Our Beautiful Trooper

I'm hesitant to share this, because I'm not one to get very personal on my blog. However, I decided to just so you know what's going on with us and maybe to give someone hope who is going through the same thing.

Our Miss T has had a very tough few months. She had a stye on her eye that started around Thanksgiving that got bigger and never went away (see Christmas post). It has been about three months and it has been hard for her to have this each day. Some people are just not tactful, and say really loud, "What happened to your eye?! You still have that?" She has been very strong about it. She looks people in the eye and tells them it is a stye, which is a bump and it will go away. However, there are times that I can tell that it hurts her a bit and she hangs her head down.

I took her in to the eye doctor last week to see if there was anything else we could do to get this to go away. As the doctor was checking her, he said that the stye was the best thing that happened to her. He found that she has very poor vision in her left eye (20/150). I was told that we are all born with poor vision; but later, the brain develops signals with the eyes and the vision gets better. However, in T's condition, her left eye stayed blurry and then what happens is that the brain shuts down the use of that eye in response. The great news is that it is something that can be corrected and fixed because it was caught so early. If she had gone in after the age of 8-9, the brain already sets in and it cannot be corrected.

We feel that the stye was a blessing in disguise. We had to get her glasses that she has to wear all the time while awake. I have to patch up her right eye (the good one) four hours a day to force her to use the bad one. This will help build up the bad one and make it stronger. It will help her eye and brain connect and get more use out of it. I am very confident that she will be able to correct this problem. There have been very many success stories. Whether or not she will regain 20/20 vision is in question, but she will regain most, if not all, her sight back in that left eye. I actually had a similar problem at the same age. I wore glasses for most of my early life, but am now without them and can see better than most people that wear glasses. My glasses were literally coke bottle glasses, probably about 1/2 an inch thick. Also, in T's case, her eye has not crossed or turned in, which is good. Mine did and it straightened out.

She has been a great sport about all of this. I couldn't be more proud. I try not to let her see how bad I feel for her. I am trying to make it fun and exciting for her. I took her to pick out two pairs of glasses. She looks beautiful in them. She is so excited to have them. For the patches, I ordered some really cute ones with cute designs on them to keep her excited. I am going to try and have her play computer games, card games, draw,etc. while she is patching so that she looks forward to it and also so that she can use her eye better to focus during that four hours per day. As a mother, I hate that she has to go through this, and want her to be as happy and confident as possible. I know how mean kids can be out there and I know I need to prepare her for it. However, she is a very strong girl and realize that she can handle more than I think. She has had her glasses for one full week now and has been great about keeping them on. So far, so good. Everyone around her has been very positive. I am thankful for everyone's support! We will keep you posted on her progress.

Here's our T at her ballet/tap recital the morning before we picked up her new glasses.

Here she is with the new glasses, with her happy, cheesy smile...

My Latest Obsession

After we got home from the monster truck jam (see below posting) we were feeling pretty ambitious and decided to start a "girl's room" for M and T at midnight. We have been back and forth on where to put everyone before the baby comes. The design and colors had been laid out and prepared for weeks in the making. The hardest part was taping up the room. I had decided to do two tones of pink, with a white stripe in the middle. The wallpaper border matched the two pinks and we did green on top, with flowers spread out. It was actually fun to do and rewarding to see the final product. We even did a bathroom with a castle and a carriage mat to carry them to the ball. It took us several days to finish everything. The girls love it and spend a lot of time in there playing dress up and dolls. In a sense, it is the girly room that I never had! We are so glad we got it done!

Snow Dance

We've been doing the snow dance for quite some time now. This winter has been pretty pathetic, as far as snow fall. We had a dusting a few weeks ago. This past week, we had about 3-4 inches. Not too much, but in this area, when a snow flake hits the ground, the city shuts down! The kids got two days off of school and a two hour delay out of it. It did ice over, which is the reason for the second closing day and delay, so I guess it was ligitimate. I just want one BIG storm where we don't even have to check if school is canceled, we just know by looking out the window. I want to make snowmen, snow angels and snow forts...in the mean time, we have enjoyed what we've gotten so far.

Monster Truck Jam

Last weekend, we took G to a monster truck jam in DC. We are closet fans (we meaning Cedric and I). G has loved monster trucks since he was about two. The girls spent the night at my parents and it was G's special night with us. He loved riding the Metro into the city and really enjoyed the jumping and crushing that was going on. The noise was pretty loud, but very bearable with ear plugs.
G was so excited...

Here are some shots of us this past summer where we visited "Digger's Dungeon," home of the Grave Digger. See, we have been closet fans!

Quick Update

This is just a post to let you know we are doing well, just as busy as ever. In my haste to try and get everything in before the baby comes, I'm afraid I may be in over my head. I have days that I am literally home for a total of 40 minutes the entire day. On top of picking up and dropping off kids at school and preschool, I signed the kids up for a gazillion different activities. I just know that after this baby comes I will not be able to let them do the things they'd like to. So...I've got Miss T in tap/ballet once a week, G and T in private swimming lessons once a week, G in basketball twice a week, and M in a gymnastics once a week. So our daily routine is to come and go...15 mins. of homework here, scarfing down a meal there, jetting off to a class, then something else, then home for dinner, baths and bed! So sorry this is a quick post with no pictures, but I am seriously in need of some down time!

We attempt to have a normal family night on Monday nights. However, I'm not sure how much the kids got out of it. We started out with singing "I am a Child of God." T ran off somewhere saying she needed to get something in the middle of the song and came back with some Q-tips plugged in her ears because she said our singing was awful. Then during the quick lesson, we lost M, who went off into the kitchen. We found out later that she had pulled out all of the tupperware onto the floor. G tried to act like he was listening, but kept saying, "I already know this stuff, when are we going to have the treats?"

So this is what's been going on with us. Every day is an adventure, to say the least! We'll be posting again later!

Anniversary and Day Trip

In all that was going on (see previous post) I forgot to mention that Cedric and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary that same week (thanks to my brother and wife for watching the kids). We went out for a nice dinner and did some more Christmas shopping...yes, we aren't as adventurous as our earlier days. We had hoped to go on a nice trip, which seemed feasable 6 months ago, but now with a new baby on the way and the economy the way it is, we decided to take a rain check on that! Check back with us in a few years, maybe we'll finally make a trip to Hawaii or Australia! So here's to 10 years with a wonderful husband. He's my eternal companion and best friend!

On another note, a few days ago, since we had healthy children again, we decided to take the kids on a trip up to Hershey, PA. It was nice to get away for a bit and get out of the house. The kids were getting a little stir crazy from being sick and doing NOTHING during their break. Here are some shots from the trip. We had a wonderful time. The weather was in the 40's, but we bundled them up pretty well and there was no wind, so we lucked out.

All I Wanted for Christmas...

Were three healthy kids! Here is a little glimpse of what we had going on in our house leading up to Christmas...


Patient #1: Little M...She had constant fevers that ran up to almost 104 all day, for 8 straight days, a nose that ran every two seconds, and vomitting. She was not herself at all, not eating, talking, or even playing. After taking her to the doctor, we were told it was a virus and all we could do was wait it out. Here's a picture of her with a cool rag on her head, trying to smile through it all...

Patient #2: Miss T...Poor girl had a stye on her eye that started over a month ago and got progressively larger. All we could do was keep putting warm compresses on it and wait for it to do it's thing (not to be gross or anything). She also came down with a low grade fever, but was in good spirits.

Patient #3: G Man...He had been coming up to me all week and telling me that his ear hurt and I kept brushing him off because he didn't have a temperature. Finally, one night, the poor guy was in so much pain that he broke down in tears and I checked his temperature and it was high. I took M and G in for a "two for one" check up and found out he had an ear infection.

We were blessed to have all of their symptoms clear up by Christmas (for the most part). Cedric and I keep talking about how lucky we are to have such good kids. They never once complained and were always trying to stay positive. It gave us a whole new perspective on Christmas and how thankful we are for our family and little things that we take for granted (including health). We ended up having a great Christmas Eve dinner with family. I cooked up a turkey and a ham and 12 different dishes. It was nice to be able to celebrate with people we love. Here are just a few shots of us.

Christmas Eve...Aunt Tera made the girls little red riding hood towels and G was the big bad wolf.

Opening some family presents on Christmas Eve

Cousins...

Breakfast with Santa...

Christmas Morning...Santa put some Slim Jims in the kids' stockings. I know, our family has great taste in food!

The girls got a baby Chou Chou from Santa that gets a fever and its face lights up and it stops crying once you take its temperature and give it the medicine. Isn't that so suiting? Santa must have had "sickness" on his mind when he brought this!

M in her new dress up clothes...


We hope you all had a very merry Christmas!

Jumpstarting the Season

A shot of the temple taken by G

The girls in front of one of the trees decorated from around the world

Us (minus Ced the photographer) in front of the temple

I'm sure I am speaking for many of you, but Christmas has always been my favorite holiday. This year, we are trying to keep things more simple and enjoy the memories with our family and friends. Every year, we go to the annual temple lighting ceremony at the DC temple. My ex-boss' wife (follow that?) is the Director for International Relations for our church. They usually put on a good show and have general authorities speak. It is by invitation only and we are joined in the crowd by Congressmen, ambassadors, etc. The kids always like to see the "castle where mommy and daddy were married." It's fun to tell them how they were just a twinkle in our eye when we were married there. The lights are always beautiful at the temple and it's such a great way to kick off the season.

Let's Talk About Sex, Baby

If you are thinking of something else, I must say you have a dirty mind. :) If I got a song in your head from the '90's, that may have been my intention...

So you can probaby guess what this post is about. I went and had my ultrasound over two weeks ago. Sorry it has taken so long to fill you in! Before I give you the news on what we are having, I wanted to make you suffer through all of the details and background behind this. As you know, we already have one boy and two girls. G said that he "has too many girls in his life" and that this had better be a boy. T wants a baby boy, and M, well, she is just happy to have a "baby" around.

Instead of letting me find out at the ultrasound (which I would like to say is about an hour away from my house), G had the GREAT idea of having the radiologist write it down on a piece of paper and have us all read it at home together, so we'd find out together. As sweet as that may sound, I knew that would be a difficult one for me. Our appointment was at 4pm and we finished up at around 5pm...this meant driving through rush hour to get home. On top of that, it was raining, which made it worse. The radiologist took extra precautions and wrapped the envelope up extra well in tape and told Cedric to put it in his back left pocket, so if I tried anything sneaky during the ride home, he'd be able to stop me in time. Darn radiologist!

I made it through the agonizing ride home, and of course, Cedric had to play along a little. We drove up to the driveway and he said he had to take out the trash first and hang up the coats and wash his hands. I wanted to open the envelope at the door! After all the waiting, this is what we found when G opened up the envelope (click on the picture for a larger view)...




We are so excited for this little guy to join our family! Now I guess the boys have an even vote in the Moran family. They should thank their lucky stars!

Working Hard for that DS and Breaking a Tooth

I'm a little slow in posting this, but I just wanted to congratulate G on finally acheiving his goal of getting a Nintendo DS. He worked his toosh off since the beginning of the school year to get good grades on his school work, spelling tests, receiving tickets for his good behavior, and also getting chosen by his teacher to receive an award for the quarter (two get chosen out the class each quarter). We are proud of him. He is such a good kid and has not once asked for us to bend the rules on his DS playing time. Well done, G! You deserve it!

On a side note, because of his award, G got to have a special surprise breakfast at his school and we were invited. While he bit into his donut, his front tooth cracked and started bleeding. I knew it was doomed and wouldn't see the end of the day. That night, he spent the night at grandma and grandpa's. He called me while we were at dinner to inform me that his tooth fell out and landed on his pizza. He asked if I could write a note to the tooth fairy, asking her if she'd leave him a surprise that night and come pick up his tooth the following night, since he was not at home. The tooth fairy agreed. The following night, he got all of the sudden sad. When I went to say good night to him in his room, I noticed that his head was buried into his pillow and he was wimpering. After much prodding, I found out that he had gotten so attached to his tooth that he didn't want to give it to the tooth fairy. I felt bad for him. I told him I'd write her another note and I'm sure she would be willing to let him keep it, but she asks that he's a good boy in return. He was so happy. The following school day, he put it in a jar and had it passed around for his class to see (don't ask where he gets these ideas). Here's a picture of him with his front tooth gone...look at that mischievious smile...

Happy Birthday, Little M!

It's hard to believe we just celebrated our M's second birthday. I still think of her as my baby. She still will be my baby until the next one comes! Two years ago, I was scheduled to go in to have a c-section with Miss M. I was terrified and had no idea what to expect. That same day was also election day. I remember that there was an important marriage amendment that was on the chopping block in VA(kind of like Prop 8) and I thought it was my civic duty to go vote. So off I went to vote, slapped my "I Voted" sticker on, and made my way to the hospital to have my sweet M. The memory is so clear to me because of the elections we just had.

As you all know, I always do a shout out to my kiddos on their birthday. Here's to Miss M. She our cuddlebug. We can always count on a hug and kiss from her. She is the most easy-going girl ever. Maybe it's because she's had to get toted around her whole life to her older siblings' activities. You will never hear a peep out of her. She's always just happy to be out and about with us, no matter what the activity. We are so grateful that she goes with the flow of our family. She is a smart little gal. She can already pick out letters of the alphabet in books, count to 12, and even count backwards from five. She speaks in complete sentences now and usually composes 4-5 word sentences. She is my little helper...always looking for things that should be put away or is out of place and does it without being asked (now if her older sibblings could follow that example). She is our singer and dancer. She is definitely our princess. She is known for testing out "poofiness" of dresses by twirling around to make sure it fits her descrimination and approval.

We love you more than words can say! Here's to you, "Mootsie," Happy Birthday!

We took her to good old Chuck E. Cheese for the birthday.

Here's a little clipping of M blowing out the candles (a little early)...

Field Trip Re-do

T's field trip for preschool was on the same day as the Palin rally (see below posting). After the rally, the roads were jammed up and it was extremely cold outside. I was supposed to get home and take her to her field trip, but given those factors, I had her skip. I felt very guilty because she was excited to ride the bus, but I told her I'd make it up to her. G man had his field trip to a farm a few days beforehand (it was in the high 40's most of the day). He actually had a blast and wanted to go back, so we decided do a field trip re-do for T on a nicer day (70 degree weather). There were huge slides that the kids loved. T convinced us to pay extra to ride a pony there. I normally wouldn't have (I am so against paying an admission fee and then additional fee for other stuff, but that's another story), but I was still feeling guilty for having her miss the field trip, so I caved. She loved it. Being right after Halloween, they had these people on these platforms very high up in the air throwing pumpkins down and smashing them. I think that was the highlight of the day for them...watching the pumpkins hit the ground in a loud bang and see the bits scatter all over the place. Maybe we could have saved some money and just let Cedric climb up on the roof of our house and smash all of our old pumpkins! I don't think that would have been as cool, though. Hopefully, we made it up to Miss T okay. By the look on her face throughout the day, I think we did.