to dress up in her "dress up" clothes (that she wears in public any chance she gets).

This is before we left the house. She was bouncing off the wall because she was so excited about her tea party.

Laney and Kaelin- the party was at Laney's house. Laney is definitely one of Kaelin's best friends. She just loves Laney. These two can come up with some trouble in a hurry.

Tara- Laney's mom. She even dressed up for the tea party. She read the girls 2 books before they went to the table for tea and snacks.

All of the little ladies... they all had such a blast.

The tea party- Laney and Kaelin cheesing for the camera.

Kaelin- right before we left the tea party for a 2 1/2 hour nap. She had stripped off the headband, necklaces, shoes, gloves and was extremely tired (but not too tired to give me a sassy pose).

These are the days we will cherish for the rest of our lives. Great memories... great friends... and the best little girl in the entire world.

Help with a middle name...

Yes, I have resorted to taking a poll on what Macie's middle name should be. Todd and I are just at a stand still on this. With Kaelin, we were able to agree on a name very quickly, our second baby has not been so easy.

We let Kaelin pick the first name. (I think Kaelin chose Macie after the department store Macy's). Kaelin and I frequent Macy's a little too much, so it was easy to see where she got her inspiration for the name. We changed the spelling a little bit, so it would not be so obvious that we were naming her after a department store. Once Kaelin picked the name, we both liked it (honestly, we just did not have any other names picked out and really liked what Kaelin had picked)

So, for the middle name, Todd and I have made lists and have narrowed it down to three possibilities (but we would gladly consider other names as well).

This is where we need your help. Post a comment as to what you choose. We really need to make a decision quickly, because I have lots of things that I am ready to have monogrammed.

Option 1: Macie Jade

Option 2: Macie Nicole

Option 3: Macie Renee

Option 4: Give us other suggestions

We will post the winner soon. (and then the monogramming can begin)

Man's best friend...

Let me introduce you to our 3 lovable dogs. I have not figured out why they are supposedly called "Man's Best Friend". These three are very high maintenance pets (or at least the two little ones).

This is Britni- She is a 6 year old Shih-Tzu. She is our more well-behaved Shih-Tzu. She is not the smartest dog in the world. Little things confuse her like, a mirror (that drives her absolutely crazy), her tail (that is entertainment for hours), and her squeaky toys. She is so funny, she tries to sneak up on her squeaky toys, but they still squeak when she touches them. It just blows her mind every time.

This is Moe. He is a two year old Shih-Tzu. His name is Moe because he had two brothers that were named Larry and Curly. We kept the name because it really fits him. I say he is named Moe because the last thing we needed around our house was "one Moe dog". He is a hyper little mess. He is very jealous of you showing attention to anything other than him (Kaelin, Britni, Cassie, etc.). He has to be right up in the middle of everything that is going on. He gets on the coffee table in the living room to watch TV. I guess he gets a better view from the table.

This is Cassie. She is about to turn 10 in November. She is a lab-retriever (that only retrieves toys or tennis balls). She has gone to doggy school to learn to be a hunter. She has been to obedience training (that does not show very often). After all the money spent on her becoming Todd's "hunting" dog, we find out she is scared of any kind of loud noises. She goes absolutely nuts around the 4th of July and New Years Eve. She hates fireworks. So, you can see that the quest of having a good hunting companion has not worked out so well. Cassie has started staying in the house because of the incredible hot weather we have been having (before that it was the incredibly wet weather and before that it was the incredibly cold weather). So, I guess you can tell we have another house dog (that should be outside).

Why the "best friends" are just not measuring up to my real life best friends?

Moe drama-
My real best friends don't try to hump my leg (Moe). Yes, he is going to the vet for a special little procedure that should help out with this problem he has. But we have to get him over his pulled muscles. Moe strained some muscles in his abdomen (probably trying to hump Cassie's shoulder again). After many tests at the vet and x-rays, they have determined it is a pulled muscle. So, $115 later and some anti-inflammatory medicine we are trying to get him better so he will quite peeing on himself. According to the doctor, he can't get himself "into position" to go to the bathroom, so it just kind of drips out all day long. Yes, this is so disgusting, which is why he has been banished to the tile floor in the kitchen for the last week. My best friends don't pee on my kitchen floor either.

Britni drama-
Lately Britni has been healthier that she has ever been. She is a very picky eater and will starve herself if the food is not in her own bowl or if she does not like the taste of it. So, we have to feed her a special pack of Little Champions every other night, just to get her to eat the dry dog food. She is very high maintenance. Last fall, she spent 4 days in the doggy ICU. She had an infection somewhere in her body. They could not figure out where it was, but she almost died. They had to hook her up to an IV for liquid and a strong antibiotic. Kaelin and I would go visit her everyday and we had to hand feed her homemade chicken and rice just to get her eating solid foods. As you can tell, she is spoiled and VERY High Maintenance, along with being the most-air headed dog in town. My real life best friends are not this picky, but many of them are this High Maintenance.

Cassie drama-
Typically a pretty good dog until she sees a trash can or trash bag around. She is one of those dogs that is addicted to trash (any one's trash). She will consume not only the food products, but the paper and plastic as well. She is quite the green dog when it comes to recycling. She makes the worst hunting dog in the world, she passes gas like an old man, and she sheds furiously. My real-life best friends (even the hoarders) would never eat out of my trash nor do they pass gas in public (at least I hope not).

Yes, we love our pets, but they truly are like having additional family members living with you. They each come with their own drama and hangups that just cause us all grief, but at the end of the day, we still love them.

Where does her mouth come from?

Kaelin is the sweetest girl. Even when she gets in trouble for something, she is so quick to apologize and she truly feels guilty when she has hurt your feelings or said or done something she is not suppose to have done.

She has had a couple of "where did that come from" episodes lately. (I say "where did that come from", but anyone that knows Todd and I would quickly agree that it most likely came out of my mouth rather than Todd's). Todd is convinced that I must have been a sailor or a pirate in a past life, but I try to have good language around Kaelin- but I am not always perfect.

Disclaimer- These stories are intended to be used in the future as a way to embarass Kaelin (graduation, wedding, etc.). These stories as well as the entire blog serve more as a baby book or scrap book to help us remember everything that we do as a family. Because I am here to tell you that there are things you think you could never forget and within a matter of weeks or months, they are gone. Although these are not the most wholesome stories, they are part of our life and "it is what it is".

Story 1- The other day, Kaelin walked out the back door and Todd had left a pair of tennis shoes on the step. She stumbled over them, fell on the concrete and ended up with scrapes on her hands and knees. She came inside to get cleaned up and get some band-aids. I asked her what happened and she said "I tripped over daddy's damn shoes." I did not laugh right then, but I was just dieing on the inside. I talked to her about saying that word and she understood that it was not an appropriate choice.

Story 2- Kaelin and I were in the truck and Todd got out to go do something. Kaelin was in the backseat and she looked at me, put her hands on her hips and said "what the hell?". In her defense, she was ready to leave, but once again, we had to have a little conversation about chosing appropriate words.

Story 3- I asked Kaelin to carry a few things upstairs. She looked at me and said "whatever you say Big Butt." Ok- so Todd and I don't know where this came from. Neither of us call anyone big butt. But, being nearly 7 months pregnant, I can see where she could easily come up with that one on her own. As soon as she said it, she felt immediately guilty. She stopped and looked at me and immediately began apologizing. I did not even have to give her a lecture on word choice this time. She took herself upstairs, while I went and mopped the kitchen. When I came upstairs, she had given herself a time out to think about what she had said. (I never told her to go to timeout, she did that all on her own). When I came into the room, she said "Momma, can you come here so I can talk to you?". I went over to her and she put her arms around my neck and said "Momma, I am so sorry for saying those ugly words, I won't ever say them again". This was the easiest lecture and punishment I had ever had to give to her. She knew the minute it was out of her mouth, that it was not a nice thing to say. (But when I tried to retell the story to Todd, I could not stop laughing. It really was funny- I just did not let Kaelin know that).

Small town... Saturday night

Saturday nights in Crosby can end up being pretty fun. We have a local auction that you just never know what you might stumble across. We usually go about once or twice a month (and never leave empty handed). Kaelin loves the auction. She even tries to bid on things (that Todd and I had no intentions of buying).

These are some of our recent treasures.

Todd is obsessed with old rocking chairs. He stumbled across this one last Saturday night at the auction. He won it for $60. We are not real sure where it is going to go in our house. We are just flat running out of room- time for a bigger house.

This was probably my favorite thing that we bought. It is a gumball/candy machine. We bought it for $22.50. We have to have a locksmith either re-key it or make us some keys to open it. I also want to find out how to disable the $.25 feature. I don't want to pay a quarter every time one of us wants to get some candy. I think this is going to be lots of fun at our Christmas party or birthday parties. I like to set up candy bars for the kids so (their parents can spend as much money at the dentist as I do) the kids can pick out their favorite kinds rather than being given stuff they don't like.

My second favorite thing. We bought a coffee pot and cappuccino/espresso/latte machine. I bought the combo for $15. The cappuccino/espresso/latte machine has never been used- after reading the directions, I can see why. However, we are going to try it out. The coffee pot is going to need a new carafe because the lid is missing from this one and coffee goes everywhere without the lid.

Kaelin's favorite purchase (probably Todd's favorite as well). We bought this motorized Hummer for Kaelin for $45. It runs great and has not been used much. Kaelin already has a Jeep, now she will have a Hummer as well.

Kaelin's other big purchase. She saw this box of horses and just had to have them. She is a big horse lover- so we knew this would be a much loved purchase for $7.50. In fact, one of the horses got in trouble yesterday and had to spend a quite some time in time-out. I think Kaelin said the horse was not playing nice with the other horses. She does have quite an imagination.

This is one of Todd's purchases. I said WTH (what the heck). But Todd has some profound use for this large pulley. For $12.50, I hope he actually uses this for something.

These two mirrors are from an auction visit a couple of weeks ago. We bought the pair for about $25.00. They were a hideous gold and red color. I re-painted them with a base coat, then painted them an oil finished bronze color. They are going to go in our two small bathrooms in place of the mirrors currently there.

This is another purchase from a couple of weeks ago. It is a huge mirror that was a pewter color (that was flaking off). So, I stained it with a walnut stain and plan on using it in my living room. This purchase cost us about $30.00.

So if you are ever around town on a Saturday night, we will be happy to share our wonderful auction with you. You really never know what you will stumble across. We bought Kaelin's antique wrought iron bed there, a holiday Barbie doll, hedge clippers, etc.