Blessed By God's Protection

The girls and I went back to my home in Wisconsin over the weekend for the final wedding of the year (#6). Over the past 5-10 years my parents have added a garage with rooms above it onto their house. The new staircase is hardwood and is unfinished. The side rails at the top of the stairs are not in place. We have spent many nights there and the staircase has not been a problem - until Friday night. We were upstairs getting ready for bed. So many things could have prevented the accident like just going to bed. I took the time to pick up a big stuffed animal at the end of the bed and Morgan decided to come stand next to me. I didn't even think about it but before I knew it, she took a step backwards and went over the edge of the staircase! She fell about 5 to 5 1/2 feet and landed flat on her back/head on one of the hardwood stairs. Then she tried to sit up and ended up rolling down the remaining stairs and stopped at the bottom face down. It was about 10:30 pm and my mom and I decided to take her to the hospital to have her checked out. While there she threw up all over me, herself and the floor. After the nurse and doctor checked her out she fell asleep while waiting for a technician to come do a CT scan of her head. She woke up before the test but did pretty well considering. She fell asleep again while waiting for the results to come back from a Madison hospital. Finally the results were in and she showed no internal head injuries. We headed home and got to bed about 1 am. She had no bump on her head and so far only 1 bruise on one of her hips has shown up. My aunt who is a massage therapist suggested I have her checked by a pediatric orthopedic doctor to prevent future problems (like migraine headaches). I am going to do that soon. Shelby was upset and I thought she was thinking Morgan's fall was her fault. I reassured her it wasn't and she said she was just sad because she was hurting. My dad said after my mom and I left with her for the hospital Shelby asked, "Is she dead"? Thankfully because of the good Lord, she's not dead and did not get seriously hurt. The whole thing could have turned out so differently.

God Help Us!

God Help Us!!! At the end of this day that is about all I have left to say. I think in other posts I have told you readers about Shelby and her love for kissing on boys. Also in other posts I have said how Morgan is just a Monkey See Monkey Do kind of girl with her big sis. After church and during lunch Morgan says, "Me kiss Auggie in my class". Oh brooooother! Not sure I am going to survive this. I thought girls became aggressive at the Jr. High stage - not 2 & 4!

More thoughts about Morgan. Shortly after her kissing announcement the meat on her taco fell off the corner and she says, "Oh for Pete's Sakes". I think that is my favorite yet least favorite part of raising kids -hearing them learn how to talk. It is fun to hear them use new words and phrases. It is frightening to hear your words coming out of their mouths or some of the comments they make in public (see previous posts).

In September at church she moved out of the nursery and graduated to Toddler Church and Sunday School. Last week in the car on the way home I can hear her signing and recognized the Open Shut Them song for quieting down for prayer. And just like her sister when you ask any questions her answer involves snack time.

And as each day comes and goes I can see my little girl growing and her sweetness disappearing and the sassy, naughty two's coming out. The last 2 days she has not taken a nap. She has been getting out of her bed and coming downstairs. Today while the rest of us were snoozing (Shelby in her room, Nate in the recliner & me on the couch) she played by herself in the toy room. I am not ready for her to be doing this. Again, God help us!

Timeout!

Friday after Shelby had been home from school for a bit, she says, "I'm mad at Ms. Judy". I said why? She said, "She put me in timeout". I calmly said, why? She said, "I hit Joel on the back". I said (still calmly), why? She said, "He was making fun of my play dough shapes so I hit him on the back". If you are wondering how I could remain calm with her admission of being put in her first timeout at school I will tell you, NOT SURPRISED! I knew it was just a matter of time. I'm sure it wasn't her first and unfortunately probably won't be her last. I don't think I have to worry about her being the quiet student that gets passed by by everyone else. I just hope I don't have to worry about her being the bully. :(

Too Many Weddings Perhaps??

As my fifth of six weddings of this year approaches, I have to wonder if my daughter has been to too many. Three of the six are family (one still to come in 2 weeks) but Shelby & Morgan have attended the other two with me. When you combine all these real weddings with fairytale love stories in these Disney movies, the girl has one thing in mind - getting married. I think in another blog I mentioned she was marrying the neighbor boy Carson. She loves to kiss him on the cheek. We have already had several conversations about who the boys in her world are that are appropriate for her to kiss. I don't think it is sinking in. The other day when I was picking out her clothes for the day she was going on about needing a wedding dress. Besides kissing Carson, there is a boy her age named Carter at church who I am convinced is scared to death of her. Whenever he sees her coming he starts backing up. God help him if he ever finds himself backed into a corner! She calls him sweetie cakes and smacks her lips like she is kissing him. Unfortunately for him, they have been placed in the same Sunday School class. When I went to pick her up this morning I informed Carter's mom of Shelby's latest activities with her son. She heard her saying, "Goodbye sweetie cakes". The look on her face was I think fear for her son! I can't blame her. I am sure it is shocking to know that at four your little boy (their only child) is being pursued by an overly aggressive four year old girl! I guess that is another weekly reminder - leave Carter alone!

She's Too Young, I'm Too Old

Morgan's debut in gymnastics training has been cut short. I've decided to take a break at the end of this first session and hold of until January or maybe even until she is 3. In fact, we left 10 minutes early 2 weeks ago, didn't even go this past Tuesday and don't plan on going next Tuesday which will be the end of the first session. It wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't for the fact I have to participate with her but she would rather run all over and try to make her way to the trampolines which is always the final activity of each lesson. I think 2 year olds are capable of sitting in Toddler Church or Sunday School which she is doing now that she has graduated from the nursery, sit to read books, color or watch a video. But when it involves physical activity it is hard to get them to sit and wait for instructions for each event before running all over. One of my moms favorite things to say is "Kids are for the young". In this case I would have to agree.

Disobedient But Honest

Today shortly after putting Morgan down for her nap, she started yelling about wanting her Bitty Baby's backpack with her clothes in it. I went up and told her she could have it after her nap. I am not a big fan of letting her have things with straps in her bed for choking reasons. When I went up to get her after the nap she had the backpack in her bed. I asked her how that got in there and she just kind of smiled. I immediately figured her big sister had something to do with it. It is amazing how sisters can help each other out to be naughty but are not always willing when you ask for them to help the other. I asked her if Shelby put that in the bed and she said No. Another amazing thing about Morgan. If I had been dealing with Shelby she would have blamed it on Morgan. After asking her again she admitted she put it in there. That means she climbed out of her crib, got the backpack and then climbed back in the crib. I was impressed by that considering the last time she climb out she made her way downstairs. This little one is quite something.

Bunny Gets A Bath

Morgan's lovey is a pink bunny. Since Shelby was a passy abuser Morgan was never given one. She never took a liking to her thumb either. She received this pink bunny as a baby gift and as new it was soft, bright pink with long ears, legs, arms and body. Long and skinny and she holds it around the neck. It wasn't long after she decided to chew on it that this cute bunny became known as "stinky bunny". Also she only chews on its ears and arms but never its feet. Bunny has had many baths but Morgan has never been involved in the process. Well today she helped me get bunny ready for her bath which is done in the wash machine. Morgan put her in the delicate garment bag, zipped it up and put it in the washer. Then she went out into the other room and put her hands over her eyes like she couldn't watch. It was too cute. Bunny survived another bath and spin in the dryer in time for bed tonight. When Morgan was telling daddy about it Shelby had to add, "Bunny took a ride on the Ferris wheel". We have a front load washer so it does spin like a Ferris wheel so she was right on (as usual).