The Stewart Family 4

Happy Birthday Sadie!

2009-08-03T13:34:00.001-07:00

We are so happy to be able to celebrate our little girl's third birthday! Boy has she come a long way, especially with all that she has been through! Go God!!!
She had a blast! Of course she wanted Tumble Bus and a Pooh Theme so we made all that happen. She loves Dora too so choosing a theme was a tough decision, but the Tumble bus was a definite. Sadie loves to jump and flip and climb so she was all over that bus. When it came time for presents she wanted every toy "out" of it's package---Thanks Daddy!

2009-08-03T13:31:00.000-07:00

Swim lessons

2009-08-03T13:28:00.000-07:00

Scooter is doing much better than expected in his swim lessons. I am very proud of him. Sadie is in lessons too, but I am in the water with her so daddy took a few pics, but none that I liked so maybe we'll get her next time.

We have our own petting zoo!

2009-08-03T13:23:00.000-07:00

Although we live in a subdivision (Crystal Springs) all around us is vacant land, so we see lots of turkeys, rabbits, coyotes, raccoons, snakes, your typical birds and squirrels, but the most friendly of them all are the cows. They come right up to our back fence and just moo like crazy. The kids love it.

Beach Vacation 2009

2009-08-03T12:50:00.000-07:00

We spent a week at Pawleys Island South Carolia in a little beach house right on the beach. We spent our days crabbing, fishing, playing in the sand and the tide pools, we even took a day and did the "touristy" thing at Myrtle Beach (Just about a 30 minute drive). We love the Carolina Coast!

2009-08-03T12:49:00.000-07:00

2009-08-03T12:48:00.000-07:00

Wine Festival In Indy

2009-08-03T12:43:00.001-07:00

School is out, it's the first weekend of the summer, a girls trip to Indy sounds good. We had so much fun! It's always a memorable moment when Stephanie and Krista are with me. This will definitely become a yearly tradition.

Happy Birthday Scooter!

2009-08-03T12:39:00.000-07:00

I can't believe my little guy is 4! We celebrated with the Tumble Bus and the kids all loved it!

Star Wars Birthday

2009-08-03T12:34:00.000-07:00

Easter Egg Hunting

2009-08-03T12:24:00.000-07:00

Finding eggs every where we go and even taking some time to hang out with Pa-paw Dan.

Coloring eggs -- Easter 2009

2009-08-03T12:11:00.000-07:00

Sesame Street Live!!!

2009-03-29T18:48:00.000-07:00

The kids were amazed. We were a little excited too to see all our favorite S.St. characters live on stage singing and dancing and talking. Sadie's face tells it all, she was so pumped up, she kept pointing and clapping and cheering. Her favorites are Elmo and Cookie Monster. Even though Scooter thinks he's too big for these guys, he was just as mezmerized (sp?) as Sadie, he likes Baby Bear, Telly, and Grover the best. We all had a great time.

I'm blogging again

2009-03-28T13:42:00.001-07:00

Okay, so about two weeks after Christmas our home computer crashed and up until just this week I have had no computer to blog on. My very generous husband gave me his old laptop and so now I have been catching up on our blog. I had to pick up where I left off from Christmas and boy have I been through a blogging marathon today!

Sadie

2009-03-28T13:25:00.000-07:00

Where do I start? Sadie's last neuro appt. Dr Puri said nothing but wonderful things. He was amazed at her abilities and how far she has come, he was pleased to hear that she had been seizure free for all this time, and he was eager to discuss the plans for weaning her off another med. So we are now weaning that med and by mid summer Sadie will only be on one seizure medication! Yeah! Her therapists are excited for Sadie and all of the gains she has made. Her occupational therapist even notes that Sadie is performing many preschool readiness skills at age level. Yeah again! Her speech therapist said Sadie's speech and communication is only delayed at about 8-10 months behind her real age and even said at our least ed team meeting that Sadie may be ready to drop her speech therapy from two times a week back to one time ( but I said I want her to keep it at two times because she is doing so well, I don't want her to regress because she is saying so much now and repeating everything- I love it!) and her developmental therapist says Sadie is doing so well, that she may not qualify for the special needs preschool program that the school system provides because she may not test as having a true disability. Yeah Yeah again!! (Which this all makes us so happy, but I hope she gets into the preschool program because I know it would be so good for her regardless of her ability level, but we'll see......) THANK YOU GOD! He IS a merciful God.

Scooter's new haircut

2009-03-28T13:19:00.000-07:00

Scoot got his haircut this week. He said " I want it cut like daddy's." Of course we didn't get it cut that short, but we tell him it looks just like daddy's. It makes me so sad to see how big he is, he is no longer a toddler, but now a preschooler. He is getting big so fast. I can't believe he will be four in 2 months.

Rex's bowling birthday

2009-03-28T13:11:00.000-07:00

Rex turned four and we got to help celebrate with him and some friends and a little bowling. Scooter started pushing from a seated position on the floor, but by the last few frames, he was a pro at it, standing and throwing the ball with both hands. The ball was a whole five pounds! Sadie wasn't interested in the bowling as much, she enjoyed hanging out with mommy and running all over the place causing havoc. She did stop to pose for a few pics. "Sheez" is what she says when I pull the camera out.

Bath time with daddy

2009-03-28T13:07:00.000-07:00

Seth may not agree with this post, but I love bath pics, especially the ones with daddy. HeHe!

Go Utica Jets!

2009-03-28T13:03:00.000-07:00

I took Scoot to the Utica Jets Tournament game, sine he is a future Jet. We met up with the Clarkes, so I had to get a pic of him and his buddy Bethany. Scooter was amazed at the huge gymnasium at Jeff High and was in absolute awe with the players running and shooting on the court. He loved it and it made it even sweeter that we won! Yeah Jets!

Happy Birthday mommy!

2009-03-28T12:44:00.000-07:00

For my birthday, my very good chef of a husband surprised me with crab legs, lobster tail, artichokes, and a berry pie with ice cream (some of my favorites). It was so delish! Thanks babe. All three of my sweet babies made it a wonderful evening for me.

A day at the park

2009-03-28T12:32:00.000-07:00

Okay, so maybe it wasn't real warm and maybe it was a little too windy (as Sadie's face shows in the picture with her and Scooter crossing the parking lot), but we were so relieved that all of the snow had finally melted and we wanted to get outside and enjoy the snow-free ground.

Snow, Snow, Snow

2009-03-28T12:17:00.000-07:00

Snow Day outside in the backyard. The picture of Sadie going down the slide is not real clear, but it cracks me up of how much a daredevil she is, so I had to post it. She sometimes takes bigger risks than her big brother. she is so hilarious. Scooter however risks putting some snow in his mouth. Taste good bud?

Cleaning Day

2009-03-28T12:06:00.000-07:00

It is always nice to have willing participants on cleaning day. I better appreciate this now, because in a few years they won't be so willing. They love it now, and I enjoy cleaning day a whole lot more when I can share it with them.

Bridgette's girls night out

2009-03-28T11:55:00.000-07:00

Bridgette decided to have a girls night. She was feeling the need to have some girl fun, so she called all her cronies together. A bunch of her friends from the salon came and some of us "long time" friends came too. Here are the three of us: Dottie, me, and Bridgette. We had so much fun, a little too much really.

Christmas Morning at the Stewarts

2009-03-28T11:16:00.000-07:00

Christmas Morning!!! Scooter got his favorite show characters: Sportacus, Stephanie, and Robbie Rotten all from Lazytown. Sadie got some puzzles and her very favorite: her own personal vaccum.

more Christmas pics

2009-03-28T11:15:00.000-07:00

New moon sand, the ever favorite trampoline, lots of new babies, lincoln logs, and the Scooby Doo characters. Fun, fun, fun... ( Check out Sadie's hair, she's got a wild mane!)

Christmas Eve right before bed

2009-03-28T10:55:00.000-07:00

Putting out reindeer food on Christmas Eve. OH GOSH! WHAT WAS THAT SOUND I JUST HEARD? Maybe the reindeer? Sadie is more interested in getting on the tricycle.

Christmas at Mo-Mo and Po-Po's

2008-12-31T13:59:00.000-08:00

Sadie and Margeaux played babies. Scooter and Emma helped Mo-mo cook, she even let them wear her aprons. Then it was time to open presents! Scooter got his Sportacus bed cover and Sadie got new blocks.

What Yummy Christmas Creations!

2008-12-31T13:54:00.000-08:00

Good Job guys on the beautiful and yummy cookies! Too bad I didn't get a picture of Sadie when we were rolling, patting, and cutting the dough. She was covered in flour from head to toe. These pictures were taken after she had already went to sleep.

Scooter and Sadie's Christmas Program

2008-12-31T13:43:00.000-08:00

Scooter and Sadie performed with their classes in their daycare Christmas Program. Sadie's class sang "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" and Scooter's class sang "Angels Watching Over Me". Afterwards we had refreshments with some friends. Scooter loves to sing and Sadie loves to be the center of attention. Notice how every child is sitting correctly as they wait for their time on stage, except my Sadie girl. She always has to be checking everybody else out and to also make sure people are noticing her. I wonder who she gets that from?

Christmas Party at Alicia's

2008-12-31T13:37:00.000-08:00

It was so nice to see all of my girls from Bridgepoint. We arrived at the party late because of a family Christmas party and had to leave early because Seth was going duck hunting the next morning, but it was still fun even though it was a short visit. I miss you girls!

Thanksgiving at Papaw Dan's

2008-12-31T13:29:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving at Pawpaw Dan's farm is always an adventure. Going for a ride in the gator is fun but riding Frank (the horse) is even more fun- at least Sadie thinks so- Scooter not so much. He had more fun playing with Emma on the swing set.

Thanksgiving at Mamaw and Papaw's

2008-12-31T13:19:00.000-08:00

Spending time at Mamaw and Papaw's for Thanksgiving. Scooter and Sadie always have a good time when their cousins are around. Of course I had to get some self portraits with my nieces.

Is this November?

2008-12-31T13:10:00.000-08:00

Wow! I can't believe this weather! It was a warm evening, so Seth and I decided to grab some dinner and have a picnic at the waterfront park.
After we ate, we played chase and posed for a few pics. We all loved being outside and enjoying the view. Scooter said "oooh mommy look at all the pretty lights".

Halloween

2008-12-31T13:03:00.000-08:00

Presenting: Those cute and adorable superhero characters from "Lazy Town USA"....its Sportacus and his best friend Stephanie! Here they are on trick or treat night spending some time with their cousin Emma who was Princess Halloween. Thanks Mo-Mo for helping with the adventure.

Halloween at the Louisville Zoo!

2008-12-31T12:50:00.000-08:00

There they are Sportacus and Stephanie! This was a first for us, we had never done trick or treating at the zoo before. We loved it and will make it a Halloween tradition. It was so neat to see other little kids looking at Scooter and Sadie and saying, "Look it's Sportacus and Stephanie!". We were happy to know we were the only ones.

Harvest Homecoming with my girls!

2008-12-31T12:42:00.000-08:00

Kim came in town and some of my girlfriends and I got together at Harvest Homecoming. There's nothing better than spending a warm fall evening outside with a bunch of your friends and a whole bunch of other people that you don't know, but seem to quickly make friends with. By the way, who was that guy dressed up like an ape? and whose idea was it anyway to take a picture with him?

Hubers

2008-12-31T12:32:00.000-08:00

Hubers was perfect this year! The weather was great and everybody had a good time. I think Seth and I may have even had just as much fun as the kids. They bring out the best in us don't they? We took the hay ride out to the pumpkin patch and picked a big one, (thanks dad for carrying it) then Scooter rode the kids tractor ,which Sadie didn't care much for, then we all went down the tunnel slides, through the maze, and on to the petting zoo.

Hubers

2008-12-31T12:23:00.001-08:00

More fun at the playground, the petting zoo, and the tunnel slide. Sadie loved feeding the animals, she kept asking for "mo...mo..." food so she could feed them. She would giggle when their tongues would lick her palm, and then wanted to keep doing it. Scooter wanted no part of those animals mouths around his hands. It is so funny how they can be so different at times.

Being silly around the house

2008-12-31T12:13:00.001-08:00

Now that the weather is cooler, we spend more days entertaining ourselves inside, which can lead to some pretty interesting ideas. Scooter loves to make us laugh. He's our little comedian. Scooter and Sadie both love when daddy pulls them on the sheet. Go daddy go!

Fun at "Earth & Fire"

2008-12-31T12:06:00.000-08:00

Scooter enjoyed himself at Baylee's birthday party. He got to paint his own ceramic skateboard, eat pizza, hang out with Bethany (one of his most favorite people), and party with big kids-kindergarteners and first graders. He had a ball. Notice the concentration with the tongue out and all. He is so much like his father.

Sunday with the Clarkes

2008-09-01T11:31:00.001-07:00

The Clarkes invited us over for dinner on Sunday. It was Yum-Yum! The kids had a great time running around causing havoc all evening. It is so nice to be able to go to a friends house and not have to worry about how "wild" your kids are because they know all about "wild" kids and letting them be wild together means "fun" for everyone! Right? These pics were taken at the end of the night so Sadie was sleepy and ready for bed. The rest of the gang was still pumped so they were being goofy. I think Scooter and Bethany have started their own gang throwing up their gang symbols and all. On no wait....maybe thats itsy bitsy spider....who knows?
Thank you guys for a delicious meal, including the brownies, and also thanks for the great company. We will plan on doing this again. Next time at our house in a month or so.

To The ZOO

2008-09-01T11:11:00.000-07:00

We didn't have any plans for Labor Day weekend, so on Saturday we decided to take the kids to the zoo. It was a good time, Sadie was ALL over the place (we had her on a "leash" part of the time, but then we gave in) She gave us a fun work out. Scooter loved the day and his favorite was the monkeys. He is at my favorite age so far. I have really enjoyed the three year old stage. He is old enough to actually do things with and understand what he can and can't do, but he is still so young that seeing things through his young eyes is still so much fun!

Of course Sadie enjoyed the playground more than the animals, so we let her explore for a while.

Sadie Visited Dr. Puri for her 4 month follow up

2008-09-01T10:25:00.000-07:00

Sadie saw Dr. Puri last week. Again, it was so nice to hear him say how pleased he was with Sadie's improvements, even from just 4 months ago. We discussed a little bit about 2 seizures Sadie had had just recently due to an elevated fever. She had a bad sinus infection a few weeks ago which lead to a high fever which triggered two seizures that were each about a minute long and four hours apart. But once we got the Tylenol working (This time Motrin didn't do the trick) the fever came down and no more seizures. She was put on a 14 day antibiotic and the sinus infection was gone in two days. Dr. Puri had told us before and reminded us again that Sadie has a very low tolerance for fever induced seizures. He said that it was nothing to worry about and that if her fever goes up again and we don't catch it early enough to prevent it, then she could seize again. But he also reassured us that if the seizures came and went with the fever then her "typical" seizures that she experienced last fall are still being controlled, so that was a relief to hear. He was very happy to see her motor skills, interactions, and over all development. He also wants to put a plan in motion to start weaning Sadie off of another med. He noticed how involved her gums were from all of the Dilantin she is on. (thickening of the gums is a major side effect of Dilantin) so he referred us to an awesome pediatric dentist, not just a dentist that works on kids, but a pediatric dentist which specializes in working JUSTwith kids and ones who possibly have other medical issues as well. So we are planning on seeing her soon. The only real concern Dr. Puri had at this time was Sadie's language delay. We told him that we were a little concerned as well, however, we were starting to see some real gains in that area now too. For example she is pointing to some objects when we name them, she is following one step directions, she always turns to her name now, she points and vocalizes her wants, she is babbling all the time and when you ask her "what?" she will repeat the exact same babble pattern. It is so funny to hear her do that. It's like SHE knows what she is saying so why don't we? She plays games with us and interacts with us all the time now. The best part is even though she still isn't saying a lot of words, she is saying more and more words each few weeks. So far we have heard her say: yeah, no, k-kee (cookie),pay (play), bayket (blanket), jacket, top it, (stop it to Scooter of course) and now she is trying to count : uuu, oo, ee, (one, two, three) and she even points her finger up when she does it like she's counting. If you ask her what a duck does she will flap her little bent arms up and down. She is also expressing herself through more signing. She had her follow up with the audiologist a few weeks ago too and all of the hearing results came back fine as well. So for right now Dr. Puri wants us to continue to keep her in speech therapy (of course) and also do more signing. He also said that we need to schedule having her evaluated at Riley in Indianapolis within the next six months just to see what they have to say about how to better improve her language development. It might end up being more like 10 months now that I am back to work, but we'll see. For right now Dr. Puri said he wants to do an EEG (Sept.) and an MRI (Oct.) to look at things again and depending how those turn out, then hopefully we'll be able to wean another med. which means she'll be down to only ONE! Yeah! It has been 11 months since her seizures first started and we've only seen two due to fever. It has only been 8 months since her therapies started and we can't believe all of the "catching up" she has accomplished! We Couldn't Be Happier!

Happy Birthday Sadie Ray! She is now TWO!!!

2008-09-01T09:54:00.000-07:00

Miss Sadie Ray is now two years old! She had lots of fun with her family and friends. There were cupcakes and ice cream. Lots to do , see, and play. Daddy helped with opening the presents. Scooter helped with opening everyone's treat bags. We had the jumping house out and all the outside toys. The basement was full of kids and kid stuff. It was a party alright!

2008-09-01T09:50:00.000-07:00

What I've been up to.

2008-09-01T09:44:00.000-07:00

Well, I am teaching again! I was offered a position with Greater Clark Schools ( I.U.S. was still conducting interviews on their opening, so I had to call I.U.S. and inform them that I would not be able to accept the position if it were offered to me because I already had a job.) I have been titled the "new" kindergarten teacher at Utica Elementary. It has been a very eventful three weeks. My life has had to adapt to a whole new change. Thank you to my family for being there for me. It is a new road (once traveled) that I will travel down again, this time with two toddlers in tow. The last time I was in a classroom teaching position I didn't have two toddlers keeping me busy too. So life will keep me on my toes or tripping over them depending on the day, but I can truly say it was nice to get a paycheck again! Utica is an awesome school with a very friendly staff. My parents are absolutely great and Mr. Chinn has been so helpful and understanding. I know this year will be a new chapter to my teaching career with lots of memorable experiences.

Where will my future take me? Only God knows.

2008-08-08T06:15:00.000-07:00

A quick update on my career searching:
I have been applying to every and all openings that seem interesting to me. I have had a few interviews. Just this week I interviewed with I.U.S. for an instructor position in their undergrad and graduate education dept. It was a long and eventful day. I had to be interviewed three times; the vice-chancellor, the dean of educ., and a team of education professors. Then I had to give a 30 minute presentation to a room of about 12 people (half staff, half students).

Then, just yesterday I get a call from Greater Clark for an interview today! It was this morning at 7:45. WOW! I haven't gotten up that early in a long time, I guess I better get used to that again. The interview was with four principals and another administrator. It went very well.

Then, I get home and there is a message from JCPS and now they want to interview me next week.

When it rains, it pours!

I am so pumped about getting back into the teaching world again. And I am also excited about a new start. I know God has a plan for me, so now I just need to wait and see what it will be.....

Bye-Bye high chair!

2008-08-08T06:06:00.000-07:00

We have come to a very bitter sweet moment in our lives as parents. We have officially graduated from the high chair. It has been placed in the garage for now until we can find a permanent place for it. (Probably the Goodwill) We are so pleased that our children are both getting so big and sitting at the table with us. Now we all sit at the table together and that is such a sweet sight. We have Sadie in her booster seat and Scooter in a regular kitchen chair. But at the same time it is sad to know that we will never have a high chair in our presence again. So, so long high chair........... and although I feel like I should say "we will miss you," deep down in my heart......................... we really won't! Hee-Hee!

ART SPARKS!

2008-08-08T06:01:00.001-07:00

We went to "Art Sparks" at the Kentucky Speed Art Museum. It is a whole floor for kids (adults too, notice Seth getting in on the fun). They have all kinds of stuff for preschoolers and toddlers to get into. Scooter painted a picture and Sadie and I posed for a quick pic in the tee-pee.

2008-08-08T05:54:00.000-07:00

Building and playing and more building.

Sadie's favorite part was the ocean play area in the toddler room, but she liked building too.

2008-08-08T05:43:00.000-07:00

Playing in the Native American/Old West area.

They both liked the magnet station, especially Scooter.

Soon, it was lunch time. Let's go!

C'mon Sadie girl, it's time to go.

clubhouse pool

2008-08-08T05:37:00.000-07:00

Just hanging out at the pool in our neighborhood.

It has been nice to visit with all of these HOT days lately.

Sadie on her Zebra

2008-08-08T05:30:00.001-07:00

First she gets on....

Then she checks to make sure we're watching.....

Then the show begins.

She jumps up and down like mad and squeals and giggles the entire time.

That crazy girl!
She makes us laugh so hard.

I can't keep up

2008-07-17T20:34:00.001-07:00

I know, my blogging average has dropped tremendously. I just can't seem to keep up. I don't even have my main page the way I want it. I am still trying to add all of my favorite blogs. Summer just keeps me away from the computer and when I finally am in front of it, I'm over it. I'll try to do better.

Wedding and Vacation in South Carolina

2008-07-17T20:24:00.000-07:00

We went to South Carolina to attend a wedding of a dear friend of mine. We also made the trip our summer vacation. We went with Mo-Mo and Po-Po who got an awesome beach house right on the beach just a few steps from the sand and we spent the week enjoying it all. The wedding was lovely too. Congrats Kim and Brett!

Seafood! Yum! The real stuff!

2008-07-17T20:15:00.000-07:00

Is dinner ready yet? Seth made a seafood dinner one of the nights we were on vacation. He and Po-Po had gone fishing and brought back some flounder along with several crabs him and Scooter had caught in the crab trap. Then we bought some live local shrimp to add to the feast. It was yummy! Good job everyone!
Scooter was pretending he was "Captain Feathersword" so I caught him at the end of him saying "Ahoy me hardees!"

THE BEACH!

2008-07-17T20:02:00.000-07:00

Our favorite part of the week, playing in the sand. We made castles and mountains and Seth even dug a hole deep enough to cover Sadie and almost cover Scooter. They had so much fun with the sand. Sadie would get it all over her hands and end up rubbing her nose, eyes, and putting them in her mouth, but she didn't seem to mind. She had sand on every part of her by the end of the day. She was lovin the beach time.

More beach time

2008-07-17T19:54:00.000-07:00

We loved those days in the sand. Scooter and Sadie got so adventurous. Sadie would play a while and then decide she was ready to go for a stroll, then Scooter wanted to check out the living creatures in the tide pools with Dad. The afternoons always ended with both of them being covered in sand. We had an awesome family vacation. Thank you MO-MO and PO-PO!

Sadie in Pigtails

2008-07-17T19:51:00.000-07:00

Had to get some shots of my little girly girl with pigtails. (She rarely is still long enough for me to do anything with her hair.)

Sadie's first haircut

2008-06-24T12:04:00.000-07:00

We went to "Cookie Cutters" on Taylorsville Rd for Sadie's first haircut. We absolutely love that place. They have different seats for the kids to sit in and at each booth there is a t.v and the kidos get to pick from a whole wall of movies to watch while they get their hair cut. Then when they're finished the kids get a sucker and a balloon! There is also a slide to play on while you wait for your brother to get his haircut too.

My Sadie girl with bangs. Isn't she so
sweet and lovely? How pretty.

2008-06-24T12:03:00.000-07:00

Scooter got his haircut too. Something shorter for summer. What a handsome boy!

Super Scooter

2008-06-24T12:00:00.000-07:00

Scooter loves to pretend he is "Super Scooter"! He puts on sunglasses or swimming goggles ( which ever he can find) then he ties a "cape" (daddy's t-shirts) around his neck and flies through the air saying "Now Presenting...... Super Scooter!"

Fathers Day Weekend

2008-06-24T10:57:00.000-07:00

Spending time with dad in the backyard.

Going 4-wheel riding! One of our favorite things to do with daddy!

While daddy took a nap Scooter decided to do some art work on his back with his stampers. Looks great Scooter! Happy Father's Day Daddy!

Camping with the Clarkes

2008-06-24T10:51:00.000-07:00

Watching both daddy's go fishing.

Making Smores and roasting our own marshmallows.

Sadie and Bayley hanging out in the tent

2008-06-24T10:43:00.000-07:00

Daddy showing Scoot how to get the pole ready.

Sadie didn't stop going, she wanted to check it all out.

Me and Elizabeth, the "morning after". No showers, no makeup, and no hair products. HA HA! Don't we look lovely?

Scooter just moved to the 3's room last week

2008-05-28T18:21:00.000-07:00

My big boy has already started spelling his name and tonight as Seth and I overheard him spelling his name to himself we look at his magna doodle and see this. He knocked us off our socks! Of course its only "oot" but he knew that he was writing his name because he was spelling it out as he went........"0" ........"0"............"t"........... and it was at that time that Seth and I interrupted with astonishment. His new teacher at daycare says he spells his name with only one or two mistakes. She said to me, "I can tell that you work with him at home". Maybe I do just a little.
Gotta brag on Sadie too. Her new (and might I add favorite) word is "uh-oh". She says it when she drops something, she says it when she falls down, she says it when we say it, she says it all the time. She is so funny.

MY BIG BOY IS 3!!!

2008-05-22T08:32:00.000-07:00

Scooter turned three on May 15th! Here he is coming out of his jump house. He is getting so big! We celebrated "Doodlebop style". Scooter even got his very own big boy drum set (as he likes to call it). We play "band" every chance we get. Scooter tells us all the time "I gonna be a wok staw" (rock star) He cracks us up!

Scooter and Emma

2008-05-22T08:25:00.000-07:00

Scooter and Papaw
Scooter opening presents
Scooter aunt Holly and baby Margeaux
Mo-mo and cousin Julien

Sadie Ray

2008-05-22T08:20:00.000-07:00

Sadie and Po-po at Scooter's birthday party.
Sadie and Callie playing in the play room.

Sadie's results came back from the blood work at Dr. Puri's office. All results were completely normal. No genetic issues. She is now waving and saying "hi" and "bye" at appropriate times and also beginning to sign "more". We saw the opthomalogist and he said he is not at all concerned with Sadie's eyes because the exotropia is so slight that with all of the other neurological healing and recovery that she is experiencing, he said this should also fix itself. At this time he just wants to watch it and see her again in a few months. So no drops or patch! YEAH!
Sadie also saw her ENT to check on all her sinus/allergy issues and her x-ray showed extremely enlarged adenoids, so those are scheduled to come out July 8. Dr. Goldman (her ENT) also saw some fluid in Sadie's right ear and some signs of poor drainage in her left, so when she has her adenoids removed, she is also planning on flushing out her ears. No ear infection though, so that was good. Dr. Goldman said that fluid doesn't always mean infection, it just means her ears aren't draining properly, so we still may need the tubes. That's still in discussion.

The other encouraging news is Sadie starts speech 2X a week next week! YEAH! and more YEAHS!

Kim's girl weekend in Asheville

2008-05-22T08:16:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I went out of town to Asheville, NC with my friend Bridgette. She and I were invited to our friend Kim's girl weekend/bachelorette party. Here is the whole gang. Lindy made us fish tacos and shrimp with rice and beans. They were so good!
Me, Leanne, Bridgette, and Miss Kimberly "the Bride-To-Be"

We played some pretty crazy games! Thanks Leann for all of the fun. Too bad I didn't put all the pics here on the blog. Right girls? I will always forever remember "dress up night" for the rest of my life!

Kim, Bridgette, and Me..............a friendship for at least 13 years, and still going! Congratulations Kim! I am so happy for you girl, and I can't wait to see you in 5 more weeks!

OAKS 2008

2008-05-05T08:00:00.000-07:00

Oaks was a blast! Thank you Stephanie for making it a memorable one! Hope it was a good birthday for you too. The rain made it a shorter day than we had hoped, but all in all it was a great time. Pretty hats, losing bets, and a few drinks with some good company made it a day to remember.

Fun with cousins

2008-05-05T07:53:00.002-07:00

The kids had fun at Autumn's Birthday. So much fun playing outside with our cousins.

Our little artist

2008-04-30T08:34:00.000-07:00

Scooter has become quite the little artist here lately. He justs sits and colors all the time and we think he does a very good job staying in the lines. We are surprised at the fact that he can stay so involved in one coloring page without losing interest. His teachers at daycare say he is the best colorer in the class. We are so proud of him.This picture below he calls it his "Bus".
This picture he says is his "family", and he will point to each one and call them by name. He did a good job at getting us all in there, even included the grandparents.

New Sadie News

2008-04-28T19:56:00.000-07:00

Our girl is walking like a champ! We saw Dr. Puri today (it has been almost 4 months since our last visit) and his exact words were, "I am pleasantly surprised with her outcomes and all of the progress she is making." I was so happy to hear him say that and now I completely believe that only God knows our true diagnosis for the future. Thank you Lord! Sadie is almost 6 months seizure-free! Since our last visit with Puri we had discussed her lack of speech development and therefore had started the necessary paperwork for Sadie to be evaluated at the Weiskopf Center in Louisville. However, with Sadie's new health insurance we would have to pay 100% there, so we are now looking into going to the Riley Center in Indianapolis. Dr. Puri says the tests and evalutions at Riley would be the same as at the Weiskopf, we just have a longer drive now. So, we are still planning on having her evaluated sometime this summer to hopefully give us some insight to her lack of language development. On that same note, she is starting to make more sounds and even blend two to three sounds together, and just this past week she started saying " Bye-Bye" ( its usually not at appropriate times, but for her to put vowels and consonants together is a big step) As far as Sadie responding to sound, she responds to sound perfectly now, nothing like before. She is well aware of the noisy world around her and reacts to it like any other toddler. Her speech therapist is great and she is planning on having another opening in her schedule in June, so at that time Sadie is suppose to get an additional hour per week. Sadie has only been in the recovery/healing stage for about 6 months and has only been involved in therapy for 4 months, so we tend to rush things and expect too much too soon, the reason being because we have seen tremendous gains in all the other therapies with Sadie. She is even able to meet some goals for her age and with the other skills and goals she is only 3-5 months behind. Her therapists comment all the time at how stunned they are of Sadies achievements compared to the Sadie they first saw back in January. So overall everyone is so excited with Sadie and what she is doing. Dr. Puri reminded me that the one common characteristic with all of his patients who have experienced neurological trama, is a language development delay, so for now we are going to celebrate what Sadie is doing and continue to work on the language. He had mentioned an "auditory processing disorder" at our last visit, he didn't use those exact words this time, (only because I think Sadie has to be officially and thoroughly evaluated before she can be medically labeled that) but I do still think that that is what he is thinking. I asked him if he had any advice on how to help her language development. He said, "You are already doing it". He said that with Sadie in therapy and with all that we surround her with at home and at daycare, she is getting plenty of language learning exposure. So now we just wait. As far as her motor skills, she is outstanding! We are still working on a few things, but for the most part, she is taking on every new challenge. Her physical therapist told me last week, that she won't be with Sadie much longer (maybe another month or two) because she is meeting all of her goals at such a fast rate. She did however fit Sadie for her left leg brace a few weeks ago and so now she wears it during all of her waking hours. ( I know she's not wearing it here, this was after bath and right before bed) She is suppose to wear it due to her left side weakness and we can already see the improvement in her steps. She will only need to wear it for about 5-6 months. She is using her left hand more and more too, almost as equally as her right. I would estimate a 40 to 60 ratio compared to a 10 to 90 just 4 months ago. Her First Steps therapists are the ultimate "A Team" I owe them so much! Thank you to you too Danielle! Dr. Puri also said we can start weaning another medication. So by early June we will be down to only two meds a day. That is great news! Some other minor issues we discussed were Sadies allergies, which cause her to mouth breath a lot! So we may venture into a discussion about an adenoidectomy and a sleep study which we were planning on doing before but never did. Another issue was Sadie's left eye. Dr. Puri noticed a slight exotropia with it (lazy eye) so now we will be scheduling a visit with his referred opthomalogist. Dr. Puri says that this can be easily corrected. We also had some blood drawn today just to do a global check for genetic testing. This was something I had mentioned since it was mentioned to me in Cleveland several months ago, and Dr. Puri agreed. So since he couldn't find it in her chart (because he thought she had already had it done) he sent us to lab to have it drawn. We will have the results in 5 weeks. We both feel that there will be no negative results, however with a child who has experienced a seizure disorder this test is very common. Overall, the checkup was a very good one and as he expressed his happiness with Sadie he said, "See you in 4 months"

Those Crazy Kids!

2008-04-28T19:52:00.000-07:00

We got to spend some time with our most favorite neighbor girls this past weekend. Here they are with Mr. Scoot. and he was lovin life! (Sadie was napping)

My sweet babies.

2008-04-25T19:24:00.000-07:00

I love my sweet babies!

Krista's Big 30th!

2008-04-25T19:13:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was Krista's big 30th birthday celebration. There was lots of friends, and lots to eat/drink, and even lots to do. I participated in the "adult pinata", but only got pics of Tara taking her swings at it. I was told there was also a cake fight, but I think I left before that happened. I wanna know what happened to the Hula Hoop contest? I waited all night for that one, and it never happened while I was there. I really got a kick out of the card I got her, so I talked Krista into reinacting the pose from the cover. You'd had to have seen the card and the full photo to really appreciate it.

A very cold Thunder

2008-04-22T08:22:00.000-07:00

Our Thunder experience was a fun one, but the fireworks experience was a cold one. We spent the evening with our neighbors - The Clarkes and the Rainwaters. The time we spent out on the "hill" (this giant mound of dirt behind the Clarke's yard) watching the fireworks was almost unbearable. Scooter was ready to go back inside and play with the Clarke girls. Thanks guys for a memorable time!

Watch out Sadie, Scooter's gonna get you!

2008-04-10T11:56:00.001-07:00

The kids are growing up so fast, and it is so fun for Seth and I to watch them because they are both at the toddler stage (Scooter in the later stages and Sadie working through the middle) and we get such a kick out of watching them interact with each other. Their newest thing they do is wrestling. Scooter provoked of course. It starts out with Scooter heading straight for Sadie while she is busy playing. He grabs her and "tackles" her as you can see in the first picture. And Sadie just cackles. Her laugh is what makes it so funny, because she just cracks up the entire time. Then when Sadie stands back up, she knows to be on the defense because Scooter is after her again so she usually comes to me for safety as you can see in the second picture. Then in the third picture she's smiling because I've got her . Finally, protection from the tackler.

2008-04-10T11:53:00.001-07:00

A bunch of us went out last weekend for Bridgette's birthday. It was a good time with good food, good drinks, and good company. Hope it was a good one for ya Bridgette!

2008-03-26T07:20:00.001-07:00

Easter at home, and Easter at Mo-mo and Po-po's,

2008-03-26T07:17:00.001-07:00

2008-03-26T07:11:00.001-07:00

Easter at Papaw Dan's,

2008-03-26T07:06:00.001-07:00

and Easter at Great Grandma's house!

Coloring Eggs

2008-03-24T10:46:00.000-07:00

Coloring eggs with Daddy. Scooter says, "oh mom, taking pictures again?" He did like showing off his football egg and then adding the finishing touches to the rest.

2008-03-21T18:56:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures that a friend took when she had Sadie and Scooter at her house. I just remembered I had them and decided to add them to the blog. (thanks Elizabeth!)

2008-03-21T18:45:00.001-07:00

It was Good Friday and daycare was closed, so daddy left for work and we spent the afternoon enjoying the warm sunny day. Scooter played some ball, Sadie played with her activity table, and mommy tried to take some pictures.

2008-03-21T18:44:00.000-07:00

2008-03-21T18:39:00.001-07:00

We saw the Doodlebops on March 16. Scooter was "star struck", he didn't move his eyes away from the stage, and he barely said a word, except when the Doodlebops said "Make some noise!"

2008-03-21T18:34:00.001-07:00

Sadie zonked out half way through the show, but Scooter (although tired) was still amazed that he was actually there in the same room as the Doodlebops!

2008-03-11T08:42:00.000-07:00

Wow Daddy, we like the igloo. C'mon in Sadie.

2008-03-11T08:36:00.000-07:00

Playing in the snow with the Clarkes. Even Sadie went sledding, she loved as much as the rest of us.

2008-03-11T08:32:00.000-07:00

Too cold to go outside, so we'll just play and hang out inside. Sadie says "hi".

My Little Eater

2008-03-11T08:28:00.000-07:00

Sadie loves her icecream cones. She loves to "give momma bite" too. After the cone, she is looking for more to eat- she's our grow'in girl.

2008-03-02T19:58:00.000-08:00

We enjoyed the warm day and our neighborhood buddies joined us in the back yard.

2008-03-02T19:55:00.000-08:00

Saturday March 2 was The Ronald McDonald House Annual Benefit called "The McDazzle". I was in ahh at all of the generosity that took place that evening. There were silent and live auctions, raffles, and many, many monetary donations. Later, there was dinner and dancing, but my favorite part was when Seth was asked to get up and speak in front of about 300 people. He was given the opprotunity to share our story and the huge positive effect the RMcD House had on us. I was so proud of him, and so were many others.

2008-03-02T19:54:00.000-08:00

2008-03-02T19:38:00.000-08:00

Many of my friends and family met out for my 35th birthday. We had such a fun and memorable time! My favorite band "Razin Cain" was playing and they made the night so exciting!

2008-03-02T19:37:00.000-08:00

More birthday fun!