March

Briella:
After a two week hiatus from school from the flu during February, you began the month of March in a new classroom with Ms. Stef instead of being in Miss Tammy's room. Hopewell preschool is growing in attendance and your room was becoming overpopulated with younger students so you are finally in a classroom with kids more your age. Because of the way your birthday falls, you were put into the 2 year old class because that is how Greenville County Schools mandates it be done, but with this influx of attendance, you were put into a classroom with students more equivocal of your age and you are learning so much more because of it! You are learning letters, numbers, songs, and even learning "God is great. God is good. Let us thank Him for our food. Amen" from school. 

You are really soaking up knowledge and LOVE showcasing what you are learning about letters and numbers from our flashcard time and also from your 3 days a week at school. You are recognizing letters on signs and will say, "Look, Mommy, it's a letter ____!" Your tiger book bag has whiskers and you noticed that the whiskers were in the shape of a letter "W". It's almost surreal watching you grow up and learning so much. I want to remember your excitement and exuberance for learning; especially during our flashcard 'school time'. The other morning I dropped you off to school and your teacher was already beginning the St. Patty's Day lesson around the table and she kept asking the students, "What color is this?" Blank stares. "What color is this?" Blank stares. You hugged me and kissed me goodbye and sat down. As I was walking out the door, she asked again for the third time, and you quickly, just so matter of fact said, "It's green." I walked out to the car with a big, proud smile. You always impress me. 

You are always becoming VERY motherly with Gianna and you let her know, "If you do that, you are going to get a consequence." We have to keep reminding you to keep the parenting to us. You can be so incredibly sweet with her, kissing her when she falls, worrying when she crawls out of your sight ("Where did Gianna go?!") giving her sips of water because you think she's thirsty, or bites of food, but you still struggle with sharing toys with her. What's yours is yours and what's hers is yours still seems to be your motto, but once you are reminded to share or you are sent to time out for being stingy, you tend to step up and do the right thing quickly after that. 

You 'stop to smell the roses' all of the time. Sometimes when we are in a hurry, it can be a bit of a challenge, but I try to remind myself that you are soaking up the simplicity of life and that is special quality to have. You appreciate God's beauty, you love to pick flowers, and dissect leaves and then bring them into the house and leave them in weird places. Thanks.

It's always a fun time just sitting back listening to you talk, but when the talking turns into a constant fest of repeating; well, that just gets a bit exhausting, hahaha. In the same breath, you are quite the conversationalist and social butterfly and say some of the funniest, "darndest" things we could ever come up. I'm noticing that, sometimes, you enjoy talking to adults more than you like talking to kids your own age. But, equally, you do enjoy playing with kids your own age. You had your first neighbor friends playdate two different times with the neighbor girls, Sierra and Madelynn, this month. You really loved showing them around your yard, talking to them about your animals, your swings and Gianna. You also had fun playing hide and seek and tag with the other neighbor girl, Khloe. 

Last night, when you were brushing your teeth and I asked you if the dentist that visited your school showed you how to brush your teeth. You looked at me and said, "She's a girl, not a dentist, Mommy!" Or when you were inspecting your body for all your bruises, cuts, and scrapes and you confidently told me, "My boo boos go away on Sundays, Mondays, and Fridays." You are learning the days of the week so you are trying to use them in context. Or when you say hi to people and you tell every single person that waves to you, "Some people don't wave or say hi to me." Oh brother. I am trying to teach you to to say, thank you for waving hi to me and to say nothing more. Or when we had a service man come to our house to fix our refrigerator and you insisted to stand next to him to tell him about your animals and to ask him questions. I'm not sure how many times me or Daddy had to ask you to to give him a moment to focus on his work. You love having guests over!

Or how you are carrying conversations on the phone now. Just today, I was downstairs getting you an apple and I came upstairs to you talking on the phone to the pharmacist about your animals! Or when we had a guest come over on a Sunday afternoon and we were sitting around the table eating and you were making conversation and asked, "So, do you ever go to church?" You just cut right to the chase. One of the sweetest, funniest things you said was to me. Daddy was traveling and usually by day 3 of his travels, I am a bit 'fried', for lack of a better word. And 'fried' is just about the best way to put how I am feeling on such little sleep, not feeling well myself, caring for sick children, and doing it all by myself 24/7 while Daddy travels. Anyway, I was trying to have a stern moment with you while we were eating dinner because you were being way too silly and I didn't feel was polite to do at the dinner table. You looked at me so sincerely, touched my arm and said, "Mommy, don't be sad. Don't worry. Be happy." I don't know where you came up with that, but I immediately began laughing. I could hardly contain myself. So much for being stern with you in that moment. Another funny conversation went like this: 

Me {praying for my food}: "Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for this food. Thank you for a beautiful day. Please keep us safe today. Amen."

Briella says: "That's ALL you are going to say?!!" "Please say, "Thank you for my house, thank you for my car, thank you for Gianna, thank you for Daddy, thank you for mommy, thank you for the geese, thank you for this carrot, and thank you for Briella." 

And soon after that lunch time conversation, I was beginning to get unraveled by something you were doing and you said, "It's okay. Calm down and count to four." I counted to four and then you asked me, "Do you feel better now?" 

You are still apprehensive to try new foods, but the foods that most kids would be scared of, you don't bat an eye...in fact, requesting to eat things like: lima beans, brussel sprouts, peas, carrots, broccoli, mushrooms, kale chips, sauerkraut, raw veggies, sweet potatoes, and preferring fruits over desserts. So, wait until you hear what you were scared to try and second, what you didn't like. I made my homemade vanilla ice cream and for a very special treat, purchased Maine Root Root beer so you could have your first root beer float. I made it all up for you, showed it to you, and you aren't going to believe this when you read this, but you ran away. You were terrified to try a root beer float. I know, you've been quite sheltered from any type of variety of food in your life, but seriously, ice cream floating on top of fizzy root beer scared you? You thought I was tricking you into drinking something gross. Maybe after having your tonsils out and us having to pull out a lot of tricks and luring to get you to drink your medicine has you not trusting me over food/drinks, but I just shook my head. Once you 'came to your senses' and found the courage to come back to the table, you took a sip and exclaimed how much you thought it was delicious and you liked it. Even so much so that when I thought you were done and went to take a sip of it, you said, "Please don't drink it. I want it." Okay, then, that's more like it! The other food item was a safe cocoa krispies cereal. I think I was more excited than than you were to try it because I am envious of those foods (I have a bad allergy to chocolate). You took one bite and politely said, "It's good." but wouldn't eat anymore of it. You like simple foods. You like your tried and true plain, PLAIN, puffed rice cereal and that's what you want because it's comfortable. You are also very concerned about if we are proud of you for 'cleaning your plate' at meal times and I sure do love when you 'clean your plate', but our pride in you doesn't stem from how much you eat, but knowing your stomach is full is what makes us happy. 

Your love (obsession?) for inanimate objects continues to grow. I'm not at all kidding when I say that I can put you in a room full of toys and you will, always be lured to and find the decorations or anything that isn't a toy. I don't know if this is because I don't have a lot of decorations in the house and I absolutely hate clutter so you are automatically attracted to that stuff. I just don't know. You carry around coasters, batteries, wrappers, door stops, leaves, towels, pillows, coffee filters, and just about anything that is not a toy. I mentioned it last month, but it just about drives me (and Daddy too) a little bit batty. I think it's your adult-like tendencies already kicking in or something. Just today you insisted to carry around a square of toilet paper and your tiny tub of vaseline, even taking both into bed for you nap. You did the same thing after your easter egg hunt at school. When I went to pick you up from school, the teacher told me that you wouldn't put down the egg and there was nothing she could do to get you to let it go. There isn't a time that you aren't lugging some kind of object(s) around in your hands at any point in the day. And our kitchen table is always your hub for a pile of your 'trinkets'. 

You continued getting sick so I took you back to the Doctor, yet again, and the Doctor said that the flu virus combined with the other virus(es) you were catching turned into bacterial "atypical pneumonia" so you began antibiotics, steroids, and optional breathing treatments for it. By the third day of the medicine, your coughing was finally starting to improve but your disposition was less than ideal. That steroid was really messing with you and once we eliminated it, you were so much better for it. You poor thing, you haven't been 'well' since before you tonsillectomy and that was in January! What a yucky few months of sickness it's been for you, me, and your sister. Don't ask me how, but your Daddy hasn't been catching any of this 'germ', and yet, we three are constantly sick. At one point this month, you and me were on antibiotics for our separate infections and Gianna was dealing with a 9 day runny nose and cough cold. Soooo, once again, no one was sleeping because of those things. 

We have been enjoying the lovely warm spring weather here in Greenville while getting outside and riding your tricycle around the neighborhood. You love your bike rides and you ride it so fast too. And the bonus is it helps you fall asleep much faster at bedtime, but falling asleep and STAYING asleep are two very different aspects of sleep right now during your antibiotic. See, most any 'normal' kid will get a fruity (chemically flavored) liquid, but with all of your intolerances, that is not an option. So, we had your antibiotic compounded pure and it was extremely bitter so the pharmacist recommended giving you a spoonful of chocolate to help take the medicine. Of course, you loved the chocolate I made (honey, maple syrup, and organic pure cocoa), but it was keeping you up through the night for those 10 days. But you sure did take that medicine like a champ because of that spoonful of chocolate with every dose. Surprisingly, through the tonsillectomy, strain A flu, multiple other viruses, and atypical pneumonia, you didn't lose weight; in fact, you've gained weight. You are 31.6 pounds! 

You continue to enjoy your timers, rules, and boundaries. You like to know your day's schedule in advance and you like having parameters to work around and within. You will dress yourself every day in the morning and love showing us your bedtime routine (you brush your teeth, pick out your clothes, get dressed, and pick a book). And just like your Dad, your clothes all end up in a huge tangled up crumple in the laundry room basket after you undress. How in the world you both manage to get your underwear, socks, and shirts all tangled up inside your pant legs are beyond me. I take off one item of clothing at a time, but apparently, you inherited the tangled mess gene from your Dad. Anyway, you are enjoying and respecting routines. You know that you have to get dressed, eat, and make your bed before getting your 'show' for the morning. It's funny if I don't lay your clothes out for you to wear because when you choose your clothes combinations, well, it's always a hoot to see! You also know that you have to wash your hands every time now after using the bathroom and you will tell me before I have to remind you. You are entering into a phase where you want to show us that you know what to do before we have to tell you or remind you and, let me tell you, I'm all about that. I always tell you that I love when you take initiative.  :-) And speaking of initiative, you have taken it upon yourself to set the table every night for dinner. If I set it before you, you get so sad.

Gianna:
You are turning into quite the little {cute} stinker with eating and getting into things. When you are full, done eating, or feeling playful, you throw your food and cup off your tray. (uh oh!) When we say, "No!" you look at us with a huge smile on your face. Oh boy. It used to be that you didn't want to be fed with a spoon or a fork, but unless we spoon feed you now, you throw your food off your highchair. It's becoming very frustrating, but just like when you didn't like diaper changes two months ago, you soon moved on from that phase and I'm hoping this food throwing phase passes quickly. But then here's the other weird part of this food throwing. You will start to fuss and whine to get out of your high chair and here's why: you want to eat the food you've thrown onto the floor. I wish I was kidding. I discovered this when I took you out of your high chair before cleaning up all the food you had thrown. Yours and Briella's play kitchen is right by your high chair and you love playing in the kitchen so I put you down to play in the kitchen and you crawled right to all of the food and began eating it. Ewwwww.

You are a magnet to all of the TV sound system entertainment center. You are always crawling to it to touch it. If it not's that, you are crawling to night lights, door stops, or towards the stairs. Daddy has officially had to baby proof all the cupboards/cabinets install gates everywhere. You are always on the move, always into something, and there's never a dull moment with you. You are fascinated with the stairs and when I follow behind you, you can walk up the entire stair case. You LOVE music and you bop along to it. It's the most adorable thing to watch. You are waving and saying "Hi" and "Bye" to us and to other people. You give the sweetest kisses and offer the biggest smiles. You are understanding our daily routines with anticipation of certain foods or activities like eating your morning rice cereal or taking your nightly baths and your favorite end to the day: rolling around on Briella's bed and snuggling with her covers. You still love to eat eggs, rice noodles, sauerkraut, sauerkraut carrots, apples, applesauce, carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans, peas, cassava flour pancakes with homemade strawberry jam, navy beans, rice cakes, cookies, Briella's root beer float, strawberries, steak, and you are slowly giving bananas at a chance; one bite a day at a time. You are about 20 pounds and grew from a size 4 diaper to a size 5. Briella was in size 5 diapers when she began potty training at 2 years old!

You're really enjoying our daily stroller ride/Briella trike rides, and I have to admit, I am enjoying them too. They aren't very lengthy in time because Briella's legs get tired after one roundabout the neighborhood, but it's just nice to get out of the house and get some fresh air. You also enjoy sitting on the blanket in the yard, watching Briella play, and rolling a ball around with me. You continue to be quite easy going and it's such a great quality that I hope you continue to possess for years to come.  

A favorite pastime of yours continues to be playing, 'come get me' or 'tickle time' with Briella. Briella will get on the push car and you will be 'driving' in your walker and you will chase after each other. Another favorite thing you enjoy doing is undoing anything that is properly stowed away. For example, open up a cupboard and you immediately begin pulling stuff out, open a drawer and the clothes are flying out, and put blocks into a box and they are being thrown all over the room. You love 'driving' yourself on the push car and pushing Briella on it while you walk behind it. You are starting to bounce on our indoor trampoline and you crawl to it anytime we are in the room with it. You play in the play kitchen all of the time. You are very agreeable and we can easily turn any tears into smiles or laughter. You are really laughing a lot lately and it's just the sweetest thing. You like to squeal and be fidgety during church services so it always makes for an interesting time. 

I think it was March 1st that I had just about had enough of your terrible sleep so I began sleep training you again. I started with naps and, to my complete surprise, you 'remembered' what you needed to do pretty quickly. I guess it was the combination of the flu, teething, and the never ending draining/congestion that was really causing you to rely on us to hold you to fall asleep. It's March 11th and while you still are waking, on average, 2-4 times a night (oiy!); you are falling asleep all alone in your crib like a little champ again and your ability to put yourself back to sleep when you wake up is about 50%; which is better than 0% a couple weeks ago. I guess we are tackling one issue at a time. I am also starting to slowly wean your feedings to 3x through the day and only "allowing" one feeding through the night (only if you've slept for a long enough period of time that would warrant potential hunger even though, realistically, you probably aren't hungry and just need it for comfort). 

It's all very bittersweet. It's sad to see you growing up so fast, but it's sweet in the sense that I haven't slept in a year so this Mama is ready to sleep more than 2-3 hour increments at a time. I can hardly even fathom what a whole week of sleeping 6+ consecutive hours would feel like. In fact, what does it feel like to feel 'rested'?!! And then, when Daddy travels and I am 'on call' all night with you, it's like having a newborn in the house again with your waking up every 2-3 hours. You have been the most happy, flexible, easy going baby, but your ability to sleep well leaves a lot to be desired. I know food really affects your sleep quality and it's something we are constantly figuring out...just like we had to do with your sister. For instance, I ate two handfuls of Whole Foods organic shoe string french fries and you were up with insomnia for 3 hours and your sister, who also ate the fries, was having very vocal nightmares and I kept waking up with a swollen tongue. Needless to say, your Daddy was traveling that night and I was very tired the next day from 'glued together' 4 hours of sleep. On another occasion, I used all of our daily, safe ingredients to make pancakes for dinner and you were up for 2.5 hours with insomnia. You ate them again the next day and we experienced the same issues  Then, I decided to try them again for breakfast the next morning on the third day without maple syrup and 'lo and behold, you took two wonderful naps and didn't wake up until 2am that night (sadly, this is 'good' for you) and went back to sleep quickly afterward. So, it was the maple syrup. That was the variable and I should've thought of that first thing. I can't make this stuff up even though I'm sure many people would think that I am exaggerating. Nooooo, but I wish it were that. I was scratching my head until that maple syrup revelation. I've aged exponentially this year with your bad sleeping ways and turning 34 doesn't help with the reflection I'm seeing in the mirror these days. I'm not going to lie, I'm ready to stop the breastfeeding because I am very curious to see just how you do without my allergies affecting you and selfishly, so I can eat without constantly having to worry about how it's going to affect you. While in the same breath, I keep delaying your weaning so, even though I say I'm ready to stop breastfeeding, obviously I am holding onto it as well. My goal is to have you weaned, except for possibly your bedtime feeding, by your first birthday. 

You had another cold this month. It seemingly started off as allergies, but then it turned into a constant faucet nose, with cough, that caused you to struggle to sleep, yet again, for an entire SEVEN days. GRRRRR 

You are drinking exclusively from a straw cup, you said "DaDa" to Daddy for the first time this month (even though I thought I've heard you say it before, but you just had to keep working his patience). You really like to show off for Daddy. You spend so much time with me all day and when he travels that you really appreciate when he's around. You are also quite flirty and sweet with strangers, as long as they as they keep their distance, when we are out shopping. You also initiate playing peekaboo with covers. 

Some of the nicknames we say to you are, from me: "Pookachoo", "Pookie", "Sweetness", "Sweetie pea", "Girlie", "Tater Tot", "Gianna Jo","Pooper scoop" (when you poop for the 10th time in one day...and yes, you do that on days with food issues), and from Daddy: "Geebee Jo" "Geebs" "Onna" and "Joebs".

 It cracks me up how Gianna pushes Briella. Whose the older sister?!!

The softest cheeks.

Briella's shadow: Gianna.

Unfolding laundry is so much fun.

Gianna's new way of travel: on Daddy's shoulders.

Gianna, when you were first born everyone commented on how you looked like me, but you've transitioned into looking just like your Daddy!

 School morning photo session. I'm not sure where Briella got the pose from, but it sure is cute.

 Play room playtime while Briella is at school. Daddy dressed Gianna on this day. 

 You were being silly and put your underwear over top of your pants. After these pictures, you took them off and said, "I'm done being silly now."

 Briella, you love to play with my decorative boxes. 

"Mommy, it's Saturday. It's chores day--yay!"

 Celebrating my birthday at Nose Dive Restaurant. Me, Briella, and Gianna had their french fries (that's it)...and Gianna was up most of the night because of it while I had a massive headache.  :-(  

A really sweet lady came walking past us as we were walking along and asked to take our picture. How sweet was that?!!

10 months old already. Look at how big you are getting! 

 Practice with the straw cup at the beginning of the month. It's now March 31st and you have been exclusively drinking from it since middle of the month. No more sippy cup!

You love this kitchen. The cupboards are right on your level so pulling everything out of them is even more easy and fun. 

 This was ALL Gianna being a silly girl. 

 Briella practicing writing her name on my birthday during our 'school time'. 

Briella loves to push Gianna on her swing.

Pictures on my 34th birthday.

 Gianna loves her banana toothbrush.

 This picture makes me feel badly because Briella was complaining of a stomach ache and a headache (laying on the floor is not something 'normal') along with a congested cough, and by the middle of the day, she had a high fever. Took her to the Doctor to find out she had atypical pneumonia. 

 Morning PJ's playtime. 

 Mmmmm, noodles are so yummy.

Woo-hoo!

 Sunday playtime outside.

 And afterward, cooling off with some water and not as many layers of clothing. You look cute in just a diaper and you know it too.

 Daily bike rides this month.

 Peek...

 A-BOO!

 St. Patrick's Day goofy smiles from Briella. This was when she was taking an antibiotic and a steroid that was 'disturbing' her mood, behavior, and sleep; and her smile?

 Lots of happiness and giggles from Gianna on St. Patrick's Day despite having a runny nose and cold. 

 St. Patrick's Day walk with Mommy.

 Briella, whatever you are doing, Gianna is always very curious and interested in doing as well. 

 Bike ride and cooling off with a fudgesicle. Just a tad bit messy!

 Briella was eating a fudgesicle after our family walk/bike ride and I just knew this was going to be a beautiful picture with the sun setting. 

 Silly sister time. 

 A favorite pastime of yours is playing in your play kitchen. 

 School time at home. 

 Could you be any cuter posing for a picture?

 There's that pose again!

 Sunday morning church.

 Briella: "I got dressed all by myself today." 

Me: "Really?" (wink, wink). 

 We had to gate up the stairs because you crawl to them the first moment you can. 

 Ahhhh, this is the life.

 Yes, Briella, you were serenading Gianna here. 

 Dressing yourself for school.

 Playtime in the playroom while Briella is at school is always fun to do.

 I love how you are so content just sitting on the blanket soaking up the sun outside. 

 Gianna's voluminous hair after her morning nap. 

I can't get enough of all of Gianna's cute, silly, and smiley faces. 

 Our beautiful baby girl.

 Costco fun with you two cuties. Most anyone walking past us commented about you two to me saying, "Double trouble." "They're so cute." or "Hi". You girls are magnets for people. It was a fun time. You both were so well behaved.

 Another silly face!

 Pictures before church on March 29th. Briella, if you are wondering, you didn't want to take a picture and were finishing eating your cereal at the table. 

 Gianna, you are wearing quite a bit of Briella's old clothes now (18 months). 

 Gianna, you enjoy having your clothes off. I got half of you undressed for bath time before you quickly crawled away to go into the playroom to bounce on the trampoline. 

 It's always fun when Daddy isn't traveling for work and can have bedtime stories with you. You both squeal and have so much fun together at bedtime. 

 After dinner sunglasses stroll around the neighborhood. 

 Pink Carhart overalls from Grandpa Clapp. 

Spring break playground fun with you girls on March 31st. 

Personal Reflections:

I've been trying not to 'crowd' your blogs with my babbles about my life, and I'm sorry if I still do it more than you want to read about. I do wonder what it would be like to sleep 'normal'; geesh, I'd take "semi-normal" these days. It's surreal to think that it's going on a year of not sleeping. But, even more than that, I wonder what it would be like to just live like the average person. In just this month, I've had more stomachaches, headaches, and optical migraines than I can remember just from food. I've had a painful stye, IC flare ups, a UTI, and a constant cold. Without sleeping and without eating a lot of nutrient rich foods (my current staple is rice because that's the food Gianna does best with), my body feels depleted and running on fumes. I've never been as viral sick as I have in the past 6 weeks than I've been in 6 whole years. I just can't seem to catch a break. If it's not ____, it's____. It's just always *something*. It's weird that neither me or Briella has been on antibiotics since she was 18 months and for me, a few years ago, and we were both on antibiotics at the same time this month all while Gianna was sick with a week long cold. 

The reason I am writing this is that I really hope to be past this nonsense by the time you are older. I wrote much of these same ailments during my pregnancy blog with Gianna, but I will continue having faith that things will get better. The reason is because 2.5 years ago, I was in a extremely bad place and, here I am, better than that so I know there's healing happening within me. Even though it's really slow, for that, I am grateful. 

I have to write this memory because it will be something that we'll laugh about it one day. Okay, both of you girls are seriously very, ummm, how do I say this? You are very Regular with bathroom time. Goodness gracious, between the two of you, I am wiping rear ends, on average, hourly every day. Gianna goes almost every time after she eats and Briella goes 2-4 times a day! For example, there was a day I was attempting a 22 minute workout video and you both poo-d within that 22 minutes...and that's not unusual. I guess all this organic, fresh fruits and vegetables diet we eat; oh, and sauerkraut probably is why. 

I hope that I can teach you and motivate you girls to live outside the box and think outside the box with how you eat and with how we live in our lives in general. Even though our lifestyle requires a lot more 'attention to detail' and a lot more TIME to do, even the simplest things. I have to say, sometimes I am grateful for learning the tricks to living a more clean lifestyle. I hope you girls can appreciate it one day as well. I hope that eating our cultured foods and drinking our kombucha helps us 'toughen up' over the years and we can be in this healing journey together. I'm encouraged to see Briella go from extreme sensitivity this time last year to a much more mild sensitivity with food. I thank The Lord for the improvements and I pray that Gianna gets to experience improvements over time as well.