She's FIVE!!

I have no idea how it's possible but she is FIVE! (five going on fifteen!) But really, I know its cliche and time really does fly but this little girl who made us parents is almost a kindergartner! It's unreal. We had a great time celebrating her birthday, I will have to catch up on that but I just wanted to post a little about Hannah at 5!

She is as intense and strong willed as EVER before! I KNOW she'll do big things. She has the drive and desire and determination when she puts her mind to something. Having a strong willed child tests my patience daily but I have come a long way! She certainly has taught me alot!

She LOVES her brother. Like obsessed with him. She cant wait to go get him out of his crib in the morning and cant keep her hands off of him. They are extremely physical. They wrestle alot and its at the point where we can't really stop it. We say, when one of you cries, you both go to your room! I guess it gets the energy out. She is always thinking about him. The other day at school she got to pick something from the "big giant jar" for winning Bingo and she picked a ring and then asked Ms. Barney if she had another one for her brother. Ms. Barney told me how thoughtful Hannah is. It melted my heart. She is always sad when Owen and I get to go to the store while she is at school, she wants to be with us. If we get something at the store for her, she always grabs one for Owen. Its really is amazing watching siblings together.

She loves to read, loves to play school, loves to "teach" and loves to learn. We play school for about 2 hours everyday when she gets home. I am always the student and rarely have the right answers ha ha. She gets out all her teaching stuff and quizzes me daily. It's the first thing she does when she wakes up. I was just like this. I taught all the neighborhood school kids and probably gave them too much homework :) I am so thankful she loves learning and loves school. Kindergarten will be tough on me but I know she'll do great, she is going to be my smart, school loving girl!

She has a really hard time sleeping without me. I read with her and lay with her until she falls asleep and most of the time I fall asleep with her. IF I manage to sneak out before falling asleep, she always comes and gets me or yells out for me. She always says, "cuddle me Mommy". I know one day she wont want me in her room so Im not going to complain about it now. I will enjoy the night time talks, asking about her day, having a quiet time without TV or Owen screaming and listening to her heart. We read, we talk and we cuddle, I will take it!

She has always been intense and LOVES to play. The girl can play 24/7. When school is over I have a hard time getting anything done because we play and play and play. I know most people would say that we should just play and we do, trust me! But the dishes won't clean themselves :) I do ask her to help me but she'd rather teach her stuffed animals!

She is still very funny about the way things "feel her" and temperatures but we are getting better. I know to not even attempt some clothes, which makes me sad cause I want her to wear ruffly Matilda Jane clothes. She is crazy about car temperatures, it is always hot to her. So even in the middle of the Las Vegas "winter" she is always hot. She will freeze me out of that car. She wants the air on when we are all in jackets freezing. It causes alot of issues but I just pray she gets over it soon!

She's a pretty picky eater but is trying more things. She must have a serious metabolism because she can seriously eat all day! She is really good about drinking water. She really doesn't love milk but she chooses water over everything pretty much!

When she is in the "right mood" she loves helping me. She loves to get Owen's clothes, or help him with his food, or do anything I need done. She'll say, "was I being good today?" She loves knowing she has been a big helper.

She is SO FUNNY, loves to laugh and has the best laugh Ive ever heard. She is sugar and spice and fire and ice! She can be so loving one minute and then some other form of a 5 year ha ha. I guess thats all kids. I never know what kind of mood she's going to be in but most days its happy and playful. We love having "girls days" and painting nails and curling hair (Yes, I can actually curl her hair now!)

She is extremely cautious. She is painfully shy at first, but will warm up. We cannot make her jump right into anything. It can be frustrating for us (especially if its like sports or something) but we do know how she is so we have to remember that. We have to let her warm up and we have to be patient at first. But once she does, then she doesn't want to stop!

She is very concerned about doing "right and wrong" and knowing the difference. We have alot of conversations about what is right and why things are wrong. She asks alot of GREAT questions. Her mind is always working. She is a great friend. She shares well, she plays fair for the most part and we are learning alot about how its ok to lose sometimes and not always get the things you want.

Having kids grow up before your eyes is sad, scary and worrisome, especially this day . But its also a beautiful thing when they grow into the people you hope they would be. I can only pray they are well behaved, kind, loving children. We're getting there. It takes a village and being away from our village is very hard, but I hope being here is good for them. It has taught me alot, no doubt!

(This is one of my favorite things...when we ask Owen to pray, he puts his hands together, closes his eyes and makes this exact face with his big front teeth. Its absolutely ADORABLE. Now when he first started it, we laughed and laughed cause it was so cute. Hannah caught on and decided to "make fun" of him. It's wrong, but it's still so funny!)


She is my girl, my strong, loving, intense, happy, playful, smart and BEAUTIFUL child. She loves her family and is learning so much about God that it makes me extremely proud.

I know she has BIG things ahead!!!


Here is our Age 5 Interview!

What is your full name: Hannah Elizabeth Adkins
How old are you: 5
 What is your favorite color: Hot pink
What are your favorite toys: BOOKS! (Granmommy LOVES that I know! Since my mom is a teacher we have what feels like one thousand books and she's read them all!)
What is your favorite fruit: grapes
What is your favorite tv show: SpongeBob, ugh I can't stand that show!
What is your favorite animal: A horse! Same as last year :)
 What is your favorite book: Froggy's Worst Playdate
Who is your best friend: Hannah R from school and Maddy our neighbor
 What is your favorite drink: water
 What is your favorite thing to do outside: play in the sandbox (the good thing about desert landscape, the kids can dig and dig and not mess anything up!)
  What is your favorite thing to take to bed: Her build a bear dog, Ruby :)
 What do you want to be when you grow up: a teacher and she told me that when she's not teaching she will be a horse trainer.
What is your favorite meal for dinner: cheese pizza
 What is your favorite number: 4
What is your favorite song: Let it Go, Im SHOCKED!
 Who is your favorite teacher at your Las Vegas Preschool: Ms Barney, Lamb of God
What is your favorite thing to do at school? Play in the centers- Housekeeping and the library :)

Christmas Vacation Part 3! The finale!

So we started our last week at the beach on Monday. We were leaving Friday the 2nd, we had been gone almost 3 weeks so the kids did need to be back in their routine. I could have stayed at the beach house forever. I mean, dont we all wish we could just live on a permanent vacation. I usually get bummed when we have to come back. That means back to routine and surviving in Vegas!

Monday we took a walk on the beach and my mom and I ran some errands with Owen. He's usually a pretty good little shopping buddy!

 Owen LOVES the beach. He just finds a spot and starts to dig!

Tuesday was one of the first days we will never forget...my mom and the kids and I all set out for the aquarium, we've been before but it's always nice to get the kids out for something fun. They were really good and had alot of fun. Except of course when we went to the 4D movie of "sea monsters". Scared them both to death, we had to walk out with both of them! Parent FAIL! ha ha.

We left the aquarium and grabbed some lunch in Charleston. Owen was great all day, seemed happy and healthy at the aquarium. He wasnt too hungry at lunch, but thats nothing new. Some days he eats alot, others he doesnt eat much. He fell asleep in my lap at lunch but that didnt shock me, it was his nap time and they had played hard. We came home and were all pretty beat so we just got in our pjs and we were ready to relax. The "big" kids as we call them, Lindsay and Matt, Alex and Elise had all set out for dinner in Charleston so we were going to just put a movie on for the kids and hang out.

I noticed how warm Owen felt, and of course I brought tylenol and the head scanner thermometer but it stopped working, it said his fever was only 77. I dont think so! His core just felt so hot and his hands were FREEZING. So we gave him tylenol and got his pj's off. We decided to put him in the bath to cool him but he wasnt having it. He was screaming. So we got some cool wash cloths and started to wipe him down. He was not having that either. So I took him upstairs to calm him down and put a new diaper on him but he just kept saying, cold momma cold. So he climbed up by himself in the big bed and I went up there with him to put a diaper on him and then the next thing I knew, I saw his eyes roll back in his head. I KNEW what was happening. A febrile seizure. I dont want to say thankfully I knew what to do and to NOT freak like I did when Hannah had her first one but I did know what to do. I rolled him on his side and rubbed his back (as calmly as I could stay). I yelled for my mom and she ran upstairs. I could not even believe it was happening. I thought we were in the clear since Hannah's were when she was much younger but I guess not. I remember looking at the time to time it, and then noticing how blue he was. I do not remember Hannah being that blue. He was barely getting air and so much was coming out of his mouth it was so hard to watch. Thankfully my mom did way better than I did. My dad was calling 911, I was calling 911 (they have TERRIBLE service in the house so all our calls kept dropping) then I finally got through. I hate to say I could hardly watch it but I really couldnt. It was awful and so much worse than Hannah's. I know it was at least 3 mins, and it was torture. The ambulance had been sent and we were just waiting. It finally ended and he was asleep instantly.

I know if we had been here we would've put him in the car and taken him to a childrens hospital and not called 911. However, we had no clue where the nearest hospital was, and I was so scared by how little air he had gotten so it was a mothers reaction to call. We got him in the ambulance and my mom was going to follow. I knew and had peace he was ok, but it was so traumatic. I cannot even imagine parents that have to watch their children go through worse. They took us to the nearest childrens hospital- 30 miles away. My mom talked Hannah through what was happening (she was playing so happily in the shower she didnt even know what happened). One of the funny parts- even though I wasnt laughing at the time, the exact same fire fighter who came for the gas leak was the FIRST one to walk through the door for Owen's seizure, not funny then but we can chuckle now!

Anyways, long story short we got him settled at the hospital, he was mad and screaming. I dont blame him, his brain waves had just undergone serious trauma. After a long night, they couldnt find anything wrong and they assumed a virus. Which is the most annoying diagnosis but there really wasnt any other signs. Flu test was neg, and his ears were fine. No clue where this came from!!

 my heart broke for him.

The only thing different was that he slept more the next few days, but that was it!

The next morning we had reservations for Hannah to ride a pony at the equestrian center, I had not slept a wink the night before, I was so worried about Owen and he was still so hot. But I really wanted to see Hannah ride Blossom. Owen was adamant about coming too. I really didnt want him outside but he bounced back and wasnt taking no for an answer. So Lindsay and I took the kids, it was so cute. She loves going up there and getting to see the horses. 

She LOVED being able to walk Blossom back to her stall. She loves getting to do this!

That was New Year's Eve so we just took it easy after that, we had all been through alot! I went to bed early that night but Hannah was a trooper and stayed up with everyone else. Owen was still a little tired and groggy so we crashed early. I hated missing New Year's countdown with Hananh but the tv had gone out so they had to watch the countdown on Elise's phone! Just one of the MANY things that had gone out while we were there! We spent a week without TV and internet. It was actually kind of refreshing!

So we woke up New Years day, I had planned to cook a big breakfast for everyone. Alex and I were the only ones downstairs. My dad came out of their bedroom, he looked a little shaky. I didnt really think anything of it because I know with all the things he has going on, cancer, ruematoid arthritis, etc. that he's not always balanced when he first gets up. He came out of the pantry and dropped his coke. I looked over and didnt think much of it. Alex kind of stood up to get it for him, but after a few tries he picked it up. He knew it was going to be shaken up so he came over to the kitchen sink. I was next to him making breakfast and then I heard a loud clank. He dropped the coke in the sink. I looked over and I noticed the whole left side of his face was droopy and his left arm was just hanging there. He was leaning against the kitchen counter to hold himself up. I said, Dad are you having a stroke???? I couldnt believe it. Alex got right up to get him and I ran to get my mom. She jumped up and we got him back to bed. I knew they needed to go to the hospital but you know men, they are pretty darn stubborn. We made him do the stroke tests and he wasnt doing very well. We know the first hour is most important but we missed that window. So they got ready to head to the ER, its just hard because its takes a while to get there. So we were all on pins and needles waiting to hear from my mom.  

Alex and Elise were flying out that day so Linds and Matt took them to the airport and stopped by the hospital to see him. At this point he was still in the ER. It turns out he did have stroke and he had actually had one the day before too. After running all kinds of tests, it turns out his right carotid artery is 100% blocked. SCARY STUFF. I am for one, so thankful I watched him have a stroke or he never wouldve told anyone. Yes, he is that stubborn :) But we also got all kinds of new information that saved his life. I think if he had gone untreated, it would have been bad news. 

So with this blocked artery and the stroke, they cant operate and they won't ever. It scares me to death knowing he has a 100% blocked MAIN artery and cannot operate. But he is under great care and will take it easy, right dad? Ha, yea right! He had a stroke on Thursday and was playing golf on Tuesday. No, Im not joking! But like Jeremy said, he doesnt blame him! We've gotta live our lives ya know!

So thankfully my mom was able to come home and get some rest, he was being admitted and would stay at least 2 days. I was glad he was there, I know he wasn't though :) 

We flew out Friday as hard as it was to leave, we needed to get the kids back to their routine. The flight was one of the worst...it was pretty rough. But there are worse things! That's what I kept telling myself!!

 I find all kinds of Hannah selfies on my phone :)

 Feeling more like himself!

 Smart boy, made a bow and arrow out of sticks on our walk!

 She LOVED playing in the shower!

 They both fell asleep on the first flight. I PAID for that on the second one!!

Christmas got "unpacked" by the kids! Im still cleaning up Christmas!

It was a crazy trip. So many things that made us all realize life is short and things can change in an instant. Makes you love and appreciate so much more!! We leave for the beach again in 3 weeks, Im not sure the last flight is far enough removed from my memory though!!