Early Spring???

Well, my best friend Nancy recently updated her blog and since she works two jobs and takes care of two active children, plus helps with her husband's business, I figure I better get my act together and give everyone an update. Now I just have to remember what has happened in our lives since the beginning of January.

In early January, I took Morgan into see her nutritionist. This is the person who keeps track of Morgan's weight/height and how much milk she needs to have in her tube. She was weighed and measured and we took a look at the numbers. Her BMI (weight to height ratio) went up from about 7% to 11%! This is a great increase for her. What this means is that the last milk feeding that Morgan was getting during the day gets to go bye bye! This is a big deal in our world. So now Morgan just gets milk in her tube at night. This has made doing things during the day much easier as we don't have to bring milk stuff with us! In early February, she was weighed again and was still above 11% BMI so we are taking a little bit away from her nighttime feeding. We will keep getting her weighed every 4-6 weeks and as long as her BMI stays above 11% we can take away anywhere from 1 -4 oz of milk per night. This means that within 6 months to a year Morgan will not need her g-tube anymore! This is great news for the Adrien household. Our only concern is that with the surgery she had to make her not throw up, if we remove her tube she will have no way to get the bad stuff out if she is sick. We know that the surgery is still working because she was sick a few weeks ago and tried to throw up and nothing came up. So we are all very excited and proud for Morgan and her big accomplishment!

On February 3rd, Morgan celebrated her 4th Birthday! She was very excited about turning 4. We have been struggling with potty training since November. She got the potty part down pretty good (as long as you take her into the bathroom regularly), but she has really struggled with going poop in the toilet. We felt like we were trying everything and nothing was working. I know people say that they get it when they are ready, but I have been ready for months so I wanted her to get with the program. So a couple of days after her birthday I notice that she hasn't had any accidents, so I ask her about it. Her response is "Well, I'm 4 now.". So, I guess she showed me! Things have being going pretty good since then in the potty department. She has even stopped wearing pull ups at night and has had no accidents at night. We are very proud of her!

In mid January, we received a letter in the mail from the Greenville County School District, Gifted and Talented program. This was to let us know that Kaylee had scored high on some tests that are given to all 2nd graders and combined with her grades put her into a group called "Challenge". This group/program is a pull out program that starts in 3rd grade. It is for several hours each week to pull together gifted and talented children and give them some more challenging curriculum. We were very proud of this accomplishment. In Greenville County, we also have a school that goes from 3rd grade to 8th grade that is a complete curriculum devoted to gifted and talented. This program takes the kids that test and have grades in the top 99th percentile. We received a letter in early February letting us know that Kaylee qualifies for this school. We are unbelievably proud of this accomplishment. We have accepted this position and she received a spot, so starting next school year, Kaylee will be going to a new school. One of the really great things about this is that two other students from her current school also made it into the new school and they are two of her very good friends. This will help in the transition as she will have two friends that she knows. This new school is not very close to us so we will have a longer drive to and from school, but we are hoping to carpool with the other kids from our area to make it easier on all of us. Anyway, this is a remarkable accomplishment for our wonderful daughter. I don't think there are words to describe how proud we are of her. Of course, Craig and I are still arguing about who she gets all of her brains from! :) The name of her program is the Charles Townes Center. It is located within a school called Sterling School. There are students from K4 through 5th grade in Sterling School. This school was just built and this is it's first year in the new building. The interesting thing about Sterling School is it is a total choice school, which means students submit applications to go there. It does not have any students zoned to it. So, when Morgan is ready for school, we will try to get her special permission to have her go to Sterling School. This way the girls are in the same school. Kaylee will also be able to stay at this school until 8th grade. This will be great as we won't have to transition to a new school at 6th grade. I am working on getting Morgan into the K4 program here. This is a pre-kindergarten program that is mostly for poor, non english speaking or single parent families, but they give all registrants a test in May to see if they need extra help and that can get them in. She is really getting smart now, but I am not sure how she will do when she is tested. She may just say no and not do anything and then she might be able to get in. Half of me wants her to get in and start having this experience, and the other half can't believe my baby might be going to school next year! The 2nd graders at Kaylee's school performed at PTA night in January. Kaylee had a part in the little play that they put on. Kaylee was not nervous at all and she did a great job. When she spoke her lines she had inflection and everything. I am going to work on getting her involved with drama as her after school activity to go with the brainiac stuff she will be doing at her new school. Here is the website if you are interested in learning more.

http://www.greenville.k12.sc.us/gifted/index.asp

In preparation for both girls maybe being in school next year, I have taken on more classes at the YMCA. I am now teaching a 45 minute cardio class and a 45 minute pilates class on Monday mornings, a Barbells (1 hour) class on Thursday and 20/20/abs (1 hour) class on Friday. Even if Morgan doesn't go to school next year, she can still be in the YMCA nursery while I am teaching. I am excited about this opportunity and am glad to be able to contribute a tiny bit of money to our family.

Craig has been very busy with his new position at work. So far, it has required more travel, so he has been gone 2-3 times a month for the past couple of months. Usually it is only for a day or two so we are trying to deal with it the best we can. Sometimes it is hard for me to be here alone with the two kids and the dog, but we are getting better at it. Plus, we appreciate Craig more when he gets home.

Our little puppy, Parker, is growing up fast. She is now a whopping 13 pounds! She probably will only be about 20 pounds when she is full grown. She is taking puppy training classes and I didn't think they were going to good for the first few weeks, but over the last two weeks she has really made some progress. We are hoping to get the backyard fenced soon, so we can let her out to run around more.

Since we are down here in the south, we have been eagerly awaiting the start of spring. This weekend we got a huge dose of winter! It rained non stop from Friday morning to Sunday evening. Then around 5ish the rain turned to snow and we ended up with about 3 inches of snow by the end of the evening. It started to get slushy in the night but then it got really cold in the morning and froze everything, so NO SCHOOL on Monday! In our school district, they go drive around this little hill we have and if it is too icy to get around they cancel school. So most of the snow was gone by Monday afternoon, but there was still ice/snow on the hill so NO SCHOOL on Tuesday! Today is Wednesday and Kaylee had no school again, but not because of the weather. She had to have some dental work done this morning and they had to put her asleep because of her anxiety. So we are chilling at home while she eats Jello, pudding, mashed potatoes and yogurt. She had a cap put on one tooth in the back and then two teeth pulled.

So, we have been very busy here, but things are good and we are all doing well. Hope you are all doing well and we will talk to you soon. Enjoy the pictures!

Happy New Year!

Well, we all made it through 2008! We are very excited about the upcoming year. Here are some things that we did at the end of 2008.

Back in November, I finally took Morgan to get her hair cut. It was getting sooo long and it was so hard to take care of. She was excited about cutting it short until she got into the chair, then came the tears. It took her several days to get used to it, but it looks so much better. She kept asking me "Why did we get my hair cut?". Here are the before and after photos!

On December 17th we decided it was time to add a new member to our family, so we got a puppy! Her name is Parker and she is a Puggle, which is a cross between a pug and a beagle. She is a typical puppy, but we started puppy training this weekend and can see a small light at the end of the tunnel. The girls are doing very well with Parker and we are hoping that Parker becomes a great friend to them as they all grow up.

We started our Christmas celebrations a few days early when Chris and Brian came down from Cincinnati to visit. They were only here for a day so we did our first Christmas dinner on Dec. 22nd. It was great to see them and everyone had a wonderful time.


We spent Christmas eve watching A Christmas Story and having Chinese food. This is an Adrien tradition that took me a few years to get used to, but I love that I don't have to prepare any food! The next morning we opened our presents here at home and had a very quiet morning. The girls got everything they wanted (and much more). Morgan had been asking for a Dora "brella" (umbrella) for the last few months and was very pleased when Santa brought it for her. Both girls also received video/still cameras. They were very excited about being able to take their own pictures. I'm sure I'll be posting their photos very soon. Jill got many wonderful presents from Craig, including a new iPod and the best flat foot insoles for my shoes! Craig was not so lucky because Jill doesn't seem to shop very well for him. He did get the iHome that he wanted for his iPhone so that was good. I also got a sewing machine from Craig's mom so I am trying to figure out what my first project is going to be. We all enjoyed spending the holidays together, but are glad to get back to our normal routine.

I came up with one of my best New Year's plans ever! Since we have had children, we have not been able to do anything for New Year's eve. In fact, most years I've been asleep before the ball even drops! I know, pathetic! But this year was different. I started thinking about our good friends, Tom and Ally, and decided to invite them over for a "sleep over" party. They have two small kids so it works out perfectly. They came over in the evening and we had dinner and a few drinks and hung out together, watched the ball drop and enjoyed spending time with friends.

We also got to attend our first Dance Recitals for Kaylee and Morgan on Dec. 31st! It was quite a treat! Craig and I were both told prior to the recitals that we were not allowed to smile at the girls during their performances as it makes them nervous. Morgan's performance was first and she was so sweet. About halfway through her performance she told both of us to stop smiling. While she performed, Craig, Kaylee and I were all taking pictures and video. Kaylee's performance was later in the day and she did an awesome job. She is really doing a good job and enjoys her teacher. When Kaylee was performing, Craig, Morgan and I were all filming or taking pictures. Enjoy these videos!

Craig and I also had a little "recital" back in December. We are taking a ballroom dance class and we had made it to the end of the first level. Craig didn't really want to go at first, but sometimes he actually enjoys himself. We have since moved on to Level 2 which is even more fun because we are learning more spins and fun steps. Our teacher Stephenie is the same teacher that Morgan and Kaylee have for their dance classes. We are having a good time and at least we get out of the house every Friday night, even if it is only for an hour. My cousin is getting married this year and Craig and I are hoping to attend and be able to pull out all of our awesome dancing skills!

On January 3rd, I decided to go run a 5K for our local YMCA (where I am working as an aerobics instructor). I hadn't really done much training since I ran a 10K on Thanksgiving with Holly, but I figured 5K wasn't too much so I would be ok. I was by myself, but thought it would be great if I could push myself a little bit. I am usually running about a 10 minute mile. When I got my results back, I found that I ran 9 minute 23 second miles! I had no idea that I could even go that fast. I am really proud of myself for trying this. It is a great accomplishment and I look forward to many more runs in the future.

December 6th was our 10 year Anniversary. Can you believe we have made it this long? We decided that it was time to actually do something for our anniversary. So we went to Asheville, NC and stayed at a nice hotel for the night. We spent the evening visiting Biltmore Estate and going on their Candlelight Christmas Tour. It was very beautiful and it was great to get away for a couple of days. We went out for dinner and even hung out at a bar for awhile. Reminded us of our younger days (pre-kids)!

So now, we are looking forward to 2009! Kaylee has applied for a position at an arts school here in Greenville. We were accepted, but we are on the waiting list. I will keep you posted as that changes. I will be looking into putting Morgan into a K4 program to help get her ready for Kindergarten. Can you believe she is almost ready to go to school? They are both growing up so fast. We are contemplating our annual trip to Orlando and planning our trips out to the west coast. Craig is also trying to figure out which motorcycle rides he is going to be able to do this year. Talk to you all soon and hope you have a great 2009!

Thanksgiving and Kaylee's 8th Birthday!

We spent the Thanksgiving holiday with Craig's family in Cincinnati. We drove up from Greenville on Tuesday after school. The ride was pretty uneventful. Morgan was able to make the entire 7 hour trip with no accidents. Hooray for potty training! On Wednesday, I got some adult time and went to the movies with Craig's sister, Holly. We went to see Twilight! It was very good. I also finished reading the 4th book in the Twilight series over the weekend. We also went and picked up our race packets. That's right, Holly and I participated in the 99th annual Thanksgiving Day 10K race in Cincinnati. I have been doing a little training over the last month or so. I have been running with a group of women from my Y and we usually go about 5 miles on a regular run. I started going on their long runs a few weeks ago and did 8 miles and then 9 miles the following week. I couldn't believe that I could actually do this. I still have to walk once in awhile but my endurance is getting much better. I would really like to increase my time. I ran the 10K, which is 6.2 miles in 1 hour, 1 minute and 56 seconds. My mile average was 9.59. Holly and I ran the whole time except for about 1 minute at the halfway point that I needed to regroup. It was a lot of fun and I was very proud that I finished and I wasn't the last one to cross the finish line! My wonderful family came at the end to watch me cross the finish line. It was a great time! Then we went home and ate!!!! Craig deep fried a turkey and it turned out great!

Friday was Kaylee's 8th Birthday! Can you believe it? I certainly can't, but it is true. She is just growing up everyday. I have asked her to stop, but she is not listening to me. Kaylee spent the morning going to see the movie "Bolt" with Auntie Holly. We spent some time at home playing games and then we went to Dave and Busters to play games and have dinner. She had a wonderful time. We came back to Uncle Chris' house and opened presents and had chocolate cake.

We hung out with our family on Saturday and then got up early Sunday morning for our long drive home. We are now working on getting our Christmas decorations put up. Here are our pictures. Check out Chris' pictures here.

Halloween 2008

The Adrien Family had a very fun Halloween this year. The girls stayed away from scary costumes and went with a princess and drama queen. Morgan decided that she wanted to be Jasmine from Aladdin. We thought that was a perfect idea for her because her hair is perfect for Jasmine's hairdo and I found a costume for $5.99. Perfect! I made some great earrings out of white sticky felt and gold glitter glue. They were so awesome, I think Craig might get his own pair for Christmas! Kaylee picked her costume from High School Musical (of course). Her favorite character is Sharpay so she picked the golf outfit from HSM 2. She looked very cute. You will notice when you look through the pictures that Morgan goes through a costume change during the evening. She is working very hard on potty training and while we were out trick or treating she had an accident so we ran back to the house and put on her second costume (pink fairy princess) and she finished the evening. Both girls had a great time trick or treating but don't care for candy so it's kind of pointless. Some of the pictures with Morgan in her costume are from dance class. Enjoy!

Catching Up!

It's been awhile since I last updated the blog. The Adrien family has been busy as always. Kaylee is finally settling into school and getting used to her teacher. It's a long road with her every year and it is usually mid October before she is really feels comfortable.

Morgan has been very busy lately. She started taking a ballet dance class about a month ago. She is doing really good, but complains every week that it is hard. She also goes to physical therapy every other week. Her therapist has been helping her a lot with her balance which helps her dancing. Once a week she also goes to a fitness class at the Y. She really enjoys this class and calls it her workout. Like Mother, like Daughter! She went to a great Birthday party a couple of weeks ago where Cinderella came and all the girls got to play dress up. It was a great time for all the little girls. Morgan and I went on a field trip today to the Pumpkin Patch with the kids from the YMCA. All the kids listened to a story, colored a picture and then got to pick out a little pumpkin and decorate it with stickers. She had a good time!


Kaylee is also taking dance class and is really enjoying it. There is a great video of Kaylee's first dance. The girls will have a recital in a few months. A friend of ours had a baby at the end of August and Kaylee has loved spending time with baby Hunter. He is so cute and Kaylee likes to hold babies. Here is a link to the video and Kaylee holding Hunter.






Craig and I are taking a ballroom dance class at the Y. It was a little shaky at the start, but it is getting better. So far we have learned the Waltz, Rumba, Nightclub Meringue, Foxtrot and East Coast Swing. It is a great time. There are about 5 other couples and we all take turns dancing with each other. It's our new fun Friday night activity! After 10 weeks we will be having a big party to show off all of our new skills!


Our whole family just spent the last weekend visiting Auntie Holly in Atlanta. We had a great time! We got to visit the Georgia Aquarium, which is the biggest aquarium in the world. We saw quite a few amazing things. We took lots of pictures to share. We also took a trip to Ikea. We haven't been able to go to Ikea since we lived in Portland and we would drive up to Seattle. Now our friends in Portland can go to Ikea any time. We ended up getting some bookcases for our living room. We have been looking for the right furniture for this big wall in our family room and we finally found it at Ikea. Plus, you can't beat the prices!

Well, I better get going, I need to work on Fall Festival planning for PTA.

Apple Festival!

This weekend is the Hendersonville, NC Apple Festival. We have been going to this festival every year since we moved to South Carolina. Last year was kind of a bummer because we had a late frost that killed most of the apples, so there were none to pick. This year was a different story! There were lots of apples! We had a great time picking apples, playing in the playhouses and taking funny pictures at Skytop Orchards.

We then went down to Hendersonville and walked around downtown looking at all the booths and having lunch. Morgan was told that she wouldn't get to get anything if she didn't eat her lunch, so she did a massive pout and folded her arms, then she turned around to her lunch and shoved hot dog bun in her mouth. It took her a good 5 minutes to chew it all up.

The girls got airbrushed tattoos and everyone had a great time. Enjoy the rest of the pictures!