Update...

Last Friday, a week ago, we took Kelsey back to the ENT for her follow up after surgery. He said that everything looked perfect and he didn't feel the need to see her back for another 6 months! She's been doing so good since she had the tubes placed! She is going to bed at 8pm and she normally wakes up once around midnight and then sleeps until 6 or 6:30am. She now has 12 teeth, 6 on top and 6 on the bottom! She has picked up on a lot of words throughout the last few weeks, but this week she's started saying "hello" and "sissy!"
Karli is ready for the summer and school to come to an end, what kid isn't this time of year? She's playing tball and she's on the Scrappers team. Her first game was scheduled for last Saturday but it was canceled due to the smoke from the big Dare County fire. On the 2nd of May I took her to the dentist to have 2 cavities filled........I was terrified!!! She was wonderful! She was in the back 45 minutes, had 2 cavities filled and 4 sealants. I was in tears in the waiting room (I know, but I have a fear of the dentist...funny huh). I had to call William so he could tell me that everything would be fine, and he did! She came out and told me she never even felt them numb her gums, it was fine and she now likes going to the dentist. We have an appointment to go back next Monday to get the other 2 cavities filled. Karli and I made a pact that there would be NO MORE cavities, and she's been trying so hard brushing and getting help with flossing!
Our girls are growing...seems like faster and faster all the time! SLOW DOWN GIRLS!

Easter Egg Hunting

Saturday before Easter we went to a big easter egg hunt at church, The Assembly of Praise! It was wonderful! They had games and a HUGE egg hunt with three separate egg hunting sections depending on your age. I went with Kelsey and William went with Karli. They had the most fun! It took Kelsey a minute to understand the concept of what we were doing, but once she picked up on it...away we went!

 I just followed her around with her little bucket and she would pick them up and drop them in. After a few she realized she could open them and find a prize. After that, everone had to be opened and put back together before going into the bucket!

 I promise she picked up every single on herself, I didn't help at all!

 Karli had fun too! Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of her actually looking for eggs. I'm sure that her age group was so fast that it would of been difficult to get them anyway! She found a bucket full herself!

 Here they are sitting on the grass going through their eggs to see what kinds of candy they had!

 After the egg hunt we all filled our bellies with lots of wonderful cookout food! Heres a picture of the girls with their daddy, headed back to the car after a long morning that ran into the afternoon! Tired girls!

Show Me Your Smile!

Karli officially has not a single front tooth! On the way home yesterday, it just fell out! She holds her hand out for me to see and I asked her did you just pull it out! No she says, I just caught it! So here is that priceless picture that will no doubtly go in a yearbook one day!

 My little girl is not so little anymore, she's growing up way to fast for my liking. This is the perfect age and if I could I'd keep her right here forever!

 Ofcourse I had to throw in a picture of Kelsey this morning! She too, is growing incredibly fast! Where have all my children gone?!

Play Dates

Saturday before the big storm mom came over with Nathan and Sawyer to play with the girls! They had a good time! We watched a movie, ran around outside, played on the swings, rode in the power wheels jeep and had lasagna and applesauce for lunch! Here are a couple pictures of them. Nathan and Karli had to sit together in the rocking chair to watch the movie!

 Here Kelsey is showing Sawyer the ropes, pushing him around on her little ride along. Too cute!

Surgery for Kelsey

Last Thursday April, 14 was an early morning for us. We were up and out the door by 4:30 am, headed to Greenville to the surgi center for Kelsey to have tubes placed in both of her ears. MiMi came over and spent the night so that when we left she could be there with Karli. I picked Kelsey up, changed her diaper, and put her in her carseat. Thank goodness she fell back asleep and slept the entire way. She woke up as we were pulling into the parking lot, hows that for timing?

 After we registered and she got her armband they gave us a buzzer/pager that would go off when we needed to present to the front desk. We were only there about 5 minutes when it went off and the nurse came to get us and take us back to the preop area to get Kelsey ready for surgery. Here is a picture of Kelsey sitting in the waiting room, just looking around holding on to that buzzer.

 William took this picture just as I handed her off to the OR nurse. She went willfully and without fuss. We stood in the hallway and watched her walk all the way into the OR doors. I really was impressed at how pre occupied she was and didn't cry a bit.

 William and I took the buzzer and went out into the waiting room. Maybe 20 minutes later they paged us back. Dr Brechtelsbauer came in and told us she did great, she had alot of fluid in her ears. He then took us to the PACU (the recovery room) where she was NOT happy. She had just started to wake up and kicking and screaming as the pacu nurse tried to hold her. I took her and she just kept wimpering (she was drunk from anesthesia gas), she couldn't sit up without falling down. We gave her a bit of Tylenol and apple juice and went out the door 30 minutes later. I sat in the back with her as she cried, I kept rubbing her head and brushing her hair and she fell back asleep within a few minutes. This is a picture of her on the ride home.

 About 30 minutes from home she woke up...happy as a clam!

 All in all she's done very well. She seems so happy and she's been sleeping MUCH better! Even still, this is a particular braclet I don't care to put on either one of my children again!

My Name is Kelsey

Name: Kelsey Morgan Hollis
Age: 4 days away from 16 months
Weight: 24 lbs 12 ounces
Height: 30 6/8"
Favorite Color: She tends to go for things that are red first
Favorite Animal: Dogs and ducks...she points them out and says "dog" or "duck" everywhere we go, even in pictures.
Favorite Food: Maccaroni and cheese, hot dogs, pancakes, bbq, green peas, applesauce, grits & eggs
Favorite Toy: She doesn't specify one toy over another (although she loves her little push and ride car). At any given time if you see Kelsey she more than likely has some sort of burp rag in her hand. It comforts her and she must have it to go to sleep. She will drag it around with her all day.
Schedule: Most days she's up around 6am, takes a 2 hour nap around 11, then goes down for bed at 8pm. Still up twice a night for something to drink, occasionally sleeps all night. I'm hoping that gtting tubes in her ears on Thursday will help the sleep issue.
Words: Her first words that she consistently put together and said in context were "thank you." She also says: ball, dog, duck, whats that, whos that, shoes, socks, turk, mama, dada, papa, baba, eyes, and ears. She is pretty good at repeating a word if you say it to her such as baby, but she doesn't say them on her own yet. If you ask her where her baby is she points to her picture on the wall. She can point to her eyes and ears when asked and she will go get just about anything in her room if you ask. Tell her in the kitchen or living room to go put something up (that belongs in her room) she'll go put it right where it needs to go. She's very good about helping clean her room, she brings things to you and then claps her hands as if to say "yay me!" She gives everyone and everything "kisses." Reading a book takes forever because she kisses every picture of a character. She also leans in to hug them making the noise "uh-uh-uh"...this also goes for any picture of the family in our house that she can reach....and also poor Turk if he's around!

Love her to no end!

Where did my tooth go...?

This morning I went in as usual to wake Karli up. Today is an exciting day because the kindergarten class is taking a field trip to the aquarium, and daddy is going with her! Karli sits up in her bed and starts talking to me and I notice....her loose tooth is missing! "Karli!" I say, "where is your tooth?!" She immediately put her hands to her mouth and started smiling! She lost it sometime in the middle of the night. My next thought is, oh no did she swallow it? "Let's see if we can find it," I tell her. Her bed is like the top of a bunk bed because it's a very cool house underneath and bed on top that her daddy built for her. We found it, under her pillow! So here is a picture of Karli's big smile this morning showing off the new gap, sticking her tongue through it!

 Kelsey smiles at me this morning, as I'm taking pictures of Karli, and shows us her new molars in the back!

 Ready for school, excited about spending the day at the aquarium with daddy and her friends!

 Two of the prettiest girls in the world on the way to school, happy as clams! Cute how their head is tilted the exact same way!

In the words of Cookie Monster....Me LOVE Cupcake!

I know...I know...but she thoroughly enjoyed it! Yesterday was a full day. We went to church, traveled to Creswell to see my grandmother, have lunch, and spend the afternoon together. On the way home we stopped by a friends house, whom we hadn't seen in a very long time! He gave us a few cupcakes they made that afternoon. Kelsey wanted it from the moment she saw it! I thought, hey this will be cute! She LOVED it...and it was fun for Karli, William, and myself to sit and watch her eat it!

 She has her 5 o'clock shadow...hehe!

 She finished the entire cupcake to say the least. Then we went straight to the tub. Here is a picture that Karli took of us in the floor. Kelsey all cleaned up and at the last second instead of a smile, she gave mom a kiss!

My Name is Karli

Name: Karli Hayden Hollis
Age: 6 years old / Kindergarten
Weight: 45lbs
Height: 46.5"
Favorite Color: Pink & Purple
Favorite Animal: Bunny
Favorite Foods: Chicken, Mac & Cheese, Spaghetti, Hamburger Steak, Oatmeal, Grits & Eggs
Favorite Thing to Play: School, Dress up and act out her Barbie movies, SING!
Favorite Movie: All of the Barbie movies
Bed Time: 8 - 8:30pm
Wake Up Time: On school days 6:30am, on the weekends at least by 7-7:30am
Excitement for the day: About to lose top left front tooth, and today Karli is the "line leader!!!"
Side Note from Mom: Super helper, little mother...loves to take care of her little sister. Extremely thoughtful and tender hearted. Loves to find things in the house, wrap them up (even if it's just in a blanket) and give them to you as a present! Shy. Always tells me things like "you look pretty today mom," "I hope you have a good day mom," "I love you bunches and bunches!" Could not have dreamt of a sweeter child, well mannered, respectful, and sincere!

I love peas...

Kelsey loves to eat...those sweet chunky cheeks didn't get there all on their own, it takes alot of work to maintain that precious pair! She loves green peas. She's very much into eating her peas and paying me absolutley no attention...until the last picture...when she's done and is a happy girl!

 Want one mom? Come on, try it, you just might like it!

 This is the smile that is a trait in my family (meaning myself, my sister, and my mother). When you smile all you see is teeth and cheeks, your eyes diappear! LOL! She's darling!

Daddy...?

Our two special girls are daddy's girls! Daddy is an outside kinda' guy, but it doesn't stop his girls from standing at the back door longing for daddy to come back! I thought these pictures were sweet. Kelsey already with her night gown on standing with her little hand on the glass calling for "da-da." It didn't take much of that before daddy was inside hugging on his little one!

 Here Karli and Kelsey stand mesmerized as William stands just outside of the back door washing the dog. They stood there and watched him the entire time he worked. Like I said...Daddy's girls! I always said - anybody can be a father, but it takes someone special to be a "Daddy!"

East Carolina ENT

Today was the day for Kelsey's evaluation at East Carolina ENT, in Greenville, about her recurring ear infections. We left at 0630 and Kelsey did really well on the ride there. Remember now, she hates to ride most days. We arrived and waited a short amount of time before we were called back. After talking to us and looking in Kelsey's ears he explained to us that she does have retained fluid. He said that considering the fluid and her recurrent infections that tubes would definetly be the best option. We scheduled her for next Thursday - April 14th. From there we went over the the surgi center to pre register. Before leaving Greenville we stopped at McDonalds to grab a snack. Kelsey barely touched her food. She may of eaten 1/2 of a chicken nugget and a couple of french fries but she gulped back her apple juice box. She fell asleep in her car seat and slept pretty much the whole way back to town. I'm nervous about next week, but very excited about the possibility of better days for Kelsey ahead. Prayers and updates to come!

Karli's 1st Trip to the Dentist

Yesterday was Karli's first dentist appointment. I know, she's 6 and she probably should have gone by now. However, I have a secret fear of the dentist. I'm just absolutely petrified of them. Last time I had a visit my jaw locked up and they had to manually put it back in place, so I care to not visit if at all possible. Well, when they called her name Karli went back all by herself and she did really well. I had to walk her to the door but then she let go of my hand and went on through! They told me she was very nervous and a little teary eyed at first but she was very cooperative. She had 4 cavities (I felt awful when they told me that), but they were all just on the surface and will not be much at all to fix. It will require 2 visits. They will fix 2 at a time. Her first appointment is May 2 to start on the first 2. After the visit Karli got a toothbrush with Ariel on it and told me she liked going to the dentist, "it was really neat." She said that when she closed her mouth around the suction tip that she made a pig noise, and the girl cleaning her teeth told her that she was very tallented because not everyone could make a pig noise on their first visit! Of course I'm concerned about taking her back to get the 1st 2 of her 4 cavities filled...ugh. Kids do this all of the time right? I think I'm more nervous than she is. Hopefully all goes well and updates to follow.

Another Ear Infection?

My sweet Kelsey has grown so much in the last year. Below is a picture of her at 2 weeks. She has had a tough first year that included chronic ear infections. Today I finally broke down and called for an ENT evaluation. We go to Greenville Tuesday at 8:30 am to see if we need surgery to put tubes in her ears. In a way, I hope that we do, maybe it will help and therefore cause her less pain and anxiety. Most moms that have been through this always say that it makes a huge difference. I just cringe at the thought of someone puncturing my babies eardrums! Prayer is a powerfull tool though!

Bye Bye Tooth Number 2

All day long Sunday Karli's tooth was hanging on by a wing and a prayer. As I sat on the side of the bathtub Sunday night running her bath water I asked, "are you going to let me pull that tooth out for you now?" She just looks at me for a second, says "ok," and opens her mouth. I thought she was just playing with me, but no, she actually let me pull it out. It didn't take much and ta-da, bye bye tooth number 2!! Kelsey now has 8 teeth. Her top back molars just came in last week and ofcouse her bottom back molars are coming in this week, teeth 9 & 10. It's been an AWESOME 2 weeks of sleep for us (can you feel the sarcasm)! This picture shows her sitting in her high chair enjoying a hot dog...the girl LOVES them!

YAY For A Good Report Card!!

Yet again Karli brought home a fabulous report card! We always try to reward her and let her pick somewhere to go and one friend to take with us. This time she wanted to take Rylee to the beach to see Rango...so away we went! Rylee went with her mom earlier in the day to see the horse show, so she joined us with an awesome butterfly paint job! Trying to get that off later Saturday night was comical...haha! Anyways, we went down to the beach grabbed a bite to eat and went in to see Rango! Popcorn, drinks, and some really loud laughs from the girls later, we were headed back home. We pulled the couch out so the girls could sleep together, but they had other things in mind...like dancing! They put on the movie "Barbie and the Diamond Castle" and went to town dancing to the music, singing, and laughing! They probably stayed up a little too late ;) we still made it to church the next day though, a little late.

Finally...sleep! We got up the next morning and had french toast - yum yum! Karli really enjoyed having Rylee over for the night! Hopefully her last report card will be as pleasant and we can plan something else!!