Kylee Soccer

This year we haven't made it to too many of the neice's & nephew's activities. But we made it to a double-header soccer game that Kylee had.


Here she is being a really good goalie!!

It was scary when she dived to stop the ball & the same instant that this little guy was charging for the ball! Luckily his aim wasn't very good & her timing didn't get her a kick in the face or arms!!!

One thing we definitely noticed is how much the kids have improved from the last time we watched...last time all the kids followed the ball no matter where the ball went...when our boys were young, we called it "herd ball"!!

"Fiend" Mia

All summer we've heard, "Fiend Mia" -- "Amie Mia". But we knew that Amie was going to morning classes & Mia was staying in afternoon classes. As the new school year started, Amie has continued to talk about "Amie Mia"!

Last week the school had a hot dog fellowship for all students & their families. Amie's teacher Miss German let me know that Mia was on the playground, so we took Amie over that way & all of a sudden, Mia & Amie both noticed the other & went running to meet!

When Mia got to Amie, the first thing she said was, "Amie I've been so worried about you."

Who would have thought that a three year old could have a "long lost friend"!!

Celebrations

Darwin celebrated his birthday on September 2nd. What was that -- 29th again? No, that's not right, must be 30th! ;) Amie helped pick out the cake & has now confiscated the motorcycle!
Another September birthday is Miss Kylee! Happy Birthday Kylee!! We went to dinner at her favorite mexican restaurant (even though Missy here orders chicken strips when we go there!). Just dinner for now -- birthday party this weekend!!
Being goofy with Grandpa!
Cousin Tim wanted to ham it up in the pictures too!
Kylee and Amie got ring pops -- Amie thought it was soooo funny that her tongue turned blue!!

Fun with Amie

A few Amie stories.......

"Moie" (Mommy without the second M)

"Moie"
"Amie Shop"


There she was next to me in her dress up high heels & her little purse, when I said, "ok, Amie can go shopping" -- she went to the door & really wanted to leave to go shopping!!


Sometimes, she's all girl!!
Then she decided to be goofy!!

About two weeks ago, Amie got ahold of Grandma's scissors & did her first "home made" hair cut -- it's a really good thing that on that day, her bangs weren't all down front -- because most of the time we can hide it with other bangs.

Last night, Amie was playing in the bathtub, I was putting laundry away & I heard,
"Moie, but"
"Amie but"
"Moie but" -- and she sounded really quiet -- what on earth was she talking about?

I walked in there & she was sitting on the side of the tub, with her legs drawn up, she looked up at me & said "a but" -- I was still thinking, what on earth..... I said, what are you talking about & why are you on the edge of the tub? She pointed down & said "a but".

I looked down, through the bubbles & there was a little dark fleck on the bottom of the tub -- I mean seriously it was SMALL & she said "a but". I finally figured it out -- she thought it was a BUG!!!! I told her it wasn't a bug, I chased it & lost it in the bubbles, never did get it out of the tub, but did convince her it wasn't a bug (or at least I think I did!!) I was laughing so hard!!! She's her Mommy's girl...not a bug fan!!!

And my last Amie story tonight....yesterday she visited me at work while Daddy had an appointment next door. The timing should have been fine (but I later found out, she hadn't taken a nap, which is why she became drama queen extraordinaire!)

Ok, so she comes to my office & she colors for a minute, then I tell her that we need to go upstairs for something, we begin walking down the hallway to the elevator & as she encounters different people she becomes more and more disagreeable....now remember I work at a catholic hospital.....yes you guessed it -- she crossed paths with one of the worlds sweetest souls! Sister Joan! Sister Joan tried to talk to her & Amie stuck her finger out & said "No" and every time Sister tried to talk to her she became more and more argumentative, shaking her finger & backing away. I picked her up & there in front of Sister -- she started kicking me!!!! Yes -- she made quite the impression!!!


And again I ask.....What are we going to do when she becomes a teenager??????????

:)

Finding a new "fiend"

School has started!! Yeah!! Amie was so excited to go to "Kool" (school) -- because she wanted to see her "fiend" (friend)...Mia!

Well we had her moved to the morning class this year, because the afternoon class was counter-productive due to her exhaustion from missing her afternoon naps. Life was not fun in the evenings with an overly tired little girl!!

So, one of the down sides to this is that Mia is still in the afternoon, but Amie is in the morning...

Day one was ok, day two wasn't too bad. By day three she was NOT happy! Grandma took her in & she crossed her arms, leaned against the wall & said "kool Mia"!! She got over it pretty quickly -- but she is still daily talking about Mia.

It looks like Kiandra might be her new friend, so we're asking each day if she had fun with her new friends & then asking her if she played with Kiandra.

Just need to whine!!

OK -- so I'm going to whine a bit tonight!

This year (since about January), something has not been quite right with me. I've been colder than usual, tired & then my fingers started going white on me & my hips are killing me!

Finally at the end of June I went to my doctor, because I was wearing sweatshirts in 90 degree weather & the fingers were still going white. My doctor ran some tests -- and I was taken by surprise to find that I was anemic, had low white count, had an outrageously high ANA test (an indicator of an auto immune problem) & the fingers were raynaud's syndrome -- all leading her to think that I had Lupus.

Ok -- Lupus -- great! My Dad had lupus -- but his was mostly skin, but he also had Raynaud's (didn't know that Raynaud's was common with lupus, thought it was because he smoked).

So, for the past couple of months - I have started taking aspirin (to increase blood flow to my fingers) & iron (for the anemia). I have been referred to a rheumotologist & seen him two times, today being the second time.

My anemia is better (not gone, but better), the white count is no better & the raynaud's is somewhat better. His diagnosis, "auto-immune, connective tissue disorder, not otherwise specified", because it "reeks" of an auto-immune disorder, but doesn't have the exact hallmarks of one specific one (such as lupus).

So, tomorrow I have another eye exam as a precaution & then will start on plaquenil. Plaquenil is an anti-malaria drug, that has been found to "calm" the immune system. It may help some of the symptoms & keep others at bay. I will return to see him in early November, if the raynaud's is not better (and by that time it might start getting worse again because of the time of the year), he will start me on a calcium channel blocker -- usually used for high blood pressure to open the blood vessels. But, for someone with normal blood pressure, it can cause some light headedness, especially on standing. Fabulous!

Ok -- so I just needed to get that off my chest. It just irks me that I have tried to have better health over the last several years -- and this is the way my body thanks me??

A Beautiful Labor Day

What a gorgeous day this Labor Day was!

We blew up a pool for the kids, Amie absolutely LOVED it! "Amie Swim" she would tell me!



Here is Amie & Carly (Carly is the little girl that Tiara babysits) -- Carly is at Tiara's as much as she's at her own home -- and thus Amie loves to play with Carly & Carly loves to play with Amie! Carly is almost exactly 1 year younger than Amie (by two days!) But Carly is developmentally ahead of Amie -- so the two of them are good for each other!!!

Here is an adorable picture of Kylee & Alexandra!! I love it. Most of the time Alex makes the faces & Kylee smiles -- this time Alex has a precious look on her face & Kylee's being silly -- I LOVE this picture!!

Here are the 5 young cousins (including our adopted cousin - Carly)

Carly, Donovan, Alexandra, Kylee & Amie