Zoe turns 4!

This year Zoe started talking about her birthday back in December when some of her friends where turning 4. Last year was fun because she started understanding her birthday, but this year was even better because she was able to help plan her birthday. She decided on a Tangled theme and picked the big Disney princess castle bounce house instead of the other choice of Toy Story. Daddy is coming around to the idea of Princess stuff around our house. She has started to get into dress up and reading stories about some of the Disney princesses in the last several months. 

She helped make her invite list this year which is why we had 13 children. She decided who from preschool and church she wanted to invite. She is very excited about her friends these days and unfortunately has started to distinguish between her friends and Sophie's friends.

The pinata was a big hit again. Zoe helped me stuff it full of candy and prizes a few days before the party and then made sure to tell me to put it up where Sophie can't get into it. She knows her sister well. By the time we got to presents she was a little overwhelmed I think. She had so much fun. After all her friends left she had fun playing with her older cousins on both sides of the family. She played the Wii with my brothers boys until bedtime and was sad she had to say goodbye and goodnight but took now time to fall asleep (in moms bed). Successful and fun day sums it up!

On her actual birthday she started out the day at preschool and taking cupcakes to share with her class. When I picked her up she was beaming and wanted me to notice her birthday crown her teacher had given her. She was so cute with it on. After nap she helped me decorate her cupcakes with family for dinner. Then we headed to Peter Piper Pizza to meet Papa, Nana, Mimi and grandma for dinner and a some games. 

Looking back over the last year I am in awe of how much she has not only physically grown but emotionally and intellectually grown. She can recognize hers and sisters names, recognize some other words, write her name and several other letters, recognizes all her letters and know the sounds, can count to at least 25 on her own, can express her feeling and starting to articulate some of her feelings, and has grown out of all her clothes. 

To view all the pictures of her birthday festivities click here. 

Welcome baby Katie

Kathryn Charlotte Broom joined our family on January 22, 2012 at 10:03am. She came exactly 1 week early which we are very thankful for since she weighed 8lbs 2oz and was 20 inches long.

She has been such a good baby this last week home with her. Zoe and Sophie are in love with their sister. They want her to go everywhere with them. They want to hold her a lot and Zoe just sits and watches her frequently. They have been very sweet with her.

I am a week late getting this out but it has been a little hectic around here. I'll write more hopefully in the coming days.

To see pictures of Katie click here.

Fit for a baby

As we rapidly approach the end of this pregnancy we have been working a lot on getting the room ready for this little girl. We decided to give up our dedicated guest room for the baby to have her own room.

Months ago I started thinking about what kind of room I wanted to create for this baby. Thanks to John's stepmom Sharon, (aka Mama Shar), we got a starting point with fabric when she was visiting in October. She volunteered to make the bumper pad for the crib which is a big deal since our crib is the one John's dad built when John was a baby and is not a standard size. She went home with some fabric to make the bumper pad and I kept some of it to make a few pillows to coordinate. She did an amazing job and shipped them to us. Decor somewhat underway.....

Now, what to do with all the furniture in the room. The queen size bed departed for my parents guest bedroom in early December, and Zoe got the twin size & trundle from their house. The Cedar hope chest my parents gave me in high school remains in the room. The rocking chair my parents had when I was little made its way from their house to the baby's room. Some of the other pieces from the room made their way to Goodwill while a couple others are still trying to find a home in our garage. We finally got the crib set up the week before Christmas and my dad generously took a day off from work to come paint the room for me which was a surprise for John. A surprise for John because he has been working soooo much the last 4 months that I wanted to take something off his list of "things to do" so that he wouldn't have to find time to do it. We did manage to surprise him. Zoe even made him close his eyes when he came up the stairs as she guided him in the room and said "Surprise!" as she flung her arms out. Thanks Dad!

I eventually decided on a wall decal for her room, and after much searching online, got one ordered just before Christmas. John and I started working on getting it on the wall while he was home after Christmas. We finally finished the last of the decal on Sunday with Zoe helping John put up the last flying bird. I have to say we both are very happy with the way it came out and had a lot of fun doing it together.

I made the Cornice board for the window and the bed skirt over the weekend and John put it all together to have a completed room ....finally.

To view all the pictures click here.

Fishy Carrots

"Fishy Carrots" or sometimes just "Carrots."

That's what our eldest has decided to call her new baby sister. She is very insistent about this! I was talking to John about a friend of ours who just had a baby, and called the baby by name this weekend. Zoe overheard us talking and shouted, "no, her name is Carrots!" I had to explain to her that I was not talking about the baby in my tummy, but our friends baby. Her response: "oh, okay then". I have tried to explain to her we will take her name suggestion under advisement, but that may not be what we name her. She is not very accepting of this.

A Healthy Sophia

Last week was a busy week for Sophie. She had 3 doctors appointment, turned 2, had a birthday party, and went to preschool. This post is primarily about her health progress (check her birthday post for more on her turning 2.)

I praise God for the progress Sophie has made in the last 3-6 months. We went to her pediatric GI doctor on Tuesday and got a good report from him. She is now back to the 50th percentile for her height and she weighed in at 23.5 pounds. She is still in the 5-10th percentile for weight but the doctor was happy with her weight gain, as was I. She had clearly had a growth spurt recently since she had been waking up around 10-midnight and eating a completely extra meal. Her specialist has finally deemed her a healthy and petite girl. The doctor also worked with us to decide on a plan to try to get her off both of her medications. We have to be careful in removing her medications because if she still really needs them and we don't realize it quick enough we can make her swallow problem worse and end up again with her not wanting to eat or drink. We have removed one of her medications already and are watching her for the next couple of months. We have a repeat Barium Swallow test at the hospital scheduled for late October and if she has had more improvement in her swallowing then we will try to remove her other medication. I was thankful to her the doctor say her is very confident Sophie will outgrow her reflux and swallow problem. Praise the Lord!

Next was her 2 year checkup with her pediatrician which went very well also. He said she is now right on track developmentally. He did have a concern about her feet and referred us to a foot and ankle specialist to have them looked at. When she walks both of her feet still turn in a lot of the time. This is common but typically by age 2 it has corrected and the feet no longer turn in.

We saw the foot and ankle specialist later in the week. The doctor said it isn't very severe but we do need to keep an eye on it. He gave us an exercise to do with her at home for the next couple of months and then he will check her again in early November.

All in all, a good report on her health. John and I were both relieved to finally have a good report on her from her specialist.

Baby Broom is ...

To even the count with my brother and his three boys, we will have the three girls in the family. Zoe and Sophie will have a little sister!

She looks healthy and her measurements are good. Her heartbeat was strong and she is moving all over the place. I have been feeling her move for nearly three weeks and the movements are getting a little stronger. Last night John even felt his first kick! Pretty exciting since it's earlier than movement can usually be felt externally.

We asked Zoe what she thinks we should name her new little sister and her immediate suggestions were Catsy (?!) and MacKenzie.  Luckily we have a few more months to mull that decision over.

We are very excited to have another girl and thank the Lord she is healthy!

let preschool begin

This morning both girls very happily started preschool at TotSpot preschool. The preschool is less than a mile from the house and when the weather is cooler definitely within walking distance. This is Zoe's second year in preschool  and Sophie's first. 

When preschool ended in May Zoe asked me for probably the first 3 to 4 weeks when she was going to preschool. She had such a good time last year in with her teacher Ms. Nelay and Ms. Kristen. I started talking about her starting preschool again a couple of weeks ago to get her excited for the change coming. When I told her she was getting a new teacher, Ms. Gretchen, she wasn't too sure about that. At first she said she would not like her, but then when we met her last week at "Meet the teacher" night she changed her mind. This morning she kept asking when we were leaving to go to preschool. She told me this morning that she liked Ms. Gretchen and that she was pretty. When I took her to class and she saw her teacher there was no 'bye mom" - she took off running and gave her new teacher a big hug! Even though it would be nice to feel a little missed I wouldn't change her independence and excitement.

We had originally planned to start Sophie in January when she will be 2 1/2 like Zoe was when she started. Long story short we decided a month ago to check on the possibility of getting her in in January and put her on the waiting list. At that point and she was #7. I really hadn't expected her to even get in for this school year. We got a call last week that they had an opening for her so we decided to go ahead and start her now since there is no guarantee that there will be an opening in January. She was so excited this morning to carry her backpack into the school and walked into the classroom also without even a "bye mom" or a glance back. I was actually very happy she did that well since she has been  more attached to me than Zoe ever has. She did great in the class and was pretty happy to see me when I picked her up. Zoe has been very excited for Sophie because she gets to have Ms. Nelay for her teacher this year. I think it will be a great year of learning and socializing for her.


What to do with my mornings on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Oh, the list is so long but hopefully by the end of the school year it will be shorter.