Lovely Christmas

We kicked off our Christmas Eve by meeting my parents at our church. Blake and I estimate there were about 8,000 people at that service, singing Silent Night in unison. That was awesome. We came home to have dinner, and the kids got to open a couple presents each.

Lucas got Georgia a Fur Real pet kitty, and Lulu has become our favorite pet. :) She meows and licks her paws and rolls over for you to pet her belly, but you don't have to feed her or clean a litter box! 

My parents got Nate a real guitar, which he calls a Ki-Tar.

"Dis! Dis!" She wanted her new baby!

Granna read the Night Before Christmas.

And then Santa came! Georgia got a PowerQuad, rocking horse, blocks, pull along puppy, Kai Lan bath toy, rolling ball toy, Fisher Price puppy, a couple books, and a pink poodle harness (aka leash)!

Nate got a drum set, a race track, some Legos and a lego case, binoculars/viewfinder, a book, a movie (Lionel Nation 5), a train (Bash), and an AmTryke (adaptive trike).

The kids must have been pretty good this year!

Here's Maggie spooning with Lulu.

Ahh, Georgia sleeping. That blanket wrapped around her waist is one of her little baby swaddle blankets. :) She still likes to be wrapped up, then she wiggles her arms out, rolls over, and goes to sleep, with her Glow Seahorse.

When Nate came downstairs and saw everything under the tree, he just looked for a minute, then said, "Lionel Nation Number Five?! Look! I got Lionel Nation Number Five!" We were pointing out the drum set and the race track and even the train, and he just kept going back to the train movie. That was probably his favorite gift, of all things, but his second favorite is his drums!

We've taught him to yell "I WANNA ROCK!" and "THANK YOU, LOUISVILLE!"

Georgia just doesn't really get it yet. She picked up various pieces of her Kai Lan bath toy and carried them around. Later, when she opened her stocking, she was obsessed with a spoon and fork.

Look, Lulu! I got Lionel Nation Number Five!

Now he has BOTH "logging locos." (I don't know what that means, but that's what he tells me.)

We had to put Lionel Nation 5 in the DVD player right away.

There's Goldfish in my stocking!

Sunglasses for Georgia ...

and for Nate!

When Granna and Pops came over, the present opening madness continued! What could it be?

Both kids LOVE this trampoline! And Nate shows us how he can jump with no hands! Take THAT, Spina Bifida!

Georgia got a little Dora desk to match Nate's "Car Chair."

This is the AmTryke. It's super cool, but it's going to take some convincing to get Nate to actually ride it. I'll try to get video when he does.

That night, instead of cooking a big dinner, we went out to Buca di Beppo for dinner! We love that place, and we were so happy they were open on Christmas! Nate had such a hard time going to bed last night. He kept saying, "But I'm missing all the games downstairs!" I assured him that Granna and Pops were back at their hotel, and Daddy was cleaning the kitchen and there were absolutely no games, but he didn't believe me. He wanted to talk about our fun Christmas over and over again. In fact, even last night--5 days later--he was telling me little details about our dinner at Buca, like how when the waitress brought our food, he was going to touch the plate but she told him not to because it was hot, so he didn't. Ha! I find it hilarious how little kids remember little unimportant details like that just as much as the important details ... everything is of the same importance.

I have had all week off work, which has been wonderful after such a crazy month. On Tuesday, we went to French Lick, Indiana to an indoor water park/hotel. This was our "family gift." That evening we got to ... Are you ready for this? ... ride on a REAL TRAIN!!! ... WITH SANTA!!!!! (who was on vacation after his big busy season) AND eat cookies and drink hot chocolate. That is like Nate heaven! (except the hot chocolate--he won't touch the stuff) It was really so much fun. And that night it was, of course, exciting to order pizza and stay in a hotel. Nate just talked and talked and talked and asked endless questions! At one point after he asked me like the 100th question, I said, "You sure do have a lot of questions!" He said, "Daddy, I talk a lot!" That's his latest thing he always says, "Mama, I have a question." Even if he doesn't really have a question. After I put him to bed, he always calls me back up because he has a question, and then he asks me something like if I remember that the waitress at Buca di Beppo told him the plate was hot and then he didn't touch it. :) 

Anyway, the next day we got to the water park by about 9:30 am, and the kids played HARD until after 2. Nate really liked playing with his life jacket on in the big pool with Blake. But there was also a baby/little kid area that had a fun little water slide. He sort of wanted to do it and was sort of scared to (last time he got on a water slide, he busted his chin), but I made forced him to do it with much protest, and of course he loved it! He went down that slide probably 100 times. He waited in line with the other kids, learning to take turns, not skip in front of each other (and not overcompensate like Nate did at one point by letting every go in front of him continuously), then he climbed up the steps, waited for the kid in front of him to go down the slide and get out of the way, and then slide himself down and swim away quick. It took a lot of coaching at first, but I was really proud of him. There have been times when we didn't know if he would be able to just play independently like all the other kids on something like a water slide. But no one would have been able to tell anything was different, unless they saw the scar on his back. That's the thing--no matter how big Nate gets, and how "able" he is, we will never take it for granted. We watch him in awe.

Tonight is a low key New Year's Eve, just watching a movie (or blogging while half-watching the movie Blake is watching). We have a lot of work to do this weekend to get our house put back together and everything organized for me to head back to work and for the kids to start at their new babysitter! Blake will continue to stay home in the mornings, and Mon-Thur, Georgia will go to the babysitter's house for 4 hours while Nate goes to school. On Friday's, they will both go. I'm really excited about this and think it's going to be a good fit for all of us. We actually knew the sitter--she worked at our pediatrician's office! And I found out in a really round about way that she was leaving that job to start an in-home daycare. She is very sweet and wonderful with kids. She has a 4 year old girl of her own who is so excited about playing with Georgia every day (and an older son who Nate thinks is really cool). She's also going to be watching another family's kids. I think Georgia is going to love being around other kids for a few hours a day, and I am so confident in the sitter's ability to care for both kids. Georgia starts on Monday!

Well, I hear Nate is back up, at 11 pm, talking a mile a minute. He came down with Blake, saying, "Hello, mama. I just came down for a little snack and a little drink." Looks like we'll be ringing in the new year with the 4 year old! Happy New Year's to everyone from the Payne family!

Seven Christmas Parties and a partridge in a pear tree

I have to admit that I was not looking forward to the holidays this year. The calendar looked a little too wild, and among all the Christmas parties, I didn't see any room for Christmas joy. Every December is a bit of a scheduling issue because of course we want to have special celebrations with all three sets of our parents, plus grandparents and other special traditions. This year got a bit more difficult because for SBAK, I was responsible for hosting five Christmas parties. It just so happened that all of these celebrations fell on different days--amazing, really. But as crazy as this month has been, I have enjoyed it so much and have realized how blessed I am to be surrounded by family and friends and to actually get paid for stuffing stockings for little kids and spending time with other SB families.

Our first party, the first Friday in December, was the Lexington SBAK party at GattiTown. Don't tell anybody, but I think this was my favorite SBAK party because it was so much fun and the least amount of work. :)

Nate was reunited with his buddy Nathaniel.

This was the beginning of the month, so Santa hadn't had time to bulk up on cookies and such yet. He was looking a little on the skinny side.

Georgia is just at the beginning of her "afraid of Santa" phase that will probably last for the next two years.

We were supposed to go to southeastern Kentucky the next day for another SBAK holiday party, but had to cancel it due to lack of RSVPs and weather. I was disappointed about that, but I sure did enjoy the rest. That Sunday I took the kids to the SBAK "Decorate your own Gingerbread House" event--I didn't even have to work! I just enjoyed it. In fact, Nate did most of the decorating with the chef, and I just took pictures and helped Georgia snack on candy.

The next weekend I hosted two SBAK parties in Louisville--one for adults on Fridayand one for children on Saturday. It was A LOT of work, but both were fun parties and very successful. I love it when everyone leaves saying, "This was so much fun!" Unfortunately, I have no pictures of me and the kids from these parties. But here are a couple pictures of other people. :)

Then on Sunday of that second weekend, we went to Indiana to celebrate Christmas with Papaw and Grandma and family. The kids had a blast and got lots of presents.

Unfortunately on the way home, we got stuck in a snow storm, and there was a bad wreck that had us stopped for two hours. Brian and Sunny were stuck right in front of us. A two hour trip took us five hours! But thankfully we got home safely.

That brings us to this past weekend. On Friday was our last SBAK holiday party in Bowling Green. I think it was this day that I decided that I was silly for being stressed about planning these parties. It's a joy to make the preparations and spend time with these families.

My kids got a lot of Santa's lap time this December.

Okay, this is where it started getting really crazy! We got home from Bowling Green around midnight Friday, and at noon on Saturday we left for a 4 hour trip to Martin County! But I was so excited to get to spend Christmas with my Granny and Papal and aunts and uncles and cousins. Last year when we decided we were going to spend Christmas at home, that meant missing my Granny's Christmas Eve celebration that I had been to every year of my life. This year, they moved it to the Saturday before so we could come. Awww and Yay!

Nate was so busy playing ball that I don't have any pictures of him. But check out Georgia in her Christmas gown! My mom found this for her and says it is exactly like the one she had for me when I was Georgia's age. What a cutie!

We spent the night, and the next day headed back to Louisville for Christmas with Memaw, GrandBob, Brian, Sunny and Koko! Janie kept asking if we were exhausted, but really we were fine and having a great time! Sunny made an excellent dinner, and every now and then I find myself wondering if they still have leftovers. :)

Haha, she does not look thrilled in this picture to be getting clothes, but she actually loved them and carried each little outfit over to me to show me.

Then commenced the flipping upside down. Be forewarned: If Nate asks to sit in your lap, he's going to want to flip backwards. And he's going to want to do it for the next hour. And then Georgia is going to want to as well.

Georgia is getting friendlier and doesn't always have to be on my hip! Progress!

So instead of being as stressful as I thought, this month has been filled with so many blessings and so much fun. Every day Nate asks which Christmas party we're going to today. :) When we get in the car, he says we're going on a "credible adventure" or having a "tastical day."

And after all the busyness, my shopping is done, and we get to just stay at home this week and next week. Nate is out of school, I have a relaxed schedule at work, and we have nowhere to go. My parents are coming this Friday to spend Christmas with us, and we're so looking forward to this family time.

One damper on our season is that we have lost our nanny Alisa. :( Luckily it happened at a time when I could arrange my work schedule to be at home, and we have some good prospects for new childcare, which will need to be decided by January 3rd. We are certain that all this is happening for the best and that God will open another door for us. Please pray that we'll find someone we trust.

So this was a whole lot of Christmas-ness, and our family wishes you a Christmas full of joy and love!

Potty Training: Here we go again

For those who don't hang onto my every word and remember everything I say (I know there aren't many of you), here's the background. According to our urology nurse, only about 5% of people with Spina Bifida potty train typically. Just about everyone can become socially continent by using catheters and a bowel management program. (But working where I do, I also see a lot of older kids and adults who are not at all socially continent, mainly because they don't know that's possible or how to achieve that.) Anyway, despite these odds, we are trying to potty train Nate typically. So far he has defied a lot of odds by not needing a shunt and walking independently. There is nothing unhealthy about his bladder, kidneys, or bowels. We have seen some indications that lead us to believe he can do it. And I sometimes see other indications that maybe he can't, or it's going to be very challenging. And by the way, I do recognize that at some point Nate will want privacy about this, but I also think it is important to talk about such things, especially with other SB moms (most of the people who read this blog).

Back in August/September, we had him pretty much potty trained for "#2", and we were all ready to start pee training, but for whatever reason, it just all fell apart, and we haven't had much luck since. Now that Nate is on his 2 week Christmas break, we have decided to recommence potty training. Before we seek outside help (i.e. behavioral therapist, additional testing, alternatives to pottying), we are giving this all we have. He is 4.5 years old. We want him to be out of pull ups by Kindergarten.  Here we go.

Major challenges: Nate couldn't care less about a wet/soiled pull-up. And he is totally resistant to sitting on the potty. Some have given suggestions to make him less resistant, so let me just say up front--his potty is in the middle of the living room floor, and he can watch cartoons and play with trains or whatever while sitting there. He's just resistant to it because ... well, because he is resistant to everything.

Step one: I went to Babies R Us and bought $40 worth of "training pants." For those who don't know, those are just like extra thick underwear. He does not like them "cause they leak" but I like them because they hold little leaks better than regular underwear but he can still feel when he's wet. I also tried the waterproof pants, but he loved those and wanted to wear them for hours without pottying, because they don't leak! I'm taking back the unopened packages of those.

Step two: Attempt a reward chart to make Nate less resistant to using the potty. The premise is that when Nate sits on the potty *without whining about it* he earns a letter on the chart. Each day we are spelling a word that will be his reward. Yesterday, we had to start this thing with a bang, so the word was TRAIN. Throughout the day, he had to sit on the potty 5 times without whining about it, and each time he earned a letter. (He did whine about it once and didn't earn a letter that time.) By 6 pm, he had earned his train, so we headed out to Walmart to buy one. He was quite pleased with himself.

Today's word was COOKIE! And after 7 times sitting on the potty with no whining (we had no whining incidents today--at least about the potty), we made sugar cookies. Again, Nate was thrilled and very proud of himself.

I thought I was a genius for coming up with this potty chart because not only does it encourage kids to sit on the potty, it also rewards not-whining, AND it teaches spelling! I thought about patenting it! Then I realized that most kids are like 2 or 3 when they potty train and are not ready for spelling lessons, lol! But if you know any 4 year olds potty training, try it out! It's working great so far.

Note: so far our success has been simply less resistance to sitting on the potty. He has not been successful at remaining dry in between potty times, but he's had plenty of successes on the potty too. We'll just keep trying.

Okay, I'm taking suggestions for words for the coming days! Tomorrow will be LIGHTS because the reward will be to take a drive looking for Christmas lights. Nate has suggested HOT DOG for another day. :) But I'd like to have some more easy/fun rewards that we can spell out in 5-8 letters.

What the kids are saying these days ...

The kids are cracking us up lately. Here are just a few of the things that have had us cracking up.
Georgia is saying more every day. A couple days ago she was singing a Christmas song: "Fa ra ra ra ra, ra ra ra raaaa!"

Also, both kids are really big into Knock Knock jokes these days, and it's so unfunny it's funny. One that Nate can actually do is:

Knock knock!
Who's there?
Atch.
Atch Who?
Bless you! Ahahahahaha!!!

But most of the time it's more like:
Knock knock!
Who's there?
Uh .... cough.
Cough who?
I'm coughing and sneezing! Ahahahahaha!!!

or

Thomas!
Thomas who?
Thomas is going to crash!!! Ahahahahaha!!!!

It doesn't matter if it's funny or not, Georgia will just cackle at every joke Nate tells. And then she runs around the house constantly saying Knaw Knaw!!! and then cracks up.

Sunday morning we were getting ready to go to have Christmas with Grandma and Papaw, and Nate was in rare form. I don't think he stopped talking for several hours. He was telling me, "Mama, I know a lot about water and bubbles. I had a dream about it! And I know a lot about building towers, and trains, and cars...." After awhile I said, "You sure are talkative this morning!" He said, "Yes, I am!" and just kept on talking. A little later I heard him telling Blake about all the stuff he knows about, and then he said, "Daddy, I am talking a lot!" Blake was a good daddy and said, "I love to hear what you have to say!" :)

Nate has a bit of a stubborn streak, if you didn't know. A quirky thing about him is that even at 4.5 years old, if he wakes up in the middle of the night or when he wakes up in the morning, he doesn't just get out of bed and come to our room ... instead, he prefers to lay in his bed and scream until someone comes to get him! Of course this often wakes up Georgia, and it's just a big pain in the butt. So the last couple of weeks I have been talking to him about and practicing when he wakes up to get out of bed and just come into our room. (I think part of the problem is that his bed is a bit difficult to climb out of because the sides are high.) Anyway, the other night I was going through the routine and said this is what you need to be doing instead of screaming because you're a big boy now. He just stopped me and said matter of factly, "But I'm just a little kid!" So that was equally endearing and aggravating!

On Tuesday, there was a parent-child activity at school, where we could come and make little Christmas-y things with Nate and have a snack time together. And we totally forgot about it. My phone was dead that morning, and when I finally remembered to put it on charge at work, I saw I had a text from Alisa that Nate's teacher clarified that the activity time was at 1:30 that day. Ack! It was 1:40! I knew it would take me at least a half hour to get there, so I called Blake and he left right away and got there in time for the snack together. Nate was not the least bit bothered that we missed the activity and was just pleasantly surprised to see Daddy show up at school. We felt awful though!

That evening I was asking Nate about his day, and he told me how surprised he was when Daddy walked in. Then he was telling me other things that happened that day, and it's so hard to figure out what really happened because insignificant details are included with the bigger happenings, and it just gets confusing. But then I heard, "Then I was walking down the hall holding hands with my best girl, and ..."
Me: Whoa whoa whoa! Back up. Who were you holding hands with?
Nate: My best girl!
Me: Who is your best girl?!
Nate: Trinity.
Me: But ... I thought I was your best girl!
Nate: (laughing) Naw!!!!
Hmph. And so it begins, I guess!

Then on Wednesday, Alisa emailed me a conversation she had with Nate:

Nate to the Toy Train DVD on TV: Do you remember me? It's me, Nate! Nate Payne! I love trains!
Alisa: Hey Nate, what is your address?
Nate: (says address)
Alisa: Yes! Do you know your mommy's name?
Nate: err...I just call her mommy?
Alisa: Yes, her name is mommy, but it's also Colleen Payne. Do you know daddy's name?
Nate: Blake Payne!!!!!  Aaaand this (points to cat) is KITTY CAT PAYNE!!!!

Place your orders, Grandmas

Here are our Christmas photos! They are by LittleFace photography, who is actually my neighbor Stephanie. When Nate saw her that day, he said, "I'm ready for my close up!" :D Both kids were quite uncooperative, so I'm very pleasantly surprised by the results.

And the real purpose of this blog post is so the Grandmas can tell me what they want to order. I have a CD of the images and will order them online. I don't want to get more or less than what you want, so email me with which ones you want and what sizes, please. You can click on each to see them bigger.

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

 #6

#7

 

#8



If you're having trouble, my favs are #'s 1, 5, and 6. Thanks!

Survived the week

Hello, I have neglected you, Internet world. I haven't blogged, I've barely been able to check facebook, and I'm missing my SB mamas, who are apparently up to changing the world again.

Last Saturday, we went to Owensboro to see Memaw and GrandBob and after being there a few hours, I said those fated words: "I don't feel so good." Over the next few hours I developed a sore throat that made it feel like I was swallowing razor blades, a fever, body aches, headache ... general ick. The next day we went to Grandma and Papaw's house for lunch then drove home (2.5 hours), and I was so miserable that I actually had to pass on our Bible study potluck. You know I'm sick when I pass up a social engagement.

I stayed home from work on Monday--which was a huge deal to me because this is probably the busiest time of year at SBAK, and I was planning 2 holiday parties for this weekend and we also have our Gingerbread House event coming up tomorrow. There is a lot to do. But I was still feverish and had no energy, not to mention my throat. Then I discovered the "cure"--800mg ibuprofen left over from a root canal. :) For 7.5 hours at a time, I felt good! Which would lead me to think I was getting better, but I was like Cinderella with her pumpkins after 7.5 hours. Tuesday and Wedenesday I worked as hard as I could to get everything prepared for this weekend, then on Thursday when I woke up still feeling awful, and fresh out of my ibuprofen, I finally made a doctor appointment. Funny how mama waits 5 days before finally taking the time and $25 copay to go to the doctor; meanwhile, when I was waiting for the doctor, I got a text at 3:15 that Georgia had a fever, and I had her at her doctor by 4:30. So mama has an upper respiratory infection, and Georgia has an ear infection. But even better, mama has a Z-pack and Georgia has pink amoxicillan, and we are feeling better!

It really stinks when you realize that because you are a grown up--and especially because you're a mom--life just doesn't stop when you get sick. I still had to go to work, and take Nate for his OT eval, wake up in the middle of the night when the kids were screaming, pick up prescriptions... But Blake stepped up big time to cover for me what I couldn't do and take care of us, and our house would be unlivable if not for Alisa. My attitude for the week was, "Mama's sick. Do what you can."

But there's nothing like a holiday party to get you out of a funk. It was so nice spending time with other SB families last night. There were several I'd never met before, but there's always an instant connection, a shorthand, and a total acceptance in a world where kids are otherwise "different" and often teased. I was very proud of this party--I had it at GattiTown, my brother Lucas' new pediatric dental practice sponsored it so we could actually afford to go there, Santa was there to give each child a personalized stocking, and then all the kids received game cards and tickets to ride the carousel (which was handicap accessible!) and bumper cars. The party was 6-8, but happily we didn't leave until nearly 9:30 because families stuck around to talk with old friends and new ones and make plans to connect on facebook and at future SBAK programs. My best friend and her husband came, and so did my brother, so I had help with all the "work" (I fully realize how lucky I am that I actually get paid for this) as well as with keeping up with my own kids, who had an awesome time. Lucas stood in line for half an hour to exchange Nate's 32 tickets for 3 dum dums. :) But those dum dums were worth their weight in gold when trying to lure the kids out of GattiTown with no fits for a 1.5 hour drive home.

Unfortunately, we had to cancel the party I planned for today in a different part of the state due to a lack of RSVPs and impending snow. I was disappointed, but I was also so relieved I didn't have to travel 4 hours from home, with my kids, by myself, in bad weather, while recovering from being sick. So I woke up this morning totally out of the funk I had been in yesterday morning. It's partly that I'm feeling better, and partly because I'm now feeling the Christmas spirit, and I'm also just appreciating my kids being little. Yesterday I met a very surly teenager :) (who didn't have SB) and also heard stories of kids teasing about SB stuff like braces and pull ups as early as Kindergarten. So today, I just want to keep my kids little. They're so sweet (when they're not being rotten) and innocent, and I love experiencing things like snow and Santa through their eyes again.

This morning we looked out Georgia's bedroom window at the snow for a long time, with Nate exclaiming, "The snow is getting on that house! And that one too!" He asked why it was snowing, and I explained it as "frozen rain" which he thought was hilarious. He asked me if it was snowing on the train museum and if we could go see. Meanwhile, Georgia was emptying one of her drawers, bringing me one piece of clothing at a time. Each time I'd say "Thank you" and she would say something that resembled "You're welcome." Then we all piled in the glider to read stories. That's like the best feeling ever to a mama. Blake came home with some special Saturday morning McDonalds breakfast, then I got to TAKE A NAP! When I woke up, Blake was dishing out BROWNIES fresh from the oven! I immediately said, "Best day ever!" This afternoon has been filled wih coloring and building with leggos and Georgia running up to me with a book saying "Mama!" asking me to read it to her. This past week is forgotten. Life is great.