What a trooper!!

So the fun all began yesterday when Tatum was in preschool for those precious 3 hrs (noon to 3) and Corbin was down for a nap and Daryl was home early. So I took advantage of that time and ventured out to the new Toys R' Us out by us and bought some things for the kids, thinking I'd have perfect time to hit up Michael's on the way to pick her up from preschool since it was only about 2:00 at this point (when I was done shopping). Well my car wouldn't start up and had no clue what was wrong. So I sat and waited for a friend to come and pick us up. Not only was Corbin napping, but we would never put a car seat in the front seat of his pick up..his back seat doesn't really have seats..just space, so Daryl couldn't help and our babysitter was still in school. At this point we didn't know if we were going to need to get towed or if it was just the battery. Daryl called her preschool which has an after school Little Lambs program which is awesome since it's only like $4-5 an hr and had them keep her after. I had someone ask if I needed a jump and that worked. The friend of mine who was coming to get me didn't have his cell phone, so I couldn't call him. I went ahead and had him follow me to her preschool after he got there and I turned off the car at her preschool and sure enough, he had to jump me. Meanwhile, Daryl was supposed to be sleeping because he was supposed to work from midnight-2 or 3pm (he currently is supervising the light rail project for those of you who don't know). So he told me not to make any plans for Friday and that he really needed to get to sleep since it was already around 5 and he had to wake up at 11pm to get ready for work..so I'd need to wait on the battery. That night I wanted to wrap some presents and told Tatum to play in her room for a bit until I was done with hers and when I found her 20 min's later, she was in bed asleep (which really isn't normal for her). So I figured she was pooped from playing hard all day at school and thought nothing of it. Well the nightmare began the following morning at 8am when I heard screaming coming from her room. I ran next door and turned on the light to find vomit everywhere and she continued to scream and shake looking up at the ceiling from side to side telling me there were monsters. Then she'd say, "AHH, THEIR ON YOUR FACE...NOW IT'S ON YOUR EAR...AHHH, AHHH, THEY ARE FLYING OVER THERE NOW". So we prayed and told the bad spirits to leave the room and prayed hard for the angels and God and Jesus to protect us. I then took her in my arms (she was burning up) and went into the kitchen to call Daryl. Then she started screaming telling me the monster was over there and then it was on my ear (where the phone was). I swear I almost really believed her because her screaming and shrieks were so intense and believable. Of course I'm thinking I really needed to take her in and of course I have no working vehicle and Daryl is downtown and not off until much later. So I figured I'd give her some motrin and take her temp (which was almost 102) and wait it out some. She was also continuing to throw up at this time. So I gave her a cool bath to clean her up some and just sat with her on the couch. Corbin was still sleeping through all of this which was nice. She wouldn't eat anything (not even the popsicles I kept offering her). She kept trying to doze off and then I thought of what had happened after we had gotten home from preschool yesterday. Daryl had ordered me Uggs (yes, I jumped on that bandwagon, but I have wanted some for so long because they are SO comfortable) and they had arrived. She loves it when we get packages in the mail, so I told her to go and wash her hands to get the germs off from school and then she could come and help us open them. Well as she's running back, she runs head first into our wall down the hall (I witnessed it). She didn't trip, she said she just didn't see the wall for some reason (it wasn't even that dark). She has had a few head injuries in the past. One when she was 2 and slipped in Costco and another when she fell off the back of her kinderzeat and hit her head on the tile while she was helping me make cupcakes for Corbin's birthday party. I had taken her to the emergency room after that one. They said she was fine and didn't even take a CT of her head..sent us home with a popsicle and a pat on the head. So back to my story (sorry for all of the rambling...I'm so not organized or very good at this blogging thing..so bare with me lol). So we just didn't think anything of it when she hit her head yesterday and just iced it. So back to the story...now she's dozing on the couch and so I decided to clip her fingernails to try and wake her up (just in case she really did have a head injury) and then she wakes up and starts freaking out about monsters flying around again (she's fully awake at this point). So I called Daryl right then and told him he needed to come home now (it was about 10:30 at this point) and jump me so we could go to Mendy's Place (it's the only children's emergency room in Arizona located in the John C Lincoln hospital at 27th ave and Deer Valley...just in case any of you need that info :)) So we loaded her in and she threw up again everywhere..so we unloaded her and changed her and of course on the way there, she threw up again. They saw us immediately and Corbin was needing lunch, so I took him to get some food and stopped by the gift shop and got her a balloon and a purse with a puppy in it. I walked in with her gift just as they were sticking the damn IV in. That was absolute perfect timing. She was such a trooper. They had already taken her to get her CT when we were gone and then they drew blood and took urine (at least they didn't give her a catheter). He told us at first it could be meningitis and if they didn't get some real answers they were going to do a spinal tap (uh, I don't think so). All in all, we were there for a total of 5 hrs (what a nightmare with Corbin who needed a nap). Her CT came back normal and they said she had a urinary tract infection and they found Ecoli in her system as well. So they put her on Keflex and sent us on our way. Very friendly staff and we will definitely be back! We still had to stop off at Checker and buy a new battery. She slept in the car the whole time all the while Corbin screaming and kicking my seat because he was overtired (damn, we need a bigger car lol). She has thrown up a few times since we've been home and is sleeping on the couch next to Daryl watching Miracle on 34th Street (well she was watching it). She hasn't eaten, but at least her fever is really starting to come down and they said she's not contagious which is good. I just wanted to share with you so you can all keep her in your prayers. I'm really hoping she will wake up tomorrow morning and act as if nothing has happened. As far as the delusions, he said sometimes people can be delusional due to having a fever. That's never happened before, but I'm going to go with it.

Can we say deja vu?

So we had my nephew Everett over for Tatum's birthday party and pulled out the old jumper and since then, Corbin cannot get enough of it. He is 4 1/2 months in the picture to the left and 23 months in the picture to the right. I guess some things never change with the little guy. One thing I learned so far this Christmas is you really can't hang candy canes on the tree and not expect your toddler to take them off and of course that eventually led to bringing down the tree on top of him. He was safe, but it was a pretty scary sight (not to mention some of my most precious ornaments were shattered to bits). So no more candy canes on the tree for at least a few more years. Corbin will be two in less than a month and he is really progressing with his vocabulary. He is starting to say small sentences and repeats many things I say. I will ask him if he went poop and he will say, "no" and if he did go he will come up to me and say, "poo poo". I asked him if he wanted to sing the ABC's with me today and he said, "no, don't know how". I kid you not..he just says things so randomly and I feel like I'm hearing things. Then when I got to the end of the ABC's he was starting to sing the Now I Know My ABC's part (not perfectly of course) but he did it right on cue. I'm sure most of you know that Tatum already had her ABC's mastered by the age of 1 and her vocabulary was really mature. He is a boy and boys do tend to take their time. He is really getting there and is babbling and using real words all of the time now. He's still a really skinny guy and most of the time I will find that he's lost his pants because his skinny little body can't seem to hold them up. He eats all of the time and yet has this insane metabolism (which I wish I could have lol). He still really loves dancing and playing with his sissy. They are a great team together and Tatum really helps me out with him. I'm truly blessed to have these two perfect little kids and such a wonderful, supportive and loving husband!

Tatum turns FOUR!!!

All I have to say is Tatum is like a fine wine, she just gets better with age. As a baby, she was a really happy-go-lucky type of child and now as a four year old, she remains the same. I reflect on the past four years and begin to realize how blessed we really are to have her here...and then I laugh as I type this at the table sitting next to me is Tatum eating her pizza for dinner and she turns to me and says, "One bite of this pizza mom and your dreams will come true"... "Just one teeny bite and your dreams will come to me..or they won't come true". She loves to name her babies and animals these crazy cute names such as Penelope, Sullie, Seler, Belle, Eelie..etc..etc...
Currently she has stopped swimming lessons until after the winter and we are probably going to put her in some sort of sport or gymnastics next. She keeps telling me she wants a baby sister. People will ask me in front of her if we are done having children and I'll say we are on the fence and Tatum will say, "Just one more baby..a baby sister". She reminds me on a daily basis and probably won't give up until it happens.
Now about the party-many of you who know me, know how much I truly love the rain and how the area we live in just does not rain (I believe last year we only had .7 inches!). When we were in Idaho, I checked the weather report the weekend before and it showed rain showers were expected. I just couldn't believe it since it never happened. I had the whole day planned complete with a HUGE castle 5-in-1 bouncer/slide and a cotton candy machine. I spent the day before running all of the birthday errands in the rain (my mom was in town to watch the kids which helped since I had really only the day before to get really ready because of our trip). It rained the whole day before so I thought we would get lucky. I stayed up really late the night before preparing and baking and still not planning on any games or any indoor activities. So the day of the party, the bouncer people came and ultimately decided it just wouldn't be safe since it was supposed to continue raining (which it did) and the wind wasn't safe as well. They had also forgotten the cotton candy machine and couldn't bring it back to around 1:30ish (the party was at noon) and were still going to charge us full price, so we vetoed that one. We rented a few little tables which they also wanted to take back, but after some smooth talking on my hubbies part, that was quickly resolved. I spent the first part of the party worrying that people would be really upset and disappointed, but really..I don't think anyone really cared and I'm pretty sure the parents understood. It was really nice that Tatum's friends still showed up despite the weather conditions which made her feel really special. Tatum's friend, Madison has a mom who works for News Channel 3 and was at our party and later that night she talked about our party on the news. I told Tatum, I can't believe your party actually made the news!! (LOL)




With that being said...I have decided not to do the children's birthday parties every year from now on. I love throwing them, but due to the fact that Corbin's is just a month later and they both fall during the holiday season, it's just too much. I will have one party a year and they will just switch off. So much easier than trying to do two (I'm having Christmas at my house this year as well). So if you don't get an invite to Tatum's party next year, you'll know why :)))). Thanks again everyone for making her day so special!!!

Our vacation in Idaho Falls

Well we just back back Wed night from Idaho Falls where we stayed with Daryl's oldest brother, Craig and his family. We had an amazing time, but it's nice to be home. The weather was chilly...the air was clean, so the cold was definitely worth it. All we did was eat, eat and eat lol. Corbin really travels well which really helps. I don't have too much time to type since I have a total of one day to get ready for Tatum's party, but I just wanted to post a few pictures from our trip.....

Thanksgiving at Trinity

So Tatum's school celebrated Thanksgiving with a little performance in the Chapel and a fair at night. It's amazing to see that we are finally "here" at this point in our lives with her. She was the loudest of both classes who performed. For some reason my camera is having some problems and won't let me upload the video..I'll try again and will hopefully be able to post it.

Candy Time

This was Corbin's first official trick or treating year. Every time we said, "trick or treat". He would try and walk right in their house or grab more candy than they were willing to give lol. Tatum has a very loud voice (which she inherited from my dad) and she would be yelling, "Trick or Treat" all the way up the driveway. It made us laugh every time. We went out with Daryl's brother, Aaron, his wife (Jen) and their two kids, Devin and Regan. I really hate Halloween since I tend to eat out of the kids loot more than I should, which isn't good since I finally lost all of the baby weight and some. Here are a few pic's of our night :)).

Family Pictures

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It's been awhile since I've posted....we had our family pictures done by my friend Jenn a few weeks ago and they turned out beautifully. She took a ton of pictures and here are just a few. It's really hard to choose which ones to post on here since we love them all. Let me know if you'd like to see more and I can send you an album :)). Her website is: http://photographybyjenn-studiotwenty2.blogspot.com/

Enjoy!!

Lake Havasu for Labor Day

The company that Daryl works for bought a company boat for all of the employees to use (he currently works where his brother Aaron works..just subcontracted out). So we hired a baby-sitter for Corbin and Regan and went out for Tatum's first boat trip with Aaron, Jen and Devin. We had a bit of boat trouble (the rope got caught underneath and we didn't have a knife to cut it), but the girls had fun entertaining themselves despite the fact. If anyone knows Tatum, they know that she is not much of a risk taker, but we were finally able to talk her into going on the banana boat with Daryl and I (I don't have a picture of it).

It's almost been a week...

So tomorrow it will be a week since our sweet Sophie came into our lives. It has been a little trying since we haven't had a new dog in so long. She's peed on our carpet a few times, but are starting to fall into a routine of having her go outside to potty certain times of the day and that seems to be helping. She seems to be calming down as well and isn't as hyper as she was the day we first brought her home which is really refreshing. I have taught her how to sit using raw carrots as her treat for doing so (Bailey would have turned her nose up at that lol). We took her to the in-laws to go swimming today and she rides in the car like a champ. She jumps in the passenger side and sits down on the floor and falls asleep. It was like we didn't even have a dog in the car. Bailey would have been all over the place lol. Daryl also gave her face a little hair cut a few days ago since we didn't like the beard look on our little girl. It took like 5 months off of her and she looks more like a puppy and less "dirty" looking in the face. We'll probably have the groomers keep her fur short from now on since it's easier to comb through. I have not found one tiny hair anywhere from her. This dog is AWESOME! We also start private training with her next week and I can't wait to see how she'll respond to it.