More birthday

OK, I'm not a mom that is all about helmets and pads. But, she'll need them for a few activities at school. Doesn't she look hilariously cute?

Quinlynne getting in some car action with the boys.
Quinlynne kicked out by the boys and their cars.
Is this REALLY for me??? Isaiah & Sarah looking too.
With her butterfly purse and snazzy dress up shoes.
With her new scooter from her Uncles....Charlie & Connie.

Happy Birthday to Quinlynne

Quinlynne Lucille Paige Hoffman turned 3 years old on August 22. Can you believe it?? My tee tiny baby girl is 3! She is 36.6 pounds and 40 inches tall. I know it has taken me a while to get this posted. I mean, she's been 3 for over a week now. But- just like 3 years ago- I'm playing catch-up.

Quinlynne's birthday party was at Pizza Hut. The girl loves pizza, so I figured that would be a good place for it. Also- August 22 is just too dang hot for an outside party. Believe me, we've done it twice now. I did not want to do it again. I had the party on her actual birthday, which was a Friday. I was really surprised at the number of people who were able to come to the party. Thanks to everyone for coming! It was a dang good time.

I kept asking Quinlynne what she wanted her birthday party to be and for a month and a half she's been telling me "Pink flowers and butterflies". Sounds simple enough, right? Not so much. I ended up having to make her invitations because I could not find anything anywhere. By the time I did, it was a week before her party and obviously too late to get the invitations. We did get her napkins and paper plates though- turned out cute. Again, problem with the cake. I could have made the butterfly cake again- like I did for her recital. I went with this from Sam's though. You can't tell in this picture- but it was a pretty pink with lavender flowers.

I was quite impressed with the behavior of all the kids at the party. It is very nice that we had so many young kids at the party and so few behavior problems. Especially considering Quinlynne had been up since 7 that morning and going strong all day. We had her pictures done, went shopping, had lunch, went to Sam's, dropped off stuff at the fairgrounds for Just Between Friends, came home, and had her party...and the child never took a nap. She didn't even go to bed until 11:30 or so that night. Sheesh- what a day. But what a GREAT birthday! I will post her pictures when I pick them up in a few days. They turned out so well. Happy Birthday, Precious!

Terrible

As most of you know, Uncle Charlie and Uncle Connie play a huge role in our lives. Uncle Charlie has a great granddaughter named Kayli. (For those of you who don't know- here's how the family tree goes: Uncle Charlie's 1st wife is my dad's sister, Dianna. Connie's 1st husband is Jimmy. Jimmy's 1st wife is my mom's sister, Charlsie.) So, Kayli is my 2nd cousin's daughter. We received a phone call from Aunt Di on Sunday with some devastating news. Kayli was very sick, had Coded in the Urgent Care clinic. Long story short, Kayli passed away. THIS is what we eventually learned. Isn't it terrible???

Behavioral?

OK, I don't know if I've shared this before, but Quinlynne is having quite the time going poopie in the potty. She will go in her panties or her Pull-Up or whatever she may be wearing. I know I told you that not too long ago that I had to take her to her pediatrician because she was constipated. Well, I ended up having to give her an ADULT dose of Miralax to get her bowels to move. Even after that, the product was not what I would have expected.

We have adjusted Quinlynne's diet. We make sure she gets grapes, apples, carrots, tomatoes, not too much cheese, plenty of water, etc. The girl can let THE stinkiest toots, and still no pooping. I let her sit on the potty, read a book, let her have her time, sit and talk to her in there, and still nothing. Then the girl will go in her pants. It's like she's more comfortable going standing up than sitting down. Also, and please forgive the non-medical terms here.... One little terd will come out and stick between her butt cheeks. What in the heck? This happens all the time.

I have tried taking her movies away from her, talking to her, spanking her, not allowing her to do things she wants to do, etc.

So, I take her to the pediatrician again this past Friday. The doctor (rather bluntly) just tells me it's a control thing and it's all behavioral. She said it's Quinlynne's way of controlling me. I, however, do not completely believe that. Yes, I do think that she "withholds", but what in the heck is it that makes that one little terd come out??? All the time!!!! It is so entirely frustrating. The doctor did a rectal exam (havne't seen that actual cry from Quinlynne since she was tiny) and said she has good sphincter tone and she didn't feel anything weird in there. She also sent us to the lab to test for parasites in the stool. Thank goodness they gave me a container to take home and bring back. I would have just died if they would gone in and taken a sample.

The doctor has me starting a bowel regimen on her. Basically, it consists of me giving her Miralax and additional fiber until her movements become....normal. Good grief. I can't believe I'm actually posting MORE about bowel movements!!!

New Teacher

Quinlynne has now moved up to the 3 year old class at her preschool/daycare. I went to the open house last week, and almost had a breakdown afterwards. I was so sad!!! Her new room is more like a classroom than her old room. They have little centers and different subject areas. I just don't know if I'm ready to have her grow up on me! Don't get me wrong, I'm so very proud of her and her learning accomplishments...but she's my tee-tiny baby girl! Good grief- what am I going to do when she goes to Kindegarten...not to mention High School and college?? I realize that it's my job as a good mom to let her go and let her know how proud I am of her and support her. However, inside I'm thinking to myself "stop growing up, baby girl!" Now why on earth do I let her going to the Super 3'S class affect me so greatly? Sheesh- Shandolynne!

help the man

OK, I know I have told you about this beautiful family in North Carolina previously. They are the Lawrensons. I believe I introduced you to Nate's blog, which details not only things about his wife, Tricia's Cystic Fibrosis and lung transplant; but also about their beautiful little girl, Gwyneth. Since Tricia's double lung transplant, it has been discovered that she has Post-Transplant Lymphoma. Tricia has started a more aggressive chemotherapy and Nate has set a personal goal of raising $3000 in a week for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

As you all know, Cancer is something that has affected my family. My dad was diagnosed with Prostate Cancer in 2001. He had his prostate removed and never had any further elevated PSA (Prostate Specific Antigen) levels. Then, in 2005 we discovered Dad had another form of Cancer. This second time he was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma, or bone marrow cancer. Multiple Myeloma is treatable, but there is no cure for it. After a few battles with his body, my dad ultimately died from complications of the Multiple Myeloma. I detested watching my dad be in pain and watching him be unable to do the things he wanted to do. I always think of my dad as being my big, strong dad who could take care of anything. There is seriously no way for me to tell you just how strong I think of my dad as being. The day my dad left our house to go to the hospital (which ended up being the day he died), my dad barely had enough oxygen to put one foot in front of the other because his hemoglobin was 5. But he drove himself and my mom to the hospital with ice all over the ground, then he wouldn't let the hospital workers take him, in a wheelchair, inside out of the cold until he made sure that my mom was going to make it safely across the ice to him.

OK, I hate to have gone off on a little sideline memory stroll there..... but please go to Nate's blog and help him help his wife and brother in-law. Too many people are affected by Cancer. Thanks!

Really impresed

This year my mom is in charge of our family reunion. The theme is Christmas in July and it is next weekend. Needless to say, there is a bit that still needs to be done and she wanted to take advantage of the weekend to get some of it done. My contribution to yesterday's working was to keep Quinlynne out of the house. Not that Quinlynne is a naughty girl when working is going on, but she thinks she needs to "help" as well.....and we all know how that goes.

So, yesterday morning Quinlynne and I met my cousin Audra and her two boys (and her mom) at a splash pad in Broken Arrow. Quinlynne and Deacon had quite a fun time playing around and they played quite well together. Beck, who just turned 1 was fun for us adults to watch. He is just the cutest little baby boy! Deacon and Quinlynne did include Beck periodically and some little girl was trying to pick up Beck and his face was just priceless.

After we had enough of the beautiful 95 degree heat before noon, we packed up and took the kids to get a bite to eat. Quinlynne and I then headed to the Affair of the Heart craft show at the fairgrounds. We went from one end to the other. Quinlynne did very well in her stroller, except towards the end when she started thrashing about, giving me dirty looks and saying "I want to go home!"

After the craft show we had to go to Toys R Us. Amazingly enough, Audra, Deacon and Beck were there, too! (Yes, we planned that.) Quinlynne and I spent a while there then decided they didn't have what we wanted. We then went to PetsMart to look at cats, fish, birds and ugly rodents. We also enjoyed tickling each other with the feathered cat toys. On our way out to the Jeep Quinlynne took a spill off the curb onto the parking lot. I think it shocked her more than anything. I picked her up and she immediately told me she thought I needed to look in the bag and see if we had any medicine that goes in her mouth for her hurts. We then went to Target and looked all around for several things we needed.

Can you believe we did all this and Quinlynne never had any meltdowns and I never got totally frustrated with her and she never threw any fits? I was quite impressed. She had only had a couple of cat naps in the car during this entire time. All in all, we had quite a fun time and I thought I had tired her out....but the little stinker didn't go to bed until 11:00! Where does she get this???

Beauty salon

Quinlynne has decided she likes doing people's hair. She doesn't like to have her hair done, though. The only person she likes to do her hair is Penny. Hurts my feelings a bit- but oh well. Penny does a better job than I do, anyhow. Anyhow, Quinlynne climbed up on the sofa next to me and decided she was going to "do" my hair. It actually consisted of spraying a little water on it and just mussing it up all over. Afterwards, we had to look in the mirror.

Then, on July 6th, I was doing Charlsie & Penny's toes before they headed home. Quinlynne decided she just HAD to have her toes done again, too. And she wanted a happy face painted on them. Being the angel of a mother that I am, I did this for her.

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!

Happy Independence Day! You know, sometimes I get a little teary eyed when I'm watching the fireworks. I imagine the "rockets' red glare" and "the bombs bursting in air" that inspired the words to our National Anthem and I'm just filled with the Spirit and thankfulness to know that we are living in the chosen land. These are fairly deep thoughts to convey to a two year old, but I try. I don't think it made it through to her, but I'll continue to try.

Martez fixing his plate. Elijah smelling his chicken.

To celebrate our Independence Day, we had over Uncle Charles and Aunt Connie, Charlsie and Penny, and the Cullom family (Angie, Martez, Elijah & Isaiah) and of course, as with most holidays...we end up doing things with our family across the street- the Blackburns. We cooked out, had homemade banana ice cream, and watched fireworks. Since we don't live in city limits, we were able to see fireworks all around us. Some of them were quite spectacular. Tammie- don't fall out of the Expedition!

I&Q doing sparklers.

Of course, the little kids got to do sparklers, which they loved. It was so stinkin' humid I was quite miserable and everyone was wet from perspiration (sweatin' like pigs). Overall, I think a good time was had by all!

Q- taking it all in.

Early on the 4th

Before the actual festivities on the 4th of July commenced, I decided Quinlynne would enjoy some time in her little pool. She actually did get in for a while. Usually, she spends forever bending over the side of the pool trying to get each little bug and blade of grass out of it. So infuriating for me....just get in! Anyhow, she also decided she wanted a popsicle. She was being a good girl so I said yes. She did very well combining the two. She loved posing for it!

I was trying to tire her out so she would take a nap and wouldn't be tooooo terribly tired once our company arrived for the evening festivities. It worked like a charm!