Float Test

Claira was promoted in her swimming lessons from a Goldfish to a Dolphin. Since she us under 5 they give the option to do a float test. There is series of 3 tests where they wear more and more clothes. The video is a bit slow but as Claira's parent I know I can take a deep breath knowing that if she feel in a body of water she has the skills to save herself.

Our 4 year old

Claira had her 4th birthday yesterday. It started on Friday at Preschool, where the WHOLE school sang her 'Happy Birthday'

Then during nap time she and I started preparing for her party and we made cupcakes...the cute pink hat and apron were birthday gifts from the Michelle's our neighbors/friends and she loves them.

When the big day finally arrived we spend the morning opening gifts

After hours of playing with the new toys, dancing to the new CD from Nana and casting spells with her Magic wand from her cousins it was off to the park on the bikes then get ready for her party.
As soon as the little sister Aby was awake from her nap we were off to the pool to PARTY
I think they had a great time!

After the party the kids were wiped out, so while I made dinner (Pancakes and Bacon *requested by the Birthday Girl), they enjoyed their party favors

Over breakfast today she and William were already talking about what she will do when she turns 5!

Bath Time!

Emilia is already two months old! She is a great sleeper, a wonderful eater, and loves to talk just like her big sisters. She is getting stronger everyday holding her big head up, and smiles more and more at us. I don't think there is anything sweeter then a tiny baby learning to smile. The video can be a bit boring unless your her Mama, Nana or Grandpa...if you stick it with it she smiles about half way though, promise it will melt your heart and you'll find yourself smiling :)

Emilia's Heart

Emilia was born with a very prominant heart murmur. A heart murmur is when there is a noise heard, usually a whooshing or swishing noise, by the doctor between the beats of her heart, Lub-Dub (funny noise) lub-dub (funny noise) etc.

There are two types of heart murmurs are innocent (harmless) and abnormal.

We have been told that Claira has an Innocent heart murmur. This isn't caused by heart problems. These murmurs are common in healthy children. Many children will have heart murmurs heard by their doctors at some point in their lives.

To our disappointment, it turns out that Emilia has an abnormal heart murmur. She has little to no visiable signs or symptoms of heart problems. And we're told that most abnormal murmurs in children are caused by congenital heart defects. These defects are problems with the heart's structure that are present at birth. After several tests and visits to the pediatritian and now the pediatric cardiologist we've been told she has Patent Ductus Arteriosis (PDA).

PDA is a congenital disorder in heart wherein a neonate's ductus arteriosus (DA) fails to close after birth. In normal newborns, the DA is substantially closed within 12–24 hours after birth, and is completely sealed after three weeks. PDA is found in about 2 out of every 1,000 full-term babies and is twice as common in girls then boys. In Emilia's heart there is an irregular transmission of blood between two of the most important arteries close to the heart, the aorta and the pulmonary artery. This allows a portion of the oxygenated blood from the left heart to flow back to the lungs by flowing from the aorta (which has higher pressure) to the pulmonary artery.

Like I said before she has had little to no visiable signs or symptoms. She has had a few 'blue' episodes when she got too upset but I'm told that we are lucky she doesn't sweat when she eats and she is gaining weight---- both great signs. Because she is lacking these symptoms and she has no other heart defects her outlook is good. For now we wait and see if the hole closes on its own, we go back to the cardiologist in 3 months. At some point when time doesn't heal her then there are medication and surgery. We will have to look at those options when the time comes.

Now how am I feeling...well honestly when someone tell you your baby has a defect its hard not to feel like its your fault. I grew her and, well, I goofed somehow. But there is a lesson to be learned in every bump you hit in life. This will teach us something I just don't know what yet. I do know that after spending the morning people-watching at the Texas Children's Hospital, I'm so thankful that this is 'curable'; and that I have four almost healthy, perfect, children. We really are blessed.

First Week of Kindergarten

It is hard to believe our little boy is old enough for Kindergarten. It really doesn't seem that long ago when I was teaching Kindergarten and he was kicking around my belly.
He was so excited and eager. We had been to Kindergarten orientation months ago, then to Meet the teacher night last week, and now the first day of school was here. I had gotten him a backpack, lunch box and a new insulated straw cup he was geared up and nothing was going to wipe that smile off his face.

As we waited for the bus I could tell he was getting nervous as he started saying "I love you Mommy" which he will say randomly when he is either nervous or tired. The bus pulled up and he was off! The day went smoothly he made friends with a very shy girl, Emma.

I was very torn to let the boy ride the bus or if I was going to drive him, ride bikes or walk. It seemed that walking was not so much an option as it would just take us too long. Riding bikes for now is out because Emilia is too small to put a helmet on and ride in my baby bike seat or trailer. So we were down to car or bus...the line for pick up in the afternoons averages 45 min and that just seemed mean to make us four girls sit and wait just to stick the little guy in the car when they could be out playing or still napping. And with so many kids on campus the district really pushes for everyone to take advantage of the FREE bus service. So we decided we'd try it. One week into it, seems to be working well. And a little added bonus is I now know more neighbors!
Things are run a bit different here then they were when I was little or taught in California but it works. We are and will continue to adjust. I'm so happy we live in a great school district where he gets a PE teacher, a Music teacher, an art teacher, a computer teacher in a lab, and a librarian in the most beautiful elementary library I've ever seen. The library and school has murals of the ocean painted all over it is so cheerful and inviting. They have an abundance of supplies and volunteers. He will have a 3rd grade reading buddy and then high school kids come in to play and help sometimes too! So far I am happy we picked this community to live. Our School is ranked 'Exemplary' by the state and four of the district high schools were ranked in the top 1,622 High Schools for both public and private by Newsweek. The High School we feed into was ranked 689th, that says a lot for all the elementary and middle schools that feed into it. I know our little man is in good hands and will love learning and going to school. He still wants to be an entomologist when he grows up.

Our Little Pixie is 2

Yesterday was AbyKates 2nd birthday.
In the past few weeks AbyKate has started to talk, even uses two word phrases! But I think her favorite new skill is opening doors. This keeps anyone from hiding from her, which is very frustrating to William and Claira but OH so wonderful for her. She can also get to the stool in the kitchen pantry and reach/climb to get anything and everything, which is frustrating for me. She still has the spunkiest personality of all the kids. She is the loudest by far, I know amazing if you have ever spent anytime with Claira. Her favorite activities...well anything to do with water, 'reading' her cards (animals, shapes, colors etc.), chasing bugs with her big brother, puzzles and giving a 'diss' to her her baby sister. Actually come to think of what her favorite activity would be...screaming and making a mess! She doesn't really have a favorite food, some days she eats everything and other nothing, but noodles are almost always a hit. But she does love her beverages, Milk is #1 then comes any thing from a box or plastic bottle.

To celebrate the big day we went to the zoo. Oh how she loves the carousel, it was our first stop.

Here is Claira and her best friend Natalie.  They had such a good day, giggling, screaming and running around.

OH IT WAS HOT!

These misting fans were a wonderful pit stop.

After we ate our cupcakes the pigeons came over and started to peck at our crumbs.  Aby did not like this!  "MINE!" she yelled at those crumb stealing pigeons.

I think she had a great time.  She was asleep before we left the parking lot and took a 

3 1/2 hour nap!

Finally after she woke up she got to see the cheap little pool we got her.  Cheap or not, she spent all afternoon yesterday in it and was outside playing in it from 8-1 today!  

The one that got away!

We ventured to the beach today with our neighbors. Yes, the neighbor who also has a 3 week old. She and I sat and enjoyed the shade of the EZ-Up with the babies and watched the other four kids play in the sand, water and sun. Thank goodness for the Gulf Breeze or we would have roasted in the 100 degree August heat.

One of the past times at the beach besides the obvious like digging and swimming

is the fishing.

Today they caught the normal small bait fish with the casting net.

But Mr. Gabe also caught a "SHARK!"

Everyone had a great time getting to touch the shark.

And though Andy didn't catch anything on his big poll he came in from a casting swim with quite story. Apparently just after he cast his line and began to swim from Sandbar three in to Sandbar two something took his bait. It started to take the line, and fast! He tried to reel it in while swimming but that didn't work out. It took him under and he actually thought about letting go of pole! As it drug him back to Sandbar three he found his footing and tried to fight it but his line broke. I'm happy he held on a few seconds longer and had his line break because if he would have let that pole go I'm sure he would have been more disappointed then just coming back to shore to fix his line. Maybe he should wear a life jacket like he makes the kids wear!