Lovebug's First Fracture

Last night was one of those "I can feel it in my Mommy gut" type nights.  Have you ever had one?

Let me tell you mine.

Coach, Lovebug and I were saying good-bye to some great friends who had come to visit us.  We were right behind her on the stairs (see where this is going?) and she decided to pull her favorite "jump!" move... but her foot missed the step and head over heels she toppled down 3 stairs.  I caught her from going any farther, but the damage had been done. 

There were tears (mine), screams (hers), and are you ok's (coach's).  There was no blood (thankfully), no lack of movement (good), but there was guarding and hand holding (Lovebug holding her own arm).  I changed her into her pajamas, gave her some Motrin, and within 45 minutes, she was down for the night.

I wish I could have been.  But no.  I had this sick feeling in my gut.  I knew something wasn't right, but my selfishness didn't want to make an ER visit.

Fast forward to this morning...

Coach took Lovebug to daycare like normal, then I got the call that no Mommy (or Daddy) wants to get.

Holly:  "When Lovebug fell, did she fall on her right arm?"
Me:  "yes, why?"
Holly:  "you might want to get it checked out. I touched a spot and she winced & cried out in pain."
Me:  "I knew it."

Within 30 minutes of getting that phone call, I was at Holly's door (sobbing, of course) and ready to take my little Lovebug to the doctor.  We walked in, were seen rather quickly, had x-rays taken and an hour later, were on our way home... with Lovebug in a splint.

Yes, folks... Lovebug fractured her arm :(. 

As of now, she's not digging the splint.  It was hard to eat, hard to play, hard to hold her sippy cup, and impossible to rub her eyes when she was tired tonight.  It was not hard to climb up on the chairs and get onto the dining room table though.  Lil' bugger!  I know she'll adjust with everything else and in 2 weeks when we go back, we're hoping for a clean x-ray.



{sleeping beauty... with an ugly, ol' splint}



18 months old!!!

Last Monday, Lovebug turned the big 1-8... 1-8 months, that is :^).  I seriously cannot believe my baby girl is a year and a half old.  Where, oh where, did you go Father Time???  This was her on that special day.

{more to come on this dare devil pose}



{l-o-v-e this girl and her baby blues!!!}

On Thursday, she and I traveled to the big city for her well check.  I'm happy to report that Dr. E.D. is pleased with her growth and says she's on the right track!  Nice.  Here are the stats that I know you're all dying to find out.

     ~Height---32.5 inches (75th %ile)
     ~Weight---24 lbs. 4 oz (55-60th %ile)
     ~H.C.---18.25 inches (55-60th %ile)

So yes, she's gained a pound and grown a few inches in the last 3 months.  You'd never know the way this girl snarfs down her food.  Then again, she's probably the most active person I've had the pleasure of spending time with.  Always on the go.  Always.

Her latest fave thing to do is climb up on chairs, the table, the counter, couches, recliners, and our bed.  She's our Lovebug monkey these days!!!!

These past 18 months have been oh-so-much fun and I cannot wait to see what she'll be like in another 18.

Screams to Smiles...

See this cute little girl?  Isn't she sweet?  Yes.  But, did you know this sweet little bugger woke up 3 times in the middle of the night last night?  And guess who got up with her each and every time?  Uh-huh... you mom's can see where this is going.

We are going to be in the midst of WWIII here in Lynamland, beginning tonight.  But first, a little back story...

For the last 3 months (I know, I know... 3 months is too long), Lovebug has been getting up in the middle of the night and crying.  At first, I thought it was because she was in pain from her teeth... then I thought it was pain from her other teeth... and her other other teeth... and now the last one.  But now, I think it's gone a bit deeper than a little tooth pain.  She needs me.  Scratch that.  She thinks she needs me.  What mommy doesn't want to come to the cries of her baby girl?!?  Yeah... but it's not helping anyone. 

Last night was the breaking point.  When Coach got up with her at 3:40am, she started saying "mama, mama, mama".  {insert broken heart here}.  I knew I had created a monster.  The screams, the cries, the whines, oh my!  

However, it's come to the time that the screams and cries and whines are going to *hopefully* turn into smiles... the smiles of all 3 of us when we can go a whole night that Lovebug sleeps.  Or at least soothes herself back to sleep.

Please wish Coach, Lovebug, and I good luck in this venture.  I'm not sure who it is going to be harder on.

Lovebug Fix

Yes, I know, it's been 2+ weeks since I last posted.  Let's just say, we have a certain little girl who has an obcession with Mama's laptop... and nearly rips the keys off with excitement when she sees it (only because she thinks she is going to Skype with Grandpa every.single.time she sees it!).

So, here's a little pic of what our adorable Lovebug is up to today at Holly's house. 

{why, oh why, must my kid be THAT kid at daycare?!?}

Lovebug the Baker

Lovebug got an apron from Grandma Sally & Grandpa Dale for Christmas, so of COURSE we had to break it in.  And what better way to do that than make homemade chocolate chip cookies!!!!!!  Yumm-o!  While doing this, I realized 2 things:

1. I need a much better stand/stool for her than a chair.
2. My cookies were bad.  Really bad.  As in they looked like pancakes.  Apparently, Mama lost her baking skills in the move.  I hope to have them back real quick.

{hmm... what are these things and can I get them out?}

{I wonder why Mom's letting me touch this now?}

{you're seriously goign to let me stand on a chair?}

{Future Hawk baker... serious baker, that is}

{and we stopped to take our pretty out of our hair.  i'm telling you.  she's serious when she bakes!}

{stir it?  aren't we supposed to roll it and pat it?}

{chocolate chips.  a girl could get used to eating these}

I would show you the finished product, but like I said up above, there's no WAY I'm going to show something that was such a catastrophic mess!  Not gonna lie... I still ate 'em :)

Wild Driver Comin' Through!!!

Lovebug is diggin' her ATV from Santa!!!  Here are some video clips to prove it :). 

FYI... if this is any indication of what she is going to be like on the road in 13 years, Coach will be doing all the instructing 'cuz this Mama will be hiding!!!!!

PS:  I've been trying to upload these same videos at home for the last 3 days and it was taking for.e.ver!!  I tried here from work and wahla!  Within seconds they were uploaded. 

Guess I know where to come to do videos from now on.

A Decade to Remember

As I sit infront of my warm, cozy fireplace with my daughter sleeping upstairs and my fantastic, loving husband downstairs, I can't help but think how much has changed in my life over the last 10 years.  So come with me, dear followers, on a trip down memory lane for this past decade.

2000--I ended my freshman year of college at UNI, came home for the summer to nanny for a family I had previously nannied for, and began my sophomore year.

2001--I got a job at Valley Park childcare center in Cedar Falls... and in April of that year at a staff meeting, I saw a very handsome guy walk in {yes, that would be Coach :)}.  We closed the building together for the month of May, then he left for the summer.  But that fall, he came back and by October, we were dating. I finished up my sophomore year and looked forward to my junior year where I moved off campus and into a house with 9 other girls.  Insanity!  Coach finished up his classes in December. 

2002--I ended my junior year and ended my living situation with the 9 other girls and moved into an apartment with 2 other girls to start my senior year.  Coach moved back home to start his student teaching, thus starting the year and a half long distance relationship.  However, Coach lived with us for that summer while he took his last class and you guessed it, worked at the daycare some more.  We just couldn't get enough of that place!!!  All good things must come to an end, and sure enough they did.  Coach had to move back home again as he got his first teaching job for the big district.  I had a slight health scare in the spring when it was found that I had a mole on my lower stomach that was in the initial stages of melanoma.  Thankfully, after outpatient surgery and a great plastic surgeon doing it, they removed it all and left me with a nice scar.

2003--Senior year!  Yes!!  I worked 35 hours a week at the same daycare (see, it truly has always been in my life to work with other peoples' children), cleaned houses and babysat for my same families, all while fitting in classes and bi-weekly trips to see Coach {I was devastated that in the entire year and a half, I got the flu one weekend and was unable to see him.  One weekend out of 1.5 years though, not too bad.}  In May, I moved out of the apartment with the girls in CF, and moved in with Coach into an apartment in West Des Moines.  That August, Coach came home from work to find me elbow deep in dishwater chatting it up on the phone.  I looked and saw him on his knee with a dozen roses.   Yeppers folks, Coach and I got engaged and the wedding madness began, along with my student teaching madness!!!  I finally finished and graduated from UNI in December.

2004--I began subbing for several districts trying to get an "in", and went back to school at Upper Iowa to get my Reading Endorsement.  Coach settled into teaching 4th grade.  We had the most beautiful, perfect wedding in June, a fantastic honeymoon to Puerto Vallarta in July (right before I had outpatient surgery, again, to remove a pre-cancerous mole from my lower stomach, around an inch to an inch and a half away from the first one), and I got my first teaching job 2 days before school started, teaching 5th grade multicat SPED.  Coach and I also bought our first home and closed on it 2 days before I got my job.  Timing at its finest.  In September, we celebrated the wedding of my brother Jason, to his wife Ann.  We also welcomed Bogart to our little family.

2005--I found out I had to go back to school...again...to get my Strat I degree (to teach Levels 1 & 2 SPED), so back to Upper Iowa I went, and away went every Saturday for the year for me.  I began teaching the MD Cluster in the fall of this year.  Coach continued to teach 4th grade. We continued to do projects to our home, and I began working my part-time job doing SCL and Respite.  Coach became Coach to the freshman baseball team and became, well, Coach :)

2006--I continued to teach the MD Cluster, and Coach moved to 5th grade.  I finished my Strat I degree program, only to find out I needed to go back to school...AGAIN...to get my Strat II endorsement (in order to teach Level 3 MD).  So, away went my Wednesday night's and Saturday's, as well as my summer, that is, when I wasn't at the ball park or working.  Edgar joined our family.

2007--Coach stayed in 5th grade, kept coaching the freshman team, and I stayed teaching the Cluster and you guessed it, kept going to school.  I also kept up the SCL & Respite, and added Office Manager for Security at Jack Trice Stadium for ISU football games to the mix. 

2008--Coach stayed in 5th grade, kept coaching the freshman team, and I stayed teaching the Cluster, doing SCL & Respite, and continued work at ISU for football.  I had to student teach {in my own classroom}, and wrote my thesis which thankfully, was accepted!!  In November, we learned the best news ever...we were pregnant!!!!!!  In December we traveled to Austin TX to visit my brother and his family.  We returned on NYE to find that our heater had broke while we were gone.  I spent NYE in a hotel with my parents while Coach stayed at home to figure out the heat problem.

2009--The heater got fixed, Coach kept teaching and coaching, and I kept teaching and doing SCL and Respite & ISU work.  In the late winter/early spring, we found out we were having a girl, and in May I graduated with my Master's degree in Mental Disabilities, and ended my 10-year, 3 college undergrad/post grad career.  Coach and his friends re-roofed our beloved home.  On July 24, we welcomed the beautiful Lovebug to our family.

2010--Our craziest year yet.  We celebrated 6 years of marriage, celebrated Lovebug's first birthday, went to nearly all of Coach's baseball games, kept working the side jobs, sold our first home, bought our new home, said good-bye to Bogart as we had to put him down due to abdominal cancer, and Coach changed buildings.

Wow!!  Seriously, these past 10 years have brought so many changes our way.  They've been, by far, the best 10 years of my life, and I look forward to what the next 10 will bring here in Lynamland.