Testing, testing

I think it's finally working! Let's see, where do I even begin… I think I'll start with our most recent activities and go backwards, it seems easier than trying to remember a couple weeks back (what did I eat for breakfast again??)

Payton has started soccer lessons again, which are going really well. She kept talking about being a soccer player, until finally one day I asked her if she really wanted to play. She seemed a little hesitant (told me she wasn't big enough, and then that she didn't have any soccer shoes), but I convinced her to give it a try. She's older now, so the class she's in doesn't have parental involvement (woot woot!), so we were worried about how she would do without one of us by her side. Usually at those types of things she's a stage 5 clinger! But Kyle and I were shocked, she surprised us both and just went for it! Kyle warmed up with her, running and kicking the ball back and forth, but after that she ran off with her class and she was golden. Kyle and I kept looking at each other saying "who is this child??" But it was a very pleasant surprise, and we're so glad that she's putting herself out there in situations where she hasn't been comfortable before. That's hard enough for some adults, much less a 4-year-old!

I can throw really high!

Jumping like a frog

High fives with friends

Think she sees us??

Jumping AND throwing balls; girl's got hops!

So fun!

Payton was a natural; you can see the ball she kicked is behind her coach!

So soccer will now be our Saturday morning activity until April. For Payton's birthday my mom is giving her ballet lessons at a local dance academy, so that will start when soccer ends! Plus we need to get her back in swim lessons, I just haven't done it yet… such a busy girl!

Payton also had her yearly eye exam at OHSU recently, on the 11th. I was worried with the snowmageddon that we had that they would have to reschedule her appointment, but luckily everything went as planned. We dropped Carter off at my mom's house; I asked her to take him to school for me, and Payton and I took off to Portland! 

She did extremely well during the eye exam, but she did NOT like having her eyes dilated, poor thing. She didn't cry or anything at the drops, took them like a champ, but about five minutes later she started crying saying that she couldn't see and she wanted to go home. I felt terrible! I kept reminding her about what else we were doing in Portland that day (more on that later), and luckily they got us back pretty quick and we got it all over with. Dr. Karr examined her eyes and told me that her eye exam was stable. He said that the astigmatism in her left eye was a little bit worse, but that there was no significant change from last year's exam. He wants to see her back in August, and we made an appointment for Carter at the same time; he said he likes to see siblings at about a year to screen early for vision problems since they're at a higher risk, so Carter will get an eye exam too. I have no concerns with his vision thus far, so hopefully that goes well!

Payton was extremely excited to drive to Portland, because I had told her that as a special treat I was going to take her to Build-a-Bear. So after her appointment we headed to Washington Square for some lunch and our special date. I hadn't been to a Build-a-Bear in years, and man have they changed; it used to be just bears! Now there are so many stuffed animals that it took us quite a while to pick the right one; and then it took even longer to pick out all of it's accessories! Payton kind of knew what to expect because I had shown her a video on YouTube of how Build-a-Bear worked; her favorite part was definitely washing her new kitty and brushing it's fur at the little bath station they had. I finally had to tell Payton that she needed to move on because a line was starting to form behind her! Here is what we ended up with:

Meet Hello Kitty! Yes, that is really the name Payton chose…

She's quite stylish, just like Miss P!

Very gently washing her kitty

We had an exhausting day!

Exhausting, but great! The only snafu was that it took us 3 hours to get home (not to mention two hours to get there in the morning in traffic), so it was a long day in the car. Apparently a man passed out while driving a semi and managed to hit 3 inmates on the side of the road picking up trash… unfortunately we got stuck behind the accident, and so it took forever to get out of Portland. I'm glad I just had one child and not two in the car! Payton was so tired that she actually slept most of the way home, so it worked out. 

Last weekend after soccer, Kyle and I took Payton to pick out her first pair of "big kid" glasses. She kept saying "they don't have straps!" She's had this style of frame since she was 11 months old, so it was really weird for us to see her with different types of glasses on. They weren't very expensive (Wal-Mart), we got three pairs paid for by insurance! I figured why not if they're free, plus if one breaks we have a couple spare. She got a purple Hello Kitty frame, a pink Hello Kitty frame, and a black Barbie frame. I actually just got a call tonight that they're already ready for pick up, so we'll go get them tomorrow!

Oh, I can't forget my eyes… what a mess they were! At Carter's 6 month shots appointment we were in the exam room playing, and he reached for my necklace right as I looked down and JABBED me in the left eye; it hurt sooooooo bad! The doctor came in to check his ears and asked if I was upset because I'd been crying, but only because my eye had started watering and draining… and it continued to do it the rest of the day! My eyelid swelled to where I could barely open my eye, and it felt like I had something stuck in there for the rest of the day. It stunk going back to work and scanning with one good eye! I saw the eye doctor the next day, and she confirmed that my son had scratched my cornea. Oh Carter! She gave me some eye drops, and luckily in about two days it was a million times better. However, a couple days later my right eye started watering too. Then a couple days after that I woke up and it was all red. I thought no, it couldn't be… but yup, somehow I had gotten pinkeye. How I did it I still have no idea! Of course it was during a snowstorm, on a weekend, urgent cares were closed… nightmare. I was able to get some eye antibiotic drops, and had to use those for about a week. For now (knock on wood), my eyes are ok!

Carter isn't doing too well again though. He has had a cold for FOREVER, since before his ear infection last month. He's just been stuffy and had a little bit of a cough, but the last couple days it seemed to really settle in his chest and he almost sounded like he was wheezing. Since it seemed like it had gone on long enough, I decided to call the doctor and they got us in that day. Doctor Arrow looked at Carter's ears (clear) and listened to his chest for quite a while, saying it definitely sounded very congested. He didn't like the fact that he'd had this cold for so long and wanted to test him for RSV, which is a respiratory virus. They test for it by obtaining a mucus sample, so some poor nurse had to come in and suction a bunch of snot out of Carter's nose to send to the lab. Carter didn't like it much either! That came back negative (thank goodness!), so Dr. Arrow prescribed him a 10 day course of antibiotics that will hopefully help kick this yucky stuff once and for all. He's been on it less than 24 hours and I've already noticed a big difference! Not just in how he sounds, but how he's acting too. He's been a lot less cranky, seems to have a lot more energy, and is eating better. Not solid foods though! He doesn't like them, I've had the hardest time getting him to eat solids. They've even tried when he's at daycare, and he just closes his mouth and shakes his head. Not into it! I just remember how much Payton loved solids, so it's so weird to see Carter not want to eat them. He still loves his bottles though!

I'm happy to chew on the spoon though!

Some really big news for Carter is he is ALMOST crawling! In fact I would pretty much consider it crawling, he'll only do it two or three times and then falls on his stomach, but he's using his arms and legs now while up on all fours to move. I'll have to try to upload a video on here sometime, he just started doing it today. Very very exciting! Such a big boy! :)

LOVE him!

My sweetie pie

As you may have heard, we got some snow down here a few weeks back… more than I have EVER seen in this area! I told Kyle I felt like we had woken up in Klamath Falls again. The difference being that people in Klamath know how to drive in the snow… 

Snow day!

This little guy and I opted to stay inside where it was warm :)

I took this outside of the hospital; day one and day two of SNOW! We ended up with like 20 inches total or something, totally crazy

Eeeek!

Payton's picnic table used to be somewhere out here…

My favorite valentines!

Bathtime cuties!

In just five short days Kyle and I are going to have a FOUR year old; crazy! I just can't believe it. It's cliche, but it really does go by so fast. This is the first year we're doing a party with friends for Payton, she is SUPER excited. She's having a tea party! Then the next day we're going to have family over for cake and ice cream. Basketball also ends this week (yes!), although unfortunately Kyle's last game is on Payton's birthday so he'll be gone. His game is in town though, so I haven't decided if we'll try to go so he can see her on her birthday, or maybe we'll just do something with grandparents at home. We'll definitely celebrate it somehow! Then she's got a whole birthday weekend to celebrate! :)

Big birthday blog coming soon; have a great week!