Saturday, August 22, 2009
Thursday, April 2, 2009
So annoying...Santa says Ho Ho Ho...
Right now we are all under stress because Sierra is sicker than she's ever been. She's had fevers ranging from 102.5 - 105.9 for five days now. They only go down under 104 in the first couple of hours after tylenol or motrin. She is also extremely lethargic, nearly unconscious at times and is just not herself at all. She's NEVER spent this many days just lying in bed. Usually no matter how sick she is she's up trying to play, go outside, hang out with us but this week she's just lying there. Adding to her problems she had her first "real" play this week. The play was Annie and she was in three scenes. She did not want to miss it so we took her and she spent time between scenes lying on a blanket backstage. Afterward she almost regreted going because she took a definite turn for the worse, although that could have just been the progression of the illness. I was proud of her for working so hard to honor her committment but also worried she was doing too much! Anyway, this weekend was going to be our big anniversary trip but we have postponed the trip due to Sierra's illness. Hence my extra time to pop online and try and catch up here and at home.
First the title of this post. Ok, Samantha doesn't actually put those two statements together but those are two of her favorite things to say! Samantha thinks she sees Santa all of the time (any man with a long white beard), and when she does, she yells, "Santa Ho Ho Ho". We ate out last week and she was convinced Santa was at the next table! And when we were grocery shopping at the same time as Santa she was beside herself with excitement! Even when we don't see Santa, she talks about him a lot. We don't really know why since we don't ever bring him up, but several times a day she'll come up to me (or one of us) and she'll ask, "what santa say?" to which we either reply "ho ho ho" or we say we don't know. Either way she'll then follow that with telling us that Santa says "ho ho ho" and she likes Santa. It's funny but kinda strange! "So annoying" (said with attitude) is probably her favorite thing to say. The times she chooses to say it are the funniest of all.
Samantha is making great strides with her speaking overall. What she says is very funny too! Every day, probably every hour, she tells me she “needs” something. A typical conversation is something like this. “Mommy I neeeeed mesin (medicine) fo my teef.” “Why? Because your teeth hurt or because you like the medicine?” “Acause I neeeeed mesin”. “ I think it’s because you like the medicine so you can’t have it.” “Noooooo mommy my teef hurt. Oweeee. Teef hurt. I neeeeed mesin NOW. HELP ME pease!”, at this point she's pointing at her teeth and wincing. “Samantha no you may not have medicine because you are pretending.” “Ok. Mommy I neeeeeed ice cweam mommy” and it goes on and on and on. The things she “needs” the most are teething medicine, ice (I have a problem ice chewing habit, which she has developed), ice cream, yogurt, baby sunny (my 4 month old niece), to go outside, money (yes nearly every day she tells me she needs money NOW and will cry if we go to the store and I give the clerk money.), hugs and kisses (my favorite) and a nap (my second favorite!) . There’s more but those are the daily things she “neeeeeedssssss!!!!”. My sister noticed that she has a little attitude too so sometimes it’s hard not to laugh as she’s trying to convince us of what she needs and why she needs it. Sometimes she needs ice or ice cream “acause my tongue is hot and it needs a be cold now”. Or she needs a nap "acause my eyes hurt" (probably true). All of her reasons are well thought out and totally cute. She also sings A LOT! So much so that we’ve decided she’s going to be a singer. She sings about her life – mainly us, our dogs, our habits and hobbies, as well as animals and my extended family. Since Sierra has been rehearsing for Annie she has also learned the tunes to Sierra's songs, and will sing them well enough that we can figure out which song it it.
She LOVES (I cannot express just how much but it’s A LOT!!!) to play with her babies. She puts them down for naps in my old doll cradle that Sierra just gave her, which is across from her crib. Then we all have to be quiet until they wake up! The way she puts them down is very sweet. She sings to them, pats them and tells them it’s time for sleep. She does this every day. She also still changes their diapers constantly. The funny thing is she acts like it's too much work but it's all her idea and if I offer to take them so she can rest she says no she has to do it!
Other than Sierra's illness she is doing great. Last month she was promoted in karate to advanced red belt and she is now less than a year from becoming a black belt. She is doing exceptionally well with her piano, so well in fact, that her teacher was surprised with how advanced the songs she chose for her recital are. As for school she is now being homeschooled through a public school charter. It was a very difficult decision but one we felt was our best choice at this time. Because she has always learned so quickly we have always struggled with finding a good fit for her academically. We actually moved to the town we now live in because we found a school that was, at the time, a good fit for her. We didn't want her to skip another grade (her old school decided skipping another grade -she skipped 1st - was the only way they could properly keep her challenged, so they wanted her to skip 3rd grade too) so when we found an academically individualized school we were thrilled and moved to be closer. Anyway, her school was no longer working out for various reasons so after Christmas break we made the move. Since she is several years ahead of her grade we couldn't move her to a traditional school so we opted for the homeschool charter. Homeschooling is NOT ME at all, and never something I planned to do, but it's been going much better than I imagined. I have discovered that she is much smarter than I realized! I knew she was smart but I had no idea to what level. The first few weeks were us (me and the charter's resource teacher) trying to figure out how to keep her in 6th grade while giving her the curriculum she needs. She is in 8th and 9th grade for most sujects and in later high school for most language arts. It's been interesting. Thankfully she such a sweet and wonderful daughter having her home so much is easy. We've never had any conflicts. My biggest problem is trying to keep up with my job, while keeping up with her homeschooling and taking care of Samantha. It's almost too much!
Now for a Logan update. His chemo is finished! He has been declared cancer free! He does have to be tested every single month for the next couple of years, because of his age and the type of cancer, before they will officially say he is in the clear but we are all very positive and just know he is cured! Since his chemo ended he is doing great. All of the effects went away really quickly and even his hair has been growing back so quickly we're all amazed with his progress. Baby Sunni, now four months old, is super cute, super chubby and super popular with my girls!
Now for the photos. Here are the professional photos we recently had taken with my girls and my sister's kids. There will also be a few from Sierra's play and perhaps a few others.
Our professional photos...My girls and my sister's kids. It was such a difficult shoot we had to do it twice! The reason was Logan. He was not cooperative and we discovered if his mom was there he could not be photographed! So, when we went back she stayed out. He did great for me! Don't they all look adorable!!!!
Samantha likes to put on Sissy's shoes. This day she put them on the wrong feet and then tried to leave!
Samantha LOVES baby Sunni and is obsessed with trying to hold her!
Samantha and Logan are buddies!
Painting is FUN!!!
Fun day at a local fun park...
Promoting to Advanced Red belt in karate...she's becoming quite the little martial artist!
Even though we're now homeschooling she actually has more extracurricular stuff at school than when she was in school:
Science Fair with fellow student and principal
My poor sick actress! She was so ill and was barely able to walk, couldn't sing (had to lip sinc) and struggled to speak loud enough for her lines to be heard. Here she is before walking onstage and then walking through the audience, as her character, for the beginning of her part.
First the title of this post. Ok, Samantha doesn't actually put those two statements together but those are two of her favorite things to say! Samantha thinks she sees Santa all of the time (any man with a long white beard), and when she does, she yells, "Santa Ho Ho Ho". We ate out last week and she was convinced Santa was at the next table! And when we were grocery shopping at the same time as Santa she was beside herself with excitement! Even when we don't see Santa, she talks about him a lot. We don't really know why since we don't ever bring him up, but several times a day she'll come up to me (or one of us) and she'll ask, "what santa say?" to which we either reply "ho ho ho" or we say we don't know. Either way she'll then follow that with telling us that Santa says "ho ho ho" and she likes Santa. It's funny but kinda strange! "So annoying" (said with attitude) is probably her favorite thing to say. The times she chooses to say it are the funniest of all.
Samantha is making great strides with her speaking overall. What she says is very funny too! Every day, probably every hour, she tells me she “needs” something. A typical conversation is something like this. “Mommy I neeeeed mesin (medicine) fo my teef.” “Why? Because your teeth hurt or because you like the medicine?” “Acause I neeeeed mesin”. “ I think it’s because you like the medicine so you can’t have it.” “Noooooo mommy my teef hurt. Oweeee. Teef hurt. I neeeeed mesin NOW. HELP ME pease!”, at this point she's pointing at her teeth and wincing. “Samantha no you may not have medicine because you are pretending.” “Ok. Mommy I neeeeeed ice cweam mommy” and it goes on and on and on. The things she “needs” the most are teething medicine, ice (I have a problem ice chewing habit, which she has developed), ice cream, yogurt, baby sunny (my 4 month old niece), to go outside, money (yes nearly every day she tells me she needs money NOW and will cry if we go to the store and I give the clerk money.), hugs and kisses (my favorite) and a nap (my second favorite!) . There’s more but those are the daily things she “neeeeeedssssss!!!!”. My sister noticed that she has a little attitude too so sometimes it’s hard not to laugh as she’s trying to convince us of what she needs and why she needs it. Sometimes she needs ice or ice cream “acause my tongue is hot and it needs a be cold now”. Or she needs a nap "acause my eyes hurt" (probably true). All of her reasons are well thought out and totally cute. She also sings A LOT! So much so that we’ve decided she’s going to be a singer. She sings about her life – mainly us, our dogs, our habits and hobbies, as well as animals and my extended family. Since Sierra has been rehearsing for Annie she has also learned the tunes to Sierra's songs, and will sing them well enough that we can figure out which song it it.
She LOVES (I cannot express just how much but it’s A LOT!!!) to play with her babies. She puts them down for naps in my old doll cradle that Sierra just gave her, which is across from her crib. Then we all have to be quiet until they wake up! The way she puts them down is very sweet. She sings to them, pats them and tells them it’s time for sleep. She does this every day. She also still changes their diapers constantly. The funny thing is she acts like it's too much work but it's all her idea and if I offer to take them so she can rest she says no she has to do it!
Other than Sierra's illness she is doing great. Last month she was promoted in karate to advanced red belt and she is now less than a year from becoming a black belt. She is doing exceptionally well with her piano, so well in fact, that her teacher was surprised with how advanced the songs she chose for her recital are. As for school she is now being homeschooled through a public school charter. It was a very difficult decision but one we felt was our best choice at this time. Because she has always learned so quickly we have always struggled with finding a good fit for her academically. We actually moved to the town we now live in because we found a school that was, at the time, a good fit for her. We didn't want her to skip another grade (her old school decided skipping another grade -she skipped 1st - was the only way they could properly keep her challenged, so they wanted her to skip 3rd grade too) so when we found an academically individualized school we were thrilled and moved to be closer. Anyway, her school was no longer working out for various reasons so after Christmas break we made the move. Since she is several years ahead of her grade we couldn't move her to a traditional school so we opted for the homeschool charter. Homeschooling is NOT ME at all, and never something I planned to do, but it's been going much better than I imagined. I have discovered that she is much smarter than I realized! I knew she was smart but I had no idea to what level. The first few weeks were us (me and the charter's resource teacher) trying to figure out how to keep her in 6th grade while giving her the curriculum she needs. She is in 8th and 9th grade for most sujects and in later high school for most language arts. It's been interesting. Thankfully she such a sweet and wonderful daughter having her home so much is easy. We've never had any conflicts. My biggest problem is trying to keep up with my job, while keeping up with her homeschooling and taking care of Samantha. It's almost too much!
Now for a Logan update. His chemo is finished! He has been declared cancer free! He does have to be tested every single month for the next couple of years, because of his age and the type of cancer, before they will officially say he is in the clear but we are all very positive and just know he is cured! Since his chemo ended he is doing great. All of the effects went away really quickly and even his hair has been growing back so quickly we're all amazed with his progress. Baby Sunni, now four months old, is super cute, super chubby and super popular with my girls!
Now for the photos. Here are the professional photos we recently had taken with my girls and my sister's kids. There will also be a few from Sierra's play and perhaps a few others.
Samantha likes to put on Sissy's shoes. This day she put them on the wrong feet and then tried to leave!
Samantha LOVES baby Sunni and is obsessed with trying to hold her!
Samantha and Logan are buddies!
Painting is FUN!!!
Fun day at a local fun park...
Promoting to Advanced Red belt in karate...she's becoming quite the little martial artist!
Even though we're now homeschooling she actually has more extracurricular stuff at school than when she was in school:
Science Fair with fellow student and principal
Sierra's first school dance. At first I was shocked because she's too young for a dance and literally has no interest in boys but then while we were there (yes, I chaperoned) I realized it wasn't about dancing, or boys and girls. It was about fun and playing! They played lots of fun games. When she did dance it was with her girlfriends! The dance had a medievil theme.
School Play - April 1st and April 2nd:
School Play - April 1st and April 2nd:
My poor sick actress! She was so ill and was barely able to walk, couldn't sing (had to lip sinc) and struggled to speak loud enough for her lines to be heard. Here she is before walking onstage and then walking through the audience, as her character, for the beginning of her part.
Before the end of the play Samantha made a break (we were in the front row) and ran to the stage screaming, "My sissy. My sissy."
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Samantha and Sierra celebrate birthdays
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SAMANTHA IS TWO YEARS OLD!
Samantha is a very happy girl and brings us all much joy. She is so very different from how she was a year ago you’d never know she was the same baby. She is no longer quiet, shy, lethargic or easily frightened (although she is terrified of the dark and of strangers talking to her, especially if they’re strangers to me too) nor is she meek or mild mannered. She is also no longer underweight (although getting her to eat is ssometimes still a struggle) and although she is small she is not that far off from big sis. Sierra was around 23 pounds at this age and Samantha is 21 pounds and Samantha, at 32 inches, is either 1/4 of an inch taller or 1/2 inch shorter than Sierra at this age (depending if you go by my measuring of the doctor)! She does have tiny feet though and still wears size 3 shoes (and still fits into size 2)!! She is a fabulous sleeper (after many months of much struggling) but will not go to sleep for anyone but me. She will stay awake until midnight (bedtime 8:00) waiting for me, even if she’s in bed for hours!
My sister says I have already turned her into a neat-nick clean freak and that she is another mini-me! I find that very funny and although I can't say if it's true I do know that Samantha is very neat and polite. She MUST have a bib when eating. When I say "must" I mean she will not eat if we can’t find her a bib! She also must have a napkin and always puts it in her lap (and tells us we must put our napkins in our laps)! Her table mess must be cleaned up after she is done eating and if it doesn’t get done she will attempt to do it by herself. She gets very upset if someone else makes a mess and doesn’t clean it up, even the dogs! She is very polite always asking nicely, usually saying please and always saying thank you and expecting a "you’re welcome"!
She is a little talker. She doesn’t have a huge vocabulary but a nice normal vocabulary. With Sierra I felt like we missed the toddler period altogether because she moved through every phase so quickly that she was like a five year old by age two. With Samantha we’re really enjoying the fun toddler phase. She cannot say “S” sounds (we’re hoping that’s normal) so she calls herself, “Nana”. Beginning around October she has exclusively talked in sentences, usually two to three word sentences but sometimes longer. Some of her favorite things to say are; “NO MOM” (to virtually everything, usually followed by what she wants to do/have instead, that's the only time she calls me mom otherwise it's mommy or mama!), “let go ide (outside) now, Nana put on boots” which she does, “Dad Home” (when she hears any noise outside), “nana eyes hurt” (when she’s tired), "nana poppy (potty) with mommy/jeijei now. Nana need poppy papew (tp)” She always goes to the potty when I go so I bought her a potty last fall so at least she wasn’t in my lap and now she has to wipe herself and thinks going potty is one of the most fun things ever! She also has tons of cute/funny words for things like a car is a "bye bye" and a phone is a "hello" and she'll just randomly say strange things like, "hey boy come ere", which she just said today out of the blue (she was talking to herself). Today she also said that baby yunny is her baby. She just talks and talks!
She is also a creature of habit. Every morning she asks for “egg, doat (toast), O's and juice please”. Every day at lunch she asks for “fwuit, milk and yoyo(yogurt)” in addition to what we are having. Whenever we drop off Sierra (anywhere) she screams and yells how Jeijie goen byebye, how much she loves Sissy Jei Jei and how we’ll see her doon! She is obsessed with babies, particularly Sunny (whom she calls baby yunny) and begs whomever is holding her to let her hold her. She also regularly tries to pull her out of people’s arms, while hugging, in an attempt to have her to herself. Sunny is now 3 months old, the perfect size for Samantha to carry around, but for some reason my sister won’t let her! ;-) She also adores Dodo (Logan) and will jump up and down while screaming if she knows we will be seeing him. She has only recently begun watching TV (in general we don’t watch much TV and never during the school week) and Dora is the only show she really likes. We also tried Ni Hao Kailan but for some reason she loves Dora and dislikes Kailan. She can sing the Dora song (she also has Dora singing books ) and wants the same boots as Boots!
SIERRA IS 11 YEARS OLD
Sierra had a great birthday. Her best friend was with us for the actual day. We had Japanese, her all-time favorite since she was two years old (I was reading the journal I keep for her) and I made brownies and cupcakes because she couldn't decide! We had her party at a miniature golf place. Her first time ever not having her party at home. It was also the last. She didn't enjoy being split up from her friends for the golf or not being able to socialize. I didn't enjoy it either. The only good side is there was no mess to clean up. After the party she had her three friends who moved away last summer spend the night. She was sooooo excited just to see them let alone spend the night. They used to see each other daily at school but now only every few months. They had a blast. Two of them adore Samantha so I got the night and the next morning off with so many helpers!
Sierra is doing extremely well. We are now Homeschooling because the mean girl bullying just got to be too much. I NEVER imagined I'd homeschool - it's just not me! We found a homeschool charter where she takes classes two days a week. Trying to teach her (which so far isn't difficult except the massive amount of organizing, paperwork and grading!) while still working from home full-time and taking care of Samantha is a massive challenge but I'm muddling through. She was assessed for all subjects and while I knew she was very smart I had no idea how smart! She is in the 8th and 9th grade curriculm for most subjects although she tested much higher on the Language Arts side. My biggest challenge is that she is in Algebra, which I can't help her with at all!
I can't believe my baby girl is 11 years old! Thankfully Sierra is still a mommy's girl. We've never had a real argument and she still likes to hang out with me. She is also very protective of me, as I am of her, and if I get hurt she RUNS to get me ice, a bandaid, water or whatever she thinks I need. She is also very, very polite and well mannered and always tries to help people out. She is still very, very sensitve and very, very, very observant. She is also an awesome big sister! After wanting to be a scientist (and writer and artist) for what seems like forever she now wants to be a chef! Her favorite show is now Last Restaurant Standing a British reality show. She is getting very into her Britishness (she is a British subject as well as an American citizen) as well as her various ethnic heritages. She really is a joy and brings such happiness to all of us it's impossible to express.
For some reason you must CLICK on each page of the Sierra birthday photos...no idea why since everything else I've made is automatic. I made another version of the Sierra through the years post just for her but she seems to prefer this one! Anyway...I hope you like it, especially relatives and friends who haven't been able to see Sierra as much as we would all like! FYI the VERY LONG post just before this is also new. This birthday post was initially part of that but I moved this from the other post because Sierra wanted her birthday post to be on it's own so she could read the comments!
Friday, February 13, 2009
Christmas, Sierra's Birthday, Samantha home 1 year, Logan done with chemo, Daddy's birthday, Lunar New Year...
There is so much that has happened during the past three months that I don't know where to begin and I know I will forget half of it!
Christmas was good. Logan was nearing the end of treatment and the two weeks before Christmas he didn't have chemo so he was feeling ok. Not great but at least not as bad as some weeks. This was our first Christmas with Samantha. She LOVED every minute, from the decorations to the food to the presents to everything in between. She even stayed in the church nursery for the first time just before Christmas.
Sierra had a great birthday. Her best friend was with us for the actual day and into the evening. We had Japanese, her all-time favorite since she was two years old (I was reading the journal I keep for her) and I made both brownies and cupcakes because she couldn't decide! For her party we had it at a miniature golf place. This was her first time ever not having her party at home. It was also the last. She didn't enjoy being split up from her friends (they were in groups for the golf, which we did not expect) and not being able to socialize and go at your own pace. It was too rushed so I didn't enjoy it either. The only good side is there was no mess to clean up. After the party she had her three friends who moved away last summer spend the night. She was sooooo excited not only for them to spend the night, but also just to see them. They used to see each other daily at school but had only seen each other once each since summer. They had a blast. Two of them adore Samantha so I got the night and the next morning off with so many helpers!
Samantha was home one year on January 22nd. Time sure does fly. She has really blossomed. We have been very lucky that other than some issues with her weight and eating (and normal adjustment issues) we have had a fabulous year and she has fit in perfectly with our family. She is a normal, naughty almost two year old but she is perfect. Sierra loves her more every day and cannot say enough wonderful things about her. She also loves to spend time with her and will do virtually anything with her. We have been blessed. I will go into more detail about her for her birthday post. She is quite funny and silly and I keep hoping to post a video. Some of the things she says are just beyond description!
Last month Logan's chemo finished and he is presumed to be in the clear. That is what we are all praying for. His initial scan came back with a spot on his lung and his repeat scan, which should have been last week, had to be postponed due to him being too ill. Hopefully it will be soon to put all of our minds to rest. His reactions to the chemo are still around and can apparently not only last several months after chemo stops, but can actually get worse. He will have to be checked monthly because of the type of cancer and his young age but we are all sure he will be fine.
Lunar New Year was tons of fun. We had several celebrations. New Year's Eve we went out to dinner, something we had never done before. Jeremy didn't like it but on New Year's Day we had another feast, this one at home. Our big feast was on the last day but unfortunately, my sister and her kids couldn't come due to illness, but we had friends, and for the first time, my parents came. Jeremy and I spent hours cooking and everything turned out really well.
There are tons of photos of our fun times and I'm now using a site where I can make things cuter and it's much easier. I just drop the photos in and add a few words. Enjoy!
Christmas was good. Logan was nearing the end of treatment and the two weeks before Christmas he didn't have chemo so he was feeling ok. Not great but at least not as bad as some weeks. This was our first Christmas with Samantha. She LOVED every minute, from the decorations to the food to the presents to everything in between. She even stayed in the church nursery for the first time just before Christmas.
Sierra had a great birthday. Her best friend was with us for the actual day and into the evening. We had Japanese, her all-time favorite since she was two years old (I was reading the journal I keep for her) and I made both brownies and cupcakes because she couldn't decide! For her party we had it at a miniature golf place. This was her first time ever not having her party at home. It was also the last. She didn't enjoy being split up from her friends (they were in groups for the golf, which we did not expect) and not being able to socialize and go at your own pace. It was too rushed so I didn't enjoy it either. The only good side is there was no mess to clean up. After the party she had her three friends who moved away last summer spend the night. She was sooooo excited not only for them to spend the night, but also just to see them. They used to see each other daily at school but had only seen each other once each since summer. They had a blast. Two of them adore Samantha so I got the night and the next morning off with so many helpers!
Samantha was home one year on January 22nd. Time sure does fly. She has really blossomed. We have been very lucky that other than some issues with her weight and eating (and normal adjustment issues) we have had a fabulous year and she has fit in perfectly with our family. She is a normal, naughty almost two year old but she is perfect. Sierra loves her more every day and cannot say enough wonderful things about her. She also loves to spend time with her and will do virtually anything with her. We have been blessed. I will go into more detail about her for her birthday post. She is quite funny and silly and I keep hoping to post a video. Some of the things she says are just beyond description!
Last month Logan's chemo finished and he is presumed to be in the clear. That is what we are all praying for. His initial scan came back with a spot on his lung and his repeat scan, which should have been last week, had to be postponed due to him being too ill. Hopefully it will be soon to put all of our minds to rest. His reactions to the chemo are still around and can apparently not only last several months after chemo stops, but can actually get worse. He will have to be checked monthly because of the type of cancer and his young age but we are all sure he will be fine.
Lunar New Year was tons of fun. We had several celebrations. New Year's Eve we went out to dinner, something we had never done before. Jeremy didn't like it but on New Year's Day we had another feast, this one at home. Our big feast was on the last day but unfortunately, my sister and her kids couldn't come due to illness, but we had friends, and for the first time, my parents came. Jeremy and I spent hours cooking and everything turned out really well.
There are tons of photos of our fun times and I'm now using a site where I can make things cuter and it's much easier. I just drop the photos in and add a few words. Enjoy!
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