Miss Brinley

Thursday night, I went to the RS activity and had to rush home for Derek to leave for something....I'm still not sure what he did ;) I got home and he rushed out the door and a few minutes later he tried calling me, but I wasn't getting his calls (my phone has been freezing and having issues and I'm trying to hold out until my credit kicks in). Then I get a text from him saying, "I have bad bad news!" I figured it wasn't family or he wouldn't have left. Well I couldn't get in touch with him, so I got Arden to bed and went online to the local paper's site. One of the headlines was "2 year old killed in Union County." My heart dropped and I knew we must know this child and that's what the "bad bad news" was. I clicked on the article and saw the name. It crushed me. It's always sad to hear tragic stories about kids, but it's extremely hard when you know them. She was hit by a truck.
Derek was pretty shaken up too and said this was the worst news of his life. He was asked to be a pall bearer and was honored, but thought it would be difficult for him to do.
The viewing and funeral was yesterday. We walked in to the church, signed the guestbook, then the funeral directors took Derek away to give him instructions or something and had him move his car to the front.
I wasn't going to go into the viewing room, but then changed my mind...or so I thought. As I got to the door and saw the casket and little Brinley's head sticking out, I lost it. So here I was crying my eyes out, fat and pregnant and holding Arden in the hallway (babysitting plans unfortunatley didn't work out). Brinley's DAD comes down the hallway and hugs/consoles ME! I would like to blame the crying on being pregnant (you know, all those crazy hormomes) but lets be for real. I'm so sensitive, I cry at anything. Even happy things.(A couple of years ago, Derek and I went to a wedding of a friend who I hadn't seen since MIDDLE school (though we were pretty close back then) and when she was walking down the aisle, I started crying!) Seriously?! What's wrong with me?!
So anyway, I felt like the only one crying at the viewing....I mean I saw a couple of red eyes and everyone looked somber, but I felt better when a friend told me she lost it and was bawling when she went in to see Brinley.
The chapel and overflow was packed for the funeral service and a few people had to stand. After, we drove to the cemetary, and after the dedication, I talked to Brinley's mom for a moment and she was just concerned about me being there with my pelvic problems. Where did these parents get their strength? They are absolutely amazing.
I do know that Brinely is happy and pefect and with our Heavenly Father, but my heart goes out to Alison and Jerry and their 3 boys in the days ahead.

Gatlinburg

The first weekend in March, we had a very nice but short getaway to Gatlinburg, TN. My aunt and uncle rented a 3 story cabin for a week and invited us and Ashley and her gang. Arden hadn't seen them in quite a while so I'm not sure if she even remembered them, but we got the meeting off to a bad start. We met at the rental co. parking lot before traveling up the mountain and Derek rolled down Arden's window so Auntie Becky and Uncle Paul could say hi to her and she freaked out, started crying and buried her head into her car seat. Poor baby. Luckily once we got to the cabin, it only took about 30 minutes for her to warm up, then she was best buds with her Auntie Becky. Arden started out calling her Auntie Ecky, but soon dropped the 'auntie' and now calls her 'Ecky'.


{Fun With Auntie Becky!}
My aunt is really good with kids and gave Arden 100% of her attention at the beginning and that's why Arden was so quick to warm up to her.

A few hours after we arrived, Ashley, Mark and Briggs came and we went out for dinner at a really good Italian Restaurant, then grocery shopping.



Day 2, it snowed for a good part of the day, so we stayed in and relaxed. That night, we went out to an absolutely amazing dinner at The Old Mill restaurant in Pigeon Forge. Your meal includes soup, salad, corn fritters, rolls and dessert. I got fried chicken and it was three huge chicken breasts with mashed potatoes and green beans.

On the way back to the cabin, we stopped at Krispy Kreme (hey, the light was on)and got a dozen fresh, warm, melt in your mouth glazed doughnuts and I'm pretty sure I ate all but 4....maybe 3. There really is nothing better.

Day 3, we all went into Gatlinburg and took the tramway to the top of the mountain at Ober Gatlinburg. There are lots of things to do up there (ice skating, tubing, skiing, alpine slide). We went into the very old game room and Arden didn't even need any money to have fun, she just had a blast running around acting like she was playing all the games. Aunt Becky played the games and won enough tickets to get Briggs and Arden prizes and Arden picked out a ball (of course) and was thrilled. Next they both rode the carousel a few times and we went back down the mountain and walked a long way to eat lunch (that's a story in itself) and got some delicious fudge and headed back to the cabin so Derek and I could pack up.


{Ober Gatlinburg}


It was so fun watching Briggs and Arden play together.
One night they went into the kitchen together whispering to each other (well Arden was probably doing all the talking with Briggs laughing) and tried as hard as they could to get the fridge open.

We all had so much fun and can't wait to do it again!

Arden notices the smallest details. I was leaving my Dr. appt this past Monday, and Arden was checking out all of the symbols on the front of the cars we walked by. When she got to a Ford car, she pointed to the symbol and said, "Ecky's Truck!" and did it again when she got to another Ford. I didn't know she paid that much attention. She's so smart.

Catch up time

{please excuse the bad cell phone photos-when I don't feel well, it's easier to grab}

Right after the potty training attempt (read previous post), Arden and I both got nasty colds. She had a fever for a day and was so pitiful. We laid on the couch all day and she barely moved a muscle.

She didn't want to eat anything (not even cheese!).
At the hospital (where Mimi met us to watch Arden while I went to my Dr appt) on Valentine's Day- a couple of days into her cold. She wore her glasses the whole time.


Since then, I have been in so much pain that I can't do much, though I do try. It is extremely painful to get in/out of the car, in/out of bed, change clothes, stairs. I finally decided to give the chiropractor a try. When I was pregnant with Arden, I heard that it can help with SPD, but Derek was pretty much against it so I just did physical therapy. That didn't get me very far, so I decided I didn't want to waste my time with PT this time.
{happy picture}

I had my first visit with the chiropractor last week. I told her my problems, but did not tell her that the pain was only on the right. Sure enough as she was working on me, she said that my right pelvic bone was way out. she put it back in place and when I got up, I felt like a million bucks. I should add that that particular morning was the worst I had ever felt. I felt good for two days minus a dull pain getting in/out of the car/bed. The bone moved back out of position (we knew it would happen, just didn't know how long it would take).
I went back yesterday and she explained to me how my pelvic bones are actually positioned. The left side is where it should be and the right side is down low. It totally drops out of position. NOW can you imagine the pain? It's totally out of place. That explains why Arden and this baby were/are both always on the left side. There is nowhere to go on the right. It also explains all the swelling and veins all over my right leg. There isn't proper circulation with the bone out of place.
Unfortunately my second adjustment did not last as long as the first. Oh well.

{bedhead}


Arden is so funny with some of the things she says. We have this conversation almost daily-
A: Chee mommy?
k:ok
A:(runs to the fridge) I get it for you, mommy. (opens the silverware drawer) Here! I cut it for you.
K: Thank you, Arden (I cut her a piece of cheese and hand it to her)
A: Good girl, mommy!!! Tain to, mommy!

She tells daddy he's a good girl all the time and my dad stopped by the other day, and as he was going to his car, she said Good girl, boppy! She trips me out.

She enjoys pointing out 'hairplanes'

Arden says 'jacket' like hashet (think hatchet with a "sh" instead of "t" =) ). She is very into jackets and pointing out whose is whose. A few weeks ago we were at my grandmothers house, and she left, and Arden spotted her jacket on a chair and was so concerned that she didn't take her jacket with her. She kept saying "oh no! Ga-ey's (Gabby) Hashet!" She said it the rest of the time we were there.

She's also in love with glasses. She loves wearing hers (she sometimes insists on sleeping with them on) She pronounces them "hasses" or "asses." Gotta love when you hear that in public.

Potty Training FUN!

Shortly after my last post, I decided to potty train Little Miss. I actually planned to do it back in September when she was really interested in the potty and had already used it, but we were going out of town, then I got sick, then holiday stuff was going on and there just wasn't a good time until just recently. Well. I was doing the 'Potty Training in a Day' thing. A friend of mine gave me tons of tips and told me which book etc (She trained her boy beautifully at 24 mo and her girl at 20 mo). That morning, Arden pooped twice in her potty and peed once. She took her nap and then we went back to it. She decided to hold her pee all afternoon/evening. She had no problem sitting on the potty, but apparently in the morning, the whole bladder control clicked, but I'm guessing she just didn't know how to release it when she thought about it. She kept saying she had to go pee pee and would run to the potty and sit...and sit....but nothing. Same thing on day 2. Poop in the potty easy. Pee? nope. Then she started saying 'hurt hurt' and pointing to her private and asking for her diaper. I of course stopped the training because I wanted her to pee freely. She would only pee while napping/nighttime. I suspected a UTI from holding her urine for long periods of time and took her to the doctor. They gave me a sterile cup and told me to get a sample so they could test it. Hmmm....but she won't pee in her potty or in a cup or anywhere for that matter. The doctor suggested putting her in the tub with the water running down the drain. We did that for about an hour. Still no sample. I really don't want to have to do a catheter but something has to be done. I will never potty train again =). I'm just going to wait until my children do it on their own.