POTTY WOES

Perhaps only Grambot and us remember Cora's week+ fiasco of potty accidents at the beginning of January, but when she went back to normal afterward, we let it go as regression. Then this week it's been happening again... our very well potty trained girl started having accidents 3-5 times per day (including a few naps) and overnight every night. We would have written it off as regression again, but being the hypochondriac parents that we are, combined with the urging of her daycare teacher (which certainly put us on high alert), we decided to visit the doc to rule out any big issues. Luckily, she was indeed given the all-clear (urine was clean, constipation not an issue, everything looked normal down there, no pain or infection or other indication of an underlying issue) and was otherwise healthy as well. 

So what's the accident culprit? A few suggestions by the doc that made sense to us included 1) chocolate as a diuretic (she had a LOT of chocolate over the holidays and beyond, due to Santa filling her Christmas stocking with candy), 2) soapy bath water causing irritation (she took MANY baths while home with Grambot over vacation because she loves the new bath toys she got for Christmas, and probably sat in her washed off soap/shampoo - we don't ever add bubble bath, and also often climbed in while Grambot was showering, so she probably had adult soap/shampoo in the bath water as well), and 3) once she wet herself the first or second time and felt any chapping, it caused her to not want to go (thus holding it longer than usual and only letting it out in trickles when she couldn't contain herself). Other than the chocolate issue (the candy is long gone), these culprits could easily have made a recurrence over the past week. We know for sure that she sat in a colored bath over the weekend (for a LONG time), so that could easily have been the start of our problem. Especially since James has also complained of some irritation, poor guy.

So, the lesson to ourselves (and perhaps others out there who have kids with sensitive skin)? Our kids will now only sit in the bath BEFORE any hair washing or body scrubbing or teeth brushing occurs, and they will be immediately rinsed off and removed from the tub afterward. And whenever possible (which is most of the time), we'll just skip baths all together and shower them instead.

PINKALICIOUS

HOT AND COLD

It was 77 degrees outside, 78 degrees inside, and yet she chose to add Leo's blue snow hat to her ensemble this evening, which also included James' old pants, James' belt (just sort of wrapped around herself), and James' flip flops. Our girl has style.

SUNDAY: POSTER PAINTING

Until somebody invents the teleporter, the best way I could think to send a hug to Oregon was with poster paper and paint. The kids got really into it (Cora perhaps a little too much... her "likeness" was basically a brown blob by the end) and it was a good outlet for me this afternoon. Chris, Robyn, and Stephen are constantly on my mind, and I hope they are on yours too. Please keep praying! 

SATURDAY: BIRTHDAY PARTY

Saturday afternoon birthday party for our little newly 3-year-old pal Talon. 

Followed by dinner with the Kennedys at Mellow Mushroom, where Al was recruited to entertain the kiddos with stories and cat drawings.

FRIDAY: PARK PLAY

Friday afternoon park playdate with Manu and Leo, Will and Lauren, and David and John.

Equally sharing the lemonade (makes a mama proud!)

This was before she discovered that the hole she was laying in had fire ants in it...

He found these two worms and played with them for a ridiculously long time. But he was gentle with them, didn't attack us adults with them, and eventually let them go in the dirt, so oh well. Boys will be boys.

PRAYER REQUEST

I am urgently requesting your prayers for my best friends and their son Christopher.

Robyn took Christopher in early for his 18-month well baby because he'd been a little sick and she wanted to get him checked out before flying to Oregon next week (they are moving back from Hawaii to Oregon right now, and Stephen had already left to start his new job). The doctor found a large tumor on Christopher's kidney and he has been rushed from Maui to Oahu. He has a CT scan this morning and Stephen is on an airplane headed back to Hawaii as I type this (Robyn's mom and Stephen's mom are thankfully there with her right now). No matter what they find, Christopher will need surgery. I am asking for your prayers for the best possible results of the scan.

UPDATE
I spoke with Stephen tonight. They're at the airport headed to Portland. The CT scan showed cancer, neuroblastoma, and it's bad. Chris' entire abdomen is filled with cancer. The hospital there was talking about admitting him for surgery and further tests on Monday, so they just grabbed their bags and the first flight to Oregon. Chris will be admitted there (OHSU) immediately tonight and the doctors will get right to work. Stephen said that other than looking a bit pale, it's impossible to comprehend what is going on inside of Chris because he's running around the airport without a care in the world, just the cutest and happiest little guy. Please pray for Chris, and for Robyn and Stephen, with everything you've got. They have a long road ahead of them and they need our strength to help fuel their own. I will update whenever I get news (because I know so many of you love them and are concerned and wanting to help), but it will be sporadic as they undergo tests, surgery, chemo, etc., and hopefully find a few moments for sleep. And please feel free to get everyone you know praying for Chris. The more, the better.

SPIDEY IN THE CLOSET

Spiderman woke up at 5:07am this morning. Thank you Monkey Preschool Lunchbox for keeping him happily occupied while mommy and daddy got ready for work.

ST. JUDE WARRIORS!

We're now 3 months out from Warrior Dash Mississippi and I'd like to share with you our Vicksburg Warriors team page, created with the goal of raising $1000 for the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Our team currently has 11 members, and I'm confident that we can reach or exceed this goal by working together! If you have the means, please consider making a donation to our team and/or sharing the link with your friends and family. The more people we tell about this, the greater the impact we will make - even $1 makes a huge difference when all your buddies contribute! So thank you in advance, whether you donate or share our link, we appreciate the help in reaching our goal. This is such an important cause, and the Dash is a really fun fundraising opportunity for us! 

P.S. If you would like your donation to credit Jay or I specifically, go to our personal pages (Denise or Jay) and donate from there. ALL donations will credit our team, but to credit a specific team member you have to donate from their personal page. Thanks!!

SOCCER LESSON #1

Last week we signed James up for spring soccer. He'll be on the U4-U5 team with his buddies Manu and Will. Practice/games don't start for a while, but we went ahead and bought him some cleats while we were in Jackson yesterday so that he could get used to wearing them. Jay picked out the cleats and shin guards (since I know nothing about soccer - seriously, Cora and I are on the same skill level), and while we were shopping, James walked over to me with a set of pink shin guards and said "Here, these are for Cora, so she can play on my team." So sweet, huh? Unfortunately, even though Cora REALLY wants to play with her brother and her buddies (she keeps telling us that she's "going to play soccer too"), she's not quite old enough. Maybe in the fall. In the meantime, she can play with James and her parents before spin class...

Lesson #1: kick with the top of your foot, stop the ball with your instep, and don't use your hands.

This was not his first time playing with a soccer ball, of course, but definitely the first time that we played with any semblance of rules. He was pretty proud of himself every time we praised him, which was quite adorable.

 The afternoon was definitely a success, and both kids ran ALL OVER that field (and were thus pretty exhausted afterward). Win!

After the lesson, we took out James' glider and battled the wind to send it flying a dozen or so times (which equaled lots more running around by the kids, to chase/retrieve the plane). That thing can SOAR!

LITTLE HELPER

We visited a grocery store tonight that had those little carts sized for pint-sized shoppers. It was the first time we'd ever come across them, and Cora was super excited! We let her push that little cart, loaded it with heavy groceries, and marveled that she managed to get around without bumping into anyone or anything. Such a sweet little helper!

SPONTANEOUS ZOO ADVENTURE

(She made this necklace on a playdate at Azure's house and she is very proud of it!)

CORA WINS!

Cora's mohawk is finally longer than James'. As they say around here... "I wins!"

SWEET VIOLET

Sweet little Violet turned 1-year-old this past week and her parents celebrated with a fun party tonight, complete with lasagna and carrot cake, presents and balloons. The balloons were by far James and Cora's favorite part, and they spent the first 2.5 hours of the party running (and driving) around the house carrying as many balloons as they could. Cora reminded us of a Mario Kart character...

LEGO MANIA

Campers with their grill, cooler, and wind-powered tent near a very weird petting zoo and adjacent to a forest with a waterfall and tree on fire (being rescued by wildland firefighters).

"HOT TEA"

What makes your post long run ice bath feel better? A jacket, the heat fan, and a cute little waitress serving her specially made "hot tea".

(This mornings long run was 10.2 miles at 10:40 pace with Sophie and Christina, and it felt good! Proper nutrition, an ice bath, rolling/massage, and a nice hot shower helped make for a smooth recovery this time.)

SNOWBALLS: TAKE 2

 

We got a dusting of snow last night (while just east of us in Jackson they look to have a couple inches already, and it's still snowing there), so Jay and I were pretty excited to wake up the kids and take them outside for a little snowball fight before work/school.

 James loved scooping up snow to make snowballs, and he REALLY loved throwing them at us all. Cora, on the other hand, preferred daddy to pack her snowballs for her, and she cried when James hit her in the nose... And she was quite offended when daddy binged her in the shoulder too. At least I got one photo of her running around and smiling! They both definitely had a fun morning. I know the snow won't last even a couple of hours here, but I sure wish we were all home playing together!

SNOWBALLS!

The temperature dropped over 30 degrees today, and it rained all day, but it still wasn't cold enough for snow. Since James told me last week "When it snows, we can catch it in our hands, and we will build a snowman, and put it in his eye, and it will have a twinkle in it!", I thought a little pretend snow was in order...

Helping mama mix it up!

Cora loved it (once it was mixed - she didn't want to get gooey hands)

To make your own pretend snow, mix 2 boxes of cornstarch and 1 can of shaving cream (the cheap white variety). It packs like snow (and only sticks to your hands during the mixing process, but washes off easily), then explodes like a snowball against the ground (or person...) when thrown. Idea not my own, but gathered from Pinterest (we were overdue for a Pinterest Kid Craft).