Days 169-172

The week has flown by.

Bye week!  I don't remember any of our conversations because you came in and then left so quickly!!!

I was officially offered the management position for the Ghost Tour job.  I am taking it.

If you have read my posts recently, you will absolutely see my internal war within about jumping back into the workforce.  I call it an internal war.  Others may call it bipolar.  Whatever.

I took my drug test (which although I am absolutely positive, there is some odd anxiety -add that to bipolar in my list of issues- that somehow someone slipped me some drug and I didn't know, and the test will come back and I will have to say, "I have no idea how that was in my system!" and I will cry and no one will believe me.)

That is what goes on in my head.  As you know by now, I am not exaggerating, these are conversations I actually have in my head.  With myself.  I am lucky if a few sentences don't slip out loud.  Then I just look like the crazy lady talking to herself down the street.

This week was spent getting things ready for Keira's second birthday party (I haven't talked about it because it makes me sad that she is turning two.), helping my friend move, running all over creations for God knows what, and spending an obscene amount of time in my car, or getting in and out of my car.

On the plus side, I made it to the gym a couple of times this week, and I weighed myself for the first time since I started the slow card life.  I was down 11 pounds in a week and a half.  That certainly made for a very happy me.  Giving up all that bread and pasta is worth it, and I do really feel a thousand times better.

I will hold off talking about Brody's speech evaluation today, because I want a complete picture first.  Basically the same stuff was said, only this time he was actually classified as having a moderate to severe speech impediment.

I feel sad about that classification, but I know how smart Brody is, and I know this won't last forever.  He will get better, slowly but surely.

That is where my mentality is right now at least.

And on that note, no pictures today, but lots to come!

Day 84

 Day 84 was a filled to the brim one.  Today, although it could have been a disaster, seeing as how I couldn't sleep in the middle of the night, and got caught up watching The Prince and Me at quarter of three, not going to sleep until it was over sometime after four am, and having both Brody and Keira in my bed, both arms falling asleep as they both snuggled as close as close could be (don't get me wrong, I love snuggling these two, sometimes it just is a bit hard falling back asleep, and can be a bit crowded.),  and because Ty and Nate were having a rough time getting along in the morning, and my house felt dirty to me, so I spent the whole morning cleaning and scrubbing an mopping, I somehow salvaged those feelings and exhaustion and turned it into a wonderful day.

After cleaning, I decided to put up Valentine's Day decorations, (which I always forget to do until two days before V-Day,) I gathered the kids to make a cute Valentine's Day project to hang up.  Each child had four hearts to color and decorate as they saw fit, and I made two larger hearts, one to go at each end.  We strung those together on a string, and voila! A cute decoration.

Brody and Keira decided to put on a funny performance, which made me laugh

Keira and I painted our nails a pretty purple color.

I actually got two french braids in Keira's hair, which may or may not look like corn rows, but I did it!

And the kids and I finished off the day with a major Just Dance session, and then some Kinect bowling.

Everyone crashed fairly early and the day felt warm and fuzzy and cuddly to me at the end.

 

Brody and Keira's performance.

  

Our V-Day craft

  

Keira's braids... hey, I tried!Don't judge please, remember I have had three boys.

  

Brody was in rare form.  Or not so rare actually.

Live long and prosper.  Have I ever told you how much I loved Star Trek:The Next Generation when I was younger?  I am a total dork.  I hate my hand in pictures, so I had to do something weird.  Pretty purple color though, right?

Day 48

Oh day 48. I wish I could have had a little camera on my shoulder all day, so you could have experienced the day with me, and so I in turn could be comforted by your sympathetic comments and emails.

Honestly, I mean that.

Our sweet kitten Bella decided 430 in the morning was a perfectly acceptable play time, and was pouncing on my feet or hands until I finally gave in and scratched behind her ears and was lulled back to sleep by her triumphant purr.

The savory sleep was cut short not long after the clock changed to 5am by Brody, sitting up, wide awake in my bed telling me how hungry he was. His little tummy needed food asap, and thus began my day.

Instead of taking advantage of the extra hours I had in the morning, I gave in to The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, which was calling me from my DVR.

It was worth it. I love that show. In fact, I believe that those extra hours that morning don't count, and I am fully allowed to catch up on trashy television when the sun isn't even up yet.

It was non stop from when the rest of the kids were up until 830 last night, when I put myself to bed.

In between there was a birthday party, a grocery store trip, a lunch with a friend, a trip to the ATM where I was so distracted by my missing money, that I left my card right there in the ATM, where I found out when I called as soon as I got home, was destroyed because I did not claim it. I also got the pleasure of hunting down my missing money, only to find the store I was at charged my card three times, instead of one. Also Brody pretty much has gone from wearing tights, to refusing to wear pants and underwear at all, and I had to beg him to cover up his bottom half all day. All of my children have nagging coughs that have suddenly appeared, and by 6pm, once our traditional Friday night pizza was coming out of the oven (just cheese because I didn't have the strength or energy for anything else) and The Polar Express was on, and we all curled up in the living room (sans Nathan who was working late as usual) I felt my throught catch fire and I got the chills. Keira and Brody drifted off to sleep early on in the movie, and I made hot chocolate for Ty, Nate and myself. I can't say it helped my throat at all, but it was comforting none the less.

Day 48, you were full to the brim, but I was left battered and bruised today.

Day 38

Oh Day 38. You have been a true blessing.

This morning I rushed out to Nate's parent teacher conference with his kindergarten teacher. His school reformatted report cards this year, and there are no longer comment sections for the teachers to write things, so his teacher wrote and printed out her own comment sheet for us to keep. Here is what Nate's said:

Nathan, Kindergarten Comments
November 2010

Nate has a warm and pleasant personality. He is a joy! He always comes with a smile and positive attitude. Nate puts wonderful effort into each assignment. He is a remarkable young man. He brightens our every day! Nate is a treasure to both his classmates and teachers! We look forward to seeing him each day.

I literally do not think it could be any better than that. In the craziness of having both Brody and Keira with me for the fifteen minute conference, I barely got anxiety that they were dumping crayons (we were in the art room), riding on some large stuffed dinosaur, crawling under tables and trying to dump various bins on the floor. I didn't get a chance to sit down, and most of the papers the teacher did not get a chance to fully go over with me, but did any of that matter?

Did you read the teacher's comments?

Nope. Didn't matter a lick.

After the conference I had a teeny bit of time to run to the store before picking Nate up from school. I used the time to make a Target run, because , I have long said Target's brand of PMS type medicine, should be named happy pills, and I was in need of some happy pills. Maybe it is the caffeine in the pills, but there is something that makes me feel just plain happy and wonderful. I know, scary right? Does anyone else have an obsession with these pills? (I swear I only take them when I am feeling gross and bloated and cranky and tired due to "women trouble.")

Anyway, next up was Brody's three year checkup. Brody is as healthy as can be. He is 38" tall and 33.5lbs. He rests just above the 50th percentile. Brody got one shot, with not one tear shed, or even a whimper.

What else has made this day stellar? My friend handed down some super cute shoes.
AND I was able to get some random errands done that I have not had time for in the past couple of weeks.

Oh, and it is Taco Tuesday, which is always a great day here in my house.

I am grateful for today.

Day 29

We celebrated my sweet Brody boys birthday this weekend. He had a ball, and when asked what he wished for, he responded "I just wished wished wished."

It was a wonderful, intimate day.

I am grateful for that.

Day 28 ~ Happy Birthday Brody Post

Day 28, look at how Brody has grown and changed every year!

My dear, sweet Brody boy,

I can not believe you are three today. Three whole years since you came into this world. It is astounding. You are the kindest, most loving child in this world. It seems you have a heart that is capable of more than any one I have ever met.
You love unconditionally, and you are always so giving. That is a big statement about a three year old. You love your family so much, and are so happy just being around us. You are funny, and your laugh is infectious.
Brody you have had quite a year. Some parts were rough, with your numerous illnesses and your surgery, and having to get staples in your head. Through all of that though, you smiled.
You have made so much progress this year. You have grown, and have advanced leaps and bounds with speaking. You have worked so hard, and words can not express just how proud of you, I am.
Brody you are such a vital part of this family. I hope you always know that. I know with so many children, it can be hard to have your voice heard and to stand out. I try my very best to make sure you all feel special individually, but I know sometimes it must be tough. I want you to know I have a very special place (a place that is very large) in my heart just for you. You, my baby boy, have made my life feel complete. I wish I could explain just how amazing I think you are, but I don't think words could do the feeling justice.
I can not wait to see what this next year will hold for you. I know you will grow and change, but I also know you will retain that inner sweetness that makes you you.
Brody, you may be turning three today, but you are and will always be my baby boy.
I hope you feel special and loved and happy throughout your life.
I love you with all of my heart, my sweet Brody boy.
Love
Mommy

Day 15 ~ Halloween!

Day 15, Halloween, sure to make you want to SCREAM!

It was an insanely early day for us on Halloween. We were up a little after 5am, and out the door by 5:50am. Ty's game was far away, but oh was it worth it.
On the opening kickoff of the game Ty caught the ball, was hit while in the air but landed on his feet, and then that boy ran. Ty ran just about 60 yards, dodging the opposing team, and then he had his break away and kids were running behind him, trying to grab him. I was screaming "Go, Ty! RUN RUN RUN!!!" He never looked back, not even once. Most of the kids would dive and fall trying to get him, but there was one that was just out of arm's reach... until he dove and fell. It was all Ty after that. He scored a touch down. His team was screaming and jumping up and down, the kids all ran around him patting his helmet, congratulating him.
I cried.
Thankfully, I was only standing next to one other mom, and I told her, I was going to cry. I had sunglasses on, so no one else could see.
I'm not sure why I cried. I think I was just so filled with happiness and pride for him. It was his first touchdown ever. His first six points. It was a big day.
The kids went on to win 32-6. This was their last game of the season, and only their second win. Needless to say it has been a long season, but to end on such a high note made it so much sweeter.

When we got home, I gathered all the Halloween stuff up in a bag to bring to my mom's house. We had Sunday Spaghetti with my mom and grandmother, we played with Halloween stuff, dressed up in funny wigs and masks and teeth. We had fun!

The kids finally could not wait a second longer, so we got them dressed and made up (well my mom did all of their make up) and ready to go.

So here are the 2010 Halloween costumes:
Ty as Jason

Nate as a vampire
Brody as a cowboy
Keira as Raggedy Ann
No themes this year, but man are they cute/scary!

My kiddos

I had to add in these cute ones of Keira with her "kitty cat candy bag". She carried this bag all night, and we were out for almost two hours! She refused to let me help her hold it, even though it was so heavy.

My little cowboy! I love getting kisses from my Brody.

My vampire Nate, who I think enjoyed Halloween to the extreme this year!
Fighting off Jason. Don't worry world, I'll keep you safe.

Check out

Halloween 2009

Halloween 2008


I hope everyone enjoyed Halloween with their families, friends, or just enjoying the Pats game, or handing out candy.

Day 10

Oh today was an interesting one. I had intended to set up my stroller (I had to get a replacement frame for it) last night, and got so frustrated that I gave up. I planned on running this morning, because I need to. Because when I went on steroids for two weeks, they destroyed my hard work this year and I gained SIX pounds back. Six.

Not cool steroids, not cool.

So since my lingering 'roid rage made me too annoyed to finish my stroller I couldn't go running on this gorgeous morning, so I woke up in a funk. Once you start your day like that it is pretty hard to get out of it.

Brody had Early Intervention today, and his teacher told me she wants him also evaluated by an OT for some sensory issues. Nothing major, but they are hindering his learning process, and we may as well do all the evals at once rather than space them out (his speech eval is Thursday morning.)

Nate went to a friend's house after school today, and I decided to turn my day around, and get a good workout in, despite my stroller issues. And so I raked my yard. My whole yard.

I have a big yard that is surrounded, no engulfed by trees. There were a lot of leaves.

Oh man did I work up a sweat.

Then I reorganized yard toys.

Then I decided to give the stroller another go. Because naturally, I felt like my luck had changed since I was on such a roll.
And it did. I finished my stroller. I sliced my hand somewhere along the way, but I did it. I feel accomplished.

I just dropped Ty off at football and am starting Taco Tuesday dinner, and getting the other three kids in the bath/shower, and am going to continue with my getting-things-done streak.

That is until I crash, because Keira has had insomnia the past two nights, and I know that inevitable crash of sleepiness is coming.

Day 9

Where did you go Day niner niner?

I know. You were taken up by doctors appointments and hair cuts and basketball tryouts and a shining brief moment of playing outside.

That is where you disappeared to.

So the stats:

Keira's 18 month (holy crap, at her next doctor appointment it will be her TWO YEAR one. Weird.) Keira finally did it! She made it to a whopping 20 pounds. Even. She is resting comfortably at the 5th percentile for her weight. She is 30.5 inches long, which is somewhere between the 7th and 10th percentiles. In short, still a peanut, but keeping steady, so no cause for worry. She had two shots and was a trooper. A few tears, but happy smiles as soon as she was given her Dora sticker. She is still wearing it. Now on her pjs.

Nate's 6 year: 42lbs (25th percentile) and 46" (50th percentile). He is healthy as an ox. He had his flu shot and did great.

Brody: he has been sick ever since his surgery. He is being treated with antibiotics and hopefully can kick this awful cough/cold. He weighed in at almost 33lbs (in case you were wondering.)

Ty: had his basketball tryouts and did very well. He had some great steals, and hopefully will end up on a good team this year.

On that note, I can not believe football is wrapping up this week. It is doing so, naturally, with a bang. The kids have three practices this week, and a god awful early game on Sunday, that is about 45 minutes away. We will be leaving the house at 6:15ish that morning. Halloween morning. It will be a long day, propelled by sugar rushes. Yet I look forward to it more than I can say.

Brody's Surgery Post

I would like to start this post by thanking those who have helped out this week, and called with the much needed moral support.
In this technology age where text messages and facebook wall posts are frequent and easy, it is comforting and refreshing to get a good ol' fashioned phone call to check in. I needed it this week, so again, thank you.

Brody went in for surgery Tuesday and had tubes put in and had his adenoids removed. It was emotional and I don't think I was prepared for him to fight and be so disoriented when he went under. I was able to be in the operating room for that part, and he breather the gas through the mask. He was kicking and flailing and trying to turn around to look at me, and when he did he was confused and scared and well let me just say as soon as I kissed that little boy and he was out, I needed the entire box of tissues to recover. I was prepared for him to have difficulty waking up, but not for going to sleep. It was rough.
Brody's surgery only ended up lasting about 40 minutes. When the nurse came to get us, she said he was awake and was asking for us. We walked back thinking he was just groggy. Oh boy were we wrong. Brody was hysterical. He was screaming at the top of his lungs, but was incredibly hoarse because of the tubes that were down his throat for surgery. He was screaming his mouth (throat) hurt "really bad" and was inconsolable. This went on for an hour. They gave him morphine to try and help, and eventually we got him to calm down a bit.
Other than these side effects and the emotional aftermath of it all, Brody's surgery went really well.
We were sent home, and he had a great day. Then the night came. It came with a vengeance. I should tell you Nathan and I have terrible colds/coughs and Brody woke up at night with what I can only describe as croup like symptoms. I have been acquainted with croup for nine years now, all my kids have gotten it, usually numerous times in a year, and let me tell you, I have never panicked. With Brody this time, I was panicking. I used all my instinctual croup trick, but the boy couldn't get a deep breath in. He was freaking out. Finally I called the hospital and tried to figure out if his throat could still be swollen from the tubes, and if maybe this along with croup was causing the problem. The doc on call said it could be. I finally calmed him down, and made an appointment first thing the next morning. We saw his primary care doctor, and he contacted Brody's ENT doctor who did the surgery to make sure giving Brody a dose of oral steroids was okay. They also discussed the extremely large size of Brody's tonsils, and informed me he would definitely need them out in the next year, maybe two.
Brody reacted the way you could expect from oral steroids. He was hyper for most of the day, and then screamed literally non stop for three hours before he finally went to bed.
I think because of the stress I've been under the past few weeks, I pretty much resembled the walking dead. Maybe I still do, but I've finally pried children off me long enough to shower, so that helps a bit.
Brody finally seems to be doing much better, although he is still complaining about his mouth hurting, and his breath (this is due to his adenoids being removed, and it is a normal side effect for the first 10 days after surgery) is rancid. I read it could smell like rotten meat. I would say it's more like spoiled milk, but maybe it will progress to rotten meat, who knows. It's bad either way. Have I told you how my sweet Brody boy loves giving kisses? Oh the things we do because we love our kids....

So there it is. Brody's surgery story. Now we wait and see if all this helps (God please let it help.)

In other blog news, I was contacted by a company that is interested in doing some giveaways. They have some great stuff folks, so let me know what you'd most like to win: a gift card for some home stuff, some cookware/bakeware, some travel (luggage) items? What would make you, my loyal, wonderful readers happy?
I do like you to be happy, and I'm not opposed to buying your friendship, as long as you tell me you love me every now and then. Okay it also helps when you say I look skinny. A little white lie never hurt anyone, right?

So tell me! What can I get for you?

Two Steps Forward

Today Brody and I met with his ENT at Children's Hospital. I went into this meeting with a lot of conviction, and ready to pull out all the stops to do what was necessary to help Brody.
The doctor was in total agreement that tubes are necessary, and I didn't even need to push the subject.
After looking at Brody's tonsils, and discussing his lack of sore throats/strep throat and the fact that the tonsils are not connected to the ears, we decided to hold off on those.
The doctor then used a scope with a camera on the end to go up Brody's nose and check out those pesky adenoids. He did great, and stopped any whimpering when I promised him I would get him a cookie when he was done.
Brody's doc said his adenoids were large and she felt good about taking them out since he would already need anesthesia with the tubes.
Brody goes in for surgery two weeks from today.

A Jumbled Brain

Okay, I know I have spent many-a post promising photos and more in depth updates. Its just that we've been so busy y'all!!! (I know I've been saying that a lot too, but darn it, it's true!)
Here are a few little things I'd like to get out of my head... think of it as a end of summer cleaning. As you all know by now there's a whole little universe in my head, and the man that was just elected leader (after the masses overthrew that last guy for letting me go too many places with zero make-up, pshhh like that was okay) decided it was too cluttered and these bits of randomness need to go.
Are you still with me?
Okay.

My children are switching their idol worshiping of Michael Jackson to idol worshiping of Eminem.
Thank you MJ for teaching my kids that prescription drugs can kill you. There have been some wonderful anti drug debates because of this. Thank you also for the endless amount of times I have to say "crotch grabbing is only cool when Michael Jackson does it. You'll get arrested if you keep doing that in public. It's called lewd behavior." Also thank you for teaching my kids to (sort-of) moonwalk and to do the Thriller dance, and sing all of your songs because those things have supplied me, and anyone who would watch them hours of entertainment. (Dude, have you seen Nate sing Billy Jean?)
So far Eminem you have also picked up on the anti drug issue, right where MJ left off. You however have gotten yourself clean (which is just great to hear 5 and 9 year olds say) You have also taught my kids about domestic violence and its consequences. My kids jump at the chance to tell the tale about your poor upbringing, how you hate your dad, about your little sister, about Kim, Hailey, oh and that in the video for Stan, it is just an actor that looks like you, and he's kind of obsessed, like a stalker. Thanks for teaching my kids about stalkers. It has been interesting that you, Eminem have sort of a God-like way of teaching some things. Yesterday while in the car we were having a deep, meaningful discussion. Ty was debating the topic of past lives and if you would know if you were repeating things and how sad it would be to not remember if you had a really cool past life, when my dear Nate piped up and said "Ty, remember what Eminem says, you only have ONE shot, ONE opportunity..." If you do not know to which Eminem song I am referring to, then you need a quick lesson on Marshall Mathers aka Slim Shady aka Slim aka Eminem and I suggest you see 8 Mile. The song is the "theme song" if you will.
Thank you Eminem for also keeping me on my toes and searching for your "radio edited" songs. Because THAT'S fun to do, and for making sure I do not fill in the blanks to the parts edited.
Also thank you for making me cool again in my kids eyes because I have seen Eminem in concert. I had lost much respect when I neglected to ever travel far or pay $504,987 to see Michael Jackson in concert. (I only redeemed this by saying I saw Janet Jackson in concert, but the damage was done by then.)

While I am on a kick of letting you know what a wonderful parent I have become, I should also tell you that I have taught Keira do do the little shoulder dance that Jay-Z does in the video for the song "Big Pimpin". I have not shown her, or any of the other kids the video, so be happy about that.

Brody refers to most of us as "Baby" now, so that's fun. It is always a good time when a two year old can say "Hey baby." Next up, we'll be teaching him to say "How you doin'?"

Was that enough brain vomit for you today? Because I feel like I need a shower.

Big Time Slacking

I know, I know... I haven't posted in a while. I apologize. It's just that we have been so insanely busy. So busy that I needed to put it in italics.
I have lots to fill you in on, a few great reviews, but for now, for this post I want to share some exciting news, that you may or may not find as exciting as me.
My Brody boy is now officially a big boy!!! No more diapers! Big boy undies! ALL DAY LONG!!! That included trips out of the house and he even told me when he had to go then and used a public restroom.
Okay, I am clearly more excited about this than any of you will be. But I will admit to you that I was slightly worried he wasn't going to be an easy potty-training child. Ty was potty trained right at age 2, and Nate just shy of 2 1/2. Both of them trained in one day and that was that, we never looked back. Brody however has been slowly going here and there. He has shown interest, then shied away from it, then shown some interest again, only to revert back to not at all. In fact I just had a conversation with a friend just yesterday about how I thought he was going to take a while. Yesterday that was my train of thought. Today however, Brody woke up and told me he had to pee, so we rushed to the bathroom and he peed. This continued all day when he had to go potty (yeah I know, mom talk), and he has had NOT ONE ACCIDENT!
He has worn his big boy undies with pride and has been so sweet about the whole thing. (Of course we are all cheering and clapping and hugging and loving on him every time he goes.)
So that is the best part of my day. Hallelujah! My Brody is a big boy now!!!

I Am A Stay At Home Mom, (for sure)

Here are the conversations currently happening in my head (yes, to answer that question, I do have full blown conversations in my head, lots of them, and sometimes I forget they are only in my head and try to include someone mid topic. Talk about awkward.)

• Ty has been in Florida visiting his dad's family since Tuesday. He returns this coming Tuesday night. I miss him.
• Ty has called me every morning and every night. Is it too much to ask that he does this whenever he leaves me for the rest of his life? I asked him that. He said "Chill out mom, you can't cry and expect me to contact you with details all the time, but I will call when I can, and I always miss you too. I love you."
  
• Yup, I raised the above mentioned boy.
• It has been hotter than Hades lately, but I WILL NOT COMPLAIN.
• Nate is spending the next two nights with Nathan's parents.
• I ONLY HAVE MY TWO BABIES FOR THE NEXT 48 HOURS.
• My house is already too quiet.
• Although I do not think there is anything wrong with it, I can not fathom how parents leave their children for extended periods of time. I mean I think even a whole day is too much for me to handle. I literally feel as if a part of me is missing every second I am away from my kids. I feel the need to constantly look over my shoulder, like I left the iron on, but a million times worse.
• It's a good thing I stay at home with my kids because of my above mentioned craziness.
• I am going to be away from my kids for slightly over 48 hours (all FOUR of them) in less than a month.
  
• I need to make an appointment with my doctor to get some anxiety relieving medicine for those 48 hours.
• I wasn't joking about that.
• I need to record Keira's reaction to Dora The Explorer. It's is somewhere in between Beatles-Mania and Beiber-Mania.
• I wasn't joking about that either. She almost fought Brody's teacher for a tiny Dora doll when it was time to put the toys away. I have my doubts that she will speak to her this week unless she gives her that Dora doll back for good.
• Keira is a scrappy fighter, and knows how to use her pouts, cries, screams, and dirty looks like a pro.
• Mama taught her well!
• Sometimes I think having a daughter that has just the right amount of snobbiness, or bitchiness is a good thing. Is that strange?
• I am so busy the next few days that I think it may help pass the time with the older two gone.
• Probably not though.
• I need to stop procrastinating about packing a bag for dinner on the beach. I already was too lazy to actually make dinner and went to the store and bought lunchables for Brody and Keira.
• That makes me feel like a slacker mom.
• Fresh guacamole should fix that feeling.
• I really need to go. Dora is over and the chant for an encore showing is getting more desperate by the second.
  

I See Audiologists: Round Two

AUDIOLOGIST: An audiologist is a healthcare professional specializing in identifying, diagnosing, treating and monitoring disorders of the auditory and vestibular system portions of the ear.


I have been anticipating this appointment for a few weeks now. After figuring out Brody can't hear whispers and the months he has been working with Early Intervention and Speech Therapists, we finally headed to Children's to repeat his hearing test, for a third time.
Folks I was seriously losing sleep over this. I just wanted it to be over and done with. I wanted answers. Most importantly I want Brody to get the right kind of help, the kind that will put him on the path to clear speech, and self confidence in speech, and no insecurities, and no fears on my end of inevitable playground/school mocking of his voice, because y'all know kids can be cruel.
So the day came, and if you need back round click here, which has even more links, to past happenings, and Brody and I headed in. The first thing they do is a thorough ear check, which includes an air pressurized test. Looking in his ears, she said they looked great. First ear read through the air test with a perfect "peak" which means it was great. Second (left) ear, read with a big fat straight line, which means it was bad. Basically either he has lots of negative pressure behind that ear drum, or fluid behind that ear drum. He'll probably be getting medicine for an ear infection in the next day or two, as her bet was fluid. (This means the tube debate will continue, I am sure.) She explained that even when you have ear infections, you lose some hearing. If you have constant negative pressure and back to back to back infections, hearing can be muffled. Think Charlie Brown's mother "whomp whomp whomp whomp."

Brody miraculously approved of wearing headphones and going through a quite extensive hearing test, to reveal basically exactly what the woman explained above. He heard almost perfectly in the ear that tested well, and heard poorly in the ear that flat lined.

What does this all mean? Well it means that for most of Brody's life, since he has had a long run of either negative pressure, full blown infections, and three perforations, he has been listening to a fuzzy, not so clear world. He may have moments of clarity, even weeks if he is lucky, which explains him being able to say anything at all, but for the most part it has been a world with muffled sound for him.

In light of these developments we have decided not to give him the go-to-sleep-brain-wave test. It seems unnecessary because if he has no ear issues, he has no hearing issues. We will now go back and consult with his pediatrician and his ENT, and he will be closely monitored by the audiologists (every 3-6 months) because despite their findings, long term ear issues and namely multiple perforations can cause permanent hearing loss.

That is where we currently stand.
Well that and I think it is a sign (this is so off subject) that I need to force Keira to stop nursing (yes she's STILL nursing) because I didn't notice that she bit me so hard that I was bleeding yesterday until she had stopped nursing. Yeah, ouch. Ouch, ouch, ouch. I have felt it every second since. Why won't this baby give up the boob? Why?

Hearing Update

I have delayed writing this post to give some time to the issue. I guess I thought maybe I'd be more informed before I wrote about it, but it seems answers are always hard to come by, and more tests are required to even start the answer process, so this post is what it is. Y'all can wonder and wait along with me. How does that sound?
As most of you know we have been dealing with ear issues for a while now (see here or here for a glimpse.) Although we seemed to make headway at his last audiology appointment, in my hear I know the results were not accurate because Brody easily predicted the pattern in which the woman played the sounds (she never switched up the pattern in which she played the sounds, she instead just alternated one ear to the next, and Brody was predicting the pattern rather than hearing the noises.) I was so frustrated with the testing that day, and Brody had simply had enough of it, so I didn't push the matter, and I should have. My fault.
Now here we are, and there has been a new development. Brody can not hear whispers. This realization began when we were working with Jenn, Brody's Early Intervention worker and were addressing his extra loud speaking voice. Brody has two volumes, loud and screaming. We started to question if it was because he could not hear himself. This prompted the "inside voice" talk, and whispering to show him the difference in volumes. Low and behold, the boy couldn't hear a whisper. He just kind of stared and then tried to change the subject and divert our attention because he was uncomfortable. Since that time two weeks ago, I have worked tirelessly, whispering at different volumes, trying to get him to hear me. Every now and then he pick up a word or two, but mostly I got a big fat nothing for a reaction. Jenn spoke with Brody's speech therapist, Carla, and she is in full agreement that he is probably just not hearing and needs to be reevaluated.
To top this off he has recently been complaining about his ears again, so we're sure the negative pressure is building yet again.
My poor Brody boy.
I have put a call in to his pediatrician and am waiting to find out what course we will take next.
I just thought I'd put it all down here so y'all are up to date.
Let summer vacation officially begin!

Here We Go Agin

A stomach bug has hit this household hard this week. Thankfully only three of us ( so far) are suffering. It has done wonders for my body confidence though, because my 2 lb/week weight loss goal was met only 3 days into the week. heck, at this rate, why not shoot for 4 lbs!
We are beginning to get into a rhythm for summer vacation, despite having lots of appointments and things scheduled the past few weeks. Brody got his staples out yesterday, and didn't even flinch. In fact I don't think he even realized they were being taken out. He is my tough little guy!
Keira is repeating EVERYTHING now. It seems like her vocabulary has tripled in the past week or so. Nate has been extremely active, and is missing school, and his classmates. He is keeping me o my toes trying to come up with creative things to keep him occupied.
On another note, although I briefly stopped running daily, to give the every other day run a try, I am back to every day again, because well to be honest, I need the stress relief at the end of the day. I am running 4 miles pretty much every night, and it feels great.
We have met a family that lives down the street from us, and Brody looks forward to seeing his new friend (who is also two.)
Ty has two more days of school left, and I am happy to report that he got an A+ on his Dustin Pedroia/biography report project. We're so proud of you Ty!
Not much other than that going on right now. Sometimes no news is the best news, right?

Sweep The Leg!

How smart of Brody to know that one of my favorite all time movies is The Karate Kid. And what a way to pay homage to that movie, and celebrate the opening of the new Karate Kid remake today, then by channeling his inner Johnny Lawrence. Not to go completely off subject here, but have you ever noticed that the bleach blond haired kid is always the bad one in the kids movies? The Karate Kid, Johnny Lawrence. Harry Potter, Drako Malfoy. Rocky IV, Ivan Drago. I'm sure I could think of more, but those are the ones popping in my head right now.
Okay, back on point, so in all seriousness, poor Brody boy took an awkward spill and landed against a screw. No we do not have random screws sticking out of walls, we removed our gate at the bottom of the stairs to repair it, and there is a screw that is not quite flush with the wall, well Brody managed to fall right back onto it, and it went in his head. Because it was a rainy day, and I decided to fill it with chores, I was smack in the middle of folding clothes, and was treating myself to a facial mask while doing so when I heard Nate and Ty scream Brody's bleeding, and then heard the cries of poor Brodster. Brody's crying of course got Keira crying, and one glance I knew we were hospital bound, so I got a face cloth, cleaned up his head so I could get a better look, told the kids to get ready, and brought the wet face cloth with me to wipe down my face as we went (because no one would have wanted to see my face white with a cleansing mask at the hospital.) I have a super power ability of remaining completely, unnaturally calm in these situations. I never knew I had this ability until these things happened, but I am grateful I do, because being a hot mess would definitely not make the kids feel calm and like everything would be okay when say, their head is gushing blood, or their arm is stuck in an old sewing machine (a story for another time), or when they just swallowed a cup of coins (again, another time.) Brody had stopped crying by the time we got to the car, and although he was still bleeding, really was acting fine. I called Nathan and he met me and picked up Nate. I had no idea how long I'd be, so I kept Ty with me to help with Keira (who was clinging to me because even though every one else was okay, she was freaked out by everything.) We got to the hospital, and they put a gauze pad with stuff to numb up his head, and almost two hours later, we finally saw a doctor, who said two staples should just about do it. I bribed Brody by telling him if he laid down on his belly so they could fix his boo boo, Daddy would get him cookies and he could watch Diego when we got home. So Ty held one of his hands, I held the other, while holding Keira, and somehow managed to crouch to look him in the eye (because actually seeing staples going in my son's head is something that I would definitely not be able to handle. My superpowers don't reach that far. A quick snap snap, and we were done. No more tears, only where's my cookie? Brody got bandaged up and off we went. Just another Thursday evening. And our little Karate Master is one heck of a trooper!
Oh, I didn't explain. Nathan and I think Brody resembles Johnny Lawrence, the bad kid from the original Karate Kid movie. We have taught Brody to do great karate chop moves and we say "Sweep the leg!" to him about every half hour, which he thinks is hilarious. The poor boy will not remember his first bad injury, just that he became a karate kid for a random week.

Honesty is the Best Policy

Honestly, I shouldn't complain. I am trying my damnedest not to, really I am. I would love to tell you about Nate's emotional preschool graduation (and I will, soon, I promise.) I would love to tell you about how proud I am of myself for finally running every day, in the heat, and pushing through, even when my lungs burned. (Okay, I guess I just kind of did that.)
I would love to tell you about how baseball season is ending, or our summer plans. I would love to tell you about some of the wedding inspiration ideas (okay here's one, it's the place card idea I fell in love with.)
But not right now. Right now all I really want to tell you is that if my son sticks his hand down his pants one more time only to pull it out covered in his poop, and then say "Mama look, I poop!" I may cry. In fact when he did that today, smack dab in the middle of me preparing our traditional Friday night pizzas, hands covered in flour and cheese, and stickiness, I let out a whimper... or two... or three, because today was one of those days. And I frantically said
" don't touch anything!
I have to wash my hands!
Are you touching anything?
Never mind just stand next to me so I know you can't touch anything.
NOOOO! Not hold on to my leg!
You touched meeeeee!!!!"

Yes, that is what I want to tell you about today. Poop. And the little one who loves to stick his hands in it.
That and one of my other children just said to me (because I told him it was time to clean up his toys) that he wished he was a bee, because then he'd sting me. How dare I ask him to pick up after himself.

No More Nate-Os Jumping On The Bed

Have I ever told you the story of Nate getting stitches (the first real major injury to any of the kids) in his head? I was around 5 months pregnant with Brody, and it was Father's Day. I was working at The Border Cafe, and was getting ready for my shift. I was actually training someone that day and was smack in the middle of going over a test with the trainee. I got a phone call at work, which was extremely rare. It was Nathan frantic, telling me Nate hit his head and he wasn't sure if he should take him to the hospital or not. I said is he bleeding? He said yes. I asked if it was a lot, he again said yes. He then added he was pretty sure he could see close to his skull, at which point I told him to get in the car and I would meet him at the hospital. Nate did indeed give himself quite the gash, and ended up with 7 stitches in the back of his head and his hair dyed pink with blood for the next week (we were unable to wash his hair due to the stitches, and when we say it bled a lot, think gory movie amounts of blood.)
How did this happen you may ask? Well Nate, my special child, attempted to hang glide off his bunk bed like Diego. Yes, this can all be blamed on Go Diego ago and his ever transforming backpack. Nate took a blanket that had a crocheted outer edge, made a hold in the crochet large enough for his HEAD (yes we are so thankful he didn't end up hanging himself) and then jumped off the top bunk, but the blanket got caught and he ended up smacking his head into the wood of the rail instead. Ouch.
Nate has thankfully been wary of hang gliding off bunk beds since the incident, or jumping on them, or playing around on them in general. That is until last night. Ty was up in his room reading, and Nate, being the typical little brother, decided to go up, which meant Brody tagged along too. Apparently Brody and Nate decided to jump on Brody's bed, and then this turned into a game of, the floor is hot lava and we have to jump from Brody's bed to the bunk bed to escape the lava. Nate jumped, but he jumped SMACK into the metal bed rail. (In case you are picking up on the inconsistency, we used to have wood bunk beds, now we have metal ones.) I was downstairs cleaning and tending to Keira when I head the blood curdling scream, and then there was Nate, with a lump the size of Texas on the front of his head. This monstrosity swelled at lightning speed. I immediately grabbed my trusty bag of frozen peas, and that was that.
When will this child learn the dangers of playing on beds?