One half week of school...

and Caden gets sick. Yes, that is right, Caden came down with strep throat on Tuesday. I actually think he was getting it over the weekend, because he was so tired all weekend long.

On Monday after school, Caden was eating at my Mom's house when we picked Liam up, and I felt his head and noticed he was hot. I took his temp and it was 100.3 (just low-grade), but he never has a fever. I told my Mom I thought he was coming down with something.

Well, Tuesday morning he woke up crying and upset. He said he didn't feel well and that his head hurt. Of course, I think the worse thing. To me Fever+Headache=Meningitis. Well he was miserable all day at my Mom's house. I have no sick time, so I wasn't able to take time off. :-(
Rob called and made a doctor's appt for him at 1:15, and they did a quick strep test that came back negative.

Well Wednesday he woke up in a much better mood, but it quickly faded. I got the call from the doctor's office around 11 AM that his lab work had come back and he did have strep. Thank goodness for antibiotics though, because after just one dose he was running around like the wildman he is!!!

He is all better now, and he went back to school today. They only have to be on the meds for 24 hours, and then they aren't contagious. I think he was happy to be back in his routine, and he actually got 3 stickers at school today, and he only has to get 2 more to get a surprise out of the Treasure Chest!!! How exciting!

Liam is 4 months old!

August 18, 2008

Well Liam had his 4 month appointment today. I can't believe he is 4 months old already. Crazy how fast time flies.

Here are his stats:

Height: 25.5 inches (75th percentile) -- Caden was 25 inches at 4 months.

Weight: 15 lbs 4 oz (62nd percentile) -- Caden was 14 lbs 7 oz at 4 months.

Head: 16 inches (don't know the percent but I'm betting it is around 25th or so)

He laughed when the doctor listened to his heartbeat, and he absolutely LOVED the mirror right next to the table he had to lie on. He smiled and giggled at the baby in the mirror, not knowing it was himself of course. Then they gave him 3 shots which was so horrible. He screamed a lot. Afterwards, I had to go back to work, but my Mom said he went to sleep and he slept the rest of the day! I know his little legs are sore, but he is doing ok now.

As for solids...I told the doctor we were going to hold off until five-six months and he was fine with that. I don't think Liam is that interested in food yet, so I don't think this will be a problem.

Liam at birth (2 days old)

Liam at 4 months

Montgomery Zoo

August 16, 2008

We went to the zoo this weekend, and we had a wonderful time. We left early on Saturday, mostly because we thought it was going to rain, but also because if you get to the zoo early most of the animals are up and out.

The first stop was the snake house. Caden wasn't wasting any time getting there either. He sprinted past the Spectacled Bear (Mommy's favorite), the monkeys, the alligator, and the Maned Wolves. Daddy and Mommy made Caden wait a few minutes by the maned wolves as we watched one of the wolves take a drink, and then a fight ensued. It was neat!

Caden loves the snakes, lizards, frogs and dragons in the snake house. His eyes light up when he sees them. He knows that he cannot touch a snake unless a knowledgable adult tells him it is ok. He is still looking forward to seeing the snake at his new school, as they did not go to the Science Lab this week.

After the snakes we made our way around to the Llama. He stuck his head out and looked right at us. About this time, a zoo employee came up to us and told us not to get too close b/c the llama spits. We backed up, butI got a few good pics of him in the meantime.

Then we decided to go ahead and take the train ride. Caden was already getting tired and was a little moody. He enjoyed the train ride though, and Liam had his first ever ride on the train. I have to say he wasn't too enthusiastic about it, but he didn't cry!

We decided we would go see the Elephants next. We stopped to look at the big open area where the Zebras, Bantangs and other animals roam. I Batang came right up to the area where we were standing and began eating the leaves. Caden was amazed by it, as were we. It was so neat!!!

After that, we stopped by the playground. Caden and Daddy played for awhile while Liam snoozed in his carseat. Check out the pics of my three kids!

Our last stop was the otters. Caden absolutely loved these guys. They came right up to the water and basically smiled at you. They were so neat!!! It was a fun day, and we came home for a nice long nap. Caden ended up not falling asleep until 3 in the afternoon, but then he was down for the night! I think after his week of changes he needed to rest and catch up on a little sleep!!!

Caden tuckered out at the end of the day.

Caden's First Day of School!

Caden with me right before school

Caden with his new teacher

Caden started Pre-K today at Saint James! We were so excited. I decided to get up early and drive him to school. This meant a finely tuned orchestration of driving one kid to Big Mommy's and then promptly jumping back in the car to drive to Caden's school. But, it all worked out!

They only had class until 10:30, so I walked Caden in, put his bookbag in the bookbag box, showed him his cubby, and then found his name on the table. He was a little clingy, but finally he sat at the table and began looking at a number book (he is really into numbers right now!). I kissed the palms of his hands (as instructed by the teacher) and left. Apparently they read a story about a child who was told to kiss the palms of their hands when they missed their Mommy and Daddy. So cute.



Caden also has to wear a uniform this year. He looks so cute in it. He is one of the smallest in the class, and I think the uniform makes him look so tiny! He walked right into the classroom wearing his Lightning McQueen bookbag though.



When I picked him up he was so excited to see me, and he told me that "Mrs. Browning was nice!" She also gave him Smarties, so he was very pleased with the candy aspect of it all. They took a tour of the school, introduced each other, and read books today!



We will see how he does tomorrow, because he will be there all day not until just 10:30!

Caden meets his Pre-K 3 Teacher!

August 8, 2008
Well, Caden is starting a new chapter in his life: School! After having some problems with his daycare this summer, we decided to go ahead and enroll him in a local private school. They have a Pre-K3 program, complete with after-school care, so he will be able to be there all day. The greatest part about it is that 4 kids from his daycare are going to attend there, and one of the kids is in his class! I know he will like that.

On Thursday, we went to meet his new teacher, Mrs. Browning. Caden calls her "Mrs. Brownie." The Pre-K3 classrooms are all centered around a "pod," which is basically a big playroom. Caden walked in and made a bee-line for the Thomas the Train table which is located in the pod. I literally had to pry him away from the table so we could make it to his classroom to meet "Mrs. Brownie."

We walked into the classroom and there were 2 other children and parents there. The children were clinging to their parents. Well, Caden, with his little outgoing self, walked right in started looking at the books, found the blocks, and began playing.

Mrs. Brownie came up to us and said "What is your name?"

He looked at her and said, as easy as you please, "Caden Stanley Greene!"

I was so proud of him for not being shy. He felt right at home there.

Then Mrs. Brownie said, "Well tell me a little bit about yourself. What do you like to eat?"

He looked at her with a big smile and said "McDonald's and candy!"

I was a tad embarrassed, but I had to laugh, because those are his favorite foods besides peanut butter and jelly sandwiches!

Well Mrs. Brownie said "My girls love McDonald's. Would you like to take us there sometime?"

Caden looked at her and said "Um...maybe I'll take you there next year."

It was so funny. He really felt comfortable there. I'm glad he will start there this year and have a structured academic environment. I do think that Mrs. Brownie will have a lot of trouble pulling him away from that train track though!

Our Trip to St. George Island

July 19-26, 2008

After going back to work for three weeks it was time for a vacation! My whole family, Mom, Dad, Kelsey, Allison, Chris, husbands, wives and kids all decided to go down to the beach! Mom and Dad rented Pieces of Eight, which we used to own. Mom was excited to go back there, as she has missed the house since she sold it. The problem is it only had 4 bedrooms and 3 baths, and 19 people were going to be staying there! Yikes!

When we got to the beach on Saturday, the weather was beautiful. Mom cried when she saw the house and the view from the front porch. But, things had changed and the new owners had not kept the house up as well as Mom and Dad had. After throwing our suitcases in our room (we got the twin bedroom), we opened it up and quickly found our bathing suits. Caden got dressed up in his swimsuit, his swimshirt, swim shoes, sunglasses, hat and life jackets. Fully dressed--perfect for that hot Florida sun. I put Liam in his swimsuit and swimshirt, and I lotioned both of them up.

When we went in October, Caden had refused to get in the ocean, because he was scared of the water. This time, he jumped right into the ocean. The waves did bother him some. He would say "Those waves are mean and keep knocking me down." The life jacket helped with that some, because even though Caden can swim well, we were worried about him getting swept away.

The baby enjoyed his quick dip in the water. He only went down one other time during the week. I was too worried about him getting sunburnt!

It was a wonderful week, connecting with my sisters and brother again. All the kids played, sometimes well together, other times not. Rowan was a doll and is getting so big! Unfortunately, my camera broke while we were there, so I have absolutely no pictures of the sand, ocean, and two little boys out there! I was able to get a few pics of the kids inside the house. I think the camera problem has something to do with the light sensor, as every picture taken outside was completely washed out!

All in all, we had a great time, and Caden behaved so well. On Friday I came down with a stomach bug which was unfortunate. It took me 5 days to get over, but now I'm feeling better. The kids never came down with it, thank goodness!