Lakeway 2011

We had a blast on our becoming-annual trip to Lake Travis. Swimming lessons proved fruitful (yet dangerous as we don't quite have swimming down) and my kids were complete fishies. We even got in some hiking. Fun times! We were excited to see Uncle Steven and bring along Nana and Miss India. Too bad Miss Amanda and PawPaw couldn't have come too. Next year! And since my finger is almost 100% healed, I finally got the slideshow of pictures made: Lakeway

Marble Falls

We just spent a few nights in Marble Falls. It's about an hour west of Austin, deep in the heart of the Hill Country. We vacationed here about 2 years ago, right after Harper turned one. We spent much of the time reminiscing about how much our children have grown since we last visited.

The weather was a bit wonky, chilly and very windy at times. But we managed to sneak in some beautiful hikes, playground time, and strawberry picking. We also met up with Uncle Steven for lunch on the way in. No vacation is complete without delicious food and good company. Here's the slideshow: PICTURES

P's new look

We got Pierce's hair cut SHORT today. I love it so much! I admit, I was getting cold feet as his appt drew closer. However, when our stylist was cutting it, I knew I would like it. She's great....very patient and really knows me well. She cut it in a way we would have several ways to style it but can leave it natural too. P loves it also--"it's an Anakin haircut". He's been running around all evening showing how fast he can run now that his hair is short. I loved his soft, long locks but it's too hot for Texas' summers.

H's 3 year well baby

was this morning. She's absolutely perfect--growing great and developmentally on target (and even ahead). Her lymph node is barely noticeable now. She had her MMR vaccine and it was breaking. Her vocabulary is so good and it just hurt me to the core to hear her describe how much it hurt. She got several princess stickers, a princess band-aid, a hello kitty toothbrush, and a pencil for her bravery. Her vision is 20/30-20/40 which is great for her age and her hearing was perfect. Her stats:
weight 37.8 pounds (90%)
height 37 3/4 inches (55%)--our ped said she is most likely in the 75% for height. Children tend to "shrink" at their 3 year well visits b/c they change how the measure at this visit--instead of laying down they lower the paddle on the scale. She said they often recoil making the measurement smaller and to expect her height to jump back up at her next well visit.
Thank you all so much for the well wishes!

Scentsy

So, I joined the workforce during nap time.....well, sort of. I am now an independent consultant for Scentsy! Thank you so much to my sponsor for her support and encouragement. Family and friends if you don't already have a consultant, I'd be honored to help you. https://kellylowe.scentsy.us/

Harper's PERFECT!

Praise God! It's *just* a reactive lymph node. She suspects her node was just reacting to the cold. Apparently children's nodes are incredibly sensitive and react very easily (sometimes even before they are symptomatic). She said she actually has two slightly enlarged nodes but that both are within the normal range and aren't even swollen enough she would want to strep test her. Her ears were clear, throat was fine, just snotty. And she weights 37.6 pounds!

She said when kids have swollen lymph nodes it isn't concerning, like it is with adults, unless there are accompanying symptoms such as persistent high fevers. They don't biopsy children unless they are swollen for 2 years or so and even then, most often everything is fine.

We're so incredibly relieved and most grateful she's healthy! Thank you all so much for lifting her up today!

please think of my Boop

I'm taking Harper to our ped in the am. Originally we had planned to wait for her well baby to address our concerns but it's 3 weeks away. She has a swollen lymph node on the left side of her neck. She is sick right now, but Mark noticed it ~7-10 days before she got sick. Mark has had 2 biopsies on a node in his neck and he's worried. When he's worried, of course, I'm a mess. Please think of my baby girl and pray it's nothing. I'd be most appreciative......