WHERE DO WE START.....

I don't even know where to start. If only a video camera could follow us around all day would you truly see the craziness I encounter every day. The past weekend was pretty fun. Saturday Raelynn had tumbling class for the first time. Of course she loved it and now thinks she must get a leotard by next Saturday. I am pretty sure her T-shirt and shorts will be just fine but she was eager to point out that I always say, "We must wear what is appropriate for the occasion." Sometimes I really wish she wouldn't listen to me. Tumbling was great though. In her words, she got to jump on a really long trampoline, play on monkey bars and swing on this ring things. We are not allowed to go into the gymnastics room but can see them from a window in the waiting room. When the kids walked on the high beam, the instructor held each of their hands.....then it was Raelynn's turn. You could see her talking to the instructing, reasoning with her it appeared. Then you see the instructor give in and allow Raelynn to walk by herself. You could see the terror in the instructors eyes each time she wobbled and when she dismounted at the end, one instructor looked at the other with a smile on her face just shaking her head. Yep that is my independent daughter! After tumbling we rushed home to change and eat and then off to Playhouse Disney Live.

We went some friends and Raelynn was so excited. The kids had a great time.



I am hoping this will satisfy Raelynn for awhile because she is animate that we are taking her to Dora Live in Chicago. I did explain that Chicago was very far away but she continues to explain that it is Dora after all.

Steph was nice enough to come down for the weekend so she could watch Coop while we went to Playhouse Disney. She stayed with us until Monday. Sunday afternoon I had to go shopping for a few things. While we were out we looked for a shirt to go with a pair of pants Raelynn had gotten for Christmas. While we are shopping it comes to me that my daughter is no longer a size 4T but rather a 4X which is in the big girl sizes. I thought I was going to cry. I know this sounds crazy because she is still small but really she is growing up so fast. Sunday night when I put her to bed I was telling her how she is growing up so fast and that soon she would not need me for anything. She so sweetly says to me, "Mommy I am only 3, I still need you but when I turn 4.....well you still have Cooper and he needs you!" I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She is just at such a great age and she is just like a little grown up. I really do often wonder what I would ever do without her.

The kids are both still taking swimming lessons. Cooper is still not a big fan but Raelynn is taking off like crazy. She is swimming freestyle now and they are teaching her the butterfly as well. She loves it. We had to order Cooper a suit that would keep him warmer and Raelynn's suit was getting pretty small so we let her pick out one too. They both love their new suits and hopefully Cooper will start loving lessons soon.



Last night Kaden got to come over and play for awhile during the game. He is sooooo cute and sooooo good. He, Raelynn and Cooper all played the night away and cheered on the Hawks. It was a lot of fun. We put Kaden down to sleep on the floor next to Raelynn's bed. We put them down at the same time and amazingly enough they went right to sleep after story time. It actually made my job very easy as they all entertained each other quite well :)

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So this week has been a very educational one for Raelynn. Yesterday we learned about MLK. She didn't have school and wanted to know why so I told her all about it. She seemed very interested. Then this morning I walk out to the living room and there she is watching the news. I ask her if she wants her cartoons on and she says no. Of course all the talk was about the inauguration so I explain to her exactly what is going on and who President Obama is etc. I guess this afternoon she made Lisa watch it all afternoon. Tonight while she was eating a snack Katie Couric was doing her interview of the President and his family. Raelynn informs me that today was important because it was history. She no more had said it then she looked at me and said, "what is history?". We talked about history and why President Obama was making history and then she informs me that the Presidents wife wore a beautiful designer gown. Really.....did she really say "designer gown"! The whole night was hysterical and also very exciting. I don't care who you are or what you think of our new President, I can't help but think this is a very exciting time or maybe it is just because I am experiencing it with my 3 year old daughter.

So in a nut shell that is a recap of our past week. Now for an update on how Coop is doing. I don't know. He is purple a lot. His lips go back and forth from pink to a deep purple all day long. His hands are dark purple or gray most of the time. I can't shake the feeling that things aren't just right. He is getting another pretty bad cold and is coughing with a runny nose. Lisa's friend, who is a nurse, was nice enough to stop by today to just make sure the cold wasn't settling in his chest and so far so good. I don't know if I am starting to drive myself crazy or not but tonight his abdomen looked a little swollen. Terry was at a meeting and it took everything I had not to call him home to look and see what he thought but I didn't. When he got home and I told him, he said he thought he looked a little swollen this morning too. The significance to this is that a sign of congestive heart failure is swelling in the spleen which is located in the abdomen. It is very easy for me to question myself. Something tells me deep down that everything is not ok but at the same time I don't want to be the crazy mom who always thinks something is wrong with their kid. I am literally driving myself nuts. Terry thinks it is time to call Dr. Kelley again and just revisit our concerns. He says it is better to be safe than sorry. I did take his SAT level tonight and it was at 83 which is completely acceptable. I just wish I had an answer to his color issues. Just when I am completely convinced that I need to take him to the doctor I watch him playing and laughing and cannot imagine how he could be so happy and ornery if his heart was not stable. I fear that this is how it is going to be until his next surgery. I worry that I read too much into things but then when Terry is seeing the same things I am then it just reinforces my fears. Anyway, so I have no idea how Cooper is doing and can almost guarantee we will visit the doctor before the end of the week. We will just take it day by day!