A week of medical drama

Well it's been a crazy week for us and I haven't had a chance to blog because I have been running to doctor's offices all week long.  Last Tuesday I had our little mother's helper, Zoe, over to help out with the kids.  She comes from 3-6pm on Tuesdays and I was home for most of the time working on stuff but I left with Ryder for 30 minutes (& forgot my cell phone) and wouldn't you know that's when it happened.  Ryan fell off the swingset and scraped the back of her head and fractured her collarbone.

When I got home she was on the couch and had some dried tears but she seemed OK.  I had HUGE mother's guilt that I left without having my phone.  The back of her head was a surface wound, just a scrape, which was good because cuts on the head bleed like the dickens and that had me really worried.  We didn't discover the collarbone fracture until the next morning when we were getting ready for swim lessons.  Ryan didn't want to get out of bed because she was in pain and she showed us the area.  Sure enough it was her clavicle area.  I told Cory that I was sure she did something to her collarbone.  We loaded up all 3 kids and Reese went to her swim lesson, then we all went to TLC Pediatrics where they checked out the cut on her head and then gave me a Xray slip for EVDI.  We left and went to EVDI and waited for Ryan's Xrays to develop.  Sure enough, she had fractured her right clavicle.  They called Dr. Miller and we were told that she could wear a brace if she needed it for comfort but otherwise it has to heal on its own.  She's a really tough little girl and hasn't complained once about the pain (except that first morning after it happened).  She has to take it easy for 6-8 weeks.  We cancelled all our extra activities like swimming and gymnastics.  It's hard to tell an almost 4 year old that she really can't do anything physical but she's done a great job of understanding the situation.

In the mix of all this drama I went to the dermatologist last Tuesday morning to have them look at some dry patches on my arm and also a bump I had on my forehead.  Once I got to the derm's office she looked at my forehead and I told her that the bump came back after she had addressed it 3 years ago.  It was 2007 and she read her notes and said I was supposed to follow up 2 weeks after she removed the bump.  Oops!!!  Sorry, Doctor, I was busy with twin babies and forgot the follow up appointment.  Fast forward 3 1/2 years and I am sitting here with Basal Cell Carcinoma on my forehead.  They biopsied it and I got the call yesterday.  I will be going next Tuesday to discuss my "treatment options".  I think they are going to dig a HUGE chunk out of my forehead.  SO, mama's getting a cut and color today and I think the bangs are coming back to town.  I'm taking in this photo and telling Julie to make me look like this:

Get out your magic wand, Julie.  I want you to make me look like Miss Witherspoon.

Rummage Sale find

I love shopping at my mother of multiples rummage sale.  It's twice a year and I usually find some great deals.  I bought some Bob the Builder toys for Ryder to play with when he gets a bit older, but can you guess who is loving them right now?

Family meets William David

Jared and Jessica have been in town for a few days and my parents wanted to throw a party so the entire family could meet William.  It was everyone on both mom & dad's side of the family so we had a really big crowd.  It was lots of fun with kids, new babies, and lots of great food.  Reese, Ryan, & Cory missed out on the festivities because they went to a wedding in San Diego this weekend :(  We missed them but had a great time with family.  Here are some photos of our fun evening:

Look at that cute face!  Will is such a sweet baby.

I love this photo because they were both looking up at Jared.  Will loves his daddy so much and Ryder is mesmerized by Uncle Jared's scruffy beard.

Jessica, William, & Gammie

Look at that face and those lips!  Luke is such an awesome little kid.  He's turning two next month and is such a big boy.  He weighs 36 lbs. and wears a size 9 shoe.  I think a pro sports career is in his future.

Jessica w/ William, 4 months; Alexa w/ Lexington, 5 weeks, & me w/ Ryder boy, 8 months.

Mimi with her two grandboys

Caught on film

I snapped a few shots of Mr. R doing his latest trick, pulling up to a standing position on a stationary object.  He's on the go and loves exploring.  He's starting to figure out how to get back down and move on to the next location.  It's all pretty entertaining to watch.

He goes up to our toy bin, stands up, and cleans out the car & truck bin.

Of course, everything must be put in his mouth just for a test run.

My sleeping babies

I went to a bridal shower a few weeks ago and there was a list of questions that the groom had answered and we had to guess which ones the bride knew.  It was funny to hear the answers.  I took the list of questions home and Cory & I quizzed each other.  We both got most of the questions correct about each other but there was one question that stood out to me.  "What does your bride-to-be do right before bed?"  Cory said that I brush my teeth or wash my face, and while this is true that I do these things, it's not what I do right before bed.  I thought about it and realized that the last thing I do is check on our sleeping babies.  Every night I tiptoe into their rooms and watch them sleep for a minute or two.  They look so perfect and peaceful when they are sleeping and I find myself so relaxed right before I crawl back into bed.  I know that I will do this every night until they leave for college.  I can't help it.  There's just something so perfect about watching our babies sleep and knowing they are safe in their beds.

Miss Meticulous

Reese is such a funny little girl.  Cory says she's got the brain of an engineer and we love to watch her in action.  She's always loved gathering and grouping items and lining things up.  From the time she could walk she would gather items and carry them around the house. She had this set of magnets that she was obsessed with and would stack them up and keep with her all the time.  One day they were just gone and we still wonder where they are to this day.  She moved on from the magnets but has always found things to line up or put in order.  The photo above was her project from the other day.  We have a preschool game of UNO and these are all the colored pieces that come with the game.  She loves to line them up by animal type (notice that's how they are in order in this photo) OR she'll decide to color code them and group them that way.  My favorite thing is when I walk into a room and see her latest project lined up so perfectly.  I love her little quirky side.  She was so proud of her lineup and insisted I take a photo of her masterpiece.

I'll start now

I saw a friend do this and I'm bummed that I'm just now starting it when Ryder is 8 months old.  The plan is to take a photo of your baby next to a stuffed animal or something special each month of their first year and then a photo each year thereafter.  I wish I would have started when he was one month old but oh well, I have other photos.  So, the other day I propped Ryder next to this enormous stuffed bunny on his 8 month birthday and got some of the funniest photos. 

Then Ryan jumped in for a few shots and started giving the squishy hugs.

A fun birthday

We had a fun celebration with family tonight to celebrate Susan's birthday.  We ate a yummy Baskin Robbins ice cream cake (mint chocolate chip) and opened a few presents.  They came over around 7:30 for dessert and we had a fun hour or so celebrating before it was off to bed for everyone.  Happy Birthday to my wonderful mother-in-law.  We love you!!!

Grandma with her babies

A cute trio.  When I look at Haley's face I see such a similarity to the girls.  When I take the three of them out everyone thinks she's my daughter.  Rome & Haley love Ryder so much!

Ryder was so intrigued with Uncle Chris' facial hair.  He just kept grabbing and petting his chin.

Two cute redheads!

A real self esteem booster

You gotta love how honest children are & ours are no exception.  There have been a few tidbits flying out of my girls' mouths lately and it's a crackup.  The other night we were playing in their bedroom and Reese lifted up my arm and started playing with my underarm jiggle, moving it back and forth, asking, "What's that, Mommy?  Why does it move so much?"

Then we were playing a description game where one of us got to describe a person or thing and then the rest of us would guess who or what it was.  Reese started out my description like this, "She has long yellow hair, wears flip flops, and is not strong".  Not strong?  Seriously?  I am dying with laughter at this point.

The real kicker is when Ryan asked me what those dots are on my butt?  I told her it was something called cellulite and she'll have it someday after having three children.  So I'm writing this about 90 minutes before I go see a personal trainer where I can get rid of the "dots" on my butt, my jiggly arms, and try to become a strong mom.  Ta Ta for now!

Eight months

It's going too fast. He's 2/3 of the way to his 1st birthday.  Someone please stop time from passing so quickly.  Ryder is the cutest baby and such a joy in our lives.  He's on the go and is FAST.  It's the kind of crawling where you put him down and then 2 seconds you turn around and he's down the hallway headed for one of the bedrooms.  Mr. R has some new tricks up his sleeve but I haven't caught them on film yet.  He loves to crawl to a stationary object like a barstool or chair and pull himself up to a standing position.  Once he's there he starts to panic because he doesn't know how to get back down.  He weighs just over 17 lbs. and is long & skinny, just like daddy.  There is not a lot of interest in baby food.  He wants whatever we're eating and I'm happy to give it to him because it's all pretty healthy stuff.  I just puree it in the food processor and he goes to town eating it up.  Bath time is his favorite.  He loves bathing with the girls and gets a huge kick out of splashing water everywhere.  Here are a few recent shots of him. 

Our little dinosaur.  I have about 100 photos with that face.

Those chompers kill me!  I still can't believe that he has 8 teeth.

"I'm ready for food, Mom!

Bath time with my sisters is SO much fun!!!

Alice in Wonderland

Our little friend, Avery, turned four today and we had tons of fun at her birthday party.  Holly is one of my BFFs and she really knows how to throw a birthday bash.  I'm always in awe of all the planning and hard work that goes into her girls' parties.  This party was no exception as she pulled out all the stops for an Alice in Wonderland tea party.  Our girls haven't seen the movie (Disney or the new Johnny Depp version) but they still had a blast at the party. 

There was a pinata that Holly made from scratch.  It was an amazing pinata and I'm pretty sure if this was my handmade project I would've had to mourn as a bunch of kids beat the bejeezus out of it.

Andy dressed up as the Mad Hatter and it was hysterical!

Ryan was a little hesitant of his wig and glasses.

He got the party warmed up and the kids loved him!  Reese seemed really excited, Campbell wasn't so sure.

We went in for sneakers....

and came out with these.

We weren't leaving without them.  Famous Footwear had a BOGO offer and I had a coupon for 20% off.  SO, Ryan's $40 boots were knocked down to $15.99.  How could we not buy them?  Especially when I know that they'll get worn every day this winter.  She's already obsessed.  They are a great replacement to the crusty patent leather hand-me-down boots that the neighbor gave us AND she looks so darn cute in them. 

On a side note, their feet are getting so big.  They measured 10 1/2 in the store and the salesperson told us that a size 11 is a must.  A growth spurt is a comin'.

Little Ms. Helpful

The girls seem to switch back and forth with their personalities and it's really interesting to watch.  When one is acting up the other one tends to be an angel.  Reese is in a stage where she is all about helping out and being my right by my side.  She comes up, and tells me that it's her job to be helpful.  It's kind of a dream come true.  Her behavior has been a 180 from a few months ago.  I'm not sure if she was having a hard time with Ryder's arrival or if it was adjusting to a new schedule, but she had some really quirky behavior going on.  She was obsessed with things occurring in a certain pattern and if things deviated from that schedule or pattern then she would flip out.  It went on for a few weeks and Cory told me that it was just a phase but I was ready for her to see a counselor.  I'm glad I listened to my husband.  It was just a phase and our adorable, sweet little girl is back and she is full of love.