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Category Archives: Kendall
Kendall Update
Kendall has reached one of my favorite ages, 2.5 years old. Over the last several weeks, she has really developed a personality and is a sponge learning everything. Potty training is still that training. She currently has one accident a day but does not poop in the potty at all.
In the area of communication she is so much fun. She is speaking in sentences. She gets frustrated when someone does not understand what she is saying and tonight I heard her repeating things off the news just to see if I noticed. She definitely has her own opinions and like to be heard. In the car, she and Lily often fight over whose turn it is to talk. Kendall loves to sing. Currently she sings ABCs, Wheels on the bus ( her favorite is the mommies), 5 little monkeys, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Ba Ba Black Sheep and Jesus Loves Me. Kendall is usually the one that reminds us to pray at dinner.
Kendall is definitely 2 but she is the only one of my kids that you can reason out of a tantrum. If I can get her to listen to what I am saying she will usually stop kicking or crying when explained that is not how we do things. She also can turn on and off the tears in a minute.
And yesterday she achieved a major milestone. Yesterday, morning the first thing she told me was “My pappy broke, I throw it away.” I had her repeat it twice and then told her to go ahead and throw it away. I didn’t have any more because she has bitten all that we were able to find in half. I discovered several months ago that they had changed the design of her Binky so I stocked up then. Kendall was able to take a nap yesterday and last night she verified that she had thrown her pappy away before going to bed. Again this morning she said “I throw pappy away it broke?” But she has been sleeping without it! WOW this was easy! I am so excited. The cutest thing was as I was telling my mom about it, Kendall heard and repeated “I not need pappy anymore cause I a big girl.”
Halloween… Lily style
Lily and Kendall both LOVE to dress up! The can spend hours at a time changing and playing dress up. Thanks to a wonderful couple at church, we have probably close to 15 outfits not counting various shoes and accessories.
Lily is have a blast this year because she was given 3 chance to dress up and “go out in public.” Wednesday night, the kids club had a Princess and Pirate party. Lily chose to go as “Sleeping Beauty.” Tonight the initial plan was to go with our friends to a Halloween carnival and then to several “Trunk or treats” but both Zach and Kendall were sick. We decide with the cooler weather it would be best to keep them at home tonight so that we could possible enjoy the church event. But our friends took Haley and Lily with them. Lily was a Barbie cheerleader tonight and return with a bucket of candy.
I have personally never been a fan of Halloween and until the past couple of years just avoid the whole thing. But Matt enjoys making costumes as well as apply just the right make up so he likes to have several people to work on. Lily and Kendall both like nothing better so Halloween is now a fun time just because we get to all dress up. This year our church is have a “family” costume contest and we are going as The Wizard of OZ. Amanda is Dorthy, Kendall is Toto, Zach is the Tin Man, Haley is the Scarecrow, Lily is the “cotton candy” good witch Glenda, Matt is the “wizard behind the curtain’ and I am the yellow brick road. I hope to get a couple of awesome pictures to post.
Eye Appointment
Today, both Lily and Kendall had an eye appointment with the specialist in Greensboro. Both the girls were awesome and for the most part well behaved. Kendall is so young that basically they look at her eyes and nothing has changed with her. We are to return in 9 months, when she can hopefully read the charts and we can get a better idea of what she is seeing. On the down side, she managed to break a pair of glasses in half on the way home.
Lily is a different story. It has been a year since her vision has been checked. At that point she was 3 and they were uncertain if she was reading the chart right. Today, we were asked if she knew all her letters. She does and is accurate all the time if she is seeing correctly. Matt and I both were concerned when at 60 she could not read the chart with her right eye in glasses. After doing some testing with her, the doctor determined that her vision has gotten worse. Personally, I am unsure if it has gotten worse or they were wrong the first time with her. Both eyes have changed by +2.70. Her prescription is now a +8.5 and +9. This is only increasing her prescription by +1.5. The doctor also wants us to patch Lily’s good(left) eye for 4 hours a day. We were given a princess patch to use today. I asked several questions but still am not sure of the answers I got. Basically, I know that she is far sighted, according to this doctor this is going to worsen. The patching is to strengthen her bad eye and should be short in duration. Far sightedness does not correspond to 20/20 or 20/40. We should only be concerned if her corrected vision is not 20/40. After talking with my mother tonight, Matt and I are in agreement that we are going to seek a second opinion just to make us feel better. We should get this arranged in the next week or so.
One of the problems we have is that the doctor asked us to remove Kendall and Zach because he did not want to talk over them. We don’t have a problem with that but he was rude in the way he asked/ told us he would not continue until they were gone. He also was offended that I asked at what point does Lily have a visual impairment.
The other problem is my personal thought about patching. I don’t like the idea of limiting her sight. I don’t think she should be punished because she is not seeing. I understand the principle but don’t agree with it. So hopefully another doctor will be more helpful. Or at least I can say that this is definitely the way things need to be done.
News of the week…
First Kendall is doing excellent with potty training! We went and bought “big girl” panties on Friday. She wore for exactly 20 minutes and pooped. But today she did much better. She was in a pull up because of my fears for most of the day. She was dry from this morning though the flu shot and my class reunion at the park. So after nap we put on Elmo and she stayed dry all afternoon. I was so excited and pleased. I am debating about church tomorrow will probably do a pull up but on Monday I am thinking all day in panties.
Next we have installed both a ceiling fan and a shade for more privacy in our new bedroom. Except for furniture and some caulking it is now how we planned. Next weekend we are going to change out Haley’s room floor. Hopefully this will do away with some of the awful smell :)>
Finally, we have not been grocery shopping at all this week. We did eat out on Friday at lunch but that has been it. We have only eaten 3 meals off our master list but Matt has enjoyed making several meals that were not on the list but he used items that were still here. I was even able to take a large bowl of slaw and baked beans from the freezer to my class reunion today with no extra cost! I am planning a post about that for Sunday!
September in Review
I am actually looking forward to post this, except for the budget but I think “the challenge” will definitely help with that one.
Blogging- I just checked the number of post for the month and it was 18, counting this one. This is a improvement over the summer and almost close to my goal of 20 or 5 a week. I am also pleased that I have once again been posting deals and not just Menu Monday and Wordless Wednesday post. I am going to met my goal in October just to say it is possible. One of the biggest reason I am doing much better is that my work has settled in a pattern. I am actually starting to enjoy some time off and realize I don’t have to work as much as possible :).
Reading my Bible- I am continuing to make strides in this area as well. I also am beginning to feel that I not only need to read a devotion but also spend some time just reading the Word, I am reading a devotion at least 3 times a week. The goal is for me to have a devotional time 5-6 times a week. Some have asked about prayer. I prayer several times a day. This is my conversation with God something I value and just like to keep private.
Preschool with Lily and Kendall- I am changing this to include both of the girls because I also want to be able to comment on where they are so I can look back in a year. Matt and I have finally worked out a system that I think is awesome. I am going to attempt to complete school with the girls at least once a week. I enjoy this time and really want to stay hands on in this area. I am also going to take some time each week and develop a lesson plan and pull together all the things needed for the week as far as school goes. This allows Matt to open a folder and have time to really teach the girls instead of trying figure out what to do. Lily is continuing with Reading. She is able to read some short sentences. She has mastered writing number the correct way and we are working on the concept of counting by 5s. Lily understands even numbers and counting by 2s. She continues to work through the workbooks we purchased and she is learning a verse a week at Club 254 at church. We are using this as practice for writing and review so she will be able to quote all 26 at the end of the year. Kendall is able to draw a circle and is working on recognizing colors and K in her name.
budget- We are finally on track in this area except for groceries. So we have decided to try and control expenses by eating out of the pantry. Matt and I develop a menu plan for 30 days with the hope of extending it until we travel to Michigan simply by buying Angel Food this month. We are going to purchase milk and sodas as needed but not ingredients for meals.
Overall, September has been a month of settling into a routine and getting back on track. I hope we are able to continue!
Randon Thoughts Tuesday
I love this idea especially this week, when I am trying to blog everyday and I have alot to say.
-Kendall is doing really well with potty training. She stays dry about half the day and is starting to realize she is wet.
– Lily was so excited last night when she was able to read a entire sentence by herself. Matt and her are completing a lesson for reading about 3 times a week with the goal of reading independently around Christmas
-I have been able to do “home school” 3 of the last 5 days. I have also been able to set up folders for Matt to use the other days.
-Reservation for both Birch Run and Claire have been made and paid for. So we are definitely going to MI for Thanksgiving.
– I have already started Christmas shopping and have finished about half.
-We are buying a ceiling fan tonight so hopefully we can go an entire week with using the central air.
Potty Training- Kendall Style An update
When I titled this post I realized that I had already posted once about this topic. I was confused and had to look back at the post and the date, May 21, a entire lifetime ago. Wow….
I honestly don’t remember potty training either Amanda or Haley. Haley was in daycare at Coggins and also allergic to disposable diapers so I assume that with these combined, Potty training was much easier! However honestly, I don’t remember when or how it happened. Yes, Haley, I am a horrible mother. I was home most of the time with Lily so I have a few memories of training her. First, I started sitting her on the potty around 16 months. I know that it took several months for her to get the idea but I also have a vague memory that once she started going on the potty it was less than a week before she was out of diapers.
Kendall has always marched to the beat of her own drummer. She is my latest walker at around 18 months, we noticed and corrected her vision at the earliest age, 14 months. She was actually swimming long before walking. I had a hint that potty training would be the same. She actually asked to go to the potty starting in May. But she rarely peed on it. I decided to leave the diaper off and she peed and did not even blink. So I knew she was not ready. Then with all the events of the summer, potty training was on the list never mind at the top. After her birthday, my mom started hinting about time to train her, but it was actually after Zach’s birthday that I finally decided it needed to happen. Matt and I talked about taking her to the potty and we honestly tried. Finally start last week, I have been making the effort to take her often when I am home. Matt has also started seeing way to remind him to take her. She has been using the potty about once a day for the past week. Kendall has also made the connection between using the potty and getting candy. She will even tell anyone what happens! On Wednesday, I had a late morning at work so I took her to the potty first thing… she peed!!! I also made it a point to take her every hour until I left around 11. I was disappointed because she still had a wet diaper and didn’t use the potty again. So imagine my excitement when I got in my car and read the text from Matt that she pooped in the potty!!! Awesome not only did he remember to take her after nap but she used it! So before dinner I took her back to the potty and she used it again! And then prior to bath, she used the “big potty” I am excited. The goal is now to have her trained and in panties by Thanksgiving! Even if we have to use diapers at night it will make that trip so much easier! I will try to update on my month in review!
Upside
I think I finally have a hold on my life! Today I have managed to get a lot done including this blog and still think I will finish my list :)! So here is a quick update on things happening around here.
-I have a sinus infection and stomach bug. Hopefully the antibiotic will help and I will finally be cough and runny nose free for the first time since August.
-Zach has the same above mentioned stomach bug. We are still waiting to find out why he is not gaining weight. We are adjust to the no wheat diet and finding table food that he will eat in the process. We have accomplished the mission of 18 to 24 oz of Soy Formula a day
-Kendall has a sore throat and is continuing to work on potty training. So far once a day at best but at least it is a start.
-Lily is enjoying home school and likes it even better when both Matt and I get to “teach” her.
– We are trying to plan both our trip to Michigan at Thanksgiving and Disney at Easter.
-Haley is currently ground and has not died as expected from the lack of facebook.
Now to get things done 🙂
Random Beach Thoughts
Waiting on 3 small children to fall asleep twice a day at around 1.5 hours each time eats up an ENTIRE day at the beach over the week of vacation.
Said children are so tired by 5:30pm it is torture to keep them awake till 6:30 when the above torture begins..yes we have tried putting them straight to bed and that did not work either.
We have been able to “enjoy” the sunrise all 4 days of our vacation due to the above mention children and their sleeping habits.
Lily enjoyed her first ever game of bowling today with a “winning” score of 137 including 3 separate strikes. She did use both gutter guards and a ball ramp.
Amanda is the worsest bowler in the house only because I “took one for the team” and did not bowl. Haley came in second behind Lily with 3 strikes as well and Matt was third with only 1 strike and several gutter balls.
Zach and Kendall both enjoyed the aquarium this morning much more than I had hoped.
Kendall was afraid to touch anything (shoe crabs, string rays and the costume Shark).
Lily impressed us all and asked to go and visit with the costume Shark, she earned a tattoo for this request.
It is possible to entertain 4 children at the beach without any toys for almost 2 hours. In fact we have enjoyed this time for the past 2 days.
And to finish out the 10 random beach thoughts….I can say without a doubt the Krispy Kreme donuts are far better than Dunkin Dounuts!