Ashby Family Blog
Showing posts with label Cassidy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cassidy. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Cassidy #5
I can't believe my baby is already 5 years old. Time has really flown by. I would love to report that she had a wonderful day and that everything went perfectly, but alas, it was not so.
The night before her birthday I was just finishing frosting the last cupcake for her party when Cassidy wakes up crying. Aaron checks on her, 104 fever. We had to cancel her VIP day at preschool. Cancel her birthday party. Cancel going out to dinner as a family. It was a pretty miserable day for her. I even made her go to the doctor. I was worried she might have the flu and wanted to get Tamaflu to shorten the life of it- but it wasn't the flu. Luckily I had finished sewing her PJ's for her present so she had something to enjoy while she was in bed all day.
I finally had her birthday party yesterday. We've all been sick for the past couple of weeks, so it took a while to find a day when we weren't sick. I did something to my back before her party so I could barely walk. I was in so much pain I just bluffed my way through the party. (Thank goodness my Brother in law is a Physical Therapist and fixed it) I only forgot a few minor things like, having the kids sing Happy Birthday, serving the ice cream with the birthday donuts, taking pictures. I think the kids had fun despite my low energy. We made some fairy wings that they could wear. We painted fingernails with a touch of glitter. We played a cakewalk type game. They danced around like fairies with their new wings. Hopefully Cassidy had a little more fun on her birthday party day than she did on her actually birthday.
Do you notice anything different about Cassidy in these last two photos? On the way home from my brother's wedding last week, Cassidy broke her glasses. We replaced the frames so that we could keep the lenses. Aaron picked up the glasses on his way home from work Thursday night. Friday morning at preschool Cassidy breaks her brand new pair of glasses. It was all I could do to not be furious at her. There goes $60. I think we are going to try a different frame this time.
Finally I would just like to apologize to all the parents of the kids that came to our party yesterday, to all the people at church and to my family. Cassidy is sick again. We had to leave church early because she came down with a fever again. She seemed to be better after a nap so we went to my mom's for dinner to celebrate my dad and Aaron's birthday. She threw up all over my mom's floor. Luckily she made it to the tile and not on the carpet. I didn't have any medicine with me at my moms and her fever had come back. I was trying to get her is swallow half of a regular ibuprofen. She didn't like that. I crushed it up and put it into a spoon full of frosting, but she gagged and threw it all up. I would just like to say to Mary Poppins that a spoon full of sugar does not help the medicine go down. And sorry to everyone that we may have infected with our nasty bug.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Tra La La . . .
On Sunday Cassidy started singing this song in her "funny voice." For some reason I found it hilarious. Since I laughed, she continued singing this over and over. I finally recorded it because I thought it was funny. No one else probably will, but I decided to post it anyway. Enjoy!
Monday, July 28, 2008
A Few Firsts
Cassidy's First
Today Cassidy got glasses. She hurts herself approximately 50 times each day. For a long time I just thought she was a klutz. Then a few weeks ago I thought, huh, maybe she can't see. Sure enough, her eyes are really bad. She has a strong astigmatism in both eyes. The doctor said it is impressive that she has been able to function this long with out them.
It was inevitable. Aaron has terrible eyes. He got glasses when he was five years old. My eyes are bad too. I got glasses when I was twelve. The doctor explained that with her it is purely genetic. She has had this since she was born. Many kids will start to get near sightedness around 1st or 2nd grade and that is when they start testing them in school. Luckily for her they have improved the styles since we were kids:
Today Cassidy got glasses. She hurts herself approximately 50 times each day. For a long time I just thought she was a klutz. Then a few weeks ago I thought, huh, maybe she can't see. Sure enough, her eyes are really bad. She has a strong astigmatism in both eyes. The doctor said it is impressive that she has been able to function this long with out them.
It was inevitable. Aaron has terrible eyes. He got glasses when he was five years old. My eyes are bad too. I got glasses when I was twelve. The doctor explained that with her it is purely genetic. She has had this since she was born. Many kids will start to get near sightedness around 1st or 2nd grade and that is when they start testing them in school. Luckily for her they have improved the styles since we were kids:Whitney's First
I have been avoiding this for as long as possible. But today Whitney discovered Hannah Montana. Like an idiot, I recorded a concert that was on Disney last week - "Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus -- Best of Both Worlds." I'm afraid I have unleashed a monster.
A couple of years ago, Whitney became obsessed with Katherine McPhee. We had downloaded a few of her songs for 
Whitney during American Idol. She would watch and rewatch just her singing. She loved copying her dance moves and singing her songs. I was very disappointed when McPhee was out on her own and decided to be sleazy. I couldn't let Whitney listen to her anymore. Not exactly a role model. Whit recognized it too. She would always say things like "Mom, she's not very modest."
I don't know a lot about Hannah Montana. Whitney has just recently started asking me questions like "W: Is Hannah Montana bad? - Me: No - W: Then why don't you let me watch her - Me: I don't know, you've never asked. Or maybe because people are obsessed with her and have her stuff all over their rooms and clothes and backpacks and I just think that is silly. I started to think about it, we have Disney Princess stuff all over everything, what's the difference? I decided to be nice and at least let her see what she was all about. So today after she watched the entire concert she said, "Mom, I really like Hannah Montana, but I won't get a lot of her stuff, maybe just one poster in my room." From what I've seen, which isn't much, Hannah (or Miley -what is with that?), doesn't look too bad. Hopefully she can stay that way.
Grant's First
This past weekend Grant started saying his first consonant sound. "M" We can just assume he is saying Mama. Most kids start babbling when they are six months old. Grant is now 14 months old. This is a major victory for him. Starting as a newborn he never passed the newborn hearing screening in the hospital. As a baby he had problems with his soft pallet. He has had a number of tests done. He had tubes put in his ears at three months. We have tested and retested his ears. He is still not completely passing in his left ear. Mainly just high frequency sounds. The doctors seemed to just keep saying the same thing - well, he is below normal, but for now let's just wait and see. So, I decided to take them at their word and started to refuse to go to any more doctors to hear "Let's wait and see." My doctor wasn't thrilled with our decision, thought we should do more tests. But agreed to let us wait, but if by 15 months he doesn't have at least 3 words w
e needed to proceed forward. About a month ago I started the "Baby Signing Time" DVD with Grant and teaching him the signs. My sister-in-laws swear by them. It was amazing how fast he started picking it up. After two weeks he was signing milk. I went to put him down for a nap and he sat in his crib signing milk. I gave him a drink, he squealed and drank his milk and went to sleep. He now knows a few more signs and gets so excited when we recognize what he is saying.
I don't think we will make 3 words in the next month, but at least we have progress finally. And to hear something other than caveman talk and to be able to communicate a little is heaven sent.
Lindsey's First
I didn't want to leave her out so I thought of something. Last night she actually petted a dog. My neighbor, Amy, guided her over and helped her pet their dog. She said that she has got her to do it before at their house, but this was the first time I had seen it.
Sunday, July 6, 2008
A few moments
Moment #1
I have Whitney signed up for a tumbling class once a week for the summer. This class is held in someone's basement. The lady has a cute little innocent dog. Well, if you know Whitney at all, she is terrified of dogs. I don't think terrified is even a strong enough word to describe Whitney's feelings towards pretty much all animals.
We have been going to tumbling for a month now. I have had to literally drag Whitney from the car to get her to go inside. Once inside, the lady says, "Hi, Whitney, I'll go put the dog away." She then promptly puts the dog away. This doesn't really matter to Whitney because she knows it is there. By the time she is done with class she has had a good time and seems to get over the dog factor.
This past Wednesday I made a very big mistake. I was trying to gear her up for the fact that the dog was nice, he won't hurt you, you'll be fine. Well this pretty much sent her into a panic attack. She has very high anxiety about stuff. I was trying the best I could to reassure her that everything was going to be ok, that dogs were nice. I would say things like : "If dogs weren't nice, do you think people would let them in their houses? You don't see people with alligators in their houses. Why is that? Did you know that a lot of people let their dogs sleep in their beds with them. Do you think they would let something dangerous sleep in their beds? Are all the people that crazy who have dogs?" I sat her down looked her in the eye and said "Whitney, I would not let you go to tumbling if I thought you were in danger. I will protect you and I will do everything in my power to keep you safe. You are not in danger by being at tumbling with a dog." None of this worked. I told her she didn't need to pet the dog. She didn't need to go over to the dog. But she did need to not scream and cry and be so afraid of the dog.
Whitney was insisting that she was not going to go. Tears streaming down her face saying "I won't go, I'm not going." After about 30 minutes of this I finally said, "Whitney, how about we say a prayer." I then offered a pleading prayer to our Heavenly Father to help my daughter to be able to relax and not have such great fear. I gave her lots of hugs and then we went outside to wait for my neighbor who was driving to pick her up. Nothing seemed to change, she was still in tears as I loaded her in the car and I said to my friend, if you need to bring her back, it's ok. I walked back into the house feeling like the worst mother in the world. How could I force my daughter to go when I knew that she would be scared. Was it that important of a lesson for her to learn? Could she learn this on her own some other way. Should I just let her quit like she wanted?
My friend called me after she dropped her off to reassure me that she was ok, and that she calmed down on the way to class. She had talked about other things and seemed to distract her.
When I picked her up I expected her to be mad at me. I expected the worst, that she cried the whole time or something. But instead, she came bouncing out of class with a grin from ear to ear. She excitedly exclaimed that she wasn't afraid of Norman (the dog) anymore. She had actually petted him, twice. Once while the teacher was holding him and once while it was on the floor. At home I sat down with her and helped her see that this was an answer to our prayers. That Heavenly Father gave her the strength she needed to not be afraid, that he loves her and wants her to be happy. Whitney told everyone that she saw that she had petted the dog. I don't think anyone really understood what that meant.
Moment #2
My girls like to have a glass of water with them when they go to bed at night. It is a constant battle to get them to bring the cups back into the kitchen the next day. Cassidy has been fabulous lately. Every morning she has it with her when she comes upstairs. Lindsey will sometimes bring it later on, but Whitney seldom does. So, my new rule is that they can't have a new water if their old water is still in their room. When I brought down their waters last night, Lindsey and Whitney both had theirs still. I gave them a chance to run it upstairs before I took the new ones away. Whit wasn't happy to do it, but she took it upstairs anyway, shaking it all over the stairs on the way pouring water all over the carpet. I realize this later as I am heading back upstairs after tucking them into bed. I turn around go into Whitney's room and take the new water away and tell her that if she can't respect our house, she can't have water in her room anymore. (You can safely assume I didn't calmly or quietly say this.) She bursts into tears and can't imagine going to sleep without water. Cassidy asks why Whitney is screaming and I explain that Whitney poured water all over the stairs so I took her water away. I then go upstairs. Aaron and Cassidy come up a few minutes later to tell me that Cassidy, without any promptings, got her water, went into Whitney's room and said, "Here Whitney, you can have my water, I don't drink it much at night anyway."
I have Whitney signed up for a tumbling class once a week for the summer. This class is held in someone's basement. The lady has a cute little innocent dog. Well, if you know Whitney at all, she is terrified of dogs. I don't think terrified is even a strong enough word to describe Whitney's feelings towards pretty much all animals.
We have been going to tumbling for a month now. I have had to literally drag Whitney from the car to get her to go inside. Once inside, the lady says, "Hi, Whitney, I'll go put the dog away." She then promptly puts the dog away. This doesn't really matter to Whitney because she knows it is there. By the time she is done with class she has had a good time and seems to get over the dog factor.
This past Wednesday I made a very big mistake. I was trying to gear her up for the fact that the dog was nice, he won't hurt you, you'll be fine. Well this pretty much sent her into a panic attack. She has very high anxiety about stuff. I was trying the best I could to reassure her that everything was going to be ok, that dogs were nice. I would say things like : "If dogs weren't nice, do you think people would let them in their houses? You don't see people with alligators in their houses. Why is that? Did you know that a lot of people let their dogs sleep in their beds with them. Do you think they would let something dangerous sleep in their beds? Are all the people that crazy who have dogs?" I sat her down looked her in the eye and said "Whitney, I would not let you go to tumbling if I thought you were in danger. I will protect you and I will do everything in my power to keep you safe. You are not in danger by being at tumbling with a dog." None of this worked. I told her she didn't need to pet the dog. She didn't need to go over to the dog. But she did need to not scream and cry and be so afraid of the dog.
Whitney was insisting that she was not going to go. Tears streaming down her face saying "I won't go, I'm not going." After about 30 minutes of this I finally said, "Whitney, how about we say a prayer." I then offered a pleading prayer to our Heavenly Father to help my daughter to be able to relax and not have such great fear. I gave her lots of hugs and then we went outside to wait for my neighbor who was driving to pick her up. Nothing seemed to change, she was still in tears as I loaded her in the car and I said to my friend, if you need to bring her back, it's ok. I walked back into the house feeling like the worst mother in the world. How could I force my daughter to go when I knew that she would be scared. Was it that important of a lesson for her to learn? Could she learn this on her own some other way. Should I just let her quit like she wanted?
My friend called me after she dropped her off to reassure me that she was ok, and that she calmed down on the way to class. She had talked about other things and seemed to distract her.
When I picked her up I expected her to be mad at me. I expected the worst, that she cried the whole time or something. But instead, she came bouncing out of class with a grin from ear to ear. She excitedly exclaimed that she wasn't afraid of Norman (the dog) anymore. She had actually petted him, twice. Once while the teacher was holding him and once while it was on the floor. At home I sat down with her and helped her see that this was an answer to our prayers. That Heavenly Father gave her the strength she needed to not be afraid, that he loves her and wants her to be happy. Whitney told everyone that she saw that she had petted the dog. I don't think anyone really understood what that meant.
Moment #2
My girls like to have a glass of water with them when they go to bed at night. It is a constant battle to get them to bring the cups back into the kitchen the next day. Cassidy has been fabulous lately. Every morning she has it with her when she comes upstairs. Lindsey will sometimes bring it later on, but Whitney seldom does. So, my new rule is that they can't have a new water if their old water is still in their room. When I brought down their waters last night, Lindsey and Whitney both had theirs still. I gave them a chance to run it upstairs before I took the new ones away. Whit wasn't happy to do it, but she took it upstairs anyway, shaking it all over the stairs on the way pouring water all over the carpet. I realize this later as I am heading back upstairs after tucking them into bed. I turn around go into Whitney's room and take the new water away and tell her that if she can't respect our house, she can't have water in her room anymore. (You can safely assume I didn't calmly or quietly say this.) She bursts into tears and can't imagine going to sleep without water. Cassidy asks why Whitney is screaming and I explain that Whitney poured water all over the stairs so I took her water away. I then go upstairs. Aaron and Cassidy come up a few minutes later to tell me that Cassidy, without any promptings, got her water, went into Whitney's room and said, "Here Whitney, you can have my water, I don't drink it much at night anyway."
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