poor bethany

Sorry I never posted about her appointment yesterday. Things got kindof crazy around here. The doctor said the rash was probably NOT Roseola, because Roseola never itches. So that means it's either just part of the cold virus, or she's allergic to the amoxicillin. She told us to continue the Benedryl for her itching and swelling and oatmeal baths and stuff. Once the rash is completely gone (and she even said about 2 weeks from now) try giving her 1/4 teaspoon of the amoxicillin. Just that small amount because if she's allergic to it, she'll react to any amount of it. Ok, so we go home. She eats a good lunch, has a good nap and is generally doing well the rest of the day. Fast forward to this afternoon.

We were out at Target buying a gift for a friend's wedding shower and when we get home I'm cutting up some fruit for Bethany for lunch. As I'm slicing the strawberry I hear her cough. The cough sounds like when a grown up is trying to get up some phlegm. I turn around to look at her and she just starts spewing everywhere! She threw up in 3 different places in the kitchen. She just stood there holding her baby doll under one arm and Ears under the other arm as she continued to throw up. Once she was completely done she just started saying, "Mama, mama, mama!" I scooped her up and took her into the bathroom to clean her up. She was so freaked out. It was everywhere. Down her shirt, pants, socks and all over her shoes. I cleaned them up best I could, I think they'll be okay. I called the ped office (at 12:25) and everyone was out to lunch. The receptionist advised me not to feed her or give her milk and probably the best thing would be to put her down for her nap. Well, I let her watch an episode of JoJo while I cleaned up the mess (and cried my eyes out). She was fine after it happened, but I wasn't. I couldn't understand what was wrong with my little girl. Why isn't she getting better? Why does something keep happening after I talk to/see the doctor? I talked to my mom and she said how she went through the same thing with me. I had a lot of ear infections when I was little. She told me how she would take me to the doctor, give me the full round of antibiotics and a week later, I was back in the doctor's office. Turns out, my mom left work early today, so she came up to hang with me.

I had put Bethany down about 12:50 and she fell asleep pretty quick. Just after 1:00 the NP called me back and told me once she was up to give her 1 Tablespoon of water, wait 30 min then give her 2. If that stayed down, then continue with 2 Tablespoons every 30 min. Well, after she got up I didn't really measure it out or time it. I just asked her every 30 min or so if she would take a sip from her cup. Then she ate some cheerios and a graham cracker. For dinner she had applesauce. She had her bath and went to bed around 8. We should be able to go back to regular eating tomorrow morning. Thanks, Mom, for coming up and just being with me this afternoon. I think I would have been a nervous wreck otherwise.

So, keep praying for Bethany. Obviously, she's not quite done being sick yet. Pray for me, too, that I can be a strong mom and be there for her when she's sick and scared.

now what?

Well, just as Bethany was feeling quite a bit better, she woke up Saturday morning with little pink bumps everywhere. After her nap, they were much more red and splotchy. Nathan's mom said that when Dayna (his sister) was little, she also had a febrile seizure and a rash afterward, Roseola. So I looked up some info on it and it seems that may be what it is. I called the ped and he said since she has been on the Amoxicillin for a week to go ahead and stop it. Once the rash is gone, give her 1 or 2 more doses to see if it happens again and that would mean she's allergic to penicillin. Later that night in the bath she said, "itchy", so we knew it was bothering her more.

This morning she was bright red. It had really moved up to her face, even her ears. Her cheeks are just one big patch of red. Her inner thighs are also really bad, causing her to walk funny. Her face (especially her cheeks and lips) are puffy and she just acts like she's uncomfortable. So I called the ped again today and he said it would be okay to give her some benadryl to help the itchy and swelling. Of course, now she's like a zombie. He also said to bring her in tomorrow anyways so he could take a look at her. Great. I get to drop another $20 copay. That's 3 times in 3 weeks. Plus the emergency room copay of $75. Can I get a break? Doctor's need one of those cards like Moe's or Subway. "After 12 visits, your 13th is free!"

This poor child. I hope we can get all of this figured out so she can get back to normal.

feeling better!

Well, Bethany is doing much better. We had a follow up yesterday with her doctor and he said everything looks fine. Even her throat looks good. But we need to give her the full course of antibiotics anyway. She still is acting pretty picky about food, but today she ate a whole bowl of grapes and strawberries plus a stick of cheese and a full cup of milk.

Yesterday was library day. She was the most active out of any time we have gone. We do the "Happy Song" at the beginning of story time each week. We practice that a lot at home. Currently her favorite verse is "turn around". Usually, even though she'll do all of the moves at home, when we go to the library she would rather just watch everybody else. Well yesterday she did EVERYTHING!!!! She clapped her hands, stomped her feet, patted her head, jumped for joy (well, more like jerked), turned around, and shouted "hooray!". She also was very responsive during the stories. What a change.

Thank you everyone for your prayers. Our little girl sure has been through a lot in her life. We appreciate everything you've done for her.

scary day

First let me start by saying that Bethany is now okay.

Yesterday Bethany was acting a little strange - hand in her mouth all morning, felt a little warm, being a picky eater. We chalked it up to teething and possibly a growth spurt (we both thought she looked taller). So we gave her some tylenol for it. She slept restlessly all night and this morning had a rather large BM. So then we thought, maybe her tummy just didn't feel good. And maybe she was holding it in all night (she's been going on the potty). After going potty she really perked up. Which made us think it was a tummy ache.

When Bethany got up from her nap this afternoon still feeling pretty warm I took her temperature and it was 102.3 degrees. I immediately called the pediatrician thinking I didn't want this to go through the weekend. I took her to Nathan who took her to the doctor (I went to teach). Now here's Nathan for the next events...

I took over the reigns of the car and drove off to the pediatrician's office. On the way, we had typical father-daughter car ride banter. Checked in about 5 minutes late for the appointment (hey, we're Woleks). I proceeded to sit on the "well child side" of the waiting room because I didn't notice the sign. After a minute, I realized my mistake and guided B over to the "sick child side".

Time goes by and she seems fine. Hot, but fine. She was pointing out animals on the wall and naming them. "Zee-ba...Pan-da...Lie...E-phant." We read some books. Folks tell me they are impessed by her speech ability. At this point there is another couple on our side with 3 kids. They hear others talking about what our kids have and start to look concerned. Apparently, they got the signs wrong too (I felt really bad for them since the woman was carrying 3 month old). B played with another girl and her big brother. She really opened to them, until the girl started beating on her brother for taking away a toy. That got her a little freaked and she hurried back to Dada.

At this point I am actually thinking to myself, this is great. I will have neat adventures to tell Amy about. Usually it's her telling me what B did while they were out. I did not know what was coming.

We are called back after waiting for 45 minutes. B waves "bye-bye" to everybody. The nurse shows us into a room and take her temp again. She tries to put this thing on her head, but B is not having it. Nurse tries to put it on B's hand, but she ain't buying it. Switch strategies: 101.5 degrees under the arm with a less new-fangled device. She tells me to take her shirt off and the doctor will be in shortly.

Well she has a onesie on. This means I have to completely undress her to get the top off. Just when I finish, she asks to get down. I oblige and she proceeds to start marching (this is very big right now). She marchs around the room in her diaper and points out the animals on the wall for a few minutes. I finally decide this is no way for my daughter to be acting when her doc arrives and put her pants back on (hey, a little dignity) and sit her back on the table.

Doctor Bell comes in and immediately she is suspicious. She is polite, gives him a high 5, but the second he busts out the stethascope the crying starts. "DA-DA!!" Checks her breathing, ears, throat. Asks all those doctor questions and the redness in her throat coupled with the fever leads to a diagnosis of a throat infection. Perscription: antibiotics. Tells me we did the right thing getting her in before the weekend, watch the fever, take the medicine.

On the way out he asks where to call in the perscription. I tell him Walgreens and he suggests that I not go directly there because they take a while. I look at my watch and it is now almost 5pm. I think fine, I'll head back to my office and we can wait for Mama to finish teaching at 5:30pm, go get the medicine, maybe dinner out and then to home.

Get to my office and chat with my colleague Matt in the parking lot for a bit. B is fine, acts shy around him (nothing new), and walks around picking up rocks, pointing at the orange safety cone, etc. We head inside when it starts to sprinkle and Matt says he needs to hurry off (he drives a Vespa, so weather is not good for riding).

Inside, I set her up with her markers and crayons. I try to get her to drink some water, but she won't (she'e been doing this all day). So I figure I'll give her a snack and maybe that will force the issue. Yogurt-covered raisens, yum. She chomps on a few and then asks about the electric piano. I turn it on for her and proceeds to plunk on the keys. She was dividing her attention between these three things (markers/raisens/piano) and so I decide it is now safe to resume the work I had been doing before heading to the doctor.

I remember she was behind me standing at the piano. I heard an odd moan. "uhnn." I turned around to see her slowly fall to the floor. She didn't look like she hit anything and it was almost like her play fall when we sing Ring around the Rosey. Except afterward she wasn't moving/laughing/anything. Eyes wide open, staring into space.

"Bethany?" Nothing. "Bethany are you alright?" Still no response.

Everything from this point seemed like forever. I bent onto the floor at picked her up, repeating her name over and over. Eyes open, blank look. Checked her mouth, not choking. Listened and heard her breathing. Her neck felt stiff. Slowly she moved to look up at the flourescent light in my office. I turned her eyes to meet mine. I stared right into her eyes and there wasn't any recognition. She would slowly turn...no scratch that. Her head would slowly turn away. At this point, I could feel there was no Bethany responding to me.

We repeated this several times (head turn, turn back, head turn...) and all the while I am talking louder and louder. "Bethany you have to talk to me. Bethany. Hey you. Talk to me. Where's Dada? Peekaboo. Bethany. Bethany you have to talk to me..."

I don't know how long it was, but I thought to myself that she was gone. Someone had just flipped a switch and my bright, sweet, wonderful, precious girl was gone. That thought, that moment lasted forever and I hope I never have to go back there.

I left that thought finally and I called Amy at 5:16p. I was beside myself on the phone and was essentially calling to ask Amy if she thought I should call 911 or go to the hospital myself. More than anything I was scared to strap her in the back seat in this state and drive when I was a wreck and not be able to hold her, watch her, comfort her. I barely got a description out ("she's not talking...she collapsed and now she's catatonic") and Amy said go to the emergency room now. I didn't wait to ellaborate because I took that as my answer.

On the way out to the car, I continued to try to talk her out of it. "How about ABCs? Can you say them? ABCDEFGHI? No? What about counting? Can you count for Dada? 1. 2. 3." Something in this ritual that we have shared many times pulled her out. As I rushed to the car I heard a very laboured, "2....3....."

"That's right. Then what." She started moving again. She acted as if I had just gotten her up in the middle of the night and it was no where near time to get up. As she started to repond more and more, she seemed to become aware that something very strange had just happened. During the car ride to the hospital, I tried kept her talking. This was difficult because of the mixture of fear and grogginess that had overtaken her.

Getting out of the car, I tried to act like all was normal for her sake. She clung to me so hard. Talked to the nurse and she could probably hear in my voice that she had better not send me to the waiting area. I filled out one sheet of paper and she walked us into an examing room. I explained it all to her: How we went from doctor's office to catatonic in the span of an hour and even though she may seem better now this is not normal for her. She was scared and nervous and tired. She was not too concerned as the nurse prodded her in a manner very similar to Dr. Bell. Temp taken rectally: 104.4. This is after the incident, so I would have to assumed it had already peaked by then.

Amy arrived. They got some Motrin in her. I filled out the paperwork and she was admitted. Within a hour she was old self. Bubbly, talkative, playful, muching on snacks, impressing the nurses. The doctor diagnosed it as febrile siezure. Although scary for the parent, it is virtually harmless for the child. (Did he say "scary"?! Try frightening, terrifying, traumatic!!!) It is caused by an intensely rising fever. I'd say 3 degrees in less than an hour qualifies.

More meds and tests and samples. She started getting sleepy and since her temp had come down, the doctor sent us on our way and we out of there by 7:20pm. We have our routine to follow over the next 24 hours, and have to observe her closely. We had to get her meds and a late dinner, but after all this she was very tired and in bed by 9pm.

I have to go back to my office tomorrow. Everything is in disarray there and I don't remember if I turned out the light. B and I will go together, probably more to help me get past the memory than her. We'll pick up the pieces and move on.

I also can't help but draw comparisons to the day she was born. The day they shuttled her into the NICU and explained that she had fluid in her lungs. She held my finger, she looked in my eyes and I told her, "You have to breathe, baby girl."

Today I lost it more than I did that day. Then I was calm, today was panic. Then I knew she would make it, today not so sure. But I held her close and let her know I was there and tried to bring her back to me.

She's my bright, sweet, wonderful, precious girl and I don't know what I would do without her.

tag of fours

Okay, I know, house update is coming. But I haven't even taken recent pictures yet, so for now, something fun. My friend Katie tagged me.

Four jobs you have had in your life:
1. 1999-2005: Band Director. Loved it. Will most likely go back once I'm done having kids.
2. 1996-current: Working for my inlaws.
3. 1996-1998: Student musician during Christmas season at Magic Kingdom.
4. One summer in HS I worked in a gift shop at Sea World.

Four movies you would watch over and over:
1. The Princess Bride
2. The Wedding Singer
3. Sleepless in Seattle
4. tie: Ocean’s 11 or Usual Suspects

Four places you have lived:
1. Orlando, FL
2. Chicago (Evanston), IL
3. Honolulu, HI
4. DeLand, FL

Four TV shows you love to watch:
1. Gilmore Girls
2. LOST
3. Any Law & Order
4. Airline

Four places you have been on vacation:
1. Washington, D.C.
2. Linville, N.C.
3. Denver / Colorado Springs, CO
4. Honolulu, HI (since the move there and back drained our bank account, we've decided to consider a 10-month vacation) :)

Four websites I visit daily:
1. drudgereport.com
2. everyone's blogs
3. many SAI sites
4. amazon.com

Four of my favorite foods:
1. pizza
2. filet mignon (medium WELL)
3. peanut butter and chocolate together on anything (I second this, Katie)
4. my mom's pot roast

Four places I would rather be right now:
1. in bed
2. in the tub (again, I second Katie, but only if it's a jacuzzi tub)
3. the beach if it was warmer
4. in bed

I don't know anybody to tag! Feel free to leave your fours in my comments, though.

The Christmas post...finally

Okay, I just have to sit down and do this.

Well, for starters, poor Bethany had a cold at Christmas. She was all stuffy and had a runny nose. But she was still tons of fun!

Christmas Eve, Santa left a fun Christmas-y ball and little stuffed reindeer in her crib. Nathan and I woke about an hour before she did. I think we were more excited about Christmas than she was! But, of course, she was only 17 months old. When Bethany finally woke up we heard, with this pathetic, stuffy-nosed, hoarse voice, "oh boy, ball!" and, "oh boy, reindeer!". We went and got her up and she was clearly excited about the reindeer, she just couldn't express herself!

She got up and unwrapped the rest of the presents that Santa left, a couple of puzzles, a coloring tablet, and a snowman cup. Then it was time for Mommy and Daddy's present. I helped her pull away the wrapping paper and there it was...a Wagon!!!! She wanted to get in it right away. And, of course, Daddy took her for a ride.

After we all got dressed (and stopped for cold medicine) we were off to Nahna and Papa's house. We slowly unwrapped presents there so it wasn't a complete maylay (sp?) with ALL of the kids there unwrapping at the same time. All of them got a little spotlight as they opened presents. Later, Nathan took Bethany and Hope for a ride in the new wagon (do you think we would have gotten away with leaving it at home?) and we had lunch. Yum, lunch was SOOOOO good. Before we left for Grandma and Grandpa's house, Bethany let Uncle Michael HOLD HER!!! I was so excited! You see, ever since Hope's 2nd birthday party (in August), Bethany has been completely freaked out by my brother. So this was a huge step!

Next we headed to Nathan's parents for round 3. More good food (I must have gained 5 pounds that day) and on to the presents. Bethany by this time was a pro at unwrapping gifts. She even started helping other people unwrap their gifts! Before we started opening, Bethany went up to one bag, bent over and said, "toys?" She's no dummy! She knew what was going to happen again!

Christmas was a great day. Bethany was so into the presents and unwrapping stuff. It was so much fun to watch her experience that. Next year she'll be a little more into Santa, I think. This year she knew "Santa", but not really what it was about. This year she also got very into snowmen. It was sad the day after I took the "Frosty the Snowman" book back to the library. She just stared at the bookshelf saying, "Frosty Book?".

Well, you've probably seen the Christmas pics on the website, but if not, here are a few of my favorites. Click on the first one to see all of the Christmas Day pictures.

copycat

I know it's been awhile. Bear with me. I promise I will do a big Christmas and house update VERY SOON. But for now, I wanted to give you a couple of small updates.

Remember that really annoying game we played in middle school where we would copy EVERYTHING someone said? That's pretty much our life right now with Bethany. We'll be talking in the car (or I'll have Sean or something on the radio) and she will repeat practically every other word that is said. It's gotten to the point where we'll say something just to see if she can repeat it (don't worry, nothing bad!). And full words don't always come out. For instance, I said "delicious" one day and she said "licious". We were in the doctor's office Tuesday and I said, "Can you say 'HI, Doctor Bell?'" and she said, "Hi...doctor...bell".

Yesterday, after her nap, we were hanging out in her room and she said, "mama, carry you" (that's what she says when she wants YOU to carry HER), so I picked her up and she gave me a big hug. We sat down in the rocker and I rocked her and sang to her. Every time I finished a song she said, "next?". After a few minutes she got down and ran out toward the kitchen. She stopped, turned around and came right back and stood just outside her bedroom door, looked at me and said, "O'mon, mama", with the arm gesture and everything. It was so cute, she'd never done that before on her own. We've told her to say "come on" to different people and she'll repeat it, but never on her own like that. It was so cute! So I chase her and she laughed.

So at the doctor for her 18 month checkup she weighed in at a whopping 21 pounds and 2.5 oz! (I was being sarcastic if you couldn't tell) And she is 32.5 inches tall. But Dr. Bell said she's just fine. We scheduled a renal ultrasound for her for Monday. Just to make sure that her kidney has become normal.

Most of you know that Bethany is not very into meat or veggies. Yesterday I made Potato Broccoli Chesse soup for lunch and she ate it! I was so happy. And last night she ate a whole hot dog. I had to peel the skin off of it, though. Otherwise, she spits out half the hot dog trying to eat around it. And she loves to eat "orangens" from our tree. Nathan picks them, Bethany puts them in her wagon, and they bring them inside and cut them up. It's so cute.

So the Christmas update is coming soon, I PROMISE!

time flies

I can't believe I haven't posted in this long. I don't know where the time goes.

Well, we're gearing up for Christmas here. Bethany loves the tree. She loves to let us know what everything on the tree is. And now she has started saying "whassat?" or "whosat?" (what's that, or who's that) when she doesn't know something or someone. When I turn the lights on in the evening she says,"Lights!". Nathan's grandmother gave us some of her animated Christmas things. Her favorite is the Santa that sings "Jingle Bells". She says, "Santa! Push it! Button!", then moves her arms up and down and her hips side to side. She also likes the reindeer from Nathan's mom that sings "Jingle Bell Rock". "Reindeer! Push it!"

This morning when I was making her breakfast I caught Bethany at the back window. She would gather up the curtain and hold it up to her face and say, "Bessyah! Wharyou?" Then pull the curtain down and say, "Boo!" and giggle. She's hysterical.

She loves giving hugs and kisses and asks for them often. Of course, you can't resist that sweet little face when she asks. She also kisses like every one of her stuffed animals or dolls. And she loves to rock them in her cradle and sing, "Rock, rock baby" (her version of "Rock a-bye baby").

Bethany still loves books and can "read" half of every one of them. I leave words out and she fills them in. I think her favorite book right now is "Frosty the Snowman". She also loves "Snuggle Puppy" by Sandra Boynton. I checked that out from the library but might put it on her wish list. It's cute.

Still no more teeth. She has her fingers in her mouth ALL the time, but nothing!

Well we started kindof potty training. I don't think I'm up for the rigid potty training yet. She has started wearing pull-ups during the day (which she LOVES) and I'll ask her every once in a while if she needs to go. She's gone a few times. But I think mostly right now she's "asking" to go right after she's gone in her pull-up. That's okay, though. She's recognizing that. We'll get there slowly but surely. She went today for Nathan so I'm glad that she will for someone other than me.

I just can't wait for Christmas. She is going to be so much more fun this year. Last year we had to stop opening presents for her to take a nap! She was so cranky the whole time! Plus, of course, we were all by ourselves. This year, everyone will get to see her open her gifts. I can't wait!

leaks and things

So as if the tree thing weren't bad enough, a few days later we discovered we had a leak in our bathroom. How did we discover this? Well, the first clue was the water squirting out from underneath the kitchen floor (there was laminate flooring in the kitchen). The first plumber we had out told us there was no pipe leak. Well, when the problem was getting worse, Nathan's dad came out and found it (we also ripped up the floor). We called a different plumber to fix it.

After the insurance adjuster came out, we took down the rest of the wall around the shower (on the kitchen side) to let it air out. This week, we've been replacing the drywall and finishing the removal of the wallpaper on that side. Due to all of this, we've decided to go ahead and replace all of the floors in the house. Even though we will be in debt up to our necks, it will be worth it, I think. We are about to add a ton of value to our house, anyway. Merry Christmas to us.

Our Thanksgiving was so great. We had a really good time at my aunt's. It was good to see everyone. For a lot of them it had been since Bethany was born that we've been together. And, we got to come home with peanut butter pie! :) My mom decided to have Thanksgiving on the following Saturday. That was nice, too. It was calmer. And, when my mom couldn't find her flour, we were able to get some!

Friday we put up the tree. It looks really nice. I love having it in our front window. It looks so cozy.

I can't believe that after Thanksgiving I actually lost weight. Ok, it was .2 pound. But I didn't gain! I'm down 25 pounds and almost 3 dress sizes.

Ok, so here are some updated house pics starting with our lovely floor. Click on it to see the rest:

"Jesus!"

Bethany LOVES to say, "JESUS!!" The other morning, she even put her hands above her head and said, "Yeah! Jesus!!" So precious.

Bethany had an AWESOME Thanksgiving. We drove to Michael and Lisa's first to hang out. Bethany got her first hair cut (Thanks, Aunt Bevee!) which looks soooooooo cute and she and Hope played so great together. When we were about 45 minutes away Bethany was saying "Hope!" non-stop. She was still a little petrified of Michael, but she's still pretty leery of men in general. We tried to get Bethany to say "Bevee" while we were there, but wouldn't. Of course about 5 minutes down the road after we left, she must have said it 50 times! Her timing is horrible.

We then went to my Aunt Sandi's (my mom's sister) for linner. Just about everyone was there. My grandma and grandpa, my uncle Tim, aunt Kristy and their daughter, Alexis, my uncle Curtis, aunt Erinn and their daughter, Jennifer and her boyfriend, Mario, my aunt Sandi and uncle Jim and my cousin, Crystal and her husband, Wes and my other cousin John and his wife, Nancy and daughter, Alex. I think that's everyone. :) Bethany had a blast playing with Alexis and Alex and my cousin Jennifer. She was also pretty good with Wes. She was on the swing in the backyard most of the time. And falling out of it didn't even stop her. She wanted right back on. Of course, she crashed in the car about 10 minutes after we left. She did so awesome.

So, Friday we put up the Christmas tree. Bethany helped. She helped me put up all of the ornaments and I held her up to put the angel on the top. She loves looking at the colored balls because she can see her reflection in them and says, "Bessyah!" (that's how she says her name). She also likes the deer and the soldier (which, when she says it, sounds a lot like "shoulder") and the heart, and the mouse, and every angel on the tree. I have a Minnie Mouse ornament and she's playing a flute. So Bethany learned to say "flute". When she looked at an angel ornament playing a trumpet she said, "Angel! Flute!". I told her that was a trumpet and she said, "Trumpet!". I can't believe how she copies.

At my mom's house on Saturday, she was playing with a nativity set on the fireplace and picked up the baby Jesus and walked him all over the house. "Jesus! Jesus!!"

Wow, this is long. She's just been doing so much lately. She is just crazy about books. She'll bring one to you and say, "Readit!" Then when you're done, "Done! Next!", and hop down to get another one. She can practically read certain books to you. Some of the "unimportant" words are left out, but she understands.

Oh, by the way, Uncle Ricky, when we got home Sunday night she kept walking around the house saying, "High Five! Ricky!"

She truly amazes me.

Yeah, Jesus!

a tree falls in deland

So, remember Hurricane Wilma? Remember how we didn't get much damage? Well, after the whole storm had past, our neighbors rotted tree about took off the corner of our house! Luckily, it missed. All we lost was the tree their tree landed on, our microwave, our dishwasher, the pump for our bed (Select Comfort), the baby monitor, and the alarm clock. I think that's it. When the tree fell, it pulled the neutral out of the house causing 240V to go through the house. That explained all the popping we heard before the tree landed. Lucky for us, Nathan's dad and Lonny were able to come up and fix everything for us. It's good to know people.

Well, we planned on slowly replacing the appliances in the kitchen anyway so we went ahead and got a microwave to go over the range (thank you, Gram). It looks really nice. We got a donated dishwasher that Nathan's dad had, and are using a pump for a blow up mattress to keep our bed inflated (we are NOT paying $200-400 to replace our pump!). On Sunday, Nathan's parents came over to help install the stuff and help me start removing the wallpaper in the kitchen. Ed was also going to replace an element in our water heater except he couldn't get to it past the 6 inches of sediment in the bottom! Drain your water heaters, people! So, what else could we do? Buy a new one, of course! Geez. Why do these things always happen at one time?

So we've decided to save up and replace the stove next. I think we're going to get a glasstop with convection oven. Our kitchen is going to look soooooo cool. So, click the picture below to see EVERYTHING.

pictures!

Ok, here are some pics for you. As usual, click on one to see the rest of the album.



Little Hula Girl


First candy! Really, she only took about 8 licks, she didn't eat the whole thing!

not a baby

Many, many things that Bethany does makes me think how in certain ways, she's not a baby anymore. Like, temper tantrums for one! Haha, you thought I was going to get all sentimental, didn't you? Just kidding. But yes, temper tantrums. And coloring. She LOVES to color! She goes nuts when she sees crayons or markers. She also is learning things so quickly. The other day (she has these blocks with letters on them and pictures of things that start with that letter) we were playing with the blocks and I showed her "house". She said it back once and that was it. The next day I was stacking them up for her and she found the "H" block, pointed to the picture and said, "house!" I couldn't believe it. I only showed her the day before. And only one time!

Potty training - I know I'm going to have to do it sometime. She's been showing signs for several months. She loved sitting on the potty when I was trying to get her pee for a culture (I don't think I'll go into detail about it on here!). Then today, I went into the bathroom at the mall and as I was sitting there she said, "pee-pee". Oh, man. This was one thing I did not want to do when I had kids. A friend of mine suggested the "Potty training in less than a day" method. It's one long day of teaching it, but then it's pretty much done. Except for the overnight part. I know I'm going to just have to bite the bullet and do it.

I got some GREAT pictures of her at the park the other day. Check the next post for them. She got on the playground equipment all by herself! And went down the slide! She already loves the swings, but the slide!!

I'm running out of creative titles

So, we just got back from Chicago. What a fun trip! Bethany did great! She pretty much skipped every nap (except what she could catch in the car or in the stroller) but was "happy, happy" the whole time. (That's a new thing - if you ask, "Bethany, are you happy?" she'll move her shoulders back and forth and say, "Happy, happy". Too cute.)

She loved Lincoln Park Zoo. As do I. It's a free zoo (but for the parking) and there is so much to see. She loved the otters. No, wait, she LOVED the otters. And, who couldn't? They are sooooo cute. And she said Zebra for the first time. That was a shock. No prompting. We just walked up to them and she said, "Zehba". What??? Ok!

Aunt Susie taught her to say, "Okie, Dokie". Only when she says it, it sounds like, "Otee, Dotee". What a cutie!

We went to Ikea and I bought her these finger puppets. They are all animals - Parrot, Duck, Moose (Deer?), Frog, Bear, Panda, Giraffe, Elephant, Monkey and Lion. She loves them. She likes to put them on her fingers and tell us what they are.

She LOVED LOVED LOVED the train! Now every time you ask, "What does a train do?" she very enthusiastically says, "Woo-woo!". And I think she loves planes even more now. She wouldn't let us take her away from the window at the airport. She kept saying, "Airplane! Bye-Bye!" and frantically waving her arm. I bought her a little Southwest plane that lights up and makes the sound of a plane taking off and landing. And when you pull it back, it taxis for a second and then takes off (really, it just lifts the nose).

She was very confused by the pants and long sleeve shirts. By the time we were on the plane back home, she didn't want me to put the pants back on her. She had had enough.

She also thinks that Keifer Sutherland is cute. She was flipping through a magazine in the car one day and everytime she got to the page with his face on it (an ad for 24) she said, "Cute!" I love her.

She says that now, too. Only it sounds like, "I lellow". But she says it after someone else does. So we know she's trying to repeat it.

Bethany freaked out at the Shedd Aquarium. She was running all over the place. "FISH!!!" And we saw a shark. "Shart! Whoa!!!" And turtles. Aunt Susie bought her a turtle. I bought her an otter.

Ok, how about some pictures?

also

I forgot to mention how the rest of the afternoon went after B's doctor's appointment. I had to go to Walgreens to pick up a prescription and after waiting for 30 minutes, I finally got it. She was exhausted, but it was past lunch and we both needed to eat. But, instead of going home, I thought, "she deserves a treat (and so do I)". So we went across the street to Friendly's and we had a nice lunch there. I had a chicken wrap and Bethany had Mac-N-Cheese. They're pretty cheap there, though, because it was just Kraft (made with a LOT of butter!) but we had a good time. She talked to everyone, of course. After lunch we went home and she slept for a few hours. She was pooped. Me too.

sorry

I know, I know, it's been too long. Sorry. But, I have a bunch to update!

First of all, at her doctor's appointment last week, Bethany was 31" tall and 19 pounds! I know, only 19 pounds! The doctor said that it was okay since she is so active. She was all over that office. There was a jungle wallpaper on the bottom of the wall and she kept walking up to it..."Lie! roar...Bish!...Ooh Ooh Ooh! (monkey)...Bird! teet teet!..." She was so cute. So that's about it. No, wait. She got three shots. One in each arm and one in her left leg. She screamed and screamed. I finally got her to calm down by saying, "Look, you got a sticker (the round snoopy band-aid on her leg)!" She calmed down immediately. Then all day long she was pointing at her leg saying, "ticker, ticker!" It was traumatic that evening when it fell off in the shower.

Bethany's new favorite show is JoJo's Circus. It is such a cute show and whenever she picks up the remote she says, "JoJo!" She dances to the music and follows along with most of what JoJo does. It's so cute!

Well, the naps haven't been as great as that one a couple of weeks ago. Only 2 hours max. She keeps waking up poopy. Even if she's already pooped that day. She'll get used to the new schedule though, right? Even her poops?

She also is really starting to love all kinds of food. I'd have to say, though, that her favorites are cheese and pickles. Just like her mom! She freaks out whenever she sees a pickle and she'll eat anything with cheese. I'm trying to find good ways for her to have the food she likes. Instead of buying regular mac-n-cheese I bought this brand called Annie's. It's organic. Wheat shell pasta and cheddar. The ingredients say, "Whole wheat pasta and white cheddar cheese". Isn't that awesome! No preservatives or funky chemicals. No, I'm not turning into a freaky liberal wacko, don't worry. I'm just trying to give her good food. And I found it at Target!

Well, that's all I can think of right now. More later!

new fun

Well, we are really getting settled in here in DeLand. Bethany loves her new room. Now we just have to decide what color to paint it. Last week everything was "lellow". This week everything is purple. Make up your mind, silly girl! Last week, my friend Sharla invited us to go with her and her son, Michael Jr., to the story time at the library. Michael J. is 10-months old. The story time we went to was for children under 1. It was really cute. We sang a couple of songs, said some nursery rhymes and read a book. Then the four of us went to the park and the kids enjoyed the swings. Bethany did great this time. Her first experience with swings was not great. We tried swinging her at the park at Hope's birthday party and she wanted nothing to do with it. This time, I think she saw how much fun Michael J was having and realized it really was fun! This week, I took Bethany to the 1-3 story time and I think it was a little more her style. There was more singing and movement and they even had a puppet! It just seemed a little more "put together" than the other one. We hung out at the library for almost an hour after the story time was over looking at books and reading. Even though it's DeLand, the library is way better than the Manoa branch of the Hawaii Public Library. And the staff is much more helpful and more friendly. We checked out some books and went home.

Bethany has been taking only one nap this past week. It didn't start out as a plan, it just kind of happened with the move and things being kind of wacky last week. So, today she took a 3 1/2-hour nap. It really is kind of nice. I can get a lot done in those 3 hours.

Well, Bethany has her 12 month check up on Thursday. I know, almost 3 months late. Yet another reason while health insurance sucks. We didn't have any from the time we left Hawaii until September 1st. And even then, her old Ped. was already booked until the end of October and we didn't move over here until last week.

So I'm sure I'll have a lot to update after Thursday. We haven't had any new stats in awhile. I'm very excited!!

second opinion

Well, I went to my regular doctor today (actually it was a doctor filling in for my doctor who is out this week due to having surgery) and he thinks I just have bronchitis and possibly a seasonal asthma. So I have another cough medicine (in pill form-woohoo!) and advair. So, we'll see how that goes. I'm supposed to go back in a week to follow up.

Our movers called today to tell me that they had a cancellation for tomorrow (Thursday) so we'll be moving in 2 days early! This is good. Now I don't have to worry about a potential conflict with going bridesmaid dress shopping on Saturday for Kristy's wedding. Whew!

whoop...there it is

Yep. I have been diagnosed as having Whooping Cough (Pertussis). Apparantly, in about 10% of adults, the vaccine we recevied as children wears off. It starts off with the same symptoms as the common cold, which makes it hard to diagnose. I went to the doctor a couple of weeks ago and she said it looked like maybe bronchitis. When it didn't get any better (and my whole body started to hurt from all the coughing) I went back and she said it's very possible that it's Pertussis. So she gave me a breathing treatment in the office and I'm taking an antibiotic, a cough medicine and an inhaler. I still cough occasionally, but not as hard or deep. So it's a lot better. But Pertussis can persist for several months. Ugh. So, that's my life right now! Lucky me!!

our house

Well, there are some developments since my last post. We bought a house! We are so excited! We have a few pictures, but just of the outside. When we move in, I'll take more pictures and some of the inside and post them. Then, as we make improvements, I'll post pictures of our progress!

Bethany is almost 14 months old. She is amazing. But you can read about her in her blog!

I've now lost 19 pounds in 14 weeks. I have passed my 10% goal and will now make a new goal. It will probably be 10% again, since that's about how much more I want to lose. You should see me. I look fabulous!!! :)

Okay click on the picture below to see the house!

Pictures!!!!!!!

Yay!!!!!

Click the first picture and go to the At Home album.
Click the second picture and go to the Out & About album.

blah blah blah

She is just talking up a storm. I can't believe it. Most of the time (amazingly) I understand what she is saying! I guess that's a mom thing.

We bought a new camera so new pictures will be coming soon, yay!

Today something really funny happened. Bethany knows what a bus is and whenever we pass one on the road she yells out, "bus!!" Today we were walking out of Linens N Things and a Ford Expedition drove by and she pointed at it and yelled, "BUS!" Haha! I just said, "Yeah, I know, it looks like a bus, doesn't it?" How cute. Also, for some reason she has a Pavlov reaction to the word "color". Whenever she hears the word she says, "yellow" (lellow). She knows many colors. She can look through her color book and recognize red, yellow, blue, green, purple, white, black and brown. So you can point to an object and she'll tell you the color. But whenever you say, "what color?" she says, "yellow" (lellow). Oh, well.

And...we will finally be in our home next week! YAY!!!! Next Tuesday we will be residents of DeLand. We are sooooooooooo excited!

a fun weekend

Last weekend was really great. Bethany did a lot of new things and handled it all amazingly well. My niece's birthday party was last Saturday. My brother and his family recently moved to St. Pete for a new job, so the party was over there. They are currently living in my great-grandmother's house, so that means nobody else has a place to stay when we go over there anymore. Nathan, Susan, Ricardo, Bethany and I all stayed at a Days Inn about 15 minutes from where the party was going to be. Bethany was great the whole car ride over. She just talked and read books and ate some snacks. Then, when we got to the hotel, we put her down for a nap (we requested adjoining rooms so we could put her down and hang out next door). She just talked for about an hour and then finally fell asleep about 5:00. We had to wake her up to go to dinner. There was a Cracker Barrel (YUM!) across the street and my brother and his clan came to meet all of us (mom was with us, too). She was pretty good and kept pointing at Hope across the table and saying, "Ho!" (she's not very good at those ending consonants yet). So, then she went to bed pretty easily, too, and we just hung out watching "What Not to Wear" in Susan and Ricardo's room until we got tired. Our only problem was that I had been sick (on the verge of bronchitis) and woke up about 6am with a horrible coughing fit. I went into the bathroom but Bethany heard me and woke up. We decided to just get up and go to breakfast then see if B would take a nap before we went to the party at 10am. She did, and we actually had to wake her up to go! She had a lot of fun at the party. They had the party at a park. It was the first time she actually walked around in the grass and went on a playground. We tried putting her in those toddler swings, but she didn't care for it too much. I thought that she would love it, but maybe she'll just have to get used to it. But she had fun just walking around everywhere. And they had bubbles and hula hoops and pinwheels (which she calls "Fi"-sounds like eye). I think she thinks it looks like a butterfly, which she calls the same thing. Anyway, we had a great time and it only took 20 minutes for her to crash in the car. She slept almost all the way back to Orlando. She was really good the whole weekend. Too bad mommy was too sick to go to church on Sunday. She hasn't seen her church friends in awhile. While mommy was in Tucson, B stayed at Grandma's house while Daddy went to church. He was working sound that week so he had to be there REALLY early! Hopefully we'll all make it there this Sunday.

I'm sorry to say that we may not be posting any new pictures for awhile. Our camera broke this weekend. We don't know what happened. It just stopped working. We'll have to figure out a way to get the pictures up from this weekend, because there were some really cute ones.

March of the Penguins

Today, Bethany went to her first movie. We went to see March of the Penguins. She did pretty well. We had to get up and let her walk around a couple of times. There was a walkway that went behind the seats and she just walked back and forth and then we we would go back and sit down again. She seemed to like it when she paid attention. A few times, she pointed at the screen and said either, "bird!", "baby!", or "oooooh!". It was cute. She really was pretty good. So, it was her first time at the movies, and there will certainly be a page in her scrapbook about it (if I ever actually start one!). :)

growing up so fast

I know, I know. It's been awhile since I've blogged. We have just been busy, busy since we've been back. With church, SAI, work, and having friends and family to hang out with, blogging has taken a back seat. I guess the first thing to tell is that we are buying a house! It was totally unplanned, but the rental market in DeLand really stinks and it just made more sense to go ahead and buy even though we didn't really have much saved to do so. You know, moving to and from Hawaii can really screw up your savings. Anyway, we were able to buy in DeLand really close to campus and we will be closing at the end of the month. Pictures are forthcoming.

Bethany has been growing up like crazy. She tries to copy just about anything we say. You've seen the list of words. I could continue adding. Well, okay, I'll do it now! She can now say wash, bite, box, eyes, nose, mouth, toe, hair, bear, blue, boo, water, hello.

She can also pant like a dog, shush (puts her finger to her mouth and goes "sssss"), say "hello" and laugh with her phone up to her ear, and dance on command. When she knocks down a stack of blocks she raises her hands above her head and says, "ooooooooh!". She is running around this place like crazy. And she crawls up on everything. She loves to sit on the couch like a grown-up.

She's been eating more grown-up foods lately. She loves spaghetti! She also loves apples, grapes, cherries, bananas, nectarines, strawberries, cheese, yogurt, animal crackers, pb & j, bagels, egg, chicken, potatoes, and other things I can't remember right now.

Well, that's a lot for now. Hopefully I can write more soon!

vocab list

Remember when we had those in elementary and middle school? I hated them. Well, here's one that I love! All the words that Bethany can say. Up to frog are the words I named last time.
mama
dada
papa
nahna
cat
dog
bird
star
fish
turtle
hi
bye-bye
no-no
bubble
frog
night-night
duck
purple
baby
shh
ball
book
shoe
ears (the bunny from the hospital)
chair
diaper
phone
cup
bottle
milk
(from Mr. Brown)
knock-knock
hoo-hoo
doodle doo
pop pop
(from Moo, Baa, La La La)
moo
baa
la la la
oof (little dogs)
meow
bow wow wow (big dogs)
neigh
(letters she can name)
A
B
C
D
E
G
I
J
K
L
O
P
R
T
V
Y
Z

I think that's it! More to come, I'm sure!

First Birthday

Well, Bethany is now a year old. I can't believe it. She is so amazing. It is so cool to watch your child learn and discover. And the older she gets, the more amazing it seems. I remember how excited I got when she rolled over for the first time. I cried I was so excited! Now, she's learning letters, repeating words, walking. Soon she'll be using sentences, running, jumping, going to school...okay, maybe I've gotten a little ahead of myself.

We had a fun party on Saturday. Bethany (and our guests) had pizza, popcorn (just the guests), strawberries, pineapple, and some veggies (just the guests). Then we opened presents. Bethany got some new clothes, books, a big purple frog, a cute puppy that plays songs and helps learn colors, etc., sorting blocks, a bike seat and helmet, new shoes, and I'm sure I'm leaving out some stuff. Then we had cake and ice cream. She didn't care a whole lot for the cake, but LOVED the ice cream! See the pics below.

I'll post again with an updated list of her words! I bet you are so excited!

Bethany's first Fourth of July

Yesterday my parents, my sister and brother-in-law, Nathan, Bethany and I all went to Cypress Gardens. We planned on staying out for the fireworks, so this was our first time keeping Bethany out ALL DAY. She was amazing. We had a lot of fun and she even rode some of the kiddy rides.





She had a short morning nap before we left and didn't nap at all while we were there. About 6:30, we decided to leave and go to dinner. Nathan and I ended up going to see fireworks at Universal with Susan and Ricardo. Bethany slept all the way to dinner (about 30 min). We were able to then get her from her car seat to the stroller and keep her asleep! She slept all the way through dinner and to Universal!! She is awesome! (She was also really tired, but I prefer to look at it the other way.) She was pretty alert once we got to Universal. The fireworks were supposed to start at 10PM. It had started raining and there was some lightning so they were delayed about 45 minutes. But once they went, they were awesome! Bethany just looked up and a couple of times she pointed at them. So cute!





Leaving was very difficult. So many people all going one direction. Not fun. But we made it out and Bethany slept all the way home. We got to bed around 1 AM. But it was a great day.

Thank you to all of the service men and women who have served or are serving to continue to make this country the greatest on the planet.

God Bless America.

bubbles and ice cream

Last night we went to an ice cream social for our church. When we got to the house where it was being held, there were a bunch of kids outside and two huge bubble tumblers. The tumblers had three wands in each of them. Bethany is obsessed with bubbles right now. That was the first thing she saw. She just kept saying, "Bubbow!!". So, she plopped right down in the driveway and pulled out two of the wands and started chewing on them. We had a good time outside talking to some people for about 5 minutes, but we wanted to see who was inside, too. So, we tried picking Bethany up and she screamed! Beth, the Children's Ministry Director, offered to stay with her while we went in and got some ice cream. So, we went in and talked to some more people and took our ice cream outside. Bethany ate some of Nathan's vanilla ice cream and loved it! She kept saying, "num-num-num". So, we'll have some at her party next week. We had a good time last night and she was so good even though we kept her up 1 1/2 hours past her bedtime.

I love wireless!

Okay, so it's going to be a lot easier for me to keep up with the blogging now. Nathan and I got cable modem service so now I don't feel bad about sitting on the internet for 30-45 minutes to do all of my surfing and blogging. Before, I was taking up the phone line and hording my dad's computer. Now I don't have to do that!

Okay, so it's been almost a month since I last posted! There is so much to say! Let me see if I can sum-up. We've been going to Grandma and Grandpa's house every weekend to visit and go swimming. She has had so much fun! She loves to sit on the side and "jump" into the water to me. And this past weekend she did it for Grandma. She really loves to go swimming. We also went swimming at Aunt Susan and Uncle Ricky's apartment. She had so much fun. And there was another baby there. She was 7-months old. They had fun looking at each other and touching hands. They were so cute.

Bethany has started building a vocabulary. So far she can say: mama, dada, papa, nahna, cat, dog, bird, star, fish, turtle, hi, bye-bye, no-no, bubble, and frog. She just "talks" up a storm. She also has all 4 of her front teeth in now. 3 of them all came in at the same time. Poor girl! She's been a trooper, though. Not much complaining.

She still isn't quite walking yet. We got her on video a couple of weeks ago taking seven steps. But that was the last time. She cruises around like a pro, but just won't do it by herself yet.

We think Bethany is going through a growth spurt. She's been pigging out lately, and on Friday, she took TWO 2-hour and 45 minute naps! She is sleeping a lot!

So the big birthday is coming up. We're having a little party for her on the 9th. It should be fun, I hope! :)

Well, I think that might do it for now. I promise to keep this more up to date now!

back home

Well, we're back home in Orlando. We've been here for about a month and still are looking for a place to live. Thank goodness for parents who let you live with them while you look. We've been very frustrated by the market in and around DeLand. Apparantly, according to one apartment manager we spoke to, FEMA is still paying rent for a bunch of people who are waiting for their homes to be repaired from LAST SUMMER's hurricanes! So there are basically NO 2 bedroom apartments anywhere. So we've decided to look into buying a house. We didn't think that we were financially ready, but we don't have much of a choice, and I guess in the long run, this will be better for us.

My daughter will be a year old next week. I can't believe it. The first 6 months didn't seem to go by very quickly. But the last 6 months have gone by VERY quickly. She is such a blessing to us. We are so lucky to have her. She brings so much joy to our lives. We love you, B!

We're very happy to be back in our church, Grace Fellowship. We really missed it last year. We felt like we were home the first time we went back there.

Nathan is officially done with his degree. He should be receiving his certificate of completion in the mail in a few days. Then we all have to start calling him "Dr." because he'll have the proof. :)

I have also started taking better care of myself. I started going to Weight Watchers with my mom and sister as soon as we got here. In three weeks I have lost 6.4 pounds. It feels so good to feel my clothes get too big! This is the only thing that has worked for me so far. And it started working right away. I could not get the last 10 pounds of my pregnancy weight off all year and now I'm more than halfway there in just 3 weeks. Of course, I want to keep losing after that 10 pounds because I wasn't really at an ideal weight when I got pregnant in the first place. I want to be as healthy as possible when we decide to go for #2. I'll keep journaling my progress here.

Well, that's that for now. Stayed tuned for our search for a home and more about my life as a stay-at-home mom and wife. I'm sure it will be interesting!

Home at last

Sorry it's been awhile since I blogged. You know, we've been kindof busy. :) Anyways, we got to Orlando last Friday around 7 PM. It was a very long trip but we made it pretty easily. Buying a seat for Bethany was worth the $350, let me tell you. We also broke the trip into 3 legs instead of 2. Here's how it went:

Leg one-Honolulu to Los Angeles-5 hours long-Bethany slept the entire time.
Leg two-Los Angeles to Cincinatti-3 1/2 hours - Bethany slept the entire time.
Leg three - Cincinatti to Orlando - 3 hours - Bethany didn't sleep but was quite content to wave and talk to the people around us. She also enjoyed looking out the window and watching Baby Mozart (pics to come). She then fell asleep just after touchdown and stayed that way all the way to baggage claim (about 30 minutes or so). We then came to Mom and Dad's and she went down about 9:00 and slept until like 6 the next morning. She has been on a near perfect sleep/eat schedule since. Thank you Jesus!!!

The following Monday, Nathan took off to Chicago to defend his dissertation. He passed!!! It's over!! Halleluia!!! By the way, thanks to our dear friends George and Joline and Steve and Janet for taking in my husband. Also, thanks to Janet for driving Nate to the airport in the wee hours of the morning and to Steve for dropping off his edited paper for him. You guys are AWESOME!!!!

So, we've settled in pretty well here. Bethany will be 11 months old tomorrow! When did she get so big?

Well, I think I'll sign off now. Nathan and I are going to a MOVIE!! Yes, a movie! A real date! I'm not sure if I remember what one of those is like. Thanks to Nahna and Papa for watching her tonight. Okay, goodnight!

our last beach day

We went to the beach yesterday for the last time. We went in the evening instead of the morning/afternoon. It was really nice. The sun wasn't too hot and it wasn't too crowded. The water was a good temperature and we had a good time. Bethany loves to crawl around in the water and sand now. She would crawl around in the water until she was about under the water. She didn't care, and in fact, was laughing her head off the whole time!

We zoomed her around in her float and also swam with her in the water. Then, later, she and daddy played in the sand.



They had fun. And Bethany just laughed and laughed!! She couldn't get enough!



We will miss the beach here. Hopefully, we can find a pretty beach when we get back to Florida. After going to the beach here, there's no going back to Daytona, Smyrna, or Cocoa, in my opinion.

My daughter makes the worst sound in the world. As we were leaving the beach last night, I heard her GRINDING HER TEETH!!!!! Oh, it's horrible!!!! I don't know what to do to make her stop!! Does anyone have any suggestions??? I just can't stand it!

Well, Aloha for now. I'll be signing off until we get to Orlando. We can't wait to be back!!!!!

4 days!!!!!

a mouthful!!

of teeth!!! So it appears that Bethany is breaking not one, not two, but THREE teeth!! Possibly more! Another mom said it looks like all 4 of her top teeth are coming in. So, when you see Bethany in...6 DAYS!!!!!!...she could have 5 or 6 new teeth. Holy moly! The things she'll be able to eat!

Yesterday was so cute. We met my friend, Amber, and her son, Brandon, at the Honolulu Zoo. We had a good time. Amber bought lemonade slushees for herself and Brandon but Brandon didn't like his very much. So Amber started giving little spoonfuls to Bethany. She seemed to like it, but from the look on her face, she didn't quite know why! It was probably very refreshing, though. She hadn't had a drink of water since she dropped her sippy cup in a puddle of mud. It was uncleanable. So I bet it felt good going down!

We're starting to pack up what we can. We decided today to stop dragging our CD cases around. We put all of our CD's in sleeved cases about 4 or 5 years ago so we didn't have CD cases all over our apartment (we have too many). So we've kept the jewel cases in boxes and moved them everywhere. It was ridiculous to move them so many times. We finally threw them out. Sorry, Honolulu landfill. But, it's partly your fault anyway because we can't recycle hardly anything here. Anyway, that should save us a couple hundred bucks on our move because they're so heavy!

Bethany is getting closer to saying several words. The past few days have been surprising. Nathan was reading "Mr Brown Can Moo, Can You?" and when he got to the raindrop page (Dibble Dibble Dopp) she repeated in her own babble, "dibble dibble". Then he turned the page (He can sound like a clock, he can tick, he can tock) and before he even read the sentence she said, "tick tock". I can't wait to hear more!

Pictures to come!

6 DAYS!!!!!! Did I say that already????

Lots to catch up on

Wow, it's been awhile! A whole week!

We're finally starting to feel like we're actually moving. We spent the morning at Nathan's office packing up all of his books. We had to take enough stuff for a weekend trip to keep Bethany occupied the whole time. We also took the new portable DVD player so we could let Bethany watch her "Baby Einstein" video ("Baby Heroin" as Nathan calls it). She was pretty good. She had to skip her morning nap so she did a bit fussy around 11 but must have caught a second wind. She didn't nap until we got home and fed her lunch around 1. She didn't sleep as long as I had hoped (only 1 hr, 45 min) but she was pretty good the rest of the day and evening and is now sleeping peacefully.

She's cutting two new teeth, but not the ones we would expect. She has a third bottom tooth coming in (on the right) and the one directly above it on the top. She doesn't have her two front teeth yet. I didn't expect that top one to come in yet. I'm not sure why it's coming in before the other two. I hope it doesn't mean anything bad.

She is turning into a walking fiend. She's finally using the little walker (a push toy) that Grandma got her for Christmas. She goes back and forth, back and forth, across the apartment. She can't get enough of it. When she gets to the front or back doors (or anytime she gets stuck on something) she starts to whine so one of us will unstick her or turn her around to do it all over again. She's also getting really tall. She can now stand up at our bed and her whole head is above the mattress. I can't believe how tall she is.

So a couple of weeks ago (when Dayna was here) we were up at Shark's Cove on the North Shore. Nathan and I were walking back toward the beach from the outer wall and I slipped a bit and put my hand out and it landed on a rock with a sea urchin on it. I had two needles sticking out of my right hand thumb. Nathan pulled them out and all seemed fine. The following week my thumb was getting more sore and I could feel two little bumps. I went to the doctor and she basically said that there wasn't anything she could do. A lot of times, a piece of the needle stays behind after you pull it out and the bumps I feel are the pieces trying to work their way out. They could try to cut them out, but since the skin on your hand is so tough that it's hard to get them out. Plus, a lot of times they are flesh colored, making it even harder. My only option, really, is to wait it out. She gave me a prescription antibiotic cream in case it starts to get infected. It could take 10-14 days for them to come out completely. Ugh. I never realized how important my right hand thumb is.

Well, we have to ship our car back. Every place we talked to would only give us the trade in value for it. That doesn't cover what we still owe. So now we won't be a little broke when we get back, we'll be really broke . But, we've trusted God so far and we have faith that he will continue to provide for our needs. Not necessarily for our wants, but definitely for our needs! There are other riches waiting for us in DeLand, and the rest of the sunshine state, that are far greater than what money could bring us.

9 days!!! Woo-hoo!

fun/odd day

We had a pretty good day today. Bethany must be going through a growth spurt or something because she napped for a total of 4 hours today. Woo-hoo! Anyway, we went across the street after she woke up from her am nap to go to the store. I bought a box of zwieback toast, have you heard of it? Bethany loved it! She was so cute eating it while I fixed her lunch. After lunch we went to the mall to pick up some Clinique stuff and the Royal Hawaiian Band was playing on the stage. She watched and listened intently and even clapped for them a few times. Then after we got off of the elevator to go out to the car, this older japanese woman waved at Bethany - RIGHT in her FACE! I mean her hand was like, an inch from her nose. Hello! You don't have to get THAT close! The time we left was past her naptime so I just gave her her bottle as I drove home. She drank the whole thing by herself and then fell asleep. What a good girl. She then slept for 2 hours and 15 minutes. Ahhhhh.

15 days!!!!

Happy Mother's Day!

Well, Aunt Dayna went home last night. We had a good time with her. You can read Bethany's entry below for an update on what we did the first half of the week. I'm so thankful for her. I was completely exhausted so she said, "Mom, you take a rest. I will let everyone know what we've done so far." "Thanks", I said. What a great kid.

So Thursday we went to Pearl Harbor. We got there around 12:30 and the next show/boat was at 12:45. And there wasn't any wait! So we were able to just go right in. That was nice since we had an antsy 9 month old with us. They show a movie before you go over that explains what happened leading up to the attack and what the aftermath was. Bethany clapped in all the wrong places! We'll have to make sure she fully understands later. :) Did you know that more people died in that attack than have died so far in Iraq? That just amazed me.

Then we went to Waikiki and walked around the International Marketplace. Bethany got to see a Cockatoo up close. I mean, his handler laid him right down on the tray of her stroller! She got to touch him, too! That was neat.

We didn't do much on Friday. We went to my Mom's bible study where we gave an expecting mom a shower. That was fun. Then the group surprised me with cards and a gift since we're moving. I was so shocked! I didn't expect anything like that. It was really nice.

Saturday we went to the zoo. As always, Bethany loved it. I took some video this time since we have a bunch of pictures from the zoo. Hopefully I can put that together soon. We went to a new Chinese restaurant, Asia Manoa, which is right around the corner from us, for dinner. Nathan and Dayna seemed to like it. I didn't care for it. It seems like ever since the smell of it made me nauseous when I was pregnant, I haven't been able to enjoy Chinese food. I wonder if that's true that food likes and dislikes stay with you after you've been pregnant. Anyway, Nathan tood Dayna to the airport and now she's probably home. It was a fun week.

I had a really nice first Mother's Day. I got a dozen red roses, a box of dark chocolate covered macadamia nuts, and a portable DVD player! The last gift may be more for B! It was great. I hope all the moms and grandmas had great mom's days as well!

18 days!!!

fun days

So, Aunt Dayna is here and we've been having some fun. Sorry Mommy hasn't written, she's just been so tired. So I thought I'd better sit down and let you all know what's been going on. On Saturday, Mommy and Daddy and Aunt Dayna took me to the North Shore. I had fun in the water. On Sunday, we all went hiking up to Manoa Falls. Boy was that hard! It was so pretty, though, and luckily, Mommy brought some water so I could cool off after that long hike. Here's a picture of all of us at the top:



On Monday, Mommy and Aunt Dayna took me to the Sea Life Park. It was great! I got to see all of my friends from Moppets (the babies from Mommy's MOPS group) and all kinds of neat animals. I LOVED the turtles, and the big aquarium with all the fish and stingrays. I also really liked the dolphins and the sea lions. Mommy got me a cool fish at the gift shop. I'll show you a picture of him later.

On Tuesday, we did some light shopping. We were all really exhausted. I mean, take a look at me on the way home Monday from the Sea Life Park:



Today, we went to our usual beach, Ala Moana Beach Park. It was great. We all went in the water and Mommy and Aunt Dayna zoomed me back and forth in my float. Then Mommy spun me in circles. It was so fun! Mommy and Aunt Dayna got a little sunburned, though. They were very unhappy with the sunscreen they used. I had a great time playing in the sand, too. I don't really care to eat it anymore, but digging is fun. I loved how it felt to crawl in the sand. That was really fun. Aunt Dayna got this shot of me:



Well, tomorrow we're going to Pearl Harbor. Mommy said we get to go on a boat ride. Yay! Then we'll do some more shopping. Whew! I hope I don't wear them out. More soon!

Love,
B

yay, water pressure!

So we went the whole weekend with miniscule water pressure. It was horrible. It took me like 20 minutes just to wash my hair. Well, today the water guy came and fixed it and it's harder than it was before the problem. Woo-hoo! I can't wait to take a shower tonight!

hehe

Ok, she woke up at 5:00, not too bad. I'll take a mere 45 minutes of actual sleep over 2 hours of fussy baby anytime. But how must she have fallen asleep? Check these out:

ah, sleep

It's always a mystery how Bethany will nap on Friday's. I have a mom's Bible study on Friday mornings which goes right through her morning nap time. A few months ago, I could swing her to sleep in her car seat, but now she's too into what's going on. There is a Costco just down the road from the church where we meet so we stop there for me to feed her lunch and I grab a hot dog for the road. It usually goes like this: she screams her head off from the church parking lot to the Costco parking lot. I take her out, put her in her stroller and grab a table to feed her. I get my food, put her back in the car, and she usually is asleep before we are out of the parking lot. I put her in her bed once we're home, and she sleeps for various times. Here is the mystery. Will she take another nap since she woke at 2 o'clock since her pm nap is usually around 2:30?? Will she make it to bedtime? And if not, how early does that mean she'll wake up tomorrow? And if she takes an afternoon nap, how long will it be? Do we let her sleep even if it may mean she's up past her bedtime? Or do we wake her up and risk being totally cranky up until bedtime? So many questions. I wish I had the answers. Well, today we ended a little early so she was asleep in the car by 11:50. She woke up at 1:00. So around 3:30 when she started climbing all over me and smashing her face into my chest I thought, okay, I have to at least TRY to get you to nap again. So, she was down by about 3:40 and after short spurts of crying and lots of talking and singing, she fell asleep at 4:15. Who knows what to do now?? :)

Remember how I told you how she developed a sort of "animal speak" over spring break in Orlando? Well, I think she has an additional "bird speak". We were playing outside yesterday and some birds came near us and she pointed at them (yes, actual pointing with her index finger!) and made these short high pitched squeaks. It's so cute!

Ok, more later! Have a good weekend!

my cool daughter

Okay, I may be jinxing myself here, but she was so good today (well, so far, anyway!). I went to my mom's Bible study and for the first 15 minutes or so, she just sat on my lap. Then, she played very nicely on the floor and didn't try to do anything life-threatening. Then she just sat on the floor and paid great attention to one woman who was sharing. So polite! And so cute! Days like this help me forget about the insane days I have with her.

34 days!!!

She's got skills!

It's what you've been waiting for! Make sure you're sitting down first. Hope you enjoy!

39 days!

And Aunt Dayna comes here in 10 days!

New techniques and first love???

By the way, here is a pic of her in that hat I got for $.97.





We put Bethany in her tulip dress for church this morning and it's hard to crawl in a dress. So she got to practice all morning crawling on her hands and feet. She's been doing it since we got home, even though we took her dress off after lunch! Hopefully, this will help her start walking.

At church this morning, Bethany got her firt kiss from a little boy named Benny. He looks maybe 16-18 months old. He was walking and when we picked her up he kept pointing at her, waving at her and saying, "baby!". He loved her, I guess. But apparantly that wasn't the only attention she got. The workers said that all of the boys loved her. What a flirt. Does this mean we have to start worrying already?

She's been doing a lot of practice standing alone. She'll pull up on something and then lean back and stay there for a few seconds. Then, she slowly goes down to a squat, and then sit. I know the day is coming when she all of a sudden takes off.

Ok, so she has a new skill, but you'll have to wait to find out what it is. But I'll warn you now, when I post it, it is not for the faint of heart!

Stay tuned!

Dream interpretation

Warning...this post is rated PG-13.

I had two very odd and scary dreams last night. Even though I woke Nathan up to tell him about it, I still had very restless sleep all night.

Dream #1: Bethany and I are on our way to pick up an elderly woman (don't know who or why). By the way, the house is my great-grandmother's in St. Pete. So, we park the car, and her body guard leads me away from the house down the alley and I yell back for her to go ahead and get in the car, I'll be right there. Before I know what's happening, the man breaks a huge glass vase over my head and takes Bethany from me. I am bleeding from my head and I scream and go for my daughter and the man walks away. I continue to follow him to try to get to her because I feel like I am going to die and I want to say goodbye to her. I am then taken back into the house where they lock me in the front bedroom. Luckily, I was able to get my cell phone and I call Nathan. I remember saying, "Something horrible has happened" and telling him everything. It then goes to me back at home with Nathan. I don't know how I got there and Bethany isn't there, but there is nothing to suggest that she is gone, so I guess she came home, too. I tell Nathan how lightheaded I feel and I can feel the blood and dried blood on the back of my head and in my hair. I really wanted to go to the hospital. He looks at my head and says that it doesn't look that bad and I can wait until the morning to go to urgent care. I'm really mad about that but I wait until morning anyway. While I'm there, I sign in and tell them how I feel and the lady basically tells me I have to wait. There I am with dried blood in my hair and she tells me I have to wait. After a while, I go back up and again tell her how lightheaded I am, what happened to me, how scared I am and she laughs at me. I then start yelling and tell her she is a b**ch. I am so angry that no one seems to care about how I feel. They send me home with Aveeno baby shampoo and Advil (not sure why those particular brands). Thus ends dream #1.

Dream #2 was shorter. Basically, I was with some man who was burying two people. They were in boxes with no lids and looked very decomposed with bugs crawling all over them. All of a sudden the man starts to cry and says that one of them looks like his daughter. Then, I can see what he sees. The body all of a sudden looks like a little girl with blond hair. He starts to kiss her head and that's when the body returns to it's actual form to my eyes, but he doesn't yet see it. He then realizes what is happening and jumps back from the body screaming and crying. That is the end of dream #2.

Any thoughts? Sorry for all of the gorry details.

Link for Bruce

A few posts ago I mentioned that Bruce Wilkinson preached at our church. There still is no link to the text, but, the audio would be much more powerful anyway. So click here to go to the page with the links. His is April 3rd. There are two choices: Sermon Only or Full Service. It is a great message. Also, while you're there, check out the one above his: Brenda Salter-McNeil. Her message last week was great, too. I hope you are moved as much as we were.

A deal!...finally!

Well, I think we lost the only hat that fits Bethany right now. She has such a big head. Anyway, we had a little FSU floppy hat from my niece and we had it at the beach last weekend, but can't find it anywhere! So, I was at Old Navy today, just to look and see how much their hats were to maybe buy one next week. I found this cute little bucket hat (I'll take a pic tomorrow) that was on clearance for $2.99! AND, I had a gift card from my friend Heather that still had a couple of bucks on it, so I only paid $.97 for the hat!!! Woo-hoo!! What a deal!

She's been waving for a while now, but today, she would wave back at me when I wave at her! It's so cute! And she laughs when she hears other people laughing. Even on TV. So funny!

Should I start a countdown?...43 days!

Let Cookie Monster eat his cookies!

growing up

So, we're at the age now where she gets REALLY mad if I take something from her. It's full blown now. I used to be able to switch what she had for something else, but that doesn't work anymore. She just screams and has to just get over it on her own. Sometimes a toy that plays music or talks helps or if I just get out a book and start reading to her. But, then, sometimes the book is the problem. I was at Border's today and wanted to buy a book for her. I picked up Touch and Feel Pets. One of the pages is for the cat and it has "whiskers" coming out of the page to feel. Well, I was showing her the book and one of the whiskers was missing so I wanted to put it back and get another one. As soon as I took it from her she started wailing! Luckily, she did calm down when I gave her the other one. Whew! But I only gave the cashier enough time to scan the book and then I gave it right back to Bethany. She really likes it. And most of the afternoon she kept saying, "Ca", like she was trying to say "cat". Now, I don't know if she realizes what "cat" is because she was just saying it randomly, not to a picture of a cat. But, it's cute anyway! She would just look at me so hard and then go, "CA!". So cute!

Sunshine!

Finally! It has been raining for like 2 weeks straight here. We haven't been to the beach since before Spring Break. We finally got to go today. It was beautiful and the water was a little warmer so Bethany didn't have any shivers getting in!

My mom got this cute little float for her.



She loved it! We stood in the water for the longest time and pushed her back and forth between the two of us. She had so much fun. And Nathan just pulled her in circles and she was smiling and giggling the whole time! I'm so glad that she loves the water. Hopefully that won't change. I don't want to have to break her of a fear of water.

Yea, sunshine! Please stick around for a while!

No more...

...vague messages. Some of you know this already, but when we went to Florida for Spring Break, Nathan was actually interviewing for a position at Stetson. He has since been offered and has accepted the position. Sooooooo, we will be moving back to DeLand at the end of May. Yay! We feel really good about this decisiona and are very excited about being in DeLand and about being a little closer to family! So far all of the moving arrangements have been pretty smooth. Please pray for us in this transition. And pray extra hard that we will be able to sell our car before we move! We can't wait to get back!

Last Weekend

I forgot to tell you about last weekend. First we went to the zoo, but you've heard a lot about the zoo! Afterward, we drove up to Punchbowl National Cemetery. Punchbowl is in the middle of Puowaina crater (an extinct volcano). I'm sure that many of you have been to or seen pictures of Arlington National Cemetery and all of the white headstones that go on forever. Punchbowl is more of a memorial garden. All of the headstones are flush with the ground so you don't see anything sticking up from the ground. It was so beautiful and quiet. At the back of the cemetery are steps that lead up to the main memorial (with mosaic maps of battles of WWII) and chapel. Along the steps on each side are walls covered with names of soldiers who never came home. At the base of the steps is a plaque that reads, "In these gardens are recorded the names of Americans who gave their lives in the service of their country and whose earthly resting place is known only to God". It was so moving seeing all of those names and remembering just how many people have sacrificed so that we can live in this great country. One other thing that moved me was the gravesite of two brothers. One died in WWII, the other came home and lived for 45 more years. I can't imagine losing my brother or sister so tragically and living that long without them.

I thank God for those who have served and sacrificed and for those who are currently serving to keep this country the greatest in the world.

Try these other links as well:
Punchbowl 1
Punchbowl 2

checkup

So our baby girl is now 17 lbs 3 oz and 28 3/4 inches.

She is talking up a storm. And not just the "ba", "da", and "ma" sounds. It actually sounds like she's saying stuff, just not in English. So cute. And she's all over the place. Not as cute. And I love watching her talk to her reflection. It's like she's carrying on a conversation with herself.

Just now she was crawling and talking, then sat and blurted out something with an exclamation point on the end and threw her arms in the air. I just have to laugh and then say, "Bethany, I love you".

She gets more fun and more scary everyday.

my little girl

What is it that makes my heart so full when I watch her playing? She loves looking at books and I just love watching her with her touch and feel books. She turns each page and knows just where to touch on each page. I guess it just amazes me that she knows how to do that. And I love watching her play by herself in her room picking up different toys or friends and talking to herself (or them). And I love that she thinks I'm funny.

Of course, I'm sitting here having a moment and now she's going to have a little temper tantrum! That's okay, I still love her!

this week

I forgot to tell you that Bethany's nine-month check-up will be this Friday. I can't wait to find out all her measurements! I'll let you know how it goes!

update

Okay, I just put a bunch of pictures in the at home folder. Hope you like them!

Present-day

Okay, so since it took me a week to sum up the last week, I haven't done anything about this past week! A couple of things she started doing: She clacks her tongue now; sometimes if we do it first, she'll do it back. She loves going through my wallet. I guess she loves figuring out how to open it and really studies the inside and then loves taking out different cards and chewing on them. She really looks at books now. She used to just like pulling them off the shelf onto the floor. But she's been pulling them off one at a time (sometimes being very picky about which book) and turning the pages (feeling them if they are touch and feel) and looking at the pictures and sometimes blabbing at them. Also, when we had our suitcases open (before we'd completely unpacked) she would crawl up to them and pick out things that were hers: a book, a toy, her brush. She's also now at the age where she gets mad if you take something away from her. And it doesn't always help to try to give her something else. Oh, boy!

I also left out a
really funny story from when Nathan's parents had B for the afternoon. We left her stroller with them so they could take her for a walk. They did, but Flannel got tired way before Bethany did. So Grandpa tried carrying Flannel for awhile but when it looked like the weather was going to get bad and they needed to get home in a hurry, it became difficult to continue carrying her. So Grandma said, "Put her in the basket! (of the stroller)". She didn't want to get in at first but apparantly, when they got home, she didn't want to get out! Too funny!

All in all we are finally recovered from our trip and are about done cleaning up from it. I think that's about it.

Oh! Bruce Wilkinson, author of the best-seller "The Prayer of Jabez" spoke at our church this morning. It was really powerful. He is currently living in South Africa and recruiting people to come on 10-day trips to help plant gardens for the homeless and hungry. Last year they planted over 100,000 gardens, and this year they are shooting for 1,000,000 gardens. It was an amazing story. As soon as I can find a link or something to it, I will post it.

Ok, I'm going to bed now.

Monday, 3/28

Well, we left today. Our flights were a lot better this time. REALLY long, but better. Bethany slept a little on the way to Houston, but it was the flight home that we got lucky. The plane was a 767, so the seats were 2-3-2 across. We were in the middle (the section with 3) and the person next to me apparantly found another place to sit so we had all three of those seats! So when B fell asleep, we just laid her down in the seat between Nathan and me and we were able to sleep, or read, or watch the little tv! It was great. She slept 3 times. So when we got home, it was near her normal bedtime so we thought we'd give it a try.

The next few days were spent getting all of our sleep schedules back to normal. Bethany woke up a couple hours early Tuesday morning, then only an hour early Wednesday, and then we were pretty normal after that. The first couple nights Nathan and I got tired at like 8 o'clock. We're back to normal now, too.

Sunday, 3/27

Easter!

We got to go to our church, Grace Fellowship, this morning. We miss that church so much. Mike Adkins is the pastor and is an amazing speaker. It was so great to be back there. It was like being at home.

After church we went back to my parent's for lunch and an Easter Egg hunt. My brother's older kids ran around looking for eggs while Hope was escorted to look for her own. My sister took Bethany and found a lovely orange-dyed egg which she began to suck on and turn her whole face orange! How cute!

We then went to Nathan's parents for dinner. I gave Bethany a whole (very small) plate of mac 'n cheese. She loved it!

Then we had to leave because we had to go back to my parents to pack. :(

Saturday, 3/26

Today was nice and relaxing. My grandparents drove in from St. Pete in the morning. It was really nice to see them and spend time with them. And they got to play with Bethany. Then some of our friends came over to see the baby (and us, too!). Cissy, Kristy and Kristy's boyfriend, Jason came over. And later Katie and her boyfriend, Matt came over. By now, it was almost time to go to Cissy's house for my birthday bash. So Katie and Matt went home to change and we met back at Chick-Fil-A (yum!) to grab something to eat first. I had so much fun with everyone at my party. It was good to hang out with all my friends again. It is something I really miss. We spent time reminiscing about our crazy (not - not mine, anyway) college days. We looked at pictures and had fun remembering that time of our lives. We stayed out late while my parents watched Bethany and it was great. Two nights in a row we had babysitters! I could get used to that!