Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My...

The kids had a day off from school today so we decided to spend some of it at the zoo. They were so awesome and Connor even stayed with us out of his stroller! I really enjoy going places with my three kids, especially when they act so great. They have always loved the zoo and other museums that we regularly visit. We took a break at the tiger exhibit to have a quick snack.
What cute kids!
The meerkats were so cute! One was even posing on top of the rocks for us. When we turned to leave they would run up to the glass and look at us like where are you going? We named this one Timon.

Inside the reptile house these geckos were stuck to the glass. It was really funny looking. Jack couldn't stop laughing.
Here they are riding the tortoise.

This is our favorite spot! Right in front of the lion cage. Or, as Connor says, Roar!

What a fun day we had at the zoo. It is always nice for the kids to have a day off from school and spend it outside together.

Connor's Boo Boo

We took Connor to the Oncologist for his blood work yesterday and his neutrophil counts are exactly the same as two weeks before. We are going to continue to watch him for the next month and do another CBC in a few weeks and then reevaluate to see if we need to start the shots then. Before we went I asked Connor if he wanted to go see Dr. Goldman. He held his finger up and said, "I get Boo Boo" He was right, he gets the finger he held up poked to do the simple version of his CBC. This little boy doesn't let the needles or all the Doctors or medicines or IV's or nurses taking vitals bother him! He constantly amazes me. When we got the the Doctor's office and CiCi came into take his blood I said for Connor to show her his boo boo and he grabbed Greg's finger and tried to give it to her! OK, so maybe he is tired of getting poked! He decided Daddy needed to take this one.

Love and what?

Greg and I are attending the Love and Logic class at church once a month on Sunday afternoon. We missed the first class because I was still sick. Last Sunday was the second class and although Greg wasn't feeling very well we went anyway. We chose the older class because we have 2 kids in that category and only Connor in the baby to 6 age group. I think after the first two, or at least I hope, that I can handle whatever Connor has in store for us. So, we are attending the 7-12 year old class. A lot of our time last Sunday was spent talking about letting them make mistakes now while they are not so big and not letting them get to the teenage years to make bigger mistakes. As hard as it is if we let them learn, even painful lessons now, it will help them not to make really painful mistakes later in life.
So, I tried it with my 22 month old yesterday! He has been carrying around a balloon from Valentines for days and when it was time to leave the house yesterday to run an errand he wanted to bring it. In my head I thought this is perfect for teaching one of those little painful lessons. I said, "Connor, it is going to be so... sad when that balloon flies away or pops on you!" He says, "No, pop" "Baaooon Mommy!" So of course I say ok, you can bring it but I will be sad when you lose it. He held onto that balloon for dear life and that stinking balloon is back in our house as I type! I have the Love part down, but the Logic part is evading me for now!

Happy Valentines!

Valentine's Day is such fun around here! A few days before Valentine's Day we headed to North Park Mall to see Marc Robbins Photography to have pictures done with his cute dalmation dog! The kids did great, enjoyed playing with the puppy and mommy had a hard time picking pictures. After a great time with the puppy we got cookies and a coke and headed home to meet daddy for some "secret shopping". After dinner mommy, Jack and Bailey went to Target to do some secret shopping for daddy. We started this tradition last year of getting a fun dinner together and finding daddy a little gift and making our table look "love"ly.
Valentine's Eve mommy and daddy spent the evening knee deep in brownies, truffles, and chocolate covered strawberries! I was planning Connor's and Bailey's parties and had lots of yummies to make. Thanks daddy for all the loving help! We finished up around 10:30 and I got all the teachers gifts packaged up and pretty bows in place and fell into bed. (Oh, I had been sick again!! this week so standing on my feet all day cooking was really tough)
Valentine's Day morning was spent eating our pink heart shaped donuts that have become a tradition also! Then we gave the kids their Valentine gifts. Daddy had gotten Bailey her first James Avery ring. She loved it! He also surprised mommy with a new ring too! Jack and Connor got new movies. After that the older two headed to school with bags of goodies for teachers that they love so much and cards for friends. Then Connor and mommy headed to Sunshine School to party with the babies. Connor really enjoys school and had a great time at his party with all his friends. We are so blessed to have Mrs. Leslie for a teacher this year. She has

taken such good care of my youngest child.
That afternoon Greg came and picked me up and we went to get the balloons for Bailey's party. I am the room mom and was so greatful to daddy for helping me carry 18 balloons into a school with the horrible wind that was ripping through the area. A room full of Kindergarteners ate
heart shaped and decorated brownies, grapes, pretzels and valentine fruit snacks. They also drank Sprite with cherries in it. After I read them two stories they sang me their Alpha Friends songs and we packed up to go home!
That evening we finished a busy day with a nice relaxing "love" dinner. I think daddy enjoyed his dinner and his gift from the kids.
Valentines--check---on to Easter!

My Two Big Kids!

Sometimes the older two kids feel a little left out because of all the time and attention we spend on Connor. Don't get me wrong, we wouldn't spend less time on Connor, but we completely understand why they feel neglected.
So, today my whole blog is about Jack and Bailey and what they have been up to lately!

Jack has been bunking in with his little sis for a while now. In fact, since the last hospital visit! Connor was sleeping in so late and Jack has to get up for school so we have been letting the older kids sleep together so they don't wake him up. They really do like to sleep together for some reason and you can see what they end up sleeping like! They are both crazy sleepers! We are going to bite the bullet soon and put Jack back in his bed.
What has Jack been up to? As you can see the sport of the season is Basketball. He loves it and is really good at it. His Daddy is the coach and his Uncle Sean is the Asst. Coach. Garrison is also on his team. They are having fun playing a sport together.

At school, Jack has adjusted really well. He loves his teacher and his friends. Of course, Jack has never met someone who wasn't his friend! His P.E. teacher came to his first game and that made his day. He has gotten 3 report cards now and all 3 have been perfect! I am still waiting on Jack to get a not so perfect report card. He is extremely smart, but homework is not his favorite thing and he and mommy have been having war over it lately! The really sad thing is he makes 100's without studying. That makes it even harder to get him to do it. He still enjoys reading and is reading really hard chapter books, but he would much rather be outside playing or playing his game system.

He lost a few more teeth this winter and the new ones are coming in. They look so big! He is still a big flirt and has lots of "girlfriends" at school. He won his science fair and gets picked for lots of fun things at school. Soccer started last week and should be fun to watch.

Jack also had a small growth spurt over the holidays and all his pants are now too short. It is hard to find pants now, everyone is putting out shorts already. It was time for him to grow. He is almost 8 and still wearing 5's and 6's!!!

What has Bailey been up to? Growing, learning, helping, worrying...

Bailey loves school. She loves her teacher. She is such smart little girl, she scares me she is so smart.

Bailey was referred to the gifted program at school and finished up the testing last week. Her first Kindergarten conference was last week and she got perfect marks. Her teacher couldn't say enough nice things about her and said she was the most helpful child ever. She is always willing to help her classmates or comfort them if they are sad. She actually knew enough words at the beginning of the year to be in first grade. Thank you Sunshine School! At the middle of the year she knew enough to be leaving first grade! Thank you Mrs. Lehner. She was also on the school announcements last Thursday. Her teacher picked her to tell about the 100th day of school.

Bailey is not playing a sport this winter, but she is playing soccer this spring and it is about to start. She is also going to get back into tennis later this spring. She has a knack for tennis.

She has 3 loose teeth right now and if she loses them all won't have any front teeth.

Her hair has finally grown out and we can pull it up and it stays up! She loves makeup. (a problem for her mommy) She also loves to have her nails done. That is the treat she always picks for being good at school.

She has also grown over the last few months. She is getting so tall and long legged. She is turning into a really pretty young girl.

I was so glad when I found out I was having a boy first. I always wanted a boy first. So, good, I got it. Then when Jack was 7 months and I found out I was pregnant again I was really scared. I was going to have two babies. I thought in my head having another boy would be so much easier. But, my heart was so happy when the doctor told me it was a girl. I have my friend, and person to go and spend time with mommy where we can leave all the boys behind and have girl time. Last night Bailey and mommy went and spent time just us. We did a little Spring clothes shopping and had milkshakes and enjoyed each other with NO BOYS!!!

I love you Jack and Bailey!

Connor's Doctor Visit

We took Connor into the Oncologist Thursday to pull blood and do another CBC. He has gotten so used to this routine that he actually puts out his arm for the nurse to poke him. Last week after the Bone Marrow Biopsy his blood work was the highest it has been in 6 months. The Doctor and I actually talked about how he might be already outgrowing his Neutropenia. We also knew there was a chance his steroids he had been on during and after the last hospital stay could have been the reason his numbers were up. Unfortunately it looks like the steroids are the reason for the high numbers last week. This week his numbers had dropped, not as low as early December, but still significantly lower. The Doctor felt like we need to watch them for a few more weeks before we start the shots to boost his white blood cells. So, we go back in in two weeks for another CBC. If the numbers are holding we will do the same thing again. Wait. If they have continued to drop and are back where they were in early December then we would begin the shots immediately. To say I am disappointed is an understatment. I had actually begun to believe that maybe he was already outgrowing it. I need to stay focused on all the good news we did get. I need to remember how truly blessed we are. The good news is all the really bad stuff has been ruled out. A big blessing. Now, we just have to focus on getting his neutrophil percentage up and helping him fight off all these horrible illnesses that we have been dealing with. Staying out of the hospital is my main goal for the time being.

The Big Dig!

Jackson's Second Grade was required to do a Science Fair Project this year for a grade and to possibly enter the contest. Well, way back in early December it didn't sound to hard to do. Then all our hospital stays happened and it was time to start the project we had picked out. So, mommy couldn't help very much because when he started it I was so sick I couldn't get out of bed. Daddy did a good job of helping him even though he was really busy at work. We finished it up last weekend by digging up his cups and checking for decomposition and having Jack type up all his results. Pretty much took all day Saturday. Sunday night around 10 mommy finished taping all his work onto the project board.
Monday morning we turned it in! YEA!!
Thursday I went up to school to stuff Thursday folders and happened to see the projects that were picked to enter the contest in the hall. Yes, Jack's got picked to enter. His teacher said he was one of the few who could really explain his project and understood what he did and what happened to the cups.
Mimi picked Jack and Bailey up from school because Connor had a Doctor visit (another blog). When he hit the door he was yelling, "I Won!"
Yes, Jack's project that was so... hard for us to get done, did indeed win. He won 3rd for the whole school and 1st for the Environmental Science Fair in the whole school!
Now, his project goes on to the District Science Fair. He is so excited. I forgot my camera last night at Open House. His project was displayed with all the other winners in the gym. I'll get a pic when he finally gets to bring it home.
Jack we are all so proud of you!