Warm Weather, Our 1st Favorite Movie, and well, see for yourself............

It is finally starting to warm up. Anna Claire LOVES to play outside, so it's a good day at our house when it's warm enough to play outside. Anna Claire was making a pile of leaves to jump in.
Then she decided it was more fun to kick them. Yes, I realize it is almost Spring and it looks more like Fall in our yard. Thankfully, my husband and Uncle Josh took care of this for the most part last week and this past weekend, although there are still some leaves in my yard. Yes, it makes me crazy!!

We went over to MeMe's so she could pick some "coconuts" off of MeMe's tree. I don't know what kind of tree it is. I really like it, but it may not have any blooms on it once Anna Claire is done with it.
I found these in her backpack one afternoon when we got home from work and Barnyard. She had picked them while they were outside playing and saved them for me. They made such a mess, but it was so sweet that it was totally worth cleaning up the mess.

If you look at the toe I have put a circle around, you will see Kerry's bright red toenail. I was painting Anna Claire's fingernails and toenails the other night and she insisted that Daddy needed his painted too. Daddy agreed to one toe nail. Anna Claire chose red polish for him and then requested white polka dots. Daddy had to draw the line at the polka dots. He still has his red toe nail bc Uncle Josh came in the house the other day and said "DUDE, what happened to your toe?" I just snickered. : )

For those that don't know the above picture in order from left to right is Bolt, Rhino (the hamster), Penny, and Mittens. Bolt is Anna Claire's first favorite movie. We have to turn it on as soon as we get home and it plays over and over until she goes to bed, whether she is paying attention to it or not. We have it DVR'ed and Saturday night I was not paying attention and I deleted it. Kerry and I both immediately went in to panic mode bc we don't have the DVD. Thankfully, it came back on at 4:30am Sunday morning, so we were able to record it again. We made it through the night bc Bolt was resting. As soon as she got up Sunday morning she was ready to watch it again because "Bolt's not resting anymore". She pretends to be Penny and plays with Bolt all the time. I had to help her pull Bolt out of the pool the other night. FYI...........Bolt is imaginary and we don't have a pool. : ) He went outside the other night and got wet. I heard her fussing at him, so I turned around and she had gotten a towel from the bathroom and was "drying" him off. It cracks me up bc she has such an imagination. She had this big towel drying him off, but when she carries him, he fits in the palm of her hand. I love that little girl!!

Party Planning

We finished Easter Bunny shopping in Murfreesboro last night, so I can now move on to planning Anna Claire's 3rd Birthday!! I've been planning, now it's just time to start buying. Out of all the choices Anna Claire was given for her 3rd birthday party, she chose fire trucks. I had in my head Abby Cadabby from Sesame Street. I could already see the cute decorations and all the pink and purple, but Anna Claire put a stop to that with the mention of fire trucks. She wanted fire trucks, so fire trucks it is. I blame her Uncle Josh for this!! LOL!! She is obsessed with Uncle Josh being a Fire Fighter and her Daddy being a volunteer. So.............How do you girly up a fire truck birthday party? With POLKA DOTS and pink fire hats, of course and we LOVE polka dots and pink. : ) Big Daddy had already booked the fire dog bounce house and there will be a few extra surprises for Anna Claire and the other kids at the party too. I can't wait!!












I love it when Anna Claire says something and her Daddy doesn't "get" it. It is always hilarious!! I'll give you a little background, since most of you would not know what she was talking about if she said this to you, but her Daddy should have. Anna Claire's MeMe (my Mom)had 2 dachshunds, Buck and Sophie. Buck passed away last year, but she still has Sophie. Last night on the radio they said something cost 20 bucks.

Anna Claire said, "Mommy who said 20 bucks?"

I said, "they said 20 bucks on the radio."

Anna Claire replied, "oh they said 20 bucks on the radio. What about 20 Sophies?"

I cracked up and Kerry had this blank look on his face. He said, "what is she talking about?" I then had to explain "20 bucks", she thought they meant 20 actual Bucks, as in MeMe's dachshund that passed away and she wanted to know why not 20 Sophies, as in MeMe's other dachshund. He laughed once he got it. : )











and yes........That is one of those dog collar lamp shade things that she is wearing. She borrowed it from Daisy.

Bless Him................

Kerry has not had the best week with the 2 women in the house. Anna Claire has fallen apart on us this past week. I woke up grouchy on Monday and Tuesday and Anna Claire followed suit. Monday morning he informed me that he did not want anymore children for fear he would have to live with 3 of me. He said 2 of me was all that he could handle. LOL!! I was OK with that. He changed his mind by Tuesday afternoon, but I still haven't. He wants more children as soon as possible and I don't. I'm not ready and I don't believe Anna Claire is ready. He seems to think she is, so here is that conversation..............

Kerry: "Anna Claire do you want a brother or sister?"

AC: "a SISTER"

Kerry: "See, I told you she wanted a sibling."

Me: "Anna Claire do you want a sister to come live with you?"

AC: "NO! I can go see her at her house."

Kerry: "You don't want a brother or sister to come live at your house?"

AC: "No, she can live at MeMe's."

My point was then made. : )

Birthday Party.........

It's hard to believe that Anna Claire will be 3 years old at the end of April. Saturday night she decided to have a birthday party for one of her Kitties. She got 7 of her Hello Kitty animals out and sat them all at the kitchen table. She even sat one in the high chair. She got her pretend birthday cake and brought it out. At one point I caught her trying to put it in the oven because she said it needed to cook. She got everything ready, put the candle on the cake, and then sang happy birthday to Hello Kitty.This is Anna Claire and a few of her guests.

This little girl .............

is awesome!! {if I do say so myself}

We went to see Dr. Canonico on Friday for a 1 month re-check and to have Anna Claire's hearing tested. The hearing test was first and Anna Claire did not pass all of the tests due to having fluid in her ears. I knew before they told me that she didn't pass all of them because she seemed to be having a hard time hearing in her left ear during the tests. I was in the sound booth with Anna Claire and could sometimes hear the beep myself and she didn't. {Kerry says that I don't have the average persons hearing. LOL!!} Dr. Canonico said that she did have a double ear infection and he was concerned that she still had the same stuffiness that she had a month ago. I explained that she had only been off of antibiotics for about 7 days before we saw him on Friday due to an upper respiratory infection. I could see his displeasure with that information. He said in her case if she were his daughter he would go with the tubes. He said he felt like it would help clear up the sinus mess that she can't seem to get rid of. So, Tuesday morning we had to be at Dr Canonico's office at 7:30am to have tubes put in Anna Claire's ears.

I have heard mixed reviews on tubes and on Dr. Canonico and his staff. Needless to say we {Kerry and I} were very nervous. I was afraid I had made the wrong decision. What if something went wrong? What is she doesn't wake up from the anesthesia? I had all of these doubts and Kerry just didn't want to talk about it at all. In Church Sunday, as I stood there with tears in my eyes, I tried to give what I could over to God. Monday afternoon I gave the rest over to my Church family. Monday night I explained to Anna Claire what was going to happen and asked her not to be afraid. I promised her that Daddy and I would be there after she took her nap at the Dr's office. Tuesday morning I woke up with a whole new attitude and outlook on the procedure. Deep down there was still that worry, but it was NOTHING like I had been feeling the 3 1/2 days before. I got up Tuesday morning and got ready. I packed some crayons, coloring book, Anna Claire's DVD player, a Minnie Mouse DVD, and Pups. We couldn't go without Pups. I woke Anna Claire up while her Daddy showered and got her dressed. We arrived at the office about 7:20am. There was already one family in the waiting room and 5 other families had already been taking back. Anna Claire colored while we waited.

At about 8:15am we were called to the back. The regular rooms were full, so we were in a room with just curtains as privacy. Anna Claire got her gown on and all the necessary information was given. I started her DVD player and the 3 of us sat on the bed and watched Minnie Mouse. I heard just about every child that woke up from the anesthesia. They would wake up SCREAMING!! The Nurse came in their a few times to check on us to make sure the screaming children were not freaking Anna Claire out. Thankfully the DVD player occupied her and she never heard them. At about 9:00am Dr. Canonico, Dr. Collins, and 2 Nurses came in to our "room". The Nurses were talking to Kerry and I, while the Dr's talked to Anna Claire. The next thing I know, I hear Dr. Canonico say "love you Mom and Dad" and off he went with Anna Claire. No tears at all.

While Anna Claire was gone, we were moved to a private room. They brought in a rocking chair for me, so that I could rock Anna Claire when she came back. The Nurse warned us that Anna Claire may come back very mad and screaming or she may come back asleep. After about 20 minutes Dr. Canonico came in to the room holding my sleeping Anna Claire. They handed her to me, put a blanket on her, and put the heart monitor on her index finger. Dr. Canonico said everything went well and that he got a lot of fluid off of her ears and he cleaned out quiet a bit of mucus from her sinuses. The Nurse then warns us that more than likely Anna Claire is going to wake up mad at the world, very confused, and disoriented. She said that most children will get very upset when they see her because she wears the same blue scrubs as the Dr's do. Anna Claire's heart rate start to rise and she said that was a sign that Anna Claire was waking up. We went over the paperwork and she told me to go ahead and try to wake her up. Anna Claire woke up like a champ!! She was as happy as could be and never even acknowledged that anything had happened. At 9:35am we were in the car going home.

She pulled at her ears a few times after she woke up, but hasn't mentioned anything about her ears since then. She cried a little last night when I put the ear drops in her right ear and then a little this morning when I put them in her left ear, but she hasn't fought me yet.

The Dr's and Nurses were amazing and I am so grateful everything went as smoothly as it did yesterday.

Giving all my worries and fears over to God and my Church Family Sunday and Monday was the smartest thing I have done in a while. They raised her up, he wrapped his arms around her, and I am grateful.