23 Friday Dec 2011
Posted in Bella and Norah
Tags
Addisyn, Allen, Bella, Christmas, Daddy, Granddaddy, Grandma Duncan, Great-Granna, Great-Mammaw, Greg, Hope, Jackson, Jane, Jaye, Jordan, Kurt, Lindsay, Madison, Meredith, Mimi, Monte, Natalee, Norah, sick, Trey
This gallery contains 24 photos.
So in the the last post, we talked about taking awhile to get a post done. We are still running …
07 Wednesday Sep 2011
Posted in Bella and Norah
Tags
asthma, Bella, Dr. Butler, Granddaddy, Mimi, sick, wheezing
Well, I am happy to admit that Bella is feeling much better and we have not had to use the nebulizer for quite a while now. On Thursday, I took Bella to her follow-up visit with Dr. Butler. The original plan was to take Norah to daycare first and then to head to the doctor’s office with just Bella. I had been prepping her for days that we would see Dr. Butler and Pam, Norah was going to go to Wendy’s and then she would go to Wendy’s afterwards. So, the morning arrives and I get up a bit early to get everything ready.
For whatever reason (probably just because she is two) Norah decided that she did not want to cooperate with me in any way, shape or form. She didn’t want to get out of bed, she didn’t want to use the potty, she didn’t want to get dressed, she didn’t want to get her hair fixed, she didn’t want to eat breakfast…you get the idea. She wanted to lay on the bed with her blankey and suck her thumb. I pretty much had to get Bella dressed and ready and then forcefully do everything with Norah with nearly zero cooperation. Finally we get in the car and set off to Wendy’s. By the time we get to County Line Road I decide to scrap taking Norah to daycare first because I don’t want to risk being late to Bella’s appointment.
We get to the office and check in. I have to go through all the rigamaroo of new insurance, etc. I had put the girls in panties vs pull-ups, so I take them to the bathroom and they both go. Soon afterwards Pam (Dr. B’s) wonderful assistant, calls us back and too get Bella to stand on the scale Norah goes first (so I know Norah is roughly 26 lbs and Bella is 27 lbs now), then we are off to the exam room. Usually we get the monkey room, but this time we get the dinosaur room. Norah was tickled to get to play with plastic dinosaur toys and that the exam table had steps to get up on it. She also kept wanting to get the pterydactl skeleton models and kept asking us for them. Norah was exceptionally rowdy that day. She fought Bella over the dinosaurs, she kept climbing the exam table steps, she fought Bella over who got to sit in my lap…but the worst was that she kept trying to kick Dr. Butler and opening the door wanting to wander around the office. Of course, this gets Bella antsy and she starts telling me she wants to leave, then before I know it she starts loudly telling me, “I gotta poop!” So, I didn’t want to take the chance and off to the bathroom we go again. No poop, just pee…she is already learning to manipulate the power of the poop threat. Eventually we are all done and the girls pick a sucker each and off to Wendy’s we go.
The outcome of the visit is that Dr. Butler does think that Bella has asthma. So far we know that viruses can trigger it. He was discussing triggers and the possible need for controller meds in the future, etc. It seems that Bella’s night coughing is part of asthma, but for now we are just to keep her on her allergy meds and use the nebulizer when she seems to be having more coughing or any wheezing. He discussed the possibility of a referral to a specialist, but she is still too young to really do a proper work-up, so for now we are playing it by ear. I am hoping that she only has issues when she is sick, but only time will tell. However, I get the feeling that we will be using the nebulizer again in the future, so not such a bad thing we now will have one on hand.
This week Aaron’s parents are keeping the girls as Granddaddy took the week off of work specifically for this purpose. It has been odd not having the girls here with us, but we have gone shopping, out to eat, over to friends’ houses and I think the very best part of all was that we have been able to sleep in! Granted, sleeping in has meant getting up at 9:30 or so instead of 7 or 7:30, but it has been nice all the same. We even stayed out very late (almost 4am) on Sunday night and didn’t have to worry about getting home for the babysitter (even though we love Sam!).
This upcoming week is the Dale Fall Fest, so we will be down in southern Indiana for the weekend. The news I have been hearing is that my Mimi will be there staying with my brother and his family (who live two houses down from Aaron’s parents). I have not seen Mimi in slightly over two years as she was already back in WV when we went down to Florida last summer (she usually spends half the year there). I have also been hearing that my uncle Mark is supposed to be there too and I am not sure when I last saw him. Mere and Monte are making a trip with their kids as well. It will be nice to see everyone all together!
Sorry for the lack of pics, but we are enjoying our time alone. Next week there should be a guest post and pics, so stay tuned.
27 Saturday Aug 2011
Posted in Bella and Norah
Tags
Bella, breathing treatment, Chastity, ER Visit, Norah, potty training, sick
This gallery contains 11 photos.
The big news this week is that Bella had her first visit to the Emergency Room. First of all, she …
10 Tuesday May 2011
Posted in Bella and Norah
Tags
The title of this post pretty much sums up all of last week in our house. It started the weekend …
13 Sunday Feb 2011
Posted in Bella and Norah
Tags
Bella, crying, Grandma Duncan, mimicking sounds, new word, Norah, potty training, sick, talking, vocabulary
Our sweet Norah
Man-oh-man what a week! It was a week that saw that things getting back to normal without the normalcy. Yeah, it was that kind of week. Stacy’s mom (AKA Grandma Duncan) came up on a day tripper to see us, well not really us–but rather the cutest twins that she knows. I know that the girls absolutely loved having Grandma up to visit and play with them. I would say that there was only one complaint which was when she left. It was a very traumatic event for our two little drama queens in the making. Stacy wanted me to “distract” the girls as she tried to leave. My attempt was futile to say the least and Bella began to cry, screaming and pleading for “Gra-ma” to return. Through her chorus of cries and over emotional demands to return Grandma Duncan, Norah our resident sympathy crier, decided to chime in making it a delightful duet.
Behind those Blue Eyes
The girls were able to return to day care as normal this past week after being “iced” in the previous week. I know that they enjoyed seeing and playing with their friends. It also provided a more structured routine that they are accustomed to having. The girls did tend to struggle with nap time this week. Often when I would pick them up, Wendy would provide the fair warning disclaimer that the objects of my affection may indeed appear closer to cranky than normal. I would say that was a fair description and heeded that warning taking the lumps of their lack of sleep in stride. Stacy received a text from Wendy this week also that said that our youngest daughter by 11 minutes, had demonstrated another step in the potty training stage–Norah went poop in the potty! Stacy of course forwarded it me. After changing hundreds of poopy diapers, I am personally more excited at the prospect of NOT having to change those diapers more than her actually doing it. They even had a little “cheering” party for her at daycare after her big accomplishment.
How Norah uses a fork
Bella’s vocabulary continues to grow exponentially. Her new words this week include: teethbursh (not a typo), oranges, mess, door, chair, glasses, Oh Toodles (from Mickey Mouse), and the word “yeah” has even made a rare appearance here and there into her vocabulary. Mess is definitely her favorite and she is quick to point out any mess that she sees. She is definitely quite the talker and repeater of words! Both girls will also bring me the remote and ask for Mickey Mouse or Ruby (another show they watch–Max & Ruby although it comes out more like “Wuby”). We have been using the DVR to record these shows. We do this for our own sanity to avoid having to watch the same on-demand versions over and over and over again. Bella is also beginning to jump and skip around the house.
THE $1500 POTHOLE
On Tuesday Stacy was coming home from work and hit the (and I quote), “the mother of all potholes” from the north side through downtown Indy. I was on the phone with her and she did not feel anything vibrating/vibrating/shaking on the car and perhaps the only thing she thought was the front end was out of allignment. The next day she let me know that the tire had a big knot on it and the rim was bent. Sure as can be they were. We were close to the end of the life for the tires, but still we have to put on 4 tires, a new rim, alignment, taxes, labor, etc. to a whopping cost of around $1500. That was indeed some pothole. Check the pictures below to see some of the damage.
Knot on tire
Bent Rim
The damage
Stacy was without a car on Thursday because of the repair so I had to go pick her up from work. I had the girls with me and took them in since I got there a little early. They behaved better than I thought they would being it one of those days that they came with that disclaimer of more irritable than usual. Bella was quite funny as she was practicing her jumping skills around the store. Of course what I did not mention is that when Bella jumps she tends to always find a way to fall down. The strategic falling down after the jump then leads to her exclaiming “Ouch” or “Ow” to anyone who will grant her court. Don’t get me wrong, it is cute the first 100 times, but after personally witnessing this for at least 10 times that it does grow old. She did it at least 50 times in 5 minutes.
Bella's favorite Ruby Red Slippers
Stacy has also been working with the girls on sounds that animals make. Both Bella and Norah are great at “mooo” with the cow. In fact they are so great that all animals make the mooo sound, especially with Bella. Bella is getting good at naming them though. She knows dog, cat, horse, cow, chicken and sheep pretty well. Norah knows dog, cat, cow, and chicken along with the sound that a chicken makes. There pace of learning with speech these past few months and even these past few weeks has been so amazing. The girls will say things or identify things we did not even know that they knew. It all seems to be going way too quick–except for the potty training which I can’t wait to start all out this summer. That is the one thing that I will not miss and can can’t get over quick enough.
So a new week begins and hopefully we can begin to get back to a more steady, real normal week and routine. The girls are showing some signs that they are getting sick. The snotty noses and some coughing has started. We hope that it stops there. But for right now, we are are the personal snot servants. As usual, more pictures are below. Check out the Picture of the Week
12 Wednesday Jan 2011
Posted in Bella and Norah
Tags
Bella, Christmas, Christmas pictures, clothes, defiant, diva, melt-down, new word, Norah, pictures, potty training, shoes, sick, talking, Terrible 2s
About as sweet as Norah gets
The past week has been a good week for the girls. Aaron’s winter break ended, so he is back to work and the girls are back in daycare. Wendy(our daycare provider) moved while the girls were staying home, so they have a new atmosphere to adjust to and Danni and Alex are back after their mother started a new job. They seem to be adjusting to the new place quicker than I have. I am still adjusting to the extra time it takes me to get there, especially if I am working in Greenwood, as I have to go farther north and then come back south. I haven’t been late yet, so I guess that is a good thing.
Prelude to cuddling
They have finally both been feeling well (at the same time) so we just got around to doing their Christmas/18month old pictures this past weekend. We have had to cancel a prior appointment and scrap a couple of potential appointment times that we tried to make because the girls have been sick on and off. As soon as one would start to get better the other would start to get sick. We finally caught a break–or so we had thought.
The process was pretty much what I expected it to be, maybe a little more difficult even. The girls were looking so cute in their Christmas dresses and they seemed to be in a pretty good mood. We showed up a little early and tried to give the girls a little time to warm up to the studio and Desiree (the girl who has done all their pictures since they were 3 months old). Desiree had warned me that around 18 months/2 years old kids decide that they are scared of the studio or just plain uncooperative for the most part. I hoped that we would get a couple of good pictures with the two of them together right as the session started as we have in the past. Things were looking good, but we could not convince Norah to take her thumb out of her mouth. Then once we convinced her (okay we didn’t really convince her, it was more of redirection mixed with distraction), neither one of the girls wanted to sit down. Instead they wanted to explore the stuff in the prop closet, they wanted to fight over ornaments, seats, whatever they could find. Basically they just wanted to fight over anything and everything.
GIRLS IN THEIR CHRISTMAS DRESSES
Our other BEST Xmas Picture
Our best XMas picture
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Bella had a plate and started to have a melt down when I tried to take it away, so Aaron had to take her out. Norah and I stayed and we got some really cute pictures of Norah. We might have gotten more, but I wanted to try to at least get some individual pictures of Bella. So Aaron brought our Bella back in the studio and then took Norah out. Finally, we were able to get some ok pictures of Bella. We then tried one last time to get a picture of the two together and almost got it, but Norah turned her head at the moment the camera snapped! The luck I tell you! After that Bella started climbing off the seat and we decided to call it a day rather than face any more stress. We ordered a few pictures for us and the grandparents, but we didn’t get near as many as we normally would because we just didn’t have a lot to pick from this time. I am hoping that the ones we try to get for their two year old pictures go better–because honestly I cannot imagine them going worse and God help me if they do. And if it does and you think getting Christmas pictures in January is bad, we will probably get their 2-year-old pictures when they are like 4!
You figure out what happened
The girls are definitely entering that terrible 2 phase. They pick and antagonize each other; they cry over every single thing, do not want to listen, are defiant when corrected, terrorize the dogs, and steal each other’s toys. Aaron wants to make a formal apology to his parents for any and all actions, both recognized and even those unrecognized he did when he was younger. He apologizes completely and is sorry for the stress, agony, suffering and any alcoholic induced medicating that Jon and Paula received as a direct recourse of his actions. I on the other hand was a perfect angel and I blame my sister Meredith and brother Kurt. Yep, that’s my story and I am sticking to it.
Finger-licking good!
Multi-tasking
Both Bella and Norah continue to do well with the potty at night before bath. It is so cute the way they have picked up from watching me, that they need to get toilet paper and wipe. Although they do not pee every night in the potty, they do enjoy sitting on it and wiping so much that we have trouble getting them in the tub. Then once in the tub, the keep saying “pee-pee” or “potty” pretty much non-stop. This fooled us for like the first 3 weeks, but we soon caught on to their scheme. Bella is so comfortable in the water now. She “swims” if you will, lying on her belly in the water.
Ummm...don't even ask
The girls continue to pick up more words every week. Bella still talks more than Norah and repeats more words. We often think that Bella is ahead of Norah with this, but just when we do she shows off her stuff. She is just selective (or hard-headed) about repeating or doing what Mommy and Daddy wants her to do. Although the little girl can scream louder than anything you have ever heard, when she actually talks she is quite soft spoken. Now if we could only translate that quality to the screaming we would have it made.
The innocent look
Lastly for this post, I thought I would let you know about our little diva in the making–Bella. She has now decided that she is old enough to begin picking out her clothing. If we try to put her in a top she doesn’t like, it doesn’t go on. If we try to put her in pants she does not approve of, then the pants do not go on her. And the shoes! Oh my gosh, the shoes! They have to be the ones that Bella wants to wear. They tend to be the shiny red ones she got for Christmas, but just when we get in the habit of putting those on her, she throws a wrench in the plan and changes it up on us. Honestly we are lucky to keep the shoes on her. When we take her out, by the time we get to wherever we are going I would say 95% of the time she has her socks and shoes off. Then you have to try and find them and get them on her. Luckily Norah only does the “monkey see, monkey do” routine about 5% of the time. Aaron’s suggestion was to try staples.
21 Tuesday Dec 2010
Posted in Bella and Norah
Tags
Addisyn, Aunt Jane, Bella, Christmas, Doctor appointment, Dr. Butler, Granddaddy, Grandma Duncan, Hope, Kurt, Kyla, Lindsay, Madison, Meredith, Mimi, Natalee, Norah, opening presents, sick, sleeping, Stacey, Trey, Wes
These past few weeks have been so very busy. We took the girls for their 18 month well baby visit a couple weeks ago, but I am just now getting around to posting about it. They each got their DTP shot. Bellla was 33.5 inches tall and she weighed 22.1 lbs. Norah was 33 inches tall and she weighed 21.4 lbs. They were in the 85th and 90th percentiles for height, but were both under the 20th percentile for weight. They shouldn’t need any shots at the next visit, so that is a good thing.
Lindsay expressing disapproval to Bella playing with her car
We went to St. Louis after their pediatrician appointment and some of that was posted on the last snow post. We all had a good time, but both girls had runny noses and their cousin, Lindsay had a cough and a runny nose. Lindsay and Bella got into paci wars because Lindsay would run up to Bella and pull her pacifier out of her mouth. Bella is crazy overprotective of her paci, so she would go nuts! It was a constant battle. Then Addisyn decided to take toys from Bella and she freaked out about that too. Poor Bella just couldn’t catch a break. Norah was happy the entire time and she didn’t have any problems. Bella never sleeps well when we are away from home. She didn’t nap well at all on Saturday. We ended up deciding to bathe the girls and drive back home that night so the girls could sleep on our way. It really made for an easier trip.
Kurt, Natalee, Hope and Trey showed up on Saturday afternoon. We ate dinner and then we opened presents. It was crazy because the little ones were interested in tearing at the wrapping paper and trying to run off with whichever toys they found laying around. We got a sneak peak of what Christmas morning will be like for the girls!
Addisyn holding court
Wow! Lindsay has cool toys!
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When we got up that next morning we got the girls dressed and ready to go out in the snow as you may have seen on Aaron’s last post. We got more snow this past weekend, but there was no going out this time. Both girls have been sick, especially Bella. She was sounding so rough on the following Wednesday that I took her to the pediatrician on Thursday to have her checked out. The last time she sounded that bad she had bronchitis. Luckily every thing looked good this time, she just had a really bad cold. Dr. Butler gave us some samples of Dimetapp and told me the correct dosage that I could give the girls to help them feel a little better.
Mommy and Norah
Norah is doing much better now, but she still gets a little congested in the morning. She has become a champion nose-blower though. You can either hand her a tissue or hold it for her and tell her to “blow her nose” and she actually does it…it is pretty cute. Bella still has the runny nose and a bit of a cough, but I think she is finally on the upswing. Bella is not a pleasant baby to be around when she does not feel good. She refuses to give up her pacifier when asked and she wants to carry her bunny around with her everywhere. I think the hardest part about Bella when she is sick is that she has a bad tendency to cough up mucus and then it gags her and she throws up! It has happened when she was a little baby and I had hoped she would have outgrown that, but no it has happened a handful of times in the past week.
On Friday our friends, Wes and Stacey, had their third child. She is a sweet little girl and they named her Kyla Grace. Aaron and I went up to visit them in the hospital while the girls were at daycare and then we ran by Toys R Us to pick up a couple of other things for the girls’ Christmas.
Our very sick Bella
Bella had been getting better until this past weekend. She was acting a little sluggish on Saturday and didn’t have much of an appetite. We went down to the Louisville area to have Christmas at Aaron’s aunt Jane’s house. Both girls seemed to enjoy opening presents, but Norah (maybe because she feels better) seemed to enjoy it way more. They got some really nice presents and have been playing with them all week. But by that afternoon Bella spiked a fever and she was shivering and crying. We took her home and she has been feeling very poorly and not sleeping well since. Norah seems to be doing fine so far and I am hoping that she doesn’t get sick. I will just keep my fingers crossed for now. Bella has not been herself. She wants to be held the entire time and shows little interest in playing. Hopefully this will go away soon as we prepare to make our way to Southern Indiana to Mimi and Granddaddy’s house for Xmas.
Also, as you may remember from last year, Aaron’s cousin Madison made an attempt to change Bella’s diaper. It was very humorous (well to maybe everyone except Madison) and this year she braved yet another attempt. Below is the video of the second attempt. If you don’t quite remember last year’s video, click here to watch it first. Then watch the second video! Lots of pictures as well and more on Flickr. Enjoy!
