Going private???

I've been toying with the idea of making this blog private, which would mean only invited friends or family would be able to view it. I just wanted to get some feedback to see what you all thought about it. I would give warning before doing it so you'd have time to send me your email so I could add you to the list. But I honestly have no idea how many people actually read our blog so I'm wondering if it's even worth it. I dunno, what do you all think?

My cousin is famous!!!

If only it was for a different reason. Check out this video of her interview about reconstructive surgery after surviving breast cancer.

http://wcbstv.com/video/?id=104477@wcbs.dayport.com

Michelle - you ROCK!!! I'm so proud of you and how well you've handled this whole thing. You have so much support and are such an inspiration to all of us! I have been and will continue to pray for you and Gregg.

Happy, Happy, Birthday Brian!

Well, the day is here. My littlest one is two years old. Sniff. We had a very small non-party last night with Heather, Jeff, and Allie. A few presents and a little cake. It was nice. We also went to the zoo on Saturday. I'll post pictures of that soon. Brian had a great time and is enjoying all his gifts as I type this.
So now we start the year of tantrums and time-outs. I've never been a fan of the ages 2-3. So we'll be happy when his next birthday rolls around. Not that I want to fast forward through it, but I know it will be a harder year. I'll look forward when he can talk a bit more and tell us what he wants or doesn't want. Right now the screaming isn't my favorite form of communication. But it will get better - it always does.

The Tooth Fairy

Well - it finally happened!!!! Emma has lost her first tooth! Those darn teeth have been loose for almost 4 months. I thought for sure that at least one was going to fall out in August when the kids were in New Jersey and I would miss it. Nope, not so much. Two months later and it still hadn't fallen out. So with Emma's permission I started to twist it a little here and there. I asked her if it hurt, she said a little but I could keep going. I think that girl really wanted to get a visit from the tooth fairy. She was so brave. It took just a little prodding on my part (I'll spare you the gory details) and it came out pretty easily. I don't even want to guess how long it would have taken to fall out on it's own. So we have finally graduated into that next stage of parenting with Emma. She's turning into a very intelligent, compassionate, discerning young little lady! She really wanted to share her tooth fairy money (1 whole dollar!) with her brother so he wouldn't be left out. I was proud. Maybe we're not bad parents after all! Just kidding...

Here's a few pictures of the fun night...warning - there's blood in a couple. Sorry.

You can see just how desperately these teeth need to fall out. See the adult teeth behind them?

Barely hanging on...

And it's out! Emma was unbelievable brave. Probably because I didn't torment her like I was with threats of a wrench or pliers... sorry dad.

On the phone with Grandma and Papa D. You can see how proud she is.

And the good news is the adult tooth is already moving forward. Not that it has enough room to come all the way to the front, but it's better than where it was.

To prove how uneventful this was for her, Emma asked me today that when the other one gets loose enough if I would pull it out the same way. That's my girl.

It's October!!!!!

It's finally October. I love fall. It's my favorite time of year. Although, I probably change my tune say around February when I'm dying for spring. But truly, the fall holds so many wonderful things and I just cherish this time of year.

Two very important things happened in October for the Turner family. Our boys were both born in this month - even though neither one was actually due in October. I remember being pregnant with Brian during the summer and when the complications started I thought the fall would never get here. My mother-in-law June brought me a gift during one of their visits. It was a yankee candle and the scent was Autumn Wreath. She gave this to me with a very specific reason in mind. She knew how much we were looking forward to fall because it meant Brian would be here. And when the candle was burning, it did just what she had hoped. It made me forget about "today" and just focus on the joy of the season to come. It helped me so much and to this day it's one of my favorite gifts. I am especially fond of that candle scent, and I've already started burning it again this year. I did wait until September, but not a day past!

So Brian turns 2 in just two short weeks. It's hard to believe the youngest one is no longer a stumbling toddler. He is the epitome of the "terrible two's" but Dave and I are still blissfully wrapped up in this little man. I can't imagine our family without him, and to think - we almost didn't have another child. So glad we changed our minds on that one!

Jackson turns 5!!! How crazy is that!? I cannot even fathom him in kindergarten next year. That picture blows my mind. I'm excited for him to go, now that he's been going to preschool and loves it. It will be a fun time for him. We will be having a big birthday party for Jack on the 27th, so if you're near the area, please feel free to come on by. We have established big parties in our family for milestone years - 1, 5, 10, 13, etc. So this is Jack's year for a big party. We are looking forward to it!

I'll leave you with a couple of pictures of the boys when they were babies. Just look at how far they've come. Our God is awesome, isn't He?


This is Jackson - it's surprising we even thought about more babies after this. (can anyone say retraction?)

And of course Brian. Oh how I wish I could rewind time!

Here they are now! Don't pay attention to their hair - they were in serious need of a barber!

Doggy love

Just wanted to give you a few cute shots of Greta. She's such a sweet baby girl. And she's getting soooo big! Now if only I could figure out how to stop her from eating the cat. Hmmm, anyone got any ideas on that?

How can you resist that sweet face?!

The one above just shows off how well behaved she can be. Sitting next to a bowl of food and not eating it? That's gotta be a good trick, right?

Woo Hoo!!!!

I had Emma at the dr. on Saturday for a nasty cough (no, that's not why I'm cheering!) and they weighed her while she was there. Get ready for this.......38.9 lbs!!! Yeah baby! She's soooo close to 40 pounds - the weight minimum here in SC to ride in a booster seat. I was planning on keeping her in the regent for as long as possible, but the poor girl is the only one in first grade still in a car seat. And she's finally got an opinion on the whole thing. So, I guess I can let my 6 1/2 year old ride in a booster once she hits 40 lbs. But, considering it took her like 3 years to gain 5 pounds, she's probably got some time to wait yet. But I won't tell her that now. We'll just keep checking her weight now and then. She's so excited about it - it's so cute!

Quick

Just wanted to take a quick minute to let you all know that Emma's dentist appointment went really well. She actually had fun while she was there. She has no cavities and the dentist said she's doing well. He isn't worried about her baby teeth not falling out. He said they'll come out in time, so no need to worry. He did say she had significant overcrowding with her baby teeth and it will only get worse when all her adult teeth come in. Braces here we come!

Hold me closer tiny dancer

As promised here are a couple pictures of Emma in her ballet gear. Could she be any cuter??? She loves ballet class and has met a new friend named Carli. And even better is I have made a new friend w/Carli's mom! We spent the entire class today talking and getting to know each other. She is about to have a little boy this week so they won't be at class next week. Maybe Emma will get to know another little girl that day. It's fun to see her try new things and really enjoy them.

Jackson is loving school and is sad on the days he doesn't go. Too bad we couldn't afford to put him in for a full week, but he's really enjoying his MWF class.

Brian is crazy talking! He went from not saying anything and having us just a tad worried to talking up a storm. Now it's just a matter of trying to figure out what he's saying. It's a wonderful time having him to myself three days a week. We spend a lot of time reading books and reciting shapes and colors. He's just a little sponge right now.

Greta is doing well too. She's hit the terrible two's right now so we're trying to figure out how to keep her from running laps around the house. Walks don't seem to cut it, but we're trying different things. She's also lost all her baby teeth already and her adult teeth are coming in.

Speaking of teeth, Emma has her first dentist appointment on Monday. I realize we are very late in starting this routine but I had good reasons that I'll spare you for right now. Just pray for her to have a positive experience. They are going to look at her bottom teeth since her adult teeth have started to come all the way through but she hasn't lost her baby teeth yet. Makes for some really tight quarters! I'll let you all know how it goes when we get home.

First day of school! Wake up! Wake up!

Gotta love a good Nemo quote.

Well, we're well into the swing of things with school and it is going so well. Emma is already settled and getting good reports from her teacher. Jackson is a total hit in his class. His teachers say he's a laugh a minute (anyone surprised by that?) and that he's doing so well. On his second day he told me he could walk into school by himself. Such a big little man!

The only downside to the past week is we're already dealing with our first virus. So not fair. But fortunately it's just a cold for the boys. Emma seems immune so far. I would have never thought she'd be the one w/the super-strong immune system. I guess all that illness early on did her well!

Greta is getting huge too. She's a great addition to our family. Her only issues are totally related to puppyhood, so we've got high hopes that she'll outgrow them soon. One thing we need to figure out how to control is the standard great dane affection moves. She likes to walk between your legs and also lean up against you. The leaning thing isn't a problem for Dave or I, but it could really hurt the kids. And while walking between our legs isn't a problem for us now, it will be soon. She tried to do it to Emma this morning and picked her right up! Poor Emma! She thought it was funny, but we were also right there to catch her. It's hard to figure out what to do because she's just trying to show affection. How do you punish affection? I can't do it. So, for now we'll just have to stay close when she's around the kids.

My folks are coming in to town tomorrow. Saturday is college football season opener - at least for the turner house. Our two teams we root for are NIU and Iowa. And this Saturday, they are playing each other at Soldier Field! Oh how we wish we could have been there to witness it in person, but luckily we get it on cable. My parents don't get it so they are coming here to watch it, and play with the kids of course! I can't wait for them to get here. Our only dilemma is who do we root for? Hmmm....

Ok, onto the pictures. I wouldn't dream of posting without pictures!









So how is everyone out there? Leave a comment and let me know how you're doing!

Later taters!

Lots of kid pics

Well, the summer is over for the Turner household. Jackson starts preschool tomorrow and Emma starts first grade on Wednesday. We are excited for the year ahead, because we know it means big changes in our kids by the end of it. With two years of school under our belt w/Emma, Dave and I feel more prepared this year about sending two kids off. I know Jackson is ready - he needs to go. I'm really looking forward to seeing him mature socially this year. I'm also looking forward to him having his "own" friends. It will be fun to have kids to invite to his 5th birthday party this year, other than neighbors. Don't get me wrong - we absolutely adore all of our past and present neighbor friends - but you get the idea. He's never had a group of friends that were just his. It'll be sweet.
Emma is all set to start her new school. They did finish construction on time (can you believe that!) and she will be among the first students to ever attend the new school. She was assigned a teacher a month ago, but just this past wednesday I received a phone call from a new teacher that had been hired the day before telling me she was reassigned to this new teacher. They wanted to make the class size smaller, which I appreciate, but poor Emma had been practicing her new teacher's name for a couple weeks and now she was going to have to learn a new name. But - no worries - it's an easy name. And we got to meet her on Friday night. Apparently Emma hit the jackpot because even the principal was so excited to have found this teacher. She has studied literacy in New Zealand and is evidently exceptional. She definitely left us with a very positive impression. When we brought Emma over to meet her she bent down to Emma's level, gave her the biggest hug, and told her how excited she was to have her in class. Emma of course ate this up and left feeling excited for school to start (well, even more excited than she was - if that's possible!) So we now have very high hopes (beyond what we already had) for this school year for Emma.
And finally - Brian is talking up a storm. He says lots of words and a few sentences too. He will also finally say Mom - FINALLY! What mother has to wait almost two full years before she hears her baby say this most important word?! It's just not right! Hee hee hee. But the good news is he no longer is behind on his communication and we don't have to worry about speech therapy for now. Yay!

I realize I don't give credit enough to the One who has blessed us abundantly. Let me just say now that we know and are truly in awe of how much the Lord has blessed us and we just wanted to publicly point to God and praise Him! He is a loving and giving Father!

OK, on to the pictures! These were taken just the last couple days. Some of Emma and Jack's sibling affection (it amazes me still how well these two get along) and some of Brian after he enjoyed a yummy pile of chocolate teddy grahams. What a mess! And the last picture of Brian is my new favorite shot. He's so awesome!














and I guess I'd get in trouble for not including just one picture of the puppy.

So that's all for now. I'm guessing the next couple of weeks will be hectic trying to get into a routine but I will do my best to post some updates. Definitely when Emma starts her ballet school in a couple weeks.

Much love everyone

Pics of Greta

These are for Alison and the Pierce boys. They requested new pictures of Miss Greta. So here they are. She's getting so big!!!!

Also, just wanted to wish Mr. Nathan Pierce a very happy 1st birthday!!!!! We love you!

Updates galore!

Ok, ok. I'm sorry it's taken me so long to post lately. But I tell ya, having a puppy is far more work than a newborn I swear! Not bad work, just always busy. We watch her like a hawk to avoid accidents so it's like we're constantly running around the house all day. And they told us she'd sleep a lot! Ha! But all that aside, Greta is just the sweetest thing! She loves to play, hates to be in her crate, is a total scrounge (even though we've never given her a single scrap). She loves her food - she practically begs to be fed all day long. And when it is meal time - watch out. She will take a finger off without even knowing it if it happens to be in her way! She is slowly learning what is okay and what is not. She has the potential to be the best family dog ever. On the downside, she has something wrong with her front legs - especially the left one. We think it's something called knuckling over. We'll take her to the vet tomorrow and see what's up. Please pray it's nothing too serious. We're all very attached to her already and that would be a devastating blow to say the least.

Ok, onto Jada Hoyt. I'm very late in posting this, but the biopsy results came back and Jada is perfect. They said it was nothing more than trauma from delivery most likely and is completely benign. There is nothing more for them to worry about and they can now just enjoy her.

And the Turner children are all doing so well. Jack and Emma will be leaving next weekend to spend a week with Dave's folks, and Brian is going to my folks. Dave and I will have an entire week to ourselves - at our own house!!! If it wasn't for Greta, we'd have no responsibilities to think about! While we know we will miss the kids terribly, we can't help but be excited for our time just the two of us. I think all 5 of us will have fun.

The pictures above are of Greta (at 10 weeks old) and of my garden. Did you see that huge caterpillar I found on my tomato plant? He was so much lighter this morning when I first saw him. I forgot to go take a picture until 7:30 tonight, I'm lucky he was still there! The garden is way out of control. It looks horrible right now because we had a few wind storms that pushed all my supports over and I have no idea how to get in there and straighten them back up. And the cucumbers look pretty lousy too. I don't know why, if it's lack of water or too much water. I was gone for a week and have no idea how much water they got. We've probably gotten a good 20+ cucumbers from it already. And I just started getting tomatoes! They are soooo yummy! I love having both in my garden, but next year I think I'll only do one cucumber plant and maybe 3 tomato plants instead of the 10 I have now!

Well, that's all for now. Hope everyone is doing well!