Again!

Dare I hope that this is the beginning of a new trend? Evie slept in her own bed all night again! (Why do I feel that we might really be in for it tonight?!)

Evie slept in her own bed all night!

She had a little trouble falling asleep, but she stayed in her own bed all night! That hasn't happened in a while.

A full night's sleep is a good thing for a mama to have.

Emily needs glasses!

Em has been coming home from school with a headache every day. So, we took her to the eye doctor. She is farsighted, and needs glasses to read or do homework. The doctor also said that her eyes are trying to cross a little when she reads, and the strain of keeping them pointed straight is also contributing to the headache. So, Em will have bifocals - clear lenses for distance, and prescription reading lenses for close work. We couldn't get the no-line bifocals, because the line on her glasses will help her eyes become stronger.

She picked a really cute purple pair of glasses at first, but then opted for a nice bronze-gold pair. My little fashionista explained that she liked the purple ones better, but they wouldn't match everything in her wardrobe, and the gold ones would. Makes perfect sense to me! I think I will take her along when it is time to pick out my glasses.

We pick them up next week, so I will try to post pictures then.

How can a day go from good to bad so fast?

Today we had to say goodbye to our dog, Ralphie. He's been with us since September, 2001. Richard had been travelling for work at the time of the attacks on 9/11, and was actually in the air when the planes hit. He landed safely in Columbus, was able to get his rental car, and drove home to Kansas instead of to his motel. Shortly after he got home, he got Ralph for us, to watch over Em and me while he was gone.

Ralphie has always been a nervous and needy dog. He has been a good dog, though. But, he developed a problem with children. He nipped at our neighbor's daughter through the fence. Our vet said it was just a territory/aggression problem. He nipped at our nephew when he was tickling Emily. Everyone tried to explain it away, that he was protecting Em. He was a little aggressive towards Evie at first, and tried to nip at her. So, we never left them alone together. I thought things were getting better. We worked with Evie about leaving Ralphie's food alone, leaving his crate alone, etc. This dog was on his last chance. His last last chance.

Today, he bit Emily on the hand. She is the last person I would have ever expected him to bite. Thankfully, she is ok. He didn't break the skin - but I think that she will have a bruise. Emily is Ralph's person. She feeds him, takes care of him. He often sleeps on the foot of her bed. It broke her heart that her puppy bit her.

Richard and I decided that we couldn't take any more chances. Ralphie had to go. Richard drove him to the shelter to give him up. If he passes the aggression test, he will have at least 7 days to find a home, a home without children. I think we all know what will happen if he fails the aggression test. It broke our hearts, but our children have to come first. I feel so badly for Richard - Ralphie was his buddy, and would often hang out with him in the basement, laying at his feet while he worked on the computer or did his homework. If you couldn't tell, my heart is broken, too. Evie is just confused - she knows that we are all sad, but doesn't know why.

I just feel like we failed Emily and Evie by having an unsuitable pet. We failed Ralphie - we had supposedly rescued him from the pound, but ended up being an unsuitable home for him. I don't know what we could have done differently. I am so sad.

An ordinary, yet wonderful, update!

It is a cold, snowy morning. I think we got another 4-5 inches of snow overnight, and it made the outside world look fluffy and beautiful! Richard is outside right now snowblowing, and Evie is standing at the livingroom window pounding on the glass and yelling at him!

Yesterday we took a drive to Des Moines. We were looking for a new glider rocker for Evie's room. (the old one was inexpensive, and we got what we paid for!) Well, I found one I really liked, and it was on clearance, so we ended up buying two - one for Evie's room, and one for the living room. They are soft and sturdy and comfy, and somehow the wood on them ended up matching everything else wonderfully! We had to take them out of the boxes and do some creative rearranging, but we got them both in the back of the new van after we laid the back seats down. There is really a lot of room back there!

While we were in Des Moines, we ate lunch at the Texas Roadhouse. Since Evie got the go-ahead to try to drink with a straw, we let her try it out. She was actually successful at getting the water in her mouth several times! Each time she also ended up splashing her face, so she soon gave up the straw in favor of her pink sippy cup. We'll try again later, with juice or milk, which will be more of a reward for the hard work of learning to use a straw.

Evie also seems to be talking more, both in signs and words. She also seems to be trying to say many of the words that she signs. She loves to sign and say "light" and "banana" especially!

Evie's nights seem to be going better, too. There is a lot less fighting, and she seems to fall asleep easier. She has actually slept in her own bed all night a couple times! She likes her new rocking chair, and was petting it while I was rocking her last night.

Emily is doing wonderfully, too. She is a good student, and loves to read. Right now she is reading the sixth Harry Potter book, and is already impatiently waiting for the next one! She is very excited about her school field trip next week. They are going to learn how to ski at Snowstar, a local ski resort. None of us have ever skied, so she will be our new expert! Her school takes this fieldtrip in 4th, 5th, and 6th grades. Emily also happens to be Evie's favorite person in the world. Her sister loves to say "Ema!", and her favorite time of day is when her sissy comes home from school.

The Good and the Bad

First, the bad news. Evie does not want to sleep at night, and has all but given up her afternoon naps. She fights and fights against sleep and against me. She wants me to hold her while she fights and cries and screams. Then, *poof*, all is back to normal, and she wants me to rock her and sing to her while we snuggle. It's confusing and exhausting. She also wants me to sit in the rocker next to her crib while she tries to fall asleep. Sometimes it takes hours to get her to sleep. When she wakes during the night, we bring her into our room to sleep in the playpen. (We tried cosleeping, but she likes to kick/hit/flip/elbow/poke, etc.) We are all so tired and cranky at this point. I think it is getting better, but I also think that I'll have to let you know in a couple weeks!

Now for the good news! We had another post-surgery appointment with Dr. P today. He is very happy with the way her palate has healed, and doesn't see any fistulas. (Richard and I had thought that we'd seen one.) He doesn't need to see her back until the end of May!

After her appointment, we went to Sam's so I could get some clementines. (Two boxes, I think I am addicted!) Evie saw the trail mix with the dried fruit and nuts, and asked for it. It has dried na-nanas in it! She held it and hugged it throughout the store and loudly sang the praises of na-nanas! When we left, it was lightly snowing, big fat flakes that land on your windshield and sit for a minute before melting, so you can see how delicate and feathery and crystallike they are. Pretty!