Lesson Learned: Sharing

Tonight we let the girls play with flashlights. With flashlights in hand and smiles on their faces, Gabi and Madi wandered off to find the darkest room to satisfy their craving for finger puppet shadows. They kept themselves entertained for about an hour with this, and didn't argue once. It was wonderful! As it got closer to bedtime, we told the girls that it was time to put the flashlights away. They weren't thrilled at the idea, so to avoid "a scene" I took them away when they weren't looking.
To preface what comes next, I first must say that there is a new kids show on PBS kids called Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood. Maybe the nostalgia from Mr. Rogers neighborhood is why I love this new show so much, since it's a spin-off of it, or maybe because it teaches really good things, but I let the girls watch it, and I watch it with them.

Anyway, back to tonight- when Madi noticed that her flashlight was gone she said, "Mama you share? You take a turn, and then I get it back?" The later part said in a cute little sing-song voice, as seen on Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood. I couldn't help but smile and tell her she could have it back, tomorrow. :) It's so fun to see children learn and grow, especially your own children. It's crazy too, to see my little 2yr old grasping the concept of sharing. Love it! Love being a mama to these three beautiful girls, I feel SO lucky!

Family Pictures, Part I

In July we had a Knight family reunion with extended family. It was tons of fun for the girls and I to meet family we hadn't met and get to know them, as well as for Isaac to see family he hadn't seen in a long time. We had some family pictures taken. If any of you know how Madi is with having her picture taken, you know that there are about 5min every day where taking pictures is a remote possibility, other than that, it's pure luck to get a good one. Needless to say, our pictures turned out quite hilarious. :)

Madi did not want to show her face!

Gabi didn't want to smile

Apparently neither did Brynlee :)

Isaac's parents, Ed and Taren

 

 This one's my favorite!

I think madi thought if she couldn't see the photographer,

maybe it would just stop :)

 

 Isaac's Grandparents, their sons, and spouses (there were

another 2 brothers not there)

 

 Grandma and Grandpa Knight

 

The whole gang. Can you see the tiny baby?

She was only a few days old, and they made the

trip from Colorado to come! Such a cutie!

 

It was a super fun family reunion, and so great to see everyone! More pictures to come on the fun things we did!

We had more family pictures done at our August family reunion, those were tons better. I will post those when we get them!

Childhood

You know those moments that you get as a mom, or as a parent, when you are lucky to get a small glimpse into your childs life, their hopes, their dreams, the things they love? I love those moments. Love them.

This morning I heard the girls waking up, so I headed over to their room to say good morning. As I got closer I heard them talking. The conversation went something like this,
Madi:Ahh...I want sticky butter. Gabi, you wake up?
Gabi: Mmmhmmm. Sticky butter? You like it?
Madi: Oh yeah! Gabi you have a snowman on your jammies! And I, (straining to see what's on her own jammies) I have a kitty, I found it all by myself.
Gabi: Yeah, I have a snowman, and you have a kitty. That's great! You hungry? You still want sticky butter?
Madi: Oh yeah!

It was so cute to see their interaction without knowing anyone else is around. Once they noticed I was there, Madi got a little shy. She's such a cutie! They were still excited about discovering what was on their jammies, and the sticky butter for on bread for breakfast. (Sticky Butter is what Madi lovingly refers to Melt Honey Butter as.)

Hope you all have a great day! Enjoy moments like those!

Seriously been way too long

I can hardly believe it's been almost a month since the last time I blogged, so sad. If that's any indication of how busy we've been, it's true, we've been super busy. So much has happened and been going on lately, I can barely keep track of what day it is! I have a ton of pics from this last month, as well as this summer that I really want to blog, but, as it stands, I still have a million things to do before I go to bed, and it's already 11pm. Sheesh!
I will give a quick update on everyone:
Isaac is doing tons better since his surgery, and he was super happy to hit his 6 week mark and have his weight restrictions lifted. He's super busy with work, his calling, and his house full of girls. He's an awesome husband, and an amazing father.
Me: Just celebrated my...28th birthday! Not quite as horrible as I thought it would be, and have finally come to terms with the fact that I'm in my "late 20's" :) I recently was introduced to essential oils, which have now become a part of our everyday life, and it's been awesome. (more on that later)
Gabi: is growing up WAY. TOO. FAST! She is conintually learning and growing. She has become increasingly good at linking concepts, we have to be careful about what we talk about when she's around because we're likely to hear it again.
Madi: is talking more and more and more everyday. She's still a little shy, but smiles a ton. I love that little blondie! She loves to sing everything she talks about, but gets shy when we notice. Today one of her songs was, "Gabi is a big girl! She wears big girl undies and goes pahhhhhhteeee!" In a cute little sing-song voice. So funny!
Brynlee- is growing up so quickly. She's a smart little girl and cannot wait until she can keep up with her sister's. She sits on her own (she's been doing that for the last two months, sorry!) still hates tummy time, smiles a ton, and has turned into a real mama's girl. She is loved anywhere she goes largely due to her contagioius smile, and big blue eyes.
We added an addition to our family, a little kitten that's barely 6 weeks old. Despite me swearing up and down over and over we would NEVER have a pet, I succummbed to peer pressure last sunday when we went to visit our friends, and I found one of their kittens. So cute! He is now a member of our family- for now, and is fondly reffered to as; kitty, her, him, and bubba.
We hope you are all doing well too!

Remembering

I wrote this a few months back, but didn't feel it appropriate to post it until now.

As I was posting about Madi's second birthday I couldn't help but think back to one year and ten months ago when this very same sweet little girl was life flighted to Boise in critical condition. They didn't even know if she would make the ride there. I was in the helicopter. I remember the fear that had a hold of me something fierce. I remember the cold, still, dark night as we flew over cities and the Pilot tried to make small talk to keep me from losing it. I remember how I could "hear" her crying even though it was impossible with the noise. I remember wishing that I could hold her close, or even hold her at all. Everything happened so quickly, yet not quick enough. I remember running along side her incubator as she was rushed into the hospital, talking to her and telling her everything was going to be all right, through my own uncertain tears. I remember listening to the doctor as he showed me the xrays telling me I had to make a choice and make a choice now and wishing with every fiber of my being that Isaac was there with me. I remember when they sedated her and how lifeless she looked lying on the crisp white sheets. I remember them putting a very large needle into her side to drain the fluid from her lungs, and the surprised look on the doctor's face upon discovering what she had. I remember looking out the window of the room and seeing my parents faces looking in as they waited patiently outside. I remember numbly agreeing to eat something for the first time in 12 hours, but refusing to sleep. I remember the next two weeks sleeping in the same room as my sweet daughter, hoping and praying and praying and praying that she would make it through this. I remember the battery of blood draws, feeding tubes, xrays, ultrasounds, sedatives...that she endured. I remember her crying and wishing I could hold her, but being unable to. I remember Gabi coming to visit and running down the hall into my arms and hugging me. I remember Gabi kissing Madi saying, "It's okay Madi, it's okay." I remember the devastation when her chest tube was accidentally pulled out, and the relief following because it had been plugged. I remember how Madi looked at me, smiling, telling me with her sweet expression that it would all be okay. I remember not allowing anyone to take pictures of her with all of her tubes and lines running off of her because I didn't want to remember any of that. I remember Isaac telling me that we needed to have faith. I remember Isaac there every step of the way.
Last summer as we were driving to Utah for a family reunion and we heard a helicopter overhead. We realized it was a life-flight helicopter headed towards primary children's and also realized it was exactly one year from the day Madi had been life flighted. We had an unplanned moment of silence as we both reflected on past events and how far we had all come in the last year. Whenever we hear a helicopter we say a silent prayer for those who may be experiencing a traumatic or life threatening experience like we once did.
Feeling especially grateful that Madi is still with us. We couldn't imagine life without any of our girls.

 



 Madi 1 1/2 weeks after coming home from the hospital (almost 3mo.)

 

For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, this is the story.

School

In our town this past summer they have been busy building a new elementary school. They are almost done, even though school started today, enough of it is done that they are able to hold classes. I have been telling Gabi every time that we drive by, pointing to the school, that it is going to be her school. She has been super excited about it.
We decided not to have Gabi start preschool this year. It's very different here than where I grew up. Preschool costs $, as in a tuition, unless your child qualifies for help (they deem them behind). We didn't even get her screened because we knew we weren't going to do the preschool thing. Well, that is, until Gabi started to stutter. It has been a fairly recent thing, in the last month, but it hasn't gotten any better. She is very aware that she stutters, and often gets very frustrated.
I spoke with a friend of mine from church, who also happens to be a teacher, and she recommended that I bring her in to see the speech therapist to determine what we should do. Yesterday was the pre-screening for the elementary, so I brought her in then. Unfortunately we had just missed the speech therapist, but the girls had a blast exploring the new school. The school is very nice inside and out, and I think we all got a little bit more excited about the prospect of school for our oldest child.
We went again today, and we were able to not only meet the speech therapist, but she took some time to observe Gabi. She recognized that she does stutter, but did say that it wasn't in excess. She stutters at the beginning of sentences, but is able to get out the rest of what she is trying to say stutter-free. Her main concern was that she would get so frustrated with herself and sometimes just stop talking rather than stutter.
Since developmentally Gabi is actually doing really well, she didn't recommend her doing preschool this year. We do need to watch her stuttering, although the she was pretty confident that she would grow out of it.
*Proud mom moment* I have never really put much thought into where Gabi was developmentally, just feeling pretty confident she was keeping up with kids her age, until today. Not only does she know all of her letters and sounds, she is starting to sound out words and is able to identify sounds in words. She know her colors, shapes, and her princesses- along with many other things (her latest facts she loves to share involve dinosaurs- thank you Dinosaur Train!) :) The speech therapist said that most of the kids who are in preschool don't even know their letters or sounds, she would probably be pretty bored. It was nice to hear that, because we really wrestled with the decision of what to do about preschool, not wanting her to get left behind.
So, overall, we are glad that Gabi's speech impediment is not as bad as we originally thought, and we are super glad that we didn't send her to preschool. (Not that it isn't a good program, but she just doesn't need it, and I think I would miss her too much :) )
PS In case you didn't know, the most debilitating thing you can do when a person, especially a child, has a speech impediment is to laugh at them. It's not funny to them, it's frustrating. Please don't laugh. Thanks! :)

Crush

Today, as I was walking Gabi into primary a cute little boy in her Sunbeam class came running up to her saying, "Gabi! Gabi! Gabi!" When he got closer to her he asked, "Can I have a hug?!" Her face was priceless- slightly bewildered, mildly amused, and mostly just curious. So the little kiddo gave her a big 'ol hug, and a huge smooch on her cheek! I had to laugh out loud, I don't know who was more surprised, me or Gabi! He then proceeded to beg her to sit by him. There wasn't a seat next to him available, so she sat by one of her other friends, a sweet little girl. While they were on their way to class I came by to take Gabi to the bathroom, when I took her back to class that same cute little boy was begging her to sit by him exclaiming, "Gabi Gabi Gabi!!!! Come sit by meeeeee!"

So cute! A little boy has a crush on Gabi. Gabi is such a sweet little girl, very accepting and kind to everyone. It was kind of funny to see this little boy so excited to see her. Should I be worried about this? She's only three!