jacksonism and kira speak

Jackson: Mom! I had the strangest dream last night. There was this INSANE toy store where they said they only had toys never seen before. Only I HAD seen them before and so had Hansel and Gretel. At least, there was a brother and sister there. They might not have been Hansel and Gretel. I don't know. I didn't ask.

Kira (at bedtime): Knock Knock
Me: Who's there?
K: sleep
Me: sleep who?
K: sleep night night

Heading to the car in the Target parking lot on a 102 degree Tx afternoon:
Me: I'm hot
Kira: Me, too
Me: I'm tired
Kira: Me, too
Me: I'm hungry
Kira: Me, too
Me: My toots smell like a rose garden.
Kira: mmmmmmmmm

Just this second:
Kids bickering behind me:
Me: Do y'all need to be separated?
Kira: Yes.

Little Punkins!

Jackson and Kira went to After Dark in the Park with their Aunties Beeka and Karen. I had to share this pic Beeka took!




(That police officer in the background is Aunt Karen.)



Thank you Beeka and Karen for always entertaining our Perdueligans in such fine fashion!

Big Kids

Yesterday got away from me before I blogged. I guess it'll be 30 for 21 for me.

We've had a crazy week around here. After a healthy summer, the kids, of course, managed to come down with a nasty virus three weeks into school starting. Jackson started running fever last Saturday. Kira started on Monday. I took them both to the doctor for strep tests. Not strep.

On Wednesday night, Jackson was still running fever and it got up to 104.4. So, back to the dr we headed on Thursday. Not mono. Not flu. Headed to the children's hospital for xrays. Not pneumonia.

On Thursday, Jackson's fever broke. I've found that his illnesses require a sacrifice of expensive medical testing before they'll go.

Kira ran fever for over five days, too. Though she never ran that high. It's funny because people assume that she's our medically fragile one. I always mention that she started crawling a week and a half after heart surgery. She's a tough chick.

And speaking of her heart surgery...we got the all clear from her cardiologist last month!! She only needs to see Kira on an "as needed" basis from now on!! Kira was born with a PDA and an ASD. Her cardiologist attempted to close the PDA with a device that essentially plugs it up, but Kira's was ginourmous and the device pulled right through it. So, on Feb 14, 2008, she had surgery to close it. They went in through her side and deflated her lung to get to it.

We thought she would just have to live with the ASD, luckily it was small. But when she had her echo done last month, there was no sign of the ASD!! Woo-hoo!!

I am so thankful that we have Cook Children's Hospital. My kids feel right at home there, and I'm thankful. I know that's kind of a weird thing to be thankful for, but when Jackson has needed to go in for xrays or whatever, he's not scared. He loves going there. Kira is understandably not thrilled to go for blood draws, but she isn't scared of the hospital. And y'all, she was SUCH a big girl during her testing last month. Sat up straight and tall during the EKG, kept it together, even though she wasn't entirely sure what was coming next. Tough chick.

We always eat lunch in the cafeteria when we're there. Last time, I looked down and realized that no one was in a stroller. They were both sticking close to me while we waited for our food. They stayed in line with me. We walked to our table together. They entertained one another while I went to get napkins and straws and stuff. I had to take a sec and recognize that here we were in the next stage, together. Two big kids and their mom enjoying lunch. They're still my babies, though.

Hug your babies, y'all!

Love, W.

P.S. While I was looking for a pic to put in this post, I remembered something else I wanted to say. When Kira started saying "Mama", I wasn't sure if she was really saying it, or just practicing her "muh" sound. After the failed attempt to plug the PDA, when they brought her too me right after she came out from under anesthesia, she snuggled into my arms, looked me straight in the eye, and breathed "Mama" with a sigh of relief. It was perfect.

aaaaaaaaaannnnddd we're back! (31 for 21)

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31 for 21, y'all. 31 posts in 31 days in honor of my girl's 21st chromosome. And a great chance for a lazy blogger to get her mojo working again.

So, let's see. Where were we?

Kids are in school. Kira for a 1/2 day and Jackson in all day Kindergarten. Jackson had a bit of a rough start, but now absolutely adores school. Adores it in a way that is sure to get his ass kicked at some point in the future. Bless him.

Kira returned to school like the princess she is. Beauty queen waving like she was on the back of a convertible all the way down the hall.

I'm in full on PTA mode. PTA doesn't play, y'all. Serious business.

ummm....what else? Oh, we have a cat. Her name is Lulu. She rocks. She'll get her own post or two this month.

I'll leave you with first day of school pics. And a promise to do my best to blog every day. And maybe even talk about Down syndrome.

Missed y'all.

Love, W.

(Jackson showing "5" and helping Kira show "3", so I'll remember when this was!)

jacksonism

I don't want to forget this one.

Jackson decided that he wanted to take his lunch to school on Thursday. He, of course, decided this on Wednesday, so I wasn't sure what I'd have to put in his lunch.

Me: Ok, it's all packed! You have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, cantaloupe, watermelon, carrots and celery. So, you're good to go!

Jackson: Actually Mom, I'd like to be GREAT to go. Could you put some peaches in there, too?

jacksonism

J: Mom! Pick a number between a million and one hundred and two!

me: 3,175?

J: Nope! Try again!

made

A little bit of crafting this week.

I experimented with sewing with knits this week. I read somewhere (Angry Chicken, maybe?) that if you're going to sew knits, get a ballpoint needle for your machine. It really did make a huge difference. The last time I tried sewing knits was a disaster!

So, this week I started with some of Kira's too short gymboree leggings. I cut them off to just above her knee and used a zigzag stitch around the bottom edge while stretching the material. It makes a flutter edge that's really cute. No pics - I made three pair and they are all currently in the dirty clothes pile. I'll try to get a pic up of her wearing them, later. They make me think of a 1920's bathing suit bottom.

Next up was my attempt at this wonderful tutorial for making boys' boxer briefs out of tshirts. I've really been wanting to try this. Jackson HATES it when he outgrows favorite t's, so this is a great way to make 'em last a little bit longer. They turned out so cute and they actually fit around his skinny legs!

This picture in no way shows how cute they are on. I actually made three pairs. Jackson is currently wearing Pair #3 and since I'm trying very hard to avoid posting things now that will embarrass him later, I'll refrain from posting a pic. Believe me, though, way cute.

We were invited to a birthday party this weekend that we weren't able to attend. It was for a little boy who goes to Kira's school, though he's not in her class. I was trying to come up with a gift using stuff I already have on hand and am pretty happy with the final gift. I made a tic-tac-toe board with a pocket on the reverse side that holds the checkers. I used the pocket piece off of one of Derek's old shirts for the back. I used shirt scraps and khaki scraps for the squares. I sewed a piece of velcro into the pocket to hold it shut (I did that before sewing the whole thing together). Anywho, here you go:

Front:

Back:

Pocket:

I also did a real quick recon on a pair of XL pajama pants I bought at a garage sale for a quarter. I took in the sides, cut off the top, and added a new elastic waistband - and presto! Medium jammie bottoms for me. I'll spare you a pic of me modeling them.

A Jackson funny: He was playing guitar and asked me if I'd find him a straw hat. He said, "I need it to help me write a country song about a tumbleweed named Herb."

That's all I got. Hope your weekend was lovely!

who knew?

Turns out that despite being marketed as a "lullaby" the "sing along opera" of made up superhero names in alphabetical order will, in fact, WAKE UP a certain grouchy girl who really, really, really needed the sleep.

huh.


(And for the record: No. I do not want to play another round of "Guess what I'm saying in secret code".)

we're dang fancy, y'all

Derek rigged up a makeshift swing for the kids. Garden hose, two holes drilled in a piece of wood, and some kind of metal thingy securing it around the pine tree.

I wish I could swing on it. It goes all crazy in huge, swirly circles. The kids LOVE it. (And I'm a worrier, so believe me, it's very safe and secure.)

Jackson - a couple of weeks ago:

J & K - today:

made

This week's tally:

1 tutu

1 superhero cape

1 pair of scrappy clown pants

1 scrappy twirly clown skirt

1 teeny-tiny amigurumi yoda

Today is devoted to repairing the destruction of my house that occurred during all that crafting!

The clown pants and skirt were for the kids to wear to Vin's 2nd bday party, yesterday. I had the honor of attending my very first late night girls' sewing bee to help Kam sew the clown vests that each child received for a party favor. We had the best time sewing, chatting, and drinking margaritas (it was cinco de mayo after all). Derek had the next morning off, so my Mother's Day gift was getting to spend the night after the sewing bee and have a leisurely morning enjoying Teri's breakfast burritos and coffee before heading home. Sew lovely, I tell ya.

I took the leftover scraps from the vest making and made Jackson's pants and Kira's twirly skirt. Pretty dang cute and perfect for some clownin' around:

Yoda was a gift for my BIL. He said he either wanted Derek to make him a batch of pale ale or me to make him one of these. I've been wanting to try amigurumi, but have been kind of intimidated. So, I was happy to have the chance to try it. I didn't use doll eyes, but instead stitched embroidery floss for the eyes. I was going to harvest eyes from one of the kids' million stuffed animals. Those things are so anthropomorphic that I couldn't bring myself to cut into them! So, here's cutie little 2.5" Yoda:

And here's what Derek's IOU pale ale card looked like:

The best part of this crafting week was my kids showing me how much they pay attention to things. Vin's gifts were the superhero cape and the tutu (real men can rock a tutu. trust.).

I had the tulle spread across my bed while making the tutu. Kira walked in, took a look at the bed, and said, "tutu?". Yep, mommy's making another tutu. Cutie girl.

When I told Jackson that we had to run to Joann's to buy fabric for the cape, he said, "Don't forget to get the velcro.". And when I was cutting out the pattern pieces, he gave me a huge hug and said, "You're the best present maker ever! Anyone can buy a gift, but you like Vin enough to make him one!". I know someday Momma-made will probably embarrass him, but it's so lovely to know that he gets it, now.

Have a good weekend, y'all!

sibs

I've had these pics trapped in my camera for about two months, I think. The kids were outside playing and Jackson was trying to teach Kira how to ride the tricycle. I was able to get some shots without them seeing me, a little blurry with all of the trying to hide while doing it. Such a sweet moment between them. And at 5 and 3, it's nice to catch a sweet moment between the squabbles!

A note on the "outfits": This was one of those days when they steadily added to their jammies all morning. Stuff from the dress-up box? check. Random shoes pulled from the closet? check. Hand-me-downs from Bubba? check. Shirt on backwards? check. (And Jackson has had a major haircut since then, too.)

Just makes my heart fill up and pour out all over.

where does he get this stuff?

Tonight, Derek is wearing a plaid flannel shirt, blue jeans, and a knit cap. And here's the convo:

Jackson: Dad, you look like a wood chopper.

Derek: What's wrong with that?

Jackson: Well, first off, this isn't the woods, Hot Chop.

why not Wednesday

Jackson's first words upon waking this morning:

Hey, I have some dance moves and food raps to lay on you guys.

Followed by a performance featuring the carrot rap that was all about a carrot that was too cold and so needed

to get BACK inside the
BACK inside the
BACK inside the
ground

(Obviously, his muse visits him in his sleep.)

Kira in action!

We spent a good chunk of time this afternoon soaking in some sun before the weather turns cold again. I was watching the kids running and playing when I suddenly realized, "Wait a minute! Kira is climbing up the slide! And sliding down! On her bottom!"

She loves to slide, but has always needed a little help with the ladder and has always slid down on her belly. And there she was, acting like she's been doing it this way forever. She would slide right down and land with a thud on her butt. I wanted to catch it on video.

So, I started filming and then she landed on her feet!! For the very first time!! I think we were both surprised and I love, love, love the look of surprise and pride on her little face.

Jackson said, "Mom! We should have a celebration, tonight! To celebrate Kira being such a big girl!" Most definitely.

son of random

Jackson: "Mom, if you go to Walgreens later, I've been needing a few things."

Me: "Like what?"

Jackson: "Well, a transformer that turns into a truck. And also, a rubber chicken."

a little hard won advice

Stop what you're doing right now and go look up the 24 hour pharmacies in your area.

That way, you'll already know where they are when your kid spikes a 104.7 temp at 11:00 pm and proceeds to immediately vomit up his dose of ibuprofen, leaving you no way of knowing if his fever is going to go down, and when the on-call nurse sends you out in the coldest night of the year to get Tylenol suppositories, you won't have to take twenty minutes to figure out where you need to go.

Better yet, just go ahead and get some of those suppositories the next time you're at a pharmacy.

Said child seems to be doing ok today. And the pedi's suggestion that Kira may have been battling a virus along with her ear infection seems to have been an accurate assumption.

(And thank you, Mom, for taking my 15 middle of the night phone calls and making the scary part of parenting a little less so.)

cute pic

"Mom, would you like to see the cute picture I took of Kira and me? Kira looks so cute in it!"

(I think the photographer looks pretty cute, too.)

jacksonisms

A couple of days ago:
Jackson (hollering from the bathroom): "MOOOOOMMMMMM"
Me: "Did you poop?"
Jackson: "Indeed I did, and it is quite disgusting."


This morning:
Me: "Jackson, where's your sister?"
Jackson: "That's not my concern."


Brotherly advice for Kira: "Kira, don't ever fall down. It really hurts." (lesson learned after a spectacularly clumsy crash into the rocking chair - he is his mother's child.)

navigation

Dear Son,

I know that you know that the Library means a lot to this family. It's where your Dad and I met. It's where your Dad works now. You were about one week old the first time you went there. Same for your sister. We go at least once a week. Sometimes we go several times in a week. It is five minutes from our house. We love the Library.

And so, dearest love, I assure you that when I put your sweet little self in the car to head to the Library, I KNOW WHERE I AM GOING. I AM NOT LOST. YES, I AM SURE.

Love,

Your Mother. And Santa.

November 06

A little birth story preview. I went into labor on Thanksgiving. Kira was born early the next morning.

Jackson - before he went back home (lil' punkin' boy)

Derek and I saying hello to our new baby girl

Sweet Baby Kira

And then we went to sleep for the night and woke up in an alternate universe.