Hasta La Vista Kidney Reflux

Looks to be that S's kidney reflux is gone!! S was diagnosed with reflux last spring and has been on a maintenance antibiotic for the last year to control the UTI's. He had his follow-up VCUG today (which SUCKED!) and the radiologist said that everything looked healed - WOOHOO!!! We'll get this diagnosis confirmed following a renal ultrasound and dr appt with the urologist next Thursday but for now, I am thanking God this problem has corrected itself without surgery.

Funny Story Written By L

Below is the letter L wrote me for Mother's Day!

"My Mom is the most wonderful mom in the whole world! Her name is ________-. She's as pretty as a princess. She is 40 years old. She has brown eyes and lightish curly hair. She weighs 2 pounds and is 2 feet tall. Her favorite food is Mashed Potatoes and Gravy. In the good old days when she was little, she used to go to high school. I think my mom is funny when she laughs. But I know she's really angry when she yells. I wouldn't trade my mom for my new kitchen I got from Santa. I love my mom because she makes me food. Happy Mother's Day!"

(all the comments in red are the ones directly from L!)

Mother's Day 2008 begins....

Today was the Mother's Day celebration at L's preschool. I felt so special and loved by my daughter. The teacher really did a great job of celebrating moms!! We started the party with a greeting at the door, L crowned me "Queen for a Day" and gave me a program of the fun to come. I got a back massage and a manicure. I even let L paint my nails this horrid shade of green (reminds of this horrible shade from a pedicure experience with Anita and Kelly a few years ago!!) anyway then we got to take a seat and get the beginning of our presents. The kids sang us a M-O-M-M-Y song to the tune of Old MacDonald and then gave us each a rose. We then had a snack with juice poured especially by our children. Then they gave us another present (a handmade flowerpot wind chime) while the teacher read us the story each child had wrote about their mom's. It was a fill in the blank story. VERY funny!! I'll post the whole story here later. Then we cleaned up and called the celebration a success. L was so proud of herself. She was beaming with pride. I was very freely doling out the compliments and even got teary-eyed a few times. She is growing up so quickly. I feel like the luckiest mom in the whole world. After we got home and she settled in for a nap, she gave me another huge hug and told me how much she loved me. AWWW - being a mommy is the bestest!!! p.s. I got some nice compliments on how well behaved S was during this whole time. Hey, give the kid chocolate covered strawberries and he'll be good all day long :-)

Wonderful Wednesday

Today was another ordinary day here at Piper Paradise. Don't you love those - I sure do!! We played outside FOREVER! It has been so nice here the last couple of days. Not that we are expecting that to last for very long. Yesterday before L had preschool, the kids were pretending to row the boat on their drum using their drumsticks and then last night the little sneaks stole my cookies and milk - if they weren't so cute, who knows what would have happened to them :-). Today though we hung around the house except for a quick trip to Target to buy Mama the preggo whale a swimsuit for our upcoming vacation. I also scored a couple cute shirts - a rarity among maternity clothes right now. This afternoon I got 1 bathroom cleaned with super helper L and we also squeezed in some reading lesson time. I think she'll be reading in no time. Now off to cook my steak dinner - YUMMY!!

Sesame Street Live

We went to Sesame Street Live for the 3rd year today. It never fails to amaze me how much the kids enjoy this (it also amazes me how people can charge and others pay $8 bucks for a cheapo balloon)... anyway the kids love going to this show. We had totally awesome seats again this year, basically front row since the front row in front of us wasn't available to be sold!! We only had one small meltdown all day. L and S picked out shirts for their souvenirs and when the balloon guy came out at intermission, L decided she wanted one of those too. Well - I am not about to pay $8 dollars for a $2 dollar balloon. She started crying. Inside I was seething thinking how could this ungrateful little girl be crying because she didn't get one thing instead of being happy with all the other things, like just coming to Elmo. But I kept my calm and explained to her why she wasn't getting a balloon (she already had a souvenir and $8 was too much for a balloon that was going to deflate in 2 days) and that we could go home if she wanted to keep crying. I proceeded to pick up my bag and the tears dried pretty quick. It worked!!!! Being patient and acting the part of the adult does work! Here are some pictures from our fun day.

Me So Happy

S's new phrase he says all day long (when things are going good anyway). He points to his chest and says "Me so HAPPY!!" I would like to think that Daddy Piper and I must be doing something right if our kids can run around saying they're happy 90% of the time!!

Oh and the yucky, icky cold virus is starting to crawl its way out of our house finally. Thank goodness for the HEAT to kill all living bacteria in our part of the world :-)

Bunch of Sickies

We are all suffering from a spring cold around here (guess this virus didn't get the weather report, spring is long gone for us!!). It STINKS!!! No one slept very well last night and I am hoping for early naps, for all of us :-)

Baby's looking good!

I have been having some Braxton Hicks lately (way too early!). I saw the dr today and things look great. I was able to have another u/s today. This was way more special because the first 2 curmudgeons were able to share this experience. They were so excited to see the baby on the screen. When S woke up from his nap, it's the first thing he told his dad about his day. "Saw Baby Screen". He just keeps saying that over and over. L loved hearing the heartbeat. The u/s tech was so nice and let L hear it 3 times and even printed pictures out just for L and S!!! They proudly held on to them for the entire 1 1/2 hour wait to see the doctor.

Being Pregnant

I LOVE being pregnant. I don't think I can stress that enough. I have had very hard pregnancies prior to this one (thankfully both babies were perfect!) and still declared that over and over. Is there anything better than carrying a true miracle from God? I feel so blessed to get to do this one more time. Per Dr suggestion, I won't have anymore after this one. If I could, I sure would, provided Daddy Piper was on board :-) This pregnancy has been so smooth and uneventful compared to the previous ones. What a way to finish out my baby-producing years!!

Thank you God for allowing me to carry and bring another of your miracles into the world.

Painting Fun

We spent an hour or so today painting.   I am currently teaching L her primary and secondary colors and how mixing them produces different results. S is learning his colors (as I type this, the kids are playing library - too cute!!).   Here are some pics from the painting adventure!

I am determined to homeschool my kids as long as we live in our current school district, maybe even longer who knows.  I am not happy with the school situation around here so homeschooling seems our best option, for that and a few other reasons.  I am trying to get this incorporated into our daily schedule now so learning is an everyday, all day thing.... not just books and worksheets.

Cutting Class....

L has preschool on Tuesdays and Thursdays. We have been taking a gymnastics class on Tuesday mornings. One of our good friend's daughters got super sick 2 weeks ago and then the older one got sick and we think it might have been from this class, so we are now looking for another activity. Anyway, I had promised L that we would go to Trader Joe's after gymnastics today but Daddy Piper and I decided last night to skip the gymnastics. L was super upset when I told her this morning so I told her she could skip class and go to Trader Joe's with me and then we would go to In-N-Out Burger and use her free cheeseburger certificate she earned reading books with the library reading program. Should be a fun day!!

Thankful Thursday

Today I am thankful for a husband who didn't have work (didn't think you would ever hear me say that, now did ya?) . He really was super dad today.  Neither kid slept well so I was up with them all night. He had to meet a contractor at 5 this morning. He was home by 8:45 and brought breakfast back with him. After eating, he sent me to bed to rest while he took L to school and S came along for the ride. I woke up at 12:00 feeling so much better.   He had went to Walmart and Checker with his partner in tow.  Thanks Daddy Piper for riding to the rescue this morning!!

Nothing New

So not much new around here. Daddy Piper has had work for... drumroll please..... 7 days in a row - MIRACLE!! I had an upsetting phone call yesterday morning so it pretty much ruined my Sunday. I hate when I let things affect me like that. I am the only one who has control over my emotions but I let some people have that control. Something I need to work on.

Today was a fun trip to the Zoo again to pick up my forgotten license from Saturday. S touched the stingrays. L didn't even try. She kept her hand in the water until one swam by and then quickly pulled it out. Fun times!!

Tonight was a scrumptious dinner of bbq ribs, mashed potatoes and fresh strawberries. DELISH! Now was it extra yummy because it just was or maybe because I was just extra hungry???

Big Birthday Party at the Zoo

We had S's big birthday at the Phoenix Zoo today. It was so much fun. We went early to ride the paddle boats with Daddy. This was so much fun!! L has been wanting to do this for awhile but Mommy was too nervous to ride them without another adult. This was the perfect way to start out S's special day at the Zoo. We then met up with our fellow party goers and boarded the train. The Zoo was extra packed because of a company picnic so some of the party goers didn't make it in time for the train. So on the train most of us went. We got our own car and the whole train sang S happy birthday. He was so pleased with all the attention. After the train ride, we headed to the ramada where the party would take place. Most of the other party attendees were here by then except for one family. We went over to the place where the animal discovery would take place. The kiddos got to touch a snake, a lizard, a turtle and a ferret. All the kids thought this was so cool - me, not so much. GROSS! After the fun animal touching, it was back to the ramada for a zoo craft (coloring animal masks), followed by pizza and cake. We opened the gifts and the party was over. I think everyone enjoyed the party. I know S had such a great time. He was so pleased that everyone was paying him all this attention. When he blew out the candles, he had this very serious look on his face - too funny!! I can't believe my baby boy is 2 years old. The time has flown by too quickly. I do feel blessed and extremely grateful that I got to spend all that time with him. Being home with my babies is the best experience in the world.