Animal Noises

Going Bonkers At Boondocks

Making Up For Lost Time

Ever since Paloma has recovered from surgery & the flu, she hasn't stopped eating - literally. This afternoon when I picked her up from her crib, she immediately began to sign "eat" over and over again. Apparently she is making up for the last few weeks when eating just hasn't been her top priority. I still have no idea why she isn't registering on the growth curve. Anyways, she has figured out where we stash the snacks and dry cereal and unfortunately it is totally accessible to her. She now "helps herself" to a snack whenever she is hungry.

Wordless Wednesday

Jonah and the Whale

A Life Lesson from mom to Mattea....

On the way home from Kid Planet this morning, a song by the Veggie Tales came on in which Mattea began to sing along. It was a song about Jonah. I immediately jumped at the opportunity to teach a life lesson.

Me: Mattea what did Bob & Larry tell you happened to Jonah?

Mattea: A whale ate him

Me: Do you know why the whale ate him?

Mattea: NO mama

Me: Jonah got eaten by the whale because he didn't listen to God. He was not being a good listener - kind of like you weren't being a good listener this morning when I asked you to clean up your mess.

Mattea: Yeah - I go to time out.

Me: Yes you did, there are consequences to when we aren't good listeners. We need to try to always be a good listener.

Mattea: Yeah - I go to time out when I don't listen to mommy

Me: That's right - what happens when you don't listen to God?

Mattea: The whale will eat you

*Whether it is wrong or not, I let her go on believing that. Do you think I got my point across?

Easter Eggs - Part 2

In case you haven't had enough Easter pictures - I'm adding a couple of more. I was glad to see my children feeling good enough to join in the fun. Mattea had fun "dipping" and "dunking" and Paloma had fun eating snacks and watching big sis.

Why Not Me???

Paloma was downright mad this weekend when Mattea and I stepped outside to blow bubbles. She wasn't afraid to tell me just how upset she really was!!! I thought the entire tantrum was rather amusing and jumped at the opportunity to document.

Modified Egg Hunt

Since we missed the egg hunt at church, we decided the backyard was the next best thing.

Unhappy Easter

Although Paloma had a decent day, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to document her many meltdowns. This was the 3rd of the day (1st one started at breakfast within 10 min of waking up).

I believe this tantrum had something to do with the fact that she wanted something out of Mattea's basket and Mattea was refusing to share.

She was simply letting us know that she was done with all of the Easter festivities!

In all fairness, my little princess does smile - every once in a great while. It would be wrong of me to not document that as well.

Happy Easter

My children woke up after an uneventful night and so Dave and I decided that we would venture out to church for one hour of Sunday School. Since being named "Teachers of the Month" we felt we couldn't disappoint. We just prayed that neither child would vomit in public and that we could survive one hour - just one hour. It was a success.

For the most part both children did well - Paloma was so grumpy - but then again what is new? Mattea was in a very good mood considering the week that she has had(see older posts).

And of course when it came time to examine the contents of their Easter baskets - well, each girl seemed to be doing just fine. The Easter bunny doesn't deliver at our house, but they still enjoy a gift or two in their baskets. We sincerely hope that you had a wonderful Easter. Although this holiday was not quite what he had planned, we are reminded that the little sacrifices we make on a daily basis are nothing compared to the one great sacrifice our Heavenly Father made so many years ago.

Smiles Amongst Sickness

I'm really trying to stay positive during these last few days of NONSENSE! I have been vomited on, coughed on, pooped on, and loved on! I have cleaned up more bodily fluids than I do on a normal day at work. Mattea snapped this photo the other night while I was desperately trying to obtain one minute of peace and quiet. And no - I'm not lactating - that is probably a secretion from one of my darling daughters.

I Spy

I spy a little pink Paloma - do you?

Anticipated Easter Events

This photo depicts what Mattea and Paloma have been up to for about the last week now. Our family has been hit by the flu - and now that it is here, it doesn't want to seem to leave. It all started last Tues. afternoon. Falsely believing Paloma was feeling better from surgery, I accepted an invitation for a lunch/play date. Not meeting a whole lot of people since moving, the girls and I were very excited. 3/4 of the way through lunch, Paloma decided to "unload" the last three days worth of stomach contents all over herself, me, table, floor, etc - missing my guest thank goodness! That continued until Thursday night when I was awakened by a scared little girl with "really bad breath" at 1100 pm. Quickly realizing that she was breathing 'vomit' breath in my face - Dave and I jumped into action trying to prepare for a very long night. Mattea didn't sleep at all that night since she was up every half hour running to the bathroom. After missing 8 hours of work on Fri, I believed things may be slowing down and the girls were on the mend - until today!! Making plans of course to attend the Easter Egg Hunt at church this evening, attend sunrise service tomorrow, teach Sunday school, color eggs, devour Easter dinner, and enjoy a long weekend off together - we have now decided none of that is going to happen. The Easter dresses are hanging in a closet, the new shoes have been put away, the uncolored eggs remain in the refrigerator, and it looks as if only one of us will be attending church. Disappointing?? A little. It has been a long, hard cold/flu season for our family. My poor kids have had enough - Dave and I too for that matter. After rising early on Fri morning to sanitize EVERYTHING, do every single piece of laundry in the house, and disassemble and clean the car seats (Since one of the vomiting episodes occurred there as well), we are simply just tired. Mattea summed it up best this evening after one of her bathroom visits - "getting sick is just not fun anymore!" Poor baby. It looks like we'll be enjoying chicken soup for Easter. No pity parties here though - Easter is a fabulous day and whether we'll be dressed in our pretty new dresses or lounging around in day old pajamas, you can bet we'll be celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Bath Time

Blowing Bubbles

The girls and I took full advantage of the wonderfully warm day today. We did yard work, took a walk, played at the park, and even had time to blow some bubbles. We are so looking forward to summer!

Wordless Wednesday

Easter Eggs - Part 1

This is a collection of Easter eggs that Mattea and I designed the last couple of days while Dave was away. We're going to tackle the real ones this weekend. Now I just have to find a place to hang them??

Stuffing Eggs

While I was away at work this weekend, Dave had the girls stuffing Easter eggs with candy for our upcoming Easter egg hunt at church. Apparently the girls had a blast and ended up ingesting far more sugar than what Dave would have liked. I guess at one point he turned around and Paloma had a mouthful of jelly beans that she was trying to chew/swallow. At that point we decided she was officially feeling better from her surgery.

First Deposit

Mattea's very first savings account deposit from her piggy bank.

Where Does Jesus Live?

After saying our nightly prayers, I decided I would "quiz" Mattea.

Me: Mattea, do you know where Jesus lives?

Mattea: On the tross {cross}. (I had to ask her to repeat because at first I thought she said LaCrosse)

Me: Actually honey, Jesus died on the cross but when he woke up after 3 days, he went to live in heaven.

Mattea: Did he drive?

Me: No honey, you can't drive to heaven, it is far away. God helped Jesus get to heaven so that they could be together.

Mattea: Like Larry?

Me: Larry who honey.

Mattea: You know mama, like Bob and Larry the veggie tales. They be together like Jesus.

Me: Ummm... I guess honey it would be kind of like the veggie tales???????

Conversation abruptly ends.

Proud Aunt

OK, OK. I take back every word I have ever said about little boys. They can be just as stinkin cute as little girls - especially this one. We miss you baby Bennett.

Bragging Rights

For any of you whom may not know, my sister Kim is a kindergarten teacher. She has been helpful in my quest to prepare Mattea for the dreaded day when she leaves home for school. She shared a story with me of a little boy struggling in her class. Because of poor planning at home, this particular little boy was far behind his classsmates in the basic kindergarten requirements. Since then, I've been on a mission to do all I can to prepare my daughter for school (not that I wasn't doing that before.)
Yesterday while doing flashcards, Mattea was successfully able to identify the letters: M, Z, P, S, W, K, & H. She can count to 10 in both English and Spanish. She knows many of her body parts in Spanish. She is getting good at cutting with scissors, can use glue semi-appropriately, has been "reading" books back to me on a very frequent basis, and can get herself buckled in her car seat. Did I mention she just turned 3? To many of you this may not seem like a big deal - and I don't typically ramble on about the minor accomplishments of my children, but for some reason these tasks make me proud. I think because her dad and I can sit back and can see the fruits of our labor. We have worked hard at producing independent, smart, polite, and compassionate little girls (with a whole lot of divine intervention of course). We strive for their hearts to be pure and their actions to be gracious. It is hard work and at times very frustrating. We know our children aren't bound to save the world but we do believe they are on the road to doing something GREAT (whatever that may be.) So with all that said and done, we're off to study geography today (just kidding - I'm not that bad).

Fashion Faux Pas - I Want Your Opinion

Ok moms - I want to hear your opinion. I know there are plenty of mothers out there reading my blog - must I name names???? (Dena, Lucy - with my new format you can now comment). ANYWAYS - I believe that when children get to be the age that Mattea is, she should have the freedom to dress however she would like. She actually has been doing it for quite some time. She knows there are boundaries (ie not wearing pajamas in public - although she has tried). We have also worked on coordinating colors, styles, etc. I want her to be able to make decisions in her life and feel autonomous in those decisions. With that being said, what the heck do you do when she makes this kind of decision (see above). As a mom do you step in and intercede or simply stand back and chuckle and hope that she walks a few steps behind when you head out in public???? For the record, those are leopard pants!!!

Blast From the Past

I happened to be browsing through an old photo album when I came across some premarital pictures of Dave and I. After sharing those photos with him, we couldn't help but chuckle about what life was like before marriage, kids, careers, etc.



This was college graduation.


This was taken after we ran our 1st 10K together - The Bolder Boulder. In those days we could simply drop everything for a weekend and drive to Colorado for a race. Now we can't drop anything and go anywhere without a whole lot of planning and a whole lot of diapers and snacks.


Even though these pictures made us a bit nostalgic we couldn't help but comment that even though life has gotten a whole lot more complicated, it has definitely gotten a whole lot sweeter!

Wordless Wednesday

Self Portrait

Mattea's attempt at a self portrait. And we can thank daddy for those gorgeous green eyes!

Literally...

This morning was off to a rough start - and I should have known it was not going to be a normal day since both of my children were still sleeping at 8:30. I just thought I was lucky???? Anyways, come to find out Mattea is not feeling good and is running a temperature of 102. This on top of the fact that we are still trying to recover Paloma from surgery. Oh well, I had no major plans for the day. After getting Paloma drugged, hydrated, changed and down for the first of her naps, I brought Mattea into my room and settled her in to my bed with the Clifford video set on repeat. Her eyes were glazed over and she sat there shivering while her little body was producing massive amounts of heat.
This would be our conversation...

Me: Can I get you anything honey?

Mattea: NO I'm fine

Me: I want you to watch your Clifford video - Mom is going to jump into the shower

Mattea: Don't jump mama, you might hurt yourself. Be tareful (can't quite pronounce C's and K's).

She is such a sweetheart and even when she is feeling bad - she is thinking of others. I love it!

Hydration

"Pushing PO's, Forcing Fluids, Heavily Hydrated...." However you want to term it - the task is easier said than done in regards to a 14 month old stubborn girl who's throat feels like it is on fire and refuses to open her mouth. This is our feeble attempt. We simply lay glass after glass, snack after snack in front of her and hope that when we aren't looking, Paloma sneaks a bite or a drink and stays ahead of the hydration game.

Sisters Make Everything Better

How can you not feel better when you have big sister Mattea around?

The Big Day

As mommy was quietly coming unglued in the corner, Daddy saved the day and provided distraction to Paloma as we waited for the surgeon to arrive. Although this was not life threatening surgery by any means, there are/were complications involved with having a tonsillectomy, especially in reference to a patient of Paloma's age and size. I knew the surgeon and was very confident in her abilities to help my daughter. I knew the surgery was relatively "simple" and she would only require anesthesia for approximately 20 min. Despite all of that, I remained anxious and apprehensive. Being a nurse definitely does not work to your advantage in some instances. Some people have commented that it must be easier raising children when you have a medical background. Quite the contrary. I think my mind played and replayed all of the scenarios that could have occurred and even those in which I have personally seen. Sometimes ignorance is bliss. And after working with the pediatric population I have come to realize that nothing is "simple" when it involves your child. Your own baby whom you gave birth to and nurtured and cared for and loved. There is nothing more sad than to see your child put through anything involving pain and discomfort. As the OR doors were closing and all I could see was the surgeon carrying my little girl and her precious pink blanket back to that cold operating room, I was once again reminded that God is in control. He was taking care of Paloma in every way.

After screaming uncontrollably for an hour after waking up from anesthesia, Paloma did really well. Nothing a little narcotics won't fix. She even attempted to eat broccoli for lunch. What a trooper.

She rested well throughout the day.

Mom - I am so done with this place!!!!

Move over Florence Nightingale

As the Dean family anxiously awaited for Paloma to be taken into surgery, we were easily distracted by all that the pre-op area had to offer. Mattea found her "patient" and immediately began assessing heart sounds, lung sounds, and bowel sounds.

After realizing his oxygen saturation was not that good, she decided she better hook him up to the SPO2 machine. She even assisted in "starting an IV."

She realized after careful reassessment that her patient was breathing much better.
If I hadn't been so distracted by all that was going on with Paloma, I would have been much more amused with her behavior. She even had one of the nurses helping her. She was told she was going to make a great nurse someday. I was so proud.