Archive Journal
Entries
November 5, 2007
I have a lot to
report but it’s already getting late but I am determined to get something
updated!
Kiersten and
Brianna did their first parade of the season in September. It was the Lake City Tobacco Festival. They did OK.
Surprisingly Brianna is rather apprehensive in new situations. She seems so outgoing around friends and
family but in new situations she is really clingy. Kiersten started on the main float but by the
time they moved the “babies” to the little float she wanted nothing to do with
sitting on it. So I walked behind to
ease Brianna’s mind and carry Kiersten.
Half way through Kiersten went to walk with nanny. They are both dancing with Kelley’s Fine
Arts. I heard they had close to 800
students in their 4 studios this year!!!
WOW. The new
Kiersten finally
figured out how to climb out of her crib.
She’s known how to climb into it for months. She really loved her crib. We got her a toddler bed and she did very
well adjusting to it. We had very few
problems. We do have a baby gate up in
her doorway for when she is stubborn.
Brianna is
adjusting well to her new school. She
was the explorer of the week in September for “A” week. We made “A” and airplane cookies for her to
take in for snack time. The girls had a
lot of fun rolling out the dough. She
does have a habit of labeling everything either girl or boy. It’s caused some minor issues but now that
her teacher understands she is able to redirect. Brianna has a habit of telling boys or girls
they have the opposite gender color on.
For example, purple is a girl color and green is a boy color. She loves to wear dresses. We have started a
behavior point system for her to earn the privilege of wearing a dress to
school on non-gym days. It is working
fairly well. Anytime she exhibits the
appropriate behavior or completes a task the 1st time she is asked (or maybe
the 2nd) she gets a point. She needs 10
points to exchange for a dress. Taking
her medicine, sitting still during dinner, no whining or stalling during bath
time, getting dressed without a fuss in the morning, walking into school by
herself, getting a sticker at school for her behavior, helping clean-up, or
other little tasks for mommy, etc.
I had Brianna’s
parent teacher conference last week. She
is doing well. She has not mastered any
of their topics but she is progressing.
I’m impressed with how far she has come in the past 1 1/2 months. I really need to scan some of her work. She started speech therapy with the school
district this past Thursday. I like the
new therapist. She was trying really
hard to connect with Brianna and provide positive feedback. I think they will get along well. She let her go exploring on the Polly Pockets
website after they completed their work and then she got a popsicle.
Kiersten is talking
so well. She can say the K and G that
Brianna is having difficulty with. She
can count to at least 5 and close to 10.
Everything is the color pink but every now and then she gets another color
right. She talks about her little
friends in Mother’s Morning Out. She was
upset because there was no school today.
She missed our trip to
Brianna and I went
to
Last but not least
Brian had a house in the Tour of Homes.
His house won the “Best in Category” for $351,000—$450,000. I have put lots of pictures of it in the
photo albums. He has a contract on one
of the houses in the Reserve (I don’t have pics of it
yet). He also is working on a couple of
custom contracts. The tour really was
great for him. He got a
lot visitors. Some folks that saw
his house last year specifically came out to see what he had done this year.
Hopefully I’ll have
another update shortly after Thanksgiving.
Happy Thanksgiving and God Bless you and your
family.
September 12, 2007
Wow it’s been forever. We’ve had a busy end of summer and beginning
of the school year. I have no idea where
the time has gone.
Brianna has had 2 “first day of
school”. She started at St. Anthony
Catholic school (pictures in the albums). She was just getting into a routine when we
found out there was an opening at our first choice school—All Saints’ Episcopal Day
School. So, we have moved her and
she started there Monday. She did great
both days. We are so excited about
everything she is going to be learning this year. She goes from 8—2:15. I drop her off around 7:30 so I can get to
work on time. Her teacher is
wonderful. We go to church with her and
she is the half notes choir director.
She has amazing patience for this age group! There is also an assistant in her
classroom. I think there are 16 children
(including a set of identical twins).
Two of the girls also go to our church.
When we visited the classroom on Friday Hannah Grace (one we go to
church with) gave her a very big hug and warm welcome. I think it sealed the deal. She has 6 “special” classes—PE, Library,
Spanish (twice a week), Computer, Music and Art. She also has chapel 3 mornings a week. It’s a very full day with circle time, story
time, snack, recess, work centers, lunch, rest time, science activities, group
activities, and free play. She has been
very tired every day this week. On Mon,
Wed, and Fri she stays for extended day.
Today I got there early to pick her up and she didn’t want to leave. They were going to go watch the older kids’
soccer game. So I went home and got
Kiersten and then came back for her.
In addition to school, choir and dance
have started up again. This year she is
doing gymnastics (beginning tumbling) and combo dance (ballet and tap). At church she has moved up to 4K Sunday
school and the “big kids” children’s worship time for 4K—4th grade. They have their own mini
worship service. She keeps saying she
doesn’t want to grow up. She wants to be
4 forever. She doesn’t want to be 5. We’ll see how long this lasts.
Brianna is still in speech therapy. She has made huge progress this year but she
is still delayed so we will continue her therapy. It’s been moved to Tuesday’s at 3 PM. So Nanny picks her up in car line and takes
both girls to Rehab at the hospital.
They have a favorite volunteer greeter.
They run up to him to get/give their visitors badges. When he isn’t there the volunteer gives them
a funny look and Nanny has to explain.
Next Friday she is going to have an evaluation by the school
district. They are obligated to provide
services for her free of charge if she qualifies for the service. Of course it means a change of therapists but
it may work better for her.
Kiersten is back in Mother’s Morning Out 3 mornings a week.
She went in the first day like a pro—didn’t even look back at
Nanny. Everyone thinks she may be ready
for potty training. She told her teacher
the other day that she needed to potty.
Now granted she was already wet but she is becoming more aware. There is also a very cute pic
of her on the potty—oh she is going to kill me when she is 16!!! There is also a video of her singing one of
her new songs (Happy and you know it).
Her speech is just blossoming.
She really tries to do everything Brianna does. Brianna has taught her how to climb into her
crib. So far she has not climbed out
yet. I’m not sure why not, since she
climbs up on the counters all the time.
Once she figures it out we won’t be able to keep her in. Unlike Brianna she still loves her naps and
needs them.
Kiersten had her first hair cut Aug
4. She did great and was very
excited. She sat relatively still.
Kiersten has also started dance. She absolutely loves it. She dragged me in the room the first
day. She insists on wearing a leotard
with a skirt. She’s not very good at
telling people her name—she usually says “ranna” -
i.e. calling herself Brianna. So the
first night when they were dismissing them they got to her and said “this
little one couldn’t tell us her name but she did well”. The 2nd week we put a barrette with her name
on it in her hair to help.
July 15, 07
Yesterday I took the girls to get Birthday
pictures at Sears.
I added an album to the photos page. They turned out great. If you print quality let me know and I will
email it to you.
July 12, 2007
Ok maybe I should just aim for monthly
updates :) We’ve had another busy few
weeks.
Kiersten and Brianna started summer
“School” at First Pres Mother’s Morning Out.
Kiersten did ok the first day, she cried a little, but not like Brianna
did her first day. 2 of the caretakers
were there when Brianna started. They
love seeing Brianna again and “all grown up”.
She didn’t do so well the next couple days. Now she is getting to be a pro, she still is
a little apprehensive but she does walk in on her own. Brianna loves going to school with her
sister. She’s not going to like it in
the fall.
The allergy dr
agreed with us, Kiersten is allergic to cats.
She was breaking out in a rash at Nanny and Papa’s. The only difference is Smokey and Bear Bear. It’s more of a
nuisance so she is still allowed to go over.
We just dose her with zyrtec first.
Brianna took swimming lessons at the YMCA
in June. She did OK. She would rather hang on to the instructor
than the kick board or pool noodle. She
was in the beginning level Pike class.
She practiced a lot at Grandma and Grandpa’s with the pool noodle so she
could probably go to the next class.
Uncle Jon had her jumping to the pool noodle instead of him. She is getting braver. We may try a more intensive 2 week class.
Our church has a week of vacation bible
school every summer. Brianna was old
enough this year. She tried it one day
and decided MMO with sissy was more fun.
There wasn’t enough playing at VBS.
Maybe we will try again next year.
The girls and I drove to
Sunday was the annual Family July 4th
celebration at NCR. They had bouncy
slides, clowns, tattoos, games, cotton candy, crafts, ice cream (the girls
favorite part I think), a huge spread, and great fireworks. Brianna loved the fireworks. These were the first ones Kiersten has seen. She was ok for the first few and then kept
leaning over more and more so she couldn’t see them. She ended up in my lap hiding her face behind
baby. She didn’t jump with the loud
booms and she didn’t cry, but she didn’t watch them either.
We made the drive back in one day. It was 11 hours! Actually not bad considering how many stops
we had to make. We left
B: mommy do you know where we are going
M: yes dear
B: are we going to get lost
M: no
B: do you know how to get home
M: yes
B: do you know how to find it
M: honey, yes, I know the way home, I have a map in case we get lost
B: can I see the map
M: (hands her the trip tik)
B: no I need the real map mommy
M: (hands her the regional map)
B: where is
M: it’s at the top of the map, look for the big O, but we’re in
B: I can’t find it. Here you fold
it.
M: (folds map)
B: Oh that’s how you fold it.
An hour later repeat …
It started drizzling …
B: Mommy it’s raining, you’re never going
to find it
An hour later repeat …
It’s getting dark now.
B: Mommy it’s dark, you’re never going to
find it
It would have been very annoying if it
wasn’t so funny. I tried just about
everything to put her mind at ease. We said
prayers, we talked about the maps, we talked about how we had already been on
these roads, etc. You just gotta love a 4 year olds thought process.
New photos and videos!
June 16, 2007
The birthdays are over and we may be able
to get back to some normalcy.
Kiersten loved her cake and the
attention. She got lots of help opening
her gifts because the other girls thought she was being too slow.
Both girls started Mother’s Morning Out on
June 4. Brianna was such a big girl
about it. Kiersten did not like it. She cried the first few times for a few
minutes. Now she walks in on her
own. Brianna loves going to the same
school as her sister. Too bad in the
fall they will be going to different schools.
Grandma and Grandpa came for a visit and
stayed through Brianna’s party. The
girls really enjoyed their time together.
Brianna was a very gracious hostess
:) She made sure everyone got an
opportunity to do the craft and had a piece of cake. We had a Disney Princess jumping house which
the kids loved. After the party the 4 of
us went out and jumped. Kiersten did not
want to go in it, but once we got her in she loved it. It was a great little party. I think she had a wonderful time. She very excited about being 4.
Since she is such a “big” girl we are
working on the night time potty training—2 nights dry. She is really proud of herself. Kiersten not to be outdone tried to change
her own diaper this morning—gave me a scare.
I thought there was a huge mess in her room, luckily there wasn’t.
Today the girls and I went to Madelynn's 3rd B-day party.
She had it at a horse farm.
Brianna got to ride a horse.
Kiersten talked a big game until it was her turn and then she turned and
ran the other direction.
May 17, 2007
Frank is going home.
I added more photos and videos.
May 16, 2007
Hi Everyone,
Well it’s been a month since the last
update. You’ll probably get one every 2
weeks through the girls’ birthdays. So
we’ve been very busy as has become the normal.
First, mom/grandma had her carotid surgery
on May 7. She is doing great. She says the scar looks pretty nasty but it
is looking better.
Second bit of good news—it’s official
Brianna’s Kidney Reflux is gone. She has
grown out of it. She is off the antibiotics
and will most likely not have to have that nasty test ever again. We go back in 1 year.
Brianna sang in church May 6—there is a
picture in the photo section. She did a
little better this time. I guess more
and more practice in front of crowds helps.
She then had her dance recital on the 12th. She was very excited to wear make-up (I let
her wear some sparkle powder). We tried
to do something fancy with her hair but the curls fell right out and she wasn’t
too sure about the curling iron anyway.
She looked so cute. It was held
at the civic center. I have ordered the
video because you really couldn’t close enough to shoot your own. I have one photo of her dancing which also
isn’t very good. Kiersten was very
enthralled by the whole thing. Nana,
Papa, Aunt Debra and Ma Ma were there too. Brianna was very proud of herself.
Brianna’s last day of school was
yesterday. She is a 3K graduate. Her teacher sent home a little scrapbook of
her year. If I can get some of the
photos scanned I’ll put them in the next update.
Kiersten is doing wonderful too. She hasn’t had quite the big month but she
has her own good news. She has been
released from Speech Therapy. She can
talk too well now. She has annunciation
on target for age, language skills higher than age and cognitive ability well
beyond age. She will be released from EI
(Early Intervention) sometime in June.
Again she is doing fabulous. They
keep saying they wish all of their cases progressed like she did. Remember to be accepted they have to be more
than 30% behind age. So she has gone
from 30% behind in more than one area to excelling in most if not all
areas. She finishes her “assignments” in
about the first 15 minutes of her 1 hour session.
The next few weeks are going to be very
busy around here. I’m traveling a couple
days next week. Kiersten will be 2 on
the 31st. I’m gone the first week in
June and the girls start Mother’s Morning Out 3 days a week for the
summer. This will be Kiersten’s first
“school” experience. Brianna will be 4
June 11 (she is having a real party with classmates and all the 9th). I’m traveling again the 3rd week in
June. Then the last week the girls and I
will be traveling to
One last thing … we have a good
friend/supplier rep for Brian/father of the girls’ babysitter battling
Leukemia. Frank is fighting hard and
doing well. He is recovering from his
first round of chemo and hopes to go home soon.
Please say a prayer for his full healing!
April 19, 2007
Mom did not have her surgery on the 11th.
Tests the week before showed that the left carotid was closed and the right was
70%. So now the plan is to do surgery the 4th on the right. My parents are
currently in AZ with my sis. They are
there for 2 weeks. She is doing well with her therapies. They seem to be in AZ a lot. Hey when are they going to visit SC. Ok, so they don’t have as much room here but
dad spent like 50 days in AZ last year.
I’m missing out on a lot of free labor (he painted Jon’s house and then
Michelle’s)
Brianna had a follow-up VCUG last Tuesday. It was terrible. The versed did not
kick in until about 1 1/2 hours after it was administered which was about 15
minutes after the test was over. She screamed and we had to hold her down. It
sucked. The good news is the reflux is probably gone!! The tech and I didn't
see any so now we just have to wait for the official word from the dr. I don't
know exactly when the appt is but it is soon.
So for future reference does anyone have any idea what light sedative we
should try in the future???
The fishing tournament was fun. The girls
love baby Monte. It was terribly cold
and windy that Sat. I ended up with bad bronchitis with dr
orders to stay home Mon-Wed after Easter. The girls didn't get to try fishing
because they didn't want to wear their life vests. I was watching them like a
hawk. I was so paranoid one of them would end up in the water. We may go to
another one the weekend of May 4.
This past Saturday I supervised the install of playground equipment at our
church/kindergarten. It was basically me, a dad from Brianna's class, and the
director's hubby. We had a few other people on and off throughout the day. I
have a pic of the finished or mostly finished
structure. I got a little sunburned but otherwise all went well.
The girls are doing well. They didn't get my bronchitis. Kiersten is really
picking up words. A quote from today "maw maw do
you want some ice cream" (Maw maw being great
grandma Janie). When you tell her no she throws a temper
tantrum. I think she learned that trick from Brianna. She is very bright. Brianna does not like to listen - ergh. We go head to head a lot. When she throws a temper
tantrum it's hard to control her. She is
43 1/2” and 49 lbs now! I wonder where
the stubbornness comes from??
March 25, 2007
Ok so things have been a bit busy. Mom and Dad were giving me a hard time
tonight because it’s been since February.
I asked them when was the last time their other children updated
websites—LOL.
Mom is doing very well. She is getting stronger every day. She spent 2 weeks in inpatient rehab and is
now getting outpatient rehab. They go to
the club every Friday night (like usual).
I think they played bridge this past weekend. She helps with the grocery shopping. She is back to giving basic domestic
advice—great recipe mom! She is walking
short distances unsupervised. She can
walk long distances unassisted but usually has someone right there in case she
gets wobbly.
The girls and I went to
I had lasik
surgery on the 15th! WOW I can see. It is so amazing. I started with 20/70 and 20/”can see fingers”
(I couldn’t read the big E with my right eye.
I had 20/25 less than 24 hours later.
I have to wear these very uncomfortable goggles while I sleep to protect
my eyes from rubbing (only 4 more days).
Other than that and a little dry eye it has been easy. Yes, it is a freaky surgery but so quick.
Friday Brian and I went to a SS dinner
party. We had a lot of fun. Good food and good friends. And just for the record Methodists do drink
just a little :) even in the Bible belt.
Brianna had her first big public dance
performance Saturday! Arts Alive was at
Francis Marion Univ Saturday. There was a dance stage. All of the local dance studios had
performances. She was the only one from
her class but there were about 5 other little ones from the other class. They got to wear their recital costumes. I was so proud of her. She won’t
dance during parent watch night but she got up there and did her best in
front of a lot of people! I have a
video. I wasn’t really close. She is the last one on the right. Since she did so well we stayed and had hot
dogs, popcorn, lollipops and cupcakes to celebrate. Such a nutritious lunch.
Kiersten is turning into a little
character. Her vocabulary is really
getting big. She was even trying to sing
the alphabet song, she got the a, b, c start.
Brianna can just about sing the whole alphabet. The pronunciation isn’t perfect but getting
better every day. Kiersten’s EI (early intervention) and ST say she is doing
just fabulous. She has come so far in
the past year. I know I say that a lot,
but they really were worried about her.
She is very friendly and walks into the 1 year old nursery on her own
every Sunday now. She used to go in
crying :(
Brianna is still having a hard time with
her ‘K’ and ‘G’ sounds. We practice
almost every night. I had her parent
teacher conference on the 16th. She is a
joy! She can recognize a lot of her
letters, most colors and shapes. She can
cut very well. She is learning to write
her name. Right now she can trace
it. She knows her full name, our names,
her state, city and birthday.
Today was the Easter Eggstravaganza
at church. The girls had a candy filled
time! Brian went with Kiersten to the
under 3 area while I went with Brianna to the 3K-5K area. Brian was supposed to be video tapping
Kiersten well we got a lot of grass and bushes in the video. Kiersten did find the golden egg. She didn’t want daddy’s help. She wanted to hold her own basket. Brianna entered her area almost last and
probably ended up with the most eggs.
She ran to the other side of the playground where there were no other kids,
smart kid. There were craft tables,
tattoo table, duck pond, egg toss, bunny hop race, and dessert. Brianna and Brian tried the egg toss. I got the last 10 seconds on video, then I
had to go chase after Kiersten. It was a
record setting 88 today. So much for
spring weather.
February 18, 2007
I’m really not sure how to start the
journal. My mom had a stroke last
Monday. She was scheduled for a carotid endarterectomy at the Cleveland Clinic on Feb 12. During brunch on Feb 11 she had a few transient
ischemic attacks, or TIAs. She was admitted to the hospital and had a
stroke early Monday. Initially it was
rated as a 7 on a scale of 1-10, then moved to an 8. She has stabilized and regained a lot of
functionality. We expect she will be
moved to an inpatient rehab
tomorrow. It’s a really intensive
program. Thanks for all of the prayers
and well wishes. Please continue to pray
for a speedy and full recovery. Out of
respect for my mom’s privacy I’m going to leave it at that.
While I was in
I’m headed back to
February 6, 2007
New photos and new movies added. Life has not slowed down since the holidays
have passed. Brian and Gerald left today
for the National Home Builders Show in
I have already been on a business trip
this year and I have another one this month.
I’ll probably be traveling once a month now.
I was a chaperone/driver for Brianna’s
class field trip to Cici’s Pizza. There are some cute pics. Just imagine about 50 3 year olds in a pizza
place—it was a lot of fun. They have PJ
day tomorrow. I bet that is going to be
cute. Today they held a BBQ fundraiser. I sold 90 at work.
Brian and I have taught 5th & 6th
grade Sunday school for 3 Sundays now.
We get a break for about 5 weeks now.
This past Sunday we even had the 3K children’s church, 10 - 3 year olds
and a craft project involving glue ;)
January 20, 2007
Update Sarah had a baby boy! Welcome to the world Jack Hollis Bertling! 8 lbs 1
1/2 oz, 21”
Happy 1st Birthday to Monte Galen
Floyd. The girls had a blast at his
birthday party today. His mom is going
to have a lot of fun cleaning icing out of his ears! LOL He
is a cutie!
January 16, 2007
Happy New Year!
I have a very pregnant friend (hi Sarah)
who is patiently awaiting for the arrival of her baby boy. She needs a little distraction, so I am
finally updating.
Christmas was wonderful! It started on the 23rd. We went with Nanny and Papa to
Christmas Eve we started the day at
church. Brian and I (really I) taught
the 3rd - 6th grade Sunday school class.
We usually have only 5th and 6th.
We took Krispy Kreme
donuts to start the day off right. We
then went back to church for the candlelight evening service. I had to take Brianna to the nursery. It was too close to bed time and there was
too much excitement for her to sit still.
She is improving on her sitting still in church. The girls put out special reindeer food/Santa
signals. We also left cookies on a
special Santa plate.
Guess what time they woke up on
Christmas?? Let me give you a hint. I was in the shower when I heard Brianna
exclaim “mommy Santa was here”. She then
proceeded to give Kiersten some hints on what was left—a kitchen, a Barbie
house, a Dora castle, a baby carriage, a dress. Santa did not wrap their gifts—probably
because they were too big :) They spent
the morning playing with the Santa gifts and our gifts. Nanny and Papa, Great Grandma Lillie Mae,
Uncle Bobby, and cousins Jennifer and Lexy came for
lunch. Nanny was the cook—mmmm it was great.
The girls spent the afternoon opening gifts from nanny and papa. They were spoiled!
On the 26th we left for
The cousins all had a great time playing
together. There were 5 kids total:
Brianna, Kiersten, Ella (4 1/2), Casey (4) and Ashley (6 1/2). If you had any 3 of the older children all
was OK. When you added the 4th there
were some problems, lol. All the girls “fought” over Kiersten. Kiersten loved the attention.
We did so much and had a great time. Let’s see we went to the Children’s Museum, Chuckee Cheese, the zoo, and the park. We had fondue for New Year’s Eve dinner. We tried out a new local eatery. The girls all got the American Girl Doll of
the year—Jessie. That was a highlight
for them. Poor Casey was a bit out numbered. He spent a lot of time challenging the older
“boys” to car races. It seems he is
pretty good. He tried to teach Brianna
but he always won.
The flights back were not as stressful but
it was still a very long day! Grandma
Janie had cleaned the house in our absence.
That is a very wonderful woman. I
was so happy to walk into a clean house.
I suspected she would clean it but it was still wonderful.
Brianna went back to school on the
8th. Brian and I went back to work on
the 4th. We finally bit the bullet and
turned the dining room into a play room.
Christy took all of the furniture.
I love it. We still have toys in
the family room but it’s not as overwhelming.
Well I finally saw the allergy dr. The great news is I am no longer allergic to
dogs or grass. The last time I was
tested I was very, very allergic to all of the grasses they tested—about 24 of
them. So the allergy shots I took from
2000-2002 really did work. However, I am
still very allergic to dust mites and mold.
I have also added some trees to my list.
The dr felt I was taking all the meds I could
and using all of the environmental controls I could at home, so that left
allergy shots. I started Monday. I only have to get one, once a week. Last time it was 2 and it started at
2/week.
Brian has had a rough week. He has worked really late finishing the trim
work on one of his houses. He has 4
under construction right now. He’s got
some very interested parties on 2 of them (his parent’s is pretty sure thing
too). His parent’s house is almost ready
for drywall.
I think that brings you up to speed :)
December 22, 2006
Have you finished your shopping! We have one more gift to get and then we are
done. Of course then we have to pack for
SC still hasn’t decided if it is truly
winter. It will be in the low 70s the
next couple of days. The bad news is it
will be raining too. I have sinus
infection #4 since August. The CT scan
of my sinuses was normal which is good news.
2 doctors think it’s my allergies, but a 3rd thinks it’s a virus (not
agreeing with that one). So after the
1st I’ll have to get myself to an allergy dr.
Anyone have any advice?
So we have been busy since the last
update. Brianna has been a dancing
queen. She danced at the festival of
trees and then was in a parade. We have
had 2 parent watch days. The first one
she did great and we got to do one funny dance with them at the end. Well the 2nd one she wanted me to dance with
her the whole time. It’s OK a the house
but I wasn’t up for making a total fool of myself in front of all the parents,
maybe next month.
Brianna got a flu shot in November—oh
wow. She is a fighter and boy was she
mad. I had to do lots of bribery on that
one. I can’t wait until next year. Kiersten can’t get one because of her egg
allergy so Brianna and I get them.
My parents were here for a whole week at
Thanksgiving. The girls were very well
behaved—only one meltdown. Brian made
fried turkey—mmmm.
The girls didn’t like it but they have no idea what they were
missing. My parent’s watched them all
day so Brian and I could shop the day after Thanksgiving. We got the bulk of our shopping done then.
Kiersten had her 18 month well baby
check. She is doing great. She is 26 1/2 lbs (a little peanut) and
33”. She has quite a few words now, her
favorites being “no” and “Dora”. She’s
already getting her 2 yr molars even though the one year haven’t come in
yet. She went stinky in the potty twice
last week—yippee. She has only broken 1
Christmas tree ornament so far.
Brianna is on winter break from
school. She is doing well. She just loves her teacher and all of her
little friends. She has declared the she
is going to marry Tallon, an adorable little red
headed boy in her class! She was in 2
Christmas programs. The preschool had
one where they sang 2 songs. The church
Half Notes choir also sang a song during the children’s cantata. She actually sang this time though we were
sitting on the wrong side to get good pictures.
I’ll try to get some video up.
We have been to a lot of wonderful
Christmas parties which meant the girls had their first nighttime babysitters
(not related). They did
great—babysitters and the kids.
The girls are so excited for Christmas to
come. They had fun watching me decorate
the tree. They love counting down the
days. We have 2 advent calendars. Yes, they each have one. They know who's is who's. Brianna reminds me every day when I get home
from work. Brianna is really getting
into it this year. They whole Santa and
being good hasn’t registered yet—maybe next year.
On the 26th we are headed to
We wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a
Blessed New Year.
November 11, 2006
I was better this time and didn’t make you
wait so long in between updates. Of
course this is only because I have a babysitter for the girls today so I can
clean the office. Mom and Dad are coming
next Saturday and the bed is covered.
We took Brianna to the Eastern Carolina
Agricultural Fair in October. It’s a
very small town local fair. She loved
the rides. I’ve posted some
pictures. Kiersten stayed home with nanny
and went to bed on time. We got to the
fair at about 7 PM and Brianna didn’t stop until we got in the van at about 11
PM!
For my birthday I went to the Women of
Faith conference in
I have the Halloween pictures posted! Brian and Gerald attempted to scare all the
children in the neighborhood. They did a
great job on my girls! They were so
afraid of our front porch they didn’t stop for candy. Brianna was going to give up trick or
treating all together until I assured her I would hold her hand and not all the
houses were scary like ours. They had
the fog machine and spooky music again this year. The music gets the kids even more than Gerald
in his ugly/scary mask.
We have our Christmas tickets to
Both girls are recovering from upper
respiratory infections. SC can’t seem to
decide if it’s summer or winter. Some
days it’s high 70s, other days it’s high 50s.
October 20, 2006
Hi Everyone,
Yes, I know it really has been a long time.
We have been very busy.
Brianna is really enjoying preschool. She is doing great. She is quiet and follows directions in
class—no idea where that comes from. She
is really doing well with her behavior in school. She usually has a green light. She’s only had 2 yellows this year. She is now going into Sunday school without
any theatrics. She sang in front of the
church with the half notes choir on Oct 8.
I have a video but it’ll probably take a little while longer to get it
up on the web (but there are other new ones posted). On Sunday she goes up to the front of the
church for the Children’s moments. I
walk her up and then sit in the front row.
Well the past Sunday her nose was running—so she whined—”my nose is running”
and then she proceeded to wipe it off and lick her fingers!!!! We’re still working on proper behavior in
public. Brianna’s Kindergarten is doing
a Golf Tournament fund raiser. If you
would like to sponsor a hole or team or play please contact me by Oct 30. The Tournament is Captain’s Choice (does that
sound right) and will be held on Nov 10.
Kiersten is getting so big and grown
up. She totes a little pocket book
around everywhere just like Brianna did.
She has added a few more words to her vocabulary— meow, moo, nana, maw maw, mine, sister. A
speech therapist is now coming to the house with the early intervention
person. She really likes music and it so
cute to watch her “dance”.
Brian has sold another house (well under
contract). It just happens to be the one
in the Pee Dee HBA Tour of Homes. The
Tour starts tomorrow and runs for 2 weekends.
He will close on it after the tour.
The house is very impressive. I’m
going to get some pictures. He came in
2nd in his category ($200-300K). His is
a $208K house and the winner was $298K.
A lot of people were commenting on his workmanship and the special
features that Gerald helped add. He has
3 other homes under construction—his parents, one in a new development called
“The Reserve” - upscale patio homes, and a “starter” house in
My new responsibilities are taking me on
business trips once a month. Brenda is a
life saver and really helps out. I am a
member of a UMW circle group at my church.
We have started a bible study on discipleship. It’s supposed to be an intense 6 week
course. We are turning it into a
leisurely 6 month course. I’m am really
enjoying teaching the 5th and 6th grade Sunday school class. On my “off” weeks I have joined my own Sunday
school class. We are doing a study on
Christian Parenting.
Life is full right now. The girls are growing up so fast. I can’t believe the holidays are just around
the corner. If anyone sees any good
fares to AZ from SC let me know.
August 29, 2006
We have had a busy month and I can’t
believe it’s almost over.
Brianna has started preschool! She really likes it. It is a 3K—5K program at our church. She goes M-F from 9-noon. There are 10 children in her class. She will have art, music and chapel. She has already gotten her first teacher’s
note. It seems she didn’t want to clean
up after being asked several times. She
even told the teacher “no”. She had to
sit in time out. On Friday they start
the stoplight behavior tracking—I.e. everyone starts on the green light and
then inappropriate behavior moves them to yellow or red. She has also started singing in the church
Half Notes choir (3-5 yr olds). She
actually sang last Wednesday and has been singing the first line to “Jesus
loves the little children” all week. It
is soooo cute.
In addition to all this fun she is taking a combo tap/ballet class for
3-5 yr olds. So now she sings and twirls
around the house. She currently has an
ear infection and has now added a runny nose—yes I know, usually they come in
the other way around. She doesn’t like
the ear drops so she says “I’m all better now mommy”.
Kiersten is a little dare devil. She will climb up on a rocking chair and make
it rock with no cares in the world. She
really enjoys it when you reprimand her in a stern voice—it encourages her—ergh. She must do
everything Brianna does. She takes
Brianna’s toys all the time now. See
Brianna we told you she would take your someday ;) She is cutting a new tooth and getting over
an ear infection.
Brian has a house going to close on
Thursday—yeah!! He is already talking
about starting another one and he has 3 more under construction. He is working all the time it seems.
I have started teaching 5th & 6th
grade Sunday school. I teach every 3rd Sunday.
August 6, 2006
Is summer over yet?? Man is it hot! The humidity is just stifling. I guess I’ll start with the picture at the
top of the page. Christine and her girls
came for a visit this weekend. It was
fun. The house looked like a hurricane
hit—LOL. They had a lot of fun. Melanie is 4, Rachel 2, Brianna 3, and
Kiersten 1, so that makes a house full of fun.
We took all 4 girls shopping Saturday morning. We are starting them earlier. They did fairly well. In the afternoon they got to play on the big
water slide. We had fondue for
dinner. This is Melanie’s favorite. Brianna liked the dipping part but didn’t eat
any of it! Kiersten liked the eating
part. Of course she didn’t dip.
Kiersten is allergic to egg. After about 4 meals which contained egg she
got eczema. The dr
said that was enough to indicate an allergy so, no eggs—poor kid. Waffles just aren’t the same without
egg. Kiersten is allergic to egg,
peanut, mold, cockroach, and dog. She is
not allergic to milk, soy, chicken, cod fish, cashew, dust mites, or cat. This is all according to the skin test. I made some pancakes with banana puree in
place of the egg. They turned out pretty
good.
I have more work—on August 1 I became the
DTF US Product Steward in addition to my other responsibilities. There is no easy explanation for what that
means. Part of it is to keep up with all
of the regulatory stuff on our products, FDA, UL, etc.
Brian has one of his house under
contract. They should close at the end
of August. He has some very serious
prospects looking at another. His
parents house is coming along slowly. We
walked around it today. Brianna is very
excited that “her” room is high (on the 2nd floor).
Funny Brianna sayings …
Nana and Brianna were in the laundry room. Nana asks “Brianna did you take a bath last
night?” Brianna responds “no, why do you
smell something?” Needless to say Nana
almost fell on the floor laughing hysterically.
July 14, 2006
I know, my updates are getting further
apart. First, my sister Michelle has
updated their family webpage!
Kiersten is becoming quite the little
monkey. She wants to climb on
everything. She inevitably falls off at
some point. She has fallen off the
couch, the little chair, the rocking chair, tripped over her own two feet. She constantly has a bruise on her forehead
somewhere. This past weekend was no
different only the fall was much bigger and the bump a doozy! She gave me a mild heart attack. We were walking through the dining room into
the kitchen. Brianna was taking her
sandy shoes off in the doorway. Next
thing you know I hear crying and Kiersten is at the bottom of the front
steps. Yes, the brick and concrete front
steps. She was soooo
upset. She calmed quickly and after a
quick call to the dr it was determined she was
fine. There is a picture of it in the
photo section.
Just in case her weekend wasn’t “fun”
enough I took her to the allergy dr on Monday. We suspected she was allergic to dairy. Well after taking a history they wanted to do
the skin testing. I wasn’t fully
prepared for this but we were there sooo… Getting the skin test done on myself was no
fun, holding Kiersten down for 15 minutes while she got her test was even
worse. She has forgiven me and the
nurse. She tested negative for
dairy. The dr
said the negative results were pretty reliable.
It means she is at very low risk for having a serious, life threatening,
anaphylactic shock reaction to the item tested.
Positives on the other hand don’t indicate a definite allergy but they
do cause reason for question and or concern.
She tested positive for egg and peanuts.
Currently we are doing a no egg diet.
Next week we challenge the egg allergy.
This means we will feed her lots of eggs and or egg containing foods and
watch for a reaction. If she develops
any rash, hives or more serious complications then egg will be removed from her
diet until further notice. If nothing
happens she can eat eggs and it was possibly a false positive. The peanuts we will not challenge. It is a very serious allergy. She has been exposed to peanuts but never
eaten them. We can continue everyone
else in the house eating peanuts but she is not allowed to have any peanut
containing foods right now. She also
tested slightly positive for dog and mold allergies. She tested negative for wheat and soy. They tested for 14 total items and this is
only 7, so I need to find out what the other 7 were.
I still don’t know what to think about the
milk. Once we figure out the egg thing
we are going to try and go to whole milk.
Right now she drinks soy milk. If
the eczema comes back she may need the blood test versus the skin test.
So on the more fun side … Kiersten is developing a bigger
vocabulary. She can say da da, ma ma,
kitty, bye, uh (uh-oh), ba (ball, baby, &
bottle), pa pa, and the sound of a dog bark. Now some of these I have not heard but the
early intervention person hears them during her sessions. She is doing great with her milestones. Her EI sessions are only 2/month now. She has met her major motor milestones.
We had a quiet 4th of July at home. I didn’t even really get a good picture of
the girls in their colorful outfits. I
did get a cute one of them with their Pa Pa. The girls were fast asleep before any
fireworks started.
Brianna loves “school”. In addition to the 3 days at First Pres
Mother’s Morning Out now she goes to our church for “Summer Camp” one day a
week. This all ends at the end of the
month. Then Brenda has her at home for 3
weeks straight before pre-school starts on the 24th! I know Brenda is going to be very tired. The past couple of times I have taken
Kiersten to the dr she has been terribly upset she
couldn’t go. She comes up with ailments
and she needs to go to the dr—”right now mommy”.
There is never a dull moment.
June 18, 2006
We are back from vacation. It was great.
We stayed at the Marriott Vacation Club OceanWatch
Villas in
Kiersten fell into the tub on Saturday
night. She scared me half to death. She got another small cut under her left
eye. Had she not had a similar on
Memorial Day we probably would have spent a few hours in the ER. She was fine.
We poked around her eye and it didn’t bother her. So after some cuddling she went off to bed.
We had some professional family photos
taken on the beach. Chasidy
Ward who frequently takes pictures of the girls came to the beach. They turned out great. Now I need to play with my new photo
software. It’s hard to get 7 adults and
5 kids to all smile and look at the camera at the same time.
The kids loved the pool. They liked the beach and sand but I really
think they loved the pools more. Brianna
is fearless. We had to scare her a
little so she would just jump in to the 4 ft area on her own. We kept a life jacket on her almost non-stop.
The remnants of tropical storm Alberto put
a damper on our Tuesday and Wednesday plans.
There was more time spent inside than desired. Tuesday the women went shopping under gray
skies while the men were in charge of the kids.
We were helping the economy.
We had a very quiet father’s day. I think Brianna got the best gift. Her papa went and got her a huge water slide. Wow.