Conversations with Collins

• I took Collins to the doctor one morning and he wanted to take turns pretending to be the doctor while we waited. When it was my turn I had to sit on the rolling stool and look in his throat. He had gum in his mouth so I said, "You need to spit out that gum before the doctor really gets in here." He asked why, I explained myself, then he spit it out in the trash can. When he got back in his chair he looked at me and said, "Who's Dr. Really?"
• Refers to his classroom as the "Lellow Room." 
• Pretends to be a superhero a lot. His favorites: Cap'n Merica, Credible Hulk, and Spiderman. 
• "That'll make you sick as a door nail."
• Trying to convince him to take medicine one night, Jake told Collins he needed it to help keep his fever down. Collins said, "My fever is down, Daddy; it's in my leg."
• "I think I'm a little mad about that."
• Has started praying jibberish. I wouldn't exactly call it tongues even. I have to remind him to talk to God and not try to say words fast. Usually, the words he gets hung up on are: "God, help you for this day...and I don't care...and God is good and the Devil is bad...and I don't like you...and we're not complaining." He also sometimes says a "baseball prayer" or a "football prayer."
• One night I had bathed Hadley and him together, got her out and dressed and put her in his room to play while I got him out. He suddenly noticed she was out of the tub and said, "Where is it?" I said, "It? You mean Hadley?!"
• Gets "drown" and "drain" confused. He asked me once about Hadley, "How can she drain?"
• I read in an Easter book that the Pharoh was standing firm on his answer. I quizzed Collins, "What was the Pharoh standing firm on?" Collins said, "His feet." Well...yeah...
• We were listening to one of his Bible songs CDs one morning and one particular song was about to drive me crazy. I changed it and said, "That song makes me nuts." He said, "Me too. It makes my head shake."
• I was talking to him one morning about his tonsil surgery and told him, "We have to remember to tell Ms. Megan and Ms. Jordan that you're going to have your tonsils out this Friday. They're gonna want to pray for you! I bet your friends will pray for you, too!" I was thinking more of a group prayer. But once we got there, Collins went up to each friend individually and granted permission to pray for him. "Drew, you can pray for me! Lucy, are you gonna pray for me? You can! Hey, Mack, you can pray for me...I'm gonna have surgery...I'm gonna have my tonsils out. You can pray." Bless it :)
• Still obsessed with spooky stories, Collins has identified a couple of abandoned houses along the road that are obviously witch houses. We discuss what may be going on in there, such as the cooking of Hansel and Gretel. One morning we found a 'new' abandoned house that had a pump house (or something) out in front of it. He was talking about it and I asked him who lived in there. He said, "Probbly a tiny...tiny...tiny...tiny...tiny...elephant." 
• During that same conversation, we also discussed finding a treasure. I said we needed to get a treasure map and asked him how and where we were going to find one. He said, "From the treasure map store!" Oh, yeah!
• He told me one day we could eat puppy chow if we cook it. In case you were wondering, to cook puppy chow you simply put it in the oven after you stir it.
• I asked him once what Poco's dad's name is. "John Smith." Makes sense...I assumed from there that Poco's mom is "Poco-hontas."
• He asked for a glass of milk one night, took a sip, and said, "Mmm...good stuff."
• Okay, I'm going to admit my mom fail of the month. One afternoon I decided to pick up the kids a little early and take them to my office since my friends there hadn't seen them in a while. I guess I got too excited/in a hurry and I forgot to go back around to Collins' side and buckle him. He was sitting in his seat, door closed, and I just plain forgot I hadn't done it. Fortunately, my office is not far at all from preschool. Half way there, Collins said, "Mommy...you forgot to buckle me." I about had a heart attack and pulled over right then. He pointed out that there were two policemen nearby. Then he told me they were going to get me. Then he told everyone at my office that his mommy forgot to buckle him. And he still reminds me frequently, but tells me it's okay. Gracious. 
• Collins weighs 38 lbs and is pretty much done with 3T clothing. Some 4T pants are a little long, but mostly they fit. He loves and protects his baby sister and is still doing great most days being dropped off at school. His appetite is awesome and he'll try just about anything once. He is scared of the dark, but only when the power goes out. He is a hard worker and loves to help his daddy do pretty much anything, especially things outside. His new haircut makes him look so much older, and I can't believe how much he's grown in the last year! He is a sweet, funny, smart, handsome little boy and I love him whole much!

8 Months

While Collins was having tonsil surgery, Hadley was busy turning 8 months old! It pains me to even type that. I could swear Collins was a baby longer than Hadley has been!

Sweet Girl has done lots of new things in the last month! The day after she turned 8 months she pulled up to standing all by herself! She just recently learned to turn over on 4/8 and crawled for the first time (that I've seen) on 4/15.

Hadley is wearing a size 4 diapers and mostly 12 month clothing. She is still doing that gruff noise when she talks or laughs sometimes, so we call her the Exorsister!

She is so, so sweet. Today she wouldn't nap well in her crib, so I took her to bed with me and let her sleep on my chest. Neither of us rested very well, but I still soaked in that sweetness!

Her hair is growing fast! It's finally laying down some without having to wet it first. Sometimes she looked like a horned owl the way her hair stuck out on the sides!

She loves to throw her legs up while she crawls!

Sweetest little head of hair!

Standing up! Soon after we lowered her crib!

This is the horned owl look ;)

Tonsillectomy

Collins had his tonsils taken out last Friday, 4/25/14. I am glad to be on the blogging end of this ordeal! He did great. Dr. Loftin said they were large and that they needed to come out. He also trimmed his uvula because it was "long and floppy," and said if it wasn't causing him to snore now it would eventually. Dr. Loftin also replaced the tube in his left ear.

We had to be at the Surgical Center at 6:45am. Collins was very brave. And was prepared for an unexpected game of baseball, just in case :)

Poppa and Grammy stayed with us over the weekend. Poppa came with us and Grammy kept Hadley. The nurse in the background of the picture below is Mrs. Kristie. She is Mrs. Cally's (from church) niece! She was so sweet.

Collins loved the warm blankets they had for him before surgery. This is him asking for the third one: 

The picture below is right after surgery/recovery. When he got tubes the first time this was the same room we were in, and this was the worst part. This time was much better! He looked at Jake, then went right to sleep. When he woke up a nurse offered him an apple juice slushy. That didn't go over so well. We tried room temperature apple juice and he drank a whole cup of it!

Once we got home the biggest challenge...by far...has been getting him to drink his medicine. We gave it every three hours the first two days, even waking him during the night to take it. It tastes awful. And hurts to swallow. Have you ever tried to convince a three year old to wake up during the night (three times) to drink a nasty, painful dose of medicine? I wouldn't recommend it. We tried flavoring it. Sweet tea and sugar worked for a while. Then cutting the straw helped a lot. There were some necessary threats made (none carried out, of course) and he was given a quarter several times for drinking his medicine. Whew. Stressful!

According to the doctor, today should have been the hardest day. It was actually the best so far! I'm hoping we're on the downhill side of this. We're planning to let him sleep through the night tonight instead of waking him to take medicine or drink. I hope that is a good plan and it doesn't make his throat too dried out/sore.

We prepared for this surgery by stocking up on the following foods: chocolate pudding, vanilla pudding, mac n' cheese, shells n' cheese, oatmeal, eggs, jello, sherbet, ice cream, applesauce, Gatorade, etc. Know what he's wanted most? Doughnuts. He requested Krispy Kreme because he saw some at the Surgical Center. I thought it might hurt him, but he ate at least a half dozen the same day as his surgery. We have gone back for another dozen. I'm thinking Krispy Kreme could use this in some marketing efforts. Well, if only Krispy Kreme needed marketing.

Jake, MawMaw and I are going to take turns keeping Collins at home this upcoming week. Hadley will go to preschool so he can have our one-on-one attention. We'll probably keep him home the next week too since he will still need to take it pretty easy, and can't do so at preschool if the weather is pretty. We don't have a plan for that week just yet, but something will work out. I'm sure he will be so ready to go back to school and play!

We are very grateful for all our friends and family who have prayed for and checked on our baby boy!!

Easter

Sweet little leg rolls!

This is what Collins looks like when he's mad.

Hadley wore my first Easter dress! In case you were thinking it looked a little vintage...it is!

My sweet boy.

 

 

 

MawMaw brought edible grass!

 

Yes, hunting eggs is THAT serious.

Dusting the dirt off her hands ;)

Mark 16:6 But he said to them, "Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him..."