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Tru must have had a hard day at school today. She’s been sleeping like this, in the chair Papa and Nana gave her for Christmas, for an hour now!

I found this picture on my phone today. I had forgotten about it! This is Tru in her nitrous oxide mask. Her dentist called her “Rudolph.”

So sorry it’s been so long since we’ve written anything here! It’s been very busy this last month or two. We had a great Christmas. Papa and Nana Spiceland came to visit and celebrate Christmas and Tru’s birthday, then Papa, Missa, Ally, and Kerri came. We had a wonderful time with everybody. We were supposed to travel to Memphis to spend Christmas evening and the following days with Bama and Jessica, but all six of us were sick. We had an interesting but effective Christmas over Skype video conferencing.

Tru had to have two fillings last week and has to have three more in the coming weeks. Her dentist says that the location of the cavities tells him that better brushing could not have prevented these cavities. She’s just inherited Mike’s teeth and may have issues her whole life. I sure hope that Heidi inherited mine! I’ve never had a cavity in my life. Her experience was hilarious, though. We’d told her ahead of time that she’d have to smell some yummy-smelling air during the procedure. Somehow she’d gotten the idea that they were going to stick things in her nose to make that happen, so she was very relieved to find out that it only involved breathing from a small red nose covering. The dentist called her Rudolph the whole time! She got very relaxed and very happy on the nitrous. She kept saying funny things like “Mommy! I looooooooooooooove yoooooooouuuuuuuu!” and “I’m DIZZZZZZZYYYYYY!” After we went home, she bit her lip pretty badly, so it’s all swollen in the only snow pictures we managed to take this year.

We had half an inch of snow the day before her dentist appointment, and amazingly, some of it has stuck around. I believe today is day 6 with snow on the ground. Many lakes iced over, and the temperatures were in the teens and twenties many days. Tru had a blast playing in it. Check out the pictures section of our website for new pictures.

Tru got a new bedroom before Heidi was born, and it was just now clean enough today for me to take pictures of it! It only took me 19 months. I took about 20 pictures and made a collage of them.

Bedroom. Click to enlarge.

Bedroom Collage. Click to enlarge.

Tru and Heidi had adorable matching Halloween outfits on yesterday that they received from Papa and Nana. I had to get a few pictures, including these:

We got Tru’s school pictures back today, and they are so cute! If anybody wants any, let me know what sizes and how many. Note that the lightish discoloration that starts above her left eye (your left) and extends rightward into the background is not in the picture, it’s on my scanner.

Update: Remember to let me know if you want any pictures! I’ve only gotten one order so far.

I have recently started using uPromise to save money. uPromise is a company that collaborates with retail and online stores in order to help consumers save money for college. For every dollar we spend at a participating uPromise store with the credit card we have linked to our uPromise account, we receive some percentage back into Tru’s uPromise savings account. We can invest that money and then use it to pay for Tru’s college. For instance, she receives 1% cash back on all purchases made at Walmart.com. Newegg.com, from whom we’ve been buying our electronics for years, also provides 1% cash back. Target.com provides 2%. Some stores provide up to 30% cash back, and some contribute a dollar amount when you sign up for an account there.

uPromise also has a way for friends and family to contribute to our account. You just sign up, link your credit cards to your uPromise account, and any uPromise earnings you receive will automatically be allocated toward Tru’s college fund. You would not be revealing your credit card information to anyone except uPromise, and you would never have anything charged to your credit card from uPromise. All they do is deposit money into Tru’s account based on where you shop. You can also shop online as our guest without linking your credit card to uPromise. This only works for online purchases, though.

We would really appreciate it if all our friends and family would sign up and help us save money for Tru’s college. In the least, you could keep shopping like normal and earn money on whatever you already happen to buy that qualifies.

Create a uPromise account. If you would like to create a uPromise account, let me know. I will send you an invitation from uPromise that will allow our accounts to be linked. Then, just keep shopping like normal.

Shop online as our guest. Use this link to shop online through uPromise. Cash back from purchases made through this part of the uPromise website will automatically be deposited in Tru’s college fund. Please bookmark this link so that you can use it anytime you purchase anything through one of these stores!

Here is a complete list of retailers who participate in uPromise. Here are some common examples:

1-800-FLOWERS.COM® 12%
Ace Hardware 3%
Aeropostale.com 2%
American Eagle Outfitters 2%
Ann Taylor 5% $
Ann Taylor LOFT 5%
audible.com $12 per registration
Avon.com 6%
Banana Republic 2%
Barnes & Noble.com 7%
Bass Pro Shops 4%
bedbathandbeyond.com 2%
BestBuy.com 3%
Blockbuster $12 per subscription
Borders.com 6%
Bose 4%
Brookstone 5%
Buy.com 1%
CB2 2% (this is a Crate and Barrel store)
ChampionUSA.com 4%
Charlotte Russe 4%
Chico’s 4%
Circuit City 3%
Clinique 5%
Comp USA 3%
Cooking.com 6%
CVS.com 5%
Danskin 3%
Dell Home Systems 4%
Dick’s Sporting Goods 6%
Dillard’s 2%
DSW 3%
eBay.com 2%
Expedia.com 1%
Fashion Bug 3%
Florist.com 10%
FlowerStore.com 15%
Foot Locker 4%
Fossil 10%
gap.com 5%
Ghirardelli Chocolate 4%
GiftCertificates.com 3%
GNC.com 9%
Hancock Fabrics 6%
homedepot.com 3%
Hotwire 1%
iRobot.com 6%
iTunes.com 2%
J.Crew 1%
JCPenney.com 3%
Justice 3%
Kmart.com 4%
Kohl’s 3%
L.L.Bean 2%
Lane Bryant 3%
Limited Too 3%
Macys.com 5%
Marriott 2%
McDonald’s 5%
Musician’s Friend 6%
National Geographic 6%
Netflix $12 per membership
New Balance 5%
New York and Company 4%
newegg.com 1%
OfficeDepot.com 2%
OfficeMax.com 2%
oldnavy.com 5%
Omaha Steaks 10%
Oriental Trading Company 5%
Overstock.com 3%
PETCO 7%
PetSmart.com 5%
Pottery Barn Teen 4%
PotteryBarn.com 4%
potterybarnkids.com 4%
Proactiv Solution 13%
RadioShack 2%
RalphLauren.com 5%
Sam’s Club 1%
Sears.com 4%
Shutterfly.com 8%
Simply Audiobooks 34%
SIRIUS Satellite Radio 6%
SKECHERS 3%
Sports Authority 4%
Staples.com 1%
StarbucksStore.com 7%
Target.com 2%
The Body Shop 6%
The Children’s Place 4%
The Limited 2%
The North Face 5%
TiVo $15 per subscription
Travelocity.com 1%
TurboTax 6%
VictoriasSecret.com 2%
Walgreens 4%
Walmart.com 1%
wet seal 4%
Williams-Sonoma 4%
Zales 4%

Tru has really taken to school. She’s been absent a few times for doctor appointments, illness, and vacation, and every time she does, the teacher sends her work for the day home as homework. Tru loves it! She finishes it all in one sitting and then asks for more homework. She has learned lots of new songs, including “My Country ‘Tis of Thee”, “The B-I-B-L-E”, “Noah Built a Great Big Ark”, “Father Abraham”, and others; learned the Pledge of Allegiance; and learned various behavior related rhymes and methods. She now raises her hand even at home to get our attention. She is a Five Star Listener: “Eyes are watching, ears are listening, lips are closed, hands are still, and feet are quiet.”

At her school, parents drive up under a covered drive, and teachers put the kids in the car. Today, when I drove up to pick up Tru, Tru’s teacher, Mrs. Faulkner, practically ran up to my car, Tru in tow, beaming. She said, “Did you know that Tru can read already!?” Of course, I did know that, but I’m glad the teacher noticed, too! The rest of the class is still learning letters. They’ve done A, E, I, O, U, S, and T so far. They’ve also learned numbers 1-10. Tru knows how to read and write small words, and she can add and subtract numbers under 10. Mrs. Faulkner was very surprised and proud to learn that.

Here is the most recent example of her writing. Here, she’s written Tru, Zoe (a classmate), Mama, Daddy, Heidi all by herself with no help from me, even on spelling. Click on the image to view it full size. She’s such a smart little girl!

We had lots of fun last weekend in Hot Springs, AR with Papa and Nana! It was Heidi’s first time on the lake and Tru’s second. Tru caught three fish with Papa and went tubing with Nana. Mike and I water skiied for the first time ever. Mike was much better at it than me. He stood up 2 out of 3 times. I tried 10+ times and only got up 3 or 4 times. Nana was a pro. Heidi was thrilled with the ducks and still keeps asking to feed them. She says, “Dut? Dut?” Mike has video that may go up here later, but for now, you will have to make do with the pictures.

Hello, all, if anyone is out there anymore. I see that we have only had one new comment in the past month and a half. I’ll try to do better about posting updates if you guys will post comments so that we know this website is worth keeping!

Tru and Heidi both had regular checkups last week. Tru is 39 inches tall and 36 pounds. She had her first vision and hearing tests. She performed perfectly on the hearing test and did very well on her vision test, too. Dr. Zbell was very impressed that she could jump on one foot (a 5 year developmental milestone) and praised Tru for becoming involved in soccer. Tru proudly told Dr. Zbell about the two goals she’s scored in the last 3 games. Tru got her first set of shots in the last 2 years and her last until she is 11 years old. Tru developed a fever in reaction to the shots and had to miss two days of school. She’s fine now, though!

Heidi was 23 and a half pounds and 31 inches long. Dr. Zbell was impressed by how quickly Heidi can walk and by how many words she can say. Heidi also had to have shots and reacted badly to them. She developed a fever, a runny nose, and spots. The spots were a reaction to the chickenpox vaccine. She is still a little sick, and I am going to call the doctor tomorrow to see if she needs to be on antibiotics from an infection secondary to the reaction. Hopefully we’ll have that all cleared up before our vacation on Thursday! Heidi can say many, many words now. She can say Mama, Dada, Tru, dog, cat, bird, flower, water, baba (bottle), night-night, bye-bye, cheese, Cheerios, car, that, light, get down, up, cuddle, and more. We’ve enrolled Heidi in a very nice educational daycare facility, and she will start going there after we get back from our vacation, at which time I will also begin working more.