Que Pasa?

What's happening?

I feel like I haven't been updating the blog enough lately.  You all may not care about what we've been doing lately, but I do use this blog to help me remember things when my terrible memory and crazy schedule collide and leave me with few functioning brain waves.

We have had a busy few weeks, including two weekends in a row of driving 5+ hours each way to go out of town.  It was all worth it though.  Other things include:

• Going to a wedding.
• Going to a family reunion.
• Having a wonderful Easter with family.
• Sydney having her first bloody nose.
• Taylor throwing a complete tantrum in Cracker Barrel.
• Sydney's new obsession with collecting rocks. 
• Sydney is so smart- counting to 100 with little to no help, counting to 100 by tens, spelling words, learning about phonics.  Today, on the way to school, somehow we mentioned Africa, and she said, "Mommy, we've seen Africa on the map at school."  I said, "What else have you seen?"  She said, "Georgia, United States, Canada, Mexico, China, Japan, Australia... and... Fiji."  ha!  I though, Fiji?  Yes, please!  I couldn't believe how much she knew off the top of her head.
• Taylor is really talking up a storm!  About 85% of it is unintelligble, but she's saying a bunch of words now.  Plus, she's really showing us she understands exactly what we are saying. 
• Taylor is ALL about being outside.  I think that girl is going to be our little tomboy.  She cries when we bring her inside.
• I am 15-1/2 weeks pregnant and growing by the second!  I have a doctor's appointment this week.
• I made a neurologist appointment for Sydney about her tics.  Praying it is just something she is doing, or something kind of typical for a 3 year-old to do. 
• I'm "Mom of the Year" and forgot that Taylor should've had a 15 month check up.  I thought it went from 12 months to 18 months!  So, she will be going this week at almost 17 months. :)
• Staying super busy at work, though I'm hopeful that the next 2 weeks with all the testing going on, I will be able to get a lot done.  Although today was day #1 of testing and I wasn't very successful at getting a lot accomplished.  Boo.

That is about it from the K-Bash household.  Just busy beavers, as always.  And I don't see that slowing down anytime soon.  Except for possibly in 28 DAYS when the kiddos are done with school. :)

Taylor the... Tsunami

I went to get an over-due cut and highlight at the salon, and Stephen was sweet enough to leave work early to work from home so he could watch the kiddos.  As they were playing in the dining room (the next room over from Stephen), Stephen said he could hear them playing and everything seemed normal. 

Then, Sydney came in, and calmly said, "Daddy, you have got to see what Taylor did."  So, Stephen said he calmly walked into the dining room, thinking maybe she had done something cute/silly.  This is what he found:

Yes, she managed to climb into the dining room chair, and then up to the table.  Stephen said she was just sitting there, playing with an Easter Egg.  We are in for it.  This girl is EVERYWHERE.  Another example- she got Sydney's stool out of the downstair's bathroom, carried it over to her chair, put it down, stood on it, and tried to climb up the back of her kitchen table chair.  I think we may need to invest in one of those leash things for her.

I also wanted to share this sweet picture of Sydney from today. :)

Sad Week

This past week was one of those weeks where you are reminded how thankful you are to have healthy children.  Yes, my kids have had a rough week in regards to their healths... but, I would take that any day than what 3 people I know of have gone through this week.

First of all, a lovely family from our church lost their sweet 7 year-old daughter.  She had a disease called mito for short, and she was in a wheelchair and was non-verbal her whole life.  However, she had a smile that radiated every room she walked into.  About 3 months ago, she had to be in the hospital, due to having a fever and being sick.  They then put her on hospice so she could be treated at home.  Sweet Laura lost her fight last Sunday.  Here is their family blog, in case you're interested in learning about this precious girl:  http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/lauraw/journal

Another family, living in Monroe, lost their little 2 year-old daughter to leukemia.  I didn't know this family, but a lot of my local friends did, so I heard a lot about the situation.  The sweet little toddler, Piper, had been diagnosed with leukemia shortly after birth, and had been fighting for 30 months.  Please keep the Needham family in your prayers.

The last thing that happened this week is a sweet couple that Stephen went to Tech with, and worked with at Acuity Brands (until the husband decided to become a minister).  That was about 7 years ago.  Now, they have 3 little girls and just had their 4th, Eden.  She was diagnosed with having Down's Syndrome after birth.  She has heart defects and digestive tract issues.  She has already had to have one, if not two, surgeries.  They are tracking Eden's progress on their blog:  http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/edenstegall  Stephen asked me, "Why would a good family like them, who takes care of themselves and are loving people, have to go through this, when others get pregnant, do drugs, drink, etc. and have perfectly healthy babies?"  While that is often times true, I told Stephen that God must know what families can handle a baby with challenges, and who would take the best care of these babies.  The Stegall family is definitely a family who will give that sweet baby a wonderful life full of love.

Stephen and I talked about how this was a very depressing week, and I don't mean to be so depressing in this blog.  I just hope to remind you, just like these things did for me, that be so thankful for your health.  And your children.  I know that I am! :)

14 weeks

Well, folks- I'm 14 weeks pregnant today.  I haven't really talked about how things have been going so far, so I thought I'd summarize the last 3+ months.

• When did we find out?  After not being able to keep my eyes open after about 7:30 PM every night, Stephen became a little suspicious.  He was the one that went to buy the test- he got a 2 pack.  I actually took one test that came up negative, so I thought nothing of it.  About a week later, when I was struggling to stay awake during an IEP meeting on 1/31, I decided to take the second test that night.  I took the test and walked away to pick out my outfit for the next day.  Stephen picked up the test, came into the closet, and asked, "What does 2 pink lines mean?"  I said, "Haha, very funny!". He was obviously serious.  And there it was- 2 pink lines.  My first reaction- laughter.  All this time, I thought there was no way I was pregnant- Stephen was the one who really thought I was.  So, I laughed and called my sister- who laughed as well.  Such a random response to such big news.

Yep... no denying that!

• How have I been feeling?  Well, from about week 6 to week 12, I felt HORRIBLE.  I felt terribly nauseous, mostly at night.  I was crazily sleepy.  I had some back pain, and horribly chapped lips.  The great thing was- I woke up on day 12 weeks, 1 day, and the nausea was GONE!  I have a lot more energy, although I still get really sleepy at nighttime.  I have to say- those 6 weeks were terrible when Stephen was traveling.  Working all day, taking care of the girls, cooking dinner, getting them bathed and in bed, then trying to tackle anything for "me" was impossible.  I would literally crash on the couch or even hit the hay by 7:30 some nights.

• Feelings?  Well, I would be lying if I said that after the laughter died down, shock didn't set in.  For about 2 weeks, we were seriously in a state of shock.  Big decisions to be made- do I bother working next year?  If so, how will it be paying for 3 in daycare?  Will we bunk Sydney and Taylor up together, or take away our guest room so all 3 kids have their own room?  3 car seats won't fit across the back seat in our Maxima, so what car will we get?  Three kids changes a lot of things that two didn't.  

• Complications?  My pregnancies wouldn't be normal if there wasn't some kind of hiccup.  Luckily, my hiccup has seemed to go away, so that's good.  At 11 weeks, after some certain symptoms, they found a subchorionic hematoma, located between the uterus and the placenta.  Mine was considered small, but the doc said it could grow and separate the placenta from the uterus, causing an immediate abortion.  Ummm, stressful??  I went back one week later for them to check it, and it was completely gone!!!  Thank the Lord!  Right when I was nearing the 12 week point of more comfort that everything would be okay, I got that news.  I was told not to pick up anything more than 10 pounds (yeah, right). So, hopefully that is completely gone and won't be coming back anytime soon.  

So, there it is... the updates of my pregnancy so far.  I will be having a 3rd c-section, which I'm sure I will be another nervous wreck about.  I'm due October 4, so it may be more like late September when the baby will be born.  We may push it to October 1 just to give a little variety in family birthdays (me, Stephen, and Sydney are all September).  I am already showing like crazy... and I have been feeling the baby move since 11 weeks!  And, let's hope this baby doesn't follow the pattern... Sydney was 9 pounds, Taylor was 10 pounds... I don't want some record-breaking baby in regards to weight.  I was 10 pounds and Stephen was almost 11 pounds, so please pray for, you know, an 8 pounder, perhaps?

We are going to have our hands full.  I am planning on continuing to work.  We have gotten quotes on daycare and have figured out some ways to make it work.  We are going to plan on getting a new car this summer.  (sniff, sniff- bye, bye, Maxima :( )  We will be losing the guest room and giving each child his/her own room.  We will be finding out the sex in a few weeks.  And, goodness, I can't think of a name for the life of me.  We may have settled on a girl's name, but I can't think of a boy's name I really love.  See, it would have to flow with Sydney and Taylor.  I'm weird about that.  I don't want any with the same ending sound (ex- Sydney, Taylor, Lucy; Sydney, Taylor, Hunter).  And you all know what kind of last name we have to make it work with!  So, if you have any good suggestions, feel free to pass them my way.  :)

But, with all of this said, Stephen and I are truly excited about baby #3.  God obviously has a plan for us that goes beyond all of our "planning" attempts.  And we are perfectly fine with that.  He has given us a beautiful life with beautiful children, and we are excited to see what will be coming our way!

Baby K at 8 weeks.

Baby K at 12 weeks.

11.5 weeks.

Daring the Fat Man's Squeeze... can I fit?  12.5 weeks.

14 weeks.

Thankful for Spring Break

Anytime off work, especially lately, is treasured time.  It is so nice not to have to be in the zone of waking up, getting dressed, working, working, working, coming home, eating dinner, getting the girls ready, and then crashing myself.  No pressure to have to do certain things- applying make up, fixing the hair, being somewhere at a specific time for a specific time.

So, I was counting down the days, hours, minutes to spring break.  It started off not-so-good, and has actually been pretty stressful... though, again, I'm thankful to have the time off where I can do nothing but focus on what needs to be focused on.

Let's start with Taylor:  Taylor got a fever Thursday night, and wasn't eating like normal.  Stephen stayed home with her Friday, and her fever disappeared and she acted great.  So, no doctor's appointment was made.  Then, Friday night it spiked again.  Hello, weekend- and no doctor's office hours.  Saturday was probably her worst day.  We ventured to Perimeter Mall to meet some friends for dinner, and at the end of it, Taylor looked completely pathetic.  Sunday, I stayed home with Taylor while Stephen and Sydney went to church, and took her to an after-hours pediatric doctor.  Diagnosis- wheezing, virus.  She gave us some oral steroids to open her airways and off we went.  We had been doing breathing treatments since Friday, and we were told to continue those.

OK, next- Sydney.  She has been doing these odd tics for about 2 weeks now.  I noticed they started on one of the days when the pollen count was something like 3,000,000.  She would blink her eyes really tight, and do this thing where she opens her mouth wide enough so it makes her nose move.  When we asked her why she does that, she usually would say either her eyes were watering or they hurt, and that her nose was running.

Well, Friday night, Sydney was jumping around on her bed and fell backwards and hit her head on her headboard.  She seemed completely fine (besides tearing up for knowing she was in trouble), and we didn't really think much else about it.  Saturday, she started complaining of headaches.  She would call out really loud, saying her head hurt, and then it would go away.  By this weekend, her tics were so frequent that she did the squints with every single blink.  Sunday night, she woke up around midnight, screaming in complete agony about her head.  I took her temp and it was about 102.  She screamed for about 30 minutes- I had given her tylenol and she was finally able to go back to sleep.  I noticed that she was ticking in her sleep.  She woke up again screaming in agony.  I called the nurseline and told all the symptoms, and she said to get to the ER right away.

We drove into Scottish Rite and got there about 1:30 AM.  On the way there, Sydney threw up.  Poor thing, we didn't bring a change of clothes so she went in the hospital wearing nothing but her night-time pull-up and shoes.  Luckily, she got a hospital gown pretty quickly.

They wanted to do a CT scan to rule out anything bad, like bleeding in the brain (from the fall) or tumors.  Sydney was a perfect angel for the CT scan.  That hour wait for the results was excrutiating.  I think being a mom, and being so hormonal right now, I kept thinking every worst case scenario out there.  Because, there are 3 year-olds who have brain cancer.  There are kids who have to have surgery on their brain.  Why would I be so lucky for that not to be my child?  I kept thinking that I didn't think I would be able to handle something like that right now.

Praise the Lord, everything was perfectly clear.  I burst into tears, just so relieved to hear that.  My worst fears didn't come true.  And I am SO thankful.  They didn't really have answers for me, but recommended to contact the pediatrician to let her know about the ticking.  He said tics in 3 year-olds can be normal, but not while they sleep.

So, we got home around 6 AM and we all crashed.  I got up around 9 AM and called the pediatrician.  They wanted me to come in so they could see Sydney.  The girls and I groggily got dressed, got breakfast to go, and headed to the doctor's office.  They were only going to see Sydney, but they heard Taylor's horrible wheezing that they wanted to check her out, too (even though she was just checked out yesterday).

Long story short- both girls have the flu.  Which would explain the headaches.  And the fevers, the vomiting.   Both girls are wheezing, though Taylor is worse.  They want to treat Sydney with Zyrtec for a month to see if the tics are from allergies.  If not, they'll refer me to a neurologist.  She did say that tics can appear around this age and are considered normal if they last up to 6 months.  I guess time will tell.  Taylor got a steroid shot to replace the oral steroid (since she's in a lovely phase of spitting all her medicine out).

So, that is how my spring break has been so far.  Not a lot of sleep, lots of doctor's visits.  But, again, I'm so thankful to be able to be here for my girls, not stressed out about missing work or doing work.  As much as I hate that they are sick, they did pick an appropriate time to be sick.

So, let's see if the next few days will bring health, fun, and no cares in the world.  And sleep.  I hope so. :)

Starting to feel better...

about my garden.

Spring is my favorite time of the year, and I love seeing things bloom that I planted.  Makes me feel accomplished.  Even though I just stuck the thing in the ground, and the blooming plant does the rest.

Stephen and I have done some yard work this weekend, like trimming the bushes, putting down new pinestraw, pulling up weeds, planting flowers in pots, etc. 

Check out the latest pics:

16 months!

Taylor is 16 months old!

She has had a month full of huge leaps in the direction of becoming a "big girl".  Check them out:

• This has been the month of communication... Taylor has started talking so much!  She started saying:
• "uh oh, spaghettio!" (although it's more like "uh oh, spehgjhgkjhg")
• "Baby"
• "Yeah"
• "Hey" and "Hi"
• "More"
• "Eye" (and she'll point to it)
• "Shoe" but it's more like "shhhh"
• Stephen's heard her say "thank you" (or "ta ku") a couple of times.
• "Ball"
• "Ba Ba" as in bottles you drink out of (water, powerade, etc)
• She has started using gestures/sign language lots more.  A lot of waving (every time a car goes by!), the signs for "more" and "please", pointing at so many things that we ask for.  Her favorite thing to point at/find is Elmo.
• She'll go and get things we ask for.  She's really starting to show she understands what we're saying.
• This girl is strong.  She carries things around the house that are heavy- her little car she rides on, mommy's work bag, tables/chairs... but the kicker was- Taylor's class rides in these buggy things to go outside.  The buggy seats 8.  When I went to pick her up, the buggy was packed with 8 kids, and Taylor was pushing it and that girl moved that buggy a good 5 feet across the room!  That had to have been well over 200 pounds.
• We have officially turned her car seat around!  She was getting so scrunched up sitting backwards.  This was seriously the BEST present we could've given her.
• Climbing on EVERYTHING.  She literally climbed and fell into the (empty) bathtub; climbing on every chair she can reach; climbing into drawers; etc.
• She started walking up the stairs by herself, holding onto the railing.
• Participated in her first Easter egg hunt.

Here are some pics from month 16!

Sydney feeding her sister goldfish.  Is this the correct serving size?

This was her first ride, turned- around.  This smile was on her face the entire time.

Headed to Peter & Jamie's in Roswell for St. Patty's Day... she was resting up for the excitement.

Back off...