Meadow Lane 2010 Holiday Shop

Saturday morning December 4th Meadow Lane Elementary School hosted their 1st annual Holiday Shop. A morning of yummy pancakes, sausage & juice followed by singing, a visit from Santa and shopping! Gabrielle loved having the privilege of earning money to shop in the Holiday Mart. Each child was provided an envelope with areas dedicated to particular family members and expense allowance for each member. For example we could help her budget $5 to be spent on Dawson, $5 on Mommy, etc. Daddy was her shopper elf and helped her in her selections. I giggled because she came home with not one, but two gifts she had selected and purchased for herself. She was very eager for each of us to open our gifts immediately ... no placing them under the tree and awaiting Christmas day :)
Even though it was a mad rush for time (we had another event scheduled one hour after the start of the Holiday Shop) we really did enjoy our time together as a family. Mema and Papa as well as GG from Springfield were able to be a part of this fun morning.

Toothless Grin

Gabi had been sporting the snaggletooth look for waaaaayyyyy too long when Daddy decided it was time to take action. This past Tuesday night we used a little bribery and a little hand holding and Daddy gave one little twist and pull and tooth number one was out. We waited a short period and told a little white lie {gasp} that Daddy had talked to the tooth fairy via e-mail and that if Gabrielle was to lose BOTH front teeth on the same day the tooth fairy said she was sure to receive something extra special. Gabrielle's stubbornness won out and the 2nd tooth remained hanging by a thread - looking completely ridiculous I might add. See picture below ...

Wednesday Travis got home from work and shortly after eating supper he told Gabrielle she didn't have an option the other tooth WAS coming out. So twist and pull #2 and out it came. Gabi ran into the bathroom and immediately busted out laughing. The child stops and looks in the mirror every chance she gets. Could be because she is constantly hearing how cute she is without her two front teeth :)

Now we can say boldly, "All she wants for Christmas is her two front teeth!"

Jingle Bells, Batman Smells

Last Saturday Gabrielle and I were invited by one of her classmate friends and her mom to join them for a production put on by Theatre for Young America. We took the girls for lunch at Fritz then walked across the walkway to Union Station City Stage to see Junie B. (Jones) in Jingle Bells, Batman Smells. It was a fun little play with a great message. The production runs November 23rd - December 30th and tickets are $8. Go to http://www.tya.org/ for more information. I wanted to share a handful of pictures I snapped prior to the play.

Still a little poser :P
Side note - I am on a mad hunt to find the baby in waiting a matching PB jumbo stocking this year. Dawson is shown below in front of his. They are so well worth the purchase and if you are like me you can fill that sucker up pretty darn quick!

I love this picture as it is the last one I captured before her losing her baby teeth.

My current favorite although I converted to b&w because I took it on indoor setting and it was a little fuzzy.

And of course little man couldn't miss out on getting his pic' taken. He is in that stage where he cheeses every time you say smile to take his pic. Such a ham!

Making the most of it

We have been pretty much house bound the better part of the past week so we have been making the most of it. I have spent time in my scrapping area, the kids and I gave the downstairs toy area an overhaul, I spent nearly an entire morning in our master bedroom closet changing out seasonal clothing and doing a little pick up, Travis started a home improvement project - which is now on hold until he is back to 100%, and the kids have really delved into creative play and craft time. I am often reminded of how fortunate I am that my two self entertain so well and for the most part do a good job of playing with one another. They have their scuffles I assure you, but it brings me no greater joy to find them playing so beautifully together.

And I don't even mind too much walking into this mess when they have provided me with two hours of uninterrupted "me" time meal planning, making out the grocery list, cutting coupons, catching up with a friend on the phone and checking e-mail.

Photos taken with my new IPhone. Yeah, I finally stepped into the 21st century and upgraded to a Smartphone. I have to say I can see how they often take over one's life. I limited myself with a minimal data and texting package so I vow not to allow myself to go down that path.

What's in a name?

We have really been struggling to nail down a name for the newest member of the Hicks family. We faced the same challenge when we were expecting Gabrielle as well. I don't know if you would agree, but we find it so much easier to choose a boys name. In fact we had our boy name picked out long before we found out for certain we were expecting another girl. Several times a week the topic will come up and we will give it some thought and discussion. The past several weeks Travis has gone into psycho mode spending a ton of time on numerous online sites looking up names - popular baby names, celebrity baby names, etc. He has researched the origin and meaning of the names which made our short list, crossed out names and added names. So over the weekend he shared with me that he was really leaning toward two very different names. One more common, the other not so common - both with different middle names. I have been dead set on MY name since very early in this pregnancy and I CAN NOT get him over to my side. (Enter some ill feeling here as I really have a strong feeling about this particular name). Anyhow, he turns to me and says with such emotion "I would never consider changing Gabrielle or Dawson's name. I love their names and feel they both suit them well. I want the same for this baby. I want to know without a doubt we gave her the right name." How can I argue with that? I want us to both be happy with whatever we name our little girl.
So precious baby to be, please know Daddy and Mommy have poured hours over your name and no matter what it may end up being we know it is perfect, just as you will be!

Up to my Eyeballs

I know this isn't your typical post, but I want to document this so when times get tough down the road I can look back and remember I have lived through bumpy roads in the past and pressed forward. I/we have been up to our eyeballs ... in vomit, fevers, medicine intake, doctor and urgent care visits which lead to medical bills, LAUNDRY, body aches, fatigue, chronic coughs, diarrhea, did I mention LAUNDRY? Our household has been hit pretty hard this fall with the yuck bug. It all started Saturday October 23rd. Travis and I had a teenage neighbor girl over to babysit while we went out on a date. We returned home at 8:30 to the kids sound asleep in bed. We did what we often do and curled up in our own bed and watched some DVR. We were startled at 9:30 by a gut wrenching sound (figuratively and literally). Poor Gabrielle was heaving so bad she was unable to catch her breath. Pair this with a 104.3 or greater fever and it makes for a sleepless night. After NO relief and several chats with the nurses line we opted to take her to Children's Mercy South for evaluation. They had concerns of her showing signs of meningitis as she consistently complained of bad neck pain. The neurological exam was negative as were both a strep test and urine culture so in short they sent us packing stating she was dealing with a bad virus (no blood work or x-rays were done at this time). Fast forward to Tuesday when she is still vomiting, still running a fever now closer to 104.8 and hasn't had anything to eat or drink since Saturday night and we are beside ourselves! Our pediatrician asked us to bring her in to see her. We were in the office no longer than 5 minutes before we were in route back to the hospital for direct admit. The nurses were amazed at Gabrielle's bravery in having a blood culture draw as well as IV placement for hydration and antibiotic delivery. Things moved pretty rapidly at this visit. They tested her urine again, sent the blood for STAT testing and sent us to x-ray. We learned in fast order that the blood showed very elevated WBC and the x-rays showed a bad left lung pneumonia. We were a little baffled why this was missed on physical exam THREE times. The doctor explained that because Gabrielle was so severely dehydrated they were unable to hear it. After several hours of IV fluids the doctor was able to immediately pick it up. This whole incident led me into contracting a bad chest cough (and when I say bad think BAD). I went to see my PCP after a week where they ordered a chest x-ray. No pneumonia, praise the Lord. One week later and my cough is worse so my doctor put me on a course of antibiotic. I am now on week three of coughing. The pediatrician at both CMH and our own ped advised us to expect Gabrielle's cough to last up to six weeks. Put Gabi's cough and my cough together and it makes for a lot of interrupted sleep. I. am. over. it!
This past weekend started with another trip to the pediatrician. Gabrielle's cough was worse than ever. She was up all night Thursday trying to stay ahead of the cough. My worst nightmare was she was dealing with a recurrence of the pneumonia. The nurse at SM Peds said to bring her right in for eval and possible repeat x-ray. I was so elated to learn her chest was 100% clear. They said she had a secondary viral infection and to restart her allergy and asthma medications (which we stopped when she fell so ill). Enter my #1 mistake here. I brought Dawson to the appt with us Friday. You may not think much of this (as I didn't at the time either), but he contracted the worst of worst yuck bugs while there. Without too much detail think lots and lots o' diaper changing, sheet washing, Lysol disinfectant and stink! My prayer (please join me) is that this will not prevent any kind of regression with his potty training. He has been trained for months and months now and we are on day three of constant diaper wearing. Throughout all of this fiasco Travis somehow managed to stay healthy. That is UNTIL Sunday early morning. I woke to him huddled on the couch complaining of fever, chills and body aches. UGH! Can we catch a break?
I long for the day when we can return to this -

We have missed a few days of beautiful weather, awesome church services and frugal store finds. I am looking ahead eight weeks when I will be up to my eyeballs in newborn poops, breastfeeding, burping, baby coos, even more laundry and ... I am elated for all of it!

Iowa Pics

I am back with a handful of pictures from our weekend trip to Iowa. I had a 100% brain block when it came to changing the settings on my point and shoot camera, so please forgive the picture quality. Of course as soon as I returned home it came back to me. One of these days I will make it a priority to find where we housed the camera manual upon our move.

Terry approaching our table making sure every one's drink needs were met. He was in charge of the red hot tickets. I am pretty sure I caught Molly off guard in this shot. Sorry Skooter!

The newly married couple: Ryan & Katie Morris with baby boy to be awaiting his arrival just four short weeks after our little miss will join our family.

Dawson loving all the attention that Terry was showering upon him.

Katie picked up glow bracelets and little wooden picture frame crafts that kept the kids entertained early in the evening before they started tearing up the dance floor.

Molly with the kids.

A little side note - Gabi was almost a Molly Christine versus Gabrielle.
This girl means the world to me. She was/is the little sister I never had. She was the junior brides maid at our wedding {reception}. Gabrielle was the flower girl in her and Matt's wedding just two years prior to Ryan and Katie's union. She spoils the kids and makes them know without a question of a doubt that they are as special to her as their mommy is.

My two monkeys near the end of the evening horsing around.

They were both in such great spirits during the party. Praise the Lord, as Travis and I were concerned about dealing with ill behavior.

And last but not least a quick shot of the six of us before parting home for Kansas.

Matt, Mo, Travis, myself & the two little people