Specialist Update

We had a wonderful introduction to a pediatric GI specialist.  She was very nice and I felt listened to our situation.  She did an exam and that was good.  Very healthy.  She issued an abdominal xray.  She was shocked when she saw it.  Lauren was suffering from Paul-itis (she was full of poo!).  We were given the task of administering 2 tbsp. of Miralax with each drink for three days.  We are finishing day 2 today.  She's had quite a few BMs so far, but I don't think enough that she's cleaned out.  We go back to Winston on February 8th to see how Lauren's progressing and to come up with additional plans.  Thank you for your prayers!

January 2010

I'm sure you can tell that blogging has taken a back seat for me lately.  My resolutions are to walk and exercise at least 3 times a week.  I've been faithful with these tasks, but other things have fallen aside.  So, what I can promise is to blog at least once a month.  I give you January!

Please say prayers for Lauren.  We will be heading to Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem on Monday for Lauren to see a pediatric GI specialist.  We're hoping for some good news or a treatment plan that is more healthy for Lauren.  I'll post when we return letting you know how the visit went.

And I give you...

New Year's Eve with the Cadwallader family!

It would have been much faster to post a link here to Suzy's blog since I took the photos from her page, but it wouldn't have been a comprehensive book for Lauren!

Lauren playing Mario Kart with the kids.  She loves to drive!

"My Harris" in Lauren's tent and tunnel.  If you ask Harris, "Whose boy are you?" he answers, "See-sa's boy!"  He loves his Aunt Lisa!

Little Miss Cara doesn't miss a beat!  She keeps up with these big kids really well for 11 months old!

"The Twins" as Suzy and I call them.

We worry that this may become a trend...

Nick has this thing with showing his thumb's up.  I knew that Harris had gotten hold of it, but I didn't know that Lauren could copy this, too!  Notice the popcorn all over the floor.  This was about 10 PM.  The kids went down shortly after this.  They picked up the popcorn from the floor...and ate it!  Forget vacuum cleaners or the dogs!  We have KIDS to eat the floor.

We adults made it until about 1:30 am.  We toasted the New Year with Bartles and James Strawberry Daquiri wine coolers--NASTY!!--as our disgusting wine of the year as the ball dropped, then continued our Mario Kart marathon.

We stayed over at Suzy's and Chris's house, had breakfast the next morning, and headed home.  We adults were able to enjoy ourselves a bit more thoroughly than in years past.  The kids are more able to play together so we can play, too. 

January 8--Paul bought a Wii Fit system in November.  Since my resolution to work out more, I've been using it more often.  Paul hops on once in a while.  However, Lauren is a trip!  She has to have a book to stand on and a remote to play Wii, too.  If Lauren and I are playing, she has to stand on a Kitchen Aid mixer cookbook I got Paul for Christmas--and it has to be the red on or all h--- will break loose!  Lauren's favorite task is to "hule-oop" (hula hoop).

January 15--Suzy and I took some girl time after school to shop at Gymboree and get a pretzel before getting the kids.  We ended up with an impromptu play and dinner session at Suzy's house.  Harris had a blast feeding Lauren his macaroni and cheese when she finished hers.  Chris stated, "It's Lady and the Tramp!"  We're wondering if we have trouble on our hands!

January 16--Lauren, Logan, and I went to Chuck E. Cheese's to have a playdate with my principal, Kim, and her two boys, Nicholas and Nate, who happen to be the same ages of Logan and Lauren.  I had to doll Lauren up in her Kissing Kitties clothes!  I can't believe how grown-up she looks!  Where is my baby?!

(Her face is shiny because I had to put Aquaphor on it because the winter weather dries her out badly.)

January 17--My dad had a tear in his eye when he saw this next picture!  When I was little, Dad and I would reload bullets together.  Paul has suddenly taken an interest in reloading...and what Paul does, Lauren wants to do, too!

Speaking of where is my baby, look how grown up she has become!  Picture on the left: Hanging out and having fun on January 18.  (Funnily enough, she has strep.  Harris had it the Thursday before.  I guess the macaroni and cheese sharing may have been the culprit.)  The picture on the right is Lauren before church, wearing an outfit Grandma Wade got her for Christmas.

January 23--I call this photo, "I do it, Mommy!"  Lauren dragged the kitchen chair into the bathroom so that she could brush her teeth by herself when I was in my room getting dressed.  Caught you!!  Lauren currently has Thomas toothpaste and she loves any excuse to brush her teeth in order to use the toothpaste!  I caught Lauren in the bathroom this afternoon, having a conversation with the Thomas toothpaste and the snowman soap dispenser!  It was too funny!

Some things Lauren does that crack us up:

• ADORES the Taylor Swift song, "You Belong With Me".  It's track 12 on her Fearless CD in case you wanted to know.  We can listen to it 1 1/2 times between home and daycare...when it ends, I usually hear, "Again?"  Lauren is also SINGING this song!  It cracks me up!  Now I understand when I would sing in the back seat why my dad would watch me in the rearview mirror!
• Can sing some nursery rhymes just about in their entirety (Itsy-Bitsy Spider; Rain, Rain, Go Away; Pat-a-Cake; Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star)
• Loves having the cats put their tails in her face
• Wants to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse about as often as Elmo and Sesame Street
• Plays with her baby dolls (Cara, Cake, and Baby), often putting them to bed, changing their diapers, or putting them in time-out.
• Reads, reads, reads, and reads!  She's gotten to the point with some of her favorite books that she knows them from memory and will help me read, filling in the words I leave out.  She's beginning to pay attention to words in books and questions letters and words.  She'll be reading before she heads to kindergarten.
• Counts like this: "1-2-3-5-6-7-8-9-11! Yea!"  11 sounds like Lauren sometimes.  She's even saying, "--teen, --teen" like she's counting past 12.  She sometimes remembers 4 and 10 and will count the 13 stairs from the basement up to the house with me each afternoon.
• Sings the ABC song pretty accurately.  She loves her fridge phonics, Chicka-Chick ABC, and a really cool Leap Frog toy Uncle Justin, Aunt Kim, and Jacob got her for Christmas.  She's interested in letters and numbers.
• Yells at the cats when she sees them on the table.
• Questions where we are going if we don't go directly home after school or church
• Has a good, healthy rivalry with Harris and her friends about me (she doesn't like to share)
• Is Paul's little shadow, especially when he's been at school during the week.  She's all over him like nobody's business!
• Identifies some colors pretty consistently: pink, red, brown, green.
• Sends text messages randomly.  If you get a message or a phone call from either Paul or me and we didn't do it, please know Lauren wanted to say hello!  She sent Aunt Pi a picture of her on my phone one day.  I had to go back through my messages to see why Pi texted me!

I could keep bragging about my little one, but I'm stuck right now!  She does so many smart and funny things...but she pitches a fit becoming of a 2 year old.

More Christmas...Last of 2009!

As I was cleaning off camera cards for the new year, I found "missing" Wade Christmas pictures!  Here are Lauren and Grandma, watching me pass out presents.

Uncle Luke and Aunt Sherry watching Lauren open or pass out gifts.

"I help, Mommy!"

"I'm spoiled rotten, Mommy." No, Lauren didn't say this, but if she knew how, she would!

"New coat! I zip it!" Aunt Sherry found this coat at Gymboree for Lauren!  It's SO soft inside!

SUZY--SKIP THIS PICTURE!

In October, Charlie, Luke, and Paul went on an excursion to Taylorsville, NC, right up the road from us, to "visit" the wild boars. (I have to edit for Suzy, in case she didn't listen!)  The "excursion" was successful. Paul and Luke got Charlie a frame documenting the event and included a wonderful picture of the three of them.  Charlie, needless to say, was pleased.  Paul has nothing but fond memories and happiness that he and his brother got to do something with their dad of this nature.  Paul's hoping they can go west to see prairie dogs within the next few years.

After we opened presents, we corralled the paper into this tote.  Lauren took it upon herself to make sure presents weren't hiding in the paper.  Plus, she enjoys climbing in and out of boxes and baskets.

December 26--Paul made this adorable snowman cake for our McCaslin family Christmas party.  I think it's one of the most adorable!  Lauren liked it.  It's actually why I think her doll Cake got named Cake--Daddy made a cake and she associated the two together.

December 27--Kay had these cowboy boots in the back room.  Lauren discovered them and Charlie helped Lauren put them on.  She thought she was hot stuff!

I think that this may be all of the pictures...can't be sure.  I need to go onto Suzy's blog and pull off pictures of New Year's Eve!

Christmas Traveling

Since my hiatis on December 21, I have been snapping pictures.  I had dial-up connection in PA, so I refused to update the blog.  We arrived back from PA on December 30th, spent the night with Suzy, Chris, and the kids as part of our annual New Year's Eve tradition (with bad wine).  January 1 and 2 saw me cleaning, rearranging, and fussing over the mess our travels caused.  However, here are some ADORABLE pictures of our trip!

We started out December 22 traveling to Ohio to visit with Paul's cousin, Jon, his wife, Jess, and their daughter, Evelyn (Evie).  Lauren and Evie are exactly 4 months apart and are both named after the grandparents Wade (Evelyn and Laurence).  So, from that alone, they have some uniqueness to their relationship.  I was concerned how Lauren would react to another little girl in close quarters...and she LOVED her cousin Evie!  Yea! 

As part of our "thing", we checked out some model homes near Jon and Jess.  The girls had a blast checking out new things in the houses, like the apples.

After lunch, we headed to Gander Mountain (a hunting store).  The girls had all they could handle and climbed under clothes racks.  Look at those precious faces!  It's funny how many comments I get that Lauren is a mini-Lisa, but when you put her next to her Wade cousins, Evie, Kasey, and Kyler, you can see such strong family resemblances!

Missy lives about 30 minutes away from Jon and Jess, so later that night, we went to see Missy and to check out her first house!  Lauren thought it was alright because Missy has 2 cats!!

Missy enjoyed having the girls around to play!  Lauren usually loves to be tossed around, but she was a little whiny this night...

...until the girls said, "Hey!  Let's torture the cats!  What great fun!"  And those poor cats are probably still hiding somewhere!

Then they got the great idea to "hide" under a blanket!  That kept them occupied until it was just time to go.

"Where are you?  Evie?  THERE you are!!"

Christmas Eve:  The next morning while Jess made breakfast, the girls cornered Jon in a chair and made him read several different books.

Evie constantly smiles!  Too adorable!!

Then Lauren made Paul flip her.  After reading, the flipping became the fun activity!  Lauren enjoyed flashing her goodies while Evie was flipped.  I have NO idea why, but Lauren got a little sassy while up North!

Evie has a super-cool doll house that the kids climbed up, in, and around.  You can see both girls through the window!

Then it was time to play with dolls.  Lauren LOVES her dolls!  She likes to wrap them in blankets to go to sleep.

We got into the car to go to PA.  As soon as we got going, Lauren fell asleep.  She only had about an hour's nap and woke up as we pulled in to Grandpa and Grandma Wade's.  Grandma insisted on taking Lauren out in the snow.  Lauren protested but got into the swing of things.

Grandma introduced Lauren to snow balls...

Lauren seemed to know what to do next!!

We went into town to see my parents.  Dad wasn't excited to see me at ALL! 

Lauren wanted Grandpa Wade to read "baby Jesus" to her, so he did a few times.

Grandma Wade read The Night Before Christmas.

Christmas Day: Lauren took her Daddy a cup of hot chocolate and her stocking to open, continuing a tradition Paul and his brother, Luke, started when they were younger.

Afterward, it was time to climb all over Grandma Wade!  We have no idea what got into Lauren!

We were ready to go to town to see Papa and Grandma Bernosky.  Smile!!

Lauren got a new baby doll (#1).  "It pooped, Mommy," Lauren explained as she got wipes and a diaper out.  Yes, she pulled down the doll's bottoms to clean her up.

And here is Lauren putting on the new diaper!

Another Christmas tradition is to go to Aunt Ivy and Uncle David's for Wade Christmas Christmas night.  Aunt Ivy hatched some chicks.  The kids LOVED the baby chicks!  Lauren didn't want to hold one, but she was okay petting one.

Checking out the habitat.

All of the kids lined up on the stairs to have their picture taken with a chick.  Notice Lauren petting the chick I held.  She eventually held one for about 2 seconds.  She didn't like how they moved in her hand.  At random times, Lauren puts her hands together and says, "Baby chicks, Mommy."

Evie wasn't shy!

Lauren enjoyed the Oliver tractor at Aunt Ivy's house.  Notice she's with her doll (#2).

December 26--The entire Wade clan went to Splash Lagoon, an indoor water park in Erie, to play.  Parties of 15 or more got in earlier.  We have our own totem!

View from the top.  It was comfortable.

Grandpa Wade took our picture in the hot tub.

Lauren didn't like the kiddie pool much.  The slides terrified her for quite a while, even when I went down them with her (and went under water because my feet slipped out!).  However, Paul coaxed Lauren down the slides.  She was hesitant for a bit, but soon was saying, "I slide, Daddy.  Go, go!" and running up the stairs on her own!  Paul would go first then catch Lauren.

Then Lauren wanted to catch Paul!

We had to dry off our bodies and hair because we had to go to the McCaslin family Christmas (Paul's mom's side of the family).

A super special Christmas surprise: Uncle Scott and Garrett got Grandpa McCaslin to join us!  We were so shocked and excited to have Grandpa share in the festivities.  He participated with us all and stayed awake the entire time.We were blessed he was able to spend time with us.

Aunt Marsha braved the snow like we did from SC and made it to Christmas.  She and Lauren have a bond, can't you tell??

Grandma William's had gotten Lauren a musical caterpillar to play.  Lauren loves it!

I have no idea what Lauren and Aunt Marsha were doing on the floor, but they were both occupied!

Lauren received the honor of playing Santa.  The first gift went to Grandma Williams.  We had to coach Lauren a few times not to THROW gifts at people but HAND them gently.

Aunt Marsha had Lauren's name.  She got Lauren a doll (#3) and a My Little Pony talking pony.  This is the only doll, other than Cara, that Lauren named.  This doll's name: Cake.  (We have no idea why.  We asked if it was Kate from her class, and Lauren said, "No, Mommy, Cake!"  She realized the difference.  Paul had baked a snowman cake to take to McCaslin Christmas, so I wonder if she generalized the event with the cake.  Who knows?

Uncle Scott, Aunt Brenda, Garrett, and Kyle also got Lauren some cute things.  She received a bracelette that Aunt Maureen made and some Elmo slippers!  Everyone knows how much Lauren  loves Elmo, but she screamed when we put the slippers on her feet.  We think it's a sensory thing.

She really loves Cake!

A Wade family picture: Sherry, Lauren, Luke, Lisa, Paul, Kay, and Charlie

Paul, Lauren, Grandpa McCaslin, and me

Grandma Williams, Paul, Lauren, (Cake), and me

My favorite Uncle Cy (mom's brother) wanted to visit, so we were able to meet up for an hour before nap time.  Here I am with Lauren, Uncle Cy, and Aunt Paula.

Kay collects bears with the year on them each Christmas.  Luke has traditionally gotten them for her.  Lauren thought they were pretty cool...to pile her in...then knock off!  (She really does have a violent side!)

Lauren helped Grandpa make breakfast.

We had a pretty intense storm, so Grandpa Wade and Lauren had to get out the big Oliver to plow the driveway!  Lauren had fun for about 10 minutes and was done and over with the snow and cold.  (Just like her Mama!)

Still more snow, so when Paul got home, he plowed the driveway, too.  He just wanted to be a big redneck on the tractor!

December 29--I dressed Lauren up in her cat outfit from Gymboree!  She loved it!

Later that night, we went to see Justin, Kim, and Jacob.  Lauren and Jacob loved playing together!  The kitchen was great fun!

So was this spinning, ball thing-y toy.

We left December 30 in, can you believe it, SNOW!!!  For my Southern friends, here is a picture of the Amish in our community!  They don't like to have their pictures taken because it captures their souls, so PLEASE don't let them know I took their picture!

Lauren tired of the drive VERY quickly!  She's playing Yatzee.  Actually, she's kinda angry that she "gave" her pacifier to Grandma Wade before she left...

January 1--Happy New Year!!  Besides being pacifier free, Lauren has graduated to a toddler bed!

Let me tell you how both of these things have gone: Naps have fallen by the way-side since "pack-pack" was given to Grandma.  She's up early and down to bed late...waking up in the middle of the night...Sunday night, the 3rd, was the first night I've had a full night's sleep without Lauren waking up.  We kept her up intentionally, put her to bed at 8:10, and she was up at 6:30.  I was hoping that it will jump her back into her routine.

Lauren's been a bit sassy lately.  She likes to say, "NO, Mommy!!" and swing her hand at me, hitting me if I'm close enough.  Paul's helped with this behavior, but now he sees it's not as funny when it happens to him.

Lauren's language has exploded!  She's talking more in sentences and using more vocabulary with words. 

We're still battling the pooping issues.  I have a call in to her doctor to get a referral to a specialist about it.  It's getting worse and now Lauren's saying, "My tummy hurts, Mommy.  I poop."  That's a heart-wrenching thing for me to hear, let alone see her struggle and hurt.  Her eating and drinking has dived off significantly, too.

Lauren is counting to 10 and saying her ABC's with great accuracy.  She sometimes misses a number here or there or counts 7-8-9-8.  She misses some letters but she's really trying.  Her Fridge Phonics have been a great helper there. 

Our New Year's Resolutions:

Lauren: use the big-girl potty! 

Paul: finish the kitchen!  (hahaha!)

Lisa: walk 3 times a week and lose 10 pounds.  My stretchy pants don't want to stretch any more...they are maxed out!

I'll post again when I have too many pictures and too much to say.  =)  Happy New Year!