More funny talks with Cannon

Yesterday as we were leaving Cannon's school he should me a picture of Mary, Joesph and baby Jesus. He got excited and said, "Hey mom! Madison can be baby Jesus, you can be Mary, and I can be....I was fully expecting him to say Joesph, but nope, he said, and I can be GOD!" Hahaha, where did that come from. Love the way their little brains work.


Then the other day I was on the phone with Andrew. Cannon was standing at the top of the stairs and yells "Hey mom watch!" I looked up and heard he say "To infinity and beyoooooonnnd!" My heart leaped out of my chest and I screamed "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" When he says that phrase he is usually jumping off a chair or some other piece of furniture that is close to the ground. I saw an image flash in my head of him jumping and then tumbling head first down the stairs! Well my son was fortunately smarted that that. He was just making his Buzz figurine fly down the stairs. This momma about had a heart attack!

Another funny conversation I over heard my son saying was when he was playing by himself one day. He was just playing with some toys caring on a conversation. (This incident happened after the day he called me an idiot. So he knew about inappropriate words.) So suddenly I hear him say something like, "Are you kidding me you jerk!" I quickly said, "Cannon! What did I just hear you say?" He replied just as fast, "No, no, mom, no, I was just talking to myself, I wasn't calling anyone that!" Like that makes it SOOOO much better! Seriously, where is he learning these words!

Plays, Projects, and Parties!

We have had a lot of fun this month preparing for Christmas and celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. Cannon attends a Mother's Day Out school at the Baptist church. They put on a little Christmas play that was one of the cutest, funniest things I have watched in a while. Cannon was asked to be a narrator for the program. I was a little worried about him having to remember lines and then get up there and actually say it, but....He did amazing! Here is a video of him saying his lines. The video quality on my camera is sooooo poor, you can barely make him out but he is the one on the left that steps up after another little boy finishes his line:

His line was: "The man looked at Mary, she looked tired. And the baby would be born very soon."

3 to 5 year olds are hilarious! We heard lots of funny things yelled from the stage, such as I need to go potty! Love it! Can't wait until next year!

Do you remember the projects I told you I would be sharing??? Yeah well I need three of them done by this weekend, and guess what?! I haven't even started! But I work best under pressure so hopefully they will turn out wonderful! I will share them once I finish them. I am really excited about them too!

And finally Cannon will have his first school Christmas party this Thursday. He is so excited. We got gifts for each of his classmates and they have a gift exchange. I get to help with the party so it should be loads of fun! I am working on Andrew to get me a better camera. I don't know what the deal is but my pictures and videos are not up to par. For me that is unacceptable. I am missing out and messing up so many great memories with my kiddos!

Well here's to a busy week!

Photo Catch-up!

Oh Be Careful Little Ears What You Hear...

Saturday afternoon we were all laying around relaxing. Andrew and I were snuggled in a chair looking at our two adorable children. Cannon decided to come over and chat with us a bit. We were laughing and playing with him, when the incident occurred. I was talking to him about his pants and that he had put on ones that were too short for him. He quickly replied in a chipper voice, "No they aren't you IDIOT!" Say WHAT?!?!?! What were the words that just escaped my sweet little boys mouth! My son, who is 4 years old, used in the proper context, called me an idiot! How on earth did he learn this?? I still can not figure out were this was put into his head but it makes me remember how impressionable their precious minds are. Of course, I handled the situation totally wrong. I turned my head and laughed, hard, while my husband took charge and reprimanded Cannon. The poor child was so embarrassed. He didn't really understand the complete meaning of the word, he just repeated something he had heard elsewhere, but he thought it was something we would laugh at, not spank him for saying. Well, I guess I didn't let him down! I am the world's worst at laughing when he says inappropriate things. Andrew keeps telling me I need to work on that! :)

I monitor the shows he watches but he has watched the occasional Sponge Bob and I know that there is a bit of rudeness in that show. Therefore, that show is officially ban from our household. But I really don't know if it was TV or just out in his everyday world where he picked up the words. I will have to be more diligent in guarding his precious ears, eyes, and heart.

Family Time!

The next three days will be family fun time with my family. I am looking forward to spending as much time with my Okie family as possible. They are all so excited to love on my babies and spoil them rotten. It is nice because I get a nice break while they do all the lovin' and feedin', and playin'. I am so blessed to have people who love me and my children so much. Today we are having a yummy Thanksgiving meal with my Daddy's family, then tonight I will go spend time with my mom and sisters. Eating and talking, two of my favorite things! I will post pictures later!

Fed Up!

This post is not like my usual. It is not one that is light hearted and full of funny stories. It is one that is personal and the cry of my heart for my God.

I have read about a certain church in the news lately. You know the one that protests at soldier's funerals and such. This infuriated me. I am so sick of these so called "Christians" getting media attention. The words these people speak about my God, my Father, my sweet Savior is a total lie. I am so ashamed that they even speak and portray God the way the do. There are two quotes that just shake my soul. They are quoted as saying "the Lord curses them by killing Oklahoma's children and casting them to hell." and "Thank God for more dead children in Oklahoma." This my friends is not the GOD I serve. My God is loving, compassionate, loyal. He is definitely a God that disciplines those that He loves, but not is such ways that these people claim. Hebrews 12:5-7 " My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son. Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his Father?" Now if those people claim that that is how God disciplines disobedience I would hate to be their child! God does discipline but it is not done to harm us. He gently and maybe not so gently at times shows us the repercussions of of actions only to show us that HE know what is best and we need to rely on Him.

I am so sick of radical "Christians" being portrayed on movies and TV shows. I am tired of the radical "Christians" being given media spot lights when there are several wonderful true Christian organizations doing such good things but get little notice. I see on shows like "Secret Life of the American Teenager" portraying their "Christian" character in a way that is insulting to me. I was one, as well as many of my friends in high school, who strived for purity in our relationships with boyfriends. The way they made that character look was a mockery of what I, who let True Love Wait, did. Of course that show has gone way down hill since then with that character.

I just want to be the voice of a true Christian. I want people to know of God's love and compassion and not get blinded by the media of what harshness they proclaim God to show. Those people give Christians a bad name. No wonder foreign countries don't want anything to do with Christ, because their first impressions are those of God killing and punishing people. Let us true Christians or rather those who Stand on the Solid Rock be the ones who persevere and stand up. Rise with me to bring people to The Light, The God we know and love.

Lord,

I pray for these people who say they speak in Your precious name. Lord, may the media stop giving them the attention they want. I pray that you use me and anyone who is willing to show YOU truly. There are so many wonderful Christians who are doing your work but are not getting the spotlight because that is not what doing your works are about. Lord, you are an amazing God. You love endlessly, provide ceaselessly and have compassion beyond understanding. Please let your wondrous ways be known. I love you Father, thank you for allowing me to be your child. I am forever grateful.

In Christ's precious name I pray, Amen!

This is the God I serve!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-DNlvXPfU4

Skininator

Yesterday Cannon told me he wanted an apple so I was getting one for him. I was asking him if he wanted me to peel it or leave it like it was. He said "yeah mom get the skininator!" I was like, What??? He replied, "You know the skininator, the thing that goes roun' and roun' and takes the skin off." This of course was referring to our apple peeler. If any of you watch Phineas and Ferb on Disney you know where this comes from, but for those of you who don't, the "evil" villain on the show Doofenshmirtz makes several inventions that are "inators" for example "Naughty-inator or Even-bigger-inator." So Cannon decided to give it a try with the apple peeler. Ladies and gentlemen, may I introduce you to the Skininator!

Gearing Up For the Holidays!

My Kiddos with their cousins

With the holidays fast approaching a lot of excitement is in the air! We have already done our Thanksgiving shopping so we didn't have to fight the grocery store crowds the week of! Plus Bequita and I are headed to Oklahoma this week. We are going to have an early Thanksgiving with my family. I am so excited to see everyone. It was August the last time I got to see everyone, which was at Jane-Jane's funeral, so hopefully this will be a better visit. I know it is still going to be hard though because this will be our first get together without her. I know there will be tears but in the Dees family one thing is for sure, LAUGHTER! We always have great stories to share and fun times to remember to keep the day up beat! For that I am very grateful. Everyone is so excited to see Miss Mady Jane because she has grown so much since they have seen her. And of course their little Cannonball too!

Cannon has been seeing a lot of toy commercials lately. Let me tell you, those advertisers are good! He knows exactly what toys are boy toys and which are meant for girls. He tells me when barbies are on the tv that those are my toys I can get, then a commercial for some fighting zhu zhu pets is on and he tells me those are for boys. He also wants EVERY SINGLE TOY he determines is a boy toy. He will come tell me daily what toys he wants for Christmas. Stinky the Garbage Truck tops his list. I have no idea what this Stinky does but he LOVES it! One thing my Child doesn't need is more toys though. How do you handle this?? He has a large toy room FULL of toys. He doesn't want for anything but yet on Christmas I can't bear to think of him not receiving a toy that he really likes. I don't know what to do because since we have Madison she will begin to receive a ton of toys too. I try to go through periodically and get rid of toys he no longer uses (or that I would rather not listen to anymore! ;-) )

I am also trying to figure out what to get Miss Madison. She has a lot of baby toys that were Cannon's that she uses now. There are so many cute little girl baby toys though. A few of Cannon's don't work anymore so I am thinking she should get a few new ones. And of course, CLOTHES! :)

I have been working on a few projects lately and I will share them with everyone soon. I am just hoping they turn out like I picture them in my head! I am using ideas I have seen else where and trying to recreate without any pattern. Yikes, could be scary! On second thought, maybe I won't be sharing! You will just have to keep checking back to see...

Convos with Cannon

Here are a few cute conversations I have had with Cannon lately:

Cannon: Mom, umm we are out of shape.

Me: Yeah I know.

Cannon: Yeah, mom, you really need to start working out!

Me: Thanks.

Cannon: Here is your workout video.

Me: (Thinking to myself) Wow, I look that bad, that my child has to make me workout! Yikes! :)


Convo #2

Cannon: Mom, I want to give daddy a good bye hug.

Me: Okay well he is already gone but I thought you gave him a hug already.

Cannon: Yeah, that was just a regular hug, I want to give him a GOOD goodbye hug.

Me: Oh, well when he gets home you can give him a welcome home hug.

Cannon: Yeah, not just a regular one.


Convo #3

At Target buying things for a little boy for Operation Christmas Child.

Me: Okay Cannon which car do you think he would like.

Cannon: Umm... I want this one.

Me: No Cannon, this is not for you it is for a little boy who doesn't have very many toys.

Cannon:Oh, yeah. Well why does he not have toys?

Me: Well some kids aren't lucky like you who get to have tons of toys. This little boy probably only has one or maybe two toys! What do you think about that!

Cannon: Yeah, he should probably have about 5.

Convo #4

Bequita was telling me about when Andrew was little he would complain about his legs hurting. She took him to the doctor and found out he had a lot of hairline fractures from growing so fast. Cannon overheard this conversation and this was a product of that:

Me: Come on Cannon lets go inside this store.

Cannon: I can't walk mommy. My legs are hurting.

Me: Oh no! I am so sorry! What is wrong with them?

Cannon: They are broke mommy. I got a bunch of hair in them.

Bequita and I were rolling!

Cannon's one liners:

That helicopter was freakin' me out!

Keep your eyes peeled Papa!

Ahhh, that Madison Janey, she's a silly girl!

Man I love that sweet, sweet boy!

Our Days these Days...

It seems that since we have moved life has become more hectic. It isn't like we have added a lot more to our schedule but it seems like I am always going, going, going. Cannon has started wee school on Tuesdays and Thursdays and now we attend church on Wednesday and Sunday nights. That is all we are doing different but let me tell you, it seems like we have added about a hundred new things to our schedule! I guess when you are use to staying at home all day with no schedule and then switching to having a schedule it makes a big difference.


We are loving life in Longview so far. We love the beautiful tall pine trees that are EVERYWHERE! It is like living in a forest compared to Dallas! We have gotten involved in Andrew's families church. This is the church he grew up in. It is a lot smaller than what we were use to but we decided we would give it a try. I love it! I was raised in a smaller church and something about this church reminded me of that. The closeness there is, the love and support, and the fact that if you are a new face you are going to get noticed! The first time there I had several people come up and ask me if I was new because they didn't recognize me. I think that is so great. We had been at our church in Wylie for a year and never met anyone or were noticed as new people. It wasn't until we plugged in to a Sunday school class that we met people. There is nothing wrong with that either. We LOVED our church in Wylie, but it is just so big that unless you get involved you could there for a while without ever meeting anyone. So we are enjoying the small church for a change.

Cannon is in Cubbies on Wednesday night and he is sooo cute in his vest! He is loving wee school too. Yesterday when I picked him up he said "Mommy, I love this place!" He has already made lots of friends being the social boy he is. He continues to drive his sister crazy and me as well. He is such a silly boy sometimes. He is great at making Madison laugh. She will crack up when he is dancing around or sometimes just talking. She thinks he is just hilarious! That is until he lays on top of her or hits her, etc. :) Cannon the other night at dinner was telling us he didn't want to eat his broccoli because he didn't like it. I told him that he had to eat it any way. Well he finally ate some and said, "Hey! I like broccoli after all!" It was the way he said it that made us all crack up! He has become quite the comedian lately too. Here is Cannon's new joke he tells all the time!




Madison is able to sit up now. She can do it without any support for a little bit but if I put the boppy behind her she is great for a while. She has tried all the stage one foods now. She doesn't care for squash and peas much. She loves to talk to me while I am fixing dinner. I place her in the bumbo and she will just squeal and jabber away. She is also getting more fascinated with toys. I got the tub of all of Cannon's old baby toys and brought them back for her to play with. Cannon has loved showing her how they all work. I was thinking the other day how happy I am that I have a daughter. I love dressing her and thinking about all the fun things we will get to do when she gets older!

Time for an Update!

Sorry it has been so long since I have posted. I have heard some of you have given up reading because I don't post often enough. Sorry! (Dana) :) Life has been crazy busy this last month. We have finally made our move to Longview. The transition has been quite easy. I have wonderful in-laws that have made it easy to adjust to our new living situation. Bequita and I have a nice deal going where she does all the laundry and I do all the cooking. To me that is a GREAT trade off! I H-A-T-E doing laundry. My husband is enjoying having clean clothes weekly instead of monthly! :) Oh and his mommy fixes him breakfast in the morning too. So I guess she does that cooking. My husband might just want to move back in with his parents for good! Hopefully he will buy me and the kiddos somewhere to stay...

Cannon has started MDO. He loves going. He tells me all the time that he can't play right now because he has homework to do. How cute it that?! Just wait until he actually has homework and we will see which he decides to do then! I am not sure what all he is learning though. Every time I pick him up I ask what he has learned that day. He just tells me about the playground. One thing he has told me is that he needs to climb with his toes or he will fall and bust his head. I guess he learned that one on the playground. :) He also said during nap time his teacher said, "Cannon, are we suppose to be laughing right now? Go back to sleep!" Sounds about right.

Madison had her 4 month check-up at the beginning of September. She weighs 13 lbs 9.5 oz and 24 1/4". She is already fitting into 6-9 month clothes. This is so funny to me because Cannon was such a little baby compared to her. He always wore his clothes a couple of seasons because he was so skinny. Now he is finally changing though. I am having to buy him 5T clothes because he is so long-legged! Mady Jane is a chubby girl! I am having SOOOO much fun buying clothes for her! I need someone to stop me though! She has started eating rice cereal and I have introduced bananas and apples to her. She is still not to sure of the fruit so I have decided to hold off a little long then try again. She is laughing a lot now. She has discovered her toes and loves to hold on to them. She also is becoming pretty vocal. She likes to make all kinds of noises during the day, especially if she isn't getting the attention she wants. She is such a sweet girl and so fun to play with right now. I love how if I just talk to her she gets the biggest grin on her face. Precious!

Both kiddos are enjoying the love and attention they are getting daily. Cannon likes that when one of us ignore him or don't want to do what he wants he just goes to the next person. He eventually finds someone who will play his games with him! :) We are all being spoiled by living here. I don't know what we will do when life gets back to "normal" for us!

Love You Forever Jane-Jane

The day we all knew was coming finally came. Jane-Jane went to Heaven to be completely healed by God. On August 21st at around 9:15 pm I held Jane-Jane's hand as she passed. It was one of the hardest moments in my life. She is the dearest person I have ever lost. I had no intention of being there in her final moments because I knew it would be way too hard. Unfortunately it happened rather quickly and I had no choice but to be there. I am now glad that I was. I held her hand the last three hours she spent on Earth and then as she went to meet our Savior. She was such an amazing Jane-Jane. I am so blessed to have had the time with her I did. Some of you might wonder why we call her Jane-Jane instead of Grandma or Nana or whatever "typical" name is given to a Grandmother. Well she decided when her sons started having children she was way too young to be called Grandma. She actually was pretty young so instead she decided Jane-Jane would be what she was called. It has been the perfect name for her. She once told us when we were older that we could call her Grandma because she felt she was old enough at that point. We just laughed at her and said "No way! You will always be Jane-Jane!" It bothered me so much at her funeral when she was called Grandma or Grandmother because that isn't her. She is Jane-Jane. No other name or reference will do! I told my Papa to make sure her headstone said Jane-Jane on it. He assured me it would because she would roll over in her grave if he put Grandma on there! :)

I have been so loved by such a wonderful women. She always made me and my sister feel as if we were the most important, beautiful, and smartest girls in the world. She cherished us. She will never know just how much we cherished her as well. I have inherited so many wonderful things from her. Some objects to remember her by such as her wedding ring, some clothes, and some really cute shoes. But also some physical characteristics. I have her beautiful green eyes and her beautiful finger nails and apparently her foot size too! :) I will always cherish the gifts she has given me. The best is the happiness she filled my heart with. I will forever miss her until the day I get to meet my Savior and see her standing there too. Beautiful as ever, healed, and happy! Love you Jane-Jane!

Gotta Love it!

Here is a quick post with Madison's newest thing. She has started making cute noises and we love it! Excuse my silly voice but if I wanted her to smile I had to talk to her. :) Enjoy!

PS. I will try to do another update soon!

3 Months Old

Madison is already 3 months! How in the world does it go by so fast! I want to keep her in this cuddley baby stage forever. Once they figure out how to crawl it seems like the baby stage is over with. They don't want to just sit and rock with mommy, they want down so they can explore! I will cherish these next few months with her. Mady has started sleeping through the night! YEA! I am starting to feel so much better getting straight sleep. It usually is about 8 or 9 hours. Amazing, I know! She is getting plumper and plumper each day. I love all her baby rolls. Andrew was making a comment on how chubby her thighs were. I promptly told him to leave her alone, that this was the only time in her life that she is able to get away with it! Men, they are picking on us about our weight from day ONE! We are slowly getting more giggles out of Mady Jane as well. She is going to be ticklish. We have found a couple tickle spots that get a laugh out of her. Cannon is going to have so much fun making her laugh. I can't wait.

Cannon is currently in Oklahoma with Grammy and Granddaddy. He will spend a few days with them and then he heads to Mimi's house. I feel pretty guilty because I use to have the hardest time letting him leave me for a week. Now, not so much. I love that boy beyond the moon but it is so nice to have some "down" time. He is full of so much energy. He wears me out trying to keep him busy all day long. Grammy and G-Daddy have a pool so he uses all his energy in the pool during the day. In a couple of week Cannon is going to start Mother's Day Out on Tuesdays. I am really looking forward to it. I know he will enjoy it because he loves to learn and is such a people person. He is going to be 4 years old in a month! How is that possible! My sweet boy is getting SOOOO big!

Finally, over the weekend my sister-in-law had her baby! IT'S A GIRL!!! They kept it a surprise until the baby was born. It was so exciting finally knowing that a sweet baby girl would be added to our family. It is really cool because Andrew and his brother now have a boy and a girl each. Also it is great because Madison and Aleia are only 3 months apart. That will be so great to watch them grow together and become great friends. Cannon and Caeden are about 2 years apart and they are just now getting to where they play good together. So 3 months difference will be great. So here is a picture of Nana with her two sweet granddaughters.



And the Daddy's with their baby girls. I know they will both have these guys wrapped around their little fingers. Madison already has Andrew!

Smiles and Toy Story 3

The smiles of my children feel my heart with such happiness! I can remember the fun Andrew and I had trying to make Cannon smile for the first time and now we get to do it again with Madison. Of course we make our selves look like fools but hey, the smile we get in return is well worth it! Madison has started to smile at us a lot now. She has the biggest, prettiest grin I have even seen! She likes to stick her tongue out when she smiles too. It is the cutest thing. She is on the brink of giggling. We have gotten her to make a slight laugh sound but she hasn't let it out quite yet. I can't wait! Babies laughs are so contagious! Madison is getting so big. She can do everything she is suppose to be doing at this stage plus a little more. Her neck is very strong. We tried her out in the bumbo already but she didn't like it yet. I am ready for her to have more activities to do because she loves for me to hold her, therefore I am not getting as much done during the day as I would like. I realize though that this time is short and precious, so I just need to enjoy it while it lasts.

As for Cannonball, well he is a wee bit obsessed with all things Toy Story! He wants everything there is to do with Buzz Lightyear. His Aunt Daney bought him some Buzz Lightyear pj's and he would wear them every night if he could. His birthday is in a couple months so I asked him what he wanted the theme to be, of course it was BUZZ LIGHTYEAR!!! I was at Target the other day and ran across the perfect birthday present for him and it was on clearance!! It is a Buzz Lightyear costume!
How perfect is that! I can already see trips to the store with my little Buzz Lightyear because I know once I give it to him that is ALL he will ever want to wear! I am just preparing myself. I have this thing about never letting him leave the house in clothes I don't find socially acceptable. I want him to look nice and put together when we are out in public. Well, I know I am just going to have to suck it up and let him leave the house in this outfit a few times. That's okay though, that is what being a kid is all about! I can't wait for September 11th to get here so I can give it to him! :)

Lately...

Things have been pretty hectic lately. I feel as if the last few weeks have been packed full of things I had to do. Doctors appointments, visits with family and friends, etc. I loved having my BFF Candice here with me for a weekend. She and her cute son Cooper came to see Madison Jane. It was great having my best friend to hang out with and go shopping with again. We live way too far apart!

The future Mr. and Mrs. McCuistion??? :)

Candice with Miss Mady Jane

All our cute kiddos together

Andrew had a last minute trip to the Dominican Republic for work last week. I know, tough job huh! While they do spend most of their day at the refineries they get to enjoy lavish dinners at night. The first night he told me they went to a historic downtown restaurant and ate across the street from Christopher Columbus' house and the first cathedral built in the Western Hemisphere was down the street. Of course, he didn't have a camera with him to share the amazing sites with all of us! Oh yeah, to make matters even worse, his hotel room had an ocean view! Man, I think I will trade him jobs. :) Just kidding, I love being able to stay home with my kiddos even if I don't get to take business trips. My sweet mom in law just happened to be coming in town so I bribed her to come stay with me and help out with the kiddos. She took a lot of bribing before she said yes though! ;) I think it was like 2 seconds after I asked she agreed! She loves her some grandbaby time.

This Friday I will be headed to Oklahoma for my cousin's wedding. I will then get to stay the rest of the week in Oklahoma with my family. I am so looking forward to spending time with my family, just not the 4 hour drive it takes to get there! I am extra excited to spend some time with my Jane-Jane, which is my grandmother. She has been in and out of the hospital these last few months and is dying to meet little miss Madison Jane. I can't wait to get a picture of them together. Madison will also get to meet the rest of my family for the first time. It is going to be fun! Keep us in your prayers for safe travel!! And our sanity! :)

Fun With My Girl!

I couldn't wait to have Madison so that I could play dress up with my own real life baby doll!! It has been so much fun buying her cute outfits, bows, etc. Sadly, having a little boy doesn't allow as much fun in this department, so I was THRILLED when they told me she was a she! One thing I knew for sure I wanted for her was a tutu. What little girl can live a full happy life if she doesn't have at least ONE tutu in her life! I planned on having her take some pictures at her newborn photo session but it didn't happen, so I decided to put my photography skills to work. They definitely aren't professional quality but hey, the baby girl makes them look amazing! :) Cannon didn't like that I was giving Madison so much attention so he tried to block her out or cut in as many photos as he could until I finally had to make him leave the room. Poor kid. He doesn't know how to share the spotlight.

Cannon trying to show me he is just as cute to take a picture of!

Sweet Girl

This is her "I can get anything I want from Daddy" face.



One of my biggest mommy freak out moments happened this past week. I had Madison laying on my bed while I was getting dressed. Cannon had come in the room and got up on the bed with her. I told him to just let her lay there and not to mess with her. I had had her propped up on a pillow for tummy time and she rolled over. Cannon thought that was the coolest thing that she could roll over and do "tricks" as he referred to it. I guess while I was in the closet he decided to teach her some more tricks. I came out of the closet, probably about 2 seconds later, to find Madison dangling head first from the bed! OMG! I went crazy. I ran and grabbed her and started yelling at Cannon that he is to never touch his sister again!!! Yeah, I know, pretty harsh, but hey I saw my helpless baby's life flash before my eyes! I would of done the same thing for him. So now I have learned that I have to really watch him around her. I know he is trying to just play with her but he is going to have to learn a little more baby friendly games.

2 Weeks In And We Are Sending Her Back!

Well we all knew this day would come but we just didn't know when. The inevitable has happened...Cannon made his request for Madison Jane to be sent back.

Sunday afternoon when our new little family of four was sitting on the couch enjoying each other's company, Cannon decided he wanted his Mommy. The only problem at the time was Madison needed her Mommy a little more because it was eatin' time. I told Cannon that he would have to wait. He didn't like that and started acting out. He kept "patting" Madison rather roughly on her head, then grabbing her ears, then jumping on my back. Andrew stepped in and told Cannon to stop and leave Mommy and Madison alone while she is eating. This, of course, crushed poor Cannon. He was Mommy's boy and Mommy always paid him attention. I guess he finally put two and two together because he said "Mommy, I want you to send Madison back!" I asked him why and all he said was "because!" Then we asked him where she was suppose to go back to, and he looked at us like we were dumb and said "Uh, Mommy's belly!" Yeah, sorry child, that is NOT happening!

We have had some interesting experiences with Cannon since Madison has joined us. I think the adjustment of a new sibling is taking its toll on the poor kid. He doesn't understand why Madison gets to sleep in Mommy and Daddy's room and he can't. He also doesn't understand why he gets to take a nap and Madison gets to stay up! So not fair!

My favorite moment so far has been while I was nursing Madison one day. Cannon climbed up in the chair and saw what was going on. He was like "Mommy, what are you doing, put that away!" I said to him that that was how Madison ate right now. She needs to drink Mommy's special milk." He decided that was a good enough answer and then promptly said (while pointing to each side of my chest) "Oh so that one is mine and that one is Madison's!" Umm...no sorry baby boy, you already had your share of Mommy's special milk! :)

I am sure I will have tons more funny stories to share so stay tuned. I will warn you though, the post maybe few and far between the next few weeks. I am trying to adjust myself to this new mother of two game!

Our Sweet Girls Arrival!

Cannon telling Madison that it is time to COME OUT!

Looking at my beautiful Madison Jane for the first time.

Cannon checking out his new little sister!

I couldn't wait to get this outfit on her!!

Our new family of four!

Madison Jane Mileur made her entrance into the world on May 4th, 2010 at 4:36pm. She was 7lbs 12oz, 20.25 inches long. A head full of dark black hair and dark blue eyes. She is absolutely beautiful! She is exactly as I dreamed her to look like. I am so happy to finally have her in my arms.

The days leading up to her arrival were quite exhausting though. After my first false alarm I had two more visits to Labor and Delivery. The second was because I thought my water broke and the third was to monitor my high blood pressure. My doctor had me come in on Monday, May 3rd to have my blood pressure checked once again. It was still high but I wasn't spilling protein so it did match pre-eclampsia. So she diagnosed me with gestational hypertension and told me I would be scheduled for induction the next day! YEA!! I was so glad. It was only a couple days before my scheduled induction but hey, I was really ready to meet her! So I went in at 9:00am on May 4th. They got me set up in my room at started me on the pitocin at 10:30am. I was really nervous because I didn't want to feel contractions because I never experienced them with Cannon. They told me I had to wait until my contractions were in a regular pattern before they could give me an epidural. Boo! So I waited. It didn't take long for that to happen. Around 12:00 the anesthesiologist came in and gave me the epi! YEA!!! My doctor come in soon after to break my water. Well it had done that on it's own right before she went to do it. My contractions started getting stronger. I was a little uncomfortable because I still felt the contractions mildly on my left side. So the anesthesiologist was called back in and he pumped me with some more drugs. I felt GOOOOOD! after that. The nurses said they would check back in on me in a little while. Well at 2:30 or 3:00 the nurses came in and checked me. I was at a 10!! Whooo hooo! We were just waiting for her head to drop a little lower. Then at 3:30 they checked again, it was time! The doctor got there at about 4:00 got everything ready. 36 minutes and 3 pushes later, Madison Jane entered the world! It was an amazing birth! I am so blessed to have such easy deliveries. I know that some women have to endure so much worse and I thank the Lord for allowing me to birth my children so easily. I am now blessed with two beautiful children. The Lord has shown me so much mercy and blessings. To Him I owe everything.

Round 1...False Labor

Sunday morning I was getting ready for church when I felt the beginning of what I thought was labor. I had horrible back pains and pressure. Then my stomach started tightening as well. We timed "contractions" and they started at about 20 minutes apart and quickly moved to 5 or 7 minutes apart. I called my doctor and told her what was happening. She told me to go to the hospital to be monitored since I was 4cm at my appointment on Friday. So I went in and got checked in. They hooked me up to the monitors, took a urine sample, and checked dilation. They said I was still a 4. My urine showed some protein and also keytones. So they started me on an IV for dehydration. My contractions were not consistent on the monitor after being watched for 3 hours. So they told me that I was not in active labor and would be sent home. I wasn't too surprised. I know that this happens all the time with women thinking they are in labor. So she decided to check me once again to see if I have dilated anymore. Much to my surprise and the nurse's I had gone to a 5! She just knew the doctor would admit me and we would be having that baby, but nope! My doctor said to go home! BOOOO! I am told I get to live with this lovely back labor pain until my true labor starts. I am not thinking that is very nice of them! I am so afraid that since I am already dilated so far that when labor does start it will go quickly. I really don't want to be stuck 45 minutes from the hospital when I go into labor. Plus if it happens during the day before Andrew is home from work, I will have to wait 30 minutes for him to drive home. The scenario I play out in my head is not a good one! :) My the Lord have mercy on us! So we are just looking at round 1 as a practice round. We got to the hospital, figured out where everything is, so next round (hopefully the real deal) will go smoothly!!

Big Baby Bump

We have arrived at 36 weeks! Yay! I feel like my stomach has been stretched to the max. I am not sure how much longer it can hold out! But I love my baby bump. I couldn't wait until I had my big baby bump and now it is almost over. :( I am so excited to meet Mady Jane though. I can't wait to see the beautiful creation that God has made. Will she look like me when I was a baby or will we have another mini Andrew? Will she pick up some random family trait and come out with blond hair and blue eyes?? It is such a great mystery! I have had several dreams about her and every time I imagine her I see a dark headed little girl with big brown eyes. In a few short weeks we will know for sure! Last Friday my doctor said things are looking great. My blood pressure was a little elevated but not enough to worry at this point. I just have to keep my eye on it. I didn't have any protein either so that is a good sign. I think that I will be induced on either April 30th or May 7th. I will find out for sure on Friday. I also think there is a good chance she could come on her own before then. My body has been feeling weird lately. It is like I can feel it preparing for Madison's big debut. I am getting so anxious! I am a little nervous about it happening on it's own because I did experience contractions or my water breaking on it's own. Cannon was induced so I got my epidural before the contractions started and they broke my water. I have been experiencing contractions here and there but nothing consistent. They are very uncomfortable so I just hope and pray I get my epidural before I experience the real deal! I am a wimp when it comes to pain! :) Friday I will know a date for induction, so when I find out I will let you all know!

Blastball!

This Spring Cannon is playing a sport called Blastball. The point of the game is to prepare little ones for tee ball. They learn the basics of the sport. Basically they hit the ball off a tee and have to run to the base before the other team catches the ball and yells "BLAST!" It is really cute because the base honks when you jump on it. Cannon played for a little bit but lost interest pretty fast this weekend. He was excited to go to his cousin's birthday party after the game. That was all he could think about! So hopefully next weekend will go better, but we will see!

Doctor Appointments Galore!

Well last Friday at my doctor's appointment I found out my high blood pressure was beginning to show up in this pregnancy. I also had a high heart rate and sugar and protein in my urine. So this all shows signs that I will once again have preeclampsia. I am not sure why my heart rate has been so high, but I can be up walking from one end of the house to the other and my heart is beating really fast, about 122 bpm. So on Wednesday I get to go see a Cardiologist. I also went on Monday to my doctor to have some blood work done to check my iron levels, thyroid, and sugar levels. I also turned in the 24 hour urine test I did over the weekend. They want to see how much protein is there because this is something they watch for in preeclampsia patients. I don't really know where all of this leaves us right now. I think Madison will be here before the end of April though. If my blood pressure does the same as last time it got to severe levels at 35/36 weeks and Cannon was born at 36/37 weeks. I am expecting to be put on bed rest in the next week or so and then probably delivering the week after. This is all speculation though. I really have no idea. I could find myself at 40 weeks praying that I would just go into labor already! :) I am just going by what happened in my last pregnancy though. It is very exciting to think that I could be meeting my daughter in just a few short weeks! Once I get more information I will let everyone know!

Daddy's "Mini Me"

Last Friday when Andrew got home from work he decided it was time to do a little yard work. Andrew told Cannon after his nap that he could go help daddy mow the lawn. Well as soon as Cannon woke up he made sure Daddy remembered his promise. Andrew took Cannon in his bedroom and put shorts and a t-shirt on him. Cannon comes running out of the room and yells "Look Mommy! I'm Mini Me! I look like Daddy!" They both had on white t-shirts and kakaii shorts. So cute! Of course I didn't get a picture of it. :( My bad. (The above picture was taken last summer.)

Later that day they go outside to mow and Cannon was the perfect shadow to his Daddy. Notice in the video how when Andrew backs up Cannon backs up. It was so funny to watch. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Baby Mady Update

I had my 32 week appointment on Monday, which was quite the adventure. I had to schedule on Monday because my doctor was gone last week. I usually do Friday afternoon appointments so that Andrew can either go with me and watch Cannon or just stay home with him. Well...no such luck. Cannon had to go to the appointment with me. He is not very good at sitting quietly if you can image. So I did what any mother would do, BRIBE him! I took a ring pop sucker with me and told him if he was good he could have the sucker. He was doing pretty good until the elevator man pushed the button, which Cannon wanted to do. The meltdown began. He would not walk so I had to drag him on the elevator, then he wanted off the elevator. So here I am big and pregnant trying to deal with this screaming child who has gone limp. Don't you just love how people stare at you in those moments. They are thinking one of two things, that lady needs to spank that child and teach him how to act, or I am so glad that is you and not me! Well my friends, I wish it was you and not me too! And for your information I do spank my child when he acts like that but for some reason he is stubborn (I don't know where he gets that from) and it doesn't phase him much. So I finally get to the door of the doctors office, out of breath and sweating like crazy. I put Cannon down so that I can sign in, guess what he does....he takes off out the door! So now I am this big pregnant lady running out the door chasing after him, and of course, once again, all eyes on me. I pick him up and drag him back to the office. He attempts a couple more times to escape but I am able to keep him in the office. Finally, we sit down and wait for my name to be called. Cannon looks up at me sweetly and says "Mommy can I have my sucker now?" OMG!! REALLY! You think after all that I am just going to happily hand over your treat. While it would have been the easiest thing to do to keep him quiet and keep from annoying everyone in the waiting room, I refused to let him be rewarded for disobeying. So the sucker stayed in my purse. He cried and threw another fit and kept asking for his sucker. I told him if he sat there and didn't say a word, when the nurse called me back he could have the sucker. He did just that. So when they finally called my name he excitedly said "NOW, I can have my sucker!" He got it and the rest of the appointment went great! The power of candy!

As for the baby Madison update....
The doctor says everything looks good. They have been finding sugar in my urine (sorry if TMI) which can lead to a bigger baby, so they will do an ultrasound at 37 weeks and see how she looks. If she looks big I will probably be induced, if she is normal or small I will continue on until I go into labor. I will also start going to the doctor every week. Usually you don't start going weekly until 36 weeks but since I have a history of high blood pressure with pregnancy they want to start monitoring me early. So things are about to get pretty busy and exciting! We could have a baby in as little as 4 weeks! I am so ready to hold her in my arms. I know life will be more hectic once she is on the outside but it will be so worth it!

Oh and the best news of all...ANDREW DOESN'T HAVE TO GO TO BRAZIL!!!!! YEA! PRAISE THE LORD!!! This is such an answered prayer! I don't have to stress about whether or not my husband will be with me when our sweet girl is born. He will definitely be there now! Thank you so much God! You are awesome!

TADAAAAA! Welcome to Madison Jane's nursery!

The fan will soon be replaced with this chandelier.

Here is one of my favorite outfits that is just waiting for Mady Jane!

Well, there it is! I still have a few things to add but for the most part it is complete! I am so happy with the way it turned out. I love seeing my visions come through and actually look good! :) Hope everyone else likes it as much as we do!

The Before!

It is that time folks! We are in the process of decorating Madison Jane's nursery! I couldn't wait until the end to put her crib together so I went ahead and did that part. So lucky for you, you get a sneak peek! Cannon and Nana have been working hard to get the room painted. I can't wait for the whole room to come together! It is turning out great so far. Stay tuned for the big reveal!

The primer is up and now on goes the pink! Cannon was happy to help Nana!

This before primer and everything.

Cannon keep climbing in Madison's crib so I told him if he was going to keep getting in there then he needed to try on one of her bows to see how it looked. He reluctantly complied as you can tell by his face! :) His daddy came to the rescue shortly after. Next was a dress! Hahaha...

Sweet boy so excited to meet his little sister!

The beautiful crib and bedding! I love it so much! It was so great putting the bedding on an actually crib and seeing that our handy work definitely paid off! Hooray! The beautiful black crib is courtesy of Madison's loving grandparents! Nana and Papah, Grammie and Granddaddy, and Mimi and Pops!