Our Little Spelling Bee

Rachel qualified for the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth grade Spelling Bee this year. The Spelling Bee was to be held on January 27, 2011. The same day Wade was having the surgery on his eye. I explained to her that I would not be able to go to the Spelling Bee because I would be at the hospital, but Memaw Linda would be there to root her on for us.

Well, the Saturday before Luke got really sick. We took him to the doctor on Monday. He had the flu!! The poor guy was sick for five days. He was still running a fever the night before the Spelling Bee. We all knew Luke would not be able to go to school the next day, which meant Rachel would have to do the Spelling Bee without us there to watch her.

She studied pretty hard the week before. I was worried she had not prepared enough though. I was so nervous and worried for her. The morning of the big day we were at the hospital and my neighbor was sending me text messages letting me know the progress of the Spelling Bee. It was just killing me that I was not there to watch her and take pictures. Rachel progressed right along through the rounds. My big fear was that she would be the first one out or get out in the first round. How silly of me to worry. There were 42 kids in the Spelling Bee. Rachel placed fifth!!! We are so proud of her!!!!

Teething

Update: Wade was working on four teeth. I found one today that I was not even looking at. Still waiting on two more to pop out. They are both so close.

Wade is working on cutting three teeth....at the same time. This is how he feels about teething....

He has been really fussy the past few days. One of the teeth came through this morning, so now we are just waiting on the other two. I feel so sorry for the little guy.

Belly Laughs

How about some belly laughs from Wade on this crazy Wednesday morning?

Basketball Saturdays

Our Saturdays for the next couple of months are all about basketball. Both Luke and Rachel are playing Upward Basketball this year. Luke has a game in the mornings, and Rachel plays at one o'clock in the afternoon. I was really dreading spending my Saturdays watching basketball, but I have actually had a lot of fun watching my kids play. They are both doing very well. They are being aggressive and scoring points!! There is a little sibling rivalry about who scores points and does the best. I think this is actually a good thing...it makes them play a little harder. Rachel is number 3, and Luke is number 4.

Rachel got this ball...

This ball went through the hoop!! Score two for Rachel!!!


Luke wanted a mohawk this morning. I think the hairdo helped his game. He was a wild man today!!!

Shopping WIth Kids

Through circumstances out of my control I had to do more of my Christmas shopping than I would have liked with all or some of my kids in tow. This is something I hope I can avoid in the future. Here is an example of what FUN it is to shop with small children. Picture us at Toys R Us on a Friday evening and the place was packed.

I tried to make the shopping an adventure by assigning the kids people to pick out gifts for, but they completely lost focus the minute we walked through the doors. Rachel was a big help, but Luke and Kate took turns giving me trouble.

I took this video with my phone to send to Chris. I was looking though the phone the other day and just laughed when I watched it again. A very good example of how things are much funnier later than they are at the time. On another note, she was put in the cart because she would not stay with us. She had her own agenda!

Surgery Scheduled

Baby Wade was born with a clogged tear duct. He eye has matted and teared really bad since he was about a week old. The doctor gave it four months to open up on its own before she sent us to the ophthalmologist. Well, four months has come and gone. He is scheduled for surgery on January 27th. Usually I would be fretting over the fact that my baby was going to have surgery, but I am worried most about the night before the surgery. He is not supposed to eat after midnight. He usually eats twice between midnight and six. It is going to be a long night with a very mad and hungry little boy!! I asked about postponing the surgery until he was sleeping a little better, but both the pediatrician and the eye doctor says it is better to do it now because the chances of a successful outcome without further surgeries are better sooner rather than later.

This is what his eye looks like in the morning.

This is what it looks like through the day. I am constantly wiping it. I have drops that are supposed to help the conjunctivitis, but they don't work so his eye stays infected.

Five Months

Well it just seems like the other day I was writing about Wade turning four months :0) Okay, maybe I got a little behind, but I am blaming Christmas. Our Wade is five months old!!! Already!?!? He is just the sweetest thing when he is not hungry! He likes to eat every two to three hours around the clock! That is what is making his cheeks so plump and adorably cute!!

Wade got an early Christmas present. He got a Johnny Jumper which he loves! And so do I! And so do the big kids! They love to swing and bounce him. It is fun for everybody!! (don't look at my laundry room)

He often bounces himself to sleep...I feel really bad when he does this, but I had to take a picture of it.

Wade celebrated his first Christmas. He is a master unwrapper....
He also stayed awake and welcomed in the New Year....what a party animal!
He likes to be on his belly more now, and just last Friday he started rolling from his belly to his back. Luke and I witnessed it. He rolled clear across Kate's bedroom! You could say he was on a roll!! Ha!
He is napping better for me now. We usually get two one hour naps a day and a thirty minute one in the evening. Aren't babies so precious when they are sleeping?
His favorite spot to take a nap is the couch...just like his Daddy!
Unfortunately, he requires less sleep at night than I do. He is still waking at least two times a night to eat, and since our trip out of town for Christmas our nights have been awful. He is fussy and wants to play at night. If I can ever get him back to some sort of sleep routine we will never go out of town again!