A little bit girly

 My March posts seem to be very boy oriented...building things at Lowe's, Soccer games, Chatham's birthday! So I thought I would add a little Sugar and Spice to my blog!

 Harper loves to play with my photo and especially take pictures with it- so now it is used for getting her to be still enough for me to dress her.

 This was our mini photo shoot before getting dressed Saturday (obviously I had NOT gotten dressed yet myself!)

Oh how I LOVE this little girl!!!

The joys of turning 4!

We started March 27th with birthday cake for breakfast- and our annual balloon wreath picture on the porch (even though it was still dark at 6:30 AM)

Uncle Paul surprised Chatham and Lauren at daycare that afternoon and picked them up in the redneck truck!! I tried to get a picture of them (I got there to get Harper as they were leaving) and Chatham wouldn't even give me the time of day...he was TOO COOL riding in the truck. Lucky for me he did let Lisa snap a picture when they got back to their house.

 After running some errands with the Wade's they all headed over to Hickory to meet us for Chatham's birthday dinner- he wanted to go to Backstreet's for corndog nuggets....but when we got there he decided he wanted chicken tenders.

  We got him a cookie cake and our sweet waitress even found some candles in the back to put on it! That earned her a slice of cake! I guess when you turn four you can do things for yourself, because Chatham insisted on cutting his own cake.

We parted ways after dinner and headed home to open presents. Chatham was SO excited!!! I didn't get many pictures because I switched over to video him opening.

 As you can see Spiderman is a BIG deal in our house! His favorite gift was from Harper, Spiderman and Leapin Lizard squirt toys.

 Although the remote control Bumblebee Transformer was a close second!

Filling the Hole

 Yesterday at 7:30 AM we made our way to Viewmont Surgery Center to get the hole in Chatham's ear drum filled- things went great. We had a wonderful nurse named Cynthia (and a recovery nurse named Jenna - the same recovery nurse he had in June 2010 when he got tubes!) He did great checking his temp, pulse, and blood pressure. (He didn't take his eyes off the screen watching his oxygen count and pulse go up and down.

Then is was time to put on his hospital gown, and while he was a bit concerned that it looked like a dress he loved striping down to just his undies and socks (that's what he does EVERYDAY at home- this boy does not like clothing!)

 

 Of course I made us take pictures with him in the pre op room. We were back there for an hour and a half, so we had some time to kill. I didn't remember having to wait that long before so I only brought two books (and you can't use the Ipad back there) but Cynthia saw that Chatham had a Spider man cup and book and undies so she brought him ten super hero sticks- that was great!!! Superman, Batman, Spiderman, and Green Lantern hung out with us until it was time for him to be rolled back (down the short hallway- Chatham was VERY curious about if the hallway would be long or short- and when we saw him in recovery the first thing he told me was that it was short)

 This is Chatham in recovery- after telling us about the short hallway, he mentioned how yucky the cherries were (they anesthesia gas was cherry flavored) he downed some apple juice and seemed to be better. Nurse Jenna raved about how brave he was and that he had no tears! A few more papers to sign and we were on our way. Although, when Jenna turned to Chatham and said "Are you ready to go home?" his reply was "No, I would like to stay". What a character!!!!

And this is the damage- just two little stitches on the bottom of his lobe. We took the bandaid off last night and the bleeding had already stopped. When I checked on his last night before I went to bed he had already rolled over and was sleeping on that ear- So I'd say he is JUST FINE!!

Meeting Miss Adi Grace

 After Chatham's soccer game Saturday we headed down to Charlotte to have a party with my college buddies. Overcash (Jon) has been featured on my blog a few times- we always make a point to see each other when he's in the States (he has lived in New Zealand for the last 7 years and is now living in Australia).

 We've been averaging about every two years seeing each other (as his parents live in Charlotte and that's how often he comes to town). He came to my wedding in 07 and came to Newton to visit while I was pregnant with Chatham in 09. I went to Charlotte in 2011 when he turned 30 and then this weekend we traveled to meet this BEAUTIFUL little lady!

 This is Miss Adi Grace! Overcash and Brie's beautiful daughter (who is just one month older than Harper) they were instant friends, and had a ball playing with each other. I loved seeing Harper with a friend her age- most of the kids we hang out with are Chatham's age and older.

 Overcash is a guy that fits in anywhere- I have LOVED being friends with him for nearly 10 years now!! He has adjusted to being a Daddy SO well- and Harper could tell his was a kid at heart because she took right to him!!

 Katie and her fiance Chris came down from Maryland to hang out with us and meet Adi too. Katie and I were room mates in college and I miss seeing her everyday. But We will be traveling to Maryland this Summer for her wedding and I am SO excited for her!!!!

 I loved getting to spend the day with friends and have my kids make new friends. Chatham was so sweet and gentle with the girls! He is an amazing big brother!!!!

 Mr. and Mrs. Overcash were SO kind to open up there home for all of us to hang out- they made DELICIOUS food and had SO many toys for the kids to keep themselves entertained with. Chatham even managed to put his LeapPad away for a few hours and play. (he is SO attached to his LeapPad or my Ipad- I hope we have a Tech Guru on our hands!!)

 The girls were so cute saying their good byes, I hope to one day be able to take my kids to Australia to see them more!

First Soccer Game of the Season

 We bundled up Saturday morning and headed to the YMCA for Chatham's first soccer game- he's number 6!

Starting the game with a prayer- it was cute to see them play, our team the blue devils, played the tarheels (appropriate since its ACC tournament time) 

 Chatham is a GREAT soccer player- he runs like the wind and really gets in there and stays with the ball. He scored 5 goals Saturday (3 in our goal, and 2 in the other teams). It is much more like a real soccer game this year, the kids know what they're doing.

At halftime Chatham got a pep talk

Grandma and Grandpa Wade; Lisa, Paul, and Lauren; Gram; Nana; and of course Mommy, Daddy and Harper were all there. Chatham had his own cheering section.

 I am so proud of Chatham, he is really growing and becoming a kid. He is really into sports and music. I am going to ask around about starting some piano lessons next year; but for now Poppy is doing a great job teaching him the basics at his house.

another 5-minute Friday

Linking up with Lisa-Jo for Five Minute Friday. We write for five minutes flat (unedited) on a prompt she provides.

Today’s prompt is: Remember.   Here goes. . .

I love to remember- sit and talk with friends and family about what we've done, where we've been, and what used to be. I love to pour a glass of wine and listen to stories of others to help me remember things I'm already starting to forget. But right now, just 5 1/2 short months after losing my favorite person, my best friend, me cool cousin- it hurts to remember, but I don't ever want to stop. I am scared that if I don't try to remember every detail of the past every day of the present and future that I might forget something. Her smell, her voice, her personality. There were SO many special things about Ali that I can remember- her love fore food- cheese, steak (as rare as it comes), Mr. Pibb, and pickles; the tone in her voice when she'd exclaim FUCK! when something didn't go as planned. Her OCD about having a plan and sticking to the plan. Her love of adventure and always wanting to be doing something. Card games, shopping trips, and WALMART! I don't want to forget, I don't want to let go, I MUST remember! I will, always, I promised her that.
Ali lost a fight with brain cancer, and although at the end she didn't know/remember any of the promises we made. I will never stop remembering......

and, STOP!

Pre- Op with Dr. Cost

In true Carrie fashion we got to the ENT this morning TWENTY minutes early!!! Apparently I expected to get behind a lot of school buses taking Harper to school before turning around and driving BACK to Hickory to take Chatham to his pre-op appointment. But we had fun listening to a Veggie Tales story and zooming monster trucks across the dash!

 Chatham had tubes put in his ears when he was 15 months old and they fell out back in September (that's a good thing, they are supposed to come out on their own). A week later, his left ear was bleeding- not a lot, but a few dried drops on his lobe when he'd wake up in the morning. So we went to our pediatrician to see if everything was OK  She took a look and said the left ear drum was just taking longer to heal than the right had and she'd recheck in February.

So... When we took Chatham in for his recheck the hole in the left ear drum was still there. We were sent to Carolina ENT to get a hearing test done and to see what options there were to fill the hole. The good news is ZERO hearing loss. In fact he was smack in the middle of NORMAL in both ears! PRAISE GOD! BUT, the bad news was, the hole still needed to be filled and that would require surgery. The process is, cut a small incision in the bottom of his left ear lobe and take a piece of fat/tissue and put it in the hole. The process will "disturb the ear drum" enough that it will try to heal again- this time hopefully latching on to the transplanted fat and closing up.

 Chatham was a little nervous when Dr. Cost told him he would have two or three stitches in his ear- but once he found out stitches are not related to shots he was OK  In fact, he was more concerned that he will have to miss a soccer game on Monday evening.
Looking back at my post from his tubes surgery, I hope to get a picture of his before and after the surgery (in his gown) I was drugged out from getting my wisdom teeth pulled and suffering from TWO dry sockets last time. This time I'm just getting over a sinus and ear infection- so I should be in a better frame of mind.

While Daddy's away.....

we will play!!!!!

Devin has been in Asheville on business this week and we have enjoyed letting the mess pile up around us and just playing each night. Last night we went to El Paso for dinner with Gram and Poppy and then came home and had a jama party (Chatham's FAVORITE thing to do!!) Harper did laps around the playroom with her ball popper and Chatham rolled around on the floor helping Batman fight off the evil villains  I think the Joker and Mr. Ducky were the bad guys out causing a ruckus!

These are the nights I treasure and know I will miss in 5-10 years! But tonight....tonight Daddy will come home (late) so after the kids go to sleep I will scramble to get the house looking presentable so he thinks I'm supermom! (HA!)

Just something I want to remember....

I was signing Chatham in at school today and noticed the planets displayed on a bulletin board. The kids had all finger painted a circle and then named them. For example, some of the captions were "Mrs. Becky's Planet Bob", "Adrian's Planet Princess", "Evan's Planet Dale". Well.... Chatham's said "Planet Pluto"!!! REALLY! HE'S a GENIUS, I KNEW IT!

HA, I kid- his planet Pluto is named after the dog on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse!

But still it was SO neat to see his planet with a REAL name! I guess a now nonexistent planet name- but to all us 80's kids Pluto will ALWAYS be a planet!

a lucky weekend

We started out our weekend celebrating birthdays- Aunt Mam and Uncle Grump came over to moms and we had cupcakes and played outside. When Chatham got tired of pulling Harper around the house he hoped in and Devin took them for a long ride around the block. I was LOVING the Spring-ish weather. We spent ALL day outside! Devin and I had run a 5k that morning (Get your Rear in Gear- Colon Cancer Awareness) and it made me realize I need to get back on a good running schedule!

Sunday is was a bit colder with the wind coming in. So after Church and soccer practice we had the Wade's over to celebrate St. Patty's day. Paul's mom and dad (Grandma and Grandpa Wade) are in town and Chatham LOVES hanging out with them!

 So we put on our something green and got crafty! The picture below isn't great but we made krispie treats with green marshmallows and lucky charms.

 We painted our faces (I will have to wait to steal a picture of the kiddos together off Lisa's blog); but Lauren was a VERY pretty butterfly! Chatham is VERY in to masks right now.

 In fact, at school they had a leprechaun parade and this is the mask Chatham colored. (He is going through a phase- I hope- where he will ONLY color with black) Ms. Misty colored the green buckle for him so he had a little bit of festiveness to his mask! Also, while his class was at snack time in the cafeteria a LEPRECHAUN came in the room and messed it up- he even blew his nose and left the GREEN SNOT tissue on a table. (it was green pudding)

And now that we have celebrated all the green we can stand....it's time to move on to Spring and Easter! Lisa brought over these cute foam crafts; although the picture is upside down you get the idea. The one on the right (with the Goonie looking eyes) and the chick are Chatham's creations and the bunny on the left is Harper's- and she only had help with the face (I think she'll end up being my craft buddy!!!!!)

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I love warm weekends, I love crafts, and I love hanging out with friends! I give this weekend an A+!