(another) Sleep Study

Here is a picture of my sweet little trooper. You may not know it by looking at her, but this girl really has been through a lot in the last 2 1/2 years. So much poking and prodding, endless doctors visits all for them to tell us they are "baffled". She really is such an example to me of just how amazing kids are. She has been so brave and tough and always trusts in me. She has taught me so much in these last few years.
The last few days I have been reflecting a lot on her journey and how far she truly has come. Sometimes it is therapeutic for me to go back and read my thoughts that I wrote down during the extremely hard times. Sometimes I chuckle to myself as I read them and realize how crazy I may have sounded and how I wrote a whole lot about how I can't wait for this to end. The crazy optimism that I had with each doctors visit and also the extreme let downs I would have after them, when they didn't go as well as I hoped! If it is on thing I have learned it isn't the optimism that I regret, it is the times that I let the negativity get to me. The times that I wanted to just give up, but in those moments I learned a lot about myself. So, really I don't wish any of this away. I really have been shaped and molded and learned so much these last few years.
With all that being said, I still wasn't looking forward to yet another sleep study. I always get anxiety, that part is never easy for me. I feel like a lot of the times Jaida is way more brave and at peace with things than I am. When we arrived this time, she was happy as can be. She kept saying," Mommy we sleep together in the same bed and watch movies?" I would say,"Yep!" and she would reply,"wahoo!" The nurses all know us really well and love Jaida. They are all routing for her to do her best and are always very impressed with her bravery. The nurse this time was our usual one and kept telling Jaida each time she put an electrode on her head how she was putting on her Tangled princess hair. So with each new strand Jaida would cheer with excitement and say, "Mommy I a Princess!" In this picture we were trying to gear her up for the "worst" part of the whole thing.. the nasal cannula and nasal probe. She wasn't very excited about it, but as usual she took it in stride.
I am not sure how, but Jaida had an extremely good night sleep. She didn't seem quite as restless as sleep studies in the past. Maybe it is because she is so familiar with them? I would like to think that it has more to do with all those who pray for her to feel peace. I do believe that Jaida has "guardian angels".
In the morning, bright and early, the nurse came in. She isn't authorized to tell us any information because obviously she isn't a doctor. But I think because they know us so well and really truly want Jaida to be better, she whispered to me under her breath, " Just thought I would share with you that she didn't require oxygen all night!!" I tried my hardest not to shout for JOY out loud, but I wanted too. I tried not to let my emotions get the best of me too. I simply hugged her and walked out feeling like I could conquer the world. That was until I got out to the parking lot, I screamed with joy! Once I got in the car the tears began to flow uncontrollably. I was feeling an extreme sense of gratitude. Right then I prayed to my Heavenly Father and thanked him for this moment. It really was such an amazing moment.
Now, I don't want to get to far ahead of myself because we still don't know all the results of her study. But really if it is just a glimmer of hope or a light at the end of the tunnel. I am just grateful for that. Do I wish and hope that it could mean that she is cured? Sure, but am I going to be devastated if she isn't, no! Because I know that for whatever reason this is what God has planned for her/ us and I am going to try and be just like Jaida and face it with courage and bravery! Here is to a renewed sense of optimism and hope.

Best Buds

One thing I had always hoped was that since these two boys were so close in age that they would be best buddies. For the most part they are, but they definitely have their moments. One thing is for sure Brock thinks that Pierce hung the moon. He absolutely looks up to him and wants his approval. Pierce is usually a pretty good sport and lets Brock tag along. I tell you what, it sure makes this mom's heart happy to see.

Treats!

 One thing that I think all my children have successfully inherited from me is my deep LOVE for treats. Almost every night after dinner they ask," Mom are we going to have dessert tonight?" So it really is something that I cannot say no to, because quite frankly I am thinking the same thing! One night they were begging to go get donuts from Dunkin Donuts, they really didn't have to pull my leg too hard. Jaida isn't a big fan of donuts so we let her pick an ice cream instead. She was happy as can be as you can tell.

Nothing better than a treat!

Mall Rats

 When I was younger I remember my mom taking me to the mall at least once a week. A lot of the time we would drive 40 minutes to meet up with my Granny to go. It was always something that I looked forward to. Now that it is just Jaida and me at home while the boys are at school, we have been attempting to make it to the mall on Thursdays. Here at the Mall in Columbia, MD they have a pretty fantastic (free) story time every Thursday. An extra bonus is that they give out free carousel ride tickets. So we make a day of it. We get there and got to the story time and then play in the mall play land. We then head up to the carousel, she loves that!

Then we top it off with a yummy lunch. It really is a fun little tradition and great one on one time with her. It is something that I always hoped that I could do someday with my daughter. She is at such a fun age. Here is to many more Mall excursions!

Jaida and her Babies

 One thing that I think is absolutely adorable about Little Jaida is how much she loves her two "babies". She received her first baby Pink when she was in the hospital as a baby from my mom as a gift. Last year her uncle Cory sent her her second baby Brown for Christmas. This is about when the obsession started. She has to take them with us everywhere. Always knows when one is missing. Will not sleep without them. Often we are frantically searching for them at bedtime. We have even tried to be sneaky and not bring them up when it is time for bed time.... She always knows! As you tuck her in she ALWAYS asks where her babies are.

Lately she has been asking to take her babies out for walks. All of our neighbors think that it is absolutely adorable. She talks to them and tells them stories as we walk. It really is so precious. It is something that I hope sticks around for quite sometime, even as annoying as it can get when we can't find the babies.

Jaida's hair

Jaida's hair is growing so fast. It is quite often out of control frizzy! The humidity here sure does turn it into a poof ball. I find myself always looking for ways to creatively pull it back out of her face. Here is a hair-do that brought me back to my childhood. My best Friend growing up, Loni Stapley, almost always had her hair done like this with coordinating scrunchies of course! I am loving having a girl, a much as I thought I would hate it. She is so fun to do girl things with!

Crib makeover

 I have been wanting to do this for quite some time, but just never had the ambition I guess. You see when we moved here in January of 2010 the moving company absolutely destroyed my beautiful cherry wood crib. The gave me a whoppin' $40 to make up for it!! I was about 7 months pregnant with Jaida at the time and quite frankly with the move and things wasn't really feeling it. So there it has sat trashed, for the last 2 1/2 years! I had to start with filling out the huge gauges that were taken during the move. Then I had to sand the entire thing down. This was a much bigger chore than I had imagined, but at this point I was already committed!

 It actually was kind of hard for me to sand something that cost so much money and with the thought in the back of my mind, "What if this doesn't turn out?" Like I said before I was already committed at this point. Jaida and the new baby will be sharing a room. The colors of Jaida's room is Red, black and white. So I decided to paint the crib black. It took me an entire day of sanding, and entire day of priming (6 cans of spray paint primer) and an entire day of painting (6 spray paint cans of black gloss) then 4 hours to put a protective clear coat on it.

I have to say that I was so thrilled with how it turned out and I cannot wait to get the new baby girl's bedding in there. Her colors are going to be black, white and yellow. My mom is working on the quilt, can hardly wait~! Also she is making a new bed skirt. I will post pictures once it is all complete! I was pretty dang proud of myself after I finished!

Boys Basketball

 Basketball is in full  swing here! We are pretty busy with it this year. It is Brock's first year that he is able to play. Trent decided that he would coach both of their teams. It has been quite a challenge and really time consuming. I think both boys really enjoy having their dad as coach. Pierce's team is the Marriotsville Colts and Brock is on the Rockburn Cats. Funny story: Brock asks Trent what the name of his team was and Trent told him the Cats. Brock looks at him funny and says, "the cats? ahhh" (A little disappointed in the name was hoping for something more masculine.) Right then Pierce chimes in with," The Cats... meeeeoooow" Pretty hilarious moment! Brock wasn't impressed.

We weren't quite sure how Brock would do in basketball because when we signed him up for soccer last year he spent the majority of the time picking daisies. It was painful to watch and a waste of money! But this kid has totally surprised both Trent and I. He is so aggressive and gets after it! It is actually quite fun to watch him. He is an animal. Trent often has to remind him to stay in his zone defense.
Pierce is one of the younger ones on his team and is trying to figure out his role on the team. I see so much of myself in this kid it is pretty scary. Watching him a lot of the time makes me cringe inside because I remember how I felt in similar situations.
Jaida and I spend a lot of time sitting on very hard bleachers on Saturday mornings. We have pretty sore bottoms by the end and it wouldn't be complete with her spilling a drink and falling off the bleachers every time. Reminds me of sitting at my brothers' many baseball games. My little sister Whitney was always a disaster and would pretty much get hurt every game. It sure is cute to hear her yell for her brothers to, "get the ball!" "Shoot it!" and "Go team!" We better get used to it because I see a lot of sporting events in our future.

Growing like a weed

I took Pierce to the Doctor today for his annual physical. He was pretty excited to miss school and hang out with me. I guess I should be glad he still likes me somewhat. Perhaps it was because I bribed him with lunch at Chick-fil-a. He was getting a flu shot and I thought he might need some cheering up after.
Here are his stats:
Weight: 68.5lb. (95%)
Height: 51.5 in. (95%)

We have always known he was a big boy! This kid has really grown a ton in the last year. He gained 10 lbs. and grew 3.5 inches!! He has gone through about 2 different shoe sizes and several wardrobes due to his huge growth spurts! He is currently wearing size 8 and his shoe size is a 3.

When the doctor told me he was in the 95% she told me that was for all 7-8 year olds. Which makes him a very large 7 year old. He is actually the average size of a 9-10 year old!

As for his flu shot he did great and didn't even cry. He did enjoy his Chick-fil-a anyway. Sure love my big boy!